Now, in this Daniel chapter 8,
Daniel had been given a vision. This was the second vision that
he'd been given. And in this vision, we see and
saw and see tonight as we finish it out, the spirit of Antichrist. Last week we read, or last few
days we read 1 John chapter 4. or chapter two rather, where
John mentioned there in verse 18 and 19 that there were many
antichrists in his day. And that spirit would continue
throughout the last days, the age, the last age, up until the
second coming of Christ. That spirit could be embodied
in one man, it could be embodied in a succession of men, but that
spirit has always been in the world. We see an example of it
in the first murder that occurred, Cain murdering Abel. That was
the spirit of Antichrist, the spirit of Satan. And yet as it
develops in this age, it takes on an identity of its own, and
that's why it's called Antichrist, or he is called Antichrist in
this day. You remember I mentioned this
one man, that if you read any commentaries on Daniel chapter
eight, This little horn that came out from the Grecian Empire,
again, which was absorbed into the Roman Empire eventually,
so it came out of Rome too, came out of that conglomerate. Remember that fourth beast, which
was a composite beast of the three empires, the Babylonian
Empire, which represents salvation by works, that's what Babylon,
confusion, Daniel says in chapter 9 in his prayer, he talks about
how righteousness belongs to God, but unto us, man by nature,
confusion effaces. Babylon represents man in his
natural sinful state, trying to work his way to God by his
efforts. That's what Babylon represents.
And it's free willism, it's all that kind of stuff. The Medo-Persian
Empire, which represents mysticism. the soothsayers, the feelings,
the emotionalism, and then the Grecian Empire, which represents
the wisdom of men. Remember, Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians
chapter 1 that in God's eyes, the wisdom of men is foolishness,
and that's exactly what it is. So you have that composite beast,
that fourth beast, from which comes that little horn, which
is Antichrist. And now he just simply tells
us here that that little horn, he sees a vision in chapter eight
of that little horn coming specifically from the Grecian Empire. You
heard me mention this man that most commentators refer to, even
gospel commentators, when they go to Daniel 8, his name was
Antiochus Epiphanes. His name wasn't Epiphanes, that's
what he called himself. That means somebody who's like
God. In other words, he elevated himself
to be God. He came out of one of those four
kings. You see this, look at verse 21. It says, "...and the
rough goat is the king of Grecia. The great horn that is between
his eyes is the first king." That was Alexander. He was cut
down in his youth. And it says, now that being broken,
whereas four stood up, four kingdoms. Alexander's kingdom was divided
into four kingdoms. And out of one of those kingdoms
and the descendants, it came this man named Antiochus Epiphanes. The four, as they're called back
in chapter eight, four notable ones. And he was infamous for
his hatred of the Jews. He was truly anti-Semitic. He hated the Jews. He hated their
religion. Look over in verse 11 again,
it says in verse 11, he magnified himself even to the prince of
the host. That is, he magnified himself
against Christ, against God. This is one who stood up and
magnified himself. He came against everything that
God, that represented God and that symbolized God and that
pictured God in God's way of salvation. And by him the daily
sacrifice was taken away. I want to talk a little bit about
that daily sacrifice in just a minute. But that was the continual
worship of God prescribed in the tabernacle, in the temple,
through the priesthood, through the blood of bulls and goats,
which pictured the blood of Christ. And it says he took that away.
He forbid it. He outlawed it. And it says,
and the place that was taken away and the place of his sanctuary
was cast down. In other words, he shut up the
temple. He said in verse 12, it says, and a host was given
him against the daily sacrifice by reason of transgression. In
other words, what he's saying there is that what this man was
doing in Jerusalem at that time was a judgment of God against
the Jews for their transgression. And, of course, that had been
well established by Daniel. It had been well established
by Isaiah, a couple hundred years before this. It had been well
established by Jeremiah, 70 to 80 years before this. That these
things were coming upon the people of God, Judah, under the Old
Covenant, because of their sin. That's the reason they're under
this judgment. That's the reason they were in captivity here.
And it says, "...by reason of transgression, and it cast down
the truth to the ground, and it practiced and prospered."
In other words, this spirit of Antichrist embodied in this man,
Antiochus Epiphanes, he cast down the truth, whatever was
true, he didn't want to have anything to do with it, and he
practiced it, and he prospered for a while. And so this is one
they refer to. And somebody said, well, was
he the Antichrist? No, he was an Antichrist. He was an embodiment of it. He
was a foretaste. You know, we speak of salvation,
the new birth. We speak of the new birth as
being a foretaste of glory divine. Well, this fellow was a foretaste
of Antichrist. That's what he was. And sometimes,
like I said, he was embodied in one man, sometimes in a succession
of men, like the papacy, or he's embodied in a spirit. He's a
spirit of Antichrist. Well, look on. And what he did,
now remember what he did. He ordered the adoption of the
Greek religion in Israel. And he set up a statue of Zeus
in the temple of God. And he sacrificed a pig on the
altar. And that's what some call the
desolation of abomination. Well, that was a desolation of
abomination. But there have been many desolations
of abominations. The desolation of abomination,
let me tell you what that is exactly. It has to do with defiling
and making empty, desolate, something that God has purposed and planned
and revealed. And it's just like, listen, it's
just like getting up and preaching works religion. That's an abomination
to God. The Bible says what is highly
esteemed among men is an abomination unto God. So anybody who takes
the things of God that glorify and honor him in Christ and defiles
them or diminishes them or denies them, you know, in essence, that's
an abomination of desolation. We can talk about the destruction
of the temple. in A.D. 70 as an abomination
of desolation. But see, in A.D. 70, that temple
was not in effect anyway in the purpose and plan of God, even
though they tried to keep it going. That system ended at the
cross, when Christ said it's finished, and the veil was rent
in two from top to bottom. So understand that. Don't try
to focus in on these things of history and say, well, that was
it, that was it, that was it. Sometimes you can do that when
the Bible tells you to. But other than that, it's a spirit,
it's prevailing, and that's what he's talking about. So here's
an example of the spirit of Antichrist, that little horn. And what does
he do? Remember I told you in the last
message, you don't wanna get bogged down in all these details,
and you're not gonna remember all these details, but here's
what you need to remember. Here's what that spirit of Antichrist,
we don't wanna be deceived by Antichrist. I told somebody,
I may have mentioned this during the last minute, if I'm wrong
about this and he's one man to come in the future, I still contend
that here's the important thing, you still don't want to be deceived
by him. I don't want to be deceived by him. Now how can I not be
deceived by Antichrist? Well, what does Antichrist do?
Well, what did this Antiochus Epiphanes do? What does every
spirit of Antichrist do? They make desolate in their doctrine
and in their practices the glorious person and the redemptive work
of Christ. That's what they go after. Now
let me show you that before we go on. Turn over to 2 Thessalonians
chapter 2. 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. Now here, most of you are familiar
with this. This is that chapter where Paul
was talking to the church at Thessalonica about the second
coming of Christ. They believed he was coming in
their day, but he said, I've told you before that it's not
going to come except there be a great apostasy, a great falling
away first. What he's talking about there
is a falling away of the church here on earth. that what would
be known, commonly known and called Christianity would be
Christian in name only. And then he speaks of this Antichrist,
this man of sin. And he says that he's going to
be very deceptive. We'll look at that in just a
moment back in Daniel 8. But it says in verse 9, it says,
look at 2 Thessalonians 2, 9, it says, even him whose coming
is after the working of Satan with all power, and signs and
lying or deceptive wonders, things that will impress people, things
that people would make judgments upon to say, this is truly of
God, but it's not. And he says, and with all deceivableness
of unrighteousness in them that perish, and who are those that
perish? Think about it. Who are those
that perish? Who's he talking about? Well,
then the Bible say, and you stay right there in 2 Thessalonians
2 now, we'll read on. Then the Bible say in 1 Corinthians
chapter 1 that the gospel is the power
and the wisdom of God to them who are called. And he talks
about, I think it's verse 18 of 1 Corinthians 1, it says that
the preaching of the what? The cross is foolishness to those
who are what? And so, this is the issue now. This is the issue that exists
between the people of God, the true people of God, and that
spirit of Antichrist. Who is Jesus Christ? And what
did he accomplish on Calvary's cross? And anybody who comes
in the name of Christ who diminishes either one of those truths, his
person or his finished work, and make salvation condition
on the... That's the spirit of Antichrist. I don't care what
else he does. And it says in verse 10, now,
them that perish because they receive not the love of the truth. Who is the truth? Christ said,
I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto
the Father but me, that they might be saved. You see that? That's what he's talking about.
Now look over at 1 John chapter 4 with me. Look at 1 John chapter
4. Verse one. Listen to what he
says here now. He says, Beloved, believe not
every spirit. Now what he's talking about,
he's talking about those who claim to be preaching or speaking by
the spirit. He says, but try or test the
spirits. Had a fellow one time who was
going to a church that didn't have a pastor. And he come back,
he went down and preached to him, he come back angry and he
said this to somebody, he said, I felt like I was on trial. And
I told the guy who told me that, I said, well, you bet he was. What does it command you to do?
Try. What do you do when you try something?
He didn't mean just try it out. He didn't mean, it doesn't mean
like test drive, put it on trial. That's what he's saying. Now
that doesn't mean we're to be negative and suspicious of everybody,
but here's what it means. We're to be noble Bereans. That's
what it means. We're to test that fella to see
whether or not what he's preaching to us is the truth. And if he
doesn't want that, he doesn't need to be back here behind this
pulpit. Yeah, we're on trial. I want
you to test what I say by the word of God. That's what I want
you to do. Now, use the right standard. Don't say, well, I don't believe
he's sin of God because he's not related to me, or so-and-so
down the road doesn't like him or something, or he don't wear
the right clothes. Test him by the word of God. Is he preaching
the gospel? And that's what I told that man.
I said, those people didn't know this fellow from Adam. He didn't,
they didn't know him. What do you want to know that
I'm doing? You want to know that I'm telling you the truth. So
he says, try the spirits, whether they are of God. Now, why is
that necessary? He says, because many false prophets
are gone out into the world. Now, false prophets. How did
the Lord Jesus Christ define a false prophet? He said, they
are those who point people on the broad road that leads to
destruction. What is that broad road? It's the way of work salvation.
That's what it is. Matthew chapter seven. There
are many false prophets that are gone out in the world. Look
at verse two. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God. Every spirit
that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God. Now, most commentators will talk
about the humanity of Christ there, and that's fine, that's
part of it. But that's not all that's included in this. You
see, Jesus, His name means God, our Savior. God, our salvation,
Jehovah. Christ is his title, the Messiah,
the anointed one. That has to do not only with
who he is, but what he came to do. When Peter said, thou art
the Christ, the son of the living God, he was talking about you're
the son of God incarnate who's come to save us from our sins. That's what he means by that.
To redeem us by your blood, to establish righteousness. Daniel's
gonna define him over in Daniel chapter nine. He's Messiah, He's
the Prince, He makes an end of sin, He causes the transgression to cease,
makes an end of sin, brings in everlasting righteousness. That's
what He's saying here, Jesus Christ is come in the flesh and
He's already come, that's what He's saying there. Some were
coming along saying, well, the Messiah hasn't already come yet,
who was doing that? Think about it. The Messiah hasn't
already come. Well, the Jews, the unbelieving
Jews were saying that. Others were saying, well, he
didn't come in the flesh. If he did, he'd be a sinner.
He was no sinner. He was made of the seed of woman,
of David, according to the flesh, but without sin. He was conceived
in the womb of the Virgin Mary by the Holy Spirit, not without
the aid of man. And he was perfect. But he who
is God in man did a work. All right? Now look at verse
three. And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ
is come in the flesh is not of God, and this is that spirit
of antichrist. You see that? Where have you
heard that it should come, and even now already is it in the
world? You've heard that it should come.
You've heard of this future thing. See? But John's saying, I'm telling
you, that spirit's already in the world. And it's going to
get worse. It's going to get worse. Now
go back to Daniel 8. When Antiochus Epiphanes, when
he attacked the temple in Jerusalem, when he desecrated the temple,
that's exactly what he was doing. He was denying the faith of God's
people. He was denying the person and
work of Jesus Christ. That's what Antichrist does.
He claims to be Christian. Antiochus didn't now, but as
I said, it's going to get more deceptive. That's what Paul's
talking about in 2 Thessalonians 10. Antichrist is even going
to be more deceptive as time goes along, up until the time
of the Second Coming. In fact, Matthew 24, what does
he say? He says, some of them will come so close that if it
were possible, they could deceive the very elect. Matthew chapter
7, what did he warn us of when he mentioned false prophets?
He warned us of wolves in what? Sheep's clothing. That is, they
claim to be Christian. They claimed that, but they weren't.
And we see that in the New Testament, we see it in Revelation. We'll
go back to Daniel now. Let's look at this daily sacrifice.
Look at verse 13. He says, Then I heard one saint
speaking, and another saint said unto that certain saint which
spake. And you know what a saint is, that's a believer. I don't
know how Daniel saw this and all the vision, but he saw all
this. And they ask this question, how long shall be the vision
concerning the daily sacrifice and the transgression of desolation?
And he says, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be
trodden underfoot, how long? And he said unto me, unto 2,300
days, and then shall the sanctuary be cleansed. Now, this daily
sacrifice, this profaning of the temple and the daily sacrifice
here is called the transgression of desolation. Again, anti-Christ,
seeking to profane the person and work of Christ. The daily
sacrifice is the continual worship prescribed by God in that temple. For all worship is through the
blood. And it's a daily sacrifice. Now,
Christ only had to die one time, didn't He? For by one offering,
Hebrews chapter 10 tells us, by one offering He hath perfected
them that are that are sanctified forever. He didn't die twice. And you remember there's a great
Old Testament lesson in that through Moses. You remember the
rock, that rock that tempified Christ from which the Hebrew
children in the wilderness got water? God commanded Moses to
strike the rock one time. That's a picture of Christ, the
water of life, going under the wrath of God in order to bring
cleansing to the people of God and to quench our thirst. Why?
And then when Moses, what was he to do the rest of the time
to get water out of the rock? He wasn't to strike it, he was
to speak to it. But he got angry. He got angry
with the people and he struck the rock twice. And he did something
that was just so blasphemous there. He misrepresented the
person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ before the people. He
did not honor and sanctify the name of God before the people.
And so God said, for that reason, you cannot enter into the promised
land with these people. Now Moses personally was a justified
sinner. He was a believer. He was a saved
man. But God's teaching a lesson there, and it's this. that anyone
who denies or diminishes or casts off on the glorious person and
work of Christ cannot spiritually and eternally enter into the
promised land. That's the spirit of anti-Christ.
You see? So Christ died once. So why is
this called the daily sacrifice? Well, the benefits of His one
sacrifice for our sins is applied to our consciences daily. daily. Now you'll notice, for example,
when we come to worship service, Sunday and Wednesday, what do
we have on our minds and our hearts? It's the blood, isn't
it? We know God said, when I see
the blood, I'll pass over you. It's the righteousness of Christ,
but we're not going to crucify him again. You know that's what
a mass is? When they go to Mass, they actually
crucify the Son of God again in their minds and in their hearts.
That's what it's about. You know what that is? That's
an abomination of desolation. Think that's too hard? That's
exactly what it is. When we take the Lord's Supper,
what are we doing? We're remembering the body and
blood of our Savior, but we don't crucify Him again. When we eat
that wafer, we're not eating the actual flesh of Christ. It's not transformed into anything
like that. And we're not drinking the actual
blood of Christ. When he talked about eating his
flesh and drinking his blood, he wasn't talking about crucifying
him again in the Lord's Supper or in what they call the Eucharist.
He was talking about faith in Christ. That other is an abomination
of desolation. It's anti-Christ. Now again, you may think I'm
being too hard, but that's exactly what it is. You see, that daily
sacrifice is applied to our consciences, our hearts. And we come to hear
about it again. We come to hear about that one
sacrifice for our sins. Think about it. Well, look at
verse 15. He says, 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,
this is the vision that he saw, and this was Gabriel. The name Gabriel means warrior
of God or man of God. Most agree he was an angel. And
he says in verse 16, I heard a man's voice between the banks
of Uli. This vision of future things
here, and remember he had a vision of the palace of King Cyrus,
so it was future. He said, which called and said,
Gabriel, make this to understand the vision. Make this person,
make Daniel. That's a testimony that all revelation
comes from God. You know we don't understand
a thing savingly apart from the Holy Spirit. That's why Christ
told Nicodemus, you must be born again, else you cannot see the
kingdom of heaven. That word see there doesn't mean
visualize, it means to understand it and to know the value of it. That's why in 1 John chapter
5, he said, we know that the Son of God has come and given
us an understanding that we might know Him. That is true. We understand
because God gives us that understanding. That doesn't mean we can figure
out all the deep things of God. We can't. But we know they're
true. And we see the value. Do we see
the value of the glorious person of Christ? Or are we willing
to compromise on that issue? See what I'm saying? Do we see
the value, the power of His saving work on the cross, His blood? Do we really mean it when we
sing those hymns, what can wash away my sins? Nothing but the
blood of Jesus. Or are we willing to compromise
and say, well, it could be something else, or his blood plus something?
Do we really see the value of that righteousness that he worked
out on Calvary's cross to be imputed to us, which we receive
by God-given faith? Do we see the value of, listen,
do we see the glory of God engaged in those things, or will we give
in and compromise? You see what I'm saying? That
has to be revealed. Look at verse 17. So he came
near where I stood, and when he came I was afraid, 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. Now these things
were future for Daniel in several ways. Even if you agree with
the commentators about this man Antiochus Epiphanes, that was
future for Daniel. That happened probably around
150 years before Christ. But it's projected all the way
to the end of the world. And the reason we know that is
because in Daniel chapter nine especially, Who's he going to
talk about? He's going to talk about the
coming of Christ. He's going to talk about the coming of the
Messiah, who's going to end all this confusion, all this anti-Christ
spirit is going to be defeated, going to be finally closed down.
So he says this is the end, the time of the end shall be the
vision. So he's talking about ultimately the end of the age,
the second coming of Christ. And in verse 18, he says, and
then it'll be a fulfilled completion. And remember now, this Antiochus,
this fella, he was but one man, but he's in a succession who
typifies and embodies that spirit of Antichrist. So verse 18, he
says 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. I love that. When God touches
a man, he sets him upright. All we are without God is crooked.
All we are without God is downcast and downtrod. But with his touch,
the touch of his grace, the touch of his mercy, the touch of his
love, the touch of his truth, he sets us upright in Christ.
That's a great picture of that, isn't it? Then in verse 19 he
said, Behold, I will make thee know what shall be in the last
end of the indignation. Now there's several indignations
as we talked about, but the last end of it. He says, for at the
time appointed, the end shall be. And then he gives the interpretation
of the ram and the he-goat. The ram which thou sawest having
two horns are the kings of Media and Persia. The rough goat is
the king of Grecia. The great horn that's between
his eyes is the first king. As I said, that's Alexander,
he names them here. He says, now that being broken,
whereas four stood up, four kingdoms after Alexander, four kingdoms
shall stand up out of the nation, but not in his power. They're
not going to be as powerful as Alexander was. And then verse
23, he says, and in the latter time of their kingdom, when the
transgressors are come to the full, and that's to its completion,
a king of fierce countenance and understanding, dark sentences
shall stand up. Now, apply that to Antiochus
Epiphanes, but apply it all the way through to the spirit of
Antichrist, because that describes him. That doesn't just describe
one fellow there, I'll guarantee you that. It describes a lot,
a whole spirit, a whole succession. And think about what he says
there. They're going to come to fierce countenance. It's going
to make people afraid. You know, that's really what
false religion does. It makes people afraid. How can you get
people to obey God? How can you get people to avoid
sin? You make them afraid. And if
that doesn't work, or on the other side of it, instead of
making them afraid, you dangle a carrot before them. Promise
them something that they can earn. You gotta outdo this one,
of course, if you don't, you won't get as much. Mercenary,
that's what they call that. And then he says, an understanding
of dark sentences, in other words, his doctrine will be the doctrine
of devils. Damnation. And he'll stand up,
verse 24, his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power.
He's energized and empowered by somebody else, who's that?
If you read it in Revelation 13, it's Satan. Remember that
Christ told the Pharisees, you're of your father, the devil. You're
walking and acting and speaking by a power that you don't even
recognize. It's the devil. And he shall
destroy wonderfully. That means in an awesome way.
And he shall prosper in practice for a while. Antiochus Epiphanes
prospered for a while. A false religion prospers for
a while, and he shall destroy the mighty and the holy people.
Antiochus Epiphanes, he persecuted Jerusalem and the people of God
under that old covenant, that were under that old covenant.
False religion down through the ages has persecuted the people
of God. Christ told His generation when
He walked on earth that they persecuted the prophets before
they persecuted you. He told His disciples, marvel
not... You see, this isn't just one fellow back then. This is
something that's been going on all along. Tell me a time when
it hasn't been going on. It's always been going on. Tell
me a time when it won't be going on, according to the Scriptures. And he says in verse 25, listen
to this, he says, and through his policy, in other words, this
is going to be not just his opinion, this is going to be something
that he enacts into law. And he says, he shall cause craft
to prosper. Now listen to this, here's what
Antichrist will do. What is it to call craft to prosper
in his hand? That means he'll use deception. Satan is a deceptive devil. He
deceives. Lying wonders. We read about
that. An unrighteousness that is deceptive. And he says, and
he shall magnify himself in his heart. That's the religious pride.
Just like Satan. See, he's following his father
the devil. He raises himself up to be as
God. And by peace shall destroy many. That means he'll destroy many
by speaking peace to them. He'll threaten their lives. And
shall stand up against the prince of princes. He'll stand up against
Christ. That's what antichrist is. He'll
stand up against the prince of princes. But look here now. Look
at verse 21. But he shall be broken without
hand. He'll be broken without, that
is, without human hands. In other words, the man will
not be able to break this one. It's going to take the power
of God to stop this antichrist. This is when he's broken. And he did it at the height of
his glory. Turn over to Acts chapter 12
with me. You remember King Herod? King Herod embodied this anti-Christian
spirit too. He got uplifted, you remember?
He got angry at people and he got uplifted with his own pride. You remember how he died? Look
at Acts chapter 12 and verse 21. Acts chapter 12 and verse
21. It says, and upon a set day Herod,
arrayed in royal peril, sat upon his throne, and made an oration
unto them. And the people gave a shout,
saying, It is the voice of a God, and not a man. And immediately
the angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory,
and he was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost." That's how
Herod died. It's not recorded in Scripture,
but it's recorded in history. You know, that's the same way
Antiochus Epiphanes died. He was eaten from the inside
out by worms. The power of God. His goal, which
is the goal of every anti-Christ, all anti-Christian spirit, is
to what? To destroy Christ. To destroy the church. But Antiochus
Epiphanes, he didn't succeed. In fact, look back at Acts chapter
11. Look at verse 19. There was a
city in Syria named after Antiochus Epiphanes, Antioch. Listen to verse 19 of Acts chapter
11. It says, now they which were
scattered abroad upon the persecution that arose about Stephen, traveled
as far as Phanesi and Cyprus and Antioch. That's the city
named after Antiochus Epiphanes. Preaching the word to none but
unto the Jews only. Some of them were men of Cyprus
and Cyrene in which when they were come to Antioch spake unto
the Grecians preaching the Lord Jesus in Antioch. That's the
legacy that Antiochus Epiphanes unwillingly left. And it says
in verse 21, and the hand of the Lord was with them and a
great number believed and turned to the Lord. Where at? Antioch. God's going to save his people.
You can go on down through there. Look at verse 26. This is Barnabas. He went to seek Saul. Verse 26,
when he'd found him, he brought him unto Antioch. This is after
Saul's conversion. And it came to pass that a whole
year they assembled to get themselves with the church and taught much
people, and the disciples were called Christians first. Where? In Antioch. Antioch was destroyed by an earthquake
in AD 526 by the power of God. But God used that city in a great
way, didn't he? To get the gospel out. Look back
at Daniel chapter 8. Well, my point is this. Whatever
you believe or whatever you think or however you judge anti-Christ
is or will be or whatever, I can tell you this right now, he's
not going to win. Christ is the winner. He's the victor. And
look at verse 26 of Daniel 8. And the vision of the evening
and the morning which was told is true, wherefore shut thou
up the vision, there's nothing more to add now, where it shall
be for many days, many days to come, its future. And I, Daniel,
fainted and was sick certain days. Afterward I rose up and
did the king's business, what he was supposed to do, And I
was astonished at the vision, but none understood it. Now Daniel
himself, he understood it because it was revealed to him. But no
one that he told to understood it. We can speculate about why
Daniel was in such sickness, soul sickness, as they said,
over this. I suspect that it was because
he saw the future of his own nation. And he was like Paul. You know, Paul said, I could
wish myself a curse for Israel, my people. He said, my heart's
desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be
saved. And I think Daniel saw the future. In the next chapter,
you're going to see Daniel sort of uplifted because he knows
that it's time for them, according to God's predestinated time,
to go back to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple. But he also knew
that off on into the future that there would be a great national
rejection of Christ the Messiah and the way of salvation by God's
grace in him and that bothered him and I can understand that
but either way either way we know from the Word of God that
in Christ we have the victory whatever whatever we go through
in this future however we see it we have the victory all right