(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Amen. Good morning. Let's open our hymns to hymn number 237. Let's sing the song dog cleansing wave. Him number 237, dog cleansing wave. Let's sing the song dog cleansing wave. I see the mountain deep and wide Jesus, my Lord, my King, to sing Points to his wounded side The cleansing stream I see, I see I thank the Lord, expensively All praise the Lord, expensively I see, I see I thank the Lord, expensively All praise the Lord, expensively Expensively, expensively I see the new King Jesus Christ I hear the speaking God, he speaks for you, 10 picture guides Sings in the cleansing God The cleansing stream I see, I see I thank the Lord, expensively All praise the Lord, expensively Expensively I rise to walk in heaven's light Walk of the world and see In heartless doors and darkened spots And Christ's throne be near I see, I see I thank the Lord, expensively All praise the Lord, expensively Expensively, expensively Yes, we give on the last Amazing grace, decent pillow To build the blood of life And Jesus only, Jesus Lord, my Jesus crucified The cleansing stream I see, I see I thank the Lord, expensively All praise the Lord, expensively Expensively All praise the Lord, expensively All praise the Lord, expensively All praise the Lord, expensively All praise the Lord, expensively All praise the Lord, expensively All praise the Lord, expensively All praise the Lord, expensively All praise the Lord, expensively All praise the Lord, expensively All praise the Lord, expensively Hymn number 292 His Way With Thee Would you live for Jesus on the first scene? Would you live for Jesus and be always pure and good? Would you walk with Him within a narrow road? Would you have Him bear your burden, bear we all forlorn? Let Him give His Way with me His love can take you what you ought to be His blood can dance your heart and make you free His love can fill your soul and you will see T'was best for Him to have His Way with me Would you have Him make you free and follow what is all? Would you know that He is but those by giving all? Would you have Him take you so that you can never fall? Let Him have His Way with me His love can take you what you ought to be His blood can dance your heart and make you free His love can fill your soul and you will see T'was best for Him to have His Way with me Would you live for Jesus on the first scene? Would you have Him take you so that you can never fall? Would you have Him take you so that you can never fall? Would you have Him take you so that you can never fall? Would you have Him take you so that you can never fall? Would you have Him take you so that you can never fall? and the cities are walled and very great. And moreover, we saw the children of Anak there. That's a great verse there. We are a family-integrated church, meaning children and infants are welcome during the services. We do have a mother-baby room back there for your convenience, as well as the ladies' comfort room. Of course, the men's comfort room is up here in front. Remember, no eating during the service. Maintain a professional atmosphere and keep the children from running and making noise during the church service. In the middle of our bulletin, our weekly service time is listed. First service is at 10 a.m. Second service is at 1130. Wednesday evening Bible study at 7 p.m. So many times listed. 4 p.m. on Wednesdays, a meeting at the church building. Saturdays, 10 to 12, lunch provided by church, and then two to four in case a memorial circle. A lot of soul winners yesterday. Great job, everybody. A lot of salvations. Of course, we do have soul winning this afternoon after our lunch fellowship at around 2.15 p.m. Salvations and baptisms are listed there for all of our churches and Bible study fellowships, birthdays and anniversaries. Then on the next page, our Bible memorization challenge, and man, I bought new prizes. I forgot to bring them, I just realized. So next week we will not have expired junk food, okay? So, but anyways, upcoming activities. So our monthly prayer meeting is on the 21st of August. What day is it? That's next week, okay. And I don't have this in the bulletin, but Monday, August 29th is a holiday. It's National Heroes Day, I believe. So we will be having a soul winning marathon on that day, probably in case I'm on my own circle. But that'll be August 29th, so that's two weeks and a day from today, okay? So I'll put it in the bulletin for next week. Then we do have our chess tournament coming up Sunday, September 11th, so in four weeks. And the championship match is gonna be on the 18th. And so we do have a sign up sheet back there if you wanna sign your name if you're planning to participate in the tournament. And it's welcome to all who know how to play chess, okay? It's just for fun, it's okay if you don't win. I'm hoping we'll have a lot of people, but the reason why we need you to sign up is depending on how many people sign up, it will affect the format of the tournament. So for example, if there's like 50 people signing up, you can't have very long games, right? If we have 16 people sign up, I can already tell you we'll have four groups of four. You play everybody, once is white, once is black, six matches, the four winners advance to the semi-finals. So depending on how it goes, who signs up will affect how we pair people up and everything like that. Because I would like to set it up in a way where everybody's gonna get several matches. That way it's not like you just play and you're gone. That way everyone can kinda have fun regardless of whether they advance or not. So please sign up back there. Put your name there if you're planning to participate in the tournament. And anyways, current and upcoming sermon series. So we are in the Book of Daniel, we're about to finish. We'll start Ezra shortly after that. I think on September 11th will be the first sermon in the Book of Ezra. Information on our group chat. And then on the back there's a place for notes for the sermons here today. So I believe that's it for announcements. We'll have Brother Marlon lead us in another song. Amen, for our next song, let's turn to number 24, Stepping in the Light. ["Stepping in the Light"] Ready on the first. Trying to walk in the steps of the Savior. Take your time to model your Savior in me. Christ blessed us. Happy, how happy the songs have been made. How beautiful to love in the steps of the Savior. Stepping in the light, stepping in the light. How beautiful to love in the steps of the Savior. Let it pass on by. Pressing for closely to Him who is saving. When we are tempted to turn from the way. Trusting the arm that is strong to the hand that's lacking. How happy our faces have stayed. How beautiful to love in the steps of the Savior. Stepping in the light, stepping in the light. How beautiful to love in the steps of the Savior. Let it pass on by. On the third. Walking in good steps of gentle forbearance. Good steps of faithfulness, mercy, and love. Good gift to Him for the peace we have promised. Happy, how happy our glory of all. How beautiful to love in the steps of the Savior. Stepping in the light, stepping in the light. How beautiful to love in the steps of the Savior. Let it pass on by. On the fourth class, trying to walk in the steps of the Savior. On the third, still out for my Father and I. Can't you see that being His beauty? Happy, how happy our place at His side. How beautiful to walk in the steps of the Savior. Stepping in the light, stepping in the light. How beautiful to love in the steps of the Savior. Let it pass on by. Let's take our offering. Let us open our Bibles to Daniel chapter 11. Daniel chapter 11. As it is our custom we are going to read the whole chapter. Daniel chapter 11. Please say Amen when you are there. Daniel 11. Also I in the first year of Darius the Mede, even I, stood to confirm and to strengthen him. And now will I show thee the truth. Behold, there shall stand up yet three kings in Persia, and the fourth shall be far richer than they all. And by strength, through his witches, he shall stir up all against the realm of Visha. And a mighty king shall stand up, that shall rule with great dominion, and do according to his will. And when he shall stand up, his kingdom shall be broken, and he shall be divided towards the four winds of heaven. And not to his prosperity, nor according to his dominion, which he ruled, for his kingdom shall be plucked up, even for others beside those. And the king of the south shall be strong, and one of his princes, and he shall be strong above him. And his dominion shall be a great dominion. And in the end of years they shall join themselves together, for the king's daughter of the south shall come to the king of the north to make an agreement. But she shall not detain the power of the arm, neither shall he stand, nor his arm. But she shall be given up, and they that bought her, and he that beget her, and he that strengtheneth her in these times. But out of a branch of her roots shall one stand up in his estate, which shall come with an army, and shall enter into the fortress of the king of the north, and shall deal against them, and shall prevail, and shall also carry captives into Egypt their gods, with their princes, and with their precious vessels of silver and of gold, and he shall continue more years than the king of the north. So the king of the south shall come into his kingdom, and shall return into his own land. But his sons shall be stirred up, and shall assemble a multitude of great forces, and one shall certainly come, and overflow, and pass through. Then shall he return, and be stirred up, even to his fortress. And the king of the south shall be moved with Hola, and shall come forth and fight with them, even with the king of the north. And he shall set forth a great multitude, but the multitude shall be given into his hand. And when he has taken away the multitude, his heart shall be lifted up, and he shall cast down many ten thousands, but he shall not be strengthened by it. For the king of the north shall return, and shall set forth a multitude greater than the former, and shall certainly come after certain years with a great army and with much riches. And in those times there shall many stand up against the king of the south. Also the robbers of thy people shall exhort themselves to establish the vision, but they shall fall. So the king of the north shall come, and cast up a mount, and take the most fenced cities, and the arms of the south shall not withstand, neither his chosen people, neither shall there be any strength to withstand. But he that cometh against him shall do according to his own will, and none shall stand before him. And he shall stand in the glorious land, which is by his hand shall be consumed. He shall also set his face to enter with the strength of his whole kingdom, and upright ones with them, thus shall he do. And he shall give him the daughter of woman, producting her. But she shall not stand on his side, neither before him. After this shall he turn his face unto the isles, and shall take many. But a prince for his own behalf shall cause the approach offered by him to cease. Without his own approach he shall cause it to turn upon him. Then he shall turn his face toward the forth of his own land, but he shall stumble and fall, and not be found. Then shall stand up in his estate a raise of taxes in the glory of the kingdom, but within a few days he shall be destroyed, neither in anger nor in battle. And his estate shall stand up a wise person, to whom they shall not give the honor of the kingdom, but he shall come in peaceable, and obtain the kingdom by flatteries. And with the arms of a flood shall they be overthrown from before him, and shall be broken, also the prince of the covenant. And after the league made with him he shall work deceitfully, for he shall come up, and shall become strong with the small people. He shall enter peaceably even upon the fattest places of the observance, and he shall do that which his fathers have not done, nor his father's fathers. He shall scatter among them the grey and spoiled and witches here, and he shall forecast his devices against the strongholds, even for a time. And he shall stir up his power and his courage against the king of the south with a great army, and the king of the south shall be set up to battle with a very great and mighty army, but he shall not stand, for they shall forecast his devices against him. Here they that feed off the portion of his meat shall destroy him, and his army shall overflow, and many shall fall down slain. And both these kings' hearts shall be to do mischief, and they shall speak lies at one table, but it shall not prosper, for yet the errands shall be at the time appointed. Then shall he return into his land with great witches, and his heart shall be against the Holy Covenant, and he shall do exploits and return to his own land. At the time appointed he shall return and come towards the south, but it shall not be as the former or as the latter, for the ships of Shittim shall come against him. Therefore he shall be grieved and return and have an ignation against the Holy Covenant. So shall he do. He shall even return and have intelligence with them that forsake the Holy Covenant. And arms shall stand on his part, and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily sacrifice, and they shall place the abomination that makest desolate. And such as do wickedly against the Covenant shall he put up by flatteries, but the people that do know their God shall be strong and do exploits. And they that understand among the people shall instruct many, yet they shall fall by the sport and by flame, by captivity and by spoil many days. Now when they shall fall, they shall be open with little help, but many shall cleave to them with flatteries. And some of them of understanding shall fall, to try them, and to perch, and to make them white, even to the time of the end, because it is yet for time appointed. And the king shall do according to his word, and he shall exalt himself and magnify himself above every god, and do marvelous things against the god of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished, for that that is determined shall be done. Neither shall he regard the god of his fathers, nor the desire of woman, nor regard any god, for he shall magnify himself above all. But in his estate shall he honor the god of forces, and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honor with gold and silver, and with precious stones and pleasant things. Thus shall he do in the most strongholds with a strange god, whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory. And he shall cause them to rule over many, and shall divide the land for gain. And at the time of the end shall the king of the south push at him, and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind with chariots and with horsemen and with many ships, and he shall enter into the countries and shall overflow and pass over. He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown, but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom and Moab and the chief of the children of Ammon. He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries, and the land of Egypt shall not escape. But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt, and the Libyans and the Europeans shall be at his steps. But tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him. Therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy and utterly to make away many. And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain. Yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him. And let us pray. Thank you, our Father, for your word. Thank you for the Bible. Please help us to understand your word and do more. Please open today our understanding and please anoint our preacher who is preaching our word today and help us to love more and do little in faith. We thank his name. Amen. All right, we are here in Daniel chapter 11, and this is probably the most confusing chapter in the book of Daniel. I mean, if you're reading it, you're like, you know, what is going on? And we're not going to be looking at any other scripture, I don't believe, you know, probably just stick in Daniel 11. We're going to finish this sermon here today. But to help you understand, the direct application in this chapter are events that happened over 2,000 years ago because people look at Daniel and they think everything is just about the end times and that's not really true. There are applications we can make to the end times from this chapter, but these are about events that happened before the time of Christ. And so you're going to see that it lines up very, very well with secular history and things that are already known. So we are going to make some applications, you know, with the end times, but the name of the sermon is The Syrian Wars, because what this chapter is about is primarily between basically the Seleucid Empire and the Ptolemaic Kingdom, and they fought a series of wars that are classified under six wars, and that is what this chapter is about. So starting at verse number one, the Bible reads, Also I in the first year of Darius the Mede, even I stood to confirm and to strengthen him. Now right off the bat we're seeing that they're going back in time two years, because remember last chapter it said in the third year of Cyrus, and so this verse is kind of standalone in this chapter. He's saying, you know, even from the first year that Darius took over, I was strengthening him and helping him. And obviously Darius is not a bad guy in the book of Daniel. He's obviously not a believer at this time, but, you know, God was actually helping him and strengthening him with this new kingdom. Now it says in verse two, as we're shifting forward to the present, And now will I show thee the truth. Behold, there shall stand up yet three kings in Persia, and the fourth shall be far richer than they all, and by his strength through his riches he shall stir up all against the realm of Grecia. So I mentioned some famous kings, and we're going to look at that here in a few weeks when we get to the book of Ezra. The book of Ezra is going to mention these kings. But it talks about three kings are going to stand up in Persia, the fourth is going to be the richest, and when it makes a statement, shall stir up all against the realm of Grecia, what that's referring to is a famous battle known as the Battle of Thermopylae. Who's heard of that famous war, the Battle of Thermopylae? Your guy's history knowledge is like, who's watched the movie 300? Okay, many of you are worldly like I used to be. You've seen the movie 300. That's what the movie 300 is about. Okay, now let me say this. The movie 300 is so far away from reality. Like the Greeks are like these really great guys, and the Persians are these weirdos. You know, like the king Xerxes of Persia at that time, most people, including myself, believe that is king Ahasuerus from the book of Esther. And yet in that movie, if you've seen it, I mean, he's some sort of perverted weirdo, right? I mean, he's got all of these gauges or stuff or rings or whatever in his face, and he just looks super effeminate, like he's some sort of bisexual or whatever. Yet when you read the book of Esther, that's not exactly how you walk away thinking of king Ahasuerus, right? You know, when you read the book of Esther, what you walk away is, well, he's not a great guy, but he's not a terrible guy either, which is what people think of as Xerxes. And the reason why they have that opinion is because that movie is just based on what Greeks said about the battles. Look, history is written by the winners. I mean, I've said this before that when you look at America, the man Samuel Adams is known as the father of the American Revolution. He's the biggest hero in American history. Yet if they had lost the war, then he'd probably be known as the biggest terrorist who ever lived because Britain would have won that war. I mean, history is written by the winners, and so most of what you hear about history is based from the Greek perspective with the Persians simply because the Greeks won that battle and they wrote things down even though it wasn't actually very accurate. And so this is referencing the Battle of Thermopylae, and that's where the movie 300 comes from. If you've never seen the movie, if you've never heard of it, you know, that's great, okay? It's a weird movie. I never liked it even before I was saved, to be honest, even though I like those types of movies, because it's just very weird, right? There's that hunchback guy and everything. It's very strange. But anyways, let me read you from an article about the Battle of Thermopylae. It says, the Battle of Thermopylae was fought in 480 BC between the Achaemenid Persian Empire under Xerxes I and an alliance of Greek city-states led by Sparta under Leonidas I. Lasting over the course of three days, it was one of the most prominent battles of both the second Persian invasion of Greece and the wider Greco-Persian Wars. So this is a very famous battle in history, and if you've never seen the movie, you might have seen the meme like this is Sparta where he like kicks the guy, you know, off the cliff, all right? I'm sure most of you have seen that. But anyways, verse number three, And a mighty king shall stand up that shall rule with great dominion and do according to his will. The mighty king that is being referenced here in verse three is referring to Alexander, okay? Alexander the Great as we know him. And verse number four, And when he shall stand up, his kingdom shall be broken and shall be divided toward the four winds of heaven. Now that's consistent with what we've seen before about Alexander, right? And consistent with history, how when he was defeated at a young age, his kingdom was divided into four groups. And it says, you know, the four winds of heaven, the general idea is north, south, east, west, but really just like all directions. What's going to take place in this chapter is it's going to primarily highlight two of those directions. It will talk about the north. It will talk about the south. The king of the north and the king of the south. Now to understand this, you need to realize this is taking place over hundreds of years. So when it says the king of the north, that doesn't necessarily mean it's the same king of the north later on in the chapter, okay? This is a series of six wars that cover a lot of time period. So the king of the north can transition to somebody else later on, and it does many times. The northern kingdom would have been the Seleucid Empire, okay? And the southern is the Ptolemaic Kingdom in Egypt, and it's known as the Syrian Wars between the Seleucid Empire and the Ptolemaic Kingdom, okay? Now let me say also, I'm not an expert at history by any means. I do like watching documentaries and this sort of stuff, but I'm sure that I might misspeak during this sermon. You know, I'm going to try my best to just kind of look at my notes. But I'm sure I might misspeak, and if we had some sort of historical scholar in here today, I'm sure he'd be like writing down all the mistakes. But the general takeaway we're going to see in this that we can really learn from this is just the fact that the Bible is very, very accurate with history. I mean the Bible, I don't know how you could read this chapter and study it and see what it's talking about and say it's written by man, because it's not just recapping things that did take place. It's predicting what will take place. And you know what? I might not get all the symbolism perfectly right here, but it's very obvious just from what I'll explain. There's no doubt this was written by God. I mean it's just very obvious how detailed and accurate that this actually is. And it says, And when he shall stand up, verse 4, his kingdom shall be broken and shall be divided toward the four winds of heaven, and not to his posterity. What is posterity? It's future generations of people, but the way we would normally use it is like your offspring. So for example, if I was the king and I would leave my kingdom to my, you know, prosperity, it would be to my son Zeph or my son Ezra, basically, right? You're leaving it to your generations of people, your lineage. Well here's the thing. The Bible is saying that Alexander the Great, when he died, he did not leave his kingdom to his offspring. And you know what? That's accurate. His kingdom was divided into four groups. He did not have a successor to take over. That's why there's kind of chaos for a long time period. And the Bible is predicting, accurately, that this man's going to rise up, his kingdom's divided into four, and he's not going to leave his kingdom to his lineage, to his son. And that is completely accurate with what we're seeing here, with history. And it says, What does that mean, nor according to his dominion? What that means is basically those that come after Alexander the Great are not going to be as powerful as Alexander was. And that is accurate. It's not the same dominion or power. The kingdom's divided into four, and nobody rises to that level of power again as Alexander the Great. I mean, honestly, you know, in the course of human history, I'm not sure anyone has been as powerful as Alexander the Great was at that time, ever since that moment. Certain Roman emperors were very strong and powerful as well, but basically those coming after just were not as strong, those four different kingdoms. Then it says, For his kingdom shall be plucked up, even for others beside those. Verse number five, And the king of the south shall be strong. Now, what's the king of the south referring to? It's referring to the Ptolemaic kingdom in Egypt. The king, or the leader, of that kingdom. That is the king of the south being mentioned. And one of his princes, And he shall be strong above him and have dominion. His dominion shall be a great dominion. And the end of years they shall join themselves together. For the king's daughter of the south shall come to the king of the north to make an agreement, but she shall not retain the power of the arm, neither shall he stand nor his arm, but she shall be given up, and they that brought her, and he that beget her, and he that strengthen her in these times. You say, what is going on here? At this time, the south is probably the strongest of those four, and what it says in this verse is basically the king of the south is going to take his daughter and try to marry her end to the king of the north. This is something that's happened throughout human history where if you want to get more power, then basically get your offspring to marry into other kingdoms, and so if my daughter marries the king of another country, I've got my bloodline in that kingdom and in my kingdom. I mean, that makes sense. Human history, right? That's what's being referenced in verse number six. And the king's daughter of the south shall come to the king of the north to make an agreement. Now, here are the names of the people because this is very accurate to human history and what would one day come. So at this time, the king of the north is Antiochus II. This is not Antiochus Epiphanes. Antiochus Epiphanes is Antiochus IV. What you're going to see is they're not that creative with names. It's the same names over and over and over and over again. So this is Antiochus II and in the king of the north and he is married at this time to a woman by the name of Laodice. So in this arrangement, the king of the south wants his daughter to marry the king of the north. The problem is the king of the north is already married. Now, the king of the south at this time is Ptolemy II and there would be a lot of Ptolemies after Ptolemy II. And his daughter is Bernice. So he wants his daughter Bernice to marry Antiochus II. Here's what it says from an article online. Bernice, daughter of Ptolemy II Philadelphus and Arsinoe I of Egypt, she was married to the Seleucid ruler Antiochus II supplanting his first wife Laodice whose children she persuaded him to bar from the succession to the throne in favor of her own. So basically the king of the north agrees to this. They're not as powerful as the king of the south at the time or the southern kingdom and basically he leaves his first wife and basically removes her from being the queen and he marries Bernice which is the daughter of Ptolemy II and basically Bernice wins this power struggle between the first wife and her where basically her children are going to take the throne. So if this works out, what's going to take place is that Ptolemy II is going to have his grandchildren taking over the throne in the northern kingdom and from a worldly perspective you would see why a king or ruler would want to do that. Basically his son inherits the southern kingdom and his grandkids inherit the northern kingdom. But it says this from this article, Laodice however persuaded Antiochus to come to Ephesus where he died in 246, perhaps a victim of her intrigues. So the first wife gets her husband to go with her and all of a sudden he just dies. And the assumption in this is perhaps she killed him or did something about that. As I said, I have no idea. That's what they're saying from this article. A victim of her intrigues. So maybe she killed him, basically. And so it says then the former queen which would have been Laodice then ordered her partisans to kill Bernice and her children who had taken refuge at Daphne near Antioch in Syria. So basically when the king dies the first wife has enough political power where she has the second wife put to death and this plan from the king of the south does not work. Because his daughter is going to be killed and his children are not going to inherit the throne. And let me just say this by the way. If this happened and the Bible is talking about it in human history it still happens today with political leaders, this sort of stuff. We've gone to that many conspiracy theories and we don't necessarily know all the things that are going on. But this sort of stuff where there's mysterious deaths and stuff like that I'm sure this same sort of stuff happens all the time today. You say, why? Because of power and money. Because of greed, people want power. Same sort of thing that was happening back then. And it says, aroused by the murder of Ptolemy III, so not Ptolemy II but the new king that's going to rise up, Bernice's brother, launched a successful war, the Third Syrian War, against Laodice and her son Seleucus II. So the king of the south was trying to win this battle and he's like, alright, I'm ahead. Let me just have my daughter marry the king and we're going to take that throne as well. And it doesn't work out. His daughter gets killed. So the brother of the slain second wife says, okay, we're just going to go to war because of this event. So now we're on to the Third Syrian War and this lasts for a long, long time period. And so, anyways, verse number seven. But out of a branch of her roots shall one stand up in his estate. When it says her roots, it's not referring to her offspring. It's going back in time. A branch of her roots basically of the same bloodline shall stand up in his estate which shall come with an army and shall enter into the fortress of the king of the north and shall deal against them and shall prevail. So because of this, Ptolemy III is upset about this and he's going to launch a war against the king of the north. And the king of the south and the southern kingdom is constantly winning these battles. They are stronger, but not to the point where it's just all over. I mean, the battles just keep coming for hundreds of years. Verse number eight. And shall also carry captives into Egypt their gods with their princes and with their precious vessels of silver and of gold and he shall continue more years than the king of the north. So the king of the south shall come into his kingdom and shall return into his own land. But his son shall be stirred up and shall assemble a multitude of great forces and one shall certainly come and overflow and pass through. Then shall he return and be stirred up even to his fortress. And the king of the south shall be moved with collar and shall come forth and fight with him even with the king of the north and he shall set forth a great multitude but the multitude shall be given into his hand. And so I believe at this point we are at the fourth Syrian war if I'm accurately looking at these verses toward, you know, basically secular history. So this is the fourth Syrian war between the Seleucid empire and the Ptolemaic kingdom. And the Seleucid empire is gaining some power, but they're still getting defeated by the Ptolemaic kingdom of the south. Verse number 12. And when he hath taken away the multitude, his heart shall be lifted up. So this is basically that southern kingdom taking away the multitude, but they get lifted up full of pride and he shall cast down many ten thousands, so they win the battle, cast down many ten thousands, but he shall not be strengthened by it. What does that mean? It means the victory came with a big price. Meaning they won, but it did not help them. In history it's known as a Pyrrhic victory. And that's based on a famous battle between the Greeks and the Romans. But basically a Pyrrhic victory is basically you win the battle and you lose the war. If you've heard that expression, you win the battle and lose the war. I mean you can win a battle or an argument or a debate with someone. It doesn't necessarily mean that it accomplished anything. Just a basic understanding in a spiritual sense. Let's say you're going soul winning and you knock on the door of a Jehovah's Witness. Now look, I am confident that if you know your Bible, you could win a debate versus a Jehovah's Witness. Because what I've learned in my years of being saved is they don't have that much knowledge. They have a few things memorized and that is about it. And you could stand at that door and argue for 45 minutes and make them look like a fool. But the question is, does that accomplish anything? You won the battle, but the war, so to speak, symbolically is getting people saved. And if the person at the next door is ready to hear the gospel and you wasted time and your pride destroying a Jehovah's Witness, it didn't accomplish anything. And it's basically a spiritual pyrrhic victory where you win the battle, but you lose the war. And that's what's being mentioned here where the southern kingdom, they win this battle, but they're not strengthened by it. It doesn't help their empire out. And just logically speaking, both of these kingdoms would probably be stronger if they didn't spend hundreds of years fighting against one another. What would really strengthen you is if you just don't fight with anybody. Rather than just constantly going to battle every generation, just forget about it. But I guess they all want to just kind of take over the world, right? Anyways, verse number 13. For the king of the north shall return and shall set forth a multitude greater than the former. So basically the northern kingdom loses. The southern kingdom gets very arrogant. They're lifted up full of pride due to this. The king of the north says, okay, I lost. I'm going to bring back even more forces and fight again. And it says, and shall certainly come after certain years with a great army and with much riches. And in those times, there's so many stand up against the king of the south. And so the southern kingdom, they've been involved in all these battles, and a lot of people are against the southern kingdom at this time. And that generally is what takes place when a country becomes very powerful, and basically they're involved in a lot of wars. They get a lot of enemies, right? One of the most hated countries in the world is the United States in terms of what other countries think about them. They're known as the Great Satan by pretty much every Muslim country, and it's because they're always involved in wars. And eventually, you're involved in a bunch of wars, you get a lot of enemies. In a symbolic sense, I mean, if you get involved in other people's fights, you're going to have a lot of enemies, right? And so that's what's basically taking place with the Ptolemaic kingdom of Egypt. They've developed a lot of enemies over the time. And it says, verse 14, and in those times there shall many stand up against the king of the south. Also the robbers of thy people shall exalt themselves to establish the vision, but they shall fall. The robbers of thy people, what is that referring to? Well, who is this being spoken to? Daniel. So thy people would be people of the same ethnicity as Daniel, right? Now, whether or not some of them were saved or not, I mean, it doesn't necessarily say. You can be a robber or a thief and steal things and still be saved, obviously. But I would say probably a lot of bad people that have the same ethnicity as Daniel, but they don't have the same beliefs, right? And look, in the Old Testament, obviously there was a nation that was used greatly by God. It doesn't mean everybody in that nation was saved, though. And it doesn't mean everybody else in the other nations was unsaved. But the robbers of thy people would be basically the thieves that are of that Jewish ethnicity from that time period. That's what's being referred to. Those are one of the enemies, I guess, of the king of the south. Verse 15, so the king of the north shall come and cast up a mount and take the most fences cities, and the arms of the south shall not withstand, neither has chosen people, neither shall there be any strength to withstand. Let me go back to verse 14 for a second, where it says shall exalt themselves to establish the vision. What it sounds like to me is the vision that's actually being referred to. And what you have to realize is that this took place prophesying in the future. And later on in the chapter, it's going to be those that basically have knowledge or understand are going to be strong and do exploits. And what it's saying is there were certain people that before these events took place, they already had an understanding of it. You say, why? Because it's scripture. They read the scriptures. They studied the scriptures. They had an understanding what was taking place in the future. Just as in a symbolic sense, in the end times, there are certain people that really know what's going to take place during the end times. I would hope it would be said at our church that we have an understanding of the end times, the timing of the rapture and basic things like that. Well, during this time, they're looking toward the future. There are people that were reading their scriptures. They studied their scriptures. And they had a knowledge of what's going to take place. And of that basically Jewish ethnicity people spoke about it. And they heard about it. But some of them, the robbers, were looking to basically establish that vision themselves. And I don't know exactly what that means they did, but they're stealing things to establish the vision or usurp the throne. It's like, well, that's not what you're supposed to do. It's like you have a little bit of knowledge of what's going to take place, but not that much. That's what it sounds like to me in that verse. Verse 16. But he that cometh against him shall do according to his will. And this is the king of the north. He's going to come against the king of the south. And none shall stand before him, and he shall stand in the glorious land which by his hand shall be consumed. So the king of the north is going to be standing in Jerusalem, in the glorious land, is what's being referred to in verse 16. Verse 17. He shall also set his face to enter with the strength of his whole kingdom, and upright ones with him, thus shall he do. And he shall give him the daughter of women, corrupting her, but she shall not stand on his side, neither before him. She said, what's taking place in verse 17? Remember earlier the king of the south was trying to get his daughter to marry into the northern kingdom in terms of getting more power. So his grandkids would take the throne. Now we've got the reverse. The king of the north, as they've gained power, is like, okay, we're going to basically have our daughter marry into your kingdom. That way we can have our offspring taking the throne. Now the woman that's being mentioned here is Cleopatra I. This is not the Cleopatra that you know. The Cleopatra you know is Cleopatra VII. As I said, they're not that creative with names. This is long before. The famous Cleopatra is the one that seduced Julius Caesar and then was in a relationship with Mark Antony fighting against Augustus Caesar to try to take over. That's a long time later on. This is Cleopatra I. And so Cleopatra I is basically the woman, and it says he shall give him the daughter of women. That's Cleopatra mentioned in verse 17, corrupting her, but she shall not stand on his side, neither be formed. Obviously if you force your daughter to marry somebody, you know, basically corrupting her is what the Bible is saying. But the thing is, she shall not stand on his side. So basically if she gets forced to marry the king of the south, she does not decide to help the king of the north. Basically she does things on her own. She doesn't stand on the side of the king of the north because she's against what's taking place, apparently. And it says, neither be formed. So she's not for the king of the north. She's being forced to marry the king of the south. She just says, I'm going to do my own thing. Verse number 18. Verse 18. Verse number 18. Usually when I preach sermons, I turn to a lot of different places which we're not doing in this sermon. So I tell you to turn somewhere. While you're turning and you don't see, I drink my water to get rest, you know. Here we're only in Daniel 11 the entire time, so pretty much, you know, I have no resting time, okay. Anyways, verse number 18. After this shall he turn his face onto the isles and shall take many. The isles would be like islands or battles in the sea. So basically we're looking at battles that are taking place in the waters. And shall take many, but a prince for his own behalf shall cause the reproach offered by him to cease. Without his own reproach, he shall cause it to turn upon him. And verse 19. Then he shall turn his face toward the fort of his own land, but he shall stumble and fall and not be found. So this is a reference to the king of the north basically being killed. You know, he's falling and he can't be found. You know, the word fall in the Bible is often a reference to dying. Like we'll say 50,000 people fell in that battle, referring to them dying, okay. So when he falls, this is the death of the king of the north, okay. Verse 20. Then shall stand up in his estate a razor of taxes in the glory of the kingdom. So the new king of the north just puts a lot of taxes in their kingdom. But within few days he shall be destroyed, neither in anger nor in battle. So after a couple days he ends up dying. And it's neither in anger, so I think that would indicate nobody's killing him. Like for example, try to take over the throne, nor in battle. He just happens to die, right. So when it says few days, I don't think that means two or three days. It's like an expression. But in a short time, the new king takes over and he doesn't last very long and he dies. Verse 21. And in his estate shall stand up a vile person. Now the vile person is Antiochus IV, okay. So now that we've gone through a lot of history in a short amount of time, and if you remember the sermon I preached maybe a month ago, I talked about how Antiochus IV, Antiochus Epiphanes, is basically a picture of the Antichrist. And he's probably the biggest picture in the history of the world where he did so many things that are just like the Antichrist. Many things you're going to see in the rest of this chapter, because the rest of this chapter is about him. He's a curse, okay. He does many things that are just like the Antichrist, but you need to realize the direct application is not about the Antichrist. The direct application is about Antiochus IV and what took place 2,000 plus years ago before the time of Christ. And it says in verse 21, And in his estate shall stand up a vile person, to whom they shall not give the honor of the kingdom. But he shall come in peaceably and obtain the kingdom by flatteries. So according to this verse, Antiochus IV, he comes in and they do not give him the kingdom. But he comes in peaceably, which does not mean that he's against war or anything like that. He just comes in under the guise of world peace sort of attitude, right. I'm going to bring everybody together. And he obtains the kingdom by flatteries. The question is, is this accurate with human history? Well, here's what it says from Wikipedia about Antiochus IV. Antiochus' accession to the throne was controversial. And he was seen as a usurper by some. Basically usurping means it belongs to someone and you take it from them. After the death of his brother Seleucus IV Philippator in 175 BC, the true heir should have been Seleucus' son Demetrius I. However, Demetrius I was very young and a hostage in Rome at the time. So the person they want to become the king is a prisoner right now. I don't exactly know where that comes from, but kind of a side trail. But it says, Antiochus seized the opportunity to declare himself king instead and successfully rallied enough of the Greek ruling class in Antioch to support his claim. This helped set a destabilizing trend in the Seleucid empire in subsequent generations as more and more claimants to the throne tried their luck at declaring themselves king. After his own death, power struggles between competing lines of the ruling dynasty heavily contributed to the collapse of the empire. Basically, Antiochus IV pulled in Adonijah where you basically declare yourself king. You get people to basically say, yes, you know what, he's the new king and unless somebody really strongly opposes you, it's just going to happen. And Adonijah just about took the kingdom. He was basically being promoted and basically Bathsheba, they go to David and say, hey, you know what, Solomon's supposed to be the king. But this is basically what Antiochus IV does. He declares himself the king, he just kind of takes over, gets people to come to his side and nobody really opposes him and he just kind of takes over, he's the new king. But what I'm saying is, that is accurate with verse 21. Was he a vile person? Absolutely. Did they give him the honor of the kingdom? No, I mean, he had to usurp the throne. It wasn't meant to be his, but he basically comes in peaceably and obtains it by flatteries. The Bible is very accurate predicting what would take place one day. Verse 22. And with the arms of a flood shall they be overflown from before him and shall be broken, yea, also the prince of the covenant. Now, I believe the covenant is probably referring to the old covenant because it's going to mention later on in this chapter the holy covenant, which would be a reference to the old covenant. So the prince of the covenant would perhaps be the high priest. Or one of the leaders, spiritually speaking. And so that's what's being referenced there in verse 22. And as we talked about before, Antiochus Epiphanes was basically very anti the God of the Bible. Very anti the God that we believe in. He set his life to just destroy the true God. And so he's against the scriptures, against the holy covenant. Verse 23. And after the league made with him he shall work deceitfully. And a league is like an agreement that's being made. So he gets this agreement made with him and he says he's going to do one thing and then he's deceitful. Basically he does the opposite of what he says he's going to do. And look, this happens all the time. You have two world leaders get together, they shake hands, take the picture, and it's like they make some sort of an agreement. Two years later it's completely broken. Right? It means nothing. It's just words. And then they just say, you know, whatever, we're just going to go to war unless you do this or whatever. And this sort of thing happens all the time. And it says, for he shall come up and shall become strong with a small people. 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 father's fathers. He shall scatter among the prey and spoil and riches. Yea, and he shall forecast his devices against the strongholds even for a time. And if you remember from what we've seen so far in this chapter, the northern kingdom is just not that powerful for a long time. But when Antiochus IV comes and takes over, he does which the previous generations were not able to do. He becomes more powerful than those that came actually before him, as the Bible is stating here. Verse number 25. And he shall stir up his power and his courage against the king of the south 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. When it says he shall not stand, it's saying the king of the south is not going to stand. So as the Bible is saying, Antiochus IV was able to do what previous Antiochuses were not able to do, or previous kings of the north, in terms of beating the king of the south and winning that battle. Yea, they that feed of the portion of his meat shall destroy him, and his army shall overflow, and many shall fall down slain. 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. So speaking lies at one table, it says these kings' hearts shall be to do mischief. What it sounds like is the king of the north and the king of the south basically sit down at a table with I'm sure some of their generals or whatever, just to make some sort of an agreement or whatever, and they're both seeking to do mischief, and they're just telling lies. Exactly what I would expect politicians to do if they're sitting at a table making some sort of an agreement, just spreading lies back and forth. Right? I mean, of course this is, there's nothing new under the sun. Same thing would take place if it happened today. If two presidents sat down to have a meeting, they're just going to tell lies at one table. Right? You know, of course this is, logically that would be exactly what takes place. And then it says in verse 28, then shall they return into his land with great riches, and his heart shall be against the holy covenant, and he shall do exploits and return to his own land. So inside the heart of Antiochus IV, this vile person, it is against the holy covenant. It is against the God of the Bible. It is against the God that we believe in. And as I said, he's not the most powerful man in history. Alexander the Great was more powerful. Julius Caesar was more powerful. I believe from my understanding of both of those men that they were definitely reprobates, like bad people. However, they did not specially desire to destroy the God of the Bible. They kind of went after power and influence rather than just setting their entire lives to destroy the God of the Bible. But Antiochus IV is different. Inside of his heart, as he gets power, he decides, you know what, I'm just going to destroy all the believers. I'm going to destroy the holy covenant. I'm going to set up the abomination of desolation, so to speak, as he set up Zeus in that temple and forced people to worship him. And so basically his heart is set to destroy God's people. And when it comes to people that are reprobates, there are some that are just kind of in it for themselves. They don't really specifically go after destroying Christianity, but there are some, such as false prophets, where basically inside their heart they just try to destroy Christianity. That's what they set their entire lives on, but I don't believe that every single reprobate does that. Some kind of go in different directions for power, some sexual perversion, and some would be like Antiochus IV where they decide, you know what, I'm just going to destroy the God of the Bible. And that's what he does. And it says in verse 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. Now you say, what does that mean? Well remember, the last time when he went against the king of the south, he won. And that's when he got very arrogant. He got very lifted up. He just kind of went in and was like, man, I did what the former kings were not able to do. Doesn't happen this next time though. The next time what the Bible says takes place is the ships of Chetum shall come against him. And the question is, is this accurate with human history? And the answer to that would be, yes it is. Here's what it says from an article. In 168 BC, Antiochus led a second attack on Egypt and also sent a fleet to capture Cyprus. Now remember, the first attack on Egypt he wins. Right? We saw that in the Bible. This is the second attack on Egypt. And it says, before he reached Alexandria, his path was blocked by a single elderly Roman ambassador named Gaius Populus Leonis, who delivered a message from the Roman Senate directing Antiochus to withdraw his armies from Egypt and Cyprus, or consider himself in a state of war with the Roman Republic. And the Roman Republic is powerful, just not as powerful as the north or the south, but they're gaining power. Eventually, obviously, the Roman Empire takes over. So obviously, their political power kind of gains over time. And this man knows this fight's going to take place between the king of the north and the king of the south. And he basically stops him and says, hey, you know what? You go to war with the king of the south, Rome is going to war with you as well. And what it would be like is, if there's a war in our modern day, where basically a country gives out a warning to one of the countries and says, hey, if you don't cease from this war, we're going to join their side. That takes place all the time, right? This is taking place and this guy kind of basically goes in person to Antiochus IV and says, hey, if you go to war with the Egyptian kingdom, the Ptolemaic kingdom, Rome is going to go to war with you as well and join the Egyptians, unless you basically back off and basically refuse to fight this battle, okay? Here's what it says from this article. Antiochus said he would discuss it with his council, whereupon the Roman envoy drew a line in the sand around Antiochus and said, before you leave this circle, give me a reply that I can take back to the Roman senate. So basically, Antiochus tries to avoid this and say, well, let me just think about it. And then this guy basically draws a circle and he says, decide before you leave this circle. And the idea would be, if you leave this circle and don't say anything, Rome is going to war with you. So basically it's like a power struggle, where basically he goes to Antiochus IV and says, no, it's like we're not going to back down to you or let you do whatever you want. You decide if you're going to go to war. You let us know now so I can go back and tell basically the Roman Republic what your decision was. And so, I mean, this is pretty exciting, right? I mean, it's hard to make history exciting, but this is one of these things that would be really cool to see, you know, that guy draw a line in the sand and basically, you know, at least to me it's pretty exciting, right? And then all of a sudden it says, this implied Rome would declare war if the king stepped out of the circle without committing to leave Egypt immediately. Weighing his options or considering his options, Antiochus decided to withdraw. Only then did Populus agree to shake hands with him. So Antiochus said, okay, we won't go to war. And then Populus basically says, okay. Right? That's the agreement. He makes an agreement, we're not going to go to war because he backs down to, I guess the Roman Empire is very powerful. Now he realizes they're not going to be able to win this battle. And it says, ancient sources and traditional historiography describe this day of Alesius as a great humiliation for Antiochus IV that unhinged him for a time. Some more modern historians conjecture that Antiochus may have been more reconciled to this than ancient sources indicate, as the Roman intervention meant that Antiochus had been given an excuse to not undertake a potentially long and costly siege of Alexandria. He could instead return with treasure and loot, having weakened the Egyptian state at little risk and cost compared to a larger scale invasion. So older historians say that Antiochus was very upset about this. Modern historians say, well, he actually wasn't that upset. What's the Bible say? Well, the Bible says, therefore he shall be grieved. He's not very happy, is he? So the Bible is giving you accurate history that the older historians are correct, that basically Antiochus IV was not happy. Common sense would state that though. If the king of the north goes to battle the king of the south and somebody stops and says, you can't do this, and he backs down, he's not going to be happy. I mean, common sense would say that. I don't understand where modern historians would come up with this idea. Well, you know, I'm being stopped from doing what I want to do. That makes me happy. I don't really understand that logic. But the older historians are correct because he shall be grieved and return and have indignation against the Holy Covenant. So what takes place? He doesn't get to do what he wants to do, and he takes it out on God. What does that have to do with the Roman Empire? What does that have to do with the Ptolemaic kingdom? Those aren't, you know, God's people. It's not like they're godly countries or whatever, but he gets so mad he can't go to war with the king of the south. I'm just going to destroy Jerusalem. I'm just going to kill God's people. I'm going to be against the Holy Covenant. He's so mad, and somehow he blames God. And in a modern sense, you know, people do that all the time. Something doesn't go well in their life. It's like, what does God have to do with this, right? You're trying to go to battle, and the Roman Empire is what stops you. And it says, so shall he do, he shall even return and have intelligence with them that forsake the Holy Covenant. Now, what is intelligence with them that forsake the Holy Covenant? Well, if you're forsaking the Holy Covenant, that would be a reference to people that have the Jewish ethnicity, but they reject the God that they were brought up in. They were brought up with those Old Testament laws in the scriptures. That's what the word of God says, but they choose to reject it. These are unbelievers that basically turn on the true God. They never get saved. It would be like, for example, somebody growing up in a Christian home. They grow up and they forsake the Bible, forsake Christianity, and join some other religion, right? And so basically, in Tychus IV, he's having intelligence with those people, and he's basically getting people on his side that are Jewish ethnicity, but against the God of the Bible that some of their brethren believe in. Does that make sense what I'm saying? And so this is going to be the event that is the abomination of the desolation that took place 2,000 years ago. Once again, of course, the abomination of desolation will take place one day. The direct application of this chapter is something that took place over 2,000 years ago. Of course, we can make symbolism, and there's dual applications in prophecy, but this literally took place. And it says in verse 31, And arms shall stand in his part, and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily sacrifice, and they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate. As I talked about a month ago, what takes place is he stands in the temple of God, and he puts up a statue of Zeus, and they slay a pig, which is an unclean animal on the altar, and they refuse to allow the Jews to do their offerings, because this is before the time of Christ. These are people that believe in the same God that we do. They're looking forward to the coming Messiah. And he forces them to worship the statue of Zeus, and if not, they get killed. Now, of course, obvious symbolism to what will one day take place. But this already did take place literally what's being described here. You can make the applications, because this is very similar to midway through Daniel's 70th week, the abomination of desolation, take the mark of the beast, and if not, you're going to be killed. He does the same thing, forcing them to worship basically the statue of Zeus. Verse 32, And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries, but the people that do know their God shall be strong and do exploits. Now, oftentimes in myself also, you look at this verse and you reference this to the end times, and I do believe that that could apply. Absolutely. Those that know their God and know the Scriptures and know what's going to take place are going to do exploits and do big things for God. Because those that are not aware of the timing of the rapture at all, once the abomination of desolation takes place, they're going to be looking around at each other like, what? Where was the rapture? They're going to be confused. Now, they're not going to worship the antichrist, but they're not going to know what's going on. And what the Bible's stating is, hey, they're saved, but they don't really know what's going on, and they're not going to do exploits because they don't even know. And during that time, it's going to be a time of chaos. They probably aren't going to be able to go to YouTube. Like, hey, I didn't get a chance to watch after the tribulation. Can you just give me the recap? Just five minutes, let me know what takes place. Right? I mean, I didn't get a chance to watch it. I'm sorry I was stubborn. What's going on? I thought I was going to be raptured. And so I'm being a bit facetious, but not really that much to be honest, because those that believe in a preacher rapture that are saved, they are going to be very confused once the abomination of desolation takes place. But see, here's the thing. The same thing over 2,000 years ago. When this event took place, there was people that said, hey, you know what? I knew it was coming. You say, why? Because they read Daniel 11. They literally read this chapter. They studied this chapter. They studied the book of Daniel and other of the minor prophets, and they were making the application, and they said, hey, I was waiting for this. I mean, I saw the wars going on between the king of the north and the king of the south over and over and over again. My parents told me about it, my grandparents, and I was expecting this big defiling in the temple of God, and here it is. And see, those that are ready for it, they're going to do exploits. They're going to do big things. Why? Because they know their scriptures. And yes, this will apply during the end times, but let's not forget, it applies directly to during the time of Antiochus IV. There were people back then that were studying and reading Daniel 11, and look, this is a complicated chapter, but it's a lot simpler for me than them. Why? Because I'm just looking back and putting together the puzzle pieces. They're trying to figure things out. That's very hard to do. And we have so many sources of knowledge now. It's a lot easier in today's world. But there are people back then that study their Bibles and knew their God and were doing great things for God. This has always been the same way. Those that do big things for God, they know their Bibles. They study their Bibles. They have knowledge of the scriptures, and as a result, they do big things for God. They do exploits, as the Bible says. Verse number 33. And they that understand among the people shall instruct many. And what that's stating is there are some people that said, hey, don't be confused. This is what was spoken of in Daniel 11. And it's like, that's why I told you, you need to read your Bible every day. Read the scriptures every day. There are going to be those that understand, and they're going to instruct many. Yes, that will take place during the end times as well. Those that understand what's going on are going to instruct many. But the direct application, I want to drive this in. The direct application of this chapter is not about the end times. There are the applications, and people always look at this toward the end times, but that's why it gets very confusing with the king of the south and the king of the north. This literally took place. And those that understood were instructing many and explaining, hey, we expected this. We knew this was going to take place. It was already mentioned. God already told us ahead of time. And it says, yet they shall fall by the sword and by flame and by captivity and by spoil many days. Many people are going to be martyred during this time period, just like during the end times. There will be those that know what's going to happen. It doesn't mean you're guaranteed that you're going to last to the end of 75 days. I do believe that God is going to spare a lot of people that are soul winners that know what's going on. But some of us will for sure be martyred. If the end times happens in our life, I promise you, not all of us are going to make it to the rapture. Some of us are going to be killed. Some of us will make it. Some won't. But it's the same thing that happened back then. People that knew it was going to take place probably didn't want it to happen in their lifetime, but it did. And some of them made it. Some of them didn't. Some got martyred. Then it says in verse 34, Now when they shall fall, they shall be hoping with a little help. Hoping is a makalumang, old-fashioned way to say they were helped, basically, with a little help. But many shall cleave to them with flatteries. And some of them of understanding shall fall to try them and to purge and to make them white even at the time of the end because it is yet for a time appointed. So some of those that understand are going to be killed are going to be martyred. Verse 36, And the king shall do according to his will, and he shall exalt himself and magnify himself above every god, and speak marvelous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished, for that that is determined shall be done. As we talked about a month ago, Antiochus IV believed himself to be God-manifest. In fact, that's what Epiphanes means. He took that title upon himself. In the name Antiochus Epiphanes, what you're saying is, Antiochus is God, basically. Because he's Antiochus IV, but kings would take a name upon themselves. He took a name upon himself proclaiming to be deity, proclaiming to be God. And he's stating, I am God. And he's basically doing according to his will and what he wants. He believes he's God in the flesh. Verse 37, Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god, for he shall magnify himself above all. Now, I do want to take a couple minutes to explain this verse and this phrase where it says, Nor the desire of women. And you know what? It's okay if you have a different opinion than me. People have different opinions. And, you know, let me say one thing. Number one, this verse is directly referring to Antiochus IV. I do believe that this will also apply to the Antichrist, but whenever you're saying dual applications in prophecy, there's always a question mark. Because not every single verse in this chapter is exactly what's going to take place during the end times. I personally do believe this verse would apply to the Antichrist as well. But realize this is about Antiochus IV. And the debate that comes up about the Antichrist is that they look at the phrase, Nor the desire of women. And some people take that phrase and say, well, the Antichrist is going to be a homosexual. And then some people say that he's not, right? It's kind of a matter of debate. And I'll give you my opinion. I do not believe the Antichrist is going to be a homosexual. And I'll give you several reasons from this verse and explain it. But number one, as I said, and look, it's okay if you have a different opinion. Because we see through a glass darkly. These are future events. And let me just explain why I do not believe this phrase is referring to that. Now, number one, the direct application is to Antiochus IV. But I do believe it applies to the Antichrist. Number one, there's no indication Antiochus IV was a homosexual. None at all in history. Now, realize there are rumors about Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar. Whether or not they're accurate, it's kind of hard to tell when you're looking back 2,000 years. There are no rumors that I have ever heard or anything in history that would state somebody started this sort of rumor. Now, that doesn't mean it's not true. I'm just stating there's nothing in history that would actually indicate that. And the guy was married to his sister, the first one in the Seleucid Empire. Now, just as a joke, perhaps that's why he didn't have the desire of women. I mean, if you're married to your sister, maybe you don't really want to have any physical relationship. But, you know, he was married and there's no indication he was a homosexual. But here's the thing about this. If you look at the context of this chapter, he sets his heart against the Holy Covenant. He sets his heart against God. And what that's indicating is his entire effort in life was dedicated to destroy the God of the Bible. What does that mean? It means he has no time for any romantic relationship. No time to try to have a good marriage. No time to write poems to his wife or go out on a date or whatever. It's like, no, his whole heart was set on destroying the God of the Bible. So when it's saying, nor the desire of women, what I believe that's a reference to is basically saying, you know, he spent his whole time in life just dedicated to destroying the God of the Bible, not spending his time on other things that other people do. The other thing you have to keep in mind is everybody is born straight. Right? When a person becomes a reprobate, that doesn't necessarily mean they become a homosexual. That is definitely one of the paths that you can go down to sexual perversion and it can lead to that. But here's the thing. When someone becomes a homosexual, they don't lose the desire of women. Think of Genesis 19. Think of Judges 19. They rape and kill a woman in Judges 19. So for me, I don't believe that this phrase, nor the desire of women, I don't think that has anything to do with stating, you know, what I believe it's stating is basically he just wasn't involving himself in romantic relationships. Women are not safe from homosexuals because they're not homosexual. They're bisexual. That's what the Bible teaches. So they don't lose the desire of women. They just get into more sexual perversions. They lose the desire that they have for women. This is the way that I would take it. The other thing to look at is when you make that application to the Antichrist, which I believe you can, I believe the Antichrist is going to be fully set on just destroying the God of the Bible and basically all of his time and energy is going to be invested in that. Now in a spiritual sense with saved people, there are certain people that don't get married. Right? For example, Paul the Apostle is the most famous example because his whole life was dedicated to basically serving God. And when you get married, the Bible says you care for the things of your spouse, how you may please your wife. Right? But Paul the Apostle never got married and he was fully dedicated to just promoting the God of the Bible, starting churches, getting people saved, things such as that. I believe the same is true in the opposite sense with the Antichrist and with Antiochus IV. Now look, this is my opinion. I'm not saying it's two plus three equals five. If it happens in our lifetime and the Antichrist is a homosexual, I'm not going to be like, well I guess I don't know anything about the Bible. Because I'm not saying for sure I'm right. I'm just saying based on the context of this verse in the chapter, here's my opinion. If the Antichrist turns out to be a homosexual, I don't believe this verse is stating anything about that. I don't believe that's the context. I think if that happens to be true, that's kind of on a side point. I don't really believe this verse would apply to that, that phrase of desire women. But in the context, I think he's just setting his heart on destroying the God of the Bible. I could be wrong. That's my opinion. But anyways, verse 38. Verse 38. And look, this is not me stating anything nice about homosexuals. I don't think the Antichrist is a homosexual. If there's any take away, Brother Stuckey has nothing nice to say about homosexuals. Don't misunderstand what I'm stating. I just don't believe the Antichrist is going to be a homosexual. And verse number 38. But in his estate shall he honor the God of forces, and a God whom his fathers knew not shall he honor with gold and silver and with precious stones and pleasant things. So the God of forces seems to be a reference to sorcery. Especially as you cross reference with Antiochus IV. I do believe that sorcery and magic was part of how he got power. And it shouldn't be shocking to us because you think of the kingdom of Egypt a long time before this. And when Moses performed the miracles, what did Pharaoh do? Pharaoh's like, I'm not impressed. We can do the same thing. It's like, you turn water into blood, we're going to do the same thing. It's like, Pharaoh, turn the blood back into water. Why would you turn more water into blood? But they're able to do a lot of the miracles until a certain point. But basically they're able to recreate sorcery and accomplish some of the things. And so I believe that Antiochus IV was actually able to do some of these things. God of forces, think about the movie Star Wars. You know, the force. The force in the dark side. So it seems to be a reference to the spiritual realm. Verse 39. Thus shall he do in the most strongholds with a strange God whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory. And he shall cause them to rule over many and shall divide the land for gain. And at the time of the end shall the king of the south push at him and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind with chariots and with horsemen and with many ships and he shall enter into the countries and shall overflow and pass over. So you've still got this battle between the king of the north and the king of the south. They're fighting again. Verse 41. He shall enter also into the glorious land which would be Jerusalem and many countries shall be overthrown but these shall escape out of his hand even Edom and Moab and the chief of the children of Ammon. So the king of the north is not able to overcome all of these countries. Verse 42. He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries and the land of Egypt shall not escape but he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver and over all the precious things of Egypt and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps. But tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him. Therefore shall he go forth with great purity and glory and utterly to make away many. So basically he's fighting the king of the south and he actually does win. He's successful but now all of a sudden he's getting tidings or news from the east and from the north and it's not good news and he's got to return. Basically probably more battles are going to come his way or whatever and he's afraid of future wars or people trying to supplant the kingdom or whatever. Verse 45. And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas and the glorious holy mountain yet he shall come to his end and none shall help him. So an entire kiss to the fourth dies, comes to the end and nobody helps him as he gets destroyed. And you know what? One thing that's true and a side point is people that are rich and famous and powerful, when they're alive they are loved by people. But when they die there's very few people at that funeral because they don't actually have a lot of friends. People that are wicked and bad people, people act like their friend when they're alive but when they come to the end there's nobody there to help them. There's nobody there saying nice words about them at their funeral, saying anything good about them because they were a bad person. They were a wicked person. And the same happened with Antiochus the fourth. I mean he seemed pretty powerful but what a pathetic way to end your life. You die and nobody cares about you. It's like he's dead and nobody wants to help him. Now the big takeaway we can take from this chapter is that the Bible is incredibly accurate with historical events and it's not just piecing together the events. All of this is prophecy. I mean isn't it amazing all these things that tie together and I'm sure I missed a lot of the symbolism. I mean I finished on time. I did the best I could. There's a lot of things that we saw from that chapter. Very, very accurate with what actually took place. I for the life of me do not understand how you could read this chapter and study this chapter and then walk away and say this was written by man. That's ridiculous. That was written by God. But what the Bible said is those that lived during that time period, those that understood, they did exploits. They instructed many. And guess what? Whether the end times happens in our lifetime or whether or not it doesn't, whether it's in the future. Here's the thing. Those of us that know our Bibles, we will instruct many. And you don't have to be a pastor or a preacher to do this. I mean if you're a mighty soul winner and you know how to go soul winning and you know your Bible, you can help instruct and bring people along. And what's the secret to doing great things for God? Well, according to this chapter, what's the secret? Understanding. Reading your Bible. Memorizing your Bible. Knowing your Bible. And if you do that and if you know the word of God, you're going to do great things for God and help instruct many and bring people along. Let's close in word of prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us to be here today and getting to see this chapter and help us understand these things and make proper applications in this chapter. Help us to know everything in the Bible, and help us to take a lot of study. God, we pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Let's get our hymns for our last song. Let's take to hymn number 33. It's not Easter Sunday, but we're going to sing Christ the Lord is risen today. Lift up your voice on the first. Christ the Lord is risen today. Hallelujah. Sons of men and angels say Hallelujah. Raise your voice and triumphs high. Hallelujah. Sing ye hands and earth reply. Hallelujah. Lives again our glorious King. Hallelujah. Where all death is thou thy sin. Hallelujah. Dying once ye old God say Hallelujah. Where thy victory obey Hallelujah. Not redeeming work is done Hallelujah. But the fight the battle won Hallelujah. That in vain forbids him rise Hallelujah. Christ has opened paradise Hallelujah. On the last soaring hour Christ has led Hallelujah. Bowing our exalted head Hallelujah. Made like him like him we rise Hallelujah. Hearts the ghosts the great the skies Hallelujah. Father Jun can you pray for us? Amen. 10 minute break.