Participants: Pr. Kenneth Cox
Series Code: GMTB
Program Code: GMTB000021
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00:19 Hello, this is Give Me The Bible
00:22 a wonderful series that we've 00:24 been enjoying for the last 00:25 four months. 00:26 And we are so excited 00:28 to have Kenneth Cox Ministries here. 00:30 This is his production 00:32 coming to you live from the 3ABN Worship Center. 00:36 And we want to welcome our live audience 00:38 as well as all of those who are watching by television 00:42 or by Internet or possibly listening on the radio. 00:45 You know, I am very honored tonight to get to introduce 00:50 to you one of my very special, most favorite people 00:54 in the whole wide world I guess you could say. 00:56 And the reason that I feel this way about Pastor and 00:59 Evangelist Kenneth Cox is because he has a pastor's heart 01:04 and an evangelist's call on his life. 01:06 Don't you enjoy his presentations that 01:09 it seems he knows how to focus on building 01:13 a lasting relationship, 01:15 a close, intimate, personal relationship 01:18 with the Lord Jesus Christ. 01:21 And you know he also specializes in world history 01:24 and how it relates to Bible prophecies 01:27 and current events. 01:28 So this has been a great undertaking. 01:31 this Give Me The Bible series... 01:32 We are meeting once a month, 01:35 five sessions each month. 01:39 And so far he has covered salvation, 01:42 the second coming, 01:43 umm, the Holy Spirit, and the Sabbath... 01:46 all about focusing on that personal relationship. 01:49 But tonight he is going to begin a 5-part series 01:53 called Five Have Fallen. 01:56 And this is going to be on Babylon, 02:00 on Medo-Persia, 02:01 Greece, Pagan Rome, and Papal Rome. 02:04 But each night he's going to spend on one topic 02:08 on one of those nations, so we're really going to have 02:11 a greater understanding, I believe, than we did before. 02:14 I want to read to you... 02:17 I hadn't anticipated this... 02:20 I want to read you a scripture from II Peter 02:25 because I believe that that pertains to tonight. 02:29 In II Peter chapter 1 and verse 19 the Bible says: 02:35 "So we have the prophetic Word 02:37 confirmed, made sure, 02:39 which you do well to heed 02:41 as a light that shines in a dark place 02:44 until the day dawns and the morning star rises 02:46 in your hearts. Knowing this first, 02:49 that no prophecy of scripture 02:51 is of any private interpretation. 02:54 For prophecy never came by the will of man 02:57 but holy men of God spoke 02:59 as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. " 03:01 And tonight Pastor and Evangelist Kenneth Cox 03:05 is going to be teaching us on Babylon. 03:07 You will want to not miss any of this series. 03:12 It's going to be coming to you in four evenings. 03:15 It will be tonight, Friday night, 03:18 Saturday and Sunday night, all at 7:00 pm CST 03:22 as well as don't miss the special second presentation 03:26 that comes first on the Sabbath 03:28 and that is at 11:00 am CST. 03:32 But before Pastor Cox comes to teach to us 03:36 I would like to introduce to you Emily Felts-Jones 03:39 from Bring Forth Ministries, and she's going to do 03:42 special music tonight beginning with a song called 03:45 There Is A River. Emily... 03:57 There is a river 04:00 that flows for me. 04:05 Streaming down 04:08 from the Mount of Calvary. 04:13 Healing water, 04:16 spilling over running free. 04:21 There is a river 04:24 that flows for me. 04:29 There is a river 04:32 that flows for me. 04:36 Streaming down 04:39 from the Mount of Calvary. 04:44 Healing water, 04:47 spilling over running free. 04:52 There is a river 04:55 that flows for me. 05:00 There is a river 05:02 that flows for me. 05:07 And I will drink 05:10 from that flood eternally. 05:15 My sins are buried there 05:18 and carried to the sea. 05:22 There is a river 05:26 that flows for me. 05:32 Yes we'll gather at 05:35 the river, 05:39 the beautiful, the beautiful 05:43 river. 05:47 Gather with the saints 05:50 at the river 05:54 that flows 05:56 by the throne of God. 06:02 Healing water, 06:04 spilling over running free. 06:09 There is a river 06:12 that flows for me. 06:18 Healing water, 06:20 spilling over running free. 06:24 There is a river 06:27 that flows for me. 06:36 Hallelujah! 06:40 Thank you Emily Felts-Jones. Did you enjoy that? 06:43 Amen! Thank you, Emily. Appreciate that very much. 06:47 Good evening. 06:49 Very happy to welcome all of you here tonight. 06:52 Also want to say welcome 06:53 to all those of you that have 06:55 joined us on television, 06:56 watching, or listening over the 06:57 radio. We're happy to welcome you this evening. 07:00 Appreciate you tuning in. We hope tonight's presentation 07:04 will be helpful to you as we talk about prophecy. 07:08 We're going into prophecy during this series 07:11 and next month's series will be on prophecy. 07:14 Dealing with this... very, very important. 07:16 What says the Bible, the blessed Bible? 07:19 This my only question be. 07:23 Search the scriptures for the waymarks... 07:26 the great prophetic waymarks. 07:29 What says the Book of God to me? 07:31 That's what we need to watch and look for. 07:33 You see, Bible prophecy is important enough 07:36 that if you were to take Bible prophecy 07:41 and miracles - those two things - out of this book, 07:45 all you would have left is a book of philosophy. 07:50 That is what makes the Bible distinctly different 07:55 than anything else is prophecy, 07:59 and it's very important that you and I 08:01 understand the prophecies of God's Word... 08:04 see what God is talking about. 08:06 Tonight we're talking about Babylon... 08:09 the nation of Babylon. What the scripture says 08:13 about Babylon. Our next presentation after that 08:17 will be on Medo-Persia. 08:22 What does the scripture tell us about that? 08:24 These nations are very important because they greatly influenced 08:30 what took place with God's people, 08:34 the development of God's Word. All that fits in there 08:37 and with the time prophecy that's taking place. 08:40 So we'll look at our next presentation about the 08:43 Medes and the Persians... what the scripture says. 08:47 What are you looking for tonight on the subject of Babylon? 08:51 Well, the first thing I would tell you to look for 08:54 is watch how accurate God is. 08:58 You know, if you have any questions in your heart 09:02 or in your soul about prophecy, 09:05 and you... and you wonder if the Word of God 09:09 is something that you can really depend on at all, 09:12 then watch. Watch for the accuracy of God's Word. 09:16 How even in minute things He outlined it and said exactly 09:22 how it would take place and what would happen. 09:24 So we hope it will bless you as we take a look 09:27 at the nation of Babylon and we begin to take it step by step. 09:32 The title for this series is Five Have Fallen. 09:38 And that's what we'll do during these five presentations 09:42 is talk about the five that have fallen 09:45 and what the scripture has to say about it. 09:47 So we hope that you'll be blessed as we continue to study 09:51 God's Word. 09:52 We're delighted to have Emily with us. 09:55 I know you'll be blessed as she sings for you 09:59 during this series and that you'll see and understand 10:05 her love for the Lord as she sings 10:08 I Know God Holds Tomorrow. 10:20 I don't know about tomorrow, 10:26 I just live from day to day. 10:32 And I don't borrow from its 10:37 sunshine 10:40 for its skies may turn to gray. 10:46 And I don't worry 10:49 about the future, 10:53 for I know what Jesus said. 10:59 So today I'll walk 11:03 beside Him, 11:06 for He knows 11:09 what lies ahead. 11:13 Many things about tomorrow 11:19 I don't need 11:22 to understand. 11:26 For I know 11:29 who holds tomorrow, 11:32 and I know 11:35 who holds my hand. 11:39 I don't know about tomorrow, 11:45 it may bring me poverty. 11:52 But the One who feeds the sparrow, 11:59 is the One who stands by me. 12:06 And the path that is my portion 12:12 May be through the flame or flood; 12:19 But His presence goes before me 12:25 And I'm covered in His blood. 12:32 Many things 12:35 about tomorrow 12:39 I don't need to understand. 12:45 For I know who holds tomorrow, 12:51 And I know 12:55 who holds my hand. 12:59 He leadeth me, 13:02 He leadeth me. 13:05 By His own hand He leadeth me. 13:12 And His faithful follower 13:16 I will be, 13:19 For by His hand 13:22 He leadeth me. 13:27 Many things about tomorrow 13:33 I just don't need to understand. 13:40 For I know who holds tomorrow, 13:46 Yes, I know 13:49 who holds my hand. 14:15 Heavenly Father, 14:17 as we open Your Word this evening 14:21 we pray for enlightenment. 14:23 May we understand and see 14:27 the prophecies of Your Word. 14:29 Lord, may Your Spirit make them clear. 14:34 We are thankful for the assurance 14:36 that You hold everything in Your hand 14:40 and that You know what the outcome is. 14:44 Help us, Lord, that we might respond in faith 14:49 and each one of us might follow You. 14:52 For this we pray in Christ's name, Amen. 15:02 The book of Revelation 15:04 is the last book in your Bible. 15:08 It's a book of prophecy, 15:11 and the 17th chapter of the book of Revelation 15:16 is the last chapter in the Bible that presents beasts. 15:21 In fact, you have a woman riding on a scarlet-colored beast. 15:27 This beast has seven heads. 15:31 Those seven heads are very, very important. 15:34 The scripture tells us those seven heads are seven kings. 15:38 And this is what we're looking at because 15:42 this prophecy in Revelation 17 15:44 takes you right through history right down to the present day 15:49 and our time. And that's what we're going to endeavor to do 15:53 in this series and the next series 15:55 is take you step by step all the way down 15:59 through time up to the present. 16:02 And so the text there in Revelation 17 says this: 16:18 So this is what it tells us... 16:21 that there are five kings here. 16:24 Five of them have fallen. 16:26 That's what we're going to look at in this series. 16:29 Then it says there's one that is, is not, yet is. 16:33 We'll look at that in the next series. 16:35 But this is what we're going to be looking at 16:37 that we can understand exactly what it's talking about. 16:42 So we thank you for being here. 16:44 We hope it will bless you as we talk about it. 16:47 Now tonight, in order to understand that, 16:49 you've got to understand the time and the situation. 16:53 So I'm going to take you back to a period of time 16:56 and help you understand a little bit of what's happening here. 17:00 And you're going to take a look here at a map. 17:04 And on this map this is what is called 17:08 The Fertile Crescent. 17:11 Now what you have here, folks, is you have the Middle East. 17:16 Uh, The Fertile Crescent is where everybody traveled. 17:20 If you can see the green here, you can see it comes up there 17:25 and comes out of the sea there. 17:27 And then you have rivers like the Euphrates 17:30 and the Tigris that runs up there, 17:33 goes through the curve at the top 17:35 and they come down to the Jordan. 17:37 This is where people traveled. 17:40 This is where they went about their travel 17:43 because there was water here, there was vegetation here. 17:46 They could travel and everything was fine. 17:50 So this is what happened and took place, 17:52 and they traveled on The Fertile Crescent. 17:55 So we hope that as we look at that 17:58 it will help you understand a little bit of where the travel 18:01 took place and what happened. 18:03 So let's go and take a look at what is happening here. 18:07 The kingdom that is ruling at this time is a kingdom called 18:11 Assyria. 18:12 Assyria has taken all the Mesopotamia... 18:16 all this area under their control. 18:19 There's a king - the last one in Assyria... one of the 18:23 last ones... and that was Ashurbanipal. 18:26 He was the king there. 18:28 But Ashurbanipal is getting old. 18:31 His sons don't seem to have much of an interest 18:35 in the kingdom. 18:36 And therefore down in Babylon 18:39 down in Babylon - if you can see Babylon here - 18:43 there is an X. Right down here we... at the bottom 18:48 if you can see that green, that's where Babylon is. 18:51 There's a vice regent in Babylon 18:55 and his name is Nebopilesar. 18:59 Nebopilesar sees this as his time. 19:04 He sees this as the time for him to do something. 19:08 And so with the Chaldeans, he sets out and begins to 19:13 overthrow Assyria. 19:15 And he moved into Babylon in 626 BC 19:19 and overthrew Babylon. 19:22 Nebopilesar goes on from there. 19:25 The capital for Assyria is Nineveh. 19:29 He enters Nineveh; overthrows Nineveh. 19:32 And the people, the king and those that were in charge there, 19:36 they fled Nineveh and they went up to a place called 19:42 Harron. And there in Harron 19:45 they tried to set up rule again. 19:48 Now, let me just back up 19:50 and give you a little bit of background here. 19:52 You remember Abraham? 19:55 Huh? You remember Abraham of old? 19:57 Well, Abraham came out of Ur of the Chaldees. 20:01 That's down below Babylon a little bit. 20:04 And when he left, he and his family - his father, his 20:08 brother and all - they went up 20:10 to the top of The Fertile Crescent 20:12 and they stayed there. 20:13 And that's where you get the name Harron... 20:16 because that was his brother. 20:18 So you have the town there, Harron, where these Assyrians 20:22 have come and they have set up a government 20:25 trying to rule again. 20:28 By this time, Nebopilesar has gotten old 20:33 and so he calls in his son... calls in his son Nebuchadnezzar. 20:39 And he tells Nebuchadnezzar that they have driven them out 20:43 of Harron and now the Assyrians have gone up to a place called 20:47 Carchemish. And they decided that they would set up 20:50 defense in Carchemish. And so Nebopilesar has asked 20:56 Nebuchadnezzar to go up and to take care of them. 21:00 Get rid of them. And so Nebuchadnezzar goes up 21:04 to Carchemish to do this. Let me kind of point these out 21:08 for you if you have a little trouble seeing it. 21:10 I've tried to put some X there. But if you go up here to the top 21:14 you can see an X. That's where Carchemish is. 21:18 Carchemish is a place there on the Euphrates River 21:22 where they have set up trying to have a defense against 21:26 Nabopilesar. 21:28 Well, something begins to happen here. 21:32 Begins to take place because down in Egypt 21:36 there is pharaoh by the name of Necho. 21:39 Pharaoh Necho is an ally of the Assyrians 21:44 but he has in his mind that he's going to come up here 21:48 to Carchemish and he's going to defeat Nebuchadnezzar. 21:53 And then he's much stronger than the Assyrians 21:58 and so all of it would come under him, 22:00 and he would be the ruler of Mesopotamia as well as Egypt. 22:05 So Pharaoh Necho leaves Egypt 22:09 going up to Carchemish to take on Nebuchadnezzar. 22:14 Interesting thing... because if you notice here... 22:18 Down here in Egypt, if you follow the path there, 22:22 Pharaoh Necho has to go through Israel. 22:27 And so on the way up to Carchemish 22:30 he's going through Judah, if you please. 22:33 And as he's going through Judah, there is a good king. 22:38 One of the best kings Judah has ever had 22:41 by the name of Josiah. And Josiah decides 22:45 he's not going to let Pharaoh Necho go up there. 22:49 Scripture has this to tell us... 22:51 and it says: 23:05 Interesting situation here, folks. This is a good king. 23:09 He has served the Lord, tried to walk with the Lord 23:13 in all that he did. 23:14 But he failed to do something here. 23:17 Watch: 23:33 Said: "I'm not coming through here to fight you, " OK? 23:46 Pharaoh Necho sent him word and said: 23:50 "The Lord has sent me to do this. 23:52 You stay out of it. Leave me alone. " 23:54 Josiah did not consult the Lord. 24:01 Josiah decided he was going to go up and stop Pharaoh Necho 24:04 and he didn't ask the Lord whether that was something 24:07 he should do or he shouldn't. He didn't consult the Lord. 24:10 And as a result... 24:25 See, these were what God said... 24:32 So here he is fighting against Pharaoh Necho, 24:35 and this is what happened. 24:59 Took him out of there, brought him to Jerusalem. 25:02 And it says: 25:12 Killed right there. Pharaoh Necho goes on up 25:18 to Carchemish to face Nebuchadnezzar. 25:21 Nebuchadnezzar, folks, overthrew the Assyrians. 25:26 He overthrew Pharaoh Necho. 25:29 Chased Pharaoh Necho back to Egypt. 25:32 He overthrew them all. 25:33 Now, Nebuchadnezzar is in charge. 25:38 He's... he's overthrown these. He's the one who's in charge. 25:43 And since he chased Pharaoh Necho back to Egypt, 25:49 he had to go through Judah. 25:52 And so Nebuchadnezzar decides 25:56 that since he's going through Judah 25:58 he might as well subdue them also. 26:00 And that's when Nebuchadnezzar came in and overthrew. 26:05 Destroyed the city, destroyed the temple. 26:10 Did all that at that time. 26:12 Something interesting happening here. 26:14 It's while Nebuchadnezzar is here, folks, 26:18 that... and he's in Israel... 26:21 that he gets word that his father, Nabopilesar, 26:25 has died. 26:26 OK, watch. 26:28 If you take and you go by the way of The Fertile Crescent, 26:34 you follow the rivers. 26:36 Take up the Jordan, go up to the top 26:38 and take the Euphrates and the Tigris back down to Babylon, 26:42 that's about 1,500 miles. 26:46 About how long that is. 26:48 Nebuchadnezzar knew that he could not spend that much time, 26:53 that he had to secure the kingdom. 26:56 He had to do something quickly. 26:58 And so taking a servant and some horses, 27:01 they start out and they go across the Arabian Desert 27:05 from Jerusalem over to Babylon about 1,000 miles 27:10 across the desert. 27:12 Absolutely tremendous feat that he did. 27:15 But he arrived there; secured the kingdom. 27:18 And now Nebuchadnezzar is probably the leading 27:23 monarch of that whole area. 27:26 All has come under his control. 27:28 That gives you some background of what's happening here. 27:31 Because, before he left to make that trip back to Babylon 27:36 he took his captain and he told his captain... 27:39 He said: "I want you to select about 50-70 young men 27:45 of the Israelites here and bring them back to Babylon 27:50 to be trained to be servants 27:54 and trained to work in the courts of Babylon. 27:57 He gave them instructions... he gave them some real 27:59 interesting instructions. 28:00 You know what he told them? He said 28:02 they had to be of royal blood. They had to be good looking. 28:07 You can read it in the scriptures. 28:08 Said they had to be good looking. 28:09 Said they had to be... have great social graces 28:13 and they had to be intelligent. 28:15 Those were the things that Nebuchadnezzar told him 28:17 they had to be. 28:19 And so he chooses these young men to take them back to Babylon 28:24 and among those that he chose were four young men 28:28 by the name of Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. 28:34 One thing that Nebuchadnezzar did not ask for... 28:38 When he gave the list of things he wanted 28:41 he didn't ask for any of them to be spiritual... 28:46 but these four boys were. 28:48 Made a tremendous difference. 28:52 because they took those young men back and trained them 28:56 in the courts of Babylon for three years. 28:59 At the end of three years of training 29:03 when Nebuchadnezzar himself tested them, 29:05 he found those young men to be ten times more intelligent 29:11 than anybody else in his kingdom. 29:14 Tremendous young men! 29:16 These were to work in the courts of Babylon. 29:19 Well, it isn't too long after that 29:23 that Nebuchadnezzar has a dream. 29:26 And in this dream he sees something that has a profound 29:31 impression upon him but... 29:34 in the morning he can't remember what it was. 29:37 Knows it's important but he can't remember it. 29:41 And so he calls in his wise men 29:44 and told them "I had a dream. 29:47 I know it's important 29:48 but I can't remember what the dream was. " 29:51 And they said: "Well, can you tell us what the dream was? 29:55 We'll tell you what it means. " 29:57 And he said: "Well, I'll tell you what, 29:59 you tell me what I dreamed 30:02 and then I'll know you can tell me what it means. " 30:05 Well they said: "Nobody on earth would ask that. " 30:08 And the more they talked the madder Nebuchadnezzar became. 30:13 Now folks, you have to understand... 30:14 this man is a dictator. 30:16 You do what he says. I mean, 30:20 and if you don't, there are severe consequences. 30:22 And so he said: "You either tell me or I'm going to have 30:24 all of you killed. " 30:26 And they couldn't tell him, 30:28 and so he gave orders: 30:35 Now, interesting... 30:39 when Nebuchadnezzar called in his wise men, 30:43 he didn't call in Daniel 30:44 or Shadrach or Meshach or Abednego. 30:47 He didn't call them in. 30:48 Why didn't he call them in? 30:51 Because they were novices. 30:53 They were young; they didn't have experience 30:58 and so he didn't call them in. 30:59 You know how that works, don't you? 31:01 Huh? You know, when you start out 31:04 they say "Well you know, if you're going to get anywhere, 31:06 you've got to get an education. 31:08 You've got to go and get an education. " 31:10 And so you got to school and get an education. 31:12 You get out of school and they say: 31:14 "Well good, you got an education but - you know - 31:17 in order to be any good you gotta have some experience. " 31:21 And so you work at it and work at it all those years 31:24 getting the experience. And finally when you get the 31:27 experience they say: "Ah, you're too old. " 31:29 You know, that's usually the way it goes. 31:32 But anyhow, they didn't have the experience. 31:34 But when Nebuchadnezzar gave the decree 31:37 to kill all the wise men, 31:38 that included Daniel and his companions. 31:41 And so they began to pray. 31:44 They asked for time to pray. 31:47 And they prayed, and God revealed to Daniel 31:50 and his companions what Nebuchadnezzar had seen. 31:53 Daniel now goes in before King Nebuchadnezzar to tell him 31:58 what he had seen in that dream. 32:00 Now this is a prophecy, folks. 32:02 Listen to it. It talks about it: 32:15 Said: "Can you... can you tell me 32:18 that... the dream and the interpretation? " 32:35 He said: "Uh, can't... can't they tell you 32:38 what you've seen in it? " 32:41 Now watch: 32:53 What will be when? 32:55 Latter days. Put it down. See, we are talking about 32:59 a prophecy that doesn't affect just his day 33:02 but goes clear to the end of time. 33:04 What will be in the latter days... 33:10 So he said: "This is what you saw, Nebuchadnezzar. " 33:24 This is what he saw. 33:59 So here it shows this image being crushed. 34:10 Now, that's what he saw. 34:14 Saw a great image. This great image had a head of gold, 34:17 arms and breast of silver, 34:19 belly and thighs of bronze, 34:22 legs of iron, feet part of iron and part of clay. 34:25 Watch as Daniel tells him what it means: 34:58 So he said clearly: "Nebuchadnezzar, 35:01 you are this head of gold. " 35:03 Why would God say that Nebuchadnezzar was 35:05 that head of gold? Because... Babylon only lasted 70 years. 35:10 Nebuchadnezzar ruled 40 35:14 of those 70 years. 35:15 That's why He said: "You are this head of gold. " 35:17 He was the one that built it 35:19 and the ruler of that. 35:21 OK. Nebuchadnezzar... 35:24 history's not very kind to him, folks. 35:27 He was a very, very hard man 35:31 and, like I said, a dictator 35:35 and didn't have much use for anybody. 35:38 But evidently God saw in Nebuchadnezzar 35:43 something that nobody else saw 35:45 because you find God over and over coming back 35:49 trying to get Nebuchadnezzar's attention. 35:53 Uh, showed him this image. Told him what it means. 35:56 Nebuchadnezzar saw that but it didn't last long. 36:00 Decided that he would build an image. 36:03 But it wasn't going to just have a head of gold, 36:06 it was going to be gold from the head to the foot. 36:09 And so out on the plains of Dura he had an image built. 36:13 Huge image. Called in all of his governors and his officers 36:17 and everybody. Had an orchestra there 36:20 and said: "We're going to play music, and when you hear 36:22 the music all of you are going to bow down 36:24 and you're going to worship this... this image. " 36:28 Well, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were there 36:32 and they said: "King, we're not going to worship 36:35 your image. " 36:37 And that made Nebuchadnezzar so mad 36:40 that he said: "Either you worship that image 36:43 or I'm going to throw you into the fiery furnace. " 36:45 And they said: "King, throw us in the fiery furnace 36:50 if you want to, but we're not going to worship your image. " 36:52 And he said: "Heat that furnace seven times hotter. " 36:57 So hot that when they threw in Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego 37:03 it killed the guards. 37:05 And when they threw them in, 37:07 as Nebuchadnezzar looked in there, 37:10 here they were walking around. 37:12 And he said: "Didn't we throw three men in here? 37:17 I see four... 37:20 One like the Son of God. " 37:23 Must have been something distinctly different. 37:26 He told Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego "Come out. " 37:30 When they came out of there, folks, 37:33 there wasn't even the smell of smoke on them. 37:36 Not even the hair was singed. 37:39 Well, you know, that got his attention... 37:43 for a little bit. You know, got his attention for a little bit. 37:46 But it isn't too long until Nebuchadnezzar 37:49 is kind of, uh, you know... 37:52 thinking how great he is... how wonderful. 37:55 This is a sketch of Babylon. 37:58 I want to show you a little bit because Nebuchadnezzar 38:01 has lavished upon this city 38:04 all the things he's fought nation after nation. 38:07 Brought gold and silver. 38:08 He's made this city like none other. 38:10 You're looking at the walls. 38:13 There were two sets of walls that went around the city. 38:15 One set was wide enough that two chariots could race 38:19 side by side around the top of the wall. 38:22 The walls were over 100 feet high. 38:25 Right there as you see the ramp going across 38:28 is what is called the Ishtar Gate. 38:31 That's the Ishtar Gate. I'm going to show you tonight 38:35 the Ishtar Gate. This is not a replica. 38:39 This is the Ishtar Gate. 38:43 You see, Germany went in and excavated... 38:50 went in and took the things out of Babylon. 38:54 They sent men over there and they took that gate apart 38:57 brick by brick and tablet by tablet. 39:02 And they numbered them and they brought them all back 39:05 and they put them back together. 39:07 Now this is inside the Pergamon Museum 39:11 in Britain... I mean in Berlin. 39:14 Because of that it doesn't look too big. 39:18 Let me tell you, that gate is over 85 feet high. 39:22 To give you a little idea of the size of it. 39:25 Those are clay... brick or clay tablets. 39:31 Look at the color. They haven't done anything. 39:35 That's exactly the way they were. 39:36 Marvelous. This will give you a little better look at it. 39:40 Those clay tablets were there and they stand. 39:43 That's been thousands of years, folks. 39:45 He lavished upon that city until it was looked upon 39:49 the city that was impregnable, could not be taken. 39:53 They had enough food inside the city to last them 39:56 for 40 years without ever going outside. 39:58 Inside the city was what was called the Hanging Gardens. 40:03 Nebuchadnezzar... that's one of the 7 Wonders of the World. 40:07 He had that made for his wife 40:10 because she was from the mountain country 40:12 and Babylon sits out on the plain. So he built that 40:16 to remind her of her mountain home. 40:18 Seven Hanging Gardens in the city of Babylon. 40:22 Wonderful place. This is a statement that was found 40:26 on a clay tablet in Babylon. This is what it says: 40:38 But God had told him that wasn't going to happen. 40:41 But he didn't want to accept that. 40:44 Wanted it to last forever. 40:46 Nebuchadnezzar went ahead, built his kingdom and all. 40:49 And God gave him a dream again. 40:53 And God said: "Nebuchadnezzar, here's a great tree. 40:57 The birds nest in the tree. The beasts get shade under it. 41:02 It feeds all these and everything. " 41:05 Said: "This great tree takes everything 41:07 but a Holy One came and cut it down. " 41:10 And he said: "Seven times would pass over it. " 41:14 He didn't know what it meant. 41:17 Called in Daniel. Had Daniel interpret it. 41:22 Daniel said: "King, give your heart to God. 41:26 Change your ways, because if you don't 41:30 then you're going to lose your kingdom. " 41:32 Watch. He said: "Quit being so... " How should I put? 41:36 "so pompous and quit being so proud. " 41:39 Well, this is what happened. 41:43 This is 12 months after he had the vision. 42:04 I mean, he's really laying it on thick. 42:20 He had been warned. 42:23 Twelve months later exactly as God said. 42:36 Or seven years. 43:07 Seven years he went out and he ate grass like an animal. 43:43 Changed. I mean, he had finally woke up. 43:47 Change of heart in his life. 43:51 OK, watch. Over and over. Now folks, a principle in 43:55 in understanding Bible prophecy is simply this: 43:58 that God repeats and enlarges. 44:02 Repeats and enlarges... that's a principle. 44:05 We have just looked at Daniel 2. 44:07 Now we're going to take a look at Daniel 7. 44:09 Watch Him repeat and enlarge. 44:23 OK, Daniel has now had a dream. 44:33 All right. In Bible prophecy 44:36 wind represents war, strife. 44:40 Water represents people. 44:43 And so what it's saying here is there was war and strife 44:45 among the people and as a result of that 44:53 So here, four beasts are rising out of the sea. 44:56 And it tells us the first one... 45:04 That was the first beast. This is Babylon. 45:09 Says here that this beast raised itself up on its feet. 45:21 That is because of the conversion of Nebuchadnezzar. 45:25 That is the only beast in this Bible, folks, 45:28 that says a man's heart was given to it. 45:31 That was because of his conversion. 45:34 But it speaks of this lion that had eagle's wings. 45:38 I'm going to take you back to that picture that I showed you 45:43 of the Ishtar Gate. 45:44 If you can see it, you see the lion there? 45:47 If you look closely the different color down there 45:52 you can see the wing on that lion. See it coming down there? 45:57 That's the wing on the lion there. 46:01 That's what they used to represent Babylon. 46:03 In fact, England did some excavating on Babylon of old. 46:08 And if you go to the British Museum they have 46:10 statues of lions with eagle's wings 46:13 that they took from Babylon. 46:15 So it represented... 46:16 So this lion represented 46:19 Babylon. This becomes important 46:22 because it's one of the heads 46:25 on that beast in Revelation 17 46:29 where it says: "Five have fallen. " 46:34 Becomes very, very important for that reason. 46:39 Daniel the 5th chapter... 46:50 Let me explain what's happened here. 46:52 Belshazzar, folks, is actually Nebuchadnezzar's grandson. 46:58 Nebuchadnezzar's son was Nabonidus. 47:03 Nabonidus. And Nabonidus just didn't have a real interest 47:08 in the kingdom. 47:09 And so he took some soldiers and went off and fought some 47:14 battles and so forth 47:15 but he turned the running of the nation and everything 47:18 over to his son. By this time, Nebuchadnezzar 47:23 has died and so Belshazzar is running the kingdom. 47:27 This is the grandson of Nebuchadnezzar. 47:29 And so it says that he's taken... 47:34 having a big feast here. 47:48 Now when Nebuchadnezzar went down and he overthrew 47:51 Jerusalem and sacked the place and the temple, 47:55 he took all the gold in the temple and all the vessels... 47:59 silver and gold vessels, he took all that back to Babylon 48:02 with him. So here Belshazzar is having this feast, 48:06 this party if you please, 48:07 and they decide they want to drink 48:10 out of the golden vessels. 48:30 It's not just their drinking from them, folks. 48:34 They are actually - how should I say - 48:37 making fun of God and what He did 48:42 because it says here: 48:53 They praised these gods. 48:55 They were saying how they were greater than the God of Israel. 48:58 That's what they were doing. 49:01 And as a result of that... 49:15 I mean, here they are having their party. 49:17 Everything's going along and all of a sudden 49:20 over on the wall a bloodless hand begins to write. 49:27 Watch how Belshazzar reacts to that: 49:44 When he saw that, he... I mean, everything... 49:49 he realized he had come to the place where 49:55 he didn't know what to do. 49:56 And so, what did they do? 50:00 Called in the wise men. 50:03 Asked them to read what the hand had written on the wall. 50:08 None of them... none of them could read it. 50:11 Watch what takes place here: 50:14 This is the grandmother... 50:16 this is Belshazzar's grandmother... 50:25 She heard about this; heard what was going on. 51:20 They called in Daniel. 51:24 Belshazzar said: "I'll tell you what. 51:26 If you can tell me what that says, 51:27 I'll make you the third in the kingdom. " 51:30 See, he was really second. His father was first, 51:34 him... Said: "I'll make you third in the kingdom, 51:37 put a gold chain around your neck, and all this. " 51:39 And Daniel said: 51:41 "You keep your gifts. 51:43 I don't need your gifts. " 51:45 And then he chastised him very clearly for not listening 51:51 to what had taken place and following his grandfather. 51:54 And then after he had finished that, he interpreted 51:59 what it had to say. 52:07 Terrible. 52:14 Terrible. 52:16 Just think, come to the end of your life 52:19 and say you've been weighed in the balances and found wanting. 52:25 Terrible. 52:37 Said: "Your kingdom has been divided 52:40 and given to the Medes and the Persians. " 52:58 Babylon - the first one of the five - 53:04 fell just exactly as the scripture said. 53:08 Notice how accurately God described everything. 53:12 How it took place just exactly as God said it would. 53:18 You see, as we go through these prophecies 53:20 you're going to see how God showed each one, took place. 53:24 And so we've looked at Daniel 2. 53:26 We looked at Daniel 5, Daniel 7. 53:30 All those that talked about Babylon, what's happening. 53:35 So Five Have Fallen. 53:37 Our next presentation will be about the second one. 53:40 Let's bow our heads for prayer. 53:41 Father in Heaven, 53:43 as we see how You have shown in Your Word 53:49 exactly how nations come into being 53:53 and how You're the One that sets up kings and 53:55 takes them down, we pray that we might also be mindful 54:00 that You're the One that rules in our lives 54:03 and that we will surrender our lives to You. 54:07 And that we'll look at Your Word, study it, follow it... 54:11 that we might know Your will and Your desire. 54:15 Bless each one. For this we ask in Christ's name, Amen. 54:20 God bless you. Remember next presentation is 54:24 on the Medes and the Persians. 54:26 I think you'll find as we go through these five 54:29 it will begin to fill in more and more all the time. 54:32 So God bless you. 54:34 Stay close to the Lord Jesus Christ. 54:41 The Bible says in Matthew 13:44 54:58 Every day we pass by ordinary places 55:01 that may be hiding something of incredible value. 55:04 Whether buried in a field or squirreled away in an attic, 55:09 or even an old, fallen-down house. 55:11 But imagine for a moment the thrill of stumbling 55:15 upon a treasure beyond your wildest dreams. 55:18 Will you eagerly sell everything you have 55:21 to gain something of much greater value? 55:24 Will you be willing to endure criticism of friends, 55:27 even family members, in order to obtain it? 55:30 This parable speaks of the most incredible treasure of all, 55:34 and it's hidden in God's Word. 55:37 That treasure is Jesus Christ himself. 55:42 But sadly, even those who claim Him 55:45 often don't recognize this infinite treasure. 55:49 Just watch how quickly they toss aside what the Bible says 55:53 when it becomes inconvenient. 55:56 Friends, the treasure of the gospel are hidden in God's Word. 56:02 Many of its readers have eyes, but they do not see. 56:06 They have ears, but they don't hear. 56:09 They never find its hidden treasure. 56:12 In fact, they may read it over and over 56:16 and never see it. 56:17 Even worse, many times they do see it 56:20 but think the price is too high. 56:22 Like the Jews of old 56:24 who rejected the Messiah because He was not in harmony 56:28 with their ambitious desires, 56:30 many won't seek heavenly treasure 56:32 because earthly treasure is more alluring. 56:35 They reason that if they could just obtain the things 56:38 which they desire they would have peace. 56:41 Sadly, they don't realize that they carry the disturber 56:45 of their own peace inside their hearts. 56:48 They pass by the One who declared: 56:51 "Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. 56:54 Not as the world gives do I give to you. 56:57 Let not your heart be troubled, 56:59 neither let it be afraid. " 57:03 The treasure of the Bible are revealed only to those 57:07 who carefully study its pages 57:09 with a humble and searching heart. 57:11 Our whole ministry is dedicated to helping men and women 57:14 find the priceless treasure hidden in the Bible. 57:18 We pray that you will not be satisfied 57:21 with surface truths 57:23 but instead you'll want to unearth the precious gems 57:27 that others pass by. 57:29 Dig into the Bible as a miner digs into the earth 57:32 to find veins of gold. Don't give up 57:35 until you have found a relationship with God, 57:38 and then join us in spreading the good news to the world. 57:42 Please consider what you can do 57:44 for those who still don't know about Jesus. 57:46 As the Holy Spirit impresses, 57:48 please send your tax-deductible gifts to: 58:04 Your gifts help bring the Blessed Hope of salvation 58:07 to millions all around the world. |
Revised 2014-12-17