The End Times

The message to Daniel about God’s plan to put an end to evil is both fascinating and, if we are being honest, frustrating. It is very specific (listing an exact number of days!) and yet, also quite vague (time, times and half a time). Even Daniel himself seems confused by what exactly the angelic figures mean. Like Daniel, scholars have puzzled over the exact meaning of the details in this text as well – there are many theories about the meaning, though no consensus. What is clear in the message of the angels is well stated by the NIV Theological Study Bible, which says, “[These verses] impart the impression that God has determined an end to evil, but they do not allow us to predict when this end will actually come."

STUDY THE SCRIPTURE

Click here to access the reading from Daniel 12:1-13

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REFLECTION

 

Be Content

by Kelsey Bacon

It is interesting to read such a passage after our in-depth study of Revelation. With Revelation giving us such detailed descriptions of end times, this passage seems pretty vague in comparison. Sure there are some specifics, but even the specifics are vague and confusing! And how are we supposed to interpret, "It will be for a time, times and half a time"?!!

I think the answer is: we're not. I'm sure many Biblical scholars over the years have tried their best, but I don't think that's what God is trying to get us to focus on in this particular passage.

I have never been a logic-minded or scientific person. Ever since I was a young kid, I believed in God because I believed, that was just it. As I got older I of course had experiences with Jesus that showed his presence in my life, but I was never hungry for proof, or digging for facts. I accepted from a very early age that I was never going to know all the answers, and that I didn't need to know them. I know that for more left-brained people this can be a hard pill to swallow, but I do believe this is what God is asking of us here. He is not going to tell us the answers. In fact, our human minds are likely incapable of handling them! But he's asking us to have faith, to trust. To trust that he's got this, that he'll take care of everything when the time is right.

The Lord's final words to Daniel here strike me as an important message for us, too. He says, "As for you, go your way till the end. You will rest, and then at the end of the days you will rise to receive your allotted inheritance." Here God is not only promising Daniel eternal life, but also telling him to wait, to go about his life doing as he has been instructed. Live, be patient, and God will work all things for good in the end. 

It reminds me of some words Solomon writes in Ecclesiastes, "This is what I have observed to be good: that it is appropriate for a person to eat, to drink and to find satisfaction in their toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life God has give them--for this is their lot." Live, be patient, and God will work all things for good in the end. It's no use worrying about end times or trying to figure out when they're going to happen--they'll happen when they happen, and God knows it. That doesn't mean we shouldn't study those aspects of scripture or keep pursuing knowledge and wisdom, but do it knowing that God is in control so we can be content with our lot.

UALC’S CAMPAIGN OF PRAYER

 

THURSDAY: LIFE - Lord God Almighty, we lament the current distress of our nation and we ask for your intervention. We implore you that every precious life would be protected – lives of minorities, lives of the unborn, lives of the hopeless, lives of the mentally ill, lives with deep roots in this land, lives who have recently arrived -- each and every precious life for whom You gave Your precious life.