Understanding Bible Prophecy: Nations, Symbols, and Allusions

Allusions Images Symbols: How to Study Bible Prophecy Lesson 5 The Nations: Part 2

Memory Text Psalm 46:10 NKJV Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth! What is the connection between being still and knowing God? Where do you hear the gentle whisper of God speaking to you? When can we expect to see God s desire fulfilled to be exalted among the nations and in the earth?

Overview Mankind s downward trend began with the fall in the Garden of Eden and will continue to the second coming when the nations of this world will be destroyed and the redeemed will inherit the earth. The book of Daniel gives us outline prophecies that extend from Daniel s day to the coming of Christ and assure us that God is working out His plan of ultimate deliverance for those Christ has redeemed. Daniel 2 Daniel 7 Land and Sea Summary

Daniel 2 What happened to Nebuchadnezzar one night as he slept? (Dan 2:1-3) As Daniel recounts the dream to Nebuchadnezzar the next morning, what does he describe that the king saw in his dream? What happened to this image as Nebuchadnezzar watched? (Dan 2:34-35) What did the sequence of metals in the image represent? [Link] What did the stone kingdom represent? (Dan 2:44) What benefits do we reap from the knowledge that the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure. How should we prepare for the next great event in this amazing prophecy?

Daniel 7 Read Dan 7:1 What brief summary interpretation of the vision did the angel give Daniel? (Dan 7:17-18) What beasts did Daniel see In his vision, where did they come from, and what did they represent? (Dan 7:2-7) What additional details does the outline prophecy of Daniel 7 give us that are not found in the prophecy of Daniel 2?

Land and Sea What do waters represent in apocalyptic prophecy? (Rev 17:15) How can we use this prophetic key to understand how the earth swallowed up the flood that the serpent cast out of his mouth? (Rev 12:15-16)

Summary Nebuchadnezzar s dream of Dan 2 is an amazing prophecy that spans some 2,500 years of human history from Daniel s day to the coming of Christ. It predicts that, from Daniel s day to the end, there would be only four successive empires that would influence God s covenant people, with the last empire divided rather than conquered. Looking back in history we can see that this prophecy was fulfilled by Babylon, Medo- Persia, Greece, and Rome, with the divided Roman empire continuing to this day. The divine interpretation of this prophecy provides a pattern for the interpretation of other apocalyptic prophecies as outlines of events from the prophet s day to the end.

Summary In the literary arrangement of His book, Daniel draws our attention to the parallel nature of Nebuchadnezzar s dream in Chapter 2 and Daniel s vision in Chapter 7: both are apocalyptic outline prophecies that cover the same time line from the prophet s day to the end of the age and cover the same four Mediterranean world empires: Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome. However, the latter vision is much richer in portraying the character of these kingdoms and in filling in details of interest to God s end-time people. Of particular importance is the identity and activity of the Little Horn, an antichrist power that can be identified as the papal system of the middle ages.

Summary Daniel 7 also describes a pre-advent judgment in heaven where God and His people are vindicated, the Little Horn is condemned, Jesus receives the kingdom and shares it with His saints. The fulfillment of these prophecies assures us that God is in control of world history and that the Bible is His word. In apocalyptic prophecy, water can represent populated nation states where Satan can use the power of the state to persecute God s people. In contrast, the earth appears to be a sparsely populated refuge from religious persecution, such as found early in the USA. Will you follow God s instruction this week to spend a few more minutes in solitude to Be still, and know that I am God?

Daniel 2:1-3 (NIV) In the second year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; his mind was troubled and he could not sleep. 2So the king summoned the magicians, enchanters, sorcerers and astrologers to tell him what he had dreamed. When they came in and stood before the king, 3he said to them, I have had a dream that troubles me and I want to know what it means. [R]

Daniel 2:34-35 (NIV) 34While 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. 35Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were all broken to pieces 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. [R]

Sequence of Kingdoms Head of God: Babylon Chest of Silver: Medo- Persia Thighs of Brass: Greece Legs of Iron: Rome Feet of Iron and Clay: Divided nations of Western Europe. [R]

Daniel 2:44 (NIV) 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. [R]

Daniel 7:1 (NIV) In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, Daniel had a dream, and visions passed through his mind as he was lying in bed. He wrote down the substance of his dream. [R]

Daniel 7:17-18 (NKJV) 17 Those great beasts, which are four, are four [a]kings which arise out of the earth. 18But the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom, and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever. [R]

Daniel 7:2-5 (NIV) 2Daniel said: In my vision at night I looked, and there before me were the four winds of heaven churning up the great sea. 3Four great beasts, each different from the others, came up out of the sea. 4 The first was like a lion, and it had the wings of an eagle. I watched until its wings were torn off and it was lifted from the ground so that it stood on two feet like a human being, and the mind of a human was given to it. 5 And there before me was a second beast, which looked like a bear. It was raised up on one of its sides, and it had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. It was told, Get up and eat your fill of flesh!

Daniel 7:6-7 (NIV) 6 After that, I looked, and there before me was another beast, one that looked like a leopard. And on its back it had four wings like those of a bird. This beast had four heads, and it was given authority to rule. 7 After that, in my vision at night I looked, and there before me was a fourth beast terrifying and frightening and very powerful. It had large iron teeth; it crushed and devoured its victims and trampled underfoot whatever was left. It was different from all the former beasts, and it had ten horns.

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Revelation 17:15 NKJV Then he said to me, "The waters which you saw, where the harlot sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues. [R]

Revelation 12:15-16 (KJV) And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. 16 And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth. [R]