PHILOSOPHY'S ACHILLES HEEL -
The evidence of a master plan
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PHILOSOPHY'S ACHILLES HEEL -
The evidence of a master plan
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PHILOSOPHY'S ACHILLES HEEL -
The evidence of a master plan
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PHILOSOPHY'S ACHILLES HEEL -
The evidence of a master plan
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PHILOSOPHY'S ACHILLES HEEL -
The evidence of a master plan
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PHILOSOPHY'S ACHILLES HEEL -
The evidence of a master plan
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PHILOSOPHY'S ACHILLES HEEL -
The evidence of a master plan
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PHILOSOPHY'S ACHILLES HEEL -
The evidence of a master plan
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>>Announcer: It has
stood the test of time.
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God's book, The Bible
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Still relevant in
today's complex world
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It Is Written
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Sharing messages of
hope around the world!
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>>Chris: Isn't it amazing that
week after week, through our
study of the book of Daniel we
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have come to understand the
Bible's amazing ability to
accurately point out future
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events across the centuries.
This accuracy demonstrates that
this book is not a collection of
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random chance processes but
rather points to a master
planner. Someone who has taken
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personal care in the history of
this world. It leads us to
conclude that this book is of
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divine origin.
And can be trusted.
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Briefly, I talked last week
about the concept of
recapitulation. The eastern way
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of thinking of repeat and
enlarge. This was demonstrated
through the study of Daniel 7
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and it's repeating of the
material in Daniel 2 but with
greater detail and utilizing
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different language and symbols.
In our study today, we will move
to the third major vision of
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Daniel. The book of Daniel
actually contains five major
visions. Those visions are found
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in Daniel 2, 7, 8, 9, and 10-12.
We have already covered the
visions of Dan 2 and Dan 7. So
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let's turn to Daniel chapter 8.
As Daniel begins in verse one,
he tells us that he received
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this vision in the third year of
the reign of KingBelshazzar,
that was sometime around 548 BC.
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The destruction of Babylon was
still about a decade into the
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future. Although
Nebuchadnezzar's death brought
about a weaker Babylon, no one
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who was living at that time
could have guessed that the
mighty walls of the city could
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ever be breached by a conquering
nation. Let's read at Daniel
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8:2-4 Once again we have beasts.
Our study of Daniel 7 revealed
that the symbol of a beast was a
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kingdom or nation. Once again,
we do not have to guess about
the interpretation. Later in
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Daniel 8:20, the angel Gabriel
shares the interpretation of the
dream with Daniel. It reads,
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The vision here depicts two
horns, yet he points out that
the higher one came up last.
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When the Medes and Persians
first came on the scene, the
Medes were the more powerful.
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They had given the Assyrians
considerable difficulty from the
9th to the 7th centuries B.C.
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But, under Cyrus, the Persians
became the stronger of the two.
The royal houses of the Medes
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and Persians intermarried, and
the Persians became the
stronger. So much so that modern
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historians often refer to it
simply as the Persian empire. So
it was when Cyrus conquered
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Media, he incorporated it into
his kingdom, which is why we
have the combined name of the
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Medo-Persian empireas stated in
Daniel. Daniel sees in vision
that the Ram would push
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westward, northward, and
southward. In amazing
fulfillment of the dream, the
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major conquest of the Persians
was toward the north where the
kingdom of Lydia lay in ancient
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Turkey. To the west, Persia
conquered Babylon in 539 BC, and
to the south Cyrus's son
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Cambyses conquered Egypt in 525
BC. All in exact fulfillment of
this vision that God gave
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Daniel. In addition, the choice
of the Ram is also
significant.On their seals, the
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Persians used the ram as a
common emblem. The ram was also
a sacrificial animal and played
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a key role in the sanctuary
service, symbolizing the Lamb of
God who would die for the sins
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of the world. What a fitting
symbol of the Ram as found here
in Daniel 8, even the sanctuary
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imagery. You see the Persians
through three decrees by their
kings would command the
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rebuilding of the temple in
Jerusalem that was destroyed by
Nebuchadnezzar. They were
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extremely important in
re-establishing the sanctuary
service. Friends what amazing
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detail is given in this
prophecy, once again
demonstrating the reliability of
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God and His Word. Let's continue
reading. Daniel 8:5-8 reads,
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Once again, no guessing is
needed. The angel Gabriel points
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out in verse 21, This goat
represents the kingdom of Greece
and the large horn, an obvious
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reference to Alexander the
Great. Two different Persian
kings, Darius I in 490 BC and
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Xerxes in 480 unsuccessfully
tried to subdue Greece through
brutal attacks and raids. One
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such place was Macedonia. Their,
the local ruler was Philip of
Macedon. Philip had a young son,
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by the name of Alexander that
never forgot the brutality and
humiliation of the Greek people.
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And with pinpoint accuracy, the
Greek goat would rise and not
forget that humiliation. The
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prophecy states that the goat
ran at the ram with furious
power, and moved with rage
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against him and finally
trampling him to the ground with
no one to deliver him. The
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incredible speed by which
Alexander and his forces
conquered was truly amazing.
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They marched all the way up from
Macedonia on the west to the
valley of the Indus River in
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northwestern India. What a
fitting symbol in Daniel 8 for
the goat to go across the
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surface of the earth without
touching the ground. Here is
what makes this even more
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remarkable,Daniel 8 predicted
this rise over two centuries
before the Greeks began to
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conquer the world. In addition
Daniel 8 predicted that
Alexander and his kingdom would
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be cut down while they were at
the very height of their power
and that prediction came before
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Greece was even in
power. Daniel states,
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Alexander conquered the world,
but he couldn't conquer his own
addictive behaviors. The
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representation of Greece as a of
goat is intriguing.The goat was
a familiar figure on Greek
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coins. The original capital of
Macedonia was Aigai from where
Alexander the Great was from.
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There is a similarity between
the capital city of Aigai and
the Greek word "aiges" which is
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the word for goat. Biblically,
the goat represented both the
Lord and Azazel. Azazel was the
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representation of the devil on
the Day of Atonement. As a Greek
symbol the goat was represented
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both Alexander and his nation,
Greece. Yet, once the horn was
broken and eventually the Little
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Horn rises, it is key to
understand it's connection with
the goat. You see the Persians
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were represented as a ram, a
creature of sacrifice in the
temple, and it was fitting for
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their influence in building the
sanctuary. However the Romans
were not sanctuary builders but
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sanctuary destroyers and
desecrators. This is seen in the
destruction of the Jerusalem
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Temple in AD 70 and then in 130
erecting a temple for Jupiter on
the very place where the Jewish
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temple once stood. Let's
continue in Daniel with chapter
8:8-9 after that prominent horn
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broke,
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Alexander died in 323 BC. In 301
BC Alexander's kingdom was ruled
by Cassander, Lysimachus,
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Seleucus, and Ptolemy. The unity
of the empire was very fragile.
It lasted for only twenty years
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until Seleucus defeated and
killed Lysimachus in 281 BC.
From the date of 281 BC,
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historians now unanimously
affirm that there were only
THREE substantial kingdoms
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resulting from Alexander's
conquests.These three kingdoms
were the Antigonids who ruled in
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Macedonia and Greece; the
Seleucids who ruled in Asia and
especially Syria; and the
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Ptolemids in Egypt-controlled
the world of the eastern
Mediterranean until the Roman
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conquest. But what about the
fourth kingdom division of
Greece? Recent archaeological
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and historical discoveries have
confirmed the existence of the
western Greeks who actually
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lived in Italy. They were
different than their eastern
cousins and their life
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philosophy was influenced
heavily by Pythagoras and
Parmenides. They shaped the
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Italian intellect and culture.
In addition, those western Greek
philosophers greatly shaped
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Plato and Aristotle, whose ideas
actually became the very
foundation and structure for the
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Little Horn.Now, although this
may be a new thought to those
seeing and or hearing this
00:16:08.40\00:16:13.60
broadcast today, the early
Christian church, and the Roman
church in particular, were
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deeply influenced by the Greek
philosophy of Plato and
Aristotle in the formulation of
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its doctrinal systems. Frankly
friends, it is miraculous that
the book of Daniel revealed this
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close relationship between the
Greeks and the Romans when
archaeology and history are only
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now discovering that
relationship. For instance: That
relationship is not only
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demonstrated in Daniel 8, but
also in Daniel 2. In Daniel 2,
the Greeks are represented by
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the belly and thighs of bronze,
whereas Rome by legs of iron.The
word "thigh" in Dan 2:32 in
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Aramaic is very similar to the
word for thigh in Gen 24:9,
where Abraham made his servant
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swear unto him by putting "his
hand under the thigh of Abraham
his master." Now think about
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this, since the leg is a single
entity and requires both the
upper (thigh) and the lower half
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in order to walk, this imagery
seemingly suggests that close
relationship of thigh and lower
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leg is the same between the
Greeks and Romans. In Dan 7:19
we read that the indescribable
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beast had iron teeth and nails
of bronze. Once again, the iron
of legs of Daniel 2 point to
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Rome and the bronze points to
Greece. There is no doubt about
this Greco-Roman overlap in Dan
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7. The relationship is even
clearer is Dan 8, as we have
already pointed out. Remember
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this chapterdoes not state that
the horn was split into four.
Instead it states that the first
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big horn on the male goat was
broken, or plucked up, and then
Daniel 8:8 points out
00:18:28.97\00:18:36.98
Dan 8:22 brings clarity,
00:18:42.68\00:18:46.02
The prophetic focus is therefore
on the Greeks as a whole, and
not just the kingdoms that
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resulted from the breakup of
Alexander's empire. The Little
Horn-Rome-literally grows from
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within a Greek context. Again,
later in the book of Daniel, in
chapter 11, Greece is introduced
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in 11:2, and after the overview
of the Greek kings of the north
and south, Dan 11:20 proceeds to
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deal with the Romans. There is
no transition to mark them as
separate peoples, the book of
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Daniel seems to treat the Romans
as though they were an outgrowth
of the Greeks. So, as a result,
00:19:35.57\00:19:46.18
this close relationship between
the Greeks and Romans, as
revealed in the book of Daniel,
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and confirmed through the recent
discoveries of the western
Greeks in Italy, this all
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strongly points to the fact that
Rome is the Little Horn of
Daniel 8 and would arise out of
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the Western Greeks, one of thos
four horns in Daniel 8. This
little horn is slightly
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different than the little horn
of Daniel 7. In studying Dan
8:9-12 we realize that Daniel
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uses one symbol, the little
horn, to represent both pagan
and papal aspects of this power.
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So let's takea look at the
activities of the pagan Roman
aspect of the Little Horn.
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Daniel said in 8:9 that the
Little Horn would grow
exceedingly great toward the
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south, toward the east and
toward the Glorious land.
History tells us, that the first
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significant venture of Rome
beyond the Italian peninsula was
toward Sicily in the south,
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which is where the Western
Greeks were residing. This
involved a consistent southward
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movement through Great Greece in
order to ward of the
Carthaginians of Africa who were
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threatening to take it.In fact
within a few generations,
Carthage was conquered and later
00:21:09.00\00:21:15.34
destroyed. But then Rome turned
east and conquered the rest of
Greece, western Asia and north
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Africa). The glorious land is a
symbol of Jerusalem or
Palestine, which was
00:21:23.71\00:21:34.46
incorporated into the Roman
Empire in 63 B.C. Just as Daniel
7 pointed out characteristics of
00:21:34.56\00:21:40.73
the little horn, so, Daniel 8
points out charateristics as
well. Daniel 8:11, mentions
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three specific things that the
Little Horn would do: 1. It rise
up against the Prince of princes
00:21:47.44\00:21:54.71
2. It would take away the daily
or the continual service, 3. It
would cast down the place of
00:21:54.81\00:21:59.61
God's sanctuary. All these
things were fulfilled and took
place under the pagan Roman
00:21:59.71\00:22:07.79
empire.It was under a Roman
procurator ruler that Christ was
put to death. His death rendered
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the earthly sanctuary services
null and void. The Romans
attacked Jerusalem and in AD 70,
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the sanctuary itself was
destroyed. Jesus Himsel confirms
this prophecy of Daniel
00:22:24.44\00:22:30.41
8 Specifically he Daniel 8:13
and the abomination of
desolation in mind, when spoke
00:22:30.51\00:22:37.32
these words in Matt 24:15-16
00:22:37.42\00:22:42.56
The sister parallel passage
of Matthew 24 is found in Luke
00:22:58.84\00:23:04.65
21:20-24, Jesus does not repeat
the phrase "the abomination of
desolation." But, instead He
00:23:04.88\00:23:12.79
says, Then He warned those who
were in Judea at that time to
escape and flee to the
00:23:21.63\00:23:27.50
mountains. It was the pagan
Roman armies that encircled
Jerusalem and planted their
00:23:27.60\00:23:35.24
standards just outside the city
walls, yet, according to
history, no Christian who
00:23:35.34\00:23:42.52
listened to the Lord's warning
was lost in the destruction of
the city. Thus far the study of
00:23:42.62\00:23:53.46
Daniel 8 reveals that God had a
plane. These things can't be
attributed to random chance
00:23:53.56\00:24:01.67
processes. How could have Daniel
known or guessed that Babylon
would pass off the scene while
00:24:01.77\00:24:07.78
it was still the ruling empire
of the day and showed no signs
of being invaded? How could have
00:24:07.88\00:24:13.52
Daniel randomly predicted the
rise of the Persians over the
Medes, when it was clear that
00:24:13.62\00:24:19.35
for over two centuries the Medes
were the stronger of the two?
How is it possible that the
00:24:19.45\00:24:26.03
choice of the ram to symbolize
the Persians would be so fitting
to a people who were friendly to
00:24:26.13\00:24:33.27
the Jews and helped them to
restore their city and temple?
Could their have been a random
00:24:33.37\00:24:41.08
chance at the speed at which
Greece conquered the then known
world? How is it possible that
00:24:41.18\00:24:47.12
Daniel would have predicted the
fact that Greece would be led by
a mighty leader in Alexander,
00:24:47.22\00:24:53.69
who would die at a very early
age at the height of his power?
What kind of speculation could
00:24:53.79\00:25:00.46
lead one to the fact that the
little horn would grow out of
the western Greeks who resided
00:25:00.56\00:25:06.67
in Italy, which is one of the
four horns that came up in the
place of Alexander and his
00:25:06.77\00:25:12.47
kingdom? What type of
guesstimate would take place for
the prediction of the pagan
00:25:12.57\00:25:19.25
Little Horn first attacking the
south, then the east, and then
the glorious Land of Jerusalem
00:25:19.35\00:25:24.52
and Palestine? Who could have
predicted with accuracy 100's of
years before he was born, that
00:25:24.62\00:25:31.43
the pagan Roman empire would
ultimately put Christ to death,
and destroy the temple and the
00:25:31.53\00:25:40.27
city of Jerusalem? The answer is
simple.Only God could He is real
and He seeks to enter into
00:25:40.37\00:25:54.18
relationship with you. You know
there is one other thing that
happens the Little Horn power
00:25:54.28\00:26:01.59
that we have not talked about.
Daniel 8:13-14 tells us. It
00:26:01.69\00:26:06.09
reads: What is this all about?
What is this2,300 days all
about? What is the relationship
00:26:33.76\00:26:40.83
between the Little Horn and the
cleansing of this
Sanctuary?Where does this event
00:26:40.93\00:26:46.17
take place? When does it take
place? We're all out of time
today, but next week we will
00:26:46.27\00:26:56.91
answer all of those questions.
In the meantime, we can rest
assured, once again God is real,
00:26:57.01\00:27:06.69
God cares for us and wants us to
be a part of His kingdom that
will last forever What holds you
00:27:06.79\00:27:14.93
back today? Respond to His
invitation, He will not let you
00:27:15.00\00:27:21.30
down. Heavenly Father, we are so
thankful that you have the world
in your hands. We give our heart
00:27:23.04\00:27:27.54
to you today, please care for
us we pray in Jesus name amen.
00:27:27.64\00:27:32.61
My dear friend, isn't it amazing
how this book over and over
again demonstrates that God is
00:27:53.70\00:27:59.74
real and that he wants to be in
a relationship with you. Today I
want to offer you a DVD of a
00:27:59.84\00:28:05.15
past program called "The book
that couldn't be silenced". That
DVD will help you understand
00:28:05.25\00:28:11.39
even more the reliability and
authenticity of the Bible. In
addition to that, I would like
00:28:11.49\00:28:17.99
to offer you the Discover Bible
guides to help you in your
relationship with Jesus. Here's
00:28:18.09\00:28:23.03
the information you
need for today's offer.
00:28:23.13\00:28:25.40
Friend, thank you so much for
joining us. If you want more
resources, I encourage you to go
00:29:27.60\00:29:31.73
to our website
www.ItIsWrittenCanada.ca. Please
be with us again next week.
00:29:31.83\00:29:37.77
Until then remember, It Is
Written, man shall not live by
bread alone, but by ever word
00:29:37.87\00:29:44.95
that proceeds
from the mouth of God.
00:29:45.05\00:29:47.95
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