The Time and The End | Sunday, August 20, 2023

Welcome to Cross Connection Church, you courageous ones who brave the great apocalyptic storm of 2023. I'm sure all the news stations are doing team coverage of Storm Watch 2023, and you are here, the faithful. God bless you in the midst of the apocalypse.

We just so happen to be in an apocalyptic book, so if you want to take out your Bibles, if you don't have a Bible, you can raise your hand. We are in the Old Testament book of Daniel, getting very near the end. Turn to about the middle of your Bible, turn to the right, and you will pass the prophetic books of Isaiah, Ezekiel, Jeremiah, and then Daniel. Daniel chapter 11 is where we are going to be today as we begin to wrap up our study this summer through the text. Next week, we will finish the book with the last chapter.

As we've been going through this text, I've shared with you an important truth about interpreting Scripture. When you come to the Bible, the 66 books of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, there is a very simple truth that I've shared with you before. We talked about it last year when we did our class on how to study the Bible. It is a truth that I share with students when I've taught at the Bible College on how to study the Bible, and it is very important to keep in your mind when you're looking at the text.

It is simply this: when the plain sense makes sense, seek no other sense. When we come to passages like what we have before us here in Daniel today and over the last several weeks, Daniel is a book that divides evenly into two different halves. The first half is a series of stories that demonstrate through those stories that God is with His people and protects His people as they go through troubling times.

Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, four exiles from Jerusalem, found themselves in Babylon when they were just teenagers. God was with them, as we saw in chapter one. Then God was with Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah as they were in the fiery furnace in chapter three, and with Daniel as he was in the lions' den. These are all stories that, if you grew up in church and were in Sunday school, you know well. They are pretty easy to understand and to see the point: God was with His people in the midst of troubling, difficult circumstances.

However, when you get to chapters 7 through 12, the second half of Daniel, it gets strange. In this weird passage of Scripture, we have to keep this truth in our minds: when the plain sense makes sense, seek no other sense.

I am absolutely certain that you have heard some teachings, if you've been around church for any length of time, on passages like Daniel chapters 7 through 12. When you drift away from the plain sense of the text, it is easy to get into nonsense. There are many interpretations out there regarding this passage and others like it in the apocalyptic genre of Scripture. I hate to say it, but when you really evaluate these interpretations in the light of Scripture, they often seem fairly nonsensical.

Therefore, we want to do our best to follow this plain sense interpretive method of the Scriptures. It is critically important, especially in strange passages like this. Daniel, in this book, has seen himself or interpreted for others a series of dreams and visions. The first dream is found in Daniel chapter 2; it was the dream of the great King Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon. Daniel is given this dream and its interpretation, and then he has a series of dreams and visions later in the book that we have been examining.

One of the things that becomes clear as you study these passages is that all of the dreams and visions in the Book of Daniel, whether from Nebuchadnezzar or Daniel himself, have been very similar. In fact, Daniel's visions and dreams correspond back to what Nebuchadnezzar received at the very beginning of the book when Daniel was just a young man, probably in his teens, when he received the interpretation of that dream.

The dreams, the visions, and the interpretations in the Book of Daniel share a similar vibe and basically the same outline. They cover the same period of time, and the outline is fairly straightforward and clear. It is the interpretation that Daniel gave, as well as the interpretation that the angel, the messenger named Gabriel, provides to Daniel about what was coming for God's people according to God's work. This leads to the coming of God's anointed one, the one we refer to as the Messiah or the Christ, who would usher in God's Kingdom.

What we have is a series of visions that pertain to the kingdoms of the world leading up to the coming of God's anointed one to bring about the establishment of God's Kingdom. These kingdoms were represented in various ways, sometimes in the image of Nebuchadnezzar, which included the image with the head of gold.

In Daniel's visions, he sees various images, such as the chest and arms of silver, the body and thighs of bronze, the legs of iron, and the feet made of iron mixed with clay. He also sees different beasts, including a ram, a goat, a lion with wings, and a bear with tusks or ribs in its mouth. All these different images point to the same thing: there would be a kingdom represented by the head of gold in Nebuchadnezzar's vision, which was the kingdom of Babylon. Following that would be the chest and arms of silver, representing the kingdom of the Medes and the Persians. Then, a third kingdom would come, symbolized by the body and thighs of bronze, which would be the Greek Empire. The fourth kingdom, represented by the legs of iron and the feet made of iron mixed with clay, would be the Roman Kingdom. Ultimately, the Messiah would come.

These concepts are relatively clear when you look at the similar outline, even though the imagery differs. The last three chapters of the Book of Daniel—chapters 10, 11, and 12—correspond to the same time period. The chapter breaks are not necessarily helpful, as they simply continue the narrative of what is happening in this passage.

Daniel has become fixated on these visions because he seeks more understanding and meaning. Many of us can identify with Daniel's desire for clarity. The reason for his fixation is that the visions pertain to his people and nation, as well as the coming Messiah they were eagerly anticipating. Moreover, these visions have revealed that more challenging times lie ahead for his people.

At the moment Daniel receives this message from the heavenly messenger, most of the people of Israel are filled with joy and expectation. They have just been liberated from nearly seventy years of bondage as exiles in Babylon. The king of the Medo-Persian Empire, Cyrus, has given them the word that they can return to Jerusalem and rebuild the Temple. Under Cyrus, the Medes and Persians liberated many people who had been in bondage under the Babylonians, allowing them the opportunity to return to their homelands and worship as they wished.

They were given a certain level of religious liberty, so among the people who lived in and around Babylon, who had come there as exiles from Jerusalem and from Israel, there was probably a lot of joy. Yet, Daniel, as we saw in chapter 10, is filled with grief, mourning, and dismay over what he has seen. This has caused him to spend 21 days, three weeks, in continuous prayer and self-denial because he is mourning over what he has seen.

You wonder why he is mourning. This is a time of great joy, but though there was joy because of the liberation that came by Cyrus, Daniel knows, according to the visions that he has seen, that there is more difficulty, trials, tribulation, and trouble coming for his people. He understands that this period of time under the Medes and the Persians, who are going to give them liberty to go back to their land, is not the end of the story. He knows that a strong, conquering king is going to come among the Greeks, and that he will ultimately cause another destruction, a time of turmoil for the people of Israel once again in their land.

Daniel has seen this vision of the temple that would be rebuilt. There has already been a wave of people who have gone back to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple, but he has seen that the same temple is going to be desecrated. It is going to go through what he has been told is called the abomination of desolation. He also knows that yes, the Messiah is going to come, but in the prophecy or the word that came to him in chapter nine, he is told that the Messiah would be cut off or killed. That is an idiom for being killed. So, the Anointed One that his people were looking forward to is going to come, but he is going to be killed. Then, the nation he loves is ultimately going to be destroyed again.

You can understand why Daniel is a little bit grieved by what he has seen. Yes, there probably was, and we know from other writings that there was, joy among the people of Israel for the liberation they have just received. However, Daniel is stressed and distressed because he has seen some advanced intel about what is coming. He seeks the Lord; he wants to know and understand how and when all of these things will come to pass. He has already seen things coming to pass. Imagine yourself in Daniel's position. He knows the prophecy of Jeremiah that said the children of Israel would be exiled in Babylon for 70 years. He knows the prophecy of Isaiah that Cyrus the king would release the children of Israel from their bondage, and he is just...

Seen those things come to pass? Imagine if you saw something in the Bible come to pass with your own eyes. You also would be filled with anticipation and joyful expectation. But he also knows what is coming, and so he wants to know, "When is this going to happen?" I'm sure nobody here can identify with this. There have been many in our time who believe, and I think rightly so, that we have seen certain things in the Bible fulfilled thousands of years after they were prophesied. Most clearly, the regathering of the Jewish people to the modern state of Israel and the re-establishing of Israel as a nation in 1948 has stirred another fervor among Christians. I think, in some respects, very rightly so, which has caused people to say, "We see things coming to pass."

I'm sure none of you have ever had the question of Daniel: "When shall these things be?" He wants to know when this is going to happen, and so he becomes especially interested in all of this as he sees these things coming to pass. Babylon has been overcome by Cyrus, who was prophesied over 150 years before by Isaiah. Cyrus has liberated Daniel's people after 70 years of exile, as Jeremiah had prophesied. The city of Jerusalem is beginning to be inhabited by the Jewish people, and they are starting to try to rebuild.

Daniel has had all this advanced knowledge; he sees these things coming to pass, but he knows that there is going to be more trouble and more difficulty. Though Daniel has been given a small peek into the future, he wants the whole picture. Can anyone identify with Daniel? I think probably there has been a huge interest among Christians in the last 50 to 60 years in these sorts of things. Why? Because, like Daniel, we believe we've seen things come to pass that the Bible predicted.

So, Daniel has a small peek, but he wants the whole picture. He sets himself for three weeks. He didn't know it was going to be three weeks, but for three weeks, he denies himself of eating any good food. He doesn't take care of himself; really, he is in sackcloth and ashes, mourning and calling out to God in prayer. He is by the Tigris River, there in that region, kind of camping, if you will, seeking the Lord.

We see this in Daniel chapter 10. Look at verse 4. Daniel 10, verse 4: "Now on the 24th day of the first month," which means that this was during the time of the Jewish feast of Passover, "as I was beside the Great River, that is the Tigris, I lifted my..."

Eyes wide, I looked and behold, a certain man clothed in linen, whose waist was girded with the gold of Uphaz. His body was like burl, his face like the appearance of lightning, his eyes like torches of fire, his arms and feet like burnished bronze in color. The sound of his words was like the voice of a multitude. He had this great, booming voice.

Here’s the picture that Daniel sees: he has been in a state of continued prayer for 21 days. At the end of that time, he is camping by the Tigris River and sees this vision above the river. We will see in the next chapter, chapter 12, that this being, one like the Son of Man, is hovering in the sky, coming in the clouds. Daniel had a prophecy about this in Daniel chapter 7, where he would see one like the Son of Man coming in the clouds. Now he sees this and describes what this image looks like, which is very similar to the description of Jesus in the Book of Revelation, chapter one.

When Daniel sees this, what happens? I, Daniel, alone saw the vision, for the men who were with me did not see the vision. Great terror fell upon them, so that they fled and hid themselves. Therefore, I was left alone when I saw the great vision. In verse 8, he writes, "No strength remained in me; my vigor was turned to frailty. I retained no strength." Yet, I did hear the sound of his words. This great being spoke, and while I heard the sound of his words, I was in a deep sleep, with my face to the ground.

Oh, how I wish that Daniel had heard and recorded the words of that one in the sky! He didn’t. Why didn’t he? It seems that as he saw this image, he was so overcome by awe and terror that he passed out, lying on the ground asleep. He somehow hears something of the words, but he does not give us the details. Oh, that we had the details to hear what this great, awesome being in the sky had said, but he didn’t record it.

Then, another man comes to Daniel. Picture the scene: Daniel is camping by the Tigris, seeking God in continual prayer for 21 days. Now, this one like the Son of Man appears in the sky, Daniel passes out, and his friends flee. Whoever was with him fled, and now another individual shows up, who I think is Gabriel, the heavenly messenger we were introduced to previously in the Book of Daniel. He comes to strengthen Daniel and to give him understanding.

Look at verse 14 of Daniel chapter 10. This being says, "Now I have come to make..."

You understand what will happen to your people in the latter days. Those words, "in the latter days," have gripped so many people for so long. Why is Daniel in a state of prayer for three weeks? He wants to know more information. He has the general outline; he knows that the Babylonians will be overtaken by the Medes and the Persians—that's already happened. He knows that the Greeks will ultimately come and cause turmoil and desolation for his people. He knows that a fierce beast that will wage war against God and God's people is going to come in the future. The fourth kingdom will come. He knows the Messiah will come, and he knows his nation, which is going to be rebuilt, will be destroyed again. He wants more detail, so he sets himself to pray.

Now, Gabriel, the messenger, comes and says, "I have come to make you understand what will happen to your people in the latter days." The question arises: what or when are the latter days? There are a number of different views among scholars and commentators about what is meant by this. Some scholars will say the latter days refer to the last things of the vision that Daniel has had. The latter days are about these four kingdoms that would come. Many of those scholars say that those things ended in the first century, around the year 70 A.D., when the fourth kingdom that Daniel has seen, the Romans, destroyed the city of Jerusalem and its temple in August of 70 A.D.

There are other scholars who say no, this passage doesn't just deal with that; the latter days also refer to the very end of all things before the Lord comes and establishes His kingdom. So the question is, who is right? I want to tell you that I think both are right in part. Both are right in part because I believe this does have to do with early things that happen, but it also has to do with things that have not yet come to pass.

This highlights something very important for us, students of Scripture. When we're looking into the Bible, we need to recognize that when we get into apocalyptic or prophetic passages—passages like Daniel, Ezekiel, Jeremiah, Isaiah, or any other prophetic passages like Revelation—there are often times where we have an early and a latter fulfillment. A prophecy from a prophet can have an early fulfillment that happens in history and a later fulfillment that may not yet have happened.

There are multiple stages to a prophetic fulfillment. Now, we may look at that and say, "Oh, I have a really hard time with that," but think of it like this: How many of you have ever gone to the eye doctor? Lift up your hand high if you go to the eye doctor. I see some people with glasses. You sit down, and they have that big, huge steel contraption that you look through. They show you words or a picture and ask, "Can you see it well?" You're like, "No, it's kind of fuzzy." Then they drop in a lens, and you think, "Oh, it's better, but it's not great." They pull that one out and drop in another lens. "Oh yeah, it looks a little bit clearer." Then they pull it out and drop in another lens. "Oh yeah, now I can really see." Has anyone ever done that before?

This is similar to how we look at the Scriptures. We need to understand that sometimes we need to use different lenses, or interpretive lenses, to understand what's going on. There is a tension in what Christians refer to as the "already" and the "not yet." There are certain things that have already been fulfilled, but there are other things that are not yet fulfilled. Some passages of Scripture have an early and lateral fulfillment.

Let me give you an example from the prophet Isaiah. Perhaps you have heard this prophecy from Isaiah before. There is a prophetic word, a predictive word, where Isaiah says, "How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring glad tidings of good things." Has anyone ever heard those words? I've been around church long enough.

What does that mean? In the context of Isaiah, the individuals bringing the good message are the messengers who came to the exiles in Babylon to tell them, "You are liberated from Babylon; you can go back to Jerusalem." "How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring glad tidings of good things; you captives can go free and go back to your land." There is a historical fulfillment, but when we get to the New Testament, we realize that the same prophecy is applied to a messenger who came before Jesus to prepare the way of the Lord, whom we call John the Baptist. "How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of him who brings glad tidings of good things."

So, there is a historical fulfillment, but there is also a Christological fulfillment. There are two fulfillments. Then, the Apostle Paul in Romans chapter 10 tells us that Christians bringing the message of the Gospel to other places are also a fulfillment of that passage: "How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring glad tidings of good things." That's you when you bring the Gospel to your friend, co-worker, or neighbor.

There are some people who believe that the prophecy also has a fulfillment in the witnesses that are named or spoken of in the Book of Revelation. These two witnesses that come, or even the 144,000 witnesses in Revelation, illustrate this point. You have a historical fulfillment, a Christological fulfillment, an ecclesiological Church fulfillment, and an eschatological fulfillment, all bound up in one prophecy. It only becomes clear when you drop in the different lenses to look at the text.

We need to recognize that sometimes, as we're looking at a text like this, we need to zoom in with a microscope to see how it is fulfilled in the particulars and the timing in which these things happen. However, we also need to pull out, like with a telescope, to see the broader picture of what is happening. We must understand that there is an already and not yet fulfillment to much of what we read in the Scriptures.

Let me give you another example. If you're a Christian today, you are already saved, but you're not glorified. You're already saved, but you're not yet glorified. So, we look forward in expectation to what will happen, standing on hope and encouraged by what has happened, knowing that it ultimately will happen.

At the end of chapter 10, the heavenly messenger, whom I believe was Gabriel, says this to Daniel. Look at Daniel chapter 10, verse 20. Then he said to Daniel, "Do you know why I have come to you? And now I must return to fight with the Prince of Persia. When I have gone forth, indeed, the prince of Greece will come. But I tell you what is noted in the scripture of truth: no one upholds these except Michael, your prince. Also, in the first year of Darius the Mede, I, even I, stood up to confirm and strengthen him."

The messenger says to Daniel, "Do you understand why I've come to you? I've come to you to give you understanding." Notice this: to tell you what is noted in the scripture of truth. Would you circle or highlight those words, "the scripture of truth"? This opens our eyes to something rather interesting. I think this heavenly messenger, who took three weeks to get to Daniel, did so as Daniel was praying for understanding about how all these things are going to shape.

Up and when they're going to happen, he says, "Daniel, I have come to you to give you understanding of what is already written in the book. I want to show you what's determined and written down." I believe that this gives us a very interesting insight. Apparently, what we learn from the Scriptures is that God in heaven, outside of this realm, has a book with an outline of the things that are to come.

Some of you are in management and work with your teams to set up a strategic plan or outline for your company. Has anyone ever been involved in that? God has a strategic outline of what He is doing for all of human history. Sometimes we refer to it as the meta-narrative of the Bible. It began with His creation, then moved into the fall that we read about in Genesis chapter three. This progresses into God's redemptive plan, and ultimately, in the future, He has a restoration plan in place.

God has a determined plan, a strategic plan for what He is doing in the world. Daniel wants more information, and Gabriel comes to him and says, "I'm going to give you a peek into the strategic plan. I'm going to give you some of the details about what is coming in the future."

Not only does this passage reveal that God has a strategic plan for the future, but it also reveals some interesting things about the world in which we live that we would not know and could not know if it were not for the revelation of Scripture. What are some of the things that these verses, Daniel chapter 10, verses 20 through Daniel chapter 11, verse 1, reveal?

As we've talked about before, they teach us that there is a spiritual realm beyond the veil, if you will. Outside of this dimension, there is a spiritual realm that we do not see. Most of the people you know, whether they go to church or believe the Bible or not, actually think that this is true. There is a world beyond this world that we cannot engage with our five senses or test in a laboratory with any experimentation equipment that we have.

The Bible reveals that there is a spiritual realm, but it also shows that this spiritual realm is not completely disconnected from the physical. In some way, whether we comprehend or understand it or not, there are ways in which that spiritual realm affects what is happening in this physical realm in which we live. There are spiritual entities involved in aiding those who are doing the work of God or following the Lord.

The plan of God involves spiritual entities that oppose His work. This reveals that human affairs are, in some measurable way, affected by spiritual realities. Gabriel says, "I've come to give you understanding about what God is doing," providing some details to fill in the gaps. However, he must leave to contend with or fight the Prince of Persia, which we established last week as a demonic entity involved in the affairs of man. These spiritual battles are manifested in the physical world. Gabriel states, "I'm going to go fight with him," and after that, the Prince of Greece, the next kingdom, will come.

Gabriel has been engaged in this work for a while. Sometimes, he is called upon to strengthen people. He strengthened a ruler named Darius, who was set in place by Cyrus the king in Babylon during the time of Daniel. At the very beginning of the first year of his reign, Gabriel says, "I was strengthening him." Why was Gabriel strengthening a pagan king? Because God has a strategic plan that He is trying to accomplish, and there are other spiritual foes and enemies opposing the work of God. Gabriel was sent to strengthen Darius in the midst of that.

As we delve into this passage in Daniel chapter 11, I must say that I do not have the time, in the 15 minutes and eight seconds I have, to go verse by verse through every verse in this long chapter. Instead, I will provide some broad outlines of what is happening here. The general outline and focus of this passage is relatively clear, especially in the first 35 verses. There is fairly good agreement among commentators regarding the meaning of these verses. One commentator notes that although there are inevitable difficulties in this passage, there is wide agreement about the general outline of the history to which it points.

In the opening 35 verses of Daniel chapter 11, we find details that correspond to the general outline Daniel has already been given. This outline is clear: it includes the head of gold from Nebuchadnezzar's dream, which was also represented by the lion with wings in Daniel's dream.

The Babylonian Empire would be overcome by the empire represented by the chest and arms of silver, the Medes and the Persians. They would ultimately be overcome by the body and size of bronze, which was the Greeks. The Greek Empire would be divided into four different kingdoms, which would ultimately be subdued by the legs of iron and the iron mixed with clay in the feet; that is the Roman Empire. This is what we already know.

Now, this angelic messenger comes to give some understanding of the details of what is going on. None of that information is all that new. What is new? What is new is filling in the gaps of some of the things that are going to happen in the third kingdom, which seems to be the troubling one to Daniel. We had the Babylonians, the Medes and the Persians, and then the Greeks. During the time of the Greeks, Daniel has been told that his people are going to suffer an abomination of desolation; they are going to suffer turmoil and destruction.

Daniel wants to know when these things are going to happen. He has been troubled by the visions, so he seeks more information. In Daniel chapter 11, verses 2 through 35, if you were to read through them slowly, which I can't do today, and you were to take any number of a dozen different commentaries on this section of Scripture, you would discover that most of them agree, even if they come from different views on how to interpret this passage, that this passage is really dealing with the history from the time that Daniel received this vision in about 536 BC until the end of the reign of a guy named Antiochus Epiphanes in the second century BC. He reigned from 175 to 164 BC.

In this passage, most commentators agree that Antiochus is one of the kings of the north. This passage talks about the King of the North and the King of the South. What exactly is happening here? Well, the Medes and the Persians would ultimately be overcome in history by the Greeks, led by the great King Alexander the Great. Alexander moved with fierceness through the empire and conquered everybody, but he died young at the age of 32 and left no heir. His kingdom was divided into four kingdoms of the Greeks. The two strongest were the Seleucids, which were in the modern area of Syria, and the Ptolemies, which were in Egypt.

What is between Syria and Egypt? If you think about a map, what body of land?

The nation of Israel faced significant challenges during the period of the Seleucids and the Ptolemies. With powerful kings and kingdoms in Syria and Egypt, conflict was inevitable. These powerful rulers would inevitably fight with each other, and the battleground would be Israel. Throughout this time, Israel and Jerusalem changed hands more than a dozen times; by some accounts, more than twenty times. Jerusalem was destroyed and rebuilt repeatedly as it shifted between the Seleucids and the Ptolemies.

Archaeological evidence supports this tumultuous history. Archaeologists study the layers of what has been left behind, much like a layered cake. They often find a layer of building followed by a layer of burning, then another layer of building, and so on. Each layer of burning indicates another king who came in, destroyed, and burned the city. This cycle of destruction and rebuilding continued for more than a century.

Then came Antiochus IV, known in history as Antiochus the Enlightened One, or Epiphanes. The Jews referred to him as Antiochus Epimanes, which translates to "the Nut Job." Antiochus appeared on the scene in 175 BC as a king of the Seleucid Empire. He went on a rampage against the Ptolemies but did not achieve victory. Frustrated, he turned his wrath on Jerusalem, causing absolute carnage. He desecrated the temple, erected an image of the Greek god Zeus within it, and offered pigs on the altar. During this time, he also massacred Jews.

This oppression led to a revolt in the 160s BC, spearheaded by a man named Judas Maccabeus, who became one of the heroes of Judaism. His story can be found in the books of First and Second Maccabees, which, while not included in the Bible, are available online for free. Judas Maccabeus and his brothers fought against Antiochus and ultimately emerged victorious, restoring worship in the temple in the winter of 164 BC.

However, upon restoring the temple and dedicating it, they faced a significant problem: they did not have enough oil to begin temple services. Miraculously, God provided them with enough oil to last for eight days, a miracle that is celebrated to this day.

Today, does anybody know about Hanukkah? It is a feast of dedication. All of this comes out of this period of time with this nut job, Antiochus Epiphanes.

Again, the 35 verses of Daniel chapter 11, from verses 1 to 35, have broad agreement on what this passage means until you get to chapter 11, verse 36. That is where the major divide comes. This covers a period of 375 years, from 536 BC until 164 BC, during the time of Antiochus Epiphanes. Critical scholars will look at this passage and say that the detail outlined here makes it impossible for it to have been written by Daniel in the 6th century BC because it is incredibly detailed and perfect.

You see, critical scholars have a hard time with what we call miracles; they struggle with the supernatural. So, when they see something that outlines history before it happens with such precise detail, they become skeptical that it was written in the 6th century BC. They argue that this was certainly written not by Daniel, but by a synonymous author in 165 or 164 BC, before Antiochus Epiphanes was taken out by the Maccabees. It was written as encouragement to those who were suffering under Antiochus, assuring them that God would come through for them. If you go on Wikipedia, that is all critical scholarship on the Book of Daniel; that is what you will read.

Traditional scholars believe this was written in the 6th century BC by Daniel, who was in exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. He wrote predictively about what was going to happen over this 375-year period, leading to the abomination of desolation. That is what I believe, and that is what I have taught as we have been going through this passage. Generally, the consensus is that this definitely deals with Antiochus Epiphanes until you reach this point at verse 36.

Now, the question for us at this point would be, "So what? What does all this matter for us?" There are some worthwhile takeaways that I think we should consider as we go through this passage. First, this passage reveals that God gives phenomenal liberty to humans to cause strife and to stir up trouble. I mean, look around the world. How much strife and trouble do you see all around the world? That has been the story of humanity throughout all recorded history. Skeptics sometimes say, "Listen, if God..."

Were God real and powerful, He wouldn't let these things go on. Yet, God gives phenomenal liberty to people, allowing strife and trouble to arise. We see that in this text.

One of the other things that becomes clear in this passage is that God's ultimate plan or work is not frustrated by the human craziness and chaos that we create. God has a strategic plan for all human history, leading from the time of Creation and the Fall to the restoration and fulfillment of His kingdom. None of the craziness and strife of world leaders or the various people who rise up frustrates the plan and working of God. That's awesome!

Furthermore, this passage and others tell us that God is not troubled by those whose hearts are bent toward evil and who come against His work in the world. It doesn't bother God. He is not in heaven, stirred up or tied up in knots, wondering what He will do because His plan is being frustrated. That's not God.

What we discover as we look at passages like this is point number one, if you're taking notes on your outline: God's people are not ultimately overcome by those who devise evil and speak lies. I don't know about you, but that is really encouraging to me. God's people are not ultimately overcome.

Now, that does not mean that the people of God do not suffer trials, troubles, persecution, and tribulation. The sad story of God's people throughout the ages is that they often experience these hardships. Even at this very moment, we are awesomely privileged to know the religious liberty and peace that we have experienced in our lifetimes. However, most Christians in most places throughout most of history have not experienced that. Many times, the people of God go through great difficulties, and yet God's ultimate plan is not frustrated, and the people of God are not ultimately overcome.

Jesus gives an apocalyptic encouragement to His followers in what we know as the Sermon on the Mount when He says, "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you and say all kinds of evil against you."

You falsely for My sake rejoice and be exceedingly glad. Why? For great is your reward in heaven. For so persecuted they the prophets who were before you.

See, Jesus encourages you and me. If we go through trials, difficulties, tribulation, and persecution, great is your reward. He points us to the future Kingdom. Now, I definitely need, and you do as well, the enabling power of the Holy Spirit to actually have that mindset when we go through difficulty. But that is what the truth of Scripture reveals.

We read this in Daniel chapter 11. Look at verse 32. The heavenly messenger says to Daniel, "Those who do wickedly against the Covenant are going to corrupt with flattery." This is during the time of Antiochus Epiphanes. But note this; it is so important: the people who know their God shall be strong, and they will carry out great exploits. Those of the people who understand shall instruct many. Yet many days they shall fall by the sword and flame, by captivity and plundering.

Notice the people of God; they experience the sword, they experience being burned at the stake, and they experience all kinds of difficult things. I guess the apocalypse is coming—be ready. The people of God experience all these sorts of things, and yet the people who know their God shall be strong and carry out great exploits. We will not ultimately be overcome by those who devise evil.

Point number two, if you're taking notes: great exploits belong to those who know and faithfully follow their God. This text teaches that truth as we go through the passage and see all the things that God's people went through during this period of time. Great exploits belong to those who know and faithfully follow their God.

Now, as I said, there's great agreement from chapter 11, verse 1 through verse 35. But then you get to verse 36, and there's no more agreement. Why? Because at verse 36, all of this passage that is so perfectly pictured Antiochus Epiphanes, the King of the North, causing great trouble and an abomination of desolation for the children of Israel during that period of time, the storyline of Daniel breaks from what we know in history from Antiochus Epiphanes. Critical scholars will say, "Well, see right there, that tells us that Daniel didn't know what he was talking about." But here's what I think it shows.

How many of you guys remember back when you were in school? Did they still have transparency sheets?

Transparency sheets were often used in classrooms. A teacher would display one transparency that showed something, and then they might place another transparency over the top with writing. Everything looked fine until it shifted, and then it was all out of alignment. This is similar to what happens in the interpretation of Daniel's Revelation about what is coming. It fits perfectly with Antiochus Epiphanes until you get to verse 36. At that point, it becomes unclear.

Does this mean that Daniel doesn't know what he's talking about, or could it suggest that Daniel is looking at something that is now future from the time of Antiochus? This is one of those passages where I believe there is more than one fulfillment. The first 35 verses clearly deal with Antiochus Epiphanes, but verses 36 and onward indicate that there is a future ruler. This is my view, and it aligns with the views of many other teachers as well.

There is a future ruler who will come with the same nature and spirit as Antiochus Epiphanes. He will do many similar things, but he is not Antiochus Epiphanes. Many Bible scholars refer to this individual as the Antichrist. In this passage, we transition from Antiochus to the Antichrist. This is the view held by many people. This individual will possess the same spirit, the spirit of the Antichrist, and he will attempt to thwart God's work and harm God's people.

Who is this individual? Again, Bible teachers believe it is probably the Antichrist that John refers to in First John, chapter 2. The Apostle John, writing to Christians in the first century, says, "Little children, it is the last hour, and you have heard that the Antichrist is coming. Even now, many antichrists have come, by which we know it is the last hour." Antiochus was an antichrist, but John indicates that there is a future Antichrist who is coming. Many people believe there is much more written about him in the Book of Revelation, which we will discuss another day.

John emphasizes that there is a greater Antichrist who will be like Antiochus. Antiochus prefigures the Antichrist. He committed the abomination of desolation, and we might think all of that was in the past until Jesus comes. During the same week that He would be crucified, He said to His disciples, "Do you see this Temple? Not one stone will be left upon another; all will be destroyed." When His disciples heard this, they came to Him and said, "Wait a minute, you just broke our brains."

Will these things be what shall be the sign of your coming at the end of the age? Jesus begins to speak to them as He is sitting on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem. We call this teaching the Olivet Discourse, and it is recorded in Matthew chapters 24 and 25. His disciples asked, "When is this going to come to pass?" Jesus answers them and says this in verse 15: "When you therefore see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the Prophet standing in the Holy Place, whoever reads, let him understand."

Then, in verse 21, He continues, "There will be a Great Tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world unto this time, nor shall ever be." At the end of this verse, in verse 29, He states, "Immediately after the tribulation, that Great Tribulation of those days, the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light, the stars from heaven will fall, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken."

You will see the sign of the Son of Man appearing in heaven. Then all of the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming with the clouds. This is the prophecy of Daniel 7. Daniel said you will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. He, the Son of Man, will send His angels, His messengers, with the great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His chosen ones from the four corners of the earth, from one end of heaven to the other.

Now, I don't have much time, but I'm going to go on anyway. This might be confusing; I have probably already overwhelmed you and confused you. Daniel's prophecy appears to have more than one fulfillment. A great part of it is fulfilled in that 375-year period from the time of Cyrus in 536 BC until the end of Antiochus in 164 BC. However, from there, it breaks and becomes fuzzy and unclear, leading to a future fulfillment involving another individual like Antiochus—another Antichrist who opposes the work of God in the world and the people of God.

Then Jesus comes and explains that there is coming another one who will do what Antiochus did. Just as Antiochus caused the abomination of desolation, there is another one who is going to come and cause another future abomination of desolation, and Jerusalem will be destroyed.

Here’s the challenge: in the same way that Daniel's prophecy seems to have multiple fulfillments, Jesus's prediction also seems to have multiple fulfillments. Why? Because just as Jesus said that Jerusalem and the temple would be...

The temple was destroyed in August of 70 A.D., led by Titus, the general from Rome. Legions of Roman soldiers went in and destroyed literally the temple; not one stone was left upon another. The temple was destroyed, and Jesus's word was fulfilled in 70 A.D. However, Jesus also said that immediately after the tribulation of those days, the Son of Man will come to establish His kingdom. That has not yet happened. My reading of this is that, yes, there was a fulfillment, but there is more that is left to come in the story of the future, and it does not yet appear that it has come to pass.

Let me circle back and wrap up. The general outline is this: Daniel has seen visions and received interpretations about world history before it happened. He sought God for more information about what is going to happen and has received a heavenly messenger who told him about what is going to come to pass. Even still, as we will see in the very last chapter next week, he still doesn't fully understand it. The angel is going to tell him to seal up the book because it is for future people to understand when knowledge increases. I know you don't get it, Daniel; just be faithful to record it because there are going to be people in the future who will read and try to understand these things. God sends this heavenly messenger to tell him these things so that Daniel would be encouraged in the midst of this.

So, the question for us is: how should we think about this? How should we respond? What applications do we have? I want to give four very quick applications from the text. I have so much more I want to say; maybe I'll talk about it on the questions podcast or YouTube live or something about this.

First, we should rejoice in what we saw: God's people are not ultimately overcome by those who devise evil and speak lies. We should rejoice in that.

Second, we should remember that great exploits belong to those who know and faithfully follow their God.

Third, we should keep in mind that God's word, which has been fulfilled in times past, should encourage our readiness to remain faithful for what remains unfulfilled.

God was faithful to fulfill His word about Cyrus through Isaiah and Jeremiah's seventy years. He was also faithful to fulfill what He did through Daniel. We trust that He will be faithful in the future; therefore, it encourages our readiness and faithfulness now.

Fourth and finally, we should remain committed to the commission of Christ. The people of God are marked by faithfulness to God's word and His work in the world. The call to us, every time in the Gospels when Jesus is talking about future things, is the same. His focus and encouragement for the people of God is to remain faithful in the present. This is where Christians often err; we get so focused on the future that we lose sight of the mission that Christ has called us to.

At the end of the Olivet Discourse in Matthew 24 and 25, Jesus gives three application stories: the parable of the two servants, the parable of the ten virgins, and the parable of the talents. The focus of these parables is this: I am telling you about what’s coming in the future; therefore, you need to be waiting, watching, and working right now.

When Jesus is asked by His disciples about the future and restoring the kingdom, He says to them, "It is not for you to know the times and the seasons which the Father has in His hand, but you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the uttermost parts." Every time He talks about future things, He emphasizes the need to engage now in the mission in the present.

When He gives His Great Commission, He says, "Go into all the world, make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you. And lo, I am with you always, even till the end of the age." Jesus's exhortation is always the same: be committed to the work. Why is that so important?

In Matthew 24, as Jesus is asked by His disciples about the end of all things and the building of His kingdom, He says to them, "This Gospel of the Kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all nations, and then shall the end come." We always want to know if it is the end. Is the great storm eclipse going to destroy us all? The buzzers go off in the message, the sound of the trumpet from our cell phones. We look up, for our redemption draws nigh. Is it the end? Jesus always says the same thing: "It's not for you to know. You do the work."

I want all your engagement here for just one moment. I know I'm over time, and you're just going to get wet outside anyway. How many of you know somebody who doesn't know Jesus? This Gospel of the Kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all nations, and then the end will come. There is still more work to do.

How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring glad tidings of good things—that's you! Jesus has more work for us to do. His parables at the end of the Olivet Discourse say, "When He comes, may He find us so doing." Oh Lord Jesus, help us to be about Your task. Amen.

Let's stand for a closing prayer. Anthony, I'm going to close, buddy.

Father God, we pray that You would fix our focus on the task that You set before us. As we are looking unto You, the author and the finisher of our faith, help us to run with faithfulness the race that is set before us, trusting in You. Would You pour out Your Spirit upon Your people and enable us to be witnesses for You in this day? May we be like a city set on a hill that cannot be hid, shining brightly the light of Your grace and Your truth into this world.

There are so many people who desperately need to know Your mercy, Your grace, Your love, and Your forgiveness. Would You use us to be Your ambassadors? Strengthen us for the work, we pray. Whatever may come, help us to not be moved. We praise You, Lord. Strengthen us, we ask.

Now may the Lord bless and keep you. May He make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. May He lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace, even in the midst of this great storm. In Jesus' name, amen.

Good morning, Cross Connection Church! This is Pastor Garrett here. I'm glad that you could join us for this morning's services. We have a couple of announcements for you.

First, coming up in September, specifically September 10th, keep your ears peeled because we are going to be starting our growth groups again. It's another season of growth groups, and we want you to be part of that. We're trying to get as many people engaged in the growth groups as possible this year. September 10th is going to be the start of the growth groups, and we will kick them off. Keep your ears peeled for more information as it comes out.

Also, from September 22nd through the 24th, we have our church camping trip, and we wouldn't want you to miss out on that. It's an awesome way to go camping at Herky Creek Campground, which is a really fun campground for the whole family. We invite you to come up there! A family is only forty dollars, and individuals are only twenty. It doesn't matter how many people are in your family; forty bucks covers your spot. We would love for you to be there, and it's going to be just an awesome opportunity for you to get to know more people here at Cross Connection Church. I hope that you can make it to that, and you can sign up and get more information at ccchurch.com/events.