Hello, I'm Mel Olsen.
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Welcome to Let God Speak.
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Today we are
starting a new study
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from the Book of Daniel.
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Daniel penned this
about 2,500 years ago,
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and it remains a
powerful revelation of the love
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and character of
our Lord Jesus Christ.
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We are glad you
have joined us today
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as we open the Book of Daniel
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and examine events
of the past, present,
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and the future.
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On our panel today,
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we have Steven
Groom and David Currie.
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Welcome to the panel.
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I'm sure we'll have
a good time together.
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That's for sure. Thank you.
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We should start with a prayer.
Let's just bow our heads.
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Thank you, Heavenly
Father for the Book of Daniel.
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As we open its pages today,
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we will see a
revelation of Yourself.
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And we want to
grow in the knowledge
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that You have provided for us.
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Guide and bless us,
we pray in Your name.
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Amen.
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So around 2,000 years
ago, David, that's a long time.
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Why should we
study the Book of Daniel?
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Can you just put that
into a nutshell for us?
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Well, the Book of
Daniel gives us a insight
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into the times of
Daniel and himself.
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Yes.
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God has also given a
picture to Daniel of the future,
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and comes right
down to our time,
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not only our time,
but what is in the future.
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So Daniel is a
very important book
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for us today.
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It's powerful, isn't it,
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that it covers
such a big time expanse,
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and it's good.
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So we know that Daniel
is writing from Babylon.
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So how did he
come to be in Babylon?
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Yes, if we look at
the first Book of Daniel
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1 says,
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"In the third year of
the reign of Jehoiakim
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king of Judah,
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Nebuchadnezzar king of
Babylon came to Jerusalem
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and besieged it."
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And verse 3, "Then the
king instructed Ashpenaz,
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the master of his eunuchs,
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to bring some of
the children of Israel
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and some of the
king's descendents
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and some of the nobles,
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young men in whom
there was no blemish,
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but good-looking,
gifted in all wisdom,
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possessing knowledge
and quick to understand,
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who had ability to
serve in the king's palace,
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and whom they
might teach the language
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and literature
of the Chaldeans."
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So here's Daniel
taken as a captive,
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he was one of those
noble good looking young men
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and conserve in
the king's palace.
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And the king also had the
idea of getting those young men
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to go back to their territories
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and to be governors
for him in the future.
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And so Daniel
covered a quite a long period
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from the time of Nebuchadnezzar
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right down to King
Darius of Medo-Persia.
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So that is a probably 70
years old or thereabouts...
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Yes.
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Quite a long period
of time. That's right.
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Okay, so, Steven,
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Daniel finds himself
in this new environment.
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How does he
handle the challenges
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that come to him?
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Well, his service
and close connection
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to several of the kings of
both Babylon and Medo-Persia
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gave him privileged access
to the high levels of society,
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but because
these kings worshiped
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foreign gods of the Israel,
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it brought him
into many temptations.
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And I'll give an
example, Chapter 1,
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King Nebuchadnezzar
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thought he was doing the
children of Israel a favor
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by letting them eat of
the table of all his food.
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But this food contained
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food that was not right
for the Israelites to eat
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according to their
strict dietary code.
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And then...
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Yeah, I think that's
a dietary restriction...
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Dietary restriction. Yes. Okay.
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And then Daniel Chapter
3 we have, the same king,
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creating this great big image
for his people to bow down to,
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which was also something
that the Israelites couldn't do
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according to the Second
Commandment of their Decalogue
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in Exodus 20.
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And then we have Daniel 6,
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where the King
Darius made a commandment
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that no one was
to pray to their God
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for a period of 30 days,
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which the Israelites
could not constrain to.
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And this brought
him into disfavor
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with the people
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and this caused them to be...
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Daniel to be put
into the lion's den.
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But it's good to
note that in all this,
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Daniel and his friends
stood firm in the faith,
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and God vindicate
His faithful disciples
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for their faithfulness.
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So they were up
against the polytheistic
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kind of environment, wasn't it?
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So they're still
faithful and true.
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So I understand that
when Daniel wrote this book,
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he used more than one language.
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Can you explain that to us?
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Yes.
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Daniel's classmates,
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he was inducted
into the wise men
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class of Babylon.
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His fellow classmates were
of various racial backgrounds
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and they spoke
different languages.
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And so Aramaic was
the general language
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that everybody understood.
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And so from Daniel 2:4,
where he says, he spoke,
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the Chaldeans, spoke
to the king in Aramaic.
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To the end of Chapter 7,
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the whole
narrative is in Aramaic.
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These chapters deal
with matters of importance
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to Gentile
nations of the Near East.
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But the last five chapters,
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Chapters 8 to 12
deal to specific concerns
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of the Israelite people.
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For instance, the
sanctuary and talks about Jesus
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as our high priest in
heaven and such subjects.
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You know, that's powerful.
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So, David, I'm gonna
skip over to the New Testament
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for a moment.
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There's a story
of the deacon Philip,
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he runs along, speaks
to somebody in a chariot
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and asked an important question.
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So what was the question
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that then how could
it be related to Daniel?
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Well, he says,
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"Do you understand
what you're reading?"
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And, of course, the deacon says,
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"Well, now look, I
need to have somebody
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to help me to understand this."
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And then Philip was
able to explain to him
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all that he was reading about,
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and that God was doing a
bigger thing in this world
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than he even imagined.
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And I have often
thought that the Christianity
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that is seen in Ethiopia today,
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much of it goes back to
this eunuch who went back.
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Okay, so there's basically,
you need an understanding,
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but you also need to be guided
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in that process
of understanding.
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Yes.
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And this is what the
Book of Daniel really needs,
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doesn't it?
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It does. Yes.
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And to understand it correctly,
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one does need to understand
the scriptures as a whole...
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Yes.
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And be guided by the Holy Spirit
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in his understanding.
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Now the Bible itself is
written in different formats,
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different types
of styles of writing.
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What are some of these, David?
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Yeah, well, first of all,
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I suppose the hymn book
of the Bible is the Psalms,
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and many quotes
of the New Testament
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go back to the Psalms.
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Then, of course,
we have the narrative
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which is dealing with stories
like the children of Israel,
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coming out of Egypt
and going into Israel.
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That's what we call narrative.
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And then you have parables,
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which may in themselves
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not have the
complete understanding,
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but people,
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if they did
understand could understand
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what Jesus Himself is
getting out in the parables,
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and there are
other parables, too.
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Then there are literal
aspects like in Daniel 8,
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giving his exact history.
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And then we have
the prophetic part,
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which of course,
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Daniel is very full of
the prophetic pictures.
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Yeah.
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So that gives
us a bit of an idea
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of how the Bible is constructed
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in the different
styles of writing.
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I just want to
go to Hebrews 1:1,
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and it says, "God,
who at various times
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and in various ways spoke
in time past to the fathers,
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the prophets."
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And then if I move
across to 1 Corinthians,
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we're going to find a
similar word being used
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and that is the
word of the prophets.
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And let me just get that text,
it's in 1 Corinthians 13:9,
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"For we know in part
and we prophesy in part."
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So here we're
interested to juicing the word,
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prophet and
prophecies, and prophesy.
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So where is this
taking us to, Steven?
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Can you just give us a summary
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of what prophecy
is in scriptures?
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Yes, certainly,
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most of the Old
Testament prophecies
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belong to the broad
category of classic prophecy,
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which depicts God as
acting within history
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to restore the world to
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according to the covenant
established with Israel.
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And for instance,
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they can be found
in the Book of Isaiah,
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Jeremiah and Amos.
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There are also
Messianic prophecies
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which predict
how Jesus the Messiah
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would come in the world,
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and there's many of those.
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There's also a day
of the Lord prophecies,
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which talk about
when God comes out
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and He punishes
nations and people
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for their wickedness,
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and He also saves
His people in that way.
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And then
there's local prophecies
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where God interacts with or
warns them through prophets,
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such as Jonah, and his
warnings to the Nineveh.
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Yeah, so Jonah was a
local localized prophecy,
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wasn't it for that city alone?
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He just want for
the... Yeah, yes. Okay.
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But there's more
to it, isn't there,
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different types of prophecies
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that are specific to
Daniel and to Revelation?
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So what kind of
prophecy would this be, Steven?
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Both, Daniel and Revelation,
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what we call
apocalyptic prophecy,
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and this deals
with the closing events
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of this world's history,
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including the rise
and fall of nations,
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and these prophecies
rest on God's foreknowledge
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and sovereignty,
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and will happen
despite man's choices.
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They outline a
specific secrete of events
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have a clear
beginning and end point
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and also have a
single fulfillment.
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So there would be a
single prophetic fulfillment,
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wouldn't it in the prophecy?
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Yes. Okay.
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An example of this can be
found in Chapters 2, 7 and 8,
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where God predicts
the run of kingdoms,
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no matter, no human
choices is gonna change that.
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Yes.
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So apocalyptic, hard to
get my tongue around that word.
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Apocalyptic prophecy
actually involves even more,
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David than Steven
was able to tell us.
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So what can you
add to that please?
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I think there
are two main sections
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of apocalyptic prophecy.
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When God gave
many dreams and visions
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to the prophet himself
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that they could then understand
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that these dreams and
visions were God given.
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There's another aspect
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and that was the
symbols and imagery
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which you get so much of
in Daniel and Revelation,
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where you get
these hybrid animals
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with wings and horns and so on,
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which many people stall out
00:11:12.30\00:11:14.34
when they try to
understand these things.
00:11:14.37\00:11:18.74
Yes, good.
00:11:18.77\00:11:20.11
Since
apocalyptic, I'll get it right,
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prophecies help us to
interpret biblical prophecies
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in ways that are
consistent with the testimony
00:11:27.28\00:11:29.85
of the whole Bible now.
00:11:29.88\00:11:32.72
How do we understand
00:11:32.75\00:11:34.09
that there are these
long passages of time
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in these apocalyptic prophecies?
00:11:37.23\00:11:39.36
Yes, this is a
question many people ask
00:11:39.39\00:11:42.06
and some people
even reject it today
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but the Bible in
several occasions
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talks about a year for...
00:11:47.37\00:11:49.94
or day for a year.
00:11:49.97\00:11:51.41
And particularly in Daniel 9,
00:11:51.44\00:11:53.98
I think that's one of the
great prophecies of 490 days,
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which in fact, is 490 years.
00:11:58.45\00:12:00.58
And it comes right down
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from Daniel's time to
the Messiah, the Prince,
00:12:01.98\00:12:04.95
490 years and not just 490 days.
00:12:04.99\00:12:08.19
And so we can
understand these time periods,
00:12:08.22\00:12:12.23
we get a long period of time
2,300 evenings and mornings,
00:12:12.26\00:12:17.13
or 2,300 days as we, as
Adventist understand it.
00:12:17.17\00:12:22.14
And I think that Daniel 9
does give us a clearer picture
00:12:22.17\00:12:26.98
of this great time prophecy.
00:12:27.01\00:12:30.18
Okay, so,
interpreting the Book of Daniel
00:12:30.21\00:12:33.62
requires some
particular process,
00:12:33.65\00:12:36.69
there's different
ways of understanding.
00:12:36.72\00:12:38.62
And, Steven, can you just give
to us the historicist method,
00:12:38.65\00:12:42.29
at least?
00:12:42.32\00:12:43.66
Yes, the historicist
method was the conservative way
00:12:43.69\00:12:47.36
of interpreting
these prophecies.
00:12:47.40\00:12:49.16
And it holds that in
apocalyptic prophecy,
00:12:49.20\00:12:51.53
God reveals an
unbroken sequence of history
00:12:51.57\00:12:54.30
from the time of the prophet
till the end of the world.
00:12:54.34\00:12:57.54
And a good example of
this is the each major vision
00:12:57.57\00:13:01.74
in the book,
Daniel Chapter 2, 7, 8,
00:13:01.78\00:13:06.05
and then 10 to 12,
00:13:06.08\00:13:07.42
they all follow
the same sequence,
00:13:07.45\00:13:09.48
but each sign giving different
perspectives with new details.
00:13:09.52\00:13:14.32
And Jesus understood the
future destruction of Jerusalem,
00:13:14.36\00:13:19.53
and we find that
in Matthew 24:15-20,
00:13:19.56\00:13:24.00
when He said that,
00:13:24.03\00:13:25.37
"When you see the
abomination of desolation,
00:13:25.40\00:13:28.87
standing in the most holy place,
00:13:28.90\00:13:30.91
let him who is in
Judea flee to the mountains."
00:13:30.94\00:13:33.84
And Luke interprets this
abomination of desolation
00:13:33.88\00:13:37.68
as Jerusalem
surrounded by armies.
00:13:37.71\00:13:40.18
And this can be...
00:13:40.22\00:13:43.28
He must have got
this from a reading
00:13:43.32\00:13:45.35
of Daniel Chapter 9.
00:13:45.39\00:13:46.82
And if we have a look
there, I'll just read that,
00:13:46.86\00:13:50.03
Daniel 9...
00:13:50.06\00:13:51.73
verse 26, it says,
00:13:56.70\00:14:00.67
"And the people of the prince
00:14:00.70\00:14:02.30
who is to come shall destroy
the city and the sanctuary.
00:14:02.34\00:14:05.84
And the end of it
shall be with a flood,
00:14:05.87\00:14:08.34
and till the end of the war
desolations are determined."
00:14:08.38\00:14:12.71
So here is a prediction
00:14:12.75\00:14:14.38
of the destruction of Jerusalem.
00:14:14.42\00:14:16.32
And because of this prediction
and Jesus' interpretation on it
00:14:16.35\00:14:20.59
and warning His disciples,
00:14:20.62\00:14:22.32
no Christians
were actually killed
00:14:22.36\00:14:24.16
during that destruction.
00:14:24.19\00:14:26.13
So it has a very
good point there.
00:14:26.16\00:14:28.40
Yeah. So Jesus
actually quoted Daniel?
00:14:28.43\00:14:31.23
Yes.
00:14:31.27\00:14:32.60
Yes, He understood
it as a prophetic book.
00:14:32.63\00:14:35.50
So there are other methods
of interpreting those, Steven,
00:14:35.54\00:14:37.81
aren't there,
besides just the one
00:14:37.84\00:14:39.67
that you've
given the historicist?
00:14:39.71\00:14:41.08
Yes, there is preterism,
which was developed in 1614.
00:14:41.11\00:14:46.65
It tends to
view prophetic events
00:14:46.68\00:14:48.68
announced in Daniel as
having occurred in the past
00:14:48.72\00:14:51.75
and example of
this is the little horn
00:14:51.79\00:14:54.49
in Daniel Chapter 7 and 8.
00:14:54.52\00:14:57.43
They interpret that
as Antiochus Epiphanes,
00:14:57.46\00:15:00.56
who reigned from
175 BC to 164 BC,
00:15:00.60\00:15:05.20
which does not make it
really relevant to anyone
00:15:05.23\00:15:08.14
living in our present times.
00:15:08.17\00:15:10.51
Futurism tends to
take those prophecies
00:15:10.54\00:15:13.24
and point them
to the future time
00:15:13.27\00:15:15.11
so they believe,
for instance, 1 John,
00:15:15.14\00:15:18.18
the Antichrist is
some future person
00:15:18.21\00:15:20.75
that will come at the
right at the end of time.
00:15:20.78\00:15:24.22
Then this idealism in turn holds
00:15:24.25\00:15:26.65
that apocalyptic prophecies
00:15:26.69\00:15:28.39
are symbols of
general spiritual realities
00:15:28.42\00:15:31.96
without any specific
historical timeframe.
00:15:31.99\00:15:35.53
So an example would be
given in Revelation Chapter 20,
00:15:35.56\00:15:39.80
speaking of the thousand years
00:15:39.83\00:15:42.00
is not really a
literal thousand years.
00:15:42.04\00:15:44.57
Okay.
00:15:44.61\00:15:45.94
So some of those preterism
and futurism would have risen
00:15:45.97\00:15:49.44
as a Counter Reformation...
00:15:49.48\00:15:51.38
Can't use it, yeah.
00:15:51.41\00:15:52.98
As strategy for
Counter Reformation.
00:15:53.01\00:15:55.08
Yeah, it's a
counter... Catholic.
00:15:55.12\00:15:56.52
Counteract the
Reformation in 16th century...
00:15:56.55\00:15:59.65
All right.
00:15:59.69\00:16:01.02
By Martin Luther. Yeah.
00:16:01.06\00:16:02.39
So, David, we're gonna move to,
00:16:02.42\00:16:03.76
you know, some
passage of the Bible
00:16:03.79\00:16:05.13
are more
difficult to understand.
00:16:05.16\00:16:07.23
Yet, Jesus knew this
when He spoke to two men
00:16:07.26\00:16:09.43
on the road to Emmaus.
00:16:09.46\00:16:11.27
Explain that to us?
00:16:11.30\00:16:12.63
I'd like to read what he
says to them in Luke 24:25,
00:16:12.67\00:16:17.91
"O foolish ones, and
slow of heart to believe
00:16:17.94\00:16:21.14
in all of the
prophets have spoken!'"
00:16:21.18\00:16:23.51
In Verse 27,
00:16:23.55\00:16:25.18
"And beginning at
Moses and all the prophets,
00:16:25.21\00:16:27.95
He expounded to them
in all the scriptures
00:16:27.98\00:16:30.39
the things concerning Himself.'"
00:16:30.42\00:16:32.35
And then later
again, He repeats this
00:16:32.39\00:16:34.39
and adds one more
part of the Bible.
00:16:34.42\00:16:36.76
Verse 44, "These are the
ones which I spoke to you
00:16:36.79\00:16:40.43
while I was still with you,
00:16:40.46\00:16:42.10
that all things
must be fulfilled
00:16:42.13\00:16:44.00
which were written
in the Law of Moses,
00:16:44.03\00:16:45.90
and in the Prophets, and
the Psalms concerning me."
00:16:45.93\00:16:49.84
And Jesus explained
these prophecies about himself,
00:16:49.87\00:16:52.77
right from Moses time,
right up until His own time.
00:16:52.81\00:16:56.34
And, you know, He
wanted them to understand
00:16:56.38\00:16:59.18
that they needed to do
really look at the scriptures
00:16:59.21\00:17:01.68
and see what the
truth was about Himself.
00:17:01.72\00:17:03.49
Okay.
00:17:03.52\00:17:04.85
So you've been
talking about Jesus,
00:17:04.89\00:17:06.22
now was He evident in
the Book of Daniel, David?
00:17:06.25\00:17:11.43
Yes.
00:17:11.46\00:17:13.13
Right through
the Book of Daniel,
00:17:13.16\00:17:14.50
we have Jesus coming in.
00:17:14.53\00:17:15.86
Even Nebuchadnezzar,
00:17:15.90\00:17:17.23
when he build that golden image,
00:17:17.27\00:17:19.63
and the Hebrews
were put into the fire,
00:17:19.67\00:17:22.04
he says, "There's
one like the Son of Man."
00:17:22.07\00:17:24.07
How did he know that?
00:17:24.11\00:17:26.17
And Jesus has seen right
throughout all the scriptures.
00:17:26.21\00:17:30.35
And wherever you
land in the scripture,
00:17:30.38\00:17:32.25
you ought to look
to see where Jesus is.
00:17:32.28\00:17:34.32
And this is what Jesus
was doing to those disciples
00:17:34.35\00:17:36.75
on the way to Emmaus.
00:17:36.79\00:17:38.12
So we saw Him in
the first few chapters,
00:17:38.15\00:17:39.82
what about in Chapters 4 to 60,
00:17:39.85\00:17:42.42
then, do we see God in
action there through Jesus?
00:17:42.46\00:17:47.60
Oh, yes definitely.
00:17:47.63\00:17:48.96
And in fact, in Chapter 4,
00:17:49.00\00:17:51.20
we see that Nebuchadnezzar
when he had that I problem,
00:17:51.23\00:17:54.37
he says, "Isn't
this the great Babylon
00:17:54.40\00:17:56.24
that I have built?"
00:17:56.27\00:17:57.61
It says, he lost his
sanity from that time
00:17:57.64\00:18:01.88
and his kingdom
as well for a time,
00:18:01.91\00:18:04.81
until he understood...
00:18:04.85\00:18:07.28
Daniel 4:26, says,
00:18:07.32\00:18:10.29
until he
understood that heaven rules
00:18:10.32\00:18:13.25
and that heaven rules obviously,
00:18:13.29\00:18:15.52
Christ ruling in heaven.
00:18:15.56\00:18:17.79
Chapter 5 reveals the hand,
00:18:17.83\00:18:20.90
that the seen hand
00:18:20.93\00:18:23.23
that wrote the condemnation
of Belshazzar's actions,
00:18:23.26\00:18:27.00
his kingdom had been weighed
in the balanced and wanting
00:18:27.04\00:18:30.34
and it reveals Christ evaluating
00:18:30.37\00:18:32.24
and condemning the king,
00:18:32.27\00:18:34.34
Belshazzar's apostasy
00:18:34.38\00:18:36.01
which led to the fall of Babylon
00:18:36.04\00:18:37.95
by the hand of the Persians,
00:18:37.98\00:18:39.75
and Cyrus who
was the anointed one.
00:18:39.78\00:18:43.12
And Chapter 6 shows
the plot against Daniel
00:18:43.15\00:18:46.32
and how God through
Christ saved him from the lions.
00:18:46.35\00:18:49.86
Yes.
00:18:49.89\00:18:51.23
So you're on a roll now, Steven,
00:18:51.26\00:18:52.59
what about the rest of the book?
00:18:52.63\00:18:54.46
Yes, the whole book
actually speaks of Christ,
00:18:54.50\00:18:57.23
doesn't it, as the Bible does?
00:18:57.27\00:19:00.34
Daniel Chapter 7
depicts Christ the Son of Man,
00:19:00.37\00:19:03.07
the title of Christ,
00:19:03.10\00:19:04.94
who comes before the
Father, and He gains a kingdom.
00:19:04.97\00:19:09.14
And so in His
account, He gets a kingdom,
00:19:09.18\00:19:13.21
and then He reigns
over His people after that.
00:19:13.25\00:19:15.95
Chapter 8 comes back
00:19:15.98\00:19:17.99
and shows Christ as the priest
of the heavenly sanctuary.
00:19:18.02\00:19:21.09
We have the sanctuary language
there and animals there.
00:19:21.12\00:19:24.23
And Chapter 9, we have
that marvelous time prophecy,
00:19:24.26\00:19:28.66
portraying Christ as
a sacrificial victim,
00:19:28.70\00:19:31.27
whose death
reconfirmed the covenant
00:19:31.30\00:19:33.37
between God and His people.
00:19:33.40\00:19:35.44
And Chapters 10 and 12,
00:19:35.47\00:19:37.74
presents Christ as
Michael the Commander in Chief,
00:19:37.77\00:19:41.21
who rescues God's people,
even from the power of death.
00:19:41.24\00:19:44.91
Yes, this Book of Daniel
is a powerful book, isn't it?
00:19:44.95\00:19:47.78
David, we're heading to
the theme of God's authority
00:19:47.82\00:19:51.62
now in the Book of
Daniel, is that portrayed?
00:19:51.65\00:19:54.02
Yes.
00:19:54.06\00:19:55.39
And particularly in
that well known chapter,
00:19:55.42\00:19:57.23
Chapter 2, I'd like it in
that, notice verses 36 and 37.
00:19:57.26\00:20:02.63
"This is the dream.
00:20:02.66\00:20:04.00
Now we will tell interpretation
of it before the king.
00:20:04.03\00:20:07.30
You, O king,
are a king of kings.
00:20:07.34\00:20:09.77
For the God of heaven
has given you a kingdom,
00:20:09.80\00:20:12.61
power, strength, and glory."
00:20:12.64\00:20:14.68
Daniel was showing to the king,
00:20:14.71\00:20:16.31
how the God only
could give the king
00:20:16.34\00:20:19.01
the power that he had.
00:20:19.05\00:20:20.62
And then we go to Daniel 3:38...
00:20:20.65\00:20:23.28
28, sorry.
00:20:26.29\00:20:27.62
"Nebuchadnezzar spoke, saying,
00:20:27.66\00:20:29.42
'Blessed be the God of Shadrach,
00:20:29.46\00:20:31.26
Meshach and Abednego,
00:20:31.29\00:20:32.99
who sent His angel
and delivered His servants
00:20:33.03\00:20:35.33
who trusted in Him,
00:20:35.36\00:20:36.87
and they have
frustrated the king's word,
00:20:36.90\00:20:39.03
and yielded their bodies
00:20:39.07\00:20:40.60
that they should not
serve nor worship any god,
00:20:40.64\00:20:43.30
except in their own God!'"
00:20:43.34\00:20:45.61
And again, in Daniel 6: 26,
00:20:45.64\00:20:50.21
"I make a decree that in
every dominion of my kingdom,
00:20:50.25\00:20:53.72
men must tremble and fear
before the God of Daniel."
00:20:53.75\00:20:58.29
And then you
find in Daniel 7:27,
00:20:58.32\00:21:03.02
where, "The
kingdom and the dominion,
00:21:03.06\00:21:04.89
and the
greatness of the kingdoms
00:21:04.93\00:21:06.43
under the whole heaven,
shall be given to the people,
00:21:06.46\00:21:09.36
of the saints of the Most High.
00:21:09.40\00:21:11.33
His kingdom is an
everlasting kingdom,
00:21:11.37\00:21:13.74
and all dominion
shall serve and obey Him."
00:21:13.77\00:21:16.40
And so here, Mel,
00:21:16.44\00:21:17.77
you definitely get
the picture of Daniel
00:21:17.81\00:21:20.41
showing God's great sovereignty
00:21:20.44\00:21:22.48
over the whole of the universe
and over each one of us.
00:21:22.51\00:21:24.91
Yes.
00:21:24.95\00:21:26.28
I noticed that this
picturesque language,
00:21:26.31\00:21:28.92
were different
based three dimensions
00:21:28.95\00:21:30.95
through the book.
00:21:30.99\00:21:32.32
How does God show
His ultimate authority
00:21:32.35\00:21:35.16
through this?
00:21:35.19\00:21:36.52
Yeah, when God shows,
00:21:36.56\00:21:39.03
what we can call recapitulation,
00:21:39.06\00:21:41.76
what He'd showed in Daniel 2,
00:21:41.80\00:21:43.97
He shows in
another way in Daniel 7.
00:21:44.00\00:21:46.23
In Daniel 2, He has the
base with the various metals.
00:21:46.27\00:21:49.80
In Daniel 7, He
shows the same kingdoms
00:21:49.84\00:21:52.37
with animals,
lion, bear, and so on.
00:21:52.41\00:21:55.44
And so He uses this method
00:21:55.48\00:22:00.32
through what we might call
00:22:00.35\00:22:02.15
four prophetic cycles in Daniel,
00:22:02.18\00:22:04.85
recapitulating
over and over again,
00:22:04.89\00:22:06.99
the fact that God
has this great authority
00:22:07.02\00:22:09.26
over the whole of the universe.
00:22:09.29\00:22:10.86
So it's like a repetition
00:22:10.89\00:22:12.83
with more
information on each time.
00:22:12.86\00:22:14.73
And He mentions one of
these in different chapters.
00:22:14.76\00:22:17.27
That's exactly.
00:22:17.30\00:22:18.63
He adds to the
same time period...
00:22:18.67\00:22:20.00
That's exactly. As well.
00:22:20.04\00:22:21.37
Okay, so sometimes, Steven,
00:22:21.40\00:22:22.74
we feel that the
future can be a bit uncertain.
00:22:22.77\00:22:25.04
Can we gain confidence
from Daniel's writings?
00:22:25.07\00:22:27.74
Now it may seem to us
that the world is in chaos,
00:22:27.78\00:22:30.75
or someone who
doesn't know the scriptures
00:22:30.78\00:22:32.28
that life goes on and may
even deny that God exists.
00:22:32.31\00:22:36.65
But the story of
Daniel is that in reality,
00:22:36.69\00:22:39.72
God is in control and
steers the flow of history.
00:22:39.75\00:22:45.36
Through the rise
and fall of empires,
00:22:45.39\00:22:48.06
we can see the agencies
of the all-merciful one,
00:22:48.10\00:22:52.60
silently, patiently working out
the counsels of His own will.
00:22:52.63\00:22:56.71
And so our best guide
is to follow God's will
00:22:56.74\00:23:00.68
and be a part of His
eternal kingdom to come.
00:23:00.71\00:23:03.45
So we see Daniel and his friends
00:23:03.48\00:23:04.81
being very faithful to
God through this entire time
00:23:04.85\00:23:08.32
they were in captivity there?
00:23:08.35\00:23:09.68
Yes. And we can copy that.
00:23:09.72\00:23:11.75
So Daniel and his
friends remained faithful.
00:23:11.79\00:23:14.59
So can we actually
use them as role models?
00:23:14.62\00:23:16.99
Oh, absolutely. Definitely.
00:23:17.03\00:23:19.26
And there's a saying that
goes, "Dare to be a Daniel."
00:23:19.29\00:23:22.46
Have you heard that?
Yeah. Oh, I like that.
00:23:22.50\00:23:24.00
And so the message I get
is don't compromise your faith
00:23:24.03\00:23:28.20
or deny your commitment to God,
00:23:28.24\00:23:30.37
stay faithful
to the Word of God.
00:23:30.41\00:23:32.94
And their faithfulness
00:23:32.97\00:23:34.78
and absolute
commitment to the Lord,
00:23:34.81\00:23:37.15
provides encouragement
as we face any trial
00:23:37.18\00:23:40.15
that we might see in the future.
00:23:40.18\00:23:41.72
Even if we have to face a death,
00:23:41.75\00:23:45.09
moments of death for our faith,
00:23:45.12\00:23:47.66
we can know that God
will sustain us in the end.
00:23:47.69\00:23:51.36
Yeah, so that's good.
00:23:51.39\00:23:52.96
So, David, I don't usually
ask the same question twice.
00:23:52.99\00:23:57.27
But I sit off today asking you,
00:23:57.30\00:24:00.14
why should we
study the Book of Daniel?
00:24:00.17\00:24:02.50
Now I'm coming back to it.
00:24:02.54\00:24:03.87
We've been through,
like the preparation
00:24:03.91\00:24:05.81
so we can understand this book.
00:24:05.84\00:24:07.48
And now I'm gonna say to you,
00:24:07.51\00:24:09.54
why bother to study
the Book of Daniel today?
00:24:09.58\00:24:12.31
Can you
highlight that a bit more?
00:24:12.35\00:24:14.38
Well, I think that we can
00:24:14.42\00:24:15.75
but the fact that God
stands sovereign overall,
00:24:15.78\00:24:20.32
even when things go wrong.
00:24:20.36\00:24:21.69
Yes.
00:24:21.72\00:24:23.06
I mean, even in my own life,
00:24:23.09\00:24:24.63
sometimes things
seem to go wrong,
00:24:24.66\00:24:26.70
but you trust in God.
00:24:26.73\00:24:28.06
And it's amazing how things
work out in a positive way.
00:24:28.10\00:24:32.00
And when you read the Bible,
you see stories like Daniel,
00:24:32.03\00:24:35.67
you have Joseph,
00:24:35.70\00:24:37.04
or earlier in the Old Testament,
00:24:37.07\00:24:38.41
you have Esther, in the period
00:24:38.44\00:24:39.77
that we've just been dealing
with in the last few lessons.
00:24:39.81\00:24:42.68
And we can see how
God directed their lives
00:24:42.71\00:24:45.48
in a beautiful
and wonderful way.
00:24:45.51\00:24:47.88
You know, Mel, He
does the same for us today,
00:24:47.92\00:24:50.55
if we just put our trust
in Him as Daniel did, why?
00:24:50.59\00:24:53.72
There's God who
understands us, who knows us,
00:24:53.76\00:24:57.06
and who believes in us,
00:24:57.09\00:24:58.43
and He wants us
all in His Kingdom.
00:24:58.46\00:25:00.20
And we can trust in
Him and His sovereignty.
00:25:00.23\00:25:02.76
Oh, I like that. Yeah.
00:25:02.80\00:25:04.27
So as we've been
looking at the foundations
00:25:04.30\00:25:06.53
of the Book of Daniel today,
00:25:06.57\00:25:08.34
what we can learn from it
is, is God central to all of us?
00:25:08.37\00:25:12.21
Yes. Absolutely.
00:25:12.24\00:25:14.34
Does He control the
affairs of the world?
00:25:14.38\00:25:16.28
Yeah. He does, indeed.
00:25:16.31\00:25:18.11
And through His
plans, what about the future?
00:25:18.15\00:25:21.05
Does He show us anything there?
00:25:21.08\00:25:23.72
His eternal
kingdom will come the rock,
00:25:23.75\00:25:25.72
the rock will strike the image
00:25:25.75\00:25:27.32
and He will come and
make this world His own
00:25:27.36\00:25:30.56
at one stage.
00:25:30.59\00:25:31.93
So our best advice
is to make ourselves
00:25:31.96\00:25:35.73
a part of His kingdom now...
00:25:35.76\00:25:37.37
Okay. By obeying Him.
00:25:37.40\00:25:38.73
Yes, David.
00:25:38.77\00:25:40.10
And I like that in Daniel 7
where He says that the kingdoms
00:25:40.14\00:25:42.30
are gonna be
given to the saints,
00:25:42.34\00:25:44.21
the people who stood
firm like Daniel stood,
00:25:44.24\00:25:46.94
and who hang on to the truth
00:25:46.98\00:25:49.14
as Daniel
hanged on to the truth.
00:25:49.18\00:25:50.65
All right.
00:25:50.68\00:25:52.01
So we can take a lot of
courage from the Book of Daniel,
00:25:52.05\00:25:54.58
in terms of the
life that he lived,
00:25:54.62\00:25:57.65
in terms of the
things that he wrote,
00:25:57.69\00:25:59.55
particularly what
God revealed to him,
00:25:59.59\00:26:02.06
and he was able to portray
00:26:02.09\00:26:03.83
what was actually
coming in the future.
00:26:03.86\00:26:05.99
So this is really positive,
00:26:06.03\00:26:08.06
that we can gain this
kind of confidence there.
00:26:08.10\00:26:10.73
And, of course,
at the end of it,
00:26:10.77\00:26:12.60
as it was mentioned,
00:26:12.63\00:26:13.97
we will be restored to
what we should have been...
00:26:14.00\00:26:16.77
Absolutely.
00:26:16.81\00:26:18.14
In God's eternal kingdom,
we will be able to join Jesus.
00:26:18.17\00:26:21.91
And that's all in the
Book of Daniel, isn't it?
00:26:21.94\00:26:24.85
Absolutely.
00:26:24.88\00:26:26.21
Of course, it's supported
as well by the Book of...
00:26:26.25\00:26:29.68
Revelation. Revelation.
00:26:29.72\00:26:31.05
I knew someone
would come up with that.
00:26:31.09\00:26:32.42
Which is the Greek
name is Apocalypsis.
00:26:32.45\00:26:34.26
Oh, great.
00:26:34.29\00:26:35.62
Say that, again, for me.
00:26:35.66\00:26:36.99
Apocalypsis.
00:26:37.03\00:26:38.36
Okay. It's apocalyptic.
00:26:38.39\00:26:39.93
And which means
we're looking forward to...
00:26:39.96\00:26:41.60
The future.
00:26:41.63\00:26:42.96
The future and
the time of the end.
00:26:43.00\00:26:44.33
Well, this is
something that I really think
00:26:44.37\00:26:47.17
that we can gain a
real blessing from,
00:26:47.20\00:26:49.70
as we look at this book...
00:26:49.74\00:26:52.01
This quarter. Of
Daniel this quarter.
00:26:52.04\00:26:54.28
And so we're just
about out of time now.
00:26:54.31\00:26:57.65
And so as we
studied the Book of Daniel,
00:26:57.68\00:27:01.38
we see that God is not
only sovereign over all nations,
00:27:01.42\00:27:04.85
but is intimately
acquainted with each of us.
00:27:04.89\00:27:08.06
We can gain great
confidence in God's leading,
00:27:08.09\00:27:11.09
both in the nations
and in our lives today.
00:27:11.13\00:27:14.43
Thank you for
joining us on Let God Speak.
00:27:14.46\00:27:17.03
You can view all past
programs on our website,
00:27:17.07\00:27:20.54
3abnaustralia.org.au.
00:27:20.57\00:27:23.97
Teachers' notes
are also available
00:27:24.01\00:27:25.77
there for download.
00:27:25.81\00:27:27.61
You can email us
00:27:27.64\00:27:28.98
on lgs@3abnaustralia.org.au.
00:27:29.01\00:27:33.82
God bless you and
we will invite you
00:27:33.85\00:27:35.52
to join us again next week
00:27:35.55\00:27:37.49
as we continue a 13-week
study on the Book of Daniel.
00:27:37.52\00:27:41.82
We'll see you then.
00:27:41.86\00:27:43.19
Amen.
00:27:43.22\00:27:44.56