Sunday
Morning Bible Study
July
14, 2013
Introduction
Do people see Jesus? Is the gospel
preached? Does it speak to the broken hearted? Does it build up the church? Milk
– Meat – Manna Preach for a decision Is the church loved?
The last three chapters of Daniel are a complete group. In Daniel 10, this final section starts with
Daniel fasting and praying when an angelic visitor shows up. The visitor brings to Daniel a detailed prophetic
look at the future of Daniel’s people, the Jews.
Daniel 11 started with the amazing details laid out of the various kingdoms
that would one day fight over Israel, leading up to the wicked king known as Antiochus
Epiphanes around 150 BC.
Last week we saw how the prophecy jumped from the time of Antiochus
Epiphanes to the time of the antichrist.
Daniel was given a peek at the character of this future individual, as
well as some of the battles he would be fighting. The antichrist will be considered the
“savior”, the “Messiah” of Israel as he comes to rescue Israel from its
attackers.
12:1 Michael’s
Battle
:1 “At that time Michael shall stand up, The great prince who stands watch
over the sons of your people; And there shall be a time of trouble, Such as
never was since there was a nation, Even to that time. And at that time your people shall be delivered, Every one who is found written in the book.
:1 At that time
At the time of the “antichrist”
The last chapter ended with the
antichrist setting up his headquarters in Jerusalem.
(Da 11:45 NKJV) And he shall plant
the tents of his palace between the seas and the glorious holy mountain; yet he
shall come to his end, and no one will help him.
We are in the future period of time
known as the “Tribulation”.
:1 Michael shall stand up
Michael – Miyka’el – “who is like God”
We saw him back in chapter 10 when he had been involved in an angelic/spiritual
battle to help the angel who is now delivering these messages to Daniel.
(Da 10:13 NKJV) But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days;
and behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been
left alone there with the kings of Persia.
The angel speaking with Daniel
called Michael “your prince”
(Da 10:21 NKJV) But I will tell you
what is noted in the Scripture of Truth. (No one upholds me against these,
except Michael your prince.
Here he is referred to as “The great prince”
Paul writes,
(Eph 6:12 NKJV) For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities,
against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against
spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
Webster defines “principality” as the “office or authority
of a prince; the territory or jurisdiction of a prince”.
The principalities and powers that Paul is talking about
are the various rankings of fallen angels.
Michael is in God’s army.
He is an “archangel”, one of the chief princes in among the good angels.
He “stands” up, over Daniel’s people.
stand – ‘amad – to stand, remain, endure, take one’s stand
One of Michael’s chief responsibilities is to protect God’s chosen, the
Jews.
During the Tribulation, Michael will step in to protect Israel.
The timing of Michael’s “standing up” for Israel coincides with the fleeing
of the Jews into the wilderness for the last 3 ½ years of the Tribulation. John records:
(Re 12:6 NKJV) Then the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place
prepared by God, that they should feed her there one
thousand two hundred and sixty days.
The “woman” in Revelation 12 is a symbol for the nation of Israel.
When Israel flees into the wilderness, John records that Michael and his
armies wage a war in heaven, coinciding with our passage saying that Michael
“stands up”.
(Re 12:7–11 NKJV) —7 And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the
dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, 8 but they did not prevail, nor was
a place found for them in heaven any longer. 9 So the great dragon was cast out,
that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world;
he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
Things in heaven are intimately entwined with the things going on down on
the earth. This physical protection by
Michael for the Jews is directly related to this victory occurring in heaven.
10 Then I
heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the
kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of
our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast
down.
Note: Some people think that Satan
was cast out of heaven back in the Garden of Eden. Not so.
Satan still has access to heaven where he functions as the “accuser of
the brethren”. He still accuses you
before God.
Michael is fighting a war in heaven, but the victory is connected to the
believers on the earth. We saw back in
Daniel 10 how Daniel’s praying on earth was affecting the battles of the
angelic warriors.
11 And they
overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and
they did not love their lives to the death.
The weapons that bring victory are not weapons that angels use, but weapons
that humans use. These three weapons are
uniquely given to human believers:
Lesson
Blood
They overcame by “the blood of the Lamb”.
One of the battles we face on a daily basis is the condemnation that Satan
constantly levels at us.
Our sins and the condemnation that we deserve are very, very real. To
satisfy the justice of God, a price has to be paid. The price attached to sin
is “death”.
From the earliest of times, God began to make a way for the price to be
paid, through sacrifice and the shedding of blood.
(Le
17:11 NKJV) For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given
it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the
blood that makes atonement for the soul.’
When an animal was sacrificed in the Old Testament, its
blood was poured out as a picture of a life being given to pay for your sin.
The writer of Hebrews wrote,
(Heb 9:13–14 NKJV) —13 For if the
blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean,
sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, 14 how much more shall the blood of
Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God,
cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
When a person turns to Christ for forgiveness, His blood pays for their
sins.
(Jn 3:16 NKJV) For God so
loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in
Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
God “gave” His Son as a sacrifice to pay for our sins.
Satan comes to condemn us for our sins. Jesus came to forgive us. The victory happening here involves people
turning to Christ for forgiveness.
For you and I, there is a continuing victory we need to walk in, the
victory over Satan’s continual condemnation.
The Bible says,
(1 Jn 1:9 NKJV) If we
confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse
us from all unrighteousness.
There is not a single one of us here who has stopped
sinning. Hopefully as we grow as
Christians we will learn how to sin less, but we will never become “sinless”,
not in these flawed bodies.
One of the things that Satan will use to keep you from
serving God is guilt over your sin.
My friend, don’t hide your sin. Allow God to cleanse you again. He wants to give you victory in this battle
we face against Satan.
Lesson
Word
They overcame by “the word of their testimony”.
The word of God, the Bible, is the word of their “testimony”.
The Bible is one of our greatest spiritual weapons we possess.
It’s called the “sword of the Spirit” (Eph. 6:17)
(Eph 6:17 NKJV) …the sword
of the Spirit, which is the word of God
It’s sharper than any other sword (Heb. 4:12)
(Heb 4:12 NKJV) For the
word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged
sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and
marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
It’s like in those video games when you no longer have to carry around your
starter sword, but finally earn the “Master Sword” that beats all your enemies.
Play Legend
of Zelda clip
How is the Bible a weapon?
It is powerful because it contains the truth, like the truth of where we turn.
Satan is a liar, and plans to lead you down the wrong
path.
God’s Word points out the right path.
(Ps
119:105 NKJV) Your word is a lamp to my feet And
a light to my path.
It contains that truth about what God
thinks about you.
Satan wants you to
think that you’ve disappointed God too many times and that God no longer cares
about you.
God says,
(Je 31:3 NKJV) The Lord has appeared of old to me, saying:
“Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore with lovingkindness
I have drawn you.
It contains the truth about what is right and what is wrong.
Satan would love to poison your life by telling you that
it’s okay to do bad things (after all, isn’t everyone else doing it?)
God’s Word reminds you of what is right and what is wrong.
(Ps
119:11 NKJV) Your word I have hidden in my heart, That
I might not sin against You.
The problem is, some people don’t take the sword very seriously
God’s Word isn’t meant to be “juggled”.
It’s meant for serious warfare.
Sometimes we can get sidetracked by “juggling” curious little things in
God’s Word, when it’s meant to help us, guide us, and change us.
(Jas
1:22 NLT) But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says.
Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves.
Some of these things we’re
looking at concerning the end times can get us thinking the Bible is just
filled with curious little facts.
It’s meant for us to obey.
That’s how we use the sword.
Lesson
Priorities
They overcame because “they did not love their lives to the death”.
They had priorities in life, and their own safety and comfort were not
their priorities.
These future believers would rather face death than disappoint their God.
They remind us a lot of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These three young men were told to bow down
to Nebuchadnezzar’s idol or die. It’s
like your worldly friends telling you to do bad things or they won’t be your
friend…
(Da 3:17–18 NKJV)
—17 If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to
deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from
your hand, O king. 18 But if not,
let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we
worship the gold image which you have set up.”
When the command came for everyone to bow before the statue, they remained
on their feet.
Play “The Bible – Fiery Furnace Edited” clip.
(Mt 16:24–26 NKJV) —24 Then
Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny
himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. 25 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but
whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. 26 For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world,
and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?
We are blessed to live in a nation where we don’t face actual death for
exercising our beliefs. But we do
constantly face choices of whether or not we will compromise our faith. The world doesn’t want us to get too radical
in how we live for Jesus.
We tell ourselves
it is okay to watch things on TV or the movies that lead us down the path of
denying the Lord.
We tell ourselves
it is okay to have sex with our girlfriend without getting married.
For us it’s not “Deny Jesus or die”.
For us it’s “Do stupid things or I won’t be your friend”.
What are your priorities?
Who do you want to please? Your friends? Yourself? Or God?
:1
there shall be a time of trouble
trouble – tsarah
– difficult, distress, trouble
The word “trouble” is the same word used by Jeremiah
(Je 30:7 NKJV) Alas! For that day is
great, So that none is like it; And it is
the time of Jacob’s trouble, But he shall be saved out of it.
Jesus also described this time period:
(Mt 24:15–21 NKJV)
—15 “Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’
spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” (whoever reads,
let him understand), 16 “then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 Let him
who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house. 18 And let
him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. 19 But woe to
those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! 20 And pray
that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath. 21 For then
there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of
the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be.
This is that time period that we
call “The Great Tribulation”.
We use the word “Tribulation” to describe the last seven years before Jesus
comes back.
We talked about this in Daniel 9 as the “Seventieth Week” of Daniel.
In the middle of this seven year period, the
antichrist will declare himself to be “god” in the Temple.
It’s this last half of the Tribulation that is
known as the “Great Tribulation”, when things in the world go from really bad
to “you ain’t seen nothin’
yet”.
It is interesting to note that In Islam, they too are looking for a coming
Savior who will rule the world and bring in righteousness and peace. He is referred to as the “Mahdi”, or the “Twelfth
Imam”. He is said to one day rule for
seven years (or five years, or nine years) before the world is destroyed and
mankind is judged. Islam also believes
that Jesus Christ will return (known as “Isa”), but Jesus is only returning to
help the Mahdi.
Some have suggested that if an individual arises who is acknowledged by
Islam as the “Mahdi”, that this individual might actually be the antichrist.
:1 your people shall be delivered
delivered – malat
– to slip away, escape, deliver, save, be delivered
I don’t think this just means that
the Jews will be rescued from the antichrist (which is true), but they will
find the real Messiah as well.
Paul writes of the time when Israel is saved:
(Ro 11:25–26 NKJV)
—25 For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this
mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part
has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. 26 And so all
Israel will be saved, as it is written: “The Deliverer will come out of
Zion, And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob
The “blindness” will be removed from Israel when the “fullness of the
Gentiles” comes about. For now, we are
living in the time when God is primarily working through the Gentile church. I believe there is a “number” in God’s mind,
and when the church reaches the size of that “number”, the Rapture will take
place, we’ll be taken to heaven, and God’s time clock with the nation of Israel
will once again begin – starting the seven year tribulation period.
As the Jewish nation begins to turn to Jesus as their Messiah, and the
antichrist shows his true colors, they will flee into the wilderness and be
“saved”.
:1 Every one who is found written in the
book
Not everyone will be saved. Not
every Jew will be saved at this time.
Not every Gentile will be saved.
Only those whose names are found written in this
“book”.
The Bible indicates that God has a “book” with the names of those who are
saved. Paul writes,
(Php 4:3 NKJV) And I urge
you also, true companion, help these women who labored with me in the gospel,
with Clement also, and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in
the Book of Life.
If your name is not in the “book”, you will not go to heaven.
(Re 20:15 NKJV) And anyone
not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.
How do I get my name in the book? You need to believe in Jesus.
(1 Jn 5:11–13 NLT) —11 And this is
what God has testified: He has given us eternal life, and this life is in his
Son. 12 Whoever
has the Son has life; whoever does not have God’s Son does not have life. 13 I have
written this to you who believe in the name of the Son of God,
so that you may know you have eternal life.