Participants: Pr. Doug Batchelor
Series Code: AFP
Program Code: AFP000140A
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00:03 AMAZING FACTS MINISTRY. (MUSIC)
00:11 >>THERE WAS A DREAM THAT WAS GIVEN TO AN ANCIENT KING BY 00:15 THE NAME OF NEBUCHADNEZZAR. SECRETS OF THE FUTURE ARE BEING 00:20 REVEALED IN THIS DREAM - SAYS THE PROPHET DANIEL. 00:26 >>FOR OVER 40 YEARS AMAZING FACTS HAS BEEN DEDICATED TO 00:30 SHARING GOD'S WORD THROUGH MEDIA. 00:32 THIS PROGRAM FEATURES HIGHLIGHTS FROM SOME OF OUR BEST TELEVISION 00:36 BROADCASTS. WE INVITE YOU TO SIT BACK AND 00:39 ENJOY THIS EDITION OF AMAZING FACTS PRESENTS . 00:47 >>THERE ARE A NUMBER OF LANDMARKS IN THE BIBLE THAT ALSO 00:50 GIVE US HIGH POINTS SO THAT WE CAN KNOW WHERE WE ARE IN THE 00:55 BIBLICAL CONTINUUM OF HISTORY, AND THAT'S WHAT OUR LESSON IS 01:00 BASED ON TONIGHT. 01:01 THERE WAS A DREAM THAT WAS GIVEN TO AN ANCIENT KING BY THE NAME 01:06 OF NEBUCHADNEZZAR - THE DREAM OF THE AGES . 01:10 THERE ARE SEVERAL TIMES IN HISTORY WHEN GOD GIVES LEADERS 01:13 AND MONARCHS DREAMS TO HELP THEM UNDERSTAND WHAT'S HAPPENING SO 01:18 THAT THEY CAN SHARE AND DISSEMINATE THAT INFORMATION 01:20 WITH THEIR PEOPLE, SO THAT PEOPLE WILL NOT THINK THAT LIFE 01:23 IS JUST A SERIES OF MEANINGLESS ACCIDENTS. 01:27 BUT TONIGHT WE'RE GOING TO TALK ABOUT A PROPHECY THAT'S IN 01:29 DANIEL CHAPTER 2. NEBUCHADNEZZAR WAS THE KING OF BABYLON. 01:34 THIS EMPIRE WAS REALLY AT THE ZENITH OF POWER FOR THE ANCIENT 01:39 EMPIRES, AND HE HAD A VERY BROAD, EXTENSIVE EMPIRE. 01:43 ONE OF THE FIRST KINGDOMS YOU FIND IN THE BIBLE WAS BUILT BY 01:46 NIMROD WHEN HE LEFT THE TOWER OF BABEL AND HE FORMED 01:50 THE KINGDOM OF BABEL. 01:52 IF YOU READ IN DANIEL CHAPTER 2, IT TELLS US THAT THE KING WENT 01:56 TO SLEEP ONE NIGHT AND HE WAS TROUBLED ABOUT THE FUTURE. 01:59 HE HAD CONQUERED ALL THESE OTHER KINGDOMS AROUND HIM AND HE'D 02:02 CONQUERED EGYPT AND HE CONQUERED JERUSALEM. 02:04 HE CARRIED OFF CAPTIVE THOUSANDS OF PRISONERS FROM JERUSALEM TO 02:08 BABYLON - AND THE AMMONITES, AND THE MOABITES, AND THE EDOMITES, 02:11 AND THE KINGDOM OF TYRE - AND MANY OTHERS. 02:13 AND HE HAD BECOME A KING OF KINGS. 02:16 BUT HE WONDERED, 'HOW LONG WILL IT LAST?' 02:19 SO HE WENT TO BED TROUBLED AND WORRIED ABOUT THE FUTURE AND GOD 02:23 GAVE HIM A MARVELOUS DREAM - A VERY VIVID DREAM. 02:27 NOW, WE ALL HAVE KIND OF STRANGE DREAMS THAT YOU KNOW ARE JUST 02:30 MEANINGLESS, BUT HE HAD A DREAM THAT HE WAS ABSOLUTELY SURE - IT 02:35 WAS THREE DIMENSIONAL, IT WAS VIVID, IT WAS DIVINE, AND HE 02:38 KNEW IT HAD A MEANING TO IT, BUT HE DIDN'T KNOW WHAT THE MEANING 02:41 WAS. AND YOU CAN READ ABOUT THIS NOW 02:43 - IF YOU GO WITH ME IN YOUR BIBLES - IF YOU HAVE YOUR BIBLES 02:45 THERE WITH YOU, THIS IS WHAT HE DREAMED AND THIS IS DANIEL 02:48 RELATING THE DREAM. "YOU, O KING, WERE WATCHING AND 02:52 BEHOLD, A GREAT IMAGE! THIS GREAT IMAGE, WHOSE SPLENDOR 02:57 WAS EXCELLENT, STOOD BEFORE YOU, AND ITS FORM WAS AWESOME." 03:01 SO HERE'S THIS GREAT, SPLENDID, AWESOME IMAGE - "THIS IMAGE'S 03:06 HEAD WAS OF FINE GOLD, ITS CHEST AND ARMS OF SILVER, ITS BELLY 03:13 AND THIGHS OF BRONZE, ITS LEGS OF IRON, ITS FEET PARTLY OF IRON 03:18 AND PARTLY OF CLAY. YOU WATCHED WHILE A STONE WAS 03:22 CUT OUT WITHOUT HANDS, WHICH STRUCK THE IMAGE ON ITS FEET OF 03:25 IRON AND CLAY, AND BROKE THEM IN PIECES. 03:28 THEN THE IRON, THE CLAY, THE BRONZE, THE SILVER, AND THE GOLD 03:31 WERE CRUSHED TOGETHER, AND BECAME LIKE CHAFF FROM THE 03:35 SUMMER THRESHING FLOORS," - THESE HEAVY METALS SUDDENLY 03:38 BECAME LIKE CHAFF - THEY BECAME VERY LIGHT AND "THE WIND CARRIED 03:41 THEM AWAY SO THAT NO TRACE OF THEM" - NOT JUST ONE LITTLE 03:45 PARTICLE - "NO TRACE OF THEM WAS FOUND. 03:47 AND THE STONE THAT STRUCK THE IMAGE BECAME A GREAT MOUNTAIN 03:52 AND FILLED THE WHOLE EARTH." THIS DREAM OF THE AGES GIVES US 03:57 A PANORAMA OF HISTORY FROM THE TIME NEBUCHADNEZZAR HAD THE 04:02 DREAM UNTIL THE END OF THE WORLD - AND YOU SEE IF YOU CAN FIGURE 04:06 OUT WHERE WE ARE IN THE SCHEME OF TIME AS WE LOOK AT THIS 04:10 TOGETHER. QUESTION #1: WHY DID GOD GIVE 04:13 THE BABYLONIAN KING THIS DREAM? YOU DON'T HAVE TO WONDER, THE 04:16 ANSWER IS RIGHT THERE IN THE BIBLE. "BUT THERE IS A GOD IN 04:19 HEAVEN THAT REVEALETH" - WHAT? >>SECRETS. 04:22 - "SECRETS, AND MAKETH KNOWN TO THE KING NEBUCHADNEZZAR WHAT 04:25 SHALL BE IN THE LATTER DAYS." SO IT'S TALKING ABOUT THE 04:29 FUTURE. SECRETS OF THE FUTURE ARE BEING REVEALED IN THIS DREAM 04:34 - SAYS THE PROPHET DANIEL - OKAY? WELL, WHEN THE KING FIRST 04:38 HAD THIS DREAM, HE DIDN'T KNOW WHAT IT MEANT. 04:42 HE INSTINCTIVELY CALLED FOR ALL OF HIS WISE MEN AND COUNSELORS 04:45 AND THEY CAME ALONG - THEY WERE ON THE PAYROLL FULL TIME - 04:49 SUPPOSED TO BE ABLE - YOU KNOW, THEY WERE ASTROLOGERS AND 04:51 SOOTHSAYERS AND CARD READERS AND EVERYTHING ELSE. 04:54 AND HE SAID, 'WHAT DOES THIS DREAM MEAN?' 04:56 AND THEY SAID, 'OKAY, KING, TELL US THE DREAM AND WE'LL TELL YOU 04:59 WHAT THE DREAM MEANS.' WELL, YOU KNOW, YOU EVER HAVE A DREAM AND 05:03 WHEN YOU FIRST GET UP IT'S JUST REAL VIVID? 05:05 AND TWENTY MINUTES LATER YOU'RE HAVING TROUBLE - IT GETS FUZZY 05:08 PRETTY QUICK - BECAUSE YOUR DREAMS ARE REALLY HAPPENING IN A 05:11 DIFFERENT PART OF YOUR BRAIN. AND HE SAID, 'YOU KNOW, THE 05:14 DETAILS ARE ALREADY STARTING TO GET FUZZY.' HE SAID, 'YOU GUYS 05:16 ARE SUPPOSED TO BE WISE MEN THAT UNDERSTAND MYSTERIES. 05:19 HOW DO I KNOW THAT YOU'RE NOT JUST MANUFACTURING - YOU'RE 05:22 GOING TO MAKE UP SOME INTERPRETATION? PROVE TO ME 05:25 YOU'VE GOT SUPERNATURAL ABILITY TO INTERPRET MY DREAM. 05:28 YOU TELL ME WHAT THE DREAM IS AND THEN I'LL KNOW YOU CAN TELL 05:33 ME THE INTERPRETATION.' WELL, THAT KIND OF FLUSHED THEM OUT 05:36 AND THEY SAID, 'OH NO, THAT'S NOT HOW IT WORKS. 05:39 YOU TELL US THE DREAM, WE'LL MAKE UP - I MEAN, WE'LL TELL YOU 05:43 AN INTERPRETATION.' HE SAID, 'NO.' AND HE STARTED GETTING MAD 05:47 BECAUSE THEY WERE BUYING TIME AND STALLING AND HE SO MUCH 05:51 WANTED TO KNOW THE ANSWER TO WHAT THIS MEANT THAT HE BECAME A 05:55 LITTLE IRRITATED. AND THIS IS QUESTION #2: WHEN 05:57 THE KING'S COUNSELORS FAILED TO REVEAL AND INTERPRET THE DREAM, 06:01 WHAT WAS NEBUCHADNEZZAR'S COMMAND? 06:04 "THE KING COMMANDED TO DESTROY ALL THE WISE MEN OF BABYLON." 06:10 WHEN DANIEL LEARNED ABOUT THE DEATH DECREE, WHAT DID HE ASK OF 06:15 THE KING AND WHAT DID HE TELL HIS FRIENDS? IT SAYS, "DANIEL 06:19 WENT IN, AND DESIRED OF THE KING THAT HE WOULD GIVE HIM TIME, AND 06:25 THAT HE WOULD SHEW THE KING THE INTERPRETATION." 06:28 THEN IT GOES ON TO SAY HE "...MADE THE THING KNOWN TO 06:32 HANANIAH, MISHAEL, AND AZARIAH, HIS COMPANIONS: THAT THEY WOULD 06:37 DESIRE MERCIES OF THE GOD OF HEAVEN CONCERNING THIS" - 06:40 THERE YOU'VE GOT THAT WORD AGAIN - "SECRET." 06:44 SO THEY WENT HOME AND THEY HAD A PRAYER MEETING. 06:45 WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF YOU KNEW YOU HAD TO DREAM SOMETHING THAT 06:48 I DREAMED - TELL ME WHAT IT WAS OR YOU'RE GOING TO DIE? 06:52 WHEN THE LORD REVEALED THE DREAM TO DANIEL, TO WHOM DID HE GIVE 06:56 PRAISE AND CREDIT? DURING THE NIGHT, DANIEL WENT TO 06:58 SLEEP AND THE LORD GAVE HIM THE SAME EXACT DREAM. 07:01 HE JUST KNEW, DIVINELY, THAT IT WAS THE DREAM THE KING HAD HAD. 07:04 HE COULD HAVE SAID, 'WELL, I'VE GOT THIS SUPERNATURAL ABILITY 07:07 AND I NEED A RAISE. I NEED A PROMOTION.' HE DIDN'T SAY THAT. 07:11 HE SAID, "I THANK THEE, AND PRAISE THEE, O THOU GOD OF MY 07:16 FATHERS." AND THEN HE TOLD NEBUCHADNEZZAR 07:19 "...THERE IS A GOD IN HEAVEN THAT REVEALETH SECRETS." 07:23 THERE'S THAT WORD AGAIN. HE SAYS, "THOU, O KING, SAWEST, 07:27 AND BEHOLD, A GREAT IMAGE." AND THEN HE SAID THE SECOND 07:31 THING WAS, BESIDE THE IMAGE, "THOU SAWEST...THAT A STONE" - 07:37 SO YOU'VE GOT TWO PRINCIPLE THINGS THAT ARE AT ODDS IN THIS 07:40 DREAM. ONE IS A STONE. 07:43 ONE IS A STATUE. ONE REPRESENTS GOD'S KINGDOM. 07:47 THE IDOL - THE IMAGE - REPRESENTS THE KINGDOMS OF MAN. 07:51 SO, LET'S START TO DECIPHER THIS NOW. 07:54 DANIEL TELLS HIM THE DREAM, NOW DANIEL BEGINS TO TELL HIM, 'WHAT 07:58 DOES THE DREAM MEAN?' DANIEL SAID TO THE KING, "THOU 08:02 ART THIS HEAD OF GOLD." NOW WHY DID HE SAY THAT 08:07 NEBUCHADNEZZAR WAS THE HEAD OF GOLD? 08:09 BECAUSE THIS DREAM IS OUTLINING THE HISTORY OF THE MAIN WORLD 08:14 EMPIRES THAT WOULD IMPACT GOD'S PEOPLE THAT HAD SCRIPTURE 08:19 FROM THE TIME OF DANIEL TO THE END. 08:21 DURING THE TIME OF DANIEL, GOD'S PEOPLE HAD BEEN 08:24 CONQUERED AND WERE SCATTERED. THE KINGDOMS THAT ARE MENTIONED 08:27 IN THIS DREAM ARE THE ONES THAT HAD DIRECT IMPACT, IN 08:31 PARTICULAR, ON THE JEWISH PEOPLE FOR THE FIRST PART OF THE DREAM 08:35 AND ON THE CHURCH FOR THE LAST PART OF THE DREAM. 08:38 BABYLON WAS CALLED THE HEAD OF GOLD BECAUSE IT REALLY WAS A 08:41 GOLDEN EMPIRE. I MEAN, IT'S JUST FASCINATING. 08:44 I'VE GOT A FEW FACTS HERE JUST - THAT COME FROM THE FAMOUS 08:49 ANCIENT HISTORIAN, HERODOTUS WHERE HE TALKS ABOUT BABYLON - 08:53 MATTER OF FACT, SOME ARCHAEOLOGISTS SAY IT'S SO 08:56 PHENOMENAL THEY CAN'T EVEN BELIEVE THAT IT'S ALL TRUE. 09:00 THE GREEK HISTORIAN FROM 450 BC - HERODOTUS - HE SAID THE OUTER 09:03 WALLS OF BABYLON WERE 56 MILES AROUND. 09:07 CAN YOU IMAGINE THAT? THERE'S ROOM THERE IN THAT PLAIN. 09:11 THE WALLS WERE 300 FEET HIGH - 80 FEET THICK AT THE BOTTOM - 25 09:19 FEET THICK AT THE TOP AND TWO FOUR-HORSE CHARIOTS COULD PASS 09:23 EACH OTHER ON TOP OF THE WALL. IT WAS LIKE AN INTERSTATE. 09:26 IT WAS A SQUARE CITY WITH APPROXIMATELY 15 - 14 MILES ON 09:31 EACH SIDE, BRICK WALLS SURFACED WITH GLAZED BLUE AND GOLD 09:34 BRICKS. BEHIND THE MAIN WALL WAS ANOTHER WALL - 75 FEET. 09:40 THE HANGING GARDENS OF BABYLON - ONE OF THE SEVEN WONDERS OF THE 09:43 ANCIENT WORLD - THAT'S THE PICTURE THAT YOU SEE ON THE 09:45 SCREEN. NEBUCHADNEZZAR MARRIED THE 09:47 DAUGHTER OF THE KING OF THE MEDES AND SHE WAS DISAPPOINTED 09:52 BECAUSE THE MEDIAN EMPIRE IN THE NORTH HAD MOUNTAINS BUT BABYLON 09:56 IS ON A BIG VAST PLAIN AND SHE FELT HOMESICK ALL THE TIME. 09:59 SO HE SAID, 'DON'T WORRY DEAR, I WILL BUILD YOU A MOUNTAIN AND I 10:02 WILL FOREST IT.' AND SO HE MADE THIS GREAT TERRACED GARDENS - 10:08 THEY SOMEHOW BUILT MACHINES FOR PUMPING WATER EVEN BACK THEN. 10:12 SO THEY HAD TONS OF GOLD EVERYWHERE - GREAT - THEY HAD A 10:17 TABLE OF GOLD THAT WEIGHED TONS AND GOLD STATUES. 10:21 SO IT REALLY WAS A GOLDEN KINGDOM. 10:24 SOME OF YOU MAY OR MAY NOT KNOW THAT SADDAM HUSSEIN - THAT WAS 10:28 HIS GREAT AMBITION - THAT HE COULD RESTORE THE ANCIENT GLORY 10:33 FROM THE DAYS OF NEBUCHADNEZZAR WHEN THEY WERE A WORLD EMPIRE. 10:36 MATTER OF FACT, THERE WAS A JEWISH PROPHECY THAT SAYS THAT 10:41 BABYLON WOULD NEVER BE REBUILT AND SADDAM HUSSEIN SPENT 500 10:45 MILLION DOLLARS TRYING TO RESTORE ANCIENT BABYLON TO 10:49 THWART THIS JEWISH PROPHECY THAT SAID IT WOULD NEVER BE REBUILT 10:52 AGAIN. AND IN THE MIDST OF HIS FIRST 10:54 ATTEMPT TO REBUILD IT - YOU CAN SEE EVEN SOME OF THE WORKERS 10:57 THERE - THE DESERT STORM CAME ALONG AND IT WAS BROUGHT TO A 11:02 HALT - DRIED UP HIS RESOURCES - THEN HE HAD JUST BEGUN TO TRY TO 11:05 REBUILD IT AGAIN WHEN THE SECOND IRAQ WAR BROKE OUT AND 11:09 ULTIMATELY HE WAS ARRESTED AND CAME TO AN UNHAPPY ENDING. 11:13 NOW HERE'S THE PROPHECY THAT YOU FIND IN THE BOOK OF ISAIAH THAT 11:18 TALKS ABOUT WHAT WOULD HAPPEN TO ANCIENT BABYLON AFTER 11:21 NEBUCHADNEZZAR. "AND BABYLON, THE GLORY OF 11:23 KINGDOMS, THE BEAUTY OF THE CHALDEANS' PRIDE, WILL BE AS 11:27 WHEN GOD OVERTHREW SODOM AND GOMORRAH. 11:29 IT WILL NEVER BE INHABITED, NOR WILL IT BE SETTLED FROM 11:32 GENERATION TO GENERATION; NOR WILL THE ARABIAN PITCH TENTS 11:36 THERE, NOR WILL THE SHEPHERDS MAKE THEIR SHEEPFOLDS THERE. 11:40 BUT WILD BEASTS OF THE DESERT WILL LIE THERE, AND THEIR HOUSES 11:44 WILL BE FULL OF OWLS, OSTRICHES WILL DWELL THERE, AND WILD GOATS 11:48 WILL CAPER THERE." AND YOU GO THERE TODAY AND THERE'S NOTHING. 11:56 HE WAS NOT ABLE TO - I MEAN, THERE'S SOME TOURIST SPOTS BUT 11:58 HE WANTED TO MAKE IT THE NEW CAPITAL. GOD STOPPED THAT AGAIN. 12:02 SO, BACK TO DANIEL, "AFTER THEE SHALL ARISE" - WHAT? 12:06 - ANOTHER KINGDOM INFERIOR TO THEE." THESE THINGS ARE 12:11 DECREASING IN VALUE AS YOU GO DOWN THROUGH THE METALS BUT 12:14 THEY ARE INCREASING IN HARDNESS ALL THE WAY DOWN THROUGH THE 12:20 IMAGE, AND SO, JUST NOTICE THAT AND I'LL SAY MORE ABOUT THAT. 12:23 ANOTHER PROPHECY THAT TALKS ABOUT WHAT WOULD HAPPEN TO 12:26 BABYLON IS FOUND IN JEREMIAH. "I WILL PUNISH THE KING OF 12:29 BABYLON, AND THAT NATION, SAITH THE LORD, FOR THEIR INIQUITY, 12:32 AND THE LAND OF THE CHALDEANS, AND WILL MAKE IT PERPETUAL 12:35 DESOLATIONS." IN CHAPTER 5 OF DANIEL, IT TELLS 12:40 ABOUT HOW THAT HAPPENED. NEBUCHADNEZZAR, AS I SAID, HE 12:43 REIGNED 45 YEARS, BUT HIS GRANDSON WAS DIFFERENT. 12:47 HIS NAME WAS BELSHAZZAR - BELSHAZZAR'S FATHER, NABONIDUS 12:52 WAS OUTSIDE THE KINGDOM TRYING TO DEFEND THE KINGDOM FROM OTHER 12:54 NATIONS THAT WERE MAKING INROADS. 12:56 BELSHAZZAR WAS LEFT IN CHARGE - HE WAS, SORT OF, THE SECOND IN 13:00 COMMAND, BUT HE WAS CALLED THE KING AT THAT POINT - AND HE HAD 13:04 A FEAST. NOW, THE REASON HE HAD THIS 13:06 FEAST IS BECAUSE ALL SURROUNDING THE KINGDOM OF BABYLON, THE 13:10 MEDES AND THE PERSIANS HAD COME TO TRY TO CONQUER THE CITY, BUT 13:14 THEIR WALLS WERE SO MASSIVE, THE YOUNG KING WANTED TO SHOW 13:18 DISDAIN AND SAID, 'I'M NOT AFRAID OF THE MEDES AND THE 13:21 PERSIANS.' AND THE KING SAID, 'YOU'RE GOING TO RUN OUT OF 13:23 MONEY AND RESOURCES BEFORE WE DO. 13:25 WE'VE GOT THE WATER COMING UNDER THE WALLS. 13:27 WE'VE GOT STORAGE GALORE IN THE SILOS OF THE CITY.' AND SO THEY 13:30 HAD A BIG FEAST AND THE KING BEGAN TO DRINK DURING THE FEAST. 13:34 AND THEN, TO SHOW THAT HIS GOD WAS MORE POWERFUL THAN ALL THE 13:39 OTHER GODS - THE IDOLS THAT HE WORSHIPED - HE SAID, 'DIDN'T WE 13:42 CAPTURE ALL THOSE BEAUTIFUL VESSELS OF GOLD FROM THE TEMPLE 13:45 IN JERUSALEM? I WANT TO DRINK OUT OF THOSE VESSELS. 13:48 I WANT TO TOAST MY GOD USING JEHOVAH'S VESSELS. 13:52 HE WAS MOCKING THE GOD OF THE BIBLE. ALL OF A SUDDEN, 13:55 A BLOODLESS HAND APPEARED - JUST A HAND - AND BEGAN TO WRITE 14:00 IN THESE CRYPTIC LETTERS - BURNING LETTERS IN THE WALL - 14:04 AND YOU CAN IMAGINE THAT EVERYBODY FROZE. 14:06 SO DANIEL CALLED IN - OLD MAN - AND HE BEGINS TO TELL THEM. 14:09 THE WRITING SAID 'MENE MENE TEKEL UPHARSIN.' THE HANDWRITING 14:12 ON THE WALL - YOU'VE HEARD THAT EXPRESSION BEFORE? 14:14 MENE - 'GOD HATH NUMBERED THY KINGDOM, AND FINISHED IT.' TEKEL 14:22 - 'THOU ART WEIGHED IN THE BALANCES' - YOU'RE BEING JUDGED 14:25 - 'AND FOUND WANTING.' - YOU'RE COMING UP SHORT. 14:28 YOU'RE GOING TO FAIL IN THE JUDGMENT IN OTHER WORDS. 14:31 PERES - 'THY KINGDOM IS DIVIDED, AND GIVEN TO THE MEDES AND 14:36 PERSIANS.' - WHO WERE OUTSIDE THE WALL - AND AT THE VERY 14:39 MOMENT THAT DANIEL WAS IN THE BANQUET HALL, CYRUS, THE PERSIAN 14:42 GENERAL OUTSIDE THE WALL, HAD DONE SOMETHING BRILLIANT: 14:45 WITHOUT THE KING OF BABYLON KNOWING, UPSTREAM - WAY UPSTREAM 14:49 IN THE EUPHRATES RIVER - THERE WAS A DRY LAKE BED. 14:52 THEY DUG A GREAT CHANNEL RIGHT NEXT TO THE EUPHRATES RIVER. 14:55 AT THE RIGHT MOMENT THEY BROKE THE DAM SEPARATING IT, ALL THE 15:00 WATER WAS DIVERTED FROM THE EUPHRATES RIVER AND BEGAN 15:02 TO RUN OFF INTO THIS DRY LAKE BED. 15:04 THE WATER LEVEL WHERE IT RAN UNDER THE WALLS OF BABYLON 15:07 DROPPED - IT WAS AT NIGHT - HIS ARMY MARCHED UNDER THE WALLS AND 15:13 THE ARMY WENT IN, THEY OPENED THE OTHER GATES, AND THE MEDES 15:16 AND THE PERSIANS CAME POURING INTO THE CITY. THAT VERY NIGHT 15:19 BELSHAZZAR WAS SLAIN. NOW CATCH THIS: I'M GOING TO READ 15:22 A PROPHECY TO YOU THAT WAS WRITTEN BY ISAIAH THE PROPHET. 15:25 WE KNOW FROM THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS THAT ISAIAH THE PROPHET 15:28 WROTE THESE THINGS BEFORE THEY HAPPENED - 150 YEARS BEFORE THEY 15:32 HAPPENED, LISTEN TO WHAT ISAIAH SAYS IN CHAPTER 45, "THUS SAYS 15:36 THE LORD TO HIS ANOINTED, TO CYRUS," - NAMES HIM A HUNDRED 15:40 AND FIFTY YEARS BEFORE HE'S BORN - "WHOSE RIGHT HAND I HAVE 15:42 HELD;" - I'M HELPING YOU - "TO SUBDUE NATIONS BEFORE HIM AND 15:46 LOOSE THE ARMOR OF KINGS, TO OPEN BEFORE HIM THE DOUBLE 15:51 DOORS, SO THAT THE GATES WILL NOT BE SHUT." 15:54 AND YOU CAN GO TO THE BRITISH MUSEUM AND THERE IS WHAT THEY 15:56 CALL THE CYRUS CYLINDER. I'VE ACTUALLY SEEN THIS AND IN 15:58 THAT CYLINDER - IN CUNEIFORM - THEY'VE TRANSLATED CUNEIFORM - 16:03 CYRUS TALKS ABOUT CONQUERING BABYLON AND, I BELIEVE, 16:06 JERUSALEM IS EVEN MENTIONED DURING THAT TIME BECAUSE HE 16:08 LATER LETS THE JEWS GO BACK HOME AGAIN TO THEIR LAND. 16:12 SO NOW THE KINGDOM - THE HEAD OF GOLD - PASSES FROM 16:14 NEBUCHADNEZZAR ONTO THE MEDO-PERSIAN KINGDOM. 16:18 IT LASTED FROM 539 TO ABOUT 331 BC. 16:22 THEIR CAPITAL WAS PERSEPOLIS AND THEIR MEDIUM OF EXCHANGE WAS 16:28 SILVER, SO IT WAS ENTIRELY APPROPRIATE THAT THEY'RE 16:30 REPRESENTED HERE BY THE SILVER ARMS. 16:32 WE'VE GONE FROM BABYLON TO MEDO-PERSIA AND THEY HAD A VAST 16:37 KINGDOM, BUT THEY DIDN'T HAVE THE SAME GLORY THAT BABYLON HAD. 16:41 QUESTION #8: WHAT METAL WOULD REPRESENT THE KINGDOM THAT 16:44 FOLLOWED MEDO-PERSIA? ANSWER: IT SAYS IN DANIEL, "ANOTHER THIRD 16:51 KINGDOM OF BRASS...SHALL BEAR RULE OVER ALL THE EARTH." 16:56 NOW, DANIEL'S SAYING THIS IS EVEN GOING TO HAVE A VASTER 16:59 TERRITORY THAN THE PERSIAN KINGDOM. 17:01 WHAT KINGDOM CAME NEXT AFTER THE PERSIAN KINGDOM? 17:05 IT WAS THE KINGDOM OF GREECE. HOW MANY OF YOU HAVE HEARD OF A 17:10 YOUNG MACEDONIAN RULER BY THE NAME OF ALEXANDER? 17:13 BETTER KNOWN AS ALEXANDER THE GREAT. AND HE CONQUERED THE 17:18 PERSIANS IN 331 VERY QUICKLY, IN HIS BATTLES WITH DARIUS. 17:24 AND HE SWEPT IN JUST 11 YEARS - HE SWEPT THROUGH THAT COUNTRY. 17:28 NOT ONLY DID HE TAKE THE TERRITORY OF PERSIA, HE WENT OFF 17:31 INTO THE ELEMENTS OR THE REGIONS OF INDIA AND UP THROUGH 17:34 AFGHANISTAN. BY THE TIME HE WAS 21 YEARS OLD 17:38 HE HAD CONQUERED EGYPT. IT WAS JUST PHENOMENAL WHAT HE 17:40 DID AND HOW FAR HE MARCHED HIS ARMIES. 17:42 HE WAS A BRILLIANT GENERAL - TRAINED BY SOME OF THE GREAT 17:44 GREEK PHILOSOPHERS - AND WHAT DO YOU THINK THEIR ARMOR WAS MADE 17:49 OUT OF? THEY WERE CALLED THE BRONZE SOLDIERS. 17:53 ALEXANDER'S KINGDOM LASTED A LITTLE LONGER THAN THE PERSIAN 17:57 KINGDOM. EACH KINGDOM IS LASTING LONGER, 17:59 BUT THE METAL IS NOT WORTH QUITE AS MUCH. 18:03 BUT EVEN THOUGH ALEXANDER THE GREAT COULD CONQUER MUCH OF THE 18:06 WORLD, HE COULD NOT CONQUER HIMSELF AND HE ACTUALLY DIED IN 18:11 BABYLON AND - JUST SHY OF 33 YEARS OF AGE. AND THAT'S 18:17 EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED - HIS KINGDOM WAS DIVIDED INTO FOUR 18:19 PARTS BY HIS GENERALS THAT ENDED UP WARRING AMONG 18:21 THEMSELVES. BUT THE KINGDOM OF GREECE LASTED 18:26 FOR SEVERAL HUNDRED YEARS AND THAT WAS DURING THE TIME OF 331 18:30 TO 168 BC. NOW, WHAT DO YOU THINK HAPPENS 18:34 NEXT HERE? DANIEL CHAPTER 2, VERSE 40, 18:38 "THE FOURTH KINGDOM SHALL BE STRONG AS IRON." 18:42 AS MUCH AS IRON SUBDUES AND BREAKS OTHER THINGS, IT WAS ONE 18:45 OF THE STRONGEST METALS THEY HAD BACK THEN. 18:47 THEY DIDN'T HAVE THE KIND OF REINFORCED STEEL - OR STAINLESS 18:50 STEEL - THAT WE HAVE NOW, BUT YOU COULD TAKE A ROMAN SWORD 18:54 THAT WAS MADE OUT OF IRON AND YOU COULD ACTUALLY BREAK A GREEK 18:58 SWORD MADE OUT OF BRONZE. IT WAS DURING THE TIME OF THE 19:02 IRON MONARCHY OF ROME THAT JESUS WAS BORN. 19:08 IT WAS THOSE ROMAN SOLDIERS THAT WENT WITH THEIR IRON SWORDS 19:12 INTO BETHLEHEM AND KILLED THE BABIES. 19:14 IT WAS AN IRON SPEAR THAT PIERCED JESUS' SIDE - PROBABLY 19:19 IRON NAILS THAT PIERCED HIS HANDS AND HIS FEET. 19:21 ROME WAS THIS IRON EMPIRE AND JUST AS THE PERSIANS LASTED 19:25 LONGER THAN THE BABYLONIANS AND THE GREEKS LASTED LONGER THAN 19:29 THE PERSIANS, THE ROMANS LASTED LONGER THAN THE GREEKS. 19:33 QUESTION #10: WHAT WOULD HAPPEN AFTER THE FALL OF THE ROMAN 19:37 EMPIRE? IT SAID, "THE KINGDOM SHALL BE DIVIDED...AS THE TOES 19:42 OF THE FEET WERE PART OF IRON, AND PART OF CLAY, SO THE KINGDOM 19:47 SHALL BE PARTLY STRONG, AND PARTLY BROKEN." 19:50 AND AS ROME EXPANDED, IT TRIED TO ENVELOPE SUCH A BIG TERRITORY 19:55 AND WHAT WAS ONCE A UNITED MIGHTY VAST EMPIRE, BROKE UP 19:59 INTO WHAT WERE ORIGINALLY TEN KINGDOMS. 20:02 AND THOSE TEN KINGDOMS, SOME OF THEIR ANCIENT NAMES - AND I'LL 20:05 GIVE YOU THE MODERN EQUIVALENTS - THE ALAMANNI, WHICH WERE THE 20:10 GERMANS, THEN YOU HAVE THE FRANKS, WHICH WAS THE FRENCH, 20:13 THE BURGUNDIANS, WHICH WERE THE - SWITZERLAND, THE SUEVI, WHICH 20:18 WAS PORTUGAL, THE LOMBARDS, WHICH IS ITALY, THE VISIGOTHS, 20:23 WHICH IS SPAIN, THE ANGLO-SAXONS - ENGLAND, AND THEN WHEN THEY 20:26 FIRST DIVIDED THEY ALSO HAD WHAT WE CALL THE VANDALS - THAT'S 20:29 WHERE YOU GET VANDALISM, BECAUSE THE VANDALS WENT AND BROKE ALL 20:31 THE - THEY DEFACED ALL THE ROMAN STATUES - THEY CALLED THEM 20:34 VANDALS. THE VANDALS, THE HERULI, AND THE OSTROGOTHS. 20:38 SO THE ROMAN EMPIRE BROKE INTO TEN DISTINCT PARTS AND IT'S 20:42 BROKEN UP MANY TIMES SINCE THEN. WELL, THAT WOULD PUT US DOWN 20:45 INTO THE END OF THIS IMAGE WHERE YOU'VE GOT THIS - NOW YOU'RE 20:49 DOWN TO THE FEET OF NOT JUST IRON, BUT IRON AND WHAT? 20:53 >>CLAY. 20:54 >>YOU KNOW WHAT ALL MODERN CONCRETE IS BUILT OUT OF? 20:57 YOU EVER WATCH THEM POUR CONCRETE? 20:59 IT'S MIRY CLAY AND IRON REBAR. YOU KNOW WHAT THE NUMBER ONE 21:04 BUILDING MATERIAL IS IN THE WORLD TODAY? CONCRETE. 21:07 WOULD THESE TEN KINGDOMS EVER SUCCEED IN UNITING? 21:11 ANSWER: IT SAYS HERE, "THEY SHALL MINGLE THEMSELVES WITH THE 21:15 SEED OF MEN:" - AND HERE YOU'VE GOT IT - "BUT THEY SHALL NOT 21:21 CLEAVE ONE TO ANOTHER, - THEY'LL NOT STICK ONE TO ANOTHER - 21:24 "EVEN AS IRON IS NOT MIXED WITH CLAY." 21:27 THEY COULD NOT WELD TOGETHER, EVEN THOUGH THEY TRIED. 21:30 MATTER OF FACT, YOU CAN JUST LOOK AT HISTORY. 21:32 YOU'VE GOT EVERYBODY FROM LOUIS THE XIV TO CHARLEMAGNE TO 21:35 NAPOLEON TO KAISER WILHELM TO ADOLF HITLER - THEY WERE ALL 21:40 TRYING TO REFORGE - THE WORD 'KAISER,' DO YOU KNOW WHAT THAT 21:43 MEANS IN GERMAN? CAESAR. THE WORD CZAR, YOU KNOW WHAT 21:47 THAT MEANS IN RUSSIAN? IT MEANS CAESAR. 21:50 THEY WERE ALL TRYING TO REGAIN THE POWER OF THE CAESAR ONCE 21:53 AGAIN, BUT THE BIBLE SAYS THEY WILL NOT CLEAVE ONE TO ANOTHER. 21:56 I UNDERSTAND ADOLF HITLER HAD A CHRISTIAN SECRETARY AND WHEN SHE 22:01 FOUND OUT ABOUT HIS PLANS SHE SAID, 'SORRY, MY FUEHRER, BUT 22:04 THIS WILL NOT WORK.' HE SAID, 'WHAT DO YOU MEAN?' 22:05 SHE SAID, 'THE BIBLE SAYS IT WILL NOT WORK, IN THE BOOK OF 22:07 DANIEL.' HE SAID, 'WELL, WE'LL CHANGE THE BIBLE.' 22:12 IT DIDN'T WORK VERY WELL FOR HIM. 22:13 QUESTION #12: WHO WILL SET UP THE FINAL KINGDOM? 22:18 "AND IN THE DAYS OF THESE KINGS SHALL THE GOD OF HEAVEN SET UP A 22:22 KINGDOM, WHICH SHALL NEVER BE DESTROYED." 22:25 WHAT DOES THE STONE DO TO THE OTHER WORLD KINGDOMS? 22:28 IT SAYS, "A STONE WAS CUT WITHOUT HANDS, WHICH SMOTE THE 22:33 IMAGE UPON HIS FEET THAT WERE OF IRON AND CLAY, AND" - DID WHAT? 22:38 >>BRAKE. >>BRAKE THEM TO PIECES." 22:41 AND WHAT HAPPENED TO THE STONE? IT SAYS, "AND THE STONE THAT 22:44 SMOTE THE IMAGE BECAME A GREAT MOUNTAIN," - THE KINGDOM OF GOD 22:49 IS OFTEN REFERRED TO AS 'THE MOUNTAIN OF THE LORD WILL BE 22:51 GLORIOUS. WE'RE LIVING IN THAT AGE OF IRON AND CLAY DOWN IN THE 22:55 TOES OF THAT IMAGE. THE NEXT THING THAT HAPPENS IS 22:57 THE COMING OF CHRIST. CAN YOU IMAGINE THE LOOK ON 23:00 NEBUCHADNEZZAR'S FACE AFTER HE SAW THIS? 23:02 "AFTER HEARING DANIEL'S CLEAR INTERPRETATION OF THE DREAM, 23:06 WHAT DID NEBUCHADNEZZAR SAY ABOUT THE LORD? 23:09 "THE KING ANSWERED UNTO DANIEL, AND SAID, 'OF A TRUTH IT IS THAT 23:14 YOUR GOD IS A GOD OF GODS, AND A LORD OF KINGS, AND A REVEALER 23:20 OF" - THERE'S THAT WORD AGAIN - "SECRETS." 23:23 AND DANIEL TOLD THE KING, "THE DREAM IS CERTAIN, AND 23:27 THE INTERPRETATION THEREOF IS SURE." 23:30 GOD HAS GIVEN US A MAP OF HISTORY AND THAT'S WHY THIS BOOK 23:33 IS SO POPULAR IS BECAUSE WE CAN LOOK BACK ON HISTORY AND WE KNOW 23:36 THAT DANIEL WROTE THESE THINGS BEFORE THEY HAPPENED. 23:40 THE NEXT THING THAT IS SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN IN THIS VISION IS 23:42 CHRIST COMING. NOW THESE ARE INTERESTING 23:45 PROPHECIES, BUT I HAVE TO BE HONEST WITH YOU RIGHT UP FRONT. 23:48 WE DON'T DO THESE SEMINARS TO BE FANTASTIC OR SENSATIONAL OR WOW 23:53 PEOPLE WITH THE POWER OF PROPHECY. 23:55 ALL PROPHECY IS REDEMPTIVE AND IF YOU KNOW THESE THINGS BUT YOU 23:59 DON'T KNOW JESUS, IT WON'T SAVE YOU. 24:02 THE BIBLE SAYS EVEN THE DEVILS BELIEVE AND TREMBLE. 24:05 THE REASON THE LORD GIVES US THESE PROPHECIES IS SO YOU'LL 24:09 KNOW THAT GOD IS NOT SURPRISED BY HISTORY - THERE'S A PLAN AND 24:12 HE HAS A PLAN FOR YOUR LIFE. HE WILL NOT ACTIVATE AND 24:17 MOBILIZE THAT PLAN UNTIL YOU GIVE HIM YOUR HEART AND THAT'S 24:21 SOMETHING YOU NEED TO DO. HE WANTS YOU TO FIND THAT PEACE. 24:24 HE WANTS YOU TO FIND THAT REST. HAVE YOU FOUND THAT REST? 24:28 HAVE YOU FOUND THAT PEACE? ARE YOU PART OF GOD'S KINGDOM? 24:31 IF HE REIGNS IN YOUR HEARTS NOW, YOU DON'T NEED TO WORRY ABOUT 24:34 THE NEXT PHASE OF THIS VISION. AMEN, FRIENDS? 24:38 >>LIFE'S A CURIOUS THING. I MEAN, JUST WHEN THINGS SEEM 24:42 UNDER CONTROL - WHAM! - YOU'RE HIT WITH SOMETHING NEW. 24:46 YOUR MARRIAGE IS GOOD - SUDDENLY IT'S ON THE BRINK OF DIVORCE. 24:50 THAT JOB'S GREAT - AND THEN IT'S GONE - AND SO'S YOUR LIFE 24:54 SAVINGS. YOU FEEL HEALTHY - THEN YOUR 24:58 DOCTOR GIVES THE BAD NEWS. WHAT'S COMING NEXT? 25:02 YOU COULD LOOK TO THE STARS BUT THEY DON'T HAVE THE ANSWERS - 25:06 BUT THIS DOES. THE PROPHECY STUDY BIBLE BY 25:10 AMAZING FACTS. THIS BIBLE'S SPECIAL. 25:13 IT'S 27 PERSONAL STUDY GUIDES LEAD YOU ON A LIFE-CHANGING 25:17 JOURNEY THROUGH GOD'S WORD TO DISCOVER REAL ANSWERS TO LIFE'S 25:21 QUESTIONS FROM HEALTH AND RELATIONSHIPS TO FAMILY AND THE 25:25 FUTURE. THE HOPE'S IN HERE. 25:28 >>GET YOUR AMAZING FACTS PROPHECY STUDY BIBLE TODAY BY 25:31 CALLING 800-538-7275 OR VISIT AFBOOKSTORE.COM . 25:39 >>DID YOU KNOW THAT NOAH WAS PRESENT AT THE BIRTH OF ABRAHAM? 25:42 OKAY, MAYBE HE WASN'T IN THE ROOM, BUT HE WAS ALIVE AND 25:46 PROBABLY TELLING STORIES ABOUT HIS FLOATING ZOO. 25:49 FROM THE CREATION OF THE WORLD TO THE LAST-DAY EVENTS OF 25:52 REVELATION, BIBLEHISTORY.COM IS A FREE RESOURCE WHERE YOU CAN 25:56 EXPLORE MAJOR BIBLE EVENTS AND CHARACTERS. ENHANCE YOUR 26:00 KNOWLEDGE OF THE BIBLE AND DRAW CLOSER TO GOD'S WORD. 26:04 GO DEEPER. VISIT THE AMAZING BIBLE TIMELINE 26:07 AT 'BIBLEHISTORY.COM'. >>I WAS HAVING SOME PROBLEMS IN 26:12 MY LIFE I REALLY DIDN'T KNOW HOW TO DEAL WITH. 26:15 I JUST SAID TO MYSELF, I SAID, 'GOD, IF YOU'RE REAL SHOW 26:19 YOURSELF TO ME.' AND THEN, I THINK, ONE DAY AT MY MOTHER'S 26:22 HOUSE THEY WERE WATCHING THE 'FINAL EVENTS IN BIBLE 26:24 PROPHECY'. THERE WAS SOMETHING ABOUT THE 26:27 WAY THE DOUG PREACHED AND THINGS THAT I FELT THAT TOUCHED ME. 26:31 NO MATTER HOW BAD OF A SINNER YOU THINK YOU ARE, THE LORD 26:35 JESUS LOVES YOU NO MATTER WHAT YOU'VE DONE. 26:37 >>I AM SO THANKFUL TO GOD FOR AMAZING FACTS, FOR DOUG 26:42 BATCHELOR AND ESPECIALLY HIS BOOK 'THE RICHEST CAVEMAN'. 26:48 IF IT WASN'T FOR THESE, I WOULD NOT BE HERE TODAY. 26:53 GOD WAS ABLE TO USE THESE TOOLS TO REACH THE UNREACHABLE. 27:03 >>THIS IS YOUR LAST CHANCE TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS WEEK'S 27:05 SPECIAL FREE OFFER. THERE IS NO COST OR OBLIGATION. 27:08 JUST CALL THE TOLL-FREE NUMBER ON YOUR SCREEN AND BE SURE TO 27:11 NOTE THE OFFER NUMBER WHEN YOU MAKE YOUR REQUEST. 27:24 >>THIS PRESENTATION WAS BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE FRIENDS OF THE 27:27 AMAZING FACTS MINISTRY. |
Revised 2015-07-16