Part 5 of 6 from series at GYC 2010 — “Crash Course on Daniel: Lessons from the Past for Living in the Present” given on December 31, 2010

GYC 2010: No Turning Back

<p>Part 5 of 6 from series at GYC 2010 — “Crash Course on Daniel: Lessons from the Past for Living in the Present” given on December 31, 2010</p>

<p>Free sharing permitted under the Creative Commons <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/">BY-NC-ND 3.0 (US)</a> license.</p>

Generation. Youth. Christ. (GYC)

A Crash Course on Daniel: Lessons from the Past for Living in the Present

Norman McNulty

Why Does 1844 Matter?

So I want to start on time so that we can end on time.

Now, just a couple of points of introduction before we get into the message.

First of all, for those of you who don't know me, my name's Norman McNulty, and I'm currently living in Trinidad, serving as a missionary for the Seventh-day Adventist Church, working as a neurologist at the Adventist Hospital there.

So my wife and I have been there for about 10 months, and we've been having a very good time.

Prior to that, we were on Loma Linda for a number of years, and have been to many GYCs.

Now, 1 other thing I wanted to mention, and how many of you were here for Dr.

Hossel's testimony at the very end of the last meeting?

That was a powerful story at the very end there.

And you know, 1 of the things that resonated with me and he didn't mention this part of his story as well as that his father ended up passing away a few years after he told that story and My father has passed away as well.

And so he and I share that in common, that we are looking forward to the second coming of Christ.

And 1 of the books that helps us as a people to be reminded of our message that will prepare us for the second coming as found in the book of Daniel.

So I was talking to him last night about how what a privilege it is for us to be sharing a message from the book of Daniel this week here at GYC.

And so it's a privilege to be here with you and to share the seminar with Dr.

Hosel, and I know you were blessed by what you've heard so far.

Why don't we have a word of prayer and then we're going to get into our message for today.

Father in heaven, we thank you for bringing us here to GYC.

We thank you for the opportunity we have of studying from your Word And I pray as we get into our message for this afternoon that we would learn things that would prepare us for your soon coming.

You know, I really believe that what is happening here this week in Baltimore is a sign of the times.

I am so excited to see such an interest in genuine Adventism at this time of Earth's history.

And I really do believe that God is raising up young people to be ready for the second coming of Christ.

And when we study our prophetic messages in Daniel and Revelation, we can clearly see just how soon Jesus could be coming.

And what we are going to look at through the remaining 3 presentations of this seminar, we are going to look at our prophetic identity, how that identity drives our mission, and where we are prophetically in time to just how near Jesus could be coming and what kind of message we should be giving to our people.

You know it is way too late in earth's history to be going to other churches to try to figure out how they are growing their churches so that we can boost our numbers in churches.

What we need to be looking for at this time in Earth's history, we need to be getting back to our prophetic messages which will help us to understand our identity and mission for this hour of Earth's history.

And when I look at Adventism today, I find there to be a serious lack of understanding among our young people about what our prophetic identity is and what our mission should be as a church.

You know I went I've gone through the school system and I praise God for the good things that I gained out of my Adventist education, but I went from grade 1 all the way through the end of fellowship training past residency, all the way through the Adventist system.

And 1 of the things that I often find when talking to fellow colleagues or young people is a serious lack of understanding of our prophetic messages.

And in fact, 1 such example, I was talking to a high school student and they got stuck naming the kingdoms of Daniel 2 after the head of gold.

And another colleague of mine almost laughed as he said, yeah, my son, about the only thing he knows from Daniel and Revelation is that there's gonna be a national Sunday Law someday.

You know, We as a people, as young people, we should know way more than that.

And realize an understanding of beasts and horns do not save us, amen?

But God put that information in the Bible for a reason.

And that information is there to help us understand what time we are living in Earth's history.

You know, as I look at my classmates from my high school years, I was thinking about among the 30 people that graduated with me from my high school class, I would be surprised if 10 were still Seventh-day Adventists.

I mean that's not a good number and it's not necessarily the fault of the school that I went to, but the interest of the kids that were with me was not on heavenly things, it was on earthly things.

In fact, I still remember the school principal would talk about how he believed Jesus was coming soon and how some of my classmates would mock him.

And that should not be happening with us as a people.

And I believe that if we would get our young people back to our prophetic messages, we would see a change in interest level and spiritual things.

Now how many of you have heard questions such as, well, why does 1844 really matter?

Or I'm tired of studying about beasts and horns.

And I've heard those comments and some of them have been from higher up church leaders who have said such statements.

But when you get back to the study of Daniel and Revelation, and we're going to be studying Daniel as we have been thus far, you find some very crucial and fascinating things for where we are in Earth's history at this time.

And where in the Bible, obviously, that we find our prophetic identity and mission delineated are in the books of Daniel and Revelation.

Now I want to show you what Ellen White has to say about the importance of studying the book of Daniel as we get into our message.

Daniel and Revelation must be studied as well as the other prophecies of the Old and New Testament.

So should we be studying the book of Daniel?

Now notice this, there is need of a much closer study of the Word of God.

Especially should Daniel and the Revelation have attention as never before in the history of our work.

Read the book of Daniel, call up point by point the history of the kingdoms they're represented, the light that Daniel received from God was given for when?

So should our young people be studying Daniel and Revelation?

It's not just something that should be an optional course in college or high school.

As 1 of the young people I talked to who went through academy, they had 1 quiz on the book of Daniel in their Bible classes for 4 years.

And then we wonder why our young people have no understanding of our identity and mission.

Daniel and Revelation are given especially for these last days.

Continuing on, page 114, and there's, by the way, an entire chapter in Testimonies to Ministers that I would recommend reading about Daniel and Revelation.

When the books of Daniel and Revelation are better understood, believers will have an entirely different religious experience.

Now do Seventh-day Adventists need to have an entirely different religious experience?

We are lukewarm and Christ describes our condition as nauseating to him.

So if you, 1 of the ways to get a different religious experience is to study the books of Daniel and Revelation.

And so I'm glad to see those of you who are here.

We need to have an entirely different religious experience.

And as we study, we will be given such glimpses of the open gates of heaven that heart and mind will be impressed with a character that all must develop in order to realize the blessedness, which is to be the reward of the pure in heart.

Will our brethren bear in mind that we are living amid the perils of the last days?

Do you believe we are living amidst the perils of the last days.

She says, read Revelation in connection with Daniel, and she says, teach these things.

So what we are going to be doing and have been doing is to teach the things found in the book of Daniel that will help us to have an entirely different religious experience, that will help us to be prepared for Jesus to come.

And then she closes, I have 2 more quotes.

Those who eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of God will bring from the books of Daniel and Revelation truth that is inspired by the Holy Spirit.

And you know, there's a lot of things that people are teaching in our churches that are not inspired by the Holy Spirit.

We need to get back to truth that is inspired by the Holy Spirit.

And notice what she says, when we study these books and bring forth truth that is inspired by the Holy Spirit, notice what happens.

It says, they will start into action forces that cannot be repressed.

Would you like to be part of a movement inspired by the Holy Spirit that starts into action forces that cannot be repressed?

I believe that's what God is raising the GYC movement up for, And if he's going to use the GYC movement to start into action forces that cannot be repressed, we are going to need to dig deeper into the books of Daniel and Revelation.

And as we do, we are going to gain a clearer picture of where we are in time prophetically, of who we are as a people prophetically, and what our mission should be as a church, and so we won't be confused by all of this stuff that's going on around us in our churches.

And we will be able to give in clarity the 3 angels' messages.

And when she says, they will start into action forces that cannot be repressed, this will culminate with a loud cry of Revelation 18.

Daniel 11—Where Are We Today?

And we are continuing our seminar through the book of Daniel.

Hosel's 3 presentations over the first 6 chapters, and then yesterday afternoon we looked at Daniel chapter 7 and 8, and we looked at the prophetic identity and mission of we as God's people, the Second Advent Movement, And this morning we are going to look at Daniel chapter 11 in the first presentation, up through the first 40 verses, and then the second presentation, when Michael stands up, that's the title, we are going to look at the last 5 verses of Daniel 11 into the first part of Daniel chapter 12 when Michael stands up.

So that's where we're headed this morning.

So let's have a word of prayer and we will get started with our talk.

Father in heaven we thank you again so much for bringing us here to GYC, for giving us the privilege of studying your word, and I pray that as we study Daniel chapter 11 this morning that we would see Christ at the heart of this prophecy and that it would remind us of how soon Jesus really could be coming.

So just out of curiosity, I'm interested to know how many of you have studied Daniel chapter 11.

So I'm going to be talking to a number of people who have studied this book or this chapter.

How many of you have never cracked Daniel 11?

I would have raised my hand about 5 years ago.

All I knew was that Daniel 11 was this chapter at the end of Daniel that was thick with information, full of history, and I tended to stick to Daniel 2, 7, 8, and 9 and jumped ahead to chapter 12.

But what we want to look at today, we want to see what is Daniel 11 talking about and how important is it?

And the question is, is Daniel 11 important for our study at this time of earth's history.

You know, we've studied Daniel 2, we've studied Daniel 7 and 8 and a little bit of chapter 9, but a lot of people like myself, even up to a few years ago, tend to pass by Daniel 10 and 11 and then we jump ahead to chapter 12 with Michael standing up and then the final close of the book of Daniel.

But we miss a lot of what God is trying to tell us in the final vision that Daniel was given at the end of the book of Daniel.

And when you look at Daniel chapter 11, in order to properly understand its context, the context for Daniel chapter 11 begins in Daniel chapter 10.

Because it is in Daniel chapter 10 that Daniel receives the vision.

So I invite you to get out your Bibles and we're going to look, beginning in Daniel chapter 10, and this is going to paint a picture for us of just how important Daniel chapter 11 is for our time in Earth's history.

Now starting in verse 1, Daniel says that this is in the third year of Cyrus, king of Persia.

So we have now moved past the time when Darius the Mede was king.

And in the third year of Cyrus, and this is at the very end of Daniel's life, he is very old now, he was in his 80s as Dr.

Hosel pointed out when Belshazzar saw the handwriting on the wall and then Darius the Mede was king of the Medes for a period of time, and now we're in the third year of Cyrus of Persia.

So Daniel is getting very near towards the end of his life, and in the last half of verse 1, it's, or here in verse 1, it says, a thing was revealed unto Daniel.

So it's interesting, Daniel refers to this vision of Daniel chapter 11 as a thing.

It's a thing that was revealed unto Daniel, whose name was called Belteshazzar, and he says the thing was true.

But the time appointed was long, and he understood the thing and had understanding of the vision." So right here at the very beginning, this is Daniel introducing what he's going to describe all the way through chapter 11 and chapter 12.

And what he tells us is, what I saw is true, but it's for a long time.

So, the very first thing that we know about Daniel chapter 11 is that this is going to be for a long time.

And this is an interesting contrast to what we've seen in earlier visions.

For example, you come to the end of Daniel chapter 8 and he says that none understood the vision.

But at the beginning of what he describes for Daniel 10, 11, and 12, he says, I understood this and it's going to be for a long time.

Daniel at the end of chapter 8 when he gets the vision of the 2300 days, he doesn't really understand what it's about.

But here he's telling us at the very outset, before he describes the vision in its entirety, that he understood this.

Then in verses 2 and 3, he sets the stage for how this vision was revealed to him.

So in Daniel chapter 10 verses 2 and 3 we see, In those days I Daniel was mourning 3 full weeks.

I ate no pleasant bread, neither came flesh nor wine in my mouth, neither did I anoint myself at all, till 3 whole weeks were fulfilled." Now if you've studied the book of Daniel, is there another passage in the book of Daniel that this reminds you of.

This would remind you of the prayer of Daniel in chapter 9, where he's studying the prophecy of the 70 years of captivity from the book of Jeremiah, chapter 25 and chapter 29, where he's trying to figure out, well God, you said we would be in captivity for 70 years and it's after he doesn't understand this prophecy of the 2300 days.

And then Gabriel comes to him immediately and tells him, Don't worry, 70 weeks of probationary time are granted to your people.

He was studying the prophecies, God gives him the answer.

Here in Daniel chapter 10 he's saying that he was mourning for 3 full weeks.

And this obviously lasts for much longer than Daniel chapter 9.

And what is Daniel doing during these 3 full weeks?

Well if you look at Daniel chapter 10, verse 12, Gabriel says to Daniel, he says, Fear not, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand and to chasten yourself before God, your words were heard and I am come for your words." So Daniel was trying to understand something.

Now we don't have a clear picture of what exactly Daniel was trying to understand, but what we do know is that he continued to fast and mourn and pray for 3 full weeks until the angel Gabriel came to help him understand what he wanted to know.

Now I cannot prove this with certainty, but my belief is that when you look at Daniel chapter 9 and Daniel chapter 10, Daniel chapter 9, Gabriel comes and gives Daniel information that helps him to understand the beginning of the 2300 day prophecy because Daniel didn't understand that right?

He comes to the end of Daniel chapter 8 and he says I did not understand the vision I was astonished by it.

Then in Daniel chapter 9, he's studying the prophecy from Jeremiah 25 and 29 about the 70 years of captivity that had been prophesied and he's calculating, we're at the very end of this, when are we gonna go back?

And then the angel Gabriel comes and gives him information about the beginning of the 2300 days with the 70 weeks.

But he doesn't tell Daniel anything about what's going to happen at the end of the 2300 years in Daniel chapter 9.

But when you look at the prophecy of Daniel 10, 11, and 12, what Daniel says that he understands at the very outset after he's seen everything, he understands that this is for a long time.

So inevitably he must understand, okay, the 2, 300 years, or the 2, 300 days are 4 years that will encapsulate a long period of time because he sees all of the information from verse 1 of Daniel 11 all the way down to the end of verse 45 and into Daniel chapter 12.

So I believe that Daniel wants to know more about what is going to happen at the end of the 2300 days now that he already knows what's going to happen at the beginning of the 70 weeks.

Now again I'm not dogmatic about that but I think that's certainly a plausible explanation for that.

Now notice what happens after Daniel says he fasted and prayed for 3 full weeks and this helps us to gain a picture of just how important this vision is.

In verse 4 it says, In the 4 and twentieth day of the first month, as I was by the side of the great river, which is Hittikal, then I lifted up mine eyes and looked, and behold, a certain man, clothed in linen, whose loins were girded with fine gold, verse 6, his body also was like the barrel, and his face as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as lamps of fire, and his arms and his feet like in color to polished brass, and the voice of his words like the voice of a multitude." Now, who do you think Daniel sees here?

Now, has Jesus Christ revealed himself to Daniel in vision up to this point in the book of Daniel?

Now, if you look in Daniel chapter 2, Nebuchadnezzar has the dream.

Now, Jesus, the son of man, does appear with the 3 Hebrews in the fiery furnace.

So we have seen Jesus in the book of Daniel already, but as far as a heavenly being coming to give a vision.

This is the first time that Jesus himself shows up to give a vision to Daniel, and this is the last vision of Daniel.

So for me, when I study the book of Daniel and I see that Jesus shows up at the beginning of the prophecy of Daniel 11, I have to figure that this is a prophecy of utmost importance.

So, Jesus shows up to Daniel and then you read verses 7 through 9, Daniel sees in vision what is described in words beginning in Daniel 11 verse 1 down into Daniel chapter 12.

So Daniel first sees everything and then the angel comes and describes it for him so that he can write it down.

Okay, so Daniel verses 7-9 he sees this vision and the reaction of what he sees, verse 8 it says, he retained no strength.

So what Daniel sees causes him to lose strength and then in verses 9 through 14 the angel Gabriel speaks to him, I don't have the quote with me, but Ellen White makes it clear that this is indeed Gabriel coming to speak to Daniel again just as he did in chapter 9 and in chapter 8.

Gabriel says, and he said unto me, O Daniel, a man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak unto thee and stand upright, for unto thee am I now sent.

We already read verse 12 where Gabriel says, from the very first that you set your heart to understand, I came for your words.

And here's a practical application for us.

Do you realize that if we're not studying our Bibles, if we're not studying the prophecies, God isn't going to help us understand them.

But you realize that Gabriel came to Daniel in chapter 9 because Daniel was studying the prophecy of the 70 years in Jeremiah.

And here in Daniel chapter 10, God comes to Daniel directly and then Gabriel comes to him because Daniel was setting his heart to understand again.

I mean, Daniel was not satisfied with like, okay, I was able to explain to Nebuchadnezzar the image in Daniel 2.

Okay, I've seen the vision of the lion, the bear, the leopard, and the dreadful beast of Daniel 7.

Okay, I've seen the ram, the he-goat, and the little horn in Daniel 8.

I'm just going to go kind of take a nap now until Jesus comes.

You know, we as God's people, as Seventh-day Adventists, we should be continually studying and seeking to learn more about our message.

Because our message has not yet reached the peak of the loud cry being given.

And so there's more to unpack from Daniel and Revelation and the other truths of scripture for our time.

And so Daniel, all the way to the very end of his life, was setting his heart to understand and God reveals himself.

And notice verse 13 is absolutely fascinating.

Verse 13 says, Gabriel says to Daniel, the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me 1 and 20 days.

Now how long was Daniel in mourning, fasting and praying?

When Michael Stands Up

Okay, well I'm going to offer a word of prayer and then we're going to get right in to our final presentation on the book of Daniel for our seminar here this week.

So let's bow our heads for a word of prayer.

Father in heaven, I thank you so much for bringing us through all of these sessions that we've had and for the things that we've learned and as we see just how soon your coming is, I pray that we would get our lives in order and that we would be ready for your soon coming.

And as we discuss the last part of Daniel 11 and chapter 12, may it help us in our walk with you.

So our presentation for our last session is entitled, When Michael Stands Up.

And that of course is referring to Michael standing up in Daniel chapter 12 verse 1.

Now, I'm just going to give a brief rundown of what we saw in the last session.

What we saw in the last session is that there was a great controversy struggle between Christ and Satan to get the information of Daniel 11 to Daniel as Daniel fasted and prayed for 3 full weeks.

Once Michael came, the conflict was decided and Gabriel could then reveal to Daniel the information that we've been looking at.

We've gone down through history and we saw that there was the Medo-Persian kingdom and then Greece and the division of Greece into 4, and then the king of the north and the king of the south developed out of that division of Greece with a northern and southern division, and then eventually pagan Rome replaced Greece as the king of the north, or the northern division of Greece as the king of the north, and then papal Rome eventually replaced pagan Rome as the king of the north, and verses 31 through 40 describe the 1290 years, beginning in verse 31, of papal supremacy.

And I didn't mention this in my presentation, but now would probably be the time to do so.

Someone already came up and asked me in the break about the 1290 and the 1335, our reference point for the beginning point of those prophecies is Daniel 1131 where it talks about arms standing on his part, the daily being taken away, and placing the abomination that maketh desolate.

In Daniel 12, 11, and 12 it refers back to Daniel 11, 31 and says that is your reference point for the beginning of the 1290 and the 1335.

1290 takes us 508 to 1798 and 1335 takes us 508 to 1843.

I've heard someone even say that they can't believe that the climax of Daniel 12 would be talking about Clovis in 508.

Well that would be like saying the climax of Daniel 8.14 was talking about the decree of Artaxerxes in 457 BC.

So don't let people confuse you and Ellen White makes it clear that there's no more time prophecy after 1844.

So we come down to verse 40, which we did, we saw Papal Rome as the king of the north beginning in verse 31, then we see Papal Rome continues as the king of the north, it receives the deadly wound in the first half of verse 40 and then we saw the comeback that it made in the last half of verse 40 by bringing down the communist Soviet Union through the alliance of Ronald Reagan and the Pope, Pope John Paul II.

And so as I said in our last presentation, I believe that we really are living on the edge of eternity.

And I'm going to go through these quotes briefly again where Ellen White says in Volume 9 of the Testimonies, page 11, that great changes are soon to take place in our world and the final movements will be rapid ones.

And I believe that we are going to be talking about the final movements of Earth's history in our presentation this morning right now.

And then the very same chapter, page 14, she says the prophecy of the 11th chapter of Daniel has nearly reached its complete fulfillment.

Soon the scenes of trouble spoken of in the prophecies will take place.

And in her day, the last half of verse 40 had not taken place.

So we're living closer to the fulfillment of Daniel 11 than even she was in her day.

And then here's the quote that we used last time where she talks about history will be repeated from this prophecy.

How scenes similar to verses 31-36 which is the papal supremacy will take place.

And so here's our road map for this final presentation.

Arms stood on the part of the King of the North in Daniel 1131.

We saw how military force of state through the United States and the alliance of Reagan and John Paul fulfilled this history repeating itself.

We will then see that a church-state union will be formed again, the abomination of desolation, which is the national Sunday law at the end of time.

Then we will see persecution of the saints just as we did in verses 31 to 36 of chapter 11.

And then King of the North comes to its final end just as it received the deadly wound at the end of the passage she quoted.

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A Crash Course on Daniel: Lessons from the Past for Living in the Present

Daniel 11—Where Are We Today?

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Why Does 1844 Matter?

1h

Daniel 11—Where Are We Today?

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When Michael Stands Up

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