Daniel chapter 10, I'm gonna read 10 and part of 11. We're gonna get into 11. Daniel's final vision, and we're gonna be talking about, after more introductory material of the chapter, we're gonna be looking at the kingdoms of the north and the south, which is talking about the area around Syria and then Egypt, and the Greeks, the Greek empires that are going to influence Israel's history. And it's extremely fascinating and extremely accurate prophecy. But I'll read 10 and part of 11. In the third year of Cyrus, king of Persia, a thing was revealed unto Daniel, whose name was called Belteshazzar. And the thing was true, but the time appointed was long, and he understood the thing and had an understanding of the vision. In those days, I, Daniel, was mourning three full weeks. I ate no pleasant bread, neither came flesh nor wine into my mouth. Neither did I anoint myself at all till the three weeks were fulfilled. And on the four and twentieth day in the first month, as I was by the side of the great river, which is the Hitticale, then I lifted up mine eyes and looked, and behold, a certain man clothed in linen, whose lines were good with fine gold of Uphaz, his body was like the burl, his face as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as lamps of fire, and his arms and his feet like in color to polished brass, and the voice of his words like the voice of a multitude. And I, Daniel, alone saw the vision, for the men who were with me saw not the vision, but a great quaking fell upon them, so that they fled to hide themselves. Therefore I was left alone and saw this great vision, and no strength remained in me, for my comeliness was turned in me, and to corruption I retained no strength. Yet I heard the voice of his words, and when I heard the voice of his words, then I was in a deep sleep on my face, and my face toward the ground. And beheld, a hand touched me, which set me upon my knees and upon the palms of my hands. And he said unto me, O Daniel, O man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak unto thee, and stand upright, for unto thee I am now sent. And when he had spoken this word to me, I stood trembling. Then he said unto me, Fear not, Daniel, for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy word was heard, and I am come for thy words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days, but lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me. And I remained there with the kings of Persia." Now here's where our text for this afternoon begins. Verse 14, Now I am able to make thee understand what shall befall the people in the latter days, for yet the vision is for many days. And when he had spoken such words unto me, I set my face toward the ground, and I became dumb. And behold, one light, the similitude of the sons of men, touched my lips, And I opened my mouth and spake and said unto him that stood before me, O my Lord, by the vision my sorrows are turned upon me, and I have retained no strength. For how can the servant of my Lord talk with this my Lord? For as for me, straightway there remained no strength in me, neither is there breath left in me. Then there came again and touched me one like the appearance of a man, and he strengthened me. And I said, O man greatly beloved, and said, O man greatly beloved, fear not, peace be unto thee. Be strong, yea, be strong. And when he had spoken unto me, I was strengthened and said, let my Lord speak, for thou hast strengthened me. Then he said, knowest thou wherefore I came unto thee? And I will turn to fight with the prince of Persia, and when I am gone forth low, the prince of Grecia shall come. But I will show you that which is noted in the scripture of truth. And there is none that be that holdeth with me and these things with Michael, your prince, verse 11. And I, in the first year of Darius to me, even I stood to confirm and strengthen him. Okay, that belongs to the previous chapter. Now a new thought, verse two. And now, while I show thee the truth, behold, there shall stand yet three kings in Persia, and the fourth shall be far richer than they. And by his strength, through his riches, he shall stir up against the realm of Grecia. And a mighty king shall stand up that shall rule with great dominion and do according to his will, Alexander the Great. And when he shall stand up, his kingdom shall be broken. and shall be divided toward the four winds of heaven, not to his posterity, nor according to his dominion, which he ruled. For his kingdom shall be plucked up, even for others besides those." His sons were murdered, and generals took positions of power. And the king of the south shall be strong. Ptolemaes. And one of his princes, and he shall be strong above him and have dominion. His dominion shall be a great dominion. And at the end of the years, they shall join themselves together. For the king's daughter of the south shall come to the king of the north to make an agreement. But she shall not retain the power of the arm, neither shall he stand, nor his arm. But she shall be given up, and he that brought her, and he that beget her, and he that strengthened her in these times. But out of a branch of roots shall one stand up in his estate, which shall come with an army, and shall enter into the fortress of the king of the north, and shall deal against them and shall prevail. And shall also carry away captives into Egypt, their gods and their princes, and with their precious vessels of silver and gold, and he shall continue more years than the king of the north. So shall the king of the south come into his kingdom and shall return into his own land." And we'll stop there. talking about the struggle between the kingdom of the North and the kingdom of the South, the Seleucids and the Ptolemies. So we ended last time talking about the role of the evil angels and their influence on pagan governments. Given this teaching, we should not be surprised that when Daniel prayed for the victory of God's kingdom in history, and that God would work a great work through his covenant people, that Satan would seek to interfere with the answer to that prayer. Satan wants his kingdom. He doesn't want the kingdom of the Messiah to come. He doesn't want the kingdom of God. He doesn't want victory for the saints of God. He's opposed to them. He wants to stamp them out. If the divine messenger is the pre-incarnate Christ, then people object, saying, how could a powerful demon delay the all-powerful Son of God? Therefore, many commentators believe that the messenger is Gabriel and not the divine son. One of the commentators I wrote said he's changed his mind about this over the past 40 years or so about four times. He says he can't make up his mind. Michael the archangel must come and assist him. Some commentators believe that Michael represents Christ, for example, John Gill, but in Jude 9 he is called Michael the archangel. He could be the same archangel that announces the descent of Christ at the second coming with a loud shout, 1 Thessalonians 4.16. His role in spiritual warfare and redemptive history is important as Revelation 12.7-11 makes clear. Now listen to this. We're talking about warfare in heaven. And war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought with the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought. but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. So the great dragon was cast out, that servant of old called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world. He is cast to the earth. He was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. Then he heard a loud voice saying in heaven, now salvation and strength and the kingdom of our God and the power of his Christ have come. For the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony. And they did not love their lives to the death." If you look at the spiritual battle in verse 13, and look at the history at that time, the verse not only speaks of the delay in the answering of Daniel's petitions, but also reveals how demonic forces seek to influence history. They seek to influence events. They reject the sovereignty of God in history. They want to impose their own autonomy on history. The demonic ruler and his minions influenced some of the leaders in Persia, such as, and here's his name here, Cambyses, to oppose the Jews and stop the rebuilding of the temple. But not only was his evil plan thwarted, but Cyrus was influenced to be favorable to the Jews and to help them, even though he was not a true believer. We know he was not a true convert, because the policy that he had toward the Jews, he had toward other pagan religions. Cyrus decreed to rebuild the temple, and he kept his promise. Cyrus rejected the plan of the evil principality of Persia, and instead followed Gabriel and God. God's plan. Cyrus had been away on military campaigns and business and had left Cambyses in charge. Cambyses had listened to the evil principality over Persia and was not willing to help the Jews. He wanted to do the exact opposite. Cyrus needed help to follow the divine course he had followed. Thus the good angel had to work on Cyrus to counteract what Cambyses was doing. Gabriel, with the help of Michael, won the spiritual battle over the demon prince of Persia, and Cambyses, the second in command under Cyrus, and thus Daniel's prayers were answered. Cambyses was defeated in his design because the demonic overlord was first defeated. So think about it. Obama is put in power. Obama was put in power to punish the United States, showing that the demonic overlord has more authority over the United States because the people are wicked. What all this tells us is that although God is absolutely sovereign and controls everything that comes to pass, there's no question about that. Even in the spiritual world, he often uses secondary agencies to carry out his will. God doesn't need ministers to preach the gospel to save people. He could have done that in a different way. He chose to use the secondary agencies to spread the gospel and to have dominion over the earth. What is going on in the unseen spiritual realm is far richer and far more complicated than you and I have ever imagined. There's a whole other world out there that's in fight and battle every day that we cannot see. This teaching is in accord with verse 20. And now I have come to you, and now I must return to fight with the prince of Persia. And when I have gone forth indeed, the prince of Greece will come. The archangel is telling Daniel that after his great battles against the demonic overlord of Persia, he must engage in further battles with the demonic overlord of Greece. At the time the archangel spoke these words to Daniel, the Medo-Persian Empire had a few centuries of world dominance ahead of them. They, however, would be displaced with the rise of the great Greek empire, which will be discussed in chapter 11. We'll see in a moment the amazing quick rise of Alexander the Great, who crushed the Persians. Even though he was vastly outnumbered, his military tactics were brilliant, and he crushed them, and he burned their temples. The Jews would be under the authority of the Greek empire then, and the great archangel would fight the demonic ruler of the pagan Greeks on their behalf. Our omniscient and omnipotent God knew what was to take place in the future and had already communicated various assignments to his holy angelic armies. And these holy angelic armies knew what was going to happen and knew what their assignments were. Very interesting. We can infer from this biblical teaching that there are demonic overlords over all pagan nations and that the Roman Empire had a demonic ruler as well. Once the Jews rejected the Messiah, they rejected Christ, and had one full generation for the gathering of the elect, the true Jews, in their midst, their protection from the evil overlord of Rome was withdrawn. And they were slaughtered by the armies of Rome. Let us not forget that crucial petition in the Lord's Prayer. And this is really the way we should say it. Matthew 6.13, deliver us from the evil one. Deliver us from the evil one. And I've been reading a history of the Reformed Church in Germany, and that was the big difference between the Reformed and the Roman Catholics and the Lutherans, is they would say the evil one, where the Catholics would just say deliver us from evil. Well, the cause of the angel's coming. In verse 14, Daniel is told a specific purpose for the coming of the heavenly messenger. Now, I have come to you to make you understand what will happen to your people in the latter days, for the vision refers to many days yet to come. There's been much discussion, much disagreement about the meaning of the expression in the latter days. Dispensational scholars, argue that it must refer to the period of time immediately before the second coming of Christ. And therefore if you have a dispensational commentary, I'm Daniel and I have a few, generally at this point in the commentary, the commentary becomes absolutely useless and worthless because they're talking about the future anti-Christ and all sorts of things. Those who view this expression through its use in the New Testament see it as referring to the period from the coming of the Messiah to the second coming. In Daniel, also 228, it refers generally to the future. And since it encompasses many events before the second coming, before the first coming, it is referring to the latter events in the history of the Jews. We're going to get an overview. of history that's crucial for the Jews, at least up to Antiochus Epiphanes. The statement for the vision refers to many days yet to come, indicates that the events described would come a long time after Daniel's death. This means that we have here predictive prophecy. Predictive prophecy. And now we come to the point where Daniel is enabled to receive the revelation. Okay, this is still introductory material. We haven't actually got to prophecy yet. Despite the only touch of verse 10, Daniel again becomes prostrate. When he had spoken such words to me, I found I turned my face toward the ground and became speechless. And suddenly one having the likeness of the sons of men touched my lips. Then I opened my mouth and spake, saying to him who stood before me, my Lord, because of the vision, my sorrows has overwhelmed me and I have retained no strength. For how can this servant of my Lord talk with you, my Lord? Ask for me, no strength remains in me, nor is any breath left in me. That's verses 15 to 17. Daniel was astonished by the messenger. He was astonished by the vision. And once again falls on his face prostrate. He was so shocked he was unable to speak. I like what Calvin says here. Listen to Calvin. By becoming prostrate on the ground, he manifested his reverence. And by becoming dumb, he displayed his astonishment. A heavenly being in human form touched Daniel's lips, enabling him to speak. And this reminds us of Isaiah 6-7, where a seraph took a live coal from the altar with tongs, and he touched the prophet's mouth. In that instance, the symbolism pointed to the removal of Isaiah's sin. Even as someone as godly and devout and dedicated as Daniel would have a deep sense of sin and unworthiness in the presence of a heavenly being, a heavenly messenger. So he needed comfort. In verse 18, Daniel was touched again by one with the appearance of a man. This touch strengthened him in both body and soul. The previous touch in verse 16 restored the power of speech. And this touch completes Daniel's recovery. The supernatural touch is necessary for the prophetic gift to be exercised. And then in verse 19, the speaker greets Daniel and issues an imperative. And he said, O man greatly beloved, fear not. Peace be unto you, be strong. Yes, be strong. So when he spoke to me, I was strengthened and said, Lord, let my Lord speak for you have strengthened me. Daniel has no reason to fear, for he is beloved of the Lord. The traditional greeting of peace, traditional in the Middle East, is given. The prophet must be strong in the Lord, and this is emphasized by repetition, it's said twice, and have courage. Now being strengthened by divine grace, Daniel is ready for his mission. Here's what Calvin says. It is very useful to us to take due notice of this mental tranquility, because the prophet ought first to become a diligent scholar to enable him afterwards to discharge for us the office of a faithful teacher. Good application. In verse 20, we learn that the people of God will not only experience opposition from Persia, but also from Greece. Then verse 21 introduces a parenthetical thought. But I will tell you what is noted in the scripture of truth. No one upholds me against these except Michael, your prince. Now the book or scripture of truth refers to the decrees and purposes of God. It's not talking about a scroll of the five books of Moses and some of the prophets. The people of God will be opposed, however. This opposition cannot exceed the limits of what has been decreed by God." In other words, yeah, a lot of bad things are going to happen, Daniel. It's going to be pretty messed up. However, take comfort. God's in control. He knows what He's doing. Don't fear. Don't doubt. Don't be upset. God's in control, and this is all going to work out in the end for your good. The future is already written by God. It is totally predetermined by Him. These are great words of consolation to Daniel, who had been in mourning and fasting for the people of God. Against the demonic foes over Persia and Greece, there is no one assigned to help the speaker except Michael. And this implies that God's people will experience severe trials, but these trials are limited by God's decree. That was all introductory, almost the whole chapter. In fact, the whole chapter is introductory pretty much. Well, let's look now at the revelation of the future. We'll begin this, we'll continue this Lord willing next week. In Daniel 11.2 to 12.3, the messenger shows Daniel what is written in the scripture of truth or the book of God's decree concerning the monarchies that would be of significance to Israel. Verse 1, which says this, also in the first year of Darius the Mede, even I stood up to confirm and strengthen him. That properly belongs to the previous chapter, for the archangel is speaking about his previous accomplishment. The speaker, whether you believe it's the pre-incarnate son or Gabriel, assisted in the overthrow of Babylon by Medo-Persia. He supported Michael in his setting up Darius, which led to Cyrus, his favorable policy toward Israel. So that's a looking back, that's not part of the vision yet. In verse two, we learn that the prophecy begins with the kings of Persia. And now I will tell you the truth. Behold, three more kings will arise in Persia, and the fourth shall be far richer than them all. By his strength, through his riches, he shall stir up all against the realm of Greece. The verse begins with an allusion to God's book of truth, which are his decrees. This proves, by the way, the doctrine of predestination. Prophecy is not simply God looking down the corridors of time and telling us, you know, he can see what happens and he's telling us what he sees is going to happen. It's a lot more than that. God knows what will happen. not simply because He is not limited or affected by time, but because He sovereignly controls what comes to pass. All things that come to pass are controlled by Him. In Isaiah 45, 6-7, we read this, I am the Lord, and there is no other. I form the light and create darkness. I make peace and create calamity. I, the Lord, do all these things. The prophecy tells us that there will be four noteworthy kings after Cyrus, with the fourth causing great conflict and warfare with Greece. The four kings following Cyrus are, that are important, Cambyses, Smyrdas, who reigned only for about a year, less than a year, Darius, Hystapis, and Xerxes I, and most important is Xerxes I. Vodarius I was mighty and wealthy and made war on Greece. He cannot be the fourth king. The description of a wealthy Persian monarch who stirs up his empire against Greece fits perfectly with Xerxes. The fact that only four kings are mentioned does not mean that there will only be four kings. There are more kings after this. We know from history that many kings followed Xerxes. Prophecy is only concerned with certain things, not with every detail of the future reigns of these monarchs. The series of crushing defeats suffered by Xerxes at the hands of the Greeks meant that from the standpoint of prophecy, Greece was on the rise and Persia's end was in sight. That's what's important, the shift from Persia to Greece. The ball had been passed to the Greeks. Regarding Xerxes, the prophecy has been explicitly confirmed by history. The Greek authors tell us of his exceptional wealth. By his strength, his vast army, by the way, which consisted of over 800,000 men at least, and his riches with which he maintained and paid that vast army, he stood up all against the realm of Greece. Xerxes' expedition against Greece is famous in history. And the shameful defeat that he met with is well known. When he went out was the terror of Greece. He who went out was the terror of Greece. And his return was the scorn of Greece. And this, of course, explains why when Greece finally conquered Persia, they were so brutal and devastating, burning everything to the ground. There was an extremely famous temple in Persia one of the wonders of the ancient world, and people begged Alexander the Great not to burn it down, and he said, I don't care, and he burned it to the ground. The invasions of Greece by Darius and then by Xerxes had the effect of making the Greeks very nervous about Persia, and led in time to the Greek determination to conquer Persia. That was the most important thing to Alexander after he solidified all of Greece. and conquered, of course, the Middle East. He left the temple alone. He wanted to defeat Persia. In verses three and four, we have a description of the rise of Alexander the Great and the dividing of the Greek Empire into four kingdoms. Then a mighty king shall arise who shall rule with great dominion and do according to his will. And when he has arisen, his kingdom shall be broken up and divided toward the four winds of heaven. but not among his posterity, nor according to his dominion which he ruled. For his kingdom shall be uprooted, even for others besides these." Now, everyone agrees that this king, the one that is going to arise is Alexander the Great. Alexander, the boy king, who launched an amazing military campaign. He conquered Persia and all Asia, and he was worshiped as a god. The expression, he shall rule with great dominion, could be rendered, he shall rule a great realm. Or he shall rule a vast kingdom. He had the largest kingdom ever established up to that time. And it extended even into India and Afghanistan. He didn't know when to quit. The phrase, he will do according to his will, indicates both amazing personal success as well as an egotistical self-centeredness. The text indicates that as soon as he rises to full power, his kingdom will be split into four kingdoms. He will not be ruled by his own sons, but by others. Instead, the Four Winds of Heavens, English idiom, uses the four points of the compass, two of which, North and South, feature in the subsequent account. Between the two lay the Holy Land. That's why the Northern Kingdom and the Southern Kingdom are so crucial in prophecy, because every time they had to fight each other, they had to go through Israel. And they were fighting over Israel, in addition to other matters. The style of rule exercised by the successors of Greek, the Greek conqueror, would differ from his necessarily because in a divided empire one leader would vie with another. The expression not according to his rule indicates also that these kingdoms would be very inferior in power and glory to Alexander's kingdom. Now the prophecy was perfectly fulfilled and stands as proof of the divine inspiration and authority of the scriptures. At the death of Alexander, he came back from fighting, got sick, and died at a very young age. And I forget what it was. It was either 27 or 37, but it was a very, very young age. At the death of Alexander, the kingdom did not pass into the hands of his sons. Alexander had two sons, one named Hercules, the other Alexander. Both were assassinated so that they would not make any claims to the throne. Alexander's 12 generals divided the spoils of empire among themselves. At first, Eriduus was made king, but finally the fourfold division, already described in Daniel 8, 8 and following, emerged. And these four kingdoms were established. Thus, the great empire of Alexander literally was plucked up and broken. The four rulers were Seleucius, Ptolemy, Lysimachus and Cassander. They were all Greek generals or commanders. In verses five and six, the prophecy focuses on the rulers over Egypt, the north, and Syria, the south. Here's verses five and six. Also the king of the south shall become strong as well as one of his princes, and he shall gain power over him and have dominion. His dominion shall be a great dominion. At the end of some years, they shall join forces for the daughter of the king of the south shall go to the king of the north to make an agreement, but she shall not retain the power of her authority. And neither he nor his authority shall stand, but she shall be given up with those who brought her and with him who begot her, and with him who strengthened her in those times. So the first king to dominate the scene is the king of the south, or the Negev, the land south of Judea. The king over Egypt was Ptolemy I, who was aided by Prince Seleucius I Nicator in gaining power. Ptolemy Soter, The son of Lagos, a Macedonian, was an outstanding general under Alexander the Great. He obtained Egypt upon Alexander's death and ruled from 322 to 305 BC. The countries that first belonged to Ptolemy are Egypt, Arabia, Ethiopia, and southern Phoenicia. The kingdom of Syria, or the northern kingdom, was set up by Seleucus, also called Nicanor, the conqueror. He also was one of Alexander's commanders. This kingdom became stronger than the other kingdoms and had the greatest dominion of all. This kingdom and the kingdom of the south are only mentioned because of their fighting and intrigue. Their fighting and intrigue is going to affect Israel. And of course, after a while, the south will be ascendant. In verse 6, we learn of a coming alliance between these powers. At the end of some years, they shall join forces, for the daughter of the king of the south shall go to the king of the north to make an agreement. But she will not retain the power of her authority, and he nor his authority shall stand. But she shall be given up with those who brought her, and with him who begot her, and with him who strengthened her in those times. This describes events that took place about 70 years after Alexander's death. And the accuracy of this is so strong and so perfect, that is why liberal scholars believe this had to be written after the events. It's super accurate. The southern king, Ptolemy Philadelphus, king of Egypt, sent his daughter, Bernice, to the king of Syria in the north, whose name he was called Antiochus Theos, Antiochus God. to forge an alliance by marriage. The king of the north already had a wife named Laodice. Neither she nor the kings will retain their authority, we are told. Her marriage with Antiochus was an unhappy disaster and resulted in much intrigue, backstabbing, and mischief. Instead of producing a solid coalition, which was the goal, between the northern and southern kingdoms, It ended up causing hatred and division. Antiochus divorced Bernice, took his former wife, Laodice, again, who soon after, not trusting him after he had displaced her for another woman, poisoned him and caused his death. She also had Bernice and her son murdered. And the history says that her son was involved in that murder. And set up her own son by Antiochus to be king, who was called Seleucus Callinicus. Ptolemy, Philadelphus, died a few years after the marriage, and Antiochus Theos was killed by Leodas, so the prophecy was fulfilled perfectly. Perfectly fulfilled. In verses 7 and 8, we learn that Ptolemy, your getes, this is Ptolemy III, the one we just previously discussed was Ptolemy II, the son and successor of Ptolemy Philadelphus, will wage war with Syria. Remember, his sister was murdered, and the child was murdered. Here's what it says. But from a branch of a roots, one shall arise in his place who shall come with an army under the fortress, enter the fortress of the king of the north and deal with them and prevail. And he shall also carry their gods captive to Egypt with their princes and their precious articles of silver and gold. And he shall continue more years in the king of the north. I forgot to write this down, but his reign lasted over 40 years. He was one of the great kings of Egypt. Ptolemy III sought to avenge the murder of his sister, and thus he came up to Syria to attack Seleucus II, also called Callinicus, with a large army. Ptolemy III is known as a great military warrior, a very capable and energetic ruler. His army and tactics were far superior, and he overran most of the northern kingdom and seized the Seleucid port of Antioch. The fortress of the northern king is probably the fortified seacoast town of Seleucia near Antioch. To destroy the city was to conquer the northern king's last stronghold. Now he would have stayed, conquered the whole country, and completely taken it over, but an insurrection arose in the south and he had to return. To destroy the city was to conquer the northern kingdom's last stronghold. With the northern fortress capital laid waste, the Egyptian army returns home with great spoils. Ancient historians tell us that he brought back to Egypt statues of the Egyptian gods which had been taken away by the Persian ruler, Cambyses. He also brought many ships as well as much silver and gold. Although it is not mentioned in the text, he killed Laodice, the one who murdered his sister, Bernice. Had her put to death. I think that's the reason he sent his army up there to get revenge. It is very common for a treacherous peace to end in a bloody war. Peace when there is no peace. This thing we have going with Iran is a total farce and it will lead to war. and all we're doing is helping them have more power to cause more damage to the United States because this is judgment of God through a wicked ruler who's controlled by the demonic power of the United States. Ptolemy III could have stayed and completely conquered the Northern Kingdom but returned to Egypt to deal with an insurrection. Verse 9 refers to an attempt by Seleucus II, the King of the North, to avenge the attack on Syria. Also, the king of the north shall come to the kingdom of the king of the south, but shall return to his own land. After two years, Seleucus II, or Callinicus, regained his power. He mustered a great army, and he marched against Egypt around 240 BC. His attack was a complete disaster. His army was routed, and he returned to Syria with only a small part of his army. The rest of his army had been slaughtered. And we'll stop there. And that takes us to the next chapter, the next verse begins a new topic that is very crucial. So here we have Daniel getting a vision, telling the future of the countries. And remember, the only reason these countries are mentioned is not to fascinate their curiosity. They're mentioned to tell Israel, look, you're going to have a lot of problems. You're going to have a lot of problems in your future to deal with. Because you're going to be in between two powers that hate each other and want to destroy each other. So it's very important that Israel learns this. Let us pray. Father, we give you thanks for this history. We thank you for your vision. We thank you, of course, that we know that Christ has had total victory, and he's bound Satan, so that the gospel will reach all nations. We know that he will conquer the earth by the gospel, with the power of the Holy Spirit. We ask, Lord, that you would strengthen your church, that you would cause your church to take seriously the command to disciple the nations, that we would apply the whole Bible to all of life, that we would require even civil magistrates and judges to bow the knee to Christ your Son, and that we would not compromise with secular humanists and their demonic overlords who control them. In Jesus'