All Found Written in the Book Will Escape: Daniel 12:1-3

This is another in a series of excerpts from The Book of Life: What the Bible Says about God’s Registry of the Redeemed from High Street Press and available at Amazon. This except comes from Chapter 10: All Found Written in the Book Will Escape: Daniel 12:1-3.

At that time Michael, the great prince who stands watch over your people, will rise up. There will be a time of distress such as never has occurred since nations came into being until that time. But at that time all your people who are found written in the book will escape. Many who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake, some to eternal life, and some to disgrace and eternal contempt. Those who have insight will shine like the bright expanse of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever (Dan. 12:1-3).

Many questions arise from these verses: What is the “time of distress” foretold in this passage? Who are “your people … written in the book”? What book is in view? From what do these people escape? Who are the “many” who sleep in the dust of the earth? Is their awakening the same resurrection and judgment to which Jesus refers in John 5:28-29? And in what ways do the righteous “shine like the stars forever and ever”? 

In seeking answers to these questions, we should examine this passage in the greater context of Daniel’s visions, in which God reveals his plans for the future (Dan. 7 – 12). Daniel 10 – 12 is a record of Daniel’s third and final vision, one that summarizes the previous visions of successive kingdoms that rise and fall: Babylon; Medo-Persia; Greece; and a beastly kingdom whose king invades Jerusalem, sets up idols in the temple, exalts himself above God, and then, astoundingly, comes to ruin. 

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Theories of UFOs and Aliens

This is the third in a short series of articles on what the Bible says about UFOs and aliens.

Read part 1 and/or part 2.

There are several theories that seek to explain UFOs and alien encounters. First, the skeptical view. Since 95 percent of reported UFO and alien sightings are explained naturally, many people write off the other five percent and deny the possibility of extraterrestrial life. They place UFOs and aliens in the same category as Bigfoots, skunk-apes, vampires, and other subjects of folklore.

Proponents of a second view contend that these unexplained phenomena are the products of secret technology governments are developing, primarily for use as weapons. Or, they say, the creators of these phenomena are corporations or private empires testing products they hope to commercialize. 

Third, there’s the extraterrestrial hypothesis. This is perhaps the most popular view, which a growing number of scientists embrace. Just watch an episode of Ancient Aliens on the History Channel to get a taste of salivating scientists who say we’re on the cusp of contacting intelligent life from galaxies far, far away. 

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Our Eternal Home: Part 1

This is another in a series of excerpts from What Every Christian Should Know About the Return of Jesus, released by High Street Press and available at Amazon. 

In this column and the next two columns, we’ll look at three New Testament passages that help us grasp the promise of our eternal home.

Matthew 19:28

Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, in the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”

This verse comes in the context of Jesus’ instructions to his disciples about possessions and the kingdom of heaven. The disciples have just witnessed Jesus’ encounter with the rich young ruler, whose love of wealth goads him to walk away from the Lord’s invitation to eternal life (Matt. 19:16-22). 

Jesus tells the disciples how hard it is for a rich person, like the young ruler, to enter the kingdom. Those who invest their lives and resources in the corrupt and fleeting domain of the evil one have no regard for the eternal king who offers them so much more. 

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Seven Observations about the Unnamed Books of Daniel 7

This is another in a series of excerpts from The Book of Life: What the Bible Says about God’s Registry of the Redeemed from High Street Press and available at Amazon. This except comes from Chapter 9: The Books Were Opened: Daniel 7:9-10.

In the previous post, we examined the opening of unnamed books in Daniel 7. Now, here are seven observations about these books.

First, final judgment is certain. While God judges people and nations in various ways  throughout human history, a day is coming when every person stands before God and gives an account of his or her life (John 5:28-29). Final judgment also is set for Satan and rebellious angels (Matt. 25:41; Rev. 20:10). 

Second, God is the judge. In the case of Daniel 7, the Ancient of Days sits as magistrate, because he’s judging the antichrist and his counterfeit work against the Son of God. Jesus does not judge here in his own cause; rather, the Father brings the gavel of justice down on the one who presumes to take the Son’s place. Ultimately, however, Jesus is the judge, for the Father has entrusted all judgment to him (John 5:22). Whether it’s the judgment of sheep and goats, the judgment seat of Christ, or the judgment of the great white throne, Jesus sits as the final arbiter of justice over all people.

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Glory in Restoration

This is another in a series of excerpts from What Every Christian Should Know About the Return of Jesus, released by High Street Press and available at Amazon. 

When we read the post-resurrection accounts of Jesus’ life, we see that his glorified body  is able to navigate the ravages of a world still under the curse of sin. Jesus eats our food, travels our roads, speaks with befuddled eyewitnesses of his death and resurrection, passes through closed doors, transports himself effortlessly from one location to another, and finally launches from the Mount of Olives into heaven. 

Our resurrected bodies are destined to have many of the same capabilities. Yet there’s still something missing in God’s redemptive work. The world in which we live is still fallen, a reminder of the full effects of sin. So, a day is coming when our sovereign Lord reverses the curse and makes all things new (Rev. 21:5).

Jesus refers to this as “the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne” (Matt. 19:28). Peter urges us to wait for “new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness dwells” (2 Pet. 3:13). And in his vision of the world to come, John says he sees “a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more” (Rev. 21:1). These passages refer to the future glorification of the created order, a world purged of sin and its stain, where the pristine innocence of all creation is restored.

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