The
American
Wisdom Series
Presents
Daniel
chapter 8
Remember
"beasts" are also symbolic
of kingdoms or nations.
So the
question is today,
"Who
can stand against the greatest
superpower of all time?"
By the
way, the two horns of the
ram have been
doing a
little "pushing" of the
nations lately, haven't they?
These are exciting times in which
we live, are they not?
The
events that are transpiring
right before our very eyes were written of long ago in our Father's
Word,
many of them right here in this Book of Daniel that was specifically
written
for the last days.
We
noted numerous times that in
Daniel chapter 12 the angel told Daniel to close the book, to
seal up
the words until the time of the end and then the wise would understand.
We
also noted many times that Jesus
Christ told us if we wanted to understand that which concerns
the abomination
of desolation then we need to go read what the prophet Daniel has to
say.
So certainly this is a timely
book concerning the events
that are happening even this very day since as we went to war with Iraq to oust
that little dictator who lived in the land of Babylon.
What
a time in which to live!
In our last study we finished the
seventh chapter where
Daniel saw a vision, which was a summation, an overview of the One
World
System giving us the characteristics and makeup of the beast right up
to
the time when the fourth beast takes over and tramples down the others.
He then continued with the vision
all the way to the conclusion
of the matter when the saints of the most High take the kingdom and
possess
it for ever and ever.
We talked about how many scholars
refer to that fourth
beast as the non-descript beast because it is not likened unto a
beastly
creature like the other dominions who are likened unto a lion, a bear,
and a leopard.
Of course the reason for that is
this beast has seven
heads and ten horns and there just isn't any creature on God's earth
who
fits that description.
We
learned that this multi-headed
one world system with 10 earthly kings is eventually headed by Satan
and
his 10 supernatural kings, who are his angels who are cast out of
heaven
with him as per Rev. 12:7-9.
Keep in mind that it was the
summation of the matter,
the overview of the beast system, that we were given to know and
understand
from Daniel's vision in chapter seven which occurred during the first
year
of the reign of king Belshazzar, the last king of Babylon.
Now,
two years later we are given
some more details concerning the events leading up
to the entrance
of the little horn and so we move to the third year of the reign of
king
Belshazzar.
He's the one who held that great
idolatrous feast with
his lords and his wives and his concubines and brought the golden and
silver
vessels from the house of God and drank wine in them and exalted
himself
against the God of heaven.
He was then slain and his kingdom
was taken and given
to the Medes and Persians.
We
also now return from the language
of the Chaldeans to pure Hebrew as we learn how the
captivity specifically
affects the house of Israel, the true house of Israel, the so called
lost
tribes of the house of Israel.
The
wise in this final generation
know that those tribes are not really lost at all, except
to
themselves because they have forsaken the knowledge of their
Father's
Word.
Secular
history itself confirms
that following the captivity of Israel those tribes went up over the
Caucasus
Mountains and became know as Caucasians and migrated by way of greater
Scythia becoming known as Celts and Saxxons (I-Saac's sons), etc.
They
settled in Western Europe,
in the Isles of the West, and many later migrated to the Americas.
You
"see", it was a promise from
our Heavenly Father to our father Abraham, which He confirmed in Isaac
and in Jacob, that his seed would become as numerous as sand of the sea
and stars of the sky... and so they have!
The
point is that if you do not
know who America and Great Britain are in God's Word, then
you cannot possibly even begin to understand the prophecies spoken of
pertaining
to these last days.
One
other item we should make note
of before we begin this 8th chapter, is that just like the dream and
visions
Daniel saw in chapter 7 were later made known and interpreted by an
angel,
so also shall the vision Daniel sees in this 8th chapter be made known
later by an angel.
As a reminder, we are now in the
3rd year of the reign
of king Belshazzar, the final year of his reign, and we have returned
to
pure Hebrew.
Geographically
speaking, toward the east was Babylonia
and Persia where Iran and Iraq are today and toward the south was Egypt.
However,
we shall see that the little
horn, the false messiah, waxes great in all directions meaning over the
whole land, toward all four corners of the earth, even specifically in
the "pleasant land" mentioned here which is the land of Judea, the
place
where the abomination of desolation (the little horn) comes and stands
where he ought not (Mark 13:14) and spreads forth his desolations
throughout
all the earth!
As
it is written, he will show forth
great signs and wonders and perform miracles in the sight of men to
deceive
the whole world (Rev. 13:14) and those signs and wonders and miracles
of
Satan and his angels will be of such magnitude that if it were
possible,
he could deceive even the very elect (Mat. 24:24).
Unfortunately
it is commonly taught
(albeit in error) in most of the Christian churches in this nation that
Satan will cause much havoc and physical destruction when he arrives.
Of course most of the preachers
and evangelists and ministers
only guess and speculate who the little horn is for they do not study
and
rightly divide the Word of Truth to know that he is a most beautiful
cherub
(Ezek. 28) who appears as an angel of light, though spiritually
speaking
he brings with him nothing but utter darkness!
The majority believe the "little
horn" must be a human
being who is alive on earth now and living who-knows-where just waiting
to be revealed.
Once again, the popularity of
Biblical illiteracy, which is now running rampant in most of our so-called Christian churches, has
allowed the blind to mislead the blind for Rev. 12:7-9 lets us know
where
Satan is at this time, and it is not here on earth... at least not yet!
His
evil spirit is here just
as the Holy Spirit is here, but soon he will be cast out of
heaven
to this earth with his host of angels and will take the world by storm! And not as a human being; But as the supernatural being he is and they are!
See
that you are not quick and ready to fly to the first supernatural
entity
that comes to this earth!
Hopefully that will
not come as a surprise to you for you should already know that the
abomination
of desolation's (Satan's) weapons of mass destruction (spiritual
desolation)
in these last days are spiritual in
nature.
That
is why they are hidden from the view of most people, even most
Christians,
who look for physical famines and nuclear holocausts to consummate the
end of this age.
No,
Satan's weapons are peace and prosperity through the Four Hidden
Dynasties
of Politics, Education, Economics and Religion.
That is why we are to "be strong
in the Lord, and in the
power of his might" and "put on the whole armor of God", His Word, and
be ready to "take a stand against the fiery darts of the Wicked One
(Eph.
6:10-17)".
Are
you prepared and ready?
These
are exciting times in which
we live and the events that are happening in our day were written of
long
ago in our Father's Word!
So
stay focused in His Word and
you will always be in know!
Tell it
to your Children!
Tell it to your grand children!
and to your
great-grandchildren!
The great tribulation of these last
days is not physical warfare,
but rather a spiritual battle,
a battle for the minds and souls
of men and women alike.
That is why Christians are to put on the whole armour
of God, the gospel armor Paul speaks of in Ephesians chapter six.
Does it not make sense that if one
needs to put on and become trained in the use of protective armor and offensive
weaponry to wage war against flesh and blood, that in order to wage a war
of words and ideologies against principalities, against powers, against
darkness and spiritual wickedness in high places, one needs to put on and
become trained and equipped in the use of spiritual armor and spiritual offensive
weaponry?
Of course, the analogy is to the point and for that reason
the apostle Paul uses physical armor and the offensive weapon of the sword
to illustrate how one should array and prepare himself or herself to be
able to take a stand against the spiritually fiery darts of the wicked
one, Satan himself.
So the question is: "How spiritually
dressed are you with the whole armor of God and how well trained in the
use of His Sword, Word of God, are you?
Are you mentally and spiritually ready and prepared to
take a stand against "the little horn" and his flood of lies and deceit?
Ephes.
6:12-13
For we wrestle
not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against
powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual
wickedness in high places.
[13]
Wherefore
take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand
in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
[14]
Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth,
and having on the breastplate of righteousness;
[15]
And your feet shod with the preparation of the gos-pel of peace;
[16] Above
all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able
to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
[17]
And
take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit,
which is the word of God:
Tell it
to your Children! Tell it to their Children! and to your great-grandchildren!
Though Satan has already deceived
the majority of Christians into believing he shall cause much physical
death and bloodshed when he comes, the fact of the matter is that the mass
desolation he causes is
spiritual desolation, not physical.
It is real easy to document from
2 Thes. 2:1-12 that the sin of, the son of perdition is he comes and sits in
the temple of God claiming to be God BEFORE Jesus Christ, the true bridegroom,
returns at the sound of the 7th Trump.
Amazing, isn't it?
He is coming to play the role of
Jesus Christ and most Christians will believe that he is, simply because
of the great wonders and miracles he performs in the sight of men.
Remember once again that Jesus told us in Matthew 24 and
Mark 13 that if we want to understand the coming of this one whom He calls
the "abomination of desolation", the abominable one who comes and stands
in the holy place and makes desolate the sanctuary and the host, that he
is spoken of by the prophet Daniel.
Therefore, we are to be wise enough
to take the hint and go read what Daniel has to say, which is exactly what
we are doing.
Next we are going to be given the MO
(Method of Operation) of just how it is this abominable one, also called
the little horn, the vile person, Satan, the Devil, causes such massive
spiritual desolation.
In other words, by coming here to
the Book of Daniel and reading it with understanding, we are going to be
privileged to see what the little horn's spiritual weapons of mass destruction
are... because they are hidden from the view of the unwise who do not
study the Word of Truth.
The whole world will love this "deceiver"
because they will think he is Jesus
Christ.
So let us return to the 8th chapter of Daniel where he
just told us about the vision he saw of a ram with two horns that stood
by the river Ulai (pure water, i.e. stood by the living water, the Word
God), when an he goat, which is a leaper of goats, came
close unto the ram and then was moved with choler against
him and smote him and broke the ram's two horns.
We were also told that just following
the fulfillment of this vision that "the four notable ones come up toward
the four winds of heaven" letting us know that this vision is for the time
of the end when the final beast system that will be headed by the spurious
messiah, the "little horn", Daniel is now going to tell us about, shall
come forth.
This will be documented when the angel
Gabriel comes and "makes Daniel to understand the vision" and explains
that it is "for the time of the end (vs. 17)".
Daniel
8:9
And out
of one of them came forth a little horn, which waxed
exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward
the pleasant land.
The little horn is none other than
Satan who waxes exceeding great toward the south, and toward
the east, and toward the pleasant land which is the land of Judea wherein
Jerusalem lies and where the little horn comes and stands claiming to be
God.
In fact, this slickmeister waxes great throughout the
whole world and prospers, as in is successful in deceiving the whole world
into believing he is the King of king and Lord of lords rather
than the little tiny horn (king) he really is.
God's elect know that he is the
king of Tyre, which means rock with a little "r", and not the King of kings
who is our Rock with a capital "R" (Deut. 32:31).
In other words, to those who do
not have the seal of God in their foreheads the little horn will not appear
little at all, but will appear unto them as a magnificent one, even God
himself.
However, to those who are familiar
with their Father's Word he will always remain "little" in their eyes and
nothing more than a disgusting vile little horn who thinks himself to be
great and magnifies himself to great height.
[10]
And
it
(he, the little horn) waxed great,
even to the host of heaven; and it (he)
cast down some of the host and of the stars to the ground, and stamped
upon them.
The host of heaven means the "starry host".
We read in Rev. 12:4 where Satan drew a third part of
the stars of heaven (God's children) away from His truth and justice in
the first earth age.
Well, "there is nothing new under the sun" for he likewise
has no regard whatsoever for God's children in this flesh age and will
spiritually stamp on whomsoever he may... though he may not
hurt those who have the seal of God in their foreheads (Rev. 9:4)!
Remember too that we read back in chapter seven where
he stamps upon the other beasts, those
dominions
that are present when the great and dreadful fourth beast (Satan and his
host of angels) assumes his power and dominion.
The scope of the little horn's waxing great is also confirmed
by that which is written in Rev. 12:9, and that is that he comes with his
host and deceives the whole world.
"And the great dragon was cast out, that
old
serpent, called the Devil, and Satan,
which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the
earth, and his angels were cast out with him."
How is it possible that he "deceives
the whole world", which by the way includes the majority of Christianity?
Because he magnifies himself in
their
flesh eyes by performing great wonders and miracles
to where they think that he is God.
Dan
8:11 Yea, he magnified himself
even to the Prince of the host, and by him the daily
sacrifice was taken away, and the place of his sanctuary
was cast down.
The whole world will love this
"deceiver" because they will think he is Jesus Christ, the Prince of the
host!
Tell it
to the Children! Tell it to their Children! and to your great-grandchildren!
Again, he will magnify and exalt himself to appear
as Jesus Christ, even the Creator and Ruler of the starry host, by
showing great signs and wonders and performing miracles in the sight of
men that will be so awesome people will flock to him and worship him!
Rev.
13:13-14
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..."
You can read about the morning and evening oblation,
which was the daily sacrifice, in Numbers 28:3-4.
Of course that daily sacrifice was only a shadow (Col.
2:17), a type, of the real daily sacrifice who is Jesus Christ, the Lamb
of God who was slain once and for all time.
Historically those shadow sacrifices were taken away when
the "little horn" brought about the crucifixion of Jesus Christ who became
our sacrifice as explained by Paul in Hebrews 10.
Hebrews
10:10-14
By the which
will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus
Christ once for all.
[11]
And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the
same sacrifices, which can never take away sins:
[12]
But this man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever,
sat down on the right hand of God;
[13] From
henceforth expecting till His enemies be made His footstool.
[14]
For by one offering He hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.
Prophetically then, since this
vision of the "taking away" is for the last days, if you understand what
the "daily sacrifice" now is in Daniel 8:11-12, i.e. that it is Jesus Christ
and the oblation is our communion with Him, then the "taking away" is really
easy to understand.
Think for a moment!
We just read that the little horn
is going to magnify himself to appear as the Prince of the Host, even Jesus
Christ, by "sitting in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God
(2 Thes. 2:4)", and cause the whole world through his deception, through
his transgression of desolation (vs. 12), i.e. of making spiritually desolate
the sanctuary and the host, to believe that he is God.
Thus this abominable one who makes
desolate will literally "take away" the communion Christians have with
the true Christ, and cause them to "commune" with him, the instead-of-Christ.
Woe!
That is spiritual desolation of
the worst kind!
Tell it
to the Children! Tell it to their Children! and to your great-grandchildren!
Paul calls this great seduction by the son
of perdition who comes and stands in the holy place (Mat. 24:15) a great
"falling away", a great apostasy!
2 Thes.
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;
"That day" is the day
we gather back to Christ.
That gathering back to Him shall not come until the little
horn, the son of perdition, comes and spiritually desolates the temple,
the children of God, i.e. the whole Christian community
except for those who are sealed with the knowledge and wisdom of His Word
(Rev.
9:4).
[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.
apostasia, ap-os-tas-ee'-ah, Greek 646; feminine
of the same as Greek 647 (apostasion); defection from truth
(properly the state) ["apostasy"] :- falling away, forsake.
Sadly enough, Satan's deception
is made easy for him by the fact that so many preachers and ministers teach
our people that Jesus Christ is going to the return at any moment and rapture
His church on out of here.
They are actually being "set up"
to accept the first supernatural entity who comes to this earth... and
that would be the desolator posing as Jesus Christ and causing mass
spiritual desolation through his flood of lies and deceits.
So, how successful do you think this "little horn" will
be, this one who will always be little in the sight of God and His
wise and knowledgeable children?
Here's your answer:
Daniel
8:12
And an
host was given him against the daily sacrifice by reason of transgression,
and it cast down the truth to the ground; and it practised,
and prospered.
The Hebrew word "host" as it us used here is "tsaba"
which means a military host, as in an army, and the phrase "was given against
him" means "to raise war against" (see notes in the Companion Bible, pg.
1195).
In other words, the little horn is given an army to fight
against the daily sacrifice.
Yes, the little horn shall have
a mighty host, even an angelic host who we know are those ten kings, the
ten toes of Nebuchadnezzar's image, who come and reign one hour with the
beast and make war with the Lamb of God, the Lamb who is
our sacrifice.
Rev.
17:12-14
And the ten
horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as
yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.
[13] These
have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.
[14]
These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome
them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with
him are called, and chosen, and faithful.
Therefore the answer to the
question of how successful the little horn will be in spreading his abominations
to make desolate the souls of men, is that he will be so successful (prosper)
and effective (practised) that just about the whole world falls into his
hands as he and his angelic host cast the truth to the ground
causing the great defection (apostasy) to take place.
So now that you know what the taking away of the daily
sacrifice is and what the transgression of desolation is, the next question
is how long will that go on until Jesus Christ returns and puts a stop
to it?
[13]
Then I heard one saint speaking, and another saint said unto that certain
saint which spake, How long shall be the vision concerning the daily
sacrifice, and the transgression of desolation, to
give both the sanctuary and the host to be
trodden under foot?
The question that is being asked is "How
long, i.e. what will be the duration of time concerning the daily sacrifice
and (the setting up of) the desolation, which is when the little horn who
comes and exalts himself as God and stands in the holy place desolating
the sanctuary and causing the true daily sacrifice, the communion with
the Lord Jesus Christ, to be taken away and given unto him.
[14]
And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days;
then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.
In other words, after 2300
days the sanctuary will be cleansed, which is when the 7th Trump sounds
and Jesus Christ returns and cleans out the filth.
We will see later when we get to chapter twelve how these
2300 days fit together with the other "times" given in Daniel and elsewhere
regarding the abomination of desolation and the taking away of the daily
sacrifice.
[15]
And it came to pass, when I, even I Daniel, had seen the vision,
and sought for the meaning, then, behold, there stood before
me as the appearance of a man.
Do you seek and ask for understanding and wisdom
from the Word of God concerning the things you see come to pass, or do
you rely on the four windbags, CNN, ABC, CBS, & NBC, to explain what
in the world is going on?
[16]
And I heard a man's voice between the banks of Ulai, which
called, and said, Gabriel, make this man to understand the
vision.
Remember what Ulai means, the river of Pure Water?
That should let you know who called to Gabriel (whose
name means "Man of God") to go make known unto Daniel the interpretation
of the vision.
Gabriel's very appearance lets us know that we are talking
about the time just before the second advent.
Historically speaking, Gabriel appeared during the Course
of Abia about the time of the summer solstice when he told Zacharias that
Elizabeth would conceive John the Baptist who would go before the Lord
to prepare the way.
That was 6 months before the conception of Christ which
is the last time he appeared, and that was to tell Mary about the conception
of Jesus.
[17]
So he came near where I stood: and when he came, I was afraid, and
fell upon my face: but he said unto me, Understand,
O
son of man: for at the time of the end shall be the vision.
Zacharias was also afraid when he encountered the
archangel Gabriel: Luke 1:12 "And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled,
and fear fell upon him."
We should get the picture from this that facing the supernatural
is an awesome experience!
Nevertheless, the first thing Daniel
is told about the vision is that it is for the "time of the end".
That means that even though we can
point to historical types, that's just what they are, historical types,
for the actual fulfillment is at "the time of the end", the time that the vision
is for.
Surely that is not hard to understand for even the
English makes it very clear.
There is another phrase in verse 17 that those with eyes
to see and ears to hear might "see", and that is the phrase "O son of man".
Besides Messiah, only Ezekiel and Daniel were called "son
of man".
Ezekiel is the book of the watchmen who take the teaching
of His Truth along with the warning of the 6th Trump to their brothers
and sisters of the house of Israel, even as does the Church of Philadelphia.
The Book of Daniel concerns the time of the great tribulation
(Smyrna) when the "abomination of desolation" is present and some of God's
elect are delivered up, even to the king of Babylon, to give witness and
declare that judgment is coming at the sound of the 7th Trump when the
King of kings returns.
That is the "gospel of the kingdom" that shall be proclaimed
(heralded) throughout the world, i.e. the good news that the King and His
dominion are coming to rule for 1,000 years!
[18]
Now as he was speaking with me, I was in a deep sleep on
my
face toward the ground: but he touched me, and set
me upright.
Time for the "wise" in these
last days to wake up out of their sleep!
Time to get your head out of the
sand and "Lift up your eyes unto heaven" and see what is happening all
around us and to our people who have forsaken His Word!
Much spiritual desolation has already
taken place!
[19]
And he said, Behold, I will make thee know what shall be in the
last end of the indignation:
for at the time appointed the end shall be.
The end does not happen any old time, but rather
at the exact time our Father has appointed.
God's indignation and the cup of
His wrath containing His perfect judgment is poured out when it is filled
up at the end of this flesh age.
Next, Gabriel gives both the interpretation of the vision
of the ram having the two horns and the he goat and then what happens after
the he goat runs into the ram with choler and brakes the horn.
Here is how it comes down...
[20]
The ram which thou sawest having two horns are the kings of Media and Persia.
Remember also that this vision was given in the 3rd
year of the reign of Belshazzar, his last year of reign, the year he had
his idolatrous feast and God's judgment came upon him.
We discussed the ram who "stood by the pure water" as
being God's people and these two horns, the one coming up higher than the
other, as the two horns of Ephraim and Manasseh, Great Britain and the
United States of America.
(By the way, have you noticed how often President Bush
is accused of standing by the Living Water, even for quoting so many times
from the Word of Truth.)
[21]
And
the rough goat is the king of Grecia: and the great horn
that is between his eyes is the first king.
The rough goat also has his eyes focused upon the
first king, the great horn, which he breaks.
To wit, in recent times we had an ensample of this when
both President Nixon and Prime Minister Harold Wilson of Great Britain
were discredited and taken down by the only surviving (non-implicated and
unscathed) member of the Nixon cabinet, the one who would later be known
for his shuttle diplomacy.
However, we know that this vision
of Daniel is for the time of the end, the latter part of the generation
of the fig tree when globalization has taken place, i.e. when the ethnic
nations and the kingdoms (royal nations of the house of Israel) would rise
alongside each other in the marketplace.
When Nixon and Wilson were in office, the Berlin Wall
and the Iron Curtain both still stood and would continue to do so for years
to come.
The point is, we have not seen two
horns of the ram come and push the very fabric of the world order such
as we have seen President Bush and Tony Blair do in the recent past.
Could it be that we will see a
he-goat come up before long?
We can only speculate and wait and see.
However, the world stage is certainly set for trouble
for these two, especially if they push as nonnegotiable the "road map"
to peace in the Middle East with the same resolve they did their stand
on the Iraq issue at the UN.
One thing we do know from the next verse though, is that
when the great horn is broken, the New World Order comes into full swing,
but not in his (earthly) power...
[22]
Now that being broken, whereas four stood up for it (i.e.
in its place), four kingdoms
shall stand up out of the nation, but not in his power.
... for the power it shall be in is that of the hands
of
a king of fierce countenance.
[23]
And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors
are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding
dark sentences, shall stand up.
Here we have yet another name for the "little horn"...
"a king of fierce countenance" who understands dark sentences, meaning
he is able to take the light of truth and twist it and turn it into lies
and deception which is spiritual darkness.
In other words, the New World Order
will not just be controlled by the kenites who have used the four hidden
dynasties to bring it about, but rather it shall be "powered" by antichrist,
that religious abomination who comes and stands in the holy place and causes
all that spiritual desolation by taking away the daily sacrifice as he
gathers the people to worship him as God.
[24]
And his power shall be mighty, but not by his
own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper,
and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people.
If you remember who it was
that gave the king of Babylon all his power, the One who sets up kings
and removes kings, the One who has all power and uses whomsoever He will,
then you will have no problem with this verse.
It is written that our Father sends the king of Babylon,
the king of fierce countenance, even the nation of fierce countenance,
to chastise His children.
Deut.
28:49-50
The LORD
shall bring a nation against thee from far, from the end of the
earth, as swift as the eagle flieth; a nation whose tongue thou shalt not
understand;
[50] A
nation of fierce countenance, which shall not regard the person
of the old, nor shew favour to the young:
In fact, our Father even calls Satan's locust army
in the Book of Joel, His army (Joel 2:11)!
But notice how it is that the king of fierce countenance
"destroys".
First, he destroys (spiritually
deceives) "wonderfully", meaning he does it with "wonders" and "miracles"
which make him prosper, i.e. become very successful!
The next verse gives us even more
insight as to how this spurious messiah destroys many.
[25]
And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand;
and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by
peace shall destroy many: he shall
also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without
hand.
Craft means deceit, which he
shall cause to prosper in his hand and many will lend their hands in helping
him to prosper, which is what having the "mark
in their right hand" means... doing the work of Satan, being his right
hand man.
However, notice that he shall
destroy many by PEACE!
Tell it
to the Children! Tell it to their Children! and to your great-grandchildren!
The "little horn", the "king of
fierce countenance", the "king of Babylon", Satan, enters in PEACEFULLY
and PROSPEROUSLY.
He is not going to go around killing
people for he's far too smart for that.
Tell it
to the Children! Tell it to their Children! and to your great-grandchildren!
He's simply going to spread his
flood of lies and deception by miraculous wonders to convince the world
he's Jesus.
Remember, the war that we are to
prepare for by putting on the gospel armor (Eph. 6) is a spiritual war,
not
a war against flesh and blood!
[26]
And the vision of the evening and the morning which was told is true: wherefore
shut thou up the vision; for it shall be for many days.
The vision may have been for many days to Daniel,
but it will not be for you and me because we can count on it happening
in the generation of the fig tree (which we are to learn about) as per
Jesus Christ's own words in Mark 13 and Matthew 24!
Matthew
24:34
Verily I say
unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be
fulfilled.
We are not going to take the time to document it
here, but the final generation began on May 15, 1948, when both the good
and bad figs were set out in the land of Judea as the United Nations gave
sanction to the State of Israel.
So get ready!
We are in for some exciting events
just ahead.
Note: You can learn about the Parable of the Fig Tree
at Fig Tree
Daniel
8:27
And I Daniel
fainted, and was sick certain days; afterward I rose up, and did the king's
business; and I was astonished at the vision, but none understood it.
Daniel went back to work and
went about the king's business, but "none became aware of
the vision" for no one could have understood it back then anyway.
Gabriel clearly stated that the
vision
was for the end time, our time, not
Daniel's.
And you know, common sense tells
us that if all these things shall come to pass in the final generation,
and this is truly the final generation (which it is), then the wise will
see them come to pass... and they are!
What a time to live!
We just thank our Father for the
privilege of having His Word to comfort us by giving us understanding to
know the truth of what is happening in the world, what is yet to happen,
and why it is all these things must come to pass!
Tell it
to the Children! Tell it to their Children! and to your great-grandchildren!
Live
Link to- The Book of
Daniel Table of Contents
It is important
that YOU
Read it all!
Jesus
said, "the book of Daniel
was where one could go read and gain understanding"
Jesus
Christ told us in Matthew
24 and Mark
13 when He sat upon the Mount of Olives and gave His
disciples
the seven seals concerning the knowledge and the events that would
transpire
during the final generation of the fig tree, that the book of Daniel
was
where one could go read and gain understanding
concerning
the abomination of desolation, that abominable desolator (antichrist)
who would come stand in the holy place claiming to be God.
The book of
Daniel is the Apocalypse of the Old Testament
and
a sister book to the Apocalypse of the New Testament,
the
book of Revelation.
To study the Bible
is the noblest of all pursuits;
to understand it, the highest of all goals.
We pray that with the
guidance of the Holy
Spirit, you accomplish both.
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