Welcome back!  I’m so glad you’re here, and I have prayed over this week’s study many times, trusting God to pour out His spirit and His blessing on the teaching of His Word.  I have also prayed for you!  As I write I have no idea who you are, but God’s Word says He knows the end from the beginning.  If He knows that, He certainly knows that you are reading this page, this moment.  I’ve prayed in faith for you!

Indeed, God knows the end from the beginning, and He has given us glimpses of the end in His Word.  It is stuffed full of revelation to us if we simply open our eyes to see, our minds to comprehend and our hearts to receive.

For those of you following the study, you will recognize this as the launching of week 2 of our study together.  For those who may have just found your way to this page, we are in the midst of a 10-week study called “Looking for the Blessed Hope.”  You are welcome to follow along.  (The study launched on September 10, 2015, so feel free to scroll back through the last few days to catch up on lessons from the start.)

Our next port of call is the book of Daniel, where we find God’s specific outlines for the Gentiles and for the Jews.  Because the Jews are God’s chosen people, He laid out a different plan for them than He did for Gentiles, and He revealed both outlines to the prophet Daniel.

We will see that God’s plan for the Jews was interrupted when they failed to recognize the coming of their Messiah.  (Luke 19:41-44, Matthew 23:37) Thus, God pushed the pause button and inserted a “time of the Gentiles.”  That time is known as the Church Age, and we’re living in it right now!  (Refer to the “Plan of the End” diagram.) However, Scripture teaches that God’s love for Israel and the Jewish people has never waned, and He will resume His plan for them very soon.

Our cruise ship has docked, but before we explore portions of the book of Daniel together over the next few days, I want to encourage you to pray for the peace of Jerusalem this week.  (We’re working together to make that a part of our daily prayer life.)

On the holy mountain stands the city founded by the Lord.  He loves the city of Jerusalem more than any other city in Israel.  O city of God, what glorious things are said of you!
~Psalm 87:1-3 (NLT)

Indeed, Jesus loves Jerusalem and her people.  In fact, God has a plan for His people.  Though the plan is currently on pause, it will soon be resumed.  O, that Israel would recognize her Messiah!  Pray that God’s love for Israel will prompt them to look to the Prince of Peace for salvation.

Blessings dear friends…and enjoy this week’s study in the book of Daniel!