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We're going to study Daniel chapter seven this morning and go through the times of the Gentiles and how that relates to the tribulation, the end times, the Antichrist kingdom. Jesus spoke at the times of the Gentiles in Luke, and so we're going to look at that. But this is, this happens in the first year of Nebuchadnezzar's grandson. So if you remember back in chapter five with Brian, am I doing something wrong or are we good? You're good. Okay. If you remember back in chapter five with Nebuchadnezzar's grandson, Belshazzar, and how we've been talking about how these chapters are not necessarily in chronological order as you go through them. This chapter falls in the first year of his reign and so goes back right, right around, right after chapter five. Okay, let's pray and we'll dive into God's word here. Father, we just thank you so much for this time together. Lord, I pray that you would bless the study in your Word and that, Father, we would hear from you in a mighty way this morning. God, thank you so much for these prophecies you gave Daniel all of these years ago. Father, we just pray that you would give us understanding and wisdom on how to study your Word in all things. Father, thank you. In Jesus name, amen. Amen. Okay, so as we're going through this, we will be relying on the Holy Spirit to teach us now that the Lord has unsealed the book as we talked about. So the end of chapter 12, he seals it. It's now unsealed to us. And so you want to make sure, you know, if you're, if you're new here, if you're from out of town, when you study the Bible on your own, you want to make sure that you go to the Lord from 1st John 2, 27 and 28 and allow the Holy Spirit to teach you everything out of his Word. And by doing so, then you will not be ashamed before him at his coming in verse 28. And so it's really a great gift. And go search the Word daily from Acts 17, 11. Now, I'm going to flip through a couple of these kind of fast, but this, the Gentile worldview that God gives Daniel through this entire book is really unique because most of the Old Testament focuses on Israel and God's dealing with Israel throughout, you know, throughout the entire Old Testament and working through them from the first Hebrew, Abraham, all the way down until the close of the Old Testament with Malachi and the promise to that God will send Elijah again before that great and dreadful day is almost one of the very last verses of the Old Testament. And so what's so unique about Daniel is that God changes his focus to the Gentile kingdoms where he views the world through the ruling Gentile powers from Babylon all the way down to Rome and then finally the Antichrist kingdom. And so it's really a very unique view in the Old Testament that God gives us. And we've gone through the first six chapters of the book of Daniel. And so now we're starting the back half with these four beasts and how God declares the times of the Gentiles starting in chapter seven. So the back six chapters are really like I've been mentioning very heavy prophetic chapters of the book. And so just drink lots of coffee, buckle up, you know, it's, it's going to, it's going to be interesting. So then in the chronology of them, you've got one through four. And then like I mentioned, chapter seven is in the first year of Belshazzar. So it really happens after four. And then chapter five with the handwriting on the wall that we took a couple weeks ago is two more chapters down in chronological order. So you can kind of see the vision in the four beasts and the times of the Gentiles happens in approximately 556 BC. And chapter five that we studied a few weeks ago is 27 years later in 539 BC. And so you can kind of see how the Lord orchestrated that through the text here. Now as you're, this, this is really important, especially as we're in the back half of the, of the book. So the 70 weeks prophecy is one of the most important prophecies in the entire Bible, Daniel chapter nine. And it for us as the church, we can look back and see the majesty of it on detailing to the day that Jesus would ride in on the donkey in those first 69 weeks of years, from the decree of Artaxerxes Longimanus in Nehemiah chapter 2, all the way until the Gospels when the Lord rides in on that donkey, that prophecy is fulfilled to the day of 173,880 days and he rides in and then we're in this pause between the 69th week and the 70th week. So the final seven year tribulation, that's at some point in the future will fulfill the 70th week of Daniel. It's a seven year, the final seven year period of God dealing with Israel until he sets up the kingdom and the Lord, coming back in Revelation 19, you and I live in that parentheses of time where the church age which was hidden in the Old Testament is there. And you can, you can see it looking back, but you couldn't see it at the time. Now those are not to be confused with the servitude of the nations and the desolations of Jerusalem, both 70 year periods, but not 70 weeks of years or 70 times seven. And so it's. Daniel has a lot of 70s, and that is just important to note the difference between those. So today as we go through chapter seven, this is what Nebuchadnezzar saw. So he saw Babylon, Persia, Greece, Rome, and then the Antichrist kingdom. Daniel's going to see this, but as these four terrible beasts that have unique features that are related to that kingdom and how they conquered the earth. And so it's a very unique, different perspective from Nebuchadnezzar unto how Daniel sees it. Okay, and what, what God, what Jesus called this is the times of the Gentiles. So that time starts with Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon and culminates with the Antichrist kingdom. And in Luke 21:24, this is what Jesus said. And they shall fall by the edge of the sword and shall be led away captive unto all nations. And Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. So that phrase is very specific that Jesus used. And I think all of you can look at the news and say that, yes, Jerusalem is trodden down right now. There are suicide bombers, rockets coming in constantly. Israel doesn't even have right to the Temple Mount. Jerusalem is very much trodden down by the Gentiles right now. But it will not be forever. It will. There will come a time that Jesus, the creator of the universe, rules and reigns on the throne of David from Jerusalem. And it will not be trodden underfoot and any longer. And that time was promised. The angel Gabriel promised it to Mary when she was pregnant with Jesus, that her son would sit on the throne of David. And so we are looking toward that time in complete excitement when the Almighty, all righteous king of kings will reign on the earth. Praise God. So in verse one here in the first year of Belshazzar, king of Babylon. So remember, that's Nebuchadnezzar's grandson. Back to chapter five. He's the one that takes all the instruments out of the temple, holds that that party gets wasted. And then the hand, Jesus's hand for the handwriting on the wall comes out and numbers his days. Remember, many, many, Tekla Upharsin, your days are numbered to the Medes and Persians. You've been weighed in the balances, and your days are numbered. So that's. That's Belshazzar. So chapter seven goes all the way back to after chapter four, because it's in the first year of him. King of Babylon, Daniel had a dream and visions of his head upon his bed. Then he wrote the dream and told the sum of the matters. Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of the heavens strove upon the great sea. Now, if you go to Revelation in chapter seven, we. We see that the angels are holding back the four winds of heaven. Here at the rise of the final Gentile kingdom, the winds are roaring upon the great sea. So there's a unique parallel between Daniel and Revelation in verse. In chapter seven, verse one of Revelation, after these things, I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth. That's speaking geomagnetically, not geography. In terms of a flat earth. It's not like a sheet of paper. He's speaking about magnetically, there are four corners of the earth magnetically holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. Okay, so you see those angels holding them back in chapter seven in Revelation, hear what Daniel sees. They're released and blowing. And you see that later in Revelation as well. Okay, in verse three and four, great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another. Now in Isaiah 57, verse 20, chapter 57, verse 20. But the wicked are like the troubled sea when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. It's interesting that if you. If you take what God says and you kind of put this together, the four beasts came up from the sea. Well, the sea. In Isaiah 57, the wicked are like the troubled sea. And so that's a very interesting Parallel. In verse 4, the first was like a lion and had eagle's wings. I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth and made stand upon the feet as a man. And a man's heart was given to it. Okay? The line is Babylon. Now, the fact that a new heart was given unto the man seems to confirm once again that Nebuchadnezzar was saved. We studied his testimony in chapter four. Because nowhere in Scripture does God change your heart. He always gives you a new one. And you see that in John 3. That's why Jesus said you must be born again. So being recreated, you are a new creation in Christ. Now Ezekiel 11, verse 19 and I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you. And I will take the stony heart of their flesh and will give them a heart of flesh. And you see that again in Ezekiel 36:26. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you. And I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. And so if you take these and you rightly divide God's word, you, you will understand the reason why God needs you to be born again, a new creation. You cannot he, he doesn't just change what's there. You are new in him, you start fresh, you are made new. Every sin is wiped away. Praise God for that. And behold another beast, a second like to a bear. And it raised up itself on one side and had three ribs in the mouth of it, between the teeth of it. And they said thus unto it, arise, devour much flesh. Now like the lion back in verse four there, the lion representing Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon. Remember he, he was that pride set in. God judged him, corrected him. He was in the field where he lost his mind for seven years. And he groove feathers so to speak, got very hairy. But he stands up on his feet and God, God restores him. In Persia that doesn't happen necessarily, at least in verse 5 here, Persia, the bear. The bear represents Persia, the combined Medo Persian empire. One side being raised up, if you remember from Cyrus, Cyrus conquered the Median empire and combined the meeting the Medo Persian empire. So he combined them. That's why we think of it as the Persian Empire, not the Medo Persian empire. Because he conquered the Medians, the Medians. The three ribs in the mouth, they seem to represent three kingdoms. Because Persia conquered three different powers. World powers to rise to power Babylon, Lydia and Egypt. And they, they put those down. And so you have the bear on one side with these three ribs in his mouth, okay? In verse six after this I beheld and lo another like a leopard which had upon the back of it four wings of a foul. The beast also had four, had also four heads and dominion was given to it. Okay? The leopard, the leopard representing Greece. Now some of you may remember from history class if you ever studied Alexander the Great. He conquered the world by a very, very young age. And he did it very swiftly. He was like a leopard, a winged Leopard whose feet never touched the ground. And so the speed at which he conquered the earth was. Is legendary. He. He conquered every nation very quickly. The legend has it that in his mid-20s, mid to late 20s, he fell in his bed weeping because there was no more land to conquer. He had conquered it all. So he had four wings. Now, the four wings representing the four generals, or the four heads, I mean, representing his four successors. So when he died, he had four generals that on his deathbed, Alexander the Great said, give it to whoever wins. Give it to the strongest one of these four, the four generals. So they fought each other, trying to gain power over the empire of Greece. And it was Cassandra, Lysimachus, Ptolemy, and Seleucus. And those are all prophesied in Daniel chapter 11 during the silent, the quote unquote, silent years that are really not silent. They're prophesied right there in Daniel 11. Now, each of these we've gone through so far, the lion, the bear, and now this leopard. God gives them the power. So notice in the verses that dominion was given to it, power was given to it. And so one thing to take away from this is God alone sets up kings and puts them down. And he does that throughout the Bible. And it will be no different when he allows the Antichrist and that kingdom to rise up. Power is given to them for a season, and it's to fulfill a purpose of his. But after this, I saw in verse seven, here in the night, visions. And behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible and strong exceedingly. And it had great iron teeth. It devoured and break in pieces and stamped the residue with the feet of it. And it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it. And it had 10 horns. Okay, so the final beast represents Rome in two different phases. The 10 horns representing the future. 10 kings that we've talked about a lot in here, or the 10 toes on Nebuchadnezzar's statue at the bottom. Those are the ten kings where the antichrist rises up and puts three of them down, and the other seven consolidate power to him. And in verse 8, here in Daniel 7, I considered the horns, and behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up. So that's the verse that you learned that from. Plucked up by the roots. And behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man and a mouth speaking great things. Now, there's been debate for years and years. I mean, Even in the 90s, if you remember, people thought certain individuals were the Antichrist, and it was always a man. And for there was a season there in the 90s that it was King Charles. And then there was. Because if you take his name in Greek and you put the numerical values to it, it comes out to 666. Somehow I think you had to abbreviate maybe his middle name or something to do it. I don't know. But they have all these theories, right? People look into these things and try to really make something out of nothing at times. But it's interesting that, that now looking forward, you know, as we are where we are today, and this incursion of what I'll call deceptive angelic activity all around the earth, it's just interesting that the Antichrist may not actually be a man. And we've talked about that some here where at the end the false prophet and the Antichrist, they're thrown straight into the lake of fire. They're not resurrected in Revelation to the second death, which is interesting because in Revelation it says all men are resurrected to the second death for the great white throne judgment. Well, they aren't at the end of the tribulation, they're just thrown in the lake of fire forever. There is no more judgment for them down the road. And you see that happen in Genesis 6 with those angels referenced in Jude and Peter. And so it's just interesting to think about, because in chapter seven, verse eight here, the horn had eyes like the eyes of a man, but it didn't say he was a man. And I could be wrong, or we could all look at this differently, but it's just interesting to think about. But all through the Scripture, there is one common theme about this final world leader. God describes them as blasphemous, speaking great things, deceptive, deceiving the very elect if it were possible, etc. We'll see that in Daniel 7:25. Look at Daniel 11:36. And the king shall do according to his will, and he shall exalt himself and magnify himself. This is about the Antichrist above every God and shall speak marvelous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished. In other words, during the tribulation, he will prosper until it's done, until that indignation is come over past. There's a reference to that indignation in chat in Isaiah about the Rapture for you and I to come into our chambers until the indignation be overpassed, for that that is determined shall be done. Look at Revelation 13:5 and 6. And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies. And power was given unto him to continue 40 and two months. So again, just like Daniel's seen with these beasts, power is given to the Antichrist. He's not. He doesn't take it. God is allowing this in some regard. And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God to blaspheme his name and his tabernacle and them that dwell in heaven. Now, that's interesting. In Revelation 13, who would the Antichrist be blaspheming that dwells in heaven? Who are them that dwell in heaven? I always think that's just a hint of the Raptured Church, because you see that a reference to it in Psalms 83, verse 3, when the enemies are trying to wipe out Israel off the map, God says this in verse three, they have taken crafty counsel against thy people and consulted against thy hidden ones. So there's a group of people that belong to God that are hidden when these things are happening. And that's. That is very fascinating to me. In second Thessalonians 2, 3, 4, let no man deceive you by any means, for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first. And that man of sin be revealed, the Son of perdition, who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God. So the thing, one of the things that's unique about this final Gentile kingdom is there are no other religions on the earth that he allows. At least there is no, you know, there's not Catholicism and Buddhism and Christianity and Muslim worship or none. There's none of that. There is only the worship of the Antichrist. And he puts himself above all that is called God. So in other words, every other religion goes away and he puts himself. He tries to magnify himself in that way or that is worshiped so that he is God sitteth in the temple of God. That's one of three or four verses that tell you a temple will be standing again in the end times. When you see that coming through today with the Temple Institute, they're trying to build the temple right now over in Israel, showing himself that he is God. Okay, Back in verse nine, in Daniel seven, I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the. Like the pure wool. His throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire. So till the thrones were cast down. That word, it doesn't mean thrones being toppled. It means thrones being placed or set, like fastened somewhere. It's an Aramaic word, actually. It's not describing the previous thrones being cast down. It's describing the thrones, in my personal opinion, of the 24 elders being placed in the throne room of heaven and the ancient of days sitting with us. And so you and I are described in the Bible as 24 elders who sit on thrones. In Revelation chapter 4 and 5, in the throne room of the universe, the church is the only group of saints that are given that privilege to be considered a royal priesthood. Okay, we are kings and priests. And so it's a very unique role that we have in God's program. But the church is hidden in the Old Testament. And that's why in Daniel, Ezekiel, and Isaiah, you never see who is on these thrones. But you do see them in Revelation 4 and 5 after the church has been revealed. Now, notice that God's throne has fiery wheels, like in Ezekiel. And it's kind of amazing in all these UAP files, the government's releasing that Trump's putting out there now. And if you kind of comb through them, there are some pictures of things that are like wheels within wheels within wheels, and they're spinning in the air. And you see some of those pictures, and newspapers pick them up and, you know, say, hey, is this what Ezekiel saw? It's just. It's really fascinating. And okay, if you go to Revelation 4 about the 24 elders in verse 1, after this, I looked, and behold, a door was open in heaven. That's the Rapture. And the first voice which I heard was, as it were, of a trumpet talking with me, which said, come up hither, and I will show the things which must be hereafter. So that's the rapture from first Thessalonians 4. And right here in Revelation 4, verse 1, after the church age closes in chapter 3 of Revelation. And immediately I was in the Spirit. And behold, a throne was set in heaven, and. And one set on the throne, just like what Daniel saw. And he that set was to look upon like a Jasper and a starting stone. And there was a rainbow round about the throne in sight, like unto an emerald. Praise God that the rainbow glorifies the Lord, you know, no matter how much the enemy tries to corrupt it. And round about the throne were 4 and 20 seats. So those are us, 4 and 20 seats. And upon the seats I saw 4 and 20 elders sitting clothed in white raiment. And they had on Their heads, crowns of gold. Okay, so if you. If you think about that, that is us. So that's what Daniel saw in chapter seven. There now in verse ten, a fiery stream issued and came forth from before him. A thousand thousands ministered unto him, and 10,000 times 10,000 stood before him. And the judgment was set and the books were opened. That's. That is coming someday. Fire. Fire typically speaks of judgment. And the books were opened is right out of Revelation, chapter 20, verse 12, I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God. And the books were opened, and another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books according to their works. It's fascinating if you study the Bible, that there are inheritance and rewards based on your faithful service for the king. If you are saved, there are also steeper judgments in hell for those that are not saved. It goes both directions. And if you study that, Jesus hints at that a lot. That's why he told some of the people, it will be better for Sodom and Gomorrah in that day than for you. And if you go down and you just watch his language in those instances where he talks about that, remember, he says, if you cause one of my little ones to stumble, it would be better that a millstone was hung around your neck and you were drawn in the ocean, than that you were ever born. In other words, there's a steeper judgment for you. And that's what he's saying right there in Revelation 20, verse 12, that you are judged by the things in the books according to your works. And you don't want to be judged according to your works. You want to be judged based on the blood of Christ covering you. And then what you did as faithful servant for him, praise God. In verse 11, I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake. So the little horn I beheld even till the beast was slain and his body destroyed and given to the burning flame. So you see that at the end of Revelation when Jesus returns in chapter 19, and he takes the beast, the Antichrist, and the false prophet and gives them over to the burning flame in the lake of fire forever, they don't make it to Revelation 20:12. And, and so that's. It's just a hint that maybe they aren't fully human. Don't know. It's speculation. But it's interesting to think about. As concerning the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away, yet their lives were prolonged For a season and time. Okay, again, the authority is given to them and then taken. Now verse 13 here I saw in the night vision. Behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven and came to the ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. Now there you see. You know, the Trinity is somewhat kind of hidden in the Old Testament throughout different things. But you see it very clearly right here. You see the Father and the Son coming to the throne. Now, Son of Man is used in the Old Testament up to this point, but mainly of normal people. Ezekiel, Isaiah and Psalms all use that. Remember, God constantly tells Ezekiel, son of man, right here in Daniel 7, he's using it as Jesus. But after this point it's not used in the Bible again until Jesus walks in the flesh and uses it of himself in the gospels. In verse 14, here and there was given him dominion and glory. Who's the hymn? That's Jesus Christ. Given him dominion and glory and a kingdom that all people, nations and languages, not just Israel, not just the Jews, but all people should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away. And his kingdom, that which shall not be destroyed. Praise God for that. We saw that with a stone cut without hands In Daniel chapter 2, Jesus's kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, not just a thousand years during the millennial reign. It's confirmed throughout the entire Bible. It will finally fulfill the Davidic covenant that the Lord made with David in 2 Samuel chapter 7. In verse 15, I, Daniel, was grieved in my spirit in the midst of my body, and the visions of my head troubled me. I came near unto one of them that stood by and asked him the truth of all this. So he told me and made me know the interpretation of the things. Now, could this be Daniel speaking to one of the cherubims? Or is it one of us, the 24 elders? It's interesting. You could kind of dig into that and spend a lot of time looking at it. But in Revelation, everything in heaven is explained by an elder, while everything on the earth is explained by an angel. I just think that's an interesting parallel or difference there. Now, these great beasts, which are four, are four kings which shall arise out of the earth. But the saints of the Most High shall take the kingdom and possess the kingdom. For how long? Forever and ever? Even forever and evermore? Ever and ever and ever and ever. I think God means exactly what he says. Then I would know the truth of the fourth beast, which was diverse from all the others. Exceeding dreadful, whose teeth were of iron and his nails of brass, which devoured break in pieces and stamped the residue of with his feet. Now, Rome, one of the differences about Rome is that Rome violently conquered the world. And so that's what Daniel's seen. He breaking in pieces these teeth and stamping, stomping around. Okay, in verse 20. And of the ten horns that were in his head, and of the other which came up, and before whom three fell, so there's again the Antichrist putting three of the ten kings down again, even of that horn that had eyes and a mouth that spake very great things, whose look was more stout than his fellows. So here's the Antichrist yet again speaking very great things. His look was more stout than his fellows. Now, there's only one description in the Bible physically of the antichrist. It's Zechariah 11, verse 17. Woe to the idol shepherd. Not idle, not like an idol, as in not doing anything but an idol idol. Someone that's been lifted up as an idol that leaveth the flock, which I've always thought that's interesting. It leaves the flock between the Antichrist and the false prophet. One of them likely is Jewish. And I say that because Jesus told member of the Jewish people, another will come in my name, and him you will receive. And he says another as in another Jewish rabbi in the Greek word. And that's kind of interesting. So one of them might be Jewish. We'll thank God, we'll get to see it from heaven and hang out with the Lord and watch it all unfold. But the sword shall be upon his arm, and upon his right eye his arm shall be clean dried up and his right eye shall be utterly darkened. That is the only description physically you have of the Antichrist in the Bible. But he does have this some kind of mortal wound. For then a false resurrection. Because everything Satan does is a counterfeit. And so the Antichrist will have a false resurrection. And the right arm and the right eye is likely tied to why the mark of the beast is given in the right arm of or in the forehead. It probably has something to do with where the Antichrist gets wounded. But again, that's just speculation. Okay, in verse 21 I beheld in the same horn made war with the saints. Okay, now this is a critical verse. And prevailed against them. Now that statement, okay, the war with the saints. If you go to Matthew 16:18, look what Jesus said. And I say also unto thee that thou art Peter. And upon this rock Jesus is pointing to himself there not to Peter. But upon this rock, I will build my church. So the church is built upon the head of it, which is Jesus Christ, the Rock of Ages. It's his church. It's his body, it's not Peter's. Jesus is the rock. So he will build his church. And the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. So Jesus promised in Matthew 16 that the gates of hell would not prevail against the church. But in Daniel 7:21, the Antichrist is prevailing against the saints. He's overcoming them. You see this with the two witnesses in Revelation. Remember, the Antichrist overcomes them. He kills them. And they lay in the streets for three days. Then they're resurrected and they're raptured up to heaven or taken up to heaven. The whole world watches them. Well, Jesus promised that wouldn't happen to the church. So it's a hint and it's something really neat to study in the Bible to rightly divide God's word. That there are different groups of saints all throughout the Bible. The Old Testament saints. Jesus said that it closed with John the Baptist because he said the law and the prophets were until John. The church, this age that you and I are in. Praise God. We are the most privileged group of people on planet Earth to have the Holy Spirit permanently indwelling us after the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And then you have tribulation saints. You have millennial saints, people born in the millennium that get saved down the road. And so there's these distinct groups of people. There's martyrs during the tribulation. And look at Revelation 13, verse 7. And it was given unto him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And power was given him over all kindreds and tongues. And so you see that from Daniel 7:21, linked to Revelation 13:7, okay. In verse 22. Until the ancient days came and judgment was given to the saints of the Most High. And the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom. That will be a time that will be an amazing time. Look at 1 Corinthians 6, 22 3. Do you not know that the saints shall judge the world? How many of you get to do that right now? I don't think any of us in this room, at least. If the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Know ye not that we shall judge angels? How much more are the things that pertain to this life? What an amazing thing, because in verse 22, God says, Judgment was given to the saints. And the Most High and the Time came that the saints possessed the kingdom. God makes reference to this throughout the Bible. And during that time you get to sit on a throne, judging the world, judging angels. God just gives you these little hints where you see through a glass dimly, as he declared in the Bible, but you see these hints of something great to look forward to, that you get to be a part, a co laborer with Christ in all things from Romans, if you suffer with him. And it's an encouragement to you to stay strong in your walk with the Lord and not to be taken out by the enemy. Don't let it happen. These are exciting times that we're living in and great things to look forward to ahead. In Matthew 19:28, Jesus said unto them, verily I say unto you that ye which have followed me in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory. Jesus even talked about it. Ye also shall sit upon 12 thrones. He's talking to 12 apostles here. Disciples shall sit upon 12 thrones judging the 12 tribes of Israel. So they have a reward. Those 12 disciples that walked with Jesus have a reward to sit on 12 thrones judging the 12 tribes of Israel. So you have Dave in the millennium, you're going to have Jesus as ruler of the earth, David as the prince or the king of Israel. And that's referenced three times in the Old Testament that he's resurrected as the prince of Israel. Then you have the 12 disciples under him judging the 12 tribes of Israel. I just think that is fascinating that God gives you some hint to that. Now what made Rome different than the previous kingdom is a, the previous kingdoms is imperialism. What they would do is they would go out and conquer a nation or someone and then they would set up someone from Rome over it to rule over that land. They wouldn't just wipe it out necessarily and make it assimilate into their, their kingdom, much like Nebuchadnezzar did. So that's why when you get to the Gospels, you have Pilate and you have Herod and these different people overseeing Israel, okay? They're, they're stationing people over there and ruling over them, okay, in verse 24, and the ten horns out of this kingdom are the ten kings that shall arise and another shall rise after them. And he shall be diverse from the first and he shall subdue three kings. Again, that's a third time in this chapter. God references that. And he shall speak great words against the Most High and shall wear out the saints of the Most High and think to change times and laws and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times in the dividing of time. Okay, the Antichrist is speaking these great words against the Most High and is wearing out the saints of the Most High. So again, that can't be the church. But why does the Antichrist seek to change times and laws? Now this is again my personal suspicion. But According to Isaiah 13:13, therefore this is God speaking about the Tribulation. I will shake the heavens and the earth shall remove out of her place in the wrath of the Lord of hosts and in the day of his fierce anger. So you and I are not appointed to wrath. We are not appointed to the fierce anger of God. Praise God. But during the wrath of the Lord, which is the seven year Tribulation, he takes the earth and removes her out of her place. So the world is not going to orbit around the sun during the Tribulation. God moves it out. There's a pole shift once again, so to speak, which is why we have ice caps, the north and South Pole, the globe is tilted. I think it's 22 and a half degrees on its axis. Maybe it's 26 and a half. It's something like that, but it's tilted, which probably happened during the days of Noah when the oceans were, you know, overcame the Earth. And so God's going to move it out and it's going to kind of wobble around space, so to speak, and have no consistency of day or night. And so there's going to be the. The moon darkened and the sun not give her light. Well, the reason is part of it is supernatural, obviously, but another reason is the, the world is just out there bouncing around the universe with no consistency. It's just kind of floating. And so just imagine there being daylight for a few hours and then it's dark again for 17 days. Then it's eight hours of sunlight and then maybe it's 80 straight days of sun and no night. And it just is so inconsistent. That's my personal belief and I could be totally wrong, but I think it's neat to think about. It's my personal belief as to why the Antichrist seeks to institute a calendar to change times and seasons. And you see that also spiritually with how Satan is trying to manipulate God's timeline. He tried to get the Church captured into the tribulation during 2020, during COVID He tried to change that time so the church wouldn't be raptured out. Because Satan fights that way. He tries to see what God is planning and he tries to Usurp it and change it constantly. So in verse 26 here but the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion to consume and to destroy it unto the end. So the Antichrist will not reign forever. Praise God and the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, and shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him. Hitherto is the end of the matter. As for me Daniel, my cogitations much troubled me, I can imagine, and my countenance changed in me, but I kept the matter in my heart. It sounds like Jacob, remember when Joseph called him to the dream of the sun, the moon, the 12 stars bowing to him. And Jacob said in God's word he says, and Jacob kept the matter in his heart, but it troubled him. And so it's kind of reminds me of that with Daniel. Nebuchadnezzar sees these same kingdoms in chapter two, but as these valuable metals, whereas the Lord sees them as terrible beasts. And so the phrase time, times and the dividing of time, well times is a duel in Hebrew, meaning two. This is the Tribulation throughout the Bible is broken into a seven year period of 360 day years. Remember God's calendar is always 360 day years. He's never changed that in the Bible. Now you and I operate on 365 quarter day years. But in the Bible he looks at it differently. So in the Tribulation on his calendar it's seven years of 360 day years. So on our calendar and it would be just under physically seven years on our calendar, but one plus two and a half, three and a half. You see that in Daniel 7:25, Daniel 12:7 and Revelation 12:4, it's referenced as three and a half years in Daniel 9:27 and Daniel 12:7 it's referenced as 42 months. In Daniel 11:2 and 13:5, meaning each half, each half of the seven year period is reference is three and a half years 42 months or 12:60 days. So if you take 42 months times 30 day months, you get 12:60 days. And that's in Revelation 11:3, Daniel 12:6 and then half of a week in Daniel 9 verse 27. So God orchestrated the rise of the Roman Empire just before Jesus walked the earth. And I've always found this fascinating that he did this because Rome united the world in one common language. Their infrastructure design streamlined the spread of the Gospel. They developed the highway System, so to speak. The way they designed the highways, they connected cities. It was crucial to spreading the gospel when the church was born, and God orchestrated all of that to that time to allow the highways and these things set up so that when Jesus founded the church, the gospel could go to the ends of the earth and back quickly, which is really neat. Okay. Now, these same kingdoms are seen as terrible beasts in Revelation 13, but in reverse order. So Daniel saw them as the lion, the bear, the leopard, and the terrible beast. They're in the reverse order in Revelation 13 because John, the Holy Spirit is looking backwards through time with John. And you can see that starting in verse one where he sees these beasts and the first one rises about the sea having seven heads and ten horns. So he sees the Antichrist kingdom first, then goes backwards to the leopard, the bear, the lion. In verse 2 there in Revelation 13 is all about that Antichrist kingdom. And that other beast that comes up there's the false prophet and the Antichrist. And so if you study Revelation 13:1 through verse 15 there, it talks about the image of the beast as well the Antichrist kingdom and the, the demand of worship to the image and with the mark of the beast. And that goes through verse 18. Okay, well, those are, that's Daniel's dream from chapter seven. So the vision that he had, you know, and we are, we are expediently and eagerly looking to the coming of our Messiah, to meet us in the air and to call us home in the rapture of the church. What a glorious time it'll be. And until then, though we each have the same mandate to go and to live for God in a wicked society and not to stop serving him. We're not going to have Utopia on this earth. But praise God, you and I live in a place that is blessed. That is a place where you can raise a family, you could study the Bible, you can go to a church without the threat of imprisonment afterwards. You and your children are not running to hide from warlords and people that are persecuting the church and trying to destroy the word of God. So I'm just telling you, I thank God every day for where we live. It is a blessing and praise God that we now have an administration that has committed to protecting Christians all over the earth. I don't know if you all saw this over the last couple days, but we had a special forces team go and take out that top ISIS leader in Nigeria that was murdering Christians. There was a video of the pastor standing in the grave in Africa with all the bodies of these Christians lined up that were slaughtered. And in the video, he was pleading with Trump to follow through on his promise to come and protect them and to take these leaders out that are persecuting and murdering Christians. And they did it. They did it this weekend. So it's just amazing, really unique time that we live in after the last few years of how this nation has been turning against Christians over the last couple of decades. But it's fascinating to see righteousness taking a stand again. And so I'm just so thankful for it. But we've got to continue praying for our nation and praying for those in leadership and that God raises up more godly men and women to keep this going until the time of the end. If you're here and you're not saved, though, it's very simple. It's Romans 10, 9, that if you shall confess without mouth that the Lord Jesus and shall believe in thine heart, that God hath raised him from the dead, you shall be saved. It is so simple to be born again and to get that new heart that we studied in Ezekiel. It's so easy. You do that. You surrender your life to the Lord, you will get a new heart. You be born again and have the Holy Spirit living inside of you, where then you have the ability to overcome sin in your life and not to be a slave to it. You have to do that. So if you. If you need to get born again, if you're here today, just come see us afterwards or sit right where you are and pray that prayer and he will come and join you. Lord, we just come to you and we thank you so much for this time together. God, we thank you for the book of Daniel. And Lord, I just pray, we all pray for those persecuted Christians around the world. Lord, we pray that Jesus, you would draw a sword and that you would fight for your people and your church. And that, Lord, you would stop the mouths of lions, just as you did for Daniel. Lord, they roam around. The enemy roams around as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. And let it not be your people. God, all of those people that are raising their kids, that are fleeing persecution, that are seeking shelter, that are so desperate to have a Bible in their hand. God, we pray that you would get the word of God into their hands and that they would abide in the shadow of the Almighty. And that, Lord, you would protect them, that you would keep them, that you would show them exactly where to travel, what bus to get on, what plane to ride on, what car to get in which route to take. However it is, God, show them and lead them by your spirit. And Lord, we pray that you would continue to give boldness to our administration to protect Christians all around the world to fight for your people. God, the warning has been sent. And so we just pray that the enemy would humble themselves, would confess your name, Jesus, and that many would come to know you through this before they meet their maker in a different way. And so, Lord, we pray a hedge of protection around this land and this nation. And that, God, you would let Babel enter the camp of the enemy and that you would confuse their communications. And that, Lord, you would let them scatter as they see the angel of the Lord with your sword drawn. Father. And we are just so thankful for this time together, God, we are pleading with you also over our continent, over North America, that, Lord, you would turn Canada upside down to be a nation that surrenders to you once again. Not a nation that outlaws quoting the Bible, Not a nation that declares your word as hate speech. Not a nation that looks to discredit the word of God and to bury it, Lord, but a nation that glorifies its maker. A nation that stands on truth. A nation that stands on protecting the unborn. A nation that stands on righteousness. And, Lord, we are praying the same in Mexico, Lord, that these. These cartels that are spreading violence all over that country. We pray that you would stay the hand of the enemy and. And that, Lord, you would let them put their arms down and let that nation prosper once again in a place to raise children and to study your word and not to be overcome with corruption. But Lord, let this continent thrive for you. And Lord, we are just so grateful for the time in which we live and so be with us in the week ahead. And we thank you again for all of those graduated high school that, God, you would be with them and guide them in their lives and be a lamp unto their feet to show them where to go and how to follow you, God. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. Amen. Y' all have a great week.