Episode Transcript
Jesus said in Matthew 28:19, go therefore, and teach all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Welcome to go teach all nations, bringing you Christ's teachings through australian and international speakers.
And here is today's presenter, Sam Walters.
Let's say a prayer and we'll begin. Dear Lord, we thank you for your many blessings. As we look into your word, I'm praying that you'll speak to us and that you'll fill us with your spirit.
In Jesus name I pray. Amen. 1st Kings 19:9 we're going to look at Elijah just for a few minutes and then we'll call it a day.
First Kings 19:9 God asks a question. A question. And he came thither into a cave and lodged there.
This is Elijah. Elijah has come to this cave and he's staying there. And behold, the word of the Lord came to him.
And he said unto him, what doest thou here? Elijah, what are you doing here? Why are you here? That's the question that God asks Elijah. God's asking now the questions of God aren't questions that God is asking to try to get information from the person who he's asking questions to. Because God is omniscient.
He knows everything. So God asking, elijah, Elijah, why are you here? Is not God trying to find out why Elijah is there? He knows why Elijah is there. When God goes to Adam in the garden of Edom, adam, where are you? It's not like God doesn't know where Adam is.
God's not asking, Adam, Adam, send me your WhatsApp location so I can figure out where you are. He knows. He knows.
He knows. When God asks, jacob, Jacob, what's your name? And God responds by changing Jacob's name to Israel. He's not trying to figure out what Jacob's name is.
He knows what Jacob's name is. When God says to Moses in Exodus 4:1:5, what's in your hand? God's not blind so that he doesn't know what's in Moses hand. God knows what's in Moses hand.
The questions of God aren't for God to elicit information so that he can get some new knowledge about the person who he's asking the questions to. It's for God to transmit information to the person whom he's asking the question. Does that make sense? Yes or no? God's asking questions.
And so why are we here? How does Elijah end up here? Why is Elijah in a cave? And why is God asking Elijah what are you doing here? Elijah is dealing with three people. He's dealing with three people. He's dealing with Ahab, he's dealing with Jezebel, and he's dealing with these false prophets.
King Ahab. First Kings 16:30. Now Ahab, the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord more than all who were before him.
This is the worst one. You got a set of kings. This is the worst one so far.
King Ahab, that's who he's dealing with. And King Ahab, interesting individual, into BAAL worship, doing all sorts of things that he knows he shouldn't have been doing. And so Elijah is having to deal with Ahab.
He's also dealing with Jezebel. Jezebel, 1st Kings 16:31. And it came to pass as if it had been a light thing for him.
This is Ahab to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took to wife Jezebel, the daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Zidonians, and went and served BAAL and worshipped him. So first of all, Elijah is dealing with Ahab. Second of all, Elijah is dealing with Jezebel, and he's married this lady called Jezebel, who is the daughter of the Zidonians, some people that aren't Israelites, and ends up worshipping all of Jezebel's gods and people of that nature.
Now, Jezebel was the person behind Elijah, not Elijah, Ahab. You know, there's some. How do I say this? I should have planned how I was going to say this, but I'm just going to say it and hope it works for the camera and don't have to hold it back.
Some marriages, there's someone who's in charge, and in this case, it's Jezebel. In this case, it's Jezebel. First Kings 21:8, 10.
You'll see that Jezebel is the influence behind the king. She was writing letters in Ahab's name, having people killed in Ahab's name. You see this in 1st Kings 21:25.
But there was none like unto Ahab, which did sell himself unto the unto wickedness in the sight of the Lord, whom Jezebel, his wife, stirred up. She stirred him up. Ahab probably could have been okay, but his wife just kept stirring him up.
And so she's the one that's behind some of the things you see Ahab doing. Now, there's an interesting passage where it describes what Jezebel's like And just if you're making notes, you can jot this down. And you find it in 2nd Kings 9.
22, where Jezebel described as three things. She's described as a harlot, she's described as a mother, and she's described as a witch. Now, it happened when Joram saw Jehu.
And he said, is it peace, Jehu? So he answered, what peace? As long as the Hollo trees of your mother Jezebel and her witchcraft are so many, we might come back to that at a later stage. So first of all, first of all, first of all, Elijah is dealing with Ahab. Second of all, Elijah is dealing with Jezebel.
And third of all, Elijah is dealing with these false prophets. First Kings 18:19. Now therefore, send and gather all Israel to me on Mount Carmel.
The 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah who eat at Jezebel's table. She sustained this priesthood of false prophets. And these prophets, these false prophets extended the religion of BAAL throughout the nation.
So you got Elijah, and we're talking about why he's in the cave. How did he end up there? He's dealing with Ahab, he's dealing with Jezebel, he's dealing with these false prophets. Hope everyone's chatting with me so far.
And so because of this trilogy of people that Ahab is dealing with, God sends Elijah. He sends Elijah to Ahab with a message. And Elijah, the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, as the Lord God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall be no Jew nor rain these years.
But according to my word, God sent Elijah to Ahab with a message. And then, because there's going to be no rain, God sent Elijah to the brook, cherith. And the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, get thee hence and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook cherith that is before Jordan.
And it shall be that thou shalt drink of the brook. And I have commanded ravens to feed thee, to feed thee there. So there's going to be a famine, there's going to be a drought.
But whilst there's a drought, I'll make sure you're looked after in the brook. So God sends Elijah with a message. And Elijah went.
God sent Elijah to the brook cherith. And Elijah goes, God sent Elijah to the widow of Zarephath, the widow of Zarephath. The rook begins to dry up.
And so God sends Elijah to this widow, and the widow looks after him whilst he's there. And so God sends Elijah to the widow of Zarephath. And then God sends Elijah back to Ahab and Mount Carmel.
Now, we won't go through the whole story because it's 1957, but you know the story. Elijah challenges the prophets of baal, and God supernaturally burns up a wet cow that's been sacrificed. And the prophets of BAAL are unable to do so.
They've been praying all day. Nothing is going on. Elijah makes a simple request and fire comes down from heaven.
And then finally, God sends Elijah to run before the king to the palace. And the hand of the Lord was on Elijah, and he girded up his loins and he ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel. Now, I'm hoping that people are with me here.
I've got a British accent, and I know I speak quickly, and I know sometimes people aren't used to listening to other types of accents. So sometimes not all the words get in that you're hoping are getting in, but I'm hoping that they're getting in. Right.
God sends Elijah. He sends Elijah to Ahab. And Elijah goes.
He sends Elijah to the brook cherith. And Elijah goes. He sends Elijah to the widow of Zarephath.
And Elijah goes. He sends Elijah to Ahab and Mount Carmel. And Elijah goes.
He sends Elijah to run before the king to the palace, and Elijah goes. Let's circle back. God's now asked, Elijah, why are you here? Every time I've sent you somewhere, you've gone.
But now you're in this cave, and I never sent you here. I never sent you here. I hope you're tracking with me.
Why is Elijah there? 1st Kings 19:1 3. And Ahab told Jezebel all Elijah had done, and withal how he had slain all the prophets with the sword. Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, saying, so let the gods do to me.
And more also, if I make not thy life as the life of one of them. By tomorrow about this time, you've had my prophets killed. Watch, Elijah, I'm coming for you.
Verse 3. And when he saw that this is Elijah, he arose and went for his life and came to Beersheba, which belongeth to Judah, and left his servant there. But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness and came and sat under a juniper tree, and he requested for himself that he might die, and said, it is enough.
Now, O Lord, take my life, for I am not better than my father's. Well under the inspiration of your Almighty. He had stood in the severest trial of faith.
But in this time of discouragement, with Jezebel's threat, a death threat sounding in his ears, and Satan still apparently prevailing through the plotting of his of this wicked woman, he lost his hold on God. Forgetting God, Elijah fled on and on until he found himself in a dreary place. Alone, utterly wearied, he sat down to rest under a juniper tree.
I've not actually looked up a juniper tree. I probably should have done that. So I don't know what a juniper tree looks like, but it's sitting under it, whatever it is.
And sitting there, he requested for himself that he might die. It is enough now, O Lord, he said, take my life, for I am not better than my fathers. Prophets and kings.
161, paragraph 1. Have you ever felt burnt out? Ever heard barter? You're just tired. You're trying and you've tried and you come to the end of the week and it seems like nothing's happening.
Burnout. It got added to the international classifications of diseases just 2019. Feelings of energy depletion, exhaustion, mental distance from one's job, feelings of negativism and cynicism reduced professional efficacy.
They did a bit of homework. I've done some homework. I've done some homework.
They did a survey. Apparently 82% of Australians that are working feel burnt out. And in that survey, about 50% of them were millennials and about 22% of them were Gen Z's.
Only 22% were Gen Z's because they just started working. They don't know burnt out yet. They don't know burnt out yet.
They don't know burnt out yet. They're still learning. They've got no scars on their soul.
According to the survey, most Australian workers are looking for reduced workload and increased transparency from their leadership and more time to actually complete their tasks. Elijah was burnt out. He's done his best.
And at the end of doing his best, it seems like nothing's working for him. What lessons can we pick up from Elijah as we begin to wrap this thing up? First of all, Elijah was a person of prayer. When the Bible looks at Elijah from a New Testament perspective, James, looking back at the story of Elijah, says, there's a lesson that you need to learn from Elijah.
And the lesson is this, that Elijah had a nature like yours. He also experienced burnt out. But Elijah was a man who prayed.
He was a man who prayed. He prayed fervently that it might not rain. And for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth.
Elijah was a man of prayer. And Elijah was over was overwhelmed with sorrow and anguish of soul. He besought God to arrest the once favoured people in their wicked course, to visit them with judgments if need be, that they might be led to see in its true light their departure from heaven.
He longed to see them brought to repentance before they should go to such lengths in evil. Basically what this point is saying is that Elijah prayed. He was looking at his generation.
He saw that things weren't going out as they should be. And Elijah said, I'm going to do something about it. I'm not going to moan and complain.
I'm going to get to praying. I'm going to get to praying. Have you ever said to somebody, I'll pray for you? And then when you've left, that was the end of do you know what I'm talking about? Friends, we've got to start getting intentional with prayer.
We've got to start getting intentional with prayer. Some of my friends and I, just a couple of them, we've got one friend in our group who just hasn't been as active as they used to be and we were doing this whole thing, oh, we need to keep them in prayer and then you just carry on living your life. Have you seen such and such? Haven't seen them yet.
We need to keep them in prayer and then you just carry on living your life. Have you seen X person? We need to keep them in prayer and then you just carry on and hold on. 7am Monday mornings, let's commit to praying for this individual.
Someone said, how long we're praying for? Somebody else said, pray until something happens. Elijah saw his generation and he saw the situation that was going on amongst his young adults at the time and he said, something needs to change, something needs to happen. I'm not going to be writing letters to Pastor Diane to ask him to do something, but actually what I'm going to do is I'm going to get to praying.
Get to praying. And God answered his prayers. A man of like passions, like us, he answered his prayers.
Elijah was a person of prayer. Here he prays a different type of prayer though that was when he was feeling on fire, but here is when he's burnt out. But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a juniper tree and he requested for himself that he might die and said, it is enough now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am not better than my fathers desire of Ages, page 301, paragraph 1.
Elijah knew not what he was doing when in the desert he said that he had enough of life and prayed that he might not die. The Lord in his mercy did not take him at his word. Today I want to thank God that God does not answer all my prayers as I pray them.
Romans 8:26. Likewise, the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities, for we know not what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. There was a time when Jesus came and he was dealing with a demoniac.
He was dealing with a demoniac and the demoniac was there and he wanted to go and pray and he threw himself out to Jesus to say something and the demon spoke instead of the person. And Ellen White commenting on this, says the demoniac in place of prayer could utter only words of Satan. Yet the hearts unspoken appeal was heard.
No cry from a soul in need, though it fail of utterance in words will be unheeded. When I'm burnt out and tired and I don't know how to pray, thank God he doesn't simply listen to the words, but he hears my heart. Ever not know what to say? God hears the heart.
Ever thought you knew what you were saying? God hears the heart. Elijah has end time significance. Has end time significance.
The last few verses of the last chapter, the last book of the Old Testament, Malachi. Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.
In the Old Testament, literal Elijah was sent with a literal message to literal Israel and his enemy was a literal harlot with a literal king who had literal false prophets, who promoted literal worship to a literal sun God called baal. At the end of time, the literal and local is turned into spiritual and global. I'm hoping this makes sense.
And so Elijah, Israel, Jezebel, Ahab, BAAL and his prophets are all symbolic in the worldwide systems. At the end I could have just put that up on the screen, but I've said it now and so just a little few things. Oh, when we switched the thing to widescreen, I think some of it came off.
Never mind. But I can say Elijah was dealing with a three fold union of king, harlot, mother, queen and false prophets. And God's people at the end of the time will be dealing with a threefold union of church, state, false church and described as a mother of harlot and some who practise witchcraft and a false prophet who makes an image to this, to this false church.
Elijah has a prophetic message of love and judgement. And God's people also have a message of love and judgement. In Revelation 14, 6, 12 on Mount Carmel, where when there's a revival in Israel, the reaction ended up with Elijah receiving a death threat.
And when the latter rain is poured out and people respond to the message, there will be a persecution reaction. Elijah was persecuted for the stand he took, but was divinely sustained. His bread and water was sure.
God's people will also be divinely sustained in the last days. Their bread and water will be sure. And Elijah was translated without seeing death.
And God's last day. People who are alive when Jesus comes back will also be translated without seeing death. You see some links between Elijah and us.
And what this is saying is signs of the time, April 22, 1903, that we were brought into existence. Not an accident, not by mistake, not simply because your parents thought it would be cute to have a baby. But we were here because we needed.
You're here on purpose. God looked through the portals of time and saw you and formed you in your mother's womb and said, what I need in 2024, in Sydney, Australia, in Waiatara, I've been saying, ouattara Whytara is you, because only you are you. There's a hole in your heart that only God can fill.
But there's a hole in God's heart that only you can fill. And if you don't fill it, nobody else on the planet can fill it, because only you are you. You're brought into existence because you're needed.
You're not a mistake. You're here on purpose. God hasn't just called Elijah, but he's also called us.
He's given us a message. He's given us a mission. He's given us a purpose.
Now, this is the view outside. No, no, Before I say this, right, what season is this? No, no. What season is this? No, no, no, no, no, no.
What season is this? Hands up for spring. We'll go through. Hands up for spring.
Couple hands for spring. Three hands for spring. Hands up for summer.
Few hands for summer. Few hands for summer. Hands up for autumn.
Right. Hands up for winter. You guys are fake.
You guys are fake. This is the view from outside my window here, where I'm staying in Sydney. Yeah, this is the view.
You guys are fake. This Is not winter, folks. This is not winter.
Hold very. This is winter. This is winter.
That's not winter, that's winter. Right? So John Loughborough, John Loughborough was experiencing burnout. He'd been preaching, but he hadn't been, hadn't been supported by the church properly.
And so financially things weren't working out for him and he was done preaching. So he left where he was and he went over to be with Jane Andrews and a few others and he just done preaching. It was a winter, a real one.
I'm talking about where there's snow and the roads are closed down because you can't get out your house. Not the type where we saw some. We was on the way here, we saw some trees and we saw like leaves on there that were orange.
I was like, folks, this is autumn. This is a winter. Right? It was a proper winter.
And in his book John Loughborough Miracles in My Life, he says, one Christmas time, as Brother Mead and I were working on a store, a man looked and inquired, do you know if there's a carpenter around? So I said, yep, I'm here to work. And whilst he's working, Evert shouts down brother and Sister White are here now. Where he was, there was 40 miles of closed roads due to the snow.
40 miles of closed roads due to the snow. You've never experienced that. I know you haven't, don't worry.
And because it was 40 miles of closed roads, he's not expecting to see Ellen White in his burnt out condition. Because I'm away, I haven't given up on church, I haven't given up on God. I'm just not doing the thing that God's called me to do because I'm tired.
Don't ask me about church roles, don't ask me about helping out. I'm just trying to get through my exams. I'm tired.
You're all about coming to a week of worship all week. I'm trying to get my work done. I'm tired.
You're on about doing some volunteering afterwards, some missionary work afterwards. I'm tired. And he was tired.
It felt like he hadn't been supported. He felt like things weren't going right. And so there were these 40 miles of closed roads.
And this is what he says in his book. If these persons talking about Ellen and James White had dropped out of the skies, we would have hardly been more astonished. The grounds were covered with three feet of snow, plus several crusts that were not strong enough to bear up a horse for more than a week.
All roads for 40 miles south of what were abandoned and impassable. The people have been waiting for the weather to be moderate to before opening the roads. And here they were.
And Ellen White, when she comes in, greets Jane Andrews with this question. What doest thou here, Elijah? Shocked, I replied on working with brother Meader Cochran to work again. She responds, what doest thou here, Elijah? Now I was so embarrassed at her connecting my case with Elijah, I didn't know what to say.
It was evident there was something at the back of this I should hear about. And she repeated the question the third time. What doest thou here, Elijah? What are you doing here? What are you doing here? This week, may God help us have an answer to that question that makes sense and that when God calls us, we will respond to the call, knowing that God's called us for a purpose, that we are brought into existence because we need it, that we're not here on accident, that God's loved you with an everlasting love, that he's got a message for us to share.
He's got a mission for us. And God wants to work alongside you. And as he works alongside you, he wants to work inside you.
Sometimes it can feel like the whole world is against you. But what I've realised is that if God is you, who can be against you? There's a song called Thou, O Lord. Many are they that are increased, that are troubled, that trouble me.
Many are they that rise up against me, Many that be which say of my soul there is no help for him in God But Thou, O Lord, are a shield for me, my glory and the lifter of my head. Thou art, Lord, are my shield or a shield for me, the glory and the lift of my head. And what this song is simply saying is that when the time comes where I feel as though I can't go on, if I look up at Jesus Christ, something happens in my heart which moves to my feet.
And as it moves to my feet, I find myself able to keep on pressing on when I was in a situation beforehand. But I wanted to give up and I wasn't sure how it was going to go on. We'll have a moment of reflection as we think about a God who is here for us even when we go places where he's told us not to go.
So we know why Elijah was there. My question is, what was God doing there? He was there because he was seeking Elijah, despite the fact that Elijah was in a place where God had told him, or hadn't even told him to Go. And I don't know where you are, but because God is the glory and the lifter of our heads is he seeking us tonight.
And if it's your desire to be found by him, I'm gonna invite you to stand with me as we come to a prayer. Dear Lord, this week we're gonna go through some topics. We're gonna ask some serious personal questions, but we've got an introspective question tonight, and it's why am I here? And, you know, sometimes we haven't really got a right answer for that question, but we did.
Lord, we believe that you hear our hearts. And so we're asking tonight that you will lift us up. You'll draw us closer to you.
You'll fill us with your spirit. You'll help us to live what you've called us to live and experience what you've called us to experience as you fill the hole in our heart. May we fill the hole in your heart and be the people you've called us to be.
These things we pray in Jesus name. Amen. This message was made available by the Ouattara Seventh Day Adventist Church.
For more resources like this, visit waitarachurch.org On September 6, 1934, this headline appeared in the New York Times. Hitler forecasts no Reich ooverturn in next 1000 years.
In the lead up to and During World War II, Adolf Hitler predicted a united Europe and a thousand year world domination. The Thousand year Reich, or Third Reich, who went as far to say this during the war? See my people, we do not need anything from God. We do not ask anything from him except that he may leave us alone.
We want to fight our own war with our own guns, without God. We want to gain our victory without the help of God. While Adolf Hitler was planning victory, there was one unit in his army that wasn't planning on victory.
One captain who believed that Germany was not going to win the war. We're in the depth of World War II. A German soldier, a Christian, Franz Hasel, is making his way with Pioneer Company 699 deep into the Russian front.
Hasel was a devoted follower of Jesus, so much so that he throws away his service pistol and carries nothing but a wooden replica in his holster. He didn't want to be tempted at any point to shoot someone in the name of Hitler's mission. Not only was Hasel a devoted Christian, but he was an avid student of Bible prophecy.
When asked by his commanding officer if he thought Germany would win the war at the risk of death for treason, Hasel boldly shared that Germany could never control the world. How did he know this? All because of a prophecy in the Bible book of Daniel, written two and a half thousand years earlier. Hasel sat down with his commanding officer, opened his Bible and shared a study that would have gone a little something like this.
Now, before we go any further, we're going to do something different in this video. If you want to participate, rather than just consuming this video, you can follow along with me. Simply get out your Bible.
You'll notice down the corner of the screen that the next Bible verse that we're going to look at will appear there, giving you enough time to find it so that when we're up to it, you can read along with me and cheque what I'm saying against your own Bible. Now for the study. Nebuchadnezzar ii, king of Babylon, was one of the greatest military minds and rulers in history.
Babylon was the most powerful empire in the ancient world. Its power was matched by its opulence. It contained one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, the hanging gardens of Babylon.
Depending which historian you read, they were constructed instructed by Nebuchadnezzar for his median wife, because she missed the green hills and valleys of her homeland. Nebuchadnezzar was a big deal. Early in his reign, he captured the city of Jerusalem and took captive the brightest of the people to train them up in the ways of Babylon.
One of those people was Daniel, a young man who remained faithful to God. We start our story in Daniel chapter two and verse one. Now, in the second year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams and his spirit was so troubled that his sleep left him.
The king had a dream that really bothered him. Being the most powerful man in the world, not much was outside of his control. However, his dream kept him awake.
He knew that he had dreamed something important, but he couldn't remember the details and he certainly didn't know what it meant. Have you ever experienced this? You dream something, but then it vanishes from your mind. Well, when you're rich and powerful like Nebuchadnezzar, you don't need to sit around wondering.
You have people to take care of these things. Daniel 2, 2, 5. 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 dreamed 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. 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.
Nebuchadnezzar knew how to motivate people. It just so happened that the king had people on his staff who claimed to be connected to the gods and could interpret dreams. These supposed wise men could bluff their way through an interpretation of a dream, but to tell the king what he dreamed was a whole different matter.
Daniel 2:10. 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.
They were right. No man on earth could say what another person dreamed within the confines of his own mind. But these people were supposed to be connected with the supernatural.
When they can't help him, the king quickly realises he has a bunch of crooks on his payroll and decides to make a spontaneous review of their employment. For this reason, the king was angry and very furious and gave the command to destroy all the wise men of Babylon. This death sentence had serious implication for Daniel and his friends.
Although they were faithful followers of God and certainly not magicians or astrologers or anything like that, they were included in Nebuchadnezzar's inner circle of wise men. Daniel asked the king for more time. Then he goes home.
Daniel, chapter 2, verses 17 and 18. 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. Did you catch that? Did you catch what Daniel did? When his life was on the line, he and his friends gathered together and sought mercies from the God of Heaven.
That means they prayed. What a good lesson for us today. When we want to understand something, especially if we're studying the Bible, it's vital that we ask God for help.
After all, God inspired the writing of the Scriptures, so he is more than able to help us to understand them today. What happened next? Let's find out in verse 19. Then the secret was revealed to Daniel in a night vision.
So Daniel blessed the God of Heaven. God is faithful. He answers the Prayers of Daniel and his friends by revealing the same dream to Daniel that very night.
Notice what Daniel says after God reveals this to him. In verses 20 to 22, Daniel answered and said, blessed be the name of God, forever and ever, for wisdom and might are his. And he changes the times and seasons.
He removes the kings and raises up kings. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding. He reveals deep and secret things.
He knows what is in the darkness, and light dwells with him. Daniel understood that God was in control, even though he has King Nebuchadnezzar, the most powerful king in all the world, bearing down on him. Daniel says, God, everything is in your hands.
In fact, this gives us an insight as to what the dream is about. He said, God removes kings and raises up kings. We will discover as we go through the dream that it has everything to do with the rise and fall of earthly kingdoms.
Daniel is confident that God has given him the answer, and he goes into the king. Therefore, Daniel went to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon. He went and said thus to him, do not destroy the wise men of Babylon.
Take me before the king and I will tell the king the interpretation. I have to pause here for a minute. What a decent man Daniel is.
The first thing he says is, don't destroy the other wise men. Even though they're caught up in all this dodgy stuff spiritually, Daniel doesn't want to see them die. Here we see God's character coming through in Daniel.
God doesn't want anyone to perish, but he wants to reveal his love to them. Let's carry on in verses 25, 27. Then Arioch quickly brought Daniel before the king and said thus to him, I have found a man of the captives of Judah who will make known to the king the interpretation.
The king answered and said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, are you able to make known to me the dream which I have seen and its interpretation? Daniel answered in the presence of the king and said, the secret which the king has demanded. The wise men, the astrologers, the magicians and the soothsayers cannot declare to the king. Daniel is standing before the king.
Even though there's all this pressure riding on this moment, he takes this opportunity to share an important lesson for the king and for us. Today, Daniel drives home the pointlessness in relying on astrologers and magicians and soothsayers, or what we would call these days psychics. Unfortunately, many people today even rely on these sorts of people to predict their future? Well, some of these people might have contact with the spirit world.
It's not the part of the spiritual world that you want to be in touch with. Instead, we should be talking with the one who knows the end from the beginning. God.
Then Daniel says in verse 31, you, O King, were watching and behold a great image. This great image, whose splendour was excellent, stood before you and its form was awesome. In his dream, the king saw a giant statue and will soon discover this was no ordinary statue.
How do you think King Nebuchadnezzar felt when Daniel started describing his dream? Maybe you've had this happen before where you've forgotten a dream, but a conversation or an event triggers your unconscious memory and it all floods back. That's what was happening to the king, who by now I'm sure is right on the edge of his seat, waiting for the rest of his dream. Daniel 2:32,33.
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. Head of gold, chest and arms of silver, belly and thighs of bronze, legs of iron, feet partly of iron and partly of clay. Here we have this statue made up of different minerals.
As we go down the statue from gold to silver, silver to bronze, from bronze to iron, the minerals decrease in their worth. But the dream doesn't end there. Something happens to the statue.
In verses 34 to 35, 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. We have a stone cut without hands. This is a supernatural rock that hits the image.
Where does it hit the image? Are you following along on your Bible? What did the text say struck the image on its feet of iron and clay? We have all these minerals, these metals, this rock. What does it all mean? Sometimes people will take symbols from the Bible and they'll try and fit their own ideas around it. Or they'll see a news item and they'll try and fit it into some Bible prophecy that they've heard.
But that's not how God wants us to approach the Bible. God gives the answers within the Bible. This is the same for all prophecy, we are to let the Bible interpret itself.
This is the key to understanding prophecy. Oftentimes within the Bible, we have to search for the meaning of a prophecy. We might come across a symbol, and then we have to search the rest of the Bible to see where it is used so that we can decode what the prophecy is talking about.
Fortunately for us, today in this prophecy it's easy. We just have to keep reading and God gives us the interpretation of the dream. Daniel 2:37, 39.
You, O king, are a king of kings, for the God of heaven has given you a kingdom, power, strength and glory. And wherever the children of men dwell, or the beasts of the field and the birds of the heaven, he has given them into your hand and has made you ruler over them all. You are this head of gold, but after you shall arise another kingdom inferior to yours, then another, a third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over all the earth.
You are this head of gold talking to Nebuchadnezzar. Then we go on to see in verse 39 that this isn't just talking about individual kings, but the kingdoms that they represent. The head of gold is a good symbol for Babylon.
Babylon appeared to be impregnable. The city walls were somewhere around 60 metres high and thick enough to hold chariot races on the top. It was Babylon who discovered the system of length, area, capacity and weight.
They divided the day into hours and minutes, things that we take for granted today. They were gifted in music and arts. It was a hub of commerce.
Money flowed in from all around the region. Isaiah even referred to it as the golden city in Isaiah 14:4 that you will take up this proverb against the king of Babylon and say, how the oppressor has ceased. The golden city ceased.
It appeared that Babylon had a golden future. But notice what else Isaiah had to say about it in Isaiah 13:19, 20. In Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldeans pride will be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.
It will never be inhabited, nor will it be settled from generation to generation, nor will the Arabian pitch tents there, nor will the shepherds make their sheepfolds there. This was a pretty bold prediction. What can you tell me about the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah? It was absolute, never rebuilt, destroyed completely.
God predicted that Babylon, the city of gold, would become desolate. This is true to this day. In fact, Saddam Hussein of Iraq saw King Nebuchadnezzar as his idol, and he sort of considered himself as Nebuchadnezzar 2.0
and attempted to rebuild ancient Babylon. In fact, he was so determined to establish a link between his rule and that of ancient Babylon, Saddam Hussein commissioned this mural of himself. But he failed.
God said it would never be rebuilt. Daniel 2:39 but after you shall arise another kingdom inferior to yours, then another, a third kingdom of bronze which shall rule over all the earth. Nebuchadnezzar's kingdom ruled the world from 605 to 538 BC.
Not very long when you think about it. But because it was such a strong powerful nation, it would take the united force of the Medes and the Persians to overthrow Babylon. In an amazing event that was also prophesied 150 years beforehand in the Bible.
Cyrus, the Persian military leader, diverted the water from the river Euphrates which was running directly through the city of Babylon. He then marched his army through the riverbed under the city walls, claiming victory over Babylon in one night. The Medo Persian empire was the second reigning kingdom.
The chest and arms of silver in the statue. We had the first kingdom, Babylon, overtaken by another Medo Persia. What does the prophecy say would happen next? Again in verse 39 but after you shall arise another kingdom inferior to yours, the Medo Persians, then another, a third kingdom of bronze which shall rule over all the earth.
A third world reigning empire would take over from Medo Persia. And that's exactly what happened in 331 BC. The mighty Alexander the Great, at 32 years old leads Greece to overtake the Medes and the Persians.
Interestingly, the Greeks were known for their bronze armour. We are now long past the time of Daniel and Nebuchadnezzar and this prophecy is still being fulfilled. What does the Bible predict would happen next? Daniel 2:40 and the fourth kingdom shall be as strong as iron, inasmuch as iron breaks in pieces and shatters everything.
And like iron that crushes, that kingdom will break in pieces and crush all the others. Sure enough, in 168 BC, it would be another world reigning power. The iron monarchy of Rome that would take over from Greece.
Like the long legs on the statue, they would rule for a long time, 600 years. It was the Romans that were ruling at the time of Jesus. It was the Romans that persecuted God's people.
When Rome comes to its end, we're now about a thousand years after Daniel recorded the vision. You know, you or I might be able to predict world events a few years in advance, but a thousand years and four empires later, none of us can see that Far ahead. But you might be thinking four empires, one after the other.
With a few interesting parallels with the metals. Maybe. It was an extremely lucky guess.
Well, pay close attention to what Daniel said would happen to that fourth kingdom, Rome, and what would come after it in Daniel 2:41. 42. Whereas you saw the feet and toes partly of potter's clay and partly of iron, the kingdom shall be divided, yet the strength of the iron shall be in it.
Just as you saw the iron mixed with ceramic clay. And as the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly fragile. After Rome, it wouldn't be another world reigning empire that would take over.
Rome would be divided up. That's what the prophecy says, the kingdom shall be divided. And that's exactly what happened.
Notice too how Daniel draws attention to the toes. 10 toes. By 476 AD tribes had conquered Rome and 10 of these tribes eventually became what we call modern Europe.
The Anglos and Saxons became England, Lombards, Italians, Franks became France, and so on. God says that he can see the end from the beginning. This prophecy certainly proves that when you consider how accurately it has been fulfilled.
The amazing thing is this prophecy of Daniel 2 is just the very beginning of the powerful prophecies in the Bible that have been accurately fulfilled. Now coming back to our original story. Remember Hitler was predicting a thousand year reign and a united Europe.
But let's see what the Bible has to say about that in Daniel 2:43 as you saw iron mixed with ceramic clay. They will mingle with the seed of men, but they will not adhere to one another, just as iron does not mix with clay. The nations would mix together, but they will not adhere or be united.
There have been many attempts through intermarriage to bring parts of Europe together. They would mix but never be united. They would always be separate nations.
Many European rulers have tried to make a united Charlemagne, Charles V, Louis xiv, Napoleon, Kaiser Wilhelm ii, and of course Adolf Hitler. Not to mention in recent times, the European Union. But they've all got one thing in common.
They never made a United States of Europe. Some of them came pretty close too. Kaiser Wilhelm ii, the German Emperor, King of Prussia, had big ambitions for ruling Europe.
Notice what he said of this prophecy that we have been studying in Daniel Chapter two. Daniel's prophecy does not fit with my plans. I can't accept that.
Where Charlemagne and others have failed, I will succeed. When he came across a statue of the prophet Daniel at the Metz Cathedral in France, he told them to remove Daniel's head and replace it with mine, which they did. But you know what? He failed.
And after he failed, a placard was placed around the statue with the words which are translated, Thus passes the glory of the world. God's word stands. His prophecies are sure.
Which brings us back to our original story. You remember Franz Hasel, the Christian in the German army who told his commanding officer that Hitler couldn't win, Hitler couldn't unite Europe because of what this prophecy in Daniel 2 said? Well, his commanding officer believed him and set up stores of fuel and food as they were advancing deeper into the Russian front. This meant that when he had to retreat, as he knew they would have to, they would be able to survive.
Amazingly, of the 1200 men in Unit 699, only seven survived, one of those being Franz Hasel. Now, if we were to stop here, that would be amazing enough in itself that this prophecy had stopped all these rulers. We could say that the Bible successfully predicted all those kingdoms.
We can trust God's word. But the prophecy didn't stop there. There was a rock cut out without hands that struck the statue at its feet.
And Daniel gives us the interpretation of that in Daniel 2:44. 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 those kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.
Who is that rock? Well, the Bible leaves us with no doubt about that. We read in 1st Corinthians 10:4, and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they drank of that spiritual rock that followed them, and that rock was Christ. The rock is a clear symbol of Jesus.
It will be Jesus that sets up a kingdom that will never fall. This will happen in the days of these kings at the feet of the statue, the time of divided Europe, the time that we're living in now. And it will do away with all these other kingdoms, breaking them in pieces and consuming them.
Friend, we're living at the very edge of human history. We're on the tip of those toenails of that statue. Everything else has happened in this prophecy, just as God said it would, 100% accuracy.
So we can be also sure that Jesus will return and soon. I think we can share King Nebuchadnezzar's response when he said In Daniel, chapter 2, verse 47, the king answered Daniel and said, truly, your God is the God of gods, the Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets. Since you could reveal this secret God truly understands the future and has ultimate control of this world.
The question is, are you prepared to let him lead in your future? If you're interested in learning more about the Bible and finding out what it means to have a relationship with Jesus, this God who knows the end from the beginning, then Visit our website mastertonsda.nz, where you can request free studies on Bible prophecy. We also livestream messages every Saturday.
If you have a question or want to talk with someone, you can also contact us on our website. God bless you. Hi, I'm the two Tip lady and I love giving tips that help simplify life.
Are you plagued with unpleasant memories that you just can't seem to forget? Then today I'm going to tell you a cure. Well, I'm going to suggest it anyway. Have you ever seen grass trees here in Australia? I always used to call them by another name, but these days we're told we must not use that name.
We must call them grass trees. So that's what I do. If you want the fancy name, they're called Xanthoria.
I think that's how you pronounce it. They're an incredibly artistic part of our fantastic bush heritage. Their beauty is striking.
A grass tree looks like it has an amazing long skirt of long leaves that drape stylishly around the centre of the plant. Recently, I sat under a grass tree, catching my breath after a stiff climb with its skirt draped over my head while I peered out through its long leaves and my own heritage loomed into mind. I was a little girl in New guinea, born there.
We left when I was quite small, but my memories are quite large. As I sat there, I was seeing in my mind's eye the Duk Duks, part of my New guinea heritage. I remember standing in our Land Rover.
Yes, in those days. No seat belts to hold me in. Rounding a bend in the road and dad screeching to an abrupt halt as there, right in front of us, stood one.
Not one, but two Duk Duks. What on earth were they? They looked for all the world like these grass trees, except that in the centre was a man and not a trunk of a tree. A national man, well hidden under the skirt of leaves that draped over his head.
No, no wonder my memory is vivid as these two Duk Duks jumped up and down on the road, flapping their arms and making the grass skirt bounce up and down. If I hadn't been in that secure spot in our vehicle with dad at the wheel, I'd have been terrified. They certainly gave me a lasting memory.
And that's one of the things I really make an effort to create these days, memories, happy memories. So my first tip is do something different every week, something you don't normally do. You're going to create happy memories.
And my second tip is carve out time to do it. It's not going to happen unless we choose to allow it to happen. I've found in life that by reviving happy memories they fill so much space that the other kind of memories lose their grip on me.
And that's a good thing. Many, many years ago, I decided with a young friend that one day in the what seemed to be a long distant future, when our physical strength would wane, we'd sit in rocking chairs and we'd regale each other with memories. Well, that time is coming closer, but at least we're making memories, happy ones.
So that's it today from the two tip lady who loves to help make life more simple. It's been a pleasure bringing you this programme here on 3 ABN Australia Radio.
