Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/Sermons/zz20110403.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
6. Personally Spiritually Profiting When God Lets Us Face Evil Rulers
(Daniel 11:21-35)
    Introduction: (To show the need . . . )

    From conversations with several believers, I have noticed we face a great temptation today to get very upset over not knowing how to respond constructively to the evils we face in rulers and institutions:

    (1) First, it is easy for the believer to get upset over the evil he sees in world rulers and institutions just from what the media reports:

    (a) The New York Times on March 29, 2011 told how "(t)he Obama administration is engaged in a fierce debate over whether to supply weapons to the rebels in Libya . . . with some fearful that providing arms would deepen American involvement in a civil war and that some fighters have links to Al Qaeda," the group responsible for the 911 attacks on America! (nytimes.com, "Washington in Fierce Debate on Arming Libyan Rebels," by Mark Landler, Elisabeth Bumiller and Steven Lee Myers)

    The President began bombing Libyan dictator Gadhafi's forces reportedly to keep him from massacring a million of his people with the promise that American involvement would end in days. Yet, a lack of knowledge about the rebels has led to uncertainty about that claim!

    (b) Then, on Wednesday, radio host, Brad Davis on "The Talk of Connecticut" claimed that when the first American missiles hit Libya, Gadhafi's son was in our country on an internship under approval of the U. S. State Department! He then rushed back to Libya and led forces in brutal assaults against the rebels the U. S. was helping! One then asks what our leaders were doing giving Gadhafi's son a visa to be here, or then letting him return unhindered to Libya!

    (c) Mr. Davis that Wednesday also got a call from Peter Wolfgang of the Connecticut Family Institute who reported a bill was before the State legislature that would let a man who suddenly felt he was of the feminine gender the liberty to go ahead and use a lady's public rest room! Brad was appalled!

    (2) However, the hapless way even concerned parties in the media often respond to such news can further frustrate us: one believer reports conservative talk show hosts never seem to offer an effective way to respond to the evils! I agree: I heard one nationwide talk show host Monday say he had lost hope for America due to its corruption!



    So, we ask, "How may I profitably react to the great evils I see relentlessly paraded in the world's institutions and rulers?!"

    Need: "How can I personally effectively react to the appalling, seemingly relentless evil in rulers and institutions I see today?!"

  1. Daniel 11:21-35 is clarified by scholars to describe IN DEPTH the 175-163 B. C. reign of vile Antiochus Epiphanes, Greece's "little horn" first noted in Daniel 8:9-12, 23-25 who also "foreshadows" the similar final antichrist "little horn" of Rome who was first noted in Daniel 7:8, Bible Knowledge Commentary, O. T., p. 1369.
  2. Daniel 11:33-35a predicted that vile Antiochus Epiphanes' reign would profitably result in the spiritual cleansing of many Hebrews.
  3. Just how this cleansing occurred is seen from Scripture and history:
    1. When the Hebrews returned to Israel from the Babylonian Captivity, they had to be corrected from a variety of sins due to halfhearted devotion to God. (Ezra 9-10 on mixed marriages; Nehemiah 13:4-14 on sins related to the priesthood, 15-22 on Sabbath violations, 23-31 on mixed marriages; Malachi 1:6-14 on sinning in worship; 2:1-9 on sins of the priests; 2:10-12 on mixed marriages; 2:13-16 on divorce; 2:17 on slandering God; 3:7-12 on robbing Him and 3:13-15 on pride)
    2. Thus, God let Antiochus Epiphanes rise and try to force pagan culture and beliefs on the Hebrews, and many reacted by UNRESERVEDLY refusing to disobey the Law, Zon. Pict. Ency. of the Bib., v. 3, p. 38.
    3. These "Hasidim" so desired to be holy, they even broke ranks with the political right winged Maccabees when the latter turned worldly, Ibid.
    4. Thus, God led the "wise" to be "purified" (Dan. 11:33-35a) in letting them face evil persecution to get them strongly roused to be upright!
  4. So, we apply Daniel 11:21-32 to note how God wants US to REACT to such evils in OUR era by living CONTRASTING HOLY LIVES:
    1. Antiochus Epiphanes rose to power by false flattery and intrigue apart from upright, legal and inherited right, Daniel 11:21. Conversely, we today should align with Biblical truths and lawful precedents!
    2. He forcibly defeated armies and deposed Israel's Biblically sanctioned High Priest, Daniel 11:22a,b; Ibid., B. K. C., O. T. Conversely, we today should heed upright precedents and traditions.
    3. He grew strong via deception with just a few supporters, Dan. 11:23. Conversely, we must truly respect all men, not the interests of a few.
    4. Antiochus Epiphanes redistributed riches from the wealthy to the less endowed to build his following, Dan. 11:24; Ibid. Conversely, we today should respect private property and property owners.
    5. He overcame a vastly superior army force by deception that infiltrated the closest ranks of the opposing general, Dan. 11:25-26. Conversely, we today should respect the close ties of other people.
    6. He violated even universal cultural values by deceiving his foe while dining with him, Daniel 11:27. Conversely, we today should respect upright codes of ethics in the established culture.
    7. Antiochus Epiphanes vented his frustration on vulnerable Israel when he returned from Egypt frustrated that he had not been able fully to conquer it, Daniel 11:28. He thus desecrated the Jerusalem temple, setting his heart against the Mosaic Law, Ibid. Conversely, we today should protect the vulnerable and the Hebrew people.
    8. In being pressured by Rome to return to Syria as he tried to invade and conquer Egypt a second time, Antiochus Epiphanes decided to make Israel a buffer state between him and Egypt to keep Rome away by forcing Israel to be Grecianized (Hellenized): he defiled the temple, did away with its daily sacrifice, killed and enslaved many Hebrews to intimidate them into exchanging their faith in Scripture's God for faith in the Greek God, Zeus, and offering a pig on the altar and forcing Jews to eat it or die, Ibid., p. 1370; Dan. 11:29-32. Antiochus flattered those who heeded him, giving them promises, and many yielded to him, Ibid. Conversely, we must desire holiness in worship and service opposite contrary pressures from evil around us.
    9. The "Hasidim", Hebrews appalled at the sins Antiochus Epiphanes pressured them to do perform, refused to yield to him, and were thus purified by great persecution in taking such stands, Daniel 11:33-35a! We must also stand for holiness in reaction to evil pressures.
    10. Since the "Hasidim" broke fellowship with the political right, the Maccabbees, when they turned worldly (III,C above), we must not spiritually fellowship with right wing but unbiblical parties, even as this involves political right wing entities that are Biblically unholy!
Application: If we are tempted to be very upset over evil in world rulers and institutions, to respond effectively, may we (1) trust in Christ to become a child of God (John 1:11-12) and (2) channel our sense of revulsion at the evils that so appall us to spur us to respond in contrast by living righteously before the Lord!

Conclusion: (To illustrate the message . . . )

 The Lord illustrated the point of this message in a heartwarming way relative to the recent funeral service for Lynne (Slate) Relation that was held in a Church in Enfield, Connecticut.

Those of us who attended the service realized the officiating minister lacked the capacity or the will to give a clear Gospel message.

Thankfully, when Lynne's brother, Dave, Chairman of our Board of Deacons, stood up to read some Scripture passages in the service, he used the hope in one passage he read, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 on the rapture of the Church, to tell of the hope of eternal life and the resurrection one obtains by faith in Jesus Christ.

It is enlightening to note how this ministry of the truth came to be: Pete Hinman later told me how he and Dave had breakfast together some days before the funeral, and how Dave had then told Pete he was supposed to do a reading and make some comments at the funeral service, but he was not sure what to say. Pete had replied that he had heard me say a few weeks before in a Sunday School class how I liked to use 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 at funerals to edify believers.

Dave took Pete's information and incorporated it into his presentation, selecting that passage for one of his readings, and it led into the Gospel that Dave so effectively gave at Lynne's funeral.

What Pete and Dave did not know was that I learned to be very motivated to us 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 at believers' funerals from the late Pastor Walt Kalasnic, a retired minister who filled our Church pulpit before I was your pastor. He wanted me to read that passage at his funeral, and as I did so, I found it greatly edified believers present.

Accordingly, this whole event shows that in view of the spiritual destitution that we find even in Church institutions today, we can all individually focus on doing just the opposite -- providing the hope of the rapture by faith in Christ to a world that has no genuine hope or answer for death. We can follow the true faith that has been handed down to us believers over the generations as typified in the impact of Walt Kalasnic on me, and in turn of me on Pete and Dave, and finally of Dave on the many unsaved people at his sister's funeral!

So, may we REACT to the appalling spiritual darkness we see in the world's institutions and leaders by getting committed to doing just the OPPOSITE -- to practicing RIGHTEOUSNESS and TRUTH by the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit of God!