Globalization
Daniel has now brought us down to the toes of the great image of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. A broken and fragmented Rome that men throughout history have vainly tried to reunite, only to be defeated by a single word of prophecy.
In the book of Revelation we find that near the very end of time, for a mere flickering moment, it will appear that man has finally at long last succeeded in reuniting a broken Europe, and not Europe alone, but also (in a globalization of the prophecy) success in the realization of the vision of a united world, a super Rome if you will – only to have it all crumble around them, toppling like a house of cards The unity will prove to have been nothing more than an illusion — yet another failed attempt — only in Revelation it is no longer merely a European unity, but an end-time global unity of “ten kings” that is sought.
Transcending the Regional
And this brings us to an important point. The prophecies of Daniel transcend the merely regional and local. And this globalization of seemingly regional prophecies should come as no surprise. What in Daniel appears to be regional Middle Eastern and European affairs takes on global end-time significance in Revelation.
In Revelation there is an end-time Babylon, an end-time Euphrates who’s drying up prepares the way of for the end-time “kings of the east” to conquer Babylon. We also find the existence of an end-time version of the ten kings, just to name a few of the parallels between Daniel and Revelation. But these local, regional “fall of Babylon” the “drying up of the Euphrates” and the Medo-Persian “kings of the east” motifs found in the book of Daniel take on global significance in Revelation. Consequently, if you do not know the history, if you don’t understand the Old Testament typology, you will misapply, bungle and botch the anti-typical application of these motifs in Revelation.
For example, if you don’t know the Cyrus prophecies or how they apply to the drying up of the Euphrates river and how it all relates to the fall of historical Babylon, you will not have a right understanding of the corresponding anti-typical Revelation passages, and you will totally botch the application. Likewise, if you do not understand the historical division of ancient Rome into ten kingdoms and the subsequent attempts to reunite the broken fragments of the kingdom, you will understand neither the significance nor role of the globalized “ten kings” in Revelation.
And so, far from being just an interesting study of ancient history, these historical events outlined in Daniel are the keys to understanding the prophecies of Revelation.
The Stone
Daniel 2:44-45 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. Inasmuch as you saw that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold-the great God has made known to the king what will come to pass after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation is sure.
We are living in the days of these kings, in the days of these kingdoms. In spite of the so-called European Union, Europe remains divided. And the prophecy says that in these days, while they still exist as independent kingdoms, God will smash, utterly destroy every trace of every earthly kingdom and set up his own kingdom which will last forever.
The Rock of Ages
This image as related in this dream now stands complete. The only thing that remains, so far as this prophecy is concerned, is for the Stone (the Rock of Ages) to fall on it- grinding it to dust.
Matthew 21:44 And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.
So far as this prophecy is concerned, the very next event is the setting up of God’s everlasting kingdom.
The message of this prophecy is that there will be no more world empires. There will be no United States of Europe. There will be no one world government – (though Revelation indicates that for one brief flickering moment at the very end there will be an illusion of global unity) – until God himself sets up his kingdom in the earth made new. God’s kingdom will not be ushered in through the gateway of politics.
Not by Human Hands
The stone that smote the image was not quarried by human hands — that is, it is not of human making. Human schemes: all our best laid plans, all our devising, all our pacts, all our politics, all our armies, all our treaties, all our legislation, all our laws, all our revolutions — none of these are the stone that destroys the image and sets up God’s kingdom. The Stone, the Rock of Ages, is heaven sent.
Before God’s kingdom is set up, every last trace of all earthly kingdoms is forever destroyed. Absolutely nothing pertaining to earthly politics remains. As the prophecy said, “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 threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them.” (Daniel 2:35).
It is not a takeover. It is not a makeover. It is a world created new. When Jesus comes, all that we see, and all that we know will be destroyed: total destruction, total eradication, utter annihilation.
In His divine providence God is directing the movements of nations, and the tide of human impulse, preparing a world and a people for the second coming of Jesus. Everything is being worked out for that one event.
The Prophecy Completed
Daniel 2:46-49 Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face, prostrate before Daniel, and commanded that they should present an offering and incense to him. The king answered Daniel, and said, Truly your God is the God of gods, the Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, since you could reveal this secret.” Then the king promoted Daniel and gave him many great gifts; and he made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and chief administrator over all the wise men of Babylon. Also Daniel petitioned the king, and he set Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego over the affairs of the province of Babylon; but Daniel sat in the gate of the king.
And so, ends this prophecy of Daniel 2. This prophecy forms the basic framework upon which all the other prophecies of Daniel are built, and not only the prophecies of Daniel but also those or Revelation as well. Indeed it could be said that the book of Revelation was written with the assumption that its readers would have at least a basic working knowledge of the prophecies of Daniel.
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