Copyright © 2006 by The Voice of Prophecy

P.O. Box 53055    
Los Angeles, CA 90053   

The Titanic’s Brush with an Iceberg

You know friend, nearly a century after the 1912 disaster of the Titanic, we have learned what is probably the real cause of this terrible accident.

One day hunched over his microscope, Tim Foeke gazed at the core of a rivet, one of more than three million rivets pounded into the hull of the Titanic. Foeke checked the pattern of the slag at the center of the rivet. He noted the pattern turned abruptly at the point where the head disappeared. To Foeke that suggested a structural weakness. After further examination, he established that the manufacturers had mixed too much slag into this rivet, 9% instead of 2%. This discovery seemed to confirm his hypothesis that the fault lay not in the ship's design, nor the strength of the steel plates; not in the mighty bulk of the ship. nor the monumental bulk of the iceberg. The fault probably lay in the hearts of millions of lowly rivets.

In a very unusual way that story introduces today’s message from Daniel, as I’ll explain later

Because this is the first of the broadcasts on the prophecies of Daniel, we need to take a moment to review where we’ve been and where we’re headed. We’ve studied the stories in the first six chapters, now we’ll let those stories explain the prophecies in the last six chapters. The reason Daniel has such a precise outline is because of literary structure common in Jewish literature. It is called a “chiastic” structure. You might visualize it in your mind as something like a pyramid. The first six chapters are like steps going up one side of the pyramid to the top, where you find the central verse. Then you descend from the top of the pyramid in the last six chapters, step by step. And the themes of the steps on both sides match each other. The theme of the first step on the way up matches the theme of the last step on the way down. The theme of the second step on the way up matches in theme in the second last step on the way down, and so on.

In Daniel, the ascending steps are stories; the matching descending steps are prophecies. And the top of this pyramid is Daniel 7:13, 14 where we read a beautiful word picture of our Savior Jesus Christ. In fact, Daniel originates a title here that binds Jesus to each of us with bonds of love that will never be broken. In these two central verses Daniel coins the title, “Son of Man.” It’s such a fitting phrase that when Jesus came to earth, He referred to Himself continuously as “the Son of Man.” In this way He says, “I’m one of you. I know what you’re going through. I understand, and I’ll always be here for you.” So it bears emphasizing that the first time Jesus is called “Son of Man,” is here at the heart of Daniel. Centuries later when the four Gospels were written, we find this phrase recorded more than 70 times.

From the beginning of this month-long series we’ve said that when we got to the prophecies we would find the key of understanding in its corresponding story. As we open Daniel 7, we have the opportunity to test that approach. In the chiastic (pyramid) structure, Daniel 6, the story of Daniel in the lion’s den, is the corresponding step to the prophecy of Daniel 7, which begins with a series of animals, the first of which is a lion. So it isn’t hard to recognize the first hint of the chiastic connection!

Daniel was thrown into a lion’s den, but survived miraculously, because God sealed the lion’s moths.
In this way, God vindicated his faithful servant Daniel, rescued him from the ravenous lions, and restored him to fellowship with his rescuer the king of the greatest kingdom in the world.

In a chiasm, we can expect to find that same message in Daniel 7. Here it is: In the last days, God will vindicate his faithful followers, rescue them from the one that Scripture says is prowling like a lion, seeking anyone he can destroy. And restore them to unlimited fellowship with their divine Rescuer, the King of the kingdom of heaven.

So as we approach this prophecy, we can know the key message is this: Jesus will vindicate you. Jesus will rescue you. Jesus will restore you to full fellowship with King Jesus when He returns soon.

Now we open Daniel 7. Daniel had a vision and saw four animals rising sequentially out of the ocean. A lion with wings, a lopsided bear with three ribs in its mouth, a panther with four heads and a set of wings, and an ugly beast with bloody iron teeth and a head full of horns. Now that’s pure apocalyptic! We don’t need an artist to draw that for us. Our imagination does a far better job.

In addition, we don’t need to spend much time exploring these introductory verses. The meaning is mostly self-evident. It’s Daniel’s way of giving an historical setting for the core message. In Daniel 7, we read the same panorama of four nations as in Daniel 2’s metal statue which we explored in the first week of our series. It was of great interest back to people living in Daniel’s time to know that there’d be a succession of precisely four world empires.

Babylon would have its day—606-538 BC. And the first animal in Daniel 7 is a lion with eagle’s wings, both creatures, lion and eagle, were used at that time to symbolize Babylon.

Next the dual Medo-Persian Empire came to power in 538 BC, represented here by a lumbering bear, standing lopsidedly, a fresh meal of dripping ribs in its mouth. These two powers, Media and Persia, were not equals, but were united in a common desire for world dominion.

Then under Alexander the Great, the Greeks forced their way onto the world stage in 331 BC. But Greece soon found itself with four heads, not one, as the dream indicated. Alexander died at 32 and left no instruction about succession. He had two sons, one born after Alexander died, but neither suitable candidates for kingship, and a brother likewise unsuitable. So Alexander’s 15 generals fought it out until only four remained alive. These four finally called a truce and divided the empire into four segments, north, south, east, and west as it were. So the four heads represent the four divisions of Greece.

Over the next century and a half, Greece made a cultural impact on the world that has never been lost. You see it in architecture, philosophy, education, and drama around the world even today. Interestingly, the Greek leader Ptolemy 11, ordered 70 scholars to translate the Old Testament into Greek; it’s called the Septuagint version of the Old Testament. It’s one of our three most-treasured versions of “the Bible Jesus used.”
Greece ruled the world until Rome marched over Europe and the Middle East and began its rule in 168 BC. Daniel knew of no creature in nature like the one he saw in his vision that symbolized Rome. It could only be described as “dreadful and terrible.” It had iron teeth, devoured its prey, and stamped on the carcasses after it ravished them. Not a pretty picture. And the tactics of the Roman rulers is anything but delicate. “Ruthless” is a word that fits well. The practice of crucifixion for its enemies illustrates its heartlessness. Jesus suffered under Roman rule.

Finally, the empire broke up irrevocably into the communities that centuries later became the divided warring nations of modern Europe including England, Germany, France, Portugal, Spain, and Italy. What a history lesson this is! And drawn directly for the Daniel’s prophecy in chapter 7 of his book.

And what happens next? Well, the climax of this prophecy will be the theme of our program tomorrow. Be sure to tune in, because it’s all such “good news” for every believer on earth looking for the climax of history and the return of Jesus.

But I want to leave you a comment on the Titanic with which I began. The steel plates of the Titanic were held together by millions of faulty rivets, and it now appears that these rivets failed the test in the collision with an iceberg. And just as a chain is only as strong as its weakest link, and an older ship only as strong as its weakest rivets, just so Christians are only as strong as the rivets that forge their connection with God.

After reading a prophecy that brings us down to the return of Jesus, it’s good to be reminded that our connection with God is the only thing that will take us safely through to the peaceful harbor we call heaven.