1. Lucifer & Pharaoh. Nebuchadnezzar & Belhsazzar.
King Darius. Cyrus. Alexander the Great. EVEN Judas.
2. What could they all possibly have in common?
a. All of them living in different times in different places.
b. WELL -- They all thought they could OUTSMART God.
c. They all thought their way was better than God’s.
d. They all thought they could get away with their rebellion and disobedience against the Word of God.
e. WELL – They were all wrong!
f. And with the exception of Nebuchadnezzar, it appears to us that their mistake was fatal, eternally fatal!
OH YES: There WAS one more thing that tied them all together.
• One very important thing that we must heed & hear.
• They didn’t TAKE GOD’S WORD SERIOUSLY OR SOBERLY!
The word that CLEANSES:
Psalm 119.9 How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your word.
His Word that CLARIFIES:
Psalm 119.105 Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.
His Word that PROTECTS:
Psalm 119.11 Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You!
His Word that PROPHESIES:
Ezekiel 12.25 "For I am the LORD. I speak, and the word which I speak will come to pass; it will no more be postponed; for in your days, O rebellious house, I will say the word and perform it," says the Lord GOD. "
Yes, God is able to predict the future with amazing accuracy.
• God in His omniscience… He knows ALL things.
• And since He knows all things,
• He’s able to predict 100% of the time what will happen!
• He’s right. He’s on target. He can be trusted all the time!
• His WORD is so reliable, that we can look back and see it!
1 Kings 8.56 "Blessed be the LORD, who has given rest to His people Israel, according to all that He promised. There has not failed one word of all His good promise, which He promised through His servant Moses.
ISN’T THAT COMFORTING TO You THIS MORNING… Here in that orange/green/blue chair, in this commons room, in Columbia Middle School, in Aurora, in Colorado, in the United States, on the North American Continent, on this planet, in this solar system…
• There it is in your laps, open, marked, read, received.
• God’s Written Word reserved just for you, just for me.
• In a language we can understand and act upon!
Matthew 5.18 "For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.
Psalm 119.89 Forever, O LORD, Your word is settled in heaven.
1 Peter 1.23-25 having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever, 24 because "All flesh is as grass, And all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers, And its flower falls away, 25 But the word of the LORD endures forever." Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you.
How do we know this Book is True? Why should we trust it?
• Those are good questions with many good answers, but guys, I’ll tell you what is so incredible about this book: PROPHECY!
PROPHECY is SO VERY important. It’s a key piece of understanding the Word and understanding the times in which we live.
• Sometimes we’ll be accused of being obsessed with prophecy.
• But over 1/4th of the Bible is predictive prophecy.
NOTE: I believe it’s neglect of the study of prophecy that has produced so many problems in the church & outside of the church.
• Many cults have gone off the deep end with prophecy and many have followed them wholeheartedly. Why?
• Because the church hasn’t taught the flock prophecy!
NOTE: So if you’re going to study the Scriptures, and teach the Word, we’re going to spend a lot of time talking about prophecy.
• Really, it’s the ONLY HOLY BOOK that dares to do so!
• No other religious writings dare to jump into that arena with such startling clarity & pinpoint accuracy.
NOTE: You’ll recall very early on in the ministry of Jesus. He walks into the synagogue, takes the scroll of the day into His hands.
• He opens it to Isaiah 61. – LET’S LOOK AT LUKE 4:16ff
• The first message Jesus ever taught was one on prophecy.
• It’s just plain exciting to see God in this light, predicting and telling us things before they come to pass!
NOTE: The power of prophecy. It’s amazing!
• God who is omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent.
• He steps outside of our time & space
• He declares specific predictions & events that will not happen for 100’s of years… and they come to pass, exactly!
• Any & every prediction in the Word will come to pass, perfectly!
NOW TODAY we come to study yet another dream of Daniel.
• It’s the 2nd of his four visions recorded in Daniel.
• He saw 4 kingdoms coming from that time looking forward into the future.
• Last time his dream included all 4 coming Kingdoms while this one we gain greater insight on the 2 middle kingdoms.
Q: are we really going to study all the dreams Pastor Ed?
• I mean isn’t once enough? The image of Nebuchadnezzar.
• The beasts of Daniel. Isn’t that enough?
• Why the repetition? A couple of reasons:
#1 – REPETITION is “A” GREAT TEACHER!
• When you hear something again and again, over and over, it comes back to you so quickly. You get a real handle on it.
#2 – REPETITION is “GOD’S” GREAT TEACHER!
• Throughout his word he repeats and repeats and repeats so that we will learn and act, learn and act, learn and act!
• Let’s turn to 2 Peter 1.12ff
#3 – REPETITION feeds the SERIOUS STUDENT!
• Daniel was a serious student of God’s Word. CH 9 opens up with Daniel reading and studying the writings of Jeremiah.
• But he also sought wisdom & clarity on these visions & dreams.
• It wasn’t enough to just have them, he wanted the interpretation!
Proverbs 25.2 It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, But the glory of kings is to search out a matter.
NOTE: God enjoys the full capacity of ALL WISDOM & understanding and we down here on earth DON’T!
• We all wish we knew more than we know! But how bad?
• Will you take the time to study & dig up the facts?
• The dream Daniel has gets deeper with each new addition.
• He’s seeking clarity and understanding, and God answers!
Jeremiah 29.12-14 Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 13 And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you, says the LORD, and I will bring you back from your captivity; I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, says the LORD, and I will bring you to the place from which I cause you to be carried away captive.
Read through first 8 verses…
I. (8:1-8) COMING KINGDOMS
1. (1) What?
a. WOW: IT happens again, an riveting midnight revelation!
b. Daniel had some startling dreams given to him and this one is definitively a doozy!
c. I think his doctor might tell him to watch what he eats before he goes to bed. But this is from God.
NOTE: So what do we do when we face a difficult passage like this?
• Close it up. Forget it. Too hard. I’m not up to this? OR
• Man I need some help. Get me a commentary, a handbook, something to help me navigate through this.
APP: As you study and grow in the word, you’ll find out very quickly that the Bible IS its own best commentary.
• The first place we look for answers to tough questions is the Bible itself.
• You’ll recall our time in Revelation was so incredibly fruitful as we surveyed through a lot of the Old Test answering questions.
• SO JUMP DOWN to v20-21 for the answer. That’s it!
NOTE: God’s Word is helping us to see 100’s of years before it happened, something that would take place so that after it happened, we would see that He’s in control & His Word is sure!
2. (2-4) The RAM: Medes / Persians
a. This RAM represents the MEDO/PERSIAN EMPIRE.
b. They were indeed, 2 horns, one stronger than the other.
c. The king of Media was the larger horn, the big empire who helped Babylon conquer Assyria.
d. Persia a smaller kingdom came later. King Cyrus ruled the Perisans and was able to unite the Medes & Persians.
e. They together become incredibly strong and conquered the world in 3 directions.
f. Some 200 years before he was born, God predicted by name the leadership of King Cyrus. Turn to Isaiah 45:1ff.
NOTE: THE God of all the earth knows history in advance.
• So God reveals it here to Daniel before it happens!
• Notice v4, he did according to his own will & became great.
• He magnified himself and served self… which was his downfall.
APP: It’s the downfall of every man, every woman who chooses that path, that route.
• Though he’s great, there is always somebody greater and stronger than you just waiting to take over.
• Cyrus, like many before & after him never learned:
• “The powers that be will someday be the powers that were.”
REMEMBER what Jesus asked in Matthew 16?
• “For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul?”
• Without God, any position is really hopeless & meaningless.
• Any possession is truly meaningless.
• And Alexander the Great was just waiting in the wings!
3. (5-8) The GOAT: Greece
a. This RAM represents the MEDO/PERSIAN EMPIRE.
b. Yes, Medes/Persians grew great, but this one was greater.
c. This male goat was none other than Greece, with a notable horn between his eyes, Alexander the Great.
FACTS: Alexander the Great was the son of Philip of Macedon who was himself a great conqueror bringing Greece & Macedonia together.
• He was moving against the Medes/Persians and was murdered when Alexander was just 19 years old.
• As Alexander was growing up, he worried his father because he was a bookworm, house type child.
• So he brought in a personal tutor for his son, a man by the name of Aristotle who trained & tutored him until he was of age.
• At the age of 21, Alexander decided to avenge the death of his father by conquering the Medo/Persian Empire.
• He took off to take on and take over the world!
• In just 11 years, he did so, moving rapidly and quickly just as v5 says, across the ‘whole earth w/o touching the ground’.
• His desire to rule was insatiable. He was known to ask those he conquered if they knew of any other peoples anywhere!
• He was vicious, furious, quick, and methodical.
• But he also had a serious drinking problem…
NOTE: In 323 BC is where v8 took place.
• When he became strong, his horn was broken!
• There are a lot of stories of his death.
• One notable one is that in his depression, his drinking increased.
• Sitting at the banks of the Euphrates, he lamented that there was nothing else to conquer.
• He even argued with his generals wanting to find someone else to take down and take over.
• His drinking increased and he died drunk & depressed!
• Some even suggest that Aristotle poisoned him.
• That was June 10th, 323 BC, cut off at the age of 33.
I LOVE THE BOOK OF DANIEL! It’s absolutely amazing!!!
• When did he get these visions… look back at v1?
• The rule of Babylon was in the 500’s BC.
• AND Alexander the Great ruled in the 100’s BC.
• Some 400 years before it happened, God declared it would be so! Just to validate even more, the Dead Sea scrolls have copies of Daniel in them… before these events happened.
2 Peter 1.16 For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty.
So if we can trust His word when it predicts the future then what?
• Well there are many predictions to heed, but might I share one with you as we leave today?
John 3.3 Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."
UNLESS… UNLESS one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God? Are you born again? Have your sins been washed in the blood?
The life of Jesus Christ made a difference, a lasting, hopeful difference. There’s no real comparison to his dynamic life.
ONE POET PUT IT THIS WAY:
Jesus and Alexander died at 33;
One lived and died for self; the other for you and me.
The Greek died upon a throne, the Jew died upon a cross,
One’s life a triumph seemed, the other’s but a loss.
One walked with mighty men and the other walked alone.
One shed the whole world’s blood, the other gave his own.
Jesus and Alexander died at 33.
The Greek died at Babylon, the Jew at Calvary.
One made himself god, but the one who was God made him less
One lived but to blast, the other but to bless.
When died the Greek, forever fell his throne of swords,
But Jesus died and arose to live forever,
King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
