At that Time... Last half of Chapter 1

[lambs of sacrifice]

Contnued from post: At that Time... Intro and first half of chapter 1

Cont...

Now, this vision concerns Media-Persia, Greece, the four horns that come out of Greece and the antichrist’s kingdom. Most of us have been told over the years that this vision concerns the distant past. But, we are told by Scripture that the vision specifically concerns the time of the end. Now, you may say, “Well maybe, but that is only one set of passages that say this.” And I agree, so I want to take you to Daniel chapter two in which Nebuchadnezzar has a dream which he will not tell what the dream is about and orders all the wise men of Babylon to be put the death unless they can tell him what the dream is and then explain it to him. This great mystery was revealed to Daniel and he explains it to the king.

Da 2:31 You looked, O king, and there before you stood a large statue—an enormous, dazzling statue, awesome in appearance.
Da 2:32 The head of the statue was made of pure gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze,
Da 2:33 its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of baked clay.
Da 2:34 you were watching, a rock was cut out, but not by human hands. It
struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed them.
Da 2:35 Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were broken to pieces at the same time and became like chaff on a threshing floor in the summer. The wind swept them away without leaving a trace. But the rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth.

Then Daniel interprets the dream 2:38-40

Da 2:38 in your hands he has placed mankind and the beasts of the field and the birds of the air. Wherever they live, he has made you ruler over them all. You are the head of gold.
Da 2:39 “After you, another kingdom will rise, inferior to yours. Next, a third kingdom, one of bronze, will rule over the whole earth.
Da 2:40 Finally, there will be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron—for iron breaks and smashes everything—and as iron breaks things to pieces, so it will crush and break all the others.

The first kingdom is the kingdom of Babylon and the fourth kingdom is the kingdom of the antichrist. From Daniel chapter 8 we know that the second kingdom is the kingdom of Media-Persia and the third kingdom is the kingdom of Greece.

Look at the passage Daniel 2:34-35

Da 2:34 While you were watching, a rock was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed them.
Da 2:35 Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were broken to pieces at the same time and became like chaff on a threshing floor in the summer. The wind swept them away without leaving a trace. But the rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth.

With this passage in mind, I would like to do a paraphrase of Daniel 2:34- 35. The intention of this paraphrase is to interpret the symbols and ****ouns as the kingdoms they represent.

Paraphrase by James;

While you were watching the kingdom of the God of Heaven was cut out, but not by human hands. The kingdom of the God of Heaven struck the statue on the antichrist’s kingdom, the kingdom of Greece, the kingdom of Media-Persia, and the kingdom of Babylon, and they were broken to pieces at the same time and became like chaff on the threshing floor in summer. The wind swept the antichrist’s kingdom, the kingdom of Greece, the kingdom of Media-Persia, and the kingdom of Babylon, away without leaving a trace. But the kingdom of the God of Heaven that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth.

There are four words in this passage that explain the time frame of this vision, “at the same time.” The antichrist’s kingdom, the kingdom of Greece, the kingdom of Media-Persia, and the kingdom of Babylon, were all broken to pieces at the same time. We know that the antichrist’s kingdom is broken at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ at the end of the tribulation. These two passages reinforce that the kingdoms of Media-Persia and Greece are existent and are major characters during the end times.

Now go to Daniel 2:40

Da 2:40 Finally there will be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron—for iron breaks and smashes everything—and as iron breaks things to pieces, so it will crush and break all the others.

In this passage, the fourth kingdom is the kingdom of the antichrist and the passage says that the antichrist’s kingdom will break all the others…“...all the others”? All the other what? All the other kingdoms refer to all the other kingdoms that were mentioned in this vision; the kingdoms of Greece, Media-Persia, and Babylon. If the antichrist is to break the kingdoms of Greece, Media-Persia, and Babylon, then they have to be existent during the antichrists reign, and we know that the antichrist will burn Babylon with fire in the end times (Revelation 17:16).

Also there is another verse in Daniel chapter 2 that proves that the kingdoms of Greece, Media-Persia, Babylon and the antichrist’s kingdom are existent in the last days.

Da 2:44 “In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever”.

In the beginning of the verse we have God setting up his kingdom, and at the end of the verse crushing all the other kingdoms, with the time frame of ‘in the time of those kings”. The time of those kings is the time frame of, the end times. We know that God sets up his kingdom in the end times and that the kingdom of the antichrists is also in the end times.

Not to belabor the point, but to give further support this view of prophetic events and to tie-in Daniel chapter 7 with Daniel chapters 2 and 8 let us go to Daniel chapter 7. Daniel chapter 7 is about four beasts and the coming of the Son of Man with the clouds of Heaven. The four beasts are four kingdoms that will rise from the earth. They are;

1) Media- Persia
2) Greece
3) ‘The four kingdoms’ that come out of Greece
4) ‘The ten kings’ of the kingdom of the antichrist and the little horn is the antichrist

Let’s look start of looking at Daniel 7:11-12.

Da 7:11 “Then I continued to watch because of the boastful words the horn
(the antichrist) was speaking. I kept looking until the beast was slain and its body destroyed and thrown into the blazing fire.
Da 7:12 (The other beasts had been stripped of their authority, but were allowed to live for a period of time.)

This passage says that the three other beasts (countries) are alive at the destruction and judgment of the fourth beast. The first three kingdoms though they are stripped of their authority are allowed to live for a period of time into the millennium. So, this passage also proves that these three kingdoms are in the end times and then exist for a period of time into the millennium. Now, you may say that “No, scholars and history tells us that these events have already happened.” But I say to you, read through these chapters and see what the Word of God tells us. The most important part of figuring out when these events are suppose to happen is to look at the time frames that Scripture gives. Not only does Daniel chapter 2, 7 and 8 prove that the kingdoms of Greece and Media-Persia are major powers in the last days, they also reveal their own relevance in interpreting end time events. Scripture reveals that these are end time prophecies, and open up a wonderful window to view coming end time events.

For more information go to:

Lambs of Sacrifice

All texts were taken from:
Holy Bible, New International Version