All right, thank you Dr. Tim and our praise team. Turn with me in your Bibles to the book of Daniel. We're continuing our verse by verse exposition through the book of Daniel. We have come to the final chapter, Daniel chapter 12. We'll be looking at verses one through four as we consider now Christ's sovereignty over the last days for we're coming to the end of this prophecy that began in Daniel chapter 10. So Daniel chapter 12 verses 1 through 4, hear the word of the Lord. At that time shall arise Michael, the great prince who has charge of your people. And there shall be a time of trouble such as never has been since there was a nation till that time. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone whose name shall be found written in the book. And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life and some to shame and everlasting contempt. And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above, and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever. But you, Daniel, shut up these words and seal the book until the time of the end. Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase. Amen. Let's pray. Dear Lord, we thank you once more for your word. We thank you for the wonderful, rich promises that are found in your word. We thank you for the promise here of not only Christ's sovereignty over all of history, including the end of history, Christ's second coming, and even as we have sung, Lord, we pray, Lord Jesus, come quickly. May today be the day in which we see Christ coming down, riding down the clouds of heaven. Lord, I pray now that you would take your word, minister to it among your people, we pray in Christ's name, amen. All right, so we've gotten to the last chapter here in Daniel. If you've been waiting this whole time in the book of Daniel for end time theology, we finally have arrived here in Daniel. I say this somewhat jokingly because most people, when they think of the book of Daniel, Many times, especially the second half of the Book of Daniel, most people think of the Daniel being all about the end times, the Antichrist, seven years of tribulation, and so forth. But if you've been with us the last six chapters or so, you've noticed that's not exactly the case. In fact, if you were expecting nothing but eschatology as we've been studying the Book of Daniel, then you would have been sorely disappointed. I'm looking back on Daniel chapter 7 through 12 that we've looked at so far, there's really been only a few times in which we've seen the final end times in view. For example, in Daniel chapter 7, we got the glorious vision of Christ's second coming of the Son of Man riding down the clouds of heaven. Then if you remember in Daniel chapter 7, we looked at the fourth beast. When we looked at that, argued that the best interpretation of the fourth beast was probably initially fulfilled in Rome, but most likely would go on to represent all the evil kingdoms of this world by men in between Christ's first and second comings, and that the last and final evil kingdom represented by the fourth beast would be maybe that of like an antichrist or such. But we looked at that, that was in Daniel 7. In Daniel chapter 9, we looked at the 70 weeks prophecy. If you remember that, we interpreted the final week, that 70th week of the 70 weeks, as halfway through was Christ's death. and putting it into sacrifices. And if you remember the other half of the 70th week, that final week, I mentioned that the best interpretation of that would be that we are in that final half of that last week until Christ returns at the end to bring everlasting righteousness. And even in Daniel chapter two, if you remember looking at King Nebuchadnezzar's dream, that final stone that destroyed the whole statue was that of God's kingdom and of Christ. I think that was ultimately picturing what would happen at the end of human history of Christ ushering in his kingdom and with his return. So I mentioned that because all throughout the book of Daniel there has been spots that have pointed to Christ's second coming, what will happen at the end of human history. So we've seen it here and there. However, though, most of the visions in the book of Daniel that deal with future events have not been future to us. Most of the prophecies in the book of Daniel have already been fulfilled. We've looked at that. They've already been fulfilled, especially in the time in between the Old and New Testaments. Think around 4000 BC to first century AD. But with that said, as we come here to Daniel chapter 12, this final part of this prophecy that, remember, in Daniel chapter 10, we're told it's given by this heavenly creature, most likely the pre-incarnate Christ. And the final part of this prophecy as he gives to Daniel, It is related to what the Bible would call the last days. That second half of that last 70th week of Daniel chapter 9. That time in between Christ's first and second coming. And that's the main part of this final part of this final prophecy here in Daniel is this. Christ is sovereign over even the last days, over even the end of human history as we know it. Now, if you remember, looking at Daniel chapter 10 and Daniel chapter 11, we saw how Christ was sovereign over human history and all these kingdoms of men that rose up, again, in between the two testaments. Remember Babylon and Persia and Greece and ultimately Rome. That's really what Daniel 10 and Daniel 11 were about, is just these prophecies about these kingdoms that will rise and fall, and how Christ was sovereign over all of them. But here we see it's not just Christ as sovereign over past history and past human kingdoms, but the emphasis here in this passage, I think in these first four verses, is that Christ is sovereign over all of human kingdoms from first century A.D. all the way to the very end of human history when he returns. He's in control of it all. So the plan for this afternoon is to look at this passage in four parts. First, the first three are related to three prophecies that are given at a certain time period. And we'll look at the first three verses on that. There's three different prophecies related to three different time periods. We'll look at each of them in turn. And then lastly, in verse four, we get this final concluding command the pre-incarnate Christ gives to Daniel as he ends this prophecy. So we'll look at three prophecies concerning three specific time periods, and then this closing command. All right, let's look at these three prophecies of these specific time periods. This is found in verses one through three. Let me read all these verses again, these first three, and then we'll look at the different time periods most likely being prophesied about. So Daniel chapter 12, verses one through three. In here, we have three prophecies of specific time periods. It begins by saying, at that time shall arise Michael, the great prince who has charge of your people. And then there shall be a time of trouble, such as never has been since there was a nation till that time. But at that time your people shall be delivered. Everyone whose name shall be found written in the book. And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake. Some to everlasting life and some to shame and everlasting contempt. And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above. And those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever. So here in these three verses, I think you have three different time periods being prophesied about. Each time when it mentions at that time, and there shall be a time, and then at that time, I think it's in reference to three different time periods. I want us to look at each of these. And remember, we're in Daniel, the second half of Daniel. I mean, some of these prophecies are rather difficult to interpret, and there are different interpretations out there, but I'm just gonna give you the one that I believe is best represented here. The first one, the first, The first prophecy in this final part, this first time period, is represented in verse 1, the beginning of it. It says, At that time shall arise Michael, the great prince who has charge of your people. Now, real quick, let me remind you where we ended in Daniel chapter 11, just to give you some context and a time frame. Daniel chapter 11 ended with these final two verses. It says, but news from the East and the North shall alarm him. And he shall go out with great fury to destroy and devote many to destruction. And he shall pitch his palatial tents between the sea and the glorious holy mountains. Yet he shall come to his end with none to help him. It ended with those final two verses about this specific leader in Rome. Who remembers what we thought would be the best interpretation of those final two verses? Who fulfilled it? Who remembers? Oh, that's a while back. King Herod. Remember, we looked at those final two verses and looked like King Herod probably is the best fulfillment of that. If you look back on Daniel, in Daniel chapter 11, verses 36 through 45, that whole section, I argue, is in reference to the coming Roman empire and its reign. specifically from 60s BC to 4 AD. We picked out 4 AD because that is the death of King Herod. Think of King Herod during Christ's birth. It's that King Herod that I think was being prophesied about. For he was a puppet king of Rome that was set over Israel to be the king of Israel. So if we take that interpretation, Daniel chapter 11 ended with 4 A.D., ended with King Herod the Great and his death. And this is where Daniel chapter 12 begins saying, At that time, meaning the first century A.D., during the reign of the Roman Empire over Israel, we're told the archangel Michael arises. Now for many when they come to this verse it seems out of place for Michael to arise and then all we're told is that he takes charge of God's people and that's it. We're not told anything else. We're just told he arises, he takes charge of God's people and then not much else afterwards. Now some read this first verse in Daniel chapter 12 and they fast forward all the way to the final years of human history. But I don't think that's the case yet. We're going to get to the final years of human history in this passage, but I don't think verse one, we're getting there just yet. And the reason is because the context of Daniel 11, it still seems to be, this is the first century A.D. And also first century A.D., there's still very important events that happened in the first century A.D., specifically with redemptive history. Think of Christ's life and his death. And then another reason I think this first part of verse one is not related to the very end of times, but specifically to first century AD is because of Revelation chapter 12. Turn with me to Revelation chapter 12 that I read this afternoon for us. And probably when I read Revelation chapter 12, you're probably scratching your head at what was going on in that passage as well. I think Revelation chapter 12 can help us understand this first verse here in Daniel chapter 12. Now again, I know Revelation chapter 12 is a tough passage to interpret as well, so it may not be the wisest to interpret one. Now I can't do a full exposition of Revelation chapter 12, but I want to turn your attention to an important point of similarity between Daniel 12 and Revelation 12. Look at verses seven through 12 with me of Revelation chapter 12. It says, now war arose in heaven and Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, but he was defeated. And there is no longer any place for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world. He was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. And I heard a loud voice in heaven saying, now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come. For the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. And they have conquered him by the blood of the lamb and by the word of their testimony. For they love not their lives, even unto death. Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them. But woe to you on earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short. So hopefully you saw maybe a little bit of similarity. Revelation 12, that verse 7, begins with Michael arising out of heaven. And Daniel chapter 12, we're told about Michael arising. Now this should not surprise us in Revelation 12, we see Michael fighting Satan on behalf of God's people. We've already seen Michael fighting Satan and his henchmen in Daniel chapter nine. If you remember the end of Daniel chapter nine, we're given a sneak peek into the spiritual realm and we have Michael fighting the Prince of Persia and the Prince of Greece, which are most likely represented demonic figures and possibly even Satan himself. But then if you look at Revelation 12, it's a similar spiritual war going on in the spiritual realm. But look at the time frame here in Revelation chapter 12. Even though I know there's different interpretations when it comes to Revelation chapter 12 as well, but I don't think what's being mentioned here in Revelation chapter 12 is about the battle in heaven before the fall. Some believe that to be the case in Revelation chapter 12, but I don't think that's the case. And I don't think it's describing the very end of human history either. But instead, the context of Revelation chapter 12 is a context surrounding the birth, life, death, and ascension of the Lord Jesus. It describes that now the salvation and power of the kingdom of Christ has come, which specifically came through the life and death of the Lord Jesus. That when Christ died on the cross, when Christ died on the cross, the spiritual realm was never to be the same again. Right? We know when Christ died on the cross, that was a huge deal. It's a huge deal for us in redemptive history. But not only that, but it was a huge deal in the spiritual realm for Christ had conquered sin and Satan gave him the death blow, you could say. And I think that's the language of Revelation chapter 12. Even right before it, it talks about the birth of the child that would rule all the nations in verses one through six of Revelation chapter 12. But I think that's what it means when it says Satan is thrown down, him and his henchmen, and that their power is limited and their power is, their time is short. This is upon Christ's death on the cross. So I know that was a lie, but if you take that context possibly and go back to Daniel chapter 12 verse one, I think this Michael rising up is a reference to spiritual warfare and specifically behind the scenes of Christ's death. And then at that time shall arise Michael, the great prince who has charge of your people. I think that's typically still in first century A.D. It's specifically in reference to Christ's death and later his ascension. And then Michael takes the charge of God's people afterwards. All right, let's now move to the second part, the second prophecy, the second time period mentioned here in this passage. And it's the next part of verse 12. It says, and then there shall be a time of trouble. So now another time. There shall be a time of trouble. Such has never been, never has been since there was a nation till that time. So here it says, this is a time of trouble. And I think what this next time period that's being prophesied about, I think what it is representing is actually the time period in between Christ's ascension and Christ's second coming. So think of like 30 AD all the way to Christ's return. It's this time since Satan was thrown down from heaven and his time is short. He's here on earth roaring like a lion seeking to steal, kill, and destroy. It is a time of trouble. If you go back to Revelation chapter 12, the woman at the beginning of Revelation chapter 12 seems to represent Mary when she brings forth the child who So if you look at the book of Daniel, I think at this part of the book of Daniel is the prophecy in which we are in right now. The time where there will be a time of trouble such as never has been since there was a nation till that time. We are in a time of trouble, a time of tribulation, a time of being in the wilderness for we're not home church. You know, even the song we just sang, we're almost home, but we're not home yet. And it's during this time great atrocities happen to God's people. What's most likely predicted in this time is possibly AD 70, 70 AD, when the temple is destroyed. That could be what's being referenced as such as never has been since there was a nation till that time. We're looking at the destruction of the temple in 70 AD. That could be, but I think that's just one of the parts of this whole time of tribulation, from Christ's ascension all the way to his second coming, that we are in a time of trouble and in a time of wilderness. And then that brings us to the third and final prophecy. You could say the final part to the final prophecy in Daniel. And that is of Christ's second coming, the end of the time of trouble. And this is at the end of verse one all the way through verse three. It says, but at that time, your people shall be delivered. Everyone whose name shall be found written in the book. And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life and some to shame and everlasting contempt. And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above. And those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever. So here we have this beautiful promise that after this time of trouble, it will come to an end when Christ comes back to deliver us as his people. Now look at the language of these verses. This has to be in reference to Christ's second coming. It says, for at that time, and let's say, Lord, let's say Christ returned today. Well, all of God's people who are still alive across the whole world, the elect across the whole world, he will gather them all to be with him. We're told this later in the Lord Jesus' Olivet Discourse, that this is what will happen. God will collect all of his people, gather them all, save them all, all whose names are written in the book of life. So we have that, but this passage goes even further. Who's seen old churches with cemeteries? Now, I know when I was a kid, I thought, man, that is weird. You know, it's so sober. You know, it's so somber to walk and see, you know, grave plots and going to church. I mean, is that really a good way to do it? But as I've gotten older, I've seen the great blessing of that. So if there's a church building that has a cemetery plot that comes open, that'd be a great one to get. But the key there is it's beautiful because all the members of the church are being buried together so that when Christ returns, it'll be the church rising together when he comes back. It's a beautiful picture. But do we really believe this? Do we believe that the people who have died in the past are actually going to come back to life and be judged by the Lord and be given everlasting life or everlasting destruction? Well, hopefully you do because it will happen. This prophecy will come to fruition just like the rest of human history that was prophesied here in Daniel. I want you to think about it this way. Life here in between Christ's comings is described as a time of trouble. We live in a fallen world. Jesus even promised to us that we will We will live a life of tribulation. But he says, take heart, for I have overcome the world. Now, this is why Revelation 12 is, again, a great passage to interpret this passage. It's because we're told that though the woman flees into the wilderness, which I think she represents the church, we're told when she flees into the wilderness, it's a place that's prepared by God for her. And God nourishes her in the wilderness while Satan's trying to attack her. And it's interesting, later in Revelation chapter 12, we're told that that time in the wilderness is a time, a time, and a half a time. Kind of representing that three and a half, which has been mentioned a few times here in the book of Daniel. And if you remember, not to get too you know, too deep into some of these things. If you remember, the last half of the 70th week, I believe we're actually in, is what the Bible teaches. And the last half of a week is what? Three and a half days, right? It's a time, a time, and a half of times. And I think that's what we are in. We're currently in a time of wilderness, but in a time where God has placed us and prepared a place for us to be nourished. He has sovereignly placed us in this time of trouble. one day that trouble will come to end. You know, Revelation uses the term 1,260 days. Daniel later will use 1,290 days or 1,335 days. Those days may matter. They may be literal days that mention something, but I think those days are primarily mentioned to show it's going to be a little long, but it's going to be temporary. It's going to be a limited period of time in which you will be in this wilderness, this time of trouble. So all of this is going to happen. Christ is coming back. I think it's here where we must examine ourselves as a church. Again, do we really believe Jesus is coming back? Do we believe this promise that it would, in fact, truly happen? And going back to this morning's message, are we patiently anticipating for it to happen? Are we like Sarah? Do we have a receiving faith, a faith in which we're laying hold of this wonderful promise of Christ's return? Then look at verse 3 with me. I think this is still in reference to Christ's second coming. It says, And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above, and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever. And I love this. It says, Those who are wise and righteous. I think it's just meaning God's elect, all Christians. It says, When we are raised in the end, when Christ returns, we will shine bright in our glorified bodies. shine bright like the brightness of the sky, shine like the stars of heaven. You know, it ties into this morning's message. You know, the descendants of Abraham were to be the number of the stars of heaven. Well, Christians, one day we will shine bright like the stars in the new heavens and new earth forever and ever. Amen. What a glorious prophecy we have here at the very end of Daniel, the end of this prophecy. And just think about this prophecy that's being given to Daniel, again, most likely by the pre-incarnate Christ. This prophecy all began because Daniel, you know, 70 years of Babylonian captivity had just ended, and he was looking forward to the temple being rebuilt. So think again in the 500s BC. And what's the prophetic vision that Daniel gets when he's thinking about the temple being rebuilt and the Babylonian captivity ending? The pre-incarnate Christ comes to him and he gives him a vision of all of human history. I mean, that's Daniel chapter 10 to Daniel chapter 12 verse 4. What Daniel is receiving here is a snapshot of all of human history from his day of the ending of the Babylonian captivity all the way to the Son of Man riding on the clouds. I mean, what a vision, what a prophecy Daniel received. Daniel saw it all. He literally had all of human history flash before his eyes in this prophecy given to him. And the whole prophecy had one thing in common, each of the different prophecies within this major prophecy. Yes, there were different nations and kings. There was all these different beasts and different people and different times. But the emphasis throughout all of these prophecies has been what? Christ's sovereignty. Christ is sovereign over Babylon. Christ is sovereign over Persia. Christ is sovereign over Greece. He's sovereign over Rome. And guess what? He's sovereign over the last days. He's sovereign over, you know, the New Testament describes the last days as from Christ's ascension all the way to his second coming. If you want to know, that's the technical term for last days we have in the New Testament. The Apostle Paul said he lived in the time of the last days. So all of the last days Christ is sovereign over. From his ascension all the way to his second coming, he's sovereign over this time period just like he was sovereign over all the past time periods as well. Christ has sovereignly mapped out all of human history all the way to the very end, and he is going to come back at that time and fulfill it all. So after these final three prophecies of those three certain time periods, we have this final command given to Daniel in verse four. He says this after he tells them all of human history, from 500 BC all the way to his second coming, he says this. But you, Daniel, you shut up the words and you seal the book until the time of the end. Many shall run to and fro and knowledge shall increase." What is Daniel to do with this final prophecy given to him by the pre-incarnate Christ of all of human history? He says, shut it up and seal those words until the time of the end. For Christ says, time will go on. Many will go to and fro. Many will gain knowledge. Many will begin understanding these prophecies. They'll see them being fulfilled. But if you take a step back and you think about what is this scroll, this scroll that's sealed up, that's given to Daniel, I think it represents basically the timeline of all of human history. And it's sealed by God himself. He puts his seal on it, for only he can determine how and who is to open this sealed scroll. Now, Daniel is given a glimpse of this scroll. He's not given authority over it, authority to break its seal, like it's going to happen at the end of time, which means Daniel's not going to be there. But we know who's going to break this sealed scroll, don't we? Who's it going to be? All right. Oh, not Satan. About opposite. Who's it going to be? Jesus. It's going to be Christ who's going to open this sealed scroll. Remember Daniel and Revelation, they help interpret one another. Revelation chapter 5, we're told that this sealed scroll, John gets this vision in heaven where there's this sealed scroll and no one in heaven can open it. No one. It leads John to weeping. It says, no one's worthy to open this sealed scroll. Even in heaven, no one's worthy. You probably know the passage. One of the elders in heaven said to John, weep no more. Behold, the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has conquered so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals. Amen. And then in heaven, they sang a new song to the Lord Jesus. They said, worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals. For you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed the people for God. From every tribe and language and people and nation, you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth. The Lord Jesus is the one who's the only one who can open the sealed scrolls. And the reason he's the only one that can open it is because he's the one who sealed them in the first place. He's the one. He's the only one who has authority over it. Again, what was this scroll? The sealed scroll is simply the divinely ordained timeline of all of human history. All of it. And when Christ breaks the scroll, it's basically saying, I alone. have sovereignty over all time and all human history, of all the events. Napoleon doesn't have that ability. Alexander the Great, kings of Persia, kings of Greece, kings of Rome, whoever the next US president, all those people, whoever you think are the most powerful people, they can't break this scroll. They are not sovereign over all of human history. They're not even sovereign over their own little lives and their own little nations and kingdoms. But Christ alone is sovereign over all. That's why he's the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end from A to Z, because he's sovereign over all of human history from before the foundation of the world to the eternity future. He alone is worthy. for he's sovereign over all of human history. He has all power, but even in Revelation 5, the real emphasis of Christ's worthiness, and I love this, the real emphasis of his worthiness is not just his power and sovereignty, but it's his bloodshed, that he shed his blood for his people, that he's, the lamb is worthy. The lamb who was slain is the only one who is worthy. So worthy is the lamb. Amen. If you think of this prophecy, this is the pre-incarnate Christ giving this prophecy to Daniel. He's telling him, shut it and seal it. Save it for the end. And that's when Christ will come and open it, the sovereign one. Amen. Let's close in prayer.