On Thursday the 23rd of June 2016, the
British people stunned the world with a
vote to leave the European Union. For the
first time ever one of the 28 nations of
the European Union had voted to leave. It
was a political and economic bombshell.
The Prime Minister resigned, the head of
the Opposition faced a leadership
challenge, the pound went into free-fall
plunging 10 percent. The historic vote
called Brexit sent shockwaves across
Europe and around the world.
It sent global markets reeling, equity
and oil markets went into a tailspin. In
Europe the vote was called an earthquake
in the politics and economics of Britain
and the continent. Political pundits
feared the end of the European dream, the
union of European countries. For those
wanting Britain to stay in the EU, Brexit
meant shattered dreams, however for
those who wanted Britain to leave the EU
it was Independence Day, freedom from the
shackles and bureaucracy of Brussels.
They had dared to dream and won an
historic victory. In our program, Brexit:
When Dreams Collide, we're going to
consider the big picture, we're going to
reflect on the Biblical and prophetic
implications of the British vote to
leave the European Union and we're going
to consider a truly big dream, one that
will amaze you, surprise you and give you
real hope for today. Don't miss it, it
could change your life forever.
England is full of pageantry, history and
tradition and nowhere else is that on
display so vividly than here in London,
the capital of the United Kingdom, this
is a 21st century city stretching back
to Roman times.
It's little wonder London is the world's top
tourist destination, attracting around 16
million visitors each and every year.
London boasts one of the planet's
greatest concentrations of cultural and
historic attractions, from royal palaces
to castles and cathedrals and at its
centre stands the imposing Palace of
Westminster, the iconic Big Ben clock
tower and Westminster Abbey, site of
British royal coronations.
The Palace of Westminster is the largest
palace in Britain and is the meeting
place of the two houses of the
Parliament of the United Kingdom; the
House of Commons and the House of Lords.
Today politicians from across Britain
are here debating, discussing and
strategising brexit; Britain's exit from
the European Union, and that's because on
the 23rd of June 2016 British voters
went to the polls to cast their vote in
the historic European Union referendum.
The referendum was to decide whether the
United Kingdom should leave or remain in
the European Union, an international
organisation comprising 28 European
countries, it was the biggest decision
faced by Britons in a generation.
The British people surprised and shocked
the world by their stunning decision to
leave the European Union and in doing so
they may have struck a deathblow to an
age-old dream; a united Europe. In about
three decades from 1914 to 1945, two
world wars devastated Europe, these wars
laid waste to homes, farms, cities and
factories, virtually eliminating two
generations of men and countless women
and children, they destroyed priceless
cathedrals, architectural wonders and
hundreds of irreplaceable works of art.
In a desperate effort to ensure that
this terrible situation would never
happen again
European leaders began planning what
later became known as the European Union,
the EU. The idea was to unite the
countries of Europe under a common
currency, foreign policy and common
government in the hopes that this
political and economic union would
prevent further conflict and war, and for
a time it seemed to be working, indeed
there were many who refused to believe
it could fail, it seemed the perfect
solution for peace and prosperity, it was
a dream come true.
But then came Brexit; Britons vote to
exit the European Union. As late as the
very afternoon of the vote many believed
that Britain would remain part of the EU.
The stunning result of the Brexit
vote shocked most of the world, it
occurred on a Thursday and by Friday the
financial markets around the world went
into a tailspin and were registering the
emotional trauma. Financial markets
dislike uncertainty and the Brexit
vote brought with it waves of uncertainty.
Many other EU member
states experienced discontent with
the EUs increasing federalisation and
bureaucracy and there were fears that
Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary and
Slovakia might vote to leave. Even in
France, Holland and Italy far-right
politicians experienced a surge in
popularity as they called for a
referendum on the EU in their countries.
This continuing political unrest within
the EU follows several years of economic
and financial conflict within the
organisation that continues today. Now
that it's threatened with both economic
and political instability the European
Parliament faces two contradictory
impulses from within. Some, concerned that
Brexit may serve as an excuse for
other nations to leave council caution
and a relaxation of some of the
financial and bureaucratic pressure and
more independence from Brussels. However
others are pressing for even more
political and economic integration, many
are reluctant to surrender the dream of
a united Europe. The last time anything
approaching unity existed in Europe was
during the period of the Roman Empire,
when the Roman Empire fell no great
single imperial power replaced it
instead, like a pack of dogs tearing at a
carcass, the Empire was torn to fragments
by Germanic and other barbarian tribes
when they turned against each other.
Nevertheless, the memory of a united
European empire lingered on and the
dream of bringing about this unity
continued to fire men's imaginations,
they wanted to unite the nations of
Europe into one great empire again.
Perhaps the first person to seriously
attempt it was Charlemagne, king of the
Franks, now France, he tried to unite
Europe scarcely three centuries after
the fall of the Roman Empire.
He brought much of what today is Central
Europe under his rule and led an
expedition into muslim-dominated Spain.
Pope Leo the third crowned him emperor
of the Romans, but everyone realised that,
great as he was, Charlemagne fell well
short of uniting Europe and
re-establishing an empire. Seven hundred
years passed before Charles the fifth of
Burgundy tried to unite Europe again, he
defeated the Muslims at Alambra in 1492
and brought Spain back under European
control. He thought that he was on track
to unite Europe but wars with France and
rebellion in Europe, as well as continued
fighting with the Ottoman Turks denied
Charles V the realisation of his dream
and exhausted by the demands of
rulership he abdicated all his titles
between 1554 and 1556 and he died in a
monastery two years later. 
Next it was Louis XIV of
France, the great son king, who also
caught the dream of uniting Europe into
one great empire, but even after 72 years
as king and concentrating power in
himself, Louis XIV fell short of unifying
the continent of Europe. After the French
revolution Napoleon Bonaparte
came to power in France, he was a
brilliant military tactician and led
armies all across Europe. He was one of
the greatest commanders in history and
he too dreamed of uniting Europe into
one great empire again and for a time it
appeared that he might finally be able
to realise the age-old dream of united
Europe. He came close,
but it was not to be, he was defeated in
Russia and finally at Waterloo, Napoleon
died in exile on the lonely island of
St. Helena in the South Atlantic.
Well when military conquest failed to
unite Europe the royal families of
virtually all the states of Europe
conspired to unite the continent through
marriage. When World War One broke out
nearly all the European nations involved
were ruled by descendents of Queen
Victoria of England. King George the
fifth of England, Kaiser Wilhelm of
Germany and Tsar Nicholas II of Russia
were all cousins. King Wilhelm of Germany
again dreamed of uniting Europe under
his rule, but ironically his ambitions
were thwarted by his cousins and so
these two strategies of uniting Europe;
military conquest and family
consolidation, actually foiled each other.
And then there was Adolf Hitler, his dream of a
thousand-year Reich was built on the
idea of establishing an empire that
would emulate the power and reach of
ancient Rome, but he ended his own life
in a bunker in Berlin, the city he had
dreamed would be the capital of his
united Europe. For well over a thousand
years every attempt to unite Europe has
failed, every time the dream of the
united Europe has appeared, near to its
fruition, something has always happened
to derail it. How can it be that
something that so many of the most
powerful men on earth have desired and
dreamed about has always ended in
futility and frustration? The answer may
well be in another dream, a dream that
came to an ancient king. The dream came
by night to Nebuchadnezzar, the emperor
of Babylon, but interestingly by morning
he had forgotten it.
However, even though he couldn't remember
the details, he did remember the sense of
urgency and personal destiny he had felt.
The story of Nebuchadnezzar's dream is
recorded in the Bible Book of Daniel
chapter 2. This dream troubled the
Babylonian king so much that he
summoned his wise men who claimed to be
able to read minds and predict the
future, this group of wise men was made
up of magicians, astrologers, sorcerers
and enchanters, they claimed to be able
to interpret dreams and predict the
future.
Well these wise men were summoned to the
Royal Palace to tell the King the
meaning of the dream, but since the King
couldn't tell the wise men what he had
dreamed they were unable to help him.
Notice what the wise men said as
recorded in Daniel chapter 2 verses 10
and 11: "There isn't a man alive who can
tell others what they have dreamed!... This
is an impossible thing the King requires.
No one except the gods can tell you
your dream and they are not here to help."
Furious at the wise men's inability to
tell him about his dream, the King
decreed that all of them should be
executed. One of his wise men, a captive
from Jerusalem named Daniel, heard of
this death sentence. He believed that God
would know what the king had dreamed and
so prayed that God would reveal the
dream and its interpretation. And God did -
and what an amazing dream it was. Here's
what Daniel said to the king: "You looked
O king, and there before you stood a
large statue - an enormous dazzling statue,
awesome in appearance. The head of the
statue was made of pure 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 baked clay."
Very simple. Nebuchadnezzar dreamed of a
huge
towering metallic statue. The head of
this great image was made of gold, its
shoulders and chest of silver, its belly
and thighs of bronze, and its legs of
iron. The feet and toes were composed of
iron and clay - an odd mixture because
these two substances don't adhere to
each other. Now that seems like a pretty
boring dream doesn't it? I mean for
most of us, when we dream, something
happens in the dream. There's action,
often something really intense,
well this dream isn't over yet, Daniel
continues; "While you were watching, a rock
was cut out, but not by human hands. It
struck the statue on its feet of iron
and clay and smashed them. Then the iron,
the clay, the bronze, the silver, and gold
were broken to pieces and became like
chaff on a threshing floor...the wind
swept them away without leaving a trace.
But the rock that struck the statue
became a huge mountain and filled the
whole earth." Well here's the action! While
the statue is standing there, a stone
comes down and smashes it to smithereens.
And then a wind comes and blows away the
remains. And that stone becomes a
mountain that covers the whole earth. Now,
what could this strange dream have to do
with Brexit and the European Union? And
what message does it contain for us
today? Well as we will discover, the dream
outlines the future in an amazing way. In
only 150 words the dream sketched the
main course of history from Babylon's day,
600 BC, to the climax of Earth's history,
including the period of modern Europe,
and Brexit. But what does it all mean?
Well, not only did Daniel describe the
dream and the statue too Nebuchadnezzar,
he supplied the interpretation, the meaning
as well. He declared that the God of
heaven had sent the dream to show the
king the future. Here's what Daniel said:
"There is a God in heaven who reveals
secrets, and He has told you in your
dream what will happen in the future."
Daniel then began to explain to King
Nebuchadnezzar what the dream means. "This
is the dream and now we will interpret
it to the king... You are that head of gold."
In other words, the Babylonian Empire
that Nebuchadnezzar embodied was the top
of the statue - and the most glorious,
since gold is one of the most valuable
of all metals. The head of gold
represents the Babylonian Empire. And
we'll find out as the interpretation
unfolds
that each part of the metal image
represents a world empire or nation that
follows one another. When Babylon
eventually came to its demise, another
great power ruled the Middle Eastern
world, but it was less glorious, just as
silver is less valuable in gold. A third
great Empire followed again declining in
glory as represented by the belly and
thighs of bronze. After that a fourth
Empire of iron would rule the entire
Mediterranean world. So, the bottom line
is that this was indeed a dream about
the rise and fall of great world empires,
starting with Babylon. Now, just as this
prophecy predicted, three other great
world empires arose. History shows that
after Babylon fell, the Medo-Persian
Empire came, that was the second empire.
After Medo-Persia
came the vast Greek Empire, which
expanded under Alexander the Great. And
then the predicted fourth Kingdom, the
Roman Empire, followed after the fall of
Greece. All this just as Daniel had
predicted.
So there we have them. Four great world
empires following one after another;
Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece and Rome. But
there was to be no fifth empire. When
Rome fell it was not going to be
replaced by a new empire. It would be
divided up. Notice what Daniel said: "Just
as you saw that the feet and toes were
partly of baked clay and partly of iron,
so this will be a divided kingdom; yet it
will have some of the strength of the
iron in it, even as you saw iron mixed
with clay. As the toes were partly iron
and partly clay, so this kingdom will be
partly strong and partly brittle." And
that's exactly what happened. When the
Roman Empire fell it was divided up,
carved up, in what had become and still
are now the nations of modern Europe. And
they are still divided. And some are
strong and others are fragile. This
prediction was made about 600 years
before Christ, and look how accurately it
depicts the situation in Europe today.
But notice what else it said about them:
"As you saw iron mixed with ceramic clay,
they will mingle with the seed of men;
but they will not adhere one to another,
just as iron does not mix with clay."
You'll notice it said that "they will not
adhere to one another." That is, these
nations of Europe will never be united.
And look at the history of Europe for
the past 1000 years. Unity? Not even close.
And Brexit is just the latest
confirmation. It's a reminder of how
uncertain, unstable and divided Europe is.
Great generals, ruthless despots, clever
strategists - all have tried and failed to
unite Europe, because when dreams collide
the one given by God in prophecy
will always prevail. Like the iron and
the clay, no great imperial power will be
able to forge a lasting rule over the
lands of ancient empires. The European
Union, whatever its lofty goals may be,
was doomed from the beginning,
because the dream of a united Europe
contradicts the dream God gave
Nebuchadnezzar. And it appears that
Brexit could be the beginning of the
EU's demise. Today we live on the toes
of the great image that Nebuchadnezzar
saw in his dream. And now we await the
final act of that dream, the stone cut
out without hands, which will topple the
entire statue and obliterate all traces
of the ancient empires and their residue
in the feet and toes. Daniel explained
what's going to happen next. "In the time
of those kings, the God of heaven will
set up a kingdom that will never be
destroyed, nor will it be left to another
people. It will crush all those kingdoms
and bring them to an end, but it will
itself endure forever."
The next great event on the stage of
history is the coming of Jesus and the
setting up of his kingdom. The next world
empire will be the kingdom of Jesus
Christ. The best news of all is this
Kingdom of peace and happiness will last
forever. Jesus is coming soon. He's coming
to set up his kingdom, he wants you there,
are you ready? Why not make a decision to
be a citizen in God's kingdom right now
while we pray. Dear Heavenly Father, we
thank You for the great prophecies of
the Bible that clearly tell us that Jesus
is coming soon to establish your eternal
Kingdom, and I thank you that, because of
Jesus, all who choose to accept You and
follow You can be citizens in that
Kingdom as well, we all want to be ready
when Jesus comes.
Please grant each of us a place in your
kingdom, we pray in Jesus' name, amen.
The Bible Book of Daniel contains some
of the most amazingly accurate
predictions ever made about the future,
if you'd like to know more about Bible
prophecy and what the future holds in
store for you and your family, then I'd
like to recommend the free gift we have
for all our viewers today; it's a booklet
called A King, A Dream and You, this
booklet is our gift to you and is
absolutely free, there are no costs or
obligations whatsoever, this booklet will
give you a fresh understanding of Bible
prophecy and provide you with new
insight into your future, one that is
filled with hope, so please don't miss
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Call or text us now.
if you've enjoyed today's journey to London and our
reflections on Brexit and what it
really means,
be sure to join us again next week when
we will share another of life's journeys
together and experience another new and
thought-provoking perspective on the
peace, insight, understanding and hope that
only the Bible can give us. The Journey
truly is television that changes lives.
Until next week remember the ultimate
destination of life's journey, "Now I saw
a new heaven and a new earth... and God
will wipe away every tear from their
eyes, there shall be no more death, nor
sorrow, nor crying, there shall be no more
pain for the former things have passed
away.
