We see this principle at work all through the Bible. God provided the means for Abram’s blessing through a son, whom Abram and his wife were powerless to produce (Genesis 12:1ff.). God delivered the Israelites from Egypt, not by their power but in their weakness, through His power. They were powerless to resist the Egyptian army or to cross the Red Sea. God opened the Red Sea, making a path for Israel’s escape and the means for the destruction of the Egyptian army (Exodus 3-15). God provided man’s salvation when we were too weak to save ourselves:

But what does it say? “THE WORLD IS NEAR YOU, IN YOUR MOUTH AND IN YOUR HEART”—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, 9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved; 10 for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation (Romans 10:8-10). As for me, Daniel, my spirit was distressed within me, and the visions in my mind kept alarming me. 16 I approached one of those who were standing by and began asking him the exact meaning of all this. So he told me and made known to me the interpretation of these things. Let me make this very personal. If you were to die tonight, do you know for certain that you would go to heaven? I've already said that this is too important to say "I think so" or "I hope so." If you're wrong, you're going to be wrong for a long, long time. The amazing surprise is that earth will be our eternal home. God will make renewed versions of heaven and earth that do not bear the scars of sin, violence, suffering, and death. God himself will move into our neighborhood and make his home in this world with human beings. Revelation 21:16 tells us that the “New Jerusalem” - which will be the capital city of God’s kingdom on earth - will be a perfect cube shape. This is not literal, but refers to the cube-shaped “most holy place” in the Biblical temple, where God’s presence came to live among Israel. Help each other do all these things in your small groups. Exhort each other every day to lay hold on hope.The first words spoken to Daniel in verse 13 should set the standard for every Christian. Daniel’s death was surely not very far away in time. The day of his departure was near, yet he was encouraged to “go his way;” he was to keep on just as he had been. I wonder how many of us could be told the same thing. As the day of our death or the day of our Lord’s return draws near, is there anything we would wish to change? I know many changes are needed in my life. But from the first chapter of Daniel through all those many years of his bondage and service in captivity, Daniel remained faithful. He did not need to change as death drew near, for he had lived all of his life in the light of eternity and of his glorious hope in the God of Israel. If I am going to hold fast to my well-anchored hope, then I will need some sin-conquering help from God. And that is what verse 21 says I get: “[God] is working in us that which is pleasing in his sight “namely, our holding fast to the well-anchored hope.” And notice the next three words: “through Jesus Christ.” That means that our High Priest, our never-dying, Melchizedek-like High Priest obtained by the blood of the eternal covenant not just firm attachment at one end of the anchor, but at both ends. It is firm in heaven, and it is firm in us. This is the salvation he obtained by his blood: the hope of heaven, and the holding fast to get there. We are not left to our own weak hands to hold on. The anchor of our souls is bound to us as well as to heaven. God’s Plan Is Coherent In the first half of verse 1, we are told that Michael arises. In the second half of this same verse, we are told that the time of Israel’s great tribulation begins. It is almost unavoidable to conclude that Michael’s rising is the reason for the commencement of the Great Tribulation. Just as the angel’s “rising” (so to speak) in response to Daniel’s prayer precipitated angelic conflict (10:12-13), so Michael’s “rising” precipitates the heavenly and earthly conflict of the Tribulation. In a similar way, our Lord’s coming to earth also precipitated demonic opposition and conflict. The first verse of chapter 12 reveals two facts pertaining to the end times we would not have expected apart from divine revelation. First, the angel Michael 114 is the instrument through whom the period of the Great Tribulation is initiated. There is a definite link between the “king of the North” and the Great Tribulation to be sure. But the text leaves this evil king behind in chapter 11, linking the beginning of the tribulation to Michael, who will arise and bring about a “time of great distress,” a time particularly directed toward the Jews.

I would answer by saying that the Bible doesn't give us much information. What we have are images and pictures of heaven and comparisons with life on earth. In verse 3, the reward of the righteous in eternity is directly linked to their faithfulness to the task they were given in time. Those who “let their light shine” in the dark days of persecution and opposition, and thus led many to righteousness, will shine brightly forever in eternity. Malloy is reasonably helpful, giving him some advice and the fair warning when he thinks it's really time for Miller to make a run for it, but he doesn't get too involved. As is often the case, raw honesty proves dark and sad -- but here it's not so much a Hollywood-story but rather more of the everyman sort (with a few Hollywood trappings).) In those days I, Daniel, had been mourning for three entire weeks. 3 I did not eat any tasty food, nor did meat or wine enter my mouth, nor did I use any ointment at all, until the entire three weeks were completed (Daniel 10:2-3).In his very helpful book on heaven, W.A. Criswell makes the additional point that individual personality survives into eternity. I'll be the same person then that I am now-only with all the imperfections and limitations of sin finally removed. This is a wonderful thought-that the essence of who we are will remain throughout eternity-yet vastly improved by God's grace. [Note: W.A. Criswell and Paige Patterson, Heaven, Tyndale House Publishers, 1991, pp. 33-38. He also says that in heaven we can eat all we want and not get fat. I certainly hope he's right about that.] Why is Mary still so important for us today? Because what was true in history is true today. She is still the Mother of Jesus Christ; still – for that reason – the Mother of God; and still the Mother of the Church. Daniel 12 is the crowning chapter of this prophecy, as well as its conclusion. It takes the believer to the high-water mark of Christian hope—the assurance of the resurrection of the dead. Let us listen and learn, and gain hope and comfort. The Setting

And as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last He will take His stand on the earth. 26 Even after my skin is flayed, yet without my flesh I shall see God (Job 19:25-26). The same was true for those in Daniel’s day as well as for those in the last days. They needed no new revelation. They needed to believe God’s promise of salvation which was revealed to them in the Old Testament Scriptures, just as every Old Testament saint was saved by faith (see Hebrews 11). While the last days would be characterized by a rapid increase in knowledge, this will not turn men toward God. Instead, men in the last days will vacillate, manifesting no consistency. They will go here and there seeking new knowledge (see Acts 17:16-21). The prophecy of the Book of Daniel proves to be of great value to those living in the last times, for it gives insight into the events taking place around them. The Length of Christians believe that those who are close to Jesus, through a living faith, will be welcomed into heaven. Some of them, the saints, will go straight to heaven. But some of them will need to go through a spiritual purification before they enter heaven; we call this the experience of purgatory. We can turn to her for help and consolation. We can talk to her and ask her to pray for us. Her prayers are more powerful than those of the other saints and of the angels. Daniel was in mourning, although we are not told why he mourned, apparently for some period of time. We know the vision he received was in response to his request to understand that which the angel was sent to explain:In verse 1, Daniel is specifically assured that “his people” (literally “your people”) would be rescued. This statement is then given the additional clarification, “everyone who is found written in the book.” There are some who take this to mean that the tribula- tion affects only the Jews and that only believing Jews will be rescued. While this is possible, other biblical texts The answer is given in verse 18. It says that we are to “have strong encouragement, we who have fled for refuge in laying hold of the hope set before us.” The hope is something “set before us.” It is the future objective reality that we hope for. It is heaven and the blessing promised in verse 14 and the sum of all the good that God has sworn to be for us in Jesus. Now here is the burning question for me. Is the anchor of my soul as firmly attached to my soul as it is to the altar of God? In other words, is the picture here of an anchor with its hook and chain bound unbreakably to the altar of God in the holy of holies so that nothing could loose it from that end, but with the rope just hanging out of heaven in the air? Is the only point of this text to say, “Take hold of the loose end of this rope and you will have safety and firmness and assurance”? The prophecy of Daniel is not the revelation of God’s plan of salvation; it is the revelation of God’s plan for the future. It reveals how God’s salvation will be fulfilled, not how it is made possible. Daniel focuses on the manifestation of God’s salvation in history, not its means through the coming, death, burial, and resurrection of the Messiah, Jesus Christ.