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Daniel 11: God's Blueprint of History
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The More We Dig. The More We Find.
Well, hello everybody. Welcome back to the Bible Breakdown Podcast with your host, pastor Brandon. Today, daniel, chapter 11, and today's title is God's Blueprint of History. God's Blueprint of History. I almost said God's Recipe of History, but that wouldn't have made any sense. We're going to get all that in just a moment. But if you like what we're doing here, make sure you get your Bible out to Daniel, chapter 11, and make sure you take just a moment to like, share and subscribe to the YouTube channel and the podcast. Make sure you leave us a five-star review on the podcast and make sure you're going to the Bible Breakdown Discussion on Facebook.
Speaker 1:It's an amazing group of people doing a wonderful job and, as always, the more we dig, the more we find. We're going to jump into this, but before we do, have you ever looked at something and you were just in awe of it? And then, when you looked at it, you were like this is amazing and all. And then you start to realize there was actually a blueprint, that this person didn't just think of it, but they actually had a way that they wrote it down, in a way that they could replicate it. Like I remember and this is going to be silly, but I remember the first time I looked at one of those like triple tier wedding cakes and I can't cook right. I wish I could. My wife is an amazing cook and I don't have any of that ability right. And the first time I saw this triple decker, triple tier wedding cake, I remember thinking that is the nearest thing to impossible. I can imagine like, how do you do that? First of all, how do you cook a cake? Then how do you do it in such a way that there's three levels and they don't fall on each other and it actually tastes good and all that kind of good stuff. Well then, when I was talking to somebody one day, they started to lay out to me there's a blueprint to this, right. So you cook the different layers and then you do it like this, you do it like that. And it was even more impressive to me because I was like you mean, you can do that as many times as you want to. I was just blown away that there was a blueprint and that it made complete sense to them. It wasn't an accident. If I ever made a three-tier cake, it would be a one-and-done thing and you could never ask me how I did it because I couldn't have explained it to you. Well, that's what we're going to talk about today.
Speaker 1:When it comes to God, god has a blueprint of history. It is a mystery to us how things are going to unfold. It's not a mystery to God. He looks at it. And where we would look at history, especially future history as it unfolds and we slowly begin to see God's handiwork in things. And we can see that now that we look back at the past and go, wow, you can just see this golden thread throughout history as God has been orchestrating events. How could he do that? How is that possible? God looks at it and he's like well, yeah, exactly how I did that. I got a blueprint for it, I made this, and that's kind of what we look at in this, but not only the history that's gone by, but we look at the future and we're like God, how are you going to do that? And God's like, eh, I got a blueprint and we're going to look at that, as Daniel is continuing to remind us that God is in control.
Speaker 1:God knows what he's doing and, if you remember, he's writing this to the exiles who have lost everything, and it seems like Babylon's in charge, you know, and the Medes and Persians are in charge. These people are in charge. But actually God is saying oh, no, no, no, I've never once lost my control of the world. And Daniel shows this through the first half of the book. He tells us the stories of all the things that God had been doing. And then in the second half he says not only is God faithful now, he's going to be faithful into the future. And then you've seen, if you've been with us, how he has been building this.
Speaker 1:And in one chapter, daniel read the books of Moses and he read about the prophecies of Jeremiah and he began to realize why they were in exile and all the things that led up to it. And so he just spends this season of just prayer, fasting and mourning. And then God is showing him these different visions and at one point he is just saying I've seen these visions and they terrify me because it looks bad, but I don't know what it means. So he goes to another season of 21 days of now what we get for the Daniel fast of no meat, no sweets, no bread, drink water, and he's just interceding before God. God, I don't know what this is, but it don't look good. And then an angel comes to him and he says 21 days ago, when you started praying, I started bringing the answer. Now, here I am. Here's the answer to your prayer. This is what's going to happen in the future, and that's what Daniel 11 and 12 is going to be about. Is, finally, god revealing the blueprint of history? So let's read this, and then we're going to finish this with, hopefully, something that will be encouraging to you today. So, if you're ready, daniel, chapter 11, verse 1 says this Now, then this is the angel speaking to Daniel. I will reveal the truth to you.
Speaker 1:Three more Persian kings will reign, to be succeeded by a fourth, far richer than the others. He will use his wealth to stir up everyone to fight against the kingdom of Greece. Then a mighty king will rise to power who will rule with great authority and accomplish everything he sets out to do. But at the height of his power, his kingdom will be broken apart and divided into four parts. It will not be ruled by the king's descendants. Nor will the kingdom hold the authority it had at once, for his empire will be uprooted and given to others Now pause ruled by the king's descendants. Nor will the kingdom hold the authority it had at once, for his empire will be uprooted and given to others. Now pause.
Speaker 1:Now the reason why it just blows our minds because what we know now is is that's what happened. Then the kingdom of Greece came to power through Alexander the Great, but then, when he died, he never declared a successor, and so his kingdom was broken into parts, and his different generals then started to rule over the empire that Alexander the Great had, but it did not have the same power because he was now dead. So that's already happened, which is ridiculous. How amazing. That is Verse 5,.
Speaker 1:Then the king of the south will increase in power, but one of his own officials will become more powerful than he and will rule his kingdom with great strength. Then, some years later, an alliance will be formed between the king of the north and the king of the south. The daughter of the king of the south will be given in marriage to the king of the north to secure the alliance, but she will lose her influence over him, and so will her father. She will be abandoned, along with her supporters, but when one of her relatives becomes king of the south, he will raise an army to enter the fortress of the king of the north and defeat him. When he returns to Egypt, he will carry back their idols with him, along with the priceless articles of gold and silver. Some years afterward, he will leave the king of the north alone.
Speaker 1:Later, the king of the north will divide the realm of the king of the south, but will soon return to his own land. However, the sons of the king of the north will assemble a mighty army that will advance like a flood and carry the battle as far as the enemy's fortress. Then, in a rage, the king of the south will rally against the vast forces assembled by the king of the north and will defeat them. After the enemy army is swept away, the king of the south will be filled with pride and will execute many thousands of his enemies. But his success will be short-lived.
Speaker 1:A few years later, the king of the north will return with a fully equipped army, far greater than before. At that time, there will be a general up, a general uprising against the king of the south. Violent men among your own people will join them in fulfillment of this vision, but they will not succeed. Then the king of the north will come and lay siege to a fortified city and capture it. The best troops of the south will not be able to stand in the face of the onslaught. The king of the north will march onward unopposed. None will be able to stop him. He will pause in the glorious land of Israel, intent on destroying it. He will make plans to come with might of his entire kingdom and will form an alliance with the king of the south. He will give him a daughter in marriage in order to overthrow the kingdom from within, but his plan will fail. After this, he will turn his attention to the coastland and conquer many cities, but a commander from another land will put an end to his insolence and cause him to retreat in shame. He will take refuge in his own fortresses, but will stumble and fall and be seen no more. His successor will send out a tax collector to maintain the royal splendor, but after a brief reign he will die, though not from anger or in battle.
Speaker 1:The next to come to power will be a despicable man who is not in line for royal succession. He will slip in when least expected and take over the kingdom by flattery and intrigue. Before him, great armies will be swept away, including a covenant prince With deceitful promises. He will make various alliances, he will become strong despite having only a handful of followers. Without warning, he will enter the richest areas of the land and he will distribute among his followers the plunder and wealth of the rich, something his predecessors had never done. He will plot and overthrow the strongholds, but this will last only for a short while. Then he will stir up his courage and raise a great and mighty army against the king of the south. The king of the south will go to battle with a mighty army, but to no avail, for there will be plots against him. His own household will cause his downfall, his mighty army will be swept away and many will be killed, Seeking nothing but each one's harm. These kings will plot against each other at the conference table, attempting to deceive each other. But it will make no difference, for the end will come.
Speaker 1:At the appointed time, the king of the north will return home with great riches. On the way, he will set himself against the people of the holy covenant, doing much damage before continuing his journey. Then, at the appointed time, he will set himself against the people of the Holy Covenant, doing much damage before continuing his journey. Then, at the appointed time, he will once again invade the south, but this time the result will be different, for warships from the west coastlands will scare him off and will withdraw to return home, but he will vent his anger against the people of the Holy Covenant and reward those who forsake the covenant. His army will take over the temple fortresses, pollute the sanctuary and put a stop and reward those who forsake the covenant.
Speaker 1:People who know their God will be strong and will resist him. Wise leaders will give instruction to many, but these teachers will die by fire or sword or be jailed and robbed. During these persecutions, little help will arrive and many who join them will not be sincere, and some of the wise will fall victim to persecution. In this way, they will be refined and cleansed and made pure until the time of the end, verse 1. Even blaspheming the God of gods, he will succeed, but not only, but only, until the time of wrath is completed, for what has been determined will surely take place. He will have no respect for the gods of his ancestors and for the God loved by the women and for any other God, for he will boast that he is greater than them all. Instead of these, he will worship the god of fortresses, the god of his ancestors never knew and lavish on him gold, silver, precious stones and expensive gifts, claiming this foreign god's help. He will attack the strongest fortresses. He will honor those who submit to him, appointing them to positions of authority and dividing the land among them as their reward.
Speaker 1:Then, at the time of the end, the king of the south will attack the king of the north and the king of the north will storm out with chariots, charioteers and a vast navy. He will invade various lands and sweep through them like a flood. He will enter the glorious land of Israel and many nations will fall, but Moab, edom and the best part of Ammon will escape. He will conquer many countries. Even Egypt will not escape. He will gain control over gold, silver treasures of Egypt, and the Libyans and the Ethiopians will be his servants of Egypt, and the Libyans and the Ethiopians will be his servants. But then the news from the east and the north will alarm him and he will set out in great anger to destroy and obliterate many. He will stop between the glorious mountain and the sea and will pitch his royal tents, but while he is there, his time will suddenly run out and no one will help him.
Speaker 1:Wow, you want to talk about something specific going on, like that's what so many, so many different prophecies in the old testament are uh, ambiguous and and vague and we're not really sure what's going on. We just know god's faithful and it's all gonna be okay, right. Well, in this one he's doing everything but naming names. He's talking about a king from the north and a king from the south and all this kind of stuff. And if you're interested in such things, there are people who have just devoted their lives to trying to figure out what this could look like and spend a lot of time debating on what it means to be the king of the north and all this kind of stuff. And there's people who try to think that all of this really surrounds Israel, because, if you notice, earlier in the chapter it says the people of the Holy Covenant and that would be a clear reference to the nation of Israel, and so then they say that South and North and all of that. They try to say that that is respective to the location of Israel, which is why a lot of people think that the king of the North would be someone who comes from like Russia and stuff like that. So if you've ever heard of like that kind of talk, like Russia being the quote bear from the north and all of that. A lot of that comes from this chapter right here.
Speaker 1:And then other people will take this and they will juxtapose it with the book of Revelation and create this entire narrative and there's a time and a place for that. I am not that guy. I don't do that because I really feel like that prophecy is one of those things that is very interesting, but it is not a hill I'm willing to die on and I think that a lot of times we don't understand prophecy until after it's happened, because it confirms that God knew what he was doing, and I don't think God tells us this so that we can figure it out and sit back with this sense of superiority, right? I think that the whole point of it is this. So I know I may have just offended a few people, because you've got your charts and your graphs and that's wonderful, that's fine. What I'm saying is, I think if we get so deep in the weeds of trying to figure out who the king of the north is and who the king of the south is and all this kind of stuff, we miss this point. Here's the point God is in control. God has a plan. God is so in control that he just named things and did it. It reminds me of and this is a terrible, a terrible example, but it's the only one I got they say now for you basketball fans, you're going to love this.
Speaker 1:They say that Larry Bird, the Larry, that he was one of the best trash talkers on the court, that while he was on the court he would sit there and just just talk at you the whole time. But the amazing thing is is he could back up what he was saying and they say that what he would do is, while he was dribbling down the court, he would tell you what he was about to do. He would say I'm gonna dribble over here to this side. He would tell you what he was about to do. He would say I'm going to dribble over here to this side. He would tell you where he was going to be and he would say I'm going to dribble three times after that, then I'm going to jump and it's going to go off the glass. And then he would go right over there and do it and he would say when that would, or they would say when that would happen, he said. They would say all you can do is look back and go.
Speaker 1:That was awesome, and there's even some moments where you can see these replays where larry bird would, would uh, would do these different things and the people against him would just be shaking their head going, oh how in the world. And it was because he would literally call a shot. There's a story of one time they had like three seconds to make a game-winning shot and larry goes over to the guy guarding him and he tells him and the entire bench this is what the play's going to be. They're going to throw it to me over here. This is what I'm going to do. I'm going to shoot the ball and there's nothing you can do about it. And then he went and did it and it was just like this supreme confidence that he had. That was just amazing.
Speaker 1:And so, instead of having this sense of fear, a lot of his teammates were like well, when the game is on the line, we need to give the ball to the bird because he's going to take care of business, right? Well, that's what I see when I look at this chapter. God is so in control that he has no problem telling you this is going to happen and this is going to happen. And then here's the thing he's going to look like he's winning for a season, and then this is going to happen. And hey, it's going to look bad over here. But man, I already got this, it's already going to be okay. I got a blueprint of history so that you can know, no matter what happens, I win. And so he's saying when you start to see this king of the north and all of a sudden you start connecting the dots and going, oh, that's who that guy is, don't be afraid, he is all part of my plan. Then when you see the king of the south come and they start battling back and forth and you get worried. Don't do that, Don't be afraid, he's part of my plan, I've already got everything figured out. What does that have to do with us? Do you know?
Speaker 1:It's possible that sometimes in life we can wonder God do you have a plan? Do you know what's going on in my life? Do you realize what I'm dealing with? Do you realize when the light bill is going to be due? Do you realize that I really needed a job by last Thursday? Do you realize that my kids, all this stuff.
Speaker 1:Do you know what God would say? He would say do you really think I don't see those things? Do you really think I don't have a plan and a blueprint? I get that, it's not yours. I get that, and God's got endless mercy for us, but at the same time, it is his plan and he does have one. And so here's my prayer for you is that when you see the world in chaos, it won't cause you to wonder where God is. Instead, it'll make you look in wonder and go God, I can't wait to see what you do with this, because you have a plan. Let's pray together right now.
Speaker 1:God, thank you so much for today. Thank you, god, that you have a plan, that you are working your plan and you're doing amazing things. I pray, god, that you will help us more every single day to trust in your plan, to trust what you're doing, and, instead of wondering why we look in wonder and say, god, I can't wait to see why you did it that way. I'm celebrating you right now and I pray that we will all do the same. In Jesus' name. We pray Amen, but don't forget. God's Word says in Daniel, chapter 3,. These three Hebrew teenagers said to the most powerful man in the world God is able to save us, but even if he doesn't, we will never serve your gods. My prayer is that God will give you that kind of confidence to stand for him in a world of chaos. I love you. Hope to see you tomorrow for Daniel, chapter 12.
