AS THE BRIGHTNESS OF THE FIRMAMENT… AS THE STARS

The opening phrase of verse 1, ‘And at that time’, makes it clear that the period covered by the first three verses follows on directly after the events described in the closing section of chap­ter 11. Those events themselves are spoken of as covering ‘the time of the end’, Dan. 11. 40. The resurrection of ‘many’ to eter­nal life follows the deliverance of the surviving remnant of Israel from more intense persecution and trouble than had been expe­rienced at any other time in the nation’s history; ‘such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time’, v. 1 (cf. Jer. 30. 7 and Matt. 24. 21). This unprecedented persecution is to be orchestrated by the wilful ‘king’ of Daniel chapter 11 verses 36-45, whose detailed description suggests strongly that he is to be identified with the Beast of Revelation chapter 13 and the ‘man of sin’ of 2 Thessalonians chapter 2.

The promise of verse 3, ‘they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righ­teousness as the stars for ever and ever’, forms the climax of Daniel’s closing vision, which commenced at the beginning of chapter 10, and indeed the climax of the whole of his book.

Those who, during the period of unprecedented persecu­tion, have detected the ‘deceit of unrighteousness’ practised by the ‘man of sin’, 2 Thess. 2. 9, 10 RV, and who have instructed many of their contemporaries in God’s way of righteousness will be suitably rewarded for their faithful witness and service. Those who had shone ‘as lights in the world, holding forth the word of life’ and of God’s truth are to receive the glorious reward of shining eternally. In the same way, that is, that the present expanse of heaven makes known God’s glory through its vast array of stellar bodies, they will be given the capacity to radiate the glory of God, and that ‘for ever and ever’. How dif­ferent from the ‘stardom’ sought by many in the world today! The Lord Jesus spoke of the time when ‘the Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom … them which do iniquity … then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father’, Matt. 13. 41-43.