THE NEW ROME
DANIEL CHAPTER 2 AND SEVEN
INTRODUCTION:
THE STUDY OF PROPHECY IS NOT AN EXACT STUDY, IN THAT WHILE WE KNOW WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN, WE DON’T HAVE AN EXACT TIME TABLE, NOR IN SOME CASES THE EXACT CIRCUMSTANCES AS TO HOW THE PROPHECY IS TO UNFOLD. WHEN WE LOOK TO A STUDY OF THE LAST DAYS WE SEE THAT THIS IS ALSO THE CASE. WE KNOW WHAT THE FINAL OUTCOME IS GOING TO BE, BUT WE DON’T HAVE AN EXACT TIME TABLE, NOR DO WE KNOW THE CIRCUMSTANCES THAT ARE GOING TO LEAD TO THE FULFILLMENT OF THE PROPHECY.
NOW TO ILLUSTRATE, LET’S LOOK AT THE BATTLE OF GOG AND MAGOG. WE KNOW THAT THIS BATTLE IS GOING TO HAPPEN. SCRIPTURE TEACHES THIS AND WE LOOKED AT IT. WHAT WE DON’T KNOW IS THIS. WE DO NOT KNOW THE EXACT TIME OF THE BATTLE, OTHER THAN IT IS CLOSELY RELATED TO THE RAPTURE, IT COULD BE JUST BEFORE IT OR JUST AFTER IT, SCRIPTURE DOESN’T INDICATE WHEN HELPING TO POINT OUR ATTENTION TO THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE BATTLE AND THE CLOSENESS OF THE RAPTURE RATHER THAN THE HISTORICAL DATE OF THE BATTLE. NOR DO WE HAVE THE EXACT PHYSICAL CIRCUMSTANCES THAT BRING ABOUT THE BATTLE. WE ARE GIVEN THE REASONS FOR THE BATTLE AND THE OUTCOME, BUT AGAIN THE TIME INVOLVED IN THE RESULTS OF THE BATTLE COULD ALL BE JUST BEFORE THE RAPTURE, OR ALL AFTER THE RAPTURE, OR IT COULD BE A COMBINATION OF BOTH, WE JUST DON’T KNOW.
IT TELLS US THAT IN PROPHETIC STUDY THAT WE NEED TO FOCUS ON THE EVENTS AND TO REALIZE THAT THEY ARE POINTING US TO A GREATER EVENT. TO KNOW EXACT TIMING ISN’T IMPORTANT. WHAT IS IMPORTANT IS TO REALIZE THAT THE FULFILLMENT OF THESE PROPHECIES ARE BRINGING US CLOSER TO THE RAPTURE AND THE SECOND COMING OF THE LORD THAN WE HAVE EVER BEEN.
THE FORMATION OF THE STATE OF ISRAEL GIVES US A PERSPECTIVE TIMETABLE THAT WE NEVER HAD BEFORE. THE OIL CRISIS AND THE RISE OF ISLAM AS A BELIEF REALLY BRINGS ISRAEL INTO THE CENTER OF PROPHETIC ACTIVITY, AGAIN POINTING NOT THE NEARNESS OF THE LORD’S COMING.
WE LOOKED AT THE RAPTURE OF THE CHURCH, AND WE REALIZE THAT THIS IS ANOTHER STEP THAT WILL MAKE US REALIZE THE CLOSENESS OF THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST.
WHAT WE ARE GOING TO DO IN THE NEXT TWO WEEKS IS LOOK AT SOME OF THE EVENTS THAT WILL HAPPEN AT THE TIME INTERVAL SURROUNDING THE RAPTURE OF THE CHURCH. NOW AS WITH THE BATTLE OF GOG AND MAGOG WE DON’T HAVE A FIRM TIMETALBE AS TO WHEN THESE THINGS WILL OCCUR, NOR THE CIRCUMSTANCES THAT WILL BRING THEM ABOUT. WHAT WE DO HAVE IS THAT THEY WILL HAPPEN, AND WE WILL ALSO KNOW THE FINAL OUTCOME OF THESE EVENTS.
NOW THE FIRST ONE WE HAVE ALREADY TALKED ABOUT, AND THAT IS THE BATTLE OF GOG AND MAGOG. THERE ARE TWO OTHER EVENTS THAT WILL OCCUR BEFORE THE TIME PERIOD CALLED THE TRIBULATION. THEY ARE: 1. THE REBUILDING OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE
2. THE RISING TO POWER OF THE ANTI-CHRIST
TODAY WE ARE GOING TO CONCENTRATE ON THE REBUILDING OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE. TO DO THIS I ASK YOU TO TURN TO DANIEL CHAPTER 2.
NEBUCHADNEZZAR WAS THE KING OF BABYLON AND HIS THRONE WAS SECURE, YET HE WAS ANXIOUS ABOUT THE FUTURE, AND HIS ANXIETY STEMMED FROM THE DREAM THAT HE GIVES US IN THIS PASSAGE. HE GIVES HIS CONSELLORS THE IMPOSSIBLE TASK OF NOT ONLY TELLING WHAT THE DREAM MEANT, BUT WHAT THE DREAM ITSELF WAS.
DANIEL WAS GIVEN THE POWER BY GOD TO TELL THE KING THE DREAM, AND IN THE DREAM HE DESCRIBED A STATUE OF A GREAT WARRIOR WHICH HE DIVIDED UP INTO FIVE PARTS:
1. THE HEAD OF GOLD
2. THE BREAST AND ARMS OF SILVER
3. THE BELLY AND THIGHS OF COPPER AND BRASS
4. LEGS OF IRON
5. AND THE FEET, PARTLY IRON AND CLAY
THE FIRST EMPIRE, THE HEAD OF GOLD, WAS THE BABYLONIAN EMPIRE UNDER NEBUCHADNEZZAR (DANIEL 2:37-38). THE CHIEF DIETY OF BABYLON WAS MARDUK, WHO WAS KNOWN AS “THE GOD OF GOLD.”
THE SECOND EMPIRE, THE BREAST AND ARMS OF SILVER, IS THE MEDO-PERSIAN EMPIRE. IT CONQUERED BABYLONIN 539 B.C. AND REMAINED IN POWER FOR 200 YEARS (DANIEL 5:28; 8:20)
THE THIRD EMPIRE IS THE BELLY AND THIGHS OF BRONZE. THIS EMPIRE IS THE EMPIRE OF GREECE, UNDER ALEXANDER THE GREAT (DANIEL 8:21). UNDER ALEXANDER THE GREEK EMPIRE WAS UNIFIED AND ENCOMPASSED MORE THAN EITHER OF THE PREVIOUS EMPIRES. ALEXANDERS SOLDIERS ARMORED THEMSELVES IN BRONZE AND BRASS HELMETS AND BREAST-PLATES AND CARRIED BRONZE AND BRASS SHIELDS AND SWORDS.
THE FOURTH EMPIRE SYMBOLIZED BY ITS LEGS OF IRON, INASMUCH AS IRON BREAKS IN PIECES, CRUSHES, AND SHATTERS EVERYTHING, JUST LIKE THE ROMAN EMPIRE. THE FACT THAT ROME IS REPRESENTED IN THE STATUE BY TWO LEGS IS SIGNIFICANT BECAUSE IN A.D. 395 THE ROMAN EMPIRE WAS SPLIT INTO TWO VERY POWERFUL POLITICAL AREAS OF RULE.
BUT WHAT ABOUT THE FEET AND THE TOES. IN THE STATUE THEY ARE COMPOSED OF IRON AND CLAY. NOW THE STRUCTURE OF DANIEL’S REVEALING IS DOWNWARD, THAT IS HE STARTED WITH THE HEAD AND WORKED DOWN, SO THE NEXT STAGE TO FOLLOW IS THAT OF THE TOES AND FEET OF IRON AND CLAY. YET IN HISTORY WE FIND NOTHING THAT CORRESPONDS TO A TENFOLD COALITION, INDICATING THAT THIS COALITION IS YET TO COME (DANIEL 2:44).
NOW DANIEL CHAPTER SEVEN TELLS US MORE ABOUT THESE KIGDOMS. WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE. CHAPTER TWO SHOWS THE KINGDOMS AS SEEN BY MAN, CHAPTER SEVEN VIEWS THE KINGDOMS AS GOD SEES THEM.
NOW LOOK AT DANIEL 7:7. THE FACT THAT HE SAYS IT IS TRAMPLING THE RESIDUE WITH IT’S FEET IS AN INDICATION OF A RELATIONSHIP WITH ROME. IT WAS A BEAST WITH TEN HORNS CORRESPONDING TO THE STATUES FEET AND TOES TEACHING THE RELATIONSHIP TO RECOGNIZE IT AS A REFORMATION OF THE OLD ROMAN EMPIRE INTO TEN DIFFERENT REGIONS.
CAN THIS BE HAPPENING TODAY? THE REFORMATION OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE. CONSIDER THESE FACTS:
1. IN 1946 WINSTON CHURCHILL FORCEFULLY ASSERTED THAT “THE TRAGEDY OF EUROPE” COULD ONLY BE SOLVED IF THE ISSUES OF ANCIENT NATIONALISM AND SOVEREIGNTY COULD GIVE WAY TO A SENSE OF EUROPEAN “NATIONAL GROUPINGS.” HE SAID THE PATH TO EUROPEAN PEACE AND PROSPERITY ON THE WORLD STAGE WAS CLEAR: “WE MUST BUILD A UNITED STATES OF EUROPE.”
2. IN 1948 THE BENELUS CONFERENCE IN BRUSSELS LAY THE FOUNDATION FOR A NEW ORGANIZATION “TO UNITE EUROPEAN COUNTRIES ECONOMICALLY AND POLITICALLY TO SECURE A LASTING PEACE.” THREE COUNTRIES ATTENDED THE NETHERLANDS, LUXEMBOURG AND BELGIUM.
3. APRIL 1951 THE TREATY OF PARIS ADDED THREE NATIONS: GERMANY, FRANCE, AND ITALY. THEY FORMED A COMMON MARKET FOR COAL AND STEEL.
4. MARCH 25, 1957 THE TREATY OF ROME, SIGNED BETWEEN THESE NATIONS FORMED THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC COMMUNITY, OR AS WE KNOW IT THE COMMON MARKET.
5. IN 1973 THE UNITED KINGDOM, IRELAND AND DENMARK WERE ADDED. IN 1981 GREECE WAS ADDED BRINGING THE NUMBER OF NATIONS INVOLVED TO TEN. IN 1986 SPAIN AND PORTUGAL BECAME PART.
6. IN 1992 ECONOMIC BORDERS BETWEEN THE COUNTRIES WERE REMOVED AND A COMMON PASSPORT ISSUED.
7. IN 1995 AUSTRIA, FINLAND AND SWEDEN JOINED.
8. IN 2002 THE EURO CAME INTO BEING AND BEGAN TO IMMEDIATELY CREATE SUCCESSFUL COMPETITION FOR THE AMERICAN DOLLAR.
9. BY 2007 THERE WERE OVER 27 COUNTRIES INVOLVED IN THE EUROPEAN UNION AND A POPULATION OF OVER 450 MILLION SURPASSING NORTH AMERICA AS THE WORLD’S BIGGEST ECONOMIC ZONE.
HOW DO WE APPLY THIS TO OUR STUDY. WE KNOW THAT THE FEET AND TOES OF THE STATUE HAVE NOT OCCURRED YET. ALTHOUGH THERE MAY BE MORE THAN TEN COUNTRIES INVOLVED THE COUNTRIES CAN BE DIVIDED INTO TEN REGIONS.
WHAT WE DO FIND IS A LESSENING OF SIGNIFICANCE OF NORTH AMERICA ON THE WORLD STAGE AND A GREATER SIGNIFICANCE AROUND EUROPE AND THE MIDDLE EAST.
WE ALSO FIND THAT OUT OF THESE TEN HORNS THAT ANOTHER WILL RISE FROM THIS CONFEDERACY IN EUROPE(DANIEL 7:24-25). THIS LEADER WILL EVENTUALL RULE THE ENTIRE WORLD AND WILL BE KNOWN AS THE ANTI-CHRIST, WHOM WE WILL SPEAK ABOUT NEXT WEEK.
I THINK IT ALSO IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT THE TREATY STARTING THE EUROPEAN UNION WAS SIGNED AT THE SAME TIME THAT ISREAL WAS RECOGNIZED AS A NATION.
NOW FOR US THE SIGNIFICANCE IS THIS. THE FORMATION OF THE EUROEAN UNION COULD BE THE CIRCUMSTANCES FROM WHICH THE TEN KINGS WILL COME AND ALSO THE ANTICHRIST.
IT IS NOT ENOUGH TO KNOW THAT THIS IS GOING TO HAPPEN. FOR THE CHRISTAN WE MUST REALIZE THE CLOSENESS OF THE LORDS COMING AND BE VIGILANT IN OUR WALK AND EVANGELIZATION.
FOR THE NON-CHRISTAN IT BRINGS YOU TO THE POINT OF DECISION. THESE MODERN DAY SIGNS ALLOW YOU TO SEE THAT THE TIME OF THE LORD’S COMING IS CLOSE. AND YOU NEED TO BE PREPARED FOR IT.
