Is Your Name In The Book? | Daniel 12:1

Alright, fellas. We have made it to chapter 12 of Daniel. This final chapter will close out our journey through Daniel, and I hope you have loved it.  But I have a couple of housekeeping items first. First, our next book is going to be 1 Timothy. And you can pick up your 1 Timothy Scripture Journal on the website. As you follow along, you can take notes and remember how God has convicted you through the book. This is an excellent actionable tool to help you grow in your faith. Second, let me say this — the Daily Devo is how we mentor men. It's not just a tool for your personal growth but a tool to help you mentor and disciple others. You see, I believe we can mentor men in small ways daily. For example, this content can become the content you use to have discussions with another man in your life. Send the devo to a friend, relative, or co-worker and have a short daily discussion about it. It's not complicated. I also know many men who use the daily devotionals for their small group content. Just pick your favorite of the week and send it out to the group, and have a discussion. Again mentorship is not complicated, so don't overthink it. The title of the 1 Timothy series is — It's Time To Clean Up The Church. This is not a soft book. So get ready for some hard-hitting teaching for our modern church. And fourth, and finally, I speak at retreats across the U.S., but annually I host one here in Minnesota, and it's taking place in less than two weeks, and it's not too late to sign up. But I have about 17 last-minute guys who want to come from a local Christian Rehab Facility called Adult & Teen Challenge. And I am looking for guys to sponsor these 17 men. It is a donation, and it will go to support these men. If you want to sponsor one or many, I have put a link in the email today denoting where you can do this, and all money given is tax-deductible. So back to chapter 12. In this last chapter, we will look at the time of the end, and the last battle. Basically, over many chapters, Gabriel delivers a message to Daniel about all the occurrences from his time to the end of time. Then Gabriel takes him through hundreds of years of prophecy that we know has now been revealed. And then, at the end of chapter 11, Gabriel jumps ahead to the end of the time and talks about the rise of the Antichrist, who was exceedingly vicious and evil to God's people. And right at the apex of his time, Gabriel tells us that Michael, the great warrior angel, will show up and take charge. So here is verse one of chapter 12. At that time shall arise Michael, the great prince who has charge of your people. And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never has been since there was a nation till that time. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone whose name shall be found written in the book. — Daniel 12:1 So what we discover here is that it will only get worse. It's going to get so bad that, in the end, the battle will need supernatural leadership. But notice three angelic beings are interacting here. First, we have the messenger angel Gabriel communicating with Daniel. Second, we have the fallen angel Lucifer who leads the effort behind the Antichrist. Third, you have the warrior angel Micheal leading the charge into battle with God's people. And here is an interesting fact: there are only about three angels named in the bible — Lucifer, Gabriel, and Michael, and they are all a part of this narrative, which has to be a little unnerving for Daniel. But I want to focus on something important here. The phrase, "everyone whose name shall be found written in the book." This book is referenced several times by writers in the Old and New Testaments. (Philippians 4:3, Revelations 3:5, 13:8, 20:12, 20:15, 21:27, Psalm 69:28, Exodus 32:32-33.) It's called the Book of Life. And we tend to imagine this giant book of God, which I think is fine. But there are three features of this book that are inferred here: God has a record of those who he identifies as followers. That is important, so he's written it down. This number is limited, inferring there are names not written in it. Thus the goal is clear. Get your name in that book. So how do we do that? Well, in Revelations 20:12, John, another prophet of the end, has a vision, and he tells us how. It reads: And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. — Revelation 20:12