A question about the future has disturbed many minds
and many are perplexed by the facts of not knowing what the future holds .
This presentation addresses what the future holds and the hope we have
A question about the future has disturbed bright minds
and many are perplexed by the facts of not knowing what will happen even 5 minutes from now
None of us knows what will happen in the future
But right from the beginning of our presentation tonight I want to assure you --NEXT
And the God has revealed the future in the Bible
The Bible is full of God¡¯s promises
That we can walk bravely in this life with assurance of our future
The bible is a collection of 66 books ? NEXT
Note some of these men who contributed to writing of the bible
This book is written over a period of 1500 years
While written 2000 years before the age of science
? NEXT
Let¡¯s look at some of the scientific proofs
but scientists now agree that light existed before the sun,
The book of Genesis written 3500 years ago
Had already told us that light existed existed before the sun
but scientists now agree that light existed before the sun,
The book of Genesis written 3500 years ago
Had already told us that light existed existed before the sun
As we peruse the pages of the bible we can see the future as clear as a day
As we walk in the unquestionable authority of the word of God we can have confidence in this life that God knows the future and He cares about ours
Jeremiah 29 : 11
in the book of Daniel God had writen the future of the world in advance
This book was written in the 6th Century BC
That is 600 years before Christ was born
At that time when this book was written
Right in the valleys of the Tigris and the Euphrates there dwelt a kingdom called Babylon
And Babylon became the superpower of the world
Babylon was built by a man called Nimrod
Nimrod was the first king of Babylon
In fact history tells us he was the first king in the history of the world
He was also the first name man to ever organize an army
And they worshiped him as a god
After his death,,they said his spirit went to the sun and they instituted sun worship
Since Nimrod was ¡°a god¡± and the first king
Every other king of Babylon became a high priest of the sun god
In the 6th Century when the book of Daniel was written
Nebuchadnezzer was the king in Babylon
he too became the high priest of the sun god
Which is knows by the title ¡°Pontifex Maximus¡±
And Babylon became the world¡¯s superpower
he ruled the entire world
He was a successful king
He had conquered nation after nations
In fact history tells us he had conquered 40 other nations
and finally he conquered Jerusalem
NEXT
And he took captive the Jews to Babylon
Among the Jews who were taken to Babylon were Daniel , Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah
King Nebuchadnezzar had in his palace a team of advisers on his payroll
These were known as wisemen of Babylon
He had scientists, scholars, magicians, sorcerers, chaldians, astrologers
And their task was to alert the king of any approaching danger
NEXT
One night King Nebuchadnezer went to sleep and he had a dream
he couldn¡¯t remember the dream but he also couldn¡¯t forget that he dreamed
The dream troubled him
Daniel 2 : 1
The Babylonians attached great importance to dreams, especially those given to a king, for the
king was also the chief priest, or Pontifex Maximus, of the gods of Babylon,
to whom he owed his position, and a dream was supposed to be a revelation of the will of the gods.
So the king quickly called the wisemen of Babylon
But he didn¡¯t call the four Hebrew boys with the rest of wisemen in Babylon
He only called the Babylonian wisemen
And he told them--NEXT
But I have forgotten it
You tell me what I dreamed about and the meaning of the dream
And they answered the king and said
V. 4---NEXT
But the king couldn¡¯t remember the dream
After a long discussion
The the wisement told the King in V. 10--NEXT
these men couldn¡¯t tell the dream neither the meaning of it
The king was left frustrated and angry
NEXT
And he ordered all wisemen in Babylon to be executed
Remember Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azaria were not called in this meeting
But the decree went forth that all wisement of Babylon should be executed
The bible says in V. 13
When they came to capture Daniel and his friends
Daniel said that¡¯s not fair
When other wisemen were called in we were not called in
Give us time to pray about this matter
The king was so desperate to know the meaning of the dream so he gave them time to pray
There¡¯s a song that says ¡°Just a little talk with Jesus makes it right¡±
When you don¡¯t know what to do ¡°pray¡±
When sickness creeps in ¡°pray¡±
Even when you feel like you have reached rock-bottom of your life ¡°Pray¡±
God is still hears and answers prayers
And he answered their prayer
And he showed them exactly the King¡¯s dream and the meaning of the dream
NEXT
Without delay Daniel stood before King Nebuchadnezzar
And he said ,,,the wisemen of Babylon could not help you
The doctors couldn¡¯t help you
The Scientists couldn¡¯t help you
The magicians couldn¡¯t help you
The astrologers couldn¡¯t help you
V. 28 --NEXT
There is a God in heaven ,,,
There are times when nobody will be able to help you
But always remember there is a God in heaven
And He still answers prayers
Daniel tells the king, Listen King Nebuchadnezer ,,this dream is not only for you and now but also for many years to come
,,,,this dream is also for the people of Winschoten
Now from V. 31 ¨C 36 Daniel tells the dream ? NEXT
Daniel tells the king this is the image that you saw in your dream
I can imagine the king is looking at Daniel and saying that¡¯s it
That¡¯s the dream
Daniel tells the king ,,God has also shown me the meaning of it
And now King listen to the meaning of it
V. 37 & 38
This was a huge surprise to King Nebuchadnezzer
He thought Babylon would rule the world forever
But God showed that Babylon would only be the head of gold
NEXT
The kingdom of Babylon ruled the world from 605 ¨C 539 BC
NEXT
Babylon was a magnificent kingdom
It was truly a golden kingdom
It had one of the 7 wonders of the world¡ªthe hanging gardens
The dream continued: V. 39
Nobody would think that Babylon would ever come to an end
NEXT
Babylon was very well secured
And had the river Euphrates surrounding the kingdom
To conquer Babylon you first had to cross river Euphrates
And after that you¡¯d meet a 200 feet wall
But God had prophesied that Babylon would be conquered
And God had said Cyrus would conquer Babylon 150 years before Cyrus was born
God said Cyrus will be born and he will overthrow Babylon
The Greek historian Herodotus writes about Cyrus
He said as Cyrus was crossing the river with His army one of his loved white horse died
Cyrus was so ¡°angry at the river¡± and made his army dig 360 ditches to drain it!
All the waters of the river Euphrates were drained that his army just walked on the river bed
And as they marched towards Babylon they founds the gates of the city open
Because that night the king and his guards were drunk and they left the gates of the city open
And this was written in the bible 150 years before Cyrus was born
Isiah 45 : 1 -2 NEXT
That night the gates were not shut before the king and his guards were drunk
That night Babylon fell and The Medo-Persian became the superpower
This great Medo-Persian empire was not to last forever either
It was quickly conquered by Alexander the great at the battle of Arbela in 331 BC
And the Medo-Persian empire came to an end and Greece became the superpower
Daniel 2 : 39--NEXT
Greece became the superpower Under the leadership of Alexander the great
NEXT
At the age of 25 Alexander had conquered the world
He was so full of success that he died at the age of 33 drunk
And the Greek empire came to an end
NEXT
Greece ruled the world from 331 ¨C 168 BC
The dream continues ---NEXT
The Greek empire came to an end in 168 BC
When they were defeated by the Romans at the battle of Pydna
After defeating Greece, Rome became the superpower
And every reader of the history knows that this is exactly how the succession of the kingdoms are
Just the way the bible said in advance
Rome ,,,though known as the iron kingdom was also not to last forever
In 476 AD Rome fell to Barbarian tribes
NEXT
The Babarian tribes bit up on the Romans until the Romans gave up
NEXT
Just like the 10 toes of the image these tribes were also 10
After defeating the Romans,,,,,they became what we know as Europe today
Allamanni ? The German
Anglo-Saxons ? The English
Burgundians ? Switzerland
Franks ? The French
Lombards ? The Italians
Suevi ? The Portuguese
Visigoths ? The Spanish
Heruli
Ostrogoths
Vandals
--NEXT
And Europe is represented by the toes of iron and clay
Represented as a mix of iron and clay
The dream continues ---V. 41
These barbarian tribes which is Europe today never succeeded to become one empire
For years Europe has desperately tried to unite
But the bible says in V. 3 --NEXT
Emperor Charlemagne tried to unite Europe --NEXT
But he failed
Charles V¡ªtried to unite Europe
NEXT
but he failed
NEXT
He divorced his French wife and married Austrian-Hungarian hairess Maria Louisa
Also built an army of 450,000 soldiers!
everyone expected him to be the European emperor
This is what Napoleon said --NEXT
And it didn¡¯t happen
NEXT
In fact he met the English at the battle of Waterloo
after the defeat at the waterloo
Napoleon said--NEXT
NEXT
Wilhelm II¡ªin world war I he tried
He actually Called his army ¡°sons of destiny.¡±
But he failed
NEXT
Adolf Hitler tried but he also failed
Europe is still dividing today
NEXT
Daniel 2 : 43
Next
The dream continues¡ª
V. 34 NEXT
King Nebuchadnezer might have jumped and said I saw that rock ,,that stone that broke the image
What is that Rock ?
Tell me about that rock
Then Daniel gives him the answer in V. 44
That rock is the kingdom of God
Rock of ages cleft for me ,,,,let me hide myself in thee
This rock is the kingdom of God
Daniel tells the king in V. 45
What God wrote through prophet Daniel in the 6th Century happened just the way God said it
The dream is true and the meaning is sure
V. 45 ---NEXT
In the days of what is known as Europe today - God will set up a kingdom
Babylon came and gone
Medo ¨C Persia came and gone
Greece came and gone
Rome came and gone
While we still have Europe - God will set up his kingdom
The next superpower is the kingdom of God
Jesus is coming soon
I personally want Jesus to come ,,,what about you ?
I want to see the end of sin
Rev 21 : 4