Lesson 5  The Nations:  Part 2

Lesson 5  The Nations:  Part 2

(Genesis 2-3, Daniel 2 & 7)

Copr. 2025, Bruce N. Cameron, J.D.  Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Suggested answers are found within parentheses. If you normally receive this lesson by e-mail, but it is lost one week, you can find it by clicking on this link: http://www.GoBible.org. Pray for the guidance of the Holy Spirit as you study.

Introduction: If you were asked, “What proof do you have that God exists,” what would you answer? One thing you could point to is that ancient prophecy has been fulfilled. What would be needed for that happen? You would need not only a Supreme Being, but One who knows the future. Does that mean that God also controls the future? If God controls kings and kingdoms, that would constitute further proof of His existence and power. That raises another question, “If God controls kings and kingdoms, why do we have evil kings and kingdoms?”  Let’s jump into our study of the Bible and learn more!

1.    The Evil Part of Knowledge

1. 1.    Read Genesis 2:15-17. If you were Adam, how would you have understood this warning? Would you think the fruit of that tree was poisonous? Or would you have thought that knowledge was dangerous? Or would you think some other cause of death was carried in that command?

1. 2.    Read Genesis 3:3-6. Eve seemed to think that the mere touching of the fruit would cause death. How did the serpent characterize the knowledge of evil? (Knowing evil was something good. It was something that gods would know.)

1. 1. 1.    If you read the rest of Genesis 3 you will see that life changes rapidly and not for the better for Adam and Eve because they ate of the forbidden tree. We recently studied that things got even worse when their first born son killed their second born son. Is it good to know evil?

1. 1. 2.    In the introduction I asked why, if God is in charge, do we have evil kings and evil kingdoms? What does our discussion now suggest is the answer? (Humans choose their surroundings to a large degree. It is we who have brought to power evil kings and kingdoms.)

1. 1. 3.    Should we avoid learning about evil? (“Yes,” would be the correct answer based on Eve’s error.)

1. 3.    Look again at Genesis 3:6 where Eve considers knowing evil to be the same as becoming “wise.” Is there any truth to that?  Are you constantly on alert for evil when you enter potentially dangerous situations? (I have had the practice of sitting in a restaurant where I can see the door. Staying on the floors of a hotel that can be reached by a fire ladder.  Keeping an eye on dangerous drivers when I’m driving.)

1. 1. 1.    Do you see any problem with my answers? (It appears I am trusting in me rather than in God. The worst part of this is imagining that others are plotting evil.) 

2.   Sweep of Kingdoms

1. 1.    Read Daniel 2:1-4. The king says that his “spirit is troubled” about the dream. Who do you think troubled “his spirit?” (See Romans 8:16: the Holy Spirit.)

1. 2.    Read Daniel 2:5-6. Is the king a bad manager? Why would tell his advisors he would tear them “limb from limb” if they did not first tell the dream and second, interpret it? (Read Daniel 2:9. King Nebuchadnezzar believed his dream was important, and he did not trust his advisors. He thought that if they could recite his dream he would be able to rely on their answer as to what it meant.)

1. 3.    Read Daniel 2:17-19. Who does know the answer to the king’s dream? (God.)

1. 4.    Read Daniel 2:26-30. Of course, God is behind the dream and Daniel’s interpretation of it. Why did God give King Nebuchadnezzar the dream? Is this just a career builder for Daniel? Or a test of his faith?

1. 1. 1.    Why would God entrust this dream to an evil king? One who threatens his employees with torture instead of merely losing their job?

1. 5.    Read Daniel 2:31-36. If you know something about this prophecy, are any of the kingdoms that make up the great image Godly kingdoms? (They are not. The general understanding of students of the Bible is that they are Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome.)

1. 1. 1.    Do you think that God chose those kings and kingdoms?

1. 1. 2.    Look at Daniel 2:44. This says that God “set up” this kingdom. Does that mean He did not set up the prior kingdoms?

1. 1. 3.    All of the kingdoms that rule after God’s people have been defeated by Babylon (meaning the defeat that brought Daniel to Babylon), also have power over Israel. What should we conclude from that? (This goes back to 1 Samuel 8 where the people demand to be ruled by a King. Although some kings of Israel and Judah worked with God to rule, a true theocracy does not arise until Daniel 2:44.)

3.      End of Kingdoms

1. 1.    Read Daniel 7:1-3. Whose dream or vision is this? (This is Daniel’s dream. He is not interpreting the dream of someone else.)

1. 1. 1.    What do you think the “winds of heaven” represent? (Read Revelation 7:1. This refers to “winds of the earth” and angels are holding them back. That makes me think that “winds of heaven” is power from heaven.)

1. 1. 2.    What do you think the “sea” represents? (Read Daniel 7:15-17. Daniel is later told that these are kings who “shall arise out of the earth.”)

1. 1. 1. 1.    How do you explain that these beasts can come out of both the sea and the earth? (Some commentaries view the “sea” as referring to pagan nations. The point being that four kingdoms arise on earth which do not give their allegiance to God.)

1. 2.    Read Daniel 7:4-6. What do you think these three beasts represent? (Most of the commentaries that I consulted think this is a parallel of Daniel 2. Therefore, the beasts are Babylon, Medo-Persia, and Greece.)

1. 1. 1.    Why would God repeat the same prophecy? (Why do you repeat things? So the listener will understand that it is important.)

1. 1. 2.    What, exactly, do you see as the importance of this prophecy? (Consider that God’s people were captives. That could cause them to conclude that their God had no power. He was not in charge. In fact, their God revealed the future empires for thousands of years. And He revealed the characteristics of those empires.)

4.   Forever Kingdom

1. 1.    In Daniel 7:19 Daniel has a special interest in the fourth beast that follows the three we just discussed. Unlike Daniel, we are not going to explore the fourth beast now, but instead we will move ahead and read Daniel 7:21-22, and then read Daniel 7:26-27. Then compare Daniel 2:44-45. What is the common conclusion of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream and Daniel’s dream? (God wins!)

1. 2.    Let’s look at some details. Read Daniel 7:9-12. What unique thing does the final and forever kingdom do to the prior kingdoms? (It judges them.)

1. 1. 1.    Notice all the references to fire in connection with God. Why have all this fire in heaven? (Recall when this was being written. Fire is power. It is energy.)

1. 1. 2.    Do you see a pattern in this prophecy? (Samuel was a judge acting for God. He was replaced by kings. But at the end, the kings are judged by God.)

1. 3.    Read Daniel 2:43-45. A stone not cut by human hand destroys all the prior kingdoms. What does this mean to you? (The power of God overcomes all the prior kingdoms that have restrained God’s people.)

1. 4.    Read Isaiah 2:1-3 and compare Daniel 2:45. Notice the reference to a “mountain” in both texts. What do you think that means? (Isaiah calls it the “mountain of the house of the Lord.” God is high and exalted. Just one stone cut from that mountain destroys all human kingdoms.)

1. 5.    Friend, do you want to be part of the Kingdom of God? The God who predicts the history of the world, and then tells us that He and those who follow Him win. Why not choose the winning side right now?

5.    Next week: Understanding Sacrifice.