Participants:
Series Code: TIJ
Program Code: TIJ003106S
|
00:01 ♪ ♪
00:29 Does God really exist, and if He does do you really think He pays 00:34 much attention to us as we hurtle through space on the 00:37 little blue planet? Or is He more like an absentee landlord 00:41 who started the planet spinning a long time ago and then just 00:45 forgot about us? Today we're going to look at an ancient 00:50 king's amazing dream that gives startling evidence for the 00:54 existence of God, and proves that not only does He notice us, 00:59 but His hand is still steering history towards one incredible 01:04 final event. So stay tuned to hear about the king's dream 01:11 that baffled the world's leading magicians, psychics and 01:14 astrologers as well as modern historians, but presents 01:19 compelling rational evidence that not only does God know the 01:22 future, but He has revealed it to us as well. 01:26 ♪ ♪ 01:46 They were two of history's greatest generals and also 01:49 two of histories greatest adversaries: The Duke of 01:52 Wellington and Napoleon Bonaparte. But what comes as a 01:56 great surprise is that the Duke of Wellington and Napoleon 02:00 Bonaparte had a lot in common. Both of them were born on an 02:04 island in 1769. Both of them lost their fathers' in early 02:10 childhood and both had four brothers and three sisters. 02:13 Both attended military school in France at the same time. Both 02:17 excelled at mathematics and both became lieutenant colonels 02:21 within one day of each other. And perhaps, most importantly, 02:25 both of them are remembered for what happened at the Battle of 02:30 Waterloo. They were evenly matched with similar backgrounds 02:33 similar education, and even similar armies. But Napoleon 02:40 lost and the Duke of Wellington won. And if you ask a historian 02:43 why it happened, they'll poiunt out a number of things. First 02:48 of all, they'll tell you that the terrain they were fighting 02:51 on was the kind the Wellington liked. So he had the home team 02:57 advantage so to speak. Secondly Napoleon didn't count on the 03:01 Prussian army going 20 kilometers out of their way to 03:05 join the fight. And lastly, historians point out that 03:10 Napoleon just didn't have the same kind of courage and energy 03:14 he had before his exile. So there are lots of ideas as to 03:19 why Napoleon lost, but one thing that many people agree on is 03:23 that he probably could have won and the map of Europe would look 03:27 a lot different today if he had. Yet something tipped the scales 03:32 decidedly in Wellington's favor. And it wasn't just strategy or 03:37 coincidence, or the size of an army, or fatigue, or weather or 03:42 any of those things. It was something more. There was an 03:46 invisible hand that refused to allow Napoleon to win. In fact, 03:51 something happened 2500 years earlier in an ancient Babylonian 03:57 king's bedroom that determined what would happen that day at 04:01 Waterloo. The Bible talks about it in the book of Daniel, 04:05 chapter 2 and verse 1.... 04:18 It was the middle of the night, and the most powerful man on 04:23 earth suddenly woke up in a cold sweat, his heart pounding and 04:28 his pillow soaked with sweat. Even though he had been on the 04:33 battlefield many times, even though he had seen the ugly 04:36 reality of death close up, he was now afraid of a dream. 04:41 So he got out of bed and called an emergency meeting of some 04:47 of the most trusted advisors in his empire, the men who claimed 04:51 to be able to read minds and foretell the future. They 04:55 claimed to know the very secrets of the universe. The Bible 05:00 continues in Daniel chapter 2 and verse 2: 05:33 No problem, they said. King Nebuchadnezzar, you just tell 05:38 us the dream and we'll tell you what it means. And as the 05:42 astrologers and magicians pulled out their charts and dream 05:46 interpretation books, the king suddenly smelled a rat. He 05:52 became suspicious that the men who had been guiding the affairs 05:56 of his kingdom might not really know what they were talking 05:59 about. So he refused to tell them the dream but still 06:04 insisted that they figure it out If you are what you claim to be, 06:09 he said, you should be able to figure out the dream and the 06:13 interpretation, and if you can't I'll put every last one of you 06:18 to death. A cold shiver must have run up and down their 06:22 spines because in their hearts they knew that their books and 06:28 charts were fraudulent and were completely powerless to help 06:32 them. Not one of them could reach inside the king's mind and 06:36 extract the information he demanded. So they pleaded for 06:41 more time. But Nebuchadnezzar was onto them. You've been 06:45 lying to me for years haven't you. My word is final. Either 06:50 you figure out what I dreamed and tell me what it means or 06:57 you'r all going to die. But we can't do that, your Majesty. We 07:02 just can't read your mind. Here's how the Bible tells the 07:06 story in Daniel chapter 2 and verse 10.... 07:41 You know, I find it very interesting that when something 07:46 important happened that changed the course of history forever 07:50 the psychics and astrologers didn't know anything about it 07:53 and believe me, even though late night TV is still full of 07:58 people who have psychic hot lines and star charts those 08:02 people still don't know what's going to happen. If God has 08:06 something important to say, He doesn't use tarot cards or star 08:11 charts or crystal balls to say it. He just comes out and says 08:15 it. Now watch how this works. The second chapter of Daniel 08:21 tells us that because the so called wise men couldn't perform 08:25 Nebuchadnezzar rounded them all up to be put to death and as 08:29 they went through the kingdom to find all the Chaldeans and 08:34 wise men they knocked on the door of a Hebrew captive named 08:36 Daniel who was considered a wise man because of his royal blood, 08:42 his great intelligence and his godly life. Two years earlier 08:46 Nebuchadnezzar and his armies had struck out westward on a 08:50 mission of conquest and as part of their mission they attacked 08:55 the city of Jerusalem. They besieged and plundered the city 08:59 looted the temple and carried off many of the sacred golden 09:04 vessels. Daniel a young prince was taken captive and with the 09:10 cream of the city's youth carried off the Babylon as a war 09:14 hostage where he was trained to be a servant of the king and 09:17 one of the empire's wise men. Now although Daniel knew nothing 09:22 about this incident surrounding the king's dream, the soldiers 09:26 came for him as well because he was considered a wise man, but 09:31 Daniel wasn't a fraud like the other so-called wise men of 09:34 Babylon. In fact, he was the real thing, a genuine prophet of 09:40 God. So he asked to see the king in person and was granted 09:46 permission. Here's what the Bible says in Daniel chapter 2 09:49 and verse 16.... 10:00 For some reason, the king trusted Daniel, maybe because 10:04 he had proven himself in the past and he gave Daniel the time 10:08 he asked for. So Daniel then went back to his friends, 10:12 Shadrach, Meschach and Abednego and they got down on their knees 10:16 and prayed for answers because they knew that if it was 10:19 important God would tell them and, sure enough, He did. The 10:25 very next day they brought Daniel back to the king. Notice 10:30 what it says in Daniel chapter 2 verses 27 and 28.... 11:02 From that point on Daniel tells the king something that has 11:07 changed the course of world history. It has affected the way 11:10 you live today. In fact, it's even the real reason Napoleon 11:16 lost at Waterloo. Here's what the Bible says the king dreamed. 11:21 You, O king, were watching and behold a great image. This great 11:28 image whose splendor was excellent stood before you and 11:31 its form was awesome. This image's head was of fine gold, 11:36 its chest and arms of silver and its belly and thighs of bronze, 11:42 it's legs of iron, it's feet partly of iron and partly of 11:46 clay. You watched while a stone was cut out without hands, which 11:53 struck the image on its feet of iron and clay and broke them in 11:56 pieces. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the 12:01 gold were crushed together and became like chaff from the 12:05 summer threshing floors and the wind carried them away so that 12:09 no trace of them was found, and the stone that struck the image 12:15 became a great mountain and filled the whole earth. Suddenly 12:21 Nebuchadnezzar was excited. That's it Daniel, I can't 12:27 believe it. That's exactly what I dreamed. It was a giant statue 12:32 made of different metals. It had a golden head and silver arms 12:37 and brass thighs and iron legs and clay feet and then a giant 12:42 rock flew out of the sky and smashed it to pieces. But what 12:47 in all the world does it mean. What we're about to read proves 12:54 beyond a shadow of a doubt that we're not alone in the universe. 12:57 Because thousands of years in advance the Bible predicted the 13:02 rise and fall of every major world empire. It proves 13:06 conclusively that nothing is left to mere chance. 13:11 The invisible hand of God steers the affairs of men. Here's what 13:16 Daniel told the king in Daniel chapter 2 verses 37 and 38. 13:44 The golden head of the statue represents Nebuchadnezzar and 13:50 the Babylonian empire. It was the greatest of empires, the 13:54 most decadent literally drenched in luxury and gold. The head of 13:59 all empires but it didn't last forever. Daniel continues in 14:05 chapter 2 and verse 39... 14:13 History tells us that the Babylonian empire crumbled when 14:18 the Medes and Persians sacked the city in 539 B.C. and it 14:23 didn't matter that they weren't as talented on the 14:25 battlefield as the Babylonians because an unseen hand tipped 14:30 the scales in their favor. Wherever God steers history 14:35 that's where it's going to go and He has a very specific 14:39 destination in mind. The Medes and Persians represented by the 14:44 chest and arms of silver ruled the middle east until 331 B.C. 14:50 when another army destroyed them. Then another, a third 14:54 kingdom of bronze which shall rule over all the earth. 14:57 The third kingdom represented by the belly and thighs of brass 15:03 was the Greek empire of Alexander the Great, one of the 15:06 greatest military geniuses of all time. Alexander managed to 15:12 conquer on foot 20 million subjects in over three million 15:16 square kilometers in something like four years all by the time 15:21 he was 32 years old. He was completely unstoppable because 15:27 he had the unseen hand of God allowing him to win. 15:31 But Alexander too came to an end in 168 B.C. That's when the 15:37 fourth empire destroyed them as the Bible predicted in Daniel 15:42 chapter 2 and verse 40... 15:59 Now if you remember your school history classes you already know 16:04 which empire humbled the Greeks. It was the Romans of course, the 16:09 same empire that ruled the world when Jesus Christ was born. 16:14 They were more ferocious than any army the world had ever seen 16:18 and they literally stomped all over Europe and the middle east 16:22 subjecting everything in their path. Here's how the famous 16:26 historian, Edward Gibbons, described them, amazingly in his 16:31 book "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire."... 16:47 It's as if Gibbons were familiar with the Bible because that's 16:51 exactly what God said would happen. It's even the same 16:56 language. The head of gold was Babylon, the chest and arms of 16:59 silver were Medo-Persia, the belly and thighs of brass were 17:03 Greece and the Roman empire, the legs of iron, eclipsed them 17:08 all. Because of the unseen hand of God, nobody stood a chance 17:14 in the face of a Roman army, but Rome, too, would fail. And now 17:20 please follow me very carefully because we're going to see the 17:24 real reasons Napoleon didn't win. Daniel chapter 2 and verse 17:29 41 continues... 18:07 Daniel told the king more than a thousand years in advance that 18:12 the western Roman empire would crumble and break into 10 pieces 18:15 like the 10 toes on the feet of the great metal image and it 18:20 happened exactly the way God said it would, because barbarian 18:24 tribes brought Rome to its knees by 476 A.D. and the western 18:30 empire broke into 10 pieces, not nine, not 11 but exactly 10. And 18:37 those barbarian tribes, at least the ones that survived, became 18:42 the nations of western Europe today. It all happened exactly 18:49 the way God said it would. And furthermore, the Bible tells us 18:54 that try as they might, those 10 tribes will not cleave or adhere 18:59 to each other. The great unseen hand of God has tipped the 19:04 scales against anybody who tries to put the western Roman empire 19:09 back together again. He says, they shall not cleave one to 19:15 another. That's why every single attempt, every experiment to 19:20 unite western Europe has failed miserably. The royal families 19:25 tried to use marriages to do it but it never worked. The warrior 19:30 king Charles V almost did it but just as he closed in on uniting 19:35 western Europe a revolution broke out and he was forced 19:40 to abdicate the throne. Louis XIV, the Son King, tried to 19:44 unite Europe, but 19:46 other countries fought back and the French king was defeated and 19:50 then came Napoleon. He thought nothing could stop him. So in 19:57 1812 Napoleon marched on Russia and God tipped the balances 20:01 against him. It had nothing to do with the Russian military 20:04 might but it had everything to do with God. It started to snow 20:09 and out of more than 600,000 French soldiers who went to 20:14 Russia, 500,000 never came home and from that miserable defeat 20:20 and after a humiliating exile Napoleon went to Waterloo and 20:26 he lost because God said nobody would renite the western Roman 20:32 empire. Everybody's who's tried has failed. The Kaiser failed 20:39 even though he probably could have done it. Hitler failed even 20:44 thought in 1942 it looked like he might win. They all failed 20:49 because God said, they shall not cleave one to another. 20:54 On Thursday, the 23rd of June, 2016, the British people stunned 21:00 the world with a vote to leave the European Union. For the 21:04 first time ever one of the 28 member nations of the European 21:09 Union had voted to leave. The British decision had unsettled 21:13 the European Union and raised uncertainty about its future. 21:20 It's a reminder of how uncertain unstable and divided Europe is. 21:24 Try as they might, they will never bring the western Roman 21:29 empire under one ruler or one king again. It just can't happen 21:35 because God said... 21:40 The nations of western Europe will remain divided until the 21:45 rock in Nebuchadnezzar's dream comes and smashes the kingdoms 21:50 of earth. Daniel chapter 2 and verse 44 says.... 22:10 Nebuchadnezzar, said Daniel, do you see what's going to happen? 22:16 One day your Babylonian empire is going to collapse and after 22:21 that there will be three more empires. Then there'll be a time 22:25 of a divided empire and finally God himself is going to set up 22:30 a kingdom that will last forever You and I are living down in 22:36 the very toenails of the great image and the next event in 22:40 this prophecy is the setting up of God's kingdom. That happens 22:45 when Jesus Christ returns. Notice what it says in Matthew 22:50 chapter 25 and verse 31... 23:00 Four world empires and every one of them has already come 23:07 and gone. Then a divided western Roman empire, which is 23:11 still with us today. You and I are living under the last human 23:16 governments described in Daniel chapter 2. The next event is the 23:21 second coming of Jesus Christ. The Rock of Ages the cornerstone 23:26 that the builders rejected began to fill this planet with 23:30 His glory and set up His own kingdom. Let me ask you, are 23:35 we just an insignificant speck in the universe. Absolutely 23:40 not! God Himself is eventually going to move to planet earth. 23:46 Please notice what it says in Revelation chapter 21 and verse 23:49 3... 24:04 It's almost over. We're almost there. And if you've been 24:10 worried about recent world events, stop worrying, because 24:14 the unseen hand of God is still at work. No matter what happens 24:19 nothing will stop Jesus Christ from coming back. He's coming 24:24 to establish His kingdom and you can be part of that. 24:31 All children ask this one question when they're on a 24:35 journey, don't they? Are we there yet? My parents used to 24:39 tell me to watch for certain landmarks. God's children want 24:44 to know too, Are we there yet? And God in His love gives us 24:53 great landmarks of history to watch for. So let me ask you, 24:54 since we're almost there, Are you ready? Have you made things 24:59 right with your God. Now you might ask yourself why God 25:05 bothered with a little insignificant planet like ours? 25:09 But don't forget He's made a huge investment in this human 25:14 race. He bought us with his own blood and Jesus has become one 25:19 of us, a part of this human race His greatest desire is to come 25:24 and put an end to earthly kingdoms and set up His own. 25:28 If you'd like to be a citizen in that kingdom why not confirm 25:33 that decision right now as we pray. Dear Lord, with the way 25:39 the world is, we sense that we're running out of time. We 25:44 long for Jesus to come and set up His kingdom because we're 25:48 tired of human governments. Our eyes are fixed on Jesus. We want 25:53 to know Him better and love Him more. Guide us as we study the 25:58 word of God so that we will be ready when He comes. We ask 26:03 this in Jesus' name. Amen 26:09 The amazing prophecy of Daniel chapter 2 and the great metal 26:13 image had amazed and inspired people all over the world. 26:17 There's a lot more to it than we can study in just half an hour. 26:22 So if you'd like to know more about Bible prophecy and what 26:25 the future holds for you and your family then I'd like to 26:28 recommend the free gift we have for all our viewers today. It's 26:33 a booklet called A King, A Dream and You. And in addition to that 26:39 we'll enclose our lesson from our Bible course that will start 26:42 you on the path to understanding the prophecies of Daniel for 26:46 yourself. These are our gifts to you and both are absolutely free 26:51 There are no costs or obligations whatsoever. 26:55 Thousands have been blessed and inspired by this book, A King, A 27:00 Dream and You, so make the most of this wonderful opportunity to 27:04 receive the gifts for you today. Here's the information you need. 27:10 Phone or text us at 0436333555 in Australia or 0204222042 27:20 in New Zealand or visit our website TIJ.TV to request 27:25 today's free offer and we'll send it to you totally free of 27:29 charge and with no obligation. Write to us at, or. Don't delay 27:46 Call or text us now. Be sure to join us again next 27:52 week when we will share another of life's journey's together. 27:55 Until then remember the ultimate destination of life's journey. 28:00 Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth and God will wipe away 28:05 every tear from their eyes. There shall be no more death 28:09 nor sorrow nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the 28:13 former things have passed away. 28:16 ♪ ♪ |
Revised 2020-06-01