Through the Bible with Les Feldick
LESSON 1 * PART 4 * BOOK 82
TRIBULATION PROPHECY – 4
Daniel 9:25 – 11:31
Okay, you’re all still here for program number four. You know, by this time I expect some of them to have started taking off, and there’s some empty chairs. Anyhow, we appreciate you’re still here. I am just reminded we are in book number 82. We’re in the first four programs for those of you out in television; and if you are interested in these, just call us by book number.
All right, we’re going to keep right on going in Daniel. We digressed for a couple of half hours. See, that’s why I want to keep it informal. I’m not going to get tied up. You know, it was just like one time a pastor, years ago, asked if I would come to his church after I’d had a Saturday all-day seminar. And I said, “Yeah, I would be glad to do that, but I’m going to warn you in advance, nobody is going to get their hands around my throat. I’m not going to give up my independence.” He said, “Fine. There’s no sense in doing that.”
So, I’m independent. I’ll go anywhere the doors are open, but nobody is going to tie me down and try to convince me that I’m wrong and so forth. So bear with me that we can just continue to reach people without attacking people. And I don’t claim to be the only one that’s right, no way, shape, or form. But I do feel that using Scripture with Scripture I’m confident that we’re not leading anyone astray.
All right, back to Daniel now after some digression, chapter 10 verse 1. Now remember, poor old Daniel is just like the rest of us. He’s getting older and the years are going by, and he knows by now that those seventy years have long since been fulfilled. Why can’t he get back to Jerusalem? Well, he never did.
So now we get into chapter 10, and we are now into the third year of Cyrus, the king of Persia. Now, I know most people don’t have the love for history that I do. But you see, if you come out of the Babylonian Empire, after they were defeated by the Medes and the Persians, Daniel moved right across from Babylon up to Shushan and became one of the top men in the Mede and Persian Empire.
But during the course of the Mede and Persian Empire, before Alexander the Great comes in, there were three, if I understand history, there were three separate kings. Starting with, I don’t remember what the name was now, but he was the father. I think it was Astyages or something like that. Then the next one was Cyrus. Then, if I’ve got my history straight, the next one was Darius. Now, they can all be called Artaxerxes, because that was the term just like Pharaoh. So when it says Artaxerxes the King, that wasn’t his name, it was merely his title.
All right, so now we’ve already come through the first king and we are up to Cyrus. Now I shake people up once in a while, and I like to do that. It makes them look. Makes them study. I think that Cyrus was the son of the king that married Esther. That shakes people up, but it’s pretty obvious. Cyrus was a son of Queen Esther.
But now again, think about it. What did God call Cyrus? My chosen. Why? Because it was Cyrus that first gave the decree to go back to Jerusalem and establish the Nation of Israel once again. Then from Cyrus, I think we go to Darius. And he was the one, if I’m not mistaken, I don’t stand to be totally correct, but if I understand right, Cyrus was the son of Queen Esther, and then his son was Darius. And he was the one, then, that instructed Nehemiah to go back and build the city wall. So, this is a progression of time.
Now, of course, old Daniel is about 89 years old. And remember, he was probably 14 or so when they took him captive. So he knows by years that those 70 years are fulfilled and consequently, then, Cyrus was the one to give the decree. All right, Daniel chapter 10 verse 1:
Daniel 10:1a
“In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia a thing was revealed unto Daniel, whose name was called Belteshazzar; (has been all along) and the thing was true, but the time appointed was long:…” What’s he talking about? All these years that he’s been out of Jerusalem, out here in foreign country. It’s been a long time, almost 75 to 80 years.
Daniel 10:1b-2
“…and he understood the thing, and had understanding of the vision. 2. In those days I Daniel was mourning (grieving) for three full weeks.” And what’s he grieving over? Jerusalem. Israel in desolation and, oh, how he wants to go back. But God isn’t allowing it. Verse 3:
Daniel 10:3-4
“I ate no pleasant bread, (in other words, rich food) neither came flesh nor wine in my mouth, neither did I anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled. 4. And in the four and twentieth day of the first month, (in other words, on the 24th of April) as I was by the side of the great river, which is Hiddekel;” That’s the Tigris River today which has been in the news, the Tigris and the Euphrates. So, he’s on the banks of the Tigris River.
Daniel 10:5-6
“Then I lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and behold a certain man clothed in linen, whose loins were girded with fine gold of Uphaz: 6. His body also was like the beryl, and his face as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as lamps of fire, and his arms and his feet like in color to polished brass, and the voice of his words like the voice of a multitude.”
Who is it? Jesus Christ in His Old Testament appearance. Now, if you need some confirmation, come back to Revelation and you’ll see that the definitions, the descriptions, are almost identical. Revelation chapter 1 verse 13 and then we’re going to look at another one clear over in chapter 19. All got it? Revelation chapter 1, let’s start at verse 12.
Revelation 1:12-13
“And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks; 13. And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, (Which, of course, is a New Testament reference to Christ.) clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle.”
Revelation 1:14-15
“His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; 15. And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters.” You see the parallel of that? As Daniel was describing the man that he saw in the river there at Tigris, so John sees much the same thing concerning Christ here in the Book of Revelation. Then reading on, verse 16:
Revelation 1:16
“And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.” And that’s an exact description of the transfiguration, if you remember that.
But now flip over in Revelation to chapter 19, and these all just confirm that these are all descriptions of our Lord Jesus Christ. Revelation 19 starting at verse 11, now we see Him as He is approaching the Second Coming. As He’s leaving Heaven’s glory and going to take over planet earth to set up His Kingdom as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. We’ll see it in the end of this passage.
Revelation 19—now remember, we are just comparing these descriptions of our Lord Jesus Christ. Here, of course, it’s after His incarnation. He has become flesh. But Daniel saw Him in what we call a theophany. And you remember I did a series on those theophanies—oh, some time ago—when God appeared in human form in the Old Testament and then just disappeared back up into glory. But here, in the New Testament, these are descriptions of His appearance after He has become flesh. All right, Revelation 19 verse 11, the Second Coming:
Revelation 19:11-12a
“And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. (Now here it comes) 12. His eyes were as a flame of fire,…” Now see, all these descriptions are speaking of the same thing. Daniel spoke of it as what? Lamps of fire and then here the other one as a flame of fire. All right, same way here.
Revelation 19:12-13
“His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. 14. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.” And that’s what John 1:1 calls Him. “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was God.” All right, now verse 14:
Revelation 19:14-15a
“And the armies who were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. 15. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword,…” See, now there’s two references to the sharp sword; which, of course, is His Word. The Word of God is sharper than a two-edged sword.
Revelation 19:15
“And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: (Now remember, He’s ready to return now and defeat completely the armies of the anti-Christ that are gathered there in the Middle East.) And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.” Now remember, the winepress is a vat filled not with grapes, but with what? Wrath, see? The troops and the armies of the world, gathered there at the Middle East at His coming, will be like pressing grapes in the wine vat.
Revelations 19:15b-16
“…and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. (Now here it comes.) 16. And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS and LORD OF LORDS.” That’s Christ at His Second Coming.
All right, now flip back to Daniel and see that this is who he’s seeing on the banks of the Tigris River. He sees the Lord Jesus as a theophany. He will go back up into the invisible until He comes by way of Bethlehem. All right, now we’re back to Daniel chapter 10 and verse 7.
Daniel 10:7-9
“And I Daniel alone saw the vision: for the men that were with me saw not the vision; but a great quaking fell upon them, so that they fled to hide themselves. 8. Therefore I was left alone, and saw this great vision, and there remained no strength in me: for my comeliness was turned in me into corruption, and I retained no strength. 9. Yet heard I the voice of his words: and when I heard the voice of his words, then was I in a deep sleep on my face, and my face to the ground.” Now, I think in verse 10 we go from Christ to an angelic individual.
Daniel 10:10-12
“And, behold, an hand touched me, who set me upon my knees and upon the palms of my hands. 11. And he said unto me, O Daniel, a man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak unto thee, and stand upright: for unto thee am I now sent. (And I think that’s the language of an angel rather than of Christ Himself. So you’ve got two scenarios here.) And when he had spoken this word unto me, I stood trembling. 12. Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words.” But, verse 13, now this is an interesting little tidbit.
Daniel 10:13
“But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, (or one of God’s angels) came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia.” Now what does that give you a little light for? That these pagan empires have demonic angels in their employ and they are watching over them; and Michael, a righteous angel, was interrupted by one of these demonic angels of the kingdom of Persia. All right, so now we go on to verse 14.
Daniel 10:14
“Now I am come to make thee understand what shall befall thy people (the Nation of Israel) what shall befall thy people in the latter days: (Which from Daniel’s time is leaping clear over to what’s even future for us.) for yet the vision is for many days.” Now remember, Daniel is holding forth at about 535 or 40 B.C., and we’re now 2,000 and some years on this side. So, 2500 years have already gone by and yet these things are not fulfilled. But they will be. Don’t ever doubt for a minute. Now in verse 15:
Daniel 10:15-17
“And when he had spoken such words unto me, I set my face toward the ground, and I became dumb. (speechless) 16. And, behold, one like the similitude of the sons of men touched my lips: then I opened my mouth, and spake, and said unto him that stood before me, O my lord, by the vision my sorrows are turned upon me, and I have retained no strength. 17. For how can the servant of this my lord talk with this my lord? for as for me, straightway there remained no strength in me, neither is there breath left in me.”
Now remember, he’s talking as a man of 89 years of age, plus all that he’s come through these last 75 or 80 years. Now verse 18 and I think again we come back to a theophany. Here again we have Christ in a visible appearance.
Daniel 10:18-19
“Then there came again and touched me one like the appearance of a man, and he strengthened me, 19. And said, O man greatly beloved, fear not: peace be unto thee, be strong, yea, be strong. And when he had spoken unto me, I was strengthened, and said, Let my lord speak; for thou hast strengthened me.”
Daniel 10:20
“Then said he, Knowest thou wherefore I come unto thee? and now will I return to fight with the prince of Persia: and when I am gone forth, lo, the prince of Grecia shall come.” Who’s that? Alexander the Great. See, now here’s the unfolding of history. We came through that Babylonian Empire, went into the Mede and the Persian. Three kings have come and gone. And now, in the time of the third king of the Medes and Persians, here comes Alexander the Great. The next Gentile Empire as Daniel had been foretelling it ever since chapter 2. All right, so now we have “the prince of Grecia shall come.” Which is a prophecy concerning Alexander the Great. Now verse 21:
Daniel 10:21
“But I will show thee that which is noted in the scripture of truth: and there is none that holdeth with me in these things, but Michael your prince.” Then we come into chapter 11, and I’m not going to take that verse-by-verse, because it is all the unfolding of the history of the Greek Empire going on into the Roman. Now, as we saw several programs back, after Alexander the Great had conquered the then-known world according to prophecy, he died at the age of 33. What happened to his empire? It was divided into four areas under four of his generals.
All right, now the one of those four generals that becomes the most important is the one called Antiochus Epiphanes. He was Syrian, but he had that part of the Greek Empire that controlled Israel, Jerusalem. And that’s what makes him a key player. And Antiochus Epiphanes hated the Jews. Hated them so much that at one time, after all of these verses have gone through history, he went into the Temple in Jerusalem and sacrificed a hog on the altar and totally defamed the Temple and set up a pagan idol in the Holy of Holies, which, of course, infuriated the Jews.
All right, now then, that man, Antiochus Epiphanes, becomes what I call at least, the prototype, the forerunner of the true anti-Christ who will do the same thing. He will make that treaty with Israel, and it’ll be a deceitful treaty. In the middle of the seven years he will turn on Israel with the most hatred that any man has ever poured on the Jewish people.
All right, now we’re going to pick up a little bit of the preview of this in verse 21. I’m going to skip all these verses between, because it’s just a matter of wars and battles between these four elements and the Greek Empire. The only interesting one in there is Cleopatra, who everybody has heard of. She’s in there someplace. But other than that, I want to bring it out in verse 21, where we come to the picture of the anti-Christ as Daniel sees him prophetically. But remember that Antiochus is simply a forerunner, a prototype. Verse 21:
Daniel 11:21
“And in his estate shall stand up a vile person, (Now remember, we’re describing the coming anti-Christ.) to whom they shall not give the honor of the kingdom: but he shall come in peaceably, and obtain the kingdom by (What?) flatteries.” So, just from that one verse you pick up two views of the guy. On the one hand he is despised. He’s despicable. But on the other hand, he is so smooth talking and he is so arrogant that he brings about the rule of the kingdom, and he’s going to come into a place of almost a dictatorial rule.
Daniel 11:22a
“And with the arms of a flood shall they be overflown from before him,…” In other words, he’s going to have tremendous power. He’s going to rule them on the one hand with the carrot and on the other hand he’s going to use a huge stick. I think he will finally come to the place of using the nuclear weapons that are accumulating.
Daniel 11:22-23
“And with the arms of a flood shall they be overflown from before him, (with military power) and shall be broken; yea, also the prince of the covenant.” (That one—I’m not ready to comment who I think that is) 23. And after the league made with him he shall work deceitfully: (See, that’s the kind of a leader he’s going to be. He’s going to crash talk people. He’s going to control them, but he’s going to have such a satanic power that he will do it deceitfully.) for he shall come up, and shall become strong with a small people.” In other words, he’s not going to have millions; but he’s going to have a relatively small group of influential people.
Daniel 11:24
“He shall enter peaceably (Now don’t forget who we’re talking about – the coming world ruler.) He shall enter peaceably even upon the fattest places of the province; and he shall do that which his fathers have not done, nor his fathers’ fathers; he shall scatter among them the prey, and spoil, and riches: yea, and he shall forecast his devices against the strong holds, even for a time.” Now again I have to deal with the word—time is a reference to one of the three-and-a-half years. Verse 25:
Daniel 11:25-26
“And he shall stir up his power and his courage against the king of the south (That’s Egypt.) with a great army; and the king of the south shall be stirred up to battle with a very great and mighty army; but he shall not stand: for they shall forecast devices against him. 26. Yea, they that feed of the portion of his food shall destroy him, and his army shall overflow: and many shall fall down slain.”
Daniel 11:27-29
“And both of these kings’ hearts shall be to do mischief, and they shall speak lies at one table; but it shall not prosper: for yet the end shall be at the time appointed. (In other words, it’s God’s timetable that they’re talking about, even though they don’t know.) 28. Then shall he return into his land with great riches; and his heart shall be against the holy covenant; (He’s going to develop a hatred for Israel and their Temple worship.) and he shall do exploits, and return to his own land. 29. At the time appointed he shall return, and come toward the south; but it shall not be as the former, or as the latter.”
Daniel 11:30a
“For the ships of Chittim…” Now, I’m not always sure, but I think Chittim might be Spain, might be Great Britain. But I think one point that he made here is that this was one of a few times that you see a name in Scripture of the use of navel vessels. So, I think this was an indication that part of these end-time wars, these last seven years, will involve ships of the sea—which, of course, antiquity knew nothing of. It’s just a thought. And I think we’re seeing it—that we have these battleships and aircraft carriers and what have you.
Daniel 11:30
“For the ships of Chittim shall come against him: therefore he shall be grieved, and return, and have indignation against the holy covenant: so shall he do; he shall even return, and have intelligence with them that forsake the holy covenant.” Now I need to wind this up quickly.
Daniel 11:31
“And arms shall stand on his part, and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily sacrifice, (And that’s all because of that Tribulation Temple that was built at the beginning.)they shall take away the daily sacrifice, and they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate.”
Now you see, come back to chapter 9, again, real quickly—back to chapter 9 verse 27. Now it all fits. This man anti-Christ shall confirm, or make, a treaty with many for one week, which we covered earlier.
Daniel 9:27b
“…and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the over-spreading of abominations he shall make it (That is that Tribulation Temple.) he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, (or the end of those seven years) and that determined (or prophesied) shall be poured upon the desolator.”
All right, so all these things are part of that Tribulation scenario with this man anti-Christ. It’ll be such a hatred for Israel and the Temple that he will bring in an abomination. The abomination of Antiochus, of course, was to kill a hog, swine slaughter, on the altar. And that was bad enough, but I think this guy is going to be even worse.