Bible Study - Mt Olive AME Zion Church

09/01/2026

📖 Wednesday Night Word Returns!

Join Rev. Dr. Reginald D. Broadnax on Wednesday, September 9, at 6:00 PM as we begin a new Bible study series exploring the books of Ezra and Nehemiah.

Our first lesson will focus on Nehemiah, Chapters 1 and 2—a powerful message about prayer, purpose, leadership, and rebuilding.

Join us in person or watch live on Facebook and YouTube at .

📍 Mt. Olive AME Zion Church
1515 W. Club Blvd., Durham, NC 27705

08/23/2026

"Being A Living Sacrifice" - Rev. Dr. Reginald Broadnax

06/24/2026

The Exilic Prophecies
Lesson 7

Daniel 11 - 12

Introduction

Daniel prayed for the sins of the people, asking God to forgive the curses that are set out in the law when the people disobeyed God. While Daniel was praying, Gabriel came to him to give wisdom and understanding concerning the 70 weeks, the time of punishment for sins. Then Daniel saw a vision of a time long into the future where kingdoms would rise and fight in a heavenly battle. Again tonight, we will refer to the prophecy of Jeremiah, 25:15, 31: “For thus the LORD, the God of Israel, said to me: Take from my hand this cup of the wine of wrath, and make all the nations to whom I send you drink it.” “The clamor will resound to the ends of the earth, for the LORD has an indictment against the nations; he is entering into judgment with all flesh, and the guilty he will put to the sword, says the LORD.”

I. Who are the kings that will arise in Persia?

a) Recalling our lesson from last week, Gabriel said to Daniel, “Then he said, "Do you know why I have come to you? Now I must return to fight against the prince of Persia, and when I am through with him, the prince of Greece will come (Dan. 10:20).” Gabriel said that both he and Michael would contend against these princes (Dan. 10:21).

b) Daniel receives this vision in the 1 st year of King Darius who is a Mede (Dan. 9:1, 11:1), but the vision is of the rise of Persian kings; thus, this will take place after Darius. “Now I will announce the truth to you. Three more kings shall arise in Persia. The fourth shall be
far richer than all of them, and when he has become strong through his riches, he shall stir up all against the kingdom of Greece (Dan. 11:2).” These 4 kings are not named in this book so we should not try and guess or surmise from history who they are. However, one had to have been Cyrus because he is mentioned in Dan. 6:28. As for the others, it is sufficient to just follow Daniel and say there are 4 kings.

c) “Then a warrior king shall arise, who shall rule with great dominion and take action as he pleases. And while still rising in power, his kingdom shall be broken and divided toward the four winds of heaven, but not to his posterity, nor according to the dominion with which he ruled; for his kingdom shall be uprooted and go to others besides these (Dan. 11:3-4).” This great warrior is the king of Greece (probably Alexander the Great who was
a warrior). He will conquer Persia, but even he will fall.

II. What will happen to these kings?

a) Let us remember the arrogance (we can even say hubris) of king Belshazzar in Dan. 5:2, where he and his household drank wine from the holy vessels and lost his kingdom; the same happened to his father. We said then that arrogance is what brings down a kingdom. The same happens here in Greece.

b) “Then a warrior king shall arise, who shall rule with great dominion and take action as he pleases (Dan. 11:3).” Taking actions as he pleases is a sign of arrogance, and while his
kingdom is still rising, it is broken, “but not to his posterity, (Dan. 11:4);” meaning that the kingdom is not given to his sons. His kingdom goes to others.

c) “Then the king of the south shall grow strong, but one of his officers shall grow stronger than he and shall rule a realm greater than his own realm (Dan. 11:5).” This is Pharaoh of Egypt; but one of his own officers will grow stronger than he is and have a kingdom in the north greater than the king of the south. The alliance in v. 6 is the marriage between the daughter of the king of south to the king of the north. Alliances like this were very
common (which is how Solomon gained 700 wives) and was made to keep the king of the north from attacking the king of the south.

d) “She shall be given up, she and her attendants and her child and the one who supported her (Dan. 11:6).” The bride was killed along with her children and her attendants. “A branch from her roots…;” a family member, more than likely a brother, avenged her death by attacking a fortress in the north and capturing gods, idols and precious vessels and returning them to Egypt (Dan. 11:7-8).

e) This will lead to a series of reprisals in vs. 10 – 20. What should be noted here is that when the army turns to the “coastlands” from Egypt, this is actually the lands of Israel. By now, the people have returned from exile and rebuilt, only to be overrun by the king
of the north.

f) “Forces sent by him shall occupy and profane the temple and fortress. They shall abolish the regular burnt offering and set up the abomination that makes desolate (Dan. 11:31).” The temple has been rebuilt, but these invading forces profane the temple and stop all sacrifices. This is a time of persecutions and an attempt to turn people away from God, “but the people who are loyal to their God shall stand firm and take action (Dan. 11:32).”

III. How does Daniel influence the New Testament?

a) A couple of weeks ago I said in a sermon that we should think of the Bible as a continuous revealing of who God is. That the God and the understanding of the people in
Genesis is very different from what you find as you move through scripture. Let’s read the following verses: Gen. 25:8; Exod. 13:19; and Jos. 24:32. In the OT, Sheol is the grave (often called the pit) where you are buried and that is the end of your life.

b) In Matt. 22:23, the Sadducees, who do not believe in the resurrection, come to Jesus to ask about the Resurrection (talk about being duplicitous…). This is the distinction between the Sadducees and the Pharisees; the Pharisees believed in the resurrection. So, how do we get from the OT belief that Sheol is the end of your life, and you are “gathered to your people,” and a belief in the resurrection?

c) “Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt (Dan. 12:2).” This is the first mention of a resurrection in the OT (there are hints of it in other places). This is also the first true
separation of life after death: everlasting life; everlasting contempt. Contempt is not a “lake of fire,” but for the first time in scripture there is a clear distinction in what happens
to one after death.

06/24/2026

Tonight's Bible Study - Mt Olive AME Zion Church Questions: Daniel 11 - 12:

1. Who are the kings that will arise in Persia?
2. What will happen to these kings?
3. How does Daniel influence the New Testament?

Join us at 6pm.

06/17/2026

06/17/2026

Join us TONIGHT for Bible Study with Dr. Broadnax! He will be discussing Daniel 9-10.

06/14/2026

Next Week: Daniel 9 - 10
Questions for the week:
1. What is Daniel’s prayer?
2. What are the seventy weeks?
3. For what does Daniel mourn and fast?

06/10/2026

The Exilic Prophecies

Lesson 5

Daniel 7 - 8

Introduction

When King Belshazzar became arrogant and drank wine from the holy vessels, handwriting appeared on the wall which was a judgment against him, and he died, and his kingdom was given to Darius the Mede. Because of the spirit within Daniel, Darius planned to appoint him over the kingdom, but others conspired against him and had him thrown in the lion’s den. God delivered Daniel and those who conspired against him were killed.

For the remainder of this book, the prophecy of Jeremiah that we will use is 25:15, 31: “For thus the LORD, the God of Israel, said to me: Take from my hand this cup of the wine of wrath, and make all the nations to whom I send you drink it.” “The clamor will resound to the ends of the earth, for the LORD has an indictment against the nations; he is entering into judgment with all flesh, and the guilty he will put to the sword, says the LORD.”

I. What is the vision of the four beasts?

In the first year of King Belshazzar, Daniel had a dream while he was sleep. He saw the four winds stirring up the great sea, and four beasts arose out of the sea. The first was like a lion with eagle’s wings, then the wings were plucked off, and it stood on two feet like a human with a human mind. The second beast looked like a bear. It had three tusks in its mouth and was told, “Arise, devour many bodies!” The third beast was like a leopard. It had four wings and four heads (Dan. 7:2-6).”

There was a fourth beast, terrifying and dreadful, and very strong. It had iron teeth which devoured and broke into pieces, and its feet stamped what was left. It had ten horns, and another appeared while three were plucked up. In this horn were human eyes, and a mouth that spoke arrogantly (Dan. 7:7-8).

Daniel saw thrones set in place, and the Ancient One sat on a throne in white clothing with hair like wool. Fiery flames were around the throne and a stream of fire flowed from it. The beast was put to death and its body was destroyed, and dominion was taken away from the other beasts. There was one who came with the clouds, and he came to the Ancient One. Dominion was given to him and all nations served him. His dominion is everlasting and cannot be destroyed (Dan. 7:9-14).

II. What is the interpretation of the vision of the four beasts?

Daniel is troubled by his dream, and he asks one of the attendants the meaning. The attendant said that the four beasts represented four kings who will arise, “But the holy ones of the Most High will receive the kingdom and possess it forever, yes, forever and ever (Dan. 7:18). Interpretations differ as to whether this refers to God’s people (the holy ones), or whether this is God (the Most High).

Daniel then asked the truth concerning the fourth beast. The attendant told Daniel that this king will conquer (devour) all the other kingdoms. Out of this kingdom, ten other kingdoms (horns) will arise, then another after that. This kingdom will speak against the Most High and attempt to change the law. A heavenly court shall judge this kingdom, and its dominion will be taken away (Dan. 7:23-26).

The holy ones of the Most High will be given dominion over all the kingdoms of the earth, and all will serve and obey the Most High (Dan. 7:27).

III. What was Gabriel’s interpretation of Daniel’s dream?

Daniel dreamed he was in Susa, the capital of Persia, and saw a ram with two long horns. It charged where it willed and no beast was able to stop it. A male goat came from the west. It had a horn between its eyes, and it charged the ram and broke the rams’ horns. The goat grew exceedingly great, but its horn was broken, and there arose four horns from the four winds. Out of one of the horns grew another horn that grew as high as the heavens and battled some of the hosts of heaven and trampled them. A holy one called out to another holy one and asked how long would the host be trampled? The answer was 2,300 days (Dan. 8:1-14).

Daniel sought to understand the vision, and he heard a voice by the river Ulai calling the angel Gabriel to help him understand. Gabriel said this is a vision of the end of time. The ram with two horns are the kings of Media and Persia. The male goat is the king of Greece; and the great horn between its eyes is the first king. The horn that was broken from which four other horns arose are four kingdoms that will arise but not with the same power (Dan. 8:18-22).

After the rule of these kingdoms, a king will grow strong and destroy the powerful and the holy ones. Deceit will prosper and he will destroy many, and will rise up against the Prince of princes, but he shall be broken (Dan. 8:23-26).

Next Week: Daniel 9 - 10

Questions for the week:

1. What is Daniel’s prayer?

2. What are the seventy weeks?

3. For what does Daniel mourn and fast?