Scripture Daily

Context No. 2037 of 4322 · Daniel (Greek)

Context · Reflection

Daniel (Greek) 12:7-13: in context

7I heard the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand to heaven, and swore by him who lives forever that it will be for a time, times, and a half; and when they have finished breaking in pieces the power of the holy people, all these things will be finished. 8I heard, but I didn’t understand. Then I said, “My lord, what will be the outcome of these things?” 9He said, “Go your way, Daniel; for the words are shut up and sealed until the time of the end. 10Many will purify themselves, make themselves white, and be refined; but the wicked will do wickedly. None of the wicked will understand; but those who are wise will understand. 11“From the time that the continual burnt offering is taken away and the abomination that makes desolate set up, there will be one thousand two hundred ninety days. 12Blessed is he who waits and comes to the one thousand three hundred thirty-five days. 13“But go your way until the end; for you will rest and will stand in your inheritance at the end of the days.”

At the close of Daniel's visions, he hears things he cannot understand about the time of the end, and asks, my lord, what will be the outcome of these things? He is told that the words are sealed until the end, that many will be refined, and that the wise will understand. And then comes a gentle, personal word to the aged prophet himself: go your way until the end; for you will rest, and will stand in your inheritance at the end of the days. Daniel would not live to see these things fulfilled; but he is promised rest, and a place, at the last.

The final word to Daniel is tender and worth dwelling on: go your way until the end; you will rest, and stand in your inheritance at the end of the days. Daniel was old; he had seen visions of things far beyond his lifetime, things he did not fully understand and would not live to see fulfilled. And God does not burden him with the need to understand it all or to see it completed. He gives him instead a threefold assurance: go your way, live out your days faithfully; you will rest, when your life is done; and you will stand in your inheritance at the end, raised to your appointed place when all is fulfilled. It is a word of peace to one who would die before the story was finished. There is comfort here for all who will not see God's purposes completed in their lifetime, which is to say, for all of us. We labor and pray and serve, and much of what God is doing will not be finished while we live; we will die, as Daniel would, with the story still unfolding, the promises not yet fully come. And to us God speaks the same threefold word: go your way, live faithfully the days you are given; you will rest from your labors when they are done; and you will stand in your inheritance at the end, raised to the place God has for you when all is complete. These all died in faith, Hebrews says, not having received the promises, but having seen them from afar; and they rest now, and will rise to their inheritance. This frees us from the burden of having to see it all completed. We need not understand everything, nor live to see God's purposes fulfilled; we are to go our way faithfully, trusting that rest awaits us and that we will stand in our inheritance at the last. Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord, Revelation says; they rest from their labors. The word to Daniel is the word to us: go your way until the end, live faithfully, and know that rest and a secure place in your inheritance await you when the days are complete.

Am I burdened by the sense that I must see God's purposes completed in my lifetime, or troubled that I will die with much unfinished and not understood, and can I receive the gentle word given to the aged Daniel, go your way until the end, you will rest and stand in your inheritance at the end of the days, living faithfully the days I am given and trusting that rest and my appointed place await me when all is fulfilled?

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