SUMMARY
The final chapter of DanielAn interpreter of dreams who was delivered from the lions' den. is integrally connected to chapters 10-11. Daniel 12 announces the intervention of Michael, a heavenly being assigned to protect the people of God, and the resurrection of the faithful. As a unit, Daniel 10-12 asserts, as have previous chapters, that the future for the people of God will not be easy; the picture is not at all pretty. But the outcome is certain: the evil rulers of this age will not have the last word. The closing words of Daniel assure us that God will provide the inheritance that has been allotted for the faithful.
ANALYSIS
This chapter describes and predicts a victory that comes at an hour of great need. It is described as “a time of anguish such as has never occurred since nations first came into existence” (v. 1). That victory will not only result in the end of acute suffering, but will also spell the end of death itself. The dead will rise, some to everlasting life and some to shame and contempt. For modern readers, this may sound like a shocking admission. Consider the ancient authors, however. They daily lived under the oppressive weight of imperial domination, even while clinging to ancient religious traditions that gave them hope. Daniel promised that a day would come when their faithfulness would finally be publicly recognized and acknowledged, and evil would finally and definitively be dismantled.
