Flight DAN02 - Part A

The best course of action is not to try to escape the world. Try doing games that is to try to face it head on to embrace it in all of its complexity and confusion to bring healing and love and life purpose, meaning this guy got right that feeling compassion world, especially in the wake of a pandemic is very bleak today on connect with scriptwriter Skip shares for you can bring the light of Jesus into our dark world want to tell you what an encouraging resource that will help you break free from anxiety and experience the peace. Jesus on questions can be ambushed by supply struggles. You know how that feels. Listen to skip. I think anxiety is the problem it's a problem all human beings. At some point have to deal with understanding and overcoming anxiety if possible and we want to help you move from feeling paralyzed by anxiety finding lasting peace with three powerful resources, overcoming an anxious mind, a new booklet by Skip HiTec teaching worship any uncertainty on CD plus the war is over worship sure we can replace your anxiety bundle is $35 or more today to help connect more people to the Prince of peace connectwithskip.com/offered to give online securely or call 819 to 1888 okay Skip starts today's hard for me because I like to be like my and and get this the Bible from 30,000 feet so it's harder for me to edit myself and reel it in. So we didn't finish Daniel's finished. Daniel this week and I was thinking about it gives us the opportunity to understand what scholars have called the backbone of biblical prophecy. It is one of the most monumental sections in the Bible, especially Daniel chapter 9 but if you remember last week I gave you two homework questions. Remember that question number one. Why is Daniel written in two languages. Let me explain the question.

Chapter 1 in Daniel is written in Hebrew, chapter 2, verse four, subchapter one to chapter 2 verse three is written in Hebrew. Chapter 2 verse four all the way to chapter 7 verse 28 is written in the Chaldean language of Aramaic, not Hebrew and then chapters 8 to the rest of the book are back to Hebrew. Why two languages well the answer could be that Daniel was bilingual and the prophecies came in a culture where there were different languages. Okay, that's two kind of simplistic in explanation, the real I think explanation behind that is sort of a a tip off of the Holy Spirit to let us know what were dealing with chapter 1 is the captivity of Judah, you are expected to be in Hebrews Judah center. However, beginning in chapter 2 verse four all the way to chapter 7 verse 28, the Gentile nations of the earth are primarily in focus, the times of the Gentiles. The succession of Gentile nations is the focus. Hence it's in a Gentile script language that is is Gentile oriented non-Jewish beginning of chapter 8.

Although in chapter 12 it reverts back again to prophecies and nations that will deal with or touch upon Israel all the way to the second coming. Not a second question I asked, since we close with the idea of Hanukkah.

We close with Hanukkah if you're doing a wonder why you talk about Hanukkah in a church on Wednesday night Bible study because we mentioned that between the Testaments a Jewish liberator over turned one of the gentleman that is prophesied in here is the great persecutor of the Jews, and tickets epiphanies in the Syrian oppression began and the Hasmonean princes Judas Maccabeus and the rest subjugated him took back the temple that happened on the 25th of kiss.

Love and that happens around Christmas time and is called Hanukkah. The festival of lights. We explain that to you when we close and so I asked the question that you had to do homework on word we find Jesus celebrating Hanukkah in the New Testament, and if you discover what is shouted out if you know what light of the world. What is it John 10 you got it. John 10 okay John 10. Let me read it to you. Verse 22, it says now it is John chapter 10 verse 22. Now it was the feast of dedication in Jerusalem and it was winter and Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon's porch. It's wintertime is the feast of dedication. Interestingly, the Torah, there are no winter festivals in the law.

There are spring festivals and there are fall festivals, yet it says Jesus was in the temple at the feast of dedication. That's a reference to the dedication of the temple by the Maccabeus after they overturned the Syrian oppression and that happened. The inauguration of Hanukkah the festival of lights, Hanukkah happened between the old and the New Testament so that by the time of Jesus. The festival of lights Hanukkah was being celebrated. It's always a winter feast. Hence, it was the feast of dedication in Jerusalem.

It was winter and Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon's porch so who said John chapter 10. Give yourself a pat on the back awesome next to him about going to give some love our way to go. That's good. Homework now back to the book itself.

You and I really have only two options to attitudes that we can adopt when it comes to our relationship with the world. Number one, we can try to escape it. Number two, we can try to engage it. If we try to escape it. We want to push it away. It's bad. We wake up we read the headlines.

We hear the news.

We get set up with the corruption were tired of the same old stories were tired of the bad headlines and so we can sort of try to wash our hands of the world after all were God's chosen people were Christians we do have anything to do with the world.

We try to wash her hands of the situation around you. You might find yourself like Pontius Pilate who try to wash his hands in dealing with Jesus and he came back to haunt him.

The other option and really the best course of action is not to try to escape the world but try to engage the world that is to try to face it head on to embrace it in all of its complexity and confusion to bring healing and love and light and purpose and meaning and hope into this dying world through the gospel of Jesus Christ. That's dealing in compassion with it. That's getting our hands not washed up at the getting our hands dirty in it to serve that lost world. That is the course of action that the central figure of this book that's his course of action. Daniel engaged in the culture around him and I should say in this case the political culture around. He was very very involved in Babel and he entered Babylon as a refugee, but quickly he became royalty.

He was a refugee 15 years of age. We believe Daniel was when he was removed from his home, his parents, the temple, the law Judaism and placed 550 miles east in Babylon, but we read a story he purpose in his heart. God raised him up and he became the Prime Minister of land he was very engaged in the culture. In chapter 2 just to kind of introduce that engagement get up to go back to it. But this is how we got engaged.

He was taken captive.

He was given a three year graduate course in the culture accustomed language of the Chaldeans. One night Nebuchadnezzar had a horrible dream. It disturbed him greatly. He called in all of his wiseguys and all of his magicians and he said I had a horrible dream.

I need you to tell me what it means and is a great tell us what it is will tell you what it means, and he figured out they were stalling for time is is I don't know if you can tell me what it means unless you can actually tell me what was if you don't tell me what it was. I'm in a cut you up into pieces and burn houses down, and he said look, no king in history is ever given that ED goes on the first you're all dead, what, when Daniel heard about that he told areata the captain of the guard told the king why why so hasty give us a little bit of time. We will tell the king what he dream and what the interpretation so Daniel took his buddies Hannah Anaya Misael and Azariah a.k.a. Shadrach me shack and Abednego at a prayer meeting God revealed what the dream was.

He came into the king. He said came.

I'm here to give the answer to your dream goes oh so you can interpret dreams goes I can't really do anything more than anybody else in your kingdom. There's nothing special about me, but there's a God in heaven who knows the future, and he's revealed to me what you dreamed and king you are on your bed wondering about the future you were wondering, what about my kingdom when I'm gone.

What will happen to my kingdom. He said you saw a great image with a head of gold with the chest and arms made out of silver with the stomach and thighs of bronze with legs of iron, and the feet out of iron and clay. He said king you are that head of gold, but after you. Another kingdom will arise. The chest and arms of silver.

After that another kingdom will arise in many iron rule kingdom will arise and then at some point there will be a coalition of nations somehow related to that iron legs statue part of the kingdom and in the days of those kings, God will set up a kingdom on this earth that will never end because in your dream okay and you saw this huge stone, not cut with human hands that came out of the heavens and smashed that statue in the feet. It became became chaff. The wind blew it away in this mountain grew and covered the earth that God's everlasting kingdom. While Daniel gets promoted, he becomes interesting note here the head of what is called by her Herodotus, the father of history, the Greek historian Daniel becomes the head of the Magi. The my boy, my boy, were a special class a hereditary class and their primary job was to interpret dreams.

The McElroy the Magi.

These wise men of Babylon. I said they were an hereditary group that is, it was passed down. You had to be Chaldean in order to be one. Interesting that Nebuchadnezzar broke his rule and placed a Jew as the head of the Magi fast-forward.

If you ever wondered how these kings from the East discovered were Jesus was going to be born. Why were they looking for a star in the heavens. Why were they looking at the astronomical wonders of the heavens to come from the area babbling and say where is he who is to be born the King of the Jews.

Why would they come, unless perhaps they were primed by one by the name of Daniel who at one time was their leader, in his promotion by King Nebuchadnezzar so that's the dream. In chapter 2. That's all a setup of work going by the time he gets a chapter 7 we remember the dream occurs again. This time Nebuchadnezzar doesn't get a Daniel gets same subject matter but different visuals in chapter 7. Daniel gets a vision at night, not of a appalling metallic image gleaming and shiny and glorious splendor us but ravenous beasts who tear each other apart.

First, he sees an animal, a lion, a winged lion, which represented babbling. Then he saw a bear tilted on one side that represented the uneven coalition of the Medo Persian Empire.

Then he saw a leopard that moves swiftly from the west and conquered the East and then finally he saw 1/4 what it calls a dreadful and terrible beast same exact subject matter. These are kingdoms that will come now is in hearing this you go. How do you know their kingdoms are just making up weird interpretations like a lot of prophecy teachers do well I'm glad you asked.

In chapter 7 verse 17 it says those great beasts, which are for are the four kings which arise out of the earth and eight as the text goes on their name babbling Medo Persia and Greece.

By the time we get to chapter 8, as we mentioned briefly last week. The vision narrows and gets focused on two of those kingdoms.

The second and third, the Medo Persian Empire and the Grecian Empire. Why because Daniel is in the Babylonian empire. He will soon serve in the Medo Persian Empire under King Cyrus, and Darius, and so he's dealing with the second and third in chapter 8, this time it's a little bit different is not a bear and a fast-moving leopard.

This time it's a RAM and a goat.

The RAM is in charge. He has two horns, Medo Persia and then a goat with a notable horn out of Greece. It says it's the kingdom of Greece. In fact, look at chapter 8 verse 20 the ram which you saw, having two horns.

They are the kings of media and Persia.

So right, guessing here were not shooting in the dark. The interpretation is given along with the prophecy and the male goat is the kingdom of Greece.

The large horn that is between its eyes is the first king. Now the first king of Greece was Alexander the great Philip of Macedon was his father.

He was the kingdom of Macedonia the first king of Greece. The notable king was Alexander the great verse 22 is for the broken horn and the four that stood in its place for kingdoms shall arise out of that nation but not with its power. If you remember last week I mentioned that Alexander the great died in Babylon at age 33, sort of, is a pathetic young brat. What do I mean by that he had conquered the world so quickly and he had conquered everything that was known at that time as the known world. As far as Greece was concerned everything they knew about. He conquered like from Britain all the way to India. He conquered all in Babel and he sat down and he wept.

He cried like a baby in a drunken stupor because there were no more kingdoms to conquer nothing (33 import conquered the world in Babel and one night while he was drunk. Alexander the great was dying on his deathbed. They asked him to whom shall the kingdom go to which he replied give it to the strong was interpreted by everyone at his deathbed to mean his four generals. The kingdom was divided into four I mentioned them last week.

Cassandra Gen. Cassandra Gen. Alyssa McInnis Gen. Ptolemy and Gen. Seleucus.

They all took a portion of Alexander's empire. The Grecian Empire, but none of them ever achieve the kind of vigor power rapidity and strength that Alexander the great did. Now in chapter 8 verse 23 it talks about a king arising having fierce features and it says they will decide he will destroy the holy people.

A reference to the Jewish people back up in verse 12 of chapter 8 gives us a hint he will oppose the daily sacrifices I touched on him last week. I just want up at a couple footnotes in the succession of kings. Now there are kings.

Let's just say here's Israel in the middle of those four generals that divided up the world to have them were important Israel because if Israel was sandwich right in the middle of those two what is called the King of the North. That's Seleucus and Syria Syrian Empire and Ptolemy down in Egypt between Syria and Egypt was his room. So when the king of the North and the King of the South fought who who got the crossfire. The Jews were sandwiched in the middle so the Ptolemaic Empire of Egypt and the Seleucid Empire of Syria fought each other extensively for years and years and years.

Israel got the brunt of it before in the dynasty of Seleucid kings was a guy by the name of Antiochus the fourth and to Chris the fourth also called Antiochus epiphanies he he I believe was the king arising verse 23, having ears, teachers, and destroying the holy people what he do he came into Jerusalem took it over, killed 80,000 people pretty quickly took 40,000 captive.

He dedicated the temple in Jerusalem to Zeus. He put an image of Zeus in the temple. He sacrificed a pig know anything about kosher law, the most unclean flesh in Judaism is a pig. He took a pagan sacrifice and on the altar of sacrifice that bronze altar in the outer courtyard took the juices of the swine and drench the temple floor and compounds with it just desecrated the whole temple. He put an end the sacrifices he put an end of the Sabbath he forbade Jewish circumcision. The male child of eight days of old. He just shut Judaism down when he did that in the temple. The Jews gave it a specific title they call that the abomination of desolation. That's why last week I said chapter 8, is the historical template of somebody else will come in the end times and do that again called the antichrist hold that thought is a mistake to show that to you in just a moment that we get to chapter 9 chapter 9 man is the Eiffel Tower of Scripture. It is, it's like looking out the window Bible from 30,000 feet. Eva Wouters, avatar, or why look at the pyramids. You can see them when you're flying in the Cairo date date they shoot up from the landscape there and unmistakable landmark or Mount Rushmore in South Dakota. It is one of the towering chapters of all of the Bible ever heard of Isaac Newton, Sir Isaac Newton, the father of modern science mathematician and astronomer Isaac Newton was also a believer in the Bible and Sir Isaac Newton said you could stake the entire truth of Christianity on the text of Daniel chapter 9 alone quite a statement about Tommy getting to chapter 9 Daniel is much older. He was 15 when we start the book he's in his 80s.

You know that means. It means that he has lived the entire Babylonian captivity in Babylon.

70 years of captivity. He is been there and it's just about up. He's been there since he was about 15.

He's lived there 70 years is between 85 and 90 and he remembers you'll see here that Jeremiah the prophet gave a prediction that the Jews would be in Babel and 70 years us given by a prophet who proceeded Daniel follow me so far. Chapter 9 verse one in the first year of Darius, the senator has U-verse of the lineage of the Medes sewer dealing with the second kingdom at the head of gold. Babylon is gone beat a Persian Empire, chest, arms of silver, the bear tilted to one side, depending on which vision is looking at who of the lineage of the Medes was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans of this is 539 BC right after Babylon had fallen to the Medes and the Persians in the first year of his reign. I Daniel understood. I love this by the books I understood by the books. The number of years specified by the word of the Lord through Jeremiah the prophet that he would accomplish 70 years in the desolation of Jerusalem.

If you ever wondered what it Daniel ever do for quiet time he read at least on this day's rules.

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