Saturday, January 10, 2015

Daniel’s Devotion (Part 2)



Hello Friends!

Welcome Back! Let’s continue our study of Daniel’s Devotionfrom God’s Word…

Daniel’s Devotion (Part 2)

March 25, 2014 was the 57th anniversary of the signing of the "Treaty of Rome" signed by the European leaders in the city of Rome. More on the significance of this day below. But first, let’s look to our reading for today…

To begin with, “Nebuchadnezzar had dreams” and he was “troubled” to the point of loosing “sleep”:

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” Daniel 2:1-3

We then see Daniel had been summoned by the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar to tell him his “dream” and to interpret it for him:

Then Daniel went to his house, and made the decision known to Hananiah, Mishael, 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 Daniel 2:17-19

God gifted Daniel with the ability to reveal the dream to the Babylonian King and to interpret it for him:

But there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days. Your dream, and the visions of your head upon your bed, were these Daniel 2:28

The dream that King Nebuchadnezzar had was of an image of a man with a head of gold, chest and arms of silver, his belly and thighs of brass, two legs of iron and ten toes of iron and clay mixed. There was a Stone that hit the image of the man and broke it into pieces:

This image’s head was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. You watched while a stone was cut out without hands, which struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed together, and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; the wind carried them away so that no trace of them was found. And the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth Daniel 2:32-35

Daniel's interpretation of the King's dream was actually the revelation of the "empires" of the coming Gentile world powers from the times of Daniel until the times of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. Daniel told King Nebuchadnezzar that he was the "head of gold" – the first of the Gentile world powers.

The passages found later in chapters 7 & 8 give us the understanding that the Medo-Persian Empire followed by the Grecian Empire and the Roman Empire would take Gentile history all the way to a time when the "ten toes" would appear – the "Revived Roman Empire" of the future...

As mentioned above, in 1957 a group of European leaders met to sign the "Treaty of Rome" in Italy in which I believe set the stage for the European Union of today. A very close investigation of the EU reveals that it is at least an "infrastructure" of the fulfillment of Daniel's prophecy of the "ten toes" which will become ten nations, kings or regions…

The key verse to notice about this prophecy is noted as "the days of these kings":

And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever Daniel 2:44

The Creator God of heaven will destroy these “kings” and set up the kingdom that Jesus Christ will rule and reign over at His Second Coming – The 1000-Year Millennial Kingdom. This interpretation of these prophecies from Daniel fits the prophecies of John the Revelator in his book of prophecy:

The beast that you saw was, and is not, and will ascend out of the bottomless pit and go to perdition. And those who dwell on the earth will marvel, whose names are not written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world, when they see the beast that was, and is not, and yet is. “Here is the mind which has wisdom: The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits. There are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, and the other has not yet come. And when he comes, he must continue a short time. The beast that was, and is not, is himself also the eighth, and is of the seven, and is going to perdition. “The ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have received no kingdom as yet, but they receive authority for one hour as kings with the beast. These are of one mind, and they will give their power and authority to the beast. These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and those who are with Him are called, chosen, and faithful.” Then he said to me, “The waters which you saw, where the harlot sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues. And the ten horns which you saw on the beast, these will hate the harlot, make her desolate and naked, eat her flesh and burn her with fire. For God has put it into their hearts to fulfill His purpose, to be of one mind, and to give their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled. And the woman whom you saw is that great city which reigns over the kings of the earth – Revelation 17:8-18

The evidence is very strong that we are living in those days…

Thank you for reading! Don’t miss next week’s continued investigation of Daniel’s Devotion

May the Lord Jesus Christ continue to bless you with His perfect love, mercy and grace!

Keep looking up and sharing the Gospel while there is still time… Hallelujah and Maranatha – come quickly Lord Jesus!

Blessings!
Shane <><

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