Daniel 2. God is in control of history. | Dr. Conrad Vine

rest of my life.

My father

The people

What?

Got to know.

What’s that?

Bible.

World

text will be The Bible tells us why we

text for you.

The Bible tells us that God

There is no

upon how to prophets.

Mr.

Right.

The rest

is on my bed at night.

Popcorn on the ground.

So you need to say

You will be exist

in the dark.

In the dark, you walk to walk.

my learn with confidence because I can see what’s

done so that we can walk with the future we’re not going to get hurt because we

can see what’s coming and we can be better for it. So just kind of briefly

one of the greatest history I read some books on the history of

Hawaii and fascinating because if you look through the history of the Hawaiian people all the way back

and the nations how came to the Pacific here. Where did the museum come from?

Trace and language, linguistic roots. It all goes back to the Middle East. They navigated their way using the stars

astronomy. They navigated away India.

They came to Indonesia and they origin

it’s an incredible story of how Hawaii came to be.

So this guy here say Hawai

they understood the movements of the stars. ancient Babylonians who charted the 12 months. Babylonians gave us

astronomy. They also gave us a not only that function.

So you may say what Nebuchadnezzar got today.

How many minutes are there?

multiples of six.

So on your watch you have on your watch that you have the measure

goes all the way to Daniel

if you’re wearing a watch on your wrist.

have an impact in modern day.

They might

And then right at the top left

of the armies are battling the armies of Egypt forces and empire.

of the crown prince.

So having turned them into heaven

on his way south of Jerusalem where BC

boys and Daniel was taken captive in the midst of this world war of the

And so this is empires and then rules 43 years. First 15 years

of his reign he was on the road he was conquering 15 years of his reign and he was on the road

in the middle of his reign. He was a builder and he built up to be one of the most incredible cities the world

of the gardens of Babylon. Remember the hanging garden?

So when he built them around

like desert because he had a wife who was hosted

from all across the Middle East water the very The blue bricks are in the wheel. If you

go to the Berlin Museum today in Germany have one of the ceremonial gates in Babs

with golden lions on the wings. It’s incredible. So they built the hanging of Babylon

and they also greatly expanded the city of Babel itself. And in the middle of the city of Babylon is the 70th temple,

the temple of Mar which is 300 ft tall.

It was huge. On top of that, you had a temple built solid gold. You can see it for many many miles around.

So was one of the greatest builders of the ancient world. And in the 1950s and 1990s, Saddam Hussein in Iraq, he

modeled himself on heavy puts

and um so he wanted to rebuild the city of Babylon. But Babylon was destroyed and according to the Bible would never

be rebuilt again. If you look through it’s an amazing story what happened.

So 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 Medic’s reign such dreams and his spirit was troubled.

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 the desire to understand it.

Does anybody here have dreams and forget what they are? Some people keep a notepad by their bed.

They write on the rings and they some actually record what

they genius going on. I don’t normally kind of nonsense to me.

If you go to the Middle East today, you will find that the people across the Middle East God speaks to them in

dreams. The Muslim world today is filled with visions of having dreams and visions of Jesus Christ to follow him.

This is a global phenomenon. I’ve been missing work much of my life and I see this all the time. There have been more mission conversions to Christ in the

last years, 1400 years. That’s because Jesus dreams and visions to visions every

corner of the globe invites them to follow him. But the king has a dream and he can’t understand it. So he calls

him. Now those calans they were his fortune tellers. These guys were skilled at telling the future of 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 claim to be able to

tell the future and they were heavily immersed in the cups and 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 as any magician or enchant or calian thing that the king is asking is too difficult and no one can reveal it

except the gods whose dwelling is not mortals The said to the king, “Tell us the dream and we’ll tell you the interpretation.”

And the king said, “No, had a dream. I don’t remember it. You first tell me the dream, then you tell the interpretation.”

That sounds like marriage to you.

in terms of interpretation. He said, “No man can do that.” So got really angry.

So he said, “You guys are a bunch of trxes.” He said, “You just want to lie to me and deceive me.” So he said, “I sent the soldiers to execute all the

wise men of Babyl including a young Jewish boy called Daniel, his big friends called Shadrach, and when the

officer came to their home, Daniel said, “Why have you come to execute us?” The He told them the story of the king’s dream and the deans come to interpret

it. Daniel says, “Let me pray and I’ll ask the God of heaven.” So the story goes and Daniel prays and they 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 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 tonight. Yes, said Daniel. And so the king said go ahead. So Daniel then gave

him the dream. And this is the Assange

was the head of that statue was a fine gold chest and arms of silver. It’s a

size of compass of iron. It speak out not by human struck the 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 that trace of them can be found but the stone that struck the stat

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 thighs of brass the legs of iron and then the legs and

the toes with iron and clay which really don’t mix together and you have this stone that is human hands that strikes

the statue to wipes all tasted away. So this is the dream that had explained to

him this was the dream and actually this dream we’re about to see tells us the flow of history from the time of Nebuchadnezzar all the way 2026.

So the question is does God know the future and God reveal to us what is going to happen on earth? When we look

at this very famous screen the answer is yes. You’re going to have to say as I lay out the evidence you’re going to have to give your opinion on that later.

I’m just sharing with you now this very famous dream that the king had recorded for us to learn from. So what is the

interpretation of the dream? So the story goes on. Daniel says to him in Daniel 2:37:38,

he says, “You, oh king, the king of kings, to whom the God of he has given the kingdom, power, the might, and the

glory into whose hands he has given human beings wherever they live, all animals of the field, and the birds of the air, and whom he has established as

ruler over them all. You are head of gold.

And God gave him a dream. His head was gold.

Jerus tells him what the dream is. He said

nothing but humility. Yes.

That moment. But the statue isn’t just made of gold for other 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 and then after that kingdom will arise a third kingdom Syria to the first two kingdoms. And did this actually happen?

in April 538 um is a

last you heard of the famous person the great Cyrus the great is one of the greatest

human history empire now empire but cyus the great was

the city of the city had walls and the king was

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 held a great feast who were

mocking the god of heaven read about the story in Daniel 5 and suddenly beast the text says that

it and started writing on the wall. Many men and nobody could interpret what the

meaning was writing in the wall. And so the king of Babylon

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

the wall. So Daniel came to Beld

and this is the writing that is incribed the writing on the wall. Many many tech this is the interpretation of the matter.

God has numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end.

You will be raised on the scales and sounding perish. Your kingdom is provided to give into the Persians.

And that very night the Persian army and break through the walls of Babylon.

They didn’t come to militarily simply dug a trench

around the city. So the water and the Persian army marked under the water when the river was at it slow.

delivery that night was that night. So kingdom is

approached by the Persians and historically Mex

of the Greek empire Alex the Great perhaps the single largest in human

history from Greece all the way down and northern India. It was an incredible

empire that he conquered since Alexander the Great. He invaded the Persian Empire

invaded in the year 234 BC and within three years he had totally overthrown

the entire Persian Empire and Alexander the Great um was a genius to a general and he met his Greek soldiers so far but

eventually they said we’re so far from the home we’re not following any further. which Alexander the Great started to come back and come back to

Bab and when Alexander the Great he came back to Bab

to celebrate his magnificent empire he got drunk had malaria

he didn’t wake up the next morning was divided into the four generals

empire But

whether to that’s not logical

for a

4 A is B and C= following

using Greek philosophy and Greek logic.

And so just as we have the evidence of Babylonian kingdom

so we all have Greek philosophy how we think all across much of the world today. So these guys had a profound impact in how we live our lives today.

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

this prophecy was given in 604 BC didn’t invade um Persia until 334 BC

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 out in the book of Daniel 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. He says, “I looked and I saw a ram stand inside the river. It had two horns. Both horns were long, but

than the other and the longer one came acing westward and northward and southwards.

All beasts were powerless to withstand it and no one could rescue from its power. 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 we saw with the two horns, these are the kings of where.

Now this is given this was given 70 years before this particular prophecy.

If you look at the details of this ram, it says there two horns.

One came up later was larger than the other. The neo persians started out as the Persians. The Persians were the weaker side of that alliance houses.

Northern Iran and the Persians were from southern Iran of today. But over time, the Persians came to dominate. Now we

know justice propose an empire. So it’s exactly as the prophecy says. Then the prophet says ban charges to the west to the north and to the south.

What direction did the empire go? They came from Iran and they came east into modern day Iraq. Conquered Babylon. Then they went north into modern day Turkey.

They conquered the Hittites. And they went south and they so west, north and south. Exactly. He

says and the two horns will be there but one would be larger than the other as the meeting of Persians turning into the

Persian Empire and the text tells us name of this 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 of 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 male goat of the dead from the west notice the lamb appeared from the east that was the

Persians you have an animal coming from the west which 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’s no one who can rescue a ram from its power.

When the male goes through exceedingly the height of its power, the great horn is broken and it came fours towards four

winds of heaven. This is a very accurate description of what happened to the Greek empire. The text goes on to say

that this um goat presents the kingdom of Greece. So the male goat was 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. It was a great horn between

its eyes. That was the first Alexander the Great. It destroyed the peers. That’s exactly what he did when

it at the height of it was 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

fours the four wings of the Greek Empire split through a series of civil wars in the

four kingdoms to Greece, Turkey and Iraq and Syria Egypt. those Egypt now ruled

by general coming with the last of the colonies you see got engaged to 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 here 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 these.” And the Romans built the greatest empire

of ancient history. There’s a map there already north of Britain, south into

almost modern day Ethiopia, east into modern day Iraq and north into Armenia in the northeast there. And the Roman

Empire, it started out 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 many phases and when the Roman Empire was established incorporated the territories of Greece

and Persia and all the empires that came before it the Roman Empire did using its

part or the piece of Rome as they called it and the Romans arrived he would destroy the local communities they burn

everything to the ground they enslave the local population policy when the land was

So there was no left to call it the Romans were pretty brutal wherever they went and um they 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 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, they will not fall 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.

And the average person, how many toys are there? The average person has got 10 toys. Yeah.

And the text says the feet to be comprised together.

And if you look at the history what happened with ancient Rome barbarian tribes

there the left the modern nations of Europe on the right. So the angle Saxons

came from Germany and they took over United Kingdom of today. Visigos to

Spain and France. Slaves into Portugal and they were tri from Northern Europe

over North Africa. France they took over Northern France. You get the word uh France from that. The Alami took over Germany. You can go to Germany today.

Germany of southeastern France and Switzland

Austria for Austria and Hungary and the Heritage over Italy. So the prophecy said that

Kingdom of Ireland is going to split and we find 10.

What happened historically is these Barbarian tribes took over

and the modern nations of Europe is direct descendants of those 10 barbarian tribes.

fully impressed and we recognize that Alami Alammani

one region is also in southern France and the Anglo Saxons

two tribes they cast the night of the round table in 500

AD when the Roman army the Anglo invaded drove the pelts into Scotland and Wales.

So these 10 barbarians took to the western Roman Empire since they formed the basis for the modern nations of Europe.

It’s pretty amazing.

This prophecy was given in 604 BC and the modulations of Europe really only

come into existence the last 200 years prophecy that spanning almost 2500

years. 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 so Imperial Rome tried toite they they couldn’t sustain it.

Charlemagne or Charles the Great in France and he tried to unite Europe and he tried to empire again he failed.

Charles the from the Holy Roman Empire and he tried to unite Europe with Martin Luther he failed. Louis the 14th late

1600s king in France he tried to unite Europe force but he failed. Solomon 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 all together.

Is he a prophecy given 700 years ago?

Have we still see work out in the flow of history? It’s pretty cool. But what about the stone?

What about the stone that hits the statue that strikes the tit of the statue? So that stone in the time of

disunited citizens of Europe. That’s where we are today. Phone that takes out the entire statue, doesn’t hit the face,

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 clear of history.

The prophecy goes to say this in the days of those kings that is the divided nations of Europe God of heaven will set

him 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 his stone was cut from the mountain by hands and

crush the iron, the bronze, the silver and the gold.

God has informed him Nebuchadnezzar what shall be hereafter dream certain and his interpretation prospect. So what does that stone represent?

It represents the arrival of the kingdom of God.

Say well when exactly did that 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 hand.

But you see if if the kingdom of God is the first coming of Jesus that would

strike the legs of iron strikes the statue in the iron. So it’s not the first coming of Jesus 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. There has to be something else. Napoleon Bonapart um

when he was recognized recognized in his writings that though he tried toite Europe force found that

he was fighting not against British fighting against recogniz

force. This is What about Jesus Christ that Jesus alone

of love to this day millions will die for him.

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

the kingdom of God in all the glory not happened on earth.

Jesus taught us to pray in our prayers in the Lord’s father named

thy will be done in 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 summarize that statue? Well, Daniel summarized the flow of human history with this one verse. He looked

at that when he summarized the whole statue in the flow of human history.

Daniel said this. He said the statue was huge extraordinary was standing before you and his appearance was frightening.

Now that word frightening, the Hebrew word there is defal. It means terrifying.

It means overwhelming and it means degrading.

And that one word um the appearance is terrifying or

frightening. summarizes human history

on the enslavement taking out.

There is no empire in human history that was not enslaved and oppressive

injustice. We may dress up British Empire say

all of our histories if we’re honest with ourselves no empire

of one group of history

that’s gent So when Daniel says that the flow of history

is suming up even human um tendency to conquer others and to dehumanize them

and to otherize them to oppress them in one way or another. No empire in human history has been in this tendency to

destroy So describe this coming kingdom

that wipes away a great verse in the last 1.

But I saw a new heaven and a new earth, the first 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 home of God is he will

be his peoples in God’s rather painful

dehumanizing group says kingdom of God.” It says the right way

will be no more and pain will be no more former things.

That’s the coming kingdom.

So all these human kingdoms that outlines in the prophecy 605 BC

Greece and Rome all of our societies in the world today elements of all of those

empires and survivors one way or another of empires all these empires are

terrifying but the stone that’s going to strike that statue is going to establish a new kingdom and we are today in the days

when God established if you look at that of history that’s that stone that hits

the stripes in the toes of the empire the statue there which means that we are

living in the human history the next empire the next kingdom to be established it’s going to be like like

any other it’s not going to be built on oppression it’s not going to be built on const 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 and wipe away every

disease and sorrow will be no more. What a beautiful promise. This is a promise kingdom that is coming every one of us

regardless from Hawaii or from Michigan or from England where today wherever our country of

origin is there’s a kingdom and we can all be a part of that kingdom is open to all peoples you don’t

need a passport to go in that kingdom but 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 exper.

So what do we say in 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?

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 is 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 in 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

three tonight in first history.

Surely I know the plans I have for you said the Lord is still welfare not

speaking to Hawaii tonight says you call upon me 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 the Lord

God isn’t just the Lord of history just reveal what is going to over the rise and fall of empire is concerned about us

as individ

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 now

the nations of Europe is coming the second 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 the known world the hammer of the world as he himself

heard the interpretation that he fell down in worship says then

the last few verses fell on his face as the king said to Daniel your God is full of gods

and a revealer of mysteries you have been able to reveal this mystery when better realize that God is the Lord

of history, not even ruler. God is in control of the rise and fall of empires,

not ministers or princess. Maybe you can later realize that there is a God who raises kingdoms and takes them down

bringing history not just to end his glorious

glory that he can worship. If you read the story of Neb Daniel 1 2 3 and 4

starts out many gods in Daniel 1 2h

God alone has come

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 would like to know what’s going to happen in the next years. Nobody knows.

There is a God of heaven who reveals mysteries planning each one of us for our welfare to give us a future.

The God of heaven who wants all his people not willing to perish. So the arrival of that glory is delayed as many

as possible Nebuchadnezzar.

I want to encourage you tonight to put your trust in the king of kings of

God who knows the future. He reveals the future through these prophecies. You can look at other

session in this series. There are many books in detail the rise and flow.

Just touch on one of them tonight.

[snorts]

Jesus Christ in the kingdom of God.

He wants me. He wants you to want anyone to God’s mercy love.

Favorite side

of the fell down. He worshiped.

I want to invite you tonight. Not thinking of an altar or anything like that, but close a prayer.

that when I put my hand of God into life

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 head.

So we know when a sparrow falls to the ground near the aspect of our lives tonight. Father maybe if only for the

first time we have a hand. So please take us Lord and please lead us. Please lead us

through this world. Lead us into the coming kingdom of Lord.

Pray Lord that every person’s head is bowed here tonight whether in this hall or watching online be able to face their future face rather than fear.

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.

Give us the peace that possible and understanding is a few before us. Nobody can be against us. Thank you for this Jesus our Lord and Savior.

[music]

With all [music and singing] I will seek to honor his command. I

[music and singing] pledge aliance to the lamb [music]

to the lamb of God who bore my pain who took my place [music] before the shame.

I will seek to honor [singing] his command. My pledge als

[music]

[music]

I pledge alance to the lamb. [music] With all [singing] my strength, with all I am, I [music]

will seek to honor his command. I pledge