Welcome back friends, as we
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continue our study of Daniel
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Chapter 8 James, we have now
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come to verses is 13 and 14.
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It is very fascinating here.
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We have a conversation
that occurs between two angels.
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The conversation has for
it's subject the power of the
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little horn and the
things the little horn has
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been doing
against the people of God.
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And against the mediatorial
Ministry of Jesus Christ in
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the new covenant, so
in verse 13, Daniel says,
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"I heard a Holy One speaking,
and another Holy One said"
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"to that certain one who
was speaking, how long will the"
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"vision be concerning
the daily sacrifices and the"
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"transgression of desolation,
the giving of both the"
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"sanctuary and the host
be trampled underfoot. "
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Now we need to understand
the content of the question.
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The question is regarding
how long the little horn power
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will be allowed, or able
to could continue it's work,
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of persecuting God's people,
defaming the character of God,
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casting the truth of the
new covenant to the ground,
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and defiling the
sanctuary Ministry of Christ.
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How long the angel is
asking, will this terrible state
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of affairs be
allowed to continue.
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Then in verse 14,
another angel answers this one,
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and he gives a time prophecy.
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"And he said to me, for
2300 days, then shall the
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sanctuary be cleansed. "
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Now the subject again is
the work of the little horn and
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what it is doing.
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One of the things the
little horn has done is cast
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sanctuary to the ground.
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Has defamed the
sanctuary ministry of Christ and
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interposed between the
people and the mediatorial
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Ministry of Jesus.
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So the question is,
How long will this go on?
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The answer to the question
is 2300 days will pass then
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the state of affairs will
be rectified, the sanctuary
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will be cleansed, the
little horn will at that point,
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not be able to
continue on in it's work.
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It is really interesting
Ty, because there is a lot of
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confusion here in Daniel's mind.
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He is struggling
to understand this.
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It says in verse 15, "that it
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"came to pass and I, even I"
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"Daniel had seen the vision"
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"and sought for the meaning,"
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"then, behold there stood
before me the appearance of a"
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" man. And I
heard a man's voice,"
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"between the rivers
Ulai, which called, and said,"
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"Gabriel, make this man
to understand the vision. "
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"So he came near and
stood: and when he came, I was"
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"afraid, and fell upon my
face: but he said unto me,"
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"Understand, O son of man:
for at the time of the end"
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"shall the vision be. "
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"Now as he was speaking
with me, I was in a deep sleep"
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"on my face toward the
ground: but he touched me, and"
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"set me upright. "
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"And he said, Behold, I
will make thee know what shall"
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"and be in the last end of
the indignation: for at that"
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"time appointed
the end shall be. "
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What you have here, as you
have a vision Ty, extending
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from Daniel's time, Media
Persia, all the way down to
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the very end up time.
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So this angel that comes to
make him understand, Gabriel
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comes to make him understand
is going to begin with Media
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Persia and then he is going
to take him all the way down
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to the end of time.
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That is why you begin in
verse 20, with the ram which
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thou saw a Media Persia,
verse 21, but rough goat being
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the Kings of Grecia, and
one being broken verse 22,
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stood up in its place,
four nations will come out of
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this nation and four
Kings will arise, four general's
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will take over after
Alexander the great died.
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They stand but they don't
have the same power he had.
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And verse 23 goes into
the latter end of the kingdom.
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The interpretation is going
from Media Persia all the way
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down past Greece and past pagan
Rome, all the way down to the
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very end of time.
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Now the fact that the angel
indicates to Daniel that the
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vision he just received
extents the very end of time,
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that is a direct contextual
proof that the 2300 days is
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not literal days.
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If from the time we
are speaking of here,
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we were to count
2300 literal days,
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we wouldn't come
to the end of time.
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The fact that this
prophecy extends, as angel says,
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to the very end of time
implements for us a principle of
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Bible prophecy interpretation
and that is that the 2300
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days are to be
interpreted as 2300 years.
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And that is the only way
we can see that the prophecy
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would, in fact,
extend to the end of time.
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It is the day for a year
principal and we find it in the
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Old Testament, in the New
Testament confirmed by Christ.
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We will study more on
that we get to Daniel 9.
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But you are right, that
prophecy is not understood by
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Daniel at first, he
is confused about this.
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That is one of the
reasons I think Gabriel comes.
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Because what makes it
clear in his mind is this final
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interpretation, these final
verses that talk about this
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dark power that rises up,
dark sentences that rises up
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at the end of time and seeks
to destroy the holy and the
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mighty people, and that
it says magnifies himself,
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in verse 25, "in his heart,
and by peace shall destroy"
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"many: he shall stand up
also against Prince of princes;"
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"but he shall be
broken without hand. "
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Yes this is a
powerful prophecy James.
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It is a very clear indication
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of how the gospel saves human
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beings and how it is that God
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conquers evil and His enemies.
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We notice here the prophecies
that the little horn is
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identified as a power
that uses cunning, and deceit,
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and persecution,
or force and coercion.
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But it is very, very beautiful
that when Daniel is told
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by the angel, that the little
horn power will eventually
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be overcome and conquered
by God, it says he will be
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conquered, or broken
without hands, the King James
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version says, or as the new
King James version renders it,
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that he will be
broken without human means.
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What does it mean
by, without human means?
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Well the human means are
the principles, the methods that
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are being used
by the little horn.
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Deceit and force primarily.
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God will conquer this little
horn power without the use
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of deceit,
without the use of force.
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God uses the power of
truth to draw people to Himself
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and bring people to
the worship of the one
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and only true God.
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God uses the power of His
love manifested in Christ,
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as Jesus died on the
cross to reveal to us that God
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literally loves every
member of the human family more
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than His own
life, now that is power.
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That is a power that is
not anything like what we see
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in the little horn as it uses
force, manipulation, deceit,
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in order to further it's ends.
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So this is beautiful,
God is going to win the great
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controversy, but not by
the same principles and methods
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that His enemies have used.
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You see this Ty so clearly
not only here in Daniel 8,
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but we also see in Daniel 2.
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You have the same basic
phrase in Daniel Chapter 2 when
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the interpretation
is given of this stone.
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It is cut out of the
mountain it says, without hand.
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This stone of course
represents Jesus Christ.
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Jesus Christ is the stone.
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Jesus Christ is the
rock and when He comes again,
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He comes again to
destroy, or consume all of these
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kingdoms and it says in
verse 45, "for as much as thou"
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"saw that the stone was
cut out without hands. "
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Same idea, broken without
hands, broken cut out and hits
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the image and
breaks it to pieces.
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The stone, in the
New Testament, is Christ.
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He is the rock, He is the stone.
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So again it is
talking about His kingdom,
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and Jesus Christ, of course
has come to bring down the
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kingdom of
darkness, dark sentences,
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the power of darkness
to establish the truth,
00:08:04.81\00:08:07.08
but not by force of arms.
00:08:07.12\00:08:08.78
His disciples said,
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Master should we
fight with the sword?
00:08:10.19\00:08:12.75
He said I can call a
legion of Angels right now.
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Well why don't you?
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Because those that
kill with the sword will
00:08:16.22\00:08:18.13
be killed with the sword.
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Christ came to usher in
that kingdom that is based on
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the principal of love.
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Amen, Amen! Jesus was none
other than God in the human
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flesh, and if it were in
His heart to do so, He could
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have used force, but
rather He submitted willingly to
00:08:35.34\00:08:40.75
be led as a lamb
to the slaughter.
00:08:40.78\00:08:42.32
As we see Jesus exalted on
the cross before us in willing
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self-sacrificing love,
praying Father forgive them for
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they know not what they do.
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We are encountering a whole
different kind of power then
00:08:52.83\00:08:56.97
that which we see exercised
by human political systems
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and religious systems.
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We are encountering the power
of the grace of God to melt
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the human heart, to
soften the human heart,
00:09:07.18\00:09:10.61
and to draw us to Him
in voluntary worship rather
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than forced worship.
00:09:14.62\00:09:16.42
We are also encountering
a whole different mediation.
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We are encountering a mediation
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of priesthood that is not
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requiring you to confess
00:09:22.62\00:09:23.96
your sins and go do some
00:09:23.99\00:09:25.33
penance, but a priesthood that
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is saying Father forgive them
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for they don't know what
they're doing that is soliciting
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forgiveness even in our sins,
even in our transgressions,
00:09:32.37\00:09:35.87
even in our wickedness God
is pursuing us and drawing us
00:09:35.90\00:09:39.37
to come to Him for
grace, this unmerited favor.
00:09:39.41\00:09:43.35
That is why the new
covenant is so vital.
00:09:43.41\00:09:45.65
That is why this power needs
to be exposed and understood
00:09:45.68\00:09:49.62
because it is a power
that is based upon works.
00:09:49.65\00:09:52.75
It is based on a human system.
00:09:52.79\00:09:54.29
It is based upon what we
need to do to merit God's favor,
00:09:54.32\00:09:58.03
or to be meritorious in
His sight in order to earn,
00:09:58.06\00:10:01.53
to some degree, salvation.
00:10:01.56\00:10:03.47
But we can't earn
salvation in any way.
00:10:03.50\00:10:06.90
Salvation is a free gift
from God, given to us unmerited
00:10:06.94\00:10:10.84
favor, given to us as we
see Him as the complete truth
00:10:10.87\00:10:14.71
and sacrifice for sins.
00:10:14.74\00:10:16.14
Now James, as Daniel 8 closes
00:10:16.21\00:10:18.85
Daniel says that he was
00:10:18.88\00:10:21.08
literally sick for days.
00:10:21.12\00:10:22.45
That's incredible isn't it?
00:10:22.52\00:10:24.52
He is sick because he wants
00:10:24.55\00:10:26.55
to understand what God
has just revealed to him.
00:10:26.59\00:10:28.82
But Daniel is thinking in
the more immediate context of
00:10:28.86\00:10:33.23
the captivity of Israel.
00:10:33.26\00:10:34.83
So that is why he is
struggling right here, because
00:10:34.83\00:10:38.37
according to Jeremiah
Israel is captive for 70 years.
00:10:38.40\00:10:41.94
According to this
vision he has just been given,
00:10:41.97\00:10:44.54
it is 2300 days.
00:10:44.57\00:10:46.04
The 2300 days taken literally
doesn't fit with the 70
00:10:46.07\00:10:49.91
years, that is just a few years.
00:10:49.94\00:10:51.81
He still, in this vision,
he is still under Belshazzar
00:10:51.85\00:10:54.38
and it doesn't
connect in his mind.
00:10:54.42\00:10:56.99
It is making him sick
because he only has one other
00:10:57.02\00:10:58.99
alternative, Daniel knows the
00:10:59.02\00:11:00.76
day for a year principle.
00:11:00.82\00:11:02.42
He recognizes that, as the angel
00:11:02.46\00:11:04.59
says, this is going to concern
00:11:04.63\00:11:06.33
your people in the latter days.
00:11:06.36\00:11:07.96
He is starting to think,
you mean the temple is not
00:11:08.00\00:11:10.23
going to be
built for 2300 years?
00:11:10.27\00:11:12.73
How does this all come together?
00:11:12.77\00:11:15.04
It literally makes him sick.
00:11:15.07\00:11:17.31
And James that leaves us
then with the vital connection
00:11:17.34\00:11:20.18
between Daniel Chapter
8 and Daniel Chapter 9.
00:11:20.21\00:11:23.91
We don't have time
to conclude Chapter 9,
00:11:23.95\00:11:27.78
but we know this much,
that Daniel closes Chapter 8 by
00:11:27.82\00:11:32.29
telling us that he is very
interested in having greater
00:11:32.32\00:11:36.39
understanding regarding
the time period that has been
00:11:36.42\00:11:40.46
outlined in Chapter
8, the 2300 day prophecy.
00:11:40.50\00:11:43.33
Yes, so what we are going
to see here is that Daniel
00:11:43.37\00:11:45.83
seeks for greater understanding,
00:11:45.87\00:11:47.80
in fact here's an
interesting point.
00:11:47.84\00:11:49.54
We don't have time
to get in Chapter 9,
00:11:49.57\00:11:51.17
but what is interesting is
that in the transition from
00:11:51.21\00:11:54.61
Chapter 8 to Chapter 9 we
have that change of rulership.
00:11:54.68\00:11:58.05
We go from Belshazzar to Darius.
00:11:58.08\00:11:59.91
It was in the first-year
Darius when Daniel began to
00:11:59.95\00:12:02.52
pray that the decree went
forth were he wasn't supposed
00:12:02.58\00:12:05.05
to pray to anyone for 30 days.
00:12:05.09\00:12:07.09
That is
interesting! It is very serious.
00:12:07.12\00:12:09.02
Daniel realizes something
significant is going to be
00:12:09.06\00:12:11.83
revealed to me and that
is why Satan is seeking to
00:12:11.86\00:12:14.56
stop me from understanding this.
00:12:14.60\00:12:15.93
Friends, there are times
in our lives when there are
00:12:15.96\00:12:18.40
significant developments
that are going to take place.
00:12:18.43\00:12:21.10
Satan wants to stop, or
hinder us in our spiritual
00:12:21.14\00:12:23.77
growth, and he will do
everything he can to sever
00:12:23.81\00:12:26.41
our connection
with God through prayer
00:12:26.44\00:12:28.04
and through faith in Him.
00:12:28.08\00:12:29.41
We need to pray
through the darkness.
00:12:29.44\00:12:31.15
We need to pray through
the attacks of the enemy.
00:12:31.18\00:12:34.85
We need to persevere, following
Daniel's example because
00:12:34.88\00:12:38.82
dear friends, God is
eager to hear and to answer our
00:12:38.85\00:12:42.29
prayers and to bless us
above all that we could ever
00:12:42.36\00:12:46.13
possibly ask or think
through our Lord Jesus Christ.
00:12:46.16\00:12:49.90