July 8: ONLY TWO GROUPS

And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, Some to everlasting life, Some to shame and everlasting contempt. Daniel 12:2

Those who have died sleep in the dust of the earth with no awareness of the passing of time. After sin entered the human race, Adam and Eve lived under the shadow of death. Beforehand, the LORD God had issued a loving warning not to partake of “the tree of the knowledge of good and evil . . . for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” (Genesis 2:17). And die they did. Peter reminds us that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day (2 Peter 3:8). So, from the Lord’s perspective, Adam’s death at age 930 (Genesis 5:5) preceded the close of the first “day with the Lord”.

After they sinned, God plainly told the pair that they would “return to the ground, For out of it you were taken; For dust you are, and to dust you shall return” (Genesis 3:19).

Our first parents could remember what it felt like to be alive on the earth with only a glorious eternal future ahead—and without death’s awful shadow. But because of the tragedy of sin, everyone since then has lived in the valley of the shadow of death (Psalm 23:4).

Have you ever wondered why Daniel included some of the wicked in 12:2? Doesn’t the Bible teach that the wicked are raised after the Millennium? “Yes—but there is an exception. John writes, Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him (Revelation 1:7). There will be a special resurrection shortly before Christ comes for those who crucified Him, just as He promised in Matthew 26:64: “Hereafter you will see the Son of Man…coming on the clouds of heaven.” Additionally, some scholars interpret Daniel 12:2 to mean that certain righteous individuals—perhaps those who played a special part in God’s work—will also be raised early to witness His coming.” Doug Batchelor

Today’s verse is also a reminder that, at the end of the cosmic conflict between Christ and Satan, there will be only two groups of all the people who have ever lived: those who have accepted God’s terms for eternal life (forgiveness and transformation through Christ) and those who will receive the wages of sin [which] is death (Romans 6:23). When Christ returns, the sight of Him will bring indescribable joy for all who chose to abide with Him through the trials and tribulations in the valley of the shadow of death.

“All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats.” Matthew 25:32

Further study: Job 14:14-15,21; 19:25-26; Ecclesiastes 9:5; 12:7; John 5:28-29; 1 Corinthians 15:50-58; 1 Thessalonians 4:15-16; Revelation 20:4-6;11-15