Podcasts about medo persian

The Season of Epiphany or of the Revelation of the Messiah begins with the Journey of the Magi, priests of the Zoroastrian faith from the Medo-Persian empire, who set out on a journey to find the promised Messiah, the King of the Jews. In this message Michael N. takes us on a journey through history, geography and the prophets, to a promised prophetic highway that will be a blessing on the Earth (Isaiah 19). It's fulfillment is part of the good news of the Kingdom that brings Jews and Gentiles together in Messiah that has implications on how we live our lives in this present evil age as we long for HIs appearing.

If you would like additional information, books, or if you would like to make a love donation; please visit us at https://www.walkinginpower.orgBern Zumpano introduces Revelation Chapter 13, focusing exclusively on the rise and ministry of the Antichrist (the first beast) and the False Prophet (the second beast), the two powers that will attempt to control the earth. The chapter opens with the first beast—the Antichrist—coming up out of the sea (arising from a nation, likely the Mediterranean region), having ten horns and seven heads, which is supported by the ten-nation confederacy (the European Union/revived Roman Empire). The beast is an amalgam of previous historical empires (lion/Babylonian, bear/Medo-Persian, leopard/Greek) and is explicitly empowered by the Dragon (Satan), confirming that the end-time European political structure is "satanic." This beast receives a fatal wound that is healed (a counterfeit resurrection), causing the whole world to marvel and worship him as the long-awaited Messiah.The second beast, the False Prophet, arises from the earth and is identified as the religious head of the one-world religion. He appears with two horns like a lamb (false spiritual authority) but speaks as a dragon (his message is not the word of God), deceiving the world through great signs, including making fire come down from heaven. His primary ministry is to coerce the world to worship the first beast and to institute the mark of the beast—a consecration to Antichrist on the right hand or forehead—without which no one can buy or sell. Zumpano correlates the ten horns of Revelation 13 with the ten toes of Nebuchadnezzar's statue in Daniel and the ten kings of Revelation 17, explaining that the succession of world empires shown in Daniel moves from "fine metal" (pure) to "iron mixed with clay" (rubble), symbolizing man's self-idolatry that is destined to crumble when Christ, the Stone, returns.

Matthew 2:1-12 Wise Men, a Con Man, and a King Please turn to Matthew chapter 2. This is a very well-known advent passage about the wise men from the east bringing gifts to Jesus. There's a lot of mystery and wonder in this text. Part of that is because we're not given many details about the wise men. However, we are clearly given their goal. And so, as I read, listen for why they were seeking Jesus and what they did when they found him. Reading of Matthew 2:1-12. Prayer In our house, you'll find several nativity scenes at this time of year. They're festive and add to the aura of the season. But you know, they don't really accurately depict the manger scene. And one of the inaccuracies is with the three wise men. Most nativity scenes have them. They're usually tall, wearing middle-eastern attire, and bearing gifts as they stand next to the animals. Well, first of all, we're never told how many there were. Yes, they had three gifts, but that does not mean there were only three of them. And second, they did not arrive when Jesus was born. No, actually, they arrived likely when he was 1 year old. They weren't there to see Jesus in the manger. I'm not trying to be the grinch and steal your Christmas joy. Rather, I just want to be sure we distinguish what we actually know versus what tradition has come up with over the centuries. There's a big difference. So, then, what do we know? Who were these wise men led by a star to Jerusalem and then to Jesus? Well, we are told they were from the east and we are given a clue of there origin base on their name. The name “wise men” comes from the Greek word magoi. Some translations give them the title of Magi. It's a word derived from the Persian word for wise men. And because of that, some believe that the Magi came from where the Medo-Persian empire was centered (which is where modern day Iran is). Others believe that the Magi came from the region where the Babylonian empire used to be centered. That's where modern day Iraq is. There are good reasons for both possibilities. If we go back to the book of Daniel, it uses a very similar word for the wise men of the land. Daniel, as you may know, lived in Babylon in exile. Similarly, the book of Esther, which takes place in the Persian capital, also uses a similar word for wise men. In both cases, the Greek translation of the Old Testament uses the word magoi. And honestly, I don't think it makes much of a difference whether the Magi came from Medo-Persian roots or Babylonian roots. Even though these empires were centered in adjacent regions in the middle east, they overlapped as each kingdom took control. A few decades after Babylon conquered the whole region, they were then overthrown by the Medes and then the Persians. After that it was the Greeks under Alexander the Great who conquered the land, and then Roman Empire, which was in control when Jesus was born. And when these empires overthrew one another, it's not like they killed all the people. No, the people just were under the control of another kingdom. Yes, some of them moved out or were exiled. Others moved in to govern, but overall, the culture and history were preserved or intermixed with the new empire in power. Furthermore, when we consider the Babylonians and the Medes and the Persians, they each had their wise men. We know this from the Old Testament text as well as from historical writings from the time. The Magi were the highest educated men of the land. They were given utmost respect and they had major influence in the culture. In fact, extra Biblical writings about the Medes particularly emphasize this. Someone could not become a king in that empire without first the same rigorous study as the wise men. Even more, in the Median Empire, it was the wise men who anointed the king. Think about the significance of tht if the Matthew 2 wise men came from that region. The bottom line is that the Magi who were led to Jerusalem were held in the highest esteem and had significant cultural prominence. Now, let me mention something else important. These Magi knew some of the Hebrew Scriptures. Let me make that case. First, let's go back to Babylon. When Babylon overthrew Judah in the early 5th century BC, thousands and thousands of Jews were relocated to Babylon. They brought their culture with them. They brought their history and they brought their writings. Even when they were later permitted to return to Jerusalem, most of them remained in Babylon and some even intermarried with the Babylonians. Not only that, think of the testimony of Daniel and of Shadrach, Meshach and Abendego. Their wisdom and faithfulness earned them great status in the Babylonian Kingdom. King Nebuchadnezzar found them 10 time wiser than the wise men and enchanters of the region. That's mentioned in Daniel chapter 1. And when they were put to the test, God delivered each of them - you know, the three thrown in the fiery furnace, and Daniel from the Lion's den. After each incident, it was the Babylonian king who decreed that the one true God should be worshipped and served. These men were furthermore elevated to a high standing in the land. Daniel himself ended up being promoted to the third highest position in the entire Babylonian kingdom. You see, their wisdom, wisdom from God, became part of the wisdom of the land. A very similar thing happened in the Medo-Persian empire. Esther in the Old Testament was Jewish, but she was chosen to be queen by the Persian King. Some of you know the history. A plot was made against all the Jewish people in the land. They were to be slaughtered, but through the wisdom of Esther and her uncle, that plot was turned against the perpetrators. In the end, it was the Jewish people who prospered in all 127 provinces of the kingdom. It mentions from India to Ethiopia. Here is my point. Whether the wise men from the east came from a Babylonian heritage or from a Medo-Persian heritage, the wisdom of the land included wisdom from God almighty. Their education would have included testimonies of God's people and their teaching, which God had spread all throughout the east. So, these Magi, who were the highest learned men in the near Eastern culture, would have studied and known the God of Israel, and his prophecies, and the wisdom given his people. Perhaps they knew Balaam's prophecy from Numbers 24 that “a star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel.” So, yes, they came from the east, but they were not unfamiliar with what God had revealed and the prophecies of the Messiah. Now, we are not told what prompted them to leave their country and follow a star to Jerusalem. They may have been given a vision given by God in a dream (you know, similar to the dream they were given in verse 12); or it may have been an angel appearing to them similar to how angels appeared to Mary and Joseph and the shepherds. Or, as some have suggested, it may have been their studies of the Jewish Scriptures and the timing of the Messiah. We don't know, but whatever means God used, they knew that they were to seek the promised king who had come… and that he was worthy to be worshiped. Notice what they said when they arrived in Jerusalem. Verse 2. They asked: “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” Now, given the prominence and status of these Magi, their arrival in Jerusalem came with great acknowledgment. We know that because word of their arrival and their question.. filtered all the way up to King Herod. By the way, this Herod was Herod the Great. That is how he was known. Multiple Herods are mentioned in the New Testament. All of them are descendants of this Herod, Herod the Great. And none of them reached the prominence and power of their father or grandfather. This Herod was even given the title “king of the Jews” by the Roman senate. He wasn't even Jewish. This Herod is the one who built the great city Caesarea by the sea. He similarly constructed the mountaintop fortress of Masada in the south. This is the same Herod who ordered the massive renovation of the temple. He did this to try to please the Jews and solidify his title. If you remember, the temple had been rebuilt some 500 years earlier by some of the exiles who had returned. However, Herod transformed and refined it. He doubled the size of the temple mount. And he had the temple adorned with gold plates, and had it covered in white marble. The Jews appreciated this, of course, but it didn't change their opinion of him. In fact, in 2007 (you know, less than 20 years ago) archaeologists actually found Herod's tomb. It was inside the massive fortress that he built near Bethlehem called the Herodium. When they found it, they also found that Herod's sarcophagus had been smashed to pieces. You see, the Jews hated Herod the Great. It's likely, back in the first century, a group made their way into the chamber and destroyed his coffin and did something with his bones. That is because Herod was not a just ruler. He had his first wife executed, including his mother-in-law. He also executed three of his sons. And he had dozen of opponents killed, including high priests and pharisees. Now, look at verse 3. When Herod heard about the wise men and that they were seeking the newborn king of the Jews, it says Herod was troubled. This larger-than-life ruler of the land, who had political and military power, was troubled. Of course he was. These renowned Magi from the east had arrived and they were seeking a new king of the Jews. But that was Herod's title. Do you see why he asked the Magi in verse 8 to find the child born a King? It was not, as Herod had said, so that he could also worship him. No, not at all. Herod was a con man and a tyrant. He wanted to put to death yet another potential threat to his power. Herod did not know where to find this newborn king, so he did two things. First, he asked the priests and scribes. They mentioned Isaiah's prophecy about Bethlehem. Well, that wasn't narrow enough, so second, Herod met with the Magi. He asked them to return to him after finding the newborn king. Well, as the text mentions later, the Magi were warned about Herod in a dream. And so, Herod would never get his wish. So, the Magi were in Jerusalem. Herod had met with them. They knew they needed to travel further, but exactly where, they did not know. But just like before, a star rose to guide them. This star is mentioned four times in Matthew 2. It had brought them west from their country to Jerusalem. The star then turned them south towards Bethlehem. And it led them to the very house where Mary and Josph and baby Jesus were staying. But you ask, how can a star, high in the heavens above lead to a specific home? This is why I believe that it was more of a supernatural star-like object in the sky. Afterall, it moved. It turned them from heading west to south, and then it was able to bring them to a specific place. As verse 9 says, it came to rest over the place where the child was. So, the Magi arrived. Now, in a minute, I want to come back to what they did at that moment. But first, let's consider their gifts. They had brought gifts with them from the east. We sing about them and hear them often at this time of year. The Magi brought gold, and frankincense (not Frankenstein), and they brought myrrh. Now, different scholars have postulated different meanings for the gifts. Some have simply said the gifts were merely a royal tribute. In other words, the Magi brought expensive gifts as they would for any king. Others have suggested that each gift signified something. I think that's likely the case. Let me work that out. First, the gift of gold. Just like today, it was the most precious of metals. It was hard to find and hard to mine. Gold had many uses, but one prominent use of gold was for a king. You know, crowns were made mainly of gold. Kings drank from vessels of gold and they wore golden rings. They carried golden scepters. All those uses are highlighted in various passages in the Scriptures. Of course, gold was not exclusively used for kings, but it's reasonable to conclude that in the giving of gold by the wise men, they were acknowledging Jesus as a king. Second, they also brought him frankincense. It's a strange word. At its core is the word incense. And that is what it was. It came from a rare tree that grew in East Africa. Frankincense is referenced many times in the Old Testament as a fragrant perfume. Most often it was used in the temple by the priests including the high priest. Now, here's the important part. In it's temple use, Frankincense was reserved for incense and sacrificial anointing for Yahweh – for God. It's even referred to as Yahweh's incense. So, it's reasonable to conclude that the Frankincense signified Jesus' divine nature and his priestly role. Which brings us to the last gift. Myrrh. It was a perfume. It was used as a beautiful fragrance for women. You can find it referenced multiple times in the Song of Solomon. Elsewhere in the Scriptures, it's mentioned as a fragrance for clothing. But also, it was used as one of the burial spices. The bottom line is that Myrrh was a fragrance for man – you know, mankind. So, it was different from Frankincense which was reserved in the temple use for Yahweh. Myrrh was instead used for the people. As one commentator put it, “it was a perfume used by and in the interest of… man to make his life more pleasant… and his burial less repulsive.” So, as a gift from the Magi, Myrrh likely signified Jesus' humanity and perhaps his atoning death. In sum, the gifts brought by the Magi testified to who this child was. In the very least, the gifts testified to his kingship. But likely they furthermore testified to the fulness of Jesus divine nature and the fulness of his humanity. In his humanity he was, at that time, a young child born a king, but in his deity, he had existed from eternity past as God the Son. And he had come. The Magi knew and they testified to the wonder and awe of who this child was. He was worthy for them to worship. And I want you to notice something significant. Before the Magi even entered the house, look what verse 10 says. They rejoiced with exceedingly great joy! They gave praise to God for leading them to Jesus. They recognized the significance of that moment in history and that God had brought them to this place, to this child king. And after that, the Magi entered and it says they fell-down before him and worshiped. These revered men, who were not Israelites, who were known for their decades of study and known for their cultural prominence fell down before a one-year old child and worshiped him. Is that not tremendous? I think it is in a couple of different ways. Number 1 - God used non-Israelites to acknowledge his Son, the true king. These Gentile Magi affirmed what many Jews would reject. As the Gospel of John points out, Jesus came to his own, but his own did not receive him. The worship by the Magi is a tremendous thing. It affirmed what the Scriptures in the Old Testament had been saying all along. That through the offspring of Abraham, through the seed of David, all nations would be blessed. It is truly an amazing affirmation of the Gospel call to all tribes, tongues, and nations. Number 2 – the second thing that is tremendous is that they were led by God. God had turned the hearts of these men to him and they followed him. They followed his star. Even with all the temptations for pride that comes with knowledge and wisdom, these men humbled themselves to worship the true king. Go back to verse 10, again. They rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. Again, this was before they fell down and worshiped. In other words, they gave glory to God for leading them to Jesus. And then they worshiped him. Believer in Christ, you and I were not led by a star to Jesus. But it is no less supernatural how God turned your heart and mine and led us to him. Yes, let's worship the newborn king in this advent season. Yes, let's give praise to God in Christ who is Lord and Savior. Yes, let's declare the reason that Jesus came. He was born to die in our place and then resurrected so to overcome sin and death and the devil for us. So, yes, let's worship Jesus for all these reasons. But let's also rejoice like the Magi for God bring us to him. Were it not for God leading in our lives, we would still be in darkness. But God has led us to his Son, the King. Perhaps you've come today or you've been coming, but you have yet to fall down and worship. God has been leading you. After all, you are here. He's led you to Jesus. He's led you to hear his Word. But there's something preventing you from falling down in worship. Maybe skepticism. Maybe you say that you cannot intellectually get to a place of belief. But if there was any group back then who could argue against belief, it would have been the Magi. Wouldn't it not? The Magi were the intellectuals of the time. Yet, they submitted themselves to God and they humbled themselves before him. They both praised him for leading them to Jesus and then fell down and worshiped the true king. God has led you to this point. Let him now lead you into the house before the humble king. It takes faith, doesn't it? Was it not by faith that the Magi followed the star. It was. It also requires setting aside your unbelief and forsaking your own way. It takes humility to recognize all that you don't know compared to the wisdom and glory and power of God. And it takes falling down before him and submitting your whole life to him, just as the Magi. Will you let God lead you into his house and will you fall down as the Magi did to worship Christ? He is, as 1 Corinthians says, the power of God and the wisdom and of God. He is worthy to be worshiped. What an amazing testimony in these verses… of God at work leading and affirming that he himself has come to us. May we each praise God for leading us as he did the Magi. And as they also did, may we each humbly fall down before the king of kings, for who he is… and for what he has done for us so that we may worship him. Amen

We are now in the second half of Daniel which focuses on the dreams and visions that Daniel himself received. These visions include imagery of beasts, animals, and horns, representing kingdoms and the kings who come from them. Some of what Daniel sees is explained within the text itself while some remains the topic of debate and speculation to this day. Some, however, has clearly been fulfilled, like the goat which tramples the ram. The goat is the Greek Empire and it's conspicuous horn is Alexander the Great, who trampled the Medo-Persian empire only to die suddenly at the peak of his power. Antiochus emerges from one of the four new kingdoms, a ruler who persecutes the Jews, stops regular sacrifices, and defiles the temple.Daniel 7 - 1:07 . Daniel 8 - 8:39 . Daniel 9 - 14:28 . Proverbs 28 - 19:16 .  :::Christian Standard Bible translation.All music written and produced by John Burgess Ross.Co-produced by the Christian Standard Bible.facebook.com/commuterbibleinstagram.com/commuter_bibletwitter.com/CommuterPodpatreon.com/commuterbibleadmin@commuterbible.org

God's people are now in exile in the land of Babylon, which brings us to the book of Daniel, an extraordinary account of a young Judean exile who receives interpretation and prophecy from the Lord while serving foreign kings. Of particular significance in today's passage is the statue that Nebuchadnezzar sees in a dream. The statue's head of gold represented Babylon; its silver chest and arms: the Medo-Persian empire; the bronze stomach and thighs: the Greek empire; the legs of iron: the kingdom of Rome; and the mixed clay and iron feet: a continuation of Rome in later times. Finally, the rock represents the kingdom of God in Christ, as it easily destroys the manmade statue, enduring forever and spreading throughout the earth.Daniel 1 - 1:05 . 1:11Daniel 2 - 4:30 . 4:36Proverbs 26:13-28 - 16:05 .  :::Christian Standard Bible translation.All music written and produced by John Burgess Ross.Co-produced by the Christian Standard Bible.facebook.com/commuterbibleinstagram.com/commuter_bibletwitter.com/CommuterPodpatreon.com/commuterbibleadmin@commuterbible.org

The book of Daniel is an extraordinary account of a young Judean exile who receives interpretation and prophecy from the Lord while serving foreign kings. Of particular significance in today's passage is the statue that Nebuchadnezzar sees in a dream. The statue's head of gold represented Babylon; its silver chest and arms: the Medo-Persian empire; the bronze stomach and thighs: the Greek empire; the legs of iron: the kingdom of Rome; and the mixed clay and iron feet: a continuation of Rome in later times. Finally, the rock represents the kingdom of God in Christ, as it easily destroys the manmade statue, enduring forever and spreading throughout the earth.Daniel 1 - 1:11 . Daniel 2 - 4:43 . Daniel 3 - 16:19 . Isaiah 43:1-13 - 23:30 .  :::Christian Standard Bible translation.All music written and produced by John Burgess Ross.Co-produced by Bobby Brown, Katelyn Pridgen, Eric Williamson & the Christian Standard Biblefacebook.com/commuterbibleinstagram.com/commuter_bibletwitter.com/CommuterPodpatreon.com/commuterbibleadmin@commuterbible.org

Daniel chapter 8 takes us on a wild journey through apocalyptic visions that seem confusing at first—rams with horns, goats moving at lightning speed, and kingdoms rising and falling. But beneath these strange symbols lies a profound truth we desperately need today: no matter how crazy the world gets, no matter how evil leaders become, God wins. This passage shows us Daniel receiving detailed prophecies about empires that wouldn't exist for hundreds of years—the Medes and Persians, Alexander the Great's Greek empire, and the horrifying reign of Antiochus IV Epiphanes who would desecrate the temple. What's remarkable is that God doesn't leave Daniel confused; He sends the angel Gabriel to explain everything. The message is clear: even when wickedness seems unstoppable, even when it feels like darkness will last forever, God has already determined its end. The vision specifically mentions 2,300 evenings and mornings—exactly the time Antiochus would defile the temple before being overthrown. But here's where it gets personal for us: before we knew Christ, we all had an 'Antiochus' living inside us—that rebellious, anti-God nature that wanted to do things our way. The beautiful news is that Jesus, the true Horn of Salvation, crushes every kingdom and king through His death and resurrection. We're called to remain faithful even when the world feels insane, because we know the ending. Jesus has already won.ChaptersChapter 1: Understanding Apocalyptic Literature0:00 - 7:00We explore the challenges of reading apocalyptic literature and how it uses symbols and pictures to communicate God's truth about future events.Chapter 2: The Vision of the Ram and the Goat7:00 - 14:00We examine Daniel's vision of the ram with two horns and the goat with one horn, learning how these symbols represent the Medo-Persian and Greek empires.Chapter 3: Gabriel's Interpretation and Antiochus Epiphanes14:00 - 22:00We receive the interpretation through the angel Gabriel, learning about the ruthless king Antiochus Epiphanes who would defile the temple and persecute God's people.Chapter 4: Jesus the True Horn of Salvation22:00 - 28:00We discover that all these lesser 'horns' of earthly power pale in comparison to Jesus Christ, the true horn of salvation who conquers through sacrificial love.Keywords#Daniel#ApocalypticLiterature#PropheticVision#Gabriel#AntiochusEpiphanes#AlexanderTheGreat#MedesAndPersians#GreekEmpire#HornOfSalvation#JesusWins#RemainingFaithful#EndTimes#BiblicalProphecy#Exile#GodsSovereignty#Redemption#HopeInChrist#SpiritualWarfare#Antichrist#Resurrection#Salvation#Forgiveness#Conversion#BodyOfChrist#KingOfKings#PrinceOfPeace

Daniel chapter 8 takes us on a wild journey through apocalyptic visions that seem confusing at first—rams with horns, goats moving at lightning speed, and kingdoms rising and falling. But beneath these strange symbols lies a profound truth we desperately need today: no matter how crazy the world gets, no matter how evil leaders become, God wins. This passage shows us Daniel receiving detailed prophecies about empires that wouldn't exist for hundreds of years—the Medes and Persians, Alexander the Great's Greek empire, and the horrifying reign of Antiochus IV Epiphanes who would desecrate the temple. What's remarkable is that God doesn't leave Daniel confused; He sends the angel Gabriel to explain everything. The message is clear: even when wickedness seems unstoppable, even when it feels like darkness will last forever, God has already determined its end. The vision specifically mentions 2,300 evenings and mornings—exactly the time Antiochus would defile the temple before being overthrown. But here's where it gets personal for us: before we knew Christ, we all had an 'Antiochus' living inside us—that rebellious, anti-God nature that wanted to do things our way. The beautiful news is that Jesus, the true Horn of Salvation, crushes every kingdom and king through His death and resurrection. We're called to remain faithful even when the world feels insane, because we know the ending. Jesus has already won.ChaptersChapter 1: Understanding Apocalyptic Literature0:00 - 7:00We explore the challenges of reading apocalyptic literature and how it uses symbols and pictures to communicate God's truth about future events.Chapter 2: The Vision of the Ram and the Goat7:00 - 14:00We examine Daniel's vision of the ram with two horns and the goat with one horn, learning how these symbols represent the Medo-Persian and Greek empires.Chapter 3: Gabriel's Interpretation and Antiochus Epiphanes14:00 - 22:00We receive the interpretation through the angel Gabriel, learning about the ruthless king Antiochus Epiphanes who would defile the temple and persecute God's people.Chapter 4: Jesus the True Horn of Salvation22:00 - 28:00We discover that all these lesser 'horns' of earthly power pale in comparison to Jesus Christ, the true horn of salvation who conquers through sacrificial love.Keywords#Daniel#ApocalypticLiterature#PropheticVision#Gabriel#AntiochusEpiphanes#AlexanderTheGreat#MedesAndPersians#GreekEmpire#HornOfSalvation#JesusWins#RemainingFaithful#EndTimes#BiblicalProphecy#Exile#GodsSovereignty#Redemption#HopeInChrist#SpiritualWarfare#Antichrist#Resurrection#Salvation#Forgiveness#Conversion#BodyOfChrist#KingOfKings#PrinceOfPeace

Daniel's story reveals what unwavering faith looks like in practice. At 85 years old, serving under the Medo-Persian empire, Daniel maintained such integrity that his enemies couldn't find any fault with his character or work. When they devised a trap through a royal decree forbidding prayer to anyone but the king, Daniel refused to compromise. He continued his daily prayer routine, facing Jerusalem three times a day, choosing conviction over convenience. God miraculously protected him in the lion's den, demonstrating that faithful obedience is never in vain. Daniel's example points us to Jesus Christ, the Lion of Judah, who has already defeated our spiritual enemy and calls us to stand firm in faith regardless of the cost.https://www.ankenyfree.church

Today, over 75 prophetic signs—many already fulfilled—point to the end of the age of grace and the soon return of Christ. Daniel 7 reveals a vision that mirrors King Nebuchadnezzar's dream in Daniel 2, foretelling the rise and fall of world empires with stunning accuracy.  From the Babylonian lion with wings to the Medo-Persian bear with three ribs and the Grecian leopard with four wings and four heads, every detail shows God's precise plan unfolding through history. Revelation 13 warns of a global system where no one can buy or sell without the mark of the beast, and miraculous signs will deceive many. These prophecies aren't distant—they're unfolding before our eyes. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

By Philip Aust - In a continuing series of messages from the Book of Daniel, pastor Philip Aust delves into chapter 8. He elaborates on the prophecy that focuses on two empires - the Medo-Persian and the Grecian. Portions of these prophetic scriptures reach into our time.

Daniel 8 reveals God’s sovereign control over history, showing the rise and fall of empires and the ongoing battle between good and evil. The vision foretells the power struggles of the Medo-Persian and Greek empires, leading to the rise of Antiochus IV Epiphanes, a ruler who foreshadows the Antichrist. His persecution of the Jewish people […] The post The Ram and The Goat first appeared on Redeemer Church of South Hills. The post The Ram and The Goat appeared first on Redeemer Church of South Hills.

Pastor Jason discusses Daniel 8, and the vision of the ram and the goat as symbols of the Medo-Persian and Greek empires and the prediction of a fierce ruler, Antiochus IV, who will oppress the Jewish people. The sermon encourages listeners to seek Christ no matter the season. Jesus is the Hero of the story, the Savior of the world, and the Kings of Kings.

Daily Dose of Hope February 13, 2025 Day 5 of Week 46   Scripture:  Daniel 10-12; John 20   It's Daily Dose of Hope time, everyone.  Welcome back on this Thursday.  The Daily Dose is a devotional and podcast designed to complement the New Hope Bible reading plan.    Our Old Testament Scripture today is Daniel, chapters 10-12.  In these chapters, Daniel has one final vision.  We again are presented with the various kingdoms, the Medo-Persian empire, the Greeks, and then some lesser kings and finally something called the king of the North. The king of the North is particularly wicked and desecrates the Temple. The king eventually is destroyed himself.   But what does this all mean?  Scholars have certainly debated this.  Some think the vision refers to the violent Syrian king around 160BC.  Others think it refers to the coming of Jesus and the oppression in the Roman empire followed by the destruction of Jerusalem around 70AD.  Still others think this is something that has not yet occurred.  It's possible they are all correct.  Afterall, Daniel is intended to offer hope that applies to all people.  Think about it.  Humans and their kings can become beastlike when they become drunk with power and don't acknowledge God as their king.  But God will eventually confront the beast and destroy it, installing his Kingdom which is fair, just, and peaceful.   Our New Testament Scripture is John 20. He is Risen!!!  This is the Easter Sunday narrative.  Today's Scripture is some of my favorite. Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed. She went to get Simon Peter and the other disciple whom Jesus loved (most likely John, the author). They rushed to the tomb. Jesus' body was no longer there but the strips of cloth used to wrap his dead body were still present.    John went inside. He saw and believed. Think about those words. He had been walking with Jesus for three years. John saw miracle after miracle, healing after healing, feeding after feeding. But none of it made sense. It now makes sense. What Jesus said would happen has happened. The cross did not have the final word. Jesus Christ defeated death and darkness. He overcame the world.   God's power was demonstrated in such an awesome way; it's really hard to even wrap our brains around it. The transforming power of God was at work then and is still at work today! The same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead lives within us as believers. There is power in that, friends! We are resurrection people. We believe that what was dead can be brought to life. We believe that we are new people in Jesus Christ. We believe that we are raised with Christ. We believe that there is so much more to this world than meets the eye. How have you seen resurrection power at work in your life?   Let's close today with a hymn (feel free to sing!)... Christ the Lord is risen today, Alleluia! Earth and heaven in chorus say, Alleluia! Raise your joys and triumphs high, Alleluia! Sing, ye heavens, and earth reply, Alleluia.   Blessings, Pastor Vicki

Daily Dose of Hope February 12, 2025 Day 4 of Week 46   Scripture:  Daniel 7-9; Psalm 91; John 19   Welcome back to the Daily Dose of Hope, the devotional and podcast that complements the New Hope daily Bible reading plan.  Tonight, we have a really special worship and prayer service at 7:30pm in the sanctuary.  I hope to see you there.   We have a lot of Scripture to cover today so let's get down to business, starting with our Old Testament passage from Daniel 7-9.  As you could probably tell, the tone of the book is changing.  Now Daniel is having the dreams and they feel very much like prophecy.  In chapter 7, he dreams of the four beasts.  The last one was really large and horrid with a large horn (horns symbolized kings).  These four beasts represented very prideful kingdoms.  The Son of Man is there as well; he represents God's covenant people.  But in the dream, God (portrayed as the Ancient of Days) comes to defeat the beasts and he sets up his throne.  The Son of Man sits next to him.  It seems to be a picture that while evil human kingdoms will seem to have power, God will eventually defeat them and set up his own Kingdom.    The next two chapters give us a picture of when that will happen.  In chapter eight, there is another dream, this time with a ram and a goat.  We are told they represent the Medo-Persian empire and the Greek empire.  God defeats these as well.  By chapter nine, Daniel is quite puzzled and unsure what these mean or when they will happen.  He reads from the Prophet Jeremiah, where he learns that the exile of God's people is only supposed to last seventy years.  If that is correct, then Daniel knows the exile is almost over.  He asks God about it.  Gabriel (assuming an angel) comes to see Daniel and says that the Israelites have been really disobedient and the exile will last longer.  Daniel is really confused now and I'm hoping we get some resolution in tomorrow's chapters!   Our Psalm today is 91, the psalm of protection.  I want to talk about this one a bit.  It is truly a beautiful psalm.  I use to pray it over my children.  And when we say this, it's easy to make this psalm about us; we tend to individualize things.  But this isn't one of those Psalms that we can just substitute our names. Are there elements to it that apply to us? Of course (and we'll get to that) but the psalm written to the Israelite people.  It wasn't even written to a singular individual but a collective group of God's people. God had promised that nothing, no sickness, famine, or attack, would keep them from being the nation he told them they would be if they followed his commands.   Remember God's covenant with Israel.  This wasn't a promise that individual Israelites would not get sick and die - plenty of Hebrew people who trusted in God and still got ill and died. God was the defender and protector of Israel as a whole.  His promise was that as long as they trusted and obeyed him, nothing could stop them from being the nation that he promised they would be. Of course, we know what happens.   So, what does that mean for us?  The miracle of scripture is that it speaks to us on so many different levels. It still has deep and profound meaning for us as God's people, but maybe not in the way we might initially imagine.  ·      God is our refuge. In his presence, in his shadow, we can receive rest, respite, and security (not necessarily security from hardship, but security IN hardship.) ·      Whatever is intended for harm, God can turn to good. Every challenge we face, God is on and by our side, supporting and defending us---making all things work together for our good (Romans 8). ·      God is the author of resurrection. He is not the author of evil.  God is our FIRST RESPONDER. God rebuilds our lives. ·      Resting in God's presence, being people of prayer, we can be examples of peace and joy in the midst of so much fear and anxiety.   Our New Testament text is John 19.  Even Pilate recognizes that Jesus has done nothing wrong. He truly wants to free Jesus; the text indicates that Pilate is somewhat scared of Jesus. But the Jewish officials are desperate to get rid of Jesus. They are blinded by fear, jealousy, and contempt. In an attempt to get Pilate to cooperate with their plans, they threaten to report him to Caesar. After all, Jesus claimed to be king and anyone who made such a claim would be considered a threat to the emperor. The great irony here is that the Jews are essentially presenting themselves as better Roman citizens than Pilate, the Roman official. When it's convenient for them, they are happy to use the pagan Roman government to get their way. They will sacrifice their own ethics to ensure that Jesus is killed.   The thing about sacrificing our ethics is that it's a slippery slope, is it not? These Jewish officials were probably very pious men. They thought they were doing the right thing. Jesus was saying blasphemous things and he didn't follow their rules. They needed to step in and take care of it.  But gradually their dislike of Jesus became hate. They so badly wanted him gone that they were willing to do anything, break their own laws, disobey Torah, simply to get rid of him. They were willing to do anything, no matter how shady it was or low they had to go.   Blessings, Pastor Vicki  

We are now in the second half of Daniel which focuses on the dreams and visions that Daniel himself received. These visions include imagery of beasts, animals, and horns, representing kingdoms and the kings who come from them. Some of what Daniel sees is explained within the text itself while some remains the topic of debate and speculation to this day. Some, however, has clearly been fulfilled, like the goat which tramples the ram. The goat is the Greek Empire and it's conspicuous horn is Alexander the Great, who trampled the Medo-Persian empire only to die suddenly at the peak of his power. Antiochus emerges from one of the four new kingdoms, a ruler who persecutes the Jews, stops regular sacrifices, and defiles the temple.Daniel 7 - 1:07 . Daniel 8 - 8:39 . Daniel 9:1-19 - 14:28 . Proverbs 28:1-14 - 19:16 .  :::Christian Standard Bible translation.All music written and produced by John Burgess Ross.Co-produced by the Christian Standard Bible.facebook.com/commuterbibleinstagram.com/commuter_bibletwitter.com/CommuterPodpatreon.com/commuterbibleadmin@commuterbible.org

God's people are now in exile in the land of Babylon, which brings us to the book of Daniel, an extraordinary account of a young Judean exile who receives interpretation and prophecy from the Lord while serving foreign kings. Of particular significance in today's passage is the statue that Nebuchadnezzar sees in a dream. The statue's head of gold represented Babylon; its silver chest and arms: the Medo-Persian empire; the bronze stomach and thighs: the Greek empire; the legs of iron: the kingdom of Rome; and the mixed clay and iron feet: a continuation of Rome in later times. Finally, the rock represents the kingdom of God in Christ, as it easily destroys the manmade statue, enduring forever and spreading throughout the earth.Daniel 1 - 1:05 . 1:11Daniel 2 - 4:30 . 4:36Proverbs 26:13-28 - 16:05 .  :::Christian Standard Bible translation.All music written and produced by John Burgess Ross.Co-produced by the Christian Standard Bible.facebook.com/commuterbibleinstagram.com/commuter_bibletwitter.com/CommuterPodpatreon.com/commuterbibleadmin@commuterbible.org

The book of Daniel is an extraordinary account of a young Judean exile who receives interpretation and prophecy from the Lord while serving foreign kings. Of particular significance in today's passage is the statue that Nebuchadnezzar sees in a dream. The statue's head of gold represented Babylon; its silver chest and arms: the Medo-Persian empire; the bronze stomach and thighs: the Greek empire; the legs of iron: the kingdom of Rome; and the mixed clay and iron feet: a continuation of Rome in later times. Finally, the rock represents the kingdom of God in Christ, as it easily destroys the manmade statue, enduring forever and spreading throughout the earth.Daniel 1 - 1:11 . Daniel 2 - 4:43 . Daniel 3 - 16:19 . Isaiah 43:1-13 - 23:30 .  :::Christian Standard Bible translation.All music written and produced by John Burgess Ross.Co-produced by Bobby Brown, Katelyn Pridgen, Eric Williamson & the Christian Standard Biblefacebook.com/commuterbibleinstagram.com/commuter_bibletwitter.com/CommuterPodpatreon.com/commuterbibleadmin@commuterbible.org

Join us as we explore Daniel's vision in Chapter 8, a powerful prophecy that symbolizes the rise and fall of empires, including the Medo-Persian and Greek. This episode delves into the historical fulfillment of these visions, focusing on the Maccabean revolt and the oppressive actions of Antiochus IV Epiphanes, who desecrated the temple and fulfilled the prophecy of the abomination of desolation. We'll discuss how these events not only illustrate the past but also foreshadow future prophecies, such as the coming of the Antichrist. Discover the hope and perspective that Daniel's book offers to the Israelites and how it encourages a biblical lens on current events, especially concerning Israel.Eastland is a Place to BelongEastland Baptist Church is located in Tulsa, Oklahoma. We are a welcoming and close-knit family community that loves to care for each other through the Church. We strongly believe in loving and supporting each other and our neighbors. Our members don't just attend our Church; they feel a strong sense of belonging.Join UsFind service times and our location at https://www.eastlandbaptist.org/join.Connect with UsWebsite: https://www.eastlandbaptist.orgFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/eastlandbaptisttulsaInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/eastlandbaptistTo support the ministry of Eastland Baptist Church, tap here: https://www.eastlandbaptist.org/give.

A @Christadelphians Video: # Summary This presentation provides an in-depth analysis of the prophecy in Daniel chapter 2, which is considered a key part of Bible prophecy. It explores the historical context, the interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar's dream, and the significance of the prophecy in relation to the future establishment of God's eternal kingdom on Earth. ### Highlights

Gospel Daily with Josh Weidmann Rise Up In An Upside-Down World, Part 2 Series: Thy Kingdom Come: A Study in Daniel Scripture: Daniel 8 Episode: 1303 Summary of Chapter 8: In Daniel Chapter 8, the prophet experiences a vision of the ram and the goat, representing the rise and fall of empires, particularly the Medo-Persian and Greek kingdoms. This chapter delves into prophetic symbolism in Daniel, where the little horn emerges as a significant figure, symbolizing a future ruler who will challenge God's people. The vision underscores the theme of God's sovereignty over history, as these events are predetermined by divine will. Daniel is troubled by the vision, reflecting the mystery and complexity of biblical prophecy, yet it ultimately reveals the inevitable triumph of God's purposes over human power. This passage is crucial for understanding the historical and apocalyptic prophecy in the Bible.

Gospel Daily with Josh Weidmann Rise Up In An Upside-Down World, Part 1 Series: Thy Kingdom Come: A Study in Daniel Scripture: Daniel 8 Episode: 1302 Summary of Chapter 8: In Daniel Chapter 8, the prophet experiences a vision of the ram and the goat, representing the rise and fall of empires, particularly the Medo-Persian and Greek kingdoms. This chapter delves into prophetic symbolism in Daniel, where the little horn emerges as a significant figure, symbolizing a future ruler who will challenge God's people. The vision underscores the theme of God's sovereignty over history, as these events are predetermined by divine will. Daniel is troubled by the vision, reflecting the mystery and complexity of biblical prophecy, yet it ultimately reveals the inevitable triumph of God's purposes over human power. This passage is crucial for understanding the historical and apocalyptic prophecy in the Bible.

Gospel Daily with Josh Weidmann Forgetting God's Faithfulness Invites God's Judgement, Part 2 Series: Devoted: A Study in Daniel Scripture: Daniel 5:1-31 Episode: 1295   Summary of Chapter 5:1-31: In Daniel Chapter 5, verses 1-31, the dramatic fall of King Belshazzar serves as a powerful lesson on divine judgment and prophecy in the Bible. During a lavish feast, a mysterious hand writes a message on the wall, leading to Daniel's interpretation of the writing on the wall in the Book of Daniel. This event foretells the imminent downfall of Belshazzar's kingdom due to his arrogance and failure to honor God. The chapter emphasizes God's sovereignty over nations, as the prophecy is fulfilled that very night with the king's death and the rise of the Medo-Persian empire. The narrative underscores the themes of pride and divine retribution, showcasing the prophetic accuracy in biblical events.

Gospel Daily with Josh Weidmann Forgetting God's Faithfulness Invites God's Judgement, Part 1 Series: Devoted: A Study in Daniel Scripture: Daniel 5:1-31 Episode: 1294   Summary of Chapter 5:1-31: In Daniel Chapter 5, verses 1-31, the dramatic fall of King Belshazzar serves as a powerful lesson on divine judgment and prophecy in the Bible. During a lavish feast, a mysterious hand writes a message on the wall, leading to Daniel's interpretation of the writing on the wall in the Book of Daniel. This event foretells the imminent downfall of Belshazzar's kingdom due to his arrogance and failure to honor God. The chapter emphasizes God's sovereignty over nations, as the prophecy is fulfilled that very night with the king's death and the rise of the Medo-Persian empire. The narrative underscores the themes of pride and divine retribution, showcasing the prophetic accuracy in biblical events.

Greg, Rachel, and Emily discuss the origin of the Medo-Persian Empire, how it claimed the title of world power from Babylon, and the work God did through Daniel. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/haltingtowardzion/support

IRAN AND ISRAEL exchanged missiles in April, in what appears to be—thankfully—limited hostilities between the two countries.This week, we look at the ancient nation of Elam, which was located in what is now western Iran. It was destroyed by the rising Medo-Persian empire in the 6th century BC, but at times Elam ruled over all of Mesopotamia. In the time of Abraham, an Elamite king led an army against the city-state led by Sodom.More than a thousand years later, Jeremiah prophesied the destruction of Elam. The Lord declared that He would set His throne in Elam—but that a day is still coming when God “will restore the fortunes of Elam.”

Episode 250 – Archeology and the Bible – Part 6 – Names We Know 2 Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. In John 14:6, Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” The goal of Anchored by Truth is to encourage everyone to grow in the Christian faith by anchoring themselves to the secure truth found in the inspired, inerrant, and infallible word of God. Script: … [in] the fourth month of Zedekiah’s eleventh year, the city wall was broken through. … the officials of the king of Babylon came and took seats in the Middle Gate: Nergal-Sharezer of Samgar, Nebo-Sarsekim a chief officer …and all the other officials … of Babylon. . Jeremiah, Chapter 39, verses 1 through 3, New International Version ******** VK: Hello and welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. I’m Victoria K. This is the 6th episode in our series on archeology and the Bible. At Anchored by Truth we think most people understand that archeology is generally relevant to the study of the Bible - but they have a limited understanding of what the relationship is. But if we take the Bible seriously – which we definitely do at Anchored by Truth - we all need to know a little bit about archeology. That’s because archeological explorations and finds have supplied an abundance of evidence that confirms that the history contained in the Bible is real history. That’s why we decided to do this series. Despite the fact that popular culture has tried to dismiss the long-standing relationship between the Bible and archeology the truth is that archeology as a whole has done much to provide evidence of the Bible’s trustworthiness. To help us continue to explore this topic, in the studio today we have RD Fierro. RD is an author and the founder of Crystal Sea Books RD, throughout this series you have pointed out that despite the skepticism we often hear many scholars, including ones who aren’t Christian, have used the Bible as a source document when planning or conducting archeological explorations. In fact, the Bible’s history has regularly been shown to be accurate even when doubted, right? RD: Right. And during our most recent episodes of Anchored by Truth we have been covering specific examples of times secular history doubted what the Bible reported but archeology proved that the Bible’s report was right. Today we are going to continue in that same vein and provide another example of an archeological find that shows that the Bible not only gets the “big things” right but is also accurate in details that most people wouldn’t even consider are significant. VK: Well, perhaps we should start by briefly discussing one of the specific criticisms that is frequently hurled at the Bible – the idea that many of the books of the Bible weren’t actually written by the person whose name is associated with that particular book. This would include books like Daniel and Jeremiah but it extends to the first five books of the Bible which are historically attributed to Moses. RD: One of lines of evidence that the Bible is the inspired word of God is that the Bible contains a large body of fulfilled prophecy. We have provided a lot of examples of successful prophecies in many of our different series on Anchored by Truth. We have talked about the fact that the prophet Isaiah provided the name of the Persian king who would conquer the Babylonian Empire about 200 years before that happened in history. VK: For anyone who wants to verify that prophecy for themselves they can go chapters 44 and 45 of the book of Isaiah. For example, Isaiah, chapter 45, verses 1 through 3 say, “This is what the LORD says to Cyrus, his anointed one, whose right hand he will empower. Before him, mighty kings will be paralyzed with fear. Their fortress gates will be opened, never to shut again. This is what the LORD says: “I will go before you, Cyrus, and level the mountains. I will smash down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron. And I will give you treasures hidden in the darkness—secret riches. I will do this so you may know that I am the LORD, the God of Israel, the one who calls you by name.” RD: Yes. A simple internet search of the question “who conquered Babylon” will bring up the name “Cyrus” or, as he is often called, “Cyrus the Great.” Isaiah is the first of the so-called “Major Prophets” and prophesied from approximately the years 740 BC to about 700 BC. So, the latest his prophesy about a coming conquering king named Cyrus can be dated is 700 BC. But Babylon didn’t fall to Cyrus until 539 BC. So, Isaiah’s prophecy predates the fulfillment by 170 to 200 years. VK: And since that we can’t successfully predict who will win the next election, Super Bowl, or World Series, a successful prophesy given 200 years before the event is pretty compelling evidence of supernatural inspiration and insight. RD: Right. Another example of a successful prophesy given hundreds of years ahead of time is found in the book of Daniel, who is the last of the Major Prophets. In chapters 2, 7, and 8 of his book Daniel prophesied about a series of empires that would control what was, for the ancient Hebrews, the known world – essentially to us eastern Europe, north Africa, the Mideast, and western Asia. Daniel prophesied that a series of 4 empires would dominate that territory. We now know from history that those empires were the Babylonian, the Medo-Persian, the Greeks, and the Romans. Rome conquered Palestine and Jerusalem around 63 BC but Daniel had given his prophecy around 540 BC – almost 500 years earlier. VK: Again, none of us know what the price of gas will be next month much less next year. We don’t know what level the stock market will be at in a year and we can’t even be sure what the weather will be like two days from now. So, for a human, unaided by God, to successfully predict a major military and political event 500 years in the future is simply impossible. But what is impossible for people is possible for God. But it is possible only for God. That’s one of the big reasons we can be sure the Bible was inspired by God. God inspired His writers to record things hundreds of years before they would happen. And that then becomes strong evidence that while a human hand pushed a pen or stylus the information was coming straight from a divine Being. RD: Yes. These are just two examples of the hundreds that could be cited to illustrate that the Bible writers were given supernatural inspiration by God Almighty. And this evidence is so compelling that the critics of the Bible must find a way to discount the evidence. The most common way they do that is to assert that the books weren’t written when they were. To discredit the prophecy the critics must turn the prophecy into history. So, the critics will claim that the book of Daniel was not written in the 6th century BC but rather the 1st or 2nd century BC. And they claim that while portions of the book of Isaiah were written in the 8th century BC they claim that other parts were written much later such as the 5th or even 4th century BC. By doing so, they claim that rather than the books containing successfully fulfilled prophesies all the books were doing was presenting historical events as prophecy. VK: That calls to mind the medieval notion that it was possible to turn iron into gold. It was called alchemy. But, in this case, the critics want to turn the golden evidence of fulfilled prophecy into the common element of recent history – a sort of reverse alchemy. The critics can plainly see the implications of a book that contains prophecies given hundreds of years before the events prophesied. Human beings can’t do that. Only God could. So, to get rid of the evidence they turn the evidence into something else. Re-date the book and “poof” – prophesy becomes history. RD: Yes. So, that’s one of the most common forms of criticism that’s hurled against the Bible. The books of the Bible weren’t written when claimed. It’s a pernicious form of criticism because the critic doesn’t deny the content of the book – just claims the book doesn’t mean what we thing because it’s been “misdated.” VK: But one of the ways the Bible defends itself against such criticism is that it frequently contains language or details that wouldn’t have been used or known to a later writer. And that detail or language has now been confirmed by archeology. For instance, with respect to the false assertion that the book of Daniel was written in the 1st or 2nd century BC Biblical Scholar Dr. Gleason Archer in his Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties has written this: “… it seems that a second century date for the Hebrew chapters of Daniel is no longer tenable on linguistic grounds. In view of the markedly later development in the areas of syntax, word-order, morphology, vocabulary, spelling, and word-usage, there is absolutely no possibility of regarding Daniel as contemporary [with the sectarian documents][of the second century BC…] The complete absence of Greek loan-words apart from musical instruments … point unmistakably to a time of composition prior to the Alexandrian conquest.” RD: What Dr. Archer is saying is that, just as today, language changes through time. We know longer use phrases like “Daddy-O” or “23 skidoo” … VK: “23 skidoo” … really? RD: Really. “23 skidoo” was an American slang phrase that appeared early in the 20th century. It was often used to mean “I’m leaving quickly.” According to the Wikipedia entry “23 skidoo” was actually the conjoining of two earlier expressions, “‘twenty-three’ (1899) and ‘skidoo’ (1901), both of which, independently and separately, referred to leaving, being kicked out, or the end of something.” The point is that language changes through time. “23 skidoo” is slang from over 100 years ago. If someone sees it in a document we can have high confidence about roughly when that document might have been prepared. The same thing is true about ancient languages. They changed through time. In the case of the language used in the book of Daniel it does not resemble the language used by the Jews in the 1st or 2nd century BC. And we can have high confidence about that in large measure because of the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls. VK: The point is that the language of the book of Daniel defeats the critics’ attempts to date it at a time when its prophecy would have become history. And today we are going to cite an example where a name in the text of the book of Jeremiah defeats the critics’ attempt to turn its successful prophecies into history. Remember, our opening scripture came from the book of Jeremiah. RD: Exactly. So, let’s set the stage so we know what is going on – both in scripture and in history. VK: Jeremiah is the 2nd of the Major Prophets. Jeremiah wrote during a period starting in 626 BC and lasting until about 586 BC. He is sometimes called the “weeping prophet” because he had the sad task of warning the people in Judah and Jerusalem that they were going to be destroyed by the Babylonians because of their idolatry. Jeremiah did not want to see them destroyed but he faithfully reported that because the people would not give up their idolatry they were going to suffer. He made a number of famous prophecies. He not only prophesied that Jerusalem was going to be destroyed but he also prophesied that the captivity of the exiled Jews was going to last 70 years. RD: And he was proven accurate on both counts. Nebuchadnezzar, the most famous of the Babylonians kings, destroyed Jerusalem in 587 BC and sent most of the people into exile around Babylon. Only the poorest were permitted to remain in their homeland. Jeremiah was also right about how long the Jews would remain in exile. The first time Nebuchadnezzar attacked Jerusalem was 597 BC but before that Jerusalem had become a vassal state of Babylon. Many scholars date the start of the 70 years to 605 BC when Judah first swore allegiance to Babylon. Cyrus defeated Babylon in 539 BC but it took a little while before the exiled Jews were able to begin their return to their homeland. So, all told, the exile of the Jews in Babylon lasted about 70 years. VK: But a skeptic might say that these two prophecies were not really prophetic. Nebuchadnezzar began his control of Judah during Jeremiah’s lifetime and so the prophecy that Nebuchadnezzar would one day destroy Jerusalem might have just been an educated guess. Or a skeptic might assert that the writer of Jeremiah just wrote about the destruction of Jerusalem after it happened. While the book of Jeremiah does contain information about when various prophecies were given it’s not impossible that the writer might have deliberately misdated the material to appear prophetic even if it were not. RD: But, that would still leave a successful prophecy about the length of the period of exile. Chronologically, the book of Jeremiah ends right after the final destruction of Jerusalem in 587 BC. But Cyrus would not defeat Babylon for almost another 50 years. So, even if the critic asserts that the writer of Jeremiah was writing history when it came to the fall of Jerusalem the writer would have no way of knowing if or when that period of Babylonian captivity would end. VK: So, to get around that possibility the critic would say that a later editor of the book of Jeremiah just added that detail after the period of the exile ended. That, in fact, is a very common line of criticism with respect to many of the books in the Old Testament. Many critics assert that many books of the Old Testament, including the first 5 books, were not written until after the period of the Babylonian captivity and the Jews had returned to their homeland – sometime in the late 6th century BC or early to mid 5th century. The assertion is that the returned Jews were trying to create a sort of noble history for themselves because the whole nation was in such desperate condition. The critics assert that the returned Jews either just outright fabricated books such as Genesis at that time - or they took earlier works and just added a bunch of details to give them the appearance of supernatural inspiration. And one way they supposedly did that was to put prophecies in the books that were really historical events that had affected the Israelites. The idea is that by doing so the national or religious authorities could fool their population into believing their holy books contained prophecies that had been fulfilled. The general idea is that these pious fictions would have inspired the Jews, who were then in a pretty sad state at that time. RD: And that’s where today’s opening scripture becomes relevant. Our opening scripture includes the names of two Babylonian officials who were present at the time the Babylonians conquered Jerusalem. “Nergal-Sharezer of Samgar, Nebo-Sarsekim.” Nebo-Sarsekim is described as being “a chief officer.” VK: Ok. Let’s focus on what’s going on within the book of Jeremiah. Jeremiah has been warning the people – probably for decades at this time – that if they don’t give up their idolatry they are going to be punished by being defeated militarily. And Jeremiah even tells them that their defeat will come at the hands of the Babylonians. But the people don’t listen and the defeat comes about. So, Jeremiah is now describing what was happening at the time that the Babylonians broke through the walls of Jerusalem. RD: Right. Now what is interesting, amazing even, about this passage from Jeremiah is that he has gone to the trouble of recording the names of Babylonian officials who weren’t the king or part of the royal family. Now it would not be unusual for a careful and honest historian to record the names of important people who present at a significant event – like the breaching of the walls of your capital city. But why would someone who was making up or editing a book to somehow give it the air of supernatural inspiration do that? VK: I suppose someone would say that adding the names of officials would increase the level of credibility to the account they were concocting. Good fiction writers always want to make their fiction believable. RD: Someone – a critic – trying to cast doubt on the book might say that. But let’s explore that idea for a second. Let’s suppose that a religious authority in Israel is trying to somehow add weight to a book that they are creating. So, to add that weight they start throwing in a bunch of details about a dramatic event. It makes little sense that one of the details they would throw in would be the names of a couple of people from the invading army who sat down in a city gate just after the invaders had breached the wall. But even if they did decide to throw in a couple of names how would a writer writing decades after the actual event know which names to toss in? Remember the idea we’re examining is whether it is reasonable to suppose that the book of Jeremiah was written decades after the events that it records – because that’s what it would take for a later writer to have made it seem like Jeremiah knew the length of the Babylonian captivity. VK: Or is just more reasonable to conclude that the book of Jeremiah was written by an eyewitness of the events recorded in the book. An eyewitness could easily know the names of high ranking officials who took part in the capture of the capital city. But details get lost in as time passes by. So, the likelihood that a later religious figure would know which lesser officials happened to be present when Jerusalem fell starts to strain credulity. Which possibility is more likely really comes down to whether the names recorded in Jeremiah are accurate. RD: And thanks to archeology we now have solid evidence that the writer of Jeremiah got the names right. A clay tablet that is in the British Museum contains a receipt issued by a high official of Nebuchadnezzar, who was the King of Babylon that conquered Jerusalem. This tablet is a receipt is for gold donated to a temple in Babylon. The full translation reads: “‘(Regarding) 1.5 minas (0.75 kg) of gold, the property of Nabu-sharrussu-ukin, the chief eunuch, which he sent via Arad-Banitu the eunuch to [the temple] Esangila: Arad-Banitu has delivered [it] to Esangila. In the presence of Bel-usat, son of Alpaya, the royal bodyguard, [and of] Nadin, son of Marduk-zer-ibni. Month XI, day 18, year 10 [of] Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon.” The tablet is dated to the 10th year of Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon (595 BC) or 8 years before the siege of Jerusalem. Many Biblical scholars have now realized that the name mentioned in the tablet is the same name as contained in Jeremiah, chapter 39. VK: And that’s pretty remarkable. As we’ve said frequently during this series one test for whether a historical record is accurate is whether the record gets the names and titles right. And it is one thing for a writer to get the big names right. But it is even better when the writer gets the names of lesser officials right. Everyone remembers Julius Caesar and Alexander the Great. But how many people would know who was on their staff. How many would remember the people who were, in essence, just supporting actors. RD: Yet, over and over again, we find that from the Bible that the Bible writers get even the small details right. In this case the Bible describes Nebo-Sarsekim as being a “chief officer” of the king of Babylon. The tablet from the British museum tells us that Nebo-Sarsekim was the “chief eunuch.” That title doesn’t mean anything in our society but in that day the chief eunuch would have been a very important Babylonian official. It would take too much time today to describe why that was true but we can get some idea of his importance and wealth by noting that the tablet indicates he gave gold to the temple that was worth over $50,000 today. VK: And how many people today can afford to give away $50,000? It’s little wonder that someone kept a receipt of the donation. And by the grace of God we now have that receipt as additional evidence that the book of Jeremiah wasn’t written hundreds of years or even decades after the events it records. An eyewitness of the events could record details accurately. A writer at a far distant time wouldn’t have reason to include the names of lesser officials. By that time the relevance and value of such people would have faded into the distant past. RD: Right. The book of Jeremiah contains lessons that would have been important for the people of his day – and for us today. Jeremiah warned his people about the dangers of idolatry. An idol is anything we value more than God and lots of us have things that we value more than our relationship with God. Jeremiah was a genuine prophet of God and we can be sure of that because prophecies he passed along to his people came true. And today we’ve only mentioned a couple of those. There are a great many more that time precludes us from discussing in these brief episodes. At Anchored by Truth our purpose is to help people understand that the Bible is the inspired word of God. Archeological finds like the tablet we’ve talked about point to that fact. The history in the Bible is reliable and the Bible contains a large body of fulfilled prophecies. Human beings can write accurate history but only a supernatural God can provide knowledge to His people of events that won’t occur for decades or centuries. VK: And that is what we are illustrating in this episode and in this series. Archeological discoveries have repeatedly supported the history contained in the Bible. And that accurate history tells us that the Biblical authors were eyewitnesses to most of the history they record. So, the times indicated by their place in history tells us their prophecies were given far before their fulfillment. This sounds like a great time to pray. Today let’s listen to a prayer that our children who are in school and many of them facing tests. Most of us have put such tests far behind us but it always appropriate for us to help the next generation as they walk the path behind us. It is also appropriate for us to ensure that just as we care about their formal education we also take care to pass along our faith in our Lord Christ Jesus. ---- PRAYER FOR TAKING A TEST (RANNI) VK: We’d like to remind our audience that a lot of our radio episodes are linked together in series of topics so if they missed any episodes or if they just want to hear one again, all of these episodes are available on your favorite podcast app. To find them just search on “Anchored by Truth by Crystal Sea Books.” If you’d like to hear more, try out crystalseabooks.com where “We’re not perfect but our Boss is!” (Bible Quote from the New International Version) Jeremiah, Chapter 39, verses 1 through 3, New International Version New archaeological find affirms Old Testament historicity (creation.com)

In Daniel chapter 8, Daniel has a vision, astonishing in its specificity, of the future destruction of the Medo-Persian empire by the Greeks under Alexander the Great. The post Daniel Episode 9: The Vision of the Ram and the Goat appeared first on Two Journeys.

In Daniel chapter 8, Daniel has a vision, astonishing in its specificity, of the future destruction of the Medo-Persian empire by the Greeks under Alexander the Great. The post Daniel Episode 9: The Vision of the Ram and the Goat appeared first on Two Journeys.

In Daniel chapter 8, Daniel has a vision, astonishing in its specificity, of the future destruction of the Medo-Persian empire by the Greeks under Alexander the Great. The post Daniel Episode 9: The Vision of the Ram and the Goat appeared first on Two Journeys.

Scripture Reading: Acts 8:1-25 And Saul agreed completely with killing him.Now on that day a great persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were forced to scatter throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria. 2 Some devout men buried Stephen and made loud lamentation over him. 3 But Saul was trying to destroy the church; entering one house after another, he dragged off both men and women and put them in prison.4 Now those who had been forced to scatter went around proclaiming the good news of the word. 5 Philip went down to the main city of Samaria and began proclaiming the Christ to them. 6 The crowds were paying attention with one mind to what Philip said, as they heard and saw the miraculous signs he was performing. 7 For unclean spirits, crying with loud shrieks, were coming out of many who were possessed, and many paralyzed and lame people were healed. 8 So there was great joy in that city.9 Now in that city was a man named Simon, who had been practicing magic and amazing the people of Samaria, claiming to be someone great. 10 All the people, from the least to the greatest, paid close attention to him, saying, “This man is the power of God that is called ‘Great.'” 11 And they paid close attention to him because he had amazed them for a long time with his magic. 12 But when they believed Philip as he was proclaiming the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they began to be baptized, both men and women. 13 Even Simon himself believed, and after he was baptized, he stayed close to Philip constantly, and when he saw the signs and great miracles that were occurring, he was amazed.14 Now when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them. 15 These two went down and prayed for them so that they would receive the Holy Spirit. 16 (For the Spirit had not yet come upon any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.) 17 Then Peter and John placed their hands on the Samaritans, and they received the Holy Spirit.18 Now Simon, when he saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles' hands, offered them money, 19 saying, “Give me this power too, so that everyone I place my hands on may receive the Holy Spirit.” 20 But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you because you thought you could acquire God's gift with money! 21 You have no share or part in this matter because your heart is not right before God! 22 Therefore repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that he may perhaps forgive you for the intent of your heart. 23 For I see that you are bitterly envious and in bondage to sin.” 24 But Simon replied, “You pray to the Lord for me so that nothing of what you have said may happen to me.”25 So after Peter and John had solemnly testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they started back to Jerusalem, proclaiming the good news to many Samaritan villages as they went.Main ThemesSaul—An IntroductionLuke introduces Saul at the end of chapter 7. Spoiler alert: Saul is the man that becomes the Apostle Paul—one of the central figures of the New Testament. So, we should spend a few minutes thinking about him.Luke introduces Saul like he does Barnabas, initially as a minor character to acclimate the reader. Nevertheless, we should ask, why would Saul be present during Stephen's trial before the Sanhedrin?Although we cannot know for sure, the most likely explanation is that Saul of Tarsus was a member of the radical wing of the Hellenist synagogue mentioned in Acts 6:9. Perhaps Paul was even one of those Jews who unsuccessfully challenged Stephen (see Acts 6:10).We are also told that the witnesses who testified against Stephen “laid their cloaks at the feet of a young man named Saul.” This probably symbolizes recognition of Saul as a leader. This is surprising because Saul is described as young. We will discuss this more in a minute. First, let's see what more we can learn about Saul from Paul's letters.Paul claims to be a Pharisee (Philippians 3: 5). Pharisees existed exclusively or almost exclusively in Israel, especially in Jerusalem. At the same time, his letters reveal comfort with Greek and thorough familiarity with the Septuagint. For one who spent enough time in Israel to be a Pharisee, this Greek aptitude also suggests an educated and hence economically stable family in urban Jerusalem. He could either be from a Diaspora Jewish family that settled in Jerusalem, be an aristocratic Pharisee like Gamaliel (whose family taught Greek), or both.The portrait of Saul as zealous for the law to the point of persecuting the church perfectly fits Paul's frequent summary of his preconversion past. Paul also tells us he “was advancing in Judaism beyond many of [his] contemporaries” (Galatians 1:14). Partly, this was probably because he studied under the esteemed teacher Gamaliel (Acts 22:3). Nevertheless, the Acts narrative makes clear that Saul's strategy regarding competing sects is quite different to his teacher's. (This was not unusual in the ancient world. Wealthy families would send their children to study with renown teachers without expecting that the children would adopt all the teacher's beliefs.)As I mentioned above, Saul is “young.” What does this mean? Scholars differ on the precise sense of the term, and for good reason: various ancient sources employ it differently. Some sources define it as anyone from 24 to 40 years of age, others, ages twenty-one to twenty-eight; yet the term could also be applied to someone under twenty. Some Jewish pietists felt twenty was the age when a youth could discern morality on his own. For the rabbis and presumably most Jews, personal moral accountability began especially around age thirteen.Given Saul's role here, he is probably not a young adolescent merely beginning studies with Gamaliel or some other teacher. Instead, he has probably finished his studies. I think we can safely speculate Saul was somewhere in his mid-twenties to very early thirties.Achieving leadership at his age would be difficult, since those who were young might have trouble gaining respect (in Israel and elsewhere). Young men were expected to have some limitations, for example, Classical Athens considered those below thirty to be young and hence easily misled and ineligible to sit in the city council. Nevertheless, exceptions were sometimes appropriate, and some young men were allowed to lead. This could result in self-assurance on the part of the youth and envy and animosity on the part of other members of the community.That the most violent zeal would be associated with a young man would not surprise ancient hearers (or today's readers). This zeal could be used by the older leaders. Some elders might have allowed the younger hotheads to take care of details, while the elders maintained their own dignity.Chapter 8—IntroductionChapters 6 and 7 focus on Stephen, one of the seven so-called deacons. Chapter 8 focuses on another one of these leaders: Philip. Stephen lays the groundwork by teaching that God is not bound to the sacred land or the temple. Philip implements the vision by evangelizing Samaritans and the first fully Gentile convert, an African official.Recall the words of Jesus at the very beginning of Acts, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the farthest parts of the earth” (Acts 1:8). Philip reaches both Samaritans and a representative from the “ends of the earth.” (Geographically, Philip advances the gospel north to Samaria and south to Africans.)Persecution and ScatteringSaul persecutes the church harshly. The effect of the persecution, however, is the dispersing of the church, fulfilling Acts 1:8 more fully but in a manner undoubtedly not expected by the apostles. This outcome testifies to God's sovereign activity even through opposition. Let's consider these points further.Saul's persecution of the church is undoubtedly historical. Paul himself admits participation in violent persecution of Christians, mentioning it regularly in his letters (1 Cor 15:9; Gal 1:13; Phil 3:6).The persecution has the effect of scattering “all” except the apostles. A major interpretive crux in this passage is what Luke means by “all.” Few scholars take “all” literally, and most assume that the object of the persecution was the Hellenists. This proposal is also unlikely. If only the Hellenists were scattered, saying “all the church” is an unusual way to specify this. Moreover, this view is based on an incorrect (and now outdated) assumption that Hebrews and Hellenists had large theological differences regarding the temple.So what does “all” mean? “All the church” is surely hyperbole, which is a typical use of the word “all” by Luke (e.g., Luke 1:6; 2:1; 5:17; Acts 1:1). Nevertheless, it clearly conveys the idea that a large number of Christians left Jerusalem. There is no indication that any particular group of Christians was more prone to flee. (We could speculate that more Hellenist Christians left Israel than other Christians. The story focuses on Hellenists moving to the Diaspora. Moreover, Hellenists may have had more connections outside Israel, making the move easier.)We should also ask, why are the apostles explicitly excepted from the scattering? Maybe Saul avoids persecuting the apostles because of his teacher Gamaliel's words in their favor (recall Acts 5). Maybe Saul respected them as miracle-working men. Both of these proposals seem unlikely because in the ancient world ringleaders would be persecuted first. The more likely explanation is the apostles remained and went “underground.” (Notice the text does not say the apostles escaped persecution. It only says the apostles remained in Jerusalem.)Sometimes we forget the sacrifice made even by the Christians who fled. Some of them would have abandoned property, probably permanently as it could have been deemed legally abandoned or been confiscated. Confiscation was often concomitant with other criminal sentences.Saul persecuted believers from house to house. Homes were viewed as private. Persecuting someone at home was more grievous than public arrest. Persecuting someone at home intruded upon the domestic sphere, associated with women. In the ancient world, women were less often punished than men, but exceptions were made, including times they were killed for their husbands' rebellion.The term used to describe Saul's persecuting activity was a strong term that could apply to torture, military devastation, or outrages.Mourning and Burying StephenWith all this in mind, we should notice the courage of those who bury Stephen. Helping a prisoner or otherwise identifying with a condemned person could be dangerous. The fact that Stephen's burial was allowed is not surprising. For Jew and Gentile alike, to be left unburied was a horrific fate that was rarely imposed upon anyone. Jews did not believe in withholding burial for any circumstances. It contradicted their law (Deuteronomy 21: 23). However, the fact that Stephen's death was allowed to be mourned is surprising. Jewish tradition, at least as we know it from later evidence, did not permit open mourning for those executed by approval of a Jewish court. If that later evidence is representative of Stephen's time, then the open mourning is evidence that the Sanhedrin did not intend to execute Stephen immediately. It was an unofficial lynching that ended his life.God's Use of PersecutionSaul's persecution of the church lead to Philip's ministry and that of untold scattered believers. Saul was a vessel of God before he was ever Paul, though an unwitting agent who merited destruction. (In the Old Testament, God used Assyria and Babylon as his “clubs” to punish the wicked, although Assyria and Babylon were also wicked and were eventually judged.)Scattering from Jerusalem as a result of Stephen's persecution proved a major factor in spreading the Jesus movement. Nevertheless, this was probably unexpected for the apostles and early church. As we have discussed throughout Acts, the Old Testament prophesied that through Israel all the nations would be blessed. But early Jewish Christians probably guessed that Gentile nations would be drawn to Israel's exalted glory after it accepted its Messiah. Instead, as we can see in retrospect, God's plan was accomplished through Israel's rejection of its Messiah.A Samaritan TownPhilips goes to a Samaritan town or, as our translation puts it, “the main city of Samaria.” As the NET translators acknowledge, the word “main” is not in the text—they provide it for clarity. Moreover, the authenticity of the definite article “the” is debated. So, the text either reads “the city of Samaria” or “a city of Samaria.” The NET translators think the city described is Sebaste.The main city of Samaria most likely refers to the principal city of Samaria, rebuilt by Herod the Great as Sebaste in honor of Augustus . . . . This is the best option if the article before “city” is taken as original. If the reading without the article is taken as autographic, then another city may be in view: Gitta, the hometown of Simon Magus according to Justin Martyr . . . .Most scholars reject the Sebaste proposition. Luke always uses “Samaria” for the region of the Samaritan people and Sebaste was a Gentile city.SamaritansThe significance of Philip's activity in Samaria this will be lost on us if we do not discuss who were the Samaritans. As one website explains:After King Solomon ruled over the Israelites—God's people—the unwise actions of his son Rehoboam in the tenth century BC led to a schism in which the kingdom was split into the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah, each with its own king.Both kingdoms devolved into corruption and sin, despite repeated warnings from prophets sent by God. Thus, God warned, they would be overtaken by conquerors. The northern kingdom fared worse than the southern kingdom, with a long line of wicked rulers. It didn't help that the temple, where God's people were to worship, was located in the southern kingdom. In 721 B.C., the northern kingdom of Israel fell to the Assyrians. Many of the people of Israel were led off to Assyria as captives, but some remained in the land and intermarried with foreigners planted there by the Assyrians. These half-Jewish, half-Gentile people became known as the Samaritans.Because of their shared heritage, Samaritans worshipped the same God as Jews and shared roughly the same Pentateuch (the first five books of the Old Testament). Also because of this shared heritage, Samaritans were not Jews but were not Gentiles either. For example, Josephus once refers to them as Jewish apostates. A major point of contention between Samaritans and Jews concerned their respective holy sites. Samaritans regarded Gerizim as the holiest of mountains, not Jerusalem. The Samaritan temple on Mount Gerizim was destroyed in 128 B.C.It is this proximity yet distinctiveness between the two groups that fueled competition and animosity. Jewish people did not think highly of Samaritans and did not trust them. Jewish tradition indicates that hostilities had begun immediately after some Jews returned from the Babylonian exile. A story goes that Samaritans convinced Romans to prevent Jews from rebuilding the temple in Hadrian's reign. The hostilities reached a boiling point when, according to a Jewish report, some Samaritans in the early first century defiled the Jerusalem temple one night with human bones. This provided the reason for Jews prohibiting Samaritans' attendance at the Jerusalem Passover.Samaritans' very insistence to be descendants of Israel rendered their temple all the more suspect to Jews. Some Jews extended more leeway to Gentiles, but if Samaritans were truly Jews, then they should worship nowhere else but the temple.Keep this in mind when you read that Philip proclaimed Christ to them. You mean, without serious catechism first? Without teaching them and requiring them to acknowledge the true temple? The true Judaism? The true people of God? To embrace Samaritans “as they were” was to agree not to make the temple or Jerusalem—the cornerstones of the Jewish faith—matters of division.To add further shock and scandal, Samaritans were baptized! Why is this surprising? Recall from our prior discussions of baptism, that despite the many water purification rituals practiced by Jews, full-immersion baptism was reserved for proselyte Gentiles. The early church, following the footsteps of John the Baptist, seems to have repurposed this ritual to signify full conversion and acceptance into the Christian faith—even when coming from Judaism. Because Samaritans were already circumcised (remember, they were not Gentiles), Jewish baptism would have been inappropriate for them. So, this is Christian baptism that is in view. What we have here is Philip welcoming Samaritans to the true faith by baptism without requiring Samaritans' confession of loyalty to the Jerusalem temple versus their heretical allegiance to Mount Gerizim. Philip successfully evangelized Samaritans with the good news of the kingdom and Jesus Christ.Samaritans Expected a MessiahWould the idea of a Christ-figure make sense to Samaritans?Samaritans may have heard Philip's preaching in terms of their own traditions of the Taheb—the Samaritan concept most equivalent to the Jewish Messiah. Yet, these two concepts were not the same. Samaritans did not speak of a Davidic Messiah or of an anointed, messianic agent but of the Taheb, the “Restorer.” He would be like Moses. He would rule. He would restore the era of divine favor that had ended after Moses.The text does not indicate that Philip corrected the Samaritan tradition. Perhaps the text is simply omitting those discussions for the sake of brevity. But, considering the vehement differences between Jews and Samaritans, one might conclude that Philip did not attempt to convince the Samaritans about the Jewish concept of Messiah. Instead, Philip may have repurposed their expectation of a Restorer to explain Christ. If so, this has missiological implications.Miracles and ExorcismsAs we have read in Acts about other bold proclaimers of the gospel, Philip performed miracles. We are told he healed many paralyzed and lame people. Philip probably healed other conditions too, but cases of paralysis were the most dramatic and noteworthy examples.Philip also performed exorcisms. Ancients accepted the possibility of exorcisms, as do many people today. The “loud shouts” of the unclean spirits fit Jesus' experience.As Jesus stepped ashore, a certain man from the town met him who was possessed by demons. For a long time this man had worn no clothes and had not lived in a house, but among the tombs. When he saw Jesus, he cried out, fell down before him, and shouted with a loud voice, “Leave me alone, Jesus, Son of the Most High God! I beg you, do not torment me!” Luke 8:27-28Exorcisms feature in stories from the early church. For example, Irenaeus attests that many nonbelievers in his day became Christians after experiencing successful exorcisms. Exorcisms also feature prominently in modern day stories. For example, John Wesley (the co-founder of the Methodist movement) was reported to have cast out demons from those involuntarily possessed, yielding deliverance. Pentecostal and charismatic churches report this kind of activity constantly. Many missiologists do as well. Surely some of these exorcism reports are false, but almost as certainly some are true. The Bible undeniably speaks of spiritual realities.The Holy Spirit In a rather strange turn of events, the Samaritans “accept the word” (Acts 8:14) and are baptized (Acts 8:12), yet they do not receive the Holy Spirit. Particularly in the letters of Paul (but, truly, in all other New Testament author's letters), conversion and receiving the Spirit are simultaneous if not synonymous. Was the Samaritans' conversion defective? If so, the text does not even hint as much. At the same time, we must grapple with the fact that Peter and John travel together to Samaria to convey the Holy Spirit. Before we get deep into pneumatology, let's acknowledge what seems evident in the text.The apostles and church in Jerusalem seem compelled to certify that the propagation of the Jesus movement to Samaritans is genuine. This may have been for the benefit of Samaritans but also (and perhaps particularly) for the Jerusalem church. Is God acting outside of Israel? Only one way to find out.I think we can also say with confidence that the text makes clear that the Holy Spirit is of paramount importance to “complete the mission.” God's ratification of his kingdom and promises is the Holy Spirit.Now to the controversy. For whatever the reason, the Spirit is apparently received subsequent to conversion in the Samaritan story. This has occasioned considerable discussion. Historically, various groups have advocated a second experience of the Spirit, often citing this passage, including Anglo-Catholics and Catholics with their views of confirmation; Puritan and Reformed Sealers; Wesleyan and Holiness groups; and classical Pentecostals. Yet, most Christians would agree that the Holy Spirit is received, at least in some sense, at conversion or baptism.In Acts, we see both a reception of the Spirit at conversion and a later, empowering reception of the Spirit.I will not attempt to settle the debate. Instead, I will point out a few things that I think are worthy of consideration. Suggesting that the Samaritan conversion was incomplete until they were visited by apostles is a hard position to hold. One must claim that a person can embrace God's message joyfully, believe, and be baptized yet require the imposition of apostolic hands to produce genuine conversion. (I cannot think of a single Christian denomination that believes in laying of hands for conversion.) Moreover, the apostles accept the Samaritans' conversion instead of rebaptizing them. There is no hint in the text that the conversion is defective or incomplete. (Some argue that initially when Samaritans “believe,” it only means intellectual assent. But Luke does not normally use the word believe in that sense.) Finally, we should not assume that all spiritual realities must behave according to unbendable norms. For example, people who lie to the church today do not drop dead like Ananias and Sapphira. Modern preachers do not walk the streets healing the lame and paralyzed. Perhaps the granting of the Spirit to Samaritans was delayed for a specific an unusual purpose. The fact that Luke mentions that Samaritans did not receive the Spirit at baptism suggests that was the normal expectation. The most common and plausible explanation is that God waited for apostolic ratification to maintain the unity of the Jerusalem and Samaritan churches.As a side note, notice the exciting challenge presented by telling true stories. Other New Testament writers address the Spirit theologically, always connecting the Spirit to conversion. Luke recounts not simply the theological ideal but the experience of early Christians. He is the only New Testament writer to do so. Therefore we should weigh his narrative seriously. (I am not suggesting Luke's superiority to other New Testament writers or that there is contradiction between them. What I am saying is that when we address a topic in abstract terms, we might unintentionally convey a sense of simplicity and uniformity that is not consistent with experience.)As a closing note, modern theological discussion about timing can distract us from hearing Luke's own theological emphasis. Few expected the Spirit to be conferred widely in this age, still fewer through these human agents, and—worst of all—Jewish people had no expectation that this would happen among Samaritans!Simon the SorcererIn chapter 8, we read of a man named Simon. “Simon, who had been practicing magic and amazing the people of Samaria, claim[ed] to be someone great” (Acts 8:9). The narrative presents Simon as similar to Philip in many ways. Here is a chart provided in Craig Keener's commentary on Acts: Simon and Philip are similar yet very different, much like a hero and villain in a comic book. The key contrast between Simon and Philip is that Simon claims to be someone great, seeking his own status, while Philip acts only “in the name of Jesus.”Such contrast between true and false sign-workers evoke biblical portraits of Moses confronting Pharaoh's magicians and Elijah confronting the false prophets on Mount Carmel.When Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh, they did so, just as the Lord had commanded them—Aaron threw down his staff before Pharaoh and his servants, and it became a snake. Then Pharaoh also summoned wise men and sorcerers, and the magicians of Egypt by their secret arts did the same thing. Each man threw down his staff, and the staffs became snakes. But Aaron's staff swallowed up their staffs. Yet Pharaoh's heart became hard, and he did not listen to them, just as the Lord had predicted. Exodus 7:10-13Elijah approached all the people and said, “How long are you going to be paralyzed by indecision? If the Lord is the true God, then follow him, but if Baal is, follow him!” But the people did not say a word. Elijah said to them: “I am the only prophet of the Lord who is left, but there are 450 prophets of Baal. Let them bring us two bulls. Let them choose one of the bulls for themselves, cut it up into pieces, and place it on the wood. But they must not set it on fire. I will do the same to the other bull and place it on the wood. But I will not set it on fire. Then you will invoke the name of your god, and I will invoke the name of the Lord. The god who responds with fire will demonstrate that he is the true God.” All the people responded, “This will be a fair test.” 1 Kings 18:21-24Modern people (Christians included) may be surprised to find out that encounters like that of Philip and Simon are still very much reported today. In fact, Missiologists often cite the relevance of “power encounters” for reaching cultures that affirm superhuman powers.Magic vs MiraclesBy the way, how do we distinguish magic from miracles? I think we often read Simon's story and some similar tales in the Bible but do not stop to ask this question. The difference is not always clear, but we can point to some distinctions. Magic generally seeks to manipulate spirits or forces whereas religion and miracles do not. Magic is generally used for selfish purposes, although miracles (such as those of healing) could be accused of the same. Nevertheless, the broad distinction remains, i.e., whether people believed that the power was used for personal advantage or the common good. (This might evident as a practical matter: did the sorcerer or miracle-worker expect payment?) Ancient peoples often used another criterion: supernatural activity in alien groups was magic, while supernatural activity in their own group was not. This last subject standard to differentiate magic and miracles is not particularly useful.I think the first distinction is the most important: is the supernatural event the result of an “adept” who is able to manipulate the world, including its spiritual and divine realities. If it works like a science of the supernatural, in which specific requirements must be met to achieve a result, then it probably falls under the category of magic. The socioreligious context is helpful in determining whether a supernatural event is magic or not. Recall the miracles of Jesus. The sociocultural context was Jesus preaching about the one true God and his imminent kingdom. The context makes clear that the miracles are brought upon by God—neither nature nor God are being manipulated into bringing upon the supernatural events.We should also note that ancient peoples often recognized magicians as charlatans. Sadly, we often speaks of ancient peoples as naïve idiots who believed any superstition. This was not the case.One last point on magic: how did Jews view magic? In Acts 8:9 and 11, Luke seems to employ a pejorative word for magic, associated with Medo-Persian astrologers and diviners who were often considered quacks or viewed negatively. The word also ties to the story of Daniel 2, which portrays these magicians as fraudulent or powerless. Nevertheless, some Jews had embraced magic—even if magic was condemned in the Old Testament and by many rabbis. Jewish sources sometimes associated magic with fallen angels or Satan. Some rabbis embraced magic as the science of their era.Simon's WickednessI think a key fact to understand the interaction between Philip, the apostles, and Simon, is what exactly Simon claimed to be. Simon claimed to be someone “great” (Acts 8:9). This word by no means necessarily implies a divine title, but it is consistent with one. We gain more insight from the people calling him “the power of God that is called ‘Great'” (Acts 8:10). Potentially, this could be translated as “the Great Power of God.” So, many scholars believe that Simon was not simply claiming to be someone great in a generic sense but to be divine.One could retort: surely Samaritans were not calling Simon divine. They were monotheistic! Yes, Samaritans were monotheistic and intensely religious. However, they were also hellenized, a hallmark of which was religious syncretism. By this point in their history, Samaritans may have assimilated other deities and viewed Simon as one of them (or at least an avatar of one of them).Before we review Simon's falling from grace, figuratively speaking, let's remember his believing into grace.Even Simon himself believed, and after he was baptized, he stayed close to Philip constantly, and when he saw the signs and great miracles that were occurring, he was amazed. Acts 8:13Perhaps Simon was not converted to begin with. Nevertheless, we are told he “believed,” no different (at least in language) than the other Samaritans. How are we to make sense of this? We could consider a recurring theme in the gospels, particularly in John: faith in response to signs is only the most basic level of faith. Persevering faith is the kind of faith that really matters. We might also recall the parable of the sower.Listen! A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. Other seeds fell on rocky ground where they did not have much soil. They sprang up quickly because the soil was not deep. But when the sun came up, they were scorched, and because they did not have sufficient root, they withered. Other seeds fell among the thorns, and they grew up and choked them. But other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundred times as much, some sixty, and some thirty. The one who has ears had better listen! Matthew 13:3b-9“So listen to the parable of the sower: When anyone hears the word about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches what was sown in his heart; this is the seed sown along the path. The seed sown on rocky ground is the person who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy. But he has no root in himself and does not endure; when trouble or persecution comes because of the word, immediately he falls away. The seed sown among thorns is the person who hears the word, but worldly cares and the seductiveness of wealth choke the word, so it produces nothing. But as for the seed sown on good soil, this is the person who hears the word and understands. He bears fruit, yielding a hundred, sixty, or thirty times what was sown.” Matthew 13:18-23Regardless of whether Simon was a true believer or not, upon the apostles visit to Samaria, Simon somehow “saw” that people received the Spirit, and this reception was dramatic enough to provoke his desire for the gift. Simon offered them money for the gift. I think everyone, at a gut level, recoils at the thought. Should the gift of communion with the one and only good and gracious God be something to buy and sell? Absolutely not. It is inconceivable.At a worldview level, Simon and the apostles are at odds. Simon seeks a power he can manipulate and that could lead to personal advantage. Philip and the apostles act only on behalf of (in the name of) God. The apostles will tolerate no syncretism and chastise Simon severely. They tell Simon that anyone who thinks he can purchase “God's gift” fundamentally misunderstands God. Simon is urged to repent—to truly convert. Justin Martyr and Irenaeus, early church fathers, claimed to know Simon's fate. According to them, Simon did not convert.As the sin of Ananias could have marred the reputation and effectiveness of the early church if not confronted and terminated, Simon presented a similar threat. Simon responds with a request for prayer. There are similar scenes in the Old Testament in which those confronted with judgement asked a godly man to pray for them, the hope being that God would hear a holy man's prayer. At least once the prayer was effective:When the king heard the prophet's message that he had cried out against the altar in Bethel, Jeroboam took his hand from the altar and pointed it saying, “Seize him!” Then the hand that he had pointed at him stiffened up, and he could not pull it back. Meanwhile the altar split open, and the ashes poured from the altar in fulfillment of the sign the prophet had given with the Lord's message. The king responded to the prophet, “Seek the favor of the Lord your God and pray for me, so that my hand may be restored.” So the prophet sought the Lord's favor and the king's hand was restored as it was at first. 1 Kings 13:4-6We do not have Peter's response to Simon's request for prayer. However, Simon's issue does not seem like the type of problem that someone else's prayer could “fix.”In Acts 8:25, concluding Luke's section on the Samaritan mission, the apostles follow Philip's example. This makes clear that salvation has truly gone out to Samaria.

God abandoned the Jewish people because of their sins, resulting in their desolation. He does this to show that He is holy and dwells in a high and holy place. - SERMON TRANSCRIPT - This morning as I was thinking about preaching this text, I decided to write a quick two-page startup guide to today's sermon. Have you ever had a complex piece of equipment and you get a sheet of paper that gives you that quick startup guide? I thought it might be helpful for today's sermon. This is my version of the quick startup guide. I hope it's helpful. One of the things that I marvel at of the Word of God is the division of the Word of God into two categories, milk and meat. I marvel at the simplicity of the Word of God, and I marvel at the complexity of the Word of God. The essential doctrines of the Bible are so simple, a child can understand them and receive forgiveness of sins in a right relationship with God by understanding the milk, but there's more in the Bible than just milk. There is also meat or complexity. My approach to pulpit ministry is to sequentially go through books of the Bible and take whatever's there. As we come this morning to Mark 13:14 and the phrase, “abomination of desolation," we come to what I consider to be a very deep and complex topic. I love preaching to you. I love preaching in this church because you love the Word of God and are willing to follow where it leads. I don't ever get any pushback on asking much of my hearers. This morning I'm going to ask much of you, so I am leading you into a quick startup guide. The first thing I want to say to you is, as we resume our study in the Gospel of Mark, I'd like to ask you to turn to the Gospel of Matthew. I know what I'm doing, I understand that we're in Mark. The problem is a lot of the details that I want to get, as I explain the abomination of desolation, come from Matthew. Instead of having you flip back and forth, the passages are essentially the same, but there's some phrases and there's some lead-up that is only found in Matthew. So I'm going to ask you, as you return to the Gospel of Mark, to turn to the Gospel of Matthew. Our focus this morning is on one phrase, “the abomination of desolation.” The context of this complex phrase, “abomination of desolation,” is Jesus' prediction of the destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem. He said, "Not one stone will be left on another," and what followed, the private inquiry on the part of Jesus' disciples to ask Him about that and then Jesus' complex answer recorded for us in Matthew 24 and 25 and in Mark 13 on the Mount of Olives, sometimes called the Olivet Discourse because it was on the Mount of Olives. It falls into the theological category of eschatology or the study of end-time things. I believe that Jesus traces out the events between his First and Second Coming in some very helpful detail, and it's good for us to walk through that. It's a prophetic roadmap of what was still to come when Jesus was alive, and I believe very important for me to say to you now, what is still to come for us as well. Not everyone believes that, but I do. In Mark 13:5-13 and in Matthew 24:4-14, we have some general description of the two millennia between the First and Second Coming, and the centerpiece is the spread of the gospel to all nations. The gospel will be preached in the whole world as a testimony of all nations and then the end will come, so — the work of the gospel between the First and Second Coming of Christ, attended by great suffering on the part of the messengers, persecution, difficulty, being arrested and brought before tribunals, et cetera. That is something that we've already seen. We get specifically then in Matthew 24:15, Mark 13:14, the focus on the destruction of the Temple and then signs that are unique to just that generation. Whereas, the overview that He gives in Mark 13:4-13 and also Matthew 24:4-14 is true of every generation there have been since Jesus ascended to heaven until now. As we venture now into the “abomination of desolation," we're speaking about events that are particular to a specific group of people who are going to experience some things that not everybody experiences. That's what we're trying to understand, the destruction of the temple and the phrase, “abomination of desolation”. That phrase comes from the prophet, Daniel, as Jesus says in the Gospel of Matthew, though He doesn't say it in Mark. Simply put, if you are living in Judea and Jerusalem at that point when the “abomination of desolation” is established, set up, et cetera, if we could put it simply— run for your lives. That's where we're going next week, God willing. I'm not going to get into “run for your lives.” Today, I'm effectively preaching on a phrase and a half sentence. "When you see the “abomination of desolation” spoken of by the prophet, Daniel, “let the reader understand” ... What? The answer is: run for your lives. The topic is essentially a sober one and a sad one. It's very, very difficult. As I give you this quick startup guide, we have to look at the phrase itself, “abomination of desolation.” I want you to understand that the essence of the desolation is a broken relationship with almighty God, an emptiness that comes from not having a right relationship with God and God's decision to withdraw Himself from His people, from Israel because of their sins. That's the essence of the desolation, but it's more complex than that. "The essence of the desolation is a broken relationship with almighty God, an emptiness that comes from not having a right relationship with God and God's decision to withdraw Himself from His people, from Israel because of their sins." It has earthly ramifications in the destruction of the Temple, the destruction of the city of Jerusalem by invading Gentile armies as a direct act of judgment from almighty God for their sins. It's a very sobering topic. The point of connection to us, though we are not Jews, though we don't live in Judea, in Jerusalem, the “abomination of desolation” is not on Earth right now. The point of connection to us is twofold. First of all, we need to understand, big picture, what God is doing in the universe, what God is doing with you. What is His whole purpose for creating everything? His whole purpose is a love relationship with you, with us, with His people. He wants an intimate love relationship with us. When we instead turn to idolatry, when we turn to wickedness, He withdraws. There's a desolation that comes from that, and you can be experiencing that desolation right now, that emptiness right now, though it doesn't specifically relate to the historical events of the “abomination of desolation.” It is something we experience whenever we sin, and God withdraws. It is also the terror of hell. The worst part of hell is that God is not there in any way to bless the people that are there. It's a place of utter darkness. It's a tragedy that we're talking about here, a desolation of the Jews and of Jerusalem. It's also part of that long and complex story of God's relationship with the Jewish people, the physical descendants of Abraham, a very complex story and heartbreaking for God. This is why Jesus wept over Jerusalem, because of these things that were going to happen. Though for us, we're somewhat removed from it. We should care about it because we should care about all people. We should care about the Jews. We should care about the story of God and the Jews, and we should realize, I believe, there's still more to come. That's vital, the phrase, “abomination of desolation.” I've talked briefly about desolation. I'm going to do the intro of the sermon on the topic of desolation in a moment. Abomination has to do fundamentally with idolatry and desecration. It has to do with wickedness in the place where there should be holiness. It's talking about a literal place of worship, a temple, a tabernacle and then a temple, a literal place that is then desecrated or defiled through idolatry and blasphemy and wickedness. That's what the phrase means, “abomination of desolation.” It comes from Daniel. So if we're going to do Daniel, I have to go over to Daniel and walk through it. Daniel is a very complex book. It's one of the most complex books in the Bible, and we have to roll up our sleeves to do that. Jesus urges us to work hard at this. He urges us right in the text when He says, "Let the reader understand." It's an odd aside. Jesus doesn't usually say that kind of thing. "When you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet, Daniel, let the reader understand." What He's saying is this isn't going to be easy. This isn't low-hanging fruit. You have to work at this to understand it. You have to work at Daniel. You have to work at the words to understand what this is about, but you need to know. What I'm going to argue is the “abomination of desolation” is not a one-off. I believe it's a regular pattern in God's relationship with the Jewish people. Again and again and again and again this has happened. I will argue in this sermon that it happens in five phases. This is where I risk many of you glazing over as we walk through those five phases. I'm asking you not to do that. But there are five different phases of the “abomination of desolation,” the dynamic of God withdrawing His active presence from a holy place, the Gentiles pouring in like a flood to destroy it. All of that is a judgment by God, so I believe that we need to pay attention. I also believe because I think the fifth and final phase hasn't happened yet, it's yet to come. Therefore, it will be relevant, if not for you, it'll be relevant for your kids and, if not for them, for your grandkids and, if not for them, for your great-grandkids, so you should care about this. We need to understand it. There's the startup guide. On July 21, 1969, Buzz Aldrin became the second human being to walk on the moon just moments after Neil Armstrong became the first. Aldrin stepped off the ladder of the lunar module and began walking around on that lunar landscape, feeling the somewhat weightlessness of the one-sixth gravitational pull and looking out at that eerie, strange lunar landscape. As he did, he uttered a famous phrase. He called it “magnificent desolation,” magnificent desolation. From a biblical point of view, those two are essentially a contradiction. There's an essential contradiction or irony to them. To God, there is nothing magnificent about emptiness. There's nothing magnificent about desolation. God created the universe, and it's amazing that the most common attribute of the physical universe that God made is its apparent emptiness. The lunar landscape was indeed desolate. It was desolate of life, of trees, of water, animals, birds, other human beings. It was crater-marked with centuries of asteroid assaults. It was empty, empty, empty. But still, it was there. You could walk on it, reach down and scoop up the lunar dust. The real desolation was outer space itself. C.S. Lewis talked about this in his classic, The Problem of Pain. This is what he wrote, "Not many years ago when I was an atheist, if anyone had asked me, 'Why do you not believe in God?' my reply would have run something like this. Look at the universe we live in. By far, the greatest part of it consists of empty space, completely dark and unimaginably cold. The bodies which move in this space are so few and so small in comparison with the space itself that even if every one of them were known to be crowded as full as it could hold with perfectly happy creatures, it would still be difficult to believe that life and happiness were more than a byproduct to the power that made the universe. Why would I be an atheist, I look at outer space and it's mostly empty, cold and empty.” Truly, the desolation of the universe is absolutely terrifying. The nearest star is 4.3 light years away from us. Between the solar system and that star is literally nothing." So for CS Lewis, the desolation of the universe made it difficult to believe in a God of love and light. I believe the irony of that phrase, “magnificent desolation,” biblically would be similar to a phrase like this, “beautiful darkness." Beautiful darkness. Biblically, there's nothing beautiful about darkness. God created the light and reveals Himself in light as it says in 1 John 1:5, "God is light and in Him there is no darkness at all." I would say, in a similar sense, God is fullness and in Him there's no emptiness or desolation at all. God did not create the universe to be empty or desolate. In Isaiah 45:18, it says, "For this is what the Lord says, He who created the heavens, He is God, He who fashioned and made the Earth. He founded it. He did not create it to be empty, but formed it to be inhabited. He says, 'I am the Lord, and there is no other.'" The Bible reveals the omnipresence and immensity of God, the omnipresence, the immensity of God. In Jeremiah 23, He says, "'Am I only a God nearby?' declares the Lord, 'and not a God far away? Can anyone hide in secret places so I cannot see Him?' declares the Lord. 'Do I not fill heaven and Earth?' declares the Lord.” God, therefore, is a full being who overflows His fullness to us as creatures so that we would drink of His fullness in a love relationship. He wants to fill every portion of the universe with His glory. He wants to fill every portion of your life with His glory. Most especially, God created sentient beings, angels and humans, to have an intimate love relationship with Him that we would know Him as He really is and see His glory and love Him with all of our hearts. But tragically, humanity has sinned and God is relationally distant from us. As the Bible says, "The wicked He knows from afar.” Yet, God has worked in redemptive history to draw near to us. The history of redemption is God coming back in to be close to sinners. He chose out a nation, the Jewish people, Abraham's descendants, to reveal that desire that God has to draw near and to have an intimate love relationship with sinful people to display this closeness. Central to that relationship with Israel was His establishment of a holy place, holy ground, so to speak. That idea began in Exodus 3 where Moses saw the burning bush and God said to him, "Take off your sandals for the place where you're standing is holy ground." Friends, what does that mean, “holy ground"? Especially when we consider what I've already said, the omnipresence of God, God fills heaven and Earth, what then is holy ground? I believe it is a location, a place where God chooses especially to reveal Himself relationally in His glory for the purpose of our relationship with Him. It's a place chosen, like the burning bush, where God shines in some unique way and attracts us into a relationship with Him. Jonathan Edwards put it this way, "God, considered with respect to His essence, is everywhere. He fills both heaven and Earth. But yet, He is said, in some respects, to be more especially in some places than in others. He was said of old to dwell in the land of Israel above all other lands and in Jerusalem above all other cities of that land and in the temple above all other buildings in that city and in the Holy of Holies above all other apartments in the temple and on the mercy seat over the Ark of the Covenant, above all other places in the Holy of Holies.” God specifically chose to reveal His unique presence with His people by a glory cloud that descended into the tabernacle where the Ark of the Covenant was to be housed. The glory cloud showed that that place had become holy ground, a sacred space, and that glory cloud revealed it. Later, the same thing happened when Solomon built his temple, and he said, "Even the highest heavens can't contain you. How much less this temple I've built?” Yet, despite all of that, God chose in His kindness and His goodness to appear in a cloud of glory and fill the Temple, as though God was there in some special way. But sadly, tragically, because of the sinfulness of the Jewish people, God withdrew His presence from them as was seen by Ezekiel the prophet when the glory cloud left or departed from the Temple. When God moved out, He left those places desolate. He left those places relationally empty. That's the nature of the desolation. That desolation symbolizes God's departing from His people, leaving us desolate, leaving us empty, apart from God. This sermon seeks to understand that desolation and how it relates to the destruction of Jerusalem and, indeed, to our salvation. The passage looks back at the prediction of Christ concerning the destruction of the temple, "Not one stone will be left on another." Why it happened, it wasn't an accident. It's something that God actually did in space and time. But also, I believe it looks ahead to a reenactment of it right before the Second Coming of Christ in this passage most clearly taught in 2 Thessalonians 2. That's why I believe there's not four phases of the abomination of desolation, but one yet to come. It hasn't happened yet. Look at the text again from Matthew 24. I could do it from Mark. They're almost identical except for some phrases. Matthew 24:15-22, "So when you see standing in the holy place the abomination that causes desolation spoken of through the prophet, Daniel, let the reader understand, then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let no one in the housetop go down to take anything out of the house. Let no one in the field go back to get his cloak. How dreadful it would be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers. Pray that your flight will not take place in the winter on the Sabbath for then there will be great distress unequal from the beginning of the world until now and never to be equaled again. If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive. But for the sake of the elect, those days will be shortened.” I. Key Eschatological Principle: “As it was …so it will be.” We're going to zero in and try to understand from the Book of Daniel the phrase, “abomination of desolation.” A key eschatological principle I'm giving, I'm going to give you two principles. Principle number one in Matthew 24:37, "As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man." To keep it simple, “as it was, so it will be.” That's recurring themes, things that happen and then happen again and happen again to teach some prophetic truth. “As it was, so it will be.” The second is Jesus' statement in Matthew 24:25, "Behold I have told you ahead of time.” God wants His people who read the Bible to know ahead of time what's going to happen. That's why I consider 2 Thessalonians 2 and also these passages to be important reading for Christians because I believe many of the terrifying events haven't happened yet. The protection that we're going to have, that we'll not be deceived by the Antichrist and his miracles and all of that drawn in, Jesus says very plainly is because He's told us ahead of time. We know what's coming. Forewarned is forearmed. Those are the basic eschatological principles. These things happen again and again. As it was in the days of Noah, so it will been the coming of the Son of Man. The things that happen right before the flood will be pictures of what will happen right before the Second Coming. We get these acted out— “types.” They're called “types”, prophetic actions in history. Things are acted out, like Abraham's near sacrifice of his son, Isaac, is a picture of the giving of Jesus Christ on the cross for our sins. So also the blood of the Passover lamb painted on the houses of the Jewish people, a picture of Christ's sacrifice for us. So also the Exodus itself, a rescue of the people from slavery and bondage, a picture of our deliverance from slavery to sin. These are the kinds of things that are acted out. God acts out history. He acts out prophecies in history. So also it is with the Temple and its desolation. As it was, so it will be. In Jesus' time, Daniel's prophecy had already, to some degree, come true in the Greek era between the time of Daniel and the time of Jesus. It had already come true. But Jesus said, "Yeah, but there's one more to come and then another beyond that." So there is the one with the Romans, and yet beyond it. He's already operating from that same principle— As it was, so it will be. The words of Daniel have yet more fulfillment yet to come, Jesus is saying, in His time. I'm saying that it's still to come, yet still. II. What is the “Abomination of Desolation”? Let's zero in on this phrase, “abomination of desolation.” If you're in Matthew, look back at Matthew 23 and you look at 37-39 after Jesus has given His sevenfold woe against the scribes and Pharisees who represent the Jewish nation, "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites," because of their rejection of Him and their hatred of Him and their plotting to kill Him and they will kill Him. Because of all that, He has turned away from the Jewish nation. Because they have rejected Him, He is rejecting them. He says very tragically in verses 37-39, Matthew 23, "Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing. Behold, your house is left to you desolate." That's an important word, isn't it? Look, “behold,” your house is desolate now. What do you mean? “The reason I say that is you will not see me again until you say, 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.’ Then Jesus left the temple.” The essence of the desolation is Jesus leaving physically, walking out of the Temple. Why is that significant? Remember in Ezekiel, the glory cloud, which symbolized the presence of God, left from the Temple. Jesus is the radiance of God's glory in the exact representation of His being. Jesus is a greater display of the glory of God than any cloud ever was. Because they have rejected Him, He is walking out, and He's not coming back. That means that that space is not sacred space anymore, it’s just a pile of stones. At that moment, the disciples came up and said, "Look, Teacher, what massive stones. What magnificent buildings." Right at that moment, Jesus said, "Do you see all these things? I tell you the truth. Not one stone here will be left on another. Every one will be thrown down." Not an accident. It's a judgment of God on the Jewish nation for their rebellion against Him, their hatred of His messengers, the prophets, and especially their hatred of the Son who was sent to them. The judgment is coming. As He's privately on the Mount of Olives, the disciples come to Him, Peter, John, James, and Andrew in particular come and ask Him, "When will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?" The threefold question is in Matthew, not in Mark. Those three questions woven together in Matthew 24 and 25, also Mark 13, constitute His answer. Three topics, when will these things happen, the destruction of the temple, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age? In their mind, they conflated all of them as though they're all at the same time, but we know now that they're not. The destruction of the Temple happened at least roughly two millennia before the Second Coming, which hasn't happened yet. The signs of the Coming which we're going to cover, God willing, in the next number of sermons in Mark 13, we'll talk about in detail. Those are yet to come in His discourse. We're zeroing in now in this phrase, “abomination of desolation.” A parallel in Luke helps us to understand. This is in Luke 21. Listen to these words very carefully. "When you see Jerusalem being surrounded by armies, you will know that its desolation is near." Do you see the link in Jesus' mind between Gentile armies invading and the desolation? That's how He thinks, Gentile armies invading and desolation. When you see, you know that Jerusalem's desolation is near. "Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let those in the city get out. Let those in the country not enter the city. For this is the time of punishment and fulfillment of all that has been written. How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers. There will be great distress in the land and wrath against this people that will fall by the sword and be taken as prisoners to all nations. Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles," listen, "until the times of the Gentiles has been fulfilled." That is essential reading for us to understand the “abomination of desolation.” Jerusalem is going to be destroyed by surrounding Gentile armies. He's talking about the circumstances of the destruction of the Temple and, indeed, of the city of Jerusalem in the year AD 70, about a generation after Jesus. He calls it the “times of the Gentiles." The physical desolation of Jerusalem comes after Christ has left it spiritually desolate. It involves military conquest by the Gentiles, specifically by the Roman legions, the most powerful military nation in history. The “abomination of desolation”, Mark 13:14 and Matthew 24:15, is at least about the destruction of the city of Jerusalem by the Romans. But I also believe that it will be an issue right before His coming at the end of the world. Then He said, "Let the reader understand." By that, He means the reader of Daniel. So now we have to roll up our sleeves and go back to Daniel and try to understand it. "Let the reader of Daniel understand." Let me just tell you something about the Book of Daniel. Daniel himself didn't understand it, not fully. Daniel himself didn't understand it. You say, "Well, what hope do we have?" Here's what I believe about the mysteries of Daniel. It's on a need-to-know basis, the more you need to know, the more you'll understand Daniel. If we are alive when the final “abomination of desolation” comes, you're going to understand aspects of Daniel that this congregation right now will not understand no matter how well I preach today. It's on a need-to-know basis. But there are levels of complexity and timing that Daniel wanted to know, but he couldn't understand because it wasn't for him. So it's complex. Daniel would often ask for insight, and sometime it would be given him, but other times he was told to seal up the vision for a future generation. Daniel 12:4, "But you, Daniel, close up and seal the words of the scroll until the time of the end." Close it up and seal it. In other words, Daniel, it's not for you. It's for the time of the end, for people who will live at the time of the end. There are portions of Daniel's prophecy that will only be fully intelligible to the generation that actually goes through it. Let's talk about where this phrase, “abomination of desolation," comes from. It actually is a repeated phrase in Daniel, it’s not just one time. The desolation comes again and again, this use of the word, “desolation.” Who is Daniel? Daniel was a Jewish prophet who lived in exile in Babylon after Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, had destroyed the city of Jerusalem, and had taken the Temple artifacts out and eventually destroyed the Temple. Daniel lived at that time, the time of Nebuchadnezzar and on down until the Medo-Persian empire, so roughly around the year 620 to 538 BC, somewhere in there. Anyway, that's what Wikipedia told me about when Daniel lived, I don't know. That’s about right, 600 to 500 BC. In Daniel chapter 8, it's the first time we have the phrase, “desolation.” In Daniel 8, Daniel sees a vision of Alexander the Great, a great king coming from the west from Greece, who will destroy the Persian empire, including the promised land. One of Alexander's successors will viciously persecute the Jewish nation, becoming extremely arrogant, making claims that reach up to heaven. Daniel is told that a huge number of his own people would be given over to this man because of their transgressions. This individual who makes arrogant boasts that reach up to heaven is a “type” or a picture of the Antichrist. He is not the Antichrist, but he's a type or picture of the mentality of Antichrist, an arrogant Gentile leader that blasphemes and makes claims that go beyond all proportion. This is predicted in Daniel 8. At one point in Daniel 8:13, he's asking for information. By the way, Alexander the Great's conquest happened about 200 years after Daniel died. So it was future for Daniel, but it's past for Jesus and for us. He's looking ahead to Alexander the Great about 200 years after Daniel would die. In Daniel 8:13, this is the first time that the word is used. "For how long is the vision concerning the regular burnt offering, the transgression that makes desolate and the giving over to the sanctuary and the host to be trampled underfoot." That's the first time we have that desolation. There's the sanctuary, the animal sacrifices, and desolation connected with that. That's Daniel 8:13. In Daniel 9, he rolls up his sleeves and really talks about the desolation. He talks about it a lot. Daniel 9 is the first saturated chapter on the concept of desolation. What happens is the prophet, Daniel, reads from the scroll of Jeremiah that the judgment on Jerusalem will last 70 years. The clock was ticking, and the time was drawing near. Daniel figures out, he's an old man by this point, hey, the time is coming near for God to rebuild Jerusalem and the Temple, so he prays toward Jerusalem three times a day for the rebuilding of Jerusalem and specifically rebuilding of the Temple. Why? Because the Temple is where animal sacrifice happened. That was the center of their religion, and they couldn't do it while there was no temple. He's praying and confessing the sins of his people, and he uses this phrase, “desolate.” He talks about the desolation of Jerusalem in verse 2. He talks about it again in Daniel 9:17-18, "For your own sake, Lord, make your face shine upon your sanctuary," that's the temple, "which is desolate. Oh, my God, incline your ear and hear. Open your eyes and see the desolation and the city that is called by your name." He’s praying about a desolate sanctuary and a desolate city. The Lord dispatches an angel to tell Daniel with amazing clarity about the 70 weeks of Daniel. That's a timetable about the coming of the Messiah, the Anointed One, about His death and the desolation that would follow His death. He says that after the 69th week, Daniel 9:26, "An Anointed One," that's Christ, "shall be cut off and have nothing [killed] "and the people of the prince who is to come," so that the Gentile ruler, "the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary.” There it is again. This Gentile ruler comes in to destroy the city and the sanctuary after the death of the Messiah. "Its end shall come with a flood and to the end there shall be war. Desolations are decreed." Friends, this is exactly the prediction Jesus made. After the Messiah's cut off, the Temple is going to be destroyed by the ruler who is to come. That's the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70 predicted in Daniel 9:26. But there's more to come, 9:27. It speaks of the final week, a seven-year period. The last stretch is seven years. The weeks are seven-year stretches that many believe refer to the final seven years of human history. Again, the concept of desolation figures prominently. Listen to Daniel 9:27, "And he" [the prince of the people that'll come, the wicked ruler] "shall make a strong covenant with many for one week. And for half of the week, he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering.” Sacrifice and offering's animal sacrifice. "And on a wing of abomination shall come one who makes desolate" [a person who makes desolate] "until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator." I told you this was meat and not milk. You're reading this and like, "What in the world is this even talking about? Daniel 9:26 talks about a Messiah who's cut off, killed, but then chapter 27 talks about animal sacrifice and desecrations. The concept is that a powerful and evil ruler will make a seven-year covenant concerning the sacrifices of the Temple and that in the middle of that period of seven years, he shall put an end to sacrifice offering in the Temple, and he shall, in some striking way, abominate or desecrate the Temple. But the end decreed by God shall be poured out on this evil person. Then in Daniel 11, the Lord reveals to Daniel the specific history of Israel under the dominion of Greek rulers that followed Alexander the Great. One of those Greek rulers who lived about a couple of centuries after Alexander, about the year 175 or so BC, was a man named Antiochus IV. He called himself Epiphanies, “the manifest one.” He thought he was a god. The Greeks were like this. Alexander thought he was a god. They had this kind of mentality. He thought of himself as a god, and he's there in Jerusalem. Daniel 11:31 predicts him. Again, this is centuries before it even happened. This is the amazing aspect of predictive prophecy. Daniel 11:31, "His armed forces will rise up to desecrate the temple fortress and will abolish the daily sacrifice. Then they will set up the abomination that causes desolation." There's the phrase exactly in Daniel 11:31. Finally, in Daniel chapter 12, the concept is mentioned once again, but this time it seems to be in connection with the end of the world and the eternal state of glory that the saints will enjoy. In Daniel 12:1, it mentions a great tribulation greater than any that Israel had ever endured. It also predicts the rising up of Michael, the great prince, the archangel who protects Israel. The chapter goes on to unfold the deliverance of Israel, the resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked, some to everlasting glory and others to everlasting shame. At the end of the chapter, the angel asks about the timetable for all of this. Daniel 12:8-12, "I heard, but I did not understand. Then I said, 'Oh my Lord, what will the outcome of these things be?' He said, 'Go your way, Daniel, for the words are shut up and sealed until the time of the end.'" There it is again. "Many shall purify themselves and make themselves white and be refined, but the wicked shall act wickedly and none of the wicked shall understand. But those who are wise shall understand. From the time that the regular burnt offering is taken away and the abomination that makes desolate is set up, there shall be 1,290 days. Blessed is he who waits and arrives at the 1,335 days." There's not a person on Earth who can tell us with absolute certainty what those days mean. 1,290 days, what is that? 1,335 days, what is that? I already told you, it’s on a need-to-know basis, and you don't need to know or you would know. Daniel didn't need to know and didn't know. But they're odd. The numbers are odd ... More later in Mark 13. The most heretical thing your pastor believes is that I think actually the people who are alive at the time of the Second Coming will be counting down days until He comes. So though we do not know the day or hour, they will. That's my own thought. If you disagree, that's fine. Then you tell me what the 1,290 days and the 1,335 days signify. It's in there for a reason, friends. Nothing's in there for nothing, and no one has ever been able to understand because, I told you, it's on a need-to-know basis. If you need to know, woe to you, it’s going to be a hard time. Jesus said, "If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive." That's how bad that time is going to be. It's a terrifying thing that He's talking about. That's Daniel, summarizing, the abomination is some kind of idolatrous desecration by a Gentile ruler connected with Gentile military power. What is the abomination? It is an idol or an idolatry. What is the desolation? It is, first and foremost, spiritual emptiness that comes from God and then the physical destruction of the temple. That's what I believe Daniel teaches us. III. Dress Rehearsals: The Abomination of Desolation: Across History Let’s go through the dress rehearsals, and then we'll be done. This is something God has done again and again. Let me just bring you through them quickly. The first phase was in Shiloh. Do you remember in the days of the judges? In the days of the judges, God judged Israel for their wickedness and sin again and again. Because of their sins, He brought Gentile invaders. In 1 Samuel, the Gentile invaders are the Philistines, He brings the Philistines. Do you remember what happened? The Philistines won the first day's battle, so the Jews decided to bring the Ark of the Covenant from the tabernacle. They bring the Ark of the Covenant, and they say, "The Ark will deliver us." It was like it was a good luck charm. The Philistines were terrified. "Oh, no, those gods that destroyed the Egyptians are here. Well, what can we do? The best thing we can do is try. So be like men, Philistines, and let's find out if we can win." They did win and what did they do? The Philistines captured the Ark. Do you remember what Eli the priest did when he found out about it? He died. He fell over backward and died, broke his neck because he was terrified about this very thing. The Ark of the Covenant was captured by the Philistines. In his family, a pregnant woman gave birth and died in the birth, and they named the baby, Ichabod, “the glory has departed from Israel” because the Gentiles had captured the Ark of the Covenant. Remember what happened? They couldn't do much with the Ark. The Ark did a lot with them and gave them tumors and all kinds of things until they finally sent it back. It was like the Ark can take care of itself. But that was that. It was phase one. Phase two happened in the days of Jeremiah right before the Babylonian exile. In Jeremiah 7, the prophet was dispatched by God to go deal with, disabuse the Jews, of a basic concept and a theory. The concept was, because of Solomon's beautiful temple, there is no way that God would ever let this city be captured or destroyed. God will defend this temple. He will protect it. “We have the Temple of the Lord. We're never going to lose.” Jeremiah had the hardest ministry in the Old Testament. He had to go and say, "That whole thing is false. Do not say the Temple of the Lord, the Temple of the Lord, the Temple of the Lord. Go to Shiloh and see what God did to the Ark. You think He's not going to let the Ark get captured? You think He's not going to let the Temple get destroyed?" Needless to say, Jeremiah was not a very popular man, but he spoke the truth. God did, in fact, let the Babylonians swarm in and, as the psalmist said, "Cut it apart with hatchets and burn it and destroy it." There in Jeremiah 7, God said, "I will bring an end to the sounds of joy and gladness and to the voices of bride and bridegroom in the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem, for the land will be desolate.” As a matter of fact, the very beginning of the Book of Lamentations, which Jeremiah wrote after all of it was done, he looked down in Lamentations 1:1 and said, "How desolate lies the city once so full of people." The emptiness was because of their wicked and their sins. That's second phase. Phase three is the Greeks in Jerusalem under the time of Antiochus IV, Epiphanies, the very thing predicted in Daniel 8, also Daniel 11. The Greek king came, Antiochus IV called Epiphanies, and he reigned from the year 175 to 164. The prediction we've already seen in Daniel 11:31, "His armed forces will rise up to desecrate the temple fortress and will abolish the daily sacrifice. Then they will set up the abomination that causes desolation." The apocryphal book 1 Maccabees tells us what happened. Antiochus IV set up an altar to Zeus in the Holy of Holies and sacrificed a pig to Zeus there, open blasphemy and defilement of the Holy of Holies directly in God's face. He did it specifically to enrage the Jews and the God of the Jews. This is what I believe is the spirit of the Antichrist. Antiochus IV believed he was a god, and he wanted to take on the Jewish god ,and he did so with blasphemy and with an ending of the animal sacrifice. Phase four was the Romans under Titus and the days of Jerusalem, the very thing we're talking about. The Jewish zealots and revolutionaries had pushed the Roman occupiers so far. Titus said, "Enough is enough," and comes in with the legions. They defeat the zealots militarily. Though he didn't want the Temple destroyed, it was destroyed and not one stone was left on another. It was completely desecrated. When these pagans came in, they brought the effigies, the images of Caesar, and set them up in the Temple. So this is that desecration, that idolatry and the fulfillment of the abomination of desolation. IV. Final phase: The “Abomination of Desolation” and the AntiChrist Those are the four phases that are passed. Is there yet one more to come? I believe there is. Here I would urge you to look at 2 Thessalonians 2, and we'll finish with that. First of all, you need to understand the significance of Jesus' death on the cross. The moment that Jesus died, the curtain in the Temple is torn in two from top to bottom. Jesus said, "It is finished." What is finished? The old covenant is finished. Animal sacrifice is finished. A new and living way has been opened for us into the presence of God. What was restricted in the old covenant is now open to us by the blood of Jesus. The author of the Book of Hebrews makes it very plain that the old covenant is obsolete, and animal sacrifice as pleasing to the God is done forever. God will never again be pleased with the blood of bulls and goats, ever. It would be a direct affront to the blood of His Son, which was offered. "The moment that Jesus died, the curtain in the Temple is torn in two from top to bottom. Jesus said, "It is finished." What is finished? The old covenant is finished. Animal sacrifice is finished. A new and living way has been opened for us into the presence of God." The author of Hebrews tells us again and again, “once for all,” never to be offered again. It says in Hebrews 8:13, "By calling this covenant new, He's made the first one obsolete.” What is obsolete will soon disappear. When not one stone is left on another, the Temple itself destroyed. The problem is that when the curtain in theTemple was torn into from top to bottom, the priests that were there watching it, most of them didn't believe in Jesus. Certainly, they must have reported it back to the high priest, Caiaphas. He didn't believe in Jesus either. He had no explanation for the miraculous tearing of the curtain from top to bottom. But what do you think they did? They repaired it. They replaced it. So animal sacrifice went on for another generation after Jesus. What do you think God thought about that? That's an affront to His Son, and it's an affront to the new covenant. It's affront to everything He stood for. Yet, the Jews did it because they didn't believe that Jesus was the consummation of the animal sacrificial system. They didn't believe that His blood ended for all time animal sacrifice. So in come the Romans, and they destroy the Temple, putting a physical end to animal sacrifice. It can't be done. It hasn't been done for almost 2,000 years since then. Yet, from all over the world, Jews go to Jerusalem. They go to the Wailing Wall, and many of them pray for ... What do they pray for? A rebuilding of the Temple. For most of my Christian life, I had heard that the Temple was going to be rebuilt. Then when I read the Book of Hebrews and studied it, it's like, "That's awful." God doesn't want animal sacrifice ever again. When Jesus said, "It is finished," He meant it. When the curtain in the Temple was torn in two from top to bottom, that was it. When the author says, "A new and living way has been open for us into the presence of God through the body and blood of Jesus," that's it. It's finished. Yet, we've got this tragic unbelief and blindness on the part of the Jewish nation and a desire to re-establish animal sacrifice. I came to realize just because it's an affront to God and an affront to the finished work of Christ, doesn't mean it won't happen. Didn't the curtain itself get repaired or replaced? Why not the whole Temple? Then you study 2 Thessalonians 2, and this kind of, in my opinion, cinches it. I don't really have a good interpretation of 2 Thessalonians 2 apart from one final act of the “abomination of desolation.” There's one left to come. Look what Paul says. By the way, the Thessalonians had some false teachers there that told them, unfortunately, they had missed the day of the Lord. How depressing is that? They missed the end of all things. I don't even know how you make that teaching, but I would find that depressing. Imagine if I got up next week, "By the way, we missed it. We missed it all, not just the rapture now. We missed the whole thing." This was strange false teaching and Paul came in to refute it. He writes very clearly in 1 Thessalonians 4 about the Rapture, and he writes very clearly in 2 Thessalonians 2, I would say, pumping the brakes on a sense of immediacy about the Second Coming. He said, "Don't let anyone deceive you." Look what he says in 2 Thessalonians 2, 3, and 4. "Don't let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction." 2 Thessalonians 2:4 sounds exactly like Daniel 11:36 to me. Listen to what Paul writes about the man of sin, "He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or His worship so that he sets himself up in God's temple, proclaiming himself to be God.” The end can't come until that happens, and it hasn't happened yet. I'm saying it still hasn't happened yet. How do I know? Look at verse 8, 2 Thessalonians 2:8, "This man of lawlessness who opposes and exalts himself over everything that is called God and sets himself up in God's temple, proclaiming himself to be God, Jesus is going to destroy with the breath of his mouth and the splendor of His coming.” I know that some reform scholars or others spiritualized this. They saw the Pope as Antichrist. They saw the spread of the true gospel as a fulfillment, it isn't. The Second Coming is something in physical space and time that we'll be able to see with our own eyes, and part of His agenda will be to destroy the beast from the sea, the Antichrist who, 1 John 2 tells us is coming, who sets himself up in God's temple. He's going to destroy Him with the breath of His mouth and the splendor of His coming. That hasn't happened yet. I don't think it's helpful to spiritualize it. I'm all in favor of sound doctrine. I'm all in favor of that doctrine spreading around the world. I believe that sound doctrine pushes back the spirit of Antichrist. I believe in all of that. I believe many antichrists have come, and we need to fight them in every generation by sound doctrine. But there is an Antichrist coming. John tells us that. “You have heard that Antichrist is coming. Even now, many antichrists have come. There is one that is yet to come,” and 2 Thessalonians 2-4 describes him and Daniel 11:36 describes him. "The king will do as he pleases." This is Daniel 11:36. "He will exalt and magnify himself above every God and will say unheard of things against the God of Gods. He will be successful until the time of wrath is completed, for what has been determined must take place." One of the things he will do, according to verse 31 of Daniel 11, is to abolish daily sacrifice. The way I put all that together is the Jews will get what they wanted throughout every century, a reestablishment of the animal sacrificial system. We know from the Book of Hebrews what God thinks about that, but it doesn't mean it won't happen and that it will be enacted, it seems, by the prince of the people who will come. That is the Antichrist who will make a covenant with them. Halfway through that time, he will put an end to it and he will take its place and he'll set himself, and I think of it as air quotes. He'll set himself up in so-called God's temple declaring himself to be so-called God and that will be considered blasphemy. I think it is also essential to the Jews turning genuinely to Christ as they will do right before the Second Coming. But that's another story for another time. V. Application “Let the reader understand.” That's what all of that meant. “Let the reader understand.” What are we supposed to do with it? Jesus says, "Behold, I have told you ahead of time." What are we supposed to do with that information? First, let me go back to the point I started with. Understand the desolation that comes from not living in a right relationship with God. That's the real problem here, the emptiness. God is a full being, and He wants to fill you with Himself. He wants to fill you with the Spirit of Christ. He wants to fill you with the Holy Spirit. The clearest teaching on this is Ephesians 3:17-19. Paul prays for the Ephesian Christians, "I pray that you may be rooted and established in love and may have power together with all the saints to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ and that you may know that love that surpasses knowledge so that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." That's what salvation is, friends, filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. God is a full being, and He wants to fill you. It is idolatry, the abomination that makes desolate. So what idolatry is in your life driving out the fullness that you could experience with Christ? That's the question you have to ask. Now, I believe in a geopolitical actual military aspect of this. I believe in physical history, but I also think it's spiritual as well. I urge you, come to Christ and trust in Him while there's time. Believe that His death on the cross ended forever the need for blood sacrifice. Jesus' blood is the blood of the new covenant. By faith in that blood, you can be washed and cleansed of all your sins and know the fullness of God. Finally, marvel at the intricacies of redemptive history. I've been looking forward to and dreading this sermon for weeks now. I decided it was not best to preach it in December. I think you all agree now. It probably was best to preach a couple of good Christmas sermons in December. But now we've gone through the intricacies here. It's a marvel, isn't it? Don't you share with me a marveling at the simplicity and the complexity of the Bible? Close with me in prayer. Father, we thank you for this deep dive that we've had through the Book of Daniel, redemptive history, the things that Jesus wanted us to know. The fact of the desecration of the holy space by the Gentiles again and again and again has been a display of your holiness, a display of the fact that you don't dwell in temples built by human hands, but you want to dwell in our hearts by the Spirit. So I pray that you would help us, oh Lord, help us to walk with you, help us to put to death all the idols and the sins in our lives, and help us to be faithful to share the message of the simple gospel of Jesus Christ to a lost and dying world that needs it so desperately. In Jesus' name, amen.

The Bible instructs us to number our days wisely, for the same God who knit us together in our mother’s wombs holds in his hand our lifespan as well. - SERMON TRANSCRIPT - In Daniel Chapter 5, one of the most dramatic moments in redemptive history occurred with a wicked king named Belshazzar. Belshazzar was putting on a big feast, and he was stopped in his tracks suddenly by a disembodied hand that began writing in the wall above his corrupt throne. The hand that wrote the words was terrifying to everyone there, and the words could not be understood easily or read. The hand carved letters into the plaster in the wall, and I envisioned dust sprinkling down to the floor while the hand continued to write the mysterious words. I imagine at that time that the music and the lustful revelry in the entire hall from the 1,00 noble men partying with him instantly came to an end. If you'd been close enough to the throne, you would've seen the color drain from the king's face. You would've been able to hear his knees knocking together, but the focus of everyone in that formerly riotous hall would've been the writing on the wall. That moment moved into proverbial truth. To see the writing on the wall in our culture means to see something inevitable, something that's coming and there's nothing that can stop it. It means to see clearly that your end is near. Of course, this story is recounted for us in Daniel Chapter 5, Belshazzar's feast, and the man who read the writing on the wall at that time was a prophet named Daniel. He first, as he read it, proclaimed the great wickedness of the king of Babylon. After recounting the famous story of Belshazzar's grandfather, Nebuchadnezzar, how God humbled him and changed his mind of that of an animal and then changed it back again seven years later, teaching him that God alone rules over the kingdoms of men and that all people are accountable to Him. After accounting that history, Daniel then leveled Belshazzar with this righteous accusation. He says in Daniel 5:22-24, "But you his son, O Belshazzar, have not humbled yourself though you knew all this. Instead, you have set yourself up against the Lord of heaven. You had the goblets from his temple brought to you and you and your nobles, your wives and your concubines drank wine from them. You praise the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wooden stone which cannot see or hear, understand, but you did not honor the God who holds in His hand your life in all your ways. Therefore, He sent the hand that wrote this inscription." That phrase has arrested me for years. You did not honor the God who holds in His hand your life in all your ways. Daniel then read the writing on the wall clearly so everyone could hear him, the words were “MENE, MENE, TEKEL, PARSIN”, and then Daniel interpreted them. "This is what the words mean. MENE; God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end. TEKEL; You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting. PERES; Your kingdom is divided, and given to the Meads and Persians." That very night Belshazzar was slain and the Babylonian empire came to an end and the Medo-Persian empire took over. The words that very night remind me of Jesus's parable of the rich fool. You remember that man who had a bumper crop and thought he had plenty of years to enjoy all of that wealth and he thought, “'What shall I do? I'll tear down my barns and build bigger barns, and I'll store up all of this harvest, and I'll eat and drink and be merry for years to come.’But God said to him, ‘You fool, this very night, your soul will be required of you.’" That's an important phrase, isn't it, “required of you”? It's not an option when that summons comes. When God who gives life takes it from us, there's nothing we can say. There will come a time that all of us, our souls will be required from us by the God who gave them. That's the point of my whole sermon. We do not know how much more time we have left here on Earth, and we should number our days wisely. "When God who gives life takes it from us, there's nothing we can say. There will come a time that all of us, our souls will be required from us by the God who gave them." Today is the last day of the year 2023. If God wills, tomorrow will come, and it will be a new year, 2024. We've been instructed by the Lord to say that, to say, "If the Lord wills.” In James 4, it says, “'Today or tomorrow I'll go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money. You don't even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life that it's a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes? Instead, you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.’" So if the Lord wills, January 1, 2024 will come for any of us, most likely for most of us, if not all of us. Therefore, it seems wise for us to heed the timeless advice that you heard read for us in Psalm 90:12, "Teach us to number our days aright," or properly, "that we may gain a heart of wisdom." Let's look at Psalm 90 briefly. Let's try to understand Moses, the man of God, and what he said. We're also going to go over to another passage, Ephesians 5, and we're going to try to number our days rightly so we can make the most of the time that we have left. Moses begins by asserting that God alone is our eternal dwelling place. Look at Verses 1 and 2, "Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations. Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the Earth in the world from everlasting to everlasting you are God." The doctrine there is the majestic eternality of God. He alone is from everlasting to everlasting. He is timeless. He is eternal. He is above time. He's not bound by time, unlike us. God knows the end from the beginning and the beginning from the end because He ordained every day that ever has been or ever will be. The statement “from everlasting to everlasting” means that God is the same yesterday, today and forever. He never changes. He's always the same, and He is our dwelling place. God is where we will spend eternity. God is the New Jerusalem. God is the new heaven and new Earth. Not to say that there will not be beautiful created things at that point or a place for our resurrected bodies to be, not at all. There will be, but God is our home. God is our dwelling place from generation to generation. Then Moses goes on to speak of the temporariness and the frailty of all human beings. Look at Verse 3-6, "You turn men back to dust saying, ‘Return to dust, oh, sons of men for a thousand years in your sight or like a day that has just gone by or like a watch in the night.’ You sweep men away in the sleep of death. They are like new grass in the morning. Though, in the morning it springs up new, by evening, it is dry and withered." All of us, the Bible teaches, are ultimately fashioned from the dust of the earth. To dust, someday all of us will return as God said to Adam, condemning him to the death penalty that his sin deserves. When we die, our bodies go back into the native elements from which they're originally taken, back to dust, but God is eternal. "A thousand years in his sight is as a few hours or like a single day or like a watch in the night." God's judgments stand over all human beings. They don't just die accidentally as though God has nothing to do with their deaths. Not at all. "God," it says, "sweeps men away in the sleep of death." It's because God takes away their breath that they die. It's not an accident. "People," it says in the text, "spring up quickly like fresh new blades of grass." They flourish, they look beautiful, they're radiant and strong, but in a short amount of time they wither, they sink back down just as quickly. "In the morning, they're new. In the evening, they're dry and withered." So our time here in our strength, especially in our youth, the prime of life is very brief. We should therefore make the most of our days when we have youth, when we have strength, when we have vigor and ability because soon one by one we will lose all of those capabilities. All you have to do is walk through a nursing home and look around into each room and see most likely your future. You see the feeble, elderly people there, all of them stripped of strength, stripped of their possessions. They'll never go to their homes again. They'll never enjoy their material possessions again. They occasionally have visitors. If they have a family structure of people that visit them, then it's kind. Sometimes they don't even remember their closest family members. This is what the text is saying happens to some degree to all of us, and so therefore, it is essential for us to make the most of every moment that we have of every opportunity. Each day has unique opportunities. Soon we can do little because age and feebleness has overtaken us and we can't do much at all. Behind all of this, according to Moses and according to the Bible more generally, is the sinfulness of man. It's because we are sinners the wages of sin is death. The troubles are caused originally by Adam's sin but then by our own sinful choices. In Verses 7-11, Moses recounts this, the sinfulness of man and the wrath of God. He writes, "We are consumed by your anger and terrified by your indignation. You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence. All our days pass away under your wrath. We finish our years with a moan. The length of our years is seventy years or eighty. If we have the strength yet their span is but trouble and sorrow for they quickly pass and we fly away. Who knows the power of your anger for your wrath is as great as the fear that is due you?" Moses was very aware of the sinfulness of the Jewish nation. God had warned them according to Ezekiel Chapter 20, before He ever took them out of Egypt, before He ever took them out of bondage to Egypt, that they needed to give up their idolatry, which they had learned and their pagan ways. They weren't any different than the Egyptians that surrounded them. They were every bit as pagan and idolatrous as the Egyptians were. He warned them and it says plainly in Ezekiel 20 to give up their idols, but He said, you would not do it. They were a pagan nation when they were brought out in the Exodus, this is what I think Moses referred to. We saw it very, very clearly in the golden calf at the bottom of Mount Sinai, how God said very plainly, "I am the Lord your God. You shall have no other God. You shall not make any idols or worship any idols." In a short amount of time, they broke all of those commandments immediately, and we see their paganism and their idolatry and their wickedness. Soon after that, after testing God in many ways and trying Him in many ways, they utterly rebelled when the twelve spies came back and brought a good report about the land. But they said that the Anakimes are there with cities walled up to the sky, and we look like grasshoppers in our own eyes and to them, and “we can't do it.” Ten of the twelve spies gave that report, Joshua and Caleb alone spoke words of faith. God then condemned the nation to wander around in the desert until that generation of fighting men should die. In a short amount of time, destroying all actuarial charts and all that, that entire generation, 40 years, fell dead. Moses, the man of God, wrote this psalm during those years. When he was writing also the Pentateuch, he's writing the rest of the Scripture, he's watching that generation of sinners wither and die; they're dying before his eyes. He has this in mind, "You've taken our secret sins, our idolatries and our wickedness and our paganism and you've put it in the light of your holy presence and because of that we are dying." He says, "In a very short amount of time, we fly away and we are no more." Then he makes the central request, which is the reason why I chose Psalm 90 for this New Year's Eve sermon. Look at verse 12, "Teach us to number our days of right that we may gain a heart of wisdom." This is a prayer. The entire Psalm is a prayer of the man of God, Moses. This is the central prayer. Looking up to God, the man of God is saying, "God, would you please teach us something that we don't know? Would you please give us a heart of wisdom specifically in the right understanding of time. God teach us to number our days properly that we may gain a heart of wisdom." We need to understand this. We need to see why it is essential for us to number our days properly. We need to number our days because God has already numbered them so that we can be wise about salvation, so that we can make the most of the days that we have left here on Earth. I. Number Your Days To Be Wise About Death Let's walk through it. First, number your days so that you may be wise about death. Teach us to number our days properly or rightly that we may gain a heart of wisdom. First of all, the Bible tells us that your days are already numbered. Your days are finite. You're not going to continue in this present state, in this present world, in this present body forever. We are all of us mortal. It says in Psalm 13:16, "All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." God has set a boundary to our lives. There is our birth day and there will be our death day, and nothing will change that. That's what Psalm 139 means, all the days that God has laid out for us, that all the days He has ordained were written in God's sovereign book, the book of his decrees before even one of them came to be, and that's what Moses asked for. Secondly, we don't know the number of those days. That number is hidden from us. God has hidden from each person the day of his or her death. In a very real sense, therefore, we can never number our days. We just don't know. It's a bit of an ironic prayer because it's the very thing that we cannot do. We are not ever going to be able properly to number our days. Instead, it seems the wisdom that Moses is seeking here is an acute mindfulness of the limits of the days, an acute mindfulness of the fact that we will die someday, an awareness of that that should dominate the way we live our lives. This will not go on forever. As the psalmist said in Psalm 39:4-5, "Show me, oh Lord, my life's end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting is my life. You have made my days a mere handbreath, the span of my years is as nothing before you. Each man's life is but a breath." I think that's a partner to Psalm 90:12, "Show me how brief my life is. Show me how a breath it is. Show me how quick it is. Help me to know that." That's all we can do. We cannot actually know the numbers. As he says here in Psalm 90 in Verse 10, "The length of our days is seventy years or eighty. If we have the strength, yet their span is but trouble and sorrow for they quickly pass and we fly away." We need to understand, as I've already said, God's direct activity in sustaining us and then in His own good time taking us out of this world. Look at Verse 3, "You turn men back to dust saying return to dust, O sons of men." None of us dies accidentally. We use that kind of language just in the human, the horizontal way. Talk about people dying from a car accident or something like that, we use the word “accident”, but there are no accidents when it comes to God. God is absolutely sovereign. He rules over all things. You could have prevented that so-called accident. People do not accidentally die when it comes to God. What Moses is saying here is He takes away the breath and they perish. Again, in Verse 5 and 6, "You, [meaning God] "sweep men away in the sleep of death. They're like new grass in the morning. Though, in the morning it springs up new, by evening it is dry and withered." As Daniel said to Belshazzar, this really convicting and haunting verse, Daniel 5:23, "You did not honor the God who holds in His hand your life and all your ways." If I could get one thing out of this sermon for all of you that are listening to me, intensely feel that God holds in His hand your life and all your ways. That's the point of the whole sermon. Feel that. Understand you're not your own. Understand your days are not your own to do whatever you want with. Recently, I was doing men's Bible study on Thursdays when we went to the Book of Titus. The thing about that Bible study is we take forever to go through Books of the Bible. Anybody who's gone to it knows. It's like, "Well, when are we going to be done with Gospel of Matthew? Who knows? How long will it take you to go through Titus?” This is what happens, Titus 1:1, "Paul, a slave of God." All right, stop right there. How long are we going to take on that phrase? Maybe the whole time. What does it mean to be a slave of God? Are we? We actually are, or we're slaves of sin. Roman 6 says you're a slave of one of the other. Suppose you say, "I don't want to be a slave of anyone?" Well then, you're being lied to by Satan, you’re being deceived. You are a slave either of God or of sin/Satan/death. You are a slave. We were born to be a slave. The beauty of salvation is we come to realize that the master that we're serving, God and Christ are good masters and the yoke is easy and the burden is light. We're not deceived, but we still live like we are our own entities. Like we get to do whatever we want with our time, energy, money. It's ours, isn't it? Isn't our time ours to spend as we see fit? No, it's not. If you had a faithful slave back in those days in the first century and you saw him in the morning in the marketplace and he's a good slave and you asked him, "So what are your plans today?" What do you think he would say? "Whatever my master wants. Whatever my master wants." Let me ask you a question. Do you think that's the right way for a Christian to think? It is absolutely the right way for a Christian to think, for none of us lives to himself alone and none of us dies to himself alone. If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. That's what ownership language sounds like. Jesus died to buy you as He says openly in 1 Corinthians 6, "You're not your own, you're bought at a price." But we still think like free agents, don't we? We still think we get to do whatever we want with our time and our energy and our money, but we don't. "It is absolutely the right way for a Christian to think, for none of us lives to himself alone and none of us dies to himself alone. If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord." That's why we spent all that time on, "Paul, a slave of God," because I realized much to my shame, I don't think like that, not enough. I still think too much like a free agent, and I need to think, in the year 2024 if God lets me live, more like a slave than I've ever thought in my life. I would commend that to you. So the prayer, "Teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom," means to be aware that the same God who knit us together in our mother's wombs and holds in His hand our lifespan as well, in Him, we live and move and have our being. We need to be prepared for death so we can live a wise life honoring the God who holds in His hand our life and all our ways. II. Number Your Days To Be Wise for Salvation Secondly, remember your days to be wise for salvation. Moses ultimately yearns for a heart of wisdom. Given the brevity of life, the wisest thing we can do is to find salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. There is nothing wiser that you could do, conversely, there's nothing more foolish that you could ever do than to live 70 or 80 years in this life and go to hell. It'd be the most foolish thing you could ever have done with your 70 or 80 years. The wisest thing you can do is to find salvation. The scriptures are given for that exact purpose, to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. Since death is certain and its timing is uncertain, the wisest thing we can do is to say, "Today is the day of salvation for me," and flee to Christ because you don't know if you'll have tomorrow. 2 Corinthians 6:2 says, "In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation, I helped you. I tell you now is the time of God's favor. Now is the day of salvation." So that's what we have, we have today. It's all we ever have. God set aside a certain day calling it “today”. That's what we have [Hebrews 3:4]. Today is about salvation and not just justification, not just crossing over from death to life, but growing in grace in the knowledge of Christ. You're left alive here on Earth for salvation, so the wisest thing you can do is to immerse yourself in Scripture for your own salvation and that of others. I would charge you in the year 2024, give yourself like never before to the Word of God. Start there. 2 Timothy 3:15-17 speaks of the holy scriptures which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. "All scripture is God-breathed and useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work," says it all. The Scripture is given first to save your soul from hell and secondly, to make you maximally fruitful through every good work. That's what Scripture is given to do. That's its purpose. The scripture has power to show you your sin, has power to convict you of your sin. Scripture has the power to show you Christ and to move you to trust Him for salvation. Scripture has the power to continue to instruct you, rebuke you, correct you, and train you in righteousness and to thoroughly equipped you for every good work. There is no better way for you to use the limited days that we have left than to immerse yourself first in Scripture. A new year is a great time to renew your commitment to daily Bible intake and to prayer, a daily quiet time. II. Number Your Days To Be Wise About Redeeming Time Thirdly, number your days so that you can be wise about redeeming the time. Ephesians 5:15-16 says, "Be very careful then how you live not as unwise, but as wise, redeeming the time because the days are evil." I want to say something about almost every modern translation of that verse. They almost all say something like making the most of every opportunity, which is fine, but it's not technically what the Greek is. The Greek is “exagorazo”, which means “agora.” In the marketplace it’s a buying kind of marketplace word. “Ex” meaning "out of”, a prefix. So to buy out of, that's what redemption is. The idea of redeeming is of the payment of a price to get an individual out of trouble like slavery or a kidnapped victim or a hostage, something like that. They are redeemed by the payment of some silver or gold and the individual is brought out. You can imagine David and his men when they found out that their families have been kidnapped by the Amalekites after weeping and whatever, they went after their families to rescue them out of danger. That's the idea. Only the KJV and I think NKJV still retained “redeeming the time” language. The idea is that time, the day, is in danger. It's lost. It starts lost. You have to get up and go redeem it, or it will end lost as well. It's just like “carpe diem”, “seize the day.” If you don't get up and exert energy and faith and love toward the day, it will be wasted. You and I have both had plenty of those days. That's what Paul says, be very careful how you live, not as foolish, but as wise. It's the same idea. Teach us to number our days so that you gain- What? -a heart of wisdom and not be foolish. Paul's using the same foolishness, wisdom type language. Be very careful then how you live, not as foolish, but as wise. That's what he's saying. Years ago I came across a sermon that helped me understand this text. It was preached by Jonathan Edwards when he was 31 years old, and it was called “On the Preciousness of Time.” It's one of the most convicting sermons I've ever read. I read it again last night and again this morning and I was thoroughly convicted. I realized this isn't going to be some happy New Year's Eve sermon for you all, but that's okay. The fact is we're not supposed to come to the Scriptures and say, "I thank you God that I'm doing so well." That's not what primarily I desire to do. What I want to do is say, "Lord, show us where we need to repent. It's not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. How can I repent? What is there in my life that is sinful and is wasting time? I need to understand that." Edward's sermon helped me understand that, the preciousness of time. His doctrine was clear. Time is a thing that is exceedingly precious. He then gave reasons. Reason number one time is precious is because eternity, your eternity and mine, depends on improving the time. It depends on making the most of the time you have while you're alive. You're born and then you live. At some point in time, you have to repent and believe in Jesus. Time is precious because your eternity depends on the improvement of it. Edward says this, "According as we either improve or lose time, so shall we be happy or miserable for all eternity. Without the improvement of time, our eternity will be miserable, and with a good improvement of time, our eternity will be happy. As we use our time wisely with the gospel of Jesus Christ, as we walk wisely in this present age storing up treasure for eternity, in that proportion we shall be happy for all eternity. As people squander the gospel through unbelief and waste their days in sin, they guarantee their own eternal misery." Time must be very valuable indeed simply because so much depends on using it wisely. Second, time is precious because it is very short. It's a commodity that is in short supply. The more scarce a precious commodity is, the more valuable it is. This is basic economics, the law of supply and demand. We've already established that time is precious, but it's even more so because the time we're told in the Bible is short. The time is short. When there's a famine in the city, even the smallest crust of bread will sell for much silver or gold. The bread at that point is far more valuable than the silver or gold. So if time is already short and we squander even a small proportion of it, how dreadful would that be? A number of years ago I listened, I do a lot of listening to books on tape while I ride my bike, and there was this book about Louis Zamperini called Unbroken. It was later made into a movie. Louis Zamperini was a World War II airman, and his plane crashed in the Pacific Ocean. He and two other men survived the crash, and they're floating in two rafts tied together in the midst of the vast Pacific Ocean with only a very slim hopeless survival. Their raft had meager supplies of food and drinking water. They had a few precious chocolate bars, the calories of which could sustain them for a few vital days, and they divided the bars up into small squares and stored them. But unfortunately, one of the men panicked and while the other two were sleeping, ate all of the chocolate in one night. Their food supply up to that point was already critically low and limited. But now it was even in a worse situation because this one man had squandered it. This is a picture of us in life with a very limited supply of the precious thing known as time. Our life depends on it. It depends on the use of it, and it's limited. It's in a limited supply. Furthermore, thirdly, Edward says, "Time is precious because we don't know how much of it we have." They're able to do an inventory and they knew how much food they have. We are not able to actually number our days as I already said. We have a sense that they're limited. We have a sense that there's just a few of them, but we just don't know how many. So time is precious because time is uncertain. Our lives could end tonight or they could continue for many years. We actually have no idea, so we have to make the most of what God has given us. Edward said this, "If a man has food and supplies laid up for his journey and he doesn't actually know how much food is left or how much he will need, and if he knows that his stores are going to run out, if his stores run out, he will die. His life depends on it that he'll be exceedingly careful about how he uses each morsel of food." How much more than that would people prize their time if they knew they had about a few months left or even a few days left in this world? So it is with multitudes in this world who assume that they have plenty of time left. I think about around the world, how many people who it is ordained for them to die tomorrow are thinking right now they have plenty of time left. We who read the Bible should not be so deceived. We should be aware that we don't actually know how much time we have left. How many will be surprised by the coming of their death and think to themselves, "I always assumed that I would have more time." Fourth, time is precious because once it is spent, it can never be recovered again. You could imagine someone having a precious heirloom like a piece of jewelry or something like that and losing it through theft maybe or losing it or going to a pawn shop because they needed some money. You could imagine through extreme effort they might be able to reclaim that precious item again somehow. It might be difficult, but they could get it back. But that's not the way it is with any Monday or Tuesday or Wednesday. Once that Monday is gone, it'll never come back again. It was a unique gift. "This is the day the Lord has made." God crafted it, and how you spent it is done. It's in the past, you can never get it again. Therefore time is unspeakably precious because once it's spent, it can never be reclaimed. Edwards says this, "Every moment of time is served up to you as if it were a meal. If we turn up our noses at it, the divine table waiter will take it away and you'll never see that dish again." You can imagine every day it's like God is a chef and you're sitting at a table with a nice tablecloth and heavy silverware and He sets before you a dish that He's crafted. This is the day the Lord has made and you get to eat that dish as He has ordained. But if you waste it, that particular dish is taken away and will never be served to you again. That's how precious time is. Ephesians 2:10 says, "We are God's workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance that we should walk in them." So that's what I mean by “this day.” God has crafted unique opportunities for the day, and we are to make the most of them, and we'll never have that chance again. If we have lived up to this point 50 or 60 or 70 years and we haven't improved those years, it can't be helped. There's nothing that can be done for them now, it is eternally gone from us. All we can do is to improve the time we have left. If we waste our money, we might be able to get money back, but if we waste our time, our days, they are gone forever. I remember when I was going through this, when I was preaching through Ephesians 5, it's very easy to become overwhelmed with discouragement at this topic. We are meant to be convicted, but we're not meant to be crushed. It doesn't make actually any sense for us to be overwhelmed and say, "What's the use?" I was thinking about that, that feeling of discouragement or whatever, it's like, "I've wasted so much time in my life. Well, what's the use?” I don't know, I picture a wheat farm out West and the family's all asleep. There's a fire burning in the fields and also burning a corner of the house and part of the barn. Imagine a neighbor sees the fire and comes and rouses the family and starts yelling and say, "Get up. Your fields are on fire. Your house is on fire. Get up. You need to put the fire out. You need to save what's left." It would make no sense for those people to come to their senses, realize what the situation is and say, "Well, we've already lost so much. What's the point?" and just sink back down into the bed. That would be literally deadly for them. Therefore, the point of this sermon and the point of these kinds of reflections is there's nothing you can do about the past except learn from it. The question is what are you going to do with the time you have left? What are you going to do with that year if God does give you 2024? That's the point. So what has been spent has been spent how you chose to spend it. "There's nothing you can do about the past except learn from it. The question is what are you going to do with the time you have left? What are you going to do with that year if God does give you 2024?" III. Number Your Days To Be Wise About Heaven Fourth, number your days properly to be wise about heaven. In one sense, I want to say it's actually good news that our time here on earth is brief. This is a world characterized by death, mourning, crying and pain. In heaven, there will be no more death, mourning, crying and pain. We'll be free from those forever. As Revelation 21:4 says, "He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There'll be no more death, mourning, crying or pain for the old order of things has passed away." It's good news that we're not going to be here forever. That is a good thing. If you come to faith in Christ, you've trusted in Him for the forgiveness of your sins, you're going to spend eternity in a place completely free from pain. Also, time we are told brings us closer and closer to our final salvation. As it says in Romans 13:11, "And do this understanding the present time, the hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed." That implies there's some aspect of our salvation that hasn't come yet, and that's the final salvation that we'll get on Judgment Day. That salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. Every day brings us closer to that good destination. Therefore, we should number our days properly, gain a heart of wisdom and think like aliens and strangers in this world. As it says in Hebrews 11, the heroes of the faith admitted that they were aliens and strangers on Earth. “People who say such things show that they're looking for a country their own. If they'd been thinking of the country they had left, they would've had opportunity to return, but they were longing for a better country, a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.”[Hebrews 11: 14-16] IV. Applications What applications can we take from this topic? Today is the last day of 2023. If God wills, we'll venture ahead into 2024 tomorrow. It's a good opportunity for us to look both ways. Look back at 2023 and honestly, by the power of the Spirit, evaluate yourself on this topic. Did I use my time well and wisely in the twelve months that were given me? God gave me a whole year. How did I use my time? Did I grow in grace in the knowledge of Christ in the year 2023? Am I closer to Christ's likeness than I was on December 31, 2022? Was it a year of growing for me? It may have been, it may not have been. Maybe you're further away from Christ than you were a year ago, but maybe you've grown. Just evaluate. Secondly, did I help others to grow in grace in the knowledge of Christ? Was I useful? Did I use my spiritual gifts? Did I use the Gospel? Did I use biblical exhortations? Did I help brothers and sisters in Christ? Did I help lost co-workers and neighbors and family members to come to faith in Christ? Did I use my time well? Did I serve God in this world? Did I serve God's purposes or did I serve myself? Did I live selfishly? Did I waste time? What are my habits? What do I generally do with a day? What do I generally do with free time? Just evaluate. Say, "Lord, show me what I'm like. Show me what I do. Help me to understand myself." Like Edwards would say, "Let time seem unspeakably precious to you." Think of it as a valuable thing for me to spend my time well and wisely. This afternoon, I don't know what your plans are. What are your plans, you bond slaves of God? What you should do is you should say, "God, what do you want me to do with my afternoon?" I would commend if you have some time to be reflective based on the themes of this sermon and say, "Lord, what changes do you want to see in me in 2024 if you let me live? What new habits do you want me to develop?" Start with the Bible. "Am I regular in my Bible intake? Am I memorizing scripture? Am I giving myself fully to scripture?" Let's start there. That primes the pump for everything in the Christian life. What's my prayer life like? God, how can I grow in that? Search me, oh, God, and know my heart. What bad habits do you want me to slay as was said earlier?" What are some sin habits that have crept up that are stronger in you now than they were a year ago, that you need to kill by death by starvation? What can you put to death? What lusts and habits can you put to death in the year 2024 if God gives you time to live? How can you serve this present generation? There are some things we can do here on Earth now that we will not be able to do in the new heaven new Earth. One of them is to suffer well. If you're going through suffering, the ability to suffer well is something you'll get to do now you cannot do in heaven because there'll be no suffering in heaven. Secondly, you can also help alleviate other people's suffering now. You can't do that in heaven because no one of all the redeemed will be suffering at all, but we are able to alleviate suffering in this world. Maybe you didn't do that in 2023 the way you wanted to, but you say, "Lord, would you make me an instrument of your grace? Would you make me an instrument to alleviate the suffering of people around?" Obviously, the most important thing that any of you could do if you're lost is to come to faith in Christ. There's no point in you doing any of these other things if you're lost listening to me now, if you're not yet a Christian. I would beg you, while there's time, crossover from death to life. Understand that God sent His Son. That's what we celebrate at Christmastime. The incarnate Son of God came, took on a body and blood so that He could give that body and that blood to bring us to Christ, bring us to salvation. Trust in Him. That is the purpose of time. Once that's happened, then say, "Lord, help me to redeem the time, make the most of the time that I have here on Earth." Close with me in prayer. Father, thank you for the opportunity we've had to look at this sobering text. God, we know that if we're Christians and we look back at 2023, we have to be honest and say it was mixed. There was some wood, hay and straw mixed in with the gold, silver and precious stones. We know that if we're Christians, we did some good works. It's impossible for us to be alive in Christ and not bear some fruit. We also know that we wasted a lot of time. So Lord, I pray that you would help all of us who are Christians to look ahead to 2024 with resolution by faith relying on you to waste far less time in 2024 than we did in 2023, that more of our days would be gold and silver and costly stones than wood, hay and straw. God, help us to be faithful in sharing the gospel. We're surrounded by lostness. We're surrounded by people who don't understand what life is about. They're like Belshazzar. They're eating and drinking in idolatrous ways, and they don't know that time is short. Help us to be willing to tell them the truth for the sake of their eternal souls. In Jesus' name, Amen.

EZRA Ezra spans from 538-486 bc • This is the same time as BUDDHA , CONFUCIUS , and SOCRATES • The narrative picks up where 2 CHRONICLES left off • The events take place under the MEDO-PERSIAN empire The Babylonian empire has fallen to the MEDO-PERSIAN empire King Cyrus issues a decree for the Jews to…

Daniel 7 - 1:07 . Daniel 8 - 8:39 . Daniel 9 - 14:28 . Proverbs 28 - 19:16 . We are now in the second half of Daniel which focuses on the dreams and visions that Daniel himself received. These visions include imagery of beasts, animals, and horns, representing kingdoms and the kings who come from them. Some of what Daniel sees is explained within the text itself while some remains the topic of debate and speculation to this day. Some, however, has clearly been fulfilled, like the goat which tramples the ram. The goat is the Greek Empire and it's conspicuous horn is Alexander the Great, who trampled the Medo-Persian empire only to die suddenly at the peak of his power. Antiochus emerges from one of the four new kingdoms, a ruler who persecutes the Jews, stops regular sacrifices, and defiles the temple.:::Christian Standard Bible translation.All music written and produced by John Burgess Ross.Co-produced by the Christian Standard Bible.facebook.com/commuterbibleinstagram.com/commuter_bibletwitter.com/CommuterPodpatreon.com/commuterbibleadmin@commuterbible.org

Daniel 1 - 1:05 . 1:11Daniel 2 - 4:30 . 4:36Proverbs 26:13-28 - 16:05 . God's people are now in exile in the land of Babylon, which brings us to the book of Daniel, an extraordinary account of a young Judean exile who receives interpretation and prophecy from the Lord while serving foreign kings. Of particular significance in today's passage is the statue that Nebuchadnezzar sees in a dream. The statue's head of gold represented Babylon; its silver chest and arms: the Medo-Persian empire; the bronze stomach and thighs: the Greek empire; the legs of iron: the kingdom of Rome; and the mixed clay and iron feet: a continuation of Rome in later times. Finally, the rock represents the kingdom of God in Christ, as it easily destroys the manmade statue, enduring forever and spreading throughout the earth.:::Christian Standard Bible translation.All music written and produced by John Burgess Ross.Co-produced by the Christian Standard Bible.facebook.com/commuterbibleinstagram.com/commuter_bibletwitter.com/CommuterPodpatreon.com/commuterbibleadmin@commuterbible.org

Daniel 1 - 1:11 . Daniel 2 - 4:43 . Daniel 3 - 16:19 . Isaiah 43:1-13 - 23:30 . The book of Daniel is an extraordinary account of a young Judean exile who receives interpretation and prophecy from the Lord while serving foreign kings. Of particular significance in today's passage is the statue that Nebuchadnezzar sees in a dream. The statue's head of gold represented Babylon; its silver chest and arms: the Medo-Persian empire; the bronze stomach and thighs: the Greek empire; the legs of iron: the kingdom of Rome; and the mixed clay and iron feet: a continuation of Rome in later times. Finally, the rock represents the kingdom of God in Christ, as it easily destroys the manmade statue, enduring forever and spreading throughout the earth.:::Christian Standard Bible translation.All music written and produced by John Burgess Ross.Co-produced by Bobby Brown, Katelyn Pridgen, Eric Williamson & the Christian Standard Biblefacebook.com/commuterbibleinstagram.com/commuter_bibletwitter.com/CommuterPodpatreon.com/commuterbibleadmin@commuterbible.org

The book of Daniel, chapters 7-12, provides a sweeping narrative of prophetic visions and revelations. In Chapter 7, Daniel dreams of four great beasts representing four empires, with the final one being a terrifying beast symbolizing a future oppressive kingdom. Then, in a divine vision, he witnesses the Ancient of Days and the Son of Man receiving dominion over all nations. Chapters 8 and 9 continue with more visions. In Chapter 8, Daniel sees a ram and a male goat, symbolizing the Medo-Persian and Greek empires. Chapter 9 features Daniel's prayer of repentance and a prophecy concerning the 70 periods, which predicts the coming of the Messiah. Chapters 10-12 delve into Daniel's final visions. He encounters a heavenly messenger who unveils the future, including conflicts among powerful nations, the rise of the Antichrist, and a final deliverance of God's people. These chapters also provide details about the resurrection of the dead, the rewards and punishments in the afterlife, and the ultimate triumph of God's kingdom. Daniel's visions offer a glimpse into the grand sweep of history, from the rise and fall of earthly empires to the ultimate victory of God's kingdom and the resurrection of the dead, all told through a tapestry of symbolic and prophetic imagery.

Episode 200 – Eternal Information – Part 8 – Supernatural Information Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. In John 14:6, Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” The goal of Anchored by Truth is to encourage everyone to grow in the Christian faith by anchoring themselves to the secure truth found in the inspired, inerrant, and infallible word of God. Script: Sow your seed in the morning, and at evening let your hands not be idle, for you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or whether both will do equally well. Ecclesiastes, chapter 11, verse 6, New International Version ******** VK: Hello! I’m Victoria K. Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. Thank you for joining us here today on Anchored by Truth. For several episodes we have been working on a series we call “Eternal Information.” We’ve covered a lot of ground so far in this series. For those listening today who may have missed some of the earlier episodes we encourage you to go to our website crystalseabooks.com where you can hear them. And, of course, anyone who just wants to review an episode even if they heard it before can always go to crystalseabooks.com for a review. This series in particular has been one of those series where each episode builds on the material from previous episodes. In the studio we have RD Fierro. RD is an author and the founder of Crystal Sea Books. RD, thus far in this series we have covered definitions for the term “information,” the attributes of information, and the laws that govern information. And in our last couple of episodes we saw that information is present in all the biological structures on earth. But what is the big point that we are making by such a thorough treatment of information? RD: Well, before I answer your question I would also like to extend my greetings to everyone who is joining us here today. We are doing this series on information for the same reason that we do everything on Anchored by Truth – to help our listeners increase their confidence that the Bible is the inspired, inerrant, and infallible word of God. But we can’t be sure that the Bible is the word of God if we aren’t sure that God exists in the first place. So, one of the things we like to do is ensure that our listeners have an abundance of … well, information so they can reassure themselves that the faith they place in God is more than just a leap into a dark abyss. Too often in our contemporary culture we are told that we must choose between logic, reason, and faith. But nothing could be further from the truth. We do not set aside logic and reason in favor of placing our truth in faith. To the contrary, we use logic, reason, and evidence to determine that the most sensible and practical thing we can possibly do is to place our trust in the God of the Bible and the revelation that He has made. VK: And as we have been discussing in this series, the presence of information always point us to the presence of intelligence. You cannot have meaningful information without that information arising from an intelligent point of origin. The cat walking across a keyboard may produce letters on a computer screen but the cat isn’t going to produce an email telling people where to meet us for dinner. But even a young child can do an email. The transmission, reception, and use of information requires intelligence. So, if we see information present in biological structures – which we do – we can be absolutely sure that those biological structures had an intelligent point of origin. RD: Yes. Our universe would not appear as it does without information, and therefore intelligence, being present. And that is one of the basic concepts that we have been working our way through during the first several episodes of this series. But today I want to introduce a new thought into our discussion. VK: Which is ... RD: Well, if the presence of information requires the presence of intelligence – which, as you said, it does – then we might say this. The presence of natural information demonstrates the presence of natural intelligence. So, a simple extension of that thought is that the presence of supernatural information would, of necessity, indicate the presence of supernatural intelligence. VK: Oh, my goodness. I see where you are going. As human beings we can see that information surrounds us in the natural order – in the created order that we can perceive with our five senses. But you are now going to take us into an entirely different realm – the realm of the supernatural. So, I imagine that today you want to begin a discussion of the information that is contained in the Bible. Right? RD: Exactly right. In our last couple of episodes we’ve talked about the fact that all living cells on the planet contain information. And even sources like the Merriam-Webster online dictionary acknowledges this fact. The nucleotide sequence of DNA clearly provides instructions and directions to the protein machinery of a cell and the performance of DNA is not tied to its chemistry any more than the chemistry of ink and paper determine the contents of printed pages. So, even if we restrict our awareness of the information present in nature to just what we see in living cells it is unavoidable to recognize that intelligence was necessary to create those cells. VK: Which, of course, is a direct refutation of the foundational premise of the General Theory of Evolution. The General Theory of Evolution says that all life arose through the random and undirected interaction of inanimate particles. But the specified complexity of even the simplest one-celled creature is a huge challenge to that idea. We covered some of the problems with the idea that life could have arisen spontaneously from non-living element is episode 5 of this series. RD: Yes. We can perceive quite readily that chemistry plus physics will not produce biology. Nor does the addition of time, even unlimited quantities of it, solve the problem. Life requires that certain select elements be organized in very specific sequences and patterns and then supported by very specific energy sources. Said simply, life requires information. Chemistry plus physics doesn’t equal biology. Chemistry plus physics plus information equals biology. So, let’s just label the information component of that equation “natural information” because we can see its operation and effects within the natural order. But when we turn to the Bible we start to perceive that its information component goes well beyond anything that can operate within the natural realm. VK: Can you give us an example of what you’re thinking about? RD: Sure. The Bible is, of course, a book and all books are information sources. But the Bible contains information that transcends the kind of information that is available from natural sources. For instance, in Isaiah, chapter 45, verse 1 the prophet names a conqueror who won’t arrive on the world scene for more than 150 years. VK: Isaiah, chapter 45, verses 1 and 2 say, “The LORD said to Cyrus, his chosen one: I have taken hold of your right hand to help you capture nations and remove kings from power. City gates will open for you; not one will stay closed. As I lead you, I will level mountains and break the iron bars on bronze gates of cities.” Biblical scholars date Isaiah’s ministry to a roughly 40 year period that lasted from 740 BC until approximately 701 BC. Isaiah’s prophetic ministry can be dated accurately because Isaiah told us the Judean kings who ruled while he was conducting his ministry. RD: Yes. So, Isaiah was prophesying in the latter half of the 8th century BC. A little over 100 years later the nation of Judah was conquered by the Babylonians and the Jews went into a 70 year period of exile. VK: And that 70 year period of captivity had been foretold by a different prophet, Jeremiah. ” In Jeremiah, chapter 25, verses 10 and 11 Jeremiah reported that the Lord said, “I will put an end to your parties and wedding celebrations; no one will grind grain or be here to light the lamps at night. This country will be as empty as a desert, because I will make all of you the slaves of the king of Babylonia for 70 years.” RD: Right. And just as Jeremiah prophesied around the year 605 BC the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar attacked Jerusalem, conquered it, and deported many of the Jewish elite and nobles. Most Bible scholars believe the prophet Daniel was part of this first group of deportees. Nebuchadnezzar made Judah a vassal state of Babylon, appointed his own governor, and went back to Babylon. But it wasn’t long before the Jews who remained started fomenting rebellion. So, about 14 years later the Babylonians returned and completed the destruction of Jerusalem and sent all but the poorest people into exile. That period of exile ended shortly after 539 BC when a Medo-Persian emperor, named Cyrus, conquered Babylon and shortly thereafter permitted the Jews to return their homeland. So, here we have two examples of very specific prophesies made decades before they were fulfilled. Isaiah gave us the name of the pagan king who would conquer a city that did indeed have “gates of bronze.” Jeremiah had told the Jews ahead of time how long their period of exile and captivity would last. VK: The point is that there is no way, humanly speaking, that Isaiah prophesying in the latter half of the 8th century BC could have known the name of a single person who would be the person that would be a conqueror who would appropriately be called God’s “chosen one.” And there was no way, humanly speaking, Jeremiah could know how long the Babylonians would keep the Jews in captivity before the period of exile even began. So, both of these are examples of information that the Bible contains but where the source of the information could not have come from the natural realm – the realm we can perceive with our five senses. RD: Exactly. Well, that’s just a quick example of the subject that I want to cover in today’s episode of Anchored by Truth and that will probably wrap into the next episode as well. The Bible gives us very clear evidence that it doesn’t just contain information in a single dimension or on a single level. The Bible actually is a multi-level source of information and that strongly points toward a source for the information that is beyond the natural realm. VK: As is the two examples of fulfilled prophecy that we were just discussing. In those cases there’s no way the human authors who recorded the prophecies could have possessed the information. For them to have the information it had to have been revealed to them by a supernatural source. RD: Right. And those are just examples of the Bible’s multi-layered informational attribute. So, I want to start pointing out some of these various levels of information that illustrate the remarkable character of the Bible. VK: Where do you want to start? RD: Well, let’s start with the fact that, like all books, the Bible possesses and provides information in what we might call a linear fashion. In other words, we can, and should, read the Bible like any other book. The Bible contains valuable information about human and natural history. The Bible contains practical guidance for how to manage money, build successful businesses, improve interpersonal relations, and create better families and raise happier children. The Bible contains instructions for how to avoid conflicts, build prosperous communities and nations, and live fulfilled and meaningful lives. All that is available just by reading the Bible the way you would read any other book – left to right, starting on page 1 and going through to the end. VK: But even in that sense the Bible does display a marked difference from other books, doesn’t it. And, in particular, it is different from other books that claim to be the word of God. RD: That’s true. One of the amazing things about the Bible is that as it is conveying its information it displays a remarkable unity. It contains many different kinds of literature yet all parts of the Bible serve a single purpose. The Bible tells a single story about a single plan that revolves around a single people and a single person. But as the Bible tells that story it always displays a cognizance of the needs of the people who will be reading the story. So, when the Bible tells us about creation and the subsequent fall of our first parents while it is telling us how sin entered the world it does so while calling to our attention the need for us to be obedient to the Lord. It continues to make that same point when it describes the exodus of the Hebrews from Egypt. VK: If the Hebrews had obeyed God after they left Egypt there would have been no need for them to wander in the desert for 40 years. God told them to go up to Palestine and displace the wicked people who were living there. And God told the Hebrews He would go with them and before them to ensure that they were successful. But rather than obeying God, the Hebrews made their own estimate of the situation and refused to go up right away. So, in the Bible God relates the history but ensures that the history reinforces its larger lessons and purposes as well as giving details about particular historical events. Is this also true of other parts of the Bible? RD: Yes. There are parts of the Bible, such as Proverbs, that are specifically dedicated to teaching people how to live better and more successful lives. And people who take the Bible’s teaching seriously and apply it to their lives know that the Bible’s instructions help them live lives that are joyful and successful even from a human perspective. People are often surprised that the Bible has quite a bit to say about managing and investing money. VK: For instance, Ecclesiastes, chapter 11, verses 1 and 2 say, “Ship your grain across the sea; after many days you may receive a return. Invest in seven ventures, yes, in eight; you do not know what disaster may come upon the land.” That’s from the New International Version. And we heard something similar in our opening scripture. This is the same advice many financial planners give today. It’s pretty much standard investment guidance to diversify your investments and to never put too much of your savings into a single investment category or single company. We may use terms like “asset allocation” or “avoiding single security risk” but those are really just different words saying the same thing. Solomon wrote Ecclesiastes almost 3,000 years ago but he’s giving the same advice we hear today. Why do you think the Bible addresses subjects many people would think have little to do with “spirituality?” How does the Bible’s money management advice reinforce the idea that sinners need a Savior? RD: The easiest way of explaining the wide variety of subjects that the Bible covers – those areas in which it supplies information – is that the Bible concerns itself with anything and everything with which God knew we would be concerned. God knows that human beings are going to be concerned about the daily necessities of life and also with the uncertainty of the future while living in a fallen creation. So, God provided us help to deal with those things. In other words, God didn’t want to leave his children without firm guidance to help confront the challenges of daily living. VK: Said slightly differently if God had not given us instruction about how to manage money successfully we would have been left on our own. Some people might have made wise decisions but many, maybe most, would not. That would create tension in our lives. Frankly, for many of us concerns about money or how we are going to provide for ourselves or our families would have become the primary focus of our lives. An idol is anything we value more than God. And God does not want us to create idols in our lives even over things that can have a good purpose. RD: Right. It’s not too strong a statement to say that when the Bible gives us instruction for how to manage our money and investments it’s one way the Bible helps us avoid idolatry. If the Bible didn’t give us advice about money, managing money could easily take over our time, attention, and, sadly, our affection. It does anyway for many people. The same thing is true about the instruction the Bible gives us about families, relationships, sex, food and drink. There is much in this life that is good and enjoyable when it is kept within the boundaries that God gave us. But when we forget God’s admonitions those areas cannot only become problems they can become deadly idols. VK: We don’t talk much today about the sin of gluttony but our society deals with the negative effects of obesity constantly. Every day people suffer from poor health, impaired relationships, and sometimes job loss because they struggle with their weight. Yet, Proverbs, chapter 23, verses 20 and 21 have said this for almost 3,000 years. “Do not join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat, for drunkards and gluttons become poor, and drowsiness clothes them in rags.” That’s from the New International Version. So, the big point is that the reason the Bible tells us information about the practical aspects of living good lives is that such advice helps us avoid the pitfalls that will pull our attention and affection away from God. RD: That’s a good way to say it. The most obvious form of information that the Bible contains and provides is the kind of information that we derive just by reading it as we would any other book. But I think it’s fair to say that even that within this first level of information the Bible is extraordinary. The Bible has inspired untold millions of people who are from cultures all around the world and throughout time periods that stretch back thousands of years. It’s an extraordinary book that can communicate so widely, so successfully, for so long. Its record for doing so is really unique in that regard. VK: Well, as you say reading the Bible left to right from the first to last page is really just the first level of information that the Bible offers. And we are going to get into other levels of the information that the Bible contains as we move into our next couple of episodes of Anchored by Truth. But as you have said the Bible is amazing just at this first level. One of the things that so many people don’t realize is the wide variety of practical and beneficial advice that the Bible gives. RD: We don’t recognize this much today but for hundreds, really thousands, of years all someone had to say was “the Bible says ...” and that would end discussions or settle questions. Millions, tens of millions of people down through history have lived much better lives just because of the information that they got from the Bible. This used to be accepted wisdom in our culture but obviously it has fallen out of favor. VK: And as it has fallen out of favor our society has paid the price hasn’t it? RD: Absolutely. It’s beating a dead horse to say that when we taught the Bible in school we didn’t have school shootings, obese kids, and drug epidemics. But I don’t want to veer off the topic of this series. We started out reminding everybody that it is impossible to have information without intelligence. And it would be impossible to have supernatural information without supernatural intelligence. When you look at this first level of information that we see in the Bible it would be possible, a little silly, but possible to think that human beings produced the information it contains. After all, lots of human beings write books that can be read in the ordinary fashion. But as we move forward we are going to see that the Bible supplies us with information that could not possibly come from a natural source and thereby demonstrates that it has a supernatural point of origin. VK: Well, we will have to get into that in our next episode of Anchored by Truth. We’re all familiar with single dimension information systems because that’s what we experience in our daily lives from books and other sources. But just as we saw when we looked at DNA and biological information there are sophisticated information systems within the universe that elude us even now. The only reasonable explanation for their existence is that they were created by the Ultimate, Infinite Designer. It’s just a little bit silly to believe that unintelligent and undirected matter and energy could produce the kind of information that we deal with every day of our lives. And we don’t have to surrender to that belief. God has given us ample evidence of His presence and He is more than willing to help us live productive, joyful lives if we will just acknowledge that simple fact. This sounds like a time to go to God in prayer. There are many places around the world where Christians are persecuted just for acknowledging and proclaiming their belief in the God of the Bible. Let’s remember them in prayer today. ---- PRAYER FOR PERSECUTED CHRISTIANS VK: We’d like to remind our audience that a lot of our radio episodes are linked together in series of topics so if they missed any episodes or if they just want to hear one again, all of these episodes are available on your favorite podcast app. To find them just search on “Anchored by Truth by Crystal Sea Books.” If you’d like to hear more, try out crystalseabooks.com where “We’re not perfect but our Boss is!” (Bible Quote from the New International Version) Ecclesiastes, chapter 11, verse 6, New International Version

Daniel 1 - 1:05 . 1:11Daniel 2 - 4:30 . 4:36Proverbs 26:13-28 - 16:05 . God's people are now in exile in the land of Babylon, which brings us to the book of Daniel, an extraordinary account of a young Judean exile who receives interpretation and prophecy from the Lord while serving foreign kings. Of particular significance in today's passage is the statue that Nebuchadnezzar sees in a dream. The statue's head of gold represented Babylon; its silver chest and arms: the Medo-Persian empire; the bronze stomach and thighs: the Greek empire; the legs of iron: the kingdom of Rome; and the mixed clay and iron feet: a continuation of Rome in later times. Finally, the rock represents the kingdom of God in Christ, as it easily destroys the manmade statue, enduring forever and spreading throughout the earth.:::Christian Standard Bible translation.All music written and produced by John Burgess Ross.Co-produced by the Christian Standard Bible.facebook.com/commuterbibleinstagram.com/commuter_bibletwitter.com/CommuterPodpatreon.com/commuterbibleadmin@commuterbible.org

Daniel 1 - 1:11 . Daniel 2 - 4:36 . Daniel 3 - 16:31 . Isaiah 43 - 23:55 . The book of Daniel is an extraordinary account of a young Judean exile who receives interpretation and prophecy from the Lord while serving foreign kings. Of particular significance in today's passage is the statue that Nebuchadnezzar sees in a dream. The statue's head of gold represented Babylon; its silver chest and arms: the Medo-Persian empire; the bronze stomach and thighs: the Greek empire; the legs of iron: the kingdom of Rome; and the mixed clay and iron feet: a continuation of Rome in later times. Finally, the rock represents the kingdom of God in Christ, as it easily destroys the manmade statue, enduring forever and spreading throughout the earth.:::Christian Standard Bible translation.All music written and produced by John Burgess Ross.Co-produced by Bobby Brown, Katelyn Rahn, Eric Williamson & the Christian Standard Biblefacebook.com/commuterbibleinstagram.com/commuter_bibletwitter.com/CommuterPodpatreon.com/commuterbibleadmin@commuterbible.org

Good Morning! Welcome to Mercy Fellowship where we are Saved by Jesus Work, Changed by Jesus' Grace, and Living on Jesus's Mission. While the second half of Daniel is filled with grotesque visions of the kingdoms of man warring against each other and ultimately God, we see a God who is in charge of world affairs and personally engages with His people. As you process world history or current events, how do you react and respond? What do these times reveal about your character and your hope is? Where do you go for rest or clarity when you're unsettled? Curtis looked at Chapter 7 where Daniel had a vision from God of 4 beasts representing the four empires back in Daniel 2 Babylon, Medo-Persian, Greece, and Rome. The kingdoms of the world are beastly in their rebellion from God, and will seek to wear out the saints of the most High. However, God will judge, and His kingdom will be established. Daniel 7 was a fly over of the remainder of human history. Here Daniel receives a vision that is much more focused, clear and concerning.

The world looks to political and religious leaders to bring peace to this war-driven earth. The leaders may change from age to age, but whether it be the United Nations or any leader or empire of the past or the--present, they have all failed to bring a lasting peace to this world.--Historians claim the so-called Pax Romana -Roman Peace- brought a period of peace into the known world, the likes of which was unknown at that time. For just over 200 years -27 BC to 180 AD- there was a relative peace brought about in God's providence by Roman conquest in swallowing up what had been the Babylonian,--Medo-Persian, and Greek kingdoms. Not only did the empire of Rome envelop all of those great kingdoms of the east, but it extended its boundaries to the west as far as what is now Europe -even to England-. But the great Pax Romana of the Roman Empire -like all of those before it and after it- fell under the mighty judgment--of the Lord. It weakened and finally collapsed under the weight of its own idolatry and rebellion against Jesus--Christ, and under the weight of its corruption, tyranny, and immorality.--Where the Pax Romana -Roman Peace- failed, the Pax Christiana -Christian Peace- will succeed- for Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, shall exercise His rule from His throne in heaven in such a glorious way that He will bring all of the nations -Jew and Gentile alike- unto Himself and into His Visible Church. The kings and rulers of the earth will serve Christ and will rule on behalf of Christ in righteousness and truth during Christ's millennial--reign. Then will be realized the prophecy found in Isaiah 2-4.

Introduction to Daniel chapter 8 and a study of the rise and fall of the Medo-Persian and Grecian kingdoms. An exposition of Daniel 8:1-8. Download sermon notes: PowerPoint | PDF

WE REVISIT the Book of Daniel as we discuss the ten horns of the Beast from the sea, John's description of the Antichrist in Revelation 13 and 17. The four beasts of Daniel's vision (Dan. 7:1–8) match exactly the bizarre creature described by John. It's generally agreed that the beasts have a historic fulfillment in Babylon (the lion), the Medo-Persian empire (the bear), Greece (the winged leopard), and Rome (the terrifying fourth beast). Given the current tensions in Eastern Europe between the US and NATO on one side and Russia on the other, we discuss whether we can read any prophetic significance into the prophecies of Daniel, Ezekiel and John. Does the bear of Daniel's vision refer to Russia? Did Ezekiel's prophecy of an enemy from the land of Magog foretell an invasion of Israel led by Russia? We explain why we don't believe Russia is in view in either prophecy, except insofar as Russia, along with the rest of the world, will come against Israel in the war that leads up to Armageddon. Watch every episode of Unraveling Revelation at www.UnravelingRevelation.tv. We're touring the churches of Revelation! Join us and Doug Hershey, author of Israel Rising, for a tour of Turkey October 18-November 3, 2022. Other sites include Göbekli Tepe, Abraham's home town of Harran, and the underground city of Derinkuyu. For information and registration, log on to www.SkyWatchInTurkey.com. Join us in Israel! For details on the SkyWatchTV Israel Tour (new dates: March 19–30, 2023), visit www.SkyWatchInIsrael.com.

WE REVISIT the Book of Daniel as we discuss the ten horns of the Beast from the sea, John's description of the Antichrist in Revelation 13 and 17. The four beasts of Daniel's vision (Dan. 7:1–8) match exactly the bizarre creature described by John. It's generally agreed that the beasts have a historic fulfillment in Babylon (the lion), the Medo-Persian empire (the bear), Greece (the winged leopard), and Rome (the terrifying fourth beast). Given the current tensions in Eastern Europe between the US and NATO on one side and Russia on the other, we discuss whether we can read any prophetic significance into the prophecies of Daniel, Ezekiel and John. Does the bear of Daniel's vision refer to Russia? Did Ezekiel's prophecy of an enemy from the land of Magog foretell an invasion of Israel led by Russia? We explain why we don't believe Russia is in view in either prophecy, except insofar as Russia, along with the rest of the world, will come against Israel in the war that leads up to Armageddon. We're touring the churches of Revelation! Join us and Doug Hershey, author of Israel Rising, for a tour of Turkey October 18-November 3, 2022. Other sites include Göbekli Tepe, Abraham's home town of Harran, and the underground city of Derinkuyu. For information and registration, log on to www.SkyWatchInTurkey.com.

Honoring God Has Great Rewards: Daniel 6:1- 23  The prophet Daniel served under King Darius during the captivity of the Jews about 600 BC in the Babylonian region. Daniel was one of three governors over the region and he was greatly favored by the king. Daniel had an excellent spirit and was gifted in wisdom and could interpret dreams.God had blessed Daniel and placed him in a very high leadership role. He was far superior in his leadership than the other governors. Because of this, the other governors and government officials were jealous of him and wanted to destroy him. They tried to find something wrong that they could use to accuse Daniel but found nothing. Daniel had great integrity and was a strong man of faith. His custom every day was to go to the upper room of his home, open the windows that faced Jerusalem, kneel, pray and give thanks to God.The Babylonian leaders were idol worshippers and planned a strategy that could get rid of Daniel. They approached King Darius and appealed to his ego. They told the king that all of his governors, administrators, and advisors had consulted together to establish a royal law that no one can petition any god or man, except the king for a period of 30 days. If they broke the law they would be thrown into the lion's den. The king liked the idea and he signed a decree that could not be broken according to the laws of the Medes and Persians.Although Daniel was a governor he found out about the law after it was signed by King Darius.Despite the new law, Daniel went home and prayed to God making petitions to Him only. He knelt down on his knees three times that day and prayed. His enemies quickly went to the king to tell him that Daniel had broken the law and he needed to be thrown into the lion's den. King Darius was so upset with himself for being tricked into hurting Daniel. He could not change the law that he had signed. King Darius knew that Daniel served the God of Israel, but that thought never crossed his mind when the other leaders were praising him.Before Daniel was put into the lion's den the king spoke to Daniel saying,  “Your God, whom you serve continually, He will deliver you.” Daniel was put into the lion's den and the king went to his palace, fasted all night, and could not sleep. King Darius arose early in the morning and went to the lion's den. He cried out to Daniel asking if his God was able to deliver him. Daniel replied, “O king live forever!” Immediately Daniel was taken out. He told the king that an angel from God was sent to shut the mouths of the lions and he was not hurt. The king was so happy and he had the accusers of Daniel thrown into the lion's den. They unfortunately did not have a good ending.King Darius made a decree honoring the God of Daniel throughout the Medo-Persian kingdom.He declared that the God of Daniel was the living God, Who delivers and rescues, and works signs and wonders in heaven and on earth. Daniel prospered under King Darius and later under the next king, Cyrus the Persian.The laws of God are higher than those of man. God wants us to worship Him only and not idols or other people even when it becomes a government law. Daniel disobeyed the law of the land and was punished for it, but God protected him. There are many stories in the Bible of ungodly leaders who have exalted themselves and not honored God. Daniel was not afraid to practice his faith in a foreign land. God blessed Him and God will bless you when you take a stand for your faith and not follow the ungodly ways of the world. Ask God to give you an excellent spirit like that of Daniel and give you courage to witness to others about God's great love. ( James 1:5; Phil. 4:6 )Personal Development Tip of the week: Taking time to reflect on our lives is so important. This is why I'm a huge fan

After years of living in exile in Babylon, a prophecy from decades before is finally coming to pass. God has begun to fulfill his promise to restore the nation, land, and temple to Israel. Matt and Neil dive into the first chapter of Ezra. It's nations conquering nations, and God is working behind it all. Did you know God used Cyrus the Great and the Medo-Persian empire to work out his own purposes in the world? Why is Israel living in exile? Who is Cyrus King of Persia and why is he important? Can we trust God's promises?

Audio Transcript: This media has been made available by Mosaic Boston Church. If you'd like to check out more resources, learn about Mosaic Boston and our neighborhood churches, or donate to this ministry, please visit mosaicboston.com.We're in the book of Malachi. Malachi is sent by God as a prophet to reawaken his people who are in spiritual stupor. They have grown numb to God. They are indifferent to the cause of God, the word of God, to the mission of God. They're indifferent to the work of the temple. The reason why they're indifferent is because their heart has been divided, they are in the middle.They're on the one hand loving the world, on the other hand, asking for God to bless them. And they're starting to ask questions like, is this worth it? Is it worth following God? Is it worth doing his work? Is it worth trying to live a godly life? As they're looking around and seeing that the people who are pagans, people who are living any way that they want seems like they're happier, seems like they're living better lives.And the reminder from Malachi here today is that God is a God of eternity, that God is a God of justice, that God has already sent his son Jesus Christ to bear the wrath of God for our sins. Jesus came the first time as a savior of his people, meek and mild, offering salvation, offering forgiveness, but he will come back and he will come back as a king and as a judge.And none of Christianity makes sense if we lose sight of the fact that eternity is real. The very moment you die you stand in the presence of God and you either spend eternity with God or apart from God in a place of eternal, conscious suffering called hell. And when Christians lose sight of that reality, that this is real, we lose sight of the most important thing in our lives, which is the mission of God.We have been saved to now carry the gospel of Jesus Christ to those who are not yet saved. So Malachi is sent by God to awaken his people with a fire from heaven, and I pray that he sends the same fire today. Today we're in Malachi 2:17 through 3:15. I'll begin by reading Malachi 2:17, 3 through 5. You have wearied the Lord with your words, but you say, how have we wearied him?By saying everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord and he delights in them or by asking where's the God of justice. Behold, I send my messenger and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight. Behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts.But who can endure the day of his coming and who can stand when he appears? He is like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver. They will bring offerings in righteousness to the Lord. Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old, as in former years.Then I will draw near to you for judgment. I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who press the hired worker in his wages, the widow and the fatherless against those who thrust aside the sojourner and do not fear me, says the Lord of hosts. This is the reading of God's holy, inerrant, infallible, authoritative word. May he write these eternal truths upon our hearts.Two main points from the text, don't weary God, and second, don't rob God. First, don't weary God. Malachi 2:17, you have wearied the Lord with your words. They have wearied the Lord. How do you make sense of this? If God is omnipotent, if he's impassable, on the one hand he's transcendent. So he's above suffering or feeling pain. On the other hand, he is being wearied by these people.Isaiah 40:28 says, have you not known, have you not heard the Lord is the everlasting God, the creator of the ends of the earth? He does not faint or grow weary, his understanding is unsearchable. On one hand, he can not grow weary, on the other hand, we can try God's patience to the point where he is weary of us, of our reactions.Isaiah 7:13 he said, hear then O house of David, is it too little for you to weary men that you weary God also? You're testing the patience of God. With their disobedience, they are wearing God, they're grumbling. Very few of us repent of the sin of grumbling, of complaining against God. God, you are not doing what you're supposed to be doing. You're not doing your job as you're supposed to be. You are not the God that you're supposed to be.We are wearing God with those complaints. What does it mean that God can be wearied when he is transcended above everything? Well, because in his love, in his kindness, he opens up his heart to us. He chooses to love us and he chooses to feel true love. Therefore, God does feel emotions. Sometimes we lose sight of the fact that God does love in a true love, like a feeling love because he chose to love.And God like a good father, at some point as we see in the old testament, he does get tired of the complaining and he does discipline that. Any parent understands this. Every once in a while you get to the point where you've just had it with your kids complaining. Dad what's for breakfast? Eggs again? No, I want ice cream. No, we're not doing that. What's for dinner? Soup, mom made soup. No, I want something interesting. That's what they do.This morning my daughter woke up... We've been living in the city for 11 years, this morning she woke up, my oldest daughter. She said, "I'm sick and tired of not having my own room, no backyard. I'm sick and tired of being a pastor's kid." That's what she said. I'm sick and tired of being a pastor's kid. And at that moment, I felt just a little bit of what God feels where it's like, "I'm getting tired of this getting. I'm getting tired of your complaints."Is there a sense in which God can experience emotional frustration, disappointment? Yes, because he truly loves. That's why he's wearied because he truly loves. Genesis 6 tells us that the Lord does experience emotions. Genesis 6, before the Lord sends the flood, it said that he regretted that he had made man. He got to the point where he was so fed up with the evil of humanity that he sends the flood.Judges 10:16 says that God couldn't bear Israel's misery any longer. Isaiah 63:9 through 10, in all their distress, he too was distressed. Psalm 2:4, the one enthroned in heaven laughs, the Lord scoffs at them. Luke 15:20 talking about the parable of the prodigal son. The father sees the son repenting, returning and the father, scripture says, was filled with compassion, ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.The reason why the Lord does feel true emotion is because he opens up his heart to love us and hear his people, they just complain. Malachi 2:17, but you say how have we wearied him? By saying everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord and he delights in them or by asking, where is the God of justice? How are they wearing him?They're saying, God, are you even just? God, are you even good? Why? Because we see evil all around us. We see the evil people prospering, God, why aren't you bringing down your condemnation upon them? Are you delighting in that evil? Therefore, they're questioning his character, impugning his character. In Malachi 3:13 through 15, the other side of questioning God is now they don't see the point in serving God.Your words have been hard against me, says the Lord, but you say, how have we spoken against you? You have said it is vain to serve God. What is the profit of our keeping his charge or of walking as in mourning before the Lord of hosts? And now we call the arrogant blessed, evildoers not only prosper, but they put God to the test and they escape him.God, we see these evil people who are living any way they want and you're not bringing judgment and condemnation upon them. We're serving you, what's the point of serving you? What profit is there? The arrogant are blessed, evildoers prosper. What about us? And this is the age old question of why do the wicked prosper? Why do the righteous suffer?You do the right things, you can't get ahead. They scoff at God and they're doing great. The Jewish people really felt this. They felt true suffering as a people in Malachi's day. They were under the thumb of the Medo-Persian empire who were godless and yet they were prosperous. They're people who've got a back in the land of Jerusalem, but their temple is but a shell of its former glory.And the Jews have become disappointed with God. God, you didn't give us the life that you promised to give us. We expected blessing and yet all we have is suffering. God are you just? It's a synagogue agnosticism, doubting God's existence, his goodness. God are you delighting in evil? Are you good? Are you just? And what they're doing here is they're questioning God's job.God, do you know what you're doing? I could do your job so much better than you. It's hard for me to wrap my mind around how hard it is being God. I get a little understanding of how God gets wearied with us sometimes with our complaining, with our groaning, our griping with my kids. I have four kids, I have four daughters, kids complain. Daughters are just more articulate at it.They're just better at words, better... and they know where... like fast at speaking and they come out. And especially if you have smart kids, that's even harder. The smarter the kids, the more words. And I get to the point where I'm frustrated. There's a frustration because I love you so much, I want the best thing for you. Something interesting.What's something interesting to you? It's always carbs, it's always sugar. No, I don't want to give you carbs and sugar for breakfast because I don't want you to get diabetes by the time you're 40. You're going to thank me later. So I'm at the point where it's like, "Yeah." I've been a pastor for 11 years and I know how... I think this is the hardest time in the history of the world to be a pastor. I think every pastor probably feels that, whatever I'm alive today so I get to say it.Pastor's back a hundred years ago, literally you saw people once a week. Maybe they have appointments with you, tremendous office hours. Today pastors have never been more accessible, email, Facebook Messenger, IG messenger, Twitter, phone, they know where you live. And in Boston, Massachusetts, everyone's got an opinion. Everybody has opinion. That's why you live here, you're very opinionated and you're good at expressing your opinions.And in this pandemic, this has been the hardest time of ministry in my whole life. And I get your emails, I get your messages, I get your texts, I get your phone calls, I get all of it. And your voice is heard. And we truly are a mosaic where whatever your opinion is, on whatever the matter, there's 10 people diametrically opposed to you.And Pastor Shane, Pastor Andy somehow we need to keep everything going. And at the same time, I'm grieving for the state of the church. I'm grieving over it because I love the church. I've given 35% of my life to the church. I see what the enemy is doing through all of this. Yes, you read the studies. Yes, the stats. Yes, the news. But on top of all of that is a demonic war and I see what the enemy is doing in all...By the way, the whole pandemic started when we started a sermon series called Stratagem: How to Discern the Strategies of the Evil One. And literally in the middle of that series we're like, "Pandemic." I've been discerning the work of the enemy through this. I see how the church is being weakened through it. There's an indifference to the church. There's an indifference to the gathering of believers.You know what the word church means? Literally, ekklesia means the gathering of believers physically. We need that. Humans need that. And more than anything the church of Jesus Christ whom he loves, the body of Christ, which is physically together, the Holy Spirit moves when we are together. This is our witness. Our worship is warfare.I say all that to say, we just need to love God, we need to love Jesus. And the mission is more important than anything. Whatever your preference, the mission's more important. People literally die and go to hell every single second to spend eternity apart from God. All I want to say is whatever your preface, whatever everything, there's nothing more important than that.The glory of God and the church of Jesus Christ and stop telling God how to do his job. That's the point of this text. And when we do question God, when we do weary God, what's the response? The response is repent. Repent. Who are you to question God? Job suffers for 38 chapters in the book of Job, he loses his kids and he loses his wealth, he loses his health. He loses everything. He's griping against God for 38 chapters, God shows up and he just says, who are you? Who are you to question me?He's God, he gets to do whatever he wants to do. Our job is to repent of sin and follow him. And then the presupposition that he's dealing with here is, Malachi is dealing here is, you want justice? You're telling God that he's not just, you want justice? How many of us would be alive if God flips the switch and destroys all of the evil in the world?How many of us will be alive in a second? That's what he says in Malachi 3:2, who can endure the day of his coming, who can stand when he appears? He is like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap. So when we say, wouldn't it be great if Jesus came back? Yes, it would be great. But how many of us are ready? How many of us are ready for the justice of God to come?Malachi 3:1, behold, I send my messenger. Before he sends Christ in the first coming and before he sends Christ in the second coming, there's a messenger. He will prepare the way before me and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to the temple and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight. Behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. Prophecy as usual in scripture has double meaning, sometimes more.The first meaning of this prophecies, John the Baptist is going to come to prepare the way for Jesus Christ. Isaiah 43, a voice cries out in the wilderness, prepare the way the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Zechariah's prophecy when he prophesies over his son who was in the womb, when he prophesied, he says, you will go and prepare the way of the Lord.Jesus applied that prophecy to John the Baptist in Matthew 11. Malachi 4:5 says, behold, I will send Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. Elijah the prophet, his spirit descends upon John the Baptist. That's how the prophecy comes together. And then we see in Malachi 3:1 that he, John the Baptist, is preparing the way for the Lord.So in the sense, this human Messiah that comes is also going to be the Lord. And we see that from Malachi 3:1, behold I, God, send my messenger, John the Baptist in the spirit of Elijah. And he will prepare the way before me, God, me, the Lord, that's Adonai in the Hebrew, whom you seek will suddenly come into his temple and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. And here in the Hebrew, it's Yahweh.There's two Lords. Here what's going on, Yahweh here represents God, the father, Adonai is Jesus Christ. How do we know that? Because we see that difference often in scripture. Psalm 110:1, the Lord, Yahweh, says to the Lord, Adonai, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool. So the Messiah is clearly David's son yet David calls him Lord. And there's two Lords, Yahweh and Adonai.What's this talking about? In the old testament, this is prophecy of the Trinity. That there's three persons in the Trinity, God the father, God the son, God the Holy Spirit. God the father sends God the son by the power of the Holy Spirit. One God, three persons, one essence. And we have this in Malachi3:1, John the Baptist comes as a messenger telling people to repent.What was John the Baptist's message? Jesus Christ, who is God in human flesh, he's here. Therefore, repent of your sins, bear fruit with that repentance. Repentance isn't just saying, God, I'm sorry, all I want is your pardon so I can continue sinning. Repentance is God, I changed my way. I changed my life. God, I want to be used by you because I am yours. That's what repentance is. John the Baptist preached that, prepare the way for Jesus Christ.And the second meaning of the prophecy is before Jesus' second coming, Revelation 11 talks about this, there will be two witnesses who will powerfully bear witness before the coming of Christ, and the second coming, one of those witnesses will be Elijah himself. The preparing the way of the Lord, this imagery, is clearing roads, preparing towns for the visit of the king.It's a messenger sent to the towns who tell people, "Hey, clear the road of rock, of debris. Fill in the ruts and the potholes." God in his grace sends a messenger before his coming. He did that through John the Baptist about Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ lives the perfect life, dies on the cross bearing God's fire of judgment and condemnation for our sin, our rebellion, our wickedness, dies, is buried, on the third day he's risen.And the scripture says by our faith in him, his grace is applied to us. His judgment, his substitutionary atonement, his death, that is counted to our account the very moment that we repent. That's the only way that the fire of God, when it comes, it will be a fire that cleanses, that refines instead of incinerating.God in his grace sent John the Baptist, God in his grace sends the church, sends us, we are priesthood of all believers and God in his kindness before the second coming of Christ will send another witness. Our job now, here, is to see where in our life do we need more of the refiners fire. Malachi 3:2, who can endure the day of his coming, who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap.God wants to pour out his fire upon the church, upon each one of us. Wherever there's an indifference to sin, an indifference to God, a lack of love, a lack luster relationship with him we're to ask, God please send this refiners fire. Please wash us with the fullers' soap, the soap that cleanses. In Malachi 3:4, he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver.He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the Lord. To the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old, as in the former years. Here the imagery is God sends his fire to purify. This is the process of making silver.The oriental silver smith would heat it and the impurities, the dross, the slag, they bubble to the surface. He would skim the surface to the point where he could see his reflection in the silver. So this is what God is telling his people. You want justice, justice begins with you. You want God to punish evil, to cleanse the world of evil, it begins with you. It begins with you repenting of your sin and pursuing righteousness on a daily basis.And he is sending the struggles, he's sending the difficulties in order to purify us. All whom he loves, he purifies. It's painful, but it's not as painful as the judgment in the second coming. In the second coming, this is Malachi 3:2, then I will draw near to you for judgment. I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired worker in his wages, the widow, the fatherless, against those who thrust aside the soldier and do not fear me, says the Lord of hosts.These people wanted God to judge their enemies, but they didn't judge themselves. They didn't fear God. God says, first judgment needs to come into your own life reawakening cleansing of sin. This is the process of sanctification and that's how we prepare ourselves for the second coming. In the second God will bring judgment. He will bring all of these people a swift witness against them, it's talking about the ultimate judgment.The sorcerers here, anyone who practices the occult, adulterers, anyone who is sexually unfaithful in particular in their marriage vows. Those who swear falsely, those who bend the truth, this is perjury under oath in court or in anything else, those who oppress the wage earner, anyone who is dishonest in their financial dealings. So what's the difference between the two fires? One is a fire that refines, the other fire is the one that incinerates.What's the difference? The difference is the covenantal love of Jesus Christ. Have you accepted the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on your behalf? Have you repented of sin? Have you turned to Jesus Christ? Have you trusted that his death on the cross when the fire of God's wrath came down on him, do you trust that this is Jesus dying on the cross for your sins?Do you see how Holy God is? How sinful we are? How loving God is? How just God is and how much we need his grace. Do you see that? That's the only hope. There's nothing more important than that. There's nothing. There's absolutely nothing more essential than you trusting in Jesus Christ, you repenting of your sin, you following him. There's nothing more essential than that. There's nothing more essential than you worshiping the God of the universe.And then the temptation is, as we see the evil around us, as we are... the more you grow in holiness, the more you walk with the Lord, the more it breaks your heart that there's sin in your own life and that there's just outright evil and injustice around us. And the more godless a city, the more pagan a city, the more it grieves you and it wearies you. It's exhausting spiritually. And there's a temptation to hate the evil person.And here, as we pray for the justice, God come, God, we pray for the second coming, God, swift fire from heaven, please. We'll never lose sight of the fact that these people are eternal souls. And if Jesus Christ comes back right now, they will spend eternity in hell. So as we pray for justice, we are to care with a compassionate heart for those who don't yet know the Lord. We are to develop a compassion for those who are unbelievers.Second Peter 3:8 through 13, do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is a thousand years and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief.And then the heavens will pass away with a roar and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed since all these things are thus to be dissolved. What sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn. But according to his promise, we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.Don't weary God, if we do, if there's a grumbling spirit of complaining toward God, we are to repent of that. And then the second point is don't rob God. Malachi 3:6, for I the Lord do not change. Therefore, you O children of God are not consumed. He's setting this up, he's about to tell him that you've been robbing me. On the other hand, he said, my fire of judgment hasn't come down on you yet because I've chosen to pour my love out on you. I don't change.God is the only one who can say I am that I am. He's the only one who can say that. Every single one of us, we have to say, I am not yet the person that I'm supposed to be. I'm growing in the grace of God. God's the only one who can say I am that I am. A.W. Pink says he can not change for the better for he is already perfect and being perfect, he cannot change for the worse.And God is telling Israel, look, I should have destroyed you, I have not yet. And the reason is because I made a covenant with you. God chooses to love, and God is a God of his word. When God says, I love you, he will love you to the end. He will not let you go. And I'm setting that up all to say these people have been complaining to God, "God, what's the point of serving you when you are not blessing us? We're doing so much for you and you're not giving us what we want."And God here actually says, no, you're not doing everything you ought to be doing. Malachi 3:7 through 8, from the days of the fathers, you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. But you say, how shall we return? Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me, but you say, how have we robbed you in your tithes and contributions.We're saying, "God, we're doing so much." And he's saying, "No, no, no. You're not doing everything I've called you to do. You're comparing your obedience to that of the pagans, you're not comparing your obedience to that of God's law. And really here the main issue is they're in this lackadaisical, middle ground of miserable, pitiful, half-hearted Christianity. This is lukewarm Christianity.In Revelation God says, "You're neither hot nor cold, you're warm. You're lukewarm. I'm going to spit you out." It's like coffee, there's only two kinds that are allowed, hot and iced. That's it. Warm coffee is disgusting. You want to spit that out. That's what God is saying. He's saying to his people, "You Christians are miserable." The reason why you're miserable is because you're lukewarm, you're half-hearted.It's the most pitiful condition to be because you can't enjoy sin like you used to because God, the Holy Spirit, rebukes you every time and he disciplines you. And because you want sin more than God, you're not getting the fullness and benefit and satisfaction and joy of God. And in order to diagnose their lukewarmness, he points to their bank account.Well, what's the connection here? The connection is what Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, wherever your treasure is, that's where your heart is. Wherever your money naturally flows, that's usually what you love most. And scripture often talks about money as the litmus test, generosity as the litmus test of our relationship with God.Zacchaeus was a tax collector, pagan, was stealing, robbing the people of Israel and he repents. And Jesus says this in Luke 19:8 through 9. Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, "Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore fourfold." And Jesus said to him, today salvation has come to him to this house since he's also a son of Abraham.He's not saying he's saved because he gives, but he's saying, because he's saved, he gives. He has this natural generosity. Because he loves God and the things of God, he wants to be generous to the causes of God. And that stands a stark contrast to the tragic accountant of the rich, young ruler who comes to Jesus, falls on his knees, says, "What must I do to inherit eternal life?"And Jesus says, "You know the commandments." He said, "I fulfilled all of them." Jesus says, "You're lacking one thing." Mark 10:21, and Jesus looking at him, loved him and said to him, "You lack one thing. Sell all that you have and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven, come and follow me." Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful for he had great possessions.And again, this isn't saying that if you sell everything you have, you get salvation. But Jesus was saying, "What do you love most?" How do you inherit turn life? You love God more than anything. You repent of your sin, you love God more than anything. Jesus saw that there was an idol in the way, and that idol was money. This guy worshiped money.Luke 16:10 to 11, and one who is faithful in very little is also faithful in much. And one who is dishonest in very little is also dishonest in much. If then you have been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you true riches? Unrighteous wealth, that's money and true riches here, that's the stewardship of souls. That's the souls of people.God says there's nothing more important than caring for people's souls. And if we have been unfaithful in finances, God will not entrust to us greater responsibility, which is that of caring for souls. So here the question is, are you greedy or generous? And that's always a degree. We always have to check our hearts and see how much greed has taken over.Do we have integrity when it comes to money? Are our priorities or motives for earning, spending, saving, investing, giving, are they in line with God's word? And how much should we give? That's the important question. In the old testament the number 10% comes up often. Abraham once gave Melchizedek 10% of the spoils from a single battle. Jacob promises to give God 10%.The law of Moses, however, prescribes several tithes. And if you combine all of them together it's probably 20 to 25%, some say even a third. In Israel, the tithe function more like an involuntary tax. Here Malachi 3:10 says, bring the full tithe into the storehouse. The 10% is a great place to start, but the idea is we are to give proportionately with what God has given us.So for some of us, 10% is a great place to give, some of us, it's going to be a sacrifice. So in the new testament, first Corinthians talks about giving sacrificially, joyfully and not under compulsion. Give to whom? We give to God. And what's important in Malachi 3:19 through 10 is that God says, give to my house. This is Malachi 3:9 through 12. You are cursed with a curse for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you. Bring the full tithe into the storehouse that there may be food in my house. He's talking about the temple.And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts. If I will not open the windows of heaven for you and to pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need. I will rebuke the devourer for you so that it will not destroy the fruits of your soil and your vine in the field shall not fail to bear, says the Lord of hosts. Then all nations will call you blessed for you will be a land of delight, says the Lord.So you're robbing God by not giving to his house, you're withholding the tithes and offerings. Therefore, you're neglecting the ministry in the temple. So the temple is gone now, we don't have the temple. We have the church. The church is the body of believers. So they gave so that the work of the ministry would continue in the temple. We today give to the work of the church. Why? Because Christ loved the church, gave himself up for her, he, though being rich, gave himself for the church so that we could be rich in him.Jesus said, I will build the church. And really the issue is we give to things that God loves. Does God need our money? No, God commands us to give because we need to give, we need to sacrifice. It's more blessed to give than to receive. And God wants us to give to the work of the church because the church is the vehicle through which God's glory is displayed and the gospel is proclaimed in the world.So it really comes down to giving to the things that God loves, the things that God prioritizes, things that God cares for, which is the work of the gospel and salvation of the souls. And here God says, put me to the test, which is fascinating. In the very beginning he's saying, you're testing my patience. Here he says, test me. What's the difference?There they were testing him with their disobedience, here he says, test me with your obedience. There they with testing his patience, here he says, test my promises, test my promises. See if I don't open up the windows of heaven. Malachi 3:10, see if I will not open up the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there's no more need, until there's no more needed.And he's not promising wealth, he's promising enough, satisfaction. Second Corinthians 9:8, and God is able to make all grace abound to you so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. Now this is risky. With finances, it's risky. The reason why it's risky here and the reason why he says test is obedience comes first, blessing comes after.He says, you first give and see if I don't bless. Sometimes we want, "God bless me, if you bless me to a certain point, then I'll give." It's risky, it's faith. But he says, "Test me, let's make a deal." That's what he's saying. And I found this to be true in my own life. And I found when Christians do this, there is really this pattern of God does bless faithfulness.The text began with them questioning God and then he says, you're robbing me, but in the middle he says return to me. And really this is the main issue, the heart of the matter is the heart. Malachi 3:7, from the days of your fathers you've turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts, but you say, how shall we return? It all starts with the heart.It all starts with us realizing how good and gracious God is. That though we were in our sins, though we defied him, rebelled against him, cared nothing for him, despised him. And you say, how have I despised him? By being indifferent to him. Indifference is the worst form of hate. And Jesus Christ comes and he dies for us, wicked sinners, on the cross, the God of the universe bearing the wrath of God.God came to save us from God's wrath and condemnation. He who knew no sin became sin so that we might become the righteousness of God. Christ loses everything on the cross, pours out his blood for us and by grace through faith we're saved when we realize that generosity of God, the largest of his heart, that now duty becomes delight. It all starts with a relationship to return to him, to love him.However, relationship with God does not mean you don't have to obey. This is the problem with much of American Christianity. Oh, it's not religion, it's relationship. I know what you mean. It is relationship with God, with the God of the universe. And if you have a relationship with the God of the universe, of course it means obedience.Repentance is not, God, I'm sorry for my sin so now I can continue living in sin. Repentance is, God, forgive me, a wicked sinner who deserves hell for all of eternity. God, forgive me for loving things more than you, for loving pleasure more than you, for loving idols more than you. God, forgive me. And God does and now you become a child of God and a servant of God.John 15:10, if you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love just as I've kept my father's commandments and abide in his love. There's a connection. You want to experience God's love, you got to keep his commandments. John 15:14, you are my friends if you do what I command you. You can't say, "I love Jesus, my sins are forgiven. I'm under grace. I can live any way that I want." It doesn't work that way.God is a jealous God. He's a zealous God. When he makes you his own, when he makes you his own, he's never letting you go. And if you experience dissatisfaction, indifference in your heart, if you experience this questioning, grumbling spirit in your heart, God, you're not giving me the life that I want to live and then you start to pursue sin, that is the most miserable place to be because he will discipline you.Goes to Hebrews 12, he's a good father and he will discipline you. And sometimes that does mean physical suffering and sometimes even to the point of death, first Corinthians 11 talks about that. There's a sin onto death. So the word here from Malachi for us today is return to the Lord, return to him, be satisfied in him, rejoice in him. There's nothing better.Is it worth following him? Of course. What's the point? The point is we are to glorify him, enjoy him forever. Mark 10:28 through 30, I'll close with this. And Peter began to say to him, "See, we have left everything and followed you." And Jesus said, "Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or a mother or a father or children or lands for my sake and for the gospel who will not receive a hundred fold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands with persecutions and in the age to come, eternal life."Let's pray. Lord, we thank you for the Holy Spirit. And I pray, Holy Spirit, continue to refine each one of us. Lord, those of us who are Christians continue to refine our souls with your fire, refiner's fire and continue to cleanse us and our souls as with soap so that we long for holiness, that we fight sin, that we take up a cross and follow you on a daily basis because we understand that there is a spiritual war to wage and we are to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ and we are pursue you with everything that we do.And Lord, for anyone who is not yet a Christian, I pray today, convert them, regenerate them, draw them to yourself, show them that they right now are on the path of eternal separation from you. I pray, draw them to yourself, convert them, give them the gift of repentance. And I pray that they accept the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. And I pray all this in Christ's name. Amen.