Thoughts on the Book of Daniel.
By Uriah Smith
VERSE 2. And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. This verse also shows how momentous a period is introduced by the standing up of Michael, or the commencement of the reign of Christ, as set forth in the first verse of this chapter; for the event here described in explicit terms is a resurrection of the dead. Is this the general resurrection which takes place at the second coming of Christ? or, is there to intervene between Christ's reception of the kingdom and his return to earth, Luke 19: 12, in all his advent glory, a special resurrection answering to the description here given? One of these it must be; for every declaration of Scripture will be fulfilled. Why may it not be the former, or the resurrection which occurs at the last trump? Answer. Because those who are then raised are all righteous. Those who sleep in Christ then come forth; but the rest of the dead live not again for a thousand years. Rev. 20: 5. So then the general resurrection of the whole race is comprised in two grand divisions, first of the righteous exclusively, at the coming of Christ, second, of the wicked exclusively, a thousand years thereafter. The general resurrection is not a mixed resurrection. The righteous and wicked do not come up promiscuously at the same time. But each of these two classes is set off by itself, and the time which elapses between their respective resurrections is plainly stated to be a thousand years. But in the resurrection brought to view in the verse before us, both righteous and wicked come up together. It cannot therefore be the first resurrection which includes the righteous only, nor the second, which is as distinctly confined to the wicked. If the text read, Many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake to everlasting life, then the “many” might be interpreted as including all the righteous, and the resurrection be that of the just at the second coming of Christ. But the fact that some of the many are wicked, and rise to shame and everlasting contempt, bars the way to such an application. It may be objected that this text does not affirm the awakening of any but the righteous, according to the translation of Bush and Whiting; namely, “And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, these to everlasting life, and those to shame and everlasting contempt.” It will be noticed first of all, that this translation (which we by no means hold above criticism) proves nothing till the evident ellipsis is supplied. This ellipsis some therefore undertake to supply as follows: “And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, these [the awakened ones] to everlasting life, and these [the unawakened ones] to shame and everlasting contempt.” It will be noticed again that this does not supply the ellipsis, but only adds a comment, which is a very different thing. To supply the ellipsis is simply to insert those words which are necessary to complete the sentence. “Many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake,” is a complete sentence. The subject and predicate are both expressed. The next member, “Some [or these] to everlasting life,” is not complete. What is wanted to complete it? Not a comment giving some one’s opinion of who is intended by “these,” but a verb of which these shall be the subject. What verb shall it be? This must be determined by the preceding portion of the sentence which is complete, where the verb “shall awake” is used. This, then, is the predicate to be supplied: “Some [or these] shall awake to everlasting life.” Applying the same remarks to the next member, “Some [or those] to shame and everlasting contempt,” which is not in itself a complete sentence, we find ourselves obliged to supply the same words, and read it, “Some [or those] shall awake to shame and everlasting contempt.” Anything less than this will not complete the sense, and anything different will pervert the text; for a predicate to be supplied, cannot go beyond a predicate already expressed. The affirmation made in the text pertains only to the many who awake. Nothing is affirmed of the rest who do not then awake. And to say that the expression “to shame and everlasting contempt” applies to them, when nothing is affirmed of them, is not only to outrage the sense of the passage, but the laws of language as well. And of the many who awake, some come forth to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt, which further proves a resurrection to consciousness for these also; for while contempt may be felt and manifested by others toward those who are guilty, shame can be felt and manifested only by the guilty parties themselves. This resurrection, therefore, as already shown, comprises some of both righteous and wicked, and cannot be the general resurrection at the last day. Is there then any place for a special or limited resurrection, or elsewhere any intimation of such an event, before the Lord appears? The resurrection here predicted takes place when God’s people are delivered from the great time of trouble with which the history of this world terminates, and it seems from Rev. 22: 11, that this deliverance is given before the Lord appears. The awful moment arrives when he that is filthy and unjust is pronounced unjust still, and he that is righteous and holy is pronounced holy still. Then the cases of all are forever decided. And when this sentence is pronounced upon the righteous, it must be deliverance to them; for then they are placed beyond all reach of danger, or fear of evil. But the Lord has not yet made his appearance; for he immediately adds, “And, behold, I come quickly.” The utterance of this solemn fiat which seals the righteous to everlasting life, and the wicked to eternal death, is supposed to be synchronous with the great voice which is heard from the throne in the temple of Heaven, saying, “It is done!” And this is evidently the voice of God so frequently alluded to in description of the scenes connected with the last day. Joel speaks of it, and says: “The Lord also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake; but the Lord will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel.” The margin reads instead of “hope,” “place of repair, or harbor.” Then, at this time, when God’s voice is heard from Heaven, just previous to the coming of the Son of Man, God is a harbor for his people, or, which is the same thing, provides them deliverance. Here, then, at the voice of God, when the decisions of eternity are pronounced upon the race, and the last stupendous scene is just to open upon a doomed world, God gives to the astonished nations another evidence and pledge of his power, and raises from the dead a multitude who have long slept in the dust of the earth. Thus we see that there is a time and place for the resurrection of Dan. 12: 2. We now add that a passage in the book of Revelation makes it necessary to suppose a resurrection of this kind to take place. Rev. 1: 7 reads: “Behold, he cometh with clouds [this is unquestionably the second advent]; and every eye shall see him [of the nations then living on the earth], and they also which pierced him [those who were the actors in his crucifixion]; and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him.” Those who crucified the Lord, would, unless there was an exception made in their cases, remain in their graves till the end of the thousand years, and come up in the general assembly of the wicked at that time. But here it is stated that they behold the Lord at his second advent. They must therefore have a special resurrection for that purpose. And it is certainly most appropriate that some, eminent in holiness, who have labored and suffered for their hope of a coming Saviour, but died without the sight, should be raised a little before, to witness the scenes attending his glorious epiphany, as, in like manner, a goodly company came out of their graves after his resurrection to behold his risen glory, and escort him in triumph to the right hand of the throne of the majesty on high; and also that some, eminent in wickedness, who have done most to reproach the name of Christ and injure his cause, and especially those who secured his cruel death upon the cross, and mocked and derided him in his dying agonies, should be raised, as part of their judicial punishment, to behold his return in the clouds of heaven a celestial victor, in, to them, unendurable majesty and splendor. One more remark upon this text before we leave it. It is supposed by some to furnish good evidence of the eternal conscious suffering of the wicked, because those of this character who are spoken of, come forth to shame and everlasting contempt. How can they suffer these, it is asked, unless they are conscious? It has already been stated that shame implies their consciousness; but it will be noticed that this is not said to be everlasting. This qualifying word is not inserted till we come to the contempt which is an emotion felt by others toward the guilty parties, and does not render necessary the consciousness of those against whom it is directed. And so some read the passage: “Some to shame and the everlasting contempt of their companions.”21And so it will be. Shame for their wickedness and corruption will burn into their very souls, so long as they have conscious being. And when they pass away, consumed for their iniquities, their loathsome characters and their guilty deeds, excite only contempt on the part of all the righteous, unmodified and unabated so long as they hold them in remembrance at all. The text, therefore, furnishes no proof of the eternal suffering of the wicked.