Even Amidst the Darkest Days

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PRAYING TOGETHER

Focus your opening prayer on VCC and/or community needs such as:

• Pray for the well-being of our congregation and community (spiritual, emotional, physical), particularly as we enter into this holiday season that can be a trying time for many.

SERVING TOGETHER

Perhaps mutual service can be an uplifting practice this holiday season

• Christmas Toyshop - see THE WEEKLY

• Serving Opportunity: Blankets for the Homeless - Livermore Homeless Shelter is looking for new or lightly used blankets/comforters to help keep warm during the winter months. Due to Covid, none of the normal churches are open or available for nighttime shelter. Blankets will be a definite necessity as the temperatures drop. You can drop off your donation at church Monday thru Thursday from 10:00am - 3:00pm from now until December 3rd. There is a bin located just inside the Fellowship Hall to your left as you walk into the Hall. Questions? Brenda@vc.church or call Brenda at (925) 963-8141.

LEADER STUDY NOTES:

Intro to Daniel 11

Chapter 11 is the earthly side to the spiritual warfare we discussed in chapter 10. The realities of the warfare in the heavenlies is now seen in the conflicts and intrigue and politicking on earth. Backstage Daniel saw that God’s Angels fought against the dark powers--the Prince of Persia and Prince of Greece so that things would work to an appointed end. Now, in Daniel 11, we see these events played out on the stage of history in the incredibly detailed vision and prophecy of things to come in the history of God’s people.

Outline of Daniel 11 Prophecy

• v. 1-2 - Three Kings = Cambyses, Smerdis, Darius I … Then the 4th, Xerxes I/Ahasuerus, the richest, King in the book of Esther, and provoker of Greece.

• v. 3-4 - Mighty King = Alexander the Great, King of Greece. Conquers with lightning speed from Italy to India in ten years. Reigned from 336-323 B.C. Died suddenly at age of 32, at the height of his power. His kingdom was divided up to four generals--Cassander, Lysimachus, Ptolemy, and Seleucus.

• v. 5-6 - Big picture = Back and forth between two kingdoms--6 wars over 2 centuries of trouble in what are called the Syrian wars. Syria (aka King of the North, Seleucids) and Egypt (aka South, Ptolemies), with Israel caught in between as a pawn in their power games.

• v. 7-9 - Ptolemy III / Euergetes from Egypt/Team South launches an attack to take revenge and take back treasures that had been stolen from Egypt. Seleucus II Callinicus retaliates but retreats resulting in another generation being drawn into this ongoing battle between Syria/North vs. Egypt/South.

• v. 10-19 - Prophecies of King of the North, Antiochus III (The Great) - King of the South = Ptolemy IV Philopater defeated by Team North, Antiochus III The Great, followed by an extended description of the various battles of Antiochus III that include two key elements. First, as a result of these battles the promised land comes under his control (Team North). Second, he is eventually defeated by a Roman commander, Scipio, resulting in Antiochus III heading home tail between legs, and his son Antiochus IV taken as a prisoner.

• v. 20-35 Prophecies of Antiochus IV Ephiphanes, King of the North - The next King, Seleucus IV Philopator, son of Antiochus III, reigns for only a short time, and then gives way to Antiochus IV, who is the paradigm for one who has set himself against God--proud, manipulative, deceitful, powerful, corrupt, ruthless. Remember, the Jews are caught in the middle of these warring powers, and in this case under the power of Antiochus IV Ephiphanes. This is working big problems for the Jews, that leads to the bully Antiochus IV picking on the Jews, killing many, and defiling the temple.

What are we to make of this very long and detailed prophecy? So what?

We are reading a MIRACLE …

• Daniel is written in the 6th century B.C. so what is written in Daniel 11 is telling details of events that are up to 400 years in the future.

• Daniel 11’s prophecy is SO DETAILED AND ACCURATE that many critics claim Daniel was written later because they claim there is no way it could have been written as prophecy.

• Daniel 11 is evidence that Daniel’s God IS God!

• Daniel 11 is evidence of God’s sovereignty and superintendence over history.

• Daniel 11 makes clear that God is not only sovereign over history, but he is intimately involved tending to both high level geopolitical AND down to individuals.

• Prophecy of this level of detail and accuracy cannot be counterfeited by humans. It is evidence that GOD IS THE GOD OF HISTORY!

How should the implications of Daniel 11’s detailed prophecy impact us today? What’s the application?

• IT IS GOOD NEWS THAT GOD IS IN CONTROL OF HISTORY! It is good news that God’s sovereignty reaches into the smallest details of history and of our lives. It means history has meaning and is going somewhere. It means everything we experience comes from God’s gracious and sovereign hand.

• This prophecy revealing God’s control over history should ENCOURAGE US TO TRUST HIM. God is not caught off guard, unaware of what the future holds. God was in control over world powers in Daniel’s time, and God is no less in control today.

• Even amidst the darkest of days (and Dan 11 speaks of dark days for Israel) our good and wise God is working things for his purposes. If the God of Daniel is THE GOD over history, there is REASON FOR HOPE!

According to Pastor Heath what is the ultimate destination of God’s appointed history?

Repeated phrase in Daniel 11, “at the appointed time.” God has appointed history to lead us somewhere, and we know from the rest of the book of Daniel that it leads to JESUS. To his perfect, eternal Kingdom of love and peace. To the ultimate COSMIC KING who is good and wise, and who will bring resurrection life to his people.