Faith Presbyterian Church - Birmingham
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Faith Presbyterian Church - Birmingham
Daniel 11; Wars and Rumors of Wars
Jason Sterling November 24, 2024 Faith Presbyterian Church Birmingham, AL
Bulletin
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The following message is from Faith Presbyterian Church in Birmingham, Alabama. Join us on Sundays for our 8, 15, and 11 am worship services. For more information, visit us online at faith-pcaorg or download the Faith PCA app. Thank you for tuning in to Faith's podcast ministry.
Speaker 2:If you have a copy of God's Word, turn with me this morning. Daniel 11. So go to the book of Daniel. I want to encourage you to keep your Bible open this morning. It'd be helpful. It's a long passage, we won't read it all, but we'll be referring to different sections in Daniel, chapter 11. We're almost finished with Daniel, believe it or not. Two more weeks this week and next week we'll finish up Daniel and then we'll move into Advent. Daniel chapter 11 is right in the middle and we're going to come back to this because I think it's important to understand the context. Daniel 11 is in the middle of a vision that takes up the final three chapters of the book of Daniel.
Speaker 2:If you remember, a couple of weeks ago I did Daniel 9, and one of the commentators called Daniel 9 the dismal swamp of Old Testament studies. I've got one better this week, no joke. First paragraph, the commentator or scholar said Daniel 11 is only to be taken up in seminary classes, never a sermon. And I was like, seriously, I mean, and I think part of the reason for that is that this and you'll see this is that this is one of the most detailed historical accounts in the Bible and therefore it's really, really complex, and chapters like this, I think, are sort of like the genealogies. If you do any sort of Bible reading, you're cruising along, you get to a genealogy, or you get to a chapter like this one and you start to read and you're like whoa, there's way too much going on here. You get lost in the details or you get bogged down and so you just turn the page and you're like I think I will move on to the next chapter.
Speaker 2:The temptation is to do that with this chapter, a chapter like Daniel, chapter 11. And it's here that we need to remember something really important about the Bible the purpose of the Bible. It's more than presenting historical facts and events and telling you what to expect in history. The word of God is living and active. This passage is living and active, in other words, and it is meant to teach us more about and form us and shape us, and teach us more about who God is and more of who we are. This passage is meant to nourish and strengthen your faith, and so, as we jump into lots of details and lots of history this morning, my hope and prayer is that this passage would do just that, that you would walk away from here this morning, loving God more. So follow along with me as I read Again. We won't read it all, it's a very long chapter. The sections are in your bulletin. They will be on the screen behind me as well.
Speaker 2:This is God's Word, and as for me, in the first year of Darius the Mede, I stood up to confirm and strengthen him. And now I will show you the truth. Behold, three more kings shall arise in Persia, and a fourth shall be far richer than all of them, and when he has become strong through his riches, he shall stir up against the kingdom of Greece. And then a mighty king shall arise who shall rule with great dominion and do as he wills. And as soon as he is arisen, his kingdom shall be broken and divided you notice the theme here towards the four winds of the heaven, but not to his posterity nor according to the authority with which he ruled, for his kingdom shall be plucked up and go to others besides these. Then the king of the south shall be strong, but one of his princes shall be stronger than he and shall rule, and his authority shall be a great authority. And after some years they shall make an alliance and the daughter of the king of the south shall come to the king of the north to. Now skip down with me to verse 29. We'll read through 35. Now skip down with me to verse 29. We'll read through 35.
Speaker 2:At the appointed time or at the time appointed, he shall return and come into the south, but it shall not be this time as it was before, for the ships of Kittim shall come against him and he shall be afraid and withdraw and shall turn back and be enraged and take action against the holy covenant, so against God's people. He shall turn back and pay attention to those who forsake the holy covenant. Forces from him shall appear and profane the temple and fortress and shall take away the regular burnt offering and they shall set up the abomination that makes desolate. He shall seduce with flattery those who violate the covenant, but the people who know their God shall stand firm and take action. And the wise among the people shall make many understand, though for some days they shall stumble by sword and flame, by captivity and plunder. When they stumble they shall receive a little help and many shall join themselves to them with flattery. And of some the wise shall stumble so that they may be refined, purified and made white until the time of the end, for it still awaits the appointed time.
Speaker 2:This is God's Word. Let's pray and ask Holy Spirit to help this morning. Let's pray together. Father, do come, help make this passage clear. There is a lot going on, but this passage, the Bible, you tell us that it's useful for us, and so I pray that you would place it in every heart. Give us attentive hearts, give us ears to hear and to see Jesus. It's no accident that we're here. You've brought us here for this word this morning. So help us in Jesus' name, amen.
Speaker 2:When I was in seminary, I went to seminary at Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando, florida, and one of the first few nights living in Orlando, susie and I were living in our apartment near the seminary and somewhere in the middle of the night, two or three in the morning, the apartment building started shaking and I heard the loudest boom. It sounded like a really loud clap of thunder. It was the loudest thing I'd ever heard in my life. And so I'm thinking bad storm. I get up, we're shaken, rattled. I get up, look outside, it's not a storm, it's not raining, and then I think earthquake. But then I remember I'm in Florida, that that's probably not a possibility and then, I think, possibly some sort of explosion, but it seemed very close. It was this powerful, earth-shaking sound. Well, needless to say, we were pretty restless that night. Didn't get much sleep the rest of the night. The next morning I go in to seminary, I walk into class and one of my friends looks at me and says did you hear the sonic boom? Well, orlando, as you know, is very close to the Kennedy Space Center and the space shuttle had re-entered the Earth's atmosphere in the middle of the night, causing the sonic boom, which generates enormous amount of sound energy and it's very similar the sound to an explosion or to a very loud clap of thunder.
Speaker 2:Throughout our time in Orlando, we experienced many sonic booms. They would continue to happen, but this time, in moving forward, we were more attentive to the news, so we knew exactly when they were coming and what time to expect them. And often they would still happen in the middle of the night. It would still wake us up, we would still be startled, but we had much more peace and we were able to actually go back to sleep. Why? Well, because we were prepared. We knew what to expect, we knew what was happening and why it was happening. Therefore, we were able to rest more easily and be at ease.
Speaker 2:In Daniel, chapter 11, god's people are returning back to their homeland from exile and Daniel learns in this vision that there are going to be many sonic booms, so to speak, throughout the history of God's people that will shake them to the core. He learns that there are going to be nations that are going to be waging war in and around Israel. He learns that God's people are going to engage in and enter in and experience times of intense persecution, so intense that they're going to wonder if they were actually going to make it and if God's promises would survive. And Daniel gets this vision and through this vision, we get a. It's a very sobering vision, so I'm going to tell you that on the front end, it's a lot of talk about what's ahead for God's people, but he gets this vision and gives us a perspective on suffering, hoping that, knowing what to expect, that we will be able to stand, that we will be able to stand firm, that we will be able to have courage and endure the suffering that we will experience.
Speaker 2:Here's the question this morning how do you remain faithful in the face of suffering? How do you remain faithful in the darkness? And this passage gives us three things that help us endure, three things that help us remain faithful. We need one a properly placed hope. Secondly, we need the right expectations for our life in this world. And thirdly, we need to remember that Jesus is watching over us. So let's look at our first point properly placed hope. This passage is dense. I've mentioned that.
Speaker 2:If you don't like history, you probably don't like this passage. And if you don't like history, I want to ask you to hang in there, and by the end I'll tell you why this is important to you. You should also know on the front end that there is historical consensus about these events, whether you believe in the Bible or not. So let's look at these events very briefly. We won't spend a ton of time, but if you have your Bible, it would be helpful for you to look at it and just walk through these verses with me.
Speaker 2:Verse 2, the vision begins with the kingdom of Persia and, if you've been following along in our series, this is the current day for Daniel. This would have been around 530 BC. After the king of Persia lets the people return to the land, three kings will come, it says, and a fourth king will rise in prominence and this fourth king will stir up his kingdom against the kingdom of Greece. From biblical and secular histories, we know this to be Xerxes, verses three and four Another king will come that will be even greater. He will be broken and his empire divided, not among his posterity but among his four generals. We know this to be. We saw him in chapter 8, alexander the Great. These couple of verses 2 through 4, span 200 years of history.
Speaker 2:And then in verses 5 through 20, the vision slows down and we get this detail about the conflict between the kings of the north and the kings of the south. The kings of the south were the Ptolemy dynasty that ruled over Egypt, the kings of the north or the Seleucid dynasty ruling in Syria. And the reason why the vision slows down here, it's because this is where Israel finds themselves. They're back in the land and they are right between these two opposing dynasties. They are right in the middle of the war, right in the middle of the conflict.
Speaker 2:And the thing I want us to see here and notice and maybe I kind of mentioned it, maybe you noticed this as we were reading, but there's a theme running throughout this chapter. I'll mention a few of them. There's a lot more Verse 4, as soon as he rises, his kingdom is broken and divided. Verse 6, she will not retain her strength, he will not endure. Verse 12, he will not prevail. Verse 19, he will stumble and fall and be broken in battle. This is a point that Daniel has been making throughout the book of Daniel, and the point is that earthly kings and kingdoms and political systems will rise and they will fall. They will become strong, they will eventually be crushed and broken.
Speaker 2:And the temptation and it's a big temptation for a preacher, the temptation here for me this week is to say Temptation, and it's a big temptation for a preacher. The temptation here for me this week is to say ah, we've already talked about this. Daniel said this before. Let's just move on to the next application and do something different. And then I was corrected. We need to resist that way of thinking about the Bible.
Speaker 2:The Bible's not random. God is not saying hey, I think I need to make this book a little longer, so I'm just going to repeat myself and say something that I've already said. No, this is God's Word, and if God repeats himself which he does a lot in the Scriptures. It can only mean one thing, and that is we need to hear it. And it's interesting that it comes post-election. It's as if God is saying to us there's a new political party in charge. Let me remind you God's people, that's not your hope. Your hope is in my kingdom. You see, god repeats himself. If he repeats himself, it can only mean that he knows us, that he knows our tendency to put our hope in things down here, on this earth and in the systems down here.
Speaker 2:And God reminds us in this chapter of the futility of worldly politics and worldly powers. Listen to Ian Duguid strong quote. Though the tides of affairs of men come in and go out, in the end it accomplishes precisely nothing. The balance of power in earthly politics may shift, but it never comes to a permanent rest. On the one hand, therefore, daniel 11 shows us the fallen world pursuing the wind and finding it elusive. What do power and politics gain for all their toil? You know, the implication of the answer there, of what he's saying, is that this chapter covering some 400 or 500 years of human history, and what is accomplished? Really nothing.
Speaker 2:You see, if you're going to remain faithful, you're going to endure the suffering of this world. Your hope cannot be in this world. Let me be clear. There's tension here. Yes, the Bible is full of tensions.
Speaker 2:Daniel is not saying and we've looked at this in other parts of Daniel he's not saying check out. He's not saying run and hide. He's not saying disengage from the world. We are to engage as Christians in every arena of life and we are to strive to make the world our little corner of the world that God has placed us a better place, 100%. Live faithfully in the world. However, don't put your hope in the world. That's what this passage is saying. Secondly, right expectations. Look at verse 21 through 35. Things really slow down here. Fifteen verses, you have 12 years and the focus becomes on one man. The camera zooms in on one person, a contemptible person.
Speaker 2:We've learned and met this person already in Daniel, chapter 8. He was the little horn of Daniel, chapter 8, antiochus Epiphanes IV and if you remember and we get a hint of it again here he was the king of the Seleucid Empire and he was the Hitler of the day. He was a tyrant. He was truly wicked. Verse 31, look at that with me. This ruler profaned the temple. Remember? He desecrated the temple by burning a pig on the altar. He took away worship and the sacrifices, the burnt offerings. There's stories of him burning God's Word. It says that he set abominations that make desolate. He slaughtered Christians who remained faithful to God. He gave himself the name Epiphanes, meaning God made manifest name, Epiphanes, meaning God made manifest. And so his goal is to wipe out God's people. And then, perhaps this is the hardest thing of all, we learned that the suffering and terror will not end with Antiochus, but it's actually going to continue with God's people throughout history until Jesus returns. Look at verse 36.
Speaker 2:It's difficult here at this point in the vision, to see whether it's talking about Antiochus still or talking about someone else. Most do not think it's referring to Antiochus, but actually a greater evil, a spirit of evil and persecution and suffering that will come in the future against God's people. In summary, daniel 11 is warning us, warning God's people, that there will be difficult, hard days ahead until Jesus destroys evil in His final coming and makes the world right. And don't we know that to be true? Maybe we don't feel that. I think we're starting to feel it more, but definitely Christians in other parts of the world feel this. They feel it a whole lot, they feel it deeply, this kind of persecution. And we think, don't we? As I think about the future a lot, you think about the future a lot. And this is saying and when I think about the future, I think about how can I be comfortable? And this is saying again, I know this is hard truth this is saying no, no, no, it's not going to be comfortable and that we need to account for as Christians and I think this is important as we prepare our children and as we raise our children. If you have children, suffering has got to factor in to the future of the way we think about our lives. And again, hard truth. And you thought well, I thought this was supposed to be encouraging. I think it actually is encouraging because it helps us, because often we're caught flat-footed with suffering or we're surprised when suffering actually does come.
Speaker 2:And this passage sets expectations and says God's people will suffer, that God is warning us. He loves us enough to warn us and to prepare us. Look at verse 34 and 35. They shall stumble by the sword and flame so that they will be refined and purified. Doesn't Jesus say the exact same thing in John 15 and 16? They persecuted me, they will persecute you In this world. You will have trouble. The apostle Paul, if you seek to live from Christ, you not might be. You will be persecuted.
Speaker 2:Think about an exercise program. Or maybe you had surgery and you're going to a physical therapist for some sort of rehab or some sort of injury and you do. Maybe you're working out, the trainer's working you out for the first time in years. Or you go to the PT the next day. How do you feel? You're probably sore and you're in sore and muscles that you didn't even know you had, and perhaps you even think something's not right. I'm so sore or maybe I've re-injured myself because I don't feel this doesn't feel right, and you call the trainer or the physical therapist and you know what they will tell you no, that's exactly right, you are on the right track. The soreness and the pain that you experience means that you're on the right track. The soreness and the pain that you experience means that you're on the right road. That's what this is saying.
Speaker 2:The persecution of the just and the disrespect you feel, those things now, the disrespect for God's word, the profaning of what is holy, people abandoning their faith, all the things we see with Antiochus, these things should not surprise us. They are part of life in this world for God's people. In fact, when we face them, it is a sign that we're on the right track, that we're on the right road, the road that God has planned, the path that people have walked before us. And it's this knowledge that allows us to stand, allows us not to be caught flat-footed but to stand up under the darkness with courage and endurance. And as we walk this road, I think it's easy in our suffering, isn't it, to lose perspective. You might think, which we often do someone else is in charge of the world. No, god reminds us here that he's still in charge, that he sets the terms for the suffering. It's very clear. Look at verse 27, 29, and 35. And 35 at the appointed time, god's in charge. That's hard for us to understand, but we need to remember that in our suffering.
Speaker 2:I think it's also easy for us to think that the suffering is random, or to think it's meaningless. And God says no. Suffering always has purpose, and the purpose is to change and grow. You Look at verse 35. Some will suffer. Why? So that they might be refined and purified. Suffering makes you more like Jesus.
Speaker 2:And then one final thing I want to point out here. Did you notice the things that Antiochus goes after? He goes after the means of grace. He burns the scriptures, he cuts off the sacrifices. He went after circumcision. He goes after circumcision. He goes after and tries to keep the people of God from worship. Why? Well, it makes perfect sense, doesn't it? Why would he go after the means of grace as an enemy of God's people? Because those are the things that God uses to strengthen the people of God. Those are the things that nourish us and help us to endure and move on and to put one foot in front of the other and move forward.
Speaker 2:So, application for us this morning do not neglect the means of grace that God has given you. Do not. This is an application. Do not neglect weekly worship with God's people, because it's God's ordained means to hold you up and to strengthen you when the storms come. And of course that means now. But it also has a cumulative effect. You see, it's the weekend, week out, meeting with God's people, hearing the gospel, singing together, crying with one another, rejoicing with one another, getting around the gospel and the word. Those things prepare you and they strengthen you for the days ahead, especially the darkness and especially times of suffering. Lastly, we need to remember Jesus is watching over us.
Speaker 2:Here's another place I want you to. If you have your Bible open, I want you to open it up and follow along with me, because I think it's really important that you see this, because it's pretty amazing. Again, the editors have put in verse divisions and chapters divisions in the Bible and sometimes that's helpful and good Most of the time it is, but sometimes it's not. This is one of the times where I think it actually keeps us from seeing something that's really beautiful. So look with me. Remember 10 through 12, one vision and it's hard to see again because of the chapter division in verse 11. Chapter 11, most everybody points out that 11 starts in a very strange place. Look at the end of chapter 9, or 10, I'm sorry.
Speaker 2:Remember in Daniel 10, daniel is laid low when he sees the future suffering of God's people, and we learned last week that when he sees the suffering, the pre-incarnate Jesus comes to him, touches him and strengthens him. Verse 19. Chapter 10, verse 19. O man greatly loved fear, not Peace. Be with you, be strong and be of good courage. And then Daniel says let my Lord speak, for you have strengthened me. Then look. Then Jesus says do you know why I have come to you? I have come to fight against the prince of Persia and Greece and there is none who contends by my side except the angel Michael. Who is Michael in the Bible? Well, he's the archangel. He's the leader of the angels, the leader of the army of God. Keep reading Daniel 11, verse 1.
Speaker 2:Jesus, still speaking again it's one passage says I stood up to confirm and strengthen him. Who's the him, michael? There is another time in the Bible where we're told that Jesus stands, and it's in Acts, chapter 6. Stephen is being martyred and stoned for his faith and he looks up and the heavens open up and he sees Jesus not sitting, jesus standing rising to his defense. We get a similar picture here Jesus standing strengthening Michael to help in the battle.
Speaker 2:God said and I think that's isn't that amazing God says before again, this is verse 1, before I start talking about all of the wars and the suffering that you're going to endure, I want you to know two things. One you're greatly loved. Secondly, you're not alone. You're not alone as you navigate this fallen, broken world and experience suffering and persecution. Fallen, broken world and experience suffering and persecution. You have Jesus and the head of God's army, michael, fighting and defending and watching over you from the heavenly places. Yes, this pulls back the curtain and says there is a spiritual war going on. And, friends, jesus has got you. He watches over and fights for his church, and the gates of hell will not stand against the church. And I think this is so important because it is tough, isn't it? When we're in the middle of suffering and struggle, we think in our hearts on our worst days, surely Jesus has left us? Or Jesus, where are you? And this passage says let me show you something, let me pull back the curtain into heaven and remind you that things are not as they seem, that Jesus is standing and he has his eye on you and he is fighting for you and defending you. Isn't that what we all need In the middle of our suffering? Whatever that is, for you to know that God still cares, that God still fights, that God still watches over, protects and defends and holds on to you.
Speaker 2:You've probably experienced this, you've at least seen this at the beach, but when my girls were younger. You know you go down to the ocean, it's pretty choppy and lots of waves, and so I would hold their hand as the waves were coming in and we'd walk out just a little bit more and the water would get deeper and the waves would get a little bit more. And the water would get deeper and the waves would get a little bit more severe. And I would hold on to them and they would hold on to me, but their grip was not very tight. Eventually, it was not them holding on to me, it was me holding on to them and left to their own strength. With the waves coming crashing in, they would certainly slip out of my hand, but I was not going to let that happen. Why? Because they belong to me. They could not get out of my grip in the ocean. Even if they tried, they could not get away.
Speaker 2:So it is with Jesus. You belong to Him. Our grip is like that of a child. It's weak and we're weary, and the good news of the gospel is our security doesn't lie with our grip on Jesus. No, the gospel is about His grip on us. It's not about our strength and our faithfulness, but His strength and His faithfulness, and the gospel is that he has you firmly in His strong and secure grip and he will never let you go and you want to know, maybe this morning. That sounds great, but how do I know that for sure? Well, you look at the life of Jesus. Jesus lived for you. Jesus died on a cross, utterly alone for you, taking the punishment that you deserve for your sins. Jesus rose from the dead for you and Jesus will return one day to come get you and bring you home.
Speaker 2:Some of you are in the middle of suffering. Maybe you're in the middle of the worst week of your life. Will you see Jesus this morning? Will you see Jesus standing in heaven, along with all the army of heaven watching over you, holding on to you? He will not let you go.
Speaker 2:You want to walk faithfully and endure in this world. That is not easy and will not get easier. You want to endure through suffering. You want to remain faithful. Make sure your hope's properly placed. Second, remember to have right expectations about this world and your life and never forget that Jesus, he's got you and he will always watch over you. Let's pray, father, thank you for your faithfulness to us. Despite our lack of faithfulness, you remain faithful through it all and we're thankful for that hope and promise of the gospel. Would you forgive us for the ways that we place our hope in other things, things of this world. Holy Spirit, use your word and sacrament to help us, to strengthen us in the midst of the battle and in the midst of suffering. Remind us now, as we come to your table, of your deep love for us. It's in Christ's name, amen.