Daniel 7-12

August 21, 2005

ch. 7

The origin, character and destiny of godless

kingdoms.

Origin:

Earthly, formed by earthly passions, not the will

of God. Formed by wars of conquest, and wicked

strifes of ambition.

THE GLORY OF POLITICAL SUCCESS OFTEN

LEADS MEN TO DISREGARD THE CRIMES BY

WHICH IT IS ACHIEVED.

Character:

To Nebuchadnezzar, the kingdoms appeared bright

and glorious - ch. 2:31 - to Daniel, the prophet of God,

they appeared savage and brutal. The true end of

government is the peace and welfare of the world.

Human history is full of variety, change and surprise.

It is only in the Divine order that we meet with assured

and peaceful stability.

Destiny:

The kingdoms of the world are temporary - the

proudest earthly power must bow before the

judgment-seat of God - the worst of the great

beasts are entirely destroyed - v. 11 - godless

kingdoms will be all superceded by the universal

and eternal Kingdom of Heaven.

v. 3 - "four beasts"

v. 4 - "a man's heart was given unto it"

v. 5 - "arise, devour much flesh" - human violence.

vs. 9-10 - read - the Judgment set - the angels

of God are present to carry out the judgment.

"white as snow" - betokens the immaculate

righteousness of His administration.

Every force and element in nature is His servant,

and a stream of fire issues from His feet. The earth,

long stained with shameful crime, shall be purified,

and the saints shall emerge from the trial "as gold that

has been purified".

"the Judgment was set" - "books were opened"

God preserves a record of the heirs of eternal life!

He knows them if men do not. He takes note of them

individually - their names are written down - the

world is redeemed, not in mass but individually. Each

one of us either has or has not his name written down

in "the book of life".

When the great facts of the unseen world are brought

to light, then will God's purposes with mankind

be understood.

Daniel is admitted to the scene and sees God's

judgment continually being prepared against the

wicked.

A great fiery throne - the Judge (of all the earth who

doth right) - Gen. 18:25 - the dignity of unnumbered

ages - Matt. 8:11, Rev. 21:24 - attended by a million

angels (ready to do God's will) and a hundred million

watching and listening spectators (with no interruptions.)

Jude 14-25

vs. 11-12 - Sovereignty of God - hear a lot about it today -

vs. 13-14 - the presentation of the world to Christ

Higher class than beasts - notice how the beasts came

out of the sea - the Son of man from the heavens

Intimate relations with God - "near before Him"

He is the true "Son of man" - therefore all races can find

their Savior and Lord in Him!

His kingdom is indestructible and everlasting!

Psalm 145:13 - "Thy kingdom is an everlasting

kingdom, and thy dominion endureth

throughout all generations."

Compare Rev. 5:12

Remember ch. 2:44

The Ancient of Days, whose sentence has deprived

the other dynasties of their empire, bestows

boundless empire on the Messiah.

A time beyond the present, when all civil governments

will have ceased, when the Church shall be manifest as

the true state, when Christ the Anointed of the Lord

alone shall reign.

This prophecy is not fulfilled in Christ's coming in

weakness as the Babe of Bethlehem, nor in His life of

sorrow and death, of shame and suffering.

It is His Coming the Second Time unto salvation.

Hebrews 9:27-28

It is the time when He shall have the heathen for His

inheritance, and the uttermost part of the earth for

His possession.

Only some such time of universal peace can

adequately conclude history and fulfill prophecy!

Psalm 72 (read on your own)

v. 15 - this shook up Daniel

v. 16 - what is "the truth of all this?"

v. 17

v. 18 - Prophetic Certainty (speaking of something in the

future as if it had already come to pass!)

vs. 19-20 - history and the future (Babylon, Persia,

Greece and Rome)

vs. 21-22 - Prophetic Certainty

vs. 23-25 - read and elaborate

Share something from Bro. Walter Smith from

The Christian Crier:

If the world ever needed a warning, it needs one now.

Why? Because too many people are too quick to believe

a lie. They want to believe a lie so they can live the way

they want. The excuse man is looking for to get away

from the restrictions and demands that following

Jesus Christ places on him.

Psalm 2:1-3

vs. 26-27 - read and elaborate - blasphemy against

God - self-exaltation to a place alongside of

God.

"shall wear out the saints" - persecute and main-

tain war against them.

"and shall think to change times and laws"

the antichristian power - the harlot

The interpretation

Babylon, Persia, Greece, Rome

v. 28 - "hitherto is the end of the matter"

ch. 8

vs. 1-4 - another vision - Medes & Persians - "he did

according to his will and became great" - ???

vs. 5-8 - Alexander the Great and the Grecian Empire

vs. 9-12 - Division of Greece - Antiochus Epiphanes

vs. 11-12 - read

The triumph of evil - the more we see of evil the more

shall we feel its destructive character - THE WORLD

WITHOUT GOD DETERIORATES - states get worse

and worse - the moral progress of mankind is dependent

on our relation to God - His redemptive plan and

educational influence - (argument over teaching of science

and the politically correct - Intelligent Design) Sadly,

much of that which is passed off today as science is really

philosophy whether it be biology or psychology.

(again yesterday in the New Era - even shortened

Intelligent Design to ID)

Morality declines - when evil gets the ascendancy in the

state - the exercise of religious ordinances is endangered.

Persecution usally has a moral cause.

Evil is darkness and it is essentially A LIE!

God has known this from the beginning and has forewarned.

ch. 2:35

Where secularism is going - chapter 3 notes - the three

Hebrew children

ch. 3

Notice the secular power requirements -

v. 2

v. 6

v. 7

v. 12 - ch. 2:49

v. 15 - another chance

"who is that God that shall deliver you out of my

hands?"

vs. 17-18 - their answer

vs. 19-20 - where secularism is going - never miss

an opportunity to compare fundamental

Christianity with fundamental Islam.

The Lie

vs. 21-23

vs. 24-25 - God with us

vs. 26-30

(back to ch. 8)

Evil’s duration is always limited - v. 14 - 2300days - a

short time when compared with eternity. (Six years and

a hundred and ten days)

ULTIMATELY, EVIL WILL BE ENTIRELY CAST OUT!

The glory of Christ in redeeming from sin and restoring

the world to God is after evil is destroyed - II Thess 2:7-8 **

Consume - arkdiscovery.com - burned up - sulfur balls -

weight of things burned heavier than original -

II Peter 2:6-10 3:10-13 Jude 7

Get out while there is still time -

*"flee the wrath to come"

*"Save yourselves from this untoward

generation" - Pentecost

Genesis 19:22,26 Luke 9:62

"All flesh shall see the glory of the Lord" - Luke 3:6

Matthew 21:42-44

v. 17b

v. 19

vs. 23-25 ***

Rev. 13:11 - "he had two horns like a lamb, and

he spake as a dragon"

In appearance - deceptively harmless - yet in reality

most destructive and wicked.

Bold self-assertion - working by craft and later by

force - “understands dark stratagems - craft prospers

under his hand - INTELLECT IS A MORE DANGEROUS

WEAPON IN THE HANDS OF A BAD MAN THAN MERE

BRUTAL FORCE - ch. 11:36-39 ***

Mighty, but not by his own power -

I John 2:18, 22, 15-17, 4:1-6

“when the transgressors are come to the full” - the

sacred writers often speak of iniquity as being FULL -

as if there was a certain limit or capacity beyond which

men are not allowed to go - ARE WE REACHING THE

LIMITS? - or is this just the tip of the iceberg?

MARRING THE CLOSING DAYS OF HISTORY

Do you have a role? Are you reflecting the light of

God's glory or are you happy with the darkness?

The darkness of "abortion on demand", "Sunday

alcohol sales", "no place in public society for The Ten

Commandments" - etc.

ch. 12:1 Gen. 6:5-7, 19:20-21

When the limit is reached - God interferes and cuts off

the guilty by some heavy judgment.

Compare Genesis 15:16 - the difference being the

end of time!

Matt. 24:21-22

v. 25 - he practiced deceit - “by peace shall destroy

many” - that seems to be the main outcry of

secularism today is -peace without morality.

v. 12 - he strikes at truth and sets himself against

God - “cast down the truth to the ground”

Like Satan - he goes about “seeking whom he may

devour”

v. 16 - Gabriel - “make this man to understand”

Angels absorbed with the honor and majesty of God -

with the well being of man - it is the great problems

of atonement and redemption “the angels desire to

look into” - ALL TIME TO ANGELS IS BUT A

SEASON OF ATONEMENT.

Gabriel enjoins Daniel to do his part - serve his

generation as David did which we studied in Acts 13:36.

“Shut up the words and seal the book” -

Brother Duncan - “Is he loose series?” - in the late 1960's

preached at Second Baptist Church 2-3 months on the

texts of II Tim. 3:1-5 and Rev. 20:7-8

ch. 9

Where is the leadership? vs. 4-19 - (highlighted)

II Chron. 7:14 - "If my people, which are called

by my name, shall humble themselves, and

pray, and seek my face, and turn from their

wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven,

and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land"

v. 23 - The Answer - ch. 10:11-12

v. 24 - *** (the Kingdom of God in a nutshell)

ch. 10

Daniel mourned three weeks

v. 14

v. 21a - "noted in the scripture of truth"

(the idea that the events that were to happen in

the world's history were recorded beforehand in

the books or tablets of the heavens)

vs. 18-19 - Divine encouragement - then & now

We often fail in work for want of energy of soul.

Divine strength brings zeal, capacity, and success.

It is needful for growth of the spirit in man.

"like the appearance of a man and He strengthened

me" - Remember Jesus -

Examples in Heb. 11:34-40 - (private study)

ch. 11

v. 6 - "she shall be given up and they that brought her

......and he that strengthened her in these times"

v. 21 - "he shall come in peaceably and obtain the

kingdom by flatteries"

dissimulation - false front

He wins power by dissimulation - a technique most

common in an age of advanced civilization. Violence

belongs to simpler times. As life becomes more complex,

evil becomes more subtle. It has most power during a

time of moral corruption. When morality is corrupted, the

discerning faculty of conscience is blinded. Deceit succeeds

most with those who have lost the clear judgment which

results from the insights of purity. Dissimulation is also

successful under circumstances of material prosperity,

tempted to the mere enjoyment of ease.

THE SUCCESS OF DISSIMULATION IS MORE

INJURIOUS TO THE WORLD THAN THE SUCCESS

OF VIOLENCE.

v. 23 - “he shall work deceitfully: for he shall come

up and shall become strong with a small

people”

(a principle/not necessarily literal for the United States

except it is too close for comfort)

350,000 ACLU members out of a population of

260,000,000 = 13/10,000 of one percent and this

in a democracy

The ACLU is endeavoring to control myriads of

Christians but will not control the antichrist -

perhaps they will not want to do so

v. 24 - “he shall do that which his fathers have not

done, nor his father’s fathers”

v. 27a

v. 28 - “his heart shall be against the holy covenant”

v. 30 - “and have intelligence with them that forsake

the holy covenant”

It was their religion that was the bond which united

the nation; let that be broken, then there would be a

chance of the Jews blending harmoniously with the

other races that made up the Syrian Empire.

Those that forsook the holy covenant made him

think it an easy task.

v. 31b

v. 32 - “but the people that do know their God

shall be strong and do exploits”

Their source is God - it is not innate nor acquired

by our own efforts nor attained by any worldly means.

It is given to us in our natural weakness through GRACE!

These people know their God and are know of Him.

An intimate relationship with God is both bracing and

invigorating!

v. 33 - “and they that understand among the people shall

instruct many”

Contrast Hosea 4:14 - “therefore the people that doth

not understand shall fall”

v. 34 - “but many shall cleave to them with flatteries”

(the world system)

vs. 36-39 - the undue prominence of self, self-will and

self-worship.

the “god of forces” was more suited to his lawless

violence.

Might makes Right but There is no Right Way to do

the Wrong Thing!

Matt. 16:25 - “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it:

and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it”

v. 40 - “And at the time of the end”

v. 45b - “yet he shall come to his end, and none shall

help him”

ch. 12

The Last Things - chps. 10-12 - conflicts going on

between superhuman intelligences good and bad

in an effort to control the movements of nations.

It is so in Revelation - ch. 12:7-9

Eph. 6:12 - "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood,

but against principalities, against powers, against

the rulers of the darkness of this world, against

spiritual wickedness in high places"(promoted by sex, drugs, music and now violence)

There shall be trouble on a scale unparalleled in all

history, such as was never before!

Luke 21:25-26 - "And there shall be signs in the sun,

and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the

earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea

and the waves roaring (tsunami?); men's hearts

failing them for fear, and for looking after those

things which are coming on the earth: for the

powers of heaven shall be shaken"

(the little green men from Kelly will not be a factor in

that day to our Chamber of Commerce and other promoters

of Sunday alcohol sales - there will be more pressing concerns)

vs. 1-3

Romans 2:16 - “In the day when God shall judge the

secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my

gospel”

Men’s past history will be rehearsed, their secret

thoughts exposed, their true character made known!

Some to eternal life!

Some to eternal shame!

Is. 66:24 - “And they shall go forth and look upon the

carcasses of the men that have transgressed

against me: for their worm shall not die, neither

shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an

abhorring unto all flesh”

“shine ....as stars” - true wisdom will choose this as the

noblest work - men have various aims, pleasure, gain,

power, fame, rank, self-culture but the noblest aim is to

seek to do good to others and the highest good we can do

is moral good. Hence the mission of the spiritual physician

takes first place among all vocations. It is the most

Christ-like!

It is to persuade men to turn from sin and unto God!

This secures the most important good for all mankind

and it glorifies God supremely!

Remember, to angels all time is but a season of atonement!!!

v. 8 - "what shall be the end of these things?"

vs. 9-10 - the true view of the end is not disturbing and

exciting - it brings to our mind, through the Holy Spirit,

visions of rest and peace, the anticipation of which

should impart a quiet simplicity to our spiritual life!

SCRIPTURE ATTRACTS THOUGHT!

SCRIPTURE IS A MINE OF INEXHAUSTIBLE TREASURE!

*** Malachi 3:16-18