From Time To Time - Part Thirteen Dec 03, 2023 by: John Herbert | Series: From Time to Time Audio Study Notes PDF https://s3.amazonaws.com/cornerstonejax/sermonfiles/T031_20231203.mp3 Refresh A Recap from the Sermon Jer 27:5 ‘I have made the earth, the man and the beast that are on the ground, by My great power and by My outstretched arm, and have given it to whom it seemed proper to Me. We will return to the 'From Time to Time' study this week and continue to look at how the Lord has orchestrated His plans and purposes, revealed in the Scriptures. The full text of this message can be found by clicking the PDF button. Sunday December 3rd 2023 From Time to Time – Part 13 1). Jer 27:5 ‘I have made the earth, the man and the beast that are on the ground, by My great power and by My outstretched arm, and have given it to whom it seemed proper to Me. 6 And now I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, My servant; and the beasts of the field I have also given him to serve him. 7 So all nations shall serve him and his son and his son's son, until the time of his land comes; and then many nations and great kings shall make him serve them. Following their deliverance from Egypt the children of Israel had been given the scepter of rulership as God’s adopted firstborn son within the Theocracy that was established at Sinai. God’s glory filling the Tabernacle in the wilderness denoted His presence in the midst of His people, and His glory had remained even after the kingdom had been divided following Solomon’s death and even after the northern ten tribes of Israel had been taken into captivity by the Assyrians around 722BC – Jer 3:6 The LORD said also to me in the days of Josiah the king: “Have you seen what backsliding Israel has done? She has gone up on every high mountain and under every green tree, and there played the harlot. 7 And I said, after she had done all these things, ‘Return to Me.’ But she did not return. And her treacherous sister Judah saw it. 8 Then I saw that for all the causes for which backsliding Israel had committed adultery, I had put her away and given her a certificate of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear, but went and played the harlot also. 9 So it came to pass, through her casual harlotry, that she defiled the land and committed adultery with stones and trees. 10 And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah has not turned to Me with her whole heart, but in pretense,” says the LORD. But because of Judah’s continued harlotry, despite seeing what had happened to the northern tribes of Israel, God then gave those Jews already taken captive into Assyria from the northern ten tribes of Israel, as well as the Assyrian empire and southern two tribes of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, God’s servant for this purpose. Following the beginning of the Babylonian captivity, God’s glory departed from the Temple in Jerusalem and has not returned to the earth since; the Theocracy was ended, and the scepter of rulership that rightly belonged to God’s adopted firstborn son, Israel, was given to this same Nebuchadnezzar beginning the times of the Gentiles. Times that have continued from that day to this and will continue still, until a delivered, restored, and repentant Jewish people will take their place at the head of the nations with God again in their midst as the Christ sits on the throne of His father David in the holy city of Jerusalem during the Millennial Kingdom – Lk 21:24 And they [the Jewish people at the mid-point in the tribulation] will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. And that set out in the Book of Daniel deals with this very thing, two thousand six hundred years of human history as it pertains to God’s people Israel and the Gentile nations, in relation to the times of the Gentiles, and the fulfillment of God’s purpose for Israel in the Millennial Kingdom. a). And this we should keep in mind; Daniel is a Book about the Jews within the times of the Gentiles. It is not a Book that deals with Christians or the events of this dispensation. And this can be quite clearly identified at one particular location in the Book, which provides the key to understanding what is seen throughout the Book – Da 9:24 “Seventy weeks are determined For your people [Daniel’s people – The Jews] and for your holy city, [Jerusalem] To finish the transgression, To make an end of sins, To make reconciliation for iniquity, To bring in everlasting righteousness, To seal up vision and prophecy, [to bring vision and prophecy to its conclusion] And to anoint the Most Holy. God has determined seventy weeks, seventy sevens of years, four hundred and ninety years, to deal with His wayward son, at the end of which the Jews still alive on the earth are to be brought to repentance and restored, prior to the beginning of the Millennial Kingdom when the scepter of rulership will be removed from the Gentiles and returned to Israel, as set out in prophecy. These verses in Daniel Chapter 9, as we have seen many times, clearly reveal that Messiah would be ‘cut off’, a euphemism for the Lord’s crucifixion, after four hundred and eighty-three of those years, leaving the final seven years to be fulfilled. However, within the prophecy, following the announcement of the Lord’s crucifixion, the very next event that is seen, recorded in the same verse and the same sentence that records Messiah being ‘cut off’, is ‘the people of the prince who is to come’, an idiom for the prince himself, destroying the city and the sanctuary, there being no time gap in the prophecy between the sixty-ninth and the seventieth week. b). According to God’s dealings with the Jewish people then, the crucifixion is followed immediately by events that transpire at the mid-point in the tribulation – Da 9:26 “And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself; And the people of the prince who is to come Shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. Mt 24:15 “Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” (whoever reads, let him understand), 16 “then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 2 Th 2:3 Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, 4 who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. 5 Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? 6 And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. The events at the mid-point in the tribulation recorded in Daniel and seen also in Matthew 24 and 2 Thessalonians 2, must be preceded by that seen at the beginning of Daniel 9:27 first – Da 9:27 Then he shall confirm a covenant with many [in Israel] for one week; [seven years] But in the middle of the week [the mid-point in the tribulation] He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. The event recorded at the beginning of Daniel 9:27 is the same event we find described in – Re 6:1 Now I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals; and I heard one of the four living creatures saying with a voice like thunder, “Come and see.” 2 And I looked, and behold, a white horse. He who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer. In God’s economy then, as He resumes His dealings with Israel, as Daniel’s seventieth week begins, in terms of elapsed time, He begins at the exact point that Daniel’s sixty ninth week ended, the crucifixion of His Son – Zec 12:10 “And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn. The Jews who will look on the pierced Messiah and grieve in that future day are those Jews alive in the world today. But they were not the ones physically present in Jerusalem in 33AD who had called for the Lord’s death – Jn 19:15 But they cried out, “Away with Him, away with Him! Crucify Him!”………… But as God begins to deal with this generation of Jews, He will begin at the point in time immediately following the Lord’s crucifixion. From God’s perspective, His Son will have just been killed, and this generation are responsible for His death as is every other generation. The two thousand years allotted to the Jewish dispensation then, must be seen as an unbroken period of time in this respect. This is simply the way God deals with the matter. c). We know that there are the two thousand years of the present dispensation that transpire between the sixty nineth and the seventieth weeks of Daniel’s prophecy, but that is neither here nor there as far as God’s dealings with the Jews is concerned. God during this dispensation is dealing with a new group of household servants with respect to the Kingdom of the heavens; this has been taken from the Jews and they have been set aside. And having been set aside with respect to the Kingdom of the heavens they have nothing to do with this dispensation and are not seen in connection with it. Just as Christians have nothing to do with the time of Jacob’s trouble and are not seen in connection with it either. So, when God has finished dealing with Christians and turns again to Israel, He can ONLY begin at the exact point that He left off, the crucifixion of His Son. Nothing else is possible. 2). And keeping all this in mind, we will return to the Book of Daniel and Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of the great image - Da 2:27 Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, “The secret which the king has demanded, the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, and the soothsayers cannot declare to the king. 28 But there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days. Your dream, and the visions of your head upon your bed, were these: 29 As for you, O king, thoughts came to your mind while on your bed, about what would come to pass after this; and He who reveals secrets has made known to you what will be. 30 But as for me, this secret has not been revealed to me because I have more wisdom than anyone living, but for our sakes who make known the interpretation to the king, and that you may know the thoughts of your heart. 31 “You, O king, were watching; and behold, a great image! This great image, whose splendor was excellent, stood before you; and its form was awesome. 32 This image's head was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, 33 its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. 34 You watched while a stone was cut out without hands, which struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces. 35 Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed together, and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; the wind carried them away so that no trace of them was found. And the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth. 36 “This is the dream. Now we will tell the interpretation of it before the king. 37 You, O king, are a king of kings. For the God of heaven has given you a kingdom, power, strength, and glory; 38 and wherever the children of men dwell, or the beasts of the field and the birds of the heaven, He has given them into your hand, and has made you ruler over them all—you are this head of gold. 39 But after you shall arise another kingdom inferior to yours; then another, a third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over all the earth. 40 And the fourth kingdom shall be as strong as iron, inasmuch as iron breaks in pieces and shatters everything; and like iron that crushes, that kingdom will break in pieces and crush all the others. 41 Whereas you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter's clay and partly of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; yet the strength of the iron shall be in it, just as you saw the iron mixed with ceramic clay. 42 And as the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly fragile. 43 As you saw iron mixed with ceramic clay, they will mingle with the seed of men; but they will not adhere to one another, just as iron does not mix with clay. 44 And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever. 45 Inasmuch as you saw that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold—the great God has made known to the king what will come to pass after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation is sure.” We had noted last time that what is revealed in the dream has to do with the Babylonian kingdom beyond the days when Nebuchadnezzar and his descendants would be its king. And we had seen that given the context in which this dream was given, during the captivity of the children of Israel, and to whom understanding of the dream and its interpretation was given, the Jewish prophet Daniel, the Jewish people remain in view throughout. What is set out in the dream then, has exclusively to do with the Jewish people and the dispensation allotted to them during the times of the Gentiles. And God’s purpose for them is inseparable from a Babylonian kingdom and captivity. a). We will also note that the great image of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream is seen as a complete image, although identified in four parts it remains one image, not four images, and it is standing in Babylon throughout. We will realize then, that the image does not represent four independent kingdoms but one kingdom, a Babylonian kingdom, from beginning to end, seen in four consecutive forms. b). The fourth part of the image, the fourth form of the Babylonian kingdom, pictured as the legs of iron and the feet partly of iron and partly of clay, we had identified last time as the kingdom of the Antichrist. The same kingdom that is seen in Daniel Chapter 9 described through the idiom ‘the people of the prince who is to come’. And in the same way as we have seen in God’s economy, that there is no time gap between Daniel’s sixty nineth and seventieth week in relation to the Jewish people, so there is no time gap seen between the third part of the great image of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream and the fourth part of the image, as all has to do with the same people, Israel, within the same timeframe, four hundred and ninety years. From God’s perspective then, the fourth and final form of the Babylonian kingdom immediately follows the third without interruption. And this is presented again through the four great beasts of Daniel Chapter 7, four great beasts that depict the same Babylonian kingdom as the great image – Da 7:1 In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, Daniel had a dream and visions of his head while on his bed. Then he wrote down the dream, telling the main facts. 2 Daniel spoke, saying, “I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven were stirring up the Great Sea. 3 And four great beasts came up from the sea, each different from the other. 4 The first was like a lion, and had eagle's wings. I watched till its wings were plucked off; and it was lifted up from the earth and made to stand on two feet like a man, and a man's heart was given to it. 5 “And suddenly another beast, a second, like a bear. It was raised up on one side, and had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. And they said thus to it: ‘Arise, devour much flesh!’ 6 “After this I looked, and there was another, like a leopard, which had on its back four wings of a bird. The beast also had four heads, and dominion was given to it. 7 “After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, exceedingly strong. It had huge iron teeth; it was devouring, breaking in pieces, and trampling the residue with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns. Again, we see through Daniel’s ‘dream and visions of his head while on his bed’, four great beasts that came up from the Great Sea one after the other. The Great Sea that the four winds of heaven were stirring up giving rise to the appearance of the beasts, this Babylonian kingdom, which might remind us of – Jon 1:4 But the LORD sent out a great wind on the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship was about to be broken up. The first beast is said to be like a lion and corresponds to the head of fine Gold from the great image, the second like a bear that corresponds to the chest and arms of silver, and the third like a leopard, corresponding to the belly and thighs of bronze. The fourth beast is not likened to an animal but is rather described as being ‘dreadful and terrible, exceedingly strong. It had huge iron teeth.’ A great beast that encompasses the three previous beasts. And this fourth beast is seen devouring and breaking in pieces. And the reference to the iron teeth that devour and break in pieces readily connects with the fourth part of the great image, the legs of iron and feet of part iron and part clay that breaks in pieces and crushes. And just as the fourth part of the great image had ten toes that we had identified as ten kingdoms, so the fourth beast is seen to have ten horns, picturing those same ten kingdoms. c). And in case we are in any doubt about who and what is revealed to us through these four great beasts, we need only turn to the description of the Antichrist, the beast, given through John in Chapter 13 of the Revelation – Re 13:1 Then I stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name. 2 Now the beast which I saw was like a leopard, his feet were like the feet of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. The dragon [Satan] gave him his power, his throne, and great authority. This description of the Antichrist who will rise-up out of the Gentile nations, uses the same imagery to describe him as was used for the first three great beasts, like a leopard, like a bear, and like a lion. And what is revealed by using this same imagery to describe the Antichrist in the Revelation is the unity of one Babylonian kingdom, embodied, and brought to its ultimate form in the man of sin, the fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, exceedingly strong. Which shows us, with respect to the Jewish people, their uninterrupted progress from the Babylonian captivity of Nebuchadnezzar to the captivity of Antichrist’s day, the last king of Babylon. A captivity that both literally and metaphorically has not yet come to an end – Re 17:5 And on her forehead [Israel] a name was written: MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. And the inseparable connection between the great image and the four great beasts and that which was established in the foundation through the account of Nimrod is made plain for us through Micah in his account of the coming of the Antichrist against the Jewish people following the Lord’s return to the earth – Mic 5:5 And this One shall be peace. When the Assyrian comes into our land, And when he treads in our palaces, Then we will raise against him Seven shepherds and eight princely men. 6 They shall waste with the sword the land of Assyria, And the land of Nimrod at its entrances; Thus He shall deliver us from the Assyrian, When he comes into our land And when he treads within our borders. Daniel continues with his account of his visions – Da 7:8 I was considering the horns, and there was another horn, a little one, coming up among them, before whom three of the first horns were plucked out by the roots. And there, in this horn, were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking pompous words. 9 “I watched till thrones were put in place, And the Ancient of Days was seated; His garment was white as snow, And the hair of His head was like pure wool. His throne was a fiery flame, Its wheels a burning fire; 10 A fiery stream issued And came forth from before Him. A thousand thousands ministered to Him; Ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him. The court was seated, And the books were opened. 11 “I watched then because of the sound of the pompous words which the horn was speaking; I watched till the beast was slain, and its body destroyed and given to the burning flame. 12 As for the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away, yet their lives were prolonged for a season and a time. 13 “I was watching in the night visions, And behold, One like the Son of Man, Coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, And they brought Him near before Him. 14 Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, That all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, Which shall not pass away, And His kingdom the one Which shall not be destroyed. The verse dealing with the fourth great beast that comes before Daniel 7:8 says, It was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns. And it is these ten horns that Daniel is considering when he saw ‘another horn, a little one, coming up among them.’ This all has to do with Antichrist’s origins, he is the ‘little horn’, and with his ten-nation confederacy. And this we will deal with in another part of our study. d). We will remember from last time that Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of the great image concluded with the image being struck on the feet by a stone that was cut out without hands that utterly destroyed the image and became a great mountain that filled the whole earth, pointing to the establishment of Christ’s Kingdom in the Seventh Day. e). And this same truth is seen again in the verses from Daniel Chapter 7 which we have just read. In Daniel 7 we see that the fourth beast was slain, and its body destroyed and given to the burning flame. And then in addition to the destruction of the beast’s kingdom we are shown the throne room in heaven where the Ancient of Days is seated. We then see ‘One like the Son of Man coming with the clouds of heaven’. And the One like the Son of Man is brought near to the Ancient of Days, where He is given dominion and glory and a Kingdom. And this scene foreshadows an event that we have read about many times before, recorded in Revelation Chapter 5 – Re 5:6 And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth. 7 Then He came and took the scroll out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne. 8 Now when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. 9 And they sang a new song, saying: “You are worthy to take the scroll, And to open its seals; For You were slain, And have redeemed them [the faithful Christians identified at the Judgment Seat] to God by Your blood Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, 10 And have made them kings and priests to our God; And they shall reign on the earth.” And in that Day when the Mountain of the Lord’s House will be established on the top of the mountains then all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, Which shall not pass away, And His kingdom the one Which shall not be destroyed. Isa 9:6 For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of His government and peace There will be no end, Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, To order it and establish it with judgment and justice From that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. In that Day the scepter of rulership will be returned to God’s adopted firstborn son, Israel, to rule on the earth. The scepter of rulership will be given to God’s adopted firstborn son, the Church of the firstborn, to rule from the heavens and the One who will have taken the diadem from the head of Satan, the only begotten firstborn Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, will rule from His own throne in the New Jerusalem above and the throne of His father David in the Jerusalem below. And the glory of the Lord will return to the earth to fill the Millennial temple – Ezk 43:1 Afterward he brought me to the gate, the gate that faces toward the east. 2 And behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east. His voice was like the sound of many waters; and the earth shone with His glory. 3 It was like the appearance of the vision which I saw—like the vision which I saw when I came to destroy the city. The visions were like the vision which I saw by the River Chebar; and I fell on my face. 4 And the glory of the LORD came into the temple by way of the gate which faces toward the east. 5 The Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court; and behold, the glory of the LORD filled the temple. 6 Then I heard Him speaking to me from the temple, while a man stood beside me. 7 And He said to me, “Son of man, this is the place of My throne and the place of the soles of My feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel forever. No more shall the house of Israel defile My holy name, they nor their kings, by their harlotry or with the carcasses of their kings on their high places. Hab 2:14 For the earth will be filled With the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, As the waters cover the sea. Mic 4:2 Many nations shall come and say, “Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, To the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, And we shall walk in His paths.” For out of Zion the law shall go forth, And the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. We will continue with this next time if we remain and the Lord is willing, and we have prayed. From Time To Time - Part Thirteen Dec 03, 2023 Speaker: John Herbert Series: From Time to Time Category: Sunday Morning https://s3.amazonaws.com/cornerstonejax/sermonfiles/T031_20231203.mp3 Download Audio x
Refresh A Recap from the Sermon Jer 27:5 ‘I have made the earth, the man and the beast that are on the ground, by My great power and by My outstretched arm, and have given it to whom it seemed proper to Me. We will return to the 'From Time to Time' study this week and continue to look at how the Lord has orchestrated His plans and purposes, revealed in the Scriptures. The full text of this message can be found by clicking the PDF button. Sunday December 3rd 2023 From Time to Time – Part 13 1). Jer 27:5 ‘I have made the earth, the man and the beast that are on the ground, by My great power and by My outstretched arm, and have given it to whom it seemed proper to Me. 6 And now I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, My servant; and the beasts of the field I have also given him to serve him. 7 So all nations shall serve him and his son and his son's son, until the time of his land comes; and then many nations and great kings shall make him serve them. Following their deliverance from Egypt the children of Israel had been given the scepter of rulership as God’s adopted firstborn son within the Theocracy that was established at Sinai. God’s glory filling the Tabernacle in the wilderness denoted His presence in the midst of His people, and His glory had remained even after the kingdom had been divided following Solomon’s death and even after the northern ten tribes of Israel had been taken into captivity by the Assyrians around 722BC – Jer 3:6 The LORD said also to me in the days of Josiah the king: “Have you seen what backsliding Israel has done? She has gone up on every high mountain and under every green tree, and there played the harlot. 7 And I said, after she had done all these things, ‘Return to Me.’ But she did not return. And her treacherous sister Judah saw it. 8 Then I saw that for all the causes for which backsliding Israel had committed adultery, I had put her away and given her a certificate of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear, but went and played the harlot also. 9 So it came to pass, through her casual harlotry, that she defiled the land and committed adultery with stones and trees. 10 And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah has not turned to Me with her whole heart, but in pretense,” says the LORD. But because of Judah’s continued harlotry, despite seeing what had happened to the northern tribes of Israel, God then gave those Jews already taken captive into Assyria from the northern ten tribes of Israel, as well as the Assyrian empire and southern two tribes of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, God’s servant for this purpose. Following the beginning of the Babylonian captivity, God’s glory departed from the Temple in Jerusalem and has not returned to the earth since; the Theocracy was ended, and the scepter of rulership that rightly belonged to God’s adopted firstborn son, Israel, was given to this same Nebuchadnezzar beginning the times of the Gentiles. Times that have continued from that day to this and will continue still, until a delivered, restored, and repentant Jewish people will take their place at the head of the nations with God again in their midst as the Christ sits on the throne of His father David in the holy city of Jerusalem during the Millennial Kingdom – Lk 21:24 And they [the Jewish people at the mid-point in the tribulation] will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. And that set out in the Book of Daniel deals with this very thing, two thousand six hundred years of human history as it pertains to God’s people Israel and the Gentile nations, in relation to the times of the Gentiles, and the fulfillment of God’s purpose for Israel in the Millennial Kingdom. a). And this we should keep in mind; Daniel is a Book about the Jews within the times of the Gentiles. It is not a Book that deals with Christians or the events of this dispensation. And this can be quite clearly identified at one particular location in the Book, which provides the key to understanding what is seen throughout the Book – Da 9:24 “Seventy weeks are determined For your people [Daniel’s people – The Jews] and for your holy city, [Jerusalem] To finish the transgression, To make an end of sins, To make reconciliation for iniquity, To bring in everlasting righteousness, To seal up vision and prophecy, [to bring vision and prophecy to its conclusion] And to anoint the Most Holy. God has determined seventy weeks, seventy sevens of years, four hundred and ninety years, to deal with His wayward son, at the end of which the Jews still alive on the earth are to be brought to repentance and restored, prior to the beginning of the Millennial Kingdom when the scepter of rulership will be removed from the Gentiles and returned to Israel, as set out in prophecy. These verses in Daniel Chapter 9, as we have seen many times, clearly reveal that Messiah would be ‘cut off’, a euphemism for the Lord’s crucifixion, after four hundred and eighty-three of those years, leaving the final seven years to be fulfilled. However, within the prophecy, following the announcement of the Lord’s crucifixion, the very next event that is seen, recorded in the same verse and the same sentence that records Messiah being ‘cut off’, is ‘the people of the prince who is to come’, an idiom for the prince himself, destroying the city and the sanctuary, there being no time gap in the prophecy between the sixty-ninth and the seventieth week. b). According to God’s dealings with the Jewish people then, the crucifixion is followed immediately by events that transpire at the mid-point in the tribulation – Da 9:26 “And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself; And the people of the prince who is to come Shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. Mt 24:15 “Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” (whoever reads, let him understand), 16 “then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 2 Th 2:3 Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, 4 who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. 5 Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? 6 And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. The events at the mid-point in the tribulation recorded in Daniel and seen also in Matthew 24 and 2 Thessalonians 2, must be preceded by that seen at the beginning of Daniel 9:27 first – Da 9:27 Then he shall confirm a covenant with many [in Israel] for one week; [seven years] But in the middle of the week [the mid-point in the tribulation] He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. The event recorded at the beginning of Daniel 9:27 is the same event we find described in – Re 6:1 Now I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals; and I heard one of the four living creatures saying with a voice like thunder, “Come and see.” 2 And I looked, and behold, a white horse. He who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer. In God’s economy then, as He resumes His dealings with Israel, as Daniel’s seventieth week begins, in terms of elapsed time, He begins at the exact point that Daniel’s sixty ninth week ended, the crucifixion of His Son – Zec 12:10 “And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn. The Jews who will look on the pierced Messiah and grieve in that future day are those Jews alive in the world today. But they were not the ones physically present in Jerusalem in 33AD who had called for the Lord’s death – Jn 19:15 But they cried out, “Away with Him, away with Him! Crucify Him!”………… But as God begins to deal with this generation of Jews, He will begin at the point in time immediately following the Lord’s crucifixion. From God’s perspective, His Son will have just been killed, and this generation are responsible for His death as is every other generation. The two thousand years allotted to the Jewish dispensation then, must be seen as an unbroken period of time in this respect. This is simply the way God deals with the matter. c). We know that there are the two thousand years of the present dispensation that transpire between the sixty nineth and the seventieth weeks of Daniel’s prophecy, but that is neither here nor there as far as God’s dealings with the Jews is concerned. God during this dispensation is dealing with a new group of household servants with respect to the Kingdom of the heavens; this has been taken from the Jews and they have been set aside. And having been set aside with respect to the Kingdom of the heavens they have nothing to do with this dispensation and are not seen in connection with it. Just as Christians have nothing to do with the time of Jacob’s trouble and are not seen in connection with it either. So, when God has finished dealing with Christians and turns again to Israel, He can ONLY begin at the exact point that He left off, the crucifixion of His Son. Nothing else is possible. 2). And keeping all this in mind, we will return to the Book of Daniel and Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of the great image - Da 2:27 Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, “The secret which the king has demanded, the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, and the soothsayers cannot declare to the king. 28 But there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days. Your dream, and the visions of your head upon your bed, were these: 29 As for you, O king, thoughts came to your mind while on your bed, about what would come to pass after this; and He who reveals secrets has made known to you what will be. 30 But as for me, this secret has not been revealed to me because I have more wisdom than anyone living, but for our sakes who make known the interpretation to the king, and that you may know the thoughts of your heart. 31 “You, O king, were watching; and behold, a great image! This great image, whose splendor was excellent, stood before you; and its form was awesome. 32 This image's head was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, 33 its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. 34 You watched while a stone was cut out without hands, which struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces. 35 Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed together, and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; the wind carried them away so that no trace of them was found. And the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth. 36 “This is the dream. Now we will tell the interpretation of it before the king. 37 You, O king, are a king of kings. For the God of heaven has given you a kingdom, power, strength, and glory; 38 and wherever the children of men dwell, or the beasts of the field and the birds of the heaven, He has given them into your hand, and has made you ruler over them all—you are this head of gold. 39 But after you shall arise another kingdom inferior to yours; then another, a third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over all the earth. 40 And the fourth kingdom shall be as strong as iron, inasmuch as iron breaks in pieces and shatters everything; and like iron that crushes, that kingdom will break in pieces and crush all the others. 41 Whereas you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter's clay and partly of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; yet the strength of the iron shall be in it, just as you saw the iron mixed with ceramic clay. 42 And as the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly fragile. 43 As you saw iron mixed with ceramic clay, they will mingle with the seed of men; but they will not adhere to one another, just as iron does not mix with clay. 44 And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever. 45 Inasmuch as you saw that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold—the great God has made known to the king what will come to pass after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation is sure.” We had noted last time that what is revealed in the dream has to do with the Babylonian kingdom beyond the days when Nebuchadnezzar and his descendants would be its king. And we had seen that given the context in which this dream was given, during the captivity of the children of Israel, and to whom understanding of the dream and its interpretation was given, the Jewish prophet Daniel, the Jewish people remain in view throughout. What is set out in the dream then, has exclusively to do with the Jewish people and the dispensation allotted to them during the times of the Gentiles. And God’s purpose for them is inseparable from a Babylonian kingdom and captivity. a). We will also note that the great image of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream is seen as a complete image, although identified in four parts it remains one image, not four images, and it is standing in Babylon throughout. We will realize then, that the image does not represent four independent kingdoms but one kingdom, a Babylonian kingdom, from beginning to end, seen in four consecutive forms. b). The fourth part of the image, the fourth form of the Babylonian kingdom, pictured as the legs of iron and the feet partly of iron and partly of clay, we had identified last time as the kingdom of the Antichrist. The same kingdom that is seen in Daniel Chapter 9 described through the idiom ‘the people of the prince who is to come’. And in the same way as we have seen in God’s economy, that there is no time gap between Daniel’s sixty nineth and seventieth week in relation to the Jewish people, so there is no time gap seen between the third part of the great image of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream and the fourth part of the image, as all has to do with the same people, Israel, within the same timeframe, four hundred and ninety years. From God’s perspective then, the fourth and final form of the Babylonian kingdom immediately follows the third without interruption. And this is presented again through the four great beasts of Daniel Chapter 7, four great beasts that depict the same Babylonian kingdom as the great image – Da 7:1 In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, Daniel had a dream and visions of his head while on his bed. Then he wrote down the dream, telling the main facts. 2 Daniel spoke, saying, “I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven were stirring up the Great Sea. 3 And four great beasts came up from the sea, each different from the other. 4 The first was like a lion, and had eagle's wings. I watched till its wings were plucked off; and it was lifted up from the earth and made to stand on two feet like a man, and a man's heart was given to it. 5 “And suddenly another beast, a second, like a bear. It was raised up on one side, and had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. And they said thus to it: ‘Arise, devour much flesh!’ 6 “After this I looked, and there was another, like a leopard, which had on its back four wings of a bird. The beast also had four heads, and dominion was given to it. 7 “After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, exceedingly strong. It had huge iron teeth; it was devouring, breaking in pieces, and trampling the residue with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns. Again, we see through Daniel’s ‘dream and visions of his head while on his bed’, four great beasts that came up from the Great Sea one after the other. The Great Sea that the four winds of heaven were stirring up giving rise to the appearance of the beasts, this Babylonian kingdom, which might remind us of – Jon 1:4 But the LORD sent out a great wind on the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship was about to be broken up. The first beast is said to be like a lion and corresponds to the head of fine Gold from the great image, the second like a bear that corresponds to the chest and arms of silver, and the third like a leopard, corresponding to the belly and thighs of bronze. The fourth beast is not likened to an animal but is rather described as being ‘dreadful and terrible, exceedingly strong. It had huge iron teeth.’ A great beast that encompasses the three previous beasts. And this fourth beast is seen devouring and breaking in pieces. And the reference to the iron teeth that devour and break in pieces readily connects with the fourth part of the great image, the legs of iron and feet of part iron and part clay that breaks in pieces and crushes. And just as the fourth part of the great image had ten toes that we had identified as ten kingdoms, so the fourth beast is seen to have ten horns, picturing those same ten kingdoms. c). And in case we are in any doubt about who and what is revealed to us through these four great beasts, we need only turn to the description of the Antichrist, the beast, given through John in Chapter 13 of the Revelation – Re 13:1 Then I stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name. 2 Now the beast which I saw was like a leopard, his feet were like the feet of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. The dragon [Satan] gave him his power, his throne, and great authority. This description of the Antichrist who will rise-up out of the Gentile nations, uses the same imagery to describe him as was used for the first three great beasts, like a leopard, like a bear, and like a lion. And what is revealed by using this same imagery to describe the Antichrist in the Revelation is the unity of one Babylonian kingdom, embodied, and brought to its ultimate form in the man of sin, the fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, exceedingly strong. Which shows us, with respect to the Jewish people, their uninterrupted progress from the Babylonian captivity of Nebuchadnezzar to the captivity of Antichrist’s day, the last king of Babylon. A captivity that both literally and metaphorically has not yet come to an end – Re 17:5 And on her forehead [Israel] a name was written: MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. And the inseparable connection between the great image and the four great beasts and that which was established in the foundation through the account of Nimrod is made plain for us through Micah in his account of the coming of the Antichrist against the Jewish people following the Lord’s return to the earth – Mic 5:5 And this One shall be peace. When the Assyrian comes into our land, And when he treads in our palaces, Then we will raise against him Seven shepherds and eight princely men. 6 They shall waste with the sword the land of Assyria, And the land of Nimrod at its entrances; Thus He shall deliver us from the Assyrian, When he comes into our land And when he treads within our borders. Daniel continues with his account of his visions – Da 7:8 I was considering the horns, and there was another horn, a little one, coming up among them, before whom three of the first horns were plucked out by the roots. And there, in this horn, were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking pompous words. 9 “I watched till thrones were put in place, And the Ancient of Days was seated; His garment was white as snow, And the hair of His head was like pure wool. His throne was a fiery flame, Its wheels a burning fire; 10 A fiery stream issued And came forth from before Him. A thousand thousands ministered to Him; Ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him. The court was seated, And the books were opened. 11 “I watched then because of the sound of the pompous words which the horn was speaking; I watched till the beast was slain, and its body destroyed and given to the burning flame. 12 As for the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away, yet their lives were prolonged for a season and a time. 13 “I was watching in the night visions, And behold, One like the Son of Man, Coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, And they brought Him near before Him. 14 Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, That all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, Which shall not pass away, And His kingdom the one Which shall not be destroyed. The verse dealing with the fourth great beast that comes before Daniel 7:8 says, It was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns. And it is these ten horns that Daniel is considering when he saw ‘another horn, a little one, coming up among them.’ This all has to do with Antichrist’s origins, he is the ‘little horn’, and with his ten-nation confederacy. And this we will deal with in another part of our study. d). We will remember from last time that Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of the great image concluded with the image being struck on the feet by a stone that was cut out without hands that utterly destroyed the image and became a great mountain that filled the whole earth, pointing to the establishment of Christ’s Kingdom in the Seventh Day. e). And this same truth is seen again in the verses from Daniel Chapter 7 which we have just read. In Daniel 7 we see that the fourth beast was slain, and its body destroyed and given to the burning flame. And then in addition to the destruction of the beast’s kingdom we are shown the throne room in heaven where the Ancient of Days is seated. We then see ‘One like the Son of Man coming with the clouds of heaven’. And the One like the Son of Man is brought near to the Ancient of Days, where He is given dominion and glory and a Kingdom. And this scene foreshadows an event that we have read about many times before, recorded in Revelation Chapter 5 – Re 5:6 And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth. 7 Then He came and took the scroll out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne. 8 Now when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. 9 And they sang a new song, saying: “You are worthy to take the scroll, And to open its seals; For You were slain, And have redeemed them [the faithful Christians identified at the Judgment Seat] to God by Your blood Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, 10 And have made them kings and priests to our God; And they shall reign on the earth.” And in that Day when the Mountain of the Lord’s House will be established on the top of the mountains then all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, Which shall not pass away, And His kingdom the one Which shall not be destroyed. Isa 9:6 For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of His government and peace There will be no end, Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, To order it and establish it with judgment and justice From that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. In that Day the scepter of rulership will be returned to God’s adopted firstborn son, Israel, to rule on the earth. The scepter of rulership will be given to God’s adopted firstborn son, the Church of the firstborn, to rule from the heavens and the One who will have taken the diadem from the head of Satan, the only begotten firstborn Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, will rule from His own throne in the New Jerusalem above and the throne of His father David in the Jerusalem below. And the glory of the Lord will return to the earth to fill the Millennial temple – Ezk 43:1 Afterward he brought me to the gate, the gate that faces toward the east. 2 And behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east. His voice was like the sound of many waters; and the earth shone with His glory. 3 It was like the appearance of the vision which I saw—like the vision which I saw when I came to destroy the city. The visions were like the vision which I saw by the River Chebar; and I fell on my face. 4 And the glory of the LORD came into the temple by way of the gate which faces toward the east. 5 The Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court; and behold, the glory of the LORD filled the temple. 6 Then I heard Him speaking to me from the temple, while a man stood beside me. 7 And He said to me, “Son of man, this is the place of My throne and the place of the soles of My feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel forever. No more shall the house of Israel defile My holy name, they nor their kings, by their harlotry or with the carcasses of their kings on their high places. Hab 2:14 For the earth will be filled With the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, As the waters cover the sea. Mic 4:2 Many nations shall come and say, “Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, To the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, And we shall walk in His paths.” For out of Zion the law shall go forth, And the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. We will continue with this next time if we remain and the Lord is willing, and we have prayed.