God Knows The Future
GOD KNOWS THE FUTURE
DANIEL 2:44-47
PROBLEM
Knowledge of the future, even if it's incomplete knowledge, is power. And if we don't know. We get afraid.
My publishers for years have begged me to do a book on prophecy. Because they know that those people will buy those books, knowing the future sells.
People's Almanac Predictions 1979 to 2000. Palestinian nation established north of Israel. President Carter would be re-elected 1980. Electric cars would replace gasoline 1982. Man landing on Mars 1983-85, evidence life existed there. Papacy would cease to exist. Massive US civil war 1980s. Texas secede 1982. 1986, ocean farming 1/3 world's edible goods.
GOD
He was lying in bed, “The Assyrians have been wiped out, the Egyptians have been decimated. Israel had been completely taken into captivity. I’m not going to live forever. I wonder what’ll happen to this whole thing when I die.” And as he went to sleep, God gave him the answer.
the immediate message for Nebuchadnezzar is clear: eventually, all this king possessed and had built would be destroyed and scattered like chaff on the wind.
Daniel's life was on the line, and yet, he was unafraid, his roots were strong, and so, in the time of testing, he stood firm.
“But there is a God in heaven…” That’s really the question behind all this.
Daniel 2:44 “In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever.
45 This is the meaning of the vision of the rock cut out of a mountain, but not by human hands—a rock that broke the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold to pieces.
“The great God has shown the king what will take place in the future. The dream is true and its interpretation is trustworthy.”
46 Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell prostrate before Daniel and paid him honor and ordered that an offering and incense be presented to him.
47 The king said to Daniel, “Surely your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, for you were able to reveal this mystery.”
APPLICATION
Psalm 139:1-4 You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely.
Of the 25 books that claim to be scripture, only one has detailed prophecy. Quran, writings of Buddha, Lao Tzu, Taois, sayings of Confucius or the Hindu Vedas. Prophecy that God stakes his future on.
Our prayerlessness can be a poignant reminder (an internal barometer of the soul) of how much we really think our God makes a difference in our lives.
We recognize that before we call the meeting, create the priority list, or form a crisis management team, we must fall in our knees and ask God's help. He is the only true crisis manager.
VISION
God assured him all things were working toward a grand triumph. So, despite his present danger, there was good in the past, present, and future for which Daniel could praise God.
'Stop trying to do this your way. Depend on me, and ask my help.' Ever since that moment, I've been praying regularly, and it's hard to fathom the difference it's made. Suddenly, God is opening doors I never dreamed would be open for me. But even more importantly, I realize now that God will provide for my needs, even if all these doors close. For the first time in my life, I know how good it feels to be absolutely confident in God."
Jack Miller, one of the most thoughtful pastors of the last century, once included a simple request in a letter to a friend of mine. Jack wrote, "Please pray for my habitual tendency to trust in myself and what I can do."
Corrie Ten Boom "Never be afraid to entrust an unknown future into the hands of a known God."
