Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/Sermons/zz20110220.htm

THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION
Daniel: Hope And Direction In A Troublesome World
H. Detailing Daniel 2: God's Use Of Evil Rulers To Purify His People
1. God's Revelation Of The Antichrist Toward Purifying His People
(Daniel 7:1-28 with 12:3)
    Introduction: (To show the need . . . )

    Since we have learned in this series of messages out of Daniel that God sovereignly rules over human affairs, we may ask why He lets evil rulers arise when they cause so much damage in society:

    (1) The February 18, 2011 CNN.com web site ran the article, "Unrest in the Middle East and North Africa -- country by country," to report how lands covering a wide swath of territory stretching across most of North Africa and east into the Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean, were facing political unrest due to bad leaders. Protesters in Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Sudan, Jordan, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Bahrain and Yemen complained about oppressive, corrupt or unresponsive regimes, with a desire for greater individual liberty and thus a better way of life.

    (2) Many Americans are unhappy with their leaders as well:

    (a) Haya El Nassar's story, "Officials ask input on cuts in effort to foster civility," p. 2A in the February 14, 2011 USA TODAY paper told of efforts to foster civility among voters due to "angry shouts at town-hall-style meetings" and "an assassination attempt against Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords . . ." Nassar claims the reason for such incivility arose as "state and federal governments didn't engage their citizens."

    (b) The "Talk of Connecticut" radio host, Brad Davis said Wednesday that some people he has met in public are so angry at the Governor Dan Malloy's proposed tax hikes, they shout at Brad! He reported that the Governor says he seeks $2 billion in concessions from the state employee unions along with his proposed tax hikes, but many doubt he will gain such a concession as the unions won't want to give up any of their income!

    (c) Similarly, around the nation, at the local, state and federal levels, the same scenario is being played out: officials try to meet budget demands by either cutting services or raising taxes, both of which are unpopular because so many citizens have come to depend on government services and tax revenues for their welfare! People thus feel the pressure of bad or politically delayed decisions by officials in the past that have led to these current fiscal crises.



    So, we ask, "If God is sovereign over man's affairs, why does He let evil officials rise and do so much damage in society?!"

    Need: "If evil rulers are so destructive in society, and God rules over the affairs of mankind, why does He ever let such rulers arise?!"

  1. After Nebuchadnezzar dreamed the Daniel 2 dream that predicted God would one day replace sinful man's empires with Christ's Messianic Kingdom, in the first year of Belshazzar's reign, Daniel himself received a prophetic dream from the Lord, Daniel 7:1.
  2. Now, Belshazzar was the evil king God would later judge for trying to demean Him in using the utensils taken from God's temple in Jerusalem to honor Belshazzar's pagan gods, Daniel 5:1-4.
  3. Accordingly, Daniel's Daniel 7:1-28 dream shows WHY God LET such an EVIL ruler like BELSHAZZAR ARISE, and WHY He lets ANY such evil ruler come to power PRIOR to Christ's Kingdom:
    1. The Daniel 7 dream repeats some of the Daniel 2 dream's message, but with different symbols for the same empires, Dan. 7:2-7b, 17-18:
      1. The 4 beasts that rise from the sea in Daniel 7:2-3 are the same 4 empires of Daniel 2:32-33; Bible Know. Com., O. T., p. 1354.
      2. The first beast, a lion with eagle's wings (Dan. 7:4), is Babylon since the lion and eagle were symbols of that nation, Ibid., p. 1350.
      3. The second beast, a bear raising itself up on one side with 3 ribs in its mouth, is Medo-Persia, with Persia ruling Media (the high side) and conquering Babylon, Lydia and Egypt (3 ribs), Ibid.; Dan. 7:5.
      4. The third beast, a leopard with 4 wings and 4 heads, is Greece that split into 4 parts when Alexander the Great died, Ibid.; Daniel 7:6.
      5. The fourth beast is Rome: its crushing of others with iron teeth is a picture of Rome's oppression of other nations, Daniel 7:7a,b; Ibid.
    2. Yet, Daniel 7 adds the special focus of good and evil in world rulers:
      1. Babylon's beast had its wings torn off only to be raised to its hind feet and given a man's heart to depict Nebuchadnezzar's renewal upon repenting after his 7-year trial of insanity , Dan. 4; 7:4; Ibid.
      2. Medo-Persia is called of God to conquer Babylon, Lydia and Egypt (the 3 ribs) in judgment for these nations' wickedness, Daniel 7:5.
      3. Alexander the Great's kingdom is split four ways (4 wings and 4 heads) when he dies in God's judgment for his sin, Dan. 7:6; Ibid.
      4. One ruler in Rome's empire is judged for his excessively great sin:
        1. The fourth beast, Rome, has 10 horns, or 10 kingdoms, and a little horn replaces 3 of them (France, Germany and England?) to come to power similar to Medo-Persia's defeat of 3 nations.
        2. His eyes are those of a man's eyes, depicting great intelligence, and he speaks boastfully, Daniel 7:7c-8 NIV; Ibid., p. 1350f.
        3. Thus, God judges the fourth beast and its evil horn, giving them to His flame of judgment (Dan. 7:9-11) where the 3 previous empires (Babylon, Medo-Persia and Greece) were been allowed to exist a for a longer time period before judgment, Daniel 7:12.
        4. Then, the Son of Man, Messiah is seen ascending to the Father (Acts 1:9-10) to gain His kingdom [in time], Daniel 7:13-14.
    3. Troubled at this, Daniel asked an angel for clarification especially the last empire and its little, "imposing" horn, Dan. 7:15-16a, 19-20 NIV.
    4. More information was thus revealed about this evil little horn, the antichrist, who will rule just before Christ's reign, Daniel 7:21-27:
      1. The little horn, the antichrist, was shown warring against believers and prevailing over them until God judged him, Dan. 7:21-22 ESV.
      2. The antichrist's kingdom will crush peoples worldwide after he comes to power by defeating 3 European nations of the revived Roman Empire. He will slander God, "harass continually" ( bela' [Aramaic]) believers and try to change times and laws in his own honor for the last 3 years of the 7-year Great Tribulation Period (like Nebuchadnezzar's 7-year insanity trial), Daniel 7:23-25; Ibid., p. 1354; B. D. B., A Hebrew-English Lexicon of the O. T., p. 1084.
      3. However, God will destroy the antichrist and his reign, replacing them with Christ's worldwide, eternal, blessed reign, Dan. 7:26-27.
    5. Daniel was quite alarmed at this revelation of the antichrist's coming devastating persecution of believers like himself, Daniel 7:28 ESV.
    6. However, Daniel 12:3 later explains this 7-year Great Tribulation Period, akin to Nebuchadnezzar's 7-year insanity trial, will be a time God uses as a crucible to refine His people for productivity!
Application: May we (1) trust in Christ to become children of God and citizens of Christ's future Kingdom, John 1:11-12. (2) If we face ruinous, continual harassment from evil rulers, (a) know that God allows us to face this as a crucible to purify us for productive life and service, and so (b) we must depart from sin! (c) If others suffer such trials, may we examine ourselves and repent if needed lest God lets us face similar trials, Galatians 6:1!

Conclusion: (To illustrate the message . . . )

 God's use of even evil rulers to refine and purify His people for spiritually productive life and service unto Him was made evident by way of a unique archaeological discovery in 1968.

Until then, skeptics of the Bible's claim that Jesus was crucified by having is hands and feet pierced with nails denied such an event had ever occurred. Dr. J. W. Hewitt's article, "The Use of Nails in the Crucifixion," in the Harvard Theological Review, 1932, p. 29-45, claimed "there is astonishingly little evidence that the feet of a crucified person were ever pierced by nails.'" (cited in Josh McDowell, A Ready Defense, 1990, p. 223). McDowell reports: "He went on to say that the victim's hands and feet were bound by ropes to the cross."

If Dr. Hewitt were correct, the New Testament account in Luke 24:39-40 of Jesus' showing His pierced hands and feet to His disciples as proof that He rose from the dead would be in error, sabotaging the authority of the New Testament and its salvation Gospel.

However, a 1968 archaeological find tells a different story: a large group of Hebrew tombs were discovered northeast of Jerusalem in the Giv'at ha'Mivtar area that held bodies buried between the second century B. C. and 70 A. D. One skeleton of a man between age 24 and 28 had its two heel bones joined by a 7 inch iron nail, with the tip of the nail curved back like a hook from having been hammered into a wood knot on a cross. The executioners were unable to extract the hook-shaped nail from wooden cross on which the man had died, so that part of the cross with his heel bones had been buried along with the rest of the body. (Peter Colon, "Crucifixion: The Exhumed Evidence," February/March 1995, Israel My Glory, p. 28) A photo of the nail spike with the joined heel bones accompanies this article!

Because of the cruel way rulers slew the condemned, and since the young man's executioners had run into a wooden knot in the cross, we have tangible evidence that nails impaled victims to the cross in Jesus' era, evidence supporting the New Testament record!

In the end, since God let oppressive rulers crucify this young man and Jesus, the people of God are equipped to be edified and productive for the Lord in defending the truthfulness of the Gospel!

May we then recognize God's USE of even EVIL rulers as vehicles toward purifying His people through trial that they (we) might be holy and useful as His servants in a needy world!