ARMAGEDDON- PART 2
This will be a four part sermon, covering a large area from the beginning of races to the
coming of Christ, the Book of Daniel, and where it stands today.
~The Lord showed Daniel~
The Lord allowed Nebuchadnezzar to see in his dream a large image. He couldn't
remember what he dreamed; so it worried him. God's servant Daniel prayed and the Lord
showed him what the king had dreamed.
"The head of the image was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly
and thighs of brass, and his legs of iron, his feet part iron and part clay" Daniel
2:32-33.
God also gave his servant the interpretation of the dream, which revealed God's plan.
The Head of Gold: The head of gold was the first world empire. The first world empire was
Babylon. King Nebuchadnezzar himself was the ruler.
"Thou, O King, art the king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a
kingdom, power, and strength and glory.
"And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beast of the field and the fowls of
the heavens, hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them ALL. Thou
art this head of gold," Daniel 2:37-38.
But we see that Nebuchadnezzar was lifted up with pride. He made an image of gold over one
hundred feet high of himself and demanded that the people fall down and worship that
image. He tried to take the place of God. As the people did when they built the Tower of
Babel, he tried to build for himself a name and build above God.
"The king spake, and said, Is not this the great Babylon that I have built for the
house of the kingdom by the might of MY power, and for the glory of MY majesty?
"While the word was in the king's mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, saying, O
king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken; The kingdom is departed from thee.
"And they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the
field; they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee,
until thou knoweth that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to
whomsoever he will," Daniel 4:30-32.
The breast and arms of silver: "And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior
to thee. . ." Dan. 2:39.
The second world empire was Media-Persia. This was the breast and arms of silver. Darius,
the Mede, was the ruler at this time.
The Babylon kingdom fell when Belshazzar was slain.
"And Darius the Mede took the kingdom, being about three-score and two years
old," Dan. 5:31. He was the main king under whose rule Daniel lived. He promoted
Daniel to a high office.
Darius also was exalted. He tried to make himself a great name, and build above God. He
was building the tower high into the air. He passed a law that no one should pray to any
god other than himself, Daniel 4.
Following Darius was another ruler whose name was Cyrus. The Media-Persian power was
consolidated under his reign.
Belly and thighs of brass: The third world empire was Greece. Alexander the Great was the
ruler over this kingdom.
". . . and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over the
earth," Dan. 2:39. God permitted the Greek Empire to come and conquer the Kingdom of
Media-Persia.
Alexander the Great also exalted himself and failed to give God the glory. He drank
himself so drunk that he died in a drunken state when he was about twenty-five years of
age.
The legs of iron: The fourth world empire was the Roman Empire. This was the legs of iron.
"And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces
and subdued all things: And as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and
bruise," Dan. 2:40.
The rulers of this empire were Augustus Caesar and Nero Caesar.
Augustus Caesar was ruler when Jesus was born. He is the man who tried to put to death
Jesus the Son of God. In trying he killed all the male babies under two years of age.
Nero Caesar was the one who put Paul to death. He had thousands of Christians put to death
in many different ways. He burned them at the stake. Tradition says that he killed his own
mother.
We will not go into details of how the Roman Empire fell in 70 A.D.
It is enough to say that each time people tried to build above God, and reverse what God
planned for the ages, they were put down!
When the Lord confused the languages at the Tower of Babel and divided the population of
the world into races He meant for it to be that way. He did not mean for man to come and
undo what He had done.
Feet of iron and clay mixed: ". . .his feet were part of iron and part of clay,"
Dan. 2:33).
"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 iron, forasmuch
as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay," Dan. 2:41.
The ten toes represent ten kingdoms which will be under the last world ruler. They are the
same as the ten horns on the beast that John saw in Revelations thirteen. The seven heads
on the beast in Revelations thirteen and seventeen represent seven world rulers.
In the time of Nero Caesar the Lord told John that five had fallen, one was in existence
at that time, and one has yet to come.
That meant that Nebuchadnezzar, Darius, Cyrus, Alexander the Great and Augustus Caesar had
fallen. They had passed on. Nero Caesar was then ruling, which was the sixth ruler. God
said there would be one more, Rev. 17:10. The seventh one would be the last one. All the
world is now waiting for him to come.
The stone cut out of the mountains: "Thou sawest that a stone was cut out without
hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them into
pieces.
"Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken into pieces
together, and become like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried
them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a
great mountain and filled the whole earth. . .
"And in the days of these kings shall be 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 FOREVER, Daniel
2:35-44.
The above Scripture shows that the end of the rule of the last world ruler will be when
the Stone comes and crushes down the Kingdoms of the world.
The Stone cut out without hands is Jesus Christ, who will come and rule the world in
righteousness. No one else can take His place.
Jesus said that wars and rumors of wars will last until the end. There will be no world
peace until The Prince of Peace comes and sets up a thousand years of peace.
Dr. J. Gardner
DRJ@ordination.org
~to
be continued next Sunday~