Participants:
Series Code: SSP
Program Code: SSP200001S
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00:01 The Bible tells us, "In the beginning was the Word,
00:03 and the Word was with God, 00:05 and the Word was God." 00:08 It says, "To receive with meekness 00:10 the implanted Word, 00:11 which is able to save your souls. 00:14 And to be diligent to present yourself 00:16 approved to God, 00:18 rightly dividing the Word of truth." 00:21 Join us now 00:22 for the 3ABN Sabbath School Panel. 00:25 Our study today is the Book of Daniel. 00:32 Hello, and welcome to 3ABN Sabbath School Panel. 00:35 I'm Jill Morikone. 00:36 And we're so glad that 00:37 you have taken time from your day to join us 00:39 for our study of the Word of God. 00:41 We are on our first lesson 00:44 of the brand new quarter here of 2020. 00:48 This is studying the Book of Daniel. 00:50 And I think Daniel is one of my favorite 00:53 Old Testament heroes, men of God, 00:56 prophets in the Old Testament. 00:58 And I am excited 00:59 what God has for us in this study. 01:01 But first we're gonna introduce to you our panel. 01:04 We're gonna be studying together 01:05 for the next 13 weeks. 01:07 To my left Pastor John Lomacang, 01:09 my pastor, always a privilege to have you here. 01:11 Good to be here. 01:12 And as you said, 01:14 Daniel is gonna be an exciting journey. 01:15 It's like revisiting an old friend. 01:17 Absolutely. 01:19 To your left, Pastor Ryan Day, 01:20 and a privilege to study with you as well. 01:22 Amen. 01:23 It's good to be here as always. Amen. 01:25 To your left Sister Shelley Quinn, 01:27 and thank you for opening up the Word of God with us. 01:29 Oh, I enjoyed it so much because I learned something 01:34 from my personal studies, 01:36 but I always learned from each one of you as well. 01:37 Amen. 01:39 And then, Pastor Kenny Shelton, 01:41 always a joy to study with you. 01:42 Oh, it's such a treat to be able to study the Word of God 01:45 not only with the panel, 01:47 but with those who are watching and those who are listening. 01:49 Amen. 01:50 Before we go any further and open up the Word of God, 01:52 we want to go to the Lord in prayer. 01:54 And, Pastor John, would you pray for us? 01:55 Sure. 01:57 Loving Father in heaven, 01:58 we thank You for this opportunity. 02:00 It's always a privilege when You open the door 02:02 and You invite us to walk through. 02:04 We know that Daniel although familiar, 02:06 still there are many messages that we are yet to learn off. 02:10 And we pray that Your Spirit will be our guide. 02:13 Empower this lesson, fill our minds 02:15 but may all the glory go to You. 02:17 In Jesus' name I pray. 02:19 Amen. Amen. 02:20 Thank you so much, Pastor John. 02:21 I wanna encourage you, 02:23 we are starting a new quarter so make sure 02:25 you get your own copy of the quarterly 02:28 you can study along with us. 02:29 That would be the following website 02:31 ABSG.Adventist.org. 02:35 That stands for 02:36 AdultBibleStudyG-uide. Adventist.org. 02:41 Or we always encourage you 02:43 to visit your local Seventh-day Adventist Church. 02:46 Ask them for a quarterly 02:47 and you can join a local Bible study group. 02:50 So we're studying this quarter the Book of Daniel. 02:55 Lesson number one is From Reading to Understanding. 02:58 This particular quarterly 03:02 was written by Dr. Elias Brasil de Souza. 03:06 He is the Director 03:07 of the Biblical Research Institute 03:09 at the General Conference 03:11 there for the Seventh-day Adventist Church. 03:13 And he's done an incredible job this quarter. 03:15 When you look at the Old Testament, 03:18 the prophets were kind of divided into two groups, right? 03:20 We have the Major Prophets and the Minor Prophets. 03:23 Major Prophets being Isaiah, Jeremiah, 03:26 Lamentations, Ezekiel, and Daniel. 03:29 And then, of course, the 12 Minor Prophets. 03:33 The Major Prophets are much longer books, 03:36 most of them are much longer books, 03:38 and they cover a broader scope as it were. 03:41 A broader focus than some of those Minor Prophets. 03:44 Now, of course, the Book of Daniel 03:46 is one of my favorite heroes in the Word of God. 03:50 He was a man of integrity, 03:51 even his enemies could find no fault with him. 03:56 He was a prophet. 03:57 He was a governmental servant. 04:00 He was a faithful historian of God's dealings with him. 04:04 I think Daniel contains some of the most comprehensive 04:07 and sweeping revelations recorded by any prophet 04:11 in the Old Testament. 04:12 And they say with the exception of Moses, 04:14 and maybe Solomon, 04:16 that Daniel was one of the most educated men 04:20 who wrote in the Old Testament. 04:22 Now the Book of Daniel, 04:24 we believe was written by the Prophet Daniel. 04:27 We know there are some controversy 04:28 and some different streams of thought out there about that. 04:31 But we believe that he wrote of events taking place 04:34 during his lifetime 04:36 and looking down all the way the stream of time 04:39 to the Second Coming of Christ 04:40 when He would set up His eternal kingdom. 04:44 We know Daniel was taken captive in 605 BC 04:47 by the Babylonians 04:48 and as a young man brought into Babylon to serve. 04:53 If you think about themes from the Book of Daniel, 04:57 there's many themes but I'm just gonna highlight 04:59 three before we jump into Sunday's lesson. 05:01 The first theme of the Book of Daniel, 05:03 from my perspective, is that God is sovereign. 05:06 And He rules over the affairs of men. 05:10 He's still sovereign, 05:11 even when it seems like His people are being oppressed, 05:15 taken into captivity, thrown in the lions' den, 05:18 God is still sovereign. 05:19 And He delivers those who are loyal to Him. 05:23 You know the name Daniel means God is my judge. 05:26 God is still sovereign over the affairs of men. 05:29 The second theme I see is that God sees the future. 05:33 There's a great deal of prophecy in the Book of Daniel, 05:37 apocalyptic prophecies, 05:39 revelatory prophecies future 05:43 for telling the Messiah and His ministry and death, 05:45 for telling the work of the heavenly sanctuary. 05:48 The prophetic outline of Daniel spans centuries. 05:51 And we also see, 05:53 the third theme is that God reveals His love. 05:56 It's not just that God is sovereign over everything, 05:59 but God is intimately concerned with the details 06:02 that concern you and I. 06:05 We know Daniel and Revelation 06:08 are almost sister books you could say, 06:10 they correlate with each other a great deal. 06:13 In fact, in the Book of Daniel, 06:15 I would say the Seventh-day Adventist Church was founded 06:18 from the pages of the Book of Daniel, 06:20 especially Daniel 8:14. 06:23 "Unto two thousand and three hundred days, 06:25 then shall the sanctuary be cleansed." 06:28 If you look at Daniel and Revelation, 06:30 you see prophecies, you see symbols and meaning, 06:33 you see that repeat and enlarge principle 06:35 that we're going to see 06:37 where every future prophecy kind of repeats 06:40 and enlarges the previous one. 06:43 We see discussion of Babylon present day 06:46 and end-time Babylon, 06:47 discussion of the little horn and the Antichrist 06:50 but beyond all of that, 06:53 we see the Lord Jesus Christ. 06:55 Amen. That's right. 06:56 You know, John 5:39, 06:58 Jesus says, "Search the scriptures, 07:00 for in them you think you have eternal life, 07:03 and they are they which testify of Me." 07:06 Now we know then that everything 07:09 in the Word of God testifies of the Lord Jesus Christ. 07:12 We often think, well, 07:13 the gospels surely testify of Jesus, right? 07:17 Maybe Paul's writings, maybe Isaiah, 07:19 there's a lot of messianic prophecies 07:21 but what about Daniel? 07:23 Can we see Jesus in every chapter 07:26 of the Book of Daniel? 07:28 We're gonna do that quickly just now. 07:30 Daniel Chapter 1, of course, 07:32 is the captivity of Daniel and his three friends, 07:34 and then the big test pertaining to food, 07:38 and whether they're going to worship the king's food, 07:42 and the food that had been offered to idols. 07:45 I see a comparison, first of all, 07:47 in Daniel 1 between Daniel and Christ. 07:49 We see Daniel taken from his homeland, 07:52 leaving Judah and Jerusalem a long harsh journey 07:55 taken to be a slave in a foreign land. 07:58 I see Christ leaving heaven, leaving holiness, 08:03 and adoration of angels 08:05 coming to live in a sinful world 08:07 to confront the powers of evil. 08:10 We see Christ enabling Daniel 08:13 and his friends to stand for principle. 08:16 They didn't stand, you know, Daniel 1:8, 08:19 Daniel purposed in his heart, right? 08:21 That he would not defile himself 08:22 for the portion of the king's meat. 08:24 He didn't stand on his own strength. 08:27 We know all our righteousness is filthy rags, 08:29 but we can do all things through Christ 08:32 who strengthens us, Philippians 4:13. 08:35 So he stood in the strength of Christ. 08:39 Daniel Chapter 2, 08:40 we see Nebuchadnezzar had this dream of this image. 08:44 Daniel 2 begins with Daniel's time 08:46 the Head of Gold Babylon, 08:48 and it carries all the way down to when Christ will come 08:51 and set up a kingdom that will never end. 08:54 Daniel 2 tells us that Christ reveals the future 08:57 that Christ answers prayer. 09:00 That Christ will judge the nations of the world. 09:03 That Christ is going to set up an eternal kingdom. 09:06 Daniel 3 is Daniel's friends thrown into the fiery furnace, 09:11 but they were not alone 09:13 because Christ showed up in the furnace with them. 09:17 We learned that Christ overturns events for His glory. 09:20 Christ cares for His people. 09:23 He delivers His people. 09:24 He vindicates His people. 09:26 He vindicates His name 09:28 and reveals who is God 09:30 and He strengthens His servants to endure trial. 09:33 He doesn't always deliver us from the fire, 09:36 but He always delivers us through the fire. 09:40 Daniel 4, 09:41 this is Nebuchadnezzar is humbling 09:43 and how he became like an animal 09:46 for those seven years. 09:48 We see that Christ is still sovereign 09:50 over the affairs of men, 09:51 that Christ removed Nebuchadnezzar from office 09:55 so the king could understand that heaven rules. 09:58 We see that Christ calls upon us to repent. 10:02 Remember, Daniel made that impassioned appeal to the king. 10:05 "Please, O King, break off your sins." 10:08 And then the king refused. 10:10 We see that Christ executes judgment. 10:14 We learned that we can trust Him 10:16 with our lives, and with our government, 10:17 and with our church, and our families, 10:19 and our work. 10:21 We learned that Christ judges redemptively, 10:23 never vindictive, always redemptively. 10:27 Daniel 5 is the overthrow of the Babylonian Empire 10:30 when the Medes and Persians captured Babylon that night 10:34 that Belshazzar the king was killed. 10:36 We see the fall of literal Babylon 10:38 and the fall of end-time Babylon. 10:41 Literal Babylon fell to the Persians 10:43 in one night of revelry 10:45 and debauchery, 10:46 End-time Babylon will fall to Christ 10:48 and His angels 10:50 because the end-time Babylon worships Satan and the beast 10:54 and his image. 10:56 Daniel 6, we see Daniel in the lions' den. 11:00 And we see the false accusations made against Daniel 11:02 by the scheming governors and satraps. 11:06 We see that there's false accusations 11:07 made against Christ by scheming priests and scribes. 11:11 We see King Darius trying to save Daniel 11:14 but being unsuccessful. 11:16 We see Pilate making some attempt to save Christ 11:19 but being an unsuccessful. 11:21 And we learned in Daniel 6 that our lives 11:24 are in the hand of Christ, not men. 11:27 That Christ would deliver us that He vindicates His name, 11:30 that He destroys His enemies, 11:33 and that prayer changes things. 11:36 Daniel 7, Daniel has a vision of the beasts 11:39 and the kingdoms that will be to come. 11:41 This is an expansion of Daniel Chapter 2 with the image. 11:45 We learned in Daniel 7 that God will judge His people. 11:49 There's the whole judgment scene. 11:51 And we also learned that judgment 11:53 is in favor of the saints. 11:55 That's my favorite part about Daniel Chapter 7. 11:58 That judgment is made in favor of the saints of the Most High. 12:02 Daniel Chapter 8, we see another expanding, 12:05 another vision of Daniel Chapter 7. 12:08 This one begins with a Medo-Persian 12:10 Empire instead of with Babylon. 12:12 It contains these prophecies again, 12:13 but Daniel 8 the focus now is Christ 12:16 in the heavenly sanctuary. 12:19 It corresponds to the judgment scene 12:20 in Daniel Chapter 7. 12:22 But we see that God is the judge of the wicked 12:25 and His people. 12:27 Daniel 9 is Daniel's prayer of confession and intercession, 12:32 and really answers to his questions 12:34 about the vision in Daniel Chapter 8. 12:37 In Daniel 9, we see Christ as the sacrificial Lamb, 12:39 the Messiah. 12:41 He's the sacrificial Lamb 12:42 whose death reconfirms the covenant. 12:45 We see that Christ hears our prayers 12:47 and brings answers and deliverance. 12:50 Daniel 10-12, we'll lump them together 12:52 is really the final vision that Daniel has here 12:55 in the Book of Daniel. 12:57 And those chapters we learned that Christ 12:59 is our Commander in Chief, 13:00 He is Michael of the archangel. 13:03 He fights against the forces of evil 13:05 and comes off conqueror, rescuing God's people 13:09 and bringing them home with Him. 13:11 So really in the Book of Daniel, 13:13 I learned that Christ fights for His people. 13:16 Aren't you grateful for that? 13:18 I learned that Christ is always victorious against Satan 13:22 and his cohorts. 13:24 I learned that Christ will come again. 13:28 And He delivers us as His people. 13:29 Pastor John, you have Structure of Revelation. 13:32 Wow, I tell you. 13:33 Can we all take a breath on that one? 13:35 Yeah. It was cool. 13:36 How did you cover so much in such a short period of time? 13:38 Amen. 13:40 Always is like, 13:41 I think Ryan just said it's like drinking from a... 13:43 What? From a fire hydrant. 13:44 Fire hydrant. Thank you. 13:46 You know, Daniel is an amazing book. 13:49 But we can't get into any Book of Prophecy 13:51 without understanding the structure. 13:53 But when we understand the structure, 13:55 it's like building a house 13:56 we never get ahead of ourselves. 13:58 You can't put a roof on without foundation. 14:01 And it doesn't make sense to concentrate 14:02 on the color of the paint before the walls go up. 14:05 Daniel is that way, it has a structure. 14:08 In some cases, it's referred to as a chiastic structure, 14:11 a high point in the book, 14:13 it builds up to a particular point 14:14 then comes down on the other side. 14:17 We know that Daniel is not a book with Greek, 14:19 but it has Aramaic and Hebrew. 14:21 Yes. 14:22 And when you understand where that comes in Hebrew, 14:25 most of the book is Hebrews, 14:27 but Daniel 2-7 is written in Aramaic. 14:31 So we can understand how it fits 14:33 into the picture of those nations 14:35 that often refers to why that language 14:39 because it's often preferring to the nations 14:41 that are best suited in that particular picture. 14:44 Then there are different types of prophecies 14:46 and this is something important because many people say 14:49 and this is one of the things we have to guard against. 14:52 There is no prophecy with a dual fulfillment. 14:57 I wanna say that, dual application, 15:01 but no dual fulfillment. 15:03 Now you might say, 15:04 "Well, I could see Daniel 7 15:07 in its actual unfolding characteristic." 15:11 But I could also see it in another aspect. 15:13 Let me give you an example, I'll use Revelation here. 15:15 We have seven churches in Revelation 15:17 that cover seven different time periods. 15:19 But then in the last days, 15:20 we could see all seven of those conditions existing 15:23 in different churches, in different countries, 15:25 in different settings from the one that's, you know, 15:28 completely allegiant to the Lord, 15:30 to the one that is filled with brotherly love all the way 15:32 down to the one that is just lukewarm. 15:35 So the four types of prophecies that are majorly focused 15:37 in the Book of Daniel. 15:39 First is local prophecies, what kind of I say? 15:42 Local. 15:43 The local prophecies, 15:45 particularly the local prophecies 15:46 will be those that pertained in specifics to Nebuchadnezzar. 15:51 They don't pertain to Belshazzar. 15:54 They don't pertain to any other king outside of that. 15:56 And when that prophecy is fulfilled, it's fulfilled. 15:59 The humbling of Nebuchadnezzar is a perfect example of that. 16:02 Nebuchadnezzar comes on the scene from Chapter 1 16:05 and in Chapter 4 he passes off the scene, 16:07 but his kingdom is mentioned again, 16:09 in obviously in Daniel 2, 16:12 all four of the kingdoms were mentioned. 16:13 And then when Daniel has a dream later on, 16:16 then he's mentioned again 16:17 in the four beasts of Daniel Chapter 7. 16:20 But Nebuchadnezzar as he reigns 16:23 and his reign comes to an end those prophecies 16:25 that what we consider local prophecies. 16:28 You find also in the prophecy of the city of Nineveh. 16:33 Well Nineveh, just the four books of Jonah... 16:36 Four chapters of Jonah. 16:38 The four chapters of Jonah, thank you, 16:39 those prophecies happened. 16:41 But then you could find application to that and saying, 16:43 "Well, if there's a city that's filled with iniquity, 16:47 then God will send a prophet to preach to that city 16:49 and if they repent, praise the Lord." 16:52 But that's not a dual fulfillment. 16:55 You also find Judaic prophecy. 16:57 Obviously, the book begins with the Judaic prophecy 17:01 because Judah is taken into captivity, 17:04 from Jerusalem into Babylon. 17:06 But while Daniel is there, 17:08 you'll find throughout the Book of Daniel, 17:11 many of the things that are talked about 17:12 while Daniel is still alive, 17:14 pertains to Judah. 17:16 When he asked the question, 17:18 how long is it gonna be before we return? 17:21 How long is it gonna be before we get back to our city? 17:24 And then the Lord gives him the 70 week prophecy. 17:27 Seventy weeks are determined for you 17:29 and for your people and for your city. 17:32 That's the Judaic prophecy. 17:34 And as Jill pointed out, they're messianic prophecies, 17:37 which means, obviously, the word Messianic is Christ. 17:40 Once again, he appears in the Book of Daniel, 17:42 in each of the chapters 17:44 you can find a component of Christ 17:45 in every story in the Book of Daniel, 17:48 from Christ in the very first chapter, 17:51 where He is there with His people, 17:53 He may have allowed them. 17:55 Let me rephrase that. 17:56 He allowed them to be corrected in Babylon. 17:59 When Babylon was done with its correction, 18:02 God stood up and corrected Babylon. 18:05 So He never really forsook His people. 18:07 He used them as a correcting stick, 18:09 but He did not choose them above His people. 18:11 Then you find in the very end of the chapter, 18:13 Christ stands up again, when Michael stands up. 18:16 So he's all through the book, as Jill made very clear. 18:20 So the Judaic prophecies 18:22 that particularly refer to Judah, 18:24 Israel, those prophecies, 18:27 the Lord, many of the books of the Old Testament have them. 18:29 In Daniel, as I point out these four types of prophecies, 18:33 all four are found in the Book of Daniel. 18:35 Then you have the apocalyptic prophecies. 18:38 Apocalyptic you find 18:40 when Daniel is told to seal a provision, 18:43 for it is yet for the time of the end, 18:45 at the time of the end, it will speak. 18:46 This apocalyptic unfolding, showing a revelation, 18:50 another word for apocalypse is a revelation. 18:53 And so as Jill pointed out, 18:54 you did an excellent job by the way. 18:56 Praise the Lord. 18:57 As Jill pointed out, there's a particular point 18:59 where we can find 19:00 the growing of the Advent movement, 19:04 but the messages of the Advent movement 19:07 didn't just come into being through the Advent Church. 19:11 They are a part of the everlasting gospel, 19:14 which is in fact, focusing on Christ, 19:16 He has always been the method 19:18 and means by which we are saved. 19:20 So once again, local, Judaic, messianic, 19:23 and apocalyptic. 19:26 And then you find the Structure of Daniel, 19:28 and it may seem to some degree, 19:30 that we are repeating the same things. 19:32 But let's go to Isaiah 46. 19:34 I want you to see why this is so important 19:36 because the repeat and enlarger there, 19:38 but the encouraging aspect of Daniel, 19:41 and any prophetic book in the Bible 19:43 or anything in the Bible, 19:45 is that at no point does God ever lose control 19:50 and say, "What do I do next?" 19:52 That's right. Amen. 19:53 Look at Isaiah 46:9-10. 19:55 And the Bible says, "Remember 19:57 the former things of old, 20:00 for I am God, and there is no other. 20:03 I am God, and there is none like Me, 20:06 declaring the end from the beginning, 20:10 and from ancient times," the times of Daniel, 20:13 the times of Isaiah, Jeremiah, 20:15 "things that are not yet done." 20:17 So and He says, "My counsel shall stand," 20:19 He's saying that, 20:21 "And I will do all My pleasure." 20:23 Meaning when God sets the picture in motion, 20:25 it's like an artist. 20:27 I know a guy, I know that painted a picture of me. 20:29 And I thought to myself, "Well, how did he begin?" 20:32 And he says, "Well, 20:34 I look at the entire structure of a person. 20:37 And then I take a component by component." 20:39 He starts with circles, 20:40 and I have a picture on one of my posts, 20:43 where he shows the circles and everything is in circles, 20:46 and I can't see it, 20:47 but then he can because he sees where it's headed. 20:50 And prophecies are the very same way, 20:52 we don't often see where it's headed, 20:53 but God does it as He's giving it its unfolding. 20:57 And He says, "My counsel." It's all, always His counsel. 21:01 And another thing about prophecy is 21:03 we could see that Daniel 21:05 is concealing prophecies that are later revealed. 21:09 When those prophecies are revealed, 21:11 we can go back to Daniel and see the confirmation. 21:14 And as was pointed out, many people think that 21:15 Daniel wrote many of these prophecies 21:18 later on after they were fulfilled, 21:20 but that's chronologically impossible 21:22 because Daniel would have lived a long time. 21:25 And Daniel did not live for 490 years, 21:29 just to make. 21:30 He didn't live for 2,300 years either. 21:34 So these prophecies could not possibly 21:35 have been written after his time. 21:38 So you find it Nebuchadnezzar's vision of the four kingdoms. 21:41 The structure covers four major kingdoms, 21:45 Daniel 2 and Daniel 7 are partners in that. 21:48 Nebuchadnezzar is given a vision or a dream, 21:51 and Daniel is given a vision. 21:52 And they repeat and enlarge, 21:54 one is given the four kingdom of the world in metals. 21:58 You'll find, this very important gold... 22:01 We're gonna point this out in specifics later on, 22:03 but Babylon gold, Medo-Persia silver, 22:06 a Greece bronze, and Rome iron, in iron and clay 22:09 and then the toes with iron and clay mixed in. 22:12 Rome still present in the latter part 22:13 of the unfolding of that Bible prophecy. 22:15 But then you find this golden kingdom 22:17 is now paralleled with a lion. 22:20 Do you find the silver kingdom is parallel with the bear? 22:23 You find the bronze kingdom is parallel with the leopard 22:26 with the four heads and four wings. 22:27 And as I said, we will cover that in specifics. 22:30 And this is an exciting study. 22:32 I'm looking forward to it. 22:33 And then you find the iron kingdom, paralleled, 22:36 coupled with the beast with iron teeth. 22:39 And so Daniel and Nebuchadnezzar 22:42 are under the guidance or the counsel of the same God. 22:46 My counsel was revealed to Nebuchadnezzar, 22:49 my counsel was again revealed to Daniel, 22:51 my counsel will stand. 22:54 Can you find God delivers His companions 22:57 from the fiery furnace which was pointed out? 22:59 You find the judgment upon Nebuchadnezzar 23:02 in the structure of Daniel 4. 23:03 You find a judgment upon Belshazzar 23:05 in Daniel Chapter 5. 23:07 You find that God delivers from the den of lions, 23:10 Daniel Chapter 6. 23:12 Then once again reiterating 23:13 Daniel's vision of the four kingdoms 23:15 in Daniel Chapter 7. 23:17 You find that God removes 23:18 the kingdom from Nebuchadnezzar, temporarily, 23:21 but God removes the kingdom from Belshazzar permanently. 23:26 You also find that the Book of Daniel is a repetitive book, 23:29 but it also enlarges, 23:31 and the structure of Daniel 23:32 is a confirmation of the sovereignty of God. 23:35 So hold on, we're about to dive into a book that you may know. 23:39 But there's always something new that we can learn. 23:40 That's right. Amen. 23:42 Thank you so much, Pastor John. 23:43 I'm excited about this study and what God has for us. 23:47 We're gonna take a short break, we'll be right back. 23:55 Ever wish you could watch a 3ABN 23:56 Sabbath School Panel again, 23:58 or share it on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter? 24:01 Well, you can by visiting 3abnsabbathschoolpanel.com. 24:06 A clean design makes it easy to find the program 24:10 you're looking for. 24:11 There are also links to the Adult Bible Study Guide 24:14 so you can follow along. 24:16 Sharing is easy. 24:17 Just click share and choose your favorite social media. 24:21 Share a link, save a life for eternity. 24:27 Welcome back to our study of the Book of Daniel. 24:29 We'll continue with Tuesday's lesson. 24:30 Pastor Ryan Day has Tuesday. Amen. 24:32 Praise the Lord. 24:34 I'm excited about this lesson, 24:35 Tuesday's lesson which is entitled 24:36 Apocalyptic Prophecies in Daniel. 24:39 As I was reading through and studying this lesson, 24:41 I could somewhat relate 24:42 to the importance of this lesson 24:44 because of a little bit of my background. 24:46 I haven't always been a Seventh-day 24:47 Adventist Christian. 24:49 And studying the content of this particular lesson 24:52 really helped me see and it further emphasized 24:54 the importance of properly understanding 24:58 the nature behind these prophecies 25:00 that we are studying. 25:02 And that's why I made an opening note here 25:03 that we need to come to understand the very nature 25:05 of these prophecies found not only in the Book of Daniel 25:08 but throughout the entire Bible. 25:10 And so we know that 25:12 if we study the Bible appropriately and responsibly, 25:14 we find that God uses a variety of approaches 25:18 to communicate prophetic truth 25:20 and it shouldn't surprise us because Hebrews 1:1 25:23 confirms this when it says, "God, 25:26 who had various times 25:27 and in various ways spoke in time past 25:31 to the fathers by the prophets." 25:32 So God uses a multitude of various ways to communicate 25:37 His word in His prophecies. 25:39 And so what we find in this particular lesson 25:41 is that in the scholarly world, in the theologian world, 25:45 I guess you could say, 25:46 they have categorized these prophecies 25:49 based on the content into two different categories. 25:53 And so every prophecy in the Bible usually 25:55 falls within one of these two categories. 25:58 And that would be either the classical prophecies 26:00 or that of apocalyptic prophecies. 26:03 And so when we survey, 26:05 and I like to refer to this as the first testament. 26:08 We know what is the Old Testament, 26:10 but I have to give a disclaimer. 26:11 As we're studying the Book of Daniel, 26:13 I have had many people, Pastor, 26:15 I know Brother Kenny, 26:16 all of us here have probably heard people say, 26:18 "Well, that's in the Old Testament." 26:20 Daniel was an Old Testament Book. 26:22 So therefore, you know, 26:24 we don't study the Old Testament 26:25 because we're New Testament Christians. 26:27 And I just want to just give a clear illustration 26:30 here now if you're braver than I am, 26:31 and I actually saw a minister give this illustration once, 26:35 but if you're braver than I am, 26:36 you could just go to the center of the Bible, 26:39 not necessarily the exact center, 26:40 but go find that little page right before 26:43 it says where it says New Testament, 26:45 and you can just completely remove that page 26:48 from your Bible because that's not even inspired. 26:50 Just wanna let you know that, 26:52 that is the publisher's edition. 26:53 And what it does is it creates division. 26:55 And, of course, I'm not sacrilegious, 26:56 so I'm not gonna tear papers out of my Bible, 26:58 but that's why I've folded this 27:00 because when we're serving the Bible, 27:02 and we're considering the prophecies 27:04 from the what we call the Old and the New Testament. 27:07 We just wanna clearly communicate 27:08 that it's the entire Word of God. 27:11 There's a continual perpetual flow 27:13 from the first testament into the second testament, 27:16 the Old into the New. 27:17 And it's God's continual word throughout. 27:20 And so Daniel is found in what we would 27:23 call the Old Testament. 27:24 But when we do, when we survey this correctly, 27:27 we find that these prophecies 27:30 fall into one of these two categories, 27:31 either classical or apocalyptic. 27:34 And so Daniel, of course, is the exception, 27:37 in most cases found in the Old Testament 27:39 because when you study the Old Testament, 27:41 most prophecies are found 27:43 within the category of classical prophecies. 27:45 And we're gonna determine 27:47 what the difference of that is just a moment. 27:48 But Daniel was an exception in that, 27:50 the majority, if not all, of the prophecies 27:52 found within fall into an apocalyptic category. 27:56 And so I'm gonna give you some of the differences between 27:58 these right now. 28:00 So depending on how you approach and categorize 28:03 these prophecies will determine at how you interpret them. 28:06 And we're gonna talk a little bit 28:08 about interpretation in just a moment 28:09 but some of the differences, 28:11 so apocalyptic versus classical. 28:13 So apocalyptic prophecies 28:15 usually come in the form of visions and dreams. 28:19 So almost in every case, God speaks to His messenger, 28:22 He speaks to His prophet through visions and dreams. 28:25 And He shows them very vivid pictures, 28:29 scenes that play forth in their mind. 28:31 And then, of course, later on, 28:32 they are to record and write these things down 28:35 so that you and I can receive them 28:36 versus classical prophecies 28:38 usually comes in the form of the word of the Lord. 28:42 And then we're gonna give an example of this in a moment, 28:44 but you read multiple times throughout the Old Testament 28:47 where the prophet says, 28:48 "The word of the Lord came to me 28:49 or the word of the Lord was spoken to me." 28:51 And so, and then that doesn't mean 28:53 that this cannot come in the form of visions 28:55 because it does happen in rare occasions. 28:58 But mostly, there's a drastic difference 29:00 there as apocalyptic prophecies 29:02 come in the form of visions and dreams 29:04 while the classical, of course, is just simply 29:07 God speaking either audibly or through thought 29:09 and impression to the prophet himself. 29:12 Now, also classical prophecies tend to be conditional. 29:18 This is vitally important. 29:19 If you reading a classical prophecy, 29:21 and you're considering it, 29:22 it often is dependent on human response 29:25 in the context of God's covenant with Israel. 29:29 And so this is referencing 29:30 the majority of the Old Testament prophecies 29:33 where we find that the majority of the classical prophecies 29:36 are found within the context 29:39 of this covenant with Israel, 29:41 and which it's dependent on some type of response 29:45 from his people 29:46 versus the apocalyptic prophecies 29:50 are mostly unconditional, 29:52 and they rest upon God's foreknowledge 29:53 and sovereignty and will happen regardless of human response. 29:58 And so I just wanna give kind of an example here 30:01 as we consider, for instance, the Book of Jonah, 30:03 the story of Jonah. 30:05 I was reading through Jonah. 30:07 And it's interesting that the very first opening line 30:10 of Jonah 1:1, it says, 30:11 "Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah." 30:13 And so there's another example of that classical approach. 30:16 The word of the Lord came to Jonah. 30:17 Now it doesn't necessarily say how, 30:19 in the sense whether he heard it audibly, 30:21 whether it was a thought or an impression, 30:23 and it certainly doesn't say that 30:24 he received it in a vision, 30:26 but the word of the Lord came to Jonah. 30:27 And, of course, this is repeated 30:29 in Jonah 3:3-10. 30:31 I'm not gonna read the entire passage. 30:33 But notice the very context of this particular prophecy 30:37 that Jonah is commanded to go deliver 30:39 to the people at Nineveh, 30:41 it says, "So Jonah arose," this is verse 3. 30:43 So Jonah 3:3, it says, 30:46 "So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh 30:47 according to the word of the Lord." 30:49 So there it is again. 30:50 "Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, 30:53 a three-day journey in extent. 30:55 And Jonah began to enter the city 30:57 on the first day's walk. 30:59 Then he cried aloud and said," notice, 31:01 "Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!' 31:05 " Now it's interesting because 31:07 the verse as you continue through 31:08 and read through verse 10, 31:10 we know that there is a response of the people. 31:12 And the fact that God is simply declaring that 31:15 40 days from now this city is gonna be destroyed. 31:18 It's interesting that if there was not expected 31:20 of some type of human response, the Lord would just say, 31:23 "I'm gonna destroy the city now," 31:24 regardless, kind of like Sodom and Gomorrah, 31:26 but we find that God allows this timeframe, this 40 days 31:29 because He's looking for a response. 31:31 In other words, the outcome of this classical prophecy 31:35 is dependent upon the response of the people of Nineveh. 31:38 And praise the Lord, they all were revived, 31:40 and the city wasn't destroyed. 31:41 But in kind of contrast to that, 31:44 what's considered Daniel Chapter 7, 31:47 okay? 31:48 So given that God declared a specific time 31:50 into the judgment communicates in Jonah's perspective, 31:53 the implicit condition of the prophecy, 31:55 which will be determined 31:57 based on the response from the people of Nineveh, 31:58 but when you consider Daniel Chapter 7 32:00 or a prophecy like it, 32:02 we find that, you know, Daniel's envision, obviously. 32:05 So you can read there in the opening verses of Daniel 32:07 where he is envisioned versus, 32:09 of course, Jonah's experience was just the word of the Lord. 32:11 But as Daniel was seeing very vividly in his mind, 32:14 these four beasts, 32:16 you also notice their symbolism applied here. 32:18 So in apocalyptic prophecies, there's heavy symbolism, 32:21 God depends upon symbolism 32:23 to communicate His will and His way 32:25 and, of course, the future in this case. 32:27 But if we consider verse 6, specifically, 32:29 notice Daniel 7:6, 32:31 it says, "After this I looked, and there was another, 32:34 like a leopard, which had on its back 32:36 four wings of a bird. 32:38 The beast also had four heads, 32:40 and dominion was given to it." 32:42 And when you read the context of this passage here, 32:44 this apocalyptic prophecy, 32:46 there is no reference to any particular human response 32:50 that would determine a different outcome. 32:52 It is for sure, God has spoken it, 32:54 His sovereignty reigns, and He says, 32:56 this will happen 32:57 because the Lord says it's gonna happen 32:58 just as the way He said it was gonna happen. 33:01 And so I love what the lesson says here. 33:03 There was a part 33:05 I just wanted to highlight here. 33:06 It says knowing about the broad prophetic genres, 33:08 such as classical and apocalyptic prophecies 33:11 can be of great benefit. 33:13 First, these genres show that 33:15 God uses a variety of approaches to communicate 33:17 prophetic truth. 33:19 Second, such knowledge helps us better 33:22 appreciate the beauty and complexity of the Bible, 33:25 and I so appreciate that. 33:26 And then third, 33:28 this knowledge also helps us 33:29 to interpret biblical prophecies 33:31 in ways that are consistent 33:33 with the testimony of the entire Bible 33:36 and rightly explain the word of truth. 33:38 My friends, we have to learn as 2 Timothy 2:15 states, 33:42 "To study to show ourselves approved, 33:45 a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, 33:48 rightly dividing the word of truth." 33:50 And so it is vitally important 33:52 that we grasp the very nature 33:54 of what it is that we are studying, 33:56 that we read and study 33:57 within the context that God has determined. 34:00 And I just wanna say in closing here 34:02 in my last few moments, 34:04 you know, growing up, I learned so much. 34:07 But I was also confused in many aspects 34:10 because of the vast difference of interpretation 34:13 that was flawed based on how people categorize 34:16 or approach the study of the word differently. 34:19 If we simply allow God to tell us what God means, 34:23 simply allow His word 34:25 to determine within the context of His own word, 34:28 how we can interpret that the Bible says 34:29 there's no private interpretation. 34:31 So we need to allow the Word of God to speak for itself. 34:33 And I trust the Lord more than I trust my own work, 34:36 Pastor Lomacang. 34:37 Amen. Amen. Thank you. 34:39 You know, I grew up in one of those 34:41 New Testament Churches. 34:42 So, you know, 34:43 it's interesting to me because when Paul said 34:47 that all scripture is God created. 34:51 The new test... I mean, the New Testament Church, 34:55 what scripture did they have? 34:56 The Old Testament. 34:59 It's so funny. 35:00 My day is Wednesday. 35:02 And it is God's Timescale. 35:05 And I wanna pick up on just something and touch on this 35:09 that you were talking about classical prophecies 35:12 and apocalyptic prophecies. 35:15 In classical prophecies, 35:18 time is literal. 35:21 Let me give you some examples. 35:23 The seven years of plenty and famine, 35:27 this was a classical prophecy in Genesis 41. 35:32 The 400 years in Egypt from Exodus 12:14, 35:37 those were literal. 35:38 The 70 years of Babylon captivity, 35:43 Babylonian captivity that Jeremiah referred to, 35:47 time was literal. 35:49 In apocalyptic prophecy, 35:53 such as Daniel and Revelation 35:56 this is what we call eschatological. 36:00 That's a big word to mean end times, 36:04 eschatological. 36:06 And there time we apply a principle 36:11 that we're going to look at. 36:13 That is a year for a day principle. 36:17 So that's just kind of dovetailing with yours. 36:22 Let's look at the schools. 36:26 There's four primary schools of prophetic interpretation. 36:31 There is historicism, and then preterism, 36:36 futurism and idealism. 36:40 It is critical, what school we belong to, 36:45 if you want to really understand. 36:48 So I want to talk about how these kind of developed. 36:52 It's interesting. 36:54 Historicism 36:55 which the Seventh-day Adventist Church as Christians 36:59 we follow historicism, 37:01 which is what all of the prot... 37:04 It was the perspective of the early church. 37:06 It was what all of the Protestant reformers 37:09 followed was historicism. 37:11 That is an interpretation of prophecy 37:16 that is related to church history. 37:20 So they see the apocalyptic prophecy 37:24 that God is revealing the events 37:28 in an unbroken sequence of history, 37:33 from the time of the prophet 37:35 to the time of the end. 37:38 Now, as I said, Martin Luther, 37:41 Calvin, Knox, William Tyndale, 37:45 all of these reformers followed the historicist method 37:50 and they identified papal Rome, 37:55 the Roman papacy as the Antichrist power. 37:59 Now why am I even bringing that up right now? 38:02 Well, because when all of these reformers 38:06 looked to the papal power and said, 38:11 "That's the Antichrist power." 38:14 What did the papal power do? 38:17 They commissioned to Jesuit priests 38:21 to go off and to come up with an idea, 38:28 an interpretation of prophecy 38:31 that would counter the reformation. 38:35 So first we're going to look at preterism. 38:39 This is what they actually came up, 38:41 the Jesuits priests came up with the idea of preterism 38:46 and futurism. 38:47 So preterism, this was to counter 38:52 the Reformation. 38:54 This was the Jesuit priests Luis del Alcázar. 39:00 He said that prophesied events 39:04 that Daniel announced had already happened in the past. 39:09 So that's in a nutshell, that's preterism. 39:12 And he says, "Aha, if we go this way, 39:15 then they can't say that the papacy is the Antichrist." 39:19 Well, the one that has really grabbed hold 39:23 in today's church, 39:28 Christian church, 39:30 is futurism which a Jesuit priest came up with this idea 39:36 to counter the Reformation. 39:38 His name was Francisco Rivera. 39:41 And he proposed that the same time 39:46 prophecies await a future fulfillment. 39:49 But he did something really interesting. 39:52 He goes in and when we get to the 70 week prophecy, 39:55 this will make sense. 39:57 He goes in and he lops off 40:00 the 70th week of the 69th week 40:02 and he puts it a way down at the end-time. 40:07 At the very end of time, 40:09 which then it wouldn't be the 70th week, couldn't. 40:12 But this will all make sense as we go. 40:14 But this is where 40:16 I was a futurist. 40:19 I believed in a rapture, 40:21 I believed in all of these things 40:24 before I learned this. 40:26 Now idealism came into being the 14th 40:31 through the 17th century. 40:33 They believe that the apocalyptic prophecies 40:36 were symbols of general spiritual realities. 40:42 And they didn't have any specific historical reference 40:45 that they weren't fulfilled literally 40:48 or physically in an earthly sense. 40:51 In other words, no past, present or future. 40:55 Now as we study the Book of Daniel, 40:58 we're gonna see each major vision 41:02 Daniel 2, Daniel 7, 41:03 Daniel 8, Daniel 11, 41:06 repeats a historical outline 41:11 from different perspectives. 41:15 Each time it repeats it adding new details. 41:19 And that's what we call, repeat and enlarge, 41:23 and you'll probably hear us say that several times. 41:26 This is a pattern repeat and enlarge. 41:29 So what God is doing 41:31 is He is revealing an unbroken sequence of time 41:34 from the time of the prophet 41:37 clear till the time of the end, 41:39 till Christ's Second Coming, 41:41 and we're going to use 41:43 the historical method of interpretation. 41:47 Historicism has always held 41:51 that days, weeks, and years 41:54 in apocalyptic prophecy 41:57 when you're in that context 41:59 that it is should be understood 42:02 by applying a year for a day principle. 42:06 So these symbolic time periods 42:09 within the context of apocalyptic passages 42:13 are always found where symbols predominate. 42:18 Let me give you an example. 42:20 The symbolic flavor of time measurement, 42:24 when you think of time, 42:27 times, and half a time. 42:31 What a time was a year, times meant two years, 42:36 a half a time was a half a year? 42:40 Why not just say three and a half years. 42:43 It's very symbolic. 42:45 But those two if you look at a time, 42:48 times, and half a times, 42:51 based on a lunar year, 42:54 that's 1,260 days. 42:57 And I have to say this, 43:00 if when we all stay with this, 43:03 this is gonna be such a marvelous study. 43:06 But it is the time prophecies of Daniel 43:11 that convinced Sir Isaac Newton, 43:14 the great physicist to be a Christian. 43:19 He said, "These time prophecies are so incredible. 43:25 They had to be given by an almighty God." 43:30 So he believes Scripture. 43:31 So in prophetic language, 43:34 a day usually represents a year. 43:36 Let me give you two. 43:38 I'm talking too slowly, I say this. 43:41 Numbers 14:34 says, 43:44 "According to the number of the days 43:47 in which you spied out the land, 43:50 forty days, 43:51 for each day you shall bear your guilt one year, 43:55 namely forty years, 43:57 and you shall know My rejection." 43:58 So we also find the day for the year principle 44:02 in Ezekiel 40. 44:03 But here's what I wanted to point out. 44:06 When we're looking in Daniel, 44:08 Daniel 8:14, for example, 44:11 2, 300 days is 2,300 years. 44:15 Daniel 9:24-27, 44:20 70 weeks is 490 years. 44:24 And it's really easy to see 44:27 because these visions are symbolic. 44:30 Their times are symbolic, as the visions unfold, 44:35 even to the end of time. 44:37 This is why we do this 44:39 year for a day principle. 44:41 It is confirmed in the Book of Daniel 44:45 and a clear example is the 70 week prophecy 44:49 extended from the days of King 44:52 Artaxerxes to the coming of Jesus the Messiah. 44:56 Amen. 44:57 Oh, man, what a platform on which to build, 45:00 you know, on each one of you, yeah, 45:03 for all that information is wonderful. 45:04 I pray that you're being blessed at home 45:06 and you're writing these things down and go back and study. 45:09 I have Thursday's lesson 45:10 in Contemporary Relevance of Daniel. 45:13 You know, that's quite a mouthful 45:14 you look at so if you don't mind, I will... 45:17 I heard repeat and enlarge. 45:20 There we go. 45:21 I'm not sure I can enlarge on anything that was said. 45:23 But I'm just thinking of repeat. 45:25 Because the Book of Daniel again, 45:26 your things are repeated 45:27 and it's good some time to repeat. 45:29 But we wanna look at Book of Daniel realized 45:31 was written about 2,500 years, what? 45:34 Over 2,500 year period. 45:36 And it has a direct bearing 45:38 an application to God's last day people, 45:41 certainly in time of Daniel, 45:42 certainly for us today maybe even more so in my opinion, 45:46 where I want to maybe repeat and enlarge a little bit. 45:49 Sister Jill mentioned three things 45:51 and I think in this part of my lesson, 45:52 it brought out three things 45:54 that we need to look at very closely, 45:56 in which we study Daniel, 45:58 and we need all this information. 45:59 Every bit this here, we need every word it says, 46:02 you know, proceeds out of the mouth of God. 46:03 We need it here in these last days. 46:05 Number one, we reminded once again, 46:07 I think she brought up very well. 46:08 God stands sovereign over our lives. 46:10 Amen. Now, what does that mean? 46:12 That's something that's simple 46:13 but many people don't understand that. 46:15 And so I wanna give you just a few Bible passage, 46:17 jot them down rather quickly, 46:19 give you just a line of each one 46:20 'cause we go read them all 46:21 we won't have time to do some other things we wanna do. 46:24 Now this is how acquainted with each individual 46:26 on a very personal level. 46:28 That's God with us. 46:30 Psalms 94:11 is beautiful. 46:33 "The Lord knoweth the thoughts of man." 46:35 That's pretty personal, isn't it? 46:36 Isaiah 66:18, 46:39 "For I know their works and their thoughts." 46:42 Jeremiah 29:11, 46:44 "I know the thoughts that I think toward you." 46:46 Realize there's a lot more there 46:48 but what we're doing personal what God is working with us. 46:51 Luke 12:7 says, 46:53 "But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered." 46:58 Again, what are we looking at? 47:00 God stands sovereign. 47:01 He knows everything about us, all about the universe, 47:04 but yet He cares about each one of us. 47:06 1 Corinthians 4:5 says, 47:09 "God will bring to light the hidden things of darkness. 47:13 I will make manifest the counsels of the heart," 47:16 notice, "God stands sovereign," doesn't He? 47:18 "Over our lives." James 5:11, 47:20 "The Lord is very pitiful, and tender," 47:23 notice this, "mercy." 47:24 One more passage, Psalms 147:3, 47:27 "He healeth," I love this, "the brokenhearted, 47:29 and he bindeth up their wounds." 47:32 Praise God for that. I'm glad He does that. 47:34 Little book called Steps to Christ. 47:35 I love it. 47:36 Everyone here has read probably many, many times. 47:38 I pray it you've been reading, if not, 47:39 you need to get you one and read it. 47:41 I'll just, I'm a real believer in it. 47:43 Page 100 says this, 47:44 "The relationship between God, 47:46 " I like this relationship with God, 47:48 "and each soul are as distinct 47:50 and full as though there were not another," what? 47:52 "Soul up on the earth." 47:55 To what? 47:57 For Him to watch over. 47:58 It's like, it's so personal 47:59 that He's watching us like there's no one else. 48:02 Another soul, example, 48:04 I'll give you a quick example like Daniel in Babylon. 48:08 You think about these here, 48:09 the relationship was so personal that God had. 48:11 Daniel when he was in Babylon, did God forsake him? 48:13 Absolutely not. 48:15 Joseph in Egypt, you know, Esther, you know, in Persia. 48:17 You look at all these 48:19 three young Hebrews in the fire. 48:22 Now these reminder that God has not left us 48:25 in some of these situation, He's right there with us, 48:28 He'll go through it with us and make sure we, you know, 48:30 more than conquerors through Christ. 48:32 Point number two, 48:34 God steers the course of history. 48:37 He steers it, 48:38 you know, God has written it out, has He not? 48:40 And certainly, He is going to steer us 48:42 through history. 48:43 So central point of the Book of Daniel, 48:44 I heard it said and I'll say it again, 48:46 the central point of contact is what? 48:48 Is Jesus Christ, there's no doubt about it. 48:51 But notice how that God is in control. 48:53 He's written the history of the world and the what? 48:57 He steers as it were, the flow of it, 48:59 as it goes forward. 49:01 Education 173 makes this statement, 49:03 "In the Word of God," notice this, 49:05 "the curtains are drawn aside, and we behold, behind, 49:10 above, and through all the play 49:12 and counterplay of human interests 49:14 and power and passions, 49:17 the agencies of all-merciful One, 49:20 " we know that's Jesus, right? 49:21 God, "silently, and He patiently 49:23 working out the counsels of His own mind." 49:27 God is going to have... 49:28 You know, is the Book of Daniel, 49:29 is it really relevant today? 49:31 Of course. 49:32 Do we need it today? Every... 49:33 Oh, absolutely. 49:35 We need it and because it's pointing out 49:36 the God's in control. 49:38 So we're worried about elections. 49:39 We're worried about who's in office, 49:40 we're worried about putting this one, 49:42 that one and so on, 49:43 when God says I put him up there and I take them down. 49:44 Job 9:4, speaking of God, it says, 49:47 "He is wise in the heart, 49:49 and mighty," notice this, "in strength." 49:52 That's just an encouragement as we look because to me, 49:55 the Book of Daniel brings all of these things out to us, 49:58 that by faith, we reach out and grab 50:00 because we live in my opinion in a time 50:03 where we need heart as it were, 50:05 we need to be wise in heart. 50:07 We need strength that's not within us. 50:09 We need it from up above and to come inside of us. 50:12 Job 9:7-8, 10 bring this out, 50:16 he's talking about God, 50:18 "He commandeth," notice this, "the sun, and it riseth not. 50:21 He sealeth up the stars." 50:23 Verse 8, "Which alone spreadeth out the heavens, 50:26 and treadeth upon the waves of the sea." 50:28 Verse 10, "Which doeth great things 50:30 past finding out, yea, and wonders without number." 50:35 All this is doing is talking about we study Daniel, 50:37 is this coming into our mind, 50:38 we need this relationship with Jesus Christ. 50:41 We need to know because 50:42 we're gonna read some things and study in here. 50:44 That's going to be some very tough time 50:47 come upon this world. 50:48 And we cannot make it without the Holy Spirit of God. 50:51 We cannot make it without 50:52 the power and strength of the Holy Spirit. 50:54 And we need it I believe so that 50:56 we can give this message to the world 50:58 in a way that it needs to be given. 51:00 So awake everybody up for the coming of the Lord. 51:03 It's gonna be a time of trouble that was not until time... 51:06 That's all this is coming up in the study. 51:08 So God still reminds us 51:10 in the Book of Daniel over and over. 51:12 I'm still overseeing. Amen. 51:14 I like an overseer, I don't mind an overseer, 51:17 you know, sometimes they see a little different than you do. 51:19 It might be a little issue, 51:20 but we've got an overseer 51:22 that has our best interests at heart. 51:25 Knows a lot more than we do. 51:27 He knows a whole lot more, 51:28 we say with the beginning from the end. 51:30 So He understands that if we just trust in Him, 51:32 there's none like Him. 51:34 He's our sovereign God, 51:36 the Book of Daniel brings out over and over. 51:37 Again, He's steering the course of history 51:40 because He's been written by the Holy Spirit. 51:43 Like it was in Job, you remember Chapter 38. 51:46 Job was having some issues. 51:48 Sometime we have some issues. 51:50 And he began to challenge God 51:53 I think in a way 51:54 and finally God just comes back to him in Job 38:4. 51:57 He says, "Where were you 51:58 when I laid the foundation of this earth or the world?" 52:01 And any challenge in this point, 52:03 declare if you have understanding, 52:05 if you ever done that someone, 52:06 you'll say something and say now what, 52:08 you know, what's your reason, 52:10 why are you taking this position? 52:11 God said, if you have understanding on this, 52:13 let me know. 52:14 And I would say that Job was silent. 52:17 And then God went into a lot of different things. 52:18 Point number three, God provides a role model. 52:21 In the Book of Daniel, God provides role models 52:23 for His end-time people. 52:26 And in this quarter, and certainly Daniel, 52:28 he's going to reveal. 52:29 God has raised what? 52:31 Men and women these last days to fulfill to be role models 52:34 that we need to be in the cause of Christ. 52:36 And certainly in Daniel, they're role models, 52:39 you know, in a time and a place where society had views 52:42 so different in Daniel's day, right? 52:45 So different that you made a song said 52:48 "Dare to Be a Daniel!" 52:50 Do we dare to be that today? 52:51 And, you know, it's just like it is today. 52:53 There's no doubt about it. 52:55 But in spite of all of this test 52:56 and all of these trials, 52:58 think of with me just for a moment, 52:59 God's faithful men and women, 53:02 they remain true to Him, 53:04 regardless of the consequences, 53:05 regardless of what happened to them. 53:07 They were committed. 53:09 They were empowered by the grace of God, 53:11 and they stood the test. 53:12 They were role models for us. 53:14 And when I read the Word of God, 53:15 I love those role models. 53:17 I realized there are many of them 53:18 who became role models, 53:20 but a time they maybe fell short. 53:22 But I learned from that too, 53:23 you know, not to follow in that. 53:25 So I praise God for that. 53:26 Sake of the gospel, 53:27 certainly we need to have courage 53:29 and we need to persevere 53:30 because we too have a message to give to the world. 53:33 You know, the main natural, 53:37 the natural we're looking at the perfect role model 53:40 is none other than Jesus Christ. 53:42 Still we look at three Hebrews, we look at Daniel, 53:43 we look at all these here, man, 53:45 what role models in the face of death, man, 53:47 they just stood up and said, this is a way it is, 53:49 they live by principle. 53:50 Now, didn't live by feeling 53:52 and emotion and all the other thing, 53:53 they just live by faith in God. 53:55 It's been mentioned here, 53:57 the Word of God said 53:58 and they said by the grace of God, 53:59 this we will do. 54:01 We need that today, 54:02 I believe in our society that we live in and in our church. 54:04 But Jesus Christ is the one where 54:06 it says there in John 12:32. 54:10 It says, "If I be lifted up, will draw all men unto Me." 54:13 And I think in the Book of Daniel, 54:15 we're going to see that Jesus got, 54:17 He's lifted high 54:19 for us to see because He is our role model. 54:21 And He does choose and He equips, 54:23 He empowers men and women 54:26 to be able to do what He's asked them to do. 54:28 So I think we kind of live in times just like that, 54:31 I can look at the illustration and say, you know, 54:32 are we not living in those times 54:34 right now that God's looking for that kind of people. 54:37 "We beholding the glass the glory of the Lord, 54:39 and we are changed into his," what? 54:41 "His same image." 54:42 Here in 2 Corinthians 3:18. 54:44 And so I would say today 54:46 that the Book of Daniel 54:47 has a direct impact on us today, 54:51 certainly then, but on us today, 54:53 and we need to be reading and studying these books 54:55 like never before because I believe that Jesus is coming. 54:59 And this will help us to prepare for His soon coming. 55:01 God bless you. Amen. 55:03 Amen. 55:04 Thank you so much each one of you. 55:05 I love this first lesson 55:07 because what we're doing is laying foundation 55:09 for the rest of the quarter, 55:11 studying those prophecies and interpretation 55:14 because that's important 55:16 as we dive into the Book of Daniel. 55:17 I wanna give each one of you a moment 55:19 to share about your day 55:20 or something else about the lesson, Pastor John? 55:22 Well, the major purpose of prophecy 55:24 is not what we believe 55:28 but who is revealed. 55:32 John 13:39. 55:33 Jesus said, "Now I tell you before it comes, 55:37 that when it does come to pass, you may believe that I am He." 55:43 It's not just what we believe, but who prophecy reveal. 55:47 Amen. That's right. 55:48 Amen. Jill, I think you said it best. 55:49 You know, it's great to have a foundation 55:51 to establish a foundation. 55:53 And I think most Christians today 55:54 regardless of interpretation, denomination, 55:56 most Christians today, I believe, would agree 55:58 that we're living during the time of Revelation, 56:00 the Book of Revelation. 56:01 But, you know, before we can understand 56:04 the Book of Revelation, 56:05 we have to understand the Book of Daniel. 56:06 And, you know, I just wanna encourage 56:08 my brothers and sisters at home who are watching this, 56:10 that tune in each week to this study 56:12 because we're gonna be studying things that Daniel wrote about, 56:15 that speaks about the times that we're living in. 56:17 And, you know, the Bible says, 56:19 to study to show yourself approved, 56:21 rightly dividing the word of truth. 56:23 Amen. 56:24 You just change what I was gonna say, 56:26 I just had to add to that is that you're right. 56:29 I used to pray. 56:32 Growing up in a church that did not study 56:37 the Old Testament. 56:38 We were also told not to study Revelation. 56:41 And then I would look and see that it says, 56:43 "Blessed are you if you're studying this 56:45 and reading." 56:46 And I thought, so I started studying it on my own. 56:48 And I couldn't, I had all of these books 56:50 on prophecy and nothing made sense. 56:52 The bottom line is, 56:54 it is not until you understand 56:57 that what, John, 280 scriptures of Revelation 57:00 from the Old Testament. 57:01 Two hundred and seventy-six. 57:03 Two hundred and seventy-six, most, 57:04 a lot of them are from Daniel. 57:06 You got to understand Daniel to understand Revelation. 57:09 That's right. Amen. 57:10 Praise the Lord. 57:11 Just a quick thought here says, men will learn. 57:13 This is taken from Letter 20-1-1899, couple of word, 57:16 "Men will learn the cross of Calvary 57:18 is the great sinner." 57:20 And we learned that as we studied Daniel. 57:21 Amen. 57:22 Thank you so much for opening up 57:24 the Word of God to us. 57:25 And we're so grateful that 57:26 you have joined us at home as well. 57:28 I wanna leave with you a scripture 57:29 from the New Testament. 57:31 This is 2 Peter 3:21, 57:34 "For prophecy never came by the will of man, 57:38 but holy men of God spoke 57:40 as they were moved by the Holy Spirit." 57:42 And that's what we find in the Book of Daniel. 57:45 A man whose life was committed to the Lord Jesus Christ, 57:48 who served him with all his heart 57:50 and in humility of heart, 57:52 but who God work through 57:54 to reveal what was coming in the future. 57:56 Join us next week from Jerusalem to Babylon, 57:59 Daniel Chapter 1. |
Revised 2020-01-15