WEBVTT 00:00:00.260 --> 00:00:02.750 I'm going to invite you to turn to Daniel 7 where we'll be today. 00:00:03.380 --> 00:00:06.730 Some of you, if you've been in our series together, you know what we're about to hit up today. 00:00:07.020 --> 00:00:11.300 If you're just joining us, welcome to Alpine Bible Church. 00:00:11.300 --> 00:00:18.740 I want you know that you have picked Eschatology Sunday to be here with us where I'm going to tell you the exact 00:00:18.740 --> 00:00:23.950 time Jesus is going to return to this earth and it will be whenever he pleases. 00:00:24.240 --> 00:00:27.330 That is the answer of my prediction there. 00:00:27.780 --> 00:00:35.100 Eschatology, it's interesting to study and I find a difficult subject 00:00:35.260 --> 00:00:42.380 to dialogue over because people get heated over this maybe faster than any subject I 00:00:42.380 --> 00:00:43.550 can think of in Christianity. 00:00:44.420 --> 00:00:51.500 I feel like when you're in Christian circles for long enough, someone just wants to suggest, "Let's do a Bible study 00:00:51.500 --> 00:00:58.520 on Revelations," and then you just want to say, "It's Revelation, please, not Revelations." And 00:00:58.520 --> 00:01:04.760 then you get into all these crazy things on eschatological beliefs that people hold to. 00:01:05.060 --> 00:01:07.000 I like it when people pull up the trump card. 00:01:07.020 --> 00:01:14.140 They'll say things like, well when you don't agree with one another, they say things like, "Well, I take the Bible literal," and implying that you don't 00:01:14.140 --> 00:01:16.440 do that and therefore, you must be mistaken. 00:01:18.100 --> 00:01:25.100 When it comes to the nature of studying eschatology, Revelation, apocalyptic literature which what we're looking at today, by 00:01:25.100 --> 00:01:32.370 very nature of that type of literary genre, it demands that you don't start off taking it literal because it's symbolic. 00:01:33.160 --> 00:01:40.840 And symbolic mean it applies to something in the world but symbolism is not intended to be taken literal 00:01:40.840 --> 00:01:41.820 from the get go. 00:01:42.020 --> 00:01:44.560 I think I've said this to you before. 00:01:44.640 --> 00:01:50.600 I seriously doubt anyone here expects to see the great Whore of Babylon floating on the back of a dragon across the sky. 00:01:50.860 --> 00:01:57.680 When you say you take those things literal, it's really a matter of to what degree and first trying to understand the symbolism. 00:01:58.060 --> 00:02:02.540 So I want you to know, we look at this eschatology this morning starting with Daniel 7. 00:02:03.320 --> 00:02:10.000 I'll give you some of the things on what I think particularly what it means and why in the world it should even matter to us. 00:02:11.110 --> 00:02:18.900 But I feel like for the church, one of the best things that we could do in studying this is really approach it with good interpretation 00:02:18.900 --> 00:02:26.060 long before we ever look at application and that means when the Bible is first written, it was intended to mean something to the audience there 00:02:26.060 --> 00:02:29.140 and then before it was intended to mean something to us today. 00:02:29.360 --> 00:02:33.770 It was first written to them but through this time, listen, it still makes application to our lives. 00:02:34.320 --> 00:02:41.360 And so when we talk about the idea of eschatology, I think it's far more important for us to begin with the idea of what it 00:02:41.360 --> 00:02:43.660 means there and then before we dive into all that. 00:02:43.760 --> 00:02:50.780 So let me give you a little bit of a backdrop in leading into where we are in Daniel and then I want to dive into this text this morning in Daniel 00:02:50.780 --> 00:02:51.480 7. 00:02:52.680 --> 00:02:59.740 In the story of Daniel, you remember the first six chapters of this book, this book is 12 chapters long, the first six chapters are narrative and the 00:02:59.740 --> 00:03:01.800 last six chapters are prophetic. 00:03:01.900 --> 00:03:07.150 They're apocalyptic by nature and so because of that, Daniel was categorized as a prophetic book. 00:03:08.020 --> 00:03:09.700 And so the book breaks down nicely. 00:03:09.800 --> 00:03:12.750 We see Daniel taken as a young man into captivity. 00:03:13.200 --> 00:03:20.280 He spends 70 years in captivity, grows into a much older man in captivity, and the Lord still works in his life, 00:03:20.580 --> 00:03:22.040 communicated with him in those six chapters. 00:03:22.200 --> 00:03:29.260 We see from Daniel as a young teenager, probably middle school age, all the way into his 80s, God still ministering to the 00:03:29.260 --> 00:03:30.560 people through Daniel. 00:03:31.180 --> 00:03:33.200 And you see it just unfold in six short chapters. 00:03:33.420 --> 00:03:40.660 And then you come to this chapter 7 and Daniel still seeking God's faith because his people are in captivity and 00:03:40.660 --> 00:03:46.430 God, as he's shown through Daniel in six chapters, how he was right there and he was working out his plan. 00:03:46.800 --> 00:03:54.100 He looks prophetically into the future to let God's people know that he is going to continue to work, that God's 00:03:54.100 --> 00:03:57.660 not finished with them yet and he desires to work within them. 00:03:58.140 --> 00:04:05.240 Now when you consider the context of this passage, I think Psalm 137, if you want a Psalm that grabs the 00:04:05.240 --> 00:04:10.420 attitude and the approach of the people in Babylonian captivity, Psalm 137. 00:04:10.480 --> 00:04:13.440 I'm not going to read the whole Psalm, just consider this opening verse. 00:04:13.440 --> 00:04:21.380 This, I think, shares Daniel's heart and where he is in all of this and it says, "By the rivers of Babylon, there 00:04:21.380 --> 00:04:28.980 we sat down and wept when we remembered Zion." This is the place of God's people. 00:04:29.460 --> 00:04:35.590 Jerusalem was this representation of the greater work of what God is doing with his people in Israel. 00:04:38.100 --> 00:04:45.240 And so this attitude as they think about being in Babylon, their heart is still broken for what they know, where God has led them, or what God has 00:04:45.700 --> 00:04:46.120 called them to. 00:04:47.660 --> 00:04:54.780 And so in the context of this story, Daniel's soul is looking for a future and really, I think your soul 00:04:54.780 --> 00:04:59.940 is looking for shalom, a place to rest, a place of peace. 00:05:01.240 --> 00:05:05.200 I think the idea of peace is important just to talk about for a moment. 00:05:05.280 --> 00:05:11.560 But when we think about peace in our lives, we really mean make your kids be quiet, everyone go away, let me sit in a dark room, just rock back and forth. 00:05:11.680 --> 00:05:14.180 I need peace. 00:05:14.300 --> 00:05:21.360 But when God talks about peace, his idea of peace is much bigger than your temporal unsatisfactory idea than one we work for a 00:05:21.360 --> 00:05:21.880 couple minutes. 00:05:22.560 --> 00:05:26.760 So God's idea of peace is this total restoration of what was lost. 00:05:26.960 --> 00:05:29.660 If you read in Romans 8, it tells us all creation is groaning. 00:05:30.760 --> 00:05:37.940 And so we're looking for this peace that doesn't just restore our soul in the moment but is this everlasting peace not just for ourselves but for all 00:05:37.940 --> 00:05:45.000 of creation, which is what brings us to our apocalyptic literature because it's this idea of looking into 00:05:45.000 --> 00:05:45.780 the future. 00:05:45.900 --> 00:05:50.940 We get this word apocalyptic from apocalypsis which is the word for, in English, revelation. 00:05:52.600 --> 00:06:00.100 And so apocalyptic literature, I've already told you, it employs symbolic and figurative language to describe a future divine 00:06:00.100 --> 00:06:07.280 intervention and this is where people can sometimes just go bananas on all kinds of 00:06:07.280 --> 00:06:08.330 interpretations. 00:06:09.420 --> 00:06:16.420 Really, I want to lay out a few of those and seeing some pictures as we go through these chapters together and how 00:06:16.420 --> 00:06:22.940 people come to different answers through what is represented in this apocalyptic literature and why it's not always easy. 00:06:24.040 --> 00:06:29.640 But if you have ever read apocalyptic literature, you're like what in the water is going on here? 00:06:29.800 --> 00:06:33.500 I do not have the master's degree to figure this out. 00:06:33.900 --> 00:06:41.080 I want you to know that in approaching this, you're in good company because when you read these chapters of Daniel, the last 00:06:41.080 --> 00:06:43.760 six chapters of this book, Daniel continues to say that. 00:06:44.940 --> 00:06:48.160 And if anyone should know exactly what all of this means, it should be Daniel. 00:06:48.240 --> 00:06:55.520 But you see in these chapters that Daniel is even asking questions like, "What are you talking about?" And then after God gives an explanation, he's like, "Okay, but what are you talking about?" So 00:06:55.520 --> 00:07:01.930 like for example, in Daniel 7:28, this is what he says in the chapter we're looking at today, "At this point, the revelation ended. 00:07:02.300 --> 00:07:14.020 As for me, Daniel, my 00:07:14.020 --> 00:07:14.180 thoughts were greatly alarming me and my face grew pale, but I kept the matter to myself." So he's like, "Ah, I can't figure this out. 00:07:14.180 --> 00:07:16.040 This is difficult." In Daniel 8:27, listen to this, "Then I, Daniel, was exhausted and sick for days. 00:07:16.520 --> 00:07:23.880 Then I got up again and carried on the king’s business; but I was astounded at the vision and there was no one to explain it." And 00:07:23.880 --> 00:07:25.600 that's after God explained it to him. 00:07:26.760 --> 00:07:33.980 And so when you look at this form of literature, it is somewhat difficult 00:07:33.980 --> 00:07:41.100 to wrestle with and a lot of the symbolic language that's used takes itself out of the Old 00:07:41.100 --> 00:07:41.480 Testament. 00:07:41.520 --> 00:07:46.460 So if you're looking at for instance Revelation, a lot of the symbolic language used there takes itself out of the Old Testament. 00:07:46.540 --> 00:07:52.620 So to really understand Revelation, you need to have a good grasp of the Old Testament, especially the prophetic portions of the Old Testament. 00:07:53.500 --> 00:07:55.540 And not all of Revelation comes from the Old Testament. 00:07:55.680 --> 00:07:58.540 Some of it is directly out of the history at the time. 00:07:58.880 --> 00:08:06.300 For example, you read Revelation and starting chapter 4 and chapter 5, it talks about the 24 elders 00:08:07.060 --> 00:08:10.990 before the throne room of God and what in the world does 24 elders mean. 00:08:11.240 --> 00:08:18.700 And people have speculated, this is some of the conclusions they've come up with is well, there's 12 tribes of Israel, there's 12 apostles, therefore 00:08:18.700 --> 00:08:20.860 24 must be the combination of both of those. 00:08:21.300 --> 00:08:22.840 I don't think that that's accurate. 00:08:23.000 --> 00:08:29.930 I think what's happening if you read that story is these 24 elders were before the throne of God casting their crowns before him saying, "We're not Lord. 00:08:30.080 --> 00:08:30.440 You're Lord. 00:08:30.440 --> 00:08:33.240 You're worthy," bowing before him in his throne room. 00:08:33.280 --> 00:08:37.860 And I think that throne room represents the heavenly temple of God, God's dwelling place. 00:08:38.039 --> 00:08:39.720 This is his throne from where he rules. 00:08:39.760 --> 00:08:46.880 The earthly temple was a picture of the heavenly temple and the 24 elders, if you study it historically, it took 24 priests to 00:08:46.900 --> 00:08:50.660 carry on the function within the temple during the time that John was writing Revelation. 00:08:51.240 --> 00:08:58.560 And so I think what John is doing is representing God's people in that picture as holistically in the 24 elders that 00:08:58.560 --> 00:09:02.660 are before the throne and the lamb, which is symbolic of the temple in which God dwells in. 00:09:03.420 --> 00:09:11.130 And so you need to not only have an understanding of a little bit of history and good commentary, 00:09:11.980 --> 00:09:14.780 but you also got to practice some patience in working through it. 00:09:14.780 --> 00:09:22.020 And so a good commentary will help through some of that stuff but Revelation, apocalyptic 00:09:22.020 --> 00:09:28.570 literature, the book of Daniel, it's not always easy to work through but good news, we're going to do it today. 00:09:30.900 --> 00:09:38.240 Now that I've said that it's not necessarily easy and through all these adverse things and even Daniel 00:09:38.240 --> 00:09:45.260 is like, "What in the world is going on?" Maybe you ask the question, why shall I study this passage of scripture if it's so 00:09:45.260 --> 00:09:46.900 hard, especially for people like Daniel? 00:09:47.070 --> 00:09:48.080 What am I going to do? 00:09:48.100 --> 00:09:50.780 What am I going to get out of this and why is this important to me? 00:09:51.180 --> 00:09:58.920 Well, I think especially when it comes to Daniel 7, we should be answering this question because Daniel 7 00:09:58.920 --> 00:10:05.940 is quoted almost five dozen times in the New Testament a most 00:10:05.940 --> 00:10:07.280 of the time, it's quoted. 00:10:07.300 --> 00:10:08.500 It's quoted by Jesus. 00:10:09.560 --> 00:10:17.000 And so Jesus, alluding to his ministry and what he's carrying out looks to Daniel 7 as a primary basis for 00:10:17.000 --> 00:10:19.200 our understanding of exactly who he is. 00:10:20.200 --> 00:10:27.480 And so when you can wrestle with this passage and walk away with some thoughts as to what's being talked about in the section, I think 00:10:27.480 --> 00:10:35.100 this chapter especially will create some color in the way that you read scripture that will just bring 00:10:35.100 --> 00:10:38.110 it to life in your study and understanding. 00:10:40.060 --> 00:10:44.780 In addition to that, when you, for example, turn to the book of Revelation, the book begins and ends with these thoughts. 00:10:44.840 --> 00:10:52.020 It says in Revelation 1, "Blessed are you if you hear its words." And at the end of the book, Revelation 00:10:52.020 --> 00:10:59.020 22:7, "Blessed are you if you heed its words." And so there's 00:10:59.020 --> 00:11:05.490 something about the understanding of scripture in which there are blessings especially as it relates to the apocalyptic literature. 00:11:07.580 --> 00:11:15.580 Now when it comes to the idea of Revelation, I want to tell you, out of all the things that you can study theologically, apocalyptic 00:11:15.580 --> 00:11:20.760 literature and predicting the future is not necessarily the best hill to die on. 00:11:20.760 --> 00:11:28.300 I think there's some big picture ideas that are important but there are some particulars where you just need to provide some flexibility and what I mean is as 00:11:28.300 --> 00:11:34.880 a church, theologically, God's people, there are things historically that we stand for and there are hills to die on. 00:11:34.960 --> 00:11:42.360 The deity of Christ, announcing of scripture, the trinity, who is God, what is salvation. 00:11:43.080 --> 00:11:45.040 Those are pillars of Christianity. 00:11:45.620 --> 00:11:52.380 And when it comes to will you give your life for that, for your faith in that, at the end of the day, I want to say yes. 00:11:53.960 --> 00:12:00.640 And I hope when the time comes that I'll prove faithful or if the time comes, I'm faithful to it. 00:12:00.780 --> 00:12:08.440 When it comes to apocalyptic literature, I think it's worth just saying when 00:12:08.440 --> 00:12:11.840 you read the New Testament, people didn't get the first coming of Jesus right. 00:12:13.580 --> 00:12:19.480 And I don't want to be so arrogant as to say this morning I've got everything figured out as it relates to the second coming. 00:12:20.460 --> 00:12:27.640 I know there are Bible teachers that will stand up and tell you everything specific about the New Testament and how it relates to 00:12:27.800 --> 00:12:35.260 everything going on today and who specifically the Antichrist is and how everything was designed as it relates to specific nations and 00:12:35.260 --> 00:12:37.880 Jesus is coming tomorrow and they give you exact dates. 00:12:37.980 --> 00:12:39.070 I'm going to tell you that is not me. 00:12:40.140 --> 00:12:47.220 I would way rather walk in interpretation in a time in which it was written and give an idea of what I think it is and 00:12:47.220 --> 00:12:54.300 provide some flexibility just to keep learning and growing in this area, because I don't think I necessarily have 00:12:54.300 --> 00:12:55.460 all of it figured out. 00:12:56.540 --> 00:13:03.800 And I think that's a much better approach to this topic than just dogmatically slamming down the pedal and moving forward without 00:13:03.800 --> 00:13:10.900 listening to scholars that have spent several hours and really lifetime in trying 00:13:10.900 --> 00:13:14.240 to figure out what these things mean and even being honest with them. 00:13:14.740 --> 00:13:15.950 They're not always as dogmatic. 00:13:16.280 --> 00:13:20.640 It could be knowing how much time they spent in studying these things. 00:13:20.980 --> 00:13:26.600 Now all of that being said, I'm going to dive into Daniel 7. 00:13:26.740 --> 00:13:34.160 Now remember when I told you in this book breaks down that Daniel 7 really aligns itself with Daniel 2. 00:13:35.380 --> 00:13:40.240 And chapter 2 and 7 become a gateway to explain the rest of this book. 00:13:40.720 --> 00:13:47.780 So if you were here for Daniel 2, remember we talked about the golden image and the rock coming and crushing it and that image, or not a golden image, but the 00:13:47.780 --> 00:13:52.140 image, the statue had four different layers to it representing four kingdoms. 00:13:52.520 --> 00:13:59.360 And so when you get to Daniel 7, he plays on that thought again of that representation taking place here. 00:13:59.360 --> 00:14:06.350 And so he's saying to Daniel, this is how I see things transpiring and this is how I'm going to work my plan on history. 00:14:07.100 --> 00:14:11.940 It works with opposing nations to God. 00:14:11.960 --> 00:14:19.320 It works while people may be contrary to the Lord, God is still able to move his plan forward and he demonstrates that by declaring what the future will 00:14:19.320 --> 00:14:19.760 hold. 00:14:19.760 --> 00:14:22.240 And so Daniel 7, I want to pick up in verse 2. 00:14:22.240 --> 00:14:29.360 It says this, "Daniel said, 'I was looking in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven were stirring up the 00:14:29.360 --> 00:14:32.970 great sea.'" So the four winds represent four corners, I think, like a compass. 00:14:33.120 --> 00:14:34.700 The ends of the earth is represented here. 00:14:34.920 --> 00:14:38.340 And so these winds of heaven and they're stirring up the great sea. 00:14:38.440 --> 00:14:42.060 To people in his time, the sea was considered a place of chaos. 00:14:43.340 --> 00:14:49.720 When God created in Genesis 1, he tells us that he creates the earth and there's this sea and it is chaotic. 00:14:49.880 --> 00:14:57.080 And so the idea of water when it's mentioned in the Old Testament especially is this thought of chaotic description of 00:14:57.080 --> 00:14:58.230 uncertainty. 00:14:58.580 --> 00:15:04.580 And then from that sea comes four great beasts were coming up from the sea different from one another. 00:15:04.880 --> 00:15:11.620 It tells us a little later in Daniel that these four beasts represent four kingdoms. 00:15:11.620 --> 00:15:14.040 It happens in verse 17. 00:15:15.340 --> 00:15:22.660 Interesting thing about these beasts as we start to read in this section of the scripture is that these beasts are hybrid beasts. 00:15:23.260 --> 00:15:28.460 They have two separate types of animals that are mixed together in them. 00:15:28.460 --> 00:15:35.480 When you study Old Testament law, Leviticus 11, Deuteronomy 14, by Israel's law, they 00:15:35.480 --> 00:15:43.300 would've been considered unclean animals because the nature of these beasts are representing something that's contrary to God's desire, God's 00:15:43.480 --> 00:15:45.720 plan of his holiness. 00:15:46.220 --> 00:15:48.880 These beasts are described as unclean characters. 00:15:48.900 --> 00:15:56.160 And so when it begins to describe this beast, it does it similar to Daniel 2 in the statue in four 00:15:56.160 --> 00:15:57.000 different types. 00:15:57.040 --> 00:16:02.280 And so it says in verse 4, "The first was like a lion and had the wings of an eagle. 00:16:02.780 --> 00:16:08.280 I kept looking until its wings were plucked, and it was lifted up from the ground and made to stand on two feet like a man. 00:16:08.280 --> 00:16:15.900 A human mind also was given to it." Daniel 7:4 00:16:15.900 --> 00:16:18.960 is a representation of Babylonian kingdom. 00:16:18.960 --> 00:16:23.080 It was the first kingdom listed on the statue of Daniel 2. 00:16:23.440 --> 00:16:30.860 The Babylonian kingdom, you can go back archaeologically and see they had winged lions throughout the kingdom and 00:16:30.860 --> 00:16:32.540 then the representation of their animal. 00:16:32.840 --> 00:16:37.630 But when they described these animals here, it's characteristic to the type of empire in which they had. 00:16:38.300 --> 00:16:45.140 The lion was the king of the land and the eagle was the king of the air, and Babylon was the world power that controlled it all. 00:16:46.020 --> 00:16:49.800 And so you see this is symbolically representative, and they weren't just talking about a man. 00:16:50.060 --> 00:16:56.820 People often question what this could be as it relates to the kingdom but if you remember in Daniel 4, most people assume that that's just where it comes from. 00:16:57.220 --> 00:17:03.900 That King Nebuchadnezzar lost his mind, went out to the fields like a wild animal, he ate from the fields, and then God gave him his mind back. 00:17:03.900 --> 00:17:05.700 He stood back up upright as a man. 00:17:05.740 --> 00:17:08.819 So people think that that's probably what it alludes to. 00:17:09.359 --> 00:17:13.460 And then when it gets to verse 5, "And behold, another beast, a second one resembling a bear. 00:17:13.859 --> 00:17:20.880 And it was raised up on one side with three ribs in its mouth between its teeth and thus they said to it, 'Arise, devour much meat.'" 00:17:21.780 --> 00:17:28.980 When he talks about the bear, if you think about the empires that followed leading up to Jesus, the next one was the Persian empires, I've said it to 00:17:28.980 --> 00:17:29.200 you. 00:17:29.580 --> 00:17:32.160 But the truth is it's not just completely the Persian empire. 00:17:32.160 --> 00:17:33.110 That was the dominant empire. 00:17:33.340 --> 00:17:36.360 The Medes and the Persians combined together to create this empire. 00:17:36.860 --> 00:17:43.900 And so when you look at this bear, it's saying this bear is standing up but it's sort of kiltered where one side is a little bigger than the other and when the Medes and Persians 00:17:43.900 --> 00:17:46.880 came together, the Persian empire demonstrated to be more powerful. 00:17:47.800 --> 00:17:55.080 And when they went conquering this world, there were three major battles that they completed in order to conquer this Babylonian Empire 00:17:55.080 --> 00:17:59.220 and I said that's what's represented by the ribs within its mouth. 00:18:00.100 --> 00:18:07.180 And then, "After this, I kept looking and behold, another one, like a leopard, which had on its back four wings of a 00:18:07.180 --> 00:18:07.460 bird. 00:18:07.560 --> 00:18:14.440 The beast also had four heads, and dominion was given to it." After the Persian Empire, came the Greeks. 00:18:14.980 --> 00:18:17.080 Alexander the Great conquered the known world. 00:18:17.420 --> 00:18:24.540 I think by the age of 32, historically, it's said that he had conquered the known world and this has not been proven 00:18:24.540 --> 00:18:31.970 but they say when Alexander conquered the known world that his response was to immediately start crying because there was nowhere left to conquer. 00:18:32.120 --> 00:18:39.180 And so like a leopard, the speed of a leopard, Alexander the Great went throughout the known world conquering the world and he died at a young age. 00:18:39.580 --> 00:18:42.560 History, I think, says he went into some kind of drunken stupor and died. 00:18:43.120 --> 00:18:50.180 And then he had four generals who are under him and his kingdom was divided into four parts, which is what's represented here by 00:18:50.180 --> 00:18:51.310 the four heads. 00:18:52.000 --> 00:18:59.200 After the Greek Empire, when you look at these empires, it's like the Persians come in and swallowed up the Babylonian Empire and 00:18:59.200 --> 00:19:03.140 the Greeks come in and swallowed up the Persian Empire. 00:19:03.180 --> 00:19:08.480 And then you get this last empire that's the scariest of all in its description. 00:19:09.500 --> 00:19:16.560 It says, "After this I kept looking in the night visions and behold, a fourth beast, dreadful and terrifying." That said scary. 00:19:16.560 --> 00:19:18.910 So dreadful and terrifying is more biblically correct. 00:19:19.120 --> 00:19:23.160 "And extremely strong and it had large iron teeth. 00:19:24.000 --> 00:19:28.780 It devoured and crushed and trampled down the remainder with its feet." I think it's describing some of you in the morning before your morning coffee. 00:19:29.640 --> 00:19:34.490 "And it was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had 10 horns. 00:19:35.280 --> 00:19:40.400 While I was contemplating the horns, behold, another horn, a little one came up among them. 00:19:41.420 --> 00:19:48.680 And three of the first horns were pulled out by the roots before it and behold, this horn possessed eyes like the eyes of human and 00:19:48.680 --> 00:19:52.290 a mouth uttering great boasts." Now what does that mean? 00:19:52.460 --> 00:19:52.700 I don't know. 00:19:53.380 --> 00:19:54.300 I quit. 00:19:54.300 --> 00:19:54.940 No, just... 00:19:55.100 --> 00:19:55.280 Okay. 00:19:55.800 --> 00:19:57.140 What is this talking about? 00:19:58.380 --> 00:20:03.180 Well, this is in reference to the Roman Empire which it has 10 horns. 00:20:03.760 --> 00:20:08.140 And from that comes a little horn, and some people will talk about this more in the future. 00:20:08.160 --> 00:20:09.100 I’m not going to get to this today. 00:20:09.740 --> 00:20:12.130 But this little horn is representation of the anti-Christ. 00:20:13.360 --> 00:20:20.360 The rest of Daniel keeps going back to these thoughts and that’s why I’m going hold off on the specifics of that as we look into the 00:20:20.360 --> 00:20:20.640 future. 00:20:21.740 --> 00:20:29.180 But it talks about these 10 horns and people have speculated as to what in the world these 10 horns represent 00:20:29.180 --> 00:20:31.330 and this little horn I just told you is the anti-Christ. 00:20:32.240 --> 00:20:35.640 But I’ll give you the gamut of what 10 horns could possibly be. 00:20:37.520 --> 00:20:44.880 Some have suggested in Rome, if you study the Caesars that rule Rome, that there were 10 real Caesars 00:20:44.880 --> 00:20:45.580 that ruled Rome. 00:20:45.780 --> 00:20:49.400 There’s actually 12 but two of them only ruled for just a couple of months. 00:20:49.400 --> 00:20:51.840 So there’s 10 legitimate Caesars that ruled Rome. 00:20:52.260 --> 00:20:56.550 And so when it talks about these 10 horns coming out of Rome, that’s what it's symbolizing. 00:20:57.320 --> 00:20:59.970 Others have said well, the number 10 is just a number of completeness. 00:21:00.320 --> 00:21:06.420 So it’s showing that from Rome, there will be this type of ruling that will take place until the time of completeness comes. 00:21:06.740 --> 00:21:11.960 So it’s not really necessarily saying 10 kings as much as just saying a completeness of rulers. 00:21:12.880 --> 00:21:20.020 Others have suggested that if you study the Roman Empire, once the Roman Empire starts to come to an end that these 00:21:20.020 --> 00:21:25.160 areas of Rome where divided into 10 provinces, states, or regions. 00:21:25.160 --> 00:21:32.280 And from that, if you study historically, about 453, I think it is, or maybe 483 AD, you see these 10 00:21:32.280 --> 00:21:35.160 regions and one guy comes and actually conquers three of them. 00:21:36.120 --> 00:21:39.660 And so they’re saying that might be symbolic of what’s taking place here. 00:21:40.760 --> 00:21:47.980 But in all of that, what is recognizing for us, if I just think of major picture for a moment, God is saying to Daniel, “I’m 00:21:47.980 --> 00:21:49.300 not finished with you yet. 00:21:49.320 --> 00:21:56.420 I want you to take a look into the future with me, and this is how I’m going to work things out.” And so he paints this picture taking place that these 00:21:56.580 --> 00:22:03.860 kingdoms that will rise and these rulers that will lead and up to this fourth kingdom that will look most dreadful in 00:22:03.860 --> 00:22:04.510 all. 00:22:05.320 --> 00:22:12.580 And even when you study, the Rome as it's broken out historically, you see God’s people under massive persecution 00:22:12.580 --> 00:22:19.580 during certain periods of the Roman Empire starting with Nero, who was responsible for crucifying Peter 00:22:19.580 --> 00:22:26.060 and Paul or crucifying Peter and beheading Paul and lighting Christians on fire. 00:22:26.060 --> 00:22:28.280 And Domitian, Diocletian. 00:22:28.470 --> 00:22:33.820 Diocletian’s on the record is saying he wants to destroy every book on the Bible and wipe Christianity off the map. 00:22:35.060 --> 00:22:38.840 And so you see this dreadful empire that is born. 00:22:38.940 --> 00:22:45.940 In fact, when John writes the Book of Revelations, I believed he’s writing in exile because he is a follower of Christ. 00:22:46.220 --> 00:22:53.640 And he writes apocalyptically so that people can’t decipher the message but only God’s followers will understand what the symbolism represents. 00:22:55.340 --> 00:23:01.440 And so you see the idea of this beast carrying itself out. 00:23:01.440 --> 00:23:07.700 And so if you look at this, your mind might get a little helpless as to the state of how things are going. 00:23:07.980 --> 00:23:15.220 And so from here, this is where God says in Daniel 7:9, “I kept looking until 00:23:15.260 --> 00:23:16.400 thrones were set up. 00:23:18.300 --> 00:23:20.280 And the ancient of days took his seat. 00:23:21.980 --> 00:23:29.280 His vesture was like white snow and the hair of his head like pure wool and his throne was ablaze 00:23:29.280 --> 00:23:29.800 with flames. 00:23:30.860 --> 00:23:38.060 Its wheels were a burning fire.” So he’s giving us this description of 00:23:38.060 --> 00:23:38.480 God. 00:23:39.680 --> 00:23:41.440 He refers to him as the ancient of days. 00:23:42.520 --> 00:23:47.220 When he talks about him being white as snow and his hair like wool, it’s showing holiness and wisdom. 00:23:47.980 --> 00:23:54.500 The idea of white is one of purity, representing holiness, and the idea of wool for his hair is actually representing of wisdom. 00:23:55.640 --> 00:24:02.720 In fact, when you read Ecclesiastes 12, I think it’s verse 9 to verse 13, it uses the word wise twice at the end 00:24:02.720 --> 00:24:07.100 of the book of Ecclesiastes and that word wise actually means gray hair. 00:24:07.420 --> 00:24:11.980 That’s literally how it’s translated and into English, we make it wise because we understand what it’s saying. 00:24:13.100 --> 00:24:18.680 But the picture of God here in these passages is one who is holy, one who’s pure, one who is wise. 00:24:19.260 --> 00:24:25.100 And it talks about around his throne are flames which, again, represents holiness but also carries this idea of judgment. 00:24:26.340 --> 00:24:33.500 And wheels were burning, and the idea of a wheel is the circumference of his judgment and so because it’s circular, it’s saying it has 00:24:33.500 --> 00:24:34.160 no end. 00:24:34.160 --> 00:24:41.160 That God, in his authority, reaches to the ends in his judgment and power according to this fire at work. 00:24:41.240 --> 00:24:48.170 And then in verse 10, “A river of fire was flowing and coming out from before him." And this river is a representation of life. 00:24:48.680 --> 00:24:56.020 "And so this judgment is coming out from him and thousands upon thousands were attending him and myriads upon myriads were attending before him. 00:24:56.300 --> 00:25:01.120 The court sat and the books were opened.” Now it says something interesting there. 00:25:01.120 --> 00:25:06.600 I don't have it on the screen, but verse 11, it then goes back to this little horn. 00:25:07.680 --> 00:25:14.720 In verse 11 and 12, it talks about this little horn again and this little horn is speaking blasphemy, and Daniel is looking at him like, "You have better shut your 00:25:14.720 --> 00:25:15.560 mouth, boy. 00:25:15.600 --> 00:25:22.740 What are you doing saying against God?" And so this little horn is just declaring blasphemy against God and Daniel is wondering 00:25:22.740 --> 00:25:24.180 how this is all going to play out. 00:25:24.880 --> 00:25:30.820 I think the play out really starts for the little horn when the Daniel gets his explanation in verse 23. 00:25:31.380 --> 00:25:37.900 But he’s watching this little horn as it relates to this what in the world is this guy talking when God is demonstrating his authority here. 00:25:38.440 --> 00:25:44.720 And then he goes a little further and starts to give this other explanation or this addition to that explanation. 00:25:44.860 --> 00:25:47.100 It says, “I keep looking in the night visions. 00:25:48.200 --> 00:25:54.090 And behold with the clouds of heaven, one like a son of man.” I need you to hold on to that word. 00:25:54.840 --> 00:25:58.080 If you were here for the Mark series, you might be familiar with it. 00:25:58.080 --> 00:26:00.560 But he sees one like the son of man who is coming. 00:26:01.740 --> 00:26:05.160 And he came up to the ancient of days, and was presented before him. 00:26:06.840 --> 00:26:13.960 And to him, talking about the son of man, was given dominion, glory, and the kingdom that all the peoples, nations, 00:26:14.060 --> 00:26:16.940 and men of every language might serve him. 00:26:18.080 --> 00:26:24.160 His dominion is an everlasting dominion which will not pass away, and his kingdom is one which will not be destroyed. 00:26:25.740 --> 00:26:32.820 So when it talks about the son of man, it gives this idea of one, him being a man but 00:26:32.820 --> 00:26:40.700 also having characteristics of God, everlasting dominion, people bowing before his authority. 00:26:41.280 --> 00:26:47.600 And in fact, Isaiah 42:8, it tells us that God will not give his glory to any other but himself. 00:26:48.700 --> 00:26:56.000 And so you see this idea of deity being proclaimed in verse 14, but you also see this idea of humanity being 00:26:56.400 --> 00:27:02.150 discussed in verse 13 as it relates to the son of man. 00:27:04.660 --> 00:27:07.680 Ancient of days, son of man. 00:27:09.560 --> 00:27:17.040 When Jesus arrives in the gospels, angel Gabriel announced 00:27:17.040 --> 00:27:18.820 his birth on Luke 1:32. 00:27:18.840 --> 00:27:19.100 Listen to this. 00:27:20.380 --> 00:27:20.900 “He will be great. 00:27:22.160 --> 00:27:27.260 He’ll be called the son of the most high and the Lord will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. 00:27:27.440 --> 00:27:34.680 He will reign over the house of Jacob forever and of his kingdom, there will be no end.” Daniel 00:27:34.680 --> 00:27:42.220 7, Jesus proclaimed this, Mark 1:15, saying, “The time is fulfilled and 00:27:42.220 --> 00:27:44.020 the kingdom of God is at hand. 00:27:44.260 --> 00:27:51.560 Repent and believe in the gospel.” Mark 2, Jesus said this, “The son of man has 00:27:51.560 --> 00:27:58.620 the authority on earth to forgive sins.” Jesus went on saying in the same chapter, “The son of man is lord even of 00:27:58.620 --> 00:28:05.680 the Sabbath.” In Matthew 28:18, “All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me.” 00:28:05.820 --> 00:28:06.770 Jesus made that declaration. 00:28:08.120 --> 00:28:15.120 Just before Jesus was crucified before the high priest, the high priest asked Jesus, “Are you the Messiah, the son of the 00:28:15.120 --> 00:28:18.840 blessed one?” And Jesus responded, “I am. 00:28:19.480 --> 00:28:27.740 And you will see the son of man seated at the right hand of power and coming with the clouds of heaven.” And 00:28:27.740 --> 00:28:33.360 then it says tearing his clothes, the high priest said, “What further need do we have of witnesses? 00:28:33.680 --> 00:28:34.560 You have heard the blasphemy. 00:28:35.160 --> 00:28:42.380 How does it seem to you?” And they all condemned him to be deserving of death and some began to spit on him and to blindfold him 00:28:42.380 --> 00:28:49.060 and to beat him with their fist and to say to him prophesy, and the officers received him with slaps in the face. 00:28:50.660 --> 00:28:57.680 When Jesus describes himself to the high priest, he uses Daniel 7 and then he talks about coming in the clouds, which is 00:28:57.900 --> 00:29:00.040 the authorities of heaven with him. 00:29:00.200 --> 00:29:04.040 That’s the demonstration of all heaven’s authorities coming with the king. 00:29:04.080 --> 00:29:06.160 So Jesus is calling himself lord of lords. 00:29:07.400 --> 00:29:13.820 And when you open up in the Book of Revelation 1, this is how it starts in verse 7, “Behold, he is coming with the clouds. 00:29:13.960 --> 00:29:17.220 Every eye will see him, even those who pierced him. 00:29:17.580 --> 00:29:19.600 All the tribes of the earth will mourn over him. 00:29:19.740 --> 00:29:20.440 So it is to be. 00:29:20.660 --> 00:29:21.060 Amen. 00:29:21.080 --> 00:29:28.560 I am the alpha and omega, says the lord God, who is, who was, and who is to come.” So Jesus, 00:29:28.600 --> 00:29:35.820 in chapter 7, he calls himself the Lord God, the beginning and the end, demonstrating himself to be the same that’s described 00:29:35.820 --> 00:29:38.260 in Daniel 7. 00:29:39.880 --> 00:29:46.980 Now, you look at the story and you see Jesus referred to plainly here, you can see, 00:29:47.060 --> 00:29:48.080 as the son of man. 00:29:48.700 --> 00:29:50.020 How do you deal with the ancient of days? 00:29:52.500 --> 00:29:59.230 Remember in Daniel 2, I said to you the prophecy that Nebuchadnezzar received, I should say. 00:29:59.280 --> 00:30:00.280 It was in 2. 00:30:00.660 --> 00:30:07.120 There’s writing on the wall, and I used that time to theologically show you how God the Father does not have a physical body. 00:30:07.920 --> 00:30:12.200 In fact, there’s no scripture to support that God the Father has a physical body. 00:30:12.220 --> 00:30:18.500 When you look in 1 Timothy 6:16, it tells us no one has seen God, no one will ever see God. 00:30:19.280 --> 00:30:25.820 In John 4:24, “God is spirit.” In Luke 24:39, I think it is, a spirit has no flesh and bones. 00:30:26.760 --> 00:30:30.100 That Jesus, a part of the triune God, became flesh. 00:30:30.100 --> 00:30:37.300 That happens in John 1:14, and starts to tell us that Jesus became flesh and he expatiates or explains 00:30:37.300 --> 00:30:38.060 the Father. 00:30:38.440 --> 00:30:45.520 Colossians 2:9, John 14, Jesus said in the beginning of that chapter, “He who has seen me has seen 00:30:45.520 --> 00:30:49.820 the Father,” meaning if you want to know what God the father is like characteristically, just look at Jesus. 00:30:50.080 --> 00:30:50.840 Jesus demonstrates him. 00:30:51.540 --> 00:30:58.680 So the Godhead does not have physical form or physical body until Jesus becomes flesh. 00:30:58.800 --> 00:31:05.900 Now anthropomorphically, God is described as having characteristics in physical form and is not just 00:31:05.900 --> 00:31:10.460 at some points you might see like we saw on Daniel, “God has a hand,” it said as he wrote on the wall. 00:31:10.840 --> 00:31:12.720 But other times, God is described as a bear. 00:31:13.480 --> 00:31:17.980 Even in Revelation, God is described as an eagle. 00:31:18.000 --> 00:31:19.070 God is described as a mountain. 00:31:19.800 --> 00:31:26.920 And so anthropomorphically, it’s trying to give us characteristics of which we could think about God, relate to God or understand God. 00:31:28.000 --> 00:31:31.040 And so when it talks about the ancient of days, I think the same thing is happening here. 00:31:31.080 --> 00:31:31.900 But here’s one of the interesting thing. 00:31:33.500 --> 00:31:38.880 When you get to Revelation 1 which I just read from and then you look in verse 13. 00:31:38.880 --> 00:31:39.520 Let me see if I put it. 00:31:39.620 --> 00:31:40.240 I put it up here, good. 00:31:40.760 --> 00:31:41.120 Look at this. 00:31:42.980 --> 00:31:50.100 If you remember the description of the ancient of days, Daniel 7, and you read Revelation 1:13, “In the middle of 00:31:50.100 --> 00:31:57.120 the lamp stand, I saw one like a son of man, clothed in a robe reaching the feet and girded across his chest 00:31:57.120 --> 00:31:58.120 with a golden sash. 00:31:58.820 --> 00:32:05.300 His head and his hair were white like white wool, like snow, and his eyes like a flame of fire. 00:32:05.840 --> 00:32:13.280 His feet were like burnished bronze when it has been made to glow in a furnace, and His voice was like the sound of many waters.” 00:32:14.100 --> 00:32:17.540 So remember the rushing of the river that came from the ancient of days. 00:32:18.560 --> 00:32:26.570 And so what you see here is the same characteristics described with the ancient of days on Revelation 7 are the same characteristics given to Jesus in... 00:32:27.640 --> 00:32:31.200 Excuse me, in Daniel 7 is given to Jesus in Revelation 1:13. 00:32:33.260 --> 00:32:34.940 Now you get all that theologically lay off. 00:32:34.960 --> 00:32:36.540 Let me give you some explanation. 00:32:38.680 --> 00:32:41.080 If your head is spinning right now, I want to slow down. 00:32:42.120 --> 00:32:44.700 And I don't want to give us some so whats as it relates to this. 00:32:46.560 --> 00:32:53.580 You see these kingdoms and then you see Jesus coming, and if you remember the first story that we read about the 00:32:53.580 --> 00:32:53.980 statues. 00:32:55.320 --> 00:33:02.340 It tells us that these four kingdoms represented the statue and at the bottom, there were 10 toes made of clay which 00:33:02.340 --> 00:33:05.860 represents the same as the 10 horns on Daniel 7. 00:33:06.840 --> 00:33:13.540 And this stone comes and it crushes the feet of the statue, and the statue is toppled into dust. 00:33:15.440 --> 00:33:22.460 And you read in Daniel 7 and you see four kingdoms, and then all of a sudden the 00:33:22.460 --> 00:33:23.060 ancient of days. 00:33:24.980 --> 00:33:31.720 The ancient of days gives this explanation and the little horn runs its mouth, and then the son of man comes in. 00:33:33.000 --> 00:33:40.390 But the question really then becomes all these kingdoms have ruled and then after the Roman kingdom or after the Roman kingdom, 00:33:40.460 --> 00:33:41.160 Jesus shows up. 00:33:43.460 --> 00:33:44.260 Where is that kingdom? 00:33:47.180 --> 00:33:48.040 Where is that ruling? 00:33:50.740 --> 00:33:51.320 Where is that peace? 00:33:53.460 --> 00:33:59.250 When Jesus came, why hasn't all of it been taken care of? 00:34:02.020 --> 00:34:04.830 Why do we still sit with kingdoms that blasphemy God? 00:34:07.800 --> 00:34:08.400 How does that look? 00:34:11.219 --> 00:34:13.800 In 2 Peter 3, they asked the same question. 00:34:14.739 --> 00:34:17.639 Verse 4, they ask the same question. 00:34:19.480 --> 00:34:19.960 Where is thy God? 00:34:21.120 --> 00:34:23.780 You guys say that Jesus is coming to establish his kingdom, but where is it? 00:34:25.960 --> 00:34:28.639 And in verse 8, they start to give an answer to that. 00:34:28.820 --> 00:34:30.940 I want you to just think about this for a minute. 00:34:31.159 --> 00:34:33.070 I won't have time to go through this today because I’m unsure. 00:34:33.380 --> 00:34:37.739 But in verse 23 of Daniel 7, you can go read this a little bit later. 00:34:38.000 --> 00:34:46.520 This starts talking about this beast running his mouth and I think it’s talking about this beast running his mouth after 00:34:46.520 --> 00:34:53.469 Jesus has already come to introduce his kingdom but not having fully established the kingdom. 00:34:54.060 --> 00:35:00.880 And what you’ll read as you go on from chapter 7 and starting in verse 25, you see this declaration being made. 00:35:00.880 --> 00:35:07.900 And then all of a sudden, in verse 27, it says this, “Then the sovereignty, the dominion, and the greatness of all the kingdoms under the whole heaven 00:35:07.900 --> 00:35:11.660 will be given to the people of the saints of the highest one. 00:35:12.020 --> 00:35:19.980 His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all the dominions will serve and obey him.” So I think what it’s saying is there 00:35:19.980 --> 00:35:27.360 will be judgment brought against this little horn and then after all that has taken place, God will ultimately give his kingdom over 00:35:27.360 --> 00:35:28.870 to his people. 00:35:29.600 --> 00:35:34.600 Well, I think 2 Peter 3 is getting to where is the promise of his coming, that’s what they asked. 00:35:34.600 --> 00:35:36.740 Where is this kingdom of which he promised to come? 00:35:37.340 --> 00:35:39.380 And in verse 8, he starts off this way. 00:35:39.380 --> 00:35:46.800 It says, "Well, one day is a thousand years to the lord and a thousand years is one day to God." Meaning God doesn't function on your timeline. 00:35:48.180 --> 00:35:55.780 But then it goes on and says this, “To God, time is not really what’s important but the Lord is not slow about his promise as 00:35:55.780 --> 00:36:03.760 you might count it slowness, but is patient towards you, not wishing for any to perish but all come to repentance.” And 00:36:03.760 --> 00:36:06.240 so when Jesus' ministry started, this is what I think has happened. 00:36:07.240 --> 00:36:14.820 In Daniel 7, “The son of man came and he declared his kingdom.” And I introduced those passages to you starting Mark 1:15, 00:36:15.120 --> 00:36:20.520 Jesus said, "The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand." So Jesus declared it. 00:36:21.420 --> 00:36:25.760 But then he also said if you’re going to pray, pray in this way, our father which art in heaven. 00:36:26.960 --> 00:36:29.660 He goes on and say thy kingdom come, thy will be done. 00:36:30.800 --> 00:36:33.320 So he tells us to pray for the coming of that kingdom. 00:36:34.660 --> 00:36:38.380 In fact, at the end of Revelation, the thought is come Lord Jesus. 00:36:40.700 --> 00:36:41.600 So what is this? 00:36:42.040 --> 00:36:42.400 What is this? 00:36:42.680 --> 00:36:44.400 If God’s kingdom has come, where is this kingdom? 00:36:46.180 --> 00:36:52.820 I think Jesus came and he spiritually set us free and I think he’s ruling and reigning in heaven right now. 00:36:52.820 --> 00:36:59.640 In fact, Acts 7, when Stephen, the first martyr, gives us a glimpse into heaven, you see Jesus standing before the throne there. 00:37:00.300 --> 00:37:07.320 A demonstration that he’s there ruling and reigning, but the fullness of his kingdom has not come. 00:37:08.940 --> 00:37:09.420 Why? 00:37:11.320 --> 00:37:18.020 Because with the fullness of his kingdom comes his wrath against everything that opposes it. 00:37:19.500 --> 00:37:25.890 And so what Peter is saying is that God has delayed the fullness of its arrival. 00:37:25.940 --> 00:37:26.040 Why? 00:37:28.100 --> 00:37:31.860 Not willing for any to perish, for all come to repentance. 00:37:33.440 --> 00:37:34.540 So what does this become for us? 00:37:36.740 --> 00:37:37.490 An act of his grace. 00:37:40.040 --> 00:37:47.220 An opportunity for you and for me to declare this gospel of this king that sets us free 00:37:47.220 --> 00:37:49.300 in this world that we may all come to know him. 00:37:51.760 --> 00:37:53.780 What this statement is saying is don't delay. 00:37:56.040 --> 00:37:57.080 You’re created for this king. 00:37:59.560 --> 00:38:00.660 You’re created to belong. 00:38:02.820 --> 00:38:10.560 And Jesus is extending his hand of grace for your opportunity to know him, and 00:38:10.600 --> 00:38:15.070 to rest in his grace and find security in his throne. 00:38:16.900 --> 00:38:24.140 When we look in Psalm 137, they weep on the rivers of Babylon 00:38:24.140 --> 00:38:28.720 thinking about Zion and Daniel looking to the future. 00:38:28.880 --> 00:38:31.980 He wants to owe that peace. 00:38:33.720 --> 00:38:41.000 And what they’re saying in the story is that peace is that grace, that opportunity, it’s still be extended to you and to I. 00:38:41.560 --> 00:38:46.920 That the king has come to deliver his kingdom and ultimately, he will return with his authority. 00:38:47.620 --> 00:38:55.000 And some of you may have come to hear this special word that reminds us of when exactly that’s going to take place, 00:38:55.000 --> 00:38:59.550 and we might reference in our lives as this little word called Armageddon. 00:39:00.140 --> 00:39:00.660 You ever heard of that? 00:39:01.760 --> 00:39:02.980 Armageddon, right? 00:39:03.640 --> 00:39:08.710 When you think of Armageddon, you think destruction and pandemonium and chaos and crazy. 00:39:08.820 --> 00:39:14.700 But I really want us to understand what is exactly being communicated by this word Armageddon. 00:39:15.380 --> 00:39:18.760 It comes in, excuse me, Revelation 16. 00:39:19.240 --> 00:39:25.920 If you look in verse 14 for just a moment, there’s this teaching of this word called Armageddon. 00:39:26.920 --> 00:39:34.980 And I’m going to remind you when I taught about the statue in chapter 2, we went to Revelation 00:39:34.980 --> 00:39:40.860 17 and I walked you through to 17 to 21 very quickly, but I walked you through chapter 17 and 21. 00:39:41.360 --> 00:39:44.000 And I told you that chapter 17 and 21 is a tale of two cities. 00:39:45.080 --> 00:39:50.060 Chapter 17 is Babylon, where I don't think it’s necessary that Babylon has to be resurrected. 00:39:50.220 --> 00:39:53.460 People teach that which is not necessary. 00:39:53.480 --> 00:39:58.340 But Babylon becomes a representation of a world dominant empire. 00:39:59.100 --> 00:40:03.460 So chapter 17, you see this what’s called the whore of Babylon or the harlot of Babylon. 00:40:03.840 --> 00:40:04.800 She’s decked out in gold. 00:40:04.800 --> 00:40:06.280 She’s attracting the world to her. 00:40:06.660 --> 00:40:09.420 And in verse 18, you see this funeral dirge of her death. 00:40:10.660 --> 00:40:17.700 And then you see God coming in 19 as a warrior with a robe that is dipped in blood and a tattoo down the side of his leg, this 00:40:17.700 --> 00:40:21.240 is king of kings and lord of lords, and a sword comes out of his mouth. 00:40:21.240 --> 00:40:23.280 It is crazy Jesus. 00:40:23.280 --> 00:40:31.040 And then in 19:20-21, then you see this new Jerusalem coming out for God’s people, and 00:40:31.040 --> 00:40:31.720 all of that unfolding. 00:40:32.020 --> 00:40:38.320 I think the culmination of all those events described really happens here with the start of Armageddon. 00:40:38.440 --> 00:40:39.380 What is Armageddon? 00:40:41.060 --> 00:40:43.540 Well, Armageddon literally is Har-Megiddo. 00:40:45.880 --> 00:40:48.420 All it really means is not... 00:40:48.420 --> 00:40:49.980 When I say what’s Armageddon guys? 00:40:49.980 --> 00:40:52.160 And you’re like, “Destruction and the chaos. 00:40:52.440 --> 00:40:53.880 It’s WWE. 00:40:53.880 --> 00:40:55.940 Whatever, professional...” Whatever, whatever. 00:40:56.020 --> 00:41:03.180 Anyway, so but Armageddon literally means Har-Megiddo, which is the hill in front of a valley. 00:41:04.700 --> 00:41:07.880 Megiddo is a particular valley and har is hill. 00:41:09.220 --> 00:41:15.720 And so when we talked about Armageddon, it's talking about a battle from this mountain overlooking this valley. 00:41:17.300 --> 00:41:25.060 But when you study Megiddo, Megiddo has a very specific historical significance 00:41:25.060 --> 00:41:27.790 to people. 00:41:28.430 --> 00:41:35.800 Megiddo was a part of an ancient trade route and if you could control that area of the world, 00:41:36.500 --> 00:41:38.630 it was thought that you could control the world. 00:41:39.560 --> 00:41:46.340 In fact, some scholars have said more battles had been fought in this valley than anywhere else in history. 00:41:47.480 --> 00:41:51.860 More blood has been shed for this region of the world than anywhere else. 00:41:53.360 --> 00:42:01.140 And so when you look at this area on the map, you would see the Megiddo, Megiddo actually brings 00:42:01.140 --> 00:42:03.740 in Europe, Asia, and Africa. 00:42:04.680 --> 00:42:11.820 The way to the valley sets itself, it finds itself in between these mountain ranges or these hills that 00:42:11.820 --> 00:42:13.360 are very difficult to pass through. 00:42:13.360 --> 00:42:19.200 And so you need to go through this valley area in order to get to anywhere from Africa into Europe or into Asia. 00:42:21.020 --> 00:42:27.960 And so when you think about Megiddo, if you wanted to control the world, this was a region in which you wanted to dominate. 00:42:28.940 --> 00:42:34.740 So whoever had the power of Megiddo, had the power of the world. 00:42:37.100 --> 00:42:44.220 In fact, Solomon, the richest king in Israel’s history, it says this about him in 1 Kings 00:42:44.220 --> 00:42:44.780 9. 00:42:44.780 --> 00:42:45.820 You want to know how he got his wealth? 00:42:46.080 --> 00:42:53.420 Well, God gave him his wealth but this is the way it worked, “King Solomon levied to build the house of the Lord with his own house, the Millo, 00:42:53.480 --> 00:43:00.520 the wall of Jerusalem, then Hazor, Megiddo and Gezer.” So Solomon controls that trade 00:43:00.520 --> 00:43:00.760 route. 00:43:01.240 --> 00:43:08.500 He controls the city before Megiddo and the city after Megiddo, but he wants to make sure that he is in control within this area. 00:43:08.840 --> 00:43:15.920 And that commerce and that control of that region of the world allowed him to grow with the power in which 00:43:15.920 --> 00:43:16.360 he possessed. 00:43:17.880 --> 00:43:19.840 It was the magnitude of Israel’s strength. 00:43:22.120 --> 00:43:28.460 And so when we talk about Megiddo, what this represents is control of the world. 00:43:30.380 --> 00:43:38.240 And so when it talks about Armageddon, maybe in a very specific sense, it could mean all 00:43:38.240 --> 00:43:40.600 the powers of the world assemble on this one valley and fight. 00:43:41.620 --> 00:43:43.540 But I want to tell you, and they’re going to fight against God. 00:43:43.580 --> 00:43:48.760 But I’m going to just tell you, if you find yourself in a place where people were like, “Hey, we’re all jumping on the plane with some guns. 00:43:48.780 --> 00:43:54.540 We’re going to fight God in a valley called Megiddo.” I’m going to tell you, don’t participate. 00:43:55.060 --> 00:43:57.260 It’s not going to go out well with you, okay? 00:43:58.660 --> 00:44:05.610 But at the very least, what this symbolizes is there is a power and a battle taking place for control. 00:44:07.400 --> 00:44:10.270 I think it very much has to do with the soul of humanity. 00:44:12.160 --> 00:44:14.420 Armageddon could represent in a sense you and I. 00:44:16.760 --> 00:44:25.280 God’s desires, king of kings and lord of lords versus this prostitute of Babylon offering 00:44:25.280 --> 00:44:30.720 us the gold of society that will ultimately not satisfy. 00:44:33.680 --> 00:44:40.740 One of the most interesting things I think about this valley, when you literally stand on Har-Megiddo, 00:44:40.820 --> 00:44:48.840 the hill that overlooks Megiddo, if you were just to turn around and look behind you would 00:44:48.840 --> 00:44:49.600 see another hill. 00:44:51.760 --> 00:44:52.610 On that hill is a little city. 00:44:54.860 --> 00:44:55.860 They call that city Nazareth. 00:44:58.640 --> 00:45:07.380 As a little boy, Jesus stood on the hill that overlooked Megiddo thinking 00:45:09.760 --> 00:45:12.360 as a son of man, he came to serve to give his life. 00:45:14.840 --> 00:45:19.120 And one day, he would return with his authority to declare it over the worlds. 00:45:22.600 --> 00:45:27.940 When you think about the kingdom of God, you ask the question, where is it? 00:45:29.900 --> 00:45:36.960 I think Jesus is ruling and reigning right now but I think physically, he will return 00:45:39.600 --> 00:45:40.380 but he's delayed. 00:45:42.280 --> 00:45:50.980 His delay is what Peter said, "Not willing any to perish but all come to repentance." God’s 00:45:51.000 --> 00:45:54.430 delay is for you and I to see the significance of who he really is. 00:45:56.020 --> 00:46:03.100 To read a passage like Daniel and as Daniel read these passages, it says he was sick, he was pale, he thought about how drastic 00:46:03.100 --> 00:46:09.220 these things were but at the same time, how incredibly hopeful it becomes for God’s people. 00:46:11.000 --> 00:46:15.550 While the world rages against God, God continues to give his grace. 00:46:17.380 --> 00:46:24.380 So for us this morning, this becomes the place for us to look at this seriously, to realize the significance of every day of our 00:46:24.380 --> 00:46:27.420 lives for the king who will ultimately come declare this over the world. 00:46:28.780 --> 00:46:42.820 And to think the battle of Armageddon, honestly, 00:46:42.820 --> 00:46:42.820 it’s happening every day over the souls of people. 00:46:42.820 --> 00:46:42.820 Maybe even yours. 00:46:42.820 --> 00:46:55.380 If by an act of faith, you trust in Christ, knowing that the son of man came 00:46:55.380 --> 00:47:03.440 to this world to give his life that you may call him my Lord and my God, 00:47:03.480 --> 00:47:05.880 your savior and your king.