Read: Daniel 12:1-10
At that time your people shall be delivered. (v. 1)
I love books. I read professionally and recreationally, and I enjoy every kind of literature (including the occasional thriller). Generally, I don’t like to spoil a book’s ending. But periodically, the tension gets to me, and I have to peek at the final chapter.
The Bible tells one big story. It’s the true story of the whole world and the story of humanity’s unfolding relationship with God. Like an engrossing thriller, the Bible is full of dramatic tension, twists, and turns. Sometimes, for the characters in the middle of the story, the tension may feel unbearable. This must have been the case for Daniel. Not only was his life overshadowed by constant deadly threat, but his lifetime also overlapped the darkest time in Israel’s history: a time during which it seemed unfathomable that God’s covenant people would survive. But God interposed a vivid vision of the end of the story. God reassured Daniel that his people would be delivered from captivity: not just out of exile, but into eternal life.
Like Daniel, we navigate seasons and circumstances in which a happy ending may seem inconceivable. We must remember that the Bible is also our story, and we’re also God’s people. Paul asserts, “all the promises of God find their Yes in [Christ]” (2 Cor. 1:20). The deliverance foreseen by Daniel was signed and sealed by our Savior. Our happy ending is secure.
As you pray, thank God that the end of our story has already been written.
About the Author
Ben Van Arragon is the Minister of Worship and Leadership at Plymouth Heights Christian Reformed Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He preaches and teaches the Bible in church, online, and anywhere else he has the opportunity.
