Daniel 11: Coming to the End
Notes
Transcript
We are getting close to the end of the Book of Daniel. And from where we started we have seen a change in Daniel. Not from what he believed about the one true God, but only in his age.
In Daniel 1 as he and about 3000 people were taken from Jerusalem in Judah in the Southern Kingdom, he was a young man.
Do you remember when King Nebuchadnezzar attacked Judah and took him away?
He was one of the choice people that Nebuchadnezzar wanted to be part of his kingdom. Look at Daniel 1:4
4 “Select only strong, healthy, and good-looking young men,” he said. “Make sure they are well versed in every branch of learning, are gifted with knowledge and good judgment, and are suited to serve in the royal palace. Train these young men in the language and literature of Babylon.”
Daniel was one of these. He was young, strong, and wise. The king wanted him and others like him to be part of those men who could help the king be wise in his decisions.
Then as we have moved through the chapters of the Book of Daniel, he has gotten older in years. He is more than 80 years old now. His age may have changed, but his obedience to the one true God, Jehovah has never changed.
We saw last week that when the messenger came to Daniel, he said
Daniel 10:19 (NLT)
19 “Don’t be afraid,” he said, “for you are very precious to God. Peace! Be encouraged! Be strong!” As he spoke these words to me, I suddenly felt stronger and said to him, “Please speak to me, my lord, for you have strengthened me.”
Daniel had lived his life in obedience to God. Why? Because he knew that God was sovereign. There is that word again, sovereign.
SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD: Biblical teaching that God possesses all power and is the ruler of all things (Ps. 135:6; Dan. 4:34–35). God rules and works according to His eternal purpose, even through events that seem to contradict or oppose His rule.
-Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary
Psalm 135:6 (NLT)
6 The Lord does whatever pleases him throughout all heaven and earth, and on the seas and in their depths.
34 “After this time had passed, I, Nebuchadnezzar, looked up to heaven. My sanity returned, and I praised and worshiped the Most High and honored the one who lives forever. His rule is everlasting, and his kingdom is eternal.
35 All the people of the earth are nothing compared to him. He does as he pleases among the angels of heaven and among the people of the earth. No one can stop him or say to him, ‘What do you mean by doing these things?’
The confidence, the obedience that Daniel displayed even before he was taken by King Nebuchadnezzar was for one reason….GOD WAS IN CONTROL. Nothing was going to happen unless God allowed it. His plan will always be accomplished. That is the way that Daniel lived his life. From beginning to end, and because of that, Daniel was entrusted to be shown something that is still yet to come. The time of the Anti-Christ, the tribulation period, and ultimately the promised return of Jesus Christ.
+++CBC CREED
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Open your Bibles this morning to Daniel 11. As you are turning there, I want you to remember that the things that Daniel is seeing in a vision, and the things that are being told to him by the angels and the messengers from God are pointing to to some understanding of the last days.
I say “some” because there are things we don’t know. Things we can’t fully understand. But he does this for a reason. And I believe that reason is because we are to live by faith. If you are saved, you have faith to know that Jesus died 2000 years ago and was raised from the grave three days laters. You weren’t there, but you have faith that it happened. And you have faith that it happened, not because Dad told you, but because we have evidence in this book that we say…”The Bible is the Word of God.”
But all of that faith comes together because of one person: the Holy Spirit.
13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future.
If you believe in all of this, it is not because you have decided that its true, it’s because the Spirit has guided you to see the truth, and then you made a decision to say yes, you died for me, so I will live for you.
So we may not have every answer about the coming of the end of the world and the second return of Jesus, but we are given a lot of information of the time. So lets move forward into Daniel 11.
Now as we begin, I want to let you know that we will Not read the first 35 verses of the Book. There is a time for study on this, but Sunday morning is not that time. So let me just give you a quick look at what is going on in the first 35 verses.
There is a history of different Kingdoms that are coming. We see some of this in Daniel interpretation of the Great Image in Daniel 2 and the great tree in Daniel 4. This is an account of the rise and fall of different kings and nations and rulers over a period of time. This history is beyond Daniels time, but not ours. These different kingdoms have already risen and fallen. They are not speaking of the end of the world that is coming beyond us, but they were beyond the time of Daniel.
And this is one of the ways we know that when we hold this book, we have truth. The kingdoms that rise and fall, many years after they are spoken here in Daniel, we can go back to the history books of that time and see that they really happened.
It truly is what the angel said to Daniel in verse one…
Daniel 11:2 (NLT)
2 “Now then, I will reveal the truth to you. Three more Persian kings will reign, to be succeeded by a fourth, far richer than the others. He will use his wealth to stir up everyone to fight against the kingdom of Greece.
All of this is truth. We can see it now looking back that is history this things happened, and they were spoken of and prophesied long before they came true.
So if we move past all of these kingdoms that will rise and fall over that period of time, we get to verse 36. So look at Daniel 11:36 and we see a ruler, simply with the name of “king.”
I will read: Daniel 11:36-45
36 “The king will do as he pleases, exalting himself and claiming to be greater than every god, even blaspheming the God of gods. He will succeed, but only until the time of wrath is completed. For what has been determined will surely take place.
37 He will have no respect for the gods of his ancestors, or for the god loved by women, or for any other god, for he will boast that he is greater than them all.
38 Instead of these, he will worship the god of fortresses—a god his ancestors never knew—and lavish on him gold, silver, precious stones, and expensive gifts.
39 Claiming this foreign god’s help, he will attack the strongest fortresses. He will honor those who submit to him, appointing them to positions of authority and dividing the land among them as their reward.
40 “Then at the time of the end, the king of the south will attack the king of the north. The king of the north will storm out with chariots, charioteers, and a vast navy. He will invade various lands and sweep through them like a flood.
41 He will enter the glorious land of Israel, and many nations will fall, but Moab, Edom, and the best part of Ammon will escape.
42 He will conquer many countries, and even Egypt will not escape.
43 He will gain control over the gold, silver, and treasures of Egypt, and the Libyans and Ethiopians will be his servants.
44 “But then news from the east and the north will alarm him, and he will set out in great anger to destroy and obliterate many.
45 He will stop between the glorious holy mountain and the sea and will pitch his royal tents. But while he is there, his time will suddenly run out, and no one will help him.
In the first 35 verses, I told you that the kings, the rulers and the nations were at a time after Daniel but before us. They had already happened in history before you were born. And the same is true for these verses 36-44. They were prophecies about an evil king named Antiochus.
He was a very bad man. He killed people for the fun of it. He did not like God’s chosen people. And he would force them to turn away from their beliefs in God, and if they didn’t he would kill them. Not just kill them but cut them up.
He created an image of a false god and set him in the temple and said that everyone should worship the false God. He told them to stop their sacrifices to God.
Do you remember what Daniel called that?
The Abomination of Desolation.
This is what happened 170 years before Jesus came. But even Jesus knew, that this Antiochus was also a symbol of one still to come…the Anti Christ.
This is why Jesus said in Matthew 24: Matthew 24:15-16
15 “So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand),
16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.
This is what it will be like when the tribulation begins and seven years later the world will be finished.
We may read this this morning and think, that is way in the future. That will happen long after my life. Maybe. But maybe not. There are many who believe that it will happen in this generation. And one of my favorites writers believes that the Anti Christ is already alive. I don’t know if thats true, but it makes you think, as a believer is Jesus…are you ready for these things we are reading about?
So we have talked about when the Anti Christ comes he will do good things at first. He will help form peace and even rebuild the temple in the place it is supposed to be. The Jewish people will be happy. They will think he is great. But after three and a half years of being a good guy, he will turn bad, making himself the one to be worship in the temple. And if people do not follow him, the will die. Be killed. Or be starved because they will not be able to buy food because they have not taken his mark.
That is why Jesus said run, when you see the abomination of desolation. Run, get away, hide.
If we go back to that verse from Jesus, let me remind you that he is talking to the Jews. Many of those who heard him say that did not believe that he was the Messiah. So why would he say run? I believe, and I feel that Scripture supports it, that the beleivers who are alive when the 7 year tribulation begins, will already been taken away to the Lord.
15 We tell you this directly from the Lord: We who are still living when the Lord returns will not meet him ahead of those who have died.
16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the believers who have died will rise from their graves.
17 Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever.
So, again I believe, that those who are around when the abomination of desolation happens will be the unbelievers…either Jews or Gentiles. And so there is a hope that in theri time they run, they will understand what is going on and will give their lives to the Lord so that if they are killed during the revelation or they die at the end of the world, they will then enter into his presence
So how does it all end? How does this world go away, and Christ reigns forever and ever?
Look at Daniel 11:40-45
Daniel 11:40–45 (NLT)
40 “Then at the time of the end, the king of the south will attack the king of the north. The king of the north will storm out with chariots, charioteers, and a vast navy. He will invade various lands and sweep through them like a flood.
41 He will enter the glorious land of Israel, and many nations will fall, but Moab, Edom, and the best part of Ammon will escape.
42 He will conquer many countries, and even Egypt will not escape.
43 He will gain control over the gold, silver, and treasures of Egypt, and the Libyans and Ethiopians will be his servants.
44 “But then news from the east and the north will alarm him, and he will set out in great anger to destroy and obliterate many.
45 He will stop between the glorious holy mountain and the sea and will pitch his royal tents. But while he is there, his time will suddenly run out, and no one will help him.
The picture of the Anti-Christ shows that he goes to war with the other nation of the world at that time. All of these other nations combine to come to Jerusalem to defeat the Anti-Christ, but Satan uses this war for another reason.
You see Satan knows what God’s plan is. He knows God will try to defeat him and put him away. He knows the Bible better than you and me. He knows what God will do. So what can he do? The only thing Satan and his demons can do is try to conquer Christ when he come back to defeat Satan. He tries to defeat Jesus and kill him once, that didn’t work very well. But maybe he is thinking, this time he can do it.
So now, all of the armies of the world are in Jerusalem fighting the Anti Christ and now Jesus begins to come down and Satan armies, and now all the armies of the world turn to fight Jesus.
The fight won’t be long.
The apostle John describes what he was given to see:
19 Then I saw the beast and the kings of the world and their armies gathered together to fight against the one sitting on the horse and his army.
20 And the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who did mighty miracles on behalf of the beast—miracles that deceived all who had accepted the mark of the beast and who worshiped his statue. Both the beast and his false prophet were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur.
21 Their entire army was killed by the sharp sword that came from the mouth of the one riding the white horse. And the vultures all gorged themselves on the dead bodies.
This is how this world ends. This is how there will come a time when there is no more Nigeria, no more US, no more London. Now more sin, no more death, no more corruption, because Jesus will come back and fully redeem creation back to the way that God intended.
Are you ready? Are you ready to be joined with Christ? Not because he say that you are a Christian, but because you live like and display the things that God would look at you and say…that’s my Son. That’s my daughter. Come, join me in my eternal kingdom.
Let me end with this. Like I said, I believe that the followers of Christ will already be with the Lord, others believe that even if you are a Christian when the anti Christ comes, you may be alive on the earth during this time. Whatever it may be, in verse 36, we should stop and see what is written.
Daniel 11:32 (NLT)
He will flatter and win over those who have violated the covenant. But the people who know their God will be strong and will resist him.
This is pointing to that time. For those who KNOW God, be strong in your faith, resist the anti Christ, be strong, and resist him. Even to the point of death. Resist the devil and his ways.
But I look at that verse and I think about right now. If you know God, are you strong enough in your faith to resist the devil? If you are around during that time, will you truly KNOW God? This word isn’t something you do with your mind, it’s is a verb…it shows action. So to know God to a constant movement toward# him in relationship. It isn’t knowledge, its relationship. Being closer and closer to him everyday. When you do that, in those times when you need to be strong and resist the enemy, it will be easy, because it is who you are.
