Will you take your Bibles this morning and turn to Daniel chapter seven, we are going to look at verses 15 through 28 today under the heading, "The Great Panorama of World history." This is the second part in a little series that flows from this text. And I might just share my heart with you for a moment, whenever I lock myself in the vault of study during the week, and certainly when I come before you, I'm just, frankly, overwhelmed with the privilege that I have and that we all have to look into the Word of God to realize that he has spoken to us. Whenever I humble myself before the word under the banner of sola scriptura, whenever I just allow the text to speak to myself to my heart, I just find myself lost in wonder. We don't ever want to take for granted the fact that we have the truth. In a world of lies, we've got the truth. And I'm not only amazed at God's sovereignty, in other words, he has absolute authority, and rule over all things; when I look into scripture, especially when I look at the prophetic word, but I'm also amazed at his condescension, that he would voluntarily descend from his glorious holy throne, in order to communicate to a worm like me, and you. It's an amazing thought. Again, that our ineffably glorious and holy God would reveal Himself to us is staggering to me, and what a privilege that we have, as twice born saints, to have his inspired word, a word that reveals his character, a word that reveals his judgment for sin and disobedience, the word that reveals the blessings that we have for faith and obedience. And all of the things that goes with the revelation of who Christ is, the one who voluntarily bore our sin in his body on the cross, the revelation of the Kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm so weary of all that we hear in our country. It's just depressing, you know. So it's so good to be able to look and see the truths about the kingdom. You know, that's, that's coming. And that's what we do here. And to be sure, as Peter says, “we are aliens and strangers in this world.” Don't you feel like an alien and a stranger here? We are citizens of another kingdom. We don't belong here. And moreover, God has revealed things to us; think about this, that the rest of the world does not know. And I don't say that to be haughty. They just don't know. And they don't want to know. And this certainly includes the detailed outline of the series of events that will precede and portend the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ in all of his glory, as we have been studying here in Daniel's prophecies.

Now, before we look at the text, I know that eschatology, the study of the end times, Bible prophecy, and so forth, can be confusing to a lot of people. So I want to give you the big picture. And I was trying to think of an analogy, and one that came to my mind is that of a jigsaw puzzle. My father, before he died, liked to work jigsaw puzzles, and there was one it was like, 1000 pieces. And he spent months on that. And you know, it'd be really hard to put that jigsaw puzzle together if you didn't have the picture of what it's going to look like on the box, right? If he just had the pieces of the puzzle. And so sometimes we need to back up with Bible prophecy. And we need to see the big picture. And sometimes we just need one of those puzzles like our children have, that's just got like 15 pieces, you know, and we can kind of put that together and then we can begin to build from there. So I'm gonna give you a little bit of Bible prophecy that on the corner of the box, it says two to four years, okay? Doesn't mean two to four years to put it together. It means you know, two to four years old could do this. So scripture, as we look at it, real simply, suggest that the next event on the prophetic timetable, and by the way, I'm speaking now as a pre-millenarian, as someone that takes the word very, very literally taking into consideration the symbolic meanings and so forth. The next event on the prophetic timetable is the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, that will occur in two stages. The first stage is the rapture of the church. When he comes for his saints. Underline the word "for" he comes for his saints, and they are caught up to meet him in the air, as First Thessalonians 4:14 through 17 tells us. And then the second stage is his physical return to Earth when he comes with his saints, not for his saints, but with his saints, as we read, for example, in Jude 14; he comes to execute judgment against his enemies and so forth. And in between those two stages, we have seven years of tribulation. And that tribulation period is sometimes, or can be called, and is often called, interchangeably with the idea of Daniel's 70th week. So when you hear me talk about Daniel's 70th week, it's the same as the tribulation. Daniel 9:24, through 27 describes this there, and we will get to that eventually. But that describes 70 weeks of years or 490 years of judgment that God has committed to Israel, and 69 of those weeks or 483 of those years have been fulfilled precisely, again, as you will see. And when the Antichrist arises on the scene, he will rule during that time; he has not yet appeared because the rapture of the church has not yet transpired. And so Daniel 70th, week is also the tribulation period and with the church removed, during that time, God will once again focus his attention on national Israel. And during that tribulation period, the Antichrist will rise to power. And he will rule over a revived Roman Empire until the Messiah returns and defeats all of his enemies.

And again, now the rapture of the church, which is the snatching away, or the removal of the church, will mark the beginning of a very painful process for unbelieving national ethnic Israel. But that will be a time eventually, when they will be grafted back into the olive tree of God's covenantal blessing that was originally theirs, as we read about in Romans 11:24. But if you look at the next verse in Romans 11, you will see it will also be a time indicating the end of the Gentile rule, the fullness of the Gentiles has come, Paul says, and that period of time will lead up to the national redemption of Israel, that is spoken of in verse 26, of Romans 11, when, quote, "all Israel will be saved, as it is written, 'The deliverer will come out of Zion, and he will turn away ungodliness from Jacob.'" There's many passages that speak about what will happen during that period of time, that period of judgment during the tribulation. Jeremiah 30, in verse seven is a key text in understanding this, There we read, "Alas! for that day is great, there is none like it; and it is the time of Jacob's distress, but he will be saved from it.'" referring to Israel. And clearly, the pre kingdom judgments upon the earth during Daniel's 70th week pertain to ethnic and national Israel, not to the church. I believe there's a distinction between the two, I do not believe that the church has permanently replaced Israel. In fact, nowhere is the church mentioned in any of the Bible's descriptions of the tribulation, it has been removed. However, you also need to understand that many Jews and many Gentiles will come to saving faith during the time of the tribulation, after the rapture during the Tribulation. And they will be persecuted severely for their faith. And I might also add that what we're witnessing in our world, yea even in our country today, is a precursor to that final period of unprecedented hatred and persecution towards those who follow Christ. All of that is satanically empowered and we see satanically empowered Neo-Marxist liberals in our country. They hate everything that is holy.

Now, with that little background as we return to the prophecies of Daniel seven, which let me remind you, parallel that of Daniel two remember? We have learned that there will be a succession of four Gentile Empires that will dominate Jerusalem and God's covenant people until the Messiah returns and establishes his earthly kingdom. However, remember now, there is a vast time gap that exists between the close of the fourth kingdom of Rome and its powerful future reemergence under the rule of the Antichrist, who was called in Daniel seven, eight, "the little horn" or "the little king." And remember, as we look back there, in Daniel seven, we see that he came up among 10 others. In Daniel seven, eight we read, this is a horn that "possessed eyes like the eyes of a man and a mouth, uttering great boasts." And it is here that we're going to focus our attention yet again this morning in verses 15 through 28.

Now, I am deliberately skipping verses nine through 14, we're going to come back to that. There, Daniel records his vision of heaven when God makes his final judgment on the earth. And he utterly and permanently destroys the little horn, and the Antichrist and his vast empire, that time when the Son of Man returns and establishes his kingdom. Again, none of those things have transpired during the historical Greek and Roman age, as some might claim, but await a future and glorious consummation. So with that background, there's a few of the big pieces alright? So let's come now and let's look again, at what the Spirit of God reveals to Daniel.

A little bit of background again here with Daniel; Daniel sees these four great beasts in verse three, they're coming up from the sea, they're different from one another. And he sees these amazing descriptions of each one of them. We examined that last week. But then notice in verse seven, "'After this,'" he says, "'I kept looking in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, dreadful and terrifying, and extremely strong; and it had large iron teeth. It devoured and crushed and trampled down the remainder with its feet; and it was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had 10 horns. While I was contemplating the horns, behold, another horn, a little one came up among them, and three of the first horns were pulled out by the roots before it; and behold, this horn possessed eyes, like the eyes of a man and a mouth, uttering great boasts.'" Alright, so Daniel sees all of this, he's overwhelmed by it. And naturally, he would like to have some further understanding of what all of this meant. And here's what was going through his mind beginning in verse 15. "'As for me, Daniel, my spirit was distressed within me. And the visions in my mind kept alarming me.'" Now, as one might expect, if you put yourself in that position, you would want to know more; what in the world is going on here. And I might also add, like every single believer who has an insatiable appetite for the truth of the Word of God, God is going to feed you. And that's exactly what we see happening here; verse 16, "'I approached one of those who were standing by,'" referring to one of the angels, "'and began asking him the exact meaning of all this. So he told me it made known to me the interpretation of these things.'" So beginning of verse 17, we have the angelic interpretation, notice what he says, "'These great beasts, which are four in number, are four kings who will arise from the earth. But the saints of the highest one will receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever for all ages to come.'" So here, this angelic interpreter gives a big picture, kind of a general interpretation to set the stage for more of the actors and more of the drama that's going to come about.

And we see here that, first of all, that these beasts represent human kings and their kingdoms and secondly, we see that their kingdoms are not going to last. I'm so glad that that's the case that they will not last, they will be replaced by God's kingdom and ruled by his saints. Now, it's also important to note that this is the first time in the vision that we are introduced to the saints of the Highest One, which I believe suggests they have had no part to play in the panorama of world history until this final stage, when they are said to, quote, "receive the kingdom," which is the same kingdom, given to the Son of Man in verse 14, the eternal King of that final realm. Other Scriptures reveal that the citizens of this kingdom are indeed the saints of the Highest One, those who have been made holy by faith in Christ. But this will also include Jews and Gentiles who will come to faith in Christ during the time of the tribulation; but they are going to suffer greatly under the rule of the Antichrist. In fact, Zechariah speaks a bit about this in chapter 13, beginning in verse eight, There we read, "'It will come about in all the land,' declares the Lord, 'that two parts in it will be cut off and perish; but the third will be left in it. And I will bring the third part through the fire refined them as silver is refined, and test them as gold is tested, they will call on My name, and I will answer them, I will say 'They are My people.' And they will say, 'the Lord is my God.'" Indeed, the Lord will one day perform a greater deliverance even than that of Exodus. Jeremiah speaks of this in Jeremiah 16, beginning of verse 14, "'Therefore, behold, days are coming,' declares the Lord, 'when it will no longer be said, 'As the Lord lives, who brought up the sons of Israel, out of the land of Egypt.' but 'As the Lord lives who brought up the sons of Israel, from the land of the north, and from all the countries where He had banished them,' For I will restore them to their land, which I gave to their fathers.'" And we're beginning to see some of that occur even today.

So again, back to verse 18, "'the saints of the Highest One will receive the kingdom, and possess the kingdom forever, for all ages to come.'" This word "possess," in the original language carries the idea of ownership, the idea of authority. Satan, and his demonic and human agents will no longer rule the earth, as he does today, as they do today. Satan is going to be bound, he is going to be sealed up in the abyss during the millennial reign of Christ. We read about that in Revelation 20, beginning in verse one. There, John says, "Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding the key of the abyss, and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for 1000 years. And he threw him into the abyss and shut it and sealed it over him. So that he would not deceive the nations any longer, until the 1000 years were completed." So again, the saints of the highest one will receive, they're going to possess the kingdom forever. That's us, folks, we can celebrate that we can rejoice in that. I mean, this is our inheritance. It's an amazing thought.

I was thinking about what Paul said in Colossians 1:12. If you want to look there for a moment, there, he says, we’re to give "thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light." Paul is saying that in that context, that because of the finished work of Christ, and all that he has done for us, God has qualified, the term could be authorized, it could be translated, "authorized" or "empowered us" to be partakers of "the inheritance of the saints in the Light." It literally can be translated for the portion of the lot. It's a fascinating thought. This reaches back to the individual partitioning of Israel's inheritance in the Promised Land of Canaan. You can read about it in Numbers 26 and Joshua 14. So what he's saying is that each one of us, as believers, will receive our own individual portion of the total divine inheritance. There are other passages that speak to this but I think of Romans 8:17, "If children," Paul tells us, we are "heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ." An amazing thought, what an astounding promise.

So indeed, as the angel revealed to Daniel, the saints are going to receive and possess the coming Kingdom. We're going to reign with him. Second Timothy two verse 11, "It is a trustworthy statement," Paul says, "For if we died with Him, we will also live with Him; if we endure, we will also reign with Him." Revelation 5:10 says the same thing, "And thou has made them to be a kingdom, and priests to our God and they will reign upon the earth." Verse 20, or chapter 20, and verse four of Revelation, "And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus, and because of the word of God and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand and they came to life," and here we go, "reigned with Christ for 1000 years." Now, obviously, this is all in stark contrast to the four kingdoms of Daniel's prophetic dream. You don't have any saints reigning there. That's the time of the Gentiles. Can you even imagine what it will be like? When according to Zechariah 14 and verse nine, "The LORD will be king over all the earth." All right? You turn on the television, you don't see Joe Biden, you know, you see the Lord. "When the LORD will be king over all the earth; in that day, the Lord will be the only one and His name the only one." Can you imagine what it will be like when according to Habakkuk, two and verse 14, "The earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea." Can you imagine that day? No more corrupt, greedy, self-serving lying politicians; the Lord will be ruling.

So Daniel learns now how the saints of the Highest One are going to receive and possess this eternal kingdom that was given to the Son of Man. But notice what else troubled his mind in verse 19, "Then I desired to know the exact meaning of the fourth beast, which was different from all the others exceedingly dreadful, with its teeth of iron and its claws of bronze." The claws of bronze, by the way, is a new detail here, in the whole scene of this, "and which devoured," he says, "crushed and trampled down the remainder with its feet." And he wants to know, "the meaning of the 10 horns that were on its head, and the other horn which came up, and before which three of them fell, namely, that horn which had eyes and a mouth uttering great boasts and which was larger in appearance." The original there carries the idea that it was, it was greater, it was sturdier, and it became even more imposing. It was larger in appearance than its associates. And then it says in verse 21, "'I kept looking and that horn was waging war with the saints and overpowering them.'" Well, we know that this is again, a reference to the Antichrist, he is the beast, for example, in Revelation 13, let me take you there for a moment. Revelation 13, beginning in verse five. "And there was given to him a mouth speaking arrogant words and blasphemies, and authority to act for 42 months was given to him." I want you to notice, this was given to him here, the Lord reminds us that He is the sovereign God who is even ordained this. So God ordains, this 42 month season of blasphemy against himself, he is going to use this ultimately, for his purpose. And this will include blasphemy against three things, back to Revelation 13, six, "And he opened his mouth and blasphemies against God, to blaspheme His name." God's name encompasses the consummate sum of all of his infinite perfections. Not only his name, but it says "and His tabernacle." In other words, where God resides, and in transcendent glory in heaven, the place from which Satan was expelled, so he's blaspheming, that, and also "those who dwell in heaven," referring to the saints and the holy angels, whom Satan hates. And then we see his murderous campaign in verse seven of Revelation 13, "And it was given to him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them, and authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation was given to him." Verse eight, and "All who dwell on the earth," which by the way, in the book of Revelation is a phrase used to describe unbelievers, and "All who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world and the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain." In the New Testament, the phrase "the foundation of the world" is a synonym for before time began, or eternity past. So remember now two thirds of the Jews during this time will be killed by the Antichrist during the Tribulation as we read in Zechariah 13, eight through nine. And then according to Zechariah, 14, one through five, Jerusalem is even going to succumb to his forces. Beginning in verse one of Zechariah 14, "Behold, a day is coming for the Lord, when the spoil taken from you will be divided among you. For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle." By the way, don't we see the precursor of all that right now? "I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle and the city will be captured, the houses plundered the women ravished and half of the city exiled, but the rest of the people will not be cut off from the city."

But dear friends, that is not the end, and the hour of Israel's greatest peril, a deliverer is going to come as promised. And that's what we see in the very next verse, verse three of Zechariah 14, "Then the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations as when He fights on a day of battle. In that day, his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives will be split in its middle from east to west by a very large valley, so that half of the mountain will move toward the north and the other half toward the south." He promised to return physically, didn't he? And he's going to return the same place from which he left, verse five, You will flee by the valley of My mountains, for the valley of My mountains will reach to Azel; yes, you will flee just as you fled before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the Lord, my God will come, and all the holy ones with Him! There is the glory of the Second Coming. In the rapture, he comes for His saints, in the second part of his Second Coming, that second stage, he comes with his saints.

Now back to Daniel 11. This is what the angel reveals to Daniel in his interpretation of verse 21. The horns waging war with the saints, he's overpowering them. And then verse 22, "Until," I love that word "until," that's a great study in and of itself in the New Testament, until.... horrible things are happening... until then there's victory. "Until" verse 22, "the Ancient of Days came and judgment was passed in favor of the saints of the Highest One, and the time arrived when the saints took possession of the kingdom." When I was a boy, I used to watch a program. And the guy would say, "I love it when a plan comes together." You remember that? I love it when this plan comes together, and it will. Now you might say, Well, what's going to happen to the little horn? What's going to happen to the Antichrist? Ah, I'm so glad you asked. Turn to Revelation 19, for a moment, beginning in verse 19. Here, John is seeing the theater of operations. Verse 19, of Revelation 19, we read, "And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies," referring to the Antichrist and his allies, "assembled to make war against Him who sat upon the horse and against His army." Now, as a footnote, the Lord may already be in Jerusalem by this time with the army of the saints and his angelic forces somehow hovering in the skies. We don't know for sure. This might help explain why some of the Jewish inhabitants of Jerusalem will suddenly give glory to the God of heaven, according to Revelation 11:13. But we do know that the Antichrist and his allies will amass their forces in this region to "make war against Him who sat upon the horse and against His army." When you think about it, amassing such a vast force will take weeks, and I believe the satanically empowered antichrist will deliberately assemble all of his troops, and we'll be awaiting the warrior king’s arrival, knowing that the three and a half years of his promise coming is about to elapse. In fact, Daniel 11:45 We read, "He," referring to the Antichrist, "will pitch the tents of his royal pavilion between the seas and the beautiful Holy Mountain; yet he will come to his end, and no one will help him." And that's a description of the geography there between the Mediterranean Sea and Jerusalem. Now, we're not told anything about the specifics of his attack, but we know the outcome is going to be instant. It is going to be devastating and the next scene is a cause for great rejoicing Revelation 19 verse 20, "And the beast was seized," carries the idea there of being captured alive, he "was seized, and with him the false prophet, who performed the signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast, and those who worshipped his image." And the false prophet is the one who promoted the false worship. And he's going to be treated the same as the beast. It goes on to say these "two were thrown alive into the lake of fire, which burns with brimstone." I've never had this happen to me, and I hope it don't ever have it happened to me, but as a man, I can't think of anything more humiliating than being picked up and thrown. And that's what's going to happen to be "thrown alive" even worse yet, "into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone." To be thrown alive by your arch enemy is a mortification that begs language.

But dear friends, this is the horrific fate of the Antichrist and given the fact that they will be thrown alive into the lake of fire indicates that then either instantly, probably instantly, they're going to be equipped with some kind of body suited for the torments of hell. And then notice again, the ultimate fate of these vile creatures in verse 20, of Revelation 19. "These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone." Now, brimstone is a sulfuric chemical that can become explosively hot. You can see remnants of it, in fact, you can go on YouTube, and you can see evidence of this and the ancient realm of Sodom and Gomorrah, where little balls, little white balls of brimstone, the only place that they exist on the planet, they're little pellets made up of 99%, pure sulfur, and they are embedded in the ashes. You can see Sodom and Gomorrah and some of the other cities that were destroyed in that way. And you can see people taking a lighter and you light that, and it'll just be a blue hot flame that will burn. Well, this will be the final abode, dear friends, for Satan, for his demonic forces, for the Antichrist, for all unbelievers; horrific. Revelation 14:11 describes the suffering of hell as a place where quote, "the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever; they have no rest, day and night." Unimaginable.

Now, back to the angelic interpretation of Daniel's dream, look at verse 23, "'Thus he said: the fourth beast will be a fourth kingdom on the earth,' referring to the Antichrist kingdom, 'which will be different from all the other kingdoms and will devour the whole earth and tread it down and crush it.'" Now remember, this fourth kingdom includes not only the ancient Roman Empire, but there's been a big time gap here now, and we believe that there will be a future revived Roman Empire, as we have already studied some. We see this referenced in Revelation chapter 13, as well as 17. And this is affirmed even in the next verse 24. "'As for the 10 horns,'" the interpreter says, "'out of this kingdom, 10 kings will arise and another will arise after them.'" So the Antichrist is going to arise after the first 10. Verse eight, you will recall tells us that he is going to come up from among them. But this the sudden rise, due to the power of his charismatic personality and political promises, is going to be even more understood during that time because of his conquests. And this is what's going to make him different from his contemporaries. Notice the end of verse 24, "'and he will be different from the previous ones and will subdue three kings.'" Now, if we go back to verse eight, we read three of the first horns were pulled up by the roots before it. So again, we see a reference here that the antichrist is going to uproot or displace three of his predecessors during that time; he's going to take over their kingdoms for himself. I might add that nothing like this has ever happened, in the ancient, the early Roman Empire, so I believe that this must refer to a revived Roman Empire. Moreover, that the Antichrist's rule future Empire will initially be divided into 10 administrative districts ruled by 10 kings, is further underscored in Revelation 17 and verse 12, There we read, "Then 10 horns, which you saw are 10 kings, who have not yet received the kingdom, but they receive authority as kings with the beast for one hour. These have one purpose, and they give their power and authority to the beast." I might add that this restoration idea is is further underscored by the events that are described in the remaining three visions of Daniel especially in Daniel 8:23 and Daniel nine, verses 26 and 27.

The interpreter then continues in verse 25, he says, "He will speak out against the Most High and wear down the saints of the Highest One." "Wear down" means exactly what it sounds; it carries the idea of just being oppressed by unjust authority. Boy, we're feeling evidence of that even now. But it'll be exponentially worse during that time. You know, in general terms, Moses predicted the sufferings of Israelite believers during this time of tribulation, in Deuteronomy six, and I should say, 28, I think is Deuteronomy 28. And Leviticus 26. And Isaiah even prophesied a future period of great purging, in chapter four, verses three and four. As did Jeremiah. He described it as "the times of Jacob's distress, “Jeremiah 30, in verse seven. We see the same thing in Ezekiel 20 and Zechariah 12, Malachi three.

Dr. Whitcomb said, quote, "So devastating will be that final phase of the day of man that two thirds of the nation of Israel will die, quote, 'and I will bring the third part through the fire,' Zechariah 13 Nine. Israel's Messiah," he went on to say, "assured her that," quote, "then there will be a great tribulation such has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever shall, Matthew 24:21. In fact, unless those days are," quote, "cut, short, none will survive at all. But as Jesus said, in Matthew 24:22, for the sake of the elect, those days shall be cut short."

Now, according to other prophecies, this will actually begin when the Antichrist deceives the world with presumably, some resurrection from the dead, we read about this in Revelation 13. If we were to look at the context there, he will have broken his covenant with Israel that's described in Daniel 9:27. And according to Revelation 13, the False Prophet has helped to create this image of the Antichrist, this large image in the Jerusalem temple, to be worshipped by all mankind. And certainly that's always been Satan's desire. And so his quote, "speaking out against the Most High, and his wearing down of the saints," is going to happen in the last half of Daniel's 70th week, the last half of the tribulation, and it will continue for 42 months, we're told. During that time, the Antichrist is going to be given authority, quote, "to make war with the saints and to overcome them," Revelation 13 seven.

Now, by this time in the tribulation, many of the Jewish believers will have fled into the wilderness to somehow seek protection. You read about this in Revelation 12. And Jesus warned and told them, advised them to do this. You can read about that in Matthew 24, verses 15 through 20. However, we also know that there's going to be a magnificent missionary core of redeemed Jews consisting of 12,000 men from each of the 12 tribes called the 144,000. And they will be protected from death by God and Jesus speaks of this in Revelation 24:14. They will carry this gospel of the kingdom to the whole world for a witness to all nations, and then the end shall come. In other words, they will finally do what he intended for them to do in the beginning.

So again, verse 25, "He will speak out against the Most High and wear down the saints of the Highest One, and he will intend," not succeed, "intend to make alterations in times and in law." This is probably a reference to the Antichrist attempt to change God's sovereignly allotted time to reign, to allow him to reign with such blasphemy and terror before his promised demise. I recall how Hitler promised that the right would reign for 1000 years, it didn't quite happen. But this is the same type of thinking. Furthermore, we read the Antichrist is going to attempt to alter God's righteous law, he will try to do that in every form. And of course, that's not a surprise. I mean, he's being inspired and empowered by Satan, who is the father of lies. Second Thessalonians two and verse three, Paul calls him the man, the Antichrist, the "man of lawlessness." And, you know, again, we see elements of this growing rapidly, I can't tell you how many people I've talked with, that have said, I just can't believe how quickly things are going down the tubes here in the country. It's absolutely astounding. In fact, if you look at the platform of the Democratic Party, it basically reads as a diatribe against everything that God deems holy. It's for this reason that no discerning Christian could ever support these people. In Isaiah five and verse 20, you will recall, ancient Judah was being judged for a number of things, but one of them is recorded there. "Woe to those who call evil good and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight!"

And we learn more of how the Antichrist is going to try to change the times in the laws. Daniel 11, beginning in verse 36, "Then the King will do as he pleases, and he will exalt and magnify himself above every god and will speak monstrous things against the God of gods, and he will prosper until the indignation is finished, for that which is decreed will be done." And then it says, "He will show no regard for the gods of his fathers, or for the desire of women," probably meaning he will be a homosexual, "nor will he show regard for any other god, for he will magnify himself above them all." In other words, he is going to be the quintessential megalomaniac of all times. This is who is coming.

Back to Daniel seven at the end of verse 25, "And they will be given into his hand referring to the saints for a time, times, and half the time." This signifies the final period, the final three and a half years in Daniel's prophetic 70th week, the last three years of the tribulation. Now, as a note here, with the church removed, the conditions at the beginning of the Tribulation will be very much like what we saw at Christ's first coming. To quote, Dr. Charles Feinberg, who by the way was a great Jewish scholar, studying to be a rabbi that came to saving faith in Christ, taught at Talbot Seminary. He was one of John MacArthur's teachers, and many others; A great and godly man who's now gone home with the Lord. But here's what he says, quote, "Israel will be back in the land, the sacrificial system will be in force. Because of the rebuilt temple. The nation will be reconstituted as a homogeneous national entity with its leaders who will be able to negotiate contracts with foreign powers, specifically the Roman Prince," referring to the Antichrist, "and the Sabbath, (and by implication, all the religious calendar which was interrupted by the crucifixion of Christ, and the scattering of Israel worldwide), will be in force again, according to Matthew 24:16, through 21." So the point here is, all of the saints will be given into his hand for this period of time when he calls times, times and a half a time. The church has been removed now, Daniel 70th week, the Tribulation, will begin.

And I might remind you that as we look at the prophetic calendar through the lens of Scripture, we see that at the beginning, the first half of the tribulation, the Antichrist begins to rise to power. The pre kingdom judgments that are described in Revelation six through 18, will begin and they will increase in frequency and in severity, like a woman in travail with a child. Persecution will begin early on against believers, both Jews and Gentiles, but they are going to gain momentum in terms of severity and frequency, again, like labor pains. And then according to Daniel 9:27, in the middle of the week, the abomination of desolation will occur. And that's when the Antichrist will break his original covenant with Israel, which again, decided that they needed to resume their ancient sacrificial system in their temple and so forth. And this desolation, this ruin, is what the Jews, when this happens, the Jews will realize that the Antichrist is turned against them. It will ruin, it will desecrate all that is holy in their temple, the presence of God they believe is there, and so forth.

And at the middle point of the tribulation, midway through the Tribulation, that's when all hell begins to break loose on the earth; a horrific period of tribulation and hardship like the world has never known. Jesus spoke about it, again in Matthew 24, and verse 21, and so forth. But God is going to use all of this to save a remnant of his people. I might also add that the church, the pure Bride of Christ, during that time, is going to be replaced by the great whore, the great harlot, which will be a false apostate, ecclesiastical monstrosity, the type of thing that we even see growing today, this demand in the world for us all to just coexist. That's what's going to happen under the leadership of the Antichrist, but he will ultimately be the one that sets himself up to be God, and that great harlot will ultimately require the world to worship the beast. Now, this will continue, it says, "For a time, times and a half the time." Again, the second half of Daniel's 70th week, it's measured in several ways in Scripture. It's also described as 42 months in Revelation 11 two and chapter 13, in verse five. It's also described as 1260 days in Revelation 11, three and 12 six, and also "times and times and half the time" in the text that we're in now, as well as Revelation 12:14. So the saints then are given into his hands during that period of persecution. But notice this, verse 26, "But the court will sit for judgment." This is the same expression that is used in verse 10 that we will examine the next time when the Ancient of Days will pronounce judgment on the little horn on the Antichrist. "The court will sit for judgment and his dominion will be taken away annihilated and destroyed forever." In other words, no other ruler from that point on, will assume power. It's an amazing thought.

And that final hour just before the Lord returns when Jerusalem, which would be the last stronghold of the saints, when the Jerusalem is on the brink of collapse, Zechariah tells us that the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations, Zechariah 14 one through three. And I love verse 27, "Then the sovereignty, the dominion, and the greatness of all the kingdoms under the whole heaven, will be given to the people of the saints of the Highest One." That's us, folks. Then it says, "His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all the dominions will serve and obey Him." Beloved, think about this, throughout the course of human history, obviously throughout the course of our lives, we have never known anything but corrupt tyrannical leaders. I mean you look at Washington today, and they're as crooked as a barrel of snakes. We've never known anything like what's being described here. But one day, all of that is going to come to an end. Verse 28, "At this point, the revelation ended. As for me," that’s Daniel, "my thoughts were greatly alarming me and my face grew pale, but I kept the matter to myself." You know, we have a great advantage over Daniel, in that we not only have the complete canon of Scripture to help us understand these things, but also we can look back and see what he was looking forward to and couldn't see, the only thing he couldn't see is the same thing we cannot see. And that's the final revived Roman Empire and the Antichrist. And so to that extent, we ought to also be, as he was, greatly alarmed, greatly alarmed at the judgments that are to come upon the earth.

You know, I think about that all the time. I see people going about their lives, going about their business, they're having their families, they're having fun, they're going to the Titans game, they're doing all these things that you know, a lot of them are legitimate, but they have no idea what God is up to. And unless they repent and place their faith in Christ, they will perish in their sins. They will be destroyed forever. Dear friends, I pray that we will all have an increased burden for the lost because of this; that we will be salt and light in this decaying and very dark world, as we await the imminent return of our Savior and our King. Great, great truths, what we have to look forward to.

Let's pray. Thank you, Lord, for your Word that speaks to our hearts. While we never can understand fully all of the things that you have revealed to us, we can certainly see that again, you are a sovereign God working your perfect plan, to bring glory to yourself. And to think that somehow, we are a part of all of that, it's absolutely astounding. So I pray that these great truths will humble us and will ignite us with an ardent zeal for evangelism that many will hear the good news of the gospel from our lips and from our lives, certainly from this church. We thank You, Lord, and we pray that you will come quickly in Jesus name. Amen.