Participants: David Shin
Series Code: 12POP
Program Code: 12POP000012
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00:46 And I do want to welcome every one of you
00:49 back into our afternoon session here at our Pillars of Prophecy 00:54 event. And this morning was just such a blessing. 00:58 Pastor Bohr was really ministering. 01:03 He touched me in areas and taught me something 01:06 that I didn't know. Don't you enjoy it when you 01:08 learn something that you didn't know before? 01:11 And this was just a tremendous... 01:12 This whole Camp Meeting so far to me has been one of the most 01:17 powerful that we've ever had. 01:19 Of course something that I'm told is that I say that 01:21 at every Camp Meeting. But I truly believe God continues 01:25 just to pour out His Holy Spirit and touch our hearts 01:28 and draw us closer to Him. 01:30 Well we're going to start this afternoon's session with 01:33 Pastor David Shin. Pastor Shin is the pastor of 01:37 the East Lansing and Williamson churches in Michigan. 01:40 He has extensive studies in historical theology. 01:45 As a matter of fact, he has his Master's degree in that. 01:48 And something that I find endearing about Pastor Shin 01:53 is that he has a heart for young college students. 01:57 He likes to go on the college... on the campuses 02:02 and minister the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ 02:04 to these young people. And so we appreciate him so very much. 02:08 Today he's going to continue with the study in Daniel 02:12 He's going to... His session is going to be 02:15 about the dream. So open your hearts to him. 02:18 But before Pastor Shin comes we have our very own 02:22 Pastor C.A. Murray that's going to come 02:25 and minister a beautiful song. 02:27 We appreciate C.A. around here, don't we? 02:29 He's a blessing to us in so many ways. 02:32 The title of his song is 02:34 My Faith Has Found A Resting Place. 02:56 My faith has found a resting place, 03:01 Not in a man-made creed; 03:06 I trust the Ever living One, 03:11 That He for me will plead. 03:16 I need no other evidence, 03:21 I need no other plea, 03:27 It is enough that Jesus died 03:32 and rose again for me. 03:45 Enough for me that Jesus saves, 03:50 This ends my fear and doubt; 03:55 A sinful soul I come to Him, 04:00 He will not cast me out. 04:06 I need no other evidence, 04:11 I need no other plea, 04:16 It is enough that Jesus died 04:22 and rose again for me. 04:29 The great Physician heals the sick, 04:35 The lost He came to save; 04:40 For me His precious blood He shed, 04:45 For me His life He gave. 04:50 I need no other evidence, 04:55 I need no other plea, 05:01 It is enough that Jesus died 05:06 and rose again for me. 05:22 My soul is resting on the Word, 05:27 The living Word of God, 05:32 Salvation in my Savior's name, 05:38 Salvation thro' His blood. 05:42 I need no other evidence, 05:47 I need no other plea, 05:53 It is enough that Jesus died 05:58 and rose again 06:04 for me. 06:24 Thank you, C.A., for that beautiful song. 06:26 Let's bow our heads together as we pray this afternoon. 06:31 Our Father in heaven, we thank you 06:33 that we need no other evidence. 06:37 We need no other plea. 06:40 It is enough that Jesus died and rose again for me. 06:45 Father, we're gathered here this afternoon 06:49 as Your people to look at the Pillars of Prophecy. 06:55 We pray that our faith would be built up. 06:59 That our assurance in the future would be rock solid 07:05 in Jesus Christ. And today as we look at the prophecies 07:09 of Daniel we pray that You would lead us and guide us. 07:14 For we ask these things in Jesus' name, Amen. 07:19 Before we get into the heart of today's study 07:23 found in Daniel chapter 2 I wanted to spend a few moments 07:28 recognizing that we are living in an age and a time 07:32 in which people are wondering about the future. 07:36 And it happens to be the year 2012. 07:39 And I want to begin by reading a quotation 07:42 that was in the media by an individual that believes 07:46 that 2012 is a significant year for our human civilization. 07:53 And I quote. It says: "You have to understand 07:56 that there will be nothing... nothing left" 08:01 Gerald told ABC News from his home in Belgium. 08:05 "We will have to start every- thing... the entire civilization 08:10 from scratch. " That's because Gerald believes that the world 08:15 as we know it will end in 2012. " 08:18 And he points to the ancient Mayan cyclical calendar - 08:22 the longest of which last renewed itself approximately 08:26 5,125 years ago - is set to end again 08:31 supposedly with catastrophic circumstances. 08:35 He speaks of the ancient Egyptians 08:39 who he claims saw the year 2012 08:42 as a year of great change. And he goes on: 08:47 "Only the prepared will survive and not even all of them. " 08:52 These may sound like the ravings of a mad man 08:55 or perhaps the head of a small apocalyptic sect 08:59 but Gerald is not the only one who believes in the apocalypse 09:03 of 2012. Thousands of people 09:05 worldwide seem to be preparing in one way or another 09:10 for the end of days in 2012, and survival groups exist today 09:15 in Europe, Canada, and the United States. 09:23 I'd like to move on to another group of individuals. 09:26 These are scientists that are saying that 09:29 our civilization as we know it may come to an end 09:32 in the next century. 09:34 By the way, I don't believe in the 2012 scenario 09:37 just to be clear. 09:40 And this is from a program called The Earth 2100. 09:44 And what this program did was they went to some of the 09:48 top scientists at Harvard, Yale, some of the Ivy League 09:53 schools of our day and asked them what was their 09:56 future or what was the future of the human civilization. 10:01 And the question goes like this as they begin this program... 10:05 And this is from a secular media source. And it says: 10:08 "Are we living in the last century of our civilization? " 10:12 These are not religionists. 10:14 These are intelligent people. Secular, perhaps agnostic. 10:18 And they say: "Is it possible that all of our technology, 10:22 knowledge, and wealth cannot save us from ourselves? 10:26 Could our society actually be heading toward collapse? " 10:31 According to many of the world's top scientists 10:35 the answer is yes... unless we take action now. 10:40 Experts say that extreme changes in climate 10:44 combined with dwindling resources, famine, war, disease 10:48 have the potential to create - and notice the words here - 10:52 a post-apocalyptic world in less than one hundred years. 10:57 Harvard University and Woods Hole climatologist John Holdren 11:03 says: "We cannot continue going down the same path. 11:07 If we continue on as business as usual, 11:10 we are going to see more floods, more droughts, 11:12 more heatwaves, more wildfires, 11:15 more ice melting, faster sea levels rise" Holdren says. 11:21 Here's a climatologist. A person from Harvard University 11:24 that says as he looks into the future as a scientist 11:28 he doesn't believe that we have much hope of making it 11:32 out of the next hundred years. 11:35 There's another book by Dr. Eugene Linden. 11:41 And this is a book that was at the top of the New York Times 11:45 Best Selling List. He's a renown journalist 11:48 for Time Magazine. And his book is entitled 11:52 The Future In Plain Sight. 11:54 And he says: "The rise of true believers and other clues 11:58 to the coming instability. " 12:00 That's code for a crisis in the future. 12:03 And he notes: "These things are characteristics 12:08 of a coming collapse in the near future. 12:11 No. 1: the collapse of our integrated global economy. " 12:16 We saw that in 2008... almost. 12:20 "The massive, unprecedented migration of the rural 12:24 to the world's bursting cities. 12:26 Urban, national, and global overcrowding through population 12:30 explosions. The widening gap between the rich and the poor. 12:34 The ominous rising of the sea levels. 12:37 The spreading collapse of the bio/eco systems 12:41 of life on our planet. 12:43 Mounting water and food shortages from troubling 12:46 climate changes. 12:47 The resurgence of spreading infectious diseases. " 12:51 And then he says: "Last but not least 12:54 growing radical, right-wing, fundamentalism 12:56 in all world religions. " 12:59 Here's a secular individual saying that the way he sees it 13:04 there is going to come an instability here in the near 13:08 future. And there's a gentleman by the name of Stephen Hawking. 13:12 He's an astrophysicist. He holds the Lucasian Chair 13:15 of Mathematics at Cambridge University. 13:17 And many people esteem him to be the modern-day 13:19 Albert Einstein. 13:21 He has Lou Gehrig's disease... is paralyzed 13:24 and has to communicate through a speech synthesizer 13:28 which detects 1.0 mm movement of his index finger. 13:32 This gentleman that does not believe in God says that 13:35 this is the solution for the problems that we as a human race 13:40 face... and I quote. This is Steven Hawking... 13:43 a brilliant scientist. And he says: 13:46 "It is important for the human race 13:50 to spread out into space 13:54 for the survival of the species. " 13:57 Are you hearing me? 13:59 This is the solution! 14:01 The brightest man that many people say had the highest IQ 14:04 that is off the charts, and he's looking into the future 14:06 and he says: "The human solution for our extinction 14:10 is to spread out into space. " 14:12 Now I don't know about you, but that is not very comforting 14:14 for me. "It's important for the human race to spread out 14:19 into space for the survival of the species, " 14:22 Hawking says. "Life on earth is at an ever-increasing risk 14:28 of being wiped out by disaster such as sudden nuclear war, 14:33 a genetically-engineered virus, 14:36 or other dangers we have not yet thought of. " 14:42 Here the brightest people that are looking at earth's problems 14:48 and they are scratching their heads and saying that 14:51 we do not have the solution. 14:54 Whether it be the economy; whether it be natural disasters; 14:59 thinking people everywhere are looking into this century 15:04 that we are living in right now 15:06 and saying that we, if we are not careful, 15:09 we are headed toward extinction. 15:13 And they use the word post-apocalyptic world. 15:21 I'm so glad for prophecy. Amen? 15:27 Because if I did not believe in God 15:29 or the inspiration of the Word of God 15:33 what do you have to hang your hat on? 15:36 Absolutely nothing! 15:38 And I'm so glad that 3ABN this weekend has focused 15:43 on the Pillars of Prophecy. 15:46 And I want to start out by beginning with the words 15:50 of Jesus. If you would turn with me in your Bibles 15:53 to John chapter 14 verse 29. 15:55 Jesus talks about predictive prophecy, and He talks about 15:59 the purpose of predictive prophecy. 16:02 John chapter 14 verse 29. 16:04 As we look at world events, as we look at the coming 16:08 instability, the coming crisis that many people... 16:12 will take us to the very brink of human extinction, 16:15 we can look at John chapter 14 verse 29- 16:18 the words of Jesus Christ Himself - and have hope. 16:21 John chapter 14 verse 29 He says: "And now I have 16:25 told you... " What does the Bible say? "before it comes 16:30 that way when it does come to pass you may... " What? 16:34 "you may believe. " The Bible tells us 16:36 Jesus tells us before it happens that way when it happens 16:40 "you may believe. " Now predictive prophecy is not 16:43 so it can just tickle our fancy so we can know what will come 16:47 in the future. It always points us to Jesus Christ. 16:51 Prophecy is always Christ-o-centric. Amen? 16:55 Jesus is always at the center of prophecy 16:59 and here Jesus tells us that when it happens 17:02 "you may believe. " 17:05 And it's my prayer today that as we look at the prophecies 17:09 of the Bible that it will build our faith in Jesus Christ. 17:15 I'd like to turn to one other New Testament passage. 17:18 It's found in Matthew chapter 24 and verse 15. 17:22 This is known as the great eschatological chapter 17:26 in the Bible. Jesus is looking down to the end of time. 17:30 He's worried about the Christians. 17:32 And in Matthew chapter 24 verse 15 Jesus gives 17:36 an endorsement that I find nowhere else in scripture 17:40 from the mouth of Jesus Christ Himself. 17:42 Matthew chapter 24 verse 15. 17:47 Jesus - focusing on end-time events - He says: 17:50 "Therefore when you see the abomination of desolation 17:56 spoken of by Daniel the prophet standing in the holy place 18:01 whoever reads let him understand. " 18:05 Now we can preach a whole sermon just on this verse. 18:09 But I want to point out three simple observations 18:13 from Matthew chapter 24 verse 15. 18:16 And number 1: Jesus assumes 18:21 or rather I should say Jesus declares 18:24 that Daniel is a prophet. Amen. Amen. 18:29 Here Jesus is giving the divine endorsement and 18:32 Jesus Christ Himself says Daniel is trustworthy. 18:36 He gives revelation that is inspired by God. 18:41 Amen? Daniel is a prophet. 18:44 And if you believe in Jesus you have to believe 18:49 that Daniel has something to say for God's people 18:52 living in the end of time. Amen? 18:53 There's a lot of people - Christians - that say 18:55 that the book of Daniel is a closed book. 18:58 It's irrelevant. 18:59 It doesn't have anything to say about God's people living in the 19:02 last days. But if you believe in Jesus 19:04 Jesus says Daniel's a prophet. 19:06 Thus we can trust in him... trust in Daniel. 19:10 Number 2: Jesus points out that the book of Daniel 19:15 is relevant to God's last-day people. 19:22 It is relevant not irrelevant. 19:27 It is something that we should pay attention to as we are 19:32 approaching the very final moments of earth's history. 19:35 Number 3: Jesus gives a divine endorsement 19:41 that we should read and study the book of Daniel. 19:47 Now I don't know about you, but that's a pretty good 19:50 endorsement. There are times that I meet someone that 19:55 I want to know what their reading list is. 19:58 And I say: "Are there any books that you should recommend? " 20:02 And they give me a list of books and I go when I have the money 20:07 on Amazon. com and I purchase those books 20:11 just based on the recommendation of the person that gave me 20:14 those books to read. 20:17 And here's Jesus saying: "Look, God's people living 20:20 in the last days... read the book of Daniel. " 20:24 I don't know about you, but that's a pretty good 20:26 endorsement. Amen? 20:27 And it's with these thoughts, with these concepts at heart, 20:32 that we are looking at the book of Daniel. 20:36 Pastor Stephen Bohr gave a beautiful theme 20:40 presentation on the book of Daniel. 20:42 And I'd like to highlight some of these as we go on. 20:45 The book of Daniel is divided into two major portions: 20:48 the prophetic and the historic or the narrative. 20:51 There are eight stories found interspersed throughout the book 20:55 of Daniel. And incidentally, six of the stories 20:59 are characteristics that we are to develop 21:02 and two of the stories are characteristics that we are 21:06 to avoid. Incidentally, the word Daniel - 21:10 the name Daniel - means God is my judge. 21:15 And when you look at the last church living right before 21:19 the end of time it is the word - the name - Laodicea. 21:24 Incidentally the word Laodicea doesn't mean lukewarm... 21:27 even though that's one of the characteristics. 21:29 Laodicea means a people judged. 21:32 I believe that Daniel is a type of God's people 21:36 living right before the final moments of earth's history. 21:42 The book of Daniel is built upon the principle 21:44 of repeat and enlarge. 21:46 And I've been given the privilege of looking at 21:48 Daniel chapter 2. 21:50 Daniel chapter 2, 7, and 8 repeat the same theme, 21:55 the same structure, but enlarge upon themselves 22:00 as they go through this presentation. 22:03 I'd like to invite you with that brief introduction 22:07 to turn with me in your Bibles to Daniel chapter 2- 22:10 the book of Daniel chapter 2- 22:13 as we look at the narrative and then we go into 22:17 prophetic revelation found in the book of Daniel. 22:20 Daniel chapter 2. By the way, Daniel was taken 22:23 as a 17-year-old boy. Many scholars assume that he was 22:27 just a teenager around 17 years of age. 22:30 He was taken from Jerusalem into Babylon 22:34 and they say that he probably had to go on a 1,000-mile march 22:39 through the desert as a teenager. 22:42 They say that he was placed under the prince of the eunuchs 22:47 which scholars assume that he was a eunuch himself. 22:51 You don't read about Mrs. Daniel in the Bible. 22:53 That was because they had to go through this terrible process. 22:57 The king wanted to ensure that these men 23:01 were always thinking about the king's business 23:03 and not anything else. You can imagine as a teenager 23:06 he goes through this terrible experience: he's emasculated. 23:10 He has to go on a 1,000-mile march through the desert 23:14 from Jerusalem to Babylon. 23:17 And you would have to think that in Daniel's mind 23:20 there would be some questions in regards to God's faithfulness 23:24 but Daniel remained faithful to God as you see in 23:27 Daniel chapter 1. 23:29 Let's read on in Daniel chapter 2. 23:31 "Now in the second year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign 23:34 Nebuchadnezzar had dreams. And his spirit was so troubled 23:38 that his sleep left him. 23:41 Then the king gave command to call the magicians, 23:44 the astrologers, the sorcerers, the Chaldeans 23:47 to tell the king his dream. 23:49 So they came and stood before the king. 23:52 And the king said to them: 23:54 'I have had a dream and my spirit is anxious to know 23:58 the dream. ' Then the Chaldeans spoke to the king in Aramaic 24:02 'Oh king, live forever. 24:04 Tell your servants the dream and we will give 24:07 the interpretation. ' The king answered and said 24:10 to the Chaldeans: 'My decision is firm. 24:14 If you do not make known to me the dream 24:17 and its interpretation you shall be cut in pieces 24:20 and your houses shall be made an ash-heap. 24:24 However, if you tell the dream and its interpretation 24:27 you shall receive from me gifts, rewards, and great honor. 24:32 Therefore, tell me the dream and its interpretation. ' 24:36 They answered and said: 24:38 'Let the king tell his servants the dream 24:41 and we will give its interpretation. ' 24:44 The king answered and said: 24:46 'I know for certain that you would gain time 24:49 because you see that my decision is firm. 24:52 If you do not make known to me the dream 24:55 there is only one decree for you 24:58 for you have agreed to speak lying and corrupt words 25:01 before me till the time has changed. Therefore 25:04 tell me the dream and I shall know that you can give me 25:08 the interpretation. ' The Chaldeans answered the king 25:11 and said: 'There is not a man on earth who can tell the king's 25:13 matter. Therefore no king, lord, or ruler 25:17 has ever asked such a thing of any magician, astrologer, 25:20 or Chaldean. It is a difficult thing that the king requests 25:23 and there is no other who can tell it to the king 25:25 except the gods whose dwelling is not with the flesh. ' 25:28 For this reason the king was angry and very furious 25:32 and gave the command to destroy all the wise men 25:35 of Babylon. So the decree went out and they began 25:38 killing the wise men. 25:40 They sought Daniel and his companions to kill them 25:43 as well. " 25:44 They had a different kind of employment back in those days 25:48 as you can see. You didn't just get fired. 25:52 And you can imagine the audacity of this request. 25:56 The king has a nightmare. 25:58 And in those days they assumed that every dream had specific 26:02 revelation. And the king asked the wise men: 26:05 "Listen, I had a dream but I forgot it. 26:07 Please tell me the dream and the interpretation. 26:10 The wise men say: "Tell us the dream and we'll make up 26:13 an interpretation. " 26:14 They didn't say that but that's what they meant. 26:16 And as they go on they go back and forth and finally 26:19 the king says to them: "Look, you're a farce. 26:22 You're a fallacy... you're not really wise men 26:25 and you're going to be exterminated. " 26:28 This reaches Daniel... Let's pick up in verse 14: 26:32 "Then with counsel and wisdom Daniel answered Arioch 26:35 the captain of the king's guard who had gone out to kill 26:38 the wise men of Babylon. 26:39 He answered and said to Arioch the king's captain: 'Why 26:43 is the decree from the king so urgent? ' 26:45 Then Arioch made the decision known to Daniel. 26:49 So Daniel went in and asked the king to give him time 26:52 that he might tell the king the interpretation. 26:56 Then Daniel went to his house. 26:57 Made the decision... made known to Hananiah, Mishael 27:00 and Azariah and his companions that they might seek the mercies 27:04 from God of heaven concerning the secret 27:07 so that Daniel and his companions might not perish 27:11 with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. " 27:14 I would like to pause here for a moment 27:17 because I know that many of you are individuals 27:22 that are seeking to know more about the prophecies of 27:26 Daniel and Revelation. 27:27 And this is an important point that we cannot miss. 27:33 If you are seeking divine illumination regarding 27:37 prophecy, it always begins with prayer. 27:43 Amen? Amen. 27:45 Daniel was a brilliant individual. 27:48 He went to the Ivy League schools of his day 27:51 and he came out on top. 27:53 He had a very high I.Q. and even Daniel 27:55 recognized that he needed divine help. 27:59 So any time you're studying prophecy we don't go in 28:02 with our own intelligence, our own methodologies. 28:07 We always have to submit to the Holy Spirit's 28:10 leading and we go on our knees and say: "Lord, I need help. 28:14 I need divine illumination because I can't do this 28:19 on our own. " And prayer inherently 28:23 assumes our dependence. 28:26 It's saying that this is outside of ourselves. 28:28 Daniel went home. Got his best friends together 28:32 and said: "We need to have a prayer meeting. " 28:33 Incidentally, the Adventist church began the same way: 28:36 they were wrestling with the prophecies of Daniel and 28:37 Revelation and they would have prayer meetings 28:40 and Bible studies. And we need to have that happening 28:43 again as God's people are approaching the final moments 28:46 of earth's history. 28:48 You can imagine. Daniel's there and he's saying: "Look, 28:51 we need to pray because this is outside of our control. " 28:54 And any time in our own human experience 28:56 we face an impossibility we need to go to the God that 29:00 specializes in the impossible. Amen? Amen! 29:04 And here Daniel prays and verse 19... 29:07 You can imagine what happened in the midst of Daniel's sleep: 29:12 "Then the secret was revealed to Daniel in a night vision. 29:15 So Daniel blessed the God of heaven. 29:18 Daniel answered... " And this is a beautiful poetic prayer 29:21 here found in Daniel chapter 2 verse 20: 29:24 "Daniel answered and said: 'Blessed be the name of God 29:26 forever and ever. His wisdom and might are His. 29:31 He changes the times and the seasons. 29:33 He removes kings and raises them up. 29:36 He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those 29:39 who have understanding. 29:41 He reveals deep and secret things; 29:44 He knows what is in the darkness 29:45 and the light dwells with Him. 29:47 I thank you and I praise you O God of my fathers: 29:52 You have given me wisdom and might 29:54 and now You have made known unto me 29:57 what we have asked unto You 30:00 and You have made known unto us the king's demands. ' " 30:05 Daniel then goes in before the king 30:09 and tells him what he dreamed in his own bed. 30:14 Let's go on to verse 26 for the sake of time: 30:19 "Then the king answered and said to Daniel 30:21 whose name is Belteshazzar: 30:23 'Are you able to make known to me the dream 30:25 which I have seen and it's interpretation? ' 30:28 Daniel answered in the presence of the king and said: 30:31 'The secret which the king has demanded the wise men, 30:35 the astrologers, the magicians, 30:37 and the soothsayers cannot declare to the king. 30:39 But there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets 30:43 and He has made known to the king what will be in the latter 30:47 days. Your dream and the vision of your head 30:50 upon your bed are these... ' 30:54 I'd like to pause for a moment. 30:55 And if you look in verse 28 here Daniel gives God the credit 30:59 for what He has done. Daniel could have very easily 31:03 said: "I'm a very wise man 31:05 and I've come up with the dream and the interpretation. " 31:07 And it's important for all of us - especially those 31:10 of us in ministry like myself - 31:12 to always give God the glory for what He has done. 31:15 I believe the pitfall always arises 31:18 when we take the credit when God uses people. 31:24 Here Daniel goes on and gives the king his dream. 31:29 Verse 29: "As for you O king, 31:32 the thoughts came upon your mind while you were on your bed 31:35 about what would come to pass after this. 31:38 And He who reveals the secrets has made known to you 31:42 what will be. But as for me the secret has not been revealed 31:46 to me because I have more wisdom than anyone else living. 31:49 But for our sakes who make known the interpretation 31:52 to the king that you may know the thoughts of your heart. " 31:56 Verse 31: "You, O king, were watching and behold a great 32:00 image. This great image whose splendor was excellent 32:03 stood before you and its form was awesome. 32:05 The head of the image was of fine gold. 32:08 Its chest and arms of silver. 32:10 Its belly and thighs of bronze. Its legs of iron. 32:14 Its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. 32:18 You watched while a stone was cut out without hands 32:21 which struck the image on the feet of iron and clay 32:24 and broke them in pieces. 32:27 And the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, 32:30 and the gold were crushed together 32:32 and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors. 32:35 The wind carried them away so that no trace of them 32:38 was found. And the stone that struck the image 32:42 became a great mountain and filled the whole earth. " 32:48 Here Nebuchadnezzar is simply stunned 32:52 because he remembers what he has dreamed. 32:54 This is an unusual dream in that it is a metal image 32:59 and it's comprised of four different metals. 33:03 It is a metal man. 33:04 Its head is of gold; 33:07 its chest and arms of silver; 33:10 its belly and thighs of brass; legs of iron; 33:12 feet partly of iron and partly of clay. 33:17 And in the dream as they are witnessing this impressive image 33:23 there comes a stone that is uncut without human hands 33:26 and strikes the base of the image and the entire image 33:30 is pulverized before their eyes. 33:32 The stone grows and fills the entire earth. 33:35 And then Daniel proceeds to give the interpretation 33:39 of the dream. 33:41 I want to pause here for a moment and establish 33:45 for us that I believe that out of all of the prophecies 33:49 that are given in the book of Daniel 33:51 this prophecy lays the foundation 33:55 for the understanding of the entire book. 33:56 It is the basic framework. 33:58 In other words, if you misinterpret Daniel chapter 2 34:02 you have no hope when it comes to Daniel chapter 7 34:05 and Daniel chapter 8. 34:07 And Daniel chapter 2 is the most compelling 34:11 for many individuals that foretells the future 34:15 many hundreds of years before these kingdoms ever came 34:18 into being as you will later see. 34:20 Many people have said that Daniel really did not write 34:24 the book of Daniel. Because Daniel chapter 2 34:26 is so compelling. How did he know 34:29 that these kingdoms as you will later see 34:32 came in rapid succession? 34:34 Some people assume that Daniel really didn't write this book... 34:37 it was an obscure individual that lived in Greece 34:39 many years later and he could write this from a historical 34:42 perspective rather. 34:44 But you can see that Daniel is authorized and endorsed 34:49 by Jesus Christ Himself - Amen? - 34:51 as we have seen earlier. So you can trust 34:53 that this is truly inspired by God. 34:57 Let's go to the interpretation of the dream. 34:59 We don't have to make this up. 35:00 We don't have to pull these things out of thin air. 35:03 We just have to read the Bible 35:04 which is basically what I'm doing here in this presentation. 35:07 Let's go to verse 36: 35:09 "This is the dream. Now we will tell the interpretation of it 35:13 before the king. You, O king, are the king of kings 35:18 for the God of heaven has given you a kingdom, power, 35:22 strength, and glory. 35:24 And wherever the children of men dwell 35:26 or the beasts of the field and the birds of heaven 35:29 He has given them into your hand 35:31 and has made you ruler over them all. 35:34 You are this head of gold. " 35:37 Now Nebuchadnezzar is liking this dream and the 35:40 interpretation so far because gold was the most precious 35:44 metal out of the four that were given. 35:46 I want you to notice some simple observations about the metals. 35:50 It starts with gold, silver, bronze, and iron. 35:54 It decreases in value but increases in strength. 35:59 And here Daniel says "You... the kingdom of Babylon 36:05 is the head of gold. " 36:08 I heard one scholar say that even as the head defines 36:11 the body so did Babylon define the rest of the kingdoms 36:16 when it came to pagan philosophy. 36:19 And it's so true because seminally, philosophically, 36:24 in the kingdom of Babylon there are remnants 36:28 of that pagan philosophy that are with us to this day. 36:32 Sun worship was passed down from Babylon, Medo-Persia, 36:36 Greece, Rome, and is with us to this day. 36:39 Idol worship began in Babylon. 36:42 The immortality of the soul began in Babylon. 36:46 And as each one of these kingdoms came and conquered 36:49 the previous kingdom they took on the philosophy 36:52 that Babylon imbibed. 36:55 "You are this head of gold. " 36:58 Babylon ruled from 605 to 539 BC 37:02 and it was known for its opulent hanging gardens. 37:07 Just some facts here: the temple Marduk, they say, 37:10 contained 18 tons of gold... 37:13 8-1/2 tons in the altar and the throne alone. 37:18 It had a 20-year food supply. 37:22 And an interesting note that Saddam Hussein 37:25 looked to Nebuchadnezzar has his role model. 37:31 This is from Dr. Klein. He's a Ph. D., a historian, 37:36 and an archaeologist from George Washington 37:38 University. He says: "Saddam also portrayed himself 37:41 as successor to Nebuchadnezzar. " 37:44 In 1979 he was quoted by his semi-official biographer 37:50 by saying: "Nebuchadnezzar stirs in me 37:52 everything relating to pre- Islamic history. " 37:58 And you can see pictures if you go online 38:02 to ancient Babylon... which incidentally is not inhabited 38:06 to this day. And you can see actually bricks that 38:08 embear or have the name of Nebuchadnezzar written on them. 38:13 And Saddam Hussein tried to rebuild Babylon 38:18 and re-inhabit it. And you can see that he 38:21 evidently failed. But if you look in Isaiah 13:20 38:26 the Bible gives a prediction in a prophecy 38:28 that has been fulfilled to this day. 38:30 It says: "Babylon will never be inhabited. " 38:36 And the Word of God stands true. 38:38 Here Saddam Hussein tried to rebuild Babylon 38:42 and he failed in his endeavor. 38:46 Babylon was represented by the gold and if we go 38:50 in our history books or even in the book of Daniel 38:52 the Bible tells us in Daniel chapter 2 verse 32 38:55 its chest and arms are of silver. 38:59 It says: "And after you shall arise another kingdom. " 39:03 And we know from history that the Medes and the Persians 39:06 came and ruled from 539 to 331 BC 39:09 represented by the chest and arms of silver. 39:12 And if you look in the book of Daniel... Daniel chapter 5... 39:16 there was the handwriting on the wall. Belshazzar was slain. 39:20 And right before the conquest by Cyrus the Mede 39:24 it says in Daniel chapter 5 that the handwriting on the wall 39:27 said: "Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin. " 39:30 Mene mene: "God hath numbered thy kingdom and finished it. " 39:34 Tekel: "Thou art weighed in the balances and found wanting. " 39:37 Upharsin: "Thy kingdom is divided and given 39:41 to the Medes and the Persians. " 39:44 They were known for their silver which is why silver is a fitting 39:48 symbol for this next kingdom. 39:50 Another note of prophecy is that in Isaiah chapter 45 verse 1 39:55 Cyrus is named by name 150 years before his birth 40:00 and the Bible indicates how he would conquer Babylon. 40:04 Following Medo-Persia was the next kingdom of bronze... 40:09 the kingdom of Greece under Alexander the Great. 40:12 Alexander the Great conquered the world at a very early age 40:14 in his 30's. He died in a drunken stupor 40:18 and his kingdom was subdivided by his four generals. 40:22 Here's a quotation by a historian. He says: 40:25 "I am persuaded that there was no nation, city, nor people 40:29 where his name did not reach. 40:31 There seems to me some divine hand presiding 40:34 both over his birth and his actions. " 40:39 The next kingdom: the kingdom of Rome. 40:43 It says: "The fourth kingdom" - verse 40- 40:45 "shall be strong as iron inasmuch as iron breaks 40:48 in pieces and shatters everything 40:50 like iron that crushes the kingdom will break in pieces 40:54 and crush all others. " And the next kingdom 40:57 that come on historians verify 41:00 that Rome was the kingdom of iron 41:02 for their weapons of warfare were of iron. 41:06 Gibbons' Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire 41:09 tells us the images of gold, of silver, 41:11 or of brass might serve to represent the 41:14 nations, and their kings were successively broken 41:17 by the iron monarchy of Rome. " 41:21 So for review: the head of gold represents Babylon. 41:24 The chest and arms of silver represent Medo-Persia. 41:27 The brass represents Greece. 41:29 The legs of iron represent the Roman Empire. 41:32 And here the Bible makes an amazing prediction. 41:35 It did not say that the next kingdom would be 41:38 a homogenous kingdom. 41:40 It would have been logical if Daniel was depending on 41:45 human revelation because in Babylon's day they believed 41:47 in cycles... a cyclical history. 41:50 Another kingdom would have logically come on the scene 41:54 but the Bible stops right here and says 41:56 there's going to be 1, 2, 3, 4 and then after that 41:59 it makes a stunning prediction that stands true 42:04 even to this day. It says that Western Europe 42:07 will be divided and never be reunited again. 42:14 We can read in the news today... 42:17 if you go online or read your newspaper... 42:19 that the European Union is having its "struggles" 42:24 for the lack of a better word. 42:27 The Bible predicts... we read in our Bibles in verse 41: 42:32 "Whereas you saw the feet and toes toes partly of potter's 42:37 clay and partly of iron the kingdom shall be divided. 42:40 Yet the strength of the iron shall be in it. 42:43 Just as you saw the iron mixed with ceramic clay 42:46 and the toes and the feet were partly of iron and partly 42:50 of clay so the kingdom shall part partly strong 42:54 and partly fragile. As you saw the iron mixed with ceramic clay 42:59 they will mingle with the seeds of men 43:01 but they will not adhere one to another 43:04 just as iron does not mix with clay. " 43:08 This prediction holds true even to this day. 43:12 The kingdom of Rome was divided into 10 different tribes 43:18 as our next presenter will point out in Daniel chapter 7. 43:21 The Alemanni became the Germans. 43:24 The Bergundians became the French. 43:26 The Franks became the French. 43:29 The Lombards the Italians; Saxons became the English. 43:33 The Suevi... the Portuguese; the Visigoths the Spanish. 43:37 And there are three tribes that are extinct: 43:39 the Heruli, the Vandals and the Ostrogoths. 43:43 The Bible tells us: "But they will not cleave one to another 43:48 even as iron does not mix with clay. " 43:51 Today if you go to the Frederiksborg Castle in Denmark 43:56 and you go inside of the castle 43:58 they have on the walls paintings of how the medieval 44:04 monarchs tried to unite Europe through marriages. 44:08 And it seems like an entangled mess 44:11 as you see that this person's wife was actually the cousin 44:15 of another person. And you can see the relations between Europe 44:19 as they tried to intermingle and reunite 44:23 Europe through family relations, but the Bible holds true. 44:27 I can list and go on and on about individuals in human 44:31 history that tried to reunite Europe. 44:33 You have Charles V, Hitler, Charlemagne, and Napoleon. 44:38 And in Napoleon's journal are these words: 44:41 "There'll be one Europe; there'll be one currency; 44:45 there'll be one language; there'll be one government 44:48 over all of Europe. " 44:51 And Napoleon is quoted after the battle of Waterloo 44:54 by saying: "God Almighty has been too much for me. " 45:00 "God Almighty has been too much for me. " 45:05 Babylon: the head of gold. 45:08 Persia: the chest and arms of silver. 45:10 Greece: the thighs of bronze. 45:12 Rome: legs of iron. 45:13 Divided Europe: feet partly of iron and partly of clay. 45:17 Now I'm not a statistician today 45:22 and I'm not into mathematics or probability. 45:27 But if someone makes a prediction and it comes true 45:31 they're one for one... isn't that right? 45:33 Then they make a second prediction and it comes true 45:38 they're two for two. 45:39 They make a third one... they're three for three. 45:42 Four... four for four. And then they come to the last one 45:45 and they make an audacious prediction 45:48 just as He said about divided Europe. 45:51 They're five for five. Now they make a sixth 45:55 prediction that has not yet come true. 45:59 How much trust are you going to have in the last prediction? 46:05 A lot! Now the last part of this prophecy 46:11 is the pinnacle... is the point of Daniel chapter 2. 46:15 God is five for five. 46:19 He's batting 100... 100%. 46:25 Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome... 46:28 Ah-ah-ah... not another kingdom. It's going to be divided 46:30 and furthermore it will never be reunited. 46:34 God is right five for five. 46:39 Why would you bet against Him on the next prediction? 46:45 This to me is the most compelling argument 46:49 for the second coming and the veracity of scripture. 46:52 This to me anchors my reason and my faith 46:58 in the Word of God because Daniel chapter 2 is 47:01 so compelling that many skeptics have said that 47:05 Daniel was really written after the fact. 47:08 That's how compelling Daniel chapter 2 actually is. 47:11 Now I'm not a betting man, 47:13 but let's say that I go to the horse races. 47:17 By the way, I'm not endorsing this type of behavior. 47:19 But I'm just saying as far as a parable is concerned... 47:23 Let's say I go to the horse races. 47:25 And someone appears out of nowhere and says: "David, 47:29 I think you should bet on horse number 5. " 47:34 I go: "OK... why not? " 47:37 I put my money on horse number 5 47:40 and horse number 5 wins! 47:43 Next day I come to the horse races. I have a little bit more 47:46 money. And he says: "David, today... horse number 4. " 47:51 So I say: "Oh, he was one for one before. I'm going to put it 47:54 on horse number 4. " So I put it on horse number 4. 47:56 Horse number 3 the next day. 47:59 Horse number 2... horse number 1. 48:01 Then the next day he says: "I want you to bet on 48:04 horse number 15. " 48:06 You know what I'm probably going to do? 48:08 I'm probably going to sell my house - 48:13 sell everything that I have... all of my possessions - 48:19 and place it on horse number 15 48:21 because this guy has been right five for five. 48:26 Here God is building His case. 48:30 "I tell you before it happens that way when it happens 48:34 you will believe. " 48:38 Why would you bet against Him 48:40 on the last part of this prophecy? 48:43 Let's read the last part of this prophecy in Daniel chapter 2 48:46 verse 44. "And in the days of these kings 48:50 the God of heaven will set up a kingdom 48:56 which shall never be destroyed. " 49:00 Amen. 49:02 "And the kingdom shall not be left to other people. 49:06 It shall break in pieces and consume 49:11 all the other kingdoms and it shall stand... " For how long? 49:15 Forever. "forever. " 49:19 Look in verse 45. 49:21 "Inasmuch as you saw the stone 49:24 was cut out of the mountain without hands 49:27 and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, 49:31 the clay, the silver, and the gold 49:33 the great God has made known unto the king 49:37 what will come to pass after this. " 49:39 I love this last sentence: 49:41 "The dream is certain and the interpretation is sure. " 49:47 You can take Daniel 2 to the bank. 49:52 God was five for five 49:56 and you can put your faith 50:01 in the reality that the second coming 50:05 is going to be a reality. 50:07 Amen? Amen! 50:10 It's time that we invest in the kingdom of heaven. 50:13 And here the book of Daniel is telling us that the 50:16 second coming of Jesus is a surety. 50:21 That as we look to the future that we can base it 50:24 on the reality that God has predicted the future 50:27 with pin-point accuracy up until this point 50:31 and He was not wrong. 50:36 I want to read you a statement from Clifford Goldstein. 50:41 And he writes about Daniel chapter 2 and he says: 50:44 "Look at the odds. Babylon. 50:48 Medo-Persia. Greece. Pagan Rome. 50:53 Modern Europe. All came in order just as Daniel predicted. 50:58 The only last thing left in the prophecy 51:03 is the last one... Christ's eternal kingdom. " 51:08 That's what the Lord presents in this chapter 51:10 are tremendous odds that the promise of His coming 51:15 and the establishment of His kingdom will be fulfilled. 51:20 Daniel was right on the first five. 51:24 Why bet against him on the last? " 51:30 Friends, are you ready for Jesus to come? 51:36 I believe that we're living at the very final moments 51:38 of earth's history and the reality is 51:41 that the second coming of Jesus 51:44 should dictate how we are living in the present. 51:47 It should impact our ethics and how we live 51:51 because if we do not believe in evolution, 51:54 if we don't believe in the prediction of Stephen Hawking 51:57 that the only solution is that we go out into space, 51:59 which I believe... ironically enough I believe is true... 52:02 We are going out into space... just not in the way that 52:05 he believes. But we're going on the cloud into heaven. 52:09 Amen? Amen. It should dictate our ethics. 52:12 And when you're standing before God at the second coming 52:16 of Jesus and you have the privilege of being alive 52:19 when He comes, believe you me 52:22 that your priorities will crystallize. 52:25 You will suddenly recognize what is really and dearly 52:29 important to your heart of hearts. 52:31 You're not going to be wishing "I wish I'd spent more time 52:35 on Facebook" when you're standing before God at the 52:39 second coming. You're not going to be wishing 52:42 "I wish I'd spent more time watching television. " 52:45 But heaven forbid you may just be wishing 52:50 that you had spent more time with Him in His Word 52:53 and in prayer. Priorities crystallize. 52:57 God and people... God and souls become 53:01 preeminently important as we approach the second coming 53:04 of Jesus. Because when you stand before Him 53:07 those are the only two things that will eternally matter. 53:12 I'd like to close 53:14 with a dream that a man had. 53:20 In this dream he was hearing voices... 53:27 and it wasn't because he was schizophrenic or had some 53:30 mental disorder. He was hearing voices and 53:33 this voice was giving him instructions about what he 53:36 should do. The voice told him: "I want you to walk down 53:40 this street. " And so he listened to the voice 53:44 and he started walking down this street. 53:45 And it said: "I want you to turn down this path. " 53:48 So he turned down this path. 53:49 And it said: "Take a right here at the fork and take a left. " 53:54 And finally he's listening to these instructions. 53:56 He's feeling almost overwhelmed and finally the voice 53:59 tells him to stop. So he stops. 54:03 And the voice tells him something very interesting. 54:06 It says: "Look, I want you to reach down 54:09 and grab these rocks and place them in your pocket. " 54:13 So he does this. He says: "This is very strange 54:17 behavior. " So he reaches down and places these rocks 54:20 in his pocket. And the voice told him something very 54:23 interesting. The voice told him: "When you go back home 54:28 look at those rocks. 54:30 And when you look at those rocks you'll be incredibly happy 54:35 but you'll be incredibly sad. " 54:39 Thought to himself: "How can I be incredibly happy and 54:42 incredibly sad at the same time? That's simply impossible. " 54:45 So he did what the voice told him. 54:47 He placed them in his pocket and he went back home. 54:51 Obviously he's curious as to what those rocks were. 54:55 And he took those rocks out of his pocket 54:58 and he looked at them in the light. 55:01 And they weren't rocks... they were diamonds. 55:08 Priceless diamonds. 55:11 And then he understood the voice. 55:15 He was happy because he was a little bit richer 55:19 but he was sad because if he had recognized 55:24 the value of those rocks he would have taken more. 55:33 Heaven forbid that we're standing on the sea of glass 55:38 in heaven and I believe that none of us 55:44 will recognize the value of a soul 55:48 until the second coming. 55:51 I pray that we do. 55:53 But heaven forbid that we come to the reality of the second 55:56 coming foretold in Daniel chapter 2 55:58 and we say: "Lord, if I'd only known the value 56:03 of one soul I would have done more. 56:07 I would have invested more in the kingdom of heaven. " 56:10 And it's my prayer for us today 56:13 that as we look at the surety of the second coming 56:16 that we invest our time, our resources, 56:19 our energies and talents because Jesus is coming again. 56:24 Amen? Amen. He's coming to take us home 56:27 and He is the final solution for earth's problems. 56:33 Revelation chapter 11 verse 15: 56:36 "And there were loud voices in heaven saying: 56:39 'The kingdom of our world has become 56:41 the kingdom of our Christ 56:45 and He shall reign 56:50 forever and ever. " 56:53 John chapter 14 verse 29 tells us: 56:56 "Now I have told you before it takes place 56:58 so that when it does take place 57:02 you may believe. " 57:05 It is my prayer for you here today 57:07 that you will invest your life in the reality 57:12 of the second coming and that when He comes 57:16 you'll be able to say: "This is our God! 57:19 We have waited for Him 57:23 and He will save us. " 57:27 If we don't meet here, let's meet on the sea of glass. Amen? 57:31 Amen. |
Revised 2014-12-17