DANIEL 1-12 THE BOOK OF DANIEL2013 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Daniel 1-12 The Book Of Daniel

you are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2013.

We're going to be looking tonight at Daniel chapters 1 through 12. Now we're changing it up a little bit because so far we've only read chapters 1 through 6 and that you know is what we read as we've gone through the Bible in three years this week and then this coming week we'll finish up the book of Daniel but because next week we're doing this Thanksgiving service I wanted to give you the opportunity

to have an overview of the entire book and so we'll be looking at all 12 chapters this evening as we get into the book of daniel of course this is the final of the major prophets we finished ezekiel daniel is the final one and then we're going to be heading into the minor prophets which are minor not because of their content or their importance but just the amount of material that they wrote and so

These five books, the major prophets are much larger and then the minor prophets are smaller works. And so we're going to be going through those much more quickly because most of them are just a chapter, two or three chapters.

The book of Daniel was written by Daniel. He ministered from about 605 to 536 BC. We don't know exactly when he died, and so it could have gone a little bit beyond that. But the dating in the book indicates this is the time period that he ministered.

The purpose of his ministry in this book was, number one, to explain God's program for the Gentile nations. And so as we look at the chapters this evening, we'll see a lot about the empires and the kingdoms that are going to be happening in the ancient world. And so God's going to be talking a lot about that.

But then he's also dealing with the nation of Israel and explaining the effect of the Gentiles on Israel. And so it's interesting because part of the book is written in Aramaic, which is, you know, that's unique to the rest of the Old Testament. The whole Old Testament is written in Hebrew. But this particular section of Daniel, chapter 2, verse 4 through chapter 7, is written in Aramaic. The rest is written in Hebrew.

Now, Daniel ministered alongside of Jeremiah and Ezekiel. Jeremiah was in Jerusalem, if you remember. He was ministering to Jerusalem,

As Babylon was coming to destroy Jerusalem for the third time, they were going to conquer Jerusalem and then leave it desolate. So Jeremiah was there in Jerusalem and calling the people to repentance. And then we studied through Ezekiel. We saw that Ezekiel was taken captive to Babylon and he was ministering to the Israelites that were in Babylon who were taken captive by Babylon.

Daniel also is in Babylon. He was taken captive to Babylon as well, but he's ministering different than Ezekiel, where Ezekiel was ministering to the people of Israel, and Daniel is more ministering to the administration, the king of Babylon, and the leadership there. And so we'll see that as we go through the book.

So here's what it looks like on the map. There's Babylon. That was the capital of the Babylonian Empire. And so that's where Daniel is. And he's, you know, ministering to the king, Nebuchadnezzar, and his successors. Jerusalem, of course, is over there. And that's where he was living as a young man, though. He was taken captive. And so that happens, looking at our timeline, around 605 BCE.

At 605 BC, Babylon conquers Judah for the first time and they take people captive. Daniel is among those captives and we'll see that recorded for us in chapter 1.

Then Babylon conquers Judah a second time and then a third time. And that third time it leaves it completely desolate. But also important for the book of Daniel, then we fast forward to 539 BC. And that is when the Medo-Persian army comes in and invades Babylon and takes over and becomes the new world empire of the day. And that's going to happen during Daniel's ministries.

He's also going to be prophesying not just about that invasion, but also the following empire, which begins around 330 BC when Greece conquers Persia. And so now the Greek empire becomes the dominant empire.

He's also going to deal with some things that happened in around the, you know, the 160s, 167 BC is the Maccabean revolt. So we'll talk about that. And then also he'll prophesy about the Roman Empire, which comes on the scene and takes power around 63 BC. So we're going to walk through these chapters, starting with chapter one. The key verse of chapter one is verse 19. And here's what it says. Then the king interviewed them.

So Daniel chapter 1 gives us an introduction into the book, an introduction to who Daniel is. And so to give us the context in verses 1 and 2, the author tells us, you know, that Babylon conquers the nation of Judah. So we've

hopefully been familiar with that, you know, going through Jeremiah and Ezekiel, we see Babylon has conquered the nation of Judah. And so this is referring to 605 BC when Babylon first invades Judah and conquers Jerusalem. And so at that time, verses three through seven, there's young men that are chosen to be trained to serve in Babylon.

And so Daniel is among these young men who are taken from Jerusalem to Babylon to be trained to serve the king.

Now, Daniel at this time, most scholars estimate that he's probably around 16 years old. It could be as high as 20 years old, but, you know, it specifies young men. And thinking about the Babylonians, they were looking for young men that they could train and teach their ways that they would be able to be counselors and leaders in the nation of Babylon. And so he's probably, you know, around 16, 17 years old, thereabouts. And Daniel

And he's taken to Babylon to be trained in this way. Now this fulfills a prophecy that was given to Hezekiah by the prophet Isaiah.

You can check it out if you'd like in 2 Kings chapter 20 verse 18. Remember when Hezekiah was sick and he prayed and he got better? And then there was messengers from Babylon that came and Hezekiah showed them everything in his kingdom and all his treasures and all of that. And

And Isaiah rebuked him and said, hey, because you showed them all of this, they're going to come back and take all of this. And some of your descendants are going to be taken to serve in the palace of the king of Babylon. And so Daniel is among this group and possibly a descendant of Hezekiah, who is taken to Babylon to be trained to serve the king there.

Well, as he's taken to Babylon and enlisted in this training in verses 8 through 16, it tells us that Daniel purposed not to defile himself.

Now you can imagine, this would take quite a bit of courage and bravery and determination. I mean, he was, you know, steadfast in his commitment to the Lord because he's not, you know, signing up for this willingly. He's a captive. He's taken forcibly and yet at the same time he's purposed in his heart to do his best to not defile himself.

In verse 8 it says, Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's delicacies, nor with the wine which he drank. Therefore he requested of the chief of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.

And so because of the sacrifices, you know, this meat would be offered to idols. Plus it would probably be not prepared in ways that the Levitical law said. There would also probably be, you know, like pork and things like that, that they were forbidden to eat. And so Daniel, just to, you know, remove himself from that completely, says...

Just give me whatever grows, you know, greens, vegetables. That's what I'll survive off of and water because I don't want to defile myself with these things from the king's delicacies, these things that are not of the Lord.

A real brave move, and the Lord rewards him for it. And so he purposed not to defile himself. Now, as you look through the book of Daniel, we're not going to be able to get into the depths of it this evening, but there's some great wisdom here. And I would encourage you to consider the book of Daniel and the man Daniel as a great example for us.

Well, those times when you need wisdom in the workplace, when you need wisdom in your position, whatever kind of job you have, Daniel's a great example of how to behave in the workplace and how to be faithful to the Lord in those situations, whatever it might be. If you're a boss or if you're an employee, you know, whatever it might be, because Daniel's serving the Lord and he's faithful to the Lord.

But it's his job, essentially. He's in school at this time, and then he's going to be

employed by the king to give counsel to the king. That's his job. We're not talking about synagogue services or temple services. You know, God gives him this great opportunity to be an incredible witness in the workplace. And there's some tremendous examples there. And so for you, you know, working in the workplace, I would encourage you to follow Daniel's example and purpose in your heart to not defile yourself, to not

compromise the things that God has forbidden, not compromise in those areas that he has set upon your heart as things that you are not to be partaking in. But also understand that you will be tested whenever you purpose in your heart. So Daniel said, I'm purposing in my heart. I'm not going to defile myself. And then there's a test. All of these delicacies are set before him. And he's now tested in this test.

determination in this purpose. And so you need to be prepared as you purpose in your heart not to defile yourself. There will come tests with that. One commentator, Walvoord, said, the corrupting influence of Babylon was probably too much for the other Jews and they were useless in God's hands. I thought that was pretty heavy. So Daniel purposed in his heart not to defile himself and we see that he is used greatly by God.

The others, there was Daniel and his three friends. They purposed in their hearts they were not going to defile themselves. The rest of the Jewish captives, they just, hey, let's just go with the flow. We'll partake of these things. And the commentator's point is we know nothing about them. They were useless in God's hands because they were not faithful to the Lord in that way.

Well, then in verses 17 through 21, it tells us that God gave Daniel knowledge and skill. And it talks about his ministry spanning the entire 70-year captivity, even into the reign of Cyrus.

Well, now chapter 2, verse 6 is the key verse. It says, however, if you tell the dream and its interpretation, you shall receive from me gifts, rewards, and great honor. Therefore, tell me the dream and its interpretation. So chapter 2 is a very famous chapter. Verses 1 through 13, we see that Nebuchadnezzar is troubled by a dream. He has this dream. It really bothers him. He can't

Figure out what it means. And so he calls in all of his wise men. And he tells them to. You know interpret it for him. But.

They're unable to, and so then he's furious, and he gives the command for the wise men to be put to death because they're not able to interpret the dream. Well, Daniel hears about it. He puts a stop to it. He says, give me time. Let me pray. And so in verses 14 through 23, you see that the dream is revealed to Daniel. Now, chapter 2 of Daniel brings up a very common question, and that is, does God speak to

through dreams, especially does God speak through dreams today? And so very simply, I would say he can, and perhaps he does. But I would encourage you, if you're thinking about, you know, maybe some dream that you have, to follow the wisdom of Nebuchadnezzar. I think Nebuchadnezzar had great wisdom because in verse 9, he declares to the wise men, all right,

You're going to tell me the interpretation of the dream, but first you have to tell me what the dream was. I'm not going to tell you the dream and then let you interpret it. You tell me the dream and then you interpret it. And he says in verse 9,

This is the way that I'll know that you are able to interpret the dream if you can tell me the dream without me telling it to you. That's good quality control. And so if you're thinking about, well, I had this dream and I wonder what it means, don't listen to anybody who can interpret the dream unless they can tell you the dream. And you're like, well, that's not going to happen. Well,

then that's probably good quality control to figure out if those interpretations are accurate. God can confirm and speak in other ways. And so wait for that confirmation and don't just act upon a dream that you have. But the wise men say, this is impossible. We can't tell you the dream. You tell us and then we'll tell you the interpretation. Daniel...

Instead of responding that way, he asks for time and he seeks the Lord. Now this is another great example of some wisdom for the workplace. Listen, when your boss asks for the impossible, don't be like all the rest of the employees and grumble and complain and freak out like everybody else. No, just go and pray and ask God to give you wisdom to help you resolve the situation or answer the request. That is a great, great wisdom for those kinds of situations.

Well, Daniel hears from the Lord in verses 24 through 35. He tells the king the dream and he makes sure to give God the credit. He says in verse 28, And so he begins to explain to him,

King, you were thinking about, you know, what's going to come after you and what's going to happen, you know, on the world scene, the empires and nations. And this dream is God's answer to those things that you are pondering about. And so he interprets the dream in verses 36 through 45, which I'll talk about in just a moment. And the king is pleased and he promotes Daniel in verses 46 through 49. So the king's dream, as Daniel explains it, was of a statue.

It was a statue that was made of different metals. Starting at the top, it was the highest value metal. And then working way down, they became less and less valuable. So the head was of gold. The midsection was silver. Then you had bronze. Then you had the iron legs. And then the iron and mixed with clay in the feet with the ten toes. And so this is...

the statue that Nebuchadnezzar saw in his dream. So it's different metals, starting with the most valuable to the least valuable. And as Daniel interprets the dream with the words that God gave him, he explains that it represents different world empires, starting with King Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonian Empire. So the head of gold represents Nebuchadnezzar,

The nation of Babylon or the Babylonian Empire. And so we're talking about world powers. Babylon was the world power of the day. That was the ruling power of the known world at that time. And so that lasted from about 612 to 539 BC. And then the next section of the statue was silvers.

And that represents the Medo-Persian Empire. The Medes and the Persians joined together and they ruled the world in 539 all the way through 330 BC. Then the next section was bronze. And this speaks about the Greek Empire. And so Daniel is explaining not all these dates, but he's explaining these different kingdoms that will come.

And so we see, historically, we're able to look back and see these things fulfilled. So 330 to about 63 BC, the Greek Empire was ruling. And then the iron represents the Roman Empire, which was from about 63 BC to 475 AD. So, you know, into the life of Christ and beyond.

And then the feet of iron and clay mixed together speak of a future empire. Now then also in the dream, he saw a stone come and crush the statue. And Daniel explained that that

the eternal kingdom that God will establish. And so it looks like it's referring to the millennial kingdom when Jesus rules and reigns for 1,000 years. And so there's this incredible dream that he has, and then Daniel's able to explain it

And then we're looking back on it, but this is several hundred years of history that Daniel's able to explain in advance. And it's amazing how God's word is fulfilled and it lines up exactly with what has taken place. Well, then in chapter 3, we see verse 1 is the key verse.

It says that Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold whose height was 60 cubits and its width 6 cubits. He set it up in the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon. In verses 1 through 7, the people are commanded to worship this gold image that King Nebuchadnezzar set up. And so he sets up this image and he commands everybody to worship it.

This image is quite impressive. It's 60 cubits high and 6 cubits wide, which makes it be about 90 feet high and about 9 feet wide. Now, I was trying to find a point of reference to kind of, you know, like how high is 90 feet, and we were looking at the power pole that's right here at the entrance of the church, and we're estimating it's probably about like 75 to 80 feet high, so a little bit higher. So, you know, when you leave tonight, just look up and

Look at the top of the power pole and you'll get like a sense of how tall this statue was. It is impressive gold statue that they were to worship before. But then in verses 8 through 18, it tells us that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused to worship this image. So everybody bows down when the music plays as they're commanded, except for these three. They refused to worship.

Now there's a common question that comes up here in this chapter as well, and that is, where is Daniel in this? Only Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were the ones who refused to worship. Does that mean Daniel was worshipping this image? Well, we don't know where Daniel was, but it does not make sense to think that Daniel was bowing before the statue and praying.

unwilling to stand against that. And so we don't know for sure. It doesn't tell us exactly where Daniel is, but it's safe to understand that he wasn't there bowing, but he was maybe somewhere else, you know, at a different part of the kingdom at that time.

But it provides for us an interesting picture, possibility of the rapture and then the tribulation where Daniel, curiously missing, and then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego represents the nation of Israel who go through the tribulation period, the fiery trial. And so Daniel would represent then the church.

And then these three guys would represent the nation of Israel. So there's no chapter and verse on that, but that's an interesting picture to consider. Well, in verses 19 through 27, it tells us that they are preserved in the fire. King Nebuchadnezzar says, hey, you bow down or I'm throwing you into the furnace. And they say, we're not going to bow down. And so they're cast into the furnace.

I like what one commentator said about this. He said, They were steadfast. It doesn't matter if you throw us in the fiery furnace. God could deliver us or maybe we'll die. But,

we're going to be faithful to the Lord. And so he casts them in and God miraculously preserves them through the fire. In fact, he sees, you know, the son of God, probably Jesus Christ right there with them in the midst of the fire and he calls them out. And so then in verses 28 through 30, Nebuchadnezzar promotes Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

So great example here in these friends of Daniel who were with him as he, you know, purposed not to defile himself, how God preserved them. And again, we see some great wisdom for the workplace here. That is obey God first. Don't compromise his commands. Let him preserve you in the fire or remove you. That's up to him. But you be faithful to God. You know, the teaching of scripture is that we obey authority first.

until the authority requires us to disobey God. And then we stand fast in what God has said. I think, you know, it's amazing as you look at Nebuchadnezzar's response. He's like, wow, there really is a God. Your God is the God of heaven and earth. And I think about our own lives. What if God wants to use you to bring your boss or your supervisor, your parents, your president to this declaration? And so you're going to have to be steadfast.

So that he can do a work so that through your witness, the people around you can say, your God really is God. And so that's our job is to be faithful to God, to obey him. We obey authority that God's placed over us. That's important. Until that authority requires us to disobey God. And then we're faithful to God and we're a witness to them. Well, then chapter 4 verse 32 is the key verse.

It says, Here in chapter 4, we have quite an amazing chapter. Nebuchadnezzar is telling the story. He's writing a letter about what happened to him.

And so we find, as he writes in verses 1 through 18, that he dreamed about a great tree that was then cut down.

And he says, I want to share with you guys in verse 2. He says, I thought it good to declare the signs and wonders that the Most High God has worked for me. God has done this incredible work, Nebuchadnezzar says, and I want to share it with you. Here's the dream that I had. There's this great tree. It was strong. It was tall. It was lovely. There was great fruit on it. But then there was this watcher. This watcher comes on the scene and he calls out, chop it down.

strip it of its leaves and just leave the stump left in the ground he says let his heart be changed and the purpose is declared that that the living may know that the most high rules so this is the dream that Nebuchadnezzar has he wonders what does it mean and Daniel comes on the scene again in verses 19 through 27 he gives the interpretation and he says King Nebuchadnezzar you are the tree

You're this great tree. You're high, you're lovely, you're fruitful, but you're going to be cut down. You're going to dwell with the beasts. You're going to eat grass. You're going to be wet with the dew just out in the field for seven times, which is understood as seven years. You're going to go through this.

The purpose, he explains, is that you're going to be in that condition until you know that the Most High rules. Now Daniel gives him some advice. He says, repent, break off your sins. The dream is a warning of the judgment that God's going to bring to teach Nebuchadnezzar that God reigns on high and he needs to be submitted to God.

And so Daniel's advice is you don't have to go through this. You can avoid this by repenting now. Break off your sins now.

So that you don't have to experience this. And that is really good advice. God does this same work, not only with kings, you know, like Nebuchadnezzar, but every knee will bow. And we've been talking about that through the prophets, right? Then you will know that I'm the Lord, Ezekiel said over and over and over again. And so we don't have to wait until God, you know, forces us. We can submit now. And that's good advice. Break off your sins. Repent now.

and know that the most high rules be submitted to him. Well, then in verses 28 through 37, Nebuchadnezzar continues to write, and he says that this dream is now fulfilled. In verse 30, he's saying to himself, hey, isn't this the great Babylon that I have built? And he's real focused on himself and how great he is. And it tells us in verse 33 that the word was fulfilled that hour.

Verse 34, it says that his understanding returned and he blessed the most high. So he goes through this season of seven years of being like a wild animal. He's just out in the field eating grass. His hair grows, his nails grow. He becomes a crazy person for this season. And then God returns his understanding to him.

And he finally recognizes that God reigns on high. So verse 37 he says, He recognizes, I was walking in pride and he put me down. Doesn't matter if you're the king of the world.

God is able to put you down because he is the one who reigns on high. And so we need to, again, learn from this example and not be walking in pride. Just a quick side note. To continue living in sin is to walk in pride. And so if you have things that you know they're not of God in your life, but you persist in them, that's pride. That's you determining that you know better that you're going to do what you want to do. To disregard God's word is pride. To take pride

The credit or the glory for what God has done, that's pride. And so let's just issue the warning, okay? One year from now, you could be in Nebuchadnezzar's shoes, a crazy person eating grass. That is, you know, a real possibility. God can do that. He's able to put down the proud. And so we need to be broken. We need to be humbling ourselves before him and not be proud.

Well, now we go on to chapter 5. Verse 5 is the key verse. It says,

In verses 1 through 4, we learn about a man named Belshazzar, and he makes a great feast. Now, this is kind of the first time we're dealing with a different king of Babylon, and so I want to walk through this real quickly. 605 is when Nebuchadnezzar becomes the king of Babylon. He inherits the kingdom from his father. And Nebuchadnezzar is the one who really brings Babylon to great glory and makes it a world empire.

In 562, his successor is evil Merodot. Now, evil is not a description of him. It's just his name. So it's just, you know, the way it's transliterated makes it sound like he's a terrible person. We don't know much about him. 560, Neraglisar, he reigns in Babylon. 556, Nabonidus reigns in Babylon. And now we're looking at 553, Belshazzar,

takes the throne, except for he's actually what's referred to as a co-regent. That is, Nabonidus, his father was still alive. He was still king, but he would often be in various places around the world. And so Belshazzar was like, you know, the vice president and kind of like he was the king. He was in charge while his dad was away, which was for much of his reign. So for 14 years, him and his father reigned over Babylon.

And then in 539 BC, Cyrus invades and conquers Babylon. So when Babylon falls, it's on Belshazzar's watch. He is the king at that time. His father is away and he's the one ruling in Babylon. So we're looking at Belshazzar. He makes a great feast. Now this is happening during a siege, right?

The Medo-Persian Empire has come against Babylon. And so Babylon, looking at what's happening, prepared. And they prepared, it's pretty incredible, they prepared for 20 years of siege. So they brought within their city all kinds of supplies, everything that they would need, so that they would be able to last for 20 years of a siege.

This is year two, as we read Daniel chapter five. So happening, you know, we still got 18 years left. And so Belshazzar is kind of, well, not kind of, he's arrogant and just completely thinking, you know, hey, we could outweigh, you know, we can, we can wait them out. We don't have to be worried about this siege, this army, they're never going to get in. So let's have a feast. Let's just show how unfearful we are. I mean, we're just going to have a

feast and enjoy ourselves and not worry about this siege that's happening. Great arrogance. But then also there's irreverence as he brings out the articles from the temple that were taken from Jerusalem to Babylon. And now, you know, as a part of their, uh,

drunken party, they're, you know, using the vessels that were dedicated to the temple of God. And they're worshiping their false gods using these instruments. So he makes this great feast. This is all going on. And then the party is interrupted. And there's a hand that appears in verse 5 through 12. You see the writing on the wall. It's interesting. There's a lot of

freezes that we use and we hear all the time around us, you know, in the world. And it's amazing how many of them just, you know, root back to the Bible. Everybody always talks about, you know, the writings on the wall. Well, that's from Daniel chapter 5. And so God responds to his arrogance and his irreverence in using the temple articles and

And so it says in verse 5, in the same hour, the fingers of a man's hand appeared and wrote opposite the lampstand on the plaster of the wall of the king's palace. And the king saw the part of the hand that wrote. I love verse 6. It tells us that his hips were kind of like out of joint or his loins were loose. And then his knees knocked against each other. And I just, you know, for me, I don't know, I just picture a scene from Scooby-Doo, right? Just, you know, just crackling together, you know,

Scooby holding, I just forgot his name, the guy, you know. There you go, Shaggy, yeah. So, you know, holding each other, knees shaking, like that's kind of what's happening with Belshazzar. And so again, he calls in the wise men in verse 8, but they're not able to read the writing until his mom comes in and says, bring in Daniel and he'll be able to tell you. So verses 13 through 29, Daniel interprets the writing.

Now, before he gives the interpretation, he recounts Nebuchadnezzar's history to Belshazzar. He says, Belshazzar, look, your ancestor, Nebuchadnezzar, you were alive. You saw what happened in his life.

how he went insane and how he was restored. You saw what God did. But in verse 22, he says, Belshazzar, you have not humbled your heart, although you knew all this. You saw this happen. You watched it take place, but you have not humbled your heart. Nebuchadnezzar humbled his heart and he said, he's the most high, but Belshazzar, you have not.

And that is why this has taken place. And so the writing on the wall is, well, there was four words. Mean, mean, same word twice, tekel, eupharsin.

And then in verses 26 through 28, he interprets the writing on the wall. Now it's an interpretation, not a translation. The translation is different because the word mean means numbered. Tekel means weighed. And then Perez, or plural, eupharsin, means divided. And so he is, you know, that's the translation. That's just, that's what the word means. But Daniel's giving an interpretation. He says...

For the word numbered, he says, God has numbered your kingdom and finished it.

And then for tekel, which means weighed, he says, you've been weighed in the balances and found wanting. And so he's saying there's meaning to this, that God is attaching. That's why he put these words. God's not writing a paragraph. He wrote four words. And Daniel's giving this interpretation. For Perez, it means dividing. He says, your kingdom has been divided and given to the Medes and the Persians.

And so this is fulfilled basically immediately in verse 30 and 31. You can see that Belshazzar is slain and then Darius receives the kingdom. That very night, the Persian army marches into Babylon through the gate that's left open in the Euphrates River and

they take over Babylon. They are victorious basically without a battle. They don't have to, you know, break through the walls. They just march in. You know, for the most of the people of Babylon, they wake up the next morning and there's a new, you know, king. There's a new regime that's in power. And so Darius receives the kingdom. Now Darius,

probably a governor that Cyrus, you know, gives this responsibility to rule in Babylon over this region. Cyrus was the, you know, the king of Persia, essentially. He was the one in charge. But Darius is the one who he places there as a governor until he later on, he places his son in that role.

So looking at the timeline, this is all happening. Daniel chapter 5 is happening in 539 BC. This is the finishing of the 70 years of captivity. I mean, this is at the end of that period that Persia conquers Babylon. And it happens this night as this feast is going on. They walk in, they take over just as God declares.

And so now Persia is the world empire at this time. Well, now in Daniel chapter 6, verse 16 is the key verse. It says, So now Darius is there and he is...

in charge you know now it's the Persian empire not the Babylonian empire but he finds Daniel really great and so he's thinking about elevating Daniel even higher and so the other rulers plot against him and they come up with this plan to make the king make this decree that they can pray only to the king for the next 30 days and that's in verses one through nine and so the rulers convince the king he signs the decree and their trap is set

Verses 10 through 17, Daniel is cast into the lion's den because he heard about the decree, but he faithfully went up to his room and prayed three times a day as he always does. Now,

Because of this, he broke the law, and so his sentence was to be cast into the lion's den as this law said. Now, Darius realized his mistake afterwards, but he didn't have the power to change the law. And so he tried, he worked hard, but he wasn't able to, and so Daniel is cast into the lion's den.

But then in verses 18 through 23, we see that he's delivered from the lions. God preserved him. And then in verses 24 through 28, Darius gives a decree that everybody is to fear the God of Daniel. And so he recognizes that Daniel's God is real. And then those who plotted against Daniel were cast into the lion's den and they were killed by the lions.

Chapter 7 gets real interesting. Verse 3, now we're heading into the more prophetic portion of the book of Daniel. It says in verse 3, So before he's been interpreting King Nebuchadnezzar's dreams, now he has his own vision. God reveals this to him. He has a vision of four beasts in verse 1 through 8.

And we'll come back and talk about those. He also then sees the vision of the Ancient of Days, which is God. And then he receives the interpretation in verses 15 through 28. And so Daniel is receiving this vision from the Lord.

And here's what it might have looked like. So he sees a lion with wings. He sees a bear that's kind of raised up on one side with ribs in its mouth. He sees a leopard with four heads and wings. And then he sees this...

crazy beasts with all kinds of horns and things. Iron teeth, ten horns. The little horn is, you know, plucks up the three other horns. It's speaking pompous words. There's a whole lot of craziness that you see happening there. And then

God goes on to explain this dream to him. And so what we see is that these beasts represent and correspond to King Nebuchadnezzar's dream that we looked at in chapter 2. So remember the statue, the different metals represented different world empires. Well,

This vision here in chapter 7 is basically in line with that. So the lion represents the Babylonian Empire and its reign. And then the bear represents the Medo-Persian Empire. There's a lot of details here that are just amazing, but we just can't get into for lack of time. Then you have the leopard, which represents the Greek Empire.

And then you have the final, the fourth beast, which represents the Roman Empire. But then also there's aspects of it that refer to a future kingdom, which will be led by the Antichrist. And so there's some amazing things in that that correspond with the book of Revelation. And we went through that a couple of years back. So let me just give you a summary of Daniel chapter seven. So the lion is Babylon.

The bear is the Medo-Persian Empire. The leopard is the Greek Empire. And then the fourth beast is the Roman Empire. Those have already been fulfilled. We've seen that happen. It took place exactly the way that God described. But there's also elements that have not been fulfilled. So the ten horns...

are the kings of a future empire. There's going to be a revival of the Roman Empire. And so that's going to be these 10 horns. There's also another horn that comes on the scene, which is the Antichrist. And so it represents, you know, the Antichrist and the political things that he's going to be doing at that time. But then also there's the eternal kingdom and the ancient of days.

that is established and given to the saints. So four kingdoms, and then a revival of the fourth kingdom, and then the kingdom of God will be established. And four of these have been fulfilled. The rest will be fulfilled shortly. Then in chapter 8, we have another vision from Daniel. The key verse is verse 8. Therefore the male goat grew very great.

So in verses 1 through 13, Daniel now has a vision of a ram and a goat. And then in verses 14 through 27, the angel Gabriel explains the vision to Daniel.

So what is this vision about? Well, you have the ram and the goat. The ram has two horns. One horn is higher than the other. And the ram pushes westward and northward and southward.

Then you have the goat who comes from the west without touching the ground. It has one notable horn. Then it casts the ram to the ground. Then it has four horns that come out with a little horn. Now, what does all that mean? Well, it's explained to Daniel.

The ram represents the Medo-Persian Empire. So we're talking about the same kingdoms that we've been talking about. The two horns, the Medes and the Persians, one horn is higher because usually we refer to it as the Persian Empire. Persia is the higher, the more dominant of that alliance.

And then it expanded, like Daniel's vision said, west and north and south, but it did not expand east. Now these details are so amazing that it causes most people who don't believe in God to say, Daniel must have been written after these events took place because...

All these details, you know, happen exactly the way they said. And that's not possible because they don't believe in God. But we do understand, you know, this is prophecy from the Lord. And so he tells him in advance and then it's fulfilled exactly. The goat represents Greece. Greece came from the West, right?

And this is referencing really Alexander the Great. And he conquered swiftly. And so it's the idea of coming so fastly that he's not touching the ground. He conquers, you know, the whole Persian Empire in, you know, about two or three years. And so the notable horn is Alexander the Great. He defeats Persia. His kingdom is then divided into four. And so you have the four horns that are, you know, the kingdom being divided into the four different generals.

And then you also have the little horn, which represents a descendant, you know, later on named Antiochus Epiphanes. We'll talk more about him in chapter 11, but it also foreshadows the Antichrist. So this is looking at, you know, Persia.

is the next world empire after Babylon. And so it rules the whole region, well, the whole known world at that time. And then Alexander the Great comes on the scene, this goat with the notable horn, and he just goes crazy. He goes all over the Persian Empire. He conquers it within a matter of a couple of years. And now Greece becomes the world empire.

So, in chapter 8, we see Daniel's having this vision around 550 BC. These things are taking place a couple hundred years later. 539 is when the ram comes on the scene. 330 is when the goat comes on the scene. Alexander dies in 323. His kingdom is divided into four generals. And so then, all of these things are fulfilled. So,

As we look at the summary of Daniel chapter 8, the ram, the goat, the four horns, all of those have happened exactly the way God said. But then the little horn is only partially fulfilled. That is, Antiochus Epiphanes came on the scene and fulfilled the details about the little horn here in Daniel chapter 8. But there's also a foreshadowing and a final fulfillment of that in the person of the Antichrist who will come on the scene later on.

Well, now Daniel chapter 9, verse 2 is the key verse. It says,

So Daniel understands in verses 1 and 2 the 70 years of captivity, and he realizes, whoa, it's about up. Now, we're not going in chronological order here. We've already been, you know, later on in history with Daniel and how he's jumped back. But at the end of it, 539 B.C.,

He's understanding the 70 years are about up. And so it causes him in verses 3 through 19 to pray for his people. And so he's praying for the people and confessing the sins. And then in verse 20 through 27, the angel Gabriel comes again to Daniel and tells him about the 70 weeks that are determined for the nation of Israel.

Now these 70 weeks are super important for understanding the end times in Bible prophecy. The 70 weeks are 70 periods of 7 years, or you add it all together, that's 490 years. So as he talks about 70 weeks, he's not talking about 7 days, he's using weeks as a

a unit of measurement. So for example, like we use the word dozen, right? You know, if you have a dozen eggs or a dozen donuts, you know, it's a unit of measurement. In the same way, 70 weeks, we're talking about a seven-year period. And so that's a total of 490 years.

Well, God declares basically his to-do list in verse 24. He's going to, in this 490 year period, finish the transgression, make an end of sins, make reconciliation for iniquity, bring in everlasting righteousness, seal up vision and prophecy, and anoint the most holy.

Now of these things that God put on his to-do list, the only one that's really been fulfilled is the reconciliation for iniquity, which happened with Jesus Christ dying upon the cross. The rest of these will be fulfilled in the final seven-year period that has yet to take place. So let me look at the timeline with you. So

69 of the 70 weeks have been fulfilled. 445 BC, the command is given to rebuild Jerusalem. And 483 years...

or 69 weeks after that command is given, Jesus rides into Jerusalem on a donkey. We call it the triumphal entry. And then within a few days, he's crucified. And so that all happens and fulfills exactly what's detailed here in chapter 9. Then you have kind of a pause. So 483 years happen, but we've broken away from...

God's plan for Israel and now we're in what we call the church age. And so this is the time where God is using the church to be the light of the world and that will continue until the rapture of the church.

When the rapture takes place, that will start once again the time clock for God's plan with Israel. And so it will begin with this covenant that is made by the Antichrist for this time period with the nation of Israel. And they'll resume their sacrifices and so on and so forth. And so there's this final covenant.

The 70th week or seven year period, we refer to it as the tribulation. In the middle of that, there's going to be the abomination of desolation, referred to here in Daniel chapter 9.

And that is when the Antichrist demands to be worshipped. And then the end of that seven-year period is when Jesus comes again, the second coming of Jesus Christ. And then he will establish his kingdom, and then we'll enter into eternity. So 69 of these 70 weeks have been fulfilled. The 70th week, the final seven-year period, will be fulfilled at some point any moment now.

All right, chapter 10 now, verse 14. Now I have come to make you understand what will happen to your people in the latter days, for the vision refers to many days yet to come.

Verses 1 through 9, Daniel has another vision. It's a great vision of the man. This is happening probably around 536 BC. At this point, Daniel's probably in his 80s. He's probably around 85 years old. And he's seeking the Lord. He has this vision. And chapter 10, 11, and 12 really all go together. They're all happening real consecutively in the continuation of one.

One thing. But so he's seeking the Lord and he has this vision. He sees, we believe it's Jesus. You can compare it to Revelation chapter 1 verses 12 through 15 as John sees Jesus. And the description is very, very close, very similar.

Well, in verses 10 through 14, the angel explains his delay. Daniel's been praying. He's been fasting for three weeks. And the angel was dispatched three weeks ago. But he just shows up then because he explains in verse 13 there was some spiritual war going on. The prince of Persia withstood him. And then Michael, the archangel, came and helped him. And so he was able to go on to get to Daniel and deliver the message.

Well, then in verses 15 through 21, the angel strengthens Daniel. So he's receiving this vision. Plus, he's been fasting. He's very weak. And so over and over again, it tells us that this angel is strengthening Daniel to be able to receive the vision and hear and understand what God is saying to him.

It's a good reminder. You know, spiritual things are exhausting. And that's why a lot of people are not mature in the faith because it's exhausting and it takes work. And if we're lazy, we're not going to grow and we're not going to receive from the Lord and hear from the Lord because it takes work and we have to expend strength. And so I want to encourage you, don't be lazy. Hear from the Lord and he'll restore you. He'll renew you. But a lot of times we don't grow because we're lazy.

Well, chapter 11, verse 31 says, And forces shall be mustered by him, and they shall defile the sanctuary fortress. Then they shall take away the daily sacrifices and place there the abomination of desolation. Well, chapter 11 could be very confusing, and it's a pretty amazing chapter to consider. We're just going to kind of scratch the surface. But man, if you want to dig into it, when you have the opportunity, as you read it this week, I would encourage you to.

So again, he's talking about future kingdoms. He says, Now, there's amazing details here. In verse 2, he talks about three more Persian kings, and then the fourth Persian king is going to attack Greece. And that's exactly what happened. There was...

After the king in Babylon at that time, there was three more. And then the fourth king was King Xerxes. And Xerxes leads an army against Greece in 480 BC, just as verse 2 says.

Then in verse 3, he says a mighty king will come up. And that's referring to Alexander the Great. In verse 4, it says that his kingdom will be divided into four. So I showed you the Greek Empire earlier. When Alexander the Great dies, he doesn't have a son. Well, his son's born after his death. And so his kingdom is then divided between his four generals. And so it's four major sections. Now, Seleucus and Ptolemy kind of,

take over and become the two primary ones after this. But at first it's divided into four, between these four generals. And then we're going to be reading about the rest of chapter 11. There's these two, you know, the northern king and the southern king. That's Seleucus and Ptolemy and their descendants. And they're going back and forth, battling each other back and forth continually for, you know, a couple hundred years. So,

This king rises up and then in verse 5 through 28 it describes the battles that take place between the king of the south and the king of the north. They're fighting continually and whichever one is stronger at the moment is controlling the land of Israel. So it's like this tug of war that's happening right over the promised land and surrounding Jerusalem. At this time, when these things are being fulfilled...

The Jews are back in the land. The temple's been rebuilt. You know, Nehemiah has come. Ezra has come. They've been, you know, rebuilding and worshiping the Lord back in Jerusalem. But there's this battle that's been going on around them between the northern king and the southern king.

Then in verses 29 through 39, it tells us about the north king defiling the sanctuary. Now this is, we refer to many prophecies as dual fulfillments. That is, this has happened, but it's also going to happen again. So there was the northern king, his name is Antiochus Epiphanes, and he defiles the sanctuary. How did he do it? Well, he goes into Jerusalem and

He offers a pig on the altar and then he declares that, you know, the normal sacrifices under the Mosaic law are illegal. And then he sets up an image of Zeus, a false god, in the temple itself. And so he commits what's referred to as the abomination of desolation. He defiles the altar, he forbids the sacrifices, and he sets up an idol within the temple.

But we call this a dual fulfillment because in Matthew chapter 24, Jesus says this is going to happen again. He refers to the abomination of desolation and says it's going to happen again, referring to the Antichrist and he's going to do something very similar. And so you see this foreshadowing of the Antichrist in Antiochus Epiphanes. Well, then you have in verses 40 through 45, some more battles between the king of the north and the king of the south. So

Looking at this timeline, Daniel's receiving this vision in 536. He talks about in verse 2, Xerxes invading Greece in 480 BC. He talks about Alexander the Great in 336 BC. He talks about the

empire being divided in verse 4 and then all of this back and forth and back and forth gaining control losing control these marriages you know all these great incredible details that are given which only God can do and so this is an amazing amazing prophecy of Daniel you know about you know several hundred years of history that take place

And so, by the way, I'd just like to mention, so you haven't read chapter 11 yet, going through the Bible in three years, and so you're going to be reading it this week. If you want to refer back to these charts, the easiest way, if you go on our website, just go to the live streaming section, and the last...

a couple presentations that I do on Wednesday evenings are available there so you can have these and you can refer back to them if you want to try to figure out you know when you're in the middle of reading it figuring out like who is who and what's what and what is this talking about and you can check out those things on your own all right we finish it up in Daniel chapter 12 verse 11 is the key verse it says and from that from the time that the daily sacrifice is taken away

So here, finishing up this vision that Daniel has, verses 1 through 4 describes a time of trouble such as never was. And this is referring to the tribulation period, or more specifically, the final three and a half years of the tribulation.

He says in verses 5 through 8, it shall be for a time, times, and a half a time. And so that's where we get the three and a half years. A time, that's one. Times, that's two. And then a half a time, so that's three and a half years. Now just in case we don't figure out that time, times, and a half a time is three and a half years, he also gives it in days. It's 1260 days, which is three and a half years.

And this is also referred to in Daniel chapter 7 and Revelation chapter 12. And so all of these prophecies are in sync. And so there was a portion of this fulfilled by Antiochus Epiphanes, but the rest is going to be fulfilled by the Antichrist during the final seven-year period.

Now, Daniel is told in verses 9 through 13 that the words are sealed until the end. Daniel's trying to figure all this out. I mean, he's like, what does all this mean? What is this going to look like? And he can't figure it out. And he's told there, the angel tells him, Daniel, you're not going to figure it all out. These things are sealed. You're not going to understand it until the end times. Now, what's amazing as we look back at these things is

this is one of the ways that we can see we're living in the last days and that the end could be at any moment. Because in Revelation chapter 22 verse 10, as the apostle John is receiving, you know, similar vision, God tells him, do not seal the words of the prophecy of this book for the time is at hand. And so it was sealed in Daniel's day, but

more and more we're beginning to understand the prophecies that have been given as we've been watching them be fulfilled throughout history. And so this last three and a half years of the tribulation period is mainly what is being referred to here, starting with the abomination of desolation. There's an exact amount of days, and then Jesus Christ will return. And that is the book of Daniel. I'd like to close with verse 10.

He tells Daniel, 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. I think the important thing, you know, there's great insight in the book of Daniel. There's amazing prophecies, but as we finish up the book, I think we need to remember that we're living in the last days.

And that Jesus could return for the church. The rapture could take place at any moment. And there's two options for us. He says many will be purified and made white. And then the other option, the wicked will do wickedly. Because the wicked don't understand, but the wise will understand. And so there's an option for us. Will you be wise and understand and be purified and made white? Yes.

Or will you continue to do wickedly? That's the option for us. Now, remember what Daniel told to Nebuchadnezzar. Repent. Break off your sins. We are living in the last days. Jesus could come back at any moment. And this truth, as we see so many prophecies of Daniel fulfilled detail by detail by detail, the rest are yet to be fulfilled. They will be fulfilled exactly the way that God described. And that should cause us

to look up, to purify our lives, to break off our sins, to be made pure and to not continue in wickedness. And I want to encourage you, as we have been going through the prophets, it's time. You don't have time.

to be goofing off in your Christian walk and playing around in sin, compromising. You really need to get serious about your relationship with God. You need to be ready for His return. You need to be wise and understand. Don't be foolish and continue in wickedness. There's a lot of people who love the book of Daniel because of the amazing prophecies that are there. And there are amazing prophecies there. But it should inspire us and encourage us to then believe

walk in holiness to then walk with the Lord. Let me close with what Wiersbe says. He says there are those who are proud of a knowledge of Bible prophecy. They may have learned only what it says and not what it means. Revelation always brings responsibility with it. If we really believe these things we will obey what God tells us to do. And so I want to encourage you as you see these amazing prophecies to

Let it encourage you not to just research all these things and know all this information, but let it inspire you to do what God tells you to do.

Heavenly Father, we do pray that you would help us, that we would see these things and not just be intrigued by the amazing prophecy and the great information, but Lord, that you would allow these things to take root in our heart, that we might be obedient to you, that we would break off our sins, that we would pursue you with all of our heart and soul and mind and strength. In Jesus' name I pray, amen.

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