GOD’S KINGDOM FINALLY REPLACES ALL HUMAN KINGDOMS
How can we biblically interpret for what is globally going on today?...Another recent event which may be a process of God’s judgment for the cleansing of our godless society is the global outbreak of the deadly disease Ebola.‘Your Majesty looked, 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. 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 rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth.
‘This was the dream, and now we will interpret it to the king. Your Majesty, you are the king of kings. The God of heaven has given you dominion and power and might and glory; in your hands he has placed all mankind and the beasts of the field and the birds in the sky. Wherever they live, he has made you ruler over them all. You are that head of gold. ‘After you, another kingdom will arise, inferior to yours. Next, a third kingdom, one of bronze, will rule over the whole earth. Finally, there will be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron – for iron breaks and smashes everything – and as iron breaks things to pieces, so it will crush and break all the others. 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 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 just as you saw the iron mixed with baked clay, so the people will be a mixture and will not remain united, any more than iron mixes with clay. ‘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 for ever. This is the meaning of the vision of the rock cut out of a mountain, but not by human hands – a rock that broke the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold to pieces. ‘The great God has shown the king what will take place in the future. The dream is true and its interpretation is trustworthy.’
DANIEL2:31-45.
The prophet Daniel interpreted Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon’s dream as a God given true dream about the rise and fall of four successive gentile empires under which God’s people would live: Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome and also, about the advent of the ultimate Kingdom of God. God also gave the same future vision from a different angle, or more precisely, God’s view point to Daniel himself in chapter 7, which was divinely interpreted in detail.
Babylon who rebelled against the Assyrian Empire in 626 BCE, finally overthrew its capital Nineveh in 612 BCE and defeated Egypt at the battle of Carchemish in 605 BCE. Ruling over the ancient Near East, Nebuchadnezzar promptly subdued Jerusalem from the hand of Egypt in the same year, and he took prominent citizens of Jerusalem, especially the youth, to Babylon. One of the hostages was Daniel. For the full duration of the Babylonian captivity Daniel served Babylonian kings as a prophet and government official, and after Babylon was defeated by the Medes and Persians in 539 BCE he continually served Medo-Persian kings probably as a ‘magician’ (Da.4:9), the so-called ‘Magus (Magi is its plural)’, who would interpret dreams not by means of astrology. Thus Daniel lived and ministered under the gentile courts at least until the third year of Cyrus.
In Daniel’s vision Babylon is likened to a lion, Medo-Persia a bear, Greece a leopard, and Rome is likened to an incomparable strong and dreadful beast with ten horns and a little horn. The last little horn no doubt symbolises the anti-Christ in the end times, who would be the world dictator like Antiochus Epiphanes (175-164 BCE). What God showed Daniel through both his and Nebuchadnezzar’s visions was a way of imperialism, colonialism and world globalism in human history, which would govern the world one after another until the time when
‘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 for ever.’As long as human kingdoms continue to rule over the world, there will be no true peace and security on earth at all and worst of all, we are very close to the predicted end times when the worst ever world dictator is to appear. War, violence, turmoil, plague, misery, corruption and all sorts of disasters are rampant around us as a legacy of godless human history. What is globally going on today clearly indicates the fact that we are truly in the last times, when all evil fruits must be completely destroyed by God and only what cannot be shaken may remain and thereafter His Kingdom will be brought on the entire earth.
The following excerpt from ‘The McAlvany Intelligence Advisor, September 2014’ reveals what has been little informed by media but it poignantly warns us of the encroaching dark and critical age. The exposure of the global financial situation and of the insurmountable US debt betrays that what has been reported by media is surprisingly and/or deliberately incorrect.
Israeli/Hamas War In Gaza: The present war began when Hamas began firing thousands of rockets from Gaza into Israel. Israel did what any country would do to protect itself—it launched a counterattack into Gaza to stop the Hamas missiles. In its offensive against Hamas, the IDF (Israeli Defense Force) found dozens of infiltration tunnels into Israel from Gaza—some of them dug to Israeli elementary schools—where Hamas planned to kidnap hundreds of Israeli children and hold them as hostages.The following article is also in agreement, which has come out in the Issachar Ministries UK this October. The article points out an urgent call to prayer. Casting out a question: ‘Is bombing the right answer to the Islamic State?’ on the verge of a national crisis in response to a threat by the IS, it presents appropriate biblical interpretations for what is globally going on today.
ISIS’ Violent Onslaught In Iraq: ISIS has captured numerous Iraqi military bases and massive quantities of sophisticated U.S. weapons with which we equipped the Iraqi military over the past ten years. These include hundreds of ground-to-air missiles that can ultimately be used to shoot down civilian airliners all over the world. ISIS briefly captured the largest dam in Iraq, which temporarily put it in a position to cut off all water supplies to Baghdad. ISIS is now threatening to overthrow the very weak and ineffective Iraqi government installed by America after the ill-advised 2003 invasion of Iraq. If successful, Syria and Jordon are likely to fall next, and even Saudi Arabia (where help for ISIS has come from) may be in danger. The British SAS is being flown in to help rescue 30,000 fleeing Iraqi Christians and other minorities who are trapped in Northern Iraq.
The Russian/Ukrainian Crisis: This crisis was precipitated when the U.S. government under Obama helped to overthrow the pro-Russian government in the Ukraine and install a pro-U.S., anti-Russian regime in Kiev. America is the driving force behind moving NATO forces and missiles near the Russian border, and behind the sanctions against Russia—with Europe reluctantly going along with the U.S. until the shooting down of the MH17 airliner. Who was really behind the shooting down of that airliner? Certainly the Ukrainian government and the U.S. had the most to gain, and Putin and the rebels had the most to lose. Maybe Russia’s abandoning the U.S. dollar may be impacting America’s current belligerent policies toward Russia (like Saddam Hussein and Muammar Khadafy were trying to do be- fore we overthrew them and had them killed). Russia has a much larger arsenal of nuclear weapons than America. If America picks a fight with Russia, it could end very badly for the U.S. (Ezekiel 39:6?) What about an EMP attack? (It’s easily deniable since it could be executed by “rogue groups” with the resources.)
The Global Financial System: Is there an epic financial meltdown on the near horizon? We have a very shaky $1.5 quadrillion derivatives pyramid, and countries all over Europe, Africa and Latin America are on the verge of bankruptcy. Socialist financial controls (including exchange and capital controls) are being implemented all over the world. There is a growing exodus from the U.S. dollar and the concurrent printing of trillions of dollars by the Fed to offset that dollar dumping. The confiscation of financial assets (i.e., bank accounts, pension funds, even cash) is being implemented by desperate governments looking for funds anywhere they can find, tax, or steal them…
God may be using these Islamists as the "Rod of his Anger" to bring judgement on our godless society. It is this possibility that greatly disturbs me and causes me to cry out to the Lord for help and guidance. God has sent many warning signs which have all been ignored by both church and state.Another recent event which may be a process of God’s judgment for the cleansing of our godless society is the global outbreak of the deadly disease Ebola. At the point of the middle of October a toll of the disease has risen above 4,500 according to WHO. The current outbreak started in March in West Africa: Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. The following article’s argument is interesting, in which the ancients gods in the biblical plagues are likened to the god of modern medicine:
For more than a year now I have been hearing warnings of severe judgement. We got very close to the total breakup of the United Kingdom through the Scottish Referendum where a 'Yes' vote would have resulted in the crumbling of the social foundations of the nation. God responded to the vast amount of prayer from faithful believers calling for mercy in the midst of judgement. But instead of coming before God with prayers of thanksgiving our political leaders recalled Parliament and simply engaged in human arguments of how to face the enemy which may bring violence to our shores and destabilise the whole of the Middle East and lead to a Third World War which would bring untold disaster to the whole world. They do not understand the spiritual nature of the war we are facing…
Are all of our national leaders in both church and state so utterly blind that they cannot see that we are on the very brink of disaster? The Chancellor of the Exchequer has warned that the economy of the nation is still increasing the national debt every day that takes us closer to bankruptcy. The day of reckoning will surely come - he knows that! And so do most of our politicians! But they dare not say so! They go on with measures simply designed to postpone the day of reckoning which will surely come unless there is a total change of policy. So what should we do? …
Why do we not hear the word of the Lord from the church in this time of national crisis? Our church leaders are like those in Isaiah's day who were blind to the things that were happening around them and they were said to be like "mute dogs who could not bark!" (Isaiah 56.10). So they were unable to give warning of danger. That is the pathetic state to which the church in Britain has fallen. They are still saying "Peace, Peace"when God is saying "There is no peace!" The enemy is at the door! Mobilise the believers to intercede for the nation! ...
(‘Prayer and News Update October 2014’, Issachar Ministries UK ).
The Biblical Plagues: The Ebola virus harkens back to Biblical plagues that tormented and tested people. The plague of boils was an attack on all the gods and goddesses that the Egyptians trusted for healing. When the Bible says that“the Lord...brought judgment on their gods”(Num 33:4), it is speaking comprehensively. Through the plagues God showed He could defeat the entire pantheon of Egyptian gods— Amun-Ra (god of the wind), Thoth (god of science), Imhotep (god of physicians), Sekhmet (goddess protectress of the pharaohs), and all the rest. Perhaps this explains why God sent such a variety of plagues on the Egyptians: He wanted to expose the impotence of their idolatry by causing each and every idol to fail in its special area of expertise. When the Egyptians were covered with painful, oozing sores, they discovered that their gods could not heal.We need to pray for the Lord’s mercy for those who are afflicted by plagues, wars, persecution, financial problems, and natural & human disasters. At the time we must admit that it is our sins that brought all these sufferings on earth, and return to the Lord with repentance before the worst comes and it becomes too late.
The God of Modern Medicine: While we tend to ridicule the Egyptians for their folly, it is important to recognize that we are tempted to worship false deities as well. During the twentieth century many diseases were virtually eradicated, diseases such as polio and smallpox. Today, scientists are making headway in curing other killers, including the Ebola virus. Genetic research will develop new forms of treatment for hereditary diseases, including medicines that manipulate human DNA. Because of our advances in modern medicine and genetic research, it is tempting to make medicine an article of faith. Most patients go to the hospital believing they will be cured. Many believe that science will overcome death itself. Despite all our skill at healing, we are not sovereign over the human body. This means that medical expertise must never become our source of ultimate confidence for physical well-being. Medicine makes a wonderful tool, but it can never replace God. Whatever news we hear from this terrible outbreak, or even when we get a prescription filled or go in for surgery or start chemotherapy, we should remember that all healing comes from God and that Christ alone is Lord of our body
(‘EBOLA:A MODEERN-DAY PLAGUE’ by Dr. Steve Elwart, Update/October 2014).