Well, today we cover the second half of Daniel 2 and we enter the world of biblical prophecy. And you might want to have your Bible open to the rest of Daniel 2 and be ready to flip over to Daniel 7 as well. Book of Daniel has a lot of encouraging stories such as the three men in the fiery furnace, Daniel and the lion's den, but it's not possible to study the book of Daniel without dealing with prophecy. In fact, it's not possible to study the Bible without dealing with prophecy by one estimation. 27% of scripture is prophecy, just over one in every four verses. Theologian Barton Paine identified 1,817 prophecies in the Bible. Others have claimed there are up to 2,500 prophecies. We've not covered many prophetic parts in scripture in recent years here at Bethel Christian Church. Partly because I have a certain amount of apprehension in covering prophecy. That apprehension is because prophecy is not always easy to apply. and prophecy can require a special effort, a special concentration, and I'm confident that you'll give that concentration this morning. The way it usually works out, about half the people are excited about it and love it, and the other half find it a little more difficult. A prophecy in the Bible can be divided into two categories, that which is now fulfilled and that which has its fulfillment in the future. Those who study prophecy tell me over half of the Bible prophecies have been fulfilled now. The accuracy which with Bible prophecies have been fulfilled gives us confidence that the prophecies which remain will be fulfilled accurately when God's timing is right. Let's look at a few examples of Bible prophecy which have been fulfilled. Jesus Christ's first coming for example Micah 5 2 but you Bethlehem Ephrata Though you are a little among the thousands of Judah yet out of you shall come forth to me the one to be ruler in Israel whose goings forth are from old from everlasting Jesus the suffering Savior Isaiah 53 4 & 5 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows yet. We esteemed him stricken smitten by God and afflicted But he was wounded for our transgressions. He was buried. He was bruised for our iniquities the chastisement for our peace was upon him and by his stripes we are healed and Israel's exile to Babylon, which plays an important role in the book of Daniel, Jeremiah 34, three, you shall not escape from his hand, but surely be taken and delivered into his hand. Your eyes shall see the king of Babylon and he shall speak with you face to face and you shall go to Babylon. The destruction of Herod's great temple Matthew 24, one and two. Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple and his disciples came up to show him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said to them, do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another that shall not be thrown down. The destruction of that great temple happened in AD 70, about 40 years after Jesus predicted it. when the General Titus ransacked Jerusalem and set the Temple Mount on fire. And then Daniel's four kingdoms, which we'll be covering here today, has been mostly, at least, fulfilled here in our day. Some prophecies yet to be fulfilled. Well, the second coming of Jesus. Acts 1, 10, and 11, while they stood steadfastly looking toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel who also said, men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus who was taken up from you into heaven will so come in like manner as you saw him go into heaven. The rapture of the church. 1 Thessalonians 4, 16 and 17. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with a voice of an archangel, and with a trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. There's never been a time where the Christians living on earth have been taken up into the clouds. The Great Tribulation, Matthew 24, 21 and 22. For then there will be a great tribulation such as not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved, but for the elect's sake, those days will be shortened. The resurrection of the dead, spoken of in various places, once here in the book of Daniel 12, two and three. Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, some to everlasting contempt. Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament, and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever. The restoration of Israel, Romans 11. And so all Israel will be saved as it is written, the deliverer will come out of Zion and he will turn away ungodliness from Jacob. For this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins. And then, finally, the new heaven and the new earth, Revelation 21. Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. All right, Nate read verses 31 through 36 of chapter two. Let's finish reading the text about the great statue that Nebuchadnezzar saw in his dream, and I'll start at verse 37 and read through the end of the chapter. You, O king, Nebuchadnezzar are a king of kings for God of heaven has given you a kingdom power and strength and glory 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 but after you shall arise another kingdom inferior to yours and than another, a third kingdom of bronze which shall rule over all the earth, and the fourth kingdom shall be as strong as iron, and as much as iron breaks in pieces and shatters everything, and like iron that crushes, that kingdom will break in pieces and crush all the others. Whereas he saw the feet and toes partly of potter's clay and partly of iron, The kingdom shall be divided, yet the strength of iron shall be in it, just as you saw the iron mixed with ceramic clay. 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 a seed of men, but they will not adhere to one another, just as iron does not mix with clay. 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. Inasmuch as he 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. 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 the secret. Then the king promoted Daniel and gave him many great gifts. and he made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and the chief administrator over all the wise men of Babylon. Also, Daniel petitioned the king, and he set Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego over the affairs of the province of Babylon. But Daniel sat in the gate of the king. All right, so in the text today, there's two main objects. In the dream, the statue and the stone. In verse 31, we are told that the statue was great. It was full of splendor. It was awesome to behold. The stone was given no such acclaim. It wasn't described as glorious. Seemingly, the stone was rather nondescript. But it was cut out without hands. It didn't come from the kingdom of humanity. The stone didn't originate from human will. It came, as it were, from heaven. And the stone was powerful. It struck the great and mighty statue and destroyed it, dissolved it, and not a trace was left of the great and mighty image. And the stone then grew into a great mountain that filled the earth, and that was the dream. The statue, though in appearance it was great and glorious, was completely inferior to the stone, though the stone was unremarkable at first. Now Daniel said in verse 36, now we'll interpret the dream for the king. And that's what we'll try to do here today. As you heard, the different medals represent four different kingdoms. The statue as a whole represents the kingdoms of humanity, the power of human cooperation on Earth. The Gentile kingdoms, it represents the Gentile kingdoms which ruled during the time of the Gentiles, while the nation of Israel, the Jewish people, remain scattered throughout the world and are under the authority of the Gentile kingdoms. Now in 1948, the state of Israel declared its independence and there's much discussion about what that event meant for prophecy. And I suggest that though Israel is a state, it remains in general under the authority of Gentile nations. Israel has not established itself as a world superpower like it was in the days of David and Solomon. And the Jewish people remain scattered throughout the world. In other words, that stone, has not yet struck the feet of the Gentile kingdoms of the world and destroyed them. Now the first kingdom is identified in verse 37. You, O king, are a king of kings, for the God of heaven has given you a kingdom, power, strength, and glory. In verse 38, 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. He has made you ruler over them all. You are this head of gold. And so the golden head is Babylon. And then three other kingdoms were introduced. Quickly thereafter in verses 39 and first part of 40 after you shall rise another Kingdom inferior to yours and then another a third kingdom of bronze which shall rule over all the earth in the fourth kingdom Shall be as strong as iron in as much as iron breaks and pieces and shatters everything and like iron that crushes, that kingdom will break in pieces and crush all the others. So the other three kingdoms are not identified here in chapter two, but we have other information in the book of Daniel to look at. In chapter five, we have the story of the handwriting on the wall. Do you remember that? King Belshazzar was having this drunken party, was using the articles of the Lord to drink wine out of, A hand came and wrote on the wall, Mene, Mene, Tekel, Ufarsin. Daniel interpreted those words. He said, the interpretation of each word, Mene, God has numbered your kingdom and finished it. Tekel, you have been weighed in the balances and found wanting. Ufarsin, your kingdom has been divided and given to the Medes and the Persians. That very night, Belshazzar, king of the Chaldeans, king of the Babylonians, was slain. And Darius the Mede received the kingdom, being about 62 years old. So we know the second kingdom, the one of silver, was the Medo-Persian Empire. And then in Daniel chapter 8, Daniel had a terrifying vision of a ram and a goat, both of great, tremendous aggression. And they came to oppose each other, and that vision revealed the identity of the third kingdom. We read in Daniel 8, verses 20 and 21, the ram which you saw having two horns, they are the kings of Media and Persia. And the male goat is the kingdom of Greece. The large horn that is between its eyes is the first king, the first king of Greece. So when you think of great kings of Greece, who do you think of? Alexander the Great comes to mind, and the rise of Alexander the Great was prophesied in scripture. So the bronze torso and the thighs are Greece. The identity of the fourth kingdom is not named in the Book of Daniel, but we know that the kingdom that rose to power after Greece was the Roman Empire. the iron legs and feet of Rome. And it was this kingdom, the Roman kingdom, that was in power when Jesus lived. The politicians that Jesus dealt with, Herod and Pontius Pilate, were part of the great Roman empire. Here is one artist's depiction of the great statue and the kingdoms represented, which you have in your bulletin as well. It gives the dates. of approximate dates of those kingdoms of Babylon for maybe 60 or 70 years, 605 to 539 Medo-Persia, from 539 to 331 BC, Greece, 331 BC to 146 BC, and then Rome from 150 years before the birth of Christ until AD 476. Now, what about the stone? And Daniel 2 verses 44 and 45. 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. 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. So the stone is the return of Jesus and the establishment of his eternal kingdom. Now, that leaves in mind, I suppose, a number of questions that curious people have. And I'll circle back maybe and try to answer anticipate what some of those questions are. But before we do that, we're going to read chapter 7. The reason for that is that chapter 7 in Daniel is a parallel chapter to chapter 2. Chapter 7 is also a symbolic depiction of the same four kingdoms, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome. And so I'll ask you to read along with me in chapter 7, verse 1. I'm reading from the King James Version. And I'll stop occasionally for a few comments. In the first year of Belshazzar, king of Babylon, Belshazzar is a successor to Nebuchadnezzar. We're probably about 40 or 50 years after the first dream of Nebuchadnezzar. Daniel had a dream and visions of his head while on his bed. Then he wrote down the dream telling the main facts. Daniel spoke saying, I saw in my vision by night and behold the four winds of the heaven were stirring up the great sea, that would be the Mediterranean Sea, and four great beasts. the kingdoms here represented by beasts, came up from the sea, each different from the other. The first was like a lion and had eagle's wings, representing Babylon. I watched till its wings were plucked off and it was lifted up from the earth and made to stand on two feet like a man and a man's heart was given to it. And suddenly another beast, a second like a bear, Medo-Persia, It was raised up on one side and had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth, and they said thus to it, arise, devour much flesh. And after this they looked, and there was another like a leopard, representing Greece, which had on its back four wings of a bird, and the beast also had four heads, and dominion was given to it. After this, I saw in the night visions and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, exceedingly strong, it had huge iron teeth. It was devouring, breaking in pieces and trampling the residue with its feet." Notice the continuation of the theme of iron from Nebuchadnezzar's dream to the vision of Daniel representing the kingdom of Rome. Now this beast was different from all the beasts that were before it. It had ten horns. Recall Nebuchadnezzar's dream, there were ten toes. I was considering the horns and there was another horn, a little one, coming up among them, before whom three of the first horns were plucked out by the roots. And there, in this little horn, were eyes like the eyes of a man and a mouth speaking pompous words. I watched till thrones were put in place and the Ancient of Days was seated. His garment was white as snow and the hair of his head was like pure wool. His throne was a fiery flame, its wheels a burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him. A thousand thousands ministered to him. Ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him. The court was seated and the books were opened. I watched then because of the sound of the pompous words which the horn was speaking. I watched till the beast was slain and its body destroyed and given to the burning flame. As for the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away, yet their lives are prolonged for a season and a time. I was watching in the night visions and behold one like the son of man coming with the clouds of heaven. He came to the ancient of days and they brought him near before him. Then to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom that all people's nations and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away. And his kingdom the one which shall not be destroyed. And the son of man is equivalent to the stump. in Nebuchadnezzar's dream. I, Daniel, was grieved in my spirit within my body, and the visions of my head troubled me. I came near to one of those who stood by and asked him for the truth of all this. So he told me and made known to me the interpretation of these things. Those great beasts, which are four, are four kings which arise out of the earth. But the saints of the most high shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever. Then I wish to know the truth about the fourth beast, which was different from all the others, exceedingly dreadful, with its teeth of iron and its nails of bronze, which devoured broken pieces and trampled the residue with its feet. And the 10 horns that were on its head, and the other horn which came up, before which three fell, namely, that horn which had eyes and a mouth which spoke pompous words, whose appearance was greater than his fellows. I was watching, and the same horn was making war against the saints, and prevailing against them, until the Ancient of Days came, and a judgment was made in favor of the saints of the Most High, and the time came for the saints to possess the kingdom. Thus he said, the fourth beast shall be a fourth kingdom on earth, which shall be different from all other kingdoms and shall devour the whole earth, trample it and break it in pieces. The 10 horns are 10 kings who shall arise from this kingdom, and another king shall arise after them. He shall be different from the first ones and shall subdue three kings. He shall speak pompous words against the Most High, shall persecute the saints of the Most High, and shall intend to change times and law. Then the saints shall be given into his hand for a time and times and half a time, but The court shall be seated and they shall take away his dominion to consume and destroy it forever. Then the kingdom and dominion and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven shall be given to the people, the saints of the most high. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom and all dominions shall serve and obey him. This is the end of the account. As for me, Daniel. My thoughts greatly troubled me and my countenance changed, but I kept the matter in my heart. Okay, a few comments on Daniel 7. So the first kingdom, Babylon, was represented by a winged lion, possibly because Nebuchadnezzar in scripture was likened sometimes to a lion and sometimes to an eagle. Medo-Persia may have been represented by a bear, because a bear is slower, but powerful and crushing, and the bear was said to have a great appetite, and it had three ribs in its mouth, likely symbolic of Medo-Persia's three main military conquests, Babylon, Egypt, and Lydia, which is present-day Turkey. Greece. might be represented by a leopard with four wings due to the speed with which Alexander the Great worked. In very little time, he had conquered the known world, and when Alexander died, his kingdom was split into four parts, perhaps accounting for the leopard's four heads. Rome was depicted as particularly crushing because of its superior power and also the length of its reign. Now Daniel was troubled by the fourth beast and he wanted to know the meaning of the ten horns and the little horn that grew up among them and became the greatest of all. So let's look a little more carefully at what is said about the fourth kingdom and the little horn, reading from verse 19. I wish to know the truth about the fourth beast, which was different from all the others, exceedingly dreadful, with its teeth of iron and nails of bronze, which devoured broken pieces and trampled the residue with its feet. And I wanted to know about the 10 horns that were on its head and the other horn which came up before which three fell. namely that horn which had eyes and a mouth, which spoke pompous words, whose appearance was greater than his fellows. I was watching, and the same horn was making war against the saints and prevailing against them, until the Ancient of Days came, and a judgment was made in favor of the saints of the Most High, and the time came for the saints to possess the kingdom." So the little horn, in its appearance, was greater than the others, and the little horn spoke very Proud words, he had the audacity to war against the saints of God, and he was prevailing for a while. He was a great persecutor. The Christians were about to be wiped off the face of the earth, but God, the Ancient of Days, intervened in favor of the saints, and the saints then inherited the kingdom. Now this part of the prophecy has not yet been fulfilled. More details were given in verses 24 through 27. The 10 horns are 10 kings who shall arise from this kingdom. Another shall rise after them. He shall be different from the first ones and shall subdue three kings. And he shall speak pompous words against the most high, shall persecute the saints of the most high, and shall intend to change times and law. The saints shall be given into his hand for a time and times and half a time. But the court shall be seated and they shall take away his dominion, the little horn's dominion, to consume and destroy it forever. Then the kingdom and the dominion and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven shall be given to the people, all the saints of the Most High. His kingdom, the Most High's kingdom, is an everlasting kingdom and all dominions shall serve and obey him. The little horn is the last human dictator. before the Lord returns to set up his kingdom. He'll be a persecutor of the people of God and he'll desire to change the times and laws. In other words, he wants to eliminate the world order as we know it and set up his own laws. He will be a tremendous persecutor of the saints for a time, times and half a time. That's a poetic way of saying three and one half times, which we believe is three and one half years. one half of the coming seven-year period of the Great Tribulation. The little horn you may have guessed represents the Antichrist, who will gain great power during the time of the Tribulation, but he is cut off and the eternal kingdom of Jesus Christ is set up. The prophecy of Daniel 2 and Daniel 7, as I see it, then is partially fulfilled. The four kingdoms have arrived. But the 10 kings and the little horn representing the Antichrist and the stone cut out without hands which destroyed the kingdoms of man remains in the future. Now, let's consider some questions that may arise from the vision of the statue and the four beasts. All right, first, why do the metals get progressively less precious? Gold, silver, bronze, iron. Well, the successive kingdoms were inferior, possibly due to deteriorating morality in the kingdoms or some deterioration in the political strength of the kingdoms. All right, why do the metals get progressively stronger with each kingdom? Metal is soft, and silver, and gold, and then iron. Probably depicting the fact that each kingdom became more crushing in the way that they dealt with their domination in the world. They were harsher. Each one became harsher than the one before. All right, another question that many people ask. Why is there a gap between the end of the Roman kingdom, the date offered here, 476 AD, now 1,500 years ago, why is there a gap between the end of the Roman kingdom and the return of Jesus to rule the world? This is a question that theologians debate a great deal. Many persons, including myself, believe that The toes of the statue, which are iron mixed with clay, represent an extension of the kingdom of Rome, or possibly a revived Roman empire yet in the future. One day, 10 kings, represented by the 10 toes and the 10 horns in chapter seven, as well as the little horn, the Antichrist, will become a reality. When the Antichrist makes his appearance, we know the return of Jesus will be close at hand. As to the reason for the delay in Jesus' return, perhaps words from 2 Peter give us some insight. 2 Peter 3, 8-10, Beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, that is, the promise of his return, as some count slackness, but is long-suffering toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come, as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat, both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. And perhaps it is God's patience that has allowed 1,500 years between the end of the Roman kingdom as we see it and his return. Another question, what is the meaning of the iron mixed with clay? In verses 42 and 43, 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 the iron mixed with ceramic clay, they will mingle with a seed of men, but they will not adhere to one another, just as iron does not mix with clay. Likely this means that even though there are many strong nations, after 476 AD, after Rome, these nations lack unity. There are many strong nations even today, but there's war, there's hatred. Those nations, they don't reach their collective power that they could have because they're fragmented. They're against one another. The Antichrist, when he comes, will attempt to unify all of those nations, assuming that the collective power of humanity is greater than God. All right, another question. What is the purpose of the duplication of the dream of Nebuchadnezzar and the vision of the four beasts seen by Daniel? Why include it twice? Well, Nebuchadnezzar's dream showed the four kingdoms from human perspective. It was a wonderful sight, a great statue, glorious, full of splendor. It represents mankind's typical hubris in view of itself. But the vision of Daniel in chapter seven showed God's perspective on the four kingdoms. Vicious, hideous, destructive beasts bringing pain and ruin on humanity. All right, let's talk a little bit about some of the purposes of prophecy. What did the prophecy of Nebuchadnezzar's dream mean to Nebuchadnezzar? What did it mean to Daniel? What might it mean for us today? And what might prophecy in general mean for us today? Well, first of all, prophecy reveals who God is. If you think about Daniel chapter two, Think about recent events from the perspective of Nebuchadnezzar and Daniel. Nebuchadnezzar defeated the nation of Israel. He plundered sacred articles from the temple in Jerusalem. He placed them in the house of his God. To Nebuchadnezzar and to his people, the implication was clear. His gods The main one probably being Marduk, the storm god. His gods were clearly superior to Jehovah, the God of Israel. And Daniel and his friends could have concluded the same, even as many of the Israelites did. But when Nebuchadnezzar had his dream, none of the representatives of his gods, none of them could tell him the dream or its interpretation. All of those wise men, all of those sorcerers that were supposed to be in touch with his gods, they were helpless in telling the dream. But the dream and its interpretation was revealed to Daniel by Jehovah God, and notice the impact that this had on Nebuchadnezzar in verses 46 and 47. Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face, prostrate before Daniel, and commanded that they should present an offering of incense to him. The king answered Daniel and said, truly, your God is the God of gods, the Lord of kings, and a reveal of secrets, that you could reveal the secret. The prophecy reveals who God is. Prophecy reveals God's power. It reveals God's wisdom. And it also reveals God's mercy and grace and his love. A purpose of prophecy is to prove the reliability of the Bible or the reliability of God's word. Now Daniel, Daniel probably did not have pages of scripture or a scroll that he could present to Nebuchadnezzar. Maybe he did, but probably not. But the prophecy of the four kingdoms was enough to prove to Nebuchadnezzar that the God of Israel was good for his word. For us, the many fulfilled prophecies show and demonstrate that the Bible is reliable, it's accurate, it's authoritative. Jesus in his time on earth fulfilled right around 300 prophecies in the Bible. As one example, the previously mentioned, the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. Now studying the prophecies of Scripture has led many critics to faith in Christ. For persons struggling with faith, a look at fulfilled prophecy, reviewing prophecies fulfilled, can reinforce the truthfulness and authority of the Bible. To show that God's in control, Interesting what happened in verses 48 and 49 the king promoted Daniel and gave him many great gifts and he made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon and the chief administrator over all the wise men of Babylon. And also Daniel petitioned the king and he set Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego over the affairs of the province of Babylon. But Daniel sat in the gate of the king. Now Nebuchadnezzar was so convinced of God's sovereignty that he placed four teenage boys, young men from a foreign land, in control of the province of Babylon. because God was in control. After the second dream of Nebuchadnezzar, which we'll get to in a few weeks, that dream in which Daniel prophesied that King Nebuchadnezzar would lose his mind for seven years, but then regain his sanity, about that we read in Daniel chapter four, Nebuchadnezzar looking back on that event said, at the end of the time I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven and my understanding returned to me and I blessed the most high and praised and honored him who lives forever. For his dominion is an everlasting dominion and his kingdom is from generation to generation. All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing. He does according to his will in the army of heaven. and among the inhabitants of the earth. No one can restrain his hand or say to him, what have you done? God has revealed to us through prophecy, this world will end with God in control and eternity will be under the sole dominion of God. Also, to warn the disobedient, Nebuchadnezzar had stolen sacred articles from the temple of the Lord and put them in the house of his gods. Now, that was blasphemy, to steal the objects of worship from the temple of the God of heaven, the creator of all things, and to give them to an idol that meant nothing. The prophecies that God gave to Daniel were strong warnings for Nebuchadnezzar to worship the God of heaven. Likewise, the prophecies of end time judgment of humanity is the strongest possible kind of warning that can be given to unsaved humanity. There's no doubt that some biblical prophecy can be grim. But behind the grim nature of the prophecies is a loving God, like a good mother or father who warns their children about danger. So prophecy warns the disobedient to repent and to turn to Jesus. To reveal God's will, the ultimate will of God, is that people would be reconciled with him. Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God. 2 Corinthians 5.20, for this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior who desires all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. 1 Timothy 2, 3, and 4. A prophecy tells us the destiny of the entire world. It also tells us of God's desired destiny for each man, woman, and child specifically. And the will of God is never that anyone should perish in their sin. Say to them, as I live, says the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways. For why should you die? Oh, house of Israel. Ezekiel 33, verse 11. And then finally, to encourage perseverance. Things had to look bleak for Daniel, for Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. They were torn away from their families at a young age and taken away from their homeland. The temple of the great God was destroyed and they were now in a land of idol worship. Would they give up the faith like so many other Hebrew young men and women had done. Was Jehovah God defeated as it appeared? And then came the prophecy of the statue and the stone. Ultimately the stone would strike the statue of human kingdoms and destroy it and the stone would grow into a great eternal mountain. In other words, hang on Daniel. I'm still in control. The evil kingdom of men, it's not the end of the story here. There will be a day where God regains the control, the political control of the world. And the words of prophecy from the Apostle Paul tell us how this world will end. Part of that is from 1 Thessalonians 4, 16 through 18, where we read this. The Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus, we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore, comfort one another with these words. Comfort one another with these words, because believer, your faith in Jesus has you on the right path to eternal life. Just keep going. It's going to end well for you. God is winning. That makes you a winner, ultimately. Just keep going. and it's going to end well. As such, for the prophecy of Daniel 2 and Daniel 7, and if some of it seemed a bit fantastic, just wait till we hit chapter 8. Well, let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you that you have revealed to us how this world and its kingdoms will end. And that you've revealed to us, Father, that we will live with you forever. Help us to persevere to the end. Help us to warn those, Father, who need to know Jesus Christ in order to avoid the destruction that would otherwise happen on judgment day for them. And I ask you would be with us as we continue to worship this morning and in song and as we commune together at lunch, that you would be honored with all that we do and say, Father, I pray these things in Jesus' name, amen.