The God of History

Well, good evening, everyone.

Glad that we can be here together.

It's great to be back.

We were not able to be here last week.

My wife and I were in Indianapolis.

She had a film screening in the Heartland Film Festival,

and we had a great time.

We saw a lot of great films that were almost as good as her film.

Really amazing experience to be around so many people

who are doing great work, but happy to be back here.

And for this day that we call All Saints Day.

As we get started, I want to start this way.

Scientists are and have long been concerned with a question

of consciousness and perception.

They've long been concerned with the question of whether or not

we're able to perceive reality accurately.

In other words, using our five senses,

can we see things as they really are?

And this is picking up steam in the scientific community,

particularly among cognitive scientists

and theoretical biologists.

There's a man named Donald Hoffman,

who's professor of cognitive science

at the University of California, Irvine.

And here's what he says.

The world presented to us by our perceptions

is nothing like reality.

What we see is a magnificent illusion

that maximizes evolutionary fitness

by driving truth to extinction.

That's an interesting thing to assert.

In other words, he's saying,

we don't necessarily see things as they are.

We see things in ways that are most beneficial to us

at the expense of truth and literal accuracy.

So this question is very important.

Do we live all of our lives only seeing what we want to see,

what we need to see,

what is most beneficial to see?

Or is it ever possible to actually cut through

that magnificent illusion

and to see things as they actually are?

And scripture is also very concerned with that question.

In particular, there's a genre in the Bible

that is very concerned with this question

of perception versus reality,

and it's called apocalyptic literature.

Now, I know that you began looking at this last week with Dan,

and many people, when they hear the word apocalyptic,

think of great end times battles between good and evil

and buildings crashing down and fire and brimstone

and all that stuff.

Well, the word apocalyptic really just literally means unveiling.

It means revealing.

And the function of apocalyptic literature is to reveal,

it's to unveil reality.

It cuts through the illusion.

It cuts through our perceived reality

and illuminates the spiritual reality underneath.

And so we're going to be looking at the book of Daniel

as we've been doing for a number of weeks.

It just so happens in our series,

this week we just happened to come to Daniel chapter 8,

Daniel 8 · chapter mention

and this passage today is one great example of apocalyptic writing.

God gives the prophet Daniel a vision,

and then the vision does two things.

It describes a number of historical events,

and then it cuts through that layer,

and it shows us an underlying spiritual reality.

And so we're going to look at this chapter together,

and even though it's about things that happened a long time ago,

what I hope you'll see is that we can use the same approach today

to make sense of current reality.

Once you know the underlying story,

the underlying spiritual truth,

you can overlay events in any historical period

and use it as a means of interpreting the times.

And so this is what we're going to do.

So first we'll look at the events themselves

described in this vision,

and then we're going to look at the underlying spiritual reality

that is revealed.

So let's pray as we get started.

Our Heavenly Father,

we do thank you for this gathering of saints here, Lord.

We know that all who belong to you,

all who have put their faith in you,

are made saints,

and we thank you for this gathering.

We also thank you for all those who might be here

who are still seeking,

still searching,

still wondering if you're there,

and who you are,

and what it means to know you, Lord.

We thank you for all you have brought here tonight.

And we pray that by your wisdom and by your power,

you would speak to each one of us

as we need to hear you.

Meet us where we are,

as you promised to do,

because you love us.

And we ask this in your Son's name.

Amen.

So as we look at Daniel chapter 8,

Daniel 8 · chapter mention

I just want to say right off the bat,

this is a very bizarre, bizarre chapter.

There's lots of crazy stuff happening here.

There's goats and rams and multiple horns coming out of heads

and stars and planets getting pulled out of the sky.

It's a crazy sort of trippy thing going on here.

And so I want to give you a little context first,

in case you're unfamiliar with Daniel.

Daniel takes place in the 6th century BC.

That's when this story is happening.

And Daniel is an Israelite who is living in Babylon.

He's lived in Babylon his entire adult life.

And that's because Babylon,

the Babylonians,

sacked Judah and Jerusalem,

and they took the best and the brightest of Israel

into captivity.

So this is where Daniel has been.

He's been serving under a number of kings by this point.

And he's gotten famous because of his God-given ability

to interpret dreams and visions.

And what we realize here,

and what we began to see last week with chapter 7,

is not only is Daniel able to interpret

other people's dreams and visions,

but at some point Daniel began to have dreams and visions of his own.

And so God not only gives Daniel the vision,

but he also sends emissaries, messengers,

to explain the vision.

So that's what we're going to look at.

Now I want to say that the historical events

that are described in this vision

don't actually happen for another 200 years.

So we're moving from the 6th century

up to the 4th, 3rd, even 2nd century

as we're looking at what is described here.

And yet there's a surprising amount of historical accuracy.

So the first thing Daniel sees in this vision as it opens,

it says, you know,

Daniel ate one,

in the third year of the reign of King Belshazzar,

a vision appeared to me, Daniel.

And the first thing he sees in this vision is a ram.

And the ram has two horns,

one slightly longer than the other.

Interesting detail.

And this ram is very powerful.

It's able to do anything it wants.

It can go north or east or south or west.

It can do anything it wants,

and nobody can challenge this ram.

Very powerful, right?

So this ram is sort of hanging out in the vision,

and then Daniel looks,

and all of a sudden, out of nowhere,

a goat appears.

And so, you know,

right now things are starting to get strange.

So how do we begin to understand this?

Well, it's interesting.

History tells us that,

and later in the interpretation,

we find out that the ram actually represents

the Medo-Persian Empire.

And you say, well, why a ram?

Well, it actually turns out that a ram

is a good symbol for the Medo-Persian Empire

because the Persians often had rams,

ram's heads, on their armor.

So this is what this symbol represents.

And then out of nowhere,

this male goat appears.

And the male goat just has one prominent horn

sticking out of his head,

so it's like a unicorn goat.

And the unicorn goat starts racing toward the ram,

and it's going so fast

that the feet aren't even touching the ground.

It's just flying over the land,

and it's coming at the ram,

and it, you know, takes the ram down.

And it says that the ram is utterly powerless

against this goat.

The goat totally crushes the ram.

So how do we make sense of that?

Well, a little later in the vision,

this is explained that the goat

actually represents Greece,

the Greek Empire.

And history tells us that Alexander the Great

rose to power at a very young age.

He unified Greece, right?

People said,

we're not going to follow this kid.

So he rose up, took his army,

slaughtered them all.

Said, anybody else have a problem with me?

Okay, good.

And then from that point on,

they were unified.

And then, like most 20-year-olds,

he said, you know, this isn't enough.

I want to conquer the whole world.

And so he sets out to conquer the whole world.

And in order to conquer the world,

he says, well, I have to take out

the Medo-Persian Empire.

Because they're the big threat.

So he gets his army,

and he goes after the Medo-Persian Empire.

And he crushes them.

Obliterates them.

Now, what's interesting in the vision

is that it says that right after the goat

is victorious,

at the height of his strength,

this prominent horn is broken.

What's going on there?

Well, we know from history

that after Alexander,

conquered the Medo-Persian Empire,

at the height of his strength,

at age 33,

he contracts malaria,

and he dies prematurely.

So after he dies,

pretty quickly his sons are killed off

because nobody wants them

ascending to the throne.

And then his four generals

divide up his kingdom.

And in the vision we see

in verse 8 and verse 22,

after this prominent horn is broken,

four smaller horns rise up

in the place of the one horn.

Four generals,

the kingdom is divided.

By the way,

why is Greece represented

by a goat?

Seems kind of random.

Well, history tells us

that as Alexander and his army

sailed toward the Medo-Persians

to attack them,

guess what was on the sail

of Alexander's ship?

It was a goat.

So we have this story

of the Medo-Persian Empire

falling,

Alexander conquering them,

but then Alexander himself

falling,

and his generals

dividing up his kingdom.

Then the vision skips over

about two centuries of history,

and the focus goes immediately

to one particular horn.

And by the way,

you should know by now

that horns represent

rulers or kings.

One particular horn

comes into view.

This is a new ruler.

And this ruler grows

out of one of the four horns

that replaced Alexander.

But this ruler is worse.

Scholars almost universally agree

that this horn represents

the 2nd century B.C. ruler,

Antiochus Epiphanes.

Now, Antiochus Epiphanes

started out small,

but he became very powerful.

He got big fast.

And he gained a lot of power.

It says in the text

that this ruler

is one who understands riddles.

And we know about

Antiochus Epiphanes

that he was a master

of political manipulation.

He was a crafty type of king.

He was exceptionally brutal,

exceptionally wicked.

He had an agenda

to eradicate all cultures

except for Greek culture.

You know,

the approach in the past

had been bring the cultures in.

Our culture will become richer

as these cultures

are integrated into our culture.

But he said,

no,

make the world Greek.

And so he began

the process of Hellenization.

And as a part of this,

he put an end

to the Jewish temple worship.

Put an end to it.

And when the Jews

tried to revolt,

tried to fight this,

he slaughtered them

by the thousands.

He sold just as many

into slavery.

So if you're a Jew

in this time

and you're looking

and you're looking

at what's happening,

you had to be baffled.

How is all of this happening?

Right?

You look back to the exile

and many of the Jews

who celebrated

being freed from the exile

were probably thinking,

well,

that was great

compared to this.

You know,

what's God doing?

This is a confusing,

violent,

upsetting vision.

It actually says

in verse 27

that the vision

makes Daniel sick.

Right?

For several days.

And it says

that even when

he got up

and started to be

about the king's business,

he continued to be

appalled by the vision.

And he was confused.

He didn't understand it.

Okay,

so how do you preach that?

Okay?

I've been trying

to figure that out

all week, right?

So what does this

have to say?

And I think that this

actually is the place

where it begins

to get relevant to us.

Because I think

as we look at the world

around us,

I think that we all

see all kinds of things

that are upsetting.

And we see all kinds of things

that are appalling.

You know,

you look at the election

that's happening in two days,

and I don't care what side

of the aisle you're on,

I think we're all

more or less appalled.

It's an appalling state

for our country to be in,

right?

I think as we look

beyond that,

we realize that as appalling

as that is,

there are things

that are a lot worse,

right?

If you look around the world,

even in our own country,

the ongoing racism

and violence

that divides our country,

right?

South Sudan,

the ongoing refugee crisis,

right?

The ongoing reality

of human trafficking

that's happening

all around the world

right under our noses.

All of these things

are appalling realities,

and I could list them

again and again and again.

And I think one thing

we need to see

is that like Daniel,

we are right to be appalled

by these things.

And if we begin

to get to the place

where we're no longer

appalled by them,

that's a problem.

We should be appalled.

We can't allow ourselves

to ever get so numb

that we lose

our sense of horror.

But I think the danger

lies in thinking

that this is all there is,

that things will never

get better,

that there is no hope,

and so the beautiful

thing about this vision

is that it not only

narrates historical events,

but it also,

as I said before,

lifts the veil.

It unveils them.

It points beneath them,

beneath the surface,

to a deeper story

that is unfolding.

So now I want to turn

our attention

past the story itself

and below it

into the unfolding

spiritual reality

that is anchored

by three certainties.

The underlying story

is anchored

by these three

certainties.

God will be opposed.

God will be victorious

because God is in control.

God will be opposed,

but God will be victorious

because God

is in control.

And so I want to look

at what each of these

means.

By nature,

the Bible says that

all human beings

are from birth

born in opposition

to God.

We are born opposing

God and the truth

of God, right?

So this vision

makes it very clear

that underneath

the political conflicts

and the military conquests

and the elections

and all of that,

there is a deeper

cosmic conflict raging.

And it's not between

Democrats and Republicans.

It's a deeper

cosmic conflict

where evil

is opposing

and fighting

God and God's truth

and God's people

in every way possible

with all of its might.

If you look at

Antiochus Epiphanes

as he's represented

in this vision,

he's larger than life,

right?

He's putting himself up

as a rival

to the prince

of the hosts,

right?

To God himself.

He's taking stars

out of the sky

and flinging them

to the ground, right?

This is no mere mortal.

This is no human being.

He's portrayed

as a kind of antichrist.

He's a,

what we call a type.

He's a type

that points to

this cosmic conflict

and the personification

of evil.

And look how he gains

and keeps his power

in verses 11 and 12.

It says that he puts

an end to the worship

of God.

So the first thing he does

to gain and to keep power

is to put an end

to all worship of God.

And the second thing he does,

and this is a very

interesting image,

is it says he throws

truth to the ground.

We didn't read that part.

It's a little earlier

in the chapter.

He throws truth

to the ground.

So he wants

ultimate power,

which means he has

to get rid of anything

that might threaten

his autonomy,

namely God

and God's truth.

So if you're

the most powerful king

in the world,

if you're the most powerful king

in the world

and nobody can challenge you

politically,

the only thing left

that is above you

is God

and God's truth.

And so if you do away

with that,

then you have

total power,

right?

Or so he thinks.

We see the very

same thing today,

right?

I think in our culture,

I think as human beings

by nature,

we throw truth

to the ground.

We throw truth

to the ground.

We say,

you know,

everyone should be able

to believe

whatever they want

and then we go

beyond that

and we say,

not only does everybody

believe what they want,

but all of those beliefs

are equally true.

And if you challenge

that idea

or challenge the truth

of somebody's beliefs

or if you make the claim

that you believe

in a truth

that is absolute,

a big T truth,

then you are automatically

seen as closed-minded,

ignorant,

bigoted,

intolerant,

all of those labels

that we fear.

So the first point

is this,

the illusion

that we prefer to see,

right?

The illusion,

our perception

of reality

is that there are

a lot of different

approaches to God

and a lot of different

approaches to truth

and a lot of different

approaches to these things

and that they're all

equally true,

all equally valid.

Right?

Now there's a kind

of pluralism that says

we should fight

for the rights

of everybody

to believe

whatever they want

and I think that

Christians should be

leaders in that fight.

We should fight

for a pluralistic society

where people have

religious freedom

and they're able

to believe

whatever they want,

they are free

to disagree.

But that is not

the same thing

as saying that

all of those beliefs

are equally true.

And yet more and more

in our society,

I think that we're hearing

not only are we able

to believe what we want

but all of those beliefs

are equally valid,

equally true.

The only way

that that would be possible

is if there is no such thing

is capital T

truth.

Right?

So we have this illusion

that everything

is equally true,

everybody believes

what they want

and it's all true,

but if we begin

to lift the veil,

this vision shows us

loud and clear

that the underlying reality

is that there is

only one God,

that there's one truth

and that human beings

by nature

are opposed

to those things.

Right?

So think about it

just for a second.

Right?

The reason that we prefer

to believe

that there are

multiple truths,

the reason that we want

to reject

the absolute truth

of God

is not because

we've thought deeply

about it.

I mean,

for most of us

it's just not.

We haven't reasoned it

through, right,

and said that's the best

way to make sense

of things

because saying

there is no truth

is actually nonsense.

In other words,

it doesn't hold up

to scrutiny

because the minute

you say there is

no such thing

as absolute truth,

you're making

an absolute truth claim.

It undercuts itself,

right?

It's contradictory.

It doesn't hold up

if we really think

about it.

The reason that we

reject the idea

of absolute truth

and fling it

to the ground

is the same reason

Antiochus Epiphanes did.

It's about accountability.

We don't want

to be held accountable,

right?

We know that

if we get rid of truth

we can live

and do as we please

and that's why

we do it,

right?

So when I was,

you know,

years ago

before I was a believer

in college

I loved to say

well,

there's no such thing

as absolute truth

that's so arrogant

and people believe

what they want

and I'm an agnostic

and you have no right

to tell me

what I can believe

and that was my rhetoric

and I said that

to everybody,

right?

Is that because

I had spent years

reading all the philosophers,

reading all the great thinkers

throughout history,

reasoning my way

through their arguments

and arriving

at this conclusion

as a kind of

a well-founded statement

of existence?

No, no, no.

It's because I wanted

sex without consequences

and so I knew

that the only way

to do that

was to fling truth

to the ground.

You can't hold me

accountable,

how dare you?

What makes your truth

any more true

than my truth?

Right?

So all of history

shows human beings

doing this,

fighting against God,

fighting against

the truth of God

because we would rather

be our own gods,

right?

Like Adam and Eve

at the fall,

we would prefer

to decide right and wrong

to decide truth

for ourselves.

So this is the first

thing we see.

God will be opposed.

Now the second thing

is this,

that despite

that opposition,

nevertheless,

God will be

victorious.

It says in verse 13,

for how long

is the vision

concerning the regular

burnt offering,

the transgressions

that make desolate,

and the giving over

of the sanctuary

and host

to be trampled

underfoot?

And he said to me,

for 2300 evenings

and mornings,

then the sanctuary

shall be restored

to its rightful state.

Now don't get locked

in on the number 2300.

That can be misleading.

There are lots of ways,

both literal and poetic,

to interpret that number.

Jesus himself says,

no one will know

the hour or the day

when all of this

will take place.

He says no one's

going to know,

not even the son of man

knows,

only the father knows,

right?

So that's Jesus' way

of saying,

this is not about

getting out your calculator

and trying to figure it out,

right?

People like Harold Camping

who think that they have

decoded this

and they know exactly

when all this is going

to happen.

That's not the point.

The point is

that God has fixed

a time

when he will bring

deliverance,

restore the sanctuary,

and reinstitute worship.

That there will be

a time

and God has it.

It's not in our calendar

but it's in his calendar

and he knows exactly

when it's going to happen.

It is a certainty.

So even though

in the vision

God's people suffer

under one tyrant ruler

after another,

even though things

seem to get worse

and worse

and worse,

this is saying

that eventually

God will overcome.

God will be victorious.

Eventually the tyrants

will be thrown down.

And see,

this is the second point

we need to see.

The illusion,

our perception,

is that we live

in a world

where things seem

to be getting worse.

They're getting worse

and they're getting worse

and they're getting worse

and there seems

to be very little hope

of that ever changing.

But what this does

is lift the veil

and it shows us

that despite appearances

God's plan

will ultimately lead

to victory.

It is unfolding

exactly as he established it.

Right?

So the time will come

when we see

in the book of Revelation

another work

of apocalyptic writing.

The time will come

when the heavens

and the earth

will be joined as one.

Oh, don't think

this is talking about

the temple in Jerusalem.

The reestablishing

of that temple.

No, no, no, no.

This is talking about

the time when the heavens

and the earth are joined.

When we are reminded

that in Genesis chapters

one and two

God created

the entire world

as a sanctuary.

And that one day

the new Jerusalem

will come

and it will be

established here

and all of creation

will become

one great sanctuary

devoted

and centered

on the worship of God.

That one day

that will happen.

And it says

very amazingly

in Revelation

that Jesus

at that time

will come

and he will wipe

away every tear.

Which means

every single tear shed

will be accounted for.

There will be

a reckoning.

Even though we don't

understand the suffering

and the tyrant rulers

and all of that now

even though it doesn't

make sense

and all we do

is cling to God

and trust him.

But we don't

understand the evil.

We don't understand

the suffering.

We don't understand

why it all has to happen.

That one day we will.

Because Jesus will account

for every tear

personally.

Right?

So no matter how bad

things might seem

our hope

is certain.

Which really

brings us to a question

right?

How can we be so sure?

How can we be so sure?

Right?

As we look at the

the kind of

juxtaposition

of these two

certainties.

On the one hand

this is saying

God will be opposed

and on the other hand

it's saying

but God will be victorious.

How is that

possible?

And it's possible

because God is in

control.

God is in control.

And this is the

refrain that you find

in the book of Daniel

in the earlier chapters.

Quote,

the most high

rules the kingdom

of men

and gives it

to whom he will.

So if you look closely

you see this right here.

I don't know if you

caught it in the reading

but in verse 24

it says about

Antiochus Epiphanes

his power shall be great

but not by his own power.

Verse 25

finally

he shall be broken

but by no

human hand.

It's making this point

that God is firmly

in control.

God is in control

of Antiochus Epiphanes

rising to power

and God is in control

of him being

thrown down

out of power.

That God is firmly

in control

that it's all part

of his plan.

Right?

So this is our

third point.

The perceived reality

is that

life is chaotic.

It's meaningless.

There is no God.

Nobody's in control.

There is no plan.

We're on our own.

We're abandoned.

We're just

matter and

dust and energy

playing out

randomly

according to

the laws

of physics

and there is

no ultimate

plan for any

of this.

That's the

perceived reality.

But this vision

lifts the veil

and shows us

that God was,

God is,

and God will

remain

completely

in control.

We're not going

to understand

the hows

and the whys

until the end

of things.

But it says

that until then

we trust that

God is in control.

So really on

Tuesday,

regardless of

who becomes

our next

president,

right,

regardless of

how that plays

out,

on the one

hand as

Christians we

need to be

involved.

We need to be

engaged politically.

We need to be

thoughtfully voting

and participating

and lending our

voice to the

shape as best

as we possibly

can.

And we're called

to fully

integrating our

faith.

We need to be

doing that as

best as we

possibly can.

And we're called

to submit to

the rulers and

the authorities in

our lives.

We're called to be

fully a part of

the system.

But this is

saying that

ultimately,

regardless of

who becomes

our next

president,

God is firmly

in control.

Regardless of

who becomes

our next

president,

that person

is there

because it

is a part

of God's

plan.

And one

day that

person will

step out of

power because

that is a part

of God's

plan.

But somehow

this will

fit into

God moving

all things

toward his

victory despite

the opposition.

And that's

the truth

that we need

to hold

on to.

So underneath

the illusion,

underneath the

perception,

I think the

more we look

underneath it,

the more we

begin to realize

that it's not

such a

magnificent

illusion.

It's not so

beneficial to

see things in

this way.

Underneath it,

we see an even

better story,

that God will

be opposed,

but God will

be victorious

because God

is in control.

And I want to,

as we're kind of

bringing this

together, I want

to address one

potential sort of

objection or

question that this

might raise.

And that is the

question of how.

Right?

If God will

always for certain

be opposed, and

yet at the same

time it is certain

that God will be

victorious, just on

a practical,

logistical level,

how does that

actually work?

Right?

If there are two

certainties,

opposition and

victory, how does

that happen?

Wouldn't that mean

that one was more

certain than the

other?

And the answer

is no, they're

both equally

certain.

Opposition and

victory.

So if you're God,

how do you do

that?

And this is the

genius of the

Christian faith.

Right?

How do you, if

you've created

people and you

love people, and

yet they all,

without exception,

turn their backs

on you, rebel

against you, oppose

you, try to kill

you so that they

can be gods and

live as they

choose, right?

If all human

beings do that,

then how do you

bring about a

victory over that

opposition that on

the one hand upholds

your justice and

vindicates you as

God, but on the

other hand, because

of your love, doesn't

annihilate everyone

that you've created?

How do you do

that?

The only way you do

it is if you bring

the victory through

the opposition.

That's the only way

it works.

And that's the

beauty of the

cross.

When Jesus Christ

died on the cross,

on the one hand,

what you see at the

cross is the

ultimate defeat.

The opposition has

won, right?

All those who

oppose God and the

truth of God, they

win.

They finally get the

Son of God in their

grasp and they put

Him to death once and

for all, the greatest

defeat in history.

And yet,

simultaneously, no one

could have known

that God had made

that person, Jesus

Christ, to be a

representative of us

and our sins.

So the moment we

killed Him, we

actually paid the

price of our sin,

all of our sin,

including that sin,

in full.

Right?

So the moment He

died, we were set

free, even though it

was our hand putting

Him to death.

And I think that

that's one of the

most beautiful things

I could possibly

imagine.

God bringing victory

out of defeat.

So that shows us

that we have every

reason to remain

hopeful.

So the encouragement

I hope that you

leave with is this.

Let us not live with

and accept the

illusion of our

perceived reality

that God and truth

are just ideas and

don't really mean

much, that things

are just getting

worse and hope is

failing, or that life

is random and that

we're on our own.

Let us not content

ourselves with that

perception of reality.

Let us go deeper,

let us trust what

this vision shows us

as the underlying

story.

Let us trust what

this vision promises

and what the cross

of Christ proves,

that God will be

opposed, but God

will be victorious

because God is

firmly in control.

Let's pray.

Our Father, we do

trust You, and we

know that You know

better than us what

we need.

And we know that

right now there are

things that each of us

needs to hear from

Your Word.

And so we pray that

by the power of Your

Spirit, You would

take those things that

are meant for each of

us and drive them

into our hearts, Lord,

that they would be

planted like seeds that

begin to grow and give

life.

Lord, we pray as we are

reminded this day of the

communion of saints.

We pray for all of

those who have come to

know You, to come to a

deeper knowledge of You

through Your Word.

We pray that all those

who may not know You,

that perhaps through

these words and these

promises, there would be

in them a hope kindled

that can be answered

through Your Son,

Jesus Christ.

Lord, we pray all of

this in His name.

Amen.