Episode Transcript
Now last Sunday, we finished learning about the sections of the image of Nebuchadnezzar's dream.
The image had a head of gold, an arms and chest of silver, belly and thighs of brass, legs of iron and feet that were part of iron and part of clay.
And we've learned in the previous verses that each section of the body represented a world empire here on earth.
And as you work your way down the image, you're working your way down through the annals of time.
The first section of the body was the head of gold.
And that head represented, the Bible told us, the Babylonian kingdom that was presently in power, which was ruled by King Nebuchadnezzar when he had this dream.
In Daniel chapter 2, verse 37 through 38, Daniel told King Nebuchadnezzar, "Thou, O King, art a King of kings, for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory."
Verse 38, "And where soever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field, and the fowl of the heaven, "Hath He given unto thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all; thou art this head of gold."
Can't get any plainer than that.
We also learned that the image existed, or consisted rather, of only four sections.
Meaning it represented a total of four world empires.
The last one being one comprised of iron.
Daniel 2 verse 40a says, "And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron."
Notice fourth, they're enumerated.
Fourth kingdom strong as iron.
Though the feet and toes were mixed with iron and clay, they still consisted of iron and were part of the fourth kingdom.
It's just showing its deterioration over time.
Daniel told King Nebuchadnezzar that the arms and the chest of silver would be the next world empire.
The second kingdom in the image that would come after him.
And then he told Nebuchadnezzar that there would be a third world empire that would come after that.
And that's an important part of this prophetic dream. that Daniel was not counting down just any kingdoms that would happen to pop up or fall, but that he was counting down world empires.
In Daniel chapter 2 verse 39, Daniel told King Nebuchadnezzar, "And after thee, that is after you, the head of gold, shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over," what?
"all the earth."
So these are world empires that we're counting down in this image.
So this prophetic dream consists of one, two, three, four world empires. beginning with Nebuchadnezzar's reign over the world, empire of Babylon, the first of gold, and then the fourth and final of iron.
And having established that, Daniel continues telling King Nebuchadnezzar, if you look with me now in verse 44, which is our text this morning, "And in the days of these kings," now underscoring your Bible, "in the days," in the days."
Now, this is one Chaldean word that's making up our three English words.
And it describes a period of time.
And this period of time that Daniel is referring to is the time frame that exists within those four kingdoms in Nebuchadnezzar's dream that Daniel had just described.
The time frame in these four world empires.
Daniel said, "In the days of these kings."
That is, the kings I just spoke to you about, King Nebuchadnezzar.
Not that the kingdoms existed at the same time, because they don't.
One kingdom takes over the other, and one kingdom takes over the other.
But in the same period of time...
Now listen to how the same Chaldean word is used in the book of Ezra concerning King Artaxerxes, reference to a period of time in which a number of kings ruled before him.
When Jerusalem rebelled against those kings in their weak state, In Ezra chapter 4 verse 19, King Artaxerxes said, "And I commanded, and search hath been made, and it is found that this city," that's Jerusalem, "of old time hath made insurrection against kings," plural, "and that rebellion and sedition may have been made therein."
And when did they have this?
In old time.
And King Artaxerxes refers to this period of time in which Jerusalem rebelled against numerous kings, and the multiple reigns of those kings were all within a single period of time, which Artaxerxes called the "Old Time."
And the word translated "Old Time" is the same Chaldean word translated "in the days" in our text this morning.
So it is a period of time within the reigns of certain kings that Daniel is talking about.
Daniel is speaking to Nebuchadnezzar about something that's going to occur within the period of time when these four world empires shall exist.
So whatever is going to happen, must happen before the fourth kingdom of iron falls.
You with me?
Everyone with me?
Daniel said, "Before the fourth kingdom falls," look back in your text, "shall the God of heaven," not one of the many gods that you worship, King Nebuchadnezzar, Not the stars, not the host of heaven, but the God of heaven, King Nebuchadnezzar.
And what's that God of heaven going to do within that span of those kingdoms?
Look back in your text, He's going to do what?
Set up a kingdom.
Now, if the God of heaven, you see how it's worded, the God of heaven?
If the God of heaven sets up a kingdom, then it will obviously be the kingdom of heaven.
Alright, we all together?
And if the God of heaven is going to set up the kingdom of heaven in the days of these kings, then that means the kingdom of heaven must be set up sometime between the reign of King Nebuchadnezzar and the reign of this fourth kingdom.
It has to be within that interval of time.
So, the kingdom of heaven must be set up at least while the fourth kingdom is still standing, if not before.
So let's count this down.
What kingdom will be standing when the God of heaven sets up the kingdom of heaven?
All we have to do is count the four kingdoms down in Daniel's dream.
Daniel already told us that the first kingdom is the kingdom of Babylon.
He said, "Nebuchadnezzar, you're the head of gold."
Now, after Babylon comes the kingdom of silver.
Which kingdom took world control from Babylon?
Which world empire took world control from Babylon?
The kingdom that took control from Babylon was the Persian Empire.
If you're taking notes, write that down in your Bible, outside of the chest and arms of silver.
Write down, "The Persian Empire."
The second kingdom in Nebuchadnezzar's dream is Persia.
The Persian Empire.
Do you know what Persian Empire is?
It's all in the news today.
We just bombed it.
It's Iran.
Isn't it beautiful how we look in the Scriptures and suddenly we can look back and we can listen to this news between Israel fighting with Iran and us and all, and we can know what we're talking about.
We can know what they're talking about.
We can understand the past, the present, the future of these kingdoms.
And so the second kingdom is Persia, which is known as Iran today.
Let me read to you from Wikipedia.
"The fall of Babylon occurred in 539 BC when the Persian Empire conquered the Neo-Babylonian Empire.
The success of the Persian campaign, led by Cyrus the Great, brought an end to the reign of the last native dynasty of Mesopotamia and gave the Persians, or Iranians, control over the rest of the Fertile Crescent.
Isn't this something?
Now, before Wikipedia could tell us what happened.
Babylon told...
Daniel told us what was going to happen.
There's going to be another kingdom come after you.
It's going to be silver, and it's going to be the next one down in the image.
Now the Persian Empire, it's a... to help you understand, was two kingdoms in Iran.
The Medes and the Persians.
Or you could say and Persia.
Okay?
So it was two kingdoms that existed within Iran, and those two kingdoms merged into one empire, which is why we call it the Medo-Persian Empire.
Sometimes you'll hear it called the Medo-Persian Empire.
But the Persian part had the dominant role.
So that's why some historians simply call it the Persian But it's still the Medes, the Persians combined into one world empire.
They're in Iran.
So not only does secular history tell us who the second kingdom in Daniel's dream is, but Daniel told us who it was going to be before it ever happened in Daniel chapter 7.
Listen to what Daniel told the king of Babylon at that time which was one of Nebuchadnezzar's descendants in Daniel chapter 5 verse 28.
I said Daniel chapter 7, I meant Daniel 5, 28.
He told the king, the Babylonian king, "Thy kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians."
Now this happened before Babylon fell.
He told him it's going to be give them to the Medes and the Persians.
That's the Medo-Persian Empire.
Then you go to Wikipedia or any other encyclopedia or any historian, they'll tell you, "Yes, Cyrus the Great conquered Babylon and then they became the world empire, the Persian Empire."
Iran used not to be something to laugh at.
They were the world empire.
And don't think that they couldn't build back God can raise kings up and put kings down anytime He wants to.
We're not in power because we're something great.
We're in power because this is how God has chosen things to be at this time.
And we're not a world empire, as we've learned.
So, the Medo-Persian Empire, when Daniel said, "Your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and the Persians," he's speaking of the Medo-Persian Empire, otherwise known as the Persian Empire.
Now, do you remember us talking about King Artaxerxes just a minute ago?
When King Artaxerxes searched the records and found in old time during the reigns of these kings that Jerusalem had rebelled against them?
Well, King Artaxerxes was ruling over Jerusalem in Ezra chapter 4.
Who was King Artaxerxes?
He was the ruler of the Persian Empire around 450 BC.
So 450 years before Christ came.
When we're reading about King Artaxerxes in the Bible, that's after the Persian Empire conquered the Babylonian Empire and Artaxerxes is over that Persian Empire, over the Iranian regime, if you would.
So the Persian Empire is the arms and chest of silver, the second empire in Nebuchadnezzar's dream.
So did the God of heaven set up a kingdom during that time?
No.
No.
So what about the third empire?
Who is the belly and thighs of brass that took control from Persia?
Because God has to set up the kingdom of heaven sometime before the reign of these four kings ends.
Because Daniel said, "In the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom."
So, who is the belly and thighs of brass that took control from Persia?
As all historians know, that was Greece who conquered Persia.
Greece conquered Iran under the leadership of Alexander the great.
And that happened in 331 BC.
We're getting closer to the coming of Christ here, aren't we?
BC, before Christ.
Now, the secular historians, they took... when I grew up it was always AD, which means Anno Domini, year of our Lord.
It means after Christ came.
It doesn't mean after death, okay?
It means Anno Domini, the year of our Lord.
BC meant before Christ.
And then they go like, "Ah man, we can't just keep putting Christ in here.
Let's put BCE before common era."
Well, just as a common era.
It's not common.
It's since Christ has come.
It's very uncommon.
It put us in the last days when Jesus came of this earth and we're counting it down.
And so, we're at 331 BC when Alexander the Great conquers Persia.
Greece, therefore, is the third world empire in Nebuchadnezzar's dream.
They're the belly and thighs of brass.
Now, since Greece was the world empire in 331 BC, that means they were in power roughly 300 years before Christ came.
And that's why our New Testament is not written in Persian, it's written in what?
Greek.
Isn't that amazing?
See how history and the Bible just... they just complement each other.
There's never... anytime there's a contradiction between the Old and the New Testament, or one scripture and another, someone's got it wrong.
Anytime there's a contradiction between history and God's Word, somebody's got it wrong and it won't be God's Word.
So that's why the New Testament is written in Greek, because they were the world power about 300 years before Christ came, and that means during their dominance of the world, Greek became the trade language.
Had Iran still been in power, had Persia, the Persian Empire still been in power, then we would be saying, well now in Persian being this right here instead of in Greek.
By the way, do you know what the main language in Iran spoken today is?
Anyone know?
It's Persian.
Thank you, Brother Shepard.
Persian.
That helps you understand who Iran is in relation to the Bible.
Bible history.
But Daniel said God would set up his kingdom in the days of these kings and God didn't set up a kingdom when Greece was ruling.
Greece was a third nation.
No Savior came to Israel during the time of Babylon, during the time of Persia, during the time of Greece.
That leaves only one more kingdom to come.
That fourth kingdom of iron.
So we still have another kingdom left in Nebuchadnezzar's dream, the fourth kingdom of iron, and that means the kingdom must be set up during the reign of that fourth kingdom.
So who is the fourth kingdom?
Who took the empire from Greece?
That would be Rome.
The Roman Empire conquered the Grecian Empire in 146 BC.
We're getting closer, aren't we?
They conquered the Grecian Empire in 146 BC during the Battle of Corinth.
C-O-R-I-N-T-H.
Now, have you ever heard of first and second Corinthians?
Those are the epistles that Paul wrote to the church in Corinth where that battle took place.
Where Rome decisively had gained victory from Greece makes history come alive when you read the Bible.
The Roman Empire was the fourth kingdom in Nebuchadnezzar's dream.
They were the legs of iron, the feet that were mixed with iron and clay.
So according to the Old Testament, God had to set up His kingdom in the days of these kings.
And that's why the Jews, as soon as Rome conquered Greece, they were the fourth kingdom.
And all those Jews had to do was know their Bible in the book of Daniel.
And count down Babylon, Persia, Greece.
Now Rome conquers Greece.
This is the fourth kingdom.
We're in the legs of iron here.
What does that mean?
They need to really be looking for, Brother Doug, They didn't even look for a kingdom getting set up.
Because that kingdom now has to be set up before that Roman Empire falls.
And it's fallen, by the way, if you hadn't noticed.
So as soon as Rome conquered Greece, they should have been waiting, watching, and anticipating the arrival of the kingdom of heaven. because it was the last chance for God to set up His kingdom as God had spoken to Daniel the prophet.
And that's why Matthew chapter 3, this will all make sense to you now.
This is why Matthew chapter 3 verse 1 through 2 says, "In those days came John the Baptist preaching the wilderness of Judea and saying, 'Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.'"
You see how that all falls into place now?
They should have been waiting on the kingdom of heaven to be set up.
This was the fourth and final kingdom.
And God's Word says it has to be set up in the days of these kings.
And so John the Baptist comes saying, "Get ready, repent.
The kingdom of heaven is at hand.
It's about to be set up."
And that's why Jesus sent His disciples out to preach in Matthew 10, verse 7, telling them, and as ye go, preach, saying, "The kingdom of heaven is at hand."
They should have all been watching for it.
We just counted it down.
They should have been counting it down as well.
Daniel said the God of heaven would set up His kingdom in the days of those four empires, and Jesus was telling them, "That time has come.
The kingdom of heaven is at hand."
In Matthew chapter 12 verse 28.
Matthew chapter 12 verse 28.
Jesus said, "But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God," listen to His reasoning, "then the kingdom of God is come unto you."
You see how He was arguing?
Jesus was all about the kingdom.
Preaching the kingdom, preaching the kingdom, preaching the kingdom.
Because they had to fulfill the prophecies.
He's telling them, "Don't you see?
If I, by the Spirit of God, can cast out a devil..."
Remember, who did we say was the power behind these world empires?
Remember, there's one image that exists in several empires.
But who do we say was the power behind that whole image?
Satan.
And so now here comes a king, Brother Doug, and this king by the Spirit of God cast out a devil from one of its citizens.
He just overpowered that kingdom.
Cast out a devil.
He says, "Look, if I can cast out this devil by the Spirit of God, the kingdom of God is coming to you.
It's here.
Your king's here.
We're setting up a kingdom.
They should have got it, they should have known, all they had to do was look at their scriptures.
It doesn't get any plainer than that.
The ministry of John the Baptist began a whole new era.
It initiated the good news of the long promised kingdom of heaven.
In Luke chapter 16, verse 16, Jesus said, The Law and the Prophets were until John.
So until John, they had the Law and the Prophets.
And then Jesus said, "Since that time, since the time of John's ministry, the Kingdom of God is preached, and every man presses into it."
So now we're preaching to you the Kingdom of God.
The Kingdom of God.
I was explaining, We happen to be looking at Jesus choosing his 12 disciples this morning in the Genesis of Jesus class, and I was explaining to them how it worked.
That, as we've repeated many times here, for every Old Testament truth, there's a greater spiritual reality.
In the Old Testament, because that number 12 is important, Jesus chose 12 disciples who became 12 apostles for a reason.
In the Old Testament, who was the king of Israel?
Who was supposed to be the king of Israel?
God was.
Remember when they told Samuel they wanted a king like all the other nations?
God told Samuel, "They haven't rejected you, they've rejected me from being their king.
Okay?
They have a habit of rejecting God as their king.
That's more... they did the same thing when Jesus came, right?
So God was building a earthly kingdom.
God was supposed to be the king of Israel.
He took twelve men, and from those twelve men through natural birth, He built a kingdom of men.
You see?
That He was supposed to be the king over.
Now in the New Testament, that same God comes.
Instead of taking twelve men to build a physical kingdom by natural birth, He took 12 men to build a spiritual kingdom by the new birth.
You see how that works?
That's why he got 12 apostles.
The Bible says that the church is built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets.
Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone.
He takes these 12 men, not through the propagation of the seed of man, but through the proclamation of the Son of Man, He builds a spiritual kingdom.
He sets it up here on earth.
That's what Jesus came to do.
It's absolutely marvelous as you watch the Scriptures fall into place.
And so, Jesus said, "Until John," it was the Law and the Prophets, "and since that time," now since John's ministry, "the kingdom of God is preached."
You can't preach it unless it's here.
And every man presses into it.
God set up the kingdom of heaven in the days of these kings in Nebuchadnezzar's dream, just like Daniel said, because Jesus was the long-awaited promised King that was finally born descending from the seed of David, which is why the genealogies in the New Testament Jesus back to King David.
In Matthew chapter 16 verses 16 and 17, Jesus asked his disciples who they said he or Jesus was.
And Simon Peter answered and said, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God."
And Jesus answered and said unto him, "Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in... where?
Heaven.
My Father which is in heaven revealed this truth about me unto you.
Now in verses 18 and 19, watch how Jesus ties the kingdom of heaven to his church.
Remember what we learned when we studied the book of Revelation.
The church is a city And Jesus is her what?
Her King.
By setting up the church, Jesus sets up His kingdom.
Alright?
For the church is a city and Jesus is their King.
Watch now, Matthew 16, 18, now says, "And I say also unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock, that's the stone cut out without hands that Daniel spoke about.
"Upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."
On this rock, I'm gonna build my church.
Why?
He's the chief cornerstone.
The gates of hell are not going to prevail, they're not going to overcome the kingdom, the church kingdom that I'm building here.
The church is the kingdom of heaven that was set up by Jesus when He came during the reign of the fourth empire in Nebuchadnezzar's dream.
Why would the gates of hell not prevail against Jesus' church?
Because Jesus' kingdom, unlike the four kingdoms in Nebuchadnezzar's dream, will never be destroyed but will last forever.
Jesus went on to say in verse 19, "And I will give unto thee, Peter, the keys of..."
What?
The kingdom of heaven?
"...and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth..."
Because that's what keys do, they lock and they unlock.
"...whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven; whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."
Peter, as was eventually the rest of the church, was given the keys of the kingdom of heaven.
And now church, Peter couldn't have had the keys of the kingdom of heaven if the kingdom of heaven hadn't been set up.
You got these keys.
You can unlock it and you can open the door to heaven.
You can close it and you can close the door to heaven.
Isn't that something?
You realize what power we possess as a church?
When I preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, and someone hears that truth, and they believe in Christ as their Savior, you know what that gospel does?
"Ch-ch."
And they go right on in.
Do you know what else that gospel does, Brother Doug?
It says, "Except ye believe, ye'll know why it's in her hand."
It locks it up.
So the gospel is the keys of the kingdom of heaven.
It opens and lets people in, and it shuts and no man can open it.
Does that make sense?
Jesus says, "Peter, I'm going to build my church, and as my church, you'll have the keys of the kingdom of heaven."
Amazing!
As a church, we are a kingdom, and when we preach the gospel, and we say, "Only by Jesus, but by Him can no man come to the Father," we're forbidding all to enter except those who will come through that narrow gate.
And through the preaching of the gospel, that gates open, and they enter in and they become citizens of the kingdom of God.
The moment you believed in Christ as your Savior, the gate swung open and you entered into the kingdom of God.
You became a member of Christ's kingdom.
Just as God said, He set up His kingdom in the days of these four kings.
And as King Jesus said, "The gates of hell shall not prevail against His kingdom, the church, for it is a kingdom."
Look back in your text now in Daniel, "which shall never be destroyed."
Praise God, it'll never be destroyed.
Our kingdom will never be destroyed.
Look back in your text, "And the kingdom shall not be left to other people."
You know what would happen when one kingdom would conquer another kingdom?
Well, they'd take some of the buildings, some of the cities, and they'd take them over.
But our kingdom will not be destroyed, and it will not be left to other people, because only the citizens of God's kingdom will live and dwell therein.
We have inherited His kingdom forever, so no other kingdom shall conquer the church.
Look back in your text, but it, the church, Christ's kingdom, shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms."
Our kingdom is going to conquer all the world's kingdoms.
Through the power of the gospel of Christ our King, we shall break in pieces and consume every last enemy of God.
This final consummation will occur after Jesus comes again.
But in the meantime, we're chipping away at Satan's kingdom through the preaching of the gospel.
Every one of y'all in here who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior, you know what you are?
You are souls rescued from one kingdom and brought into another kingdom.
When we preach the gospel and someone believes in Jesus as his Savior, He is delivered from the power that is the authority of Satan's kingdom, who has reigned in all these godless kingdoms, and then he becomes a citizen of Jesus' kingdom.
In Colossians chapter 1 verse 13, Colossians 1.13, the Apostle Paul gave thanks to God, quote, "Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and have translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son.
Now if the believers in Paul's time were translated into the kingdom of God's Son, then that means the kingdom of God's Son has been set up since Paul's time.
And where did Paul go to prison?
Rome.
You ever heard the book of Romans?
It's because Paul ministered during the reign of the Roman Empire.
The fourth world empire, the kingdom of iron.
Paul said, "During the reign of that kingdom of iron, we've been delivered from the power of darkness, and we've been translated into the kingdom of His dear Son."
In the days of those kings, God set up the Kingdom of Heaven just like He said, and look in your text as we close, "And it shall stand forever."
Why?
The gates of hell won't prevail against it.
Man!
Aren't you glad you have a Bible?
All you have to do, don't ever wonder if Jesus is the promised Christ.
All you have to do is go back and look.
It can't get any plainer than this.
History defines it.
Prophecy proclaims it.
Jesus fulfilled it.
And you and I believe it.
Father, we thank you so much for your precious Word.
God, thank you for your Holy Spirit who opens our eyes to see and understand these truths.
Thank you for making them so clear to us, Lord.
We're so grateful for the definitive truth of Your Word.
It doesn't leave us wondering.
It doesn't leave us second-guessing.
It leaves us absolutely convinced that He is the Christ that You sent.
The Savior of the world.
The King of our church.
In His name we pray.
Amen.
Yeah.
