Daniel 2:1
Now in the second year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign, Nebuchadnezzar had
dreams; and his spirit was so troubled that his sleep left him.
This dream that Nebuchadnezzar had was more like a
nightmare. Nebuchadnezzar was a troubled man. In verses seventeen
and eighteen, Daniel gives us the example of how to handle such problems.
Daniel 2:17,18
Then Daniel went to his house, and made the decision known to Hananiah,
Mishael, and Azariah, his companions, that they might seek mercies from the God
of heaven concerning this secret, so that Daniel and his companions might not
perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.
The answer to many problems becomes clear in these verses,
doesn't it? When in trouble, turn to God in prayer.
When I first began to study chapter two of the Book of
Daniel with its prophecy I found that I could go no further until I could
answer the question, "Why do we have prophecy?" "What is its
purpose?" If you see no value in carrying out a task, you are less
likely to do that task according to the best of your ability.
There is a very definite purpose, or reason for prophecy.
It proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that God is faithful and will fulfill His
Word. If we cannot see the fulfillment of prophecy in history then why
should we believe the Bible when Jesus said, "If you confess Me before men,
I will confess you before the Father." If we cannot see the fulfillment
of prophecy throughout history then our very salvation may be on shaky ground.
We need to know that if God said it, we can believe it.
In chapter two of the Book of Daniel, Nebuchadnezzar had
a dream. He did not just want to know what the dream meant but also what
it was! He had forgotten the dream. Daniel explains and interprets
the dream to Nebuchadnezzar. It is clear that each section of the image
and the stone that smote the image was a kingdom. Throughout this chapter we
will identify these kingdoms as we look at history. I don't want you to
just know who they are, I want you to be able to identify them for yourself.
Don't take my word for it - study it for yourself.
In verse 32 Daniel is explaining the dream and he
says that the image's head was of fine gold. The interpretation to
this is found in verse 38 where he says, "You (Nebuchadnezzar) are this
head of gold." This is speaking not just of Nebuchadnezzar but also
of his whole kingdom. This kingdom was at it height around 606 BC and ran
until 538 BC
Also in verse 32 Daniel explains that the image's chest
and arms were of silver. In verse 39 he tells the interpretation. He
says that after Nebuchadnezzar there shall rise another kingdom. As we
look down the tunnel of history we can see that the next kingdom to rise after
the kingdom of Babylon was the kingdom of the Medes and Persians. The Medo-Persian
empire ran from 538 BC until 336 BC. The two arms of the image represent
the dual empire. In 336 BC the Medo-Persian empire was overthrown by
Alexander the Great.
Further on in verse 32 we read that the belly and thighs
of the image were of bronze. In verse 39 we discover that this section
of the image represents the next kingdom to rise - a third kingdom! As we
follow the prophecy we also follow history concurrently. In doing this we
see that the very next kingdom to rise on the world scene was the one led by
Alexander the Great, - the Greek empire.
Verse 33 says that the legs of the image were of iron.
In verse 40 Daniel gives the interpretation. He says that the legs
represent a fourth World Empire. All this knowledge is coming to Daniel
and Nebuchadnezzar hundreds of years before the events actually took place.
Daniel recognises the world powers but at this point is unable to name them.
We, however, can look back through history and recognise immediately these
major, world civilisations. This fourth kingdom is of course the Roman
Empire. The two legs of the image represent the Eastern and Western
section into which the Roman Empire was divided.
The final section of the image is naturally its feet.
In verse 33 we read that they were partly of iron and partly of clay. In
verses 41 and 42 Daniel says that this kingdom, the kingdom that would rise
after Rome, would be partly strong and partly fragile. This is very true
of Europe today. If they could unite they would be a world strength,
but because of their differences, they remain fragile. The ten toes of the
feet would be representative of the ten nations which arose within continental
Europe when the Roman Empire fell in 476 AD. Those kingdoms were the
Vandals, Ostrogoths, Visigoths, Alans, Suevi, Lombards, Burgundians, Alemanni,
Franks and the Bavarians.
Now we must identify the Stone Kingdom. To do this I
want to first identify who the Stone Kingdom is not. The Stone Kingdom is
outside of the image and therefore is quite obviously not a part of any of the
previously mentioned World Empires.
A large number of people say that the Stone Kingdom is
the Church. Through study of God's Word and history I have found this
very hard to prove. It was most difficult for me when I considered the
fact that the Church only came into existence during the time of the Roman
Empire. It was the Goths who struck the final blows at Rome
destroying
her, not the Church. It also seems clear that the Stone Kingdom was to
knock down each of the previous kingdoms as well. This includes the
ones which existed before the Church came into being. I soon abandoned the
idea of the Church being the Stone Kingdom. I suggest you join me in this.
The next train of thought for most people would be that
the Stone Kingdom must be Jesus. Once again I found difficulty
accepting this. I see no reason to 'spiritualise' this kingdom when I
cannot see that God has. Each of the kingdoms mentioned up to this point
have been literal kingdoms that we have been able to identify quite clearly.
There appears to be no reason why the Stone Kingdom wouldn't be a
literal kingdom also. The next point is that the kingdom of Babylon was
overthrown over 500 years before Christ's time.
You must be thinking, "Ah, this is it! It must
be the Jews. Who else could it be?" I believe it could have
been the Jews, if they had played their cards right. Let's take a look at
Daniel 2:44.
Daniel 2:44
"And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom
which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other
people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall
stand forever.
Here we learn a few things. First the Stone Kingdom
would be set up during the days of each of the kingdoms at which we have looked.
Second, it is God who will be setting up this kingdom. Third, it shall
consume all the kingdoms we have looked at and fourth, IT SHALL STAND FOREVER.
Here is the key. In Jeremiah 31:35,36 we find the only kingdom that God
said will stand forever.
Jeremiah 31:35,36
Thus says the LORD, Who gives the sun for a light by day, The ordinances of the
moon and the stars for a light by night, Who disturbs the sea, And its waves
roar (The LORD of hosts is His name): "If those ordinances depart
From before Me, says the LORD, Then the seed of ISRAEL shall also cease From
being a nation before Me forever."
When I look out at the night sky in the 1990's I can see
this moon that God is talking about. When I wake up each morning the sun
still rises in the east and sets in the west. Therefore this Kingdom of
God's, Israel, must still be in the world today. We need to know now if
this Israel is the same as the people we refer to as the Israeli's today.
In the Bible the people of Israel were referred to as Israelites. The best
way to understand who the Jews are is by reading what the Jews themselves
have to say about who they are: Benjamin L. Freedman, himself a Jew
said:
"Popular ignorance of the real basis of political
Zionism is beyond calculation. Vaguely, most Christians have the idea that
the Jews claim Palestine because it was the 'Promised Land' in which they
lived for a period of a few centuries that ended 2,000 years ago. And the
thought of a people returning to its 'homeland' seems emotionally satisfying and
good. But here are the facts most Americans do not know.
"Political Zionism is almost exclusively a
movement
by the Jews of Europe. But these Eastern European Jews have neither a
racial nor historic connection with Palestine. Their ancestors were not
inhabitants of the 'Promised Land'. They are the direct descendants of
the people of the Khazar Kingdom, which existed until the 12th century.
"The Khazars were a non-Semitic, Turko-Finn,
Mongolian tribal people who, about the first century AD, emigrated from
Middle Asia to Eastern Europe. There they created one of the largest
kingdoms of their time. At its greatest extent, it covered an area of
about 800,000 square miles.
"About the 8th century AD, the king of the Khazars adopted
Judaism as the state religion, and a majority of the inhabitants joined him
in the new allegiance. Before that date there was no such thing as a
Khazar who was a Jew. Neither then nor since was there such a thing as a
Khazar whose ancestors had come from the Holy Land.
"In view of this fact, what becomes of the cry for 'prepatriation'
to the 'homeland'? These Eastern European, Yiddish speaking Jews have
no historical or racial connection with Palestine or, for that matter, with the
other Jews who existed in other countries for hundreds of years prior to the
Khazar conversion."
It has become quite clear to me during my study that the
Jews who are in Palestine today are not the descendants of the House of
Judah, of the Bible.
In 975 BC God split the Kingdom of Israel into two
separate nations. The nation in the north was called the House of Israel and
the nation in the south was called the House of Judah. The northern nation
had entered into idolatry, that is, they had begun to worship idols, false gods.
God took away from them the blessings that He had reserved for His special
kingdom. This was because of their disobedience. The kingdom in the
south was enjoying all the blessings of God. They had the Holy City, Jerusalem,
as part of their territory. The priestly tribe of Levi was looking after
the people. A royal descendant of King David, the man that God loved so
much, was ruling over them. Then this southern nation 'played up'.
In Matthew chapter 21 Jesus spoke, using a parable, to give us the end result.
I have added the sections in brackets to help you understand the message Jesus
was giving.
Matthew 21:33-46
"Hear another parable: There was a certain landowner who planted a vineyard
(symbolising the whole Kingdom) and set a hedge
around it, dug a winepress in it and built a tower. And he leased it to
vinedressers (Judah section of Israel) and
went into a far country. Now when vintage-time drew near, he sent his
servants (the Prophets, John the Baptist, etc.) to
the vinedressers, that they might receive its fruit. And the vinedressers
took his servants, beat one, killed one, and stoned another. Again he sent
other servants, more than the first, and they did likewise to them. Then
last of all he sent his son (Jesus) to them (to
Judah - Israel), saying, "They will respect my son."
But when the vinedressers saw the son, they said among themselves, 'This is
the heir. Come, let us kill him and seize his inheritance.' So they took
him and cast him out of the vineyard and killed him. Therefore, when the
owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those (Jewish)
vinedressers?" They said to Him, "He will destroy those wicked
men miserably (fulfilled in AD 70, we deal with this in chapter
9), and lease his vineyard to other vinedressers (to
another nation) who will render to him the fruits in their
seasons." Jesus said to them, "Have you never read in the
Scriptures: 'The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief
cornerstone. This was the Lord's doing, And it is marvellous in our eyes'?
Therefore I say to you, the KINGDOM of God will be taken from you (ie.
no longer to be centred in Judah - Israel where the Davidic king reigned before
this time) and given to a NATION (which will
eventually be found) bearing the fruits of it. And whoever falls on
THIS STONE will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to
powder." Now when the chief priests and Pharisees heard His parables,
they perceived that He was speaking of them. But when they sought to lay
hands on Him, they feared the multitudes, because they took Him for a prophet.
In verses 43 and 44 of Matthew we see this new Kingdom
which God has chosen described as a 'stone', just as His eternal Kingdom is so
described in Daniel Chapter 2 verses 34 and 35. From the parable that we read
above we see that the kingdom of God was taken from Judah and given to Israel.
The ten tribed, northern kingdom. The easiest way to confirm this is to
look at all the promises that God made to the nation of Israel and then look for
a nation in the world today who fulfils those promises. We are looking for a
nation who is '...... Bringing forth the fruits there-of'.
The Jews of today still don't believe that Jesus is
the Christ, the Son of God.
Out of the over 3 million people in Israel, there are only
about 2,000 Christian. If you gather any Israeli children for Sunday School,
without official Government consent, you can be gaoled for 6 months! If you
give any material incentive for an Israeli to come to your Christian Bible
Class, you can be gaoled for 5 years, and be fined $50,000. Jews who become
Christians are denied citizenship to Israel.
That is not 'bringing forth the fruit'.
Let's begin to look now at just a few of these promises
that God gave to Israel. The first is the fact that they would be a Nation
who would stand out in the world to demonstrate that God is God. They
would be missionaries to the rest of the world. We will start with a look at a
verse in the Book of The Acts of the Apostles.
Acts 1:8
"But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and
you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to
the uttermost part of the earth."
Notice here it says, 'uttermost part' - singular - not,
'uttermost parts' - plural. Jesus was referring to an actual place when He
said this to His disciples, a place which the disciples had heard of before.
The translators have used the term 'uttermost part' here in place of the Roman
term 'Ultima Thule' which was originally used in reference to today's British
Isles!
That's right! I said, 'The British Isles'.
Missionaries and Bibles have been sent throughout the world by Britain and her
people more than any other nation in the history of mankind.
Just think of the great men who down through history
have come out of that country to tell the world about God. Men like Hudson
Taylor, David Livingston, John Wesley, William Booth, William Carey, Charles
Spurgeon, George Jeffreys.
These are just a few examples. Let's look at our
prophecy in Daniel chapter 2 and see if these people, the Anglo-Saxon-Celtic and
related peoples, could be the ones we are looking for. The Stone Kingdom of
Daniel, chapter two.
To do this we must first go back in time to Babylon.
The year is 538 BC Captive in Babylon are the people of the House of
Judah. In this year Babylon was attacked by the Medo-Persian army and
destroyed.
In our story the Babylonian Empire was to be crushed by the Stone Kingdom of
God! It was! In 2 Kings 18:11 we discover that when the Assyrians attacked
the northern kingdom of Israel (975 BC) the Assyrian King placed the people of
Israel in the land of the Medes.
2 Kings 18:11
Then the king of Assyria carried Israel away captive to Assyria, and put them
in Halah and by the Habor, the River of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes,
Now when the Medo-Persians want to stage their attack on
the Babylonians, who better to spearhead their attack than these Israelites.
They would fight with the desire of freeing their kinsmen from Babylonian
rule.
Now we will move on in time to Medo-Persia in 336
BC,- Ten tribed Israel are now known as the 'Massagetae'. The Greeks used these
people to spearhead their attack on Medo-Persia and crush that empire.
Greece - 62 BC- the 'Getae' people - previously
known as Ten tribed Israel fought for the Roman Empire to destroy the
Greeks. These people had become recognised as top front line fighters, ever
since the days of Joshua.
Rome 476 AD- Pagan Rome had run its course, to be
succeeded by Papal Rome. The final hammer blows against Rome were delivered by
the 'Goths' which means 'God's People'. Now the United Kingdom never was
part of the Roman Empire. The Romans were never able to advance any
further than Hadrian's Wall.
In the year 410 AD ALL the Roman soldiers were withdrawn
hastily from the British Isles in order to defend their European dominions
from the fierce onslaughts of GOTHIC hordes which came down at that time from
the North.
Not only was Israel of old used as the 'smiting stone' in
demolishing four powerful Empires, but also, in the 'Isles of the West', it has
been instrumental in saving the world from four more modern Empires.
 In 1588 the Spanish Empire was supreme, and the Spanish
Armada was sent from Roman Catholic Spain to destroy the English navy, subdue
England and bring it back under Roman Catholicism. God intervened, the Spanish
Armada was defeated, and the Spanish Empire finally collapsed. Spain had
fallen on the 'STONE KINGDOM' and was crushed to powder.
Napoleon gathered 300,000 troops on the coast
of the English Channel and said, "Give me four hours control of the English
Channel, and I will subdue England, and then all Europe". He never got
those four hours. At both the battle of Waterloo in 1815, and at Trafalgar in
1805, Napoleon learnt a very important lesson. God meant it when He said the
enemies of the 'stone kingdom' would become like the chaff of the summer
threshing floors.
In 1914, (WWI) the Kaiser said, "I will have my
Christmas Dinner in Buckingham Palace". He finished up chopping wood in
exile in Holland. He learned that to fall on the 'stone kingdom' would result in
being 'ground like powder'.
In 1940, Hitler attacked Britain and threatened to destroy
her, but God gave Britain the 'Miracle of Dunkirk'. Britain was joined by
America and the Allies and eventually Hitler fell. When God said that His
kingdom would stand forever, He meant it.
Babylon, as the head of the figure, was existent
through each of the following kingdoms. As you study each of the World Empires
that have come and gone there are a few things that are obviously common to
each one.
One World
Government
One World
Economic System
One World
Religion
Why do we have prophecy? To know that God is God. He
has an eternal plan for this world and for us. He is always in control,
no matter how things appear to us God knows and is in control of what's going
on.
I believe the most important verse for us to know is verse
44 - "The stone kingdom shall stand forever". Verse 45
says, "The dream is certain and its interpretation is true"
God's Word has been fulfilled up to date and there is no
reason for us to doubt that the future part of the prophecy will not be
fulfilled.
'The stone kingdom will stand forever'
The rock like formation of the British Isles has been well
described in these few sentences:
"Whether it be the granite
mountains of Scotland, or the Cambrian rocks of Wales, the chalk and sandstone
of England, and the varied rock formations of Ireland, the British Isles are one
mass of stone perched in the Atlantic, cut off from Europe, and the inhabitants
are sitting, living and acting their Commonwealth part, fixed and founded upon a
series of enduring and wealth-producing rocks. A ROCK KINGDOM IN TRUTH".
God is God. He has an eternal plan. He is in
complete control, no matter how things may appear to us. His kingdom WILL
stand FOREVER. We are on the winning side.
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