The Vision of Ages
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LESSON 1: THE VISION OF AGES.
<According to Daniel, the 27th book of the Old Testament in the Bible, chapter 2>
Over 2,500 years ago, there was a golden empire on the face of the earth.
To Nebuchadnezzar, king of the mighty Babylon,
there is no enemy too mighty,
no treasure out of reach,
and no land unconquerable.
Even so, after vanquishing all the enemies that could be found, and had climbed to the top,
Nebuchadnezzar found nothing there but loneliness.
He wondered what would happen after he died,
what would happen to the empire,
and what the future holds.
One night, as he drifted off to sleep,
a magnificent vision came to him in a dream,
so glorious, so colorful, so vivid, so 3D,
that it was unlike any dreams that he ever had.
Awaken from the vision, he summoned at once
all the magicians, astrologers and sorcerers to his feet.
Back then, they believed that all dreams meant something,
so the kings in ancient times usually have a bunch of wizards in their court,
to interpret these dreams for them.
These so-called “wise men” of the king
were practically pulled out from their beds,
and dragged to the king, who was deeply agitated.
“And the king said unto them, I have dreamed a dream,
and my spirit was troubled to know the dream.” [27] Daniel 2:3.
The wise men cunningly replied, “O king, live for ever:
tell thy servants the dream, and we will shew the interpretation.” [27] Daniel 2:4.
These people were so sure
that immediately after the king related to them the dream,
they could just make up some false interpretations
and earn their easy rewards.
But the thing is, dreams,
as people were just awoken out of them,
would still be somewhat vivid,
however a long while had passed since the king woke up,
and he just can’t recall it anymore!
His mind turned very fast to save himself
from being humiliated before the wise men:
these people proclaimed themselves
to be the possessors of supernatural abilities,
but is it true?
This would be the perfect opportunity to test that out.
“if ye will not make known unto me the dream,
with the interpretation thereof,
ye shall be cut in PIECES,
and your houses shall be made a DUNGHILL,”
saith the king,
“But if ye shew the dream, and the interpretation thereof,
ye shall receive of me gifts and rewards and great honour:
therefore shew me the dream, and the interpretation thereof.” [27] Daniel 2:5, 6.
And thus, these false “superhumans”
were revealed to be nothing more than a bunch of scoundrels,
and had to acknowledge that they were incapable
of finding out the king’s dream to interpret it.
Furious as he realized himself to have been duped all these times
by imposters who are obviously only human beings
and can not have any supernatural powers of themselves,
Nebuchadnezzar commanded
that all the wise men in Babylon to be slain.
His guards immediately moved out
to perform the work of execution.
However, The One who gave Nebuchadnezzar that dream
had already reserved a man
through whom He will reveal not just the meaning of the dream,
but also HIMSELF,
to the king of Babylon,
and to all generations to come.
1. Who was The Being that gave this vision to king Nebuchadnezzar?
And why did He give it to him?
[27] Daniel 2:28 There is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets,
and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days.
[23] Isaiah 46:9-11 I am God, and there is none else;
I am God, and there is none like me,
declaring the end from the beginning…
I have purposed it, I will also do it.”
A Being called “God”
is the one who gave this vision to Nebuchadnezzar,
to declare to him and all generations to come
the rise and fall of the empires
that shall have dominance and/or influence over His chosen people.
According to the declaration of this Being,
He is the Most High God,
holding in His hands the destiny of man.
But not just declaring,
He actually PROVES His existence and supreme sovereignty
by proclaiming beforehand how He will run the nations of the earth,
and then perform what He said,
so that all can witness for themselves
whether things will happen according to His dictate,
and whether anyone, men or gods,
can stop Him from performing what He declared.
2. As Daniel, one of the wise men of the kingdom, a Jew, was caught up in this mass-execution order,
what did he ask the king and what did he tell his friends to do?
[27] Daniel 2:16 Then Daniel went in,
and desired of the king that he would give him time,
and that he would shew the king the interpretation.
[27] Daniel 2:17, 18 Then Daniel went to his house,
and made the thing known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions:
That they would desire mercies of the God of heaven concerning this secret.
Daniel asked king Nebuchadnezzar for more time
and promised to deliver both the dream and its interpretation to him.
Since the king was so eager to know the meaning of the vision,
he had agreed to Daniel’s request.
And immediately Daniel and his friends offer up their petitions
to the Only One who can reveal to them this secret:
they prayed to the God of heaven.
3. When God revealed to Daniel the vision, did Daniel dare to claim any recognition to himself?
To whom did he offer all thanksgiving and praise?
[27] Daniel 2:23, 28 I thank thee, and praise thee, O thou God of my fathers…
there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets.
Daniel obviously was the only human being
who could make known to king Nebuchadnezzar this mystery,
but he had squarely admitted
that the entire credit actually belongs to the God of his fathers,
who gave him this revelation.
The rise and fall of empires has the outward appearance
of being the mere will of man,
but the story of Daniel
has proven the providence of God behind all of it.
It is true, while many things are not pleasing to Him,
nothing can happen without His permission.
So often in life, we may not be able to understand
what is happening in our world and why,
but we can rest assured
that the Most High God is always in control.
4. What two things did Daniel say that the king had seen in his dream?
[27] Daniel 2:31 Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image.
[27] Daniel 2:32, 33 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.
[27] Daniel 2:34 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.
As Daniel related back the vision to the king,
Nebuchadnezzar could immediately recall the forgotten dream bit by bit,
and know for a certainty that Daniel had retold the dream with absolute accuracy,
just as God had given to king Nebuchadnezzar himself.
Without a doubt, now the king knows
that God has given this man who stands before him
the knowledge of this mystery.
And thus the mighty monarch was on the edge of his seat,
waiting for the interpretation.
5. What does the head of gold represent?
[27] Daniel 2:38 Thou art this head of gold.
This was Daniel speaking directly to king Nebuchadnezzar.
The king is the head of a kingdom.
Thus king Nebuchadnezzar was the head of Babylon,
the first empire mentioned in this prophecy.
Neo-Babylon ruled the ancient world from 612-539 BC,
and was one of the most powerful empire in the history of planet earth,
worthy to be called a golden empire.
And thus this prophecy started to run from the time of Daniel.
6. Did the golden empire of Babylon manage to endure?
[27] Daniel 2:39 And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee.
The rule of Babylon shall not last forever.
Many kingdoms inferior to Babylon will rule in its stead.
As silver was inferior to gold,
the kingdom that followed Babylon was inferior in terms of glory.
Led by Cyrus in the year 539 BC,
Medo-Persia had defeated and reduced Babylon to a heap of rubble.
This empire after that ruled all the way from 539-331 BC.
In its time, taxes are paid in silver.
7. What metal represents the third kingdom after Medo-Persia?
[27] Daniel 2:39 and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth.
The bronze empire of Greece ascended to its throne
when Alexander the Great defeated Medo-Persia in the battle of Arbela, 331 BC.
And then Greece ruled until 168 BC.
The warriors of Greece were called “brazen soldiers”
for their all-bronze war gear.
Notice that, as we descended down the timeline,
the value of the metal in this prophecy keeps decreasing,
while the hardness keeps increasing.
8. What metal represents the fourth kingdom?
[27] Daniel 2:40 And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron.
When a bronze sword clashes with an iron sword,
the bronze one will shatter.
The iron monarchy of Rome defeated Greece in 168 BC
and ruled the ancient world
even until the city of Rome was taken by Odoacer in 476 AD.
Rome was the ruling empire
during the first advent of Lord Jesus Christ,
that nailed Him to the cross with iron nails.
9. What will happen after the fall of the Roman empire?
[27] Daniel 2:41, 42 the kingdom shall be divided… 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.
When Rome fell in 476 AD,
it was not devoured by another world empire.
But instead, multiple barbarian tribes
had risen everywhere throughout the empire
and divide it into ten kingdoms, just as Daniel foretold.
They are the Ostrogoths, the Visigoths, the Franks,
the Vandals, the Alemannians, the Sueves,
the Anglo-Saxons, the Heruli,
the Lombards, and the Burgundians.
Seven of these ten tribes still survive until today:
the Visigoths became Spain,
the Franks became France,
the Alemannians became German,
the Sueves became Portugal,
the Anglo-Saxons became England,
the Lombards became Italy,
and the Burgundians became Switzerland.
They are modern-day Europe.
10. Will these kingdoms ever manage to unite back into one?
[27] Daniel 2:43 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.
From political marriages, and alliance agreements, to wars of conquest,
every scheme of men to unite Europe back into one empire
has all failed miserably.
The recent Brexit failure being one grand example.
Throughout the course of history, many outstanding leaders
such as Charlemagne, Napoleon, Kaiser Wilhelm, Mussolini, Hitler have arisen,
who all seemed so promising
that they will be able to unite Europe and usher in a new empire.
But just a few letters in the Word of God
has stopped every single one of those ruler-of-the-whole-world candidates.
[27] Revelation 13 declares that in the last days,
there will be an endeavor that shall unite the religions of the world,
but the prophecy of Daniel has stated clearly that in political terms,
the world shall remain divided until the end of it.
11. What shall the Rock do to the kingdoms of this world when He shall come?
[27] Daniel 2:34, 35 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… and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.
[27] Daniel 2:44 in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed.
The stone that was cut without hands
symbolizes a certain king, or kingdom that was not of men,
but of GOD.
It will not be a united kingdom of men,
but a total replacement ([27] Revelation 21:1).
It is the end of the world.
The Bible plainly declared that when Lord Jesus shall come back to Earth,
He shall put an end to this wicked, men devouring men of a world
and usher in a new and eternal Kingdom, [27] Daniel 2:44,
of Love and Justice.
The entire history of man has been waiting for this glorious end,
when the Son of God shall return in the indescribable glory of His Father,
to set up an immortal kingdom that shall never be destroyed.
12. After hearing the vision explained by Daniel, what did Nebuchadnezzar, the king of the golden empire of Babylon, declare about the God of Daniel?
[27] Daniel 2:47 The king answered unto Daniel, and said, Of a truth it is, that your God is a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, seeing thou couldest reveal this secret.
Even this most mighty monarch
bowed in admiration to this God of gods and Lord of kings,
admitting that He is without a doubt
the Highest Being above all others.
13. Are there any evidence proving that this prophecy was actually written before it came to pass?
The Deadsea Scrolls.
Because of the incredible accuracy of Daniel’s prophecy,
for many years, many people have asserted
that it could only have been made up
after the fall of the Roman empire, in the fifth century AD,
after most of it had come to pass,
and that it could not possibly be a prediction
made more than 500 years Before Christ.
But then, in 1951,
they have excavated almost the entire Old Testament Bible,
including the book of Daniel,
with this prophecy of chapter 2 clearly included in it.
This collection of scrolls is called “the Dead Sea Scrolls”,
because it was found in the Dead Sea region,
and it was dated around 2100-2200 years old,
meaning, 100-200 years Before Christ,
it had already been written down, copied and widely spread.
With these scrolls are numerous Persian and Greece artifacts and coins,
even before the rise of the Roman empire.
This stunning discovery completely refuted the assumption
that the prophecy of Daniel was made up after the fall of the Roman empire.
It was the decided evidence that put an end to the entire quarrel
about whether or not there is a Most High God
who holds the destiny of mankind in His hand.
Nowadays, “the Dead Sea Scrolls”
are considered to be the national treasure of the Jewish nation
because it proves the Supreme Sovereignty of their God,
and are protected with extreme prejudice in the museum of Israel, Jerusalem,
where tourists around the world can come and see for themselves,
take pictures and examine the accuracy of the prophecies
until they are completely satisfied.
In this picture are US president Barack Obama and Israel prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu
looking at a section of “the Dead Sea scrolls”.
God left prophecies in abundance throughout His Book not without a cause.
They are there to testify that the Holy Bible really is the Word of the Most High God,
and thus its reliability is absolute,
worthy of men’s entire trust and confidence.
The prophecies in the Bible,
with the exception of a very few that are still in the future,
have all been fulfilled with 100% accuracy,
down to the very stylistic details, just as God foretold.
Therefore, studying them will provide us
with the clear overview of the entire picture,
from what happened, to what is happening,
and even to what is about to take place in the future,
with absolute certainty.
Through his prophet Daniel, God had declared,
with absolute accuracy,
the future that spans over 2.500 years.
The rise and fall of empires,
even the manner thereof,
has been foretold clearly in the Bible
and confirmed by countless archeological findings and historical documents.
Note that this is not some vague prophecy
about what will happen after a million years
or some too-far-away future,
which cannot be identified to be true or false.
Neither is this some educated guess
that will likely happen anyway,
like, “a big war will break out in the 20th century.”
Such a guess, even human beings can easily make.
Neither is this something that had already come to pass
in the lifetime of the prophet who declared it,
and thus could have been added by him after he saw it happened,
pretending to be a prophecy he made beforehand.
No. This prophecy spans thousands of years,
long enough for the prophet who declared it to die off,
and thus cannot be something he added later,
with archeological evidence
proving that it was declared BEFORE it came to pass,
with very specific details,
that has close to 0% chance of just happening naturally.
When Daniel made this prediction,
the empires mentioned, like Greece and Rome,
were still so primitive and weak,
that saying they will rule the Mediterranean region
would be equivalent to saying in our modern time
that North Korea will one day rule the world.
To all intents and purposes,
THIS IS A REAL PROPHECY,
that was declared beforehand
and was so hard to just happen by itself,
that only the Power of Omnipotence
who has absolute control over the destiny of men
could have brought it to fulfillment.
Imagine this, in a company, if someone stood up and said:
“Tomorrow the company will produce 100 units, because I am the boss and I said it.”
If he is not the actual boss, what would happen?
Not only will the company refuse to do as he said, but the REAL boss will even stand up and say:
“I AM THE BOSS HERE, and I SAID tomorrow we will produce 99 units. And we shall all see who is the highest.”
Do you understand the power play?
Whoever can declare beforehand how he’s going to run the world, and then perform it as he declared, unstoppable by anyone else,
THAT is the unmistakable power signature of the Highest Boss.
In God’s own words, when He challenged all the other so-called gods, it would be:
“Shew the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye are gods!” [23] Isaiah 41:23.
Unlike all other gods that men may fabricate,
when you come to the God of Daniel,
there are 3 things you shall never have to doubt:
1) The Creator God really does exist,
not a product of man’s imagination.
2) He is the Most High,
having absolute authority over the fate of mankind.
3) The Holy Bible really is His Word:
the information like the prophecy we just looked at today
could not possibly come from any other source than the Ruler of All,
and they are left throughout the Bible
to testify that this Book is His teachings, and not men’s.
These three things, you don’t even have to use faith to accept:
God Himself has provided hard evidence for them;
evidence that can be checked and confirmed.
Faith is for the work of following His instructions afterward,
like: “whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek,
turn to him the other also,”
or “Love your enemies,
bless them that curse you,
do good to them that hate you,
and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.”
To receive and exercise these things will require a lot of faith.
14. Now then, what should I do?
[20] James 4:8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you.
[04] John 6:37 him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.
Simply come as you are
and start building a personal relationship with the Lord
by reading and studying the truths of this book daily,
in prayers asking for His enlightenment.
Quoting Him directly from His Holy Bible would be:
[06] Joshua 1:8 This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.
So at least twice a day,
like, in the morning after you wake up and in the evening before you go to sleep,
PLEASE SPEND TIME TO READ AND STUDY THE TRUTHS OF THIS BOOK,
the most important and powerful book ever circulated among men.
1) Studying the Prophecy Encyclopedia daily until finished.
As you can see after reading this lesson:
the mysteries of the Bible, especially the prophetic ones,
are quite hard to grasp.
When the Ethiopian eunuch was studying them
and was asked by Phillip the evangelist
“do you understand what you are reading?”,
he had to answer “how can I, except some man should guide me?” ([05] Acts 8:30-31).
That, is the role of this Prophecy Encyclopedia:
to explain the Bible, especially the prophecies,
pointing out how they have been fulfilled.
These messages come in the name of the Lord, so no one will be tempted to excuse themselves from the responsibility of examining them carefully to verify their truthfulness.
Please study these lessons slowly and firmly one by one, including the Appendix at the end of many, for the latter lessons will require the knowledge in the previous ones to be understood.
It consists of 24 lessons,
among which some do have a long video down the Appendix,
and thus might need to be divided into 2 study sessions.
If you study this daily every night before going to bed,
you should finish the whole thing in about a month.
Don’t study faster than that speed. The human brain each night can only transfer so much of what it learned during the day from short-term memory to long-term memory.
Exceed that amount, it won’t be able to transfer all of it, and the knowledge can potentially be mistaken or forgotten.
Moreover, there is another thing so important to read. If you indeed have more time and your brain can transfer more knowledge from short-term to long-term memory, read more of the BIBLE.
2) Read the Bible daily.
The Holy Bible has a total of 1189 chapters.
Even if you can spare no more than 15-20 minutes every morning to cover 4 chapters,
the entire book will be finished within a year.
But don’t be content with that speed.
Right after finishing the Prophecy Encyclopedia,
you should employ the night sessions to read the Bible as well
and accelerate your speed by 3-4 more chapters/day.
So please read AT LEAST 7 chapters/day for the 2 sessions.
Whenever you forget, make up for it in the next session.
If you stumble into passages that you do not understand,
just keep reading through,
because the keys that unlock their meanings
will be found in later passages.
That’s how God designed His book,
to test out the sincerity and perseverance of the Seekers of Truth,
and reserve His rewards only for those who persevere.
If you maintain this speed, you will complete the first read-through of the entire Bible and master the Prophecy Encyclopedia in 188 days.
I myself had finished my first read-through in about 6 months,
and I believe many people can easily do better.
With this habit of holding communion daily with the Lord,
you are well prepared to embrace the journey
to seek after the Truth.
Now read also the Appendix below.
The lessons usually will have these Appendixes, which expand even further the knowledge presented in each lessons.
Don’t skip over those gems of Truth.
Appendix
Why are different translations of the Bible… different? Which one is the correct version?
A question arose: why are the various translations of the Bible that we have today contradict one another, when there is obviously one Bible?
How do we know which one is the correct one?
This short video will provide you with a thorough answer:
Translations of the correct original manuscripts of the Holy Bible, the Majority Text,
have being posted on this website to be accessed for FREE.
Simply click HERE, and choose your preferred language in the language bar on the top right.
If a Majority Text translation in your language has not yet been completed and made available,
please read the English Majority Text Bible, or other translations in other sources for the time being.
The Bible is divided into two halves.
The first half is called “the Old Testament“, with 39 books,
contains the history of the plan of salvation
and the prophecies pointing to a Savior to come, called “the Messiah”.
The second half is called “the New Testament“, with 27 books,
is when that Savior had finally come,
the first four books being the testimonies
of different eyewitnesses about His life.
To make it easier to use and research,
all books of the Old Testament will be colored Blue,
all books of the New Testament will be colored Red,
and each book will have a number in square brackets before its name,
stating its number in the respective Testament.
For example:
[01] Genesis 2:3-7 is the 1st book of the Old Testament (blue), chapter 2, verses 3 to 7.
[27] Revelation 12:17 is the 27th book of the New Testament (red), chapter 12, verse 17.
To those who are reading the Holy Bible for the first time,
I recommend the following reading plan:
1) The 3rd book of the New Testament, [03] Luke,
contains the most complete account of the life of Christ
among the first 4 books of the New Testament, called the 4 Gospels,
the testimonies of different eye-witnesses
about the life of the Savior of the world.
2) The 5th book of the New Testament, [05] Acts.
This book was written by the same author Luke,
retelling the story of the church
right after what happened in [03] Luke.
Which is the very reason why I have recommended first-timers
to pick [03] Luke among the 4 Gospels to read,
so the story will be in line with [05] Acts.
3) Read the Old Testament, read from beginning to end.
4) Read the rest of the New Testament.
Also, understanding that many Bible readers,
just like the treasurer of queen Candace of Ethiopia in [05] Acts 8:30-31,
when asked “Understandest thou what thou readest?”
would have to exclaim “How can I, except some man should guide me?”,
these Prophecy Encyclopedia lessons,
in which this lesson is the first one,
were prepared to explain and help you
to quickly understand all the fundamental truths
and the most important prophecies in the entire Bible,
the things that had been,
the things that are,
and especially the things that will soon take place.
From the greatest kings and kingdoms that rose and fell across the world,
to the faithful and noble heroes of Truth
who gladly marched toward death in its defense
to ensure the salvation of others,
THIS is the search for The Truth
the only true foundation for a true faith.
Entrust yourself unto God with a prayer: “I surrender myself to you, and I am willing to pay ANY PRICE to know and do the Truth. Please reveal to me the Truth.”
And then KNOW that the Lord will NEVER abandon a single soul who sincerely desires to seek the Truth, to be left in the darkness of errors.
He WILL SEND the Truth and his servants to you.
However, at the same time, the Devil will also send his heresies and his servants.
So what do you do?
Use the Bible – the Word of God – to “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.” [13] I Thessalonians 5:21.
I have given you your entire autonomy over your own soul when I gave you the Bible and led you to the Lord.
Now I claim to be a servant of His, bringing this Prophecy Encyclopedia to you, and call upon you to read and EXAMINE ME meticulously, see if I taught anything contrary to the Bible.
And upon the basis of having called upon you to examine me, I call upon you to examine EVERYONE ELSE just as closely.
Do NOT entrust yourself into the hand of any man. Not even the Pope. Entrust yourself to the Lord, and use His Word to examine every doctrine that is brought to you. The power is entirely in your hands now.
The next lesson will address the greatest dilemma
in the relationship between us and God:
He loves us, but He is the God of justice, and we are wicked sinners.
How can God get us out of our sins
and cancel the death sentence hanging over our heads,
to save us from destruction
and bring us into eternal life by His side?
Click on the link “Next”, placed on the bottom right of each lesson,
to advance into the next lesson of this Prophecy Encyclopedia series.
