Friday, November 22, 2013

Prophecy Of World History, Part 2

Daniel 2:44-49

Daniel described the final part of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream in Daniel 2:34-35.  “Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces.  Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.”

As the first part of the prophecy explains, Each of the various materials comprising the statue in the dream represent different world empires, presenting a brief picture of the path world history would take.  The feet of chunks of iron held together with clay portrays the Holy Roman Empire, with the toes representing it separating into several countries that retain much of the characteristics of the old empire.

Over fifty years after that first prophecy in Daniel 2, and shortly before the Babylonians were conquered by Daniel made his prophecy of Daniel 7.  With the Babylonian Empire ending, the prophecy starts with the Persian empire, and ignores the Holy Roman empire as not one of the really great empires.  The fourth kingdom described in that prophecy is a joint effort of ten kings, seemingly the ten toes from Nebuchadnezzar’s vision, uniting to form a world government or empire.

“Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.  And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.  And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.  But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end.” (Daniel 7:23-26)

As Daniel points out, that kingdom will be different than ay previous empire, and will be antagonistic to God.  It is during these kings reign that God will establish his kingdom on earth.  As Daniel 2:37 points out, His kingdom will be set up by God’s power, not by man’s efforts.

“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.” (Daniel 2:44)

From Ezekiel 37, we learn that the kingdom is to be a re-established Israel.  Unfortunately the Jews would interpret it to refer to Israel reclaiming their land under Ezra and Nehemiah, as so often happens, ignoring the details of Daniel’s prophecy about the kingdom not being re-established until after that fourth kingdom was broken up.

Judah continued to exist as a group under the Babylonians and were given permission to return During Cyrus the Great’s reign.  In 60 AD, Jerusalem was destroyed and the jews dispersed.  They never got together as a single group again until the modern nation of Israel was established in 1948 AD, and they still have not fulfilled much of that prophecy.

Revelation 12 and 13 describe a Satanically inspired beast that attempts to destroy God’s people during the last days.  Revelation 17:10-12 describes this beast and kingdom.  “And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.  And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.  And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.”

Revelation starts with the Assyrian Empire which had already been destroyed when Daniel made his prophecy.  The eighth kingdom is the final one referred to in Daniel 7:23-26.  When Revelation was written, the Holy Roman Empire, the seventh Empire had not yet come into existence.  Each of these Empires was built on the previous ones, and that final empire is to be a continuation of that pattern.  Other empires have arisen and fallen over the years, but are not directly involved in these prophecies.

Revelation 19:19-21 describes the final destruction of that final rebellion against God, after an initial defeat in Revelation 16.  “And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army.  And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.  And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.”  

That evil kingdom will be utterly destroyed, as well as all vestiges of the various empires upon which it will be founded.  Not only the remnants of the Holy Roman empire, but that of the Assyrian, Babylonian, Persian, Greek and Roman empires as well will be ground to powder and blown away.

“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. “ (Daniel 2:45)

Six hundred years before Christ, God gave a general outline of future history, which we are still seeing come to pass.  The prophecies of Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel, coupled with the study of history provide valuable insights into the meaning of the the prophecies in the New Testament, and especially of Revelation.  Unfortunately many have not spent the time to adequately compare these prophecies, which has led to incorrect and sometimes dangerous misinterpretation, particularly of Revelations.

“Then the king Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face, and worshipped Daniel, and commanded that they should offer an oblation and sweet odours unto him. 

The king answered unto Daniel, and said, Of a truth it is, that your God is a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, seeing thou couldest reveal this secret.  Then the king made Daniel a great man, and gave him many great gifts, and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and chief of the governors over all the wise men of Babylon.” (Daniel 2:46-48) 

Because Daniel had been able to tell Nebuchadnezzar the dream and its interpretation when none of the “experts” had been able to, He was promoted to one of the highest positions of authority, even though he had not yet finished his education.  Nebuchadnezzar here recognizes that God is the greatest of gods as a result of Daniel’s testimony.  Daniel will have a major influence on The Babylonian and Persian empires for seventy years.

“Then Daniel requested of the king, and he set Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, over the affairs of the province of Babylon: but Daniel sat in the gate of the king.” (Daniel 2:49)

Daniel did not forget those who had helped and encouraged him is staying true to God.  His friends were promoted as well,  with Daniel being a member of the king’s cabinet of advisors.

2 comments:

  1. In Prometheus Fashion, To create, one must first destroy. The prophet Daniel’s Bible prophecy of Daniel 2:25-45 foretells that the two iron legs of global hegemonic power, the UK, and the US, will collapse, and a Ten Toed Kingdom, consisting of the miry mixture of iron diktat and clay debt servitude, will emerge in the world’s ten regional zones, to replace investment choice and credit. The failure of the Milton Friedman Free To Choose floating currency regime, and the US Dollar as the world’s reserve currency, is pivoting the world out of liberalism and into authoritarianism.

    Authoritarianism features an entirely new empire, the US is no longer in charge of economic and political matters. Eventually, according to Bible prophecy of Revelation 17:12, ten kings will come to rule in each one of the Toes, that is in each one of the world’s ten regions.


    This ten toed monster is described as in Daniel 7:7, as beastly, dreadful and terrible, exceedingly strong; it has huge iron teeth; it’s devouring, breaking in pieces, and tramples the residue with its feet. It’s different from all the beasts that were before it, as it has ten horns. This fourth beast is the last in line of the prior three beasts: the Roman Empire, the Greek Empire, and the Babylonian Empire.

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  2. While I am very troubled by the things that are going on in the US today, I believe, like you seem to, that they are things that will weaken the US to the point where Satan's ruler can take world control. As a result, I am also excited about what is happening.

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