Ecclesiastes 3:15 - "That which hath been is now; and that which is to be hath already been; and God requireth that which is past."
I wrote this as part of several topics I love writing and studying about. If your interested in the amazing discoveries that one can find in the bible, read on, or read on if your just a cool dude or dudette ;) The focus is on biblical prophecy and things which are yet to come, I hope you enjoy :)
As we read in Ephesians 6:12 which states, “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].” Is there “spiritual wickedness in high places” in the times before the second coming? To find out more we must read Daniel 2 which tells of the great history of the gentile world empires.
The story behind Daniel 2 is that the King of Babylon at the time, Nebuchadnezzar, had a dream that really impacted him. Daniel, who was in captivity at the time, was the one who inevitably would interpret this dream for him. In the dream we learn from Daniel 2:31-35 that there is a plan behind the great empires of the world:
Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof 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. Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.
Daniel then interprets the statue for this King of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, in Daniel 2:36-45. In the dream, the head of gold represents the Babylonian world empire . This is where it gets interesting. Surely one can check to see the history of world empires by various encyclopedias and history books. Or instead you can read Daniel 2 to find out about the history already given to us in the Bible! Daniel 2:38 speaks of King Nebuchadnezzar in that, “…Thou [art] this head of gold.”
Historically we read that the Babylonians (the head of gold) ruled from 609 BC to 539 BC. Babylon was then conquered by the Medo-Persians (represented by the breast and arms of silver) and ruled from 539 BC to 330 BC. “…Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians” (Daniel 5:28). The Bible then tells us that who conquered the Medes and the Persians in Daniel 8:21, “And the rough goat [is] the king of Grecia: and the great horn that [is] between his eyes [is] the first king.” This is fascinating. Again, I will reiterate that one can easily look this up through world history or just as easily read the accounts given to us in the book of Daniel!
The king of Grecia is known as
Alexander the Great, the youngest general to ever conquer the world. Greece was now the world empire which began its rule in 331 BC. They were then conquered in 168 BC by the Roman empire, represented by the legs made of iron in Daniels vision in Daniel, chapter 2. The Roman Empire eventually got divided up into two legs, known as the east and west axis. What we read in Daniel 2:41 is, “And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters' clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay.” As we have seen, all of these different metals represent a different empire. Now we see that a description has been given to the clay.
In the book of Jeremiah we are told what the potters’ clay represents, “O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay [is] in the potter's hand, so [are] ye in mine hand, O house of Israel” (Jeremiah 18:6). This shows that the symbol of “potters’ clay” represents the “house of Israel,” God’s chosen people. This is also a symbol showing that the “potters’ clay” represents God’s church. Acts 7:37-38 states this in saying, “This is that Moses, which said unto the children of Israel, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear. This is he, that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the mount Sina, and [with] our fathers: who received the lively oracles to give unto us.” God’s children make up the church which compares to “potters’ clay.” Also, in Isaiah 64:8 we read about another comparison in regards to this, “But now, O LORD, thou [art] our father; we [are] the clay, and thou our potter; and we all [are] the work of thy hand.” Remember that God wants to mold his children, his church, to his own image. Again, these different metals and clay are all representations in history.
But what do we make of this “potters’ clay?” “And [as] the toes of the feet [were] part of iron, and part of clay, [so] the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken. And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay” (Daniel 2:42-43). What this is saying is that the church will join with the Roman Empire. Historically, we see this take place under the reign of Constantine in 321 AD when he instituted the day of worship on Sunday. Let’s see what this means.
Going back to Daniel 2:41 we see that even though the iron and the “potters’ clay” are mixed, the iron (Roman Empire) kept its own strength in comparison to God’s church because now the potters’ clay is referred to as “miry clay.” In the book of Psalms, we read Psalm 40 which is actually what is known as a messianic psalm written by David, which is telling the thoughts of our Lord Jesus Christ in his final moments on the cross. Once Jesus Christ proclaimed, “…It is finished..,” he was taken out of the darkness. “He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, [and] established my goings” (Psalms 40:2). From this, we can infer that miry means horrible, defiled, or dirty. What this means is that the church was no longer “potters’ clay” but had now become dirty or corrupt which is that of “miry clay."
The church had now become corrupt when it cleaved onto the Roman Empire. “Miry clay,” being defiled and corrupt, is a representation of sin! “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness [of any thing] that [is] in heaven above, or that [is] in the earth beneath, or that [is] in the water under the earth” (Exodus 20:4). The intercession of saints is of direct violation to God’s way. “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6).
This is the union of church and state! Historically we see that the Roman Empire was never fully conquered but broke up into separate states in 476 AD. The church, the Roman Catholic Church, still remains unto this day. The ending of the Pagan Roman Empire brought about the beginning to the Christian Roman Empire. But what do we make of the “stone that smote the image” in Daniel 2? In Psalms 118:22 we read, “The stone [which] the builders refused is become the head [stone] of the corner.” This is a messianic prophecy in regards to Jesus Christ our Lord, in that He is the chief corner stone. To reiterate this, in the book of Matthew 21:42 Jesus Christ says, “…Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?” This was the “Lord’s doing.” This is symbolic of Jesus Christ second coming in that he is our great redeemer. “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).
As we have read in Daniel 2:34, the stone “smote the image upon his feet.” This shows that God’s kingdom will come against this corrupt world and be established forever. God’s kingdom will overthrow a future world empire that will be made of the corrupted church; a church conformed to this world. “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what [is] that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Romans 12:2). This world empire will be made up from a new world order having a global religion. Reiterating, this will be a union of the church and state.
This is what is meant of “spiritual wickedness in high places.” The new world governmental structure will have its basis to holding man as supreme, not God, which is in direct relation to Genesis 11 in the times of Babel. Man went against God’s will to proclaim himself higher then God. They will go with the doctrines of beliefs that go against the one true creator God. “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils” (1 Timothy 4:1). This global governmental movement is creating a unity of the worldly religions which hold the origins to its beliefs in humanism and secular thought. This is known as a pantheistic worldview, which believes in a greater power not in relation to the true God. The philosophy of the movement wants religions to co-exist and conform to this world. “Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen” (Romans 1:25). The creature is man and the philosophy that man is the highest.
This is why we should not take lightly the Word of God and should have knowledge of what the Word says regarding all of these matters. Ecclesiastes 3:15 states, “That which hath been is now; and that which is to be hath already been; and God requireth that which is past.” This means that we should have an accurate knowledge of historical events so that we may be able to project at the things which will take place in the future. God is our loving creator who has revealed his plan of redemption to us. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1). For it is necessary that we have our foundation from the very beginning of God’s word to truly know what he has in store for us. “But as the days of Noe [were], so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be” (Matthew 24:37-39). In the days of Noah, man was willfully ignorant of God and scoffed at the creator.
Man has continually become more secular and goes against God’s word. We are given another example that shows man’s wickedness like that in Sodom. “Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed [them] all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed” (Luke 17:28-30). Man is willfully ignorant of the Word of God.
This is why it is necessary to know the beginning from the end, from Genesis to Revelation, and know the truths. For as stated in 2 Peter 3:3 that in the last days there shall be “scoffers” who reject the word of God. To truly understand these things which have not yet passed is to first have faith and understanding in regards firstly to the book of Genesis. We must believe that Genesis 1-11 is that of literal history and that the Word in its entirety is true just as Jesus Christ our Lord did. “…the scripture cannot be broken” (John 10:35).
Someday the curse upon God’s creation which began in Genesis will be overruled. Revelation tells of the great reversals which will take place and make creation anew. “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful” (Revelation 21:4-5). For our God is a loving God who is not only our creator, but the Lord is also our great redeemer.
