Click above to watch video.
OR
Click below to play audio and read along.
Good morning my “Walking with Jesus” friends,
While our world watched the inauguration of a new American president yesterday, I imagine already today almost everyone in the world has a list of their expectations of what this change of leadership in America will mean for our world. Of course, TIME will tell the story, but I wonder what our world will look like one year or 10 years or 100 years from now?
2600 years ago, in the most powerful throne room in the world, the most powerful man in the world King Nebuchadnezzar had been listening to Daniel, a young Jewish captive, explain a prophetic dream Almighty God had given Nebuchadnezzar. The dream was God’s overview of human history, from God’s perspective, beginning that day in about 602bc and continuing forward to our day in 2025 and beyond into the future God sees for our planet and our human race!! Are you ready for more today?
Daniel was speaking to King Nebuchadnezzar in his great palace in the city of Babylon, the capital of the Babylonian empire. Daniel had been dragged off from his hometown of Jerusalem only a few years earlier, by Nebuchadnezzar’s army in 605bc. Nebuchadnezzar had ransacked Jerusalem taking as captives the princes of the Jewish royal family and some of the nobility, including Daniel. Nebuchadnezzar had also ransacked the great Jewish Temple and helped himself to some of the golden worship objects.
The great days of the city of Jerusalem were over. Following the death of King Josiah, the last God honoring Jewish King in Jerusalem, sadly the Jewish people quickly turned away from God to embrace the idolatry and even occult worship of nations around them. In response, God removed His hand of protection and four times in one generation Jerusalem was invaded. First by Pharaoh Necho in 609bc and then three times by King Nebuchadnezzar in 605bc, 596bc and finally 586bc. Each time Nebuchadnezzar helped himself to more of the splendor of Jerusalem including the great Jewish Temple.
Finally, in 586bc Nebuchadnezzar’s army broke down Jerusalem’s city walls, destroyed the city, dragging off thousands of Jewish captives, and demolished the Jewish Temple which Solomon had originally constructed about 400 years before! (2 Chronicles 36:1-21)
Now watch this important statement my friends: from that dreadful day in 586bc, with Jerusalem and the Jewish temple smoldering and nothing but rubble in all directions, until today in 2025ad, Jerusalem and the Jewish people have NOT had a Jewish king, from the royal line of King David, sitting the throne of Israel in Jerusalem!
Yesterday I explained to you that the ROCK in Daniel 2:34,35 which smashed the statue and then grew to be a mountain that covered the earth, symbolized the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God! When King Jesus returns to earth in His second advent and defeats the enemies of God and of Israel (Rev. 19:11-21) and King Jesus establishes His millennial kingdom with His throne in Jerusalem, (Rev. 20:1-6) that will be the first time since King Nebuchadnezzar’s destruction of Jerusalem in 586bc, that Israel will once again have a God honoring, Jewish King, on the Throne of David in Jerusalem, fulfilling Gabriel’s promise to Mary. (Luke 1:31-33) This prolonged period when the people of Israel will be WITHOUT a Jewish King was referred to by Jesus as “…the times of the Gentiles.”
A few days before Jesus was crucified in Jerusalem, Jesus was explaining to His disciples some of the yet future times Daniel had been describing to King Nebuchadnezzar, 600 years earlier. Oh, the disciples knew their history well. They knew of the great destruction when King Nebuchadnezzar had demolished Jerusalem in 586bc, but over time Jerusalem had been rebuilt, including the great Temple even though no Jewish king from David’s royal line had reigned. Jesus predicted Jerusalem’s destruction would happen again, and it did in 70ad when the Romans destroyed both Jerusalem and the Temple. Jesus said: “As for what you see here, the time will come when not one stone will be left on another; every one of them will be thrown down.” (Luke 21:6)
But as Jesus looked further into the future He said: “Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled…at that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.” (Luke 21:24,27) Do you hear Jesus’ prediction that one day HE would be the victorious king returning in power and great glory as King of Israel, bringing the ‘times of the Gentiles’ to a close?!
By the way my friends, Dr. Luke, you’ll recall, was a Gentile! The only Gentile author of a New Testament book and the Holy Spirit led Dr. Luke to write both the Gospel of Luke, the story of Jesus, and the book of Acts, the story of the spread of the Gospel and birth of the Church across the Roman empire!
Daniel, the young, captive Jewish prophet, had yet one more final, very significant statement to make to the most powerful man in the world, King Nebuchadnezzar. Daniel recorded his words for us in Daniel 2:45b “The great God has shown the king what will take place in the future. The dream is true, and its interpretation is trustworthy.”
I wonder if that sounds familiar to you, my friends. About 1100 years earlier, in an Egyptian palace, a young Jewish captive by the name of Joseph was interpreting dreams for the most powerful man in the world at that time, the Pharaoh of Egypt. God had then, as He had done with Nebuchadnezzar, given to the most powerful man an important dream describing future events.
As with Nebuchadnezzar, the Pharaoh could not find any man among all his advisors who could accurately interpret his dreams, until, that is, until Joseph the Jewish prisoner was brought before the Pharaoh! Then God gave to Joseph a miraculous understanding of the Pharaoh’s dreams, just as God did with Daniel.
Joseph said to the Pharaoh as Daniel had said to Nebuchadnezzar: “God has shown Pharaoh what HE is about to do…the matter has been firmly decided by God and God will do it soon.” (Gen. 41:28,32) And you may recall Pharaoh’s dreams did in fact happen, just as Joseph predicted, just as Nebuchadnezzar’s dream has occurred thus far, just as Daniel predicted.
So, let’s pause again my friends. Today I’ve shown you that there are yet some very significant aspects of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream which are yet in the future, and maybe that future is in our generation! Are you ready for the return of King Jesus? I think we need to pause and both pray and praise! I’ll give you a song to help you praise and I urge you to bow your head and speak with the King of kings, Jesus!
Today’s Scripture: Daniel 2:44,45 & Luke 21:24, 27.
Choose below to read or listen.
Daniel 2:44,45
 |  |
Luke 21:24, 27
| |
Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.
Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
Archived back issues of “Walking with Jesus” and other resources are available by clicking here to open our ‘home page’ (or go to HOME at upper right of this page).
Share with friends. Subscribe below for daily “Walking with Jesus”.