Hello, I'm Cassie Sollano. Welcome to Let God Speak. A precursor is something that signals the
approach of something or someone. The Bible gives us two events that are precursors to last
day events, both linked to Revelation 13. The first directly relates to the events described
in the passage. The second reveals the conditions Christians will face in the last days.
Stay with us as we discuss these two precursors and understand the significance they hold for us
today.
On our panel today, we have Cynthia Mafunga and Rosemary Malkiewycz. Welcome. Thank you.
Let's pray. Dear Lord, thank you that you have revealed to us the things about the future.
You were with us in everything and please be with us today as we study the message you have
left to us. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen. We find the first precursor in the book of Daniel.
Who was Daniel and where was he when he wrote this book, Cynthia? Daniel was a Jewish teenager
that was taken captive by the Babylonians at the start of the 70 year captivity of the Jewish
people in 605 BC. He was taught in the Babylonian system and then he was employed in Nebuchadnezzar's
court and he served with them and he became one of the highest officials in their government.
Yes, wow. That's quite an impressive upgrade. How did Daniel rise to be the highest official in
the government? Well, okay. It began in the book of Daniel chapter 2 and we have the King of Babylon,
Nebuchadnezzar and he had a mysterious and very, very frightening dream and so he wanted his wise
men to interpret that dream for him. First, they had to tell him what the dream was because he
couldn't remember and the wise men were saying, there's no way that we can tell you that dream.
You have to tell us the dream, then we'll interpret it and he said, no. Do it the other
way around. You tell me the dream and then tell me the interpretation but they couldn't do it.
Of course. Yes, of course. And so he ordered all the wise men to be killed
and one of those wise men was Daniel but he and his three friends were not with the wise men who
were called. So when they found out they asked for more time, they prayed and God revealed the truth
to Daniel. So let's read just part of this because after he had interpreted it and given the dream
in the first place, the king knew that something supernatural was going on. So if we look at Daniel
chapter 2 verse 48, it says, then the king promoted Daniel and gave him many great gifts.
He made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon and chief administrator over all the wise
men of Babylon. So that's how we got the job. Yes, right. So let's have a look at that dream.
Still in Daniel 2, we can read from verse 31 to 35. It says, this is Daniel explaining to the king
what this dream was. 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 in 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. It's an interesting dream. Now, Cynthia, can you tell us what the interpretation was?
So the interpretation of the dream is found in the same chapter in Daniel 2 and so the head of gold,
the chest of silver, the belly and thighs of bronze, the legs of iron and the feet of iron and clay
all represented the kingdoms that would come one after another and until the end of time.
Daniel identified in chapter 2 that the head was Babylon and then in Daniel 8 verse 20 to 21,
he also identified that the next two kingdoms would be Medo Peja and then Greece and then history
record that this is correct as well and while the not named the legs of iron represents the
world empire of Rome and finally the feet of clay and iron represent Europe that will never unite.
Right, thank you. Now this prophetic dream that happened more than 2,600 years ago
can be proven by history but it's not finished yet is it? What is the final event in the dream
rosemary? Okay, let's read Daniel 2 verses 43 and 44. It says, 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.
So we are living in the days of the feet of iron and clay in the days of these kings
and in this prophecy and the next event is the second coming of Jesus Christ. He will come in glory
to set up his kingdom, his eternal kingdom. So this prophecy pin points where we are
in the stream of time in this earth we're in the last days and the dream this amazing dream
prophecy has been confirmed by history. Yes it's wonderful and if we can be assured that if it
has come true thus far it will truly happen. That's right. Yes Cynthia what impact did this have
on Nebuchadnezzar at the time? So Daniel 2 verse 46 to 47 tells us what reaction the king had
I'll just read from the new King James Version and it says, then the king Nebuchadnezzar fell on his
face prostate before Daniel and commanded that they should present an offering an 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. So this king that is in
charge of so many people and in charge of this great empire lies down prostate before Daniel
and glorifies god for what had happened. Thank you. Now this sounds like it would have changed
the way Nebuchadnezzar ruled his kingdom. He made quite a poignant description of what he thought
God was but did he remain obedient Rosemary? Only for a short time. Again his ambition, his
self-importance, his pride took control and he just became the man that he was before
and he not only did that he openly rebelled against God by building an image like the ones he saw in
the dream but instead of just the head being gold he built the whole image out of gold. So he
was saying there my kingdom is not going to finish I am going to rule forever despite what God has
to say and so let's look at Daniel chapter three verse one and this is the image that he made.
Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold whose height was 60 cubits and it's with
six cubits that's about 27 and a half meters tall and about nearly three meters wide.
It says that he set this up in the plane of Dura in the province of Babylon. This is a massive
thing. Yes but it wasn't massive enough to stop God. No it wasn't. Now this provides the
backdrop to our first precursor. Let's stay in Daniel three and in verses five to six it says
that at the time you hear the sound of the horn, flute, harp, lyre and sultry in symphony with all
kinds of music you shall fall down and worship the gold image that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up
and whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast immediately into the midst of a burning
fiery furnace. Now what is happening here Cynthia? So like Rosemary has shared before Nebuchadnezzar
has built an image of gold in defiance to God and the dream that Daniel had and he calls his rulers
and tells them to kneel and worship this image or else they'll be thrown into the fiery furnace
and there was no exception if you didn't kneel you would be thrown into the fiery furnace.
It's what an incredible test of faith for believers and God. At this time Daniel was not present
but his three Hebrew friends Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were and they did not bow down to the
image consequently they were brought before the king. In Daniel three verses 16 and 18 we read
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar we have no need
to answer you in this matter and he responds, if that is the case our God whom we serve is able
to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace and he will deliver us from your hand O King.
But if not let it be known to you O King that we do not serve your gods nor will we worship the
gold image which you have set up. So this is in response to what has been threatened that it is
their death but they are not fearing that. Rosemary what was it that they had just done?
They had signed their death warrant. Yes. They chose to not bow down to this image they would
only worship God the God of heaven and everybody else bows down and these three choose to stand
stand up for their God and their faith and so they were brought before the king who was
going to throw them in the fiery furnace but they said to him that God if he wants to
can deliver us from your hand but even if he doesn't we're still going to worship him.
But the thing is God did marvellously absolutely marvellously deliver them.
Yes really it is marvellous. Now let us now go to Revelation 13 and this will connect it to the
events that we are going to see in the last days. In Revelation 13 verse 1 it says then
I stood on the sand of the sea and I saw a beast rising up out of the sea having seven heads and
ten horns and on his horns ten crowns and on his heads a blasphemous name. John sees in verses
one to ten a beast representing a religious and political power rise up from the sea.
This power rolls for a period of time and then rolls again in the last days.
What do we know about the sea beast Cynthia? So the book of the books of Daniel and Revelation
reveal many clues as to what this sea beast is and they echo each other and parallel each other
in helping identifying this beast. So the only empire that fits into this is the Roman Empire
and it fits into all the clues that I mentioned. It rolled from 538 to 1798 and then its power
was restored again in 1929 and from that time to the end the world marvels over it.
Right now let us read verse 11 of Revelation 13. It says then I saw another beast coming out of
the earth and he had two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon. This earth beast starts
small but gets power from the first beast. Now Rosemary what do we know about this one's identity?
Through the Bible and history we can know that this is actually the United States of America.
It started in the late 1700s around about the same time that the papacy lost its power.
And so we can know that these two things happened around the same time and it was a remote
unpopulated area of the world that the people moved to from persecution in Europe for their
religious faith and so it was constituted upon no king and no pope which were the two lamb like
horns, no king no pope which was different to all the other nations in Europe and also that this
lamb like beast or lamb like horns would end up speaking like a dragon and we know that the United
States has grown to be one of the most powerful nations in the world if not the most powerful
and if it isn't already speaking like a dragon it will. Yes it's amazing we have all that evidence
that we can decode what might seem at first overwhelming. So we'll go to verses 15 and 17
and it gives us this image. He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast that the
image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the
beast to be killed so it reminds us a bit of Daniel. He causes all both small and great rich and poor
free and slave to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads and that no one may buy
or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast or the number of his name. Now this is
a passage that has been interpreted by a lot of people but Cynthia what evidence can we use
that will really tell us what's here. Yeah so Daniel 3 is the precursor to this event where people
were forced to worship an image and the enforced worship in Daniel 3 occurs again in the last days
as we see in Revelation chapter 13 and we can conclude from the clues that Protestant USA will
be the image to the papacy and the Roman church. It is called an image to the beast because it copies
the papacy's day of worship Sunday. It enforces its day of worship and the US is the global superpower
like Rosemary has said that will enforce that and mandate it all over the world because whatever the
USA does everyone else does. Yes how do they go about enforcing worship Rosemary? Well first of all
if we look in verse 16 we get an idea of what they're doing because it is forcing people to get a
mark or the famous mark of the beast and in verse 17 it says that those who will not receive that
mark will have prohibition to buy and sell or economic sanctions against those who want to be
faithful to God against dissenters and when you're hungry when you're suffering poverty
you will most likely cave in to any demand so that you can eat and feed your family
so you can buy and sell and that is what Satan who is behind all of this is planning this is
what he wants to do to force people and it involves everybody on the earth nobody will escape
apart from those who are faithful to God. Right now if that is Satan's plan how does God view the
mark of the beast Cynthia? So God gives us an idea of this in Revelation 14 verse 6 to 7 and it says
then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven having the everlasting gospel to preach
to those who dwell on the earth to every nation tribe tongue and people saying with a loud voice
fear God and give glory to him for the hour of his judgment has come and worship him who made the
heaven and the earth the sea and springs of water so it's all about worship the question is who will
you worship God or the image of the beast and that's the choice that people are presented with and
this is what God thinks he says worship God and keep his commandments. Yes it is the challenge to
Daniel's friends all those years ago and it's now that we must decide can we stand for God then
but is now move to the second precursor event this time to the New Testament in Acts 12 one to
three we read now about that time Herod the king stretched out his hand to harass some from the
church then he killed James the brother of John with the sword and because he saw that it pleased
the Jews he proceeded further to seize Peter also now it was during the days of the unleavened
bread. Now what led up to this rosemary? Well in Acts 2 we see that the Holy Spirit came upon the
early church and it received the power of God to spread the gospel around the world and it was
very powerful unfortunately the Jews really didn't want them to do this they hated Jesus and so they
caused serious persecution against the Christians and one of the main ones of perpetrators of that
was Saul of Tarsus who became Paul the Apostle when he was converted to Christ but also the Romans
were leading in this because Christianity was changing the whole world and people were changing
their allegiance to the gods of the pagans and so the Romans had to do something King Herod was one
of their puppets and he killed James the brother of John the disciple and he wanted to kill other
Christians as well because he could see he could please the Jews and then get favor from them through
this. Right so Herod had another death penalty for Christian leaders and Peter was to be next.
Now what happened Cynthia? I'll just continue reading in Acts 12 verse 6 and 7 it says and when
Herod was about to bring him out that night Peter was sleeping bound with two chains between two
soldiers and the guards before the door were keeping the prison. Now behold an angel of the
Lord stood by him and the light shone in the prison and he struck Peter on the side and raised
him up saying arise quickly and his chains fell off his hands so Peter is in prison and he's asleep
he's at peace and he knows he's God and while he's asleep an angel comes to him and wakes him up and
basically sets him free and this is hope for the future for the people that will stand for God that
even if we're put in prison even if the world is against us that God is still for us. Yes he will
give us that peace beyond understanding. Now this story is a precursor to what event Rosemary?
Okay it prefigures the persecution and the death penalty that will occur according to
Revelation 13 which we looked at that chapter just before. At this time those who do not accept
the mark of the beast will not only have persecution economically but death threat as well and so that
is what this story is showing us but there's one of the wonderful things about Peter in this story
he trusted God so much he was actually asleep in the prison between the two guards and the angel
had to shake him awake he was so deeply at peace and sleeping and the angels the angel of heaven
came and took him out of the prison so we can know that if we go through these things God is going
to look after us we can be at peace in God and know that the angels will keep us safe and I want to
read 2 Timothy 1 7 it says this for God has not given us a spirit of fear but of power and of love
and of a sound mind yes and a beautiful verse now why are these precursor events important for us
to understand can you give us a little bit more on that Cynthia? So they basically warn us of what
is to come and what to look forward to and Revelation 14 verse 12 tells us of what the saints will look
like Revelation 14 verse 12 says here is the patience of the saints here are those who keep the
commandments of God and the faith of Jesus and yeah we can look forward to being part of that group
it's wonderful now why? Cynthia I might stay with you the fourth commandment was changed by the
papacy to sunday the papacy have stated clearly in their publications that they alone have the
authority to change God's law from the seventh day Saturday to the first day sunday how does this fit
in with our discussion? So like we've just read in Revelation 14 verse 12 that the saints keep
all of the commandments all 10 of them they don't choose one or two or three or four they
keep all of them and the fourth commandment is about worshiping God on the seventh day and like we
said before it's all about worship and that's why Revelation 14 verse 4 says here is the patience
here are those that will endure regardless of that persecution and stand by God and his commandments
yeah so it's incredibly important we keep the Sabbath day isn't it? Yes it's the only
commandment with God's seal and not only does it only is it the only one with God's seal God's name is
there the Lord and his jurisdiction is the heaven the earth everywhere and also God says in there
that the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God so the seventh day is actually God's day
it's not just an ordinary day God owns that day in a special way and it's his special
Sabbath and Jesus said I am Lord also of the Sabbath that's not just an ordinary day oh it's
absolutely not so how can we be ready for what is coming and to stick to the Sabbath in the face
of these death decrees and this persecution rosemary? We have to have a relationship with Jesus now
to carry us through that time ahead we all need to do it we don't know when that time is we know
it is soon because of events happening in the world but we have to have that relationship now
because we don't know when our lives will end and so Jesus has to be our Lord as well as our Savior
and if he is our Lord we will obey what he says he said if you love me keep my commandments
and so we are to obey him we are to walk with him we are to know that here's our example
that we are to develop his character through the Holy Spirit and we have to do that now
and I want to read 1 John 2 28 because I think this verse helps us understand what Jesus wants us to
do and says John wrote and now little children abide in him that's a moment by moment relationship
with Jesus that when he appears we may have confidence and not be ashamed before him at his
coming so to not be ashamed when he appears again means we need to abide in him to have that moment
by moment relationship yes and he will in return give us that peace we've talked about in the place
of everything he will take away the fear and give us a peace a love he'll give us a sound mind
that will carry us through yes and we will need it but he will give it to us it's a beautiful
thing to think about God is faithful in what he has promised he absolutely is we can have no doubt
about that yes thank you so much for this discussion today we've covered a lot of important
topics now there is coming a great final test of worship for all humanity there will be pressure
coercion and force used to persuade people to worship a man-made commandment it is going to be
a life or death decision but praise God we are not to fear we can trust his promises that he will
deliver his people we are so glad you joined us today on let God speak tell your friends about
the program and tune in next week remember all past programs plus teachers notes are available
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we'll have more to talk about next time please join us again thank you for tuning in today god bless
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