Please open your Bibles to the Book of Daniel.
We are now in Chapter 11. We noted from Daniel 10 that the Lord spoke to Daniel. The Lord was likely the Lord Jesus Christ Himself who continued to tell Daniel about the future in Chapters 11-12. To help us understand what Daniel 11 is talking about, read along with me first Daniel 12:1-4….
The story in Daniel 11 ends with the judgment of the living and the dead.
Daniel of course was called by God to speak for Him. The Hebrews became slaves to the Babylonians because of their sinfulness. God then allowed the Babylonians to be overthrown by the Medes and the Persians who freed the Hebrews to return to Palestine. God then allowed Alexander the Great to take over the Medes and the Persians and the Greek Empire ruled the world. When Alexander the Great died, 4 Generals divided the Greek Empire and the Roman Empire rose from one of these small empires.
God speaks to Daniel about the future; a future beyond Daniel’s lifetime. God actually speaks about our future at the end of Daniel. Read along with me now Daniel 11.…..
We can note from Daniel 11:1-2 the change of power from the Babylonians, to the Medes, then to the Persians.
In verses 3-5, we note the power of Alexander the Great then the division of the Greek Empire through 4 leaders.
Now, there is much information in verse 6 to the end of Daniel 11 isn’t there? We can spend hours deciphering these verses. As a matter of fact, if you do a search in the Internet, you will find many discussions and history associated with Daniel 11. Here’s one summary you’ll find (show slide).....
You have probably noted by now, that in the messages I preach, I try to bring practical Christian living not just a scholarly look at Scriptures. Of course it’s good to have facts and information; but what good are facts and information if they don’t impact on how we are to live! And so, I will leave for your personal Bible study the historical details of Daniel 11 and talk about the practical applications.
There are a few main points I’d like to get across based on Daniel 11.
Let’s again note that the future that God talked about in Daniel 11 is about the future after Daniel’s death!
As we had noted earlier, the Book of Daniel ends with a description of the end of the world as we know it.
By the way, have you heard that the world will end sometime this year or next? How many of you have seen the movie “2012”?
Now, something catastrophic may happen in the year 2012, but according to God’s Word, there will much more to happen before the end of the world; for example, we have talked about this, the Temple in Jerusalem will have to be rebuilt first before the end of the world; and it will take more than a year to rebuild that Temple!
You may also have heard that the Second Coming of Jesus Christ will happen this Saturday, May 21st!! According to Harold Camping, he has mathematically calculated from the Bible that Jesus Christ will take away the Christians on May 21 and the world will end on October 21, 2011. Is Harold Camping right?
The Rapture, the taking away of Christians to heaven may come on May 21; BUT, the Rapture can also come today! You see, according to the Bible, there are no more events to happen for Jesus Christ to Rapture Christians; Jesus Christ can come right now to take Christians to heaven.
Is Harold Camping right in calculating the end of the world to happen this year? Camping says he is for sure right, this time! You see, Camping predicted the same thing would happen in 1994! And even though Harold Camping is still on this earth, he will not admit that he can not really predict the date of Christ’s return to earth. You see, when Jesus Himself was asked when He would return to earth, He said, “Only God the Father knows the date and the hour!”
Be careful of people who go ahead of Jesus Christ!
Trust the Bible and Jesus Christ, not man!
We need to listen to God and,
what He said to Daniel leads to what our future will be!
Secondly, how specific was God in the events to happen in the future??
God told Daniel in detail what would happen in the future! Now, Daniel didn’t live to see the reality of what God said to him. Again, to whom was Daniel 11-12 written for??
Daniel 11-12 was written for people after Daniel and for those living close to the end of the world! The Book of Daniel was written for us today! And since God wrote with precision and detail, what can we say about God??
God sees everything, every event in the world, and every detail of our lives, to the end! How will you respond to this God? Do you acknowledge often that God does see everything?
And since God wrote for people living today and God wrote with accuracy and detail, how should we be treating the Bible??
Let us follow what Jesus said in Matthew 4:4, “Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” How much Bible do we take in every day?
As we quiet our hearts for a moment and pray to God,
let us ponder on 2 major things:
1. Am I totally secured in my future as this world ends?
Jesus said in John 10:27-28 “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.” Note the key words in this passage: True sheep listen and follow Jesus Christ!
And how do we handle the troubles of today? Just recently we have seen and heard the troubles in Japan, continued troubles in the Mideast, earthquake in Spain, tornadoes and flooding in the South; last week we heard of child killing by a Florida mother, obscene rantings in the State Capitol, an ax killing by a teenage grandson, gas prices are at all time highs, troubles in shopping malls, many cases of crime, and so on and so on. Does God see all of these troubles? – Absolutely!
Does God see our personal troubles?
Perhaps you are dealing with some personal troubles right now. Will you write them down; then
2. know and trust by faith that God knows all the details of your life!
Humble yourself before God. Ask God for help, in the Name of Jesus Christ, all for His glory, a glory which God invites us to experience.
Take a moment to pray…..
