A
foretelling of the end of man's kingdoms
by Michael Clark and George Davis
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
For
some time we have been hearing the Lord speak to us about the significance of
Daniel 2:35 regarding the times we live in. We feel that we are in the final
days of the kingdom symbolized by the mixture of clay and iron.
We also feel that the Lord is showing us another mixture spoken of in
Revelation chapters 17 and 18 that is symbolic of that same political alliance
which is about to be taken down.
In this passage in Daniel two, as most of you know, Nebuchadnezzar, the king of
Babylon, had a dream that he knew was very significant.
He also was suspicious of all the "wise" men of Babylon and their ability
to interpret the dream. So he sent
out a decree that the person who would come to him and first tell him his dream
and then interpret it would receive a great reward, while the wise men who could
not do so would be killed. Daniel
and at least three other Hebrew captives were some of the wise men whose necks
were on the line. Daniel prayed and
God told him the dream and the interpretation which he then gave to the king,
saving not only his own life but the lives of all the wise men of Babylon.
Here is what the Lord showed him, a prophesy that is applicable down to
this very day.
You, O
king, were watching; and behold, a great image! This great image, whose splendor
was excellent, stood before you; and its form was awesome. This image's head was
of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, its
legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. You watched while a
stone was cut out without hands, which struck the image on its feet of iron and
clay, and broke them in pieces. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver,
and the gold were crushed together, and became like chaff from the summer
threshing floors; the wind carried them away so that no trace of them was found.
And the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole
earth. (Daniel 2:31-35, NKJV).
This is the
interpretation given by Daniel.
This is the dream. Now we will tell the interpretation of it before the king.
You, O king, are a king of kings. For the God of heaven has given you a kingdom,
power, strength, and glory; and wherever the children of men dwell, or the
beasts of the field and the birds of the heaven, He has given them into your
hand, and has made you ruler over them all--you are this head of gold. But after
you shall arise another kingdom inferior to yours; then another, a third kingdom
of bronze, which shall rule over all the earth. 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. Inasmuch as you saw that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold--the great God has made known to the king what will come to pass after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation is sure. (Daniel 2:36-45, NKJV).
Most Bible scholars agree that the head of gold was the Babylonian empire of
Daniel's day and that the chest and arms of silver were the Medo-Persian Empire
that followed. Then came the belly and thighs of bronze, the Greek empire of
Alexander the Great and his generals who took over after his death. After that
came the legs of iron, the world rule of Rome. Now notice that the feet are made
of iron and clay. This is a weak joining of two very dissimilar materials that
are not as strong as the iron legs. In fact, for iron to have strength it must
be purified in the fires of a foundry. It can be made stronger by adding alloys
of other metals, but clay is never used in these alloys. Clay has nothing in
common with metal. Although the strength of the iron was found in the feet,
because the clay was also present in the mixture, the feet were the weak point
in the image.
So we see, then, that the image becomes weaker and worth less as it goes
downward from the head until it is completely worthless. Clay by itself has a
value for use in pottery, as iron does for tools, but mixed together they are of
no value. Yet this mixture depicts the final kingdom of man. We think that the
Lord has shown us what this kingdom is.
It is interesting that in the building of the sacrificial altar and the temple
in the Old Testament, iron tools were forbidden.
. . .as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded the children of Israel, as
it is written in the Book of the Law of Moses:
"an altar of whole stones over which no man has wielded an iron tool." And
they offered on it burnt offerings to the LORD, and sacrificed peace offerings.
(Joshua 8:31, NKJV).
And the temple, when it was being built, was built with stone finished at the
quarry, so that no hammer or chisel or
any iron tool was heard in the temple while it was being built. (1 Kings
6:7, NKJV).
It seems that God does not have a high opinion of iron when it comes to the work
of His kingdom. So what does the Bible have to say about clay?
Sons of Clay
About fifty years before the time of Daniel, in Jerusalem Isaiah prophesied:
Rain down, you heavens, from above, And let the skies pour down righteousness;
Let the earth open, let them bring forth salvation, And let righteousness spring
up together. I, the LORD, have created it. Woe to him who strives with his
Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth!
Shall the clay say to him who forms it, `What are you making?' Or shall your
handiwork say, 'He has no hands'? Woe to him who says to his father, 'What
are you begetting?' Or to the woman, 'What have you brought forth?'"
Thus says the LORD, The Holy One of Israel, and his Maker:
"Ask Me of things to come concerning My sons; And concerning the work of My
hands, you command Me." (Isaiah 45:8-11, NKJV).
Here, God speaking through Isaiah is using a potter working with clay as an example of the Lord's work of shaping sons of God for Himself. Paul wrote of God's divine working to bring forth His sons.
And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to
those who are the called according to His purpose.
For whom He foreknew, He also
predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the
firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also
called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He
also glorified. (Romans 8:28-30, NKJV).
Isaiah continues this theme.
But now, O LORD, You are our Father; We
are the clay, and You our potter; And all we are the work of Your hand. Do
not be furious, O LORD, Nor remember iniquity forever; Indeed, please look--we
all are Your people!
Again Paul writes:
For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in
our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of
Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure
in earthen (clay) vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and
not of us. (2 Corinthians 4:5-7, NKJV).
It is God in His sovereignty who shapes us. We are not formed by a harsh iron
tool that forces its will upon us but by the gentle hands of the Master Potter
as He forms vessels ready for His table.
It is also interesting that before clay is useful as pottery, it must be fired to a very high temperature after it is formed. The three Hebrew children were fired in a Babylonian "kiln," as told in Daniel.
Then Nebuchadnezzar was full of fury,
and the expression on his face changed toward Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego.
He spoke and commanded that they heat the
furnace seven times more than it was usually heated. And he commanded
certain mighty men of valor who were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and
Abed-Nego, and cast them into the burning fiery furnace. Then these men were
bound in their coats, their trousers, their turbans, and their other garments,
and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. Therefore, because
the king's command was urgent, and the furnace exceedingly hot, the flame of the
fire killed those men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego.
And these three men, Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abed-Nego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery
furnace. Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished; and he rose in haste and
spoke, saying to his counselors, "Did we
not cast three men bound into the midst of the fire?"
They answered and said to the king, "True, O king."
"Look!" he answered, "I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God." (Daniel 3:19-25, NKJV).
The firings of God are not pleasant, but they are necessary to bring us forth in
the image of His Son. Consider these verses in regards to the purifying work of
God with His sons in the fire,
The words of the LORD are pure words, Like silver tried in a furnace of earth,
Purified seven times.
If Jesus
then is the Word of God, could it be that God's sons are the purified "words" of
God? The prophet Malachi was onto this when he wrote:
But who can endure the day of His coming?
And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner's fire And like
launderer's soap. He will sit as a
refiner and a purifier of silver; He will purify the sons of Levi, And purge
them as gold and silver, That they may offer to the LORD An offering in
righteousness. (Malachi 3:2-3, NKJV).
A Strange Mixture
Now, back to the image with the feet of iron and clay. Here we see that this
mixture symbolizes the final worldwide kingdom of man. If the clay symbolizes
God's people and the iron legs of the image symbolizes the Roman Empire,
then what is this mixture of the Roman Empire and the people of God? I
believe it is what started out as the head of the image, mystery Babylon.
The first record of man in collective rebellion against God was at the tower of
Babel, located at the sight of ancient Babylon and the modern Iraq. The final
record of the collective rebellion of man against God is found in Revelation
chapters 17 to 19. Here it is symbolized by a woman, a harlot, called Babylon
the Great or Mystery Babylon, the mother of harlots, who rides on a great beast
with many heads. Here are the harlot's attributes:
1) She sits in dominion over multitudes of people: "The waters which you saw,
where the harlot sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues."
2) She seduces the rulers of the earth and intoxicates the people of the earth
with the wine of her fornication: "with whom the kings of the earth committed
fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with the wine of
her fornication."
3) She lives in opulence: " The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and
adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a golden
cup"
4) She is the mother of harlots and abominations: "And on her forehead a name
[was] written: MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE
ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH."
5) In her cup is the blood of the saints of God: "I saw the woman, drunk with
the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus."
6) She sits on a beast with seven heads which are seven mountains: "Here [is]
the mind which has wisdom: The seven heads are seven mountains on which the
woman sits." (It is said that the city of Rome sits on seven hills.)
7) The beast on which she rides makes war on Jesus and the saints of God. "The
ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have received no kingdom as yet, but
they receive authority for one hour as kings with the beast. These are of one
mind, and they will give their power and authority to the beast. These will make
war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and
King of kings; and those [who are] with Him [are] called, chosen, and faithful."
8) The scarlet woman's days are numbered, "And he cried mightily with a loud
voice, saying, 'Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen."
9) And she is filled with demons before her final fall: "...and has become a
dwelling place of demons, a prison for every foul spirit, and a cage for every
unclean and hated bird!'"
10) She is known for her wealth, luxurious living and merchandizing: "the
merchants of the earth have become rich through the abundance of her luxury."
11) And God's people are found inside of
her! "And I heard another voice from heaven saying,
"Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of
her plagues."
So dear saints, you see there is a mixture in this image seen by Nebuchadnezzar
the king of Babylon and that mixture is of Roman imperial authority with its
corruption and the Church of Jesus Christ, the ecclesia of God.
With just a cursory study of Church history and a look around you, you will see
that each of these eleven attributes mentioned above are alive and well in the
visible Church as we know it. The Emperor Constantine made Christianity the
official religion of the Roman empire in 312 AD, forcing the clay and iron
together. He then set about to change the Church from Jesus' bride into a woman
who willingly sleeps with every despot who rules the nations of the world. The
last kingdom of iron and clay is the apostate Church born in Rome, not
Jerusalem. If you want further proof, compare the Church written about in the
Book of Acts with the visible Church of today.
Least you think that all religious corruption is found only in the ROMAN
Catholic Church, this Great whore is also called "the mother of harlots." If she
is the mother it should be obvious who her children are. As "Protestants," we
know about the abuses of the Catholic Church through the crusades and
inquisitions that killed thousands of Jews, Muslims and saints of God.
But are you aware just how many murders and thefts are a direct result of
the acts and writings of the "hallowed" Martin Luther and John Calvin? If you
want an eye opener read Luther's "The Jews and their Lies," in which he draws
the blueprint for the holocaust followed by Hitler four hundred years later.
John Calvin oversaw the murder of Michael Servitus, a supposed heretic who was
burned at the stake. Calvin was also behind the death of his own daughter-in-law
and step son. He was responsible
for the burning alive of fourteen so called "witches."
This was his justification, "When the Catholics
are so harsh and violent in their defense of their superstitions, are not
Christ's magistrates shamed to do less in defense of the truth"?
We are
talking about the founders of modern Protestantism here! Like mother, like
daughter.
No doubt these men started out with all sincerity to serve the Lord, but as they
found power in their alliances with the governments of men, they were seduced by
that power to carry out their will by force. There is no such thing as a "holy
war." When clay mixes with iron all manner of perversion and atrocity is the
result.
Many
more saints were imprisoned and killed by the Church of England as heretics.
The religious persecution of would be reformers by the state churches in
Europe was so bad that many believers escaped to the shores of the new world and
formed the original settlements in what is now the US and Canada.
Whenever religious men make league with the governments of men they lose sight of the eternal kingdom of God and fall into the hands of the Prince of this world, who gladly gives these men his kingdoms for a price. Satan even tried this ploy on Jesus!
Again, the
devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the
kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to Him, "All these things I
will give You if You will fall down and worship me." (Matthew 4:8-9, NKJV).
The City that Has Foundations vs. the Cities of Men
It was our Savior who said it so well at His trial, "My kingdom is not of this
world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I
should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here."
Of the
father of faith, faithful Abraham, the writer of Hebrew testified:
By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which
he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was
going.
Those who
walk by faith, just as Abraham did, seek not a city made with brick and slime
here among the kingdoms of men, but they seek a "city which has foundations,
whose builder and maker is God."
As long as they see it as a city "afar
off," a kingdom that comes "without observation," they are on the right track.
God never had a plan in which mere man would be the founder or foundation
of His eternal city and government.
He has only One foundation on which His city is to be built, that stone not cut
with the hands of men, His son, Jesus Christ.
As Paul wrote so vividly,
For no other foundation can anyone lay
than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
Dear saints, we believe the Day that
will declare men's works in the fires of God is upon us. We believe
that God's Foundation Stone, Jesus Christ, is about to collide with
everything that has been founded on men from the foundations of the world
whether it is called "Christian" or otherwise.
There is a
plague coming upon this counterfeit bride which rides the back of the Beast. Not
only will the Beast system of the governments of men turn on her, but that
Perfect Stone which falls upon the feet of the image will destroy her and the
Beast governments of the world along with their "new world order."
Jesus prophesied of the Chief Cornerstone falling destroying the kingdoms of men in a parable when He said,
Then He
began to tell the people this parable: "A certain man planted a vineyard, leased
it to vinedressers, and went into a far country for a long time.
Then He
looked at them and said, "What then is this that is written: 'The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone'?
It is amazing when you compare Jesus' words with Daniel 2:35.
Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were
crushed together, and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; the
wind carried them away so that no trace of them was found. And
the stone that struck the image became a
great mountain and filled the whole earth.
(Daniel 2:35, NKJV).
Again Isaiah spoke of these things when he wrote:
Therefore hear the word of the LORD, you
scornful men, Who rule this people who are in Jerusalem (the bride [see
Revelation 21:2]), Because you have
said, "We have made a covenant with death, And with Sheol we are in agreement.
When the overflowing scourge passes through, It will not come to us, For
we have made lies our refuge, And under
falsehood we have hidden ourselves."
(See Revelation 18:7). Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: "Behold,
I lay in Zion a stone for a foundation, A tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a
sure foundation; Whoever believes will not act hastily. (Isaiah 28:14-16,
NKJV).
Peter took up this passage when he wrote to the Church:
Coming to Him as to a living stone,
rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also, as living
stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up
spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. Therefore it is
also contained in the Scripture, "Behold, I lay in Zion A chief cornerstone, elect, precious, And he who
believes on Him will by no means be put to shame." Therefore,
to you who believe, He is precious; but
to those who are disobedient, "The stone which the builders rejected Has become
the chief cornerstone," and "A stone of stumbling And a rock of offense." They
stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed.
But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own
special people, that you may proclaim the
praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light
[enlightening]; (1 Peter 2:4-9, NKJV).
The Enlightenment
Just before the angel of the Lord calls out to His people to come out of the whore (Rev. 18:4), another angel descends to the earth from heaven.
And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory. (Revelation 18:1, KJV).
The word translated
lightened in this verse is the Greek
word
photizo {fo-tid'-zo}. It means: to give light, to shine,
to enlighten, light up, illumine, to bring to light, render evident, to cause
something to exist and thus come to light and become clear to all, to enlighten,
spiritually, imbue with saving knowledge, to instruct, to inform, teach, to give
understanding to.
As you can see, this is no ordinary 60-watt bulb that burns out fifteen minutes
after you bring it home from the supermarket. This angel of God is sent to
prepare the way, illuminate and enlighten the minds of the saints of God so they
can be ready to heed the call to come out of this false bride, the Great Whore,
unto the Son.
We are greatly encouraged by the amount of mail we get from saints who are
already coming out of man-made institutional church systems. They all speak of
the marvelous freedom they are finding in Christ now that they are free of these
man made kingdoms. Often the ones set free are pastors!
All is not lost, dear saints. Just as God did not call the Children of Israel
out of Egypt to make a kingdom in the wilderness, but to go all the way into the
promised land as, neither is He going to leave His people who come out of "her"
standing in barren wilderness (see Rev. 17:3). Jesus gets the final word.
Yes, dear saints of God, the end of the image in Daniel 2 is also the demise of
the counterfeit bride, that mixture of Rome that has controlled Christ's Church.
It is the end of the kingdoms of the world and the rebellion of man against God
(see 1 Samuel 8:6&7), and the beginning of the reign of Jesus with His saints.
"And the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the
whole earth."
The apostle John was speaking of this when he wrote:
Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, "The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!" And the twenty-four elders who sat before God on their thrones fell on their faces and worshiped God, "We give You thanks, O Lord God Almighty, The One who is and who was and who is to come, Because You have taken Your great power and reigned. The nations were angry, and Your wrath has come, And the time of the dead, that they should be judged, And that You should reward Your servants the prophets and the saints, And those who fear Your name, small and great, And should destroy those who destroy the earth. (Revelation 11:15-18, NKJV).
Don't be afraid. All the virgins have ample time to buy oil for themselves. Not
all will, but those who receive the love of the Truth will be saved. Those who
have a vested interest in the lie, refusing to let go of it, will be cursed (see
2 Thessalonians 2). It is up to each of us to trim our lamps, cutting away the
old burnt wick that inhibits the light in each of us. It is in this
enlightenment that we go forth to meet Him in this darkest hour.
Beloved, now we are children of God; and
it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is
revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.
(1 John 3:2, NKJV).
Rejoice,
Michael
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