{"id":18402,"date":"2017-07-02T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-07-02T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sugar-land-bible-church.local\/sermon\/daniel-027-a-hebrew-fourth-of-july-part-1\/"},"modified":"2017-07-02T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2017-07-02T05:00:00","slug":"daniel-027-a-hebrew-fourth-of-july-part-1","status":"publish","type":"sermon","link":"https:\/\/slbc.org\/es\/sermon\/daniel-027-a-hebrew-fourth-of-july-part-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Daniel 027: A Hebrew Fourth of July – Part 1"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","book":[72],"series_event":[467],"sermon_service_type":[472],"speaker":[6],"class_list":["post-18402","sermon","type-sermon","status-publish","hentry","book-daniel","series_event-daniel","sermon_service_type-main-service","speaker-dr-andy-woods","no-post-thumbnail"],"acf":{"sermon_title":"Daniel 027: A Hebrew Fourth of July - Part 1","sermon_date":"20170702","sermon_month":"7","sermon_year":"2017","sermon_notes":4773,"sermon_slides":4774,"sermon_mp3":4776,"sermon_id":"7217104219","series_or_event":467,"service_type":[472],"speaker":6,"books_of_the_bible":72,"chapter_and_verse":"8:1-8","sermon_transcript":"Andy Woods\n\nA Jewish Fourth of July\n\n7-2-17\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Daniel 8:1-8\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Lesson 27\n\nGood morning everybody and a very happy Independence Day weekend to you.\u00a0\u00a0 Aren\u2019t you guys glad we sing patriotic songs in this church?\u00a0 [clapping]\u00a0 I think it\u2019s terrific.\u00a0 And generally when we have come up on the 4th<\/sup> of July I\u2019ve done an independent message related\u00a0 to the United States of America but this morning I\u2019m going to deviate from that pattern because as I was thinking what to speak on the Lord impressed upon me\u2026 well read the next chapter!\u00a0 And we finished Daniel 7, of course I want to thank Gabe Morris for filling in last week, I was in Australia ministering there and had a very fruitful time.\u00a0 I always appreciate your prayers.\n\nBut Daniel 7 gives way to what?\u00a0 Daniel 8!\u00a0\u00a0 You guys with me on that?\u00a0 [Laughter]\u00a0 All right, just making sure everybody is in agreement; we can stipulate those facts I guess, right?\u00a0 What is Daniel 8 about?\u00a0 Well, it\u2019s a story of independence; it\u2019s a story about how a nation fought against all odds, against overwhelming odds with God on their side.\u00a0 And guess what?\u00a0 They achieved victory.\u00a0 They achieved victory and they achieved a window of independence during the intertestamental period which lasted probably about a hundred years.\u00a0 It kind of reminds you, doesn\u2019t it, of the United States, a nation fought a war against all odds, nobody ever bet on the United States; the United States wins, we feel not because God is on our side or we\u2019re on God\u2019s side but God is on our side, whichever way you want to say it.\u00a0 Had it not been for divine intervention it\u2019s doubtful that the independence we achieved in the war of independence would have materialized.\u00a0 The handwriting of God is all over that time period.\n\nAnd the same story is being told here in Daniel 8; the only difference is this is a history lesson given in advance.\u00a0 Daniel, under the divine inspiration of the Holy Spirit, is being told these things by God 400 years before they happened.\u00a0 It even commemorated in Israel getting a holiday out of it, something called The Feast of Lights or Dedication, commonly known today as what?\u00a0 As Hanukah.\u00a0\u00a0 And so because of the parallels I just decided to continue on with our verse by verse exposition through the Book of Daniel.\n\nIt\u2019s interesting to me how God places us in the exact sections of Scripture which reflect the calendar.\u00a0 You say well, you\u2019re a pretty good planner Pastor;\u00a0 let me assure\u00a0 you it\u2019s got nothing to do with me, it\u2019s got everything to do with the illumination and I believe the superintendence of God.\u00a0 Daniel 8 fits the 4th<\/sup> of July weekend., so I\u2019ve entitled this message A Jewish Fourth of July.\u00a0 That\u2019s why I have on today my tie reflecting the nation of Israel.\n\nYou recall as we\u2019ve been working our way through the Book of Daniel that Daniel was raised up by God to prophetically explain the time period called the times of the Gentiles when the nation is outside of their land and being trampled down by various Gentile powers.\u00a0 What\u2019s going to happen during that time period?\u00a0 We wouldn\u2019t know if God had not raised up Daniel.\u00a0 How are the Hebrews to live on pagan soil?\u00a0 We would not know if God had not raised up Daniel and his three friends as role models.\n\nThe Book of Daniel has two parts: the historical section, 1-7, the prophetic section, 8-12.\u00a0 We have completed the historical section; we saw the introductory chapter written in Hebrew.\u00a0 And we have spent several weeks, if not months, working our way through chapters 2-7 which are (as we have said) chiastically structured.\u00a0 The information in 2 is repeated in 7.\u00a0 The information in 3, the theme anyway, is repeated in 6.\u00a0 The information in 4 is repeated in 5.\u00a0 So it\u2019s a literary pattern where Daniel is deliberately paralleling various chapters that have a common theme.\n\nYou say well, I don\u2019t remember any of the things you talked about; well, you can remember pictures, right.\u00a0 If you can attach a picture with each chapter you\u2019ll know how to think your way through the Book of Daniel.\u00a0 Chapter 2 just think of a giant statue.\u00a0 Chapter 3 think of fire as Daniel\u2019s three friends were thrown into that fiery furnace.\u00a0 Chapter 4 think of a tree being cut down which deals with the humiliation and restoration of Nebuchadnezzar.\u00a0 Chapter 5 think of the handwriting on the wall.\u00a0 Chapter 6 think of Daniel in the lion\u2019s den.\u00a0 Chapter 7 think of four ferocious beasts.\u00a0 And then we come to chapter 8 which we\u2019re getting into today, think about two animals, a ram with two horns and a goat with one horn.\u00a0 And it\u2019s through the revelation, about 400 years in advance that these two animals and what they represent, we see something that God did of monumental significance during the intertestamental time period between the two testaments, a great battle, a great victory that was won against all odds.\n\nYou see, you may be here today with the odds stacked against you in whatever it is you\u2019re going through, physically, emotionally, relationally, financially, there\u2019s almost no conceivable way out that you can think of from a human point of view.\u00a0 And that\u2019s the circumstances in \u00a0your life where God shows up.\u00a0 That was what the early colonists in\u00a0 America were against.\u00a0 This in Daniel 8 is what the nation of Israel was against.\u00a0 And last time I checked God is the same yesterday, today and what?\u00a0 Forever\u2026 for tomorrow.\u00a0 The God that helped Israel, the God that helped early America is the God that is going to help you, and wants to help you as you walk with Him through whatever adversity or valley that\u00a0 you are experiencing.\n\nIt\u2019s in chapters 8-12 that the whole tone and tenor shifts.\u00a0 You see, in chapters 2-7 Daniel interpreted the vision but this is different; an angel does the interpreting.\u00a0 In chapters 2-7 Daniel typically spoke of himself in the third person; now, not every time but most of the time, he speaks of himself in the first person.\u00a0 Chapters 2-7 was a message, if you will, to the surrounding Gentile nations; not so 8-12, it\u2019s a message specifically to the nation of Israel.\u00a0 That\u2019s why in chapters 2-7 the language that\u2019s used is Aramaic, it\u2019s one of the few places in the Old Testament that uses a language other than Hebrew and yet you move into chapters 8-12 and the language shifts from Aramaic to Hebrew.\u00a0 God is sending a message to the nation of Israel how He is with them during this very difficult time of adversity, called the times of the Gentiles.\u00a0 It\u2019s just like God is with you as a Christian, as I speak.\n\nChapter 8 is the vision of the ram and the goat as we\u2019ll be talking about.\u00a0 Chapter 9 is the vision of the Seventy Weeks of Daniel; I\u2019m hoping it won\u2019t take us 70 weeks to get through that.\u00a0 And then chapters 10-12 is the final vision; it really begins during the time of Daniel, goes into the inter\u00adtestamental period, goes into the future tribulation period and millennial kingdom and we see what God\u2019s final program is for the nation of Israel.\u00a0 But this morning we begin to work our way through Israel\u2019s Fourth of July, recorded in Daniel 8.\n\nDaniel 8 has four parts to it; the historical setting, verse 1; the vision itself that Daniel received, verses 2-14; the interpretation of the vision, verses 15-26 and finally the chapter ends just like chapter 7 ended, with a personal impact on Daniel himself.\u00a0 We\u2019ll be fortunate if we can make it through verse 14 today but I\u2019m not promising that.\n\nNotice, if you will, verse 1, Daniel 8:1, it says this: \u201cIn the third year of the reign of Belshazzar the king a vision appeared to me,\u201d\u00a0 Daniel had yet another vision and this vision transpired during the third year of Belshazzar, the King.\u00a0 It\u2019s easy to just gloss over that information yet this information is very important because it tells us that this vision was given about 551 B.C. that\u2019s a date you probably should write down because I\u2019ll be giving you the dates of the other things mentioned in this chapter.\u00a0 Daniel saw these things before they happened.\u00a0 Daniel is probably a couple of years older than he was in chapter 7; he\u2019s probably in his mid 60\u2019s.\u00a0 I hope you understand this, that when you\u2019re reading the Bible you\u2019re reading real history.\u00a0 This is not Vegie Tales, this is not Jack and the Beanstalk, this is not the Tooth Fairy, this is not Santa Claus, these little historical pieces of information are given as a reminder that these things actually happened in Israel.\n\nAnd before I move on keep in mind that Belshazzar, the last reigning king over the Neo-Babylonian Empire, was in power as chapter 7 unfolded and also chapter 8.\u00a0 This is towards the end, if you will, of Neo-Babylonia.\n\nYou\u2019ll notice also in chapter 8 and verse 1 it says the word \u201cDaniel.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cIn the third year of the reign of Belshazzar the king a vision appeared to me, Daniel.\u201d\u00a0 Daniel wants us to understand that he himself wrote this book.\u00a0 You say well, of course, what else would we believe.\u00a0 Well, you\u2019d be shocked at what people say; most of the scholars of the world will tell you that there\u2019s no way Daniel could have known these things in chapter 8 ahead of time so obviously someone else wrote these things down after they happened, 400 years later, using the penname Daniel.\n\nIn fact, in most universities, sadly most seminaries today, that view is taught and yet what did Daniel say?\u00a0 Daniel says Daniel!\u00a0 Someone didn\u2019t write these things after the fact; Daniel wrote these things down and I think Daniel is a pretty good source.\u00a0 Well, what about Jesus?\u00a0 Do you all believe Jesus is a good source?\u00a0 Jesus, in Matthew 24:15 quotes Daniel 9:27, a passage that we\u2019ll be getting to at some point, and he said this was given through \u201cDaniel the prophet.\u201d\u00a0 [Matthew 24:15, \u201cTherefore when you see the ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand),\u201d\u00a0 Daniel 9:27, \u2018\u201cAnd he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate.\u2019\u201d]\n\nYou see, the moment you deviate from the biblical text and begin to embrace naturalistic theories is the moment you find yourself disagreeing, not only with what the book says but you find yourself disagreeing even with Jesus Christ Himself.\u00a0 And at the end of the day I don\u2019t think I\u2019d advise that; He\u2019s a dangerous person, this Jesus Christ, this omniscient God to disagree with.\n\nContinuing on, in the second part of verse 8, after the word \u201cDaniel\u201d it says \u201csubsequent to the one which had appeared to me previously,\u201d so this vision takes place about two years after Daniel 7.\u00a0 Now one of the things that we have talked about is chapter 7 and 8 are out of order.\u00a0\u00a0 The book generally flows in chronological order but chapters 7 and 8 are out of order.\u00a0 Here\u2019s the right order:\u00a0 Chapters 1-4 take place chronologically, then chapters 7 and 8, then chapters 5-6, and then chapters 9-12.\u00a0 {1-4, 7-8, 5-6, 9-12.}\u00a0 Why are 7 and 8 out of order?\u00a0 Because that section is not structured chronologically but it\u2019s structured chiastically.\u00a0 We\u2019ve talked about that.\n\nThese events, or this vision, in terms of when he received this vision, takes place about twelve years before Daniel 5; you recall Daniel 5, it\u2019s the handwriting on the wall chapter.\u00a0 It\u2019s the time period when the Babylonians would be overthrown by the Persians; that historic political change hasn\u2019t transpired yet.\u00a0 This chapter and the vision given and the contents of when the decision was received would occur about twelve\u00a0 years before that political sea change.\u00a0 Why is that important?\u00a0 Because Daniel is going to see that political sea change twelve years in advance, a sea change politically that would take place in his own lifetime, probably something he never thought could happen, the deposing of Babylon which was a world power and the replacing of Babylon with the Persians.\n\nAnd notice very carefully Daniel 8:20-21, jumping down for just a moment, this may be the key to properly interpreting everything in Daniel 8.\u00a0 It says, \u201cThe ram which you saw with the two horns represents the kings of Media and Persia<\/u>. [21]\u00a0<\/sup>The shaggy goat represents<\/em> the kingdom of Greece<\/u>, and the large horn that is between his eyes is the first king.\u201d\u00a0 That\u2019s the King of Greece.\u00a0 Who is this vision about?\u00a0 It\u2019s about two political powers, the one is Medo-Persia, the nation that was destined to overthrow Babylon, who Daniel was working for at the time, and then Daniel sees what would happen to Medo-Persia at the hands of the Greeks.\n\nYou see, this chapter is very different than other things that we have studied thus far in Daniel. Daniel 2 and Daniel 7, the outer edges of the chiasm, gave us a panorama of world history.\u00a0 Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome, there would be some sort of revived Rome of the antichrist in the future, finally to be replaced by God\u2019s kingdom, six kingdoms total by my count.\n\nYou\u2019ll notice what Daniel 8:20-21 does; it says we\u2019re going to narrow the focus here prophet\u00adically, we\u2019re focusing on Persia and then the empire which would follow Persia, which would be Greece.\u00a0 In Daniel 2 what are we focused on here?\u00a0 The chest and arms of silver and the belly and thighs of bronze.\u00a0 We\u2019re not focused on the legs, we\u2019re not focused on the head, we\u2019re not focused on the ten toes.\u00a0 In Daniel 7 those various beasts that Daniel saw were focused here on the bear and the leopard.\u00a0 We\u2019re not focused at all on the lion, which would be Babylon or the terrifying beast, which would be Rome or the ten horns which would be the empire of the antichrist.\u00a0 We\u2019re focused specifically on the bear and the lion--Medo-Persia and Greece.\n\nWe are focused on this bear, that would be Persia, Daniel 7:5, [Daniel 7:5, \u201cAnd behold, another beast, a second one, resembling a bear. And it was raised up on one side, and three ribs were<\/em> in its mouth between its teeth; and thus they said to it, \u2018Arise, devour much meat!\u2019\u201d]\u00a0 And then we\u2019re also focused on this leopard, Greece, Daniel 7:6.\u00a0 [Daniel 7:6, \u201cAfter this I kept looking, and behold, another one, like a leopard, which had on its back four wings of a bird; the beast also had four heads, and dominion was given to it.\u201d]\u00a0 The only real difference is Persia and Greece are represented by different animals in Daniel 8.\u00a0 The ram would represent Medo-Persia; the one-horned goat would represent the empire of Greece.\n\nWhy do I bring this to your attention?\u00a0 I bring this to your attention, not only so we can interpret this correctly but to save people from all kinds of strange and bizarre speculations about the antichrist.\u00a0 I run into theories all of the time about what the antichrist is going to be; he\u2019s got to be Assyrian, for example, people say because of Daniel 8.\u00a0 The reality of the situation is these chapters are not about the antichrist.\u00a0 There are many other passages of Scripture you could go to to get teaching about the antichrist; Daniel 8 is not directly about the antichrist but the antichrist is referred to.\u00a0 How so?\u00a0 In type only; in prefigurement only, because once Greece deposes Persia there\u2019s going to come someone from the empire of Greece, a Seleucid; I\u2019ll explain who the Seleucid\u2019s are in just a minute, who will launch such a horrific wave of persecution against the Jewish people that this Seleucid looks a lot like the antichrist.\u00a0 In fact, he is so aggressive he becomes a prefigurement or a typology, if you will, of what the future antichrist will do to the Jewish people.\u00a0 This is why God had to intervene here, the persecution was so severe.\n\nSo the antichrist is here as a prefigurement through this final Seleucid ruler, a man named Antiochus Epiphanes, but the antichrist (having said that) is not directly here because this vision does not concern the empire of the antichrist.\u00a0 It concerns Medo-Persia and Greece.\u00a0 So be careful about your theories of the antichrist and from what Scripture you\u2019re developing those theories.\u00a0 We have to grow to a point where we\u2019re using the Word of God correctly.\n\nWe come to verses 2-14 which is the actual vision itself that Daniel saw in 551 B.C.\u00a0 He saw, number 1, a two-horned ram representing Medo-Persia, verses 2-4.\u00a0 Number 2, he saw a one-horned goat representing Greece, verses 5-8.\u00a0 And finally he saw this boastful little horn, this man Antiochus Epiphanes, this Seleucid ruler, who came from the empire of Greece who is used in the Book of Daniel as a type or prefigurement of the coming antichrist.\u00a0 We see that in verses 9-14.\n\nNotice the first part of this vision, this two-horned ram.\u00a0 Notice, if you will, verse 2.\u00a0 It says, \u201cI looked in the vision, and while I was looking I was in the citadel of Susa, which is in the province of Elam; and I looked in the vision and I myself was beside the Ulai Canal.\u201d\u00a0 Now we look at some of these pieces of geography; why does it tell us here that \u201cSusa, which is in the province of Elam\u201d who really cares about that anyway?\u00a0 Well I think you should care because not \u201cif\u201d but \u201cwhen\u201d the history channel comes on at your house Mysteries of the Bible, A&E, they\u2019re going to basically try to sell you and your children and your grandchildren on the fact that Daniel didn\u2019t really write this book, this was written by someone long after the events transpired.\n\nThe city of Shushan in the province of Elam existed during the Babylonian period, when Daniel wrote this.\u00a0 But Greek and Roman historians tell us that Shushan was assigned to a new province during the Persian Era after the time of Daniel.\u00a0 Question: well then how did Daniel ever know that it was once in the province of Elam?\u00a0 See, if this book was written after the real Daniel died this is a piece of geographical information that he couldn\u2019t have had, which helps us with the thesis that only a sixth century man could have known that Susa was part of Elam.\u00a0 It\u2019s just another piece of evidence that this book is an authentic book.\u00a0 It reveals pieces of geography someone 400 years later could never have\u00a0 understood or known.\n\nWhat am I trying to get at?\u00a0 You can take God for what He says.\u00a0 You can take Him at His Word.\u00a0 The author is revealing a sixth century B.C. understanding.\u00a0\u00a0 Are you equipping yourself for these kinds of questions that your children and grandchildren are getting hit at with regularly, through media, through education, whatever the case may be, because they\u2019re being hit with the other side all the time.\u00a0 It\u2019s therefore incumbent upon you, as a Bible reader, who loves your children and your grandchildren to become equipped with this kind of data to respond to the doubts that their minds are being hit with.\u00a0 And where do you think they\u2019re going to go to for answers when they hear this stuff on the media?\u00a0 They\u2019re going to go to mom and dad, grandpa and grandma.\u00a0 Don\u2019t\u00a0 you guys study the Bible?\u00a0 Don\u2019t you read the Bible?\u00a0 Don\u2019t you go to that church over there, what\u2019s that called?\u00a0 Sugar Land Bible Church?\u00a0 I mean, the Bible is pretty important to you; what do you say?\u00a0 And how embarrassing it is to be caught flatfooted on something like this.\u00a0 And yet through just a little bit of research I believe all of these accusations that are brought against the authenticity of the Book of Daniel can be answered.\n\nStart with this book, Josh McDowell, a famous Christian apologist, writes in a very readable lay person\u2019s style, he wrote a book, I love the title of the book, it\u2019s called Daniel in the Critic\u2019s Den<\/em>, not the lion\u2019s den but the critic\u2019s den; it\u2019s a paperback book.\u00a0 He goes through argument after argument that people use to attack the authenticity of the Book of Daniel and gives just a simple answer to each accusation.\n\nSo this language, Susa in the province of Elam is very significant and Daniel is by this canal of some sort, called the Ulai Canal.\u00a0 And what exactly does he see from that location?\u00a0 He sees a two-horned ram.\u00a0 Look at verse 3, \u201cThen I lifted my eyes and looked, and behold, a ram which had two horns was standing in front of the canal. Now the two horns were<\/em> long, but one was<\/em> longer than the other, with the longer one coming up last.\u201d\u00a0 What does he see?\u00a0 He sees this two-horned ram which we believe has been identified in chapter 8, verse 20 as the Empire of Persia, the empire that was to replace the Babylonian Empire. [Daniel 8:20, \u201cThe ram which you saw with the two horns represents the kings of Media and Persia.\u201d]\u00a0 He sees this ram having two horns, he sees one horn larger than the other which is a perfect description, if you will, of the Medo-Persian Empire.\u00a0 You see, the Persians and the Medes were in an alliance with each other and that\u2019s why Daniel, seeing this Ram having not one horn but two horns is very significant.\u00a0 It\u2019s a prophecy, if you will, about this alliance.\n\nHe\u2019s also very clear that one horn on the ram is longer than the other.\u00a0 Most people believe this: the Persians were more powerful than the Medes in this coalition and consequently the Persians overshadowed the Medes and eventually it became known as not the Medo-Persian Empire but the Persian Empire because of the dominance of Persia over the Medes.\u00a0 That\u2019s why Daniel, in chapter 7 and verse 5, it\u2019s not necessarily reflected in this picture but Daniel 7:5, also a prophecy about the Medo-Persian Empire says this, \u201cAnd behold, another beast, a second one, resembling a bear.\u00a0 The bear, it was raised up on one side\u2026.\u201d Just like this ram has two horns, one larger than the other, \u201craised on one side in the form of a bear,\u201d one horn larger than the other in terms of the ram, speaking of the coalition of the Medes and the Persians and how the Persians were eventually given, under the providence of God, the opportunity to overshadow the Medes.\u00a0 [Daniel 7:5, \u201cAnd behold, another beast, a second one, resembling a bear. And it was raised up on one side, and three ribs were in its mouth between its teeth; and thus they said to it, \u2018Arise, devour much meat!\u2019\u201d]\n\nIt\u2019s amazing to me how specific and detailed these predictions are.\u00a0 Daniel, seeing these things twelve years in advance.\u00a0 You want to focus just for a minute on that ram; the goat will become significant in just a moment but what Daniel begins to see, dropping down to verse 4 is the conquest of this ram.\u00a0 Notice what it says, \u201cI saw the ram butting westward, northward, and southward, and no other<\/em> beasts could stand before him nor was there anyone to rescue from his power, [but he did as he pleased and magnified himself<\/em>]\u201d\u00a0 This is speaking of the conquest of Medo-Persia over the Babylonian Empire.\u00a0 Daniel, twelve years in advance, is seeing the events that he describes in chapter 5.\n\nChapter 5, as you recall is the handwriting on the wall chapter which spelled, as we\u2019ve studied it, the doom of the arrogant Babylonian power and that very night the Persians, the Medes and the Persians overthrew the Babylonians.\u00a0 In fact, the battle was so powerful and so swift that as we have studied the story, not just from the Scripture but from extra-biblical sources we\u2019ve discovered that the conquered, the Persians did, they conquered Babylon, a worldwide power, without even a battle.\u00a0 This is what Daniel predicted would happen that night in Daniel 5, now he is seeing the same thing twelve years earlier in this vision concerning the ram.\n\nNow we would think that when the Medo-Persian power came to power over Babylon that Persia would just go on and on and on as a world power but it never works that way.\u00a0 You know why?\u00a0 Because of the rest of verse 4, the part of verse 4 I didn\u2019t read, \u201cBut he\u201d that\u2019s the ram, \u201cdid as he pleased and magnified\u201d who? \u201chimself.\u201d [Daniel 8:4, \u201c[I saw the ram butting westward, northward, and southward, and no other beasts could stand before him nor was there anyone to rescue from his power, but he did as he pleased and magnified himself.\u201d]\n\nIf the Book of Daniel teaches anything\u2026 if it teaches ANYTHING it teaches this: First comes pride and then comes what?\u00a0 A fall!\u00a0 Wasn\u2019t that the whole problem with Nebuchadnezzar, a man that already had passed into history by the time this vision was given?\u00a0 Do you remember Daniel 4:30-31, \u201cThe king\u201d that\u2019s Nebuchadnezzar, \u201creflected and said, \u2018Is this not Babylon the great, which I<\/u> myself have built as a royal residence by the might of my<\/u> power and for the glory of my<\/u> majesty?\u2019 [31] While the word was<\/em> in the king\u2019s mouth, a voice came from heaven, saying,<\/em> \u2018King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is declared: sovereignty has been removed from you.\u201d\n\nYou would think that Persia would have learned its lesson by what happened to Babylon but Persia went the same direction as the Babylonians in terms of pride.\u00a0 That\u2019s why Persia\u2019s days, Medo-Persia\u2019s days, as we\u2019re going to see here in this prophecy, are numbered.\u00a0 Someone put it this way:\u00a0 The lesson we learn from history is that we never learn from history.\u00a0 And I say that to the United States of America, even today, as we\u2019re celebrating our independence and we look at our size and strength and power and our economy and our stock market, our military power, our budget, our system, and we forget the hand of God.\u00a0 We forget what God did.\u00a0 We forget our place of dependence in Colonial America.\u00a0 And now God has given us this gift of independence and we\u2019ve removed God from almost all of our thinking.\n\nEven some of the history I\u2019m describing, some of the youth, many of the youth, don\u2019t even know this history; it\u2019s not taught to them.\u00a0 And we think that somehow we\u2019re here because of us and our strength and our power.\u00a0 Are we not falling into the same trap as Babylon?\u00a0 Are we not falling into the same trap as Persia.\u00a0 Is this not a time in American history for leaders, religious, political, laity to tremble and humble themselves under the hand of an all-powerful God?\u00a0 This is not a time for arrogance and boasting and pride; this is a time for in trepidation and fear under God.\u00a0 It\u2019s just a matter of looking at the pattern of history that we become aware of these things.\n\nAnd so Persia did overthrow the Babylonians, it was a great victory but they didn\u2019t last long because we have now the prophecies concerning Greece, chapter 8 and verses 5-8.\u00a0 Here comes the scene that Daniel was seeing.\u00a0 He doesn\u2019t just see a ram that just conquered Babylon; he sees Greece in the form of a one-horned goat doing away with the Medo-Persian Empire a few centuries later.\n\nAnd notice what it says here in verse 5, \u201cWhile I was observing, behold, a male goat was coming from the west over the surface of the whole earth without touching the ground; and the goat had<\/em> a conspicuous horn between his eyes.\u201d\u00a0 What does Daniel see next?\u00a0 He sees the goat; the goat represents Greece.\u00a0 He doesn\u2019t see two horns like with the ram, he sees one horn between the eyes of the goat.\u00a0 Well, who was that horn?\u00a0 It\u2019s the first leader of the Grecian Empire, a man named Alexander the Great.\u00a0 Notice the speed and velocity at which Alexander the Great conquered the known world; Daniel sees this centuries in advance as he sees this goat moving in every direction without even touching the ground.\u00a0 That\u2019s a terrific and accurate prophecy of what Alexander the Great did.\u00a0 Alexander the Great is a man who conquered the known world, probably about the age of 30-32.\u00a0 And as you know the history he wept because there was nothing else to conquer.\u00a0 That\u2019s how fast he did away with the Persian Empire.\n\nAnd beloved, one of the things I want you to see is the hand of God in this because Alexander the Great brought something to the known world which it had not known before; something called the Greek language.\u00a0 Alexander the Great\u2019s goal was Hellenization; he wanted a monolithic Greek culture.\u00a0 He brought in the Greek language, and beloved, that is the hand of God that allowed that.\u00a0 Why is that?\u00a0 Because the Greek language is one of the richest and fullest dialects the human race has ever known.\u00a0 In fact in English we have one word for love; in the Greek language there\u2019s four words for love.\u00a0 The Greek language allows you to express yourself at a level that\u2019s extremely detailed and deep.\u00a0 And so the right language was now in place with its richness and fullness to record the revelation of Jesus Christ, called our New Testament, written not in English but in Greek.\u00a0 God allowed Alexander the Great to come to power, I believe partially for that reason.\n\nThe Book of Galatians, chapter 4 and verse 4 says, \u201cWhen the fullness of time came God sent forth His Son, born of woman, born under Law.\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0Jesus was not just dropped into history at any random time: He was dropped into history at a specific time.\u00a0 God even put the right language in place to record Jesus Christ and His great exploits and the church that was birthed as a result of His ministry.\n\nEven though something negative was happening Alexander the Great was conquering the known world; God was at work in a negative circumstance.\u00a0 Do you see that?\u00a0 Do we understand that it is God\u2019s specialty to work in negative circumstances?\u00a0 Paul, the apostle, had a negative circumstance.\u00a0 He describes it in 2 Corinthians 12:1-10, he had a thorn in the flesh.\u00a0 We\u2019re not sure what it was but it was painful and he kept pleading with the Lord to take it away.\u00a0 In fact, three times he said take it away, and the Lord said I won\u2019t take it away, \u201cMy grace is sufficient for you, my power is perfected in\u201d what? \u201cweakness.\u201d\u00a0 You see Paul, it\u2019s this thorn in the flesh, as negative as it looks, that keeps you in a place of usability and dependence.\u00a0 And as you\u2019re in that place of usability, humility and dependence I can now use your life to bless other people.\n\nSomething negative God was turning around to positive and this is what\u2019s happening with Alexander the Great.\u00a0 It looked negative but something positive was happening.\u00a0 Do you see your struggles that way?\u00a0 Your problems, your difficulties, your heartaches, your setbacks, your frustrations.\u00a0 How easy it is in the valleys of life to focus on what\u2019s wrong without seeing the hand of God in it, that God has allowed it for a reason, a season, to do something positive which probably could not be accomplished any other way.\u00a0 It\u2019s a different way of thinking, isn\u2019t it?\u00a0 Is the glass half empty or half what?\u00a0 Half full.\u00a0 We need to start disciplining our mind, seeing the invisible hand of God in negative circumstances.\u00a0 This is exactly what\u2019s happening here as Alexander the Great would come to power.\n\nWe go down to verses 6 and 7, we get a description of Alexander the Great and yes, as you look at those eyes they are blinking, you are not hallucinating, that\u2019s a little animation from my computer.\u00a0 You guys see that?\u00a0\u00a0 Maybe I shouldn\u2019t have even called it to your attention.\u00a0 I call it to your attention because I was giving a Bible study on this in the Dallas area and a guy came in who was sort of struggling with alcohol and he thought he was hallucinating, so I don\u2019t want anybody to think they\u2019re hallucinating; that\u2019s actually rigged to do that.\u00a0 You can thank my wife for that, she\u2019s the one that comes\u00a0 up with this stuff.\n\nVerses 6 and 7, notice what it says here, \u201cHe came up to the ram that had the two horns, which I had seen standing in front of the canal, and rushed at him in his mighty wrath. [7] I saw him come beside the ram, and he was enraged at him; and he struck the ram and shattered his two horns, and the ram had no strength to withstand him. So he hurled him to the ground and trampled on him, and there was none to rescue the ram from his power.\u201d\u00a0 What is he seeing here?\u00a0 He\u2019s seeing Greece\u2019s conquest of Medo-Persia.\u00a0\u00a0 He\u2019s seeing the ram which had conquered Greece being defeated rapidly and swiftly by the empire of Greece.\u00a0 Persia had conquered Babylon, hopefully I didn\u2019t misspeak there, Persia had conquered Babylon and now Daniel sees Greece overthrowing Persia.\u00a0 Why did God allow it?\u00a0 Go back to the end of verse 4 describing Persia, \u201che did as he pleased and magnified himself.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 God does not allow people like that to go on forever in their state of pride, individuals or nations.\u00a0\u00a0 And so Persia\u2019s days were limited.\n\nGreece now comes to power.\u00a0 Again, think back to Daniel 8:1, \u201cThese things were given to Daniel in the third\u00a0 year of Belshazzar,\u201d 551 B.C.\u00a0 Translation, Daniel is seeing these things 220 years in advance; 220 years is a long time, that\u2019s almost, a little less than the length of the United States of America.\u00a0 And yet the God who is omniscient, who knows the end from the beginning, is able to reveal history before it happens and woe to the anti-supernaturalist who rejects that.\u00a0 They\u2019ve got quite a quandary on their hands with the Book of Daniel.\u00a0 They\u2019ve got to re-date it and play all kinds of gimmicks and games with the book. How different it is for the child of God who simply takes God at His word and believes God can reveal the end from the beginning because He is omniscient.\n\nYou continue on into verse 8 and now we have a description, not just of Greece but that one horn coming from the goat and it says this in verse 8: \u201cThen the male goat\u201d oh-oh, look at this, \u201cmagnified\u201d what? \u201chimself<\/em> exceedingly.\u201d\u00a0 As\u00a0 Yogi Bear said it\u2019s deja vu<\/em> all over again.\u00a0 The only thing we learn from history is we don\u2019t learn anything from history.\n\nThat\u2019s my warning today to America.\u00a0 Look at the history books; look at what God does to pride and while there\u2019s time humble ourselves.\u00a0 The admonition is to humble ourselves in the presence of the Lord.\n\nBut we continue on with Greece and it says the male goat magnified himself exceedingly but as soon as he was mighty the large horn (Alexander the Great) was broken off\u2026 the changing horn.\u00a0 Alexander the Great, although he conquered the world very rapidly, became as arrogant as his Medo-Persian and Babylonian predecessors and thus he too was ripe for the discipline and the judgment of God;\u00a0 a man who conquered the world and yet wept because there was nothing left to conquer, at the age of probably 32 died of debauchery the history books tell us.\u00a0 Some attribute it to alcoholism, others attribute it to a sexually transmitted disease or diseases.\n\nIsn\u2019t it interesting that a man can conquer the world but in many cases he cannot conquer the own lusts of his flesh and because the lusts of his flesh are in rebellion against God and because a man reaps what he sows a person that can\u2019t control the lusts of their flesh is putting into the ground the seeds of their own destruction.\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t matter how successful they are, it doesn\u2019t matter how gifted they are, it doesn\u2019t matter how intelligent they are, it doesn\u2019t matter how powerful they are.\n\nCan I ask you a question?\u00a0 Is there a pocket of rebellion in your life?\u00a0 It\u2019s probably known only between you and God, and area of the flesh, an area of the sin nature that you have not brought into the subjection and the dominion of Christ because you\u2019ve never reckoned these things to be dead as Romans 6 says and you keep going back to that sinful habit, over and over again and yet you\u2019re deceived into thinking that everything is going to be all right because look at how successful I am in this area or that area.\u00a0 Look at the promotion I just got.\u00a0 Look at the money I\u2019m making.\u00a0 And you take your eye off the sinful habit that God wants to help you with, help me with, help all of us with.\n\nYou look at Alexander the Great\u2019s life and you look at his talent and his success and his effectiveness and yet he destroyed himself because as a man he could conquer the known world but he couldn\u2019t reign in his simple appetites.\u00a0 What a lesson this is as we look at this history lesson in advance from the perspective of Daniel.\n\nBack to verse 8, \u201cThen the male goat magnified himself exceedingly. But as soon as he was mighty, the large horn was broken off; and in its place there came up four conspicuous horns toward the four winds of heaven.\u201d\u00a0 The goat has a horn between its eyes, it\u2019s broken off and in its place grow four other horns.\u00a0 May I just say to you that\u2019s exactly what history records because you see, Alexander the Great, when he died at a very young age, about the age of 32, had no heirs, no biological heirs. So the historians will tell us that what became of Alexander the Great\u2019s empire is it was divided amongst his four generals.\u00a0 The top general was Cassandra, he took Macedonia. \u00a0Lysimachus, he took Thrace and Asia Minor.\u00a0 Ptolemy, he took Egypt and then Seleucus took Syria, including the land of Israel.\n\nHere\u2019s what it looks like on a map.\u00a0 The two most important become Ptolemy and Seleucus because of their location to the land of Israel because from these four generals came four dynasties: the Seleucid dynasty, very important.\u00a0 The Ptolemy dynasty, very important.\u00a0 Cassandra and Lysimachus drop off the radar screen.\u00a0 Why is that?\u00a0 Because of their proximity away from the land of Israel.\u00a0 The focus of Bible prophecy is the nation of Israel, you have to understand that.\u00a0 That is the covenanted nation.\u00a0 This is why the Book of Ezekiel, chapter 5, verse 5, of Jerusalem, says, as God is speaking, \u201cI have set her at the center of the nations.\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0Ezekiel 38:12 says of Israel, \u201cwho live at the center of the world.\u201d This is history from the vantage point of God; Israel is the fulcrum of human history.\u00a0 Everything begins in the Bible in terms of God\u2019s redemptive program and everything ends with Israel.\n\nTo become a Bible reader is to become interested in the land of Israel, focused on the land of Israel because that\u2019s the centerpiece of the action.\u00a0 It was that land that God gave in covenantal form to the patriarch, Abram.\u00a0 And\u00a0 yet today the world in its rebellion against God looks at Israel as a nuisance, an occupier, a troublemaker, a nation that must be done away with, pushed into the Mediterranean Sea so we can get on with progress.\u00a0 That\u2019s not how God looks at it.\u00a0 It\u2019s a beautiful land, as will be described in our chapter, is the land of Israel.\n\nWhen Daniel saw the Grecian Empire in Daniel 7:6 it says this: Daniel 7:6, \u201cAfter this I kept looking, and behold, another one, like a leopard, which had on its back\u201d how many wings of a bird? \u201cfour wings of a bird; the beast also had\u201d how many heads? \u201cfour heads,\u201d not a forehead but \u201cfour heads and dominion was given to it.\u201d\u00a0 You see how the Bible harmonizes with itself.\u00a0 When Daniel in Daniel 7 saw an image of Greece he saw four wings and four heads.\u00a0 When that same empire is described as a goat a single horn is lopped off only to be replaced by four horns; that\u2019s the division of Alexander the Great\u2019s empire amongst the four generals.\u00a0 Dynasties began.\u00a0 Keep your eyes on Ptolemy, and keep your eyes on Seleucus because of their location to the land of what?\u00a0 Houston?\u00a0 No, the land of Israel.\n\nAnd keep your eye on Seleucus and the Seleucid dynasty because from the Seleucid dynasty, not immediately but down the road, is going to emerge someone named Antiochus Epiphanes whose very name means God manifest.\u00a0 No problem with the ego there, right?\u00a0 That\u2019s his name, God manifest.\u00a0 This guy didn\u2019t learn anything from Alexander, he didn\u2019t learn anything from Hebrews, he didn\u2019t learn anything from Medo-Persia, he is on a warpath to Hellenize and to create, like Alexander did, a monolithic Greek culture and who is standing right in the way?\u00a0 The Jewish people, with their own language, their own culture, their own religion.\u00a0 Antiochus is going to reason with himself, there\u2019s got to be something about this Jewish nation.\n\nHistory hasn\u2019t really changed that much, has it?\u00a0 Israel has always been a thorn in the side of the world.\u00a0 In fact, Israel becoming a thorn in the side of the world is something that the pages of the Bible predict; it\u2019s happening right now in your headlines.\u00a0 Zechariah 12:2-3, God says of Jerusalem in the end times, yet future, \u201cBehold, I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that causes reeling to all the peoples around; and when the siege is against Jerusalem, it will also be against Judah. [3] It will come about in that day that I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples; all who lift it will be severely injured. And all the nations of the earth will be gathered against it.\u201d\n\nThis problem of Israel is not something new, it goes all the way back to the days of Alexander, Antiochus in the intertestamental times, and it\u2019s the same problem nagging the world community today.\u00a0\u00a0 Yet it\u2019s not a problem, through this cauldron called the Middle East God is going to orchestrate His plan of bringing, not just a Savior to the world as He did in the first century but the glorious kingdom of God which will last for a thousand years and then after that forever.\n\nAre you looking forward to that?\u00a0 Do you see the headlines through this lens?\u00a0 You see, Christian, you do not have to be gripped with fear at the things happening in the world when you see it through the eyes of God.\u00a0 It\u2019s God just moving the chess pieces around, bringing forth His plan and His drama.\u00a0 Tell us more about this plan. I can\u2019t, because I\u2019m out of time but if you come back next week we\u2019ll see it all in prefigurement.\n\nMaybe\u00a0 you\u2019re here today and you don\u2019t know Christ personally, you don\u2019t know this God of history who\u2019s transitioning our world and our exhortation here at Sugar Land Bible Church is that you can know God personally, not based upon what you do but based upon what Jesus has done for you.\u00a0 The story of the Bible is not about man climbing up to God, it\u2019s God reaching down to man in the person of Jesus Christ, saying through Christ\u2019s death, burial, resurrection and ascension, I\u2019ve done all the heavy lifting; I\u2019ve done all the work.\u00a0 There\u2019s nothing left for you to do.\u00a0 That\u2019s why Jesus proclaimed \u201cIt is finished!\u201d\u00a0 Tetelestai <\/em>in His final words or word on the cross just prior to His death.\u00a0 The only thing He asks human beings to do is to rest, to trust, to rely upon what Jesus has done in our place.\n\nHave you done that?\u00a0 God has sent the Holy Spirit into the world to convict men and women of their need to do this.\u00a0 If it\u2019s not something you have done you can do it right now in the privacy of your own mind, in the privacy of your own thoughts, in the privacy of your own heart.\u00a0 It\u2019s not something you have to raise a hand to do, join a church to do, walk an aisle to do, it\u2019s a matter of privacy between you and the Lord where you exercise faith or trust in what Jesus has done for you.\u00a0 That single act of faith makes you a Christian.\u00a0 It\u2019s something you can do right now, even as I\u2019m speaking. It\u2019s a matter of privacy between you and the Lord.\u00a0\u00a0 If it\u2019s something that you have done or are doing then on the authority of the Word of God you have changed your eternal destiny.\u00a0 If it\u2019s something you need more explanation on I\u2019m available after the service\u00a0 to talk.\n\nShall we pray.\u00a0 Father, we remain grateful for this morning, America\u2019s independence, Israel\u2019s war of independence and what You did on her behalf as we will be studying.\u00a0 I pray that\u00a0 You will make us mindful of these things this week as we celebrate, but trust and rely on You and walk with You. We\u2019ll be careful to give you all the praise and the glory.\u00a0 We ask these things in Jesus name, and God\u2019s people said\u2026 Amen.","series_sermon_number":""},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t