Sermon Tone Analysis

*Inscription: Writing God’s Words on Our Hearts & Minds*

*/Part 31: Between the Testaments /*

*Daniel 7:1-7*

*/September 5, 2010/*

 

Prep

·         098

 

*Scripture reading: Daniel 7:1-7 (genea)*

 

 

Intro

 

Q   Enjoyed first week of *autumn*?

(Supposed to be 9~/21)

Q   *Vote*: Glad for autumn?

Prayer

 

 

Bridging the Gap

 

Starting next time I preach, we will take a *break* from the OT and go through Matthew and Mark.

But first I want to give the “*in-between-qual*”:

 

The OT ends with:

 

*Malachi 4:5-6 * “See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the LORD comes.

6 He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the land with a curse.”

As I said last week, Jesus tells us John was this *Elijah*.

Then Mark (the earliest of the Gospels) begins:

 

*Mark 1:1-4 * The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God.  2 It is written in Isaiah the prophet: “I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way”--  3 “a voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’”

4 And so John came, baptizing in the desert region and preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

It is really cool how the OT *dovetails* into the NT.

The thing is that there is a little bit of a *gap* between the two: *400* *years*.

This is called “The *Silent* *Years*” because there was no revelation from God; he seemed to be *distant* and *silent*.

·         Four hundred years is a long time – that’s how far *Galileo* and *Shakespeare* are from us.

So what was God doing all this time, taking a *nap*, baking cookies?

Why the long break?

We are going to see that he was very, *very* *busy* preparing the entire world *for* *Jesus*.

·         Ever since *Adam* and *Eve* *fell*, God was working feverishly to restore the broken relationship, and it was almost time.

*Galatians 4:4-6 *  4 But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law,  5 to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.

6 Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father

 

·         Jesus came at *just* the *right* *time*, *literally* – there was an *ideal* *window* of 100 years, not repeated until 20th century.

History lesson

 

This sermon will be different from the vast majority of my sermons, it is more of a *history* *lesson*.

But as I said last week, history is just telling stories, and good stories *apply* to our modern *lives*, as we will see here.

This period is pretty much *ignored*:

 

Q   How many of you have ever heard a *sermon* on this?

Q   How many you didn’t really *realize* there was a *400* *year* break?

There are a *lot* of *reasons* we should we should know at least a little bit about this time:

 

1.

We get to see how *God* is always in *control*, directing history for his purpose.

2.

It helps us *understand* the *NT*:

 

Q   Why does the OT say that we will be *blessed* *financially* and personally if we obey God, but the NT expects *suffering*?

Q   Why is the biggest problem of the OT *idolatry* and *immorality*, but in the NT it’s *self*-*righteousness*?

 

Q   Why does the OT seldom talk about the *afterlife*, but it’s all over the place in the NT?

 

3.

We get to see how *accurate* *OT* *prophecy* is – this has been the fun part for me!

 

*Daniel* was written about *500* *years* before Jesus, yet it accurately describes events up nearly up until his coming, sometimes with *great* *clarity*.

It’s so clear that *liberal* *scholars* (presupposing miracles can’t happen) assume it was written in 164 BC, but it’s inclusion in the Dead Sea Scrolls (171 BC) make that hard to believe.

·         Because it’s *accuracy* (and hence validation of Scripture) is so cool, we will use the opening Scripture as our *road* *map*:

 

 

Babylon

 

*Daniel 7:4 *The first was like a lion, and it had the wings of an eagle.

I watched until its wings were torn off and it was lifted from the ground so that it stood on two feet like a man, and the heart of a man was given to it.

From Dan.

2:31-45, we know the first beast was the Babylonians.

They were the nation that *exiled* *Judah* and *destroyed* the *temple* in 586 BC.

As a result, two important things happened:

 

1.

The Jewish people were *dispersed* throughout the ancient world (“*Diaspora*”).

By the time of Jesus they were in cities from *India* to *Spain*.

 

2.

Because the temple had been destroyed, worship went from being based around *sacrifices* at the temple to *study* of the Torah in *Synagogues* (which were also *cultural* *centers*).

·         The word basically means “*Gathering* *Place*,” we are named after synagogues!

 

*Significance*: At the end of the OT, Israel was *small* *country* in the world scene, only important because some major roads went through it.

Almost no one *outside* of Israel had even *heard* of *Yahweh*, and had no interest in a Messiah or redeemer.

·         The Diaspora allowed *Judaism* and the *Bible* to become *internationally* *known* and *accepted*.

Paul made a point of always *starting* his ministry in a new city in the *synagogue*.

Persia

 

 *Daniel 7:5 *And there before me was a second beast, which looked like a bear.

It was raised up on one of its sides, and it had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth.

It was told, “Get up and eat your fill of flesh!”

 

Babylon was conquered by Persia during Daniel’s lifetime (539 BC), Life under the Persian actually *improved* for Jews – they were allowed to go back to Jerusalem and *rebuild* the *temple*.

·         This was prudent on their part – as they faced threats from the Greeks to the west, they had a *friendly* *buffer*.

*Significance*: This allowed there to be a *temple* and ongoing sacrifices when Jesus *sacrificed* *himself*.

About 40 years later (73 AD), the temple would be *destroyed*, never to be rebuilt.

Greece

 

 *Daniel 7:6 *After that, I looked, and there before me was another beast, one that looked like a leopard.

And on its back it had four wings like those of a bird.

This beast had four heads, and it was given authority to rule.

This beast represents Greece, *Alexander* the *Great*.

The image of a *leopard* is especially fitting because the speed with which Greece conquered the ancient world.

In about 10 years, he conquered from *Greece* to *India*.

According to *Josephus*, (a historian from shortly after Christ), in 332 BC the high priests went out to greet Alexander as he came to conquer Jerusalem, *welcomed* him in, and showed him the places in *Daniel* where his coming was *predicted*.

·         He was so impressed that he basically left *Israel* *alone*.

As Alexander conquered the ancient world, he brought Greek culture to the world, “*Hellenization*.”

Most importantly, he brought the *Greek* *language* to the world.

It became the international language, exactly like *English* today.

·         Eventually, many Jews couldn’t even *read* *Hebrew*, so the OT was translated into Greek, the *Septuagint* (“sept” meaning 7).

*Significance*: Now there was a *common* *language* that the Gospel could be shared in.

And there was also a *Bible* available to *all*.

Christians made such great use of it that the Jews basically replaced it with a newer versions, less friendly to Christians.

Seleucids

 

As you may remember from history, *Alexander* *died* at a young age (32), and this empire was divided up into four *kingdoms* among his leading generals.

This was also *prophesied*:

 

*Daniel 8:21-22 *  21 The shaggy goat is the king of Greece, and the large horn between his eyes is the first king.

22 The four horns that replaced the one that was broken off represent four kingdoms that will emerge from his nation but will not have the same power.

Even still, things were going well for Jews, their new masters were content to leave them alone.

But around *175* BC, a *new* *king* took over by the name of Antiochus Epiphanes.

He wasn’t content to leave Jews alone, but forced them to *act* like *Greeks* and *outlawed* Jewish practice.

Jews were *persecuted* mercilessly, being *executed* for even *observing* *Sabbath*.

*Significance*: The Torah promised if they *obeyed* God they would be *blessed* and *punished* if they didn’t.

Now they were being *persecuted* for *obeying* God; this caused a major *crisis* of *faith*.

·         Through this, God helped his people understand the *afterlife* – rewards and punishment went beyond this life.

This is why hear so much more about *heaven* and *hell* in the NT.