Foretelling the future fascinates people. To meet this hunger to see tomorrow today, astrology and all manners of forecasting the future have mushroomed. From less than 100 newspapers carrying horoscopes a few decades ago, the fad has grown to over 1200 newspapers now carrying them for 18,000,000 Americans to pore over daily.
Time magazine says that ancient Berosus, astrologer and high priest of Babylon, would feel at home with America's astrologers today. Their calculations "would be one of the few things he would find familiar in the modern world after 50 centuries. ... Babylon's mystic conceptions of the universe are being taken seriously ... by the most scientifically sophisticated generation of young adults in history, ... graduate students and assistant professors."
"Astrology is a guideline, a rope to hang on to in an insecure world," another popular magazine suggests. Another observer says, "Great civilizations in the past turned to the supernatural in their last hours, and this phenomenal increase in the urge to peer into the Zodiac is a sign of the imminent collapse of our civilization."
Astrology today is enriched by direct communications with spiritualism that make some of its predictions seem uncannily accurate. But a close look at astrology's "tomorrow" predictions and the "more sure word of prophecy" as found in the Bible, show a distinct difference. God alone truly knows the future, and He loves us so much that He will tell us all that will be good for us to know. Daniel 2 is a simple prophecy to begin with, the ABC of Bible prophecy. See how these prophecies relate to God's love for us all.
Why Does God Foretell the Future for Us?
1. What sets God apart from all other gods or religions? Isaiah 46:9, 10.
ANSWER: "I am God, and there is __________ __________ __________, Declaring the __________ from the __________, and from ancient times the things that __________ __________ __________ __________."
2. What does the Creator of the stars promise us He will do for us? Isaiah 42:5, 6, 7, 9.
ANSWER: "He that created the __________," says, "... I the Lord have called thee __________ __________. ... To open the __________ eyes, to bring out the __________ from the __________, ... new things do I declare: __________ __________ __________ __________ I tell __________ of __________."
3. What gift has God given to man that does reveal the future? 2 Peter 1:19-21.
ANSWER: "We have also a __________ __________ __________ of __________."
4. Are there some people to whom God reveals the secrets of the future? Who are they? Amos 3:7.
ANSWER: "Surely the Lord God __________ __________ __________, but He __________ his __________ unto His servants the __________."
5. In Matthew 24:15, what important title did Jesus give to Daniel?
ANSWER: "Daniel __________ __________."
Read the second chapter of Daniel. God reveals to him the future of this world.
6. King Nebuchadnezzar was ruler of the ancient empire of Babylon, proud, cruel, and autocratic. What was the only way the Lord could get through to him? Daniel 2:1, 2.
ANSWER: "Nebuchadnezzar __________ __________, ... and his __________ brake from him."
7. If the astrologers and spiritualists of his realm knew how to get in touch with God, surely they would know what the king had dreamed. What was his reasonable demand? Daniel 2:3-5.
ANSWER: "Make known unto me the __________,... with its __________."
8. What shows that this intelligent but impatient king had already seen through the scam his astrologers were into? Daniel 2:8-12.
ANSWER: He said, "Ye have prepared __________ and __________ words to speak before me, till the __________ __________ __________: ... tell me the __________, and I shall know that ye can shew me the interpretation thereof."
Unable to come up with the dream or its interpretation, the astrologers were forced to admit that "there is none other that can show it before the king, except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh." They had a dim concept of a true God whom they did not know.
9. How did Daniel receive an understanding of the dream? Daniel 2:19-22.
ANSWER: "Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a __________ __________."
10. In brief, what was the king's strange dream? Daniel 2:31-35.
ANSWER: He saw an __________ whose head was of __________, his breast and arms of __________, his thighs of __________, his legs of __________, and his feet of __________ and __________.
11. What is God's interpretation of the dream? Daniel 2:36-42.
ANSWER: The head of __________ was [Babylon] to be followed by "another kingdom of __________" [Medo-Persia], and "another third kingdom of __________" [Grecia]. "And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as __________" [Rome]. "The feet and toes" meant that in the last days "the kingdom shall be part of __________, and part of __________." [modern Europe].
12. What next great event in world history will follow? Daniel 2:44, 45.
ANSWER: Then "... shall the God of heaven set up a __________, __________ __________ never __________ __________."
13. Whose kingdom will this be? Revelation 19:12, 16.
ANSWER: __________.
14. Who will feel at home in that kingdom? Revelation 7:13, 14.
ANSWER: Those who "... came out of the __________ __________, and have __________ their __________, and __________ them __________ in the __________ of the __________."
Notes on Daniel, Chapter Two
Babylon, the empire which was the head of gold, was conquered by Medo-Persia, the breast and arms of silver Grecia came next, followed by the "iron monarchy of Rome" (the historian Gibbon's phrase). Rome fell in 476 A.D. and was divided into what became the modern nations of Europe.
Through the centuries various ambitious rulers have tried to unite them into one: Charlemagne, Charles V, Napoleon, Queen Victoria, Kaiser Wilhelm, and more recently, Adolph Hitler. All have failed. President Wilson of the USA dreamed of a successful League of Nations, which never came to be. We are living now in the time of the toes of iron, mixed with miry clay.
The nation's battlefields have been drenched with blood because of rulers who have tried to break those seven powerful words, "They shall not cleave one to another." Napoleon said, "O God, You have been too strong for me."
Others have proudly imagined that their diplomacy will bring "peace in our generation" with eventual world government. But so long as human beings are still sinful, world government under enlightened, unselfish rule will be impossible, until that One comes whose "vesture was dipped in blood" at the cross of Calvary. Through love He has ascended the throne of people's hearts and won His kingdom of grace by His sacrifice. When He returns in His glory, He will establish His everlasting kingdom. Many will respond to His love. Such a response is what the Bible calls "faith." They will be those who "have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb."
"Every step in life may bring us closer to Jesus, may give us a deeper experience of His love, and may bring us one step nearer to the blessed home of peace. Then let us not cast away our confidence, but have firm assurance, firmer than ever before. 'Hither to hath the Lord helped us,' and He will help us to the end." 1 Samuel 7:12. Happiness Digest, p. 61.
15. Do you thank the Lord for inviting you to be in His everlasting kingdom? __________.
"Casting all your care upon Him; for He careth for you." 1 Peter 5:7 "Pray without ceasing." 1 Thessalonians 5:17