Daily Thought for Friday March 21st 2025
“Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever.”
Daniel 12:3
A time of anguish
Jock Stein
Daniel is one of the first group of Jewish exiles, providing bright young civil servants for the Babylonian king. From chapter 7 on the book gives us visions of the future, in a mixture of apocalyptic (“at that time …”) and more specific language. The crafting of the latter leads scholars to think that the book was published much later, during the reign of the hated Antiochus Epiphanes, who (chapter 11, verse 45) would “pitch his palatial tents between the sea and the beautiful holy mountain” – a reference both to his “palace” and to where God’s people always live, somewhere between the ugly unknown (the sea), and the beautiful place where God is.
“There shall be a time of anguish”, along with “but your people shall be delivered” is a message to everyone who finds the world full of awful things, and maybe themselves coming under pressure. The deliverance may be immediate and wonderful, or only through death and resurrection – compare Hebrews 11:32-38. And verse 2 in our passage is the only clear statement in the Old Testament of the belief in bodily resurrection which would distinguish Pharisees from Sadduccees (see Acts 23:6).
Verse 1 refers to the Archangel Michael. Many people report an encounter with a person they later reckon was an angel (though not Michael himself), in every case giving them desperately needed help and then usually disappearing. We can seek God’s help for ourselves and others, and be open to the unexpected.
The passage also suggests three things:
Verse 1: While we do well to pray and work for peace, we can no longer assume the Kingdom of God will come gently with human progress (as some Victorians thought about the British Empire). God’s purpose will not be thwarted by the mess we make, but death and resurrection is the model given to us.
Verse 2: It is a great calling to “turn people to righteousness”, as preaching and pastoral care seeks to do. The previous verse, like the gospels, warns us of two ways and two outcomes.
Verses 4 and 9: Daniel is told, “Seal the book”. Bible teaching about “the end” is not to satisfy our curiosity, but to make us humble and ready for anything. It’s good to be curious about current events and their meaning, but better to pray through them, and best to live trusting God for ourselves and others.
Shall we pray?
God of hope, in all our trials and uncertainties, help us to place our trust in your great promises. May we know them to be true. Amen.
Jock Stein is a retired minister, ordained in Kenya – a poet, piper, preacher and publisher who lives with his wife Margaret in Haddington, where they are members of St Mary’s Parish Church.