Announcer:
Revelation. The time of the end.
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Mysterious signs.
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Strange happenings.
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Confusing numbers.
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Are we facing a new world
order and the mark of the beast?
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Are we living on a
planet in upheaval?
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Are we on the
verge of Armageddon?
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Revelation, what do all the
signs in this mysterious book
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mean? Discover real answers.
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Revelation Speaks
Peace, with Shawn Boonstra.
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+
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>>Shawn Boonstra: Welcome,
everybody, to "Revelation Speaks
Peace." This is a seminar
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experience that began for me
about twenty-three years ago
with a small group of about
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eight people. And from that
point on, it kind of grew and
grew and grew and now we've held
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this seminar on every continent
except Antarctica, and that's
because the penguins are not
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interested in the book of
Revelation. I can't get an
audience to come out in
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Antarctica, but every other
continent. And for a little
while, I was actually putting
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this seminar on three, four,
five, six times a year, but now
I have a day job, and so I can
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only do it one time a year. And
so once a year, we look around
the world and we pick one city
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to do this in. And so in recent
years, we've been in Budapest;
we've been in Lima; we've been
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in Rajahmundry, a little city of
about two million people in
India; Los Angeles and Phoenix
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and Portland and Rome, Italy,
and Indianapolis last year, and
now we have come to the land of
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mild winters and warm-hearted
people, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Now, I was born in Canada, born
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and raised up near the Yukon
border. And whenever I have
visited Minnesota in February, I
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have always thought your licence
plate should say, "Almost
Canada," because it almost is.
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I am so glad you have come.
Again, my name is Shawn
Boonstra. I am the speaker for a
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very old radio broadcast known
as the Voice of Prophecy. In
fact, I believe it may have been
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one of the very first Christian
broadcasts on the radio in the
world. It went on the air in
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1929 when a guy by the name of
H. M. S. Richards from Colorado
went on the air on KNX radio in
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Los Angeles. And I believe that
over the next decade, he was one
of only four religious
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broadcasts on the radio at all.
Now, I'm sure my team will tell
me I got that all wrong, but
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that is roughly the way that it
happened. It started out as a
program called the Tabernacle of
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the Air. And if you were
listening to the radio in the
1930s, you may remember that
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program. Later on, it changed to
the Voice of Prophecy, and now
it has become a worldwide radio
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broadcast, and it's connected
with the world's oldest, I
believe, and biggest
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correspondence Bible school. It
was originally called the "Bible
School of the Air," now called
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the "Discover Bible School." So
the broadcast is actually
eighty-five years old now, and
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obviously, I am not eighty-five
years old. In fact, I just
joined the Voice of Prophecy
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twenty months ago. And one of
the reasons they asked me to
join the team was this seminar,
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which I've been conducting for a
little more than twenty years
now. Now, before we get going
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tonight - this is not the
seminar or the lecture - I want
to explain how it's going to
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work and give just a general
orientation. And tomorrow night,
I'll give a shorter orientation
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and then we'll be off to the
races. We're going to have a
textbook in this seminar, and
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only one textbook. The textbook
is going to be the Bible. And
the reason that I kind of just
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stick with the Bible is very
simple: If you walk into any
bookstore today and get books on
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last-day events or the book of
Revelation, you will discover
that there are a lot of
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divergent theories, and some of
them are a little weird. I mean,
I'll just be honest. I've read
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thousands of books, and some of
them are weird and nobody seems
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to agree. And here's what I've
discovered: If you just stick
with the text and read it, it's,
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generally speaking, the best
approach, and it is amazing how
clear it can become if you just
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read it. And of course, on
occasion, I'll go back and look
at what people have said
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historically. You know, the
Ante-Nicene fathers and the
Post-Nicene fathers and the
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reformers and the
counter-reformers and so on.
We'll look at that from time to
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time, but for the most part,
we're going to stick with just
the text found in the Bible
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itself and let the Bible be its
own expositor, because you're
going to discover, there's
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actually enough detail in the
Bible to make it very clear what
the author actually originally
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intended. The key is, you just
have to read the whole book from
Genesis all the way to
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Revelation. What we're going to
do in this seminar is provide
the right tools that you need to
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do that. We're going to give you
the right frame of reference. If
you understand how the book of
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Revelation was written, how it
was meant to be read, if you
understand the original context
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it was written in, suddenly, it
makes very good sense. But it's
going to take a little bit of
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time and effort on our part
because, as you know, Rome was
not built in a day, and the
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Bible wasn't written in a day
either; it took 1,500 years to
write it; 44 different authors
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over all those years, and so
it's going to take a little bit
of effort on our part to really
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dig into it. So what we're going
to do every night is I'm going
to cover one of the major themes
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found in Bible prophecy, and
I'll give you some of the tools
you need to understand that
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theme and really understand
prophecy for yourself. And I
guess what I'm after, by the
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time we're finished, is for you
to be able to sit down and read
a book like the book of
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Revelation or the book of Daniel
and understand it just as easily
as you would understand any
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other book - Matthew, Mark,
Luke, John, Genesis, Exodus,
Leviticus - any other book of
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the Bible. I want it to be easy
to read and I want it to make
good sense when you read it. So
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we're going to touch on big
themes every night, and quite a
few of them. I'm going to plough
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through a lot of territory. And
each night, we're going to build
on what we covered the night
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before. So when we're done
tonight, what we have learned,
we're going to carry forward
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into tomorrow night. So it does
become important to follow
along. And I know that people
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are very, very busy. I've got
two teenage daughters who keep
me very, very busy. If it's not
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soccer, it's music lessons; if
it's not music lessons, it's me
running the boys off of our
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property. They keep - I
understand what it is like to be
very, very busy. But I would
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encourage you, because this may
only come to Minneapolis once in
your lifetime, to clear your
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calendar and come to as many of
these you can, because we will
build each night. It's kind of
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like building a house. You know,
we'll put down a foundation
tonight, and the next night,
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we'll put up some studs and then
some sheeting on the studs and
we'll hang doors and windows and
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- well, I guess you should put
the roof on first, and then hang
the doors and windows, and then
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we'll call in the finish
carpenters and so on, and once
we've gathered all the pieces,
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we're going to step back to the
curb and look at what we built,
and it'll knock your socks off.
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Maybe not literally. It already
knocked my shoes off. I'm not
wearing any because Canadians
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don't wear shoes indoors. It'll
knock your socks off. It will
take your breath away. The
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picture in the book of
Revelation absolutely
revolutionized my own life. And
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once you see the big picture, it
is breathtaking. Our subject
tonight, "A new world order."
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I've had people come to this
seminar from every walk of life:
Christian, Jewish, Buddhist,
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atheist, Muslim. Personally, my
own bias is, I am a
Bible-believing Christian. I
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want everybody to feel perfectly
comfortable, but it is my custom
to always offer a prayer before
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I read the Bible because it's
such a profound book and it's
changed my life. And so if
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you'll indulge me for a moment,
I'd like to do that. Father in
heaven, thank You for the
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opportunity to stand up here and
speak. I know who I am and I
know where I've been. And I
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would have no right to say
anything except that You would
bless me, that You would forgive
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my sin, and that You would give
me the ability to think clearly.
So I ask most of all that
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tonight, I would have the
opportunity to put a smile on
Your face because I've been
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faithful with what the Bible
says. And I thank You for that
tonight, in Jesus' name, amen.
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Our topic is "A new world
order." And tonight, I want to
start with one of the biggest
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questions that has ever been
asked in the history of
humanity. And there really is no
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point in studying anything else
in the Bible, there's no point
looking at the book of
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Revelation, unless we can answer
this one question: Does God
actually exist? Is there any
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meaning or purpose to our
existence as human beings here
on this planet? Or is it
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possible that we're just an
accident, a bunch of accidental
life forms that came into being
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by chance on an insignificant
planet out on the edge of an
insignificant galaxy? Do you and
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I actually mean anything and is
there any rhyme or reason to
human history? I'm going to take
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you to a very unusual place to
begin answering that question.
We're going to go back in time
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roughly 200 years and visit
Beethoven. This is Beethoven,
one of history's greatest
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composers, in my opinion, and he
actually wrote the piece of
music that you are listening to.
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It's kind of there in the
background. This is his third
symphony. It's called the Eroica
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symphony. He wrote it for one of
his favourite people, who he
considered a hero. And this
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piece of music might actually be
one of the soundtracks of the
whole universe. This piece of
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music actually begins to answer
the question, "Does God really
exist?" because he wrote it for
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his hero. He wrote a dedication
on the front page of this
symphony. But when the truth
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came out about the man he wrote
this symphony for, he threw a
fit of rage and he ripped the
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front page out and we almost
lost this piece of music
forever. And on the day that
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Beethoven ripped out the front
page from this piece of music,
he unwittingly gave us evidence
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that God is quite real. And he
also completed a story that
began 2,400 years before he was
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born, a story that began in an
ancient king's bedroom. The
king's name was Nebuchadnezzar,
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the man who built the
Neo-Babylonian empire
approximately 600 years before
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Christ. Now, this is not the
ancient, ancient Babylonian
empire that you read about with
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the four cities on the plains of
Shinar and Hammurabi the
lawgiver. This is much later.
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This is a renewed and renovated
Babylonian empire.
Nebuchadnezzar is the man who
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rebuilt that empire and he ruled
the ancient Middle East
approximately 2,600 years ago.
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And one night, something
happened in this man's bedroom
that would determine world
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history for the
next 2,600 years.
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What was it? A dream. A
nightmare, to be more exact. He
suddenly wakes up in the wee
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hours of the morning. His heart
is pounding in his chest. There
is a cold bead of sweat running
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down his forehead, and his eyes
are darting around in the dark
trying to figure out, is there
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somebody in this room? The story
records this dream in the book
of Daniel chapter 2. Here's what
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the Bible says. "Now, in the
second year of Nebuchadnezzar's
reign, Nebuchadnezzar had
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dreams; and his spirit was so
troubled that his sleep left
him." A man who was scared of
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nothing is now suddenly
terrified of a mere dream. This
is a man who is not afraid of
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death - he has looked death in
the eye many times. This is a
man who is not afraid of risk -
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he has risked everything many
times. This is a man who is not
afraid of ambition - he's one of
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the most ambitious men in
ancient history. But now he's
terrified of a dream because the
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dream has just told him he's
about to lose it all. And that
scares him like nothing else
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could. He wakes up in the middle
of the night. It's one of those
dreams you have where even after
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you wake up and you realize it
was just a dream, it bothers you
for hours, for days. It's like
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those dreams where your teeth
are falling out. You ever had
that dream? Nobody? I'm the only
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one in Minneapolis ever had the
- How many of you have ever had
that dream where your teeth are
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falling out of your head and
you're picking them up off the
floor and trying to put them
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back in? Nobody. Three, four. It
happens to me all the time, my
teeth are falling out of my
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head, I'm trying - and for days
afterwards, I'm checking my
teeth to see if the - some
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dreams stick with you. And he
wakes up and he realizes, "Oh,
it was just a dream." But it
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bothers him for hours, enough
that eventually he calls for his
councillors. He calls for the
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wise men of the Babylonian
empire. These men are known as
the Chaldeans. They're
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magicians. They're actually
called magi; that's where we get
the word "magician." We just
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came through the Christmas
season. Remember in the
Christmas season, we always tell
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the story about three wise men
who came from the east, from the
region where Babylon used to be.
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They were known as the magi.
They're Chaldeans. These guys
are the philosophers of the
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empire. They're the scientists
and the astronomers and the
mathematicians and the priests
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of the empire. They're really
clever guys. They're the
religious authorities of
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Nebuchadnezzar's day. They're
very talented. And they claim
that they have a special
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connection to the gods. So
Nebuchadnezzar calls for them in
the middle of the night, and you
00:15:45.77\00:15:51.35
might too if you were a
Babylonian. The Bible continues
the story in Daniel 2 and verse
00:15:51.45\00:15:56.65
2. "So they came and stood
before the king [these
Chaldeans]. And the king said to
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them, 'I have had a dream, and
my spirit is anxious to know the
dream.' The Chaldeans spoke to
00:16:02.69\00:16:08.80
the king in Aramaic [the
language of the day], 'O king,
live forever! Tell your servants
00:16:08.90\00:16:14.84
the dream, and we will give
[you] the interpretation.'" Ah,
they breathed a sigh of a
00:16:14.94\00:16:20.41
relief. "We got called here at
three in the morning. We thought
it was a state emergency, but
00:16:20.51\00:16:24.71
it's just a dream. This is easy.
Nebuchadnezzar, we can handle
this for you. We'll run down to
00:16:24.81\00:16:30.42
the royal library and get our
star charts and our books and
we'll be right back and then you
00:16:30.52\00:16:35.49
tell us what you dreamt and we
will tell you what it meant."
For some reason, the king
00:16:35.59\00:16:42.86
suddenly doesn't trust them. He
smells a rat. He gets this
feeling in his stomach that
00:16:42.96\00:16:47.57
maybe these men he'd been
depending on aren't actually
honest. Something tells him,
00:16:47.67\00:16:52.21
"Maybe they've been lying to me
for my whole career." Now, that
is not a good thing when you're
00:16:52.31\00:16:58.75
running an empire full of
subjugated people. You can't
afford to have bad intelligence
00:16:58.85\00:17:03.32
and lying advisors. And he did
just dream that he's about to
lose his empire, so he puts
00:17:03.42\00:17:10.26
these men to the test in verse
5. "The king answered and said
to the Chaldeans, 'My decision
00:17:10.36\00:17:16.20
is formed. If you do not make
known the dream to me and its
interpretation, you shall be cut
00:17:16.30\00:17:22.34
in pieces, and your houses shall
be made an ash heap.'" You ever
gone to your boss and said, "I
00:17:22.44\00:17:30.65
don't think my job is
challenging enough"? You didn't
do that in the Babylonian empire
00:17:30.75\00:17:36.55
because he would lay a big
challenge on you. If you guys
don't step up your game, if you
00:17:36.65\00:17:41.16
don't tell me what I actually
dreamt, I'm going to chop you in
pieces and burn down your house.
00:17:41.26\00:17:48.73
"However, he says, "if you tell
the dream and its
interpretation, you shall
00:17:48.83\00:17:52.57
receive from me gifts, rewards,
and great honour. Therefore tell
me the dream and its
00:17:52.67\00:18:00.08
interpretation." Now they've got
a big problem. What are they
going to do? They get into a
00:18:00.18\00:18:07.78
huddle, they panic, "What are we
going to do? He wants to know
what he dreamt. He's the only
00:18:07.88\00:18:11.55
one who saw it. How are we going
to know? We can't fake this one,
guys. What are we going to do?"
00:18:11.65\00:18:15.36
And they come back to the king
and they attempt to reason with
him in verse 7. "They answered
00:18:15.46\00:18:20.20
again and said, 'Let the king
tell his servants the dream, and
we'll give the interpretation.'"
00:18:20.30\00:18:25.13
Come on, Nebuchadnezzar, you
know how it works. You gave us
the employee handbook on our
00:18:25.23\00:18:30.34
first day of work and it says in
there, you tell us what you
dream, and we interpret it.
00:18:30.44\00:18:35.11
Those are the rules of the whole
game. Read the handbook. "The
king answered and said, 'I know
00:18:35.21\00:18:44.22
for certain that you would gain
time,'" [you guys are stalling
because you see my decision is
00:18:44.32\00:18:50.96
firm]. "'If you do not make
known the dream to me, there is
only one decree for you! For you
00:18:51.06\00:18:57.30
have agreed to speak lying and
corrupt words before me till the
time has changed.'" [You think
00:18:57.40\00:19:02.40
I'm going to forget about this.]
"'Therefore tell me the dream
and I will know that you can
00:19:02.50\00:19:08.78
share the interpretation.'" I
want you to pay attention very
carefully to what's happening in
00:19:08.88\00:19:14.85
this story. If you choose to
live a lie, it's only a matter
of time until somebody takes you
00:19:14.95\00:19:23.76
and pushes you out in the bright
sunlight and you're discovered.
It's guaranteed to happen.
00:19:23.86\00:19:29.83
Eventually, everybody's metal,
everybody's character is put to
the test. If you live a lie,
00:19:29.93\00:19:36.14
you'll be found out. Brian
Williams just found that out the
hard way. And for these
00:19:36.24\00:19:42.58
Chaldeans, the lie is now over.
They've been faking it their
whole careers and they've been
00:19:42.68\00:19:47.42
exposed. What are they going to
do? Because they cannot get
inside the king's head and
00:19:47.52\00:19:51.45
figure out what he dreamt. They
can't read human minds. Nobody
can. It's the reason that we
00:19:51.55\00:20:00.20
seem to think we have to torture
people to try and get
information. Nobody can read
00:20:00.30\00:20:03.63
human minds. The Bible actually
teaches in 1st Samuel chapter 8
and verse 39, where Solomon is
00:20:03.73\00:20:10.77
dedicating the first temple in
Jerusalem, that only God knows
the hearts of men. Only God can
00:20:10.87\00:20:16.91
get inside the mind. Only He
knows. And so these guys have a
very, very big problem. And so
00:20:17.01\00:20:23.02
what do they do? They give up.
And for the first time in their
career, they finally tell the
00:20:23.12\00:20:27.52
truth. "'Nebuchadnezzar, that is
a difficult thing that the king
requests.'" "'There is no
00:20:27.62\00:20:36.16
other who can tell it to the
king except the gods, whose
dwelling is not with flesh.'"
00:20:36.26\00:20:41.87
"But I thought you guys were
connected to the gods, had a
direct pipeline?" "Oh, that's
00:20:41.97\00:20:48.14
not quite how it works,
Nebuchadnezzar." Well, the king,
the story tells us, blows a
00:20:48.24\00:20:52.68
gasket, and you probably would
too. He had trusted these men
with his entire career. The
00:20:52.78\00:20:58.65
Bible says in verse 12: "For
this reason, the king was angry
and very furious and gave the
00:20:58.75\00:21:03.02
command to destroy all the wise
men of Babylon." That's it. Go,
get them all. The guards go out
00:21:03.12\00:21:11.17
and round up the Chaldeans for
their early retirement party.
Chop in pieces, burn down the
00:21:11.27\00:21:16.84
house. Check, check. And as
they're going around the empire,
they come to the house of a
00:21:16.94\00:21:22.01
young man named Daniel. The
prophetic book in the Old
Testament called Daniel is named
00:21:22.11\00:21:28.42
after him. His name means "God
is my judge." And Daniel is not
a Babylonian, mm-mm. He's a
00:21:28.52\00:21:35.16
Hebrew. He's a member of the
royal family of Jerusalem. He's
00:21:35.26\00:21:39.53
taken captive when
Nebuchadnezzar sieges the city
of Jerusalem. And he's marched
00:21:39.63\00:21:44.90
through the wilderness up north
back down into Babylon in
chains. And when he gets to
00:21:45.00\00:21:50.27
Babylon, he's not put out in the
fields like the rest of them
because he's from the royal
00:21:50.37\00:21:54.24
family. They put him in a
special retraining program. They
immerse him in Babylonian
00:21:54.34\00:21:59.88
culture. They actually rename
him Belteshazzar after the
Babylonian god Bel. And they
00:22:00.05\00:22:06.69
teach him in Babylonian schools
and they feed him Babylonian
food and they stick him in
00:22:06.79\00:22:10.86
Babylonian culture because
they're hoping against all odds
that this member of the royal
00:22:10.96\00:22:15.23
family will begin to think and
act like a Babylonian. And if he
does, he will keep the rest of
00:22:15.33\00:22:21.97
his people in line. But Daniel
never compromises and he is so
bright - in this story, he's not
00:22:22.07\00:22:28.61
even 20 years old - he rises to
the top of the school, and he's
so clever, so smart, so wise
00:22:28.71\00:22:35.88
before he's 20, that they just
count him as one of the
Chaldeans. So the guard knocks
00:22:35.98\00:22:40.69
on his door. "Daniel," - guard's
name is Erioch - "Daniel." "What
is it, Erioch?" "We gotta go."
00:22:40.79\00:22:46.49
"But it's two in the morning,
Erioch." "I know. We gotta go."
"What's the problem?" "Well, the
00:22:46.59\00:22:49.63
king had a dream." "Well, he has
dreams all the time." "No, no,
this was different. He won't
00:22:49.73\00:22:53.67
tell anybody what he dreamt. And
when the senior Chaldeans
couldn't tell him what he
00:22:53.77\00:22:57.21
dreamt, he got mad, and I'm
afraid I have bad news for you."
"What's the bad news?" "Well, we
00:22:57.31\00:23:01.84
have to chop you in pieces."
"Just a minute," said Daniel. "I
got an idea. Take me to
00:23:01.94\00:23:12.95
Nebuchadnezzar." Verse 16. "So
Daniel went in and asked the
king to give him time, that he
00:23:13.05\00:23:16.99
might tell the king the
interpretation." He asks for
time. Now, don't forget, the
00:23:17.09\00:23:23.06
Chaldeans were stalling too, but
the king wouldn't give them
time. For some reason, though,
00:23:23.16\00:23:28.47
he trusts this young man from
Jerusalem because Daniel - as
you read your way through the
00:23:28.57\00:23:33.04
book of Daniel, you discover, he
has sterling character. Daniel
is the kind of person who never
00:23:33.14\00:23:39.18
gives you cause for doubt. He
always stands on principle. And
Nebuchadnezzar recognizes that
00:23:39.28\00:23:44.15
in this young man, and he gives
him time, something he wouldn't
give his senior advisors. And
00:23:44.25\00:23:48.89
that tells me something.
Building character with your
life matters. You can cheat and
00:23:48.99\00:23:55.00
lie your way through life. You
can take shortcuts your entire
life, but it will catch up with
00:23:55.10\00:24:00.34
you. It'll destroy you in the
end. But let me tell you,
especially young people,
00:24:00.44\00:24:04.71
character lasts your whole life.
Your whole life. The king gives
him what he wouldn't give the
00:24:04.81\00:24:12.51
others: he gives him time. So
Daniel makes the best use of his
time. He goes and gets three of
00:24:12.61\00:24:16.99
his friends. You heard about
them when you were a little kid.
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
00:24:17.09\00:24:23.43
Those are their Babylonian
names. He doesn't consult the
star charts that night. Mm-mm.
00:24:23.53\00:24:29.83
Daniel doesn't get out the
astrological charts. He doesn't
cut open a goat and dump out its
00:24:29.93\00:24:33.80
entrails and read it like the
other Chaldeans would. He
doesn't go for a séance or the
00:24:33.90\00:24:38.44
600 B.C. equivalent of a ouija
board, whatever that would've
been. Daniel does something that
00:24:38.54\00:24:44.91
our ancestors used to do a lot
of: he got on his knees and he
prayed. Got his friends together
00:24:45.01\00:24:52.55
and he prayed all night. And the
Bible tells us, he actually got
an answer that night. He was
00:24:52.65\00:24:57.16
shown what the king had dreamed.
So they take him back to the
king, in verse 27. "Daniel
00:24:57.26\00:25:02.70
answered in the presence of the
king and said, 'The secret which
the king has demanded, the wise
00:25:02.80\00:25:09.14
men, the astrologers, the
magicians and the soothsayers
cannot declare to the king.'" He
00:25:09.24\00:25:16.18
was right; they couldn't do it.
Let me tell you something: they
still can't do it. They still
00:25:16.28\00:25:20.88
can't do it. They're still
pulling the wool over our eyes.
They still can't do it. Daniel
00:25:20.98\00:25:25.79
couldn't really do it either. He
doesn't take a lick of credit
for what's about to happen.
00:25:25.89\00:25:29.49
Here's what he says - pay
attention. "'But there is a God
in heaven who reveals secrets.'"
00:25:29.59\00:25:38.30
Now, there's the answer to our
first question, "Does God
exist?" Daniel says yes, he
00:25:38.40\00:25:44.31
does. And he's about to prove
it. I want you to follow
carefully, because if, in your
00:25:44.41\00:25:52.21
lifetime, you have never heard
God speak - in your lifetime, if
you have never seen any evidence
00:25:52.31\00:25:56.92
of God in your life - that might
just change for you tonight in
ways you didn't expect. Follow
00:25:57.02\00:26:02.66
this very carefully. "There is a
God in heaven who reveals
secrets and He has made known to
00:26:02.76\00:26:09.80
king Nebuchadnezzar what will be
in the latter days." In the
distant future, He has shown you
00:26:09.90\00:26:17.84
what's going to take place.
Nobody can do that. The weather
channel doesn't get it right
00:26:17.94\00:26:24.35
half the time. Nebuchadnezzar,
God showed you the future of the
world. Your dream and the
00:26:24.45\00:26:30.99
visions of your head upon your
bed were these. Watch this
carefully. "You, O king, were
00:26:31.09\00:26:37.36
watching." He's describing the
dream now. "You, O king, were
watching; and behold, a great
00:26:37.46\00:26:41.23
image! [A giant statue.] This
great image whose splendour was
excellent, stood before you; and
00:26:41.33\00:26:47.07
its form was awesome. [It was
huge.] This image's head was
made of fine gold." What was the
00:26:47.17\00:26:52.07
head made out of, folks? No,
there's more of you out there
than that; I can hear you
00:26:52.11\00:26:56.61
breathing. What was the head
made out of? Gold. Its chest and
arms were made of? Silver. This
00:26:56.68\00:27:03.75
is all important. It's all going
to show up in other Bible
prophecies. Pay attention
00:27:03.79\00:27:07.36
carefully. Its belly and thighs
were made of what? Bronze. Its
legs were made of? Iron. Its
00:27:07.39\00:27:14.56
feet, partly of iron and partly
of clay. You saw a giant statue,
head of gold, chest of silver,
00:27:14.56\00:27:21.74
belly and thighs of brass, legs
of iron, feet made of iron and
clay, but that's not all you
00:27:21.84\00:27:26.98
saw. There was more. "You
watched while a stone was cut
out without hands, which struck
00:27:27.14\00:27:32.55
the image on its feet of iron
and clay, and broke them in
pieces." You saw a stone fly
00:27:32.65\00:27:37.12
into the picture. It hit the
feet of that statue and crushed
the feet. Then the iron, the
00:27:37.22\00:27:43.39
clay, the bronze, the silver,
and the gold were crushed
together and became like chaff
00:27:43.49\00:27:48.06
from the summer threshing
floors. You all know what chaff
is in Minnesota, right? Yeah.
00:27:48.16\00:27:53.67
You talk about this in New York
or Los Angeles, they haven't got
a clue what it's talking about.
00:27:53.77\00:27:59.81
They've never seen a threshing
floor in Los Angeles; they still
think that all your food comes
00:27:59.91\00:28:03.04
from Safeway. This is being
recorded. They're going to show
it in Los Angeles. I'm never
00:28:03.14\00:28:08.75
going to be able to go back. But
it's true. It hits the feet.
"The feet are crushed and the
00:28:08.85\00:28:14.62
rest of the statue is crushed as
well. It becomes like chaff from
the summer threshing floor, and
00:28:14.72\00:28:19.46
the wind carried them away so
that no trace of them was
found." The whole statue
00:28:19.56\00:28:23.06
collapses into powder on the
ground and the wind blows all
the residue away and there's
00:28:23.16\00:28:28.84
nothing left. "And the stone
that struck the image became a
great mountain and filled the
00:28:28.94\00:28:34.81
whole earth." In the court of
Nebuchadnezzar, everybody's
holding their breath. "Oh, I
00:28:34.91\00:28:43.95
hope he got it right. I hope he
got something right 'cause I
don't like this thing about
00:28:44.05\00:28:48.72
being chopped in pieces. I look
better in one piece."
Everybody's holding their
00:28:48.82\00:28:55.93
breath. Nebuchadnezzar leans
forward in his seat. "Daniel, I
don't know how you did that, but
00:28:56.03\00:29:08.34
that is exactly what I dreamt."
"What in the world does it
mean?" Now it gets very
00:29:08.44\00:29:18.59
interesting. Daniel is about to
explain it and we're going to
get our first principle for
00:29:18.69\00:29:23.63
interpreting Bible prophecy and
understanding it: read the whole
story. It's a simple principle.
00:29:23.73\00:29:31.30
The Bible is its own best
interpreter. That's really the
principle. Read the whole thing.
00:29:31.40\00:29:37.24
And it always explains itself.
You don't have to guess at what
prophecy means. You don't have
00:29:37.34\00:29:41.44
to speculate, take a stab in the
dark, because it always explains
itself. God has no trouble
00:29:41.54\00:29:46.75
making Himself known. So many
people read a story like this
and they stop right after the
00:29:46.85\00:29:51.85
dream. They stop early. They
don't read the rest and they
start jumping to these wild
00:29:51.95\00:29:55.72
conclusions. "I've read all
these books by all these people,
oh, it's a head of gold. Gold,
00:29:55.82\00:30:01.03
there used to be gold in Fort
Knox. We don't know if there's
any there anymore, but that's
00:30:01.13\00:30:04.63
probably, then, the United
States of America in Bible
prophecy." "And silver, that's
00:30:04.73\00:30:08.94
the silver-haired wisdom of old
folks. And bronze, that's
something to do with coming in
00:30:09.04\00:30:13.71
third at the Sochi Winter
Olympics." You're laughing, but
there's books like that. They
00:30:13.81\00:30:20.72
put out a brand-new book,
another one that doesn't make a
lick of sense, because they
00:30:20.82\00:30:24.22
didn't read the whole thing. You
don't have to guess. You don't
have to speculate. The Bible
00:30:24.32\00:30:29.96
explains itself. Daniel's about
to tell us exactly what it
means. And this, what we're
00:30:30.06\00:30:37.83
about to look at, is what
revolutionized the way I look at
the world. Daniel 2:37, he
00:30:37.93\00:30:43.00
begins explaining the dream.
"'You, O king, are a king of
kings. For the God of heaven has
00:30:43.10\00:30:50.88
given you a kingdom, power,
strength, and glory.'" The One
Who gave you the dream,
00:30:50.98\00:30:55.48
Nebuchadnezzar, is the One Who
gave you your whole empire. You
really think your military
00:30:55.58\00:31:00.32
prowess made you
this successful? You don't
00:31:00.42\00:31:04.96
understand. You would have none
of this if God didn't allow it.
A lot of people would be
00:31:05.59\00:31:10.80
surprised one day to discover
one day that God had been there
their whole lives giving them
00:31:10.90\00:31:14.74
things they thought they built.
"'You, O king, are a king of
kings. For the God of heaven has
00:31:14.84\00:31:20.24
given you a kingdom, power,
strength, and glory.'" He was a
great king. "'Wherever the
00:31:20.34\00:31:25.85
children of men dwell, or the
beasts of the field and the
birds of the heaven, He [God]
00:31:25.95\00:31:30.19
has given them into your hand,
and [He] has made you ruler over
them all - you [Nebuchadnezzar]
00:31:30.29\00:31:39.06
are this head of gold.'" There
is no guesswork involved. He
just told him what the head of
00:31:39.16\00:31:43.93
gold represents. You and this
empire that God has given you,
Nebuchadnezzar, it's you. You
00:31:44.03\00:31:48.87
are the head of gold. It's the
Neo-Babylonian empire, roughly
from 605 B.C. to 539 B.C., and
00:31:48.97\00:31:55.58
gold is the best description you
could come up with for the
Babylonian empire. It really was
00:31:55.68\00:32:00.92
the golden kingdom. It may have
been, may have been, the
wealthiest empire in the history
00:32:01.02\00:32:06.76
of the world. To this day, we
still use the word "Babylon" to
symbolize decadence and
00:32:06.86\00:32:13.50
over-the-top living. People who
visit it couldn't believe what
they saw. The ancient historian
00:32:13.60\00:32:18.50
Heronedus went to the ruins, and
in the ruins, he said, "This
place was covered with gold, and
00:32:18.60\00:32:23.07
there was gold furniture in the
temples. There was gold
everywhere." It was remarkably
00:32:23.17\00:32:29.34
wealthy. And it was remarkably
influential. Today, to some
extent, you and I still think
00:32:29.44\00:32:34.28
like Babylonians. It was that
influential. It's been 2,600
years and we still think like
00:32:34.38\00:32:40.99
those folks in some ways. They
didn't invent astrology, but
they grabbed it from other
00:32:41.09\00:32:45.13
cultures and popularized it and
passed it down to us. It's still
in the horoscope column in your
00:32:45.23\00:32:49.76
newspaper. Comes from Babylon.
They gave us base 60
mathematics. "Well, we don't use
00:32:49.86\00:32:54.70
base 60 mathematics, Shawn. We
use base 10. We count to 10 and
then we add a digit." You don't
00:32:54.80\00:32:59.51
remember? Well, we count to 9
and then add a digit when we get
to 10, and then when you get to
00:32:59.61\00:33:02.98
100, another digit, and 1000,
another. We use base 10. Yeah,
for some math, you do. But
00:33:03.08\00:33:08.48
you're still using base 60
because of the Babylonians. You
are. How many seconds are there
00:33:08.58\00:33:15.26
in a minute? Sixty. How many
minutes are there in an hour?
Sixty. How many degrees in a
00:33:15.36\00:33:20.56
circle? Three hundred - you told
your math teacher you'd never
need it again, didn't you? Three
00:33:20.66\00:33:28.04
hundred and sixty degrees. It
was a great empire. Left a stamp
on the world. There's a reason
00:33:28.14\00:33:32.51
every culture on the planet
still remembers Babylon to this
day. But the question is simple:
00:33:32.61\00:33:39.78
Did it last forever? No. Does it
still rule the world tonight?
No. And that's the part of the
00:33:39.88\00:33:43.52
dream that bothered the king so
much. Daniel continues, verse
39: "But after you will arise
00:33:43.62\00:33:51.63
another kingdom inferior to
yours." Nebuchadnezzar, you
won't last forever. There will
00:33:51.73\00:33:57.03
be another kingdom. Oh, it won't
be as great as you - it will be
inferior - but it will
00:33:57.13\00:34:04.64
absolutely replace you. Daniel
was absolutely right. In 539
B.C., the Persians came into the
00:34:04.74\00:34:11.25
city of Babylon under a general
by the name of Cyrus and they
captured the city in one of the
00:34:11.35\00:34:16.22
most breathtaking defeats of
military history. The chest of
silver came and demolished the
00:34:16.32\00:34:23.29
head of gold. I'll tell you on
Sunday night exactly how Cyrus
pulled that off, because there's
00:34:23.39\00:34:27.50
an element to that story that
actually helps you understand
the book of Revelation. That
00:34:27.60\00:34:32.40
story is woven through the way
John describes things in the
book of Revelation. And on
00:34:32.50\00:34:37.11
Sunday night, I'll show you how
the Bible predicted that a man
by the name of Cyrus would
00:34:37.21\00:34:42.54
conquer Babylon more than 100
years before Cyrus was born. How
do you do that? Unless there's
00:34:42.64\00:34:49.75
something more to the book than
human composition. The Persians
took Babylon, the city that
00:34:49.85\00:34:55.29
everybody knew was impossible to
take. And why were they able to
take it? It's because world
00:34:55.39\00:35:00.30
history is more than armies;
world history is more than
economics. There is something
00:35:00.40\00:35:05.47
else going on in the background.
There is somebody out there
steering world events. The chest
00:35:05.57\00:35:11.31
of silver defeats the head of
gold. Now, the question is, do
the Persians still rule the
00:35:11.41\00:35:16.21
world tonight? Do they? Yes or
no? Absolutely not. Some of you
aren't sure. Do the Persians
00:35:16.31\00:35:21.58
still rule the world tonight?
Yes or no? No, they don't. The
prophecy continues, verse 39:
00:35:21.68\00:35:28.72
"Then another, a third kingdom
of bronze, which shall rule over
all -" Nebuchadnezzar, there's
00:35:28.82\00:35:34.13
going to be a third kingdom
after the chest of silver.
There'll be the belly and the
00:35:34.23\00:35:40.27
thighs of brass. Now, students
of history, you tell me, who
defeated the Persians in 331 at
00:35:40.37\00:35:45.77
the battle of Arbela? Does
anybody know? Alexander the
Great, absolutely. The
00:35:45.87\00:35:52.31
Macedonian army, the Greeks, and
they established the next empire
in the Mediterranean basin that
00:35:52.41\00:36:00.62
runs from 331 B.C. to 168 B.C.
It was one of the fastest
conquests in the history of the
00:36:00.72\00:36:06.06
world. Alexander conquered two
million square miles, conquered
twenty million people. He did it
00:36:06.16\00:36:11.00
in four years flat on foot
before he was 32 years old. He
marched his army all the way
00:36:11.10\00:36:17.17
across the Mediterranean basin,
all the way over to India, and
when he saw the ocean in India,
00:36:17.27\00:36:21.61
history tells us, he actually
wept, because he thought he had
run out of world to conquer. The
00:36:21.71\00:36:28.48
soldiers said, "Well, if that's
the end of the world, could we
go home?" He said, "Sure." They
00:36:28.58\00:36:34.39
married a bunch of local girls
and started on their way back
home. And on their way back
00:36:34.49\00:36:38.59
home, they camped by the ruined
city of Babylon where
Nebuchadnezzar had had that
00:36:38.69\00:36:42.86
dream all those years before.
And Alexander, one night, as his
men were partying, dies in the
00:36:42.96\00:36:50.84
night. We're not 100% sure what
happened, but the most likely
explanation is he drank himself
00:36:50.94\00:36:54.91
to death. He choked on his own
vomit. Because while he could
conquer the whole world, he
00:36:55.01\00:37:04.39
couldn't conquer himself. Gone.
But Daniel was right: there was
a third empire, the Greeks. Now,
00:37:04.49\00:37:10.46
do the Greeks still rule the
world tonight? No. Their
philosophy does. But their
00:37:10.56\00:37:17.10
armies don't. There's another
empire. Verse 40: "And the
fourth kingdom shall be strong
00:37:17.20\00:37:22.10
as iron, inasmuch as iron breaks
in pieces and shatters
everything; and like iron that
00:37:22.20\00:37:26.54
crushes, that kingdom will break
in pieces and crush all others."
Now, students of history
00:37:26.64\00:37:32.81
tonight, you tell me, who
defeats the Greeks in 168 B.C.
at the battle of Pydna? Who was
00:37:32.91\00:37:38.29
it? It was the Romans.
Absolutely. It was the empire
that was ruling the world the
00:37:38.39\00:37:45.16
day Jesus was born in Bethlehem.
They're the empire that brought
crucifixion into the New
00:37:45.26\00:37:49.50
Testament era and they crucified
Jesus. They were a fierce,
disciplined army that changed
00:37:49.60\00:37:54.87
the face of our planet forever.
We may still think like Greeks,
but you and I to this day still
00:37:54.97\00:38:03.41
behave like Romans. Our legal
system, our politics, we
inherited it all from them. I
00:38:03.51\00:38:08.52
don't know if you've ever read
that big thick set of books, The
Decline and Fall of the Roman
00:38:08.62\00:38:13.62
Empire by Edward Gibbon. Did you
have to read that in school?
It's like, seven volumes. It
00:38:13.72\00:38:18.79
must be 5000 pages. Because in
the 1700s when he wrote that
thing, he knew you only had
00:38:18.89\00:38:23.16
enough money to buy one set of
books in your whole life, so he
wrote everything he knew in that
00:38:23.26\00:38:28.37
one set of books. And I read my
way through it because I had no
choice if I wanted to pass. And
00:38:28.47\00:38:34.38
Edward Gibbon did not really
believe in the Bible, but I
found something interesting. As
00:38:34.48\00:38:39.71
he's describing the rise of the
Roman empire, he describes it
like this in the 1700s: "The
00:38:39.81\00:38:44.09
images of gold," he wrote,
"silver, or brass, that might
serve to represent the nations
00:38:44.19\00:38:48.56
and their kings, were
successively broken by the iron
monarchy of Rome." Ah, he said
00:38:48.66\00:38:55.56
he didn't read the Bible, but
somebody's been reading Daniel
chapter 2. End of the dream? Not
00:38:55.66\00:39:03.27
quite; there's more. There are
feet. Daniel says: "Whereas you
saw the feet and toes, partly of
00:39:03.37\00:39:08.61
potter's clay and partly of
iron, the kingdom shall be
divided." Now, is that true of
00:39:08.71\00:39:14.35
Rome? Yes, it is. Rome first
divided into east and west. By
the time you come down to the
00:39:14.45\00:39:19.32
time of Constantine and
Diocletian, there are actually
four emperors: two in the east
00:39:19.42\00:39:24.26
and two in the west. And then it
explodes to seven emperors.
You've got Maxentius who has the
00:39:24.36\00:39:30.43
senate declare him an emperor in
Rome, and it splits up even
more. But it gets worse than
00:39:30.53\00:39:35.60
that. It's not just the east and
west split; by 476 A.D., the
west utterly collapses. And now
00:39:35.70\00:39:44.85
the dream moves to the toes. It
says: "As the toes of the feet
were partly of iron and partly
00:39:44.95\00:39:50.12
of clay, so the kingdom shall be
partly strong and partly
fragile." It mentions the toes
00:39:50.22\00:39:56.89
at least twice in that chapter.
Now this dream shifts to the
western Roman empire. Now, why
00:39:56.99\00:40:03.33
does it focus on the western
half of the empire? You're going
to see that on a coming night.
00:40:03.43\00:40:07.27
It's going to show up in other
prophecies of the Bible. There's
a deliberate reason that Daniel
00:40:07.37\00:40:12.37
is focusing on the west. He now
mentions the toes. And we know
that after 476 A.D., after the
00:40:12.47\00:40:18.35
last western Roman emperor, the
empire broke up into pieces.
General categories of barbarian
00:40:18.45\00:40:24.72
tribes. And these are some of my
ancestors; I'm a direct
descendent of barbarians. My
00:40:24.82\00:40:29.46
ancestor probably ate your
ancestor at some point. We are
the barbarians. Way up here in
00:40:29.56\00:40:36.56
the north, we had the Anglos and
the Saxons. The Anglo-Saxons,
which eventually became
00:40:36.67\00:40:41.30
modern-day Britain. Then here in
this green zone, we have the
Franks who expand a little bit
00:40:41.40\00:40:46.31
further south, and they became
the French. Down in the orange,
we've got the Visigoths. That
00:40:46.41\00:40:52.81
means the western Goths. And
they were still living there in
Spain by, oh, about 732 in the
00:40:52.91\00:40:57.65
battle of Tours. They were still
living there. And the Goths had
the region that eventually
00:40:57.75\00:41:02.26
becomes Spain. Over where
there's Portugal, we had a
tribe, a group of tribes, known
00:41:02.36\00:41:07.66
as the Suevi. In the area where
Switzerland and Austria and some
of those places are, we had the
00:41:07.76\00:41:13.07
Burgundis. Way up north here, we
had the Alamanni, and they
expanded north and became the
00:41:13.17\00:41:19.11
nation of Germany. And to this
day, in some languages, we still
call the Germans the Allemands
00:41:19.21\00:41:24.61
or the Alamanni. Here, over
here, we had the Lombards. They
eventually moved south down here
00:41:24.71\00:41:30.32
into Italy and became the
Italian nation. And you still
hear the word "lombard" around,
00:41:30.42\00:41:34.76
right? You've heard of Vince
Lombardi? Right? He's a Lombard.
He's from that region of the
00:41:34.86\00:41:40.86
world originally. Then we have
the Ostrogoths, the eastern
Goths. We have the Vandals down
00:41:40.96\00:41:45.63
in North Africa. They were so
fierce, to this day, when
somebody defaces your property,
00:41:45.73\00:41:55.18
we call them a vandal. It breaks
into these ten categories, these
ten groups, after the western
00:41:55.28\00:42:04.05
Roman empire collapses. Now,
here's where it gets really
good. What you're about to read
00:42:04.15\00:42:09.72
has literally guided the course
of world history ever since
Nebuchadnezzar dreamed it. It
00:42:09.82\00:42:14.83
has determined exactly who wins
wars. It has determined exactly
who sits on thrones. And it
00:42:14.93\00:42:20.27
proves beyond the shadow of a
doubt that somebody or something
is guiding human history. God is
00:42:20.37\00:42:27.88
about to speak. Here's what it
says in verse 41: "As you saw
iron mixed with ceramic clay,
00:42:27.98\00:42:35.28
they will mingle with the seed
of men." They will intermarry.
"But they will not adhere to one
00:42:35.38\00:42:44.46
another, just as iron does not
mix with clay." What's Daniel
saying? He's saying the western
00:42:44.56\00:42:50.97
empire would fragment into
pieces and that they would try
and put it back together. They
00:42:51.07\00:42:54.77
would intermarry, they would try
to mingle, they would try to put
it back together, but they will
00:42:54.87\00:42:59.87
not adhere to one another. They
will never succeed in reuniting
the western Roman empire.
00:43:00.04\00:43:06.01
Period. And history tells us
now, 2,600 years later, that
Daniel was absolutely right.
00:43:06.11\00:43:12.49
Let's go back. Let's look at
European history. You told your
history teacher you would never
00:43:12.59\00:43:16.86
need this stuff either, but here
it is. When Queen Victoria was
on the throne of England, she
00:43:16.96\00:43:22.93
was called - her nickname was -
the Grand Mother of Europe. Do
you know why they called her
00:43:23.03\00:43:27.87
that? It's because for so many
years, the royal families of
Europe had tried to marry their
00:43:27.97\00:43:32.44
kids to each other, trying to
build alliances and reunite the
western Roman empire. And
00:43:32.54\00:43:37.98
because of that, by the time
Queen Victoria's on the throne
of England in the late 1800s,
00:43:38.08\00:43:43.39
she is literally related to
every single other head of
state. They're all relatives.
00:43:43.49\00:43:49.99
They were literally mingling the
seed of men. "Oh, we can do it.
We can put it back together."
00:43:50.09\00:43:55.86
But it didn't work. In fact, the
20th century, after Queen
Victoria, proves to be the
00:43:55.96\00:44:01.84
bloodiest century in the history
of Europe. World War I, World
War II. We are still living with
00:44:01.94\00:44:06.51
the borders that were drawn
after that. But let's go back
further in time. There are a lot
00:44:06.61\00:44:12.61
of big names we could mention,
but I only have a few minutes
left, so I'm just going to touch
00:44:12.71\00:44:16.58
on a few of the biggest ones.
Charlemagne, king of the Franks,
768 onward, becomes the king of
00:44:16.69\00:44:23.63
Italy in 774, but in 800,
something big happens: they name
him the holy Roman emperor.
00:44:23.73\00:44:29.66
Here's the new emperor of
western Rome, the first one
since it collapsed. They called
00:44:29.76\00:44:35.74
him the father of Europe. They
said he would bring lasting
peace. But did it succeed?
00:44:35.84\00:44:41.04
Almost. He went up north, he
attacked the Saxons, he attacked
the Germans. He went all the way
00:44:41.14\00:44:44.78
up to Denmark and he was
starting to pull it together,
and then he thought, "I'm
00:44:44.88\00:44:49.02
getting old. Who am I going to
pass the empire on to? I'll give
it to my sons." But his sons
00:44:49.12\00:44:54.56
died before he did, and he goes,
"Oh, now who am I going to give
the empire to? I'll give it to
00:44:54.66\00:44:58.99
my grandson, but he's so young.
I've got another grandson nobody
knows about." That's literally
00:44:59.09\00:45:04.13
how this happened. "I've got
another grandson nobody knows
about out there in the field."
00:45:04.23\00:45:08.67
He gets another grandson, and he
dies and passes it on to these
young men who can't run it, and
00:45:08.77\00:45:16.18
Europe goes back to war. Why?
'Cause Charlemagne is not clever
enough? Sure he was. Why didn't
00:45:16.28\00:45:21.18
it succeed? Because God said,
"They will not adhere to one
another," and if God says it,
00:45:21.28\00:45:25.42
you're not going to overturn it.
You can't defeat it. About 700
years later, we have another
00:45:25.52\00:45:31.13
holy Roman emperor, Charles V,
1519 he's elected. People were
desperate for unity in the
00:45:31.23\00:45:37.27
1500s. Germany was split. The
reformation was going on. The
princes were fighting with each
00:45:37.37\00:45:41.47
other. He manages to expand his
empire to four million square
kilometres, and he almost does
00:45:41.57\00:45:46.04
it, and then all of a sudden,
Charles V gets gout. Oh, you
say, "Gout, no big deal." No, he
00:45:46.14\00:45:52.68
can't go to war anymore, he
can't lead his troops. He's
limping around, "I wish I could
00:45:52.78\00:45:56.58
go. I've got gout." And if that
wasn't bad enough, then he gets
malaria and he dies. Why didn't
00:45:56.69\00:46:02.49
he pull it off? Because he's not
a great warrior? Yes, he was,
had five horses killed
00:46:02.59\00:46:07.30
underneath him in battle. He was
great, but he couldn't do it
because God said, "They will not
00:46:07.40\00:46:11.73
adhere to one another," and if
God says it, you're not going to
change it. Louis XIV, he's the
00:46:11.83\00:46:17.41
sun king, king of France. He was
so arrogant, he didn't say, "I
run the state," he said, "I am
00:46:17.51\00:46:23.68
the state." Under him, France
becomes the greatest military
power in all of Europe. I know
00:46:23.78\00:46:29.12
that young audiences, they say,
"France was the greatest
military power in Europe?"
00:46:29.22\00:46:32.35
Because everybody jokes, "Oh,
the French always wave the flag
of surrender." That wasn't true
00:46:32.45\00:46:36.26
in the 1700s. The greatest
military power in Europe. The
conditions were right to reunite
00:46:36.36\00:46:41.90
the empire. And then all of a
sudden, Louis XIV makes a bad
decision: he tries to force
00:46:42.00\00:46:47.40
Spain and France back together
artificially and it starts a war
that gets out of control. The
00:46:47.50\00:46:52.91
Wars of Spanish Succession, 1701
onward. He sends all of his
tallest, biggest men into that
00:46:53.01\00:46:58.41
battle, and so many of his
tallest, biggest men die on the
battlefield, that I've seen
00:46:58.51\00:47:03.82
historians who estimate that
today, the French population is
still two inches shorter than
00:47:03.92\00:47:08.09
they used to be because so many
of the tall people died off. Why
couldn't he do it? Well, I know
00:47:08.19\00:47:16.26
one reason he couldn't do it: he
wore high heels. You can't go
into battle in high heels.
00:47:16.36\00:47:21.10
You're going to get a heel stuck
in the mud or something. You
can't fight like that. You know
00:47:21.20\00:47:26.34
the real reason he couldn't do
it. God said, "They will not
adhere to one another." Now we
00:47:26.44\00:47:32.18
come to Napoleon. He's not a
king; he's a general. He marches
all over Europe and he's getting
00:47:32.28\00:47:37.05
close. He almost pulls it off,
but he's also arrogant. He gets
full of himself. And there comes
00:47:37.15\00:47:42.29
a day he wants to crown himself
the emperor of Europe, and the
pope shows up to put the crown
00:47:42.39\00:47:46.33
on his head, he says, "I'll
handle that myself," takes the
crown, and puts it on his own
00:47:46.43\00:47:50.47
head. "I'll declare myself the
emperor of Europe." Word goes
back to a man by the name of
00:47:50.57\00:47:58.24
Ferdinand Ries. He's Beethoven's
secretary. He says, "Mr.
Beethoven, we have a problem."
00:47:58.34\00:48:03.88
"That symphony you're writing,
that you're dedicating to
Napoleon Bonaparte? He just
00:48:03.98\00:48:08.52
declared himself the emperor of
Europe." Beethoven was crushed.
He said, "I thought he was going
00:48:08.62\00:48:16.26
to bring liberty to all of
Europe." Here's what he said.
"So he [Napoleon] is no more
00:48:16.36\00:48:22.30
than a common mortal! Now, too,
he will tread under foot all the
rights of Man, indulge only his
00:48:22.40\00:48:27.27
own ambition; now he will think
himself superior to all men and
become a tyrant." He rips the
00:48:27.37\00:48:34.91
front page out of that symphony.
We almost lost it. There's still
a copy in a museum in Vienna, a
00:48:35.61\00:48:39.68
second copy that has Napoleon's
name on it, but Beethoven
scratched his name out. Napoleon
00:48:39.78\00:48:47.02
failed. When Napoleon died in
misery, Beethoven told
everybody, "I've already written
00:48:47.12\00:48:51.59
his funeral." It's the piece
that you heard at the beginning
of this evening. Napoleon, the
00:48:51.69\00:48:58.03
terror of Europe, almost does
it, but then he goes into Europe
with 600,000 men and loses most
00:48:58.13\00:49:02.57
of them. Then he goes into
exile. He comes back out and
goes to Waterloo. You know what
00:49:02.67\00:49:07.01
happened at Waterloo: he loses.
So he's exiled a second time to
Saint Helena and he dies
00:49:07.11\00:49:11.38
miserable and alone and
friendless. Why? Because he
wasn't smart enough? Sure, he
00:49:11.48\00:49:17.35
was. He failed because Daniel
said, "They will not adhere to
one another." Kaiser Wilhelm,
00:49:17.45\00:49:25.26
World War I, 20th century now.
England is actually losing World
War I, and they panic and they
00:49:25.36\00:49:29.36
contact America. They say to
Woodrow Wilson, "We need your
help. You've got to come over.
00:49:29.46\00:49:33.10
We're losing to the kaiser." And
Woodrow Wilson said, "Not my
problem, not my war. I'm not
00:49:33.20\00:49:39.04
coming." Germany gets wind that
England is talking to America
and they say, "We've got to do
00:49:39.14\00:49:42.31
something to keep America busy
in case they get interested." So
they fire off a telegram to the
00:49:42.41\00:49:47.38
president of Mexico. It's known
as the Zimmerman telegram. It
was encoded. And the telegram
00:49:47.48\00:49:51.95
said, "Listen, if you invade
America, if you take back New
Mexico and Texas and Arizona,
00:49:52.05\00:49:56.83
we'll send you money and
ammunition, and we'll help you
win. You join us," said the
00:49:56.93\00:50:02.96
kaiser. Somehow, Britain
intercepts that telegram, and
somehow they manage to decode
00:50:03.06\00:50:08.00
it. And they call up Woodrow
Wilson again and they say,
"Guess what happened with the
00:50:08.10\00:50:11.57
kaiser? He's trying to invade
you through Mexico." And Woodrow
Wilson gets so mad, he joins the
00:50:11.67\00:50:16.21
battle and the kaiser loses the
war. Coincidence? Not a chance.
"They will not adhere to one
00:50:16.31\00:50:24.05
another." There's a young
soldier in the kaiser's army.
His name is Adolf Hitler. In
00:50:24.15\00:50:29.82
1918 he says, "I'll finish what
Napoleon started. I can't handle
the defeat of Germany. I will
00:50:29.92\00:50:34.66
build an empire that lasts a
thousand years." He called it a
Reich. I believe that Hitler
00:50:34.76\00:50:42.10
knew he was defying God, too. In
1941 he wrote this: "See my
people? We do not need anything
00:50:42.20\00:50:47.71
from God. We do not ask Him for
anything except that He may let
us alone; we want to fight our
00:50:47.81\00:50:51.98
own war with our own guns,
without God. We want to gain our
victory without the help of
00:50:52.08\00:51:01.66
God." Dies in a bunker. Why?
Lots of reasons, but the number
one reason, "they will not
00:51:01.76\00:51:10.67
adhere to one another." Soviet
Union tried it. At one point,
they controlled one-third of the
00:51:10.77\00:51:15.57
earth's geography. One-third of
it. And they kept bumping up
against eastern Europe and never
00:51:15.67\00:51:20.04
made any further progress. Why?
"They will not adhere to one
another." They're still trying
00:51:20.14\00:51:25.35
it now. The newest attempt has
been the European Economic
Union, but they're having all
00:51:25.45\00:51:29.42
kinds of problems. Have you been
paying attention? The first flag
they flew had ten stars on it.
00:51:29.52\00:51:33.25
Why? 'Cause they were going to
reunite the ten fragments of the
western Roman empire, but it
00:51:33.36\00:51:38.23
didn't work out, did it? Some
nations won't join the alliance.
Others aren't allowed to join.
00:51:38.33\00:51:42.66
Some countries can't keep their
debt under control. Greece goes
bankrupt. Portugal is following
00:51:42.76\00:51:47.30
quickly behind. Some other
countries are also in trouble.
And I'm telling you, they might
00:51:47.40\00:51:51.31
work out some kind of economic
alliance. It's falling apart
before our eyes. But they still
00:51:51.41\00:51:55.48
might salvage an economic
alliance, but I'll tell you one
thing I know for sure based on
00:51:55.58\00:52:01.52
2,600 years of accuracy in God's
Word: they will not reunite the
political western Roman empire
00:52:01.62\00:52:09.32
It can't be done because God
says it can't. He's never wrong.
Now, does that mean that
00:52:09.42\00:52:19.23
there'll never be another world
empire? Does that mean there'll
never be a new world order?
00:52:19.33\00:52:25.57
Sure, there will. 'Cause the
Bible actually says one more
thing. There's still the stone
00:52:25.67\00:52:32.28
that crushes the statue. Verse
44. Daniel says to
Nebuchadnezzar, "In the days of
00:52:32.38\00:52:37.39
these kings-" We're in the ten
toes now. "In the days of these
kings shall the God of heaven
00:52:37.49\00:52:45.76
set up a kingdom, which shall
never be destroyed. And the
kingdom shall not be left to
00:52:45.86\00:52:51.47
other people; it shall break in
pieces and consume all these
kingdoms, and it shall stand
00:52:51.57\00:53:04.61
forever." There is one more
kingdom coming. It's different.
It's incorruptible. It'll never
00:53:04.71\00:53:12.12
need to be replaced because
human beings don't set this one
up; God does. And when does that
00:53:12.22\00:53:22.13
happen? Jesus drops a little
hint in the prophetic chapter,
the 25th chapter of Matthew. He
00:53:22.23\00:53:30.27
says this: "When the Son of Man
comes in His glory, and all the
holy angels with Him, then He
00:53:30.37\00:53:37.51
will sit on the throne of His
glory." Everything in Daniel 2,
except for this, has already
00:53:37.61\00:53:52.03
happened. It's all in the past,
except for this. Is there a
direction to world history? You
00:53:52.13\00:54:01.50
better believe it. History means
something, and it's headed
somewhere. The question is, what
00:54:01.60\00:54:11.15
are you banking on for your
future? Everything
Nebuchadnezzar built, gone.
00:54:11.25\00:54:18.95
Everything Cyrus the Persian
built, gone. Everything
Alexander built, gone.
00:54:19.05\00:54:23.49
Everything the Romans built,
gone. Everything I build, goes.
Everything you build, goes. It
00:54:23.59\00:54:36.50
all goes. It all blows away in
the wind and God sets up His
kingdom. What are you banking on
00:54:36.60\00:54:43.75
for tomorrow? I look at my life,
I know there's got to be
something better than this.
00:54:43.85\00:54:48.15
There's gotta be something
better than this. I remember
being overseas one time away
00:54:48.25\00:54:55.79
from my family, and I got sick.
They say it was the swine flu.
Remember the swine flu? Tried to
00:54:55.89\00:55:00.63
avoid it, but when you're on an
airplane sitting next to
somebody with the swine flu for
00:55:00.73\00:55:04.10
eight hours, sometimes you get
it. And I'm sitting on the other
side of the planet, 13,000 miles
00:55:04.20\00:55:11.97
from home, and I got sick and I
have a fever and I'm shivering.
And I don't speak the local
00:55:12.07\00:55:16.91
language. And I go out in the
streets - it's pouring rain -
and I find a pharmacy and I
00:55:17.01\00:55:20.58
can't talk to the pharmacist. I
can't even get aspirin. And I
got back to the little miserable
00:55:20.68\00:55:26.25
room that I was staying in and I
sat on the mattress that was as
hard as concrete and I sat there
00:55:26.35\00:55:35.20
shivering, miserable. And the
whole time I sat there, I
thought, "But I've got a home
00:55:35.30\00:55:44.64
somewhere else. I got a wife. I
got kids. I got a warm bed
somewhere." I have never felt so
00:55:44.74\00:55:58.25
homesick in my life. It's
horrible. The hotel's noisy, you
can't sleep. Homesick.
00:55:58.35\00:56:08.40
Eventually, the fever broke. I
went home and I got over it. But
I can tell you, I'm still
00:56:08.50\00:56:16.34
homesick. Because this whole
planet is sick and shivering.
Look around you. For most of the
00:56:16.44\00:56:24.28
planet, it's a miserable
existence and God has seen it.
And He says, "I've let you run
00:56:24.38\00:56:31.55
your experiment for a while, but
I've got something better
coming." "I will blow away the
00:56:31.65\00:56:38.56
kingdoms of this world." Look at
the planet. North Korea's still
acting up. China redrawing
00:56:38.66\00:56:46.70
portions of the ocean. Crimea in
a virtual state of war all the
time. Middle East rising up
00:56:46.80\00:56:55.68
again. The Bible tells me that
God sees it and He's going to
put a stop to it. Let me ask
00:56:55.78\00:57:10.23
you, are you homesick? Would you
like something a little better
than what we've got? Everything
00:57:10.33\00:57:19.70
has happened, and
Jesus really is coming.
00:57:19.80\00:57:24.94
If you're so inclined, please
join me while I pray. Father in
heaven, what great news to find
00:57:25.04\00:57:32.25
out You're bringing us somewhere
and that our planet is not
spiralling out of control, that
00:57:32.35\00:57:44.36
there's a purpose and direction
and that you have a plan. We
want to be there. We're homesick
00:57:44.46\00:57:52.10
for that kingdom. And my prayer
tonight is, come quickly, Jesus,
for we ask it in Jesus' name,
00:57:52.20\00:57:59.17
amen.
00:57:59.27\00:58:01.44
Today you have watched just one
in a series of "Revelation
Speaks Peace" presentations.
00:58:03.55\00:58:08.05
The entire series is available
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00:58:08.15\00:58:16.29
Or Call.. 877-955-2525 Or if you
wish you may request the series
by writing to Voice of Prophecy
00:58:16.39\00:58:25.57
PO Box 999 Loveland, CO 80539
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00:58:25.67\00:58:35.18
ordering Voice of Prophecy's
free Discover Bible Guides.
Where is God when you
00:58:35.28\00:58:40.05
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00:58:40.15\00:58:46.62
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00:58:46.72\00:58:53.29
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00:58:59.00\00:59:07.24
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00:59:07.34\00:59:17.82
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00:59:17.92\00:59:25.66