Bulletin
In the Days of These Kings
Daniel chapter 2 gives us a precious glimpse into the internal affairs of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon about 6 centuries before Christ. Nebuchadnezzar dreamed of a great statue with a head of gold, breast and arms of silver, belly and thighs of bronze, legs of iron and feet partly of iron and partly of clay. While he was watching, a stone that was cut without hands struck the statue at its feet and destroyed the entire statue. God’s prophet, Daniel, was able to describe the dream to the king as well as what the dream meant.
Daniel told Nebuchadnezzar that the king himself was the head of gold. He also points out that the other sections of the statue represent empires to follow. The Babylonian empire was followed by the Medeo-Persians, the Greeks and the Romans. The iron and clay mix of the Roman Empire refers to the “client king” arrangements frequently made by the Roman government to manage the affairs of the peoples they had conquered. Daniel continued, “’In the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be left for another people; it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever.’”
Some teach that Christ intended to reign on earth but that His kingdom had to be postponed because of the rejection of 1st century Jews. The entire world view is based on the erroneous assumption that Christ’s kingdom was of this world. Jesus clearly stated that it IS NOT (John 18:36).
His rejection and crucifixion had been prophesied (Isaiah 53) and He laid down His life just like He planned (John 10:17-18). At the same time He told the apostles that He would build His church, He gave them the “keys to the kingdom” (Mt. 16:18-19). He told those he taught that some of them would live to see the kingdom come “with power” (Mt. 16:28) and they did on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2)! When Jesus was given all authority (Mt. 28:18) and He sat down at the right hand of the Father (Acts 2:30-33) He began to reign on the throne of David, with dominion over every nation on earth.
Those who have been saved by the blood of Jesus have been “rescued from the domain of darkness” and transferred “to the kingdom of His beloved Son” (Col. 1:13). Anyone believing that the kingdom of Christ does not yet exist apparently has never been transferred into it and is still in the domain of darkness. Christ established His spiritual kingdom in the days of the Roman kings just as Daniel said, and you need to be one of its citizens.
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