Pastor Crawford emphasizes that the Bible's message of inclusivity is a profound reminder that salvation is available to all, as he reflects on the significance of Daniel chapter seven. He discusses the prophetic implications of the vision presented in this chapter, particularly focusing on the rise of four kingdoms and the eventual establishment of God's everlasting kingdom. Throughout the episode, he expresses excitement about exploring the end times, specifically the Rapture, and how it fits into the broader prophetic timetable. Pastor Crawford provides a comprehensive overview of the challenges and events that believers may face, including the rise of the Antichrist and the persecution of the saints. Ultimately, he reassures listeners of God's sovereignty and control over all things, encouraging them to live in light of eternity and the coming kingdom of Christ.

In this insightful episode, Pastor Crawford explores the profound themes presented in Daniel Chapter 7, emphasizing God's sovereignty over human history. The chapter’s vivid imagery of four beasts serves as a stark reminder of the fluctuating power dynamics throughout history, each beast symbolizing a significant empire, culminating in the alarming prospect of a future world ruled by the Antichrist. Pastor Crawford deeply engages with the text, elucidating the characteristics of each beast, and drawing parallels between Daniel's prophetic visions and the current geopolitical climate.

He articulates a compelling narrative that underscores the importance of understanding these prophecies as they pertain to future events, particularly the Rapture and the subsequent tribulation period. Pastor Crawford’s approach is both educational and pastoral, as he seeks to comfort and guide believers through the complexities of eschatological themes. He emphasizes the assurance that God has not abandoned His people and that there is a divine plan culminating in an everlasting kingdom where righteousness prevails. This message serves as both an admonition and a source of hope, encouraging listeners to live with an eternal perspective and to remain vigilant in their faith during these tumultuous times.

Takeaways:

• Pastor Crawford expresses gratitude for the inclusive nature of salvation, emphasizing that anyone can come to Jesus Christ.
• He highlights the importance of studying the end times, specifically focusing on the prophetic timetable and the Rapture.
• The discussion includes an analysis of Daniel chapter seven, showcasing four beasts as symbols of future kingdoms.
• Crawford explains the significance of the Antichrist's reign and the eventual victory of the saints over evil throughout history.

Aren't you glad the Bible says whosoever will?

Amen.

Amen.

So I'm so thankful that God is no respecter of persons, that all can come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.

If you put in your Bibles, turn to Daniel chapter seven.

Daniel chapter seven.

About half the message tonight will be review.

And I also want to continue to walk you through the end time timetable.

And we're going to do that over and over and over again.

And then towards the last couple of Wednesday nights of the year, I'm going to take that time and really in depth teach on the Rapture and why we believe that the Rapture is the next event to take place in the prophetic timetable.

The only other event that could take place before that is maybe the battle of Gog and Magog.

That'll be interesting.

You can go read Ezekiel 38 and 39, get an idea of what that battle might be.

And that's interesting too because that means Russia and many of the other countries would really be inept after that battle.

And so it's just interesting stuff.

My mind is so full when I study this particular subject because there's so much to learn, there's so much information to take in.

And if I seem like I, you know, go in circles a little bit, it's because I review as the best teacher.

And for me too, as I continue to look over and study.

And it's exciting, it's exciting to know that we're in the last of the last days.

Remember now, they said they were in the last days when the apostles were here, but we're in the last of the last days.

And I'm telling you he could come tonight.

Daniel, chapter 7, verse 15.

And Daniel was grieved, and I, Daniel was grieved in my spirit, in the midst of my body.

And the visions of my head troubled me.

And I came near unto one of them that stood by and asked him the truth of all this.

Wouldn't you like to know or see who that was?

You know, like all it says is one that stood by.

Nobody else would be interested.

I would.

Man, it would be so cool to know.

Yeah, I'm sorry I stopped.

I just came nearer unto one of them that stood by and asked him the truth of all of this.

So he told me and made me know the interpretation of the things.

Verse 17.

These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth.

But the saints of the most high shall take the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever.

And I think I could just see Daniel going.

He didn't tell me a whole lot.

Then verse 19.

I would know the truth of the four beasts which was the fourth beast, which was diverse from all the others exceeding dreadful, whose teeth were of iron, and his nails of brass, which devoured break in pieces, and stamped the residue with his feet.

And of the 10 horns that were in his head, and of the other which came up, and before him, whom three fell even of that horn that had eyes and a mouth that spake very great things, whose look was more stout than his fellows, and I beheld in the same horn, made war with the saints and prevailed against them, until the ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the Most High.

And the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.

Thus he said, the fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down and break in pieces.

And then the ten horns.

Out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise, and another shall rise after them.

And he shall be diversed from the first, and shall subdue three kings.

And he shall speak great words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and think to change times and laws, and they shall be given into his hand until the time and times, and the dividing of time.

Verse 26.

But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and destroy it unto the end.

I love verse 27.

And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom unto the whole heaven shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve obey him.

Hitherto is the end of the matter.

And as for me, Daniel, my cognitations was much troubled me, and my countenance changed in me.

But I kept the matter in my heart.

Let's pray.

Heavenly Father, Lord again pray for wisdom.

As we look at this passage and Lord may again we be reminded that we are in the end times.

And God may we live in light of eternity.

Thank you and love you.

In Jesus name, Amen.

The theme of the book of Daniel again is God rules in the affairs of men.

And we cover that every Sunday night that we've studied Daniel.

And remembering that God puts kings on throne, God takes them down.

We have no need to worry.

God's in control.

Ultimately God's on the throne.

He will not forget his own.

He cares for us.

He again is in control.

Of all things, he has all power.

We don't have to fear.

No matter what happens in our government, no matter what happens in governments around the world, we remember that God is in control.

Again, the prophet here's purpose is to encourage God's people to remind them that they will return from captivity and that ultimately they will.

The Jews, the kingdom that was promised to David will be set up and that that kingdom will be an eternal kingdom.

And the Jews are reminded of this in chapter seven.

Again, chronologically fits between chapter four and five.

Again, the first seven or six chapters.

Six chapters deal kind of historically what's happened here.

We're dealing with future events, and so that's why we have that division taking place.

And then we know chapter two has of course, future implications too.

But the first six chapters primarily deal with Daniel and his friends and so forth.

So that's why you got to fit chapter seven back over between chapter four and chapter five.

Here we see Daniel is troubled and physically shaken.

Again, Babylon is in power.

Belshazzar is that, you know, on the throne, reigning with his dad.

He's troubled.

Daniel's troubled about not only about the intense vision he just received, but the place, political change that will take place and the human suffering that's going to take place.

And he sees all of this, and he sees what sin's going to cause, and it troubles him.

Imagine if you were to see in a vision millions of people going to.

And know that millions of people are going to die.

Hundreds of million.

And know that your own countrymen are going to die.

Many of them, thousands of them.

Hundreds of thousands of them.

Millions of them.

It troubled him.

Wouldn't you be troubled?

Especially if you knew it was true?

We know it's true.

Daniel knew it was going to happen.

Boy, that would be troubling, wouldn't it?

He was shaken.

The times of the Gentiles had begun with Nebuchadnezzar's defeat of Jerusalem and the destruction of Jerusalem.

Times of the Gentiles is no longer.

I'll just use it this way.

It's no longer the times of the Jews.

God's primarily dealing with the Jews.

It's now the primary dealing is with the Gentiles.

Nebuchadnezzar the Gentile now is ruler of the then known world.

And until the battle of Armageddon, the time of the Gentiles will be in place.

But that's not always going to be the case.

Nebuchadnezzar's vision in chapter two correlates with this particular Vision.

In chapter two he sees a statue that again is showing him the four world powers.

The current world power of Babylon.

And then the next world power to be the Medo Persian Empire.

The next world power to be Greece.

And then the next power to be Rome.

And then the 10 toes of that statue representing the revived Roman Empire.

In verses one through eight of chapter seven we have the rise of these four beasts.

And then we went over this last Sunday.

The first beast was a winged lion, a lion with wings.

And this represents Babylon.

The next beast was a bear representing the Medo Persian Empire.

And it says that he was feeding upon three ribs.

I'm hungry.

Ribs sound good.

The three ribs.

We don't know what that represents necessarily, but maybe Egypt and Babylon and Lydia.

Because again, when the Medo Persian Empire took the place of Babylon, it didn't just have to defeat Babylon, there were other entities, other countries that had, had gone away from Babylon.

And so they had to to get all of those country resubmitted, resubdued, defeat some of those other powers that had fallen away and had gone away from the Babylonian empire.

And then the third one was the leopard.

The leopard.

And this represents Greece.

It speaks of this leopard having four wings and four heads.

And then the fourth beast, and this is the one Daniel is zoning in on.

And when verses 7 and 8 are describing the beast, there's nothing like it.

So it doesn't give you an animal to describe it, it simply gives you characteristics of that beast.

And this represents Rome.

And then it represents the future revived Rome Empire.

Because verse again 7 and 8 began to talk about the 10 horns again on this beast.

And then the little horn that arises out of the 10 horns and then that little horn subdues.

That's the word used we just read pulls up if you.

It's what the Bible speaks of.

Three of the other horns.

This little horn had a mouth, spoke great things.

The little horn had eyes, human eyes.

This little horn we know as the Antichrist.

The Antichrist, understand the verses 9 through 14 that speaks of the ancient of days and the Son of Man, the ancient of days, the eternal judge and God the Father.

And then again destroys the Antichrist.

The Antichrist is destroyed and thrown into hell, describes him as a beast thrown into hell, thrown into the fire.

That is the ultimate place in which the Antichrist was, will be placed.

That's where he'll go.

That's where the end is by the way.

It's where Satan's end too, ultimately, in hell.

And then verses 13 through 14 describe the Son of man.

And this is Jesus Christ.

And it speaks of again the Son of Man being given dominion and being given the everlasting kingdom.

Revelation chapter 5 also describes this same scene of the Antichrist being defeated.

And the Son of Man, Jesus Christ, will rule and reign forever and ever.

Alright, so that's where we stopped at last time.

Now we have the vision.

Partially explained.

Doesn't really give us the whole explanation, but it gives us a partial explanation.

And Daniel asks one that stood near him, like I said, I would want to know.

Be nice to know who that is or what that is, or what creation that is, what creature that is, right?

One near him and ask the question, what do these things mean?

What are the truths found here?

And then the creature says, the four beasts represent four kings, four Kings that will arise and have dominion.

These four beasts represent four kings.

And I love this part.

If you go back and read it again, it's as though it didn't matter because he doesn't go into a deep explanation of all the things that.

All the things that the beasts were, but he kind of just goes, yeah, these represent.

I'm just now giving you my thoughts on it.

All right.

He just kind of goes, yeah, these four beasts represent four kings.

And oh, guess what?

The Saints are going to reign forever and ever and ever and ever.

He just kind of skips over it, everything else.

That's so cool, isn't it?

What does it matter?

It's kind of like what he says, what does it matter?

No, no, no.

The Saints and the Son of Man are going to reign and have dominion over the kingdoms forever and ever and ever.

I love that part.

I think it's awesome.

But the Saints of the Most High, verse 18, shall take the kingdom and possess it.

Possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever.

Touchdown.

I mean, all this explanation of how wild and beastly and terrible these beasts are, especially the fourth beast.

And all this creature wanted to say to Daniel was, listen, the Savior, the Son of man is going to reign forever.

Not just forever, but forever and ever.

It's awesome.

And then Daniel, he just basically says, what?

I would like to know a little more than that.

And he rehearses the vision.

He rehearses it in verses 16 through 21, 22, he reviews.

And then he asks again concerning the fourth beast.

It's like he's saying, okay, I get this, but can I have some more information?

It's like, you know, hey, I like a little more detail, especially about that fourth beast.

Then further explanation of the vision, verses 23, 27, the angel or this creature gives him more information.

The fourth kingdom will rule over the whole earth.

There in verse 23, verse 24, he speaks about again the ten kings who will reign and one will rise up and remove three of them.

The Bible here uses the word subdue.

In other words, put in subjection or controlled.

But another part it says that he will pluck them up, he'll part them up.

So whether it's they're completely gone, but no matter what, he's over them, he's controlling them.

They're in subjection to him.

The Antichrist.

Verses 24 and 25, the Antichrist again is described and even some of his actions.

Again he'll subdue three of the kings, he'll control them, he'll reign over them.

Verses 11, 20 and verse 8 and verse 25 speaks about the Antichrist speaking great words.

And then it gives us further explanation.

There in verse 25, against God.

It says he'll speak great words against God.

We know Revelation speaks about him speaking blasphemies, that he will speak blasphemies against God.

He will speak against God.

He will persecute the saints.

I like the way it describes it.

He'll wear them out.

But we know from Revelation that he will persecute the saints, especially the Jews, and that this will last for three and a half years.

For three and a half years.

Notice it says at the end of verse 25 and he shall just go ahead and read the whole verse and he shall speak great words against the Most High.

Again, blasphemies against God shall wear out the saints of the Most High.

Going to be persecution of the saints and think to change the time and laws.

Again, speaking of changing the system of changing the laws of the Judeo Christian, you know, laws that are in place of changing those.

And they shall be given into his hand until the time and times of the dividing of times.

3.

That little phrase there means three and a half years.

In other words, God limits the time in which the Antichrist will be able to wear the saints out.

Limits that time.

I'm thankful God's in control.

I want to be reminded over and over again that God's in control.

And there is a seven year tribulation that will take place.

There is a seven year tribulation take place.

The next event on the calendar of the prophetic timetable, I believe is the Rapture.

I believe that's very clear.

And all the saved will be caught up.

All the saved will be caught up and changed in the moment of the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump, the trumpet's going to sound and we're going to be caught up to be with him.

We're going to be raptured up.

What a day that'll be.

And while that seven year tribulation is going on here on earth, we will be in heaven for seven years, those who are saved, because God has not appointed his children under wrath.

Revelation makes it very clear.

And we'll study that, as I said in particular towards the end of the year and really lay it out for you.

So again, seven years of tribulation.

Three and a half years of peace.

Three and a half years of Jacob's trouble.

Three and a half years of peace, peace, peace.

As the Antichrist rules and reigns, he does rule and reign, but he does so in peace.

At the end of that three and a half years, man, he does change the times and he does change the laws and he does go back on his agreements with the Jews and he does set his idols up or he sets himself up in the temple, makes himself God and begins to persecute Christians and Jews alike, ruthlessly slaughtering them.

What's amazing to me is we read about those who will be saved.

In fact, the Bible says those that will be saved during the tribulation cannot be numbered.

I don't know what the number is.

It says it can't be numbered.

I'm telling you, there will be a great host of people saved who accept Christ as their savior, who put their trust in Jesus Christ by grace, through faith, by the way, the same way we get saved throughout the great tribulation.

Those are the ones who will come through the tribulation.

Those are the ones we as saints will rule and reign over.

All those who are not raptured up.

There's a. I can stop seven years of tribulation.

The Antichrist will come out of the this revived Roman Empire.

And maybe it is we're talking to somebody a while ago.

Maybe this is the European Union revised in some way.

But you can see it happening, can't you?

As countries jockey for position, as certain countries take in more countries.

We thought the Soviet Union was done, didn't you?

Well, not, no.

Now it's.

I forget what they call it now, the Great Russian Empire or something like that.

You think Mr. Putin doesn't want to conquer and he does.

He's building a kingdom.

China, if you heard of the word Bric.

The countries who have formed what we kind of have as American as the United States.

This Economic and other ties together.

This includes Russia and China and Brazil and many other countries who are trying to thwart America's dominance in the world's economy.

That's happening right now.

Will they be successful at it?

I don't know.

You know.

Well, if you're going to put tariffs on me, I'll just trade with China and Russia.

That's what Brazil saying.

Brazil said.

Anyway.

I'm just telling you all these moving parts take.

Well, there's always been moving parts.

Yeah.

But I'm telling you, the moving parts that are taking place are named in the Bible.

So one of the things that we talk about with this four beasts, as we think about there being a near fulfillment of the four beasts, and that is definitely Babylon.

That's the Medo Persian Empire, that's Greece, that's Rome, that's the revived Roman Empire.

But the far reaching implications, or in other words, the far reaching application of that could be several other things.

It could be a reviving.

And we see this happening of the old world countries even naming themselves again, what they used to be called Persia.

And many of these places were renaming themselves into the Bible names.

The Bible speaks about Babylon being the world power.

I'm telling you there are things in place and happening right now that we're reading about that just makes it so much closer.

Every day that Jesus is going to return this, these countries who have formed alliances, this Russian and China and North Korea alliance and other countries that are with them.

There is a battle going to take place, the battle of Gog and Magog that's going to include those countries and they're going to come towards Israel and they're going to be wiped out out.

God is a miraculous God, isn't he?

He's going to take care of his people.

We'll move on.

But speaks again here in verse 26 and 27 of the Antichrist being dethroned and a fifth kingdom put in its place.

A worldwide kingdom will be given to the saints.

And notice that I emphasized the hymn there that shall have dominions and shall serve and obey him.

Who's the hymn?

That's Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ, he will rule and reign.

David will sit on the throne as the prince, but Jesus Christ will rule and reign.

Hmm.

The kingdom we call the millennial kingdom is in view in verse 27.

And Christ will reign for a thousand years.

He'll rule the world out of Jerusalem through King David.

Gentile rule will be over the times of the Gentiles.

The fullness of the Gentiles will Be over.

The Bible describes the millennial kingdom in so many ways.

It's amazing how it describes the millennial kingdom.

One of the things it says is the sword that swords.

All the swords, all the equipment of death, all the instruments of death will be beaten into plows because there'll be no more wars.

There'll be no need for guns or swords.

There'll be no need for those things.

Deserts will blossom as the rose.

I was astounded when I went to Israel.

And as you come out of Israel going south towards the Dead Sea, and you kind of go, well, southeast, and you go down to close to Jericho and you make your way over to the Dead Sea, they are growing palm trees in the desert.

Look it up.

It's so.

It's a neat deal.

I'm not saying like two of them.

I'm saying thousands upon thousands upon thousands upon thousands of palm trees they're growing in the desert.

Israel is the Israel government.

Israeli government and farmers teaching them how to take gray water from the city of Jerusalem.

They pipe it down there because palm trees take a lot of water.

And the palm trees there are produce dates.

Right.

I didn't even know until I went to Israel that palm trees.

There are different kinds of palm trees.

Yeah, some produce, you know, other things, such as dates.

Go read about the dates.

The palm trees they planted are from an ancient.

It's so cool.

Go read it.

From an ancient palm tree that they have, I don't know, engineered.

So cool.

But they're planting trees in the desert.

So what happens?

There are other countries doing this too, right now, where they're taking parts of the desert and they're furnishing water and they are planting plants in the desert.

There's several of those Middle Eastern countries who have particular sections of the desert.

What happens?

Well, it creates a new ecosystem.

If it's done right.

This, you know, you know, how hydrological, whatever you call it, the, you know, you know, it rains and then it evaporates and it comes up and this cycle happens and my brain's fried.

And, you know, it.

It creates a new.

It's so.

It's amazing what they're doing.

Think about, again, the desert blooming as a rose.

The Bible describes the millennial kingdom that the lion will lay down with the sheep.

A lamb.

Imagine that, a lion laying right by a lamb.

A lamb laying right by a lion.

I can see the lion laying by a lamb going, oh, yeah, that's my meal right there.

But no, no, they're laying down together.

The Bible describes the Millennial kingdom as a universal peace and prosperity.

It says that a man who is a hundred years old is just beginning.

So what's happening during the millennial kingdom?

Well, the earth is restored to its original glory.

When God said on the sixth day, and then it was good, and then he said on the seventh day, it's very good.

That all changed.

Not only in the Garden of Eden, that had an impact on it.

We know that thorns and thistles did not exist before that.

But primarily the earth changed because of the flood.

The Earth was different before the flood.

And what is being described in the millennial kingdom is a resetting up of that particular flood, you know, world that was before the flood.

You know, before the flood.

The fossil fossils, they find dragonflies.

They found dragonflies with three foot wingspans.

How scary would that be?

Have you ever when a dragonfly, when you're swimming in a pond or a tank and a dragonfly comes up on you, you know, right by your ear, it sounds like a helicopter.

I can't imagine a dragonfly with a three foot wingspan.

We think about the dinosaurs and you think about the trees.

So much of the vegetation and animals were bigger.

We get to see all that in the Millennial Kingdom.

My thoughts are, and based upon what I see is the canopy must be put back in place.

And when that canopy is in place that was there in the original design, it changes everything.

That's why Adam and Eve and the men and women before the flood lived so long, because the canopy protected the earth.

And all those rays that are bad for you were filtered out.

They've done experiments and I've seen some of them and read about them where this.

They have taken a biosphere or a hyperbaric chamber and they have tried to replicate what it was before the flood.

And they have produced some pretty cool stuff.

I know one scientist in Japan and you can go read about this, who put that together, grew a tomato plant that looked like a tree.

And what was so cool about it is the fruit didn't ripen until you picked it.

In other words, it would get big and whatever, but when you picked it, it ripened.

I just want to remind you, the world before the flood was amazing.

God said it was very good.

Tornadoes are not very good.

Hurricanes are not very good.

Before the flood, there were no tornado.

Tornadoes, there were no hurricanes, there were no earthquakes.

You can go read about.

Well, and I had the question, and I'm going to be done the question, like, why were there?

Why did bees sting before the flood?

You know, why?

What did bee sting.

I mean, bee stings are not good either.

Snake bites are not good either.

And we've, you know, from so many of whether it's icr, the scientists there, and also from Carl Ball and many of his research and his scientists from there and then Texas A and M picked it up and, and they found that they could take, for instance, a brown recluse spider.

They could take.

And again, they did this in a laboratory.

You can't do it yourself, so don't be electrocuting yourself.

But you can go read about it where they took a brown recluse spider bite.

They electrocuted the bite and then also the other side, like they put alligator clips on both sides and ran the electricity through it.

Again, all this was done in a lab and they were able to take a brown recluse and some other type of poisonous animals bites and completely neutralize it.

It's an amazing thing.

So who knows before the flood what a snake bite might be for?

Maybe it was for medicine.

They use snake venom in heart medicine now.

Maybe when you got sick before the flood, you just grabbed a snake and had it bite you.

On the farm in Oklahoma, we had beehives.

And when I was little, I remember my pawpaw taking me up and I've given this illustration before taking me up to the beehive we had.

I think there was three of them who take the lid off the beehive and he let me have some of that fresh honey right there out of the hive.

But he always would take a couple of the honeybees, pick them up and put him in his shirt and let them sting him on purpose.

And he would always say to me, boy, that's good for arthritis right there.

Saying, pawpaw, don't do that to your future generations.

Because if I get bit by a bumblebee, I swell.

I'm not a bumblebee.

A honeybee, I swell up and I hurt for six weeks.

But no, no, the old adage was, you know, a sting, especially a honeybee sting, would help with arthritis.

Well, maybe before the flood it did.

The world before the flood was an entire different world.

And that world will be set up once again.

And Daniel's reaction to all of this was.

Daniel was still troubled.

He was horrified by the scene, thinking of the Judgment and the slaughter of his own people by the Antichrist.

I can't imagine having that kind of vision.

The fourth system, the fourth kingdom will produce the Antichrist.

He will unite the ten kingdoms and reign over all.

Not just the ten kingdoms, but There will be a time when he reigns over the entire known world.

Over the world.

He will persecute the saints.

But many will be saved by the way, some will run to Petra.

It's a whole other message.

Ultimately, the ancient of days, God will give dominion to Jesus Christ.

Dominion over all the earth.

The Antichrist, the beast will be defeated and cast to the lake of fire.

Even so, Lord Jesus, come quickly.

I hope it's today.

Let's all stand.