August 7
Daniel 2:1-3:30; Jeremiah 7:1-8:3
By definition (Webster's 1823 Dictionary), a nation is a body of people inhabiting the same country, or united under the same sovereign or government. That's it. Those who live in a nation have their own particular stories as to how they arrived and taken up residence there. What generally unites a nation is certain commonalities. When it comes to the United States, we are relatively new onto the scene, when one considers the sea of nations. The question often comes up, "Is the United States a Christian nation?" This is not as easy to answer as it might seem. If the question has to do with our origins and our heritage, then the answer is absolutely, "yes". Our roots, along with our founding documents, our earliest citizens have all emphasized the Judeo-Christian view. So, historically, yes, we were a Christian nation. But, does the United States currently put forth a Christian worldview? The answer, unfortunately, is "No". Though at one time our morals, lifestyle, and societal norms once reflected Biblical views, they now do not. Our views on a whole host of topics are immoral, and to such an extent that there is no longer even any shame as to our unbiblical stance. In fact, the current national views have taken aim and are intolerant to those who still hold onto a biblical worldview and lifestyle. Those who are intolerant of us, have labeled us as intolerant. So, we who hold onto those views that initially were consistent with those that founded our nation are now deemed intolerant and hateful, and are being pushed out of society by those godless individuals who are now in power.
Daniel 2 has been called the backbone of biblical prophecy, for this chapter unlocks the rest of the prophecies in Daniel, and in turn, Daniel is essential to unlock the prophecies in the book of Revelation written so many years later. Realize that the empires listed all ruled over Israel, until its destruction in 70, A.D. The fifth empire described would not come about until the nation of Israel was resurrected, which was in 1948. As we go through the prophecies in Daniel 2:31-46, please take note of certain aspects of the prophecy. The head of gold was Babylon, followed by the chest and arms of silver which was the Medo-Persian Empire (530 BC), followed by belly and thighs of bronze which represented the Greek Empire (330 BC), then by the legs of iron which represented the Roman Empire (146 BC). Notice that the metals depicted get progressively less valuable and weaker as we move from gold to iron. Historically, each government gets progressively weaker moving from the absolute monarchy of the Babylonian Empire to the Constitutional Monarchy of the Medo-Persian Empire to the oligarchy of the Greek Empire finally to the limited democracy of the Roman Empire. When we get to Daniel 7, we will see that though man sees these empires as precious metals, God sees them as beasts. As an American who truly loves my nation, we need to pause and acknowledge a sobering point. When it comes to God's timetable, the United States is simply in the parentheses between the fourth empire and the final empire. We can lift ourselves up, and puff ourselves up, and speak of our exceptionalism, etc., but like all nations we see ourselves as precious metals and God sees us for the beast that our nation often represents.
But we should not miss the importance of this prophecy. It is not in the fifth empire, which has yet to show itself, but will become prominent in the time of the coming Tribulation. We can speculate, but this empire will go the way of all previous empires, including our own. We read in Daniel 2:34-35, " As you watched, a rock was cut from a mountain, but not by human hands. It struck the feet of iron and clay, smashing them to bits. The whole statue was crushed into small pieces of iron, clay, bronze, silver, and gold. Then the wind blew them away without a trace, like chaff on a threshing floor. But the rock that knocked the statue down became a great mountain that covered the whole earth." The stone which was cut, not by human hands, is Jesus Christ, and the mountain that will arise from Him will be the future Millennial Kingdom. This is why we need to get our eyes off of the affairs of men and onto Jesus Christ. This is why we need to remember that our real citizenship does not lie in any nation on earth, but our citizenship is in heaven once we have been adopted into His family, by repenting and accepting His atoning sacrifice to cover over our lives. This is why we must not miss our purpose as ambassadors for our true nation, so that we can spread the gospel message and encourage others to set their eyes on the future kingdom, where there will be peace, no more tears, and every other positive adjective imaginable, when King Jesus, the Righteous One, rules and reigns on this earth.
Messages from Pastor Lloyd Pulley: