The Bible, among other things, is a Book of prophecy.
Much of the prophecies of the Bible portrayed world history in advance.
Verifiably, most of the major events that have occurred in the world to date are fulfillments of Bible prophecies.
From the Bible perspective, the human race is broadly classified into two classes, the Jews – descendants of Abraham, and the Gentiles.
Originally, it was God’s purpose to make the Jews the leading nation of the world, but their disobedience and idolatry prevented this.
The ten northern tribes, named Israel, were carried into captivity to Assyria in B.C. 721 and in a century or so later, the other two southern tribes, named Judah, were carried to seventy years of captivity in Babylon, as foretold by the Prophet Jeremiah (Jeremiah 25:11),
Thus began the dominion of the earth by Gentile kingdoms. There were Assyria and Egypt. Babylon conquered both to become the mistress of the world.
The Jews will come into view when the last Gentile kingdom, ruled by their last great ruler – the Antichrist, is replaced by the Kingdom of God with Christ as the King.
Most significantly, we are living in the last days of this age, the end of the Gentile era, and the ushering in of the Kingdom of God, as the following Bible prophecy foretold.
In the second chapter of the Book of Daniel, Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, had a dream (Daniel 2:1). He was troubled by the dream, but he could not recall it (Daniel 2:3,7).
None of the magicians, the astrologers, the sorcerers and the Chaldeans of his kingdom could recall the dream less interpret it (Daniel 2:11).
Daniel the prophet sought the God of Heaven to reveal the king’s dream and give the interpretation of it. God answered, and revealed the secret to Daniel in a night vision (Daniel 2:18-19).
Thus, Daniel went before the king, and not only recalled the king’s forgotten dream, but gave the interpretation. In the dream, the king saw a huge image in the form of a man. The image was composed of four different metals: the head of gold, the arms and breast of silver, the belly of brass, the legs of iron and the feet and toes of iron and clay (Daniel 2:31-33).
These four metals of the dream represent a prophetic foreview of the remainder of the times of the Gentiles, consisting of four successive empires that would appear upon the earth.
World history has since validated the prophecy:
Babylon – the head of gold in the image, was the first empire (Daniel 2:38).
Nebuchadnezzar was said to have exercised absolute control over the empire while he lived.
Cyrus captured Babylon and established the second empire as a dual-monarchy, the Medes-Persian empire (Daniel 5:25-28).
The Medes-Persian Empire – was represented by the breast and the two arms of silver of the image (Daniel 2:39). The left arm of the image represented Medes, the weaker of the two kingdoms, and the right arm, Persia, the stronger. The taking of Babylon by Cyrus was foretold in Scripture (Daniel 5:28) and the birth of Cyrus was named in Scriptures two centuries before he lived (Isaiah 44:28; 45:1-4). Medes-Persian empire gave way to the Grecians after a succession of Persian rulers.
Greece – the third empire was represented by the belly of brass of the image (Daniel 2:39). Her first ruler was Alexander the Great.
As foretold in Daniel 8:8, the empire was divided into four parts after Alexander’s death. The Romans conquered each of the four parts of the Grecian empire.
Rome – the fourth empire, represented by the iron legs of the image (Daniel 2:40), was established a few years before Christ. In the year 364 AD, the Roman empire was divided into the Western and Eastern Empires, fulfilling its representation by the two legs of iron of the image. The legs being the longest part of the body of the image indicate Rome was to be in existence a much longer time than the previous three kingdoms.
The final days of the Roman empire were represented by the feet of iron and toes of iron and clay. The ten toes of the image represent the final form of the times of the Gentiles.
The iron and the clay of the toes which do not mix (Daniel 2:43) portray two divisions of the Gentile world. The iron represents fascism, and the clay represents communism, a symbol of socialism and anarchism. The inference is that there will be ten kingdoms of iron in Western Europe and ten of clay in the communist countries.
In the days of the ten kingdoms will rise the Antichrist or Beast system (Revelation 13, 17). This Antichrist system will absorb the ten Western kingdoms confederacy (Revelation 17:12-13), and become the last Gentile kingdom, ruled by the Antichrist.
The interpretation of the dream also foretold an irretrievable collapse and destruction of the Gentile kingdoms: Daniel 2:34 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.
35 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.
In other words, the last world empire, will suffer divine judgment during its final form.
The agency accomplishing this destruction will be a Stone cut out without hands, a statement that indicates that the Stone is of supernatural origin. It is none other than Christ. Many times, in the Scriptures, Christ is spoken of as a Stone, the Rock of Israel. To the Jews, the Stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner (Psalms 118:22); and a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence (I Peter 2:8).
The Stone (Christ) would appear in the days of the ten kings of the Western Europe confederacy: Daniel 2:44 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.
This will be the fulfillment of the times of the Gentiles; as God sets up His Kingdom which shall never be destroyed. The Scripture foretold that God Himself in Christ will be the King:
Revelation 11:15 … The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ; and He shall reign for ever and ever.
Any ten of the nations of Western Europe can become the iron in the toe of the image. Likewise, any ten of the nations of the communist countries can become the clay in the toe of the image.
That means that the Antichrist system that will take over the ten Western nations can rise at any time.
And most importantly, the Kingdom of God that will replace this last Gentile kingdom is at hand.
It has been preached for over 2000 years and every man presses into it (Luke 16:16).
AN INVITATION INTO THE KINGDOM OF GOD
Have you pressed into the Kingdom of God (Luke 16:16)?
If you haven’t or you are not sure, Jesus left instruction on how to get into His Kingdom:
Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God (John 3:3). Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God (John 3:5).
For more detailed information on how to be born again, please click here.
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