Participants:
Series Code: SISS
Program Code: SISS000090S
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00:01 Music...
00:30 James: Daniel 5 part 2... 00:32 Ivor: Part 2... 00:33 James: There's just a few verses left 00:35 but there's a lot in here. 00:36 There are some parallels with Revelation... 00:39 there's some "Christ" in here... we want to look at that 00:42 and then, there's just the explanation itself. 00:45 So, we want to make sure we don't... 00:47 really, I've been loving this Program 00:49 since we started in Revelation 00:51 because we don't have an agenda to crash course... 00:54 to rush through... 00:55 to get to a certain place at a certain time... 00:57 we're taking the texts as they come... 00:59 we're doing this... full of explanations we can do 01:02 and we're taking our time 01:03 and I think that's a really good thing for all of us. 01:05 Yvonne: I do too, I love it. 01:06 James: Yeah, I think our Viewers... 01:07 and we've had a lot of comments from our Viewers 01:09 that yeah they appreciate that we just move through it slowly, 01:12 we do a lot of summarizing and they can stick with us on this 01:15 so, I think that's... that's a good thing, yeah. 01:16 Yvonne: Yes. 01:18 James: Ivor, pray us in. 01:19 Ivor: Let's pray... "Heavenly Father, 01:21 we again come before You asking for Your Spirit to be with us 01:25 as we continue to study the book of Daniel. 01:28 Please Lord, continue to give us insight 01:31 and just bless us as we read and as we study, 01:36 we pray in Jesus' name, amen. " 01:37 All: Amen. 01:38 James: So, Jason, let's read these verses right here, 01:40 Daniel chapter 5... we left off with verse 24 I think it is, 01:46 so, 24 all the way to the end. 01:48 Jason: Okay, I might need you to ad lib on 25... 01:50 just jump in there and say these... 01:53 Yvonne: Oh, how to pronounce it. 01:54 Jason: Yeah, exactly... 01:55 James: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN. 01:57 Jason: Yes, your part is coming up in just a second... 02:01 James: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN. 02:02 Jason: "Then the fingers of the hand were sent from Him, 02:05 and this writing was written. 02:07 And this is the inscription that was written: 02:10 James: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN... 02:12 Jason: Thank you... 02:13 'This is the interpretation of each word. 02:15 MENE... God has numbered your kingdom, and finished it; 02:19 TEKEL... You have been weighed in the balances, 02:24 and found wanting; 02:25 PERES... Your kingdom has been divided, 02:28 and given to the Medes and Persians. ' 02:31 Then Belshazzar gave the command, 02:34 and they clothed Daniel with purple 02:37 and put a chain of gold around his neck, 02:39 and made a proclamation concerning him 02:41 that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom. 02:45 That very night Belshazzar, king of the Chaldeans, 02:49 was slain 02:50 and Darius the Mede received the kingdom, 02:52 being about sixty-two years old. " 02:54 James: Oooooh... so there it is... 02:56 this is how we close up the reign of Babylon 02:59 and right now we have the head off... in a sense, 03:04 Babylon has come to an end 03:06 just like... was predicted to Nebuchadnezzar 03:08 now fulfilled in his grandson, Belshazzar 03:11 and God's Word is sure... 03:14 the interpretation is absolutely accurate 03:16 and we see that confirmation of prophecy right here. 03:19 Now, there's something that happened 03:21 while you were reading there, Jason, 03:23 I don't know if you noticed it 03:24 but we had a word that was used in verse 25 03:27 that was changed in verse 28 03:29 and the word that was used in verse 25 was "Upharsin" 03:34 and it was changed to "Peres" in verse 28 03:37 and all we need to know is that "Pharsin" is the plural "Peres" 03:43 that means divided... 03:44 so it was just a different form of the same word... 03:47 it has the same meaning. 03:48 Why they did that, I'm not sure 03:50 but it's just the plural: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN 03:53 MENE... God has numbered your kingdom, 03:56 TEKEL... You are weighed in the balances, and found wanting; 03:58 PERES or UPHARSIN: your kingdom is divided 04:01 and it's given to the Medes and the Persians 04:03 and it might be the plural 04:05 because of the Medes and Persians... I'm not sure... 04:06 but that was... that was the point there... 04:08 so, this was the writing that he couldn't understand... 04:12 he didn't get it 04:13 and Daniel, of course, comes in totally dedicated to God 04:18 and we know this because again, he's speaking the truth 04:22 and he doesn't hold back the gospel when he speaks the truth, 04:26 he brings the gospel out... 04:28 but he also is very focused on what God has said 04:32 and at the same time, he says to Belshazzar, 04:36 "I don't need your gifts... I don't need your rewards... 04:38 none of that matters to me... " why? 04:40 "Because God's got me... " 04:42 and it's when we have our focus on God 04:44 and we know that God's got us 04:45 that we can say "No" to the things of this world 04:47 and we see this happening over and over again 04:49 and so, in that context, Nebuchadnezzar responds... 04:54 excuse me... Belshazzar responds 04:56 and he clothes Daniel with scarlet... 04:58 puts a chain of gold about his neck and makes a proclamation 05:00 concerning that he should be a third ruler 05:02 so, to me, that verse basically says, he's unchanged... 05:06 he's unrepentant... he's unchanged... 05:08 his whole focus is still the things of this world 05:10 and it's the same principle that we see in Revelation 05:13 when it says that... you know... 05:15 that God gives them time to repent... they don't repent... 05:17 when God sends judgments and they didn't repent... 05:19 when God sends the plagues and they don't repent. 05:21 It's just the realization that they're settled. 05:24 When God brings a judgment at... at... at... 05:27 a proclamation of judgment, 05:29 God usually knows that "Hey, this is it... " right? 05:33 and... and sure enough in this situation, this was it 05:37 and so, we can trust God with judgment. 05:39 Now, we can't always do that, right? 05:40 Yvonne: Right. 05:42 James: Our judgment is finite and we don't read the heart 05:44 and we can't judge 05:46 but God is sure when He judges, He knows the heart. 05:50 Ivor: There's a thought I want to introduce here 05:54 and I want to ask one of you 05:55 if you would go to Isaiah chapter 44 05:57 because what I want to talk about is how Babylon fell... 06:00 how Babylon fell... 06:02 so, James was mentioning earlier in our last program, 06:05 that Babylon sat along the River Euphrates... 06:08 it was surrounded by the Euphrates... 06:11 it was a well-fortified city 06:14 and while Belshazzar is within his kingdom 06:20 and feasting and all these things, 06:23 outside of the city, right, outside of the city walls 06:26 is the army of the Medes and the Persians. 06:29 It's being led by... obviously led by Cyrus... 06:33 and Isaiah 44 prophesied of the fall of Babylon 06:37 and we're going to read about it here 06:39 in Isaiah 44 verses 26 to 27... of 26 to 28 rather 06:45 and then we're going to go to chapter 45 06:47 and read verses 1 and 2... 06:48 so, it's five verses altogether, 06:50 Yvonne, would you read those verses for us? 06:51 Yvonne: Yeah, sure... 06:53 Yvonne: So, 44:26. Ivor: Right. 06:56 Yvonne: "Who confirms the word of His servant, 06:59 and performs the counsel of His messengers; 07:02 who says to Jerusalem, 'You shall be inhabited,' 07:05 to the cities of Judah, 07:06 'You shall be built,' 07:08 and I will raise up her waste places; 07:10 Who says to the deep, 'Be dry!' 07:12 and I will dry up your rivers'; 07:14 Who says of Cyrus, 'He is My shepherd, 07:17 and he shall perform all My pleasure, 07:19 saying to Jerusalem, 'You shall be built,' 07:22 and to the temple, 07:24 'Your foundation shall be laid. '" 07:25 Ivor: Okay, you can go ahead and read verse 1 and 2 07:27 of chapter 45. 07:28 Yvonne: "Thus says the Lord to his anointed, 07:30 to Cyrus, whose right hand I have held... 07:33 to subdue nations before him and loose the armor of kings, 07:36 to open before him the double doors, 07:38 so that the gates will not be shut: 07:41 'I will go before you and make the crooked places straight; 07:44 I will break in pieces the gates of bronze 07:47 and cut the bars of iron. '" 07:49 Ivor: So, what's interesting about the text that you read... 07:53 verse 1 of chapter 45 where it says, 07:56 "He will loose... " or He will... 07:58 James: Loose the loins of kings. 08:00 Ivor: Well, the KJV says, 08:02 "He will loose the loins of kings... " 08:03 but your version read, "He will loose his armor" or... 08:06 Yvonne: Yes and "Loose the armor of kings... " 08:08 Ivor: "Loose the armor of kings... " 08:10 so, when... when I see here, 08:11 "Loose the loins of kings" 08:13 that reminds us of exactly what happens to Belshazzar 08:16 when he saw the writing on the wall. 08:18 So, we see here that there's a connection 08:20 between Isaiah 45 and what's happening in Daniel chapter 5, 08:26 but that's not the only connection, 08:27 because here's what happens in Daniel chapter 5, 08:31 while Belshazzar is in his kingdom... 08:35 feeling secure in his domain... 08:37 his place is impenetrable... 08:38 you know, "You can't get in here... 08:40 we're surrounded by this River Euphrates... " 08:44 Cyrus is outside the city walls 08:46 and the story goes that 08:50 Cyrus' horse actually drowned in the River Euphrates. 08:55 James: Really? I didn't know. 08:57 Ivor: And he got so angry with the river, 08:59 that he said, "Dry this river up. " 09:01 James: Wow! Yvonne: Hmmm... 09:02 Ivor: So, he begins to drops these... 09:04 has his army drop these rocks into the River Euphrates 09:07 and he creates this dam... diverts the River Euphrates 09:10 and that's how they discovered 09:12 that the gates had been unlocked. 09:14 James: Really? Yvonne: Hmmm... 09:16 Ivor: And so, Cyrus and his army... 09:19 they basically descend into this riverbed 09:22 and that's how they got into the gates of Babylon. 09:27 They descended into the riverbed 09:29 and then opened the gates that were unlocked 09:33 and that's how they conquered Babylon. 09:35 Yvonne: Wow. James: Hmmm... hmmm... 09:36 Ivor: And so, when the Bible says here... 09:38 "He will dry up the deep" verse 27 of Isaiah 44, 09:41 "That saith to the deep, "Be dry... " 09:43 and I will dry up thy rivers... " 09:45 that's speaking of Cyrus... 09:46 Yvonne: Oh, look at that. James: Hmmm... hmmm... 09:48 Ivor: And that's exactly what He did 09:49 and notice how Cyrus is called "my shepherd" 09:51 he's called... 09:52 he is the one that's going to say to Jerusalem, 09:55 "Be thou re-built... and to the temple... " 09:57 so, what did he do? 09:58 He is actually the one that sets the captives free. 10:01 James: Wow. Yvonne: Wow... 10:03 Ivor: This is powerful because in Isaiah 61 10:07 and I have it up on my screen 10:09 so I'm just going to go ahead and read this, 10:11 Isaiah 61 verse 1... this verse is speaking of Cyrus 10:14 in a very literal sense and here's what it says, 10:18 "The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; 10:20 because the LORD hath anointed me... " 10:22 that's what Cyrus is... "the anointed one" right? 10:25 "The LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings 10:27 unto the meek; 10:29 He hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, 10:31 to proclaim liberty to the captives... " 10:34 Yvonne: Oooooh... 10:35 Ivor: What captives? Those that were in Babylon... 10:38 Jerusalem, right? the Jews... 10:40 "And the opening of the prison to them that are bound; 10:44 to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, 10:46 and the day of vengeance of our God; 10:48 to comfort all that mourn; 10:49 to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, 10:51 to give unto them beauty for ashes, 10:53 the oil of joy for mourning, 10:55 the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; 10:57 that they might be called trees of righteousness, 11:00 the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified. 11:03 And they shall build the old waste places, 11:06 they shall raise up the former desolations... 11:09 they shall repair the waste cities, 11:10 the desolations of many generations. " 11:12 So, Cyrus is the one 11:14 that through this opening of the gates... 11:19 drying up the deep... entering into Babylon... 11:22 set the captives free to go to Jerusalem. 11:25 So, when you read in other places in the Scripture 11:28 and I believe it's in 2nd Kings or Chronicles... 11:32 where you see this decree of Cyrus 11:34 where he says, "God has called me to... 11:37 to build Him a house in Jerusalem... 11:40 who is there among you of His people that will go up... 11:43 let him go up... 11:45 let him go up, 11:47 let him go up... " all right... 11:48 so, you're saying, "All right Pastor, 11:50 that... that's good, this is history here... " 11:52 but I want you to check this out because 11:54 remember what's happening 11:55 when Cyrus is outside the city gates 11:59 and this handwriting appears on the wall... 12:02 "Your kingdom is numbered and finished. " 12:05 Babylon falls... 12:07 and that night the king of Babylon... 12:08 his loins are loose... his knees smote together because of fear. 12:12 Cyrus... as we have previously talked about is a type of Christ 12:17 in fact, in the book of Luke 4, when Jesus begins His ministry, 12:23 he opens up and quotes Isaiah 61. 12:26 Yvonne: Yeah. 12:27 Ivor: It's as if He's saying, "Cyrus is here... " 12:29 that's what He's saying. 12:32 James: Yup, "the anointed is here. " 12:33 Ivor: "The anointed is here... " the anointed One... 12:34 Now, this is the powerful thing because 12:37 what was in the... Belshazzar doing that night? 12:39 He was taking the holy things of God and mocking them. 12:42 Yvonne: Right. 12:43 Ivor: So, who's the real king of Babylon? 12:45 James: Hmmm... 12:46 Ivor: The true king of Babylon is Satan himself 12:49 and we've seen that in Nebuchadnezzar... 12:52 James: King of Pride... 12:53 Ivor: The King of Pride... 12:55 so, was there a time that Satan... 12:56 because what Belshazzar was doing was, 12:58 he was mocking the holy things of God before his people... 13:01 parading the holy things of God before his own, 13:04 was there a time that Satan thought he had 13:07 the most holiest thing of God in his possession, 13:11 parading and mocking that thing? 13:13 Yes, that was Jesus Christ. 13:15 So, he has Jesus... getting ready to take Him to the cross 13:19 and this is just so amazing because here's what's happening, 13:23 the man that Satan is leading 13:27 outside the city gates... 13:30 All: Laughing... as Ivor has an important point to make. 13:33 James: Take your time... take your time. 13:35 Ivor: The man he is leading outside the city gates... 13:39 little does he realize that He is the Cyrus of God. 13:44 Yvonne: Hmmm... 13:45 Ivor: And so, imagine this now, Jesus is outside the city gates, 13:48 remember what Cyrus did, right? 13:50 All: Hmmm... hmmm... 13:51 Ivor: He dried up the deep and descended... 13:54 He descended into the earth 13:59 to open the gates 14:04 to set the captives free. 14:09 Yvonne: Yes. 14:11 James: He led a multitude of captives captive... 14:13 remember that? The multitude that comes forth. 14:15 Ivor: This is exactly what Jesus does in His death and burial... 14:20 He has entered into the gates of what Satan thought 14:24 was an impenetrable dominion... 14:26 "Yeah, my dominion is secure... it's safe... it's locked up... " 14:30 Jesus enters into that place through His death... 14:33 dries up the deep and remember this... 14:36 what was written on the wall of Babylon? 14:39 "Your kingdom is numbered and found wanting 14:43 and your kingdom is finished... 14:46 your kingdom is finished... " 14:48 James: "It is finished. " 14:50 Ivor: "It is finished. " 14:52 Yvonne: Oooooh... wow! 14:53 Ivor: When Jesus cries out, "It is finished... " 14:56 the loins of Satan were loosed. 15:00 Yvonne: Ho... ho... wow! 15:03 Ivor: His knees... because he knew it was his death knell... 15:06 he knew this was it... 15:08 like the... the... 15:10 the seed of the woman had bruised the head of the serpent 15:14 so, what do we have here? 15:16 I mean, think about it... 15:18 Christ's death sets the captives free... 15:21 so, who wants to go up to Jerusalem? 15:24 James: Hmmm... Yvonne: Hmmm... 15:26 Ivor: Who wants to go up to the heavenly Jerusalem? 15:29 Whoever will... whoever will... whoever will... let him go up... 15:33 let him go up... this is amazing... 15:35 so watch what we haven't had happening here, 15:37 we're going to do the re-cap... 15:38 in Daniel 1... appetite... 15:41 the beginning of His ministry... 15:44 Daniel 2... stone to the foot... 15:47 His second temptation... 15:49 Daniel 3... bow down and worship... 15:51 that's the beginning of His ministry... 15:53 Daniel 4... the tree... 15:55 this is the tree that's really going to be... 15:58 that's going to be the one that establishes an eternal kingdom, 16:01 right? the cross... that's His death... 16:03 Daniel chapter 5... His burial... 16:06 James: Hmmm... Yvonne: Hmmm... 16:09 James: He sets the captives free... 16:10 Ivor: He... through His death and burial... 16:12 He sets the captives free... 16:14 and I'm trying not to do this but I think I'm going to 16:18 because in Daniel chapter 6... 16:21 pause... all laughing 16:23 because they know that Ivor has an important point... 16:27 Ivor: In Daniel chapter 6, you have Daniel in a Lions' Den 16:32 with a stone over the mouth of the Lions' Den 16:36 and a seal over that stone saying, 16:40 "Make sure he does not come out of the... " 16:44 Jason: Wow! Yvonne: Wow! Yes. 16:46 Ivor: Who would have thought that Daniel chapter 1 16:49 all the way to Daniel chapter 6 is a parallel and a picture 16:53 of the beginning of Christ's ministry 16:56 and his death, burial and resurrection... 16:58 like it's just mind-blowing. 17:00 Yvonne: Wow! 17:01 Ivor: These are the different patterns 17:03 that we begin to see unfold as we're looking at... 17:05 whoa! God is showing us Daniel living the life of Christ 17:08 through these stories of the Bible. 17:11 He's showing us what is going to pertain... 17:15 what's going to fall on us at the end of time... 17:18 he's showing us how these stories end up applying 17:21 in very practical ways 17:23 but also seeing Jesus in the midst of the story. 17:27 Yvonne: Yes... yes... 17:28 Ivor: He sets the captives free... 17:30 He sets the captives free... 17:32 Yvonne: Wow! oooh! 17:34 James: It's so beautiful because when you think about Christ 17:37 after He was resurrected... 17:38 and by the way, I want us to refer to a verse here 17:40 we can look at it here in a second... 17:42 Matthew 27 verses... let's just say, verses 50 to 53 17:48 when we look at those verses, 17:51 it's interesting because when you think about 17:53 the story of Christ, 17:54 you know, when He goes on that walk 17:56 with His two disciples to Emmaus... 17:58 and they are all pouty and down and discouraged 18:02 and He says, "What's up guys... " 18:05 "Oh, you haven't heard?" 18:07 "Well, there was a guy that was crucified 18:11 and we all thought... we were sure He was the Messiah 18:14 but, you know, he was killed today and... " 18:17 "Well, what? are you sure that He's like gone... like...?" 18:22 and then He goes back... what does it say? 18:25 to Moses and the prophets 18:27 and shows Himself through all of these prophecies... 18:31 and when you get to Daniel, you're like, 18:34 "Eh... " 18:36 but if Daniel is continuing in the book of Revelation... 18:40 I don't know if you remember this 18:42 when we went through Revelation... 18:43 we went through the trumpet... the churches... 18:45 the seals and the trumpets... 18:46 and every single one of... 18:48 and the seven last vials or the seven plagues... 18:51 every single one of those began with a picture of Christ. 18:54 I don't know if you remember that... 18:55 so, the first one of course... the seven churches... 18:58 there's Christ among the churches... 18:59 remember that? Ivor: Yeah. 19:00 James: And we talked about how that was a representation 19:02 of Christ being incarnate among us... being with us... 19:05 the second one was a picture 19:07 of the Lamb slain in the midst of the throne... 19:09 you remember that? Revelation 5... 19:10 and we said, "That's the cross right there" 19:12 right? That's the cross. 19:14 The third one was a picture of this angel with incense 19:17 interceding with the prayers of the saints... 19:20 we said, "That's a representation right there 19:23 of His ministry in heaven. " 19:24 And the fourth one was the woman who was pregnant 19:28 and gave birth to the child 19:29 and the child was taken up to God and to His throne 19:32 and that was again... again a summary of His birth 19:34 and His resurrection. 19:35 It was all about Jesus so, each one of those epics... 19:38 because there were only four cycles... 19:39 all started with Christ... 19:41 Daniel is doing the same thing here, 19:42 I mean, what Ivor's brought out here is the same point 19:46 and the point is this, prophecy is about Jesus... 19:49 He's the ultimate reason why we have prophecy 19:52 and so His life is foreshadowed in all these different events 19:56 that are taking place... 19:57 God is pouring into the stories of Daniel... 20:00 the experiences of Daniel and others... 20:03 He's pouring into that the plan of salvation 20:05 so that we can see the plan of salvation. 20:07 Ivor: Yeah, there's another picture that we... 20:09 because we've been looking at several... 20:11 all of these themes that are just overflowing 20:14 and you remember we were doing in the first couple of messages 20:19 or programs, we talked about the end-time event for us... 20:23 at the end of time, there'll be a group of people 20:25 we kept kind of... there will be a group of people 20:27 who will avoid the wine of Babylon 20:28 and that was one pattern 20:29 and now we're looking at a pattern of Christ's life 20:31 unfolding through the book of Daniel, 20:33 and we're looking at another pattern of the king of the north 20:36 at the time of the end... 20:37 all these patterns are just overflowing 20:40 and this is what I call "Divine Design" 20:43 like, you can't make this stuff up... 20:45 it's too much order there 20:48 and so, we're going to re-cap another pattern again 20:50 and this is the king of the north... 20:51 king of the south... 20:53 Daniel 11:40 to 45 20:54 and now we're going to see a really complete picture 20:56 because here's what happens, 20:58 Daniel 1... king of the south... 20:59 I'm going to see if you guys can help me... 21:01 king of the south pushes against... 21:03 All: king of the north... 21:04 Ivor: The king of the north returns that... that fight 21:07 and defeats king of the south... 21:09 he then turns his attention to.. to Jerusalem... 21:12 he seeks to enforce the wine of Babylon 21:16 and... and... that's Daniel chapter 1... 21:19 Daniel chapter 2... he hears tidings from where? 21:26 The north and the east that trouble him 21:29 and so, with fury... 21:31 he goes forth with fury to do what? 21:34 To destroy many... that's Daniel chapter 3. 21:37 Daniel 4... he's going to set up his... 21:39 his palaces... 21:41 he's going to be a glory in his palaces 21:43 so, that's Daniel 1, 2, 3, 4 and then, Daniel 5, 21:47 Michael... no, no, no, I'm sorry... Cyrus... 21:51 All: Hmmm... 21:52 Ivor: Now, recall what I just did... 21:55 right... Michael... no, no, no, no, Cyrus... 21:59 Cyrus... after he's set up his palaces... 22:03 and remember what we read in Daniel chapter 11 22:06 verses 40 to 45... 22:08 all the things that we've just seen in verses... 22:09 in chapters 1 through 4... 22:11 we see taking place on a global scale in verses 40 to 45 22:17 and the last verse... I know we're not going there 22:20 I know I'm just kind of throwing this out, 22:21 but the last verse in 45... he sets up his palaces... 22:24 the thing that we left off in chapter 4... 22:27 he sets up his palaces. 22:28 In chapter 5... Babylon falls 22:31 and Cyrus is the one that overthrows them. 22:34 The anointed stands up and what does the anointed do? 22:38 He opens the gates of the prison houses... 22:41 them that sleep in the dust of the earth. 22:45 Yvonne: Wow! 22:46 Ivor: The heavenly Cyrus... when He comes... 22:48 that's Daniel 12:1 and 2... 22:50 the heavenly Cyrus when He comes... 22:52 he's going to open the gates of Babylon... 22:55 All: Hmmm... 22:57 Ivor: The gates of the grave to set the captives free 23:01 so that they can go where? 23:02 Ivor: Jerusalem. James: Up... up... 23:05 Ivor: up... and remember this... 23:07 Daniel... I'm sorry... Cyrus... in order to do this 23:12 he had to dry up the River Euphrates... 23:14 James: Hmmm... 23:15 Ivor: That brings us right back to Revelation chapter 18... 23:18 I'm sorry... chapter 16 where the River Euphrates... 23:20 James: We should read that. Ivor: Let's go to it. 23:23 James: That's really interesting because of the way that it's... 23:25 the way that it's... I'm going to leave my... 23:27 my... my pen in... in Matthew 27 23:31 so I don't forget that verse if we have time to go back to 23:33 but this one's even more important, I think. 23:36 Yvonne: What verse? Ivor: 16... verses 12 to 16, 23:39 12 to 15... 23:41 Jason: Okay... 12 to 15... 23:45 "Then the sixth angel poured out his bowl 23:48 on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, 23:51 so that the way of the kings from the east 23:53 might be prepared. " 23:54 James: I think we should stop right there... 23:56 I think we should stop right there 23:57 because this is the... 23:59 this is the plague and this is the focus right here 24:00 so, of course the book of Revelation 24:03 is borrowing from the Old Testament... 24:05 so, we have to go to the Old Testament story 24:06 of the drying of the River Euphrates which is Cyrus. 24:08 Ivor: Yeah. 24:09 James: In here they're called the kings of the east... 24:11 it's plural... Ivor: Yeah. 24:12 James: Now, it's interesting I think 24:14 that Cyrus who later became 24:17 the king of Medo-Persia, 24:19 was not the first king of Medo-Persia... Darius was. 24:22 Ivor: Right... right... 24:23 James: But they were the Medes and the Persians 24:25 Ivor: It says "Darius" in Daniel chapter 5... 24:26 James: Right... right... 24:27 the Medes and Persians though work together, 24:29 so and it was plural 24:30 so, the plurality of the Medes and Persians 24:32 also parallels the plurality because here we've got plural 24:34 so, who are the kings of the east in this verse? 24:36 Well, I want you to notice that in... is it Matthew 24 24:41 it talks about the second coming of Jesus 24:44 and it says 24:48 in verse 27 24:51 of Matthew 24, 24:54 "For as lightning comes out of the east, 24:59 and shines even unto the west; 25:02 so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. " 25:04 Okay, then go forward just a little bit in Matthew 25:06 and look at verse... chapter 26 25:10 and look at verse 64... 25:13 pause... 25:16 Jason: "Jesus said to him, 'It is as you said. 25:19 Nevertheless, I say to you, 25:20 hereafter you will see the Son of man 25:22 sitting at the right hand of the Power, 25:25 and coming on the clouds of heaven. '" 25:27 James: Okay, so who's coming with Jesus? 25:29 Who is the Power that He sits on the right hand of? 25:33 Christ sits on the right hand of who? 25:35 Yvonne: Father. 25:36 James: Father... so, these are the kings of the east, 25:38 they're coming from the east... 25:39 Matthew 24 says, 25:41 "Lightning shining from the east to the west... " 25:42 lightning... brightness... 25:43 and He's sitting at the right hand of Power... 25:45 so, these are the kings of the east... 25:46 so, the River Euphrates is dried up so that the anointed One 25:49 who represents Darius... the Power in that time... 25:53 because he was the General at that time... 25:55 their... their way will be prepared 25:56 and this is the same terminology that's being brought forth here. 26:00 Ivor: And the powerful thing is remember 26:01 the Medes and the Persians were from not just... 26:03 one was from the east... one was from the north... 26:05 and so, here you have... 26:07 Cyrus is called a king from the east 26:09 but he's also considered the king of the north. 26:11 Remember, God said, "I'm going to bring the northern 26:13 families upon Babylon 26:15 to overthrow them and destroy them... " 26:16 so, the true king of the north is standing up 26:21 to battle against the counterfeit king of the north. 26:25 Yvonne: Ooooh... ah ha... 26:27 Ivor: And all of this comes together 26:28 and we haven't even really hit 26:30 the heavy prophetic portion of Daniel yet... 26:33 we've only covered one really prophetic chapter 26:36 but everything else has let us know 26:39 exactly what we're looking for in chapter 7 through 12. 26:43 James: Hmmm... hmmm... 26:45 shall we give our Viewers that one verse in Matthew 27? 26:48 Ivor: Let's do it... yup. 26:49 James: There's... Yvonne, would you read those for us? 26:52 There's... are you there? Yvonne: Sure... where? 26:54 James: Matthew 27 verses 50 to 53. 26:58 We can close out with these because these are powerful. 27:00 Yvonne: 50 to 53... 27:01 "And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, 27:05 and yielded up His spirit. 27:06 Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two 27:09 from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, 27:11 and the rocks were split, and the graves were opened; 27:14 and many bodies of the saints 27:15 who had fallen asleep were raised... " 27:17 keep going? James: Verse 53, yeah. 27:18 Yvonne: "and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, 27:21 they went into the holy city and appeared to many. " 27:23 James: That's it right there. 27:25 Ivor: One of my favorite authors said, 27:26 it was the same hand that tore the veil from top to bottom 27:29 that wrote, "It is finished... " 27:31 on the wall of Belshazzar's palace. 27:32 James: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN. 27:34 Yvonne: Ooooh... 27:35 Ivor: It is... yeah, MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN... 27:37 same hand that wrote that 27:39 is the same hand that tore the veil... 27:41 Yvonne: Wow! 27:42 James: This is the point right here... 27:43 Jesus went down so we could go up. 27:45 Ivor: That's right. 27:46 James: He came to release the captives. 27:47 Ivor: Yeah... yeah. 27:49 James: It's a beautiful picture and so, we got to remember this, 27:51 the prophecies of Daniel are all about the plan of salvation... 27:54 that's what it's all about. 27:56 Yvonne: Amen. James: Praise God. |
Revised 2020-06-29