20241222_Daniel

[0:00] Father, we just thank you. Thank you for the opportunity, Father, to be here this morning to fellowship with other believers. And, Father, also to get into your Word and to study it.

[0:12] Especially with Daniel today, we'll be closing out. And we just thank you for the opportunity. And we uplift Gary Harple this morning, Father, with the things that he's going through.

[0:23] And I know it has to be a real problem for them with all the traveling that they have to do when every day they have to go back and forth. So just guide them for the diagnosis and the people that take care of me.

[0:38] We just pray for them and the family. And, Father, for Betty and Ed, we just continue to pray for them and just try to give them peace. And all the doctors that are caring for them and the family that's stepping up and taking care of them, we just thank you for that.

[0:54] So this morning, we just thank you in all things. We ask these things this morning in Christ's precious name. Amen. Okay. Well, this morning, we're going to try to finish up the book of Daniel.

[1:10] So we're going to be in chapter 11 and chapter 12. And if you look at chapter 11, it's a pretty long chapter.

[1:20] And there's a lot and lots of detail in there. And I don't plan on going through all that detail. So we're just going to get into it and we're kind of going to shorten it and hit the high spots of it.

[1:35] Because there's just a lot of information. So in the chapters leading up to Daniel 11, God reveals that Israel will be restored.

[1:46] However, he also tells Daniel a great time of tribulation for Israel. The time predicted in Daniel 11 took place from the time Israel was allowed to go back after the seven years of captivity during the Persian Empire.

[2:03] The first part of this chapter concerns preceding the Messiah first event. It's going to cover that time period. And it's a long time period that this is going to take place.

[2:14] And remember, this is all very future because Daniel is given this thing in a vision. And there's a lot of years ahead before we get to Christ.

[2:25] But this is kind of going to cover all this period. So it's hard to get all the detail in there. The primary source of information about Daniel's predicted events that preceded the Messiah's first event, apart from Daniel himself, are recorded not in the book of Bible, but in the other books like the Maccabees and things like that, be in history books.

[2:50] So sometimes as you're reading through there, if you do read through there and see some of these things that's going on, it's not going to be in the history books, not in the Bible as far as the history.

[3:02] You're not going to see it. These are things that's going to happen that he's telling Daniel. And they are going to happen. But it's not recorded in the Bible when these things do happen and the people who are involved, except for the empires that we'll be talking about.

[3:17] So that's what's going to happen here in the book of Daniel, chapter 11. So today we'll look at the first part of this message. It is quite a long chapter, so we'll focus on some areas more than others.

[3:30] And it should be noted that when Daniel was given this prophecy, every part of it concerned the future. Today it's partly history because those things have already happened.

[3:42] You know, we're already to when Christ came and even after. So the things that happened between then and when Christ came on board is all history now. But they're still part of chapter 11 that's future.

[3:56] And of course we know that that's going to be the antichrist and the things that's going to happen at the end times. So today it's partly history and partly future. So Daniel, chapter 11, verses 1 through 4.

[4:09] Turn to the book of Daniel, chapter 11. Verses 1 through 4. Then I tell you the truth. Three more kings will appear in Persia and the fourth who will be far richer than the others.

[4:23] When he has gained power by his wealth, he will stir up everyone against the kingdom of Greece. Then a mighty king will appear who will rule with great power and do as he pleases.

[4:35] After he has appeared, his empire will be broken up and partialed out toward the four winds of heaven. It will not go to his descendants nor will have the power to be exercised or power he exercised because his empire will be uprooted and given to others.

[4:51] And I think we've covered some of this before back in previous chapters. And who are we talking about? Alexander. Alexander the Great.

[5:01] So in the early part of this revelation, the angel outlines the future history of the Medo-Persian Empire and the Grecian Empire with a particular focus on the mighty king from Greece, which is Alexander the Great.

[5:17] At the peak of his power, Alexander died at the age of 32. He conquered all kinds of countries during this time that he ruled.

[5:27] But he died at the age of 32. And his two sons were murdered, and his kingdom was divided to his four generals. And that just amounted to these generals going out.

[5:41] And before long, it just came down to where we had the north and we had the south that they're just going to be talking about. So this starts with a mighty Greek king whose kingdom will be scattered with the four winds.

[5:53] And all agree that this is Alexander when he died. Let this happen. So Daniel covers years, many years. So the kings of the north and south are not single individuals.

[6:06] It's not talking about particular kings. Although some are mentioned when you go through all that stuff in 11. But basically it's talking about not individuals, but rather rulers of the dynasties that started up from the north and from the south.

[6:22] Which means it started from the south. We're really talking about Egypt. The Potomac dynasty. And then the Seleucid dynasty headquartered in the north, which would be Syria.

[6:36] Syria. These two dynasties were hostile towards each other. And Israel was literally caught in the middle. If you look at the map, you've got Syria.

[6:47] You've got Egypt down here. And where is Israel? Right in the middle. So all the things that's going to be going on here in chapter 11 is going to have an effect on Israel.

[7:00] And all those years because they're in the middle. And when they have these battles and wars and these empires that are conquering the other empire, they're going to be right in the middle of all this.

[7:12] And there's also going to be problems for them. So this is a different portion of the chapter.

[7:24] For one verse after another, it describes how the king of the north made an attack on the king of the south. Verse that around, the king of the south gets more power. He comes back and it goes against the king of the north.

[7:36] And we're just, it's a back and forth thing. While they were not fighting, they were making treaties with the design of outsmarting each other. They even made alliances by intermarrying.

[7:48] The royal family of Egypt with the royal family of Syria. And that didn't work out. A king would send his daughter to be a wife of another king. And he would tell her while she was in the other palace to write back home and give all the secrets that she finds out there.

[8:04] So it's kind of a back and forth type thing. While it was all future prophecy, when first delivered to Daniel, it is now history covering the period 323 B.C. to 176.

[8:17] I'm going to skip these verses, the rest of the verses, from verse 5. We're going to jump all the way down to verse 21. And again, these verses in between, they're talking about the kings and the rulers of Syria and of Egypt and all the turmoil that's in between these two countries trying to take power over the other one.

[8:44] And so when we get down to verse 21 through 24, he will be succeeded.

[8:56] Now, this is one of the last people there that's doing all this fighting. He will be succeeded by a contemplable person. And we're talking about the north now. Who has not been given the honor of royalty.

[9:08] He will invade the kingdom when its people feel secure. And he will seize it through intrigue. Then an overwhelming army will be swept away before him.

[9:21] Both it and the prince of the covenant will be destroyed. After coming to an agreement with him, he will act deceitfully. And with only a few people, he will rise to power when the richest providence feels secure.

[9:34] He will invade them and will achieve what neither his fathers nor his forefathers did. And now we're going to be talking about Antiochus. And those kings that we're fighting back and forth, there's a whole list of Antiochus' family that were kings during this time.

[9:54] But now he's going to be taken over from this. And this is what's going to be happening in the next several verses. These verses introduce a person that is the biggest type of coming Antichrist.

[10:06] And we've covered that before, I believe. His name is Antiochus Ephemens. Antiochus came to power in the Caesarian branch of the Greek Empire in 175.

[10:17] And by all accounts, had quite a high opinion of himself. In fact, he even had a special name just for him. And that's Ephemens? Ephemens? I think I'm pronouncing it.

[10:29] I don't know whether I am or not. But which means God made manifest. He wanted to be God. And he'd do everything to make the people think or come to him saying, this is God.

[10:44] So we see from the verses above that he rose to the throne through intrigue, taking it through mixed forces and deception. We need to take special note of the actions of his character by the point to a coming world leader in the last days.

[11:01] And that's what he was here. So go on to verse 29 through 35. At that point in time, he will invade the south again.

[11:12] Now we're talking about Antiochus. But this time, the outcome will be different from what it was before. Ships of the western coastlands. Who do you think this might be?

[11:25] Rome. I'm sorry? Rome. Yeah, exactly. Rome. We haven't heard about Rome here while we've been studying. But unless you go back to chapter 2 when we outlined all the four empires that's going to be coming in.

[11:42] And it says that the Roman Empire will defeat the Greek Empire. And we haven't heard anything about that. And here it doesn't actually say Rome. But they are from the west. And they do come in.

[11:53] And I think this is a starting point of when Rome will start capturing and taking countries from the Greeks. And in the end, years and years later, then the Roman Empire will completely take over the Grecian Empire.

[12:10] But it will be a slow and long thing. And I think that's because the Persians had this vast amount of land that they had conquered over the years.

[12:22] And the Romans came in and they took a little bit of a time, just like they're saying here. The ships of the western coastlands will oppose him. They came in at that point. And then read on.

[12:33] He will lose heart. Then he will turn back and vent his fury against the Holy Covenant. So he was defeated there at that particular point. But he just went on back to gain control again.

[12:46] And he will return and show favor to those who forsake the Holy Covenant. And that's got to be Israel. His armed forces will rise up and desecrate the Temel fortress and abolish the daily sacrifice.

[13:04] Then they will set up the abomination that causes desolation. With flattery, he will corrupt those who have violated the covenant. But the people who know their God will firmly resist.

[13:16] Those who are wise will instruct many. Through a time, they will fall by the sword or be burned or captured or plundered. During this time, it's going to be a very rough time for those in Israel.

[13:32] But there's going to be a remnant that stays and instructs the others. When they fall, they will receive a little help. And many who are not secure will join them.

[13:44] Some of the wise will stumble so that they may be refined, purified, and made spotless until the time of the end. And it will still come at the appointed time.

[13:55] And he's talking about Israel here. And he's also talking about the fact that God has told them there's going to be bad times, tribulation for them. Although he said they will be restored.

[14:08] But it's not at this point yet. We read above about Antichrist's invasion of the South Egypt. But this time, things do not go well as Egypt is helped by Rome from the western coastlands.

[14:20] In the face of a humiliating defeat, Antiochus again turns his attention to the whipping boys. And, of course, that is the Jews. He ordered the troops to stamp out every trace of Judaism.

[14:34] And anyone found worshiping the God of Israel was put in his path. A bad time for Israel that we've already talked about in, I believe, chapter 8, 7 or 8, when we were talking about Antiochus.

[14:48] He ordered the altar decimated to Zeus to be erected in pigs who are sacrificed to the Greek gods in a Jewish temple. Just terrible things.

[14:59] This act, as that mentioned above, has the abomination of desolation that we've talked about. Now, does any of this sound familiar? It should. For it typifies the attitude of Hitler to try to wipe out the entire Jewish race.

[15:16] And it's given as a picture of the coming abomination and desolations. Everybody we see has tried to get rid of this nation of Israel. And it's just a part of their history.

[15:29] The desolation that Jesus said will shortly precede his return at the ends of the age. You see that in Matthew 24.

[15:40] Where the coming world leader will place himself in the Jewish temple, declaring worship of himself as God. And, of course, that's going to be the Antichrist. Now, verses 21 to 35 can be proven historically.

[15:54] Bible scholars and even critics agree that it's accurate and to its history. They also agree on something else. That verses 36 and 45 have not occurred yet.

[16:06] Both Christian and Jewish teachers have been convinced that there is a gap of time between verses 35 and 36. And this gap of time is the time until we get to the ends of the age and that the Antichrist will come on board.

[16:23] And that that the kingdom spoke of, verse 36 onwards, is someone yet to arise on planet Earth. Verses 36 and 37.

[16:36] The king will do as he pleases. He will exalt and magnify himself above every god and say unheard things against the god of gods.

[16:47] He will be successful until the time of wrath is completed. For what has been determined must take place. He will show no regard for the gods of his father or for the one just desired by women.

[16:59] Nor will he regard any god but will exalt himself above them all. That's what the Antichrist will be doing. The first thing we see about the coming Antichrist is that he will do whatever he pleases.

[17:13] There's nothing that's going to hold him back. And God is going to allow this. That is, he will be an absolute dictator. Now, that doesn't mean that there won't be opposition or conflict because there will be.

[17:27] Far from it. But it does mean that no one will be able to stop him. In the words of Revelation, the whole world was astonished and followed the beast. Men worshiped the dragon because he had given authority to the beast.

[17:41] And that they also worshiped the beast and asked, Who is this great beast who could make war against him? These people will fall in line. As Revelation tells us, the dragon Satan gave the beast, Antichrist, his power and his throne and great authority.

[17:59] The coming Antichrist will be completely satanically empowered. As the apostle Paul wrote in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2.

[18:11] He will be the one who's coming in accord with the activity of Satan with all power and signs and false wonders and with all the deception of wickedness.

[18:22] For those who perish because they did not receive the love of truth so also to be saved. 2 Thessalonians 2 verses 9 and 10.

[18:33] Note also that Daniel, we see like some of our politicians today, that the Antichrist will not be above buying off and rewarding those that fall into the line and to acknowledge him.

[18:45] Now I think that just kind of points out that this thing is just a continuing downfall. And it's going to be that way until these times come. And we can see it today. And all the news that we see in today is that that is happening.

[18:59] But he will continue to his end. Verse 11, 40 through 45. At the time of the end, the king of the south will engage him in battle.

[19:09] And the king of the north will storm out against him with chariots and cavalry and great fleet of ships. He will invade many countries and sweep through them like flood. He will also invade a beautiful land.

[19:21] Many countries will fall, but Edom, Moab, and the leaders of Ammon will be delivered from his hand. He will extend his power over many countries. Egypt will not escape.

[19:32] Egypt will not escape. He will gain control of the treasury of gold and silver and all the riches of Egypt with the Libyans and the Dubyans in a submission. But reports from the east and the north will alarm him.

[19:47] He will set out on a great rage to destroy and annihilate. I didn't say that right either. He will destroy many.

[19:59] He will pitch his royal tents before the sea of the beautiful holy mountain. Yet he will come to his end and no one will help him. Wow.

[20:09] What a scene. And that's going to be the end times. That's going to be the final battle. Antiochus hated and persecuted the Jews trying to destroy every trace of Judaism and worship of the true God.

[20:24] Hitler hated and persecuted the Jews and tried to destroy every trace of the Jews themselves. And in killing over six million Jews, he got one third of many. He got one third of the way to achieving his satanic goal.

[20:39] What a time that was. Yet as bad as both of these men were, they are still only glimmer, smaller glimmers of the coming world leader. Both Daniel and Jesus stated that this period of time will be involved in distress and tribulation on a scale that had never been experienced before.

[20:59] Zechariah states that during this time, two thirds of the Jews will be killed. And yet the coming world leader is only given power for a limited time.

[21:11] And that real king of the kings will return and he will set up his kingdom. And that real king of the kings will return and he will set up his kingdom.

[21:45] And now it's disappeared. Yeah. Yeah. How does that happen? Okay.

[22:08] Got it back. Okay. Okay.

[22:20] Yet as bad as both of these men were, we're going to find out that the antichrist is going to be just, we can't even describe how much time, how much worse he will be. The kings from the north and the south will eventually come against among those from the east.

[22:36] Who do you think we're talking about when we get to revelation and the final battles and stuff there that's going to happen at Armageddon?

[22:47] It talked about millions of people, doesn't it? Millions and millions that's going to be coming. The east, I believe, will be China. And some of the rivers will be dried up and they'll be able to come across and be a part of this great battle.

[23:03] And he meets his end at the battle of Armageddon. That is the antichrist. So that's just kind of a recap of chapter 12 and some of the things that's going to be going on in this long time period.

[23:18] And most of it has already been complete, but we're waiting for the last part of it. And that's the time when the antichrist will come. And there's a lot of things that's going to happen before that.

[23:29] And we don't really know the timing of this and when it's going to happen. But they will happen. Part of it has already happened in its history. So we can pretty much count on what is now prophecy is going to become fulfilled also.

[23:44] So any questions about the 11th? Then let's turn to chapter 12. This is the last chapter. The last study focuses on the prophecies concerning a coming world leader and a time in history that you'll probably don't want to be around in.

[24:01] And, of course, that's going to be the time of tribulation and the seven years. And that's because the common world leader is the antichrist.

[24:11] And as we shall see, the first verse of chapter 12, And the time is one of distress, such as has not appeared from the beginning of the nations. Of course, the other side of the coin is that it will be an amazing time that will culminate in the return of the true world leader.

[24:31] And, of course, we know that is Jesus Christ. And that is the wrapping up of all this history. So Daniel 12.1. Now at that time, Michael, the great prince who stands guard over the sons of the people, will arise and there will be a time of distress such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time.

[24:53] And at this time, your people, everyone who is found written in the book, will be rescued. Verse 12.2. And of those who sleep in the dust of the ground, who will awake, those to everlasting life, but the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt.

[25:13] Verse 3. Those who have insight will shine brightly like the brightness of the expanse of heaven, and those who lead the many into righteousness like the stars forever and forever.

[25:23] Daniel 4.2.

[25:53] So Daniel is told that the coming tribulation and the rise of the interchrist will lead to a time of unequal distress, not seen since the foundation of the world.

[26:18] Now there have been some horrific times in human history, so we shouldn't just read over this statement too quickly. It will be an unprecedented time. Nothing like this has ever happened.

[26:29] Jesus, of course, spoke about this same period, saying in Matthew 24. For then there will be a great tribulation such as not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor never will.

[26:43] Unless those days that have been cut short, no life would have been saved. But for the sake of the elect, those days will be cut short. Jeremiah also predicts that.

[26:55] Ask now and see whether a man is even in labor with child. So why do we see every man with his hands on his loins like a woman in labor? Alas, for that day is great, so that none is like it.

[27:09] And it is a time of Jacob's trouble. But he shall be saved out of it. So while the whole world would be upheaval during this time, this time of distress will even be more intensified for the nation of Israel.

[27:27] As Jeremiah says, it's going to be Jacob's trouble. Time of Jacob's trouble. And yet we find something else rather remarkable from Daniel's prophecy. Israel has a protector of the highest order.

[27:41] And of course, that is the archangel Michael. The only angel specified in scripture is assigned to protect the nation of Israel all through the time of distress or tribulation until it is unequal.

[27:54] Yet all of Daniel's people, the Jews, whose names are written in the book of life, will be delivered. Daniel is then instructed to seal the words of the scroll. This could mean that the words of this prophecy will be protected until the time of the end, when the words will become invaluable to those who are seeing the fulfillment of its words.

[28:17] And this is the great thing about prophecy. Look how long ago that's been. And he said, seal up the words of this prophecy. At some time, this is all going to make sense.

[28:30] 12.5 Then I, Daniel, looked and behold, two others were standing, one on the bank of the river and one on the other bank of the river.

[28:42] One said to the man dressed in linen, who was above the waters of the rivers, how long will it be until the end of these wonders? And I heard the man dressed in linen, who was above the waters.

[28:53] He raised his right hand and his left toward heaven and swore by him, who lives forever, that it would be for a time and times and a half a time. And as soon as they finish shattering the power of the holy people, all these events will be complete.

[29:11] Here we see him given the time span of this time, which is your seven years of tribulation and then the last three and a half years. So it is part of the vision. Daniel again sees a man clothed in linen, which this man is likely to have been Jesus Christ.

[29:28] Another asks a man in linen how long it will be, and he says at a time, this time of unveiled distress. He will answer, Jesus, not only give us the exact time frame for this period of tribulation, but also the key requirement that must occur before the end can come.

[29:47] The length of the spirit is said to be a time, times and a half. It is a reference to the last three years, of course, of Daniel's 70 years. But also at that key requirement of this time is the end, when power of the holy people is shattered.

[30:05] What is he talking about here? The mighty, proud nation of Israel must be brought to its knees, and that's exactly what's going to happen in the tribulation.

[30:15] The things that's going to go on there. Resilient, that mighty, proud, resilient nation of Israel must be brought to its knees. They must be brought to a place where they will acknowledge their offenses in rejecting Jesus as their Messiah, and cry out for him to return.

[30:34] Daniel 12, 8. As for me, I heard that but could not understand, so I said, my Lord, what will be the outcome of these events? He said, 12, 9.

[30:46] He said, Go your way, Daniel, for these words are concealed and sealed up until the end of time. Many will be purged, purified, and refined, but the wicked will act wickedly, and none of the wicked will understand, but those who have insight will understand.

[31:03] From the time that the regular sacrifice is abolished and the abomination of desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 days. Now we're talking about the time the Antichrist comes in and desecrates the Holy Temple and the things that will happen after that.

[31:19] However, blessed is he who keeps waiting and detains to the 1,335 days. Now Daniel doesn't fully understand what he is being told, but he doesn't matter.

[31:33] These prophecies are for the time of the end, and those that are wise and live at that time will understand. There are several interpretations of this statement. One is that to shut up and seal means to keep the book secret for all these years.

[31:49] It's hard to reconcile this interpretation with the fact that the contents of the book of Daniel are not secret. They're in our Bible. We can study them. So this is not something like that.

[32:01] So did Daniel disobey God? A good interpretation is that Daniel was to share the vision with others as is with what he knew at that time.

[32:13] He wasn't to go a great lengths to share the interpretations with others because it wasn't time to do so. As time passed and events unfolded, things would become clearer according to God's timing.

[32:25] Are we at this place now? Well, it kind of seems so. For one thing we say, we're closer than we've ever been.

[32:36] That's really about the only truth statement you can make. We are closer than we've ever been. But my goodness, there's so many signs that's coming on right now that it just kind of points that way.

[32:49] Who knows? Today the scriptures have been opened in such a way that we can now fit it all together. But it wasn't until the late 1800s.

[33:01] All of a sudden, just a few sprinklings of Bible scholars were getting the idea that the Jew would eventually go back to his homeland. And this is pretty much a starting of what's happening with the nation of Israel.

[33:14] There were a couple of the Jewish leaders that stated that the move to get to power that be primarily at that time in the 1800s was the Great Britain. Because they were the controllers of much of that country.

[33:27] And of course, we know that they're the ones that was the starting thing for the nation of Israel to come back in the 1948 time frame. There will be a couple of the Jewish leaders that started the move to get to powers that be, primarily Great Britain, who was the people in charge of the Middle East.

[33:46] So they were their appropriate ones to approach about establishing a homeland for these Jews. And as we see, that's exactly what happened. So in the early 1900s, some Jews started going back.

[33:58] And then in 1948, of course, they were declared a sovereign state. Since then, we have seen things happening that gives us more understanding of these things that we never had before.

[34:11] And I think this is what he's talking about. As the time gets closer, we always interpret these things and get an understanding of it. 1948 was one of these key things.

[34:24] The nation of Israel as a state of its own and all the people coming back. Wow, that is something. And a lot of it is due to technology, the information we're talking about.

[34:36] For example, we have witnessed all the wars since they came back and established a homeland. We have seen them grow into a powerful nation. We are witnesses to all the conflicts surrounding them right now.

[34:47] Worldwide TV, Internet, and unlimited information that we have today gives us an opportunity to see the things that was written in the book of Daniel and kind of see the picture of this whole thing and how it's going to happen.

[35:03] So, wow. And today, this is an information age, isn't it? I mean, you can find anything in the world you want on the Internet today. Is it accurate?

[35:16] Sometimes it may not be accurate. It's just somebody puts it out there and you've got to take it for what it's worth. And you've got to read more than just one article. But all this information out there today is available to us to be able to understand all the things that's going to happen in the end times.

[35:35] Chapter 12, 11. And from that time, the regular sacrifice is abolished and the abomination of desolation is set up. There will be 1,290 days.

[35:47] This was an amazing specific prophecy. Daniel said that from that time of the abomination of desolation, you can simply start marking off your calendar the final consummation of all things that will be happening.

[36:02] This is why Jesus pointed to Daniel's process of abomination and desolation as a sign that would mark the intimacy of this return. And we see that in Matthew 24, verse 15.

[36:14] So Daniel 12, 12. Blessed is the one who is patient and attains to the 1,335 days. Now that kind of threw something in the thing here.

[36:27] 1,335 days. Where did that come in? It's difficult to say what the relationship is between the three and a half years mentioned in many places and the 1,335 days mentioned here.

[36:41] We could say that at the end of the 1,260 days, Jesus returns. At the end of the 1,290, Jesus' government is officially installed. And at the end of the 1,335 days, the nations are judged at that point.

[36:59] Is that what it means? I can't give you an answer whether that's yes or no. That's just somebody that's coming up with possibilities. It's quite possible that this period of judgment of those that have lived through the tribulation, who have survived somehow during this Holocaust, when God's judgment will be poured out upon the earth, when they are brought to the stand before Jesus at his judgment, that this judgment of the Lord will be a 45-day period.

[37:31] I don't know if that makes sense or not. I think God can say, judge us and do it very quickly. I don't know. That's just some of the things that I've found. Whether it's actually truth or not, I guess we'll never know.

[37:46] But it does kind of make sense that this thing will just take a little bit of time. But in verse 13, So this whole time, Daniel's mind was filled with exciting and frightening prophetic thoughts.

[38:09] Perhaps it was easy for those things to become a distraction instead of a blessing to him. So the angel concluded with an important reminder. Go your way till the end.

[38:19] God had a course he wanted for Daniel to complete, and Daniel needed to remain focused on that. And that's what he did. At the end of the Gospel of John, Jesus told Peter about his destiny to die as a martyr.

[38:35] For Jesus, what did Peter do? Peter rebuked and wanted to know, well, what about John? Destiny. So he asked Jesus, what about John? And Jesus replied, it's none of your business.

[38:49] I don't know. I don't think he said it like that. But it's basically, it's none of your business, Peter. You follow me. In the same way, Daniel was to spend all his time and energy speculating and worrying about the things he couldn't know.

[39:04] Instead, he should simply obey the Word of God to go your way to the end, something we must all do. And when thinking of the last days or eternal things, we should ask, how's it?

[39:18] How it should influence how you live with your life today? So thinking about that. What type of people should we be in view of these things? John said it like this.

[39:29] Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared. But we know that when he appears, he shall be like him, because he shall see him as he is.

[39:42] And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself, and he is pure. 1 John 3.2 And Peter, when thinking of the end of the age, said it like this.

[39:54] Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God?

[40:06] 2 Peter 3.12 The Apostle Paul spent a whole chapter talking about the resurrection to come in 1 Corinthians 15. But to close with these words, therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

[40:30] So, all these things wrap up. And I think we'll close with this comment.

[40:40] We believe that this life is a rehearsal of the reality that is to come. Then our lives should reflect that. We should abound in God's work as he leads.

[40:50] We should realize that his work is not in vain, even if little or no fruit is even seen in this life. None of what is wasted to God, for he sees and records all.

[41:03] May we be like Daniel, who at a ripe age could look back and say over a fruitful life and die content that the best is still yet to come.

[41:15] And I think that's all we can hope also. We do what we can do. We try to live our life as God would have us to live. And we know that no time is wasted.

[41:27] God is with us and he will lead us. And all we can do is the best that we can do. And know that he will be coming.

[41:38] And that's how we can close out here. So, any questions about Daniel? This has been a lot. This is, I think, week 17 that we've been doing this.

[41:50] And I got one more week. We are going to do one more week. And it's not going to be the book of Daniel. It's going to be about things that Daniel was talking about. And next week I want to cover some things that would be like Ezekiel 38 and 39.

[42:05] Not in detail, but talk about the war that we're talking about there. Also, how Psalm 83 fits into all this.

[42:18] There's another piece of scripture that talks about all the nations that surround Israel and the wars. And how Israel is going to be winning those wars. And what's going to happen.

[42:28] Does that tie in Ezekiel 38 and 39? And then also, we'll do a little bit of stepping on some of the other wars and conflicts that will be going on during the book of Revelation.

[42:42] And, of course, the last would be the Battle of Armageddon. And is that the last? I don't know. That's the last, even. I mean, what happens?

[42:53] We have a thousand years of peace with Jesus Christ reigning. And he lets Satan back out. And what happens? You would think. A thousand years living with Christ, ruling us.

[43:10] How could anything go wrong? After a thousand years, generation after generation. But Satan comes back out. And, what is it, a hundred years?

[43:22] They're talking about? You know, I don't know. But anyway, what happens? The people will go just like they were before.

[43:33] And that's just astounding. And that is the last. And God says that is it. And some say that is the second Ezekiel 38 and 39 war.

[43:47] And the fact that God took care of it. There was no fighting. It wasn't this country being the captor or the captors and all this. God took care of it, just like he did in Ezekiel 38 and 39.

[44:00] So, there's a lot of things in this world that's going to happen. It's all future. And it's an amazing time that we live in. A lot of stuff that we see. A lot of information that we get.

[44:12] So, okay, anything before we close up? Okay. We'll see you next week.