Daniel Chapter 11

Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and I will be a lamp. A light unto my path. Welcome to the Wednesday in the Word podcast, equipping our leaders of this great weekly Bible study held at Dario, our wonderful, gracious host. all across North Carolina. This is to equip, encourage, and guide you as you prepare to teach the word and guide the discussion.

at each location each week. And we continue our journey now through the book of Daniel. Here we are with today's special guest. Dr. Sam Warren.

The devil is in the details. Have you ever said that before? I know you've heard that phrase. When you say it tongue-in-cheek, But as we approach the darkest day in the world, Halloween, where everyone Really, not even unknowingly, celebrates the devil. They estimate that.

As much as $14 billion could be spent in America on Halloween costumes. decorations and candy. Dr. Sam Horn Daniel chapter 11 actually tells us the opposite. God Is in the details.

He's controlling things. He rules. He reigns. He's got the plan, right? Dr.

Horne, our culture is wrong, and the whole Halloween premise is flipped on its head. Of course, that's why we celebrate Reformation Day on the 31st of October. But it's real important, though, Dr. Horne, to have that. that kind of foundation That underlying truth as we approach such a detailed chapter that God puts in His Word, Daniel 11, a chapter that.

I originally wanted to skip or just lump in with chapter 10, but you. Brother, have mentored me again and discipled me in the right direction. I just think it's a great chapter. And it intersects. divine sovereignty With the mystery that shows up in our lives all the time.

We never know everything that's going on. and when we think about the fact that we just almost got it figured out stuff just blows up. And God is always doing 10,000 things. and we can only see one or two of them.

So a chapter like this. is so essential. to stability in the midst of ministry. when there isn't theological clarity. Yeah.

And so we're going to jump right in. And of course, I want you to do Pastor Horn a. Kind of a review of how we got to 11. We went through some dark spiritual warfare. In chapter 10, where God kind of opens up the Curtain of what's really happening, the battle's going on.

We're just, Daniel's just praying intensely at the beginning for three weeks, you know, fasting and mourning. And we see this galactic battle in chapter 10 of spiritual darkness. Of course, chapter 9 is one of the most profound prayers in the whole Bible, which you did a great job. helping us, you know, walking us through that in these profound 70 weeks of prophecy. Chapter 10, Warfare.

Get us, how did we end up in 11 all of a sudden out of nowhere? We have, how does it fit in with all of Daniel? Because there's a lot of prophecy in a lot of these different chapters. 11 is 45 verses, Dr. Horne.

Tell us its place in this important book.

Well, so one thing I think all of us wrestle with is it seems like it's very repetitive.

So, you already know what's going on from chapter eight. Remember, we had the big vision in chapter seven that's sort of like. This is the game plan. This is what's going on. This is what's going to happen.

This is the Son of Man standing before the ancient days. You got this arrogant horn standing up, and then he's smacked down by the son of man. and this kingdom that's promised. And um And after that, Daniel is confused. And years pass and he gets another vision.

In chapter eight. And chapter eight is not what he anticipated. Chapter 8 is the historical. Uh picture of what is going to happen. to God's people.

Who have to live in the hostile nation of the world around them.

So. You're going to read about Persia. You're going to read about Greece. You're going to be about Rome. And all of those nations are hostile to God's people, which is totally opposite from what Daniel was expecting.

I was reading Jeremiah. Seven years pass. We're supposed to go back, rebuild our city, rebuild our temple. You're gonna rebuild our nation. We're gonna rule the nations.

And now I got this vision. that's gonna go on for the next couple of hundred years. And it's not what I expected.

So chapter nine, he gets on his face and he prays for understanding. And God sends an angel. And at the end of chapter nine, he gets this massive understanding. about the messianic mission. That this is not about Daniel.

This is not about Nebuchadnezzar. This is not about Cyrus. This is not about the Greece kingdom that's coming or the Romans. This is about Messiah. and the amazing six-part mission God has called them to do.

In chapter 10, he is so overwhelmed as he thinks about all of this. He still can't figure out. Why this messianic mission? is so confusing. and why there is so much trouble yet ahead.

for his nation. And so in chapter 10, he gets this vision. and this clarification about the war behind the war. In other words, all of these wars that are happening in chapter eight. our little playground skirmishes.

Compared to the massive war that's going on in the realm that he can't see with his human eyes. Where God and his forces are being accosted. and attacked by the hostile evil forces of Satan and his demonic angel armies. And those That battle between the forces of God and the forces of Satan. is affecting what is happening.

on the nation in the nations uh on the earth particularly toward their position toward Israel.

So that's where we left it. in chapter 10. that there is a massive spiritual warfare. that is driving all of this conflict on earth. And you get to chapter 11, and what you discover.

in chapter 11 is that The author is going to quickly move you. through the earthly conflicts till you get to two parts of the conflict. And he's going to show you these parts. Because this is what the demonic forces are up to this is where it's all going So you have two verses in chapter 11. that talk about the Persian Empire.

You have another two verses that talk about the Greek empire. I mean, hundreds of years. Of human history are summed up in about four verses in chapter 11. But when you get to chapter 11, verse 5. And you start going all the way down through that passage.

you start reading about a conflict between two families of kings. The kings of the north. and the kings of the south. And these two families of kings are going to go at it for about 150 years. And it's going to climax.

With one of the kings from one of the families, the family of the kings of the north. who is going to be revealed to be that arrogant. King who is going to do great damage. out of his hatred to God and his hatred to God's people. And we met that king back in chapter eight.

His name is Antiochus Epiphanes IV. but we're going to get a lot more information about him. And so that information is going to go all the way through verse 35. And what we're going to discover about him is that he is going to do everything he can to destroy. the worship of God to defile.

The temple of God. to defame the name of God. and and really to kill And do as much damage to the people of God as he can. And he almost succeeds. But in verse 33, there are wise people.

in the nation. who are gonna make many people under that persecution understand. And even though some of them are going to stumble because of the fierceness of the persecution. They will receive help. And many will join.

them and many will actually abandon them. Uh there there will be in that period of time. Wise men like Daniel. who are gonna stand up in the middle of all of that persecution and help the people of God stand, even though some of them will stumble initially. And that's where it all ends.

And then in verse 36, and going through the end of the chapter. we take a huge leap forward in time. to a period of time that is still future for us. Where we meet the final man of sin, the final arrogant ruler, the one that all the other arrogant rulers point to. They're all little prototypes.

of this Final arrogant ruler. And he's going to come right into the very nation of God, right up against the city of God. He's going to pitch his tent before the temple of God, and God is going to destroy him. Once and for all.

Now, that's sort of the overview historically of how we got here.

So we have a great uh a great A review of where we've come from. And Dr. Horne, you jumped right into the preview, and I'm glad you did because it's really hard to disconnect the two because it's all like a moving train of prophecy. In this 45 verses of Daniel 11. I'm Stu Eberson, host of this Wednesday in the Word podcast.

We have a bunch of men that get together on Wednesdays at this wonderful. Restaurant chain called Dario all across North Carolina, and a lot of women get together on Thursday mornings, and this is to help them get ready. Dr. Horn is a pastor, he's a radio host, a gifted man of God. He's taught at all different levels, and he's really blessing us with his teaching of Daniel.

Dr. Horn. The chapter opens up. And I just don't want people to be. Confused, you know, timeline.

This book of Daniel, you know, the all twelve chapters.

Now it's not necessarily in a sequential order, although there are, you know, it does progress, but.

Some of these things go back into the Babylonian Empire, go back into the Persian Empire. You've got chapter 10, which starts with in the third year of Cyrus, king of Persia. Chapter 11 opens with also in the first year of Darius the Mede, Daniel says, so tell us where we are in the chronology of chapter of 11. Where does it fit in the chapter? That's a good point.

That's a great point.

So I have a view that is the minority view.

So I'm going to admit that right up front.

So the big question is. Who who is the me? In verse one of chapter 11. As for me, In the first year of Darius the Mede, I stood up to confirm and strengthen him. And now I will show you the truth.

That doesn't seem to be Daniel. Whoever that is, is the one talking to Daniel.

So When when this person is is talking in verse Uh 11. I think what he's doing is he's continuing the conversation that he had in chapter 10.

So Daniel gets a vision in chapter 10 in the third year of Cyrus. And the person talking to him. By the time we get to the end of the chapter, is an angel, probably Gabriel. who is explaining to him this incredible war. And as he explains, just for a minute, take the chapter markings out.

Don't see chapter 11 there. Just pretend the narrative, the conversation keeps rolling. There are no chapter markings. And so here's this person and he is saying. I'm going to tell you what's inscribed in the book of truth.

There is no one who contends by my side against these, and those are the enemy angels, except Michael, your prince. That's where we left it. As for me, Gabriel. In the first year of Darius the Mede, I stood up to confirm and strengthen him. But now, in three years later, I will show you the truth.

So I think what's happening here is Gabriel is continuing the vision in chapter 10. And in verse 11, he's making a comment to Daniel that when Cyrus first came to the throne, the reason he came to the throne is that Gabriel helped strengthen him. and confirmed him. But now three years later, I want.

Now we're in the vision that we were in. Behold, three more kings will rise in Persia. And a fourth will be far richer than all of them.

So he is going to give you the history of Persia. In verses one and two.

So I actually think. chapter 11 is a continuation of the vision daniel got in the third year of cyrus Even though Gabriel enters the picture. Three years earlier when Cyrus comes to the throne. Does that make sense? It makes sense and also another word that these aren't hills to die on.

Right. Good, God-fearing men will tell you that just like in chapter 10. You know, I read uh one of my favorite guys on Prophecy. And he was convinced that that first heavenly man wasn't Jesus.

Well, then I read Another man who's been another mentor in my life who's gone on to heaven. who's convinced it was Jesus. But may have been a little different person than the one that touched him on the shoulder. And so we don't want to die on that hill. We just know that.

That there's a supernatural force behind this, that God's angels are active, they're messengers, they're battling evil, they're encouraging, blessing, strengthening. They actually gave strength to Daniel. I love that. And it's, you know, toward the end of chapter 10, where he says, Fear not, man. Greatly beloved, peace be to you.

Be strong, yes, be strong.

So when We see that in Dr. Horne, to your point. This chapter 11 continues chapter 10.

Now It's fascinating because some believe, and others who will not die on, that Darius and Cyrus are the same people.

So either they're the same person by a different name, different title. Referenced here. Or You know, perhaps Darius is the. Cyrus appointed leader of Babylon. Whereas, you know, Cyrus is actually in Persia ruling there.

But that's another, I don't want to quibble, but that's another hill not to die on. But I just wanted to point that out because you may want to speak to that as well. And as we get into this, the king's heart is in the hand of the Lord, right, Dr. Horn?

So God is over these guys, and there's great favor of God. Through And on Cyrus, we read about that in other chapters, you know, in Jeremiah and other places where God actually used Cyrus. I believe Isaiah mentioned him too. Yeah, Isaiah 46, 8 through 11. Yeah.

So to give favor to his people and to send them back to the land. Uh which is really Uh was a was a very big encouragement. To Daniel. And some of that happened during his lifetime, the 70 years that completed. But what we're looking at in 11.

All these wars between the kings of the north, the kings of the south. All these wars, you know, Egypt is involved, embroiled with whoever the Greek southern king is. Yes, sir. And so, and then there's these alliances between Egypt and them to fight against the northern king who comes down. And then.

All of these things were future and prophetic to Daniel and He had no idea. Of what was going to happen. He's just. hearing the prophecy and recording it, And it's just great detail. We're looking back on all of this, of course, all the way, as you said.

through verse 35. Yeah. We're looking forward with Daniel to. The Antichrist Who we see a type of him in Antiochus Epiphanes IV, but we're looking forward to the actual Antichrist coming one day in Armageddon and the battle and all that. Dr.

Horne. Fascinating part of chapter 11. that is we I don't want to overlook this So many Secular critics, skeptics, Uh people that attack the Bible. were so mad at the painstaking, accurate detail of God in these verses, that they wanted to try to redate Daniel. They wanted to say, well, this was pinned later because none of this stuff could have how could anyone be so brilliant as to put this stuff so accurately Centuries in advance.

Speak to that and how. Beautiful and powerful and mighty, our God is. To record this, his word, every word of God is true.

Well, I think that's a really important point. And um When I'm looking at my Bible right now, chapter 11. And at verse 36. I have a line drawn across the page that half of the page with that. where that verse is.

And the line is there to remind me. that everything from chapter 11 verse 1 all the way through verse 35. has happened. It's history for me and for you and for all of our listeners. But for Daniel it was all prophecy.

For us, it's history. And then in verse 36. going all the way through Chapter 12. Uh verse Uh one That's all future for us.

So we're when we get to verse 36. We're standing right next to Daniel and it's all future. But everything from one to 35, we can put names and dates and places and people and armies and battles. And so it's all history.

So what's been helpful to me is to take this chapter. and look at it from four perspectives. Perspective number one is divine mystery. This is, Daniel had no way of figuring this out. God had to reveal it to him.

So there is divine revelation, mystery. That is being revealed to him. The word there is apocalypse, apocalypsis. We have that same idea in the book of Revelation. We are seeing things revealed to us.

The book of Revelation is for us. what the what this part of Daniel was for Daniel. And so we're getting a pattern. In terms of how a faithful servant of God who didn't understand divine mystery. Received it.

and what he did with it, because that helps us to to know what to do with the book of Revelation. Because we stand in Revelation 1. Where Daniel stood in Daniel chapter 7, verse 1 and following. It was all future to him, and it's all future to us. But a lot of what Daniel saw was already history to us.

So that's the second point. There's divine mystery. And it is lived out in human history. And because we stand. Where we stand in the unfolding drama of God's divine plan, there is theological clarity we have that Daniel didn't have.

So that's my third perspective: there's divine mystery, human history, and theological clarity. And when we put all of those in their proper places, we stop fighting over charts. We stop fighting over who we think the Antichrist is or isn't. We stop fighting about all of the minor points or the secondary issues. And we rise up like God told Daniel to do and do faithful ministry.

So those are my four big ideas when I come to this passage. divine mystery, human history, theological clarity. and faithful ministry. And I think we can unpack each one of those. Yeah, that's good.

And we won't go too deep on each, but that's really helpful. And I can see those applying to a lot of other. Other sections of scripture, really, because we're dealing with God's revelation. And God's timing, and we're interacting with it. And of course, there's a goal of ultimately magnifying Jesus and being ready for His return.

Dr. Horn. This chapter has 45 verses. Will you give our teachers, our leaders. A quick a simple way to break these verses down.

Because they're getting ready to teach a whole chunk of scripture. I couldn't even fit all the questions, the verses on the discussion guy. We do a handout every week, and by the way. We're going to make Each week Of Daniel each week of handouts with discussion. There's the verses at the top, which we read together out loud, which is kind of cool.

And then there's about five questions. The first one has to do with context, and the last one is testimony time, more of an application question. But all those questions connect back to the text. And I'll make those available. I believe the website is wedintheword.com.

where you can get these podcasts and get all these resources. But Dr. Horn, 45 verses. quickly break them down for us so our teachers can just go. Can stay, again, in the text.

We're not gonna go out there. We're not gonna wander around too far, folks. It's God's word that's so powerful. But it's also pretty daunting to look at all these verses. And, you know, some of us, some folks don't even, their study time isn't even 45 minutes, you know, so not even a minute of verse.

So take it, take us through 45 verses quickly. All right, so. Uh Chapter 2 11 versus 1. Uh through uh 35 are future historical events That's that's that's the first thing i would i would kind of say that these are future historical events that involve Nations raging against God and against his anointed one. Remember how Psalm 2 starts?

Why do the heathen rage? Why do the nations rage? Why are they resisting God?

Well, here are. 35 verses Where the nations of the world In Daniel's day and beyond, they are doing exactly what Psalm 2 says. They are raging against God. And they are raging against his anointed, and they are taking it out on Israel. And so that's sort of the second thing you see.

There's these historical events. And the impact, the perspective that we read. Isn't just to get us curious about the history of Persia or the history of Greece. It's about the impact. that all of this history will have.

On the glorious land. The glorious land is Israel. It shows up in verse 16, it shows up in verse 41, and it shows up again in verse 45.

So the one constant. All the way through, all of these nations, these powerful, arrogant nations that rage against God and rage against his anointed and try to take it out on the glorious land, Israel, is this. Israel. Is is still there. You get all the way to the end.

Israel is still there. Persia does its best to crush them. Israel is still there. Greece does its best. Israel is still there.

The kingdoms of the north and the south, Israel still there. This arrogant king, Israel is still there. The final Antichrist in the Empire of Rome. Israel is still there. This nation is going to experience every promise God ever made to them.

And here is the history in which that glorious land obtains those promises. Verses 36 through 45. Give to us a display of the fullness of evil. We get little tastes of it in Nebuchadnezzar. We see his arrogance against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

We get even a better view of it in Belshazzar, in chapter five. We see it in the enemies of Daniel who end up causing him to be cast into the den of lions. But it gets worse. It gets much worse. It gets worse in the kingdom of Persia.

It gets worse in the kingdom of Greece. It gets even worse. in the Roman kingdom. And so you have the fullness of evil, just like the Bible teaches. And that evil is going to come against us.

So as I sit here and you sit here. And we're doing this podcast together. There is evil that is at work. Trying to undo all of the good that God wants to use this podcast to accomplish in his people's lives.

So we haven't escaped the evil. But By the time we get to the end of chapter 12, We read about the establishment of God's kingdom on earth. And so that's really where this is all. I'll head it.

So when I think about How to look at this passage. The first thing I want to do is go to Divine Mystery. and how it intersects with human history. And that's what you find in the first 35 verses. And without getting too deep into the weeds.

Basically Beginning in verse five and going all the way. to verse 20. You have 150 years of human history. And it is a series of wars, a series of battle. Between The Kings of the North.

The family of kings in the north and the family of kings in the south. And and the the there In verses 5 through 12, the kings of the south win. And in verses 13 through 20, the kings of the north went.

So there is no decisive winner But what you do see is that these battles are all predicted and and the details are so precise like you said That historians looking back at this are going, there's no way a guy living in the fifth century could have ever known with this level of specificity. these battles and how they unfolded so this had to be written in the first century after Christ.

So we can trust. Divine mystery. As it unfolds in human history, because it's being architected by the God who knows the future, He knows the future of Israel. He knows the future of the nations. And by the way, he knows my future.

And he knows your future. And that's a great comfort to everybody sitting and studying this passage together because you know what? I may not have a clue who the Antiochuses were. When you say the Seleucid Empire, I'm going, huh? Who's that?

I don't have a clue and I really don't care who all the Tolmies are. I can't even spell them or pronounce them. I just want to know what's going to happen to me. As I go through all of the turmoil. That is happening around me.

And I see what's going on in Russia. I see what's going on in Ukraine. I saw what happened in our own country three weeks ago when a man standing up for truth was assassinated. I see all the political tension going on in the land of the free and the home of the brave. And I don't know what to do with it.

And frankly, when I go home and go to bed at night. I know what my preacher said. And I know what I'm supposed to believe from all the Sunday school lessons and vacation Bible schools I had as a kid. But somehow my heart... and my soul are anxious.

Because I see a future that is very uncertain. I don't know how I'm going to make it with the healthcare premiums going up. I don't have a clue what's going to happen when I retire because everything I'm hearing, there isn't going to be Social Security when I retire in the next 25 years. I don't know what's going to happen to the world my kids are going to inherit. And so we live in a pile of anxiety.

And that's exactly where Daniel was in chapter 10. And so we have all of this history. This prophecy that is history. to assure us. That God who knew the future in Daniel's day.

Knows the future in our day. And the God who took care of Daniel. and the God who took care of Israel. is the God who's going to take care of us. He rules.

The kingdoms of the world and his kingdom. That's us. His kingdom matters more.

So that's what the first 35 verses do for me. That's excellent. And then you get.

Now, Dr. Horne, do you have, do you believe that 20 verse 21? tucked in there. Is a bit of an introduction to this Antiochus, Epiphanes the Fourth. It says, In his place shall arise a vile person.

To whom they will not give the honor of royalty, but he shall come in peaceably and seize the kingdom by intrigue. Is this kind of a. A taste of what, and then you know, sets up the next verses that talk about him a little bit. Yeah. Okay.

So, so. All of a sudden, now we slow down.

So we've had We've had all the kingdoms. Beginning in verse 1, all the way up to verse 19, summarized in 19 verses. And then we're going to take verse 20 through verse. 35.

So we're going to take 15 verses, almost the same amount of material, and devote them to one arrogant king. And the damage he's going to do and the deceit. He's going to make and the trouble he's going to cause, not just for Israel, but for all of the other nations. He is deceive Egypt. He's going to get in trouble with Rome.

When you start reading about this guy in verse 30. We start reading about ships of Ketim, which is that Old Testament word Ketim is a word for Rome. Rome is on the rise. And this arrogant king is going to actually poke his finger in Rome's eye, and they're going to send warships. And they're going to send uh A leader, and he's going to come and he's going to put Antiochus in his place.

And that's historical. I mean, we know. The name of that Roman legionnaire. We know the legion that came. We know where this took place.

And uh and He, this arrogant king is going to look at all of that in verse 30 and he will be afraid. and he will with withdraw. He's not going to go after Egypt anymore. He's going to turn back and be enraged. And he is going to stop on his way home.

in this little country called Israel. And he is going to take action against the Holy Covenant. And he is going to unleash. Hell on earth. For those people.

Yeah, this gave rise. This gave rise to the Maccabean revolt. That's right. This is what happened. And we talked about this some in chapter 8, you know, this whole intertestamental period, which is very well documented in the book of Maccabees and 2 Maccabees.

They're not in scripture because they're not scripture, but they are. Have some great history in them that's very accurate, that's confirmed by other historians, non-biblical historians like Josephus. And some very credible accounts, you know, like the account of this Roman legionnaire who who uh when Antiochus Epiphany is the fourth. Has got to make his decision. Is he going to fight the Romans and the Egyptians, or is he going to get out of there?

And while he's indecisive, the Roman leader draws a circle around him. You mentioned this in your sermon, which I referenced, which I give in the notes. Dr. Horn, he draws a circle around him right there, it's like a chalk or like a sand. And says, you've got to decide, before you leave this little circle I drew around your feet, you're going to decide if you're going to fight us or if you're going to leave.

And of course, he left, and in all that anger and all that frustration, he just. Like you said, unhurled on the Jews, which is fascinating. You have the north, the south. The Jews are the whipping, they're like the whipping boy. They're the ones that are getting beat up.

They're the ones that these guys are on their way to and from their big escapades and their big conquest, and they stop and they bully the Jews. And that's been the case of the Jewish people. You know, today, think about it. Israel is a little speck, it's a tiny little postage stamp. Of, you know, what, 10 or 12 million people surrounded by 900 million people who.

honestly hate each other, but they They're bound together by their hatred of the Jews. And for some reason, they want that land. They want that land right there, that little gateway. Oh, because it was, yeah, that gate, that land was the gateway.

So. If you lived in the north before you had planes and the ability to fly, et cetera. you you had to march to wherever you were going to fight. And the terrain around Israel is such. that the only way for an army from the north to get through the south It's to go down a pathway called the Way of the Sea.

Which is a wide sort of path, a road that goes right, it hugs the Mediterranean coast. And it goes right through Israel. It's the only way to get a large army from the north down to the south to fight Egypt. It's the only way to get an army from the south up to the north.

So everybody from the north that was coming to do warfare against Egypt, the world power of the day, had to come through Israel. That's why Assyria came through, and Babylon came through. And now the Syrians come through. And when you got beat up. In Egypt, you went home stopping, and one of the good stopping places was Israel.

So Israel was. Like this political Yeah. that everybody wanted to control because whoever controlled Israel controlled the trade routes and the military routes.

Well, and we won't dwell on it, but go back and listen to the podcast in chapter 8 as we talked about what Antiochus Epiphanes IV did. He at one time slaughtered 80,000 Jews. He enslaved another 40,000. He was Hell-bent, literally driven by hell by the demons of hell to to Expunge any vestige of worship of Yahweh out of the temple, out of the country. He coined coins.

He minted coins with his image on it. He was his own name, Antiochus Epiphanes, Epiphany, like an image of God, it literally means. He wanted it to be worshipped, and he didn't want the true God worshiped. And it's the perfect type of Antichrist who is to come. Who we will see, and we see this Antichrist, by the way, Dr.

Horn really alluded to in these final verses. Speak to that real quick, and we do got to wrap up. Yeah, so it's interesting in verse Yeah. And verse 33, rather, in the middle of Antiochus epiphanies. This arrogant ruler at the end of the Third Kingdom Stands up and he does all of this wickedness, slaughters all these people.

There are wise people. in the midst of all of this and they will make many understand Daniel when this time comes There will be people like you. Who I will raise up in that day, and they will make many understand. You know what's interesting? In the Maccabean correspondence that we still have.

These wise people used Daniel's writings. to do exactly what we're reading about in verse 33. They used. The writings of Daniel to strengthen people who were stumbling by the sword and flame and captivity and plunder. They were being strengthened by Daniel.

That's an amazing little nugget. I want to make sure. We don't miss. But when we get to verse 35. Here's what we read.

We read at the very end until the time of the end. for it still waits the appointed time.

So the writer is like stopping, you know, the angel is stopping the narrative and saying, Daniel. As bad as this is, it's not the end. It's not the appointed end time. And then you come to verse 36. In the ESV, here's how verse 36 starts.

And the king shall do as he wills. But if you go back to the Hebrew, the word that the ESV translates and is really the word then. At the appointed time, at the end, then the king will do as he wills. In other words, Daniel As bad as it is, it's not the end. When the end comes, then the king will stand up.

And do as he wills, there's gonna be an even more arrogant king. And we find out that this arrogant king that shows up in verse 35. is is in the fourth kingdom, the kingdom of Rome. And all of a sudden, we start getting all kinds of little light bulbs going on. He will speak astonishing things.

He will prosper until the indignation is complete. He will not pay attention to the God of his fathers. Antiochus, Epiphanes, paid a lot of attention to the God of his fathers. He made the temple of Israel a temple of Zeus.

So this man will not pay any attention to the God of his fathers. He will not pay any attention to any God, for he will magnify himself above all. He will honor the god of war. A God whom his fathers did not know, he will honor with gold and silver. and precious stones and costly gifts.

That's talking about himself. Those who acknowledge him, he will load with honor. He will make them rulers over many and will divide the land for a price. Antigus Epiphanes never did any of this. And then at the end, the king of the south will attack him.

And the king of the north, this arrogant king, will rush on him like a whirlwind, chariots and horsemen and ships. And he will come into the glorious land. In other words, when he goes down to Egypt to put Egypt down for the last time, he's got to come through the glorious land. and tens of thousands Will fall. In other words, there's going to be a massive battle.

That's the battle of Armageddon. that we're reading about in the book of Revelation. Um Verse 44, news from the east and the north will alarm him. and he will go out with a great fury to destroy and devote many to destruction. and he will pitch his palatial tents.

Between the sea and the holy mountain. In other words, He's going to come to Jerusalem. He's going to put his palatial tent right in front of the temple. And then here's the word. And he will come to his end.

with no one to help him. And all of a sudden. We start realizing, okay. We are looking at the end times. That is future for us, just like it was future for Daniel.

And we read about this man of sin. He does whatever he wants. He's the man of sin in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. verses one through 10. He's the beast of Revelation 13 and Revelation 19.

He's the final Antichrist. that we read about in Matthew, I'm sorry, in 2 Thessalonians 2. And so what we find out. Is that he is going to be Very wicked. He is going to bring great damage on the earth.

But all of that. Is going to be limited by God, and He will come. to a violent end with no one to help him. And you can read about that end in Revelation 19. Verse 20.

That's something. That's a lot. That's 45 verses of Daniel chapter 11. A lot of detail. No, the devil is not in the details.

God is in the details. The Lord is in the details. The Lord is in control. Romans 8:28 applies here. All things work together for the good.

to them that love God, to them who are called according To his purposes. I encourage all our leaders to bring it back to that. Talk about. Details in your life that God choreographed. Dr.

Horn, a humorous example, I was in Colorado Springs last week. And I was confused. I was conflicted about whether or not to call a close friend of mine who's in Colorado Springs, who I know he'd be mad at me. If he saw my wife, pictures of me and my wife posted there later on, he said, why didn't you call me? But I didn't have time.

I was at a busy conference. And so I just I said I'm just gonna call him maybe I'll get his voicemail. I said, Lord, you got to work this out. You got to work out the details. I didn't even expect to be here.

I'm out here.

So I pick up, I'm walking away from where my wife was down this little trail. I call this friend. He answers. I said, Hey, hey, Brent. I said, Hey, where are you?

He said. And he said Basically The name of the resort I was at He said, I'm right here and I'm at this place, the resort. I said, You're kidding. I turn around. Dr.

Horne walked up these little steps and he's right there, right in front of me. Wow. This is a guy who I live. You know, 2,000 miles away from, I never see. And God wanted me to pray for him.

God wanted us to connect. And it wasn't in. It wasn't, it had to have been God, right? And so that's just a little, you know, so you know, the, hey, God. Our pursuit of God is not a trivial pursuit, and God's pursuit of us is not a trivial pursuit.

Nothing's trivial. God cares about the details, He cares about Matthew 6, right? Even the clothing we wear, the food that we eat. He feeds the birds of the air. He clothes the trees and the animals so much more.

He loves his children, and he gives us these details in Daniel 11. to really prepare us. For his great return. But also in these verses, we see a depravity and evil. That we can talk about in our groups.

Hey, how do we see evil rulers today? How do we see this manifest today? How do we see warring factions in our world today, just like we saw in Daniel 11?

So there's a lot of things you can incorporate. as you talk with your groups, as you work through the text, but ultimately, Dr. Horn. Close us out of here with a final word about God being in control. And kind of give us a give us a little hope.

And then give us a closing prayer as we wrap up this study of Daniel 11.

Well, all theology is absolutely useless if it doesn't change the way we live. Theology wasn't given just to inform us. or to satisfy our curiosity, he was given to change us. And so here are four things I ask God to do. in my life As I think about a chapter like this in the Bible, Lord, help me to believe in your truthfulness.

No matter how hard it gets. or how long it takes or how dark it is. Lord, help me to believe. in your truthfulness remember the disciples Lord, I believe, help my unbelief. Lord, help me to believe in your truthfulness.

Secondly, help me to trust in your faithfulness. Lord, it's so hard to do that. You know, here's Daniel. And he's lived for 80 something years. Almost 60 of those years in Babylon, he's seen God preserve his people.

He's seen God fulfill his promises, and yet he's still struggling. It doesn't matter how old you are or how long you've been serving God. or how much scripture you know or what ministries you've done. There are going to come times in your life when you are going to have to come to a place where you're going to have to trust. in God's faithfulness.

in a moment when everything inside you is doubting it. And then the third thing is rest in God's sovereignty. When the nations rage. When the world crumbles, when evil seems to win. When suffering seems to never end.

rest in God's sovereignty. God rules. He knows. And he is ordaining. and working out a plan.

So believe in God's truthfulness. Trust in God's faithfulness. Rest in God's sovereignty. And then Work while you wait. for God's promise to be fulfilled.

despite opposition. despite apparent futility. despite weakness and arrogance work while you wait. I think a lot of times we want to hunker down. and get inside our church building.

and peek out the window. and see if we can see the who might be the Antichrist. Or who might be doing this or that, or what dispensational scheme we're going to follow, and who's right and who's wrong. And we want to hunker down. inside our church building.

And study our prophet, our prophetic charts. And God says, That isn't where I called you to be right now. While you're waiting for me, you need to get out there and you need to work for the gospel. You need to work for the glory of my name. You need to work.

to invite people to come out of the kingdom of darkness and into the kingdom of the sun That you're already a part of, and that one day is going to be established.

So, believe in God's truthfulness, trust in God's faithfulness, rest in God's sovereignty. and work while you wait. For God's kingdom to come. That's my. encouragement to my soul.

And that's my encouragement to all of us. Let me pray. And then we can. We can just trust God with what he's going to do in the Bible study. Lord, thank you that you are.

The God of the future. And as we live between divine mystery. and human history. Lord, we trust you. We thank you.

that you have spoken about the future. to strengthen our faith in the present. Lord, when we see how you perfectly fulfill prophecy. About these ancient empires. Lord, we're helped.

to trust you completely with our own future. and the world in which we live.

So Lord, give us the faith. of those who know their God. Help us to stand firm and take action. even when circumstances overwhelm us and help us to live as citizens. of the eternal kingdom, the kingdom of heaven.

while we wait for its establishment on earth. And we'll thank you in Jesus' name. They met. Thank you, Dr. Horn, and thank you for joining us for this Wednesday in the Word.

podcast. Learn more at wedintheword.com. Follow us on YouTube. Facebook and all social media including in Stu Graham. and be encouraged, stay in the word.

Read it. Share it, study it, memorize it, and Meditate on God's Word. Every word of God is pure. He is a shield to those who put their trust in him. Proverbs 30 verse 5.