THE true God, the Creator of time, has identified Himself by doing that which no one else can do: He has revealed the future, not in a vague, ambiguous way, but clearly and specifically.
He says: “I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done.” Isaiah 46:9-10
“Shew us the things that are yet to come hereafter, that we may know that ye are gods.” Isaiah 41:23.
“Now I tell you before it come, that, when it is come to pass, ye may believe that I am he.” John 13:19.
GOD REVEALS THE FUTURE
About 2600 years ago God gave a dream to the king of Babylon in which He foretold the successive kingdoms that would especially affect the people of God through the ages. In the dream the kingdoms were represented by different metal sections of a huge idol that was
eventually destroyed and replaced by a stone which grew into a great mountain. God gave the same dream to His prophet Daniel, along with its explanation, and Daniel explained the dream to the king:
“Thou art this head of gold. And after thee shall arise ANOTHER KINGDOM inferior to thee, and another third KINGDOM of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth. And the FOURTH KINGDOM shall be strong as iron...And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters' clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be DIVIDED...” See Daniel 2:29-45. In the dream a stone struck the metal idol on the feet, destroying everything,
and grew into a great mountain, which was explained as follows: “And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and
the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.” See Daniel 2:29-45.
INSPIRED EXPLANATION
Daniel told the king of BABYLON “Thou art this head of gold. And after thee shall arise another kingdom...” (Daniel 2:38). God specifically named “MEDO-PERSIA” as the kingdom that would conquer Babylon (see Daniel 5:28). God also specifically named “GREECE,” the kingdom of Alexander the Great, as the kingdom that would conquer Medo-Persia (see Daniel 8:20-21). ROME then conquered Greece and was ruling over God’s people when Jesus was born.
Exactly as God foretold, this fourth kingdom, Rome, was not conquered by another kingdom but was “DIVIDED,” (Daniel 2:41) resulting in the nations that make up Europe today. The next event, according to the prophecy, is to be the setting up of God’s everlasting Kingdom and the destruction of all other kingdoms at the Second Coming of Christ, symbolized by the stone which struck the image on the divided feet (that is in the days of the nations of Europe), destroying everything and growing into a great mountain. (Daniel 2:44).
A MIRACLE WE CAN SEE
Accurately foretelling 2600 years of history is a miracle. “There is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known...what shall be in the latter days.” Daniel 2:28. The true God has identified Himself to us by doing that which no other can, He has revealed the future. God’s great prophetic overview outlines the unbroken succession of kingdoms from the time of Babylon to the Second Coming of Christ. As everything has been perfectly
fulfilled so far, we can be sure that Jesus is coming again, and that His Kingdom will last forever. The purpose of prophecy is to lead to salvation. God reveals the future because He loves us. He is not willing that anyone should perish - He wants us to be part of His everlasting Kingdom. What must we do? Trust Him. The One who has revealed the future because He loves us, can be trusted to direct us today. “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11.
Daniel 2:37, 38 Thou, O king, [art] a king of kings for the God of heaven hath given
thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory. And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou [art] this head of gold.
2:39 And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth.
Daniel 5:28 PERES; Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.
5:30 In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain.
5:31 And Darius the Median took the kingdom, [being] about threescore and two years old.
Daniel 8:3 Then I lifted up mine eyes, and saw, and, behold, there stood before the river a ram which had [two] horns: ... 8:4 I saw the ram pushing westward, and northward, and southward; so that no beasts might stand before him, ....
8:5 And as I was considering, behold, an he goat came from the west ....
8:6 And he came to the ram .... and ran unto him in the fury of his power.
8:7 ...... and smote the ram, and brake his two horns: and there was no power in the ram to stand before him, .... and there was none that could deliver the ram out of his hand.
8:20 The ram which thou sawest having [two] horns [are] the kings of Media and Persia.
8:21 ... the rough goat [is] the king of Grecia: and the great horn that [is] between his eyes [is] the first king.
Luke 2:1 And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed.
Rome as predicted, was divided into the nations of Europe
Feet of IRON & CLAY represents Rome (iron) in its Papal (clay) form i.e. religion united with the state power. See study on Daniel 2 & 7
WRITTEN AFTER THE EVENTS?
This prophecy is such powerful evidence that God exists, and that He knows the future, that some claim it was written after the events, (around 160BC), by someone pretending to live earlier. This is incorrect for the following reasons:
1. Even if Daniel did live around 160 BC, how could he, knowing of three previous Empires, predict that the Roman Empire would not be conquered by another Empire, but be divided into the nations of Europe, and also know that those divisions, that have now existed for over 1,500 years, would not “cleave [unite] one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay”? (Daniel 2:43)
2. Daniel records facts about Babylon that were contradicted by later historians. However, archaeological discoveries in the mid-1800s showed that Daniel was correct. Facts such as - Nebuchadnezzar was the builder (enlarger) of Babylon, and Belshazzar was the last king of Babylon, co-regent with his father.
3. Daniel’s book existed before 323BC because the first century historian Josephus records that it was shown to Alexander the Great, who died 323BC. Josephus, Jewish Antiquities, XI, 333-338, Loeb Classical Library, page 447.
4. Daniel lived around 600 BC because the prophet Ezekiel, who even the critics admit lived about 600BC,* wrote of Daniel. (See Ezekiel 14:14, 20). *Encyclopedia Britannica, Vol. 4, 15th ed., 1988, p643.
5. Jesus accepts Daniel as a true prophet and directs attention to reading his book, (Matt 24:15,16)