A CERTAIN GOD FOR AN UNCERTAIN WORLD
THE 52 GREATEST STORIES OF THE BIBLE • Sermon • Submitted
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Prognosticators and forecasters abound all around us, from weather reporters to psychics. Even the National Geographic Channel hosts programs about aliens who are trying to tell us poor earthlings a thing or two about the future. And everyone seems amazed that someone as distant as Nostradamus could’ve predicted life in our modern culture—or did he? The future is shrouded in mystery for us all but God specializes in knowing and predicting the future. To what end? What is the purpose of God showing us today what will happen tomorrow?
Our reading this week has brought us the book of want us to look at Daniel chapter 2.
David Kristof and Todd Nickerson published a book in 1998 called Predictions for the Next Millennium. This book offered predictions by individuals from such fields as television and film, Nobel Laureates, American and world government, literature, and sports. In this book they gave their prediction of what they thought would happen in the next 1,000 years.
One predicts that we'll have a common language and a common currency. Another said that a world government. Another said that Earth's politicians will be taking interplanetary economic lessons from alien beings, to find out how to cooperate and operate a government without taxing people to death.
Interestingly, that was given by one of the original cast members from Star Trek. I kid you not. Knowing the future or predicting the future is big business. It's a $2 billion per year industry in our country.
When I say, industry, it includes palm reading, carda mansi, which is predicting the future using cards, mediumship, aura readings, and astrology. In fact, today has been called the new era of astrology. They tell us there is a resurgence of astrology among a very particular group of people. An age group called millennials.
According to Atlantic Magazine, it says, "Millennials have taken astrology and run with it. They feel that they are the most stressed out generation of all. And they're looking to astrology to cope." Why are people obsessed about knowing their future? Knowing our future is an obsession among every group of people even Christian people. Nothing will sell out a seminar or the book shelves like prophecy.
A 2011 article called “Why do we Keep Predicting the Future if we are so often Wrong” by David Ropeik in Psychology Today gives us great insight into our obsession for knowing the future, "One of the most powerful influences on fear is uncertainty. The less we know, the more threatened we feel. A lack of knowledge means we don't know what we need to know to protect ourselves."
His article goes on to provide a helpful illustration. He says, picture you're driving down the road, on open country road. You're doing 85 miles an hour. Let's just forget speed laws right now. You're just on the open road doing 85 miles an hour. Now, you close your eyes. You go a half a mile, a mile. Just the thought of that terrifies us. Why? Because we will not have what we need to know in order to survive.
Self-preservation is a basic instinct. As we are driving, we are peering down the road as far as we can so that we can get the information we need to survive.
Knowledge, he says, knowledge of the future, even if it's incomplete knowledge, is power. It is what we don’t know that scares us.
But I have a question. Do you really want to know your future? I mean, do you want to know all the details of what's going to happen to you next week, next month, next year to 10 years from now? If you found out that somebody you love was going to die a horrible death on a certain day. Would you want to know that in advance and have to live with that? Probably not.
God wisely withholds such information from us, so as not to overwhelm us. However, there are some certainties that the Lord gives us about our future in .
is a story about a King Nebuchadnezzar. He is the world ruler at the time and like most he was wondering about his future. He knew that he was going to die one day, and he wondered what would happen to him after he died. Who would take his position? Who would rule the world?
Here is the first certainty about the future. The future is unknown to us. It's impossible from a human perspective to predict future events.
Now, let's look at
In the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; his spirit was troubled, and his sleep left him.
a couple verses down. And we'll get the setting. "Now in the second year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign Nebuchadnezzar had dreams." Notice not one, but several, it's plural, dreams. "And his spirit was so troubled. That his sleep left him."
Notice not one, but several, it's plural, dreams. So, picture a guy having a bad night's sleep. He wakes up. He's troubled by what he saw in his dream. He can't get back to sleep. He doesn't wake up refreshed. His sleep left him.
Then the king commanded that the magicians, the enchanters, the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans be summoned to tell the king his dreams. So they came in and stood before the king.
And the king said to them, “I had a dream, and my spirit is troubled to know the dream.”
Dani "Then the King gave the command to call the magicians, the astrologers, the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans to tell the king his dreams.
So, picture a guy having a bad night's sleep. He wakes up. He's troubled by what he saw in his dream. He can't get back to sleep. He doesn't wake up refreshed. 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've had a dream, and my spirit is anxious to know the dream.' This dream can't be blamed on the previous night’s meal because it was from God.
This dream can't be blamed on the previous night’s meal because it was from God.
So they came and stood before the king. And the king said to them, 'I've had a dream, and my spirit is anxious to know the dream.' This dream can't be blamed on the previous night’s meal because it was from God.
Nebuchadnezzar first issue with the dream is, he can't remember the details of his dream. There’re probably certain parts of it he could remember but he can't remember all the details. He can't remember how it all fits together.
Scripture tells us that these dreams troubled him. The word for troubled is a very strong Hebrew word. Troubled is pa’am, which means to beat something persistently. These dreams hammered his thoughts hammering his thoughts. Nebuchadnezzar calls in all of his wise men and commands them to recount and reveal the meaning of his dream.
Those who study human sleep behavior tell us that we dream every night. We don’t always recall what we dreamed but we do dream. We typically have our first dream episode within 90 minutes of falling asleep. We're told, every night. You say, well, I don't dream every night. Well, you do. Recall is a different issue. The average human being has five dreams per night. Science tells us that dreams occur because large cells in your brain stem spontaneously fire about every 90 minutes and sends the stimuli to the cortex of your brain, which tries to unjumble and make sense of the information. However, in Nebuchadnezzar's case God was superintending those cortical stimulations.
The king responds by calling those men on his payroll who specialize in dream prognostication. This is their forte. This is what they do.
These individuals are the cream of the occultic crop. Dreams and omens were their forte.
There opening remarks are very revealing.
Then the Chaldeans said to the king in Aramaic, “O king, live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation.”
Tell us what you dreamed and then we will tell you the interpretation.
The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, “The word from me is firm: if you do not make known to me the dream and its interpretation, you shall be torn limb from limb, and your houses shall be laid in ruins.
Look at verse 10. "The Chaldeans answered the king, and said, 'There is not a man on earth who can tell the king's matter.' Mark that, they finally admitted that they can't tell him what it was he dreamed. In fact, no person on earth can. We can't read your mind and no person on earth can predict the future. We can't do it.
Look at verse 10. "The Chaldeans answered the king, and said, 'There is not a man on earth who can tell the king's matter.' Mark that, they finally admitted that they can't tell him what it was he dreamed. In fact, no person on earth can. We can't read your mind and no person on earth can predict the future. We can't do it.
The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, “The word from me is firm: if you do not make known to me the dream and its interpretation, you shall be torn limb from limb, and your houses shall be laid in ruins.
Look at
The Chaldeans answered the king and said, “There is not a man on earth who can meet the king’s demand, for no great and powerful king has asked such a thing of any magician or enchanter or Chaldean.
Mark that, they finally admitted that they can't tell him what it was he dreamed. In fact, no person on earth can. We can't read your mind and no person on earth can predict the future. We can't do it.
Solomon in
In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other, so that man may not find out anything that will be after him.
said, when times are good, be happy. When times are bad, consider God has made the one as well as the other. Therefore, a man cannot discover anything about his future.
So why is it that people keep trying? Why is it that in every generation people will do almost anything to predict their future? In ancient times people used oracles to gain insight into their future. Oracles were intermediary interpreters of the gods to the human population. These people would get themselves into a hypnotic state or a drug induced state and bring the message from the gods to the people.
So why is it that people keep trying? Why is it that in every generation people will do almost anything to predict their future? In ancient times people used oracles to gain insight into their future. Oracles were intermediary interpreters of the gods to the human population. These people would get themselves into a hypnotic state or a drug induced state and bring the message from the gods to the people.
Of course, when you're in a drug induced state, you think you hear a lot of things. They would take what they heard from the god’s and tell it to the people. During Roman time, there was a very interesting way of predicting the future. I can only describe it as prophecy by chicken.
They would put hens in a cage and put food into the cage. If the hens attacked the food enthusiastically, that was a good sign. It was a good omen. If they ignored the food in the cage. It was a very bad sign.
There was another ancient way called hepatomancy, which was these oracles reading livers of animals. They would kill an animal, sacrifice, and take out the trails and specifically the liver. They would place the liver on a plate and then would jiggle it. Depending on which way it jiggled-- and I don't know how many jiggles per minute. It told them something. They would look at that jiggles and predict the future. It was crazy stuff and we laugh at that.
However, in the United States of America, 125 million people believe in astrology. And 70 million people read their horoscopes every single day. In fact, 7% of them say, they have changed their behavior based on their horoscope. You say, well, that's a small amount, 7%. That's 12 million people in our country every day. Say, they change their behavior based upon their horoscope.
What's even more shocking, according to the Gallup Poll 10% of people who say they are evangelical Christians also believe in astrology to some degree. Now, every time I bring up this stuff, there's always somebody who will say, yeah, but what I saw this special on TV about this person, Nostradamus. You know, he was amazing. He predicted the future.
Nostradamus was a 1500 French pharmacist. According to many on The National Geographic channel predicted everything from the rise of Adolf Hitler to the Twin Towers falling on September 11, 2001.
When you look at what he said, it's so vague. It's so hazy and ambiguous that you could make it mean almost anything.
There was a lady back in the 1960s who was called America's most famous psychic. Her name was Jeane Dixon. Jeane Dixon was most famous for supposedly predicting the assassination of JFK. It was this supposed prediction that launched her career. She eventually ended up in daily newspapers all over the US.
Her actual prediction was made in 1956. She said that a Democrat will win the election and die in office. First, there's a 50% chance that a Democrat is going to win the election, right. Last time I checked, there's only two main parties, so either Republican or Democrat. She predicted a Democrat.
In the 1960s, the odds that a president would die in office is rated at about 40% because presidents were largely unprotected in those days. So, let's just grant her 20% chance that her prediction is going to come true. When you compare that to biblical prophecy, that ain't that good. She also predicted that World War III would start in 1954 and that Jacqueline Kennedy would never marry again. When in fact, she did marry Aristotle Onassis some years after JFK's death. By Old Testament standards she would be considered a false prophet.
All of that to say, what these Chaldeans told the king, the future is unknown to us. It's unknown to us from a human perspective. Here's the second certainty though, though the future is unknown to us. The future is known to God.
The king says, OK, you guys, you tell me what I dreamed and what it means, or I'll cut you in pieces and make your house an outhouse. They respond by saying, nobody can do what you're asking, king. So, the king gives this command to kill them all. Part of that group happens to be Daniel and his three friends.
Daniel gets wind of it in verse 15,
He declared to Arioch, the king’s captain, “Why is the decree of the king so urgent?” Then Arioch made the matter known to Daniel.
He declared to Arioch, the king’s captain, “Why is the decree of the king so urgent?” Then Arioch made the matter known to Daniel.
And Daniel went in and requested the king to appoint him a time, that he might show the interpretation to the king.
Why is it that Daniel tells Arioch to stop the king's edict? Verse 16 it tells us why, "that he might show the interpretation to the king." Stop right there, how is he going to do that, if the future is unknown to us? How is he going to tell the king what he dreamed and the interpretation of the future? Because Daniel believed it's possible to know the future, if God tells you. If God tells you and that's the only caveat. If God tells you, which he did, verse 19.
"he answered and said to Arioch the king's captain, 'Why is the decree from the king so urgent?' And Arioch made the decision known to Daniel." Now, watch this, "So Daniel went in and asked the king to give him time, that he might tell the king the interpretation." Now, why is it that Daniel tells Arioch to stop the king's edict? And why does he call a prayer meeting, which he does immediately thereafter with his buddies Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah? Why does he do that?
Well, in verse 16 it tells us why, "that he might show the interpretation to the king." Stop right there, how is he going to do that, if the future is unknown to us? How is he going to tell the king what he dreamed and the interpretation of the future? Because Daniel believed it's possible to know the future, if God tells you. If God tells you and that's the only caveat. If God tells you, which he did, verse 19.
"The secret was revealed to Daniel in a night vision." Now, a vision is different than a dream. A dream happens in your sleep. A vision happens when you're awake. So, Daniel, while he was awake one night, saw what the king had seen in the dream state, powerfully displayed before him in a vision.
"So Daniel blessed the God of heaven. 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 the seasons; He removes 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. I thank you and praise you, God of my fathers; You have given me wisdom and might, and have now made known to me what we asked of You. You have made known to us the king's demand.'
Then the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision of the night. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven.
Now, a vision is different than a dream. A dream happens in your sleep. A vision happens when you're awake. So, Daniel, while he was awake one night, saw what the king had seen in the dream state, powerfully displayed before him in a vision.
Daniel answered and said: “Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, to whom belong wisdom and might.
He changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding;
he reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with him.
To you, O God of my fathers, I give thanks and praise, for you have given me wisdom and might, and have now made known to me what we asked of you, for you have made known to us the king’s matter.”
You see God has an attribute that makes knowing the future possible. It’s called omniscience. He knows everything and when you know everything, you know the future.
God can do that. You see God has a quality. He has an attribute. He has a characteristic that makes knowing the future possible. It’s called omniscience. He knows everything and when you know everything, you know the future.
David said in
O Lord, you have searched me and known me!
You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar.
You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways.
Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.
In other words, even before I think the thought. You know what I'm going to think. You know my thought afar off. You know it before I know it that's how comprehensive God's knowledge is. So, God has all knowledge. The Bible portrays Him as that, all knowledge. He is the know-it-all God and that means, you can never tell God something He doesn't know.
In other words, even before I think the thought. You know what I'm going to think. You know my thought afar off. You know it before I know it that's how comprehensive God's knowledge is. So, God has all knowledge. The Bible portrays Him as that, all knowledge. He is the know-it-all God and that means, you can never tell God something He doesn't know.
Now, I think most of us believe that but even the best we can ever do to describe this attribute of God, because it's so foreign to us. God's knowledge is immediate, comprehensive, and without deterioration.
None of us can relate to that. If I were to give you a test from your high school days. You'd probably failed because all of that knowledge you learned right before the test, is gone. In fact, a lot of us forget what we did yesterday.
So, God's knowledge is immediate, comprehensive, without deterioration and without painstaking research. You know, for me the preaching is easy. It's all the research that leads up to it. God doesn't have to do that. he doesn't have to move from one logical premise to another logical premise to come up with a conclusion.
God never had to go to school. God doesn't ever have to be informed. God never says, oh really, or wow, or huh, or I didn't know that. He never says those things because His knowledge is immediate, comprehensive, without deterioration. Now, because He knows it all. He therefore, knows the future and that is what Daniel is banking on. Daniel stands before Arioch without anxiety. He's very poised. He's very confident and unruffled. He knows God knows. It’s just a matter of God revealing it to him.
Now, God exists out of time. He is not confined by our space time continuum. He dwells in the realm of eternity. You might call it the eternal present. He often predicts what hasn't happened by using past tense verbiage, as if it has already happened because to Him, it's like it already has happened.
Let me give you a third certainty. The future is made known to us. Daniel will now make it know to the king. If you go down to verse 26, it says,
The king declared to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, “Are you able to make known to me the dream that I have seen and its interpretation?”
Daniel answered the king and said, “No wise men, enchanters, magicians, or astrologers can show to the king the mystery that the king has asked,
The king declared to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, “Are you able to make known to me the dream that I have seen and its interpretation?”
Daniel answered the king and said, “No wise men, enchanters, magicians, or astrologers can show to the king the mystery that the king has asked,
The king declared to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, “Are you able to make known to me the dream that I have seen and its 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 he said, 'The secret which the king has demanded, the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, and the soothsayers cannot declare to the king.'
Verse 28 is the key verse, " 'But there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets. He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days, the future, your dream. And the visions of your head upon your bed, were these. As for you, O king, thoughts came into your mind while on your bed, about what would come to pass after this. and He who reveal secrets has made known to you what will be.'
Verse 28 is the key verse, " 'But there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets. He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days, the future, your dream. And the visions of your head upon your bed, were these. As for you, O king, thoughts came into your mind while on your bed, about what would come to pass after this. and He who reveal secrets has made known to you what will be.'
Verse 28 is the key verse, "
So, Daniel stands before the king and says, they can't tell you about your dream and I can't tell you about your dream. However, there is a God in heaven who can and the God in heaven knows your future. He's revealed it to me and I'm about to tell it to you.
but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days. Your dream and the visions of your head as you lay in bed are these:
To you, O king, as you lay in bed came thoughts of what would be after this, and he who reveals mysteries made known to you what is to be.
So, Daniel stands before the king and says, they can't tell you about your dream and I can't tell you about your dream. However, there is a God in heaven who can and the God in heaven knows your future. He's revealed it to me and I'm about to tell it to you.
Now, here's the principle, God wants to make known to you, to us the future. Not all of it, as I said, all the details of it would be overwhelming, but parts of it. He wants to give us a limited amount of knowledge and that's essentially what biblical prophecy is. It's God telling us what's going to happen in the future.
So, for example, He told Israel before it happened, you're going to go into captivity in Babylon. They did. I'm going to bring you back. They came back. He announced that there would come one day a ruler, a Messiah, the mega prophet, the deliverer and the prophets told about his birth, his life, his death, and his resurrection.
The Bible reveals to us future judgment is coming one day. A great tribulation period is coming one day. Jesus will come back to the Earth. He's going to rule and reign for 1,000 years. All of this will happen one day. There's going to then be an eternal kingdom with a new heaven and new earth. The future is given to us revealed by God. Now, how impressive is biblical prophecy? Pretty impressive, because there are some accounts where events and people are spoken about before they are born.
Some of them are even named by name hundreds of years before they existed, and we're told what they would do. In fact, 1/4 of the Bible is prophecy. A fourth of the Bible is predictive prophecy. God telling people what's going to happen in the future.
Now, anybody can make predictions. Having those predictions come true, that's a whole other level. I can make all sorts of predictions but having them happen is quite a different category. Especially as you add details to those predictions.
Now, when you make a prediction and then you add detail upon detail, upon detail. Now, you complicate the prediction and when you complicate the prediction, you add risk. Risk diminishes the possibility of it ever being fulfilled.
So, you enter a realm called compound probability. The more details you add, the odds of it ever happening are slim. So, the Jewish prophets, for example, predicted about 300 to 330 different layers of what would happen to this Messiah who was going to come. Where he would be born. As I said, his life, his death, his resurrection.
Here's a sampling. They predicted he would be born of a virgin, that narrows the population down quite a bit. That's
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
Isaiah 7:14. He would be born in Bethlehem, Micah chapter 5:2. They predicted he would be born into the tribe of Judah, . They also predicted that his ministry would begin not in Jerusalem, but up in Galilee, .
He would be born in Bethlehem,
But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.
Micah 5:2 They predicted he would be born into the tribe of Judah, . They also predicted that his ministry would begin not in Jerusalem, but up in Galilee, .
They predicted he would be born into the tribe of Judah,
The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to him; and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.
. They also predicted that his ministry would begin not in Jerusalem, but up in Galilee, .
They also predicted that his ministry would begin not in Jerusalem, but up in Galilee,
But there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.
predicted he would work miracles,
They predicted he would work miracles,
Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped;
then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy. For waters break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert;
. They also predicted he would one day enter into Jerusalem on a donkey, Zachariah 9:9. He would be betrayed by a friend, . He would then be sold for 30 pieces of silver, Zachariah 11:12. He would be wounded and bruised, . His hands, his feet would be pierced, .
They also predicted he would one day enter into Jerusalem on a donkey,
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
Zechariah 9:9
He would be betrayed by a friend,
Even my close friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted his heel against me.
. He would then be sold for 30 pieces of silver, Zachariah 11:12. He would be wounded and bruised, . His hands, his feet would be pierced, .
He would then be sold for 30 pieces of silver,
Then I said to them, “If it seems good to you, give me my wages; but if not, keep them.” And they weighed out as my wages thirty pieces of silver.
Zechariah 11:12. He would be wounded and bruised, . His hands, his feet would be pierced, .
He would be wounded and bruised,
But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.
His hands, his feet would be pierced, .
His hands, his feet would be pierced
For dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet—
He would be then crucified with thieves,
He would be then crucified with thieves, . His garments would be torn and lots would be cast to see who owns them. That's . His bones would not be broken, . His side would be pierced, .
Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.
. His garments would be torn and lots would be cast to see who owns them. That's . His bones would not be broken, . His side would be pierced, .
His garments would be torn and lots would be cast to see who owns them.
they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.
. His bones would not be broken, . His side would be pierced, .
His bones would not be broken,
He keeps all his bones; not one of them is broken.
. His side would be pierced, .
His side would be pierced
“And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn.
.
He would be buried in a rich man's tomb,
And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth.
. He would rise from the dead, . Those are 16 only of those 300 predictions, very detailed predictions of what would happen to this Messiah.
Now, I think you will agree these are impossible to arrange from a human level. You can't decide in advance what tribe you're going to be born into. Or who your mother's going to be. Or where you will live as a baby. All those are predicted. In fact, 100 billion years isn't enough time to give us enough chances for those processes to ever be fulfilled without God.
He would rise from the dead,
For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption.
. Those are 16 only of those 300 predictions, very detailed predictions of what would happen to this Messiah.
Now, I think you will agree these are impossible to arrange from a human level. You can't decide in advance what tribe you're going to be born into. Or who your mother's going to be. Or where you will live as a baby. All those are predicted. In fact, 100 billion years isn't enough time to give us enough chances for those processes to ever be fulfilled without God.
Those are 16 only of those 300 predictions, very detailed predictions of what would happen to this Messiah.
Now, I think you will agree these are impossible to arrange from a human level. You can't decide in advance what tribe you're going to be born into. Or who your mother's going to be. Or where you will live as a baby. All those are predicted. In fact, 100 billion years isn't enough time to give us enough chances for those processes to ever be fulfilled without God.
That's why Dan said, but there is a God in heaven who knows all these things and reveal secrets. So that's Bible prophecy. You see, Bible prophecy isn't a good guess. It's good news to a guessing world, to give them certainty.
So, the future is unknown to us. The future is well known to God. The future is made known to us.
Finally, the future makes God known to us. This is the most important point. The reason God predicts future events is to make himself known to people. Look at verse 45. After Daniel tells him what he saw, what it means, what's going to happen after he dies, all the kingdoms that are coming, verse 45.
just as you saw that a stone was cut from a mountain by no human hand, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold. A great God has made known to the king what shall be after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation sure.”
Then Arioch brought in Daniel before the king in haste and said thus to him: “I have found among the exiles from Judah a man who will make known to the king the interpretation.”
'Inasmuch as you saw that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it broke in pieced the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, the gold these are all the kingdoms that would come after Nebuchadnezzar. The great God has made known to the king what will come to pass after this.' Notice what he calls God, not just a god or my God, but the great God. The great God is made only the capable will come to pass. And then look what he says, " 'The dream is certain, the interpretation is sure.
Then verse 46, "Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face, prostrate before Daniel and commanded that they should present an offering and incense to him. And 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 matter.'
Biblical prophecy enables people will realize there is only one God. There's only one true God. And that's the God who can predict the future.
Notice what he calls God, not just a god or my God, but the great God. The great God is made only the capable will come to pass. And then look what he says, " 'The dream is certain, the interpretation is sure.
Now look at
Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face and paid homage to Daniel, and commanded that an offering and incense be offered up to him.
Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face and paid homage to Daniel, and commanded that an offering and incense be offered up to him.
The king answered and said to Daniel, “Truly, your God is God of gods and Lord of kings, and a revealer of mysteries, for you have been able to reveal this mystery.”
Biblical prophecy enables people will realize there is only one God. There's only one true God. And that's the God who can predict the future.
Biblical prophecy enables people will realize there is only one God. There's only one true God. And that's the God who can predict the future.
Did you know that God himself uses prophecy as his business card? He does. He uses prophecy to show that other world religions are all a sham, all made up, all demonic endeavors that don't add up to anything.
I want you to listen to
Set forth your case, says the Lord; bring your proofs, says the King of Jacob.
Let them bring them, and tell us what is to happen. Tell us the former things, what they are, that we may consider them, that we may know their outcome; or declare to us the things to come.
Tell us what is to come hereafter, that we may know that you are gods; do good, or do harm, that we may be dismayed and terrified.
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He's saying, I can predict the future. Can they, can your idols or false gods? No, they can't. Jesus saw prophecy as basically the same thing, as a reason to believe, a reason for faith.
He's saying, I can predict the future. Can they, can your idols or false gods? No, they can't. Jesus saw prophecy as basically the same thing, as a reason to believe, a reason for faith. , Jesus said, "And now I have told you before it comes to pass, so that when it does come to pass, you may believe." That's the goal. That you may believe. That you may trust.
And now I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place you may believe.
, Jesus said, "And now I have told you before it comes to pass, so that when it does come to pass, you may believe." That's the goal. That you may believe. That you may trust.
That's the goal. That you may believe. That you may trust.
You see Jesus has basically three credentials that set him apart from every other religious system or belief system. Number one, his impact upon history is incomparable. Number two, his resurrection from the dead and number three, fulfilled prophecy, fulfilled prophecy.
Most religions in the world will base their beliefs on the philosophical postulates of their founders. The things they said, words of wisdom, a lifestyle captured by disciples and written down. But of the 25 books that are out there or there abouts, about 25 books that claim to be scripture, there is something absent in all of them except one. That's detailed prophecy, detailed prophecy.
You won't find it in the Quran. You won't find it in the writings of Buddha. You won't find it in the writing of Lao Tzu, and Taoism You won't find it in the sayings of Confucius or the Hindu Vedas. Prophesy about the future, of which God stakes his reputation on, is found only in the Bible.
So, here's God saying, I know the future. You don't. Nobody does but I'm in the business of revealing it to you so that I can reveal myself to you. I want to make myself known to you. I want a relationship with you.
Remember when Paul stood in Athens on the Areopagus, on Mars Hill. He confronted the philosophers of Athens. He said, you know, you guys are so religious. You have so many gods. I was even wandering through your streets today and I found a statue to an unknown god. It said, to the unknown god.
So, you worship all these gods and you've even made one up called the unknown God, in case you left somebody out. Then Paul said, Him I proclaim to you, the God you don't know, is the God that you should know, and He wants you to know Him.
God wants to make Himself known and made Himself known to Nebuchadnezzar. I love the conclusion of verse 45, notice Daniel says, "The dream is certain, the interpretation is sure." Do you hear any hesitation in his voice at all? He didn't say, did I get it right, Mr. King, sir? He said that this is a done deal. It's certain. It's sure.
God reveals Himself in prophecy not just to make people aware but to adore. It's not just to inform people of God's plan but to conform people to God's plan. It's not just to get people to wow but to worship, to surrender, to submit to His plan.
Since you don't know what's ahead in your road and you can't see around the curves. God sees and He will be there to meet you when those events occur in your life, to give you grace to endure them all. Doesn't it make common sense for we who are limited to surrender ourselves to a God who is unlimited.
Corrie Ten Boom, one of my favorite people in modern history was a Christian believer, who helped hide Jews during World War II. Her family was caught and placed in a Nazi concentration camp and then another concentration camp.
She almost died. She was brutally treated for years. She said this, "Never be afraid to entrust an unknown future into the hands of a known God." That sums it all up, never be afraid to trust an unknown future into the hands of a known God. That makes sense.