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The Emerging Stone Kingdom

As we draw near to the fifth kingdom of Daniel 2, i.e., the Stone Kingdom, the foremost prophecy to understand is that this stone does two things: (1) it crushes all the previous kingdoms; and (2) it grows until it fills the whole earth. Daniel 2:44 says,

⁴⁴ And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be left for another people; it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever.

The next verse is also prophetic:

⁴⁵ Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face and did homage to Daniel, and gave orders to present to him an offering and fragrant incense.

This Babylonian king was actually fulfilling the prophecy of the previous verse. That is, he was illustrating and defining the meaning of the prophecy. The destruction of these previous kingdoms does not mean that all the people will be obliterated, nor even that their kings will be executed. It means that all the kings of the earth will recognize the God of Daniel as the King of Kings.

We see this at the end of the book in Rev. 11:15,

¹⁵ . . . The kingdom of the world has become the Kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He will reign forever and ever.

In other words, the monarchs of the world will come to know and accept wholeheartedly the fact that Jesus Christ is the Heir of the world, the highest Birthright-holder. After fighting Jesus Christ for a long time, they will finally be overcome, not by military force but by Love.

There will still be kings on earth among the nations, but they will recognize One that is higher in authority, One who is worthy, One who loves all mankind and does not do injustice to the least of them. In that day, according to Rev. 15:3 and 4, the Song of the Lamb will be:

"Great and marvelous are Thy works, O Lord God, the Almighty; Righteous and true are Thy ways, Thou King of the nations. Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify Thy name? For thou alone art holy; for all the nations will come and worship before Thee, for Thy righteous acts have been revealed."

The question is rhetorical in nature. Who will NOT fear Him? Who will NOT glorify His name? The psalms give us the clear answer to this question. Psalm 86:9 says,

⁹ All nations whom Thou hast made shall come and worship before Thee, O Lord; and they shall glorify Thy name. ¹⁰ For Thou art great and doest wondrous deeds; Thou alone art God.

Again, we read in Psalm 72,

¹¹ And let all kings bow down before Him, all nations serve Him. . . ¹⁷ Let all nations call Him blessed. . . ¹⁹ And may the whole earth be filled with His glory. Amen and Amen.

This is the divine goal of history. We are now about to see the beginning of this process. It will not happen overnight. The stone will grow until it fills the whole earth. But Revelation 20 indicates that this coming millennium will see only a partial fulfillment of this prophecy. There will still be a few nations outside of the light of His glory. These will make war at the end of the thousand years (Rev. 20:8). It is only at the Great White Throne that all nations will be fully subdued, and every individual who has ever lived will be made subject to Him.

But getting back to the present time, where we are witnessing the bankruptcy of Mystery Babylon, the manner of fulfillment is something that few--if any--could have foreseen in past decades. The fall of old Babylon came at the hands of the Medes and Persians, to whom Babylon was sold when God foreclosed upon that kingdom (Dan. 5:28).

For the past 20 years, I understood that modern Persia (Iran) would be instrumental in the overthrow of Mystery Babylon. And certainly, they are playing a major role in this, insofar as military conflict is concerned. Iran may not fulfill the prophecy of Isaiah 29:6 and Jer. 19:11, whereby Jerusalem is destroyed by nuclear devices, but it appears that they are the main trigger for that event.

In recent years much new information has been revealed that had been hidden previously. That is the role of China and other nations, collectively called "the kings of the east" in Rev. 16:12. In ancient times, it was specifically Persia and Media who overthrew Babylon. This time, it is simply "the kings of the east" in general. I see now that God was deliberately being obscure, because the prophecy would include other nations from the East. This time around, it is a much larger picture.

Cyrus was a "messiah" (Isaiah 45:1) and God's "shepherd" (44:28). His father-in-law, Darius the Mede, reorganized the kingdom into 120 provinces (Dan. 6:1) and installed Daniel as the head of three governors (satraps). The number 120 is always associated with the outpouring of the Spirit, and Daniel is the biblical type of overcomer during the time of Babylon's rule. Hence, both Cyrus and Darius did the will of God and thereby prophesied of things yet to come.

God used real nations and real kings here on earth to accomplish His purpose. Daniel did not need to lead an army to overthrow Babylon. God raised up kings from the east to do that job. Daniel's job was to engage in spiritual warfare, which would prepare the way for the actual events in the world.

So also today. Look at how Mystery Babylon reached its position of power with the Federal Reserve Act of 1913. This was precisely 2,520 years ("7 times") after the original Babylonian Empire had been established in 607 B.C. It is as if the four kingdoms of Daniel 2 and 7 reached full circle at the end of 1913 and then began to repeat in a "mystery" cycle. Hence, Babylon began to repeat itself as "Mystery Babylon."

Now we are coming to the end of Mystery Babylon and are seeing the next phase, sort of a "Mystery Persia" stage. Except that it is no longer called Persia, but "the kings of the east." In fact, it has been so mysterious, so secret, that few people understood how these mystery kings would play a role in the foreclosure on Babylon. We are only now able to pull back the curtain and get a glimpse at the players behind the scenes.

The time frame is equally fascinating. The Federal Reserve Act was passed by the House on Sept. 18, 1913. The Senate passed its version on Dec. 19. There were 40 differences that had to be ironed out, and remarkably, they did so in a single day and passed the reconciled bill on December 22. Wilson found one provision objectionable and was not going to sign it, so the next day Bernard Baruch hurried to the White House and induced him to sign it Dec. 23, 1913. (I had originally read that he signed the bill in February 1914, but that was apparently incorrect.)

http://modernhistoryproject.org/mhp?Article=FedReserve&C=3.0

Last month was two Jubilee cycles later (1913-2011) and four Jubilees since the Holy Alliance of 1815. We are undoubtedly at a very important crossroad in history. Keep in mind that regardless of what the actual kings of the east may believe or plan, they will do what God has called them to do. The Plan is set forth in Isaiah 44:28,

"It is I who says of Cyrus, "He is My Shepherd! And he will perform all My desire." And he declares of [New] Jerusalem, "She will be built," and of the temple, "Your foundation will be laid."

In the days of Daniel, the earthly Jerusalem was to be rebuilt, along with its physical temple. Today, it is the New Jerusalem--the Heavenly Kingdom.