What am I supposed to do with my life? Why am I here?
• What is there to this life? Is there life after death?
NOTE: Common questions that swirl around the lives of believers and unbelievers alike.
• Who can I trust? What am I supposed to do?
• They sometimes trouble, even other times tease the lives of those who want to make a difference and live with impact!
APP: It’s always a good thing to TRUST AN UNKNOWN FUTURE TO A WELL KNOWN GOD.
• It’s in the Bible that we learn of God; of His love, His care, and His concern for every man, woman, and child.
Jer. 29.11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.
• Look at John 15.
NOTE: But living in this world sends conflicting messages
• Over again, there is a heavy, lingering question.
• “If God is a God of love, then why is there war and famine, crime and disease, drugs and death on the earth?”
• If God is who you say He is, then why does he allow these things?
TRULY, God is a God of love. But this world has rejected the Lord’s love have submitted to another one, the prince of darkness, a fallen angel we know as Satan.
John 3.19 "And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
THE BIBLE TEACHES US that Satan is the prince of this world, the god of this age.
• He’s causing all hell & havoc to run loose, the stuff we read about in our newspapers, watch on our local news!
1 Peter 5.8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
SO IT’S VITAL not to blame God for the way things are happening.
• This world has been under the authority of the enemy & is feeling the pains & effects of choices we made to reject God!
It’s ALSO IMPORTANT to be ready… putting on the full armor of God.
Eph. 6.10-13 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
NOW Daniel went to prayer in CH10. He was fasting & seeking the Lord with great spiritual intensity.
• Some days later an angel comes on the scene with the answer.
• The prayer was heard the first day, but the Prince of Persia, a demon held back the answer from Daniel.
• Finally, Michael came to assist and free me.
• We saw in CH10 that there is really a war in the spiritual realm.
• That sometimes answers can be delayed by demonic forces.
APP: I’m convinced that if Daniel would have given up, he would have missed out on the blessings that God had right up ahead.
Q: So why doesn’t God just wipe them out, take them out!?
• He could. And one day He will.
• But He allows us to opportunity to struggle, to grow, because there is A STRENGTH that comes to us only in the struggle!
• We’re being prepared for eternity as our inner man becomes stronger and stronger.
NOTE: It’s just like those that like to work out or run.
• They use a phrase. It’s “No pain, No Gain”
• It’s true in the spiritual realm too. stamina & strength.
• Faith & commitment are built up in the realm of struggles!
SO in CH10, Daniel is 85-90 years old, in prayer for 21 days and Gabriel comes… in CH11 we have the message he brought!
• The best way to view this section is through the lens of Daniel’s 70 weeks that we studied in CH9. The 69 weeks & 1 week.
• 69 weeks fulfilled, and we await the fulfillment of that last week in the prophetic time clock with Israel in the future.
• Verses 1-35 have already happened in the 69 weeks of Daniel.
• Verses 36-45 will occur in that last period of 7 years.
I. (11:1-35) BATTLES: Looking Back.
1. (1-2) Persia
a. Remember that Daniel was in Babylon for 70 years and now at this point, the Babylonians have been overthrown.
b. The Medes/Persians are in power, Darius king (lion’s den)
c. The angel speaks of 3 more kings to come and the 4th will come and stir up trouble with Greece!
d. That 4th king we know from history was Xerxes. His wealth was unbelievable. He was determined to wipe out Greece!
e. For 4 years he built an army of over 2.5 million!
f. He marched North and battled the Greeks and won.
g. Yet in that victory, his army was weakened along with his strength… Greece eventually rose up in great power!
2. (3-4) Greece.
a. This is Alexander the Great. By the time he was 22 he ruled the world. We’ve seen this in previous studies.
b. Notice too again, his kingdom will be divided into 4.
CASSANDER took over all Macedonia & Greece.
LYSIMACUS took over Asia Minor & Thrace.
SELEUCUS took over Syria & Babylonia
PTOLEMY took Egypt, Israel, and island of Cyprus.
c. It’s so incredibly detailed and accurate.
NOTE: I know people sometimes scoff at & mock prophecy.
• Wait a minute, that’s too detailed for me.
• It’s one thing to see general things come true but this detailed?
• Someone must have written these AFTER they happened!
REALLY, it depends on your God. How big is He?
• If your God is the God of heaven and earth, then He’s able right?
Gen. 1.1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
• God speaks history as if it already happened.
• That’s prophecy, ‘History in Advance’.
Ezekiel 12.25 "For I am the LORD. I speak, and the word which I speak will come to pass; it will no more be postponed; for in your days, O rebellious house, I will say the word and perform it," says the Lord GOD. "
• AND LOOKING BACK ON GOD’S PROMISES…
1 Kings 8.56 "Blessed be the LORD, who has given rest to His people Israel, according to all that He promised. There has not failed one word of all His good promise, which He promised through His servant Moses.
That’s why the book of Daniel is so COMFORTING to the Christian.
• It confirms our faith, warms our heart, settles our mind!
• So much has already been worked out that you cannot deny it unless a person simply dismisses it altogether at their own risk!
PROPHECY is very important. It’s a vital piece of understanding the Word and understanding the times in which we live.
• Sometimes we’ll be accused of being obsessed with prophecy.
• But over 1/4th of the Bible is prophecy.
APP: It’s really not possible to have a full understanding of the Scriptures, of the heart of God without a firm grasp on ESCHATOLOGY. -- Or the study of end times, prophecy.
• The neglect of the study of prophecy has produced all sorts of problems within the church and outside of the church.
• And so Daniel has just been an awesome study for us!
3. (5-20) Egypt & Syria.
a. NOW we have detailed prophecies of Egypt.
b. Close to 200 years of history are contained in these verses.
c. The question becomes why would God include such detailed information about Syria & Egypt. For a few reasons.
#1 – The warfare between the North & South affected Israel!
• Israel was right in the middle of it all and they survived!
• Jewish survival is miraculous! You won’t find any other group or nation that has been so dogged & hassled and dispersed and held in captivity more than the Jews… and they still survive!
• They survive as a distinct people group.
• Today Jews are returning to their homeland from all over the world, from every tribe, tongue, and nation!
• Israel today, 4.5 million surrounded by 400 million enemies!
• God is detailed in showing us His care and love for Israel!
#2 – Historical Accuracy.
• It’s giving us a historical background of someone who is a real enemy of the Jews, Antiochus Epiphanes.
#3 – We’re shown God’s track record.
• There are some 135 specific prophecies in this chapter. A lot!
• They are fulfilled to the smallest detail!
APP: And we know, if God is so detailed in the past, don’t you think he cares about the details in your life?
• What’s been hassling you? Things that have troubled you?
• The issues at work. Your concerns at home. Kids. Money. Faith!
• Guys, don’t ever be afraid to trust an unknown future into the hands of a known God! He knows and cares!
6. (21-27) Antiochus Epiphanes.
a. A lot of space is devoted to these Seleucid kings.
b. V21-27 speak of how Antiochus 4th rose to power.
c. All of this was fulfilled in that time period between the end of the Old Testament and the beginning of the NT.
d. This was Antiochus Epiphanes, we met him earlier.
7. (28-35) A vile man.
a. He swept down from the North through Israel into Egypt.
b. The Roman troops heard about him and stopped him.
c. No more. We will destroy you if you don’t stop now!
d. Well, this angered him and he want back through Jerusalem and took his anger out on the people.
The practice of circumcision, the reading of the Law, the observance of sacrifices and festivals—all these were forbidden on pain of death. Devout Jews were forced to eat swine’s flesh, to offer up ritually unclean animals and “to defile themselves with every kind of uncleanness and profanation
• He rededicated the Jewish Temple to the Greek god Zeus.
• He changed the sacrificial system and decided no more would lambs, goats, and rams be offered.
• He offered only pigs on the brass altar.
• He himself offered up the sacrifice of a pig & then took its juices and spread them throughout the Temple.
• That event has come to be known as the “Abomination of Desolation”. It’s already happened in the past.
• But it also points forward to a coming world leader who will arise in that final WEEK of Daniel, the Great Tribulation period.
II. (11:36-45) BATTLES: Looking Forward.
1. (36-38) The Coming Antichrist.
a. Between v36 & v36 we have a large gap of time.
b. Same time gap in between the 69th & 70th week of Daniel.
Romans 11.25 For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.
NOTE: The appointed time in v35, is still yet future.
• There will be a time, that is still yet future for us, that will be so bad, that no other time in history can compare.
Matthew 24.21-22 "For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. 22 "And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened.
NOTE: When the Antichrist comes on the scene, he will be embraced and received and exalted and followed!
• Everyone will think he’s the world’s savior!
• Here we get a few more ingredients to who he is.
#1 – V36 – HIS ARROGANCE.
• He’ll do according to his will, just like Satan.
• Jesus prayed, not my will but your will be done.
• Satan & the Antichrist are all about their wills not Gods!
• Read Isaiah 14.12ff (HOMEWORK?)
#2 – v36 - HIS PROSPERITY.
#3 – v37 – HIS REBELLION AGAINST RELIGION
• Many scholars believe the Antichrist will be Jewish with this phrase the “neither the God of his fathers”
#4 – v37 - HIS NO REGARD FOR THE DESIRE OF WOMEN
• Some have suggested that he will be a homosexual.
• But still the phrase ‘desire of women’ many times refers to the mother’s desires to bear the Messiah.
• So this verse is saying he doesn’t care about the Messiah.
• That’s because he thinks he IS the Messiah!
#5 – v38-39 - HIS CONFIDENCE IN MILITARY MIGHT (COLLECTIVELY)
• His multi national force will be tremendous and powerful!
#6 – v40-45 - HIS DESTRUCTION.
• As his control grows, the Arabs will push at him, the Egyptians will begin to wage war in eh middle of the Trib period.
• We don’t want this man to rule over us any more.
• Where is he ruling from? Jerusalem. Israel is caught in the middle yet again.
• The king of North from Ezekiel 38 & 39 comes down…
AND V45 – Yet none shall help him. He’s all alone.
• The battle is intense… Let’s close with Revelation 19:11-13
• Faithful and True comes riding in!
• Armies riding with him v14-16… the church! It’s over.
Our God is trustworthy. He’s precise in his predictions.
• He’s precise in his provision. He’s faithful and True.`
