All God’s people need to see and be clear of what the Bible says it will happen in the last days. We are living in the last days, at the end of this age, and we need the Lord to enlighten the eyes of our heart and to remove any veils that we may clearly see what will happen and what our attitude should be.
The entire world situation is being remodelled and reshaped as the prophecies are being fulfilled before our eyes. Jerusalem is no longer trodden underfoot by nations, and Israel has become a nation since 1948. The temple is ready to be rebuilt.
The situation in Europe with the economical, political, and social crisis is leading towards the manifestation of the Antichrist. The co-existence of communist countries (the iron) with democratic countries (the clay) in Europe and in the world shows that we are right at the feet of the great image in Daniel 2.
It’s almost as if we watch a universal movie being played in front of us, and we have the script in our hands – we know what happens next. We know that Antichrist will come, and then Christ with His overcomers will return as the corporate smiting stone to crush the human government!
If we clearly see such a vision we will love the Lord’s coming and we will be prepared for His second return.
Lord, remove any veils from our eyes and enlighten the eyes of our heart that we may clearly see what age we are living in. Thank You for Your prophetic word which guides us, and praise You for Your sanctifying Word which saturates and reconstitutes us with Yourself! Lord, make us Your overcomers today!
Gold, Silver, Bronze, Iron and Clay
God never says or does things randomly, and if you carefully study the prophecies in Daniel and Revelation you will see that He is consistent in what He speaks concerning the end times.
In God’s eyes there are only four empires – the Babylonian empire (with Nebuchadnezzar as the head of gold, Dan. 2:37-38), the Medo-Persian empire (the breast and arms of silver, Dan. 2:39), the Macedonian and Grecian Empire under Alexander the Great (the belly and thighs of bronze, v. 39), and the Roman empire (the two legs of iron and feet of iron mixed with clay, v. 40).
The Babylonian empire was glorious, shining, amazing, and very great – just like gold. The following empires were also great, but they were not as glorious as the first. They were still very strong, especially the Medo-Persian empire, the Greek empire, and the Roman empire up until it was divided.
But today we no longer see empires – we see nations who are either autocracy (dictatorship, communism, strong monarchies) or democracy (“power to the people”, weak leadership). This is the situation at the end of days.
Iron Mixed with Clay – Autocracy and Democracy
Take a look at world history, especially since the last world war – “the Iron Curtain” in Eastern Europe (which fell: all Eastern European countries are now democratic), the Soviet Union (used to be communist), China (still communist), and most countries being “democratic”.
Communism with its philosophy “sounds very good”, but it resulted in dictatorship, control, and autocracy (like the iron). But the Lord arranges for “the clay” to rise up and be mixed with “the iron” through all kinds of social unrest, revolutions, etc. and the iron is being crippled, cannot work as it should, but it is rather weakened.
God in His sovereignty has not only allowed great empires to rise up but also to fall down and have a situation of “iron mixed with clay”, where there are some countries and area with strong dictatorships while others have democracy.
This whole scene is prepared by God according to the prophecies in the Bible so that the period of the ten toes of the great image would come!
As we “watch the human history movie according to the Bible” with the script in our hands, we should cooperate with God and with one another to build up His testimony on earth before He returns!
What Should Our Attitude Be?
I am looking forward to the next portions in the morning revival for this week, which will bring us into more positive and “meaty” parts of the Bible telling us of what our attitude should be.
From Genesis 10 to Revelation 19 Satan has been operating through man in the human government, and Antichrist has been working in all this time. But the Stone cut without hands will come soon to strike the great human image and this stone will grow, enlarge, and expand to fill the whole earth with the kingdom of God for 1000 years and forever and ever!
When we see such a vision and we realize we have such a glorious ending, what should our attitude be? We need to be those who have a proper attitude today to cooperate with the Lord in this light and hasten His return!
Like our father Abraham, we live in tents – sojourning on the earth for God’s interest – and we build an altar – we put everything on the altar for God’s satisfaction. Our every moment is to live unto the Lord, loving Him, enjoying Him, and hastening His return.
The vision of the great human image and its destiny brings us to Christ – when we see this vision, we are kept from the world and we are being prepared for the Lord’s coming!
Lord Jesus, thank You for revealing Your intention to us. Make us clear concerning the age we live in and what should our attitude be. Lord, we love You! In every moment for the rest of our life we want to be those who give themselves to You to love You and love Your word! Lord, may our living contribute to and hasten Your return. Come, dear Lord Jesus! Come, corporate smiting stone! Crush the human government, and bring in the kingdom of God on earth!
References and Further Reading
- Sharing inspired from brother Dick Taylor’s speaking in this message and portions in, The Organic Building Up of the Church as the Body of Christ to Be the Organism of the Processed and Dispensing Triune God (pp. 24-28), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on Crystallization-Study of Daniel and Zechariah, week 3 (entitled, The Vision of the Great Image—the Controlling Vision in the Book of Daniel).
- Hymns on this topic:
# Jesus Lord, truly I love Thee; / My heart refine! / I’d redeem each precious moment, / To enjoy Thy love divine.
# Give yourself to love the Lord. / No other way is so prevailing / And no other way, no other way is so safe.
# Within those whom You’d call / Put such a restless caring / For building to give all— / These times are for preparing;
The fourth beast corresponds to the legs of iron and the feet and the toes, partly of iron and partly of clay, of the great human image in 2:33, 40-43, signifying the Roman Empire, and specifically Antichrist, the last Caesar of the Roman Empire (Rev. 17:7-11)….The fourth beast was dreadful and frightful and exceedingly strong, as signified by iron. That it had large iron teeth and claws of bronze, and that it devoured, crushed, and trampled down the remainder (Dan. 7:19, 23) signify that it had great power to devour and crush nations. The beast having ten horns signifies that it had ten kings (v. 24; Rev. 17:12-13), which are the ten toes of the great human image in chapter 2. (Dan. 7:7, footnote 1)
What I enjoyed reading with the saints this morning:
1) the human history being played out according to the Bible, the prophetic Word, in accordance with the divine history. Human government, and the appointment of human leaders are under God's ruling and control.
2) our attitude today must be prepared for the Lord's return. May we gain each precious moment with the Lord, redeem the time to enjoy and experience Christ by turning to our spirit in our daily living!
Lord, do unveil our eyes and turn our heart to You in the last days! We are here for the Lord and His interest on earth. We love You, Lord. Your name be sanctified, Your kingdom come, and Your will be done, as in heaven so also on earth!
Lord make us more part of You as the corporate smiting to hasten Your return. We do not want to participate in the destiny of the great human image.
Grant us a controlling vision Lord for us to be proper and normal in our living,to set our entire being to You to cooperate in Your work. Oh, how we long for Your return. We LOVE Your COMING LORD.
The fourth part of the great human image: Legs of iron with ten toes corresponds to the fourth beast, dreadful and frightful and exceedingly strong, it had ten horns having large iron teeth and bronze claws and that it devoured, crushed and trampled down the remainder. In Revelation 17, the beast is the 8th Caesar of Roman Empire, who will be the Antichrist,…and the ten horns are ten kings, who receive authority from Antichrist…The periods of history signified by the first 3 parts and the legs of the human great had been fulfilled but the period signified by the ten toes will be fulfilled at the end of the present age…O Lord, thank You that in the recovery Your word is not rare and that we can live in the preparation of Your coming. Make us those who love Your appearing as the Morning Star and be rewarded…Thank You Lord, You have come into us and that have one living with us. Supply us with sevenfold intensified Spirit to overcome persons, things, matters that are contrary to Christ…Increase in us, grow in us…until love You as the beloved Bridegroom…"