This week, as we have studied the Bible together, we have learned much from the prophet Daniel’s integrity. He was a man who fully followed God and lived out his faith every single day, in private and in public. One way he modeled his integrity was by his devotion to prayer. He prayed regularly. In fact, nothing could stop him from praying before God, not even when his life was on the line. We learned in the weekend message that not only was Daniel a man of prayer, he was also a man of promise. God revealed future things to him, and he looked to God’s promises to guide him and help him live with integrity every single day.
We learn throughout the book of Daniel that God gave Daniel a vision about the end times. As the book of Daniel came to an end and Daniel processed all the visions that explained the future, he asked, “How will all this finally end…?” I think you and I might have asked the exact same question if we had been in Daniel’s place. The response to this question is good advice for us as we wait for the end, when God will make everything right. The response Daniel received in this vision was, “As for you, go your way until the end. You will rest, and then at the end of the days, you will rise again to receive the inheritance set aside for you” (verse 13). What was God telling Daniel in this vision? God was calling Daniel to keep living with integrity and to look forward to the day when he would “receive the inheritance set aside for [him].” That inheritance, we know, is eternal life with Christ forever.
What was true for Daniel is true for you and me as well. This world is filled with trials and difficulties, and many of us are wondering, “How will this all finally end?” Like Daniel, we are called to keep going and living with integrity as we look to the end, the hope of eternal life with God for all who place their faith in Him. Jesus said it this way to His disciples in John 16:33, “Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”
Scripture is full of God’s promises to us. What is a promise from God that you need a reminder of today? Maybe you need a promise of God’s love, or His forgiveness, or His faithfulness. Perhaps you need the reminder that one day God will come to this earth and redeem and restore everything sin destroyed. Whatever promise it is that you need to claim today, pick a verse from Scripture to memorize that relates to that promise. You can use the concordance in the back of your Bible to help you choose a verse to memorize. Let that verse point you straight to God’s promises to you and encourage you to hold fast to your integrity as you seek to honor God.
“God, as I remember Your great promises to Your children, I worship You because…”
1“At that time Michael, the archangel who stands guard over your nation, will arise. Then there will be a time of anguish greater than any since nations first came into existence. But at that time every one of your people whose name is written in the book will be rescued. 2 Many of those whose bodies lie dead and buried will rise up, some to everlasting life and some to shame and everlasting disgrace. 3 Those who are wise will shine as bright as the sky, and those who lead many to righteousness will shine like the stars forever. 4 But you, Daniel, keep this prophecy a secret; seal up the book until the time of the end, when many will rush here and there, and knowledge will increase.”
5 Then I, Daniel, looked and saw two others standing on opposite banks of the river. 6 One of them asked the man dressed in linen, who was now standing above the river, “How long will it be until these shocking events are over?”
7 The man dressed in linen, who was standing above the river, raised both his hands toward heaven and took a solemn oath by the One who lives forever, saying, “It will go on for a time, times, and half a time. When the shattering of the holy people has finally come to an end, all these things will have happened.”
8 I heard what he said, but I did not understand what he meant. So I asked, “How will all this finally end, my lord?”
9 But he said, “Go now, Daniel, for what I have said is kept secret and sealed until the time of the end. 10 Many will be purified, cleansed, and refined by these trials. But the wicked will continue in their wickedness, and none of them will understand. Only those who are wise will know what it means.
11 “From the time the daily sacrifice is stopped and the sacrilegious object that causes desecration is set up to be worshiped, there will be 1,290 days. 12 And blessed are those who wait and remain until the end of the 1,335 days!
13 “As for you, go your way until the end. You will rest, and then at the end of the days, you will rise again to receive the inheritance set aside for you.”
