Daniel 10, 12: Star Wars

As I may mention, it is my intention to finish the book of Daniel with you. We've gone through the first nine chapters. Today we're going to do something a little different. We're going to go through Daniel chapter 10 and Daniel chapter 12. We're going to skip the 11th chapter and hold that for next week. It's a very long chapter. There's over 100 different fulfillments of prophecy in that chapter. It's nice and long. As a matter of fact, next week I'm going to take the sermon at time and the sermon time here to go through that. These other two chapters are a little more manageable, and we'll take care of that today. Turn over to Daniel chapter 10.

We'll start. Daniel chapter 10. A little bit of background on chapter 10 here. The events of chapter 10, 11, and 12 are all in the third year of King Cyrus, Persia. The month is the month of Nisan. I think you know what's in that month for you and I. But the month is Nisan, and the year is 536 BC. 536 BC. Daniel has been a captive by this point for 70 years. Now, if he was taken captive when he was 15 years old, he's 85 now. If he was taken captive when he was 20, he's 90 years old now. And to be quite honest, so far as we know, shortly after Daniel finishes this book, he dies. So these are some of the last things that were on his mind that God revealed to him. We certainly want to pay close attention. Chapter 10 and 12, there's a lot of prophecy here, but there's also a lot of Christian living here. As we get into these two chapters, we'll see that. So let's get right into it. Chapter 10, verse 1. In the third year of Cyrus, the king of Persia, a message was revealed to Daniel, whose name was called Balthashazar.

Now, this was the name given to Daniel 70 years ago by the Babylonians, but the Persians call him by the same name. So an interesting piece of information there. What's interesting is what comes next. The message was true, but the appointed time was long, and he understood the message and had understanding of the vision. Now, this phrase here, the appointed time was long, can also be translated, and of great conflict. Of great conflict. What we're going to see, in my notes, I've labeled chapter 10, Star Wars. Because in chapter 10 here, we're going to see the demon world fighting against holy righteous angels, and it's happening all around Daniel. He's not really aware until he's made aware of the situation. But brother, the same thing I think happens in our lives as well. There are times in your life where I'm sure things have not gone as simple as you thought they should. All of a sudden, somebody threw a monkey wrench into what's been happening in your life, and you're wondering, where is this coming from?

We can take a look in chapter 10 here and see where maybe some of these things are coming from in your life. We're going to see some warfare here, spiritually speaking, all around Daniel. Let's read verses 2 through 4. In those days I, Daniel, was mourning three full weeks. I ate no pleasant food, no meat, or wine came into my mouth, nor did I anoint myself at all till three whole weeks were fulfilled. Now, on the 24th day of the first month, now this should mean something to us here, on the 24th day of the first month, as I was by the side of the great river, that is the Tigris, we'll pause there. Here we see Daniel in a partial fast. He doesn't say he abstained from water, but he's in a state of a partial fast here. What's going on in his mind? He's thinking, this is the time of Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread in Nisam, these three weeks. These are the three weeks we're talking about. Daniel's thinking about the same things we would think about during the Passover Days of Unleavened Bread. He's thinking about how God released and rescued Israel out of Egypt. As we've looked at other chapters, Daniel was hoping that God was going to rescue his people from the captivity they had been in with Babylon and now Persia. Those things were on his mind. He was fasting. He was asking God to help his people to be what they needed to be, to have a state of repentance so God could spring them loose from that situation. Those are things that are consuming his thinking. This is why he's taking the time for this fast. Verse 5, Then I looked in my eyes and looked and behold a certain man clothed in linen, whose waist was girded with the gold of Euthaz. The gold of Euthaz is basically synonymous with some of the very finest gold that can be found anywhere in the world. So here you've got this individual with this tremendous gold, beautiful gold. His body was like Burl. Different commentaries would give you different explanations from Burl, but most of the commentaries tend to center on the fact that Burl was probably in the Emerald family. So we're looking at a gem that is more greenish in nature. His body was like Burl, a space like the appearance of lightning, his eyes like torches of fire, his arms and feet like burnished bronze in color. And the sound of his words like the voice of a multitude. Now you read that, and who do you think that is? It's easy for us to think that's Jesus Christ, and yet it is not Jesus Christ. It is an angel. Now before you say, now wait a minute, Mr. D, it sure looks like Christ to me, and I can understand that. Put a finger here, put a marker here. Let's go over to Revelation chapter 10. Revelation chapter 10 and verse 1, where we are seeing an angel here. There's no doubt about what we're looking at here in Revelation chapter 10 and verse 1. Revelation chapter 10 and verse 1.

I saw still another mighty angel coming down from heaven clothed with a cloud, and a rainbow was on his head. His face was like the sun and a street like pillars of fire.

So you see, brethren, when an angel is not appearing as a human being, they are a glorious thing to behold. And we know from prior chapters in the book of Daniel that Gabriel have been sent to give Daniel a number of messages, and perhaps this is what we're looking at here. Gabriel, who is not appearing as a man. Verse 5 and 6 are some of the greatest, most detailed descriptions in Scripture of the appearance of an angel. Now, I'm not going to turn to these, but in Judges chapter 13 and verse 6, if you want to cite this as a reference, Judges 13.6, Samson's mother reported that the angel she saw was very awesome, very awesome. In Luke chapter 24 and verse 4, again, not going to turn there, but a citation for you later, Luke 24.4, the angels at Christ's tomb were described by the women who saw them as dressed in clothes that gleamed like lightning.

So obviously we're looking at an angel here in Daniel 10. And of course, we'll see that by the context as well. Let's go back to Daniel chapter 10. We'll take it up back in verse 7 here. And I, Daniel, alone saw the vision for the men who were with me did not see the vision, but a great terror fell upon them, so they fled to hide themselves.

So obviously something is afoot here, and these men are seeing something. They have this idea, wow, this is really something here. They didn't see the vision, but they realized something's happening. We're not fully aware of it, but it's big. And so they started to get frightened. Again, in your notes, you might want to jot down 2 Kings chapter 6. In 2 Kings 6, you've got the story of Elisha and his assistant. They woke up in the morning. The assistant saw this army that had surrounded them that we're going to bring him to the king of Syria. And Elisha knew that the chariots of God were all around to protect them. The assistant didn't see that. Elisha saw that. And of course, in Acts chapter 9 and verse 7, when God began to convert Saul of Tarsus, God knocked Saul of Tarsus down. The people around him heard voices, but they didn't see anything either. So this is the way God works at times. So in verse 7, Daniel's about to be given some new information. And it's really something that is quite astonishing. Verse 8, Daniel chapter 10, verse 8. Therefore, I was left alone when I saw this great vision, and no strength remained in me, for my vigor was turned to frailty in me, and I retained no strength.

Well, the man had been not eating like he normally would eat for three weeks. He was physically in a weakened state. He was spiritually quite strong, but physically he was quite weak. Verse 9. Yet I heard the sound of his words, and while I heard the sound of his words, I was in a deep sleep on my face, with my face to the ground. Suddenly a hand touched me, which made me tremble on my knees and on the palms of my hands. Now, here's where some Christian living comes in, brethren.

Have there been times in your life when you have felt so weak? And here I'm talking mostly spiritually. Where you felt so spiritually weak, you didn't know which way to turn. Well, here's a situation where God is reaching out to Daniel through an angel, but he's reaching out to give him strength, to give him understanding, to give him enlightenment. I'm sure that in all of our lives, there are times in all of our lives when we want God to give us enlightenment.

We want the light turned on. We want to see which way is up. We want to know which direction to go. We want to know what God's will is. And, of course, we see this happening here. Verse 11. And he said to me, O Daniel, man greatly beloved. And why was Daniel a man so greatly beloved? Remember all the things we've read to this point in this book? How he was a man who, when he could have lost his life for praying to the great God, he opened his window so people can see.

He said, I'm not ashamed. I'm going to pray three times a day to the great God. He was thrown into lions then. People around him literally wanted to stab him in the back. He was a man of prayer. He was a man of faith. And because of that, he was greatly beloved. Even the very first chapter of Daniel talks about how they wanted to brainwash him.

They wanted him to eat certain foods. And he wouldn't allow himself to be brainwashed or eat foods that weren't good for him. But that by itself could have caused him to lose his life. So he was a very courageous young man. And God marveling at all of this.

And brethren, isn't that encouraging? Isn't it encouraging to know that as you stand for God, God will look at you and marvel at your stance. They'll say, that's my son. That's my daughter. Look at them. Boy, they've got some real starch in their legs. Look at them. He said to me, O Daniel, verse 11, man greatly beloved, understand the words I speak to you and stand upright. For I have now been sent to you. So obviously Christ wouldn't be sending Christ. This is an angel being sent by Christ or by God.

For I have now been sent to you while he was speaking with this word to me, I stood trembling. So here in verse 11, we see that Daniel is taking a respectful stance.

He's told a stand. He's been a stand. He wants a stand. He wants to be respectful. Verse 12. And he said to me, Do not fear, Daniel, for from the first day you set your heart to understand and to humble yourself before your God. Your words were heard, and I have come because of your words. Once again, brethren, what was going through your heart and mind on Passover evening? Chances are there are probably many in this room that on Passover evening, you were wanting God to... You were so thankful God was giving you a brand new book, as it were, with a lot of blank pages, and you could start afresh.

You were so happy that your sins have been forgiven. Passover is a memorial of that. And here we see that from the first day that he set his heart to understand and to humble himself. So, brethren, this is something for us to appreciate. If we have this same approach, God is no respecter of persons. If we set our heart to understand, if we set our heart to be humble and to be teachable, then we'll have the same result as Daniel. But now verse 13, and we've covered this in other sermons and times gone by, but I think it's so fascinating what we have now here in verse 13.

But the Prince of the Kingdom of Persia was stood me twenty-one days.

This Prince of the Kingdom of Persia is a demonic power. It's not a prince, it's not a man, it's a demon. Satan has his kingdom. Satan has his kingdom divided into different areas, geographical areas. There are different demons over each of the areas. When you've got some of the Aboriginal or some of the American Indians saying, evil spirits live there, don't discount that.

But the Prince of the Kingdom of Persia was stood me twenty-one days.

Does that remind you of something in this chapter? How long was Daniel fasting? He was fasting twenty-one days. How long were the demons fighting Gabriel? Twenty-one days.

How long have you been praying about certain things in your life? How long have you felt that you're not really making progress?

Maybe, brethren, you had the demons in Gabriel or Michael fighting for you in an unseen way. But the Prince of the Kingdom of Persia was stood me twenty-one days. And behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, Michael, the archangel, we're going to see in chapter 12, where one of Gabriel's great job is to bring messages. You know, he brought several messages already to Daniel. He's going to bring a message to Mary about the child she's going to have. Michael is the warrior archangel. He is the one who fights for the people of God.

Behold, Michael, one of the chief princes came to help me, for I have been left alone there with the kings of Persia. So you've got a multitude of demonic activity here.

Now, the point we need to think about, brother, and again, this goes to our lives. Do we have spirit influence where what we would want to do, we can't because the demon world is blocking us. Well, we're certainly trying to block Gabriel from getting to Daniel, weren't they? Twenty-one days! Now, God could have just swept those demons away, but he didn't. Perhaps he wanted the archangels to learn some lessons, but he certainly wanted this written for our benefit. That as you and I go through life, there can be all sorts of things that are impediments in our path. Let's take a put a marker here. There's a couple of scriptures I want to turn to. Let's go to Ephesians 6. Ephesians 6. Ephesians 6.

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers.

Yeah, they were talked about as the princes of Persia, and we're going to see the princes of Greece. Yeah, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers. Yeah, these princes and kings, demons, rulers of darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Now, let's add to this knowledge what we see over in 1st Thessalonians. Let's go to 1st Thessalonians for a moment. 1st Thessalonians 2.

1st Thessalonians 2 and verse 18. Therefore, we wanted to come to you, even I, Paul, time and again, but Satan hindered us. Had you been hindered in your life? Maybe the Star Wars are happening all around you. This is something for us to consider, brethren. It certainly was happening in Daniel's life. It certainly could be happening in our lives. Let's turn now back to chapter 10 of Daniel. I'd like to pose a question for you. Gabriel was sent by God to give a message to Daniel. Gabriel had to fight for 21 days. How many days again was Daniel fasting and praying on a certain subject 21 days? What if Daniel had stopped praying at day number 20? What would have happened? Maybe he would never have gotten the message.

What we see here, brethren, is a principle. The principle is the principle of undiscouragable persistence. You may have to be praying about something much longer than 21 days. It might be 21 months. It might be a number of years. People have had to do this. We want a child. We can't get pregnant. We want this job. We want this house. We want these various things. Keep up the prayers. Undiscouragable persistence. Daniel didn't quit. Because he had no quit in him, God says, boy, don't we love him? That's my guy there. I really love him.

Here's something for us to think about. Here we are in chapter 10. Daniel, let's continue on. Verse 14. Now I've come to make you understand what will happen to your people in the latter days, for the vision refers to many days yet to come. Here's a date stamp for our day today. When he had spoken such words to me, I turned my face toward the ground and became speechless. And suddenly one having the likeness of the sons of men touched my lips. Then I opened my mouth and spoke, saying to him who stood by me, my Lord, because of the vision, my sorrows have overwhelmed me, and I have retained no strength. So again, God has got to prop him up here because of his lack of food and so forth. He's spiritually strong, but physically he's very weak here. Verse 17. For all the servant of the Lord talked with you, my Lord, asked for me, no strength remains in me now, nor is any breath left in me. Then again, the one having the likeness of man touched me and strengthened me. God's angels are there to serve us, to help us, and through an angel he is strengthened. This is God's doing through God. Verse 19. He said, O man greatly beloved, fear not. Peace to you, be strong, yes, be strong.

So when he spoke to me, I was strengthened, and said, Let my Lord speak for you, have strengthened me. Verse 20. Then he said, Do you know why I have come to you? And now I must return to fight with the Prince of Persia. The spiritual battles go on. And when I have gone forth, indeed, the Prince of Greece, another demon over Greece, is going to come.

Brethren, again, what does this tell us? Have you had trials in your life where they seem to come wave after wave? Employment, health, interaction with people, social issues. You are just about ready to go out of one trial, but just as you think you are done, something else comes on the tail of that last trial, wave after wave. That's what we are seeing here. So don't think you are in some sort of a strange circumstance when as you go through life, you have got the trials coming upon you wave after wave. And here is a man at least his mid-80s who is holding strong.

Verse 21, But I tell you what is noted in the Scripture of truth. No one upholds me against these except Michael, your Prince. Now, let me get a little speculation on this phrase here, the Scripture of truth. We know that John 1717 says God's Word is truth. So is this talking about the Bible you and I have in front of us? Possibly. Or could this be speaking about a book that God has in heaven? And as the Scriptures were being written, it's basically being downloaded from that Scripture of truth to what we have here. God has an overall plan, and He is doing things with the Scriptures and downloading them, so to speak, into what we have here. We've speculated on that, and that's all I can say. It's a speculation. The Scripture of truth is kind of like a Bible of heaven. Bible of heaven from heaven, that sort of thing. Okay, so next week we'll get into Chapter 11. A lot to cover there. Let's go right to Chapter 12.

Daniel Chapter 12. Here we're going to kind of get into some real guts of prophecy.

Again, this is taking place. Daniel's in his mid-80s, or perhaps 90. It's taking place 536 BC. The background here is the Great Tribulation. The Great Tribulation. Let's read verse 1. Daniel Chapter 12, verse 1. At that time, Michael shall stand up, the great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people. That's Michael's job. To stand watch over the Israelites, both physically and spiritually. And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation, even to that time. And at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone who's bound written in the book. So Chapter 12, verse 1, is date stamped again. It talks about a time like the world has never seen. It's talking about B, a time when people will be resurrected who are written in a book last Sunday. Tony over there. We get him in a jacuzzi off a telegraph road. He was liking that warm water in there. And we baptized him. And his sins were forgiven him. And after that, I laid hands on Tony's head, asking for God's Spirit not just to be with him, but to be in him. And as I'm saying those words, Antonio Edmunds' name is being written in the Lamb's Book of Life. So that when this happens, verse 1, Tony Edmunds is going to be resurrected. And the same thing is true for all of you whose names are written there. Now, what is the Great Tribulation? We throw these terms around. Let's have a little bit of a discussion of terminology here. I can't turn to all these scriptures, but in your notes, if you want to jot down Jeremiah 30, verse 7, I'll read this for you. Jeremiah 30, verse 7. It says, "'Alas, for the day is great, and none is like it. It is a time of Jacob's trouble, that he shall be saved out of it.'" Now, who's Jacob? Well, Jacob is Israel. It's a time of Israel's trouble. The Great Tribulation is Satan's wrath specifically on the nation of Israel. That's not just the nation over in the Middle East. That's all the people who are the tribes of Israel. That's another whole subject. But not only the physical people of Israel, also the spiritual people of Israel, the Church of God. In your notes, you might want to jot down Matthew 24, 21. Matthew 24, 21. "'For then there shall be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, nor ever shall be.'" So Matthew 24, 21, and Daniel 12, 1 say the same thing. And you can't have two times that are the worst the world's ever seen, right near the return of Jesus Christ. So we're talking the same time.

Now, I would like you to turn to Revelation 12. We're going to get a little bit into the weeds here. So bear with me. We're going to get into some, when I say the weeds, we're going to look at some real specifics. Revelation 12, verse 14. Mr. Armstrong made mention that this is an inset chapter talking about the Church of God. Revelation 12, verse 14.

But the woman, and here in Scripture, the woman's talking about the Church, in this case, God's Church. But God's Church was given two wings of a great eagle. Two wings of a great eagle. People will use this verse and talk about a place of safety, and I can understand why they would do that. And they say, well, here we have it. You know, we're not going to have to wear out a lot of shoe leather. We've got, we're going to, you know, go to Detroit Metro and we're flying someplace. You know? But be aware, brethren, that this phrase, two wings of a great eagle, was also used of Israel when they were leaving Egypt, and all they had was sand and leather. There were no planes for them. That phrase just simply means that God is supernaturally intervening on their behalf. So the Church was given supernatural intervention, supernatural help, that she might fly or flee into the wilderness to her place. Now, you know, there may well be a place of safety. You can use this verse, I think, very easily to bring forward that argument.

But you know, brethren, my feeling is we will look at this through the rearview mirror.

We know that at the end of the age, God's going to protect some of His people. We also know at the end of the age there's going to be a martyrdom of some of God's people. And as I've told you over the last 19 years that I've been here, none of us have a guarantee that we're going to go someplace and not have a hair of our head harmed. That wasn't true for the original apostles. It wasn't true for Jesus Christ. And it's not necessarily true for you and I. It doesn't mean we're not faithful. The apostles were very faithful, and they all died horrible deaths with the exception of John.

Some of us might be protected. Some of us might not be protected. It's what's best for us spiritually. But it says that the Church is going to go someplace. Now, does that mean a place of safety? It could possibly mean that. Or it could be exactly what God did with Israel on Passover evening. That God protected them where they were. But what I want to focus in on is toward the end of verse 14 here, where she is nourished for a time, times, and half a time from the presence of the serpent or from Satan. Now, we see this phrase, time, times, and half a time, over and over again in Scripture. And this alludes to the Great Tribulation. Now, here's where we'll do a little bit of math. A time is a biblical year, which is 360 days. So you've got a time, 360. Then you've got times, two. So you've got another 360 and another 360. So you've got 360s. And then you've got a half a time, which is half of 360, which is 180. Now, when you take those four numbers together, 360, then two 360s and a 180, you come up with 1260. So the Great Tribulation is three and a half years. It's three and a half years prior to the return of Jesus Christ. Satan realizes he's got a short time and he's going to tee off on the world. And in particular, you and I in God's Church. He hates everything we stand for. Now, we're in Daniel 12. Let's take a look at verse 7. Get ahead of the story here a little bit. Daniel 12 verse 7. And war broke out in heaven, Michael and his angels fought with the dragon of dragon, his angels fought. But they did not prevail, nor was the place found for them in heaven any longer.

I'm sorry, I'm reading Revelation. I wonder why it didn't sound right. I'm already in Chicago.

Let me go to Daniel chapter 12 and verse 7. Daniel 12 verse 7. Then I heard the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand to heaven, swore by him, who lives forever, that it shall be for a time, times, and half a time, again three and a half years, when the power of the holy people has been completely shattered. All these things shall be finished.

Who are the holy people? It's God's Church. It says their power is going to be shattered, not just broke and not just injured, shattered. So what we're looking at here, during the time of the Great Tribulation, the saints will be persecuted. The work that we are now doing, and I say we, it's not just United Church of God, it's any of the churches of God, you know, we're all brothers and sisters in the faith, that's going to come to a screeching halt. Meetings like we have here, forget it. You know, we're going to be just like the first century church. We'll be meeting in twos and threes and a family here and a family there, because, you know, Satan is going to be coming after us. We see that in Revelation chapter 12. So during this three and a half year period at Great Tribulation, there's persecution on the saints. The work is going to be shattered. It's going to stop. We're not putting out magazines or literature or that sort of thing. Let's turn to Revelation again, chapter 11. All these things are going to happen in that last three and a half years. Revelation chapter 11 verse 1. Then I was given a read like a measuring rod. So something's about to be measured. See if it comes up to snuff. And the angel stood saying, rise and measure the temple of God. So here is a description of the fact that God's church is going to be measured. Measure the altar, which probably refers to the ministry, and those who worship there. In other words, measure the members. Measure the ministry and measure the members. Measure the whole church. Believe out the court that which is outside the temple, and do not measure it, for it has been given to the Gentiles, and they will tread the holy city underfoot for 42 months. Now, understand, again, a biblical month is 30 days. You take 42 months times 30. Again, you come up with 1260. So what we also have happening during those last three and a half years, the great tribulation, persecution of the saints, the work of God ends. It is the time of the Gentiles when the beast will descend upon Jerusalem. There will be an entity that will call himself God, and we look at him as the man of sin or the antichrist. But something else happens. We see this in Revelation 11. I'll give power to my two witnesses, and they'll prophesy 1260 days clothed in sackcloth. You see, brethren, God, our work will eventually come to an end, and then we'll have the great tribulation. But during the great tribulation, God is going to make sure that people still have an opportunity to hear the truth. So you've got the two witnesses, who are basically two prophets, that last three and a half years, that's when their ministry takes place. Our large ministry comes to an end, but then God gives the world the two witnesses. So when we talk about the great tribulation, we're talking about those last three and a half years. Now, what is the day of the Lord? What is the day of the Lord? Last time we were together, we talked about how, regarding prophecy, there is the day for a year principle. The day of the Lord is a one-year period, and we believe it to be the last year prior to the return of Jesus Christ. So what you're having is the great tribulation, the last three and a half years before Christ, and then concurrently at the same time, that last year before Christ, you've got the great tribulation plus the day of the Lord. You don't want to be a sinner, unrepentant at that point in history, because you've got Satan teeing off in the world, and God also spanking the world. If you're a sinner who's unrepentant, bad times. Bad times. Bad times. We better have our act together at that time.

Okay. So let's turn back now to Daniel 12.

I spent all that time giving you background. We still have a chapter to go through. Went through chapter 12, verse 1. Let's start now, verse 2.

Daniel 12, too.

So verse 2 and 3 is talking about the end of the age resurrections. Obviously, some are going to be resurrected in the first resurrection to be spirit beings in the family of God. Now, we don't want to make the mistake of thinking this is and all these things happen at the same time. The Bible has a little here and a little there. We understand there's three resurrections. There's the first resurrection of the saints. There's a second resurrection for those who never understood. They may have heard of God. They may have heard of Jesus Christ. But God never opened their mind and worked with them. And so those people, which probably be 99% of all people who ever lived, will come up in that second resurrection. But then you've got that third resurrection that one talked about here. Well, some will be resurrected to shame and everlasting contempt. Those are the people who had a saving knowledge. Those are the people who, for whatever the reason, because they were relaxed, because they were lazy, because they didn't know what to do. Give a rip. Those people are going to be in the lake of fire.

And our loving God is going to march those people into a lake of fire, because God doesn't want any more Satan's. He doesn't want any more evil spirits. God's not going to force his way on anybody. But if people don't want it, they don't have to have it. Verse 4, Daniel 12. But you, Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book until the time of the end. Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase. Well, doesn't that speak to our day to day? You know, brethren, for years and years and for actually decades and hundreds of years, the world hardly changed at all when it came to knowledge. You know, people had to make fire. They had to cook their food to save. The way generations passed it down. But now we're living in an age, and I've lost track of the figures. I forget how often they say, now knowledge doubles. I forget if it's every day or every so many hours, but knowledge doubles at an incredible rate these days. And we're basically talking scientific, technological type information. Verse 5. Then I, Daniel, looked, and there stood two others, one in the riverbank and the other on that riverbank. These two are two angels. They're observing all this. And one said to the man, Cloth and Linen, who was above the waters of the river, how long shall the fulfillment of these wonders be? The Bible says that the angels, they're very curious about the happenings of this world.

You know, there are those people who think, I can draw a chart, and I can have all this prophecy down to the place where I can give you the antichrist's underwear size.

I can just tell you all, I've got a chart. Well, the angels don't even know all the specifics. So they're saying, well, how long? Verse 7. We read verse 7, talking about the three and a half year period. Verse 8. Although I heard, I did not understand, and I said, my Lord, what shall the end of these things be? What is the final culmination when the Second Coming occurs? And he said, Go your way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed to the time of the end. And they are sealed to the time of the end. But let's put a marker here. Let's go past the book of Isaiah, past the book of Joel, to the book of Amos. Amos chapter 3. There's an important principle here we want to reiterate at this point. Amos chapter 3 and verse 7. Amos 3.7 says, Surely the Lord does nothing, unless he reveals his secret to his servants, the prophets.

So yes, Daniel wasn't privy to every last little piece of information that he was being given. But you and I are being given a tremendous amount of information. We're given at least a very good outline to understand what's going to happen. And we know what to look for, which is so very important. So we go back now to Daniel chapter 12, verse 10. Many shall be purified. Isn't that happening in your life? We hear trials. Many shall be purified, made, white, and refined. But the wicked shall do wickedly. We have that in the world today. And none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand. Because we've got God's Holy Spirit to help us understand. Now, these last three verses, people say, what in the world is this talking about? You've got all these different time periods here. How do we put this together? Well, let's take a look. And what I'm about to tell you, brethren, is a supposition on our part.

I can't say that what I'm about to tell you we're going to write in granite. I'm going to tell you that this is a speculation. It's a supposition. We think we understand this, but you know one will understand this after these things have come and gone. As we're walking down through time and we're looking in our rearview mirror, so to speak, oh yeah, that's how that worked out. But here's what we think this means. I just want to label that properly. Verse 11. And from the time that the daily sacrifice is taken away and the abomination of desolation is set up, there shall be 1,290 days. So you've got a 1,290 days. And these are literal days, 24-hour days. You've got these 1,290 days. And notice, it says, from the time that the daily sacrifice is taken away and the abomination of desolation is set up. We talked about that in weeks gone by. In the Holy Land, there is going to be a renewed zeal to have sacrifices. Whether there will be a completed temple or not, we don't know. Do they have to have a completed temple for this to take place? The answer is no. We believe that there at least has to be an altar in the Holy Land. And there's going to be sacrifices of animals. People say, Christ didn't come at any time. Well, no. Not if He wants to fulfill these prophecies. So, when you start saying that they are restoring sacrifices in Israel, we're talking the Israel and the Middle East, and they at least have an altar, then understand from that point to the point where that's no longer done, when the daily sacrifice is taken away, that 1,290 days later, Christ returns. But there's more here. Verse 12, "...blessed is he who waits and comes up to the 1,335 days." Wow, what is that? "...but you go your way till the end, for you shall rest, and you will arise to your inheritance at the end of the days." So, verse 13 is very key, because all these numbers, the 1335, the 1290, the 1260, all end at the same point. They all end at the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.

So, what are we looking at here? Let me just march you through it. Don't take very long. 1,335, the 1335 days, a possible scenario is that's when our work ends. Our work ends. The organized work of the people of God ends. Not the work of the two witnesses, but our work ends. The saints and our ability to preach to the world, that is cut off. 45 days later, at the 1290 mark, we've got the Abomination of Desolation set up.

You know, this horrible thing. We talked about what that was in weeks past. At the 1290 mark, 30 days after the Abomination of Desolation is set up at the 1260 mark, that is when the Great Tribulation starts. So, in essence, at 1335, the work ends. There's persecution at 1290. The Abomination of Desolation is set up, and at 1260, the Great Tribulation starts. Three and a half years.

So, I knew we went through that a little on a quick side, but we were able to get through it in time, study up the chapter 11 next week. Over 100 different prophecies fulfilled in that one chapter. A lot to be talked about there, and I'll be taking both the sermon and the sermon time in my last sermon with you. And I'm doing this because I don't want to cry. So, I'm going to force myself to take it upon myself to go through this in great detail as I can in that time, and then afterwards, I'll probably be a hulking mess, crying and sniveling. And you'll accept to put up with that.