The Prophetic Word fulfilled

Open: receiving a perfect bracket for the 2018 NCAA men’s basketball tournament. The kicker: You received it in 2016.

The Word of God is reliable and can be trusted ()

The Word of God is reliable and can be trusted (Daniel 11:1-25)

Explanation: The 11th chapter of the Book of Daniel contains the most detailed prophecies in the entirety of the Bible. The prophecies were revealed by an angel and written down by Daniel in approximately 534 BC. The foretold events took place between 529 BC to 164 BC, the last events being 370 years in the future when Daniel wrote them down.

The chapter breaks into three main sections, two of which we will cover tonight. These first two sections contained historically fulfilled prophecies that have been fully verified, and the third contains events which are yet future.

The first section is contained in , and deals with the Persian rulers after Cyrus (11:2), and then moves into the third Kingdom - Greece. Alexander the Great is the subject of vv. 3&4, and then vv. 5-19 deal with the historical conflict between the Ptolemic dynasty of Egypt and the Seleucid dynasty of Syria.

Example of Fulfillment: details the events of the Ptolem

Illustrate: contrast the specific prophecies with the hokey fortune cookie stuff or the horoscope junk.

Argument: God is not concerned about “going out on a limb” with His prophecies. In fact, He is unable to do so because He is totally Omniscient: He is aware of everything, past, present and future. Any prophetic prediction He makes involves zero risk of being wrong. God is Eternal, Sovereign over His creation, and calls the End from the Beginning.

Application: Because God has proven Himself trustworthy in the past, He will continue to be trustworthy in the future. Because His Word is True in the Old Testament, His Word is True in the New Testament. And because Jesus is the only source and means of Salvation, repent and believe in Him