The New Rome Series

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.