The study of prophecy cannot be neglected without real loss to the Christian. Nor, on the other hand, should it form the boundary of his whole horizon, or the loss will be equally great.
How true it is that one verse of Scripture is enough to die on, but it needs the whole Word of God to live by. To “rightly divide the word of truth” to hold truth with an even balance—to take all the Word of God in all its parts, is necessary for us, “that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished to all good works.”
It must be insisted, too, in studying prophecy, that there be stern determination on the part of the student to curb absolutely all imagination, and to refuse to go a step beyond what is revealed, and what are plainly the indications of Scripture.
And further, fulfilled prophecy is one of the strongest proofs of the inspiration and inerrancy of Scripture, giving us complete assurance that unfulfilled prophecy will surely be fulfilled in God’s good time.
Of course, the greatest prophecy of all concerns the Lord Jesus Christ—His suffering and the glory that shall follow. His sufferings in a marvellous way are fulfilled prophecy—the glory that is to be will surely come to pass. Remember all prophecy has for its final goal that glory, not the glory of war (and it has precious little of that when seen at close quarters); not the glory of ambition and power (and what real glory in fallen man’s hands is there in these?); but the glory of goodness, of mercy, of righteousness, of PEACE—in one word, the glory of God in all its ineffable blessedness.
If prophecy is one of the strongest and sublimest proofs of inspiration, we are not surprised that the Book of Daniel, containing, as it does, more than any book in the Old Testament prophecies as to the course of events in this world, should excite the special hate of the infidel, particularly the religious sceptic, such as the Higher Critic.
The prophecies are so detailed, and not only detailed, but in measure explained, so that the centuries had only to “wait and see” the unrolling of the prophecies of God. The most of the map of the future, as it was when Daniel wrote, has been unrolled, as twenty-five centuries have passed. There remains, however, the final part of the unrolling. That will be accompanied by the shout of armies, the clash of war, famine, pestilence, revolutions, the upheaval of civilization, a Reign of Terror become European if not universal—in short, by terrific happenings, such as will make the present European war look like child’s play beside it. And then? And then this world, bowed in travail as God’s wrath sweeps over it, will be prepared to receive the Prince of Peace. The Lord Jesus Christ shall come. The King of kings and Lord of lords shall reign. The Sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in His wings. Earth shall have her sabbath of rest—her jubilee. THE LORD COMETH. Soon it will be, THE LORD REIGNETH.
Daniel will help us to understand all this. Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, had an extraordinary vision. He was the chosen instrument by whom this prophecy—for such the vision was—should be given to God’s people for all time. God effaced the memory of it from Nebuchadnezzar’s mind, only that it should come before us in the most striking way of Daniel’s narration and explanation.
Nebuchadnezzar had seen in vision a wonderful image—its head was of gold; breast and arms of silver; belly and thighs of brass; legs of iron; feet partly of iron and partly of clay.
In this was unfolded the course of four great world empires.
1. Babylonian = Head of gold.
2. Median and Persian = Breast, etc., of silver.
3. Grecian = Belly, etc., of brass.
4. Roman = Legs of iron and feet partly of iron and partly of clay.
The first was existent when Daniel interpreted the monarch’s dream. The kingdom and its king are often interchangeable terms in prophecy. So Daniel said to Nebuchadnezzar, “Thou art this head of gold.” His was a marvellous empire, the magnificence of which we have little conception.
The second, third, and fourth kingdoms were still future. They have, however, arisen in complete answer to the prophecy, and gone into history—fulfilled history, absolutely irrefutable.
The fourth, indeed, in its revived form, is still future, and it is this aspect of it we wish to touch upon lightly in this paper. Of the four great world empires foretold in the king’s dream, it is the one of which the most striking and numerous details are given, not only in connection with Nebuchadnezzar’s vision, but likewise in relation to Daniel’s, God-given, prophetic visions under a later reign.
Now we shall never understand prophecy in general, nor this in particular, if we do not see that the present church history intervenes, that between the day of Pentecost and the Lord’s second coming to rapture His church, His bride, God is occupied with calling out a people for His Son, and is not taking up the thread of prophecy in a public way at all, although there may be a general shaping of events that may make things ready to hand when the moment comes.
Prophecy and time have to do with the Jew, the nations, and the earth, and not to do with the church and heaven, save the prophecy of the Lord coming for His church, and then coming with His people to enter upon His thousand years’ reign, popularly known as the millennium.
What lies between—Jacob’s time of trouble and the great tribulation, including the frightful battle of Armageddon—will not affect the church, as prior to these terrible times she will have been caught up to glory.
It has been often illustrated thus. The Jewish train is scheduled to run to time. She proceeds on the way all through Old Testament times till the Messiah is presented to the Jewish nation, and rejected. Consequent on His rejection and ascension the Holy Spirit is sent down on the day of Pentecost. Then a new thing happens.
The church of God is called into existence. The Jewish train is shunted, as it were, and put into a siding. Not only so, but the clocks of the fulfilment of prophecy are all stopped. The church train—the fast express, if you like—travels to glory. When she reaches her destination, the clocks will be started again, the Jewish train will be replaced on the main metals, and resume her journey according to the scheduled time of prophecy.
This can be proved in many ways. Take one striking instance, in especial connection with the foregoing remarks. Since a few years after the death of Christ the Jews have been dispossessed of their own land. Though more numerous today then even in the palmy days of King Solomon, they still remain scattered among the nations—a standing witness to fulfilled prophecy.
At the same time the recent return of the Jews in large numbers to the Holy Land seems to foreshadow the fulfilment of Scripture that they will return in unbelief, and forms one of the most significant signs of the times. It indicates a shaping of things that may well interest the student of prophecy.
Take, again, the Roman Empire, which is evidently to be existent as such, when “the stone … cut out of the mountain without hands”—the Lord Jesus Christ Himself—shall fall on the feet of the image, crush utterly the great world power it represents, and set up His everlasting kingdom.
But where is the Roman Empire today? What a contrast is Italy today to the time when the Roman legions carried their victorious eagles from Asia Minor to Spain, and from Carthage to Britain. There is no Roman Empire today.
But this is just what we should expect. Such an empire could not be successfully maintained through all the centuries, whilst the church period intervenes.
But for the fulfilment of prophecy we must expect a revived Roman Empire. If we turn to the Book of Revelation it is just this that is foretold.
In Nebuchadnezzar’s vision the image had ten toes, a symbolic presentation of an empire holding within it ten kingdoms. In the more detailed vision given to Daniel the ten kingdoms are symbolized by ten horns. He was further told one king will arise and subdue three kings, thus leaving seven kings and ten kingdoms.
In Revelation 12:3 we read of “a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his head.”
In Revelation 13:1 we read of “a beast [that shall] rise up out of the sea, having seven, heads and ten horns and upon his horns ten* crowns.”
{*In Revelation 12:3 there were seven crowns upon his head, evidently taking account of the actual kings. In Revelation 13:1 there are ten crowns, evidently counting not the wearers but the crowns.}
In Revelation 17:3 we read of “a scarlet coloured beast, … having seven heads and ten horns.”
In Revelation 17:9 we are told the seven heads are seven mountains, evidently referring to the imperial city of Rome (the centre of the ancient Roman Empire, as it will be of the revived), built upon seven hills.
It is remarkable that pagan Rome, the centre of the Empire, became the centre of Roman Catholicism, and evidently from the chapter we are considering there will be a revival of both the Empire and the papacy as a great world power, the latter only to be overthrown by the former (see Rev. 17:3-18).
Now this corresponds with the details Daniel gives.
Now whilst the Christian does not look for signs in connection with the Lord’s coming for His people, yet he is exhorted to observe signs in connection with these happenings on the earth, leading up to the Lord’s coming with His heavenly saints to reign. And seeing that not many years elapse between the two events, the signs may be read by Christians, who may be on the earth just prior to the rapture.
The rising tide of apostasy in Christendom, as witnessed by Higher Criticism, New Theology, Christian Science, Millennial Darwinism, etc., etc., is one grave and ominous sign.
The undoubted revival of Roman Catholicism foretold in Scripture is another. There are more monasteries and nunneries in England today than when they were broken up by Henry VIII, and England has lately been raised (?) from being a missionary land to the status of a Catholic country.
The Roman Empire, as already pointed out, will be revived. Will it cover exactly the same ground as it did in former days? We cannot dogmatise on this point, but one thing seems to be certain, it will not cover a smaller area; and also it will be composed of ten kingdoms.
It is interesting to note that the north littoral of Africa—marked Mauritania, Numidia, Africa, Libya, Egyptus, on the map in the Oxford Bibles, formed part of the old Roman Empire. For long centuries Europe had lost her grasp on these African provinces. But within the last half-century nations which lie within the bounds of the old Empire have gained control over this very strip of land. While Germany, that was outside its bounds, attempted in vain to gain a foothold on the North African coast, at the time of the Aga-dir crisis. It may be that the present war will have some result in preparing the way for the appearance of these ten kingdoms; and it may not be without interest to notice that the territory held by Germany and a large part of Austria-Hungary were not in the Roman Empire, but that the provinces of Alsace-Lorraine were.*
{*Events in 1914-1918 appeared to suggest this, but as previously noted, we must not dogmatise on what Scripture does not specifically state as regards details of prophecy; but while it is not wrong to be aware of events upon earth,and consider the, in the light of Scripture, our eyes must be ever directed to Christ in heaven.}
Finally, I would draw attention to the fact that the ten toes of the image were partly of iron and partly of clay—an element of power and an element of weakness. This was strikingly illuminated by a remark I saw the other day that Europe was fast becoming a combination of militarism and socialism, the former standing for iron, the latter for clay. And this war will help on both in a wonderful way. Already a flood of militarism has passed over this land, where up to now it had little hold.
The nations see it is their only hope of existence. At the same time the crushing burdens of taxation it entails and the subjection to authority it involves will surly ferment discontent and socialism, which will become manifest when the patriotic wave has passed.
As we see these things all around us, telling of the fulfilment of prophecy, what a comfort is ours amid all the gloom and sorrow of this world—Christians, be they German or British, French or Russian, can lift up their heads, for the hour of their redemption draws nigh. The Lord’s coming surely is VERY CLOSE AT HAND.
“And the Spirit and the bride say, Come!” “He which testifies these things says, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.”