 Okay. Good morning to Krisha who is online and good morning to all of you who are here. And yesterday we looked at Jeremiah's writings, the book of Jeremiah and the book of Lamentations. So today we will be looking at Ezekiel and Daniel. So basically with Daniel we would be finishing the major prophetic books. So to start off with Ezekiel, we have Ezekiel is a person who was taken away into exile during the second invasion of Nebuchadnezzar. If you remember, Nebuchadnezzar comes and attacks three times. And during the second invasion when he is taking away King Jehoiakkin and he's taking away 10,000 Jews along with them, even Ezekiel is also taken away. And Ezekiel was the son of a priest, a priest named Bouzi, which basically means that he was from the priestly lineage. So Ezekiel is taken away in the second invasion and he writes his book over there in Babylon during the exile. The genre of this book is very wide. You have all kinds of things mentioned. You have narrative history because some of it is historical. You have prophecies being mentioned. You have apocalyptic writings mentioned, writings about the end times. That's one particular kind of writing where you would have all this imagery of, you would have all this metaphors and all of that mentioned. So you have apocalyptic writings and you even have parables being mentioned. So this is one book in which you have a wide variety of genre being covered. And people point out that while Isaiah put an emphasis on the Messiah and spoke about the Messiah, here you have a lot of emphasis on the Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit is mentioned a lot here in the book of Ezekiel. Coming to the structure of the book, they say that most probably Ezekiel wrote this book in two phases. Most of it he finished writing in the early days. But then there's a long gap and after that he would have written the last nine chapters. So the general opinion is that 592 BC up to 585 BC, he probably wrote chapters 1 to 39. So let's look at how we can divide these chapters, chapters 1 to 39. In chapters 1, 2 and 3, you have Ezekiel being commissioned. God commissions him and appoints him as his prophet. Then chapters 4 to 24 is where he gives his message of judgment. He talks about how God is going to judge the people of Judah. That is covered in chapters 4 to 24. He uses many different parables to talk about the judgments which are going to come. So here is where you find a lot of parables being mentioned in this particular section. Then we have chapters 25 to 32 where he is talking about judgment which will not come upon Judah but on the Gentile nations. So while chapters 4 to 24 were talking about judgment upon the nation of Israel itself. In the next section, chapters 25 to 33, you have the judgment being declared against the other nations. And why is God judging these nations? God says, the reason I am judging you nations is because you are happy that Jerusalem has fallen. You are rejoicing rather than being sad. You are rejoicing that my nation has fallen and so judgment will come upon you. So God specifically gives judgments against Ammon, Moab, Edom, Philistia, Tyre, Sidon and Egypt. These are the seven nations against which judgment is given in chapters 25 to 32. Coming to chapter 33 to 39, there you have words of hope being given. So in 33 to 39, God talks about his future plans for Israel. Right now his current plan is to judge them and punish them but his future plan for them is to restore them. And that is basically where in that section 33 to 39, you have the very famous passage about the dry bones, the valley of dry bones. That would be in your chapter 37. If someone could read out chapter 37, Ezekiel chapter 37 verse 3. Yes. You see, what you have over there in the vision are not dead bodies with skin and flesh still attached with all the muscles still over there inside. No, what you have are the skin has been stripped away, the flesh is gone, nothing is left. You literally have only the bones left and what is the condition of the bones? The bones have become dry, which means the marrow inside the bones would now be completely disintegrated. So you could say that these skeletons are the last stage of disintegration. So at this stage, can they possibly live? Can these bones, can they become a living human being? It's like almost impossible because that is how you see this nation was seeing itself. The people were very shocked that they had been defeated, that they had been taken into exile. Even though the prophets had very plainly openly told them these facts many, many times, they had refused to believe it. And so now, even though whatever the prophets had told has happened, for them it's like a brand new shock. Like as if they had not even heard about this before. And so they're thinking, why did God do this? He has left us like as if, we are completely stripped away from all flesh, all skin, everything gone. And we are like bones which have been thrown, we are completely dead. There's no hope left for us. And so God gives this vision and he shows the bones which are completely dry and he says, he asks the prophet and he says, what do you think? You think these bones can become a living, breathing, active human being again? And Ezekiel's answer is very honest. He says, surely not only you know, because the situation is very impossible. Then God says, yes indeed the bones will live. So he is saying indeed this nation, even though it's in such a bad condition now, even though it looks like it's all finished. Yes, this nation will rise up again. This nation will live. So you know, you have a lot of sermons based on this passage and people bring out all kinds of meanings out of it. But this is the basic context here. God is talking about the nation of Israel, which has been finished off, which has been brought down completely to its knees and there is no hope of restoration. And here, God is actually talking about the nation being restored when he gives this vision of the bones coming back to life. So they say that from chapters 1 to 39 was written during the first part of Ezekiel's ministry. And then after many years of silence, he finally writes the last nine chapters because in these chapters, he starts talking about future events, the apocalyptic writing, where things are not described in a straightforward manner, but there are references given about the Messiah who will come, the new temple which will be established, the Kingdom of God which will be there in the end times, all of those things are mentioned in your chapters 40 to 48. So coming to Ezekiel, maybe a little bit about him, we see that his ministry must have started sometime after Jeremiah sends a letter to the exiles. Now, if you have been someone who has been reading your Bible sincerely, you know your Old Testament, then you would be aware that Jeremiah sent a letter to the exiles because everyone is very familiar with Jeremiah 29-11. If you wake them up in the middle of the night and say quote Jeremiah 29-11, without even opening their eyes, they will be able to quote it to you. But very few realize that that particular verse is part of a letter which Jeremiah writes to the people who are living in exile. What is the background for this letter? All the people are under the impression that in another one or two years, they will go back home because these false prophets who are living in Jerusalem have been giving false hopes. They've been sending false messages saying, don't worry, everything is going to be fine in this person Hananaya, a false prophet. What does he say? He says, in two years time, not only will all of you come back home, but even all the gold and silver which has been stolen from the temple, all that will be restored and you just have to wait for about two years and Jeremiah goes to him and says, why are you giving people false hope? You know, why are you giving them the wrong information? And at that particular point of time, if I remember, Jeremiah goes over there to him wearing a wooden yoke, as if he's been enslaved and Hananaya takes that wooden yoke, breaks it and says, in this way, in a matter of two years, God will break the yoke which is upon Israel and he declares like that. And Jeremiah says to him, you know what, you're going to die. God is going to kill you. So, you know, so these people were having false hope. They were getting ready to start a rebellion over there. Imagine they were going directly against God's plans for them. So God asks Jeremiah to kindly write a letter to them and, you know, speak some sense to them and tell them, don't try to start off any rebellion. Don't try to create any chaos over there. Settle down in the land, live peacefully, you know, pray for the land. As long as the land is prospering, you also will prosper because you are going to be stuck over here for 70 years. And he assures them and he says, I'm not making these plans to destroy you or to harm you. I want to give you a future and a hope. So therefore, because I want to give you a future and a hope, settle down, accept your fate, accept the punishment which has come upon you and be humble and begin to live, you know, for me. If you will live in a godly manner and keep your eyes on me at the end of 70 years, I will definitely take you back to your land. So those are all the things which you actually find in your Jeremiah 28 to 29. And so maybe the people did not take Jeremiah's words seriously where the people in Jerusalem only are not taking him seriously, where on earth will the exiles, you know, who are living many, you know, kilometers away, where will they take him seriously? So maybe it was around this time that Ezekiel was asked to begin his ministry to talk to these, you know, thick-headed people who are refusing to accept the word of the Lord. And this is what, you know, God says to Ezekiel in chapter three, verses seven to nine. He openly says, the people are not willing to listen to you because they are not willing to listen to me. For all the Israelites are hardened and obstinate. That word obstinate basically means stubborn. Okay, the people are stubborn. And then God assures Ezekiel and he says to him, but I will make you as unyielding and hardened as they are. They are very hard and they are refusing to, you know, accept what I'm saying. I will make you equally, you know, as hardened as them so that you will not bend. You will continue to give my message to them. And he says, I will make your forehead like the hardest stone, harder than flint because then you will have the courage to stand up against them and tell them to settle down in the land and not try any kind of rebellion and not to disobey the Lord, but to accept the fate which God has brought upon them. So he says, I will make you strong so that you will be able to speak, you know, speak back to them and convince them of what I am teaching. So we get to know that Ezekiel was living in a place called Tel Aviv. Okay, that would be somewhere near the river Caber, which is about 50 miles south of Babylon. So he and a whole bunch of exiles have been placed in that particular city. They're in this place called Tel Aviv. So when he's staying over there in that place, Ezekiel is commissioned. He has a vision. God comes to him in a grand vision and that is when he receives his calling to be a prophet. We don't know whether he was actually literally sitting next to the river when it happened or whether he was sitting in his house when it happened. But the point is he has a vision from God and in that vision, which he tries to describe and which sounds impossible to understand even though he tries to describe in great detail all those wheels and ice and, I don't know, wings and stuff. It's all just too confusing to understand. But he tries to describe what he has seen and the whole point is that it seems to be some kind of a chariot and God is seated on that chariot and the chariot is getting ready to move. It's getting ready to go somewhere. So the suspense is, where is this chariot getting ready to go? So while the chariot is getting ready to leave at that point of time, God speaks to him and says, I am commissioning you. You are supposed to go and bring my word to the people and in the vision that he has, God gives him a scroll and that scroll is filled with lamentations and the mourning and the terrible things that are going to come upon the people. All very unpleasant things are written upon that scroll and something interesting happens. I think all this happens in chapter 2 or chapter 3 I can't seem to remember right now but God gives him that scroll which contains all kinds of very, very unpleasant things and he says, eat it. I want you to eat the scroll. So in the vision, he eats the scroll and if you eat a scroll which is like that, what do you think it's going to taste like? Will it taste like ice cream or is it going to taste like bitter gourd? But when he tastes it, when he eats it, he says it tasted like honey and I was thinking something so unpleasant why on earth would it taste sweet? And this is actually a very beautiful message which comes across. You see that very unpleasant scroll tasted sweet because that scroll was conveying the will of God and one thing we need to understand is the will of God is always pleasing. It may seem unpleasant it may seem very painful sometimes the will of God does think in our lives which seem very, very harsh which seem very difficult to grasp but the will of God is always sweet. That scroll will always taste sweet. That is a reality which comes out in this particular vision and in the book of Hebrews that's in fact exactly what there are writers says over there he says when you are being disciplined it's painful, it's not pleasant but he says the fruit of that disciplining later what will you enjoy? He says you will enjoy the fruit of the peaceful fruit of righteousness is what you will enjoy that time it will taste very sweet so God's disciplining God's corrections are painful when it is happening but the peaceful fruit of righteousness which it yields later will be very sweet and you will be in the center of God's will and his blessings will be upon you, you will see all the ministry succeeding you will see all the projects to which you are putting your hand all of your work of your hands will succeed and then it will indeed be very sweet and you will say yes Lord your will is sweet so here we see a very unpleasant message being given by Ezekiel to the people asking them to settle down and stay over there for 70 years they don't want to accept it one thing Ezekiel knows because he has literally tasted it in his mouth he knows that good will come out of this plans to prosper you not to harm you to give you a future and a hope he understands these things which were written in Jeremiah's letter so Ezekiel begins to speak to them regarding these things and in chapter 11 we finally discover where exactly this chariot is going which God has seated and the glory of God he doesn't even know how to describe what he is seeing in his vision he says this was the likeness of the glory of God which he saw so it's not actually the glory of God but something like the glory of God which he has seen and that itself is so brilliant that is unable to almost explain it or describe it and so it's literally God that he is seeing in his vision and God and this chariots are moving going somewhere and to his shock and horror he discovers in chapter 11 the chariot is getting ready to leave Jerusalem and go leave and go away you know God is abandoning the city he is leaving he is saying you know goodbye city it's like such a shocking thing I mean they always depended on that temple as a symbol saying as long as the temple is here it means God's presence is here then nothing can touch us nothing bad will happen to us but now in this vision God is showing and saying you know what my glory is leaving this place I am no longer going to be in this place so in fact at the end of chapter 11 you see that the chariot of God leaves he leaves the city and he goes to a mountain which is you know just outside so we see that and over here in chapter 11 in the vision itself while this is about to happen Ezekiel sees 25 men standing over there these are some very important leaders of Jerusalem they are like the top people whom everyone looks up to whom everybody listens to these are 25 men and they are happily giving false prophecies that everything is going to be fine that God will take care and so God says you know prophesy against them and even as Ezekiel is prophesying in the vision just falls down dead literally even as he is speaking those words of prophesy the man falls down dead and Ezekiel is scared and he says lord are you going to just start killing of everyone are you just going to destroy everyone and he pleads and God says yes judgment has to come but he says in the future there is hope I will restore the people and that is where you have this beautiful you know these verses which talk about how he will take away a heart of stone and replace it with a heart of flesh that would be somewhere in the middle of the chapter chapter 11 18, 19, 20 because I was just kind of looking at it in the morning somewhere around there so both Jeremiah and Ezekiel talk about how in the future a day will come when these people will no longer have a heart of stone he says he will take that away and replace it with a heart of flesh so that is the assurance that he gives Ezekiel that hope is not lost the chariot will come back the glory has left but the glory will return one day is the assurance that and it says over there in chapter 11 the vision ends and he comes back to his people to the exiles and he tells them what he has seen so he is now telling them you know what God has revealed to me that his glory is actually going to leave Jerusalem what God has said is going to happen so finally at that point at least to the people believe him probably not because God is forced to give them one more sign and this is a very very shocking sign which God gives to the exiles who are living over there in Babylon because in chapter 24 is where God gives this sign and maybe we could have one person read out Ezekiel chapter 24 maybe verses 15 to 18 24 15 to 18 please so God is sending a very powerful message across he says these people are refusing to listen to what I am saying so I will do something which will make them sit up and take notice so God says to Ezekiel you know I am going to take away the delight of your eyes I am going to cause your wife to die and when she dies don't do the morning ceremony don't honour her with all those funerary customs and rituals you know which you people do do not do that grown quietly in your heart but outwardly do not do the ceremonies which are done you know to honour the dead person and that is a very hard message to give to anyone so if anyone is sitting over here and saying oh my ministry is difficult you know these people who are in the Bible their ministries are much more difficult or they went through I mean we probably would never face so you know this is the command that is given by the Lord to him so he says in verse 18 so I spoke to the people in the morning so in the morning he tells them God will do this he is going to make Jerusalem fall he will cause it to be you know invaded by the Babylonian army and in the evening after he has given this message his wife dies and the next morning everyone assumes that he is going to start the you know funeral procedures but he doesn't do anything he continues to wear his turban he continues to wear his sandals he does not cover his moustache and beard and he continues to eat normal food he doesn't do any of the things which you do to show that you are morning the person who has passed away he does not do any of those things and the people are so shocked in verse 19 then the people asked him won't you tell us what these things have to do with us why are you acting like this and so he says the delight of your eyes the Jerusalem the temple which you regard as so great it will be taken away from you and he says where is that inverse 22 he says and you will do as I have done you will not cover your moustache and beard or eat the customary food of mourners on that day when Jerusalem falls you can't groan quietly in your spirit but do not do the ceremonies which are done to mourn what has been done because God has brought this upon us and it is something that we must submit and accept so I am assuming that at least after such a shocking object lesson was given maybe then the people began to really believe and respond because finally in the end we see that they do settle down they do accept whatever has happened to them and they give up their idol worship people for who for centuries had been idol worshippers who had refused to follow Yahweh you will observe that from now onwards idol worship disappears from the people of Israel no longer are they idol worshippers anymore when they come back from exile yes they have all the other list of sins which they are committing still but no longer is idol worship among the list of sins it is something that is actually wiped out of their system after what they have gone through and it is in fact during the Babylonian era while they are living over there in exile that you have all these godly groups of people rising up they set up things called synagogues where people can meet together once a week and spend time reading from the scrolls talking about the things of God so they start making an effort to come back to God during that era it is during like you know those times that all of this happens so finally in the end there is a change which is brought about after all the hardships that they go through so these are just some of the main things that we could look at from the book of Ezekiel so let's quickly move to the book of Daniel now Daniel he was not taken away during the second invasion he was captured and taken away during the first invasion itself the very first time that Nebuchadnezzar attacks and takes away exiles at that time itself Daniel was taken away from home and at that time he would have just been a young boy of maybe around 16 to 18 years so which means you know if you were to speak in modern terms he would basically be a boy of 11th standard 12th standard maybe first year degree not more than that just a youngster and this young boy goes over there and he declares to the authorities over there no no I will not eat the ungodly food that is being given over here so you see this was a kid who had guts he was a godly person who even though he's been taken to a strange land and he's living under people who are powerful he stands up for what he you know his faith for Yahweh and he's loyal to Yahweh he and his friends so these are not grown up men that we are talking about over here these are just youngsters very young but in their heart they have made a decision that they will be faithful to the Lord and not bend to these foreign rulers even though those foreign rulers have power over them so that is what we see about Daniel and in the first book of Daniel you have the stories you know the main theme which comes in all across in all of these stories is that if you are faithful to God in the land where you have been taken even though God's punishment has come upon you he will protect you he will be faithful to you why because you are holding on to him because that's the message we see Daniel and his friends they don't give up they continue to stay loyal to the Lord and so even though they are in a foreign land they are at a disadvantage God continues to watch over them he is faithful to them he protects them you know so we see that main message coming across in the first half of the book of Daniel the second half of the book of Daniel we know it's mainly about all these visions which are there which talk about the future events which will take place the restoration which God will bring for the nation all of those things that you would find in the second part of the book so here in our book of Daniel you have narrative history you also have prophecies and you have a lot of apocalyptic writing where it talks about all kinds of beasts and creatures and there's a lot of imagery that is used and there's a hidden meaning in all of those things so that's the apocalyptic kind of writing so in chapters 1 to 6 is where you have all the stories about Daniel and what he and his friends have been going through in the captivity but to be more specific chapters 2 to 7 is where he also gives the prophecies regarding the Gentiles what God is going to do to the different Gentile nations that is mentioned so broadly we can say chapters 1 to 6 are the stories about Daniel and his friends but specifically chapters 2 to 7 contain the prophetic plan which God has for the Gentile nations and because God is giving a message to the Gentile nations about what he is going to be doing these chapters are not written in the Hebrew language so chapter 1 where the introduction is being given that is in the Hebrew language the next few chapters chapters 2 to 7 are in the Aramaic language because that was the language which was being spoken over there in Babylon and in the other places so God wanted whatever was being written down to be read by even the Gentile people he wanted them to be aware of what he is saying he wanted them to know that he is predicting very correctly what is going to be happening in the future so chapters 2 to 7 are written in the Aramaic language then chapter 8 to 12 is again in the Hebrew language itself because in chapters 8 to 12 God is going to be talking about the plans that he has for Israel so 8 to 12 is again written in the Hebrew language now in this broad section 8 to 12 chapters 10 to 12 I am not sure whether I got this from your notes or from somewhere else in chapters 10 to 12 it very specifically talks about these are things which God tells him after the first group of exiles have returned back to Judah so you can imagine the time span this last few chapters chapters 10, 11 and 12 those chapters are written after the first group of exiles have been liberated and they return back home so basically Daniel a youngster went over there into exile he lived under all of those kings he had very important positions he stayed alive till the end of the exile he even saw the first batch of exiles going back home and then sometime after that at a very old age he must have died so here was one man who actually saw the entire exiled period in front of his eyes and he played a very important role he was in a high position and he held influence and authority in the court so he, God used him in a mighty way to fulfill his plans in that entire region so when he goes off he is nothing, he is nobody he is just a youngster just a young boy but because of the heart which he had look at the destiny that he he is able to function in one of the most powerful places and is able to achieve so much because of the heart that he had so a heart attitude can make a big difference so chapters 10 to 12 the last portion is in fact written after the return of the first batch of exiles back home and in the inverse at the end of the book in chapter 12 verses 8 to 9 this is what Daniel says he says, as for me I heard but could not understand so I said, my lord what will be the outcome of these events and this is what God says, God says go your way Daniel for these words are concealed and sealed up until the end time so Daniel writes down God is telling him to write down he talks about all these visions and statues and creatures and all of that but he says he hasn't quite understood all the details which are given and so he asks for an explanation and this is what God says these words the meaning of what these words is will only be revealed in the end times so you go your way you will die you will be with your forefathers but when the end times come then the actual meaning of all these visions will be revealed because then step by step all these things will start getting fulfilled and then people will recognize and say, oh my this vision seems to be talking about these particular events which are happening right now so that way the visions would all be fulfilled one by one okay those of you who seem to be dropping off to sleep we have another 15 minutes which is a long span of time all of us sitting over here are very eager and happy to have names in the book of life and there's a lot of stuff written about the book of life in this Daniel so maybe we could very quickly look at some of these passages Daniel chapter 7 verses 9 to 11 okay that's one amazing passage where you have a scene described literally from the end times Daniel actually sees this in front of his eyes he sees the ancient of days Yahweh in all of his glory coming and sitting over there at the judgment seat and he describes him he talks about how his throne is like fire and he says that his clothing is as white as snow and he describes him and he says the ancient of days sits down to bring judgment and what's the first thing that he does it says the court was seated and the books were opened so the word used over here is plural and it says that the books were opened before the judgment begins and then if you were to look in chapter 20 verses 12 to 15 maybe someone can actually read out chapter 20 verse 12 obviously there are only 12 chapters in the book right so now which chapter would this be oh great perfect I don't get my references right I'm using the references from Revelation as well right so yeah over here in your Daniel chapter 7 it talks about the books being opened and then if we can look at what these books are the explanation for that we could maybe find in Revelation so if you can help me by going to Revelation chapter 20 and if you could read out verse 12 yeah okay so here you have it repeats whatever was said in Daniel chapter 7 okay just like in Daniel chapter 7 it said the court was seated and the books were opened here also in Revelation 20 verse 12 it says the books were opened and then it says another book was opened which is the book of life and then it goes on to say the dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books over here it's talking about the plural books it's not talking about the book of life and then look at verse 15 if someone could read out verse 15 okay so names which are not written in the book of life those people would be thrown into the lake of fire and then if we can maybe look at Revelation chapter 13 verse 8 if you could have someone read out Revelation 13 verse 8 so it's more like a repetition here it says those whose names have not been written in the lambs book of life they are the ones who will worship the beast and it just says the book of life the lamb who was slain from the creation of the world but it's more specifics given when you go to Revelation 17 verse 8 because then you get a more complete picture of when these names were written down so if you could go to chapter 17 verse 8 here it talks about whose names have not been written in the book of life and when one of these names written down it says have not been written in the book of life from the creation of the world so the names were written down in the book of life even before the creation of the world God already knew who are the people who will accept him who will choose to commit their life to him and these names were already written down it says from the creation of the world you know which is similar to what we saw in verse chapter 13 where it says from the time when the lamb was slain from the creation of the world at that time itself God knew who are the people who will accept him and so the lamb which would be slain in the future that lamb was prepared right then in the beginning itself for these people whose names will be there in the book of life and then you come to this rather you know shocking statement which you see in Revelation chapter 3 verses 4 to 6 so if someone could read out that Revelation chapter 3, 4 to 6 it looks like as if the names are written down from before the creation of the world in the book of life because God knows that the lamb will be slain for these people but here in Revelation 3 you have the statement which says the one who is victorious you know like these people in Sardis the one who is victorious like them he will be dressed in white I will never blot out the name of that person from the book of life which raised the question among scholars who said does that mean that some of the names which were written before the foundation of the world will some of those no names get blotted out if someone is not living in victory if someone is not staying loyal to the lord if someone has gone back to the world like Deimos you know who goes back to the world will their names be blotted out from the book of life and that sounds rather scary and dangerous so of course you have people who will say no no no salvation can never be lost so you know your name can never be blotted out and others who will say yes salvation can be lost so even though your name was written down before the foundation of the world in the book of life it is possible for it to be blotted out so you have two opinions which are there and people who say that it can be blotted out they will refer to Hebrews chapter 10 verses 26 to 31 where it talks about if we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth no sacrifice for sins is left only a terrible expectation of judgment and it goes on to say that you know those who have yeah it says how much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the son of god under foot who has treated as an ungodly thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them okay the blood of the covenant which sanctified them which cleaned them now they are you know trampling upon that blood and so for such people only judgment will be there so all of those things are written in the Hebrew passage and so some people will say that even though all the names were written down in the book of life before the foundation of the world there would be some names that will be blotted out depending on the way the people have you know whether they choose to continue to remain in the Lord or they choose to go back to the world like these people and sadists who have stayed faithful and God says about them the one who is victorious will like them be dressed in white and I will never blot out their name okay so I don't have an answer for this but these are two opinions that exist regarding the book of life and regarding the names in the book and when I was very young I was very worried about this whole thing and I went to one preacher who had come to our church and I said what's going to happen to me you know is my name going to get blotted out he looked at me he smiled and he said I don't have an answer for you but why do you want to place your life in such a position where you're wondering am I going to be in hell or heaven why don't you start following the Lord and enjoying His presence then you don't even have to worry about whether your name is going to be blotted out or not because you'll be secure and safe in the in the center of His will why do you want to live on the edges where you're constantly worried about what's going to happen to you instead go into the center where you will always be part of Him and enjoy the abundant life that He has promised and that seemed like very sensible advice so I thought why hang out on the fringes on the edges constantly worrying am I going to end up in hell or am I going to go to heaven there's no need for believers to even be in that state rather can be like the people of Sardis who even though they were living in a difficult situation it says in Revelation 3 they did not dirty their clothes they lived in righteousness they and it says they are worthy they are worthy of what God is offering them you know is what it says so we need to be like that so these are just some of the things that we can learn from the book of Daniel you know yeah there are of course other things he talks about the resurrection of the dead that's another important concept which we see in the book of Daniel that not only will the ones who have placed their faith in God not only will they be resurrected but even those who are destined for hell they also will be resurrected that would be in Daniel chapter 12 of course the ungodly are resurrected for destruction on the other hand the godly are resurrected to live with the Lord you know eternally so there are many many more things in the book of Daniel but then there's no time to cover all of those things anyone has any last minute questions is what it looks like but it looks like that in Revelation chapter 3 it says the names were written in before creation when the lamb was slain or rather the lamb yeah so for God he already would know who are all the people who will accept him and the blood of the lamb has been shed for all of them so all the names of those who have accepted him will be there but it seems to indicate in Revelation 3 that people still have the freedom to make a choice and if they would like to go back to the world like Deimos did then God will not stop them but they are people if you were to look at Hebrews chapter you know maybe looking at that passage where was that chapter 12 was it 10 Hebrews chapter 10 they have been sanctified it says in verse 19 they were sanctified by the blood of the covenant but now they choose to trample on it once again so and in another passage it talks about how they have experienced the Holy Spirit and still now they are going back so all of those references it's a very debated topic so I do not have any answers but it is good for us to know that these passages are there so that you can maybe prayerfully think for yourself how you should answer this question if someone comes to you so just so that you will be aware of these passages and you can decide for yourself how these questions should be answered if someone approaches maybe we can close with this because there is no time left let's close with a word of prayer please Lord we just thank you so much for the things that we could learn from the book of Ezekiel and also the book of Daniel we thank you O Lord that these men were so committed in their walk with you they were so loyal to you in spite of all the opposition and the hardships which they faced so we pray O Lord that we too will be like that so that when you look at us you will see that like Ezekiel, like Daniel and like the people of Sardis we have chosen to stay faithful in spite of opposition and you will declare and say that they are worthy to be dressed in white that they are worthy to be clothed in the righteousness which you are freely offering to us O Lord so I pray that we would live that kind of lives so that we would never have to fear or worry about you know losing you losing your presence thank you Lord in Jesus name amen so thank you so much those of you who are online