Thanks very much, Casey and Steph, and good morning, everyone.
If you have your Bible open, please keep it open.
If you don't have an open Bible, you might well find it helpful as we go through,
because we haven't read the whole passage, but I will refer to quite a lot of it as we go.
Welcome to General Election Week.
It feels a bit momentous, doesn't it?
If the polls are even vaguely accurate,
we're likely to have only the third change of governing party in the last 45 years,
and that feels, in many ways, quite a big deal.
Or at least it did until this week I was reading Daniel chapter 11.
And Daniel 11 is looking not just at a period of decades, but at a period of centuries.
And he's giving very much the message that kingdoms will rise and kingdoms will fall,
rulers will become powerful, and then they'll be defeated.
But at the end of everything, what really matters is that God is in control.
I think Maggie said God will win, and that is absolutely right.
So as we come to a General Election Week, let's have confidence in our God.
Whatever happens, our God is in control,
and ultimately our God will be seen to be the God of gods.
There was something else to do with the General Election that came to me
as I was looking at these passages this week.
And that is how we get our information and our understanding.
And I think it comes essentially in three ways,
which I think are relevant as we look at this section of Daniel.
Some information we get about the election is straightforward,
relatively easy to understand.
It's in the interest of the political parties to have slogans
that come across as simple and straightforward,
and people can say, yes, I identify with them.
So in this election, the Conservative Party is promising it will cut our taxes.
Labour Party is promising it will grow the economy.
And the Liberal Democrats are promising that they'll sort out social care.
Simple messages that we probably can understand,
at least at a high level, without anyone explaining them to us.
I think there's that in these chapters in Daniel.
Now, they are long and they're complicated.
But if you were to read through them and try to make sense of them,
I think you would get some key messages.
And they might look something like this.
Chapter 10 has material about conflict in the heavens.
Now, it gets complicated, but we can understand there's something in there
about conflict in the heavens.
Chapter 11 is about chaos on the earth.
All these rulers who come and go,
and there's lots of detail in there which we'll come back to.
But the message is there's lots happening in our world.
Everything is temporary.
No ruler is forever because only God is eternal.
No.
And that then brings us to chapter 12,
which gives comfort for God's people.
And it says,
despite all the troubles that we see in our world,
and Daniel saw plenty as this message was given to him.
Despite all that, it will come right in the end.
The dead in Christ will be raised,
as Paul says, and is foreshadowed here.
And overarching it all is the message that's overarching the whole book of Daniel.
God is in control.
God is the person who is ultimately in control of our world.
And if we trust him, we can have total confidence in him.
So at a high level, then, we have some understanding of what's in the chapters.
Going back to the election,
there is also quite a lot of information that comes at us
that we might find quite difficult to understand
until someone explains it.
So, for example,
the SNP is lobbying for taxes to be increased in England.
And you might say,
well, what business is that of the SNP?
Well, the reason they're doing it
is that if taxes are raised in England
and the money goes to fund the English NHS,
then Scotland will benefit from Barnet consequentials.
Some of you may understand what that means.
Some of you probably don't.
I suspect none of us would
unless someone had explained it to us
or we'd read about it.
But it's factual information.
The Barnet formula is something you can find
and you can understand.
You don't really have any controversy
about what it is.
And so when we come to these chapters in Daniel,
there are some things that we wouldn't understand
if we just read it.
So most of chapter 11,
it's a long series of events that are prophesied.
And we very quickly, I think, get lost
as we read through them.
But if you have a good commentary or a study Bible
and you read that,
the commentary alongside Daniel 11,
it will explain to you exactly
how Daniel 11 was fulfilled in history.
It is a remarkably accurate account
of what was at the time of Daniel in the future.
And everyone, all the experts agree
on the main details of that.
Doesn't matter who you ask,
they will agree about it.
There's then a third level of information understanding
to do with the general election.
And that's areas where the experts
don't necessarily agree.
So all the parties are making promises.
They're all saying we're fully costed.
And some of the experts are saying,
actually, you haven't taken account of this
or this is a bit of a dodgy assumption.
And the experts may not necessarily agree
on what's what.
And that is one of the difficulties,
I guess, for us as voters.
We're given information.
Some of it we can understand easily.
Some of it we can understand with a bit of effort.
But some of it we're going to just have to decide
who we trust,
which of the experts we think
has potentially got it right.
And that's the third element
we find in these chapters.
Graham highlighted it last week
that there are all sorts of views
of the prophecies that are made
in the book of Daniel
and the visions that he had.
If you were listening to Graham last week
and you listened to me today,
you probably will see reasonably clearly
that we don't agree
in our understanding of some of the details.
And that's fine.
And we're not going to fall out over it.
It's difficult stuff
that people won't always see the same way.
But where Graham and I definitely do agree
is that while the detail is important,
the really critical things are the big picture.
The big picture that God is in control of our world
and that he will bring about his purposes in the future.
And that's not up for debate.
That is not disagreed on
by those who hold to the truth of the Bible.
God is in control.
There's conflict in the heavens we'll think about.
There's lots of chaos on earth,
lots of things on earth we don't understand
and we probably are quite distressed about.
But God is in control.
We can take comfort from that
and from the fact that Jesus is coming again.
Kingdoms will rise and fall.
Evil beings will do their worst.
But there's a glorious future
for those who trust in God.
Now, with that by way of introduction,
let's have a look at the passages.
And we're only going to be able to go over
very superficially this morning.
There's a lot of detail here we won't cover.
We'll try to get the main messages out of it.
So at the beginning of chapter 10,
Daniel positions for us the time of what's happening.
This is quite significant.
He says,
In the third year of Cyrus, king of Persia.
Now, in terms of the timing of Daniel,
this means it is the last thing that happens
in the book of Daniel chronologically
as well as in the flow of the book.
It is sometime after Daniel was put into the lion's den.
He's an old man.
He's probably in his mid-80s at this point.
What's also significant about the timing
is that when Cyrus became the king,
when the Medes and Persians conquered Babylon,
that set in train a return of the Jews
back to Jerusalem.
We read about it in the book of Ezra
in the early chapters,
how Cyrus decreed that the Jews
were going to be able to go back to Jerusalem
and to rebuild the temple.
Archie, a few weeks ago, looking at chapter 6,
talked about the yearning for home
that the Jews had.
And that yearning for home
seemed to be being realised
as some of Daniel's compatriots
went back to Judea.
But then they had problems.
There was opposition
and the work stalled.
It stopped.
And it may be that the point we're at now
is where Daniel heard about
the difficulties in Jerusalem.
Heard about the fact that the thing
which undoubtedly caused him great joy
that his people were able to return
actually seemed to be going wrong.
And perhaps that is the background
behind the whole of this section.
It is God coming to Daniel
and saying,
yes, it looks as if things are going wrong,
but don't worry,
I am in control.
Whether that's the right interpretation or not,
as we look at the beginning of this passage,
Daniel is in mourning.
In verses 2 and 3,
he says he mourned for three weeks,
he went on a very restricted diet,
and he didn't use ointment in the heat
to make things a bit more comfortable.
He was also, as always,
engaged in prayer,
and it looks as if he was particularly
asking for understanding from God.
Perhaps I say understanding
for why things seem to have gone wrong
in Jerusalem.
And as he's doing that,
he has a vision.
He sees a man dressed in linen.
The man has a gold belt on.
He has quite startling features
that we read about in chapter 10.
He has a voice that is thunderous.
And as Daniel hears it,
he falls down to the ground.
He appears to go into a deep faint.
The people who are with him
don't see the vision,
but they're terrified
and they run away.
There's a question then,
well, who is it that Daniel sees
in the vision?
What is the vision
that Daniel sees?
So we note
that there are striking similarities
between the description here
of the man Daniel sees
and the description of Jesus
in Revelation chapter 1
when John sees him
in a vision there.
The white robes,
the belt,
the striking features,
the sound of his voice,
and the fact that in Revelation
John falls at his feet
as if dead
and Daniel here also
falls to the ground.
So it's possible
this could be an appearance
of the Lord Jesus
before his incarnation.
Several points in the Old Testament
where that's a possibility,
I think it is here.
So John falls into this deep faint.
He falls asleep
and he's wakened
by a hand touching him.
And he's then given
a message by this person
which again is quite disturbing.
So who is it that's talking
to Daniel here?
Well, you might naturally think
it's the same person
as in the earlier verses
and it might be.
But it's noticeable
as we read these verses
that the person
who's speaking to Daniel
talks about how he needed help
from Michael.
Michael, one of the leaders
of the angel,
the archangel Michael,
whoever it was,
needed help from Daniel
to overcome a spiritual being.
And that doesn't tie in,
does it,
with it being the Lord Jesus,
the God incarnate,
the one who is all-powerful.
So it may well be
the person we're looking at here
is not the Lord Jesus
but is an angel
come to bring the message
to Daniel.
So possibly we're looking
at two separate people.
The one the Lord Jesus
in the earlier verses,
the other an angel
in the later verses
and in support of that
the earlier verses
clearly talk about a vision.
The later verses
clearly are quite physical
because the person
touches Daniel three times
and so does someone
who is physically there with them.
I'll leave that tentatively with you
if you're so inclined
you can go away
and have a think about it.
But the purpose of the messenger
is to reassure Daniel.
And he does it by the way
he touches him
and gives him back his strength.
He also does it by twice
calling him highly esteemed.
So Daniel very quickly learns
this isn't someone
who's come to judge him
or to condemn him.
It's someone who's come
to encourage
and to raise him up.
But the message
that the angel of it is that gives
is actually very difficult
because it's a message
about a battle in the heavens
a conflict in the heavens.
The angel talks about the fact
that when Daniel started praying
21 days ago
he wanted to come
and to reassure him then
but he was held up
by the king of Persia.
He later talks about
the king of Greece.
And this brings us
into territory
I think most of us
are fairly uncomfortable about
if we think about it at all.
That there are heavenly beings
who have a real interest
in this world.
Spiritual powers
both good and evil.
Here it is at the level
of nations.
It is kind of patron angels
if you like
influencing what happens
in the nations
of our world.
It's also true
that the Bible would teach
that there are spiritual powers
taking an interest
in us individually.
Maybe the most influential book
on this
in making people aware
of spiritual powers
was C.S. Lewis'
Screwtape Letters.
Quite old now
but many of you I'm sure
have come across it.
Screwtape Letters
are a series of letters
from a senior demon
to a junior tempter
about their work
in the life of someone
who's just called
the patient.
They're trying to
divert this person
away from God
and to tempt him
in all sorts of ways.
Now it's a work of fiction.
We're not to take
what C.S. Lewis writes literally
but he is trying both
to help us
to understand
the subtlety
of much of the temptation
we face
and to bring us
to a realisation
of the existence
of spiritual beings.
He says this
in his introduction.
There are two equal
and opposite errors
into which our race
can fall about the devils.
One is to disbelieve
in their existence.
The other is to believe
and to feel an excessive
and unhealthy interest
in them.
They themselves
are equally pleased
by both errors.
So on the one hand
we have a lot of people
who would find this
too difficult teaching
to understand
and say no,
can't believe that.
And then we have
a rather smaller group
of people
who take an excessive
interest in demonic activity
and to become
really obsessed
as they think about it.
C.S. Lewis says
both errors are wrong.
We need to take
a balanced view of this
to understand
that there are
powers out there
that we don't
understand fully.
but not to become
so caught up with them
that we lose focus
on the main thing
which is our relationship
with the Lord Jesus.
Paul covers this
in Ephesians.
He says,
our struggle
is not
against fresh and blood
but against the rulers,
against the authorities,
against,
sorry,
I'm struggling to read up there,
I'll read back here,
against the powers
of this dark world
and against the spiritual
forces of evil
in the heavenly realms.
And he then goes on
to encourage us
to put on
the full armour of God
so that when the day comes
we'll be able
to stand our ground
and after doing
everything
to stand.
Paul's advice there
is very important.
We need to be aware
that there are
evil forces
out there.
But we also need
to know
that the way
to combat them
is not by becoming
excessively interested
in them
but to put on
ourselves
the armour
of God.
Truth,
righteousness,
gospel readiness,
faith,
salvation,
God's word.
And alongside that,
Paul says,
to support one another
in prayer.
We are all engaged
in a spiritual battle.
We all face temptations
in our lives.
It's important
that we individually
put on the armour
that Paul talks about
and that we collectively
pray for one another
and recognise
we are all
in that battle.
We're not able
to triumph by ourselves.
We need to be much
in prayer for one another
that God
will support us
in it.
There's lots more
we could say about that.
We haven't got time
this morning
but I hope
that is some help.
Let's move on
to chapter 11.
Chapter 11 is very long
and as I said
it is very complicated.
The messenger here
is looking
into the future
and he's making
prophecies.
We're not going
to go through it
in great detail.
I'll summarise
the passage for you
but let me just make
two general comments
first.
The first thing is
as I've said
this is a very
accurate prophecy.
What we read
about here
which was given
to Daniel
is in the future
then
but we can look
back now
if we have
the historic
information
and we can see
that almost
all of it
until we get
right to the end
almost all of it
has been fulfilled
very accurately
in history.
So much so
that it's quite
often suggested
well this must
have been written
after the event
it is so accurate.
I don't believe
that's the case.
Our God knows
the future
as well as the past
and he is well
able to bring
this kind of
prophecy to us.
But we have here
a very accurate
account of what
happened historically.
But then the second
point is that
this is not just
a history lesson
for us.
Some people would
find it really
interesting perhaps
some people would
find it deadly
boring to go
through the history.
But that's not
the purpose of what
the messenger
is saying here.
The purpose is
to give Daniel
and those who
would follow him
confidence in God.
That God does
know the end
from the beginning.
That what happens
will be as God
allows it.
And then as we
get into chapter 12
that ultimately
God will be
triumphant
and his people
will be vindicated.
And I suspect
that people over
the few hundred
years after Daniel
as they were
facing oppression
from all sides
as Israel was
constantly under
pressure
they would be
able to look
at these prophecies
here.
And they could
say yes
we look in the
past and we
see these
have been
fulfilled
perfectly
by God.
And so we
can have
confidence in
the future
that things
will happen
as God
has decreed
it.
So let's
just very
briefly talk
through the
chapter.
The detail
is interesting
for some
but it's
possibly less
important than
the big picture.
So the bit
that we read
at the beginning
begins with
Cyrus who
was the king
of Persia
at that time
and then
says there
will be
four kings
that will
follow him
over a
period of
about 200
years.
The fourth
of these kings
is the one
who is going
to be richest
and most
influential
and that's
generally
identified as
Xerxes.
Xerxes you
may remember
as the king
in the book
of Esther
that Esther
and Mordecai
have dealings
with.
He wasn't
the last
king of
Persia
but it
was the
time of
Xerxes
that the
influence
and power
of the
Persian
empire
started to
wane.
Xerxes
went to
war against
Greece
and he
was soundly
defeated
at the
battle of
Salamis
and the
decline
of the
Persian
empire
can
probably
be
dated
from
that.
We
then have
in verse
three
we have
a mighty
king
who will
arise
and that
king is
Alexander
the Great.
The king
who in
the early
30s
looked around
him and
wept as
he said
there are
no more
worlds for
me to
conquer.
An
enormously
successful
leader
and general
who then
died at
the age
of just
32.
When
Alexander
died after
a little
bit of
infighting
his
kingdom
was
essentially
divided
into
four.
Four
different
areas
which
are
represented
by
the
points
of
the
compass.
Now
the
key
kingdoms
that
are
referred
to
in
this
passage
are
what
are
called
the
king
of
the
north
and
the
king
of
the
south.
The
king
of
the
north
is
Syria.
It
is
the
Seleucian
empire
in
Syria.
The
king
of
the
south
is
Egypt.
It
is
the
Ptolemaean
empire.
And
these
two
empires
for a
long
period
were in
battle
with
each
other
for
control
of
that
area
of
the
world.
And
you can
if you're
so
inclined
read
through
from
verse 4
to
verse 20
and if
you've
got a
comment
you can
see the
historical
side
of
that.
But
there's
a lot
of
plotting,
there's
a lot
of
treachery,
there's
a lot
of
warfare
going
on.
And
poor
little
Israel
is
caught
in
the
middle.
Between
Syria
and
Egypt
it
is
the
one
that's
kind of
squeezed
in
there
and
never
seems
to
get
on
very
well.
You
have
quite a
number
of
verses
that
are
about
just
one
king
who
is
described
in
verse
21
as
a
contemptible
person.
We met
him before
in chapter
8.
His name
is
Antiochus
Epiphanes.
And he
was a
Syrian
ruler
who was
very cruel,
who was
very vicious,
and by
a
combination
of
deceitful
diplomacy
and
brute
force,
he had
a lot
of
success
against
Egypt
and
in
controlling
the
nations
round
about.
And in
particular,
he was
someone who
really was
against
the Jews.
As you've
heard to
briefly
in this
passage
in verse
28,
it is
not the
full force
of what's
happened
there.
In verse
28,
it says
he will
take
action
against
Israel.
The
action he
took on
his way
back from
a campaign
in Egypt
was extremely
cruel and
very
vicious.
But that
was only
beginning,
because the
next time
Antiochus
went down
to Egypt,
he was
defeated by
the upcoming
Roman army.
Rome, of
course, would
be the
power in
the future.
And as
he went
home,
he vented
his fury
against
Israel.
And one
of the
things he
did, and
again we
talked about
this a
couple of
weeks ago,
one of the
things he
did was
to stop
the normal
sacrifices
in the
temple,
to set
up an
altar to
Zeus
there,
and to
sacrifice
pigs on
it, real
anathema
to the
Jews.
Antioch
Episanes
was a
cruel,
godless
man, and
you can
see that
if you
read through
the verses
in the
chapter.
Now so
far we
have
something
that is
historically
very
accurate.
But then
when we
come to
verse 36
it's a
lot more
difficult to
see what's
going on.
It looks
as if it's
still talking
about
Antiochus,
but there's
nothing in
his life
that corresponds
to what's
there, and
indeed nothing
in the
lives of
his
successors.
So what's
going on
here?
Well, one
suggestion, one
thing that
people would
hold to
is that
what we
see here
is Antiochus
as a
type, as a
foreshadowing
of what
will come
in the
end days.
A
foreshadowing
of someone
who's even
worse, who
will completely
fulfil the
prophecy
here.
The person
who is
described in
the Bible
as the
Antichrist
or the
man of
sin.
Now, if I
pursue this
view just a
little bit
further, the
70 weeks that
are talked
about in
Daniel, 70
periods of
seven years,
and within
them you
see at the
end of
week 69,
God's
anointed is
put to
death, so
that could
be a
reference to
the Lord
Jesus.
And then
the thought
is there's
quite a
long gap,
gap of at
least around
2,000 years
in there
before the
70th week.
Before the
70th week,
the church
is taken out
of the world,
as we read
in Ephesians,
1 Thessalonians
chapter 4,
and then this
man is let
loose.
He makes a
number of
alliances, but
at the end
he really
rises against
Israel, makes
his base
there as he
fights wars
on all
fronts.
And in the
end he is
roundly defeated
by God and
by his
army.
Now, I'll give
that to you for
your consideration.
It is one view,
as I say,
this is a
difficult and
in many ways
controversial
area, but
here is one
possibility for
it.
But let's
move on to
chapter 12
as we come
towards the
conclusion.
If chapter 12
might make us
despair for the
world around
us, that there
is so much
evil going on,
there are so
many people of
ill will in
leadership, and
we can see that
today as much as
Daniel could see
it or the
vision presented
it to him.
There is a lot
in the world that
should cause us
real distress as
Christians.
But chapter 12
is there to
give comfort to
God's people.
It starts with a
time of great
distress.
Jesus called it
the tribulation,
but ultimately
it says God's
people will be
triumphant.
One of the
things, one of
the glorious
things that will
happen is that
those who have
died believing
in God, believing
in Jesus, will be
raised to life
again.
And here in
Daniel in the
Old Testament, we
have something that
has developed in
much more detail in
the New Testament.
In the immediate
context, Daniel may
be talking specifically
about the Jews, but
as we look forward, we
know from what Paul
writes and what we
read in Revelation
and elsewhere that
everyone will be
raised to life.
All those who have
died will be raised
and they will be
raised either to
eternal life or to
eternal judgment.
That's in verse 2 of
chapter 12.
Multitudes who
sleep in the dust of
the earth will
awake, some to
eternal life, others
to shame and
everlasting contempt.
All of us will be
judged.
All of us will need to
face the Lord Jesus.
If we haven't trusted
in the Lord Jesus, if we
haven't put our faith in
him as the one who
died on the cross to
take our sins, that
judgment will be to
eternal condemnation.
If our trust is in
Jesus, if we have put
our faith in him, we
will be raised to
eternal life.
And, says Daniel, there
will be rewards, special
rewards for those who
lead many to
righteousness.
I would take it that
that is those who
particularly communicate
effectively the message
of hope through God,
through the Lord Jesus,
us, and to, through
that, our instrument
when bringing others
to him.
And I think,
ultimately, this is the
key message we need to
take from these
chapters.
God is in control, and
when the Lord Jesus
returns, there will be a
judgment, there will be
reward, and there will
be punishment.
Those who trust in
Jesus will rise to
eternal life.
those who don't will
rise to eternal
judgment.
That is a very solemn
thought, isn't it?
And if we are Christians
today, as we see a world
around us with people who
don't know the Lord Jesus,
perhaps have never heard
the message about him,
it should be a real
challenge to us to tell
them the gospel of Jesus,
that they may have hope
that they will be raised to
eternal life and not to
judgment.
And perhaps all of us, as
we think about these things,
we need to examine
ourselves and to make
sure that our trust is in
Jesus and that we know
that one day we will go
to be with him.
Now, our time is pretty
well gone, so I'm not
going to go into the
latter part of chapter 12,
which is about timing.
There's three and a half
years in there.
If you want to talk about
it later, I'm happy to do
that.
I think the key mistake
from that, there's a lot
we don't know about the
future, and particularly
about the timing.
We don't know when the
Lord Jesus will return.
But let me end by
returning where we
started to the general
election.
If you vote in the
general election, your
vote will probably be
based on a combination of
things.
Part of it will be your
priorities.
Which of the parties'
priorities chime with you?
Part of it will be what the
parties have promised.
Is it realistic to expect
what they've said?
And is it desirable that
these things should happen?
But ultimately, I suspect,
for many of us, it's going
to come down to trust.
Do we really trust these
politicians to do what they
say?
Do we trust that they
actually are able to if they
want to?
And do we trust that they
have our best interests at
heart?
In our country, here, time and
time again during the
election, the level of
trust in politicians is
very low.
And we may well vote in
the expectation that
ultimately we may well be
let down.
I hope as we've studied
the book of Daniel, this
section, but the whole of
the book, that we can see
that God can be trusted to
care for his people.
Parts of the book come
across as a bit weird,
certainly very difficult to
understand.
Parts of it are very heavy.
That you really need to
think carefully about what's
being said, and even then
you may not fully understand
it.
But the big message, the
message in chapter 1, when
Daniel and his friends take a
stand on eating food, and God
honors that.
The message in chapter 3, when
Shadrach, Meshach, and
Abednego refuse to bow down to
the idol and are thrown to the
fiery furnace.
The message in chapter 6, as
Daniel refuses to stop his daily
habit of prayer and is thrown
into the lion's den.
And the message of the more
difficult bits towards the end.
It's the same message.
If we are faithful to God, if we
live faithfully in difficult
times in a lion's den world, as
Darcy's title says, then God will
be faithful to us.
We may face opposition.
We will face opposition if we're
standing firm as Christians.
We may face great difficulties in
our lives.
And there may be times when we're
looking around us at what's
happening, and we say, why?
Why, God, do you allow this?
But ultimately, God is in control,
and we can trust him for the
future.
As John says in his epistle, the
one who is in us is greater than
the one who is in the world.
So let's go away from this series
with our confidence in God
increased, with an understanding
of how great our Heavenly Father
is, that he is in control of
everything, and that ultimately he
will be seen to triumph as that
victory has already been won by the
Lord Jesus on the cross.
God will be seen to triumph as
Jesus is recognized as the King of
Kings and Lord of Lords.
God will be seen to you in the
world.
God will be seen to you in the
world.
Let's join together in prayer.
Our Father, we thank you for your
word.
We thank you that although this
passage is in many ways very
difficult, yet what it brings across
to us is a God who is in control, a
God who cares for his people, and a
God who ultimately will vindicate those
who trust in him.
We thank you for the Lord Jesus.
We thank you for his death for us on
the cross.
We thank you for his resurrection,
which gives us the assurance that
those who die knowing him will also
be raised to eternal life.
Help us to trust him.
Help us to be faithful in this time,
and help us to be those who, like
Daniel, put our confidence in God and
see his blessing in our lives.
We thank you for this time together.
We thank you for your word.
We pray you continue to be with us in
the time of fellowship we have
together over lunch.
We give our thanks in Jesus' name.
Amen.