Devotion: People of the Book (Daniel 12:1-3)

Audio file of this devotion. 

1 "At that time Michael, the great prince who protects your people, will arise. There will be a time of distress such as has not happened from the beginning of nations until then. But at that time your people-- everyone whose name is found written in the book-- will be delivered.  2 Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt.  3 Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever. 

Daniel 12:1-3

In a popular portrayal of the day of judgment we are pictured as gathered before God's throne (specifically His white throne) and called to give an accounting of our lives. As we make our way before the Judge, books are opened that have written in them all of the things that we did while on earth, both good and bad. While this popular portrayal of the Judgment is based on Revelation 20:12, it's missing an important element. In Revelation there is a distinction made between the books and how each kind of book is applied. For the unbelievers books of deeds are used to show them their sin. For believers, a single book -- the Book of Life -- is used to assure them that they have already been delivered from death to everlasting life.

The book of life that is brought out in the Judgment is the same book that is referred to in Daniel 12:1-3. It's the book that contains the names of those who have been washed clean in the blood of the Lamb, those who will stand before God in the Judgment covered by the righteousness of Jesus Christ with which they were clothed in the waters of Holy Baptism. It contains our names. We are the people of the book.

What does it mean to be the people of the book? It means that we will never have to give an accounting of our sins before God, because Jesus has already accounted for them. It means that we are free from the demands of the Law, because we are already declared righteous by the Judge of all mankind. It means that we have hope, because we have already been delivered from sin, death, and the power of Satan through the death and resurrection of Jesus. But it also means that we will face hardship, persecution, and hatred in this world because we bear His name in a world that rejects Him and His Word.

The books spoken of in these Scriptures are symbolic, but they present a powerful picture for us. They make it clear that it's one way or the other. Either our names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life or our deeds are recorded in another book for the day of judgment. A book of deeds is a book that speaks of lifeless things and those who must stand before God on the basis of this book are certain to lose out on eternal life. But a book of names is a book that reflects life and pictures for all whose names are written in it the certainty of eternal life. The Lamb's book of Life is a book that conveys God's grace, mercy, and love -- the very means by which your name has been written in it and by which you have been added to the people of the book.