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The Hand That Guides the Future

SERIES: Standing Firm #2 of 6

2008-07-06

PRODUCTION #: 1032

SPEAKER: Shawn Boonstra

Does God really exist? And if He does, do you think He really pays attention as we hurtle through space on this little out of planet? Or is He more like an absentee landlord who started the planet spinning a long time ago, and then forgot about us?

Today, we are going to look at an ancient book that gives startling evidence for the existence of God, and proves that not only does He notice us, but His hand is still steering history toward one incredible final event.

The Duke of Wellington and Napoleon Bonaparte had a lot in common. Both of them were born on an island in 1769. Both of them lost their fathers in early childhood and both had four brothers and three sisters. Both attended military school in France at the same time, both excelled at mathematics, and both became lieutenant colonels within one day of each other; and perhaps most importantly, both of them are remembered for what happened at the battle of Waterloo.

They were evenly matched, with similar backgrounds, similar education and even similar armies. But that day, Napoleon lost and the Duke of Wellington won, and if you ask a historian why it happened, they will point out a number of things.

First of all, they will tell you, the terrain they were fighting on was the kind that Wellington liked, so he had the "home team" advantage, so to speak.

Secondly, Napoleon didn't count on the Prussian army going 15 miles out of their way to join the fight, and lastly, historians point out that Napoleon just did not have the same kind of courage and energy he had before his exile.

So there are many theories as to why Napoleon lost. But the one thing that most people agree on is that he probably could have won, and the map of Europe would look a lot different today if he had.

Yet something tipped the scales decidedly in Wellington's favor, and it wasn't just strategy, or coincidence, or the size of an army, or fatigue, or weather, or any of those things. It was something more. There was an invisible hand that refused to allow Napoleon to win.

In fact, something happened 2,500 years earlier in an ancient Babylonian king's bedroom that determined what would happen that day at Waterloo.

The Bible talks about it in the book of Daniel, chapter two, beginning in verse one where it is written (Daniel 2:1 NKJV):

"Now in the second year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; and his spirit was so troubled that his sleep left him."

It was the middle of the night, and the most powerful man on earth suddenly woke up with his heart pounding and his pillow soaked with sweat. Even though he had been on the battlefield many times, and even though had seen the ugly reality of death up close, he was now afraid of a dream. So he got out of bed and called an emergency meeting of some of the most trusted advisors in his empire, the men who claimed to know the very secrets of the universe.

The Bible continues in Daniel two, verse two (Daniel 2:2-4 NKJV):

"Then the king gave the command to call the magicians, the astrologers, the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans to tell the king his dreams. So they came and stood before the king. And the king said to them, 'I have had a dream, and my spirit is anxious to know the dream.' Then the Chaldeans spoke to the king in Aramaic, 'O king, live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will give the interpretation."'

"No problem," they said. "Nebuchadnezzar, just tell us the dream, and we'll tell you what it means."

And as the astrologers and magicians pulled out their charts and dream interpretation books, the king suddenly smelled a rat. He got this not-so-funny feeling that the men who had been guiding the affairs of his kingdom might not really know what they are talking about.

So he refused to tell them the dream but still insisted that they figure it out.

"If you are what you claim you are," he said, "you should be able to figure out the dream and the interpretation. And if you can't, I'll put every last one of you to death."

A cold shiver must have run up and down their spines, because in their hearts, they knew that their books and charts were completely powerless to help them. Not one of them could reach inside the king's mind and extract the information he needed. So they pled for more time, but Nebuchadnezzar was on to them.

"You've been lying to me for years, haven't you? My word is final. Either you figure out what I dreamed and you tell me what it means, or you're all going to die."

"But we can't do that, your majesty," they said, "we just can't read your mind."

Here is how the Bible tells the story in Daniel, chapter two, beginning now in verse 10 (Daniel 2:10-12 NKJV):

"The Chaldeans answered the king, and said, 'There is not a man on earth who can tell the king's matter; therefore no king, lord, or ruler has ever asked such things of any magician, astrologer, or Chaldean. It is a difficult thing that the king requires, and there is no other who can tell it to the king except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.' For this reason the king was angry and very furious, and gave a command to destroy all the wise men of Babylon."

You know, I find it very interesting that when something important happened that changed the course of history forever, the psychics and astrologers didn't know anything about it. And believe me, even though late night TV is still full of people who have psychic hotlines and star charts, those people still don't know what's going to happen. You see, if God has something important to say, He doesn't use tarot cards, or star charts, or crystal balls. He just comes out and says it.

Watch how this works. The second chapter of Daniel tells us that because the so-called wise men couldn't perform, Nebuchadnezzar rounded them up to be put to death. And as they went through the kingdom to find all the Chaldeans, they knocked on the door of a Hebrew captive named Daniel, who was also considered a wise man, because of his royal blood, his great intelligence, and his godly life. But Daniel was not like the Chaldeans. In fact, he was the real thing, a genuine prophet of God.

"Take me to the king," Daniel said. And they did.

Daniel, chapter two and verse 16 says (Daniel 2:16 NKJV):

"So Daniel went in and asked the king to give him time, that he might tell the king the interpretation."

For some reason, the king trusted Daniel, maybe because he had proven himself in the past, and he gave Daniel the time he asked for.

So, Daniel went back to his friends, Shadrach, Meschach and Abednego, and they got down on their knees and prayed for answers, because they knew that if it was important, God would tell them.

Sure enough, God did. The very next day, they brought Daniel back to the king. Daniel two and verse 27 says (Daniel 2:27, 28 NKJV):

"Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, 'The secret which the king has demanded, the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, and the soothsayers cannot declare to the king. But there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days. Your dream, and the visions of your head upon your bed, were these."'

"Nebuchadnezzar," says Daniel, "your wise men couldn't tell you the dream, and, honestly, I can't tell you either. I can't take any credit for what I'm about to tell you, but there's a God in heaven who knows everything, and controls everything?and He showed me your dream. It is about the last days of planet earth, and this is what you dreamed."

From that point on, Daniel tells the king something that has changed the course of world history. And it has even affected the way you live today.

In fact, it's even the real reason Napoleon lost at the Battle of Waterloo. Here is what the Bible says the king dreamed (Daniel 2:31-35 NKJV):

"You, O king, were watching; and behold, a great image! This great image, whose splendor was excellent, stood before you; and its form was awesome. This image's head was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, is feet partly of iron and partly of clay. You watched while a stone was cut out without hands, which struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed together, and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; the wind carried them away so that no trace of them was found. And the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth."

Suddenly, Nebuchadnezzar was excited. "That's it, Daniel! I can't believe it, that's exactly what I dreamed! It was a giant statue, made of different metals. It had a golden head, and silver arms, and brass thighs, and iron legs and clay feet. And then a giant rock flew out of the sky and smashed it to pieces. And the wind blew the pieces away and the rock grew until it filled the whole earth. Daniel, that's exactly what I dreamed. But what in the world does it mean?"

Let me tell you what it means. What we are about to read proves beyond the shadow of a doubt that we are not alone in the universe, because hundreds and thousands of years in advance, the Bible predicted the rise and fall of every major world empire. It proves, conclusively, that nothing is left to mere chance. The invisible hand of God steers the affairs of men.

Here is what Daniel told the king in Daniel, chapter two, verse 37 (Daniel 2:37, 38 NKJV):

"You, O king, are a king of kings. For the God of heaven has given you a kingdom, power, strength, and glory; and wherever the children of men dwell, or the beasts of the field and the birds of the heaven, He as given them into your hand, and has made you ruler over them all, you are this head of gold."

The golden head in the dream represents Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonian empire. It was the greatest of empires, the most decadent, literally drenched in luxury and gold. It was the head of all empires. But it didn't last forever.

Listen now, as Daniel continues in verse 39 (Daniel 2:39 NKJV):

"But after you shall arise another kingdom inferior to yours?"

History tells us that the Babylonian empire crumbled when the Medes and Persians sacked the city in 539 B.C. And it didn't matter that they weren't as talented in the battlefield as the Babylonians, because an unseen hand tipped the scales in their favor.

You see, wherever God steers history, that is where it's going to go, and He has a very specific destination in mind.

The Medes and the Persians, represented by the chest and arms of silver, ruled the Middle East until 331 B.C., when another army destroyed them.

According to the Bible, in Daniel 2:39 it was (Daniel 2:39 NKJV):

"...then another, a third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over all the earth."

The third kingdom, represented by the belly and thighs of brass, was the Greek empire of Alexander the Great, one of the greatest military geniuses of all time.
Alexander managed to conquer, on foot, 20 million subjects over two million square miles in a time frame of about four years, all by the time he was 32 years old. Alexander was completely unstoppable, because he had the unseen hand of God allowing him to win. But even Alexander came to an end in 168 B.C.

That is when the fourth empire destroyed the Macedonians, as the Bible predicted in Daniel two and verse 40 (Daniel 2:40 NKJV):

"And the fourth kingdom shall be as strong as iron, in as much as iron breaks in pieces and shatters all things; and like iron that crushes, that kingdom will break in pieces and crush all the others."

If you remember your grade school history, you already know which empire humbled the Macedonians. It was the Romans, the same empire that ruled the world when Jesus Christ was born. They were more ferocious than any army the world had ever seen, and they literally stomped all over Europe and the Middle East, subjecting everything in their path.

Here is how the famous historian Edward Gibbon described them, "and the images of gold, silver, or brass, that might serve to represent the nations and their kings, were successively broken by the iron monarchy of Rome." (Gibbon, "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.")

It's as if Gibbon was familiar with the Bible, because that is exactly what God said would happen. It's even in the same language. The head of gold was Babylon. The chest and arms of silver were Medo-Persia. The belly and thighs of brass were Greece, and the Roman Empire, the legs of iron, eclipsed them all.

Because of the unseen hand of God, nobody stood a chance in the face of a Roman army. But Rome, too, would fail, and now follow me very carefully, because we are going to see the real reason Napoleon didn't win. Daniel two and verse 41 continues (Daniel 2:41-43 NKJV):

"Whereas you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter's clay and partly of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; yet the strength of the iron shall be in it, just as you saw the iron mixed with ceramic clay. And as the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly fragile. As you saw iron mixed with ceramic clay, they will mingle with the seed of men; but they will not adhere to one another, just as iron does not mix with clay."

Daniel told the king, more than a thousand years in advance, that the Western Roman Empire would crumble and break into 10 pieces, like the 10 toes on your feet. And it happened exactly the way God said it would, because barbarian tribes brought Rome to its knees by 476 A.D., and the Western Empire broke into exactly 10 pieces. Not nine, not 11, but 10. And those barbarian tribes, at least the ones that survived, became the nations of Western Europe today.

It all happened exactly the way God said it would, and furthermore, the Bible tells us that try as they might, those 10 tribes will never adhere to each other. The great unseen hand of God has tipped the scales against anybody who tries to put the Western Roman Empire back together. He says, "They shall not cleave one to another." And God is not about to change His mind. That is why every single attempt, every experiment, to unite Western Europe has failed miserably.

The Royal families tried to use marriages to do it, but it never worked. The warrior King Charles, for example, almost put Europe back together. But just as he closed in on uniting Western Europe, a revolution broke out and he was forced to abdicate the throne.

Louis XIV, the sun king, tried to unite Europe, but other countries fought back, fiercely. And so many of the biggest, strongest men from France were killed, that some have estimated, that the average French male is still two inches shorter than Frenchmen used to be, as a result.

And then came Napoleon. He was so arrogant that he crowned himself Emperor in 1804. In fact, when it came time for the pope to put the crown on his head, Napoleon took it away and put it on himself. He thought nothing could stop him, but there is one thing he forgot. The unseen hand of God, who said, "They shall not adhere to one another."

So, in 1812 Napoleon marched on Russia and God tipped the balances against him. It had nothing to do with Russian military might, it had everything to do with God. It started to snow, and out of more than 600,000 French soldiers who went to Russia, 500,000 never came home.

And from that miserable defeat, and after a humiliating exile, Napoleon went to Waterloo, and he lost, because God said nobody would reunite the Western Roman Empire.

Everybody who has tried it has failed. The Kaiser failed, even though he probably could have done it. Hitler failed, even though in 1942, it looked like he might win. They all failed to reunite Western Europe because God said, "They shall not adhere to one another." And nothing changes the unseen hand of God. The Western Roman empire will not be reunited.

In the spring of 2003, there was a battle in the security council of the United Nations between the nations of Western Europe. Unity completely fell apart over the issue of Iraq; and on top of that, the European Economic Community always seems to run into trouble, with some nation failing to live up to its obligations or failing to balance its budget. Try as they might, they will never bring the Western Roman Empire under one ruler or one king. It just can't happen, because God said, "They shall not adhere to one another."

The nations of Western Europe will remain divided until the rock in Nebuchadnezzar's dream comes and smashes the kingdoms of earth. Daniel two, verse 44 says (Daniel 2:44 NKJV):

"And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will setup a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever."

"Nebuchadnezzar," says Daniel, "do you see what's going to happen? One day your Babylonian empire is going to collapse, and after that there will be three more empires. And after those empires, there will be a time of a divided empire, and finally, God Himself is going to set up a kingdom that will last forever."

You and I are living on the very tiptoes of that image, and the next event in that prophecy is the setting up of God's kingdom, and that happens when Jesus Christ returns.

Matthew 25 says in verse 31 (Matthew 25:31 NKJV):

"When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory."

Four world empires, every one of them has already come and gone. Then a divided Western Roman Empire, which is still with us to this day. You and I are living under the last human governments described in Daniel, chapter two, and the very next event is the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.

The Rock of Ages, the cornerstone that the builders rejected, is going to fill this planet with His glory and set up His own kingdom. So, let me ask you: Are we just an insignificant speck in the universe? Absolutely not. God Himself is eventually going to move to planet earth.

Revelation, chapter 21 and verse three says this (Revelation 21:3 NKJV):

"And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, 'Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be with them, and be their God."'

It is almost over. We are almost there, and if you have been worried about recent world events, stop worrying, because the unseen hand of God is still at work. No matter what happens, nothing will stop Jesus from coming back. He is going to establish His kingdom, and you can be a part of that.

You know, all kids ask one question when they are on vacation, don't they? "Are we there yet?" My parents used to tell me to watch for certain landmarks so I would know when we were getting close. God's children want to know, too, are we there yet? And God, in His love, gives us great landmarks of history to watch for. So let me ask you, since we are almost there, have you made things right with your God?

You might ask yourself why God bothers with a little sin-ridden planet like ours. But don't forget, He has made a huge investment in the human race. He bought us with His own blood, and Jesus became one of us, a part of the human race. His greatest desire is to come and put an end to earthly kingdoms with all their sufferings, and set up His own.

Wouldn't you like to be a part of that kingdom? Wouldn't you like to tell God that you plan on being there?

Why don't we pray together?

PRAYER:
Father in heaven, with the way the world is, we sense that we are running out of time. We long for Jesus to come and set up His kingdom because we are tired of human governments. Our eyes today are fixed on Jesus. We want to know Him better and love Him more. Guide us as we study the Word of God, so that we will be ready when He comes. Prepare our hearts, we ask it, in Jesus' name, Amen.

Scriptures Used in “The Hand That Guides the Future”

"Now in the second year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; and his spirit was so troubled that his sleep left him."
—Daniel 2:1 NKJV

"Then the king gave the command to call the magicians, the astrologers, the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans to tell the king his dreams. So they came and stood before the king. And the king said to them, 'I have had a dream, and my spirit is anxious to know the dream.' Then the Chaldeans spoke to the king in Aramaic, 'O king, live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will give the interpretation."'
—Daniel 2:2-4 NKJV

"The Chaldeans answered the king, and said, 'There is not a man on earth who can tell the king's matter; therefore no king, lord, or ruler has ever asked such things of any magician, astrologer, or Chaldean. It is a difficult thing that the king requires, and there is no other who can tell it to the king except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.' For this reason the king was angry and very furious, and gave a command to destroy all the wise men of Babylon."
—Daniel 2:10-12 NKJV

"So Daniel went in and asked the king to give him time, that he might tell the king the interpretation."
—Daniel 2:16 NKJV

"Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, 'The secret which the king has demanded, the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, and the soothsayers cannot declare to the king. But there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days. Your dream, and the visions of your head upon your bed, were these."'
—Daniel 2:27, 28 NKJV

"You, O king, were watching; and behold, a great image! This great image, whose splendor was excellent, stood before you; and its form was awesome. This image's head was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. You watched while a stone was cut out without hands, which struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed together, and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; the wind carried them away so that no trace of them was found. And the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth."
—Daniel 2:31-35 NKJV

"You, O king, are a king of kings. For the God of heaven has given you a kingdom, power, strength, and glory; and wherever the children of men dwell, or the beasts of the field and the birds of the heaven, He as given them into your hand, and has made you ruler over them all, you are this head of gold."
—Daniel 2:37, 38 NKJV

"But after you shall arise another kingdom inferior to yours."
—Daniel 2:39 NKJV

"...then another, a third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over all the earth."
—Daniel 2:39 NKJV

"And the fourth kingdom shall be as strong as iron, inasmuch as iron breaks in pieces and shatters all things; and like iron that crushes, that kingdom will break in pieces and crush all the others."
—Daniel 2:40 NKJV

"Whereas you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter's clay and partly of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; yet the strength of the iron shall be in it, just as you saw the iron mixed with ceramic clay. And as the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly fragile. As you saw iron mixed with ceramic clay, they will mingle with the seed of men; but they will not adhere to one another, just as iron does not mix with clay."
—Daniel 2:41-43 NKJV

"And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will setup a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever."
—Daniel 2:44 NKJV

"When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory."
—Matthew 25:31 NKJV

"And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, 'Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be with them, and be their God."'
—Revelation 21:3 NKJV