Note: J. Preston Eby, in order to continue to devote his full energy to writing no longer works in the office and does not receive this email. He does, however, respond to any urgent correspondence via snailmail.

HOME WEBSITE LINKS

To be added to the mailing list to receive the current issue of Kingdom Bible Studies each month:

PLEASE CLICK HERE

KINGDOM BIBLE STUDIES

"Teaching the things concerning the kingdom of God..."

THE SEVENTY WEEKS OF DANIEL

Part 1

As we approach the blessed prophecies of the book of Daniel it is infinitely necessary that every seeker after truth understands that this remarkable prophecy was written under the Old Covenant, it was addressed to a natural people living in a physical land, ruled by outward laws, with a ritualistic and ceremonial worship in a material temple, and is therefore a book dealing with outward earthly events, the rise and fall of empires, literal human kings and rulers, and literal wars and fleshly conflicts. For example, the eighth chapter of Daniel contains one of Daniel’s visions. His vision there is of a ram and a he-goat. The ram and the he-goat represented empires and kings that came on the scene not long before the birth of Jesus. There is no question that this prophecy is speaking of literal nations and kings, for those nations are actually mentioned in the text. And so it is throughout the book of Daniel! I wonder sometimes that if it were possible for Daniel to be here listening to the “end times” prophecy teachers in the church systems today, if he would recognize his own prophecies, because of the grotesque way they have been distorted in their interpretation. Most teachers of Daniel can’t even get the “literal” right! The book of Daniel was not a revelation or unveiling. It was a SEALED BOOK!

The book of Revelation, contrary to common thought, is not the sequel to the book of Daniel, nor is it a parallel revelation! In fact, it has almost nothing in common with the book of Daniel! The book of Revelation was written under the New Covenant, the administration of the Spirit, and is therefore a spiritual book, addressed to spiritual people born of the heavenly Jerusalem, who live and walk in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, are ruled by the indwelling spirit of Life, who worship in the true tabernacle not made with hands, and offer up spiritual sacrifices unto God by Jesus Christ! The book of Revelation is not, nor has it ever been a SEALED BOOK. Nor does it speak of natural, fleshly, physical, literal, outward things of this world. It is the unveiling of Jesus Christ!

Old Testament prophecy is mainly a foretelling of future world events which affect God’s people and effect the outworking of His plan and purpose of the ages upon earth. As all such prophecy, from the time of Judah’s Babylonian captivity, must be fulfilled during the world domination of four certain kingdoms, we find many predictions concerning these. They are portrayed under different symbols to denote specific characteristics of each people, kingdom, or event. Furthermore, since we know from world history the dates of the rise and fall, as well as the decrees, wars, and activities of these kingdoms, we are able the more intelligently to ascertain the times and unfoldment of the fulfillment of these prophecies. We must take note that, according to the vision of Nebuchadnezzar, four kingdoms, and only four, were to dominate the world from the time of Judah’s captivity in Babylon unto the establishment of the kingdom of God in the earth. These four were Gentile powers; the fifth is the kingdom of the saints of the Most High, which shall “break in pieces and consume all these (four) kingdoms, and it shall stand forever” (Dan. 2:44). And, as the four Gentile powers were ordained for judgment, therefore the misfortunes of God’s chosen people are inflicted during the term of their domination, but her blessings, enlargement, victory, glory and power advance under the rule of the fifth kingdom, the kingdom of God’s Christ. Let us look at these four kingdoms because it is during their reigns that all the prophecies of Daniel were to be fulfilled.

This is made plain when, in the days of Daniel the prophet, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, had a dream in the night. He awoke disturbed, perplexed. Then the king commanded to call the magicians, and the astrologers, and the sorcerers, and the diviners, for to show the king his dreams. So they came and stood before the king (Dan. 2:2). The king shared with them his problem. He was certain the dream he had had was a significant one. But now he could not remember any of it! So he called upon the magicians, the astrologers, the sorcerers, and the diviners to tell him the dream and to give him the interpretation of it. It was common practice for these men to give the king fanciful, colored-up interpretations to his dreams. They were usually twisted and embellished to please the king and to build his ego. But now there could be no guessing! They were called upon to not only interpret the dream but to provide the dream! They were left speechless. They pled with the king to at least tell them the dream; then they would give the interpretation. But try as he might, the king was unable to remember his dream. In wrath the king ordered their execution.

Numbered among the wise men in Babylon was Daniel. He, along with others, had been taken into captivity when Nebuchadnezzar invaded and destroyed Jerusalem. The first he knew of the king’s disturbance – and drastic action – was when Arioch, the captain of the king’s guard, came to take him to the place of execution with the rest of the wise men. The record states: “And Daniel answered with counsel and wisdom to Arioch the captain of the king’s guard, which was gone forth to slay the wise men of Babylon: He answered and said to Arioch the king’s captain, Why is the decree so hasty from the king? Then Arioch made the thing known unto Daniel. Then Daniel went in, and desired of the king that he would give him time, and that he would show the king the interpretation. Then Daniel went to his house, and made the thing known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions: that they would desire mercies of the God of heaven concerning this secret; that Daniel and his fellows should not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven” (Dan. 2:14-19).

You see, God has promised, “Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but He revealeth His secret unto His servants the prophets” (Amos 3:7). God will not leave His people in darkness about the future. God is in control! In the annals of human history the rise and fall of empires appear to be dependent on the will and power of man. But by the Word of God the curtain is drawn aside, and we behold, behind, above, and through all the play and counter play of human interests and power and passions, the workings of the great God, silently, patiently working out the counsels of His own will.

King Nebuchadnezzar’s question to Daniel was to the point: “Are you able to make known to me the dream which I have seen and the interpretation of it?” Daniel answered the king, “The secret which the king has demanded neither the wise men, enchanters, magicians, nor astrologers can show the king; but there is a God in heaven Who reveals secrets, and He has made known to king Nebuchadnezzar what it is that shall be in the latter days – at the end of days. Your dream and the visions of your bed are these” (Dan. 2:26-28, Amplified Bible).

And then came the dream, one of the most dramatic revelations of all history, in which God outlined the rise and fall of global empires, moved beyond to earth’s last great world empire, the kingdom of God.

THE GREAT IMAGE

“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. This image’s head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, his legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay. 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 threshing floors; 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. This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king” (Dan. 2:31-36).

Now it all came back to Nebuchadnezzar. This, indeed, was the dream he had dreamed in the night! And Daniel informed the king concerning the significance of the dream: “As for thee, O king, thy thoughts came into thy mind upon thy bed, what should come to pass hereafter: and He that revealth secrets MAKETH KNOWN TO THEE WHAT SHALL COME TO PASS” (Dan. 2:29). This was a dream whose interpretation was to reveal the FUTURE. Painted dramatically, unforgettably, unmistakably, was a precise outline of world history – the rise and fall of world empires and the exact events which would lead to the establishment of the last great empire of all.

FIRST KINGDOM OF GOLD

With what interest and astonishment must the king have listened as Daniel began his interpretation of the dream and informed the king that his own kingdom was the golden head of that magnificent image. Gold, the king of metals, represented the Babylonian Empire. Daniel informed the king that the God of heaven had given him his kingdom, and made him ruler over all. The character of the Babylonian Empire is indicated by the head of gold. It was indeed the golden kingdom of a golden age. A natural center of trade and commerce, Babylon was immensely wealthy. Site of the ill-fated effort of Nimrod to erect the tower of Babel centuries before, it boasted one of the seven wonders of the world, the hanging gardens, which tradition says Nebuchadnezzar built to console his Median wife who missed the mountains of her homeland. The city of Babylon itself was another and still mightier wonder which there is neither time nor space in this article to recount. There, with the whole world prostrate at her feet, a queen in peerless grandeur, drawing from the pen of inspiration itself this glowing title, “The glory of kingdoms, the beauty of Chaldees’ excellency,” stood this magnificent city, fit capital of that great World Kingdom which was represented by the golden head of this great historic image.

SECOND KINGDOM OF SILVER

The Babylonian Empire was not to stand forever. It was to give way to another. Interpreting the dream, Daniel added: “And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee” (Dan. 2:39). The breast and arms of silver represented the Medo-Persian Empire (538-331 B.C.). Fulfilling a word of the Lord (see Isa. 45:1), Cyrus damned up the river Euphrates flowing through Babylon, marched his armies beneath the two-leaved gates, and through this stratagem overthrew the Babylonian Empire. Across the banqueting hall of Belshazzar appeared the dreadful words: “Mene, mene, tekel, upharsin,” (“thou art weighed in the balances and found wanting”). Before the night was over, blood flowed in the streets as Belshazzar and his thousand lords perished at the hands of the Medo-Persian armies.

Medo-Persia, inferior to Babylon in some ways, was nonetheless a great empire. The king had two capitals, one at Persepolis, and the other at Susa. The one he occupied in the summer, the other in the winter. Medo-Persia had the first organized mail system. While it did not launch the Pony Express, it did have the Dromedary Express – camels carrying messages throughout the empire. Its great armies are said to have numbered in the millions.

THIRD KINGDOM OF BRASS

Great as was the Medo-Persian Empire, it too, was to topple. Daniel declared: “And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth” (Dan. 2:39).

Alexander the Great assumed the leadership of the Grecian armies at the age of 20, and marched with lightning rapidity to conquer the then-known world by the time he was 33. From the beginning of his military career he was a marked man – a man of destiny. Ambassadors came to Alexander almost from all parts of the world: some to congradulate his victories, others to tender his crowns, others to make leagues and alliances with him. However, Alexander could conquer cities but not his own spirit. With contemptible arrogance, he claimed for himself divine honors. He gave up conquered cities, freely and unprovoked, to the mercy of his bloodthirsty and licentious soldiers. He often murdered his friends and favorites in his drunken frenzies. He encouraged such excessive drinking among his followers that on one occasion twenty of them died as the result of their carousal. Finally, having sat through one long drinking spree, he was immediately invited to another, when, after drinking to each of the twenty guests present, he drank twice, history records, incredible as it may seem, the full Herculean cup containing six of our quarts. He was seized with a violent fever and died eleven days later while he yet stood only at the threshold of his life and career – for he was only 33 years old! His kingdom was divided among his four generals.

FOURTH KINGDOM OF IRON

What kingdom succeeded Greece as the empire of the world? Daniel said to Nebuchadnezzar: “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” (Dan. 2:40). One kingdom did this and only one. Rome. Rome conquered Greece; it subdued all things; like iron, it broke in pieces and bruised. Rome – everywhere victorious. Rome with its universal language, Latin; its universal highway system, of which the Appian Way is a surviving example; Rome with its invincible armies moving undefeated to the outposts of the globe. Its years of power were from 168 B.C. to A.D. 476.

A logical deduction would be that after Rome another world empire would emerge. Not so!

TEN KINGDOMS EMERGE

It should be noted that at first the fourth kingdom is described unqualifiedly as strong as iron. This was the period of its strength, during which it has been likened in a history to a mighty colossus bestriding the nations, conquering everything, and giving laws to the world. But this was not to continue.

Daniel went on to say: “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 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 clay, so the kingdom SHALL BE PARTLY STRONG AND PARTLY BROKEN” (Dan. 2:41-42). The decline and fall of the Roman Empire was a gradual thing. Luxury, vice, an almost total moral breakdown, disintegration of the family – it culminated in A.D. 476 when the barbarian hordes overthrew the Roman Empire.

Ten kingdoms, represented by the ten toes of the image, emerged. The ten peoples which were the instruments in breaking up the Empire were the Alamanni, Ostro-Goths, Visigoths, Franks, Vandals, Suevi, Burgundians, Heruli, Anglo-Saxons, and Lombards. The kingdom was indeed divided! These barbarian peoples not only overran the Roman world, but planted themselves within the territory of the Empire and thus became the Empire! The connection between these and the modern nations of Europe is clearly dicernable in such names as England, Burgundy, Lombardy, France, etc. The geography of Europe today is determined by the ethnic identities of these ten peoples!

REVIVAL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE?

The earth was never again to see the cohesive strength of the Roman Empire welded into the superstructure of one great World Empire. For Daniel, in one of the most significant prophecies of all time, declared: “And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they (the ten toes) shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay” (Dan. 2:43). It is important that we take more than a mere casual perusal of these words of the prophet, for in them is contained the KEY to, and the UNDERSTANDING of world history.

Before proceeding further, let us examine the prophecy of Daniel 2:43. There are two important statements in this prophecy. Says Daniel: “And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay,

1. They shall MINGLE THEMSELVES with the seed of men:

2. But they SHALL NOT CLEAVE ONE TO ANOTHER, even as iron is not mixed with clay.”

Hear it! “They shall NOT cleave one to another!” This reference is to the ten division of the old Roman Empire which remain with us unto this day in the nations of modern Europe. Today, millions of Christians fervently believe that in the end-time a superman will arise who is “the antichrist” and this powerful personality will unite the nations of Europe into a “revived Roman Empire.” This “revived Roman Empire” will then subvert the whole world into a one-world government bringing a reign of terror and godlessness over the entire earth for a period of seven years. Many and fanciful are the stories told about this world ruler and his one-world government which will oppose God and all that is holy. But if these ten toes must yet be formed into the superstructure of a World Empire of antichrist, where is the signification of the COMING WORLD GOVERNMENT? Daniel revealed that there would be FOUR great World Empires of man. The fourth would be divided into ten parts and brought into a condition of weakness and fragmentation. Then, in the days of those kings, in their weakness and fragmentation, the God of heaven would set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed. If there is to be a World Government here at the end of the age then God left something out! God was wrong! There was an oversight on His part. Perhaps there really was to be a FIFTH WORLD GOVERNMENT in between the fourth world empire and the Kingdom of God – but in His haste to reveal to Nebuchadnezzar the plan of the ages God momentarily overlooked that fifth kingdom!

With Rome fell the last of the world’s universal empires. Heretofore it was possible for one nation, rising superior to its neighbors in prowess, bravery, and the science of war, to consolidate them into one vast empire. But when Rome fell, such possibilities forever passed away! The iron was mixed witht the clay, and lost the power of cohesion. No man or combination of men can again consolidate the fragments. No other human kingdom was to succeed it, as it had the three which went before it. It was to continue, in this tenfold division, until the kingdom of the stone smote it, upon its feet; broke them in pieces, and scattered them as the wind does the chaff of the summer threshing floor!

THE TESTIMONY OF HISTORY

In the afterglow of a thousand battlefields, in the shattered dreams of would-be world conquerors, in the light of two world wars, the words stand invincibly true… “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.”

CHARLEMAGNE TRIES IT

Charlemagne was a famous king of more than 1,200 years ago who united many people in Europe under one system of law. Charlemagne was born is A.D. 742 at Aachen, in what is now West Germany. His father and grandfather had been kings of the Frankish Empire, which took in most of what we call France and Germany. Charlemagne became king in 768. By years of campaign and conquests, he added to his territory part of what is now Italy, Bavaria, Austria, northwestern Germany and northern Spain. Charlemagne believed strongly in the Christian religion. Charlemagne brought Christianity to the countries he conquered. He protected the Pope and the city of Rome when they were attacked. In the year 800, Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne emperor over the Holy Roman Empire. Voltaire, a popular French writer and intellectual observed wittily and sarcastically that while the coronation had plenty of pomp associated with it, as for the empire, it was “neither holy, nor Roman, nor an empire.”

Alas, Charlemagne died only fourteen years later and twenty-nine years after his death his empire was broken up, and Europe was never again so united. Charlemagne grasped for world empire, came close, then found himself defeated by the words of the great God! “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.”

LOUIS XIV TRIES IT

Many who read these lines probably have never heard of Louis the Fourteenth. Louis was born in A.D. 1638 and became king when he was only five years old. He ruled France for seventy two years. He was powerful, ambitious, vain, pompous, and extravagant. One of his famous sayings was “l’état, c’est moi,” which in French means “I am the State.” The French nobles flattered him, calling him the Sun King and the Great Monarch. Louis the Fourteenth was the most popular king in Europe. He engaged in many wars and sent his armies into Holland and the Low Countries. He established colonies in the New World from Canada to Louisiana and the islands of the Caribbean. Yet, at death, he too had failed to achieve world empire. The words still stood: “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.”

NAPOLEON TRIES IT

Nearly everyone has heard of Napoleon even if they know little of who he was or what he did. From the ashes of the French Revolution in the late 1700’s arose Napoleon Bonaparte. “I will tear the heart out of glory,” he promised a friend. Napoleon became one of the great and notable men of history. He was a hero of France and became the French emperor under the name of Napoleon I. He was one of the most skilled military leaders of all times and a great conqueror. From his earliest boyhood he wanted to become a soldier, and at the age of ten he was sent to military school. In 1793 he was made a captain in the army and in the same year he commanded the artillery that forced the British to withdraw from the Mediterranean part of Toulon. Within a short time he was made a brigadier general.

Within two days of his marriage Napoleon was off to command a French army that was invading Italy. In this first big assignment Napoleon proved himself a brilliant soldier who could inspire his troops with his own enthusiasm and make them willing to die for him. This ability was to prove important in his many later successes. Also he showed that he was a successful diplomat, for he negotiated a treaty of peace, even though he had been told not to do so by his government. But he calmed his superiors by sending back to Paris large amounts of art treasures and other booty. In this conquest and in later ones, Napoleon was welcomed by the people of the conquered lands because they believed he was overthrowing the old oppressive rulers and bringing the new freedoms of the French Revolution. For some years this seemed to be true, and the governments installed by Napoleon were better for the people. But after a time, Napoleon forgot about his revolutionary ideas and conquered only for more lands to rule and for more power for himself.

Napoleon quickly spread his power to other countries. By treaty he gained control of Germany and Italy. By force he conquered the Netherlands and the kingdom of the Two Sicilies. Then followed victories over Austria, Prussia, and Russia. By 1807 Napoleon was in control of almost all of Europe and was at the height of his power, but England was still his enemy, and quietly Prussia, Austria, and Russia were arming themselves. Napoleon’s downfall came after he decided to attack Russia in 1812. He had a more powerful army than Russia, but he let his army be caught deep in Russia in the winter. They did not have food enough and they could not return home. Literally hundreds of thousands of soldiers perished in the ice and snow. Nearly the entire army was lost. Napoleon’s defeat in Russia was a signal for other countries to attack. Austria, Russia and Prussia sent huge armies against him. They invaded France and captured Paris. This was the end of Napoleon’s dream. He was forced to abdicate and was sent to the island of Elba, in the Mediterranean, as a prisoner.

Early in 1815 Napoleon made a last attempt to return to power and unite the nations of earth under his control. He escaped from Elba and landed in southern France with a thousand supporters. He gathered an army as he marched north to Paris. England and its allies hastily assembled their armies. In June Napoleon attacked near Waterloo. As the sun sank on the third day of the Battle of Waterloo, Napoleon’s career sank with it. Napoleon was exiled on the island of St. Helena in the Atlantic ocean a thousand miles off the coast of Africa. Here, with a few followers, he spent his last days. In exile Napoleon wrote his memoirs. And he gave what he felt was the reason for his failure. “God Almighty has been too much for me!” Oh yes! Napoleon had come face to face with the incontrovertible word of the God of heaven uttered more than 2,400 years earlier! “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.”

KAISER WILHELM TRIES IT

For decades prior to the outbreak of World War I, the World had been at peace. Men anticipated the Golden Age. On the fateful night when the ultimatum delivered by the British Empire to the Kaiser had been rejected, Sir Edward Grey stood with his military aide looking out over the London skyline. It was late. Lights in the buildings of the city were winking and going out. Pondering the implications of the outbreak of the first World War, Grey turned to his aide and said: “The lamps are going out all over Europe. We shall not see them lit again in our lifetime.”

Kaiser means “emperor” in the German language. The word comes from the Latin word Caesar, because the first Roman emperor called himself Augustus Caesar. The emperors of all German-speaking empires have been called Kaisers. Bill Wilhelm, the German emperor during World War I, is usually meant when Americans or English people speak of “the Kaiser.” Kaiser Bill Wilhelm (a.k.a William II) was the third German emperor. Kaiser Bill Wilhelm was so determined to make Germany the greatest and richest power in the world that he set out to build a greater nave than the British Navy and to compete with Great Britain for foreign colonies and trade. Wilhelm was a very manipulative man, and often he said thoughtless things that made enemies for him and his country.

World War I was one of the most terrible wars of all time. More than eight and a half million men were killed or died from wounds that they suffered in it. The war lasted more than four years, from 1914 to 1918. The two sides were called the Allies and the Central Powers. The Allies originally included Great Britain, France, Russia and Serbia. Later Italy, Rumania, Greece, Japan, the United States and other countries joined the Allies. Great Britain was joined by Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the Union of South Africa. The Central Powers were Germany, Austria-Hungary, Turkey, and Bulgaria.

During the years before 1914 the important countries of Europe were engaged in a rivalry for trade and power and had become more and more suspicious of one another. They had divided into two groups. Because each group was afraid that the other would start a war, every nation desperately made munitions and built up armed forces. In 1914 there were several places in the world where two or more of the great countries came into conflict. Germany was building a great fleet of warships that potentially could threaten British control of the seas. After the war started Kaiser Wilhelm’s objective was to win the war on all fronts and then unite the nations of Europe into one great empire under Germany.

Kaiser Wilhelm’s armies met Allied forces in No Man’s Land in France. For a time it appeared victory would be his. The horror of trench fighting had demoralized the Allied armies. Then came the battle of the Marne. From every standpoint, German armies should have been victorious. But up and down Allied battle lines the slogan went, “They shall not pass.” Victory went to the Allied armies! Before the war was over 60,000,000 casualties had been sustained on the land, in the sea, and in the air. Armistice day came and Kaiser Wilhelm had failed as had all the others before him. He too, had come face to face with the immutable words of our God: “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.” Who can deny it!

HITLER TRIES IT

In the 1930’s, fed by the injustice of the Versailles Treaty (at the end of World War I), the storm clouds of war began to gather. In 1938, Adolf Hitler, the Fuhrer, or leader, of Germany invaded and took control of Austria and made it a part of Germany. Later that year he managed to get the big nations of Europe to sign the Munich Pact, giving part of Czechoslovakia to Germany. This was supposed to end Hitler’s demands for territory, but in 1939 he signed a friendship treaty with his old enemy, Russia. September 5, 1939, Hitler’s panzer divisions swept through flimsy barriers that separated Poland and Germany. World War II had begun. Unstable and mercurial, Hitler deceived and misled the Germans, a people with a proud and ancient heritage. He sought absolute power for himself. He held out the promise of a thousand-year Reich.

Five weeks, and Poland was defeated. The Low Countries were quickly conquered too, with Blitzkrieg, a new lightning war technique that utilized the mightiest mechanized army the world had ever seen. Bypassing France’s “invincible” Maginot Line, Hitler plunged through France to Dunkirk. Military experts gave England a few weeks – at the most a few months – before she too would be crushed beneath Hitler’s mighty military machine. Nazi armies at that point seemed to be unstoppable. But Dunkirk was a turning point. For when the picture appeared hopeless and the logical course for Britain to follow was surrender, Winston Churchill, British prime minister, announced the course England woud take. “We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight in the seas and oceans, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.”

Had Hitler at this point launched a massive invasion of England with paratroops and air cover supporting, there is little question the British Isles would have fallen. Possibly, eventually, the whole world. But curiously, he did not. He was sure England would sue for peace. So he waited – for an event that never came. Then, too late, after England along with refugee troops from Europe had had opportunity to rally, Hitler launched the Battle of Britain. Hitler invaded Russia, making the same mistake as Napoleon before him. Later came D-Day, June 6, 1944, and the invasion of continental Europe by the allies. Hitler died a suicide in a Berlin Bunker. Like military leaders before him who had dreamed of world conquest, Hitler was defeated. But he was not defeated by military might – this he had in superabundance. Rather, it was the fateful words of our never-failing God that doomed him to failure: “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.”

WORLD GOVERNMENT IN OUR TIME?

Time and again men have dreamed of rearing on these ten fragments of the fourth kingdom ONE mighty empire. A single verse of scripture was stronger than all their hosts… “Partly strong, and partly broken,” was the prophetic description. And this is exactly the history of these ten kingdoms! “They shall not cleave together!” God announced. And yet men have tried to mold them together. And men of God, who ought to know better, predict that they shall unite and form a FIFTH WORLD EMPIRE – a WORLD GOVERNMENT in our time! “This shall not be,” says the Word of God. “This has not been,” replies the book of history.

But in the light of history’s dramatic chapters and the current move toward a united Europe – the EUROPEAN UNION – what of the future? Will the elusive mirage of world peace based upon a trust in European solidarity, the result of wishful thinking, again cause men to forget the counsel of the Word of God, “They shall not cleave one to another”? Let me say that alliances may come, even a strong-man may arise, and it may appear that the iron and the miry clay of the feet and toes have finally fused, but the Word of God still stands: “They shall not cleave one to another.” It may seem that old animosities have disappeared and the “ten Kings” shall become one empire, but “the scripture cannot be broken!” (Jn. 10:35).

One of the most indefatigable men promoting the formation of the present European Union was a man by the name of Jean Monnet. Monnet was a French diplomat and political economist who dreamed of a United Europe similar to the United States. The problem was and is that the European Nations are composed of people who have been at conflict with one another for hundreds and thousands of years. As Cal Thomas astutely comments in his perceptive book America’s Expiration Date, Monnet’s experience as deputy Secretary General of the failed League of Nations from 1919 until 1923 should have disabused him of the notion of trying to unite such disparate factions. The idea that people and nations with differing religions, cultures, and histories could be brought together on the basis of nothing better than a dream was folly. And may I add – the word of the Lord stands irrevocably against it: “They shall not cleave one to another.” The year 2020 started the unraveling of the European Union with the exit of Great Britain (Brexit). Others will surely follow for the word of God is infallible and the scripture cannot be broken.

This brings us to what may be considered the most significant of all the revelations given to the Prophet Daniel and written in his record. Chapter nine of Daniel contains one of the most fascinating, remarkable, and magnificent prophecies in all the Word of God. It opens up areas concerning the coming of the Messiah, His matchless ministry, His vicarious death, and the subsequent establishment of His glorious kingdom in the earth. This beautiful revelation comes in direct response to Daniel’s urgent supplicatory prayer on behalf of his captive people, the house of Judah, as recorded in Daniel 9:4-19. Daniel furthermore informs us that he had been reading the prophecies of Jeremiah and was greatly concerned about the fulfillment of the prophecy of 70 years of captivity (see Jer. 25:8-11). He also discovered predictions in the writings of the prophet Isaiah concerning events at the close of the 70 years. The more Daniel pondered the things recorded in the books of these prophets, the greater the sin of the kingdom of Judah appeared. Daniel had been carried to Babylon as a captive when he was but a teenager and now he was an old man. As he reviewed the prophecies concering the 70 years he realized that the time had almost expired. Should he just stand by and patiently wait to see what God would do and just how events would unfold? Not for a moment! He assumed the burden of the whole matter upon his heart and entered upon a season of earnest and intense intercessory prayer. He garbed himself in sackcloth and sprinkled ashes upon his head and humbled himself before the face of Yahweh, the God of Israel, and confessed before the Lord all the grievous sins of his people and nation. Daniel was not himself guilty of any of those sins, but as a ruler and prophet among his people he made the nation’s guilt his own. He appealed to Yahweh’s abundant mercies and forgiverness, imploring the Lord to hear his prayer and cause His face to shine once more upon both His people and His sanctuary. The temple, of course, had been destroyed by the armies of Babylon long years before, and Jerusalem and Judah lay in decades of desolation. Those were tragic days for the kingdom of Judah. Wave after wave of heathen forces carried away the strongest of the people as slaves, leaving the city of Jerusalem behind as heaps of ruins.

Let us consider for a moment just who this Daniel was. In the year 605 B.C. the first of the invading armies overran the kingdom of Judah. Daniel and his companions, the only exiles mentioned by name, were among the first group of captives carried away to Babylon. According to Daniel 1:3 and to 2 Kings 20:17-18 Daniel was of royal birth through the line of king Hezekiah. He was a student of science and a competent scholar when but a youth (Dan. 1:4). Daniel 1:18-20 tells us that in Babylon king Nebuchadnezzar recognized his brilliance as a scholar and Daniel 2:48 informs us that he was made chief of the foremost group of scholars in Babylon. Then in Daniel 5:10-11 and 6:10 we find that his courage and prophetic gift were known to all the people, both Israelites and Babylonians. As already mentioned, Daniel was made head of the group of Chaldean “wise men” who were both scholars and diviners. He remained chief counselor to king Nebuchadnezzar for about 40 years. At the time Daniel was writing his prophecies, he was prime minister of the empire that ruled the world and the acknowledged head of the Chaldean hierarchy, next to the king. Yet all the while that he was carrying such tremendous responsibilities as a statesman, he remained a loyal, dedicated servant and messenger of Yahweh, the true and living God. “Then the king gave Daniel high honors and many great gifts, and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and chief prefect over all the wise men of Babylon. Daniel made request of the king, and he appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego over the affairs of the province of Babylon; but Daniel remained at the king’s court” (Dan. 2:48-49).

This is the mighty man of God who sought the face of Yahweh confessing his sin and the sin of his people, asking God for understanding concerning the destiny of his beloved nation. In humiliation and confession, this statesman – prophet, this confidant of kings, poured out his petitions in one of the greatest prayers ever recorded. This was no ordinary supplication, nor did it ask for trivial or mundane things; it was sacrificial prayer, redemptive prayer. What did this man of God have to confess? It was not his sin that brought the armies of Babylon to raze the land of Judah, destroy the glorious temple, obliterate the Levitical priesthood, and carry the people far away as slaves. But as a true intercessor he made the nation’s guilt his own. Addressing Yahweh as the covenant – keeping God, he says,

“And I prayed unto the Lord my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments; “We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgements: neither have we hearkened unto thy servants the prophets, which spake in thy name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. O Lord, righteousness belongeth unto thee, but unto us confusion of faces, as at this day; to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and unto all Israel, that are near, and that are far off, through all the countries whither thou hast driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against thee. O Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against thee. To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgiveness, though we have rebelled against him; neither have we obeyed the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets. Yea, all Israel have transgressed thy law, even by departing, that they might not obey thy voice; therefore the curse is poured upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against him. And he hath confirmed his words, which he spake against us, and against our judges that judged us, by bringing upon us a great evil: for under the whole heaven hath not been done as hath been done upon Jerusalem. As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil is come upon us: yet made we not our prayer before the Lord our God, that we might turn from our iniquities, and understand thy truth. Therefore hath the Lord watched upon the evil, and brought it upon us: for the Lord our God is righteous in all his works which he doeth: for we obeyed not his voice. And now, O Lord our God, that hast brought thy people forth out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and hast gotten thee renown, as at this day; we have sinned, we have done wickedly. O Lord, according to all thy righteousness, I beseech thee, let thine anger and thy fury be turned away from thy city Jerusalem, thy holy mountain: because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and thy people are become a reproach to all that are about us. Now, therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of thy servant, and his supplications, and cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord’s sake. O my God, incline thine ear, and hear; open thine eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city which is called by thy name: for we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies. O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord hearken and do; defer not; for thine own sake, O my God: for thy city and thy people are called by thy name. And whiles I was speaking, and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the Lord my God for the holy mountain of my God;

“Yea, whiles I was speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation. And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, O Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee skill and understanding. At the beginning of thy supplications the commandment came forth, and I am come to shew thee; for thou art greatly beloved: therefore understand the matter, and consider the vision. Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy. Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation of cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even unto the consummation, and that determined shal be poured upon the desolate” (Dan 9:4-27).

To be continued… J. PRESTON EBY

Contents Page

Home Page

Links to other ministry websites

Not finding what you need? SEARCH HERE