What are our takeaways and applications from our previous studies?

1. The laws of seed time and harvest still affect nations today. Sin produces death and judgment even on a national scale.

2. You have to purpose in your heart to live the way God tells you to live. If you do not make that quality decision (which is backed up by several daily decisions) you will go the way of the Babylonian culture.

3. God can and will give you favor with decision makers and those in authority. You should daily confess and claim favor over your life. It is available for you!

4. God can and will give you supernatural understanding and skill that causes you to rise to the top of your profession. Because of the gift of God, Daniel and his friends were ten times better. Daily confessing that you have the mind of Christ, praying the Ephesians 1 prayer over yourself, and acknowledging how God has anointed you will help you increase in the gifting God has given you.

5. God knows how to deal with world leaders. As we pointed out earlier, God gave Nebuchadnezzar the kingdom with that level of authority.

6. It is our holy responsibility to pray for world leaders and for all those in authority. As we'll see in our study, Daniel influenced an empire through his prayer life. We must be a praying people; we cannot afford to be prayer-less.

Note: The prophet told them to pray for the peace and the prosperity of the city. He didn't tell them to pray destruction on Nebuchadnezzar or Babylon.

7. God desires to place His people in positions of authority and influence. As Jesus told us, we are the salt and the light of this world. Our lives should be influencing the world around us. In the same way that Daniel life influenced his culture, our lives should influence our culture.

8. God can and will deliver His people. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego fully expected God to deliver them. Instead of expecting trouble when you stand for God, expect supernatural assistance and deliverance.

9. As we'll see throughout this book, God has a host of angels at His command and they are involved in human affairs.

10. Faithfulness is required to have long lasting influence and to fulfill the plan of God for your life. Daniel was faithful for decades.

11. The strategy of the antichrist is to wear out the people of God; spirits of antichrist only win if the people of God give up. We have overcome and continually overcome spirits of antichrist. It is our job to restrain and hold back the works of darkness.

12. Persistence in prayer impacts earthly empires and the entire angelic and demonic hierarchy of the unseen realm.

13. Even in times of turmoil and tribulation, the people who know their God intimately will be strong and do great and wonderful things.

14. Daniel 11 is history before it happens. You don't need a heavenly being to descend and tell you your future. You already had a Heavenly Being descend and move in on the inside of you. The Holy Spirit will show you things to come!

Keys to Daniel's Influence
- He purposed in his heart to serve the Lord fully (Daniel 1:8)
- God gave him favor
- Daniel was a man of excellence
- Daniel was a man of prayer
- Daniel had praying friends of faith

If God can use Daniel to make a difference in Babylon, God can use you to make a difference where you live. You must make a stand like Daniel and you must believe for the supernatural assistance of God. This the supernatural lifestyle of faith!

What was described by the heavenly being in Daniel 11 is what historians now call the Syrian Wars.

The king of Daniel 11:36 is Antiochus IV Epiphanes. We referenced him a few weeks ago. He was the 8th ruler of the Seleucid empire. He gave himself the surname "Epiphanes" which means "the visible god" (that he and Zeus/Jupiter were identical). He acted as though he really were Zeus/Jupiter and the people called him "Epimanes" meaning "the madman". He "devastated Jerusalem in 168 B.C., defiled the Temple, offered a pig on its altar, erected an altar to Zeus/Jupiter, prohibited Temple worship, forbade circumcision on pain of death, sold thousands of Jewish families into slavery, destroyed all copies of Scripture that could be found, and slaughtered everyone discovered in possession of such copies, and resorted to every conceivable torture to force Jews to renounce their religion." - Bible-history.com

Now what Antiochus did was horriffic; however, it was only a partial "fillment" of this prophecy. How do we know this?

Almost 200 years after Antiochus, Jesus references the prophecy of Daniel. This shows us that Antiochus is only a type or shadow of the antichrist, which means that the antichrist will strive to do the same things that Antiochus did.

Antiochus' forces were defeated by the Jewish forces led by Judah Maccabee. The victory and the cleansing/rededication of the Temple of that time led to the events celebrated during Hanukkah. The word Hanukkah means dedication or consecration. In John 10, it is called the Feast of Dedication. John 10 shows us that Jesus went to Jerusalem as part of the celebration of Hanukkah. Hanukkah is also known as the Festival of Lights. Before Jesus went to the temple to celebrate Hanukkah is stated the He is the Light of the World.

Antiochus eventually met his demise and in following wars, the Jews secured independence from the Seleucids and allied themselves with the growing Roman Republic (the iron and the beast Daniel previously saw.)

What takes place in Daniel 12 is about the future that Jesus referenced in Matthew.

This is the clearest reference to the resurrection of the dead in the Old Testament. This verse began to change Jewish minds concerning what would happen in the future. Jesus preached this and this truth is echoed many times in the New Testament.

The life of the Believer is supposed to shine brighter and brighter every day of their lives.

Two of the signs of the end of time are increase of travel and knowledge.

What the heavenly being is referring to is the fulfillment of what Jesus prophesied in Matthew. The period of days referred to here is roughly three and a half years and is connected to the Great Tribulation and different events mentioned in the Book of Revelation.

We are not in the time of the Great Tribulation and we are not facing off with the antichrist. However, as we covered earlier in this study there are spirits of antichrist that are actively keeping billions in darkness.

It is our job to shine and win people to Jesus. In 2023, it is time for you to rise in influence and shine brighter so that more can encounter Jesus. The light within you is not a little light. The light within you is brighter than all the Christmas lights and it is time for you to shine.

Next Wednesday, we will go over our takeaways how we can practically put them into practice in 2023.