World History Foretold
History is a fascinating subject that
fires the imagination and excites one.
Yet even more fascinating and exiting is PROPHECY—history told before it happens!
World history is full of war and
bloodshed. The rise and fall of nations
is marked by greed, intrigue, and war.
The evolutionist's motto, "survival of the fittest" appears to
be true: the strongest dominates.
But as we study Daniel chapter 2 we will find out the Good News that God is in charge! And not only did he foretell world history centuries before it happened, He has
told us the great ending to the
drama of human history!
NEBUCHADNEZZAR'S
FORGOTTEN DREAM
Nebuchadnezzar was the greatest king of
the 2nd Babylonian empire. He brought
the power of ancient
Daniel was a young Hebrew captive in
In verse
29 of chapter 2, we see that King
Nebuchadnezzar had gone to bed one night worrying about the future of his kingdom. Nebuchadnezzar dreamt a very impressive dream
that night—yet couldn't remember it the next morning! Let's read about Nebuchadnezzar's dream in Daniel 2:1-3.
THE
FAILURE OF
1. What did Nebuchadnezzar do in order to find
out the meaning of his dream?
Then the king commanded to call the
magicians, and the astrologers, and the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans, for to
shew the king his dreams. So they came and stood before the king. And the king
said unto them, I have dreamed a dream, and my spirit was troubled to know the
dream. Daniel 2:2,3
2. What
did the "wise" men ask?
Then spake the Chaldeans to the king in
Syriack, O king, live for ever: tell thy servants the dream, and we will shew
the interpretation. Daniel 2:4
3. What
did Nebuchadnezzar then do?
The king answered and said to the
Chaldeans, The thing is gone from me: if ye will not make known unto me the dream,
with the interpretation thereof, ye shall be cut in pieces, and your houses
shall be made a dunghill. But if ye shew the dream, and the interpretation
thereof, ye shall receive of me gifts and rewards and great honour: therefore
shew me the dream, and the interpretation thereof.
They answered again and said, Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will shew
the interpretation of it.
The king answered and said, I know of certainty that ye would gain the time, because
ye see the thing is gone from me. But if ye will not make known unto me the
dream, there is but one decree for you: for ye have prepared lying and corrupt
words to speak before me, till the time be changed:
therefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that ye can shew me the interpretation
thereof.
The Chaldeans answered before the king, and
said, There is not a man upon the earth that can shew
the king's matter: therefore there is no king, lord, nor ruler, that asked such
things at any magician, or astrologer, or Chaldean. And it is a rare thing that
the king requireth, and there is none other that can shew it before the king,
except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.
For this cause the king was angry and very
furious, and commanded to destroy all the wise men of
Note: These men were members of a guilde of magicians,
soothsayers & astrologers who claimed to be in direct contact with the
Babylonian gods. This explains why the
king became so angry with them; when put to the test, their hypocrisy was
openly unmasked. They confessed that
they did not have contact with the gods (read verse 11).
Daniel
and his three friends were evidently classed among
GOD REVEALS
SECRETS
4. Who
alone knows the future?
Remember the former things of old: for I am
God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, Declaring the
end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet
done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure. Isaiah 46:9,10
5. To
whom does God confide His plans?
Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he
revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets. Amos 3:7
6. When
God gives a dream, what is His purpose?
For God speaketh once, yea twice, yet man
perceiveth it not. In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep
falleth upon men, in slumberings upon the bed; Then he
openeth the ears of men, and sealeth their instruction, That he may withdraw
man from his purpose, and hide pride from man. Job 33:14-17
Note: Evidently, God found it difficult to communicate His
truth to Nebuchadnezzar while he was awake.
So in a dream, God revealed to this pagan king an idol that attracted
his attention and strongly impressed him.
THE DREAM
AND ITS MEANING REVEALED
7. Who
offered to interpret the king's dream?
And the decree went forth that the wise men
should be slain; and they sought Daniel and his fellows to be slain. Then Daniel
answered with counsel and wisdom to Arioch the captain of the king's guard,
which was gone forth to slay the wise men of
Then Daniel went in, and desired of the
king that he would give him time, and that he would shew the king the
interpretation. Daniel 2:13-16
8. What
did Daniel then do?
Then Daniel went to his house, and made the
thing known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions: That they would
desire mercies of the God of heaven concerning this secret; that Daniel and his
fellows should not perish with the rest of the wise men of
Note: Note the power of faith and prayer. In their extremity, they got down on their
knees, and God heard their prayer. He will do the same for us today, if we
approach Him with Daniel's simple faith.
10.
What happened next?
Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in
a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven. Daniel answered and
said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are
his: Therefore Daniel went in unto Arioch, whom the king had ordained to
destroy the wise men of Babylon: he went and said thus unto him; Destroy not
the wise men of Babylon: bring me in before the king, and I will shew unto the
king the interpretation. verses 19,20,24
11.
When brought before the king, what did
Daniel say?
Daniel answered in the presence of the
king, and said, The secret which the king hath
demanded cannot the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, the soothsayers,
shew unto the king; But there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and
maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. verses 27,28a
OPEN
WINDOW INTO THE FUTURE
12.
What was Nebuchadnezzar's dream?
But there is a God in heaven that revealeth
secrets, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the
latter days. Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy
bed, are these;
As for thee, O king, thy thoughts came into
thy mind upon thy bed, what should come to pass hereafter: and he that
revealeth secrets maketh known to thee what shall come to pass.
But as for me, this secret is not revealed
to me for any wisdom that I have more than any living, but for their sakes that
shall make known the interpretation to the king, and that thou mightest know
the thoughts of thy heart.
Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image.
This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the
form thereof was terrible.
This image's head was of fine gold, his
breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, His legs of
iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay.
Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out
without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay,
and brake them to pieces.
Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the
silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of
the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was
found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and
filled the whole earth.
This is the dream; and we will tell the
interpretation thereof before the king. Verses
28b-36
13.
Of what were the different parts of the
image composed?
This image's head was of fine gold, his
breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, His legs of
iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay. verses
32,33
a) Head—Gold
b) Breast and
arms—Silver click here to see the
image in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream
c) Thighs—Brass
d) Legs—Iron
e) Feet—Clay
and iron
14.
With what words did Daniel begin the
interpretation?
Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the
God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory. And
wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of
the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them
all. Thou art this head of gold. verses
37,38
Note: The character of the neo-Babylon empire is fittingly
indicated by the nature of the material composing that portion of the image by
which it was symbolized—the head of gold.
It was the "golden kingdom of a golden age."
15.
What was the nature of the next
kingdom?
And after thee shall arise
another kingdom inferior to thee. verse 39a
16.
To whom was the
Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the
Medes and Persians. In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans
slain. And Darius the Median took the kingdom, being about threescore and two
years old. Daniel 5:28,30,31
Note: The breast and arms of silver represented the
Medo-Persian kingdom, which conquered
17.
By what was the Greek,
or Macedonian empire, which succeeded the kingdom of the Medes and the
Persians, represented in the image?
This image's head was of fine gold, his
breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, And after
thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of
brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth. Daniel 2:32,39
Note: Daniel 8:5-8,20,21 clearly states that the
18.
How was the fourth kingdom described?
And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron:
forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that
breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise. Daniel 2:40
Note: It is a well known fact that the great world power
that absorbed the fragments of the Greek empire of Alexander the Great was
19.
What was indicated by the mixture of
clay and iron in the feet and toes of the image?
And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes,
part of potters' clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but
there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the
iron mixed with miry clay. Daniel 2:41
The
following chart lists the original kingdoms and their modern successors:
Anglo-Saxons
= England Visigoths =
Spain click here to see the
ten divisions of Europe
Franks
=
Alemanni
=
Burgundians
=
MAN'S
FAILURE TO UNITE NATIONS
20.
In what prophetic language was the
varying strength of the ten kingdoms of the divided empire indicated?
And as the toes of the feet were part of
iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly
broken. verse 42
21.
Were any efforts to be made to re-unite
the divided empire
of
And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with
miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall
not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay. verse 43
Note: Charlamagne (8th
century), Charles V (16th century), Louis XIV (18th century), Napoleon (19th century), Kaiser Wilhelm and Adolph Hitler (20th century) all tried to re-unite the broken
fragments of the Roman empire, and FAILED. By intermarriage between ruling families,
especially in the period between 1850-1914, efforts
were made to cement together the shattered kingdom, but these, too, failed.
THE
CLIMAX OF HISTORY—GOD STEPS IN
22.
What is to take place in the days of
these kingdoms?
And in the days of these kings shall the
God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom
shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all
these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. verse 44
Note: This verse foretells the establishment of another
universal Kingdom—the
23.
What does the stone represent in the
picture?
And did all drink the same spiritual drink:
for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was
Christ. I Corinthians 10:4
Note: Aside from the numerous references to Christ as the
"Rock", we find another clue in the fact that the stone is "cut without hands"—a reference to
the fact that Christ is not a created
being, but eternal.
24.
In what announcement in the New
Testament is the good news of the establishment of the
And the seventh angel sounded; and there
were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of
this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall
reign for ever and ever. Revelation 11:15
25.
How did Jesus Himself teach us to
pray?
Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in
heaven. Matthew 6:10
CONCLUSION
Nebuchadnezzar, recognizing the power
of God, fell on his knees and said, "Of a truth
it is that your God is a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a Revealer of
secrets!" Daniel 2:47
The dream is
certain, and the interpretation thereof sure. Daniel
In order to be a part of the eternal reign
of King Jesus, we must first have Him in our hearts. He said, "Unless
a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he shall not
see the
Do you want to get ready to live in His
kingdom?
My
response to Christ is:______________________________