Holy Scriptures and Israel

Guest (Male): Shalom. Holy Scriptures and Israel is a ministry designed to share with the Jewish people the good news of the Lord Jesus Yeshua the Messiah and to instruct Christians on the Jewish roots of their faith. And now teaching God's word from a Hebrew Messianic perspective here is Gideon Levitan.

Gideon Levytam: Let's turn please to Daniel chapter 8 and we are going to begin in a study today from verse 15 to the end of the chapter verse 15 to 27 we might need to recollect a little bit what we have had before us in the last session and today we want to really deal with the second half of Daniel chapter 8 and we are going to read those verses verse 15 to 27 and I'm reading from verse 15. And it came to pass when when I even I Daniel have seen the vision and sought for the meaning.

Then behold there stood before me as the appearance of a man. And I heard a man's voice between the banks of Ulai which called and said Gabriel or in Hebrew Gavriel make this men to understand the vision. So he came near where I stood and when he came I was afraid and I fell upon my face. But he said unto me understand oh son of man. For at the time of the end shall be the vision. Now as he was speaking with me I was in a deep sleep on my face towards the ground. But he touched me and he set me upright.

And he said behold I will make thee know what shall be in the last end of the indignation. For at the time appointed the end shall be. The ram which thou sawest having two horns are the kings of Media and Persia. And the rough goat is the king of Grecia. And the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king. Now that being broken where is four stood up for it for kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation. But not in his power. And in the latter time of their kingdom when the transgressors are to come to the full a king of fierce countenance and understanding dark sentences shall stand up.

And his power shall be mighty but not by his own power. And he shall destroy a fearfully and shall prosper and practice and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people. And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand. And he shall magnify himself in his heart. And by peace shall destroy many. He shall also stand up against the prince of princes. But he shall be broken without hand. And the vision of the evening and the morning which was told is true. Wherefore shut thou up the vision for it shall be for many days.

And I Daniel fainted. And I was sick certain days. Afterwards I rose and did the king's business. And I was astonished at the vision but none understood it. Daniel chapter 8 is a chapter that deals with the if somebody have given it a title with God's chastening of Israel in the nearer future. Looking at it from Daniel's point of time. When we come to Daniel chapter 9 Lord willing in our next session if we will finish this session tonight Daniel chapter 9 is God's dealing with Israel or chastening Israel when it come to the to the further to the far future of the nation of Israel.

But Daniel chapter 8 deal with the nearer future has to do of course with looking at the time frame from Daniel's period of time. Now before we are going to go into the interpretation of this of this chapter I would like just to remind you that we have been looking already at the first 14 verses of chapter 8. In the first 14 verses of chapter 8 we had what is really known as the vision itself. And the vision had to do mainly with two beasts. And the two beasts we have them here the ram and the he goat.

And the ram and the he goat really represented a mainly two kingdoms. Namely the middle Persians number one which is the ram. And secondly the Greek the Grecians when it come to the he goat. And so if you remember we have looked already in the first half of this chapter which just needed a few things yet needed to be mentioned before we're going to go to the actual interpretation of this of this chapter. Now as we are as we are continuing now from from verse 15 I want you just to notice at the end of verse 14 actually just verse 14 I'll read that where we have left last time.

Verse 14 it says there and he said unto me I'll read also verse 13 as well. Then I heard one saint speaking to another saint said unto a certain saint which spake how long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice and the transgression of desolation to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden down under foot. How long the question had been in verse 13 one saint speaking to the other and asking how long will it take? What will happen that have been given to us in the first 12 verses of this chapter?

How long that's going to happen? Well the answer come in verse 14. Then he said unto me 2,300 days. Then shall the sanctuary be cleansed. And if you remember we said last time that Daniel chapter 8 really gives us the the framework or if you will the basis upon which the Jewish people our people my family my people celebrate the feast of dedication which is found in the only time is found in the scriptures is mentioned in in the Gospel of John in chapter 10 where the Lord Jesus the Messiah have come. He was walking in Solomon's temple in the feast of the dedication.

But before the feast began before the the feast had been instituted the temple had to be cleansed. And you notice it says in verse 14 he said unto me the length of time that the daily sacrifice is going to cease and to stop and the the what you call the desolation of the temple will will will happen and will be is the length of time is 2,300 days. This is about 6 years and 4 months. And if you look at this that Antiochus Epiphanes this wicked man by the name of Antiochus who have desecrated the temple in Jerusalem he was that the that the Grecian Assyrian king the king of king of Syria.

He is the one that have gone against the people of Israel against the Jewish people and caused havoc among the nation of Israel. And he really desecrated the temple in Jerusalem. For how long it's going to be? Well 6 years and 4 months this is 2,300 years. From the years 171 BC to 165 BC Antiochus a persecuted our Jewish people the people of Israel in the land. Now I brought with me at this evening a copy of the first chapter of the first book of Maccabees. It is interesting. I want to I want to I want to to read a few of these verses here.

It is not divinely inspired. What we have in the in the book first book and second book of Maccabees is Jewish history. Jewish history which occurred in between the two covenants if you will in between the two the Old Testament and the New Testament. And the last book of Malachi Malachi in the Old Testament and the first book of the New Testament Matthew Matityahu in Hebrew in between there are certain events that happen in Jewish history. Well what we read here about this wicked man by the name of Antiochus is found in the first book and the second book of Maccabees.

Let me just read a few points here that I think it'll be very interesting for us to connect it with with what we are studying here this evening. The first book of Maccabees chapter 1 verses 1 to 9 we read about Alexander the Great. In fact if you remember in our study here we were studying about the the ram and the he goat. And we discovered that the first the he goat or that the the he goat represented the Grecians. And the first the the first king of the Grecians were really Alexander the Great. And this is what we read in first Maccabees first book of Maccabees chapter 1 verse 1.

Now it came to pass that Alexander the son of Philip of the Macedonian who first reign in Greece coming out of the land of Kittim had overthrown Darius the king of the Persians and the Medes. He fought many battles and he took the stronghold of all. He slew the kings of the earth. And he went through even to the ends of the earth and he took the spoils of many nations. And the earth was quiet before him. And he gathered a power and a very strong army. And his heart was exalted and lifted up. And he subdued countries of nations and princes.

And they became tributaries to him. And after these things he fell down upon his bed and knew that he should die. And he called his servants the nobles that that were brought up with him from his youth. And he divided his kingdoms among them. And while he was yet alive and Alexander reigned 20 years and he died. And his servants made themselves kings everyone in his place. It is interesting. From Daniel chapter 8 we learned that and we learned it by the way already in the in the first part of chapter 8 that what what happened is that from that he goat after he destroyed the ram out of this he goat came four notable ones.

And we noticed that those four notable one became the four generals or the four generals of of Alexander became the four kings who later on took over the Grecian the Grecian Empire. Now what happened here is that in in a descendant of one of these one of these generals that that ruled the Syrian the northern side of Israel a descendants one of descendants of this king one of the kings was a man by the name of Antiochus. And Antiochus this wicked man is the one that we have read about what he have done here in in in chapter 8 what he have done to the people of Israel to the Jewish people.

Look what first Maccabees chapter 1 verse 10 to 15 says about Antiochus. Listen to that. And they all put crowns upon themselves after his death this is the death of Alexander. And their sons offered them many years. And the evils were multiplied in the earth. And they came out of them a wicked root Antiochus. The son of the king Antiochus who had been hostage at Rome. And he reigned in the 137th year of the kingdom of the Greeks. In those days they went out of Israel wicked men and they persuaded many saying let us go and make covenant with the heathen that are round about us.

For since we departed from them many evils have befallen us. And the words seem good in their eyes. And some of the people determined to do this. And they went to the king and they gave them license. He gave them license to do after the ordinances of the heathen. And they built a place of exercise in Jerusalem according to the law of the nations. And now the apparently what we learn here that in this particular time when Antiochus reigned that there was some of the nation of Israel some of the Jewish people that did not want to be persecuted by the Grecians by the Syrian Grecians by the army of the Antiochus.

They have allowed themselves to be influenced and they influenced others. And they ended up following after this particular wicked man. We're going to read some more about him. But before we're going to read some more about him I want us now to go back to our chapter in Daniel chapter 8. And let's deal with this interpretation portion verses 15 to 27. So notice now first of all in verse 15 to 18. After Daniel have seen this vision all of a sudden there is an appearance of the angel Gabriel. It says in verse 15 it says and it came to pass when I even I Daniel had been have seen the vision and I sought for the meaning then behold there stood before me as the appearance of a man.

And I heard a man's voice between the banks of Ulai which called and said Gabriel make this man to understand the vision. So he came near where I stood. And when he came I was afraid and I fell upon my face. But he said unto me this is Gabriel saying do you understand oh son of man? For the time of the end for it for it the time of the end shall be the vision. Now as he was speaking with me I was in deep sleep on my face towards the ground. But he touched me and he set me upright.

And so I mean to me it was so interesting when I read these verses and and reading that it is Gabriel that was the one that received the privilege of giving the interpretation of the dream to Daniel. Now how interesting Gabriel is being found here in this particular chapter. It is the same Gabriel that we read of him. If you just turn in the page in your Bible to chapter 9. Chapter 9 and verse 21 in the interpretation of giving help to Daniel to understand about the future dealing of God with the people of Israel.

Again is Gabriel is the one that giving to Daniel the the help. It says in verse 21 of chapter 9 and while he was speaking I was speaking in prayer even the man Gabriel whom even the man Gabriel whom I had seen in a vision at the beginning now looking at the chapter 8 one being caused to fly swiftly touched me about the time of the evening oblation and he informed me and he talked with me and he said. Now it is Gabriel. And by the way the word Gavriel in the Hebrew is a two words Gever means a masculine man Gever.

And El means God. The word Gibbor or Gever also come from the word strength or powerful. And it's really it's really speaking about the might of God the strength of God the power of God the meaning of the name Gabriel Gavriel is the strength and the masculinity is the power of God. God is all powerful. God is the one that is being really using this angel to give Daniel the explanation about the dream that he just seen and showing him how God is going to chasten the Jewish people in the earlier period of time from Daniel perspective chapter 8 and the future time of dealing with Israel in chapter 9.

But it's not only there that this angel was used. Turn with me to the New Testament for a minute to the Gospel of Luke in chapter 1. Luke chapter 1. It is not coincident dear brothers and sisters that in the the Gospel of Luke we find out also Gabriel. But this time what does he do? He is announcing the coming of the Messiah. Notice Luke chapter 1 verse I'll read couple of verses here. Verse actually earlier even before that verse 19 let's even read verse 18. Luke chapter 1 verse 18 and Zechariah said unto the angel whereby shall I know this?

For I am an old man. And my wife is well stricken in years. And the angel answering and said unto him I am Gabriel that stand in the presence of God. And I am sent to speak unto thee and to show thee these glad tidings good news. And behold thou shall be dumb and not be able to speak until the day that these things shall be performed because thou believest not my words which shall be fulfilled in their seasons. And the people waited for Zechariah and marveled that he tarried so long time in the temple.

And when he came out he could not speak unto them. And they perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple for he beckoned unto them and remained speechless. And it came to pass that as soon as the days of his ministration were accomplished he departed to his own house. And after those days his wife Elizabeth conceived or Elisheba her name in Hebrew and hid herself for 5 months saying thus has the Lord dealt with me in the days wherein he looked on me to take away my reproach among men. And in the list of the death and in the 6 months the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee named Nazareth to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph of the house of David.

And the virgin's name was Miriam. And the angel came in unto her and he said unto her hail thou that art highly favored. The Lord is with thee. Blessed are you among women. And when she saw him she was troubled at his saying and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. And the angel again this is Gabriel. He said unto her fear not Miriam for thou has found favor with God. And behold thou shall conceive in thy womb and bring forth a son and shall call his name Yeshua in Hebrew Jesus in Greek.

And he shall be great and he shall be called the son of the highest. And the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David. And he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever. And his kingdom to his kingdom shall be no end. To his kingdom shall be no end. And I will stop here with the reading of this Gospel of Luke chapter 1. Now you see how interesting that this angel Gabriel twice is giving an answer to to Daniel for his need of interpretation of a dream. And twice he is appearing to two individuals you know if you will in the Gospel to announce to them the coming of the Messiah.

Now there is a connection obviously between Daniel chapter 8 and 9 and Luke chapter 1. The connection is simply this. In chapter 8 and 9 God is sending Gabriel to give Daniel interpretation of his dealing with number one the immediate time of Israel or chastening of Israel from Daniel's point of view. And then to the future leading them all the way to the time when the Messiah will come in Daniel chapter 9. And it's not coincident then in Luke chapter 1 the same Gabriel is coming and appearing and introducing the birth of the Messiah to both Zechariah of course and Elizabeth Elisheba and finally to Miriam the mother of Yeshua the mother of Jesus.

And so in verses 15 to verse 18 we have the appearance of Gabriel. And of course Gabriel it says here in verse 18 by the way as he was speaking Daniel was in deep sleep. He was on his face towards the ground. But he touched me and he set me upright. And I I don't know if I mentioned to to you the last time the word for deep sleep here. It's a supernatural sleep. It's the Hebrew word for which is not a normal sleep that you and I have at night when we go to bed.

It is almost similar to death. And it is in a supernatural way that God have lifted up a Daniel out of this deep sleep. It was Adam that was in this this deep sleep when Eve came out of his side. It was Abraham that was in that deep sleep in chapter 15 of Genesis when God made a covenant with him. It was a king Saul who was in deep sleep when king with with David came and he and he cut a piece of his garment. It was a supernatural sleep because God was going to accomplish something.

And so here we find out that Daniel himself is in deep sleep. And now now let's move on now down so we can read some of the portion also from the from the book of of Maccabees which is very interesting. In verse 19 he give him the interpretation of the time. You remember earlier he was speaking about a certain time.

Guest (Male): You have been listening to the Holy Scriptures and Israel with Gideon Levitan. Gideon teaches God's word from a Hebrew Messianic perspective. For more information about this ministry write to Holy Scriptures and Israel box 1411 Niagara on the Lake Ontario L0S 1J0 or visit our website at holyscripturesandisrael.com. You are also invited to Gideon's weekly Bible teaching on Fridays at 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. and Saturdays at 1 p.m. at Willowdale Christian Assembly Hall 28 Martin Ross Avenue in Toronto. Holy Scriptures and Israel is made possible by your prayers and financial support. If you would like to support the program visit holyscripturesandisrael.com.

God bless you. Shalom Shalom.