Participants:
Series Code: SISS
Program Code: SISS000081S
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00:01 Music...
00:30 James: All right, we have jumped in to the Daniel 2 prophecy, 00:34 we've got the first part of this, 00:36 the introduction and the first part 00:38 which is where Daniel gives the king his dream. 00:41 The king gets his dream back and it's amazing really 00:44 because that prepares the king to receive the interpretation. 00:48 Nebuchadnezzar hasn't been impressed so far. 00:50 In fact, he has been unimpressed by his wise men 00:53 and he needed his heart to be prepared to receive 00:56 what God was showing him 00:57 and so, God set this up perfectly 00:59 so that Daniel will end up 01:01 having a little bit of change in his pocket with the king. 01:03 Ivor: And that's a good sermon title: 01:05 The King Gets His Dream Back. 01:07 Yvonne: Oh, nice... 01:08 James: I felt that when I was thinking about it. 01:11 Laughter 01:13 Yvonne: That's good, that's good. 01:14 James: That's good, I like that. 01:16 Jason: I wonder who is going to write it first. 01:17 All: Laughter. Yvonne: That's good. 01:21 James: Jason have a prayer for us and we'll step into this. 01:22 Jason: Sure... 01:24 "Dear Heavenly Father, we thank You so much 01:25 for the opportunity to study Your Word once again 01:27 as we continue to go on in the book of Daniel, 01:29 we just ask that you would help us to internalize 01:31 what we're learning 01:33 and to live out the positive qualities that we're finding 01:37 and attributes that we're finding 01:39 in this story in our lives, 01:41 please guide this conversation, in Jesus' name we pray, amen. " 01:45 All: Amen. 01:47 James: So, we left off in verse 34... 5... 01:50 and we'll pick up in verse 36 01:52 and maybe Jason, you can start reading for us, 01:55 read about five or six verses 01:57 and then, Yvonne, maybe you can read of it for us. 01:59 Jason: Okay, starting in verse 36 of Daniel chapter 2. 02:02 James: Yes. 02:03 Jason: "This is the dream. 02:04 Now we will tell the interpretation of it 02:07 before the King. 02:08 'You, O king, are a king of kings. 02:10 For the God of heaven has given you a kingdom, 02:13 power, strength, and glory; 02:15 and wherever the children of men dwell, 02:18 or the beasts of the field and the birds of the heaven, 02:21 He has given them into your hand, 02:24 and has made you ruler over them all... 02:27 you are this head of gold. 02:29 But after you shall arise another kingdom 02:34 inferior to yours; then another, 02:37 a third kingdom of bronze, 02:39 which shall rule over all the earth. 02:40 And the fourth kingdom shall be as strong as iron, 02:43 inasmuch as iron breaks in pieces and shatters everything; 02:47 and like iron that crushes, 02:49 that kingdom will break in pieces 02:52 and crush all the others. '" 02:53 Yvonne: Hmmm... 02:55 James: And just... Yvonne, if you can just... 02:56 Yvonne, you can just read verses 41 to 45. 02:58 Yvonne: Sure... 02:59 "Whereas you saw the feet and toes, 03:01 partly of potter's clay and partly of iron, 03:04 the kingdom shall be divided; 03:06 yet the strength of the iron shall be in it, 03:09 just as you saw the iron mixed with ceramic clay. 03:12 And as the toes of the feet were partly of iron 03:14 and partly of clay, 03:16 so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly fragile. 03:19 As you saw iron mixed with ceramic clay, 03:22 they will mingle with the seed of men; 03:24 but they will not adhere to one another, 03:27 just as iron does not mix with clay. 03:29 And in the days of these kings 03:31 the God of heaven will set up a kingdom 03:33 which shall never be destroyed; 03:35 and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; 03:38 it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, 03:41 and it shall stand forever. 03:43 Inasmuch as you saw 03:45 that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, 03:48 and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, 03:51 the silver, and the gold... 03:53 the great God has made known to the king 03:56 what will come to pass after this. 03:58 The dream is certain, 04:00 and its interpretation is sure. " 04:02 James: Wow! the dream is certain and its interpretation is sure. 04:05 Yvonne: Yes. 04:06 James: Daniel, I feel like... Daniel was gaining strength 04:09 and gaining boldness and gaining courage 04:11 as he was giving this interpretation. 04:12 He himself was ministered to by this interpretation 04:15 and that's what it is, I think, for us more in ministry... 04:18 we are ministered to by God 04:21 as we minister to others, 04:22 God ministers to us... 04:24 I feel... it feels Daniel getting stronger and stronger 04:26 here as he reveals this. 04:27 All: Yes. 04:29 Ivor: Um, I want to share an example of what Daniel 2... 04:36 the significance of Daniel 2. 04:37 What it means to us today... 04:39 what it means to... to the person who says, 04:41 "I don't believe in God... " 04:43 so just imagine, you're meeting me for the first time, 04:46 and I'm like, "Hey, my name is Ivor, 04:49 and hey, I want you to trust me with your future... 04:52 everything you have... trust me... " 04:54 and you don't know me. 04:55 Yvonne: Laughing... 04:56 Ivor: You're looking at me like, "Are you crazy, 04:58 I don't know you, 04:59 why are you even talking to me. " 05:01 and I'm like, "No, listen, really, 05:02 I need you to trust everything I say 05:04 from now on... everything... " 05:05 and you're getting ready to walk away, like, "This guy is crazy" 05:09 and I'm like, "No, wait, hold... hold... hold... listen... 05:10 I'm going to tell you 50 things that are going to happen to you 05:15 over the next three months. " 05:17 And, now you're looking at me like, 05:22 "You are really crazy!" 05:23 Right... and you... for some reason you stop 05:26 and you're like, "I'm... I'm going to listen to you... 05:28 I'm just going to hear what you have to say 05:29 for these... these next few moments... " 05:30 and I begin to list out 50 things 05:33 that are going to happen to you... 05:35 let's make it over the next two weeks... 05:37 50 things... 05:38 beginning with, "When you walk away from here 05:41 the first thing that's going to happen is... 05:44 you're going to see a dog... a black dog... 05:47 that black dog is going to bark five times. " 05:49 Yvonne: Hmmm... 05:51 Ivor: "After the black dog barks five times, 05:53 then, it's going to start raining, 05:55 it's only going to rain though for two minutes, 05:58 once it stops raining after those two minutes, 06:01 you're going to see five black SUVs driving past... " 06:07 and I'm just going down the list 06:08 and you're looking at me like, 06:10 "This guy is absolutely insane. " 06:11 James: Pretty much. Yvonne: Right. 06:12 Ivor: The 50th thing I tell you 06:14 is like, the most... that could never... 06:16 that could not possibly happen, right? 06:18 So, you're like, "You're crazy... " 06:20 and you walk away and as you're walking away, 06:24 you see a black dog that barks five times. 06:28 Yvonne: Oh... 06:30 Ivor: You're like, "Hmmm... yeah... 06:33 this guy has just set this up... 06:35 he probably has someone around the corner... " 06:37 James: Probably his dog... 06:38 All: Laughter... James: Pipe dream. 06:40 Ivor: So, thing number 1 happens... 06:41 thing number 2 happens... 06:43 it starts to rain... two minutes 06:46 and then it stops... 06:48 and thing number 3... thing number 4... 06:50 thing number 5... now... 06:52 by thing number 5... what are you thinking? 06:54 Yvonne: Hmmm... "This can't be... " 06:57 Ivor: Maybe this is a scam... maybe this is... 06:59 let's say you get to thing number 20, 07:01 where are you at right now with thing number 20? 07:05 Yvonne: This is amazing... this guy is on to something. 07:09 Ivor: So, are you going to trust 07:10 that if thing number 20 comes to pass, 07:13 right, that... do you think you would be 07:16 probably a 100% sure that everything else I said 07:19 that was going to happen from then on... was going to happen? 07:21 Yvonne: Yes... after thing number 20... 07:23 Jason: I'd be leaning that way. Yvonne: Hmmm... hmmm... 07:26 Ivor: Yeah, if for some reason... 07:28 "No you got to show me 30 things. " 07:29 Right? But let's say it took you 49 things to be convinced, 07:33 right? will the 50th... 07:36 if 49 things came to pass just as I said it would, 07:38 would you pretty much say, "Yeah... 07:41 as outlandish as this thing 50 seems... 07:43 I pretty much believe it's going to happen. " 07:47 James: You got me with the "rain for two minutes. " 07:49 Ivor: Yeah, you know what I'm saying? 07:51 James: Just like... dog... I don't know... 07:53 but rain... for two minutes... wow! 07:55 Ivor: And this is what God does. 07:57 This is what He's doing in Daniel 2. 07:59 Yvonne: Hmmm... James: Hmmm... 08:00 Ivor: Because see, Daniel... the vision in Daniel 2 08:02 ends with something really, really, really outlandish. 08:06 James: Hmmm... 08:08 Ivor: Right? This stone that is cut out without hands 08:10 and we're just going to kind of jump ahead a little 08:13 and we'll go back into detail on this show 08:15 but this stone cut out without hands 08:16 represents the second coming of Jesus Christ. 08:18 A man... 08:20 you'll say, "Hold on... one second... 08:22 you're telling me that a man is going to come 08:25 from outer space to this planet and destroy this world?" 08:30 James: Hmmm... 08:31 Ivor: "That's what I'm telling you. " 08:33 Ivor: Who would believe that? James: Hmmm... hmmm... 08:36 Ivor: So, what does God do? He says, 08:37 "Okay, so, let me share with you '50 things' right? 08:43 49 things that are going to take place 08:45 because I know how difficult it is going to be 08:48 for you to believe 08:49 that a man will actually come out of the sky to this earth. " 08:53 Yvonne: Hmmm... 08:54 Ivor: And that's what happens in Daniel chapter... chapter 2. 08:56 Right? Everything he's telling 08:59 leads up to... in chronological order 09:01 up to this event that most people are like, 09:04 "Yeah... nah... that's a fairy tale... 09:06 that can't... possibly couldn't happen. " 09:08 Right? 09:10 Now, let me share something else with you. 09:11 This stone that is cut out without hands 09:13 that hits the image on its feet... 09:15 that indicates to us that whatever this image represents, 09:19 and if this stone is in fact the second coming of Christ, 09:23 then, there is something that occurs within... 09:27 you see that image there in front of us, 09:29 there's something that occurs within... not the head... 09:32 the stone doesn't hit the head. 09:34 Yvonne: Hmmm... 09:36 Ivor: The stone doesn't hit the chest and arms... 09:37 it doesn't hit the belly and thighs... 09:38 the stone goes after the feet. 09:42 So, something happens within the feet of iron and clay, 09:46 that is so significant 09:50 that it brings about the second coming of Jesus Christ. 09:54 All: Hmmm... 09:55 Ivor: Does that make sense? Yvonne: Hmmm... hmmm... 09:56 Ivor: Something occurs... in other words... 09:58 our goal is, why does He smite... 10:01 why is the image smitten on its feet? 10:03 James: Hmmm... hmmm... Yvonne: Hmmm... 10:04 Ivor: Okay? now I'm going to just pause here in Daniel 2 10:08 for a second... and let's go over to Daniel chapter 12 10:11 because I want you to see something here, 10:13 this same event of this stone being cut out without... 10:16 I mean, cut out without hands 10:18 and smiting the image on the feet, 10:19 is actually amplified in Daniel chapter 12 verse 1... 10:26 Verse 1 and 2... 10:27 so, Yvonne could you read that for us, 10:29 Daniel 12, verses 1 and 2. 10:31 Yvonne: "At that time Michael shall stand up, 10:33 the great prince who stands watch 10:35 over the sons of your people; 10:37 and there shall be a time of trouble, 10:39 such as never was since there was a nation, 10:42 even to that time. 10:43 And at that time your people shall be delivered, 10:46 everyone who is found written in the book. 10:49 And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth 10:52 shall awake, some to everlasting life, 10:55 some to shame and everlasting contempt. " 10:57 Ivor: So, what we see here is, Daniel 12 verse 1 and 2 11:01 is... is an amplification of Daniel 2 verse 45. 11:07 James: Hmmm... Yvonne: Hmmm... 11:09 Ivor: This stone that is cut out without hands 11:11 that smites the image on the feet 11:12 is the same event as Michael standing up 11:15 to deliver His people 11:17 and the dead being brought to life. 11:19 Yvonne: Hmmm... 11:21 Ivor: In Daniel 2, we're not really told... 11:22 we don't have a lot of information 11:24 as to what is happening within these... 11:27 within the feet of iron and clay 11:28 that leads to Michael standing up in Daniel 12. 11:31 James: Hmmm... hmmm... 11:32 Ivor: And this is why, understanding Daniel 7 11:36 which gives us a little more insight into... 11:38 Daniel 7 is an amplification if you will... of Daniel 2. 11:41 James: With extra time spent on the latter part 11:43 of the prophecy. 11:45 Ivor: Exactly... exactly. 11:46 James: At the bottom part of this prophecy. 11:48 Ivor: Exactly... Daniel 7 now says, "Hey... 11:49 in case you want to know 11:51 what was going on within the feet of iron and clay, 11:53 we're going to give this to you 11:54 using different symbols but now you're going to see 11:57 this Little Horn Power 12:00 that comes up among these ten horns 12:02 that is doing something... " and you're like, 12:05 "Ah... is this part of the reason why Michael stands up?" 12:10 James: And one of the things Daniel asks is, 12:12 "I want to know more about that little horn power. " 12:14 God prompts him to ask that question. 12:16 Ivor: That's right, Daniel 8 gives us more information, 12:19 Daniel 9 gives us more information, 12:21 Daniel 11 gives us the most detailed information 12:23 and let me show you this specifically, 12:25 so, let's go back to Daniel 11 12:27 because remember Daniel 12:1 begins, "At that time... " 12:30 James: "At that time... " 12:31 Ivor: "At that time... " right? So what time is that? 12:35 So, if you go back to Daniel 11 12:38 and look at verse 40, 12:39 verse 40 says, "And at that time of the end 12:43 shall the king of the south push at him: 12:46 and the king of the north shall come against him 12:48 like a whirlwind, with chariots, 12:50 and with horsemen, and with many ships; 12:51 and he shall enter into the countries, 12:53 and shall overflow and pass over. 12:54 He shall also enter into the glorious land... " 12:57 hey, pause for a second... 12:59 "He shall enter into the glorious land... " 13:01 the king of the north... 13:03 hey, haven't we read about that before? 13:04 Yvonne: We did. 13:06 Ivor: Didn't we learn that... I mean... we know that 13:08 this is a different king of the north at this time 13:11 because this is at the time of the end... 13:12 James: It isn't Babylon anymore, at least, not literal Babylon. 13:15 Ivor: That's right, not literal Babylon... 13:18 but in... in our earlier studies on Daniel, 13:20 we remember we talked about the whole idea 13:22 of Babylon being the king of the north... Daniel 1... 13:25 Egypt... and how he gets rid of Egypt 13:27 who happened to be king of the south 13:29 and once he got rid of Egypt, 13:31 he was then able to turn his attention 13:33 to the glorious land... to Jerusalem. 13:36 And so, hey, this seems to be 13:38 like, connected with the history of literal Babylon 13:41 and literal Egypt, right? 13:43 But nonetheless, Daniel 11 verse 40 13:45 all the way down to verse 45 13:47 is basically covering events 13:49 that lead up to Michael standing up. 13:51 James: That's right. Yvonne: Hmmm... 13:53 Ivor: So, Daniel 11:40 to 45 correspond 13:56 with events that happen in the toes of Daniel 2. 14:01 James: Yup. Ivor: Right? 14:03 So, Daniel 2 says, "Hey, guess what? 14:05 a man is coming out the sky 14:07 that's going to destroy this image. 14:08 It doesn't tell us why 14:10 but as we read through the rest of the book of Daniel, 14:13 by the time we get to Daniel 12, 14:14 we're like, "We now know why Michael stands up. " 14:17 Right? So, that's we're trying to do, 14:19 we're trying to kind of figure out 14:20 what happens within the toes and the clay of iron... 14:24 toes of... the toes of clay and iron... 14:26 what happens within that time period 14:29 that leads to this stone smiting the image 14:32 not on the head... not on the chest and arms... 14:34 but on the feet, right? 14:36 So, that kind of sets the foundation 14:38 for us going into the understanding of this prophecy, 14:41 so, now let's go back to Daniel 2, James, go ahead. 14:43 James: Just want to share a quick thought here, Ivor, 14:45 as you're getting back to Daniel 2, 14:46 you said something earlier that was really profound 14:50 and it's found in Isaiah 48 and verses 3 and 4, 14:54 and this is what you said, 14:55 you were talking about the analogy of the 50 things 14:57 which, by the way, I believe that God has almost done that, 15:01 when you look at Daniel 2... 7... 8... 11... Revelation... 15:04 you just got... God is just doing this... 15:06 He's just showing us 50 things, 15:08 so, that by the time we get to Revelation, 15:10 we're like, "Okay, I believe God now, I believe... 15:12 this guy is crazy... I thought he was a lunatic... 15:13 but I believe God now. " 15:15 Ivor: Yeah. Yvonne: Hmmm... 15:16 James: You know, and this is what Isaiah 48 15:18 is talking about too... 15:19 Isaiah 48 and let's read... 15:21 Jason, if you can read for us Isaiah 48 verses 3 and 4, 15:28 verses 3 and 4 and then we'll talk about those. 15:30 Ivor: Okay, 15:31 "I have declared the former things from the beginning; 15:34 they went forth from My mouth, and I caused them to hear it. 15:37 Suddenly I did them, and they came to pass. 15:40 Because I knew that you were obstinate, 15:42 and your neck was an iron sinew, 15:45 and your brow bronze... " 15:48 James: Okay, so, God is saying here, 15:50 I'm just going to summarize this... 15:51 Prophecy... 15:53 "I declare things before they happen 15:55 and I bring them to pass. " 15:57 Why? "Because you're hard hearted... 15:58 because you're hard to convince... 16:00 because your brow is like brass... 16:02 because you're just hard 16:03 and so, that's why I use prophecy... 16:05 that's why I share these things ahead of... 16:07 you're not going to believe Me if I tell you this... 16:09 I'm just going to say... 16:10 you're going to go, 'He's crazy' 16:11 so, I'm going to tell you a bunch of events 16:13 ahead of time... before they happen... 16:14 so that you can... so that I can gain credibility" 16:16 that's the point you're making. 16:17 Ivor: Absolutely. 16:19 James: I love that... and Nebuchadnezzar... 16:20 credibility is built with him right there... 16:22 credibility is built... 16:24 now it doesn't mean He has his heart yet, 16:25 we talked about that but credibility is built. 16:27 Ivor: Yeah, and I think for like the skeptic of the Bible, 16:29 the Atheist... 16:30 you know, the person who's like, "I doubt religion... " 16:33 I think part of the reason that... 16:34 I'm going to say something that might sound shocking, okay, 16:40 but if it were not for the books of Daniel and Revelation, 16:45 I don't know if I would be a Christian 16:48 and let me explain what I mean about that. 16:51 James: I can totally relate to that. 16:53 Ivor: When I grew up with 16:54 hearing different religions here and there... 16:56 as a skeptic... I was always like, 16:58 "What is the difference between being good in your religion 17:02 and being good as a Buddhist?" 17:03 James: Hmmm... hmmm... 17:05 Ivor: You know, Buddhists say, "Be good. " 17:06 Yvonne: Right. 17:07 Ivor: Right? "You know, this religion... that religion, 17:09 they all say, 'Be good' 17:10 so, why should I believe in Christianity 17:12 over your religion. " Right? 17:15 "And then even within Christianity itself, 17:17 you got all these different denominations, 17:19 why should I choose yours over someone else's?" 17:22 Right? So, if someone came to me and said, 17:24 "My life was changed... " 17:25 I'd be like, "Look, Malcolm X's life was changed... 17:29 so, why not follow Allah?" Right? 17:34 I can point to people from every different persuasion 17:37 whose 'lives were changed... '" 17:39 and I'm not saying that as a bad thing, 17:41 I'm just saying, 17:42 "If you're using, 'my life was changed' 17:44 as evidence for me to believe in your God, 17:46 you're not getting me on that. " 17:49 Right, and so, the only thing... stubborn head... hard hearted... 17:54 right? Skeptic... 17:55 "Yeah, the Bible is probably just a book of fables... " 17:59 prophecy shuts that down, prophecy... 18:02 James: Big time. 18:04 Ivor: Yeah, Nebuchadnezzar the skeptic is... 18:08 is "almost converted" in one chapter... 18:10 from one Daniel Seminar. 18:12 All: Hmmm... 18:13 James: He's actually converted, he's going "Oh wow!" 18:16 Ivor: He's intellectually converted... 18:18 and so, that is the power of... 18:20 of the book of Daniel and... 18:22 and again, it's not that the books of Daniel and Revelation 18:24 are better than the other books of the Bible 18:26 but it was what works for... 18:28 what worked for a skeptic of the Bible 18:30 who was not going to be... 18:31 who's like, "Yeah, be nice... that doesn't work with me... 18:35 you know, I can be nice without God. " 18:38 Right, so... so let's go back to Daniel 2. 18:41 James: So, one other thought... I'll just jump in with you, 18:43 so, that's why God takes the pains 18:47 to make the last book that He writes in the Bible... 18:50 the book of Revelation... a prophetic book. 18:52 It's not because He wants to confuse us... 18:54 it's not because He wants to mask things in mysteries... 18:56 it's because He wants to reach us. 18:57 God is using everything He can to reach the skeptic 19:00 so, He uses prophecy... 19:01 that's His last... like the ace in the hole of His prophecy... 19:04 Ivor: Yeah, and so, this is... this is kind of... 19:08 this is amazing 19:09 because Satan will even try to attack prophecy. 19:12 James: Oh yeah. 19:13 Ivor: So, think about this prophecy we're looking at, right 19:16 we're about to look at this prophecy of Daniel 19:18 with this... this dream of these... 19:22 this image of a man 19:24 and you may not know this 19:27 but there are skeptics of the book of Daniel 19:28 who... who say that the book of Daniel was written 19:32 in the first century B.C. 19:34 not in 600... not 500 years earlier... 19:40 "There is no way that this book could have been written 19:44 600 years before Christ because it would prove us wrong. " 19:47 So, they try to make... say that the book was written 19:50 in the first century B.C. 19:52 so, what I like to say is, 19:53 "Okay, I'll give you the first century B.C. 19:55 I'm not giving it to you, but I'm just saying, 19:58 'Let's take that... ' 19:59 let's just take the first century, right? 20:01 And let's go ahead and let's look at what this prophecy means 20:04 and we'll kind of build and look at this theme of... 20:07 of the time of this prophecy... " so, as we read, 20:11 Daniel 2 verse 37, the Bible says, 20:14 "This is the dream... " verse 36, "this is the dream... 20:17 we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king, 20:20 'Thou, O king, art a king of kings... 20:23 the God of heaven has given thee a kingdom, power, 20:25 and strength and glory 20:27 and wheresoever the children of men dwell, 20:29 the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven 20:31 has He given into thine hand, 20:33 and He has made thee ruler over them all. 20:35 Thou art this head of gold. '" 20:36 Now, this is very interesting, 20:38 I'm going to kind of divert just for a moment, 20:41 Nebuchadnezzar is given a title again. 20:45 What title is he given? 20:46 "Thou, O king, art a king of kings: 20:50 for the God of heaven has given thee a kingdom, 20:53 power, and strength, and glory. 20:55 And wheresoever the children of men dwell, 20:59 the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven 21:02 has he given into thine hand, 21:04 and has made thee ruler over them all. 21:06 Thou art this head of gold. " 21:09 So, I want you to notice something here. 21:11 All: Hmmm... 21:13 Ivor: Now, we know this title belongs to... who? 21:14 It belongs to Jesus... but here you have the king of Babylon 21:18 being identified as a "king of kings. " 21:22 All: Hmmm... 21:23 Ivor: Remember we also identified him 21:25 as king of kings from the... 21:26 Yvonne: North. 21:28 Ivor: From the north, right? 21:29 so, Nebuchadnezzar is a king of kings 21:31 from the north... meaning he is the king of the north 21:34 and notice that the Bible says, he is this head of gold. 21:38 All: Hmmm... hmmm... 21:39 Ivor: So that... "He's this head of gold" 21:41 it's a dual application... 21:43 it's talking about Nebuchadnezzar himself, 21:46 "You're the head of gold" 21:47 but it's also talking about his kingdom... 21:50 so, Babylon is identified as the gold. 21:53 This king of the north is identified as the gold 21:56 and James, we're going to remember that 21:58 when we get to Daniel 3. 22:00 All: Hmmm... 22:03 Laughter... 22:05 Ivor: And so, what do you have happening here? 22:07 Daniel tells Nebuchadnezzar, "Your kingdom is the... 22:11 is the head of gold but then he says, 22:12 "After your kingdom, 22:14 there is going to arise another kingdom. " 22:15 He is basically saying, "Your kingdom is going to fall 22:19 to a kingdom inferior to yours. " 22:21 Yvonne: Right. 22:22 Ivor: So, as we look at history, 22:24 we know that Babylon ruled from about 605 B.C. to 539 B.C. 22:28 and Daniel is writing in the time of this kingdom. 22:32 Right? And so, the skeptic can look and say, 22:35 "Well, either Daniel wrote this prophecy 22:38 in the time of this kingdom or better yet, 22:41 since this prophecy was written in the first century B.C., 22:43 whoever is writing this 22:45 is just writing about history in the past. " 22:47 Right? So, we accept that the book of Daniel 22:49 was written 600 years before Christ, 22:51 so, for us, it's like, 22:53 "Hey, how do you know that this major kingdom 22:55 was going to fall? I mean that's pretty powerful. " 22:57 Okay, but the skeptic is like, 22:59 "Yaah... no... I mean, that was written in the past. " 23:02 Okay, well, let's move on because he says 23:04 that another kingdom would arise 23:06 and that would be the kingdom of the Medes and the Persians 23:09 and we find that in Daniel chapter 5, 23:12 where the writing on the wall... "Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin" 23:16 your kingdom is numbered and divided... 23:18 is given to the Medes and the Persians. 23:20 So, we know that the Medes and the Persians overthrew Babylon. 23:23 Now, they ruled from 339 B.C. to... 3... 23:28 I'm sorry... 539 B.C. to 331 B.C. 23:31 okay, so, now, we're talking about, 23:35 "How does Daniel know, right? 23:37 that this kingdom would come on the scene 23:39 and then itself be overthrown by a third kingdom 23:43 which is the Grecian Empire? " 23:44 We find Greece being mentioned in Daniel chapter 8 23:48 as the kingdom that overthrew the Medes and the Persians. 23:50 Greece rules from 331 B.C. to 168 B.C. 23:56 Okay, now, for us who believe that the book was written 24:03 when it was written, whoa! how is Daniel... 24:07 how did he just accurately predict 24:10 over 500 years of history in advance? 24:12 Yvonne: Right. 24:14 Ivor: You don't find that in any other holy book on the planet. 24:18 You don't find that anywhere. 24:21 Yvonne: So, they are no prophecies in like the Koran or. 24:24 Ivor: So, the Koran has two time prophecies. 24:28 The longest prophecy is 46 years. 24:29 James: Hmmm... Yvonne: Hmmm... 24:31 Ivor: And so, the skeptic is going to look at that and say, 24:34 "Yeah, whoever wrote this was writing either history past 24:36 or what have you. " 24:38 But as far as prophecy on this level... 24:40 no other book contains it. 24:41 James: So the wise men were right, when they said, 24:44 "It's a rare thing that the king requires, 24:45 and there is none other that can show it before the king, 24:47 except the gods whose dwelling is not with men. " 24:49 Ivor: That's right... absolutely. 24:51 James: There's no other place you can find this. 24:52 Ivor: There is no other place you can find this 24:55 and this prophecy is the most elementary prophecy 24:57 of Daniel and Revelation. 24:59 This is the "kid stuff. " 25:00 Right... this is just God showing, 25:03 "Let me just give you a little taste... " 25:04 Yvonne: This is prophecy 101. Ivor: This is prophecy 101. 25:08 Right? So, here you have Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece... 25:11 now, the skeptic says that the book was written 25:15 in the 1st century B.C. 25:17 so, they're like, "Well, whoever wrote this 25:19 knew that Rome was on the verge of overthrowing Greece 25:22 because Rome is that fourth kingdom. " 25:24 All: Hmmm... hmmm... 25:25 Ivor: Okay, Rome ruled from 168 B.C. to 476 A.D. 25:34 James: Western Empire... 25:36 Ivor: Right, Western Empire... so, now, what we have here 25:38 is Daniel accurately forecasting 25:41 over a thousand years of history... 25:45 if he wrote the book... for those of us who believe. 25:48 Now, here's the thing... 25:50 the skeptic says, "Oh, the book was written 25:52 in the first century B.C. 25:54 so it really doesn't carry much weight. " 25:57 Daniel says, right? Like, he's on a roll... 26:00 "After you a second king will arise... 26:02 and after you, a third king... a fourth... " 26:04 he could have said, 26:05 "and after the fourth kingdom, a fifth kingdom will arise. " 26:07 He didn't say that. 26:09 What he said was, "This fourth kingdom 26:11 is going to be broken down into pieces. " 26:14 All: Hmmm... 26:15 Ivor: Wait a minute, even if we gave the skeptic 26:20 first century B.C., 26:22 how did Daniel accurately predict 26:24 that Rome would not be overthrown 26:26 by some other fifth kingdom... 26:28 that it would instead disintegrate... 26:31 that's five... and that's another 500 years of history 26:36 that Daniel has prophesied 26:38 that the skeptic cannot gainsay. 26:40 James: Right. Yvonne: Right. 26:42 Ivor: Absolutely mind blowing 26:45 and that's not the whole prophecy, 26:47 that's just a 1,000 years. 26:49 I don't even think we should get into the clay yet 26:51 because we only have just a little time left. 26:55 But what this demonstrates is the 50 things. 26:59 Right? Because if these four things have come to pass... 27:02 if God has accurately foretold 27:04 a thousand years for the believer... 27:06 and okay, 500 years for the skeptic... guess what? 27:09 That's still 500 years... how do you explain that? 27:11 Yvonne: Right. 27:13 Ivor: There is no scientific explanation for prophecy. 27:15 and every... you know, 27:17 the whole world runs on prophecy. 27:18 People try to foretell the weather... that's prophecy... 27:22 Science is the art of prophecy. 27:24 Science is, "We believe this is going to happen 27:26 and we are going to predict it... " 27:28 it's the art of prediction. 27:29 James: Education... careers... jobs... investments... 27:32 you name it. 27:33 Ivor: It's all about prophecy, 27:35 people trust when prophecy is accurate. 27:37 Yvonne: Right... that's right. 27:38 Ivor: And that's what the Bible is demonstrating. 27:39 God says, "You can trust me. " 27:41 James: That's amazingly practical... 27:42 That's amazingly practical to think that our whole lives 27:45 center around prophecy and predictions 27:47 that we make for ourselves... for our families... 27:49 for our careers, our futures... our investments... 27:51 the countries we live in... 27:53 the things that are going to happen in the world... 27:55 all of it is based on prophetic ideology, in a sense, 27:58 and none of it can be trusted as much as the Word of God 28:00 can be trusted. 28:01 That's... that's really powerful. 28:02 Ivor: Yeah... 28:04 James: So, we're going to have to pick this up 28:05 with another session and finish up where we've begun here, 28:07 Ivor, I loved how you brought this out... 28:09 I think this is really powerful 28:10 and it's important for us to see this. 28:12 Yvonne: Amen. James: Praise the Lord. 28:13 Ivor: Yeah. |
Revised 2020-04-22