God gave the prophet Daniel away from the family. peek behind the curtain, so to speak, in the heavenly realm. His glimpse of the spiritual battles that rage behind the scenes of human history destabilized him, and perhaps you as well. Today on Truth for Life, Alastair Begg walks us through Daniel's vision, reminding us of our only comfort in life and death. Let's turn in our Bibles to Daniel chapter 11.
Yeah. What do we know? We know that the exiles have been free to return home. The first year of Darius the Mede was the year when they were set free as a result of a policy of repatriation. They have been allowed to go home.
But the news that has filtered back from Jerusalem is that it isn't really going very well. In fact, they are confronted by opposition. And within relatively short order, the rebuilding project is going to come to a crushing halt. And Daniel is given an insight by God into what's really going on. And in chapter 10, he is taken, as it were, behind the scenes into the unseen realm.
To get a flavor for the fact that there is a battle that rages in the heavenlies. What Paul later on writes about, that we don't wrestle against flesh and blood, but against spiritual wickedness in the heavenly places. And so Daniel in chapter 10 is just absolutely destabilized by the immensity of what he discovers: that behind all of the ebb and flow and the topsy-turvy of life for them in their exile and now in their restoration and in looking to the future, there is this battle in the heavens. Made aware then of the fact that these terrible battles are ensuing. It needs to be understood that that which is taking place unseen in the heavenlies.
Is inevitably being worked out in the scene world of. history on the ground, as it were, as it unfolds. And so, for example, in verse 2, and now I will show you the truth, or I'll tell you what's going on. Behold, three more kings shall arise in Persia, a fourth will be richer than all of them, he'll become strong, stir up all against the kingdom of Greece, and then a mighty king shall arise.
Well, if you want to do your own cross-referencing, you realize that as you read that, it takes you back to chapter 8 and to verse 22, the arrival of a Greek warrior king whose kingdom is split into four parts. He would like to think, perhaps, that when it goes from him, that it will go into his posterity, but it doesn't. And as a result of that, Alexander finds that his experience is a short-lived one, despite his might after all.
So that is a reference to that period. Then when you get into verse five and following, with the king of the south and then the kings of the north and so on. I can take you through this. I can take you through it. We go part by part.
We go through the empires: the Seleucid Empire, the Ptolemaic Empire, the arrival of Antiochus IV, Epiphanes, and so on. All of this is actually here in this 11th chapter. If you go and look for it, the thing that will strike you is it is absolutely amazing that six centuries BC there should be such a detailed prophetic outworking of what was going to take place in the drama of world history.
Now Let's pause for a minute and acknowledge. that those who are opposed to the Bible, Who see the Bible as just a rag bag of material that someone has cobbled together over time. Those kind of individuals operate from the basis that it couldn't possibly be that this is prophecy.
So when you read those commentaries, they'll tell you that this is actually history dressed up to look like prophecy. And so all of this is written now in a period of time where all of chapter 11 has already taken place. and then it is written in such a way as to suggest that it is about to take place. I've always found that kind of thing a lot harder to swallow than the real story. The argument is that no man could possibly know what was about to take place.
Well, of course. Who's saying anything about any man knowing about everything that is to take place? Or you say Daniel knew. Yeah, but how did he know? Because God disclosed it to him.
We're going to come to the story of the arrival of the wise man. And Herod got together his wise men and the folks that read the big books of the Magi. And he inquired of him where this king was to be born. And he said in Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophets. God speaks.
God unfolds. God reveals.
Now When you go through this on your own, as I'm sure you're just keen to get out of here and get started on it. then you will find that the drama that unfolds Changes, if you like, in its descriptive dimension from a kind of top-down view of it. To a view of it, it's a bit like when you're watching soccer on T V, every so often they'll give you the the whole field, and then they will go down to a camera that is right in the middle of the action.
Well, the camera here comes right down into the middle of the action. The perspective is that of the glorious land or the beautiful land that you'll find in the text. And the beautiful land, the people of God, where God has revealed his glory, is squeezed, if you like, between the warfare that comes from the north and from the south. They're in the middle of this great unfolding battle and drama which has ensued throughout history.
Now, you must trust me on this, and then you can prove me wrong later. But if you take, for example, from verse 2 all the way to verse 20. What you actually have here is essentially a period of time of 355 years from 530 to 175 BC. It is the period of time that covers from Cyrus to Antiochus. Check and you'll find out.
When you go beyond that, from 21 to 35, verses 21 to 35, you're dealing with 175 to 163. Only 12 years. And Three hundred and fifty-five years. are given nineteen verses. And twelve years are covered in fifteen verses.
And remember what we've said. that there's no underlining in the Bible. There's no changing the font size or putting circles around it.
So one of the ways you understand emphasis is when the Pace slows. and the extent of the information is compacted. and then conveyed in this kind of way.
Well, what is it that there's a preoccupation on here?
Well, the answer is in the period of Antiochus Epiphanes IV. who was a major monster. Who In endeavoring to destroy other people of God. established his own ideologies. He sought to bring unity to his kingdom.
By imposing this particular ideology, and you can read of it in the text, and the things, the extent to which he went in order to shut things down for the people of God. And as a result of that, Antiochus is if you like the prototype of many leaders who come after him. Um You know, I just bought a book in England a couple of weeks ago on Mussolini. Because I don't know much about Mussolini. I thought I want to find out about Mussolini.
And And I haven't really found out much yet because I haven't had a chance to read much of it. But The little bit that I've read of it, I said this is sounds a lot like Antiochus. But actually Hitler sounds are a lot like Yan Teriokis. Mutsi tongue sounds a lot like anti-ocus. The regime of North Korea.
has got a lot of anti-Oakan developments and perspectives in it.
Now why would this ever be? Because this character here in Daniel 11 is, I suggest to you, a virtual prototype of everything that is ultimately anti-God. He doesn't embody it in its fullness. One of the challenges of the chapter is, is he still the one in focus as you get to the end? Or is he simply giving us an indication of this great monster that will come, the man of lawlessness in 2 Thessalonians, and the Antichrist in its embodiment?
That's one of the challenges of interpretation. But when we think about this What we discover is that the events of the chapter lead us to the end. When there is a description that transcends, if you like, the ability of anybody to make sense of it all. pointing us to the one who will then oppose the people of God. But the fact is that even with all of that, it is only going to be for a time.
And I want just to make a number of observations that I hope will send you back to the text, and in doing so, will help you in your study of the text. These kings of the north, kings of the south, all of this material here. which rages throughout this particular period of time. all have finitude written into them. The affairs of politics are ephemeral.
Ultimately, the affairs of politics are actually futile. When you think about it, all of the endeavors that have gone into raising up great empires, where are they today? The British Empire. What an amazing amount of effort. How could a tiny little bunch of islands in the middle of the North Sea have such control over the world?
How could they control three quarters of the world's oceans? And where are they now? The barely a whimper. in the European community. barely able to keep themselves alive.
In the battle for Autonomy. No, you see, all of these things come to an end. I want you just to notice how this comes again and again. For example, in verse 24. Concerning this one who will come.
Into the richest parts of the province and do all these things. And he'll devise plans against strongholds. But notice the end of verse 24, but only for a time. First 27. Again, as for the two kings and their hearts and all these things, and yet it is only.
for a little while, and it is to no avail, for the end is yet to be at the time appointed. Verse 29, you have the same thing at the time appointed, he will return, but it shall not be this time as it was before. Verse where are we? 35. I think it comes again.
And some of the wise shall stumble so that they may be refined, purified, and made white until the time of the end, for it still awaits the appointed time.
Now, what do we need to get from this? Because we can't just stay here all morning. Let's affirm the fact that we're accepting that this is actually prophecy. Let's affirm the fact that we're dealing here not in the realm of fiction, but in the realm of fact itself. The times and the seasons.
are appointed by God. When Paul addresses the intelligentsia in Athens, he's unashamed in this. They invite him to come and speak to them. They regard him as a bit of a bird brain. That's the word they use.
He's a babbler. He apparently is able to put on a pretty good talk. And so they invite him to their their gathering of the the brightest and the best. And as he comes to meet them, as it were, in the academy, he says, first of all, I can see that you're a very religious group of people. I was walking around and I saw that you have various statues and idols and so on.
Well, what I want to proclaim to you is the answer to the one statue that I noticed. You have a statue there to the unknown God.
Well, what I want to do, he says, I want to tell you about the God that you don't know. And how does it begin? He doesn't start off and say you know god Uh is is uh very nice. And uh he like to give you some very nice things. And uh he It's uh quite charming and he's a Very amenable cat.
No, he doesn't start with any of that drivel. He starts the God who made the world. and everything in it.
So we're not talking about a cosmic principle. We're not talking about an idea. We're talking about God. Father, son. Holy Spirit.
Before there was time, before there was anything. There was God. And as he goes on in that speech in Athens there, which we have simply as a summary, I'm sure, because it's over in about three minutes if you read it. Therefore, I can only assume it went on for longer. What does he say?
He says that this God who made the world established the habitations of men and women. He established where nations were set. He established both the geographical boundaries and he established the periods of history. You see how alien this is. to the idea that somehow or another God It's whatever we want God to be.
No.
So what we have to do is allow Daniel to help us to this end. Namely, to view history, the unfolding drama of history, from the perspective of Scripture. To learn to read our newspaper through the lens of Scripture rather than the other way around. To bring to bear upon the daunting challenges of our day and the reading of history what the Bible tells us is true. Isaiah chapter 40 and verse 12.
Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hands? Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket. And they are accounted as the dust on the scales. He takes up the coastlands like fine dust. Who can do this?
Only God. You see, we don't believe in God. We don't believe in God. See, if you believe in God... then everything else falls into line.
But we don't believe in God. We believe in God insofar as He meets our expectations or as He fulfills our designs or as He accomplishes our purposes. But a God who takes away our children in their infancy. A God who takes us through deep, dark valleys, a God who allows his people to be carried away into degradation for 70 years and when they're returned is faced by the most animosity that they could ever imagine, a God who allows his own son to be crucified on a cross and who raises him on the third day. We don't believe in that God.
No, we will have a God who is a cosmic principle, who's an idea, who's around if you need him. No, this is the God. Who sets up kings and authorities, proud empires, all the people that gathered in Paris this past week, where they are in all of their finery, all of the dignities, all of the cars, all of the limousines, all of everything, as they all sat there. while the world is going crazy underneath them. The pomposity of it all.
Boy, I would love to have given a speech there. I would like just a little time, just an opportunity. And this is what I would read to them: I said, listen. He sits above the circle of the earth. and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers.
He stretches out the heavens like a curtain and he spreads them like a tent to dwell in. He brings princes to nothing and he makes the rulers of the earth as emptiness.
Well, that's not very nice. You'll never get invited back if you do that once. I know that, but just once would be enough. I'd like the chance to make it clear that God is not a passive bystander in the world that He has made. He controls the details of human history, He accomplishes His eternal purposes, and He definitely will.
And it is to the people of God that he gives this vision, both in terms of the unseen world of the heavenlies, which modern man says is a joke, and yet goes to see the spooky lady in the center of Sugar and Falls, and yet goes on the internet and tries to find out about his future, and says bizarre things when he goes to the funeral of his friends, but he doesn't believe that there is actually kingdoms in conflict, that there is a world beyond. Yes, he does. Yes, he does. But it is a disaster to assume that this God who's engaged in that realm. would come and step down in this way.
Think about it. I used to sing it in Scotland as a boy. I'm so glad of my. The longer I live, The more I thank God for the providence of God in my life, and it's why I'm so exercised about what we're doing with our children. And not only in buildings, but in every dimension.
You cannot quantify the benefit. Of instilling in their young hearts and minds these truths. How can I pull stuff back the way I do? Because of what I enjoyed when I was three. Kingdoms may rise and kingdoms may fall.
Nations refuse to heed God's call, but the word of the Lord endures forevermore. Put your trust in Jesus. I'm quoting now. Put your trust in Jesus. He will be your friend.
He will guide and keep you till your journey's end. Kingdoms may rise, kingdoms may fall, nations refuse to heed God's call, but the word of the Lord endures forevermore.
Now you gotta understand. This is 1957, 1958. We on the school bus are still singing, Rule Britannia, Britannia, rule the waves. Britons never, never, never shall be slaves. Our little voices on the bus singing it like crazy.
We rule the world, we're the champions of the world. We'll come one, come all. Then we go to Sunday school. Kingdoms will rise. Kingdoms will fall.
Put your trust in Jesus. I get it. Do you get it? Let me end where I began. What is your only comfort?
in life And then death. What do you have? is the answer to the big question. The big question, one, where did I come from? Two.
What am I? Three. Where am I going? If your, if I may say so kindly to you, if your view of the world does not give you a sufficient answer to those questions, you need a new view of the world. And I've got it right here for you.
In Daniel 11. God. It's on That's wrong. and comes from his throne. To a manger.
And from a manger to a cross and to a borrowed tomb. and to the throne. And from the throne, To those who, in answer to the question, what is my only comfort in life and in death? are able to say my only comfort is that I am not my own. but belong body and soul.
in life and death. to my Saviour. Jesus Christ, I wonder can you say that today? I wonder will you consider what it might mean. for you to bow down.
and acknowledge God as God. That is Alastair Begg reminding us of the importance of viewing everything from the Bible's perspective. You're listening to Truth for Life. Alastair will return in just a moment. We often share feedback from our listeners.
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Now here's Alastair to close with prayer. Father, thank you. That in the midst of all of this, we might. Have our hearts and minds attuned afresh. To You, the living God.
We think big thoughts of ourselves and small thoughts of you, and we wonder why our lives are upside down. We fill our lives with every kind of substitute. Even though you made us for yourself and our hearts are restless till they rest in you. We go down just about every other pathway.
Some of us are here this morning and we don't have a decent answer to the question. We may be unbelieving in relationship to Daniel 11. It just seems totally nuts, far-fetched craziness. Lord, open our eyes. And uh Grant that we might find in Jesus.
Paul. that we long for. For we pray humbly in his name. Amen. We are glad you've joined us today.
You know, throughout history, we've seen many evil leaders rise and fall.
So who is the ultimate abomination of desolation that Daniel describes, and how will we recognize him? We'll find out tomorrow. The Bible teaching of Alastair Begg is furnished by Truth for Life. Where the Learning is for Living.
