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[0:00] And I want to begin with an apology because we jumped right into the New Testament in our opening session, and I don't know what I was thinking of. But I should have provided you with a groundbreaking basis for this whole subject, really, that has to do with the kingdom, which I call what everything is all about.

[0:24] And I really should have taken you, first of all, to Daniel chapter 2. So let us go there now, if we may, please. This is one of the very most important and pivotal passages in all of Scripture, and it has as much to do with prophecy as just about anything that you will find.

[0:43] Daniel chapter 2, and while you are finding it, I will have a word of prayer. Thank you, Father, for this time to gather together and to focus upon what you provided for us.

[0:57] We look to you for clarity and understanding, appreciation and application of what is involved. Thank you for the presence of each one here in Christ's name. Amen. The book of Daniel is frequently referred to as the revelation of the Old Testament, and it and Zechariah both are just absolutely loaded with prophetic things of real significance.

[1:22] And I want to begin with Daniel chapter 2 because it has to do with an interpretation of the great image that Daniel had seen, that the king had seen in the dream, and Daniel is interpreting it for him.

[1:39] And in order to get the full picture of this, we will just, we will, well, okay, let's go to the beginning of the chapter.

[1:53] Second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar. Nebuchadnezzar had dreams, and Nebuchadnezzar was a tremendously accomplished ruler.

[2:06] It is said that Saddam Hussein, when he was in power in Iraq, had visions of becoming a second Nebuchadnezzar, and he had even begun an incredible building program trying to duplicate what Nebuchadnezzar had built many years earlier, and he got as far as building the beautiful Ishtar Gate.

[2:36] And it is not what you think of as just a gate, but it was a magnificent kind of entryway, and it is still available to be seen by tourists who may be in the area.

[2:48] So we all know, of course, what happened to Saddam Hussein. He did not turn out to be Nebuchadnezzar II, but he had a more inglorious end. But what Nebuchadnezzar had seen, and what Daniel interpreted, really relates very significantly to this, what everything is all about.

[3:10] to this plan and program for the whole world. And it begins with this amazing vision that God gives Nebuchadnezzar in his dream, but he has no idea what it means.

[3:24] And it's very significant. If you will look at chapter 2, at the beginning, the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, so he's kind of new on the job.

[3:47] Now, the king said, what's significant about all of these guys that he's consulting is, they're all a bunch of phonies.

[4:08] They really don't know straight up, but they could put on a good act, and that's exactly what they were trying to do. And the king said, I had a dream, and my spirit is anxious to understand the dream.

[4:20] And then the Chaldeans spoke to the king in Aramaic, and said, O king, live forever. Now, that's a common kind of greeting that was expressed toward royalty in that day.

[4:31] Tell the dream to your servants, and we will declare the interpretation. Now, what that literally means is, you tell us what you dreamed, and we can make up anything we want to and tell you what it means, and you won't know the difference.

[4:49] So, we're home free, and it would make them look good. But the king was a little too smart for that, and we are told in verse 5, the king answered and said to the Chaldeans, the command from me is firm.

[5:05] In other words, my demand is firm, and I'm not going to change it. The command is, if you do not make known to me the dream and its interpretation, it's going to be a bad day for you.

[5:23] You will be torn limb from limb, and your houses will be made a rubbish heap. But, if you declare the dream and its interpretation, you will receive from me gifts and a reward and great honor.

[5:41] Therefore, declare to me the dream and its interpretation. I can just see these guys looking at each other with a worried look on their face. Did I hear him right?

[5:51] Is that what he's saying? And they answered a second time and said, Yes, your majesty. You just tell us the dream, and we will declare the interpretation.

[6:05] And the king said, he was a shrewd guy, this Nebuchadnezzar. He was a smart guy. He said, I know for certain that you are bargaining for time, inasmuch as you have seen that the command from me is firm, that if you do not make the dream known to me, there is only one decree for you, for you have agreed together to speak lying and corrupt words before me until the situation is changed.

[6:33] He knew they had this thing all set up. Therefore, you tell me the dream, and I may know that you can declare to me its interpretation. And these guys are sweating.

[6:45] I mean sweating. And the Chaldeans answered the king and said, There is not a man on earth who could declare the matter for the king, inasmuch as no great king or ruler has ever asked anything like this of any magician, conjurer, or Chaldean.

[7:05] Now what they're trying to tell the king in a nice way is, you're being unreasonable. Nobody's ever made a demand like this. But this guy is a smart cookie, and he's not to be denied.

[7:16] And his thinking is, if you guys are smart enough to tell me what the dream means, then you ought to be smart enough to be able to tell me what I dreamed.

[7:32] Wow. In other words, if your answers will be coming from a really authoritative source, it should be just as easy for you to tell me the one as the other.

[7:45] And these guys are just about beside themselves. Long story short, they are threatened with death, which of course would get their attention.

[7:55] And word gets out that there is a man who has extraordinary ability and connection with what he believes is the Most High God, and his name is Daniel.

[8:11] And Daniel gets the word, and he, in a very confident way, says, you tell His Majesty, if He will give me an audience, I will be glad to come in and explain the whole thing to Him.

[8:24] Well, now that is quite a commitment to make. And yet Daniel had a connection with God whom he knew would reveal this to him. So, he approaches the king, and the king's going to give him an audience, and he tells him the whole situation and that they weren't able to interpret it.

[8:44] And in verse 26 of chapter 2, the king answered and said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, that's the name that they gave him.

[8:54] That's his Babylonian name. Because when Daniel was a lad, only 10 or 12 years of age, he was one of those captives that the Babylonians had carted off to Babylon and instilled them there in their government.

[9:13] And these young men, one of whom was Daniel, had great promise, and they were elevated to a position. And the first thing they did was they changed their name.

[9:24] Because when you want to exercise psychological control over someone that you have conquered, you give them a name that suits you.

[9:37] And that implies a kind of ownership of that person. So, all of these three children were given new names. They were given Babylonian names. And they were Shatmak, Meshach, Abednego, and then Daniel was named Belteshazzar.

[9:53] So, he comes and the king asks him, are you able to make known to me the dream which I have seen, excuse me, in its interpretation? And Daniel answered before the king and said, as for the mystery about which the king has inquired, neither wise men, conjurers, magicians, nor diviners are able to declare it to the king.

[10:14] However, there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will take place in the latter days.

[10:31] This was your dream and the visions in your mind while on your bed. Now, this is incredible stuff.

[10:44] And only because Daniel had the connection that he had. As for you, O king, while on your bed, your thoughts turn to what would take place in the future.

[11:00] And he who reveals mysteries has made known to you what will take place. But as for me, this mystery has not been revealed to me for any wisdom residing in me more than in any other living man.

[11:17] This is neat. This is the humility of Daniel. He is self-effacing. He's not saying, I know this because I'm so smart and I'm so capable. He's saying, I don't know any more than anybody else does.

[11:28] But the God whom I serve does. And then he says, but for the purpose of making the interpretation known to the king and that you might understand the thoughts of your mind, here it is.

[11:41] You, O king, and I can see this king with rapt attention sitting on that throne, craning his neck and his ears, listening to what Daniel is saying. And Daniel is going to spell out the whole thing.

[11:53] And the king is listening with rapt attention. You, O king, were looking and behold, there was a single great statue.

[12:06] And the king is saying to himself, yeah, yeah, there was. It was a huge statue. I remember seeing that in my dream. And Daniel goes on and says, which was large and of extraordinary splendor.

[12:25] It was standing in front of you and its appearance was awesome. And the king says, yeah, yeah.

[12:37] The head of that statue was made of fine gold. Yeah, it was.

[12:49] Yeah, it was gold. And this guy is just beside himself and Daniel is cranking out the information. It's breast and it's arms of silver.

[13:02] Excuse me. Now, gold represents the epitome of value, desirability. It's gold. And that's the head. And then he goes on and says, and it's arms of silver.

[13:17] silver. That's the next most valuable element. Silver, gold to silver. And then it lessens as it goes on. And then he says, it's belly and it's thighs of bronze.

[13:33] Sounds like Olympic medals, doesn't it? Gold, silver, and bronze. Okay. I don't know if that's where that came from, but who knows. And he goes on.

[13:43] It's legs of iron. So we've got decreasing value of the metals beginning with the gold and now we're down to iron. And actually, it isn't finished with iron.

[13:55] It's feet partly of iron and partly of clay. clay. That's the very cheapest you can get is the clay.

[14:07] And the king is just absolutely beside himself because that is exactly what he saw in this image. And he's saying to himself, this guy is good. You continued looking until a stone was cut out without hands.

[14:29] Kind of like kind of like a mountain and a stone being removed from a section of that mountain, but it isn't done by any workmen or anything.

[14:43] It just comes out of the side of this mountain. And the stone was cut out without hands and it struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and crushed them.

[15:00] then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed all at the same time and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors and the wind carried them away so that not a trace of them was found.

[15:19] But the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth. earth. Now, let me inject here, this stone that became a great mountain that filled the whole earth is the kingdom.

[15:39] This is the end product. This is the kingdom of heaven come to earth. Thousands of years before, this is what prophecy is all about.

[15:50] It is Daniel given this gift, looking into the future, telling this king who is on the throne, what is going to happen. And the king who is in power at the time is represented by that head of gold, he is the first of these kingdoms that's going to be established.

[16:10] In verse 36, in verse 36, we read, this was the dream. Yeah, you're right, this was the dream. Now, we shall tell its interpretation before the king.

[16:22] Now, I'm going to tell you what the dream means. You, O king, are the king of kings to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, the strength, and the glory.

[16:39] And I can see the king puffing his chest out saying, yeah, yeah, that's me. I'm the number one guy here. I'm the one who has this kingdom. And wherever the sons of men dwell, or the beasts of the field, or the birds of the sky, he has given them into your hand and has caused you to rule over them all.

[17:00] You are the head of gold. Well, so far, he's not talking about anything that's prophecy. He's talking about the presence because this is exactly what was happening.

[17:13] And the king, who was this head of gold, was in power and on the throne and ruling and reigning at the time. So Daniel is bringing him right up to speed and giving him something that you could have read out of today's Babylonian newspaper.

[17:28] But then, verse 39, after you, there will arise another kingdom inferior to you.

[17:39] Now, we'll just jump ahead and tell you, this is going to be the Medo-Persian empire. empire. They are the ones who are going to defeat the Babylonians and take control of the world, the Mediterranean world, at that time.

[17:59] They represent the arms, Medes, Persians, two elements, two armies combined. They are the arms of silver. They are what is going to follow this king.

[18:11] Now, of course, this is presuming that the king is going to be dead and buried and off the scene by then. And it will be someone else, you know, his son or his grandson who will be Belshazzar.

[18:22] This will be the guy who will see the writing on the wall. And the enemy will be undermining the city because while they're having this drunken orgy, celebrating things, the Medes and the Persians have diverted the river that ran right through the city of Babylon and made the stream go off in a different direction.

[18:44] And these troops are marching in the dead of night into Babylon under the city via the dried up river that had been there.

[18:57] And they are going to completely surprise them. They will be the Medes and the Persians. By the way, I don't know if you are aware of it or not, but the present day Medes that dwell between Iraq and Turkey.

[19:16] There's just a little slice of land there. These are the Kurds and these Kurds are direct descendants of the Medes who were involved in this fracas back in the book of Daniel.

[19:31] and they are people under themselves. And after you, there will rise another kingdom that will be the Medo-Persians inferior to you, then a third kingdom of bronze which will rule over all the earth.

[19:48] And this involves Greece and it will be headed by none other than Alexander the Great who is depicted in other places too.

[20:00] Joe? That word inferior in there, obviously these Medes Persians are not inferior to them because militarily they're not. This inferior here is referring to getting things accomplished, how soon things could be accomplished.

[20:15] It's kind of a government thing, not militarily inferior. Well, that could well be. But the Medes and the Persians are going to absolutely decimate the Babylonians militarily.

[20:29] and the Greeks are going to absolutely decimate the Medes and the Persians. And that will be under the leadership of Alexander the Great.

[20:42] And when Alexander the Great dies, his kingdom, which was incredible, all over the Mediterranean world, is broken up into four sections.

[20:55] and each of his commanding generals, each of his four generals were assigned a geographical area over which they might rule.

[21:07] And then this is going to be the breakup of the Grecian Empire, and out of that, Rome is going to rise.

[21:20] But let's go on. Then there will be a fourth kingdom, and this of course will be Rome, as strong as iron, and they will be the ones who will be in charge of the Mediterranean world at the time Jesus is born.

[21:34] when the decree goes out from Caesar Augustus in Rome that all the world should be taxed, that is, all the territory under Rome's jurisdiction, which includes all of the Mediterranean, which includes Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, all of Israel, where Jesus is going to be born, and that's why they go to Bethlehem to be enrolled for the census and the tax and so on.

[22:00] This fourth kingdom will be Rome, as strong as iron, inasmuch as iron crushes and shatters all things, so like iron that breaks in pieces, it will crush and break all these in pieces, and in that you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter's clay and partly of iron, it will be a divided kingdom, but it will have in it the toughness of iron, this again is reflecting of Rome, inasmuch as you saw the iron mixed with common clay, and as the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of pottery, so some of the kingdom will be strong and part of it will be brittle, and in that you saw the iron mixed with common clay, they will combine with one another in the seat of men, but they will not adhere to one another even as iron does not combine with pottery, and I am convinced that this will be the ten confederate nations that will be aligned under the leadership of the antichrist in the end time, and we're reading in verse 44, and in the days of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be left for another people, it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever, and those that it will crush and put an end to are those ten that are mentioned in verse 44, and this kingdom that will endure forever is the kingdom of which we are speaking, this is what everything is all about, this is where it is going, this is what will be established in the end time, it will be this worldwide kingdom, and who will be king of kings and lord of lords, it will be the returning

[24:07] Christ, the Messiah, who will establish that kingdom on the earth, and it will be the everlasting kingdom, and it will never be destroyed.

[24:18] Now let me fast forward just a little bit and then we'll have some questions. When King Saul comes to the throne, he's a Benjamite, and you know that his whole reign was an absolute disaster, and you know the story about David and Saul, et cetera, eventually Saul is killed in battle, and David comes to the throne.

[24:41] David has been anointed to be the next king by Samuel, and David comes to the throne, but his jurisdiction is limited to his own tribe, the tribe of Judah, and the tribe of Benjamin, but that's very strategic because it is in the tiny tribe of Benjamin, which is the smallest of all the tribes, it's in the tribe of Benjamin geographically that the temple is built, and Judah kind of surrounds it.

[25:12] so this king who has been installed in the place of Saul is of the tribe of Judah, and as you read the genealogies, and we won't take time to go there, but you find the genealogies in Matthew and also in Luke, where they follow, they go all the way back, one of them goes, the one in Luke goes all the way back, I think, to Abraham or to Adam, and the one in Matthew is establishing the throne rights of Christ, and these reflect what is going to transpire, and when you get all the way down to the very last king that Israel or that Judah has on the throne, his name is Zedekiah, he's the end of the Davidic line.

[26:07] You see, it began with King David, and every king after him was a direct descendant of David. This is what you call a dynasty, when it is the blood relative, son or daughter of the ruling king that takes over the throne and maintains the blood line, that is the dynasty.

[26:30] It is called the Davidic dynasty. Sometimes it's called the house of David, and that's a good term too, and it goes all the way down from the very first king, David, down through numbers of kings over a span of a thousand years, and there it arrives at Yeshua HaMashiach, Jesus the Messiah.

[26:58] But here's what we've got with Zedekiah, I'm sorry, with Zedekiah. Zedekiah, he's the last king ever to sit on the throne of Judah. And when the Babylonians invaded Israel, and sacked the city, and broke down the walls and everything, they captured Zedekiah, who had tried to flee from the city, tried an escape route, but they caught him, and they brought him back, and they forced Zedekiah to witness the execution of all of his sons, and then they put out his eyes, and made him walk all the way to Babylon, along with thousands of others that they had defeated and turned into slaves, taking them, carrying them off to Babylon.

[27:51] And there, Zedekiah died, and that was the end of the dynasty of Judah. It stopped with Zedekiah, and to this day, there has never been a king set on the throne of Israel.

[28:11] Even 1948, when it was reconstituted and renamed Israel, they established the Knesset, and they have a prime minister, and they still do today, but there's no royal line because it stopped with Zedekiah.

[28:24] Now, I want you to come to Acts. Let's leave Daniel, and let's come to Acts chapter 2. Or maybe chapter 1. Let's go to chapter 1 first. Book of Acts chapter 1.

[28:36] Yeah. If I may before you go away. Microphone, please. Yeah, what? Microphone. Oh. Do we have a microphone?

[28:47] Yeah. I'm sorry. Yeah, before you leave. Yeah, okay. Okay. Here, the mic up here.

[29:03] Thank you. Thank you. I was reading on from where you left off, where it said, the king fell upon his face and worshiped Daniel, commanded that they should offer an oblation and sweet odors unto him.

[29:25] And I'm reading the American Standard Version. I know you use the ASV, but for some reason, mine is different. In this, it's calling bronze brass, but they're not the same.

[29:39] I don't know why in here it's called bronze. You said brass, or have I got that reversed?

[29:50] Yeah, you said bronze, this says brass. Anyway, that's kind of a side issue. So, I didn't read on any farther than that.

[30:00] It just, it seems like the king has made Daniel, a pretty great guy here, and Daniel requested of the king and he pointed Shadrach Meshach and Abednego over the affairs of the province of Babylon.

[30:24] But Daniel was in the gate of the king. I'm kind of confused on that. I don't know if it's irrelevant from where you're going. But Daniel was in the gate of the king.

[30:35] Yeah, well, the gate, the gate in the ancient world like that, the gate was the place of business transactions. The gate was like, the gate was what we would call city hall.

[30:50] The gate was where decisions were made and people of importance sat at the gate. And this goes all the way back even in Genesis when you read about Lot, who, all the way back Genesis 19, when Lot pitched his tent towards Sodom.

[31:12] The next thing you know, he's living in Sodom. The next thing you know, he is sitting at the gate. And that means that Lot had been propelled into a position of authority, responsibility, respect, etc.

[31:25] And sometimes they're called the elders of the gate. It's kind of like the city council. And Daniel, by virtue of his revealing this dream and the meaning to the king, was immediately elevated to a super status, much like Joseph was when he interpreted the dreams for Pharaoh.

[31:46] So that's what's involved there. And so far as the medals are concerned, I really can't answer that. My guess would be bronze. Not worried about that at all. But it's said here that the king fell upon his face and worshipped Daniel.

[32:01] That just seems amazing that a king would worship well. I guess he's got good reason to considering. I think the king was forced to admit that Daniel was coming from and in connection with a being who was certainly superior to himself.

[32:21] And that's a... Get the mic. What? Yeah, that's it. Is that on? Yeah, other scripture in there indicates that Nebuchadnezzar recognized Daniel's God as a real powerful great God.

[32:43] But the problem with Nebuchadnezzar was he still kept his gods and he didn't give up his gods and go for... But he did recognize Daniel's God as a great God.

[32:55] But his problem was he didn't give up his own gods. And that's in other parts of the scripture. Daniel, Nebuchadnezzar is one of the most extraordinary guys that ever lived. And I'll tell you, you're going to get a chance to talk to Nebuchadnezzar because he's going to be in heaven.

[33:11] And he got there the hard way. I mean, he had to really hit bottom. And one night after all of these things had been revealed to him, you see, Nebuchadnezzar had an ego problem.

[33:25] His ego was the size of his kingdom. I mean, it was pretty big. And he was out there strutting around the walls of Babylon and saying to himself, Is this not great Babylon that I have built?

[33:40] And it's as if the Lord, a voice from heaven said, Okay, Neb, that's it. You're done. And he consigned that man to seven years of insanity.

[33:59] And he is crawling around on all fours eating grass like an animal. And that continued for seven years.

[34:13] And then the text tells us that Nebuchadnezzar came to himself. That means he really got the lay of the land.

[34:25] There was a God and it is not him. And it was a wake-up call and he was restored but he had a terrible lesson to learn.

[34:37] Now, I want to get along because we're going to be out of time here. I think he is. Nebuchadnezzar came to a realization of there is one God and now I know that the Most High God rules in the courts of heaven and he removes kingdoms and sets up kingdoms and he gives the kingdom to whomsoever he will.

[34:56] So he had a real lesson to learn. Now, are you in Acts? Keep your place in Acts. Keep your place in Acts and come to Luke chapter 19 because we'll be back in Acts in just a moment.

[35:07] Luke chapter 19. Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem for the last time. He is being accompanied by his twelve apostles and they are planning on great things when they get to Jerusalem because they are convinced that Jesus is the Messiah.

[35:29] He is the one promised by Moses and the prophets in the Old Testament. He has proven that with all the miracles that he's done and when Jesus gets into Jerusalem he's going to go to the temple and set up his throne and set up the kingdom of heaven that was spoken of all the way back in Daniel.

[35:50] And this thing called the kingdom of God is going to come to earth and Jesus will be the king and he's going to establish it. So in Luke chapter 19 we read in verse 11 and while they were listening to these things and by the way this is just before he enters Jerusalem the triumphal entries in this same chapter.

[36:15] While they were listening to these things Jesus went on to tell a parable not just any parable but the parable of someone in the parable who's going to be absent for a long time.

[36:30] To tell a parable because he was near Jerusalem and they, who's they? That's the apostles who were with him, they supposed that the kingdom of God was going to appear immediately.

[36:48] Just as soon as Jesus gets in town that's going to be it. He's going to set up the kingdom, he's going to chase the Romans out, it's going to be wonderful and the prophecy given by Daniel and goes all the way back to the seat of the woman in Genesis chapter 3, it's all going to be fulfilled.

[37:05] It's going to be wonderful just as soon as Jesus gets to Jerusalem, he's going to set up his throne. But what was set up was a cross.

[37:16] cross. That's a far cry from the throne. It's a cross. And they didn't have a clue. Earlier Jesus had told them what was going to happen when he got to Jerusalem, that the Son of Man is going to be shamefully entreated and crucified and raised again the third day.

[37:40] And Peter, at least Peter had the sense to take Jesus aside privately. And he told Jesus, you've got to stop talking that way.

[37:54] What are you saying? That's crazy. That's not going to happen to you. We would never let that happen to you. And this is the guy who was saying, though all the other guys might forsake you, you can count on me, boy, I'll never forsake you.

[38:07] Now you stop talking about this crucifixion business because that is not going to happen. You remember what Jesus said to him? He said, get thee behind me, Satan.

[38:20] Now Peter wasn't Satan, but he was certainly influenced by Satan. And he said, thou savorest the things of men, not the things of God. All Peter could think of was that kingdom, the throne, and by the way, Jesus had already told them when the son of man comes into his glorious kingdom, you also shall sit upon the twelve thrones ruling over the house of Israel.

[38:54] So these guys had a position in mind that was coming. And that's what they thought was going to happen. But the reason Jesus told this parable here was because this kingdom wasn't going to be.

[39:06] and he talks about a man who went away to a far country, was gone a long time before he came back. He was talking about himself. He's the one who's going away to the far country.

[39:17] He's going to return to heaven, and he's going to be gone for a long time, but eventually he will come back. And this parable didn't make any sense to them at all until after the resurrection.

[39:30] Now let us go back to that Acts passage in chapter one. This is all tied together, but you know something? If you don't see how it's tied together, it doesn't make any sense.

[39:46] You just have a bunch of separate individual fragments that are not connected. What we are trying to do with this whole series of prophecy and mystery is to enable you to make the connections.

[40:03] see how these things are going. And in Acts chapter one, they are gathered together, and verse four tells us that he commanded them, Jesus commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the father had promised, which he said you have heard of from me.

[40:26] And what he's actually talking about here is the coming of the Holy Spirit and empowering them on the day of Pentecost, which was just ten days away. But they didn't know that.

[40:37] He said you stay in Jerusalem until you are endued with power. And then he says, John baptized with water, but you, you apostles, you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit.

[40:51] And that, of course, would involve a special ability, special powers, everything that would go with it. not many days from now. How many would it be?

[41:01] It would be ten. It would be ten days. And that's when Pentecost would come. And so, when they had come together, they were asking him, saying, Lord, is it at this time you are restoring the kingdom to Israel?

[41:22] Now, what's Israel got to do with it? Everything. Because, listen, as difficult as this is for a lot of Gentiles to swallow, as difficult as it is for anti-Semitics to entertain, the nation of Israel is going to be the lead nation of the entire world.

[41:46] Israel, for so many thousands of years, has been the tail, not the head.

[42:02] When this time comes, we will learn that Israel will be the head and not the tail. And it is most significant to me that God takes the least of all of the nations and makes them the greatest.

[42:21] Isn't that something? Do you realize that the Jewish population is two-tenths of one percent of the entire world?

[42:33] And they are going to be elevated to the position of dominance and rulership over the entire world. What's going to happen is that Christ will be on the throne in Jerusalem ruling the entire world from that position with a rod of iron.

[42:51] That's another way of saying it will be a no-nonsense government, a rod of iron. And the twelve apostles will be ruling over the twelve tribes of Israel and David the king will be resurrected to rule over the twelve tribes with each of the apostles under them.

[43:14] And you say, what did you say? David the king? The guy that, the shepherd lad, that he's coming back, that he's going to rule and reign? Yes.

[43:25] And so are you. You're going to be there too. We're all going to be there. It's going to be something. So what the apostles are asking here is, hey, we thought you were going to set up your kingdom when you arrived in Jerusalem.

[43:40] But instead, there was this crucifixion and then the resurrection and then the forty days that you spent with us on the earth. And now, are you going to do it now?

[43:57] Now are you going to set up the kingdom? And what Jesus is saying in essence is, nope, still not yet. But you will receive power, you know, after that the spirit of God has come upon you.

[44:11] And he, in fulfillment of that parable he gave in Luke 19, he's gone. But he will return. And that's another subject of prophecy, but it's further away.

[44:21] It'll be near the end of our study. So, have you connected any dots? Yes. Let's get a microphone. Thank you.

[44:35] Thank you. Is the rock in Daniel, Jesus, from the New Testament, the rock, the stumbling rock that will crush them?

[44:51] Oh, yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. He is that rock. He is also, he is the stone which the builders rejected.

[45:05] The same shall be the head of the corner. Wow. Hey, bottom line, what this is all about, what it is all about is Jesus. His rulership, his reign, his fulfilling the prophecies, and it is going to be glorious.

[45:21] We're in for something. It's a real treat. Another question right here. comment? In Acts there, those apostles would have known that this, should have known that this wasn't the kingdom to be, time to be set up, the kingdom.

[45:38] The Old Testament told them that if, but they didn't want to look at those parts of the Old Testament, Isaiah and them, which said there will be a suffering savior and so forth come from. Absolutely. They just like to ignore that part of it and look at the part about a kingdom.

[45:52] You're so right. And this is where, this is where so many of our Jewish friends have gone astray in completely misinterpreting the whole picture. And this is why Jesus chided the two disciples on the road to Emmaus.

[46:05] Remember? When he encountered them in Luke 24, these guys were walking along just kicking rocks and their morale was so low they could walk on it. They were glum and beaten and downcast and everything.

[46:17] And Jesus came alongside of them. They didn't even know who he was. And he says, what's with you guys? Why are you so sad? What's going on? And they said, you must be a stranger around here.

[46:31] Don't you know what happened here just a few days ago? And Jesus says, what? And they said, well, it was Jesus of Nazareth. A man approved of God with signs and miracles.

[46:44] And we trusted, we trusted that it was to be he who should redeem Israel. But they crucified him. And he's dead.

[46:56] And it's all over. The dream is gone. And Jesus said to them, O foolish ones and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken.

[47:15] Ought not the Messiah to have suffered these things and to enter into his glory? Yes.

[47:27] But they didn't read that part. They didn't read all that the scripture said. You know what they read? They just read the good part. They read the second coming, the glory, the pomp, everything that went with it, the power, the majesty.

[47:42] The second coming. But they ignored the first coming. The first coming is a man of sorrows acquainted with grief. Surely he has borne our iniquities.

[47:53] He's carried our transgressions. Isaiah 53. And they ignored that. They just looked over that part. And they just got to the good stuff.

[48:04] So the Bible, the Old Testament, speaks very emphatically of two comings of the Messiah. One, to be a sacrifice for the world.

[48:17] And the second will be to lay claim to that which he has paid for. That's the second coming. And it will be glorious. Anybody got a question?

[48:29] They're just dying to ask because we're going to close. Anyone? Sarah, what? Here comes your microphone. Wait, wait, wait, wait. Do you think that maybe they didn't necessarily bypass those parts but they thought that the sufferings that he would endure would be similar sufferings that they endure and that they didn't die from?

[48:56] That they thought about it and they thought he might go through some of the same things, rejection and... Well, that's exactly what they're going to do. And he told them.

[49:07] In fact, he told the disciples. This must have been a rather discouraging piece of news to hear. But Jesus told them shortly before he was betrayed. He said, there's something you need to know, fellows, and that is the time is coming when those who kill you will think they are doing God a service.

[49:29] And that's exactly what Saul of Tarsus was thinking when he was persecuting these Jews. He thought he was serving God, stamping out this cancer that was growing on Judaism.

[49:42] And he says, I did it ignorantly and in unbelief. Okay, well, this is just a little more scratch of the surface and we'll continue this in our next session.

[49:55]  Thank you for your kind attention.