Antiochus and Antichrist - Daniel 8

this is a message from the ministry of calvary chapel santa barbara for more information about our church please visit calvary SB comm this morning were in the book of daniel we continue on now in chapter 8 and as i told you last week the book of daniel has 12 chapters the first six chapters are filled with amazing stories of daniel and his companions and what God did in their lives the second six chapters chapter 7 through 12 are filled with amazing prophecies where God spoke to Daniel in a supernatural way about what he was going to do in the future some of it was future only for Daniel and has already been fulfilled in our day other parts of it still have yet to be fulfilled and we're going to see how God will fulfill those things in the years to come and as we approach a chapter like Daniel chapter 8 I just have to tell you sort of from the beginning that it might seem a little bit like a history lesson this morning and I know how that strikes you maybe had a bad experience with history lessons in school maybe they all know you tune that out and write but let me just remind you something history when seen from a biblical perspective is simply God's unfolding plan for the ages God has a plan and some of it has already been completed some of it has yet to be completed but God has an unfolding plan for the ages history is nothing more than his story played out through the generations and history not only has a great Grand Arena with kingdoms and empires and world movements and all of that but history also is very personal because God has a story that he's writing in your individual life when we see the care and the concern that God has for the big picture it awakens us up to the care and concern that he has for our individual life and how he wants to work in and through that so with that in mind let's take a look here Daniel chapter 8 beginning at verse 1 in the third year of the reign of King Belshazzar the vision appeared to me Daniel after the one that appeared to me the first time I saw in the vision and it so happened that I was looking I was in Shushan the Citadel which is in the province of Alam and I saw in that vision that I was by the river rule I so here Daniel during the reign of King Belshazzar it happened while Babylon was still securely in power it was not yet the time when the medo-persian empire had conquered the Babylonian Empire Daniel had this remarkable vision and it begins with him being by a river now verse 3 then I lifted my eyes and saw and there standing beside the river was a ram which had two horns and the two horns were high but one was higher than the other and the higher one came up last I saw the RAM pushing westward northward southward so that no animal could withstand him nor was there any that could deliver from his hand but he did according to his will and became great now in this vision that Daniel had standing by the river he saw a ram and this Ram was unusual it had sort of a different construction especially in its horns I imagine that for a pre-modern audience they had a much more difficult time visualizing something like this but now with animation where we can just see this sort of in cartoon form with special effects we can imagine what it looked like for this mighty Ram to be pushing in these three of the four directions verse 4 says westward northward and southward and what does this represent well I could sort of speculate and act like I don't know until later in the chapter but I'm just gonna skip to the punch verse 20 tells us this is represents the medo-persian Empire the Empire that succeeded the Babylonian Empire so he had the Babylonian Empire and then you had the medo-persian Empire and this Ram represents the medo-persian Empire by the way in the ancient world a ram was a frequent motif used depicting the Persian Empire it's also a little bit interesting to see in verse three that it says the two horns were high but one was higher than the other in the medo-persian empire they were unequal partners the persians were a much mightier people than the Medes were and they eventually dominated the Empire in a big way so that's what he sees he sees this RAM pushing in different directions now verse five and as I was considering suddenly a male goat came from the West across the surface of the whole earth without touching the ground and the goat had a notable horn between its eyes then he came to the RAM that had two horns which I had seen standing beside the river and ran at him with furious power and I saw him confronting the RAM he was moved with rage against him attacked the RAM and broke his two horns there was no power in the RAM to withstand him but he cast him down to the ground and trampled him and there was no one that could deliver him from his hand therefore the male goat grew very great but when he became strong the large horn was broken and in place of it four notable ones came up towards the four winds of heaven well at least this vision gets pretty entertaining from Daniels perspective first there's a singular RAM he looks a little freaky with one horn bigger than the other and then suddenly in this action-filled seen a goat comes from the West and it charges at the RAM as hard as it could and normally you would think a ram against a goat the Rams gonna win but not in this case this case the goat triumphs over him a male goat came from the West and what does this represent well again I could play dumb and wait until later on in the chapter but verses 21 and 22 of this chapter tell us that the male goat represents the kingdom of Alexander the Great the Greek Empire so Daniel spoke this in the days of the Babylonian Empire succeeding the Babylonian Empire was the medo-persian Empire succeeding the medo-persian Empire was the Greek Empire of Alexander the Great and it's really an amazing description of Alexander the great and his conquests one of the notable things from historical perspective about Alexander the Great was the speed with which he conquered the world he swept over the world with his armies in a remarkable way verse 5 says that he came across the surface of the whole earth without touching the ground this goat was so fast that it flew across the ground and it conquered everything and that's exactly the way that Alexander conquered in his kingdom matter of fact if you want to go down and go it piece by piece you see a remarkable description of Alexander the Great's Empire verse 5 it rose from the West verse 5 also says it happened suddenly without touching the ground with great speed verse 5 says it has a notable ruler there was one horn in the middle of his head it was a cross between a goat and a unicorn this notable horn was Alexander the Great then in verse 6 you see how the Greek Empire in the medo-persian Empire greatly hated each other verse 6 said it came with furious power and then verse 7 that he was moved with rage they had a famous war with the Persian Empire verse seven says I saw him confronting the RAM and some of the most famous Wars and battles of ancient history happened between the Greek Empire and the Persian Empire and then the reign of the notable leader of the Greek Empire was suddenly cut short verse eight says the large horn was broken and then to top it all off at the end of Alexander the Great's life the Greek Empire was divided among four rulers and verse eight says in place of it four notable ones came up and France isn't that remarkable how this prophecy with incredible precision describes the rise and the character and the destiny of the Greek Empire more than a hundred years before it ever happened now this is such a remarkable passage of Scripture such a supernatural prophecy that people and I'll use the word advisedly and I don't mean this an insulting way please don't say scholars I don't mean that to be an insult but just because somebody approaches the Bible from a scholarly perspective it doesn't mean that they approach it from a respectful perspective but there are people there are academics maybe we should call them and others such who do not believe that this is a supernatural book at all and so when they see Daniel prophesies something that was so precisely fulfilled they only have one option they say Daniel didn't write it and it was written after the events happened that's the only thing they can say because if they were to admit the truth and the truth is laser Daniel wrote this and he wrote hundreds of years before it ever happened if they would admit the truth they would have to admit this book has a supernatural origin this book comes from God I believe with all my heart I got to believe that this is the reason for at least one person here today probably more than one but at least one this is why God brought you here today so you could hear at least one man express his utter confidence this is the Word of God and a man say that that he doesn't believe that with blind faith not like he picks up a dictionary or a phone book not that anybody uses phone books anymore or any book off yourself and says well I believe this is the Word of God I believe there's no there is solid evidence to believe that this is the Word of God and the supernatural origin through fulfilled prophecy is one of the huge aspects of that evidence it's absolutely amazing now in this whole battle that happened between the RAM and the goat we see verse 8 it says that the male goat grew very great the greatness of Alexander's Empire was not only in its vast Dominion but also in its cultural influence Alexander the Great deliverer least spread his empire across the world of his day saying I want to promote Greek culture I want to promote the Greek language I want to bring screech civilization to the entire world and he did and you know what in so doing he prepared the world for the coming of Jesus Christ what do I mean by that well because the Greek Empire so effectively spread Greek civilization that the Roman world that the Mediterranean world and beyond at that day spoke a common language Koine Greek therefore when Peter on the day of Pentecost in Acts chapter 2 stands before a vast audience of people from all over the world he could speak to them in a language that they could all understand and God used it to lay a groundwork for the spread of the gospel that wasn't correct and the language is only one aspect of it it's the most easily grabbed on to aspect ladies and gentlemen God had his hand on the spread of the Empire of Alexander the Great and he used it for his own purposes to prepare the world for the coming of Jesus Christ well what happens next take a look at verse 9 it says and out of one of them came a little horn which grew exceedingly great okay so out of the four horns came one horn which grew exceedingly great towards the south towards the east and towards the glorious land and it grew up to the hosts of heaven and it casts down some of the hosts and some of the stars to the ground and trampled them he even exalted as himself as high as the Prince of the host and by him the daily sacrifices were taken away and the place of a sanctuary was cast down because of transgression an army was given over to the horn to oppose the daily sacrifices and he cast truth down to the ground he did all this and prospered earlier we saw that the goat which was marked by one horn had the horn broken off in four rows in its place for Jen roles from alexander succeeded him one of those generals rose to a special prominence and this general was the one who ruled over the area that we would know today as israel as the promised land and this little horn which grew exceedingly great was fulfilled in one of the four successors to Alexander the Great a man named Antiochus Epiphanes or Antiochus the fourth now by the way that word epiphanies was a title he gave to himself it means glorious and it has the idea of deity basically said high on his business card I'm I'm Antiochus the god is basically how we'd introduce himself Antiochus Epiphanes now the Jewish people both ancient and modern they love to do puns and sometimes insulting puns so they called him Antiochus Epiphanes which means the madman because he was crazy he was crazy in his hatred of the Jewish people verse 11 says that he even exalted himself as high as the Prince this means God himself Antiochus Epiphanes was an accurate and dramatic fulfillment of this prophecy again so much so that critics of the book of Daniel look at this and they say had to be written after the fact had to be but ladies and gentlemen it was not you see Antiochus Epiphanes exerted his dominion towards the south towards the east and towards the Land of Israel Antiochus Epiphanes murdered other rulers as described in verse 10 and he was a terrible hater of the Jewish people he wanted them to submit to Greek culture and to leave their Judaism behind and the worst period of this came in December of 168 BC when he returned in defeat from Alexandria when he came back to Jerusalem he ordered his generals to seize Jerusalem on a Sabbath and then he set up an idol of Zeus in the temple he desecrated the altar at the temple by sacrifice a pig on that altar and then he brought in the pigs juices or broth or whatever into the sanctuary they stop sacrifice because the temple was desecrated by some historical estimates Antiochus Epiphanes was responsible for the murder of more than a hundred thousand Jews this man was an unbelievable persecutor of the Jewish people and a desecrater of the Jewish religion he blaspheme God as is mentioned in verse 11 it says that the exalted himself as high as the Prince of the HOS and in verse 11 it says by him the daily sacrifices were taken away because of what Antiochus Epiphanes did they shut down the temple because it had been so disgraced and desecrated by this ungodly man and again he seemed to prosper verse 12 says that he casts truth down to the ground he did all this and prospered brothers/sisters didn't that sometimes drive you crazy how the wicked seem to prosper how those who oppose God and his people seem to flourish and sometimes you and I go God why are you doing that what wipe them out what why do you even let him get to the first step God you could it is within your power smoke him right now God you know what God says God says don't worry I know what I'm doing God had an end for Antiochus Epiphanes God had a way of dealing with him but for a while he appeared to be the winner he was the one who was prospering now verse 13 then I heard a Holy One speaking you see man has his word man has his way and then God has one of his Holy Ones speak then I heard a Holy One speaking and another holy once said that certain one who was speaking how long will the vision be concerning the daily sacrifices and the transgression desolation the giving of both the sanctuary and the host to be trampled underfoot and he said to me for 2300 days then the sanctuary shall be cleansed they wanted to know how long is the sanctuary going to be desecrated how long is man gonna rule how long is there gonna be this kind of terrible disgrace of God and his work and the answer came back in verse 14 for 2300 days alright I need to go off into a little digression and this may be a very little interest to some of you so if it is just come back when I tell you to come back okay I'm not act like I'm a hypnotist or anything but when I say come back come back when daniel described 2300 days actually what he described literally in the Hebrew was 2300 mornings and evenings so here's the issue is that describing 2300 days or is it describing half that you'll because of morning and evening that's one day is he describing 1150 days or 2300 days and Bible scholars got they debate about this or that either one works you know he's asking when you measure this or that but this would I want to get is that Christians in the past have latched on to that number and used it as a launching point for elaborate prophetic scenarios Daniel chapter 8 verse 14 has been a favorite springboard for fanciful prophetic interpretations and a popular and tragic interpretation of this took place when in the nineteenth century a man named William Miller took that number 2300 and he said every day stands for a year and then he started calculating out and when when Antiochus Epiphanes did his thing and when the templates clan's in all this business and he calculated that Jesus would return in 1844 that was two thousand three hundred years after Cyrus issued to the decree to rebuild the temple this was one of the pivotal movements in Christianity in America in the 19th century they called it the great disappointment Christians were Abbe convinced that Jesus coming back in 1844 whatever William Miller did people believed it there were people who sold everything they had they gathered on hilltops they were waiting for Jesus to come back in 1844 and lace Jimmy you know he didn't and it was a tremendous disappointment and you won no it's strange about this is that groups like the Watchtower Bible and tract Society Charles Russell the founder of it and the otherwise known Jehovah's Witnesses they grew out of that great disappointment seventh-day adventists they grow out of that disappointment many other religious groups they had to deal with this crisis of we made this great big bold prediction we know Jesus is coming back on 1844 at some particular date we know it and when it didn't happen the Christian world was absolutely rocked it serves as a great big blinking warning sign to us today to be careful in our assertions of what the Bible says about prophecy now in retrospect I can look at this and say I know that Miller was wrong not just by the history but by the biblical interpretation you see the problem with these years standing for a day theories is they just don't work and and the temple was cleansed by the times of Jesus and the Bible tells us so how do we know that because in John chapter 10 verse 22 it says that Jesus attended in Jerusalem the feast of dedication you start thumbing through with feats of dedication piece of what's that I see the feast of Pentecost I see the feast of Passover I see the feast of unleavened bread but where's the feast of dedication no the feast of dedication is what we call today Hanukkah and it celebrates the cleansing of the temple after Antiochus Epiphanes desecrated the temple and what this shows us is because Jesus attended the feast of dedication it says that in John chapter 10 it was God's way of putting his stamp of approval on said the temple really was cleansed this is said and done you don't have to look for this to be fulfilled 2,300 years later no God's Word is true even though sometimes we screw it up with wrong and fanciful interpretations but God's Word is true but verse 14 says the sanctuary shall be cleansed and it was God guided it to this fulfillment now verse 15 then it happened when I Daniel had seen the vision and was seeking the meaning that suddenly there stood before me one having the appearance of a man and I heard a man's voice between the banks of the OEL I who called and said Gabriel make this man understand the vision so he came near to where I stood and when he came I was afraid and fell on my face a common reaction to angelic visitations but he said to me understand son of man that the vision refers to the time of the end now as he was speaking with me I was in a deep sleep with my face to the ground and he touched me and stood me up right and he said look I am making known to you what shall happen in the latter time of the indignation for at the appointed time the end shall be now this is fascinating Gabriel which by the way doesn't it just strike you here that he appears as a man yet Daniel feels like he has to bow down before him in any regard Gabriel comes and tells Daniel that this vision has relevance to the end now we know that in large measure what we saw has been fulfilled and fulfilled more than 2,000 years ago it was fulfilled in this man Antiochus Epiphanes and the cleansing of the temple that happened after he desecrated we look at that from a historical perspective but Gabriel speaks to us across the centuries says no no no there's more here no no this also speaks to the end now just as Antiochus Epiphanes rose to power with force and intrigue so the Bible tells us there will be a final world leader who does the same just as Antiochus Epiphanes persecuted the Jews so will this final world leader just as Antiochus Epiphanes stopped the sacrifice and desecrated the temple so will this final world leader and just as Antiochus Epiphanes appeared to be a complete success and prosper in everything that he did so will the Antichrist there I said the word Antichrist a chill goes over the room and you're thinking of every omen movie you've ever seen right now brothers sisters I said this to you last week but I'll say it again the Bible tells us that there will be a final world ruler who will come and it'll be in his days that Jesus Christ comes in glory to rule and reign the Bible also tells us that he will rule over some Confederation of Nations that will have some kind of connection or inheritance to the ancient Roman Empire and the Bible tells us that when this ruler comes he will be seen by the world as a complete winner and he will persecute the Jewish people he will persecute the people of God he will put an end to sacrifice he will desecrate a temple that stands in Jerusalem this is coming and the Bible says it certainly will happen now verse 20 the RAM which you saw having the two horns they are the kings of media and Persia and the male goat is the kingdom of Greece see I told you the large horn that's between the eyes is the first king as for the broken horn and the four that stood up in this place four kingdoms shall arise out of that nation but not with its power the four generals who succeeded Alexander the Great none of them had the same power had the same influence as Alexander himself now verse 8 Masumi verse 23 it's point eight in my notes verse 23 and in the latter time of their Kingdom when the transgressors have reached their fullness a king shall arise having fierce features who understand sinister schemes his power shall be mighty but not by his own power he shall destroy fearfully and shall prosper and thrive and he shall destroy the mighty and also the holy people was cunning he shall cause deceit to prosper under his rule and he shall exalt himself in his heart he shall destroy many in their prosperity he shall even rise against the Prince of princes but he shall be broken without human means and the vision of the evenings and mornings which was told is true therefore seal up the vision for it refers to many days in the future what's fascinating about these verses is that they read equally true of Antiochus and Antichrist because there's a curious phenomenon in Biblical prophecy where God will speak to a near fulfillment and to a distant fulfillment usually the near fulfillment is an imperfect fulfillment the distant fulfillment is a perfect fulfillment of it and what we find in this is that Antiochus was a preview of this final world leader that sometimes we call the Antichrist he's the movie trailer before the full feature he let us know what was coming and if you want to know what this Antichrist will be like take a look at the career of Antiochus because he previews it and you could go by point by point in verses 23 24 and 25 and see it but at the end of it all verse 26 therefore a seal up the vision why because it deals with something having to do not just with the more immediate future in Daniels day but for the very end times and again brother and sisters I'm just telling you I can't tell you when and I certainly can't tell you who I've lived a life of my nightlight I've lived enough of my life now sometimes I need help with the words to where I've seen several different people that Christians get excited about this must be the Antichrist when I was just a boy it was Henry Kissinger Henry Kissinger he's the Antichrist then it was King Juan Carlos of Spain he's the Antichrist then it was this guy and that guy and certain people will point to political leaders say oh that must be the guy and who knows he may very well be alive today in my bones I feel like the end is soon enough that he must be but I'll tell you this one way he will be recognized by the world is he will be seen as a winner as someone who metaphorically speaking everything he touches turns to gold this world leaders coming and when he comes he will oppose God and his people on every level that's why we conclude with verse 27 and I Daniel fainted and was sick for days afterward I arose and went about the King's business I was astonished by the vision but no one understood it do you see what Daniels reaction was to this I mean I might think that Daniels retros whoa I never saw a ram and a goat battle like that Daniel's impression wasn't with the RAM wasn't with the goat wasn't with actually hanging out with the angel Gabriel Daniel felt sick to his stomach and why was he sick to his stomach no doubt it was because that he saw that such a mighty persecutor of his people of God's people was to come and that he would be a man of such seeming power and success brothers and sisters sometimes Christians talk about the end times with entirely the wrong spirit sometimes we act as if we're glad about the troubles to come woo Antichrist whoa Great Tribulation look I understand that there's something within us that does get excited about seeing Biblical prophecy fulfilled but of what Jesus said of this last period of human history before he returns in glory Jesus said that it would be the worst time planet Earth has ever seen if you let that sink down into your mind for a minute that'll stagger you because the human race has seen some pretty bad times Jesus says this will be the worst how much better to be right with God right here right now and be spared that time altogether when Jesus would catch away his church that's why Daniel says verse 27 I went about the King's business Daniel didn't let spiritual mysteries or his own physical weakness keep him from doing his duty and I see something in here look at that in verse 27 I went about the King's business listen our interest in prophecy should make us more concern with the King's business and not less if anybody's interest in prophecy makes them less concerned with the King's business then something's awry there something's not quite right but rather when we receive it right knowing what God will do in the future and knowing that the time is short knowing that that the end is near whenever near we don't know but knowing out gives us an urgency about the King's business right here right now and then it says finally it says verse 27 no one understood it they didn't understand it in Daniels day but we understand a lot more about it now since what God has given us in the New Testament and the fulfillment of history all right let me end with some quick takeaway truth here ready four quick points number one the fact of fulfilled prophecy is an amazing testimony to the divine source of the Bible you want to know one big reason it's not the only reason but one big reason why I trust this book so much it's because of the fact of fulfilled prophecy that's number one number two God warns us about a last days world ruler he didn't give us this prediction in Daniel chapter 8 and another passage of Scripture as well just to excite our imagination just to kind of give us a spiritual thrill but to say this rulers coming I want the world to be ready for him so that nobody would submit to this ruler and even though in those days of this world rulers domination it will be costly to resist him it'll be far more costly to go along with him number three let your heart ache for the pain in a lost world and the pain that is to come I want with all my heart believers follow the words of Jesus Christ I want them with all my heart I want them to be ready for the return of Jesus Christ but when you look out to the world around us people who don't know Jesus yet are they ready not at all and that means when these things unfold there's gonna be a lot of pain let your heart ache for it let it give you a urgency about reaching the world now with the message of the good news of Jesus Christ what he came to do and how he can rescue us not just in the present date but for the crisis that is to come and then finally this is number four you can be ready for the Jesus of the second coming by trusting in the Jesus of the first coming isn't how we get ready for the second coming you don't need to get your little Antichrist survival kit at home you don't need to you know build the bunker in the backyard they'll let me know if you have one if just in case things get sideways no no the real way to be ready for the Jesus of the Second Coming is to take a look at what he did in his first coming has revealed to us in his word take a look the person and work of Jesus Christ especially what he did at the cross because it was at the cross that Jesus paid a penalty for us that we could never pay for ourselves it was at the cross that he received upon himself the judgment that you and I deserved and it was at the empty tomb that he demonstrated that he triumphed over it all you surrender your life to the Jesus of the first coming and then you are ready for the Jesus of the second coming father this is our prayer here this morning I pray that you would fill this room with people who are truly ready for the Jesus of the second coming and we're grateful Lord that even though rulers of this world come and go we're grateful that you have established you are establishing and you will establish a kingdom that will never pass away Lord we're grateful for our own nation we're grateful for the work we see you doing in the world but we openly confess our first allegiance is to the kingdom of God in heaven so father make us ready for your second coming by fully embracing the Jesus of the first coming we yield this to you in Jesus name Amen this is a message from the ministry of calvary chapel santa barbara for more information about our church please visit calvary SP calm

Channel: David Guzik

Views: 54,161

Keywords: antichrist, antiochus, antiochus epiphanes, daniel, last days

Id: 3T5yJZ2wiJE

Length: 37min 11sec (2231 seconds)

Published: Mon Sep 17 2018