From Mystery to Revelation - Lesson 3 on DANIEL chapter 2 - Doug Batchelor

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*(Forgive the length of the following post, but in it you will find the traditional view of Daniel 2 that has been held since the time of the early church)* There are a couple of things which many of you might agree with. First of all the Kingdom of God is a spiritual kingdom. We enter into this kingdom by being spiritually born into it. John 3:5 _Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is _*_born_*_ of water and _*_the Spirit, he cannot enter the KINGDOM of GOD"_* In verse 8 Jesus states _"The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is _*_born of the Spirit”_* . So Christ’s kingdom advances through the gospel via the Spirit. In this sense the Kingdom is "made without hands", through changed hearts born of Spirit. This is how God's Kingdom conquers others. Secondly, Jesus spoke more about the kingdom of God than any other topic, and it came when He arrived. Christ Himself said it was at hand when He arrived. *_"The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand_* (Mark 1:14). And Mat 12:28 _"But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, _*_then the kingdom of God has come upon you"_* . Dan 2:44 tells us _"And in the days of _*_those kings_*_ the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed"_ . *The focal point of the Daniel 2's vision is of the timing of the arriving of the Kingdom of God* . This is when Christ would arrive.. The Kingdom arrives as a stone which strikes the 4th Kingdom when it is mixed with His people. The four kingdoms described in Daniel 2 never ruled over the entire globe, but they all at one time or another ruled over Israel, the covenant people of God. The mixture of iron and clay is a picture of the kingdom of Rome, where the Jews had partial rule in their own land, but under the yoke of Rome. (A quick study of "Clay" in the Bible reveals that it refers to God's people, often in terms of the potter and the clay). In fact verse 41 tells us this plainly. v41 _"And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, _*_part of potters' clay_*_ , and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron"_ And as iron does not mix with clay, there was much upheaval at this time between Judah and Rome. *So this iron mixed with clay is the ROMAN/JEWISH relationship* which was always strained. The ten toes represent the first ten kings of the Roman Empire. This is what is referred to as the “days of these kings”. During the first ten kings of the Roman Empire, the Jews still had a strong influence on the land, and they were in constant conflict with Rome. During the time of the tenth king (Emperor Vespasian) Rome invaded and destroyed Jerusalem and her temple in AD70. Thus that mixture in the feet is no more. That part of the statue is also gone, just as the Roman Empire is gone, crushed to dust by God's Kingdom which grows and fills the whole earth. The Kingdom of God started out small with only a handful of disciples, and later, there were the 120 in the upper room. Like a small mustard seed it quickly grew by the thousands in short order, and now it has grown to numbers into the millions (perhaps billions) which have gone out into all the world to fill it. And Christ's Kingdom will destroy current and future kingdoms as well as it advances. We are told this in 1 Cor 15:24 _"Then comes the end, when he delivers the _*_kingdom_*_ to God the Father _*_after destroying every rule and every authority and power"_* . And again, Daniel 2:44 tells us this will indeed be the case. _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"_* . While all of this may seem like quite different view to consider, we know that the struggle between darkness and light often ebbs and flows, but slowly righteousness takes more and more ground, and has done so since Christ set up the Kingdom. The world is a very different place than it was 2000 years ago. Christians were used as human torches by the Romans without any outcry from the citizens. Yet if something like that happens anywhere in the world today there is immediate outcry, even from the heathen. Slavery has been exposed and outlawed in much of the world, and those who practice it now do it undercover and are at risk of imprisonment. Cannibalism was the norm in Fijian Islands, but when the Christian missionaries began arriving in the 1830s the Fijians turned away from the practice and to worship Christ, and the last known act of cannibalism occurred in 1867. So in a period of 35 years this awful practice was abated and destroyed, and Fiji is one of the most Christianized countries in the world today. Of course there is much more to conquer, but Christ's kingdom has come and His will is being done. We need not preach fear but rather victory, for Christ is victorious!

[@ChristopherHarle41048]

I would add that the world is now rejecting Christ. See my playlist, "Jonathan Cahn - The Return of the gods" kzbin.info/www/bejne/lYPOdWyMoJyepqs We are heading into a divided planet. God's children will go forth with greater and greater strength, but will be persecuated by non-believers. We stand on the brink of eternity. Sincerely, Chris Harle.