Many times when reading Genesis 1:26-28, and reading or listening to commentary on it, a major part of the teaching is missed because people tend to focus on verses 26 and 28, forgetting verse 27.
Why that's extremely important is verse 27 affirms what God is saying in that part of the image of God is to take dominion. So when verse 26 says "let them have dominion...," verse 27 is reinforcing the fact that dominion is a characteristic of God that man is to bear. Verse 26 starts with God saying to one another that they'll make man in His image, and then immediately goes into dominion.
more on having dominion
Showing posts with label Kingdom of God. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kingdom of God. Show all posts
Monday, November 23, 2015
Monday, October 19, 2015
Habakkuk 2:14
For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.
Daniel 2:
34 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.
35 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.
36 This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king.
44 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 for ever.
The above scriptures, and others in the Bible, are a great promise and outlook for what Jesus has in store for the earth before He returns and resurrects us.
It's obvious when He talks about the knowledge of His glory filling the earth, and a kingdom being set up in the time when Jesus appeared and Rome ruled over much of the world, is what He will do in and through His people.
If it was just a general presence He was talking about, it would be meaningless. God has always been everywhere, and it would add nothing to that general fact if that was all that was being thought of here in such powerful words and imagery.
Always keep in mind that Jesus launched His eternal kingdom on earth about 2000 years ago. It's an everlasting kingdom, and it'll never end.
His kingdom will fill the whole earth, and that will be done in a people He rules within and without.
So take great encouragement and plan your life on this earth in light of the fact His kingdom is expanding, and we have a part in subduing this earth to His glory.
That is how He fills the whole earth with His glory: He does it through an obedient people that learn the not only what Jesus' overall vision and purpose is for this earth, but also the means to rule and reign on it through Jesus Christ, as revealed in the Holy Scriptures.
Consequently, there is no need to despair. As we search the Scriptures and with the help of the Holy Spirit understand and put them into practice, we gradually grow and move into all that He had planned for us concerning this earth from before the foundations were laid.
This will all be accomplished through our obedience to the commands of God as revealed in the Bible, and by faithful service we offer to others as part of the great salvation He brought to us.
No matter how bleak it may look to some, this isn't our end, but this is the devil's end. Yes, we have to regroup at times and take a defensive stand in order to preserve the work of God in us, our families, and our churches.
When the culture has been overwhelmingly corrupted by evil, and accepted by the majority, those are the times we need to be sure our children and grandchildren know how to defend their faith, and to keep them from a world that only wants to destroy their faith in Jesus Christ.
Once that is in place, we can then go on the offensive, working to persuade those that oppose themselves there is a better life and a better way. We do that by the lives we live and the service we offer.
more on Glory of the Lord will Fill the Earth
Wednesday, August 26, 2015
One thing that can frustrate the followers of Jesus Christ at times is the appreciation and inspiration we get through Biblical imagery of His great kingdom and victory in this age, but the lack of practical application on how it can be implemented; first by individuals, then churches and other institutions.
I break that down at Jesus' New World Order and reveal some ideas on how to bring it from vision to reality in this age and time in history.
I break that down at Jesus' New World Order and reveal some ideas on how to bring it from vision to reality in this age and time in history.
Wednesday, September 17, 2014
 |
| source: http://www.theswordbearer.org |
What our enemies attempt to do is shout us down whenever we rise up to expose their evil, which to the uninitiated seems to be a victory on their part simply because they make a lot noise, and seem to have the controls and levers to do whatever they want. We're going to find out in the days, months and years ahead that they never had control, and they have been allowed to be in power by Jesus Christ only for the purpose of them exposing their agenda and their hatred of the only God.
Now that that has happened, there is no more reason for them to be allowed to be in power, and we're going to see Jesus Christ rise up in His people and send the evil back into the darkness where they belong, and bring forth the children of light to let the whole world know who He is.
The Scriptures confirm this when it says in Hebrews 8:11, "for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest." And in Habakkuk 2:14 it says, "For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea."
There is a day coming when all God's people will know Him, and when all of who He is will fill the earth. After all, the glory of God is nothing less than the magnificence of who He is, and the promise is that the day will come when who He is will fill the earth. The mechanism to do so is a people displaying the invisible characteristics of God in a visible manner. That will ultimately be the light that overcomes darkness on the earth.
Jesus already has one the war on the cross, we are now partaking in that victory by mopping up the aftermath of His total victory.
What we must learn to do first is not to look at the outward things around us, or their unreality will appear to be what is truth, and if we believe the visible display of evil around us, we'll fall into despair and be defeated before we engage the enemy.
The trick of evil is to convince believers in Jesus Christ that he is the power of this earth in order to keep us from moving against them. If we look at how evil controls almost everything in regard to institutionally (including many so-called churches), it can make one believe there is no hope.
But there is great hope. The Holy Spirit will not rest until He secures a people that are conformed to the very person of Jesus Christ (his characteristics, not His divinity).
What we need to do in this war, is to pray and believe we're in it as conquerors already. The strategy is to do what we see Jesus Christ doing, by expressing His characteristics in all that we do around us, no matter how hard evil screams at us to stop.
It's far past time to engage in civil disobedience if we must, and be once again willing to pay any price in order that Jesus Christ is seen as the King of kings and Lord of lords that He is.
Satan may be god of this world system, but he's not god of this earth. Psalm 24:1 says, "The earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein." When Satan is called the god of this world, it's only a reference to him and his evil permeating those who refuse to be obedient to and follow Jesus Christ. It's his darkness expressed in a representative people that is what is called the 'world,' and Jesus Christ could never be over that abomination. That is all that Satan is over. The rest is the Lord's.
The key is to ignore the noise and not take our eyes off of what it is God would have us do. That will eventually be a candle lit for all to see, and when there are enough candle's lit, together they will light up the world. At that time it will be filled with the Lord through His people. That is the promise, and that will happen.
Don't give up and don't give in to evil. We will win, even if it costs us everything. If we die to ourselves, we will find the threat and potential impact of evil is nullified, and we can fight the battle in our lifetime, as we gradually build out the kingdom of God on this earth.
Never surrender and never retreat. Never apologize for representing who Jesus Christ is in whatever you do.
Monday, August 11, 2014
One of the failures of natural Israel almost from its inception has been the misunderstanding it was meant to be a light to the nations; meaning it was to not only embrace and represent who God was to one another, but to spread that across the world.
That failure was primarily the result of it time after time failing to meet the standards of God, which ended up with Israel taking on the nature of other nations, rather than being a peculiar people as they were meant to be, by showing forth the glory of God.
Now the followers of Jesus Christ are meant to take on that responsibility, by first, walking as Jesus walked, and from that total separation from the ways of the world, becoming a light to the nations in the name of Jesus Christ. That's one of the reasons believers in Christ were called Israel in the Scriptures, as the purpose of God for the natural Jews had now passed on to all of those that call upon the name of the Lord and obey Him.
That brings of the question of who we primarily owe our allegiance to. As true followers of Jesus Christ, our allegiance is and also should be first to the kingdom of God and He who heads it up. That means whatever nation on earth we may reside in only gets our loyalty secondarily; and that only in a small proportion in comparison to God's kingdom.
That doesn't suggest we become traitors or enemy combatants on behalf of one nation against another, but that the overriding nation we serve is a heavenly one, and one of our reasons for existence is to take the will of God and do it, and from there work and pray to see that and the kingdom of God increasingly be done and to come on earth.
For that reason I believe it's a mistake to think of any nation as a so-called Christian nation. While it can be true that Christianity and Christ were a part of the influence on a nation, and thus had some of the characteristics of Christ as part of the culture of that nation, the fickle nature of man, as seen in the growing decadence in the United States, reveals we can't simply call a nation a Christian nation, when what it once embraced and acknowledged is rejected for an opposing world view and ideology. America is no longer a Christian nation, and neither are many nations that once at minimum, revered Christ at least outwardly.
No matter what country any of us live in, we need to pray and work towards the kingdom of God to permeate those living in the country, as the kingdom of God is expected to fill the earth, meaning the person of Christ as revealed in the Bible will fill everything with who He is. That's what it means when we are told that God will be all in all. It's also a reference to being conformed to His image.
We are to be like Him; totally loyal to who He is. We are to learn what He want and then obey in it. Once we mature, we then share who He is with others, and also call upon those around us to obey Him.
Ultimately we not only will increase the kingdom of God in individuals, but start to work locally on transforming the many areas of life into what He wants. That includes individuals, families, education, government, the arts, and business, along with any other area of life that needs to submit unto the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
While we can appreciate the city or country we live in, that is nothing compared to the heavenly kingdom of God that we are to pray to come and fill the earth. Eventually all nations that respond to this will receive the multiple blessings of God He promises. Those that reject Him will be found to be fighting against the God of heaven and earth.
Our ultimate loyalty is to Jesus Christ and His kingdom. Everything else should be an extension of that kingdom in order to make where we live like what heaven is like. That is what Jesus had in mind when He taught us to pray for His kingdom to come and will to be done on earth as it is in heaven.
That failure was primarily the result of it time after time failing to meet the standards of God, which ended up with Israel taking on the nature of other nations, rather than being a peculiar people as they were meant to be, by showing forth the glory of God.
Now the followers of Jesus Christ are meant to take on that responsibility, by first, walking as Jesus walked, and from that total separation from the ways of the world, becoming a light to the nations in the name of Jesus Christ. That's one of the reasons believers in Christ were called Israel in the Scriptures, as the purpose of God for the natural Jews had now passed on to all of those that call upon the name of the Lord and obey Him.
That brings of the question of who we primarily owe our allegiance to. As true followers of Jesus Christ, our allegiance is and also should be first to the kingdom of God and He who heads it up. That means whatever nation on earth we may reside in only gets our loyalty secondarily; and that only in a small proportion in comparison to God's kingdom.
That doesn't suggest we become traitors or enemy combatants on behalf of one nation against another, but that the overriding nation we serve is a heavenly one, and one of our reasons for existence is to take the will of God and do it, and from there work and pray to see that and the kingdom of God increasingly be done and to come on earth.
For that reason I believe it's a mistake to think of any nation as a so-called Christian nation. While it can be true that Christianity and Christ were a part of the influence on a nation, and thus had some of the characteristics of Christ as part of the culture of that nation, the fickle nature of man, as seen in the growing decadence in the United States, reveals we can't simply call a nation a Christian nation, when what it once embraced and acknowledged is rejected for an opposing world view and ideology. America is no longer a Christian nation, and neither are many nations that once at minimum, revered Christ at least outwardly.
No matter what country any of us live in, we need to pray and work towards the kingdom of God to permeate those living in the country, as the kingdom of God is expected to fill the earth, meaning the person of Christ as revealed in the Bible will fill everything with who He is. That's what it means when we are told that God will be all in all. It's also a reference to being conformed to His image.
We are to be like Him; totally loyal to who He is. We are to learn what He want and then obey in it. Once we mature, we then share who He is with others, and also call upon those around us to obey Him.
Ultimately we not only will increase the kingdom of God in individuals, but start to work locally on transforming the many areas of life into what He wants. That includes individuals, families, education, government, the arts, and business, along with any other area of life that needs to submit unto the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
While we can appreciate the city or country we live in, that is nothing compared to the heavenly kingdom of God that we are to pray to come and fill the earth. Eventually all nations that respond to this will receive the multiple blessings of God He promises. Those that reject Him will be found to be fighting against the God of heaven and earth.
Our ultimate loyalty is to Jesus Christ and His kingdom. Everything else should be an extension of that kingdom in order to make where we live like what heaven is like. That is what Jesus had in mind when He taught us to pray for His kingdom to come and will to be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Saturday, August 9, 2014
Daniel 2:40-45 (KJV)
40 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.
41 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.
42 And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken.
43 And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, 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.
44 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 for ever.
45 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 the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure.
There are few things, if any, related to the history of human events and how God views them, than this portion of Scripture, and the verses immediately preceding them. It clearly states not only the period of time when the promised Messiah would appear, but what His appearance meant to the nations.
Some think this is only a reference to what Jesus Christ would do to the Roman Empire over time once He appeared, but my thesis is not only is this a reference to Rome, but to all of those nations or groups of nations that attempt to become world empires. Once Jesus Christ revealed Himself as man, that would no longer be allowed. History itself bears this out, as empire after empire rises and falls, while the eternal Kingdom of God continues to rule from heaven.
All of the second chapter of Daniel needs to be read to get the full gist of what is being revealed, but these scriptures above are enough to reveal the idea.
In verse 44, the issue doesn't only refer to the four kingdoms listed up to Rome, and then the kingdom of God is finished doing its work once Rome was allegedly conquered by Christianity. Rather, it's a reference to the purpose of God for all of history concerning the nations, that they shouldn't rise up in a manner that attempts to control and dominate the world. This is a Satanic aspiration; one that has no place in the hearts and minds of men, even though the temptation by the evil one is ever there for man to grab hold of if he wishes.
The implications of this are enormous. God, once His son, who is the only true King of kings and Lord of lords, ushered in the germination of the kingdom of God on earth, He no longer allows nations the luxury or goal of attempting to dominate the earth as some nations leading up to Rome had done before the appearance of Jesus.
From that moment on the earth was required to operate under the rule of the kingdom of Heaven, meaning the heavenly nature of Jesus Christ was to be embraced and permeate the people, which in turn would rule from a heavenly perspective; or based upon the very person and will of Jesus Christ, who was an exact representation of His Father.
What that means is there should be a total freedom where people are allowed to choose their own destinies, as far as nations go, and there should be all sorts of nations being born and dying throughout history. Now that has happened, although primarily from wars. I'm talking about voluntary creation of nations here, not nation building as the U.S. has partaken of.
There is nothing better I would like to see, as far as the U.S. goes, than to see it break up into all sorts of smaller nations. The idea of America is now over, whether people realize it or not, as what it was once in the past is no longer in existence; although there are pockets of it in certain regions of the country.
Now I'm only using America as an example here. I believe that should be the case for any region of the world that wants to take on nationhood.
I know that some people that equate America with Christianity will almost consider this heresy, but the fact is the Holy Scriptures clearly state the kingdom of God will smash those attempting to build empires on the earth. His is the only kingdom, and all nations, no matter how many there are, are required to submit unto the principles of His kingdom.
Jesus, as far as ruling and reigning on the earth goes, is primarily interested in cities or localities. You can see this in the way the church grew after Pentecost.
To give you an idea of how Christ has no interest in a world kingdom or center on earth, look how it wasn't a problem for Him to destroy Jerusalem, which was considered by the Jews and many others as the center or religion in the world. Even though the church was flourishing there, eventually it was driven out not long before the destruction of Jerusalem, and believers spread all over the world from that time on.
The point is, Jesus was ruling from Heaven, and while always building on the earth, has no interest in building Tower of Babel, which He of course ended by confusing the languages, resulting in the many races now seen on the earth.
Interestingly, as I write in 2014, there has been a growing discontent with the idea of empire, whether world or regional, and a number of secessionist movements are underway. If it's time for the breaking up of more countries and alliances with the goal of dominating the world, it couldn't happen soon enough. I'm not saying the time is here, but the idea has taken root, and I believe ultimately that idea has come from Jesus Christ Himself.
What is at issue isn't necessarily the geographic area under governance. For example, Mongolia is huge geographically, but has very few people in it. No matter what its size, it simply doesn't have the capacity to do much world governing, although on a smaller scale, its government is overreaching with the Oyu Tolgoi mine, which it has an ownership in. That is a not towards the inner evil in man to always use the government to control resources and the idea of a free market.
When the Scriptures above refer to breaking these empires to pieces, it's not necessarily a reference to total destruction, but to the influence of the kingdom of God in generating the desire within the hearts of man for self-rule under the principles of almighty God. Breaking them to pieces, I'm sure, is a reference to decentralization of power, and the goal of Jesus Christ to have people focus on local rule.
Obviously there are all sorts of things to work out with that. There has to be enough resources or industry for a small nation or city-state to generate productivity to the point of being self-sufficient. There is also the interesting probability of a wide range of trading partners specializing in specific goods or services to help the small nations to survive and thrive. That's of course the practical side. When man obeys God, He will bless in a way that He'll give us the wisdom to figure all of these challenges out.
This is an extremely brief introduction to my thought on this. If you were to read the second chapter of Daniel in light of these thoughts, you'll find the implications so staggering, that you'll either block it out of your mind, or enter a spiritual and intellectual pursuit that could easily take up several human life spans, as the kingdom of God and Jesus Christ works to permeate the world will all that He is. That's what the end result of the eternal purpose is, that we should be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ, that God may be all in all.
That will be worked out practically on this earth, although never perfectly.
For now, I believe we need to pray that God will continue to work to fracture and decentralize the governments of the world and the nations, so we can get a better chance at freedom and working at local levels in a way that reflects the kingdom of Jesus Christ, which is being worked out perfectly in heaven. We are called to pray that the same perfect kingdom and will of God is expressed in the earth.
Saturday, May 19, 2012
The dream of Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar, which God gave the
interpretation of to Daniel, is the foundation for the understanding of
where all worldly empires will end up, including America.
Here's how it's reported in the Holy Scriptures in Daniel Chapter 2 (NAS):
Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream
31 “You, O king, were looking and behold, there was a single great
statue; that statue, which was large and of extraordinary splendor, was
standing in front of you, and its appearance was awesome. 32 The head of that statue was made of fine gold, its breast and its arms of silver, its belly and its thighs of bronze, 33 its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. 34 You continued looking until a stone was cut out without hands, and it struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and crushed them. 35 Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were crushed all at the same time and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away so that not a trace of them was found. But the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.
The conclusion by God concerning the four world empires being addressed, which were, in this order: Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece and Rome, was this:
44 In the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be left for
another people; it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever. 45 Inasmuch as you saw that a stone was cut out of the mountain without hands and that it crushed the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold, the great God has made known to the king what will take place in the future; so the dream is true and its interpretation is trustworthy.”
The key passage which determines the future of all worldly empires is this: "that kingdom ... will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever."
"That kingdom" is a reference to the rule and reign of Jesus Christ from Heaven after He bought back or redeemed people from the bondage of sin and the hold of the devil, and when completing His earthly task, returned to heaven to rule and reign from there until all His enemies are put under His feet.
In that scenario, no earthly empires will be allowed to remain, as Christ and Christ alone is the sovereign ruler of all things by the appointment of His Father, and He won't allow any competitors to remain as pretenders to His throne.
That's indisputable. The question is, what does it all mean in a practical sense?
Leading up to the appearance of Jesus on the earth, we historically see the fulfilment of the dream God gave Nebuchadnezzar, with the exception of the Roman Empire, which was in the midst of its rule, and gradually disintegrating from numerous pressures.
People still try to scrutinize the fall of the Roman Empire as a type of sport, but no matter how many theories are proffered, in the end, Jesus Christ put down that empire, as will all empires be put down.
While we mentioned Jesus will brook no earthly competitors to His rule, meaning governments that attempt to rule and control the lives of people on the earth through the manipulation of other nations in an inordinate manner (based upon force), will be themselves removed from history as a ruling influence. Oddly enough, these failed cultures mentioned in Daniel are studied and almost deified as examples of success, even though the failed miserably over time. The bottom line is earthly empires don't work, and, other than the rejection of them by God, there are also practical reasons they failed, although they are not removed from the actions of Christ.
Look at the first post-resurrection church: the believers in Jerusalem. They grew to thousands in number over time, yet it didn't bother God at all to have them disperse in face of the looming judgement on the city as prophesied by Jesus.
God had no desire, inclination, or thought about building some localized group of Christians to be the center of God's work on earth. The dispersion of Jewish believers resulted in well over a 100 new churches in the region being formed not too long afterwards.
Christ is ruling now from heaven, not an earthly, representative city. Having said that, Christ is totally interested in having a local work on the earth, and this applies to the church first, but also to secular government.
Christians need to change their mindset about the church and government, largely ignoring it from the international and national level and bringing it home to the local level. That's where the many battles will be fought and won.
One of the major reasons for this is as far as the church goes, it was never meant to be a bureaucracy by Christ, and when it practice in that way, just like worldly empires, it will eventually fall apart, as the need to feed the bureaucracy is not sustainable economically. That's why local is the best way to administer the church of Jesus Christ, and falls in line with His practical plan for His people.
It's the same, and more so, with the government. Even though there are countless reasons assigned to why empires fall, the bottom line is they cannot afford to pay for the promises they make and the administration
of the empire, as there isn't enough money to prop it all up. That includes attempts to enforce the will of the empire upon its people, and people of other countries as well. It all costs money, and the parasitic government is insatiable in its wants and perceived needs.
Although the temptation to write more on the church in regard to the resistance of Christ to empires, I won't go there in this article, as it would divert too much from the purpose I'm trying to get across.
For those of you worn out and tired from the control of and intrusion of government in your lives, take comfort in the fact it can't last forever. Eventually empires will fade, and the kingdom of God will have its way.
The reason for mentioning all of this is we need to pray for and start to embrace limited government, and by extension, local government, as the preferred environment for legitimate government rule.
Too many Christians are battling at the Federal level, as far as the united States goes, and have little power there, and even when a few bones are tossed our way, they do little in the sense of making real changes.
Real reform happens at the local level, and there God's people can make
a real difference.
I do have to add a big caveat here. This entire article isn't attempting to make government the major focus of our lives, as it's almost like software: it's meant to run quietly in the background while the real living and work gets done.
As a matter of fact, government needs to be not only shrunk in size, but also shrunk in relevance to our lives, as we who are followers of Jesus Christ need to put our faith in Him for salvation, healing, and the provision of heavenly resources.
Many so-called Christian ministries refuse to follow this rule themselves, and generate funding through all sorts of dubious, and in some cases, fraudulent ways, in order to "grow" their own little empires.
The kingdom of God doesn't operate that way, and God isn't a beggar that needs the help of government funds for His work. To me, that's a horrid practice to engage in, and undermines the person of God in the eyes of the world.
Many people attempt to justify this by citing the needs of people. Yet if the government wasn't confiscating so much capital from business and
individuals, the resources would be available for charity work and other endeavors to better the plight of people and the success of businesses.
Jesus warned of this in the parables of the kingdom, when using birds as a metaphor for the devil.
Whenever the kingdom of God makes progress on the earth, there are always going to be bird or demons influencing those camp followers looking to build a name for themselves by attaching themselves to it, or by undermining the work from within. The birds being under the rule of Nebuchadnezzar wasn't a positive statement saying how great his kingdom was, it was a statement saying that evil forces had already infiltrated his rule, as evidenced by the opposition to Daniel and his companions. Judas Iscariot was one of those right in the camp of Jesus. Jesus said it was better for that man if he had never been born.
The birds, as mentioned, were alluded to in Daniel when talking about them being under the rule of the Nebuchadnezzar. Follow the actions of men associated with the king in order to see how these birds work among kingdoms; even the kingdom of God (parables of Jesus). Those same actions followed when Medo-Persia took over Babylon, which led to the story of Daniel in the lion's den.
Empires aren't the will of God, empires (even smaller ones) are endless targets of the ambitious and power-hungry, and even those using God as the reason for building their own empire will find themselves kicking against the brick wall of the kingdom of Jesus Christ.
Again, thinking local, as far as government goes, is the answer to all of this, as there there will be true accountability, small government, and a place where an individual or small group can have significant influence. That's the type of government that we need to focus on, not the attempts to sway matters on the Federal level in order for the empire to retain its legitimacy in the hearts and minds of people.
As long as the battle is on the Federal level, we will be telling everyone by our actions that big government is the place to do warfare, further legitimizing big government.
But when the battle is taken to the local level, we are asserting through our actions that the Federal government is largely irrelevant in the everyday lives of people, and it needs to be significantly whittled down to size.
As the scriptures teach, we can fall on the rock or the rock can fall on us. Either way, the days of empire are over for America, and as people continue to vote for politicians who extend its lifetime by endless spending and piling debt on our children and grandchildren, they'll find out the rock that is carved out of the mountain will indeed fall on it, crushing it to bits. It's not a matter of if, but a matter of when.
interpretation of to Daniel, is the foundation for the understanding of
where all worldly empires will end up, including America.
Here's how it's reported in the Holy Scriptures in Daniel Chapter 2 (NAS):
Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream
31 “You, O king, were looking and behold, there was a single great
statue; that statue, which was large and of extraordinary splendor, was
standing in front of you, and its appearance was awesome. 32 The head of that statue was made of fine gold, its breast and its arms of silver, its belly and its thighs of bronze, 33 its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. 34 You continued looking until a stone was cut out without hands, and it struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and crushed them. 35 Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were crushed all at the same time and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away so that not a trace of them was found. But the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.
The conclusion by God concerning the four world empires being addressed, which were, in this order: Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece and Rome, was this:
44 In the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be left for
another people; it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever. 45 Inasmuch as you saw that a stone was cut out of the mountain without hands and that it crushed the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold, the great God has made known to the king what will take place in the future; so the dream is true and its interpretation is trustworthy.”
The key passage which determines the future of all worldly empires is this: "that kingdom ... will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever."
"That kingdom" is a reference to the rule and reign of Jesus Christ from Heaven after He bought back or redeemed people from the bondage of sin and the hold of the devil, and when completing His earthly task, returned to heaven to rule and reign from there until all His enemies are put under His feet.
In that scenario, no earthly empires will be allowed to remain, as Christ and Christ alone is the sovereign ruler of all things by the appointment of His Father, and He won't allow any competitors to remain as pretenders to His throne.
That's indisputable. The question is, what does it all mean in a practical sense?
Leading up to the appearance of Jesus on the earth, we historically see the fulfilment of the dream God gave Nebuchadnezzar, with the exception of the Roman Empire, which was in the midst of its rule, and gradually disintegrating from numerous pressures.
People still try to scrutinize the fall of the Roman Empire as a type of sport, but no matter how many theories are proffered, in the end, Jesus Christ put down that empire, as will all empires be put down.
While we mentioned Jesus will brook no earthly competitors to His rule, meaning governments that attempt to rule and control the lives of people on the earth through the manipulation of other nations in an inordinate manner (based upon force), will be themselves removed from history as a ruling influence. Oddly enough, these failed cultures mentioned in Daniel are studied and almost deified as examples of success, even though the failed miserably over time. The bottom line is earthly empires don't work, and, other than the rejection of them by God, there are also practical reasons they failed, although they are not removed from the actions of Christ.
Look at the first post-resurrection church: the believers in Jerusalem. They grew to thousands in number over time, yet it didn't bother God at all to have them disperse in face of the looming judgement on the city as prophesied by Jesus.
God had no desire, inclination, or thought about building some localized group of Christians to be the center of God's work on earth. The dispersion of Jewish believers resulted in well over a 100 new churches in the region being formed not too long afterwards.
Christ is ruling now from heaven, not an earthly, representative city. Having said that, Christ is totally interested in having a local work on the earth, and this applies to the church first, but also to secular government.
Christians need to change their mindset about the church and government, largely ignoring it from the international and national level and bringing it home to the local level. That's where the many battles will be fought and won.
One of the major reasons for this is as far as the church goes, it was never meant to be a bureaucracy by Christ, and when it practice in that way, just like worldly empires, it will eventually fall apart, as the need to feed the bureaucracy is not sustainable economically. That's why local is the best way to administer the church of Jesus Christ, and falls in line with His practical plan for His people.
It's the same, and more so, with the government. Even though there are countless reasons assigned to why empires fall, the bottom line is they cannot afford to pay for the promises they make and the administration
of the empire, as there isn't enough money to prop it all up. That includes attempts to enforce the will of the empire upon its people, and people of other countries as well. It all costs money, and the parasitic government is insatiable in its wants and perceived needs.
Although the temptation to write more on the church in regard to the resistance of Christ to empires, I won't go there in this article, as it would divert too much from the purpose I'm trying to get across.
For those of you worn out and tired from the control of and intrusion of government in your lives, take comfort in the fact it can't last forever. Eventually empires will fade, and the kingdom of God will have its way.
The reason for mentioning all of this is we need to pray for and start to embrace limited government, and by extension, local government, as the preferred environment for legitimate government rule.
Too many Christians are battling at the Federal level, as far as the united States goes, and have little power there, and even when a few bones are tossed our way, they do little in the sense of making real changes.
Real reform happens at the local level, and there God's people can make
a real difference.
I do have to add a big caveat here. This entire article isn't attempting to make government the major focus of our lives, as it's almost like software: it's meant to run quietly in the background while the real living and work gets done.
As a matter of fact, government needs to be not only shrunk in size, but also shrunk in relevance to our lives, as we who are followers of Jesus Christ need to put our faith in Him for salvation, healing, and the provision of heavenly resources.
Many so-called Christian ministries refuse to follow this rule themselves, and generate funding through all sorts of dubious, and in some cases, fraudulent ways, in order to "grow" their own little empires.
The kingdom of God doesn't operate that way, and God isn't a beggar that needs the help of government funds for His work. To me, that's a horrid practice to engage in, and undermines the person of God in the eyes of the world.
Many people attempt to justify this by citing the needs of people. Yet if the government wasn't confiscating so much capital from business and
individuals, the resources would be available for charity work and other endeavors to better the plight of people and the success of businesses.
Jesus warned of this in the parables of the kingdom, when using birds as a metaphor for the devil.
Whenever the kingdom of God makes progress on the earth, there are always going to be bird or demons influencing those camp followers looking to build a name for themselves by attaching themselves to it, or by undermining the work from within. The birds being under the rule of Nebuchadnezzar wasn't a positive statement saying how great his kingdom was, it was a statement saying that evil forces had already infiltrated his rule, as evidenced by the opposition to Daniel and his companions. Judas Iscariot was one of those right in the camp of Jesus. Jesus said it was better for that man if he had never been born.
The birds, as mentioned, were alluded to in Daniel when talking about them being under the rule of the Nebuchadnezzar. Follow the actions of men associated with the king in order to see how these birds work among kingdoms; even the kingdom of God (parables of Jesus). Those same actions followed when Medo-Persia took over Babylon, which led to the story of Daniel in the lion's den.
Empires aren't the will of God, empires (even smaller ones) are endless targets of the ambitious and power-hungry, and even those using God as the reason for building their own empire will find themselves kicking against the brick wall of the kingdom of Jesus Christ.
Again, thinking local, as far as government goes, is the answer to all of this, as there there will be true accountability, small government, and a place where an individual or small group can have significant influence. That's the type of government that we need to focus on, not the attempts to sway matters on the Federal level in order for the empire to retain its legitimacy in the hearts and minds of people.
As long as the battle is on the Federal level, we will be telling everyone by our actions that big government is the place to do warfare, further legitimizing big government.
But when the battle is taken to the local level, we are asserting through our actions that the Federal government is largely irrelevant in the everyday lives of people, and it needs to be significantly whittled down to size.
As the scriptures teach, we can fall on the rock or the rock can fall on us. Either way, the days of empire are over for America, and as people continue to vote for politicians who extend its lifetime by endless spending and piling debt on our children and grandchildren, they'll find out the rock that is carved out of the mountain will indeed fall on it, crushing it to bits. It's not a matter of if, but a matter of when.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
