Episode Transcript
Alright, Daniel chapter 7, verse 12. And if you are curious, me and Brother Shepherd did not color coordinate on purpose this morning But uh I noticed when I was uh listening to him teach this morning, I happen to notice, Ms. Tammy, I thought to myself, now that man's finally getting some taste in how he's picking out his clothes. And uh but I I thought, you know, while we're while we're uh matching this morning and we have a new sign out front, y'all see they painted the uh the the um uh the uh aluminum frame around it. They got to that. It looks nice and handsome, I th I thought. While the while we are dressing the same We'll go ahead and get a new picture taken for the Facebook page because the one on the church Facebook page We look a whole lot younger back then, and uh and that sign is a little old and and a little dirty there, so we will update it, Lord willing, uh, when I go home today.
Daniel chapter seven, verse twelve. The title of the message this morning is Beauty and the Beasts. And that's plural. Beauty and the Beasts. Plural. Many beasts. Daniel's vision. And Daniel chapter 7 has been one of the richest prophetic studies, I believe, that we've gone through together. And the details at the end of the vision we have to understand are not as clear as those at the beginning.
Well, Brother Richard, did Daniel just not write as well at the end of his vision? No, that's not it. It's that the beginning of Daniel's vision is based on our history past, his history future. But now, after so many years, it's our history past. While the end of Daniel's vision is now based on our history future. Okay? Make sense? Here's a kingdom truth for you this morning. When a prophetic event has already occurred, we teach the fine details. But when a prophetic event has not yet occurred, we teach the main details and we wait on the final details, or the fine details, excuse me.
We teach the obvious and we wait on the obscure To come to light as those prophecies are fulfilled. Does that make sense? So when we're when we're teaching history past in prophecy We get into the fine details because we can look at the prophecy. We can then look at history And then we can show you how that prophecy come to pass in fine detail. We've done that at the beginning of this vision. But now that we're looking at history future Something that has not yet come to pass.
I'm saying history future because prophecy is history pre-written. And so as we're looking at history future, something that has not yet come to pass We teach the obvious, but we have to wait on the obscure details to come to light. when those prophecies are actually fulfilled. See, prophecy is not given to us by God like a photograph. If it was, it would be all simple. If it was, you could just avoid things. The enemy could avoid things, but God doesn't give it to us like a photograph, he gives it to us like a caricature. You know what a caricature is, right? One of those little sketches, somebody's sketches, uh little caricature of you.
But prophecy is like an artist's sketch. of a bad guy back in the eighteen hundreds. Y'all seen of those Westerns that have an eighteen hundreds wanted poster? Is it a photograph of the fella? No, they didn't have uh cameras uh back in the early eighteen hundreds taking photos like that. So what they did, they had a sketch of the guy. They had an artist rendering of that bad guy. So it that that artist rendering on that poster it's not enough information to visualize the fugitive in full detail, but it's enough to recognize the fugitive when you see him.
That's the way prophecy is in the Bible God doesn't give it to us like a photograph, he gives it to us like a sketch. Not so we can visualize the future in fine detail. We cannot. God does not want us to visualize it in full detail. I don't want to visualize it in full detail. Something nice about having something new to go into, right? Jesus said, Ye know not what a day may bring, right? That's the principle, that's the general principle of living in this world, is we don't know what a brand. all's going to happen tomorrow.
We can have a good idea because of prophecy. We can have a framework because of prophecy. We can have a sketch because of prophecy. It's not enough to visualize it in full detail But it will be enough to recognize it when those prophecies come to pass. Will we be able to recognize the beast when it comes to pass? Yes. One of the one of the uh The craziest things I've seen growing up and being raised in a in a in church is all these prophecy experts Do y'all remember who can remember when the barcodes first came out?
I was alive when barcodes first came out. Who can remember the prophecy experts telling us the barcode was going to be the mark of the beast? Look at all those hands, folks. Ack wrong. Wrong. And then microchips and all these other Man, we don't know what's going to happen in the future, folks. Can it be a microchip? Maybe it will. I don't know.
I'm not going to tell you because it's not listed. God says nothing about electronics in scripture. I'll tell you that right now. Okay? I mean he may say something about electronics, but he doesn't say anything about electronics. You see what I'm saying? There's nothing in detail given about that. And so What were those people doing? They were trying to get us to visualize history future.
They were trying to teach the fine details, and they ended up being found out wrong. Alright, we don't want to do that. And so as we're coming to the end of this prophecy, as we're looking at history future, then we have to understand this as we move forward in Daniel's prophecy. Alright? So with all that said, we can now have an idea of what to expect in the days that lie ahead of us because of what we're reading about about here the past few weeks. We left off in verse 11, where Daniel said, I beheld then because of the voice the great words which the horn spake I beheld even till the beast was slain and his body destroyed and given to the burning flame. So last week we saw the beast slain, we saw its body destroyed and given to God's fiery judgment.
That's what happened to the This dreadful beast. But now that brings us to a very important detail of Daniel's vision Concerning, quote, the rest of the beasts. That's why we have beauty and the beasts in the plural here. We're always thinking about the mark of the beast Did you know there's more than one beast? There sure is. And so look now in verse 12. Daniel said, as concerning the rest of the beasts, plural.
The rest of the beast. I believe this may sound very curious to many people
I believe this may also sound quite confusing to some people as well. For as we follow the story to verse 11, it's easy to get the idea that there is one evil beastly empire at the end of time. And when God comes and he sets up his throne and he judges that beastly empire, he gives it to the burning flame, well then all that's left in this world is going to be uh Christians, and they're all going to live happily ever after with Jesus in a world without sin for all eternity. I believe that's the way most people envision things happening when Jesus comes. But that's not the way it's going to be. So what other beast is Daniel talking about? What does Daniel mean when he says the rest of the beast? Well, he means just that.
The rest of the beast, not just the three beasts. of the world empires in history past. So not just Babylon, not just Persia Not just Greece, but the beast that will remain at the end of the world. Many believe the rest of the beasts is only referring to the manner in which those previous three beasts, Babylon, Persia, and Greece, were historically overcome. Meaning they were not utterly destroyed and their bodies given to the burning flame, like the fourth beast, Rome But instead, look back in your text as concerning the rest of the beasts. It says they had their dominion taken away. Meaning their nation still existed after the fourth beast came, but they were no longer the ruling authority after that fourth beast came that they once were. Though their names and political structures have changed, the Babylonian, Persian, and Grecian people still exist today.
The nation of Greece is still alive and well today. Right? You can still go to Greece today. It's called Italy, but you can still go see the Roman people today. You can travel to a place called Rome. But I don't believe Daniel is merely referring to the other three beasts in Rome's time. Why? Because remember what we've learned so far. What do we learn about that fourth beast? We learn that the beast Rome, the beast that was in power when Jesus came the first time.
is a picture of the beast that will be in power when Jesus comes a second time. Remember, we've learned that. Therefore If the rest of the beasts that still existed when the fourth beast was in power when Jesus came,
They should also represent the rest of the beasts that are still there when Jesus comes a second time. Does that make sense? Just keep that in your mind. So I believe the Roman Empire, who ruled when Christ came the first time, again was a picture of the future and final empire when Jesus comes again. So as there were other nations that were ruled by Rome when Jesus came the first time. first time, such as Israel. Israel's still here. Such is Greece. Greece is still here. I believe there will be other nations that will be ruled by this beast when Jesus comes again.
And when the beast with the little horn is given to the burning flame and its body is destroyed, these other beastly nations will lose their dominion on earth. But their lives will be prolonged on the earth. They will lose their dominion. Why? Because when Jesus comes, he's going to have many subjects, but there's only going to be one dominion. And that's going to be the kingdom of God. And I believe that's why one of Jesus' titles in Revelation chapter 19, verse 16, is, what do they call him? King of kings and Lord of Lords. See it up there?
King of kings and Lord of Lords. King of kings Lord of Lords, their people will remain, but their power will be removed and held by God's Son and those who serve him. So Daniel said their dominion was taken away. Look back in your text. Yet their lives were prolonged. They lost their ruling power But they retained their existence. Their lives were prolonged. These beastly nations continued to live.
And this may come as a shock to some people, but distinct beastly nations will continue to live. They will continue to exist under the reign of Jesus Christ when he comes again. When Jesus comes, people say, Brother Richard,
I thought all sin was going to be removed from the world. I thought death was going to be removed from the world. I thought we were going to be able to live in a perfect place. Listen, I promise you on the authority of God's word, when Jesus comes, sin and death. will be removed from the earth. When Jesus comes, praise God, we will forever live in a perfect world. With perfect people who've been made perfectly whole by the power of the gospel. That's exactly what's going to happen. But this won't happen instantly. That's what's important for us to understand.
It won't happen instantly when Jesus comes. It's going to happen over time after Jesus comes. Quite a bit of time. I believe most people envision Jesus coming back to earth this way. I believe they envision that Jesus judges the world and all the unbelievers go to hell. Then all the believers live happily ever after with Jesus in heaven. It's not how it works. The return of Christ And the events that follow his return are going to be much more eventful than that. And if you don't understand that, then prophecy is going to be very confusing for you.
And I'm very glad it's going to be much more eventful. I just don't want everything to stop. I want everything to work out exactly as God has planned because it's going to be best. When God judges the beast with a little horn, you know the the the beast with the ten horns and the little horn comes up and the three go away and the little horn has the big mouth and all that. When God judges that beast with a little horn The lives of the other nations, the other beasts will be prolonged. Look back in your text. How long will they be prolonged? For a season and time.
After this beast is judged, the other nations, the other beasts Their lives will be prolonged for a season in time. Meaning, we are going to live
With unbelieving people on earth after Jesus comes for a season and a time. Not forever, praise God But for a season and a time, and to the best of my understanding of God's word, after Jesus comes again, we will continue to live with unbelievers and with sin in this world. For a season and a time. The season and time meaning the time that God has appointed to fulfill his purpose through these unbelieving nations. Daniel chapter 2, verses 20 and 21, where we're thinking of a season and a time. Daniel chapter 2, verses 20 through 21. Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, for wisdom and might
Now what does that mean when we're looking at seasons and time He changeth the times and the seasons. Here's what it means. He removeth kings and setteth up kings. We're looking at political power. We're looking at a change going on in politics. He giveth wisdom unto the wise and knowledge to them that know understanding. God is in charge of any type of political or geopolitical change in this world. Any type of political or geopolitical change in this world.
You have to understand this Ever since Adam was tempted in the Garden of Eden, humanity has gone through many diverse tests. It was a test. when Satan came into the Garden of Eden. It was a test when Job was tried uh uh in in in the in the book of job. It was a test. And humanity was tested in the very beginning. That's how come God allowed the devil to go into the Garden of Eden.
Brother Shepard, I kind of almost imagined in my mind that there was some dialogue between God and the devil about Adam and Eve as there was about Job. And and uh and God says, well you do this, but don't do this. And but the devil has always had limits that God's put on him But he's always been able to test. And God has allowed these different stages of test. And so when Satan came into the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve, that is humanity was tested to see if man would obey God in a perfect environment. You ever heard a psychologist say, well, it's the environment? Or if we can if we can just get them out of the urban areas and we can move them to a better location.
We can have better schools, better parks, better this, better that. It's the environment that hurts these people. Listen, Adam and Eve were tested in the perfect environment back in the Garden of Eden. And we learn when they failed and they sinned against God that man's problem isn't that he needs a good environment. Because he sinned in a perfect environment after the flood. You think about the flood. You had people who saw the chaos this world was in, the absolute mess this world was in. You then had God graciously give them a second chance. Could y'all imagine?
Man, have you ever thought how wonderful it would be? I I I've thought this in my mind. You know, if we could just take, with all this political division, if we could just take all the liberals. and just scoot them over and let them choose whatever states they wanted and move them over there and then put a fence up. And then take the conservative, God-fearing people and put them all in in another part of the nation and say, now you do your thing, and we're going to do our thing, and we're not going to have anything to do with each other. And then just have a utopia of nice, God-fearing political, you know, it would never work. That's right. It would never work. You had eight believers come off that ark. They got a second chance at beginning in a brand new world.
Starting all over again to do it right. And boy, did they mess things up. They still crucified Jesus when he came. They didn't take them long at all. You had the Tire of Babel raised up. You had false worship. It didn't take long at all. But after the flood, man was tested to see if he would obey God, if he had the ability to start all over again, if he was given a merciful Second chance, knowing what he knew about what had already happened to Adam and Eve. And by that we learned That man's problem isn't that he needs a second chance in first hand knowledge.
That's not it. When Jesus came the first time, man was tested again. He was tested to see if if if he would serve God, if God were to physically appear on earth. How many times have we ever heard someone say, well, now if God would just come down, I'd believe him. He did. And they put him on a cross. But if God would physically appear as a man, perform miracles before people's eyes, fulfill prophecies written about him, and and and uh They still didn't serve God, and that proved that man's problem is not, that he just needs evidence to believe. That's not man's problem either.
And listen, when Jesus comes again, there's going to be another test. Okay?
How many of y'all believe
I know the answer, but I'm gonna ask it anyway, because it it hits our hearts being political seasoned. It hits our hearts.
You know, uh J. D. Vance came to Tyler the other day. I think J. D. 's a fine man. But I wouldn't take my children to go to one of his campaign speeches because he's a potty mouth. I wouldn't I wouldn't have it on and listen to him curse and brag about cursing. We got make America great again, make America healthy again, maha.
We got make cursing great again too That was help brought in by this administration. And so how many of y'all ever just feel like you're having to choose between the lesser two evils when you vote? Look at that. Wouldn't it be wonderful? Because I don't know anybody. I mean, if if you look, I voted for Donald Trump twice. And I tell you, I think he's the finest president of my lifetime. My lifetime. But let me say this.
If you can look at everything he does and everything he says and every decision he makes and agree with all of that, there's something wrong with you.
The fact remains, it doesn't matter if you got George Washington. I don't care Abraham Lincoln, let me tell you, man, you can take any one of our founding fathers, any one of the early presidents that we tend to enshrine, you're going to find all kinds of dirt on them. You will, because they're people. I believe that's why the Bible gives us all the dirty details about King David, a man after God's own heart. Still messing up as bad as he did. About King Solomon, the wisest man on earth, still messing up as bad as he did.
Could you imagine having a candidate that was perfect? A candidate that was sinless. A candidate that every decision he made was right. A candidate that cared about the people he led. So much that he would even give his life for them. And did. Could you imagine having a perfect candidate that you could dig and dig and dig and you couldn't find any material to make a political commercial about and try to jab him?
This world has never known a perfect political leader, a perfect ruler. Most rulers, when they have power, they abuse it. The world has never known it, but it will. When Jesus comes, this world's going to be tested again. It's going to be tested to see, will man Serve God? Will man behave? Can man thrive? Can man finally succeed as a race
If it has perfect leadership, is that what man needs?
And the answer is no. It's not what man needs. All we need the leadership. But let me tell you, when Jesus comes again It's going to be proven that man's problem is not that he needs a perfect government Man doesn't need a better environment. Man doesn't need a second chance. Man doesn't need more evidence. Man doesn't need a better government. What man needs is a savior.
That's what man needs. You cannot lead, mold, empower Educate or in any other way revive mankind outside a new birth. Outside the death, resurrection of Jesus Christ Well, Pastor, maybe all man needs is a is a good leader who can unite the people. You ever hear people say, well, we're going to unite the people? Man, we hear it all the time in politics. Well, that theory will be tested when Jesus comes again, too.
And I want you to listen to what's going to happen. Revelation chapter 20, verses 1 through 3. Revelation chapter 20, verses 1 through 3. And I saw an angel come down from heaven having the key of the bottomless pit in a great chain in his hand. Now we'd call these shackles or handcuffs in law enforcement. He's got a big thick one. And he laid hold on the dragon. What dragon? That old serpent which is the devil in Satan. In other words, the one who was back in the Garden of Eden, who started all the trouble tempting Adam in the first place And who's been tempting man ever since?
An angel comes down, lays hold, or that is, he physically arrests or spiritually arrests since the devil's a spirit, but he he he actually places the devil into custody and he says and bound him, that is, locked him up in prison, if you would. How long? A thousand years. Now that's a season, isn't it? That's a number amount of time, isn't it? a thousand years, and cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, that is locked the door, and set a seal upon him, that Say that say these words with me, that he should deceive the nations no more. Stop. And I think that's how people envision everything going down.
The devil gets put in the in the bottomless pit, and we're like, yes, finally the devil is in the bottomless pit. Finally, he'll deceive the nations no more. But pay close attention because John went on. John said he will deceive the nations. nations no more till see it till till how long the thousand years should be fulfilled And after that he must be loosed a little what? Season. So we're gonna have Jesus Christ, a perfect ruler, ruling this world for 1,000 years. I'm looking forward to it.
I mean, I'm really looking forward to it. No voting. He's just gonna come back, take what's rightfully his, and he's going to rule and reign for a thousand years. The devil's gonna be locked up in this prison called a bottomless pit, and it's just gonna be a wonderful time. But a thousand years later, the Lord's going to let him back out again. And see what the world will do. If after having a perfect leader, if after having God Himself as their king in the person of Jesus Christ, see what this world's going to do. And if you think the political unrest is hard now in this world, if you think the world gets mad because of Charlie Kirk. You think the world gets mad because of the church preaching against abortion or transgenderism?
You just wait until Jesus rules the world. Just wait until the world gets a taste of a perfect, holy, Christian leader. Just wait until they find out what Jesus really believes. They're always trying to tell us what Jesus believes. Have you noticed that? Well now Jesus said don't judge. Well now Jesus like Talerico said, I believe if Jesus was here he'd say blessed be the transgender children. He's going to find out.
That's not what Jesus would say. This world's going to find out. That is not how Jesus is going to rule. They're going to find out what he really believes, what he would really say, what would What Jesus would really do if he's here, cause he's coming. And the world's going to get a good taste of exactly that. Can you imagine what people today would do if Jesus was ruling America? If not Donald Trump, but if Jesus Christ was in America not ruling according to the Constitution and some judges trying to manipulate it to make it say what they want it to say. But Jesus Christ ruling according to God's word, to God's perfect Plan for man.
And I'm not talking about in some kind of sacrificial system and all that. I'm talking about his perfect plan for man, as it should have been in the beginning. Can you imagine What this world would do. You know, they're always having these protests, no kings protest. They're going to get a king. Jesus is coming back. He's going to rule as a king exactly according to God's word. For believers, it's going to be the greatest day that's ever happened on earth. But for the rebellious, for the God-denying, for the Bible-hating people in this world, they're going to be furious.
They're going to hate it. And they may conform for a while during that thousand years time. They may all act good and right, and they may bow the knee to Jesus, and we may have a wonderful, wonderful time during that thousand years throughout life. all of these uh um uh nations. But what we're gonna have to understand is after that thousand years are finished, that devil's gonna be loosed right back out of that bottomless pit again. And when he is He's going to go around tempting people to rebel against God just as he did Adam and Eve He's going to be tempting people to rebel against the kingdom of God just like he tempted those angels in heaven to rebel against God's kingdom there. So just wait. This is going to take place.
And like I said, they may conform for a while, but when when uh uh after Jesus reigns a thousand years And after having a perfect leadership in this world, we're going to find out if the world will still rebel against God after having perfect leadership. And if they'll still try to choose a different leader, what do you think they're going to do? They're still going to rebel against God they're still going to try to choose a different leader. They're going to seek to reject Jesus and to overthrow his kingdom. Again. Revelation chapter 20, verses 7 through 9. Revelation chapter 20, verses 7 through 9. And when the thousand years are expired That is, after that thousand years of him being in that prison, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison And shall go out to deceive what?
The nations, plural, to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth. Now That should bring something to our mind about when we first started looking at this vision of Daniel's. We we saw uh the the four winds driving upon the
So that they were striving upon it. And so what do we see here? The devil's going back. to the four corners of the earth where that beast, or those beasts in the beginning, rose up out of the sea, right? And it says here which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to do what? To battle. to battle the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. That means this isn't going to be just a little A little schism in the earth.
This is going to be a huge number of people who are going to openly revolt against the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.
They'll hate him. They'd be like the sand of the sea in multitude. Verse 9 says, and they went up on the breadth of the earth and compass the camp of the saints about. They're going to try to come against the Christians again. Isn't that something? And the beloved city. That's Israel. And what's going to happen? And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them.
Devoured them. The nations that are in the four quarters of the earth are referred to here as Gog and Magog. That's real confusing to people It's obscure. Uh i i no matter who you are, studying the scriptures, uh people have all kinds of different opinions on who Gog and Magog is. I don't think that's up to us to try to pinpoint who Gog and Magog is, but here's what I I will tell you. From what I can tell in Scripture, this is referring back to a prophecy in the book of Ezekiel, chapter 38, where God said he would destroy a prince called Gog. who was the ruler of Magog when he came with many armies against Israel, especially one that was north of Israel. And so there are many views on who this may be.
I'll tell you who it's going to be
And this is what's important for us to believe. I believe that Gog, we can tell here when we're looking here in the book of the Revelation. I believe personally that Gog and Magog were real people that existed in a real time in the past, and prophetically God spoke to a nation that was to prophesy about a nation that will be. Make sense? He does it over and over in the Old Testament. And I believe what's important for us to understand is that Gog represents the anti-Christian demonic leader, represents the devil, represents Satan, and Magog represents the forces that will follow him. Make sense?
And at this time and season after the thousand year reign of Christ on earth, when Satan tries one final attempt to destroy God's people. And turn the world against Christ. Fire is going to come down from God out of heaven and devour them. In that, Christian, I believe, is finally the beginning of the end. Finally, when it's all said and done, there'll be a new heaven, a new earth. And we will live together in peace with God when our enemy is destroyed. And not put in prison for a season, but forever. And we'll stop there and Lord willing take back up next week I'm looking forward to all of that. I'm not looking forward to the turmoil.
But I'm looking forward to God being glorified in his victory over this world and God's truth. Being seen in everybody's eyes. That He has spoken truth That he is right. And it's been man and the devil that's been wrong from the very beginning. Father, we thank you so much for your precious word. We thank you, dear Lord God. That you have told us about the bumps in the road. But Father, you've promised victory in the end. You've told us about the tests that we have already experienced.
The test that shall come. The test that Father we or our sons and daughters, Father, and grandchildren, Father, will experience. That the offspring of believers, Father, will have to endure. But Father, the absolute, certain, and eternal victory and glory that will follow We thank you, Lord, for this in Jesus' precious name that we could not have victory without a battle And thank you for the victory, and we'll wait on the battle in Jesus' name. Amen
