Dreams, Visions, and all of Human History
Sermon • Submitted • Presented
0 ratings
· 9 viewsNotes
Transcript
I am excited this morning because we are going to delve into one of my favorite topics in the Bible. I love biblical prophecy and I think it is both fascinating and comforting to see how human events play out exactly the way God said they would. History written before it happens. It is a unique attribute of God, that He knows the future perfectly. He knows the end from the beginning. And this morning we have an incredible vantage point. We can see so many of the things in the passage today that have been fulfilled exactly as God said they were. And then, we have a few things that are coming in the future. We don’t not have the time to go over every prophecy this morning, but we will take a look at Daniel 2 and Daniel 7. In these two chapters, we will see the scope of human history from the time of Daniel, right up to today. So let dig into our text this morning. We will begin in Daniel 2 26.
Earlier in Chapter 2, we find Nebuchadnezzar had a dream. It was dream that he could not shake and he was convinced there was more to it. So he called all of his wise men and advisors to help him make sense of it. He had a problem, though. For some reason, he did not trust these men to give him an honest answer. I don’t know if they had given him reason to doubt them or if he was just paranoid, but in any case, his faith in these men was not very high. So he develops a test for them. He brings them in and says “I want you to interpret my dream, but just so I know you are legit, I’m not going to tell you my dream. You have to tell me both the dream and the interpretation. oh yeah, and if you don’t, I’m going to kill every wise man/advisor in Babylon.
Of course the wise men are terrified. They knew they could not complete this request. They beg and plead with the king. They say “no king has ever made such a request from their advisors, this is too much” But Nebuchadnezzar held firm. They said “ no man on earth could do what you are asking” So Nebuchadnezzar is furious. He orders the execution of all the wise men. When Daniel hears this, he asks for appointment so that he can give the king the interpretation.
Then, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, (we know them in chapter 3 as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego) got together and started praying. Notice as you read through your bible, how often our heroes of the faith go to prayer when tested. These men prayed through the night seeking mercy in the form of an answer for the king. And God does answer. So Daniel takes that answer to the king:
The king declared to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, “Are you able to make known to me the dream that I have seen and its interpretation?” Daniel answered the king and said, “No wise men, enchanters, magicians, or astrologers can show to the king the mystery that the king has asked,
The wise men were right. No man on earth can do what the king has asked. I wonder if the anger starts to swell in Nebuchadnezzar. We paused the executions of all the wise men just so you can show up and tell me you can’t do what I have asked either?? The anger of this King is volatile and is about to be unleashed. He is moments away from losing his mind. But then Daniel makes an announcement that changes everything: No wise men, enchanters, magicians, or astrologers can show to the king the mystery that the king has asked,
but there is a God in heaven
This has been our main text for the last few weeks. Incredible things can happen in impossible situations because there is a God in heaven. Courage, peace, contentment even in the most difficult times can be experienced because the is a God in heaven. Daniel is able to interpret the dream for the king, not because he was wise, but because there is God in heaven. but there is a God in heaven
but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days. Your dream and the visions of your head as you lay in bed are these:
God has decided to give Nebuchadnezzar a preview of the rest of history.
“You saw, O king, and behold, a great image. This image, mighty and of exceeding brightness, stood before you, and its appearance was frightening. The head of this image was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver,
its middle and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. As you looked, a stone was cut out by no human hand, and it struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces.
Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold, all together were broken in pieces, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, so that not a trace of them could be found. But the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.
This is the dream that shook Nebuchadnezzar. He knew that it was important and that it meant something, and now he knows that Daniel is in a unique position to tell him why. Because there is a God in heaven we are about to see over 2100 years of history told in advance. Back to the text:
“This was the dream. Now we will tell the king its interpretation. You, O king, the king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, and the might, and the glory, and into whose hand he has given, wherever they dwell,
the children of man, the beasts of the field, and the birds of the heavens, making you rule over them all—you are the head of gold. Another kingdom inferior to you shall arise after you, and yet a third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over all the earth.
And there shall be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron, because iron breaks to pieces and shatters all things. And like iron that crushes, it shall break and crush all these. And as you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter’s clay and partly of iron,
it shall be a divided kingdom, but some of the firmness of iron shall be in it, just as you saw iron mixed with the soft clay. And as the toes of the feet were partly iron and partly clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly brittle.
As you saw the iron mixed with soft clay, so they will mix with one another in marriage, but they will not hold together, just as iron does not mix with clay. And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed,
nor shall the kingdom be left to another people. It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever, just as you saw that a stone was cut from a mountain by no human hand, and that it broke in pieces the iron,
the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold. A great God has made known to the king what shall be after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation sure.”
The interpretation of this dream is the road map for all of the rest of history. When God talks about the timeline of the world, He does so through 4 world empires.
Babylon
Persia - Medes
Greece
Rome
There have been other empires. The Ottoman empire, the mongol empire, the Han dynasty. There have been many, but God communicates all of history through these four. With Jerusalem being the center, these are the empires which tell the story of Israel and then later on, the church. These four create the timeline in which the rest of history can be posted.
Daniel is going to receive his own vision years later that confirms this once again. In Daniel 7 we read:
In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, Daniel saw a dream and visions of his head as he lay in his bed. Then he wrote down the dream and told the sum of the matter. Daniel declared, “I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven were stirring up the great sea.
And four great beasts came up out of the sea, different from one another. The first was like a lion and had eagles’ wings. Then as I looked its wings were plucked off, and it was lifted up from the ground and made to stand on two feet like a man, and the mind of a man was given to it.
And behold, another beast, a second one, like a bear. It was raised up on one side. It had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth; and it was told, ‘Arise, devour much flesh.’ After this I looked, and behold, another, like a leopard, with four wings of a bird on its back. And the beast had four heads, and dominion was given to it.
After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, terrifying and dreadful and exceedingly strong. It had great iron teeth; it devoured and broke in pieces and stamped what was left with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns.
I considered the horns, and behold, there came up among them another horn, a little one, before which three of the first horns were plucked up by the roots. And behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things.
Statue Slide
The first empire is Babylon. Babylon is the gold head and the winged lion. Babylon is shown as the greatest of these empires and the quality of the materials go consistently down form here. We catch a glimpse in these descriptions as to how exactly accurate these prophecies are. They are not some generalizations that were try to make fit. These are detailed images of their future, our history. Babylon’s symbols were the lion and the eagle. The beast in Daniel 7 is a lion with wings. Those are removed and later it is stood up and given the mind of a man. Nebuchadnezzar in a few years will go insane and act like a beast for 7 years. He will acknowledge God once more and be restored and given the mind of a man back. Nebuchadnezzar is succeeded by a series of weaker and weaker kings until the next empire takes over. The remnants of this people group are in modern day Iraq.
The chest and arms is the Medo-Persian empire. It has two arms in the statue showing the two people groups that formed it. It chapter 7, it is shown as a bear rising up on one side and having three ribs in its mouth. The rising up on one side shows how the Persian rose in influence and power and dominated empire. In fact, today it is taught as the Persian empire with very little mention of the Medes. The ribs in the bears mouth represent the prey of the bear. Most likely this is the three kingdoms defeated by the empire - Babylon, Lydia, and Egypt. These people groups exist today as well. The Persians are in modern day Iran and you may have heard on the news how these groups and Turkey have constant conflict with the Kurdish people who would be the ancient Medes.
The Persian empire seemed unstoppable. That is until a young man in Greece started a military campaign that would usher in the Greek empire.
Alexander the great was a force and soon even the mighty Persian empire fell. This is the stomach and waist of bronze from chapter 2 and the leopard with four winds and four heads from chapter 7. It is interesting that the main composition of weapons and armor in this empire was bronze. The wings on the beast give us the idea of swiftness and it relates to how fast Alexander conquered his territories. In just 13 years he had created the largest empire to date. The other interesting feature is the four different heads of the beast. Alexander dies young but refuses to select a successor so the empire is divided among his four generals and eventually their successors. We won’t go there this morning, but chapter 11 is a prophecy that goes into incredible detail as to what happens to these 4 kingdoms.
Then the forth kingdom is Rome. It is the legs of iron and the terrifying beast. Late greeks started to use iron weapons, but Rome perfected warfare and not only took the world by force, but kept it by force. The two legs give us the idea that the empire would be split into two, which happens late in Roman history. The empire was split into two districts by Emperor Diocletian and a hundred years later, split into two empires.
But now we get to the toes of iron and clay. There is a lot of opinions on this one. The other parts of the vision are very clear to us because we can look back and see them completely fulfilled. This one is a little more difficult because we are closer to it.So I am going to give you two options this morning, There is only 4 beasts in chapter 7, and four materials in the statue, so we are led to believe that this last iteration is somehow a part of Rome. It is made our of the same stuff, just a little different. Iron doesn’t bind to clay, so its Rome by fractured. So there are two ways we can look at this.
Some would say that the 10 toes represent a future empire that is a revival of the roman empire. Think of it as Rome part 2. So in that view we would be living in the times in between the legs and the feet waiting for this next kingdom to show up.
Another view, that I lean more toward, is that we are living in the times of the feet and clay.I think Rome is very much alive in the way we interact with government, with the structures of law, with our concepts of peace through strength and, with our cravings of entertainment. Its the same material, just fractured into many nations.
So whether we are waiting for another kingdom to rise, or we are already there, the next part is what is important. The stone that was not cut by human hands strikes the image in its feet. it destroys ever remnant of the statue and becomes a mountain that fills the earth.
This is the coming of the future kingdom of God. This is where it gets exciting. This kingdom beaks apart all of the manmade authority and all of the corrupted culture that we pass down from generation to generation. It is blown away like the chaff of the wheat. Then in the whole earth, the rule of the righteous God will be in effect.
This is an incredible part of scripture. The accuracy of what has already happened give us complete confidence in what happens next. But for this morning, I want to leave you with 3 thoughts.
This passage teaches us some important things about God: in chapter 2 verse 20 - this is right after Daniel received the answer but before he brings it to the king:
Daniel answered and said:
“Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, to whom belong wisdom and might.
He changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise
and knowledge to those who have understanding; he reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what is in the darkness,
and the light dwells with him. To you, O God of my fathers, I give thanks and praise, for you have given me wisdom and might,
and have now made known to me what we asked of you, for you have made known to us the king’s matter.”
First is that He knows the future
Second is that He is in control
Third is that He gives wisdom and might
When we look at prophecy, it is not to cause fear but to give us encouragement. Our God is on the throne, nothing takes him by surprise, and He is gracious to us, pouring out wisdom and might to make the most of our days.
