Many will be purified, cleansed, and refined, but the wicked will act wickedly; none of the wicked will understand, but the wise will understand.    Daniel 12:10 HCSB

In this last chapter of the book of Daniel, the angel Gabriel has come to explain to Daniel the meaning of his visions. If you read through Daniel, you will see that many of these prophecies made by Gabriel have been fulfilled. I have mentioned Dr. David Jeremiah’s book, the Handwriting on the Wall, written with C. C. Carlson. This book has done an excellent job of explaining Daniel.

As I have read through Daniel in the past, I have gotten a little lost in the symbolism and what these visions mean. Dr. Jeremiah estimates that about 3/4 of the prophecies have been fulfilled. In chapter 12, verse 9, Daniel is told to go his way because the words are sealed up until the end of time.

Everyone wants to know when the rapture will occur. We have seen so-called evangelists give date predictions in years past. They were wrong. We are told in Matthew 24:36 that not even the angels in heaven know when the day or the hour will come, but only God in heaven knows.

As Christians, we must not get wrapped up in figuring out when. It’s our job to give God honor, glory and praise in all we do. It’s our job to do our best to win others to Christ. We should be ready and should take as many as possible with us.

Verse 10 says many are being purified, cleansed and refined. We are seeing many people come to Christ. There seems to be a widespread revival going on. On the other hand, however, there is also widespread wickedness in our world. We hear of evil behavior like human trafficking and many other heinous crimes taking place.

Sadly, the wicked will continue their wickedness. I read in Genesis 6 about the widespread evil in the world that caused God to destroy the world by flood and I wonder how much worse He will allow it to get now before bringing us home.

The wicked people will continue to do evil things. They will continue to be wicked. Even though they may be exposed to the gospel, they will not understand what it means to them and how it could impact their lives for the better. Instead, they will choose to continue perpetrating evil against others.

Verse 10 goes on to say those who are wise, however, will understand. So, I want to ask you today, are you wicked or are you wise? Think about your life today. Do you have evil wicked thoughts? Are there those whom you would love to perpetrate evil against? Do you seek revenge for someone who has wronged you?

If so, I strongly suggest you let that go. I suggest you give it over to God. Even if someone has hurt you, vengeance belongs to God and He will repay in His time and in His way (Deuteronomy 32:35, Romans 12:19). If you are wise, you will leave all that up to Him. If you are wise, you will be more concerned with doing the job He has called you to do and trusting Him to take care of your problems.

Those who are wise will learn to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. The Bible tells us if God is for us, who can be against us? Therefore, why would we worry about those who have tried to come against us? The only way they can bring us down is if we choose to get down on their level.

We need to choose today whether we are going to be wicked or whether we are going to be wise. I truly believe the end is near. I believe we don’t have much longer to sit on the fence. If you are thinking you have plenty of time, you are being foolish.

Let go of any evil that is in your heart. Let go of any wickedness and be wise. Trust in Him. Obey His commands before it’s too late. If you are wise, you will understand this.

Have a great day!