PT-2 "Resurrection" (Daniel 12:3)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/11/2014 9:36 AM

My Worship Time                                                                              Focus:  Resurrection PT-2

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Daniel 12:3

            Message of the verses:  3 “Those who have insight will shine brightly like the brightness of the expanse of heaven, and those who lead the many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.”

            Reward (Daniel 12:3):  This is the last sub-point from the second main point entitled “Resurrection.”

            I want to look at this verse and what we learned from our SD yesterday and put it into what we see will happen from the New Testament writings.  We spoke about the “rapture” of the Church in our last SD, and we learned that the rapture will happen for all of the Church age Saints as explained in 1 Thes. 4:13-18. We also spoke about the “Resurrection Chapter” that comes from 1 Cor. 15, and that also speaks of the rapture of the Church at the end of the chapter.  My point in this is that Daniel speaks of the Resurrection in verse two and then in our verse for today he speaks of those who will receive rewards for leading people to the Lord.  He states that those who do this will shine brightly who lead many to righteousness.  In the NT we read of different kinds of crowns that believers can earn while on earth doing the work of the Lord, and one of the crowns that can be earned is a “soul winners crown.”  Let us look at 1 Thes. 2:19-20 “19 For who is our hope or joy or crown of exultation? Is it not even you, in the presence of our Lord Jesus at His coming? 20 For you are our glory and joy.”  These two verses are where the “soul winner’s crown” come from.  There are some people who think that winning a crown is not exactly the motivation they want in serving the Lord, however there are five different crowns that believers can win and winning these crowns should be motivation enough in serving the Lord.  Paul writes how a person is saved in Ephesians 2:8-9, but then in verse 10 he tells us what we should be doing after we are saved, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”  I think that the Lord Jesus Christ gives a parable that goes along with this verse when He tells of a man who gives three of his steward’s different amounts of money and then goes away for a while.  After he returns he wants to see what these stewards’s have done with his money.  The first two did well, but the last one did not do well.  As believers we are to do the work that the Lord has planned for us to do as spoken of in Eph. 2:10 and then when we get to heaven after the rapture of the Church we will receive our rewards at what is called “The Judgment Seat of Christ.”  I believe that this will take place in heaven while the tribulation period is going on here on earth.  At the end of the tribulation period believers will return to earth with the Lord as seen in the 19^th chapter of Revelations.  As far as the judgment seat of Christ we can read about it in Romans 14:9-12 and also 2 Cor. 5:6-10.

            Dr. Wiersbe writes “There is a special application here to those who have faithfully witnessed during the Tribulation period, when it will be a costly thing to identify with Christ and His people (Matt. 24:14s; Rev. 7:9-17).

            “Our Lord emphasized the truth that faithfulness to Him today will lead to reward and ministry in the future kingdom (Matt. 13:43; 19:27-28; 25:14-30; Luke 19:12-27; Rev. 2:26-27; 5:9-10).  During His reign on earth, we will share in whatever work He has for us to do, according to how we have lived for Him and served Him here on earth.  Believers who have suffered in their service for Christ will be more than compensated as they share in His glory (Rom. 8:18; 2 Cor. 4:7-18).”

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  This verse in the book of Daniel and the ones that speak of similar things from the NT, verses we have either looked at or referenced to are some of the most important verses for believers in the Bible for they show us the need to go out and to do the things of the Lord, to be led by the Holy Spirit in order to accomplish the things that God has planned for us to do in eternity past.  I desire to accomplish these things that He has planned for me to do.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Proverbs 3:5-6.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible Question:  “He was a captain of the Syrian army” (2 Kings 5:1).

Today’s Bible Question:  “Who gave Himself a ransom for all?”

Answer in our next SD.

1/11/2014 10:52 AM

                

PT-1 "The Kingdom" (Daniel 12:2-3)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/10/2014 12:09 PM

My Worship Time                                                                              Focus:  The Kingdom PT-1

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                      Reference:  Daniel 12:2-3

            Message of the verses:  I want to finish looking at the last chapter of the book of Daniel even though my plan was to only look at one chapter a month.  When we get to the month of February I want to look at a review of the book of Daniel as the last chapter in Dr. Wiersbe’s commentary on Daniel is a review of Daniel.  As far as the month of March I am still undecided as to what book to begin for my one chapter a month study.  It is between the books of Zachariah and Colossians. 

            The Kingdom (Daniel 12:2-3):  “2 "Many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt. 3 “Those who have insight will shine brightly like the brightness of the expanse of heaven, and those who lead the many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.”

            As we begin to look at this passage which is about the kingdom age we must look at what the kingdom age is all about.  As a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ I believe all of what the Bible teaches, and one of the things that it teaches is that there will be a kingdom age in which the Lord Jesus Christ will rule and reign over it.  There are some who do not believe that this will happen and they are called “amillennialists or not millennialists.” God promised a kingdom for His Son in the 2^nd Psalm 30 The angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God. 31 “And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. 32 "He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; 33  and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.’”  (Luke 1:30-33)  In the book of Revelations chapter 20:1-7 we read “1 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. 2 And he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; 3 and he threw him into the abyss, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he would not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were completed; after these things he must be released for a short time. 4 Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. 5 The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years. 7 When the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison.”

            Resurrection (Daniel 12:2):  “2 "Many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt.”

            Let us look at a brief history of verses found in both the OT and NT about the resurrection, remembering that there are not too many verses in the OT that speak of the resurrection, but there are a few and Daniel 12:2 is one of them.  When Abraham was going to offer his son Isaac on the altar he truly believed in the resurrection as we see in Genesis 22 and then also in Hebrews 11:19. Then in the book of Job chapter 10:25-27 we see that Job believed in the resurrection.  Psalms 17:15; 49:15; and 71:20 speak of the resurrection.  Isaiah 25:7 and Hosea 13:14 also speak of the resurrection.  In the NT we even have a whole chapter devoted to the resurrection, which is 1 Cor. chapter 15. Jesus spoke much of His resurrection and when He was about to raise Lazarus from the dead He said “I Am the resurrection and the life and one of the sisters even knew that there was going to be a resurrection from the dead.

            We have to remember that resurrection means that believers will have a new body, a body like the resurrected body of our Lord.  Paul writes about this in 1 Cor. 15. 

            When will those who are true members of the Church received their resurrected bodies?  1 Thes 4:13-18 tell us, “13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. 15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.”

            Dr. Wiersbe writes “When Jesus returns to earth at the end of the Tribulation, He will bring His people with Him to share in the victory and the glory.  At that time, the Old Testament saints and the Tribulation martyrs will be raised to enter into the kingdom.  However, those who died without faith in Christ will not be raised until after the Kingdom Age, and they will be judged (Rev. 20:4-6, 11-15).  As Daniel states it, some will awake to enjoy the glorious life with God, and some will awake (a thousand years later) to enter into shame and everlasting judgment.  Hell is called ‘the second death’ (Rev. 20:14).  If you have been born only once, you can die twice; but if you have been born twice—born again through faith in Christ—you can die only once.”

            1/10/2014 12:46 PM

            1/10/2014 5:18 PM

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  The hope of all believers is to be resurrected with a new body and live with the Lord, and serve Him throughout eternity.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Trust the Lord as Proverbs 3:5-6 tells me.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible Question:  “Judah.”

Today’s Bible Question:  “What was Naaman’s occupation?”

Answer in our next SD.

1/10/2014 5:22 PM

PT-3 "The Time of Tribulation" (Daniel 11:40-45)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/9/2014 11:14 AM

My Worship Time                                                                Focus:  The Time of Tribulation PT-3

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Daniel 11:40-45

            Message of the verses:  We continue looking at chapter eleven of Daniel and hope to finish this chapter in today’s SD.

            Military Invasion (Daniel 11:40-43): “40 "At the end time the king of the South will collide with him, and the king of the North will storm against him with chariots, with horsemen and with many ships; and he will enter countries, overflow them and pass through. 41 “He will also enter the Beautiful Land, and many countries will fall; but these will be rescued out of his hand: Edom, Moab and the foremost of the sons of Ammon. 42 “Then he will stretch out his hand against other countries, and the land of Egypt will not escape. 43  "But he will gain control over the hidden treasures of gold and silver and over all the precious things of Egypt; and Libyans and Ethiopians will follow at his heels.”

            First of all let me clear up some things from this passage to help us understand it a bit better.  Daniel uses terms king of the North and King of the South earlier in this passage to mean Egypt and Syria, but this section of Scripture is speaking of the end times and so the countries will be different than the countries were in Daniel’s day and proceeding until the first coming of Christ.  He also uses names of countries like Edom, Moab, and Ammon and we can be sure that these nations are not around today as we are closer to the end times than when this passage was written, so we believe that what Daniel is talking about here is the direction to which these nations were from Israel.

            Now as for the battle that is spoken of here there is a difference of opinion as to who will be involved in this battle, but we know that Antichrist will be involved.  Some believe that this battle is explained in Ezekiel chapters 38-39, but I have one problem with that and that is that Ezekiel writes that after the battle he describes what happens is that God will destroy the countries involved who are trying to destroy Israel, and also that Israel will burn the weapons used against them for seven years.  It also takes a very long time for the children of Israel to bury the dead of those whom God destroyed.  Therefore I believe that this is another battle that will happen close to the end of the tribulation.

            Armageddon (Daniel 11:44-45):  “44 “But rumors from the East and from the North will disturb him, and he will go forth with great wrath to destroy and annihilate many. 45 “He will pitch the tents of his royal pavilion between the seas and the beautiful Holy Mountain; yet he will come to his end, and no one will help him.”

            Armageddon is mentioned different times in the Bible and I believe that there will be a war called Armageddon, and then the last battle that happens on earth before the return of Jesus Christ is called the Battle of Armageddon, and this is what is described in this passage.  Dr. Wiersbe points out that the word Armageddon means “mountain of Megiddo.”  I have been told that the place where this battle will take place is a perfect place for a battle and there have been other battles that took place here.  Napoleon is the one who said that this place would be a perfect place for a battle, and so it will be. 

            The Return of Christ: (Last sub-point under this first main point).  Dr. Wiersbe writes As the huge army from the east gets positioned to attack the forces of Antichrist in Israel, the sign of the returning Son of Man will appear in the heavens (Matthew 24:29-30), and the opposing armies will unite to fight Jesus Christ.  But the Lord will descend from heaven with His armies, defeat both armies, and take captive Satan, Antichrist, and the false prophet and cast them into the lake of fire (Rev. 19:11-21; see also Zech. 12:1-9; 14:1-3).  ‘He [Antichrist] shall come to his end, and no one shall help him’ Daniel (11:45).

            “Daniel doesn’t reveal this truth, but the Prophet Zechariah promises that the nation of Israel will see their Messiah as He comes from heaven, recognize Him, repent of their sins, and trust Him, and the nation will be cleansed (Zech. 12:10-13:1).  Jesus will stand on the Mount of Olives (14:4; Acts 1:11-12), ‘and the Lord shall be King over all the earth’ (Zech. 14:9) and will establish His glorious kingdom for a thousand years (Rev. 20:1-7).”

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  It is a wonderful privilege to be able to worship the God who knows and controls all things including the end times all the way to things that I do.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Trust the Lord to guide my path.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible Question:  “Hezekiah” (2 Kings 20:8-11).

Today’s Bible Question:  “Which state or tribe was known as the Southern kingdom?”

Answer in our next SD.

1/9/2014 11:51 AM  

PT-2 "Time of Tribulation" (Dan. 12:1)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/8/2014 3:10 PM

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus: PT-2 “Time of Tribulation”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                    Reference:  Daniel 12:1

            Message of the verses:  We are looking at the second sub-point from this first main point in Warren Wiersbe’s outline.

            The Tribulation (Daniel 12:1):  “1 "Now at that time Michael, the great prince who stands guard over the sons of your people, will arise. And there will be a time of distress such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time; and at that time your people, everyone who is found written in the book, will be rescued.”

            I want to begin with a couple of verses from the New Testament that I think go along with this verse.  “Mt 24:22  "Unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.”  “Ro 11:26 and so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, "THE DELIVERER WILL COME FROM ZION, HE WILL REMOVE UNGODLINESS FROM JACOB.’”

            The time of the great tribulation is the last three and a half years of the tribulation which takes place right after the Antichrist goes into the Jewish Temple and commits what Daniel calls “The Abomination of Desolation.”  Perhaps he will offer a pig on the altar like Antiochus Epiphanes did earlier.  After this is done then Antichrist will go after all Israel and it will be during the end of the tribulation that the words of Romans 11:26 will come true, as all of Israel who are left alive at this time will be saved. 

            A look at the 12^th chapter of the book of Revelations shows us more about Satan’s war against Israel.  Satan hates Israel for they are the people who brought the Lord Jesus Christ onto the earth which set the doom of Satan into motion.  Satan has always tried to destroy Israel, and all one has to do today is look at where Israel is located and that Israel is surrounded by their enemies who would like nothing better than to wipe Israel off the map.  The leaders in Iran have made this very clear and that is the reason that they want to develop a nuclear bomb, make no mistake about that.  When Israel was made a nation in May of 1948 war was declared on her at that time and there have been a number of wars that she had to fight since 1948, and even though she was outnumbered and loosing for a while Israel always came forth with victory. 

Dr. Wiersbe writes “One of the features of this terrible time will be Antichrist’s (Satan’s) war against the Jewish people, but Michael, the angel assigned to care for the Jewish people (Dan. 10:13; 21; Rev. 12:7), will come to their aid.  God’s elect people will be preserved (Matt. 24:22).  This will include the 144,000 who are sealed by the Lord (Rev. 7:1-8).  God will keep His covenant with Abraham and see to it that the Jewish remnant will enter into their promised kingdom.”

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  God’s promise to Abraham is something that has encouraged me throughout my walk with the Lord because I can see God care for the children of Israel even today and so this gives me great confidence in the Lord.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Continue to trust the Lord to guide me and direct me today.  Praise the Lord for the good results of the test I mentioned yesterday.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible Question:  “Hebron” (Joshua 14:13).

Today’s Bible Question:  “Who did God give a sign of the sun moving backwards to show him that he was healed?”

Answer in our next SD.

1/8/2014 3:45 PM    

PT-1 "The Time of Tribulation" (Daniel 11:36-39)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/7/2014 9:55 AM

My Worship Time                                                                Focus:  The Time of Tribulation PT-1

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Daniel 11:36-39

            Message of the verses:  I have mentioned many times that I follow the outline that is in the commentaries that Dr. Warren Wiersbe writes commentaries that he has entitled his “Be” series.  For the book of Daniel the name is “Be Resolute.”  We begin the 12^th chapter of his commentary which covers all the rest of the book of Daniel, but I believe that we will only finish the 11^th chapter of Daniel along with the first verse in the 12^th chapter, and then in the month of February I hope to finish up the book of Daniel.

            Dr. Wiersbe begins his commentary on this section by writing “At Daniel 11:36, the prophecy shifts from Antiochus Epiphanes to the man he foreshadowed, the Antichrist, the last world dictator.  We have moved to ‘the time of the end’ (v.35; see 12:4), when the following events are predicted to occur:

1.      The rise of Antichrist—11:36-39.

2.     The Tribulation—12:1.

3.     War and invasions—11:40-43.

4.     The battle of Armageddon—11:44-45a.

5.     The return of Christ to defeat Antichrist—11:45b.

6.     The resurrection of the dead—12:2.

7.     The glorious kingdom—12:3. 

 

Introduction to “The Time of Tribulation:”  When we look at the events that we saw in Daniel chapter nine we saw a prophecy of 70 weeks or actually 70 7’s which is how the Hebrew is translated and this adds up to 490 years.  We studied where the prophecy began and then after 383 years where it temporarily ended, which was at the event we call “Palm Sunday.”  The last seven years of this prophecy is what is called the tribulation period and it will begin with the signing of a peace treaty between Antichrist and the nation of Israel which will give peace to them, probably, while they rebuild their temple which is called the “Tribulation Temple.”  The tribulation will end with the return of Jesus Christ to planet earth to end the battle of Armageddon and to save planet earth from destruction.  Christ will put the false prophet and the Antichrist along with Satan into the lake of fire where Satan will stay for 1000 years and then be let out for a short time for another battle.  It will end very fast and he will then go back into the lake of fire where he will spend eternity.

The Rise of Antichrist (Daniel 11:36-39):  “36  "Then the king will do as he pleases, and he will exalt and magnify himself above every god and will speak monstrous things against the God of gods; and he will prosper until the indignation is finished, for that which is decreed will be done. 37 “He will show no regard for the gods of his fathers or for the desire of women, nor will he show regard for any other god; for he will magnify himself above them all. 38 “But instead he will honor a god of fortresses, a god whom his fathers did not know; he will honor him with gold, silver, costly stones and treasures. 39 “He will take action against the strongest of fortresses with the help of a foreign god; he will give great honor to those who acknowledge him and will cause them to rule over the many, and will parcel out land for a price.”

I want to begin by looking at the first seal judgment that is found in Revelations chapter six: “1 Then I saw when the Lamb broke one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying as with a voice of thunder, "Come." 2 I looked, and behold, a white horse, and he who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer.”  Notice that the person who is ridding this white horse has a bow, and a crown, but is not given any arrows, but the verse goes on to say that he went out conquering and to conquer.  This is the Antichrist, and the people who are alive at that time of history will not realize who he is until he goes into the rebuilt Jewish Temple and says to the entire world that he is god and demands worship.  From that point on Antichrist will be the awful man that is described in the Bible about him.

Jesus said in “Mt 16:26 For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?”  I have always thought of the Antichrist when reading this verse, for that is exactly what will happen to him, he will gain control of the whole world, but will give it up in exchange for his soul. 

A former Pastor of mine, a man I had the greatest respect for said to me that he believes that the antichrist will be Jewish, and his reason is that the Jews would not trust him if he were not Jewish.  I have to say that this is one of the few things that I disagreed with him, as I think that he will be a Gentile for the Jews have made covenants with Gentiles before.  The antichrist will be an atheist, but as stated he will declare himself to be god.

Dr. Wiersbe concludes his commentary on this section by writing “Some have suggested that his rejection of ‘the desire of women’ indicates that he has a homosexual orientation.  But the phrase ‘desire of women’ probably relates to Haggai 2:7, a title of the Messiah, for it was the desire of Jewish women to give birth to the promised Messiah.  Not only will Antichrist reject all religion in general but he will oppose the Jewish religion in particular, especially the hope their Messiah will return and deliver them from their enemies.  His god is the god of might and of military power.  When the people of the world worship the man of sin, they are actually worshiping Satan, the one who empowers the Antichrist. Like Antiochus centuries before him, Antichrist will reward those who worship him and his manufactured god.”

I remember hearing a sermon by Erwin Lutizer, who is the Pastor of Moody Church in Chicago where he stated that Satan always has to have a person ready to move into the role of Antichrist because he does not know when the end times will come and Antichrist will be revealed.  Some have though that Hitler was the Antichrist and many others have supposed to be him, even our President, but when a leader from the ten nation confederacy from Europe signs a peace treaty with the nation of Israel then that will be Antichrist.  My hope is the same hope of believers down through the ages and that is that Jesus Christ will return in the clouds to take me to be with Him, and everyone else who has placed their trust in Him.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Because I don’t know when the Lord will return I want to be about His work that He has for me to do, for that is the most important thing that I can do.  I am looking for the Uppertaker and not the Undertaker.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Trust that the Lord will care for my wife as she goes through a test early this afternoon.  My prayer is that the test will show nothing wrong with her.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible Question:  “Peter” (Mark 14:30).

Today’s Bible Question:  “What was the place of Caleb’s inheritance?”

Answer our next SD.

1/7/2014 10:48 AM

 

Prophecies About Antiochus Epiphanes & Syria (Daniel 11:21-35)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/6/2014 8:17 AM

My Worship Time                                    Focus:  Prophecies about Antiochus Epiphanes & Syria

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Daniel 11:21-35

            Message of the verses:  21 "In his place a despicable person will arise, on whom the honor of kingship has not been conferred, but he will come in a time of tranquility and seize the kingdom by intrigue. 22 “The overflowing forces will be flooded away before him and shattered, and also the prince of the covenant. 23 “After an alliance is made with him he will practice deception, and he will go up and gain power with a small force of people. 24  "In a time of tranquility he will enter the richest parts of the realm, and he will accomplish what his fathers never did, nor his ancestors; he will distribute plunder, booty and possessions among them, and he will devise his schemes against strongholds, but only for a time. 25 “He will stir up his strength and courage against the king of the South with a large army; so the king of the South will mobilize an extremely large and mighty army for war; but he will not stand, for schemes will be devised against him. 26 “Those who eat his choice food will destroy him, and his army will overflow, but many will fall down slain. 27  "As for both kings, their hearts will be intent on evil, and they will speak lies to each other at the same table; but it will not succeed, for the end is still to come at the appointed time. 28 “Then he will return to his land with much plunder; but his heart will be set against the holy covenant, and he will take action and then return to his own land. 29  "At the appointed time he will return and come into the South, but this last time it will not turn out the way it did before. 30  "For ships of Kittim will come against him; therefore he will be disheartened and will return and become enraged at the holy covenant and take action; so he will come back and show regard for those who forsake the holy covenant. 31 “Forces from him will arise, desecrate the sanctuary fortress, and do away with the regular sacrifice. And they will set up the abomination of desolation. 32 “By smooth words he will turn to godlessness those who act wickedly toward the covenant, but the people who know their God will display strength and take action. 33 “Those who have insight among the people will give understanding to the many; yet they will fall by sword and by flame, by captivity and by plunder for many days. 34 “Now when they fall they will be granted a little help, and many will join with them in hypocrisy.  35 “Some of those who have insight will fall, in order to refine, purge and make them pure until the end time; because it is still to come at the appointed time.”

            We have meet this awful man in Daniel 8:9-14, and this man is a picture of the Antichrist who is to come as many of the awful traits that he displayed will be displayed by Antichrist during the tribulation period that is to come.  Antiochus Epiphanes is so much like Antichrist that the next section we study in Daniel 11:35-12:13 goes right into speaking of Antichrist, and of course this is yet in the future.

            Dr. Wiersbe points out that Antiochus “gave himself the name ‘Epiphanes’ which means ‘glorious one,’ but Gabriel calls him ‘a vile [contemptible] person.’”  This section of Scripture says that Antiochus was not the true ruler of Syria, but that he deceived people to get the position.  “The true heir was Demetrius Soter, who was very young, so Antiochus claimed to be his lawful protector and seized the throne.”

            In verses 25-28 we learn of his successful military actions against Egypt, as he goes against them two times.  In verse 27 we learn that he will deceive the king of the South at the table, which speaks of making a peace treaty.  When we think about peace treaties we could ask how many peace treaties have been broken throughout history, and the answer is probably all of them, for at sometime in the future the peace treaties that were made will be broken.  There was deception on both sides of these peace treaty talks, but as Dr. Wiersbe writes “He (God) has His appointed times and He is always on time.” 

            In 170 Antiochus returns to Israel and turns his attention to the wealth that is in the Jewish temple as seen in verse 28.  He will plunder the temple and will abolish the daily sacrifices, and those who try to worship will be killed, and a great many Jewish people will be killed by him.  Now two years later in 168 he will return to Egypt to attack them again, but as verse 30 says there will be ships there to confront him, and those ships are Roman ships and he will not do as well as the first time.  In his anger he returns to Israel to take it out on the Jews, and it is at this time that some of the Jews were helping him as they forsook their own covenant to support him.  Antiochus promised to reward them.

              Dr. Wiersbe writes “On December 14, 168, Antiochus desecrated the temple by erecting an altar to Zeus and by offering a pig as a sacrifice.  Gabriel calls this ‘the abomination that maketh desolate’ (v. 31).  The future Antichrist will put his own image in the Jewish temple when he breaks his covenant with the Jews in the middle of the seven-year tribulation period, Daniel’s seventieth week (9:27; 11:31; 12:11 Matt. 24:15; Mark 13:14).  Antiochus was doing his best not only to exterminate the Jewish people but also to eliminate their religion from the earth.  He promised to reward the Jews who followed his orders, and there were those who forsook their holy covenant to obey him.  This was a time of testing and refining for the Jewish people, when they had to decide to obey the God of their fathers and possibly be slain, or submit to the pagan Syrian leaders and live as traitors to their faith (Daniel 11:34-45).”

            In verses 33-35 we see a rebellion from the Jews and the key person who led this revolt against Antiochus was Judas Maccabeus and although many Jews lost their lives they finally prevailed and on December 14, 165 the temple was purified and the altar dedicated.  The holiday that the Jews call Hanukkah or the feast of the lights is now celebrated each year by the Jewish people.  The story is told in the book of Maccabeus this is in some Bibles although it is not truly a part of the true Cannon of Scripture.  In 163 Epiphanes died in Persia and was judged insane and then the name “Antiochus Epimanes—Antiochus the madman” was given to him.

            Let us look again at verse 35 “35 “Some of those who have insight will fall, in order to refine, purge and make them pure until the end time; because it is still to come at the appointed time.”  Gabriel closes this section with these words which is a reminder to Daniel that these things that he has relayed to Daniel have implications about the end time. 

            Dr. Wiersbe concludes his commentary on this section by writing “Having mentioned ‘the time of the end,’ Gabriel will now speak about the future Antichrist and the terrible time of Jacob’s trouble (11:36-12:13).”

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Dr. Wiersbe mentions the following at the end of his book that I want to use as my Spiritual meaning for my life today, “One of Mr. Moody’s associates, musician Philip P. Bliss, expressed this truth in a song that’s not used much today, but the message is certainly needed.  The chorus says:

                        “Dare to be a Daniel! Dare to stand alone! Dare to have a purpose firm! Dare to make it known!”  He writes that at the end of his book on Daniel, “Be Resolute” but the meaning of this song is something that I need to keep in mind each day.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Dare to be a Daniel!

Answer to yesterday’s Bible Question:  “Into a herd of swine” (Luke 8:29-32).

Today’s Bible Question:  “Who said, ‘Lord save me’?”

Answer in our next SD.

1/6/2014 10:00 AM

             

PT-2 "The kings of the North & South" (Daniel 11:10-20)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/5/2014 8:38 AM

My Worship Time                                                    Focus:  The kings of the North & South PT-2

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Daniel 11:10-20

            Message of the verses:  We will pick up from where we left off yesterday from the 11^th chapter of Daniel.

            Ptolemy IV Philopater and Antiochus III the Great (Daniel 11:10-20):  “10  "His sons will mobilize and assemble a multitude of great forces; and one of them will keep on coming and overflow and pass through, that he may again wage war up to his very fortress. 11 “The king of the South will be enraged and go forth and fight with the king of the North. Then the latter will raise a great multitude, but that multitude will be given into the hand of the former. 12 “When the multitude is carried away, his heart will be lifted up, and he will cause tens of thousands to fall; yet he will not prevail. 13 “For the king of the North will again raise a greater multitude than the former, and after an interval of some years he will press on with a great army and much equipment. 14  "Now in those times many will rise up against the king of the South; the violent ones among your people will also lift themselves up in order to fulfill the vision, but they will fall down. 15 "Then the king of the North will come, cast up a siege ramp and capture a well-fortified city; and the forces of the South will not stand their ground, not even their choicest troops, for there will be no strength to make a stand. 16  "But he who comes against him will do as he pleases, and no one will be able to withstand him; he will also stay for a time in the Beautiful Land, with destruction in his hand. 17  "He will set his face to come with the power of his whole kingdom, bringing with him a proposal of peace which he will put into effect; he will also give him the daughter of women to ruin it. But she will not take a stand for him or be on his side. 18 “Then he will turn his face to the coastlands and capture many. But a commander will put a stop to his scorn against him; moreover, he will repay him for his scorn. 19 “So he will turn his face toward the fortresses of his own land, but he will stumble and fall and be found no more. 20  "Then in his place one will arise who will send an oppressor through the Jewel of his kingdom; yet within a few days he will be shattered, though not in anger nor in battle.”

            I have to admit that the 11^th chapter of Daniel, at least the first part of it has been a mystery to me.  This portion has already been fulfilled and so all we have to do is to look into the history books to see that what Daniel wrote in these verses, (actually it was Gabriel who told Daniel what to write), and we will see the fulfillment of these verses. With this said I think the best thing for me to do is to quote from Dr. Wiersbe’s book in order to get the most out of this text.

            “The sons of Seleucus II were Seleucus III, who was a successful general but was killed in battle, and Antiochus III the Great, who carried out the Syrian military program with great skill.  He regained lost territory from Egypt, but in 217 the Egyptian army defeated the Syrians.  This didn’t stop Antiochus, for he took his army east and got as far as India.

            “In 201, Antiochus mustered another large army, joined forces with Philip V of Macedon, and headed for Egypt (vs. 13-16), where he won a great victory against Ptolemy V Epiphanes.  Contrary to God’s law, but in fulfillment of the prophecies (vision), some of the Jews in Palestine joined with Antiochus, hoping to break free of Egyptian control; but their revolt was crushed (v. 14).  Antiochus not only conquered Egypt and Sidon (v. 15), but also ‘the glorious land’ of Palestine (v. 16).

            “Once again marriage enters the scene.  Antiochus offered to negotiate with the Egyptian leaders to marry his daughter Cleopatra to Ptolemy V, who was seven years old at the time!  He hoped that his daughter would undermine the Egyptian government from within and use her position to help him take over.  However, Cleopatra was loyal to her husband, so the marriage stratagem didn’t succeed.

            “Antiochus decided to attack Greece but was defeated at Thermopylae (191) and Magnesia (189).  The ‘prince of his own behalf’ (v.18) was the Roman consul and general Lucius Cornelius Scipio Asiatieus who led the Roman and Greek forces to victory over Antiochus.  At an earlier meeting, Antiochus had insulted the Roman general, but the Romans had the last word.  The Syrian leader died in 187 and his successor was his son Seleucus IV Philopator, who oppressed the Jewish people by raising taxes so he could pay tribute to Rome.  Shortly after he sent his treasurer Heliodorus to plunder the Jewish temple, Seleucus Philopator suddenly died (probably poisoned), thus fulfilling verse 20.  This opened the way for the wicked Antiochus Epiphanes to seize the throne.

            “As you review the history of the relationship between Egypt and Syria, and the family relationships among the Seleucids, you can’t help but realize that human nature hasn’t changed over these thousands of years.  The ancient world had its share of intrigue, political deception, violence, greed, and war.  The lust for power and wealth drove men and women to violate human rights and break divine laws, to go to any length to get what they wanted.  The slaughtered thousands of innocent people, plundered the helpless, and even killed their own relatives, just to wear a crown or sit on a throne.

            “While God is not responsible for the evil that men and women have done in the name of government and religion, He is still the Lord of history and continues to work out His plans for mankind.  Studying the evil deeds of past rulers could make us cynical, but we must remember that one day ‘the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.’ (Hab. 2:14)”

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  People have a difficult time in understanding why evil happens on this earth.  While reading a book on the Attributes of God the author makes a statement that when you learn one of the attributes of God as it is presented in Scripture you have to accept it, for it is the Word of God.  Accepting that God is love is not as difficult as accepting that another of God’s attributes is wrath and another is justice and these are more difficult to accept, but just as true.  God is the God who controls history, but He never promotes evil, for God is good.  Man is the one who has fallen into sin as we see in the 3^rd chapter of Genesis, so it is man who promotes evil.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Proverbs 3:5-6.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible Question:  “He was stoned and left for dead” (Acts 14:19).

Today’s Bible Question:  “Where did the evil spirits go that Jesus cast out of a man?”

Answer in our next SD.

1/5/2014 9:20 AM

           

PT-1 "The Kings of the North & the South" (Daniel 11:5-9)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/4/2014 9:03 PM

My Worship Time                                              Focus:  The Kings of the North & the South PT-1

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Daniel 11:5-9

            Message of the verses:  We will begin looking at this rather difficult section from the 11^th chapter of Daniel, but we will take our time as we go through it.

            Now remember that Alexander the Great died when he was thirty-three years old and he really didn’t have a child worthy of leaving his empire to, although he did have a child and some other relatives.  There were four generals who took over this very large kingdom, a kingdom that did not take too long for Alexander to take over.  He died at the age of 33 in the city of Babylon, and I think that he drank himself to death because there were no more territories to conquer.  Now we will look at what happened after his death in this section of Daniel 11 that was written before his birth.

            The kingdom of the North was Syria and the kingdom of the South was Egypt, and Israel was right in the middle of the fighting that would go on between these two powers.  The rulers of these kingdoms would change regularly and at times quickly.  Dr. Wiersbe writes “All of these people and events may not be interesting to you, but the prophecies Daniel recorded tally with the record of history, thus proving that God’s Word can be trusted.  The Ptolemy line provided the rulers in Egypt, and the Seleucid line the rulers in the north (Syria).  These paragraphs are merely summary statements, but if you read them in the light of the related verses, you will see how Daniel’s prophecies were fulfilled.”

            Ptolemy I Soter and Seleucus I Nicator (Daniel 11:5):  “5 "Then the king of the South will grow strong, along with one of his princes who will gain ascendancy over him and obtain dominion; his domain will be a great dominion indeed.”    

            Dr. Wiersbe writes “Seleucus was the stronger of the two and ruled over a large empire, but it was his alliance with Ptolemy that enabled him to seize the throne of Syria.”  John MacArthur writes “King of the South represents the Ptolomies, the leaders of Egypt, contrasted often in vv. 5ff, with the king of the North, the Seleucids, and leaders of Syria (v-6).  South and North are in relation to Palestine, for which the angel Gabriel, speaking in this passage, is so concerned.  Verses 5-20 cover almost 200 years of wars between these bordering powers.”

            Ptolemy II Philadelphus and Antiochus II Theos (Daniel 11:6):  “6  "After some years they will form an alliance, and the daughter of the king of the South will come to the king of the North to carry out a peaceful arrangement. But she will not retain her position of power, nor will he remain with his power, but she will be given up, along with those who brought her in and the one who sired her as well as he who supported her in those times.”

            Here is the story of verse six in a brief way.  We know that back in the times of the Monarchies that there would often be marriages between two different kingdoms for political reasons.  Solomon was an example of doing this when he reigned in Israel.  And so we see that Ptolemy demanded that Antiochus divorce his wife in order to marry his daughter Berenice.  The problem is that in two years Ptolemy would die and so Antiochus remarried his former wife who was so upset that she killed him and also Berenice.  Daniel wrote “She will not retain her power, and he and his power will not last.”  After the wife poisoned Berenice and her husband she also poisoned their son a baby boy.  She then brought her son, Selecus II Calinicus, to the throne.

            Ptolemy III Euergetes and Selecus II Callinicus (Daniel 11:7-9):  “7 “But one of the descendants of her line will arise in his place, and he will come against their army and enter the fortress of the king of the North, and he will deal with them and display great strength. 8  "Also their gods with their metal images and their precious vessels of silver and gold he will take into captivity to Egypt, and he on his part will refrain from attacking the king of the North for some years. 9 “Then the latter will enter the realm of the king of the South, but will return to his own land. 10  "His sons will mobilize and assemble a multitude of great forces; and one of them will keep on coming and overflow and pass through, that he may again wage war up to his very fortress.”

            Dr. Wiersbe writes “The new king of Egypt was the brother of Berenice, and he was intent on defending his sister’s honor and avenging her death.  He attacked the northern power, won the victory, and collected a great deal of wealth.  Then the two kings ignored each other for some years until Seleucus attacked Egypt in 240, was defeated, and had to return home in shame.  He was killed by a fall from his horse and his son Seleucus III Soter took the throne, only to be assassinated four years later.  Antiochus III the Great, who ruled from 223 to 187, succeeded him.”

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  God writes all of this many years before it took place and it took place exactly how God wrote it through the prophet Daniel.  God is in control of His History and so this means to me that I can trust Him with the things that are going on in our world today even with its modern weapons and technology God is still on His throne ruling from heaven.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Proverbs 3:5-6.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible Question:  “Angels” (Genesis 28:12).

Today’s Bible Question:  “What happened to Paul at Lystra after the people had thought he was a God?”

Answer in our next SD.

1/4/2014 9:55 PM

Prophecies about Greece (Daniel 11:3-4)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/3/2014 10:17 AM

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  Prophecies about Greece

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Daniel 11:3-4

            Message of the verses:  There is a very interesting chart in Warren Wiersbe’s commentary on this section that we will look at to better help us understand this section. 

            “3 “Then a mighty king will rise to power who will rule with great authority and accomplish everything he sets out to do. 4 But at the height of his power, his kingdom will be broken apart and divided into four parts. It will not be ruled by the king’s descendants, nor will the kingdom hold the authority it once had. For his empire will be uprooted and given to others.”

            When I was preparing to do these Spiritual Diaries for the eleventh chapter of Daniel I listened to a message by John MacArthur who has two lessons on the eleventh chapter of Daniel, and he stated that he had trouble finding an outline for this chapter until he broke the chapter up with names of the different prominent kings that would come out of this chapter, and all of these kings began with the letter “A.”  Of course there is no debate about who the king is in these two verses, for it is Alexander the Great. 

            I remember when I first looked at this chapter right after I got saved in Jan. of 1974 and I was listening to a sermon on tape by Hal Lindsey on this section.  He made a statement in his sermon that I still remember to this day and the statement had to do with a Jewish Priest and Alexander the Great.  Lindsey said that the priest had told Alexander that what he was accomplishing was prophesied by Daniel many years earlier and showed him from a scroll of Daniel and it was said that Alexander the Great prostrated himself before the priest after reading about himself in the scroll of Daniel.  We will now take a look at the chart from Dr. Wiersbe’s commentary.

“From the previous visions, Daniel already knew the sequence of the great empires.

The image                                                      Vision                                      Vision

(Chapter 2)                                                    (Chapter 7)                            (Chapter 8)

Babylon—head of Gold                                  lion

Medo-Persia arms & chest of silver               bear                                         lion

Greece-Belt & thigh of bronze                        leopard                                                goat

Rome—legs of iron, feet of clay                     terrible beast”

We already learned in our last SD that King Xerxes invaded Greece, but failed to conquer it, and this made the young Alexander upset so he decided to fight against the Persian Empire.  We see from the chart that the Greek Empire was seen as a leopard, and leopards mover very fast, and Alexander moved very fast with his new military way of fighting called the phalanx system.  I remember another part of the sermon by Hal Lindsey from 1974 and he said that it was Alexander the Great who took the best parts of all of the different Greek dialogues and made them into one language which is called “Common Greek.”  The reason was so that when he gave orders to his generals that there was no way that they could misunderstand what he was saying.  Common Greek is the language that the New Testament was written in and is not spoken any longer. 

“Philip II spent much of his youth as a hostage at Thebes, where he studied under the renowned general Epaminondas, whose reforms were the basis for the phalanx. Phalangites were professional soldiers, and were among the first troops ever to be drilled; thereby allowing them to execute complex maneuvers well beyond the reach of most other armies. They fought packed in a close rectangular formation, typically eight men deep, with a leader at the head of each column and a secondary leader in the middle, so that the back rows could move off to the sides if more frontage was needed.”  (From Wikipedia)  (Philip II was Alexander’s father)

            Dr. Wiersbe concludes his commentary with the following:  “Once again, Alexander’s incredible conquests were part of the sovereign plan of God.  The spread of the Greek language and Greek culture assisted the eventual spread of the Gospel and the Greek New Testament.  Alexander’s goal was not just to conquer territory but to bring people together in a ‘united empire.’  His soldiers married women from the conquered nations, and Alexander’s empire became a ‘melting pot’ for all peoples.  This too assisted in the spread of the Gospel centuries later.”

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  God not only sees the big picture, but He also sees the individuals who help make up the big picture.  It is my goal in life to accomplish the things that the Lord has planned for me to accomplish so that my life will bring glory to the Lord.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Proverbs 3:5-6.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible Question:  “Stephen Langton about A.D. 1228.”  I have done a little bit of study on this man and it is most interesting.

Today’s Bible Question:  “What were going up and down on Jacob’s ladder?”

Answer in our next SD.

1/3/2014 10:59 AM