Daniel’s Amazing Prophecies About Our Day/Program 2

By: Dr. Jimmy DeYoung; ©2010

Daniel predicted a 10-nation alliance, possible a revived Roman Empire that will play a major role in end-time events. He also names other nations – ones that are in the news today – that will attack Israel and attempt to destroy it.

Contents

Introduction

Announcer: Today, one out of every four Christian adults believes Jesus could return in their lifetime. The Old Testament prophet Daniel gives us the skeletal outline of all future Bible prophecy and is the key to understanding the book of Revelation. Jesus Christ himself quoted from Daniel, assuring us of its truths. This book contains Daniel’s predictions of four world empires that will rise and fall, his predictions of a final world empire that will be led by a new and powerful global leader, and his warning of an alignment of nations that will come against the nation of Israel in the last days.

Where do we find ourselves in the events Daniel describes? How do Daniel’s prophecies fit into such events as the rapture, the tribulation, the battle of Armageddon, and the second coming of Christ? Today we will take you step-by-step through the book of Daniel to help you understand its message and the events God foretells are up ahead. My guest is journalist and prophecy scholar Dr. Jimmy DeYoung, who has lived and reported from Jerusalem since 1991 and has interviewed every Israeli prime minister over the last 15 years. Join us for this special edition of The John Ankerberg Show.

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Ankerberg: Welcome to our program. How do you talk to a skeptical friend about the prophecies that are found in the Bible? Has God really revealed to the prophets in the Old Testament and the New Testament about future events that are going to take place in our world? I believe the answer is yes, and I think the evidence is unmistakable. It’s archeological evidence, linguistic arguments.

And we’re going to go back to the book of Daniel. The prophet Daniel lived in the sixth century in the empire of Babylon and he wrote a book, called Daniel, that’s found in the Old Testament. And he gives prophecies. And these four brown pillars up here represent the key passages in there that we’re wrapping the book around that we want you to know. Up here, we have the book of Revelation in the white pillars. And we have three key pillars up here.

And my guest today is journalist and prophecy scholar, Dr. Jimmy DeYoung. And he’s going to take us through the outline, and then we’re going to show you some interviews that we have done with the political and religious leaders in Israel to set this up. So, Jimmy, introduce, first of all, our topic here.

DeYoung: You know, there are four main prophetic chapters in the book of Daniel. There are 12 chapters all together, but the second chapter here is the prophecy of the Revived Roman Empire. Daniel interprets the dream for Nebuchadnezzar, image of a man, and the ten toes of iron and clay would be talking about that kingdom to come before Jesus Christ returns – the Revived Roman Empire.

When we come to chapter 7, we see out of the ten horns – very similar to the ten toes of iron and clay in chapter 2 – in chapter 7 and verse 7, the ten horns that would be located on the old Roman Empire, and that would be referred to as the Revived Roman Empire as well. Out of those ten horns comes the little horn, one of 27 names for the Antichrist, the political world dictator who will control the Revived Roman Empire. That’s chapter 7.

We move then to chapter 9, which gives us three of the main elements in the Tribulation period, happening right after the rapture of the church. You have a tyrant, which would be the Antichrist; you have a treaty that he confirms; and a temple that will be standing in the city of Jerusalem. That’s followed by chapter 11, where we talk about the alignment of nations that will form against the Jewish State of Israel.

Now, these four chapters, these four prophetic chapters in Daniel, are basically giving more detail to the seven years of Tribulation. And our smaller pillars there, the first one to the left of your screen, is the rapture of the church; the second one, the middle one, is the return of Jesus Christ; between those two events, the seven year Tribulation period. And early on, right after the rapture of the church, it’s the second seal judgment – a man on a red horse, chapter 6 verses 3 and 4 – comes forth, takes peace from the earth, has a sword in his hand to bring war to the world. That’s what we see both in Daniel and in the book of Revelation.

Ankerberg: Alright, now folks, the reason I believe that the evidence is persuasive about what we’re talking about in Daniel and Revelation is there’s a ring of truth to the truth. And you know the news, and we’re going to take you to some of our interviews with the top political leaders in Israel right now, alright. And you’re going to hear how they assess the threats that are coming around them. You’ll hear that, and then we’re going to come back. We’ll take a break and then come back to the set here, and we’re going to talk about the interviews that we had and what was said. Alright, so here is part of our interviews with leaders in Israel as well some of our commentary on the set for a program that we’ve done before. I want you to hear that and then we’re going to come back and we’ll comment on it further. Watch this.

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VIDEO CLIP

Ankerberg: Around the world there are fears that the Middle East is about to explode and drag the entire world into one of the most difficult and terrifying conflicts in world history. In this segment, we will report on 3 things. First, what nations are threatening the existence of Israel today? Second, what are the nations the biblical prophets say will come against Israel in the last days. And third, do we see evidence that these prophecies are beginning to be fulfilled in our own day? We will take you to the Knesset and other government buildings, where you will hear Israel’s political and military leaders talk about the nations threatening Israel today.

Benjamin Netanyahu: I think we have to do everything in our power to prevent the arming of Iran with nuclear weapons. On this, I have to say, there is absolute unanimity in Israel.

Moshe Arens: Nuclear capability in the hands of the Iranians is not only a threat against Israel, that’s a threat to the world.

Ankerberg: But is Iran the only threat Israel is facing? What about Hamas in Gaza, and Hezbollah in Lebanon?

DeYoung: John, Iran is the major threat according to the Israeli intelligence community as far as the Jewish State of Israel is concerned. But it’s not the only threat in this neighborhood.

Netanyahu: We’re being not only told that we’ll be wiped off the face of the earth, but also that Iranian-backed proxies are establishing themselves at our doorsteps and rocketing, rocketing our people. And this is the problem; this is the source of the problem. This is why it’s becoming so dangerous, because how can you negotiate with somebody who wants your destruction?

Ankerberg: As you look down at the nation of Israel from space, you realize how small it really is. Israel stretches only 263 miles from north to south and its width ranges from 71 miles at its widest point, to only 9 miles at its narrowest point. To the northeast Israel faces a 47 mile border with Syria; to the north a 49 mile border with Lebanon; to the east Israel has a 147 mile long border with Jordan; and to the southwest, Israel borders Egypt; and directly south has a small window onto the Red Sea. This map will give you an idea of Israel’s land mass as compared to the 22 Arab and Muslim countries surrounding it.

With all of this in mind, we begin with what Mr. Benjamin Netanyahu the Prime Minister of Israel told us about the threat Israel is currently facing from Iran.

Netanyahu: The militant Shiites in Iran are openly racing, and boasting that they are racing to develop nuclear weapons with the explicit announced goal of wiping Israel from the face of the earth, re-establishing the Caliphate (of course under militant Shiite Iranian rule), the Caliphate includes the territories from Iran to Spain, developing long-range ballistic missiles first that are targeted to every European capital and within a decade to reach the eastern coast of the American mainland. If Iran acquires nuclear weapons, everything that we’ve been talking about will pale in comparison. Because the power to extend power, to threaten, to realize the threats, to make good on the threats, will be on a level that we have not seen, nor one that we can readily imagine. It will put the oil reserves of the Gulf under their sway. They could easily bring down governments or fold them into their realm. They will inspire and encourage the radicals in the various Islamic communities that they’re targeting around the world and they will be in turn inspired by the fact that, obviously, the acquisition of nuclear weapons is a providential sign of the coming victory of the true believers. And, of course, they might make good on their twisted ideas of ending Zionism and extending their realm by other means. So this is threat to the entire world, and it cannot be seen as anything but that.

Ankerberg: Like our American Speaker of the House of Representatives, in Israel, Mr. Reuven Rivlin is the Speaker of the Knesset.

Mr. Reuven Rivlin: I really believe that Iran should be taken care of by the entire family of nations, and not only by Israel. Israel have to take care of and to know that one – they will have to face the threat of being destroyed by possible nuclear weapons from the site of Iran. They will have to do, and not what, we know what we will have to do.

Ankerberg: Then we asked Mr. Netanyahu about the threats Israel is experiencing from Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza.

Netanyahu: There is a tremendous increase in the power of Iran’s proxies, of Hezbollah and Hamas. We have Hezbollah now with a tremendous base, and you can see that the international guarantees that were supposed to stop the flow of arms did nothing of the kind. So, we not only had 4,000 rockets fired on the Galilee from that base, but we now have 40,000 rockets which are aimed at every part of Israel.

And at the same time, the same thing has happened in the south. We’ve had, by the way, for a tremendous increase in the power of Hamas. It actually wasn’t only politically strengthened, but very shortly afterwards, it militarily just took over the Gaza Strip and kicked out the Palestinian Authority and it’s become, developed a base. They’ve rocketed 4,000 rockets, that’s the number since the unilateral disengagement. If we walk out here, there’ll be an Iranian base here, right here, across this street, on the other side of the street. That’s what will happen.

Ankerberg: If you are somewhat surprised at the forceful words that Mr. Netanyahu used, you will be amazed to learn that almost all of Israel’s leaders view Iran the same way. Mr. Moshe Arens was Ambassador to the United States and served as Israel’s important Minister of Defense for three different administrations.

DeYoung: The Israeli intelligence community, is the number one treat to the Jewish State of Israel. Would you agree with that assessment?

Arens: Well, that’s correct. Because first of all Iran is the only state, unlike terrorist organizations, but the only state in the region, as a matter of fact the only state in the world, whose government, whose Prime Minister, President, I guess, Ahmadinejad, openly threatens Israel and says Israel has to be wiped off the map. So here you have a declared enemy. Now, Iran is not a miniscule state, and the Iranians are hell-bent on getting nuclear weapons. So when somebody is talking and working towards nuclear capability, and tells you that you need to be wiped off the face of the earth, it’s a real threat.

Ankerberg: One day as we sat on the Mount of Olives and overlooked the Temple Mount I asked Jimmy to lay out the specific nations, God reveals through the prophets, will come against Israel in the last days.

Ankerberg: Jimmy, as we look across the Old City of Jerusalem and we see the Dome of the Rock, the third holiest site for the Islamic world; and you also see the Jewish Temple Mount here, which is the sacred mount of the Jewish people across the world. We see two opposing opinions and it talks about the battle for Jerusalem. And I want to ask a question, and people want to know, what are the nations that are mentioned in the Bible, in prophecy that will have a role in the end-time scenario of what happens here in Israel?

DeYoung: You know, John, that Dome of the Rock speaks to that group of nations, that alignment that will come against Israel, because that is a Muslim building. It’s a commemorative building that Omar, one of the Muslim leaders, built there on the Temple Mount in 691 AD. But the Islamic world is what is going to basically come together, align themselves to try to destroy the Jewish state. With one exception: Russia is mentioned in the book of Ezekiel chapter 38.

Here in the book of Ezekiel chapter 38, which would be the main focus in Bible prophecy, other sections of the Bible we will look at. But in Ezekiel 38 it talks here in verse 2 about Magog, Gog in the land of Magog. Now, Gog would be the person, Magog would be the particular state that it’s talking about. And according to biblical geography, Magog would have been that land mass north of the Caspian and Black Sea, which is Russia today.

Then in verse 2 it says, Meshech and Tubal, and down in verse 6 it says Gomer and Togarmah. When travelling in Turkey recently I picked up an ancient Turkish map. And in biblical times Turkey was actually divided into four parts: Meshech, Tubal, Gomer and Togarmah. So we are now talking about Russia and Turkey.

There in verse 5 it says Persia. Until 1936 there were three nations we know today that were known as Persia. Those three nations are Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran. And then you continue on in verse 5, Ethiopia or Cush in some translations, that would be Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan. And then in verse 5 again it says here in my Bible, Libya, or maybe in another translation Put. Well, that’s modern day Libya, Colonel Qaddafi.

You have to coordinate this with Daniel chapter 11 verses 40-45. It talks about the King of the North. Earlier in chapter 11 you find out that is what we know as Syria today. And the King of the South would be Egypt today. And then going over into the book of Psalms, you go over the book of Psalms chapter 83 and it talks in Psalm 83 about a list of nations. It mentions here the Ishmaelites; well, that’s modern day Saudi Arabia. And then in verse 5 it talks about Tyre; that’s modern day Lebanon. So we are now seeing a list of Arab nations, with the exception of Russia, who will form this coalition to come against Israel in the last days.

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Ankerberg: Jimmy, when you come to Bible prophecy, what God has predicted in Scripture is absolutely mind-blowing. If people will just read it, it is so clear-cut, it is so straightforward, it jumps off the page and bites you in the foot. It is, it’s unbelievable what God says is going to happen up ahead – the alignment of the nations that are going to come against Israel. We’re seeing it, we’re witnessing it in the papers everyday right now – explain a little further.

DeYoung: This alignment of nations will come against the nation of Israel and try to destroy the Jewish State of Israel. Ahmadinejad made this statement, “Israel must be wiped off the face of the earth.” We see current events unfolding that fit perfectly with the prophecies for the last days.

Ankerberg: When will this happen?

DeYoung: It’s going to happen when there’s peace in the land, a pseudo-peace – the Antichrist sets it up when he confirms a peace treaty, Daniel 9:27, “When they’re dwelling safe in the land” it says in Ezekiel 38:8, “when they’re living in un-walled villages”, in another words, that’s a military term, they’ve laid down their weapons. Then these nations, this alignment of nations, comes to destroy the Jewish State.

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Ankerberg: Aright, we’re back. And we’re back in the studio and we’re talking with Dr. Jimmy DeYoung. And we’re talking about the footage that we just looked at. And realizing this is going into Europe, this is going into the Middle East, we’re not trying to make people angry here, we’re just simply trying to report what it is that people told us in Israel, alright. And how would you like to follow that up? And what I really want to do is, I want to bring it back to what the prophet Daniel said in our outline through Daniel, as well as what the apostle John said in the book of Revelation, about the future and where we’re at.

DeYoung: John, before we look at the biblical prophecy pertaining to this alignment of nations, for example, let’s think about we heard in the interviews that we played for our friends watching the program today. When I talked with Benjamin Netanyahu, he said that the threat was there; that Hamas in the south was sending the Kassan rockets into the main part of Israel; that Hezbollah in the north was armed. In fact, I think when we talked with him it was about 40,000 rockets. You mentioned earlier 60,000 rockets, that’s an update on what the prime minister of Israel has to say.

I talked with Netanyahu about Ahmadinejad. He had made a statement one time that Ahmadinejad must be compared with Adolf Hitler of World War II. I asked him, in the time we had together, did he still agree with that statement? He said, “Well, yes and no. Yes, I believe that Ahmadinejad is just as dangerous as Adolf Hitler, wanting to wipe the Jewish nation off the face of the earth,” but he said there’s a difference as well. I said, “What’s that, sir?” He said Adolf Hitler started a war to develop a weapon of mass destruction and Prime Minister Netanyahu said that the president of Iran, Ahmadinejad, is developing a weapon of mass destruction to start a war.

Now, that’s as up to date and reality as you can possibly get to, as we look at current events unfolding today. When we talk about Hamas in the south, Prime Minister Netanyahu believes that they have to be dealt with. They have not ever agreed that they would recognize Israel has a right to be a state among the states in the entire Middle East. And their armed struggle is what they continually call for, to wipe Israel off of that land that they say is their Palestinian State. Hezbollah; they’re so armed, they’re ready to attack from the north. The leader of Hezbollah, Nasrallah, Sheik Nasrallah, he has a driving desire to be the leader of, I believe, Lebanon, politically, and then to destroy Israel and fulfill the desires of who sent him there back in 1982, the late Ayatollah Khomeini. When you look at all that’s coming together: Syria in the north, Bashar Assad, with his troops there at Israel’s northern border ready to come in, the stage is set for all of these prophecies to be fulfilled.

Ankerberg: People that are secularists, secular political leaders and secular philosophers, have always asked the question, why is it that there’s been such anger against the Jewish people, okay? Let’s answer that biblically. Why, biblically, is this coming against this little nation?

DeYoung: Because God has promised them a piece of real estate. There are 38 locations in the Bible that talk about the biblical borders of Israel. It would include the countries of half of Egypt, from the Nile River all the way up to the Gaza Strip; all of Israel; all of Lebanon to the Euphrates River; then going southeastward down towards the Persian Gulf, would take in all of Syria; all of Jordan; would take in three quarters of Iraq; would take in all of Kuwait; three quarters of Saudi Arabia. Ten times what the Jewish people have today. God has promised to give them this land, yet in the future, when He sets up His kingdom. The late president of Syria, Hafez al-Assad, said, “The problem in the Middle East is that these Jews believe the Bible; they believe that God has given them this real estate.” Well, that is true, He has. But I think this helps us to understand what’s going on in the Middle East and why the Islamic world, the Arab world, hate the Jewish people. They’re going to have their land; God is going to give them this land.

Ankerberg: Alright, so let’s place our pillar again. The fourth one is the alignment of the nations that’s predicted by Daniel in chapter 11. And that refers to the first pillar in the book of Revelation, which is the event of the rapture, which comes. Starting chapter 6, we start the time of Tribulation that goes for 16 chapters there.

DeYoung: You know, John, chapter 11 names the nations that will come against Israel. Chapter 6 in the book of Revelation deals with the event that will happen. Peace will be taken from this world; that is going to happen. Both of these prophecies, ready to be fulfilled. And all we have to do is look in the daily newspaper, listen to a radio newscast or television newscast, we’ll know that, indeed, we’re at that point in history.

Ankerberg: Alright, we’re not talking about this just so that people will know that God exists and is talking through the prophets. We want this information to actually point them to Jesus, the Savior of the world, because God wants all people to come into a relationship with His Son. How can they do that?

DeYoung: You know it’s interesting to me, John. The prophecies in the word of God are at the point of fulfillment. Jesus Christ, quoted by the apostle Peter, 2 Peter chapter 3 and verse 9 said, “I’m not slack concerning My promise; I’m going to come back.” But then He said, “I’m not willing that any should perish, but all should come to the faith.” This is very key for every one of us to understand. What is happening today is setting the stage for the return of Jesus Christ, the return back to the earth, which is at least seven years from now; before that, the rapture of the church. Now, how do you live in light of that? That’s what’s key. And what about your loved ones, your family, your friends, your workmates, your school buddies? Why do you not go and talk to them about this that’s happening – warn them? Ezekiel was made a prophet and a watchman. And a watchman is defined in Ezekiel chapter 3, “hear the word from my mouth and warn the people.” That’s what we need to be doing today.

Ankerberg: Alright, in this outline of the book of Daniel, if you’ve got the first pillar is the Revived Roman Empire, we’ve got to have an empire that comes in the last days. And we’re seeing the infrastructure formed for that right now. And if you need to have a political leader that’s going to come and is going to rule over that empire, and we see that office is getting to be in place. And third, you have this terrible time of Tribulation. And you need three events, you need the tyrant, you need the treaty, this peace treaty with Israel, and then you need one more, you need the temple. The Jewish temple has to be rebuilt in Jerusalem. And next week, we’re going to do,… we’ve never shown this on television before. When we were in Jerusalem, we went and actually filmed the preparations that are being made to build the Jewish temple right now, okay. Folks, I hope that you’ll join us and this’ll be something that you’ll remember for a long time. See you then.

Read Part 8