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It Is Written

John Bradshaw

Great Chapters of the Bible: Daniel 2

Coming up next, please stay tuned for It Is Written, presented by Pastor John Bradshaw.

The prophecies of the Bible have left a lot of people confused.

Turn to the book of Revelation and you see a beast coming up out of the sea, another beast coming up out of the earth, 7 trumpets, 7 plagues, 7 seals, 7 thunders, 7 churches, and a whole array of images that could leave you scratching your head.

But when you learn how to approach Bible prophecy, a lot of that mystery falls away and you discover how straightforward many of the prophecies of the Bible can really be.

I want to look with you today at 1 of the great prophecies of the Bible, in another program in our ongoing series, Great Chapters of the Bible.

Today we're going to look at a prophecy that provides a foundation for most of the prophecies that speak to earth's last days.

The Apostle Peter talks about the importance of Bible prophecy to the Christian's journey through life.

In 2 Peter 1, he tells his readers that they have not followed cunningly devised fables, saying that he and others like him were eyewitnesses of the majesty of Jesus.

He recalls how they heard a voice from heaven testifying that Jesus is the Son of God.

And if that wasn't enough, he says, "...we also have a more sure word of prophecy, whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn and the day star arise in your hearts." 2 Peter 1, 16-19.

We heard the voice of God with our own ears.

But as miraculous as those things were, we have something even more reliable.

Peter was making the point that what we see and hear can't always be trusted.

Jesus spoke in Matthew 24 of how false Christs and false prophets will arise, and show great signs and wonders, so as to deceive, if possible, even the elect.

The apostle Paul writes of how the Antichrist in the last days will work with all power, signs, and lying wonders.

And in the book of Revelation We read of how the forces arrayed against God will include the spirits of devils working miracles.

Even in the church you find there are people claiming to talk for God.

Someone writes a book claiming they went to heaven or hell.

How can you be sure something or even someone is legit?

Peter was saying that something you can absolutely trust is the sure word of prophecy, and he urges us to follow it as a light that shineth in a dark place.

So we're going to take a look at that sure word of prophecy as we look at another great chapter of the Bible, Daniel chapter 2, where we see 1 of the greatest prophetic visions found in the entire Bible.

The vision of the future that we find in the second chapter of the book of Daniel was given at 1 of the darkest moments in the history of God's ancient people.

The historical setting of Daniel 2 is given in Daniel chapter 1.

In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it.

And the LORD gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with some of the articles of the house of God, which he carried into the land of Shinar to the house of his God, and he brought the articles into the treasure house of his God." Daniel 1 verses 1 and 2.

Chapter 1 goes on to tell us the story of the faithful young man named Daniel and his 3 friends, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, who chose to be faithful to God's Word even at the risk of their lives.

Because of the blessing of God, the Bible says they were found to be 10 times wiser than their fellow students in the Royal Academy of Babylon.

But in Chapter 2, these 4 young men face an absolute crisis.

Now in the second year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams, and his spirit was so troubled that his sleep left him.

Then the king gave the command to call the magicians, the astrologers, the sorcerers and the Chaldeans to tell the king his dreams.

So they came and stood before the king, and the king said to them, I have had a dream, and my spirit is anxious to know the dream.

Then the Chaldeans spoke to the king in Aramaic, O king, live forever, tell your servants the dream, and we will give the interpretation.' But the king answered and said to the Chaldeans, My decision is firm.

If you do not make known the dream to me and its interpretation, you shall be cut in pieces, and your houses shall be made an ash heap.

However, if you tell me the dream and its interpretation, you shall receive from me gifts, rewards, and great honor.

Therefore, tell me the dream and its interpretation." That's Daniel 2 verses 1-6.

These men were in an impossible situation.

If the king had simply told them what he had dreamed, they would have come up with all kinds of clever interpretations.

But in this case, the king had forgotten the dream and he wanted these so-called wise men to tell him what he had dreamed and then explain what it meant.

You can't blame them for responding as they did, as they tried desperately to change the king's mind.

The Chaldeans answered the king and said, "'There is not a man on earth who can tell the king's matter.

Therefore, no king, lord, or ruler has ever asked such things of any magician, astrologer, or Chaldean.

It is a difficult thing that the king requires, and there is no other who can tell it to the king, except the gods whose dwelling is not with flesh." Verses 10 and 11.

Well the king wasn't persuaded and he commanded that all of the wise men of Babylon be put to death.

Unfortunately, that included Daniel and his 3 friends, even though it's clear from the chapter that they weren't present with the other wise men when they were called to see the king.

So Daniel appealed for time to be able to interpret the king's dream.

Daniel was staring death right in the face.

It's a question that many people have asked, and it's a good question and deserves a good answer.

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Thanks for joining me today on It is Written.

We're continuing our ongoing series, Great Chapters of the Bible, and we're looking today at Daniel Chapter 2.

It provides the basis for the major last day prophecies of the Bible.

The book of Revelation is built upon the book of Daniel.

Interesting, there are 404 verses in the book of Revelation.

About three-quarters of them quote from or allude to the Old Testament.

So, if you ignore the Old Testament scriptures Revelation draws from, you can't begin to understand the book of Revelation.

In Daniel 2, Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, had a dream that was so profound it woke him from his sleep.

When he woke up he knew he'd had a dream but couldn't remember what it was or what it meant, but he believed that the gods communicated with him through dreams.

So he was desperate to know what this 1 meant.

He asked his wise men, his counselors, to explain it all to him, but they couldn't.

So he sentenced them all to death, which was a problem for Daniel and his 3 friends because they were among the wise men of Babylon.

What would Daniel do now that his life was moments from ending?

We pick up the story in verse 17, Then Daniel went to his house and made the decision known to Hananiah, Meshael, and Azariah his companions, that they might seek mercies from the God of heaven concerning this secret, so that Daniel and his companions might not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.

Then the secret was revealed to Daniel in a night vision.

So Daniel blessed the God of heaven." You know what we see there is that prayer is powerful.

Daniel was in a tough situation and he knew where to turn.

He was faced with a problem that he couldn't solve, but he knew who could solve his problems.

Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.

And if we know that He hears us whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.

That's God telling you to pray with confidence.

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Great Chapters of the Bible: Daniel 2

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