Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. This is the Lamp and Light broadcast coming to you from Central Baptist Church in beautiful Ocala, FL. Lamp and Light is a ministry that takes a book of the Bible, verse by verse, teaching it as it is, to men as they are, without compromise or apology, while at the same time speaking the truth in love. giving the lamp and light to all. Yesterday in our study of Daniel chapter 12, we were talking about how amazing it is that as the speed of man's knowledge doubles, the knowledge of God seems to be decreasing. Let's continue with that thought today. And now, here is our teacher and radio pastor, Dr. Andy Bloom. The verb used, the word run, means to move quickly, to run to and fro. And every time it's used in the Old Testament, it refers to the movement of one body. So it's hard to accept that suddenly there's a change in the use of this verb to only spiritualize it now and say it refers to running to and fro through the Bible. Especially I find it a problem when I read Amos chapter 8. verses 11 and 12, because there it says, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord. They shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east. They shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find So, for those that say, well, this is an increase in the knowledge of the Bible and prophecy and so forth, it seems like Amos is saying the opposite of these days, that they'll seek it and won't get it. That's one of the reasons we have the lamp and light radio broadcast, so that people in our day can be taught the Word of God, they can tune in by radio or internet. And we ask for your continued prayers for the Lamp and Light broadcast to be able to go out and even expand to more people that they too may hear the plain and clear teaching of the Word of God. Isn't it interesting though that in the last days there, and I believe the Amos passage is talking about the tribulation that there is a famine of hearing the words of the Lord. Now, we do move quickly today through the earth. Knowledge increases. As a matter of fact, it doubles less than every two years. And the interesting thing about that is that from the beginning of time to 1750, man's knowledge doubled once. From 1750 to 1900, it doubled again. From 1900 to 1950, it doubled again. From 1950 to 1960 it doubled again and now it doubles less than every two years and maybe even more like every year now. Sealing the book does not mean that its message was to be hidden. Jews should know what was going to happen in the first 34 verses of chapter 11. The idea is to be sure that this book is secure and maintained safely. And Daniel's position in the kingdom of that day would ensure that, that this book could be preserved. The copies then could be made and circulated, and that did happen. Remember, this is not being written in Israel as most Old Testament passages were. This is in Babylon, so extra care must be taken. Now this book will still exist and be relevant even to the time of the end. Now think about that, even to the time of the end. If it's not relevant until the tribulation, why did Jesus quote? Daniel 9, 24-27. Why did he use it in his day? In Matthew 5, 17-19, Jesus said, Think not, that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets. Daniel is one of the prophets, by the way. I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot, or one tittle, shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven. But whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven." I like that. Not one tittle, he said. That's kind of like, the jot and the tittle is kind of like the dot of an I and the cross of a T. Even the dots were inspired and they are preserved. What a great God that we have and they're preserved for us today to the Masoretic text of the Old Testament and the Textus Receptus of the New Testament. Daniel helps us to better understand Revelation. Now again, I want us to defer to the late Dr. Ironside. He likens this age to a railroad train, and he said that he would ride the train often back in those days. And often he would ride what they would call an ordinary way train. The way train made local stops according to schedule. Sometimes the way train was sent to a side track while a special or express train would come by. and then it would get back on track. Well, that's a day that's gone by that many, if not most, Americans don't remember. Now, there's some in our senior set that does, but most of us, I was born in 1949 and I really didn't ride trains much, so I don't remember much about that. But in that Dr. Ironside lived before the turn of the 20th century and lived up into the 1950s, he would know that. But the idea is that Israel is the way train. And right now she's off track until the church age swoops by. But then she's going to be back on track as God once again deals with her. And I think that in Ezekiel, when you see all the bones coming together, and there's a body's laying there, but there's no breath in them, you see the sign is fulfilled today of Israel coming back into the land, but yet in unbelief. And don't forget, prophecy centers first in regards to all nations on Israel. Now a question arises in our text, but not from Daniel. Let's read verses 5 through 7 here of Daniel chapter 12. It says, Then I, Daniel, looked, and behold, there stood other two, the one on this side of the bank of the river, and the other on that side of the bank of the river. And one said to the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, How long shall it be to the end of these wonders? And I heard the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and swear by him that liveth forever, that it shall be for a time, times, and a half, when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished." Now, who are these two men that are mentioned here? Well, let me say this up front. I have to admit that this is only conjecture on my part of the many answers that could be given. And I've read different authors, and after I've read the other authors, I realize that there's only conjecture on their part as well. Now, there are three possibilities I see of these two men. First, they're two angels. And this is one of the areas, as 1 Peter chapter 1 and verse 12 states, that angels desire to look into. And so, that's why the angels ask the question here. Or, they could have asked the question for Daniel's sake, for his benefit, because the angels are there to minister to Daniel. two are present to establish the truth, since the scriptures tell us in the mouth of two or three witnesses a matter is established. So, two of them could be angels, or these two present are present to establish that this matter is a certainty and a fact. Then a third thing is, it could be Moses and Elijah. or some of the other saints of days gone by. Tribulation saints that were beheaded in Revelation 6 asked, how long until revenge? And they were given robes and told to wait. Moses and Elijah appeared to talk about Jesus' decease at Jerusalem during the Mount of Transfiguration event. And that tells us that dead saints are not inactive in their present state. And not even the angels know the day and time of the return. And so here are dead saints and others that are trying to find out when are these things going to happen. I'm just saying that often we assume these two are angels and the truth matter is scriptures don't indicate who they are. I tend to think they're angels, but we don't really know. Now, the river is the Tigris River, as mentioned in chapter 10, and it's still the same angel that is clothed in linen upon the waters. But their question is, how long shall it be to the end of these wonders? And you'll notice the angel on the water in the linens raising the hand that showed the solemnity and the importance for the oath that is about to be spoken. Now, I hope you don't miss that. And by the way, when people raise their hand during the singing of a song in church or they raise their arms singing or through the preaching, somebody likes something, they raise their hand in the air. I've had people ask me, especially in some of our Baptist churches, is that wrong? And the answer is no. But do understand. The raising of the hand. Becomes an oath before God, you see this, it's even in our court systems here in the United States, where a person is going to be a witness and they put their hand on the Bible and they raise their right hand that raising the right hand is an oath. And it is giving a promise. And so, if there's a song for an example, you like the sound of it, and you're listening, and you've got your arms raised or a hand raised, and it has false doctrine, you've just made an abominable oath. This is your radio pastor, Pastor Andy Bloom, saying, may the Word of God be a lamp unto your feet and a light unto your pathway today. We want to thank you for listening to the Lamp and Light broadcast. If you would like a CD or cassette tape of today's message by Dr. Bloom, send us your name, mailing address, the radio station by which you are listening, the date of the broadcast, and a gift of $5 to Lamp and Light Broadcast, 1714 Southeast 36th Avenue, Ocala, Florida, 34471. We also welcome your comments on the broadcast and Bible questions. Again, you may write us at the same address which is 1714 Southeast 36th Avenue, Ocala, FL 34471. You may also visit us on the web at www.centralbaptistocala.org Click to the lamp and light. Again, that web address is www.centralbaptistocla.org with no breaks. This is your announcer, Jerry Banks, saying, May God's peace be with all that are in Christ Jesus.