Herbert W Armstrong

   And, of course, this is the goal, this is the aspiration that not only we have looked for through many years, some of you are going back for decades, going back for, you know, forty years and more, who have looked forward to and anticipated the kingdom of God and the establishment of that kingdom. But not only have we looked forward to and anticipated the establishment of that kingdom, our spiritual brothers and sisters down through the ages and centuries past have lived their lives in anticipation of a kingdom that is to come. Now, it's appropriate that as we here celebrate this time of the establishment of God's kingdom, the time when the kingdom of God will hold sway and rule over all the earth, it's appropriate that we take stock of the things the Scripture reveals about the world in which we currently live.

   This world called in Scripture this present evil world. It's a world of pain, a world of sorrow, a world of warfare, increasing wars and rumors of wars. You know, some of these things that Christ brought out in Matthew 24 have taken on special meaning even just here in the last few days when he talks about wars and rumors of wars.

   If you turn on the news, you see troops coming into East Timor there in the Indonesian, well, what is now a part of Indonesia. We see war, nation against nation, kingdom against kingdom. The term for kingdom is a word that refers to a political entity and it can refer to what we would term a nation state or a combination or alliance of nations against other nations.

   The word nation as it is used there in Matthew 24 is translated from the Greek word ethnos and does not necessarily carry the connotation of a nation state, but rather of ethnic groups. And so what we have on the world scene has not only been wars among nation states, nations and alliances of nations, but also various ethnic groups. That's of course what's happening in Indonesia right now and the situation in East Timor.

   Wars and rumors of wars. Earthquakes in different places. Well, that's of course been on the news.

   Diverse places here. Most recently we have had, of course, a major earthquake in Turkey, a major earthquake in Greece, now a major earthquake in Taiwan, all within just the last few weeks. Terrible natural disasters.

   A horrible situation, of course, on the East Coast and the Carolinas are still getting rain, if you've been following the weather. We live in a time of upset and turmoil. We live in a time, yet on the other hand, where people have been lulled into a sense of false security because it appears the stock market, of course, has gone up and up and up.

   And there have been all sorts of predictions about a correction in the stock market, a crash in the stock market. There have been books and all sorts of things that have come out laying out why this was going to happen. And yet, of course, in recent years the stock market has gone up and up.

   It has broken barriers that were sort of viewed as ceilings, gone above 10,000, gone on up from there. Now, of course, most recently there's been a little bit of a tumble down. But we live in a nation that is enjoying prosperity at this moment on a grand scale.

   Unemployment overall is very low. The general state of the nation, in terms of the way that people are living and the things they're enjoying, there is a sense of everything just sort of continuing on and on. Well, I know that there are various problems and difficulties on the horizon, but most people sort of shove that back from the forefront of their mind.

   There are major things that are building all over the world. Yet many of these things are happening behind the scenes. Sir Winston Churchill wrote a book a number of years ago that recounted the situation in Europe prior to World War II.

   He entitled the book The Gathering Storm. And in that particular book he recounted how events began to come together, events that were not perceived at the moment of their occurrence for the real significance that they had. And he likened it to a gathering storm.

   Well, just as the events of the years prior to the outbreak of World War II in 1939, just as those years could be characterized as the years of the gathering storm, so today the years in which we are living, the time in which we are living right now, in retrospect will be characterized as the time of a gathering storm. There are storm clouds gathering, not fully perceived for what they are. Now how is it that we make sense of the world today? How is it that you and I can know and understand the things that lie before us? Because make no mistake about it, it is God's purpose that His people understand and perceive the times in which they live.

   God reveals Himself back in the book of Isaiah, Isaiah 46:9. He says, Remember the former things of old, for I am God and there is none else. I am God and there's none like me, declaring the end from the beginning. And from ancient times, the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand and I will do all my pleasure.

   The great God of heaven has a plan and a purpose that is being worked out on this earth. And God has declared the end from the beginning. God is able to lay out in the pages of Scripture the things that are going to happen.

   And with God, the future is just as certain as the past. God is able to declare the end from the beginning. From ancient times, the things that are not yet done.

   Now the Scriptures contain many areas of prophecy. There are whole books of the Bible that are devoted to prophecy. There are chapters in other books that are devoted to prophecy.

   There are many, many areas that focus in on Bible prophecy. In fact, anywhere, depending on how you count, anywhere from about one quarter to one third of the Bible is prophecy. The most noted book of Bible prophecy is the book of Revelation, the final book of the Bible, the capstone, as it were.

   Revelation tells us in Revelation chapter one that it is the revelation of Jesus Christ. And the word revelation means an unveiling. It is an unveiling, a revealing.

   The very opposite of what most people think, you know, that they think the book of Revelation sort of covers up. And it's obscure, too. And yet the purpose of Revelation, the book of the Revelation, the unveiling of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him to show unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass.

   So the purpose of the book of Revelation was to show unto the servants of God the things that were going to happen. And he sent and he signified it by his angel unto his servant John. So the purpose here of this book, this book of Revelation, is to show the servants of God the future, to make the future intelligible.

   Now, prophecy serves various purposes. One is, of course, prophecy is in itself a proof of the Bible, a proof of the God of the Bible, that the God of the Bible is the only one who can declare the end from the beginning. Fulfilled prophecy is a proof of God and a proof of the authenticity of this book as the word of God.

   Prophecy serves to enable the people of God to make sense of the world in which we live. It serves to give encouragement to the people of God to understand that in spite of all the things that we may see around us, of all the hurt and the pain and the turmoil, all of the unrest, all of the natural disasters, all of the wars, the rumors of wars, all of these things, that we don't live in simply a senseless world. But rather, there is a plan and there is a purpose.

   And the God of heaven is going to step into history. Now, in the book of Revelation 1:2, tells us what John did in the book of Revelation. This book of certain things.

   John did three things here. This revelation was sent by Christ through an angel to John. And John, in turn, bore record of three things.

   He bore record of the word of God and of the testimony of Jesus Christ and of all the things which he saw. Now, the term the word of God is a term that refers primarily to the scriptures. The testimony of Jesus Christ has to do with the direct message, the direct testimony that Jesus himself bore.

   And then, in addition to that, John saw many visions which he recorded. Now, it's very interesting. If you were to go through the book of Revelation, you might want to do this as a Bible study sometime.

   And just, if you have a center reference margin in your Bible, just look through and count the number of Old Testament references there in the book of Revelation. What you will find is that a great deal of the book of Revelation is either a direct quotation or a paraphrase of Old Testament scriptures. You see, John bore record of the word of God.

   Now, if you were to go back and all you had was the Old Testament and you were to read these chapters, you will find that there are chapters woven through Isaiah and Jeremiah and Ezekiel and other prophets. There are references here and there in the Psalms and going all the way back to the books of the law, all the way back to the book of Genesis. A verse here, a chapter there.

   But if all you had was the Old Testament, you would not be able to put it together in a framework and to understand how all of these things flow together. But you see, the book of Revelation is written in a framework. There is a story flow.

   As the seals on the scroll were broken one by one by one, and each of the seven seals were opened by Jesus Christ, and the book of Revelation unfolds before us. And in the context of that story flow that is laid out, sections of scripture, prophecies from the Old Testament are alluded to either by direct quotation or paraphrase. And so now, because John bears record of the word of God in the book of Revelation, we're able to go back and to fit in many of these areas and understand how they flow together and where they fit in the overall scheme of things.

   John also bore record of the direct testimony of Jesus Christ. Now, we all understand what testimony is. If you are asked a question, if you're called to court, for instance, and you are asked a question, you are expected to give answer to bear witness of what you know the truth to be.

   Jesus Christ was asked, recorded in three Gospels, Matthew 24, Mark 13, Luke 21. He was asked a direct question. What shall be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age? That's a very direct question.

   Jesus Christ gave testimony in response to that question, and that is recorded in the Gospels. John, of course, was there. He was one of the ones who asked the question.

   You know, that's recorded there. I think Mark's account is the one that brings it out, that it was actually Peter and Andrew and James and John that were there right around Jesus and asked the question. Now, John was there.

   He asked the question and he heard the answer from Jesus Christ. He heard the testimony of Jesus Christ. Six decades later, he got to see the movie because when Jesus Christ opened the seals, John saw a vision.

   And each seal, as it was opened one by one, John saw a vision. John saw in vision what he had heard Jesus describe over 60 years earlier. He bore record here in the book of Revelation of the testimony of Jesus Christ, both testimony that Christ had given back on the Mount of Olives and testimony that Jesus gave now at this time as the resurrected Christ.

   John bore record of the direct words of Jesus, the testimony that Jesus himself gave in addition to the recorded word of God that was available to him. And in addition to that, he recorded the things that he himself saw in vision. And all of this is woven together in a story flow in the book of Revelation.

   Now, we're going to come back here and look at certain things. But as we look at and understand the world around us, we see this story flow. We see that there is a tie-in, and we've gone through this many times, of the tie-in between the unveiling, the opening up of the seals, as recorded in Revelation chapter 6, and the statements that Jesus made.

   Primarily, Matthew 24 is usually the account we go to because it is the most comprehensive, though each of the others adds in certain details. Now, let's go back to Matthew 24 very briefly, and let me show you a pivot point in terms of what Christ said. Jesus Christ is addressing his disciples, and he goes through and recounts certain things, and then he begins to speak to them directly.

   Understand, these words are recorded as the disciples are here gathered around Jesus on the Mount of Olives. And he said in verse 8 (Matthew 24:8-16), all these are the beginning of sorrows. Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you, and you shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.

   Now, Jesus is here addressing his disciples, and this applied and happened literally to them, but remember, the whole context and setting of Matthew 24 is in response to a question that goes beyond the destruction of the temple in 70 A.D. The full implication of the question they asked was the sign of your coming and of the end of this age. So Christ talked about the fact that his disciples would be delivered up and afflicted, would be hated of all nations. As Mr. Meredith has made comment in recent times, we certainly can't be hated of all nations until we're known of all nations.

   Then he talked about, in response to that, as persecution and problems and pressures begin to build, that many shall be offended and shall betray one another and hate one another and false prophets will arise and deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many will wax cold. Many will be offended, many will be deceived, and many will simply become lukewarm.

   You know, for love to wax cold means that it's traveling in the direction of from hot down toward cold. If you pass from hot to cold, you got to go through lukewarm on the way down, don't you? So we find that there's a warning here to the people of God. There will be many who will be offended.

   They will be filled with resentments and hurt and will harbor bitterness and resentment and anger. And in a time of pressure and turmoil, will literally turn and betray one another. Now that's going to happen, and I'll tell you to whom it will happen.

   It will happen to anyone that harbors resentments and bitterness in his heart and mind. Doesn't matter what's happened, when the circumstances present themselves, anyone who is harboring bitterness and resentment will find themselves fulfilling those words. You know, you can go through, we could go through many examples of that.

   Talks about many being deceived by false prophets. Now we've gone through a time where there's been a lot of turmoil, a lot of things in recent years that have impacted the Church of God, and certainly there have been many who have been deceived. Many who have just simply gotten all confused about what is the truth of God.

   And many others have simply become sort of turned off. They've lost their zeal. Their love has begun to wax cold.

   We're surrounded by a society that is conducive to that. Verse 13, but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. It navigates through these tests of bitterness, deception, or simply being turned off and lukewarm.

   You see, what we find right there is there are three different categories. You don't have to be in all three. One is enough.

   One is enough. There are three categories that will encompass the many. Many shall be deceived.

   Many shall be offended. Many will become lukewarm. Many.

   But he that shall endure to the end, the same shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations, and then shall the end come. Verse 15, when you therefore shall see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place.

   Whoso reads, let him understand. Then let them which be in Judea flee unto the mountains. Now here is a specific event that Jesus mentioned that is to trigger a fleeing by those in Judea.

   Now that gets into a different subject in terms of people being in Judea at the time that that occurs. Luke brings out that it's too late to get there. You know, it talks about once the armies are there, let not, you know, don't be coming in there.

   Then it's too late because that's a time when those who are there need to be getting out. But there is a specific event, the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet. So Jesus was very specific.

   It was the abomination Daniel spoke up. And that is something that is a trigger. As we go back, let's turn back to Daniel.

   One of the reasons that prophecy is so misunderstood by so many is they simply allow their imaginations. They look at a symbol and they just use their imagination. I had somebody the other day, and this is not here at this feast site, and come up and they've been listening to some fellow, some Protestant radio preacher.

   And of course, these abound, you know, and they all have their ideas. And he was going back to Daniel where it talks about the various creatures that Daniel saw recorded there in Daniel seven. And he was looking at some of these creatures and he was comparing and said, well, you know, it mentions, mentions a lion.

   Well, that must be talking about Britain and mentions eagles wings. Well, that must be the United States mentions a bear. Well, that must be Russia.

   Well, where did he get that? Well, he didn't get it from from Daniel seven, because when you go through in context, it's very clear that the creatures of Daniel seven, the represent were told four kingdoms and that they are parallel to the four kingdoms of Daniel two. And that both of these visions culminate the one in Daniel two and the one in Daniel seven with the setting up of the kingdom of God, that it's a progression. It starts with Babylon, goes through Persia, down through Greece, down through Rome.

   Now to just pick out symbols arbitrarily. Well, you know, eagles assembled the United States. It's also a symbol of Germany.

   It was also a symbol of imperial Rome. The eagle's been a symbol of a lot of places. The lion's been a symbol of a lot of places.

   Lion's a symbol of Britain. It's also been a symbol of Ethiopia. You just you know, you just go through.

   You can't just go through and see an animal and say, well, that must be so and so. Sort of like a preacher I heard years ago. This was back in the mid 60s.

   And there was this fellow I was working down in New Orleans. This was in the summer of 1965. And this fellow had generated quite a bit of publicity on the local news in New Orleans.

   He pastored a big sort of an independent Baptist church there in New Orleans. And what he had done, he was going to be holding a revival and he wanted to get a lot of attention. And so he had posted men around his church that were dressed in Russian army uniforms.

   And they had the hammer and sickle flag, you know, the big red flag flying out there in front and had big chains and padlocks around the doors. Had big signs up around his church closed by order of the state and big, you know, communist flags flying and everything. And this, needless to say, this generated, this just sort of popped up overnight, you know.

   And the next day, everybody who was driving to work in New Orleans, they went by and they saw all this out there. Well, that, you know, the six o'clock, he made the six o'clock news. It was getting quite a bit of publicity and he generated this for a while because he was holding a revival the next week and he was going to be preaching about Bible prophecy.

   Well, I was just really beginning to, I began keeping the Sabbath in that summer of 1965, was just beginning to really understand. And I was curious. And I wondered what he would have to say.

   I'd read some of what Mr. Armstrong had written. So I decided I would go down there one night and I'd listen to him, find out, maybe I'd learn something. Well, he didn't use a whole lot of scriptures.

   He, uh, now, you know, back in the fifties and the sixties, who did everybody in the United States, who was the enemy? It was the Russians, the communist, right? That was the only enemy that most people at that time could imagine. And so if people talk about Bible prophecy, well, they, they identify it with that. And what, what are we told in the, in, in revelation 17, it talks about the scarlet colored beast, right? Now, what did we call the communists? The reds.

   Remember? Well, that was his proof. Obviously the Russia is the beast. They're the reds, the scarlet colored beast.

   Well, you can't just pull a verse out of context and sort of say, well, it says red, that must be talking about red China. Or, uh, whoever, maybe it's talking about Baton Rouge. That means red stick in French.

   You can't just pull a name out. You can't pull a symbol out and just sort of go with it. Let your imagination flow.

   The Bible interprets the Bible. No prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. The Bible lays out something that is systematic.

   And what we find is that there are in most cases historical parallels, a, an historical type of an end time event. Now, sometimes the details are different and these things are made plain. Jesus talked about the abomination that Daniel spoke of.

   Well, if we go back to Daniel 12, Daniel 12:1, we read of a time when Michael, the archangel will stand up the great Prince, which stands for the children of your people, Daniel was told. And we're told also that there shall be a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation, even to that same time. And at that time, your people shall be delivered.

   The time when Michael will finally stand up and every one that shall be found written in the book, many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting content. The wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever. It seems like God places a little bit of emphasis on doing the work here.

   Those that turn many to righteousness. Now, notice what we find here, the context is certainly the end of the age. There can only be one time of trouble that is greater than any other.

   Jesus talked about in Matthew 24:21, a time of trouble such as has not been since the world began. Daniel in Daniel 12:1 talks about a similar time of trouble, clearly the same thing. The time of the resurrection when those that sleep in the dust shall awake.

   So we find that death is compared to sleep. John, Daniel didn't talk about those that were floating around up in heaven will sort of float down. He says those that are asleep in the dust of the earth shall awake.

   Now Daniel was told to see to shut up the words and seal the book. Verse four, even unto the time of the end, many would run to and fro and knowledge would be increased. Well, Daniel kept wanting to know how long, how long verse seven, I heard the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river when he held up his right hand and his left hand into heaven and swore by him that lives forever, that it shall be for a time, times and a half.

   And when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished. Talks about a time, times and a half. Now, if you want to go back to Revelation chapters 11 and 12, you will find that there are three terms that are used in a synonymous fashion, a time, times and a half a time, 42 months and 1260 days.

   These terms of Revelation 11 and 12 make the easiest place to see that comparison of these three terms. 12, uh, 42 months, 42, 30 day months equals 1260 days. 42 months is three and a half years.

   36 months, of course, is three years and six more makes 42, three and a half years. Time, times and a half a time, uh, refer to a three and a half year period or a period of 42 months, a period of 1260 days. Now he talks about this time, time and a half a time that at the, these things will be finished at the end of that.

   Well, now Daniel heard it, but he didn't understand it and he was told, go your way. Verse nine, the words are closed and sealed up until the time of the end. Many shall be purified and made white and tried in the wicked shall do wickedly.

   None of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand. Notice verse 11 from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away and the abomination that makes desolate set up, there shall be 1290 days. Blessed is he that waits and comes to the 1335 days, but go your way till the end be, for you shall rest and stand in your lot at the end of the days.

   Now God just got through inspiring through this angel to tell Daniel about periods of days. He mentioned specifically 12, 1290 days, then a period that's a little longer, a month and a half longer, 1335 days. That's a 45 day differential.

   He talks, tells us specifically the daily sacrifice being taken away, the abomination that makes desolate set up, and there would be exactly 1290 days until what? Well, until Daniel would stand in his lot, his portion at the end of the days. Clearly all these days that are mentioned here end at the same time. They end at the time when Daniel will stand in his lot, when Daniel will awaken out of the grave.

   In other words, the time, the second coming of Jesus Christ in the first resurrection, Daniel will awaken and he will stand in his lot, in his portion at the end of these days. So the days end at the same time, which means since the two that are mentioned here in verses 11 and 12 are different lengths, if they end at the same time, then they begin at different times. Now we're not told exactly what begins the 1335 days, but we can speculate.

   We have, you know, sometimes in the church in years past, but we are told what begins the 1290. We don't have to speculate about that from the time the daily sacrifice will be taken away in the abomination that makes desolate set up. There will be 1290 days.

   So Jesus referred to this and he specifically said, I'm, when I say the abomination, I'm talking about the one that Daniel made reference to the one that Daniel described. So Jesus Christ was referring his listeners back to the book of Daniel. And here we are back to the book of Daniel.

   And we find right here an event, a key trigger event now for the daily sacrifice to be taken away. Of course, the immediate implication of that is it's got to be started first. You can't stop it unless you start Daniel 12 is not in order to understand this.

   We've got, let's put all the scriptures together on it because Daniel 12, isn't the only place that talks about the abomination. Let's go back earlier in the book of Daniel. Let's go all the way back to Daniel chapter eight.

   You see, in the days of Jesus Christ, there was an historical event that was celebrated. It was a time of great celebration among the Jews, and it still is. And it was a celebration of the cleansing of the temple after the abomination.

   It is the celebration that the Jews call Hanukkah. It is referred to in John 10 as the feast of dedication. It was the term, Hanukkah is the Hebrew term, refers to the time of the rededication of the temple in 164 B.C., when the Maccabees had reconquered Jerusalem, had purged and cleansed the temple and reinstituted the sacrifices there in the temple, the sacrifices to God.

   That event was celebrated, and certainly it was a tremendous event for those who were the people of God. And it was celebrated all the way down through the New Testament period and all the way down to this time among the Jewish community. It was not a holy day proclaimed by God, but it was a national celebration of a great event in the history of the people.

   As we go through Daniel 8, we will see that that historical event is referenced. But what Daniel 12 makes plain and what Jesus made plain in Matthew 24 was that the historical event that happened about 200 years before Christ, before he spoke the words of Matthew 24, the historical event that happened about 200 years earlier than that was not the final fulfillment of Daniel's prophecy. It was a type of an end time event.

   And even the book of Daniel makes that plain because Daniel 12 links an abomination with the events of the very end time. Yet, let's notice in Daniel 8, Daniel saw a vision as recorded right here. He was by the river, by a river here as he records in Daniel 8:2. He lifted up his eyes and he saw an amazing sight.

   He saw a ram that had two horns and one horn was higher than the other. And the ram was pushing westward and northward and southward, and none of the other creatures could stand before it. And then verse 5, as Daniel was looking at this amazing vision, he saw a goat, a he goat come from the west.

   And the goat was racing across the face of the earth, going so fast it appeared that his feet didn't even touch the ground. And this was a remarkable looking goat because he only had one horn and it was a notable horn coming up from between his eyes. And the ram that had the two horns was standing there before the river.

   And the goat that had the one horn ran into the ram and he smote the ram, we're told in verse 7, broke his horns. The ram couldn't stand. It was cast down to the ground and the goat was stomping on him.

   And the goat, verse 8, waxed very great. But then when he was strong and at his height, this great notable horn from between his eyes was broken. And Daniel saw that and then the next thing he knew, four little horns were sort of popping up out of where the one big one had been.

   And out of these four horns that came up, verse 9, out of one of them came forth a little horn, which waxed exceeding great toward the south and toward the east and toward the pleasant land. That's a reference to Judea. Waxed great even to the host of heaven.

   That refers to the people of God. That would be the way to understand it. Daniel uses the term heaven as Matthew does, referring to the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom ruled by heaven.

   This is the people, not the people in heaven, but the people of God. Cast down some of the host and of the stars to the ground and stomped upon them. Magnified himself even to the prince of the host, the leader here of God's people.

   And by him, by this little horn, the daily sacrifice was taken away and the place of his sanctuary was cast down. Host was given him against the daily sacrifice by reason of transgression. And it cast down the truth to the ground and it practiced and prospered.

   I heard one saint speaking to another saint and said, how long shall the vision concerning the daily sacrifice and the transgression of desolation to give the sanctuary and the host to be trodden underfoot? How long? And he said unto me unto 2,300 days, it renders it in the King James, then shall the sanctuary be cleansed. But some of your translations will render this differently. I have a marginal rendering here for 2,300 days.

   The word is not the common word for day in Hebrew. The word for day normally in Hebrew is Yom, as in Yom Kippur, Day of Atonement. It's not the word for days, rather the literal Hebrew is evenings and mornings.

   2,300 evenings, mornings, then shall the sanctuary be cleansed. Daniel was scratching his head. He sought for the meaning.

   We don't have to just start guessing. Daniel was told verse 19, I'll make you to know what shall be in the last end of the indignation. Now, what is the ram? Verse 20, the ram that you saw having two horns, this represents the kingdom of Media and Persia.

   You know, one represented the Medes and one the Persians, the Medo-Persian empire. The rough goat is the king of Greece. The great horn is the first king.

   Now, historically, we understand that there are other references to it. The kingdom of the Medes and the Persians came in and conquered Babylon. Daniel lived in the beginning of the establishment of the Medo-Persian empire.

   But about 200 years after Cyrus and the Medo-Persian empire had conquered Babylon, a great king out of the West, a man by the name of Alexander the Great, Alexander of Macedon, who united the Greek area, came across the Hellespont into Asia, from Greece into Asia, and very quickly spread all the way across, all the way to the Indus river, all the way to India. And he conquered the empire of the Medes and the Persians. And it was a very remarkable time in terms of speed of conquest.

   Alexander died. You see, the notable horn was broken off. Alexander died, and within a matter of years, four of his generals came up and established their kingdoms, Greek kingdoms, Greek language, Greek culture, Greek religion.

   But arguing about who was going to be king. And out of one of those, a little horn came that carried out these accomplishments that involved a taking away of the daily sacrifice. Now we know that that occurred.

   Historically, Alexander's empire split, and some of his generals, Seleucus, who established what's called the Seleucid kingdom that spread across what is now modern-day Syria, all across into modern-day Iraq. It was the kingdom that was north of Jerusalem, the Seleucid kingdom. It was a Greek kingdom, Greek culture, spread all the way across to Babylon.

   There was the kingdom of the Ptolemies, spelled with a P, P-T-O-L-M-E-Y, that was established, centered in Egypt, down in Alexandria, named after Alexander himself. And they established the Greek kingdom that held sway down in Egypt. And then a couple of his other generals, Lysimachus and Cassander, established kingdoms, one up in the area of Greece and Macedonia, and the other over in the Greek areas of Asia Minor.

   And out of one of those, out of the Seleucid kingdom, called the king of the north, the kingdom north of Jerusalem, there came a little horn, there came a king who did take away the daily sacrifice. That was a historical event known in history as Antiochus Epiphanes, an individual that we're going to find is used, we're going to spend a little time looking at him because he is used as a type of the end-time beast. And there are some very interesting things that come out when we look at all of the things that we're told about Antiochus.

   Now he came to power. He was actually not the one who was in line to be king, but he maneuvered and manipulated and got the throne. And one of the things that he did, he had a great goal and a great desire.

   He wanted to accomplish the goal that Alexander had set out to accomplish. Alexander the Great wanted to establish one world. It was the age-old dream that reached back to Nimrod and the Tower of Babel.

   Alexander's dream was to spread the Greek language, the Greek culture everywhere, to unite all people under one religion, under one political system with himself at the top. It was an attempt to put together once again what God had put a stop to at the Tower of Babel. Well, Alexander died, his goals unaccomplished.

   Antiochus Epiphanes, that was the title that he used, has reference to the manifestation of a god, the glorious appearing. He was Antiochus, God-manifest. That was the way he viewed himself, sort of a humble sort.

   He issued a decree that came out in about six weeks or so after the Feast of Tabernacles in 167 B.C. that was delivered there to Jerusalem that required the daily sacrifices to stop, the priests to cease offering the daily sacrifices at the temple in Jerusalem. That's a historical event. It occurred shortly after, approximately six weeks or so after the Feast of Tabernacles in 167.

   A matter of about six weeks after that, troops came in and Antiochus was not satisfied simply with stopping the daily sacrifices. He rededicated the temple in Jerusalem to Jupiter Olympus, and a great statue of Jupiter Olympus was placed in the holy place. A pig was offered on the altar and sacrifices were now begun once again, but not to the God of heaven, but rather to Jupiter Olympus, who was identified as the supreme god of the Greek world.

   Now, this continued on until in approximately December of 164 B.C. when the troops of Judas Maccabee recaptured Jerusalem and the citadel and temple mount, executing the ones who were there who had been carrying out the religion of Antiochus, the Syrian troops having been pushed out. There began a process. They took the altar down and they simply took it down into the Kedron.

   They put it down there. They didn't know quite what to do with it. They said they'd wait until the prophet showed them, but they needed to get it out of the temple.

   They erected a new altar and they rededicated, they cleansed the temple and they rededicated the temple to the God of heaven. Now it's very interesting because if you go through and count, 2,300 evenings and mornings, of course, make 1,150 days. There were 2,300 evenings and mornings, 2,300 evening and morning sacrifices.

   1,150 days is just a little over three years. What you find when you go through and you put it together historically is that from the day that Antiochus required sacrifices in the temple to cease about six weeks after the Feast of Tabernacles in 167 until the beginning of the rededication by the Maccabees in 164 was exactly 1,150 days. There were 2,300 evening and morning sacrifices that were not offered in the temple to the God of heaven.

   That is a historical fulfillment that did occur and is a matter of historical record. Daniel describes as we're going through the story flow and we find the Medes and the Persians, the Greeks, then the four kingdoms that came out of the Greek realm. Notice what we're told here in verse 21.

   It talks about the rough goat representing the king of Greece and the great horn, the first king. Verse 22, now that being broken, four stood up, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not in his power. That, again, occurred historically.

   In the latter time of their kingdom, in other words, the latter time of the Greek realm, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance and understanding dark sentences shall stand up. Now this is a reference historically to Antiochus, but you see what we find is that what Antiochus did historically is clearly used in Daniel 12 and in Matthew 24 as a type of an end time event before the return of Jesus Christ. Just as a matter of interest, there is a huge statue of Jupiter Olympus that plays a very important role in a great religion of this world right now today.

   You may not know that, but that statue is up, is a statue that thousands of people go by on a daily basis. In fact, so many of them have gone by and kissed the big toe of this huge black statue that is set up that was originally a statue of Jupiter Olympus. That was what it was sculpted to be.

   The big toe is literally worn away. So many people have come by kissing on the toe over a period of centuries. Because this was a statue that was originally a great statue in Rome.

   It was a statue of Jupiter Olympus, but in the fourth century, the statue had a little holy water sprinkled on it and it was rechristened. No longer was it going to be called Jupiter Olympus, it was now called Saint Peter. It had a great scepter in its hand and somebody took a sawed off the scepter and cut it out and placed keys in the hand in place of the scepter.

   And in the fourth century, that statue was rededicated. It is a statue that sits in Saint Peter's in Rome right now. And it's a matter of historical record that the statue was not originally carved to represent Peter.

   It was originally carved to represent Jupiter Olympus and like many things, it just simply was given a new name. That occurred in the fourth century. So it's sort of interesting that the abomination, the literal abomination Antiochus set up was a similar statue, statue of Jupiter Olympus.

   Well, what we find here as we come on down, we're told of Antiochus and this is very descriptive of him. He was a king of fierce countenance, understanding dark sentences. He was an individual who was certainly involved with all sorts of occult type things.

   He was an individual who was very crafty and into all sorts of strategies. He was an individual who was very much involved with the demonic world. This described him, his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power.

   And he shall destroy wonderfully, shall prosper in practice and destroy the mighty and the holy people. And that's what he did coming into Judea. Through his policy, shall he cause craft to prosper in his hand and he shall magnify himself in his heart and by peace shall destroy many.

   He shall also stand up against the prince of princes, but shall be broken without hand. Now, by the time you get down to verse 25, it's clear that we're talking about someone that goes beyond Antiochus Epiphanes, because the prince of princes is a reference to the Messiah, Jesus Christ. Antiochus didn't stand up against him.

   Now, clearly there is a historical fulfillment, but this king of fierce countenance, this king, with that in mind, notice what we learn about. He'll cause craft or deceit to prosper in his hand. By peace, shall he destroy many.

   You see, he's going to come on the world scene as a man of peace. He's going to be broken without hand. Let's come on into Daniel chapter nine.

   Daniel wanted to understand these things. And he said his face, verse three (Daniel 9:3), to the Lord God, to seek my prayer and supplication with fasting, seeking God. While he was praying one evening, verse 21, the man, Gabriel, great archangel came and stood before Daniel and told him in verse 24, 70 weeks are determined upon your people and upon your holy city to finish the transgression, to make an end of sins, to make reconciliation for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness and to seal up the vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy.

   Know therefore and understand that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah, the prince, shall be seven weeks and three score and two weeks. The streets shall be built again in the wall, even in troublous times. And after these weeks, the Messiah will be cut off.

   Verse 26, not for himself. Now let's notice here. We can figure this out.

   70 weeks, that's 490 days, right? Mentions from the going forth of the commandment to restore and build Jerusalem. You can read of that in Ezra chapter 7. It was a decree issued by King Artaxerxes in the fall of 457 B.C. That's a date that is easily confirmed in terms of the seventh year of Artaxerxes.

   I think every reference I've checked pretty well agrees with the date, time of Artaxerxes. He issued a decree to restore and to build Jerusalem. From the going forth of that decree until the Messiah would be a period of 69 weeks, seven weeks plus 62 weeks.

   Now, 69 weeks is 483 days, seven days short of the full week, the 490th. If you just want to do a little math, you can take 483 and as applying the principle of a day for a year and come from 457 B.C. and you come out with 27 B.C. Now, in order to come out with 27, you have to remember there is no year zero as you go from A.D. to B.C.

   So you lose a year coming across and come out to 27 A.D. You know, the difference between 1 B.C. and 1 A.D. was one year. There was no year zero.

   Normally, we would graph out, let's say in math, going from a negative to a positive, you'd have zero in the middle and you'd have the difference between a minus one and a positive one being two. But in terms of the calendar, there's no such thing as a year zero. 1 B.C. was followed by 1 A.D.

   So you have to compensate for that as you do the figment. Now, it's very interesting because the gospel accounts make plain that in the fall of 27 A.D., of course, is when Jesus Christ was made his public appearance, was pointed out by John the Baptist as the Messiah, was baptized and began his public ministry. So this is just simply a matter of historical record, that from the going forth of the decree to rebuild Jerusalem until the coming of the Messiah, there was a period of literally 483 years.

   Now, after this, verse 26, the Messiah would be cut off, but not for himself. And the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The prince that shall come.

   Now, that occurred after Christ was crucified. That occurred, of course, in 70 A.D., when Titus, who was a prince, his father, initially Vespasian, led the troops down there. And then when he went back to Rome as emperor and Titus took control of the army, Titus was now the prince.

   They came and destroyed the city and the sanctuary. And that literally happened in 70 A.D. So that occurred.

   But now notice in verse 27, this is an ambiguous verse and it can give rise to two different understandings. Verse 27, he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week. And in the midst of the week, he shall cause the sacrifice and oblation to cease.

   And for the overspreading of abominations, he shall make it desolate, even unto the consummation, and that determined shall be poured out upon the desolate. Now, who shall confirm the covenant with many for one week? Well, you could refer it to the Messiah in verse 26, who would be cut off. And yes, Christ was cut off in the midst of a week.

   He literally died on a Wednesday, which was the middle of a seven-day week. He was also cut off in the midst of a prophetic week. He died.

   His ministry was three and a half years. But if you just read verses 26 and 27, that certainly applies in that context. But if you read verses 26 and 27, just from a standpoint of grammar, the logical antecedent to the he in verse 27 would refer back to the prince that shall come in verse 26.

   That's another possible reading of it. And one doesn't necessarily rule out the other. Certainly, Christ did come proclaiming the new covenant.

   He was cut off in the midst of a week. But you see, Vespasian, who was the Roman prince that came, did make a covenant. He signed a treaty with the Jews in Jerusalem in 67, which he violated after a little over three years.

   And he caused the sacrifice and oblation to cease. And he did make Jerusalem desolate because it was destroyed. The temple was destroyed.

   Now, Jesus referred to an abomination of desolation and a cessation of sacrifices that would occur. We saw it in Daniel 12. Let's sort of keep in mind this aspect of this possibility here.

   And that's what it is, is a possible understanding of Daniel 9. Let's go a little further. Let's come on down to Daniel 11. In Daniel 11, we're told that there were kings yet to arise in Persia, and then the realm of Greece would be stirred up and a mighty king would stand up.

   Verse 4, mighty king of Greece, his kingdom would be broken, divided into the four winds. Clearly a reference to Alexander the Great. We've already gone into that.

   Now we begin, beginning in chapter 5 and verses 5 and 6 (Daniel 5:5-6), talking about two of his successor kingdoms referred to as the king of the south, which would be the kingdom, the Greek kingdom south of Jerusalem, the Ptolemies in Egypt, contrasted with the Greek kingdom north of Jerusalem, which was the Seleucids up to the north of there. And it goes through a very detailed prophecy on through, down through Daniel 11, and of the interplay between these two kings that stretches over a period of about a century and a half. And in verse 20, we'll pick it up.

   Then she'll stand up in his estate, a raiser of taxes is in the context that this is talking about in the king of the north and the glory of his kingdom. But he didn't last very long. This was a man by the name of Heliodorus who sought to take things over.

   And in verse 21, 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. This is Antiochus Epiphanes historically. And that is just virtually any Bible commentary that goes into Daniel 11.

   We'll bring that out. Antiochus came in through intrigue. He obtained the kingdom by flatteries.

   Then we find a league is made. He works deceitfully. Verse 23, verse 24, he shall enter peaceably even under the fattest places of the province.

   Antiochus came in. He came in peaceably into Judea to begin with. It goes through the conflict between him and the king of the south and the intrigue.

   Verse 27, both these kings hearts shall be to do mischief. They shall speak lies at one table. They get together and they're just lying back and forth.

   Then it's a typical diplomatic meeting. Antiochus, as we're told, coming on down in the latter part of verse 30 shall, he shall return and have intelligence with them that forsake the holy covenant. Arms shall stand on his part.

   They will pollute the sanctuary of strength, take away the daily sacrifice, place the abomination that makes desolate. Now that occurred historically. What we find right here is we put some of these things together and we realize the extent to which Antiochus was a type or is a type of the end time fulfillment, the end time beast.

   Several things that we learn about this man. We learn that he is a vile person, this future individual who will come to power in Europe. He is a vile person.

   He will come in peaceably. He will obtain the kingdom by flatteries. He will ensconce himself in the Middle East by entering peaceably.

   Very likely will be responsible for making a treaty that he will violate when he cuts off the daily sacrifices. Now, you know, we see a situation right now in the Middle East. Last May, May of this year, May of 99, was the date that had been agreed in the Oslo Peace Accords for the final settlement in the Middle East.

   As I think everyone knows by now, the Middle East is not finally settled. Now, Prime Minister Barack, when he ran for election, he said that by October of 2000, he's going to have it finally settled. Well, Jerusalem is going to be a burdensome stone and they're not going to be able to finally settle the issue.

   It's going to take an outside force. There are events shaping up, events on the world scene that are occurring behind the scenes. You know, the final beast power involves a military power, a political power, an economic power, and a religious power.

   It involves all of those aspects. There is clearly going to come on the scene, a great religious leader that is going to startle the world with the things that he does. There's going to come, there's going to arise there in Europe.

   Because as you put the story together in Daniel 2, it is very clear that the final union of ten kings is a part, is the final resurrection of the Roman Empire. Remember the legs of iron representing the Roman Empire, Eastern and Western divisions. The ten kings on the two feet, that represents the final attempt to put back together the Roman Empire, the ten kings who give their power to the beast.

   So it is a European-based power that will economically dominate the whole world. You can go to Ezekiel 27 and find that there is going to be this worldwide upsurge in prosperity, and it mentions nations all over. Sometimes I think people, we've sometimes had the idea the beast comes to power and instantly there's great war and destruction.

   He's going to come to power as a man of peace. There's going to be war and destruction. And our nations are going to go into captivity.

   And the events that are described right here in terms of what's going to happen in Jerusalem, because Hosea 5 tells us that Israel and Judah will fall in their iniquity a month, shall devour them in their portions. They'll fall together. The events of the abomination of desolation that will occur there in Jerusalem is the trigger for many of these things.

   But there are things that have to happen before then. There will be a time of economic crisis because it's out of a crisis that a strong man arises. There will be a religious upsurge, a false religious upsurge.

   People are looking for a feeling. And there will be great dramatic signs that will be so impressive that people all over will be caught up in it. And there will come this power in Europe that will seemingly put together something that will cause a worldwide prosperity.

   There will be great, great things going on. He comes in peaceably. But it's not going to stay that way.

   Increasing pressure is going to be brought to bear for religious conformity. All in the name of peace and unity, you understand. There'll be words, there'll be lip service to high-flying ideals.

   But the reality is going to be oppression and destruction. And ultimately the nations of Israel and the nation of Judah and the Middle East will be taken, will be smashed by this power. And there will be an enforced conformity.

   Tremendous events that are going to occur. A storm is gathering. People by and large are oblivious to what is happening.

   And they won't recognize what's happening when it does. You know, brethren, we've gone through some things in the church. We've seen things happen on the world scene in terms of what occurred in Europe in the fall of 89.

   Things that, prophecies have been fulfilled that you and I have read in this book for years. But it didn't come about in exactly the way that we may have imagined the scenario in our mind. The things that will happen in the future, the outline that is preserved in scripture is certainly going to happen, but the scenarios that we have imagined or that we may imagine in our minds, what we have to be aware of is that things can come in.

   The results will be accomplished, but it will come in in a way that will catch many people, including many in the Church of God, unaware at the time. It will come on them when the reality breaks on the world scene, it will come like a thief in the night. It'll catch them by shock and amazement, how things will turn.

   It is a very interesting story. We don't have time to go into the details surrounding Antiochus and his relationship with the Jewish community and the intrigue that he entered into with apostates and what he finally came in to do. But you understand when he put it, when he stopped the daily sacrifices there in the temple.

   In addition to that, he also sought to destroy all copies of the scriptures that he could get. He did his best to wipe out the truth. That was his goal to create one religion, one system.

   There is going to be an attempt that is going to occur and it is going to plunge the world into a nightmare, a final three and a half years of tribulation. But God's intervention in world affairs will take place. There will be great signs in the heavens that will announce the intervention of God and then God will begin to deal with and to crush and break down and destroy that system and ultimately Babylon the Great will fall.

   That final resurrection of the city that Nimrod built will finally be crushed. It is in the days of those final kings that the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be removed. You and I are here to celebrate the time of that future kingdom that shall never be removed.

   We are living right now in the time of a gathering storm. We don't have to just wildly guess and just apply ideas to symbols. The Bible lays things out in a remarkable way that enables us to make sense and to understand.

   But we must be spiritually awake and alert to the times in which we are living. And I want to focus on some aspects of that tomorrow because we are in a crucial time. In some ways we are in a little bit of a lull right now.

   But brethren, when it comes, it is going to come so quickly. We will either be ready or we won't. Now is our time to be getting ready.

   The storm clouds are gathering. But what lies on the other side is a bright new day of the kingdom of God. Let's be awake and aware of the world in which we live, the times in which we live, and let's live our lives in hope and anticipation of the reality of the coming kingdom of God, the kingdom that will supersede all of these kingdoms, the kingdom that will last forever.