Daniel 12:2
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Well, good evening, church. Yeah, again, tonight we're going to be looking at Daniel chapter 12, verse 2. So you can look at the front of your bulletin, or if you have one of these Red Pew Bibles, it'll be on page 750. So again, we're looking at Daniel chapter 12, verse 2. So back in 2011, this book called Heaven is for Real was written, And it told the story of this little boy who had this near-death experience during a surgery where he had gone to heaven and come back.
And this book, it went on to be a New York Times number one bestseller. And it was the top-selling fiction book of 2011. And it went to sell over 11 million copies worldwide. And not even that, but it went on to make a movie. in 2014 that had a budget of about $12 million. But over time, that movie ended up making about $101 million. And I'm not here to comment on the validity of this story, or if it's true or not, but my point is just how absolutely captivated and just fascinated people were by this story.
They were hungry to know, is this real? And I think it's because death, it seems so mysterious. What happens after death? Do we know? Do we need to solve some kind of puzzle to figure it out? And so people were just so hungry to know if this story was true. And our Bible verse here tonight, Daniel chapter 12, verse 2, it speaks directly into that. And it shows us there is a very clear thing that happens after death. and it's not mysterious, it's not a puzzle, there's nothing to figure out.
It's that everyone has an eternal destination. Everyone is going somewhere, and where you end up, where you're going has immense implications on your life. So let's read our verse, Daniel chapter 12, verse 2. And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.
So my main idea for this verse is this. Every person is headed to one of two destinations, either everlasting life with God or everlasting separation from God. Again, that is every person is headed to one of two destinations. Either everlasting life with God or everlasting separation from God. And I'm going to break this down into two points. Point number one, we're just going to look at the first half of the verse.
And then point number two, we're going to look at the second half of the verse. So my point number one is the hope of eternal life. And point number two is the warning of eternal judgment. Again, that is the hope of eternal life and the warning of eternal judgment. So let's look at point number one, the hope of eternal life. So here in our verse, we're actually right at the end of the book of Daniel in chapter 12. And since chapter 7, Daniel has been recounting these visions that he received.
And these visions, they were visions of God's people suffering under intense persecution from earthly kingdoms and wicked rulers and just God's sovereignty over all of that. And here in chapter 12, our focus, it now shifts to what happens at the end of that. It's the final destination for all of humanity. So let's look at the first part of our verse. And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake some to everlasting life.
So that phrase, sleep in the dust of the earth, it's a poetic expression. It's referring to death. But the Bible often uses the word sleep to refer to death. In that picture of the dust of the earth, it's recalling back to Genesis in creation when man was made from the dust of the earth. So we have these people, the dead, coming from the earth and being raised to life. And then also that word many, it can seem confusing, as though it's limiting, but it's not here to limit.
It's not saying that there are some, but not all, that are going to be raised. It's more getting at the idea of a multitude, of a lot of people. It's referring, yeah, to this great mass of people. And it's not limiting because what our verse is doing, it's categorizing people into one of two camps. They're going into one of two places. And what are they being awakened to? What's the first group being awakened to? What does it say in our verse? It says everlasting life.
What we have here is this brief glimpse into the reality of the resurrection after death. That there is something coming after death. And this would have been the most beautiful, hope-filled truth that the Israelites could have ever gotten. All of this was taking place around the time of the exile. The Israelites, they were out from under the rule of Babylon, but they haven't yet been fully restored. They were still, the experience of the exile was still fresh in their mind.
Parts of them were still scattered. And in this, they would have been wondering, is God doing something here? Does God actually have a plan? Does he know what he's doing? And we see here that, yes, God does have a plan. For a moment here, God, he's pulling back the curtain, and he's showing this is the end. It's a huge spoiler. This is how it all turns out in the end. Because right before our verse, in verse number one, it says, But at that time your people shall be delivered.
Everyone whose name shall be found written in the book. God's people are going to be delivered from their suffering. and christian this this truth it still applies to you today because of your faith in jesus as your savior your name is written in that book in the book of life you have the hope of the resurrection where jesus is going to make all things new and it's not just temporary no it says it's everlasting it's never ending And it's not just a mere state of existence, it's life, it's everlasting life, life with God, life abundant.
We so often, we don't live like it's true. We're so quick to give into fear and to despair. Why is that? Why do we do that? Why don't we believe that? I think if we're honest, it's because it just doesn't seem like it's true. The world, it seems so out of control. We deal with so much suffering.
I mean, right now, in the country of Nigeria, Christians are suffering intense persecution from extremist Islamic groups. It's estimated that over 50,000 Christians have been killed since 2009, with thousands more killed annually in 2025 and early 2026. That's 3,000 a year, eight every day.
That's one Christian killed every three hours just simply because they're a Christian. I mean, how do you reconcile that with what our verse is saying? That there's hope, that God has a plan, that there's something at the end. How do you reconcile that? And while we may not always suffer in the same way, we still are so very, very familiar with the pains of this broken world. I mean, so many of us are struggling.
We have cancer and loss of loved ones and miscarriages and chronic health issues. And we see that and we can't help but wonder, does God actually have a plan? Is there actually hope in this? Friends, let this be a wonderful encouragement to you. Daniel 12, it's reminding us that history is not out of control.
The world is not out of control without a plan. God, he sees the end. And for his people that trust in Jesus Christ as their Savior, that end, it's everlasting life. Even in the face of difficulty and persecution, we can have hope. So hold on to that. Rest in that hope in the face of difficulty and darkness and suffering. There is hope.
But we see there's also another destination. So let's go into point number two, the warning of eternal judgment. So let's read the next part of the verse. And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. So the second destination, first we see eternal life, but now it's shame and contempt.
I want you to notice something there. I mean, if you think about this verse in the context of what's going on with the people of Israel having dealt with persecution and suffering, and now God's coming in, he's pulling the curtains back. He's showing this is how it all ends. You'd think that it would say eternal life and judgment, but it doesn't. It says shame and contempt. Why do you think that is? Why do you think it says shame and contempt? Well, I think that there's two things going on here. There's two reasons.
For one, it's this great reversal. So far in these visions, God's people have been suffering, and the wicked, evil nations of the world, they're the ones who've been winning. But now in this reversal, we have God's people being raised to eternal life, and then we have those opposed to God being put to shame. It's this great reversal that's happening. They seem like they were winning, but now they've been put to shame. And then the second reason, I think, is it's giving this really, really descriptive picture of judgment, of someone opposed to God.
Not only are they put to shame, but they're in contempt. And that Hebrew word there for contempt, it actually only appears twice in the Bible. It's here and then in Isaiah 66, 24, where these rebels against God, they become an object of abhorrence. It's this picture of judgment. It's this horrible, repulsive state. It's repugnant. It's just giving this really descriptive picture of those opposed to God.
So if you're here, you're not a Christian, I want you to listen to this. I want you to hear this tonight. You're not headed towards eternal life with God. You're headed towards an eternal separation. You're headed towards shame. contempt. And you may be sitting there thinking, well, I'm not one of the bad guys. I'm not out there killing people, killing Christians. You know, I live a pretty good life. I don't really do too many bad things. This doesn't really apply to me. But what I want you to see here is that this actually, it's not a division between really, really evil people and then really good people. What it is, it's a division between those who belong to God and then those who don't belong to God. And if you don't trust in Jesus as your Savior, then your name, it isn't written in that book. You actually don't belong to God. I don't want you to go through life thinking that you're
headed towards an eternal life with God simply because you aren't a bad person. The reality is that everyone, including you, has rebelled against God and has sinned against him. You're in that group of people headed towards shame and contempt. But there is a way. You can have eternal life.
All that you have to do is go to Jesus and repent of your sin and your rebellion against him. See, Jesus, he humbled himself to become a man just like us. He became a human. He lived a perfect life, the life that you never could live. And he died the death. He died the death that you deserve. And he took on that shame and that contempt, the shame and contempt that you deserved. So that you wouldn't have to. And you rose again from the dead so that all who believe in him can have eternal life.
I want you to take this seriously now. You're not dead yet. You're here alive now. But tomorrow is not promised. The next minute of your life is not promised. You don't know how much time you have left. So don't wait. Trust in Jesus. as your only hope of salvation. Let's pray. Dear Lord, thank you for tonight and the chance we have to gather together as a church to sing songs to you, to worship you, and hear from your word.
Lord, please help us this week to remember our eternal destination and the hope that we have in it. I pray for anyone here who is not a Christian, Lord, that they would continue to think on this, they repent of their sins, and they believe in you, Jesus, as their hope for salvation. In the name of Jesus, I pray. Amen.