Revelation's Ancient Discoveries

Revelation's Biggest Surprise

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants:

Series Code: RAD

00:01 Where can we find certainty in a world of uncertainty?
00:05 The book of Revelation provides hopeful answers for today,
00:09 tomorrow, and forever.
00:11 Join Mark Finley, author and world renowned speaker,
00:14 on a journey into the future with,
00:21 Welcome back to this series titled,
00:24 Revelation's Ancient Discoveries.
00:26 We're studying the last book of the Bible,
00:30 the Revelation of Jesus Christ.
00:32 Let's pray as we open the word of God tonight.
00:36 Father in Heaven, we just want to thank You so much
00:40 for Your grace, Your power.
00:42 Thank You for the prophetic word that gives us confidence
00:46 to face the future, and thank You for these life
00:49 changing prophecies.
00:50 In Jesus' name, Amen.
00:53 The title of our presentation is Revelation's Biggest Surprise.
01:00 When we study the book of Revelation it's important to
01:04 understand that God has given us clues to its prophetic
01:09 symbols in the book of Daniel.
01:11 So we're going to take a little detour from Revelation to begin
01:15 and go to the book of Daniel.
01:18 And here in the book of Daniel we have a
01:21 revelation of the future.
01:24 You know, so many people look to the future, and they're quite
01:27 frightened, quite scared about the future.
01:29 They're wondering, will we be destroyed in
01:31 some thermonuclear war?
01:33 Will global warming raise the water levels of coastal cities?
01:39 and will they be washed away?
01:41 Will famine grip our earth?
01:44 And often many, many parents who have children take their
01:49 babies in their hands, and they look at the eyes of these
01:53 beautiful little ones and they say, What kind of future
01:58 will my children have?
01:59 What kind of future can I dream about for my own kids,
02:06 and my own family?
02:08 If you're a parent, a father or mother, you too may wonder
02:14 about the world your children will grow up in.
02:16 Will it be a world of terrorism?
02:19 Will it be a world of economic disaster?
02:22 Will it be a world where diseases are so rampant,
02:26 and pestilences are so rampant that large parts of
02:30 civilization will be destroyed?
02:33 Will it be a world where thermonuclear war
02:37 annihilates our cities?
02:38 You know, you look at the eyes of your children and you say,
02:42 What kind of world will they grow up in?
02:45 I've got some incredibly good news for you.
02:48 The book of Daniel, linked with the book of Revelation,
02:52 provides for us keys regarding the future.
02:57 Deuteronomy, Chapter 29, and Verse 29, puts it this way:
03:14 Notice there are some things that are secret.
03:17 There may be some things about the future we'd like to know,
03:20 but they're not revealed.
03:24 But I give God credit for making most plain
03:27 what's most important.
03:29 And so the things that God has revealed are for us to know.
03:34 What does our text say? It's very clear.
03:48 So the things that are revealed are very clear.
03:52 Tonight we're going to the book of Daniel.
03:55 And we're going to look there at an ancient dream that the
04:00 Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar had in his bedroom.
04:04 And as we study that dream we see how history has been
04:09 following prophecy for 2500 years.
04:13 The Bible predicted that four of the great nations that would
04:17 ever rule the world, from Daniel's day down to our day.
04:21 Daniel the prophet lived about 600 years before Christ.
04:27 He was a teenager when he was taken captive into Babylon
04:31 by King Nebuchadnezzar.
04:33 And one night King Nebuchadnezzar went
04:35 to sleep and had a dream.
04:37 And in that dream the Scripture puts it this way in Daniel,
04:43 the 2nd Chapter, Verse 1.
04:51 Now you may have gone to sleep one night and had a dream,
04:56 and you wake up the next morning and you say,
04:58 Well, what did I dream?
04:59 Something very similar happened to Nebuchadnezzar.
05:02 The Scripture says:
05:08 In other words, the king went to sleep, had a dream.
05:11 He woke up, couldn't remember his dream,
05:14 and was really troubled about it.
05:16 He knew that the dream had significance,
05:20 eternal significance, but he couldn't remember it.
05:23 So as he was troubled, the king called all of his wise men
05:30 to his kingly royal chamber to help him understand the dream.
05:36 And so Daniel, Chapter 2, Verse 4.
05:51 Now the king is wise.
05:53 You see the wise men say to him, King, you know, you just
05:57 tell us what you dreamt in your bedroom the night before,
06:00 and we'll tell you the meaning.
06:02 Well, the king was too wise for that, because if he told them
06:06 what he dreamed, they could make up any interpretation,
06:10 and then he would have no way of verifying whether that
06:12 was right or wrong.
06:13 So he said, No, if you can't tell me what I dreamed
06:15 last night, how are you ever going to tell me what it
06:18 means in the future?
06:20 So if you're wise, tell me what did I dream?
06:24 Now the Bible says the astrologers were there.
06:27 They are people that supposedly can read the
06:29 future from the stars.
06:31 It says the magicians were there.
06:33 The Babylonian magicians would often cut the liver of a cow,
06:37 and they would look at the design of the liver,
06:40 and supposedly try to tell the future.
06:42 They would drop water on oil, watch the pattern that would
06:48 develop, and try to therefore tell the future.
06:52 And there were varied incantations that they used
06:58 to tell the future.
06:59 And the king said, Look, you tell me,
07:01 what did I dream last night? What does it mean?
07:04 They said, King, that's not possible!
07:07 In fact he said to them, Therefore tell me the dream,
07:12 and I'll know that you can give me its interpretation.
07:14 And the king says, If you don't tell me the dream,
07:17 certainly you're not going to be able to tell me
07:19 the interpretation.
07:20 And what do they say?
07:26 In other words they acknowledge it's impossible!
07:28 Nobody can do, King, what you're asking.
07:31 Nobody can tell you what you dreamt and what it means.
07:34 You tell us. What did you dream?
07:36 The King says, Look, you either tell me what I dreamt,
07:39 or your head's going to come off, arms,
07:41 I'm going to chop them off.
07:43 You're going to be annihilated.
07:44 You're going to be destroyed.
07:45 Fear went through the whole empire.
07:48 Daniel was not one of those wise men, but he was educated
07:54 in the University of Babylon.
07:56 So when the decree went forth it impacted Daniel, as well as
07:59 the rest of the wise men.
08:01 Daniel came in before the king, and he said, Tell me King,
08:06 do you really need to know the interpretation of this dream?
08:12 If it is so significant give me time, and let me pray.
08:17 Have you ever faced a critical moment in your life?
08:22 Something that you could not get through?
08:26 Some mountain you had to climb?
08:29 Some great difficulty that you had to, you were experiencing?
08:34 God still answers prayer.
08:37 God still comes in the quietness,
08:40 when we have problems that seem to be overwhelming,
08:43 problems that we cannot solve.
08:46 The king gave Daniel that time.
08:49 And as he did, Daniel went into his bedroom
08:53 and he began to seek God.
08:54 And Daniel opened his heart to God, and the mysteries of
08:59 eternity were revealed to Daniel.
09:01 And he began to not only understand what the king had
09:03 dreamed in his bedroom, but he began to understand
09:06 what that dream meant.
09:08 That night Daniel had great assurance, great hope,
09:13 great confidence that God had revealed to him
09:18 the mysteries of the future.
09:20 And Daniel said, Daniel 2:23.
09:29 Now notice two things about God: He gives us wisdom,
09:32 and He gives us might.
09:33 When you don't know what to do, you know just what to do.
09:36 To seek God for wisdom, to seek God for understanding,
09:40 and to seek God for strength.
09:42 God is the God of wisdom, and God is the God of might.
09:47 He reveals the future.
09:49 But not only does He reveal the future,
09:51 He is the architect of the future.
09:53 Kingdoms rise and fall at the hands of the Almighty God,
09:57 who architects, who guides, directs the future.
10:01 And then Daniel says this as he comes in before the king.
10:07 Now notice what Daniel does not say.
10:09 He doesn't say there might be a God in heaven.
10:11 He might, He doesn't say there it's possible that
10:13 there a God in heaven.
10:14 He doesn't say it's highly likely that
10:16 there a God in heaven. What does He say?
10:21 Notice He goes on...
10:28 Now there are three things about this text
10:31 that are significant to us.
10:33 The first phrase we've noticed.
10:38 Second, what does that God do?
10:41 He's not silent. He reveals secrets.
10:44 He opens up the mysteries of the future.
10:47 Thirdly, He's made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will
10:51 be in the latter days.
10:53 So this dream will take us from Nebuchadnezzar's time
10:57 down the stream of time.
10:59 This dream will take us to the very last days
11:04 of Earth's history.
11:05 And Daniel then begins to describe what the king
11:10 dreamt in his bedroom.
11:11 It must be incredibly amazing for that king to sit and listen
11:17 to this very dream.
11:28 King, you saw this great image.
11:31 And I suppose that King Nebuchadnezzar sat on the end
11:34 of his chair and he said, Daniel, that's it!
11:37 That's exactly what I saw!
11:39 I saw this great image!
11:41 Daniel then begins to describe the image to the king.
11:57 That's it Daniel! That's exactly what I saw!
12:00 An image: head of gold, breast and arms of silver,
12:03 thighs of brass, legs of iron, feet of iron and clay.
12:07 And king, not only that, but king, there is something
12:12 else that you saw.
12:23 Daniel, how did you know?
12:24 Daniel, that's exactly what I saw: a great image.
12:27 Then I saw the rock come.
12:28 It smashed the image.
12:29 It ground it to powder.
12:31 That's exactly what I saw!
12:33 Now if you were the king, what would you be
12:36 wondering at this point?
12:38 You know, Daniel went on as he describes it;
12:50 This image was crushed totally.
12:54 And what then happened?
12:56 The wind carried them away.
12:58 No trace was found for them.
13:00 You can just imagine how the king's heart is
13:03 beating faster, and faster.
13:05 He's anticipating the meaning of the dream.
13:18 Let's summarize; what did the king see?
13:21 He saw an image. In that image there was a head of gold.
13:26 In that image there was the breast and arms of silver,
13:30 the thighs of brass, the legs of iron,
13:33 the feet of iron and clay.
13:35 Then a rock comes and smashes the image to powder.
13:40 And the rock becomes a mountain that fills the whole earth.
13:43 Now if you were the king, what would you be
13:45 wondering about next?
13:46 Exactly, you'd wonder what does it mean?
13:50 What is the interpretation of the dream?
13:53 Daniel says, in Daniel 2:36
14:02 Does Daniel say, Here I am.
14:04 I'm going to tell the interpretation before the king.
14:07 What, what's the word?
14:08 Is it, I will tell the interpretation?
14:10 What is it? We will tell the interpretation before the king.
14:15 In other words, Daniel is saying, God and I
14:19 are in partnership.
14:20 The God that reveals secrets is the God that will tell
14:25 the interpretation.
14:26 You know, some people think that Bible prophecy is all
14:32 a matter of guess work.
14:34 Their idea is that you really can't tell very much about
14:39 prophecy; that everybody has their own interpretation of it.
14:43 It's kind of like, let's suppose we want to
14:46 interpret the prophecy.
14:48 What does the head of gold represent?
14:49 What do the breast and arms of silver represent?
14:51 What do the thighs of brass represent?
14:52 What do the legs of iron represent, etcetera?
14:54 So what if I passed out a piece of paper to each one of you,
14:58 and said, Write what you think the interpretation is,
15:01 and we'll put it in a hat.
15:02 I'll close my eyes.
15:04 I'll pull the interpretation out of the hat.
15:05 Is that a good way to interpret prophecy?
15:07 Well, 2 Peter 1 says, No prophecy is of
15:10 private interpretation.
15:12 The same God that gives the prophecy enables us
15:17 to understand prophecy.
15:18 So for every prophecy that God gives, that God explains
15:25 the prophecy to us.
15:27 That's why Daniel says... Back to the text.
15:38 So God and Daniel were in partnership.
15:40 Daniel begins now to explain the meaning of the dream.
15:55 There can be no question about that; no question about
15:59 that interpretation. It's very simple.
16:01 Daniel says to Nebuchadnezzar, You, your kingdom,
16:05 represents this head of gold.
16:09 You, as king of the Babylonian empire, are the representative
16:15 empire in this dream.
16:18 You are the first empire in the entire dream.
16:21 Now gold was a very fitting symbol for Babylon.
16:25 Babylon ruled the world from 605 to 539 BC.
16:30 It was then, of course, defeated by the Medes and Persians.
16:32 Gold was a symbol that was used throughout Babylon.
16:37 It was used quite lavishly throughout the empire.
16:40 If you look at the nation of Babylon, or the city of Babylon,
16:44 Babylon was about a 130 or 40 miles South of modern Bagdad.
16:52 It was really a fantastic city.
16:54 The River Euphrates ran through the center of Babylon,
16:57 giving it a constant water supply.
16:59 The Babylonians also had a twenty year food
17:03 supply within the city.
17:04 And we're told when the Medes and Persians surrounded them
17:07 under Cyrus, some of the soldiers could have gone up on
17:11 the walls and actually taunted the Medes and Persians,
17:13 and said, You know, you've surrounded us.
17:15 You think you're going to starve us out in this siege,
17:18 but we have enough food here for twenty years.
17:22 Gold was lavishly used in Babylon.
17:25 Just to get an idea of the lavishness of the city,
17:28 Babylon was about ten miles around.
17:31 That the historian, Herodotus said.
17:34 Some feel that may be a little large, but it certainly
17:36 was an amazing city.
17:38 To compare it to Rome; Rome was about six miles in circumference
17:42 around, Athens four miles.
17:44 So Babylon was one of the, certainly the
17:46 wonders of the world.
17:48 The hanging gardens of Babylon, built for Nebuchadnezzar's
17:53 Lebanese wife, were one of the marvels of the world.
17:56 The architecture was just quite incredible.
18:00 The Babylonians had thirteen different god's.
18:04 Bel Marduk was the chief god of Babylon.
18:07 And the temple to Bel Marduk was 300 feet high.
18:12 Now if you're a builder, you know that about one story is
18:15 10 to 12 feet, and so picture a building 30 stories high.
18:20 Just quite an amazing temple to Bel Marduk.
18:25 Now Bel Marduk was a golden god who sat in that temple.
18:29 And the temple contained 18 tons, that's 18 tons of gold.
18:36 The god Bel Marduk, a golden god, sat on a golden throne,
18:40 before a golden table, by a golden altar.
18:43 So gold was lavishly used through Babylon,
18:46 and certainly a marvelous symbol of the nation of Babylon.
18:51 But yet, whereas Nebuchadnezzar had wished the entire image
18:57 was all of gold, where he would have wished that there was no
19:03 breast and arms of silver, and thighs of brass,
19:05 and legs of iron, representing another kingdom.
19:07 Notice the Scripture says in
19:13 Now there is a descending value as you go: gold,
19:18 silver, brass, and iron.
19:20 There's this descending value indicating moral decline,
19:25 indicating the decay in these various empires.
19:30 So Daniel says to Nebuchadnezzar, After you shall
19:34 arise another kingdom.
19:36 Now if you're Nebuchadnezzar, what are you thinking?
19:38 No, Lord! That's not going to be true.
19:39 The whole image is going to be gold.
19:41 No, Lord, not after me there will arise another kingdom.
19:45 Nothing doing, Lord!
19:46 That's not the plan.
19:47 That's not part of the program that I've outlined.
19:51 My kingdom is going to reign forever.
19:53 In fact the archeologists digging in Babylon have found
19:58 some interesting things.
20:00 First they found bricks in procession way, that is the
20:04 royal pathway that leads through the Ishtar Gate in Babylon.
20:07 But in those bricks every one of them had Nebuchadnezzar's
20:11 name stamped on it.
20:12 Thousands of bricks with Nebuchadnezzar's name.
20:15 In addition to that, a clay tablet was found.
20:18 And as the archeologist came along and dug up that clay
20:20 tablet, this is what it said: O Babylon, the delight of mine
20:24 eyes; may it last forever.
20:27 You see, Nebuchadnezzar wanted his kingdom to survive.
20:33 He wanted it to last forever.
20:35 But that was not to be.
20:37 Another kingdom would arise after you.
20:40 In Daniel 5, we are told about the great feast of Babylon.
20:46 By now Nebuchadnezzar has died, Belshazzar, grandson,
20:50 has this great feast; he throws it.
20:52 And as this feast is lavishly thrown, the Medes and Persians
20:56 surround the ancient city of Babylon.
20:59 And there on the wall is written the very word
21:21 The bloodless hand writes upon the wall.
21:25 Before that time, in this lavish feast, long road Babylonian
21:30 statesmen hold close finely gowned,
21:33 perfumed Babylonian women.
21:36 Wine flows like water.
21:38 And in their drunken debauchery, immorality is taking place.
21:42 There's feasting, and partying, and drinking, and music.
21:47 But that hand writes on the wall, Your kingdom is divided,
21:52 and it's given to the Medes and the Persians.
21:55 That night Cyrus attacks the empire.
21:58 Now here's the fascinating thing:
22:09 That he would be the ruling General that would overthrow
22:15 the nation of Babylon.
22:17 Here's the prophecy.
22:18 Isaiah 45:1. You don't want to miss this one.
22:21 Isaiah wrote in about 680 BC.
22:25 The Babylonian Empire was overthrown by the
22:29 Medes and Persians in 539.
22:33 Cyrus is not even born yet.
22:51 Now let's look at that prophecy.
22:54 Cyrus is named by name.
22:57 And Cyrus is described as the one, the Persian king that would
23:02 come down and overthrow Babylon.
23:03 It says that the river would be dry; the River Euphrates going
23:09 underneath the walls.
23:10 It says that the gates would not be shut.
23:14 What's that all about?
23:15 In Babylon there were gates around the city.
23:19 Do you remember about ten miles in circumference,
23:21 there is around it.
23:22 The walls were so wide that two chariots could race side by side
23:27 on top of the walls.
23:29 In addition to that, when the river flowed through the city,
23:34 they had double protection, because the gates along the
23:38 river inside of the city were double gates.
23:40 They had the outer gates around the city,
23:43 the gates on the river.
23:45 The gates on that river, the inner gates, were left opened
23:51 that night during the drunken feast.
23:54 What happened? What actually took place?
23:58 Nebuchadnezzar, he dies.
24:01 Then his successor comes, then Belshazzar comes,
24:04 and then Belshazzar has this drunken feast.
24:07 Cyrus drains the Euphrates River, takes his troops,
24:13 marches them under the gates.
24:15 They come up inside the city.
24:18 And as they come up inside the city,
24:20 the other gates are not open.
24:21 They rush through those gates; attack Babylon.
24:24 And in one night Babylon is overthrown,
24:27 exactly like the Bible prophesy said.
24:31 Cyrus was to rule; he did.
24:33 The gates were not to be shut; they were not.
24:36 River dried up; it was.
24:37 We see all this described today in archaeology,
24:42 on the famous Cyrus Cylinder, which is the record of Cyrus'
24:45 attack on Babylon and how he lets Israel go free,
24:48 back to worship, exactly like the Bible predicted.
24:51 Prophesy does not guess.
24:53 This book has been accurate down through the centuries,
24:57 naming empires, naming world leaders, naming their methods
25:01 of attack down through the centuries.
25:04 God's word has been accurate.
25:06 We can have confidence in what God says about the future,
25:10 because what He said about the past indeed has come true.
25:15 Babylon ruled from 605 to 539 BC.
25:19 Then Medo Persia would rule from 539 to 331.
25:24 Would that nation rule forever?
25:33 Babylon would rule, then Medo Persia would rule,
25:36 then a third kingdom would rule.
25:38 Remember the nation that overthrew Medo Persia?
25:41 What was it? Students of history, what was it?
25:45 It was Greece, of course.
25:46 The third successive world ruling empire.
25:50 And, you know, a lot of the armour of the Greeks
25:53 was made out of bronze.
25:55 So bronze is a very fitting symbol for the Greek empire.
25:59 Greece ruled, Greece reigned.
26:01 And so you've got Babylon, Medo Persia, Greece.
26:04 And who was it that was the great leader of Greece?
26:08 Alexander the Great, of course.
26:09 And then a fourth empire would rule. Here it is!
26:18 What nation was it that overthrew the
26:24 mighty Greek empire?
26:26 The nation of Rome.
26:29 In fact in those monumental volumes called,
26:33 The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire,
26:36 Edward Gibbon put it this way...
26:38 He used really the very symbolism of prophecy.
26:56 Isn't it quite stunning, isn't it quite amazing,
27:00 isn't it quite remarkable that the chronicler of the Roman
27:06 Empire uses the language of Daniel, the 2nd Chapter,
27:11 to describe the rise of Rome: gold, silver, brass, and iron?
27:19 Very remarkable here.
27:21 So the Roman Empire rules.
27:23 The Roman Empire rules from 168 BC to about 476 AD.
27:30 From 351 to 476 the Roman Empire was indeed falling apart.
27:36 Rome ruled, as you can see from the map, shaded in red
27:42 here on the screen.
27:43 The Roman Empire rules from Spain throughout Europe,
27:48 down to the boot, modern Italy, over through Turkey,
27:52 down through parts of Asia, down, of course, along the
27:57 Mediterranean Seacoast, through the nation of Israel today,
28:00 all across Northern Africa, and into the Middle East.
28:03 It was just an amazing empire, and it was strong as iron.
28:09 In the days of Rome, of course, Christ was born as a babe
28:14 in Bethlehem's manger.
28:16 It was a decree of the Caesars that brought him,
28:21 and the holy family, from Nazareth to Bethlehem when all
28:25 the world would be taxed.
28:27 It was in the days of Rome that a decree was passed that male
28:31 children be killed.
28:32 And so Mary and Joseph go to Egypt in the days of Rome.
28:37 It was in the days of Rome.
28:38 It was a Roman tribunal that tried Christ,
28:41 and Roman soldiers that nailed Jesus to the cross.
28:45 So, you see, Babylon, Medo Persia, Greece, Rome: 4 great
28:52 world ruling empires.
28:54 And then what would you predict next?
28:57 What would happen next after Rome?
29:00 You know, if a human being were predicting, they might predict
29:03 gold, silver, brass, iron, copper, tin, zinc.
29:09 They might predict empire after empire, after empire.
29:12 Not so. The Bible says,
29:23 What does it say, everybody, about the kingdom?
29:25 What does it say? The kingdom shall be what? a fifth world
29:28 ruling empire? a sixth world ruling empire? a seventh?
29:31 Is that what it says? It says:
29:45 So if this prophecy would be accurate, what we would expect
29:49 now, after the breakup of Rome, would be the divisions
29:53 of the Roman Empire.
29:56 We would expect something to happen that would be quite
30:01 unusual regarding the toes and feet of that image.
30:06 What happened? Exactly like the prophecy predicted.
30:12 The barbarian tribes came down from the North.
30:17 And as they did Europe was carved up.
30:21 The Swavi in the area of Spain, and Visigoths in the area of
30:26 Portugal and Spain, and the Franks, warring tribe settled,
30:32 and battled back the Roman Empire in the area of France.
30:36 You come down to the Alamanni in the area of Germany.
30:39 These are all barbarian tribes attacking parts of the empire.
30:43 The empire was getting, of course, much, much weaker now.
30:47 It was struggling. The empire is falling apart.
30:51 It is being divided just like the Bible predicted.
30:54 But the Bible does not stop there.
30:57 Not at all. The Bible continues.
31:01 It says in Daniel 2:43,
31:18 Now notice what they're going to do.
31:20 There is going to be an attempt to unite the empire.
31:24 That attempt to unite the empire is going to come in two ways:
31:28 First the mingling of seed.
31:31 What does the mingling of seed mean?
31:34 The mingling of seed has to do with intermarriage.
31:38 That the royal families of Europe would intermarry
31:42 in attempting to unite all of Europe in the mingling of seed.
31:46 Secondly, there would be battles, there would be strife,
31:50 there would be bloodshed.
31:52 The history of modern Europe today clearly reveals the
31:58 truthfulness of this prophecy.
32:00 The history of Europe clearly reveals this attempt
32:04 in the mingling of seed.
32:06 Let's go to the Fredricksborg Castle in Denmark.
32:10 It's an amazing castle; beautiful ride as you come
32:13 across the Bay coming into the castle. Quite magnificent.
32:18 But the thing that we want to pause is in the entryway of the
32:22 castle there is the family tree of Europe.
32:26 And this family tree of Europe shows how the kings of Denmark,
32:34 which was a very strong empire at the time, and the queens of
32:38 that nation would intermarry their family off in an attempt
32:44 to unite all of Europe through intermarriage;
32:47 the mingling of seeds.
32:49 This was also done, of course, in the days of Napoleon.
32:53 Some of you may remember the history of this.
32:57 Napoleon divorces his wife Josephine.
33:02 He marries Louise of Austria.
33:05 And he wants to unite the Napoleanic line in Europe
33:10 with the Hapsburg line to try to, through intermarriage,
33:14 the mingling of seed, have the dominate force in Europe.
33:19 He wants his nation to be the all powerful nation.
33:24 The Bible says, Daniel 2:43,
33:38 So just as iron and clay do not mix,
33:40 Europe would remain divided.
33:44 I'm preaching in Europe, talking to thousands.
33:48 After the meeting a man comes up to me and he says,
33:51 How do you know the Bible is true?
33:53 You're standing on it.
33:55 How do you know the Bible is true?
33:57 You're standing on it.
33:58 What? Yeah, you're standing on it.
34:00 What are you talking about?
34:02 You're standing on the very earth that confirms
34:06 the truthfulness of this book.
34:08 You see my friend, in Daniel 2, the Bible speaks about four
34:14 nations that would be the dominate world ruling powers:
34:18 Babylon, Medo Persia, Greece, and Rome.
34:23 And then it does not tell us that Rome is going to be
34:27 followed by a fifth world ruling power.
34:29 It says that Rome would be divided, and that the iron and
34:36 clay represented in the toes of the image, would never again
34:43 be permanently united.
34:45 That very ground that you are standing on, my friend,
34:50 is the clear evidence that the Bible is the word of God.
34:56 Because for the last, since the fall of the Roman Empire,
35:01 in the year 476, for the last 15, 1600 years, Europe has been
35:12 divided exactly like the prophecy predicts.
35:15 Think of those people that have tried to unite Europe.
35:21 I think of Charles V, with his mighty armies, coming across
35:26 Europe, trying to bring Europe into very close harmony again;
35:33 trying to dominate Europe.
35:35 Charles V failed. Or I think, for example, of Charlemagne,
35:41 who wanted to establish the Holy Roman Empire.
35:45 But Charlemagne's efforts failed.
35:49 You look at the great world rulers, Napoleon, for example.
35:55 We mentioned him a little earlier.
35:57 Through intermarriage Napoleon tried to unite all of Europe.
36:01 But he also tried to unite Europe with his mighty armies.
36:06 Napoleon, again, and again, and again attempted to attack
36:10 and to take over Europe.
36:13 When Napoleon was defeated, just before that he wrote in his
36:17 journal, before his final defeat he said,
36:28 What did Napoleon neglect to understand?
36:32 He neglected to understand this marvelous prophecy in Ezekiel,
36:37 rather after Ezekiel, in the book of Daniel, the 2nd Chapter.
36:42 This is what Napoleon failed to understand.
36:46 What does he say? He says,
36:53 That's what Napoleon says, but what does the Bible say?
36:57 Daniel 2, Whereas you saw the feet and toes,
37:01 partly of potters' clay, and partly of iron,
37:03 the kingdom shall be what? the kingdom shall be divided.
37:10 So the Bible is very clear.
37:12 The nations of Europe would never be
37:16 permanently reunited again.
37:19 The kingdoms would be divided.
37:23 When Napoleon was defeated at the Battle of Waterloo he threw
37:27 up his hands and he said,
37:32 And the truth of the matter is God Almighty is too much
37:37 for any world ruler.
37:38 The prophecies of Daniel are following the exact pattern
37:45 that God has established.
37:46 History is following those prophecies like a blueprint.
37:49 Babylon ruled from 605 to 539 BC.
37:54 Medo Persia ruled from 539 to 331 BC.
37:59 The Greeks ruled from 331, until they were defeated
38:04 by the Romans in 168.
38:06 Rome rules for 500 years.
38:09 About 351 the empire begins to crumble.
38:12 The barbarian tribes come down from the North.
38:14 Europe is carved up exactly like the Bible prophecy predicts.
38:20 The Bible does not guess, it knows.
38:23 Prophecy is not some wild-eyed speculation by some psychic.
38:28 But prophecy is revealing history based on the very
38:34 mind and heart of God. The Bible says,
38:42 It doesn't say they may not, it doesn't say they might not,
38:45 it doesn't say it's possible that they won't.
38:47 What does it say? They will not.
38:50 Here is a certainty of Bible prophecy; that you, indeed,
38:54 can stake your life on.
39:01 Exactly like the Bible predicted.
39:04 There have been numerous
39:07 Stalin wanted to rule the world and dominate.
39:11 Hitler wanted to rule the world.
39:14 Napoleon wanted to dominate Europe.
39:16 Charlemagne, Charles V, but they've gone down into
39:19 insignificance because Scripture says that
39:23 prophecy cannot be broken.
39:25 The word of the living God has been indeed fulfilled down
39:30 through the centuries.
39:31 I think of Hitler. Hitler rose.
39:33 His Panza Division tanks came across Europe taking one
39:38 country after the other.
39:39 Austria fell before the mighty German armies.
39:44 The Belgians fell, the Scandinavian countries;
39:48 Hitler is moving across Europe.
39:50 And Hitler says this, in a speech, March 1941.
40:04 This was Hitler's great dream, to conquer Europe,
40:08 and indeed conquer the world. He says,
40:19 But yet Hitler's armies were defeated in an amazing invasion
40:26 called, The Invasion of Dunkirk.
40:28 Let me give you some background of that invasion,
40:33 and how miraculous it really was.
40:35 As the Allied forces came across the English Channel,
40:38 they landed at Dunkirk; over 300,000 of the Allied Forces.
40:45 Hitler's German Armies fought back furiously.
40:49 The Americans, the Allies with the British forces and others,
40:55 had their backs to the wall to the English Channel.
40:58 Hitler's Panza Divisions were moving.
41:01 There was no place for the Allied Forces to go.
41:05 It appeared that they would be defeated.
41:08 It appeared that the armies would be crushed.
41:11 But as Hitler's forces moved across, it began to rain
41:15 on the English side of the channel.
41:17 The rain was pouring down.
41:20 As it was, it slowed down the German General's tanks.
41:26 Then surprisingly enough, an order was given, Halt!
41:31 As that order was given, on the Continent, on the English
41:37 side of the English Channel, across from the Continent,
41:40 the King of England, King George, called a day of
41:45 fasting and prayer.
41:47 The British had been praying, but now there was this
41:51 earnest petition to God.
41:52 Lights on churches went on up and down the English Channel.
41:56 They were earnestly on their knees praying,
41:58 God, work a miracle!
42:01 God do something here!
42:03 God save this nation, save Europe.
42:07 The fog on the English Channel lifted.
42:12 Winston Churchill said, We have to evacuate.
42:15 And the famous Evacuation of Dunkirk took place
42:21 of thousands of troops.
42:22 And by the time Hitler got his tanks up and going,
42:27 most of the Allied Forces were evacuated.
42:30 Miraculously the weather on the Continent side was bad,
42:33 the fog lifted, everything that floated came across
42:36 the English Channel.
42:37 Why? Do you know during this period of time there was an
42:42 editor of a magazine called, Signs Of the Times.
42:47 It was being published at that time,
42:49 the European edition in England.
42:51 And he put a picture on the cover of The Signs Of the Times,
42:55 of the image of Daniel 2, with the head of gold,
42:57 breast and arms of silver, thighs of brass, legs of iron,
43:00 and feet of iron and clay, and the fact that Europe
43:02 couldn't be united again.
43:04 When he did, colleagues said, You're foolish!
43:06 Why would you do that?
43:08 Because it looks like Hitler's going to win.
43:10 He said, Because I believe Bible prophecy.
43:13 And he was right! History has been following
43:16 prophecy like a blueprint.
43:17 The prophecies of the book of Daniel indeed
43:21 have been fulfilled down through history for 2500 years.
43:28 Now how does this all tie in with the book of Revelation?
43:31 Let's go to Revelation 17:12-14.
43:34 Just as you have ten toes on the image, there's a beast that
43:38 rises in Revelation 17, and it says:
43:47 But they receive authority for one hour as
43:50 kings with the beast.
43:51 So Daniel predicted Europe would never be
43:55 permanently reunited.
43:56 Revelation picks up on that prophecy and says,
43:59 that for a very short time, just before the time of the end.
44:03 church and state would unite.
44:05 There would be a beast power, the kings of the earth,
44:08 beast power, religious power.
44:10 These powers would unite for a short time before
44:13 the coming of Jesus.
44:20 So just before the coming of Jesus, the nations of Europe
44:24 would coalesce again; the nations of Europe,
44:28 just for a short time.
44:29 No permanent, cohesive unity would take place.
44:32 It hasn't taken place.
44:33 But we would expect, just before the return of our Lord,
44:36 we'd expect those nations to begin to coalesce again.
44:42 Think of the European Common Market.
44:44 The theme of the European Common Market is:
44:50 Again, you think of this whole coalescing of Europe;
44:56 so much conflict, so much difficulty.
44:58 This trying to bring Europe together;
45:00 common currency, the Euro.
45:03 It's kind of interesting with Brexit and Britain pulling out
45:06 of the common market.
45:08 That is shaky today, of course.
45:10 But prophecy predicts that one day, because of conflict,
45:16 strife, because of economic disaster, because of the
45:20 problems that this world will face, that there would be this
45:23 coming together for a short period of time, of the nations
45:26 of the world, including Europe.
45:29 But as church and state unite, as a beast power arises,
45:35 as conflict occurs, as there's this attempt for unity,
45:39 what does the Bible say?
45:50 What a strange scene that is.
45:52 Have you ever seen a dragon fight a lamb?
45:56 No, you said, I never even saw a dragon.
45:58 Well, neither did I.
45:59 But this great, mighty, mythical beast, this dragon,
46:02 supposedly fights the lamb.
46:04 Who do thinks' going to win?
46:05 In this battle Jesus, the Lamb, becomes victorious. Why?
46:13 Here is the great theme of Revelation.
46:24 Jesus Christ is Lord of Lords.
46:26 He is King of Kings.
46:27 He sets up kings and takes down kings.
46:30 Babylon rises and falls.
46:32 Medo Persia rises and falls.
46:34 Greece arises and falls.
46:36 Rome rises and falls.
46:38 The empire of Rome is divided.
46:42 The toes of the image, divided down through history.
46:46 Just like the Bible has predicted, we see history
46:50 following this prophecy just like a blueprint.
46:55 Here is God's prophetic blueprint of history.
46:59 But wait, there is one more scene in the story.
47:03 What is it? There will be a rock cut out without hands.
47:07 And that rock, cut out without hands,
47:09 will come and smash the image.
47:11 Here's what the Bible says:
47:18 What does it mean, without hands?
47:20 It means a divine act of history.
47:24 No human being can architect this.
47:27 No human being can design this, a rock cut out without hands.
47:31 Jesus Christ, the rock of ages, will come down the stream of
47:36 time to return to this earth to deliver His people.
47:45 The image of humanity, the image of the nations,
47:48 on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces.
47:59 The God of heaven will set up a kingdom.
48:01 This earth is not in the hands of human beings.
48:05 This earth is not in the hands of political leaders.
48:09 Social scientists do not have the answer to
48:12 the world's problems.
48:14 The greatest political leaders don't have the answer to
48:16 the world's problems.
48:18 The greatest educators don't have the answer to
48:19 the world's problems.
48:21 Jesus Christ has that answer to the problems of this world.
48:25 Notice, it says: Daniel 2:44, It, the kingdom of God,
48:31 it, this rock cut out without hands, is this great mountain,
48:41 Babylon rises and falls.
48:43 Medo Persia rises and falls.
48:45 Greece rises and falls.
48:47 Rome rises and falls.
48:48 The empire is divided.
48:50 But the kingdom of God stands forever, and ever,
48:53 and ever, and ever.
48:54 And that, my friend, is incredibly good news.
48:58 Revelation 11:13 echoes this.
49:14 A number of years ago there was a missionary in Liberia,
49:19 and every day as he drove to the small mission college to
49:24 teach Liberian pastors, he drove by scenes of poverty.
49:29 He drove by scenes of terrorism.
49:31 He drove by scenes of war.
49:33 It was not unusual to see dead bodies lying in the street.
49:36 It was not unusual to see children starving.
49:39 One day in class, during the middle of the Liberian
49:43 Civil War, he was teaching pastors, and he was teaching
49:47 them about the second coming of Jesus Christ.
49:50 And as he did, he read to them this marvelous passage.
50:15 And as he read the passage, the Lord Himself shall descend
50:18 from heaven with a shout, and he continues to read.
50:23 Thus we shall always be with the Lord.
50:26 One of his students couldn't control them self;
50:28 just kept raising his hand.
50:29 And the student said, Jesus is going to come
50:32 with a shout, Professor? Yes, He is!
50:34 I have a question. Yes?
50:35 What's He going to shout?
50:39 He said, I never thought about that before.
50:42 What is He going to shout?
50:43 Silence in the class.
50:45 But the Professor said, Well, we're not sure what
50:49 He's going to shout.
50:50 Student, not happy, But what is He going to shout?
50:52 Professor, We're not sure.
50:54 Student, What's He going to shout?
50:55 And the Professor finally says, I've got an idea.
50:59 I know what He's going to shout.
51:00 I know what He's going to shout!
51:02 He's going to shout, Enough!
51:04 Enough bloodshed, enough horror, enough sorrow,
51:08 enough death, enough pain, enough suffering.
51:11 I know what He is going to shout.
51:13 He is going to shout, Enough!
51:15 Enough cancer, enough heart disease, enough death,
51:19 enough children with distended bellies who are dying on the
51:23 streets of starvation.
51:24 Enough children being brought up without
51:27 parents, who died of aids.
51:28 Jesus is going to shout, It is enough!
51:31 Because Jesus is going to come again!
51:35 The great hope of this world is the return of Jesus Christ.
51:39 And the prophecies of the book of Daniel, the prophecies of
51:43 the book of Revelation point us forward to that hope.
51:46 You know, my friend, in times like these we need the
51:51 hopeful message of this book.
51:55 In times like these, we need a Savior.
52:01 Listen as Celestine sings.
52:08 In times like these, you need a Savior.
52:15 In times like these, you need an anchor.
52:23 Be very sure, be very sure, your anchor holds,
52:34 and grips the solid rock.
52:39 This rock is Jesus, Yes, He's the One.
52:45 This rock is Jesus, the only One.
52:54 Be very sure, be very sure, your anchor holds,
53:05 and grips the solid rock.
53:14 In times like this, you need a Bible.
53:21 In times like this, I'll be not idle.
53:28 Be very sure, be very sure, your anchor holds,
53:40 and grips the solid rock.
53:45 This rock is Jesus, Yes, He's the One.
53:52 This rock is Jesus, the only One.
53:59 Be very sure, be very sure, your anchor holds,
54:11 and grips the solid rock.
54:19 In times like this, I have a Savior.
54:27 In times like this, I have an anchor.
54:34 I'm very sure, be very sure, your anchor holds,
54:45 and grips the solid rock.
54:57 In times like these, we need a Savior.
55:03 Do you know that Savior?
55:06 Do you know Jesus?
55:08 His arms are wide open for you.
55:12 I wonder if you're watching this telecast, and maybe you
55:18 have that sense of fear and foreboding about the future.
55:23 Maybe you don't have the confidence that you'd be ready
55:28 if Jesus came very, very soon.
55:33 Maybe there's something in your life that's keeping you from
55:38 being ready for the coming of Christ.
55:39 There is some attitude, there's some habit, maybe you once knew
55:47 Him and you walked away.
55:49 Maybe you're a Christian, but you're just playing
55:55 games with Christianity.
55:56 God's speaking to you right now.
55:59 God's talking to your heart right now.
56:02 Wherever you are, would you just like to bow your head
56:06 and say, Jesus, I'm going to give up that thing.
56:08 Jesus, I'm going to surrender that thing.
56:10 Jesus, I'm going to surrender that habit.
56:12 Just now would you like to say, Jesus, I am fully Yours.
56:17 Because in times like these I need a Savior.
56:22 Let's pray together.
56:23 Father in Heaven, thank You so much that You are there.
56:28 That history is not some kaleidoscope of random events.
56:31 That history is not some mixed up hodgepodge of human working,
56:37 but that You are in control of history.
56:39 That You've guided down through the nations, and that You will
56:42 come again, that You are the ultimate answer to history.
56:46 Just now we open our hearts to You, to be ready for that
56:49 glorious day when Christ returns.
56:52 And we pray it in His name, Amen.
56:54 Thank you for joining us for this,
56:57 Revelation's Ancient Discoveries series.
57:01 It will continue here on 3ABN, and we are journeying
57:06 through the entire book of Revelation.
57:10 We will go into some of the deepest
57:12 prophecies of Revelation.
57:14 We'll see a clear view of the future.
57:16 The past, in its accuracy, tells us about what God's going
57:21 to do in the future.
57:22 Stay with us. I look forward to seeing you
57:24 in future broadcasts.

Home

Revised 2018-02-20