Day Sixty-Four -- Daniel's angels and Hosea's hopefulness

Daniel 9:1 to 12:13, and Hosea

The Book of Daniel concludes with Daniel, still in exile in Babylon, hearing from the Archangel Gabriel (who will appear later on in the New Testament bringing a message to a young woman named Mary) and the Archangel Michael (who will make an appearance in the final book of the Bible, The Revelation to John).  Gabriel helps Daniel with an interpretation of a vision of the "seventy 'sevens'", while Michael reveals details of a future cosmic apocalypse.  Daniel inquires as to when all these things will take place, but the answer is unclear and he is told that "the words are rolled up and sealed until the end of time."  He is then told in the final verse of the book, "As for you, go your way till the end.  You will rest, and then at the end of days you will rise to receive your allotted inheritance."  We are left to ponder when this is/was to occur.

In contrast to Daniel, the prophet Hosea is not in exile but living in the northern kingdom of Israel during the final years before its conquest.  He is the only northern prophet whose words were preserved in a separate book. What is important to Hosea is that even with the coming of God's judgment upon an unfaithful Israel, there needs to be the proclamation of God's love and the covenant relationship between the LORD and Israel.  "For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings" (Daniel 6:6).  What does this message have to say to us as Christians, and how do we hold in tension the seemingly conflicting ideas of God's judgment and God's love?