Participants: Chris Holland
Series Code: IIWC
Program Code: IIWC201516A
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00:01 PHILOSOPHY'S ACHILLES HEEL - The evidence of a master plan
00:04 PHILOSOPHY'S ACHILLES HEEL - The evidence of a master plan 00:08 PHILOSOPHY'S ACHILLES HEEL - The evidence of a master plan 00:12 PHILOSOPHY'S ACHILLES HEEL - The evidence of a master plan 00:20 PHILOSOPHY'S ACHILLES HEEL - The evidence of a master plan 00:26 PHILOSOPHY'S ACHILLES HEEL - The evidence of a master plan 00:33 PHILOSOPHY'S ACHILLES HEEL - The evidence of a master plan 00:39 PHILOSOPHY'S ACHILLES HEEL - The evidence of a master plan 01:31 >>Announcer: It has stood the test of time. 01:35 God's book, The Bible 01:38 Still relevant in today's complex world 01:44 It Is Written 01:46 Sharing messages of hope around the world! 01:59 >>Chris: Isn't it amazing that week after week, through our study of the book of Daniel we 02:04 have come to understand the Bible's amazing ability to accurately point out future 02:11 events across the centuries. This accuracy demonstrates that this book is not a collection of 02:21 random chance processes but rather points to a master planner. Someone who has taken 02:28 personal care in the history of this world. It leads us to conclude that this book is of 02:35 divine origin. And can be trusted. 02:40 Briefly, I talked last week about the concept of recapitulation. The eastern way 02:47 of thinking of repeat and enlarge. This was demonstrated through the study of Daniel 7 03:00 and it's repeating of the material in Daniel 2 but with greater detail and utilizing 03:06 different language and symbols. In our study today, we will move to the third major vision of 03:14 Daniel. The book of Daniel actually contains five major visions. Those visions are found 03:20 in Daniel 2, 7, 8, 9, and 10-12. We have already covered the visions of Dan 2 and Dan 7. So 03:37 let's turn to Daniel chapter 8. As Daniel begins in verse one, he tells us that he received 03:47 this vision in the third year of the reign of KingBelshazzar, that was sometime around 548 BC. 03:56 The destruction of Babylon was still about a decade into the future. Although 04:01 Nebuchadnezzar's death brought about a weaker Babylon, no one who was living at that time 04:08 could have guessed that the mighty walls of the city could ever be breached by a conquering 04:15 nation. Let's read at Daniel 8:2-4 05:10 Once again we have beasts. Our study of Daniel 7 revealed that the symbol of a beast was a 05:16 kingdom or nation. Once again, we do not have to guess about the interpretation. Later in 05:24 Daniel 8:20, the angel Gabriel shares the interpretation of the dream with Daniel. It reads, 05:40 The vision here depicts two horns, yet he points out that the higher one came up last. 05:47 When the Medes and Persians first came on the scene, the Medes were the more powerful. 05:52 They had given the Assyrians considerable difficulty from the 9th to the 7th centuries B.C. 05:59 But, under Cyrus, the Persians became the stronger of the two. The royal houses of the Medes 06:08 and Persians intermarried, and the Persians became the stronger. So much so that modern 06:14 historians often refer to it simply as the Persian empire. So it was when Cyrus conquered 06:18 Media, he incorporated it into his kingdom, which is why we have the combined name of the 06:26 Medo-Persian empireas stated in Daniel. Daniel sees in vision that the Ram would push 06:32 westward, northward, and southward. In amazing fulfillment of the dream, the 06:41 major conquest of the Persians was toward the north where the kingdom of Lydia lay in ancient 06:48 Turkey. To the west, Persia conquered Babylon in 539 BC, and to the south Cyrus's son 06:56 Cambyses conquered Egypt in 525 BC. All in exact fulfillment of this vision that God gave 07:07 Daniel. In addition, the choice of the Ram is also significant.On their seals, the 07:14 Persians used the ram as a common emblem. The ram was also a sacrificial animal and played 07:28 a key role in the sanctuary service, symbolizing the Lamb of God who would die for the sins 07:37 of the world. What a fitting symbol of the Ram as found here in Daniel 8, even the sanctuary 07:46 imagery. You see the Persians through three decrees by their kings would command the 07:54 rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem that was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar. They were 08:01 extremely important in re-establishing the sanctuary service. Friends what amazing 08:09 detail is given in this prophecy, once again demonstrating the reliability of 08:14 God and His Word. Let's continue reading. Daniel 8:5-8 reads, 09:19 Once again, no guessing is needed. The angel Gabriel points out in verse 21, 09:36 This goat represents the kingdom of Greece and the large horn, an obvious reference to Alexander 09:45 the Great. Two different Persian kings, Darius I in 490 BC and Xerxes in 480 unsuccessfully 09:55 tried to subdue Greece through brutal attacks and raids. One such place was Macedonia. Their, 10:04 the local ruler was Philip of Macedon. Philip had a young son, by the name of Alexander that 10:19 never forgot the brutality and humiliation of the Greek people. And with pinpoint accuracy, the 10:31 Greek goat would rise and not forget that humiliation. The prophecy states that the goat 10:40 ran at the ram with furious power, and moved with rage against him and finally 10:46 trampling him to the ground with no one to deliver him. The incredible speed by which 10:54 Alexander and his forces conquered was truly amazing. They marched all the way up from 11:03 Macedonia on the west to the valley of the Indus River in northwestern India. What a 11:09 fitting symbol in Daniel 8 for the goat to go across the surface of the earth without 11:16 touching the ground. Here is what makes this even more remarkable,Daniel 8 predicted 11:24 this rise over two centuries before the Greeks began to conquer the world. In addition 11:32 Daniel 8 predicted that Alexander and his kingdom would be cut down while they were at 11:37 the very height of their power and that prediction came before Greece was even in power. Daniel 11:49 states, 11:59 Alexander conquered the world, but he couldn't conquer his own addictive behaviors. The 12:11 representation of Greece as a of goat is intriguing.The goat was a familiar figure on Greek 12:15 coins. The original capital of Macedonia was Aigai from where Alexander the Great was from. 12:26 There is a similarity between the capital city of Aigai and the Greek word "aiges" which is 12:34 the word for goat. Biblically, the goat represented both the Lord and Azazel. Azazel was the 12:44 representation of the devil on the Day of Atonement. As a Greek symbol the goat was represented 12:52 both Alexander and his nation, Greece. Yet, once the horn was broken and eventually the Little 13:03 Horn rises, it is key to understand it's connection with the goat. You see the Persians 13:11 were represented as a ram, a creature of sacrifice in the temple, and it was fitting for 13:17 their influence in building the sanctuary. However the Romans were not sanctuary builders but 13:28 sanctuary destroyers and desecrators. This is seen in the destruction of the Jerusalem 13:34 Temple in AD 70 and then in 130 erecting a temple for Jupiter on the very place where the Jewish 13:44 temple once stood. Let's continue in Daniel with chapter 8:8-9 after that prominent horn 13:57 broke, 14:15 Alexander died in 323 BC. In 301 BC Alexander's kingdom was ruled by Cassander, Lysimachus, 14:25 Seleucus, and Ptolemy. The unity of the empire was very fragile. It lasted for only twenty years 14:35 until Seleucus defeated and killed Lysimachus in 281 BC. From the date of 281 BC, 14:44 historians now unanimously affirm that there were only THREE substantial kingdoms 14:52 resulting from Alexander's conquests.These three kingdoms were the Antigonids who ruled in 15:01 Macedonia and Greece; the Seleucids who ruled in Asia and especially Syria; and the 15:07 Ptolemids in Egypt-controlled the world of the eastern Mediterranean until the Roman 15:16 conquest. But what about the fourth kingdom division of Greece? Recent archaeological 15:25 and historical discoveries have confirmed the existence of the western Greeks who actually 15:36 lived in Italy. They were different than their eastern cousins and their life 15:43 philosophy was influenced heavily by Pythagoras and Parmenides. They shaped the 15:52 Italian intellect and culture. In addition, those western Greek philosophers greatly shaped 16:00 Plato and Aristotle, whose ideas actually became the very foundation and structure for the 16:08 Little Horn.Now, although this may be a new thought to those seeing and or hearing this 16:13 broadcast today, the early Christian church, and the Roman church in particular, were 16:20 deeply influenced by the Greek philosophy of Plato and Aristotle in the formulation of 16:27 its doctrinal systems. Frankly friends, it is miraculous that the book of Daniel revealed this 16:37 close relationship between the Greeks and the Romans when archaeology and history are only 16:43 now discovering that relationship. For instance: That relationship is not only 16:49 demonstrated in Daniel 8, but also in Daniel 2. In Daniel 2, the Greeks are represented by 16:56 the belly and thighs of bronze, whereas Rome by legs of iron.The word "thigh" in Dan 2:32 in 17:06 Aramaic is very similar to the word for thigh in Gen 24:9, where Abraham made his servant 17:15 swear unto him by putting "his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master." Now think about 17:22 this, since the leg is a single entity and requires both the upper (thigh) and the lower half 17:32 in order to walk, this imagery seemingly suggests that close relationship of thigh and lower 17:40 leg is the same between the Greeks and Romans. In Dan 7:19 we read that the indescribable 17:51 beast had iron teeth and nails of bronze. Once again, the iron of legs of Daniel 2 point to 18:03 Rome and the bronze points to Greece. There is no doubt about this Greco-Roman overlap in Dan 18:11 7. The relationship is even clearer is Dan 8, as we have already pointed out. Remember 18:21 this chapterdoes not state that the horn was split into four. Instead it states that the first 18:28 big horn on the male goat was broken, or plucked up, and then Daniel 8:8 points out 18:42 Dan 8:22 brings clarity, 18:51 The prophetic focus is therefore on the Greeks as a whole, and not just the kingdoms that 18:57 resulted from the breakup of Alexander's empire. The Little Horn-Rome-literally grows from 19:06 within a Greek context. Again, later in the book of Daniel, in chapter 11, Greece is introduced 19:15 in 11:2, and after the overview of the Greek kings of the north and south, Dan 11:20 proceeds to 19:26 deal with the Romans. There is no transition to mark them as separate peoples, the book of 19:35 Daniel seems to treat the Romans as though they were an outgrowth of the Greeks. So, as a result, 19:46 this close relationship between the Greeks and Romans, as revealed in the book of Daniel, 19:52 and confirmed through the recent discoveries of the western Greeks in Italy, this all 19:59 strongly points to the fact that Rome is the Little Horn of Daniel 8 and would arise out of 20:06 the Western Greeks, one of thos four horns in Daniel 8. This little horn is slightly 20:12 different than the little horn of Daniel 7. In studying Dan 8:9-12 we realize that Daniel 20:20 uses one symbol, the little horn, to represent both pagan and papal aspects of this power. 20:29 So let's takea look at the activities of the pagan Roman aspect of the Little Horn. 20:35 Daniel said in 8:9 that the Little Horn would grow exceedingly great toward the 20:40 south, toward the east and toward the Glorious land. History tells us, that the first 20:47 significant venture of Rome beyond the Italian peninsula was toward Sicily in the south, 20:54 which is where the Western Greeks were residing. This involved a consistent southward 21:00 movement through Great Greece in order to ward of the Carthaginians of Africa who were 21:09 threatening to take it.In fact within a few generations, Carthage was conquered and later 21:15 destroyed. But then Rome turned east and conquered the rest of Greece, western Asia and north 21:23 Africa). The glorious land is a symbol of Jerusalem or Palestine, which was 21:34 incorporated into the Roman Empire in 63 B.C. Just as Daniel 7 pointed out characteristics of 21:40 the little horn, so, Daniel 8 points out charateristics as well. Daniel 8:11, mentions 21:47 three specific things that the Little Horn would do: 1. It rise up against the Prince of princes 21:54 2. It would take away the daily or the continual service, 3. It would cast down the place of 21:59 God's sanctuary. All these things were fulfilled and took place under the pagan Roman 22:07 empire.It was under a Roman procurator ruler that Christ was put to death. His death rendered 22:17 the earthly sanctuary services null and void. The Romans attacked Jerusalem and in AD 70, 22:24 the sanctuary itself was destroyed. Jesus Himsel confirms this prophecy of Daniel 22:30 8 Specifically he Daniel 8:13 and the abomination of desolation in mind, when spoke 22:37 these words in Matt 24:15-16 22:58 The sister parallel passage of Matthew 24 is found in Luke 21:20-24, 23:04 Jesus does not repeat the phrase "the abomination of desolation." But, instead He says, 23:21 Then He warned those who were in Judea at that time to escape and flee to the mountains. It was 23:27 the pagan Roman armies that encircled Jerusalem and planted their standards just outside the 23:35 city walls, yet, according to history, no Christian who listened to the Lord's warning 23:42 was lost in the destruction of the city. Thus far the study of Daniel 8 reveals that God had a 23:53 plane. These things can't be attributed to random chance processes. How could have Daniel 24:01 known or guessed that Babylon would pass off the scene while it was still the ruling empire 24:07 of the day and showed no signs of being invaded? How could have Daniel randomly predicted the 24:13 rise of the Persians over the Medes, when it was clear that for over two centuries the Medes 24:19 were the stronger of the two? How is it possible that the choice of the ram to symbolize 24:26 the Persians would be so fitting to a people who were friendly to the Jews and helped them to 24:33 restore their city and temple? Could their have been a random chance at the speed at which 24:41 Greece conquered the then known world? How is it possible that Daniel would have predicted the 24:47 fact that Greece would be led by a mighty leader in Alexander, who would die at a very early 24:53 age at the height of his power? What kind of speculation could lead one to the fact that the 25:00 little horn would grow out of the western Greeks who resided in Italy, which is one of the 25:06 four horns that came up in the place of Alexander and his kingdom? What type of 25:12 guesstimate would take place for the prediction of the pagan Little Horn first attacking the 25:19 south, then the east, and then the glorious Land of Jerusalem and Palestine? Who could have 25:24 predicted with accuracy 100's of years before he was born, that the pagan Roman empire would 25:31 ultimately put Christ to death, and destroy the temple and the city of Jerusalem? The answer is 25:40 simple.Only God could He is real and He seeks to enter into relationship with you. You know 25:54 there is one other thing that happens the Little Horn power that we have not talked about. 26:01 Daniel 8:13-14 tells us. It reads: 26:33 What is this all about? What is this2,300 days all about? What is the relationship between the 26:40 Little Horn and the cleansing of this Sanctuary?Where does this event take place? When does it 26:46 take place? We're all out of time today, but next week we will answer all of those 26:57 questions. In the meantime, we can rest assured, once again God is real, God cares for us 27:06 and wants us to be a part of His kingdom that will last forever What holds you back today? 27:15 Respond to His invitation, He will not let you down. 27:23 Heavenly Father, we are so thankful that you have the world in your hands. We give our heart 27:27 to you today, please care for us we pray in Jesus name amen. 27:53 My dear friend, isn't it amazing how this book over and over again demonstrates that God is 27:59 real and that he wants to be in a relationship with you. Today I want to offer you a DVD of a 28:05 past program called "The book that couldn't be silenced". That DVD will help you understand 28:11 even more the reliability and authenticity of the Bible. In addition to that, I would like 28:18 to offer you the Discover Bible guides to help you in your relationship with Jesus. Here's 28:23 the information you need for today's offer. 29:27 Friend, thank you so much for joining us. If you want more resources, I encourage you to go 29:31 to our website www.ItIsWrittenCanada.ca. Please be with us again next week. 29:37 Until then remember, It Is Written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by ever word 29:45 that proceeds from the mouth of God. 29:49 $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ |
Revised 2016-01-21