The Apocalypse - Letter by Letter: An Everlasting Kingdom...
The Apocalypse - Letter by Letter
Blog to discuss the book "The Apocalypse - Letter by Letter: A Literary Analysis of the Book of Revelation" and current events that point to the events described therein.
Today's reading from Daniel refers to Daniel's interpretation of a dream where a statue, a composite symbol really, is described. In the opening of The Apocalypse - Letter by Letter, Steven Paul reveals the meaning behind this passage and how it looks ahead to the time of the Antichrist.
From the book:
The second Chapter unequivocally informs the reader, that the king's dream and Daniel's are divine revelations of the same unique evolvement, one which spans from the present into the future; and that, therefore, the interpretation or explanation Daniel gives is the only correct one. The "statue" in the dream represents the time frame [a delectably ineluctable pun] within which, by the time frame's ending, there will have existed four specific kingdoms in succession, the first already existing at the time of the revelation. By correlating the information in Daniel 2, 7, & 8 with Isaiah 13:17, Jeremiah 51:11, and modern history books, the reader can ascertain the identities of the four kingdoms: the Babylonian Empire, the Medo-Persian, the Greek, and last, the Roman Empire.
17 Behold I will stir up the Medes against them, who shall not seek silver, nor desire gold: 18 But with their arrows they shall kill the children, and shall have no pity upon the sucklings of the womb, and their eye shall not spare their sons. 19 And that Babylon, glorious among kingdoms, the famous pride of the Chaldeans, shall be even as the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrha. [Is. 13:17-19]
11 Sharpen the arrows, fill the quivers, the Lord hath raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes: and his mind is against Babylon to destroy it, because it is the vengeance of the Lord, the vengeance of his temple. 12 Upon the walls of Babylon set up the standard, strengthen the watch: set up the watchmen, prepare the ambushes: for the Lord hath both purposed, and done all that he spoke against the inhabitants of Babylon. [Jer. 51:11-12]
The seventh Chapter of Daniel shows the same four as beasts that emerge from the sea: the "two-winged lion" was the national symbol of Babylon; and the “"our-winged, four-headed leopard" appears, in Chapter 8, as the "he-goat" that eventually grows four horns [Greek Empire of Alexander the Great that became split into four Seleucid Empires].
Since the "statue" in the dream, depicted in Chapter 2, symbolizes the four empires and their evolvement, and since the "stone" symbolizes the "kingdom of God" initially small, the reader can deduce that God would and did establish or begin his kingdom DURING THE LATTER HALF OF THE FOURTH KINGDOM, which became known as the Roman Empire. Bear in mind that the "stone" struck the FEET and not higher, i.e., earlier.
Since Daniel makes it perfectly clear that God would establish an everlasting kingdom, it follows that he would not set up a second one and that, therefore, the kingdom to be established would also be the one established BY THE MESSIAH. Since the "stone" was hewn from a "mountain not on the earth," but became a "mountain on the earth," it follows that the "mountain not on the earth" symbolizes the "kingdom of God" in heaven, and that the "stone" that becomes a "mountain covering the entire earth" is the "kingdom of God" on earth. Divine from Divine is the fact. One can, therefore, deduce that the "stone" also symbolizes the Messiah. Indeed, Jesus made this image personal to himself
17 But he looking on them, said: What is this then that is written, The stone, which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner? 18 Whosoever shall fall upon that stone, shall be bruised: and upon whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder. 19 And the chief priests and the scribes sought to lay hands on him the same hour: but they feared the people, for they knew that he spoke this parable to them. [Lk. 20:17-19].
Those who pondered the writings of the prophets, correlating them, meticulously, came to the same conclusions and disseminated their findings, until the nation of Israel, by the time Jesus was born, was rife with expectation of the Messiah. But, as Moses said, the Jews were a "stiff-necked people." [Ex. 33:3] To resume: Daniel relates:
(1) The "statue" had a terrifying appearance. [Dn. 2:31] (2) The second kingdom would be inferior to the first. [Dn. 2:39] (3) The "stone," or "kingdom of God" on earth, would destroy the "statue," i.e., all four kingdoms. [Dn. 2:45]
Now, the statue looked terrifying because it looked monstrous; and it looked monstrous because God, who caused the dream, saw the four kingdoms were monstrous. Thus, the statue's physical appearance signified the spiritual reality of the four kingdoms. As to what that monstrous reality was, the statue itself signals: idolatry, which was paganism's preposterous falsehood and evil practice. For God, who is spirit, made man in his own image; and so, whenever man worships "graven images" made of "gold," "silver," "bronze," or "iron," then has man become a blasphemous monstrosity.
Note that every succeeding metal was [still is] worth less than the one before it; hence, the term inferior may be applied to every succeeding kingdom, so that the depreciating succession of metals signifies that each succeeding kingdom will be, in some sense, more monstrous than the one before it. Since the four kingdoms were equal, in that they each practiced idolatry, the "succession of metals" must, therefore, symbolize an evil greater than idolatry, but involving it nonetheless. As the Bible and history books have recorded, the greater evil was this: that each succeeding empire was more brutal than the one before it, in attempting to impose idolatry upon God's people.
The Roman Empire eventuated in the most blasphemous monstrosity of emperor worship; its persecutions against the Christians were greater in number, duration, cruelty, and, as the divine "mountain" grew, in extent. But, in 392 AD, Theodosius proscribed paganism as high treason and proclaimed Christianity the one religion throughout the Iron Empire, the empire that had conquered even those lands of the previous three; and this explains why, in the dream, the whole statue crumbled.
