{"id":18403,"date":"2017-07-09T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-07-09T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sugar-land-bible-church.local\/sermon\/daniel-028-a-hebrew-fourth-of-july-part-2\/"},"modified":"2017-07-09T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2017-07-09T05:00:00","slug":"daniel-028-a-hebrew-fourth-of-july-part-2","status":"publish","type":"sermon","link":"https:\/\/slbc.org\/es\/sermon\/daniel-028-a-hebrew-fourth-of-july-part-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Daniel 028: A Hebrew Fourth of July – Part 2"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","book":[72],"series_event":[467],"sermon_service_type":[472],"speaker":[6],"class_list":["post-18403","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 028: A Hebrew Fourth of July - Part 2","sermon_date":"20170709","sermon_month":"7","sermon_year":"2017","sermon_notes":4779,"sermon_slides":4780,"sermon_mp3":4786,"sermon_id":"7917941539","series_or_event":467,"service_type":[472],"speaker":6,"books_of_the_bible":72,"chapter_and_verse":"8:9-14","sermon_transcript":"Andy Woods\n\nA Jewish Fourth of July, Part 2\n\n7-9-17\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Daniel 8:9-14\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Lesson 28\n\nGood morning everybody.\u00a0 If we could take our Bibles and open them to the Book of Daniel, chapter 8 and verse 9.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t get a chance to finish my fourth of July message last week hence the title of this week\u2019s message, a Hebrew Fourth of July, Part 2, Daniel 8:9.\u00a0 As you\u2019re turning there, you know baptism is a momentous occasion in the lives of the believer and baptism is an outward confession of an inward reality.\u00a0 It\u2019s typically done in the presence of witnesses so besides baptismal candidates what else do we need?\u00a0 Witnesses, right?\u00a0 So I would encourage you to come today to the baptism at 2:00, Wayne Pittman\u2019s house, we\u2019ve done it there many times.\u00a0 Maps, I\u2019m told, are on the table on your way out and just come to celebrate with us these people that are believers in the Lord Jesus Christ who have decided to submit to the ordinance of water baptism.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It will be a joyous time so I invite\u00a0 you to come and participate.\n\nThe Book of Daniel is a strategic book in God\u2019s Word.\u00a0 God has raised up this man, Daniel, during the days of the Babylonian captivity to explain really prophetically what is happening during the captivity, a difficult time for the nation and beyond.\u00a0 Daniel gives prophecies consequently from that time (the Babylonian captivity) stretching all the way into the return of Jesus Christ and the kingdom which follows.\n\nThe Book of Daniel basically has two parts; 1-7 is part 1, that\u2019s the historical section.\u00a0 We\u2019ve gone through chapter 1 which lays the setting of the book.\u00a0 And from there we moved into chapters 2-7 which, as we\u2019ve explained in great detail is organized chiastically.\u00a0 It\u2019s a literary pattern where the theme\u2019s that are begun at the beginning are repeated at the end.\u00a0 So chapter 2 lines up with chapter 7.\u00a0 Chapter 3 lines up with chapter 6 in terms of theme.\u00a0 Chapter 4 lines up with chapter 5.\u00a0 You might be saying to yourself all this chiastic stuff confuses me, can you make it easier?\u00a0 Yes I can.\u00a0 We can all think in terms of pictures, can\u2019t we?\u00a0 Just attach a picture to each chapter and you\u2019ll understand the flow of the Book of Daniel.\u00a0 Chapter 2 is the giant statue; chapter 3 think of fire, Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego thrown into the fiery furnace.\u00a0 Chapter 4 think of a tree being cut down, that\u2019s the humiliation and restoration of Nebuchadnezzar.\u00a0 Chapter 5, think about hand\u00adwriting on the wall; that\u2019s where the Persians overthrew the Babylonians.\u00a0 Chapter 6, think of Daniel in the lion\u2019s den, that\u2019s probably the most well-known chapter in the Book of Daniel.\u00a0 Chapter 7, think of four beasts.\n\nAnd last week we concluded all of that and we had actually moved into chapter 8 which is another picture.\u00a0 When\u00a0 you\u2019re trying to remember the contents of chapter 8 just remember a ram and a goat because that\u2019s what Daniel saw in this chapter.\u00a0 Chapters 8-12 switches everything.\u00a0 Daniel is no longer interpreting the visions that he sees but now an angel is; typically it\u2019s the angel Gabriel.\u00a0 Daniel start speaking of himself in the first person rather than the third person.\u00a0 This whole section, chapters 8-12, is written in Hebrew; everything that came before, particularly chapters 2-7 is in Aramaic.\u00a0 So he is speaking now no longer to the nations but he\u2019s speaking specifically to the nation of Israel.\u00a0 And chapter 8 is the ram and the goat; chapter 9 is the 70 weeks prophecy and chapters 10-12 is the final vision.\u00a0 That\u2019s the trajectory we\u2019re moving in.\n\nWe started last week, did we not, the ram and the goat.\u00a0 We saw, for example, the historical setting, chapter 8 and verse 1.\u00a0 Here we learned that this was the third year of Belshazzar, which would make this about 551 B.C.\u00a0 You say well who cares, don\u2019t bore me with dates.\u00a0 The reason the date is a big deal is because Daniel, as we\u2019re going to see, is laying out a history lesson before it happens.\u00a0 In fact, most of the things that Daniel describes in this chapter (and other chapters for that matter) would take place long after he was dead.\u00a0 Well, how could Daniel have known that history in advance?\u00a0 Because of God.\u00a0 God is in the business of revealing things before they happen.\u00a0 That\u2019s what happened to the prophet, Daniel.\u00a0 Daniel is in his mid-sixties at this particular point in time.\n\nYou\u2019ll notice that from this chart Daniel received, moving into chapter 9 and then chapters 10-12, his greatest insights\u00a0 and revelations in his old age.\u00a0 He\u2019s in his mid-sixties in chapters 7 and 8, and then he\u2019s in his 80\u2019s in chapters 9-12.\u00a0 The same way with John on the Isle of Patmos.\u00a0 John received his vision that we call the Book of Revelation on the island of Patmos 60 years after Jesus had left the earth.\u00a0 John was probably in his 90\u2019s, mid to late 90\u2019s when he received that vision.\u00a0 Why is that significant?\u00a0 Because a lot of people have this attitude that well, you know, I\u2019m old and God can\u2019t use me anymore.\u00a0 I\u2019m retired, don\u2019t bother me with church work, church activity.\n\nThe reality of the situation is in your older years, your golden years so to speak, that\u2019s just when God is getting ready to use you, perhaps in the most fruitful way He has ever used you in your whole life.\u00a0 That\u2019s what happened with John on Patmos.\u00a0 That\u2019s also what happened with Daniel.\u00a0 We disqualify ourselves many times, we think we\u2019re too young to be used by the Lord.\u00a0 That\u2019s what Timothy thought; that\u2019s what Jeremiah thought; God had corrected those false ideas to those two men.\u00a0 And then people say well, I\u2019m too old to be used by God, I\u2019m over the hill.\u00a0 Well, so was Daniel, so was John from the worldly point of view, from the human point of view, and yet this is the time in their lives which was the most fruitful in terms of their ministries.\u00a0 I encourage\u00a0 you, no matter what your age is, young or old or middle aged to just continue to walk with the Lord, fellowship with the Lord, be like that vine connected to the branch and you\u2019re going to be stunned at what God can and will do through you, whether you\u2019re young or old or middle aged.\n\nIt doesn\u2019t really matter what your abilities are; what really matters is your availability.\u00a0 So many times we\u2019re just not available.\u00a0 We\u2019re too busy, we disqualify ourselves and yet you\u2019ll discover with God that no matter where you\u2019re at He wants to use you, and we see that pattern in the Bible.\u00a0 As Daniel has this vision Babylon is still in power, the last days of Neo-Babylonia were unfolding.\u00a0 Twelve years later Babylon would be overthrown by the Persians which is actually the initial firstfruits, if you will, of Daniel\u2019s visions.\n\nAnd really the key to understanding chapter 8 is verses 20-21.\u00a0 Notice those verses very quickly. \u201cThe ram which you saw with the two horns represents the kings of Media and Persia. [21] The shaggy goat represents<\/em> the kingdom of Greece, and the large horn that is between his eyes is the first king.\u201d\u00a0 Earlier in this book Daniel has had a vision of many, many different empires that would come and go.\u00a0 I count a total of six empires; that\u2019s what Daniel sees in Daniel 2, the giant statue, Daniel 7, the various ravenous beasts.\u00a0 But you see, this chapter narrows the focus to the middle two empires, Persia which is represented by the two-horned ram and Greece which is represented by the goat.\u00a0 What we\u2019re focused on in chapter 1 is different than what we saw in chapter 2 and chapter\u00a0 7.\u00a0 We\u2019re not focused on the whole statue, we\u2019re just focused on the chest and arms of silver and the belly and thighs of bronze.\u00a0 We\u2019re focused not on all the animals but just the bear and the leopard.\u00a0 It\u2019s just in our particular chapter they\u2019re called the ram and the goat.\n\nWe move from the historical setting into the actual vision itself and last time we studied this two-horned ram.\u00a0 This is the rise of the empire of Medo-Persia.\u00a0 Medo-Persia, as we have studied, came to power in Daniel\u2019s own lifetime when he was in his 80\u2019s.\u00a0 This is what is recorded in Daniel 5, the handwriting on the wall chapter where Medo-Persia did something no one thought could ever be possible\u2014politically overthrow the Babylonian Empire.\u00a0 It happened in a single night without even a battle.\u00a0 Babylon, who felt that they were so powerful, so strong, so invincible, so invulnerable, was deposed of by the hand of God as God used the Persians in one night.\u00a0 If this book doesn\u2019t talk to us or communicate to us the sovereignty of God I don\u2019t know what will.\u00a0 These empires of the earth are just \u201cSilly Putty \u201c if you will, in the hands of an all-powerful God.\u00a0 He puts one in place and removes another, over and over again throughout history.\u00a0 We\u2019re seeing it here happen in the Book of Daniel.\n\nSo the Persians would come to power in Daniel\u2019s lifetime, Daniel 5, about 539 B.C.\u00a0 And then in this vision of chapter 8 he sees the goat, which represents Greece, charging at the ram, which represents Persia and its speaking of something that would happen long after Daniel was dead.\u00a0 This would take us to about 331 B.C. where Greece would overthrow the Persian Empire.\u00a0 That\u2019s what is described there in the way of a vision, verses 5-8.\n\nWe talked about how that was actually the hand of God because the Greeks brought in the Greek language.\u00a0 The Greek language, as we have studied, is one of the fullest dialects known to man.\u00a0 You have one word for love in English; you\u2019ve got four in Greek.\u00a0 And the right language was now in place for the recording of the revelation of the New Testament and the entrance of Jesus Christ into our world.\u00a0 God is setting the stage here through these prophecies and their fulfillment of what is going to come to pass in New Testament times.\n\nThe horns on the goat, verses 5-8, begin to change. \u00a0First of all the large horn on the goat is broken off.\u00a0 We talked about how that is a reference to the very early death of Alexander the Great.\u00a0 Alexander the Great could conquer the entire world but he could not conquer his own lusts and his own passions.\u00a0 He died around the age of 32 of venereal diseases, alcoholism, a debauched lifestyle and Daniel, all the way back in the 6th<\/sup> century sees this as the goat comes to power and its horn is broken off.\n\nAnd then Daniel sees in this vision, verse 8, as we studied last time, four horns on the goat that grow up in the place of the horn that had just been severed or broken off.\u00a0 And that, as we have talked about, is a perfect description of history and what happened.\u00a0 You see, Alexander the Great, because of his very early death, had no heirs so his empire went to his four generals; that\u2019s the four horns that Daniel sees emerge on this goat.\u00a0 One general is named Cassandra and he took Macedonia, part of Alexander\u2019s empire.\u00a0 One was named Ptolemy, he took Egypt. \u00a0One was named Lysimachus and he took Thrace and Asia Minor.\u00a0 One was named Seleucus and he took Syria.\u00a0 You have to keep your eye on Seleucus because Seleucus gains a part of the territory of Alexander\u2019s empire that went into the land of Israel.\n\nHere is a map that shows\u00a0 you sort of what happened after Alexander the Great left the scene as the Grecian Empire was divided.\u00a0 And from these four generals came four dynasties.\u00a0 You have the Ptolemy Dynasty, you have the Seleucid Dynasty; now the one to keep your eye on is the Seleucid Dynasty coming from Seleucus because there is going to arise someone, not immediately, not overnight, but down the road a bit, a Seleucid by the name of Antiochus Epiphanes, who is going to bring against the nation of Israel perhaps the worst form of persecution they have ever received in their history.\u00a0 And Daniel\u2019s prophecies are going to focus on him like a laser beam because his wave of persecution against the nation of Israel became so horrific that he becomes a type or a foreshadowing of the antichrist, this man, Antiochus Epiphanes.\u00a0 He is not THE antichrist, but probably more than any other character in the Bible that we know of he is set up by the Holy Spirit as a prefigurement, if you will, a type of the coming antichrist who is still future from our time period.\n\nAnd this is the description of the boastful little horn, Antiochus Epiphanes.\u00a0 Notice if you will verse 9 as Daniel\u2019s prophecies continue.\u00a0 It says, \u201cOut of one of them came forth a rather small horn which grew exceedingly great toward the south, toward the east, and toward the Beautiful Land.\u201d<\/em> \u00a0Greece will come to power; Greece (as we talked about) is mentioned by name in the biblical text, chapter 8 and verse 21.\u00a0 [Daniel 8:21, \u201cThe shaggy goat represents<\/em> the kingdom of Greece, and the large horn that is between his eyes is the first king.\u201d]\u00a0 But Daniel focuses in his prophecy as the Spirit is allowing these things to be shown to Daniel he focuses on a leader that\u2019s coming forth from Greece, a Seleucid, someone coming forth from the lineage of General Seleucus, the Seleucid Dynasty which reigned over Syria (which is to the north of Israel) and Israel itself. This man\u2019s name is Antiochus, the ruler of this Seleucid Dynasty.\u00a0 He even becomes the subject of Daniel\u2019s prophecies in verses 9-14.\u00a0 Verse 9 is describing the rise of this empire and this man.\n\nAnd then it mentions, verse 9, \u201cthe Beautiful Land,\u201d I mean, that\u2019s got to be the United States of America, isn\u2019t it?\u00a0 As much as we love the United States\u00a0 of America as the beautiful land the fact of the matter is this is not a reference to the United States of America, it is not a reference to any Gentile country.\u00a0 The land in these prophecies always refers to the nation of Israel.\u00a0 Why is that?\u00a0 Because to God Jerusalem is the center of the nation, Ezekiel 5:5.\u00a0 [Ezekiel 5:5, \u201cThus says the Lord GOD, 'This is Jerusalem; I have set her at the center of the nations, with lands around her.\u201d]\n\nTo God the nation of Israel is referred to as those who live at the center of the world, Ezekiel 38:12.\u00a0 [Ezekiel 38:12, \u201cto capture spoil and to seize plunder, to turn your hand against the waste places which are now inhabited, and against the people who are gathered from the nations, who have acquired cattle and goods, who live at the center of the world.\u2019\u201d]\u00a0 In fact, in the Hebrew, based on these translations the word in Hebrew that\u2019s translated \u201clive at the center of the world\u201d the center of the nations, is the word navel or bellybutton, which is the center of the body.\n\nWhen we study Bible prophecy we have to learn to think, not the way the Washington Post wants us to think or the New\u00a0 York Times or the Houston Comical (Chronicle, excuse me), but we have to think the way God thinks.\u00a0 God looks at the nation of Israel as the center of history.\u00a0 It\u2019s, as some have said, the fulcrum of history.\u00a0 It\u2019s where God\u2019s program began; it\u2019s where God\u2019s program will end.\u00a0 It\u2019s the land that God covenanted to the patriarch Abraham in the Abrahamic Covenant, Genesis 15.\u00a0 It\u2019s the centerpiece of all things.\n\nAnd so this man, Antiochus, with his boasts as he is described here in verse 9 as this boasting little horn is someone who is coming to power in the Grecian Empire and he is someone who is a foreshadowing, a type, a prefigurement of the coming antichrist.\n\nNow what is this little horn who prefigures the antichrist going to do exactly.\u00a0 Notice if you will verse 10, as the prophecy conies.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u201d that\u2019s the little horn, Antiochus Epiphanes, \u201cIt grew up to the host of heaven and caused some of the host and some of the stars to fall to the earth, and it trampled them down.\u201d\u00a0 This is describing a wave of persecution that Daniel prophetically saw about 386 years in advance.\u00a0 Daniel saw these prophecies, as we said earlier, in 551 B.C.\u00a0 He is now seeing something that the historians tell us happened around B.C. 170-164.\u00a0 Antiochus would begin to persecute Israel.\u00a0 Why is that?\u00a0 Because his goal was the same as Alexander the Great\u2019s goal\u2014Hellenization.\u00a0 He wanted to make a monolithic singular Greek culture.\u00a0 Same Greek thought, same Greek language, same Greek religion, same Greek culture, and who stood right in the way?\u00a0 The tiny nation of Israel with its own language, its own culture, and its own religion.\n\nHe began, this man Antiochus, according to Daniel\u2019s prophecies, view the Jews as an obstacle to his goal.\u00a0 And isn\u2019t it interesting how things haven\u2019t changed much.\u00a0 This is exactly how the world community looks at the tiny state of Israel today.\u00a0 I call it the transforming David into Goliath syndrome where Israel, about the size of Vermont, about the size of Rhode Island, about the size of New Jersey, is a little tiny nation, about 1% or less of all Middle Eastern territories fighting for its very existence in a sea of Islamic theocracies threatening to drive Israel into the Sea, and yet the world community says if Israel would just give up a little more we\u2019d be happy.\u00a0 This is exactly what was happening during the days of Antiochus.\n\nZechariah 12:2-3 God made a prediction through Zechariah concerning Israel in the last days.\u00a0 He said, \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\u00a0 The last time I checked all means all!\u00a0 I wish it said this: All the nations of the earth (with the exception of the United States of America) will be gathered against it.\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t say that; it says every nation against Israel.\u00a0 Sort of the scenario that plays in my mind is following the rapture of the church with the Christian influence of America completely gone and no one left to complain anymore about American\u2019s foreign policy, the United States of America will fit right into the pattern of every other nation.\n\nDo you understand this, that in the minds of the Jews in Israel America is almost looked at as the last beacon of hope for them in terms of an ally?\u00a0 And the Jews in the land of Israel don\u2019t really understand our theology as Christians, they don\u2019t necessarily agree with our theology as Christians but I have to make you aware of something; they love you because they understand the political lobbying force evangelicalism is, even in this late great United States of America.\u00a0 They understand that because of the way we think about the Bible and the end times we are almost looked at as the last resort.\u00a0 They love you, they value you, and when you go to the land of Israel, and you\u2019re going to go there one way or another, either you can take a trip there or you\u2019re going to rule there in the millennial kingdom.\u00a0 Either way you\u2019re going to get there, right?\n\nBut when you go there, even today, there\u2019s just smiles and love because they know what you represent.\u00a0 Think of all that salt and light is removed; think if there\u2019s really nothing left to speak for, or anybody left to speak for Israel.\u00a0 Think how fast American would change, would switch.\n\nSo what did this man, Antiochus do?\u00a0 He outlawed the Hebrew Scriptures; he executed Jewish families who observed the Sabbath.\u00a0 He executed Jewish families who were involved in Jewish circumcision.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 Because of Hellenization, they were in His way of progress.\u00a0 This is why this man, Antiochus, is almost like a prefigurement, or a type, if you will, of the coming antichrist.\n\nAnd it makes the most interesting statement here and as God is my witness I\u2019ve been studying this verse all week, I still don\u2019t know fully what it means.\u00a0 It says this there in verse 10, \u201cIt\u201d that\u2019s Antiochus, \u201cIt grew up to the host of heaven and caused some of the host and some of the stars to fall to the earth, and it trampled them down.\u201d\u00a0 Now what in the world does that mean?\u00a0 One of the things that\u2019s interesting is stars in the Bible are used as metaphors for angels.\u00a0 Did you know that?\u00a0 Job 38:7 talks about the angels as God was bringing forth creation, on the days of creation, and Job 38:7 says, \u201cWhen the morning stars sang together\u201d well who are \u201cthe morning stars\u201d?\u00a0 It goes on and it says, \u201cAnd all the sons of \u201c angels in other words, \u201cshouted for joy?\u201d\n\nDaniel 12:1 says this: \u201cNow at that time Michael,\u201d an angel, \u201cthe great prince who stands guard over the sons of your people, will arise\u2026.\u201d\u00a0 God loves Israel so much that a person\u2019s position on the nation of Israel, pro or con, good or bad, causes a human being, whether they realize it or not to take sides in the angelic conflict.\u00a0 The nation of Israel is so intimately connected with the angels of God and the stars of God that this attack, unprovoked, against Israel is portrayed here as stars falling to the earth.\u00a0 I don\u2019t claim to know everything there is to know about that verse but it seems to me that what Antiochus did is he declared war against Israel and in the process he declared war against the angels, at least the two-thirds that didn\u2019t fall originally with Lucifer.\u00a0 Whatever your view on Israel will tell you where you stand in the angelic conflict.\u00a0 Satan\u2019s desire to obliterate Israel because through Israel the kingdom will come, God\u2019s desire to protect Israel, to promote Israel, to see Israel get saved.\n\nWhere are you on this?\u00a0 Where do you stand?\u00a0 What\u2019s your theological belief system?\u00a0 Anti-Israel or pro-Israel?\u00a0 You just took a side in the angelic conflict.\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t seem to me there\u2019s any neutrality here.\u00a0 Who do you vote for?\u00a0 Can I get a little personal here?\u00a0 There are so many candidates, Republican and Democrat, I might add that I will not touch with a ten foot pole.\u00a0 Why not?\u00a0 They might be right on all kinds of things but they\u2019re wrong on the nation of Israel.\u00a0 There are so many candidates that are called pro-family, pro-Christian candidates that you agree with on abortion, you agree with them on prayer in school, you agree with them on euthanasia or stopping euthanasia I should say, and moral issue after moral issue and the Christian public gets behind them and yet they won\u2019t say a word about the nation of Israel when in reality what you believe about the nation of Israel to God may in fact be the most important issue.\u00a0 And we have to start allowing the written Word of God to inform how we think, even about something as simple as casting a vote for or against someone.\n\nI talk a lot about Israel because God talks a lot about Israel.\u00a0 I talk a lot about Israel because I want Christians to understand that this tiny state, as much as it is looked at as a hindrance to world progress it is VERY important to God.\u00a0 And Antiochus and every other world dictator that follows his pattern, you just went the wrong way.\u00a0\u00a0 You just stuck your finger in the eyeballs of God Himself.\u00a0 Zechariah 12 and other passages talk about this.\n\nSo what did Antiochus do?\u00a0 Daniel\u2019s prophecies continue, verse 11, \u201cIt\u201d that\u2019s the little horn, Antiochus, \u201ceven magnified itself<\/em> to be equal with the Commander of the host; and it removed the regular sacrifice from Him, and the place of His sanctuary was thrown down.\u201d\u00a0 What did Antiochus do?\u00a0 Number 1, he magnified himself.\u00a0 You know, Jesus, when He came into this world never magnified Himself.\u00a0 John 6:38 quotes the words of Christ and it says, \u201cFor I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will but the will of Him who sent Me.\u201d\u00a0 And in Mark 10:45 Jesus says, \u201cFor the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many.\u201d\u00a0 How opposite Antiochus is who comes for his own will.\n\nLet me ask you, this week as\u00a0 you walked with the Lord, whose will was executed in your life moment by moment?\u00a0 Was it God repeatedly guiding you, directing you, empowering you to do His will and His work no matter what the situation you were in or was it self coming to the throne and demanding your own way.\u00a0 How you answer that question determines whether you\u2019re walking in the Spirit of Jesus Christ or God forbid the spirit of the antichrist.\u00a0 And cheer up folks, it gets worse; not only did he magnify himself, he made himself equal with the commander of the host.\u00a0 This is a man who made himself equal with God.\u00a0 In fact, the very name, Antiochus Epiphanes means God manifest.\u00a0 That\u2019s his name; no ego problem, right?\u00a0 And this is exactly what the future antichrist is like; he magnifies himself.\n\n2 Thessalonians 2:4 of the coming antichrist says he \u201cwho opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, [so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God].\u201d\u00a0 Well Andy, don\u2019t you believe the antichrist is going to be a Muslim?\u00a0 Maybe so, I have my suspicions of that theory though, because my Bible says the antichrist will exalt himself above every so-called god or object of worship.\u00a0 I cannot imagine a fundamentalist or a devout Muslim elevating himself over Allah.\u00a0 To do so would contradict everything that\u2019s in the Qur'an, the Hadith.\u00a0 So I have my suspicions on the Islamic identity of the antichrist but\u00a0 I know this much, whoever it is there\u2019ll be no barrier between promoting himself and God.\u00a0 He will do as he pleases; he will exalt himself even above God.\u00a0 This, to a large extent, is what Antiochus did.\n\nWhat else did he do?\u00a0 It says here, verse 11, he \u201cremoved the regular sacrifice,\u201d well what\u2019s \u201cthe regular sacrifice\u201d?\u00a0 You see, the temple that Solomon built was destroyed in Daniel\u2019s lifetime by the Babylonians who also took Daniel into captivity, 586 B.C.\u00a0 After the time of Daniel the Jews, in what we call the returnees from the exile, came back into the land of Israel and they rebuilt the temple.\u00a0 You can read about it in the Book of Ezra.\u00a0 And they had a difficult time with the job, they got discouraged and so God raised up a couple of prophets, Haggai and Zechariah, and sort of kicked them in the backside to get the job done.\n\nSo by the time the Persian Empire leaves the scene, by the time Greece comes to power Israel has a functioning temple with animal sacrifices taking place within it, and according to these prophecies Antiochus Epiphanes will go into the temple and he will say no more sacrifices.\u00a0 Isn\u2019t it interesting how there were no sacrifices when Daniel has his prophecy.\u00a0 And yet God moved the furniture around so that the stage could be set for a temple with sacrifices in it to fulfill the specifics of His Word.\u00a0\u00a0 Beloved, that is exactly what\u2019s happening right now.\u00a0\u00a0 There is no temple in the land of Israel; there are not functioning sacrifices as of yet but just give it enough time.\u00a0 In fact, when you go to the land of Israel and you go to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem you can go in there and it\u2019s an eerie feeling walking through there; I\u2019ve been there twice, you see the whole blueprint for the temple laid out; the priestly garbs selected, instructions regarding these animal sacrifices once they get them started.\u00a0 And they think in their blindness that they\u2019re building a temple for the Messiah.\u00a0 No, no, no, they\u2019re building a temple for the antichrist who will do exactly what Antiochus did by putting an end to the animal sacrifices.\u00a0 If these prophecies concerning Antiochus were very literal why wouldn\u2019t the prophecies concerning the coming antichrist, who is prefigured by Antiochus, also not be very, very literal.\n\nWhat else did this man Antiochus do?\u00a0 He desecrated the temple; he took a pig, we all know Jews don\u2019t eat pork, he took a pig and sacrificed it on the altar of this temple to humiliate the Jewish people.\u00a0 He even took a statue of Zeus and set it up in the temple that the exiles, the returnees from the exile had built.\u00a0 Did you know that\u2019s exactly what the antichrist is going to do?\u00a0 He\u2019s going to set up an actual image or statue in the rebuilt Jewish temple yet future.\u00a0 You say well, where does the Bible teach that?\u00a0 You can read it for yourself, it\u2019s in Revelation 13:15.\u00a0 It says, \u201cAnd it was given to him\u201d that\u2019s the antichrist, \u201cto give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast would even speak and cause as many as do not worship the image of the beast to be killed.\u201d\n\nWhat has happened will be again; didn\u2019t Solomon say that?\u00a0 Ecclesiastes 1:9 Solomon, the wisest man that\u2019s ever lived other than Christ Himself said this, \u201cThat which has been is that which will be, and that which has been done is that which will be done. So there is nothing new under the sun.\u201d\u00a0 The whole history yet future that is coming following the rapture of the church has already been performed in a rehearsal that we\u2019re reading about here in chapter 8 as Daniel is receiving prophecies about Greece in particular and Antiochus Epiphanes.\n\nDaniel 9:27 says, right in the middle of the future seven\u00a0 year tribulation period the antichrist will go into the temple, desecrate it, offer an image in the temple and stop the sacrifices.\u00a0 [Daniel 9:27, \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.\u201d]\u00a0 And how can any of those things happen unless you have an Israel in unbelief, check, got that one!\u00a0 Existing as a nation, check, got that one!\u00a0 With a functioning temple with sacrifices, well we can\u2019t check those off yet but maybe next Sunday we will check those boxes, or better yet maybe we\u2019ll be raptured and have the best seat in the house.\n\nNotice if you will verse 12 as these prophecies continue, \u201cAnd on account of transgression the host will be given over to the horn along with regular sacrifice\u201d which we just got done talking about, \u201cand it will fling truth to the ground and perform its will and prosper.\u201d \u00a0[Daniel 8:12]\u00a0 Antiochus did what in the year 170-164 B.C.\u00a0 Number 1, persecuted the Jews.\u00a0 Number 2, stopped the sacrifices that Ezra had started.\u00a0 Number 3, desecrated the temple.\u00a0 Number 4, disregarded the truth.\u00a0 Number 5, performed his own will, and it will seem as if according to Daniel\u2019s prophecies that Antiochus will prosper.\u00a0 Do you see that there at the end of verse 12, \u201cand perform its will and prosper.\u201d\n\nYou mean evil people prosper? For a season they do, and this is something that disturbs us, doesn\u2019t it?\u00a0 Lord, I am reading my Bible every day.\u00a0 I\u2019m obeying the rules in the tax system.\u00a0 I\u2019m obeying the rules at the work place.\u00a0 And yet the wicked keep getting ahead.\u00a0 The people that cheat keep getting rich.\u00a0 The people that are dishonest and cheat on finances and their spouses and use gutter language keep getting promoted ahead of me.\u00a0 What\u2019s the deal, Lord?\u00a0 Have\u00a0 you ever thought that way?\u00a0 It\u2019s easy to get that way as a Christian, isn\u2019t it.\u00a0 Asaph, the Psalmist, thought that way.\n\nPsalm 73:3, Asaph says, this, \u201cFor I was envious of the arrogant as I saw the prosperity of the wicked.\u00a0 [4] For there are no pains in their death, and their body is fat.\u00a0 [5] They are not in trouble as other men, nor are they plagued like mankind. [6] Therefore pride is their necklace; the garment of violence covers them.\u00a0 [7] Their eye bulges from fatness; the imaginations of their hearts run riot.\u00a0 [8] They mock and wickedly speak of oppression; they speak from on high.\u00a0 [9] They have set their mouth against the heavens, and their tongue parades through the earth.\u201d\n\nAnd this Psalm goes on and on like this.\u00a0 What\u2019s the deal Lord, I\u2019m obeying the rules?\u00a0 I\u2019m trying to live godly, why is it that all these people who hate\u00a0 your guts are prospering?\u00a0 Until you get to verse 16 of Psalm 73.\u00a0 Asaph says\u2026 \u201cit was troublesome in my sight until\u2026\u201d until what?\u00a0\u00a0 [17] \u201cUntil I came into the sanctuary of God; then I perceived their end.\u00a0 [18] Surely You set them in slippery places; You cast them down to destruction.\u00a0 [19] How they are destroyed in a moment! They are utterly swept away by sudden terrors! [20] Like a dream when one awakes, O Lord, when aroused, You will despise their form.\u201d\n\nIsn\u2019t it interesting that in a dream it seems so real and then you wake up and what seemed so real you quickly understand that that\u2019s just something that was in the mind and passed away.\u00a0 That\u2019s the destiny of the wicked; they are, from the human point of view, prospering today.\u00a0 One of my first counselling sessions at the church I was pastoring in California, a\u00a0 young man came to me and he was just so distraught that everything he tried to do seemed to fail and yet he was godly, he was praying, he was reading his Bible, and yet people that didn\u2019t know God at all were wildly succeeding, wildly being promoted ahead of him.\u00a0 And he was so upset at God over this.\u00a0 And fortunately I had the wherewithal from this counseling session and I said you need to go home and you need to read Psalm 73 because when you read Psalm 73 you\u2019re going to see the big picture, you\u2019re going to see eternity which at the present time you cannot see and you\u2019re actually going to start to feel sorry for these wicked people that are being elevated and prospering.\n\nAntiochus gets his day in the sun; Antiochus seems to prosper but beloved, it is so short-lived, it\u2019s such a raw deal, a bad deal, to live one\u2019s life as if God didn\u2019t exist, to get a little ahead in this life, because we move from verse 12 into verse 13 where we start to see God moving into history to respond to what is happening.\u00a0 Verse 13 says, \u201cThen I heard a holy one speaking, and another holy one said to that particular one who was speaking, \u2018How long will the vision about<\/em> the regular sacrifice apply, while the transgression causes horror, so as to allow both the holy place and the host to be trampled?\u201d\u2019\u00a0 This scene is so bothersome that one angel in Daniel\u2019s vision asks another angel, this desecration of the temple that Antiochus is doing, how long is it going to last.\n\n\u201cHow long\u201d oh Lord and you get the answer in verse 14.\u00a0 Verse 14 says, \u201cHe said to me, \u2018For 2,300 evenings and<\/em> mornings; then the holy place will be properly restored.\u201d\u2019\u00a0 Antiochus, you\u2019re on a leash, you get 2300 evenings and mornings and then the temple is going to be restored.\u00a0 2300 \u201cevenings and mornings,\u201d what is that talking about?\u00a0 Wait a minute, I\u2019ve heard that expression before, \u201cevening and morning,\u201d where have I heard that before?\u00a0 Genesis 1.\u00a0 Genesis 1:5 says there was evening and there was morning, day one.\u00a0 [Genesis 1:5, \u201cGod called the light day, and the darkness He called night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day.\u201d]\n\nYou say well, you don\u2019t really believe those creation days in Genesis 1 are 24 hour days do you?\u00a0 I mean, you can\u2019t be that much of a flat-earther to believe that?\u00a0\u00a0 Well then\u00a0 you explain to me what evening and morning means.\u00a0 Evening and morning\u2014does it not mean one rotation of the earth?\u00a0\u00a0 What it\u2019s saying here is the desecration is going to last for 2300 evenings and mornings or days.\u00a0 \u00a0Oh the mistakes people have made with this verse, setting dates for the return of Christ.\u00a0 Who\u2019s doing that?\n\nTake a look at Seventh Day Adventism for example.\u00a0 The Millerites, 1844, called the great disappointment, who left livelihoods, houses to go out on a hill and wait for Jesus because He\u2019s got to come back in 2300 evenings and mornings.\u00a0 They never listened to my Daniel series because if they had listened to my Daniel series they would understand that this doesn\u2019t concern Rome; they started with Rome, they came up with a date for the destruction of Rome, I think 476 A.D.\u00a0 This vision doesn\u2019t concern Rome at all but it concerns who?\u00a0 Persia and Greece.\u00a0 Didn\u2019t we cover that, verses 20-21.\u00a0 Their starting point is the wrong place.\n\nThe second thing they did is they took 2300 days and said \u201cdays\u201d really means years, the day-year theory, so they deviated from what the text says.\u00a0 And so there they are waiting for the return of the Lord, Jesus never showed up.\u00a0 \u00a0Taking 2300 years from 476 forward to 1844, convinced they are right and they suffered total humiliation in the process and suffered ridicule all their lives because they deviated from the fundamentals of Bible prophecy.\u00a0 They didn\u2019t take it at face value and they didn\u2019t pay attention to the context of the chapter.\u00a0 This is not talking about 2300 years, it\u2019s not talking about Rome, it\u2019s talking about a time period of 2300 days (evenings and mornings is very clear) that Antiochus would desecrate the temple during the intertestamental period.\n\nWell how does this whole thing work out?\u00a0 Well, relations between Antiochus and the Jews really started to collapse about 170 B.C.\u00a0 When Judas Maccabaeus restored the temple to its proper place, I\u2019ll talk about what that is in just a moment, that happened December 25, 164 B.C.\u00a0 So from 170 B.C. when relations between Antiochus and Israel began to fall apart to the restoration of the temple, Dec 25, 164 B.C. you can easily fit a time period in there of 2,300 evenings and mornings or six years.\u00a0 You say I don\u2019t like that solution.\n\nOkay, here\u2019s another one; this comes from my professor, J. Dwight Pentecost.\u00a0 He says: A sacrifice was offered twice a day, evening and morning.\u00a0 So let\u2019s just take 2,300 days divided by 2 and we get 1150 days; that fits perfectly \u00a0as well.\u00a0 Why is that? Because the temple was first desecrated by Antiochus December 16, 167 B.C. and it was liberated by Judas Maccabeus December 25, 164 B.C. and so we can fit very easily a 1150 day days into that time period.\u00a0 So whether you want to take 2300 days or 1150 days, both of them work.\u00a0 You don\u2019t have to sit in judgment on the Bible; the Bible is always going to be vindicated at the end.\n\nSo what happened exactly after these 2,300 days elapsed.\u00a0 There\u2019s a man in history who led what is called the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucids and restored the Jewish temple to its proper place that Antiochus had been desecrating all that time.\u00a0 And they won this battle, this is why it fits very nicely as a 4th<\/sup> of July sermon which I wanted to get to last week but didn\u2019t, it describes very nicely a battle or a war that took place where Israel was outnumbered against overwhelming odds and yet succeeded in taking the temple back from Antiochus, his desecration and the Seleucid dynasty.\n\n1 John 4:4 says, \u201cGreater is He that is in you than he that is in the world.\u201d\u00a0 You see, one plus God is a majority.\u00a0 All you need on your side is God; it doesn\u2019t matter that you don\u2019t have the armament, the education, the intelligence to pull it off, if you have God on\u00a0 your side you\u2019re going to win.\u00a0 This is what happened with the Maccabees in the intertestamental period.\u00a0 In fact, this victory that they achieved, taking the temple back from Seleucid rule was so monumental in Israel\u2019s history that she started a feast day because of it called what?\u00a0 Anybody know?\u00a0 Hanukah.\u00a0 What happened at Hanukah exactly?\u00a0 By the way, Daniel is seeing these things 400 years before they happened.\u00a0 Hanukah, December 24, 164 BC (roughly) is also called the Festival of Lights, the Festival of Dedication.\u00a0 It represents a time in history where the temple was retrieved from Antiochus\u2019 rule, liberated and re-dedicated.\u00a0 That\u2019s what Daniel is seeing here; he\u2019s seeing history before it unfolds 400 years later.\n\nHow do we know this history unfolded 400 years later?\u00a0 Because we have a historical record of it called 1 and 2 Maccabees.\u00a0 You say wait a minute, that\u2019s in the Roman Catholic Bible and it is. We, as Protestants do not accept 1 and 2 Maccabees as canonical but it\u2019s like the writings of Josephus, it contains in it valid history.\u00a0 1 and 2 Maccabees will show you, if you read it, how Daniel\u2019s prophecies in chapter 8 were fulfilled exactly like God said.\n\nSo why is it called The Feast of Lights?\u00a0 Because the Greeks, under Antiochus, in the temple extinguished the Menorah.\u00a0 You see a picture of the Menorah there at the bottom of the screen.\u00a0 The priests needed eight days according to Jewish law to rededicate the temple after it had been desecrated by Antiochus for 2300 days.\u00a0\u00a0 You need eight days of oil.\u00a0 The problem is they only had an oil supply for how many days?\u00a0 One day.\u00a0 So with faith, according to tradition, they lit the Menorah anyway and guess what happened?\u00a0 It burned eight days; it\u2019s a miracle of God.\u00a0 And so profound is this miracle of God that Daniel predicted, which roughly unfolded between the two testaments as recorded in the historical Maccabees books, that the Jews got a holiday out of it.\n\nThis chart here gives you the seven feast days of Israel Leviticus 23, all the way back to the time of Moses.\u00a0 Four spring, three fall feasts.\u00a0 By the way, as a side note, every time a feast day happens something monumental happens prophetically.\u00a0 The first four feast days key events in the life of Jesus Christ took place.\u00a0 For example, His death took place at which feast day?\u00a0 Passover.\u00a0 So you have the four spring feasts and then you have the three fall feasts; the four spring feasts deal with events related to the First Coming of Christ; the three fall feasts, later on in the year, describe things related to the Second Coming of Christ.\u00a0 The conversion, for example, of the nation of Israel is going to take place on Atonement, a feast day.\n\nWell what happens between the spring feast and the fall feast?\u00a0 There\u2019s a gap of time, isn\u2019t there.\u00a0 You know what we\u2019re living in right now?\u00a0 The church age, or the gap of time.\u00a0 We\u2019re living in between feast 1, 2, 3, 4, that happened in the spring already and we\u2019re still waiting for the fall feasts, 1, 2 and 3, which will happen after the rapture of the church.\n\nHere\u2019s what the feasts look like on the calendar of the nation of Israel; seven feasts and then God moves His hand in history and He does things so significant that feasts get added to the calendar.\u00a0 One of them is Purim or Lots which commemorated God\u2019s deliverance of the nation of Israel from the wicked Haman during the Persian era in which book of the Bible?\u00a0 The Book of Esther.\u00a0 And then history continues to unfold; we move into the intertestamental time period, roughly 170-164 B.C. and Daniel\u2019s prophecies happen.\u00a0 The Maccabees win against all odds and they get another feast day out of it called Hanukah, December 25th<\/sup>.\n\nSo now we have seven feasts given by Moses, two more added to the calendar for a total of nine feasts.\u00a0 You say well did Jesus take those feasts seriously?\u00a0 Let me let you in on something here folks, and I can get myself lynched in Texas for saying this: Jesus was not a Southern Baptist.\u00a0 [Laughter]\u00a0 Nor was He an Episcopalian, nor was He Presbyterian, nor was He Methodist, and here\u2019s the big secret, He wasn\u2019t even a member of a Bible church.\u00a0 He was as Jewish as they come and that\u2019s why when you go into the New Testament you see Christ traveling to Jerusalem, what the Law of Moses said, to honor these feasts and when you look at John 10:22 it says, \u201cAt that time the Feast of the Dedication\u201d what is that?\u00a0 That\u2019s Hanukkah, that\u2019s the feast that was added later in fulfillment of Daniel\u2019s prophecies.\n\nAt the time of the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem it was winter and Jesus was walking in the temple.\u00a0 What\u2019s He doing in the temple?\u00a0 Why is He in Jerusalem?\u00a0 Because it\u2019s a feast day and He is honoring what God did with the Maccabees, liberating the temple from Antiochus and his Seleucid rule, honoring what God did through the Maccabees, how the temple was miraculously restored, rededicated.\u00a0 How the Menorah, when it wasn\u2019t supposed to, miraculously burned eight days.\n\nThat\u2019s a pretty good 4th<\/sup> of July story, isn\u2019t it?\u00a0 It kind of sounds a little bit how God helped America, doesn\u2019t it?\u00a0 During a time when she needed it most, and it kind of sounds like God is going to help you this week with whatever Antiochus or giant you\u2019re facing because the last time I checked no one has a corner on God.\u00a0 And God is the same, yesterday, today and forever.\u00a0 He\u2019s the God of miracles; He\u2019s the God of history and it\u2019s just a matter of walking with Him and trusting Him through the emergencies, the exigencies and the valleys of life.\n\nMaybe you\u2019re here today and you don\u2019t know Christ personally.\u00a0 Our exhortation to you is to believe the gospel. Well what\u2019s that?\u00a0 Good news.\u00a0 Why is it good news?\u00a0 Because Jesus did all the heavy lifting; He did the hard work through His death, burial, resurrection and ascension.\u00a0 He did everything possible necessary to bridge the chasm between sinful man and a Holy God.\u00a0 And the only thing He asks you to do is to trust in what He\u2019s done in your place.\u00a0 The Holy Spirit has come into the world to place men and women under conviction so that they might respond, by way of faith, to the gloriousness of the gospel. If you\u2019re here today or listening online or recording or whatever the case may be it\u2019s no doubt that the Spirit is placing many of you if not all of you under conviction because that\u2019s what the Holy Spirit does.\u00a0 Do you understand that the Holy Spirit loves\u00a0 you too much to see you go into hell?\u00a0 And He does whatever He can to stir you up by way of conviction so that you might believe and receive this gift of salvation.\u00a0 That\u2019s the Holy Spirit\u2019s work.\u00a0 And so if you\u2019re here today never having received Christ, under the conviction of the Holy Spirit our exhortation to you is to respond in your heart of hearts in a moment of privacy between you and God, the best you know how, to the convicting ministry of the Spirit of God, place your personal faith in Jesus Christ as your Savior for your salvation, for the safekeeping of your soul and in an instant you\u2019ve transformed your eternal destiny.\u00a0 If it\u2019s something you need more information on I\u2019m available after the service to talk.\n\nShall we pray.\u00a0 Father, we\u2019re grateful for Daniel 8 and the prophecies that it represents and what You did in history and how You worked.\u00a0 And help us, Father, not to look at this as just prophecies about an ancient people or a history lesson that is far past but You\u2019re a real God who wants to walk with us this week and perform great miracles as we rely upon You though difficulties of life.\u00a0 We\u2019ll be careful to give you all the praise and the glory, we ask these things in Jesus name, and God\u2019s people said\u2026\u00a0 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