Daniel 12:13 But go you your way till the end be: for you shall rest, and stand in your lot at the end of the days. These are the words in which the angel Gabriel dismissed the prophet after delivering his message to him. The book of Daniel is interesting for the length of time it covers; the eventful period to which it relates; the nature of the prophecy it contains; and the character of the man who wrote it. In intellect he was a giant; in morals he was a model. 1. Daniel's death or dismissal. "Go thou thy way." This may be regarded as the God-sent summons for him to depart this life. The way we have walked through life is the way we must walk in death. Death is only finishing the journey; it is but the last step in the life-trodden way. Daniel could not have been less than ninety years old when he received this angel's visit. He was full of years and honours. If we are in our sins unreconciled to God, death can only come as the "King of terrors." If we are at peace with God through Jesus Christ, then death will come to us, as he came to Daniel, in the form of an angel of light; as a blessing, as a friend, as "the servant Jesus sends to call in to His arms." 2. Notice what the angel said to Daniel about his condition after death. "For thou shalt rest." A condition of conscious happiness in the presence of the glorified Redeemer. A rest, not of sleep, but of conscious enjoyment. A satisfying rest, but yet a rest that does not bring with it the full reward of final blessedness. 3. How long is this state to continue? "Till the end be." "In the end of the days." This end must be the end of the present dispensation; the end of the kingdom of this world. The end of the days means the morning of the resurrection. Then the rest will enter on a new stage of development that will go on in widening and deepening channels of glory and blessedness for ever. 4. Note what the angel said about Daniel's final state, when the end comes. "Thou shalt stand in thy lot." (R. Newton, D.D.) Parallel Verses KJV: But go thou thy way till the end be: for thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of the days. |
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