Prophecy...

Prophecy fulfilled IS our HISTORY. Prophecy unfulfilled is our future. There has to come a time when ALL prophecy is fulfilled. There is ALWAYS a time when people are living in the time of prophecy being fulfilled but they don't always recognize it as such- only being able to look back as the prophetic puzzle pieces fit together. This isn't ALWAYS the case though, sometimes when a prophecy is being fulfilled people recognize it. For instance- Joseph interpreted Pharaoh's prophetic dream of the seven years of plenty and then seven years of famine. When the years of plenty began it was noticeable that the harvests were exceptional--

Gen 41:47 And in the seven plenteous years the earth brought forth by handfuls.
Gen 41:48 And he gathered up all the food of the seven years, which were in the land of Egypt, and laid up the food in the cities: the food of the field, which was round about every city, laid he up in the same.
Gen 41:49 And Joseph gathered corn as the sand of the sea, very much, until he left numbering; for it was without number.

With such exceptional harvests the thoughts of the horrific famine to come was probably far from most people's minds. You can bet though that many in the pharaoh's inner circle who knew all about this prophetic interpretation of the pharaoh's dream were watching the years go by and waiting to see if what Joseph had said would come true. When the famine began right on time with Joseph's interpretation those people KNEW after the first few months, and definitely after the first year that this prophecy of Joseph's was being fulfilled. There WOULD be seven years of famine. They were living during a prophecy fulfillment and recognized it as such.

Not all prophecy interpretation is readily understood though.

Read these words in the book of Daniel--

Dan 12:8 And I heard, but I understood not: then said I, O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things?
Dan 12:9 And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.

Daniel who had been given many prophecies and had seen the fulfillment of many of them, could not know the interpretation of all the prophecies given to him. A lot of Daniel's prophecies would not be understood until the time of the end. 'The time of the end' - a period of undefined time that would bring an end to the world of sin and usher in the second coming of a Messiah that hadn't even been born at the time of the prophecy and been in the world once.

Now if Joseph could interpret a dream depicting seven ears of corn equaling seven years it is hardly farfetched for us to use a day for a year when the Bible itself actually explains that this is a real prophetic possibility. This isn't something we can discount out of hand because we don't want to believe in the real possibility that every prophetic time interpretation isn't literal time- a day isn't always a day- but rather a day can equal a years worth of time, and a year isn't always a literal year but 360 days equaling 360 years and so on. Yes, it sounds terribly confusing, but prophecy wasn't meant to be easily understood, prophecy served and serves a purpose by being crouched it obscurity. Isn't faith itself the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen?

When we go to the book of Daniel we can find a fascinating prophetic scene unfolding history from their present time to the world's end. I'd call it an overview with little detail in this particular prophetic presentation. Let's look at it--

Dan 2:1 And in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams, wherewith his spirit was troubled, and his sleep brake from him.

*Here we have a king dreaming something that upset him so that he couldn't sleep.

Dan 2:2 Then the king commanded to call the magicians, and the astrologers, and the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans, for to shew the king his dreams. So they came and stood before the king.

*This particular king- not a king of Israel but of Babylon- believed readily in magicians, astrologers, sorcerers and such, all those things which were an abomination to God.

Dan 2:3 And the king said unto them, I have dreamed a dream, and my spirit was troubled to know the dream.
Dan 2:4 Then spake the Chaldeans to the king in Syriack, O king, live for ever: tell thy servants the dream, and we will shew the interpretation.

*So here we have the king summoning all these supposedly special type of people- those not ordinary but special in their fields of the supernatural and the king tells them he had a troubling dream and wants to know what it is. Of course this would be easy for the kings many supernatural interpreters, they would be told the dream and then make up any sort of meaning for that dream that they wanted to, something the king would reward them for of course so they're eager to know what the dream was about so they can give their interpretation.

Dan 2:5 The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, The thing is gone from me: if ye will not make known unto me the dream, with the interpretation thereof, ye shall be cut in pieces, and your houses shall be made a dunghill.
Dan 2:6 But if ye shew the dream, and the interpretation thereof, ye shall receive of me gifts and rewards and great honour: therefore shew me the dream, and the interpretation thereof.

*Ah ha! The king was going to foil that sort of supposed ability to interpret dreams because the king himself DID NOT know what the dream was that he dreamed! He couldn't recall the dream but only knew that it was a dream he needed to recall and understand. Surely we call can relate to this experience in the sense we've all had dreams that leave our memory and in doing so trouble us a bit as we strive to no avail to recall what the dream was. This isn't an uncommon experience really, dreaming is something we are told we do every time we sleep, we just don't remember them all. Not being a king and not having magicians, astrologers and such at our fingertips to open the unknown to us we don't demand other people tell us what our dream was, we just live with the unsettling feeling until it disappears and we simply forget all about it. So here we have a king demanding his special people tell him what he dreamed and do so on the penalty of death, horrible, painful, torturous death for them and their entire house. Talk about a seemingly petulant, demanding, possibly deranged king wanting the impossible can you even imagine being among those hearing this ultimatum? Of course while their ears were ringing with the knowledge that imminent death was at their doorstep the king also countered it by telling them that if they did tell him his dream and what it meant they'd be rewarded richly. Now how is that for inspiring your subjects to do as you command? Some king, uhn?

Dan 2:7 They answered again and said, Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will shew the interpretation of it.

*Of course these men weren't stupid and immediately they replied… tell us the dreams and we'll interpret that's how it's done, we don't do it any other way, we've never done it any other way, there is no other way to interpret a dream- you have to know the dream first. No, they didn't say all that, at least it wasn't related to us that they did but you can be sure it was some of what they were thinking. They had to remind the king of how it was done because he seemed to have forgotten that you just didn't ask for someone to tell you what the dream is- it wasn't done, it wasn't the way of things!

Dan 2:8 The king answered and said, I know of certainty that ye would gain the time, because ye see the thing is gone from me.
Dan 2:9 But if ye will not make known unto me the dream, there is but one decree for you: for ye have prepared lying and corrupt words to speak before me, till the time be changed: therefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that ye can shew me the interpretation thereof.

*The king wasn't completely stupid, he knew what the men were doing, they were stalling for time. Who wouldn't be stalling for time when they were asked for the seemingly impossible on the penalty of death. The king wasn't having any of it though, he outright told them if they wouldn't tell him his dream they were just a bunch of lying, corrupt people who wanted him to just forget about it all and he wasn't going to fall for their lies and corrupting, he wanted to be told the dream and then he would believe the interpretation. Why should he believe an interpretation when the interpreter didn't even have the supernatural power to tell him what the dream itself was. Surely if they were all they claimed to be- special people having special powers to understand things others could not- they'd be able to use those powers now when their lives depended upon it. Just imagine… well we don't have to just imagine because this was their response--

Dan 2:10 The Chaldeans answered before the king, and said, There is not a man upon the earth that can shew the king's matter: therefore there is no king, lord, nor ruler, that asked such things at any magician, or astrologer, or Chaldean.
Dan 2:11 And it is a rare thing that the king requireth, and there is none other that can shew it before the king, except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.

*No one, not a single man on earth can do what you're asking! And because you're asking the impossible no king, no lord, no ruler has EVER asked us to do such an impossible thing! The king wants something only the gods - not man- can do and the gods don't dwell among men in flesh. The king has to ask this thing of his gods not of his men who claim to be able to understand godly inexplicable things when it suits them. How convenient are these practices astrology, magic, sorcery and such. Now I'm not saying they're all bogus- but I am saying they're all ungodly whether we want to believe it or not. God has pronounced them such and they are! People have been brought up to believe they are harmless pastimes and nothing more, but in truth they are under the control of Satan and as such even the best astrological prediction, the greatest trickery of telling the future with sorcery or magic is of the devil and evil. Harmless? Hardly! Being under the control of a being that can work his own seeming miracles and appear as an angel of light is a deadly deception way too many have fallen victim to. Here a God-less king wanted all his supernaturally controlled, his satanic controlled people, to tell him his dream and NONE dared to even believe they could because they knew their source of power wasn't directly from any that would dare commune with them in such a manner. Satan didn't know the dream so his followers couldn't know the dream, all their false gods they prayed to and worshipped could not tell them this dream and they knew it- they didn't have to think about it really because it was an impossibility and they told the king so. They wanted the king to wise up to the fact he was asking the impossible of them, but the king didn't want a bunch of powerless wise men surrounding him pretending to be special and able to use their special powers to serve him.

Dan 2:12 For this cause the king was angry and very furious, and commanded to destroy all the wise men of Babylon.

*Did the fact he was asking what all his wise men thought was impossible deter the king from wanting to destroy them? Nope. Just picture it, these poor deluded men who up until then felt secure in their professions were now filled with terror, they were going to be murdered by an insane king who wanted the impossible!

Dan 2:13 And the decree went forth that the wise men should be slain; and they sought Daniel and his fellows to be slain.
Dan 2:14 Then Daniel answered with counsel and wisdom to Arioch the captain of the king's guard, which was gone forth to slay the wise men of Babylon:
Dan 2:15 He answered and said to Arioch the king's captain, Why is the decree so hasty from the king? Then Arioch made the thing known to Daniel.
Dan 2:16 Then Daniel went in, and desired of the king that he would give him time, and that he would shew the king the interpretation.

*Daniel- one of the captured slaves of Israel- was among those considered especially wise and he fell into this category of victims. He would be killed. However Daniel wanted to at least know what he was being killed for because he obviously hadn't been among those in the king's presence when the decree went forth. Told everything that happened, Daniel went to the king and told him if he had time he could do as the king wanted. Imagine it, here comes an Israeli slave daring to actually tell the king he could do the impossible! All those others didn't dare even try to make up something, didn't dare pretend they could do what they claimed was impossible - because it was impossible for them and it would mean death either way for them. The only hope they probably thought they had was in all of them sticking to the fact the king wanted the impossible. Then here comes a captive from another kingdom, a slave, and he tells the king he can do this thing!

Dan 2:17 Then Daniel went to his house, and made the thing known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions:
Dan 2:18 That they would desire mercies of the God of heaven concerning this secret; that Daniel and his fellows should not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.

*Obviously the king didn't have a problem with giving Daniel a little time just on the offhand chance this troubling dream could really be told to him. The king had nothing to lose by waiting a bit- either way the deaths would come- now or later if the dream was not told to him. So Daniel - wanting to save the lives of himself and his friends- fellow captives from Israel- was going to do this impossible thing. He went to his fellow captives and told them they had to desire the mercy of THE GOD OF HEAVEN. Daniel believed in the TRUE God and as such believed that if God wanted him and his companions to live that He would reveal the secret that none other could reveal.

Dan 2:19 Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven.

*Then Daniel had a vision in the night! God gave Daniel a vision! God blessed Daniel with the secret!

Dan 2:20 Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are his:
Dan 2:21 And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding:
Dan 2:22 He revealeth the deep and secret things: he knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with him.
Dan 2:23 I thank thee, and praise thee, O thou God of my fathers, who hast given me wisdom and might, and hast made known unto me now what we desired of thee: for thou hast now made known unto us the king's matter.

*Amazing! Daniel praised God mightily! Such praise is wonderful! Daniel thanked God because Daniel knew it wasn't of himself that he understood things, it wasn't of him that he suddenly knew the dream it was all because of God! Daniel had no power of his own and he knew it! God reveals the deep and secret things! God knows the things in the dark because light dwells with God! All the wisdom, all the might of Daniel came directly from God and no where else! God revealed to Daniel and his companions the king's dream and interpretation doing what NO other could do even with the pain of death hanging over their heads. Our wondrous God! His will is done and He will use those who look to Him for all things!

Dan 2:24 Therefore Daniel went in unto Arioch, whom the king had ordained to destroy the wise men of Babylon: he went and said thus unto him; Destroy not the wise men of Babylon: bring me in before the king, and I will shew unto the king the interpretation.
Dan 2:25 Then Arioch brought in Daniel before the king in haste, and said thus unto him, I have found a man of the captives of Judah, that will make known unto the king the interpretation.

*Ha! Arioch the captain of the king's guard told the king HE FOUND a man to tell the interpretation. Interesting. Daniel had already gone in to ask the king for time and was granted the time and now Arioch brings Daniel back to the king quickly and tells the king HE found one who could do as the king wanted. Just interesting to note this little fact. People don't hesitate to take credit for good things do they? Even when it's undeserved credit.

Dan 2:26 The king answered and said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, Art thou able to make known unto me the dream which I have seen, and the interpretation thereof?

*Of course the king wanted to know if this man could do as he'd asked of all his wise men, he wasn't particularly interested in the fact the guard captain had found him- he wanted to know if what Daniel claimed he could do was in fact true.

Dan 2:27 Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, The secret which the king hath demanded cannot the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, the soothsayers, shew unto the king;

*Oh yeah! Daniel isn't going to give the interpretation to the king without letting the king know where this knowledge came from and it wasn't from any of the pagan, heathen, God-less supposed wise men filling his kingdom.

Dan 2:28 But there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these;

*GOD in heaven HE reveals secrets! He is going to reveal to the king what will be in the latter days! God in heaven, no where else, no other god, no other idol, no other has revealed the dream, only the God in heaven!

Dan 2:29 As for thee, O king, thy thoughts came into thy mind upon thy bed, what should come to pass hereafter: and he that revealeth secrets maketh known to thee what shall come to pass.
Dan 2:30 But as for me, this secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom that I have more than any living, but for their sakes that shall make known the interpretation to the king, and that thou mightest know the thoughts of thy heart.

*King you had a prophetic dream, this is what Daniel is telling Him. God in heaven was revealing the secrets of the future in that dream. The secrets weren't for Daniel's wisdom, the secrets weren't being revealed so Daniel could become greater than any other person. The secrets are being revealed to save lives not to exalt Daniel.

Dan 2:31 Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible.
Dan 2:32 This image's head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass,
Dan 2:33 His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay.
Dan 2:34 Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces.
Dan 2:35 Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.

*Here it is… here is the dream you couldn't recall-

A great image!
A very bright great image standing in front of the king, an image whose form, whose appearance induces fear!
The image had a head of fine gold.
The image had a breast and arms of silver.
The image had a belly and thighs of brass.
The image had legs of iron.
The image had feet of iron and clay.

What an amazing conglomeration of minerals! Gold, silver, brass, iron, and clay. It's obvious from the first reading that the minerals are ordered in value- Gold being much more precious and desire, much more valuable than silver, and so on down the line ending with clay being the least valuable. There is a distinct degradation in the value of this image. If the image were all of gold it would be magnificent. That this image is such a mixture it is no wonder it's a fearful sight. No one at that time would make up such an image and expect anyone to want to purchase it and you can be sure that there were many images of many things in a culture that valued worshipping images of their gods and such. Is it any wonder it is considered horrifying. We might just call it abstract art and not take a second glance at something like this, but the time period then was far from appreciating such abstract art. No artist would dare put together a statue with such things, it just wasn't done.

There it was a terrifying image made up of five different minerals standing there when a stone was being cut from a mountain or quarry it doesn't say here but no hands cut it, no person cut this stone from rock, no stonemason was there but the stone was being cut and after it was cut the stone was thrown at the feet of the image and the feet broke into little pieces. With the feet broken to pieces there was nothing left to hold up the image and the rest of the image broke into pieces, into such small pieces the wind carried them all away. Then that stone which broke up the feet, destroying the entire image began to grow and it fill the entire earth!

What a dream! No wonder it was troubling the king to remember something to incredible. Just picture it being out of reach of recall, right there on the edges of his memory but unable to bring it out to the forefront. It was a prophetic dream holding great meaning not only for the king but for all of future mankind. This was a God-given dream of future events - an overall view of things to happen here on in and no wonder it commanded such great attention. You can bet this dream had the attention of everyone in the kingdom by this time. When a king is ready to murder his entire entourage of wise men, astrologers, soothsayers, magicians, Chaldeans it wasn't some small insignificant happenstance- this was a huge deal!

Now the interpretation!

Dan 2:36 This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king.
Dan 2:37 Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory.
Dan 2:38 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.

*The king himself was the golden head of the image! God had made the king prosper it wasn't just by happenstance, it wasn't by chance that the king of Babylon had such good fortune. He was this head of gold.

Dan 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.

*But like that image, things change. After the head of gold there came a breast and arms of silver - an inferior kingdom. Then another kingdom after the silver one, this kingdom of brass and obviously inferior to the first and second kingdoms. These kingdoms were great kingdoms- not tiny kingdoms but kingdoms whose rule effected all the earth in some manner.

Dan 2:40 And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise.

*Then in the image the legs were of iron, yet another very great kingdom.

Dan 2:41 And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters' clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay.
Dan 2:42 And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken.
Dan 2:43 And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay.

*Then the feet- iron and clay- a mixture. Mankind would never again have a kingdom as whole as that of the fourth kingdom but it would become a mixture- the kingdoms would be divided even though through mingling (marriage) they would try to bring it together it wouldn't happen.

Dan 2:44 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.

*God sets up a kingdom that will never be destroy. We know that Jesus came preaching the kingdom and His kingdom will NEVER be destroyed! God's kingdom will stand forever!

Dan 2:45 Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure.

*This is the dream, this is the interpretation that the king wanted, that the king demanded from all his wise men but could not get it. None but Daniel a man who looked to the true God, could bring this knowledge to the king.

Isn't it amazing?! Truly amazing this marvelous vision. You know why it's so amazing? It's OUR history! From the time of the king of Babylon until the end when God's kingdom is all that's left. This is a tremendous overview of history but people don't want to believe it could be so. People want to pick things apart and warp them in a way God never intended. People say the Bible isn't even real and then pick up a book containing the many failed prophecies of Nostradamus and that they believe! People say the Bible is a bunch of fairy tales and fables, fiction and no more, and then they'll pick up a book by Darwin and say this man spoke truth. This prophecy alone- written thousands of years ago can prove to the spiritually discerning that what was predicated has come to pass and what's left to be revealed will happen just as all that was predicted happened- it's TRUTH! So many don't want to believe that God has a real kingdom and that they will one day either be in that kingdom or destroyed as though they never existed. People would rather grasp as some vague afterlife as their future rather than repent and be converted to Christ. People would rather indulge their ego than admit they have no right whatsoever to indulge something so perverted by sin that its worth is ONLY found in Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. People will believe lies and fairy tales alright but they won't be of God.

It is proven-

Babylon was followed by Medes and Persia who were followed by the Greeks, who were followed by the Romans who were then followed by divided kingdoms never to be brought together to any great one world kingdom and never will be brought together again into such a kingdom. We live in the time of the divided kingdoms- we live in the time of the toes of iron and clay- we live in time as that stone is being cut without hands and soon will break the feet of the image ushering in God's kingdom forever!

We have the ability to look back and see history fulfilled, only those who wish to be blind will remain so. Only those who wish to have delusions will have them. Those who would much rather believe lies will do just that, they'll believe the lies as if they were truth not caring at all that they are deceived.

There is so much to prophecy and I'd like to study more of it. There is a lot unfulfilled and a lot filled and only by the grace of God may we truly understand as He would have us understand. We are to watch and pray- let us watch-let us pray because we live in the very end of time.

Being such a volatile subject I'm aware that not everyone will agree with my view and I wouldn't dream of asking anyone to believe me. I just hope and pray that as we study your Bibles will be open and you'll pray as never before to have discernment and understanding as the Holy Spirit guides into all truth, I know I'll be praying the exact same thing.


In His Grace! In His Love! By His Mercy!


Amen.