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News From Israel MagazineA Kingdom Which Shall Never Be Destroyed
“And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever” (Daniel 2:44).
The Beginning of the End
God reveals His goal in the context of His message to the nations: 1) The destruction of the nations and 2) The establishment of His kingdom on earth in Israel.
The message was received by King Nebuchadnezzar in a dream and interpreted by a prophet named Daniel. For a better understanding of the scenario, let us read verses 31- 3: “Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form there of 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.”
Gold, silver, brass and iron have been used to identify the four world superpowers. The fourth kingdom is unique due to the mixture of two components: iron and clay. But all four are represented in one image. We often make the mistake of interpreting this as being four different images when only the components are different. When God puts an end to the nations, He will cause the image to be destroyed in the reverse direction. The iron will be hit first and then all else will collapse, “and the wind carried them away.” These few verses contain world history in a compact form.
We read about the future in the introductory verse, and in verse 45 we read how the nations of the world will find their end: “For as much as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation there of sure.
God's Time Vs. Man's Time
In our study of the Bible, particularly the prophetic Word, we must understand that God is not dependent upon our earthly time. The Bible actually uses an analogy that equates one day with God as being 1,000 years and 1,000 years as being one day. From that perspective, we realize that all of our calculations regarding time are insignificant. You can’t be more contradictory from man’s point of view than to make a day last 1,000 years and squeeze 1,000 years into one day. It simply cannot be done. But nothing is impossible for God. What He says will be done. His words are creating words.
He spoke the world into existence by His words. We, on the other hand, were taken from this earth and we shall return to the earth. God said, “In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return” (Genesis 3:19). The spiritual person is eternal. Those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ will return to God the moment he or she dies.
Eternal Things
Of course, we cannot grasp eternity with our limited intellect. Thus, when we deal with eternal things as they are presented in Scripture, we must distinguish between the spiritual and the physical.
Having said this, I must emphasize that I am a literal interpreter of Scripture. I believe the words just as they are recorded in Scripture. Nevertheless, it is essential to understand what is being conveyed.
Take, for instance, Hebrews 11:1: “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Faith is the key. It is “the evidence of things not seen.” This is not physical but spiritual. Two words in this verse, “substance” and “evidence,” do not relate to the visible world as we know it. The Bible says, “By faith Abraham looked for a city which has foundation, whose builder and maker is God.” (Hebrews 8:10). By faith Abraham saw the substance and the evidence of that city.
Later in history, we read in Revelation 21:2: “And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.” John saw the “substance” and the “evidence” with his own eyes, and he described it in his Spirit-inspired writings.
Prophetic Time Span
Let’s look at another example: “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people, And hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David; As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began: That we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us; To perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant; The oath which he sware to our father Abraham, That he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear” (Luke 1:68-74). This prophecy was made before the birth of Jesus, but when we carefully read these words we notice that much of it has not even been fulfilled, although it is almost 2,000 years old.
For example, Israel is still not saved from its enemies, but from God’s perspective, these 2,000 years are just a vapor. Filled with the Holy Spirit, Zechariah the prophet, the father of John the Baptist, presents this to his people in one instance as a whole package.
Note also that he confirms his statements with the words of the prophets and not only those within the framework of Israel but even “since the world began.” He included the time before Israel became a nation.
Read what James wrote about the prophet Enoch: “And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints” (Jude 1:14).
While I am a believer in the teaching of dispensation, I am careful not to limit my understanding of dispensation to earthly time. Zechariah presents God’s eternal plan of salvation from beginning to end with just a few words.
Let’s look at a further example: “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek;he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn” (Isaiah 61:1-2).
Approximately 700 years after that prophecy was made, we read: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears” (Luke 4:18-21). Note carefully when Jesus read the words of the prophet Isaiah He did not read the entire text but ended with the words, “To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.” He deliberately omitted the next sentence, “And the day of vengeance of our Lord.” We understand that the “acceptable year of the Lord” began with the fulfillment of certain prophecies that describe the work of Israel’s Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. That part of Scripture was fulfilled. Jesus said, “This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.” But the rest of that prophecy, “and the vengeance of our God” is yet to come. Note, there is a gap of about 2,000 years between “the acceptable year of our Lord” and “the day of vengeance of our God.”
Example: Israel
Moses’ last words are recorded in Deuteronomy 33. Before he died, Moses pronounced special blessings upon the 12 tribes of the children of Israel and concludes: “There is none like unto the God of Jeshurun, who rideth upon the heaven in thy help, and in his excellency on the sky. The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms: and he shall thrust out the enemy from before thee; and shall say, Destroy them. Israel then shall dwell in safety alone: the fountain of Jacob shall be upon a land of corn and wine; also his heavens shall drop down dew. Happy art thou, O Israel: who is like unto thee, O people saved by the LORD, the shield of thy help, and who is the sword of thy excellency! and thine enemies shall be found liars unto thee; and thou shalt tread upon their high places (Deuteronomy 33:26- 29). What a wonderful blessing! These few verses reveal that fulfillment of prophecy must not be placed into a straightjacket of certain time periods but, as is evident here, over a period of about 3,500 years.
If we apply this today then the phrase, “Israel shall dwell safely alone” would certainly not be applicable, nor can we state that Israel is “saved by the Lord.” Israel’s enemies have not been exposed as liars, which would result in Israel “tread[ing] upon their high places.” That prophecy is far from being fulfilled. Nevertheless, the time will come when all of Israel’s enemies will be exposed and Israel will be supreme as God intended for them to be.
Position and Condition
We do well to obey the Word of God in its full context. Israel is God’s chosen people; that is their eternal position regardless of their present condition. This is also true for every believer in the Lord Jesus Christ who has been born again of His Spirit. We are sanctified in Him once and for all. That is an unchangeable truth. According to Ephesians 1:14, we are sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise: “Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.” As individual believers, however, we may demonstrate to the world that we are a sorry bunch of people who cannot control ourselves. That may be our condition but it doesn’t change our position in Christ. What we do with our life has no direct relationship to our salvation but it does determine our reward.
First Corinthians 3:13-15 reads: “Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.” Judgment will be pronounced at that time, not about our salvation, which is sealed once and for all, but about our labor, “And every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour” (1 Corinthians 3:8).
Just as each believer is an act of God’s grace, so, too, is the nation of Israel. God’s calling is eternal. The prophet Hosea wrote: “I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him” (Hosea 14:4).
The World's Kingdom
Mankind walks in the way of the world. Most people believe the future lies in their hands. Intellectuals believe that proper education will usher in a kingdom of peace on earth. Scientists work eagerly to improve the life and health of humanity. Politicians promise to facilitate peace, justice, righteousness and prosperity to their constituencies. Members of different religions compete with each other and try to prove that their way to God is the only way. They promise that if we follow their religious beliefs, then peace would come upon planet Earth.
There is an overabundance of historic literature, which reveals that each one, no matter how good or how evil, has failed to bring about the peace that man so desires.
What do I mean when I refer to the “world?” I am speaking about the difference between the world and the Word of God, between light and darkness. “He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not” (John 1:10). Anything that can be perceived with our five senses belongs to the world. We know that the world is only temporary and it will ultimately be replaced by a new heaven and a new earth.
We live in the dispensation of grace. God’s intention is to show the people of the world that they are in need of salvation. That is why God sent Jesus, who declared, “I am the light of the world.”
In fact, God’s first recorded words were, “Let there be light” (Genesis 1:3). But the world rejects this light. John 3:19 reads: “And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.”
The World and the Believer
It is difficult to try and convince a morally “good” person that he is a sinner in need of a savior.
Good people do not need to be told they are still in need of salvation. First Corinthians 1:26-28 says: “For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are.” The sentiment in this passage of Scripture is diametrically opposed to the world. We honor the wise men, the mighty and the noble. We don’t respect, “foolish things”…“weak things”…“things which are despised.” In order to grasp this truth, we must be born again. Otherwise, “the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness” (1 Corinthians 1:18).
When the Bible speaks of the world, it identifies these things that are contrary to spiritual realities. Let’s read the words of the Lord: “He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal” (John 12:25). Jesus repeatedly highlighted the difference between this world and the spiritual world. He reveals that it is impossible to serve both: “If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you” (John 15:18-19).
The kingdoms (nations) are corrupt, evil and under the dominion of Satan, the prince of this world, the father of lies, the god of this world. We need to keep this important distinction alive in our minds. We are bombarded daily with the things of the world that threaten to suffocate our spiritual desires for heavenly things; subsequently, our prayer life becomes hindered and the essential connection between God and the believer begins to malfunction.
The Kingdom of the World
Let us re-read Daniel 2:44: “And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed.” Daniel 2 is a revelation of the future of the Gentile nations, which is symbolized in an image that is broken up into four kingdoms: 1) Babylon, 2) Medo- Persia, 3) Greece and 4) Rome. As we have seen, and will continue to emphasize, these four kingdoms are one, known as the kingdom of this world. God will establish His eternal kingdom in opposition to it.
Here we must note that the devil is the legal owner of this world. He is the initiator of sin and the Bible says that he who sins is of the devil. All people are sinners so it stands to reason that all people belong to the devil. In other words, the devil does not have the last word.
The devil made this statement in Luke 4:6-7 when he offered Jesus the kingdoms of the world: “All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it. If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine.” This clearly shows that the world belongs to the devil: “[the world] is delivered unto me the devil rightly claims.” We must not take this verse lightly. We live in a demonized world that is surrounded by the powers of darkness.
Paul explains this so vividly in Ephesians 6:12: “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”
Under no circumstances should we allow ourselves to believe Satan’s cunning lies when we accept the often repeated statement, “We live in a Christian country that was founded by Christian men and is based on Christian principles.” Satan has no problem with such slogans as, “In God we trust” or “One nation under God.” Satan is the author of these and similar statements. Satan loves religion and he believes in God but the Bible says that he trembles.
Furthermore, we read in Revelation 17:17: “For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.”
We can see that even the powers of darkness are subject to God’s ultimate authority, but that is not the end because we read these words in Revelation 11:15: “The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.” That is the kingdom that is being established and has been a work in progress for the past 2,600 years. Parallel to God’s kingdom is the devil who uses various political infrastructures to establish his own kingdom. We know, however, that only the kingdom of Christ will stand and Jesus will rule and reign forever.
Israel's Turbulent History
Israel’s destiny is described in Deuteronomy 14:2: “For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God, and the LORD hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth.” Israel did not fulfill God’s requirement to be a “holy people unto the Lord,” nor did they become a light unto the world; therefore, a new kingdom, the Church of Jesus Christ, was established. Here we must read 1 Peter 2:9: “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.” It is utterly important to remember that the Church did not replace Israel. We have a clear word in Romans 11:25-26: “For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob.” Here we see the distinct difference between the believing Gentiles and blind Israel. This blindness will continue “until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in.”
Modern Israel
We must understand the literal and physical return of the Jewish people to the land of Israel within the context of the introductory Scripture. This is a very important issue because it has caused much confusion within Churchianity. Many theologians have dismissed the promise of any biblical future for the Jewish people but Romans 11 reveals two distinct promises that were made to two distinct groups of people. Romans 11:17-18 reveals that the Church is organically connected to Israel: “And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree; Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee.”
Israel's Return
Israel’s re-establishment is one of the most amazing events in recent history but something unique took place: There was no recognizable spiritual significance in the founding of the State of Israel.
Israel’s Declaration of Independence is rather revealing. This declaration specifically emphasizes Israel’s desire “to be a nation as all other nations…to admit Israel into the family of nations.” In the second to last paragraph of the declaration is an appeal to the nations of the world “to stand by us in the great struggle for the fulfillment of the dream of generations — the redemption of Israel.” This is not the fulfillment of Bible prophecy but a dream. One quickly realizes that this document, although religiously flavored with such phrases as “trust in the Almighty God,” provides no evidence of a religious revival that caused the Jews to return to their land. They were supposed to seek the God of Israel in order to fulfill the promises that had been proclaimed by the prophets.
Ezekiel's Prophecy
“Therefore, ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord GOD; Thus saith the Lord GOD to the mountains, and to the hills, to the rivers, and to the valleys, to the desolate wastes, and to the cities that are forsaken, which became a prey and derision to the residue of the heathen that are round about” (Ezekiel 36:4). Why did God speak to the land and not to the people? Because the land had to be prepared in order for the people to return: “But ye, O mountains of Israel, ye shall shoot forth your branches, and yield your fruit to my people of Israel; for they are at hand to come” (verse 8). The land of Israel would first become agriculturally productive. According to history, however, this was impossible. The land of Israel was described as semi-desert territory that was not suitable for agriculture. Yet God’s intention was to populate the land and bring all Jews back to Israel. In fact, all Jews will have to return to Israel because Ezekiel 39:28 concludes: “but I have gathered them into their own land and have left none of them anymore there.”
In verse 26 we read, “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.” Note, the words “new heart” and “new spirit.” The Jews were despised, rejected and defenseless, but after they arrived in Israel, they experienced a tremendous transformation. We already read that God spoke to the topographical land and then He gave the Jews a new heart and a new spirit, which made all the difference. Today, Israel is a world leader in several branches of high-tech farming—they export more agricultural products than they import.
The Jews were never good soldiers. They lacked the national fervency required to be a good soldier. After all, they were often treated as second-class citizens, but they were changed upon arriving in Israel. The Arabs have experienced this change in five wars.
Coming Salvation
But that’s not God’s final intention with Israel. Next we read: “And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them” (Ezekiel 36:27). The Spirit of God will come upon the people and all of Israel will experience a conversion. This event will be the first national conversion in history.
Communist Foundation
One of the most fascinating developments in the re-establishment of Israel as a nation is the detour of Churchianity and Israel’s disregard for religion. When we read Israel’s history, we quickly realize that the overwhelming majority of early immigrants came from communist Soviet Russia. Subsequently, the first thing they did was to establish a communist commune, a collective farm system called kolkhoz. The closest Hebrew term was kibbutz, which means “together” or “gathering.” Thus, the practical beginning of Israel is based on communist principles.
The following interview with Avigdor Lieberman was published on page 30 of the February 2007 issue of Moment.
Lieberman served in the army and had a short, unhappy experience at an ulpan on a kibbutz.“I soon realized I hate this kolkhoz,” he says, using the Russian term for the hated Soviet collective farm.
Lieberman was a late-comer from the Soviet Union who had no experience in the need for a kibbutz movement in the early days even before Israel was proclaimed as an independent state, thus his rejection of the communist “Kolkhoz-kibbutz.”
All Things in Common
It is interesting to note that the Church of Jesus Christ in Jerusalem was established on the same communistic principals: “And all that believed were together, and had all things common. And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart” (Acts 2:44-46).
This may sound somewhat offensive to many who claim to be Christians but are unfamiliar with Holy Scripture, but we can’t deny that the social foundation of the Church was set up on these communistic principals: possessions were divided “and parted them to all man as every man had need.”
Of course, this collective system was only of temporary value. In the case of the Church, it ended when the Gentiles were added to the Body of Christ.
Agriculture has become a minor industry in Israel; subsequently, the collective agricultural community is not the same as it was in the beginning.
U.S.S.R. – Defender of Israel?
When it was announced that the State of Israel would be proclaimed on 14 May 1948, the country was flooded with foreign correspondence. Their mission was two-fold: 1) report on the founding of the State of Israel and 2) describe the end of the State of Israel.
This was quite logical because the rag-tag forces of Israel were untrained with inferior weapons. Often they could not communicate because of the many different languages they spoke. Worst of all was that they suffered a chronic lack of weapons. The United States had placed an arms embargo against the Jews.
Here is an excerpt of an article written by Norman Berdichevsky that was published on pages 9-10 in the May 2005 issue of Outpost:
The major Arab armies invading Palestine in 1948 were either British-led, trained and supplied (Egypt, Iraq and Trans-Jordan) or French equipped (Syria). Israel’s victory owed much to heavy equipment mostly provided by the Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia (including the rifles the Czech army would have used to defend the homeland had Czechoslovakia not been betrayed by the Munich agreement). In contrast, the American State Department declared an embargo on all weapons and war material to both Jews and Arabs in Palestine — but not to the Arab states which sent in their forces to crush the Jewish state. The embargo substantively affected one side — those sympathetic to the Zionists who were forced to smuggle weapons to the beleaguered nascent Jewish army.
The crowd was in an ecstatic mood due to the support of the Soviet Union for the new state of Israel.
No more ringing a Zionist declaration was ever given than the one made by Soviet delegate Andrei Gromyko who, in his famous speech to the U.N. General Assembly on May 14, 1947 (a full year before the Israeli declaration of statehood), asserted the right of “the Jews of the whole world to the creation of a state of their own,” declaring “it would be unjust not to take account of this fact and to deny the Jewish people the right to realize such aspirations.” Taking a lead from Moscow, the Palestinian communist organizations merged their separate Arab and Jewish divisions and
established the Israeli Communist Party which gave unconditional support to the war effort and urged the Israel Defense Forces to “drive on toward the Suez Canal and hand British imperialism a stinging defeat.”
This confirms that God not only detoured Christianity but detoured religion altogether. He used those who declared there is no God to fulfill His precise prophetic plan to bring His people back to their own land. For 70 years Soviet communism declared, “There is no God.” But after 70 years, God declared, “There is no communist Soviet Union!”
Not only was America an obstacle at Israel’s inception but the United States became a hindering element of Israel’s victory over the Arab forces. The article continues:
Up to 1956, Israel’s closest ally was France, which was also its major military supplier.When, together with Great Britain, the Israelis and French sought to turn back Nasser’s nationalization of the Suez Canal, it was the United States under President Eisenhower that forced an Israeli, French and British withdrawal. In 1967, American pressure prevented Israel from rolling on towards Damascus. In the
1973 Yom Kippur War, the Americans prevented the Israelis from closing their siege of the Egyptian Third Army. Despite this the myth persists, and is constantly reinforced, that Israel owes its existence and military superiority to the United States which unlike the “Europeans” has never followed an “even-handed”policy in the Middle East.
I think we can see why it is necessary that all the powers of the world must be destroyed in order for God to establish His kingdom on earth in Israel.
Summary
In these days “the God of heaven [shall] set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed.” From this short study, we recognize that God is not indifferent to His people Israel, nor is He indifferent to the rest of the world. God’s declaration of love was made to the world almost 2,000 years ago: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). But the world has collectively rejected God’s love and therefore, it cannot earn anything but His wrath, which will destroy all the infrastructures of the world.
One of the first steps towards real peace will be the destruction of any and all types of weapons and military facilities: “he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more” (Micah 4:3). Agriculture, therefore, will again become extremely important and receive a prominent place, while the military, which is honored, even worshipped in most countries of the world, has no future.
This will be God’s great triumph. Peace cannot be established by force, but peace has been established through love. Jesus’ supreme sacrifice on Golgatha’s cross when He poured out His life in His blood is the only answer to world peace and His peace will be everlasting for all eternity.