to all other gods
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ome time ago, I found myself searching, searching in order to know why I believe what I believe. This may be something you’re familiar with from at some point in your life, after all, shouldn’t we all have some kind of foundation for the things that we believe? The question must be asked: Why do people believe what they believe? Is it determined by culture, the society in which an individual grows up; the beliefs of their parents and friends? All of the above is often true, but there is a growing movement of people today who are tired of the same old answers to the same old questions. Relying on faith to believe something fluffy and nice just because everyone else does it… is this good enough? For many, it may be, for me it wasn’t, and so my search began… I found myself presented with questions like: Why the “Hebrew” God? What if I grew up in Asia? Wouldn’t I have been a Buddhist or something else instead? Why are there so many belief systems from the outset, and how can we tell the difference between all of them? Is there any difference at the end of the day? Isn’t all religion just manmade anyway, and if not, is there any evidence to prove beyond reasonable doubt the existence of one deity over another? Does belief even have anything to do with 1 God’s Challenge | Study 1
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A Journey
“Why do we
believe what
we
believe?” evidence and proof in the first place, or is it all simply a “faith” thing? These are good questions, the only problem is that there seem to be more questions than answers, that is what it seems like anyway, but there is something that I came across that served as a foundation for at least telling the difference between belief systems, and that is what I call: “God’s Challenge to All Other Gods”
The Challenge his challenge, I found in the ancient book called the book of Isaiah, written by Isaiah between 740-680B.C and found in the Old Testament. Here we see that the question of “which God, and why?” is nothing new, and one with which even the God of scripture has had to contend: Isaiah 41:21-24: “Present your case,” says the LORD. “Bring forth your strong reasons,” says the King of Jacob. “Let them bring forth and show us what will happen; let them show the former things, what they were, That we may consider them, and know the latter end of them; or declare to us things to come. Show the things that are to come hereafter, That we may know that you are gods; Yes, do good or do evil, that we may be dismayed and see it together. Indeed you are nothing, and your work is nothing; he who chooses you is an abomination.”
He closes by taunting these gods, calling them nothing, what they supposedly “do” nothing, and even an “abomination”, something He detests and greatly dislikes1. Quite the one-sided challenge... Or is it? Definition taken from www.Dictionary.com
1
VS.
Speaking to the other commonly followed gods of the time, the God of scripture challenges them all to “bring forth their strong reasons” to “show” their legitimacy as supposed “gods”. The means by which He challenges them to do this, is by showing what will happen, to show what has happened in the past and tell how that relates to what will happen in the future; to show what is to come hereafter. Then, He says, we may know that they are gods. God’s Challenge | Study 1
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A Bold Claim eading just a little further on in Isaiah, we find that the challenge God proposes to test the other gods, He applies it equally to Himself as a fact of His existence. Isaiah 44:9-10 Remember the former things of old, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the begin-
ning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, And I will do all My pleasure.’
Notice that first God describes Himself by claiming that He alone is God, “and there is no other”. Quite the claim, but as we read on He substantiates it by explaining how we can know for certain that the claim is true: He declares the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that have not yet occurred; also known as prophecy. “Really? Like Nostradamus or something?” Not quite. If the purpose of prophecy is to tell the future ahead of time, it seems logical to me that one ought to know the events predicted before the fact. How else would we know what to expect? In addition to that, if the information is coming from God, it had better be accurate for the sake of His own credibility. So then, first comes the clarity of the prediction and second the accuracy of what actually happens as compared to what was predicted and expected. I’ll let you draw your own conclusions on Nostradamus and how his prophecies relate to those criteria. Ok, so God has made the claim rather boldly, where’s the proof? 3 God’s Challenge | Study 1
The Forgotten Dream n the Old Testament book of Daniel, written during the sixth century, we find a fascinating story of a dream that Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon had. This dream although forgotten by the King himself, has also come to be largely unknown today, and yet its implications are astoundingly profound even for modern society. As Daniel chapter two describes, Nebuchadnezzar was in the second year of his reign. One night, he had some dreams, he was so troubled by them that his sleep left him. He was so troubled by them, that he gave the command to call the magicians, astrologers, sorcerers, and Chaldeans to tell him his dreams. Back in Babylonian times, dreams were held as significant, call this superstitious, but as we will see, this was no ordinary dream. Finally, those called for arrive before the king. Daniel 2:3-12 The king said to them, “I have had a dream, and my spirit is anxious to know the dream.” Then the Chaldeans spoke to the king in Aramaic, “O king, live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will give the interpretation.” The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, “My decision is firm: if you do not make known the dream to me, and its interpretation, you shall be cut in pieces, and your houses shall be made an ash heap. However, if you tell the dream and its interpretation, you shall receive from me gifts, rewards, and great honor. Therefore tell me the dream and its interpretation.” They answered again and said, “Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will give its interpretation.” The king answered and said, “I know for certain that you would gain time, because you see that my decision
is firm: if you do not make known the dream to me, there is only one decree for you! For you have agreed to speak lying and corrupt words before me till the time has changed. Therefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that you can give me its interpretation.” The Chaldeans answered the king, and said, “There is not a man on earth who can tell the king’s matter; therefore no king, lord, or ruler has ever asked such things of any magician, astrologer, or Chaldean. It is a difficult thing that the king requests, and there is no other who can tell it to the king except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.” For this reason the king was angry and very furious, and gave the command to destroy all the wise men of Babylon. So the decree went out, and they began killing the wise men; and they sought Daniel and his companions, to kill them.
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What is happening here? In essence, the king has forgotten the dream, but knows that it had significance, so much so, that he couldn’t sleep because of it. You may be able to relate to the feeling of forgetting a dream. I know I’ve woken up at times, and tried to remember a dream with difficulty as it faded. So get this: Nebuchadnezzar has these wise men on his payroll specifically for things like this. Usually he might tell them Daniel and his friends were the dream, and then they would come Hebrew captives taken from up with some kind of made-up explanawhen Babylon conquered tion, but things are different this time and Jerusalem in 598B.C. As the king soon realizes that these men are the first chapter of Daniel little more than a big hoax and have been describes, Nebuchadnezzar scamming him for who-knows-how-long? took captive the best of the It’s interesting that the very individuals who best of Jerusalem’s youth would claim to be in connection with “the and had them trained in the gods” freely admit that the thing that the best schools of Babylon to king is requesting is something which only serve in his kingdom. “the gods” can tell. Daniel and his friends had come to be in respectable positions, they found themselves included with the other “wise men” of Babylon upon whom the king decreed destruction, even though they weren’t a part of them. Begging for time that they might seek God for the answer to the king’s dreams, they are granted it. Daniel is given the same dream, and God provides him with what it all means.
A Brief History
Daniel 2:24-30 Therefore Daniel went to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon. He went and said thus to him: “Do not destroy the wise men of Babylon; take me before the king, and I will tell the king the interpretation.” Then Arioch quickly brought Daniel before the king, and said thus to him, “I have found a man of the captives of Judah, who will make known to the king the interpretation.” 5 God’s Challenge | Study 1
The king answered and said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, “Are you able to make known to me the dream which I have seen, and its interpretation?” Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, “The secret which the king has demanded, the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, and the soothsayers cannot declare to the king? But there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days.
Daniel telling king Nebuchadnezzar his dream. Your dream, and the visions of your head upon your bed, were these: As for you, O king, thoughts came to your mind while on your bed, about what would come to pass after this; and He who reveals secrets has made known to you what
will be. But as for me, this secret has not been revealed to me because I have more wisdom than anyone living, but for our sakes who make known the interpretation to the king, and that you may know the thoughts of your heart.
“God has made known what... will be in the latter days... would come to pass after this...
for OUR sakes” God’s Challenge | Study 1
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Oh, so this dream has to do with prophecy? I don’t know about you, but I’m all ears. Let’s see how God stacks up to his own challenge. Daniel continues: Daniel 2:31 “You, O king, were watching; and behold, a great image! This great image, whose splendor was excellent, stood before you; and its form was awesome. This image’s head was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. You watched while a stone was cut out without hands, which struck
the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed together, and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; the wind carried them away so that no trace of them was found. And the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.
A great image is depicted, having a head of gold, chest and arms of silver, thighs of bronze, legs of iron, and feet of iron and clay. A stone is cut out and smashes it to bits, and then forms a great mountain. I can only imagine that as Daniel recounts the story, the king shifts to the edge of his seat in excitement and expectation. It’s all coming back to him, this IS the dream that he had! We know this because of his reaction a little later on. However, it’s one thing to recount a dream, and quite another to actually draw conclusions about it. After all, symbolism like that could represent virtually anything as I’m sure you’d agree. This is the reason why so many people today laugh prophecy off. How could anyone know what something like that means? Yes, you can speculate and guess, perhaps you’re even right once or twice, but how would you know even that? Without an interpretation that is not subject to opinion or speculation, it’s a waste of time. Earlier on in bringing up the topic of prophecy, the conclusion was made that first comes the clarity of the prediction and second the accuracy of what actually happens as compared to what was predicted and expected. With that in mind; in order for us to know what to expect, we need to know what was predicted and we therefore need a solid internal interpretation that prevents speculation. Thankfully, we have this, because Daniel continues to interpret the dream so that nobody else needs to. 7 God’s Challenge | Study 1
Daniel 2:36-45 “This is the dream. Now we will tell the interpretation of it before the king. You, O king, are a king of kings. For the God of heaven has given you a kingdom, power, strength, and glory; and wherever the children of men dwell, or the beasts of the field and the birds of the heaven, He has given them into your hand, and has made you ruler over them all—you are this head of gold. But after you shall arise another kingdom inferior to yours; then another, a third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over all the earth. And the fourth kingdom shall be as strong as iron, inasmuch as iron breaks in pieces and shatters everything; and like iron that crushes, that kingdom will break in pieces and crush all the others. Whereas you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter’s clay and partly of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; yet the strength of the iron shall be in it, just as you saw
the iron mixed with ceramic clay. And as the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly fragile. As you saw iron mixed with ceramic clay, they will mingle with the seed of men; but they will not adhere to one another, just as iron does not mix with clay. And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever. Inasmuch as you saw that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold—the great God has made known to the king what will come to pass after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation is sure.”
That’s quite a mouthful. According to Daniel, Nebuchadnezzar is the head of gold. Furthermore, after him will arise yet other inferior kingdoms, each represented by the consecutive materials of which this great image was composed. With that in mind, anyone who tries to apply the dream to anything else, is outside of the boundaries set by the interpretation. The interpretation is clear already, what we want to know is what nation each material represents, and how accurate it turned out to be. After all, if it truly came from God, there should be no margin for error, or else God is defeated by His own challenge.
“First comes the clarity of the prediction
and second the accuracy of
what actually happens
as compared to
what was predicted and expected.” God’s Challenge | Study 1
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A Closer Look – What Really Happened? irst, we will look at it from a historical perspective to see how things came to pass and then review what the people of the time would have expected based on Daniel’s interpretation and writings. The Head of Gold
The Thighs of Bronze
Ruling from 606-538B.C. Babylon was indeed a city of gold. The ancient Greek historian Herodotus describes the temple of Marduk in Babylon as follows:
The next kingdom to arise, as history books will attest, was Greece. It was in power from 331 B.C. to 168 B.C. It is interesting to note that the metal used in much of Greek armor was brass.
“The great figure of Marduk, all of gold on a golden throne, supported on a base of gold, with a golden table standing beside it. I was told by the Chaldeans that to make all this, more than 22 tons of gold were used...”
With that in mind, it is no wonder that Nebuchadnezzar could say that he “covered its wall with
sparkling gold, I caused it to shine like the sun.”1 The Chest and Arms of Silver
The fact that another kingdom would conquer Babylon may have come as a shock to the king. But because of what he had just been through with the ‘wise’ men of Babylon, he almost had to listen. The Persian Empire conquered Babylon in 538 B.C. They ruled until 331 B.C. The dream depicts this world empire as silver. The Medes and Persians were known for silver and had silver currency.
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The Legs of Iron Rome was to rule from 168 B.C. until 476 A.D. “...the images of gold, or silver, or brass, that might serve to represent the nations and their kings, were successively broken by the iron monarchy of Rome.” 2 The Feet of Iron and Clay Leading up to and following the fall of Rome in 476 A.D., barbarian tribes invaded the land. The ten divisions seen by most historians are as follows: Alamani, Ostrogoths, Visigoths, Franks, Vandals, Suevi, Burgundians, Heruli, Anglo-Saxons, and Lombards. Seven of these nations still exist today, Daniel 7 enlarges upon why three of them are extinct today. Joan Oates, Babylon, rev. ed., 157. (Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, E. Gibbons, pg. 437,438.) 1 2
Babylon Represented by the head of gold and ruled from 606-538B.C.
Medo-Persia: Represented by the chest and arms of silver and ruled from 538-331B.C.
Greece: Represented by the thighs of bronze and ruled from 331-168B.C.
Rome: Represented by the legs of iron and ruled from 168B.C.-476A.D.
Divided Rome: Represented by the feet of iron and clay and present since 476A.D. The statue from the dream.
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A Closer Look – What Was Expected? s covered earlier, it’s all fine and well to look back in retrospect and apply what really happened to see if it matches what was predicted. The thing that authenticates and validates prophecy however is how clear and accurate it was, along with how the prophecy was understood during the times in which it was given. Certainly, Nebuchadnezzar found it to be quite clear, judging by his reaction: Daniel 2:46-47 Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face, prostrate before Daniel, and commanded that they should present an offering and incense to him. The king
answered Daniel, and said, “Truly your God is the God of gods, the Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, since you could reveal this secret.”
What we want to know however is this: how we can know today in the 21st century that back then the people knew to expect with the Medes and Persians being next, followed by Greece and so-forth. We know for a fact that those with a knowledge of Scripture could-well have anticipated Medo-Persia being next because when we go back to the book of Isaiah, we find a verse that is absolutely fascinating: Isaiah 45:1 “Thus says the LORD to His anointed, To Cyrus, whose right hand I have held— To subdue nations before him And loose
the armor of kings, To open before him the double doors, So that the gates will not be shut.”
Long before he was even born, king Cyrus was predicted by name. The Cyrus Cylinder, which was discovered in the 1800’s tells the story of how the Persian general Cyrus conquered Babylon in 539 B.C. as foretold in Isaiah chapter 45. It tells about how the river Euphrates was dried up just as Isaiah said would happen when Cyrus rerouted it around the city, and marched right on through along the riverbed. As the verse predicted, the double doors blocking entrance via the river, were left open. Herodotus relates that on the night of Cyrus’ capture of Babylon Cyrus Cylinder the city gates along the Euphrates 11 God’s Challenge | Study 1
A model of what Babylon’s impenetrable double-walls looked like. were not closed. A festival was in progress, and people were to be permitted to cross the river at will. It should therefore be reasonable to conclude that the Hebrew captives were aware of this prophecy, especially considering the fact that a leader had arisen with the same name predicted by the prophecy. Furthermore, they would also have been aware of the double doors through which the Euphrates ran. There is more to be said of Cyrus and the more detailed predictions of his actions later on, but that will have to be covered in a later study. So now we have Babylon and Medo-Persia down, lets assume that since Daniel lived during that time, that he might have written the book of Daniel after the fact. That’s all fine and well, but the next nation was Greece, what evidence do we have that the next nation would be Greece? Before we look at that, it would be well to understand that in Hebrew writing, we often find a methodology of repetition and enlargement. So for example, the first parts of Daniel including this story are quite general, but later on it hones in on more of the specifics. With that in mind, a later prophecy in the book of Daniel (Daniel Chapter 8) we find that both God’s Challenge | Study 1
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Medo-Persia and Greece are mentioned by name. This is important because like Cyrus, who was predicted in advance, we can know that God intended for Greece to be next. Daniel 8:20-21 The ram which you saw, having the two horns—they are the kings of Media and Persia. 21 And the male
goat is the kingdom of Greece. The large horn that is between its eyes is the first king.
Here the language is referring to these nations as represented by a ram and goat. Gabriel, an angel of God is giving Daniel the interpretation of a vision he has just seen. As mentioned before with how Hebrew writing was often done, this prophecy is simply paralleling while repeating and enlarging upon the Medo-Persia and Greece sections of the great image of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream in Daniel 2. This whole prophecy is fascinating as well, however it will also have to be covered in another study of its own. For now, we know that the people of the time at least had Greece on the radar screen as being next in line in accordance with Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. Next was the “iron” monarchy of Rome. Daniel doesn’t mention Rome by name, but he describes it accurately to the king: Daniel 2:40 “the fourth kingdom shall be as strong as iron, inasmuch as iron breaks in pieces and shatters ever y-
thing; and like iron that crushes, that kingdom will break in pieces and crush all the others.”
Certainly, only Rome both can and did fit this description, but lets say that Daniel was guessing and just happened to get the first all right, that’s all fine and well, but if he was just guessing, then there would have been no reason to describe the fourth kingdom as he did, never mind the fact that the feet of iron and clay would represent the division of that nation (Rome) as opposed to simply another single nation conquering it. This argues strongly for the fact that his interpretation was inspired by God as proclaimed. Suppose I were to tell you 20 different things that will happen to you next week. So, the first thing occurs, then the second, third, fourth, fifth… what are you starting to think? Was my word reliable? This is exactly what we have here in Daniel. One of the last things to note is that just as predicted, when Rome fell, not only was it divided into ten smaller kingdoms, but there was another condition that has held true throughout time as well, in spite of the odds being stacked against it. 13 God’s Challenge | Study 1
Daniel 2:43 As you saw iron mixed with ceramic clay, they will mingle with the seed of men; but they will not adhere to one another, just as iron does not mix with clay.
No matter what, the nations of Europe would not unite. The Hapsburg dynasty tried to unify it through marriage. Charlemagne, Charles V, Napoleon, Kaiser Wilhelm & Hitler, all tried through war, but none succeeded and of Napoleon it is said he stated: “I wanted to found a European system, a European code of law, a European court of appeals.” Yet, God said, “They will not adhere.”
Napoleon Bonaparte
“I wanted to found... a European system,
a European code of law, Going back to my journey, God’s a European court of appeals.” challenge is what convinced me. Yet, God said, Seeing all the ways in which He has repeatedly proved himself throughout history and continues to do so by His word, I could not ignore the evidence. In my studies I have come to find that as Amos put it:
“They will not adhere.”
Amos 3:7 Surely the Lord God does nothing, unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets.
There is only one more event left on the timeline of this prophecy: Daniel 2:44 In the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom
shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.
Will you be ready when that day comes?
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The Evidence n 1947, one of the greatest archaeological discoveries took place for the theological community. As the story goes, a young boy was looking for his father’s goat near the dead sea and stumbled upon an ancient library. He was throwing rocks in a cave (pictured above), perhaps to scare the goat out, when to his surprise, he instead heard what sounded like breaking glass which startled him. Rushing back to the village elders, he told them what he had heard, they went to take a look and found jar after jar after jar, about a meter high, and 18 inches round, stuffed tight with scrolls. We now refer to these as the dead sea scrolls. They were stored there by an ancient religious community called the Qumran community, who existed sometime between 200–50BC (scholars disagree). When the archaeologists began to pull these scrolls out, they found portions of every single book of the Old Testament except for one (The book of Ruth). Perhaps the greatest of these were two almost perfect scrolls of the prophet Isaiah. When the theologians and Hebrew scholars took out their own copy of Isaiah from Hebrew manuscripts, they found basic identical agreement. As in around 98-99% agreement! Keep in mind that this is before computers, iPods, photocopy machines, faxes, external hard drives, etc. Back then, people were literally writing on animal skins, scrolls, and so-forth. Not only that, but when scholars look at the new and old, there is absolute consistency. “Ok, so they found a bunch of really old scrolls, what’s the big deal about that anyway?”
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Jar containing the Scrolls
Allow me to explain. For a long time, skeptics had made the claim that the prophecies of Daniel had to have been written after the events had taken place. Many refused to acknowledge the idea that they were written back in the time of Babylon and Medo-Persia. This is interesting because it testifies for the accuracy of the prophecies of Daniel that it should cause people to question when it was even written. Think about it, if the writings of Daniel were around as late as 200BC, or even 50BC, this strongly suggests that they were witten a fair amount of time before this in order to have become accepted and popular enough to be contained in this library. Suddenly, the idea that the book was written during the time of Babylon and Medo-Persia is a lot more likely, highly probable even. Not only do the Dead Sea Scrolls prove that the book of Daniel was in existence long before the fulfillment of a great deal of the prophecy of Daniel 2, but even more so for the prophetic chapters that follow. That’s not where the implications end either, the Dead Sea Scroll finding also argues strongly for the idea that Dead Sea Scrolls Exhibit the Bible has apparently been supernaturally preserved throughout the ages, including the Dark Ages. This comes as no surprise to scholars who study and maintain a belief in Scripture, for by the inspiration of God, King David testified of this in the book of Psalms around 1000BC: Psalms 12:6-7 The words of the LORD are pure words, Like silver tried in a furnace of earth, Purified seven times. You shall keep them, O LORD, You shall preserve them from this generation forever.
Indeed, it would appear that He has done exactly that.
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Sources Cited: Cover pages and idols image (page 2) a combination of: http://www.sxc.hu/browse.phtml?f=view&id=800560 http://www.sxc.hu/browse.phtml?f=view&id=1182895 http://uk.ask.com/wiki/Karnak http://thejewishstar.wordpress.com/2008/08/29/the-kosher-bookworm-7/ http://www.sxc.hu/browse.phtml?f=view&id=490557 http://www.sxc.hu/browse.phtml?f=view&id=253568 http://www.sxc.hu/browse.phtml?f=view&id=1267744
A Journey:
http://www.sxc.hu/photo/607241
Bible:
jsolie, iStockPhoto.com
Sky (page 3):
http://www.dominickamp.de
A Brief History:
http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1009365
Daniel interprets dream:
http://varsinainen.blogspot.com/
Statue:
Courtesy of http://www.anchorpointfilms.com
Cyrus Cylinder:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyrus_Cylinder
Ishtar Gate:
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pergamon_Museum_Berlin_2007110.jpg
Napoleon:
http://serieamania.net/napoleon/
Dead Sea Scroll Caves:
http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2950830090013927790srAdIx
Dead Sea Scroll Exhibit:
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/gaRxRospF2yseSN2yyf-Ag
Dead Sea Scroll Jar:
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/NMBV3IwKvPgRUK3Q_E1dHw
Content story:
Eric Louw, 2010, http://www.EricLouw.carbonmade.com NKJV Bible 17 God’s Challenge | Study 1
For further Study, please visit: http://www.bibleprophecytruth.com God’s Challenge | Study 1
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For further Study, please visit: http://www.bibleprophecytruth.com 19 God’s Challenge | Study 1