And I love this, it says, why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The Kings of the Earth set themselves, the rulers take counsel against the Lord and against his anointed, saying, come let us break their bands asunder, but he that sitteth in the heavens, Yahweh God shall laugh: having them in derision. He said you puny, insignificant human beings, thinking that you can stand against Me and my Son as I present him to the world as He comes to rule and reign for one thousand years. You will lose because I will set my King upon the holy hill of Jerusalem, Psalm 2:6.

2:6 Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.

Dr. Van Impe: Well I’ll just give a short answer because we have dealt with it very thoroughly already. This is the revived Roman Empire, it produces the antichrist. The antichrist finally sees the movement grow to thirteen, he eliminates three. Perhaps before or after it becomes the world empire, Revelation 13:7.

13:7 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.

Rexella: The book of Daniel is not just information is it Jack? Now you can apply it to what is happening in the world. I think that's so exciting.

Dr. Van Impe: Our Lord is coming!

Rexella: Verse 25, 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 a time and times and the dividing of time. Now it's just one little verse, but so much is in there. I have several questions for Jack. What does it mean he shall speak great words against the most high?

Dr. Van Impe: Well that again is Revelation 13:5,

13:5 And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.

Rexella: Tell us what happens during the forty-two months Jack that the antichrist is reigning on the Earth.

Dr. Van Impe: His reign begins when he makes a peace contract with Israel and the nations found in Daniel 9:27,

9:27 And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

13:3 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.

8 The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.
9 And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.
10 And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.
11 And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.

11:36 And the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done.

2:4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

13:15 And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.

2:8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:

19:20 And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.

Rexella: What does it mean Jack, that he is going to wear out the saints?

Dr. Van Impe: Well, the persecution that he'll create, and we've got to remember once again, that saints in the Old Testament refers to Jews. Christianity wasn't in existence. And Jeremiah 30:7,

30:7 Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.

12:1 And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.

1:4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:

1:2 Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.

42:1 Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.

45:4 For Jacob my servant's sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me.

65:9 And I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob, and out of Judah an inheritor of my mountains: and mine elect shall inherit it, and my servants shall dwell there.

65:22 They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree are the days of my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands.

Rexella: It says also that he will change the times and the laws. Why would he want to do that?

Dr. Van Impe: Because when he's cast out of heaven, in Revelation 12 and he's cast to Earth, 12:12

12:12 Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.

13:5 And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.

11:3 And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.

12:6 And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.

Dr. Van Impe: Okay, since I quoted the actual verses before, I’ll just name them this time. The Lord Jesus returns and destroys this antichrist, with the brightness of his coming, II Thessalonians 2:8

2:8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:

2:45 Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure.

2: 6 Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.

Dr. Van Impe: Well as I said before they are the saints that have returned with him from heaven, Jude 14, Revelation 19:14.

1:14 And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints,

19:14 And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.

31 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:
33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
42 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:
43 I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
44 Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.
46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.

12:2 And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.

20:4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

Dr. Van Impe: Oh yea, it bothered him Rexella. He understood what was going to happen to his people, the Jews. And how terrible times of persecution would come upon them and he was disturbed inwardly because he didn't know some of the blessing that would follow, as we'll see as we progress in the book.

Rexella: If we were to give a title to chapter eight it would probably be the two mad men, Antiochus and the antichrist. Verses 1 and 2. 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 Ulai. Now here's another vision that Daniel has. Would you sort of give us the essence of it Jack?

Dr. Van Impe: Will this is just a mini one. And it happened in 551 B.C. And Daniel sees himself at the palace of Shushan which is a city in Persia about 200 miles east of Babylon. And that's basically what it is.

Rexella: All right. We will go on. Verse 3, 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. Now why was one horn higher than the other one Jack?

Dr. Van Impe: Okay, he's renaming the nations once again and these happen to be the Medes and the Persians. And just like the bear in the last chapter who was raised on his side so here we have a picture of one of the horns being higher because it shows the dominate influence the Persian armies had over their partners the Medes.

Rexella: Verse 4, I saw the ram pushing westward, and northward, and southward; so that no beasts might 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 why the directions, west, north and south Jack?

Dr. Van Impe: Okay, this again is talking about the Medes and the Persians, and it's the same as the bear with the three ribs in his mouth, the conquering of three nations. And those are the directions in which they made their conquest, and it pictured Egypt, Assyria, and Babylon, the gold head.

Rexella: All right. Verses 5 through 7, 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. Now, my first question, who is this goat with the horn in the middle of his head Jack?

Dr. Van Impe: Okay. In the last chapter we had the leopard, who was swift, representing Greece. And now we have another picture here of this goat, Greece with this horn in the middle representing, Alexander the Great. And there was never a warrior like him in history. And of course he conquered one and a half million square miles. And the problem was that this man was given over to lascivious living and alcoholism and died at the age of 32. That reminds me of a little story. This newspaper reporter went to a nursing home and he asked a fellow that looked fairly good. And he said tell me the secret of your longevity, he said, my you look good. He said, well I drink a lot of whiskey and I live a very promiscuous life. I smoke a box of cigars every other day and just do everything, everything, that the world calls wrong. He said this is amazing, how old are you? He said, 32. Well that's like Alexander the Great. He was so promiscuous, he lived such a debilitating life that he died at the age of 32. This great conqueror of the world.

Rexella: Isn't that sad Jack? He could have been such a great man, with a good reputation to leave behind. Verse 8, 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. How was this horn broken Jack?

Dr. Van Impe: Through his lifestyle, as we just said. And because he died, the Kingdom was passed on to his four generals. And they of course were Cassander, and then Seleucus, Ptolemy and Lysimachus. And I mean prophecy is really accurate.

Rexella: Would you repeat that.

Dr. Van Impe: Later on.

Rexella: It's too much for me.

Dr. Van Impe:Just four names. Four generals.

Rexella: All right. Are they, in other words they are the four winds of heaven?

Dr. Van Impe: Yes. And they are the four things mentioned many times in the verses to come, as we will see. And we'll call out their names again.

Rexella: All right. Verses 9 and 10, and out of one of them came forth a little horn, which waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the pleasant land. And it waxed great, even to the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the host and of stars to the ground, and stamped upon them. Now here we have a little horn. Is it the same little horn in, that's in chapter seven or is it different?

Dr. Van Impe: Chapter seven is the antichrist. No doubt about it. Chapter eight is Antiochus Epiphanes who was called Antiochus Epiphmanes, because he was a mad man. This individual hated the Jew like no man in history. And everything he did and does in this chapter, the antichrist will do. So this is the typification of antichrist. So the little horn of chapter seven is the actual antichrist, the little horn of this chapter is Antiochus Epiphanes but who pictures what the antichrist will do. So we use all these texts to prove the desecration that the antichrist will bring upon Israel in the future.

Rexella: What nations Jack are being referred to as toward the south, the east and the pleasant land that I referred to a moment ago?

Dr. Van Impe: That is Egypt, the Medes and Persians and then of course Israel, Palestine at that time.

Rexella: And then in verse ten it refers to the host of stars.

Dr. Van Impe: A host there is talking about the pleasant land the holy land so these are Jewish people, and uh, stars have to do with oft times angels. They have to do with human beings because in Jude 1:13,

1:13 Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever.

Rexella: Listen to the arrogance of this man verse 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 who is the prince or the host there Jack?

Dr. Van Impe: Well, the host as I said before happens to be the Jewish people because he is in the pleasant land Israel. And he magnifies himself as their prince just like Jesus Christ will be their King because he is trying to be what Christ will become when Jesus Christ rules and reigns. And so he magnifies himself. And of course Daniel 11:36

11:36 And the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done.

2:4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.