Unashamed with the Robertson Family - Ep 1114 | The 25-Year-Old Secret: Phil’s Lost Kingdom Notes

Episode Date: June 23, 2025

In this episode: John 12, verses 23–32; Matthew 4, verses 12–17, 23; Revelation 1, verses 6–7, 12–18; Romans 8, verses 18–23; Isaiah 9, verses 1–7; Daniel 2, verses 29–45; Daniel 7, verses 13–27 — Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I am unashamed. What about you? We're having a production nightmare of here. What in the world? Zach, he's trying to count down for Maddie. It's just not the same, Zach. We can't have you count down. Well, we just spent 45 minutes working out Jason's schedule. Well, we're working on Jason's schedule because he's got a hankering to maybe go to Omaha. By the time this airs, we're probably going to be, Omaha probably be over. But, in the moment, and I get it. because I've been there before.

You know, LSU is there. Oh, yeah. If they make it to the championship, you want to be there to see it because it is exciting. In my defense, Al, I got a call from my guy. I got a guy.

Everybody's got a guy. Everybody's got a guy. I got a guy. You got a guy. You got a guy. I got a guy in Omaha who called me this morning before this podcast. And he's like,

hey, buddy. You know, LSU's in the College World Series. I was like, yeah. And they won the first game. they beat Arkansas. Sorry, Maddie, our lovely producers from Arkansas. Oh, I forgot about Maddie being a hog fan. When I walked in, she looks sad, and I wasn't sure why, but now I know.

Should I have sent Maddie that picture of the roasting pig that I sent to everybody, the other one of my friends? Well, we love Arkansas. If she wasn't in it, we would be doing it. For sure. Does eBay watch college baseball? I didn't know that was a thing. That's a thing.

I have watched every LSU game this year. Now, two of them were taped because I was literally speaking while the game was going on. But I'll show you how much I'm into it. One of them I knew they lost and I still watched it because somebody told me how to you're into it enough to where you're about to drop some dollars to go to Omaha. And the bad news is, because I did this when Florida played the National Championship. championship and you get down there, here's the problem, is the hotels are outrageously expensive. I ended up staying in it, and I mean a dump, I mean a rap motel, and it was like $700 a night.

Yeah, you told us that story, Zach. It was embarrassing. On the podcast? Yeah, I was embarrassed for you. But go ahead. Well, so you could, but I did look this up for you because with our hayjack site. If you, you could get a room right now for the time you're going to be there. It's going to the cheapest room. Well, now, there's cheaper. But for a nice hotel, like you're going to want, like, a spring hill, it's about $1,600

bucks. Really? For the, yeah, for, not per night for the, for like the time you're there, but you'll get, you'll get, like, $400 cash back. Or why don't you just take the $400 off and let's do it for 12? That's not how it works. Yeah, I don't make the rules. I just said you can save some money.

Yeah, it'll, you can take it out. of your account once you get the cash back, but they don't just take that on it. It doesn't work that way. Oh, okay. So if you guys want to check it out, you go to hayjack.com, you go into the Unashamed tab, set up a profile, and then start booking travel. I mean, this is the best thing on the internet right now for booking hotels. Zach, here's what my comment is on that.

Some things are priceless. And some things are priceless. I'm not going to quibble over, you know, a hotel bill when I'm going to see the tigers. I've got a little savings tucked away for a college. That's your poker money. That's your poker money. Yeah, well, let's not talk about that. That's what your wife told me whenever there was something she was going to pay for.

It was to upgrade the sound quality. And she said, we're just going to pay someone to do it. And I said, I don't mind chipping in on that. And I'll help pay for some of it. She said, oh, no, Jace has his poker money. I'm going to take it out of his poker money. Zay, every time you bring this up, it makes some of the audience. listeners uncomfortable.

That you play poker? Yeah, I try to alleviate their fears because they think, oh, one day, you know, Jace is going to lose all his money because he's a gambler. And I always say the same thing, but people just look dumbfounded when I say it. On that note, though, we should talk about, let me say my cliche. It's not betting. It's not gambling if you know you're going to win. And you do win.

I will give you that. But what about the poor victims like your poor Uncle Si? Well, some people, it's a problem for. Some people who are gamblers at heart when you try to play poker from that mindset, it's a bad financial decision. So I'll agree. And then some people have a problem with it. They just like the thrill of losing money, and it devastates their lives and their bank account, their families.

And those people should not be playing poker. Yeah, it's controversial. But you've wondered into controversy lately. I'm not going to say what it is, but there was another controversy on the duck car room that got brought up about you. Really? Oh, yeah. Please tell me because I have no idea what that is. Yeah, now that they can't talk about me anymore because I've lost weight, I guess they're talking about Jay's now.

Well, what's the controversy and I'll set it straight? It had something to do with you just consuming massive amounts of bourbon. Oh, yeah. A whole teaspoon. Andy Gags. No, look, I mean, you got to put this in context. So I guess Reed was on that podcast, and he told him the story. It was the weirdest thing.

But you got to remember, Papal Phil had just died, and Reed was, you know, there. The moment had happened, and he really consoled my mom. And so Reed started getting nostalgic. And he come in there, and he was sipping on something that I wouldn't be sipping on, just as a general rule. It turns out it was some little bottle of bourbon. And he was like, Dad, you know, boys, just, you know, before you die, I wouldn't mind just having a sip of bourbon with you.

And I was like, I don't drink bourbon or have I ever. I said the only whiskey that I ever tried is when I lost a bet at nine years old. Nine years old? I've shared this story. That's why I don't bet unless I say. I lost a bet with Willie. And there was a little bit of, I mean, it was green floating around it, but in the bottom of a whiskey bottle in the trash pile, and I had lost a bet.

And the payoff was whoever lost had to drink what was in the trash pit whiskey bottle. And it was maybe a tablespoon. And so I drank it. And that is why I can say this at 55. I never drank whiskey again, nor have I ever been drunk on alcohol in my life. I've been clean and sober my entire life. So I learned a lot from that. So Reed was like, you know, I'd just like to do that.

I mean, you know, I don't get it. But I was like, well, I had me a coffee cup there, and I said, well, pour me a little shot of it. Let me try it, see what all the fuss is about. And because I figured a teaspoon is not going to, you know, send me. me in a downward spiral. So I just turned it up and drank it. And it was one of the worst reactions that my body has ever had to anything that entered my body.

It was like, you know what it was? It was my description of it. It was like a smoky shot of Dr. Tishner's. That's what it was. And it just kept lingering. Tell the people what Dr. Tishner's is. That's a mouthwash, a very potent mouthwash. Yeah, and I'm sure it has alcohol in it.

It does. My dad was a big, like if you have a sore throat, you gargle Dr. Tishner. Which made me gag and usually throw up when I tried that. So I got off that kick. So I was like, well, there you go, buddy. I'm still alive and I took a sip of bourbon, which I will never do again. I don't, anybody who believes that that's good has just believed a lot.

There's nothing good about that. And then he told me what he paid for it. And I was like, now you got robbed. I think we need to have read back on to the fitness position. Just because you can do something doesn't mean it's a good thing. That you should do. So you've officially, so you've tasted it and you've said that you got, so you didn't get the two thumbs up like you did with the Mayberry.

He gave a no. Horrible. And look, so then my lovely wife came in and she was like, what do you, what are y'all laugh? She thought we had been laughing so hard that we were crying. And I don't know why she thought that, but I, because I was just recovering over my teaspoon of bourbon. And so I convinced her to take a sip up. I was like, you're not going to believe what this taste like. I mean, and she was a little nervous about it.

She had the exact reaction that I did. I mean, just horrified. That is terrible. Then we did laugh until we cry. So what would you say to somebody who says it's an acquired taste? What would your, what would your, I mean, that's why I gave you my response on it, just because you can do something. And you got to believe a lot of lies there. Well, Jay's actually made a good analogy.

He said it's like the first time you taste coffee, you know, coffee's kind of bitter. And when you first taste, you probably thought, I don't know why people love it. I think that's a good analogy. The first time I taste the coffee, it was terrible, you know. So, you know, yeah, I think there's a lot of things you get into that are not good. good for you. And I mean, you know, if somebody wants to take, you know, take a little sip of whiskey, hey, you know, knock yourself out. I think they call them, what do they call them? Hotty-toddies or whatever when you're, yeah. They're actually really good. If you put a little

images and honey, they're actually really good for a sore throat or cough. Absolutely. Of course, me and I can't do the honey anymore. We're on the, we don't do it. Well, see, there you go. There's no alcohol. You can ingest jet fuel, which is what I felt like I But, boy, we can't do honey. No, that's too biblical. Yeah. It was honey on the rock there, buddy. Come on.

Let to preach. There wasn't any bourbon. But Jesus did turn the water into wine. And so I think there's, you know, there's some situations where I would never drink. I told you I'd never been drunk because I make people uncomfortable because I, you know, I go out there and say, I don't think there's anything wrong, you know, with a drink here and there. but because young people say that it makes them uncomfortable but you know drunkenness is pretty well defined in the Bible over and over but let's face it most people drink to get drunk

from my experience you know where there are plenty of passages that say don't do that you know but but Jesus clearly said that the son of man comes eating and drinking and he meant alcohol he meant wine he didn't mean because he said this job of the Baptist doesn't drink anything you know perfect segue The son of man. That is a perfect segue. Did you do that on purpose? Thank you.

Now that I'm connected back to the internet, I'm going to be right on top of things this podcast. No, exactly. We're talking about the son of man the day. Write it down. This is quite the same. So let me lead this, Jay's. When you were talking about, you led into this question from John 835, or I'm

sorry, John 935, that where he says, do you believe? leave in the son of man. That led us down the rabbit hole of talking about this idea of the son of man. And so you made quite a few quotes and asked us questions about it. But when you were, the whole time you were saying, and the three things you said were the three things you kind of categorized, I guess, all the time the son of man is used, was authority to rule. He was going to suffer and die and that he would be exalted and enthroned ultimately to judge. And that was the idea of him and glory. And when you were saying, saying that, I was thinking, man, you just described, all of those are present when he was talking

to Nicodemus in John 3, which we talked about earlier. But I wanted to read that and then let you take back over because you got a lot of more rabbits to chase. But he told Nicodemus, he said, no one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven, the son of man, to your point. Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the son of man must be lifted up. So there's that idea about why, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. And so there's that last one, the exalted point. And then, of course, he goes into the rest of it from verse 16 to down to 21, which is why he came and his purpose in being here, including being, you know, the light and versus darkness. So I just, when you said that the last podcast, I thought, man, that whole thought

is encapsulated in that one conversation with Nicodemus, which is pretty amazing. Well, even if you go back to John 1, you remember when he was having the conversation with Nathaniel, you remember in John 1 50 and 51? Because Nathaniel had declared rabbi, this is in 49. You are the son of God. You are the king of Israel, which is great, which is what I was saying is Jesus allowed all these people to conclude these titles like king, Christ, Lord, Son of God. But Jesus would refer to himself as either I am or the son of man, because in his response,

Jesus said, you believe, because I told you, I saw you under the fig tree, you shall see greater things than that. He then added, I tell you the truth, you shall see heaven open and the angels of God ascending and descending on the son of man, which goes back to that story with Jacob. Jacob's ladder. Jacob's ladder. Jesus is the bridge.

He connects heaven and earth. He's the ladder. However you want to get that picture. So we talked on the last podcast on what this means. Here's Jesus claiming to be a human. He's the son of God. That's why they capitalized the S, but he became a man, which goes back to John 1, 13, and 14.

But it also gives insight where it says in verse 18 of John 1, no one has ever seen God, but God the one and only son, who is at the father's side, has made him known. What an interesting statement. John's giving you like the big picture before he gives you all the details of what he did. He's at the father's side because ultimately he would be exalted to the throne of God, which leads us back to the Daniel 7 passage that we kept referencing. But before I'll go there, I just wanted to bring up the other times it's mentioned in John. Now, you brought up John 3,

but even in John 5 in verse 27 and 30, it says, and he has given him a, authority to judge because he is the son of man. Just as the father has life in himself, he has granted the son to have life, and he has given him authority to judge because he's the son of man. But he's talking about himself. I mean, it's over and over and over and over. Again, then verse 30, by myself, I can do nothing. I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just for I seek not to please myself,

but to him who sent me. So he's the son of man. John, you remember 6.53 and 58? Jesus said to them, John 6.53, I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. What was the other verse I gave? 58. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your father's ate manna and die, but he who feeds on this bread will live forever. so you see the picture here.

Then in John 935 was our question, but then in John 12 in verse 23, watch how this works before we go back to Daniel. 1223. Look, Jesus replied, the hour has come for the son of man to be glorified. And what's he start talking about? I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies,

it remains only a single seed. If it dies, it produces many seeds. The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, my servant will also be. My father will honor the one who serves me. And then he says, now my heart is troubled, and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour?

No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name. then he had heard a voice remember that and the crowd thought it at thunder and then verse 30 it says this voice was for your benefit not mine now is the time for judgment on this world now the prince of this world will be driven out but when i am lifted up from the earth i will draw all men to myself he said this to show the kind of death he was going to die and you say why are you reading all this because look where he goes when the crowd spoke up we have heard from the law that the Christ, which is, remember what other people would call him,

which is what he is, will remain forever. So how can you say the son of man must be lifted up? Now listen what they say. Who is this son of man? It mirrors the same question that we're doing in 935. What does that mean? That's why I'm making such a big deal of it. I think when you think about even this what's going on in our country,

current cultural moment. As we're recording this podcast today, there's a war in the Middle East that is between Iran and Israel. And a lot of people are thinking, oh, is this the end times? Is this the end times? I think when we would read like a Mark 13, for example, where Jesus gives this prophecy of the coming down of the temple, he says something about the son of man in reference to what I think many people interpret as the end times, but I don't think it is.

in Mark 13, verse 26, he says this, and then they will see the son of man coming in cloud. Sorry, we'll review that. And they will see the son of man coming in clouds with great power and glory. We would argue that this whole idea of what's happening here in Mark 13 is actually coming, it's about the coming destruction of the temple in 8070. And so this reference here to the son of man, it's not about the second coming. it's about the vindication of Christ in the establishment of the kingdom,

which I think is so important here. So when you go to Daniel 7 and you read this vision, this term son of man, in that whole terminology, which we'll read in a little bit, it's that the son of man receives a kingdom. And so the question then becomes, when does he receive that kingdom?

And to answer that question of when does the son of man receive this kingdom and authority and dominion, you have to go back to Daniel chapter two when there's this dream that Daniel interprets and the dream is about these four parts of a statue. There's this statue that this stone rolls down a hill and like crushes this statue. And the statue that Nebuchadnezzar sees is it has a head of gold, which is Babylon. And then after Babylon, you get the Medo-Persian Empire, which is the chest and the arms of silver. and then after that,

Alexander the Great comes, which is the belly and the thigh of bronze. And then the fourth kingdom has the legs of iron and the feet of this actual statue or a mixture between clay and iron to symbolize kind of how diverse and spread out the Roman Empire was with other cultures. And the prophecy says,

in the days of those kings, meaning in the, Roman Empire in those days, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people. It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever just as you saw that a stone was cut out from a mountain by no human hand, and that it broke in pieces the iron and the bronze and the clay and the silver and the gold. A great God has made known to the king,

what shall be after this? The dream is certain, and its interpretation is sure. So you read that, he said, what does it mean? The kingdom came during the days of the Roman Empire in which right in that same time period that Jesus was here. Yeah, exactly. Well, let's go ahead and read it. Let's go ahead and read it.

And look, there are, you know, some people that's not going to agree was Zach's assessment, even though those first three kingdoms are specifically named in Daniel, the first three. Babylon, the second one was the Medes and Persians, and the third one was the Greeks. And even in Daniel 8, he mentions those middle two. And then the Babylon is mentioned when Nebuchadnezzar, what was that at, and the fiery furnace? So he's mentioned, is that in four and five? Chapter five, yeah.

So Rome is assumed because when you get to Revelation, you'd be fascinated to find that all of this crazy language that people say and try to interpret is mostly Daniel and Ezekiel. And we're going to bring up both word for word. And so I want to take you through Daniel too and just follow along because he gave you a the overview, but I just want you to read it for yourself. So if you turn over to Daniel 2, and Zach, I got some, I got some things that you're going to find fascinating that I discovered.

On Daniel 2? Yes. In verse 29, and you can read this in your own time, but I want to start in 29, and it says, as you were lying there, O'Kee, your mind turned to things to come. So he's going to, Daniel's going to interpret this dream. And it says,

And the revealing of mysteries showed you, and then there's a phrase, I'm reading out of the N.O.A. that says, what is going to happen? Well, if you translate the Hebrew word in Greek, you're going to get Eschatal, which means the end of times. Eschatalogy. He brings it up right here, and he does it on numerous occasions. I just wanted to show you that. Anytime it talks about the future. So then in verse 31 it says, You looked, O King, and there before you stood a large statue, which Zach referenced,

32, the head of the statue is made of pure gold, its chest, arms of silver, its belly, and thighs of bronze, its legs of irons, its feet, partly of iron, and partly of baked clay. Now here's the key verse. while you were watching this vision, a rock was cut out. No, no, when you think rock, what do you think? You immediately go to Jesus, because watch what it's going to say.

But not by human hands. So it had to be God. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed them. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were broken to pieces at the same time and became like. chaff on a threshing floor in the summer. The wind swept them away without leaving a trace. But the rock.

Now watch this sentence. But the rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth. This was the dream, verse 36. Now we will interpret it to the king. So when you read all this, your lives a big statue, and then some rock struck it. I mean, what does it all mean? Well, thankfully, Daniels fixed to interpret the dream.

He says, here's the interpretation, 236. You, O. King, are the King of Kings. He's talking about Nebuchadnezzar. The God of heaven has given you dominion and power and might and glory. Well, does all this sound familiar? Because there's a rock going to come in this same image. that's going to be the ultimate king of kings. But at this time, you know, the king of Babylon was the king of kings in this first kingdom.

In your hands, verse 38, he has placed mankind and the beast of the field and the birds of the air. Where does this go back to? This goes back to the creation of the first man, who remember, if you go back to Genesis 1 and Genesis 2, what was the purpose of the human to rule over the beast of the field and the birds of the air remember that yeah but then they lost that rule and what exactly happened and we can chase that rabbit hole another time but they basically started living like the animals that they were supposed to be superior to and so what happened you remember the curses in genesis three one of them was you'll eat the grass of the field well that was what the animal was

were supposed to do. I mean, he told that to Adam, you know, the land of produced thorns and thistles and all that. Remember what he told the snake? He introduced this idea of the son of man because after the sin, remember when he told the snake? He said, from this woman and her offspring, he depicted a spiritual battle that would occur where he would bruise your heel, but he will crush your head. Well, that was the son of man being interested. introduced in Genesis 3. I mean, that goes all the way back to there. That's Genesis 3.15.

So here, Daniel picks up on that with this description of the first kingdom. So then verse 39, he's explaining the dream. After you, another kingdom will rise in fear to yours. Next, a third kingdom, one of bronze, will rule over the whole earth. Finally, there will be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron. For iron breaks and smashes everything, and as iron breaks things to pieces, so it will crush and break all others.

Just as you saw the feet and toes, and he goes through this, there'll be a divided kingdom. And so you skip down in verse 44, in the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed. So if I stop right there, he lists four kingdoms, start with Babylon, goes to the Medes and Persians.

And by the way, you can look this up, Daniel 8, Daniel 4 and 5, he lists all these kingdoms. The only one he doesn't specifically mention is Rome. And you say, well, how did we get as Rome being the Fourth Kingdom? Because they were in power when Jesus came on the earth. And there's an interesting verse in, is that Revelation 17, 11, I think? Revelation 17, 9. This calls for a mind with wisdom.

The seven heads are seven hills on which the woman sits. and Rome was known as the city on seven hills and the Roman Empire, which was kind of the vision of the woman sitting on the seven hills. Now, I know this is getting deep, but when you read all this and then you go to Revelation, you're going to see these same passages over and over and over and over and over again. So that's how Rome gets into play. And there's a book in the Bible called Romans.

I mean, nobody ever uses that for an argument. but I'm like, Rome was involved. There's a letter called Romans. Think about that verse. You read, you skipped over, you read it, but I want to hang in on it for a second. Because think about the implications of this, of that vision that King Nebuchadnezzar had, that Daniel interpreted. But the stone, this line, but the stone, the one that was cut out of the mountain, not by the hands of men, but the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.

Now, here's something that I know about stones is they don't grow. Stones do not grow. Stones are static. They're like, you pick it up, it's been sitting there for eons. Like, they don't grow. They don't change in size. So it's very interesting the way that he uses this terminology. And the first thing that popped to my mind when you read that was Matthew C.

when Jesus said upon this rock, I'm going to build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. And so the Catholics believe that that's talking about Peter as being the first pope. I don't think that at all. No, and Daniel 7 is going to prove what you just said. So if you just hold that thought, because I've already addressed this when we get to Daniel 7, you're going to see exactly the living stones that come from the stone that would rise to become the dwelling place of God, which is the church. I'm going to prove it to you.

Yeah, so let's say, so before Jayce goes there, I just keep this in your mind. Like, what kind of stone grows? Good question. Excellent point. So let me finish the Daniel 244. It says in the second part,

it will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever. This is the meaning of the vision of the rock cut out of the mountain but not by human hands. So there you go. Whatever this kingdom.

So now you fast forward in your mind. What was the first thing Jesus started talking about when he arrived on the planet and then went through the baptism, was declared the son of God, and then what's he start talking about? The kingdom is near. The kingdom is near. In fact, just to take a time out from where we're at in Daniel, I had an interesting thing happened about a week ago.

There was a guy who my dad brought to the Lord probably 25 years ago. And he moved to Arkansas. I actually did an event with him last year that he lined up. But my dad had done a study. And he was here when he did that study. And my dad gave him his notes. Well, he took a picture of it. And he's like, is this your dad's handwriting?

because he, you know, he couldn't remember it's 25 years ago. And I was like, oh, that's it. Well, you know what it was about? The same thing we're talking about. It was Daniel 2, Daniel 7. But my dad had an interesting couple of verses on there. And I would want to just throw this in

because I don't think that the older I am in the faith, the less I believe in accidents. But you know where he started? He started, just hold your finger in Daniel. He started in Isaiah 9. where was also a prediction about Jesus coming and about the kingdom. Now, I'm doing this off the top of my head. And then he compared it to Matthew 4.

So you remember Matthew 9 where it says, it starts off saying, in the past, he humbled the land of Zebulin and the land of Naftali, but in the future he will honor Galilee of the Gentiles. You see all these cities and names? Well, they're going to be quoted in Matthew 4. That's why I'm reading this. By the way of the sea along the Jordan,

the people walking in darkness have seen a great light on those living in the land in the shadow of death. A light has dawned. Well, who's he talking about? Will you skip down to verse 6 and you'll see? For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders.

he will be called wonderful counselor, mighty God, everlasting father, prince of peace. Now watch this. Of the increase of his government, this is Isaiah 9-7, and peace there will be no end. Sounds like Daniel too. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on forever, the zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this. Well, then when you go to Matthew 4, what will you find? You will find the exact places mentioned by Isaiah.

Y'all may have to help me. And the same thing. I didn't write this down. Here we go. Matthew 4, look, verse 12. When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he returned to Galilee, leaving Nazareth, he went on and lived in Copernum, which was led, which was.

by the lake in the area of, well, look at here, same two places I just read in Isaiah, Zebulin and Naftali to fulfill what was said through the prophet Isaiah. Well, look, here's the quote. This is Isaiah 9. Land of Zebulin and Land of Naftali, the way to the sea along the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles, the people living in darkness have seen a great light. on those living in the land of the shadow of death, the light is dawn?

And what happened? Verse 17. From that time on, Jesus began to preach. Repent for the kingdom of heaven is near. Look in verse 23. Jesus went through Galilee, teaching in their synagogues,

preaching the good news of the kingdom in healing every disease and sickness among the people. So I got a question. Does this not sound like Daniel 2 what I just read? So if I go back to Daniel 2, this kingdom that's going to be an everlasting kingdom, it's never going to be destroyed. Watch what it says in verse 45.

This is the rock. I read that. And then the second verse, the second sentence in 245 says this. The great God has shown the king what will take place in the Eschatal, in the end of days, Greek translation, in the future. The dream is true and the interpretation is trustworthy. Don't you find that fascinating? I do.

So in Daniel 7, he tells the same vision, but in this case, with the Four Kingdoms, in this case, watch what he does. This is Daniel 7, so he sees another vision. There were four great beasts, which the reason it's saying beasts is because these kingdoms, these earthly kingdoms, are acting and functioning like animals. Just think of all the New Testament verses that say people who are not living Jesus' Lord. They're functioning basically on instincts, because it goes back to all the creation of man itself, not ruling over the animals, but becoming like one in creatures of instinct.

So that's why he's using this imagery. So he starts going through this vision. And it's a lot more, you know, if you get hung up on the details, it'll blow your mind. Because I mean like verse 4, 7.4. The first was like a line and had the wings of an eagle. I watched until its wings were torn off and it was lifted from the ground. But it goes on to say in the last sentence what the problem was. And the heart of a man was giving to it.

He sees the next beast. And when you get down to the end of verse 5, It was told, get up and fill your, eat your fill of flesh. In verse 6, the third one, the third beast had, and when you get to the end of it, it says it was given authority to rule. And then on the next one, in verse 8 at the end, it shows you what the fourth beast was. This horn had eyes like the eyes of a man and mouth that spoke boastfully and proud. So then in verse 9 it says as I looked.

So he had a vision of four beasts. Thrones were set in place and the ancient of days took his seat. Where's he sitting on the throne? His clothing was as white as snow. The hair of his head was white like wool. His throne was flaming with fire and its wheels were all ablaze. A river of fire was flowing coming out. from before him.

Thousand upon thousands attended him. Ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him. The court was seated and the books were open. You said, why are you reading this? Because when you read in Revelation 1 and Jesus gave his revelation to John, isn't it interesting? Sounds very familiar. Oh, it's the same vision of who?

The Son of Man. Watch this. This is Revelation 1 in verse 13 or 12. I'll start reading in verse 12. I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned, I saw seven golden lampstands. And among the lampstands was someone, what? Like a son of man.

Like a son of man. Who did he get this from? A little place called Daniel 7. Yeah, dressed in a robe. Now look at this vision. His head and hair, verse 14, were white like wool. Well, that sounds familiar. And his eyes were like blazing fire.

His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like rushing waters. Well, doesn't this sound familiar? And you say, well, why? Because we'll get down to verse 17, and it says when Jesus said, Do not be afraid I'm the first and last. I'm the living one.

I was dead, and behold, I'm alive forever and ever. and I hold the keys of death and Hades. And look, if I just back up and read verse six of Revelation 1, it says, He has made us to be a what? A kingdom and preach to serve his God and Father. Look, verse 7, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, and even those he pierced him,

all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him. So shall it be. I am the Alpha, the Omega, who is, says the Lord God, who is and was and who is to come. So there's the connection. So if you go back to Daniel 7 and then read where he gets to verse 13, in my vision, he's fixed to explain this dream again. There before me was one like a son of man coming with the clouds of heaven.

He approached the ancient of days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory, and sovereign power, which is all the things he used the term son of man for the hundred times in the Gospels. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed. Now, you say what? This is so hard. This is so confusing.

Well, he interprets the dream in verse 15. I, Daniel, was troubled in spirit and the visions that passed through my mind. Disturbing. I approached one of those standing there and asked him, what's the true meaning? So he told me and gave me the interpretation of these things.

Here we go. Verse 17. The four great beasts are four kingdoms that will rise from the earth. Well, we've already gone through this. Babylon. You can just find this in history. You can Google this.

What's fascinating about this, is how did Daniel know all this was going to happen, and then history supports the exact prophecy that he's given. That's why people who don't believe in God say, well, Daniel must have came later. Because they don't want to admit that, oh, he got it all right, you know? But, you know, it brings a lot of clarity to the question of, do you believe in the son of man?

Because I think what the Pharisees weren't getting, because if you go back to the whole John 9 passage, is Jesus was like, oh, you see, and because you see you're guilty, this guy was blind, but now he sees because he believed in the son of man. And I think what that question is ultimately asking, when Jesus is asking that, is do you believe in the authority? Do you believe with the sovereign power?

Do you believe in the dominion that the son of man was given? Not your own personal autonomy. And so what was happening with, which is, by the way, a revelation, Jesus is revealing himself as this guy. So the Pharisees, what they were doing, And they didn't have it. It wasn't that they were doubting that he was a son of man. It was not about doubt. It was defiance. It was a hostile assault against what is. So they had their clenched fist raised in hostility towards Christ. It was the willful suppression of what God had made plain to them. That was what was going on? Well, that's what I was going to say? Because the last time I got into a discussion with someone about this, they said, what's your thoughts on the apocalypse? And I said, and I quote, I said, Jesus is the apocalypse.

Yeah. And he went, what? I said, all apocalypse means is to uncover or reveal. And the first verse of Revelation says, this is the revelation of Jesus Christ. He's uncovering something to you. Yeah. He is the king of the kingdom. All right, we only have three or four minutes.

So when you brought up the point about the stone that doesn't grow and I said, I'm going to answer that to you, well, that's where we're at now. He's going to establish this kingdom. There's four kingdoms. Babylon, Medes and Persians, Greeks, and then the Romans. So Jesus came in the time of the Romans. That's verse 17 of chapter 7. He says, the four great beasts or four kingdoms that rise from the earth.

Now here's verse 18, and here's the living stones. But the saints of the most high will receive the kingdom and will possess it forever, yes, forever and ever. Look up how many times saints is referred to in the letters that Paul wrote. He would say, to the saints. Colossians, you have been brought into the kingdom of light. You know, where's that at? That Colossians, 13.

Transfer it to the kingdom. Transfer from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light. Yeah. Is that Philippians or Colossians? I think it's Colossians, too, is it? We'll find it. But I just want to reiterate, and I'll continue reading what the interpretation says in verse 19, while you're looking that up.

Then I wanted to know the true meaning of the fourth beast, which was different from all the others, which we're saying is Rome. Verse 20, I also wanted to know about the ten horns and all that, all right, the power, the Roman emperors and all that. In verse 21, as I watched, this horn was waging war against the saints and defeating them until the ancient of days came and pronounced judgment in favor of who. the saints of the Most High and the time came when they possessed the kingdom. Well, this sounds a lot like revelation with all this martyring believers in Jesus, especially under the rule of Nero.

He's talking about the living stones who have the stone of Jesus as the chief cornerstone. I got that down here. Ephesians 219 or 220 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself, being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure being joined together grows, what kind of rock grows, this kind of rock, being joined together grows into a holy temple.

This is a rock that grows into the Lord. I want to finish reading this, Daniel 7. So he gets to 25 and says he will speak, he's talking about what I think is Nero or one of the Roman emperors. He will speak against the most high and oppresses saints and try to change the set times and the laws. The saints will be handed over to him for a time, times and a half, that there's persecution that's going to happen. But verse 26 says, But the court will sit and his power will be taken away and completely destroyed forever.

Then the sovereignty, power, and greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be handed over to the saints, the people of the most high. His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom. and all rulers will worship and obey him. This is the end of the matter. I, Daniel, was deeply troubled by my thoughts, and my face turned pale, but I kept the matter to myself.

And all of this came true in Jesus, setting up the kingdom. He died, was buried, and resurrected, declared king of kings, and then people who surrendered to the king, then was able to possess his spirit that he poured, out, we became the living stones, we became the kingdom on earth as it was in heaven through what he did and through the spirit that indwells us. And that gets into the kingdom being now and not yet because ultimately we will be transformed, which is another apocalypse that Paul uses in Romans 8, that it will be revealed that our bodies will be redeemed

and we will be revealed as the sons of God. That's Romans 8. So there's another apocalypse. So that's where we have to leave off because we're out of time. But I think we should do Ezekiel next, and it's going to be the same kind of language and the same kind of conclusion. Yeah, it's really good, Jay's.

And it's a little, you know, when you read about stuff like this in the then and there what it means, it was interesting. One of the reasons why Daniel, I think, shifted over to Beast, is because guess what I'm, happened to that first king on Nebuchadnezzar. He wound up spent a little seven years in crazy town as a beast because he wouldn't relate to God.

So there's a lot of cool stuff to go. We'll pick it up next time on the continuing rabbit hole of Jason's kingdom study on Unashamed. Thanks for listening to The Unashamed podcast. Help us out by leaving a rating and review on Apple Podcast. And don't miss an episode by subscribing on YouTube. And be sure to click the little bit. and choose all notifications to watch every episode.