King Cyrus

Isaiah 44: 28 to 45: 1-6, 15

He says of Cyrus, "He is My shepherd. He will do everything I want him to do:" he says about Jerusalem, "It shall be rebuilt," and he says about the Temple, "Your foundation will be laid." 

This is what the Lord says about Cyrus, His annointed one:

"I have held him by his right hand so he could conquer the nations ahead of him, strip kings of their power, and open doors ahead of him so that the gates would not be shut.

"I will go ahead of you, Cyrus, and smooth out the rough places. I will break down the bronze doors and cut through the iron bars. I will give you treasures from dark places and hidden stockpiles. 

"Then you will know that I, the Lord God of Israel, have called you by name.

"For the sake of My servant Jacob, Israel, My chosen one, I have called you by name. I have given you a title of honor, although you don't know Me.

"I am the Lord, and there is no other. There is no other god besides Me. I will strengthen you, although you don't know Me. 

"So that from the East to the West people will know that there is no god except Me. I am the Lord, and there is no other."

"I prepared Cyrus for My righteous purpose. I will make all his roads straight. He will build My city and let My exiles go free without any payment or any reward," says the Lord of Armies. 

It is amazing that God would tell Isaiah to write about this king by name. Isaiah lived and wrote from 740 to 680 B.C., and Ezra and Nehemiah, who recorded the fulfillment of this prophecy, wrote from 456 to 425 B.C.; so Isaiah wrote about Cyrus about 200 years before he was born. 

This is proof that God is God, and He moves Nations and kingdoms to do His will in fulfilling His Plan of the Ages; even kings and leaders of Nations who don't even recognize Him as the only Supreme God of the Universe! He sets up and puts down, and He causes these people to do what He planned out ahead of time, even when they think it's all their own idea. 

And Cyrus did all these things, and succeeded just as God said He would.

God has not changed, or changed His tactics. He knows all things (He is omniscient) because He designed all of Creation and planned out the whole progression of Time from before the beginning to after the end. And He's laid it all out for us in the 66 books of the Bible, the written Word of God. 

We think we're having all our own ideas and thoughts, and making all our own decisions and choices freely. And we do have choices. And we do make our decisions freely. Within His parameters. We are free to choose what we want to do, but we are not free to choose what consequences will result from our decisions. 

We can choose to do what is according to His plan for others' benefit--or if we choose not to expose ourselves to what we think will be detrimental to ourselves, God will use someone else who chooses His way to benefit the others He wanted to bless. (See Esther 4:14.) 

And He still has all the Nations' leaders--all the kings and prime ministers and presidents and dictators and sheiks--in His hand, and He directs them in whatever role He puts them in. He knows who will do good, and He knows who has rejected Him and will do evil against their people. 

He is setting up the World system even now, to be prepared and ready for when Jesus returns. All according to how He has told us, in His Word. Everything He has said will happen, will happen. And everyone He calls to Salvation will hear and respond, until all His sheep will be gathered into one fold, as He said (John 10:16). Then the end will come (Matthew 24:14). 

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Focus

Nehemiah 6: 1-9, 15

When they had rebuilt the whole wall except for the gates, Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arab, and the rest of their enemies tried to lure Nehemiah out to kill him, but he didn't fall for it. 

Then they made up some hog wash about them rebelling and making Nehemiah their king, but he replied, exposing their slander. 

And they finished the whole wall in only 52 days!

In spite of all the problems and delays and attacks, they were totally focused on the work, and they got it done in record time!

God was with them. And He is also with me. I need to focus. 

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

The Lions' Den

Daniel 5: 31- 6: 28

Darius the Mede took over the kingdom in Babylon at the age of 62.

So now Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar are both gone, and a new king arises in this ancient land where the Jews are in exile.

Darius decided it would be good to appoint 120 satraps to rule throughout the kingdom.

This is a smart move, as one man wouldn't be able to manage this extensive realm by himself.

Over these satraps were three officials. Daniel was one of these officials. The satraps were to report to these three officials so that the king wouldn't be cheated.

These must have been three men who were either well-known to Darius or had impeccably high recommendation and reputation. It was up to them to make sure that these 120 governors were honest. 

This man, Daniel, distinguished himself among the other officials and satraps because there was an extraordinary spirit in him. The king thought about putting him in charge of the whole kingdom. 

Daniel had lived his entire adult life in this foreign land, and had served in the government virtually all that time, until he was retired after Nebuchadnezzar's reign, then was called upon again on Belshazzar's last night. Now this new king has recognized Daniel's integrity and skills, and is considering him for promotion. 

So the other officials and satraps tried to find something to accuse Daniel of in his duties for the kingdom. But they couldn't find anything wrong because he was trustworthy. No error or fault could be found. 

These other guys were envious of Daniel, and wanted to get rid of him to promote themselves. But he was honestly and meticulously doing everything he was supposed to be doing, and they couldn't find anything to accuse him of. 

These men said, "We won't find anything to accuse this man, Daniel, unless we find it in his religious practices."

They knew that he worshiped only God, not any of the idols everyone else honored. 

So these officials and satraps went to the king as a group. They said to him, "May King Darius live forever! All the officials, governors, satraps, advisors, and mayors agree that the king should make a statute and enforce a decree. The decree should state that for the next 30 days whoever asks for anything from any god or person except you, your Majesty, will be thrown into a lions' den. Your Majesty, issue this decree, and sign it. According to the law of the Medes and Persians no one could change it or repeal it." 

So Darius signed the written decree.

This is honoring King Darius as a god, appealing to his ego. 

When Daniel learned that the document had been signed, he went to his house. An upper room in his house had windows that opened in the direction of Jerusalem. Three times each day he got down on his knees and prayed to his God. He had always praised God this way.

This was his usual custom. He didn't change his daily routine even knowing about this new law.

One of those times the men came in as a group and found Daniel praying and pleading to his God.

They were stalking him, to catch him at prayer.

Then they went and spoke to the king about his decree. 

Didn't you? ...

Yes, I did. ... 

Well, this Daniel ... Na na na na na nah!

"Your Majesty, Daniel, one of the captives from Judah, refuses to obey your order or the decree that you signed. He prays three times each day."

Ha! We got you now, you Jew!

The king was very displeased when he heard this. He tried every way he could think of to save Daniel. Until sundown he did everything he could to rescue him.

Then Daniel's accusers gathered in front of the king. They said to him, "Remember, your Majesty, the Medes and Persians have a law that no decree or statute the king makes can be changed."

They were forcing his hand.

So the king gave the order, and Daniel was brought to him and thrown into the lions' den. The king told Daniel, "May your God, Whom you always worship, save you!"

Darius is recognizing that Daniel's trust in his God is real, but isn't really showing that Darius is trusting in God.

They closed the opening of the den with a stone, and sealed it with the king's ring, so he wouldn't be able to get out.

Then the king went to his palace and spent the night without any food or company, and he couldn't sleep, either. At the first light of dawn, the king got up quickly and went to the lions' den. As soon as he came near it, he called to Daniel with anguish in his voice, "Daniel, servant of the living God, was God Whom you always worship, able to save you from the lions?"

Daniel said to the king, "Your Majesty, may you live forever! My God sent His angel and shut the lions' mouths so that they couldn't hurt me. He did this because He considered me innocent. Your Majesty, I haven't committed any crime."

The king was overjoyed and had Daniel taken out of the den. When Daniel came out of the den, everyone saw that he was completely unharmed because he trusted his God.

The king ordered those men who brought charges against Daniel to be brought to him, and they suffered the fate they wished upon Daniel, and the lions ate them.

The king sure didn't appreciate these guys tricking him like that. 

Then King Darius wrote to the people of every province, nation, and language all over the world:

"I wish you peace and prosperity. 

I decree that in every part of my kingdom people should tremble with terror in front of Daniel's God, the living God Who continues forever. His kingdom will never be destroyed. His power lasts to the end of time. He saves, rescues, and does miraculous signs and amazing things in Heaven and on Earth. He saved Daniel from the lions."

This man, Daniel, prospered during the reign of Darius the Mede and the reign of Cyrus the Persian.

So Daniel, even in his old age, continued to serve the different kings as they came and went, and was never fired or forced to resign as the administrations changed hands. 

Daniel obviously got along well in this foreign society by obeying all the laws there, even helping to administer these alien ideas, but he never betrayed his trust in God. This takes wisdom and discretion.

And his witness and trust in God showed this whole succession of kings Who God is, and they all had opportunity to believe Him and trust Him, too. 

This story also shows us the valid basis for civil disobedience. Only when the civil law forbids what God commands us to do, or decrees that we do what God forbids, can we ligitimately disobey, but we must do it with respect and humility. Only then will God take care of whatever consequences follow. 

O Father, Lead me wherever You would have me go, and teach me Your ways, that I will be able to have wisdom and discretion to get along in other cultures with respect and humility. And may my life and my testimony also show others Who You are, as Daniel did so long ago. 

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

The Writing On The Wall

Daniel 5: 1-31

The Writing on the Wall:

King Belshazzar threw a large banquet for 1,000 nobles and drank wine with them. As they were tasting the wine, Belshazzar ordered that the gold and silver utensils which his grandfather Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the Temple in Jerusalem be brought to him. He wanted to drink from them with his nobles, his wives, and his concubines.

So the servants brought them and they all drank from them, and praised their gods made of gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood, or stone. 

Suddenly the fingers of a person's hand appeared and wrote on the plaster wall opposite the lamp stand of the royal palace. The king watched as the hand wrote. Then he turned pale, and his thoughts frightened him. His hip joints became loose, and his knees knocked against each other.

The king screamed for the psychics, astrologers, and fortunetellers to be brought to him. He told these wise advisors of Babylon, "Whoever reads this writing and tells me its meaning will be dressed in purple, wear a gold chain on his neck, and become the third-highest ruler in the kingdom.

Why the "third-highest"? Was Belshazzar the second-in-command? The acting king while his father is away? Hmm.

All the kings wise advisors came, but they couldn't read the writing or tell the king its meaning. King Belshazzar was terrified, and his face turned pale. His nobles didn't know what to do.

The discussion between the king and his nobles brought the Queen Mother herself into the banquet hall. The Queen Mother said, "Your Majesty, may you live forever! Don't let your thoughts frighten you, and don't turn pale. There's a man in your kingdom who has the spirit of the Holy God. In the days of your grandfather, he was found to have insight, good judgment, and wisdom like the wisdom of the gods. 

"Your grandfather, King Nebuchadnezzar, made him head of the magicians, psychics, astrologers, and fortunetellers. This Daniel (who was renamed Belteshazzar) was found to have knowledge, judgment, and an extraordinary spirit. He has the ability to interpret dreams, solve riddles, and untangle problems. Now call Daniel and he will tell you what it means."

So Daniel was taken (out of retirement) to the king. The king asked him, "Are you Daniel, one of the captives that my grandfather brought from Judah? I've heard that you have the spirit of the gods and that you have insight, good judgment, and extraordinary wisdom. 

"The wise advisors and the psychics were brought to me to read this writing and tell me its meaning, but they couldn't. I've heard that you can interpret such things and untangle problems. If you can read the writing and tell me its meaning, you will be dressed in purple, wear a gold chain on your neck, and become the third-highest ruler in the kingdom."

Daniel told the king, "Keep your gifts, give your gifts and awards to someone else. I'll still read the writing for you and tell you its meaning.

"Your Majesty, the Most High God gave your grandfather Nebuchadnezzar a kingdom, might, honor, and glory. People from every province, nation, and language trembled and were terrified by him, because God gave him power. 

"Nebuchadnezzar killed whomever he wanted to kill, and he kept alive whomever he wanted to keep alive. He promoted whomever he wanted to promote, and he demoted whomever he wanted to demote. 

"But when he became so arrogant and conceited that he became overconfident, he was removed from the royal throne. His honor was taken away from him. He was chased away from people, and his mind was changed into an animal's mind. He lived with wild donkeys, ate grass like cattle, and his body became wet with dew from the sky. 

"This happened until he realized that the Most High God has power over human kingdoms. God puts whomever He wishes in charge of them.

"Belshazzar, you are one of Nebuchadnezzar's successors. You didn't remain humble, even though you knew all this. But you made yourself greater than the Lord of Heaven: You had the utensils from His Temple brought to you, and your nobles, wives, and concubines drank wine from them, and you praised your gods of silver, gold, bronze, iron, wood, and stone. These gods can't see, hear, or know anything. 

"You didn't honor God, who has power (authority) over your life and everything you do. So He sent the hand to write this inscription. This is its meaning:

Mene, Mene,
Tekel,
Upharsin.

Mene means Numbered--God has numbered the days of your kingdom and will bring it to an end.

Tekel means Weighed--you have been weighed on a scale and found deficient.

Upharsin (and Peres) means Divided--your kingdom will be divided and given to the Medes and the Persians."

Then Belshazzar ordered that Daniel be dressed in purple and wear a gold chain on his neck. He made him the third-highest ruler in the kingdom. 

That night King Belshazzar of Babylon was killed, and Darius the Mede took over the kingdom at the age of 62.

Wow! God doesn't mess around. He is patient, but when people who know better go too far, He will step in and assert His authority. 

Belshazzar knew his family history. He knew how God had dealt with his grandfather, yet he still refused to give God the honor due Him. 

Darius was digging through the wall of the city as the king and all his nobles were getting drunk. In the middle of the night (when the party may have crashed in the party room) they broke through and murdered the reigning monarch and his nobles, but not Daniel. 

God spared Daniel. He obviously left the party and went home to his own retirement apartment, wherever he was living by then, and wasn't found when they massacred the palace residents.

God still had a purpose for Daniel, even in his old age.

O my Father, thank You for showing us all these interesting stories of real people who lived so long ago. Thank You for all the ways You show Yourself to different people, because You made us all different, and we each respond to different kinds of promptings. Some of us only need a whisper. Others need a two-by-four up the side of the head! 

And Jesus used different approaches with different people, also. 

Father, You know each of us so intimately, and You love each one of us. I don't understand why You don't save everyone, or even the majority of people. But I don't need to understand, I trust that You know best for each of us, even those who steadfastly and stubbornly refuse Your love. 

Your Plan of the Ages incorporates each of our personal stories, with all the choices we make, for good or ill. Even the things evil people do are fulfilling what You said would happen; and Your people are doing the things that promote Your Kingdom that we are living in now, inside us. 

Father, I appreciate that You give warnings to give people a chance to make the right decisions. I pray for those people I know today who don't know You yet. I pray that the warnings You are giving them would be taken seriously, and that these people will recognize Your authority over their lives. That they will turn from their wicked ways and come to You. 

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Was King Nebuchadnezzar Saved?

Daniel 4: 1-37

A Letter from Nebuchadnezzar about his insanity.

From King Nebuchadnezzar.

To the people of every province, nation, and language in the World. 

I wish you peace and prosperity. 

I am pleased to write to you about the miraculous signs and amazing things the Most High God did for me. 

His miraculous signs are impressive.
He uses His power to do amazing things. 
His kingdom is an eternal kingdom. 
His power lasts from one generation to the next.

I, Nebuchadnezzar, was living comfortably at home. I was prosperous while living in my palace. I had a dream that terrified me. The visions I had while I was asleep frightened me. So I ordered all the wise advisers in Babylon to be brought to me to tell me the dream's meaning. 

All his pagan and worldly advisers came to him.

I told them the dream, but they couldn't tell me its meaning. Finally, Daniel came to me (he had been renamed Belteshazzar after my god [Bel]). The spirit of the holy gods is in him. 

I told him the dream: Belteshazzar, head of the magicians, I know the spirit of the holy gods is in you. No secret is too hard for you [to uncover]. Tell me the meaning of the visions I had in my dream. These are the visions I had while I was asleep: and he recounted his dream to Daniel.

Now you, Belteshazzar, tell me its meaning because the wise advisers in my kingdom can't tell it to me. However, you can, because the spirit of the holy gods is in you.

This king sure had faith in Daniel, and really put him on the spot here.

Then Daniel (who was called Belteshazzar) was momentarily stunned. What he was thinking frightened him. I told him, Belteshazzar, don't let the dream and its meaning frighten you.

Belteshazzar answered, Sir, I wish that the dream were about those who hate you and its meanng were about your enemies. 

You saw an oak tree grow and become strong enough and tall enough to reach the sky. It could be seen everywhere on Earth. It had beautiful leaves and plenty of fruit, enough to feed everyone. Wild animals lived under it, and birds made their homes in its branches. 

You are that tree, your Majesty. You grew and became strong and mighty until you reached the sky. Your power reaches the most distant part of the World. 

You saw a guardian, a holy being, come down from Heaven. He said, Cut down the oak tree! Destroy it! But leave the stump and its roots in the ground. Secure it with an iron and bronze chain in the grass of the field. Let it get wet with the dew from the sky. Let it get its share of the plants on the ground with the wild animals for seven years. 

This is the meaning, your Majesty. The Most High has decided to apply it to you, your Majesty. You will be forced away from people and live with the wild animals. You will eat grass like cattle. The dew from the sky will make you wet. And seven years will pass until you realize that the Most High has power over human kingdoms and that He gives them to whomever He wishes. 

Since the stump and the tree's roots were left, your kingdom will be restored to you as soon as you realize that Heaven rules.

That is why, your Majesty, my best advice is that you stop sinning, and do what is right. Stop committing the same errors, and have pity on the poor. Maybe you can prolong your prosperity.

All this happened to King Nebuchadnezzar. Twelve months later, he was walking around the royal palace in Babylon. The king thought, Look how great Babylon is! I built the royal palace by my own impressive power and for my glorious honor.

Before the words came out of his mouth, a voice came from Heaven: King Nebuchadnezzar, listen to this: The kingdom has been taken from you. You will be forced away from people and live with the wild animals. You will eat grass like cattle. And seven years will pass until you realize that the Most High has power over human kingdoms and that He gives them to whomever He wishes. He can place the lowest of people in charge of them.

Just then the prediction about Nebuchadnezzar came true. He was forced away from people and ate grass like cattle. Dew from the sky made his body wet until his hair grew as long as eagles' feathers and his nails grew as long as birds' claws.

At the end of seven years, I, Nebuchadnezzar, looked up to Heaven, and my mind came back to me. I thanked the Most High, and I praised and honored the One Who lives forever, because His power lasts forever and His kingdom lasts from one generation to the next.

Everyone who lives on Earth is nothing compared to Him. He does whatever He wishes with the army of Heaven and with those who live on Earth. There is no one who can oppose Him or ask Him, What are You doing?

That's when my mind came back to me. My royal honor and glory were also given back to me. My advisers and nobles wanted to meet with me [again]. I was given back my kingdom and made extraordinarily great. 

Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, will praise, honor, and give glory to the King of Heaven. Everything He does is true, His ways are right, and He can humiliate those who act arrogantly.

So King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon became a believer in the God of Heaven, the Lord God of Israel. 

He realized that he really is little better than an animal, certainly not the god he had imagined himself to be previously. 

*[The Ryrie Study Bible, page 1316, in a note on 4:33, states that, "The king's illness was boanthropy (imagining himself to be an animal and acting accordingly), a condition that has been observed in modern times. Probably the king was kept in one of the royal parks during his insanity."]* 

God can save anybody who is open to Him. Even during the times before Jesus came to "open the door to Gentiles," this story shows us that God was not limiting salvation to only the Jews and Israelites. He is not willing that any should perish, but that all would come to repentance (II Peter 3:9), and He showed this king His power to care for and rescue His people, in ways no other god ever has or ever will. 

We are saved by faith, believing God and trusting Him to be and do what He has told us He would do. This is how He has always saved people, starting with Adam and Eve. And He continues to save whoever will believe Him and trust Him, acknowledging that He is God and we are not. 

This is the last we hear of Nebuchadnezzar, the next chapter is about his son (or grandson). And Daniel is still on the scene to give advice to this king, also. 

O my Father, thank You for your consistency in always loving us, always teaching us, and always providing for us and leading us. You protect us, You draw us to Yourself, and You humble us when we get on our "high horse," thinking that we're anything without You. 

You are my strength, You are my sustenance, You are my very life. You are the Source of everything I need or want, and Your Love drowns me in its fathomless depths. 

I long for the time when I will be with You where You are, enjoying Your Presence and basking in Your Goodness, worshiping You forever. 

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

The Harmless Fiery Furnace

Daniel 3: 1-30 

King Nebuchadnezzar made a gold statue 90 feet high and 9 feet wide. He set it up in the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon. 

Okay, this king kind of got a little full of himself, with Daniel telling him he was the gold head on the statue in his dream. Now he's made a whole statue of gold. 

Then King Nebuchadnezzar sent messengers to assemble ... all the provincial officers to dedicate the statue he had set up. 

[When they were all assembled] they stood in front of the statue.

The herald called out loudly, "People of every province, nation, and language! When you hear the sound of the [orchestra] of all kinds of instruments, bow down and worship the gold statue that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up. 
Whoever doesn't bow down and worship will immediately be thrown into a blazing furnace."

And he wants everyone to worship it! 

So everybody did.

Except for ...

Some astrologers came forward and brought charges against the Jews. [They said,] "Your Majesty, you gave an order ... 

" There are certain Jews, ... Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. They didn't obey, they don't honor your gods or worship the statue that you set up."

In a fit of rage and anger, Nebuchadnezzar summoned [them] and asked them, "Is it true? ... What god can save you from my power then?"

[They] answered the king, "We don't need to answer you. Our God, whom we honor, can save us from a blazing furnace and from your power, He will, your Majesty. But even if He doesn't, you should know, your Majesty, we'll never honor your gods or worship the gold statue that you set up."

The king was so angry that his face turned red, he ordered that the furnace be heated seven times hotter, and told some soldiers to tie up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego and throw them in, still wearing all their clothes.

Then Nebuchadnezzar was startled. He sprang to his feet. He asked his advisers, "Didn't we throw three men bound into the fire?"
"That's true," they answered.
The king replied, "But look! I see four men. They're untied, walking around in the middle of the fire, unharmed. The fourth one looks like a son of the gods!"

When they came out of the furnace, everyone gathered around the three men. They saw that the fire had not harmed their bodies, the hair on their heads wasn't singed, their clothes weren't burned, and they didn't even smell of smoke.

Nebuchadnezzar said, "Praise the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. He sent His angel and saved His servants, who trusted Him. They disobeyed the king and risked their lives so that they would not have to honor or worship any god except their own God. 

"So I order that people from every province, nation, or language who say anything slanderous about [their] God will be torn limb from limb. Their houses will be turned into piles of rubble. 

"No other god can rescue like this."

Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego to higher positions in the province of Babylon.

This is a popular story. Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah had strong faith in God, and trusted Him beyond reason. They really did risk their lives, and would have been martyrs, if God hadn't intervened. 

They knew He could rescue them. But they said that even if He didn't, they still wouldn't worship any other god. They left it up to God, and made no demands. And He did rescue them. 

And Nebuchadnezzar acknowledged that God was greater than any other god. 

This pagan king is getting an idea of Who God is, but he still needs a little more encouragement. 

Check back tomorrow for the next chapter in this gripping saga. 

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Nebuchadnezzar's First Dream

Daniel 2: 31-45 

Here is King Nebuchadnezzar's dream.

Your Majesty, in your vision you saw standing before you a giant statue, bright and shining, and terrifying to look at. Its head was made of the finest gold; its chest and arms were made of silver; its waist and hips of bronze, its legs of iron, and its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. While you were looking at it, a great stone broke loose from a cliff without anyone touching it, struck the iron and clay feet of the statue, and shattered them. At once the iron, clay, bronze, silver, and gold all crumbled and became like the dust on a threshing place in summer. The wind carried it all away, leaving not a trace. But the stone grew to be a mountain that covered the whole Earth. 

This was the dream. Now I will tell your Majesty what it means. Your Majesty, you are the greatest of all kings. The God of Heaven has made you emperor and given you power, might, and honor. He has made you ruler of all the inhabited Earth and ruler over all the animals and birds. You are the head of gold. 

After you there will be another empire, not as great as yours, and after that a third, an empire of bronze, which will rule the whole Earth. 

And then there will be a fourth empire, as strong as iron, which shatters and breaks everything. And just as iron shatters everything, it will shatter and crush all the earlier empires. 

You also saw that the feet and the toes were partly clay and partly iron. This means that it will be a divided empire. It will have something of the strength of iron, because there was iron mixed with the clay. The toes--partly iron and partly clay--will mean that part of the empire will be strong and part of it weak. You also saw that the iron was mixed with the clay. This means that the rulers of that empire will will try to unite their families by intermarriage, but they will not be able to, any more than iron can mix with clay.

At that time of those rulers the God of Heaven will establish a kingdom that will never end. It will never be conquered, but will completely destroy all those empires and then last forever. You saw how a stone broke loose from a cliff without anyone touching it and how it struck the statue made of iron, bronze, clay, silver, and gold. The great God is telling your Majesty what will happen in the future. I have told you exactly what you dreamed, and have given you its true meaning.

Wow. God told this ancient king His whole plan of how history will play out in the World from his time all the way to when Jesus returns and sets up His Kingdom. 

Has the history of the World played out as this has it? 

biblestudytools.com gives this insight:

"The world power in its totality appears as a colossal human form: Babylon the head of gold, Medo-Persia the breast and two arms of silver, Graeco-Macedonia the belly and two thighs of brass, and Rome, with its Germano-Slavonic offshoots, the legs of iron and feet of iron and clay, the fourth still existing."

So World History has played out just as God showed so long ago, before any of it happened yet.

Later in this book, God revealed to Daniel more details of this future history, especially the ten toes and the timing of when things will happen at that time to set up the World for the coming of Messiah, the stone that grows into the World-wide government that will never end.

Since God is our Maker, and the Planner and Designer of everything that exists, He has the wisdom and the power to see that the progression of the history of the World will play out exactly as He planned it. Everything has a purpose, and all the choices of Mankind's "free will" are all incorporated into that time-stream that inexorably carries us continually into the future, day by day. 

And we are already at the end of the human governments, with the Roman Empire having split into ten divisions, more or less, repeatedly. Just look at the League of Nations, look at the European Union, look at the United Nations. We are replaying this scene over and over, and one of these "ten kings" governments will be in power at the time of the Coming of Christ our King. 

How much longer will He tarry? He is waiting for every person who will come to repentance (II Peter:3:9) to come into His Kingdom, not leaving anyone behind (John 6:39). And when this Gospel, this Good News that God has redeemed us by Jesus' Blood, has been preached in the whole World, and everyone has heard it; then "the end" shall come (Matthew 24:14). 

Are you ready to meet Him in the clouds? I trust that I am ready and I look for Him every day. I look at the clouds and am reminded that "He will come with clouds" (Revelation 1:7), and I wonder if they will be the clouds in the sky, Heavenly clouds, or clouds of Glory!

He could be here any day now!

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!