THE RISE AND FALL OF MAN: BAD FEET
faith in the fire • Sermon • Submitted
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Introduction
Introduction
As for these four young men, God gave them knowledge and skill in all literature and wisdom; and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams.
Dream Recalled
Dream Recalled
Daniel tells him what the dream was
“You, O king, were watching; and behold, a great image! This great image, whose splendor was excellent, stood before you; and its form was awesome.
This image’s head was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze,
its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay.
You watched while a stone was cut out without hands, which struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces.
Then the king saw some action! And this may be what bothered him! This is a STRANGE DREAM!
A STATUE IN HUMAN FORM!
Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed together, and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; the wind carried them away so that no trace of them was found. And the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.
What Do The Different Metals Mean?
What Do The Different Metals Mean?
The Metals Decrease in Value!
The Weight also decreases
Gold is heavier than silver
Silver is heavier than brass
Brass is heavier than iron
Iron is heavier than iron and clay mixed
The entire structure is top heavy
The statue get’s more and more brittle as we go down the structure
Man’s Kingdom’s are always top heavy but have bad feet!
The structure is destroyed by a crushing blow to the most vulnerable part which are the feet made of iron and clay!
A pretty amazing missle that destroys the structure!
The dream is Nebuchadnezzar seeing himself. The head is the gold being supreme and having it together but the head is broken down by the fragile parts of the body!
The Dream Revealed
The Dream Revealed
“This is the dream. Now we will tell the interpretation of it before the king.
We refers to Daniel, God, and he accompanying of the 3 friends.
You, O king, are a king of kings. For the God of heaven has given you a kingdom, power, strength, and glory;
God gave Nebuchadnezzar the kingdom
In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it.
And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with some of the articles of the house of God, which he carried into the land of Shinar to the house of his god; and he brought the articles into the treasure house of his god.
“For thus says the Lord God: ‘Behold, I will bring against Tyre from the north Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, king of kings, with horses, with chariots, and with horsemen, and an army with many people.
and wherever the children of men dwell, or the beasts of the field and the birds of the heaven, He has given them into your hand, and has made you ruler over them all—you are this head of gold.
Be Resolute 4. God Displays His Wisdom and Power (Dan. 2:24–45)
• The head of gold—Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonian kingdom (vv. 37–38). It lasted from 636 B.C. to 539 B.C. Jeremiah called Babylon “a gold cup in the Lord’s hand” (Jer. 51:7).
Gold was big in the kingdom of Babylon!
One historian recorded that he had never seen so much gold as in Babylon
that you will take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say:
“How the oppressor has ceased,
The golden city ceased!
But after you shall arise another kingdom inferior to yours; then another, a third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over all the earth.
Silver Medo Persian
Made up of the Medes and the Persians
The breast and the arms were 2 different metals.
Inferior means lower:
Medo-Persian was larger
Medo-Persian empire developed a tax system where the taxes would be paid in silver
Cyrus the great
Be Resolute 4. God Displays His Wisdom and Power (Dan. 2:24–45)
The breast and arms of silver—The Medo-Persian kingdom (539–330 B.C.). Darius the Mede conquered Babylon (Dan. 5:30–31).
Be Resolute 4. God Displays His Wisdom and Power (Dan. 2:24–45)
The belly and thighs of bronze—The Grecian kingdom (330–63 B.C.). Alexander the Great established what was probably the largest empire in ancient times. He died in 323 B.C.
Greece
Followed the Medo-Persia
The great Greek
Cyria and Egypt
Bronze is not a valuable but stronger
Brass became a symbol of Greek conquest and power!
2 thighs
And the fourth kingdom shall be as strong as iron, inasmuch as iron breaks in pieces and shatters everything; and like iron that crushes, that kingdom will break in pieces and crush all the others.
Be Resolute 4. God Displays His Wisdom and Power (Dan. 2:24–45)
The legs of iron and feet of iron and clay—The Roman Empire (63 B.C.–ca. A.D. 475). Iron represents strength but clay represents weakness. Rome was strong in law, organization, and military might; but the empire included so many different peoples that this created weakness. “The people will be a mixture and will not remain united” (Dan. 2:43, NIV).
Rome
Rome follows Greek in history
Rome became a power
Came out of no where
Rome was 2 legs
Divided
Eastern and Western
Iron was looked at as the strongest metal
The Roman Empire is the strongest empire we have known in history!
The Roman ruled for so long because they ruled with an Iron rod
Whereas you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter’s clay and partly of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; yet the strength of the iron shall be in it, just as you saw the iron mixed with ceramic clay.
The Problem is the toes
And as the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly fragile.
As you saw iron mixed with ceramic clay, they will mingle with the seed of men; but they will not adhere to one another, just as iron does not mix with clay.
The Roman Empire’s weakness was it’s mixture of so many people!
What Daniel just told Nebuchadnezzar was about 4 world kingdoms!
And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.
Be Resolute 4. God Displays His Wisdom and Power (Dan. 2:24–45)
The destruction of the image—The coming of Jesus Christ, the Stone, to judge His enemies and establish His universal kingdom.
Inasmuch as you saw that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold—the great God has made known to the king what will come to pass after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation is sure.”
And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.
And whoever falls on this stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder.”
Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face, prostrate before Daniel, and commanded that they should present an offering and incense to him.
The king answered Daniel, and said, “Truly your God is the God of gods, the Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, since you could reveal this secret.”
Then the king promoted Daniel and gave him many great gifts; and he made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and chief administrator over all the wise men of Babylon.
Also Daniel petitioned the king, and he set Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego over the affairs of the province of Babylon; but Daniel sat in the gate of the king.