Daniel Unlocked #19. The Confusion de-Confused.
In Nebuchadnezzar’s court Daniel’s God had passed the probability test and the king acknowledged the God of the Hebrews. To us, 26 centuries later, the idea of attributing those things to chance doesn’t make sense. I believe that it is simply futile and dishonest to claim that this was all just a coincidence. There are 4 prophetic cycles in the book of Daniel, and we will explore them further in the coming weeks. Daniel 11 contains 135 specific prophecies, the last one of which could be on the eve of its fulfilment.
When we consider the ultimate questions of life, we need to be able to trust reliable sources; ones that pass the probability test. The more we explore, the more we will discover that the only source of truth that passes this test are the Old and New Testaments of Judeo-Christian origins.
How does God choose to reveal Himself in a context where there are contradictory claims about Him as there were in Babylon? Babylon means ‘confusion’ as when God confused their tongues at the Tower of Babel. Amidst the confusion of our day God has invited us to test Him. In Daniel 2, guessing the contents of the dream was impossible. Daniel’s revelation of the dream given him by God provided the king with irrefutable evidence that Daniel’s God is the true God
Today, many religious and philosophical documents claim that their writings are inspired and authoritative, even though their statements about God contradict one another. Who shall we trust?
Nebuchadnezzar’s dream and Daniel’s portrayal of the interpretation argue for what is the only correct philosophy or understanding of history. God revealed Himself as a personal Being involved in the affairs of human beings. Unlike the wise men in Daniel’s time, who believed that “gods did not dwell with flesh” (v11). This prophecy stands against the Platonic and Aristotelian view that history constitutes merely a shadow of reality. It opposes the view that God is bound by the laws of nature, or against the evolutionary view of history in which God Himself has been evolving through the natural process of history, or even against the Marxist view of class struggle materialism which is the bedrock of communism. Daniel 2 demonstrates that God is actively involved in human history, culminating in what the Bible refers to as the second coming of Jesus – the rock cut out without hands smashes the image (representing the nations) to “chaff.” (V35). “The great mountain” of God’s coming kingdom on earth is as certain as the rise and fall of Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece and Rome. Notice Nebuchadnezzar’s response, “The king said to Daniel, “Truly, your God is the greatest of gods, the Lord over kings, a revealer of mysteries, for you have been able to reveal this secret.” (2:47 NLT)
The most fascinating part of the prophecy is that it declares that no empire would replace Rome, the feet of iron and clay will not hold together (v43.) Many tried to put histories Humpty dumpty back together again but all failed – Charlemagne, Louis XIV, Napoleon Bonapart, Kaiser Wilhelm, Adolf Hitler, and even the United Nations and the European Common Market in our day.
The most exciting thing about this prophecy is that we are living in the very “toes” of time and the second coming of Jesus is drawing nigh!
God interacts with us today by hearing and answering prayer. Daniel trusted God and tested Him. We, too, can trust God, because He has passed the test. He has revealed the future, and that future is a kingdom restored to His perfect ways, where we can dwell forever. Don’t you want to be part of that future? You can trust Him now by accepting Jesus into your life.
God’s word is always true and his predictions are always true God bless you
Hi Ross. After a busy period I’m back to reading your posts. I find it encouraging and I’m left wondering how our atheistic former SDAs view Daniel etc now.
How awesome it is that even unbelievers will without a doubt declare that God is Great cause everything points to Him and how accurate He is in His word. He is the only wise God who is able to keep us from falling.