Passage: Daniel 11:2-20
Intro: No wonder Daniel was sick for three weeks when he saw this vision!
1. here he was, eager to see his nation of Israel restored to God’s favor.
2. instead, this vision presents them as a battleground between two warring empires, then the victims of terrible persecution.
3. what they had to go through to get to chapter 12 was terrifying, sickening. (Daniel 10:2-3)
4. yet here is the grace of God, to reveal these things to Daniel, and to us, hundreds and even thousands of years earlier.
5. according to v1, vision came in 536 B.C., book probably written in 530 B.C.
6. events predicted in vv 2-20 began in 530 B.C., went to around 175 B.C.
7. we are going to sit in awe at the amazing predictive power of God, (but not amazing to Him)
8. and we are going to see how this impacts our view of the past and present world, and the time we call the future.
9. because God gave us this chapter, this book, so we would trust in Him and live lives of faithful obedience.
PP Daniel 10:19
I. God’s Amazing Accuracy.
1. we are going to fly over 365 years of Middle Eastern history.
2. remember as we go, this was all given to Daniel, and to us, by our gracious God, for our encouragement
3. so it is more than a history lesson; it has great value in the spiritual realm.
4. (go through the slides and point out the amazing accuracy of God.
5. so what can we conclude; what can we gain from this history lesson to prepare us for our own future, which is spoken of from here to the end of Daniel?
II. Humans Will Always Exhibit, to Some Degree, the Character of Their King
1. look at the character exhibited by these two kingdoms, empires.
2. “deceitful”…I really love this verse in next weeks passage:
PP Daniel 11:27
3. in our passage, sending daughters to marry kings in order to gain a political advantage.
4. “destructive”…thousands die, cities ruined.
5. “selfish”…I want what I want when I want it”
6. “power-hungry”…must be ruler over more and more, not content.
7. “murderous”…political intrigue, revenge, hatred, and murder of thousands of bystanders.
8. look at the history of the world, countries like Russia, Germany, Mongolia, China, Japan, Spain, Babylon, Rome…
9. the nations that are kind and generous and respectful of their neighbors are rare.
10. but even then, do you know how much of our U.S. budget we spend on foreign, humanitarian aid to other countries?
PP) chart of U.S. Government budget
11. as long as humans are in charge, we will exhibit the character of our ruler, Satan
12. and in that, God will put a country like the U.S. in there out of common grace, but that might well fade into isolationism or just good old fashioned immorality.
III. Because of Sin, Man Can Only Make Matters Worse.
1. we try, but everything that comes from us is tainted, hopeless.
2. as much as the secular humanists want to believe that “no diety will save us, we must save ourselves,” there is a problem.
PP Old Pogo cartoon, “We have met the enemy, and he is us.”
3. kingdoms rise, kingdoms fall, and no kingdom has ever achieved a permanent “solution” in thousands of years of history
4. because we are the problem, and thence cannot be the solution.
5. then what is?
IV. God Must Be the Solution
1. unrighteousness is the problem, so the solution must be righteousness.
Il) Einstein said, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.”
2. graciously, God has told us the end, so we can do two things.
3. we can be strong and courageous, as God continuously tells us to be
PP John 16:32-33
4. and then secondly, we can align ourselves with the plan and purpose of God, and not the “sure-to-fail” plans of men.
5. the things that God told Daniel happened exactly as He said.
6. the things that are still in the future will happen exactly as He has said.
7. so fearlessly stand with God, no matter what!
