Daniel 2 - The King's Dream

Introduction

Last week, we started out this series saying that sometimes in order to remain allegiant to our God we will have to go Rogue. And I ended by giving you an illustration of a Japanese government official in Lithuania, Sugihara, who despite his government telling him to not issue passports to Jews seeking refugees he went Rogue and did it anyway.

Although Chiune Sugihara’s visas saved thousands of Jews, after the 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, which catapulted the United States into World War II, all refugee passage in and out of Japan ended, and the safety of its Jewish community became precarious. Japan, after all, was by then a full-fledged wartime conspirator with Adolf Hitler and had to protect the solidarity of its alliance with this virulent anti-Semite. What’s more, in January 1942 Hitler’s plan to annihilate Jewry was formalized at the Wannsee Conference in Berlin. With the Final Solution installed as Axis policy, Nazi officials began to press their Japanese ally to extend that “solution” to Japan’s Jews. Proposals involving death camps, medical experiments, and mass drownings at sea were forwarded to Japan following the conference.

To make sure Japan knew how serious Hitler was they sent Josef Meisinger, a colonel in the Gestapo known as the “Butcher of Warsaw” – a name given to him for ordering the execution of sixteen thousand Poles - to Tokyo. Upon his arrival in April 1941, Meisinger began pressing for a policy of brutality toward the Jews under Japan’s rule—a policy he stated he would gladly help design and enact. Uncertain at first of how to respond and wanting to hear all sides, high-ranking members of Japan’s military government called upon the Jewish refugee community to send two leaders to a meeting that would influence their future significantly.

Can you imagine how deflated you would feel to have just escaped one death sentence to just find yourself under another sentence of death? What would you do? Would you run to God, run for your life?

The chosen representatives were both respected religious leaders, but respected in different ways. One, Rabbi Moses Shatzkes, was renowned as a studious man, one of the most brilliant Talmudic scholars in Europe before the war. The other, Rabbi Shimon Kalisch, was much older and was known for his remarkable ability to understand basic human workings—a social psychologist of sorts.

After the two entered the meeting room, they and their translators stood before a tribunal of powerful members of the Japanese High Command, who would determine their Jewish community’s survival and who wasted little time in asking a pair of fateful questions: Why do our allies the Nazis hate you so much? And why should we take your side against them? Rabbi Shatzkes, the scholar, comprehending the tangled complexity of the historical, religious, and economic issues involved, had no ready response. But Rabbi Kalisch’s wisdom seemed to come from another source all together. Not the kind of knowledge that comes from books but a kind of knowledge that comes from God. He calmly responded, “Because we are Asian, like you.”

Although brief, the assertion was inspired wisdom from God.. The older rabbi’s response had a powerful effect on the Japanese officers. After a silence, they conferred among themselves and announced a recess. When they returned, the most senior military official rose and granted the reassurance the rabbis had hoped to bring home to their community: “Go back to your people. Tell them we will provide for their safety and peace. You have nothing to fear while in Japanese territory.” And so it was.[1]

The lives of every Jewish person in Japanese controlled territories was in the hands of these two rabbis. Both were incredibly intelligent men but separated the brilliant from the wise was not more data but divinely inspired wisdom.

Get ready because today we are going to hear a story about another Jew who was also put in a place where he had just escaped one death sentence to be put under another one. Grab your copy of the Scriptures and say it together with me:

Ha-foke-ba, Ha-foke-ba, de-cola-ba. Ha-foke-ba, Ha-foke-ba, Mashiach-ba. Turn-it and turn-it everything you need is in it. Turn-it and turn-it for the Messiah is in it.

Read Together With Me (On Screen Bible):

Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face and paid homage to Daniel and gave orders that an offering and incense be provided for him. In response the king said to Daniel, “Surely your God is the God of gods, the Lord of kings, and the revealer of mysteries, for you were able to reveal this secret!” Then the king promoted Daniel and lavished on him many marvelous gifts and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon and chief over all the wise men of Babylon. Moreover, at Daniel’s request the king appointed Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego over the administration of the province of Babylon, while Daniel remained at the royal court. –

What is a Jewish exile, a young Jewish boy - maybe 17 - who believes in the God of Israel, doing up at the very top of this pagan government structure? What’s he doing being a Babylonian wise man needless to say the chief of the wise men of Babylon? How did this all happen? We will investigate three questions:

1. What did Daniel learn at Babylon university?

Daniel learned at Babylonian university that paganism is nothing but a religious cul-de-sac. It can give no sure word from outside. He is telling Israel that there is no need to be awed by paganism, despite its trappings and splendour, for it is nothing but empty and dark.

2. What is the meaning of the statue in the dream?

God uses the statue to reveal the weakness of the most valuable and powerful of human empires.

3. What is the meaning of the rock in the dream?

The rock in the dream reveals how sinful human beings are and how the only ultimate solution is the Messiah Yeshua.

What did Daniel learn at the Babylon university?

“In the second year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams. His spirit was troubled and sleep escaped him.” (, TLV)

Daniel 2:1 TLV

In the second year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams. His spirit was troubled and sleep escaped him.

This little sentence is so important for understanding where Daniel is at in his life and what was happening in Babylon at this specific moment in time. First, Daniel was finishing his education that was mentioned in , “at the end of three years.” Some of you are thinking, “Wait it says it was just the end of his second year not third year. Did they graduate early?” No, we have to understand that according to Babylonian reckoning, a king did not count his first year as a part of his reign. We have, then, the right time sequence, since it was the second year of his reign, but actually three years had transpired. This may be a small detail, but remember how we said last week that Daniel is “true history” and “accurate history.” If you skip past this detail you might think that Daniel is not very accurate and agree with the critics who say the Bible is contradictory but in reality we know Daniel is very accurate with his dates.

Second, the Babylonians would have been celebrating an important festival in honor of their King. John Walton, an Ancient Near Eastern Scholar describes this festival:

Each year at the all-important Akitu, Babylon’s New Year’s enthronement festival, the gods fixed the destinies for the coming year, thus reasserting their power. Authority was then transferred to the king as he took the hand of Marduk. Then the deity took up his rest in the temple.[2]

In Babylon the Akitu was a twelve-day enthronement festival that was celebrated in association with the New Year. It included renewal both of kingship among the gods and of the human king. Part of it reenacted the conflict between Marduk and Tiamat that is preserved in Enuma Elish. Most importantly for Daniel chapter 2, it was at this festival the chief concern was the destiny of the coming year to be declared.

No wonder the King’s spirit troubled him. While the people were celebrating and no doubt declaring to the King that he would have great year ahead he was having a dream that said something so very contrary.

So let’s read what happens next (On Screen Bible Daniel 2:2-9).

“So the king issued an order to summon the magicians, astrologers, sorcerers and Chaldeans in order to explain to the king his dreams. When they came and stood before the king, he said to them, “I have dreamed a dream, and my spirit is anxious to understand the dream.” Then the Chaldeans spoke to the king in Aramaic, “May the king live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will declare the interpretation.” The king answered the Chaldeans saying, “I firmly decree: If you do not make the dream and its meaning known to me, you will be torn limb from limb and your houses reduced to rubble. But if you tell the dream and its meaning, you will receive from me gifts and rewards and great honor. So tell me the dream and its meaning!”

They responded a second time, saying, “Let the king tell his servants the dream and we will declare the interpretation.” The king replied saying, “I know for sure that you are buying time since you see that I have firmly decreed that if you do not reveal the dream to me, there is only one verdict for you. You have conspired to say something false and fraudulent, until such a time as things might change. So then, tell me the dream and I will know that you can tell me its meaning.”” (, TLV)

Immediately, Daniel the narrator of this story, ushers us into the inner throne room of the king. This was a frightening place. One Babylonian scholar has said that Nebuchadnezzar used to keep caged lions next to his throne to demonstrate his power and authority and also to provoke fear in the hearts of his servants.

Here in the throne room of Nebuchadnezzar the best of the best of Babylon should have had an answer for the king. The story quickly shifts from Hebrew to Aramaic in and the Chaldeans who probably represent the leading priestly caste in Babylon step forward to speak on behalf of all the magicians, sorcerers and astrologers. They have no answer for the king because they were only trained in the art of interpreting what was seen. They could interpret patterns in birds, in animal livers, in water splashes and in cloud formations but they could not access the unseen realm of dreams and see what was hidden and private.

The king is agitated and angry at the very religious institution he created. He says, “You have conspired to say something false and fraudulent, until such a time as things might change” (). The king is saying, “I know you guys are a bunch of religious hacks and you would lie rather than tell me the truth because of either your fear of me or your greedy pursuit of the answer you think that I want. If I told you the dream you would tell me whatever you think would stroke my ego.”

On Screen Bible: Daniel 2:10-11

“The Chaldeans answered the king saying, “There is no man on earth who can meet the king’s demand. For no great king, however great or mighty, has ever asked such a thing from any magician, astrologer or Chaldean. What the king asks is too difficult. There is no one who could declare it to the king, except the gods whose dwelling is not with mortals!”” (, TLV)

The Babylonian religious leaders are setting up the stage for Daniel to introduce the God who alone can give and interpret the dream. It is also telling about the Babylonian religion, there are some gods that were inaccessible to the Babylonian religious system. A deliberate contrast is being set up between the impotent Babylonian religious figures and the competent Daniel. More specifically, it is a contrast between the powerless Babylonian gods and the all-powerful God of Israel.

This provokes the King’s rage and fury (On Screen Bible -13).

“Because of this, the king became furiously angry and gave orders to execute all the wise men of Babylon. So the decree went out that the wise men were about to be slaughtered. They also sought Daniel and his companions to execute them.” (, TLV)

It says that Daniel (On Screen Bible ).

“Then Daniel spoke with tact and discretion to Arioch, who was captain of the king’s guard and who had set out to execute the wise men of Babylon. He spoke up and said to Arioch, the king’s captain, “Why is the king’s decree so urgent?” Then Arioch informed Daniel about the matter.” (, TLV)

The Aramaic phrase literally means, “he answered with good taste.” Daniel is the personification of the wisdom of proverbs that says, “A soft/gentle answer turns away wrath” (). Daniel’s political prudence is demonstrated by his question, which does not challenge the king’s authority or judgment (as the Chaldeans had in 2:10–11). Instead, Daniel inquires as to the reason for the severity of the king’s decree. And, could there not be some more time for the dream and interpretation to be given.

(On Screen Bible

“So Daniel went in and asked the king to grant him time, so that he might disclose the interpretation to the king.” (, TLV)

God must have given grace to Daniel because immediately he is off to the throne room instead off with his head. The king honor his request and there is a brief stay of execution. So that Daniel could do what the pagan religious leaders could not: call upon the God that was inaccessible to them but accessible to Daniel.

(On Screen Bible ).

“Then Daniel went to his house and informed his friends Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah about the matter so they would request mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that Daniel and his friends would not perish along with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.” (, TLV)

Daniel’s request shows us that he knew very well the God the Babylonians did not. In the ancient world calling your God the “God of Heaven” is the same thing as calling Him the God who controls the Universe, the Sovereign God who dictates the affairs of the nations. The Babylonians said, “There is no one who could declare it to the king, except the gods whose dwelling is not with mortals” and Daniel knows there is a God who dwells in heaven and also with mortals those who are in covenant relationship with Him.

While he don’t get the content of Daniel’s prayer we do get the content of His praise.

“During the night the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven and answered, saying: “Blessed be the Name of God forever and ever, for wisdom and might are His. He changes times and seasons. He removes kings and installs kings. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning. He reveals deep and hidden things. He knows what lies in darkness and light dwells with Him. To You, O God of my fathers, I give thanks and praise! For You gave me wisdom and power. You have made known to me what we asked of You. You revealed to us the word of the king.”” (, TLV)

Daniel 2:19–23 TLV

During the night the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven and answered, saying: “Blessed be the Name of God forever and ever, for wisdom and might are His. He changes times and seasons. He removes kings and installs kings. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning. He reveals deep and hidden things. He knows what lies in darkness and light dwells with Him. To You, O God of my fathers, I give thanks and praise! For You gave me wisdom and power. You have made known to me what we asked of You. You revealed to us the word of the king.”

We asked, “What did Daniel learn at Babylon university?” Remember, that this whole story is taking place at the end of Daniel’s three years of training. After three years, Daniel still had not been convinced by their subtraction stories. Remember, subtraction stories:

Accounts that explain “the real world” as merely the subtraction of your faith in God, as if the "real world” is what’s left over after you subtract out your faith.

Daniel has learned the opposite. The real world is not the subtraction of his faith in God but the subtraction of everything that boasts against the knowledge of His God. He worships God like a faithful Jew who knows His God is the One who created all things but yet dwells with contrite and lowly. He knows it is His God who controls the fate of the nations and not the so called god Marduk who was being enshrined at that very moment during the akitu festival.

Daniel learned at Babylonian university that paganism is nothing but a religious cul-de-sac. It can give no sure word from outside. He is telling Israel that there is no need to be awed by paganism, despite its trappings and splendor, for it is nothing but empty and dark.

Yale University has the amazing Beinicke Rare Book Library and just outside of it there is a sunken garden. A large marble pyramid stands in one corner symbolizing time. Another corner has a large object that looks like a doughnut or a wheel and it symbolizes energy. Is a huge die set on its edge like it is ready to tip over and it represents chance. Why is this important? This is our Babylonian culture, pagan educational system that offers its subtraction story of a self-existing universe consisting of only time, energy and chance. And those in Babylon, ancient or modern don’t know which way the die will fall. The world in this view is opaque, chaotic, without rhyme or reasons except evolutionary-nihilism. Unfortunately, many in Babylon then and now should not have bought into the lies come from the academies.

Yet, there are those few, like Daniel, who have gone Rogue and stayed allegiant to the God of their fathers. They have a life of faith at home with both godly disciplines and godly biblical thinking. They know the ways of the Lord and the responsibilities of being a son. They give focus to the priority of a living relationship with God and not just the rules of God.

But, above all, they know God is sovereign even-if a tyrannical king is ready to take off their innocent head. If Daniel were not allegiant he would sound like many immature believers who face trials in their life and they say, “Bad things are happening to me. God you must not be real. God does not exist anymore.” They fail to see like Daniel that a trial comes from God for the testing of your faith and product of His glory being shown. Could you imagine if every time I let my kids face a trial. Like when I had my son go confront his first encounter with a bully. I had him go to the bully’s house and work it out man-to-man. Could you imagine if he said, “Oh, I can’t believe you are putting me through this. Why me. Why me. Why me. My Abba must not exist.” That is not what he did at all.

When I told him he had to do this he said, “Okay Abba I remember what you have taught us, “You are not raising cowards. You are not raising bullies. You are raising Shepherds.” I said Seth that is correct and if you are a shepherd that trusts the Good Shepherd I believe you will find that the Good Shepherd can turn the natural enemy of the flock “wolves/bullies” into “sheep” by his power. Seth faced this trial with the faith of his Father and The Father and a wolf became a sheep.

When you are allegiant to God you don’t subtract God out of the universe when your back is against the wall. You go rogue and trust in the God who has always kept covenant with His people.

The reason I am spending time fleshing this out with you is because I want you to remember that Daniel is writing this from the perspective of a person living in the “apocalypse.” He is writing to future generations that might one day also be in THE Apocalypse. He just has gone from the fire of the exile to the fire of potential execution. Yet, unlike Forest Gump that Rogue Atheist who believed, “Life is like a box of chocolates and you never know what you are going to get.” Everything is up to time and chance. Daniel knows his God controls times and seasons, knows all and can reveal all, and His sight can penetrate the depths of all things. He wants every single person who is faithful to not be ensnared by the glitter and gold of paganism but to stay true to the Lord, in prayer even if a tyrannical King is seeking your life.

What is the meaning of the statue in the dream?

So Daniel, goes to Arioch and says, “Get me an audience with the King. I can tell him the dream and it’s interpretation.” And so Daniel goes before the King and the king says tim him (On Screen Bible , ) .

“The king then asked Daniel (who was renamed Belteshazzar), “Are you able to reveal to me the dream that I saw, as well as its interpretation?”” (, TLV)

I love Daniel’s answer>

“Daniel answered the king, saying: “The mystery about which the king inquired is such that neither wise men, astrologers, magicians, or sorcerers can disclose it to the king. But, there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries. He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar the things that will happen in the latter days. The dream and the visions that went through your head as you lay on your bed are these. “To you, O king—as you lay on your bed—came thoughts about what will come to pass in the future. The Revealer of mysteries has made known to you what is going to happen. But as for me, this mystery is not revealed to me because I posses more wisdom than any other living person, but in order that the king may know the interpretation and understand the thoughts of your heart.” (, TLV)

I love Daniel’s humbleness when he acknowledges that he does not have this knowledge because of his personal greatness but because of God’s interest in Nebuchadnezzar. This wisdom is not given to make Daniel look smart(er) or smart(est) but it is so Nebuchadnezzar can know that the ONE and only God controls His fate and not the gods of Babylon that were being celebrated at the Akitu festival. His destiny came from heaven and not a clay tablet that magicians and astrologers predicted the future from.

Also, Daniel is communicating something very important about the character of Israel’s faith: It’s supernatural origin rooted in revelation and reason. Babylon’s faith was all reason. There was a reasonable way to interpret signs, stars, water movements. Babylon’s faith was just reason in a closed system where “the gods” did not cross the threshold of heaven to speak to men and women. Men and women got into estatic or drunken states and made predictions but that is the extent of it.

Israel’s faith was a prophetic faith with both reason and revelation. Because Daniel knows his knowledge, his wisdom was not the product of his own rational powers but it was the supernatural revelation of God he is quick to give glory back to God.

Then in Daniel tells the King the dream and the interpretation. You must understand this important principle in all of Daniel. The visions that are given are not just about the bare predictions of the future history but with the interpretation of future history. A weatherman makes predictions not interpretations. Daniel makes both predictions and interpretations.

Put image up on screen.

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He tells King Nebuchadnezzar your dream was of a statue that had a gold head, silver chest, bronze, torso, iron legs and feet made up of a mixture of clay and Iron and clay and

“While you were watching, a stone was cut out, but not by hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed them. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were crushed together, and became like chaff from summer threshing-floors that the wind blows away. Not a trace of them could be found. Then the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.” (, TLV)

Daniel 2:34–35 TLV

While you were watching, a stone was cut out, but not by hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed them. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were crushed together, and became like chaff from summer threshing-floors that the wind blows away. Not a trace of them could be found. Then the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.

Put image up on screen.

Daniel identifies the first kingdom of God was Babylon, the breast and arms were the Medes-Persian Empire, the Brass was Greece, the Iron legs represented Rome and the feet represented the Roman Empire as it has expanded into the world today.

According to almost all scholars, “This is the oldest documented interpretation of the four kingdoms from early Jewish sources, see and 2 Baruch 39:5–6 in context, as well as Josephus, Antiquities, 10.276.”[3]

There is also another view that identifies the fourth kingdom as the Greek kingdoms that dominated the ancient Near East starting with Alexander, hence called “the Greek view,” was first proposed by the virulent anti-Christian, Neoplatonic philosopher Porphyry (ca. CE 233–304). Porphyry presupposed that there was no such thing as genuine divine revelation of the future. Instead, he argued that Daniel was written as if it were predictive prophecy, when, in actuality, it was actually written during the first half of second century BC, after the events that it portrayed concerning Antiochus IV Epiphanes. The prophecies in Daniel that attempted to predict events after Antiochus (11:40–45) were inaccurate, demonstrating that there is no divinely revealed predictive prophecy. These supposedly inaccurate prophecies betrayed the author’s real identity and date: a Jew in Israel about the year 165 BCE just making up propheicies to give Israel hope.

Since genuine prediction is impossible, according Porphyry, this person who was not a believer said the fourth kingdom could not be the Roman Empire, which had not yet arrived on the scene in Israel before the Jewish person who wrote in 165 BCE. The author intended the fourth kingdom to be the Greek kingdoms of his time. Though refuted by Jerome in antiquity, Porphyry’s view has become the standard approach for contemporary scholars who employ higher-critical methodology.

The reason why I take the older Jewish view and not the view of the pagan philosopher Porphyr is because I have not bought into the subtraction story that has tried to subtract the historical Daniel out of history. And, I think the crazy toes of Daniel two are given more specific detail in and - “As for the ten horns, out of this kingdom ten kings will arise. Another will arise after them, but he will be different from the previous ones; he will subdue three kings.” (, TLV). But also because of the timing of the appearance of the rock. We will come to that in just a moment.

What is the meaning of the statue and the dream? God uses the statue to reveal the weakness of the most valuable and powerful of human empires.

The power of the governments is represented by the statue. Babylon was a monarchy, ruled with an iron hand by Nebuchadnezzar. The Medes and Persians had an oligarchic form of government, which is government ruled by a few men. The Grecian form of government was aristocratic, rule by the nobility. Finally, Rome was an imperialistic government. It was military and ruthless, like Nazi Germany. The future governments of the world will be a mixture.

The value of the governments is also represented by the statue. The metals—from gold to silver to bronze to iron—are deteriorating. The specific gravity of gold is 19.3, silver is 10.5, bronze is 8.5, iron is 7.6, and clay is 1.9. As time moves on the value of all human forms of government deteriorate.

No matter how good or great we may think a governmental system to be it will not last. Every human empire has an expiration date. Kings and kingdoms, monarchies and democracies, tyrants and presidents will all one day be taken off the shelf and thrown into the trash heap of history.

What I find incredible is that Daniel, unlike the Babylonian religious elites, is willing to tell the King that one day your kingdom will meet its end. Your kingdom is not the eternal kingdom and you good sir only have a Kingdom because my God is the God of gods and the Lord of Kings (cf. ).

What is the meaning of the rock in the dream?

““Now in the days of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will this kingdom be left to another people. It will crush and bring to an end all of these kingdoms. But it will endure forever. For just as you saw a stone cut out of a mountain, yet not by hands, crush the iron, bronze, clay, silver and gold, the great God has made known to the king what will happen in the future. Now the dream is certain, and its interpretation is trustworthy.”” (, TLV)

Daniel 2:44–45 TLV

“Now in the days of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will this kingdom be left to another people. It will crush and bring to an end all of these kingdoms. But it will endure forever. For just as you saw a stone cut out of a mountain, yet not by hands, crush the iron, bronze, clay, silver and gold, the great God has made known to the king what will happen in the future. Now the dream is certain, and its interpretation is trustworthy.”

““Now in the days of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will this kingdom be left to another people. It will crush and bring to an end all of these kingdoms. But it will endure forever. For just as you saw a stone cut out of a mountain, yet not by hands, crush the iron, bronze, clay, silver and gold, the great God has made known to the king what will happen in the future. Now the dream is certain, and its interpretation is trustworthy.”” (, TLV)

First, it is about the specific time of the Rock’s coming. Ever since Daniel has been talking to the King in v. 28 he has been talking about a very special period of time in Jewish thinking. A time called אחרית הימים (achrit ha’yamim) this always refers to a decisive future time involving Israel’s Messiah. It is always used in the Torah to speak of the future day, latter days when Israel’s true King establishes His Kingdom both in his first coming and second coming.

Second, the Rock is a person. The Rock does not just represent a kingdom. It represents a person. Remember Since we know from last week about the Son of Man:

On Screen Bible: Daniel 7:13-14

“I was watching in the night visions. Behold, One like a Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days, and was brought into His presence. Dominion, glory and sovereignty were given to Him that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will never pass away, and His kingdom is one that will not be destroyed.” (, TLV)

The rock is representative of the person, the Son of Man, Yeshua the Messiah (Just like the Movie Star, except this is the star of history). Just like when we here on the news that the Whitehouse issued a tweet today saying….We know that a “house” does not make tweets but a person, our president, Donald Trump composed the tweet. The rock here is none other than the Son of Man of , none other than Yeshua who identified himself as that Son of Man.

Third, this is about the real future history of the Son of Man, Yeshua. I am not a date setter. What I am about to tell you is not my attempt to set a date or tell you when I think future biblical will take place. I only want to do my best job to tell you what biblical time I think we are in and what is next on God’s calendar based on the Rock that smashes the statue.

First, the rock does not hit the image at the top of the legs. On the corresponding time-line, that would represent the early stages of the Roman Empire when Yeshua lived and taught. No, the stone hits the feet and toes; that is, the very final stages of that Empire among whose fragments is evident in Europe, parts of the Middle East and Russia.

Second, Daniel speaks of “those kings” in . This indicates very specific kings. Actually, confederations led by Kings according to the book of Revelation and Ezekiel. Oddly enough and not by coincidence or chance the book of Revelation talks about ten kings the number of toes on the statue that will cede their power to a centralized government controlled by the Ant-Messiah who will be destroyed by the Rock, Yeshua.

Daniel 2:44 TLV

“Now in the days of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will this kingdom be left to another people. It will crush and bring to an end all of these kingdoms. But it will endure forever.

Third, this tell us that until the Rock comes we are living in the times of the Gentiles. From Babylon’s control over Israel in 605 BCE we have never regained full sovereignty over our borders. Yeshua affirms Daniel’s prediction when he says,

On Screen: “Jerusalem will be trampled by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.” (, TLV)

And Yeshua also gives us intimate details about what happens when the Rock comes to smash the ten toes:

On Screen: ““There will be signs in the sun and moon and stars. And upon the earth nations will be confused by the roaring of the sea and its waves. People will lose heart from fear and anticipation of what is overtaking the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to happen, stand straight and lift up your heads, because your salvation is near!”” (, TLV)

““There will be signs in the sun and moon and stars. And upon the earth nations will be confused by the roaring of the sea and its waves. People will lose heart from fear and anticipation of what is overtaking the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to happen, stand straight and lift up your heads, because your salvation is near!”” (, TLV)

The coming of this Rock to smash the ten-toes means the full restoration and salvation of Israel Lift up your head, stand straight, your salvation is near.

Last, and perhaps the most controversial thing I will say all day is that I believe the next event the next event on the horizon is the Rapture of the body of the Messiah, then the Tribulation and time of Jacob’s sorrow a period of seven years, followed by the physical return of Yeshua, the Rock at the end of the Tribulation to establish the kingdom of God on earth will be full restoration and salvation of Israel. He comes to destroy the false Messiah and establish Israel forever and you and I will be there with Him.

It will be Israel living in the land according to covenant promises made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; to Moses, to King David and to every Jewish offspring that has ever been born. And, Yeshua will be King, His Name will be ONE and all give their allegiance and loyalty to him for a thousand years until one last great battle takes place at the end of a thousand years. These are the days of the great King, the days of the Rock.

Now I know that for some of you what I just said bothered you. You don’t have to agree with me about my view of the rapture but I will try to convince you just like my mentor Dr. Pentecost convinced me when he said, “Pretribulation raptures rests essentially on one major premise – the literal method of interpretation of the Scriptures. And, a necessary adjunct of this is that the pretribulation rapture ensures that the church does not ever receive the promises that belong exclusively to the nation of Israel.”[4] We will talk more about this in the upcoming weeks and especially at and his prophecy about the 70th week.

I now that many of you are going to want to flood me after this message with either your validation of what I am saying or condemnation. Look would you not do that. I promise if you don’t agree with me, that is fine, I am not here to enter into a debate with you. On the other hand, let me tell you what I told someone a couple of years ago who said to me, “Michael if you would just go and get your Ph.D you would be cured of your eschatological beliefs.” I said, “Once someone told me the same thing and promised if I got an undergraduate degree that would cure my problem. Unfortunately, I learned in my undergraduate studies in the Bible that what I though about the end time and Israel is in the Scriptures.” Then someone told me, “Michael, go get a Master’s Degree learn Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek and that will cure your eschatology. So I did and learned Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek (classical and koine) plus Syriac and Coptic and some Latin for fun. And then I read every book possible on the subject of the end times from the 1st century to Millard Erickson and Ben Witherington. And now I am even more convinced because the languages confirm even deeper and with more penetrating accuracy my eschatology.” So I said to this person, “Why waste my money on a PH.D., I am firmly convinced about my view for very good reasons.”

Last, the la condition humaine “the human condition.” Further, and most importantly is that I think the ultimate meaning of the Rock part of this vision was to show on the one hand what the French call la condition humaine “the human condition.” We produced these horrible monster empires. These kingdoms are just reflections of each individual in them. The fundamental weakness indicated by the statue is the problem with all human beings: sin living in us. G.K. Chesterton got it exactly right when he reportedly responded to a request in The Times newspaper for answers to the question “What is wrong with the world?” Chesterton is believed to have written:

Dear Sir,

I am.

Yours faithfully,

G.K. Chesterton

History teaches us a consistent lesson: we are the problem Prophecy, teaches us that the only final answer is the coming of the Messiah Yeshua.

What is a Jewish exile, a man who believes in the God of Israel, doing up at the very top of this pagan government structure? He is doing what all of us should be doing right now:

1. Demonstrating to the world that any system of belief or religion is an empty cul-de-sac except for allegiance to the God of Israel.

2. Warning the world about trust in man made government no matter how valuable or powerful.

3. Declaring to the world that the only ultimate solution to the evils of this world is the Rock, the Son of Man, Yeshua.

How can you respond today? First, here is how not to respond. Don’t respond by coming up to me to debate with me on your views of prophecy. If you just have to do that call my office manager Gabrielle Munoz and schedule a meeting. Second, here is how you respond today. If you are currently not a follower of Yeshua, I want you to put your trust in Yeshua so you can begin to experience the presence of His power in your life right now. Third, if you are a follower of Yeshua I want you to ask yourself the question, “Have I subtracted God or faith in what the Scriptures teaches from some are of my life? Am I allegiant to God when times are good and when I am in a trial? Am I allegiant to all of the Scriptures are only those parts that interest me?” Last, for all of us in this room may we have the tactfulness and courage to speak the truth, THE TRUTH of God to others even-if it means going Rogue. Would we dare to tell the world by our actions and words that God is sovereign even-if….well you will have to come back in two week for more (A Bat Mitzvah Next Week).

[1] Story take from, Cialdini, Robert. Pre-Suasion: A Revolutionary Way to Influence and Persuade (p. 189). Simon & Schuster. Kindle Edition.

[2] Walton, John H. Ancient Near Eastern Thought and the Old Testament: Introducing the Conceptual World of the Hebrew Bible. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2006. P. 194

[3] Steinmann, Andrew E. Daniel. Concordia Commentary. Saint Louis, MO: Concordia Pub. House, 2008. P. 144

[4] Pentecost, Dwight J. Things to Come: A Study in Biblical Eschatology. Zondervan, 1965, p. 193. The second sentence is a paraphrase.