End of the Way

Daniel 12:13 says, “But go thy way till the end be: for thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of the days.”

When will the end be? That is a question we like to ignore. The fact of the business is that life as we know it on this earth will come to an end. For those in pain and agony it can’t come soon enough if they have hope of everlasting life in Jesus Christ. For those that don’t know Jesus as their Saviour, the worst of pain and suffering will only increase in the fires of hell. Before you quit reading this post, let me assure you that you have complete control of your destiny. We can have a wonderful walk with Jesus every day, not worrying about the end.

Daniel was an interesting prophet. God showed him not only future events that happened in his days, but detailed prophecies even into our days—the end of days. The text clearly says that the end will come. It also states that Daniel will die,—“for thou shalt rest.” And it says that Daniel will be resurrected, “and stand in thy lot at the end of the days.”

Daniel comes to the end of his great vision, and our record of his life, with a simple command; “go thy way.” We do not know what the rest of his life consisted of, or how long he lived. We do know he still had a way to go. It is good to check once in awhile and size up exactly how we are doing, “going our way.” Sometimes sitting by a fire we can do our best thinking. That is the way it was for two kings I would like us to look at. 

Jehoiakim was a king of Judah. His father was good king Josiah (Jeremiah 36:1). In Jehoiakim’s day, God had Jeremiah write in a book the sins of Israel, so that it would be read and people could repent and find forgiveness. The people took the book seriously and wanted the king to hear it. The king, however, took it lightly. Jeremiah 36:22-23 states, “Now the king sat in the winterhouse in the ninth month: and there was a fire on the hearth burning before him. And it came to pass, that when Jehudi had read three or four leaves, he cut it with a penknife, and cast in into the fire that was on the hearth, until all the roll was consumed in the fire that was on the hearth.” His arrogance caused him and his people to lose God’s grace and mercy. This was totally opposite of his father, King Josiah, who rent his clothes upon hearing of Israel’s sins when the scroll of the Lord was found in the temple.

When we consider our way we also can cast off God’s call to repentance, or we could do what King David did. Psalm 39:1 says, “I said I will take heed to my ways…” Then in verses 3-4, “My heart was hot within me, while I was musing the fire burned: then I spoke with my tongue, Lord, make me to know mine end, and the measure of my days, what it is; that I may know how frail I am.”

We may think that we have plenty of days left.

Upon arriving at college my sophomore year, I had some money in my pocket. School was not opening for another week. After getting a hamburger and bowling a few games, I realized my money was gone. What a fool! Trying to go to sleep in the back seat of my car I prayed for help. I opened the ashtray. It was full of quarters. It was enough to get me through by being careful. 

Let us be careful to spend each day wisely, in His favor, and God will see us through to the end of the way!