Ancient Bible Prophecy Reveals the Future | Daniel 2 | Mark Finley

I want to give you a little review of some things that took place just before the year 2000 you know I am NOT one that reads tabloid newspapers in fact I run as far from them as I possibly can I recognize that their news is sensational and most of the time fictional but back in 1996 I was walking through the grocery store and as I was I looked over and I saw a tabloid newspaper whose headlines were Bible predictions for what's gonna happen in the year 2000 now as a Bible student anything that says Bible predictions and as a teacher certainly caught my attention so I began to look through this particular tabloid and it said in the year 2000 in the month of February millions will convert to Christianity I thought my that's pretty interesting and then I looked at what would supposedly happen in February in February of 2000 there'll be a record heat draught across America and thousands will die as well that's not too good and then I took a look at what would happen supposedly in the summer of that edition of the newspaper that was put out in 1996 and it said the stock market would crash and the Antichrist would rise I said wow these are some fanciful predictions then supposedly in September there would be a mile-high image of Jesus Christ over the United States Capitol I mean this was getting more interesting all the time then this would really fascinated me it said that in late September early October there would be an evangelist preaching anyway the sand to heaven and I said maybe I have hope maybe it's right you know maybe I'm going to go out preaching some large crowd and then they said lastly by the end of the year the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse of the book of Revelation would be flying over both mantra and Toronto to climax the year 2000 well now obviously not one of those things happen they were simply so-called psychic predictions I'm here tonight to tell you though that the Book of Daniel is not psychic predictions that as we study the Book of Daniel we can look back over 2500 years and see the fulfillment of Bible prophecy in the Book of Daniel and I will share with you tonight some amazing prophecies we'll compare those prophecies with history and we will see exactly the fulfillment of those prophecies you know one thing about God Isaiah 46 verse 9 and 10 can you read it with me from the screen for I am God he says and there is no other I am God and there is none like me now pause there for a minute what is one of the characteristics of God that makes nobody else like him what is one of the characteristics of God that enables him to be different than anybody else read the rest with me declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things that are not yet done one of the things that distinguishes God is that God sees the future as we see the present that he is able to declare the end from the beginning and from ancient times things that are not yet done the psychics may guess about the future the psychics may speculate about the future the psychics may theorize about the future the psychics may have visions prompted by Satan about the future but there is one thing about God his vision of the future is certain when we study the Book of Daniel and particularly Daniel the second chapter we can look at the prophecy given in the Book of Daniel compare it to history and have the assurance that the future of this world is in God's hands we're gonna study tonight one of the most amazing prophecies in all the Bible we will study about nations that God predicted by name that would rise in advance we will study about an ancient king that was named a hundred and fifty years before he was born we'll read his name in the Bible we'll look at the ancient rock records we'll study a prediction in Daniel chapter 2 about four great nations that would rise and they would fall we'll study about the history of Europe and how that history has been true for over 1,500 years and we'll study about the fulfillment of prophecy in the future because as we look at the past and we see historic prophecy fulfilled we can have confidence that that prophecy is going to be fulfilled in the future so tonight I invite you to take your Bible and turn to Daniel the second chapter and we're going to study an ancient Kings dream Daniel had just graduated from the University of Babylon now if you happen to not have brought your Bible with one of our ushers yeah matt has one if you can just raise your hand we can put a Bible in your hand or there should be one in your pew holder in the front if you're not sure where the Book of Daniel is I really don't want you to be embarrassed at all when I was 17 years old I started to study the Bible and I didn't know where one book of the Bible a it was in fact somebody said to me once turned to the book of Hezekiah and I was so ignorant that I thought Hezekiah was in the Bible and it took me almost 20 minutes before they were laughing one of my teenage friends too for me to know it wasn't there I thought the book of psalms would cause it's called the book of Palms you know and I'll turn to the book of Palms you know I don't know anything about the Bible in those years and so if you don't know never feel embarrassed about what you don't know simply ask somebody next to you can you help me find this particular verse in the Bible so we're looking at Daniel chapter 2 the Book of Daniel was written 600 years before Christ now how do we know that the Book of Daniel was written then about 2600 years ago well when you look at Daniel chapter 2 for example it says now in the second year of Nebuchadnezzar is rain we know that Nebuchadnezzar began his reign in 605 BC so we have that we can compare what the Bible says to the ancient records of Babylon now it appears that there is a contradiction in the Bible in Daniel 2 verse 1 what did what is that apparent contradiction and how can it be solved Daniel was taken captive in Nebuchadnezzar's first year that was 605 Daniel was in this University of Babylon for three years which would make it the third year of Nebuchadnezzar not the second why is that apparent contradiction in the Bible and why do I mention it many people who read the Bible read the Bible superficially they see something that is an apparent contradiction and they say I can't have confidence in the Bible how do you reconcile the fact that Nebuchadnezzar began to reign in 605 he reigned for three years Daniel was in the University of Babylon then this vision took place in his third year of reign not his second why does the Bible say second year it's another evidence that the Bible's inspired by God the Babylonians never counted the accession year as a year so a king would rise to prominence that would be called his accession year the year he rose to throne then he would start ruling first year second year so it was his third year of reign counting the accession year this is another evidence that the Bible has inspired that Daniel wrote this 600 years before Christ because how would Daniel know this if he wasn't living through babylonian history with that brief explanation we go to Daniel 2 verse 1 in the third year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign Nebuchadnezzar had dreams and his spirit was troubled and his sleep left him so here you have it ancient king in the nation of Babylon and there he the ancient King goes to bed one night and has a dream incidentally this is the Ishtar Gate going into Babylon I was just a few weeks back in the Pergamum Museum in Germany Pergamum museum is an amazing Museum Robert cold away was the German excavator of Babylon and cold away went down he excavated Babylon and he took they took these tiles and the Germans put them back together and reconstructed the Ishtar Gate you see this jackal like figure see if I can point it out to you let me go back one for you you'll see this jackal like figure and I want you to see it here here we go you'll see this jackal like figure and it's on the its if you look at the beasts you see the right hand column the one in the middle he is the god Belmar Duke in Belmar Duke was the chief of the Babylonian gods when Daniels name was changed it was named changed from Daniel to what fell to Shazzer and belt - a sir means the keep keeper of the hidden treasures of the god of bel so when Daniel at seventeen years old was marched into this most lavish Kingdom in the world he looked up and saw images everywhere of this god of babylon called bel Marduk the god of babylon babylon was an amazing kingdom it was an incredibly lavish kingdom the river Euphrates ran through the center of Babylon giving it a constant water supply the walls of Babylon were so wide that two chariots could race side by side on those walls Babylon had a twenty-year food supply within the city it was one of the most fantastic nations in all of the world Nebuchadnezzar went to sleep one night and he had a dream he woke up the next morning and he couldn't remember his dream how many of you have ever gone to sleep one night and you've woken up and you tossed and turned all night but you couldn't have and you woke up and you you couldn't remember you knew you had a dream but you couldn't remember it can I see your hands oh yeah now maybe you were eating too much pizza in the night before your stomach was growling you know or maybe you ate too much Chinese food the night before was so that I'm not singling out one particular group maybe you ate too much American potatoes or french fries I don't know but you ate too much I will guarantee you that Nebuchadnezzar was not eating pizza he wasn't eating too much spaghetti and neither was he eating too much Chinese food Nebuchadnezzar wakes up he has this incredible dream he can't remember what he dreamt but he knew that that dream was extremely important so what did he do the Bible tells us exactly what he did in the second year of his reign now let's review why is it the second year of his reign not the third year is rain because what they did not count the accession year great students he had dreams the King summoned his magicians his enchanters his sorcerers astrologers you need to see this in the Bible Daniel chapter 2 you're looking at verse 2 Daniel 2 verse 2 then the King gave the command to call the magician's the astrologers the sorcerers and the Chaldeans to tell the King his dream so they came before him now we would need to look at those four groups the magicians who were they the Babylonian magicians would often kill a cow take the liver of a cow cut the liver in half and come to the king with the liver cut in half and they would read the patterns in the liver the design in the liver of a cow and try to predict the future the other thing that Babylonian magicians did was they take a drop of oil and drop it on water and you know if oils dropped on water you know it gives a pattern so they would read that pattern and read the future so you've got the magicians who are trying to read these sons you got the astrologers now these are not astronomers they are what astrologers and these astrologers are trying to look at patterns in the Stars to read the future do you know that there are 3000 astrology columns in American newspapers today and some people get up and if they don't look at their sign Sagittarius or something else they don't want to begin the day the astrologers in Babylon could not reveal the future and the astrologers today can't reveal the future either so they're the magicians the astrology now the sorcerers who are they the sorcerers tried to communicate with the dead so that's who they are so the King brings in all the people he think now there's quite a crowd there now notice it says magicians astrologers plural sorcerers so he says the magicians go ahead bring me the cow livers I don't care what you bring me tell me what did I dream my bedroom what does it mean he brings teeth tells the astrologers I don't care what should do read those patterns in the stars but you tell me what am I dreaming my bedroom what does it mean then he tells The Sorcerer's I don't care if you raise five dead people but tell me what did I dream now what about the Chaldeans who are they you see where it says in chapter 2 the Chaldeans the Chaldeans are the PhDs they are the intellectuals so Nebuchadnezzar brings in this large group I don't know how many there are but there are quite a few then maybe be 50 maybe was 75 it brings them into this room and he says ok you magicians drop your oil on water tell me what did I dream what does it mean ok you guys cut your calf livers look up in the sky raise the dead educated elite tell me what did I dream and what does it mean verse 3 you see in the text the King said to them I have a dream and my spirits anxious to know the dream that Chaldeans spoke to him and said O king live forever tell your servants the dream and we will tell you the interpretation they came in stood before the king said to them I've had a dream it troubles me I want to know what it means here's what he knew Nebuchadnezzar knew the dream was important Nebuchadnezzar knew the dream was significant Nebuchadnezzar knew the dream had eternal significance but he could not understand what that dream meant so they came and they said you and King no problem whatsoever you tell us what you dreamt last night and we will tell you what it means now tell you any dream you had you just come to me and I'll tell you what it means I mean I may be totally wrong but I can guess it any meaning right you see the king was too smart for that business if these magicians and astrologers in soothsayers couldn't tell him what he dreamt a few hours before how could they possibly tell him what it meant twenty-five hundred years in the future so he wasn't going to fall for that he said look you tell me what did I dream and what does it mean now the scripture says something quite fascinating here and you'll find it in Daniel chapter 2 looking at verse five and six but the King answered and said to the Chaldeans my decision is firm if you don't make known the dream to me and it's interpretation you're gonna be cut in pieces and your house is gonna be in a dunghill and you're gonna be really in trouble then he said look if you don't tell me what I dreamt I'm gonna destroy you I'm gonna kill you however if you tell me the interpretation you'll receive from me gifts rewards and great honor therefore tell the dream in its interpretation now there's an eternal truth in verse five and six you're gonna miss if we don't spend time doing it the first thing he says is if you don't explain to me the dream I'm gonna put a knife to your throat I'm gonna kill you or if you do explain to me the dream I'm gonna give you a reward he motivates them by fear or favor by fear or favor there are many people in life that that's what motivates them if they if the boss says to them either you get with it on this job I'm gonna fire you they're motivated by fear to do a better job or the boss says to them look you do a better job you're gonna get a raise I will fight and so they want the raise many people in life are motivated by fear or favor and I'd like to suggest to you tonight that there is a deeper motivation to live than a fear or favor unfortunately there are Christians that are motivated by fear a favor they are motivated they say I want to do good or right because I don't want to end up in hell and so they're motivated by the fear of Hell to try to be obedient but if all the all that motivates you to live a Christian life is the fear of Hell someday this is going to happen you're going to want to have pleasures here more than you're afraid of hell so you'll go for the pleasures here if all that motivates you is the favor of heaven I want to go too I want to leave this world of it's sickness suffering so if what motivates you is fear or favor they may be temporary motivations sometimes fear motivates a person to start studying the Bible but if all that motivates you is fear or favor they're very temporary and they're very shallow what motivates us the fact of a God that created us and shaped us why do I live why am I not a cow why am I not a mosquito that I can just swat here why are you you when the genes and chromosomes came together to form the unique biological structure of your personality God through way the pattern you had no choice about being born none whatsoever but you were conceived in the mind of God before you ever conceived in the womb of your mother and that which motivates us is a God that created us a God that fashioned us a God that shaped us a God that gave us life life is a gift from God we call the present the present because it's a present from Jesus and so what motivates us to serve God first that he gave me life that every breath I take is comes from him that every heartbeat comes from him I'm not motivated by the fear of hell primarily neither am i motivated by the favor of heaven I'm motivated by the graciousness of God who gives me life and I can breathe every breath I take is from him the second thing that motivates me is a God that came from heaven and tabernacled in Jesus Christ and died for me a God that loved me so much that when the human race went a stray that he came and lived the life we should have lived and died the debt that we should have died and that he guarantees us a place in heaven that which motivates us more than anything else is love that he loved us so much that he wants us in heaven that he would be lonely with us forever if he wasn't in heaven so fear can motivate you for a little while favor can motivate you for a little while but what we need is the deeper motivation of understanding this God that created us this God that loves us this God that wants us in heaven this Christ that died for us that Jesus that's coming again for us so King Nebuchadnezzar says okay if they can't explain the dream execute them in an actual fact the execution process starts look at verse 13 of Daniel 2 look at verse 13 in Daniel 2 now incidentally before we get there we should look at verse 10 Daniel 2 verse 10 the Chaldeans that's the wise men they speak up answers the king there's not a man on earth who can tell the Kings matter therefore no King nor Lord or ruler has ever asked the things they were so right there is not one human being only God can reveal the future there ignore their acknowledging that look verse that you haven't it's a difficult thing that the King requires and there's no other who can tell it to the king except the gods whose dwelling is not with flesh there's nobody that can explain the future nobody can do this except God and so here now they utter you know sometimes people whose hearts are filled with falsehood utter eternal truths and so here are these false soothsayers uttering this eternal truth now notice the decree goes forth verse 13 so the decree goes forth and they began killing the wise men they sought Daniel his companions why would they Sinking Daniel his companions not because they would magicians or astrologers but Daniel was one of the wise men of Babylon so they sought him now then with counsel and wisdom Daniel answered Arioch the captain of the Kings guard who had gone out to kill the wise men of Babylon Daniel says to the captain of the Kingsguard he's look give me some time some time that I can go to pray when you don't know what to do you know just what to do when you come to the end of your rope and even before you ever get there for Daniel prayer was a way of life prayer was something that Daniel did not merely to get favors from God but Daniel entered into a relationship with God Daniel knew God and so the scripture tells us in verse 17 and 18 then Daniel went to his house and made the decision known to Hananiah Mishael Azariah and his companions and he sought mercies from the God of heaven concerning the secret so Dale as companions might not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon then the secret was revealed to Daniel on a night vision so Daniel blessed the God of heaven and Daniel answered and said there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets and he's made known to the king what shall be in latter days there is a God in heaven Daniel said not there might be a God up there not maybe there's a god up there not perhaps there's a God up there don't you like that phrase there what is a god in heaven when you see the rise and fall of Nations when you see the confusion and the political systems of this world to know that there is a God in heaven now there's something I do not want you to miss I want you to look at verse 20 and onward Daniel 2 verse 20 when Daniel receives this answer he says Daniel 2 verse 20 blessed be the name of God for ever and ever for wisdom and might are his Daniel comes to prayer and he finds that wisdom and might are from God what's from God wisdom and might now notice these two things when we come to God in prayer he gives us wisdom that we did not have and he gives us power to accomplish his role let me tell you a little story we were building this church and as we were building it we were about two weeks away from our occupancy permit and we had understood that the shopping center here would take the responsibility for putting in the lights along the street about nine months to a year ago a car came down this street and knocked down one of the major street lights out here on the corner when the county came to us and I contacted the shopping center they said you are responsible for the lights in front of your building and the county said unless you get those lights fixed you have no occupancy permit you can't occupy it was two weeks before our grand opening we had to find out first where the wiring system was but secondly you don't go down to Lowe's department store and buy one of these lights they don't have them over there at Lowe's they're specialized lights and so as the result of that we get on our knees and I remember as Neely in my house here in Dominion Valley got on my knees up in Regency I said okay God we're supposed to open here in two weeks I have no clue where to buy one of those lights I just don't know where to get one and I began checking around nobody seemed to know we could get one of those lights and I said God you know where those lights are even if I order one I may have to special order it they may not bring it in for the next month or so and we're going to be off our grand opening we've got people flying in Daniel chapter 2 Daniel gets on his knees and prays and what is he discovered God he says God wisdom and what might are yours God is wise enough to know the future and empowers us so I had made friends with the manager the shopping center here as a last resort I said I'd pride us and know she was new because the Toll Brothers had owned this Shopping Center had sold it to Rappaport so I said I'll call her so I called her and I said you know I'm really baffled two weeks and we're gonna open it and I don't have one of those lights now her office she manages many shopping centers and so she's only up here occasionally and when I called it she said mark it's really curious that you're calling me I was up here last week and we've got a vacant store next to John we arts we are storing things in that store and she said mark I was in there the other day and I saw one of those big light poles that you're asking about lying on the floor and she said I didn't know what to do with it I just wanted to get it out of that place here's the code go with your builder get that thing out of there and put it up within an hour I was in that store next to giant we opened the door it was there all the time God knew it was there didn't he God knew it was there what does scripture say and we put that up and we opened on time wisdom and might are what God's when you don't know what to do you know what to do right so it says wisdom and might are his now look if God in Daniel chapter 2 can reveal 2500 years of history in advance do you think he knows your future do you think he does you know I remember it was about three years ago and I was on my way to a meeting driving a car rented car and I had a book on the seat and the book fell off I leaned over the seat to pick the book up and I heard a crack broke a rib so one yeah didn't think much of it I was at a meeting where I had a number of physician friends they checked me out they said you know that was strange you better watch that went to get the rib x-rayed on the way back I was at an airport went to plug in my cell phone leaned over a chair in a brook a second rib went to my physician friends they said we're sending you to the University of Maryland right now and I have a friend who's the Dean of the medical school the University of America and so he took me in got me the top people checked me all over they said mark you are so healthy it's unbelievable you know you owe your blood work is good you're healthy you're on a good diet you're 71 years old you're exercising like everything you you're in good shape but they said we don't understand why you keep baking breaking ribs so they said we're gonna send you after I went through all these tests and blood work and all this so we're gonna send you to an oncologist I'm thinking on my mind an oncologist now that's not a gynecologist that colleges I said that's a cancer specialist why they sent me there for so they send me to the top multiple myeloma specialist in the world the initial diagnosis was multiple myeloma that was the initial diagnosis II so can we start chemo next week or next and I will tell you something when you have that diagnosis and you're with one of the top cancer specialists in the world you begin a lot to think about your life and I said to myself God wisdom and might are yours I am putting my life in your hands whatever my future is whatever is going on in my body I'm putting my life in your hands they were about ready to start chemotherapy and I said to the physician I said look I'm praying about this I'm doing everything natural that I know and I will do chemotherapy on one condition doc you've got to look me in the eye and tell me I'm gonna die if I don't do it that's a doc I don't my body's not gonna be experimenting you got to look me in the eye and tell me doc the leading can't lead in chemo leading multiply Aloma specialist one of the leading in the world he looks me in the eye he said mark if there were ten of the leading specialists in the world three of them would say maybe we should treat five of them would say we don't know what to do because you're too healthy and two of them would say maybe we'll treat you I said doc that's not good enough for me seven out of ten is not good enough eight out of ten is not good enough let's wait we waited we had more tests they backed off the diagnosis they said you don't have multiple myeloma at all it's something you've had just some other problems that with your bone structure we can deal with that and Here I am it's flying all over the world seventeen times sixteen times cross the Atlantic in the next in five months you know healthy is everything but I'll tell you it is a wonderful thing to put your life in God's hands it's a wonderful thing to have that peace that you know that your life is in God's hands that whatever happens to you and that's the prayer of Daniel go back to that prayer in Daniel chapter 2 we're looking at it in Daniel 2 we're reading verse 20 and on blessed be the name of God forever and ever for wisdom and what might are his and he changes the times and the seasons he removes kings and raises up kings isn't that good news that the destiny of the nations is in the very hand of the Living God now notice we keep reading that he reveals verse 22 deep and secret things he knows what's in the darkness light dwells with him I thank you and praise you O God of my father's you've given me wisdom and might when you get on your knees to pray God's gonna give you wisdom about your future and he's going to give you strength to face your future God will give you wisdom about your future and God will give you strength to face your future so Daniel goes in before the king and he said there's a God in heaven who reveals to King Nebuchadnezzar what's going to take place in the latter days so Daniel begins to describe the dream look at Daniel chapter 2 please verse 28 there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets what does God do everybody he reveals what secrets and he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the what days latter days your dream and the visions of your head upon your bed are these so Dan yet the dream that we're gonna study takes us from Daniels day down to the end of time down to the latter days it reveals the rise and fall and the destiny of Nations so Daniel begins to speak to the king verse 31 you O king were watching and behold a great image this great image whose splendor was excellent stood before you in its form was awesome the image his head was of fine gold its chest in arms of silver its belly and thighs of bronze its legs of iron its feet partly of iron and partly of clay you watched while a stone was cut out without hands which struck the image on its feet in and of iron and clay and broke them in pieces then the iron the clay the bronze the silver the gold were crushed together and became like the chaff of the summer threshing force the wind carried them away so no trace was found for them and the stone that struck the image became a mountain that filled the whole earth so daniel says okay getting this what you dreamed you dreamed of a great image now this is not unusual because these Kings often had idols and Babylon had many idols that had 13 idols chief idols and they were all covered with gold most of them so when Daniel begins to scrub you saw a great image the King says oh yeah I saw that image but then Daniel surprises him a head of gold breasts and arms of silver thighs of brass legs of iron feet of iron and clay then you see this rock that smites the image and smashes it down and this rock becomes the mountain that fills the whole earth now king nebuchadnezzar must had his mouth drop and open he must Dana that's exactly what I saw an image with the head of gold I saw those breasts and arms of silver I saw those thighs of brass I saw that legs of iron yes I saw the iron and clay yes I saw the rock smite thee it's exactly what I saw you think nebuchadnezzar was pretty excited you think he was amazed now if you weren't nebuchadnezzar and daniel just described the dream to you what would you have done next what would you have done next what would you have done next what do you think you do could give him a lot of go hope you probably probably would you at the end of the chapter he does give him some pleasures but if he describes your dream what's your next question what is the dream mean right now let me ask you this there are some people that say the interpretation of prophecy is always up to guesswork that it's all a matter of individual interpretation you interpret it one way another person interprets it another way so everybody interprets it how they want let me ask you the question who gave nebuchadnezzar the dream who gave him the dream God gave him the dream right now if God gave him the dream do you think Mike God might give him the interpretation if God is the author of prophecy does God give prophecy to make things complicated or make them simple to make them simple right so if God gave the dream then God would obviously give the what interpretation now how do you think we should discover what this dream means you think everybody should guess at it now let's suppose that you had never heard this prophecy before you had no clue what it meant and let's suppose I said to you let's everybody guess so you all write down what you think the head of Goldman Oh rich nation they had what does this mean and so everybody writes their guests down then I get a box and I pull out the one that we just by arbitrary chance and I read it and we all agree that we're gonna go buy that one I think that's a good way to do it if God gave the prophecy God's gonna give what the answer the interpretation so let's see if God does so we go verse 36 you're ready to go this is the dream now we will tell the interpretation of it before the king notice what it says do you see verse 36 does it say I will tell the interpretation was it say who's the we you got it young lady the Lord and Dan yo God and Daniel gonna tell the interpretation now we will tell the interpretation of it before the King you O king are a king of kings for the God of heaven has given you a kingdom power strength and glory wherever the children of men dwell or the beasts of the field in the birds of the heaven he's given them into your hand and has made you rule over the mote you are this head of gold so Daniel looks at Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon and he says to Nebuchadnezzar you Nebuchadnezzar or your kingdom Babylon Nebuchadnezzar is Kingdom or Babel and reign for 66 years from 605 BC to 539 BC Nebuchadnezzar reigned for about 44 of those years so Nebuchadnezzar represents the whole kingdom of Babylon now one thing we notice about the image of two things first it has descending value gold silver brass iron descending value but ascending strength so silver is stronger than gold bronze is stronger than silver iron is the strongest of all and we'll show you that later but descending value it the the image becomes in the ages become more morally corrupt as we will see but he says to dead to Nebuchadnezzar you are this head of gold Nebuchadnezzar's Kingdom was represented as that golden Kingdom in Babylon there was the temple of bel Mar Duke and Belmar Duke was the chief god of Babylon he sat in a golden domed temple as a golden God on a golden throne before a golden altar eight and a half tonnes of gold were used in that in the inside of that temple so gold was a very fitting symbol for babylon babylon was one of the nations that ruled the then-known world there were four metals gold silver brass and iron so likewise there would be four nations that would rule one after the other it was Nebuchadnezzar's desire that his kingdom ruled the world forever we have discovered in archaeology and here's a picture of it a letter from Nebuchadnezzar and it's very fascinating letter and in that letter Nebuchadnezzar writes that the whole world the whole earth was prostrate at the feet of his empire Babylon Nebuchadnezzar had such an ego that he stamped his name on every one of the mud bricks of Babylon we've discovered tens of thousands of those mud bricks and I've held one of the mud bricks with Nebuchadnezzar his name on it in my hands and so Nebuchadnezzar wanted to dominate the world forever he did not want his kingdom to be the head of gold followed by another world-ruling empire another interesting discovery is the what we call the Babylonian Chronicle or this tablet and on this tablet is written and you can if you could read the Hebrew language you would read this here it says o Babylon the delight of mine eyes the excellency of my kingdoms may at last forever sign Nebuchadnezzar so Nebuchadnezzar his goal was that his kingdom would last forever and we've just summarized it here Matt last forever but Daniel continued in his explanation and you'll find it in verse 39 Babylon was the head of gold but Babylon would not rule forever - Nebuchadnezzar chagrin - Nebuchadnezzar's consternation verse 39 but you should but after you shall arise another Kingdom inferior to yours what does it mean that the next Empire that rose after Babylon would be inferior you may not be aware of it but the Babylonians were extremely cultured they developed science and math Medes and Persians were far less culture they were inferior in culture to the Babylonian Empire Babylon ruled from 605 BC to 539 BC it was then to be followed by another world-ruling empire and the Medes and Persians overthrew the Babylonians in this dream God gives us a vision into the future the Bible says and after thee after you shall arise another Kingdom Daniel inferior to you the Babylonian Empire would give way to the Medes and the Persians Medes and Persians would be depicted in the silver now you may wonder about that and I want to read you first keep your finger in Daniel chapter 2 and the Bible names the Medes and Persians we don't have to guess Daniel chapter 5 you'll turn to Daniel chapter 5 verse 26 27 and 28 Daniel 5 verse 26 27 and 28 this is the interpretation of each word many God has numbered your kingdom and finished it Tekel you've been weighed in the balances and found wanting that's the nation of Babylon perish your kingdom has been divided and given to the Medes and the Persians so the Babylonian Empire would fall the Medes and Persians would overthrow it the Bible describes it history tells it interestingly enough in the Book of Daniel in Chapter 8 we also read about the Medes and Persians attacking and overthrowing Babylon and we read it in the genuine chapter eight fourteen years before the event ever happened now how did the Medes and Persians overthrow Babylon and what significance does that have in prophecy in 539 BC Belshazzar the grandson of Nebuchadnezzar was throwing a great feast Belshazzar was about 36 years old and Daniel was in his mid-80s Belshazzar throwing this feast cyrus in the persians and der iose the Medes Cyrus the Persians had camped around Babylon and as they camped around Babel and the Babylonians were so confident remember I told you they had a constant water supply flowing through the city and they also had a constant food supply 20 years the Babylonians was so arrogant they get up on the walls and threw food over the walls today you guys you look hungry out there you want something to eat the Medes and Persians actually surrounded them but Cyrus did a marvelous engineering feat and this is what Cyrus did the night that this party was going on a bloodless hand wrote upon the wall it was the hand of God and it said men a God has numbered your kingdom and finished it techo thou art weighed in the balances and found wanting your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and the Persians how could that ever have happened this is what happened God had named Cyrus almost 150 years before this event ever happened now Cyrus was the Persian general that attacked Babylon and overthrew it I want to show you something amazing keep your finger here in Daniel chapter 2 or your marker and turn to the Book of Isaiah Psalms proverbs Isaiah and we're going to look at Isaiah chapter 45 Isaiah chapter 45 the Book of Isaiah was written in 680 BC that's 680 years before Christ Babylon was overthrown in 539 so if you get 685 30 nights about 141 years so when you read Isaiah you're reading about something that would take place a hundred forty years in the future now I want you to read something that's interesting I say a 45 verse one thus says the Lord to his anointed to Cyrus who is God's anointed Cyrus what would what would Cyrus do now Cyrus had not yet been born he wouldn't be born for almost a hundred years and the event wouldn't happen for about 140 years in the future now folk this is incredible - cyrus whose right hand I've held to subdue nations before him Cyrus would subdue nations he would loose the armor of kings he would open before him the double doors no keep that in mind he will open before him the double doors so the gates will not be shut keep that in mind I will go before you now go back up and look at something else that's interesting the chapter before Isaiah chapter 44 and look at the last part verse 27 who says to the deep be dry and I will dry up your rivers so the river would be dry who says of Cyrus he's my shepherd he'll perform my pleasure even saying to Jerusalem you'll be rebuilt into the temple your foundation will be laid so a man by the name of Cyrus would be born he would dry up the river he would come into Babylon and let the captives in Babylon from Jerusalem go free now remember in 605 BC Nebuchadnezzar attacked Jerusalem took Daniel captive in 596 BC he came back to Jerusalem took ten thousand captives in 586 BC he destroyed all of Jerusalem so what do you have Jerusalem's in captivity for 70 years like Jeremiah the Prophet predicted Cyrus was to attack he attacked in 539 but by 536 from 606 to 536 the 70 year captivity is up now and the captives go free so God named Cyrus over a hundred years before he's born God tells what Cyrus would do he had dry up the river well what's all that about you see it here in the Bible thus said the Lord was anointed to Cyrus his right hand I've Holden to subdue nations what does it mean he's going to loose the open the gate Cyrus was named approximately hundred fifty years before his birth this is what he did Cyrus saw the Euphrates River running through babbling so he dug large irrigation ditches far up the river he drained the river off into the desert the river dried up so in that drunken feast he took his armies and he marched him under the gates of Babylon but what happened when he came here into the city there were also inner gates but because of the drunken feast those gates were not shut the Bible predicted it would be Babylon the golden Empire it was Bible predicted the next nation that would rise would be meat of Persia it did the Bible named specifically Cyrus as the king of medo-persia heroes the Bible said he'd dry up the river he did the Bible says the gates would not be shut you say how do we know for sure outside of the Bible do we have any historical confirmation outside of the Bible about this we do we do this is called the Cyrus cylinder it's a barrel cylinder because you can see why it's shaped like a barrel if you were visiting the British Museum in London today you can and I've seen it many times we've photographed it you would be able to see the Cyrus cylinder now this Cyrus cylinder the ancients often wrote in rock records and you can see line after line the Cyrus cylinder describes Cyrus's overthrow a Babylon and his allowing the Jews to go free to rebuild the temple and rebuild the city exactly like you find predicted in Scripture you know I was 17 years old getting ready to go to university looking for meaning and purpose in my life and I wanted more than something that would give me a warm feeling in my heart I wanted something it would last forever as I began to study the Bible in particularly the Book of Daniel it changed my life and as I've lectured all over the world I've seen it change people's lives a number of years ago after the fall of communism when the Yeltsin government took over Russia I was invited to come to the Kremlin you know where and drop off spoke and where Khrushchev spoke and where where where Yeltsin spoke the great Soviets and to go into the Kremlin auditorium that seats 6,500 people and to lecture on the Word of God and it was an amazing experience every night we had two sessions 6501 first session 6,500 the second stage we had 13,000 people a night and I was lecturing in the communist Congress party building and there are many experiences we had there that I could spend the rest of the night telling you about but after I gave this lecture that I'm giving tonight on the historicity of the Bible and Daniel chapter 2 we had one lecture at five one lecture at seven I was sitting in a little room eating some Russian borscht trying to get strength for the second lecture and the general that led the Afghan invasion because you remember the Russians invaded Afghanistan the general in charge of that invasion is a huge man he's about six 465 I mean really strong comes bursting in the room where I was sitting you know military uniform he looks at me said dr. Finley I said yes sir stood up he reached his arms around grabbed me I mean I thought I was gonna crack in half he just grabbed me and started hugging me he looked me in the eye and he said this a group of Russian intellectuals met after your meeting tonight and after hearing that lecture that you gave we believe that the following the Bible is the only way forward for our nation if we turn away from the truthfulness of the Word of God our nation is going to be in trouble one lecture on the historicity of the Bible because he knew he understood culture he understood history understood the background you see so the Bible isn't a book for a lot of people that are intellectual ignoramuses they just don't think but the more you study the Bible the more you see it has substance there's something solid about it's something you can stake your life on something that's worth a living for so the Cyrus cylinder you see the revelation of Cyrus name before his birth but we continue meet a Persia ruled from 539 to 331 BC but you remember what the Bible says we're back in Daniel chapter 2 Daniel chapter 2 we're back there notice what scripture says verse 39 but after you shall arise another Kingdom inferior to yours so after Babylon another Kingdom God has given the interpretation there would be kingdoms that would rise and fall then another third Kingdom do you see where we're reading verse 39 of Daniel 2 then another third kingdom of bronze which shall rule over all of the earth so the third Kingdom a bronze what nation overthrew me to Persia it was obviously Greece next the third Kingdom what a bronze will rule over all the earth and the chief of course of Greece was Alexander the Great now turn over here to Daniel chapter 8 Daniel 8 was written 200 years before the events of Greece ever happened and I just want you to look at Daniel chapter 8 and although the symbolism changes in Daniel aid to a ram in a he-goat you're looking at Daniel 8 verse 20 the Bible is describing the nation that would overthrow me to persia what nation was that Daniel 8 verse 20 and 21 the RAM which you saw having the two horns are the kings of Midian Persia the male goat is the king of Greece the large one that's between his eyes is the first king who was the first king of Greece you know who was that again who is the first king of Greece Alexander I've got some good students tonight right in the front row Alex landed the great so it names Greece and it says his first king let me ask you a question how did the Bible know that Babylon would rule but then it would fall and meet a Persia would rule how did the Bible note named Cyrus over one hundred and some-odd years in advance how'd the Bible know Cyrus would dry up the rivers how'd the Bible know that Cyrus would the gates would be opened how'd the Bible know that for example that Greece would rise after the fall of me to Persia and how did the Bible predict that two hundred years in advance the what you're looking at in Daniel chapter eight is two hundred years in advance no I'll tell you something also quite fascinating the prophecies of Daniel are so accurate that the critics I mean the the scholarly community the intellectual so-called quote quote intellectuals here's the way they get around this the way they get around it is this they say we acknowledge that Daniel is really accurate but because we don't accept miracles in the Bible and because we an accept prophecy in the Bible the prevents are so accurate that the Book of Daniel had to be written after the events took place that's the way they get around it but I'll tell you what blew that argument out of the water in 1948 the Dead Sea scrolls were discovered now here's something you may be unaware of every book of the Old Testament we even think now we have fragments of Esther in the Dead Sea Scrolls but in the Dead Sea Scrolls we have seven to eight copies of the Book of Daniel more than any other book except Isaiah so we have 78 copies of Daniel when you look at the Dead Sea Scrolls and you look at Daniel from the Dead Sea Scrolls and you begin to study the Aramaic of Daniel it's the Aramaic of the sixth century it's not the Aramaic of the sea the first six chapters of Daniel written largely from chapter 2 - chapter says as aramaic the rest of the book is hebrew so but it's the aramaic it's the language of the sixth century not the language of the second century because you know how language changes like look at Elizabeth II in English V and vow and so forth you could tell when a person was born basically or the dialect if they were born in what they speak so the amazing thing here is the Book of Daniel can be easily dated the other thing is the details of the Babylonian Empire that Daniel gives could only be given by somebody who lived through the Babylonian Empire so there's little question about the dating of Daniel today so Alexander the Great he is not named but the Greek Empire is named two hundred years in advance bronze the Greeks had often used bronze armor so the Bible uses symbols that are quite common Babylon medo Persia and Greece then the Bible one of the historians writing about the Greek Empire says I'm persuaded that there was no nation city or people where his name that is Alexander's name did not reach there seems to me have been some divine and guiding or presiding over both his birth and actions that's the historical library book 16 chapter 12 in other words even the historian recognizes that there's some divine movement something's going on here in the Book of Daniel and in the rise and fall of Empires but Greece would fall the bronze Empire would fall Greece ruled from 331 to 168 BC the Bible then describes the fourth Empire you'll see it here in Scripture and look at Daniel chapter 2 and notice it again we're looking at Daniel the second chapter daniel chapter 2 and there would be a fourth Empire verse 40 and the fourth Empire shall be strong as iron in as much as iron breaks and pieces and shatters all things in the iron that crushes that iron will break in pieces and crush all others so the iron monarchy of Rome Rises Daniel chapter 2 verse 40 finally there'll be a fourth Kingdom strong as iron of all the Empire Rome was the strongest it certainly was the most expensive it went from Spain all across the Mediterranean into the Middle East went from Europe to northern Africa so you have the fourth medal no notice for metals gold silver brass and iron Babylon medo-persia Greece and Rome the Roman Empire reigns supreme the Roman armies dominate the world during this time and Rome becomes that leading capital of the world Rome rules from about 168 BC to the middle of the fourth century now here is something that is quite remarkable even secular historians who look at the Book of Daniel and look at history compare history to the Book of Daniel the leading author of all of Roman history is given Edward Gibbon and he writes a book called the decoff series of books called the decline and fall of the Roman Empire have you ever heard of that series to kind of follow the Roman Empire now here's what he said the images of gold of silver of bore brass that might serve to represent the nations and their kings were successfully broken by the iron monarchy of Rome so even the historian recognizes in the image of Daniel chapter 2 the significance of the prophecies of the Word of God now Rome would fall now look if I were predicting I would have predicted like this if you a human being were predicted I would a pretty girl like this gold silver brass iron copper tin zinc aluminum I mean the logical thing to do wouldn't it be is to keep predicting that another nation would rise but what do you know about Rome what do you know about Rome was Rome conquered by a fifth world ruling nation what happened to Rome it divided so don't miss it what does the Bible say verse 41 whereas you saw the feet in toes partly of potters clay and part of iron the kingdom shall be what divided so the fourth kingdom Rome would be what everybody divided yet the strength of iron shall be in it just as the iron is mixed with ceramic clay as the toes of the image the feet were part of iron and part of clay so the kingdom will be partly strong and partly broken the Roman Empire was divided the barbarian tribes came down from the north and Europe was carved up just like the Bible predicted as you saw the iron mixed with ceramic clay they'll mingle themselves with the seed of men what does that mean what does it mean to mingle the seeds intermarriage the kings and queens of Europe would intermarry in an attempt to unite the empire so there would be two ways they'd attempt to unite the Empire one through intermarriage and the other through war but since Rome was divided it has never been united again what does the Bible say and you saw in mixed verse 43 with ceramic clay they'll mingle with the seed of men but they will not adhere or cling to one another just as iron does not mix with clay no look let's go to the screen and look at it Daniel 241 where is the sauce to feet and toes part of potters clay and part of iron the kingdom shall be what what's the word everybody the kingdom shall be what divided so the Roman Empire would be divided the barbarian tribes would come down from the north there would be war and conflict and strife throughout the empire and you know the a lament I came down they settled in the area that we now know is what Germany the Burgundian settled in the area we now know his France as Switzerland the franc said on the area we now know as France the lombards Italy the Saxons what would the anglo-saxons where they said of everybody in England right thus wave I and Portugal the Visigoths in Spanish and the hairy UI vandals and arthri Goths are now extinct so when we look at Europe tonight what do we see when we look at Europe when we look at Europe we see a divided empire an empire that has been totally divided and so you see the Franks this way by the Visigoths and the Bible says that Empire would be divided and it would never be reunited again have there been those that have tried to unite the Roman Empire have there been those that have tried to bring the empire together look as you saw iron mixed with ceramic clay they'll mingle with the seed of man Napoleon divorced Louise of Austria and to remarry why because he wanted to unite all of Europe under the Napoleonic kin or the Napoleonic order you think of those that have tried to unite all of Europe would be leaders have risen and fallen I want to take you to Denmark this is the Fredricksburg castle there's something interesting here I want you to see so let's go into the castle together and make this discovery together when you enter the doors the fredericksburg castle there's something called the family tree of Europe and in this family tree of Europe it shows how the major families of Europe attempted to intermarry to mingle their seeds if you please to unite all of Europe under one political Empire isn't it fascinating that Bible prophecy is so incredibly accurate isn't it fascinating that we even today have what's known as the family tree of Europe showing the intermingling of seeds where you have the attempt to unite all of Europe with the here's King Frederick in his attempt to he marries Queen Diana why so that their children can have the royal seed for all of Europe they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men but they shall not unite one to the other the Bible says they would not cleave one to the other I remember being in Europe preaching in Munich skeptics says how do you know the Bible's true and I said well it's very simple you're standing on it he said what do you mean you're standing on it I said well you're standing on the very ground that indicates the Bible is true because Europe has been divided and there have been those that have tried to unite it there's been Charlemagne Charles v Hitler Mussolini the European Common Market attempted to United economically but Europe is still a very very divided continent because the Bible says they shall not cleave one to the other whether it is Charles the fifth but they shall not cleave whether its other would be world rulers they shall not cleave whether its Napoleon you know when Napoleon was defeated in the Battle of Waterloo 1815 he said God Almighty is too much for me the Bible is very clear that Europe would not be reunited again we are not living in the head of gold we're not living in the breasts and arms of silver were not living in the thighs of brass we're not living in the lakes of iron but now we're living down at the iron and clay you know when you look at that image you go from gold at the top to iron and clay at the bottom and iron and clay feet are not very stable all of society is quite quite shaky today and you know that the Bible says that that we're entering into times that will be very traumatic just before the coming of Jesus but we can be confident that this world is in the hands of God if God has been guiding history for 2,500 years he's certainly guiding the military leaders today the military leaders today that want to grasp at this world fail to recognize that this world is in the hands of God that God has an eternal purpose for this world remember what the Bible says it says in the days of these kings in the days of divided Europe something would happen what would happen the dream is certain the interpretation is sure what is the final interpretation look at verse 44 the days of these kings that's the days that divided Europe were not in the head of gold Babylon when not in the breasts and arms of silver meat of Persia were not in the thighs of brass Greece we're not in the legs of iron Rome you Europe was divided over 1500 years ago but notice verse 44 in the days of these Kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that'll never be destroyed and the kingdom will not be left to other people it'll break in into pieces and consume all these kingdoms and it shall stand forever and ever and ever here's the incredible good news the history of this world is in God's hands and the rock that smites the image is not some thermonuclear war the rock that smites the image is not some catastrophe it's not some that hits earth the rock that smites the image according to the Bible is the kingdom of God that fills the whole world and the incredible good news is in the days of these Kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed and the Kingdom shall not be left to other people it shall break and consume all these pieces kingdoms and it shall stand forever and ever and ever this rock is Christ eternal everlasting Kingdom and here is the marvelous good news this world is in the hands of God when the trauma and conflict is all around us as we see it today the instability of the economy you know when you look at the fact of America being 20 trillion dollars in debt the best political leaders I say the best political leaders gonna have a difficult time leading us out of this problem that we're in when you look at the natural disasters that hitting tornadoes famines earthquakes conflict we're in deep trouble in this world folk we're in deep trouble as I travel the world and I see the instability of this world but my heart is at peace because I know that this world is in the hands of God it kind of reminds me of a story at the end of the during the Second World War London was being bombed it was bombed terribly every night the bombers would fly over in bomb London and there was a father in his little 9 year old daughter and they were deep under the earth in a bomb shelter the mother of that family had been killed in a previous bombing raid and the two sisters had been killed and now just the father and the little girl was left and Hitler's tanks Hitler's bombers were bombing and the earth was shaking and the blasts were going off and the buildings were crumbling and this father and his nine-year-old daughter were in the bomb shelter and he reached over and took her hand and she was crying and she said daddy daddy hold my hand and hold it tight he said I've got you he put his arm around her and she said daddy daddy she said I've got you honey she said I'm afraid he said go off to sleep and she said daddy I can't sleep unless I know your face is turned toward me I can't sleep unless I know your face is turned toward me God hasn't forgotten Planet Earth his face has turned toward it we need not fear because this world is in God's hands the future is in God's hands and one day Jesus will come and there'll be no more sickness or suffering no more heartache or death no more sorrow no more famine no more cancer no more heart disease the incredible good news is this the Prince of Peace can give us peace in our hearts and he will come again soon hey everybody matt grey here media director for hope lives 365 don't go yet make sure that you subscribe and click the bell so you get notified of the next video in this series and i think you should check out these other videos over there I think you'll like those as well see ya

Channel: HopeLives365

Views: 525,086

Rating: 4.7459707 out of 5

Keywords: Daniel 2, mark finley, unsealing Daniel's Mysteries, the book of Daniel, understanding daniel, part 2, bible, prophecy, christianity, Hopelives365, pastor mark finley, seventh day adventist, seventh day adventist beliefs, seventh day adventist church, mark finley daniel, bible study

Id: tPFY3yEsv8o

Length: 69min 35sec (4175 seconds)

Published: Thu Feb 20 2020