Today we're actually studying together the final portion of Daniel, though Lord willing in two weeks we'll come back after Tuck is here next week, we'll come back to it the week after and I'll try to review and summarize the things that we've learned over the last few months. Daniel lived over 500 years before Jesus and when he was a teenager. The king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, invaded Jerusalem and took Daniel, along with many other young Hebrew men, as slaves to Babylon, where he tried to reprogram Daniel. And for the next 70 years, Daniel lived in Babylon. That Hebrew slave, Daniel, outlived the Babylonian empire. And he served in the court even of the Medo-Persian kings, the next empire. that took over in Babylon. Throughout his life, of course, Daniel was tried. They attempted to reprogram him and they couldn't. He ended up suffering many times for his faith, but he never stopped trusting that God was sovereign. And God sustained Daniel in many, many ways. We've learned that God sustained him with strong friends. And God sustained him with answered prayer. When Daniel and his friends would beg God, show us the vision, protect our lives in this way, God would answer their prayer. There were a few occasions throughout his life of miraculous protection. But the main way I think that God sustained Daniel's life and sustained Daniel's faith was with his word. God would reveal to Daniel over and over and over what history looked like from God's vantage point. And God revealed to Daniel so many times the rise and fall of kingdoms. the control that he had over human history, including even the worst episodes of human history and all the suffering that his people would face. Over and over, God kept saying, I know the future, I'm in control of the future, the best and the worst of the future, and I'm bringing it to my intended end. And this is what sustained Daniel through a lifetime of difficulty. We pick up today where we left off last week. We left off last week at Daniel 11.35. Daniel 11.35 is where we left off. And you might remember that what we studied in Daniel 11 up to verse 35 was that God described the future. Centuries in advance, God described what would happen to Israel as a king in the north or a dynasty in the north. That would be Syria. And a dynasty, after Alexander the Great, these two dynasties would rule. A dynasty in the south, that is in Egypt, would keep crossing over the beautiful land, that is the land of Israel, vying against each other for power. And eventually, power would settle in the north, in the Syrian kingdom, and there would come a despicable ruler in that northern kingdom known in history as Antiochus IV. Antiochus, who called himself God Manifest. Antiochus IV became the focus in chapter 11, verse 21. Just a quick review of last week. In verses 21 to 24, Antiochus was described as this despicable, contemptible king who would rise to power through lots and lots of bribery. He paid off all the officials who put him in power. especially in verses 25 to 31, Antiochus' abominable treatment of the Jews and his horrific desecration of the temple was described. That was also described in chapter eight, where we were told that it would last a season of three and a half years. Finally, in verses 32 to 35, we get a description of those who resist Antiochus, the wise who know God and resist Antiochus and all of his oppression. That three-part description of Antiochus is actually going to be repeated in what we study beginning in chapter 11, verse 36. and it's gonna go to the end of the book. If you will, that three-part movement of music sounds like this. Evil's gonna rise, and that evil's gonna become great, but fall, and believers must endure. It's gonna rise, climax, and fall. And believers must endure. We're gonna see the same kind of movement in what we study today. Verse 35 ended saying that the wise people, those are those who resist Antiochus and endure all of his persecutions, will be refined through that persecution, quote, this is verse 35, until the time of the end, for it still waits the appointed time. until the time of the end, for it still awaits the appointed time. Almost every commentator throughout history and most evangelical commentators today agree, no matter what their view of Bible prophecy, no matter what their view of what the Bible teaches about the future, pretty much everyone agrees that from that phrase, until the time of the end, for it still awaits the appointed time, that there is a shift in focus from Antiochus IV to the end times climactic leader we call Antichrist whom Antiochus IV previewed, faintly previewed. I can list at least 12 commentators from history and today, but I'm not gonna go there. They understand that Antiochus Previewed Antichrist. That same preview is in the two little horns in chapters eight and seven of Daniel. There is an intentional parallel between the two because one previews or foreshadows the other. But with that phrase in verse 35, until the time of the end, for it still awaits the appointed time, the focus shifts to the time of the end. You'll see that phrase in verse 40, at the time of the end, And then chapter 12, verse one, at that time or in that season, that time of the end, and similar phrases are gonna be used in chapter 12, verse four, chapter 12, verse nine, and the very final verse of the prophecy of Daniel. It seems that the focus shifts to the time of the end. Let's read about the time of the end. What will happen at the time of the end? Verse 36, and the king, I think this is referring to the king that was foreshadowed, deliberately foreshadowed by Antiochus. That king shall do as he wills. He shall exalt himself and magnify himself above every god and shall speak astonishing things against the god of gods. He shall prosper till the indignation is accomplished for what is decreed shall be done. He shall pay no attention to the gods of his fathers, or the one beloved by women. He shall not pay attention to any other god, for he shall magnify himself above all. He shall honor the god of fortresses instead of these, saying that war will be his god. A god whom his fathers did not know, he shall honor with gold and silver, with precious stones and costly gifts. He shall deal with the strongest fortresses, with the help of a foreign god, and those who acknowledge him, he shall load with honor, he shall make them rulers over many, and shall divide the land for a price. At the time of the end, at the time of the end, the king of the south shall attack him, but the king of the north, I think this is referring to this arrogant, blasphemous, idolatrous ruler, He shall rush upon him like a whirlwind with chariots and horsemen and with many ships. And he shall come into countries and shall overflow and pass through. And he shall come into the glorious land, a reference to Israel, and tens of thousands shall fall. But here's who will be delivered out of his hand, Edom and Moab and the main part of the Ammonites. Those are nations to Israel's east. He shall stretch out his hand against the countries and the land of Egypt shall not escape. That's to the south. He shall become ruler of the treasures of gold and of silver and all the precious things of Egypt and the Libyans and the Kushites shall follow in his train. But news from the east and the north shall alarm him, and he shall go out with great fury to destroy and to devote many to destruction. Seems like he is amassing great militaries for a great battle. Verse 45, and he shall pitch his palatial tents between the sea and the glorious holy mountain that's somewhere in Israel's western region. And then he shall come to his end with none to help him. Notice that his destruction is described in one line. Yet he shall come to his end and no one will help him. At that time, chapter 12, verse one, that is at the time of the end, shall arise Michael, the great prince who has charge over your people, He's the archangel, protector of God's 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. That's describing what's written in the book of life. Revelation picks up on this imagery numerous times. Every citizen of Jesus's kingdom is written in that book by name, and every human who will inherit eternal life in the presence of God is written in that book. Verse two, 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, they'll shine like the stars forever and ever. They'll be gloriously, brilliantly exalted and honored. But you, Daniel, Shut up the words and seal the book until the time of the end. Many shall run to and fro and knowledge shall increase. Daniel's basically told you can go ahead and be done with your writing because my revelation to you, Daniel, is done. That's basically what God says. The meaning of the last phrase, many shall run to and fro and knowledge shall increase, it's debated. Some people think it negatively refers to what 2 Timothy 3 verse 7 says, that people will be always learning but never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth. That's James Montgomery Boyce's view. It's a compelling view, but I don't take it. I think it probably means something more positively, like people, from now on Daniel, you've published your book, people are going to be studying, the running to and fro describes as it were, treading across Daniel's prophecy. People are gonna be wrestling with it, constantly, diligently studying it like we are today, letting it shape our lives until God brings all of it to pass. God says, publish it, none of it's gonna change. From now on, people are gonna need to study it and their lives will be changed by it. Verse five, then I, Daniel, looked, and behold, two others stood. He's referring to angels. One on this bank of the stream and one on that bank of the stream. And someone said to the man clothed in linen who was above the waters of the stream, how long shall it be till the end of these wonders, these remarkable events? And I heard the man clothed in linen who was above the waters of the stream. He raised his right hand and his left hand toward heaven and swore by him who lives forever that it would be for a time, times and half a time, three and a half years. And that when the shattering of the power of the holy people comes to an end, all these things would be finished. I heard but I didn't understand Then I said, oh my Lord, what shall be the outcome of these things, or when will these things come to an end? And he said, go your way, Daniel, for the words are shut up and sealed till the end of time. Many shall purify themselves and make themselves white and be refined, but the wicked shall go on acting wickedly, and none of the wicked shall understand, but those who are wise shall understand. And from the time that the regular offering is taken away and the abomination that makes desolate is set up, there shall be 1290 days. Blessed is he who waits and arrives at the 1,335 days. Three and a half years is 1,278 days, and both of these figures are very close to three and a half years, and every commentator wrestles with the distinction between the two numbers. Obviously, the one is bigger, and it's saying in verse 12, endure, because blessed are those who come through this horrific time of suffering. And then God tells old Daniel, now in his 80s, look at verse 13, but go your way till the end. And you shall rest and shall stand in your allotted place at the end of the days. What a statement. It brings tears to my eyes. God says, go your way, Daniel, till the end. You're gonna sleep. That means you're gonna die. But I guarantee you, you're going to receive every bit of your inheritance that I've planned for you. Wow. Remember that Daniel had himself endured 70 years of exile. And here in his later years, he's begging God to bring the desolations of his people to an end. But God, in these last chapters of Daniel, keeps saying to Daniel, yes, the desolations are going to come to an end, but they're gonna last a lot longer than you imagine, and they're gonna continue all the way to the end. God's plan involved suffering for God's people to the end. Here in this final portion of the book, God gives Daniel a window into the final years of history. The final years before earth would be set right. The last three and a half years before the dead would be raised and rewarded or judged. And I wanna apply the passage as we review it in four segments. They track with the four paragraphs that the ESV translates. Four lessons from this final portion of Daniel. What to know about the time of the end. The first point from verses 36 to 39, believers know that God will allow Antichrist to rise to power for a time. In that first paragraph, God describes the rise of this king whom Antiochus IV previewed. This king will be like Antiochus, but worse. In Satan-like fashion, he will act like he himself is God. It actually says that war will be his God. No wonder because our adversary, Satan, the one whose power is fueling this individual, is a murderer from the beginning. And what's so shocking about this is that God will allow him to rise and succeed for a time. When John refers to the beast in Revelation 13, he alludes like five times to Daniel 11 and 12. And when Paul in 2 Thessalonians 2 verse 4 describes the man of lawlessness, he quotes from Daniel 11, 36 to 38 from this very passage. Listen to Paul. The man of lawlessness, that man doomed to destruction, will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God's temple, proclaiming himself to be God. Compare that with Daniel. You'll see that one is referring to the other. Paul is referring to Daniel from hundreds of years earlier. I just want to step back and talk about this biblical truth. Throughout the Bible, Antichrist, that is opposition to Christ, we call it Antichrist, Antichrist is a spirit. It's a mindset. It's a mindset of Christ rebellion, hatred of Jesus, and it has pervaded individuals throughout the world in every generation. But in the last hour, that is since the time of Jesus's incarnation and death and resurrection and ascension, the Apostle John says that the spirit of Antichrist is here. It's thriving. We live in an Antichrist culture. That is, we live in a society of people who are unwilling to submit to Jesus. We live in a society that thinks rebellion against Jesus is fun and submission to Jesus is misery. That's the mindset of society from the lowest grassroots level all the way up to the highest levels of government. And it has been true since the earliest days of civilization and it's gotten worse and worse and worse. Genesis 10 describes Babel. ancient Babylon, if you will, this whole society of people who say, we don't need God. Psalm 2 says that the nations are consistently flailing at the Lord and his Messiah saying, let us cast off all of their rules, we don't need them. That is the antichrist mindset that characterizes civilization and the governments of every civilization. Revelation 17 interestingly pictures this antichrist society as a continuing regime, like a dynasty, generation after generation. And this pattern will grow increasingly worse until Jesus returns. It will manifest itself. in a single, individual ruler at the end of history whom the scriptures refer to as Antichrist. John says, you've heard it said that Antichrist is coming. He is. And Antichrist, the mindset, is here already. Antichrist, the beast, the king of Babylon, the man of lawlessness, referred to in different ways throughout different passages of scripture. Christian, you and me, like Daniel, need to know that Antichrist is coming and that this Antichrist mindset has been here and thriving and growing for centuries. The first point, know that God will allow Antichrist to rise to power for a time. Second point, in verses 40 to 45, know that God will bring Antichrist to an end. In the second paragraph, the military campaigns of this terrible king are summarized. He's gonna face enemies all around, be successful with those to the south, he'll be unsuccessful with those to the east, he'll be terrified of those to the north, but while he's destroying tens of thousands in the glorious land of Israel and setting up his palatial tent in that region, he will come to his end. I'm thinking, as I read Revelation, that this culminating military campaign that's described in these verses is probably what's being described in Revelation 16 from a different angle as the Battle of Armageddon, that Jesus will decisively bring to an end when he gloriously storms earth on horseback white with millions and millions, hundreds of millions of angels and believers accompanying him, Revelation 19. Believers, point number two is you need to know that God will bring Antichrist to an end. That's Daniel 11, verse 40 to 45. Third, know that God will raise to life all who've died. God will raise to life all who've died, some to everlasting life and some to everlasting shame. It's verses one through four of chapter 12. Daniel is told that even though the last years of history will involve unprecedented tribulation, the emphasis of verses one through four is that everyone whose name is found written in the book of life will be delivered. The great archangel Michael is the protector of the people of God, and he will arise and see to it that every believer will be safe forever. The last word of chapter 12 verse two is delivered or rescued or saved. Now how will they be saved? I think chapter 12 points to two ways that they'll be saved or they'll be rescued. The first is through resurrection after death. Daniel is assured that there is, verse three, a coming physical resurrection of the body. He says, for God's people, that is those who are wise, they'll be raised to everlasting life. The term wisdom there is used in other places of the book to describe those who know God's word, those who trust God's word, those who show it by how they resist evil in their lives, those who seek to influence others, who lead others to everlasting life. Those who are wise will be raised to everlasting life. And then they're described, their existence forever is described like stars, like fixed brilliant stars, meaning they'll experience everlasting life and everlasting honor and an everlasting inheritance. But others, according to verse three, will be raised bodily to experience everlasting contempt, that is, disgrace or being an object of revulsion. How sobering. What will be the basis of judgment on that day? Well, we know from chapter seven that the Son of Man is the one to whom the anction of days has entrusted all judgment. And Jesus, in John chapter five and in John chapter 11, describes himself as the one who will determine on that final day where people will be assigned. And Jesus does not say that, you know what, your good works better outweigh your bad. That is not the basis of the judgment. He doesn't say, there's gonna be a huge scale in heaven and God's gonna put your good works on one side and your bad works on the other and we'll see which way the scales go. That's never the way Jesus taught. But that's the way that so many Christians think, or people who think they're Christians, and that's the way so many people in our culture think about Christians. Oh, you think you just have to be good people. That's not the way Jesus taught. Obviously, Jesus wants people to be good. But the way to it is not, you know what, I need to try to be good so that I can earn heaven someday. That gets Christianity completely backwards. It is a false Christianity. Instead, Jesus says things like this in John 11. I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live. What does it mean to believe in Jesus? It means that you humble yourself and you acknowledge that he's the Lord, the Lord come to earth, that he's God become human. It means that you submit to him as Lord. It means you call on him for salvation, saying, I'm a sinner. You died in my place. Your blood has the power to wash away my sin. Please cleanse me, Lord Jesus. You alone died in my place and can give me forgiveness. It means that you submit to him. It means you call on him for salvation. It means you turn from living as your own authority in rebellion to Jesus, and you say, Lord, Savior, have me. I commit my life to you. I wanna follow you. I believe you. This is what it means to believe Jesus, and let me guarantee you that that kind of belief shapes your life. If that kind of belief doesn't shape your life, you don't have true belief. Faith without works is dead, right? Jesus said, I'm the resurrection and the life. And in making that statement, he basically said, I'm the judge who determines when people are raised whether they will inherit life everlasting or contempt everlasting. If you will lose your life, as it were, by submitting to Jesus today, you will gain your life forever. But if you refuse Jesus and you continue in the antichrist mindset into which all of us are born, you will be raised one day and experience everlasting shame. So I call you, if you've never been converted, turn today. Call on the Lord Jesus today saying, save me. cleanse me, change me. Jesus, I commit my life to you. The fourth and final point in Daniel chapter 11 and 12 in the passage we're studying today is know that God will bring all he's predicted to pass so you can die with solid confidence. God's gonna bring all he's predicted to pass, so you can die with solid confidence. The angels in this final paragraph tell Daniel that this horrible season of trouble, this time when God's people will be shattered, will be limited to three and a half years. It's very much what was described in chapter eight in this despicable reign of Antiochus IV. When Daniel asks in verse eight, how will it all finally end? Again, we have to think, Daniel's burden is that God brings the desolations of his people to an end. When is this all gonna end? God doesn't answer. Instead, God basically says, Daniel, what I've spoken, I've spoken, I'm done revealing. And according to verse 10, he just says, Just know that the coming trials are going to refine the godly in their devotion to me. And know that these trials are gonna harden the wicked in their rebellion against me, very much like the end of Revelation. And God promises rich blessing to all who endure this horrific period of three and a half years. So in the first paragraph, one of the ways that you can be delivered is resurrection after death. And another way at the end of chapter 12 is endure through the difficulty. I love that last word of Book of Daniel where he's simply told, go to sleep, Daniel, because one day you're gonna receive your inheritance. It really is this way, believers. You really can die in confidence. These words really do have that much power. God spoke them. He's gonna make good on everyone. Take him at his word and go to sleep. It's all gonna happen. You don't need to worry. I conclude with the main point. The main point of this portion of Daniel is God controls history's end, including its climactic turmoil and its arrival at everlasting justice. So believer, endure the end, no matter how hard. Christian, you can know from Daniel that God is in control of human history. He knows what every government leader's gonna do before he does it. He's planned even the worst seasons of his people's suffering, and he knows that history's gonna end with resurrection and with justice. Christian, you can know it. Christian, you can know from Daniel and from the prophecies in Daniel that have already been fulfilled that God limits the suffering of his people. And Christian, you can know from this passage and from many others that God has purposes, good purposes for allowing his people to experience suffering. He intends to refine us and to refine our faith like gold is refined in fire. And Christian, you can know that God, the righteous judge, will one day bring justice on earth through Jesus, and that all whose names are written in the book of life will be delivered. Everyone who's turned to Jesus will be forever safe, gloriously exalted with Christ, and happy forever. So no matter how hard life gets, Christians, endure. Blessed are those who endure. Oh God, I pray that you would be our rock through suffering. We started the service singing, Lord, my strength, my refuge, Even if the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, we won't fear. And Lord, we end the service saying, our rock, our redeemer, through every trial and tribulation, we want to cling to you. Your faithfulness is our resting place. Jesus, be exalted as we trust you in trials. Amen.