DANIEL STANDING IN HIS LOT

Publishing Committee · Battle Creek, Mich. · May 26, 1859

DANIEL STANDING IN HIS LOT.

"But go thou thy way till the end be; for thou shalt rest and stand in thy lot, at the end of the days." Dan. xii, 13. It has been generally supposed that the lot here mentioned is the lot of Daniel's inheritance; that he must have a resurrection to enjoy it; and that consequently "the days," or the prophetic periods, must extend to that event. This may be the view still entertained by those who reject the position that the prophetic periods have ended; or, rather this view may be a reason why they cannot believe that those periods are yet all in the past.

By examining the word, lot, however, we find that it cannot bear the signification above placed upon it. The original does not signify the lot of inheritance, but something entirely different. From the "Englishman's Hebrew Concordance" we learn that the word is translated from "goh-rahl," and occurs seventy-six times in the Old Testament. The following instances of its use we give from the same source:

Lev. xvi, 8. Aaron shall cast lots, one lot for the Lord, and the other lot for the scape-goat. 9. upon which the Lord's lot fell. 10. on which the lot fell. Num. xxvi, 55. the land shall be divided by lot. 56. according to the lot shall the.

The definition of the word lot, as given by Webster, is, 1. "That which in human speech, is called chance, hazard, fortune, but, in strictness of language, is the determination of Providence; as, the land shall be divided by lot. 2. That by which the fate or portion of one is determined; that by which an event is committed to chance, that is, to the determination of Providence; as, to cast lots; to draw lots."

There is another word [gheh-vel] which is translated, region, country, lot of inheritance, &c., as in Deut. iii, 4, 13, 14; xxxii, 9; Josh. xvii, 5, 14; xix, 9, 29. But this not being the word used in Dan. xii, 13, all ground for the objection usually raised on that point, is removed. It will hence be seen that Daniel does not stand in the "lot of his inheritance," as it has been expressed, at the end of the 1335 days, but he stands in his lot in the decisions of the judgment of the righteous dead. He stands in his lot, with all the righteous dead, in the person of his Advocate. And such, we believe, has been his position since the ending of the days. The question of Daniel's standing in his lot is therefore thus reduced to a finality. The word that is used, determines it with a precision, from which there is no appeal.