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00:11 ♪♪♪ 00:21 ♪♪♪ 00:35 Doug Batchelor: Welcome, friends, 00:36 to our "Sabbath School Study Hour." 00:38 We're so glad that you've tuned in and you're joining us. 00:41 I want to extend a special welcome to our friends who are 00:44 watching via social media from around the world and some of our 00:47 online Sabbath School class members. 00:49 We're glad you could study with us this very important lesson 00:52 we're going to get to a little later today. 00:54 And, now, just so you understand that, 00:57 when we record these programs, we record them three weeks in 01:02 advance of the rest of the country that is going through 01:05 our study guide, and that provides us time 01:08 to edit the programs, to put in closed-captioning, 01:10 to send the programs off to the various studios. 01:13 We want to thank those networks that are carrying our 01:15 "Sabbath School Study Hour," but, right now, 01:19 this is, as the time of our recording, 01:21 the last Sabbath of 2019, and we're going to be studying 01:27 lesson number three in our new quarterly on Daniel, 01:30 but we have a special offer that goes along with today's study, 01:33 and it's a special full-length magazine, 01:38 beautifully illustrated magazine on "Daniel & Revelation," 01:41 produced by Amazing Facts. 01:43 This is--well, you might say that this is our special holiday 01:47 gift for everybody that studies with us because this 01:50 is a premium offer. 01:52 If you don't have this magazine, it'll give you a beautiful and 01:55 detailed overview, and it's beautifully illustrated 01:58 to the books, the prophecy books of "Daniel & Revelation," 02:01 a free offer. 02:03 You don't want to miss this opportunity. 02:04 All you've got to do is call the number on your screen. 02:07 That's... 02:11 That basically is 866-Study-More. 02:14 Now, sometimes our free offers, you can download them. 02:16 You can't really download this one. 02:18 We want to mail it to you. 02:20 So you just got to go--oh, wait, they're telling me, 02:22 no, there is a way to do a digital download. 02:24 Scratch that. 02:25 You can get the digital download. 02:27 All you do is you text the code "SH021." 02:31 Text that to 40544. 02:35 I guess they figured out a way to do that. 02:37 So you can download it, and you can also order it if you want 02:40 the hard copy in your hands. 02:42 I like the hard copy so you can feel it and touch it. 02:45 Free. 02:46 All you've got to do is contact, and we'll send that to you. 02:48 And in a minute, we're going to get into today's study, 02:50 but before we do, we're going to invite our singers out. 02:52 They're going to lead us in a few songs of praise, 02:55 and then we'll get into the Word for today. 02:58 ♪♪♪ 03:01 ♪ My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus's ♪ 03:06 ♪ blood and righteousness. ♪ 03:08 ♪ I dare not trust the sweetest frame, ♪ 03:12 ♪ but wholly lean on Jesus's name. ♪ 03:17 ♪ On Christ the solid rock I stand, ♪ 03:21 ♪ all other ground is sinking sand, ♪ 03:26 ♪ all other ground is sinking sand. ♪ 03:31 ♪ When darkness seems to veil His face, ♪ 03:35 ♪ I rest on His unchanging grace. ♪ 03:39 ♪ In every high and stormy gale, ♪ 03:44 ♪ my anchor holds within the veil. ♪ 03:48 ♪ On Christ the solid rock I stand, ♪ 03:52 ♪ all other ground is sinking sand, ♪ 03:57 ♪ all other ground is sinking sand. ♪ 04:02 ♪ His oath, His covenant, His blood supports me in the ♪ 04:09 ♪ whelming flood. ♪ 04:11 ♪ When all around my soul gives way, ♪ 04:15 ♪ He then is all my hope and stay. ♪ 04:21 ♪ On Christ the solid rock I stand, ♪ 04:24 ♪ all other ground is sinking sand, ♪ 04:29 ♪ all other ground is sinking sand. ♪ 04:33 ♪ When He shall come with trumpet sound, ♪ 04:38 ♪ O may I then in Him be found, ♪ 04:43 ♪ that in His righteousness alone, ♪ 04:47 ♪ faultless to stand before the throne. ♪ 04:52 ♪ On Christ the solid rock I stand, ♪ 04:56 ♪ all other ground is sinking sand, ♪ 05:01 ♪ all other ground is sinking sand. ♪♪ 05:09 female: Thank you for singing with us. 05:12 Doug: Thank you very much for leading us in those songs. 05:14 And now as we go into our study, it's a good idea to begin with 05:17 a word of prayer. 05:19 Father in heaven, in a very special sense, 05:23 we're going to be venturing on holy ground today, 05:25 not only because we're in Your holy Word, 05:27 but we're looking at one of the mountaintops in the vista 05:32 of Scripture and prophecy. 05:34 Pray that Your Spirit will be present. 05:35 Remove every distraction. 05:37 We asked that the truth will be proclaimed in triumphant tone so 05:42 all can understand, and we ask this in Jesus's name, amen. 05:47 Well, once again, welcome to those who are joining us for our 05:50 "Sabbath School Study Hour," and you probably heard me allude to 05:54 it in prayer that we are sort of on holy ground today, 05:58 in a special sense, in our Bible study. 06:00 You know, when an evangelist goes out to do an evangelistic 06:04 meeting, oh, about 80% of the time, 06:07 somewhere in the first two nights of his evangelistic 06:10 meeting is Daniel chapter 2. 06:14 Now, we're on lesson three in our study. 06:16 Lesson three, because we spend some time on introduction, 06:19 is dealing with Daniel chapter 2. 06:21 Daniel chapter 2 is probably one of the most powerful prophecies 06:24 in the Bible to give you a panorama of world history from 06:29 the time of the prophet to the Second Coming, 06:33 and it's a place in Scripture that it's 06:35 just really irrefutable. 06:37 And some people, it's like Mark Twain said, 06:40 "A person convinced against his will is of 06:42 the same opinion still." 06:44 Some people, no matter how much evidence you present, 06:45 they're not going to believe, but a reasonable person who 06:48 looks at Daniel chapter 2--and you can show that the prophecy 06:52 was written before the events foretold, 06:55 not just from Daniel, but it's showing from the books of Isaiah 07:00 and Jeremiah and many others, how these kingdoms would unfold, 07:05 and it happens in such an incredible way that it's 07:07 absolutely astounding. 07:09 So all evangelists love to use that because it strengthens 07:12 faith in the Word of God as they proceed through all of the 07:16 other presentations. 07:18 Now we have a memory verse. 07:19 By the way, the lesson is called "From Mystery to Revelation." 07:23 "From Mystery to Revelation." 07:25 Our memory verse is from Daniel chapter 2, verse 20. 07:28 If you've got your quarterlies, you'll see it in there. 07:30 It's from the English Standard Version. 07:32 Daniel 2, verse 20, and you can say this with me: 07:36 "Daniel answered and said, 'Blessed be the name of God 07:40 forever and ever, to whom belong wisdom and might." 07:47 So in the first section, it's talking about the 07:50 eminence of God. 07:52 Now, the author of the lesson gives a great illustration. 07:54 You can go to the Arctic. 07:56 I've never been there, but I've heard about it. 07:57 You can see a very mysterious site. 08:01 On the Arctic Ocean, you'll see it's covered with ice, 08:04 and the ice blocks are going in two opposite directions and 08:10 colliding with each other, and you think, 08:12 "What in the world is happening?" 08:14 Well, what's going on is there's a breeze on top of the water. 08:17 It's moving the small blocks, but the deeper blocks and 08:21 icebergs are being carried by the current. 08:23 So you can have the breeze going one way and the current going 08:26 the other way, and depending on the depth of the ice, 08:28 they're going opposite directions. 08:30 Well, when you look at the events of time, 08:32 you can see that there is a deeper current unlike what you 08:36 might see above water and the forces above water. 08:39 There is a deeper current that is carrying history, 08:43 and inexorably you have seen the kingdoms of the world follow 08:47 a track that God outlines in His Word. 08:49 This story in Daniel really summarizes it all. 08:52 So I'm going to invite you--if you haven't already done it, 08:55 turn to the second book--second chapter in the book of Daniel, 08:59 Daniel chapter 2, and we're going to begin, 09:03 and pray for me as I proceed because I've always wished that 09:08 I had, like, two and a half hours to cover this subject, 09:11 and then you'd still be covering just the high points 09:15 of the subject. 09:16 It is such a magnificent study. 09:18 Let me tell you one more thing about it: In preparing, 09:22 last night I went online, and I looked at some of the great 09:26 Protestant Bible commentators. 09:30 Now, these are not Seventh-day Adventist commentators, 09:32 but they're great. 09:34 You know, you've got John Wesley and Matthew Henry and Adam 09:38 Clarke and Albert Barnes and Jamieson, 09:41 Fausset, and Brown. 09:43 You've got the "Pulpit Bible Commentary." 09:45 You got everybody from Luther, all around. 09:49 This is one of the places in the Bible that they almost uniformly 09:53 agree is undeniable. 09:56 They call it the "Prophecy of the Four" or five--I'll explain 09:59 that many--great kingdoms. 10:01 And in this prophecy of a dream Nebuchadnezzar has of this great 10:07 image, it outlines the kingdoms of the world. 10:10 So let me just begin reading, and, 10:11 again, pray as I proceed. 10:13 "Now, the second year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign--" 10:17 he's technically Nebuchadnezzar II, 10:19 but he's called Nebuchadnezzar the Great. 10:21 He's the one that we know about in history. 10:23 This is taking place about 605 B.C., 10:27 and you might wonder, "Why does it say Daniel studied three 10:31 years under Nebuchadnezzar, and now it's the second year of his 10:35 reign, and Daniel shows up?" 10:36 Nebuchadnezzar reigned for two or three years with his father 10:40 as a co-regent. 10:42 This is now the second year of his sole reign after his 10:45 father's death, and that's why some people say, 10:48 "Oh, that makes sense now." 10:49 Looks like there's a conflict there. 10:53 "Nebuchadnezzar had dreams, and his spirit was troubled so that 10:57 his sleep left him." 10:59 Now, if you want to know what he's dreaming about, 11:01 you read later on in the passage, 11:03 Daniel tells him, "You were thinking on your bed about what 11:07 is going to follow after me." 11:09 So he's anxious when he goes to sleep that night about, 11:11 here, he's built up this magnificent kingdom, 11:14 one of the great empires of the world, 11:16 and he wonders how long it's going to last. 11:19 Nebuchadnezzar took every precaution to make sure his 11:23 kingdom would not be followed by another, 11:25 including the walls around the city and 11:26 a number of other things. 11:28 So he goes to sleep and he's troubled, 11:31 and he has this dream, and his sleep was troubled. 11:36 "The King gave command. 11:38 He calls his magicians, astrologers, 11:40 his sorcerers, his Chaldeans, to tell the king his dreams. 11:43 So they come, and they stood before the king. 11:45 And the king says to them, 'I've dreamed a dream, 11:48 and my spirit is anxious to know the dream.' 11:50 And his wise men spoke to him, and they said in Aramaic, 11:54 'O king, live forever. 11:55 Tell your servants the dream, and we'll give 11:57 the interpretation.'" 11:58 "We'll concoct something. 12:00 We'll make something up." 12:01 "And the king answered and said to the Chaldeans, 12:03 'My decision is firm.'" 12:05 He says, just, 12:06 "I want you to know, I've already made up my mind. 12:07 You guys tell me whatever you think I want to hear. 12:09 This is a supernatural dream. 12:11 I really want to know what it means. 12:13 If you claim to have supernatural connections with 12:15 the gods, then you tell me what I dream, 12:18 and you tell me the meaning." 12:21 Now, how many of you have had a dream? 12:23 It's very vivid. 12:24 An hour later, you try and tell somebody, 12:25 and that part of your brain where you dream is sort of 12:29 subconscious, and it's hard to recall because your dreams are 12:33 really happening in a different place in your brain. 12:35 Every now and then, you'll have a very vivid dream. 12:37 It frightened you awake. You remember it. 12:39 You think about it with your conscious mind, 12:41 and you're able to recall it better then because you've 12:44 stored it in two places, but when you first wake up and you 12:46 have a dream, if you don't spend any time thinking about it, 12:48 it'll leave you. 12:50 "Nebuchadnezzar knows, 'I've had this supernatural dream. 12:53 It was very vivid. I woke up in a sweat. 12:55 I was troubled, and now I can't remember the details. 12:58 You tell me what I dreamed, and tell me the interpretation. 13:02 Then I'll know your interpretation is real.' 13:06 And they said, 'No, you tell us the dream.' 13:09 And the king says, 'Look, my decision is firm. 13:11 If you don't make known to me the dream and its 13:13 interpretation, you're going to be cut in pieces--'" 13:16 "drawn and quartered," 13:18 they used to call that-- "and your houses 13:19 are going to be made a dunghill," an ash heap, 13:22 a dump, "however, if you tell me the dream and its 13:26 interpretation, you'll receive from me gifts, 13:29 rewards, and great honor. 13:30 Therefore tell me the dream and its interpretation." 13:33 One of them has the courage to speak up. 13:36 In verse 7, he says to the king, "'Let the king tell his servants 13:39 the dream, and we will give the interpretation.' 13:42 The king said, 'I know for certain that you'd 13:44 like to stall. 13:45 You want to gain time, because you see my decision is firm. 13:48 If you don't make known to me the dream, 13:50 there's only one decree for you. 13:51 You've agreed to speak corrupting and lying 13:53 words before me. 13:55 You're going to just make up something--'" 13:56 I'm paraphrasing here-- 13:58 until the time has changed, 14:01 until I forget about it, and there's something, 14:02 some other emergency. 14:04 That's what politicians do--is they stall. 14:06 "'Therefore, tell me the dream, and I'll know that you can give 14:10 me the interpretation.' 14:12 And then one of the wise men answered the king, 14:14 and he said," in verse 10, "There's not a man on earth 14:17 who can tell the king's matter. 14:19 Therefore, no king--this is why no king, 14:21 lord, ruler, has ever asked such a thing of any magician, 14:23 or astrologer, or Chaldean." 14:25 And by the way, the Chaldeans and the Magi, 14:29 who came looking for Jesus, some of them were 14:32 in the same caliber. 14:33 "'It's a difficult thing the king requests, 14:36 and there's no one else who can tell it to the king except the 14:39 gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.' 14:42 For this reason, the king was angry, and he was very 14:45 furious--" you see that he gets angry in other chapters too-- 14:50 "and he gave a command to destroy all the 14:52 wise men of Babylon." 14:54 You know, Daniel, in chapter 2, says that God's given you 14:57 a great kingdom. 14:59 Who you set up, you set up. Who you put down, you put down. 15:01 Nebuchadnezzar, he would snap his fingers, 15:03 and that would be a person's destiny. 15:06 So the king, he's preparing a decree to gather and to execute 15:09 on a certain day all the wise men of Babylon. 15:13 "And he gives a command to destroy all the wise men. 15:16 So the decree went out, and they begin killing the wise men. 15:21 So they sought Daniel and his companions to kill them. 15:24 Then with counsel and wisdom, Daniel answered Arioch, 15:28 the captain of the guard, who had gone out to kill the wise 15:32 men of Babylon, he answered and said to Arioch, 15:34 the king's captain, 'Why is the decree from the king so urgent?' 15:38 Arioch made the decision known to Daniel. 15:40 So Daniel went in and he asked the king of time that he might 15:43 tell the king the interpretation. 15:46 Then Daniel went to his house. 15:48 Now, Arioch said, 'Look, there's some wise men here, 15:51 and you know those four Hebrews you tested and you said they 15:54 were ten times smarter than anyone else? 15:55 They said, if you give them a little time, 15:57 even if you give them a couple of days, 16:00 they'll be able to tell you what you want.'" 16:02 Now the king is starting to regret he says, 16:03 "wiping out all the wise men." 16:05 What do you have after you kill all the wise men? 16:08 Dumb men. 16:09 And so he thought, "This isn't going to help the kingdom." 16:11 So he probably was going slow. 16:13 I'm not so sure he had started to execute them. 16:15 I think he was gathering them. 16:17 In the original, it's not clear because, 16:19 I mean, of course, you're going to--anyone that's getting ready 16:23 to be killed, you can say, "Yeah, 16:25 wait, no, I got an idea of what the dream is." 16:26 You'll try something. So he goes back. 16:30 He says, "Look, there's some Hebrews here. 16:31 If you give them a little time, they'll tell you your dream." 16:34 Well, Nebuchadnezzar, he still wants to know the 16:36 meaning of the dream. 16:37 So he evidently grants them at least 24 hours. 16:41 And it says that "Daniel then, he makes the thing known to his 16:47 friends Hananiah, Mishael, Azariah, 16:49 his companions, that they might seek mercies from the God of 16:52 heaven concerning this secret, so that Daniel and his 16:56 companions might not perish with all the wise men of Babylon." 17:04 You know, because of Daniel's intercession, 17:06 they do not perish. 17:07 It's because of the intercession of Jesus, we do not perish. 17:11 "And the secret was revealed to Daniel in a night vision, 17:15 and Daniel blessed the God of heaven." 17:18 Now, when you're struggling and you need to know something, 17:22 Matthew chapter 18, verse 19, "Again I say to you, 17:25 that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that 17:28 they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven." 17:32 You get two honest believers, or three, 17:35 the Bible says, "An effectual fervent prayer of a righteous 17:39 man avails much." 17:40 If you get two or three of them together and, 17:42 here, you've got the four of them and they're agreeing 17:45 together, they're the representatives of God 17:46 in this pagan nation. 17:48 They're missionaries. 17:49 They say, "Lord, what good are we going to do to You as 17:51 missionaries in this country if we're all exterminated? 17:53 Show us the king's dream and the interpretation." 17:56 And they prayed. 17:58 They have a very serious--at least, 18:00 part of the night--prayer meeting. 18:01 Eventually, they go to sleep, and Daniel has the king's dream. 18:04 He knows it's the king's dream. 18:06 "Then the secret is revealed to Daniel in a night vision. 18:09 So Daniel blesses the God of heaven." 18:12 First thing he does is he thanks God. 18:14 "Daniel answered and said, 'Blessed be the name of God 18:18 forever and ever, for wisdom and might are His, 18:21 and He changes the times and the seasons. 18:24 He removes kings and raises up kings.'" 18:26 This is the content of the vision. 18:27 "He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those 18:30 who have understanding. 18:31 He reveals the deep secrets, the secret things. 18:34 He knows what's in the darkness, and light dwells with Him. 18:37 I thank you and praise You, O God of my fathers. 18:40 You have given me wisdom and might and have made me to know 18:43 what we asked of You, for You have made us to know 18:47 the king's demand." 18:49 Now, what did Daniel say? 18:50 "You have given us wisdom." 18:51 What does James say? 18:53 "If any of you lack wisdom, if you ask of God, 18:57 he'll give to all liberally." 18:58 And by the way, that's one of the gifts of the Spirit. 19:01 In Isaiah chapter 11, verse 2, it says that 19:04 "the Spirit of the Lord was upon Him--" 19:06 and one of those characteristics, 19:07 the spirit of wisdom. 19:09 So God will give you wisdom if you need it, 19:12 especially if you want wisdom to be a witness, 19:15 and that's what they were praying for. 19:17 "So then Daniel goes to Arioch, captain of the garden, 19:21 who the king had appointed to destroy 19:23 all the wise men of Babylon." 19:25 And they probably got all the wise men all huddled up in cages 19:28 or prisons, ready for mass execution. 19:31 "And he went, and he said, 'Do not destroy 19:34 the wise men of Babylon. 19:35 Take me before the king, and I will tell the king 19:38 the interpretation.' 19:39 So Arioch quickly brought Daniel before 19:42 the king and said thus to him, 'I have found a man--'" 19:45 now, did he find Daniel, or did Daniel find him? 19:49 But, you know, the guard is looking for a reward. 19:52 You always want to say, "I found him. 19:55 I was out searching diligently because I know the king wanted 19:57 to know, and I found somebody." 19:58 Well, Daniel went and found him. 20:00 So you notice that here you've got the Babylonian seeking the 20:03 glory for himself--but you got Daniel. 20:06 What does he do? He gives the glory to God. 20:09 "The king answers," in verse 26, "he says to Daniel, 20:12 whose name was Belshazzar, 20:14 'Are you able to make known to me the dream which 20:16 I have seen and its interpretation?' 20:18 And Daniel said yes, because I'm smarter 20:20 than everybody else. 20:22 I've got the special powers. 20:24 You know, even Joseph, when he told the pharaoh 20:27 his dreams--and by the way, in the first section, 20:30 when it talks about the eminence of God, you've got 20:32 the same thing happening in the story of Joseph, 20:35 where he's telling the king his dream. 20:39 It's so often through the Bible history, 20:41 you've got the Jewish prophet, who's telling the pagan leader 20:45 what the future says or what the future is all about, 20:48 and you have it happening with Mordecai and Ahasuerus 20:53 with Daniel and Nebuchadnezzar, with Daniel and Darius, 20:59 with Joseph and Pharaoh. 21:02 It's like God is using these representatives in these pagan 21:06 countries to guide, and even in the time of Jesus, 21:13 Pilate's wife has a dream and says, 21:18 "Don't kill that righteous man, the Jew." 21:20 Isn't that interesting? 21:22 So he says--Daniel can take the credit for himself. 21:26 "He said, 'The secret that the king has demanded, 21:29 the wise men, astrologers, magicians, 21:31 and soothsayers cannot declare to the king, 21:34 but there is a God in heaven." 21:36 Now, I can think of three times they went to the wise men, 21:39 and they couldn't do it. 21:41 Well, the pharaoh's wise men, could not reproduce all 21:46 the plagues, could they? 21:47 That Moses could produce. 21:49 And the pharaoh's magicians could not interpret the dream 21:52 that Joseph could interpret. 21:53 And when the handwriting is on the wall, 21:56 they bring in Belshazzar's --not Belteshazzar-- 22:00 Belshazzar's wise men. 22:01 They can't tell what the writing means, 22:02 they have to call Daniel in to tell what it means. 22:05 And here, again, the astrologers, 22:09 you know, whenever I drive home from church, 22:11 there's a place on the left-hand side of the road, 22:15 "soothsayer, card, tarot cards." 22:19 You know, I've never gone in, but I've been really curious 22:22 before, to go in there and just to say, 22:25 "Tell me, what's going on? 22:26 Help me know the future." 22:29 I want to just see--you want to know what they're going to say. 22:31 So, he gives the glory to God. 22:35 "There is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, 22:39 and he's making known to Nebuchadnezzar what will be 22:41 in the latter days." 22:43 All right, so what's this dream about? 22:45 What's going to be in the latter days. 22:46 "Your dream--" now, I'm trying to get through 22:48 these 50 verses here-- 22:50 "Your dream and the visions of--you're on your head--on 22:53 your bed--are these." 22:55 All right, now, we're going to show you something on the 22:57 screen in just a moment. 22:59 Amazing Facts spent three and a half years--you know, 23:02 that's 1,260 days. 23:04 We spent three and a half years working on a video on Daniel 2. 23:08 We're not going to go through this lesson without showing you 23:10 at least the vision of what Nebuchadnezzar dreamed, 23:14 and so here's a quick--and I think I'd do some 23:16 narration on it. 23:17 We're going to show you--if you guys are ready to roll it, 23:19 we'll show the video from our "Kingdoms in Time" video. 23:23 Doug: One night, about 2,500 years ago, 23:26 the powerful Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar fell asleep while 23:30 contemplating the vast glory of his kingdom. 23:33 As this grand architect of one of the world's most powerful 23:36 empires drifted off into a restless sleep, 23:40 he wondered what the future held for his kingdom. 23:43 ♪♪♪ 23:48 Doug: God took this opportunity to reveal to him, 23:50 through a vivid dream, not only the ultimate fate of his nation, 23:54 but also the rise and the fall of world empires from his day, 23:58 all the way to the end of Earth's history. 24:02 ♪♪♪ 24:05 Doug: In this amazing prophetic dream found in Daniel 24:07 chapter 2, God showed Nebuchadnezzar a colossal statue 24:11 with a head of gold, the chest of silver, 24:14 thighs and belly of bronze, legs of iron, 24:18 and the feet and toes mixed partly of clay and iron. 24:22 Then, suddenly, a huge stone plunged from the heavens 24:25 and smashed the idol, pulverizing it into dust. 24:29 ♪♪♪ 24:36 Doug: And the stone, it grows into a gigantic mountain that 24:40 fills the earth. 24:42 Doug: Nebuchadnezzar knew this was no ordinary dream. 24:46 So the troubled king called for his wisest counselors to come 24:49 and relate to him the dream and explain its meaning. 24:53 They, of course, were powerless to tell the king his dream, 24:56 but then God gave the same dream and its interpretation to a Jew 25:00 stationed in Babylon, a young man by the name of Daniel. 25:05 He went before the king and presented the precise details 25:08 of the dream, and then gave the interpretation. 25:11 ♪♪♪ 25:17 Doug: And, by the way, I want to thank Nathan 25:19 for, at the last minute, Nathan Batchelor cut that out of the 25:22 DVD for me yesterday so we could share it with you today. 25:25 It gives you a visual. 25:26 By the way, this is two minutes of a one-hour program, 25:28 called "Kingdoms in Time," and as I mentioned, 25:31 if you want to see the whole prophecy study, 25:32 you can go online and learn about that. 25:34 But so he has this dream, and now Daniel's getting ready 25:39 to tell the king what the dream is all about. 25:42 And you go to verse--let's see here, 25:46 verse 31, "You O king, are watching and behold, 25:52 a great image--" so it's very tall. 25:54 It's very big-- "this great image whose splendor--" 25:57 it's very bright, it's excellent, it's brilliant, 26:00 it's powerful, it's awesome--"stood before you. 26:03 It's form--" where it says, "awesome," there, it means 26:05 "terrible, frightening." 26:08 Now, Nebuchadnezzar is a pagan king, 26:11 and what you have happening is these pagan empires are outlined 26:16 in the form of an idol. 26:19 They all were involved in idolatry. 26:21 It's interesting, later, Daniel has a dream, 26:24 and his dreams are about beasts in Daniel chapter 7, 26:27 we'll get to later. 26:28 Daniel, as a Hebrew, they were always worried about beasts that 26:31 ate their sheep, and it's all these beasts that eat sheep, 26:33 you know, lions and leopards and bears, 26:36 and then this strange, nondescript beast. 26:38 But Daniel--Nebuchadnezzar, rather, he's getting 26:41 this vision as an idol because this is an outline. 26:45 The different idol and the different metals representing 26:47 the kingdoms that would rule over God's people. 26:50 Now, you might be thinking, "Are all these the major 26:52 empires of the world?" 26:54 No. 26:55 "I mean, what about China? 26:56 What about the Inca Indians and their great empires in many 26:59 parts the globe at this time, advanced civilizations?" 27:02 The only ones mentioned here are the ones that had principle 27:06 power over God's people. 27:09 And as God's people spread during the time of Christianity, 27:11 you notice Rome is included, and then the divisions 27:14 of the Roman Empire. 27:15 So that's why it's not talking about the kingdom of China or 27:17 the Incas, or others that might be mentioned. 27:21 So he goes on, and he said, "You see this great image. 27:25 The head is fine gold. 27:27 Its chest and its arms are of silver. 27:30 Its belly in its thighs are a bronze. 27:33 Its legs are of iron. 27:35 Its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. 27:38 You watch till the stone was cut out without hands, 27:41 which struck the image on the feet of iron and clay 27:43 and broke them in pieces. 27:46 Then the iron and the clay and the bronze and the silver and 27:48 the gold were crushed together and became like chaff of the 27:51 summer threshing floor, and the wind carried them away so that 27:55 no trace of them was found, and the stone that struck the image 27:58 became a great mountain, and it filled the whole earth. 28:01 This is the dream. 28:03 Now we will give the interpretation of it 28:05 before the king." 28:07 Now, the king probably is absolutely speechless. 28:09 Can you imagine somebody telling you what you dream? 28:12 It's like someone reading your mind, 28:14 and the king is realizing this young Hebrew whippersnapper, 28:18 he's connected. 28:20 He knows the Lord. 28:23 And the king is on the edge of his seat. 28:25 He didn't even want to interrupt Daniel because Daniel just 28:26 keeps on going. 28:28 He doesn't say, "Am I right, King?" 28:29 You notice that? 28:30 With complete authority, he says, 28:32 "This was your dream, and now we'll tell you 28:33 the interpretation." 28:34 He doesn't wait to say, "How did they do? 28:36 Is that close to what your dream was?" 28:38 So that just shows you the confidence. 28:41 He knew that it was the Holy Spirit that had guided him. 28:43 "Now we will give the interpretation before the king. 28:47 You, O king, are a king of kings." 28:49 There were a lot of kingdoms under him. 28:51 He's a counterfeit Babylon king of kings. 28:54 Jesus, the King of king, New Jerusalem. 28:57 Nebuchadnezzar, king of king, Babylon. 29:00 "For the King of heaven has given you a kingdom, 29:03 power, strength, and glory, and wherever the children 29:07 of men dwell, or the beasts of the field, 29:08 and the birds of the heaven, He's given them into your hand, 29:10 and He's made you ruler over them all. 29:12 You are this head of gold." 29:15 Well, right now, Nebuchadnezzar, he's feeling pretty good, 29:18 but then he's remembering, "Wait, it doesn't stay gold." 29:22 And so, then he goes on, and he outlines the other kingdoms. 29:26 Now, I'm going to go through the other kingdoms, 29:28 and I'm going to back up. 29:29 I'm going to give you a little more detail on each of them, 29:31 just so we can get through the passage here, okay? 29:33 "But after you--" I'm in verse 39, 29:36 Daniel 2, verse 39. 29:38 "After you shall arise another kingdom inferior to you, 29:41 then another third kingdom of bronze, 29:44 which will rule over all the earth. 29:46 Then a fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron, 29:49 inasmuch iron breaks in pieces and shatters everything, 29:52 like iron that crushes, that kingdom will break in pieces 29:55 and crush the others. 29:57 Whereas you saw the feet and toes were partly of potter's 30:00 clay and partly of iron, the kingdom shall be divided, 30:04 yet the strength of the iron shall be in it, 30:06 just as you saw the iron mixed with--" 30:08 and the word there is "miry clay" or "potter's clay," 30:12 and I'll get to that in just a moment. 30:17 "But as you saw the iron mixed with the ceramic clay, 30:20 they'll mingle with the seed of men, 30:22 but they'll not adhere. 30:24 They'll not cleave. 30:25 They'll not be glued or fixed to one another, 30:29 just as iron does not mix with clay. 30:31 And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a 30:35 kingdom that will never be destroyed, 30:37 and the kingdom will not be left to other people, 30:40 but it will break in pieces and consume all of these kingdoms, 30:43 and it will stand forever. 30:46 Inasmuch as you saw a stone cut out of the mountain without 30:49 hands and that it broke in pieces the iron, 30:52 the bronze, the clay, the silver, 30:54 the gold, the great God has made known to the king what will 30:58 come to pass after this." 31:00 He says, "He's showing you what's going to come to pass. 31:02 The dream is certain and its interpretation sure." 31:07 Now here, in the middle of the Bible, 31:09 you've got a statement about Bible prophecy. 31:11 God's Word does not fail. 31:12 The heavens and earth will pass away. 31:14 God's Word does not pass away. 31:15 These words are certain and sure. 31:17 Did it happen? 31:19 Well, we know from the Dead Sea Scrolls, 31:21 and even just basic Jewish history, 31:23 Daniel was a real person. 31:24 If you don't believe the Dead Sea Scrolls, believe Jesus. 31:26 Jesus talks about Daniel the prophet. 31:29 He said, "If you want to know the future, 31:31 whoever reads, let him understand." 31:33 And he outlined what was going to happen here, 31:36 and it happened exactly as it was foretold. 31:38 Babylon was a kingdom that was a golden kingdom. 31:42 The historian Herodotus, the Greek historian Herodotus, 31:50 he said that Babylon--and most historians today think he was 31:53 exaggerating, but he said the walls are about 60 miles around, 31:57 15 miles on each side, 300 feet tall. 32:02 They were massive, maybe not that big, 32:04 but it was a massive kingdom. 32:06 Nebuchadnezzar did not want any other kingdom to be able 32:10 to overthrow his kingdom. 32:12 He was bent his entire life on being king of the world, 32:16 and just like Nimrod built Babel because he wanted to be king of 32:22 the world--that's why they built the tower--Nebuchadnezzar built 32:25 Babylon, and he actually--the ruins, 32:27 supposedly, the ruins of the ancient Tower of Babel were 32:30 still visible during his day, and he took the stones 32:34 and began to rebuild it. 32:36 He built a great seven-layer tower. 32:37 He did build the Tower of Babel, 32:39 not as tall as the other one, to Marduk. 32:42 He supposedly spent 50 tons--had 50 tons of gold--I think that's 32:48 more gold than we have in Fort Knox--on one statue--I think it 32:53 was of Marduk--in the temple. 32:55 And so everywhere there was gold. 32:58 It was the most magnificent palace in 32:59 the world in Ancient Babylon. 33:01 Even after Alexander the Great conquered Persia, 33:04 you know where he ended up dying? 33:06 Babylon. He moved to Babylon. 33:08 And our son was in the Marines. 33:11 He was stationed in Iraq, and he went and looked at the ancient 33:14 ruins of Babylon. 33:15 It's still there today. 33:17 God said Babylon would fall and it would never be rebuilt, 33:19 and that's what happened, and you--I don't want to say too 33:23 much about it now, but you read in Daniel 5 about 33:25 the fall of Babylon. 33:27 That was foretold, not only by Daniel, but by others. 33:29 Jeremiah, Isaiah, talked about the fall of Babylon, 33:32 the handwriting on the wall, and Cyrus, 33:37 the Persian general, working with the Medes. 33:39 It was a Medo-Persian kingdom. 33:41 They diverted the river, went under the walls. 33:44 That was all foretold. 33:45 You read in Isaiah chapter 45, it says the name of the king 33:48 that would overthrow Babylon, and it tells them means that the 33:51 king would use to overthrow Babylon, 33:53 and it happened exactly as it was foretold. 33:55 It says the gates would be left open. 33:57 The soldiers would be terrified, and they'd be inebriated, 34:01 and there was a party that night. 34:02 All that exactly was fulfilled. 34:04 We know that Isaiah wrote that before it transpired. 34:07 God must know the future. 34:09 Now, you notice what's happening. 34:10 You go from the golden kingdom of Babylon. 34:15 The splendor and the power of Babylon was unsurpassed. 34:18 Nebuchadnezzar, you know, he had stamped millions of bricks 34:24 around Babylon with his own name, 34:26 Nebuchadnezzar II, and they found many reliefs that said 34:29 things like this: "Babylon, the city which is the delight of my 34:33 eyes, which I have glorified, may it last forever." 34:36 They found that written in Babylonian cuneiform 34:38 all over the empire. 34:39 "May it last forever. May it last forever." 34:41 You get to our next study on Daniel 3, 34:44 he builds a great image all of gold because he wants 34:46 his kingdom to last forever. 34:48 He thinks he can overrule the dream, 34:50 the vision, by making it all gold, 34:52 but Babylon fell to the Persians. 34:57 Cyrus--of course, you had the Medo-Persian Empire, 34:59 the two arms. 35:01 You got the bear stands up on one side because--in Daniel 7. 35:05 The Persians were a little stronger than the Medes. 35:09 Cyrus eventually shifted it all. 35:11 His father was Persian. 35:13 His mother was Median, so they let him be the sole king, 35:16 and soon it was known as just the Persian Empire. 35:19 Silver, they are a little bigger. 35:22 They last longer, but silver is inferior. 35:26 They didn't have the glory of Nebuchadnezzar. 35:28 The currency in Persia was silver, 35:31 but then, after--the Persian kingdom lasts for--oh, 35:36 let me see--the Babylonian kingdom lasts about 66 years. 35:39 Persian kingdom, it lasted from 538 to about 331 B.C., 35:46 and it falls to Alexander the Great, 35:48 and they were known as the Greek soldiers--bronze soldiers, 35:55 rather, because bronze was their--I know it says in your 36:00 Bible, "brass" in some of your Bibles. 36:01 There was no modern brass. 36:03 That was made with tin. 36:04 It was really what we called "bronze" back then, 36:07 and they used to use bronze armor, 36:10 and one of the--you can read in your lesson, 36:15 Psammetichus I, of Egypt, according to Herodotus, 36:21 the historian, he saw invading Greek pirates that were the 36:25 fulfillment of a prophecy that was foretold of "men of bronze 36:29 coming from the sea." 36:31 And so they had heard that these men of bronze, 36:34 Greek men of bronze--isn't that interesting? 36:36 So totally outside of the Bible, even in history. 36:40 So when Daniel says, "Next, there's this kingdom of bronze." 36:44 Now, which is worth more, gold or silver? 36:49 Gold. 36:50 In Solomon days, it says, "Silver was counted for nothing 36:53 because everything was gold." 36:55 But what's worth more, silver or bronze? 36:57 Silver. 36:59 And then you've got the kingdom of Alexander, 37:02 and it lasts a little longer, and it spreads a little farther 37:06 but--and he was--Alexander was very smart in how he entrenched 37:12 his government. 37:13 So even when the Romans took over, 37:15 they still used Greek as the language of learning. 37:17 Alexander was brilliant on many levels. 37:23 But he dies in Babylon. 37:24 His kingdom is divided among his four generals, 37:26 and then they finally fell to the Romans. 37:32 They figured that was about 168 B.C., 37:34 and they, the Romans then last for about 500 years, 37:39 and it's interesting: The Roman Empire lasts longer. 37:42 So what's happening here with each one of these 37:44 metals--you getting this? 37:46 You've got gold is softer than silver, 37:49 which is softer than bronze, which is softer than iron, 37:54 which is softer than concrete. 38:00 Now, what is in the feet? 38:02 Iron and what? 38:04 Iron and clay. 38:06 You know what he says he saw? 38:07 He says, "iron and miry clay." 38:10 What is the number one building material in the world today? 38:14 It's reinforced concrete. 38:16 It is iron mixed with concrete is the number one building 38:20 material we are living today in the world, 38:22 and, you know the people who mastered concrete? 38:25 The Romans. 38:27 You ever heard of the Pantheon? 38:29 It--built about 120 A.D. 38:32 It's the largest expanse of non-iron reinforced 38:36 concrete--because this is during the time of just Rome, 38:38 which is, you know, this kingdom of iron, 38:41 but then they learned to reinforce iron mixed with clay 38:43 about the time that Rome fell to the barbarians from the north. 38:51 And then, down in the feet, you've got these ten toes. 38:56 So look at how perfectly this all happened. 38:59 He foretold that Babylon would fall to the Persians, 39:03 the kingdom of Greece--I'm sorry--of Persia, the silver. 39:07 Then you heard that the Persians would fall to the Greeks. 39:11 That's the bronze. 39:13 The Greeks would eventually fall to the Romans. 39:16 Roman is known as the kingdom of what metal? 39:19 Iron. 39:21 You know why the Romans were able to conquer? 39:24 They had mastered iron. 39:26 What did David say about the sort of Goliath? 39:30 He said, "There's none like it." 39:32 You know why? 39:33 Because the Israelites at first had bronze swords, 39:36 and they're great if you're cutting a person, 39:38 but as soon as you went and tried to fight another iron 39:42 sword with a bronze sword, the iron sword would cut 39:45 the bronze sword in two. 39:48 It was so much harder--as much as iron breaks in 39:50 pieces everything else. 39:51 When the Romans learned to mass produce iron weapons, 39:54 it was iron swords. 39:56 It was an iron spear that went into the side of Jesus. 39:58 Probably iron nails that put him on the cross. 40:01 And so Rome became known as a kingdom of iron. 40:04 In the midst of their kingdom, God waited until that moment 40:08 where you had a universal language. 40:11 You had roads going everywhere. 40:12 Greek was the language of commerce, 40:14 just like in the world today English is 40:16 the language of business. 40:18 And all the Chinese study English and, 40:21 you know, even Brazil, all the different parts of world, 40:23 they learn English because it's the international 40:25 language of business. 40:26 In the time of Jesus, it was Greek. 40:29 The writing was in Greek. 40:30 The Scriptures were even translated into Greek because 40:33 everyone could read Greek. 40:34 The Romans built roads that went all the way--the Roman Empire 40:38 went from the islands, the British Islands, 40:41 to the Arabian Sea, to the coast of North Africa. 40:46 It was a vast empire. 40:47 So you see what's happening with each one of these kingdoms? 40:49 They're occupying God's people. 40:51 That's why these kingdoms are mentioned, okay? 40:54 God is telling his people what to expect about the kingdoms 40:56 that would occupy them and because they weren't going 40:59 to get another king again. 41:00 After Nebuchadnezzar conquered Jerusalem, 41:02 he said, "You're not going to have your own independent 41:04 King again, until the Son of David comes, the Messiah." 41:07 That's the stone, the last part of the vision, right? 41:12 So each kingdom lasts a little longer. 41:14 The Persians lasted longer than the Babylonian--not 41:16 as glorious--bigger territory. 41:19 The Greeks lasted longer than the Persians. 41:21 Alexander marched to India. 41:23 There are Afghanis that have Greek blood, 41:28 still to this day. 41:29 They've done a DNA test, and the people in Afghanistan have Greek 41:31 blood because Alexander's soldiers went through there, 41:34 and there are people in Northern India that have Greek 41:37 blood--isn't that interesting?--when 41:39 they do DNA tests. 41:40 Then you've got the Romans--went even farther. 41:43 They went into North Africa. 41:44 They went up into Europe, and then, 41:48 when the Roman Empire fell, and you get into the feet, 41:50 ten divisions of the Roman Empire then scattered 41:53 around the world. 41:55 From those kingdoms of Spain and Portugal and England, 42:00 you've heard it said, "The sun never set on 42:02 the English Empire." 42:03 They went around the world. 42:04 Brazil, they went around the world. 42:06 Portugal, I mean, they went around the world. 42:09 Spain, they went around the world. 42:10 They took those kingdoms and around the world, 42:13 and with them, the Gospel went. 42:16 So it still was the kingdom that would occupy their people. 42:19 Now, when you get to the feet--I talked to you about the building 42:22 material--why does it say, "iron and clay"? 42:26 "Iron" is what empire? 42:28 Rome. 42:30 What does clay represent? 42:32 What was man made of? The dust of the ground. 42:36 And, you know, Jesus, once he spit on the ground, 42:39 he took some dust. 42:40 He made some clay, put it on someone's eye. 42:42 That's how God made man. 42:43 Probably wasn't just dry clay. 42:45 He added some living water to it and made man. 42:48 And so here, what you have in the feet is you've got a 42:50 combination of state and religion. 42:55 And this is what happened during the division 42:57 of the Roman Empire. 42:59 Instead of it Rome being ruled by Caesars, 43:01 now Rome was ruled by popes, and we know that that would receive 43:06 a deadly wound, but that same power would come back again. 43:09 What calendar do we use now? 43:12 Roman calendar. 43:14 Yeah, I know. 43:16 Several hundred years ago, we went from the Julian calendar to 43:19 the Gregorian calendar, but they're both Roman calendars, 43:22 and the reason we got a month named July is Julius Caesar, 43:26 and the reason we have a month named August--this is all over 43:29 the world, isn't it? 43:30 Do the Chinese still have August? 43:31 Yeah, they use the same calendar we use--it's Augustus Caesar. 43:35 And so anywhere you go in the world today, 43:38 you can see the influence of Rome. 43:40 So we're still living in the division, 43:42 those ten divisions of the Roman Empire, 43:44 and, I realize they fractured and redivided several times, 43:46 but where do you think the economies of the world-- 43:49 where's the power rest? 43:52 It's from those divisions. 43:54 America is really an extension of the British kingdom. 43:58 I know we broke away. 43:59 South America, they're extensions of the Spanish 44:02 kingdoms and the Portuguese kingdoms and the-- 44:05 the Swiss and the Burgundians and the Italians, 44:07 and so those ten divisions of the Roman Empire ended up going 44:11 around the world, but at that point, 44:14 during the time of Paul, Christianity began to spread 44:16 around Rome, and when the Romans fell, 44:19 Christianity then spread around these divisions, 44:22 and so everything has happened perfectly. 44:25 Now we got to get to the last part. 44:26 What happens, at the end, you get a stone. 44:30 "Inasmuch as you saw the stone was cut out of the mountain 44:33 without hands--" what does that mean, 44:34 "cut out of the mountain without hands"? 44:37 Is this a normal rock? 44:40 Exodus 20, "And if you make an altar," Exodus 20, 44:43 verse 25, "If you make an altar of stone, 44:46 you shall not build it of hewn stone, 44:49 for if you use your tool on it, you've profaned it." 44:52 Why did God tell the children of Israel, 44:54 "Do not lift up your tool on the stone?" 44:58 One of the commandments is "Do not make idols." 45:00 You can make an altar, but as soon as you start lifting up 45:03 your tool on it, you're going to get creative. 45:05 You're going to put little eyeballs and a nose on it and 45:07 arms and legs, and you're going to start thinking, 45:09 "That's what I look like." 45:11 And so the Jews were death on idolatry, 45:14 all the way from Revelation to the very beginning, 45:17 "Do not worship idols," so do not lift up your tool. 45:20 So when he says, "A stone is cut without man's hands," 45:23 it means this is a pure stone. 45:25 It's a stone of God. 45:27 Who cut out the first two tables of stone 45:29 the Ten Commandments were on? 45:31 God did. 45:32 "Not man's hands," is what that means. 45:34 Now, Moses wrote down the ceremonial law. 45:36 God wrote His law with His own finger, 45:39 not the hands of man. 45:40 This stone represents God's kingdom. 45:43 By the way, you can read in Deuteronomy 27:5, 45:46 "If you build an altar to the Lord, you shall use stones. 45:51 You shall not do an iron tool on them." 45:53 Jacob has a dream of a ladder that goes to heaven, 45:56 and that ladder is Christ. 45:59 What does he set up as a memorial? 46:00 A stone, and he pours oil on it. 46:03 You know what that is? That's an anointed stone. 46:06 Christ is the anointed Rock of Ages. 46:09 You read in Zechariah chapter 3, "For behold, 46:11 the stone that I have laid before Joshua." 46:13 The word "Joshua" actually means "Jesus." 46:15 "Upon the stone are seven eyes." 46:18 That's Zechariah 3:9. 46:19 Stone with seven eyes. 46:21 Do you have in Revelation 4, a lamb with seven eyes? 46:24 Who's the lamb? Who's the stone? 46:29 Jesus. 46:31 So how does Daniel--I'm sorry. 46:33 How does David bring down Goliath? 46:35 1 Samuel 17:50: "So David prevailed over the Philistine 46:39 with a sling and a stone, and he struck 46:44 the Philistine and killed him." 46:45 What happens in Daniel chapter 2? 46:47 Now, David hits him in the head. 46:50 Daniel hits him in the feet. 46:52 But it's a stone that brings down the idol. 46:55 Of course, you know, when they implode a building, 46:58 you've probably seen images where they bring down 47:00 some skyscraper. 47:02 They've got demolition crews. 47:04 They don't put a bomb at the top. 47:07 They plant dynamite around the bottom, 47:10 and once the foundation goes, 47:11 the whole thing collapses, right? 47:14 And so that's what's happening. 47:15 The stone strikes it on the feet. 47:17 Also what time--do the feet represent the end of time? 47:20 We're living now in the time of the toes, 47:22 and as some evangelists like to say, 47:24 "We are living in the toenails of the toes. 47:27 Okay, we're at the very end of time." 47:29 Has everything else in this vision happened so far? 47:32 Right on schedule. 47:35 Do we have any doubt the last part is going to happen? 47:37 So what is that last part? 47:39 Great stone cut out a mountain without man's hands, 47:42 comes and strikes the image on the feet, 47:44 pulverizes it into dust, so it blows away. 47:48 That means this idol that represented the religions 47:51 and the kingdoms of the world that fought against God's 47:53 people, they're obliterated. 47:55 Now, why is this all happening? 47:57 God's people are occupied during that time by a foreign 48:00 pagan power that worshiped other gods. 48:03 They're being oppressed. 48:05 God is reminding even Nebuchadnezzar and God's people, 48:09 "Your kingdom is not going to last." 48:11 Daniel is having the audacity to say, 48:13 "God gave you the strength to let you know, 48:14 'Your kingdom doesn't win. 48:16 My kingdom wins.' 48:17 Your god doesn't win. My God wins." 48:20 And I think Nebuchadnezzar got that subtle message 48:21 several times. 48:23 He gets it in chapter 3, where he says, 48:25 "There's no god like Daniel's God who can deliver 48:27 from the fiery furnace." 48:28 He gets it in chapter 4, when he says, 48:30 "I now lift my eyes to the God of heaven." 48:32 This is a battle between gods that's happening. 48:34 Is it an idol we worship, or is it God, 48:38 a stone without man's hands, which is the opposite 48:40 of an idol? 48:42 You see what it's saying here? 48:44 So this is just a beautiful parable, 48:46 and he said, "This thing is sure." 48:49 So who is the stone? 48:52 Jesus is the stone. 48:54 His kingdom fills the whole earth. 48:56 "Blessed are the meek, they will inherit the earth." 48:59 And He is the King of kings. 49:01 Jesus is called the Rock of Ages. 49:02 Jesus said, "He that hears these words of mine and does them is 49:06 like a wise man building on a rock." 49:09 And so the Ten Commandments are written on stone, 49:13 and Jesus is the Word. 49:15 This is what destroys the image. 49:16 So, you get the Babylonian Empire, 49:19 605 to 539; the Persians, 538 to 331; 49:24 the Greeks, 331 to 169; pagan Rome, 49:31 168 to 476; the divisions of the Roman Empire from about 49:36 476 to our present day. 49:39 Next thing is the stone comes. 49:41 Now, I don't know if that excites you, 49:43 but that excites me. 49:44 It means that Jesus is coming soon, amen? 49:46 How does Nebuchadnezzar respond? 49:47 Let me just read this to you. 49:49 They'll fix it in the editing. 49:50 I know I'm going a moment long. 49:53 "Then Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face, and he prostrates 49:56 before Daniel--" instead of worshiping 50:00 an idol, he's worshiping a Jewish prophet, 50:03 and you're not supposed to do that either-- 50:04 "and he commanded that they should present 50:06 an offering and incense--" they're worshiping him like 50:08 a God--" and burn incense before him. 50:10 And the king answered Daniel and said, 50:13 "Truly your God is the God--" not "a" God. 50:16 He says, "He is the God of gods." 50:19 In the beginning, it says, Nebuchadnezzar 50:21 was the king of kings. 50:22 At the end, "Your God is the God of gods--" 50:25 Jesus is the King of kings-- 50:26 "'the Lord of kings, revealer of secrets, since you 50:29 could reveal this secret.' 50:31 Then the king promoted Daniel, and Daniel said, 50:33 'King, I've got three friends that were part 50:35 of the prayer meeting with me.' 50:37 And he gave him many great 50:38 gifts, and he made him ruler over the whole province 50:40 of Babylon and chief administrator over 50:43 all the wise men of Babylon. 50:45 Also, Daniel petition the king, and he set Shadrach, 50:48 Meshach, and Abednego over the affairs of the province 50:51 of Babylon, but Daniel sat at the king's gate like Mordecai. 50:55 He's a judge in the city, the capital of Babylon. 50:58 Wonderful study, friends. 51:00 I hope you got something out of it. 51:01 Again, you can look up that new DVD called "Kingdoms in Time," 51:05 and we will send you this free study on "Daniel & Revelation." 51:08 It's a great illustrated study. 51:10 All you've got to do is call... 51:16 That's 866-Study-More, or you can even text, 51:19 and there's a way to download and read this. 51:21 And you text "SH021" to 40544, and you can download that where 51:29 you're at right now. 51:31 God bless you, friends. 51:32 Lord willing, we'll study his Word together again next week. 51:39 male announcer: Don't forget to request today's 51:40 life-changing free resource. 51:41 Not only can you receive this free gift in the mail, 51:44 you can download a digital copy, straight to your computer 51:46 or mobile device. 51:48 To get your digital copy of today's free gift, 51:50 simply text the key word on your screen to 40544, 51:54 or visit the web address shown on your screen, 51:57 and be sure to select the digital download option 52:00 on the request page. 52:01 It's now easier than ever for you to study God's Word with 52:04 Amazing Facts wherever and whenever you want, 52:08 and most important, to share it with others. 52:12 ♪♪♪ 52:15 announcer: Amazing Facts, changed lives. 52:24 male: I had a lot of pressure as a pastor's kid to perform. 52:30 They're not allowed to make the same mistakes as everyone else. 52:33 Not only are people looking at you, 52:36 but they're judging your father according to what 52:39 they see in you. 52:42 After a while, you get tired of carrying that load as a child. 52:44 By the time it got time for me to leave home, 52:48 I was pretty much finished with all that. 52:52 I just--I wasn't good enough, and I didn't belong in there, 52:55 so when I left home, I went to the world at a dead run. 53:01 You know, I partied and went to work and, 53:05 you know, was living my life as the way I wanted to, 53:08 and I just wanted to be left alone. 53:10 One day, I was driving my motorcycle 53:14 with some buddies of mine. 53:15 All of a sudden, I had oil running everywhere, 53:17 all up and down my arm and across my legs and rippling down 53:21 the tank in the wind and loaded it up on a trailer and sent it 53:24 to the shop to have it fixed. 53:27 So I went to pick it up, and a mechanic came out, 53:29 and he said, "You know," he said, "we got your 53:32 front end rebuilt." 53:33 He said, "That wasn't the bad part." 53:34 He said, "The bad part was the only thing holding the front 53:38 tire on was the weight of the motorcycle." 53:40 So all I would've had to have done was accelerate quickly 53:43 and front tire would've came off. 53:46 And it got my attention and got me to thinking, 53:49 you know, you hear a lot of people talking about, 53:51 you know, the relationship that they have with Jesus, 53:54 and all that, and I didn't even know what that was 53:57 supposed to look like. 53:59 It began to work on my mind. 54:00 I think God was beginning to speak to me. 54:04 I believe that you can say I may be a poster child for 54:06 the shepherd--lost sheep story because I wasn't 54:10 looking for God. 54:12 I didn't really care, but he cared about me, 54:18 and he came and got me. 54:21 ♪♪♪ 54:29 announcer: Together, we have spread the Gospel much farther 54:32 than ever before. 54:34 Thank you for your support. 54:37 ♪♪♪ 54:47 ♪♪♪ 54:52 Doug: What can be more irresistible than a kitten? 54:54 These guys might look cute now, but some of their ancestors have 54:57 grown into man eaters. 54:59 [roaring] 55:02 ♪♪♪ 55:03 Doug: We're here in a lion park in South Africa now where 55:06 we can view these creatures in relative safety, 55:08 but there's a reason they're known as the "king of beasts." 55:11 So what is it that people find so enchanting and frightening 55:14 about lions? 55:16 Is it their speed, their claws, their sharp teeth, 55:19 or all of the above? 55:20 Might also be some of the stories about man-eating lions, 55:23 like in 1898, right here in Africa, 55:26 they were building a bridge over the Tsavo River in Kenya, 55:30 and two brother lions terrorized the construction process, 55:34 eating 135 workers. 55:39 Did you know lions are mentioned in the Bible over a hundred 55:41 times, and you can find them all the way 55:43 from Genesis to Revelation? 55:45 It's usually in reference to their ferocity 55:48 and how dangerous they are. 55:49 Of course, Samson killed a lion with his bare hands. 55:52 David kill a lion. 55:53 There are man-eating lions in the Bible. 55:55 The way that they punish criminals was by throwing them 55:58 in the lions' den, and early Christians were 56:01 even fed to lions. 56:02 But, amazingly, as the Bible mentions, 56:05 not all lions are to be feared. 56:06 There have been a few friendly lions in history. 56:09 For example, in the 1950s, a couple, 56:13 George and Margaret Westbeau, who lived up at a ranch near 56:16 Seattle, Washington, adopted an abandoned lion cub. 56:20 They named it Little Tyke because they felt sorry for it. 56:23 But they discovered, as they tried to feed her, 56:26 she refused to eat any meat at all. 56:29 They were concerned, thinking there was no hope for this 56:31 little lioness to survive, and everybody told them the same 56:35 because we know, in the wild, lions survive on almost 56:37 an entirely meat diet. 56:40 Then someone showed the Westbeaus that verse in the 56:42 Bible that talks about, in heaven, 56:44 the animals are vegetarians, and the lion will eat straw 56:47 like the ox. 56:49 That encouraged them, and so they began to feed Little Tyke 56:53 a purely vegetarian diet. 56:55 Not only did she survive, she thrived, 56:58 growing into a lion that was over 352 pounds 57:02 and over 10 feet long. 57:04 In fact, zoologists that examined Little Tyke when 57:07 she was full grown, said they had never seen such 57:09 a perfect specimen of a lioness in their life, 57:12 a pure vegetarian. 57:14 You know, when we hear incredible stories about that 57:17 of Little Tyke, it reminds us that God's original 57:19 plan was to make a world of total peace. 57:22 It describes it here in the Bible in Isaiah chapter 11, 57:25 verse 6: "The wolf also will dwell with the lamb, 57:29 the leopard will lie down with a young goat, 57:31 the calf and the young lion and the fatling together, 57:34 and a little child will lead them." 57:36 Nothing is going to hurt and destroy in the new heavens 57:39 and the new earth that God is going to create. 57:41 Wouldn't you like to live in a kingdom where there's perfect 57:43 peace, where there's no more death or killing or pain? 57:47 God says that He wants you in that kingdom. 57:49 The Lamb of God made it possible for you to have an encounter 57:54 with the Lion of the tribe of Judah. 57:56 Wouldn't you like to meet Him today? 57:59 ♪♪♪ 58:09 ♪♪♪ 58:19 ♪♪♪ |
Revised 2020-01-13