{"id":18434,"date":"2018-04-15T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2018-04-15T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sugar-land-bible-church.local\/sermon\/daniel-059-weakening-the-strong\/"},"modified":"2018-04-15T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2018-04-15T05:00:00","slug":"daniel-059-weakening-the-strong","status":"publish","type":"sermon","link":"https:\/\/slbc.org\/es\/sermon\/daniel-059-weakening-the-strong\/","title":{"rendered":"Daniel 059 – Weakening the Strong"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","book":[72],"series_event":[467],"sermon_service_type":[472],"speaker":[6],"class_list":["post-18434","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 059 - Weakening the Strong","sermon_date":"20180415","sermon_month":"4","sermon_year":"2018","sermon_notes":5680,"sermon_slides":5684,"sermon_mp3":5686,"sermon_id":"41518102602","series_or_event":467,"service_type":[472],"speaker":6,"books_of_the_bible":72,"chapter_and_verse":"12:5-7","sermon_transcript":"Andy Woods\n\nWeakening the Strong and Strengthening the Weak\n\n4-15-18\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Daniel 12:5-7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Lesson 59\n\nLet\u2019s take our Bibles if we could and open them to the Book of Daniel, Daniel chapter 12 and verse 5, taking a look this morning, God willing, at verses 5-7.\u00a0 The title of our message this morning is Weakening the Strong and Strengthening the Weak.\u00a0 In fact, if you\u2019re sensitive to that issue that really is God\u2019s plan and program for all of our lives.\u00a0 1 Peter 5:5 says, \u201cGod is opposed to the proud, but He gives grace to the humble.\u201d\u00a0 God is in the business of bringing the strong down and promoting the weak.\u00a0 And we certainly see that as we\u2019re looking at Daniel 12:5-7 this morning which reveals God\u2019s future program for the nation of Israel.\u00a0 Of course this is all part of one unit, chapters 10-12, the final vision which Daniel received back in the sixth century B.C.\n\nThere was tremendous warfare involved in how that vision finally arrived to Daniel but finally at the end of chapter 10 he receives it and the vision itself is recorded in chapters 11 and 12.\u00a0 Daniel has really been given quite a panorama here of world history.\u00a0 Most of these things that Daniel has seen are historical from our perspective until you get, really to verse 36, then he leaps into the future and begins to describe the tribulation period and the millennial kingdom which follows.\u00a0 He\u2019s given information about the future antichrist, future tribulation, future millennial kingdom.\n\nAnd we\u2019ve found ourselves for the last couple of Sundays in chapter 12 where Daniel has been given, first of all a description of the end times.\u00a0 We have seen the suffering of the nation of Israel that is yet future for them; the separation, the two great resurrections at the end of the age, the shining, the reward that some resurrected people will receive.\u00a0 And then finally last week we looked at the ceiling, how this information is designed by God to become progressively more understand\u00adable the closer humanity drifts to the allotted time frame, or prophesied time frame.\n\nAnd now we move into verses 5-13 which is no longer a description of the end times as much as it is information about the duration of the end times.\u00a0 And the reason I call it that is because the questions that come, and there\u2019s two question and answer sessions here.\u00a0 Session one is in verses 5-7 (which we\u2019re going to look at today).\u00a0 Session two is in verses 8-13 but the questions and answers all seem to revolve around the length or duration or how many days, how many years, how many months will it take for these things to be so.\n\nNotice, if you will, round one, verses 5-7, as the first question is asked there in verses 5-6.\u00a0 Let\u2019s start, if we could, with verse 5.\u00a0 \u201cThen I, Daniel, looked and behold, two others were standing, one on this bank of the river and the other on that bank of the river.\u201d\u00a0 Now you\u2019ll notice something that escapes people\u2019s notice, something very simple\u00a0 yet it\u2019s very important; it says there in verse 5, \u201cThen I, Daniel.\u201d\u00a0 Why is that a big deal?\u00a0 Because when you watch A&E, the history channel, Mysteries of the Bible, as I\u2019ve mentioned many times they\u2019ll try to convince you that Daniel didn\u2019t really write this.\u00a0 I mean, how could Daniel have known history in advance the way he did. So they take the\u00a0 Book of Daniel from the sixth century B. C. and transport it into the second century B.C. and they think they\u2019ve solved the problem.\u00a0 They make Daniel a history lesson rather than a prophecy.\n\nThe problem is an ordinary reading of the passage won\u2019t allow you to do that.\u00a0 It says, \u201cI Daniel,\u201d Daniel saw all of these things back in the sixth century, even the things that can\u2019t be explained, such as the things that we\u2019ve studied in the intertestamental period, Daniel saw those things four hundred years in advance.\u00a0 There is no reason to play games with the Book of Daniel if you believe in the reality of predictive prophecy.\u00a0 Of course, Jesus Christ Himself quotes Daniel 9:27 and says what? \u00a0\u00a0\u201cSpoken through the prophet Daniel.\u201d\u00a0 I mean, isn\u2019t Jesus a pretty good guy to agree with at the end of the day?\n\nJesus Himself believed Daniel is the author of the entire Book of Daniel in the sixth century. [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\u00a0\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),]\n\nNow you\u2019ll notice what it says there in verse 5, \u201cThen I, Daniel, looked and\u201d notice what it says, \u201cbehold, two others were standing, one on this bank of the river and the other on that bank of the river.\u201d\u00a0 Now who are these two others?\u00a0 I believe that these two others represent angelic beings.\u00a0 You might recall when we started this study\u2026 maybe some of you don\u2019t recall, but when we started this study I said if\u00a0 you hang with me through this study you\u2019re going to learn a variety of topics.\u00a0 I think we\u2019ve made good on our promises\u2026amen!\u00a0 It\u2019s all there in the sermon archives if you\u2019re interested.\n\nBut one of the things I said at the very beginning is one of the things you\u2019re going to learn in the Book of Daniel is something called angelology which is the doctrine of angels.\u00a0 I mean, what does the Bible say about angels?\u00a0 In fact, it\u2019s shocking to discover how much the Bible reveals about this subject of angels.\u00a0 I recommend Billy Graham\u2019s book, Angels: God\u2019s Secret Agents<\/em>.\u00a0 It\u2019s an interesting book and as you go through it you\u2019re startled at how much of the Bible is spoken of concerning angels.\u00a0 And certainly Daniel has a lot to say about it. They\u2019re called watchers, Daniel 4.\n\n[<\/strong>Daniel 4<\/em>:13. I was looking in the visions in my mind as I lay on my bed, and behold, an angelic watcher<\/em>,<\/strong> a holy one, descended from heaven.\u201d]\u00a0 We\u2019ve run into Gabriel, Daniel 8.\u00a0 We\u2019ve run into Michael, Daniel 10.\n\nAnd we\u2019ve even run into something called spiritual warfare.\u00a0 Doesn\u2019t our Bible teach that \u201cwe wrestle not against\u201d what? \u201cflesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world\u2026.\u201d\u00a0 [Ephesians 6:12]\u00a0 You get a tremendous description of the spiritual warfare raging, I would say right now as we speak, in the heavenly places, in Daniel chapter 10.\u00a0 I mean, where would we be in our understanding of angels were it not for the Book of Daniel.\n\nAnd notice what it says [Daniel 12] verse 5, \u201cThen I, Daniel, looked and behold two others were standing, one on this bank of the river and the other on that bank of the river.\u201d\u00a0 Now which river is it talking about here?\u00a0 Is this the Mississippi River?\u00a0 What is he talking about exactly?\u00a0 Well, remember chapters 10-12 is all one unit, it\u2019s all information that Daniel received at a particular date. Chapters 10-12 need to be understood that way; the chapter divisions in the Bible confuse us because we bifurcate things based on these chapter divisions, but I can assure you that the Holy Spirit did not put those chapter divisions there.\u00a0 They are a manmade invention; I\u2019m not necessarily against them, I think generally the people that put those chapter divisions there did a decent job.\u00a0 But the problem with chapter divisions is we separate one unit from the other and God wants this whole unit of material to be understood as one block of information.\u00a0 And so to discover what river he\u2019s talking about all we have to do is go back to Daniel 10:4 when the vision started.\u00a0\u00a0 It\u2019s interesting to me how the Bible is its best interpreter.\u00a0 It says at the beginning of this vision, Daniel 10:4, \u201cOn the twenty-fourth day of the first month, while I was by the bank of the great river, that is, the Tigris,\u201d not the Mississippi but the Tigris.\n\nDaniel received this information and this is where the entire Book of Daniel unfolds in an area called Mesopotamia which literally means between the rivers.\u00a0 Which rivers?\u00a0 The river Euphrates and the river Tigris; that was where Babylon, Babylonia once was.\u00a0 Today we would call it modern day Iraq.\u00a0 So the Tigris River is the river just a tad east of the Euphrates.\n\nDaniel, as we know, is one of our exilic prophets.\u00a0 What does that mean?\u00a0 He had these prophecies in exile.\u00a0 That\u2019s what makes the Book of Daniel so significant, it\u2019s how to live for God in a pagan world, how to stand for God in a pagan world.\u00a0\u00a0 And no doubt some of you are facing that, on the job, in your family, at the work place, how do you live for God amongst people who don\u2019t agree with your basic assumptions?\u00a0 The Book of Daniel is designed for such a person.\n\nThe other exilic prophet would be Ezekiel.\u00a0 Ezekiel and Daniel were contemporaries; now I don\u2019t know if they knew each other or not but in the Book of Ezekiel, chapter 14 and I believe chapter 28 also, you\u2019ll see Ezekiel making reference to Daniel.\u00a0 Ezekiel knew Daniel at least by reputation.\u00a0 And so it\u2019s interesting to me that God can use us when we are in a place of displace\u00adment or dislocation, ripped out of our comfort zone in some job and\u00a0 you don\u2019t really know why you\u2019re there, amongst people that really don\u2019t\u00a0 understand where you\u2019re coming from.\u00a0 We say where is God in this situation, I want to be back in my comfort zone.\u00a0 But you see, that\u2019s when God is getting ready to use you.\u00a0 That\u2019s how God used Ezekiel and Daniel so strategically.\n\nAnd I love bringing up these points of geography because the Bible wants us to know that this is \u00a0not mythical, this is snot Jack and the Beanstalk<\/em> stuff.\u00a0 These are actual geophysical, geopolitical places on planet earth where these events actually transpired.\u00a0 It\u2019s amazing how much geography you can learn simply by studying the Bible.\u00a0 In fact, the whole subject of geography was somewhat boring to me when I was unsaved, but you get saved and you start looking at the Bible and suddenly these places get very, very interesting.\u00a0 And it\u2019s not just the Book of Daniel, it\u2019s the Book of Acts and many other books are filled with geographical geopolitical information.\u00a0 I would encourage you to take note of those things because the culture wants to convince us that the Bible is just a myth, it\u2019s just fabrication, it\u2019s just fairy tales.\u00a0 NO, not at all!\u00a0 It\u2019s real life people in real life circumstances.\n\nBut you\u2019ll notice that what happens in this question and answer session, beginning in verse 6, it says, [Daniel 12:6] \u201cAnd one\u201d that\u2019s one of the two angels standing on either side of the banks of the Tigris, \u201cone said to the man dressed in linen who was above the waters, how long will it be until the end of these wonders.\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0So now what we\u2019re introduced to is a third man.\u00a0 You\u2019ve got two angels standing on either bank of the Tigris and now we have a third individual; this individual is described a particular way.\u00a0 Verse 7, he is dressed in linen, so who is this third individual.\n\nNow again the Bible is its best interpreter.\u00a0 When you go back to the beginning of this vision in Daniel 10:5-6 you see who this third man is.\u00a0 Daniel 10:5-6 says, \u201cI lifted my eyes and looked, and behold, there was a certain man dressed in linen,\u201d and it goes on and it describes there, verse 5 and verse 6 of the exact sort of garments that he was in.\u00a0\u00a0 And whoever that man was or is, is the same man or third man that\u2019s mentioned in Daniel 10:6.\u00a0 [\u201cI lifted my eyes and looked, and behold, there was a certain man dressed in linen, whose waist was girded with a belt of<\/em> pure gold of Uphaz. [6] His body also was<\/em> like beryl, his face had the appearance of lightning, his eyes were like flaming torches, his arms and feet like the gleam of polished bronze, and the sound of his words like the sound of a tumult.\u2019]\n\nAnd there are a great many Bible teachers, whom I respect a great deal, that say this third man is Jesus Christ.\u00a0 How do they get that?\u00a0 They get that because of the colors and clothing that this third man is wearing is exactly the way Jesus is described in Revelation 1:13-15.\u00a0 [Revelation 1:13-15, \u201cand in the middle of the lampstands I saw<\/em> one like a son of man, clothed in a robe reaching to the feet, and girded across His chest with a golden sash. [14] His head and His hair were white like white wool, like snow; and His eyes were like a flame of fire. [15] His feet were<\/em> like burnished bronze, when it has been made to glow in a furnace, and His voice was<\/em> like the sound of many waters.\u201d]\u00a0 In fact, when you read Revelation 1:13-15 the description there of the glorified Christ that appeared to John on the Island of Patmos, you\u2019ll see the clothing described; it\u2019s exactly like the clothing that we read about with this third man in Daniel 10.\n\nAnd as much as I respect people that hold to that interpretation I\u2019ve always had some difficulties with it.\u00a0 My primary problem with it is this angel had to fight 21 days over a fallen angel to get to a place where he could deliver Daniel the prophecy.\u00a0 Since Jesus is all powerful I don\u2019t think He has to fight anybody.\u00a0 And beyond that Jesus is omnipresent as fully God everywhere at once; why would Jesus even have to travel.\n\nI think that it\u2019s better said that this third man is probably Gabriel, not our youth pastor Gabriel, [laughter] but a revelatory angel, he shows up in Daniel 8:16 to deliver the prophecy of the ram and the goal; he shows up in Daniel 9:21 to deliver the prophecy of the seventy weeks.\u00a0 [Daniel 8:16, \u201cAnd I heard the voice of a man between the banks of Ulai, and he called out and said, \u2018Gabriel, give this man an understanding of the vision.\u201d\u00a0 Daniel 9:21, \u201cwhile I was still speaking in prayer, then the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision previously, came to me in my extreme weariness about the time of the evening offering.\u201d]\n\nGabriel, as\u00a0 you know from early Luke is very active revealing information about John the Baptist and Jesus Christ while they were still in their mother\u2019s wombs.\u00a0 Luke 1:19, Luke 1:26. \u00a0[Luke 1:19, \u201cThe angel answered and said to him, \"I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news.\u201d\u00a0 Luke 1:26, \u201cNow in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee called Nazareth.\u201d]\n\nSo is this third man Jesus?\u00a0 Is this third man Gabriel?\u00a0 My leaning is it\u2019s Gabriel but if you want to believe it\u2019s Jesus then feel free to do that, we can still be friends at the end of the day.\u00a0 Amen.\u00a0 Whoever it is, either one, this third man is standing, not standing but existing above the waters.\u00a0 He is portrayed in a place of supremacy.\u00a0 And that\u2019s why the question that one of the other angels along the Tigris has is aimed at this third individual.\u00a0 This third individual seems to have insight that the others don\u2019t have.\u00a0\u00a0 In fact, he is described, this third man, as being above the waters, not only in verse 6 but also again in verse 7.\u00a0 [Daniel 12:6, \u201cAnd one said to the man dressed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, \"How long will it be until the end of these wonders?\u201d\u00a0 Verse 7, \u201cI heard the man dressed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, as he raised his right hand and his left toward heaven, and swore by Him who lives forever that it would be for a time, times, and half a time; and as soon as they finish shattering the power of the holy people, all these events will be completed.\u201d]\n\nIt\u2019s interesting to me that the angel along the Tigris has to ask this third entity, whoever he is, Gabriel or Jesus, a question.\u00a0 The angel recognizes that something very serious is being communi\u00adcated and he wants to know the specifics of it; he wants to know about the duration of it.\u00a0 He wants to know about the time of it.\u00a0 And this also, I believe, contributes to our doctrine of angels.\u00a0 In order for an angel to ask a question, an angel, even Satan himself as originally a high ranking angel, is a created being and therefore is not omniscient.\u00a0 He doesn\u2019t know everything.\u00a0\u00a0 The devil doesn\u2019t know everything; angels good or fallen don\u2019t know everything.\n\nIn fact, we\u2019re told in Matthew 24:36 that the angels don\u2019t even know when Jesus is coming back. [Matthew 24:36, \u201cBut of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.\u201d]\u00a0 Now Harold Camping claimed he knew but the angels didn\u2019t know.\n\n1 Peter 1:12 tells us this: \u201cwhich angels long to look into.\u00a0 [1 Peter 1:12, \u201cIt was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, in these things which now have been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven-- things into which angels long to look.\u201d]\u00a0 Did you know that?\u00a0 That angels are students?\u00a0 They stoop down and observe with great care what is happening in the church age.\n\nWhy are they watching so closely?\u00a0 Because they\u2019re seeing in the church a work of grace they\u2019ve never seen before.\u00a0 The angels understand God\u2019s creative power; they were there apparently when God brought the heavens and earth into existence.\u00a0 Job 38:4-7.\u00a0 [Job 38:4-7, \u201cWhere were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?\u00a0 Tell Me,<\/em> if you have understanding,\u00a0 [5]\u00a0 Who set its measure\u00adments? Since you know.\u00a0 Or who stretched the line on it?\u00a0 [6] On what were its bases sunk?\u00a0\u00a0 Or who laid its cornerstone,\u00a0 [7] When the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?\u201d]\n\nThe angels understand the holiness of God because what do the seraphim say twenty-four seven?\u00a0 \u201cHoly, holy, holy is the LORD God Almighty!\u201d\u00a0 My father-in-law is a retired dentist and that\u2019s his favorite worship song.\u00a0 But you\u2019ll see that in Isaiah 6, that\u2019s what the Seraphim, the angels are saying.\u00a0 [Isaiah 6:2-3, \u201cSeraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. [3] And one called out to another and said, \u2018Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory.\u201d]\u00a0 And the angels also understand the judgment of God, how they watched Lucifer rebel and lose his position in heaven.\u00a0 They understand all of these things.\u00a0 What they don\u2019t fully understand is the grace of God.\u00a0 This is why they are portrayed in the tabernacle as being over the mercy seat, cherubim observing.\u00a0 And it is interesting that our lives are open books as far as heaven is concerned.\u00a0 Think about this: every private sin is a public scandal in heaven because the angels are always watching because they just really can\u2019t get enough of this idea that God would pour grace in a lavished form on undeserving people and as this present work of grace is continuing God is using that to fill out knowledge in the minds of the angels who are not omniscient.\n\nSo one angel asks another angel a question; angels themselves don\u2019t know everything, which to \u00a0\u00a0me is very interesting because many people in our culture feel that the height of spirituality is some sort of contact with an angel.\u00a0 They\u2019re, according to a book written by my systematic theology professor, Robert Lightner, he describes this as angel mania; America is into angel mania.\u00a0 I mean, we even had a television show not too long ago that I can remember called Touched by an Angel<\/em>.\u00a0 Everybody wants to contact an angel, everyone wants to touch an angel, everyone wants some kind of visitation from an angel.\u00a0 And yet why would you want that?\u00a0 Why not go directly to God Himself who, unlike angels that have limited knowledge God knows everything.\u00a0 Why settle for second best?\n\nIn fact, the Book of Colossians, chapter 2, condemns angel worship.\u00a0 It says, \u201cLet no one keep defrauding you of your prize by delighting in self-abasement and the worship of angels, taking his stand on visions he has seen, inflated without cause by his fleshly mind.\u201d\u00a0 [Colossians 2:18]\u00a0 We ought not to be angel focused; we acknowledge that they are there in the outworking of God\u2019s purposes but ultimately the focus is who?\u00a0 Jesus Christ.\u00a0 He is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end; He is the point of history.\u00a0 Why would I waste my time through some \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0inter\u00admediary when I can go directly to the Creator and the Redeemer who is omnipotent and omnipresent.\u00a0 So the fact that the angel asks a question shows their lack of omniscience.\n\nBut what is the question?\u00a0 Verse 6, \u201cAnd one said to the man dressed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, \u2018How long will it be<\/em> until the end of these<\/em> wonders?\u201d\u2019\u00a0 What wonders?\u00a0 The tribulation period, the conversion of the nation of Israel.\u00a0 How long is that going to take exactly?\u00a0 And you start to get an answer to this question in verse 7 and verse 7 is just loaded with information as this third being, whether it\u2019s Jesus or Gabriel gives an answer.\u00a0 Verse 7, \u201cI heard the man dressed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, as he raised his right hand and his left toward heaven, and swore by Him who lives forever that it would be for a time, times, and half a time; and as soon as they finish shattering the power of the holy people, all these events will be completed.\u201d\n\nIt\u2019s sort of interesting to me that this being, whether it\u2019s Gabriel or Jesus Christ, when he answers this question about how long has his right hand and his left raised towards heaven.\u00a0 That is a sign of a solemn oath. \u00a0And before I describe that solemn oath let me remind you of something; we ought to believe it anyway, whether we have a solemn oath or not because it\u2019s in the Bible.\u00a0 God reveals things in the Bible that makes them true but sometimes God goes the extra step and He adds additional verification just so people will heed and acknowledge and embrace what He is revealing.\u00a0 It\u2019s sort of like what Jesus says in John 5:24, \u201cTruly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.\u201d\u00a0 Why do I believe that\u2019s true?\u00a0 Because it\u2019s in the Bible.\n\nBut Jesus says just in case\u00a0 you\u2019re a doubter let me add an introductory phrase, \u201ctruly, truly,\u201d truly is a translation from the Greek word \u201camen,\u201d amen, amen; amen, amen, it is certain, it is certain, that\u2019s what we do and what we mean when we say \u201camen.\u201d\u00a0 It\u2019s certain, Jesus says it is certain once; He says it is certain twice, and then He reveals a tremendous truth about how lost people can be saved.\u00a0 Why does Jesus do that?\u00a0 Why doesn\u2019t He just make the statement?\u00a0 Isn\u2019t that enough?\u00a0 Because God wants His Word acknowledged that He gives many times additional verification.\u00a0 And in biblical times when you took an oath you raised your right hand, kind of like how we take oaths today.\u00a0 Deuteronomy 32:40 says, \u201c'Indeed, I lift up My hand\u201d singular, \u201cto heaven\u2026.\u201d\u00a0 Revelation 10:5 says, \u201cThen the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land lifted up his right hand\u201d singular \u201cto heaven.\u201d\n\nAnd what you see happening here is this, whether it\u2019s Jesus or Gabriel, they\u2019ve got both hands up; the right hand it up and the left hand is up, meaning that the oath is bigtime!\u00a0 I mean, you should believe it because God says it\u2019s so; you should believe it because there\u2019s an oath.\u00a0 You should believe it because the right hand is up.\u00a0 And you should really, really, really, really, really believe it because the left hand is up too.\u00a0 Interesting!\n\nAnd if that weren\u2019t enough this being, this entity with his hands (plural) raised, as he raised his right hand and his left towards heaven he does something else\u2014he swore (that\u2019s an oath) by Him who lives forever.\u00a0 It\u2019s coming out of God\u2019s Word, there\u2019s not just a right hand up, there\u2019s a left and a right hand up and then there\u2019s a swearing of this and can you swear by someone greater than God?\u00a0 You can\u2019t!\u00a0 It mentions God\u2019s character here, His attribute of eternality.\u00a0 The angel or perhaps it\u2019s Christ, is swearing by the eternality of God.\u00a0 Did you know God is forever?\u00a0 God has always been and will always be; He is the uncaused cause.\n\nPsalm 90:2 says, \u201cBefore the mountains were born or You gave birth to the earth and the world, Even from everlasting\u201d the Hebrew word olam<\/em>, \u201cto everlasting, You are God.\u201d\u00a0 In other words what is being spoken of here is such a big deal that it\u2019s not just sworn by, it\u2019s not just one hand lifted up, it\u2019s both hands.\u00a0 It\u2019s not just in God\u2019s inerrant Word, but there\u2019s an actual swearing by the eternality and oath according to the eternality of God Himself.\u00a0 Therefore the information that follows must be pretty important.\u00a0 Amen!\n\nWhy does God do this?\u00a0 Why does He build these additional truths into His Word like this?\u00a0 Because there\u2019s a problem that we, as sinners, have.\u00a0 We just have a problem believing God.\u00a0 I mean, if we\u2019re really honest with ourselves at the end of the day our biggest struggle is simply just taking what God says at face value and not rewriting it according to our own puny minds but simply believing it.\u00a0 And you see, that is, I think, what makes Abraham in the Old Testament such a role model.\u00a0 I mean, think about the promise that he was given in his old age, along with his wife, that there\u2019s coming from your own lineage a group of people that will be so numerous, they will be as numerous as the stars of heaven.\u00a0 I mean think of how ridiculous the whole thing probably seemed from the human point of view.\u00a0 And God took him outside and showed him the stars and made him this promise: your descendants are going to be just like this.\n\nYou know, Sarah had a difficult time with it, she laughed at these promises.\u00a0 I mean, they seemed so farfetched.\u00a0 But isn\u2019t it interesting that the person that simply believes God is always vindicated at the end of the day.\u00a0 And Abraham, he didn\u2019t understand it all, he didn\u2019t understand how it was all going to come to pass; it seemed probably somewhat absurd from the humanistic point of view but he just believed God.\u00a0 That\u2019s all he did!\u00a0 And your Bible says, Genesis 15:6, that God counted it to him or \u201creckoned it to him as righteousness.\u201d [Genesis 15:6, \u201cThen he believed in the LORD; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.\u201d]\n\nI don\u2019t think God is asking for a lot in us, simply to trust what He says.\u00a0 And we read the promise, haven\u2019t we, John 5:24, if you believe in the One whom He has sent you have eternal life and you\u2019ve crossed from death unto life.\u00a0 [John 5:24, \u201cTruly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.\u201d]\u00a0 Don\u2019t sit there and go into the paralysis of analysis, what does that really mean and you start second guessing and playing war games.\u00a0\u00a0 Just believe it!\u00a0 And God credits it unto us as righteousness just as Abraham did when he believed.\u00a0 The tendency to doubt God, God understands this tendency in fallen human beings and so He build into His Word certain additional verification, sort of like the ones that we are reading about here.\n\nAnd what this third entity wants to communicate in verse 7 are two basic truths.\u00a0 Number 1, the duration of the time period and number 2, the conversion of Israel, the end to the obstinacy of the Jewish people.\u00a0 Notice the duration of this time period. \u00a0Daniel 12:7, \u201cI heard the man dressed in linen who was above the waters of the river, as he raised his right hand and his left toward heaven, and swore by Him who lives forever that it would be for a time, times, and half a time;\u201d well what does that mean?\u00a0 A \u201ctime\u201d is one Jewish year, \u201ctimes\u201d plural, is two Jewish years and a half a time is half a Jewish year; one plus two plus a half is how much?\u00a0 Three and a half\u00a0 years.\u00a0 You say a time, times and half a time, I\u2019ve heard about this somewhere before, where have I heard about this?\u00a0 Aha, it was back in Daniel 7:25 describing the antichrist\u2019s diabolical reign in the second half of the tribulation period.\u00a0 [Daniel\u00a0 7:25, \u201c'He will speak out against the Most High and wear down the saints of the Highest One, and he will intend to make alterations in times and in law; and they will be given into his hand for a time, times, and half a time.\u201d]\n\nYou\u2019ll find the expression \u201ca time, times and half a time\u201d describing the exact same time period from a different angle in Revelation 12:14.\u00a0 [Revelation 12:14, \u201cBut the two wings of the great eagle were given to the woman, so that she could fly into the wilderness to her place, where she was nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent.\u201d]\n\nNow the Bible\u00a0 uses prophetic synonyms; sometimes it\u2019ll be called forty-two months, Revelation 11:2, Revelation 13:5.\u00a0 [Revelation 11:2, \u201cLeave out the court which is outside the temple and do not measure it, for it has been given to the nations; and they will tread under foot the holy city for forty-two months.\u201d\u00a0 Revelation 13:5, \u201cThere was given to him a mouth speaking arrogant words and blasphemies, and authority to act for forty-two months was given to him.\u201d]\u00a0 Sometimes it\u2019ll do it in terms of days which would be one thousand two hundred and sixty days, Revelation 11:3, Revelation 12:6.\u00a0 [Revelation 11:3, \u201cAnd I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for twelve hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.\u201d\u00a0 Revelation 12:6, \u201cThen the woman fled into the wilderness where she had a place prepared by God, so that there she would be nourished for one thousand two hundred and sixty days.\u201d]\n\nAll of these synonyms, different word, same meaning, are all talking about the same general period of time because in our study of the seventy weeks prophecy we learn that there\u2019s a seven year period yet future, Daniel 9:27, divided into two halves.\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\u00a0 First half, second half, each half constituting a three and a half year time period, or forty-two months, or one thousand two hundred sixty days, or a time, times and a half a time.\u00a0 \u00a0And what divides that seven year period is the desecration of the temple by the future antichrist.\n\nAnd what is being revealed here is the second half of the tribulation period, where it\u2019s going to become very difficult for the Jewish people, very difficult for the nation of Israel.\u00a0 You might want to jot down Matthew 24:15-22 where Jesus tells the Jews living in Jerusalem at the midpoint, when they see the temple desecrated, to flee into the mountains.\u00a0 He talks about a time of unparalleled distress that\u2019s never occurred before in history and never to be repeated again.\n\n[Matthew 24:15-22, \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), [16] then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains. [17] Whoever is on the housetop must not go down to get the things out that are in his house. [18] Whoever is in the field must not turn back to get his cloak. [19] But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! [20] But pray that your flight will not be in the winter, or on a Sabbath. [21] For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will. [22] Unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short. [23] Then if anyone says to you, \u2018Behold, here is the Christ,\u2019 or \u2018There He is,<\/em>\u2019 do not believe him.<\/em> [24] For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect.\u201d]\n\nYou might want to jot down Revelation 12:6-17 which is a record of what is happening in the spiritual world, the angelic world as the second half of the tribulation period unfolds.\n\n[Revelation12:6-17, \u201cThen the woman fled into the wilderness where she had a place prepared by God, so that there she would be nourished for one thousand two hundred and sixty days.\u00a0 [7] And there was war in heaven, Michael and his angels waging war with the dragon. The dragon and his angels waged war, [8] and they were not strong enough, and there was no longer a place found for them in heaven. [9] And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. [10] Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, \u201cNow the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night. \u00a0[11] And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0[12] For this reason, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them. Woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, knowing that he has only<\/em> a short time.\u201d\u00a0 [13] And when the dragon saw that he was thrown down to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male child.<\/em> [14] But the two wings of the great eagle were given to the woman, so that she could fly into the wilderness to her place, where she was nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent. [15] And the serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, so that he might cause her to be swept away with the flood. [16] But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and drank up the river which the dragon poured out of his mouth. [17] So the dragon was enraged with the woman, and went off to make war with the rest of her children, who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.\u201d]\n\nIt\u2019s an incredible time period.\u00a0 It\u2019s a time period when Satan loses access to heaven permanently.\u00a0 You say wait a minute, I thought that already happened.\u00a0 It did, but he can go back into heaven, not to worship and serve as he once did as a high ranking angel, but he can go into heaven to communicate and to accuse.\u00a0 Read the early chapters of the Book of Job and you\u2019ll see that.\n\nRevelation 12, I think around verse 10 says he accuses the brethren \u201cday and night,\u201d wow, in the presence of God.\u00a0 I\u2019m sure glad I have a good defense attorney, Jesus Christ.\u00a0 In fact, you might recall that one day Peter and Jesus were having a conversation and Jesus made a statement to Peter that no doubt sent chills down his spine.\u00a0 He said, \u201cSimon, Simon, Satan has requested permission to sift you like wheat,\u201d I believe that\u2019s in Luke 22. \u00a0[Luke 22:31, \u201cSimon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat;\u201d]\n\nThink about that, as I talk today there are conversations about you in heaven. Wow!\u00a0 But you see, halfway through the tribulation period that privilege Satan has is gone.\u00a0 And this is where Revelation 12, beginning at verse 6 is so helpful because he plummets to the earth knowing he has but a short time.\u00a0 What\u2019s a short time?\u00a0 Three and a half years.\u00a0 He\u2019s only got forty-two months left, or a time, times and half a time left to do what?\u00a0 To stop the coming of the kingdom.\u00a0 He knows that once the kingdom comes he\u2019s going to be dethroned and put into the abusso<\/em> or the abyss and then at the end of the thousand years he\u2019ll be thrown into the lake of fire forever and ever, Revelation 20:10.\u00a0 [Revelation 20:10, \u201cAnd the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.\u201d]\n\nAnd what better way in his mind to stop that from happening than to destroy the instrument through which the kingdom will come.\u00a0 What instrument is that?\u00a0 The covenanted people, the nation of Israel.\u00a0 And when you begin to understand these things from a spiritual perspective suddenly all of the irrational hatred against the Jews and the Jewish people starts to make sense.\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t make any sense from a humanistic point of view but if you analyze it through the realm of the angelic point of view you begin to understand why Satan hates the Jews and why there\u2019s so much irrational hatred for the Jews, even going back to the time of Esther and Haman who tried to blot out the Jewish people, right up to Adolf Hitler who proposed the final solution, right up to the BDS movement on college campuses today.\u00a0 BDS, what does that stand for?\u00a0 Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions.\u00a0 Who are they divesting?\u00a0 They\u2019re divesting themselves and boycotting the nation of Israel.\n\nIsn\u2019t it interesting the nation of Israel is always the bad guy.\u00a0 You might be familiar with the book, The Elders of the Protocol of Zion<\/em> which an irrational rant against the Jewish people that is a best seller in Islamic countries today, saying that the Jews are behind all of these conspiracies and the Jews control the banks and this and that, and these wild accusations are made.\u00a0 And\u00a0 you say why do people believe this?\u00a0 It\u2019s right here in Revelation 12; it\u2019s right here in Daniel 12 and this is what is happening in the second half of the tribulation period.\u00a0 And I believe this, that once Satan loses his position in heaven he will go into, in terms of a possession, the beast or the antichrist.\n\nRevelation 13:2 say, \u201cAnd the dragon\u201d that\u2019s the devil, \u201cgave him his power and his throne and great authority.\u201d\u00a0 Verse 4, Revelation 13 says, \u201cthey worshiped the dragon because he gave his authority to the beast;\u201d [ Revelation 13:2, \u201cAnd the beast which I saw was like a leopard, and his feet were like those of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. And the dragon gave him his power and his throne and great authority.\u201d Revelation 13:4, \u201cthey worshiped the dragon because he gave his authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, \u2018Who is like the beast, and who is able to wage war with him?\u2019\u201d]\n\nThere\u2019s no doubt that the beast in the second half of the tribulation period is going to be satanically energized.\u00a0 How satanically energized will this man be?\u00a0 The devil is inside of him.\u00a0 You say well how do you know that for sure?\u00a0 I don\u2019t know it for sure, I don\u2019t know if I\u2019d start a new church over this, we are the beast possessed by the devil church or denomination.\u00a0 But I think it\u2019s a reasonable inference from the Bible because the antichrist is called \u201cthe son of perdition.\u201d \u00a02 Thessalonians 2:3.\u00a0 [2 Thessalonians 2:3, \u201cLet no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come<\/em>, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;\u201d]\n\nThat title is used of only one other person in the whole Bible.\u00a0 Who would I be thinking of?\u00a0\u00a0 Judas, John 17:12.\u00a0 [John 17:12, \u201cWhile I was with them, I was keeping them in Your name which You have given Me; and I guarded them and not one of them perished but the son of perdition, so that the Scripture would be fulfilled.\u201d]\u00a0 And when the time came for Judas to do the deed, in terms of the betrayal of Christ, John 13:27 records, to my mind some of the scariest words in the whole Bible.\u00a0 It says, \u201cSatan then entered into him.\u201d\u00a0 [John 13:27, \u201cAfter the morsel, Satan then entered into him. Therefore Jesus said to him, \u2018What you do, do quickly.\u2019\u201d]\u00a0 Why wouldn\u2019t the same thing with that same title be of this future antichrist?\u00a0 Satan uses people just like God does.\u00a0 And this is why it\u2019s going to become difficult for the Jewish people in this second half of the tribulation period.\n\nDaniel 7:25, as we\u2019ve already studied it, says \u201cHe\u201d the antichrist, \u201cwill speak out against the Most High and wear down the saints of the Highest One, and he will intend to make alterations in times and in law; and they will be given into his hand for a time, times, and half a time.\u201d\u00a0 Same period of time that we\u2019re reading about here.\u00a0 I guess in a certain sense this information might be refreshing to the Jewish people, knowing that their worst time in history has limits on it.\u00a0 It\u2019s not going to last forever, it\u2019s for an allotted or a specific period of time.\u00a0 And it goes beyond that, the second basic truth that we learn from verse 7 it the conversion of Israel.\u00a0 We know the Scripture, don\u2019t we, \u201cAll things work together for good to those that love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.\u201d\u00a0 I want you to listen very carefully.\u00a0 The Bible never says all things are good.\u00a0 It never says that.\u00a0 When someone is going through a tragedy don\u2019t misquote the Bible to them and say God causes all things to be good.\u00a0 That is NOT what your Bible says.\u00a0 It says He uses all things for good.\n\nGod is going to use this time period to convert the nation of Israel.\u00a0 And notice the way it\u2019s described there in verse 7, after it talks about \u201ca time, times and half a time,\u201d notice what it says, \u201cas soon as they finish shattering the power of the holy people\u2026.\u201d [Daniel 12:7] I, to be honest with you, have misread this verse for years and just as early as last night as I was looking at this one more time the Holy Spirit took a 2 x 4 and slapped me over the head with it, which He does quite frequently I might add, and it never says the holy people are shattered.\u00a0 I always thought that\u2019s what it meant.\u00a0 Look at it very carefully; the \u201cshattering the power of the holy people.\u201d\u00a0 God is not shattering the holy people; God is shattering \u201cthe power of the holy people.\u201d\n\nYou have to understand something; the nation of Israel is the only nation we\u2019re ever told about in the Bible where God promises a top to bottom national revival.\u00a0 God doesn\u2019t promise that to the United States, He doesn\u2019t promise it to any other nation, only to Israel is it promised that when all is said and done every single person in that nation will be a believer.\u00a0 You say well, does the Bible say that?\u00a0 You bet your bottom dollar it says that.\u00a0 Romans 11:26, \u201cand so all Israel will be\u201d what? \u201csaved.\u201d\u00a0 [Romans 11:26, \u201cand so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, \u2018THE DELIVERER WILL COME FROM ZION, HE WILL REMOVE UNGODLINESS FROM JACOB.\u201d\u2019]\n\nHow about Zechariah 12:10, where Zechariah, God through Zechariah says \u201cI will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they\u201d that\u2019s the whole nation alive at that time, \u201cwill weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn.\u201d\n\nThink about that!\u00a0 Top to bottom, man, woman, child, grandparents, everyone that\u2019s alive that\u2019s Jewish on planet earth is saved.\u00a0 If you want to see the history of the nation of Israel just read three chapters in your Bible: Romans 9, Romans 10, Romans 11.\u00a0 It spells the whole thing out, summary form, \u201cReader\u2019s Digest<\/em>.\u201d\u00a0 Israel in the past elected, Romans 9; Israel in the present, rejected, Romans 10; Israel in the future, accepted, Romans 11.\u00a0 Why are they rejected in chapter 10, (although some Jews do come to know Christ personally, it\u2019s just not the majority,\u00a0 it\u2019s just not nationally the way its described) because of unbelief.\u00a0 Unbelief in who?\u00a0 Unbelief in their own Messiah.\n\nWell, how do they move from being a Romans 10 nation to being a Romans 11 nation?\u00a0 They trust in their Messiah.\u00a0 So here becomes the great question.\u00a0 How does God transition this nation from being a Romans 10 nation to being a Romans 11 nation?\u00a0 How is that going to happen?\u00a0 And I would say this: God has to overcome two obstacles in the Jewish people.\u00a0 They are, number 1, spiritual blindness, and number 2, self-sufficiency.\u00a0 What do I mean by \u201cspiritual blindness\u201d?\u00a0\u00a0 Your Bible says that when the nation of Israel rejected Christ at His first coming God gave them over to a judicial blindness.\u00a0 That\u2019s why a salvation of a Jewish person today is a virtual miracle.\u00a0 I mean, it\u2019s just not the norm.\n\nYou say well where does the Bible say that?\u00a0 Here we go:\u00a0 Matthew 13:14-15, write that down and look that up this afternoon.\u00a0 Acts 28:25-28, look that one up also.\u00a0 [Matthew 13:14-15, \u201cIn their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says, 'YOU WILL KEEP ON HEARING, BUT WILL NOT UNDERSTAND; YOU WILL KEEP ON SEEING, BUT WILL NOT PERCEIVE;\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 [15] FOR THE HEART OF THIS PEOPLE HAS BECOME DULL, WITH THEIR EARS THEY SCARCELY HEAR, AND THEY HAVE CLOSED THEIR EYES, OTHERWISE THEY WOULD SEE WITH THEIR EYES, HEAR WITH THEIR EARS, AND UNDERSTAND WITH THEIR HEART AND RETURN, AND I WOULD HEAL THEM.'\u201d]\n\nActs 28:25-28, look that one up also. [\u201cAnd when they did not agree with one another, they began<\/em> leaving after Paul had spoken one parting<\/em> word, \u201c\u2019he Holy Spirit rightly spoke through Isaiah the prophet to your fathers, [26] saying, \u2018GO TO THIS PEOPLE AND SAY, \u2018YOU WILL KEEP ON HEARING, BUT WILL NOT UNDERSTAND; AND YOU WILL KEEP ON SEEING, BUT WILL NOT PERCEIVE;\u00a0 [27] FOR THE HEART OF THIS PEOPLE HAS BECOME DULL, AND WITH THEIR EARS THEY SCARCELY HEAR, AND THEY HAVE CLOSED THEIR EYES;\u00a0 OTHERWISE THEY MIGHT SEE WITH THEIR EYES, AND HEAR WITH THEIR EARS, AND UNDERSTAND WITH THEIR HEART AND RETURN, AND I WOULD HEAL THEM.;\u2019\u00a0 [28] Therefore let it be known to you that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they will also listen.\u201d]\n\n2 Corinthians 3:14-16, I\u2019ll read these.\u00a0 \u201cBut their minds\u201d that\u2019s the Jews, were hardened; for until this very day at the reading of the old covenant the same veil remains unlifted, because it is removed in Christ. [15] But to this day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their heart; [16] but whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.\u201d\u00a0 You\u2019re not going to be able to argue these people in.\u00a0 I\u2019ve tried.\u00a0 You give them a verse, they go to the Rabbi and they come up with a totally different interpretation and you say where did that interpretation come from?\u00a0 It\u2019s a veil over their eyes, they can\u2019t see.\u00a0 That\u2019s part of the plan of God, a judicial blinding.\u00a0 Actions have consequences.\n\nRomans 11:7-10 says, \u201cWhat then? What Israel is seeking, it has not obtained, but those who were chosen obtained it, and the rest were hardened;\u00a0 [8] just as it is written, \u2018GOD GAVE THEM A SPIRIT OF STUPOR, \u00a0EYES TO SEE NOT AND EARS TO HEAR NOT,\u00a0DOWN TO THIS VERY DAY.\u2019\u00a0 [9] And David says, \u2018LET THEIR TABLE BECOME A SNARE AND A TRAP, AND A STUMBLING BLOCK AND A RETRIBUTION TO THEM.\u00a0 [10] LET THEIR EYES BE DARKENED TO SEE NOT, AND BEND THEIR BACKS FOREVER.\u201d\u2019\n\nI\u2019m not denying that Jewish people get saved, certainly Paul was such a man, as was the original apostles, but you just watch this through the Book of Acts; once\u00a0 you get to Acts 13 and Paul goes out of the borders of Israel and he begins to share the gospel you see the same pattern over and over again.\u00a0 He goes to a synagogue, he\u2019s kicked out of the synagogue, he goes to the Gentiles and he gains a great harvest amongst the Gentiles.\u00a0 In fact I tell my students in Acts\/Paul class if I ask you a question about what did Paul do in missionary journey\u00a0 X and X in city X and X just say he went to the synagogue, he got kicked out, he went to the Gentiles and gained a great harvest amongst the Gentiles because that happens all the time. So you\u2019ve probably got about a 90% chance of getting the question right if you answer it that way.\u00a0 God has to overcome this.\n\nThe second problem that the Jewish people today have as a nation is their power.\u00a0 God has to shatter the power of the holy people.\u00a0 What power are we talking about?\u00a0 They\u2019re living according to Ezekiel 38:8 and verse 11 in security when the antichrist comes to power.\u00a0 \u00a0They\u2019re living securely, Ezekiel 38:8.\u00a0 They\u2019re living, in verse 11, in unwalled villages, at rest, living securely as a people living without walls, no bars or not gates.\u00a0\u00a0 [Ezekiel 38:8, \u201cAfter many days you will be summoned; in the latter years you will come into the land that is restored from the sword, whose inhabitants have been gathered from many nations to the mountains of Israel which had been a continual waste; but its people were brought out from the nations, and they are living securely, all of them.\u201d\u00a0 Ezekiel 38:11, \u201cand you will say, 'I will go up against the land of unwalled villages. I will go against those who are at rest, that live securely, all of them living without walls and having no bars or gates,\u201d]\n\nLook at how successful Israel has been in warding off attackers.\u00a0 1948, who would have bet on the Jews and they won.\u00a0 1967, who would have bet on the Jews, but they won.\u00a0 1973, who would have bet on the Jews but they won.\u00a0 Don\u2019t you think a people like that would start to develop a sense of self-sufficiency?\u00a0 You talk to\u2026 you listen on the news, you ask what are they attributing their success to?\u00a0 It\u2019s the Mossad or it\u2019s the IDF or it\u2019s this weapon or that weapon or it\u2019s our intelligence and\u00a0 you see, that is an attitude of self-sufficiency that the nation of Israel has and it gets worse.\u00a0 They\u2019re rich!\n\nEzekiel 38:12 describes the wealth coming into Israel in the last days which motivates the Gog Magog invasion, \u201cto capture spoil and to seize plunder\u201d of a people \u201cwho have acquired cattle and goods, and who live at the center of the world.\u201d\u00a0 And let me tell you something, that is exactly what\u2019s happening right now.\u00a0 [Ezekiel 38:12, \u201c\u2018to 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]\n\nMark Twain, of course, visited the nation of Israel in 1847 I believe it was, wrote about it two years later and he says there\u2019s nothing over here but dust and sand.\u00a0 And isn\u2019t it interesting how when the Jews return to their land exactly like Ezekiel says, they now have a domestic product which out strips that of her neighbors.\n\n\u201cDespite a population of only slightly more than 7 million people...Israel is now home to more than 7,200 millionaires...\u201d\u00a0 [Of the 500 wealthiest people in the world, six are now Israeli, and all told, Israel's rich had assets in 2007 of more than $35 billion dollars... Israel's GDP is almost double that of any other Middle Eastern country.\u201d\u00a0 Matthew Kreiger, Jerusalem Post<\/em>, cited in David Jeremiah, What in the World Is Going On? 10 Prophetic Clues You Cannot Afford to Ignore<\/em> (Nashville: Nelson, 2008), 175.]\n\n\u201cThe value of the minerals of the Dead Sea is estimated at five trillion dollars. [This estimate appears to be optimistic but it is supported in part by the report of the Crown Agents of the British Colonies entitled \u2018Production of Minerals From the Waters of the Dead Sea\u2019.... This official report estimates the minerals, except oil, in 1925 as follows: Magnesium Chloride, 22,000 tons, value 600 billion dollars; Potassium Chloride, 20,000 tons, value 75 billion dollars; other minerals valued at 1,200 billion dollars; or a total of about three trillion dollars, exclusive of oil.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 [http:\/\/www.matterofprinciple.net\/<\/a> 011\/11\/rothschilds-palestine.html (accessed December 15, 2011). Although there is a wide variation of estimates, many different sources estimate the mineral wealth of the Dead Sea in the trillions of dollars.]\n\n\u201cIn the summer of 2010, \u2018huge deposits of natural gas were found along Israel's northern coastline\u2026 [Israel is actually sitting on top of a vast amount of oil. According to Harold Vinegar, the former chief scientist of Royal Dutch Shell, the Shefla Basin holds the world\u2019s second-largest shale deposits outside the United States, from which around 250 billion barrels of oil\u2013about the same as Saudi Arabia\u2019s proven reserves...Estimates of global deposits range from 2.8 trillion to 3.3 trillion barrels of recoverable oil...The technology curb has now reached the point where shale is becoming an exploitable resource...the Shefla shale is in a hospitable location. It also contains oil of the light, sweet variety that is easy to refine into gasoline or other common end products. Most of all, the Jews have proven themselves to be very talented at exploiting resources. If they can't make shale oil work, I doubt any nation can.\u201d\u00a0 Todd Strindberg, Could Israel Become a Major Oil Exporter,\u201d online: www.bibleprophecy.<\/a>com, accessed 26 May 2015.]\n\nI\u2019m just reading briefly these headlines.\u00a0 \u201cAfter more than a year of round-the-clock drilling, large amounts of oil have been found on the Golan Heights.\u201d The article goes on and describes that.\u00a0 [Estimates are that the amount of oil discovered will make Israel self-sufficient for very many years to come. Afek Oil and Gas chief geologist Dr. Yuval Bartov told Channel 2 News, \"We are talking about a strata which is 350 meters thick and what is important is the thickness and the porosity. On average in the world strata are 20-30 meters thick, so this is ten times as large as that, so we are talking about significant quantities. The important thing is to know the oil is in the rock and that's what we now know.\" Three drillings have so far taken place in the southern Golan Heights which have found large reserves of oil. Potential production is dramatic - billions of barrels, which will easily provide all Israel's oil needs...\u201d\u00a0 Oil Discovery in Israel? Globes Correspondent, \u201cHuge Oil Discovery on Golan Heights,\u201d online: http:\/\/www.globes.co.il\/en\/article-huge-oil-discovery-on-golan-heights-1001071698<\/a>, accessed 09 October 2015.]\n\nAnd people say well, Andy, you don\u2019t really believe we\u2019re living in the last days, do you?\u00a0 You know, the frustration of my life has been as these things are happening the church of Jesus Christ could care less.\u00a0 If the people that taught me and mentored me were alive and could see what is happening right now they would be screaming at the top of their lungs.\u00a0 And yet how many sermons do you think this morning, in evangelical America will even broach this subject?\u00a0 Wealth coming to Israel in the last days!\u00a0 We have blindness and we have wealth.\u00a0 That\u2019s a problem.\n\nPsalm 20:7 says, \u201cSome boast in chariots and some in horses, but we will boast in the name of the LORD, our God.\u201d\u00a0 The problem is Israel is not there yet; they\u2019re still wrapped up in the horses and chariots having not turned to Yeshua or Jesus Christ yet.\u00a0 And so once you see this you begin to understand what the angel, or Jesus, is revealing here when it says the program of God in that three and a half years is not to shatter the people but to shatter their power.\u00a0 That\u2019s what God is doing.\n\nAnd let me tell\u00a0 you, it gets a little severe, because if I\u2019m understanding my Bible right this is going to involve the elimination, the death of two-thirds of the Jewish nation.\u00a0 Hitler killed a third, you\u2019ve got two-thirds that will die in the second half of the tribulation yet future, and yet that third, the only living Jews remaining, will all be converts.\u00a0 And Matthew 23:39, Jesus says of Israel, \u201c\u2018For I say to you, from now on you will not see Me until\u201d I love \u201cuntil\u2019s\u201d in the Bible, \u201cuntil you\u201d who\u2019s the \u201cyou\u201d? Israel, \u201csay, 'BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD!\u2019\u201d\u00a0 Which is a Messianic Psalm and Jesus is saying I\u2019m not coming back for this nationally acknowledge Me as the Messiah.\u00a0 Now once you do that in faith, now we\u2019re in business.\u00a0 But how do you get a people that are blind and self-sufficient to understand that?\u00a0 The answer is you\u2019ve got to put them through a time of unparalleled distress where their power is shattered.\u00a0 And isn\u2019t it an amazing thing that God is going to use the second half of the Tribulation period to tear off the blinders, to create a humble and contrite nation that will acknowledge their need and their dependency for Jesus Christ.\n\nGod weakens the strong and strengthens the weak.\u00a0 At the time of their greatest need as they\u2019re about ready to be eradicated as they are in faith, Jesus shows up and rescues them.\u00a0 And you say well, this is all interesting, end times prophecy stuff.\u00a0 Pastor, can\u00a0 you give me something that relates to my life?\u00a0 Well, beloved, you\u2019re not going to be in this time period but I\u2019ll tell you this much.\u00a0 This pattern is the same one in your life\u2026 it\u2019s the exact same one!\u00a0 The problem with us is we\u2019re blind and we don\u2019t even know we\u2019re blind and beyond that we live in America, and we all know God is an American, right?\u00a0 And we\u2019re the richest country on the face of the earth and the average person just doesn\u2019t see their need for Christ.\n\nIsn\u2019t it interesting how God kicks away the props from under our lives to waken us up to reality?\u00a0 You want people in your work place and in your family to get to know Jesus?\u00a0 Start praying Daniel 12:7 indirectly to them that their power would be shattered.\u00a0 [Daniel 12:7, \u201cI heard the man dressed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, as he raised his right hand and his left toward heaven, and swore by Him who lives forever that it would be for a time, times, and half a time; and as soon as they finish shattering the power of the holy people, all these events will be completed.\u201d]\n\nYou start shattering people\u2019s power, you start shattering wealth, you start shattering self-sufficiency and\u00a0 you\u2019re going to start seeing people suddenly interested in spiritual things.\u00a0 That\u2019s what\u2019s happening to the nation of Israel.\u00a0 And yet who is going to be in this time period?\u00a0 It would be for a \u201ctime, times and a half a time\u201d as soon as they finish shattering Sugar Land Bible Church\u2026 it doesn\u2019t say that does it?\u00a0 \u201cthe power of the holy people.\u201d\u00a0 This can\u2019t be the church because the church at the time this was written was a what?\u00a0 It begins with an \u201cm,\u201d mystery.\u00a0 Ephesians 3 describes that.\u00a0 [Ephesians 5:32, \u201cThis mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church.\u201d]\u00a0\u00a0 What\u2019s a mystery?\u00a0 Something never before revealed.\u00a0 You don\u2019t have the doctrine of the church even hinted at until the Gospels.\u00a0 It\u2019s not talking here about the church of Jesus Christ.\n\nNow as\u00a0 you probably know there\u2019s always different views on the rapture.\u00a0 Just to cut through all the malarkey the first one listed is the correct one in our estimation.\u00a0 [slide says: When Will the Rapture Take Place Relative to the Tribulation Period?\u00a0 [1] Pre-tribulation rapture theory, [2] Mid-tribulation rapture theory\u00a0 [3] Post-tribulation rapture theory [4] Pre-wrath rapture theory\u00a0 [5] Partial rapture theory]\n\nWhy is that?\u00a0 And there are many, many people today, it\u2019s astonishing to watch this, whose whole ministry is dedicated to convincing the body of Christ that they\u2019re going to be in the tribulation period.\u00a0 My answer is simply this.\u00a0 Can you show me a single tribulation passage, anywhere, I don\u2019t care where you go, that mentions the church in it?\u00a0 Show me any tribulation passage which mentions the body of Christ concept.\u00a0 It\u2019s not there because the tribulation period concerns Israel.\u00a0 \u201c'Alas! for that day is great, there is none like it; and it is the time of Jacob's distress, but he will be saved from it.\u201d\u00a0 [Jeremiah 30:7]\u00a0 Who\u2019s Jacob?\u00a0 Israel, it\u2019s designed to bring them to faith alone in Christ alone, not shattering them, shattering the power.\u00a0 Remember the seventy weeks prophecy?\u00a0 Seventy weeks of which the tribulation period is part are for your people and your city. It\u2019s very clear, it\u2019s for the Jewish people and the Jewish nation.\u00a0 [Daniel 9:24, \u201cSeventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy place.\u201d]\n\nWhat is our future in Christ?\u00a0 Is our future in Christ to be shattered by God?\u00a0 Not at all!\u00a0 God often\u00adtimes shatters our power to bring us to Christ but what your Bible promises you, 1 Thessalonians 1:10, that you\u2019ll be rescued from the wrath to come.\u00a0 [1 Thessalonians 1:10, \u201cand to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come.\u201d]\u00a0 Is anybody happy about that?\u00a0 I am!\u00a0 1 Thessalonians 5:9, \u201cFor God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,\u201d not so Israel.\u00a0 Israel is in such a level of blindness and self-sufficiency she is in store for a great knockdown, where not her is shattered, her power and yet not all pain is bad.\u00a0 God is going to use this strategically for a national revival, top to bottom.\n\nFinishing out verse 7 and with this we\u2019re finished; \u201call these events will be completed.\u201d\u00a0 Not might happen, not could happen, we\u2019re not dealing with the weather report here, we\u2019re not dealing with percentages, these things are going to happen and these things \u201cwill be completed.\u201d\u00a0 What will be completed?\u00a0 The missing 70th<\/sup> week will be completed, which involves the establishment of God\u2019s kingdom on the earth.\u00a0 The transgression will be over for Israel.\u00a0 What transgression?\u00a0 Rejecting Christ.\u00a0 The new covenant will be established.\u00a0 She will receive atonement for her sins.\u00a0 The ever\u00adlasting kingdom of righteousness will be brought in, vision and prophecy, that\u2019s everything God said, is going to happen, will happen, will be sealed up, and catch this, you\u2019re even going to have a functioning millennial temple, a brick and mortar temple.\u00a0 Oh my goodness, dare I even bring this up?\u00a0 With animal sacrifices in it.\u00a0 Where in the world are you getting that from?\u00a0 Ezekiel 40-49, nine chapters spells it out as much as detail, more detailed than probably most of us would even want.\n\nNow you say well, how are you going to have animal sacrifices in a temple? Well, we did a Facebook live on this, Dr. McGowan and myself.\u00a0 Go to the SLBC Facebook page, we explain the whole thing.\u00a0 Or go to my personal You Tube channel, we explain the whole thing.\u00a0 This isn\u2019t something that\u2019s to be hidden by the Protestant Church.\u00a0 This is not a backburner issue.\u00a0 And this is what pastors are doing today; they\u2019re making all these things backburner issues. I\u2019m not wired that way folks, I say let\u2019s bring it out in the open.\u00a0 Let\u2019s talk about it because if we\u2019re not going to talk about it now when are we going to talk about it.\u00a0 So there\u2019ll be a completion of God\u2019s program.\u00a0 The kingdom will be established on planet earth.\u00a0 That\u2019s the future.\n\nAnd\u00a0 your future, what is that?\u00a0 Your future is to be translated to heaven into the Father\u2019s house before these things happen.\u00a0 Let me just ask a very simple question; if the rapture were to happen in the next split second, before this sermon is over, some of you might even be praying for that to happen [laughter].\u00a0 Would you be going?\u00a0 I mean, would\u00a0 you be part of the believing that\u2019s leaving?\u00a0 I think that\u2019s a fair question to ask.\u00a0 And how do you know?\u00a0 You know because\u00a0 you\u2019ve trusted in what Jesus has done for us on the 2,000 years ago; He bridged the gap, He paid the price, He died on the cross, He rose from the dead.\u00a0\u00a0 He\u2019s not asking a lot from us other than to trust what He\u2019s done.\u00a0 Why don\u2019t you do that right now as I\u2019m speaking.\u00a0 You don\u2019t have to walk an aisle to do it, join a church to do it, give money to do it, it\u2019s a matter of privacy between\u00a0 you and the Lord where the Spirit convicts you and you respond by faith to what Jesus has done.\u00a0\u00a0 You\u2019re not trusting in yourself anymore.\u00a0 You\u2019re not your own savior any more; Jesus is your Savior.\u00a0 And so I would encourage\u00a0 you to do that as I\u00a0 am talking.\u00a0 If it\u2019s something you need more explanation on I\u2019m available after the service to talk.\u00a0 Shall we pray.\n\nFather, we\u2019re grateful for this question and answer session and what it reveals about Your plan and Your program.\u00a0 Help us to walk these things out as we\u2019re sensitive this week to the leading of the Holy Spirit.\u00a0 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