Daniel 2: God Is in Control of History | Dr. Conrad Vine

All right. rest of my life. But I raised my father. Don't health principles. Who knows future?

What's that? Bible world text will The Bible tells us why we text them. The Bible tells us that God revealed There is no There's no future upon the world. How Secret. the restroom.

The restroom What is that? So popcorn says it can most in the dark. in the dark. I walk my mind to walk as well. I can walk with confidence because I can see what's done so that we can walk with confidence into the future.

We're not going to get we can see what's coming and we can be able to prep I books on the history of Hawaii and it's really fascinating because if you look through the history of the Hawaiian people going all the way back and the nations how they came to the Pacific here. Where did the nations come from? Trace and language, linguistic roots. It all goes back to the Middle East. They navigated their way using the stars.

They navigated their way down the Arabian Sea India across the Indian Ocean. Then they came to Indonesia and they starve. It's an entire story of how Hawaii came to be in the first place. So this guy here say I tell you this because astronomy comes from they understood the movements of the stars. ancient Babylonians who charted the 12ianstics.

So you may say what Nebuchadnezzar got to multip So on your watch, you know what you might say on your watch that you have measure your life. If you're wearing a on your list. BC might And then right at the top left of the battle war in the battle of the armies are battling the armies of Egypt forces and batting. with the crown prince. So having turned his he on his way south of Jerusalem where BC boys and Daniel was taken captives in the midst of World War Empire established about 42 years.

The first 15 years he was on the road he was conquering period to be one of the most incredible cities the ancient world of the Gardens of Babylon. Remember the gardens of Babylon? So he built them because his wife didn't like desert. So because he had a wife, he was home to the mountains of Iran many imports from all across the Middle East. We have piped water against the very top.

You go to the Berlin Museum today in Germany have one of the ceremonial gates in that one. They actually covered with a blue blaze with golden lines on the wings. It's incredible. So he built Babylon for his wife and he also greatly expanded the city of Babylon itself. And in the middle of the city of Bab which is 300 ft tall it was huge.

On top of that you had a temple built solid gold and you can see it for many many miles around the ancient world and in the 1980s and 1990s Saddam Hussein in Iraq he modeled himself on claims he was like the reincarnation he put his place next and um so he wanted to rebuild the city of Babylon but Babylon was destroyed and according to the Bible would never be rebuilt If you look through it's an amazing story what happens to this and the story we're going to pick up the story in Daniel 2 1-3. This is what we read. It says in the second year of many's reign many dreams and his spirit was troubled and sleeping. So the king commanded the magicians the enchanters the sorcerers and the calaldans summoned the king of dreams and stood before the king. He said to them, "I have had such a dream that my spirit is truly anybody here have dreams and forget what they are.

Some people keep a notepad by their bed." Yes. They write on the rings and they some recons today you will find that people across from the Middle East God speaks them in dreams. The Muslim world today is filled with visions having dreams and visions of Jesus Christ to follow him. This is a global phenomen of the globe invites them to follow him. But the king has a dream and He can't understand it.

So he calls Cald. Now those Calaldans, they were his they were his fortune tellers. These guys were skilled at telling the future as the art of divination. They would drop open the goats. They examine the endrails.

They shoot from arrows. They see where the arrows fall. They um they seem to be able to tell the future. And they would heavily immerse in the clubs. The calaldanss they said to the king in the text it says there is no one on earth who can reveal what the king demands in fact no king however great and powerful has ever asked such of any magician or enchant or calaldian the thing that the king is asking is too difficult and no one can reveal it except the gods whose dwelling is not mortals said to the king tell us the dream and we'll tell you the interpretation and the king said no had a dream don't You first tell me a dream, then you tell me interpretation.

That sounds like marriage to you. was telling the dream in ter got really angry then was a so he said you guys are a bunch of trxes he said you just want to lie to me deceive me so he said I sent the soldiers to execute all the wise men of a young Jewish boy called Daniel called Shadrach and when the They came to their home and Daniel said, "Why did you come to execute us?" He also said, he told them the story of the king's dream and how the come to interpret it. Daniel says, "Let me pray and I'll ask the God of heaven." So the story goes, Daniel told that Daniel prayed and he asked God to reveal to him this dream that the king had received. And God revealed that dream to Daniel that night. And the next day, Daniel goes to the king and he says, "Don't go tell the wise men of I can tell you the dream that you had two nights ago." Said, "You can tell me the dream I had two nights ago." "Yes," said Daniel.

And so the king said, "Go ahead." So Daniel then gave him the dream. And this is Daniel says we were looking and there was a large huge extraordinary stat before you appearance was the head of that statue of fine gold and arms of silver and as you look on the cut out not by human statue of iron. in pieces and the iron filled with gold were all broken in pieces and became like the ch of the summer pressing claws and the winds carried them away so every trace of them could be found but the stone that struck the st and filled the whole earth so that's how Daniel describes it there's a pictorial representation of the dream of Nebuchadnezzar you got the statue the head of gold the arms of silver the size grass, the legs of iron, and then the legs and the toes, the feet with iron and clay, which really don't mix together. And you have this stone that is human hands that strikes the statue to wipe all tasted away. So this is the dream that had Daniel explained to him this was a dream.

And actually this year as we're about to see tells us the flow of history from the time of man for measure all the way down to 2026. So the question is does God know the future? God reveal to us what is going to happen. When we look at this very famous dream the answer is yes. You're going to have to say you know as I lay out the evidence you're going to have to give me that later.

I'm just sharing with you now this very famous dream that the king maybe had recorded for us to learn from. So what is the interpretation of the dream? So the story goes on. And Daniel says to him in Daniel 2:37:38, he says, "You, oh king, the king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, power, the might, and the glory, to whose hands he has given human beings wherever they live, wild animals of the field, and the birds of the air, to whom he has established as ruler over them all. You are head of gold." God gave him a dream.

His head was telling you filled with nothing but humility. Yes. Maybe amount of pride in his heart in that moment. But the statistics goes on to say this after you shall arise another kingdom to yours again a third kingdom of bronze which shall rule over the whole earth. So after another kingdom then after that kingdom will arise a third kingdom in Syria to the first two kingdoms.

And did this actually happen? in April 538 BC um is a last you heard of the famous person the great Cyrus the great is one of the greatest human history empire empire but the great was the city of And the city of Babylon had walls and the king of Babylon. He was so that was not going to held a great feast and he was drinking and he held all his nobles there and they had their wives with them and the officers were there. He held a great feast who were mocking the God of heaven. Read about the story in Daniel 5.

And suddenly it beast the says that they were handed and started writing on the wall. Many men and nobody could interpret what the meaning was writing from the wall. And so the king of Babel in Belzar is now dead. It says, "Can you figure out what the right means?" And she says, "I don't say the man who was servant of God and his name is Daniel. God speaks and reveals the secret to him.

Why don't you ask him and he'll come and interpret a handwriting on the wall. So Daniel came and he gave to him a short history lesson of all how God worked in the life of me. But then Daniel said this. He says, "And this is the writing that is incribed the writing on the wall. Many many is the interpretation of the matter.

And then God has numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end. You waved on the scales and found one thing perish. Your kingdom is divided and given to me into the Persians. That very night the Persian army broke through the walls of Babylon. They didn't militarily simply dug a tent diver around the city.

So the water the water then the Persian army marked under the water when the river was at it lowest having diverted the river the city that night was that night. Kingdom Babylon is approached by the Persians and historically Next arrive at the presence of the Greek empire Alex the Great. You all heard of Alex the Great. Yes. Perhaps the single largest empire in human history 2 million square miles from Greece all the way through Afghanistan and northern India.

It was an incredible empire that he constituted since Alexander the great he invaded the P empire invaded in the year 234 BC and within three years he had totally overthrown the entire Persian people and Alexander the great um was a genius to the general and he met his Greek soldiers so far but eventually they said we're so far from home we're not following any further which is to come back and come back to when Alexander the Great he came back to he was about 31 years old. He held a party to celebrate his magnificent empire. He got drunk had malaria and he didn't wake up the next morning divided into the four leading generals empire whe that's not logical. object a is following using Greek philosophy and Greek logic and so just as we the um the evidence of Babylonian kingdom watchers today. So we all have philosophy how we think all across much of the world today.

So these guys had a profound impact how we live our lives today. So the question is in the of those head of gold and arms and breast of silver and the thighs of brass and the legs of iron does the text actually these kingdoms because this prophecy was given in 604 BC. Alexander the Great didn't invade um Persia until 334 BC. There's almost 300 years difference there. So does the book of Daniel tell us 300 years in advance actual names of these kingdoms that are going to follow Babylon?

The answer is yes. And we find that in the book of Daniel chapter 8. We have a prophecy of a goat and a ram. And the first of those beasts is the ram. This is what the prophecy says.

This is Daniel speaking. It says, "I looked and I saw a ram stand inside the river. It had two horns. Both horns were long, but one was longer than the other. And the longer one came up south.

I saw the ram charging westward and northward and southward. All beasts were powerless to stand it and no one rest from it. It did as it pleased and it became strong. And just so we understand who this lamb is, the text goes on to say for the ram that you saw with the two horns, these are the kings of where Persia. Now this is given this was given 70 years before me and Babylon.

This particular prophecy, if you look at the details of this ram, it says there two horns. One came up later and was larger than the other. The neo persians started out as the me and the Persians. The Persians were the weaker side of that alliance to make two world houses. Northern Iran, the Persians were from southern Iran of today.

But over time, the Persians dominates. Now we know justice propose an empire. So it's exactly as the prophecy says then the prophecy says ban charges to the west to the north and to the south. What direction empire go? They came from Iran and they came east into modern day Iraq Babylon.

Then they went north into modern day Turkey. They conquered the Hittites and they went south and they conquered Egypt. So the three directions west, north and south. Exactly. Says and the two horns will be there but one would be larger than the other.

That's the meeting of Persians turning into the Persian Empire. And the text tells us name of this empire 70 years before it came into existence. Then when you ask what about Alexander the Great did did the book of Daniel identify 300 years in advance did it name the kingdom of Greece as the next empire and that's exactly what we find in the text and this is how the book of Daniel chapter 8 describes you right of the Greek empire says as I was watching a meow goat of the dead from the west notice the ram appeared from the east that was the Persians now you have an animal coming from the west which is where Greeks came from coming across the face of the whole earth in the ground. So it's moving with great speed. The goat had a horn between its eyes.

It came toward the ram with the two horns that I had seen standing beside the river and it ran at it with savage force. He saw the ram. It enraged against it and struck the ram breaking its two horns. Ram did not have power to withstand it. Threw the ram to the ground and trampled upon it.

There was no one who can rest with a ram from its power and the male gates were exceedingly great. The height of its power the great is broken in his place came fours towards four winds of heaven. This is a very accurate description what happened to the Greek empire. The text goes on to say that this this um goat presents the kingdom of Greece. So the male goat is the king of Greece.

The great form between its eyes is the first king. That'll be Alexander the Great. So this text tells us that this this is the Greek empire comes from the west which it did from a perspective. It went great speed without touching the ground. Alexander the great conquest was very rapid.

There was a great horn between its eyes. That was the first Alexander the Great. It destroyed the empact when it at the height of his power was given. Alexander the great conquered his empire. He had that party in Babylon and never woke up the next morning.

He didn't live to see the fruits of his conquest. Then it says it faced him that fours the four wings of the Greek empire split a series of civil wars in the four kingdoms to Greece, Turkey and Iraq and Syria Egypt. those Egypt now ruled by general coming was the last of the colonies. You see I got engaged Julius Caesar and so the the book of Daniel identifies Persia and Greece in advance Greece 300 years in advance before the Greek Empire came to existence and so you have the length of so empire Greece is wrong. And the text says, "And there shall be a fourth kingdom strong as iron as iron crushes and smashes everything shall crush and shatter all the Romans built the greatest of ancient history.

There's a map there. Norway around the Mediterranean, north of Britain, south into almost modern day Ethiopia, the east into modern day Iraq and north into Armenia in the northeast there. And the Roman Empire, it started out as a ruled by a Senate. Rome then evolved into an empire ruled by an emperor and then it revolved into a union of church and state which is another absolute ruler to the pope. And so Rome has g through many phases.

And when the Roman Empire was established, it incorporated the territories of Greece and Persia and Pap all the empires that came before it. And the Roman Empire did using this part. Now the pats arrived, he would destroy the local communities. They burn everything to the ground. They enslave the local population.

They conduct a sport policy. Then the land was ified. So there was no left to call it the Romans were pretty brutal wherever they went and um they were they were feared and hated and uh and they had a pretty brutal empire. After Rome goes on to say, says, "As you saw the feet and toes cut and partly of iron, it shall be a divided kingdom, but some of the strength of iron shall be in it as you saw the iron mixed with clay." Down at the bottom, it says in the red says, "They will not all together, just as iron does not mix with clay." So the Roman Empire, it didn't just disappear overnight. It gradually faded away.

And so what happened was in 330 AD the Roman Emperor Constantine he moved the emperor the empire's capital in Rome all the way to the east to a new city called Constantinople modern day Istanbul and the empire split into two halves west and east. The Eastern Empire known as the Byzantine Empire and the Western Roman Empire was left to fight off the barbarian invasions and the Western Roman Empire lasted another 150 years. But in 476 AD, the Roman Empire in the west and the city of Rome, it came to its end and the last Roman Emperor in Rome sent the imperial insignia across asking them to preserve to preserve what was left of Rome. The average person, how many toys are there? The average person's got 10 toes.

Yeah. And the text says the feet to be comprised together. And if you look at the history what happened with ancient Romearian tribes this left the modern nations of Europe there on the right. So the angle Saxons came from Germany and they took over England to United Kingdom of today. Visigos to Spain and southern France.

Slaves into Portugal and they were tried from Northern Europe, North Africa. France, they took over Northern France. You get the word uh France from that. The the Alammani took over Germany. You can go to Germany today.

Germany of southeastern France and Switzland Austria took over Austria and Hungary took over Italy. So the prophecy said that the end of that kingdom of iron is going to split and we find 10 toes and the two feet. What happened historically is these 10 barbarian tribes took over and the modern nations of Europe direct those 10 barbarian tribes. Pretty impressive stuff. And if we recognize that Alammani Alamman region is also in southern France and the Anglo Saxons two tribes of the Indians the night of the round table in 500 AD when the Roman armies from the Anglo-Saxons invaded drove the pelts Scotland and Wales.

So these 10 barbarians they western Roman Empire and they formed the basis for the modern nations of Europe. It's pretty amazing. This prophecy was given in 604 BC and the modations of Europe really only come into existence the last 200 years. It's a prophecy that almost You see the fulfillment ask yourself well text says they will not let me ask you the question has anybody tried to unify Europe you look at a map in world history majority of them are in Europe and if you just look through history who has tried to unite Europe and who has failed Imperial Rome tried to unite Europe but they couldn't sustain it. Charlemagne or Charles the great in France and he tried to unite Europe established the Holy Roman Empire again he failed.

Charles the 5th from the Holy Roman Empire and he tried to unite Europe with Martin Luther he failed. Louis the 14th late 1600s king of France he tried to unite Europe's force but he failed. the magnificent ruler of the Ottoman Empire. He invaded Europe from all the way to the gates of Vienna. He wanted to unify Europe to Islam and he failed.

Napoleon Bonapart tried to unify Europe and he failed. Adolf Hitler tried to unify Europe and he failed. USSR tried to unify Europe. USSR failed. The European Union has tried to unify Europe.

They have not they have not succeeded. The text says they were not together. Is he a prophecy given 700 years ago now? Have we still been worked out in the flow of history? It's pretty cool stuff.

But what about the stone? What about the stone that hits the statue? It strikes the tit of the statue. So that stone comes in the time of disunited citizens of Europe. That's where we are today.

Stone that takes out the entire statue. Doesn't hit the head, doesn't hit the arms, doesn't hit the thigh, doesn't hit the legs, strikes the foot of the statue. That's what the prophecy says. So far, everything is true. We follow it through the history.

The prophecy goes to say this in the days of those kings that is the divided nations of Europe the God of heaven will set kingdom that shall never be destroyed nor shall his kingdom be left. It shall crush all these kingdoms and bring them to an end shall stand forever. Just as he saw that a stone was cut from the mountain by hands crush the iron, the bronze, the silver and the gold. God has informed the king where Nebuchadnezzar what shall be hereafter dream certain and his interpretation prophet. So what does that stone represent?

It represents the arrival of the kingdom of God. Say well when exactly did that kingdom of God arrive? Did it arise during time Jesus lived on earth? Jesus first sermon is where Matthew chapter 4 says repent for the kingdom of God is at heaven. But you see if if the kingdom of God is the first coming of Jesus that would strike the stat the legs of iron strikes the statue in the island.

So it's not the first coming of Jesus Christ that will be out of it historical order. So we're not talking about the first coming of Jesus as the striking of the statue wiping away statue. It has to be something else. Napoleon Bonapart um when he was recognized recognized in his writings that he tried to unite Europe a force found that he was fighting not British fighting against recognize that not unite Europe a force. This is what Napoleon said Jesus alone of this day millions will die for one of the greatest generals human history and Jesus taught us kingdom come thy will be done as it is in heaven.

So Jesus taught us to pray and The kingdom of God in all it glory not happened during Jesus life on earth. It is still an eventual future. Jesus taught us to pray in our Lord be thy named thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. And so this final kingdom that's going to come, this final kingdom of glory is going to wipe away trace of the statue that went before it. How did Daniel summarized that statue.

What Daniel summariz when he summarized the whole statue the flow of human history said this. He said the statue was huge experience extraordinary. We're standing before you appearance was frightening. Now that word frightening the Hebrew word there is defa means terrifying. It means overwhelming and it means degrading.

And that one word um the appearance is terrifying or frightening summarizes human history because empire is empire and enslavement. There is no empire history that was not enslaved and oppressive injustice. We may dress up the British Empire say if you look at all of our histories if we're honest with ourselves no empire of one group of history that's g And so when Daniel says that the flow of history is suming up even um tendency to conquer others to dehumanize them to other them in one way or another. No emp kingdom stone that wipes away a great verse in the last 21 but I saw new heaven The first and the sea was no more. I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God.

I heard a loud voice saying, "See the whole of God is also suffering oppression and causing racial Dehum it says no more and pain will be no more former things that's the coming kingdom to all these human kingdoms that outlines in the prophecy 605 BC middleers Greece and Rome All of our societies in the world today have elements of all of those empires and survivors one way or another. We're all affected by the empires. All these empires are paras. And we are living today in the days when God is going to establish a new kingdom. If you look at that glow of history that stone that hits you strikes in the toes of the empire the statue there which means that we are living in the humanity.

[snorts] The next empire the next kingdom to be established it's going to be like any other. It's not going to be built on oppression. It's not going to be built on conquest. It's not going to be built on enslavement. It's not going to be built on injustice.

It's going to be the kingdom of God himself will wipe away every disease and sorrow will be no more. What a beautiful promise. This is a promise kingdom that is coming for every one of us regardless from Hawaii or from Michigan or from England where today wherever our country of origin is there's a coming kingdom and we can all be that kingdom is open to all peoples you don't need a passport to go in that kingdom if you born in a certain part of the world that kingdom that kingdom is open to all peoples that kingdom is coming in the time of its which means this is a thing that's the next big thing to happen when they're going to be no more God is going to wipe every tear my eyes so what do we say please our time is up for our first evening What is this passage from Daniel revealed to us? Well, the first question is this. Can the Bible reveal the future?

Yes or no? Sister alone is that God isn't the flow of it. It may appear to us tonight that our world is spinning out of control. The environment is degrading. system.

Our social fabric is slowly falling apart. We all have a sense that something is broken world. We come from broken homes. We have broken marriages. We have broken our world.

We seem to be powerless to stop this despite all our knowledge, all our world is falling apart. The Bible tells us that there's a God of the future and he's told us what is coming in the future is inviting us to three tonight in first history of Jeremiah says there surely I know the plans I have for Lord, I feel welcome for you. Hawaii tonight says, "Do you call upon me and come to me? I will hear you. When you search for me, you will find me.

If you seek me with all your heart, I will let you find me." God isn't just the Lord of history. just reveal what is going to happen over the rise and fall of empess. Not wanting any to come true. So God has a human being eternal life. God wants everybody to speak his kingdom of glory.

All the kingdoms and risen fallen now is coming of Jesus Christ of the kingdom of glory. God is waiting because he is not willing to help. He wants as many people as possible to accept his invitation. Need to rule the known world. The hammer of the world has himself heard the interpretation that he fell down in worship says then the last few verses fell on his face and the king said to Daniel your God is one of gods of kings and a revealer of mysteries.

You have been able to fulfill this. When Nebuchadnezzar realized that God is the Lord of history, not human ruler, God is in control of the rise and fall of empires, not ministers or princesses. Maybe you can realize that there is a God who raises kingdoms and takes them down bringing history not just to miserable end to a glorious Jesus Christ of glory Nebuchadnezzar worship and if you read the story of Nebuchadnezzar Daniel 1 2 3 and 4 starts out many gods in Daniel 1 2 God alone has acquainted with the glory responded with worship. So how do we respond tonight? Government would like to know what's going to happen tomorrow.

Nobody knows what's tomorrow. Government would like to know what's going to happen in the next years. Nobody knows. But there is a God of heaven reveal mysteries. God has planned for each one of us for our welfare to give us a future with the God of heaven who wants all his not so the arrival of that glory is delayed as many as possible to encourage you to put your trust in the king of kings of God who knows the future.

He reveals the future through these propheies. You can look at other session in this series. There are many in the book of battle incredible detail the rise and flow of just one of them tonight just to prove there is a god of heaven coming in the kingdom of God that arrives me wants you to anyone favorite side of the fell down. He worshiped I want to invite you tonight. Not an altar or anything like that, but it prays what that's like.

I'm not afraid about tomorrow. invite you to bow your heads with me now. Heavenly Father, we thank you that you are the Lord of history. You reveal to us the flow of earthly over the last 2600 years. Incredible accuracy.

Father, you know the day that we were born. Jesus says you know the hairs on our heads we know when a sparrow falls to the ground every aspect of our lives tonight father maybe if only for the first time we have a hand so please take us Lord please lead us please lead us through this world lead us into the coming kingdom of war Lord that every person's head is bowed here tonight whether in this hall or watching be able to face their future with faith rather than fear as the Lord of history is walking side by side with them. So tonight, Father, thank you for being the Lord of our lives. Take away the fear that preach the peace possible and understand before us. Nobody can be against us.

Thank you for this Jesus our Lord and Savior. Amen. So we look forward to see you tomorrow night. We'll have some great food again and then going to be sharing with us some more health nuggets and then we'll continue our journey. Tomorrow we're going to look at the question why is there suffering in pain?

Uh it's a question that affects all of us one way or the other. That's going to be our topic tomorrow. Why is there suffering pain? How do we gain victory over this? So we look forward to seeing you tomorrow at 6:00.

May God bless you.