Daniel's Vision of the Coming King, Part 4

Let's pray and we'll get our time together this evening. Father, we thank you, Lord, for tonight. And we thank you for a chance to study the word of the Lord. We are such a blessed people to be able to look at the future.

And you've told us everything we need to know. We just don't know everything. And that's OK. We don't have to know everything because you know everything. You designed everything. And Father, we are here tonight to learn about how we might better follow you because we see how you as the most high God overrule everything and are in charge of everything. Help us, Lord, to come to grips with that this evening as we study your word once again. In Jesus name. Amen. OK, Daniel chapter seven. We want to finish this tonight for you and then answer maybe some of the questions you might have concerning Daniel seven and some things that we have covered over the last several weeks.

But it's just the beginning of what we're doing when it comes to Daniel's visions. We got Daniel chapter eight, and that's going to open the door to some more clarification up to Daniel chapter seven. And so it's going to be a great study for us as we continue our journey through this wonderful book of the book of Daniel. But, you know, I am a prophecy nut. I love to study prophecy. I love to preach on prophecy. You've heard me say it many times. I'll always say it. It's simply because the clearer you see the future, the cleaner you stand.

You stand in the present. Right. So that's very important. And that's why John says very clearly in first John chapter three, verse number three, that he who has this hope in him purifies himself even as he himself is pure.

There's something about the purity of the gospel and how it helps us see the future and what it does for us today. And I love preaching about the future because it just keeps you focused on the greatness of Christ and in all that he is. And so as we have gone through Daniel chapter seven, we are looking at the apex of human history. And so we have covered three main points. We've looked at the arrival of the Messiah, the attributes of the kingdom of the Messiah, and then the account of the coming of the Messiah.

And in terms of how it is, he's actually going to arrive. And the key versus Daniel seven, 13 and 14, where it says, I kept looking in the night visions and behold, with the clouds of heaven, one like a son of man was coming and he came up to the ancient of days. That's the key verse. Daniel seven, verse number 13, the ancient of days, of course, first number nine is God the father.

Christ is the son of man. It's it's the same as it is in Revelation chapter five, except Revelation five. It's not the son of man. It's the lamb of God. And yet it's a lamb of God who takes the scroll from the father and begins to unravel that scroll because he is the one who has the right to the inheritance. And so Revelation five gives us more information than Daniel seven. But Daniel seven is all about the coming of the Messiah, the coming king, as he goes up to the ancient of days. And he then is going to arrive on this earth.

So that's the arrival. Then the attributes of the kingdom are in verse number 14, where he talks about he has dominion, glory and all the peoples of the nations and every from every language will serve him and his kingdom will not pass away. It will not be destroyed. So we spent the time looking at the attributes of his kingdom. And now we're going to look at the account of the kingdom.

We began that last week looking at what happens before he comes. So let me review it for you. Get in your mind and we'll close out Daniel chapter seven. And hopefully I already have a couple of questions I need to answer this evening, and I'll try to put them into the sermon for those of you who've already asked it. And then we'll answer some of the questions that you might have concerning prophecy in the coming of the Messiah. But the account falls into seven categories. OK, so let me explain it to you.

First of all, the account is what's going to happen before the coming of the Messiah. Number one, there's going to be a revelation of four kingdoms.

OK, four kingdoms. Daniel two, Daniel seven, Daniel two. It's Nebuchadnezzar's dream and the colossal image that he sees of gold, silver, bronze, iron and then the feet of iron and clay. And then you have in Daniel seven, you have the beasts, one coming up out of the Great Sea, the Sea of the Nations, one like a bear and one like a leopard and one like a lion with wings. And so it describes it from that standpoint simply because that's God's perspective on the kingdoms versus Nebuchadnezzar's perspective on the kingdom's man's perspective.

And so it's all about the revelation of four kingdoms, four major ruling powers. Daniel was under the realm of the Babylonian Empire. OK, remember, Daniel seven takes you back into the first year of the reign of Belshazzar.

So Daniel seven takes you back before Cyrus conquered Babylon, the Medes and the Persians. The second kingdom is the Medes and the Persians.

The third kingdom is Greece. And the fourth kingdom, of course, is Rome. We know that because we understand history. And all this was prewritten. All this was written before history ever came into play. And so when you match history with what the Bible says, you realize that what has taken place falls right in line with Daniel's vision in Daniel seven, as well as Nebuchadnezzar's dream and the image that he had in Daniel chapter two.

So the first thing that's going to happen is that there's going to be four major world empires. OK, that's number one.

Number two is the revival of one of those kingdoms. All right. And that is the kingdom of Rome. There'll be a ten nation confederacy that will rise to power. OK, that hasn't happened yet, but it's going to happen. And we know that from the ten toes of Daniel two and the ten horns, which are ten kings in Daniel seven. All right. So as we didn't know in Daniel two that the toes were kings. Now, Daniel seven, we know that the horns are the same as the toes in the horns of kings. It makes sense. And so that's exactly how it plays itself out.

And so there's going to be a revival of one of those empires. It's the Roman Empire. That's why the the feet of the image in Daniel two are made of iron and clay iron because it is part of Rome. It's going to be a revival of that empire and clay because it's going to be easily destroyed by the Messiah himself. And so we know that there's going to be a rise of ten kings in Europe that will overrule and ride ruling in the earth. And so that's what's going to happen. And then from that comes the rise of the Antichrist.

We see that in Daniel seven, Daniel two. You didn't see that in Daniel seven. You see that. And so in Daniel seven, you have this one of the ten kings rises to power and subdues three of them. Right. And Daniel wants to know what's happening. And so the angel speaks to him and explains to him because he doesn't understand the fourth kingdom because it's the fourth kingdom doesn't count the Babylonian kingdom. It counts the fourth one where it is ten kings and one rises to power and he wants to know more about that.

And so the Lord through the angel explains to him this individual that will rise to power and in Daniel seven, we get some aspects of this Antichrist is going to rise to power. We told you last week, remember, he is supernaturally satanic. We know that from second Thessalonians chapter two, where he's the man of lawlessness.

He's endowed with all kinds of power from Satan. And so he's going to be supernaturally satanic. He's going to be politically powerful because he's going to rise to power, but he's going to do it without a warfare. He's going to do it through politics. And all throughout Daniel seven, it says that he possesses eyes like the eyes of a man. He's intellectually insightful. He is the mouth uttering great boasts. He is oratorically overwhelming because he boasts great things. If you read on down further, he is militarily mighty because he devours the whole earth and treads it down and crushes it.

Verse number twenty three over in verse number twenty five, it says he will speak out against the most high. He is religiously ruthless because he wants to set himself up as king. And he does that. And of course, he will eventually be destroyed. He will be destroyed, of course, as it says in verse number twenty six. But the court will sit for judgment and his dominion will be taken away, annihilated and destroyed forever. Now, you got to remember, Daniel doesn't have the book of Revelation. Daniel doesn't know.

We know about second Thessalonians chapter two. All he sees is his vision and he's looking for explanation and the angels given it to him. And of course, he's terrified. He turns pale. Why? Because he knows that his people, Israel, are going to be destroyed. So you have the revelation of four kingdoms. You have the rise or the revival of one of those kingdoms. Then you have the rise of the Antichrist and you have the revenge of the Antichrist against all the saints, all the holy ones. Now, in Daniel nine, we're going to read about the abomination of desolation.

Again, in Daniel seven, it's not part of this vision, but in Daniel nine, Daniel is going to understand the abomination of desolation, where the Antichrist will desecrate the temple. Jesus in Matthew 24 refers to the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel, the prophet. And that's when the Antichrist sets himself up as king, as Messiah to be worshiped and rule the earth and demands that everybody worships him. Well, when he does that, he will go and he will seek to slaughter all the saints.

And so the Bible makes it very clear with these words in verse number 23, the fourth beast will be a fourth kingdom on the earth, which will be different from all the other kingdoms and will devour the whole earth, tread it down and will crush it. He's going to come against God's people. Verse twenty five, he will speak out against the most high and wear down the saints of the highest one. And he will intend to make alterations in times and in law, and they will be given into his hand for a time, times and a half a time.

That's three and a half years. How do you know that? A time is one times is two and a half a time is a half a time. And how do we know that? Again, Book of Revelation tells us that the Antichrist will rule for a time, times and a half, and that is three and a half years in peace. Then the abomination of desolation in the second half of the tribulation will be times of great warfare.

It's called twelve hundred and sixty days. It's called forty two months. It's called time, times and half a time. And so throughout the book of Revelation, all that's clearly explained to us. So we're able to understand the length of his rule and how much time he has to destroy the saints because time is short. If you go back with me to the book of Revelation, the twelfth chapter, look what it says in Revelation chapter twelve. It says this. And when the dragon that is Satan saw that he was thrown down to the earth because he is remember, Satan is where?

In heaven. OK, he's not in hell. He will eventually be in the lake of fire. That's not the Revelation chapter twenty. But Satan is in heaven. That's why Michael throws him out of heaven in Revelation twelve. And so when he throws him out, the dragon himself is down. Remember, he fell. OK, not geographically. He fell morally before Genesis chapter three. He was still in heaven. Job one. We know that Satan goes and presents himself before the throne of God as they do on a regular basis. So he has access to heaven.

But Revelation twelve ten says he accuses the brethren day and night. Well, if he does that, OK, then he's got to be there day and night. And the reason he's thrown down to the earth simply because I believe the church is in heaven and because the church is in heaven. There's no longer any reason to accuse the brethren because they're already in glory. And so it says, and when the dragon saw that he was thrown down to the earth, he persecuted the woman. The woman is Israel who gave birth to the male child.

That's the Messiah. But the two wings of the great eagle were given to the woman, Israel, so that she could fly into the wilderness to her place. The wilderness, always in the Old Testament, Edom and Moab, without exception. So we know that in Revelation twelve, they fly to the wilderness. That is Edom and Moab. And so it says, and she was nourished for a time and times and half a time from the presence of the serpent. So she was nourished for three and a half years. Why does this happen? Because when the Antichrist sets himself up as God to be worshipped as God and desecrates the temple, Daniel nine, verse number twenty seven, the abomination of desolation.

OK, where he desecrates the temple and demands that he be worshipped. He pursues Israel with a vengeance because up to that point they had built the temple for him, thinking that he was the Messiah, but he is the anti-Messiah. And so he demands that they worship him as God and desecrates the holy place. Then they begin to flee. And so God protects them, sends them to some place down in Edom. And the serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman so that he might cause her to be swept away with the flood.

All that is, is language, Old Testament language that speaks of an army that comes against them to devour them and cannot do so. Why? But the earth helped the woman and the earth opened its mouth and drank up the river, which the dragon poured out of his mouth. So the dragon was enraged with the woman and went off to make war with the rest of her children who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus. Who's that? Those are Gentile people who give their life to Christ. And so you have this revenge on the part of the Antichrist against everybody who knows the Lord and wants to follow the Lord.

So the account is very important. As you go through Daniel 7, you have a revelation of four great kingdoms. Then you have the revival of one of those kingdoms, and that is Rome. And then you have the rise of the Antichrist out of that ten nation confederacy. And then you have the revenge of the Antichrist or the beast that comes against the holy ones or the saints. Then, if you follow through in Daniel chapter 7, you have the return of the king. Then Daniel 7, 13 happens. Then the king comes. And with the return of the king, you have the retribution upon sinners.

And that's in verses 10 to 12 of Daniel 7, where it says, I'll go back to verse 9, I kept looking until thrones were set up. And the Ancient of Days, who is God the Father, took his seat, and his vesture was like white snow and the hair of his head like pure wool. Just symbolic of his wisdom and his purity. And then it says, and his throne was ablaze with flames. Its wheels were a burning fire. A river of fire was flowing and coming out from before him. That speaks of his authority. Fire is always used as of judgment in the Old Testament.

And so it says, thousands upon thousands were attending him and myriads upon myriads were standing before him. And the court sat and the books were opened. Now, this is a judgment. But this is not the great white throne judgment. This is the judgment of the nations. How do we know that? Because it parallels with the book of Revelation. We know this because the Messiah comes. When the Messiah comes, there's going to be a great judgment. All judgment has been given over into the hands of the Lord Jesus.

All right. And so the whole picture is the Ancient of Days sitting in judgment over the nations of the world. But it's Christ who's actually doing the judgment. That judgment is in Matthew chapter 25, the judgment of the nations, where it says these words, Matthew chapter 25, verse number 31. But when the Son of Man comes in his glory and all the angels with him, and he will then sit on his glorious throne, all the nations will be gathered before him. He will separate them from one another as a shepherd separates a sheep from the goats, and he will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

And then you have the judgment of the nations. You need to remember there are seven judgments. OK, I was asked this question this past week. How many judgments are there? When do they take place? Please note there are seven judgments. Judgment number one is a judgment of your sin and mine at Calvary.

OK, that's judgment number one. We preach about that. Christ bore our sins in his body on the tree. That's judgment number one.

God judged your sin and mine in his Son. Judgment number two is a judgment of each man's self. First Corinthians 11, verse number 32, right?

Let each man judge himself. There is a personal judgment. There is a judgment that deals with our salvation on Calvary. But then there's also, once you give your life to Christ, there's always this judgment of ourselves. That's First Corinthians 11, verse number 32.

Then comes the judgment of the believers' works. That's taking place in heaven. That's found in Second Corinthians 5, verse number 10.

It's found in Romans 14, verse number 12. It's found in First Corinthians chapter 3. It's called the Bema seat judgment. Remember, the Bema was just a raised platform. And during the Olympic Games, when the victors had won, they would step up on the platform. You see this even in the Olympic Games today. There's a platform where the person who won the gold sits on top. And then the one to the right, I think, is the silver. One to the left is the bronze. But there was this raised platform and they would receive a victor's crown, a victor's wreath.

It's called the Bema seat. It's a judgment of the believers. Your sin is not judged there, okay? It's not like you are judged for your sin and all the bad things you did. No, that was taking place at Calvary. This is where it says in First Corinthians chapter 4, verse number 5, each man will receive his praise from God.

God is actually going to praise you at the Bema seat. You're going to be praised because of your commitment. There you receive your crown, whether it's the crown of joy, crown of rejoicing, crown of exaltation it's called, whether it's the imperishable crown, whether it's the crown of glory, it's the crown of righteousness. You receive your crown at that point, all right? That takes place in glory. That takes place after the church has been translated into glory. And so that's called the judgment seat of Christ.

It's not the great white throne judgment. So you have the judgment of our sin at Calvary. You have each man judging his own self to make sure he is in the faith and he's partaking of the Lord's Supper correctly. Then you have the Bema seat judgment, the judgment seat of Christ in glory. And then you have the judgment of Israel, the judgment of Israel. That will take place after the tribulation, around the same time as the judgment of the nations in Matthew 25. But I want you to turn to the book of Ezekiel, the 20th chapter with me for a second.

Ezekiel chapter 20, because this is the judgment of Israel. Israel will have a judgment. And I want you to listen very carefully to what is said here. It says, as I live, declares the Lord God. This is Ezekiel 20 verse number 33. As I live, declares the Lord God, surely with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm and with wrath poured out, I shall be king over you. And I will bring you out from the peoples and gather you from the lands where you are scattered with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm and with wrath poured out.

And I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples. And there I will enter into judgment with you face to face. As I entered into judgment with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt. So I will enter into judgment with you, declares the Lord God. I will make you pass under the rod. I will bring you into the bond of the covenant. And I will purge from you the rebels and those who transgress against me. I will bring them out of the land where they sojourn and they will not enter the land of Israel.

Did you get that? They will not enter the land of Israel. Then it says this. Thus you will know that I am the Lord. Verse 40. For on my holy mountain, that's Mount Moriah, that's Calvary. On the high mountain of Israel, declares the Lord God, there the whole house of Israel, all of them will serve me. So all of Israel is going to serve the Lord because he's going to rule and reign from the holy mountain. There I will accept them. There I will seek your contributions and the choices of your gifts with all your holy things.

Verse 42. And you will know that I am the Lord when I bring you into the land of Israel. Now, why is that so important? It's so important because it speaks to the fact of a literal reign of the king Messiah on the earth. Remember last week I talked to you about all millennialism. If I'm an all millennialist, I don't believe there's going to be a millennium. There's not going to be a thousand year reign of Christ upon his throne here on the earth. I take the book of Revelation as the church age. I look at it allegorically.

I don't look at it literally. I look at Matthew 24, we saw it last week, as fulfilled in 70 AD. And yet the judgment of Israel, God says, I'm going to bring you into a land and that land you're going to serve me.

So when does that happen then? If there's no millennial reign of Christ and it doesn't happen that way, then what is Ezekiel speaking of? In fact, you ought to see this. This is so rich. The Bible says in the book of Isaiah, book of Jeremiah, Jeremiah 23.

It says, behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous branch. That's the Messiah. And he will reign as king and act wisely and do justice and righteousness in the land. What land? When is he going to reign righteously in the land? Because you're not reigning righteously in the land right now, right? But you see, it's a promise of the Davidic covenant that God made with David, that he will have a king who rules and reign from the throne of his father David in Jerusalem.

That is so important to get. Look at this book of Zechariah, 14 chapter, ninth verse, and the Lord will be king over all the earth.

Now we know the king reigns overall, right? The Lord is in his holy temple and he rules overall. But Zechariah 14 talks about the coming of the Messiah. And in his coming, he will be king over all the earth. In that day, the Lord will be the only one in his name, the only one. Back in Daniel chapter two, Daniel chapter two, verse number 44. Listen to this. Daniel two, verse number 44 says these words. Daniel chapter two, verse number 44 says in the days of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed.

And that kingdom will not be left for another people. It will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms and it will itself endure forever. In what days? In the days in which the stone comes and crushes the 10 toes. The king will reign forever. So where's he going to do all that at? So if I am all millennial, I don't believe there's a literal thousand year reign of Christ upon the earth. If I'm a post millennial, that means I believe the Messiah is going to come at the end of the millennium. So I believe there's going to be a millennium.

But if I'm post millennial, I just don't know when the thousand years begin. I only know when they're going to end. If I'm post millennial, I believe in a dominion theology. That is that I can, I'm going to actually usher in the coming of the Messiah. I'm going to set things in order. That's why a lot of people want Christians in every realm of the government, in every realm of society, because they want to usher in the kingdom. Well, the only way to do that is to have a land that's ruled by biblical law.

And so if I believe in a post millennial coming to the Messiah, I believe there's going to be a reign of a thousand years. But that thousand years is ruled by Christians who usher in and make it. So now the king can come back. So somehow I am making the earth a place that's fit for a king to come and reign. That's what a post millennial, post millennialist believes. I'm a pre millennial guy. I believe the Messiah is going to come before the millennium. I believe a thousand years in Revelation 20 spoken of six times is a literal reign of a Christ upon the earth that gives Israel their land.

If I am all millennial, I believe that all the promises given to Israel are now going to be fulfilled in the church. So now the church becomes spiritual Israel. And therefore, Israel will never have a king who sits on his father's throne in the city of David. And Israel will never have a land that was promised to Abraham way back in Genesis chapter 12. And so many times all throughout the book of Genesis, they'll never have that land. Why? Because Christ is ruling as king in the hearts of those in the church, because the church has replaced Israel.

There's a thing called replacement theology. And replacement theology teaches that the church has replaced Israel. So the church is spiritual Israel. But I believe that there's going to be a literal reign of Christ upon the earth simply because of the verses I just read you, that he's going to come and Israel is going to have a land. And he's going to be king in that land. He's going to be king on the holy mountain. The Bible is very clear about this. The Bible is not confused. I don't know why all these theologians are confused about this.

It's very simply stated in scripture. Now, if I am pre-millennial, I also believe that there's going to be a rapture of the church, a catching away the church. I'm either going to be pre-trib, mid-trib, or post-trib. Okay? That is, Christ is going to come before the seven-year tribulation. He's going to come during the middle of the tribulation and will flee the wrath to come. Or he'll come after the tribulation, that's a post-trib. And that one's hard to believe because he comes to get you and takes you home.

And then you come right back down again because you return with him in Revelation 20. But I'm a pre-tribulational guy that Christ is going to come and take his church home. That's where the judgment seat of Christ is. We told Romans 14, 12, 2 Corinthians 5, verse number 10. That's where the judgment seat of Christ is. That's where the marriage supper of the Lamb takes place. Revelation chapter 19. It's all taking place in glory in heaven. All right? And then we come back with him. Remember John 14?

He goes to prepare a place for you that where I am there you may be also. So he's going to come and take us to be with him. Well, he does that at the rapture of the church or the catching away of the church. Okay? It's a word called harpazo. The word rapture is not used in the scripture. But it's a word that means to catch away. Same word used of Philip in Acts 8 when he was caught up. Or Paul in 2 Corinthians 12 where he's caught up to the third heaven.

He was snatched away to the third heaven. Well, 1 Thessalonians 4 talks about the church being caught up or snatched up into glory. That's why Revelation 12 is important. Because in Revelation 12, Michael and Satan have a battle in heaven. There's war in heaven. So when is there war in heaven? When has there ever been war in heaven? Well, there's war in heaven when Michael throws Satan out of heaven. Okay? And there's a great shout. With that shout, the church comes to glory. And Satan, who accuses a brother day and night, has no need to be there any longer.

All that to say is that you need to understand what is being taught. Because the Bible is very clear in terms of our theology. What it is we believe and why we believe it. And so you have these judgments. You have the judgment of our sin at Calvary. You have the judgment of each man himself. 1 Corinthians 11, 32. You have the judgment seat of Christ. You have the judgment of Israel. You have the judgment of the nations, Matthew 25. Then you have the judgment of the demons, Jude 6, along with Revelation 20.

And then you have the great white throne judgment. That's also Revelation chapter 20, where all the unsaved dead are resurrected. They're a part of the second resurrection.

And they are judged at the great white throne judgment where the books are opened. And they are judged because you don't measure up to God's holy standard. All right. So whoever asked a question about the seven judgments, about the judgments, there they are. There's seven of them. Those who asked the question about what's the difference between pre-millennial, post-millennial, and all-millennial. Hopefully I explained that to you. Okay. So all that being said, that there's going to be this revenge of all the saints.

And with the revenge of the saints by the Antichrist, that's when the king returns. He returns just in time to spare Israel, because a third of Israel goes into the kingdom.

Two-thirds are purged out. Zechariah chapter 13, verses 9 and 10, a third of Israel goes into the kingdom.

Matthew 25, the sheep, the Gentiles, they then go into the kingdom, that millennial reign of Christ. And they rule on earth. They don't rule on earth. They are in earth as Christ rules on earth from the city of Jerusalem there on Mount Moriah. And that's what is portrayed in Daniel chapter 7, verses 10 to 12. All that being said, is that Daniel is overwhelmed with all that's taken place. And so he turns pale. He begins to digest these things over time. And then the next thing you know, in the third year of the reign of Belshazzar, he has another vision, and that's Daniel chapter 8.

And that's next week. All right. Now, now that you're really all confused, I want to answer whatever question you might have concerning Daniel 7, the return of the Messiah, and what that means for you and me. All right. I answered two questions tonight that was already asked of me before this week. So if you had a question, you can ask the question right now.

Who's got a question? Yes. Gog and Magog, right? Ezekiel 38. Okay. Gog and Magog. Gog is a name, a name that would deal with a dictator or ruler. Magog, according to historians, is Russia. Okay. Ezekiel 38, I believe, is taking place during the tribulation, because Ezekiel 38, it says Israel is dwelling safely in the land. Remember, for Ezekiel 38 to happen, remember, there are three things that must take place in Ezekiel 38. First of all, Israel must be present in the land.

Okay. And they are. Israel's gone back. The Jewish people have gone back to Israel. They're back in the land, even as we speak this day. So in order for Ezekiel 38 to happen, Israel, number one, must be present in the land.

Number two, there must be peace in the land. Why? Because they live in, as Ezekiel 38 says, unwalled villages. Right? If you've been to Israel, you know there's a big wall around the city of Jerusalem. Right? They want to keep out everybody who's against them. Well, they're going to live in unwalled villages, because they're going to be at peace. So when does that happen? It happens under the realm of the Antichrist, who comes, sets himself up as king. But what he does is he begins to rule. He is a great peacemaker.

Revelation 6, verse number two, the Antichrist comes on a white horse with a bow, but no arrows. Why? Because he comes in peace. He's a political ruler, and he rules well. But he does it in peace. And Israel sees this person who rules in peace. They see him as this great individual, and they see him as their Messiah. They build the temple for their Messiah. Remember I told you last week, all the articles for the temple are done. All the garments for the priests have already been made. Right? They've already sent out letters all around the world to talk to people who believe they're from the tribe of Levi, that they can come back and get training to be priests in the kingdom when Messiah comes.

They think the Messiah is still going to come. Well, he is. He's going to come again. But they're going to build the temple for the Messiah. In the Temple Institute in Jerusalem, they for years said that the temple will be built, the third temple will be built by the Messiah.

In the year 2000, okay, they changed their tune and said, no, we believe that the Jewish nation is going to build the temple, the third temple for the Messiah.

And that's true. But it's going to be the anti-Messiah, not the true Messiah. Because the fourth temple happens, okay, during the millennial kingdom, which Christ himself will rule in. And we know that there's a temple during the tribulation because Revelation 10, John is to measure the temple. So when Revelation is given in 96 AD, there is no temple in Jerusalem. Okay? But during his vision, he is called to measure the temple. So there's going to be a temple in the tribulation. Well, that's because Israel built it for him.

Why? Because they're at peace. So they got to be present land. They got to be at peace in the land. And the third thing happens is that they have to be prosperous in the land.

Ezekiel 38, verse number 12 says this, that verse 11 says, I will go up against the land of unwalled villages. I will go against those who are at rest and live securely, all of them living without walls and having no bars or gates to capture spoil and to seize plunder, to turn your hand against the waste places. So they're going to be prosperous in the land. Well, right now, they're not prosperous in the land. Although, did you know the most expensive city in the world to live in is Tel Aviv? I found that out yesterday.

The most expensive place to live in the world is Tel Aviv. So Los Angeles is number nine. So just in case you want to know that. Okay. And New York's number six. But New York's number one in America.

And Los Angeles is number two in America. But it's number nine in the world. Tel Aviv overtook Paris as the most expensive city to live in in the world. That's just information that you probably don't even need to know. But I gave it to you anyway. All that being said is that that must be happening. So Ezekiel 38, you had the nations from the north, the far north. That's Russia. That's Magog. Okay. And they come against Israel. But it's the Antichrist who defeats them, which causes Revelation 13 for them to say, who is like the beast?

Who can make war with the beast? So when he is worshipped and praised, it's simply because no one can make war with the beast. Because he leads an army against the armies of the north and defeats them. Okay. So that's Ezekiel chapter 38. So, yes, Magog is Russia. Gog is a dictator, a leader of Russia. Okay. How that plays into today, I don't necessarily know. We don't necessarily understand what's taking place in Russia and Ukraine. What's going on with China and how that's coming together. Maybe Russia and China are going to come together and they nuke America because America is not in prophecy.

Right. And so that could very well happen. But we don't know that. Right. We don't know anything. Except what the Bible tells us. And so all we know now is that Russia won't come against Israel until they're at peace in the land and prosperous in the land. That's Ezekiel 38. Okay. All right. Another question. Yes. Yeah. There's also a pan trip. It'll all pan out in the end anyway. So, yeah. Is the second coming in two phases?

Yes, it is. It's in two phases because he's... But remember, we meet him in the air in 1 Thessalonians 4. Right. In Revelation 19, he comes down to the earth. So really, it's not a coming where he is coming to the earth. That's Revelation 19, where he actually comes with us, the armies in white linen, and comes down to the earth. So he's not setting up his kingdom at the rapture. He's taking us home. Why? There has to be a judgment seat for the believer where we receive our rewards. There has to be Revelation chapter 5, 6, 7 taking place on earth.

The church is not mentioned between Revelation 6 and 19. Okay. Revelation 2 and 3, it's mentioned all over the place. Revelation 1. Okay. But not in 6 to 19. The church is conspicuously absent on earth. But that's where we believe that the 24 elders in Revelation 4 and 5 are representative of the church that's in glory. And there's reason in the book of Revelation to prove why the 24 elders are the church. And that's because 24 is a representative number in the Old Testament. 24 represented the priestly choir and also represented the number of priesthood that represented all the people.

So the number 24 was representative of the people of Israel through the priesthood and through the choir of Israel. That's why it's the number 24. Also 24 elders, they have crowns. So they can't be angels because angels don't have crowns. They also clothed in white linen. Only the saints are clothed in white linen. So as you read through the book of Revelation, the book of Revelation interprets the book of Revelation for you. So if you're reading something, you don't understand it, just keep reading.

And as you keep reading, it will interpret for you what was said earlier if you just keep reading. And that's what happens with the 24 elders. So yes, the second coming is in, quote, two phases.

But in the rapture of the church, the translation of the church into glory, he does not come to earth. We meet him in the air. But that's a good question. All right, someone else. Yes, right. No, no. No, the Lord comes as a thief in the night. When I was growing up, they had a series of a trilogy of movies called A Thief in the Night, A Distant Thunder and Mark of the Beast. And they were all based on the rapture of the church and the coming of Messiah. Right. And the first was called The Thief in the Night.

But that phrase is specifically used for the second coming of Messiah to earth. So that's why there's an admonition to be on the alert, to be ready, because if they knew when the thief was going to come, OK, they'd prepare themselves. So people always ask, well, how do they not know? All you got to do is add the years, right? If it's seven years and we get to Daniel nine, we'll explain to you why it's seven years. Daniel explains it to us and why there are 70 weeks of Daniel's prophecy. Remember, the church wasn't in the first 69 weeks of Daniel's prophecy, and the church is not in the 70th week of Daniel's prophecy.

Why? Because there is a break between the 69th week and the 70th week of Daniel's prophecy in Daniel chapter nine. And that break is what we call the church age. Remember, the church age is a mystery. The Old Testament saints didn't see the church age. All they saw was the Messiah coming, right? And coming in great clouds of glory. Daniel chapter seven. That's how they saw him. The church age is a mystery. They didn't understand that. They didn't get that. And so when you read Daniel chapter nine and you talk about the 70 weeks of Daniel's prophecy, it becomes the most important prophecy in all of Scripture because it's to the day in which Messiah rides into Jerusalem 173,880 days from the time the prophecy began till Luke 19 when Christ rides into Jerusalem.

It's the most exact prophecy in all of Scripture. And it proves the validity of not just prophecy, but the validity of truth in Scripture and how it pinpoints everything. And so when we get to Daniel nine, we'll talk about that. But the thief in the night, 1 Thessalonians 5, is about the day of the Lord. The day of the Lord is the tribulational period. And the shout, right. And some believe the shout is a shout of Michael when he throws Satan in Revelation 12, throws him out of heaven. Does that talk about the rapture?

No. No, that's not about the rapture. 1 Thessalonians 4 is a rapture. 1 Thessalonians 5 is the day of the Lord where he comes like a thief in the night. So in Revelation 12, it says, and there was war in heaven, Michael and his angels waging war with the dragon who was Satan. The dragon and his angels waged war and they were not strong enough and there was no longer a place found for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who was called the devil and Satan who deceives the whole world.

He was thrown down to the earth and his angels were thrown down with him. Then I heard a loud voice in heaven saying, some would say the loud voice is the shout. OK, the voice of the archangel, the trump of God and the dead in Christ will rise first and those who are alive and remain upon the earth will be caught up together with them in the air.

So we will join those in the first resurrection in glory. Make sense? Yeah, you're not in darkness. OK, in other words, you're in the light. OK, so you're not an unbeliever. The rapture happens in 1 Thessalonians 4. But they were wondering, remember, the Thessalonians are wondering if the day of the Lord had come. They didn't know that. They thought they might have been in the day of the Lord because he was suffering persecution. OK, but they weren't in the day of the Lord. So when you come to 2 Thessalonians, he reiterates in 2 Thessalonians 2 about the tribulation, the man of lawlessness, the beast, the Antichrist, who he is and how you know you're going to be in the day of the Lord when this man is there.

Now, the point of the matter is, is that we're not going to know the man of lawlessness. We're not going to know who the beast is. OK, so people ask the question, how do you know? Why is it someone doesn't know that at the rapture of the church you begin to count seven years? Then you're going to know when the second coming is right.

But yet no one knows the day nor the hour. So how do you why can't you know? Well, remember that the tribulation doesn't begin at the rapture of the church. The tribulation begins when the Antichrist in Daniel 9 confirms a covenant with Israel. OK, for one week, there's when it begins. OK, it doesn't begin at the rapture of the church. The church will be raptured out, translated out of here. OK, and then sometime after that week, two, three, four, five, a couple of months, who knows, the Antichrist will confirm the peace treaties that Israel's already made and confirm them with them for one week.

That's when the tribulation begins. At that point, because he would have come on a white horse, Revelation six verse number two to make peace.

And that's what he comes to do. Make sense? Of course it does. It's clear as mud, right? Yes, I don't want to cover more. I'm not sure that Harold will do Daniel seven. He's going to give an overview of eschatology, an overview of in times. If you remember the chart that we put up on the screen a number of years ago, came in a card, right? And it gives you gives you a picture of the end times. I think we put it up during second Thessalonians, our study of second Thessalonians chapter two, when the Lord comes in flaming fire and judges the earth and everything about the day of the Lord coming before that time, he will give an overview of the different things, the church age, leading to the rapture of the church, why we believe in a pre-tribulational rapture, that seven year period, why it's six seals, why it's seven seals, seven trumpets, seven bowls of judgment.

And then he'll talk about the coming of Christ and the millennial reign of Christ. So he'll deal with those things as an overall view of things. OK, someone else know the question. Seriously, you just want to go home, right? Yeah, Lindsay. Absolutely. Absolutely. You know, I would pray that there would be someone who would come along, our president explained to him in time prophecy, you know, explain to him, you know, where the nation's going, explain to him that America is not mentioned in prophecy.

So you don't want to be the commander at the watch when America is destroyed. So you want to help him understand those things and just explain things to him from a biblical perspective. You'd have to have someone who's in authority to do that. So, yeah, Daniel was specifically used by God, you know, in his captivity in, you see, when Daniel gets a vision of Daniel seven, he has no idea how long it's going to be, right? It could be in a few years. OK, but he does know, according to Daniel nine, when he begins to pray that the 70 years of captivity are almost up.

So he knows that because he reads the book of Jeremiah, and when we get to Daniel nine, we'll explain that. So he reads the book of Jeremiah. He knows that the 70 years are almost up. So now he knows Israel is going to go back into the land, right? And go back home. So he knows this, but he doesn't know when he gets the vision of Daniel seven, that really clarifies more of Daniel chapter two for him. He doesn't know how long it's going to be. It could be a couple of months. It could be a couple of years.

It could be 100 years. He doesn't know. He didn't know it's going to be 2,500 years later. It hasn't happened yet. He didn't know that, right? He had no idea. All right. But that's why it's so unique to see that as he received the vision, all that happened exactly as it said, with the Medo-Persian Empire who came in and destroyed the Babylonian Empire and the Greece Empire that came in and destroyed the Medo-Persian Empire. And then you have the Roman Empire who destroyed the Grecian Empire. OK, so you have all this in history.

It's all laid out for us. And so we see all those things. But as he receives these visions, he doesn't know, but he's in a place of authority, a place of supreme authority. And there's no reason why God could not take a believer, put him in a place of supreme authority, whether it's in government, whether it's in your city as a mayor or someplace you know, in the state of California. Or would it be that Newsom would know that there is a believer that will tell him about the end times and help him explain things, help understand that that climate change is not a thing and that the Lord's going to destroy everything.

OK, and so but there's no one there to explain those things to them. If there is, we don't we don't hear about it. Right. But whether it's the police department, fire department, whether it's the realm of politics, if God puts you there, that's great. If I'm a post-millennial, I believe that all those people must be Christians. So there's a there's there's an onslaught of the gospel so that everybody there is a Christian because we have to make the earth a place for the king to come back to. That's why I have a hard time with post-millennialism, because we can't do that.

It's just not going to happen. I'd like to see it happen, but it's not going to happen. We don't pave the way for the Messiah to come back. He comes back whenever he wants to come back. That's right. Absolutely. Definitely attentive to detail. All right. Any other questions? Yes. You know, I don't I don't I don't know. I think Vodie Bauckham's a pre-mill guy. I could be right before him. He's an all-mill guy. I think he's an all-mill guy. Guys like who's that guy in Idaho? What's his name? Doug Wilson.

Doug Wilson's a post-millennial guy. He wants to make Moscow, Idaho a complete Christian city. OK, and he wants to have Christians in every realm of politics. And so he's a post-millennial guy. And so he wants to he wants to usher in the kingdom. OK, I don't see I don't see that scripture where we're ushering in the kingdom. Even the question of disciples. Are you now going to restore the kingdom to Israel? All right. So that's very important. Remember, the tribulation, the tribulation is called the time of Jacob's trouble.

Jeremiah chapter 30. The tribulation is for Israel. It's not for the church. OK, Revelation 310 says, I will keep you out of the hour. The hour of tribulation is going to come upon the whole world. It's going to come upon those who dwell upon the earth. Remember, we told you the phrase those who dwell upon the earth? Tribulation is going to come upon those people. That's a term not geographically, but morally of the people who love the earth, who love to live here. So it's a term of morality. They dwell upon the earth because they love the earth.

That's why they're here. Well, the hour of tribulation that comes upon the whole world. There's never been an hour of tribulation that's come upon the entire world. OK, like described in Revelation with the breaking of the seven seals, trumpets and bulls or Matthew chapter 24. All right. And so it comes upon the whole world, but it comes specifically on those who dwell upon the earth. Well, Israel are part of those who dwell upon the earth because they're unbelievers. But Israel will be saved in tribulation.

God's going to save them. That's why in Revelation 12, they're on the wings of a great eagle. They are taken into the wilderness and God preserves them and protects them until he comes again. And so they will be saved, but it will take time during tribulation. So Revelation 310 is the one verse in Scripture that that truly marks out a pre-tribulational rapture. OK, that the church is not going to be here because we are not those who dwell upon the earth. Those are all unbelievers, according to I think it's 11 times that phrase is used in the book of Revelation.

That's always in reference to unbelievers. So that explains that thing. So if I'm a post-millennial, I believe that I can win people to Christ. They're going to become mayors and governors and presidents and senators and congressmen all around the country. And the whole country will be ruled by biblical law. And then the Messiah will come back. I just don't see that in Scripture anywhere, but that's what they believe. All right. Anybody else? Time's gone. You can always ask me a question. Did I get quite?

Yes, Stacey, I'm sorry. Not necessarily. There will be a revival of the Roman Empire. There will be a Ten Nation Confederacy. We might be able to one day see that beginning to come together. OK, which would lead us to believe that, hey, the Lord is going to come and take us home. We will not know the identity of the Antichrist. OK, we won't know who he is. All right, because we're going to be gone. And the Antichrist could be alive and well on planet Earth right now.

We just don't know. He's a man, but that man will be demon possessed and Satan will use him for his purposes. So he could be on Earth right now.

All right. Living and in politics right now and looking for an opportunity to rise to political power, as Daniel 7 says. But with that Ten Nation Confederacy, right? There are three kings he destroys and he rises to power. All right. So that's where you get the seven heads of Revelation chapter 17. There is a beast with 10 diadems, 10 crowns and seven heads and then explains to you those kingdoms and those seven heads and what those seven heads are in Revelation 17. And we read that a couple of weeks ago as we went through there to explain that.

So there might be a formation of a number. The number 10 is a number of totality, right? But I do believe it will be 10. But I believe it will be the total number of nations that rule the Earth with 10 kings, 10 rulers. However, that's all mapped out and it comes to be. I have no idea. OK, but those 10 powers will come to be. They will be the 10 toes of Daniel 2. They'll be the 10 horns of Daniel 7, the 10 kings of Daniel 7, and the Antichrist will rise from them and become the one who seeks to rule the Earth.

Make sense? All right. Clear as mud, baby. Clear as mud. Let me pray with you, all right? Father, we thank you, Lord, for your word. And Lord, we don't have all the answers. I know I don't have all the answers. And yet your word gives us the answers that we need. And I pray, Father, that we would be Bereans and study the scriptures and come to know exactly what the word of the Lord says, that we might come to grips with the reality of your arrival. Father, we pray that you will come soon. We pray for your kingdom to come to Earth.

We are asking, Lord, for you to take us home. We would wish that it would be tonight that we might go home to be in the presence of the living God. Until that day, Lord, our prayer is that we would be found faithful in the service of our king. In Jesus' name, amen.