hey have invaded us! They have conquered us, stolen from
our temple, and captured thousands of our people! Those must
have been just a few of the thoughts of some of the Israelites
who watched Nebuchadnezzar and his Babylonian army march
through the streets of Jerusalem after they had defeated
Pharaoh Neco and his Egyptian army. Nebuchadnezzar and his
army had come to conquer and control the land of Judah. Now
he came to humiliate their King Jehoiakim by making him a
slave and stealing from the holy temple. Before Nebuchadnezzar
left Judah, he made Jehoiakim a puppet governor to control
the land Nebuchadnezzar now claimed as his own. The once
proud nation under King David and King Solomon was now in
the control of the Babylonian Empire.
The book of Daniel starts at this historical
event and sweeps us into the future. We will watch God use
a young man to point kings, sorcerers, magicians, and astrologers
to Himself. We are quickly introduced to the metallic statue
which illustrates the rise and fall of great world empires.
As dreams and visions continue to unfold throughout Daniel,
we start to understand God's future predictions for us. We
will see explicit prophecies about nations and a prophecy
that predicts the time of Jesus' death. This is a book in
which God has clearly spoken. He has spoken! |
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