I think Daniel and I, we've been looking the last few weeks on books of prophecies. So I know we're going to just only cover in like an hour or less, more like 45 to 50, more like 50 minutes. So we're not going to answer every question, but I think we just have a bird's eye view of everything so that you would desire, I hope your desire is to know more of God's work, to research and study it more. So authorship. I want to talk a little bit about who Daniel was before we consider the reasons why we think it's Daniel. His name means God is my judge. I always think whenever I hear God is my judge, I think about the rapper Tupac, right? He's always, you know, only God can judge me. That's what's up. But the theology might not be fully there, but I understand what he's trying to say. Is he still alive? No, he's not alive. He didn't have to judge me. But he's actually, I think he was one of the more talented guys, and I think something you guys say is like... Anyways, that's another thing. Let's go back on with the... But his theology... We'll talk about that at the end. Yeah, we'll talk about that at the end. So Daniel's name means, God is my judge. Daniel 1.3, if you guys could open up to Daniel 1.3. I think this is a little bit revealing of who he is. Daniel 1.3. Josh, you look like you're eager beaver to read Daniel 1.3. Then the king ordered Ashkenaz, the chief of his officials, to bring some of the sons of Israel, including some of the royal family and Daniel 3 reveals the circumstance. Before the big 586 destruction of the temple, Daniel was like Ezekiel. He was one of those early young men that they started taking away, because the Babylonians didn't come right away to destroy. When you think about it today, even with wars, we try not to destroy as much as possible. But then towards the end of war, people are just so frustrated, like civil war, right? You have Germans march to the sea to destroy everything for 60 miles, pillaging and destroying everything, all the way marching down to Georgia, right? Or even with World War II, in the beginning, did they really want to bomb all of Germany? No. But then towards the end, they were just like, okay, if they don't want to surrender, we're going to firebomb the whole entire city and just destroy Dresden and that kind of thing. So same thing, the Babylonians, especially back then, they had less incentive to destroy everything. Because why? War was limitless. Because when you conquer the people, you want their resources. Does that make sense? You want them to have a viable economy. So the purpose of your war is so that you get their resources. There's no point in destroying. So the reason why they destroyed was because the Babylonians came time after time. And yet every time they did it, Israel decided to be rebellious, that kind of thing. Even though God said, probably like Jeremiah said, give it up. It's God's discipline. Please listen. Then Ezekiel, that kind of thing. So Ezekiel and Daniel, they were around roughly the same time period. But Daniel's life lived longer. And in verses 3 you saw that they were taken into exile. This would have been around 605 BC because of the dating of the king, Joachim. I know I said it on Sunday, the way I remember it, maybe it's not the most politically correct way, is how do you tell the difference between, especially the last few kings, they sound the same. Joakim, Joakin, that kind of thing. The way I remember it, I'm not dissing anyone, it's just Kin comes before Kim. During the reign of Joakim, this would have been almost towards the end. This would have taken place around 605 B.C. Daniel and all these younger men were taken away from their homes to serve in the king's court. There would have been about two decades before the destruction of the temple. But Daniel's life, he lived a very long life. This is a story when he was a very young man. He's being forced to go into a quote-unquote college. three to four years in preparation of all these knowledges, learning for what? To serve the king. To serve the king Nebuchadnezzar. Daniel would have lived, if you follow along, would have lived through the reigns of who? King Nebuchadnezzar, which is 605 to 562 BC. and his minor successor, Ivo Medurac, and all these other names I can't pronounce. And even ones that we don't even know for sure, outside history does not mention. For instance, the Darius that is mentioned in Daniel is actually, if you read some commentaries, they say, we don't know who this guy is. Is this a work of fiction? But I also think, remember, what little we know of Babylonian and Assyrian history is really a small percentage. So rather than question the Bible, is realize sometimes these kings, you look at these guys, they're being replaced quickly. That's one of the things about power. The more I read about history, the more sometimes you hear people say, if I'm in control, if you give me all the power, I'll make everyone... I'll implement socialism, right? But if you realize that in order to have that kind of power to implement socialism, that's a very dangerous thing. You don't want to have that much power. You know why? Because someone underneath you will want that same power. You might want to do what is good, but then I don't trust myself too because of my sinful nature, right? That much power, absolutely corrupt. Absolute power, absolutely corrupt. But let's just say you are that beautiful saint that obeys God and does everything right. That is not safe because why? Someone's going to knock you off. And that's why when you study the history of the Russian Revolution, you see guys that went crazy, too. Because they're afraid, like, oh, who's going to knock me off next, right? There's always a fear with that kind of power, okay? So I think in the same way, Darius, who shouldn't be totally surprised, is mentioned because very likely there have been many of this, okay? Now, there is a lot of doubt today of the book of Daniel. Most commentaries you read, even by so-called Christians sometimes, that I think are legitimate Christians, sometimes they question it. And you know what's the biggest reason why they question it, this authorship, is because they say, look at these prophecies. It's fulfilled so much to the T. How could this be real around the time of 6th century, written by Daniel? It obviously must have been written in the 1st century B.C. or 2nd century. But I think there's actually really bad reasons to believe that it's made on you. And when you think about it, that's really tough when you have that kind of presupposition. When you say, oh, okay, I don't believe the Word of God until it's something that shows it's supernatural, which is prophecy. But then once it's dated so detailed, you're like, no, it can't be. How could it be? So no matter what the presupposition rules, you can never be God's Word. Does that make sense? That's the danger of that. The time period, this is in the Neo-Babylonian Empire, right? So in our Bible, it would just be called Babylonian, but in history, because there was some time where the early Babylonians flexed their muscle and had some minor power, so that's why they called this, in our history books, Neo-Babylonian, to distinguish that time. But for the Bible, why is it called just Babylonian, or Chaldean, is because, remember, the Babylonians before weren't as strong. the earlier Babylonians. So when they finally saw the power of the Babylonians, they just started calling it Babylonians instead of Neo-Babylonians, because they're not from the perspective of Babylon, the city itself. Does that make sense? I think the same way for us to think about it is We can think about the war with Mexico, for instance. Did Mexico have other conflicts with other people? We just call it the Mexican-American War. Did Santa Ana, the general, have other conflicts with other people in California? Indigenous people? Yes. And also Texas, when it was a lone state republic? Yes. But we just call it that simply because until it affected us, we just called for what it is. Does that make sense? I think another way of thinking about it is you think about Germans, right? We think, oh, we have a war with Germany. But yeah, there's other people that had war for Germany. For Europe, World War II, this was not their first war. They could call it different things also as well. They could think, you know, the other times, oppression, you know, we call it oppression or whatever else. So same thing, distinguish your timeline. Let's go back on. The reason why it's written by Daniel, I think there's two reasons. The reason why is because there's a lot of I, me, and my. It shows Daniel is the one narrating his own experience. Turn with me to Daniel 7.15 as an example. Daniel chapter 7 verse 15. Anthony, would you be able to read Daniel chapter 7 verse 15? Sure. As for me, Daniel, my spirit was distressed within me, and the visions in my mind kept alarming me. Notice here it's speaking, notice the use of me, and then is Daniel's name specifically mentioned? So you see the pronoun me and also the possessive pronoun, my spirit, and then within me, in my mind, alarming me. So all these many ways it's revealed that it's him. Chapter 8 verses 1 gives the date of the reign of which king? But Belsusar was only for a short time because what happened that very night is his empire got overthrown by the Mede-Persians. Which we actually know from historical record, they actually sneaked in. They dried up the river bed and then they sneaked in through that. to the city, and obviously taking over. We know this from secular history as well. Verses 1, it says, you know, the king, the reign of Belshazzar, the king, a vision appeared to me, Daniel, again, right? And you'll notice the use of I, I, I, in verses 2, okay? So that's the first reason, the internal evidence within the book itself, identified. The other reason, I think the ultimate reason why I believe it is because Jesus himself says it is, okay? Now Jesus, who's all-knowing, if he says this is Daniel, then that to me settles it, okay? Turn with me real quick to Matthew 24, verse 15. Matthew 24, verse 15. When we turn to Jin, would you by chance be able to read Matthew 24, verse 15? Okay, thank you so much. By way of context, Matthew 24 is, if you know your Bible, is often called what? Scholars like to call it, or Bible commentators like to call it, the Olivet what? The Discourse, okay? This is where he's answering a lot of questions about Christ. He's answering his disciples. His disciples, if you look at verses 1, they ask three questions, right? Verse 1 and 2, they're standing at the temple, they're looking at it, and then Jesus says, hey, you know, don't marvel at these things, these things will be basically turned upside down. And in verses 3, these questions, they tell us, Ask, A, tell us when will the temple be destroyed, number one. Number two is, when will be the sign of your second coming? And number three is, A, when is the end of the age? So remember, he's answering these three questions. And part of it, will the temple be destroyed? Yes, he talks about that. And part of that discussion, if you notice again in verses 15, the word ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION, is that all in caps for your Bible version? Some of your versions might be all in caps, that's to signal that there's a quotation from the Old Testament. What version are you using, Jim? ESV. Oh, okay. But then it does have a little letter that leads to other... Oh, okay, I see. I need to read the ESV more. That's actually my project to finish the ESV. I've been trying to finish the ESV. When I was in seminary 10 years ago, my fifth professor, who was actually one of the translators for ESV, the Old Testament, he just told us to wait 10 years. Because sometimes the translations come out, no matter how hard they work, they have to wait until other scholars say, hey, you can improve here, that kind of thing. They usually have a little bit of an update afterward. And that's coming from the man who's translating. I remember TMS one time said our faculty knows 40 languages. And I found out 30 languages is one guy, Dr. Derek. He was a Bible translator in Asia for many years. Let's go back on. So Matthew 24, 15. And notice it quoting the Old Testament from the book of Daniel, because the phrase, abomination of desolation, first appeared in the book of Daniel. And it says here, right, spoken through Daniel the prophet, saying about how the temple will be desecrated one day. So that's the second reason why I believe. Let's go on now to the purpose. We spent quite a while talking about authors, but let's talk about purpose now. What's the purpose of this book? Dr. Mayhew says, the departure and return of God's glory. Actually, this is from Ezekiel. I did not put it all in. I need to fix that later. According to Dr. Walton, the purpose of the book of Daniel concerns the sovereignty of God. Oh man, I have so many errors. This is what happens when you type in the middle of it. Daniel's vision proclaims God's sovereignty over kings, nations, and empires. So this part is correct. So it's visions that shows really the emphasis of this book is God is in control. Will He judge? Yes. But will He also restore? Yes. Will this happen? Yes, because He is sovereign. According to Walter Kaiser, God's sovereignty is seen in the abiding kingdom that God will eventually set up after the last human empire. Oh man, there's so much grammatical mistake. And its leader comes to a decisive end as determined by God Himself. I think the purpose of the book can be found in Daniel 2.44. If you guys could turn with me to Daniel 2.44. Daniel 2.44. Nancy, would you be able to read that for us? So here Daniel 2.44 reveals that there's a kingdom that's going to be ongoing forever, which is the kingdom of God. In fact, in the analogy, we'll talk a little bit more, it's going to be a kingdom that's constantly growing. I think that's true today. By the way, is the kingdom of God, is it here yet or not yet? Trick question. Is the kingdom of God, is it already around us? And, no. Yes, in the sense that it's already begun. There's a sense of that. But is it fully the Kingdom of God around the world? No, not yet. But there's a sense that it's begun. Every time someone gets saved, every time we submit them to Kingship of Christ, there's a sense that it's already here. But yet, not yet. not fully yet. So let's go over the structure. The purpose of the book is to show God's sovereignty. So later on tonight when I ask, God's sovereignty in history. So later tonight when we ask the quiz, what is the purpose of the book of Daniel? You guys would say, the purpose is God's sovereignty over history. So let's go over the structure. How many chapters are there in Daniel? Now, if you are a Catholic, there is an apocalyptic 13th chapter. It's no big secret, but it's never in the original Hebrew text. It only appears in very few really bad Greek translations of the book of Daniel. It's not even Septuagint, it's what I think is called the Theodorian text. But it's this thing where it goes on, this really crazy story about, I don't remember fully, it's been years since I read it. Like, I think God rescuing Daniel, there's a little more details and how there's some punishment of some kings. I don't remember the details. But really, there's no Hebrew text of that to survive. I think that's added later. But if you read it, I think you can read it and it isn't scary. Sometimes you hear people with Da Vinci go, oh, it's scary, it's trying to suppress. No, it's not suppressing. You can read it yourself and you're like, oh, I can kind of see why this is added later. It's just kind of really crazy, fanciful. Actually, it doesn't go the rest of chronological order with the book of Daniel. I actually like the book of Daniel a lot, even learning about Daniel's life. In terms of structuring, some people would say chapter 1-6 is more biographical, because there's a lot of description about Daniel's life. And then from 7-12, there's a lot more visions. So the book could be divided equally in half. So later tonight I'm going to ask, how many chapters is there of Daniel for the quiz? And your answer will be what? So 12 chapters, divided equally in half. One way of outlining is history and prophecies in 1-6. And then Daniel's vision, now it's going to be more focusing on the more dreamy. part, what Daniel received as vision. Now, Daniel 1-6, is there other visions? Yes, but it's not primarily what he sees. It's what King sees and therefore he interprets. So there's more history that's going on. One of the things I really like when you look at Daniel 1-6 and you piece all the history and the timing together, I think there's a lesson for us to be learned as application is this. Daniel, in the beginning of his life, when he was young, that's where you see Daniel 1 described, right? When he was a young man, he was faithful. But if you look at the book of Daniel, it's really focusing on the beginning of his life and also the end. Which I think is a moral of the story for us also as well, that sometimes we can't wait, maybe some of us, oh I can't wait until I'm 30 years old, or until I'm 40, or until I'm 50, then therefore I'm on my prime, or I can't wait to grow up when I'm no, 18 and above and whatever. But here we see that sometimes in society we often look down on those that are young. They're young, they're what the Marine Corps says, boot, right? They're inexperienced, or they're rookies, or you know, they're whippersnappers or whatever you call that. But yet, did God use him? Yeah, when he was young, yeah. And also when he's old. There's the other extreme, where sometimes, once we're older, people say, oh, let's get rid of him for the sake of efficiency, for our company, whatever. But the time you see God using him in the book is when he's really old and when he's really young. Now, did God use him in between? I think so. But nevertheless, you see God using as described here, and I think there's something to be learned here, that when God looks at us, He doesn't use us because He needs us, but He gives us grace. It's more we need Him than He needs us. Josh, you had a question? Okay, so let's go with the structure. The most simplest way to remember is History 1-6 or History and Prophecy 1-6 and 7-12 is Daniel's visions. But I like the other outline, outline 2 if you're looking at this, is Daniel's personal history in chapter 1. This is when he's a young man, he's taking exile, and he's faithful. He didn't eat the king's food. and the corks, but he pursued to be set apart. And God blesses that with mighty wisdom. Then, God's prophetic plan for Gentiles in chapter 2-7 is going to be describing more the Gentiles. Then really the plan for Israel is really the focus in chapter 8-12. But not fully, too, because it's going to bleed over. Because even talking about, for instance, about the Gentiles, there's still discussion of a little bit of Israel. And same thing like chapter 8. Chapter 8 also talks a little bit about the Gentiles, but it's not going to be as described as much detail as chapter 2 or chapter 7 about the Gentiles. Key characters, Daniel, deported by the age of 16, served in the government, or roughly you could say 16. He's a mouthpiece of God to Gentiles and Jewish nation. You guys know the second group of characters, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. You guys know who they are? They're Daniel's friends. The other three men that were faithful. You remember they're also later on, well actually we'll talk about it when we get to the chapter. Nebuchadnezzar, he's king of Babylon in 605 BC. We know quite a bit about him from extra-biblical, outside of Bible history, also in secular history. Darius to me, there's many Darius. In fact, if you remember, we were looking at the book of Haggai, there's that Darius. You might say, whoa, Darius? No, that's another Darius. There's four or five different Darius around this time period. But we shouldn't be surprised, right? How many King Edwards are there in history? How many, do we have Prince Edward present? But that doesn't mean it's Edward VIII, the one that got married, you know, keep divorcing, right, do you remember? Henry, I mean that's Henry, sorry, Henry VIII. There's so many E's, so many Marys, right, that kind of thing. King Cyrus is the king of Persia, allowed the Jews back to Palestine. Belshazzar, king of Babylon after his father Nebuchadnezzar. Gabriel, the archangel, mentioned for the first time in scripture. He's mentioned in a lot of Jewish outside biblical writing. So writing style, it's written in two languages. So later tonight I'm going to ask you guys, what are the languages? Hebrew and Aramaic. It's going to be the questions I'm going to be asking for tonight. I remember when I first took Hebrew when I was done in that summer. I was just working security. I was so excited. I could finally read Hebrew. I've always loved the book of Daniel for its history. I started translating. I remember thinking, this is really hard. Then when I got to chapter 8, it was like, okay, I don't know what's going on. But I don't even know whether that's a verb or a noun. It just totally makes no sense. And then later on I found out that's the Aramaic portion that I was hitting. So Daniel chapter 2 to 7. Do they still have classes in Aramaic? Yeah, they are. We know that language. That language will be around for a long time. Jesus, I think, spoke Aramaic. But the Aramaic, I think, was a little different. It's not because it's 400 years. Just like English 400 years ago, King James English was very different than language today. So yeah, Aramaic is a language. There's books and textbooks on that. In fact, if you do a master's specializing in Old Testament, you have to take Aramaic. Because in seminary, I wanted to actually do Old Testament originally, but because I was emphasizing so much in Greek, And Hebrew and Seminary, towards the end of my last year, I was struggling. I decided, okay, I'll just do something else besides the Old Testament. So there's a lot of symbolism in this book. Key chapters, now I'm going to go over, survey real quick each chapter. Daniel 1 is the personal history, I kind of mentioned briefly. So we'll go through Daniel chapter 2. Daniel chapter 2, Nebuchadnezzar had a dream. And he was so disturbed, he wanted his wise men, his sorcerers, magicians, to interpret it. But then he was so disturbed, he didn't want to be tricked. He says, oh, I'm not going to tell you what it is. You guys tell me. And they're like, otherwise, no, we've never done this before. You have to tell us so we can interpret it. No, I don't believe it necessarily came from divine sources, so you have to tell me. He's going to kill all of them. And then they're rounding it up, and Daniel is what? saying, hey, what's going on? And then he says, they told him what's going on. He said, oh, I'm going to go before my God. And did he reveal the exact dream? Yes, to the T. And what did he do? He interpreted, okay? So if you're looking at Daniel chapter 2, in a dream is a dream of what? A statue. Do you guys remember that? And a statue is made out of what? Four different parts. We'll talk about the interpretation of that later, but that's the image here. Daniel chapter 3 is Nebuchadnezzar's idolatry image. Remember the fire furnace? Now Daniel chapter 3, Daniel is not mentioned, but it's probably very likely he was promoted because of the incredible vision at that time of Daniel 2, to become the prime minister. So he probably was immune from the trouble, but then guess what happened to the rest of the men? The other guys, three were faithful, and they were threatened saying, you better bow to the idols. And therefore they didn't, and they were thrown in the fire furnace. Who protected them? God. Actually there was one like a man in there. The theme, like a man, is one that repeats again. Do you guys remember Psalm 119? Say again? I think it is. I think it is. The reason why is because I think the theophany, because of... We don't have time to go over this, but if you guys go over Sermon Audio, we did a few years ago a survey of Christ in the Old Testament. The theophanies. I've argued why. I think it's the theophany. Not just the theophany, God revealing Himself, but Christophany. It's Christ, okay? Let's go back on. Chapter 4, Nebuchadnezzar has this vision of a great tree. But he didn't lower himself. He was prideful. Then what did God do? Humble him for seven years. He basically was acting like a cow. Chapter 5 is now beyond Nebuchadnezzar. There is a man named Belshazzar and his ruling. He's prideful, if you guys remember, he's, chapter 5, verse 2, he's tasting wine. I mean, he's throwing a big party, okay? While there's, what, an enemy army surrounding him, okay? And notice what he's doing, verse 2. He's using utensils from what? The temple from Jerusalem, okay? He's pretty much being pretty sacrilegious, okay? And what does God do? He has a vision, finger, right? the thing that judges him. He's wondering what's going on. He now pulls this man, Daniel, and says, hey, could you interpret this? He's a guy that can interpret things. He's pulled out from oblivion. And by the way, we shouldn't be surprised. Why is he from Prime Minister to no longer nothing? Because remember, this is a world of power. He's lucky his head wasn't chopped off. This is a world, if you guys remember, of the kingdom dynamic. Power play is a very dangerous thing. When we change presidents, the cabinet changes. Fortunately, no one's heads get chopped off, right? But if you remember watching movies sometimes, you see back then, that was not the case. Like Game of Thrones, a lot of heads chopped off. Yeah, I've never watched King... I haven't watched, but I assume everybody's heads get chopped off. Yeah, things like that. So they could serve everyone and there'd be no risk. That's why it's practiced all around the world. So here we see chapter 6, Darius' decree, and also Daniel in the lion's den. Is that part, you know, new king, new management, new roles, you know, they don't remember who you are. By the way, this should also help us as application. Because sometimes even when we're successful, you guys realize the reality is one day people will not necessarily remember what you've done, okay? You're just going to be, you know. Yeah, I think you guys know I want to do a lifetime of ministry, but one of the things that always humbled me is realizing, just seeing fellow classmates, some people are out of ministry. Because of what? Because of sin. Sometimes it's because, hey, they weren't just called. There was no recognition. And sometimes they're called, but just right now their season is not, they haven't been able, you know, you know, 7 or 10 years ago for me. But yet, necessarily, people didn't start until now. I was like, whoa, that's a late start, my brother. So realize, I also realized, hey, that doesn't mean necessarily I'll have ministry all the time. Okay? So realize, just because you've done things doesn't mean people will remember you. That's something we need to learn from the story of Daniel. I mean, he was... a mover and shaker. And yet, he could be left in oblivion with stuff like that. But God remembers. That's the most important thing. I think that's something we need to remember. In everything we serve, not necessarily every story ends well. So, yet we need to realize. But we usually be the person that says, live in the past. I say, oh, back in my day, I do this. But I realize, okay, if the day comes when I'm old, when I'm retired, I'm no longer a pastor. I need to be under somebody. Back in my day, I preached more. It doesn't matter anymore. It's about serving God in our time and season. Daniel chapter 7 is the vision of four beasts. Daniel 8, Daniel's ram, goat, and little horn. Now I'm going to go quicker. Daniel 9 is his long prayer, and then God gives him the vision of 70 weeks. I don't have time to go over this. Apparently, I've lost this outline. I've been trying to look for a long time. I have talked, because after a while, I started thinking, was it my imagination? I've actually talked to Daniel Nye. Where did that come from? I know I studied that. I had an outline. Because for some reason, I remember so much details. But I don't remember enough details to teach you this. So then I started imagining, thinking, did I not have it? Because I've been searching my computer nonstop. And I couldn't find it. But then I went on Sermon Audio. And I found, yes, I've actually taught. I'm so glad it's Sermon Audio. I'm so glad the 30 bucks a month was so worth it, right? And I went on there and said, yes, I have it. I could download the PDF. And guess what happened to the PDF? Because I could listen to myself. I actually talked to this. I'm not crazy. I wasn't crazy. But guess what happened? The PDF, it got to the point when it gets to Daniel Knight, it went corrupt. It had all those weird computer language things. It was, oh, no. But I've actually taught it. One day I have to write it down. I take notes on my own nose or something. I don't know, that's something funny like that. So Daniel chapter 9, it's an incredible prophecy. I think it predicted the year, exactly to the year of when Christ would be killed for our sins. So all these exact things, there cannot be any coincidence. We'll talk a little bit about that later, but not in detail. So if you go to Sermon Audio, the eschatology series that we went on, we went for almost a year on end times. Daniel chapter 9, And then I burned out. I never talked about end times after that study. Daniel chapter 10, preparation by Michael, the archangel. Chapter 11, 69 weeks, Persia, Greece, 70th week, King and tribulation. Chapter 12 is Daniel's sealing at the end of the book and also the resurrection. So parallels. I just want to talk about interpreting a little bit. I think Daniel is interesting. Actually, the whole Bible, there's one thing, you guys ever hear the phrase, history, what? Itself, okay? The Bible, that is so true, okay? It repeats again and again and again. I mean, we're doing the studies about the temple, right? We were looking at Ezekiel, about the temple. And it sounds just like, what? The temple that we're talking about in Haggai. Which sounds, and we're even talking about the temple being rebuilt and destroyed. Did the temple get destroyed more than once in history? Yeah. 586, what else? 70 AD, twice thus far. Well, I guess there's a 2.5 because they were being rebuilt on the Herald in like the 34 BC-ish time period. And will there be a fourth temple coming? Or a third temple one day? Yeah, the end times temple. According to 2 Thessalonians, the Antichrist is going to come over there and he's going to take over that. And after that temple is destroyed, will there be another temple? Yeah, the millennial kingdom temple. They find there will be no more temple in the eternal state. Because God is going to dwell with us. History repeats itself. Same thing here. Daniel chapter 2. Remember how many kingdoms? Four kingdoms. In Daniel 7 and 8, how many kingdoms is described? Four kingdoms. But different imagery, different analogy, different symbolism. Remember Daniel chapter 2, the head is made out of what? Gold. If you guys could turn with me to Daniel 2.38. Could someone, happy, motivated reader, read me Daniel 2.38? the beast of the field, or the birds of the sky. He has given them into your hands, and He has caused you to rule over them all. You are the head of gold. Thank you so much. This is, by the way, the second half of Daniel 2. Daniel 2 is the vision earlier described, and the Nebuchadnezzar dream. and he is now Daniel's interpreter and said, you, Saint Nebuchadnezzar, you're the head of gold. So the gold represents Babylon, but also sometimes the king stands for the what? Kingdom. By the way, do you guys remember what kingdom, God's kingdom, the symbol is right here? It is a what? Going stone. By the way, is that in the Sanhedrin title? Yeah, that is. Remember the king could also represent the kingdom, which later on we're not surprised when Christ is the rock or the stone that crushes also as well, that saves or crushes also as well. So we know it's clearly referring to that, which later on in Daniel 7, 4 is represented as a lying creature. Turn with me to Daniel 7, 4. Daniel 7, the difference between this and 2 is Daniel 2 is Nebuchadnezzar, the king's vision. His dream, Daniel 7, now his own vision, but with different reference as symbols for the same kingdom. Daniel 7 for Noel, would you be able to be my happy, motivated reader? Read that for me. So this is the first kingdom. I think the first one represents the first one, like the Babylonians came first. By the way, do we see in the Middle East, especially the Babylonians, are there a lot of symbols? If you guys want, one day I can look through old Iraqi pictures where there's lions from Babylon. Lions with wings is a big thing for them. Now, some of these things we might miss, like what's the significance, but I think for the original process they would have understood, oh yeah, that is the symbol. It's like today, when you see an eagle holding, what, 25 arrows and holding wreaths, what do you think right away? And there's a crest in between it. What is that symbol? Dollar bill. Yeah, dollar bill is a symbol of the U.S. Also, let's go back on. Let's turn to 2.32. We're going to be hopping through Daniel 2 and Daniel 7 a lot, so if you want to put your pinky or thumb there. Daniel 2.32. Josh? That statue was made of fine gold, and its breast and its arms are silver. Notice the second element is breast and arm is made out of what material? It is silver. In Daniel 2.39 it says this is the kingdom after the Babylonians. So it's the kingdom after that. Who is the kingdom after that in history? Do you guys remember? If you read the book of Daniel itself, it's the Medo-Persian. Even with the Persian, I know we say it's Persian, but at the time, Persia was not as strong. They had a joint alliance with the Medians. Later on, they're going to be even super stronger. And you think of the classic Persian, we think of the guys in the movie 300, in history, with them fighting the, what do you call it, the Papa-Mesian War? I always want to say Polynesian War, but it's not a bunch of Hawaiian hula-hoops fighters. How do you pronounce it again? Polynesian War. I always mispronounce it. I had an English class where we did essays and teachers disliked the Polynesian War. I think they called it the Punic War. Roman against Carthage, which totally devastated Carthage to the point that most people don't even know Carthage today. But Carthage was a big competitor with the Roman Empire in North Africa. But let's go back on. Yeah, history is fascinating. But anyway, let's go back on. Because Daniel's fascinated with history, right? So in Daniel 7-5, you guys could turn there. The symbol for that is the Medo-Persian Empire is actually with a bear. Daniel 7-5. Let me just read that real quick. So that's the Third Empire, the Medo-Persian Empire. With Daniel 8, the symbol changes to that of a goat with two horns. Why two horns? Remember the Second Empire is Persia and who? What's the size of the empire? Two horns symbolize the two different rulers at the same time. So the 4th Empire, actually the 3rd one, let's go on. Earlier, Duke 232, we saw his belly and its dyes of bronze. Which in 239 is saying this is the kingdom after the Medo-Persians. Who's after the Medo-Persians? The Persians fought against who? that we often remember in Roman history, the Greeks. So this is Greek, the Greeks. We know they are the Greeks because if you guys turn with me to Daniel 7, 6, you know who symbolized the Greeks? What is the animal used there? It's this really strange animal. It's a four-winged animal with a beast of four heads. Do you guys know why four heads? Do you remember Alexander the Great? Was he Greek? I mean, technically he was Macedonian, but really he united all of Greece. And when he united his father, King Philip, he united all of that. Then he got all these guys. Alexander the Great, I mean... He's younger than most of us here, probably. When he died, he was younger. He was 32. He had a world empire. What did we do for 32, right? Obviously, you don't want to compare. You don't want to be a tyrant, okay? But Alexander the Great went and conquered. I mean, his army, he went everywhere, fought everywhere. His army even finally got tired. So, to appease them, he made them marry local women, gave them rules. But he had four main generals. After he died, what happened? You guys ever look at most family business, you guys realize most family business never survive to third generation. You know why? First generation? Yeah, let's do it. Second generation? Yeah, let's do it. Third generation? So many grandkids, what happened? It's kind of hard to split the wealth. right? Unless you're super rich like the Hiltons. Then the infighting and then it dies, okay? So same thing, within the generation, what happened? Four kings, it split the empire, split into four different kingdoms, okay? Under four different generals, okay? I mean, this is pretty frightening stuff because this is predicted to the T, okay? So Okay, if I could tell you no matter what you watch history is always more interesting when you read it much more interesting than the real thing Oh, and that's the real thing that then the movies. Okay, the real things are more interesting with it, man. What? Yeah, let's go back on so so Then there's a fourth empire, Daniel 2.33. Daniel 2.33, it's leg of iron, it's partly feet of iron, and it's partly of clay. I think this is describing the Roman Empire. And it's a horrifying beast. Turn with me to Daniel 7.7. It is a horrifying beast. Daniel 7.7, After this I kept looking in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrifying, and extremely strong. It had large iron teeth. It devoured and crushed and trampled down the remainder with its feet. And it was different from all the beasts that were before it. And it had ten horns. Ten different kings. If you ever have time, and you can't fall asleep, and you read your Bible already, and you still can't fall asleep, maybe it's time to read the book called the 12 Caesars. Written during a time period, almost like a gossy, juicy gossip. It reads like a TMZ. more than like what you think of history books because it tells the lives of the Caesars and how crazy these guys were okay now it doesn't say 10 i know it says 10 horns but you kind of get the idea just how crazy some of these ones uh they are okay um so these that was written back in the first the first century yeah i got the name uh i know lisa knows Lisa, the Nancy sister, knows more, I think, the classical period of history. Whenever I talked to her, I was like, wow, she's amazing just how much she knows the history with that, okay? She's taking graduate level with the classics period, okay? I'm just an amateur. Let's go back on with Daniel 7, 7, 8. I want to focus now with the vision of this boastful beast. Let me read on verse 8. We already read verse 7. While I was contemplating the horns, behold, another horn a little one came out among them. And three of the first horns were pulled down by the troop before it. And behold, this horn possessed eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth uttering great boasts." This is a vision of a boastful horn. The interpretation is found in verses 24-26. So I could catch my breath. Caleb, would you be able to read that for me? Verses 24-26. Daniel 7. And for the ten horns of this kingdom, ten kings will arise, and another will arise after. Thank you so much. So this 10 horn, apparently this last one, this small one, is so boastful. He's going to be actually in the end brought down by only one. Who is that? Christ Himself. I think this is the context here. I think this is the anticipation of the Antichrist. But we shouldn't be surprised. Because remember Genesis 3.15? There's going to be two seeds. The seed from Eve that's going to redeem us. And that seed is going to crush who? The serpent. But also the serpent is going to have seeds that's also trying to overcome Adam and Eve also as well. I think Genesis 3.15 you already see hints of the Antichrist beginning, which is later going to be fully developed by the time you get to the New Testament. So this one is boastful. This one is loud. This one is powerful. And he's able to have victory over that. By the way, what is our response to all of this? I know sometimes when I share things on Reddit about persecution and stuff like that, for some reason, I don't know why, I always feel there's always these pious Christians from the West that, oh, but we shouldn't be surprised we're going to be persecuted. Yeah, we shouldn't be surprised, but that doesn't mean we're going to be not shocked. Look at Daniel. Is he shocked? If you look with me at Daniel chapter 7, after all of this, 28. At this point, the revelation ended. As for me, Daniel, my thoughts were greatly alarming, and my face grew pale, but I kept this manner to myself. It is frightening. I think as Christians, we need to realize fear is something we do have. So sometimes we're not called to not have fear. We're called, yes, even if we have fear, we need to be strong. We need to be courageous to do the right thing in light of fear. I think that's something we need to realize. I think that's something we need to realize. I feel like even the Marines, when we're honest among the guys that, among ourselves, stories, I think people tell, hey, there's real fear. I mean, you have to, oh, the outside, yeah, I don't know. It's terrifying. Yeah, it's terrifying, right? It's so scary. Yeah, just seeing it in the story. Yeah. So I think we need to realize, just being real, we've got to be honest. It's scary. But we have to be empowered by the Spirit humbly to do the right thing. I'm sure Anthony and Jen could testify. I'm always afraid, at least for me, I'm always afraid when those guys that come and say, oh man, I'm going to do this and that. I think those guys are going to be the first ones that chicken out, that's going to be the terrible leader that's going to get fired as squad leaders or platoon commanders, that kind of thing. And people do get fired in the real world because lives are in danger. So it's okay to trust in the Lord and be fearful. Future resurrection is another theme, Daniel chapter 12 verse 1 and 3. This is probably the most detailed description in the Old Testament of the resurrection. There's hints of that in Job, for instance. I think there's a prediction, my Redeemer lives, and other passages like that. But Daniel chapter 12 verse 1 and 3. Josh, read only up to 3, no more than end of verse 3. Okay? Thank you. for the sons of your people will arise, and there will be a time of distress such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time. And at that time your people, everyone who is found written in the book, will be rescued. Many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake these to everlasting life, but others to disgrace and everlasting contempt. Those who have insight will shine brightly, like the brightness of the expanse of heaven. Those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars, forever and ever. Thank you for reading that. This is most detailed, right? It's describing resurrection, everlasting life, everlasting contempt. What is everlasting contempt later on we know is hell itself. You know, it's been really cold. You guys realize it's the coldest month in February in LA for 60 years. It's the coldest month. In 1962 it was actually colder. It actually snowed more than this time. Pasadena actually received a little snow. The technical definition of snow, not hail. It snowed a little bit. Sometimes it makes me wonder if there's really global warming. If we really have a global warming problem. But that's another sermon another time. But I know one thing for sure. We have a global warning crisis. We have a church that's lukewarm to evangelize and to tell the world, warning them, that when you die, if you don't have Christ in your sin, you'll be dying to everlasting contempt. We have the greatest news ever. There's a study recently done that 50% of millennial Christians believe evangelism is wrong. I'm an evangelizing millennial. I don't know how you could do that. I felt, even as a young Christian, before I understand Way of the Master and everything, just knowing Jesus, and He died for me, I can't help but to tell my sisters, right? You just want to tell somebody, right? Like, my Savior died for me, and tell them. Of course, my sister back then weren't believers. Oh, that's nice. That's good for you, you got religion. You'll probably change a little, maybe. I was like, no, no, no, for real, I really want you to know Jesus, right? I want you to go to heaven, too. Which now we go to the place of this book. This book is not just only about history. This book is about His story. About Jesus Christ. The rest of the books talk about the Son of Man. Look with me in verses 13-14. This book Daniel is important because it first time mentions about the Son of Man to talk about Jesus Christ. Although I think Ezekiel... Daniel chapter 7, verses 13-14. Actually, Mr. Burns, would you be able to read that? And then Ben also read verse 14. You read verse 13 and 14. Daniel 7. Daniel 7, 13 and 14? Yeah, you read 13 and then he'll read 14. Thank you. I kept looking in the night visions, and behold, were the clouds of heaven. One, like the Son of Man was coming. And He came to the Ancient of Days, and was presented before Him. And to Him was given dominion, glory, and a kingdom. that all the peoples, nations, and men of every language might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which will not pass away, and His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed. Yeah, thank you for reading. Daniel 7, 13-14 is in the middle of a vision describing about this last kingdom. Four kingdoms, right? The last one being this crazy horn, this smaller king destroying three other kings. And he's just blaspheming in his mouth. And even Daniel, seeing this, he's terrified. Believers will rightfully, the world will rightfully be terrified. But you know sandwiched in between this? is here in heaven, a scene. Do you see the part that says, Son of Man? I know it says, like, the Son of Man. I think there's a reason why. Because He's more than a man. I think He is a man, but He's more than a man. Notice, by the way, He comes from the cloud of heaven. So this is not any ordinary mortal, okay? Do you also see this one is not an ordinary mortal, and I would even say He's probably God, because how long is He going to rule? Forever. No expiration date. Now, I don't know about you, I don't want any man to rule over my life forever. Because why? Humans are sinners, yes? I want Christ to rule over, who's gracious and compassionate and fair. Yeah, or the Son of Man. Who's the divine Son of Man. Sometimes you hear Muslims argue this, Evangelism sometimes. I hear this so many times, Evangelism, UCLA, and this. They'll say, Jesus is not, He is not God. And I ask why? Give me some argument. He says, He's the Son of Man. And I was like, oh well, you need to understand that word in the Old Testament context. Does that make sense? It's like I come over to you and talk about, I don't know, I talk to you about left. And then you're thinking, you know, You know, every time I say, my left foot, you're like, oh, you crazy Atafah. No, no, I'm not talking about political left. You have to interpret the word in its context. The soil where the Son of Man is developed in New Testament theology is found here. The seed is developed from here, where it's the Divine Son of Man. I think why I say Son of Man is to emphasize He is Divine, and yet also take on the flesh of a man, a mortal, who is none other than who? Jesus Christ. Who will rule forever. And he will have victory over the Antichrist. The other reason why Daniel is important is because, if you guys look with me at Daniel chapter 9, this is an incredible vision. Daniel chapter 9 is incredible. 70 weeks has been decreed for you and your people and your holy city, verse 24. To finish your transgressions, to make an end for sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up visions and prophecies, and to anoint the most holy place. And on it goes, okay? I'm not gonna read the whole thing for now. If you really want a detailed thing, go on Sermon Audio and download that, okay? By the way, I know our outline's on Veritas Domain. If you really, I think the best book I've ever read is actually one that was for free. It's for free, it's e-book on, so you just, on Veritas Domain, just type in 70 weeks, Daniel, and there'll be a PDF. I forgot the name, I think it's Alvin McLean, okay? It's one of the best book I've ever read. Sometimes old is gold. And that's one of them. It's better than even some of the newer books that I've seen coming out with that. Daniel chapter 9 verses 24-27. Notice the Messiah is mentioned twice. It's mentioned in verses 25, where it says, Messiah the Prince. And also in verses 26. Verse 26, I'll just read this part. Then after the 62 weeks, the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing. Isn't that amazing? This passage is saying the Messiah will be what? Didn't we just read in Daniel 7? He's going to be kicking butt and taking names, right? Of this Antichrist. But He's going to be cut off? How does this make sense? How can He be victorious and yet also be cut off and have nothing? I think the best explanation is to say there are two comings to the Messiah. The first coming, He's going to be cut off. And He's going to have nothing. In His second coming, He is going to win the Antichrist. Now you read this, and you're thinking, remember, this is 500 years before Christ would ever be born. 500 to 600 years before the New Testament would ever be written. In fact, when you're going through this, you can't help but think it's like Revelation. But Revelation came later. It came first from building material from what? The book of Daniel. The question for us tonight is this. Why would the Messiah be cut off and have nothing in verse 26? Why would that happen? The answer is in verse 24. We read verse 24. Did you remember this? These 70 weeks, by the way, these weeks actually means, literally in the Hebrew, 70 sevens. I think each seven represents seven years. The Hebrew word, there's no Hebrew word for weeks. Literally, the weeks is sevens. So when you describe weeks, you just say, hey, how's your next seven? How's your last seven? Does that make sense? And you know, according to context, because it talks about first day, second day, that kind of thing. Or it could also represent years, which I think is the context here. But did you catch verse 24? It is to finish transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity. Here's the answer for why the Messiah will be cut off. He's to make an atonement. To make an atonement for our iniquity. You know what iniquity is? Iniquity is a sin where you purposely do it. It's not an accident. You know, there's some sin done of ignorance, which by the way, in our life, in our confession, we should regularly not only confess the sins we know, but say, hey God, help me confess a sin that I don't want to confess. Or the sin that I'm willfully cognitive dissonance and say I don't want to own up. Or even the ones that I didn't even think about that I'm doing. That I'm rude to someone without even thinking twice about it. So realize this sin is one that we're purposely doing it to hurt against God. And yet the Messiah will be cut off for those sin. In the book of Daniel, the book of Daniel is more than the history of these different empires, though it is about that. But the greater story is this, that when you look at Christ as King of kings and Lord of lords, and His kingdom, His kingdom will reign and rule over. Is His kingdom a church? True question. Is His kingdom a church? I know that's an awkward question. Church is part of it. Yes, thank you. The church is part of it. But not the full thing. If you have a full thing, then you'll be messed up like the Catholic view. Right? The messed up view of the church. You think the church already carries a sword and enforce people and everything else. So it's part of it. But now it's not the arm part. It's the hands of what? Mercy. If you realize this, I feel the only way it could be part of a church. Our church is a struggling church. Okay? Our church is a struggling church. Sometimes I have a hard time finding guest speakers. Because why? Once they ask, I'm just being real. Once they say, oh, what's the size of your church? It's always the next question. It's a small church. Then it's, oh man, I can't find someone to fill in for March 24th. Okay? It's hard. Because people like going to bigger things. But my heart's always been for the struggling church. This is why I've decided to take on, on Sundays, a second church to help. I'm not pastoring there. I'm not ministering because I don't get paid for that. It would be unfaithful to my church. But I'm preaching every week just hoping God's Word will grow that church. Why? Because I love the small church. Because if you see the vision of this, you know that Christ, remember that rock? It's a small rock, but it eventually grow. A rock. It's not even clay. It's a ridiculous rock. At least clay is good. It could build things. But of all those, remember those four elements? You know what's the most humble thing of those kingdoms? Remember the statue? The head is made out of what? Gold. The breast and arm is made out of what? Silver. And then the middle part is made out of what? Bronze. And the other part is made out of clay and just a bit of bronze. It's just mixed. And you think, oh, the Roman Empire is weak. Then the weakest one of all is what? A stone. But God uses that kingdom. You guys realize, my brothers and sisters, it's a privilege to be in church. Sometimes we say, oh, I have to do something. But no, I think the better mentality is, I get to serve a living God. We have to look at the church more than just about you and I. I would disappoint you. I would get upset, just like even this Tuesday, this Sunday, servant meeting. Yeah, I've sinned. I was just upset, talking about things I can't control the factors of. But at the same time, if you look towards Christ, you're in the only organization that will survive in the end times. And you will get your dividend. It's already good that He died for me and you serve Him. But God says if you're faithful in little, you'll be faithful in much. And you will be rewarded in the millennial kingdom and also in the kingdom to come. Why would you not invest in the church? You can look, oh, there's some special needs people. Oh, there's some people with issues. Oh, people call me late at night, you know, with things going on. Oh, what about this? Oh, these people hurt me. But you do this not because of anyone else. Because you can't wait to hear your King say, the King who's going to kick butt and take names and win the Antichrist say, well done, my faithful servant. Why would we not have this big picture of Daniel for our life? Just closing a word of prayer.