Give Me the Bible

Medo-persia

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: Pr. Kenneth Cox

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Series Code: GMTB

Program Code: GMTB000022


00:19 Hello and welcome to the series
00:22 Give Me The Bible.
00:25 The Bible: the book that for
00:27 thousands of years
00:28 has brought hope, encouragement, peace, and the message of God
00:33 to people from all over the world.
00:36 This series is dutifully entitled
00:38 Give Me The Bible.
00:40 The book that has survived all kinds of battles.
00:45 The book that has surfaced over and over again
00:48 as God's Word: the Holy Scriptures.
00:51 The only book that could be called the Holy Scriptures.
00:55 Translated in just about every language of the world
00:58 and continues to be relevant for this age.
01:03 And... there's a blessing promised to those that open
01:08 the pages of this book.
01:10 God comes near to them
01:13 and blesses them with the knowledge of His Word,
01:17 of His mind.
01:19 The Bible... and this is what the series is about:
01:23 God's Word.
01:25 And the speaker for this series is Elder Kenneth Cox,
01:29 an evangelist that has preached practically all over the world.
01:32 It is in his heart to bring God's message to the people.
01:37 That's why this series is entitled Give Me The Bible
01:41 because it is Elder Cox's desire to lead people to the Bible
01:47 so that they will find there God's message.
01:51 And we're dealing with prophecy in this program.
01:53 And we encourage everyone watching all over the world
01:56 to put whatever aside might cast your attention
02:00 in other directions and pay attention
02:03 as we study God's Word together.
02:05 This message comes from God's Word.
02:08 We are dealing with Bible prophecy.
02:11 Medo-Persia, an empire that came upon the scene
02:14 of the world history and has left its mark.
02:18 So we encourage you to study today in prayer...
02:21 because it is with God's help and through prayer that we
02:25 can understand God's Word.
02:26 And God's servant, Evangelist Kenneth Cox, will
02:30 lead us in this study that will surely impact your lives.
02:35 But before that, we have the privilege of listening
02:40 to music that will elevate our thoughts to heaven.
02:44 And we have Emily Felts-Jones.
02:47 And the message in song is:
02:49 All Hail the Pow'r of Jesus' Name.
03:04 All hail the pow'r of Jesus' name!
03:09 Let angels prostrate fall,
03:14 Bring forth the royal diadem,
03:19 and crown Him
03:22 Lord of all;
03:27 Bring forth the royal diadem,
03:32 and crown Him
03:35 Lord of all.
03:42 Ye seed of Israel's chosen race,
03:48 ye ransomed of the fall,
03:52 Hail Him who saves you by His grace,
03:58 and crown Him
04:01 Lord of all.
04:05 Hail Him who saves you by His grace,
04:11 and crown Him
04:14 Lord of all.
04:21 O that with yonder sacred throng
04:26 we at His feet may fall,
04:31 Join in the everlasting song,
04:37 and crown Him
04:40 Lord of all.
04:44 Join in the everlasting song,
04:50 and crown Him
04:53 Lord of all.
05:00 All hail the pow'r of Jesus' name!
05:07 Let angels prostrate fall...
05:23 Thank you, Emily,
05:24 and good evening to each one of you.
05:26 Good evening. Very happy to welcome you tonight.
05:30 Also to welcome all of you who are watching by television
05:34 or tuning in the radio.
05:37 We're very happy to welcome you
05:38 tonight and we hope that you'll
05:40 be blessed in a special way
05:42 as we continue to study prophecy.
05:45 That's what this particular series is about...
05:47 entitled Five Have Fallen.
05:51 Talking about Bible prophecy...
05:53 prophecy that God has given concerning nations
05:58 and what would happen to them. What the outcome would be.
06:01 How one would rise; another would go down.
06:04 We're going to be taking a look at that
06:06 tonight as we continue to study it.
06:08 And we hope that you'll be blessed in a special way
06:11 and it'll help you get into your Bible and study it.
06:16 Take a look at some of these things because
06:19 it is absolutely amazing how God, over and over and over,
06:25 told exactly what was going to happen to a nation.
06:28 What would happen; how it would be fulfilled;
06:31 what would take place.
06:32 And it took place just exactly as God said it would,
06:35 and you'll see some of that tonight.
06:38 Tonight we're talking about the nation of Medo-Persia.
06:43 Now, last presentation we dealt with the nation of Babylon.
06:48 The kingdom of Babylon... we talked about it.
06:51 Tonight's on Medo-Persia.
06:53 Our next presentation after this one will be on Greece.
06:59 That will be the third one.
07:01 Remember the scripture says Five Have Fallen.
07:05 We found out about the fall of Babylon.
07:08 Now tonight we're going to take a look at Medo-Persia.
07:11 So we hope that as you pick up your Bible
07:16 and read that you'll begin to see how God has outlined it
07:22 step by step by step.
07:24 And these prophecies that we are dealing with
07:26 will take us through these five nations,
07:29 but it doesn't stop there.
07:30 Our next series after this one will continue that.
07:34 So for this series and the next series
07:36 we're going to be into Bible prophecy.
07:39 And we hope that it will help you in your understanding of
07:43 God's Word in a special way.
07:45 But tonight, we're looking at the
07:49 Are you enjoying Emily? Are you enjoying her music?
07:53 Very much so. Appreciate her music,
07:56 and I know that I've been blessed by it.
07:58 I hope that you are.
08:00 Tonight she's going to sing I Want To Know More.
08:18 A minister was calling
08:21 to people on the street:
08:24 "Won't you come out of the cold?
08:27 Come in and have a seat. "
08:31 And since she had no place to go
08:34 she wandered in and sat alone...
08:37 hoping that nobody else would see.
08:43 She wasn't really listening,
08:46 and yet somehow she heard
08:49 a precious name that eased her pain
08:55 there among his words.
08:59 And she said: "I want to know more;
09:04 tell me about Him.
09:07 I want to hear His name.
09:13 And I want to feel the power of mercy
09:18 touch me again and again. "
09:28 Down at the end of Main Street
09:31 forgotten one more time,
09:34 lies a battered, broken soul
09:37 someone left behind.
09:40 A rugged man in a ragged heap
09:44 this time hard times played for keeps.
09:47 So alone he's not sure he's alive.
09:53 But then he sees her bending down,
09:56 and as she spoke he heard
09:59 a precious name that eased his pain
10:04 there among her words.
10:08 And he said: "I want to know more;
10:14 tell me about Him
10:17 'cause I want to hear His name.
10:22 And I want to feel the power of mercy
10:28 touch me again and again. "
10:34 Oh, the precious name of Jesus
10:37 can lift the lowest heart
10:40 and find the lost, forgotten dreams
10:43 and hide them from the dark.
10:46 Mentions of His mercy,
10:50 whispers of His grace,
10:52 can only leave the longing soul
10:56 just one thing to say.
11:00 "Oh, I want to know more;
11:06 tell me about Him
11:09 'cause I want to hear His name.
11:14 And I want to feel the power of mercy
11:20 touch me again and again.
11:27 Tell me about Him
11:29 'cause I want to hear His name.
11:35 Yes, I want to feel the
11:38 power of mercy
11:41 touch me again and again. "
12:10 Our Heavenly Father, tonight we come to You -
12:14 One who knows the end from the beginning.
12:19 One who sets up kings
12:22 and takes them down.
12:24 Lord, as we look at Your Word
12:27 and look at prophecy tonight,
12:29 help us to see and to understand
12:32 Your greatness, Your leading,
12:36 Your guiding... that we might place our faith and our trust
12:42 in what You have said and realize that it will take place
12:47 just as You said it would.
12:50 Give us faith and understanding we pray in Christ's name,
12:54 Amen.
13:00 In Revelation the 17th chapter there is a beast.
13:06 A woman is riding on this beast,
13:09 and this particular beast has seven heads.
13:13 It says here:
13:26 Now these seven heads on this beast...
13:29 the scripture also tells us that they are seven kings.
13:46 These are seven kings. Those seven heads on that beast
13:51 are seven heads of different beasts
13:54 representing different nations.
13:57 Just like last night we studied about Babylon,
14:00 and Babylon is pictured in
14:02 Daniel the 7th chapter
14:04 as a lion.
14:06 So on this beast, one of the
14:08 heads would be the head of a lion because it would
14:11 represent Babylon.
14:13 And it says those seven heads are seven kings
14:17 or kingdoms if you please.
14:19 And that's what we're looking at,
14:21 and we will be going through that step by step
14:24 as we take... go through this study,
14:26 particularly on Five Have Fallen.
14:29 Now last night as we talked about this we found that
14:33 Babylon came in... Nebuchadnezzar did...
14:37 came in, overthrew Judah.
14:40 And he took the people prisoner, captive.
14:44 Sacked the city; destroyed the temple
14:48 and took the people back to Babylon.
14:52 This is the journey that they took, and I told you last night
14:57 that this was a place - Middle East - where you have
15:01 all these nations, and this was what was called
15:04 The Fertile Crescent.
15:06 And if you look at the map and you look at the green
15:09 line there, you can see the travel that they took
15:14 going up the Jordan River. Up to the top of it
15:18 then coming across and coming down the Euphrates River
15:21 and bringing it down to Babylon.
15:24 That was a trip of about 1,500 miles.
15:28 So they are taken to Babylon.
15:31 They spend 70 years in Babylon,
15:36 and last night we talked about Nebuchadnezzar, his rule there.
15:40 We talked about Belshazzar, his grandson.
15:44 Nabonidus, his son.
15:46 Those 70 years we talked about last night.
15:49 I want to share a text with you found here in the Bible.
15:52 I don't have it on the screen,
15:53 but it's found in Jeremiah... Jeremiah the 29th chapter,
15:58 and verse 10. Jeremiah 29:10.
16:02 I want you to listen to what it says.
16:04 You understand that Jeremiah lived just at the time before
16:10 the children of Israel were carried captive to Babylon.
16:13 That's when Jeremiah lived.
16:14 This is what he said:
16:17 "For thus saith the Lord, " I am reading verse 10,
16:20 after 70 years are completed at Babylon.
16:25 After 70 years are completed at Babylon
16:31 I will visit you and perform My good word toward you
16:36 and cause you to return to this place. "
16:39 So here you have a prophecy
16:42 by Jeremiah when he's told the Jewish people
16:45 that they're going to go to Babylon.
16:46 They're going to spend 70 years there and at the end of
16:51 that 70 years then He's going to bring them back
16:55 to Jerusalem.
16:57 That's a prophecy that God gave concerning the Jewish people.
17:02 Tonight, that's where we're at in this study.
17:06 The 70 years has just come to an end.
17:10 Something is about to happen.
17:14 Watch:
17:17 Isaiah 44:28. Now you understand from your Bible
17:22 that Isaiah lived before Jeremiah.
17:25 You understand that?
17:27 OK. Isaiah lived before Jeremiah,
17:31 and he says this:
17:36 Now here Isaiah is calling Cyrus by name.
17:41 Folks, this is written 150 years
17:46 before Cyrus was born.
17:50 OK? Now we're talking about Bible prophecy.
17:52 If you have some question in your heart and in your soul
17:55 about the authenticity of this book
17:59 and its accuracy, you need to take a good look at that.
18:02 150 years before Cyrus is born
18:05 God said this about him:
18:15 What did He just say in the previous verse?
18:17 He said: "When the 70 years is completed,
18:20 then I'll bring you back. "
18:22 Watch. OK.
18:32 150 years before Cyrus is ever born
18:36 God said what he would do.
18:39 Said: "You're going to go back.
18:40 You're going to send the people.
18:41 Foundation's going to be laid for the temple.
18:44 They're going to come back to Jerusalem"
18:46 just as God prophesied it would.
18:49 This was Cyrus.
18:51 Now history and lore kind of gives you
18:57 uh... some background to this that I think helps us see
19:04 a conflict.
19:06 A conflict of gigantic proportions.
19:10 A conflict between good and evil.
19:13 Because here God has laid it out clearly
19:16 that Cyrus is going to do this. He's prophesied it.
19:19 Well, up in Persia there's a king... Astyages.
19:25 Astyages is the king in Persia.
19:29 He has a dream.
19:32 In the dream his daughter, Mandane,
19:36 out of her is flowing water.
19:39 So much so in this dream that it filled the whole city
19:44 and then filled the whole kingdom.
19:46 Well, Astyages went to his wise men and asked them
19:50 what does this mean?
19:52 And they said: "Oh, that means your offspring - your grandson -
19:57 is going to take over the kingdom. "
19:58 That's what they told him; that's what that means.
20:01 Now back then, folks, there wasn't a great lot of...
20:06 What should I say? love.
20:09 A great lot of emotion connected with relatives.
20:13 And so Astyages, the grandfather,
20:17 took the baby grandson - which was Cyrus.
20:22 Took the grandson. Went to his captain of his army
20:27 and said: "Take the child out and kill him. "
20:32 Well, Harpagus - the guard or the head of the army -
20:36 took the child out, but he just didn't have the heart
20:39 to kill it.
20:41 So he gave it to the head shepherd, the king's shepherd,
20:46 Mithradates, and told Mithradates to do it.
20:51 Well it so happened that Mithratades' wife
20:55 had just had a stillborn baby.
20:58 And so when they talked it over
21:00 they decided they'd keep the baby
21:02 and raise it as their own son.
21:04 So they did.
21:06 They raised the child, and when he was a child
21:10 I don't know how old but not - you know -
21:12 maybe 7, 8, 9 years old
21:14 he and the other children in the king's court
21:17 because he was part of that and all,
21:19 they're playing. And as they're playing,
21:23 the other children ask him - Cyrus -
21:26 to play king.
21:29 They were playing this and they said "you be our king. "
21:32 And so he said "OK. "
21:34 And while they're playing, he gave an order to one of the
21:37 other boys to do something, and he refused.
21:41 And Cyrus had him severely punished
21:46 for refusing to do it...
21:49 because he didn't obey.
21:51 Severely punished enough, folks, that it upset the boy's father.
21:55 And the boy's father went to Astyages, the king,
21:59 and said: "You know, what's going on here?
22:02 This other kid punished my son so bad. "
22:05 And so Astyages, the king, called in Cyrus.
22:09 And he asked him... he said:
22:11 "You know, what are you doing here punishing this kid? "
22:14 And Cyrus said: "They asked me to be king. "
22:16 And said: "I gave him and order and he refused...
22:19 and therefore I have every right to punish him. "
22:22 And as the king looked at him,
22:25 he could see the similarity between himself and the boy.
22:29 And he began to recognize that this was more than
22:34 just a coincidence.
22:35 And began to inquire into it and found out
22:37 that this was his grandson.
22:39 And just as had been prophesied,
22:43 as Cyrus grew older he took over the kingdom
22:48 and literally had to face his grandfather in two wars.
22:54 But overthrew them, and Cyrus took over
22:58 the country of the Persians.
23:00 Now, close by to the Persians, folks,
23:04 are the Medes.
23:06 The Medes and the Persians are so closely connected
23:11 linguistically that they don't have any trouble
23:14 understanding each other.
23:15 And Cyrus took it upon himself,
23:18 believed that he was there
23:20 to unite the two kingdoms together.
23:23 That's why this is called the Medes and the Persians.
23:28 Because he felt he could unite the two kingdoms together.
23:33 Herodotus said this concerning the people at that time:
23:41 He's talking about Cyrus.
23:54 He was a tremendous leader.
23:57 A tremendous king is what Cyrus was.
24:02 OK. So, taking a look at this you're seeing now
24:06 what Medo-Persia took over.
24:08 Now you remember, Babylon took over part of that.
24:12 But if you'll look at it carefully,
24:14 you can see that Medo-Persia has extended the kingdom
24:18 and taken over a whole lot more territory.
24:21 They're ruling great parts of Mesopotamia at this time.
24:26 All right, now listen. Here, I marvel
24:31 at how God so accurately tells exactly
24:34 what's going to take place.
24:36 This is in Isaiah again... Isaiah 45 verse 1.
24:39 And it says:
24:59 Here in God's Word, 150 years before Cyrus is even born
25:04 God is telling exactly how he is going to overthrow
25:09 the city of Babylon.
25:10 That's what's here in this prophecy.
25:13 Line it up and saying this is exactly how you will
25:15 overthrow the city of Babylon.
25:18 And you remember as we took a look at the city of Babylon
25:21 Nebuchadnezzar had built a city that he considered
25:25 and everybody else considered impregnable.
25:28 Couldn't get inside it.
25:30 It had two rows of walls around the city.
25:33 A mote in between.
25:36 One of those walls was over 85 feet high.
25:41 Two chariots could race side by side around the top of it.
25:45 It was considered something that could not be taken.
25:50 Cyrus is taking his army, and they've gone up
25:53 and they've met Nebuchadnezzar's son, Nabonidus,
25:56 in battle and have overthrown him.
26:00 Then Cyrus has sent his captain and other people
26:06 on to take the city of Babylon.
26:09 They've gone to take the city of Babylon.
26:12 They've surrounded the city of Babylon, folks.
26:16 The people of Babylon have gone up on top of the wall
26:22 and threw food to Cyrus and laughed at him.
26:27 They had enough food inside that city
26:30 to last them for 40 years without ever going outside.
26:34 So it was considered... You couldn't get in it
26:38 and the people inside felt perfectly safe.
26:40 These people are feeling so safe...
26:44 I mean, the city is under siege. Do you understand that?
26:48 They've been surrounded by a foreign army.
26:51 It's under siege, and they're having a party.
26:55 I mean, that's literally what's going on here.
27:04 They're having a party while the city's under siege.
27:07 You can certainly see they don't feel any concern
27:11 about what's taking place.
27:13 Kind of reminds me of something.
27:15 Reminds me of something called AIG.
27:20 You know what I'm talking about?
27:22 I mean, here we are in this and they're out having a party.
27:24 Very much. Here they're having their party...
27:28 Cyrus has his army march down the Euphrates River.
27:34 And at a selected spot he had them dig canals.
27:39 And then they found out that on this night
27:42 Belshazzar was having this big party.
27:44 And on that night they broke the dam or the
27:49 levee to those canals and diverted the River Euphrates
27:52 into those canals. And he and his men
27:55 marched up the muddy bottom of that Euphrates River.
28:01 The guards that took care of the two lead gates
28:07 were drunk,
28:09 and Cyrus and his men marched inside the city.
28:13 Nobody tried to stop them in any way.
28:17 Marched in and took Babylon that night.
28:21 The party's going on. Belshazzar's over drinking wine
28:26 out of the vessels out of the temple.
28:28 They're celebrating gods of gold and silver
28:31 and wood and stone. And it says:
28:54 Scared the daylights out of him.
28:57 That's what it did.
28:58 I mean, here this bloodless hand writing on the wall...
29:01 and he didn't know what it was about
29:05 till finally they called in Daniel.
29:20 Daniel is about 90 years old.
29:23 And they call him in and he interprets.
29:28 The hand had written on the wall
29:31 Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin.
29:34 And he interpreted it.
29:36 This is what it said:
29:56 And that very night Babylon fell.
30:10 I don't quite understand what happened here, folks,
30:13 because Cyrus - as we have just talked about -
30:16 is the one that has done all this.
30:18 But the scripture says that it was given to Darius.
30:22 This is... this is Cyrus's uncle,
30:24 and I don't know if he just did it out of kindness to him
30:27 or what... put him in charge of Babylon.
30:29 But he didn't live but about two years
30:32 and then Cyrus was in control of it again.
30:35 But that's... the kingdom was taken from them at that time.
30:39 So with that I have given you some background,
30:41 helped you understand what's going to take place.
30:44 Now let's take a look at the prophecies that God has given
30:48 concerning Medo-Persia that has just overthrown Babylon.
30:52 And as I told you the other night,
30:54 one of the principles of understanding Bible prophecy
30:58 is the fact that it repeats and enlarges.
31:02 Repeats and enlarges, and you're going to see that tonight
31:06 as we take a look at what the scripture says about
31:09 Medo-Persia.
31:11 All right. We're going to go to Daniel 2.
31:14 We studied some of that last night.
31:16 Watch what it says:
31:57 So here Nebuchadnezzar has had this dream.
32:00 Daniel is telling Nebuchadnezzar what he has seen in this dream.
32:06 And he said this image was there
32:18 Now, Daniel is going to interpret the dream.
32:22 He's going to tell Nebuchadnezzar exactly
32:25 what he saw. This is what he saw.
32:51 So he told Nebuchadnezzar
32:53 "Nebuchadnezzar, you are this head of old. "
32:55 And I told you the reason for that was because Nebuchadnezzar
32:59 ruled 40 years of the 70 that Babylon lasted.
33:04 But please notice he's talked about Babylon.
33:07 Watch what happens next:
33:19 So he said: "After Babylon
33:22 there's going to be another kingdom that will rise.
33:25 It will be inferior to yours. "
33:28 Just the same as silver is inferior to gold.
33:34 So he said the next kingdom
33:36 would come on the scene of action.
33:38 Interesting how God takes care of all the particulars.
33:42 Puts everything together.
33:44 Because here you have the Persians and the Medes
33:48 coming together to form one nation: a coalition
33:54 of making one nation. Did you notice
33:57 that the image has two arms?
33:59 Representing Persia... Medo-Persia coming together
34:04 to form one power.
34:06 OK. Medo-Persia
34:10 overthrew Babylon in 539 BC
34:16 and she's going to last to 331 BC.
34:21 That's the time of Medo-Persia.
34:23 So we have this prophecy in Daniel 2
34:26 telling you exactly that there would be a kingdom inferior
34:30 to Babylon that was going to rise.
34:33 And it did! Just exactly as the scripture said.
34:36 Now let's go to Daniel the 7th chapter,
34:39 and we're going to continue to watch.
34:41 It says:
34:51 It says this was the second one. What was the first one?
34:55 Was the lion, OK? Babylon.
34:58 That was the lion, so keep them straight.
35:00 This is the second beast; it's a bear.
35:03 And it said it had three ribs in its mouth
35:06 between its teeth
35:08 and it says that it raised itself up on one side...
35:17 Well, I told you. The Medes and the Persians
35:22 came together. It says the bear raised itself up on one side.
35:28 The reason for that is
35:30 that the Persians were stronger than the Medes.
35:34 That's why in your history books
35:36 if you go back and study that
35:37 period of time it's called the
35:39 Persian kingdom.
35:40 It's because the Persians
35:41 were stronger than the Medes.
35:43 But that's why the bear lifted itself up on one side.
35:46 It said also that it had three ribs in its mouth.
35:51 Medo-Persia overthrew three countries.
35:55 If you can see them on the map there, I underlined them in red
35:59 so that you could pick them out.
36:01 They overthrew Babylon,
36:03 they overthrew Egypt,
36:06 and they overthrew Lydia.
36:08 Those were the three countries that Medo-Persia overthrew.
36:12 So the head of that bear in Revelation 17...
36:18 Remember? We're talking about a beast that has 7 heads.
36:21 One of those heads is going to be the head of a bear.
36:25 We've got a lion for Babylon; now the head of the bear.
36:29 So let's continue, because God's Word continues on
36:33 talking about this particular kingdom.
36:34 We're going to Daniel 8.
36:36 Now we've look at Daniel 2;
36:38 now we've looked at Daniel 7.
36:40 And as I told you, it repeats and enlarges.
36:44 And that's what we're doing here.
37:10 You have to understand what this is talking about here, folks.
37:14 He's not in Babylon.
37:17 He's been taken in vision to Medo-Persia
37:21 where their capitol... this is before it even happened.
37:23 Daniel is taken in vision...
37:25 taken over to Shushan, province of Elam.
37:29 That is way down there right by the Persian Sea.
37:34 And that's where he's at in vision.
37:36 OK, let's see what he sees in vision.
37:53 OK. Two horns. The two horns were high.
37:57 Watch this:
38:07 Exactly what happened.
38:09 You see, the Medes were there.
38:12 The Persians came on later
38:14 but they were stronger than the Medes.
38:16 And that's the reason it says they were higher than the others
38:19 but they came on last.
38:21 That's... God's taking care of all the particulars
38:25 about this kingdom... Medo-Persia.
38:34 And those are the exact... direct directions in which
38:38 Medo-Persia went out and conquered.
38:51 I mean, they took all the territory there.
38:54 Nobody could withstand them.
38:56 Overthrew everything.
38:58 Cyrus... fantastic general, folks.
39:01 Took everything that was before him.
39:03 Now God doesn't leave you in any doubt whatsoever
39:08 as to who this ram represents.
39:19 Daniel 8:20. So the scripture very clearly
39:23 outlines it and tells you that that ram
39:26 represented Medo-Persia. No question about it.
39:29 So it became strong.
39:33 Took everything that was before it.
39:36 God took it.
39:39 OK. Now we're going to go to Daniel 11.
39:43 Daniel 11.
39:48 Now this is... this we're coming on down in time.
39:57 Now this is not Daniel talking, folks.
39:59 This is an angel that has gone there to strengthen Darius
40:05 because there's a conflict taking place here.
40:08 And so he's telling Daniel about this.
40:25 OK. So there's going to be four kings.
40:29 Said the... the fourth one is going to be richer
40:32 than all the rest of them.
40:34 Said there would be four more of them.
40:35 Folks, how can you doubt God's Word?
40:40 I do not understand how a person can read it
40:46 and God makes statements like we have just read
40:50 and doubt the accuracy of the scripture.
40:55 Because this is exactly what happened.
40:58 He said: "there's going to be four more.
40:59 The fourth one's going to be richer than all the others. "
41:02 And when you look at the scripture
41:04 that's exactly what happened.
41:13 Well, that's exactly what took place.
41:18 When Darius died, his son took over.
41:23 Cambyses took over and began to rule.
41:28 That was the next one.
41:29 Said after him there would be four more after that one.
41:33 Then after that one it says
41:35 there would be another one which was one called Gaumata.
41:39 Gaumata. Uh, how should I put this?
41:43 This was kind of a pseudo-king.
41:46 Just a fellow that came in. He ruled there and all
41:50 but really wasn't considered too much of a king.
41:54 But he ruled at that period of time.
41:57 And then after him was Darius I.
42:01 Darius came on the scene of action.
42:04 And then after Darius we have Ahasuerus.
42:10 Does that strike any bell with any of you?
42:12 Ahasuerus. You see, this is taking place
42:17 during the time of Esther.
42:21 See, this is taking place, folks,
42:24 during the time in which there was such people as
42:27 Nehemiah, Ezra, Zerubabbel.
42:31 All those are involved at this period of time.
42:34 They're people in Israel and all.
42:38 This is the time when Esther is involved.
42:44 So let's go and take a look
42:45 at what it tells us about Esther or Ahasuerus.
42:49 It says in Esther 1 verse 2:
43:00 That's where Daniel was in vision. You remember?
43:03 OK?
43:12 Now, you've got to... I just showed you the territory.
43:17 I mean, it went all the way down into Egypt.
43:22 It goes clear over to Iraq
43:27 and all through that part of the world.
43:29 In fact, the scripture says there were 120 provinces.
43:35 OK. Here he's invited in all...
43:40 he's invited in all of his officers.
43:43 All of his servants, OK?
43:54 Now you've got to look at this.
43:59 When he showed the what?
44:02 Now it said the fourth one would be what?
44:04 The fourth one would be richer than all of them.
44:08 OK. He's there showing them his riches...
44:22 Folks, that's saying they had a party
44:25 for 180 days.
44:27 Invited all these people in from all over his kingdom,
44:31 and here they have a party for 180 days.
44:36 Showing all of his riches
44:39 just exactly as the scripture said it would be.
44:43 Riches that he had above them all.
44:48 He was indeed a rich kingdom, but unfortunately,
44:52 he didn't use those riches as he should have.
44:57 Unfortunately,
45:00 riches and money
45:04 doesn't help us.
45:06 I'm sorry, but it doesn't.
45:10 You know, Christ said it's harder for a rich man
45:14 to get into the kingdom of heaven
45:16 than for a camel to go through the eye of a needle.
45:19 Riches do not help us, folks.
45:24 We... you see it all the time.
45:27 People use it,
45:29 and it's used in the wrong way.
45:32 And here he was richer than all
45:35 of the others before him.
45:37 Had tremendous power,
45:39 but used it wrongly.
45:42 Oh dear friend, I would plead with you...
45:45 don't pray to be rich.
45:50 Don't pray to be rich.
45:55 Solomon. Solomon couldn't handle it.
46:01 Could not handle riches.
46:03 Wisest man that ever lived couldn't handle it.
46:07 I'll tell you: people that have possessions
46:12 have it at the peril of their own soul.
46:18 Just cannot... it has a way of turning your attention
46:23 and your dependency... primarily your dependence
46:26 will be on God and these people think that they are the ones
46:31 that do it and they're the ones that accomplish it.
46:33 As Nebuchadnezzar said: "Have you seen my great kingdom?
46:36 All that I've done? "
46:38 And so people that have riches have real, real problems.
46:44 And you and I need to be careful in this regard.
46:49 I want to show you what Ahasuerus did...
46:51 because this is what he did:
47:06 Wealthy.
47:10 Great power.
47:12 As the scripture said nothing stood before them.
47:17 But over in the area of Greece
47:22 power was beginning to grow.
47:25 Beginning to get a little stronger and all.
47:30 And so Ahasuerus went around
47:32 and he solicited these other kingdoms to turn with him
47:38 against Greece and to fight them.
47:41 And they did.
47:43 But unfortunately there's a man by the name of Philip II
47:50 who is now in charge of Greece.
47:53 And things are getting stronger and stronger and stronger.
47:59 You see, how much better... how much better off
48:04 he would have been to turn to God
48:07 and to have sought the Lord
48:11 and to have followed Him rather than depending upon
48:15 his riches and trying to gather other nations
48:18 and turn them against Greece
48:20 to turn away that power. But he failed.
48:24 Wasn't able to accomplish it.
48:26 And you and I need to understand that we need to be very, very
48:31 careful. Especially, folks,
48:34 and I'm just kind of talking to you out of my heart right now,
48:38 but especially people that live in the United States.
48:43 You have been blessed.
48:48 God has given you things.
48:51 And don't let the things of this world
48:57 turn your attention away from God.
49:01 Don't let that happen.
49:03 Keep your eye on the Lord.
49:06 Don't depend on money.
49:09 I mean the few things that's happened here in the last
49:12 few months ought to give you enough indication
49:15 to know that that's not very good security.
49:17 You know, it can... it can go very, very quickly
49:21 and it's gone.
49:22 You need to learn to depend on the Lord.
49:25 And as things were rising there,
49:28 well then a young man was coming on the scene of action
49:34 that nobody could stop.
49:38 Because the son of Philip II
49:43 was Alexander the Great.
49:45 He was rising.
49:49 Getting stronger all the time.
49:52 And exactly as scripture said
49:56 Medo-Persia was going to fall,
50:02 and it would fall to Greece
50:05 under the leadership of Alexander the Great.
50:09 And so in our next presentation we're going to talk about
50:12 what happened with Greece... what took place there.
50:16 But so far, as we've looked at Five Have Fallen,
50:21 well we've looked at Babylon,
50:24 which is the lion - head of a lion -
50:27 and we found that that power fell
50:30 just exactly as scripture said.
50:33 And tonight we have looked at Medo-Persia.
50:38 And Medo-Persia fell to who?
50:42 To Babylon. Medo-Persia fell to Babylon.
50:45 Babylon overthrew them.
50:47 And so you find the second one coming on the scene of action.
50:51 And then you have the third one
50:54 that comes on the scene of action
50:55 which is Greece.
50:57 And Medo-Persia fell to Greece.
51:00 So, get into that book.
51:02 Study it; look at it.
51:04 There's wonderful, wonderful words of life
51:09 in that book for you and for me.
51:21 Sing them over again to me,
51:27 wonderful words of life.
51:34 Let me more of their beauty see,
51:40 wonderful words of life.
51:47 Words of life and beauty,
51:53 teach me faith and duty.
51:59 Beautiful words,
52:02 wonderful words,
52:06 wonderful words
52:10 of life.
52:16 Let us pray.
52:18 Heavenly Father,
52:21 as we have looked at these nations
52:24 and how You have so clearly
52:27 outlined their rise and their fall.
52:32 Lord may we realize that You hold
52:38 this world in the palm of Your hand.
52:42 May we by faith reach out and take hold of the promises
52:48 that You have given. That we can trust You.
52:52 That we can turn our lives over to You.
52:57 That You will guide and lead and direct
52:59 if we will just seek You.
53:03 Give us understanding, Lord.
53:05 As we study these prophecies, may we sense
53:09 and may we see Your leading and Your guiding.
53:14 May we see how You told what was going to happen
53:20 before it ever took place
53:23 and how it happened just exactly like You said it would.
53:28 Help us that we may not be weak in faith
53:33 but that we will be strong
53:36 and that we'll walk with you and follow you
53:39 all the way into the kingdom of heaven.
53:42 For this we pray in Christ's name, Amen.
53:49 Well, as we continue into Bible prophecy
53:53 as I told you, our next presentation is going to be
53:57 on Greece... the third kingdom.
54:00 And so you need to be here
54:02 as we continue to study it
54:04 and see how God designed things.
54:07 There's certain things right now at this particular time
54:10 in history, folks, that we're talking about
54:12 that begin to happen that changes the course
54:15 of history for all mankind.
54:19 I'm talking about great changes that take place
54:22 right at this particular time that we're in
54:24 in which it switches and begins to change the whole course
54:28 of humanity. And so you want to be sure and be here.
54:32 Or if you're watching by television,
54:34 or listening by radio,
54:36 don't miss it as we continue to study this.
54:39 We're going to bring you step by step
54:41 right on down to the present time in which we are living.
54:45 So we hope you'll be blessed.
54:46 May God bless you; have a good evening.
54:51 The Bible says in Matthew 13:44
55:08 Every day we pass by ordinary places
55:11 that may be hiding something of incredible value.
55:14 Whether buried in a field or squirreled away in an attic,
55:18 or even an old, fallen-down house.
55:21 But imagine for a moment the thrill of stumbling
55:25 upon a treasure beyond your wildest dreams.
55:28 Will you eagerly sell everything you have
55:31 to gain something of much greater value?
55:34 Will you be willing to endure criticism of friends,
55:37 even family members, in order to obtain it?
55:40 This parable speaks of the most incredible treasure of all,
55:44 and it's hidden in God's Word.
55:47 That treasure is Jesus Christ himself.
55:52 But sadly, even those who claim Him
55:55 often don't recognize this infinite treasure.
55:59 Just watch how quickly they toss aside what the Bible says
56:03 when it becomes inconvenient.
56:07 Friends, the treasure of the gospel are hidden in God's Word.
56:11 Many of its readers have eyes, but they do not see.
56:16 They have ears, but they don't hear.
56:19 They never find its hidden treasure.
56:22 In fact, they may read it over and over
56:25 and never see it.
56:27 Even worse, many times they do see it
56:30 but think the price is too high.
56:32 Like the Jews of old
56:34 who rejected the Messiah because He was not in harmony
56:37 with their ambitious desires,
56:40 many won't seek heavenly treasure
56:42 because earthly treasure is more alluring.
56:45 They reason that if they could just obtain the things
56:48 which they desire they would have peace.
56:51 Sadly, they don't realize that they carry the disturber
56:55 of their own peace inside their hearts.
56:58 They pass by the One who declared:
57:00 "Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you.
57:04 Not as the world gives do I give to you.
57:07 Let not your heart be troubled,
57:09 neither let it be afraid. "
57:13 The treasure of the Bible are revealed only to those
57:17 who carefully study its pages
57:19 with a humble and searching heart.
57:21 Our whole ministry is dedicated to helping men and women
57:24 find the priceless treasure hidden in the Bible.
57:28 We pray that you will not be satisfied
57:30 with surface truths
57:32 but instead you'll want to unearth the precious gems
57:37 that others pass by.
57:38 Dig into the Bible as a miner digs into the earth
57:42 to find veins of gold. Don't give up
57:45 until you have found a relationship with God,
57:48 and then join us in spreading the good news to the world.
57:52 Please consider what you can do
57:54 for those who still don't know about Jesus.
57:56 As the Holy Spirit impresses,
57:58 please send your tax-deductible gifts to:
58:14 Your gifts help bring the Blessed Hope of salvation
58:16 to millions all around the world.


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Revised 2014-12-17