Daniel 12.2-The Prophecies of the Resurrection of the Saved and Unsaved in Israel
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Tuesday August 26, 2014
Daniel: Daniel 12:2-The Prophecies of the Resurrection of the Saved and Unsaved in Israel
Lesson # 373
Please turn in your Bibles to Daniel 12:2.
Daniel 12:2 “Many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt.” (NASB95)
Daniel 12:2 “Then, many from those sleeping in the dusty ground will be awakened-some for the purpose of experiencing everlasting life but others for the purpose of experiencing disgrace, for the purpose of experiencing everlasting contempt.” (My translation)
The elect angel of God reveals to Daniel that the resurrection of Old Testament saints will take place after those whose name is written in the scroll are delivered from Antichrist and Satan’s armies.
Thus, the angelic being is informing Daniel and the reader that chronologically, the resurrection of Old Testament saints in Israel will take place at the Second Advent of Jesus Christ when He delivers regenerate Jews from the Antichrist and Satan during the last three and a half years of the seventieth week.
The first prophetic statement “many from those sleeping in the dusty ground will be awakened” refers to an undefined number of Jewish individuals who had died during the Old Testament dispensations.
This is indicated by the fact that the angel tells Daniel that they sleep in the dust of the ground which is a metaphor for those who are dead.
Also, he is speaking to Daniel in the context of his people, the Jews (cf. Daniel 12:1).
Daniel had no knowledge of the church age since this was a mystery dispensation meaning it was unknown to Old Testament prophets like Daniel.
The reference to sleep here is figurative language for the state of being physically dead and so it is a euphemism for death.
The idea of sleep here in Daniel 12:2 is not one of unconscious existence in death but rather it simply means that a dead person appears to be asleep.
The doctrine that the soul sleeps between death and resurrection is called “psychopannychy” and has been sporadically taught throughout the church’s history.
The Scriptures do teach that both the saved and the unsaved experience a conscious existence after their death.
In 2 Corinthians 5:8, Paul encourages the Corinthian church that when they die, they will be absent from the body and face to face with the Lord.
In the account of the Rich Man and Lazarus in Luke 16:19-31, the Lord Jesus taught that both have a conscious existence after death.
In Revelation 20:10, both the Antichrist and the false prophet are consciously suffering in the lake of fire for over a thousand years when Satan is finally thrown into the lake of fire.
The Scriptures teach that those who have died in the Old Testament went to a place called Hades, which contained two compartments: (1) Paradise (2) Torments.
The Old Testament saints resided in Paradise until the resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ (cf. Eph. 4:8).
Therefore, it is empty during the church age.
However, Torments contains the unregenerate dead from every Old Testament dispensation including the church age.
These will be transferred to the Great White Throne Judgment at the end of human history where they will be thrown into the eternal lake of fire.
After death, a human being’s body goes back to the dust of the ground in fulfillment of the Lord’s prophecy in Genesis 3:14 but the souls of human beings in the Old Testament dispensations go to Hades.
The saved go to Paradise and now reside in heaven after the resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ whereas the unsaved go to Torments.
During the church age, the saved go immediately to the presence of Jesus Christ in heaven when they die (2 Cor. 5:8) but the unsaved during the church age go to Torments.
“Hades” is the name given in the New Testament for the temporary quarters for the souls of unbelievers and “Sheol” is the name given in the Old Testament.
This place contains four compartments: (1) Paradise: the place of the departed souls of believers before the resurrection of Christ (Lk. 23:39-43; Eph. 4:8-9) who were transferred to heaven after the resurrection and ascension of Christ (Eph. 4:10). (2) Torments: the temporary fire for the souls of unbelievers from all dispensations (Lk. 16:19-31) who will be transferred to the Great White Throne Judgment that concludes human history and from there will be cast in the Lake of Fire forever (Rev. 20:11-15). (3) Tartarus: the abode of the fallen angels of Genesis 6 who had sex with woman in order to corrupt the human race and prevent the incarnation of the Son of God (1 Peter 3:18-22; 2 Peter 4; Jude 6). (4) The Abyss: the place of imprisonment for the demons who violated certain rules for angelic creation and will be released during the Tribulation (Lk. 8:30-31; Rom. 10:7; Rev. 20:1-3).
Prior to the resurrection, ascension and session of the Lord Jesus Christ, Old Testament saints when they died did not go to the third heaven but rather to Paradise.
These Old Testament saints such as Abraham ascended with Jesus Christ into heaven as part of our Lord’s triumphal procession as victor in the angelic conflict and were part of the booty from our Lord’s victory that was accomplished through His death and resurrection (Ephesians 4:8).
In Ephesians 4:8, the statement “He led host a host of captives” refers to Old Testament saints that were temporarily residing in the second compartment of Hades called Paradise (Lk. 16; 23:43).
The second and third prophetic statements in Daniel 12:2 amplify the first.
“Some for the purpose of experiencing everlasting life” is a reference to the resurrection of Old Testament saints who lived in Israel during the Old Testament dispensations.
The Old Testament associated confident expectation of resurrection with the Second Advent of Jesus Christ.
The resurrection of Old Testaments saints in Israel is also referred to in Daniel 11:35.
The third prophetic statement in Daniel 12:2 “others for the purpose of disgrace, for the purpose of everlasting contempt” is a reference to the resurrection of unregenerate Israelites who lived during the Old Testament dispensations.
The purpose of raising the unsaved dead is for the purpose of experiencing eternal condemnation.
“Disgrace” refers to the ignominy which unregenerate Israelites will experience as a result of suffering eternal condemnation and is the direct result of rejecting Jesus Christ as Savior and refusing to exercise faith in Him in order to receive eternal life.
It can also be the result of refusing to acknowledge and worship God as Creator as He is revealed in creation and also can be the result of rejecting God’s revelation of Himself in the conscience.
“Everlasting contempt” pertains to a holy God’s attitude towards those who are unregenerate.
It pertains to a holy God’s attitude towards those who have either rejected the revelation of Himself in their conscience, or in creation or they refused to acknowledge Him as Creator and worship Him or they rejected His Son Jesus Christ as Savior.
The chronological order of events in God’s resurrection program: (1) Jesus Christ (Matthew 28; Mark 16:1-14; Luke 24:1-12; John 20:1-9). (2) The Church at the rapture, which takes place prior to Daniel’s seventieth week (1 Cor. 15:51-58; 1 Thess. 4:13-18; Philippians 3:21). (3) Old Testament believers and Tribulation martyrs at the Second Advent of Jesus Christ, which ends Daniels’ seventieth week (Daniel 12:2-3; Revelation 20:4). (4) Every non-believer in human history will be raised from the dead at the Great White Throne Judgment of unbelievers at the end of human history (Daniel 12:2; Revelation 20:11-15).
If you notice, in Daniel 12:2, the angel tells Daniel that there will be those in Israel who lived during Old Testament dispensations who will experience “everlasting” contempt.
The fact that the unsaved are to be raised for the purpose of experiencing everlasting contempt refutes the idea of “annihilationism” which is the belief that all the unsaved will be judged by God and thrown into the lake of fire where they will cease to exist.
If the unsaved were simply put out of existence at their death then why are they said to be raised?
If they were simply put of existence at the moment of physical death, then they could not be raised from the dead.
However, the text does say that they were raised from the dead and for the purpose of experiencing everlasting contempt!
Annihilationism is also called “conditional immortality” which is the belief that the human soul’s eternal existence is dependent on God’s gracious act of sustaining it.
Those who adhere to this view suggest that the human soul is given eternal life only as a gift and that those who do not receive the gift of eternal life (the unsaved) will cease to exist sometime after death, either immediately or at the final judgment.
Some annihilationists suggest that this will occur instantaneously, while others believe that the unrighteous may experience a brief period of awareness but all annihilationists agree that no individual, however wicked, will suffer eternally a conscious existence in hell.
There are several passages which refute this view (Matthew 25:46; John 3:36; 2 Thessalonians 1:10; Revelation 14:10-11; 19:20; 20:10).