The End of the Age

Well, if you have your Bibles with you, open them to Daniel chapter twelve, Daniel chapter twelve, and you'll be relieved to know that Daniel chapter twelve is only a fraction as long as Daniel chapter eleven. Amen, Hallelujah, Praise the Lord, Daniel chapter twelve. And as you find Daniel chapter twelve, we will read this chapter. And I think we say this every time we come to the end of a book. We always say, how sad we are to see a book come to a close when we have preached all the way through a book. But I have to admit, dealing with the second half of Daniel, I'm sad to see Daniel go, but there'll be a little relief not having to work through some of the most difficult passages in the entire Bible. And exception to that rule, Daniel chapter twelve is another one of those places. It's very difficult, but I am also encouraged because you know, we read through Daniel, and we wade through Daniel, and we find all these passages that are so difficult, and every once in a while when we're beginning to feel like maybe we lacked intellectual acumen or maybe you know, we just lack spiritual maturity or whatever. There are these moments, and there's one here in Daniel chapter twelve where he goes, I don't get it, and I go, thank you, Lord. I just needed to hear that from Daniel right now that he's writing these things and he didn't get it because I don't get it. Amen, we're not. Alone, but we will understand it better by and by, to quote the hymn writer, Daniel chapter twelve, let's read this together. And as we read it together, note that we have two main paragraphs here in Daniel chapter twelve, and they're almost symmetrical, not not quite exactly symmetrical, but you see the same pattern going on in the first half and the second half. You see then angelic being, and you see a reference to the tribulation coming to God's people. You see a reference to God's people being identified and separate from those who are wicked. You also see the sealing up of this vision, and so on and so forth. You see it twice here in Daniel chapter twelve. And you'll notice that as we go from verses one through four to verses five through the end of the chapter, it reads at that time, and remember we've gone from talking about Antiochus fourth to talking about the. End of the age. And now we read at that time shall arise Michael, the great Prince, who has charge of your people, And there shall be a time of trouble such as never has been since there was a nation till that time. But at that time your people shall be delivered everyone whose name shall be found written in the book, And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some who everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above, and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever. But you, Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book. Until the time of the end. Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase. Now next paragraph, notice some of the same elements. Then I, Daniel looked, and behold two others stood, one on this bank of the stream and one on that bank of the stream. And someone said to the man clothed in linen, often a reference to angels. There who was above the waters of the stream. So we know that this is an angelic being. How long shall it be till the end of these wonders. And I heard the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the stream. He raised his right hand and his left hand toward heaven, and swore by him who lives forever, that it would be for a time times and half a time, and that when the shattering of the power of the Holy People comes to an end, all these things would be finished. I heard, but I did not understand. Then I said, oh, my Lord, what shall be the outcome of these things? He said, go your way, Daniel, For the words are shut up and sealed until the time of the end. Many shall purify themselves and make themselves white and be refined. But the wicked shall act wickedly, and none of the wicked shall understand. But those who are wise shall understand. And from the time that the regular burnt offerings is taken away and the abomination that makes desolate is set up, there shall be one two hundred and ninety days. Blessed is he who waits and arrives at the one thousand, three hundred and thirty five days. But go your way to the end, and you shall rest, and shall stand in your allotted place at the end of the days. Amen, beautiful way to end the book of Daniel. And there are a number of things here again, elements that you find in the first half and in the second half that are parallel to one another. And what I want you to do is I want you to see these elements. But I also want you to think about presuppositions that we have about the end of the age, because I believe that Daniel chapter twelve turns some of those presuppositions on their head. There are things that we just presume to be true, things that we've been told again and again and again and again and again, things that have been written in books that have been popularized, that we just absolutely do not question that we ought to question, and I believe Daniel chapter twelve helps us to question that. One thing that we see is we see the encouraging presence of angelic beings. We see that in verse one, and also in verses five and six. Look again with me in verse one time, shall arise, Michael, the great Prince. Who has charge of your people. Angels are, according to your Hebrews one fourteen, ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation. Angels and angelic beings are those sent out to. Serve God's people, to keep watch over God's. People, if you will, this is encouraging when you see the angelic beings there also in verse five and six, this is encouraging to us. It is an encouragement to us. Now, just like anything else, there's a ditch on both sides of the road. There's a ditch on one side when we pretend like there is no spiritual realm, when we pretend like there is actually no angelic aid for the people of God. And the ditch there, of course, is that we're ignoring the clear teaching of scripture. The Bible teaches very clearly that angels exist and that angels are ministering spirits, and that they are ministering on behalf of God's elect on behalf of God's people. So we need to understand that and believe that the ditch on the other side of the road is that everything becomes angelic. Amen, somebody, you know what we wrestle with. For example, we were at the same thing happens when we talk about demonic which are fallen angels. There's the world the flesh and the devil. How many if you know that most of what you deal with is the world. And the flesh. Amen, Devil ain't worried about you. You're absolutely not that important. And you're so wicked that you know you don't even need his help. You can't even deal with the world and the flesh, and you're worried about the devil all over the place. Amen. So most of the time what we're dealing with is the world and the flesh, and not you know, these demonic spirits directly acting upon you or against you. And the same thing occurs when you talk about the spiritual realm and the angels and the way that angels operate. It is not that we are somehow walking around in this bubble of angels and that everything that we do is sort of being, you know, handled by them, if you will. It's not the way the world works. But God in his providence has provided angels as ministry experience who serve and intervene on behalf of his people. The second thing is the angels are frequently mentioned in passages about the general. Resurrection on the last Day. We see that here by the way, clearly at that time shall arise Michael, the great Prince, who has charge of your people. And there shall be a time of trouble such as never has been since there was a nation till that time. But at that time your people shall be delivered everyone whose name shall be found written in the book and many verse two. Of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some who everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. It's interesting that you read about angelic beings here in the context of this passage Matthew, chapter sixteen, verse twenty seven. For example, for the son of Man is going to come with his angels and glory and the glory of his father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done. So Christ is going to return. He's going to return with his angels, and he's going to return at the end of the age to pay each person according to what he has done, or to judge the living and the dead according to what they have done. And so here we see judgment and angelic beings at the time of judgment Matthew, chapter twenty four and verse twenty four, verse thirty one. And isn't it just providential that. Just like God that today we're here in Daniel chapter twelve and our New Testament reading just you know, randomly is Matthew chapter twenty four. And he shall send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four wins, from the from one end of the heaven to the other. So here's a picture. Christ is coming with his angels. He's going to judge the living and the dead. But now we see a picture of the angels being active participants in calling up those believers. The angels call the side of the grave. The angels will swoop down and gather up God's people. That there is this spiritual supernatural activity that is going on. By the way, it has to be a spiritual supernatural activity going on for dead people to rise. Amen. Matthew twenty five thirty one. When a sun a man comes in his glory and all the angels with him, then he shall sit on his glorious throne, Mark chapter eight and verse thirty eight. For whoever is. Ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation of him, will the son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the Holy Angels. Again and again and again we see this reality. So we know angelic beings are ministering spirits, but nowhere are they more active than at the end of the age. It is as though the end of the age comes. And we'll talk about this momentarily, but in a moment we're going to see this sort of heightening tension that comes at the end of the age. And as there's this heightening tension, there is a heightening persecution. But as there is heightening tension and heightening persecution and we get close to the end of the age, it is as though God is amassing his troops and the angels are making ready, and they're standing at their ready waiting for the trumpet call that they might descend with Christ to do battle on his behalf and awaken his elect call them to his presence and inaugurate the end of the age. When you like to see, says, will be demel get a hold of that. I just fear sometimes that our faith is not supernatural enough. I just fear sometimes that we get so caught up in the mundane and the day to day that we begin to think that we only serve a God who deals with spring toes and headaches and grandma's you know, trip to the doctor, and you know, these things that we sort of become accustomed to praying about and bringing before the Throne of Grace, which are so petty and so small in the grand scheme of things. Now, I know, when you get ready to go see the doctor, it's not small to you. But if you put it into the perspective of the God whom you serve, whose forces will be amassed on that day, it changes things. When you recognize that these beings stand ready for service to God. You recognize that whatever it is that you're dealing with or wrestling with, it's not going to overwhelm the God whom we serve. Amen. Beyond this, we also see the angels here are not just coming for ethnic Jews at the end of the age, but for all God's people. Notice this and watch the transition. At that time, shall arise Michael, the Great Prince, who has charge over your people. Now immediately we hear that he's speaking to Daniel, Daniel's Jew who's in exile in Babylon. Right, So Michael has charge over your people. And we think the Jews in Babylon, and there shall be a time of trouble such as never has been since there was a nation till that time. What nation? I guess we're talking about the nation of the Jews. Okay, But at that time your people shall be delivered. Watch this, everyone whose names shall be found written in the book is that every ethnic Jew. Absolutely not. So now your people doesn't refer to every ethnic Jew. And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life and some to shame and everlasting contempt. What's being referred to here? Who are your people? Your people are the people of God. Daniel's people are the people of God. There are some people who are ethnic Jews with him in Babylon who are less His people than you and I are. If we're in Christ. Let me say that again. Here's Daniel in Babylon in captivity with other ethnic Jews, and there are some of those about whom this statement is true. You and I, who are not ethnic Jews, are more His people than those who were with him in Babylon at that time. Why because if they were not God's by faith, if they did not belong to God by faith, they weren't really Daniel's people at all. But you and I, who belong to him by faith, are Daniel's people. And so Michael is not just in this picture. When you read it and flesh it out. There is this coming for the people of God. This is not just coming for Israel. Yeah, it's coming for the Israel of God, the Church of Jesus Christ. Amen. But this is not just about one particular ethnic and geopolitical people group. But is this what we read in Romans chapter nine, verses sixteen to thirteen. But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring. But through Isaac shall your offspring be named. This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the Promise. According to the Promise, are counted as offspring. The children of the Promise are counted as offspring. The others are not counted as offspring. Who belongs to God who are God's people? Those by faith are God's people. Notice the difference between the people who belong to God and the people who don't is whether or not they are wise. Now that reference to wisdom doesn't mean if you're really smart, you belong to God, and if you're not, you don't belong to God. But those who are wise are those who are made wise. They come to knowledge, they come to understanding. They are given this knowledge and this understanding. We see this later. Look with me, for example, in verse ten, many shall purify themselves and make themselves white and be refined. We know that's a picture of salvation. We've been seeing that in Revelation. Those who clothe themselves in white robes the ones who are made righteous by the lamb. But the wicked shall act wickedly, and none of the wicked shall understand. But those who are wise shall understand those who are wicked. So wisdom here is the opposite of wickedness. He's not here talking about intelligence. He's talking about those who understand, by the grace of God, those who come to this truth. You are not saved because you are smarter than other people. Amen, smarter people than you will go to hell. First of all, there are smarter people than you. I should probably start there. For some of you. You need me to take that step. Okay, there are smarter people than you, and there are smarter people than you who will end up in hell. Coming to faith in Jesus Christ. He's not about your intellect. It is about the grace of God. And on that last day it will not be about those merely who were intelligent. Another great Passages, Ephesians two eleven to twenty two. I'll leave you to read that one. In addition to this encouraging presence of angelic beings, we also have the discouraging reality of persecution. We see that in in verse one, and also in verse seven. Look at verse one again. At that time shall rise Michael, the great Prince, who was in charge of his people, and there shall be a time of trouble such as never has been since there was a nation till that time. Go down with me in verse seven, and look in verse seven. And I heard the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters and the streams. He raised his right hand in his left hand toward Heaven and swore by him who lives forever, that it would be for time times and half a time, And that when. Listen to this, the shattering of the power of the Holy People comes to an. End, the shattering of the power of the Holy People. He said it again and again and again and in multiple ways, that at the end of the age there would be great persecution of the people of God. At the end of the age. Let me tell you this, brothers and sisters, the Church will not escape tribulation. The Church has not escaped tribulation. The Church is in the midst of tribulation. And again this flies in the face of what we hear so often. We have all just been inundated with dispensational pre millennialism, and all of us, I mean, we're just washed in it and bathed in it. I'll never forget my first interview that I had to interview for a church position was a young seminary and I was going through this interview for a church position, and I was actually asked, you know, if I believed in a pre tribulation rapture, And everybody in the room knew that if I said, I did not believe in a pre tribulation rapture, and at that time I did because I didn't know that there was anybody who was a real Christian who didn't believe in a pre tribulation, rapture of the Church. And so I'm like, yeah, yeah, Church, through tribulation, Man, we're gonna be out of here. We're gonna be raptured. We're gone. Of course I believe in that. I guess I didn't pay attention to Daniel Chapter twelve. Watch this. Look at what he says. And there shall be a time of trouble such as never has been since there was a nation till that time. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone whose name shall be found written in the Book of the Life, written in the Book of Life. And then we have the general resurrection after this tremendous persecution. Here's the other thing it's going on now. The only thing we find at the end of the age is just that it has continued to intensify. There is no secret rapture of the Church before the Great Tribulation. It's just not there. There are no multiple raptures. It's just not there. The calling up of the dead at the end of the age is just that. It's the end of the age. It's one event. One fell swoop bam, Christ comes and it's over. Give me a break. Jesus is going to return for a thousand years, and there's gonna be a new temple where there are sacrifices being made to him while he's ruling on the earth, and he's going to allow that blasphemy to go on. Help you if you believe that that's blasphemy. Here's Jesus, who is the Lamb of God, who was slain for the sins of the people of God. And you're gonna put a lamb or a goat on an altar and kill that lamb or that goat while the Lamb of God is ruling and ringing. No, absolutely not. And that is all presuppositional, all of it, every last bit of it. It's not what the scriptures clearly teach. But the good news is that God preserves his people in the midst of it. There's also this picture of the inevitability of the general resurrection and the Judgment Verses two, ten and thirteen. We already looked at verse two. Look at it again. Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting contempt. Notice this, okay, Because the secret rapture, the secret pre trip rapture, is Basically, what that's supposed to mean is that God's people are going to be raptured and they're gonna be taken out of here secretly, okay. And. Everybody else is going to be looking around, going, you know what happened to them? Here's a general resurrection that happens at the end of the age for everybody. Look at verse ten. Many should purify themselves and make themselves white and be refined. But the wicked shall act wickedly. Verse thirteen. Go your way to the end and you shall rest. I believe that's a reference to the fact that Tenure is going to die and shall stand in your allotted place at the end of the days. That's a reference to him being resurrected. But when at the end of the days, at the end, at the end, at the end, at the end, at the end Hebrews nine in verse twenty seven, verse twenty six through tween, just as it is appointed demand to die once and after that comes to judgment. So Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him. But he appears a second time, not a second and a third says he appears a second time again. Look at that again. Every man will die and then he will face the judgment. And then right after that, Christ is going to appear a second time for what for the judgment? Not for a secret rapture for the judgment. Listen to this one of the passages that is often used to refer to this idea of a secret rapture of the church, one Thessalonians four thirteen through eighteen. I'm going to read, but we do. Not want you to be uninformed, brothers about those By the way, I heard this passage preached not long ago, and the pastor took this. This was his text, and he was preaching the whole idea of you know, dispensation of premillennialism and the secret rapture of the church, and you know, and then you know, all this sort of stuff. This was This was his, This was his text. But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers about those who are asleep. That you may not grieve as others who have no hope for since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, who are left until the coming of the Lord, who are left until the coming of the Lord, this is when he comes at the end of the age, will not proceed those who have fallen asleep, For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel. Does that sound like a secret and with the sound of the trumpet of God? And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore, encourage one another with these words. Where do you get a secret rapture from that passage of scripture? It's not there. That's the end of the age. One fell swoop one event. We also see a clear call to proclaim the truth until he comes. Notice what we find back in verses three and four. Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above, and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever. Those who turn many to righteousness will shine like the stars forever and ever. The same thing we see again at the second half, especially there in verse ten that we've read a couple of times. The idea there is that in the midst of all of this there is this promise of God's angelic protection of his people. There's also this promise that there's going to be this persecution. But you see in the midst of this that there is going to be this resurrection at the end of the age, but also that between now and then that the people of God will be called forth under righteousness, and that there are those among the people of God who will be especially marked out as those who call forth others to righteousness. This sounds very familiar, doesn't it It ought to Romans ten, verses fourteen to seventeen. How then will they call on him whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in Him whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written? How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news? They have not all obeyed the Gospel. For Isaiah says, Lord who has believed what he has heard from us, So faith comes from hearing and hearing through the Word of Christ. What's being referenced here in Daniel is the same thing that God's people are going to be called forth from now and to the end of the age. How are God's. People going to be called forth from now to the end of the age by the faithful proclamation of the Gospel, by the way, not by scaring them with you know, the idea of the second Coming. Amen. People aren't scared into the Kingdom of God. That's not the gospel. Paul says, I'm not ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, because it is the power of God unto salvation. It's the gospel. This picture of the Second Coming, quite frankly, is of much more use for those of us who know God than it is for those who don't. Yes, we warn them, but we warn them because of their sin, that God will judge them, not warn them about the second Coming. Folks, chances are you're not gonna make it to the Second Coming. I've said it before, I'll say it again. Last time I checked, the death rate was one per person. I didn't look today, I promise, But if I did look, I doubt that it would have changed. More than likely. You're going to die here. You are sitting up worried about the second Coming of Jesus, when just before you you could die, before you get your neck all the way fixed to look up for him to come again. What do you do? Then? It's not the second Coming but the Gospel. Amen. The second Coming is a picture that encourages us. It encourages us in the midst of tribulation. And I guarantee you, folks, we are in the midst of tribulation. Be ready before let me read it again in Revelation chapter one, verse nine, I John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus was on the island called Patmas on account of the word of God, John says. And Revelation chapter one. By the way, the idea is that the great tribulation happens beginning of Revelation chapter six. Okay, through three you have the church age, and then chapters four and five the church has already been raptured up, and we're in heaven and then in chapter six we're looking at the great tribulation that's going on on the earth while the church has already been raptured up. We'll get back to that in a couple of weeks, but let me just say for now, we don't buy that that chapter six on and Revelation has nothing to do with you and I in the here and now. Don't buy that for a minute. Chapter six on in Revelation has everything to do with you and me in the here and the now. Amen. John says he's our partner in the tribulation. We are in the midst of tribulation even now, and God has a word for us in the midst of tribulation. Two words for us. Number one, it's going to get worse before it gets better. And number two, it won't last indefinitely. How long is it gonna last? This angel says A time times and half a time, a time, one times, three and a half, a time three and a half. How long is it gonna last? Three and a half three and a half? What? No, you missed the point. It's going to last three and a half, three and a half. What you missed the point? Yeah, but you can't just have three and a half. It's gotta be three and a half of something. No, it doesn't have to be three and a half of something, of course it does. You can't just have like three and a half three and a half what three and a half days, three and a half hours, three and a half years, three and a half millennia, three and a half what, Ah, dear friend, remember our time. In revelation, there are numbers that are extremely important. One of the most important numbers is the number seven. The number seven is the number of completion, completion. The number three and a half is a broken seven, which means prior to completion, prior to the completion of what Look with me again. Verse seven. I heard the man clothed and lenen, who was above the waters of the stream. He raised his right hand and his left hand toward Heaven and swore by him who lives forever, that it would be for a time times and half a time, and that when the shattering of the power of the Holy People comes to an end, all these things would be finished, the shattering of the power of the Holy People three and a half. If it's a seven, you have the complete shattering of the power of the Holy People. And they're done. Three and a half is a broken seven. God stops it before his people are wiped out. That's what a time times and half a time means. That shattering is not seen through to its completion. God halts it. How does he halt it? He amasses his armies, and the Son of God himself rides in as the general of his armies. And before the shattering of the power of the people of God can be complete, Christ come and makes an end to those who are attempting to make an end of us. That's what it means. There is this intensification, there is this gathering and growing, but God will not leave us utterly for a second. Finally we see the certainty that these things will come to pass. In verses four and verse nine, he's told to seal up these things, seal up this vision. Now, to seal it up. What does that mean, Well, seal this up. Daniel closed this up so other people won't see it. Well, we see in the first half, end of the second half that knowledge is going to increase. People's understanding is going to increase. So he's not telling Daniel not to do it. By the way, we have the Book of Daniel, So seal it up doesn't mean Daniel, I'm telling you this stuff, but I don't want you to tell anybody, so don't write it because he wrote it. Amen. So it doesn't mean that seal up these things? Does it mean? Daniel? Here's the deal. You get these things and they're clear, but I want you to obscure them so that other people. Don't get them. It can't mean that. Why because Daniel went, I don't understand, Amen, So we know that. It can't mean that. Seal it up. It can't mean that. What does it mean? Well, remember when we read about that broken seal over in Revelation, and there is a picture of the document being sealed up, which is about the unleashing of the judgment of God, but also the idea of a will that is sealed and it's broken when it's time for you to receive your full inheritance. By the way, there could be copies of it out there that are unofficial copies, so that you can know what's in the will. But you don't get what's in the will until the finality of the event and the breaking of the seal on the original seal it up, Daniel, it's going to come to pass. My judgment will be poured out on the wicked, and my people will have their full inheritance. But not right now. Daniel can't understand this, because Daniel just thinks we're talking about getting back. We're talking about getting back to the Holy land. That's what he's thinking. There's this land of promise. We're gonna get back to that land of promise, and that's gonna. Be the deal. That's gonna be it right there. No, Daniel, you have no idea. That's not the breaking of the seal, because that land right there is just a picture of the idea of the land of promise for the people of God, and this people right here is just the picture of the actual people of God. You don't get the reality, Daniel. You can't comprehend the reality, Daniel. But it will be made clear, and the judgment and the promise will be manifested in its entirety. Then we get this last part here, verse eleven, out of nowhere, and from the time that the regular burnt offerings is taken away and the abomination that makes desolate is set up, there shall be one thousand, two hundred and ninety days blessed is he who waits and arrives at the one thousand, three hundred and thirty five days. Huh. Well, we know that we see that number one thy two hundred and sixty days, which is right at three and a half years. There is the solar rendering of time that they had, which was three hundred and sixty four days, and the lunar rendering of time that they had, which made a year three hundred and fifty four days their solar lunar sort of rendering that made it right at three hundred and sixty days and three hundred and sixty days. You're right there, smack dab in a mind to elect twelve hundred and sixty days. But this goes beyond any of those to one thy two hundred and ninety days. So it's a little beyond the three and a half years. And then there's another number which is forty five days later. Several possibilities. One is that we turn back and we talked about Antiochus again, because we know that the work of Antiochus against the people of God lasted right about three and a half years. And then it was a little over a. Month later after God's people were delivered from Antiochus. It's only about a month and a half later that he dies, but this is pointing forward, I believe even beyond that. I believe this is one of those prophecies that has multiple fulfillments. We see this an Antiochus. Yeah, we see this in Antichus. But Jesus in Matthew chapter twenty four, refers back to this officey again talking about the end of the age. I believe we saw this in eight seventy as well, with the destruction of the temple. I believe he saw that. But it also points to the same ultimate reality. What's that ultimate reality? The ultimate reality is this that there are those who oppress the people of God, sometimes manifest in individuals who do so in a very public way. But even that, it's cut short because there is no man who can oppress the people of God, and ultimately he will meet his end. And I love it because in the very next verse we get the so what, because we're left with that verse right there, you know, verses eleven and twelve, scratching our. Heads, going what is that? Who is that? Could be? This? Could be that? Probably a combination of this and that and something else. Okay, So what do we do with that verse thirteen, Go your way to the end, you shall rest and shall stand in your allotted place at the end of the days. That's not just for Daniel, that's for you and me. What do I do with this? Go your way to the end, do what God's called you to do, Be what God's called you to be, and then you're gonna rest. You're gonna die, but that's okay because even death won't stop you from standing in your allotted place at the end of the age. Where's your allotted place with Christ? So what's the twelve ninety and at thirteen thirty five? Whatever it is, it's somebody who meets their end, and they don't get to stand where I stand. They'll stand for a while, But their standing and my standing are two entirely different standings. Because I stand with the King of kings and the Lord of lords. I stand with Christ himself. I don't know what you are going to be called to endure, but I do know this. In this life you shall have trouble. I know that all those who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus shall be persecuted. And I know that whether you and I are alive at the end of the age, when these things have intensified, or whether we die a thousand years ahead of that. We are going to experience trials, tribulation, persecution, heartache, and difficulty. We are going to see men who mock God, who terrorize the people of God. And we're going to ask ourselves when we see this, God, how long are you going to allow this man to do what he's doing and say what he's saying before you do something about it. And when you get to that place, and just before you kind of lose yourself and shake your fist at God, remember what he says to Daniel, I'm in control. I'll deal with that. You just go your way until the end, and then you just rest. Angels call you, and then you'll stand in your allotted place because of Christ who died in your allotted place. And trust me, there will be no one at that time making a mockery of God or his people. Let's pray