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The Dream of An African King By Stephen L. Williams, Author Black Heritage Bible Lessons |
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Dan 2:1-3 1 And in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams, wherewith his spirit was troubled, and his sleep brake from him. 2 Then the king commanded to call the magicians, and the astrologers, and the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans, for to shew the king his dreams. So they came and stood before the king. 3 And the king said unto them, I have dreamed a dream, and my spirit was troubled to know the dream. (KJV)
According to Genesis the 10 chapter, the kingdom of Babylon, earlier call Babel was started by an African man named Nimrod, who was the son of Ethiopia or the Sudan. Gen 10:8-10 8 And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth. 9 He was a mighty hunter before the LORD: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the LORD. 10 And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel. Babylon was one of the greatest empires to rule the world. This Nimrod decided he would protect his people from another flood by establishing a tower that reached into the heavens. Under the leadership of this great black monarch, men of Color, Caucasoid and Semitic origin banded together to build the highest tower the world had ever known. This tower became known as Babel and it was the beginning of the kingdom of Babylon. This great hunter Nimrod, according to the historian Josephus: “Persuaded the citizens who he ruled to worship him as God and to look to his strength to guide them and not Yahweh who had just destroyed the world with a flood. He said he would revenge Himself on God, and he would build a tower that would stretch high into the heavens, into the very presence of God so that should Yahweh decide to destroy the world with another flood, he and His people would not be affected..”[1] God, on recognizing that the sons of men were about to accomplish their task, intervened. He confounded their language which was universal at that time. Thus they could no longer understand each other and were forced to divide into different groups according to their language. Thus began a multitude of nations and Nimrod’s purpose was defeated. Nimrod developed a society that would challenge even one in 20th Century America. He built a city that was enduring with a tremendous list of Kings. For nearly 2,000 years Babylon was the capital of an extensive empire called Babylonia. Its first documented monarch was Sargon of Akkad, one of the most powerful kings to ever rule any nation. Sargon was the most famous of the early monarchs of Babylonia. He ruled for 56 years conquering many neighboring countries and was responsible for adding Sumer or Mesopotamia to the Babylonian kingdom. After Sargon came Naram Sin who conquered a large part of Western Asia, establishing Babylon’s power in Palestine and even stretching its arm into the Siniatic peninsula. Hammurabi was the next and the most famous king of Babylon. He came to the throne around the time the Patriarch Abraham left Ur of the Chaldees, one of the cities of Babylon. Under Hammurabi the first golden age of Babylon began. Hammurabi was a genius politician who loved scholarly and literary pursuit. His most enduring legacy was a code of laws fashioned after the Ten Commandments. These laws were found carved on a column at Susa in the palace of the Assyrians. These Assyrians were the leaders of Babylon until Nabopolassar, the father of Nebuchadnezzar set his people free. Nabopolassar was appointed by the Assyrians as governor of Babylon. In 626BC he revolted and joined the Medes and Persians in a war against Assyria which resulted in the destruction of the Assyrian capital of Nineveh in 612 BC. After driving the last Assyrians into northwestern Mesopotamia, Nabopolassar left military operations in the hands of his son Nebuchadnezzar. Nebuchadnezzar then dispersed the Assyrians, pushed their Egyptian allies out of Syria and was about to invade Egypt itself when he received news of his father’s death. He then returned home to Babylon to assume the throne of is people. According to the Seventh day Adventist Bible Commentary, Nebuchadnezzar came to the throne in 605 BC. His father, Nabopolassar, was founder of the new Chaldean dynasty in Babylonia. It was this dynasty of which Nebuchadnezzar was the second king that restored black rules after the foreign rulers were overthrown. Nebuchadnezzar ruled Babylon some 4,000 years after Nimrod, yet he continued in the tradition of the founder of his great empire. Nebuchadnezzar like Nimrod regarded Himself as the Messiah, and king of all kings. It was his plan like his predecessor to set up a kingdom that would be universal and included all the people of the world, a task which he nearly accomplished. Note the following about Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom. In Babylonia, but most conspicuously in Babylon itself, Nebuchadnezzar engaged in numerous building projects. He fortified Babylon constructing many temples and the great Hanging Gardens. Nebuchadnezzar took a Midianite woman to be his wife. This was the black tribe from which the prophet Moses also took his spouse. These Midianites lived in the beautiful mountains of Midian and loved the natural scenery. Nebuchadnezzar in a bid to keep his lovely Ethiopian Queen happy built her the beautiful “Hanging Gardens of Babylon." This consisted of trees and flowers built on top of a platform 23 feet high, visible from miles around which later became on of the Seven Wonders of the World. When he became King, Nebuchadnezzar marched against Babylon and took captive Daniel and his three friends. Shardrach, Meshac and Abednego. He purposed to train the Hebrew boys so he could send back to Jerusalem to become the leaders Of the Israelite nation and lead in the way of Baal rather than Jehovah. But there was something that Nebuchadnezzar did not know that all the wise men in Babylon knew. And God was about to teach Nebuchadnezzar. 1. A Troubled King Dan 2:1 1 And in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams, wherewith his spirit was troubled, and his sleep brake from him.
2. Why Prophecy? Amos 3:7 Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets. Isaiah 46:9-10. Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, 10 Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:
God places His claim to uniqueness on His ability to foretell the future and no other God can accomplish that?
1. Prophecy is evidence for the existence of an omnipotent God who rules and over rules. 2. Prophecy is evidence demonstrated that the bible is the reliable word of God. 3. Prophecy links the past to the future by explaining the past, and foretelling the future. 4. Prophecy unfolds the creator’s secrets regarding what how his creature should live to have joys forever. God has revealed the future so that we will know what he expects of us living in these critical hours of earth’s history.
3 The King Calls for Help DAN 2:2 Then the king commanded to call the magicians, and the astrologers, and the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans, for to shew the king his dreams. So they came and stood before the king. 1. Magicians. Studied Magic. Claim to solve personal problems and predict the future. Dropped oil in water and claim the way it spread could indicate the solution to problems. They sometimes studied the livers of animals for clues to the future. 2. Astrologers. Studied the movement of the heavenly bodies. They claim to be able to forte the future or solve problems by the constellation of the stars.
3. Sorcerers. Communicated with the dead. They claim direct contact with the spirit world and the ability to communicate with the dead.
4. Chaldeans: These were the intellectual elite of Babylon. These were the puppies, or the black Bushwae. They were mathematicians, philosophers, scientist, and were the most educated in Babylon. They solved problems through precise math and scientist.
Deut 18:9-12 9 When thou art come into the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations. 10 There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, 11 Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. 12 For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD: and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee.
4. The Brain Trust Fails Daniel 2:5-10 The thing is gone from me: 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. 6 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. 7 They answered again and said, Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will shew the interpretation of it. 8 The king answered and said, I know of certainty that ye would gain the time, because ye see the thing is gone from me. 9 But if ye will not make known unto me the dream, there is but one decree for you: for ye have prepared lying and corrupt words to speak before me, till the time be changed: therefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that ye can shew me the interpretation thereof. 10 The Chaldeans answered before the king, and said, There is not a man upon the earth that can shew the king's matter: therefore there is no king, lord, nor ruler, that asked such things at any magician, or astrologer, or Chaldean.
Only the Gods that dwell not with flesh. 5. Enter Daniel and Daniel's God
Daniel 2:14-15 14 Then Daniel answered with counsel and wisdom to Arioch the captain of the king's guard, which was gone forth to slay the wise men of Babylon: 15 He answered and said to Arioch the king's captain, Why is the decree so hasty from the king? Then Arioch made the thing known to Daniel.
6 Daniel Goes to the Source Daniel 2:16-18 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. 17 Then Daniel went to his house, and made the thing known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions: 18 That they would desire mercies of the God of heaven concerning this secret; that Daniel and his fellows should not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.
The Power of Prayer. When you pray, everything will be all right. Prayer is the key that unlocks heavens store house 8 The Interpretation 1. Head of Gold Babylon - Great Kingdom of Babylon 2. Silver - Medes and Persians 539 - 331 3. Brass - Greece 331 - 168 BC 4. Iron - Rome 168 BC to AD 351 After thee all the kingdom shall be inferior. Greece and Rome are inferior kingdom to the great kingdom of Nebuchadnezzar. And God says never again will there be anohter world empire until God establishes his kingdom.
Men who attempted to Unite Europe
1. Charlemagne 9 the Century 2. Charles V of Spain 16th Century 3. Louis XIV 18th Century 4. Napoleon 19th Century, Defeated at Waterloo, Napoleon declared, God himself is too much for me. 5 Kaiser Wilhelm 6. Mussolini 7 Hitler
Daniel 2:44-45 44 And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. 45 Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure.
We live as a people sometimes without a heritage. Sometimes we are not sure if we are Americans. We live in a land that has been infiltrated with racism and bigotry. Where the color of our skins has gives us marked disadvantages. But I am her to tell you tonight. That pretty soon we will be going home. The Bible says God himself will set up a Kingdom that will never be destroyed. Thousands of years before we were born God told the prophet that there will be a stone cut out without hand that will smite the kingdoms of this world and established an eternal kingdom for all God's children. We need to get our lives together for home. We need to prepare ourselves for home. This life of ours is just an excursion, just a long journey before home. But we are nearing home.
Just over the mountain in that promised land. Lays the holy city, build by god’s own hands. As our weary footsteps gain the mountain crest We can view our homeland of eternal rest.
Those who enter the city are the faithful few. Who keeps God’s commandments, faith of Jesus too. Accept of God’s message and to him be true, Then When Jesus cometh, he will call for you. [1]Joseph, Antiquities of the Jews P. 32
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