Daniel Survey
Chapter 2 Outline
Rev. Bruce A. Shields
First Baptist Church of Tawas City Michigan
www.TawasBaptist.org
Psychics vs. Prophets
Chapters 1-6 Stories – How to prepare for the end time
Chapters 7-12 Prophecies – When/what signs of the end
Jesus told us to study and understand Daniel.
Matthew 24
Purpose of prophecy
1. To enable God’s people to prepare for the future.
1 Thessalonians 5:3, 4
2. To build confidence in the Bible.
John 14:29
Signs of False Prophets;
• Use no bible references or text
• Misinterprets or represents scripture
• Predictions fail to happen
• Motivated by MONEY
People believe in them because they fear the future
People fear the future because to them it is uncertain
But God’s word gives us insight to what the future holds and it is more than certain, it is exact.
So what does the future hold?
2500 years ago, the future was predicted in a dream given to Nebuchadnezzar.
Daniel 2:1-2
Nebuchadnezzar was troubled and confused about his dream.
He called for his;
Magicians – they would drop oil into water and watch it to predict the future. They would read palms; examine cow livers and cards like Tarot.
Astrologers – Read patterns in the sky, horoscopes and planetary movements.
Psychics – Brain waves, mental telepathy.
Educated Elite – The Caladiums.
The king wanted them to tell him what he dreamed, without telling them what he dreamed, and he wanted to know what it meant.
A decree was issued to the kingdom and Daniel heard.
Daniel 2:15-19
Daniel knew that to understand the dream, he had to turn to God for the answer.
Because no human was able to solve this issue so far, only God could.
Daniel 2:28
There IS a God in heaven…
The dream is for the Last Days.
Daniel 2:29-35
Head = Gold
Chest = Silver
Thighs = Brass
Legs = Iron
Feet = Mix of Iron and Clay
Stone = Christ
God in heaven reveals secrets.
God ho gave the prophecy WILL interoperate the prophecy.
Daniel 2:36
“WE” = Daniel and GOD
Daniel 2:37-38
Head = Gold = Nebuchadnezzar (his kingdom) Babylon
Jeremiah 51
Daniel 2:39
Chest = Silver = Meads & Persians (Medopersia)
Daniel 5:26-28
Daniel 2:39
Thighs = Brass = Greek Empire
Daniel 8:20
Legs = Iron = Rome
Daniel 2:40-41
Feet (toes) = Iron and Clay = Rome divided into 10 parts (no more unity in Europe)
4 Great Kingdoms replaced by Christ’s Kingdom
Babylon ruled from 605B.C (when they destroyed Jerusalem in Daniel 1) to 539B.C.
Why did the great city of Babylon fall in 539B.C? Because God prophesied it!
He even NAMED the one who was to overthrow them 150 YEARS BEFORE HE WAS BORN!!!!
Isaiah 44:27-28
Isaiah 45:1
Cyrus waited until a big party and the Babylonians were all hung over, he then stopped the flow of the Euphrates river and his troops entered the Gated City through the river bed.
Because of the feast and party the night before, the Babylonians had inadvertently left the gates to the river opened.
Medopersia ruled from 59B.C. to 331B.C.
The Greek Empire then ruled from 331B.C. to 168B.C.
Then Rome ruled from 168B.C. to 351A.D.
In October 539 BCE, the Persian king Cyrus took Babylon, the ancient capital of an oriental empire covering modern Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Israel. In a broader sense, Babylon was the ancient world’s capital of scholarship and science. The subject provinces soon recognized Cyrus as their legitimate ruler. Since he was already lord of peripheral regions in modern Turkey and Iran (and Afghanistan?), it is not exaggerated to say that the conquest of Babylonia meant the birth of a true world empire.
Cyrus’ cylinder
In this text, a clay cylinder now in the British Museum, Cyrus describes how he conquers the old city.
The metals;
Gold
Silver
Brass
Iron
Iron & Clay
Represent a descending moral value through the generations.
Why didn’t the prophet continue with metals representing countries?
Because God’s prophecies are EXACT!
After the Roman Empire split into 10 sections there were no more WORLD RULERS.
Daniel 2:41-42
No 5th world ruling power but power divided.
The 10 toes represent the breakup of the Roman Empire and the power divisions.
This took place from 351A.D. to 476A.D.
Some nations were strong like Iron and some were weak like clay.
History MUST follow God’s prophetic word.
Daniel 2:43
Iron and clay do not mix.
So nations will not unite to dominate the entire world.
King’s have attempted to unite Europe in this way.
King of Denmark, Spain and Austria have all tried, but failed.
Because GOD is guiding the destiny of nations!
Daniel 2:44
Europe will never again be politically unified nation under one single ruler.
Economic unity, political unity, religious unity and even social unity have all failed.
The “Rock cut out without hands” = Christ’s Kingdom
Daniel 2:45
God’s word is certain and sure!
