Thy Kingdom Come – Part 2

Remember in Daniel 7 we were introduced to a new section of the book (just a little review). Tonight, we’re introduced to a new section of the book of Daniel which is prophecy. Chapters 1-6 are the story of Daniel and his friends—they deal more with the man Daniel; and chapters 7-12 deal more with the prophecies of Daniel. Daniel had interpreted the king’s dreams, but now Daniel is given his own dreams.

Go back with me to Daniel 7:1. We’re going to get a running start to verse 15 to explain where we’re at. It says, “In the first year of Belshazzar 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.” In verses 1-14, Daniel recorded the dream; and in verses 15-28, Daniel gets the interpretation of the dream. I’ve already given you a lot of the interpretation, but in this dream Daniel saw in his vision (verse 2), “…the four winds of heaven strove upon the great sea,” which is a reference to the Mediterranean Sea, but it’s using it metaphorically of the sea of humanity—how out of the sea of humanity come these four world-ruling empires.

I’m going to try to couch it in the simplest terms that I can. What Daniel is going to see is the four world-ruling empires in succession from Babylon, at his time, all the way down to the Roman Empire, and the Roman Empire is going to be revived in the last days. It will be a confederation of ten nations. At that time, there is going to be a man arise we commonly call the anti-christ. Christ will come and put an end to his reign and set up His kingdom, which is known as the Millennium—one-thousand years of Christ’s theocratic reign upon the earth. After that, the Bible teaches that we flow into the eternal state.

What we’re actually reading tonight, (and as many times as I’ve studied and spent time with again this week) so thrills my heart to realize history is going somewhere! God is in control, and there is going to be this great culmination in the coming again of Jesus Christ. God is going to intervene in the affairs of man, and He is going to actually set up His everlasting kingdom upon the earth where there will be peace and righteousness that will flow into the eternal state. This whole chapter just breathes of hope, even though before we get to that point there are going to be some hardships that we have to pass through known as the tribulation or the Great Tribulation.

Here are the ruling empires that God gave to Daniel, they coincide with Daniel 2 and the vision Nebuchadnezzar had of the statue. “The first, (verse 4), “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.” That’s the kingdom of Babylon, the Babylonian Empire. In verse 5, “And behold another beast, a second, like to a bear, and it raised up itself on one side, and it had three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of it: and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh.” I went into detail about each one of these kingdoms last week. This is the Medo-Persian Empire under Cyrus. In verse 6 there was the Grecian Empire. “After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard, which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl; the beast had also four heads; and dominion was given to it.” This is a reference to the Grecian Empire.

This is exactly what happened in history. First, you had the Babylonian Empire (these are all world-ruling empires), then the Medo-Persian Empire, the Grecian Empire, and (verse 7) “After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast,” this is the one that’s of the most interest to us, “dreadful and terrible,” it wasn’t likened unto a lion, a bear, a leopard, or any known animal because it was so ferocious and terrible. “…and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake 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 ten horns.” This is the Roman Empire. You have the Babylonian Empire gave way to the Medo-Persian Empire gave way to the Grecian Empire gave way to the Roman Empire, which encompassed more area all the way around the Mediterranean Sea and lasted for a longer period of time, broke into two branches, but then off into the future it will have ten horns, which was represented in Nebuchadnezzar’s vision of Daniel 2 by the ten toes in the feet of iron and clay. (Did you guys cue up that image? I should’ve actually gone to the image a lot sooner. Let’s throw it up on the screen again.)

In Daniel 2, Nebuchadnezzar saw the image: a head of gold, breast and arms of silver, belly and thighs of brass, legs of iron, feet and toes of iron and clay, at which time the stone cut without hands was a picture of Jesus Christ and the Second Coming. Then, the stone fills the whole earth—that’s the eternal kingdom, the Millennial reign of Christ. What we see in Daniel 7 is Babylon represented as a lion with wings, which was the image used for Babylon; Medo-Persia as the bear; then Greece and Rome, a freaky-looking beast with some funny-looking eyeballs, but this is a very terrible, fierce beast. It had ten horns, the center horn representing the anti-christ, at which time the Lord returns in judgment and sets up His kingdom. That’s pretty quick and fast, but we’re going to get the interpretation as God gave it to Daniel tonight beginning in verse 15.

We went into all of this last week. It’s hard for me not to read every verse up to verse 15, but let me force myself to do that, okay? Is that okay? If you missed last week—it’s your fault you weren’t here. Verse 15, “I Daniel was grieved in my spirit in the midst of my body, and the visions of my head troubled me.” You would be troubled too if you saw these animals in your dream at night. If you had dreams where you saw these things and realized the implications of what you were seeing, they troubled Daniel. It’s interesting the Hebrew words translated “midst of my body.” The word “midst” there is where we actually get our word “sheath” from—like you would sheath a sword. His body was like a “sheath” in the midst of his heart, mind, and emotions. He felt these things that troubled him.

It says (verse 16), “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.” It doesn't tell us in verse 16 who this individual is that Daniel approaches and asks for the interpretation. It is most commonly believed, and I think rightfully so, that it’s a reference to the angels that were mentioned back in verse 10, “A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened.” This is a reference to angels. There are thousands and thousands and thousands and thousands of angels the Scripture indicates—innumerable. One of these angels, and we see angels all throughout the book of Daniel, Daniel evidently asks for the meaning and the understanding, “So he told me, and made me know the interpretation of the things.” When you read God’s Word and don’t understand, so too we pray and ask God to give us wisdom and understanding.

Now verse 17, “These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth.” Earlier he calls them kingdoms, now he calls them kings. These are terms that are interchangeable or synonymous. They are used to represent the Babylonian Empire, the Medo-Persian Empire, the Grecian Empire, and the Roman Empire as well as the kings that led them. They are four kings and, in this case, they arise out of the earth. Then in verse 18, “But the saints of the most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever.” Actually, the interpretation is given very succinctly in verses 17-18. He doesn’t go on the whole section and give the whole interpretation, just two verses. In two verses he summarizes all of world history to our day and beyond, up to the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. That’s what he does in verses 17 and 18. The main point is verse 18, that “…the saints of the most High shall take the kingdom.”

When the reference is made to “saints” in the book of Daniel, you need to be careful that you don’t understand that as referring to New Testament, church-age Christians. The word “saints” here is used for the Jewish people, the people of God. The word “saint” basically means to be set apart and to be designated as holy. The Old Testament “saints” are the people of Israel. There would even be Gentile proselytes who became Jews and believed in the God of Israel. In the New Testament, anyone born again who is a Christian is a “saint.” When we read the New Testament epistles and Paul’s writing to the “saints” which are at Colossae (we get Sunday morning) he’s not talking about some super elite, deeper life, group of believers that have attained sainthood. He’s talking about all Christians, all believers.

Every Christian is a saint. Someone said, “You’re either a saint or you ain’t.” I like that. It doesn't mean that you glow in the dark, have a halo, you smile all the time, or you touch things and they’re healed. It means that you are set apart or made holy by God. Christians are called “saints,” but don’t get this confused with the New Testament “saints” known as the church made up of Jews and Gentiles—that we’re one in Jesus Christ. It’s a reference (verse 18) to the fact that the Davidic Kingdom, the kingdom God promised to David and to Abraham, will be fulfilled. When you think of the Second Coming and the Millennial reign of Jesus Christ (one thousand years)…which by the way everything I’m explaining is what is called pre-Millennialism. I’m sorry to use that big word, but Christians are divided today as to whether Christ returns before or after the Millennium, and good Christians have different views and interpretations.

I happen to have a pre-Millennial view that Christ returns (it’s kind of hard to have the kingdom without the King) and establishes a literal kingdom upon the earth for a thousand years. The only way to get around that is to spiritualize or allegorize the passages that talk about Christ coming back and setting up a kingdom on earth. To say, “Well, He came back spiritually,” or that “He’s already here,” or “We’re living in the Millennium right now,” and “Satan has been bound,” and “This is the Millennium,” then we’re in big trouble. If satan is bound right now, he’s got an awful long chain because he’s wreaking a lot of havoc in this world. The only real way that you can hold a post-Millennial view is that Christ comes back, and sometimes even Christians believe that we bring the kingdom in by Christianizing the world. Even modern Christians in the United States and western world have been influenced by this concept. That’s why they think, “Christians should take over the media. Christians should take over the bank. Christians should take over politics. Christians should be in control of everything; and we should have the money, we should have the power, and we’re going to Christianize the world and bring back the kingdom.” No we’re not. The world is going to get darker and darker and darker and darker until Jesus Christ returns. Our hope is in Jesus Christ. It’s not in what we’re going to accomplish by our own means. Amen? We’re looking for Jesus Christ to come again.

I personally believe that everything we read and study in Daniel supports a pre-Millennial return of Jesus Christ, that He comes back before the thousand-year reign of Christ. I also believe in a pre-tribulational rapture of the church, and I’m going to try to put that piece of the puzzle in tonight as I did last week as well. The church is caught up before the seven years of tribulation. Don’t miss Daniel 9 when we study the 70 weeks of Daniel and lay it all out for you. We’re going to have a time chart on the screens and look at and tie it in with the Scriptures; but the church is caught up, there’s seven years of tribulation, Christ returns, then there’s the thousand-year reign, and the new heaven and new earth wherein dwells righteousness. There are a lot of other things that happen all in between that, but let’s continue here in our passage.

Daniel was given the explanation (verses 17-18). “Then I would know the truth of the fourth beast,” it’s interesting he didn’t say, “What about the lion with the wings?” or “What about the leopard with the four heads and the four wings?” or “What about that bear? Those bears are pretty awesome!” He didn’t ask about any of the first three kingdoms. He just said, “I want to know the truth of the fourth beast.” This is the Roman kingdom. This is the one that would, in some sense, continue and be revived in the last days. We’re still waiting for the revival of this fourth kingdom. Now, if the first three kingdoms and then Rome came as God predicted, I believe this final kingdom, which will give birth to the anti-christ and then Jesus Christ, will come just as God has predicted it would have.

So Daniel says in verse 19, “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, brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with his feet.” “I want to know about that.” “And of the ten horns that were in his head, and of the other which came up, and before whom three fell; even of that horn…,” and here it is, notice carefully, “that had eyes, and a mouth that spake very great things, whose look was more stout than his fellows.” Just a little note there, and we’ll get into it more in just a second. This is the last world-ruling empire, a confederation of ten nations, which is a revival of the Roman Empire, out of which will come this horn representing the anti-christ who had eyes, which speaks of intelligence, and a mouth, speaking that he had great oratory ability. He is going to be a great and powerful charismatic leader.

Verse 21, “I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints,” there again, the anti-christ making war with the saints, which are the Jewish people as well as tribulation saints which will primarily be, I believe, Jewish people and Gentiles mixed in with that, “and prevailed against them; 22 Until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.” You could stop right there and just shout, “Hallelujah!” Right? “…the saints possessed the kingdom.” It’s hard for me to keep reading and keep talking because I’m so stoked! (That means happy, excited.)

I remember when the word “stoked” first came out. I’m a surfer and I started surfing in 1966. “Stoked” is a surf word. I used to say “stoked” in the pulpit and people would look at me like, “What are you talking about?” Of course, everybody uses it now, but I used to have to explain it means happy, excited. Groovy, huh! Actually, groovy has nothing to do with “stoked,” but we won’t go there right now.

Daniel has just been given this whole thing, and the thing that really gets you excited (stoked) is that the Lord’s coming back! Jesus is coming back! So, if you’re all bummed out about Donald Trump, hang on! The Lord’s coming back! If you’re all bummed out about North Korea and Iran and Syria and Russia and all the stuff going on over all the world today—we have a future, we have a hope, and it’s in Jesus Christ! When you read about these kingdoms of man, which in conclusion I’ll talk about it, God sees as just beasts. Man sees his own kingdoms as glorious and wonderful. God says, “They are just like wild ravenous beasts.” Truly, the kingdoms of men have just been like ravenous beasts—the wars and the fighting and the horrors of man’s kingdoms. They’re all going to come to an end, and the kingdom is going to be given over to the saints and (verse 22) “the Ancient of days…,” is going to come and the “…most High…,” shall establish His kingdom forever and ever and ever and ever.

Verse 23, “Thus he said, The fourth beast,” Daniel wanted to know all about this fourth beast so this angel, I believe, is going to give Daniel all the details about this fourth beast. “…shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.” The Roman Empire, and then it morphs in the last days into these ten horns, “And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them,” so ten horns and then an eleventh horn. This other horn comes up, “and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.”

Horns in the Bible speak of power and authority. For an animal, a horn was its power. The horn is representative of someone with great power and authority. In describing this other horn, it says (verse 25) “And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints,” which means he’s going to persecute the saints “of the most High, and think to change times and laws,” which indicates that he’s attacking the Jewish people primarily, and he’s trying to change their holy days and their laws, “and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time. 26 But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end. 27 And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, 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.” Praise God! “Hitherto is the end of the matter. As for me Daniel, my cogitations much troubled me, and my countenance changed in me: but I kept the matter in my heart.” And, we do well to keep the matter in our hearts.

Let’s go back. If you’re taking notes, get ready for some cross-referencing. We’re going to turn to some other places in the New Testament to fill in these gaps. Go back in verse 23, the fourth beast, which was Rome, out of that fourth beast comes (verse 24) “…ten horns out of this kingdom are 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.” This very simply stated in Nebuchadnezzar’s image of the statue is the toes of iron and clay which speaks of an inferior revived Roman Empire, thus the clay, and the ten toes coincide with the ten horns. Out of those ten horns comes another little horn. This is a reference (and it’s a whole massive study all on its own) of this individual that is commonly referred to as the anti-christ. He is going to be given different names and different titles. As you go through the book of Daniel and as you find him in the New Testament, we’ll get some of those, but the anti-christ is going to be the last world-ruler of man.

You have Babylon with Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar; the Medo-Persian Empire with Darius the Mede; the Grecian Empire, Alexander the Great and his four generals that took over after he died; and then you have the Roman Empire. In the Roman Empire, you have the Caesars. We think of Caesar Nero who began the persecution of Christians. In some ways, he prefigured the anti-christ in his hatred for and his attacking Christians. You have the Caesars which claimed to be God and wanted to be worshiped. If you were a Christian living in Rome, you would be required to take some incense, throw it on an altar, and say, “Caesar is lord.” Christians wouldn’t do that. Because they wouldn’t do that, they were thrown to the lions and were persecuted. Out of this fourth kingdom, this Roman Empire, in the last days it’s going to be revived. It’s said that the nursery rhyme “Humpty Dumpty” was actually written about man’s futile attempts to try to revive the Roman Empire. It actually will be revived, but it will be revived by God and will be a coalition of ten nations out of which will come, many feel somewhere in Europe, this leader that will actually take over the world.

What we see in the world being unified today and this one world kind of set up being structured with the unification of the world and globalism, the worldwide web, and the high speed of travel. The world has been shrunk down from the ancient world. People right now are perhaps watching Revival Christian Fellowship live on the internet, in other parts of the United States, and other parts of the world. I get letters from my friends in Australia, that join us on Wednesday night, and other places around the world that log in live and watch what’s going on. The world has been shrunk down, and you can watch live webcasts of things going on all around the world. It used to be that people would read these prophecies and wonder, “How could the world become one?” and “How could there be another one-world government?” We see that there’s a move and a push today for the unifying of the world. Some actually believe that if we don’t eliminate all the nations of the world and just become one that we’re not going to be able to survive on planet earth. The stage is being set for another world-ruling empire.

Write this down. In Revelation 6, you have the four horsemen and this horseman that comes on a white horse. This white-horse rider who has a bow in his hand but no arrows is not Jesus Christ, but he’s the anti-christ. Now, when we use the term “anti-christ,” it’s used in different ways in the Bible. It’s used for the individual we know as this man of sin, the son of perdition, this mouth speaking great things, the little horn and so forth. It’s known as an individual who will be against Christ and come in the place of Christ. He's a pseudo-Christ. People are going to believe that when he comes on the scene (he’s coming yet future) that he is the savior of the world. Initially, even the Jewish people will believe that he is their messiah and the savior. Many believe that he will actually negotiate a peace treaty with the nation of Israel and their Arab neighbors and reconcile and bring peace to the middle east. I laugh at all man’s futile attempts to try to work out the Palestinian and the Jewish-Arab problem, but the anti-christ is going to resolve that problem. Everyone is going to hail him as a wonder worker, a miracle worker. He’s going to come with peace. He’s going to come on a white horse and has a bow, but he doesn’t have any arrows. People are going to recognize him as being this great leader.

When Adolf Hitler came on the scene, everyone thought he was wonderful—at least in Germany—and even in the west they thought he was okay. He gave these great speeches, mesmerized the crowds, and led the nation. Then his true colors were manifested. Again, in a way, he kind of prefigures this anti-christ, but all of these world rulers are going to be rolled into this one man—this man who satan gives his power, seat, and authority. His reign is going to be short-lived. Jesus said, “Unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved.” Jesus actually said in Matthew 24, the Olivet discourse, that there is going to come in the last days false christs, false messiahs, and false prophets and shall deceive many. We need to make sure that we are careful, but I believe the church will be caught up before this anti-christ is revealed, and I’m going to show you that in just a moment.

The first reference I wanted to give you is Revelation 6, the white horse rider comes on the scene and comes in peace. Then, in Revelation 13, which we read last week, (I want you to hold your place here in Daniel and turn there with me) John said, “And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea,” this is the same individual, this man of sin, “having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. 2 And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard,” there it is, “and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon,” which is a reference to satan, “gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.” This is one of the places in the book of Revelation where you have a great description about this man, this little horn, that Daniel describes in the last days is going to come on the scene.

In verse 3 he says, “And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.” Some feel that there will be an assassination attempt, he’ll survive it, and everyone will believe that he’s miraculously recovered and follow after him. There will be wonder, then worship, “…they worshiped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?’” Then in verse 5, we looked at it last week, “And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things…,” we read that in Daniel 7:8, “and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue…,” I want you to notice this reference here, “forty and two months.” That is three-and-a-half years. We just read about it in Daniel. It was called a time, times, and half a time. We’re going to go back there in just a moment, and I’ll point it out to you, but a time, times, and a half a time is one, two, and a half year, so three-and-a-half years.

When Nebuchadnezzar went insane, he went insane until seven times passed over him. It was seven years of insanity. So, this “times” is a reference to one year. It coincides with this 42 months here. It’s the same as the three-and-a-half years, 42 months, or 1,260 days we’ll see in just a moment. “And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. 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 nations. 8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” We stopped here last week. I want to keep reading verse 9. “If any man have an ear, let him hear. 10 He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints. 11 And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.”

We didn’t get this last week, this other beast is known as the false prophet, so don’t get confused. You have the anti-christ, whose also a horn, but then you have another horn raised up. He is the false prophet. He is the religious sidekick that works together with this anti-christ. “And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast,” which is the anti-christ “before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. 13 And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, 14 And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast,” that is the anti-christ, “which had the wound by a sword, and did live. 15 And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. 16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: 17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. 18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six,” or 666. Again, all this happens after the rapture when the anti-christ is revealed. This is a graphic description coinciding with what Daniel gave us there in the Old Testament book of Daniel.

Turn with me again now in the New Testament to 2 Thessalonians 2. Rather than just relate these to you, I wanted you to see them. These are the classic passages on the anti-christ. In 2 Thessalonians 2:1, “Now, we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, 2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand,” or literally, the day of the Lord is at hand. Paul is writing to the believers in Thessalonica saying, “Don’t be freaking out thinking that you’re in the tribulation. Don’t worry or think that the day of the Lord has come,” because he tells them, “these certain things have to happen before the day of the Lord can develop.” Verse 3, “Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day,” what day? The day of the Lord. It’s called the day of Christ in verse 2, but in the Greek it actually is the day of the Lord. Then it says, “Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first,” and here he is, “and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition,” he doesn’t call him the anti-christ, he doesn’t call him the little horn, he doesn’t call him Mr. Big Mouth, he calls him the son of perdition.

Notice what he’s going to do in verse 4, “Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. 5 Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? 6 And now ye know what withholdeth,” something is holding him back (this is what Paul is saying), something is hindering him, “that he might be revealed in his time. 7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth,” hinders, “will let,” hinder, “until he be taken out of the way.” And when the hindering forces be taken out of the way (verse 8) “And then shall that Wicked be revealed,” referring to the anti-christ, “whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming,” it happens in Revelation 19:19. “Even him,” referring to this anti-christ, “whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11 And for this cause God shall send them,” or God allows them to experience “strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: 12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”

I know I’m kind of dumping a lot on you right now, and you’re saying, “All you’re doing is reading a bunch of stuff and you don’t say anything.” I wanted you to see all these verses and try to put the pieces of the puzzle together. Now, I’m going to turn back to Revelation 19 in just a minute, but go back to Daniel 7.

The anti-christ comes on the scene riding a white horse, makes a covenant with Israel for seven years, and in the middle of the seven years of tribulation, which would be three-and-a-half years, he commits what is known as (we’ll get it in Daniel 9) the abomination of desolation. Basically, he erects an image of himself in the rebuilt temple in Jerusalem and commands everyone to worship him. That’s what it says in Revelation 13. That’s what it says in 2 Thessalonians 2, that he claims to be God, he speaks against God, but commands everyone to worship him. No one can buy or sell unless they have a mark on their right hand or on their forehead, and he’s the number of a man, 666.

We have now the set up and the system to where we can put a chip under the skin, and you can conveniently scan your hand, forehead, or whatever it might be. All your information is stored in that chip, and all of your funds are electronically withdrawn. I mean, very few people carry around cash anymore. We’re just about to a cashless society, and this is what this anti-christ is going to institute—no one can buy or sell without this mark on their right hand or their forehead.

Going back to Daniel 7:25, we see that these ten kings, he eliminates three, comes to power, “And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints,” these are tribulation saints, the Jews and Gentile believers in Jesus, “and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until,” here it is,“a time and times and the dividing of time.” This is one, two, and a half years—3-1/2 years. This is referenced in Revelation 13:5, we just read 42 months. It’s also referred to in Revelation 12:14 “as a time, and times, and half a time.” It’s also referred to in Jeremiah 30:7 as “the time of Jacob’s trouble,” which is the seven-year period of tribulation, the last three-and-a-half being that time of Jacob’s trouble, the time of great tribulation.

I pointed out last Wednesday, and I would mention it again, that this period of time is covered by Jesus in Matthew 24 and 25 in the Olivet discourse and in Revelation chapters 6-19 is the great tribulation period. I believe the church is raptured or caught up and no longer on planet earth, no longer here. We will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air and we’ll be in heaven. We are what we read about just a moment ago, the Holy Spirit working through the church as that which is holding back or restraining the Revelation, the disclosure of the anti-christ.

Now, all the way back to Caesar Nero, all the way up to modern times, I mean to the present President, Donald Trump, Barak Obama, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan—people have believed they were this anti-christ. People thought that Adolf Hitler was the anti-christ. People often want to know, “Is he alive today? Is he living in the world?” He’s probably in Barstow somewhere, I don’t know. I’ve actually heard people say, “He lives in London in an apartment.” I don’t know how they’d know that because I’m not looking for the anti-christ, I’m looking for Jesus Christ! Amen? But he is going to come, and he’s going to be invested with satan’s power. He’s going to be this world ruler, but he’s only going to last for three-and-a-half years (verse 25) or 1,260 days. His reign and his power are going to be short-lived because in verse 26 of Daniel 7, this is what happens, “But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion,” we just read in 2 Thessalonians 2:8 that the Lord is going to come “and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming.” Jesus is going to come as the judge.

The stone cut without hands is going to strike that image on the feet, and the whole kingdoms of man are going to crumble and come to an end, “And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, 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.” This is what Jesus said in his Beatitudes, “the meek shall inherit the earth.” Isn’t that awesome? The meek shall inherit the earth. You have all these kingdoms of men, all these world rulers likened unto the lion, the bear, the leopard, and this fierce beast. They think they’re so powerful and so wonderful, but they are nothing but beasts in the eyes of God.

Do you know what this tells us? It tells us that God doesn’t think anything of the kingdoms of men. They’re just a drop in the bucket to God. It also tells us that the kingdoms of men will come to an end. The world, as we know it, will come to an end. It also tells us that God’s kingdom is going to come. It’s going to be established, and God is going to intervene just as Jesus came the first time, which was God coming to earth. He came, though, as a little baby through the womb of a virgin. He was clothed in humanity and humility, and he suffered and died on a cross. He was buried and resurrected, and He bodily, physically ascended right back up into heaven. Right now He is seated at the right hand of God the Father in heaven. That same Jesus is coming back. Amen? And, Daniel is giving us this whole panoramic picture of the kingdoms of men—they all come to naught. God’s kingdom comes, and the meek will inherit the earth, and when you pray, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done,” that prayer is going to be answered. All the prayers of all the saints through all the ages, “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” God’s kingdom is going to come, and Jesus is going to reign in righteousness.

I know I’ve covered a lot, said a lot, and probably confused you all, but I want you to turn, in closing, to Revelation 19:11. This is the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. He wipes out this false prophet and this beast and sets up His kingdom. “And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse,” this isn’t the anti-christ, this is Jesus Christ, “and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. 12 His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. 13 And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. 14 And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. 15 And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations,” that’s the end of man’s kingdoms, the end of all the rules of man. Babylon died. Medo-Persia died. Greece died. Rome is going to be destroyed. The kingdom of the anti-christ will be destroyed. “…and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. 16 And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS. 17 And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God; 18 That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great. 19 And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together,” this great beast is that little horn—the man that had the horn that had the eyes and the mouth and the anti-christ, “to make war against him,” that is, Jesus Christ, “ that sat on the horse, and against his army.”

The anti-christ is going to actually try to fight against Jesus Christ. “And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. 21 And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.” And we can’t stop yet, Revelation 20, “And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. 2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, 3 And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more.” He shall deceive the nations no more! No more Babylon. No more Medo-Persia. Nor more Greece. No more Rome. No more kingdoms of man. No more United States. No more Russia. No more North Korea. No more Iran. No more Syria. No more shall be the kingdoms of men, and he shall shut him up in the bottomless pit, “and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.”

You say, “Well, why did you read that last verse? Man, we had the dude locked up! We had the dude all locked up and there he gets free again!” Don’t worry, all is well. You, the church, are in glorified bodies. You’re co-reigning with Christ. You cannot be deceived. You cannot be led astray. Satan cannot touch you. He will lead an army to deceive and to war against Christ, but he will be destroyed in a moment. Then, Christ will sit upon the throne. He’ll judge the wicked, dead; and the eternal state will be ushered in. It’s hard for me to stop because it just keeps going in the book of Revelation, and there’s a new heaven and a new earth. There are streets of gold, there’s a river of life, the fruit trees, the garden, the gates and all the angels…and it’s gonna be awesome and you’re going to be stoked! Amen?

You say, “John, I can’t believe this. All this in Daniel 7?” That’s right. All this is packed in Daniel 7. What a great God we serve! What a mighty God we serve! Amen?