The Rise and Fall of the World, Part 2

The Bible tells us is gonna be a 10 nation confederacy in the end, and out of those 10 nations garage one ruler is called the man of sin. We know him as the Antichrist.

Once the 10 nation confederacy takes its form and Antichrist establishes his rule is rule doesn't last very long.

Stone smashes the whole thing sand into computer chips and made space travel almost commonplace.

We are the captains of our destiny. One might say that certainly what one amazing king once thought and his life is a warning to each of us as you'll see today when John continues his series, the rise and fall of world powers. Now before we look at the rise and fall the powers of the world.

I want to look at a story from someone who once felt powerless in the world. In her words, she was a victim of the world but things have changed for this woman and her family and grace to you has been part of that.

It's a compelling story of God's transforming mercy and John. I'll let you take it from there. Read your letter. Yes she says my name is Christina, my husband, Joseph and I are millennial's in our mid-20s four years ago. Joseph and I were not Christians.

We were not married. We had a baby and we were living together on and off I went out and drank my sorrows away and did drugs to have fun. But even on good days when I was alone in my car. I thought about driving into oncoming traffic. I hardly had anything to live for. I thought I was a victim of the cruel world. That's what my generation is taught and then when we were at our rock-bottom Joseph was saved. I hated him for it and I hated God for it. After every cruel thing Joseph had ever done to me. I wanted him to suffer. Why did he deserve heaven. It was then that God opened my eyes to my sin.

I felt disgusted I saw that I was the one living in constant sin. I wasn't the victim of the world, but an enemy of God. God showed me that even though I didn't deserve mercy.

He sent his son out of his perfect mercy to take my place and pay for my sin that I may have everlasting life. All of a sudden I had everything to live for. I had an overwhelming desire to spread God's word to everyone I knew, I went back to church and started surrounding myself with biblical truth. That is when I found grace to you, I listen to so many of your sermons I can't even guess the number my soul craved to learn more and more. Joseph and I got married and I have focused on learning what it means to be a godly wife and mother. Now it's four years later and Joseph who once broke my heart is now a man of God and someone I look up to. We are devoted to our local church we now have three children a beautiful family focused on learning the truth of the Bible, Joseph and I are completely different people. Thank you for making biblical truth available for people like me who are desperately seeking it. She says her name Christina has since overwhelming, is a great letter. Such a thrilling thing. Sometimes Ray steers the conduit for the gospel that God uses to save someone.

Other times, as in Christina's case where source of Bible teaching that helps a young believer make strides in the new walk with the Lord. In any case, the power to transform comes from the word of God.

When you support grace to you. You effectively come alongside people like Christina and like Joseph and then you become a part of their changing lives.

What a tremendous investment you make when you support grace to you. Thank you. Yes, thank you. We are so grateful for your prayers and your financial gifts and if you'd like to find out how you can support grace to use ministry to people like you stick around after the lesson, but right now here's John to continue his series, the rise and fall of world powers. Daniel is one of the great Old Testament prophets prophesied 600 years before the birth of Christ great man of God, in his early teenage years.

As we learn about Daniel when he came into Babylon and he began to be used of God to reveal the plan of the ages, the history of mankind to its consummation in the kingdom of Christ. It was just a teenager but a remarkable one at that. So we come back again to hear this. First and perhaps most monumental prophecy of all of those in Daniel or in the Old Testament, the one in chapter 2 now every power in every nation assumes it will exist forever or at least wishes that I suppose as we study the Old Testament we study human history is just a common thing the nations think of the rise to power and the ride that power out as we come to the book of Daniel. There was a great nation in power that nation was babbling, was known as the neo-Babylonian Empire, and in chapter 2 God gives a dream to Nebuchadnezzar and Nebuchadnezzar was lying in his bed and he was very concerned about the future. He was worried about how it might be with his empire. Where was it all going. How long will it last who would knock him off the way his father had knocked off somebody else as he was lying in bed with thoughts about where his whole empire was going, he fell asleep been in his sleepy dream. Some dreams, but there was one of those dreams that wasn't his own. It was God's revelation to him. Nebuchadnezzar immediately rushed to all the wise men who were educated in astrology and everything else in the Chaldean magic and all that any God altogether said tell me the dream you got his guys are the soothsayers you guys are the wise men. You are the ones where the seers and the prophets and the visionaries tell me my dream put together its pieces again and interpret for me and they all stood there and they couldn't do it was just nothing so is it Aveeno time I dream of motility one and so the men moved out the chief executioner came to Daniel because Daniel was one of the trainees among the wise men at this point.

He said come on your all going to die because you can't tell a dream that I not even heard about this and what you give me some time and I'll tell a dream, how do you know that you got a given and that ability got down his knees with his three friends and they began to pray and then we come to verses 31 to 35.

Daniel gets the answer to his prayer. We have not only the dream received with the dream recall in verses 31 to 35. Daniel walks in and gives the King's dream. Let's read again the owl King sauced, and behold a great image or great statute. This great statute, whose brightness was excellent, stood before the in the form of that was terrible, but another was it was awesome, massive thing immense and brilliantly shining the Hebrew are the Aramaic terms mean this statues had was a fine goal its breast and its arms of silver, its belly and its thighs of bronze, its legs of iron and its feet part of iron and part of clay. Now he says what you saw in your dream, and he began to remember. I'm sure as he heard it was this massive statute with the head of gold chest and arms of silver loins bowels and thighs of bronze legs of iron feet and toes of iron mixed with clay minutes is in verse 34 you Santo stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon its feet that were of iron and clay and broken to pieces like a missile here comes a stone and it's cut out without hands. That is the doesn't seem to be any workman. It just seems to come from nowhere and it smashes its image and its feet, then where the iron, the clay, the bronze and silver and the gold, broken to pieces together became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them in the stone that smote the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth. Frankly, if you and I had a dream like that. Somebody think we would eat pickles and strawberries that is a weird dream very straight and so we see the dream recall, did you notice some things about you. Notice that the statute descends in the value of the precious metal from gold or silver to bronze to iron iron and clay, you know that it becomes more diverse. Is it the sense it starts out as a head that has solidarity, then it becomes too breasted to arms, then it becomes all the bowels of the thighs and finally it ends up in 10 toes. There's a descending diversity. That's in this image as well. And did you notice that it has a descending's specific gravity gold ways more than twice as much as iron and clay mixed so it's top-heavy and easy to topple. And when the stone hits it. It crashes in the wind blows it away. So the dream received the dream recall now the dream revealed Daniel's going to tell us what it means in verse 36 this is the dream and we will tell its interpretation before the king here comes thou will king our King of Kings for the God of heaven. If given the a kingdom, power, strength, and glory, and wherever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heavens at the given into thine hand, and have made the ruler over them all.

Thou art this head of gold. You're the gold hat you Nebuchadnezzar who rule the world. You are the head of gold, and after these shall arise another kingdom. The word inferiors better lower. The next one down is another kingdom. You notice he never tells it what it is. He never names it didn't say who it is because he didn't want Nebuchadnezzar to be no one where it was going to come from and then he says another third kingdom of bronze, which shall bear rule over all the earth, and the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron for as much as iron, break it in pieces, and subdue with all things and is iron the break of all these shall break in pieces and bruise nesting with me.

I want you to get this.

He says Nebuchadnezzar you have seen for great world kingdoms.

These four kingdoms stretch from you, Nebuchadnezzar, to a stone that comes in smashes them all and fills the whole earth.

This is the story of human history from Nebuchadnezzar to the smiting stone Jesus refer to the same. In Luke 2124. Recall that the times of the Gentiles or the times of the nation's.

It is the time when the nations dominate the land of Israel Israel to set aside the prophet Ezekiel in chapter 9 chapter 10 Chapter 11 chapter 21 says Ichabod is written over the nation Israel. They will be carried into Babylon and that will begin the times when the Gentiles ruled the land of Israel, and believe it folks there still under the oppression of the nations even now, Israel still is tentatively holding to a small portion of the original land given them by God, which stretches from the north all the way down to the river of Egypt and from the sea all the way to the Tigris and Euphrates way and where is Iran passed a rack in Persian.

All of that. They don't even have us evidence of what is theirs by God's gift original so there is still that oppression of the nations over that land until the stone comes to crush the empires of the world. I want to compare with this thing. Something in Daniel seven for a minute stay with me.

Now it's all that come together for you. Daniel chapter 7 verse one in the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, who came along after Nebuchadnezzar sometime Daniel had a dream and visions of his head upon his bed and he wrote the dream and told the sum of the matter, Daniel spoke and said I saw in my vision by night, and behold the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea and four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another. Here are four beasts now watch this. These are just for other ways to see the same world empires. The first was like a lion and had Eagles wings. I beheld till its wings were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth and made stand upon the feet as a man in a man's heart was given to it, and behold verse five another beast. The second like a bear, and it raised up itself on one side and it had three ribs in the mouth of it between its teeth and they said thus unto it, arise and devour much flesh. After this, and low.

Another like a leopard, which had on its back for wings of a file that's a fast animal leopard when it's got wings. It's really fast and then in verse seven there was 1/4 beast, dreadful, terrible, strong exceedingly had great iron teeth get devoured and broken pieces, and stamped the residue with its feet and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before and it had what can horns.

The last piece can horns. The last part of the image. 10. What toes in both cases the final form of world rule will take a 10 fold identity. Not one of these four empires go back to chapter 2. I'm just going to quickly cook these reviews take so long and the time goes by so fast but I have to tell you this, we remember that the head of gold is the Babylonian Empire lasted about 80 years and faded away when the Medo Persians moved in one night devastated will find out the whole story in Daniel five gives the whole description of how they took the city of Babylon and took over from the Babylonian Empire. The first is babbling the fall of the Babylonian empire just came suddenly. I'm sure there were some seeds of dissolution. Nebuchadnezzar had died in 562 he was exceeded and succeeded by a man named his own son name Omar Duke member Margaret was one of their gods.

They always name themselves after their gods. He was succeeded by Amol Marmaduke who was probably assassinated in 560 just a couple of years later, NARA Glasser took the throne after four years he died. He was succeeded by his son who was probably assassinated.

Then came a man named Nava nitrous in Navan -itis assumed great power and shared the power with his coregent. His name was Bill Shatzer.

So what you have in the Babylonian Empire's tremendous solidarity for 43 years and then this all falling apart. People being assassinated and so forth.

Finally, Belshazzar in a drunken stupor was carrying on a wild party recorded in Daniel five in the midst of his foolishness and folly, the Medes and the Persians marched right through the city and devastated his entire empire fall of Babylon, Ellison, the fall of Babylon was the end of the Babylonian empire.

But it was not the end of Babylonian influence because it was in Babylon that the systems of evil religion began what is the first system of false religion ever recorded in the Bible. The tower of what Babel and from then on. Babylon became synonymous with false religion and the culture and the religions of Babylon have found their way into polluting the human stream so that someday when the last stages of human false religion rears its ugly head on the earth. In Revelation chapter 17. The Lord says the name of it shall be called mystery babbling. Why because Babylon was the fountain of false religious systems and so while the empire crumbled the stream. The pollution of its human religions found their way into the stream of history, travel and was succeeded by Medo Persian Medo Persian is in verse 39 lower down the image.

The kingdom of silver the arms and the breasts two parts, the Medes and the Persians, the silver Medo Persian Empire lasted only around 200 years, but hundred and 20 years longer than babbling. It was during the time of the Medes and the Persians that Cyrus let Israel go back and reconstruct their land, which was just a semblance of what it once was. We know the Medo Persian Empire was followed by Greece history tells us that there's no question about it and it would bear rule over all the earth. I told you, Alexander the great demand of the title King of all the earth. He extended his empire from Western Europe to India massive conquering by a man who died just after he was 30 years old credible. No wonder he is seen in Daniel seven is a leopard with wings springing it tremendously fast rate across the globe.

He came to the Hellespont across the Hellespont conquered Greece and Rome first met the Persian opposition at Granik and subdued all of Asia minor. He literally defeated 1/2 a million Persians were under Darius slaughtered them and broke the back of the Empire and then he began to take city after city after city after city, and even swept down to Egypt and he got to Egypt he founded the city that still there. The city of Alexandria was founded by Alexander the great and named for him. Later on he had another great defeat of Darius and that totally wiped out the Medes and the Persians, and he ruled the world and return to babbling. Believe it or not. He made Babel in ancient Babylon is capital city. He died historians tell us of gluttony and drunkenness and malaria in his youth and who followed him try to split the Empire into four parts, but his generals lost their power to the Romans, we find them in verse 40 strong as iron as iron that breaks in pieces and subdues all things as iron that breaks all these and it shall break in pieces and bruise the Roman Empire by the second century BC, the Mediterranean become a Roman Lake and the Romans ruled that part of the world all away from the Great Britain to the Euphrates from northern Europe to Africa, I was so privileged to be in the eastern part of the Arab world, not too many years ago, and to be to the Eastern outpost of the Roman Empire, which is known as Baalbek or bail back spelled with two A's as a commemoration to bail the Roman legions extended themselves everywhere tramping with their iron feet the world into submission but doesn't end there. That was the introduction here comes the sermon.

Verse 41, you can relax going to get out on time. By the way, what time is on time. Verse 41 and whereas, whereas the house lost the feet and toes, part of potter's clay and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided was Roman Empire divided in what segments east and west. But there shall be in it of the strength of the iron for as much is now sauce the iron mixed with miry clay will be a strong Empire. By the way the Roman Empire lasted 500 years Alexander under 200 Medes and the Persians over 200 Babel and 80, but the Roman Empire in the West. 500 years in the East.

It lasted till 1453, when Constantinople was taken by the Turks was strong, but it was mixed with clay. Verse 42 and as the toes of the feet were part of iron and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly brittle. The clay here is the word that has to do with baked clay used for tile.

It would be very brittle. Now what is this verse 43 had something else and whereas now sauce iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of man, but they shall not adhere one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay iron and clay don't adhere. And the weakness and the vulnerability of the Roman Empire is that it will be a mixture of strength and weakness in the weaknesses called here the seed of man. The kingdom is is a composite of the firm in the brittle. Now what about verse 30, 31, it says that it was strong as iron and was strong Roman government was strongly organized, silently organized its armies were well trained, well drilled and well disciplined its policies were well defined. In fact, they were so well-defined and so well carried out that they could pull off what is known in history as the Pax Romana. They had a great measure of peace in all their Empire, but there was a weakness. The weakness is not in the legs. Weaknesses in the feet say what's the importance of that because the weakness appears only in the final form.

There were strong once, but in the final form is going to be weakness great weakness and what is the weakness verse 43 says the clay is the seed of men was at me well all kinds of scholars are played around with it and I don't want to say that I know the absolute answer, but I want to give you what I think is best and I think it means. I think it refers simply to human beings. I think the problem in the final form of the Roman Empire is going to be that there are too many people involved in the issues solidarity will be lost in the final Roman Empire.

It will be mixed.

There will be a DK, a lack of solidarity at the top of the images. The gold had that's not an empire. That's the only one of the four that he says is a man accused Nebuchadnezzar. In other words, the Babylonian empire was set was solidarity personified because one man called all the shots as you go down to gets more diverse and more diverse and more diverse, and the more diverse government gets watch this, the more you have problems with democracy can't last because as soon as it gets diverse enough to give the people to control and the people find out they can vote themselves inordinate amounts of money from the public treasury. They will begin by selfishness to destroy the democracy and so the diversity of this final form is going to be its destruction. It will even have the solidarity of iron, which is less than a monarchy, but will even have at the Roman Empire once said, it'll have a Confederacy that is too involved with too many people and so there is an inherent weakness now. The final form of the Roman Empire has 10 toes. I believe the Bible is telling us by the 10 toes in the can. The 10 kings in Daniel seven that the final form of the Roman Empire would have a 10 nation Confederacy. A guy doesn't just throw things around if there's 10 toes and 10 kings.

And if you shock about that.

Go to Revelation and read in Revelation, and you'll find in chapter 17 that there is 10 kings again in this final form, God is absolutely consistent. There's never nine and is never 11 is always 10 but God has something in mind the final form of the Roman Empire will be 10 nations in Confederacy and by the way, beloved, that has never been true of the Roman Empire in the past never you say will not wait a minute MacArthur, the Roman Empire is gone. There is no Roman Empire. But listen, the prophecy says the Roman Empire will be around when the stone comes and smashes this and fills the air. But listen to me. You know there's never been another world Empire. Napoleon tried it.

Hitler tried it couldn't do it.

Listen, if there's ever a great fifth world Empire.

You can pack up your Bible because it's wrong you say will now waiting are you saying the Roman Empire just faded away to come back again. That's exactly what I'm saying.

In fact, in Revelation. The Bible tells us that a beast in chapter 13 came and he was wounded and went into death, but he rose again out of that death. I believe that's a picture of Rome dying as it were, only to rise again and in its final form. It will be 10 nations.

You know the Bible tells us is going to be a 10 nation Confederacy and in and out of those 10 nation's gonna rise one ruler is called in Daniel. The little horn is called the son of perdition is called the man of sin we known was the Antichrist will be a great world ruler will come on the scene in your pull together that coalition, which will perpetuate a great battle.

The Bible calls the battle of Armageddon. We take some people watch Europe. Europe will rise again.

I'm not pull the stuff out of space on the profit. I never got a vision of my life. I married when I was in.

Nobody speaks to me out of the clouds. I'm just an average guy opens my Bible. I'm telling you things, Bible scholars and teachers have known for years and years and I don't how else to explain it.

That's exactly what the Bible says one step 10 nation Confederacy takes its form and Antichrist establishes his rule is rule doesn't last very long until that stone comes and smashes the whole thing and fills the whole lesson another than Jesus Christ you're listening to Grace to you with John MacArthur, Chancellor of the Masters University in seminary. Today's lesson is part of his study. The rise and fall of the powers now. As John mentioned earlier, it's truly people like you who help us take messages like the one you just heard teaching, packed with eternal hope to men and women around the globe to partner with us in ministry. That's changing lives.

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Our email address letters@tty.org. That's letters@tty.org or if you prefer regular mail. You can write to us at box 4000 panorama city, CA 91412 now for John MacArthur. I'm Phil Johnson reminding you to watch Grace to you television this Sunday. Check your local listings for channel and times and be here tomorrow when John looks at God's plan for Jerusalem and how that connects to the rise and fall powers. It's another 30 minutes of unleashing God's truth one verse at a time on racing