Daniel · chapter 12 of 12
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Daniel 12 closes the book with the announcement that Michael will arise in a time of distress such as never was, and that the people whose names are in the book will be delivered. Many who sleep in the dust will awake, some to everlasting life and others to shame. Daniel is told to seal the book and given the promise that he will rest and rise to receive his inheritance.
Daniel 12 is the last chapter of the book and the conclusion of the message begun in Daniel 10. After conflicts between empires and persecutions, the messenger lifts the view toward the end: the rescue of God's people, the resurrection and the glory of the wise. It contains one of the clearest statements of the Old Testament about life after death.
The messenger announces that at that time Michael will arise, the great prince who stands for the children of Daniel's people. It will be a time of distress, such as never has been since nations existed. But at that time the people will be delivered, everyone whose name is found written in the book. Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake, some to everlasting life and others to shame and everlasting contempt. Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the sky, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars forever.
Daniel is told to shut up the words and seal the book until the time of the end; many will run to and fro and knowledge will increase. Then Daniel sees two others, one on each bank of the river, and one of them asks the man clothed in linen, who is above the waters, how long until the end of these wonders. The man raises both hands to heaven and swears by him who lives forever that it will be for a time, times and half a time, and that when the shattering of the power of the holy people comes to an end, all these things will be finished.
Daniel hears but does not understand, and asks what the outcome of these things will be. He is told to go his way, because the words are shut up and sealed until the time of the end. Many will be purified, made white and refined, but the wicked will go on acting wickedly and none of them will understand, though the wise will. One thousand two hundred ninety days are mentioned from the time the regular sacrifice is taken away and the abomination that makes desolate is set up, and blessed is the one who waits and reaches the one thousand three hundred thirty-five days. The messenger ends with a promise to Daniel: go on to the end, for he will rest and rise to receive his inheritance at the end of the days.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
Michael will arise in a time of distress without equal, and the people whose names are written in the book will be delivered. The deliverance is not for everyone alike: it is tied to belonging to God.
Many of those who sleep in the dust will awake, some to everlasting life and others to shame and everlasting contempt. It is one of the clearest statements of the Old Testament about resurrection and judgment.
The wise will shine like the sky and those who lead many to righteousness like the stars forever. The text honors those who instruct in the faith, often without recognition in this life.
Daniel is told to go his way to the end, that he will rest and rise to receive his inheritance at the end of the days. The book concludes with a personal promise for the faithful prophet: death is not the end.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: Michael, the great prince who stands for Daniel's people. — Daniel 12:1
Answer: Everyone whose name is found written in the book. — Daniel 12:1
Answer: Many will awake, some to everlasting life and others to shame and everlasting contempt. — Daniel 12:2
Answer: To the stars, forever. — Daniel 12:3
Answer: Shut up the words and seal the book until the time of the end. — Daniel 12:4
Answer: That he will rest and rise to receive his inheritance at the end of the days. — Daniel 12:13
Daniel 12 offers a hope that goes beyond this life. The resurrection is not a late addition but the close of a book about empires and persecutions: the powers of the world pass away and, in the end, God wakes his own. In a small group you can talk about how this hope changes the way we face grief, illness or persecution.
The chapter also honors a humble task: teaching righteousness to many. Parents, Sunday school teachers and small group leaders can take seriously the promise that this work has eternal value. And the answer to Daniel, who does not understand everything, is patience: go your way, because God keeps what you are to receive.
Daniel 12 closes the book with the promise of resurrection and an inheritance for the faithful prophet. After six stories of the court and six chapters of visions, the message is one: God reigns over empires and keeps his people to the end. The New Testament takes up that hope and sees it fulfilled in Christ, the first to rise.
Yes, most Christian and Jewish interpreters read it that way: many of those who sleep in the dust will awake, some to everlasting life and others to shame. It is one of the most explicit statements of the Old Testament on the subject, and Jesus and the apostles take it up, for example in John 5.
The text does not explain the numbers. Those who see the fulfillment in Antiochus IV relate them to the period of the temple's desecration and restoration; others understand them as a period of the end time, literal or symbolic. The text stresses the blessing of the one who waits patiently.
It means to close and preserve the message until its time comes, so that it is kept as a faithful witness. It does not mean it is useless: the text adds that the wise will understand and that many will be refined.