Daniel 12:2 “And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.”

This is the end of Daniel’s prophecy of the nations prior to the coming of the Messiah and the last times. This entire prophecy is written as an apocryphal book and takes a lot of unraveling to properly understand it. Many use it to prove the rapture and temple in Jerusalem but that takes some twisting of the story to do and a jumping here and there. It is not a significant subject of any of the prophets nor of the New Testament. This verse is prophetic in two ways, not only the resurrection of the Christ but an indication of the final judgment.

There will be a final judgment; that much is certain and secure. How we prepare now will have influence on how we are treated in that judgment. Daniel says, “Many shall purify themselves and make themselves white and refined, but the wicked shall act wickedly. And none of the wicked will understand.” (10) As usual all prophecies of the end times give a two sided story. Salvation or damnation are awaiting and the decision is ours since God wants all men to be saved. He wants that to the point of coming to the earth and suffering our punishment of hell.

Task for Today: Purify yourself and make yourself white in the blood of the lamb. Though your sins be as scarlet they shall be as white as snow. Purification is a spiritual cleansing signified by a washing. Christians do that in baptism. Have you been buried in the death of Jesus? It will signify how you wake up.