INTRODUCTION

    I only teach for one reason - I believe we're saved by grace through faith - and that for trusting God, God gives salvation, eternal life and joint inheritance with His son. Christ is held in your heart by faith.

Faith by definition is an ACTION, based upon belief, sustained by confidence. And when a man can be brought to trusting God, hanging his body on what God has said, even if it defies every circumstance, that man or woman is going to receive the gift of God's salvation.

Therefore, the motive of every preacher should be to arouse faith. Bad preaching just about destroyed my faith. It drives people away from God! The right role of the preacher is to inspire, and arouse Faith! And, there is no more effective way to do that than to teach from God's word, the demonstration of God's ability and faithfulness to carry out his word.

That's why Paul said that Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God! You can't help but have your faith aroused when you see God's performance. My reason therefore for teaching on prophecy, is not to titillate the mind, or to delve into far out subjects, but to demonstrate that the Lord of hosts, is in control, that if He says it's going to go a certain way, it's going to go that way, and that whatever He has said, every jot and tittle thereof, He is, in the words of Jeremiah, going to hasten his word to performance, and the demonstration of prophecy fulfilled becomes the basis and motivation for expecting prophecy to continued to be fulfilled, and that faithfulness of God to His word is the basis on which we trust Him in regard to the words of promise for ourselves individually, and a group, as a Church. That's why I teach!

This Bible study's goal is to identify the landscape of the end time stage of history based upon the prophecy of Daniel. God revealed to Daniel (as well as others) what the stage of history would look like at that time, and then He sealed it until it's time. That's what makes Daniel's prophecy the key to the end times. When it finally shows up on the stage, then you know positively that it is unsealed, and that our redemption is even at the door.

But if we don't know what it's supposed to look like, or where we are supposed to look, then we would never know when it's happening. The Hebrews recognized Moses as their deliverer because they were aware of the Prophecy of a deliverance in the 4th generation and were watching for it.

The end time events and players of the prophecy are not going to just pop into existence. They grow out of history, one day at a time, until it finally reaches it's time. Then, what may seem to be like all of a sudden, there it is, clearly visible, confirming God's word, and alerting us to heed His command to watch.

This study of Daniel is important because it's a history lesson. The history of where the focus of God's prophetic plan is located at the end time, and how it got to be that way.

As Christians, we have a separate and different conclusion to our covenant, than that of the Jews. And, although Daniels prophecy is written to the Jews, about their covenant's conclusion, we benefit in watching them, because God closes His covenant with the Christians, before He begins the final events designed to convince the Jews that Jesus was the Messiah. We were already convinced of that, thus we don't need any more convincing. That's why He wants us to watch! So the conclusion of our covenant won't take us like a thief in the night - we have His word on that!

I do a lot of paraphrasing in this teaching, so don't be too critical if I leave a word or two out, or skip from the middle of one verse to the middle of another. I am trying to make a gestalt point, from an overview position, and then focus in on the scripture that clarifies the point. I expect you to read the text.

This is a faith building study. When one sees how God performs to His word over centuries of time, it can't do anything but give one the confidence that it takes to have faith. God meant nothing to be hidden from us in His word, except for those things that were a mystery, known only to Him. And the meaning of them that He makes known, are done in His time for His purpose. The Church, was a mystery! Revealed in it's time. The Rapture was a mystery! Revealed in it's time. The Prophecy of Daniel is a mystery, which is promised to be revealed in it's time, along with much more knowledge about the end times.

So, it's important that we view the "tapestry" that God wove into the prophecy of Daniel, because all of the prophecy that Daniel relates to, concerning end times, are interwoven. Therefore as Daniel is unsealed, and begins to spill onto the stage of history, many past speculation's can be laid to rest, as many "end time" prophecies are put in perspective. The history and it's timing, that had been locked up in Daniel's prophecy is now unfolding before our very eyes, and now we are actually witnessing the prophecy of Daniel, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Jeremiah and others come to pass.

The reality of the unfolding, as it is seen, enlightens our understanding, as we can trace the present from out of the past according to Daniel, and open up a whole new world! Obvious, now that it's is occurring, but hidden until it was it's time to occur.

And, all of it is centered in the Mideast, as Daniel focuses directly to the Jews and Jerusalem, and their fate during the final "week" (seven years) of their covenant.

What's important to the Christian is that the seven year period portrayed, locked up in Daniel, can now be seen, and is trying desperately to begin, but it's being restrained, and can't begin, until the restraining force is removed. That restraining force is the Church, and the Rapture is how it's removed.

The teaching on the Rapture focuses on how the feasts of the Jews are also promises of God to the Christian, and pinpoint the Rapture's relationship to them, and goes on to prove it occurred from Revelation.

The study ends with a trip through Revelation from John's perspective (which is the Christians in Heaven), looking at it as if it had already happened, and this is the report of what occurred. Now that Daniel is occurring, Revelation can be viewed with historical perspective and the myths and misunderstandings can be dispelled for the accurate vision which God intended. Enjoy the study and God bless.

On to Daniel At A Glance