Participants: Jim Reinking
Series Code: LDS
Program Code: LDS000004
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00:34 I'm gonna take you back to that underlying template
00:36 because really what we are doing 00:38 in the seminar is much like putting a puzzle together. 00:42 When is the last time 00:43 you put a puzzle together do you remember? 00:45 I bet you kids have done a puzzle 00:47 probably at some point this last year may be. 00:50 But I remember the idea was to get the parameters, 00:53 you know, the outline done 00:56 and then you put in the details, right. 00:59 And that's exactly what we are doing with the template. 01:02 We get the essential elements down 01:04 and then we begin to fill in the details 01:08 and the template helps us to see how all of the great things 01:12 of the Bible really interconnect. 01:15 And as we pull all of these things 01:17 in the Bible together over the period of time 01:19 we find this wonderful beautiful picture 01:22 of the God who really loves us and really cares for us. 01:26 But you can remember the very first thing 01:27 that we took note of opening night 01:29 is that God began with His perfect beautiful world. 01:33 Remember, in Genesis 1:31, God said 01:37 and it was very good, it was perfect, 01:41 it was beautiful. 01:43 God designed the world to be a paradise. 01:46 He designed to be place in which 01:48 we would only know what was good, 01:51 if only it had stayed that way, right. 01:53 If only it stayed that way. 01:54 But there were troubles that were brooding there 01:57 in the very presence of God Himself 01:59 which is very astounding to think about. 02:01 There was trouble that was developing 02:03 among the angelicals of heaven 02:05 and it broke out in open conflict 02:08 and Satan and the third of the angels 02:10 as we study were cast down to this planet and remember, 02:14 initially they only had access to the planet. 02:17 There at the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 02:22 That's the only place they had access 02:25 until Adam and Eve gave into the temptation. 02:29 And remember, what that fruit represented. 02:31 Is, was it so much the fruit it's just like God said 02:34 you shall not eat of it. 02:36 And so it represented faith in God, trust in God 02:39 or disobedience meant that, 02:42 you know, one really didn't trust God. 02:45 Its been playing out historically 02:47 right on down to our time all of the problems 02:50 the difficulties, the sin and rebellion 02:53 has blot to this planet 02:54 comes right here from the tree 02:56 of the knowledge of good and evil. 03:00 God never intended for us to have acknowledge of the evil. 03:04 Isn't there just something that you wish 03:05 you could just take off your mind the things 03:07 that may be you have experienced or seen or heard? 03:12 Aren't there just somethings 03:13 there're just somethings I wish I didn't know. 03:16 But remember, God could not let us go. 03:19 God just could not let go of us. 03:22 He could have just think of this little planet 03:25 in the immensity of the universe 03:28 God troubled Himself over this planet 03:31 and so He paid the ultimate price 03:32 for redemption there at the other tree. 03:35 It's the other tree. 03:36 It's the Cavalry 03:38 and its there that we too must make a decision. 03:41 A decision that means life eternal 03:44 and then as we've already noted Revelation 21. 03:47 Now we could go from tonight 03:49 we discover that God has His plan 03:51 it is centered in the Cross of Cavalry 03:53 in which He is going to eliminate the whole problem 03:56 the whole mess of sin that brought to this planet. 03:59 Evil, death, suffering, rebellion 04:02 is all going to be brought to an end. 04:05 And the first habitant it says the first earth passes away 04:08 and God makes a new heaven and a new earth. 04:13 And my friend, that is the focal point 04:15 of all of the prophecies but I want to 04:18 as we are in a prophetic sequences we can 04:21 I want to emphasize how vital it is 04:26 what Jesus did for us at Cavalry. 04:30 We would have no future. 04:32 But because of what Jesus did at Cavalry 04:36 we again have this wonderful future. 04:39 But remember there're two significant things 04:42 that flows out of what Jesus did for us at Cavalry. 04:44 Number one, well, number one is we have the promise 04:48 that by, by faith in Him 04:51 we are saved from the curse of sin 04:54 from what this knowledge of evil has done for us. 04:56 We are saved from it. 04:58 And connected to it is the promise 05:00 that in the end God is going to eliminate sin. 05:05 He is going to eliminate 05:06 the knowledge of the evil, right. 05:10 He is gonna do that. That's part of the good news. 05:12 That is actually a part of the gospel. 05:16 Jesus is as victorious and will be victorious. 05:19 The second thing is that He is going to restore paradise. 05:25 God has through what Jesus has done for us 05:29 prepared this wonderful, beautiful. 05:33 And when you keep in mind as we study prophecy 05:35 those significant, those are fundamental 05:38 to what's gonna be happening in the end time. 05:41 Then it really, you know, there's gonna be 05:43 some pretty awful things that will happen. 05:45 I'll tell you Satan is not gonna get this fide up easily. 05:49 He is going to battle this right on down to the end 05:52 but his fate is sealed, right. 05:55 His fate is sealed but he is not going to give up 05:59 until he is forced to give up. 06:01 You know to say that we live in troublous times 06:05 just it's an understatement, troublous times. 06:08 I mean we see it all around us. 06:11 As we see natural and manmade disasters 06:14 causing destruction and loss of life 06:17 it's just tragic to things that are going on, 06:19 Katrina all other the things. 06:21 I mean, you know, we have going through it 06:23 this year, haven't we. 06:25 And tonight in our world 06:26 we find ourselves facing economic instability. 06:32 You know where is this going to end up anyway? 06:34 You know, we're trying to prop up the financial systems, 06:37 we're trying bail people out of you know their homes 06:40 or you know are in jeopardy. 06:43 They're facing foreclosure. 06:44 This is thing playing with jobs, 06:47 millions of jobs that have been lost. 06:49 I mean, you know, 06:51 what's the outcome of all of this. 06:54 You know, we could talk about political unrest 06:56 in the world that we are living in. 06:58 And going right back to 9/11. 07:01 So we have got international tensions, 07:03 we have got conflicts, we have got crime, 07:06 we have got violence, we have got violence. 07:11 It threatens our peace for the present 07:14 and our confidence in the future it does 07:17 but problems and difficulties 07:19 that we are facing our so complex 07:22 as to defy human wisdom to resolve them. 07:26 And then we look at Luke 21. 07:27 This prophetic statement of Jesus made in Luke 21 07:30 and beginning with verse 25 where He said 07:32 "And there will be signs in sun and moon 07:35 and stars, and upon the earth." 07:37 Notice what Jesus said about the end time, times. 07:39 "And upon the earth dismay among nations." 07:44 How accurate is that? "In perplexity." 07:48 And the language here is prophetic now. 07:50 "In perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves," 07:54 Talking about the turmoil, you know, 07:56 among the nations to peoples. 07:58 "Men fainting from fear," fear 08:02 "and the expectation of the things 08:04 which are coming upon the world 08:06 for the powers of the heavens will be shaken." 08:09 Evil is not just going to rollover 08:11 as much as we would like it to do. 08:16 It is, it is going to struggle it is going to, 08:21 you know, its going to be a conflict 08:23 with God right on down to the very end. 08:28 And it's that dynamic of this conflict 08:30 and I remind you, I remind you where this conflict all began 08:34 this conflict all began in heaven, right. 08:38 I mean, just to think about there was conflict 08:40 among the angels of God in heaven. 08:41 I can't imagine quite how that conflict 08:43 but it was conflict it's described as war. 08:47 And Satan and his angels 08:49 as we've already noted were forced out. 08:53 My friend, we are in the middle of the conflict 08:55 that began in heaven that's playing 08:56 out here upon this planet. 09:00 And I, I just know this knowing something 09:02 about the evil one as you do. 09:04 He did not give it up there in heaven easily. 09:06 He was forced out. 09:10 And he is not going to give 09:11 the conflict up easily here upon the earth. 09:14 He is going to be forced to give it up 09:18 but give it up he will because Jesus said 09:22 all power has been given to Me in heaven in earth. 09:26 All power and He is victorious. 09:30 And the Cross of Cavalry guarantees the victory 09:33 that will be His at the end time. 09:36 His enemies are gonna be made footstools 09:38 what the Bible tells us. 09:43 So anyway I want that assurance as we talk about this. 09:46 I was living in Everett in Washington. 09:48 Anybody know where Everett is? 09:50 Everett is just north of Seattle 09:52 probably 30-40 miles north of Seattle. 09:56 And this is when I was a kid 09:59 and we lived in our neighborhood at the end of the block 10:03 which meant that on two sides of our property 10:06 we have what we called the woods. 10:09 The wood was a great place of adventure 10:11 for particularly the neighborhood boys. 10:13 Because they were trails in the woods. 10:16 There was exploration in the woods. 10:19 I mean, there is sometimes 10:20 we would go very deep into the woods 10:22 probably not more than half a mile 10:24 but when you got really deep in the woods 10:27 that was kind of scary. 10:28 Who knew what was out there 10:29 when you're little kid, you know. 10:31 And then we would, we sometimes would build forts. 10:35 Anyway I remember this one time 10:37 we had built this fort 10:38 we had taken the tools out we dug this big pit. 10:41 Well, for us as kids it seems like a big pit. 10:44 And we threw all the dirt up around the parameter of that pit 10:48 and then we put down logs. 10:50 Well, they weren't really logs 10:51 but, you know, twig branches and whatever we could find, 10:54 you know, make to make fort. 10:56 And it was time for supper 10:58 and I don't know how my dad smelled this out 11:01 but he said "Jim, where are all the tools?" 11:04 And I had to admit we had left them in the woods. 11:07 It was raining now. It was raining now. 11:10 And my dad said "you're going to have to go get those tools 11:14 because they're going to rust in the rain." 11:17 I didn't want to go out into the woods in the dark. 11:21 I really didn't want to do that. 11:25 But my dad I usually didn't argue with my dad 11:29 even into my adult years 11:30 I can hardly remember a discussion that I ever won. 11:38 My dad always won whatever the discussion was. 11:41 But anyway so there I go 11:44 I'm on woods fortunately I'm going out in the woods 11:46 down through the backyard into the woods, 11:48 into the underbrush these big trees and all 11:52 and I don't like the dark 11:53 and unfortunately it wasn't that far from the backyard 11:56 but nevertheless it was into the woods. 11:58 And I found the fort 12:00 and I gather the shovel, the rake and the hoe 12:02 I think that's those were the tools we had out there. 12:05 And I made my way back. 12:07 Something happened to me 12:08 the very moment I turn to go back. 12:11 I just sensed that that was something there 12:13 in the darkness, sinister. 12:15 You know, which just gave me a little bit of adrenaline rush 12:21 and which made me pick up my pace. 12:24 Which meant by the time I got to the backyard 12:27 I was running as fast as I could knowing 12:30 that there was something just behind me. 12:34 I ran the length of the backyard. 12:36 I lunged for the backdoor. 12:38 I stalled the tools now because my dad said 12:41 "you better bring those tools back." 12:43 I lunged for that backdoor. 12:45 I flung it open and I slandered behind me 12:48 just knowing I just have got it. 12:50 I know it was just my childish imagination 12:52 but there is something about the dark. 12:56 And you know when you and I in troublous time 12:59 particularly looked to the future 13:00 and there is uncertainty it's just like that experience. 13:03 I mean, there is fear what's gonna happen. 13:06 If you lost your job 13:08 and you don't know how you're gonna make 13:11 pay the bills next month or the month after that, 13:14 you don't know what's around the corner 13:16 or you've just lost you know 13:18 you've lost your retirement in the stock market. 13:22 I mean, there is some real fear is out there 13:24 and what's gonna happen. 13:27 Well, let me take you to texts 2 Peter 1, 13:30 the New Testament page 183, 183, 2 Peter 1:19. 13:39 2 Peter Chapter 1 now 13:45 and just make your way right down to verse 19 13:47 where we have this important statement in the Bible. 13:50 It says "So we have the prophetic word" 13:52 the prophetic word "made more sure." 13:56 So we have the prophetic word 13:58 and the Bible says it's been made more sure. 14:01 That's talking about reliability, isn't it? 14:04 "To which you do well to pay attention," 14:08 Was it to that we're to pay attention to? 14:10 The prophetic word. 14:12 Don't let anybody tell you 14:13 prophecy is not important or is not relevant. 14:19 Anyway "To which you do well to pay attention 14:21 as to a lamp shining in a dark place, 14:24 until the day dawns 14:26 and the morning star arises in your hearts." 14:30 So prophecy is like a light a like a lamp 14:34 that lightens up, the future. 14:38 We don't see all of the details 14:40 but it shows us the way. 14:43 It shows us among other things. 14:45 It just shows that God has a plan. 14:48 God really is at work 14:50 and He is going to get us through 14:53 whatever working is and uncertainty 14:56 there is as we think about the future. 14:58 He is going to get us through. 15:00 And so prophecy really is important for us to be assured 15:05 that He is, He is going accomplish 15:07 what He said He is going to accomplish. 15:08 His will is going to be carried out. 15:10 I'll take you to Amos 3:7 on the screen 15:13 where it says "Surely the Lord God will do nothing, 15:15 but He revealeth his secrets unto His servants the prophets." 15:21 And my friend, there we have the assurance 15:23 that's why we're being given the prophetic word. 15:26 That's why we've been given 15:27 the testimony of the prophets in this book. 15:31 We call it the Bible 15:33 it's a powerful book, it is a dynamic book. 15:37 There is no other book like it. 15:43 You can spend a lifetime studying in this book 15:45 and let me tell you, you will never reach a point 15:48 where, where you know it all. 15:51 I was talking to a lady 15:53 and she'd come the opening night 15:55 and she said "oh, I thought you gonna talk about 15:58 political intrigue and conspiracies 16:00 and what's a quite word I thought it was going to be." 16:03 She said "it was interesting." 16:04 But she says "I know what the Bible teaches." 16:08 And I thought to myself that's interesting 16:09 she knows what the Bible teaches. 16:12 Now, you know, I'm not judging 16:13 somebody's experience. 16:15 I know certain things about the Bible 16:17 but I can't say "I know the Bible in the sense." 16:20 I you know, I know every chapter and verse and I know. 16:25 You know you can spend a lifetime studying the Bible 16:28 and still not have gotten it all. 16:32 That's the dynamism in the scriptures. 16:36 I love this book. It's a wonderful book. 16:39 And then I will take you into Isaiah 46:9, 10 16:42 where it says "For I am God, and there is no other I am God, 16:46 and there is none like Me, 16:48 declaring the end from the beginning, 16:50 and from ancient times things that are not yet done." 16:55 God can see into the future. 16:58 He knows exactly 16:59 what's going to happen in the future 17:00 absolutely without question. 17:04 He not only inhabits the present 17:07 he inhabits the future as if it was present. 17:12 He knows what is ahead of us. 17:15 And so we can take courage start tonight 17:18 because God has revealed the future 17:20 and the things which are to take place and assures us 17:24 that He going to get us through. 17:26 He's promise I'm with you always even to the end 17:30 and we must never forget that 17:32 when tough times are going on. 17:34 And tonight we will discover 17:36 through one of the most astounding prophecies 17:39 given to the prophet Daniel. 17:41 How God has been at work in the past 17:44 and how He will work out His will in the future. 17:48 This is really a fascinating study. 17:50 As we turn to the Book of Daniel 17:51 this is the apocalyptic book of the Old Testament. 17:55 It is a parallel, 17:58 a companion book to the Book of Revelation, 18:00 the apocalyptic book of the New Testament. 18:03 And what do we mean when we talk about apocalypse. 18:07 Theologically we talk about apocalyptic literature. 18:10 Let me give you definition about what we are talking about. 18:12 This will help us understand Daniel in Revelation 18:15 and how it really is put together. 18:17 This is the definition, "The apocalyptic books of Daniel 18:20 and Revelation are based on prophetic visions 18:23 and dreams in which the cosmic theme of the conflict 18:27 between good and evil, 18:29 Christ and Satan are set forth in largely," 18:32 notice "largely coded, prophetic terms 18:35 often depicting fantastic symbolic creatures 18:40 to represent powers, forces, 18:42 and nations relating to the end time. 18:46 Apocalypse literally translates revelation." 18:50 That's really what it means revelation. 18:52 That's why the apocalypse 18:54 of the New Testament is called the Book of Revelation. 18:58 "And as such reveals the closing scenes of earth's history, 19:02 the defeat and destruction of evil, 19:04 the triumph of God's people 19:06 and the establishment of God's eternal kingdom on earth." 19:11 It's all of that. That's what it's all about. 19:14 But as we come to Daniel 19:15 we are coming to Daniel Chapter 2. 19:17 As we come to Daniel Chapter 2 19:18 we find that, you know, 19:20 we find Daniel and his companions. 19:22 Remember them their Babylonian names 19:27 were Shadrach, Meshach Abednego. 19:30 You remember that Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach Abednego. 19:33 They are there because Nebuchadnezzar 19:35 has invaded the kingdom of Judah. 19:39 The kingdom had been gone through a civil war 19:42 basically after the passing of Solomon 19:45 and we have ten more northern tribes 19:48 and then the two southern tribes, 19:50 the tribe of Benjamin and the tribe of the Judah. 19:53 So anyway Nebuchadnezzar had come in the ten tribe 19:56 of Samaria is what we called that nation 19:59 and they're made up Israelites 20:02 were described by the Assyrians. 20:05 So Nebuchadnezzar comes down three times he invades, 20:09 what we call the Holy Land. 20:11 And in the process he takes 20:13 some of the most intelligent often, 20:16 the young people of the nation 20:19 he takes them back to Babylon 20:21 and he puts them through a course of study 20:25 to prepare them for his civil service. 20:28 It was through them and he had this practice 20:31 not just with the Jews that were taking the Babylon 20:34 he had this practice with all of the nations 20:37 that he defeated. 20:39 He will take, he will take the very best 20:42 educate them give them all these privileges 20:45 and then he would administrate his, his empire through them. 20:49 And so that's why Daniel, Shadrach, 20:50 Meshach Abednego are in Babylon. 20:52 And they were in Jerusalem originally 20:54 but now they're in Babylon. 20:56 And Nebuchadnezzar, King Nebuchadnezzar is reigning 21:01 and he has a dream I mean, this is a dream. 21:05 We all had dreams that just really, 21:08 you know, had a deep impact upon us. 21:11 Well, tell you Nebuchadnezzar had one of those kind of dreams. 21:14 In fact, he awakened in the middle of the night 21:17 and he would shaken by this dream. 21:20 It was really overpowering 21:22 but he had no idea what it was about. 21:26 You know, we have to take note of the fact 21:28 that in ancient times they often believed 21:31 that the gods would communicate with them 21:34 by means of dreams and that is apparent 21:37 as you look at Daniel 2. 21:38 Daniel felt that something vital was being communicated to him. 21:43 And so in the middle of the night 21:46 he calls for his counselors his wise men. 21:50 Now can you imagine this? 21:51 He sends out the messengers, 21:54 they awaken all of these counselors 21:56 and it's urgent it can't wait until the morning. 21:59 They got to get up and hurriedly dress. 22:01 They are taken to the palace 22:04 where they find Nebuchadnezzar he is agitated. 22:09 Now among these wise men of counselors 22:11 are those who profess to be able to interpret dreams. 22:16 That's what they're professed to do. 22:17 They were among them astrologers interestingly. 22:22 And so they're brought and in haste Nebuchadnezzar 22:26 we already know that he said in that dream 22:28 and they said oh, king, tell us the dream 22:30 and we'll give you the interpretation. 22:32 But Nebuchadnezzar says "you don't understand 22:34 I can't remember the dream. 22:36 You tell me the dream and then I know that, 22:38 the interpretation is true." 22:40 You can read this context which makes me wonder 22:43 did he really believe some of the claims 22:45 they were making about interpreting the dream. 22:48 But they said "okay this is with the gods 22:51 not with human beings we can't reveal the matter. 22:54 But tell us the dream 22:55 we'll give you an interpretation." 22:57 Yes, they would have done that but he could. 23:02 And as you studied in Daniel 2 you discover 23:04 I'm just giving you the background before 23:06 we get to the verses we're gonna be looking at. 23:08 You'll find Nebuchadnezzar increasingly becoming angry 23:15 and he accused them of just warning. 23:17 You know they-- he was to gonna-- 23:18 they were going to tell him until the time should pass. 23:23 Some implication that he thought 23:25 may be there is a little conspiracy going on here. 23:27 I mean, read the whole of Daniel 2. 23:30 When you get home tonight and you will pick 23:31 some of those new answers in, in the text. 23:35 And finally, I mean, what could they do? 23:38 They could do nothing without the dream. 23:42 And Nebuchadnezzar angrily said "away with them." 23:45 He called for captain on his guard 23:47 he said "I want you to get them all 23:50 and I want you to kill them all." 23:52 He was an absolutely ruler. 23:54 Nebuchadnezzar was, 23:56 and so Arioch begin to follow the orders he did. 24:00 And so they went through 24:01 all of Babylon gathering up them all. 24:07 And they knocked on Daniel, Shadrach, 24:09 Meshach Abednego and goes door. 24:11 They were not there. 24:12 Daniel had not been there 24:13 though they were counted public junior members 24:16 of this class of counselors' wise men. 24:20 And Arioch he know he is there in haste 24:23 and Daniel wants it you know what's going on. 24:25 So Arioch does take the time 24:27 to explain to him what's going on. 24:29 And so Daniel asked for a brief period of time. 24:34 A brief period of time he said 24:36 "there is a God in heaven that knows these things." 24:39 And asked for short time 24:40 it was granted to him interestingly enough. 24:43 It was granted to him 24:45 and so Daniel and his companions 24:47 get on their knees and they begin to pray. 24:50 It's in the middle of the night, remember. 24:52 They were asking and they were making their petition to God 24:58 that He would reveal the matter to them and God did, 25:03 that is the Daniel revealed the whole matter to him. 25:08 And so he was taken to King Nebuchadnezzar 25:12 who was interested to hear 25:13 what this Jewish young man would have to say. 25:17 And that's the context that we've, 25:20 that we put into place 25:21 as we get to really our passage tonight. 25:25 Daniel 2:27, 28, 25:29 so Daniel finds himself before King Nebuchadnezzar. 25:33 That's going to be the Old Testament page 629, 629. 25:38 Daniel 2:27, 28 where it says "Daniel answered before the king 25:45 and said, 'As for the mystery about 25:47 which the king has inquired, 25:49 neither wise men, conjurers, magicians 25:52 nor diviners are able to declare it to the king.'" 25:55 He began by making a point that all of them, 26:02 all of those counselors, all of those wise men 26:05 including the astrologers, don't miss this, 26:08 none of them could give the king the answer. 26:10 Verse 28 "However, there is a God in heaven 26:14 who reveals mysteries." 26:16 Do you know that? 26:17 Do you know there is a God in heaven 26:20 that reveals mysteries that which we would 26:22 not understand and comprehend, He does. 26:27 And He has given us revelations 26:29 that appropriately give us certain insights 26:33 into some of these mysteries. 26:35 "There is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries 26:37 and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar 26:40 what will take place in the latter days." 26:42 The King James says "the last days." 26:44 "This was your dream and the visions 26:46 in your mind while in your bed." 26:49 And we continue on in verse 29. 26:52 He says "As for you, O king, while on your bed 26:55 your thoughts turned to what would take place in the future." 26:58 He was reminding Nebuchadnezzar that as he retired that night 27:02 that he was thinking about the future. 27:05 Nebuchadnezzar was a great empire builder. 27:08 It really began with his father Nabopolassar. 27:13 He began the rebuilding of Babylon. 27:16 We will call this the Neo Babylonian Empire. 27:18 It began with his father and Nebuchadnezzar picked up 27:22 where his father left off 27:24 building this tremendous city beautiful. 27:28 And he had all of this plans. He was expanding his empire. 27:33 He was dominating what we have called the Middle East remember, 27:36 Mesopotamia to put in the terms of that period of time. 27:39 So it's reminding and you're thinking about the future. 27:42 And lot of part of verse 29 27:44 "And He who reveals mysteries has made known to you 27:46 what will take place. 27:48 But as for me, this mystery has not been revealed to me 27:50 for any wisdom residing in me 27:53 more than in any other living man." 27:54 He was not gonna take credit for this 27:56 and that's shows something about the humility of the prophet. 28:00 That's the good thing to have when you have the prophetic gift 28:02 a little bit of humility, don't you. 28:05 And as-- its good to have 28:06 a little bit of humility as believers too, isn't it? 28:09 A little bit of humility is a good thing to have. 28:13 And then we come down, 28:16 we come down to verse 31, look at verse 31. 28:19 He really gets to the matter here. 28:21 He says "You, O king, were looking and behold." 28:25 That's in his dream. 28:26 "You were looking and behold there was a single great statue, 28:30 that statue, which was large and of extraordinary splendor, 28:34 was standing in front of you, 28:35 and its appearance was awesome." 28:39 Immediately Nebuchadnezzar said "that's it." 28:42 That's it. 28:45 He couldn't remember. 28:47 By the way who do you think was behind that 28:50 that Nebuchadnezzar could not remember the dream? 28:53 God was behind it. Why? 28:56 Because he wanted to verify that the interpretation 29:00 was from Him and no other. 29:03 For no other would know the dream except God. 29:07 So it was clear this came from God. 29:10 Okay and he said that's it 29:11 the statue yes, I remember, I remember. 29:14 Verse 32 it says "The head" Daniel says 29:16 "The head of that statue was made of fine gold, 29:19 its breast and its arms of silver, 29:21 its belly and its thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, 29:26 its feet partly of iron and partly of clay." 29:28 It's a great metallic multi metallic image. 29:32 "You continue" verse 34 29:34 "looking until a stone was cut out without hands, 29:37 and it struck the statue 29:38 on its feet of iron and clay and crushed them." 29:41 Crush them "Then the iron and the clay, 29:45 the bronze, the silver 29:46 and the gold were crushed all at the same time 29:48 and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors 29:51 and the wind carried them away 29:53 so that not a trace of them was found. 29:56 But the stone that struck the statue 29:59 became a great mountain and filled the whole earth." 30:03 Now again he immediately 30:05 Nebuchadnezzar said that's it, that's exactly it. 30:11 So do you think it gave him confidence 30:13 in the interpretation that now follows? 30:16 Absolutely. 30:18 Verse 36, "This was the dream." 30:22 Daniel says, this was the dream 30:25 "now we will tell its interpretation before the king. 30:29 You, O king, are the king of kings, 30:31 to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, 30:34 the power, the strength and the glory, 30:37 and wherever the sons of men dwell, 30:39 or the beasts of the field, or the birds of the sky, 30:41 He has given them into your hand 30:44 and has caused you to rule over them all. 30:47 You are the head of gold." 30:52 And Nebuchadnezzar probably said something like 30:54 "Amen, you have got that one right." 30:59 I know they've said Amen 31:00 but, you know, of course, 31:03 the head, and it's the head of gold. 31:05 It represents my kingdom, my empire. 31:09 Yes, how appropriate. 31:11 And wow might the Babylonian empire 31:16 be represented the head of gold. 31:18 You know, they've been doing archeology over there. 31:21 You know, in fact, in what modern country 31:25 would we find Babylon, today? 31:29 In Iraq. 31:31 Its interesting that among the divisions of Saddam Hussein, 31:37 among the republican guard divisions 31:41 he had the division called the Nebuchadnezzar division. 31:44 Did you ever catch that in the news? 31:47 Which told me, well, I think it tells me 31:51 that he has some ambitions and identified something 31:56 of somewhat with this great empire builder. 31:59 And Saddam had some ambitions, didn't he. 32:02 He did. 32:04 But anyway you know here is the Ishtar Gate 32:07 as they, they imagine it this was the one of the main gates 32:11 that came into the city. 32:13 You will remember that in the city hung 32:15 one of the seven wonders of the ancient world 32:18 the hanging gardens of Nebuchadnezzar. 32:20 I will share a little bit about that story. 32:22 There is a love story behind this actually as you look at it. 32:24 But as they've been excavating 32:26 there at the site of ancient Babylon 32:29 they've been making some fascinating discoveries. 32:32 Among other things they discovered 32:33 that the city was laid out 32:35 in the form of square, approximately 15 miles to aside. 32:39 This was known little village or just small city. 32:43 Fifteen miles aside to a site 32:45 which meant in encompass an area of 225 square miles. 32:50 And it had these massive walls that surrounded it. 32:55 In fact among the cuneiform tablets 32:57 that they have found at the site of ancient Babylon, 33:00 they have found cuneiform tablets 33:02 that come directly from Nebuchadnezzar. 33:04 Among the things that he said about this beautiful city 33:08 and the empire that it represented. 33:10 It say "May it Last Forever." 33:13 But anyway massive walls around it in fact, 33:16 it was a double walled defense system. 33:20 The inner wall was 21 feet thick. 33:24 And places of they say 87 thick 33:27 and in some places it's high as 300 feet high. 33:30 So you have an inner wall 33:32 that basically it was 21 feet thick 33:35 then around it was mote that was 40 feet wide. 33:41 And then you had an outer wall 33:44 that was 12 feet wide. 33:47 They build the city to withstand any siege. 33:51 But at this point Nebuchadnezzar was not so sure 33:55 that he was really happy to hear 33:57 that it was going to come to an end. 34:00 As this cuneiform tablets indicated 34:02 he wanted this empire to last forever. 34:05 But my friend, short of the kingdom of God 34:08 nothing lasts forever on this planet, you know that. 34:13 We are here today. 34:14 We're to be gone tomorrow relatively speaking aren't we. 34:19 And we know, we know Nebuchadnezzar 34:22 actually struggled with this whole issue 34:25 that his kingdom was not going to last 34:27 that there was going to be another kingdom. 34:28 We know that because as you go to the next chapter 34:31 in Daniel you'll discover 34:33 that Nebuchadnezzar builds himself a statue. 34:36 Where do you think he got that idea? 34:41 Yes, he got it from that dream. 34:43 But this statue was made 34:45 of what kind of metal from head to foot? 34:48 All gold. All gold. 34:50 What kind of statement do you think Nebuchadnezzar 34:52 was making when he did that? 34:54 He didn't want to end. 34:57 It was an act of rebellion 34:58 against what God have revealed to him. 35:00 Those hanging gardens it's a love story 35:02 because he married a medium princess 35:06 and her name was Amadeus and she came from Mede 35:11 which is North of Babylon. 35:13 It's in a mountainous area. 35:14 It's got wildlife, its got trees 35:17 and foliage and Babylon's in a semiarid area, 35:20 its like almost like a desert. 35:22 It was not beautiful she was homesick 35:25 and so Nebuchadnezzar put to work 103,000 slaves 35:29 those who build these beautiful hanging gardens. 35:32 If you thought these were just a few flower pots 35:35 something hung here and there this was much more elaborate 35:39 as they brought in even wildlife and all of the trees 35:43 and you know they had elaborate system 35:45 it did this all out of love for his queen. 35:48 The Babylon indicates that it comes to an end. 35:51 And it did. 35:52 The days for the Neo Babylon Empire 35:55 are from 605-539 BC. 35:58 You can see for yourself it didn't last forever 36:00 but as we read in verse 39 it's says. 36:03 "After you there will arise 36:04 another kingdom inferior to you." 36:06 As we come down to the chest of silver. 36:09 What kingdom comes on the hills of the Babylonian empire? 36:14 The Persian Empire. 36:15 I think some of you have 36:16 actually studied this, haven't you? 36:19 The Persian Empire that's exactly what the history, 36:23 ancient history tells us happened. 36:27 It was the Medo-Persian Empire the Medes 36:30 and the Persians in the military alliance 36:32 is what was involved here. 36:34 And it's interesting that in Isaiah 45:1, 36:37 this prophecy was made about the destruction of Babylon. 36:41 Its destruction how it would be destroyed 36:44 and by whom it would be destroyed? 36:45 This prophecy was given 150-years before it happened. 36:49 And it says "Thus says the Lord to Cyrus His anointed, 36:52 whom I have taken by the right hand, 36:54 to subdue nations before him 36:56 and to loose the loins of kings to open doors before him 37:00 so that gates will not be shut." 37:03 Now we come down basically 37:05 to generations from Nebuchadnezzar. 37:08 We come to the time his grandson Belshazzar 37:13 who is reigning in Babylon 37:17 that you been remember that at one point 37:19 when you know there was writing on the palace wall and Daniel 37:23 and all men came and read it. 37:27 Belshazzar said "I will make you the third ruler in Babylon." 37:31 There is a reason why he said third ruler 37:33 because his father Nabonidus 37:38 was a co-ruler with Belshazzar. 37:42 Nabonidus some 10 years before had taken the army 37:47 and had gone some distance from the empire 37:49 where it's kind of murky what he was doing 37:51 but he was gone for ten years left Belshazzar. 37:54 When the Medes and Persians in this military alliance 37:57 went up against Babylon 37:59 again we know this from the Bible 38:00 but we know this from secular history as well. 38:03 History verifies what, what, what we find in the Bible 38:07 and this is, you know, we don't have photographs 38:10 but this is Cyrus the Great, 38:12 the head of this military alliance. 38:14 And we still have the tomb of Cyrus the Great 38:17 in Iran there is the tomb, 38:20 it still stands today of Cyrus the Great, 38:23 a testament to a great man for that period of time. 38:28 And so we have the Medes and the Persians 38:31 they are laying siege against Babylon. 38:33 But they have these double you know these massive walls, 38:37 these doubled walls system with this huge mote. 38:41 And they felt so secure behind those massive walls. 38:44 Well, the river Euphrates flows 38:46 right through the middle of the city. 38:50 But as it flows through this city 38:51 they were these massive walls there were gates. 38:53 Of course, there were gates. 38:55 And so the Medes and the Persians 38:57 are known to the defenders 38:59 began to divert the river Euphrates 39:01 to a nearby base it was out of site. 39:03 They built a channel and then when they completed 39:06 they diverted the waters to this nearby basin. 39:08 The water went down that faithful night 39:10 and then the combined armies of the Medes and the Persians 39:13 made their way up into the interior of the city. 39:18 In fact if you look at this historically 39:20 the Medes and Persians have a very long history together. 39:25 In fact, remember some of these epic balances 39:27 between the Persians and the Greeks? 39:30 Remember some of that from history? 39:33 When you look at the composition of the Persian forces 39:37 you will find invariably the Medes were always present. 39:42 So this was not unusual. 39:44 And so they diverted the river Euphrates 39:46 and as they came up into the city down that dry river bed 39:50 guess what they found just as declared in Isaiah 45, 39:53 the gates were left open and that night the city fell. 39:57 The city fell just as the Bible predicted. 40:00 And out of it out of this military alliance 40:02 we have the emergence what we call the Persian Empire. 40:06 The dates of it are 539 to 331 BC, 40:10 539-331 and then the lot of part of verse 39 goes on to say. 40:17 "Then another third kingdom of bronze, 40:20 which will rule over all the earth." 40:23 What kingdom as we look at our ancient world history 40:26 comes on the heels of the Persian Empire? 40:29 Greek. It's the Grecian empire, the Greeks. 40:34 And I think most of us know that much about history 40:38 and of course when we talk about the Grecian empire 40:41 we think of this young man Alexander the Great. 40:45 His father Philip of Macedon, died. 40:51 Actually, Philip had been preparing 40:53 for this for this incursion into the Persian Empire. 40:59 And Alexander the Great very quickly consolidated 41:03 the Greek states under his control 41:06 within a few months he was successful in doing this 41:08 though he was very young, 41:09 he was in his very early 20s when he did this. 41:13 And then he took up, he took up this, this forces 41:18 and you know all of this wise 41:20 and every thing that his father has been preparing 41:22 for this battle with the Persians. 41:24 Again you know one of those 41:26 epic conflicts with the Persian Empire. 41:29 And he went up against the Persian King Darius III 41:32 again we know this from the historical record. 41:35 He went to Issus that's where he met the Persian forces. 41:39 And it is estimated the Persians had a force of 400,000 soldiers. 41:44 It was composite of many nations. 41:49 Had I'll tell you Alexander the Great was a military genius. 41:56 You know, he had his way 41:57 of driving a wedge in the opposing forces 42:01 and then he would take his cavalry 42:02 and he would be at the head of it 42:04 and he would go for the head 42:06 which was Darius III in this case. 42:08 He would drive for the head. 42:11 And I don't know how old this mosaic is 42:13 but it's a mosaic showing Darius III 42:16 as he sees Alexander the Great 42:17 with his cavalry coming straight for him. 42:20 You can see the fear and he takes his chariot 42:23 out of the battle and he runs for his life. 42:27 And the Persians were defeated and he dominated, 42:33 he controlled the world that he knew it. 42:35 But he had these great ambitions 42:37 to cross over the Himalayan mountains 42:41 and he descendant as we know from the historical records 42:44 down into the northern plains of India. 42:48 And he was having some trouble 42:49 because some of this soldiers were, 42:50 I mean they've been on the campaign 42:52 as Greeks soldiers for a very long time. 42:54 Some of them were weary of it, 42:56 some of them were going awol, 42:58 some of them when they went awol 42:59 didn't go back to Greece 43:01 they stayed in Himalaya Mountains 43:02 and they intermarried with the local population. 43:05 They intermarried among those who lived in Hunza. 43:09 I saw this on the History channel 43:11 just a couple of years ago. 43:13 As they were studying these people 43:15 in the Himalayan Mountains 43:17 who were light skinned and blue eyed 43:20 unlike any of the other surrounding population 43:24 and bearing testimony that they intermarried 43:26 with some of these Greeks. 43:28 So anyway he had a large force at this point 43:31 descendant into those the northern plains of India 43:35 as I have already noted 43:36 and had this epic battle with the Indians. 43:40 And for the very first time as they were in battle 43:43 they met 200 war elephants. 43:47 They had never seen such a thing. 43:51 They barely were able to prevail but its soldiers had to had it, 43:57 they rebelled they were not willing to go further. 44:00 Who knows how much further he would have gone 44:02 if they've been willing to follow him. 44:04 I mean, he was still young man 44:05 and he was in his early 30s at this point 44:09 when all of this happened. 44:10 And so he took them back. 44:13 And he took them back through the Makran desert 44:17 which is the worst wrath 44:19 that he possibly could have taken them. 44:22 He was taking them back through this desert, 44:24 he went into this desert I got the figures here. 44:26 He went into the desert with 82,000 soldiers. 44:30 By the time they got the through the desert 44:32 they were only 25,000 of them left. 44:37 And some wondered 44:38 if he didn't take them out to there to punish them 44:41 because they had failed to follow him all the way. 44:45 And we have Grecian empire we have Greek culture 44:49 that dominates this civilized world, 44:52 the western world as we know it 44:54 and that's why Greek became international language, 44:57 why Greek became the language of the New Testament. 45:03 And it's all because of what Alexander the great did. 45:06 But there is more as we turn to verse 40 45:08 those in the dates 45:09 for the Grecian empire 331 to 168 BC. 45:13 And as we come to verse 40 it says 45:14 "Then there will be a fourth kingdom as strong as iron, 45:19 inasmuch as iron crushes and shatters all things, 45:22 so, like iron that breaks in pieces, 45:24 it will crush and break all these in pieces." 45:27 Now what empire are we talking about? 45:30 And of course those of you who remember your history 45:32 we're talking about the Roman Empire, 45:35 we are talking about the Caesar aren't we. 45:38 This empire would out last them all. 45:41 It lasted for centuries. 45:43 And of course, one of the main figures 45:45 that we think of when we think of Rome 45:47 we think of Julius Caesar as we have in depicted here. 45:50 Julius Caesar, who helped to consolidate the empire. 45:55 This actually happened in number of times 45:57 through the history of the empire 46:00 of this consolidation and then often administratively 46:04 it would be broken up in different parts to be, 46:07 you know, because it was so very vast. 46:09 And so Julius Caesar interesting to study him. 46:14 And this empire, this empire in its heyday 46:18 stretched all way from the Isles of Britain 46:21 through what we call Western Europe 46:25 through the Middle East, through Asia Minor 46:27 the Middle East and Northern Africa. 46:29 It was vast, the Roman Empire as we look at it. 46:34 But you know and reached a time historically 46:37 when the Roman Empire, the Roman Empire 46:39 often had problems and difficulties particularly 46:42 as it begin to restore those final centuries. 46:45 In fact the dates for the Roman Empire 46:47 are from 168 BC to the middle of the 4th century AD. 46:52 And so we had the Roman Empire 46:55 we got the Babylonian 46:56 then the Persian and then the Grecian 46:59 then the Roman Empire. 47:01 Okay, that's the progression, 47:03 the progression that we are finding 47:05 and then we come to verse 41. 47:07 In verse 41 it says "In that you saw the feet and toes, 47:10 partly of potter's clay and partly of iron, 47:14 it will be a divided kingdom." 47:16 It's talking about the ten toes. 47:19 "But it will have in it the toughness of iron, 47:21 inasmuch as you saw the iron mixed with common clay." 47:24 I ask you, do we have 47:25 the introduction of another empire 47:27 as we have had in the previous progressions? 47:31 Not at all. 47:33 But it says because it's a continuation of the iron 47:36 into the ten toes the feet, right, continuation iron 47:40 but it will go through an alteration it'll change 47:45 with like pottery and it would not 47:48 it will become a divided kingdom. 47:51 And we know something again about this 47:52 is as we look at the history of it, 47:54 that's exactly what happened. 47:55 I mean we have the we have the barbarians 47:58 that often were threatening 48:00 the cohesiveness of the Roman Empire 48:02 and eventually were successful in breaking up the Roman Empire 48:07 and among them where some of my relatives 48:09 and so I have German blood in me, you know. 48:11 And we have here you have a map of the, of the various tribes 48:17 that broke up the empire this Suevi, Visigoths, 48:20 the Franks the Anglo-Saxons the Burgundies and on and on. 48:26 You can go. 48:27 And this were put it altogether little bit better. 48:29 The Alamanni became the Germans, 48:32 the Burgandians the Swiss, the Franks the French, 48:35 the Lombards the Italians, the Saxons the English, 48:38 and Suevi the Portuguese and Visigoths the Spanish. 48:42 And so it became a divided kingdom just like, 48:46 just like the Bible indicated it would. 48:49 But there is more as we come down to verse 43. 48:54 It says "And in that you saw the iron mixed with common clay, 48:58 they will combine with one another in the seed of men 49:01 but they will not adhere to one another, 49:03 even as iron does not combine with pottery." 49:06 It says they would seek to combine 49:08 or to unite through the seed of men. 49:13 And what is that talking about? 49:15 Again it's talking about that European time 49:17 after the break up of the empire, 49:19 after it was divided, the attempt to reestablish 49:23 the cohesiveness and unity of the empire. 49:28 And there was one attempt made after another. 49:30 Basically it was the intermarrying 49:33 between the royal houses of Europe. 49:35 Its one of the ways they sought to bring this unity 49:38 and to bring peace in Europe. 49:39 These families just fought each other, killed each other. 49:42 You know at one point the Czar of Russia, 49:46 Kaiser Wilhelm and the king of England 49:49 were all first cousins. 49:51 They had a common grandmother Queen Victoria. 49:54 In fact, Queen Elizabeth II, 49:55 the current reigning Queen in England 50:00 married into it's the trivial question for the night into 50:05 what royal house when she married Prince Philip? 50:10 Anybody know? 50:13 The royal house of Greece 50:15 of course, which does not exist anymore 50:18 but if it did that's where 50:20 that's where, Philip came from anyway. 50:22 So there is still this practice. 50:24 But it did not bring unity and cohesiveness 50:27 and there is been one attempt after another. 50:29 There was Sharla Maens 50:30 they called it the Holy Roman Empire. 50:33 It had a semblance of unity 50:35 but my friend, it was really not unified you look at it. 50:38 Politically, it was not really unified. 50:41 And then you look at the Louis XIV 50:44 and you can look at Napoleon 50:46 and it seem like Napoleon might cede 50:48 and then you come down to Kaiser Wilhelm 50:51 and then the Turek, 50:52 Hitler it almost seem like he might succeed. 50:56 And then today we have what the European Union. 51:00 You tell me what the Bible says about this. 51:02 Are they gonna succeed? No 51:05 Never, they will not. You can debate upon this. 51:09 The Bible makes this clear it will remain divided. 51:13 They will attempt it but it will remain divided. 51:16 Now you, notice there is not much left. 51:19 This is an outline of human history 51:21 that takes us right down to our own time. 51:24 What's the next thing? Do you remember in the dream? 51:29 That huge stone that smashes the statue 51:33 what does that represent? 51:35 Human history where this political system 51:39 are going to come to an end. 51:42 That has bought us right down to our day and age. 51:46 We know what we are at. 51:48 The next kingdom is that which God will establish. 51:52 Verse 44, verse 44, here it is "In the days of those kings." 51:58 And their kingdoms. 51:59 "The God of heaven will set up a kingdom 52:01 which will never be destroyed, 52:04 and that kingdom will not be left for another people 52:06 it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, 52:08 but it will itself endure forever." 52:12 My friend, I'm here to tell you 52:14 we are on the verge of the establishment 52:17 of the eternal kingdom of God on earth. 52:23 And who is it that will rein over us? 52:28 King Jesus, absolutely, King Jesus. 52:34 And He will solve all of the world's problems. 52:38 It will be a totally new world order. 52:43 It is fundamentally moving away from the old world 52:45 order to establish the eternal kingdom of God. 52:48 This is exciting, my friend. 52:50 Its exciting the one who died for us is going to come back. 52:55 He is going to bring the rein of sin 52:57 and death and rebellion to an end. 53:00 And in the process He is going to establish 53:02 His everlasting kingdom. 53:05 And if by faith in Jesus 53:09 we will be counted to be the citizens. 53:13 You and I will be the citizens of this kingdom. 53:15 Yes, yes its true that we live in troublous times, 53:18 difficult times but the God of heaven is working. 53:21 He is working through the fares 53:23 and meant to accomplish His will. 53:26 My friend, the final solution to this earth 53:28 and its problems comes through 53:30 the direct intervention of God in human history. 53:33 There is no other solution. 53:34 The kingdoms of this world will be dissolved 53:37 into the kingdom of righteousness 53:39 and everlasting peace and again the one who will rule over us 53:45 will be called the prince of peace. 53:48 All of this because of what Jesus did 53:51 for us the bearing our sins, 53:54 taking the curse upon Him on the Cross of Cavalry. 53:58 My friend, it guarantees it and end is coming 54:01 and with it a wonderful new beginning. 54:04 It's exciting isn't it, to think about it 54:06 that this could happen in our day and age. 54:09 The future has been revealed, Jesus has revealed it to us. 54:12 It will all take place at His coming. 54:14 And Luke 21 is our final text where Jesus says 54:17 "But when these things begin to take place, 54:19 straighten up and lift up your heads, 54:21 because your redemption is drawing near." 54:24 As we look at this prophecies 54:26 as we see how they're been fulfilled 54:29 they are to all give us assurance 54:31 He is coming He is coming soon. 54:34 But remember Jesus said 54:35 "I'm with you always even to the end." 54:39 He is gonna be with us 54:40 through the tough times ahead of us. 54:43 But notice it says don't get discouraged, 54:46 don't get worn down and way down. 54:48 It's says when you see these things happen 54:50 straighten up and to stay courage 54:54 because our redemption got an eye. |
Revised 2014-12-17