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You You Men Daniel chapter number six the Bible reads in verse one it pleased Darius to set over the kingdom 120 princes which should be over the whole kingdom and over these three presidents Of whom Daniel was first that the princes might give accounts unto them and the king should have no damage Then this Daniel was preferred above the presidents and princes because an excellent spirit was in him And the king thought to set him over the whole realm so the way the government is structured here is you have King Darius at the top and Then you have these three presidents right below that and then below the three presidents you have the 120 Princes, but it says here that Daniel did such a good job as one of those three presidents that the king thought to set him Over the whole realm to put him over all 120 princes because he was just so good at his job And this is the great testimony that Daniel has all the way from chapter one at the beginning of his career To chapter six at the end of his career that he excelled at whatever job He did the Bible tells us whatsoever thy hand find it to do Do it with thy might and so we as Christians when we do our job No matter what kind of a menial job it is or how important or unimportant we think it is We should always give it our best work hard do well and excel at what we do The Bible says he had an excellent Spirit, I mean he was one who? Excelled at his work He did very well to the point where he climbed all the way to the top in pretty much whatever situation he was put in through hard work loyalty and just caring about his job and and Loving to do well, so the Bible says in verse 4 then the presidents That's the other two presidents besides him and princes sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom So they don't like the fact that he is outperforming them at work that he's excelling them and that he's actually gonna take their job in a sense because he's gonna be put Over the whole realm as opposed to the other two presidents So they go to try to find some dirt on Daniel that they can dig up concerning the kingdom So they look at his job performance and they try to pick apart his job performance I mean, you know, they're pulling out the time sheets They're pulling out all the different records of his work performance and they can't find a problem They can't find anything wrong with this performance, right? I mean they look in there and it's like the T's are crossed. The eyes are dotted. The guy's just a great worker And so they say well if we're gonna find something wrong with him, it's not gonna be his work performance He's too good of a worker We're gonna have to find it Concerning His God it says in verse 4 then the presidents and princes sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom But they could find none occasion nor fault For as much as he was faithful Neither was there any error or fault found in him. That's a pretty amazing testimony when you have these really smart guys searching hard to try to find something wrong with him and they can't even find it and They found nothing and then it says in verse 5 then said these men we shall not find any occasion against this Daniel Except we find it against him concerning the law of his God and that's what we should all strive To have as the testimony of our life that if people are gonna attack us It's going to be because of our religion our beliefs our walk with God not because we're just a bad worker or because we're just Dishonest or whatever the Bible talks about in 1st Peter chapter 2 how if we're buffeted for our faults if we endure Persecution and tribulation because of bad things that we do that there's no glory in that But that if we do well and suffer persecution that's acceptable before God That is a great testimony when we suffer for well-doing even as Jesus Christ But if we suffer just because we're a bad worker Well, you know, that's not really impressive and there are a lot of people who just fail at their job Do a poor job and they're just lazy and they get there late and they leave early and they phone it in And don't excel at their job But then when they get fired or whatever, they'll try to act like oh I'm being persecuted for the cause of Jesus Christ or whatever, you know They tried to get me to go against my conscience or something. You're like what in the world? But it's really just because they're a bad worker So we don't want to try to hide behind that and claim Persecution when we failed at a job or something like that, right see Daniel here He excelled at the job, but they were still out to get him now Why were his co-workers out to get him notice the owner of the company loves him the boss loves him Darius loves him Why because he doesn't want to have any damage the Bible says it says at the end of verse 2 You know the king doesn't want to get any damage to his realm that's what matters to him He doesn't care about these office politics or you know who is Preferred before the other he just wants to get the job done and that's how most bosses and most owners are But the reason why they don't like him is because they are envious of him and This is a common theme in the Bible all the way back to Cain and Abel The Bible says that we should not be as Cain who was of that wicked one and slew his brother and wherefore slew him Because his own works were evil and his brothers righteous Marvel not my brethren if the world hates you if you do a great job if you excel and Outdo the people around you just expect people to hate you for that just as Cain hated Abel for excelling The world hated Jesus the world's gonna hate us and if we do right we should expect some opposition and persecution The Bible says lo the wicked bend their bow They make ready their arrow upon the string that they may privily shoot at the upright in heart They would love to take down the upright and to wipe out those who love the Lord and are doing a good job And even just from a non-spiritual standpoint Even in the business world people want to take out their competition so that they can get that promotion and climb the ladder and they'll even cheat and lie and steal to get there in Many cases and so we have to watch out for that But as long as we are doing right God's gonna look out for us. God's gonna protect us we need to just keep doing our best and not sink to their level of trying to dig up dirt on people and and and lie about other people to try to be a Dog-eat-dog kind of corporate ladder climbing type person, you know, that's what the world does We need to try to climb the ladder at our job by actually working hard and having an excellent spirit and doing it The right way there's a right way to excel at work There's a right way to climb the ladder and there's a wrong way So these men can't find anything wrong with Daniel now in this chapter Daniel pictures the Lord Jesus Christ in a lot of different ways and I'm going to show you as we go through this chapter The Bible says to him give all the prophets witness that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins so the message of the whole Bible is about Jesus and Daniel strongly pictures Jesus in this passage. One of the ways that he pictures him is that they're trying to find fault in Jesus right They're constantly trying to trip him up and find something that they can accuse him of So that they can get him arrested so that they can put him to death But they don't find any fault in him They bring all these false witnesses about Jesus and they can't even get their testimonies to agree with each other And then when they bring him before the Roman governor, what does the Roman governor say? I find no fault in him three different times He said that and so we see a similar thing in Daniel 6 where they just can't find any fault in him to legitimately punish him Then these presidents the Bible says in verse 6 and princes Assembled together to the king and said thus unto him King Darius live forever all the presidents of the kingdom The governors and the princes the counselors and the captains have consulted together To establish a royal statute and to make a firm decree That whosoever shall ask a petition of any God or man for 30 days save of thee Oh King, he shall be cast into the den of lions. This is not true because one of the presidents is Daniel So if they really consulted with all the presidents and by the way, there are only three presidents so they're lying here and They're trying to make it seem like Everybody's in. Oh, we've already talked to all the presidents. Don't worry about that We've already consulted all the princes. Well, it's a lie because One-third of the presidents would have never gone for this. There are only three and Daniel clearly would have not gone for this That they can't ask any petition the Bible says in verse 7 of any God or man for 30 days Save of thee Oh King, and if they do what's the punishment it says if they if he does he shall be cast Into the den of lions verse 8 now Oh King Established the decree and signed the writing that it be not changed according to the law of the Medes and Persians which altereth not Wherefore King Darius signed the writing in the decree verse 10 Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed he went into his house and his windows being open in his chamber toward, Jerusalem He kneeled upon his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God as He did a four time now, this is not Daniel Putting on a show about this because the Bible is saying that what he did is what he was already doing He did the same thing after the decree was signed as he did a four time before the decree was signed So he doesn't try to change anything and hide the fact that he's praying and say well I can just pray in my heart because it's 30 days and I don't want to get in trouble No, he doesn't change a thing Why because it's important that we maintain our testimony toward those that are without and if the people around us? see us Stop praying because there's a law against praying then that's going to cause them to be cowards as well so we have to be careful that we balance the idea of Doing our righteousnesses before the Lord and not to be seen of men But also the idea that we do need to have a public testimony that shows we're going to serve God no matter what We're not gonna stop preaching the truth We're not gonna change anything because of what the law says because if every time the government Starts to restrict preaching or to restrict soul winning or try to somehow chill those things We don't want to be seen as just running and hiding and cowering because then other people's hearts will faint as well But if they see us stand up Like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in Daniel chapter 3 if they see us stand up like Daniel in Daniel chapter 6 Where we just continue to openly Boldly serve God and defy a wicked law that would seek to make illegal The things of God then that's going to embolden them. It's going to embolden others And so the way this story works out at the end of Daniel chapter 6 There's a great proclamation going out to the whole world That's a great testimony to the things of God and people all over the world are hearing the Word of God But that wouldn't have happened if Daniel would have just been quietly praying in his heart or entering into his closet to pray Now the Bible does teach that most of our prayer should be done in our closets The Bible says when thou prayest enter into thy closet and when thou has shut thy door Pray to thy father which is in secret and thy father which seeth in secret shall reward thee Openly the Bible teaches that publicly we should not be making long prayers You know publicly praying long just to show how spiritual we are most of our praying should be done in secret Between us and the Lord and not for show But then it also does say I will therefore that men pray everywhere Lifting up holy hands without wrath or doubting. So there's a time for public prayer, which is shorter prayer the long Serious praying is done by ourselves Hidden away so that we're not doing it for the praise of men or the glory of men But it's just between us and the Lord. So we want to balance those two ideas Yes, we want to make sure not to be a hypocrite that does all of our righteousness is to be seen of men But at the same time we also want to let our light shine before men that they may see our good works and Glorify our Father which is in heaven So there are certain things that should be done publicly and openly as a testimony unto others And then there are other things that belong in the realm of privacy Specifically when we give alms to the poor the Bible specifically states that when we give alms Not to let the left hand know what the right hand do it now Some people will try to apply that to other things and say oh, that's that's your tithing That's you're giving your offering to your church Don't let your right hand know what your left hand does but that's not what the Bible says the Bible says when thou doest alms and Alms always is referring to giving money to the poor helping people that are down on their luck Giving to people that are needy Whereas we see in the Bible them bringing money to church and coming and laying it at the Apostles feet So there's nothing wrong with passing the offering plate or people will say well I don't want to write a check when I do my my giving to the church because I'm not supposed to let my right hand Know what my left hand do it, so I'm only gonna use cash, but they're misinterpreting that scripture That's talking about alms another thing that is to be done privately besides just alms or giving to the poor is Prayer as we talked about most of our prayer should be done privately although according to the Bible There's also a time and a place for public prayer But then the fact that we're fasting is not something that we should ever put on display So if we're ever fasting that should be kept private as well But things like soul winning those things should be done out in the open preaching the gospel should be done out in the open Because of the fact that we want to inspire other people We want to set an example and have a testimony of that that doesn't mean that you have to tell everybody every time you Go soul winning because you don't want to slip into that mode of all your righteousnesses are done to be seen of men But at the same time you don't want to hide the fact that you're soul winning you want to be known that you're a soul winner why because in a church like ours where virtually everybody goes soul winning you develop a culture of soul winning and Then it causes other people to want to get involved whereas if everyone in our church were a secret soul winner We wouldn't have that atmosphere that says man. I feel left out. I better jump in and go so everybody else is doing it Let's do it So we want to balance the idea of not seeking for outward show but at the same time Continuing to serve God openly even if it's illegal even if it's unpopular so that people can see that Testimony and I think that's what Daniel is doing here He had his window open because that's what he always did it was just his custom to open the window and pray toward Jerusalem and he wasn't gonna let some government edict tell him how to have his prayer life and So he continued doing what he had done a four-time And he prayed three times a day so prayer was pretty important to Daniel it wasn't even something he just did once but he did it three different times verse 11 then these men assembled and found Daniel praying and making supplication before he's got so they go to his house and they stake out his house and They look through that window because they're there just to catch him praying just to see is he gonna do it is he gonna Keep praying And it says in verse 12 then they came near and spake before the king Concerning the king's decree hast thou not signed a decree that every man that shall ask a petition of any God or man within 30 Days save of thee o king shall be cast into the den of lions The king answered and said the thing is true according to the law of the Medes and Persians which altereth not Then answered they and said before the king that Daniel which is of the children of the captivity of Judah Regardeth not the o king nor the decree that thou has signed, but maketh his petition three times a day now look That's our attitude as well if the king of our land or if our government made a law Against soul winning or against preaching the Bible any part of the Bible. We are not going to regard that We're gonna ignore it. It doesn't matter to us Why because we ought to obey God rather than men now We should always seek to be at peace with all men And if we can obey both God and the laws of the land then we should just strive to be peaceful But if it comes a point where they're telling us not to do what God has clearly told us to do Then we have to just disregard that and that's what Daniel did here. He disregarded that Then the king verse 14 when he heard these words was sore displeased with himself He realizes that he's made a mistake And he set his heart on Daniel to deliver him and he labored till the going down of the Sun to deliver him now What kind of labor was he doing to deliver Daniel? He's looking for a loophole, right? So he's got his lawyers together They're getting the law books and they're trying to get him off on a technicality here They're trying to figure out a way to get him off the hook, but they can't find anything That would allow him to go free and the law of the Medes and Persians The Bible says at the end of verse 12 alter it not so nobody's above the law Darius isn't above the law Daniel's not above the law. They have to follow the law. So if they can't get him off on a technicality He's going to the den of lions So he labors Until the going down of the Sun because apparently the decree states that he has to go into the lion's den What the same day? He'll be cast into the lion's den Verse 15 then these men assembled under the king and said unto the king no, oh king that the law of the Medes and Persians is That no decree nor statute which the king establishment may be changed Then the king commanded and they brought Daniel and cast him into the den of lions Now the king spake and said unto Daniel thy God whom thou serviced continually He will deliver thee now another picture with Jesus Christ here Beside the fact that they tried to find fault with him. They couldn't find anything legitimate to accuse him of Is that Daniel here when he's thrown into the den of lions? Darius tries To deliver him now, isn't that sort of like Pontius Pilate who's also the leader the ruler the governor if you will Just like Darius is the king here He has people coming to him saying you gotta throw this guy in the den of lions and he's trying hard Not to see him thrown in the den of lions. Now think about Jesus Christ the Jews were trying hard to get Jesus condemned to death and Pilate is trying hard to get him delivered. I find no fault in him He tried hard to get them to take Jesus and they want a Barabbas, right? So basically Darius here sort of represents Pontius Pilate in the New Testament who's gonna seek to deliver Jesus Right, and that's gonna actually tie in a little bit later in this chapter as well that parallel of Pilate and the Romans being represented here by Darius seeking to deliver Daniel look at verse 17 and a stone was brought and laid upon the mouth of the den and the King Sealed it with his own signet and with the signet of his Lord's that the purpose might not be changed concerning Daniel now Keep your finger here in Daniel 6 go to Matthew chapter 27 In Matthew chapter 27, I'll start reading as you get there verse 62 now the next day that followed the day of the preparation The chief priests and Pharisees came together unto Pilate saying sir We remember that that deceiver said while he was yet alive after three days. I will rise again Command therefore that the sepulcher be made sure until the third day Lest his disciples come by night and steal him away and say unto the people he's risen from the dead So the last error shall be worse than the first Pilate said unto them ye have a watch Go your way make it as sure as you can So they went and made the sepulcher sure Sealing the stone and setting watch so isn't it interesting that when Christ was buried They rolled a great stone over the door and sealed the stone to make it as sure as they could and what did it say in Daniel chapter 6 verse 17 a stone was brought and Laid upon the mouth of the den and the king sealed it With his own signet and with the signet of his Lord's so we see that just as Christ's tomb Was sealed and shut up with a great stone The lion's den is also sealed and shut up with a great stone Who was it that? Commanded that to be done in the New Testament Pontius Pilate who was it that sealed it with his own ring in the Old Testament. It was Darius himself who pictures Pilate look at verse 18 Then the king went to his palace and passed the night fasting Neither were instruments of music brought before him and his sleep went from him Then the king arose very early in the morning and went in haste unto the den of lions Now, you know what this kind of reminds me of when the women went very early in the morning to the tomb and the Stones rolled away and Christ is risen from the dead So it says he arose very early in the morning and went in haste unto the den of lions And when he came to the den, he cried with a lamentable voice unto Daniel and the king spake and said To Daniel Oh Daniel Servant of the Living God is thy God whom thou service continually able to deliver thee From the Lions and by the way in Psalm 22 the famous Messianic Psalm about Christ Dying on the cross where it says my God my God Why is thou forsaken me and it talks about how they pierced his hands and his feet it says in that Save me from the lion's mouth of Jesus Christ save me from the lion's mouth Why because Daniel being thrown into the lion's den is a picture of Jesus Christ dying for us and when Daniel comes up out of the lion's den when the stones rolled away That's a picture of Jesus Christ coming out of the tomb when the stone is rolled away and he's alive So he says is he able You know in verse 16. He was a little more solid. He's able to deliver you Daniel. I know was he able I hope so and it says in verse 21 then said Daniel unto the king Oh King lived forever My God had sent his angel and it shut the lion's mouths that they have not hurt me for as much as before him Innocency was found in me and also before thee Oh King have I done no hurt Then was the king exceeding glad for him and commanded that they should take Daniel up out of the den So Daniel was taken up out of the den and no manner of hurt was found upon him because he believed in his God Just as Christ's soul was not left in hell Neither did his flesh see corruption just as Jesus Christ was totally without sin and totally innocent That he was able to conquer hell and death and rise again from the dead So Daniel pictures that in this story in verse 24 It says and the king commanded and they brought those men which had accused Daniel and they cast them into the den of lions them their children and their wives and the Lions had the mastery of them and break all their bones and pieces or ever they came at the bottom of the den Now what we can learn from that is that if we do wickedly We hurt other people besides just ourselves I mean these wicked men not only were they punished but even their wives were punished and Their children were punished now according to the laws of God in regard to the criminal code When someone commits a crime, we are only supposed to punish that person. It's not for us as human beings To punish their wives or their children or anything like that, but even though that's God's criminal code Still throughout history. We see people's wives and children being punished for the things that they've done in and outside of the Bible That's just what happens in this world And here we see that's what happened the children and the wives are punished as well But just the way the world works anytime we commit a sin. We don't just hurt ourselves We hurt the people around us. Let me give an example. What if a man becomes a drunk? Don't you think that's gonna adversely affect his wife? Don't you think that's gonna adversely affect his children? I mean if a man goes out and commits adultery if a man goes out and commits murder or Steals or any crime that is going to affect the people around us and if you grew up in a home where your parents were wicked You suffered from that now It doesn't mean that you can't be a great Christian and that you can't overcome those odds and break the cycle of abuse So to speak and be a great Christian and press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus but growing up in a wicked home is a disadvantage Growing up in a righteous home is a great advantage and to whom much is given of him shall much be required But when we sin we hurt our families and that's what we see in this passage where the wives and the children were also wiped out but back to the picture of Jesus Christ here if we were to take this parable here and obviously we know it's a true story but it also acts as a parable of Jesus Christ or a Symbol or type of the Lord Jesus Christ in the New Testament if we follow it Symbolically or allegorically who did Darius represent? Darius represented who the Romans right Pontius Pilate the Romans and even in the book of Acts The Romans are often trying to deliver the Apostles From whom the Jews the Jews are persecuting them So it was the Jews who screamed crucify him and said his blood be on us and on our children They're the ones who went after Jesus They're the ones who went after the Apostles and it was the Romans who sought to deliver Jesus and sought to deliver the Apostles But they end up going along with it. And so Pontius Pilate is guilty of Killing the Lord Jesus Christ the Roman soldiers are guilty but not as guilty as the Jews Why because Jesus said he that delivered me unto you half the greater sin So it's not a matter of my opinion He flat-out told the Romans the ones who delivered me unto you have the greater sin So in this story Darius is doing wrong here But who did more wrong? The presidents and the princes who delivered him under them Darius was wrong when he made this foolish decree Saying that you can't pray to any God for 30 days. That was wicked and wrong for him to do that He represents the Romans there But these men the presidents and princes who connived to try to get Daniel condemned They represent the Jews Who did the same thing in the New Testament? Okay, so with that in mind when we get to the end of the story What happens to the Jews then what happens to the ones who falsely accused Daniel? they end up getting thrown into the lion's den and The Bible says that the lions had the mastery of them and break all their bones and pieces Or ever they came at the bottom of the den now Jesus Christ the Bible says not a bone of him was broken They pierced his side, but not a bone of him was broken just as Daniel not a bone of him was broken Right, but these wicked men their bones were broken before they even hit the bottom of the den Now what happened to the Jews? After Jesus Christ died and was buried and rose again What happened to the Jews? They ended up being destroyed their temple was destroyed in AD 70 Their city was burned with fire. They were scattered into all nations They were destroyed as a people and that took place at the hand of whom the Romans, right? It was the Romans who came in and destroyed them in AD 70 Just as it's Darius here who throws them into the lion's den and their own wickedness returns upon their own Head just as the Jews who sought to destroy Jesus Christ and he rose again from the dead But they got destroyed and They're in hell today and they were wiped out permanently just as these guys get destroyed permanently as well It says in verse 25 then King Darius wrote unto all people Nations and languages that dwell in all the earth peace be multiplied unto you I make a decree that in every dominion of my kingdom men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel for he is the living God and Steadfast forever and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed and his dominion shall be even under the end He deliver it and rescue it and he worketh signs and wonders in heaven and on earth who had delivered Daniel from the power of The Lions and what this pictures is the fact that after Jesus Christ comes out of that tomb The stones rolled away and he's delivered from hell and from death Then what needs to happen? That message is supposed to go out to the whole world right just as here After Daniel's quote-unquote resurrection, you know symbolically because he gets thrown into somewhere where it was assumed He'd be dead. They go there early in the morning. They roll away the stone and he's alive which pictures Christ What needs to happen after that is that the gospel needs to go to the whole world? So just as this proclamation was sent out to all people nations and languages that dwell on all the earth We need to preach the gospel to all nations the good news Not that Daniel was saved from the Lions in not that as it says in verse 27 He had delivered Daniel from the power lines, but that Jesus Christ has risen from the dead Jesus Christ was delivered from death. Jesus Christ was dead But behold he is alive forevermore Amen, and he has the keys of hell and of death that message needs to go out to the whole world The Bible says in verse 28, so this Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian now at the end of chapter 6 here Daniel is going to majorly change gears Because as we talked about earlier Daniel is divided in half so you have 12 chapters in Daniel the first six chapters are the famous stories that were familiar with and They're pretty entertaining to read. They're not that hard to understand They're not very heavy But when you get into the second half of Daniel 7 through 12 it's very heavy deep prophetic material and it's not as much a story as Just prophecies of things that were going to happen back then Before the time of Christ and things that are still to come even future from where we're standing in 2018 So it's pretty obvious here that the chronology changes because so far everything's been chronological You know, we have Daniel chapter 1 2 3 and 4 dealing with the reign of Nebuchadnezzar Then we have a successor of Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel chapter 5 with Belshazzar Then at the end of Daniel chapter 5 Belshazzar is killed The Babylonians are defeated and we move to the next kingdom Which is the Medo-Persian Empire and we have Darius the Mead and that's who we're reading about here in Daniel chapter 6 Darius the Mead so we've moved from the head of gold to the arms and chest of Silver we've moved from that lion-like kingdom of Nebuchadnezzar To the bear with the three ribs in his mouth of the Medo-Persian Empire Which we're gonna see in the next chapter Daniel chapter 7 But look at chapter 7 verse 1 God wants us to understand the Bible so he doesn't make it super difficult to decode this stuff It's pretty obvious that everything's been chronological up to this point But then all of a sudden we get to verse 1 of Daniel 7 in the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon Now look the Babylonian kingdom already ended at the end of chapter 5 Belshazzar was killed at the end of chapter 5 chapter 6 is dealing with a whole new regime With Darius the Mead but in chapter 7 There's no mystery that we've gone back in time here because now all of a sudden It's in the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon And then if we go to the next chapter chapter 8 it says in verse 1 in the third year of the reign of King Belshazzar, so we went from the first year to the third year. So we're chronological, right? Then if we go to chapter 9 verse 1 it says in the first year of Darius So now we're caught up to the Medo-Persians right in the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus And then if we go to chapter 10 It says in the third year of Cyrus king of Persia A thing was revealed unto Daniel and chapters 10 11 and 12 are all one unbroken vision that Daniel receives So the first half of Daniel is in chronological order But then there's a reset button at the middle we back up in time and then the second half is chronological But is it hard to figure that out? Super easy to figure out that out because at the end of chapter 6 we have a finality basically telling us Okay, so Daniel continue to prosper in the reign of Darius and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian That's gonna bring us to the end of his life Because he's already a super old man in Daniel chapter 6 that brings us to the end of his life But then we back up in chapter 7 you say why is this so important? Why does it matter? Because revelation is laid out the same way and a lot of people would understand the book of Revelation so much better if they would grasp this truth that Revelation 1 through 11 is pretty much in chronological order And there's a nice flow of events that you can follow from chapter 1 through chapter 11 and then at the end of chapter 11 There's a finality there of the kingdoms of this world are become The kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ and he shall reign forever and ever you're at the brink of the millennium Right there, but then all of a sudden in chapter 12 verse 1 There's no mystery that we're going back in time because all of a sudden we're back at the birth of Christ Talks about Christ being born and then we start going through all the same events from chapters 1 through 11 again From a different angle in chapters 1 through 11 of Revelation. We had the tribulation taking place We had the 144,000 being sealed. We have the rapture taking place We have God's wrath being poured out in the form of the seven trumpets Then when we get into the second half of Revelation, what do we have the tribulation being described again? What do we have the 144,000 what do we have next the rapture? What do we have next the wrath of God being poured out instead of this time seven trumpets? It's seven vials, but when you put these two halves side by side, you can see that the events match up perfectly Now this idiotic false teacher named Sam Gipp Who denies that Jesus is his Messiah and Who teaches all kinds of horrible heresies even attacking the very name of Jesus And I'm not gonna go into all that tonight, but he said oh well pastor Anderson's view of Revelation So dumb because he says that chapter 1 lines up with chapter 12 chapter 2 lines up with chapter, you know 13 chapter 3 lines up with chapter 14 now look Everybody knows I've never said any such ridiculous thing because that would be just as ridiculous as saying Well, Daniel 1 lines up with chapter 7 Daniel 2 lines up with chapter 8. Is that true? No, because what? Chronologically does chapter 7 line up with chapter 7 would line up between chapters 4 and 5 Because it's in the reign of Belshazzar, but it's before Belshazzar gets killed in chapter 5 So if you were to put this chronologically you'd take chapter 7 and stick it between chapters 4 and 5 Wouldn't you and then you'd take chapter 8 and you know where you'd put that? Also between chapters 4 and 5 right because we're still in the reign of Belshazzar and then you would take This chapter 9 in the first year of Darius the son of if it's the first year You know, where are you gonna put that in the first year? So the point is that That it's not to say that 1 & 7 2 & 8 3 & I mean that's ridiculous What it is to say though is that chapters 1 through 6 of Daniel are chronological Then we back up and have a new chronology in 7 through 12 and that some of these events are parallel so if you do the same thing with revelation and Don't listen to somebody who just openly lied about my teaching Especially since I've made a chart that everybody's seen if they've watched the film after the tribulation Where I show which chapters line up and how you'll see that the tribulation is being described in chapter 6 Which is parallel with chapters 12 and 13 and then you'll see the hundred and forty four thousand in the rapture Described in chapter 7 of Revelation which lines up with chapter 14 of Revelation Then you'll see that God's wrath is poured out in chapters 8 9 10 and 11 And then in the second half of Revelation that's covered in chapters 15 and 16 right then chapter 17 and 18 talk about the destruction of Babylon which isn't covered in the first half Then chapter 19 talks about revelation in great detail That's not given in the first half and then chapter 20 talks about the great white throne of judgment Which is not covered in the first half of the book of Revelation and Chapters 21 and 22 about the new heaven and the new earth are also not covered in the first half Why because that unbroken chronology in chapters 1 through 11 of Revelation? leaves off right at the beginning of the millennium right at the brink of the millennium and It doesn't cover as much detail about that very end period of the seventh trumpet But when we get to the second half we go into great detail and we push it even further well, it's the same thing here the first half of Daniel's more basic and It doesn't really give us details all the way to the end of Daniel's life The second half is more complex and it takes us further into the future So it's pretty interesting how the way that we interpret Daniel Really is the same way that we interpret the book of Revelation I've had some people criticize the concept of cutting revelation in half and seeing it as two chronologies And they said well, you know show me an example of that anywhere else in Scripture Okay, how about the book of Daniel where it's indisputably there it's indisputably there in Revelation How do you get around the fact that Jesus being born at the beginning of Revelation chapter 12? Little out of chronology there buddy if it's the birth of Christ pretty obvious that Everything happens twice in the book of Revelation and you say why would God tell the same story twice? Well, why did he give us four Gospels? Because he's giving us the same story from different angles Focusing on different things and of course the book of Daniel is perfect and the book of Revelation is perfect And he does it that way that we might compare Scripture with Scripture, let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer father We thank you so much for this great chapter Lord help us to be like Daniel where we're willing to stand up for what's right and we're willing to be faithful even unto death Lord and thank you for our Lord Jesus Christ who died for us and was buried and rose again and thank you that we can see the glory of Jesus Christ even on every page of the Old Testament and Thank you for this marvelous book the Bible which is so perfect and and everything lines up Lord help us to Study and see how it all fits together that we might stand in awe of your word And in Jesus name we pray You You