01 Countdown To Eternity Lesson
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The document provides an overview of a Bible study lesson on the second coming of Christ. It discusses how Dwight L. Moody was fascinated by this topic and found over 2,500 references to it in the Bible. The lesson then examines prophecies from the books of Daniel and Revelation about the rise and fall of earth's kingdoms and God's kingdom that will be established at Christ's second coming. It specifically analyzes Daniel's prophecy of the statue with a head of gold, chest and arms of silver, belly and thighs of bronze, legs of iron, and feet of iron mixed with clay to represent successive world empires from Babylon to Rome and its division.
01 Countdown To Eternity Lesson
- 1. Countdown to Eternity Lesson 1 One of the greatest evangelists that ever lived was Dwight L. Moody. Moody was especially fascinated by the subject we are going to study in this lesson. He decided to begin reading the Bible to see how often the second coming of Christ was mentioned. To his amazement, he found over 2,500 references! Thus making it one of the most important truths of the Bible. Though the future of this world may be dark, we are continually reminded of God's promises. One of my favorites is Isaiah 46:9-10, "Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure." Here God clearly says He alone is God, the only one that can declare the end from the beginning! Let's begin by thinking back to the first coming of Jesus, when He came as a babe in Bethlehem to die for our sins. We see that all the religious people in Jesus' day had the Old Testament of the Bible just as we do today. We also see in the Old Testament many verses that told those people knew exactly how Jesus would come, when he would come, and in what manner He would come. And yet, the vast majority of religious people missed His first coming! Why? For two reasons; Few were reading the Scriptures and seeking the truth. The religious leaders had created a teaching that was false. By pulling a few texts out of context, and ignoring many others, they taught a pleasing false doctrine that deceived millions. We can learn much from this, for history often repeats itself. Jesus also realized this. This is why in Matthew 24:4 when the disciples asked Him about the signs of His coming and the end of the world Jesus' first words were: "Take heed that no man deceive you." That's good counsel! Let's allow the Bible to speak so we can find the truth. In the book of Daniel, we find one of the most dramatic prophecies in the Bible about the coming kingdom of God. Here God predicts the rise and fall of earth's kingdoms, beginning in Babylon's time, to the end of time and the second coming of Christ. Daniel is a captive Jew in Babylon - one of the few men who serves the true God of heaven. He was highly educated and occupied one of the highest positions in the government. In Daniel 2:1, King Nebuchadnezzar had a dream. The dream was so vivid that he woke up startled. However, he could not remember what he dreamed! So he summoned his magicians, and astrologers and demanded to know what he dreamed, and the interpretation of that dream! Of course this was impossible, and as they discussed this, the king became aware that he had a lot of worthless men on his payroll. So he decided to kill them all (verse 12). As his army captain gathered these men, they came to Daniel. Daniel was surprised at
- 2. 2 this hasty decree of the king and quickly went to ask him for time (verse 16). As Daniel prayed, God revealed the vision to him during the night (verse 19), after which Daniel went before the king. We pick up the story in verses 26-27, "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?" 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." Here Daniel speaks lightly of the king's astrologers and soothsayers, revealing their inability. (And by the way, these methods and practices are just as foolish today as they were back then.) In verses 28-29 Daniel then gives the glory to God. "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; 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." Notice here this vision is for the "latter days." After chapter one we know we are living in the latter days, so this vision is especially for us! Daniel now reveals the dream! Verses 31-36, "Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible. This image's head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay. 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. Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken into 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. This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king." Let's allow the Bible to interpret this. What does the head of gold symbolize? Verses 37-38, "Thou, o king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory. 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" Clearly it represents Nebuchadnezzar and his Babylonian kingdom. This kingdom ruled from 605 B.C to 538 B.C. What do the breast and arms of silver represent? Daniel 2: 39 (first half), "And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee." The next kingdom was the Medo- Persian empire. Just as silver is inferior to gold, Medo-Persia was inferior to Babylon, yet overthrew it in 538 B.C. and ruled until 331 B.C. Next, We have the belly and thigh of brass. Verse 39 (last part), "and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth." The third kingdom to rule the earth was Greece. Under Alexander the Great, they quickly conquered Medo-Persia in 331 B.C. and ruled until 168 B.C.
- 3. 3 Finally, we have the fourth metal of iron. Verse 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." The fourth and final kingdom was Rome. It ruled from 168 B. C. to 476 A.D. A powerful kingdom that for over 600 years ruled the world. In perfect fulfillment we see today there have only been these four world kingdoms since the days of Babylon. But now the prophecy gets more amazing, and God prophecies the next events. Verses 41-42, "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 iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay. 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." God says Rome, the fourth kingdom, will be divided, like the feet and toes, with some divisions weak and some strong. History confirms all of these, for when Rome fell in 476 A.D. it did not fall to another world kingdom, but rather was conquered by the Barbarian tribes from the north. Rome then divided into 10 other kingdoms. The ALAMANNI (German), VISIGOTHS (Spanish), FRANKS (French), SUEVI (Portuguese), BURGUNDIANS (Swiss-Austrian), ANGLO SAXONS (English), LOMBARDS (Italian) and the HERULI, VANDALS, and OSTRO-GOTHS. (These last three no longer exist, another fulfillment of prophecy Lesson 3 will explain why). Here again we see an amazing fulfillment of prophecy, yet it gets more dramatic. Verse 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." Here God predicted that these kingdoms would intermarry, but never unite. Think how many men throughout the ages have tried to prove God wrong and unite Europe. Charlemagne, Hitler, Stalin, Napoleon, and others. Yet all these men, with their mighty armies were stopped dead by seven words in the Bible. "They shall not cleave one to another." It's wonderful to know there is a God who is still in control of this world and has a divine plan. Let's see what that plan is. Verses 44-45, "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 forever. 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." God says in the days of these kings (kingdoms), He will set up His kingdom, which shall
- 4. 4 stand forever! Everything is in place. The next world kingdom will be God's! Revelation paints a beautiful picture of the coming kingdom. Revelation 21: 1-5, "And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of 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 shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new, And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful." As we look forward to this promise being fulfilled we can also anticipate Jesus' first promise to come again. John 14:1-3, "Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: If it were not so, I would have told you, I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also."