In the first part, we looked to see if the Bible contradicts itself. As you saw, with closer examination and context study, it does not. Well, since it does not contradict itself, that's great. But does it possibly support itself? In fact, it does. Now how is that possible? Can the Bible support itself without assuming that the Scriptures are true? It is time to take a look at fulfilled Biblical prophecy.
We will begin with a simple example. Examine Daniel chapter two. In this chapter, we see Babylon’s ruler, King Nebuchadnezzar having dreamed a dream. Upon waking from his disturbing dream, King Nebuchadnezzar asks his “magicians, enchanters, sorcerers and astrologers,” (verse 2) to interpret the dream. Of course, since these men are not God’s prophets, they can do no such thing. They suddenly see their lives resting in the balance when the king declares in verse five, “This is what I have firmly decided: If you do not tell me what my dream was and interpret it, I will have you cut into pieces and your houses turned into piles of rubble.” To say the least, these magicians are dumbfounded. How in the world can they make up an interpretation when the king won’t even tell them his dream?
We will begin with a simple example. Examine Daniel chapter two. In this chapter, we see Babylon’s ruler, King Nebuchadnezzar having dreamed a dream. Upon waking from his disturbing dream, King Nebuchadnezzar asks his “magicians, enchanters, sorcerers and astrologers,” (verse 2) to interpret the dream. Of course, since these men are not God’s prophets, they can do no such thing. They suddenly see their lives resting in the balance when the king declares in verse five, “This is what I have firmly decided: If you do not tell me what my dream was and interpret it, I will have you cut into pieces and your houses turned into piles of rubble.” To say the least, these magicians are dumbfounded. How in the world can they make up an interpretation when the king won’t even tell them his dream?
Fortunately, Daniel comes to their rescue. He was not one of their number by the way, but requested that the king spare their lives. Daniel proceeds to explain the king’s dream and tell its meaning.
Daniel 2:31-45: (31) “You looked, O king, and there before you stood a large statue –an enormous, dazzling statue, awesome in appearance. (32) The head of the statue was made of pure gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, (33) its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of baked clay. (34) While you were watching, a rock was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed them. (35) Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were broken to pieces at the same time and became like chaff on a threshing floor in the summer. The wind swept them away without leaving a trace. But the rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth.
(36) “This was the dream, and now we will interpret it to the king. (37) You, O king, are the king of kings. The God of heaven has given you dominion and power and might and glory; (38) in your hands he has placed mankind and the beasts of the field and the birds of the air. Wherever they live, he has made you ruler over them all. You are the head of gold.
(39) “After you, another kingdom will rise, inferior to yours. Next, a third kingdom, one of bronze, will rule over the whole earth. (40) Finally, there will be a fourth kingdom, as strong as iron – for iron breaks and smashes everything – and as iron breaks things to pieces, so it will crush and break all the others. (41) Just as you saw that the feet and toes were partly of baked clay and partly of iron, so this will be a divided kingdom; yet it will have some of the strength of iron in it, even as you saw iron mixed with clay. (42) As the toes were partly iron and partly clay, so this kingdom will be partly strong and partly brittle. (43) And just as you saw the iron mixed with baked clay, so the people will be a mixture and will not remain united, any more than iron mixes with clay.
(44) “In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever. (45) This is the meaning of the vision of the rock cut out of a mountain, but not by human hands – a rock that broke the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold to pieces.
“The great God has shown the king what will take place in the future. The dream is true and interpretation is trustworthy.”
Now although God didn’t reveal the specifics concerning these kingdoms, we now know the details because the prophecy has been fulfilled. The head of gold was Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom, the Babylonian Empire. The Babylonian’s ruled the world from 606 B.C. – 539 B.C. Next, the kingdom of silver rose to power. This happened during Daniel’s lifetime when Darius and the Medo-Persians snuck into Babylon and took control of the kingdom in 539 B.C. The Medo-Persians lasted until 331 B.C. when Alexander the Great and the Greeks took over the known world.
As you might have guessed the fourth kingdom was the Roman Empire. They ruled the world until 476 A.D. when their kingdom fell. As Daniel described nearly 1,000 years earlier, the Roman Empire fell due to inner turmoil. Remember, (42) “As the toes were partly iron and partly clay, so this kingdom will be partly strong and partly brittle. (43) And just as you saw the iron mixed with baked clay, so the people will be a mixture and will not remain united, any more than iron mixes with clay.” This was an accurate description of Rome’s downfall.
The final kingdom is the Kingdom of God. Christ came to earth during the height of the Roman Empire. With the salvation that we can now receive, we can become children of God and part of his Kingdom. Please, note that we are not talking about the 1,000 year reign that will happen after return of Christ (this is according to some prophetical models). However, the rock that became a huge mountain is the kingdom that started out as a small group of people in Jerusalem but has now spread to millions in the far corners of the earth.
What are the odds of someone predicting these things long before it happened? Compare this to someone during the time of the Middle Ages predicting that explorers would discover the New World and that later the United States of America would be founded.
God is amazing. You may not have noticed, but this dream and interpretation displays that God exercises complete control over the earth and its kingdoms. He also has control over your life. Even when things seem out of whack and your life is about to go over the edge, remember that God is still in the driver’s seat. You are resting in His loving hands.
Matthew
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