Volume 2002/8

 

The Harvest Is Ripe!

"He will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner"

(Mat.3: 12)

 

 

 

(From radio broadcast of Bro. Julius Adewumi)

Daniel chapter 8

 

Today I am going to talk on the book of Daniel chapter 8. We're going through the series to see what God has planned for the end of the world. In the book of Daniel chapter 8 we read another vision that was given to Daniel which was prophetic of the plan of God for the whole world.

Daniel 8:1-4

" In the third year of the reign of King Belshazzar a vision appeared unto me, even unto me Daniel, after that which appeared unto me at the first.

And I saw in a vision; and it came to pass, when I saw, that I was at Shushan in the palace, which is in the province of Elam; and I saw in a vision, and I was by the river of Ulai.

Then I lifted up mine eyes, and saw, and, behold, there stood before the river a ram which had two horns: and the two horns were high; but one was higher than the other, and the higher came up last.

I saw the ram pushing westward, and northward and southward..."

So from that verse alone you can see that the ram is coming from where? Pushing westward, northward and southward: it must be coming from the east, going west, north and south. Now it goes further and says:

Daniel 8:4

" ...so that no beasts can stand before him, neither was there any that could deliver out of his hand; but he did according to his will, and became great."

Now let me stop right here and talk a little bit from the last broadcast. If you have listened to the last broadcast of Daniel chapter 7, we described all the beasts that were revealed to Daniel in his vision. The angel said those beasts represented kingdoms of the world one after the other that came and took over the world. Until the Kingdom of God came and took over which was represented as the son of man, which actually represented the Saints of the most high, or the kingdom of God. Now in this chapter 8, it was revealed to Daniel using some other things but it is still saying the same thing. The first thing he saw was a ram that was pushing westward, northward, and southward. This ram was also symbolizing a kingdom. It said the ram had two horns and we are going to see the meaning in a moment as the angel interpreted.

Daniel 8:5-8

" And as I was considering, behold, an he goat came from the west on the face of the whole earth, and touched not the ground: and the goat had a notable horn between his eyes.

And he came to the ram that had two horns, which I had seen standing before the river, and ran unto him in the fury of his power. And I saw him come close unto the ram, and he was moved with choler against him, and smote the ram, and brake his two horns: and there was no power in the ram to stand before him, but he cast him down to the ground and stamped upon him: and there was none that could deliver the ram out of his hand.

Therefore the he-goat waxed very great: and when he was strong, the great horn was broken; and for it came up four notable ones toward the four winds of heaven."

Now as I said, these were representing kingdoms. In the first kingdom it had two horns which, in the next verses you will see, represented the kingdom of Media-Persia. That's why it has two horns. Media, Persia were two countries that joined together to make war against their enemies. Now it says here another one came from the west. Another animal called a he-goat came from the west, which finally knocked down this ram. This he goat had only one notable horn. After the he-goat conquered the ram, four horns came up in the replacement of this notable horn.

Daniel 8: 9

" And out of one of them came forth a little horn..."

When you look at chapter 7 where we read about the four beasts, the fourth beast also had a little horn that came forth out of the ten horns, but this is different from that horn. It could be meaning the same thing but it seems to be different. Now let's read on because this one seems to be coming from the single horn that turned to become four horns and out of the four horns came another little horn but it was more or less saying the same thing. Verse 10 says this little horn waxed great toward the south and toward the east and toward the pleasant land. Toward the south and toward the east means it must be coming from the north or from the west.

Daniel 8: 10

It waxed great, even to the host of heaven and it cast down some of the stars to the ground, and stamped upon them.

Now verse 10 said it stamped also on the host of heaven. This is in line with the other beast in chapter 7 that wage war against the saints of the most high. This is saying the same thing in another way. Verse 7 said this horn made war with the saints of the most high. And here he said he cast down the host of heaven. It's saying the same thing. The host of heaven is represented by the saints of the most-high God. These are the servants of God. It waxed great against the host of heaven and it cast down some of the host and the stars to the ground and stamped upon them.

The saints of God are the stars that are being represented here. And it waxed great even to the host of heaven.

Daniel 8:11

Yea, he magnified himself even to the prince of the host, and by him the daily sacrifice was taken away and the place of his sanctuary was cast down.

Now when it said he magnified himself to the prince of the host, the Lord Jesus Christ is the prince of the host referred to here. The Lord Jesus Christ was crucified in this kingdom, which was during the days of the Roman Empire. That is what he was talking about here. He magnified himself even unto the prince of the host. The Lord Jesus Christ is the Prince for the saints. "By this small horn the daily sacrifice was taken away" means the temple of God in Jerusalem was taken down and the place of the sanctuary was cast down.

When did that take place? Remember we are looking back into history but when these were written, they were written as a prophecy that would be happening in the future. The future would be after Daniel. We, in this generation, can look back and see this and wonder: when did it take place? It said the prince of the host would be crucified around the same time the temple of the Lord was knocked down. And it happened in the days of the Roman Empire when all the Jews were scattered from that land for thousands of years. So you can begin to understand the bible prophecy when we, in this generation, can look back at history and see what had been prophesied before it took place. It went further in verse 12:

Daniel 8:12-14

And a host was given him against the daily sacrifice by reason of transgression, and it cast down the truth to the ground; and it practiced and prospered.

Then I heard one saint speaking, and another saint said unto that certain saint which spake, How long shall it be in the vision concerning the daily sacrifice, and the transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot?

And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.

This prophecy gives us a timeline. I am just interpreting what it says. We read in verse 8 and verse 9 that this little horn from this beast will prosper and overthrow many kings, many saints of God, as we have interpreted. It said he cast down the host, which was representing the host of heaven and also the prince of the host. We can say it was in the days of this kingdom, which was the Roman Empire, the generation in which the Lord Jesus Christ was crucified. That's why it said it magnified against the prince of the host and also cast the stars down to the ground. Now it went further, that he also had an army that did a lot of terrible things because of the transgressions and the sin of the Jews. It said that their place of sanctuary was knocked down. It was always because of their offenses that made God scatter them out of the land. Remember the Lord Jesus prophesied when he was on earth to the Jews, that "Jerusalem will be surrounded by armies, and that no stone of the temple will be left upon another". (Mat.24:2).

In verse 13 it said a saint was asking another saint, like prophets talking to one another, saying how can we know when these things will take place and how soon will it finish. How long will it take from the time the daily sacrifice is taken away, to the end. That is what they were asking. What daily sacrifice are we talking about right now? From the time the temple was destroyed, till the end. How long will it take? That is what the angel was prophesying about here. Now they gave it in days. We may not be able to say what a day represent, but we can say maybe it represents a year or maybe it represents something else. If we take a year, and say maybe one day represents one year like some of the other prophecies of Daniel which seem to present a day to equal a year in the book of Daniel chapter 9. If we take this interpretation, we can assume that 1 day represents a year and then we're talking about 2,300 days which is like 2,000+ years. We can see now that the time the temple of God in Jerusalem was destroyed was going toward 2,000 years ago. We can see that it is almost 2,000 years from the time the temple was destroyed till now, and it has not yet been rebuilt. This is what the angel was prophesying here. It said unto two thousand and three hundred days. In the 1970's there were prophets even in this America that were predicting and prophesying that the end of the world may come quickly, that Jesus Christ will come soon, and that it may never reach the year 2000 before these things would begin to take place. Many of them have been silent since the year 2000 has come and gone and nobody can predict anymore how soon he is coming. But, when you count the number of years that were prophesied in this book of Daniel chapter 8, it is very long.

"How long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice and the transgression to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot". In short, how long from the time they destroy the temple to the end. How long will it be? And the angel was saying 2300 days. As I said, if we take the interpretation that a day represents a year, which I am not dogmatic about, we could say 2300 years from that time. And we know that 70 A.D. was when Jerusalem was destroyed. Add 2300 years to that and we are talking 2370. That will look as if the Lord may not come for another 200 or 300 years. But we are not sure.

Some other Bible Scholars have interpreted that maybe each day is half a year, for morning and evening. In the next few verses the angel will say morning and evening, which may mean split it into two. If you split 2300 into two it will give you 1150 years; not close to where we are right now. We are already past year 2000. So we cannot really say what this represents. But it is close to 2000 years since Jerusalem has been destroyed. That is why we can only say we are close to the end. Even if it is 300 years to come we are still closer. We are closer than when Jerusalem was destroyed. We are closer than when all these things were being predicted in the 1970's. So think about it. The Lord is still coming and he is coming very soon. It may not be in the next few years. Whether in the next 10 years or even shorter, you have only a short time to listen and prepare.

You, as a person, have only a short time to live and to prepare as a person to be part of the kingdom of God. So whether he is coming in 300 years or he is coming in ten years, to be a member of the kingdom of God, you better prepare yourself now, because you only have 70 years to 100 years to live here. So get yourself in his kingdom now. Because you don't know when your own time will be when you will be called to go away from here and go and wait in paradise or in hell. So you better come right now and accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior.

This is more important to you: To prepare now while you are still alive, while you are still living, while you are still breathing, because you do not know when your own time will come, when your number will be called and you will go away from this planet.

Let me go on with this chapter.

v.13 "How long will be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice, and the transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot?"

Now this verse simply means God begins to give understanding to the saints. Who are the saints? Christians! This chapter was a vision to Daniel. A vision, which means he was seeing things which would come to happen in the future. It was after the days of Daniel, since Christ came, that they can start to number the saints. Those who are Christians are the saints. At this end of the world, God has begun to reveal the mystery of these things to the Christians, to the preachers, to the prophets, so that we begin to explain it to one another. That is what he is prophesying here. The saints will be able to talk to one another. They will be able to number the times. They will be able to say that Christ is coming soon, maybe in so-so time. That was why in the 70's, in the 80's up to now, Prophets were trying to predict. Because God is giving them visions, even though they may not know the exact time the exact meaning of the vision, but we have a season in our mind. That is what this is actually prophesying to us, the saints will have an inkling of the time at the end of the world. The saints will have an inkling of the time and will be communicating one to another. Because it said one saint was asking another saint in this vision. But nobody really know the meaning of it: the 2300 days. However, it simply means saints of God will be passing it back and forth explaining it one to another what it might mean. And that's what I am telling you today. If you are a saint of God, take heed to the fact that the Lord is coming soon. We are closer to the end than 30 years ago. Amen.

Daniel 8: 15-16

And it came to pass, when I, even I Daniel, had seen the vision, and sought for the meaning, then, behold there stood before me as the appearance of a man.

And I heard a man's voice between the banks of Ulai, which called, and said, Gabriel, make this man to understand the vision.

So angel Gabriel appeared to Daniel and he was told to make Daniel understand the vision.

Daniel 8:17

So he came near where I stood: and when he came, I was afraid, and fell upon my face: but he said unto me, Understand, O son of man: for at the time of the end shall be the vision.

He said these things will be at the time of the end. We believe we are at the time of the end.

Daniel 8:19-20

And he said, Behold, I shall make thee know what shall be in the last end of the indignation: for at the time appointed the end shall be.

The ram which thou sawest having two horns are the kings of Media and Persia.

We have already pointed out this. (Daniel 8:21)

And the rough goat is the king of Grecia...

The rough goat represented the Grecian Empire. The beasts that had two horns represented the kings of Media and Persia in the days of the Medo-Persian Empire.

Daniel 8:21

v.21 ...And the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king.

People believe that the first king of Grecia implied was Alexander the Great. We are looking back at history to be able to explain this.

Daniel 8:22

Now, that being broken, whereas four stood up for it, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not in his power.

Now according to history, this took place after Alexander the Great died, the Grecian Empire split into four, and they broke up to the east, to the west, to the north and to the south; And out of those, the Roman Empire came up, from the west.

Daniel 8: 23

And in the latter time of their kingdom (that means the latter time of these four branches that came up) when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up.

So out of these four parts of the world that have broken away from this Grecian Empire, at the end of the world will come this little horn.

Daniel 8:24

And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practice, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people.

That means the Christians, the saints.

Daniel 8:25

And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand...

This is talking about the technological break-through at the end of the world which is taking place right now. An industrial revolution, which is taking place right now, has taken place since about a 100 years ago through this beast at the end of the world. The European Empire so-to-speak. That is what he was talking about: the European Empire. This is saying that through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper. That's the industrial revolution.

Daniel 8:25

... and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand.

Now when it says he shall stand up against the Prince of princes, that means at the end of the world, this is the last kingdom, which the kingdom of God will knock off. Because the bible says, in the book of Revelations chapter 19, it said that the Prince of prince and the Lord of lords was riding upon a horse coming down to wage war against the kingdoms of this world. It was this end of the world kingdom that will confront the Lord from heaven. Because when the bible said the Lord will knock all of them down and destroy them, whichever kingdom is ruling by that time will be the kingdom that was knocked off. For they shall rise up against the King of kings as you see in the book of Revelations chapter 19, where it said the Anti-Christ gathered all the nations to fight against the one on the horse, which is the Lord Jesus Christ. The saints of God will be coming with the Lord Jesus Christ from the sky. Let's go on and read the last part of it .

Daniel 8:26

And the vision of the evening and the morning which was told is true...

Now verse 26 is very important. The angel mentioned the evening and the morning, which means the numbering of the days, which means the 2300 days that was mentioned in verse 14. He said that was the evening and the morning. The number of days would be true. So from the time the temple is destroyed to the end is 2300 days. But the angel said that was evening and the morning, so we are not really sure what that symbolizes, but everyone has given their own interpretation, their own opinion, but none of them have been right because some people have predicted dates which have all been false.

v.26 ...wherefore shut thou up the vision; for it shall be for many days.

So Daniel received this vision and wrote it down for us to understand exactly what God is going to do at the end of the world. All we can tell you right now is that we are close to the end of the world. We have seen the industrial revolution take place in history. At this end of the world according to what this prophet said, it said through this Anti-Christ system, which is the end of the world kingdom, craft will prosper. Just think about it. The Internet Revolution! The Computer Revolution has taken place in the Western Hemisphere. They have taken place in the European kingdoms. That is what we have, right now. This is the generation when God is creating his own kingdom. And we are preaching to you, we want you to be part of the kingdom of God. Come and be one of the members of the kingdom of Christ. That is our invitation to you so that you can have a hope of the new kingdom to come. Will you like to be a Christian? Will you like to be born again? If you are a Christian already, will you like to aspire to the goal of the Overcomers? The bible says. "he that overcometh shall inherit all things and I will be his God and he shall be my son or daughter."

God is calling you and inviting you right now to come and be an overcomer, for the bible says in the days of all these kings, the God of heaven shall set up his kingdom that will destroy all the other kingdoms. That's why we are inviting you to come and be one of the disciples of Christ.

Praise the Lord. Now it goes further here and says that the vision of the evening and the morning which was told is true. So the 2300 days I was talking about in the earlier verses, we may not be able to pinpoint what it exactly means, but everyone that has predicted have said it may mean this, or it may mean that: they have all failed. So I am not going to put dates in it, but I can tell you right now that from the time the temple was destroyed, to now, it's almost 2,000 years. But this angel was telling us that from the time of the temple desolation, to the end would be 2,300 days. When he said this, people would have said, 2000! It couldn't be a day for a year, it couldn't be 2000 years. But now, even if it represented years we are close to the years. People believe the temple will be rebuilt. No one knows when it will be rebuilt.

However the bible says that the time for you to repent is now. As I said, whether it will be 300 years from now or sooner, you as a person have only a short time here to live and work out your own salvation, whether you will be in the kingdom of God, or not. Accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior.

The Bible said, "as many as receive him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God..." (John 1:12a).

Now if you want to receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior I want you to bow your head and to pray with me. Say, Jesus, come into my heart. I believe you died for me on the cross. I accept you as my Lord and Savior. I renounce sin. I renounce Satan. I renounce all ungodliness, and I renounce all witchcraft and accept Jesus as my Lord and Savior. Come and take over my life Jesus; Fill me with the Holy Ghost. Wash me with your blood. From now on I belong to you Jesus; thank you for accepting me; thank you for dying for me on the cross; thank you for making me your child, in Jesus name Amen.

I pray for the readers. I pray that they begin to read the scriptures and to understand and obey it and let them be filled with the Holy Ghost in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

Bro. Julius Adewumi

Gospel Distribution Ministry

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I want to thank those that have been sending offering to this ministry. Your investment and mine send the literature to believers and send the word on radio. That is one sure way we can send our money ahead of us to heaven. The Lord said: "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." (Mat. 6: 19-21). "For we brought nothing into this world and it is certain we can carry nothing out." (1Tim. 6: 7).