The Destiny of The Righteous and The Unrighteous (Daniel 12:1-4).
‘And at that time will Michael stand up, the great prince who stands over the children of your people, and there will be a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation, even to that same time. And at that time your people will be delivered, every one who will be found written in the book.'
‘At that time --.' This refers back to Daniel 11:40-45. While the horn, the little one, is rampaging around the known world, Michael, the great prince of angels allocated to watch over God's people, will be ‘standing over them', ever on the alert to watch over them and protect them. Michael is one of only two angels mentioned by name in Scripture. He is described by Jude 1:9 as an archangel, and in Revelation he leads God's army of angels (Revelation 12:7). His part is to deal with the activities of the evil angels who seek to control the world, and to intervene to prevent their final misuse of the people of God. There is never any thought of praying to such angels.
‘And there will be a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation, even to that same time.' Compare Jeremiah 30:6-7. This is the end of the world as we know it. No future is conceived of for the earth as it is, apart from that faced by the resurrected ones, and the ‘delivered', which is in the everlasting kingdom (Ezekiel 37:25-28). This time of trouble is in direct contrast with Mark 13:19 and parallels, which speak of the great tribulation of the Jews at the time of the destruction of the temple by Titus in 70 AD and its aftermath (Matthew 24:21), and which see both a past and a future, the latter revealed by the words ‘nor ever shall be' (missing from Daniel).
This time of trouble is different from that one, in that this one is final and is not said to be localised, although it too has in mind invasion and warfare, and the activities of Satan. But this one occurs at the end time against the people of God. On the other hand there is no suggestion that it is necessarily worldwide. It is simply indicating that at that time there will be intense trouble which the people of God will also face. It is concerned with how it affects God's people.
‘And at that time your people will be delivered, every one who will be found written in the book.' This phrase is very important. ‘Deliverance' is now described. For those who have died it is by resurrection to the everlasting kingdom. For the living it means full deliverance, and again entry into the everlasting kingdom. In the end it refers to all who are God's. The intensity of suffering will be followed by the intensity of blessing.
For Daniel this is the final climax to which the book has been leading. The idea here is of final deliverance, the result of the final smiting by the heavenly stone which fills the whole earth (Daniel 2:34-35), the result of the son of man receiving His kingdom and entering into His glory (Daniel 7:14), and the result of the saints of the Most High receiving the everlasting kingdom (Daniel 7:27). He does not enter into detail of how unbelievers will be dealt with, apart from those described in Daniel 12:2. He sees only the final glory of God's people, and their final deliverance.
The Old Testament knew of no heavenly realm for men and women. The concept had not yet developed. That is why it had continually to depict the everlasting future in terms of this earth. It knew no other. But regularly the wording went beyond anything possible on this earth, having in view ‘new heavens and a new earth' (Isaiah 65:17). This is the only thing that makes sense of the whole picture. It should be noted that there is no suggestion here of a ‘millennial' kingdom'. For Daniel the ultimate has been reached.
Note also that only those ‘written in the book' will find deliverance. It clearly therefore does not simply mean the Jews, for they are not all ‘written in the book', it means all of God's true Israel. They are the only ones who enjoy final deliverance.
‘Your people.' Daniel would here think of the remnant of the people of Israel who would prove faithful to God, although he was not aware of how God would expand that Israel. For the New Testament makes clear that that remnant of Israel was increased by all who came to Christ and in Him became members of the true Israel (Galatians 6:16; James 1:1), fellow-citizens with ‘the saints' (Ephesians 2:19). They too were built into the living temple which was God's dwelling place (Ephesians 2:19-22) and were accepted as true sons of Abraham (Galatians 3:7; Galatians 3:29). They were grafted in to the olive tree (Romans 10:17), and the bad branches removed. The Bible sees the true church as the true Israel. Israel's future is the true church's future, and vice versa.
‘Written in the book.' This book is the record of the righteous (Psalms 69:28; Malachi 3:16 see also Psalms 139:16). Jesus said to His disciples that they should rejoice because their names were written in Heaven (Luke 10:20). It is to be differentiated from the book of the living, which was simply a record of those alive who were reckoned among the people of God (Exodus 32:32; Psalms 69:28 compare Isaiah 4:3; Ezekiel 13:9; Revelation 3:5), from which names could be blotted out if they proved unworthy. It can be more compared with the Lamb's book of life, the record of those chosen and redeemed by God through Christ, from which no name could be blotted out (Revelation 13:8; Revelation 20:15; Revelation 21:27). (But we must remember that these are all symbolic descriptions and not particularise too much).