August 14, 2022
Hope Beyond the Scope of Impending Apocalypse - Daniel 12
The Second Coming of Christ is one of the major themes of the Bible with over 2400 verses describing the events of Christ’s Second Coming. Compare that to the approximately 300 verses that pertain specifically to Christ’s first coming.
As we get closer to the time of Christ’s return, many of the prophecies related to His Second Coming will be unsealedand their fulfillment revealed. Daniel 12:9, And he said, “Go your way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.”
As members of the Kingdom, we ought to be watching, ready, and anticipating the return of the King! 1 Thessalonians 5:4, But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief.
What prophecies related to Christ’s return have recently been unsealed?
1) The rebirth of Israel as a nation. Matthew 24:32-34, Now learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. 33 So you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near—at the doors! 34 Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no ‘means pass away till all these things take place.
Matthew 21:19, And seeing a fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it but leaves, and said to it, “Let no fruit grow on you ever again.” Immediately the fig tree withered away.
Ezekiel 12:15, Then they shall know that I am the Lord, when I scatter them among the nations and disperse them throughout the countries.
Ezekiel 11:16-17, Therefore say, “Thus says the Lord God: ‘Although I have cast them far off among the Gentiles, and although I have scattered them among the countries, yet I shall be a little sanctuary for them in the countries where they have gone.’” Therefore say, “Thus says the Lord God: ‘I will gather you from the peoples, assemble you from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.’”
Prophecy fulfilled May 15, 1948, when Israel was reborn as a nation! The Balfour Declaration was signed at the end of WW1, November 2, 1917, allowing the Jews to legally return to the Land for the first time since 135 A.D. At the conclusion of WW2, the British gave the Land back to the Jews to form their own sovereign nation.
2) The explosion of human knowledge and technology. Daniel 12:4, But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase.
Until recently, the world remained largely unchanged for centuries with very little advancement in human knowledge from one generation to the next. If put on a bar graph, the entire amount of cumulative knowledge from the beginning of recorded history to 1845 would be about one inch high.
Human knowledge began exploding mid-20th century and is now doubling every two years! The cumulative knowledge today when compared to 1945 would stand more than 28,200 feet tall!
3) The revival of the Roman Empire. Daniel 2 predicts a revived Roman Empire. The legs of iron on the image in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream picture the old Roman Empire. The ten toes of iron mixed with clay represent a ten-nation confederation of a future revived Roman Empire.
“We felt like Romans on that day. We were conscientiously recreating the Roman Empire.”—Secretary General of NATO after signing the Treaty of Rome
Iron has always been associated with the Roman Empire.
Today the first thing visitors see as they enter Brussels, Belgium—capital of the EU—is a 335-foot monument of an iron molecule!
4) The rise of “Babylon.” (See Revelation 17:4-5)
In the Bible, Babylon symbolizes a satanically driven wicked world system that will unify the nations in opposition to God’s kingdom. Revelation 17 describes the fall of religious Babylon. Revelation 18 describes the fall of commercial Babylon.”
Luke 21:28, Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near.
There is hope beyond the scope of impending apocalypse! Jesus is our hope!
Revelation 22:5, There shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever.
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