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I Dare You: Remember!
Daniel 11:1-35
Skip Heitzig

Daniel 11 (NKJV™)
1 "Also in the first year of Darius the Mede, I, even I, stood up to confirm and strengthen him.)
2 "And now I will tell you the truth: Behold, three more kings will arise in Persia, and the fourth shall be far richer than them all; by his strength, through his riches, he shall stir up all against the realm of Greece.
3 "Then a mighty king shall arise, who shall rule with great dominion, and do according to his will.
4 "And when he has arisen, his kingdom shall be broken up and divided toward the four winds of heaven, but not among his posterity nor according to his dominion with which he ruled; for his kingdom shall be uprooted, even for others besides these.
5 "Also the king of the South shall become strong, as well as one of his princes; and he shall gain power over him and have dominion. His dominion shall be a great dominion.
6 "And at the end of some years they shall join forces, for the daughter of the king of the South shall go to the king of the North to make an agreement; but she shall not retain the power of her authority, and neither he nor his authority shall stand; but she shall be given up, with those who brought her, and with him who begot her, and with him who strengthened her in those times.
7 "But from a branch of her roots one shall arise in his place, who shall come with an army, enter the fortress of the king of the North, and deal with them and prevail.
8 "And he shall also carry their gods captive to Egypt, with their princes and their precious articles of silver and gold; and he shall continue more years than the king of the North.
9 "Also the king of the North shall come to the kingdom of the king of the South, but shall return to his own land.
10 "However his sons shall stir up strife, and assemble a multitude of great forces; and one shall certainly come and overwhelm and pass through; then he shall return to his fortress and stir up strife.
11 "And the king of the South shall be moved with rage, and go out and fight with him, with the king of the North, who shall muster a great multitude; but the multitude shall be given into the hand of his enemy.
12 "When he has taken away the multitude, his heart will be lifted up; and he will cast down tens of thousands, but he will not prevail.
13 "For the king of the North will return and muster a multitude greater than the former, and shall certainly come at the end of some years with a great army and much equipment.
14 "Now in those times many shall rise up against the king of the South. Also, violent men of your people shall exalt themselves in fulfillment of the vision, but they shall fall.
15 "So the king of the North shall come and build a siege mound, and take a fortified city; and the forces of the South shall not withstand him. Even his choice troops shall have no strength to resist.
16 "But he who comes against him shall do according to his own will, and no one shall stand against him. He shall stand in the Glorious Land with destruction in his power.
17 "He shall also set his face to enter with the strength of his whole kingdom, and upright ones with him; thus shall he do. And he shall give him the daughter of women to destroy it; but she shall not stand with him, or be for him.
18 "After this he shall turn his face to the coastlands, and shall take many. But a ruler shall bring the reproach against them to an end; and with the reproach removed, he shall turn back on him.
19 "Then he shall turn his face toward the fortress of his own land; but he shall stumble and fall, and not be found.
20 "There shall arise in his place one who imposes taxes on the glorious kingdom; but within a few days he shall be destroyed, but not in anger or in battle.
21 "And in his place shall arise a vile person, to whom they will not give the honor of royalty; but he shall come in peaceably, and seize the kingdom by intrigue.
22 "With the force of a flood they shall be swept away from before him and be broken, and also the prince of the covenant.
23 "And after the league is made with him he shall act deceitfully, for he shall come up and become strong with a small number of people.
24 "He shall enter peaceably, even into the richest places of the province; and he shall do what his fathers have not done, nor his forefathers: he shall disperse among them the plunder, spoil, and riches; and he shall devise his plans against the strongholds, but only for a time.
25 "He shall stir up his power and his courage against the king of the South with a great army. And the king of the South shall be stirred up to battle with a very great and mighty army; but he shall not stand, for they shall devise plans against him.
26 "Yes, those who eat of the portion of his delicacies shall destroy him; his army shall be swept away, and many shall fall down slain.
27 "Both these kings' hearts shall be bent on evil, and they shall speak lies at the same table; but it shall not prosper, for the end will still be at the appointed time.
28 "While returning to his land with great riches, his heart shall be moved against the holy covenant; so he shall do damage and return to his own land.
29 "At the appointed time he shall return and go toward the south; but it shall not be like the former or the latter.
30 "For ships from Cyprus shall come against him; therefore he shall be grieved, and return in rage against the holy covenant, and do damage. So he shall return and show regard for those who forsake the holy covenant.
31 "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.
32 "Those who do wickedly against the covenant he shall corrupt with flattery; but the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits.
33 "And those of the people who understand shall instruct many; yet for many days they shall fall by sword and flame, by captivity and plundering.
34 "Now when they fall, they shall be aided with a little help; but many shall join with them by intrigue.
35 "And some of those of understanding shall fall, to refine them, purify them, and make them white, until the time of the end; because it is still for the appointed time.

New King James Version®, Copyright © 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved.

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27 Daniel - I Dare You - 2013

Daniel 11 is packed with prophecies about the history of Israel and the world. In just the first 35 verses of the chapter, we find that 135 of those prophecies have already been fulfilled. As we look at the historical details Daniel received in his visions, God's sovereignty comes to the forefront and prompts us to remember that He will carry out the prophecies yet to be fulfilled.

Skip Heitzig unfolds the book of Daniel verse by verse in the series I Dare You. We'll learn how Daniel lived differently and made a huge impact on his society, and we'll be challenged to do the same.

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Outline

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  1. Conflicts of the Past (vv. 1-35) – Israel through the First 69 Weeks

    1. The Persian Empire (vv. 1-2) – Succeeded by four rulers:

      1. Cambyses, Son of Cyrus (530-522 BC)

      2. Pseudo-Smerdis (522 BC)

      3. Darius I Hystaspes (521-486 BC)

      4. Xerxes (Ahasuerus) (485-465 BC)

    2. The Grecian Empire (vv. 3-4) – Alexander the Great ("A mighty king who shall rule with a great dominion" [v. 3]) Succeeded by his four generals, the empire was divided and distributed:

      1. Seleucus over Syria & Mesopotamia

      2. Ptolemy over Egypt

      3. Lysimachus over Thrace & Asia Minor

      4. Cassander over Macedonia & Greece

    3. Egypt and Syria (vv. 5-35) – The Ptolemies and the Seleucids in Daniel 11

      1. Ptolemies (Kings "of the South", Egypt)

        1. Ptolemy I Soter (323-285 BC) (v. 5)

        2. Ptolemy II Philadelphus (285-246 BC) (v. 6)

        3. Ptolemy III Euergetes (246-221 BC) (vv. 7-8)

        4. Ptolemy IV Philopator (221-204 BC) (vv. 11-12, 14-15)

        5. Ptolemy V Epiphanes (204-181 BC) (v. 17)

        6. Ptolemy VI Philometor (181-145 BC) (v. 25)

      2. Seleucids (Kings "of the North," Syria)

        1. Seleucus I Nicator (312-281 BC) (v. 5)

        2. Antiochus I Soter (281-262 BC) (v.5)

        3. Antiochus II Theos (262-227 BC) (v. 6)

        4. Seleucus II Callinicus (246-227 BC) (vv. 7-9)

        5. Seleucus III Soter (227-223 BC) (v. 10)

        6. Antiochus III the Great (223-187 BC) (vv. 10-11, 13, 15-19)

        7. Seleucus IV Philopator (187-176 BC) (v. 20)

        8. Antiochus IV Epiphanes (175-163 BC) (vv. 21-32)

    4. Antiochus Epiphanes (vv. 21-32) "vile person"

      1. Throne siezed by force from Demetrius Soter, son of Seleucus IV Philopator (v. 21)

      2. Moved against Egypt (King of South, v. 25) 107 BC

      3. Moved against Egypt again in 168 BC but found Roman resistance (vv. 29-30a)

      4. Unleashed fury against Jews of Israel, the first Abomination of Desolation (vv. 30-32)

  2. Conflicts of the Future (vv. 36-45) – Israel Suffers Under the Antichrist During the 70th Week

    1. The King Described (vv. 36-39)

      1. Self-Willed (v. 36)

      2. Self-Exalting (v. 36)

      3. Blasphemous Speech (v. 36)

      4. Confident in Military Might (vv. 38-39)

    2. The King Attacked (vv. 40-45)

      1. His Might Challenged (v. 40)

      2. Initially Victorious in Battle (vv. 40-43)

      3. Faces Renewed Conflict (v. 44)

      4. His Headquaters at Jerusalem (v. 45)

      5. His End is Certain (v. 45b)

    3. Israel Persecuted/Delivered (12:1-10)


  3. CONNECT QUESTIONS


    1. Throughout Daniel, we've seen the accuracy and detail of God's prophecies. What reminders do they present to us about God's Word and His will?

    2. Although chapter 11 has a lot of details, why is it good to study and know these prophecies?

    3. All of these kingdoms have come to an end or will come to an end. Despite the Antichrist's final destruction, many will follow him. What biblical steps can we take to warn people about this, even now?

    4. Jesus tells us the first and second greatest commandments in Matthew 22:37-40. How do these commandments apply to the Great Commission? How do they relate to our study of Daniel 11?

    5. When godly men of the Bible see visions, they are often scared, but also consoled and told not to fear. What causes you to fear? In what ways does God's Word offer consolation and protection from that fear?

    6. What do you think was the major point of this passage?

    7. What did God reveal to you in this passage?

    8. Is there anything that applies directly to you or to someone you know? How can you take aim at changing a negative behavior in a biblical way?

    9. Who was this passage originally directed to?

    10. How does this passage apply to believers?

Detailed Notes

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  1. Introduction
    1. “Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it” George Santayana
      1. Every generation thinks that they are the most unique singular generation
      2. They will do things so different than their parents
      3. Things circulate over and over again
      4. Article: Cycle of Men and Cultures
      5. No wonder God told His people to remember what He had done (see Deuteronomy 8:2)
    2. Daniel 11 is historical
      1. Most of it has already happened
      2. It’s about wars and oppressors
      3. It’s history
      4. For Daniel they were all yet future
    3. Recap
      1. Daniel had been reading the prophet Jeremiah
      2. It said Israel would be captive for 70 years
      3. Daniel prayed
      4. Some did return to Israel
      5. Only a few returned
      6. Daniel prayed and fasted
      7. He got an answer, but it wasn’t the answer he wanted
      8. The chastening of Israel will continue all the way through history
    4. How to view this chapter
      1. 70 weeks of years
      2. vv. 1-35 are prophecies that fit within the first 69 weeks of years
      3. Vv. 36-46 are things that happen in the 70th week, the great tribulation period
      4. In 35 verses are 135 detailed prophecies that have already been fulfilled
      5. Critics say, “There’s no way that someone could have that kind of detail. So, it must have been written after it happened.”
      6. History is God’s story and knowing the future is easy for God
    5. Crop-duster view
      1. Regents of Persia
      2. The ruler of Greece
      3. Rivals north and south
      4. The rogue of Syria
  2. Persia
    1. Angels protecting and ministering
      1. God sends angels to those who inherit salvation to serve us (see Hebrews 1:14)
      2. 34 books in the Bible mention angels
      3. There is conflict between angels and demons that effects what happens on the earth (see Daniel 10)
    2. There will be three kings followed by a fourth
      1. There were more kings
      2. The angel is picking out a section of four at a crucial period of time
        1. Cambyses, Son of Cyrus
        2. Pseudo-Smerdis (he was an imposter)
        3. Darius I Hystaspes
        4. Xerxes (Ahasuerus)
          1. He’s the king who from the book of Esther
          2. He was very wealthy
          3. He had a huge army
          4. He attacked Greece and lost the war
          5. 150 years later, Greece took revenge under Alexander the Great
  3. Grecian Empire
    1. Alexander the Great
      1. He was one of the most remarkable military leaders
      2. In 332 BC he seized the entire Persian Empire
      3. Within ten years, he conquered the world
      4. Then he wept because there were no more worlds to conquer
      5. He died that same night
    2. His kingdom was divided
      1. Alexander the Great had a half brother who was mentally retarded
      2. He had an illegitimate son
      3. He had a baby that was born to him after his death
      4. All three of them were murdered
      5. They divided the kingdom among his top four generals
        1. Cassander took Macedonia and Greece
        2. Lysimachus to Asia Minor and Thrace
        3. Seleucus took Syria and Mesopotamia
        4. Ptolemy took Egypt--North Africa and Arabia
  4. Egypt and Syria--rivals north and south
    1. Directly effect Israel
    2. Geography in the Bible places Israel right in the middle (see Ezekiel 5:5)
    3. Jewish writings like the Mishnah and the Midrash say that the temple in Jerusalem is at the center of the world
    4. Israel, in the middle, gets the brunt of all their battles
    5. King of the North, King of the South refers to not one king but whoever is the king of the dynasty at the time
    6. The southern dynasty grew stronger quickly, but eventually the northern kingdom became very strong
    7. An alliance was made through marriage
    8. Glorious land, glorious kingdom--refers to Israel
    9. For hundreds of years, Israel is in the middle getting beat up by these kingdoms until King Antiochus the Fourth
  5. Antiochus Epiphanes, a vile person
    1. He was an illegitimate king--he seized the throne by flattery
    2. He called himself Theos Antiochus Theos Epiphanos; loosely translated means I am god most gloriously manifest
    3. The Jews called him Antiochus Epimanes--the mad one
    4. The south was so sick of Antiochus Epiphanes they called on a new super power to help them, Rome
    5. Rome sent a fleet of ships and met Antiochus and warned him--they publicly humiliated him
    6. On his way back home, through Jerusalem, he did the abomination of desolation
      1. He placed soldiers around the temple area
      2. He forbid people to worship
      3. He forbid people to sacrifice
      4. He sent his soldiers through Jerusalem to kill as many babies as they could find
      5. On another occasion, they killed as many women as they could find
      6. He made idolatry mandatory, he erected a statue of Zeus, killed a pig on the alter of sacrifice, forced the Jewish priest to eat pork, sprinkled the juices of the pig all over the temple
      7. He made nudity public
    7. Those who trust God is a reference to the deliverers who would come-Judas Maccabeus and a group of priests
      1. Drove out Antiochus Epiphanes
      2. Reestablish worship in the temple
      3. It is still celebrated today--Hanukah
    8. Poor Daniel; Yes, the seventy years are almost up--but, there will be more conflict to come
      1. Why would God allow all that to happen?
      2. Refine
      3. Purify
      4. Make white
      5. Nothing is more effective in driving people to God like suffering (see 1 Peter 1:7)
  6. Closing
    1. Why the detail of this chapter?
    2. To highlight the survival of the Jewish people
      1. Jewish survival is miraculous
      2. 50,000 Jews were killed in Seleucia
      3. 20,000 died by the Syrians
      4. 80,000 killed by Antiochus Epiphanes
      5. In 70 AD the Romans killed 1,300,000
      6. The Emperor Constantine outlawed Jews and killed many
      7. In the 5th and 6th century Jews were forbidden to hold public office  in Europe and over 60,000 were killed
      8. Jews are slaughtered by Islam even to this day
      9. The crusades in the 11th century killed many Jews in the name of Christ
      10. During the black plague, half of the Jewish population died
      11. In 1492 80,000 Jews were pushed into the sea
      12. Adolph Hitler exterminated six million Jews
      13. The Jews exist because of the angelic keeping in heavenly places
    3. Queen Victoria said, “Show me one thing that proves the Bible is true” the Prime Minister said, “The Jew, madam, the Jew”
    4. To highlight the similarity of the Antichrist
    5. It highlights the sovereignty of God
      1. 135 prophecies fulfilled
      2. Every time God fulfills a promise He has made, it should cause us to well up with faith
      3. Every tomorrow has two handles--the handle of anxiety, the handle of faith
    6. There was man who wanted a barometer, bought it, thought it was defective
    7. The angel who spoke to Daniel was right on
    8. There is something coming on the horizon
    9. Can you come to church week after week and see God’s power in His Word and remain unmoved?

External Resources: Cycle of Men and Cultures
Figures referenced: George Santayana, Alexander the Great, Antiochus Epiphanes, Judas Maccabeus
Cross references: Deuteronomy 8:2, Esther, Ezekiel 5:5, Daniel 10, Hebrews 1:14, 1 Peter 1:7

Transcript

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Welcome to I Dare You a series through the book of Daniel with Skip Heitzig.

Daniel Chapter 11; let's pray. Father, we have exalted you and lifted our hearts in worship, and what a rousing session of worship it was. How thankful we are that we have joy that is firmly fixed in you. And thank you, Lord, for the outlet to express it. But now, Lord, as a second part of our worship we calm our hearts before you, and we want to hear what you have to say. You've heard what we've had to say; now we want to hear what you have to say. And we pray that our minds would be very attentive and our hearts would be totally open as we discover the reason that this is given to us, in Jesus' name, amen.

I had a history professor who loved to quote that famous George Santayana quote. You know, the one that says, "Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it." And I think my history professor, like, almost every class would say, "Those who fail to learn from history"—and we all go—"are doomed to repeat it." We all knew it very well.

But I think it happens to be true, and I think it happens with just about every generation. Have you noticed that every generation thinks that they're, like, the most unique singular generation that has ever lived? And they're going to do things so totally different than their parents did it—and then they grow up, and they have kids, and often those patterns are repeated over and over again.

A girl came up last night after church, a teenager, with a tie-dye T-shirt. [laughter] And I'm thinking, "I should have kept that tie-dye T-shirt from the seventies." It's just funny how things sort of circulate over and over and over again. Well, sadly, that can happen with national history as well.

One author wrote what he called a bird's-eye view of the cycle of men and cultures. Listen if this sounds familiar: "Typically cultures go from bondage to spiritual faith; and then from spiritual faith to great courage; from courage to liberty; from liberty to abundance; from abundance to selfishness; from selfishness to complacency; from complacency to apathy; from apathy to dependency; and then from dependency back to bondage."

No wonder God told his people in the Old Testament to remember what he had done. Deuteronomy, God said, "And you shall remember all the way which the Lord your God has led you these many years." Daniel, chapter 11, is to us historical; most of it has already happened. The last ten verses are yet to happen, but for us it's pretty much we're looking backward, we're remembering what has happened in history. And it's about wars and oppressors, most of whom you have never heard of before unless you have studied these periods of history; otherwise you're going, huh?

It's like the kid in school who was getting bad grades in history and his buddy said, "How come you're flunking history?" And he said, "Because the teacher keeps asking us about things that happened before I was born." Yeah, that's what history is.

Now, these things are all history to us, but for Daniel they were all yet future. Now, let me just sort of catch you up here. As you recall—and I'm so glad that you've been following us in our study on Daniel, because a lot of this won't be new, you'll get it. Daniel had been reading the prophet Jeremiah, which said that Israel will be captive by the Babylonians for seventy years. And the seventy years was up, so he dropped to his knees. And Daniel prayed that they would return and be strengthened and rebuild and become a glorious city once again.

But it never really happened. Yeah, they returned, but just a small group returned; less than fifty thousand the Bible tells us. The great majority of the children of Israel remained back in Babylon. They had become so complacent, so comfortable, so paganized, they didn't want to disrupt their lifestyle and go on a mission trip to the Holy Land, so they stayed. And those who went were unsuccessful: they didn't reestablish the monarchy, and the work came to a screeching halt. So, Daniel once again in chapter 10 hits his knees, and he mourns, and he prays, and he fasts for three weeks, and finally the answer comes.

The answer comes and it wasn't an answer that he expected. The answer is: "Daniel, seventy years being captive in another place has been very, very difficult, but the chastening of Israel will not end with the seventy-year captivity ending. There's going to be more pain and suffering and sorrow and purging all the way through history, up to the very end; in fact, all the way up until Messiah's kingdom. And that's the answer that we're getting here in chapter 11.

Now, let me give you a lens with which to view this chapter. And, again, I'm glad you've been with us so far in Daniel, because you'll remember Daniel, chapter 9, and the whole prophecy on Daniel's Seventy Weeks where the angel said, "Seventy weeks of years are determined for your people, and for your holy city." Chapter 11, verse 1 through 35 are prophecies that fit within the first 69 weeks of years, or the 483 years that we've already told you about. The last part of chapter 11, verse 36 through 45, deal with events, conflicts that will happen in Daniel's Seventieth Week, or the great tribulation period.

Now, I just want to give you a note here, sort of a warning. It's a very detailed chapter. In fact, get this, in 35 verses there are 135 predictions that have been fulfilled; one hundred thirty-five very detailed, minute, unbelievably detailed prophecies that have already been fulfilled. Now, because of this, because of that fact that I just said, this is why the book of Daniel has been attacked by the critics.

Because the critics came along and still come along and this is what they say, "Well, there's no way that anyone could know that kind of detail before it happened, so it must have been written after it happened. After all those things were fulfilled, that's when it was written." Because the critics can't figure out any other way.

They certainly can't believe in a God who writes the Bible or who knows all things. They certainly can't believe in the integrity of Daniel who had impeccable character, and now they have to discredit Jesus Christ who called Daniel a prophet. So, they're making Daniel a liar, Jesus a liar, and they're saying there's no way this could happen.

What we have in Daniel, chapter 11, is the marvelous demonstration that history is merely His story, and that for God, telling the future isn't any harder than knowing the past. Now, I'm going to give you a crop-duster view of this chapter. We're going to fly over and just top some of the trees. But talk about a soap opera—this chapter is it.

Now, I've given you in your worship folder today an outline with dates and names, because I know that nobody's going to remember all these names or dates, so it's here for you. And if you want to go into all of the incredible detail and research on your own, have at it. I want to give you a crop-duster's view, because otherwise we'll be here for weeks.

But I have divided up this chapter of what I'm going to give you this morning into four sections; four sections based upon four different peoples or people groups. Number one, regents of Persia—it's not in your outline; I'm giving it to you orally—regents of Persia or the kings of Persia that are mentioned. Number two, the ruler of Greece, which is Alexander the Great; number three, rivals north and south; and, finally, the rogue of Syria; those are the four sections that we'll briefly look at.

Let's begin with Persia, because that's where the chapter begins in verse 1. "Also in the first year of Darius the Mede, I, even I, stood up to confirm and strengthen him. And now"—this is the angel speaking to Daniel. "And now I will tell you the truth: Behold, three more kings will arise in Persia, and the fourth shall be far richer than them all; by his strength, through his riches, he shall stir up all against the realm of Greece."

Now, we typically don't think too much about angels in our daily life. We don't think about them protecting us or ministering to us. We don't give angels really much of a thought. I do, because I married one, but other than that we typically, we typically don't. [laughter] But the truth is Scripture tells us that God (Hebrews, chapter 1) sends angels to those of us who inherit salvation to serve us; or as it says, "To serve or minister to those who inherit salvation," Hebrews, chapter 1.

Did you know in the Bible out of 66 books, 34 books mention angels: 17 in the Old Testament; 17 in the New? They're spoken about 103 times in the Old Testament, and 165 times in the New Testament, and we have already seen last week that there was conflict in heaven between demons and angels that affect what happens on the earth. We should think about that more often.

A pastor was preparing a sermon for his small congregation, and someone said to him, "Why do you work so hard when your message will be heard by so few?" And he said, "Ah, you underestimate how large my audience will be; if angels are looking, nothing that is done is trivial. I'm doing it for the glory of God and in the presence of all those witnesses."

Well, verse 1 and 2 tell us that there's going to be three kings followed by a fourth who's going to be very wealthy. The truth is there were more than four Persian kings, but the angel is picking out a section of four at a very crucial, key period of time, and then it focuses on the fourth. The first king that is predicted is a guy by the name of Cambyses who was the son of Cyrus.

The second king was named—get this—pseudo-Smerdis because he was an imposter. He looked so much like Cambyses, he actually made people believe that he was him, and that's how he got on the throne. It was all by trickery; it was all by being an imposter. Third, is a guy by the name of Darius I Hystapes, and fourth is somebody you know, King Xerxes or Ahasuerus.

You're looking at me, like, "I know him?" Well, you know him if you've ever read the book Esther. He is the king that is featured prominently in the book of Esther, the one that he brings Esther into his company with, that's King Ahasuerus or Xerxes. Very wealthy and had the largest army in the ancient world.

He massed an army of 2.5 million men plus naval ships, and with that he attacked Greece, history tells us. He crossed over the Hellespont and at the Battle of Thermopylae waged war against the Grecian Empire. He lost the war, he lost the battle, but it so angered the Greeks that they waited and waited and waited for revenge. One 150 later they got their wish.

Verse 3, "Then a mighty king shall arise"—now he's waging war, verse 2, against Greece, "Then a mighty king shall arise, who will rule with great dominion, and do according to his will. And when he has arisen, his kingdom shall be broken and divided toward the four winds of heaven, but not among his posterity nor according to his dominion with which he ruled; for his kingdom shall be uprooted, even for others besides these."

Virtually every Bible commentator will say this refers to Alexander the Great. Now, we've already seen him highlighted in previous studies on Daniel in chapter 7: the Grecian Empire was represented by the leopard with four wings; in chapter 8 by the goat that came from the west, rapidly coming with a notable horn which broke off and four horns grew in its place. So, we're familiar with this kind of prophecy. This is the king; so we have the regents of Persia followed by the ruler of Greece.

Now, something about Alexander, he really was pretty great. He stands out in history as one of the most remarkable military leaders, and these verses describe him perfectly. In 332 BC he seized the entire Persian Empire; within ten years get this within ten years he conquered the world. He was king of the world by age thirty-three. He had conquered from Europe all the way to India. And when he finally went to Babylon, and his troops were exhausted, they couldn't go on any further, he was drunk one night and he wept because there were no more worlds to conquer. He'd done it all. That was the night he died.

And you'll notice what it says in verse 4, "His kingdom will be broken up and divided toward the four winds of heaven, but not among his posterity." You know, Alexander the Great had a half brother who was mentally retarded. He had an illegitimate son, and he had a baby born to him posthumously; that is, the girl was pregnant, then he died, then the child was born—all three of them were murdered. He had no posterity. And as it says, the kingdom won't go to his posterity, but be divided toward the four winds of heaven.

What happened is a battle ensued, and an argument ensued, and they had to decide how they're going to divide up his kingdom. So, they divided the kingdom among the top four generals of Alexander the Great: Cassander, Lysimachus, Ptolemy and Seleucus. The spelling's right there in that nice, little outline I gave you. Let me tell you how it was divided, because this is important.

Cassander took Macedonia and Greece, the kingdom of Alexander's father; Lysimachus took Asia Minor, modern-day Turkey and the Thracian Empire; Seleucus took Syria and Babylonia; and Ptolemy (spelled with a P and then a T) Ptolemy, the fourth general, took Egypt, North Africa, and Arabia. That's how the kingdom was divided. So, we have in chapter 11 the regents of Persia, the ruler of Greece, now we come to the rivals north and south.

Now, if you'll look at your Bibles, beginning in verse 5 all the way to verse 20 is the longest section in the chapter. That's because the kings north and south are kings that directly affect Israel. Now, they all directly affect Israel, because Alexander took over the world, the Persian Empire had taken over the world. So, they all affect Israel, because they were in charge of them, but I mean directly affect Israel, because we're dealing with a nation north and south of Israel.

By the way, geography in the Bible is all relative toward Israel. When I was a kid, I remember in school the teacher showed us a world map, a map of the world. You know what country was right in the middle? America, that's what we think of ourselves. We're right in the middle; we're it. On God's map Israel's right in the middle. In fact, he says as much, Ezekiel chapter 5 verse 5, God says, and I quote, "See I have set Jerusalem in the midst of the all the nations that are around her." In other words, it put Israel right smack-dab in the middle.

That's why in the Bible north, south, east, and west are always relative to the nation of Israel. That's why in Jewish writings like the Midrash and the Mishnah there are sayings like this one: "The land of Israel is at the center of the world; Jerusalem is at the center of the land of Israel; the temple is at the center of Jerusalem." That's their way of saying, "The temple in Jerusalem at Israel is the navel or the epicenter of the planet."

So, because you have Israel here, and you have kings up here, and kings down here, and Israel is sandwiched in between and will get the brunt of all their battles, so much is given in this section.

Let's look at a snippet. Verse 5—now another quick warning, you're going to read over and over again in this section—and we're only going to look at a few verses—"the king of the north," "king of the south"; "king of the south," "the king of the north"; "the king of the south," and it goes on and on. It doesn't refer to one king necessarily, but a dynasty of kings. Whoever happens to be ruling in the north at that time is the king of the north; whoever happens to be ruling in the south is the king of the south. It's a dynasty. Seleucus the general established the Seleucid Dynasty: Syria, the north. Ptolemy established the Ptolemaic Dynasty: Egypt, down in the south.

Verse 5, "Also the king of the south," that's Egypt, that's the Ptolemaic Empire, "shall become strong, as well as one of his princes; and he shall gain power over him and have dominion. His dominion shall be a great dominion. And at the end of some years they shall join forces, for the daughter of the king of the south shall go to the king of the north to make an agreement; but she shall not retain the power of her authority, and neither he nor his authority shall stand; but she shall be given up, with those who brought her and, and with him who begot her, and with him who strengthened her in those times."

Here's the deal: the Ptolemaic dynasty down south grew stronger quicker, but not for very long. Eventually, eventually the northern kingdom, Syria, became also very strong and there was tension between north and south. To ease the tension an alliance was made. Now, the way alliances were made in those days is one of the kings would give his daughter to the other king as a wife, because now that's gonna mean we're going to treat each other good. And you hope that works out; sometimes it would be more drama than it would be peace, but that was the idea.

So, that's what happens here. The guy down south Ptolemy Philadelphus gives his daughter Berenice to the king of Syria named Antiochus Theos. Now, the only problem is the king of the north is already married. He has a wife. Now, he is given the daughter Berenice, this young, beautiful girl as his second wife. No problem, he's the king. He divorces his wife, marries her. Well, his wife doesn't think too highly of that, kills the new wife and her attendants, and poisons her husband. So, the whole alliance falls apart like this verse predicted.

Now, the rest of the verses we're not going to be looking at. We would be here for weeks and weeks and weeks unraveling all of these pieces and showing you how they fit historically. I think you get the gist of it. It covers about 150 to 200 of history. But there's a couple of verses I want to show you why this is important.

Verse 16, "But he who comes against him shall do according to his own will, and no one shall stand against him. He shall stand in the"—what—"Glorious Land." What land would that be? Israel. "With destruction in his power." Verse 20, "There shall arise in his place one who imposes taxes on the glorious kingdom," again, a reference to Israel, "but within a few days he shall be destroyed, but not in anger or in battle."

What I want you to see is the reason so much is talked about here is because all of the intrigue, all of the conspiracy, all of the wars, all of the bloodshed between north and south have Israel in between them. So, when one king wants to attack the other king, they have to go through Israel. So, for hundreds of years Israel would be sandwiched between the hammer and the anvil getting beat up, beat up, beat up by these kingdoms.

Now, this happens for years and years until—until one particular king—and he is written about and given more space than any other single individual in this chapter. One northern king in particular, the eighth in that line or that dynasty of the north, the eighth Seleucid king by the name of Antiochus IV; which takes us to the fourth and final division, the rogue of Syria.

Verse 21, look at this: "And in his place shall arise a vile person." How would you like to have that as your introduction? "A vile, despicable, wicked person"—ta-da! "To whom they will not give the honor of royalty"—notice—"but he shall come in peaceably, and seize the kingdom by intrigue."

Verse 21 to 24 described Antiochus IV's rise to power. He was an illegitimate king; he had no right to reign. He seized the throne by flattery. In fact, that's how he kind of ruled. He would see cities he wanted or people he wanted, and he would come with all hearts and flowers and be sweet, always with the end game of taking them captive and being in charge. That's how we got to the throne.

In fact, he called himself—ready? "Theos Antiochus, Theos Epiphanes," which means loosely translated, "I am god most glorious manifest." He had no self-esteem issue as we have said before. That's the name he gave himself, Theos Antiochus, Theos Epiphanes; actually, he was Creepus Maximus. [laughter] He called himself Antiochus Epiphanes, the illustrious glorious one; the Jews called him Antiochus Epimanes, the madman, because of what he had done to them.

Verse 25 through 28 describe his retaliation with Egypt, a peace treaty was signed, and it was broken; both rulers actually broke it. But look at verse 29 now. Let's get into this. "At the appointed time he shall return and go toward the south," so, he's up north moving south, "but it shall not be like the former or the latter. For ships from Cyprus shall come against him; therefore he shall be grieved, and return in rage against the holy covenant, and do damage. And so he shall return and show regard for those who forsake the holy covenant."

Now, by this time the Ptolemies down south were so sick of Antiochus that they called upon a new superpower looming in the west called Rome to help them. Rome sent a fleet of ships from the island of Cyprus who met Antiochus IV down just outside of Alexandria, Egypt, and they warned him strictly, "If you go to battle against this kingdom, you're going to also go to battle with us, Rome. We're going to be allied with them and we're going to take you down."

And then they drew a circle around him in the sand and they said, "You better make your decision before you leave the circle." So they publicly humiliate him. Now, he's in a corner, puts his tail between his legs, and goes back home. Now, he's going from south to north, if he's going back home from south to north, what land does he go through? Israel. What city does he go through? Jerusalem.

Now, verse 31, here it is, Antiochus now humiliated, as it says, and enraged, heads toward home. Verse 31, "And forces shall be mustered by him, and they shall defile the sanctuary fortress," that's the temple in Jerusalem, "and they shall take away the daily sacrifices, and place the abomination of desolation there." There it is. Now, every time from here on when we read about the abomination of desolation this is the primary reference. What Antiochus Epiphanes did is what someone else is going to do coming in the future—the abomination of desolation.

Here's what happened historically: Antiochus placed soldiers around the temple area forbidding people to worship, forbidding people to sacrifice. On one Sabbath he sent his soldiers to the city of Jerusalem to kill as many babies as they could find. On another occasion they went to the city of Jerusalem to kill as many women as they could find.

He made idolatry mandatory, erecting a statue of Zeus, killing a pig on the altar of sacrifice, forcing the Jewish priests to eat pork, sprinkling the juices of the pig all around the temple, desolating it, desecrating it. And then he made nudity public, taking what he called athletes and parading them nude in full view of the Temple Mount area—just totally in a filthy manner desecrating the temple.

And verse 32, "Those who do wickedly against the covenant he shall corrupt with flattery." "Those" are those who helped him do it, who were actually Judean Jews. "But the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits." It's always been one of my favorite verses of Scripture. I didn't really know what the context was until much later. I'll tell you what it is in a moment.

"And those of the people who understand shall instruct many; yet for many days they shall fall by the sword and flame, by captivity and plundering. Now when they fall, they shall be aided with a little help; but many shall be joined with them by intrigue."

Those who aided with a little help, those who trust their God and do great exploits is a reference, I believe, to the deliverers who would come: a group of Hasmonean priests led by Judas Maccabeus who revolted against the Syrians and reestablished proper worship in the temple. That is still celebrated to this day in the Jewish feast of Hanukkah. Hanukkah is all about driving out Antiochus Epiphanes and the Syrians, and reestablishing worship on the temple.

So, poor Daniel, man, he's like eighty-six years of age and he's mourning and weeping because Israel isn't the glorious nation and capital like it once was. The people have gone back, but only a few, and the work has stopped, and he's praying and mourning and fasting.

And the angel comes, and he goes, "I've got your answer, Daniel. You're probably not going to like this, but the seventy years of captivity are up. But there are more conflicts yet to come. Because after the seventy years will come a Xerxes, and then an Alexander, and then rivals between two kingdoms for a couple hundred years till eventually an Antiochus Epiphanes will utterly obliterate your people, and that will happen all the way to the end."

Now, by now I hope you're wondering, "Why would God allow all that to happen?" I know Daniel was thinking that. And so verse 35 tells us, "And some of those of understanding shall fall, to refine them, purify them, and make them white until the time of the end; because it is still for the appointed time."

"Daniel, God is going to use this suffering." Would you agree that nothing is effective in driving people to God like suffering; nothing gets our attention, nothing drives our eyes upward? I know we hate it. We'd all vote against it if we could eradicate suffering in all of its forms today, but God uses it. And that's why Peter said in the New Testament, "The trials of your faith have come so that your faith—more precious than gold, though refined by the fire—may be proved to be genuine."

Now, I want to close with a question: Why the detail? You gotta understand, of all the chapters of Daniel, I was least excited about teaching this one until I got into it. Why the detail? Why this king and that king and this—all these detailed events? Three reasons: number one, to highlight the survival of the Jewish people. They shouldn't exist. They have been hassled and hounded; they should be out of existence, but they exist. Jewish survival is miraculous.

Here's just a sampling of history: 50,000 Jews were killed in Seleucia; 20,000 died in Caesarea by the Syrians; Antiochus Epiphanes killed 80,000 on this event that I told you about, sold 40,000 as slaves, and took 40,000 as prisoners. In 70 AD the Romans entered Jerusalem and killed 1,300,000 Jews. The emperor Constantine outlawed Jews, killing them, cutting off their ears, dispersing them. In the fifth and sixth century Jews were forbidden to hold public office in Europe, and over 60,000 were killed.

In 633 AD with the rise of Islam in the Arabian Peninsula, Jews were slaughtered even to this day. The crusades of the eleventh century, the Christian crusades, the motto was, "Kill a Jew and save your soul." Many of them were slaughtered in the name of Christ. In 1350 the black plague in Europe happened, Jews were blamed for it, and half of them were killed because of it. In 1492 in Spain when Columbus sailed the ocean blue, 80,000 Jews were pushed into the sea; most of them died by exposure.

World War II, the Third Reich, Adolf Hitler and the Nazi regime exterminated 6 million Jews in a Holocaust. There is no reason they should exist, but they exist because of this angelic keeping that goes on in heavenly places. Queen Victoria asked her prime minister, "Show me one thing that proves the Bible is true." The prime minister said, "The Jew, madam, the Jew."

Second reason the detail is given is to highlight the similarity of the Antichrist. We're going to read next week in the last ten verses of this chapter about somebody else who is coming, and Antiochus Epiphanes is the prototype of that Antichrist. That's the second reason. Here's the third reason and I close with this: because it highlights the sovereignty of God. I love it when the Bible shows off God's track record. And we see 135 predictions fulfilled that are mentioned in 35 verses—that's God's trademark.

In fact, so often in the Old Testament God says to the false gods, "I can do what you can't do. I'm going to predict this, this, this, and that; can you do that?" "Uh, no." "Can any of your false gods make the kind of predictions I can make." "Uh, no." So every time God fulfills a promise that he has made or a prediction that he has made, it should cause us to well up with faith.

Every tomorrow has two handles: the handle of anxiety; the handle of faith. Most of us like to grab the handle of anxiety: "I don't know what's going happen! I don't know what's going to happen!" Okay, so you don't know what's doing happen—so what. Every time God fulfills a promise that he makes, it should move us toward that handle of faith, because the thinking person will say this: "If 135 prophecies that verifiable are found in 35 verses, then I think the rest of what he says is also going to happen—like Jesus is coming back, and like the kingdom age is going to come, and heaven is a real place,"—that's what it should make us think. [applause]

And, yet, some will say, "Yeah, I've heard this before. I've heard these warnings for years—'Jesus is coming. The end of the world is coming.' My grandmother used to think that." Well, baby, your grandmother was right on. It is coming; it is happening.

There was a man who wanted a barometer that he saw in a store, beautiful wood and brass. And he thought it would look good on his mantle, so he ordered one, had it shipped to his home. He unpacked the barometer, looked at it, and he was so disappointed. He thought, "It's defective," because the needle was stuck on the section of the barometer reading "hurricane." He goes, "Aw, this stupid thing; it doesn't work, " put it back in the box. Had to go to work, so he wrote a quick letter, was going to mail it on the way to the city where he worked.

When he drove home that night, the barometer was gone. Not only the barometer was gone, his house was gone that had the barometer in it. Yeah, it was right—a hurricane came. The angel who spoke to Daniel, his needle was right on; storm after storm after storm would hit Israel. And there is a storm yet to come on the horizon, talked about in the last section of this chapter that makes everything that we have briefly considered this morning nothing more than child's play, what Jesus said is the worst period of time that has yet to hit planet earth.

Here's my question: Can you come to church week after week, and sit sermon after sermon, week after week, and see God's power demonstrated in his Word like this and remain unmoved? Because if you can, I pity you, when you see such verifiable evidence of the omniscience and power of God in prophecy. It's absolutely amazing. It should cause us to bow and worship and relinquish control to this Sovereign One.

And, Father, that's where we end. We end with that amazement. Unfortunately, many will fail to learn from history, and, unfortunately, they are destined to repeat it. But I pray for us, we your people, that by the insight given to Daniel through this angel, a direct revelation from heaven that we have considered just briefly today and we have seen how amazing you are. And to worship you should be so second nature to us, because you are so awesome; really, there's no human word to describe, we fall short. But in closing this service, we close it as we began it-thanking you and worshiping for your great love for us, in Jesus' name, amen.

For more teachings from Calvary Albuquerque and Skip Heitzig visit calvaryabq.org.

Additional Messages in this Series

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1/6/2013
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I Dare You: Be Distinct!
Daniel 1
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Men and women of character will rise to meet a challenge. Our challenge over the next few months will be modeled in the life of Daniel, a man of God who stood out above the rest, honored God, and influenced his world. Each week, our service will be formed around a new challenge—a dare—to rise up, be counted, be different, and above all, be pleasing to God.
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1/13/2013
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I Dare You: Step Up!
Daniel 2:1-23
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Any crisis we face is a test. How will we respond? What actions will we take? What will our faith in God mean to us and to others in that moment of crisis? Daniel and his friends faced their moment of crisis when the King of Babylon’s insomnia became their worst nightmare. As they faced the possibility of their own death, they used the situation to display their life-giving faith. Let’s consider how we can step up to life’s difficulties and use them as spiritual opportunities.
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1/20/2013
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I Dare You: Speak Out!
Daniel 2:24-49
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Words can become jumbled when we feel intimidated by the one we’re speaking to, especially if the one we’re speaking to intends to kill us! That’s why this story is so inspiring: Daniel speaks out clearly, boldly, accurately, and yet humbly to Babylon’s monarch and thereby gives us a model of speaking God’s truth to our world.
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1/27/2013
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I Dare You: Stand Up!
Daniel 3
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Fitting in, blending in, and conforming to the values of the world around you is what is expected. If you dare go against the flow of popular worldly ideologies, you will be a marked person, regarded as a fanatic and relegated to the category of "dangerous individuals." Three of Daniel's friends decided it was better to stand up for God than to bow down to the wishes of the crowd. Their conviction of heart was to refuse to be "conformed to this world" (Romans 12:2).
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2/3/2013
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I Dare You: Submit!
Daniel 4:1-18
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Before us is a remarkable section of Scripture with a remarkable story about a king who makes a remarkable statement. It is the personal journal of an earthly political monarch who recognizes God’s authoritative rule in the human realm. As amazing as the story is, it carries with it implications for us to submit to God by submitting to man’s government.
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2/10/2013
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I Dare You: Be Humble!
Daniel 4:19-37
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A pundit once quipped, "Humility is like underwear—essential, but indecent if it shows!" The opposite of humility is pride, and Daniel 4 reveals it in spades. Nebuchadnezzar will learn (and then tell) about the greatest lesson God showed him in his long career—that He is able to humble those who walk in pride. So why not learn it the easy way? Listen carefully and apply these truths diligently. I dare you!
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2/17/2013
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I Dare You: Wake Up!
Daniel 5
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As a teacher was lecturing his class, he noticed a student sleeping in the back row, so he said to the sleeping student’s neighbor, "Hey, wake that guy up!" The neighbor answered back, "You put him to sleep, you wake him up!" Falling asleep on the job may be harmless in some situations, but not as the ruler of a nation, and certainly not when God’s judgment is impending. This week’s dare is directed to anyone who is not heeding divine warning signals and needs to wake up.
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2/24/2013
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I Dare You: Be Faithful!
Daniel 6:1-15
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Daniel was consistently faithful, both publicly and privately. His diligence and attitude set him apart from his peers and his reputation withstood harsh scrutiny. When his life was on the line, Daniel refused to compromise—he dared to be faithful!
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3/3/2013
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I Dare You: Be Steadfast!
Daniel 6:10-28
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Calvin Miller once wrote, “Security is never the friend of faith. It is peril that produces steadfastness.” Daniel knew this to be true and was willing to sacrifice the security of life and limb because his heart was steadfast and immovable toward his God. Even though he had been faithful to king and country, this aged prophet faced the trial of a lifetime.
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3/10/2013
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I Dare You: Defend!
Daniel 7:1-8
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Daniel did fine when he was thrown into the lions’ den, but how does he fare when thrust into the critics’ den? Daniel is an amazing book of prophecy as well as history, yet it has not escaped the bright white light of antagonistic critics through the ages. Today I dare you to move beyond a shallow faith that depends on personal feelings and subjective experiences and learn to “contend earnestly for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints” (Jude 3).
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3/24/2013
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I Dare You: Decide! - Part 1
Daniel 7:8-28
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The world as we know it won’t last forever. Time will not march on without interruption. Daniel saw a vision of four future kingdoms which can be documented historically. But one final worldwide antagonistic thrust against God is coming. It will be waged by a ruler typically referred to as the Antichrist (but actually there are many more names for him). A fourfold description of this coming dictator’s reign is highlighted before us. Even more basic is the choice we must all make about which kingdom we will be part of.
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4/14/2013
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I Dare You: Decide! - Part 2
Daniel 7
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The time is coming when the world will have to decide between a false messiah and the true Christ. Sadly, some already have. Today, we'll consider the world's fastest growing religion and how it might possibly interact with the Bible's predictions of the end times.
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4/21/2013
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I Dare You: Look Ahead!
Daniel 7:9-14;7:26-27
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Economists, meteorologists, visionaries, and psychics all share one thing in common: They all try to predict the future to announce what's coming. God's prophets never had to; God revealed it to them and they simply wrote it down or spoke it out. The central highlight of Daniel's vision in chapter 7 isn't the coming kingdoms of earthly men nor of the coming Antichrist but rather the coming of Jesus Christ. Let's look ahead and see what's coming.
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4/28/2013
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I Dare You: Be Great!
Daniel 8:1-8;8:20-22
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The New York Life Review posted this: "Great men have but a few hours to be 'great.' Like the rest of us, they must dress, bathe, and eat. And, being human, they must make visits to the dentist, doctor, and barber and have conferences with their wives about domestic matters. What makes men great is their ability to decide what is important, and then focus their attention on that." (I think that goes for great women too!) Let's compare three men who some consider to be great, and then see how we measure up.
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5/19/2013
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I Dare You: Be Shocked!
Daniel 8:8-27
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When was the last time you heard someone respond to an incident or piece of information by saying, “That’s shocking!”? Shock (emotional disgust, offense, and aversion) has been diminished due to a widespread exposure to facts and images. Things get too easily relegated to a file in our brains marked, “I’ve already heard this before.” It’s a sad day (and dangerous) when we become spiritually desensitized to God’s truth and the world’s pain.
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5/26/2013
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I Dare You: Pray!
Daniel 9:1-5
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I have never met a person who's regretted praying too much. I've met plenty who've regretted praying too little. Prayer is the one activity that everybody knows they need, but few actually do. It's preached often, but practiced seldom. Forgive me if I'm dispensing guilt—that's not my intention. I'd rather take a peek into the busy life of an ancient executive (Daniel), and see the role prayer played for him and, in so doing, get fired up about this most powerful of activities!
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6/2/2013
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I Dare You: Pray! - Part 2
Daniel 9:4-19
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Just as a square has four sides and is incomplete without all four sides, so too does effective prayer. Daniel leaves us with a great example (and a simple one at that). Though we can pray anywhere and anytime, these four elements form a great baseline for us to emulate. When you talk to God, make certain the signal is clear, your heart is pure, and your confidence is sure.
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6/9/2013
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I Dare You: Understand!
Daniel 9:20-27
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God wants us to understand! He wants us to understand the truth about life. He wants us to understand the way of salvation. He wants us to understand His plans for the future. Today we come to the scriptural key that unlocks the door to the prophetic future of God’s plan. If you have never known it before, choose to understand it now. I dare you!
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6/30/2013
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I Dare You: Fight!
Daniel 10
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Fighting is never fun, but it's sometimes necessary. Certainly that's the case with the Christian life: It's not a playground but a battleground. Spiritual warfare (the cosmic battle between forces of good and evil) is a reality that none can escape but few really understand. For Daniel, the curtain is pulled back and he is allowed to see past the natural world into the supernatural world. Let's get a firsthand briefing on a heavenly battle that has earthly repercussions.
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7/14/2013
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I Dare You: Rest!
Daniel 11:36-45
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It's hard to be at rest when everything around you is chaos and conflict. But today that is our dare. Peace isn't the absence of a storm but being at rest in the midst of the storm. Daniel is informed about a stormy future in store for his own people and for the whole world. As we look ahead to consider a leader who will come during the most tumultuous time in human history, I dare you to rest in four distinct ways:
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8/4/2013
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I Dare You: Hope!
Daniel 12:1-3
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There is nothing needed more in the world today than hope. Every generation faces the tendency toward despair and hopelessness. Daniel especially did since he was learning of his own people's future suffering that would last for multiplied generations. But at last, God gives him a precious ray of hope: The worst of times will usher in the best of times. Four words describe that future time and become four rungs on the ladder of hope.
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8/11/2013
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I Dare You: Respond!
Daniel 12:4-13
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The Christian life is essentially a response to God: God is the Master and we are His servants; He's the Good Shepherd and we are the sheep; He is the Head and we are members of His body. Even our love for God is a response: "We love Him because He first loved us" (1 John 4:19). In this final section of the book of Daniel, let's consider three things that God does and what our response should be in each case.
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8/18/2013
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I Dare You: Be Balanced!
Daniel 1-12
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One dictionary defines balance this way: "A condition in which different elements are equal or in the correct proportions." That's a fitting word to describe the whole of Daniel's life. In today's final study of the book of Daniel, we consider the man himself and how his life was so outwardly powerful and yet so inwardly stable. Daniel was supremely balanced in at least four areas.
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There are 23 additional messages in this series.
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