Countdown to His Coming Part 1

There is a knowing, a sense throughout the Body of Christ, that Jesus is coming back very soon. Each day, events in the world point to only one conclusion, Bible prophecies are coming to pass all around us, and we are definitely in the last of the "last days."

The purpose of this article and the next is not to pinpoint dates or even a certain year when specific yet-unfulfilled prophetic events will happen, but to show you from the Scriptures what to generally expect over the coming days and months in world events.

This first article will give the scriptural background for the world conditions of our day. The second article will teach about world events we are seeing each day, how they line up with these scriptures, and how close to the end we truly are.

The first passage of Scripture we are going to study is Daniel's interpretation of a dream the Lord gave to Nebuchadnezzar, the King of Babylon. The King saw a large image of a man, whose body was divided into parts made up of different substances.

Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible.

The image's head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass,

Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces.

Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; 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.

Daniel interpreted each part of the image to represent one of the major world empires to come. Two empires, Egypt and Assyria, had already declined by the time of the King's dream; therefore, they were not included. In King Nebuchadnezzar's dream, five world empires were seen, beginning with his own kingdom. The dream ends with the coming of the eternal kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ, described in verse 35 above

The head of gold represented the Babylonian Empire, which was holding Judah, the southern kingdom of Israel, in captivity at that time. Daniel himself was one of the captives. The kingdoms which would follow the Babylonian Empire, depicted as different metals, were seen in descending power.

And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth.

And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise. Daniel 2:39,40

The chest of silver was the coming kingdom of the Persians, which would appear later in chapter five of the Book of Daniel. The Persian Empire would be instrumental in returning the Jews to Israel. The belly and thighs of brass were the Greek Empire under Alexander the Great. This empire would develop and teach the whole known world the Greek language. This common language would give all nations the ability to read the New Testament when it was written.

The iron legs are the longest part of the body, and they represented the Roman Empire, which lasted almost one thousand years. It is this iron kingdom which would see the birth, earthly life and ministry, death, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Roman Empire would be the last kingdom to hold Israel captive, and it would also torment, persecute, and kill both Jews and Christians before its downfall.

Once Jesus rose from the dead and the Church began at Pentecost, world empires, or governments which controlled the entire known world of their time, would cease to exist. King Nebuchadnezzar's dream makes it clear that as long as the Church is on the earth, no natural kingdom can rule the entire earth. However, once the Church has been removed, the iron empire will arise again in a different form.

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 the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay.

And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of day, so the Kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken,

And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry day, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay. Daniel 2:41-43

The feet of iron and clay represent a revived version of the former Roman Empire which will come after the Church Age. This last world empire, like the feet in the dream, will be the shortest kingdom of all and the most unstable. Its control of the rest of the world will be far less powerful, but its leader will be more wicked and ruthless than any leader in history - Satan's man, the antichrist.

One Little Stone

And in the days of these kings shall 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,

Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to it the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure. Daniel 2:44,45

When Jesus walked the earth, Israel was under the control of Rome. After Jesus' death and resurrection, Rome attacked Jerusalem and tried to kill the entire Jewish race, which Jesus prophesied in Luke 21:20-24. Jews fled for their lives, and their race still exists today because they scattered throughout the world. Eventually, they began to come back to the land of Israel, and in 1948, they became a nation again.

Once the Church is gone, the earth will return back to Jewish time for seven more years, known as the Great Tribulation. Time will take up where it left off before the Church Age began at Pentecost, as the feet of iron and clay in Nebuchadnezzar's dream, the revived Roman Empire, will rise up as a world power and again control Israel. Once more, that empire will attempt to destroy Jerusalem and the Jewish people.

The small stone at the end of Nebuchadnezzar's dream, which represents the Lord Jesus Christ, will keep Israel from being destroyed. Jesus Himself, the small stone cut out without hands (virgin born), will strike the fragile feet of the revived Roman Empire, led by the antichrist. The entire image will come crashing down, which signifies that all world empires will come to an end forever.

Then, as the image crumbles to the ground, the small stone will grow into a mountain and fill the whole earth. "The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever" (Revelation 11:15). The millennium, the one-thousand-year reign of Jesus Christ, will then begin.

Every world empire in history had a religion, and the last kingdom of iron and clay, the revived Roman f Empire, will also have a religion. It will consist of all religions from all of the empires that came before it. These include both the five empires depicted in King Nebuchadnezzar's dream, plus the Egyptian and Assyrian empires which preceded them, which is a total of seven kingdoms.

John writes of this in Revelation 17, when he saw a woman, a prostitute, sitting on a beast with seven heads. The woman represents the religion of the last empire, revived Rome, and the seven heads represent the seven world empires which existed before the eternal reign of the Lord Jesus.

The seven heads are seven mountains (world empires), on which the woman sitteth (draws power). And there are seven kings: five are fallen (Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia and Greece), and one is (Rome), and the other is not yet come (revived Rome); and when he (antichrist) cometh, he must continue a short space (seven years). Revelation 17:9,10

Each world empire dominated and controlled Israel for a time. Each one of their religions were Satan's attempt to counterfeit Christianity, gaining false authority and power over people through mysticism, spiritism, and even witchcraft. The last world religion is in the earth right now. It is the religion of the New Age.

Revelation 17:3 says this woman is "full of names of blasphemies." The blasphemies of the New Age combine all deities and religions into one final mockery of the righteousness of God by Satan. Which brings us to the question, why does the Holy Spirit use a prostitute to represent false religion?

A prostitute is the counterfeit of a wife. She provides the sexual act of marriage without love, fidelity, or honor. In other words, there is no commitment with a prostitute, just the exchange of money. There is also a lack of fulfillment and peace, which only comes with marriage.

The New Age gives the ritual of religion and supernatural experience without a personal relationship with God, which can only come through the Lord Jesus Christ. There is no call to sanctification and no peace or fulfillment. Furthermore, just as the prostitute drains her victims of prosperity, leaving them destitute, so will the New Age religion rob the people of their wealth and goods (Revelation 17:4).

How new is the New Age? It is as new as Satan's intervention into the events of man in the Garden of Eden. Facets of this religion have been around as long as world empires have existed. The New Age movement today incorporates all of the deities and religious practices of the Egyptians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, and Romans.

The little stone which will cause the image to topple will also bring to an end all false religion in the earth. The New Age Movement will be short-lived, as the Son of God takes His rightful throne on the earth. Jesus will not only set up his eternal kingdom, but He will be worshipped as the true and living God forever.