A Blossom Bible Podcast
A Blossom Bible Podcast
Daniel 11:36-12:13
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Study given Wednesday March 20, 2024
Daniel, chapter 11. Daniel, chapter 11. I think we left off about a year ago in verse 36. We do this in increments here. Left off about a year ago in verse 36. No, no, no, we do this in increments here. Alright, well, let's pray, shall we? God, I want to thank you for this sweet time together. It is just so nice just to be able to enjoy each other's company and conversations. And now, in your word, we want to spend some time and we just pray that you would bring life to your word by your spirit and that you would apply these things to our life and even just our outlook, as we see that one day you will make all things new and all things right, and we look forward to that. God, work it into our hearts and be in this time of prayer In Jesus' name, amen. Daniel, chapter 11, verse 36.
Speaker 1:We've spent plenty of time in the book of Daniel. We've seen the narrative part there in those first six chapters the life of Daniel and how he purposed in his heart not to defile himself and definitely was a guy that God could use. Then in the last six chapters it becomes more prophetic and very detailed, and we noticed last week that the skeptics doubt this portion, especially chapter 11, because it's so detailed, and the complaint is nobody can know those things in that kind of detail. Of course. Obviously they forget that it's inspired by God. So not a problem for us. Chapter 11, the first part, is a lot of that detail, and you'll remember that this prophecy here in chapter 11, given to Daniel there in the latter part of his life there, as Persia is the ruling empire, at that point Daniel's life ends as Persia is ruling, and a lot of these prophecies concern things that happened hundreds of years after Daniel was even around. And the detail is amazing. After the Persians there, we remember the Greeks came in there.
Speaker 1:Daniel really predicts well, god, through Daniel, brings us to the Greek empire and Alexander the Great there, and Alexander the Great there in verse 4. And when he is actually verse 3, then a mighty king shall arise, that is Alexander the Great. Well, after that, we had a section there that we looked at last time and it concerns what happens after Alexander the Great. His kingdom is broken up four ways to mainly his generals after him, and the two main areas that are mentioned are the north and the south. Those are the most powerful places the Seleucid Empire and the Ptolemy Empire.
Speaker 1:And we notice, kind of just looking back here for a second verse 11. Look at verse 11. Kind of notice the rhythm here. And the king of the south shall be moved with rage and go out and fight with him, and the king with the king of the north, who shall muster a great multitude, and the multitude shall be given into the hand of his enemy. When he has taken away the multitude, his heart will be lifted up and he will cast down tens of thousands. He will not prevail, for the king of the north will return and muster a multitude greater than the former, and he shall certainly come to the end of some years with a great army and much equipment. Now, in those times, many shall rise up against the king of the south. So what we kind of see here is that rhythm the north, the south, the north, the south, the north and the south, and they battle back and forth.
Speaker 1:And then in verse 36, which is kind of where we put the brakes on last time in verse 36, we see a little something different. Then it says Then the king shall do according to his own will. He shall exalt and magnify himself above every. God shall speak blasphemies against the God of gods and shall prosper till the wrath has been accomplished, for what has been determined shall be done. He shall regard neither the God of his fathers nor the desire of women, nor regard any God, for he shall exalt himself above them all. So here in verse 36, a little bit of a change happens, as we kind of stop with the north and the south, the north and the south, and we read there and the king shall do, and it's really hard to fit what comes from 36 on into anything from history that's already happened. It seems kind of unique. It's about one king and the north and the south are mentioned here in a verse or two, but it's a little different.
Speaker 1:Notice there in verse 40, I think. Notice there in verse 40, I think at the time of the end the king of the south shall attack him and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, horsemen, with many ships. So it kind of revolves around this king, the people from the north attack him, king, the people from the north attack him, the people from the south attack him. But there's this king, and so this kind of leads us to believe that this is a future event. They're involving the last days, which is exactly what it says in verse 40, at the time of the end. And this king, time of the end, and this king, most would say, is the Antichrist. In fact, I think just about everybody would say this is the Antichrist here in verse 36. So it changes and we're talking about something that's future even for us.
Speaker 1:Notice what we're told about him in verse 36. About him in verse 36. He shall exalt and magnify himself above every God and speak blasphemies against the God of gods. And so this is a characteristic of this Antichrist, this one who comes in place of Christ. He boasts there. And remember Daniel, chapter 7, the little horn with the big mouth. He boasts and is arrogant, he has pompous words and here even he magnifies himself above every god, and that's exactly what he'll do.
Speaker 1:Let's turn to Revelation, chapter 13,. If you can hold your place in Daniel, revelation, chapter 13,. If you can hold your place in Daniel, revelation, chapter 13. Revelation 13 is a chapter that really just deals specifically with this Antichrist and a guy that's known as the false prophet. But we kind of see some of these same things in chapter 13, verse 3.
Speaker 1:Well, verse 2, there's a beast I saw. It was like a leopard, with feet of a bear and the mouth of a lion. The dragon gave him his power, his throne and great authority. A lot of flashbacks there from the book of Daniel, if you remember them. But then verse three, and I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded and his deadly wound was healed and all the world marveled and followed the beast. So they worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast saying who is like the beast, who is able to make war with him. And he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given authority to continue. For 42 months he opened his mouth and blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name as tabernacle and those who dwell in heaven. It was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them, and authority was given him over every tribe, tongue and nation. All who dwelt on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the book of life of the world. If anyone has an ear, let him hear. So here we see this beast, this Antichrist, and he'll cause the world to worship him. So speaking blasphemies, you know, raising himself over God.
Speaker 1:Now let's turn back to Daniel. These things all kind of tie together for sure. Daniel, chapter 11, verse 37. He shall regard nearly the God of his fathers or the desire of women Both of these terms really point to a Jewish culture here in this Antichrist kind of just a little background on him the God of his fathers that term is specific to the Hebrew culture there and the desire of women. This most people would actually say has to do with the Messiah. That was actually a term for the Messiah. So I know our minds kind of go a little wild when we read something that he doesn't desire, you know, has no concern for the desire of women, but really it has to do with the Messiah, the one that all Israel hoped in and was waiting for. They were waiting for him to be born and even Jewish women were wanting to be a part of that, like Mary was. And yet he doesn't care about Jesus, obviously, right, he doesn't care about the God of the Bible, the God of his fathers, but it points in a certain way that there might be a kind of a Hebrew background, a Jewish background, to this Antichrist. Maybe Either way he's drawing worship for himself, and we could see that in lots of world leaders who have been just drawing attention to themselves.
Speaker 1:Notice verse 38. He shall honor a god of fortress, so military power is a big deal. He shall honor them with gold and silver. Materialism and just great wealth are kind of like his. You know his soapbox. I guess you could say and and and and so we get kind of just a picture of this guy. He's a military leader, he's into money for sure, he's got a mouth. He exalts himself over God. Now, verse 40,.
Speaker 1:At the time of the end, the king of the south shall attack him and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, horsemen and with many ships and shall enter. And he shall enter the countries, overwhelm them and pass through. He shall also enter the glorious land and many countries shall be overthrown, but these shall escape from his hand Edom, moab and the prominent people of Ammon. He shall also stretch out his hand against the countries and the land of Egypt shall not escape. He shall have power over treasures of gold and silver, over precious things of Egypt also. The escape he shall have power over treasures of gold and silver, over precious things of Egypt. Also, the Libyan and Ethiopian shall follow at his heels, but news from the east and the north shall trouble him. Therefore, he shall go out with great fury to destroy and annihilate many, and he shall plant the tents of his palace between the seas and the glorious holy mountain. Yet he shall come to his end and no one will help him.
Speaker 1:So here we read about a lot of war. Right, if you kind of caught that, there's a lot of battles, there's a lot of opposition and it's kind of funny that a guy who's all about war and all about, you know, fortress and weapons and all these things, would experience so much war. We kind of almost get to that point at the very end where we can picture the Battle of Armageddon, armies from the east, armies from the north coming against him and there's no one to save him. And of course that's how the book ends. The book of Revelation ends there with Jesus finally coming back and they stop fighting each other and they start fighting God, which is absolutely pointless. But it's interesting to see that a guy could come with so much promise to make the world right. I mean that's why people are going to follow him and yet bring so much war and so much destruction.
Speaker 1:Let's turn to Revelation, chapter six, just really quickly, since we're here and we get another picture of this Antichrist before we leave him and don't come back to him for a long, long time. Revelation, chapter six. This is the four riders of the apocalypse, as they are known, but it's a picture here. We see, john has this vision in chapter six and I saw, when the lamb opened, one of the seals. I heard one of the four living creatures saying with a voice of thunder come and see. And I looked, and on a white horse. Now when you think rider on a white horse, you might think how Jesus comes back. He's coming on a white horse, he's coming with the armies of heaven. But this is the Antichrist here. He's coming as the world's savior on a white horse and he has a bow and a crown. So we could say he's got military might and he's got some political power, maybe even some of that silver and gold involved there.
Speaker 1:But notice, I think it's always worth noticing, it goes along with his whole character. He's got a bow, but notice what he doesn't have. He doesn't have any arrows right. A bow without arrows is kind of pointless. You know, it's kind of like a gun without bullets. I mean, I suppose if you bluff you could still, you know, rob a bank with it or something, not saying I'm thinking about it, but you know you got to bluff it. And that's really where this guy is. He's got boastful words, he's got a big mouth and really, with a bow and no arrows, he's all talk.
Speaker 1:But notice, he comes kind of as a world savior in verse three, and when he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying come and see. And there was another horse, fiery red, went out and it was granted to the one who sat on it to take peace from the earth and that the people should kill one another and that he was given to him a great sword. And after that comes another horse. That is famine, and after that it's death and pestilence. So again, notice, as this antichrist comes, this one instead of Christ, the one that everybody's looking for to solve their problems, he brings trouble, he brings war and famine and death. And you know, anything that we put instead of Christ is ultimately going to lead to hurt like this. It's not going to be what we thought, and so here that's kind of what we're seeing in this part of chapter 11, daniel chapter 11, is lots of battles with this king, and he's opposed on every side.
Speaker 1:Now one more thing to point out. I know we're running short on time here, but one more thing to point out in verse 41. He'll set up his base of operations there in the glorious land that's Israel. At this point, when he sets up kind of his base there, and when you put all the scriptures together, you get this idea that he comes in just like Antiochus did in our last time together, and he's going to set up an image in the Holy of Holies, in the temple. Now that kind of means that there's got to be a temple. Some put a possibility that there might be a tabernacle like a tent, and that might work too. But in order for this all to go down, there's got to be a holy place, there's got to be a place for him to defile. So likely part of what he sets up is the ability for the Jews to build their temple. Again, how that goes down is anyone's guess, but, as you guys know, they're getting ready for it. They've got all the preparations ready in case that ever becomes a possibility. But he sets up his base of operations. And then of course, everything goes downhill because he goes and he presents himself as God there and demands everybody worship him. The Jews are not going to go for it for the most part, and notice in verse 41, I just think this is interesting, but these shall escape from his hand Edom, moab and the prominent people of Ammon, as you kind of put stuff together, these nations here that are listed, they're all in what's modern day Jordan? Modern day Jordan is where Edom, moab, jordan is where Edom, moab and Ammon of old times were, and for some reason, here those places are safe. Those places in Jordan are worship.
Speaker 1:And verse 13 of chapter 12 says this Now, when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman, that's Israel, who gave birth to the male child that would be Jesus. But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle that she might fly into the wilderness to her place where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time from the presence of the serpent. So real, interesting here, israel, pictured by a woman who's being kind of chased by this dragon, by this serpent. She runs to the wilderness for well notice, it says there was a time, times and half a time. That would be three and a half years. So the Antichrist sets up this demand for worship in the middle of the tribulation three and a half years into. It would be the middle, and for the next three and a half years Israel, some of Israel, a remnant of Israel, is kept safe in the wilderness.
Speaker 1:If you take a look at Isaiah 63, verses one through four, it kind of points to this same place in Jordan, what used to be Edom, as a place where these Jews run to. Some would actually point specifically to the city of Petra there. In what is that? Indiana Jones 3, right, that rock city, a real place actually in Jordan called Petra, and some people would say that perhaps is where they run to. I don't know if that's really true, but this was Isaiah 63, verse one says who is this who comes from Edom, with dyed garments, from Basra, that same area there in Jordan? This one who is glorious in his apparel, traveling in the greatness of his strength? I speak in righteousness, mighty to save, I who speak in righteousness, mighty to save, why is your apparel red and your garments like one who treads the winepress? I have trodden the winepress alone and from the peoples. No one was with me, for I have trodden so. Here in Basra, in Edom, there in Jordan, it seems that God delivers his people from their oppression there in that last day's time. So that would be why, here in Daniel, chapter 11, I think that those places are safe because God's people are there in those places.
Speaker 1:It all ends there in verse 45, with a battle where nobody comes to help the Antichrist. It's not much of a battle, right? Jesus comes with all of us following behind and it's over before it starts, right? There's no real battle when you're fighting Jesus at that point and no one's there to help him. Now, chapter 12, man, it's a great chapter. We could stop, but we'll just do it. We'll do it.
Speaker 1:At the time, michael shall stand up. Remember Michael, the archangel there, the great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people. And there shall be a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation even to that time. And at that time your people shall be delivered. Everyone who is found written in the book and many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting contempt. Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars. Forever and ever.
Speaker 1:Verse four but you, daniel, shut up the words and seal the book until the time of the end. Many shall run to and fro and knowledge shall increase. So in verse four, things are closing up here in this book and Daniel is told these words aren't for you, they're for a time. In the end we get it right. It's been a lot of years since Daniel wrote this book down and perhaps he thought it was all something that would happen in his lifetime. But he's told here it's not. These are for the time of the end. Notice what it says about the time of the end.
Speaker 1:I just think this is really interesting. No better way maybe to even explain the time that we live in. Many shall run to and fro and knowledge shall increase. So you look at knowledge. I mean, just look at your own lifetime, if you're over 16, look at your own lifetime and how much things have changed. You know from. You know a remnant of black and white TV, to color, to virtual reality, to who knows what in the world is going to come next, you know the internet and space exploration. Just in the last century, how much crazy stuff has happened. I mean, we really are like the Tower of Babel.
Speaker 1:At this point you almost feel like if God doesn't step in, we will find a way to destroy ourselves. I mean, pretty quick, and you look at it, knowledge has increased. Yeah, totally. Many will go run to and fro. Now I don't know if this is how this is supposed to apply, but many do go to and fro. I mean, you could easily step on a plane tonight and be in Australia tomorrow morning, you know, or tomorrow evening, maybe, I don't know how long it'd take you, but you could do it right? And the reality is that for most of human history, people didn't even go outside of their own village. Their whole life they spent in one, you know, square, 10 miles or something, and that was just it, because travel was not that easy. Well, now, who knows, in our lifetime we may be visiting the moon. I mean, that's probably not an exaggeration, it could happen, just for funsies, you know. And that really is an explanation of our times. Many run to and fro and knowledge will increase.
Speaker 1:I think it might be the time of the end. Then I, daniel, looked and there stood two others, one on this river bank bank, on one on the other river bank, you know what I mean. And one said to the man clothed in linen who was above the waters of the river how long shall the fulfillment of these wonders be? Then I heard the man clothed in linen who was above the waters of the river when he held up his right hand and his left hand. So how long is it going to be? When will the end be? And he gives them the same counting, this three and a half years, this time times and half a time. Now you got to kind of be aware of that. Seven years set aside from an earlier chapter of Daniel, seven years of tribulation that are kind of mapped out in the book of Revelation, three and a half years from the center of it. It's pretty easy to figure that part out when the Antichrist steps up and demands worship. So the counting is really from that point. It's actually one of the reasons why I think it could not be a post-trib rapture, because you would absolutely know the day that this was all going to come down, from the very moment that the Antichrist steps up and demands worship to when everything's going to be fulfilled. We're given the days we'll see here in just a minute, but Daniel doesn't get it. He really doesn't understand it.
Speaker 1:One more thing before we go here Notice kind of the purpose of the tribulation. Also, the purpose of the tribulation is there to break the power of the holy people, that their power be completely shattered. Now, the holy people we're talking about, the Jews, that's who Daniel wrote about, wrote to. It was the Jews. That's who Daniel wrote about. Wrote to it was the Jews. So one purpose of this time of tribulation and this three and a half years of just intense persecution and such and the Antichrist and all, is to shatter the power of the holy people, to bring them to that point where they truly acknowledge Jesus as their Savior. That really is probably aside from judging the world and the evil of the world that probably is one of the greatest reasons for the tribulation all around is just to bring the Jewish people to that place where they admit and understand that Jesus is the Messiah that they've always needed. And it will happen Now.
Speaker 1:Verse 8. Although I heard, I did not understand, no kidding. Then I said my Lord, what shall be the end of these things. Daniel wants more information and he said Go your way, daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end. Many shall be purified, made white and refined, but the wicked shall do wickedly, and none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand. And from the time that the daily sacrifice is taken away, they're in the middle of the tribulation and the abomination of desolation is set up, same abomination desolation we talked about earlier in chapter 11, and the same one that Jesus talked about the Antichrist demanding.
Speaker 1:We have it to the day, right, we have kind of to the end of things, and then we have a little greater the day, right, we have kind of to the end of things, and then we have a little greater day there, right, a little longer period of time, the 1,335 days, which I believe will take you right smack into the millennium. So if you wait to that point, you're in God's kingdom on earth. But all these things come down in that period of time. For Daniel, he was just the one used to bring out the information there in verse 13, go your way, you'll rest or rise to your inheritance in the end of days. So he didn't get it For us. It definitely colors our life a little bit.
Speaker 1:As we see these things making more and more sense, as we see a world where you know a leader stepping up to save the day, we would probably all be pretty quick to accept him. Now, again, we're not looking for an Antichrist, we're looking for Jesus, and that really is the hope. If all these things have come to pass so far, the way God has said they would, all these other things will happen too, and we look for that day when God brings it all together. So, god, thank you so much for this encouragement. Thank you, god, that you love us, but help us not just to be so ready to escape, but, god, help us to try to bring as many people with us as we can. God, the days are evil for sure, and likely short. God, just help us to care enough to tell people the truth, to continue praying for those that we love. And, god, until you bring us all home. God, we love you. Pray you'd work these things into our heart. In Jesus' name, we pray, amen, thank you.