{"id":18381,"date":"2016-12-18T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-12-18T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sugar-land-bible-church.local\/sermon\/daniel-006-panorama-of-history\/"},"modified":"2016-12-18T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2016-12-18T06:00:00","slug":"daniel-006-panorama-of-history","status":"publish","type":"sermon","link":"https:\/\/slbc.org\/es\/sermon\/daniel-006-panorama-of-history\/","title":{"rendered":"Daniel 006: Panorama of History"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","book":[72],"series_event":[467],"sermon_service_type":[472],"speaker":[6],"class_list":["post-18381","sermon","type-sermon","status-publish","hentry","book-daniel","series_event-daniel","sermon_service_type-main-service","speaker-dr-andy-woods","no-post-thumbnail"],"acf":{"sermon_title":"Daniel 006: Panorama of History","sermon_date":"20161218","sermon_month":"12","sermon_year":"2016","sermon_notes":4147,"sermon_slides":4148,"sermon_mp3":4150,"sermon_id":"121816102472","series_or_event":467,"service_type":[472],"speaker":6,"books_of_the_bible":72,"chapter_and_verse":"2:24-36","sermon_transcript":"Andy Woods\n\nSUGAR LAND BIBLE CHURCH\n\nLesson 6, A Panorama of History, Daniel 2:24-36\n\nDecember 18, 2016\n\nIf we could take our Bibles and open them to the book of Daniel, chapter 2 and verse 24.\u00a0 The title of our message this morning is A Panorama of History and as we\u2019re sort of in that interesting time right after Thanksgiving, just before Christmas, everybody has a full calendar and guess what? We have a full calendar here too.\u00a0 Saturday, Christmas Eve, I\u2019d invite you to come out for that, we typically keep you for less than an hour (can you believe that)?\u00a0 It\u2019s one of those times of the year I do a short sermon, which goes about ten minutes; some of\u00a0 you don\u2019t believe I can do that so you might want to come and see that it\u2019s true.\u00a0 And we do sing some traditional Christmas songs and a candle lighting service and it\u2019s just a great way to keep Christ in your Christmas.\u00a0 We understand that Christmas Eve is a family time and so we try to respect that as much as we can.\u00a0\u00a0 And then the following day, Sunday morning it\u2019s actually Christmas day which falls on a Sunday this year, so we will be having regular church; it\u2019s just that it\u2019s not going to meet at 11:00, it\u2019s going to meet at 10:00 with no adult Sunday School.\u00a0 And so we\u2019re going to be doing a regular church service; typically on Christmas I\u2019ll preach a Christmas message and it\u2019ll be something that you probably never heard on Christmas.\u00a0 You say, wow, that\u2019s an interesting Christmas passage, how is he going to tie this in.\u00a0 So I encourage you to come Sunday morning for that.\n\nThe following Sunday is what?\u00a0 New Year\u2019s Day; it\u2019s kind of interesting how the calendar lined up this year.\u00a0 So we are going to be having a church service on New Year\u2019s Day but just like on Christmas it\u2019ll start at 10:00 as well with no adult Sunday School.\u00a0 And then once everything is passed, the following Sunday which would be what?\u00a0 The 7th<\/sup>, we would be going right back to our regular order of events.\n\nThe Book of Daniel, chapter 2 and verse 24; the title of our message this morning is A Panorama of World History.\u00a0 We have been moving our way into the book of Daniel; Daniel, of course, is a very special character that God used in a strategic way to reveal a time period prophetically that the nation of Israel had just drifted into.\u00a0 It\u2019s a time period where the nation of Israel has been removed from their homeland; they have no king reigning on David\u2019s throne.\u00a0 Judah finds herself in Babylonian captivity 350 miles to the east.\u00a0 And the nation of Israel has no prophetic piece of information governing this time period, and thus God raised up Daniel to reveal this time period that the nation, Israel, was in.\n\nAnd of course, the nation of Israel needs to know how to live for God during this time period and consequently God uses Daniel and his three friends as role models, if you will; this is how to live for God in the midst of a pagan society.\u00a0 And this is one of the reasons I wanted to study the book of Daniel with you, is because the things that Daniel predicts are largely becoming realized in our own day.\u00a0 And beyond that, we, like Daniel, live in a society that I call the Romans 1 culture, where the beliefs and the value systems of the Bible are no longer embraced by the majority of our population, no longer embraced by the people that hold places of influence in our society.\u00a0 So how do we, as God\u2019s people, live in such a time period?\u00a0 Daniel becomes very helpful to us in terms of carving out for us a role model.\n\nChapter 1 we\u2019ve gone through and we\u2019re now moving into this section, chapters 2-7, which, as I\u2019ve mentioned before is organized chiastically.\u00a0 The language shifts; no longer is Daniel speaking directly to the Jewish nation, he is speaking Aramaic, or this section is recorded in Aramaic, because it\u2019s a message not just to the Jews but it\u2019s a message to the Gentile powers.\u00a0 People in positions of power have a tendency to think that they are in that position because they put themselves there and what we learn in chapters 2-7 is they did not put themselves there\u2014God put them there!\u00a0 And once God is finished with them they will be quickly removed from that position of power.\n\nChapter 2 will line up with chapter 7; chapter 3 will line up with chapter 6; chapter 4 will line up with chapter 5.\u00a0 And we have just moved into chapter 2 which is a revelation, if you will, that God gave to Daniel concerning the course of Gentile history.\u00a0 Where is history headed?\u00a0 Most people would pay millions of dollars to discover that information but the fact of the matter is all we need to do is read the Bible. \u00a0If they read their Bible they would see exactly the course of this age and they would see exactly where history is moving; God has not lost control of anything (as we will see).\n\nThis begins with a dream, this chapter, that Nebuchadnezzar had.\u00a0 Nebuchadnezzar, of course, is the reigning king over Neo-Babylonia; he is the despot that brought the Jewish people into captivity, into Babylon.\u00a0 And he has a dream that bothers him and he creates what we would call now an impossible standard.\u00a0 According to Daniel 2:1 the date would be the second year of Nebuchadnezzar.\u00a0 [Daniel 2:1, \u201cNow in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; and his spirit was troubled and his sleep left him.\u201d]\n\nThat means that the things Daniel is going to predict he saw all the way back in 603 B.C.\u00a0 Many of the things that he saw and predicted are way ahead of his time.\u00a0 Daniel describes history in a very uncanny way, the history comes to pass in subsequent centuries literally and accurately to such a degree that the liberals don\u2019t even think Daniel could have seen these things in the sixth century, he obviously wrote these things later and we do not embrace that here at Sugar Land Bible Church.\u00a0 We believe that the literal actual Daniel saw these things happening centuries in advance.\n\nNebuchadnezzar has had this dream and now he creates an impossible standard for his wise men, who are sort of the forerunners, if you will, to the Magi.\u00a0 Daniel at the end of this chapter is going to become one of the Magi.\u00a0 Next week I\u2019ll be explaining to you why the Magi were seeking a star at a particular time in history.\u00a0 Daniel gives us the background for that information.\u00a0 But Nebuchad\u00adnezzar turns to his wise men, so called at that day, and he creates an impossible standard.\u00a0 He says, number 1, don\u2019t just tell me the interpretation of the dream that I have had but tell me what the dream was.\u00a0 And of course, as we saw last week, they rightfully respond that no one can do that but God.\u00a0 And that\u2019s the point!\u00a0 The revelation of the dream and the interpretation of the dream, which is going to come now in the life of the prophet Daniel, is something that only God could deliver on.\u00a0 Something like this could not be made known through human intellect, human energy, human effort, but it is something that can only be disclosed by the God of heaven.\n\nAnd so as last week we saw, moving down to verses 14-23 the dream actually was revealed to Daniel. We\u2019re not told what the contents of the dream was at this point but that is coming this morning, as we will see.\u00a0 And we ended last week with Daniel exploding, verses 20-23, into worship; worship being a response to truth.\u00a0 He just begins to praise God because this disclosure could have only come to him from God.\n\nAnd we pick up the story there in verse 24 where now Daniel, having received the dream and its interpretation is in a position to recite the dream and interpret it properly for Nebuchadnezzar.\u00a0 Nebuchadnezzar, of course, is quite anxious for an answer because this dream caused him much consternation, even disrupting Nebuchadnezzar\u2019s sleep cycle.\n\nBut notice verses 24-28 as Daniel now begins to report this dream to Nebuchadnezzar.\u00a0 Notice, if you will, verses 24-25.\u00a0 It says, \u201cThen Daniel went in to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon; he went and spoke to him as follows: \u2018Do not destroy the wise men of Babylon! Take me into the king\u2019s presence, and I will declare the interpretation to the king.\u2019\u00a0 [25] Then Arioch hurriedly brought Daniel into the king\u2019s presence and spoke to him as follows: \u201cI have found a man\u201d let me repeat that, \u201cI have found a man among the exiles from Judah who can make the interpretation known to the king!\u2019\u201d\n\nWhat happens is Daniel now, who is given this revelation of the dream and the interpretation of the dream, is hurriedly rushed into the presence of Nebuchadnezzar by this man Arioch.\u00a0 The reason everybody is in a hurry is (as we studied last week) Nebuchadnezzar has given an ultimatum.\u00a0 The ultimatum is this: if I don\u2019t receive a revelation and an interpretation of the dream all the wise men will be destroyed in Babylon, including Daniel and his three friends.\n\nThis is the second time that Daniel\u2019s life is on the line and he has no one to depend upon but God.\u00a0 Daniel announces that he knows what the dream is and what it means.\u00a0 Arioch, the commander, wastes no time by\u00a0 ushering Daniel into the presence of Nebuchadnezzar.\u00a0 But isn\u2019t it interesting who Arioch credits with this dream and its interpretation, \u201cI have found a man among the exiles.\u201d Arioch credits Daniel; Arioch, a gentile, Arioch a pagan, Arioch a person who does not know God credits man.\n\nAnd notice how Daniel corrects the record, verses 26-28.\u00a0 Notice what it says there, \u201cThe king said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, \u2018Are you able to make known to me the dream which I have seen and its interpretation?\u2019 [27] Daniel answered before the king and said, \u2018As for the mystery about which the king has inquired, neither wise men, conjurers, magicians nor<\/em> diviners are able to declare it<\/em> to the king. [28] \u2018However, there is a God in heaven,\u2019\u201d let me repeat that,\u00a0 \u201c\u2018However, there is a God in heaven,\u2019\u201d God to be distinguished from a man.\u00a0 Arioch crediting a man, Daniel crediting God.\u00a0 Verse 28, \u201cHowever, there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will take place in the latter days. \u00a0This was your dream and the visions in your mind while<\/em> on your bed.\u201d\n\nYou look at verse 25, Arioch crediting a man and compare that to verse 28, Daniel crediting God, you see a difference in perspective.\u00a0 One of the great dangers of being a servant of God is if the Lord uses you in any sense people will naturally try to attract attention to you rather than God.\u00a0 That\u2019s the nature of man.\u00a0 Man, by nature, is an idolater; man by nature wants to credit the creature rather than the Creator.\u00a0 This is always a problem that God has when He uses people.\u00a0 So how does God resolve this problem?\u00a0 He finds people that are the least qualified people imaginable to do His work thereby when God does a work in ant through your life people say well, there\u2019s no way they could have pulled that off themselves, it must be God.\u00a0 God is not looking, therefore, for qualified people.\u00a0 In fact, the opposite is true, He is looking for unqualified people because the qualified people have a tendency to stand in the place of glory and attract attention to themselves.\u00a0 A lot of people say well, (looking at their own lives), I guess God could never use me, I\u2019m not qualified.\u00a0 Well, here\u2019s the bottom line: God does not call the qualified, rather He qualifies the called.\n\nAnd when God uses your life in a very special way it\u2019s so important to do as Daniel did here, to give credit to where credit is due.\u00a0 The Apostle Paul had this problem.\u00a0 In Acts 14:11-15 the Apostle Paul, through God\u2019s power, performs a great miracle and the people there in Southern Galatia that saw this miracle said this, Acts 14:12, \u201cAnd they began<\/em> calling Barnabas, Zeus, and Paul, Hermes, because he was the chief speaker. [13] The priest of Zeus, whose temple<\/em> was just outside the city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates, and wanted to offer sacrifice with the crowds. [14] But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of it, they tore their robes and rushed out into the crowd, crying out [15] and saying, \u201cMen, why are you doing these things? We are also men of the same nature as you, and preach the gospel to you that you should turn from these vain things to a living God, WHO MADE THE HEAVEN AND THE EARTH AND THE SEA AND ALL THAT IS IN THEM.\u201d\n\nYou\u2019ll notice that those in southern Galatian wanted to credit (with this miracle) Paul and Barnabas. \u00a0Paul and Barnabas correctly turn around and say why are you doing this?\u00a0 Why are you worshipping us?\u00a0 Glorify God!\u00a0 I think it was Billy Graham who put it this way: There are three things that terminate any ministry, these all begin with the letter G and you\u2019ll discover that when ministers fall it\u2019s always these three things beginning with the letter G.\u00a0 Number 1, Billy Graham said don\u2019t touch the gold, financial embezzlement in other words.\u00a0 Number 2, don\u2019t touch the girls, sexual immorality.\u00a0 And then he said number 3, don\u2019t touch the glory because God will not share His glory with another.\n\nAnd that\u2019s why, when, for example, after I preach a sermon and let\u2019s say God that particular Sunday tries to use it and bless somebody, people will come up to you and they will say thank you for such a wonderful message and sort of my habit when I receive that (sometimes I receive it, sometimes I don\u2019t, sometimes I get a lot of other comments that I wish I never got) but when you receive a comment like that it\u2019s important to deflect glory back to where it belongs.\u00a0 I just have a habit of saying well, praise the Lord!\u00a0 I don\u2019t say well, you know, I did stay up late working on that and I did have my logos program out and you know, I did go through a lot of seminary training and you know\u2026.\u00a0 That would be a man-centered approach to things.\u00a0 And God is going to use your life, if you give Him the opportunity to do it, you\u2019ll be in the exact same position, and how critical that is not to attract attention to yourself but instead to glorify God.\u00a0 That is exactly what Daniel is doing here and in fact Daniel says there in verse 27 that this dream did not come to you through the wise men, through the conjurers, through the diviners, through the magicians, through the Chaldeans.\u00a0 He goes through these various classes within the Babylonian wise men.\u00a0 He is very clear with Nebuchadnezzar this dream did not come to you through man.\u00a0 In fact, you had exhausted all of your options before God showed up.\u00a0 This is something that God Himself has done.\n\nIn fact, in verse 27 Daniel uses the word \u201cmystery.\u201d\u00a0 Verses 28-29 he uses the word \u201cmysteries.\u201d\u00a0 We talked a little bit about what a mystery is last time; a mystery is a disclosure of God which could be known no other way other than God.\u00a0 God has taken this time period that the nation is in, which was in prophetic murkiness, people didn\u2019t know what was happening and God has pulled out into the light (with a very clear prophetic revelation) what is going to happen to the nation of Israel.\n\nYou\u2019ll notice there in verse 28 Daniel credits the \u201cGod of heaven.\u201d\u00a0 The Babylonians, as we have talked about, worshipped the heavens, seeking to chart their lives through patterns that they saw in the constellations and the stars, astrology.\u00a0 And Daniel is very clear that it\u2019s not these astrological patterns that reveal this to you; this was the God who made those stars that you are worshipping.\u00a0 It is known to you from the God of heaven.\n\nDaniel, in verse 28, is very clear that this vision concerns \u201cthe latter days.\u201d\u00a0 It\u2019s an expression, \u201cthe latter days,\u201d which reveals a time period of great distress for national Israel. And yet Israel, through this time of distress, will be saved from it and God, through that saved remnant is going to establish His kingdom.\u00a0 This is how Daniel uses the expression latter days.\u00a0 Later on in his book, Daniel 10:14, for the vision pertains to \u201clatter days,\u201d to the \u201cdays yet future.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 [Daniel 10:14, \u201c[Daniel 10:14, \u201cNow I have come to give you an understanding of what will happen to your people in the latter days, for the vision pertains to the days yet future.\u201d ]\n\nHe uses a similar expression in Daniel 11:35, \u201cend time.\u201d\u00a0 It says in Daniel 11:35, \u201cSome of those who have insight will fall, in order to refine, purge and make them pure until the end time; because it is still to come at the appointed time.\u201d\u00a0 Nebuchadnezzar, this doesn\u2019t just concern you; you\u2019re part of it,\u00a0 you\u2019re the front end of it, (as we\u2019ll see).\u00a0 But it\u2019s something that is going to stretch all the way to the end when God, Christ Himself will physically return to the earth and rule the world from David\u2019s throne in millennial fashion.\n\nYou\u2019ll notice, as we go down to verses 29-30 that we have a purpose in the dream itself.\u00a0 Notice, if you will, Daniel 2:29, Daniel begins to speak to Nebuchadnezzar and he says, \u201cAs for you, O king, while<\/em> on your bed your thoughts turned to what would take place in the future; and He who reveals mysteries has made known to you what will take place. [30] \u201cBut as for me,\u201d watch this, \u201cthis mystery has not been revealed to me for any wisdom residing in me more than in<\/em> any other<\/em> living man,\u201d I didn\u2019t receive this understanding because of my education, because of my SAT test score, because I graduated from an Ivy League school, because of my acumen and insight into the business world.\u00a0 This vision and this understanding is something that came to me directly from God.\u00a0 What an important thing to do as we live in troubled times, as God wants to use us, to keep glorifying God rather than attracting attention to ourselves.\u00a0 What a role model Daniel is in this regard.\n\nNotice the second part there, of verse 30, \u201cbut for the purpose of making the interpretation known to the king, and that you may understand the thoughts of your mind.\u201d\u00a0 Nebuchadnezzar, this dream was revealed to you not by accident, there is a reason that the God of heaven targeted you when this dream was given. You\u2019ll notice the word \u201cpurpose,\u201d there\u2019s a purpose behind it because what Daniel is about to disclose\u00a0 under God\u2019s power is a time period that is called later on in Scripture \u201cthe times of the Gentiles,\u201d a time period when the Gentile nations will have the upper hand over the nation of Israel.\u00a0 This is disclosed specifically to Nebuchadnezzar because he is the first Gentile king during the times of the Gentiles.\u00a0 God knows exactly what He is doing!\u00a0 There is a reason why this dream has come to Nebuchadnezzar at this time in history.\n\nNow you might be asking yourself, well, let\u2019s get on with it, what is the contents of the dream, and I\u2019m glad you asked that.\u00a0 Notice, if you will, verses 31-35, which reveals what Nebuchadnezzar saw and what Daniel was shown.\u00a0 Notice, if you will, the contents, verses 31-35 and then what follows is the interpretation.\u00a0 Let\u2019s take a look at the contents first, shall we?\n\nVerses 31-35,\u00a0 \u201cYou, O king, were looking and behold, there was a single great statue; that statue, which was large and of extraordinary splendor, was standing in front of you, and its appearance was awesome.\u201d Here\u2019s what you saw Nebuchadnezzar, and notice these descriptors that Daniel provides.\u00a0 You saw something that looked in human form like a giant statue.\u00a0 It was something to behold.\u00a0 Daniel describes it as great, large, awesome, something of extraordinary splendor.\u00a0 And then what follows in verses 32-25 is the body of the statue begins to be given descriptions by Daniel.\n\nVerse 32, \u201cThe head of that statue was made<\/em> of fine gold, its breast and its arms of silver, its belly and its thighs of bronze, [33] its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. [34 \u2018You continued looking until a stone was cut out without hands, and it struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and crushed them. [35] Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were crushed all at the same time and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away so that not a trace of them was found. But the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.\u201d\n\nWhat did Nebuchadnezzar see in this dream?\u00a0 He saw this giant statue of dazzling appearance, the head was made of gold, the chest and arms were made of silver, the belly and thighs were made of bronze; he saw the two legs in this stature made of iron.\u00a0 He kept looking at the feet and the feet were made of iron and clay.\u00a0 And then all of a sudden a stone cut without human hands strikes the statue in its most vulnerable place, the feet, and destroys the feet and as the feet are unloosed and wrecked the whole thing crumbles to the ground.\u00a0 And Nebuchadnezzar sees these pieces of this formerly beautiful metallic statue spread about on the threshing floor.\u00a0 And Nebuchadnezzar continued to watch in this dream and suddenly a giant wind came and blew these pieces away.\u00a0 And then the stone which destroyed the statue began to grow and grow and grow and grow until if filled the entire earth.\n\nBefore we give the interpretation, beginning in verse 36, let me just make some observations, if I can, about the statue.\u00a0 Notice how the value of the metal deteriorates as you move from top to bottom, gold, of course, being the most valuable; followed by something of less value, silver; something of less value, bronze; something of less value, iron; and then even something of less value than iron, iron mixed with a foreign substance, iron and clay.\n\nNotice also how the weight of the metal declines as you move from top to bottom.\u00a0 The heaviest metal on top, followed by the second heaviest metal, the third heaviest metal, the fourth heaviest metal and then the fifth heaviest as iron is mixed there with clay.\u00a0 And as you move from top to bottom not only does the value disintegrate, not only does the weight disintegrate, but the hardness of the metal actually increases.\n\nNow this is somewhat interesting because this is a pattern of history that God is revealing.\u00a0 God, I believe, is revealing the degeneracy, the degeneration of the human race.\u00a0 Things started off at a very high level, and then as man fell in the Garden of Eden and got away from God things have been deteriorating ever since.\u00a0 By the way, what I just said is the exact opposite of what you\u2019re going to get from secular anthropology.\u00a0 It\u2019s the exact opposite of what you\u2019re going to get from the theory of evolution.\n\nThe theory of evolution, of course, is this idea that we went from the goo to the zoo to you, or to the goo to you by way of the zoo, whichever expression you want to use.\u00a0 In other words, the evolutionist will tell you that things started off at a very low level, a random chance accident happened and gradually man climbed his way, over billions of\u00a0 years, out of the primordial soup and poor man, he couldn\u2019t even talk, he didn\u2019t even know what fire was until lightning struck, he certainly didn\u2019t know anything about language.\u00a0 Maybe he scribbled a few things there on the cave wall and as billions of years passed that developed into an alphabet and finally man became a thinking, breathing (always breathing) but a thinking cultured entity and they\u2019ve arrived to our point today, the highest level of humanity.\u00a0 Isn\u2019t that great?\u00a0\u00a0 Isn\u2019t that flattering?\u00a0 I\u2019ll try not to break my arm patting myself on the back; according to evolutionary thought we are the zenith of humanity.\n\nThe fact of the matter is the Bible reveals the exact opposite of what I just said.\u00a0 John Walvoord, in his commentary on the book of Daniel writes this: \u201cThe descending scale of value of the four metals suggests the degeneration of the human race through the ages as implied in Genesis 4.\u201d\u00a0 I\u2019ll talk about Genesis 4 in just a minute.\u00a0 He mentions a few ancient writers who managed to capture this idea.\u00a0 Ovid and Hesiod conceive history in this way.\u00a0 Walvoord says, \u201cThe concept of degeneration contradicts the evolutionary interpretation of human history.\u00a0 Instead of man beginning in the dust and consummating in fine gold God reveals man in the times of the Gentiles to begin with fine gold and to end in the dust.\u201d\n\nThe human race is not getting better and better every day and in every way as people think.\u00a0 What \u00a0is happening is mankind is moving further away from God.\u00a0 Romans 1 tells us his mind has become darkened and he is not evolving; the fact of the matter is he\u2019s devolving.\u00a0 He\u2019s devolving intellectually, he\u2019s devolving physically, and he is devolving morally as well.\n\nA great chapter of the Bible which reveals this is Genesis 4:20, which is at the very beginning of human history, right after the fall in Eden.\u00a0 We look at people as these cave men creatures that couldn\u2019t do anything or think or put music together or metal instruments or anything but what does Genesis 4:20 reveal?\u00a0 It says, \u201cAdah gave birth to Jabal; he was the father of those who dwell in tents and have livestock.\u00a0 [21] His brother was named Jubal; he became the ancestor of all those who play the lyre and the flute.\u00a0 [22] As for Zillah, she also gave birth to Tubal-cain, the forger of all implements of bronze and iron; and the sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah.\u201d\n\nNotice the beginning of human history, that mankind had a capacity to work in tents and have livestock.\u00a0 Notice also that mankind at the very beginning of human history had access and a knowledge of musical instruments that are mentioned there in verse 21.\u00a0 This is really the catcher: notice that mankind at the very beginning of human history was working with metallurgy if I\u2019m pronouncing that properly, metal however you say it, you guys know what I\u2019m getting at, \u201cbronze and iron.\u201d\u00a0 Now the secular historians tell us well, first we have the bronze age, beginning in 3300 B.C. and then man didn\u2019t even understand iron or could forge instruments of iron until 1300 B.C.\n\nSo there was the bronze age, then there\u2019s the iron age, and notice that your Bible is saying the exact opposite, that mankind at the beginning of history, prior to the global flood, was working with both bronze and iron simultaneously.\u00a0 The fact of the matter is, God, when He comes into your life is not interested in repainting the walls, changing the furniture around, and putting in nice carpet.\u00a0 What God is doing in your life is He\u2019s destroying the foundation of your house; He is going to destroy the way you think about everything if you let him, including these subjects that people grab onto like anthropology, the doctrine of man.\u00a0\u00a0 You\u2019re getting constantly a secular interpretation of anthropology.\u00a0 The fact of the matter is the Bible says exactly the opposite.\n\nAnd part of the process of progressive sanctification is to allow God to re-alter the way you think, to re-alter your worldview.\u00a0 That\u2019s why the book of Romans, chapter 12 and verse 2 says we should \u201cbe transformed by the renewing of our\u201d what? \u201cour mind.\u201d\u00a0 [Romans 12:2, \u201cAnd do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.\u201d]\n\nWe should start to think the way God thinks, not just on how to get to heaven but on every subject where God has revealed Himself, including anthropology or the doctrine of man.\u00a0 The world is not getting better and better.\u00a0 In fact, your Bible says this age will end in a valley called Armageddon where the blood will flow as high as the horse\u2019s bridles for 200 miles.\u00a0 This age will end in a catastrophe and had it not been for the intervention of God in that future time period mankind would have totally and completely destroyed himself.\u00a0 That\u2019s what your Bible says about human history, and you start to see this promoted and advocated through the declining of the value of the metals as\u00a0 you move through this statue.\n\nBut what does it mean?\u00a0 What does the head of gold mean?\u00a0 What does the chest and arms of silver mean?\u00a0 What does the belly and thighs of bronze mean?\u00a0 What do the legs of iron mean?\u00a0 What do the feet mixed with iron and clay mean?\u00a0 What does it mean when it talks about this \u201cstone cut without human hands\u201d instantaneously destroying the statue and the stone grows and grows and grows until it fills the whole earth?\u00a0 What does that mean?\u00a0 I\u2019m glad you asked that question because we\u2019re given the answer in verses 36-45.\n\nNotice something here about your Bible.\u00a0 It gives you a vision and an interpretation.\u00a0 What you will discover about the Bible, particularly as we get into these visions and things of this nature, is the Bible is its own interpreter.\u00a0 The Bible is what we would call a self-interpreting document.\u00a0 And the reason I bring this up is there\u2019s a lot of Crazy (with a capital C) things floating around today on the internet and the You Tube and all these places where people are trying to guess as to what God is saying in these visions and they\u2019re coming up with answers that are borderline insane, in my opinion.\u00a0 And the reason they come up with such insanity is they do not let the Bible speak for itself.\u00a0 The Bible will interpret itself.\u00a0 Many times it will interpret itself right in the same context; other times, as I\u2019ll show you, you have to go to other contexts for the Bible to interpret itself, but the Bible is its own interpreter.\n\nNow a lot of believers follow what they call the sanctified imagination; I\u2019ll just come in with my corrupt and carnal mind and interpret this any way I want, and you are outside the rules of biblical interpretation, you are outside the will of God when you do that because God doesn\u2019t just give us the vision, He gives us the specific interpretation.\n\nWhat did Daniel see?\u00a0 \u201cHead of gold,\u201d notice, if you will, verse 36, \u201cThis was<\/em> the dream; now we will tell its interpretation before the king.\u201d\u00a0 See the word \u201cinterpretation\u201d?\u00a0 The Bible, in other words, interprets itself.\u00a0 It\u2019s a period of time that\u2019s called \u201cthe times of the Gentiles.\u201d\u00a0 You say well where does it say \u201ctimes of the Gentiles.\u201d\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t say it here but you\u2019ll find a reference to that phrase by none other than Jesus Christ Himself in Luke 21:24 where He says Jerusalem will be trampled under foot by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.\u00a0 [Luke 21:24, \u201cand they will fall by the edge of the sword, and will be led captive into all the nations; and Jerusalem will be trampled under foot by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.\u201d]\n\nRevelation 11:2 makes a reference to the final forty-two months, if you will, of the times of the Gentiles.\u00a0 [Revelation 11:2, \u201cLeave out the court which is outside the temple and do not measure it, for it has been given to the nations; and they will tread under foot the holy city for forty-two months.\u201d]\u00a0 The \u201ctimes of the Gentiles\u201d has a specific concrete meaning in Scripture; it is the time period when Israel had no reigning king on David\u2019s throne.\u00a0 That happened or began when Nebuchadnezzar deposed the last Davidic King, a man named Zedekiah.\u00a0 And ever since that period of time, right into the time period of Daniel, right through the time period that Daniel is going to prophecy about, right up to the present hour, beloved, Israel today, Jerusalem today, has no king reigning on David\u2019s throne.\u00a0 And the nation is being trampled down by various Gentile powers that Daniel actually will name here in Daniel 2.\n\nNow remember the chiasm; Daniel 2, the information is repeated in Daniel 7, both are dealing with that same period of time but Daniel in Daniel 7 doesn\u2019t see it as an attractive dazzling statue; he sees it as four grotesque and disgusting beasts, the same period of time.\u00a0 Well, if it\u2019s the same period of time why does Daniel 2 refer to it as a beautiful statue and Daniel 7 refer to it as four grotesque disgusting beasts?\u00a0 Well, it depends where you sit.\u00a0 In Daniel 2 division comes to who?\u00a0 Nebuchadnezzar.\u00a0 Nebuchadnezzar is doing the what?\u00a0 The trampling.\u00a0 So to him the times of the Gentiles seems like an attractive, wonderful, glorious period of time.\u00a0 When Daniel sees that same time period it\u2019s not very glorious to him at all because he and his people are being trampled upon.\u00a0 That\u2019s why Daniel 7 reveals it as the beast; Daniel 2 reveals it as an attractive statue.\u00a0 It\u2019s a time period that starts with the deposing of Nebuchadnezzar and stretches all the way to the Second Advent when Jesus will return to this world and rule the world in Davidic fashion from David\u2019s throne.\n\nYou say well, why is that important. It\u2019s important because we are plagued today with date-setters.\u00a0 Some of the prophecy books that have influenced me, by\u00a0 people I love, made a mistake, and here\u2019s the mistake they made.\u00a0 They said well, the Jews became a nation again in 1948, that\u2019s when the times of the Gentiles concluded, and Jesus did say, did He not, that this generation will not pass away until all these things are fulfilled.\u00a0 A generation in the Bible is about forty years and so therefore forty years from 1948 would take you to 1988.\u00a0 The problem is, 1988 came and went, no return of Christ.\n\nSo then they started to scramble around a little bit and they said well, really a generation is seventy years, or eighty years.\u00a0 And then something happened in 1967 called The Six Day War, where the Jews regained Judea and Samaria and control over what was called the city of Jerusalem and there were countless sermons preached in 1967.\u00a0 One of the people that preached, I won\u2019t even mention his name because he\u2019s very popular, he preached a sermon that the times of the Gentiles had ended, 1967.\u00a0 The problem is, 1967 came and went, no return of Christ, so really, they said, a generation was in 1967.\u00a0 What\u2019s a generation?\u00a0 Forty years.\u00a0 That day comes and goes.\u00a0 Well, it\u2019s seventy years.\u00a0 That day comes and goes.\n\nAnd you see, the mistake that all of these people, I believe well intentioned are making, is they are miss assuming that the times of the Gentiles ended in 1948 with the regathering of Jews to the land, or ended some time in 1967 when the Jews got control of Judea and Samaria.\u00a0 The problem is when the Jews got control of that area in what\u2019s called the Six Day War in 1967 they took the Temple Mount, this was Moshe Dayan, you see him on the old black and white eclipse with the eye patch, he took the Temple Mount and he gave it right back to the Muslims.\u00a0 And it was somewhat smart of him to do that because it probably would have caused World War III had the Jews held onto the Temple Mount.\n\nSo what I\u2019m trying to get at is the times of the Gentiles did not end in 1967, the times of the Gentiles did not end in 1948, the times of the Gentiles are continuing on as I speak.\u00a0 Yes, the nation of Israel gloriously has been regathered in their land but the times of the Gentiles are continuing.\u00a0 Israel has been regathered in unbelief, they are not yet a Christ accepting nation and so the Gentile powers continue to bully Israel.\u00a0 That\u2019s why every time the United Nations gets together and makes some kind of ruling somehow it\u2019s always Israel\u2019s fault.\u00a0 In fact, about two-thirds, roughly, of United Nations Resolutions go against the nation of Israel.\n\nWhat does all of this tell us?\u00a0 That the times of the Gentiles are continuing right up to the present hour despite the fact that God has regathered the nation of Israel and brought them back into their homeland.\u00a0 The times of the Gentiles will not include, the times of the Gentiles will not wrap up until the end of the tribulation period when Israel is in faith and the Davidic throne is once again occupied.\n\nSo if you understand that the times of the Gentiles began with Nebuchadnezzar and go right up to the second coming of Christ, I\u2019m not talking about the rapture, the rapture is something that concerns the church, we\u2019ll preach another 20 messages on the rapture at some point.\u00a0 I\u2019m talking about the Second Advent.\u00a0 The rapture is not something revealed to Daniel, it\u2019s not until Christ, in the Upper Room begins to describe the rapture that you get teachings on the rapture.\u00a0 Paul, of course, will develop it in his 13 letters, the two most prominent and 1 Corinthians and 1 Thessalonians.\u00a0 Get the rapture out of your mind\u2026 think about the rapture but it\u2019s not in Daniel.\n\nWhen it speaks here of the Second Advent it\u2019s speaking of the physical, bodily, visible return of Jesus Christ to a believing nation at the end of the Tribulation period where he will actually rule and reign from David\u2019s throne exactly like Zedekiah reigned from David\u2019s throne.\u00a0 It will be that physical and literal and bodily.\u00a0 In fact, you\u2019ll be able to go up to Jesus Christ and even shake His hand in the millennial kingdom.\u00a0 And you won\u2019t even have to give him a campaign contribution in the process.\n\nThis is the time period that Daniel is describing and if you misconstrue this you get caught up in the strange date-setting methodologies.\u00a0 All of these faulty date-setting methodologies relate to when the times of the Gentiles end.\u00a0 The times of the Gentiles have not ended; we are in the times of the Gentiles now.\u00a0 Now if you want my personal opinion it looks like God is getting ready to wrap up the times of the Gentiles but I\u2019m not setting a date, that\u2019s just my own personal opinion.\u00a0 The times of the Gentiles could go on for another fifty years, another hundred years, another thousand years. I don\u2019t it will last that long but the fact of the matter is biblically it\u2019s possible. \u00a0\u00a0So that\u2019s the time period that Israel is in and this is the time period that Daniel sees.\n\nNow you\u2019ll notice that he begins with these empires, and here we go.\u00a0 Babylon is the head of gold,\u00a0 the first empire during the times of the Gentiles.\u00a0 Chest and arms of silver is the next empire that will trample down the nation of Israel during the times of the Gentiles, an empire called the Medes and the Persians.\u00a0 And then you have the belly and thighs of bronze, now keep in mind Daniel is seeing all of these things hundreds of\u00a0 years in advance; the next empire identified is Greece; Greece would follow Persia so that would be the chest and arms.\u00a0 Let\u2019s see, gold, Babylon, chest and arms of silver, Medo-Persia, belly and thighs of bronze would be Greece; that\u2019s the empire of Alexander the Great and his four generals which become so significant to Daniel\u2019s prophecies in chapter 8 and chapter 11.\n\nNow what about these two legs of iron?\u00a0 That\u2019s Rome.\u00a0 Rome, of course, is the empire that crucified the Son of God, so that\u2019s the legs of iron.\u00a0 And then Nebuchadnezzar (and Daniel apparently saw this vision as well) keeps looking and he sees feet, the feet seem somewhat strange because they\u2019re not iron, they\u2019re mixed with iron and clay.\u00a0 And I believe at this point Daniel is rocketing into the distant future; he is skipping an entire aeon or an age of time and he begins to see the feet mixed with iron and clay as the empire of the antichrist; for lack of a better expression I call that Rome phase two.\n\nAnd you say well, that is a very strange way of interpreting the Bible, I mean, how could he just skip hundred and thousands of years and in his prophecies go to the distant future?\u00a0 Well, the fact of the matter is it\u2019s very common in prophecy for two events to be presented in a back to back manner without revealing the time period between those events.\u00a0 It\u2019s a lot like looking at two mountains in the distance, the furthest one raised slightly higher than the one in front of it and what do you not see?\u00a0 You don\u2019t see the valley.\u00a0 What did Daniel not see?\u00a0 He did not see the valley; what\u2019s the valley?\u00a0 It\u2019s the mystery age of the church that we\u2019re in now, a period of time that was always contemplated by God but no prophet could see it because God had not disclosed it yet. We have to wait for Paul, first Christ in the Upper Room and then Paul to get the full disclosure of the age of the church.\n\nNow you say well, I don\u2019t agree with this interpretation of prophecy.\u00a0 Okay, then you need to go home and take out your Christmas cards and get rid of Isaiah 9:6-7 because that\u2019s on all your Christmas cards.\u00a0 Do you know what that verse says?\u00a0 \u201cFor a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us;\u201d First Coming or Second Coming?\u00a0 First Coming! \u201cAnd the government will rest on His shoulders;\u201d First Coming or Second Coming?\u00a0 Second Coming, well wait a minute, you just skipped two thousand years there.\n\nWhat I\u2019m saying is the Holy Spirit does this all the time to these prophets; He\u2019ll reveal one thing and then something that follows and not disclose the time period.\u00a0 That\u2019s why the prophets themselves, according to 1 Peter 1:10-11, were in a state of consternation over their own prophecies.\u00a0 And I love it that little old me, in the year 2016, can understand Daniel\u2019s prophecies better than Daniel, better than Isaiah, because Daniel wanted to understand many times and he was told to go his way.\n\nSo the feet of iron and clay is the empire of the antichrist; the empire of the antichrist we talk about all the time because we see it coming together in our own age through what\u2019s called one-world government, new world order; it\u2019s like politicians can\u2019t even get through a speech today, Republicans or Democrats without saying the word global or globalism, one-worldism.\u00a0 And yet that empire will last only three and a half years and it will be cataclysmically and instantaneously shattered by the \u201cstone cut without human hands\u201d which is the Kingdom of God which will grow and grow and grow and fill the earth.\n\nAnd if you want to include me in a new world order or a one-world government that\u2019s the only one I\u2019m interested in participating in, thank you very much.\u00a0 I don\u2019t have any interest in participating in the new world order of a man.\u00a0 My citizenship is in the new world order that is yet coming.\n\nSo six empires total, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome phase 1, Rome phase 2, and the coming kingdom of our God.\u00a0 \u00a0And the next time I\u2019m with you we will actually read those verses and I\u2019ll show you those verse by verse and I\u2019ll show you how in most instances the names of these empires are revealed in the text.\n\nHow could Daniel have seen all of these things all the way back in the sixth century?\u00a0 Because there is a God that reveals mysteries. My question for you is are\u00a0 you related to that God?\u00a0 Do you know where your citizenship resides because if you don\u2019t know Christ personally the only thing you\u2019re left with is the next empire on the horizon which is the empire of the antichrist.\u00a0 You are stuck in the crumbling system of man and let me tell you something\u2014the world system is falling apart at the seams!\u00a0 But the stock market is up.\u00a0 I\u2019m glad it is this week, we\u2019ll see what happens next week.\u00a0 The fact of the matter is the financial systems of the world are coming apart at their seams.\u00a0 Our nation is 21 Trillian (with a T) Trillian dollars in debt.\u00a0 That\u2019s no real prosperity folks; that\u2019s an illusion.\n\nThe only thing the world system can offer you is an illusion and yet all of us in our heart of hearts wants security because God originally put us in Eden with our security needs met and He wants to bring us back into an Edenic paradise called His Kingdom and the only way you can become a citizen of that coming kingdom is to receive by faith the gospel.\u00a0 The gospel is that Jesus Christ stepped out of eternity into time and He was born into our world; we celebrate His birth this week.\u00a0 He came into our world to bridge a gap between God and man which could never be bridged; we call this the gospel or we call it good news because He\u2019s done all the heavy lifting.\u00a0 He\u2019s died sacrificially on a cross, He has vindicated who He claimed to be through His bodily resurrection from the dead, and He leaves humanity with a very simple offer\u2014if you stop trusting in yourself, stop trusting in your denomination, stop trusting in your New Year\u2019s resolution, stop trusting in your list of do\u2019s and don\u2019ts, if you stop trying to do for yourself what only God can do for you and trust in His promises then you\u2019re in.\u00a0 The kingdom is not now but you\u2019re a citizen of the coming kingdom and our lives begin to reflect different values, values of the kingdom that is yet on the horizon.\u00a0 A kingdom, according to Hebrews 12:28 which is unshakeable.\u00a0 [Hebrews 12:28, \u201cTherefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe;\u201d]\n\nAnd what an opportunity that is, to enter into that blessing and to realize that the systems of man may fail and will fail but you are inheriting an unshakeable kingdom, that \u201cstone cut without human hands\u201d that will one day fill and subdue the whole earth.\u00a0 Have you received that offer?\u00a0 There\u2019s only one way to receive it and that\u2019s by faith; faith is another way of saying trust.\u00a0 Trust, reliance, dependence exclusively on the promises of Jesus Christ for the safekeeping of\u00a0 your soul.\u00a0 That\u2019s what gets your foot in the door, and beloved, that\u2019s what keeps your foot in the door.\u00a0 The grace that saves is the grace that sustains.\n\nAnd so even as I am speaking there may be some that have never really received what Jesus has done for them.\u00a0 Our exhortation here at Sugar Land Bible Church is to receive this offer, receive it by faith. It\u2019s a matter of confidence between you and the Lord where you, in a moment of privacy, place your trust in what Jesus has done.\u00a0 It\u2019s not something you have to walk an aisle to do, raise a hand to do, join a church to do, give money to do; it\u2019s a matter of privacy between\u00a0 you and the Lord and that becomes your spiritual birthday.\u00a0 What a great time to have a spiritual birthday during the very week when we celebrate the physical birthday of Jesus.\u00a0 So our exhortation to you is to do that; you can do it now in your own mind and privacy.\u00a0 If it\u2019s something you need more explanation on I\u2019m available after the service to talk.\n\nShall we pray.\u00a0 Father, as we get into this subject, broach this subject we\u2019re grateful for the fact that you have a plan; history is moving in a particular direction, You know the end from the beginning and the beginning from the end.\u00a0 You\u2019ve seen fit in mystery form to disclose this to mere mortal men.\u00a0 Make us good stewards of this doctrine.\u00a0 Help us to shape our lives the way we think and live as it gives us hope for the future; help us to step out this week and share this hope with other people.\u00a0 We\u2019ll be careful to give you all the praise and the glory.\u00a0 We lift these things up in Jesus\u2019 name, and God\u2019s people said\u2026.","series_sermon_number":""},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t