|||
We are in the middle of a discussion triggered by Jesus’ words to the leaders of the Jewish nation, when He said to them…
Matthew 21:43 Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.
We saw that the apostle Paul described “the fruits thereof” in his epistle to the Galatians, chapter 5, verses 22 & 23, as he listed some of the fruits of the Spirit.
So what is this describing? It is describing a nation or a people who are predominantly Christians. We could even say it is a nation of people who strive to be Spirit-led, born again Christian believers. …Hmmm. Can you think of any nation like that?
Now, as we keep that in mind, let us turn once again to our key verse in this chapter, Daniel 2, verse 44: We need to dissect this verse even further because we want to see if we can learn anything about the timing, when this Kingdom was to be established. We are only looking at the first part of this verse now…
Daniel 2:44 And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, …etc.
Alright, it tells us that the Stone Kingdom will be set up “in the days of these kings.” Commentators have differing opinions as to exactly what kings this is referring to.
Beginning with verse 37 in this passage, Daniel has been giving a rundown of the entire succession of beast empires beginning with Nebuchadnezzar all the way through papal Rome.
Because of that, some expositors teach that “the days of these kings” must refer all the way back to King Nebuchadnezzar and ancient Babylon.
Others, however, hold to the idea that the term “these kings” most likely refers to the kings mentioned immediately prior, meaning the kingdoms of the ten toes in verses 41-43. Also, remember, we saw that the imagery of the ten toes was paralleled in Daniel’s vision of the ten horns in Daniel 7.
So which is the correct answer? Does the term “these kings” refer to the time period from Nebuchadnezzar through papal Rome, or does “these kings” refer to the time period of the ten horns, the ten toes nations during the reign of papal Rome?
Well, in this case, I do not think that they are mutually exclusive. I could make a case for either, but whichever case I choose, both of them will come out with the same answer as to the identity of the Stone Kingdom, which is that nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.
My opinion, however, is that “these kings” refers to the ten-toed kingdoms of Europe, which arose after the fall of pagan Rome and which lasted essentially right up to the time of World War I, as we discussed in a previous lecture.
Perhaps it might benefit our study if we can determine with more exactitude just what is meant by the term “set up” in this same verse. It is an Aramaic word pronounced koom and in the Aphel form in which it is used in this passage, it could be translated set up, lift up, or establish. So…
Daniel 2:44 And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up or lift up or establish or appoint a kingdom.
But one of the primary meanings of this Aramaic verb is “to come on the scene.” All of these meanings can be seen as compatible with the idea that Israel once had a kingdom. They lost the kingdom. Then, at the time of Christ, it was possessed in a very weakened form by the chief priests and Pharisees of the Jewish nation.
Jesus declared it would be taken from them and given to another nation, and yet we know that that other nation had to be Israel, because it was prophesied in Daniel that the kingdom would not be left to other people.
Furthermore, this latter-day Stone Kingdom nation would be a Christian people (not perfect people but people who claimed Jesus Christ as their God and King). Did you know that at the time of the American Revolution, when the English colonies broke away from King George, that there was a slogan in the colonies which declared: No King but King Jesus?
And our colleague, Ron Oja, has spoken in messages going back to 1996 or so about the coming reaffirmations of that in our time. And so, in the Father’s perfect timing, along comes a group of Christian men, the Promise Keepers, who held a huge rally in Washington, D.C. in 1997 (?) where they declared Jesus King over America.
And then the second witness came last August 28, (2010) at the rally organized by Glenn Beck and it also was held in D. C. at the Lincoln Memorial. It was called “Restoring Honor,” There were speakers there who declared the same thing: Jesus is King over America!
And despite the now decades of the dumbing down of America in terms of our history, honest students of American history cannot help but recognize that from the Pilgrims at Plymouth Rock in 1620 forward, this American nation “came on the scene” and was established and set up and lifted up by God Almighty. America is the Stone Kingdom.
It was established and set up in the days of these European kings. It came on the scene in the days of the waning power of the “little horn,” which we have seen in previous lectures is the Roman papacy.
And some one is thinking, yes, but James, if the Stone Kingdom is America, what about this and what about that? For example, what about in Daniel 2:44 where it says: but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms?
Well, there are still many, many pieces of this puzzle of Daniel’s prophecy still to be brought to the table and inserted in place in these studies. We are, however, constrained by time; we simply cannot get them all out on the table and expound them all to you in any given lecture in order to show you the astounding precision and beauty of your Father’s masterpiece which we call “history.”
So please be patient as we will continue to put the pieces in place in the lectures still to come. Remember, we are calling this lecture The Rise of the Stone Kingdom. Which implies that it has not yet come to its fulness.
And obviously, this is only part one. There is much more to come on the Stone Kingdom side of this series. Similarly, we had entitled the previous lecture, The Rise of Financial Babylon. It, too, was part one.
There is much more to come in explaining the financial power as we see the tension of opposites growing between these two kingdoms: Mystery Babylon and the Stone Kingdom.
Turn to Isaiah 46. And when you have put a marker there, put a marker also in Matthew 25.
Now before I close, I want to tell you that I will be in the Twin Cities next weekend presenting this same lecture at a conference there. One of the hosts and speakers will be Gary Peterson who is going to give a teaching called “Show Me Your Glory.”
That is a theme totally in keeping with the progression of prophetic events in our conferences in Sweetwater, Tennessee and Manassas, Virginia in the past couple of years. We are all looking for the ultimate glory, i.e., the redemption of our bodies into glorious immortal and incorruptible bodies as the Feast of Tabernacles comes in its fulness upon the overcomers.
We do not know when that glorious event will occur and I am certainly not predicting its fulfillment on any given date. I do not set dates. With the recent publicity surrounding that preacher’s declaration that the rapture would occur on May 21st or whatever it was, I think we can all see the foolishness of such date-setting and the scorn that it brings upon the church in general.
So all I am saying is that the Feasts of Israel have prophesied. Passover was fulfilled in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the Wave sheaf at His resurrection; Pentecost was fulfilled in part in Acts chapter 2, and we now await the fulness of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and the fulfillment of Tabernacles in the glorification of our bodies.
As we wait, we teach… and we observe the signs of what our Father is doing. As we have come to know, the Scriptures frequently have many layers of understanding. Therefore, in one layer we find the glory of YHWH came down on Mt. Sinai. The shekinah glory was the presence of God in the Holy of Holies, and many other layers.
But in the context of this series on Mystery Babylon and the Stone Kingdom, may I show you another little aspect of Father’s glory?
Isaiah 46:13 I bring near my righteousness; it shall not be far off, and my salvation shall not tarry: and I will place salvation in Zion for Israel my glory.
Do you see that!? God Almighty declares that Israel is His glory! Now to Matthew 25. This is the prophetic parable concerning the sheep and the goat nations. Here’s a little pop quiz: Let us ignore the goat nations for now, but who would be represented by the sheep nations?
Israel, of course! We are not going to read or expound this parable at this time, but we just want to look at one verse:
Matthew 25:31 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
We just saw from Isaiah that Israel is his glory, therefore when Jesus returns as the King, he will sit upon the throne of Israel, His glory! Does that not fit the Scriptures perfectly?!
I do not have time today to expound on other marvelous things I see in these two verses when we lay them side by side, but we shall have to come back to them in the next or succeeding lectures.
You will recall that earlier in this lecture, I stated that there is one very critical distinction between the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of God which is uniquely central to this series on the Stone Kingdom. And I said “if we do not get to it today…” Well, that too, ties in with this passage about the sheep and the goats in an amazing way.
So, yes, I am teasing you to stay with us in this series as we discover more and more truth from God’s Word about the rise of the Stone Kingdom, the rise of financial Babylon, the conflict between the two, and how God’s Word is a message of great hope and assurance for America and, subsequently, for the entire New World Order under Jesus Christ our King! Hallelujah and Amen!
(To be continued.)
