“And
the fourth kingdom shall be as strong as iron, inasmuch as iron breaks in
pieces and shatters everything; and like iron that crushes, that kingdom will break in pieces
and crush all the others. “Whereas you saw the feet and toes, partly of
potter’s clay and partly of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; yet the
strength of the iron shall be in it, just as you saw the iron mixed with
ceramic clay. “And as the toes of the feet were partly of iron and
partly of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and
partly fragile. “As you saw iron mixed with ceramic clay, they will mingle with
the seed of men; but they will not adhere to one another, just as iron does not
mix with clay. “And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a
kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to
other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it
shall stand forever. Daniel 2:40-44 NKJV
As
much as I might not wish to admit it, much of who I am is a result of the times
in which I was raised. What I often
hesitate to admit is just how long ago that was. Does anyone else remember sitting in Sunday
School and being taught Bible stories with a flannel board and illustrated
figures? Do they even make Bibles
anymore with pictures in them? I grew up
loving illustrations simply because they made it so much easier to remember,
and I can still recall hearing those stories and looking through my parents’
Bible at all of the pictures when I was a child.
In
this story from Daniel it appears that God too, is a believer in illustrations
as a way to help man remember something important. In this case we find the course of human
history from the reign of Nebuchadnezzar to the Second Coming of Christ
illustrated by a simple statue made up of different materials. As we said last week, there is a progression
shown to us which illustrates that while the strength of nations appears to
increase over time, their relative value decreases until we reach a point where
there are only two elements present, iron and clay, which according to God will
not “adhere” to one another.
The
word translated “adhere” is the Aramaic word “debaq” which literally means to
cling to, or also from its root word, stick closely to or be joined
together. When we couple this with the
illustration of ten toes which represent ten different kingdoms the picture we
are shown by God is pretty clear. At the
end of this age, just before Christ returns to earth and when God will establish
His Kingdom, the world is described as one kingdom with one ruler, divided into
ten different territories with ten different kings who obviously choose to work
together, but according to God, never really “adhere” to one another.
Now
many of us are familiar with this scenario, which has been the subject of many
books and movies about the coming tribulation, and the troubles which will come
to this world at the end of this present age.
Many are looking for, and speculating on, the emergence of these ten
“nations” or territories as a sign of our arrival at the time of judgment. Yet there is something about this
illustration which I feel is often overlooked in all of the discussion about
the ten nations and that is simply this; what about the fact that the entire
world is divided into only two categories; iron or clay?
You
see, in all the study I have done, no one really spends any time trying to
identify exactly what the iron and clay represent other than acknowledging that
there is a difference present. Now since
it is the entire world being represented here it follows we are not talking
about the difference between Republicans and Democrats, but on the other hand
that really isn’t such a bad illustration.
The world will arrive at a point where there is a division among its
population which appears to defy agreement and have no solution. So we are left to decide just what it might
be that divides people so strongly.
Then he
shall confirm a covenant with many for one week. But in the middle of the week
He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of
abominations shall be one who makes desolate, Even until the consummation,
which is determined, Is poured out on the desolate.” Daniel
9:27 NKJV
We
are told by Daniel in this passage that the coming man of sin, or antichrist,
will enforce a treaty which produces a type of peace which the entire world,
willingly or reluctantly, agrees to.
However, at the midpoint of this seven year agreement the antichrist
does something which obviously divides the world. Although often perceived as an offense to
Israel because of the decision to end worship in the temple in Jerusalem, I
would like to suggest that there is another, sometimes overlooked, aspect to his
decision to do this which may serve as the dividing point of the entire world.
Let no
one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling
away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who
opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped,
so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is
God. 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 NKJV
Paul
tells us here that the antichrist intends to sit in the temple itself and
proclaim to the world that he is God.
Now is it just me, or do you agree this might well be a statement which
could divide the entire world into two distinct groups? As I said before, there are other
interpretations of the meaning of the iron and clay illustration, but to me,
this seems to be a simple, if not logical answer to the question. Another fact that not many are aware of is
that along with being the fastest growing religion in the world, Islam has its
own eschatology about the end of the world and this scenario may well come into
play.
According
to Islam, at the end of this age there will be three great signs which will announce
the arrival of the time of judgment and these three signs are all in the form
of people. The first is the Mahdi, who
will arrive to set up a Islamic world order, and force the world to accept Islam
as the only religion. The second is
Jesus Christ, who they believe to be only a man who almost died but was saved
by Allah and will return after the Mahdi in order to help him. The third person is Al-Masih ad-Dajjal, known
simply as the Dajjal, who is the Islamic version of the Christian
antichrist. Among other things, he will
claim to be God and attempt to kill the Mahdi and Jesus, however the Islamic
Jesus will kill him instead.
The
Bible tells us that the coming man of sin will somehow establish some sort of
peace which the entire world will buy into for a time. Yet when he decides to sit in the temple and
proclaim himself to be God and demand to be worshipped, the entire world is
forced to choose sides. Oil and water do
not mix. You can put it in the same
container, but although forced to coexist each retains its own character and is
never really changed. It might seem to
be a stretch to think half of the world would accept someone like the
antichrist as truly being God, yet recent history shows how easily people will
buy into someone’s claim that they have all the answers and choose to blindly
follow.
I
think it is perfectly obvious that the world is being prepared for this very
event. The problems we see occurring every
day and the number of troubles we find the world being faced with are rapidly
multiplying and it would appear the stage is being set for someone to arrive on
the scene and proclaim to the world that he has all the answers. Fortunately for those who choose to believe
in the saving grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, there is one event which must
occur first. The rapture of all true
believers will be the event which opens the door for the final manifestation of
Nebuchadnezzar’s statue, the feet of iron and clay, and it could happen at any
time.
If
you have never made the choice to accept the gift of eternal life which Jesus
has provided by choosing to die on the cross for our sins, I urge you to do it
today. Simply pray to our Father and
confess that you are a sinner in need of forgiveness and ask Him to come into
your life and make you new, and from this day on live as He directs. He promises to not only forgive, but to give
the gift of the Holy Spirit which will live inside our hearts to teach us and
help us to live in this world the way He wants us to.
Keep
watching.
