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Doug Batchelor:
Welcome, friends,
00:00:35.60\00:00:36.93
to our "Sabbath
School Study Hour."
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We're so glad that you've
tuned in and you're joining us.
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I want to extend a special
welcome to our friends who are
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watching via social media from
around the world and some of our
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online Sabbath
School class members.
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We're glad you could study with
us this very important lesson
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we're going to get
to a little later today.
00:00:52.11\00:00:54.48
And, now, just so
you understand that,
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when we record these programs,
we record them three weeks in
00:00:57.45\00:01:02.62
advance of the rest of the
country that is going through
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our study guide, and
that provides us time
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to edit the programs, to
put in closed-captioning,
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to send the programs
off to the various studios.
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We want to thank those
networks that are carrying our
00:01:13.60\00:01:15.77
"Sabbath School Study
Hour," but, right now,
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this is, as the
time of our recording,
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the last Sabbath of 2019,
and we're going to be studying
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lesson number three in
our new quarterly on Daniel,
00:01:27.85\00:01:30.75
but we have a special offer that
goes along with today's study,
00:01:30.79\00:01:33.89
and it's a special
full-length magazine,
00:01:33.92\00:01:38.69
beautifully illustrated magazine
on "Daniel & Revelation,"
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produced by Amazing Facts.
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This is--well, you might say
that this is our special holiday
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gift for everybody that
studies with us because this
00:01:47.67\00:01:50.44
is a premium offer.
00:01:50.47\00:01:52.01
If you don't have this magazine,
it'll give you a beautiful and
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detailed overview, and
it's beautifully illustrated
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to the books, the prophecy
books of "Daniel & Revelation,"
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a free offer.
00:02:01.88\00:02:03.18
You don't want to
miss this opportunity.
00:02:03.22\00:02:04.55
All you've got to do is
call the number on your screen.
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That's...
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That basically
is 866-Study-More.
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Now, sometimes our free
offers, you can download them.
00:02:14.40\00:02:16.33
You can't really
download this one.
00:02:16.36\00:02:18.47
We want to mail it to you.
00:02:18.50\00:02:20.00
So you just got to go--oh,
wait, they're telling me,
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no, there is a way to
do a digital download.
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Scratch that.
00:02:24.34\00:02:25.71
You can get the
digital download.
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All you do is you
text the code "SH021."
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Text that to 40544.
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I guess they figured
out a way to do that.
00:02:35.68\00:02:37.32
So you can download it, and you
can also order it if you want
00:02:37.35\00:02:40.02
the hard copy in your hands.
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I like the hard copy so
you can feel it and touch it.
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Free.
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All you've got to do is contact,
and we'll send that to you.
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And in a minute, we're
going to get into today's study,
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but before we do, we're
going to invite our singers out.
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They're going to lead us
in a few songs of praise,
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and then we'll get
into the Word for today.
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¤¤¤
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¤ My hope is built on
nothing less than Jesus's ¤
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¤ blood and righteousness. ¤
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¤ I dare not trust
the sweetest frame, ¤
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¤ but wholly lean
on Jesus's name. ¤
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¤ On Christ the
solid rock I stand, ¤
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¤ all other
ground is sinking sand, ¤
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¤ all other
ground is sinking sand. ¤
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¤ When darkness
seems to veil His face, ¤
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¤ I rest on His
unchanging grace. ¤
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¤ In every high
and stormy gale, ¤
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¤ my anchor holds
within the veil. ¤
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¤ On Christ the
solid rock I stand, ¤
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¤ all other
ground is sinking sand, ¤
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¤ all other
ground is sinking sand. ¤
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¤ His oath, His covenant,
His blood supports me in the ¤
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¤ whelming flood. ¤
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¤ When all around
my soul gives way, ¤
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¤ He then is all
my hope and stay. ¤
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¤ On Christ the
solid rock I stand, ¤
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¤ all other
ground is sinking sand, ¤
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¤ all other
ground is sinking sand. ¤
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¤ When He shall come
with trumpet sound, ¤
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¤ O may I then
in Him be found, ¤
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¤ that in His
righteousness alone, ¤
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¤ faultless to
stand before the throne. ¤
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¤ On Christ the
solid rock I stand, ¤
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¤ all other
ground is sinking sand, ¤
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¤ all other ground
is sinking sand. ¤¤
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female: Thank you
for singing with us.
00:05:09.30\00:05:11.31
Doug: Thank you very much
for leading us in those songs.
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And now as we go into our study,
it's a good idea to begin with
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a word of prayer.
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Father in heaven, in
a very special sense,
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we're going to be
venturing on holy ground today,
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not only because
we're in Your holy Word,
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but we're looking at one of
the mountaintops in the vista
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of Scripture and prophecy.
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Pray that Your
Spirit will be present.
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Remove every distraction.
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We asked that the truth will be
proclaimed in triumphant tone so
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all can understand, and we
ask this in Jesus's name, amen.
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Well, once again, welcome to
those who are joining us for our
00:05:47.68\00:05:50.81
"Sabbath School Study Hour," and
you probably heard me allude to
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it in prayer that we are
sort of on holy ground today,
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in a special
sense, in our Bible study.
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You know, when an evangelist
goes out to do an evangelistic
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meeting, oh,
about 80% of the time,
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somewhere in the first
two nights of his evangelistic
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meeting is Daniel chapter 2.
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Now, we're on
lesson three in our study.
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Lesson three, because we
spend some time on introduction,
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is dealing with
Daniel chapter 2.
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Daniel chapter 2 is probably one
of the most powerful prophecies
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in the Bible to give you a
panorama of world history from
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the time of the
prophet to the Second Coming,
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and it's a place
in Scripture that it's
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just really irrefutable.
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And some people,
it's like Mark Twain said,
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"A person convinced
against his will is of
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the same opinion still."
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Some people, no matter
how much evidence you present,
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they're not going to believe,
but a reasonable person who
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looks at Daniel chapter 2--and
you can show that the prophecy
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was written before
the events foretold,
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not just from Daniel, but it's
showing from the books of Isaiah
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and Jeremiah and many others,
how these kingdoms would unfold,
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and it happens in such
an incredible way that it's
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absolutely astounding.
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So all evangelists love to
use that because it strengthens
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faith in the Word of God as
they proceed through all of the
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other presentations.
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Now we have a memory verse.
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By the way, the lesson is called
"From Mystery to Revelation."
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"From Mystery to Revelation."
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Our memory verse is from
Daniel chapter 2, verse 20.
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If you've got your quarterlies,
you'll see it in there.
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It's from the
English Standard Version.
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Daniel 2, verse 20, and
you can say this with me:
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"Daniel answered and said,
'Blessed be the name of God
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forever and ever, to
whom belong wisdom and might."
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So in the first
section, it's talking about the
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eminence of God.
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Now, the author of the lesson
gives a great illustration.
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You can go to the Arctic.
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I've never been there,
but I've heard about it.
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You can see a
very mysterious site.
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On the Arctic Ocean, you'll
see it's covered with ice,
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and the ice blocks are going
in two opposite directions and
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colliding with each
other, and you think,
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"What in the
world is happening?"
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Well, what's going on is there's
a breeze on top of the water.
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It's moving the small blocks,
but the deeper blocks and
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icebergs are being
carried by the current.
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So you can have the breeze going
one way and the current going
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the other way, and depending
on the depth of the ice,
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they're going
opposite directions.
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Well, when you look
at the events of time,
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you can see that there is a
deeper current unlike what you
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might see above water
and the forces above water.
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There is a deeper current
that is carrying history,
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and inexorably you have seen
the kingdoms of the world follow
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a track that God
outlines in His Word.
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This story in Daniel
really summarizes it all.
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So I'm going to invite you--if
you haven't already done it,
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turn to the second book--second
chapter in the book of Daniel,
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Daniel chapter 2,
and we're going to begin,
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and pray for me as I proceed
because I've always wished that
00:09:03.67\00:09:08.54
I had, like, two and a half
hours to cover this subject,
00:09:08.58\00:09:11.91
and then you'd still be
covering just the high points
00:09:11.95\00:09:15.12
of the subject.
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It is such a magnificent study.
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Let me tell you one more
thing about it: In preparing,
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last night I went online, and
I looked at some of the great
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Protestant Bible commentators.
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Now, these are not Seventh-day
Adventist commentators,
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but they're great.
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You know, you've got John Wesley
and Matthew Henry and Adam
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Clarke and Albert
Barnes and Jamieson,
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Fausset, and Brown.
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You've got the
"Pulpit Bible Commentary."
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You got everybody
from Luther, all around.
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This is one of the places in the
Bible that they almost uniformly
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agree is undeniable.
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They call it the "Prophecy of
the Four" or five--I'll explain
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that many--great kingdoms.
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And in this prophecy of a dream
Nebuchadnezzar has of this great
00:10:01.50\00:10:07.34
image, it outlines
the kingdoms of the world.
00:10:07.37\00:10:10.41
So let me just
begin reading, and,
00:10:10.44\00:10:11.91
again, pray as I proceed.
00:10:11.94\00:10:13.61
"Now, the second year of
Nebuchadnezzar's reign--"
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he's technically
Nebuchadnezzar II,
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but he's called
Nebuchadnezzar the Great.
00:10:19.65\00:10:21.42
He's the one that we
know about in history.
00:10:21.45\00:10:23.45
This is taking
place about 605 B.C.,
00:10:23.49\00:10:27.92
and you might wonder, "Why
does it say Daniel studied three
00:10:27.96\00:10:31.46
years under Nebuchadnezzar, and
now it's the second year of his
00:10:31.49\00:10:35.10
reign, and Daniel shows up?"
00:10:35.13\00:10:36.73
Nebuchadnezzar reigned for two
or three years with his father
00:10:36.77\00:10:40.34
as a co-regent.
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This is now the second
year of his sole reign after his
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father's death, and
that's why some people say,
00:10:45.44\00:10:48.01
"Oh, that makes sense now."
00:10:48.04\00:10:49.78
Looks like
there's a conflict there.
00:10:49.81\00:10:53.01
"Nebuchadnezzar had dreams, and
his spirit was troubled so that
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his sleep left him."
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Now, if you want to know
what he's dreaming about,
00:10:59.52\00:11:01.49
you read later
on in the passage,
00:11:01.52\00:11:03.73
Daniel tells him, "You were
thinking on your bed about what
00:11:03.76\00:11:07.86
is going to follow after me."
00:11:07.93\00:11:09.93
So he's anxious when he
goes to sleep that night about,
00:11:09.96\00:11:11.73
here, he's built up
this magnificent kingdom,
00:11:11.77\00:11:14.54
one of the great
empires of the world,
00:11:14.57\00:11:16.87
and he wonders how
long it's going to last.
00:11:16.91\00:11:19.44
Nebuchadnezzar took every
precaution to make sure his
00:11:19.47\00:11:22.98
kingdom would not
be followed by another,
00:11:23.01\00:11:25.05
including the
walls around the city and
00:11:25.08\00:11:26.75
a number of other things.
00:11:26.78\00:11:28.75
So he goes to
sleep and he's troubled,
00:11:28.78\00:11:31.32
and he has this dream,
and his sleep was troubled.
00:11:31.35\00:11:36.46
"The King gave command.
00:11:36.49\00:11:38.33
He calls his
magicians, astrologers,
00:11:38.36\00:11:40.13
his sorcerers, his Chaldeans,
to tell the king his dreams.
00:11:40.16\00:11:43.13
So they come, and
they stood before the king.
00:11:43.16\00:11:45.73
And the king says to
them, 'I've dreamed a dream,
00:11:45.77\00:11:48.27
and my spirit is
anxious to know the dream.'
00:11:48.30\00:11:50.77
And his wise men spoke to
him, and they said in Aramaic,
00:11:50.81\00:11:53.98
'O king, live forever.
00:11:54.01\00:11:55.64
Tell your servants
the dream, and we'll give
00:11:55.68\00:11:57.51
the interpretation.'"
00:11:57.55\00:11:58.85
"We'll concoct something.
00:11:58.88\00:12:00.52
We'll make something up."
00:12:00.55\00:12:01.85
"And the king answered
and said to the Chaldeans,
00:12:01.88\00:12:03.69
'My decision is firm.'"
00:12:03.72\00:12:05.05
He says, just,
00:12:05.09\00:12:06.39
"I want you to know,
I've already made up my mind.
00:12:06.42\00:12:07.72
You guys tell me whatever
you think I want to hear.
00:12:07.76\00:12:09.52
This is a supernatural dream.
00:12:09.56\00:12:11.79
I really want to
know what it means.
00:12:11.83\00:12:13.26
If you claim to have
supernatural connections with
00:12:13.29\00:12:15.83
the gods, then you
tell me what I dream,
00:12:15.86\00:12:18.53
and you tell me the meaning."
00:12:18.57\00:12:21.50
Now, how many of
you have had a dream?
00:12:21.54\00:12:23.04
It's very vivid.
00:12:23.07\00:12:24.37
An hour later, you
try and tell somebody,
00:12:24.41\00:12:25.71
and that part of your
brain where you dream is sort of
00:12:25.74\00:12:29.84
subconscious, and it's hard to
recall because your dreams are
00:12:29.88\00:12:33.21
really happening in a
different place in your brain.
00:12:33.25\00:12:35.05
Every now and then,
you'll have a very vivid dream.
00:12:35.08\00:12:37.89
It frightened you
awake. You remember it.
00:12:37.92\00:12:39.79
You think about it
with your conscious mind,
00:12:39.82\00:12:41.92
and you're able to recall
it better then because you've
00:12:41.96\00:12:44.03
stored it in two places, but
when you first wake up and you
00:12:44.06\00:12:46.39
have a dream, if you don't spend
any time thinking about it,
00:12:46.43\00:12:48.86
it'll leave you.
00:12:48.90\00:12:50.67
"Nebuchadnezzar knows, 'I've
had this supernatural dream.
00:12:50.70\00:12:53.20
It was very vivid.
I woke up in a sweat.
00:12:53.23\00:12:55.57
I was troubled, and now I
can't remember the details.
00:12:55.60\00:12:58.71
You tell me what I dreamed,
and tell me the interpretation.
00:12:58.74\00:13:02.84
Then I'll know your
interpretation is real.'
00:13:02.88\00:13:06.35
And they said, 'No,
you tell us the dream.'
00:13:06.38\00:13:09.32
And the king says,
'Look, my decision is firm.
00:13:09.35\00:13:11.55
If you don't make
known to me the dream and its
00:13:11.59\00:13:13.32
interpretation, you're
going to be cut in pieces--'"
00:13:13.36\00:13:16.36
"drawn and quartered,"
00:13:16.39\00:13:18.23
they used to call
that-- "and your houses
00:13:18.26\00:13:19.83
are going to be made a
dunghill," an ash heap,
00:13:19.86\00:13:22.90
a dump, "however, if you
tell me the dream and its
00:13:22.93\00:13:26.40
interpretation,
you'll receive from me gifts,
00:13:26.43\00:13:29.00
rewards, and great honor.
00:13:29.04\00:13:30.77
Therefore tell me the
dream and its interpretation."
00:13:30.81\00:13:33.27
One of them has the
courage to speak up.
00:13:33.31\00:13:35.98
In verse 7, he says to the king,
"'Let the king tell his servants
00:13:36.01\00:13:39.88
the dream, and we will
give the interpretation.'
00:13:39.91\00:13:42.05
The king said, 'I
know for certain that you'd
00:13:42.08\00:13:44.25
like to stall.
00:13:44.29\00:13:45.89
You want to gain time, because
you see my decision is firm.
00:13:45.92\00:13:48.66
If you don't make
known to me the dream,
00:13:48.69\00:13:50.29
there's only one decree for you.
00:13:50.33\00:13:51.79
You've agreed to
speak corrupting and lying
00:13:51.83\00:13:53.63
words before me.
00:13:53.66\00:13:55.43
You're going to just
make up something--'"
00:13:55.46\00:13:56.83
I'm paraphrasing here--
00:13:56.87\00:13:58.53
until the time has changed,
00:13:58.57\00:14:01.10
until I forget about
it, and there's something,
00:14:01.14\00:14:02.80
some other emergency.
00:14:02.84\00:14:04.34
That's what
politicians do--is they stall.
00:14:04.37\00:14:06.81
"'Therefore, tell me the dream,
and I'll know that you can give
00:14:06.84\00:14:10.75
me the interpretation.'
00:14:10.78\00:14:12.61
And then one of the
wise men answered the king,
00:14:12.65\00:14:14.52
and he said," in verse 10,
"There's not a man on earth
00:14:14.55\00:14:17.35
who can tell the king's matter.
00:14:17.39\00:14:19.12
Therefore, no
king--this is why no king,
00:14:19.15\00:14:21.26
lord, ruler, has ever asked
such a thing of any magician,
00:14:21.29\00:14:23.86
or astrologer, or Chaldean."
00:14:23.89\00:14:25.83
And by the way, the
Chaldeans and the Magi,
00:14:25.86\00:14:29.40
who came looking for
Jesus, some of them were
00:14:29.43\00:14:32.17
in the same caliber.
00:14:32.20\00:14:33.67
"'It's a difficult
thing the king requests,
00:14:33.70\00:14:36.17
and there's no one else who can
tell it to the king except the
00:14:36.20\00:14:38.97
gods, whose
dwelling is not with flesh.'
00:14:39.01\00:14:42.14
For this reason, the king
was angry, and he was very
00:14:42.18\00:14:45.91
furious--" you see that he gets
angry in other chapters too--
00:14:45.95\00:14:50.15
"and he gave a
command to destroy all the
00:14:50.19\00:14:52.89
wise men of Babylon."
00:14:52.92\00:14:54.66
You know, Daniel, in chapter
2, says that God's given you
00:14:54.69\00:14:57.86
a great kingdom.
00:14:57.89\00:14:59.23
Who you set up, you set up.
Who you put down, you put down.
00:14:59.26\00:15:01.50
Nebuchadnezzar, he
would snap his fingers,
00:15:01.53\00:15:03.87
and that would be
a person's destiny.
00:15:03.90\00:15:06.03
So the king, he's preparing a
decree to gather and to execute
00:15:06.07\00:15:09.67
on a certain day all
the wise men of Babylon.
00:15:09.70\00:15:13.41
"And he gives a command
to destroy all the wise men.
00:15:13.44\00:15:16.54
So the decree went out, and
they begin killing the wise men.
00:15:16.58\00:15:21.05
So they sought Daniel and
his companions to kill them.
00:15:21.08\00:15:24.95
Then with counsel and
wisdom, Daniel answered Arioch,
00:15:24.99\00:15:28.82
the captain of the guard, who
had gone out to kill the wise
00:15:28.86\00:15:32.29
men of Babylon, he
answered and said to Arioch,
00:15:32.33\00:15:34.50
the king's captain, 'Why is the
decree from the king so urgent?'
00:15:34.56\00:15:38.10
Arioch made the
decision known to Daniel.
00:15:38.13\00:15:40.54
So Daniel went in and he asked
the king of time that he might
00:15:40.57\00:15:43.57
tell the king
the interpretation.
00:15:43.61\00:15:46.11
Then Daniel went to his house.
00:15:46.14\00:15:48.51
Now, Arioch said, 'Look,
there's some wise men here,
00:15:48.54\00:15:51.68
and you know those four Hebrews
you tested and you said they
00:15:51.71\00:15:54.32
were ten times
smarter than anyone else?
00:15:54.35\00:15:55.82
They said, if you
give them a little time,
00:15:55.85\00:15:57.79
even if you give
them a couple of days,
00:15:57.82\00:16:00.39
they'll be able to
tell you what you want.'"
00:16:00.42\00:16:02.06
Now the king is
starting to regret he says,
00:16:02.09\00:16:03.56
"wiping out all the wise men."
00:16:03.59\00:16:05.66
What do you have after
you kill all the wise men?
00:16:05.69\00:16:07.96
Dumb men.
00:16:08.00\00:16:09.36
And so he thought, "This isn't
going to help the kingdom."
00:16:09.40\00:16:11.10
So he probably was going slow.
00:16:11.13\00:16:13.67
I'm not so sure he had
started to execute them.
00:16:13.70\00:16:15.90
I think he was gathering them.
00:16:15.94\00:16:17.37
In the original,
it's not clear because,
00:16:17.41\00:16:19.84
I mean, of course, you're going
to--anyone that's getting ready
00:16:19.87\00:16:23.45
to be killed,
you can say, "Yeah,
00:16:23.48\00:16:25.08
wait, no, I got an
idea of what the dream is."
00:16:25.11\00:16:26.51
You'll try
something. So he goes back.
00:16:26.55\00:16:30.02
He says, "Look,
there's some Hebrews here.
00:16:30.05\00:16:31.55
If you give them a little time,
they'll tell you your dream."
00:16:31.59\00:16:34.82
Well, Nebuchadnezzar,
he still wants to know the
00:16:34.86\00:16:36.29
meaning of the dream.
00:16:36.32\00:16:37.96
So he evidently grants
them at least 24 hours.
00:16:37.99\00:16:41.86
And it says that "Daniel then,
he makes the thing known to his
00:16:41.90\00:16:47.67
friends
Hananiah, Mishael, Azariah,
00:16:47.70\00:16:49.70
his companions, that they might
seek mercies from the God of
00:16:49.74\00:16:52.84
heaven concerning this
secret, so that Daniel and his
00:16:52.87\00:16:56.48
companions might not perish with
all the wise men of Babylon."
00:16:56.51\00:17:04.39
You know, because of
Daniel's intercession,
00:17:04.42\00:17:06.32
they do not perish.
00:17:06.35\00:17:07.86
It's because of the intercession
of Jesus, we do not perish.
00:17:07.89\00:17:11.79
"And the secret was revealed
to Daniel in a night vision,
00:17:11.83\00:17:14.96
and Daniel blessed
the God of heaven."
00:17:15.00\00:17:18.50
Now, when you're struggling
and you need to know something,
00:17:18.53\00:17:22.04
Matthew chapter 18,
verse 19, "Again I say to you,
00:17:22.07\00:17:25.74
that if two of you agree on
earth concerning anything that
00:17:25.77\00:17:28.81
they ask, it will be done for
them by My Father in heaven."
00:17:28.84\00:17:32.38
You get two honest
believers, or three,
00:17:32.41\00:17:35.15
the Bible says, "An effectual
fervent prayer of a righteous
00:17:35.18\00:17:38.99
man avails much."
00:17:39.02\00:17:40.59
If you get two or
three of them together and,
00:17:40.62\00:17:42.39
here, you've got the four
of them and they're agreeing
00:17:42.42\00:17:45.09
together, they're the
representatives of God
00:17:45.13\00:17:46.86
in this pagan nation.
00:17:46.90\00:17:48.40
They're missionaries.
00:17:48.43\00:17:49.73
They say, "Lord, what good
are we going to do to You as
00:17:49.76\00:17:51.47
missionaries in this country
if we're all exterminated?
00:17:51.50\00:17:53.54
Show us the king's
dream and the interpretation."
00:17:53.57\00:17:56.64
And they prayed.
00:17:56.67\00:17:58.04
They have a very
serious--at least,
00:17:58.07\00:18:00.34
part of the
night--prayer meeting.
00:18:00.38\00:18:01.68
Eventually, they go to sleep,
and Daniel has the king's dream.
00:18:01.71\00:18:04.08
He knows it's the king's dream.
00:18:04.11\00:18:06.18
"Then the secret is revealed
to Daniel in a night vision.
00:18:06.21\00:18:09.18
So Daniel blesses
the God of heaven."
00:18:09.22\00:18:12.15
First thing he
does is he thanks God.
00:18:12.19\00:18:14.36
"Daniel answered and said,
'Blessed be the name of God
00:18:14.39\00:18:18.23
forever and ever, for
wisdom and might are His,
00:18:18.26\00:18:21.90
and He changes the
times and the seasons.
00:18:21.93\00:18:24.07
He removes kings
and raises up kings.'"
00:18:24.10\00:18:26.00
This is the
content of the vision.
00:18:26.03\00:18:27.64
"He gives wisdom to the
wise and knowledge to those
00:18:27.67\00:18:30.01
who have understanding.
00:18:30.04\00:18:31.54
He reveals the deep
secrets, the secret things.
00:18:31.57\00:18:34.24
He knows what's in the darkness,
and light dwells with Him.
00:18:34.28\00:18:37.28
I thank you and praise
You, O God of my fathers.
00:18:37.31\00:18:40.08
You have given me wisdom and
might and have made me to know
00:18:40.12\00:18:43.08
what we asked of You,
for You have made us to know
00:18:43.12\00:18:47.46
the king's demand."
00:18:47.49\00:18:49.12
Now, what did Daniel say?
00:18:49.16\00:18:50.46
"You have given us wisdom."
00:18:50.49\00:18:51.79
What does James say?
00:18:51.83\00:18:53.13
"If any of you lack
wisdom, if you ask of God,
00:18:53.16\00:18:56.97
he'll give to all liberally."
00:18:57.00\00:18:58.73
And by the way, that's one
of the gifts of the Spirit.
00:18:58.77\00:19:01.67
In Isaiah chapter
11, verse 2, it says that
00:19:01.70\00:19:04.37
"the Spirit of the
Lord was upon Him--"
00:19:04.41\00:19:06.41
and one of
those characteristics,
00:19:06.44\00:19:07.74
the spirit of wisdom.
00:19:07.78\00:19:09.21
So God will give you
wisdom if you need it,
00:19:09.24\00:19:12.91
especially if you want
wisdom to be a witness,
00:19:12.95\00:19:15.25
and that's what
they were praying for.
00:19:15.28\00:19:17.35
"So then Daniel goes to
Arioch, captain of the garden,
00:19:17.39\00:19:21.82
who the king had
appointed to destroy
00:19:21.86\00:19:23.96
all the wise men of Babylon."
00:19:23.99\00:19:25.36
And they probably got all the
wise men all huddled up in cages
00:19:25.39\00:19:28.60
or prisons, ready
for mass execution.
00:19:28.63\00:19:31.80
"And he went, and he
said, 'Do not destroy
00:19:31.83\00:19:34.04
the wise men of Babylon.
00:19:34.07\00:19:35.84
Take me before the
king, and I will tell the king
00:19:35.87\00:19:38.07
the interpretation.'
00:19:38.11\00:19:39.67
So Arioch quickly
brought Daniel before
00:19:39.71\00:19:42.11
the king and said thus to
him, 'I have found a man--'"
00:19:42.14\00:19:45.15
now, did he find
Daniel, or did Daniel find him?
00:19:45.18\00:19:49.15
But, you know, the
guard is looking for a reward.
00:19:49.18\00:19:52.39
You always want
to say, "I found him.
00:19:52.42\00:19:55.32
I was out searching diligently
because I know the king wanted
00:19:55.36\00:19:57.19
to know, and I found somebody."
00:19:57.23\00:19:58.63
Well, Daniel went and found him.
00:19:58.66\00:20:00.70
So you notice that here you've
got the Babylonian seeking the
00:20:00.73\00:20:03.13
glory for
himself--but you got Daniel.
00:20:03.16\00:20:06.60
What does he do? He
gives the glory to God.
00:20:06.63\00:20:09.27
"The king answers," in
verse 26, "he says to Daniel,
00:20:09.30\00:20:12.67
whose name was Belshazzar,
00:20:12.71\00:20:14.24
'Are you able to make
known to me the dream which
00:20:14.28\00:20:16.38
I have seen and
its interpretation?'
00:20:16.41\00:20:18.51
And Daniel said
yes, because I'm smarter
00:20:18.55\00:20:20.42
than everybody else.
00:20:20.45\00:20:22.15
I've got the special powers.
00:20:22.18\00:20:24.42
You know, even Joseph,
when he told the pharaoh
00:20:24.45\00:20:27.79
his dreams--and by the
way, in the first section,
00:20:27.82\00:20:30.33
when it talks about the
eminence of God, you've got
00:20:30.36\00:20:32.53
the same thing happening
in the story of Joseph,
00:20:32.56\00:20:35.76
where he's telling
the king his dream.
00:20:35.80\00:20:39.13
It's so often
through the Bible history,
00:20:39.17\00:20:41.14
you've got the Jewish prophet,
who's telling the pagan leader
00:20:41.17\00:20:45.54
what the future says or
what the future is all about,
00:20:45.57\00:20:48.68
and you have it happening
with Mordecai and Ahasuerus
00:20:48.71\00:20:53.88
with Daniel and Nebuchadnezzar,
with Daniel and Darius,
00:20:53.92\00:20:59.72
with Joseph and Pharaoh.
00:20:59.75\00:21:02.36
It's like God is using these
representatives in these pagan
00:21:02.39\00:21:06.16
countries to guide, and
even in the time of Jesus,
00:21:06.19\00:21:13.30
Pilate's wife
has a dream and says,
00:21:13.34\00:21:18.17
"Don't kill that
righteous man, the Jew."
00:21:18.21\00:21:20.88
Isn't that interesting?
00:21:20.91\00:21:22.44
So he says--Daniel can
take the credit for himself.
00:21:22.48\00:21:26.31
"He said, 'The secret
that the king has demanded,
00:21:26.35\00:21:29.68
the wise men,
astrologers, magicians,
00:21:29.72\00:21:31.75
and soothsayers
cannot declare to the king,
00:21:31.79\00:21:34.76
but there is a God in heaven."
00:21:34.79\00:21:36.79
Now, I can think of three
times they went to the wise men,
00:21:36.83\00:21:39.66
and they couldn't do it.
00:21:39.69\00:21:41.53
Well, the pharaoh's wise
men, could not reproduce all
00:21:41.56\00:21:46.10
the plagues, could they?
00:21:46.13\00:21:47.50
That Moses could produce.
00:21:47.54\00:21:49.07
And the pharaoh's magicians
could not interpret the dream
00:21:49.10\00:21:52.01
that Joseph could interpret.
00:21:52.04\00:21:53.91
And when the
handwriting is on the wall,
00:21:53.94\00:21:56.04
they bring in Belshazzar's
--not Belteshazzar--
00:21:56.08\00:21:59.95
Belshazzar's wise men.
00:22:00.05\00:22:01.35
They can't tell
what the writing means,
00:22:01.38\00:22:02.68
they have to call Daniel
in to tell what it means.
00:22:02.72\00:22:05.25
And here,
again, the astrologers,
00:22:05.29\00:22:09.12
you know, whenever I
drive home from church,
00:22:09.16\00:22:11.96
there's a place on the
left-hand side of the road,
00:22:11.99\00:22:15.06
"soothsayer, card, tarot cards."
00:22:15.10\00:22:19.73
You know, I've never gone
in, but I've been really curious
00:22:19.77\00:22:22.10
before, to go in
there and just to say,
00:22:22.14\00:22:25.14
"Tell me, what's going on?
00:22:25.17\00:22:26.88
Help me know the future."
00:22:26.91\00:22:29.38
I want to just see--you want to
know what they're going to say.
00:22:29.41\00:22:31.48
So, he gives the glory to God.
00:22:31.51\00:22:35.28
"There is a God in
heaven who reveals secrets,
00:22:35.32\00:22:39.05
and he's making known to
Nebuchadnezzar what will be
00:22:39.09\00:22:41.59
in the latter days."
00:22:41.62\00:22:43.09
All right, so
what's this dream about?
00:22:43.12\00:22:45.39
What's going to be
in the latter days.
00:22:45.43\00:22:46.90
"Your dream--" now,
I'm trying to get through
00:22:46.93\00:22:48.83
these 50 verses here--
00:22:48.86\00:22:50.20
"Your dream and the visions
of--you're on your head--on
00:22:50.23\00:22:53.64
your bed--are these."
00:22:53.67\00:22:55.47
All right, now, we're going
to show you something on the
00:22:55.50\00:22:57.27
screen in just a moment.
00:22:57.31\00:22:59.04
Amazing Facts spent three
and a half years--you know,
00:22:59.07\00:23:02.01
that's 1,260 days.
00:23:02.04\00:23:04.25
We spent three and a half years
working on a video on Daniel 2.
00:23:04.28\00:23:08.95
We're not going to go through
this lesson without showing you
00:23:08.98\00:23:10.42
at least the vision of
what Nebuchadnezzar dreamed,
00:23:10.45\00:23:14.62
and so here's a
quick--and I think I'd do some
00:23:14.66\00:23:16.39
narration on it.
00:23:16.42\00:23:17.76
We're going to show you--if
you guys are ready to roll it,
00:23:17.79\00:23:19.26
we'll show the video from
our "Kingdoms in Time" video.
00:23:19.29\00:23:22.90
Doug: One night,
about 2,500 years ago,
00:23:23.26\00:23:26.53
the powerful Babylonian king
Nebuchadnezzar fell asleep while
00:23:26.57\00:23:29.97
contemplating the
vast glory of his kingdom.
00:23:30.01\00:23:33.17
As this grand architect of
one of the world's most powerful
00:23:33.21\00:23:36.64
empires drifted off
into a restless sleep,
00:23:36.68\00:23:40.12
he wondered what the
future held for his kingdom.
00:23:40.15\00:23:43.89
¤¤¤
00:23:43.92\00:23:48.22
Doug: God took this
opportunity to reveal to him,
00:23:48.26\00:23:50.49
through a vivid dream, not only
the ultimate fate of his nation,
00:23:50.53\00:23:54.46
but also the rise and the fall
of world empires from his day,
00:23:54.50\00:23:58.67
all the way to the
end of Earth's history.
00:23:58.70\00:24:02.47
¤¤¤
00:24:02.50\00:24:05.01
Doug: In this amazing
prophetic dream found in Daniel
00:24:05.04\00:24:07.51
chapter 2, God showed
Nebuchadnezzar a colossal statue
00:24:07.54\00:24:11.28
with a head of
gold, the chest of silver,
00:24:11.31\00:24:14.75
thighs and belly of
bronze, legs of iron,
00:24:14.78\00:24:18.05
and the feet and toes
mixed partly of clay and iron.
00:24:18.09\00:24:22.36
Then, suddenly, a huge
stone plunged from the heavens
00:24:22.39\00:24:25.96
and smashed the idol,
pulverizing it into dust.
00:24:25.99\00:24:29.86
¤¤¤
00:24:29.90\00:24:36.60
Doug: And the stone, it grows
into a gigantic mountain that
00:24:36.64\00:24:40.11
fills the earth.
00:24:40.14\00:24:42.91
Doug: Nebuchadnezzar knew
this was no ordinary dream.
00:24:42.94\00:24:46.05
So the troubled king called for
his wisest counselors to come
00:24:46.08\00:24:49.92
and relate to him the
dream and explain its meaning.
00:24:49.95\00:24:53.32
They, of course, were powerless
to tell the king his dream,
00:24:53.36\00:24:56.39
but then God gave the same dream
and its interpretation to a Jew
00:24:56.42\00:25:00.76
stationed in Babylon, a
young man by the name of Daniel.
00:25:00.80\00:25:05.63
He went before the king and
presented the precise details
00:25:05.67\00:25:08.37
of the dream, and then
gave the interpretation.
00:25:08.40\00:25:11.87
¤¤¤
00:25:11.91\00:25:16.85
Doug: And, by the
way, I want to thank Nathan
00:25:17.18\00:25:19.01
for, at the last minute, Nathan
Batchelor cut that out of the
00:25:19.05\00:25:22.45
DVD for me yesterday so we
could share it with you today.
00:25:22.48\00:25:25.39
It gives you a visual.
00:25:25.42\00:25:26.86
By the way, this is two
minutes of a one-hour program,
00:25:26.89\00:25:28.96
called "Kingdoms in
Time," and as I mentioned,
00:25:28.99\00:25:31.09
if you want to see
the whole prophecy study,
00:25:31.13\00:25:32.69
you can go online
and learn about that.
00:25:32.73\00:25:34.93
But so he has this dream,
and now Daniel's getting ready
00:25:34.96\00:25:39.53
to tell the king what
the dream is all about.
00:25:39.57\00:25:42.10
And you go to
verse--let's see here,
00:25:42.14\00:25:46.71
verse 31, "You O king,
are watching and behold,
00:25:46.74\00:25:52.05
a great image--"
so it's very tall.
00:25:52.08\00:25:54.12
It's very big-- "this
great image whose splendor--"
00:25:54.15\00:25:57.85
it's very bright, it's
excellent, it's brilliant,
00:25:57.89\00:25:59.95
it's powerful, it's
awesome--"stood before you.
00:26:00.06\00:26:03.29
It's form--" where it
says, "awesome," there, it means
00:26:03.32\00:26:05.46
"terrible, frightening."
00:26:05.49\00:26:08.76
Now,
Nebuchadnezzar is a pagan king,
00:26:08.80\00:26:11.77
and what you have happening is
these pagan empires are outlined
00:26:11.80\00:26:16.81
in the form of an idol.
00:26:16.84\00:26:19.01
They all were
involved in idolatry.
00:26:19.04\00:26:21.48
It's interesting,
later, Daniel has a dream,
00:26:21.51\00:26:24.28
and his dreams are about
beasts in Daniel chapter 7,
00:26:24.31\00:26:27.28
we'll get to later.
00:26:27.32\00:26:28.75
Daniel, as a Hebrew, they were
always worried about beasts that
00:26:28.78\00:26:31.75
ate their sheep, and it's
all these beasts that eat sheep,
00:26:31.79\00:26:33.89
you know, lions
and leopards and bears,
00:26:33.92\00:26:36.62
and then this
strange, nondescript beast.
00:26:36.66\00:26:38.69
But Daniel--Nebuchadnezzar,
rather, he's getting
00:26:38.73\00:26:41.80
this vision as an idol
because this is an outline.
00:26:41.83\00:26:45.13
The different idol and the
different metals representing
00:26:45.17\00:26:47.30
the kingdoms that
would rule over God's people.
00:26:47.34\00:26:50.61
Now, you might be thinking,
"Are all these the major
00:26:50.64\00:26:52.71
empires of the world?"
00:26:52.74\00:26:54.04
No.
00:26:54.08\00:26:55.38
"I mean, what about China?
00:26:55.41\00:26:56.71
What about the Inca Indians
and their great empires in many
00:26:56.75\00:26:59.15
parts the globe at this
time, advanced civilizations?"
00:26:59.18\00:27:02.62
The only ones mentioned here
are the ones that had principle
00:27:02.65\00:27:06.25
power over God's people.
00:27:06.29\00:27:09.46
And as God's people spread
during the time of Christianity,
00:27:09.49\00:27:11.93
you notice Rome is
included, and then the divisions
00:27:11.96\00:27:14.56
of the Roman Empire.
00:27:14.56\00:27:15.80
So that's why it's not talking
about the kingdom of China or
00:27:15.83\00:27:17.93
the Incas, or others
that might be mentioned.
00:27:17.97\00:27:21.17
So he goes on, and he
said, "You see this great image.
00:27:21.20\00:27:25.51
The head is fine gold.
00:27:25.54\00:27:27.48
Its chest and its
arms are of silver.
00:27:27.51\00:27:30.18
Its belly in its
thighs are a bronze.
00:27:30.21\00:27:33.21
Its legs are of iron.
00:27:33.25\00:27:34.98
Its feet partly of
iron and partly of clay.
00:27:35.02\00:27:38.19
You watch till the stone
was cut out without hands,
00:27:38.22\00:27:41.39
which struck the image
on the feet of iron and clay
00:27:41.42\00:27:43.93
and broke them in pieces.
00:27:43.96\00:27:46.23
Then the iron and the clay and
the bronze and the silver and
00:27:46.26\00:27:48.86
the gold were crushed together
and became like chaff of the
00:27:48.90\00:27:51.80
summer threshing floor, and the
wind carried them away so that
00:27:51.83\00:27:55.67
no trace of them was found, and
the stone that struck the image
00:27:55.70\00:27:58.81
became a great mountain,
and it filled the whole earth.
00:27:58.84\00:28:01.88
This is the dream.
00:28:01.91\00:28:03.51
Now we will give
the interpretation of it
00:28:03.55\00:28:05.75
before the king."
00:28:05.78\00:28:07.28
Now, the king probably
is absolutely speechless.
00:28:07.32\00:28:09.62
Can you imagine somebody
telling you what you dream?
00:28:09.65\00:28:12.42
It's like someone
reading your mind,
00:28:12.45\00:28:14.72
and the king is realizing this
young Hebrew whippersnapper,
00:28:14.76\00:28:18.39
he's connected.
00:28:18.43\00:28:20.80
He knows the Lord.
00:28:20.83\00:28:23.00
And the king is on
the edge of his seat.
00:28:23.03\00:28:25.27
He didn't even want to interrupt
Daniel because Daniel just
00:28:25.30\00:28:26.84
keeps on going.
00:28:26.87\00:28:28.17
He doesn't say,
"Am I right, King?"
00:28:28.20\00:28:29.50
You notice that?
00:28:29.54\00:28:30.84
With complete
authority, he says,
00:28:30.87\00:28:32.17
"This was your dream,
and now we'll tell you
00:28:32.21\00:28:33.51
the interpretation."
00:28:33.54\00:28:34.84
He doesn't wait to
say, "How did they do?
00:28:34.88\00:28:36.18
Is that close to
what your dream was?"
00:28:36.21\00:28:38.01
So that just shows
you the confidence.
00:28:38.05\00:28:41.12
He knew that it was the
Holy Spirit that had guided him.
00:28:41.15\00:28:43.49
"Now we will give the
interpretation before the king.
00:28:43.52\00:28:47.02
You, O king, are
a king of kings."
00:28:47.06\00:28:49.46
There were a lot
of kingdoms under him.
00:28:49.49\00:28:51.19
He's a counterfeit
Babylon king of kings.
00:28:51.23\00:28:54.46
Jesus, the King of
king, New Jerusalem.
00:28:54.46\00:28:57.83
Nebuchadnezzar,
king of king, Babylon.
00:28:57.87\00:29:00.74
"For the King of heaven
has given you a kingdom,
00:29:00.77\00:29:03.81
power, strength, and
glory, and wherever the children
00:29:03.84\00:29:06.98
of men dwell, or
the beasts of the field,
00:29:07.01\00:29:08.71
and the birds of the heaven,
He's given them into your hand,
00:29:08.74\00:29:10.91
and He's made you
ruler over them all.
00:29:10.95\00:29:12.88
You are this head of gold."
00:29:12.91\00:29:15.35
Well, right now, Nebuchadnezzar,
he's feeling pretty good,
00:29:15.38\00:29:18.79
but then he's remembering,
"Wait, it doesn't stay gold."
00:29:18.82\00:29:22.36
And so, then he goes on, and
he outlines the other kingdoms.
00:29:22.39\00:29:26.33
Now, I'm going to go
through the other kingdoms,
00:29:26.36\00:29:28.16
and I'm going to back up.
00:29:28.20\00:29:29.60
I'm going to give you a little
more detail on each of them,
00:29:29.63\00:29:31.70
just so we can get
through the passage here, okay?
00:29:31.73\00:29:33.64
"But after
you--" I'm in verse 39,
00:29:33.67\00:29:36.44
Daniel 2, verse 39.
00:29:36.47\00:29:38.27
"After you shall arise
another kingdom inferior to you,
00:29:38.31\00:29:41.11
then another
third kingdom of bronze,
00:29:41.14\00:29:44.48
which will rule
over all the earth.
00:29:44.51\00:29:46.78
Then a fourth kingdom
shall be strong as iron,
00:29:46.82\00:29:49.42
inasmuch iron breaks in
pieces and shatters everything,
00:29:49.45\00:29:52.29
like iron that crushes, that
kingdom will break in pieces
00:29:52.32\00:29:55.59
and crush the others.
00:29:55.62\00:29:57.13
Whereas you saw the feet
and toes were partly of potter's
00:29:57.16\00:30:00.10
clay and partly of iron,
the kingdom shall be divided,
00:30:00.13\00:30:04.73
yet the strength of
the iron shall be in it,
00:30:04.77\00:30:06.94
just as you saw
the iron mixed with--"
00:30:06.97\00:30:08.77
and the word there is
"miry clay" or "potter's clay,"
00:30:08.80\00:30:12.34
and I'll get to
that in just a moment.
00:30:12.37\00:30:17.71
"But as you saw the iron
mixed with the ceramic clay,
00:30:17.75\00:30:20.78
they'll mingle
with the seed of men,
00:30:20.82\00:30:22.92
but they'll not adhere.
00:30:22.95\00:30:24.25
They'll not cleave.
00:30:24.29\00:30:25.79
They'll not be glued
or fixed to one another,
00:30:25.82\00:30:29.02
just as iron does
not mix with clay.
00:30:29.06\00:30:31.59
And in the days of these kings
the God of heaven will set up a
00:30:31.63\00:30:35.30
kingdom that will
never be destroyed,
00:30:35.33\00:30:37.83
and the kingdom will
not be left to other people,
00:30:37.87\00:30:40.27
but it will break in pieces and
consume all of these kingdoms,
00:30:40.30\00:30:43.47
and it will stand forever.
00:30:43.51\00:30:46.21
Inasmuch as you saw a stone
cut out of the mountain without
00:30:46.24\00:30:49.41
hands and that it
broke in pieces the iron,
00:30:49.44\00:30:52.48
the bronze, the
clay, the silver,
00:30:52.51\00:30:54.15
the gold, the great God has
made known to the king what will
00:30:54.18\00:30:58.85
come to pass after this."
00:30:58.89\00:31:00.36
He says, "He's showing you
what's going to come to pass.
00:31:00.39\00:31:02.32
The dream is certain and
its interpretation sure."
00:31:02.36\00:31:07.40
Now here, in the
middle of the Bible,
00:31:07.46\00:31:09.53
you've got a
statement about Bible prophecy.
00:31:09.56\00:31:11.30
God's Word does not fail.
00:31:11.33\00:31:12.87
The heavens and
earth will pass away.
00:31:12.90\00:31:14.20
God's Word does not pass away.
00:31:14.24\00:31:15.84
These words are
certain and sure.
00:31:15.87\00:31:17.81
Did it happen?
00:31:17.84\00:31:19.71
Well, we know from
the Dead Sea Scrolls,
00:31:19.74\00:31:21.44
and even just
basic Jewish history,
00:31:21.48\00:31:23.04
Daniel was a real person.
00:31:23.08\00:31:24.51
If you don't believe the
Dead Sea Scrolls, believe Jesus.
00:31:24.55\00:31:26.92
Jesus talks about
Daniel the prophet.
00:31:26.95\00:31:29.88
He said, "If you
want to know the future,
00:31:29.92\00:31:31.29
whoever reads,
let him understand."
00:31:31.32\00:31:32.99
And he outlined what
was going to happen here,
00:31:33.02\00:31:36.26
and it happened
exactly as it was foretold.
00:31:36.29\00:31:38.73
Babylon was a kingdom
that was a golden kingdom.
00:31:38.76\00:31:42.70
The historian Herodotus,
the Greek historian Herodotus,
00:31:42.73\00:31:50.21
he said that Babylon--and most
historians today think he was
00:31:50.24\00:31:53.21
exaggerating, but he said the
walls are about 60 miles around,
00:31:53.24\00:31:57.45
15 miles on each
side, 300 feet tall.
00:31:57.48\00:32:02.12
They were massive,
maybe not that big,
00:32:02.15\00:32:04.75
but it was a massive kingdom.
00:32:04.79\00:32:06.69
Nebuchadnezzar did not want
any other kingdom to be able
00:32:06.72\00:32:10.26
to overthrow his kingdom.
00:32:10.29\00:32:12.16
He was bent his entire
life on being king of the world,
00:32:12.19\00:32:16.46
and just like Nimrod built Babel
because he wanted to be king of
00:32:16.50\00:32:22.04
the world--that's why they built
the tower--Nebuchadnezzar built
00:32:22.07\00:32:25.17
Babylon, and he
actually--the ruins,
00:32:25.21\00:32:27.48
supposedly, the ruins of
the ancient Tower of Babel were
00:32:27.51\00:32:30.71
still visible during his
day, and he took the stones
00:32:30.75\00:32:34.45
and began to rebuild it.
00:32:34.48\00:32:36.08
He built a great
seven-layer tower.
00:32:36.12\00:32:37.82
He did build the Tower of Babel,
00:32:37.85\00:32:39.29
not as tall as the
other one, to Marduk.
00:32:39.32\00:32:42.36
He supposedly spent 50 tons--had
50 tons of gold--I think that's
00:32:42.39\00:32:48.13
more gold than we have in Fort
Knox--on one statue--I think it
00:32:48.16\00:32:53.17
was of Marduk--in the temple.
00:32:53.20\00:32:55.00
And so
everywhere there was gold.
00:32:55.04\00:32:58.07
It was the most
magnificent palace in
00:32:58.11\00:32:59.67
the world in Ancient Babylon.
00:32:59.71\00:33:01.38
Even after Alexander
the Great conquered Persia,
00:33:01.41\00:33:04.48
you know where
he ended up dying?
00:33:04.51\00:33:05.98
Babylon. He moved to Babylon.
00:33:06.01\00:33:08.45
And our son was in the Marines.
00:33:08.48\00:33:11.75
He was stationed in Iraq, and he
went and looked at the ancient
00:33:11.79\00:33:14.32
ruins of Babylon.
00:33:14.36\00:33:15.66
It's still there today.
00:33:15.69\00:33:16.99
God said Babylon would fall
and it would never be rebuilt,
00:33:17.03\00:33:19.59
and that's what happened,
and you--I don't want to say too
00:33:19.63\00:33:23.50
much about it now, but
you read in Daniel 5 about
00:33:23.53\00:33:25.80
the fall of Babylon.
00:33:25.83\00:33:27.14
That was foretold, not
only by Daniel, but by others.
00:33:27.17\00:33:29.90
Jeremiah, Isaiah, talked
about the fall of Babylon,
00:33:29.94\00:33:32.47
the handwriting on
the wall, and Cyrus,
00:33:32.51\00:33:37.65
the Persian general,
working with the Medes.
00:33:37.68\00:33:39.95
It was a Medo-Persian kingdom.
00:33:39.98\00:33:41.82
They diverted the
river, went under the walls.
00:33:41.85\00:33:44.45
That was all foretold.
00:33:44.49\00:33:45.82
You read in Isaiah chapter
45, it says the name of the king
00:33:45.85\00:33:48.46
that would overthrow Babylon,
and it tells them means that the
00:33:48.49\00:33:51.13
king would use to
overthrow Babylon,
00:33:51.16\00:33:53.36
and it happened
exactly as it was foretold.
00:33:53.40\00:33:55.83
It says the gates
would be left open.
00:33:55.86\00:33:57.33
The soldiers would be terrified,
and they'd be inebriated,
00:33:57.37\00:34:01.10
and there was a
party that night.
00:34:01.14\00:34:02.74
All that exactly was fulfilled.
00:34:02.77\00:34:04.47
We know that Isaiah wrote
that before it transpired.
00:34:04.51\00:34:07.51
God must know the future.
00:34:07.54\00:34:09.04
Now, you notice
what's happening.
00:34:09.08\00:34:10.85
You go from the
golden kingdom of Babylon.
00:34:10.88\00:34:15.25
The splendor and the power
of Babylon was unsurpassed.
00:34:15.28\00:34:18.82
Nebuchadnezzar, you know, he
had stamped millions of bricks
00:34:18.85\00:34:24.23
around Babylon
with his own name,
00:34:24.26\00:34:26.63
Nebuchadnezzar II, and they
found many reliefs that said
00:34:26.66\00:34:29.70
things like this: "Babylon, the
city which is the delight of my
00:34:29.73\00:34:33.47
eyes, which I have
glorified, may it last forever."
00:34:33.50\00:34:36.30
They found that
written in Babylonian cuneiform
00:34:36.34\00:34:38.57
all over the empire.
00:34:38.61\00:34:39.91
"May it last
forever. May it last forever."
00:34:39.94\00:34:41.91
You get to our
next study on Daniel 3,
00:34:41.94\00:34:44.18
he builds a great image
all of gold because he wants
00:34:44.21\00:34:46.41
his kingdom to last forever.
00:34:46.45\00:34:48.12
He thinks he can
overrule the dream,
00:34:48.15\00:34:50.22
the vision, by
making it all gold,
00:34:50.25\00:34:52.85
but Babylon
fell to the Persians.
00:34:52.89\00:34:57.46
Cyrus--of course, you
had the Medo-Persian Empire,
00:34:57.49\00:34:59.86
the two arms.
00:34:59.89\00:35:01.70
You got the bear stands up on
one side because--in Daniel 7.
00:35:01.73\00:35:05.77
The Persians were a
little stronger than the Medes.
00:35:05.80\00:35:09.04
Cyrus eventually shifted it all.
00:35:09.07\00:35:11.57
His father was Persian.
00:35:11.61\00:35:13.48
His mother was Median, so
they let him be the sole king,
00:35:13.51\00:35:16.11
and soon it was known
as just the Persian Empire.
00:35:16.14\00:35:19.88
Silver, they
are a little bigger.
00:35:19.91\00:35:22.55
They last longer,
but silver is inferior.
00:35:22.58\00:35:26.65
They didn't have the
glory of Nebuchadnezzar.
00:35:26.69\00:35:28.96
The currency in
Persia was silver,
00:35:28.99\00:35:31.63
but then, after--the
Persian kingdom lasts for--oh,
00:35:31.66\00:35:36.70
let me see--the Babylonian
kingdom lasts about 66 years.
00:35:36.73\00:35:39.53
Persian kingdom, it lasted
from 538 to about 331 B.C.,
00:35:39.57\00:35:46.71
and it falls to
Alexander the Great,
00:35:46.74\00:35:48.64
and they were known as the
Greek soldiers--bronze soldiers,
00:35:48.68\00:35:55.55
rather, because bronze was
their--I know it says in your
00:35:55.58\00:36:00.09
Bible, "brass" in
some of your Bibles.
00:36:00.12\00:36:01.76
There was no modern brass.
00:36:01.79\00:36:03.19
That was made with tin.
00:36:03.22\00:36:04.79
It was really what we
called "bronze" back then,
00:36:04.83\00:36:07.23
and they used to
use bronze armor,
00:36:07.30\00:36:10.37
and one of the--you
can read in your lesson,
00:36:10.40\00:36:15.24
Psammetichus I, of
Egypt, according to Herodotus,
00:36:15.27\00:36:21.48
the historian, he saw invading
Greek pirates that were the
00:36:21.51\00:36:25.88
fulfillment of a prophecy that
was foretold of "men of bronze
00:36:25.91\00:36:29.58
coming from the sea."
00:36:29.62\00:36:31.62
And so they had heard
that these men of bronze,
00:36:31.65\00:36:34.16
Greek men of
bronze--isn't that interesting?
00:36:34.19\00:36:36.66
So totally outside of
the Bible, even in history.
00:36:36.69\00:36:40.10
So when Daniel says, "Next,
there's this kingdom of bronze."
00:36:40.13\00:36:44.93
Now, which is worth
more, gold or silver?
00:36:44.97\00:36:49.44
Gold.
00:36:49.47\00:36:50.77
In Solomon days, it says,
"Silver was counted for nothing
00:36:50.81\00:36:53.54
because everything was gold."
00:36:53.58\00:36:55.18
But what's worth
more, silver or bronze?
00:36:55.21\00:36:57.75
Silver.
00:36:57.78\00:36:59.45
And then you've got
the kingdom of Alexander,
00:36:59.48\00:37:02.48
and it lasts a little longer,
and it spreads a little farther
00:37:02.52\00:37:06.72
but--and he was--Alexander was
very smart in how he entrenched
00:37:06.76\00:37:12.13
his government.
00:37:12.16\00:37:13.56
So even when the
Romans took over,
00:37:13.60\00:37:15.13
they still used Greek as
the language of learning.
00:37:15.16\00:37:17.77
Alexander was
brilliant on many levels.
00:37:17.80\00:37:23.07
But he dies in Babylon.
00:37:23.10\00:37:24.67
His kingdom is divided
among his four generals,
00:37:24.71\00:37:26.47
and then they
finally fell to the Romans.
00:37:26.51\00:37:32.01
They figured that
was about 168 B.C.,
00:37:32.05\00:37:34.55
and they, the Romans
then last for about 500 years,
00:37:34.58\00:37:39.32
and it's interesting: The
Roman Empire lasts longer.
00:37:39.35\00:37:42.79
So what's happening
here with each one of these
00:37:42.82\00:37:44.19
metals--you getting this?
00:37:44.23\00:37:46.09
You've got gold is
softer than silver,
00:37:46.13\00:37:49.30
which is softer than bronze,
which is softer than iron,
00:37:49.33\00:37:54.10
which is softer than concrete.
00:37:54.14\00:38:00.08
Now, what is in the feet?
00:38:00.11\00:38:02.71
Iron and what?
00:38:02.74\00:38:04.81
Iron and clay.
00:38:04.85\00:38:06.41
You know what he says he saw?
00:38:06.45\00:38:07.75
He says, "iron and miry clay."
00:38:07.78\00:38:10.42
What is the number one building
material in the world today?
00:38:10.45\00:38:14.09
It's reinforced concrete.
00:38:14.12\00:38:16.49
It is iron mixed with concrete
is the number one building
00:38:16.52\00:38:20.26
material we are
living today in the world,
00:38:20.30\00:38:22.20
and, you know the
people who mastered concrete?
00:38:22.23\00:38:25.33
The Romans.
00:38:25.37\00:38:27.37
You ever heard of the Pantheon?
00:38:27.40\00:38:29.67
It--built about 120 A.D.
00:38:29.70\00:38:32.47
It's the largest
expanse of non-iron reinforced
00:38:32.51\00:38:36.41
concrete--because this is
during the time of just Rome,
00:38:36.44\00:38:38.65
which is, you know,
this kingdom of iron,
00:38:38.68\00:38:41.55
but then they learned to
reinforce iron mixed with clay
00:38:41.58\00:38:43.72
about the time that Rome fell to
the barbarians from the north.
00:38:43.75\00:38:51.29
And then, down in the
feet, you've got these ten toes.
00:38:51.33\00:38:56.23
So look at how
perfectly this all happened.
00:38:56.26\00:38:59.13
He foretold that Babylon
would fall to the Persians,
00:38:59.17\00:39:03.51
the kingdom of Greece--I'm
sorry--of Persia, the silver.
00:39:03.54\00:39:07.51
Then you heard that the Persians
would fall to the Greeks.
00:39:07.54\00:39:11.55
That's the bronze.
00:39:11.58\00:39:13.21
The Greeks would
eventually fall to the Romans.
00:39:13.25\00:39:16.89
Roman is known as the
kingdom of what metal?
00:39:16.92\00:39:19.95
Iron.
00:39:19.99\00:39:21.36
You know why the
Romans were able to conquer?
00:39:21.39\00:39:24.56
They had mastered iron.
00:39:24.59\00:39:26.19
What did David say
about the sort of Goliath?
00:39:26.23\00:39:29.96
He said, "There's none like it."
00:39:30.00\00:39:31.97
You know why?
00:39:32.00\00:39:33.60
Because the Israelites
at first had bronze swords,
00:39:33.64\00:39:36.84
and they're great if
you're cutting a person,
00:39:36.87\00:39:38.87
but as soon as you went
and tried to fight another iron
00:39:38.91\00:39:42.71
sword with a bronze
sword, the iron sword would cut
00:39:42.74\00:39:45.61
the bronze sword in two.
00:39:45.65\00:39:48.28
It was so much harder--as
much as iron breaks in
00:39:48.32\00:39:50.62
pieces everything else.
00:39:50.65\00:39:51.95
When the Romans learned
to mass produce iron weapons,
00:39:51.99\00:39:54.26
it was iron swords.
00:39:54.29\00:39:56.12
It was an iron spear that
went into the side of Jesus.
00:39:56.16\00:39:58.46
Probably iron nails
that put him on the cross.
00:39:58.49\00:40:01.30
And so Rome became
known as a kingdom of iron.
00:40:01.33\00:40:04.13
In the midst of their kingdom,
God waited until that moment
00:40:04.17\00:40:08.67
where you had a
universal language.
00:40:08.70\00:40:10.97
You had roads going everywhere.
00:40:11.01\00:40:12.51
Greek was the
language of commerce,
00:40:12.54\00:40:14.51
just like in the
world today English is
00:40:14.54\00:40:16.31
the language of business.
00:40:16.34\00:40:17.98
And all the
Chinese study English and,
00:40:18.01\00:40:21.55
you know, even Brazil, all
the different parts of world,
00:40:21.58\00:40:23.79
they learn English
because it's the international
00:40:23.82\00:40:25.55
language of business.
00:40:25.59\00:40:26.89
In the time of
Jesus, it was Greek.
00:40:26.92\00:40:29.52
The writing was in Greek.
00:40:29.56\00:40:30.86
The Scriptures were even
translated into Greek because
00:40:30.89\00:40:33.06
everyone could read Greek.
00:40:33.09\00:40:34.50
The Romans built roads that went
all the way--the Roman Empire
00:40:34.56\00:40:38.20
went from the
islands, the British Islands,
00:40:38.23\00:40:41.87
to the Arabian Sea, to
the coast of North Africa.
00:40:41.90\00:40:45.97
It was a vast empire.
00:40:46.01\00:40:47.31
So you see what's happening
with each one of these kingdoms?
00:40:47.34\00:40:49.41
They're occupying God's people.
00:40:49.44\00:40:51.25
That's why these
kingdoms are mentioned, okay?
00:40:51.28\00:40:54.02
God is telling his people what
to expect about the kingdoms
00:40:54.05\00:40:56.18
that would occupy them
and because they weren't going
00:40:56.22\00:40:59.12
to get another king again.
00:40:59.15\00:41:00.52
After Nebuchadnezzar
conquered Jerusalem,
00:41:00.56\00:41:02.72
he said, "You're not going
to have your own independent
00:41:02.76\00:41:04.79
King again, until the Son
of David comes, the Messiah."
00:41:04.83\00:41:07.76
That's the stone, the
last part of the vision, right?
00:41:07.76\00:41:12.07
So each kingdom
lasts a little longer.
00:41:12.10\00:41:14.00
The Persians lasted
longer than the Babylonian--not
00:41:14.04\00:41:16.81
as glorious--bigger territory.
00:41:16.84\00:41:19.94
The Greeks lasted
longer than the Persians.
00:41:19.97\00:41:21.88
Alexander marched to India.
00:41:21.91\00:41:23.65
There are Afghanis
that have Greek blood,
00:41:23.68\00:41:28.38
still to this day.
00:41:28.42\00:41:29.65
They've done a DNA test, and the
people in Afghanistan have Greek
00:41:29.68\00:41:31.95
blood because Alexander's
soldiers went through there,
00:41:31.99\00:41:34.82
and there are people in
Northern India that have Greek
00:41:34.86\00:41:37.36
blood--isn't that
interesting?--when
00:41:37.39\00:41:39.16
they do DNA tests.
00:41:39.19\00:41:40.63
Then you've got the
Romans--went even farther.
00:41:40.66\00:41:43.26
They went into North Africa.
00:41:43.30\00:41:44.73
They went up
into Europe, and then,
00:41:44.77\00:41:48.07
when the Roman Empire
fell, and you get into the feet,
00:41:48.10\00:41:50.77
ten divisions of the
Roman Empire then scattered
00:41:50.81\00:41:53.71
around the world.
00:41:53.74\00:41:55.54
From those kingdoms of
Spain and Portugal and England,
00:41:55.58\00:42:00.45
you've heard it
said, "The sun never set on
00:42:00.48\00:42:02.05
the English Empire."
00:42:02.08\00:42:03.39
They went around the world.
00:42:03.42\00:42:04.82
Brazil, they
went around the world.
00:42:04.85\00:42:06.55
Portugal, I mean,
they went around the world.
00:42:06.59\00:42:08.99
Spain, they went
around the world.
00:42:09.02\00:42:10.49
They took those
kingdoms and around the world,
00:42:10.53\00:42:13.13
and with them, the Gospel went.
00:42:13.16\00:42:16.90
So it still was the kingdom
that would occupy their people.
00:42:16.93\00:42:19.90
Now, when you get to the feet--I
talked to you about the building
00:42:19.93\00:42:22.64
material--why does
it say, "iron and clay"?
00:42:22.67\00:42:26.61
"Iron" is what empire?
00:42:26.64\00:42:28.81
Rome.
00:42:28.84\00:42:30.15
What does clay represent?
00:42:30.18\00:42:32.21
What was man made of?
The dust of the ground.
00:42:32.25\00:42:36.08
And, you know, Jesus,
once he spit on the ground,
00:42:36.12\00:42:39.02
he took some dust.
00:42:39.05\00:42:40.36
He made some clay,
put it on someone's eye.
00:42:40.39\00:42:42.26
That's how God made man.
00:42:42.29\00:42:43.86
Probably wasn't just dry clay.
00:42:43.89\00:42:45.43
He added some living
water to it and made man.
00:42:45.46\00:42:48.16
And so here, what you have
in the feet is you've got a
00:42:48.20\00:42:50.77
combination of
state and religion.
00:42:50.80\00:42:55.00
And this is what
happened during the division
00:42:55.04\00:42:57.87
of the Roman Empire.
00:42:57.91\00:42:59.31
Instead of it Rome
being ruled by Caesars,
00:42:59.34\00:43:01.28
now Rome was ruled by popes, and
we know that that would receive
00:43:01.31\00:43:06.61
a deadly wound, but that same
power would come back again.
00:43:06.65\00:43:09.68
What calendar do we use now?
00:43:09.72\00:43:12.72
Roman calendar.
00:43:12.75\00:43:14.39
Yeah, I know.
00:43:14.42\00:43:16.16
Several hundred years ago, we
went from the Julian calendar to
00:43:16.19\00:43:19.66
the Gregorian calendar, but
they're both Roman calendars,
00:43:19.69\00:43:22.53
and the reason we got a month
named July is Julius Caesar,
00:43:22.56\00:43:26.60
and the reason we have a month
named August--this is all over
00:43:26.63\00:43:29.20
the world, isn't it?
00:43:29.24\00:43:30.54
Do the Chinese
still have August?
00:43:30.57\00:43:31.87
Yeah, they use the same calendar
we use--it's Augustus Caesar.
00:43:31.91\00:43:35.41
And so anywhere you
go in the world today,
00:43:35.44\00:43:38.21
you can see the
influence of Rome.
00:43:38.25\00:43:40.58
So we're still
living in the division,
00:43:40.62\00:43:42.12
those ten divisions
of the Roman Empire,
00:43:42.15\00:43:44.55
and, I realize they fractured
and redivided several times,
00:43:44.59\00:43:46.42
but where do you think
the economies of the world--
00:43:46.45\00:43:49.42
where's the power rest?
00:43:49.46\00:43:52.13
It's from those divisions.
00:43:52.16\00:43:54.03
America is really an extension
of the British kingdom.
00:43:54.10\00:43:58.33
I know we broke away.
00:43:58.37\00:43:59.87
South America, they're
extensions of the Spanish
00:43:59.90\00:44:02.07
kingdoms and the
Portuguese kingdoms and the--
00:44:02.10\00:44:05.27
the Swiss and the
Burgundians and the Italians,
00:44:05.31\00:44:07.94
and so those ten divisions of
the Roman Empire ended up going
00:44:07.98\00:44:11.88
around the world,
but at that point,
00:44:11.91\00:44:14.22
during the time of Paul,
Christianity began to spread
00:44:14.25\00:44:16.89
around Rome, and
when the Romans fell,
00:44:16.92\00:44:19.95
Christianity then
spread around these divisions,
00:44:19.99\00:44:22.52
and so everything
has happened perfectly.
00:44:22.56\00:44:25.16
Now we got to
get to the last part.
00:44:25.19\00:44:26.76
What happens, at the
end, you get a stone.
00:44:26.80\00:44:30.47
"Inasmuch as you saw the stone
was cut out of the mountain
00:44:30.50\00:44:33.20
without hands--"
what does that mean,
00:44:33.23\00:44:34.90
"cut out of the
mountain without hands"?
00:44:34.94\00:44:37.91
Is this a normal rock?
00:44:37.94\00:44:40.28
Exodus 20, "And if you
make an altar," Exodus 20,
00:44:40.31\00:44:43.35
verse 25, "If you
make an altar of stone,
00:44:43.38\00:44:46.85
you shall not
build it of hewn stone,
00:44:46.88\00:44:49.48
for if you use your tool
on it, you've profaned it."
00:44:49.52\00:44:52.22
Why did God tell
the children of Israel,
00:44:52.25\00:44:54.79
"Do not lift up
your tool on the stone?"
00:44:54.82\00:44:58.26
One of the commandments
is "Do not make idols."
00:44:58.29\00:45:00.53
You can make an altar, but
as soon as you start lifting up
00:45:00.56\00:45:03.60
your tool on it,
you're going to get creative.
00:45:03.63\00:45:05.80
You're going to put little
eyeballs and a nose on it and
00:45:05.83\00:45:07.54
arms and legs, and
you're going to start thinking,
00:45:07.57\00:45:09.64
"That's what I look like."
00:45:09.67\00:45:11.64
And so the Jews
were death on idolatry,
00:45:11.67\00:45:14.71
all the way from Revelation
to the very beginning,
00:45:14.74\00:45:17.25
"Do not worship idols,"
so do not lift up your tool.
00:45:17.28\00:45:20.18
So when he says, "A stone
is cut without man's hands,"
00:45:20.22\00:45:23.82
it means this is a pure stone.
00:45:23.85\00:45:25.75
It's a stone of God.
00:45:25.79\00:45:27.09
Who cut out the
first two tables of stone
00:45:27.12\00:45:28.99
the Ten Commandments were on?
00:45:29.02\00:45:30.99
God did.
00:45:31.03\00:45:32.89
"Not man's hands,"
is what that means.
00:45:32.93\00:45:34.30
Now, Moses wrote
down the ceremonial law.
00:45:34.36\00:45:36.67
God wrote His law
with His own finger,
00:45:36.70\00:45:39.07
not the hands of man.
00:45:39.10\00:45:40.67
This stone
represents God's kingdom.
00:45:40.70\00:45:43.27
By the way, you can
read in Deuteronomy 27:5,
00:45:43.30\00:45:46.47
"If you build an altar to
the Lord, you shall use stones.
00:45:46.51\00:45:51.11
You shall not do
an iron tool on them."
00:45:51.15\00:45:53.72
Jacob has a dream of a
ladder that goes to heaven,
00:45:53.75\00:45:56.35
and that ladder is Christ.
00:45:56.38\00:45:59.02
What does he set
up as a memorial?
00:45:59.05\00:46:00.62
A stone, and he pours oil on it.
00:46:00.66\00:46:03.26
You know what that is?
That's an anointed stone.
00:46:03.29\00:46:06.39
Christ is the
anointed Rock of Ages.
00:46:06.43\00:46:09.56
You read in Zechariah
chapter 3, "For behold,
00:46:09.60\00:46:11.47
the stone that I
have laid before Joshua."
00:46:11.50\00:46:13.84
The word "Joshua"
actually means "Jesus."
00:46:13.87\00:46:15.80
"Upon the stone are seven eyes."
00:46:15.84\00:46:18.07
That's Zechariah 3:9.
00:46:18.11\00:46:19.67
Stone with seven eyes.
00:46:19.71\00:46:21.34
Do you have in Revelation
4, a lamb with seven eyes?
00:46:21.38\00:46:24.81
Who's the lamb? Who's the stone?
00:46:24.85\00:46:29.75
Jesus.
00:46:29.78\00:46:31.55
So how does Daniel--I'm sorry.
00:46:31.59\00:46:33.56
How does David
bring down Goliath?
00:46:33.59\00:46:35.36
1 Samuel 17:50: "So David
prevailed over the Philistine
00:46:35.39\00:46:39.89
with a sling and a
stone, and he struck
00:46:39.93\00:46:44.33
the Philistine and killed him."
00:46:44.37\00:46:45.67
What happens in
Daniel chapter 2?
00:46:45.70\00:46:47.17
Now, David hits him in the head.
00:46:47.20\00:46:50.34
Daniel hits him in the feet.
00:46:50.37\00:46:52.81
But it's a stone
that brings down the idol.
00:46:52.84\00:46:55.91
Of course, you know,
when they implode a building,
00:46:55.94\00:46:58.05
you've probably seen
images where they bring down
00:46:58.08\00:47:00.92
some skyscraper.
00:47:00.95\00:47:02.52
They've got demolition crews.
00:47:02.55\00:47:04.02
They don't put
a bomb at the top.
00:47:04.05\00:47:07.36
They plant
dynamite around the bottom,
00:47:07.39\00:47:09.99
and once the foundation goes,
00:47:10.03\00:47:11.66
the whole thing
collapses, right?
00:47:11.69\00:47:14.00
And so that's what's happening.
00:47:14.00\00:47:15.76
The stone
strikes it on the feet.
00:47:15.80\00:47:17.10
Also what time--do the
feet represent the end of time?
00:47:17.13\00:47:20.24
We're living now in
the time of the toes,
00:47:20.27\00:47:22.44
and as some
evangelists like to say,
00:47:22.47\00:47:24.44
"We are living in
the toenails of the toes.
00:47:24.47\00:47:27.54
Okay, we're at
the very end of time."
00:47:27.58\00:47:29.68
Has everything else in
this vision happened so far?
00:47:29.71\00:47:32.91
Right on schedule.
00:47:32.95\00:47:35.02
Do we have any doubt the
last part is going to happen?
00:47:35.05\00:47:37.45
So what is that last part?
00:47:37.49\00:47:39.69
Great stone cut out a
mountain without man's hands,
00:47:39.72\00:47:42.86
comes and strikes
the image on the feet,
00:47:42.89\00:47:44.73
pulverizes it into
dust, so it blows away.
00:47:44.76\00:47:47.96
That means this idol
that represented the religions
00:47:48.00\00:47:51.33
and the kingdoms of the
world that fought against God's
00:47:51.37\00:47:53.60
people, they're obliterated.
00:47:53.64\00:47:55.27
Now, why is this all happening?
00:47:55.30\00:47:57.64
God's people are occupied
during that time by a foreign
00:47:57.67\00:48:00.64
pagan power that
worshiped other gods.
00:48:00.68\00:48:03.45
They're being oppressed.
00:48:03.48\00:48:05.25
God is reminding even
Nebuchadnezzar and God's people,
00:48:05.28\00:48:09.72
"Your kingdom is
not going to last."
00:48:09.75\00:48:11.69
Daniel is having
the audacity to say,
00:48:11.72\00:48:13.05
"God gave you the
strength to let you know,
00:48:13.09\00:48:14.66
'Your kingdom doesn't win.
00:48:14.69\00:48:15.99
My kingdom wins.'
00:48:16.02\00:48:17.33
Your god doesn't
win. My God wins."
00:48:17.36\00:48:20.00
And I think Nebuchadnezzar
got that subtle message
00:48:20.03\00:48:21.70
several times.
00:48:21.73\00:48:23.83
He gets it in
chapter 3, where he says,
00:48:23.87\00:48:25.23
"There's no god like
Daniel's God who can deliver
00:48:25.27\00:48:27.20
from the fiery furnace."
00:48:27.24\00:48:28.54
He gets it in
chapter 4, when he says,
00:48:28.57\00:48:30.17
"I now lift my eyes
to the God of heaven."
00:48:30.21\00:48:32.37
This is a battle
between gods that's happening.
00:48:32.41\00:48:34.68
Is it an idol we
worship, or is it God,
00:48:34.71\00:48:38.55
a stone without man's
hands, which is the opposite
00:48:38.58\00:48:40.95
of an idol?
00:48:40.98\00:48:42.28
You see what it's saying here?
00:48:42.32\00:48:44.39
So this is just a
beautiful parable,
00:48:44.42\00:48:46.35
and he said,
"This thing is sure."
00:48:46.39\00:48:49.36
So who is the stone?
00:48:49.39\00:48:52.06
Jesus is the stone.
00:48:52.09\00:48:54.13
His kingdom
fills the whole earth.
00:48:54.20\00:48:56.63
"Blessed are the meek,
they will inherit the earth."
00:48:56.67\00:48:59.50
And He is the King of kings.
00:48:59.53\00:49:01.24
Jesus is called
the Rock of Ages.
00:49:01.27\00:49:02.94
Jesus said, "He that hears these
words of mine and does them is
00:49:02.97\00:49:06.24
like a wise man
building on a rock."
00:49:06.27\00:49:09.68
And so the Ten Commandments
are written on stone,
00:49:09.71\00:49:13.25
and Jesus is the Word.
00:49:13.28\00:49:14.98
This is what destroys the image.
00:49:15.02\00:49:16.69
So, you get the
Babylonian Empire,
00:49:16.72\00:49:19.05
605 to 539; the
Persians, 538 to 331;
00:49:19.09\00:49:24.73
the Greeks, 331
to 169; pagan Rome,
00:49:24.76\00:49:31.00
168 to 476; the divisions
of the Roman Empire from about
00:49:31.03\00:49:36.44
476 to our present day.
00:49:36.47\00:49:39.54
Next thing is the stone comes.
00:49:39.57\00:49:41.28
Now, I don't know
if that excites you,
00:49:41.31\00:49:43.58
but that excites me.
00:49:43.61\00:49:44.95
It means that Jesus
is coming soon, amen?
00:49:44.98\00:49:46.48
How does Nebuchadnezzar respond?
00:49:46.51\00:49:47.85
Let me just read this to you.
00:49:47.88\00:49:49.18
They'll fix it in the editing.
00:49:49.22\00:49:50.52
I know I'm going a moment long.
00:49:50.55\00:49:53.25
"Then Nebuchadnezzar fell
on his face, and he prostrates
00:49:53.29\00:49:56.59
before Daniel--"
instead of worshiping
00:49:56.62\00:50:00.43
an idol, he's
worshiping a Jewish prophet,
00:50:00.46\00:50:03.03
and you're not
supposed to do that either--
00:50:03.06\00:50:04.90
"and he commanded
that they should present
00:50:04.93\00:50:06.43
an offering and incense--"
they're worshiping him like
00:50:06.47\00:50:08.27
a God--" and burn
incense before him.
00:50:08.30\00:50:10.27
And the king
answered Daniel and said,
00:50:10.31\00:50:13.11
"Truly your God is
the God--" not "a" God.
00:50:13.14\00:50:16.58
He says, "He is
the God of gods."
00:50:16.61\00:50:19.85
In the beginning,
it says, Nebuchadnezzar
00:50:19.88\00:50:21.18
was the king of kings.
00:50:21.22\00:50:22.52
At the end, "Your
God is the God of gods--"
00:50:22.55\00:50:25.19
Jesus is the King of kings--
00:50:25.22\00:50:26.69
"'the Lord of kings,
revealer of secrets, since you
00:50:26.72\00:50:29.59
could reveal this secret.'
00:50:29.62\00:50:31.39
Then the king promoted
Daniel, and Daniel said,
00:50:31.43\00:50:33.86
'King, I've got three
friends that were part
00:50:33.90\00:50:35.40
of the prayer meeting with me.'
00:50:35.43\00:50:37.40
And he gave him many great
00:50:37.43\00:50:38.73
gifts, and he made him
ruler over the whole province
00:50:38.77\00:50:40.77
of Babylon and
chief administrator over
00:50:40.80\00:50:43.04
all the wise men of Babylon.
00:50:43.07\00:50:45.37
Also, Daniel petition the
king, and he set Shadrach,
00:50:45.41\00:50:48.24
Meshach, and Abednego over
the affairs of the province
00:50:48.28\00:50:51.48
of Babylon, but Daniel sat at
the king's gate like Mordecai.
00:50:51.51\00:50:55.18
He's a judge in the
city, the capital of Babylon.
00:50:55.22\00:50:58.79
Wonderful study, friends.
00:50:58.82\00:51:00.46
I hope you got
something out of it.
00:51:00.49\00:51:01.79
Again, you can look up that new
DVD called "Kingdoms in Time,"
00:51:01.82\00:51:05.06
and we will send you this free
study on "Daniel & Revelation."
00:51:05.09\00:51:08.56
It's a great illustrated study.
00:51:08.60\00:51:10.77
All you've got to do is call...
00:51:10.80\00:51:16.54
That's 866-Study-More,
or you can even text,
00:51:16.57\00:51:19.01
and there's a way to
download and read this.
00:51:19.04\00:51:21.31
And you text "SH021" to 40544,
and you can download that where
00:51:21.34\00:51:29.92
you're at right now.
00:51:29.95\00:51:31.42
God bless you, friends.
00:51:31.45\00:51:32.69
Lord willing, we'll study his
Word together again next week.
00:51:32.72\00:51:36.16
male announcer: Don't
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00:51:39.06\00:51:40.36
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To get your digital
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simply text the key
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or visit the web
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on the request page.
00:52:00.08\00:52:01.75
It's now easier than ever
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00:52:08.02\00:52:12.03
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00:52:12.66\00:52:15.86
announcer: Amazing
Facts, changed lives.
00:52:15.90\00:52:19.90
male: I had a lot of pressure
as a pastor's kid to perform.
00:52:24.97\00:52:30.68
They're not allowed to make the
same mistakes as everyone else.
00:52:30.71\00:52:33.28
Not only are
people looking at you,
00:52:33.31\00:52:36.12
but they're judging
your father according to what
00:52:36.15\00:52:39.89
they see in you.
00:52:39.92\00:52:42.16
After a while, you get tired of
carrying that load as a child.
00:52:42.19\00:52:44.46
By the time it got
time for me to leave home,
00:52:44.49\00:52:48.16
I was pretty much
finished with all that.
00:52:48.20\00:52:52.13
I just--I wasn't good enough,
and I didn't belong in there,
00:52:52.17\00:52:55.24
so when I left home, I
went to the world at a dead run.
00:52:55.27\00:53:01.88
You know, I partied
and went to work and,
00:53:01.91\00:53:05.21
you know, was living my
life as the way I wanted to,
00:53:05.25\00:53:08.15
and I just
wanted to be left alone.
00:53:08.18\00:53:10.95
One day, I was
driving my motorcycle
00:53:10.99\00:53:14.09
with some buddies of mine.
00:53:14.12\00:53:15.56
All of a sudden, I had
oil running everywhere,
00:53:15.59\00:53:17.23
all up and down my arm and
across my legs and rippling down
00:53:17.26\00:53:21.06
the tank in the wind and loaded
it up on a trailer and sent it
00:53:21.10\00:53:24.87
to the shop to have it fixed.
00:53:24.90\00:53:27.27
So I went to pick it
up, and a mechanic came out,
00:53:27.30\00:53:29.90
and he said, "You
know," he said, "we got your
00:53:29.94\00:53:32.07
front end rebuilt."
00:53:32.11\00:53:33.41
He said, "That
wasn't the bad part."
00:53:33.44\00:53:34.88
He said, "The bad part was
the only thing holding the front
00:53:34.91\00:53:38.01
tire on was the
weight of the motorcycle."
00:53:38.05\00:53:40.55
So all I would've had to
have done was accelerate quickly
00:53:40.58\00:53:43.75
and front tire
would've came off.
00:53:43.79\00:53:46.35
And it got my attention
and got me to thinking,
00:53:46.39\00:53:49.32
you know, you hear a
lot of people talking about,
00:53:49.36\00:53:51.19
you know, the relationship
that they have with Jesus,
00:53:51.23\00:53:54.46
and all that, and I
didn't even know what that was
00:53:54.50\00:53:57.50
supposed to look like.
00:53:57.53\00:53:59.40
It began to work on my mind.
00:53:59.43\00:54:00.94
I think God was
beginning to speak to me.
00:54:00.97\00:54:04.44
I believe that you can say
I may be a poster child for
00:54:04.47\00:54:06.64
the shepherd--lost
sheep story because I wasn't
00:54:06.68\00:54:10.05
looking for God.
00:54:10.08\00:54:12.08
I didn't really care,
but he cared about me,
00:54:12.11\00:54:18.29
and he came and got me.
00:54:18.32\00:54:21.92
¤¤¤
00:54:21.96\00:54:29.56
announcer: Together, we have
spread the Gospel much farther
00:54:29.60\00:54:32.67
than ever before.
00:54:32.70\00:54:34.37
Thank you for your support.
00:54:34.40\00:54:37.21
¤¤¤
00:54:37.24\00:54:47.22
¤¤¤
00:54:47.25\00:54:52.29
Doug: What can be more
irresistible than a kitten?
00:54:52.32\00:54:54.09
These guys might look cute now,
but some of their ancestors have
00:54:54.12\00:54:57.76
grown into man eaters.
00:54:57.79\00:54:59.43
[roaring]
00:54:59.46\00:55:01.96
¤¤¤
00:55:02.00\00:55:03.70
Doug: We're here in a lion
park in South Africa now where
00:55:03.73\00:55:05.97
we can view these
creatures in relative safety,
00:55:06.00\00:55:08.70
but there's a reason they're
known as the "king of beasts."
00:55:08.74\00:55:11.61
So what is it that people find
so enchanting and frightening
00:55:11.64\00:55:14.71
about lions?
00:55:14.74\00:55:16.48
Is it their speed, their
claws, their sharp teeth,
00:55:16.51\00:55:19.48
or all of the above?
00:55:19.51\00:55:20.82
Might also be some of the
stories about man-eating lions,
00:55:20.85\00:55:23.39
like in 1898,
right here in Africa,
00:55:23.42\00:55:26.89
they were building a bridge
over the Tsavo River in Kenya,
00:55:26.92\00:55:30.39
and two brother lions terrorized
the construction process,
00:55:30.43\00:55:34.23
eating 135 workers.
00:55:34.30\00:55:39.00
Did you know lions are mentioned
in the Bible over a hundred
00:55:39.03\00:55:41.54
times, and you can
find them all the way
00:55:41.57\00:55:43.87
from Genesis to Revelation?
00:55:43.91\00:55:45.34
It's usually in
reference to their ferocity
00:55:45.37\00:55:48.01
and how dangerous they are.
00:55:48.04\00:55:49.84
Of course, Samson killed
a lion with his bare hands.
00:55:49.88\00:55:51.98
David kill a lion.
00:55:52.01\00:55:53.65
There are
man-eating lions in the Bible.
00:55:53.68\00:55:55.78
The way that they punish
criminals was by throwing them
00:55:55.82\00:55:58.22
in the lions' den,
and early Christians were
00:55:58.25\00:56:01.09
even fed to lions.
00:56:01.12\00:56:02.62
But, amazingly, as
the Bible mentions,
00:56:02.66\00:56:05.09
not all lions are to be feared.
00:56:05.13\00:56:06.83
There have been a few
friendly lions in history.
00:56:06.86\00:56:09.30
For example, in
the 1950s, a couple,
00:56:09.33\00:56:13.10
George and Margaret Westbeau,
who lived up at a ranch near
00:56:13.13\00:56:16.54
Seattle, Washington,
adopted an abandoned lion cub.
00:56:16.57\00:56:20.21
They named it Little Tyke
because they felt sorry for it.
00:56:20.24\00:56:23.45
But they discovered,
as they tried to feed her,
00:56:23.48\00:56:26.11
she refused to
eat any meat at all.
00:56:26.15\00:56:29.12
They were concerned, thinking
there was no hope for this
00:56:29.15\00:56:31.79
little lioness to survive,
and everybody told them the same
00:56:31.82\00:56:35.42
because we know, in the
wild, lions survive on almost
00:56:35.46\00:56:37.93
an entirely meat diet.
00:56:37.96\00:56:40.30
Then someone showed the
Westbeaus that verse in the
00:56:40.33\00:56:42.66
Bible that talks
about, in heaven,
00:56:42.70\00:56:44.67
the animals are vegetarians,
and the lion will eat straw
00:56:44.70\00:56:47.74
like the ox.
00:56:47.77\00:56:49.60
That encouraged them, and so
they began to feed Little Tyke
00:56:49.64\00:56:53.01
a purely vegetarian diet.
00:56:53.04\00:56:55.64
Not only did she
survive, she thrived,
00:56:55.68\00:56:58.25
growing into a lion
that was over 352 pounds
00:56:58.28\00:57:02.32
and over 10 feet long.
00:57:02.35\00:57:04.35
In fact, zoologists that
examined Little Tyke when
00:57:04.39\00:57:07.12
she was full grown,
said they had never seen such
00:57:07.16\00:57:09.29
a perfect specimen of
a lioness in their life,
00:57:09.32\00:57:12.86
a pure vegetarian.
00:57:12.89\00:57:14.66
You know, when we hear
incredible stories about that
00:57:14.73\00:57:17.03
of Little Tyke, it
reminds us that God's original
00:57:17.07\00:57:19.80
plan was to make a
world of total peace.
00:57:19.83\00:57:22.87
It describes it here in
the Bible in Isaiah chapter 11,
00:57:22.90\00:57:25.94
verse 6: "The wolf also
will dwell with the lamb,
00:57:25.97\00:57:29.21
the leopard will lie
down with a young goat,
00:57:29.24\00:57:31.61
the calf and the young
lion and the fatling together,
00:57:31.65\00:57:34.38
and a little
child will lead them."
00:57:34.42\00:57:36.62
Nothing is going to hurt
and destroy in the new heavens
00:57:36.65\00:57:39.59
and the new earth that
God is going to create.
00:57:39.62\00:57:41.69
Wouldn't you like to live in
a kingdom where there's perfect
00:57:41.72\00:57:43.76
peace, where there's no
more death or killing or pain?
00:57:43.79\00:57:47.93
God says that He
wants you in that kingdom.
00:57:47.96\00:57:49.93
The Lamb of God made it possible
for you to have an encounter
00:57:49.96\00:57:54.20
with the Lion of
the tribe of Judah.
00:57:54.24\00:57:56.77
Wouldn't you like
to meet Him today?
00:57:56.81\00:57:59.34
¤¤¤
00:57:59.37\00:58:09.35
¤¤¤
00:58:09.38\00:58:19.36
¤¤¤
00:58:19.39\00:58:27.37