Shalom, my dear brothers and sisters and dear friends. We are going to begin today the study of the book of Daniel, presenting this amazing book as before the Lord, and we trust that as we study this book together, it will be a blessing to you all. This book of Daniel is an important book because it is a book that helps us to understand the plan of God for the people of Israel and for the whole world. In a sense, we see the people of Israel, the Jewish people, rising from defeat to victory as ultimately the book of Daniel takes us to the future day when Israel as a nation will be restored to the Lord their God.

Well, the book of Daniel is an amazing book, and I would like to begin by reading the first few verses of Daniel chapter 1, so if you have your Bibles with you, please turn with me to Daniel chapter 1, and we will begin with the introduction to the book of Daniel. We read in Daniel 1 verse 1, in the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, came Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon unto Jerusalem and besieged it. And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand with part of the vessels of the house of God which he carried into the land of Shinar to the house of his God and he brought the vessels into the treasure house of his God and I will stop here beloved brothers and sisters and dear friends with the first two verses of Daniel chapter 1 and I would like just to begin with the introduction which is very important to introduce this extremely important book called the book of Daniel just to remind us that we read already here in the first verse Daniel 1 and verse 1 in the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah came Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon unto Jerusalem and besieged it we also read verse 2 that the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand now here beloved brothers and sisters and dear friends we ask ourselves immediately the question why is it that the God of Israel the God of Judah is now allowing.

A man by the name of Nebuchadnezzar who was the king of Babylon to come into the city of Jerusalem where the temple once stood where the worship of the Lord once was raised up to glory to heaven and why is it that the Lord himself gave you a king the king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon this is a very important question that we may ask ourselves and we have to realize that there is a reason as to why the God of Israel have brought King Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babel, to the city of Jerusalem to take it over and ultimately to give into his hand the king of Judah.

Well, there are twofold reasons, beloved friend, as to why God has allowed this to happen in the history of the Jewish people. Well, the first reason is because God is the one that has expected from his people, Israel, to be a people that obey him, a nation that is distinct from all other nations, a nation that worships the true and living God, And to remind you, when God gave the Torah, the law, to the people of Israel on Mount Sinai, on Har Sinai, He told Israel, if you remember, in Exodus chapter 20, when the law was given to the people of Israel, in fact, the first commandment that He gave our forefathers, the Jewish people, who came out of the land of Egypt after being in bondage and away from the promised land since the day of Abraham for over 400 years.

Israel were delivered by the hand of God in a miraculous way out of the land of bondage and Israel began their journey to go into the promised land. In chapter 20, as Moshe was on Mount Sinai, Har Sinai, and he received the Ten Commandments and all the laws that God had given instruction for His people Israel through Moses, we read about the first commandment that God had given to Moshe for the people of Israel is this, Exodus 20 and verse 1. And God spake all these words, saying, I am the Lord thy God, which hath brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

Verse 3 said, Thou shalt have no other gods, this is small g, before me. So God have desired that his people Israel will be different than all other nations because he is the true and living God, Jehovah, the God who keeps covenant with the nation of Israel, the one that has brought them out of bondage into liberty on the basis of the blood of the Lamb, which typified the coming Messiah, who became the Lamb of God, which will take upon himself the sin of this world. And Israel, as a nation, did not submit to the word of the Lord, and they have, in disobedience, through disobedience, began to follow other gods.

In fact, we do read through the prophets, and as well in the days of the Kings, that God was not happy with what Israel had done. If you remember in 2 Kings chapter 21, we read, Menashe was 12 years old, verse 1, when he began to reign, and he reigned 55 years in Jerusalem, and his mother's name was Havtzeba, and he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord. After the abomination of the heathen, whom the Lord cast out before the children of Israel. For he built up again the high places which Hezekiah, his father, had destroyed. And he reared up altars for Baal, and made a grove, as did Achav, king of Israel, and worshipped all the hosts of heaven and served them.

Can you imagine? Beloved friends, beloved brothers and sisters, Israel who called to believe in one God. Shema Yisrael Adonai Eloheinu Adonai Echad. Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. And Israel as a nation began to follow after other gods. In fact, we read in the very same chapter, 2nd King chapter 21. It says in verse 4, he built altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord said, in Jerusalem will I put my name. Verse 5, and he built altars for all the hosts of heaven in the two courts of the house of the Lord. Verse 6, and he made his son pass through the fire, and he observed times, and used the enchantments, and he dealt with familiar spirit and wizard.

He wrought much wickedness in the sight of the Lord to provoke him to anger. And you notice if you go to verse 10 of 2nd King chapter 21, And the Lord spake by his servants, the prophets say, Because Menashe, the king of Judah, has done these abominations, and has done wickedly above all that the Amorites did, which were before him, and has made Judah also to sin with his idols? Therefore, thus says the Lord God of Israel, Behold, I am bringing such evil upon Jerusalem and Judah, that whosoever heareth of it, both his ears shall tingle. And I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria, and the plummet of the house of Ahab, and i will wipe Jerusalem as a man wipe dish wiping it and turning it upside down and beloved friends the first reason that God had to deal with the people of Israel with his own people in bringing upon the people of Israel the king of Babel Nebuchadnezzar is because Israel violated God's word and worshipped other gods and therefore the God who loved his chosen people the Hebrews the Israeli the Jewish people he disciplined them because judgment must begin at the house of God the second fault reason is found for us also in the word of the Lord it is simply because Israel did not allow the land to rest on the sabbatical year already before Israel came into the promised land the Lord already warned our people of org And he said in Leviticus chapter 26, verse 32, I will bring the land into desolation, and your enemies which dwell therein shall be astonished at it.

And I will scatter you among the heathen, and I will draw out a sword after you, and your land shall be desolate, and your cities waste. Then, listen to this, beloved brothers and sisters, Leviticus 26, verse 34. Then shall the land enjoy her Shabbat, as long as it lies desolate, and ye be in your enemy's land. Even then shall the land rest and enjoy her Shabbat. As long as it lies desolate it shall rest because it did not rest in your Shabbats when ye dwelled upon it. Now you notice this beloved brothers and sisters and dear friends that when we read Leviticus chapter 26 it was a prophetic message to the people of Israel and God knowing all things ahead of time already mentioned this to his beloved people long before the events of their disobedience came to pass in the land of Canaan in the land of Israel and so as we began the reading in Daniel chapter 1 and verse 1 in the third year of the reign of Yeroyah king king of Judah came to Bukhaznetzer king of Babylon and to Jerusalem and besieged it and the Lord gave Yeroyah king king of Judah into his hand we see beloved brothers and sisters that in the plan and the program of God he knew very well what his own people will do and that's really a lesson for us who are believers in the Lord Jesus the Messiah today who are part of the church of the assembly God knows everything that will go on in the history of his heavenly people he knows everything.

The past the present the future he knows very well the history of the behavior of the church during these days in the same way as he knew the behavior of the people of Israel in Israel's history and yet God in his wisdom who is sovereign who is the God of providence who knows all things past present future who is all powerful who is everywhere he knew what will happen to the people of Israel in fact later on in Jeremiah chapter 25 listen to the prophetic word of the prophet Yirmiyahu Jeremiah in chapter 25 we read in chapter 25 in verse 8 therefore thus says the Lord of hosts because ye have not heard my words behold I will send and take all the families of the north says the Lord and Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon my servant and will bring them against this land and against the inhabitants of Zerog and against all these nations round about and will utterly destroy them and make them an astonishment and an hissing and perpetual desolation speaking about the nations around.

Israel and he continued now to speak also about the nation of Israel moreover I will take from them the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride the sound of the millstone and the light of the candle and this whole land shall be a desolation and an astonishment and this nation shall serve the king of Babylon 70 years and it It shall come to pass when 70 years are accomplished that I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, says the Lord, for their iniquity and the land of the Chaldeans and will make a perpetual desolation.

Amazing. Verse 13 says that I will bring upon that land all my words. And so, beloved brothers and sisters and dear friends, we learn from the word of God the reason whereby the people of Israel are now will be taken to Babylon. King of Nebuchadnezzar will come and the Lord will give into his hand Yoakim, the king of Judah. And ultimately there will be the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple now of course as we begin to read the book of Daniel we learn immediately that the person that wrote this book is none else but Daniel himself in fact in Daniel chapter 7 he himself notice that we read in Daniel chapter 7 and verse 1 in the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon Daniel had a dream and visions of his head upon his bed then he wrote the dream and told the sum of the matters and you notice what we read in verse 2 Daniel spake and said I saw in my vision by night so Daniel himself is the one that speak of himself as the writer of the book of Daniel in the same chapter 7 and verse 15 we also read once again i Daniel was grieved notice that a little bit later in verse 28 we read a concerning hitherto is the end of the matter as for me Daniel my and he began to speak about he's speaking about himself as the one that gave.

Us this book called the book of Daniel throughout the book of Daniel in chapter 7 in chapter 8 in chapter 9 in chapter 10 even at the end of the chapter we learn that Daniel is the author of the book of Daniel in chapter 12 of Daniel verse 5 we read then I Daniel looked and behold there stood other two and you read it once and again that Daniel is the one that wrote this book that we began the study the introduction in this ministry meeting at this point of time Daniel was a man that has existed in fact he was the one of whom Yehezkel spoke about in his prophecy Yehezkel spoke about him in chapter 14 mentioning his name and not only his name Ezekiel mentioned others who are biblical characters that are found in the word of God in chapter 14 of the book of Ezekiel we read in verse 12 the word of the Lord came again to me saying son of man when the land.

Sinneth against me by trespassing grievously then will I stretch out mine hand upon it and I will break the stuff of the bread thereof and will send famine upon it and will cut off man and beast from it and then the Lord speaking to yeheskel concerning noach Daniel and iov notice verse 14 though the three men noah Daniel and Job were in it they should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness says the Lord God in other words these were godly men as noah of whom we read in the earlier times in the word of God in the book of Genesis about eov the book of Job we read of the history of Job and here the Lord is mentioning Daniel in chapter 14 of the book of Ezekiel mentioning this to Ezekiel a little bit further down in Ezekiel chapter 14 and verse 20 the Lord continued to speak to Ezekiel saying though noah Daniel and Job were in it namely in the land as i live says the Lord God they shall deliver neither son nor daughter they shall but.

Deliver their own souls by their righteousness in other words God look at Noah at Daniel and Job as godly men but even though they were godly men when the day of judgment came upon the land of Judah the land of Israel the land that God chose for his own people Israel even they could not deliver the land from judgment even they live righteous life in fact beloved brothers and sisters and dear friends the Lord Yeshua Jesus the Messiah himself when he was here upon the face of this earth he himself mentioned to the disciples who knew very well of these men both noach and Daniel as well as iov and Job but the Lord specifically Yeshua Jesus the Messiah specifically is speaking about Daniel and what he wrote in the book which we began our study in this ministry meeting Yeshua the Messiah spoke in the sermon that he gave the oliver discord in Matthew 24 and Matthew 25 he mentioned this to the disciples and he made a reference to the writing.

Of Daniel concerning the abomination of desolation the man that is known as the Antichrist the counterfeit Messiah of whom we will learn as we study the book of Daniel notice what Yeshua said to the disciples in verses 14 and 15 of Matthew chapter 24 speaking about the preaching of the gospel of the kingdom because the kingdom will be restored to Israel in a future day and the message of the gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the future day during the tribulation period today we preach the gospel of the grace of God and all who believe in the Lord Jesus Yeshua the Messiah become part of the ecclesia the assembly the church the heavenly company but during the tribulation days the seven years of Jacob's trouble the gospel of the kingdom in view of the coming kingdom will be preached and here we see the Lord Jesus the Messiah speaking to the disciples and he leading them as it were to the future day of the tribulation appeared at the end of the church age.

During the tribulation and he said this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations and then shall the end come the end mean the end of the tribulation day the end of Jacob's trouble the end of the time of sorrow that will fall upon this world the end of the day of the Lord the end of the tribulation and so Yeshua is giving warning to the disciples in in a sense beloved brothers and sisters he's speaking to the Jewish disciples of the tribulation days which is ahead of us and he's saying when ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation this is the Antichrist who will stand in a temple claiming to be God committing the abomination of desolation but you notice who wrote about the abomination of desolation it says in verse 15b spoken by Daniel the prophet stand in the holy place who saw the it is let him understand can you imagine beloved brothers and sisters here the Lord Jesus the.

Messiah himself God the son as man he himself is mentioning Daniel the one whom the holy Spirit of God used to give to us this book this prophetic book this apocalyptic book the book of Daniel as we study this together so the author of the book was Daniel himself and you know beloved friend this beautiful name that God had given to him that his parents had given him there in Jerusalem in Judea the word Daniel it's two Hebrew words Dani El we all know that the word El is the singular of Elohim plural God El but dani in Hebrew mean my judge dan means judge dani means my judge and the name of Daniel is God is my judge it's a beautiful name because Daniel knew that by virtue of his name we learned that he was a man who knew that God does judge and he judged righteously to remind you beloved brothers and sisters and dear friends that God is a holy and a righteous God and he does judge.

In the midst of his own people whether it is Israel historically or whether it is the church in these days in which we live in today in fact we do read in first Peter chapter 4 and verse 17 for the time is come the judgment must begin at the house of God and if it first began at us what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God in other words God is a holy and a righteous God who judge not only the unregenerated individual who reject him and reject his offer of salvation but he also judging his own people to remind you that in 2nd Corinthians chapter 5 we do read in verse 10 for we must all appear before the judgment seat of the Mashiach of Christ Even God's people will have to be appearing before the Lord in the future days for the judgment seat of Christ.

In fact, beloved brothers and sisters, we do read that judgment must begin at the house of God now. And here is the people of God, the Jewish people are now to anticipate the judgment of God upon them when they rebelled and turned away from the Lord. So the name Daniel tells us that my judge is God. But God always judged righteously. And to remind you that the Hebrew writer reminded the believers that whom the Lord loveth, he chastens and he scourges every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God deal with you as with sons. For what son is he whom the Father chasteneth not?

For it says in verse 8 of Hebrews chapter 12, But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards and not sons. And therefore, beloved brothers and sisters, as we learn from the book of Daniel, We see how God disciplined his people Israel. And as we read in Daniel 1 verse 1. In the third year of the reign of Yeroyakim. King of Judah came Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon unto Jerusalem. And besieged it. And we read the first part of chapter 1 and verse 2. And the Lord gave Yeroyakim king of Yehudah into his hands. Now, let me just remind you that in the history of the people of Judah, there were three times in the history of Judah in which the king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, came against the people of Judah and the city of Jerusalem he came against the people of Israel the people of Judah in 605 bc this is the time which we learn here in the book of Daniel and this 605 bc what did he do he took Daniel and other his friends and some of the vessels and he took them to the land of Bavail.

Later on in 597 BC he also came again and he took Yechezkel and 10,000 other Jewish people and more an additional instrument of the house of God once again to the land of Shin'ar, to the land of Bavail. And finally, in 586 BC, King Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the city of Jerusalem and he burned the temple in the city of Jerusalem. And that was the time when the Jewish people no longer had the privilege of being there in the house of the Lord and worshipping the God of Israel. In the land of Israel, in the city of Jerusalem. Let's remind us of this amazing and very sad Psalm that we read in Psalm 137, where we read in verse 1, By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept when we remember Zion.

We hung our harps upon the willow in the midst of the wrath. For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song, and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, sing us one of the songs of Zion. And notice the sad people of Israel, the people of Judah. We read what they said. How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land? And then they made a decision to repent before the Lord. And we read in verse 5, If I forget the old Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth.

If I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy. And then they asked the Lord, remember, O Lord, the children of Edom, in the day of Jerusalem, who said, raise it, raise it, even to the foundation thereof, O daughter of Babylon, who art to be destroyed, happy shall he be that rewardeth thee as thou hast served us, happy shall he be that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stone. Saying very strong statement and you might say request from the Lord and for all their sorrows that they have experienced when the Babylonian took them captive and when the Edomite have mocked them as they were on the way to the land of Babel.

Oh beloved friend, what an amazing history we learn here from the book of Daniel as we began with that introduction. You notice beloved brothers and sisters that the book of Daniel is really considered to be one of the major prophets of the people of Israel Isaiah, Jeremiah, Yehezkel and Daniel but if you will open the Hebrew Tanakh what is in the English called the Old Testament the book of Daniel is not placed among the prophets the book of Daniel is placed among the writings in Hebrew it says the k'tuvim the Tanakh the what is known to the English speakers old testament is divided into three sections the Torah these are the first five books of the word of God bereshit shmot vaikra bamidbar dvarim Genesis Exodus Leviticus Numbers Deuteronomy and then we have the nevi'im the prophets and that is from really from Isaiah all the way to Malachi but then we have the ketuvim the third section of the Tanakh of the Hebrew Scripture and Daniel is placed in the Hebrew Scriptures among the ketuvim and the reason for this is because he was not reckoned as a prophet initially by the people of Israel he was the one.

That became a leader in Babel and he was a state man he's a politician we might say and yet we know that he was truly a prophet as Yeshua said in Matthew chapter 24 when he shall see the abomination of desolation spoken by Daniel the prophet Daniel hanavi then ye which are in judaea flee into the mountains another one Yeshua Jesus the Messiah who is the God of Daniel the God of Israel he knew very well that Daniel was a prophet but the Jewish rabbis who translated the Hebrew Tanakh from Hebrew to Greek they have placed him among the prophets and therefore we have in the English Scripture that Daniel is found among the prophets in fact among the major prophets even before Isaiah and the other prophets that are found in the word of God amazing beloved brothers and sisters and so king Nebuchadnezzar came three times against Jerusalem and judaea and then in this time which we study in the book of Daniel 605 bc it was then and there that Daniel.

Himself was carried with his friends and some of the vessels from the house of the Lord and into the land of Shinar this is very interesting because through the study of the book of Daniel you will notice that the book of Daniel is written in more than one language in fact chapter 1 to chapter 2 verse 4a it is really in the Hebrew language ivrit then when you continue on from chapter 2 verse 4b to chapter 7 and verse 28 Daniel was writing in aramit in aramaic the Babylonian language then in chapter 8 verse 1 to the end of the book of Daniel into chapter 12 verse 13 he is going back to the Hebrew language and there is a reason for that because when he is speaking about events that will occur during the times of the Gentiles he is writing in the language of the Gentile in aramit and then when he's specifically speaking concerning Israel his people in Jerusalem the city that he belonged to he's writing in the Hebrew language this is.

Wonderful to see this as we study a together prophecy of Daniel this is very very interesting my dear brothers and sisters now the book itself the book of Daniel is very similar to the book of Revelation remember the Revelation of Yeshua the Messiah the unveiling you remember God is unveiling certain truths to Daniel as he unveiled certain truths to Yohanan the apostle on who was on the island of Patmos to Daniel he unveiled before him some truths concerning the future day of the people of Israel but especially in connection with the times of the Gentiles and we will learn as we study this book of Daniel that really from the time that King Nebuchadnezzar came to take our Jewish people from the land in 6 or 5 BC the times of the Gentiles of the Gentiles Yeshua once again Jesus the Messiah spoke about the times of the Gentiles and the times of the Gentiles began when the city of Jerusalem was taken over by the Babylonian and the Jewish people no longer were under direct control of God in a sense that they.

Were now living in their land not away from the land from the time that the Jewish people were taken captive to Babel that's when the times of the Gentiles began and the time of the Gentiles will end only when the Gentiles will cease to control the Jewish people the people of Israel and Israel will be under God once again as it was in the days before and that will only happen at the end of the seven-year tribulation when the Mashiach Yeshua will come at his second coming and he will restore Israel to himself of whom we read in Revelation chapter 1 and verse 7 behold he cometh with clouds and every eye shall see him and they also which pierce him and all kinders of the earth shall wail because of him even so Amen Yeshua said i am Alpha and Omega the beginning at the ending says the Lord which is which was and which is to come the Almighty and so beloved friends beloved brothers and sisters the times of the Gentiles begin during the times of Daniel.

6 or 5 B.C. Before B.C.E. Before the common era and it will end after the church will be raptured and then the seven year tribulation period when Israel and all the nations of the world will experience a terrible day and at the end of the tribulation period Israel as a nation will recognize that Yeshua is indeed the Messiah and they shall look upon him whom they have pierced and they will receive him they will confess their sins and Israel the nation will be restored as God promised that a nation shall be born in a day let me read you what the Lord Jesus the Messiah said when he was speaking to the disciples he was saying in Luke chapter 21 verse 20 and when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies then know that the desolation thereof is nigh he is speaking about the upcoming 70 AD destruction of the city of Jerusalem line from his point of time when he Yeshua was here on earth then let them which be in Judea.

Flee into the mountains and let them which are in the midst of it depart out and let not them that are in the countries enter there into for these be the days of vengeance that all things which are written may be fulfilled but woe unto them that are with child and to them that give sack in those days for there shall be great distress in the land and wrath upon these people. Now notice beloved brothers and sisters the Lord Jesus the Messiah of course is now speaking about days that are ahead he was speaking at about 30 something AD now and he's anticipating the time of the 70 AD when the Romans will come and will destroy the second temple so he's preparing his disciples for this time but then notice what Yeshua the Messiah is saying Of course, he knows already what happened far earlier in the days when King Nebuchadnezzar came to take Daniel and others from Judea to Babel at 605 BC, later on at 597 BC, and then finally at 586 BC where the temple was burnt with fire and Jerusalem was completely destroyed.

And all the Jewish people, except some, were taken to Babel. But now notice what Yeshua is saying, and he's using this expression, the times of the Gentiles. In verse 24 of Luke chapter 21, Yeshua said, And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles. It is once again trodden down of the Gentiles. It was before and it will be after Yeshua will die and it's still been over the generation be trodden down by the Gentiles. And then he says until, until when? Until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.

And the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled is when Israel as a nation will accept the Mashiach at the end of that tribulation period. In fact, the church age in which we live in today is still part of the times of the Gentiles. The times of the Gentiles began at 605 BC when Daniel gave us this book here and its beginning was at 6 or 5 BC as we read in Daniel chapter 1 and verse 1 and 2 in the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah came Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon unto Jerusalem and besieged 6 or 5 BCE before the common era and the Lord gave your yakim king of Judah into his hands very very interesting beloved brothers and sisters and dear friends so this book of Daniel is really in its character is apocalyptic it's like it's unveiling truths before the prophet Daniel as yechezkel as well received certain truth apocalyptic unveiling truth and also we have others such as Zechariah as well as the apostle Yohanan John who received as well an apocalyptic message from the Lord unveiling concerning the person of the Lord Jesus the Messiah so Daniel Yechezkel Zechariah Chazon this is Revelation all these books are books that present before us a truth concerning symbols.

And prophetic messages that are unveiled before the prophets before the servants of the Lord in order to show them the things that pertaining to God's dealing with mankind but also specifically in connection with Daniel's people the Jewish people the people of Israel now it had been said and it's so important to realize that Daniel is a book that gives us every chapter has a certain theme certain message that God is sharing through the prophet with us all as we learn from this book as Israel received the book of Daniel and therefore the book itself is not presented in a chronological order because the orders of the chapters are not in a chronological order in fact we have in the book of Daniel beginning with chapter 1 chapter 2 chapter 3 chapter 4 that goes in order and then chapter 7 following 7 and 8 following chapter 4 in the order of events in a chronological order then back to chapter 5 and then up forward to chapter 9 and then again.

Returning back to chapter 6 and ultimately chapter 10 chapter 11 and chapter 12 and so the four seven eight five nine six ten eleven and twelve and yet as we learn from the book we learn very quickly that there is a theme there is a message that servant of the Lord that Daniel received from the Lord as he is presenting before us in this book that he said before us that is called the book of Daniel so we learn beloved brothers and sisters that the book of Daniel is a book that have both it has topics and it also has prophetic message we learn of the history of our Jewish people and we learn how the Lord have dealt with them during the time of the Gentiles And to remind you, beloved friend, never to forget that God's never finished with Israel, even though he have allowed Israel, the nation, to be taken captive by the Babylonian.

This is very important to understand. In fact, the apostle Shaul Paul stressed this again and again as he wrote the epistles, the letters to the assemblies. He mentioned this in order to help the church to understand that we live in a special age, a special era of the church age where God's message of the gospel of the grace of God is preached to all the nations of the world during these times when Israel is still under the times of the Gentiles. But a church age will come to a conclusion, to an end, and then God will restore his dealing with his people Israel, as the apostle Paul wrote in Romans chapter 11, and he said in verse 25 and 26 to the local assembly in the city of Rome, he said, I would not brethren that ye should be ignorant of this mystery lest ye should be wise in your own conceit that blindness in part is happened to Israel notice blindness in part not complete blindness but in part because the early church saints were all Jewish believers of the nation of Israel who gave us the word of God so blindness in part happened to Israel and it is until verse 25b until the fullness of the Gentiles be coming until the last days of the church age and then we will have the tribulation period which will conclude at the end of the tribulation the end of the seven years Israel all Israel shall be saved as we read here in Romans 11 26 and so all Israel shall be saved.

As it is written there shall come out of Zion the deliverer and shall turn away ungodliness from Yaakov from Jacob for this is my covenant God says unto them it's not Israel covenant unto God but God's covenant unto them he made the promises he is the one who have elected the nation of Israel he is the one who have chosen the people of Israel through them to bring the Mashiach the Messiah to this world the word of God notice he says for this is my covenant unto them when i shall take away their sins concerning the gospel they are enemies for your sakes but as touching the election they are beloved for their father's sakes wonderful as we read here in the introduction of the book of Daniel beloved brothers and sisters and so as we read in Daniel chapter 1 605 BC Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, besieged Jerusalem.

Remember, Jerusalem is the place where God set his name. Jerusalem is where the temple once stood. Jerusalem is where the worship of the Lord was. Jerusalem is the city that God has chosen to set his name there. Jerusalem is the very same city which we read in the Gospel of Luke when the Lord Jesus, the Messiah, wept over the city of Jerusalem. When he longed so much to restore the city of Jerusalem, and that is the people of Israel, and Israel would not, and therefore that time of the Gentiles continue on now for such a long time. We read, O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killers the prophet and stones them that are sent unto thee.

How often would I have gathered thy children together as a hand does gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not, Yeshua said, the Lord Jesus the Messiah said to the people of Israel at the time when he was here. And he said, Behold, your house is left unto you desolate, and verily I say unto you, ye shall not see me. Notice again the word until. As Shaul Paul said to the Romans, until the fullness of the Gentiles. Here Yeshua said, Until the time comes when ye shall say, Baruch haba b'shem Adonai. Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. And so, beloved brothers and sisters, it is very interesting that the prophet Daniel, by divine instruction, is led to write this book beginning with 605 B.C.

And because Daniel lived throughout all the 69, 70 years of the captivity of our people of Israel in Babylon. You can see that the book of Daniel is given to us and presented before us while Daniel himself was still part of those that were captive in Babylon. Extremely interesting beloved brothers and sisters and so as we read these first a few verses by way of introduction we learn here that Nebuchadnezzar came the king of Babylon he came to the city of Jerusalem he besieged it and imagine now the Jewish people began to be controlled by other nations the babylonians they are now no longer under God's control protected by him because now God had handed them over to another nation and so we read in verse 2 and the Lord gave your yakim king of Judah into his hand you notice the word Lord here when you read the Hebrew text the word for Lord here is the Hebrew word Adonai we read in that verse two the word Adonai here is the Hebrew word that is speaking of God as master as Lord it is not the word Lord which is the covenant keeping name of God Jehovah Jehovah that is mentioned only in chapter 9 when Daniel is praying here we see the Lord as the master in a time of his discipline upon his own people he gave notice this expression.

And the Lord, this is Adonai gave Joachim king of Judah into his hands God handed over Joachim the king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babel that king that was idol worshipping king and not only that he gave into his hand the king of Yehudah but also the Lord gave into his hands some or certain a part of the vessels of the house of God of the temple the vessels that were used for the worship of the Lord for the worship of the God of Israel golden vessels silver vessels vessel for used to be set apart for God for God's worship notice what we read in verse 2b not only that the Lord gave your akim king of Judah into his hand notice it says with part not all yet that will happen in 597 bc and ultimately at 586 bc when the temple will be destroyed but here now at 605 bce the Lord gave you yakim king of Judah into his hand and part of.

The vessels of the house of God and what do you think the king of Babel have done with these vessels from the house of God it says here in verse 2 which he carried into the land of shinar to the house of his God small g days of old when a nation fought against another nation and when one nation defeated the other nation they will go into the temple of that nation they will destroy it and take the God the idol that is found in the temple to bring it to the own house in the house of his God The nation that won the battle will take the gods of this other nation into his own house of his own God.

But he came to the house of the God of Israel. He doesn't find any idols there. What does he find? He finds vessels. We do not know which vessels exactly he took. But as we know, we had the Ark of the Covenant in the Holy of Holies. We had the mercy seat the kaporet upon it we had the menorah the lampstand the temple in the city of Yerushalayim had the golden altar also the table of showbread then the laver then the brazen altar and many of the vessels for the worship of the God of Israel can you imagine to enter into the temple to defile the temple well the temple was already defiled by our own people who violated God's word but now God handed over vessels from the house of God and allowing the king of Baveil Nebuchadnezzar to take and to carry these vessels and the king of Israel and some of the Jewish people to carry them into the land of shinar if you remember the land of shinar it is the land where idolatry began both in Genesis chapter 10 and Genesis chapter 11 we learn of the land of shinar to remind you that in Genesis chapter 10 and verse 10 we read and the beginning of his kingdom this is the kingdom of nimrod the word nimrod mean we will.

Rebel a man by the name of nimrod whose name mean we will rebel he had a kingdom and it says here and the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Babylon. The word Balbel, Balbel means to confound, confusion. And there we read, and Erech, and Achad, and Kalnef, and it says that it is in the land of Shinar. This is Genesis 10 and verse 10. We continue to read in Genesis 11 and verse 1. And the whole earth was one language and one speech. And it came to pass as they journeyed from the east that they found a plain in the land of Shinar. And they dwelled there. And you remember what we read, beloved brothers and sisters, concerning the land of Shinar.

Genesis 11 verse 3. And they said one to another go to let us make brick and burn them thoroughly and they had brick for stone and slime had they for mortar and they said go to let us build us a city and a tower whose top may reach unto heaven and let us make us a name lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth in fact in the land of Shinar the kingdom of Nimrod let us rebel is where we began with idolatry idolatry the worship of other gods in fact they said let us build a city and a tower and let us make a name unto ourselves they wanted to reach to heaven on their own way through their own way and yet God had to judge them that was in the land of Shinar the Lord came down verse 5 to see and the tower which the children of men built and the Lord said behold the people is one and they have all one language and this they began to do and now nothing will be restrained from them.

Which they have imagined go to, let us go down and they'll confound here's the Hebrew word nevale come from the word bavele to confuse, to confound their language that they may not understand one another's speech and the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth and they left to build the city notice verse 9 of Genesis 11 we read therefore is the name of it called Babel because the Lord did there confound the language of all the earth and from thence did the Lord scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth beloved brothers and sisters the Jewish people and the temple's vessels were now carried to Shinar to the house of their gods and therefore the judgment of God came upon his own people and notice what we read here it says in verse 2 of Daniel chapter 1 and verse 2 and he brought the vessels into the treasure house of his God Nebuchadnezzar how sad it was carry the Jewish people carried part of the vessels took them away from the house of God.

And brought them all the way to Shinar all the way to Babel where the place of idolatry was and the Jewish people, the people of Israel were there by their rivers of Babylon their weeping when they remember Zion well my dear friend this is the way in which God deal with even his own people in discipline whom the Lord loveth and the Lord love his people Israel he chastened us and he's scourging them and he disciplined them and because of disobedience God by his providence as a sovereign God he took the Jewish people and led them into the land of ababel and so just to conclude the introduction i would like just to mention just this one important point here that we must remember that the theme of the book of Daniel is really the sovereignty of God over the affairs of all men in general and in particular over the affair of the people of Israel.

We read in Daniel chapter 4 verse 17 this matter is by the decree of the watchers and the demand by the word of the holy ones. To the intent that the living may know that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men and giveth it to whomsoever he will and setteth up over it the basest of men. The Most High Ruler Ruleth Over the Kingdom of Man. This is the introduction to the study of the book of Daniel. Well, God bless you, my dear friends, dear brothers and sisters. As we study together this interesting book of Daniel, we will take it one chapter at a time, one verse at a time, one theme at a time, and trust that the Lord will bless His Word.

God bless you, my dear friend. Shalom, shalom.