By Jack Kelley
There are lots of news reports, articles, and even books devoted to the deteriorating state of America and speculating on the likely outcome. Reading them has brought several things to my mind.
As an example, I remembered something Hal Lindsey said 20 years ago about the then current world situation. He said he had been wondering how God was going to fulfill end times prophecy while the Soviet Union was standing in the way of the revived Roman Empire taking its prophesied place in the end times.
The term “revived Roman Empire” comes from Daniel’s interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream as a prophecy of “Gentile Dominion”, the time during which Gentile Empires would rule the world. (Daniel 2:31-43).
In the dream Nebuchadnezzar saw a large poly-metallic statue, and Daniel interpreted it to represent four Kingdoms. Many scholars believe the head of gold stood for Babylon, the chest and arms of silver symbolized Media Persia, who conquered Babylon. The belly and thighs of bronze pointed to Greece who defeated the Persians. The legs of iron represented Rome who replaced the Greeks.
Finally came the feet and toes, part of the legs and made partly of iron like the legs, but different in that they were also composed partly of baked clay. Daniel called them a divided kingdom, partly strong and partly weak (Daniel 2:41-42).
The Roman Empire was never completely conquered. Instead it split into eastern and western legs, versions of which have always been visible on the world scene. Since the feet and toes are the last phase of Gentile Dominion before the God of Heaven will set up a Kingdom of His own (Daniel 2:44) and since the statue only represents four kingdoms, scholars call them the revived Roman Empire.
OK. Let’s go back to Hal’s question. Remember, before its fall in the early 1990s all of Eastern Europe including half of Germany was under Soviet control. This was a significant portion of the old Roman Empire. He wondered how the USSR would be defeated so the end times version of the Roman Empire could emerge.
Then we all received the answer loud and clear when for all intents and purposes the Soviet Union suddenly ceased to exist. It wasn’t defeated by an external enemy, but crumbled from within under a crippling burden of debt. The debt was the result of a combination of problems, including a disastrous war in Afghanistan, an unsustainable arms race with the US, and the inability to support the resulting increase in government spending in a declining Soviet economy.
Remembering Hal’s comment made me think how similar the world situation is today, only now it’s the US standing in the way of end times prophecy. Israel can’t experience the utter abandonment that will leave God as its only hope against powerful, hate filled enemies until the US has been neutralized. Like the Soviet Union, we could crumble from within for the same reasons they did. A catastrophic natural disaster, a coordinated series of terrorist attacks, or the rapture of the Church would also get the US out of God’s way. But something will have to happen to clear the way for the next phase of the end times, because just as the USSR was not part of Nebuchadnezzar’s statue, neither is the USA.
But if you believe we’re the generation that will see the Lord’s return for His Church then you see the decline of the US as a major sign that God is bringing things to a close, just as the fall of the Soviet Union was a major sign 20 years ago, and the re-birth of Israel was a major sign before that. And although that means things could get even more uncomfortable soon, you long for the Lord’s appearing, since you know the Lord has promised to rescue us from the coming wrath (1 Thes. 1:10) and will award a crown to all who’ve been longing for Him to do so (2 Tim. 4:8).
Personally, I believe the signs that show we’re well into the End times are becoming almost impossible to ignore. Israel is back in the land. The Middle East is a tinder box one spark away from erupting in flames, and all the participants in Psalm 83, Isaiah 17, and Ezekiel 38 are now in place. The weather is unpredictable and becoming more extreme. Natural disasters are on the rise. The economic problems we face are world wide in scope and require the kind of solutions only a one world government can implement and enforce. This means a leader will have to be found who can quickly gain world wide popularity. The quote attributed to Paul Henri-Spaak, former Prime minister of Belgium, is becoming more timely by the hour. “What we want is a man of sufficient stature to hold the alliances of all people and to lift us out of the economic morass into which we are sinking. Send us such a man, and be he god or devil, we will receive him.”
Just as you have the faith to believe you are saved, you also have the faith to believe your next life will surpass your current one to an extent you can’t imagine. You only have to step outside the boundaries of your earthly perspective to exercise it.
End Times prophecies tell us God is working to bring His Kingdom to pass. These prophecies say this will be accomplished in several steps. First He will remove His Church from Earth to the place He’s prepared for us (John 14:2-3). Then He will turn His attention to Israel for the seven remaining years He promised them (Daniel 9:24-27, Acts 15:13-18). During those seven years He will accomplish three things in preparation for the Kingdom. Through the End Times judgments, He will 1) completely destroy the nations among which His people have been scattered, 2) discipline Israel (Jeremiah 30:11), and 3) bring about the restoration of His creation (Acts 3:21, Rev. 21:1). Then the Lord Jesus, having established His Heavenly Kingdom in the New Jerusalem seven years earlier, will return to establish His Earthly Kingdom, headquartered in Israel.
This is God’s plan for us, and I believe the signs tell us He’s already well into the final stages of implementation.
You can almost hear the footsteps of the Messiah.
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