Participants:
Series Code: SISS
Program Code: SISS000094S
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00:01 Music...
00:29 James: Welcome back... we are in Daniel chapter 7, 00:33 we've covered two sections so far. 00:35 We started with 1 through 8 describing these beasts 00:38 like, what are they? 00:40 And we identified them as kingdoms 00:42 and then we looked at verses 9 all the way through 14... 00:46 with a little explanation... 15, 16, 17... 00:48 and we've learned that this is a continuation of Daniel 2. 00:52 You've got Babylon coming all the way through 00:55 to the judgment 00:56 and the time when judgment is executed 00:59 and then describes these... these other kingdoms 01:02 that's... whose dominion was taken away 01:04 but their lives were continued for a short time 01:05 and we identified that. 01:07 It doesn't mean that at the judgment... 01:09 the one kingdom was destroyed but the others continued... 01:12 no, this is talking about the history of those kingdoms 01:15 that as their dominion was taken away, 01:16 their lives continued on... 01:18 their culture... their traditions... 01:20 so, continued on in the... in the succeeding kingdom 01:22 and the succeeding kingdom, 01:24 and the succeeding kingdom 01:25 till we get to the fourth kingdom 01:26 and yet their lives are still being prolonged in this culture, 01:28 we talked about the Medo-Persians... 01:30 they make a law, it can't be revoked 01:31 infallibility... continues on... 01:33 so, we need to... just needed to make that differentiation 01:37 and now we're going to go back 01:38 and we're going to look at some of the specific characteristics 01:41 of these kingdoms, like, the lion with eagle's wings 01:43 and the wings are plucked up... we touched that. 01:45 What about the bear lifted up on one side 01:48 with the three ribs in its mouth... what is all that about? 01:49 So, let's start with a word of prayer 01:52 and we'll get right in. 01:53 Yvonne: Sure... good... 01:55 "Father God, we thank you so very much 01:56 that you brought us together to study your Word 01:59 and to learn and to share... 02:01 so, we just pray that Your Spirit will oversee, 02:04 guide and direct us, in Jesus' name, amen. " 02:07 All: Amen. 02:09 James: And I just want to mention... 02:10 one other thing we mentioned that was really cool was 02:11 that animals represent countries. 02:15 Yvonne: Hmmm... 02:17 Even to this day, animals represent countries. 02:18 Yvonne: That's true. 02:19 James: And so... pop quiz we talked about China 02:21 being represented by... 02:23 Jason: Dragon. 02:25 James: And we talked about England being represented by... 02:27 Jason: Whatever the lions represent. 02:29 Yvonne: Lion... lion... lion. 02:30 James: America being represented by... 02:31 Yvonne: Eagle. 02:33 James: Ooooh... we talked about Canada... no... 02:35 we talked about Russia... 02:37 Yvonne: Bear. 02:38 James: Bear... yeah... good... good... 02:40 so this isn't a new idea 02:41 and God is speaking in our own language, 02:43 I mean, we see this today, and so, 02:44 you know, it makes it a little easier. 02:46 Ivor: So, isn't this then Russia in... 02:47 James: Good question... 02:49 Ivor: Russia is bear... 02:51 James: Yeah, that's an interesting question. 02:53 Ivor: Why not? Hey... you know. 02:55 James: So, really important... because you can do that, 02:59 what's interesting though is this... 03:01 when you look at current events 03:03 or history or countries in the world today, 03:05 you can't just allow them to interpret the prophecy... 03:08 you can't just say, "Oh, Russia has a symbol of a bear 03:11 and there's a bear in Daniel chapter 7, 03:13 so, that must be Russia. " 03:15 You have to let the Bible interpret itself first. 03:18 Once the Bible has interpreted itself, 03:20 then you look for confirmation in history... in the nations... 03:24 so, the interpretation of the Bible is 03:26 "Hmmm... Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome... 03:30 down to the judgment. 03:32 That doesn't leave any room for another kingdom to come in here 03:34 because we're following a consecutive order here... 03:36 can't stop the cycle. 03:39 Ivor: Yeah, this is not Russia overthrowing England, right? 03:42 I know Russia is the bear... England is the lion... 03:45 so, this must be Russia overthrowing England. 03:48 We're talking about a... a... a time context... 03:50 we're talking about particular nations 03:52 that have already been identified... 03:55 and so, you can't just pull anything from... 03:58 you know, "Well, that looks like it works, so let's do that... " 04:00 because what you end up with is confusion. 04:04 James: Yeah, and we're talking about a prophecy 04:06 that's in the process of fulfillment... 04:07 it hasn't been fulfilled yet... not completely... 04:10 you know how it is when you put in a load of clothes 04:12 in one of those washing machines and the door locks, 04:15 Yvonne: Yeah... All: Hmmm... hmmm... 04:16 James: You're not getting those clothes out 04:18 until the process is over, you know what I'm saying? 04:20 So, it goes through a wash cycle... 04:21 we'll say, "That's Babylon... " 04:23 then it goes through a rinse cycle... 04:24 we'll say, "That's Medo-Persia... " 04:25 then it goes through a spin cycle... 04:27 we'll say, "That's Greece... " 04:28 then it goes through another rinse cycle... 04:29 we'll say, "That's pagan Rome... " 04:31 then we'll go through another spin cycle... we'll say, 04:32 "That's the Papacy... " you see what I'm saying? 04:34 Yvonne: Yeah... 04:35 James: And then, we go through the final spin cycle... 04:37 we'll say, "That's the second coming of Jesus... 04:38 including the judgment... " et cetera, et cetera... 04:40 does that make sense? Yvonne: Yeah. 04:41 James: And all of that... 04:43 history doesn't stop its progress 04:47 until it reaches the very end of the cycle. 04:48 Yvonne: Right. 04:49 James: Doesn't get interrupted, you don't throw another one 04:51 in there... until to get to the rest of the cycle. 04:52 Yvonne: I'm so glad that you brought that out 04:54 because there are so many different interpretations 04:57 of these verses and applications to current events 05:01 and countries and stuff 05:02 and so, you have to use the Bible first. 05:04 Go with that and then... 05:07 then you let the Bible be its own interpreter. 05:10 James: History confirms what the Bible has to say. 05:12 Yvonne: Right, right, that's really important. 05:14 James: And history does confirm that 05:15 so, any historian... any history book will tell you 05:17 Babylon was followed by Medo-Persia 05:19 was followed by Greece was followed by Pagan Rome. 05:21 You could see that written out in all the history books 05:23 and this is what really helps skeptics 05:26 to believe in the Word of God. 05:27 In fact, some... it's so powerful that someone said, 05:30 "Oh, it couldn't have been written 05:31 till the first century B.C. 05:33 because this is so accurate in relationship to history 05:36 and the Bible can't be accurate 05:38 because, you know, the Bible is not true. " 05:40 Ivor: That's true. 05:42 James: So, let's look at some of these, Ivor, what have you got 05:43 for... for the bear? 05:44 Ivor: So, obviously Daniel 7:4... 05:48 we see that as the lion... 05:50 we talked about its wings being plucked up 05:53 meaning that... being plucked off rather... 05:55 meaning that it rose to power but then those wings plucked... 05:59 it fell from power 06:00 and really we just need to ask, "Well, who did they fall to?" 06:04 That's going to be the answer to who this next beast is 06:07 and we know history tells us it was Medo-Persia 06:11 but the Bible also tells us, 06:12 so remember reading back in Daniel chapter 5 06:16 where MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN... 06:20 "Your kingdom is numbered and finished and given... 06:22 and divided and given to the Medes and the Persians. " 06:24 Yvonne: Right. 06:26 Ivor: So, we've already been told who the kingdom was 06:28 that overthrew Babylon. Yvonne: Right. 06:30 Ivor: It's Mede and the Persian Empire... 06:32 that's the beast represented as the bear 06:35 and the fact that it was raised up on one side, 06:39 again affirms that these were two powers 06:43 that were coming together... the Medes and the Persians. 06:45 The Persians being stronger or greater than the Medes 06:48 so, one side raised up above the other. 06:52 What Daniel is doing here is 06:56 he's actually beginning to give us a little bit more detail 06:59 in the kingdoms... you know, 07:01 Daniel 2 is just... head of gold... 07:03 chest and arms of silver... 07:05 belly and thighs of brass... legs of iron and clay... 07:07 or legs of iron... toes of iron and clay. 07:11 Now, here he's beginning to give us more details 07:15 when it comes to each image 07:16 and he's trying to train our minds 07:18 to say, "Okay, I got... you got this? Like, 07:21 okay, this is... this is the simple Mathematics 07:24 now we're going to get into... you know... 07:26 a little bit more difficult Mathematics... 07:28 we're going to keep going till we hit Calculus 07:30 and all the different stuff... " 07:32 well, this is what he's doing here, 07:34 he's saying, "This is more detail... " 07:37 and he's kind of leading us to see 07:39 some conclusions that God is going to show His people, 07:42 then... and at the end times. 07:45 So, you want to hit the three ribs? 07:48 James: Yup, three ribs... so, it's identifying in verse 5 07:51 that this bear... Medo-Persia that's raised up on one side 07:55 has three ribs in its mouth and that would represent 07:57 its devouring... because it says, 08:00 "It's told to rise up and devour much flesh... " 08:02 that's representing its devouring 08:04 or taking on the kingdom of Babylon in three different parts 08:08 and that would have been Lydia, Egypt, and Babylon. 08:12 Those were the three different parts 08:15 and when Nebuchadnezzar... excuse me, 08:17 when Belshazzar was... was in his fortified city in Babylon 08:22 Cyrus was there fighting against that part of the kingdom... 08:26 Nabonidus... his father was in another part of the kingdom 08:31 trying to defend it, so Babylon was a world empire 08:34 and it had these different parts 08:36 that were being attacked by the Medo-Persians 08:37 and the three ribs would represent 08:40 those three separate parts or provinces. 08:42 Ivor: What's really interesting about this is that 08:43 remember that the reason why Babylon and Egypt are together, 08:47 is because Babylon had conquered Egypt. 08:49 So, I just... think about that when it comes to Daniel 11. 08:53 Egypt has now... it still exists in a certain sense 08:58 but it is submitted to Babylon. 09:01 It's basically the king of the south 09:03 has been... is submitted to the king of the north 09:06 they're working together now. 09:08 You have two opposites that have come together 09:11 but the kings from the east overthrow both together. 09:16 James: Yes. Yvonne: Hmmm... 09:18 Ivor: So, very important point to remember 09:20 as we get to Daniel 11, 09:21 James and I are looking at each other 09:23 and really smiling right now, so... 09:24 Yvonne: Laughter. 09:25 Ivor: Then comes this third beast... 09:27 "And after this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard, 09:30 which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl; 09:32 the beast also had four heads; and dominion was given to it. " 09:36 So, again we know that leopard is known for its speed. 09:39 The fact that it has four wings and not two 09:42 just lets us know that whatever it's doing it's... 09:45 the way that it conquered was rapidly. 09:47 Yvonne: Hmmm... 09:48 Ivor: We understand this kingdom to be the... 09:50 the Grecian kingdom, right? 09:52 It was Greece under Alexander the Great 09:54 that overthrew the Medo-Persian Empire 09:57 and we went through these dates when we talked about Daniel 2, 10:00 fall of Babylon to Medo-Persia to Greece... 10:04 so, all we're seeing is that this is parallel, right, 10:06 but again, we now see a little bit more detail 10:09 with this Grecian kingdom, right, 10:11 because now it has four heads... 10:13 What are these four heads? What do they represent? 10:15 Well, when Alexander the Great died 10:17 and he died at a young age... 10:19 what 30... 33... something around that... 10:21 when he died, his kingdom was divided into four parts 10:26 by the four Generals. 10:27 Those Generals were Ptolemy, Seleucus, 10:32 Cassander and Lysimachus 10:34 and eventually... 10:36 this is just information for us to remember down the road, 10:40 eventually, these four kingdoms... 10:42 these four Generals really boiled down to two Generals: 10:47 Seleucus who basically had a control over Syria, 10:51 Babylon and the east, 10:52 and then Ptolemy who had control over Egypt. 10:56 So, what you end up having is this... this distinction now 11:00 between Babylon and Egypt or king of the north 11:05 and king of the south 11:06 and this... this is something that we need to hold on to, 11:10 what happens in this Grecian Empire... 11:14 this division that eventually boils down to north and south 11:18 because this idea of north and south 11:20 is going to travel all the way through the Grecian Empire 11:24 all the way down to the end of time. 11:26 So, that's something key for us to understand. 11:29 You want to take the next one? 11:30 James: Yeah, so the next one is the terrible beast 11:32 and we know this beast follows Greece... 11:35 historically we're told that this beast is Rome... Pagan Rome 11:38 it's described in verse 7 as being dreadful, terrible 11:43 and strong exceedingly 11:45 and the thing about the... the reign of Pagan Rome was 11:49 that it was longer than any other reign... 11:50 it was the strongest reign in the sense 11:52 that how long it lasted 11:53 and that's what the word "strong" means 11:55 if you look it up... it's talking about length of time... 11:56 it lasted 100s of years... centuries... 11:59 each of the previous ones... 12:01 maybe a century or so give or take... plus... 12:04 but pagan Rome lasted all the way to 476 12:09 at least the western empire and started in what? 168... 12:12 so, you've got at least... what? over five centuries... 12:16 so strong exceedingly in that sense... 12:19 "dreadful and terrible... strong exceedingly... 12:21 it devoured... it brake in pieces... 12:23 it stamped the residue with the feet of it... " 12:25 and this I think is something 12:28 that we're going to be looking at a little bit later 12:30 as we get further into prophecy making a connection with this, 12:32 and it was different from all the other beasts 12:35 that were before it... it had ten horns. 12:37 Now this diversity is going to be explained a little bit more 12:40 as we get into an explanation of this fourth beast 12:43 and the reason why we're going to focus on an explanation 12:46 of this fourth beast 12:47 is because Daniel asks more about the fourth beast 12:50 and it's really interesting that he does that like, 12:53 "I want to know more about that fourth beast. " 12:55 Yvonne: Hmmm... hmmm... 12:56 James: He lived in Babylon and was alive during Babylon... 13:02 that Babylon... he's still alive... 13:03 he kind of knew about Medo-Persia coming 13:05 and I'm sure Greece was around, you know, 13:07 but this fourth beast... what was it? 13:08 I mean, the others were all neighbors... 13:10 what was it? What was this fourth beast? 13:12 It wasn't identified 13:13 and it's really interesting because you have the names 13:17 of each one of the previous ones... 13:19 even in Daniel 8, Greece is mentioned 13:21 but the fourth one isn't mentioned by name. 13:23 Yvonne: Right. 13:24 James: What God does is He mentions characteristics. 13:26 It would be kind of like God saying, 13:28 "Okay, on the set of Salvation in Symbols and Signs, 13:31 there are four people 13:32 and I'm going to tell you who those people are, 13:34 first of all, you need to know, 13:35 those people live in the United States of America. 13:38 Pause... 13:39 Do we all qualify? 13:40 Yvonne: Yeah. Jason: Yeah. 13:42 James: Okay, but I want to identify one of those people 13:44 specifically out of the four... 13:46 okay... so, the characteristics of one of those people is 13:49 not only does that one person 13:50 live in the United States of America, 13:51 but that one person has black genes 13:57 in their genetic background. 14:00 Which one of us is it so far? 14:03 All: All of us. 14:04 James: All of us... we all qualify so far, right? 14:06 Not only that but that one person has facial hair... 14:14 not necessarily a lot of facial hair but some facial hair... 14:17 do we all still qualify? 14:19 Yvonne: No... hopefully not. All: Laughter. 14:21 James: There's three of us, right? 14:23 Okay, now we go to the next qualification. 14:24 Not only do they have facial hair 14:26 but they also have hair on their head. 14:29 Jason: Awww... sorry Pastor. 14:32 James: Not only that, 14:36 but they're also under the age of 60... 14:40 not only that... but they're also handsome. 14:45 Yvonne: Both of you qualify. 14:47 All: Laughter. 14:49 James: I was waiting for you to say, 14:52 "Oh... that's... I'm the only one left now. " 14:54 All: Laughter. 14:58 James: Not only that but they also have girlfriends. 15:00 Jason: Well, I hope you don't for your sake. 15:04 James: I do have... I'm married to her. 15:05 Jason: Oh ok All: Laughter. 15:07 James: So, until you get to the place where... not only that 15:10 but one of them is wearing a tie... 15:11 Jason: Hmmm... hmmm... Yvonne: That's it then. 15:14 James: I'm the only one left, you see what I'm saying? 15:16 This is what Daniel 7 is doing. 15:17 Yvonne: Hmmm... 15:18 James: See, it gives one characteristic after another... 15:21 after another... after another 15:22 until... well, it could be... Ivor... 15:24 it could be Yvonne... 15:25 it could be... next characteristic... 15:27 "Oh, okay, one's out... the next characteristic... 15:29 oh, that person... the next characteristic... 15:30 ah, I'm not sure... next characteristic... " 15:32 and finally you get, like, 15:33 the clue is going to be only one person... 15:34 Yvonne: Yeah. 15:36 James: It can only be one power 15:37 and so, that's what Daniel 7 is doing... 15:38 it's identifying this fourth beast with characteristics... 15:41 actually about ten of them that nail it down 15:44 so that it's crystal clear who this power is 15:48 and I love that fact 15:50 because what that does is it really helps us 15:52 to be students of the Bible and then once we figure it out, 15:55 to be absolutely certain like, 15:57 there's one else that can fit this... 15:58 there's no other power that can fit this 16:00 and so, Daniel in chapter 7 and verse... what is it? 16:03 17... 18... 19... 16:07 Jason, can you read that verse for us... Verse 19? 16:11 Jason: Sure, "Then I wished to know the truth 16:13 about the fourth beast, 16:14 which was different from all the others, 16:16 exceedingly dreadful, 16:17 with its teeth of iron and its nails of bronze, 16:19 which devoured, broke in pieces, 16:22 and trampled the residue with its feet. " 16:24 James: Keep reading. 16:25 Jason: "and the ten horns that were on its head, 16:27 and the other horn which came up, 16:29 before which three fell, 16:32 namely, that horn which had eyes and a mouth 16:36 which spoke pompous words, 16:37 whose appearance was greater than his fellows. " 16:40 James: All right, so verses 19 and 20 is where Daniel says, 16:43 "I want to know more about the fourth beast... " 16:44 and we've identified the fourth beast as pagan Rome 16:48 at least iron... 16:49 it was an... it used iron for the first time, 16:52 in war... in battle... it was known as the Iron Kingdom... 16:54 length of time... the strength that it had... 16:57 but then, out of it comes a little horn 16:59 and this little horn plucks up three horns by the roots 17:03 and this little horn has a... a mouth speaking great things 17:07 and it's... its look... the King James says 17:11 has a look that is more stout than his fellows. 17:12 How does yours read again? 17:14 Jason: In 20? 17:16 James: Hmmm... hmmm... last part. 17:17 Jason: "whose appearance was greater than his fellows. " 17:19 James: Yeah, his appearance was greater than his fellows... 17:21 so, these are some of the characteristics now 17:23 that we're going to be looking for 17:24 to identify this little horn power. 17:26 Ivor: Yeah, I'm going to take you back once again 17:30 because there's something like, Daniel is trying to... 17:35 as we saw a little bit earlier... 17:37 he's trying to help us focus in on 17:39 the identity of this little horn... 17:41 so, we know that Rome... we discussed this earlier... 17:44 when Rome fell, it did not fall to an outside kingdom... 17:48 a fifth kingdom that was greater than it... 17:51 it fell from the inside 17:52 and it basically broke down into different kingdoms 17:56 following the pattern of Daniel chapter 2... 17:59 right, the toes of iron 18:01 and then you have this clay introduced... 18:04 see, the little horn is the same as that clay 18:06 that rises up among the ten, okay, 18:10 so, Daniel focuses in on this little horn... 18:14 this little horn does this... this... this... this, right? 18:18 We read it... actually Daniel 7 verse 25, 18:21 talks about... verse 20 we saw 18:25 "he has a little more stout than his fellows... " 18:27 verse 21... "I beheld, the same horn made war with the saints" 18:31 we see these horn plucked up three out of ten horns 18:35 and in verse 25 it says, 18:37 "He shall speak great words against the Most High... 18:39 shall wear out the saints of the Most High, 18:41 and think to change times and laws: 18:44 and they shall be given into his hand until a time... times 18:47 and the dividing of time. " 18:48 Now, this is very interesting because 18:50 James had a point here, 18:51 Babylon ruled from about 607 to 538 BC... 18:55 short time... 18:57 Medo-Persia and Greece ruled longer than Babylon... 19:03 Rome ruled about... let me see... about 600 years... 19:09 somewhere around there... 19:10 but then the Little Horn rules the longest out of all of them. 19:16 James: Hmmm... Yvonne: Hmmm... 19:18 so it's almost like you see this progression of... 19:20 yeah, they ruled... the rule was... 19:21 but the Little Horn... 19:23 he dominates for a time, times and a half. 19:25 That's a very specific time period 19:27 which we're not going to get into right now 19:29 but we will see that that is... it's longer than the... 19:32 than the dominion of the Roman Empire. 19:33 James: Right, and that might connect with his... 19:35 he was... he was higher up. 19:38 Ivor: That's right, he was stout... 19:40 so, let's... let's go back... 19:43 we're just going to go back way, way, way back from here... 19:44 way, way, way back... we're going to rewind the clock. 19:47 James: We're going to stay in Daniel though. 19:49 we're staying in Daniel... 19:50 we're going past Genesis... we're going back to heaven. 19:53 James: Oh, we are? 19:55 Ivor: We're going back to heaven Yvonne: Okay. 19:56 Ivor: So, remember that Lucifer in heaven 20:00 was the right-hand angel of God, right? 20:05 We saw in an earlier program that he was the covering cherub 20:09 and that cherub was made out of gold in the sanctuary. 20:13 That cherub was next to the Mercy Seat 20:16 which represents God's throne which was and is in heaven. 20:19 God has a mercy seat in heaven. 20:21 We know that the Bible says, "Lucifer sinned... " right? 20:25 which is... he transgressed the law... 20:27 and that lets us know there had to be a law in heaven 20:30 for Lucifer to transgress, 20:32 and that's what the Ark of the Covenant shows us. 20:34 Ark of the Covenant... Law of God... 20:35 Mercy Seat on top of the Ark... 20:37 that's the foundation of God's throne 20:38 and then you have these two covering cherubs. 20:40 Now, Lucifer... right... ends up turning against God 20:44 and he ends up sinning so the question is, 20:46 "Was Lucifer cast out of heaven because he sinned?" 20:49 James: Hmmm... 20:50 Ivor: "Was he cut off when he sinned?" 20:52 James: Hmmm... Yvonne: Hmmm... 20:54 Ivor: I believe the answer is, "No... " 20:55 and here's why because... 20:57 if you remember when Peter was speaking to Jesus, 20:59 "Lord, if my enemies sin against me, 21:02 how often shall I forgive him, seven times?" 21:04 and He says, "No... " and what number does He use? 21:06 70 times 7... so, my question is, 21:10 would there have been a period of time... 21:13 we don't know how long... 21:14 but would there have been a period of time 21:16 that we could symbolize by 70 times 7 21:18 that God extended mercy to Lucifer 21:21 trying to get him to repent and he was just like, 21:24 "No, I'm not doing it... " right? 21:26 So, we know that then 21:28 there would have been a 70 times 7 in heaven 21:30 and a period of mercy and grace extended to Lucifer. 21:34 He rejects that... and ultimately what does he do? 21:38 Several things... "I'm going to war against God... 21:42 I'm going to war against the angels of the Most High. 21:46 The reason is because I'm thinking 21:49 of changing times and laws... 21:52 I'm going to blaspheme God's name... 21:55 I... no... no... no... I am God... 21:57 I can be like the Most High... " 22:00 and it's very interesting because the name "Michael" means 22:04 the One who is like God. 22:06 "I'm going to be like Michael... like Mike... 22:09 I'm going to be... I'm going to take His place. " 22:14 So, what happens is, "Lucifer in this war... " 22:17 let me say it this way, 22:19 "Would there have been a period of time 22:20 in which Lucifer in heaven 22:21 thought to change times and laws... 22:23 thoughts of war against the saints of the Most High... 22:27 blasphemed the name of God... 22:30 All: Hmmm... 22:31 Ivor: Yeah... yeah... and now, check this out... 22:34 how many angels does Lucifer uproot in heaven? 22:38 All: One third... 22:40 Ivor: How many of the horns 22:42 does this Little Horn uproot in Daniel 7? 22:46 James: Three... 22:48 Ivor: Three out of...? All: Ten... 22:50 Ivor: Roughly... All: One-third... 22:52 Ivor: When you look at this Little Horn... 22:54 you are looking at an earthly counterpart 22:57 of what Lucifer did in heaven. 22:59 Ivor: Daniel is trying to identify 23:02 and hone in on this Little Horn Power 23:04 to say, "Whoever this guy is... this is the man of sin... " 23:11 this is the image of Daniel 2... I'm sorry... Daniel 3... 23:14 that golden image that was set up... 23:17 this is the man... this is Mystery Babylon... 23:20 this is the man of sin 23:22 who really is a reflection of that golden cherub 23:24 way... way... way back there in heaven. 23:27 Yvonne: Hmmm... hmmm... 23:30 Ivor: So, this is what Daniel 7 is trying to focus... 23:31 so, when we look at the acts of this Little Horn... 23:34 this earthly power that rises out of Rome... 23:36 he's trying to prepare our minds to see this double vision. 23:40 "Yeah, while I'm looking at you and this literal earthly thing 23:44 whoever this is... 23:45 I can know that as I look at you, 23:47 I'm looking at a reflection or an image 23:51 of Lucifer in heaven. " 23:53 Just like when we look at Jesus, we are seeing... 23:55 "If you've seen Me, you've seen My Father... " 23:57 When we see this Little Horn, 23:59 we are seeing a greater power behind it 24:02 and so, that's why our attention should be, 24:06 "All right, we need to know who this is... " 24:08 and when we study the literal power who this is... 24:10 we're going to see... 24:11 "Oh, this is what Satan's trying to do... 24:14 this is what he's trying to pull... " 24:16 and this prepares us for Daniel 11 24:19 because Daniel 11... we're going to see 24:21 is this Little Horn amplified? 24:25 James: The ultimate move of Satan. 24:27 Ivor: The ultimate move of Satan. 24:28 James: To take out God's place. Ivor: Absolutely. 24:30 James: Put himself between... between heavens and the earth. 24:33 Good stuff... so... 24:35 let's just look at some of these characteristics... 24:37 I just want us to refer back to maybe a couple of points 24:40 that we may... when we were identifying ourselves, 24:43 for trying to figure out who is who 24:45 because in verse 8 it says, "I was considering the horns, 24:48 and, behold there came up among them... " 24:50 so, whoever these horns are, 24:53 the Little Horn comes up among them. 24:54 The location is going to be the same. 24:56 So, these nations rose up in the old country... 25:00 we can call it the Old Country... 25:01 we know pagan Rome following Grecia... Greece... 25:05 composed primarily the nations of Europe. 25:10 So, we've got... we've got these ten horns 25:13 representing these nations of Europe... 25:15 I'm going to say, "Vandals... Ostrogoths... 25:18 Heruli... Anglo-Saxons... Lombard's... 25:20 Visigoths... Suevi... 25:21 Alemanni... Franks... and Burgundians 25:24 and three of them are plucked out... 25:26 Vandals... Ostrogoths and Heruli. 25:28 So, these are the nations that compose Modern Europe today, 25:31 this was the basis of Modern Europe today 25:34 and this power... 25:35 this Little Horn Power comes up among them. 25:37 That's the first characteristic... 25:38 it will pluck up three... the three that were plucked up, 25:40 mentioned already... Vandals... Ostrogoths and Heruli. 25:43 They were plucked up and they are now extinct... 25:46 the others continued on... Anglo-Saxons... the English... 25:49 all of them connect with 25:50 a European country of one kind or another 25:53 so, that's the first characteristic... 25:55 another characteristic that's identified here 25:57 is that he would have the eyes of a man 26:00 and a mouth speaking great things. 26:02 So, this power would be ruled by a man... 26:06 it would have a man at its head... 26:08 and this man would speak great things... 26:10 so, you've got three characteristics there... 26:12 actually four characteristics... 26:14 you've got location... it would arise among the ten horns, 26:16 it would pluck up three of the other horns... 26:19 three of the other powers would be plucked up by its rising, 26:22 it would have eyes of a man... a man at its head 26:24 and speak great things... 26:25 Ivor: Or blasphemous things... 26:27 James: Okay, later on it says that... 26:28 great things against the God of heaven. 26:30 Ivor: Right, exactly. 26:31 James: What are the characteristics do we have here? 26:33 Ivor: He thinks to change times and laws... 26:35 James: Okay... so that's back to 25... 26:38 Ivor: Yeah... "They're given unto his hand until a time, 26:41 times and the dividing of times and he persecutes... " 26:45 did we talk about persecuting the saints of the Most High? 26:47 James: "wear out the saints of the Most High... 26:48 thinks to change times and laws... " 26:50 and then there's a time prophecy it talks... 26:51 that is set up here for time, times and half a time. 26:55 Now, that time, times and a half a time in the Bible... 26:58 in Bible prophecy... and that's in verse 25... 27:01 "time" is a year... 27:03 a half a time would be half a time... 27:05 times... plural would be at least two years... 27:07 if you give "times" two years and "time" a year 27:10 and "half a time" a half year... 27:11 you've got three and a half years 27:13 and if you give a prophetic understanding to that... 27:16 that is a "day" for a "year" 27:17 you're going to have 1,260 days... 27:21 three and a half days is 1,260 days 27:23 and a day for a year would be 1,260 years. 27:26 Ivor: And the reason it's symbolic 27:28 is because everything else in the vision is symbolic 27:30 so, we're looking to talk about symbolic time not literal time. 27:33 James: Prophetic time... not literal time. 27:35 Ivor: Yeah... yeah. 27:36 James: So, you got a power that rises up in Europe 27:39 among the nations of Europe... the now-nations of Europe 27:41 as it rises up, it plucks up three... 27:44 it... it's led by a man and that man speaks great things 27:47 against the God of heaven... 27:48 it ends up persecuting the saints 27:50 for a time... time and a half... 27:52 and we are running out of time. 27:55 All: Laughter. 27:56 James: We'll pick this up in our next session. |
Revised 2020-07-27