1 00:00:00,030 --> 00:00:07,440 Now one idea that we've learned about Daniel's book is that the 2 00:00:07,440 --> 00:00:16,260 central idea or the recurring idea is the rise and fall of four great earthly 3 00:00:16,260 --> 00:00:21,840 kingdoms, which are then permanently replaced by God's kingdom. If you keep 4 00:00:21,840 --> 00:00:29,550 your eye on that idea, then all of it makes sense. The original vision, of 5 00:00:29,550 --> 00:00:39,780 course, of the great statue contained in Nebuchadnezzar's dream, that 6 00:00:39,780 --> 00:00:43,739 kicks everything off. So Nebuchadnezzar has the dream of the 7 00:00:43,739 --> 00:00:48,840 great statue. We said before that the great statue is representative of 8 00:00:48,840 --> 00:00:55,199 different nations. The head of gold, Babylon. The chest, the 9 00:00:55,199 --> 00:01:01,350 arms of silver, the Medes and Persians. The brass hips, 10 00:01:01,350 --> 00:01:08,820 of course, the Greece. And then the legs of iron, feet of iron and clay, of Rome. 11 00:01:08,820 --> 00:01:14,280 So those are the four nations he's talking about. Now in subsequent visions, 12 00:01:14,280 --> 00:01:18,930 Daniel is going to return to this prophecy and he's going to give more 13 00:01:18,930 --> 00:01:25,710 details about these kingdoms, but he uses different symbols to describe them. 14 00:01:25,710 --> 00:01:33,750 For example, the Medo-Persian Empire, in the King's dream, is 15 00:01:33,750 --> 00:01:39,210 represented by a chest of silver with two arms. That's 16 00:01:39,210 --> 00:01:45,240 what represents the Medo-Persian empire in the dream. In his first 17 00:01:45,240 --> 00:01:52,290 vision that he has, the same empire this time is represented by a bear who has 18 00:01:52,290 --> 00:01:59,610 ribs in his mouth. Different vision, but referring to the 19 00:01:59,610 --> 00:02:06,240 same empire. And then in his second vision, he sees again the Medo-Persian 20 00:02:06,240 --> 00:02:12,870 empire, but this time as a ram with two horns. So we get confused when we try to 21 00:02:12,870 --> 00:02:15,900 assign the visions to different things. It's always 22 00:02:15,900 --> 00:02:24,450 about the same thing, about these four kingdoms, okay. Another example is the 23 00:02:24,450 --> 00:02:31,620 empire of Greece. In the original dream, the empire of Greece is represented by 24 00:02:31,620 --> 00:02:38,070 the belly and hips of brass in Nebuchadnezzar's original dream, but in 25 00:02:38,070 --> 00:02:43,890 the first vision that he has later on, this same kingdom is represented by a 26 00:02:43,890 --> 00:02:49,860 leopard with wings. And then in the second vision that he has, this same 27 00:02:49,860 --> 00:02:53,760 kingdom, Greece, is now represented by a he-goat 28 00:02:53,760 --> 00:03:00,380 with a horn, with one horn. And I told you last time, the reason for this is that 29 00:03:00,380 --> 00:03:07,700 the image of the statue is not complex enough to give all the details that 30 00:03:07,700 --> 00:03:14,520 Daniel wants to give about these four kingdoms, and so God gives him a vision 31 00:03:14,520 --> 00:03:20,400 of a different image representing the same kingdom, but that vision contains 32 00:03:20,400 --> 00:03:26,760 more information, symbolically, about that particular vision. So that was, if 33 00:03:26,760 --> 00:03:31,440 you weren't here last time, that's what we were talking about. As we move through 34 00:03:31,440 --> 00:03:36,360 a variety of images and symbols and characters, let's always remember that 35 00:03:36,360 --> 00:03:41,870 he's always describing the rise and fall of these kingdoms and the eventual 36 00:03:41,870 --> 00:03:46,709 appearance of the kingdom of God that will supersede all of these kingdoms. 37 00:03:46,709 --> 00:03:50,220 That's what Daniel is all about. That's why it's such a powerful prophecy. 38 00:03:50,220 --> 00:03:56,580 There's so much detail concerning what would take place hundreds of years in 39 00:03:56,580 --> 00:04:02,910 the future. At the time of Daniel, nobody could even 40 00:04:02,910 --> 00:04:07,860 conceive of a thing called the Roman Empire. They couldn't even conceive it. 41 00:04:07,860 --> 00:04:14,580 And yet, he gives so much detail in his visions about this particular empire. 42 00:04:14,580 --> 00:04:18,570 So now we move to the eighth chapter. Remember I told you, this is not 43 00:04:18,570 --> 00:04:22,289 a line-by-line study, but kind of an overview, that's why I gave you that 44 00:04:22,289 --> 00:04:26,880 extra paperwork, because that extra paperwork gives you all the details line 45 00:04:26,880 --> 00:04:30,660 by line. So the eighth chapter in his book 46 00:04:30,660 --> 00:04:37,580 describes in more detail the struggle for power between the second and the third 47 00:04:37,580 --> 00:04:43,800 kingdoms, that is the Medo-Persian kingdom and the kingdom of Greece. 48 00:04:43,800 --> 00:04:49,920 These are presented as, first of all, a two-horned ram as the middle Persian 49 00:04:49,920 --> 00:04:55,500 empire, with two horns representing its two nations, the Medes and the Persians. 50 00:04:55,500 --> 00:05:02,190 So a ram with two horns representing the two nations. And then, a he-goat with one 51 00:05:02,190 --> 00:05:09,090 horn and very swift. That represented the Greek empire, which was Alexander the 52 00:05:09,090 --> 00:05:14,640 Great. And it represented very well the Greek Empire, because of course, as I 53 00:05:14,640 --> 00:05:19,560 mentioned, Alexander so quickly dominated the world and there was only one leader 54 00:05:19,560 --> 00:05:25,170 and that was Alexander. One horn, one leader. So we see in the dream that the 55 00:05:25,170 --> 00:05:30,870 he-goat charges and destroys the ram, which describes exactly Greece's victory 56 00:05:30,870 --> 00:05:38,010 over the Medes some 200 years before either nation confronted each other. 57 00:05:38,010 --> 00:05:46,260 So if you go to chapter eight, verse eight, it says about this vision that he has, it says, 58 00:05:46,260 --> 00:05:51,000 "Then the male goat magnified himself exceedingly. But as soon as he was mighty, 59 00:05:51,000 --> 00:05:56,250 "the large horn was broken; and in its place there came up for conspicuous 60 00:05:56,250 --> 00:06:04,590 "horns toward the four winds of heaven." So here he continues in the vision that he 61 00:06:04,590 --> 00:06:09,780 sees, he continues interpreting the vision. And so, here he 62 00:06:09,780 --> 00:06:15,060 prophesies about what happened or what is going to happen after Alexander's 63 00:06:15,060 --> 00:06:20,580 death, as four of his generals divide the kingdom and took control of it. So 64 00:06:20,580 --> 00:06:25,440 the vision of the he-goat with one horn, that's the Greek Empire led by 65 00:06:25,440 --> 00:06:29,910 Alexander the Great, one horn, but then he says, he sees in his vision, the horn is 66 00:06:29,910 --> 00:06:36,600 broken. Well, Alexander dies and after he dies, he says, in a vision, four horns 67 00:06:36,600 --> 00:06:40,650 come out. Well, the four horns represent four generals, and that's historically 68 00:06:40,650 --> 00:06:43,710 correct. That's exactly what happened. I mean, 200 years 69 00:06:43,710 --> 00:06:49,200 into the future that's what happened. Alexander dies, four of his generals rise 70 00:06:49,200 --> 00:06:54,870 up and take control of the empire. Now, in verses nine to 27 of chapter eight, I'm not 71 00:06:54,870 --> 00:06:59,940 going to read it, but it describes the rise of a smaller horn, which would 72 00:06:59,940 --> 00:07:06,900 attack God's people and blaspheme God. Now this prophecy can have secondary and 73 00:07:06,900 --> 00:07:11,669 final fulfillment. And I explained to you last time that prophecies can have 74 00:07:11,669 --> 00:07:18,180 primary, secondary, or final fulfillment. In other words, they can refer - let me 75 00:07:18,180 --> 00:07:23,340 just show you the thing - they can refer, when we say a primary fulfillment, that's 76 00:07:23,340 --> 00:07:28,470 something that Daniel or any prophet, by the way, the same idea, but in this case 77 00:07:28,470 --> 00:07:33,090 Daniel, primary means that Daniel makes a prophecy of something that's going to 78 00:07:33,090 --> 00:07:39,479 happen in the future, but in the future where he's still alive, that's primary. It 79 00:07:39,479 --> 00:07:43,740 could be a year from now, a month, three years, but it's while he's still 80 00:07:43,740 --> 00:07:47,040 alive. Secondary fulfillment is still in the 81 00:07:47,040 --> 00:07:53,010 future, but it's further into the future. So when Daniel prophecies about the 82 00:07:53,010 --> 00:07:57,150 Greek empire, that's a secondary fulfillment, that's way ahead in the 83 00:07:57,150 --> 00:08:01,620 future, a couple of hundred years. And then there's a final fulfillment. 84 00:08:01,620 --> 00:08:05,820 When we talk about prophecies that have a final fulfillment, we're talking about 85 00:08:05,820 --> 00:08:11,820 prophecies that only are fulfilled at the end of time, okay. I want you to keep 86 00:08:11,820 --> 00:08:15,360 that in mind. So the fulfillment of this little horn, 87 00:08:15,360 --> 00:08:20,900 it says, a little horn comes up, all right, in his vision. It can have, first of all, a 88 00:08:20,900 --> 00:08:27,660 secondary fulfillment. In other words, the prophecy about the little horn can be 89 00:08:27,660 --> 00:08:32,580 something that has or was going to be something that will happen in the far 90 00:08:32,580 --> 00:08:36,390 future, not at the end of the world, but at the far future. And this is a 91 00:08:36,390 --> 00:08:41,969 reference to the Syrian king, Antiochus Epiphanies, who attacked the Jews and 92 00:08:41,969 --> 00:08:48,089 desecrated the temple. He blasphemed God, which led to the 93 00:08:48,089 --> 00:08:53,790 Maccabean uprising that happened in 170 AD. So that's several hundred 94 00:08:53,790 --> 00:08:57,279 years in the future. Daniel sees this vision of 95 00:08:57,279 --> 00:09:01,990 a little horn that comes up, that has eyes, that blasphemes against God, 96 00:09:01,990 --> 00:09:06,579 and we're wondering, who's that person? Well, that prophecy is about this Syrian 97 00:09:06,579 --> 00:09:13,930 king, not a world power, a little horn, a regional power, Syria. He was the king of 98 00:09:13,930 --> 00:09:19,360 the northern country of Syria at the time. So Daniel is going to give more 99 00:09:19,360 --> 00:09:24,519 details about this person and time, but he's going to do it in Chapter 11. That's 100 00:09:24,519 --> 00:09:29,199 why I broke everything down for you, it's kind of confusing the way that 101 00:09:29,199 --> 00:09:35,319 the thing is laid out, but he's going to describe in Chapter 11, regional wars 102 00:09:35,319 --> 00:09:40,209 between the Syrians in the north and Alexander's general, one of his generals 103 00:09:40,209 --> 00:09:47,350 controlled Egypt and Palestine in the south. And so, just to get it straight, 104 00:09:47,350 --> 00:09:51,759 he makes prophecies that are going to talk about the four great world powers 105 00:09:51,759 --> 00:09:55,480 that are to come. Well, three to come, because he was living 106 00:09:55,480 --> 00:10:00,880 during the Babylonian, okay. And then he kind of breaks down and he talks about 107 00:10:00,880 --> 00:10:06,790 the struggle between the second and third great powers. And then he breaks it 108 00:10:06,790 --> 00:10:13,050 down even more and talks about what takes place in between these two powers. 109 00:10:13,050 --> 00:10:18,009 And that's that little horn. He's going to talk about what happens 110 00:10:18,009 --> 00:10:24,370 regionally. So that's a secondary fulfillment and that would find 111 00:10:24,370 --> 00:10:32,829 itself in the historical time of Antiochus Epiphanies, 170 BC. 112 00:10:32,829 --> 00:10:37,089 Now that same prophecy about the little horn and the blasphemy and stuff like that, 113 00:10:37,089 --> 00:10:43,149 that can also have a final fulfillment, and that final fulfillment at the end of 114 00:10:43,149 --> 00:10:48,130 time would look something like this: it would be a reference to point to the end 115 00:10:48,130 --> 00:10:54,550 of time, when a person in the likeness of Antiochus Epiphanes will come to 116 00:10:54,550 --> 00:11:00,399 blaspheme God and turn people away from God. We wouldn't call him the little 117 00:11:00,399 --> 00:11:05,259 horn, we would call him the Antichrist. And so, this prophecy could either have a 118 00:11:05,259 --> 00:11:10,330 secondary fulfillment in a king, local king who was blasphemous and 119 00:11:10,330 --> 00:11:17,100 caused the Jews a lot of problems, or it could also refer to a final fulfillment 120 00:11:17,100 --> 00:11:26,260 in an individual who acted like this king, but at the end of time, which Paul 121 00:11:26,260 --> 00:11:30,670 refers to as the Antichrist. You with me? That's good. 122 00:11:30,670 --> 00:11:36,190 All right, so keep going. So we know that Daniel's reference to the little horn is 123 00:11:36,190 --> 00:11:41,590 already fulfilled in Antiochus Epiphanes some four hundred years later, but 124 00:11:41,590 --> 00:11:46,870 scholars still debate if this prophecy was meant to refer to the Antichrist as 125 00:11:46,870 --> 00:11:53,632 well, okay. A complex idea. Hopefully between the paperwork and the slides and 126 00:11:53,632 --> 00:11:59,440 your notes you will grasp this. Let's get on to chapter nine. He 127 00:11:59,440 --> 00:12:04,270 talks about the 70 weeks. Let's talk about that. In chapter nine Daniel 128 00:12:04,270 --> 00:12:10,000 prophesies concerning the nation of Israel and the specific coming of the 129 00:12:10,000 --> 00:12:14,950 Messiah. So we change gears in chapter nine, he's not talking about the kingdoms. 130 00:12:14,950 --> 00:12:20,380 Now he's going to talk about the coming of the Messiah. Daniel uses the 131 00:12:20,380 --> 00:12:26,980 idea of 70 weeks to give the exact time when certain things will take place in 132 00:12:26,980 --> 00:12:33,280 the future. So in chapter nine, verses one to 19, again, we don't have time to read. 133 00:12:33,280 --> 00:12:39,760 I just have to summarize it. In verses one to 19 Daniel is praying and he's studying 134 00:12:39,760 --> 00:12:44,140 the word, when all of a sudden he realizes that Jeremiah's prophecy said 135 00:12:44,140 --> 00:12:50,200 that the people would be in captivity for 70 years, and he realizes that that 136 00:12:50,200 --> 00:12:57,040 70 years is almost up in his own lifetime. And so he prays that God will 137 00:12:57,040 --> 00:13:02,830 honor His word and return the people home, in order to rebuild the city of 138 00:13:02,830 --> 00:13:08,410 Jerusalem and the temple. That's what chapter nine is about. So we pick up the 139 00:13:08,410 --> 00:13:14,020 story in verse 20 of chapter nine, he says, "Now while I was speaking and praying, and 140 00:13:14,020 --> 00:13:18,010 "confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my 141 00:13:18,010 --> 00:13:21,699 "supplication before the Lord," now his supplication was, 142 00:13:21,699 --> 00:13:25,689 please God, return the people. The time is over. You promised after 70 years 143 00:13:25,689 --> 00:13:30,189 they could go back. That's the supplication, all right. So, "supplication 144 00:13:30,189 --> 00:13:35,290 "before the Lord my God on behalf of the holy mountain of my God while I was 145 00:13:35,290 --> 00:13:39,899 "still speaking in prayer, then the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision 146 00:13:39,899 --> 00:13:46,720 "previously, came to me in my extreme weariness about the evening 147 00:13:46,720 --> 00:13:51,009 "offering," Gabriel is the angel. He calls him the man because the angel 148 00:13:51,009 --> 00:13:56,470 appeared as a man. "He gave me instruction and talked with me and said, 'O Daniel, I 149 00:13:56,470 --> 00:14:01,779 "have now come forth to give you insight with understanding. At the beginning of 150 00:14:01,779 --> 00:14:06,069 "your supplications the command was issued, and I have come to tell you, for 151 00:14:06,069 --> 00:14:10,449 "you are highly esteemed; so give heed to the message and gain understanding of 152 00:14:10,449 --> 00:14:15,129 "the vision. Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy 153 00:14:15,129 --> 00:14:20,139 "city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for 154 00:14:20,139 --> 00:14:24,819 "iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up 155 00:14:24,819 --> 00:14:30,819 "vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy place. So you are to know and 156 00:14:30,819 --> 00:14:35,589 "discern that from the issuing of decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the 157 00:14:35,589 --> 00:14:42,549 "Messiah the Prince there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be 158 00:14:42,549 --> 00:14:48,759 "built again, with plaza and moat, even in the times of distress. Then after the 159 00:14:48,759 --> 00:14:53,079 "sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people of 160 00:14:53,079 --> 00:14:57,279 "the prince who is to come will destroy the city in the sanctuary. And its end 161 00:14:57,279 --> 00:15:02,289 "will come with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are 162 00:15:02,289 --> 00:15:07,869 "determined. And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but 163 00:15:07,869 --> 00:15:12,279 "in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and 164 00:15:12,279 --> 00:15:17,350 "on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until a 165 00:15:17,350 --> 00:15:22,899 "complete destruction, one that is decreed is poured out on the one who makes 166 00:15:22,899 --> 00:15:26,709 "desolate." That's pretty clear. I don't think we need any explanations 167 00:15:26,709 --> 00:15:34,119 there, do we? So what happens here? God gives Daniel further understanding 168 00:15:34,119 --> 00:15:38,970 concerning the history and the future of the restored city, 169 00:15:38,970 --> 00:15:44,230 Jerusalem, and the time of the arrival of the promised Messiah. He's talking about 170 00:15:44,230 --> 00:15:47,950 two things: when will the city be rebuilt; and when 171 00:15:47,950 --> 00:15:56,650 will the Messiah come. The information is tied up in the expression 70 weeks. From 172 00:15:56,650 --> 00:16:02,230 their perspective they could not solve this numerical mystery, but from our 173 00:16:02,230 --> 00:16:05,890 viewpoint we can get a clearer understanding. From where they 174 00:16:05,890 --> 00:16:08,530 stood, they didn't get with the 70 weeks meant, 175 00:16:08,530 --> 00:16:15,160 but we do. We have some insight towards it. What the seventy weeks exactly refer 176 00:16:15,160 --> 00:16:21,490 to depends on how you begin counting and where you begin counting. I'll give you a 177 00:16:21,490 --> 00:16:27,550 little example here. A lot of scholars think that the 70 weeks refers to 70 178 00:16:27,550 --> 00:16:36,760 weeks of years, okay. The number seven in Jewish numerology was used in 179 00:16:36,760 --> 00:16:41,170 significant ways from the very beginning of scriptures. In other words, numbers 180 00:16:41,170 --> 00:16:46,530 were very meaningful. The number seven, of course, used in the days of creation, 181 00:16:46,530 --> 00:16:52,480 70 years of captivity. It was a combination of two other numbers, the 182 00:16:52,480 --> 00:16:59,830 number four, which represented the world - north, south, east, west. The number four 183 00:16:59,830 --> 00:17:06,520 represented the world. The number three represented God. And so, the combination 184 00:17:06,520 --> 00:17:13,689 of four, the world, and God. In other words, God and His creation. I mean, everything 185 00:17:13,689 --> 00:17:18,910 that exists is God and His creation. And so the number seven really referred to a 186 00:17:18,910 --> 00:17:27,930 perfect union, something which was perfect. And so, 70 weeks or 70 times 187 00:17:27,930 --> 00:17:35,370 seven, all right, seven days in a week, equalled 490 years. Keep that in mind. 188 00:17:35,370 --> 00:17:42,250 This idea of 70 weeks equals 490 years. How do they figure that 189 00:17:42,250 --> 00:17:44,980 out? How did they know that's what it means? 190 00:17:44,980 --> 00:17:49,340 Well, the idea comes from Ezekiel in chapter four, verse six, where 191 00:17:49,340 --> 00:17:56,270 Ezekiel assigns one year for each day in a certain prophecy. And so you need to be 192 00:17:56,270 --> 00:18:00,110 careful, because there's nothing that tells us that the equation in Ezekiel's 193 00:18:00,110 --> 00:18:04,970 prophecy should be applied to Daniel's prophecy. It's just speculation. If they 194 00:18:04,970 --> 00:18:09,890 used it there, the weeks refer to years, maybe that's what they 195 00:18:09,890 --> 00:18:15,890 mean in Daniel's prophecy as well. Well, maybe yes, maybe no. The significance of 196 00:18:15,890 --> 00:18:21,050 the prophecy is that it refers to periods of time where certain things 197 00:18:21,050 --> 00:18:27,640 would happen. That's the idea. Daniel divided these seven weeks into 198 00:18:27,640 --> 00:18:34,600 three parts: seven weeks, sixty-two weeks, one week. 199 00:18:34,600 --> 00:18:43,880 These refer to the following events - give you a thing first of all. The first one 200 00:18:43,880 --> 00:18:50,210 is how long it would take to rebuild Jerusalem and the temple. That's what 201 00:18:50,210 --> 00:18:55,400 he's referring to. That's what his prophecy is about. And so it's from 202 00:18:55,400 --> 00:19:00,550 the time Daniel is there to the building of the temple. How long would that be? 203 00:19:00,550 --> 00:19:07,550 Seven weeks. Now remember what they refer to. Then the next one would be how long 204 00:19:07,550 --> 00:19:12,590 it would be until the Messiah would come. In other words, from Daniel to the 205 00:19:12,590 --> 00:19:18,230 rebuilding of the temple, one period of time. Then from the rebuilding of the 206 00:19:18,230 --> 00:19:23,930 temple to when the Messiah would come, the second period of time. And then the 207 00:19:23,930 --> 00:19:31,100 third period of time, how long after the Messiah would come would be the end of 208 00:19:31,100 --> 00:19:37,370 his ministry and the end of the nation. In other words, watch, from Daniel to the 209 00:19:37,370 --> 00:19:42,650 rebuilding of the temple, then from the rebuilding of the temple to the coming 210 00:19:42,650 --> 00:19:48,410 of the Messiah, then from the coming of the Messiah to the destruction of the 211 00:19:48,410 --> 00:19:54,530 temple and the nation of Israel. That's what he's projecting ahead. And all of 212 00:19:54,530 --> 00:20:01,370 that information is tied up in this idea of 70 weeks. Let's face it, 213 00:20:01,370 --> 00:20:06,140 these were three main events in Jewish history that were left to 214 00:20:06,140 --> 00:20:10,520 happen. Everything else had happened up until that time. They were freed 215 00:20:10,520 --> 00:20:15,560 from Egypt and they settled the land. They went into the Promised 216 00:20:15,560 --> 00:20:18,800 Land, and there were the kings. And so, a lot of things had 217 00:20:18,800 --> 00:20:22,910 already happened in their history. There were three major things still to happen: 218 00:20:22,910 --> 00:20:27,440 the rebuilding of the temple and the restoration of the nation; the coming of 219 00:20:27,440 --> 00:20:30,830 the Messiah, that was the second thing; and then the third thing would be the 220 00:20:30,830 --> 00:20:34,580 ultimate destruction of the nation of Israel and the temple. Those were the 221 00:20:34,580 --> 00:20:39,530 three things left. That's why I say, Daniel's prophecies are so amazing, 222 00:20:39,530 --> 00:20:45,530 in what he says. Now scholars have tried to compute numbers to 223 00:20:45,530 --> 00:20:50,810 correspond exactly to the day with various historical events, but of 224 00:20:50,810 --> 00:20:57,430 course they're not in agreement. However, if we approach these numbers as 225 00:20:57,430 --> 00:21:03,020 representing general eras, then we have a better chance at understanding, not 226 00:21:03,020 --> 00:21:08,540 nailing it down to the day and the moment, but rather in this period of time that's 227 00:21:08,540 --> 00:21:12,800 going to happen, and then in this period of time that's going to happen. 228 00:21:12,800 --> 00:21:18,500 Let me give you an example of that, and so from the time Daniel made 229 00:21:18,500 --> 00:21:24,800 the prophecy to the temples completion, historically we know, was about fifty 230 00:21:24,800 --> 00:21:32,960 years. Well, he says, seven weeks, seven times seven, forty-nine years. You see 231 00:21:32,960 --> 00:21:36,050 what I'm saying? Some say, oh that's not fifty years. Well that's not the point. 232 00:21:36,050 --> 00:21:42,920 The point was, in how much time is this going to happen? Well, he says seven times 233 00:21:42,920 --> 00:21:46,220 seven, seven weeks seven times seven, forty-nine years. Well, it happened 234 00:21:46,220 --> 00:21:52,280 in about 50 years, okay. Then from the time that Daniel made the prophecy to 235 00:21:52,280 --> 00:21:58,310 the beginning of Jesus' public ministry, how long would that be? From Daniel to 236 00:21:58,310 --> 00:22:02,510 the coming of the Messiah. Well, approximately five centuries. 237 00:22:02,510 --> 00:22:10,580 Well, 62 weeks, he said 7, 62. Well, what's 62 times seven? Four hundred and 238 00:22:10,580 --> 00:22:16,910 thirty-four years. So approximately five centuries. During what era 239 00:22:16,910 --> 00:22:25,370 would the Messiah come? Well, he says 62 weeks, 434 years. When did He come? Roughly 240 00:22:25,370 --> 00:22:30,830 500 years. And then, from the time of the Messiah's coming to the end of His 241 00:22:30,830 --> 00:22:35,030 ministry and death on the cross and then ultimately the destruction of Jerusalem. 242 00:22:35,030 --> 00:22:43,130 How long was that period? Well, from 30, right, to 70, Jesus died 30 AD, 243 00:22:43,130 --> 00:22:50,120 roughly. And when was Jerusalem destroyed? Well, we know 70 AD. The Romans 244 00:22:50,120 --> 00:22:54,830 came and destroyed it. Well, how long is that? Forty years. Well, forty years, one week. 245 00:22:54,830 --> 00:23:02,030 A short period. So you have a medium period, that's when the temple will be rebuilt, a very 246 00:23:02,030 --> 00:23:07,060 long period, that's when the Messiah will come. And in a very, very short period. 247 00:23:07,060 --> 00:23:14,950 Seven, sixty-two, one, okay. So you have to remember when dealing with numbers, 248 00:23:14,950 --> 00:23:23,060 the prophets were more interested with acts and events and sequence and eras. So 249 00:23:23,060 --> 00:23:27,950 the numbers indicated how many acts and the era and the place and the sequence, 250 00:23:27,950 --> 00:23:33,040 but not necessarily exact to the day. They were less concerned with the 251 00:23:33,040 --> 00:23:38,620 numerical exactness, more concerned with the events and the epochs in time. 252 00:23:38,620 --> 00:23:43,550 Jeremiah, the one exception to that, which I think proves the rule. 253 00:23:43,550 --> 00:23:49,520 Jeremiah, he prophesied exactly 70 years for the captivity. And after seventy 254 00:23:49,520 --> 00:23:55,810 years, they did come back. Daniel picks up on that symbolic number of 70 weeks and 255 00:23:55,810 --> 00:24:02,330 foretells the last three main events that would take place in the life of the 256 00:24:02,330 --> 00:24:05,420 Jewish nation. So there's chapter nine. 257 00:24:05,420 --> 00:24:13,370 Chapter 10, we have angels. In verses one to nine of chapter 10, Daniel tells of a 258 00:24:13,370 --> 00:24:18,770 troubling period in his soul, when he sees and has an exchange with an unnamed 259 00:24:18,770 --> 00:24:25,490 angel. In verses 10 to 21 of that chapter, the angel reveals to Daniel some of the 260 00:24:25,490 --> 00:24:30,110 struggles that take place in the unseen realm of 261 00:24:30,110 --> 00:24:34,730 the spiritual world. And if you've read the chapter, you see that the struggle is 262 00:24:34,730 --> 00:24:39,980 between angelic beings in the control and the movement of nations in that 263 00:24:39,980 --> 00:24:46,580 period of time. Fascinating, fascinating reading. Again, Daniel is describing 264 00:24:46,580 --> 00:24:51,320 events that are related to these four kingdoms, but this time from a kind of 265 00:24:51,320 --> 00:24:55,519 behind-the-scenes point of view. In other words, we've seen the four kingdoms, they 266 00:24:55,519 --> 00:25:00,529 rise, they fall, the kings, some of the intrigue between the 267 00:25:00,529 --> 00:25:06,350 various kingdoms. Now he talks about what's happening in the spiritual realm 268 00:25:06,350 --> 00:25:14,529 while these kingdoms are rising and falling. And so, the angel in this chapter 269 00:25:14,529 --> 00:25:20,630 reveals the following: first of all, he reveals that his mission is to give 270 00:25:20,630 --> 00:25:25,639 Daniel yet another vision concerning his people and what would happen to them in 271 00:25:25,639 --> 00:25:30,889 the future. And this vision will unfold in Chapter 11. We'll touch on that in a 272 00:25:30,889 --> 00:25:35,929 minute. Then the second thing, he reveals the angelic struggle between himself and 273 00:25:35,929 --> 00:25:41,990 other angels that guide or empower the nations that Daniel has spoken of in his 274 00:25:41,990 --> 00:25:46,760 vision. So Daniel has spoken of the Medo-Persian empire, well the Babylonian, 275 00:25:46,760 --> 00:25:51,529 Medo-Persian, the Greek, the Roman, and now the angel comes and tells him what 276 00:25:51,529 --> 00:25:56,659 is happening behind the scenes, what's happening in the spiritual world that is 277 00:25:56,659 --> 00:26:02,690 making these kingdoms rise and fall. So the angel tells him that he and Michael, 278 00:26:02,690 --> 00:26:10,490 the Archangel, were struggling with the angel who was over Persia, in preparation 279 00:26:10,490 --> 00:26:16,279 for the coming of the angel from Greece. I don't know what that means. It's just 280 00:26:16,279 --> 00:26:22,549 so fascinating. This describes the future struggle between Persia and Greece. Now, 281 00:26:22,549 --> 00:26:27,039 we don't understand the nature of the struggle between the angelic beings. 282 00:26:27,039 --> 00:26:33,980 I mean, perhaps the angel over Persia was refusing to accept the demise of his 283 00:26:33,980 --> 00:26:39,409 Protectorate and these other angels were there to prepare for the eventual 284 00:26:39,409 --> 00:26:44,029 destruction of that Protectorate by Greece. Who knows what's going on. Daniel 285 00:26:44,029 --> 00:26:46,250 sort of opens that curtain a little bit and then 286 00:26:46,250 --> 00:26:53,090 closes it. In any event, the revelation shows Daniel that the order of world 287 00:26:53,090 --> 00:27:00,080 events is controlled by God and worked out by His messengers. Fascinating thing 288 00:27:00,080 --> 00:27:04,630 indeed, especially when you think about what's going on in our world today, 289 00:27:04,630 --> 00:27:10,310 alright. So we go to chapter 11 and here he talks about, we've had the 290 00:27:10,310 --> 00:27:17,000 big picture, the panoramic picture of the four great world empires 291 00:27:17,000 --> 00:27:21,440 over a period of four or five hundred years. Now what he does is he telescopes 292 00:27:21,440 --> 00:27:30,020 in to events that take place in between these 293 00:27:30,020 --> 00:27:36,170 kingdoms. So in the chapter he's going to see a vision that introduces 294 00:27:36,170 --> 00:27:41,780 some new elements to the scenario of the four kingdom. Let me give you a little 295 00:27:41,780 --> 00:27:46,490 bit of background here, so you'll understand. After the death of Alexander 296 00:27:46,490 --> 00:27:52,760 the Great, as I said, his kingdom was divided among his four generals. One 297 00:27:52,760 --> 00:27:58,120 general called Ptolemy Soter was the general who received the land of Egypt and he 298 00:27:58,120 --> 00:28:06,650 then annexed Judea as part of his domain. This activity took place between 324 299 00:28:06,650 --> 00:28:14,270 and 264 BC. The Greek Empire was still the dominant force, but it was beginning 300 00:28:14,270 --> 00:28:23,000 its decline after the death of Alexander. So this kingdom here, Egypt, with 301 00:28:23,000 --> 00:28:29,720 Judea annexed to it, was threatened in a regional war by a powerful northern 302 00:28:29,720 --> 00:28:35,810 country called Syria, who contested the annexation of the Judean territory and 303 00:28:35,810 --> 00:28:42,140 thus began a series of conflicts between the northern kings in Syria and the 304 00:28:42,140 --> 00:28:47,780 southern kings who were actually Greek rulers in the area of the Greek empire 305 00:28:47,780 --> 00:28:53,330 of Egypt. And the reason that they wanted this land is they wanted this land as a 306 00:28:53,330 --> 00:28:57,550 buffer. They wanted to control this land as a protection. 307 00:28:57,550 --> 00:29:01,630 The North wanted it as a protection from the south. The South wanted it as a 308 00:29:01,630 --> 00:29:06,760 protection from the north. They each wanted as a staging area to launch wars 309 00:29:06,760 --> 00:29:10,750 against each other, and also for the natural resources there, and the food. 310 00:29:10,750 --> 00:29:14,620 So there was continually a war, but it was a regional 311 00:29:14,620 --> 00:29:21,730 war. It wasn't a world war. Eventually Syria dominated the area and 312 00:29:21,730 --> 00:29:29,350 that took place between 204 BC to about 165. They eventually got the upper hand, 313 00:29:29,350 --> 00:29:34,720 they were the stronger of the two nations. Meanwhile in Jerusalem, something else is 314 00:29:34,720 --> 00:29:39,960 taking place that you need to understand. The Syrian domination of their country 315 00:29:39,960 --> 00:29:45,580 during that time, there was a struggle going on in Jerusalem between the 316 00:29:45,580 --> 00:29:52,060 Orthodox Jews, the Jews who held very tightly to the Word of God. They didn't 317 00:29:52,060 --> 00:29:56,260 want to make any changes. They wanted to make sure that Greek influence did not 318 00:29:56,260 --> 00:30:01,360 influence the scriptures themselves. In other words, the Orthodox 319 00:30:01,360 --> 00:30:05,830 were the ones who were conservative. They were very careful in preserving the 320 00:30:05,830 --> 00:30:11,650 scriptures. They would even say, we do Bible things in Bible ways, okay. That was 321 00:30:11,650 --> 00:30:16,150 them. And they were fighting a battle against the liberals or the more worldly 322 00:30:16,150 --> 00:30:21,370 minded Jews that lived and who had been influenced tremendously by Greek ideas 323 00:30:21,370 --> 00:30:27,310 and Greek philosophy. So there was this local battle going on between these two. 324 00:30:27,310 --> 00:30:32,110 And I might open a little parenthetical statement here, if you ever wonder, where 325 00:30:32,110 --> 00:30:37,170 did the Pharisees come from? Well, the Pharisees come from this period of time. 326 00:30:37,170 --> 00:30:43,750 The party of the Pharisees began at around this time. They were the ones 327 00:30:43,750 --> 00:30:49,090 who were standing up to make sure to preserve the integrity of the 328 00:30:49,090 --> 00:30:54,190 Hebrew scriptures. And they were, believe it or not, they were the heroes of the 329 00:30:54,190 --> 00:30:58,990 time. They were the heroes of that period. We know, however, when we study the New 330 00:30:58,990 --> 00:31:01,780 Testament that by the time of the New Testament 331 00:31:01,780 --> 00:31:07,060 these same Pharisees and heroes had become - well, we know what they became, 332 00:31:07,060 --> 00:31:11,090 right? They began to add to God's Word. They did exactly the thing that 333 00:31:11,090 --> 00:31:15,080 they were trying to defend in the beginning. That little parenthetical 334 00:31:15,080 --> 00:31:21,410 statement, let's close that, just a little historical note. Now, these two factions 335 00:31:21,410 --> 00:31:27,460 in Jerusalem constantly fought over who would control the high priest office, 336 00:31:27,460 --> 00:31:33,970 which was the most powerful position in Jerusalem. Now to make matters more 337 00:31:33,970 --> 00:31:40,310 complicated, the high priest office, at the time, was appointed by the Syrian 338 00:31:40,310 --> 00:31:46,250 king, as a sort of a governor under Syrian control. There was a lot of 339 00:31:46,250 --> 00:31:51,350 lobbying by both sides to influence the Syrian king to appoint the proper 340 00:31:51,350 --> 00:31:57,410 candidate. During the reign of one particularly nasty pagan king, the 341 00:31:57,410 --> 00:32:01,670 aforementioned Antiochus Epiphanies, the high priest 342 00:32:01,670 --> 00:32:08,330 office was actually sold to the highest bidder. Well, on one occasion, 343 00:32:08,330 --> 00:32:13,880 Antiochus appointed a high priest and he sent him to Jerusalem where he was 344 00:32:13,880 --> 00:32:18,980 immediately rejected by the local Orthodox leader. They ran him out of 345 00:32:18,980 --> 00:32:27,770 town. And so, Antiochus was furious and he came with his army into Jerusalem. 346 00:32:27,770 --> 00:32:34,490 He murdered thousands, he tore down the walls, he forbade circumcision on pain of 347 00:32:34,490 --> 00:32:40,970 death, and worst of all, he erected a statue of the pagan god Olympius in the 348 00:32:40,970 --> 00:32:46,250 temple and then he sacrificed a pig on the altar in the temple. In other words, 349 00:32:46,250 --> 00:32:51,470 he completely desecrated the temple and the holy place and the place where Jews 350 00:32:51,470 --> 00:32:57,290 can worship, and made a law that you were not allowed to be circumcised. 351 00:32:57,290 --> 00:33:04,340 Well of course this caused a revolt among the people and a guerrilla-type 352 00:33:04,340 --> 00:33:12,020 war ensued. And that group, the guerrilla leader was led by a man named Judas Mattathias, 353 00:33:12,020 --> 00:33:19,640 but his name in Greek was Judas Maccabee. Ever hear of the Maccabean revolt? That's 354 00:33:19,640 --> 00:33:24,679 where that started. This took place between 165 and 166 355 00:33:24,679 --> 00:33:30,769 BC. Anyways, make a long story short, after a long struggle, the Syrian king 356 00:33:30,769 --> 00:33:35,659 actually was forced to sign a peace treaty and the temple was cleansed and 357 00:33:35,659 --> 00:33:42,139 worship was once again renewed and this rededication of the temple has been 358 00:33:42,139 --> 00:33:47,539 memorialized by the Jews in a holiday that they still celebrate today and it's 359 00:33:47,539 --> 00:33:53,840 called Hanukkah. And that's what Hanukkah is, it's a remembrance of the 360 00:33:53,840 --> 00:33:59,720 rededication of the temple after it had been desecrated. And so for about a 361 00:33:59,720 --> 00:34:05,419 hundred years the Jews enjoyed a relative amount of freedom and peace 362 00:34:05,419 --> 00:34:13,970 after that war. Now in 145 BC Rome eventually defeated Greece and began to 363 00:34:13,970 --> 00:34:21,679 tighten its grip on world power. In 63 BC it captured Jerusalem and it subdued all 364 00:34:21,679 --> 00:34:28,040 the local kings under its control. Rome then put local rulers to govern the area 365 00:34:28,040 --> 00:34:34,579 and at the time of Jesus' birth, Herod was one of those that Rome had appointed 366 00:34:34,579 --> 00:34:40,909 as ruler. So when we look at the rise and fall of the four great kingdoms, 367 00:34:40,909 --> 00:34:48,379 what I've described to you is what took place in the area of Judea between the 368 00:34:48,379 --> 00:34:53,179 fall and the rise of the third and fourth kingdom. In other words, as the 369 00:34:53,179 --> 00:34:59,000 Greek kingdom was descending and the Roman kingdom was ascending, there was 370 00:34:59,000 --> 00:35:04,130 this little war, this little regional war that took place between Syria and the 371 00:35:04,130 --> 00:35:10,520 south; and that's what Paul - that's what Daniel is talking about here in 372 00:35:10,520 --> 00:35:15,710 Chapter 11. And we get confused if we try to apply these symbols to the big powers. 373 00:35:15,710 --> 00:35:22,670 They're not talking about a regional war. And so, Daniel's vision is a close-up view 374 00:35:22,670 --> 00:35:27,890 of what will take place in Israel at the period where the Greek empire is in 375 00:35:27,890 --> 00:35:32,450 decline and the Roman Empire is ascending. And I want to 376 00:35:32,450 --> 00:35:40,000 emphasize the idea - imagine, this is centuries into the future and God is 377 00:35:40,000 --> 00:35:45,279 giving Daniel these little details about what's taking place in this little 378 00:35:45,279 --> 00:35:54,329 regional war, simply to affirm the fact that this is prophecy, historically 379 00:35:54,329 --> 00:36:00,250 confirmed. And so, chapter 11 is a detailed account of the kings, the wars, 380 00:36:00,250 --> 00:36:05,529 and the outcome of this period. Now, the outline that I've given you explains 381 00:36:05,529 --> 00:36:11,079 this in detail, verse by verse, because obviously we don't have time in this 382 00:36:11,079 --> 00:36:16,089 class. You need to look at it yourself. Anyways, as far as that. I want to explain 383 00:36:16,089 --> 00:36:22,839 one other thing there. On the left of the page, of your notes, the verse is printed 384 00:36:22,839 --> 00:36:26,920 for whatever chapter you're looking at. And then on the right is the 385 00:36:26,920 --> 00:36:33,250 interpretation agreed upon by most scholars. Now, by verse 36 of chapter 11 386 00:36:33,250 --> 00:36:38,049 and into chapter 12 you begin to have three interpretations of the verses that 387 00:36:38,049 --> 00:36:43,150 I have noted for you, and there are reasons for this. Some scholars think 388 00:36:43,150 --> 00:36:49,599 that there's a secondary and a final fulfillment of these words. So words 389 00:36:49,599 --> 00:36:54,490 refer to the same idea that repeats itself in the future and then once again 390 00:36:54,490 --> 00:36:58,859 at the end of the world. Remember, I explained that when some scholars think 391 00:36:58,859 --> 00:37:04,660 secondary fulfillment, end time fulfillment. So in verse 36, for example, 392 00:37:04,660 --> 00:37:11,380 it can refer only to Antiochus and his deeds, or it could also refer to the 393 00:37:11,380 --> 00:37:18,670 Antichrist at the end of the world, or both. So this list gives you the 394 00:37:18,670 --> 00:37:24,910 generally agreed interpretations, plus at times the varied ideas of other scholars. 395 00:37:24,910 --> 00:37:30,460 And I've chosen three pretty mainstream guys. One is Jim McGuigan, 396 00:37:30,460 --> 00:37:33,279 who's a member of the church of Christ, of course. I think most of us have heard of Jimmy 397 00:37:33,279 --> 00:37:39,039 McGuigan, a great preacher and a scholar. The other is Butler, he's an evangelical 398 00:37:39,039 --> 00:37:44,109 scholar, but a conservative evangelical scholar. And then, Young, he's 399 00:37:44,109 --> 00:37:47,890 the guy - Young's Concordance, that Young, okay. So you get three. 400 00:37:47,890 --> 00:37:53,019 You're adults. We need to put on our 401 00:37:53,019 --> 00:37:58,809 big-boy reading glasses here and realize that in the Bible sometimes, 402 00:37:58,809 --> 00:38:04,569 we're not exactly sure how something should be applied. There can be a variety of 403 00:38:04,569 --> 00:38:09,489 ways, especially when we're trying to interpret prophecy and visions. 404 00:38:09,489 --> 00:38:12,969 It's not like in the book of Acts, Peter says, be baptized. 405 00:38:12,969 --> 00:38:17,380 Well, there's no vision there. It's pretty straightforward. But here we have a vision. 406 00:38:17,380 --> 00:38:19,779 So I wanted to give you a little view of that. 407 00:38:19,779 --> 00:38:23,979 All right, chapter 12. Chapter 12, the time of the end. 408 00:38:23,979 --> 00:38:28,869 So Daniel continues his dialogue with the angel as the angel sweeps forward 409 00:38:28,869 --> 00:38:34,410 now to the outcome of the troubles that will take place now at the end of time. 410 00:38:34,410 --> 00:38:39,670 So the angel is giving him a vision of this regional war that will take place 411 00:38:39,670 --> 00:38:46,150 in the far future, 300/400 years in the future. Now in verse 12 we go forward 412 00:38:46,150 --> 00:38:51,789 to the final, that's the image that he's going to get. The last chapter, 413 00:38:51,789 --> 00:38:56,499 verse 11, it spoke of the battle between Persia and Greece and then the 414 00:38:56,499 --> 00:39:01,239 local battles in Palestine until the appearance and dominance of the Roman 415 00:39:01,239 --> 00:39:06,249 empire, but in the last chapter we fast forward to look at the outcome of the 416 00:39:06,249 --> 00:39:13,119 struggle between the fourth kingdom, which is Rome, and the kingdom that will 417 00:39:13,119 --> 00:39:17,469 replace all the other kingdoms before it. And that is the kingdom of God. There we 418 00:39:17,469 --> 00:39:24,039 go. Note that he's still talking about the four kingdoms and God's final kingdom, 419 00:39:24,039 --> 00:39:28,779 but again, in a different way. I told you at the beginning, keep your eye on the 420 00:39:28,779 --> 00:39:34,079 ball. He's always talking about the same thing. And here he's talking about, not 421 00:39:34,079 --> 00:39:39,039 Babylon, not Medo-Persia, not Greece, he's talking about the Roman 422 00:39:39,039 --> 00:39:43,630 empire and what is going to happen at the very, very end. Now there are some 423 00:39:43,630 --> 00:39:50,079 features in verse 12 that you need to be aware of. First of all, he changes it. No 424 00:39:50,079 --> 00:39:57,130 more seventy weeks. Now he changes expressions. Now it's time, times, and half 425 00:39:57,130 --> 00:40:03,010 a time, and numbers to determine time when certain events 426 00:40:03,010 --> 00:40:06,490 will take place, especially the end of Jerusalem and the world. 427 00:40:06,490 --> 00:40:11,680 Another thing is, he expresses the promise that God will rescue those 428 00:40:11,680 --> 00:40:18,160 written in His book, the chosen ones. He also predicts a time of hardship and 429 00:40:18,160 --> 00:40:23,410 eventual punishment. And then Daniel has the vision to predict events, but the 430 00:40:23,410 --> 00:40:28,210 time is hidden or closed to him and us. Many have tried to guess it. 431 00:40:28,210 --> 00:40:32,170 Whenever you get something on the internet or a flyer or 432 00:40:32,170 --> 00:40:38,290 something like that, that tells you okay, somebody knows, somebody has figured it 433 00:40:38,290 --> 00:40:44,200 out and knows how to read the prophecies to give the exact time - 2016. 434 00:40:44,200 --> 00:40:49,840 Well, the moment he says he knows, you get off that boat, okay. Get 435 00:40:49,840 --> 00:40:55,180 off that train. Jesus Himself said, no one knows. Only the Father knows, 436 00:40:55,180 --> 00:40:59,920 alright. Again, there are different interpretations depending on the way you 437 00:40:59,920 --> 00:41:05,500 think, the prophecy is concerned only with future events, or perhaps deal exclusively 438 00:41:05,500 --> 00:41:12,850 with the end of time or both. So you may have different viewpoints, but 439 00:41:12,850 --> 00:41:17,740 this sequence is always the same, right. The sequence is always the same. 440 00:41:17,740 --> 00:41:24,270 The rise and the fall of the fourth kingdom, the persecution of God's people, 441 00:41:24,270 --> 00:41:29,650 perseverance and victory of God's people, the defeat and the judgment and the 442 00:41:29,650 --> 00:41:34,540 disappearance of the fourth kingdom, and then the reward and the happiness for 443 00:41:34,540 --> 00:41:41,320 God's people in the end. So, we may not agree as to how much time in 444 00:41:41,320 --> 00:41:46,120 between these particular events take place, but we know that that is the 445 00:41:46,120 --> 00:41:51,880 sequence of events. We know once the fourth Kingdom shows up then the kingdom 446 00:41:51,880 --> 00:41:56,740 of God shows up. And once the fourth Kingdom falls and the kingdom of God 447 00:41:56,740 --> 00:42:00,880 begins to grow, we know there won't be any other kingdoms, only the kingdom of 448 00:42:00,880 --> 00:42:06,280 God will be there. And we also know that the kingdom of God will bring the reward 449 00:42:06,280 --> 00:42:12,160 to all those who believe. So that sequence there, is there. He also 450 00:42:12,160 --> 00:42:16,510 talks about time, times, and half a time. Notice, 451 00:42:16,510 --> 00:42:20,740 the same sequence. He just uses a different expression. Before he said, 452 00:42:20,740 --> 00:42:26,950 seven weeks, sixty-two weeks, one week. So in chapter 453 00:42:26,950 --> 00:42:35,260 12 he talks about time, times, half a time. Same idea, same distance 454 00:42:35,260 --> 00:42:43,119 between the events that will take place. So something to remember about Daniel's 455 00:42:43,119 --> 00:42:46,630 book, remember we said Daniel/ Revelation for beginners. The idea is we're doing a 456 00:42:46,630 --> 00:42:51,280 survey to understand, to grasp the notion of the book, the main ideas of 457 00:42:51,280 --> 00:42:57,099 the book. So some things we need to remember: first of all, it deals with four 458 00:42:57,099 --> 00:43:04,030 world powers and the church; secondly, it describes the rise and fall of these and 459 00:43:04,030 --> 00:43:08,680 the eventual establishment of the church in a variety of ways and symbols and 460 00:43:08,680 --> 00:43:14,410 images, but it repeats the same story over and over again. It's always the same 461 00:43:14,410 --> 00:43:18,010 story. Number three, it's important to remember 462 00:43:18,010 --> 00:43:23,740 the sequence of events in chapter two, which remains the same even though the 463 00:43:23,740 --> 00:43:29,400 symbolism is, at times, hard to understand or match exactly to precise historical 464 00:43:29,400 --> 00:43:39,069 dates, okay. Remember that. A couple other things we need to remember: prophecy is 465 00:43:39,069 --> 00:43:44,700 concerned with events and epochs and sequence, 466 00:43:44,700 --> 00:43:50,680 exact numbers and days are used symbolically. So when you're trying to 467 00:43:50,680 --> 00:43:54,369 figure out - four hundred and sixty-four, well, 468 00:43:54,369 --> 00:43:59,170 in September, you were off by three and two-thirds year and six hours. 469 00:43:59,170 --> 00:44:05,410 No. The prophets did not use numbers in that way. It's not engineering, it's 470 00:44:05,410 --> 00:44:11,530 prophecy, okay. We have to understand, they're interested in sequence, epochs. 471 00:44:11,530 --> 00:44:16,990 Remember John the Baptist? John the Baptist, he knew he was the 472 00:44:16,990 --> 00:44:22,780 one announcing the coming of Jesus. He knew what his job was, and he 473 00:44:22,780 --> 00:44:26,440 knew he saw Jesus do the miracles. He got the 474 00:44:26,440 --> 00:44:30,280 sequence right, but then when the end of the world wasn't 475 00:44:30,280 --> 00:44:34,870 happening right away, which he thought, he sent out to Jesus and said, look, are you 476 00:44:34,870 --> 00:44:38,890 the One we should be looking for? Have I made a mistake here? What happened to the 477 00:44:38,890 --> 00:44:47,110 end of the world when Israel - we rise up? What was John the 478 00:44:47,110 --> 00:44:51,730 Baptist's problem? He had the sequence right, he just didn't have the timing 479 00:44:51,730 --> 00:44:56,410 right. He thought it was going to happen in a couple of years, not in a couple of 480 00:44:56,410 --> 00:45:03,250 centuries or millennia, all right. So it's important for us to do that also. The 481 00:45:03,250 --> 00:45:09,550 sequence has been proven historically, that's very important. The sequence has 482 00:45:09,550 --> 00:45:12,940 been proven historically. And I repeat it again, somebody says, why do you believe 483 00:45:12,940 --> 00:45:20,020 the Bible is inspired by God? Because of the fulfilled prophecy, especially the 484 00:45:20,020 --> 00:45:27,400 detail of fulfilled prophecy that we have in Daniel. And of course, much of 485 00:45:27,400 --> 00:45:33,730 what he says, we're waiting for the final fulfillment at the end of time, which 486 00:45:33,730 --> 00:45:38,020 could be any time. Remember that Jesus said, things are going to go on 487 00:45:38,020 --> 00:45:41,470 just as they normally are: people are getting married, given in marriage, we're 488 00:45:41,470 --> 00:45:45,790 building, we're doing this, we're having children, all of a sudden, before we know 489 00:45:45,790 --> 00:45:50,800 it, boom, it's the end. And it's not a thousand years. And then we're going to 490 00:45:50,800 --> 00:45:56,590 have a second chance. No, no. When Paul says, in the twinkling of an eye. 491 00:45:56,590 --> 00:45:59,680 Everything that happens at the end of the world 492 00:45:59,680 --> 00:46:05,560 happens in the twinkling of an eye, that Jesus comes, that the dead are raised, that 493 00:46:05,560 --> 00:46:09,670 the saints are gathered with Him, that the evil ones are judged and 494 00:46:09,670 --> 00:46:15,730 punished, that Satan goes into the pit forever, that the heavens and the earth 495 00:46:15,730 --> 00:46:21,730 are destroyed, that the new heavens and earth appear - all of that, twinkling 496 00:46:21,730 --> 00:46:26,410 of an eye. It's not okay, well, we got the new heavens and the earth, you need to be 497 00:46:26,410 --> 00:46:30,480 patient. We're going to take a couple of centuries to get that going. No. 498 00:46:30,480 --> 00:46:38,260 In the twinkling of an eye everything happens. So that's why the message 499 00:46:38,260 --> 00:46:46,220 of be ready is so important, because there's no time to change my mind, 500 00:46:46,220 --> 00:46:49,030 do what I was supposed to do, whatever, that's the lesson. And of course, in 501 00:46:49,030 --> 00:46:55,270 Daniel, the great lesson at the end is we win. We're the winners at the end. Let's 502 00:46:55,270 --> 00:47:01,390 not be overwhelmed with what's taking place in the world at this time. It's always going 503 00:47:01,390 --> 00:47:06,010 to go on until the end of time. okay, so we've completed Daniel and we're 504 00:47:06,010 --> 00:47:11,970 going to head into Revelation in our next lesson. Thank you for your attention.