See that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if they did not escape who refused Him who spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape if we turn away from Him who speaks from heaven, whose voice then shook the earth; but now He has promised, saying,“Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven.” Now this, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain.Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear (Hebrews 12:25-28).
The kingdom of God has suffered violence since creation, but more so in the last 2000 years than any time in history. I am very reticent about this article. In this article, I will state my understanding, at least in part, of what I perceive scripture says regarding the last days and the coming of the Lord Jesus. There seem to be as many different eschatological systems as there are denominations, each one claiming to be revealed truth. I have studied, in-depth, all of them. While they all contain truth, each contain aspects that do not bear witness of the truth: firstly, in the life and teachings of the Lord Jesus, and secondly, in the contextual totality of scripture. Just as Jesus was stretched to extremes on the cross, with His heart and mind found in the middle, so we can probably find much of the truth somewhere in the center of extreme views. So, I tread lightly and humbly through the following article. Here, I offer my view of the restorative operation of the Holy Spirit in restoring the foundational teaching of the kingdom of God in the life of the body of Christ, so that we, the body, may go on to maturity. (Heb. 6:1.)
In the above passage of scripture, the Holy Spirit very clearly tells us that it is in the sovereign purposes of God to reveal and restore the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is about to be revealed in a fullness that the church has never possessed from the time of Pentecost, 2000 years ago. Verse 22 tells us that we, New Covenant believers, have not come to Mt. Sinai, which represents the law, but to Mt. Zion, which represents unveiled, extravagant communion with and worship of, the Lord. David pitched a tent on Mt. Zion, and then with all of Israel, brought the Ark of the Covenant there. This became known as the Tabernacle of David (Amos 9:11-13; Acts15:15-17), and it was prophesied that it would be rebuilt and restored so a harvest of the earth could ensue. David installed musicians and intercessors to worship and pray 24-hours per day, seven days per week, ministering to the unveiled presence of God in this Tabernacle. (1 Chron. 16:4.) There was no veil in David’s Tabernacle, so everyone had access to the manifest presence of God. Upon consideration of the “problem” that the Holy Spirit was being poured out upon Gentiles who were not circumcised, nor keeping the ritualistic law, it was decided that God was restoring the fallen Tabernacle of David. (Acts 15:15-17.) A new age of restoration had come through the church.
On Mt. Zion, David established a 24-hour worship and intercession service as well as his throne. The scripture says in Psalm 87:2: The LORD loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob. What took place on Mt. Zion made Mt. Zion God’s favorite place. Ministry unto the Lord preceded everything else. David followed the same pattern in implementing the worship tabernacle as he practiced in his own life. He established on Mt. Zion, as best as he could, what we see happening in the book of Revelation chapters 4and 5: a place of unbroken intimacy, worship, prayer (bowls of incense – prayer– Rev. 5:8) and activity being carried out around the centered throne of God. All of this activity is born out of intimacy, prayer and worship. From this place, the will and kingdom of God are released and carried out. We are told in Hebrews 12:25-28 that the Lord is in the process, speaking to believers as “dwellers in Zion,” of carrying out the removal of all foreign kingdoms so that the kingdom of God can be exhibited without restraint. Mt. Zion will be seen again, in the earth, through the New Testament body of Messiah. The kingdom of God will be revealed in fullness and all other kingdoms will be destroyed through the “voice of His word.”
Nebuchadnezzar’s Image
In Daniel 2:31-45, we are told of a dream that King Nebuchadnezzar has, which Daniel interprets as the entire history of world kingdoms from Nebuchadnezzar’s time, until the end of the age.
“You, O king,were watching; and behold, a great image! This great image, whose splendor was excellent, stood before you; and its form was awesome. This image's head was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, and its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. You watched while a stone was cut out without hands, which struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed together, and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; the wind carried them away so that no trace of them was found. And the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth. This is the dream. Now we will tell the interpretation of it before the king. You, O king, are a king of kings. For the God of heaven has given you a kingdom, power, strength, and glory; and wherever the children of men dwell, or the beasts of the field and the birds of the heaven, He has given them into your hand, and has made you ruler over them all-- you are this head of gold. But after you shall arise another kingdom inferior to yours; then another, a third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over all the earth. And the fourth kingdom shall be as strong as iron, inasmuch as iron breaks in pieces and shatters everything; and like iron that crushes, that kingdom will break in pieces and crush all the others. Whereas you saw the feet and toes,partly of potter's clay and partly of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; yet the strength of the iron shall be in it, just as you saw the iron mixed with ceramic clay. And as the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly fragile. As you saw iron mixed with ceramic clay, they will mingle with the seed of men; but they will not adhere to one another, just as iron does not mix with clay. And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.Inasmuch as you saw that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands,and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold-- the great God has made known to the king what will come to pass after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation is sure” (Daniel 2:31-45).
Notice, in verse 44, that at the very end of the age, when nations and governments are such a mixture of different types (iron and clay), God will begin to move to establish His kingdom in the earth. It is generally taken as a truth by most theologians that the “stone cut out of the mountains without hands” represents the Lord Jesus, as He is the chief Cornerstone. (Isaiah 28:16-18.) Many believe this represents the bodily return of the Lord to earth, but verse 44 indicates that His kingdom will begin to exercise its power “in the days of these kings.” I believe we will see the fullness of the kingdom of God expressed on this earth, through the body of Messiah, before His return…at least in “pockets.” There will be “darkness and gross darkness” on the earth, but the “glory of the Lord will be seen,” released, and impacting where the body of Christ has entered into the reality of being Mt. Zion (Isaiah 60:1-3) – a place of unbroken communion and worship. These places will also be portals connecting heaven and earth, fulfilling Jacob’s dream of a completed circuit between heaven and earth (Gen. 28:12 – “Bethel”– the “house of God,” the “gate of heaven”). Although the world will try to confederate under the leadership of a one-world government, established by one that has been labeled the“antichrist,” I do not believe this will ever succeed in its scope of trying to rule the earth. The Lord Himself said in Matthew 24:7 that nation (ethnos – culture, tribe) would be pitted against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. The picture the Lord gives is that no matter what peace initiative is set forth, the nations will continue to fight and war right up until the time of His return. And if an “antichrist” arises claiming to be God, demanding to be worshipped, no one can convince me that a true Christian, Jew or Muslim would ever submit to such outlandish claims. Satan will try to bring about a one-world, confederated government, as he has tried through Hitler and a host of other“antichrists,” but it will not happen. The next kingdom to exercise dominion in the earth will be the kingdom of God, led by the Lord Jesus Christ.
The following exegesis of Daniel 2:31-45, concerning Nebuchadnezzar’s image, is generally accepted by all theologians who hold to the authority and inspiration of scripture regardless of denominational background.
- Head of Gold:
- Gold represents deity; in this instance, Nebuchadnezzar and the kingdom of Babylon. This represents the counterfeit religious hold the enemy has kept upon people throughout the ages. Religion is still the most powerful motivating force in the lives of men and women.
- Silver Arms:
- This section represents the kingdom of the Medes and the Persians. It covers the heart, lungs and arms. The second greatest motivating force in the earth is MONEY. The world economy sinks or falls on what happens in the Persian Gulf.
- Belly of Brass:
- Represents the Greek Empire under Alexander the Great. The Greek empire became the fountainhead of education, philosophy, culture, sports and entertainment, controlled by the god of this age. Everything flowing from this kingdom was aimed at men's appetites and reproductive systems.
- Legs of Iron:
- Represents Rome and the Roman Empire. The twin foundations of politics and military might were the earmarks of the Roman Empire. The law making body of the Senate became the main political model for many governments.
- Feet of Iron/Clay:
- This represents a try at the mixing of totalitarian and democratic governments and a civil/church authority structure (the Roman Church of the dark ages that still exerts worldwide influence to one degree or another). It could also possibly refer to the final "nephilim" incursion, in the enemy's final attempt to completely corrupt humanity and turn humans into nephilim-human hybrids through genetic manipulation.These mixtures will never work but only send the world into greater chaos.
Because of the effort at mixing civil and ecclesiastical authority (such as trying to mix Muslim states, where only Sharia law exists, with democratic process), every peace initiative, to date, has been a failure. There will be a continuous struggle among the nations and ethnic groups, who are outside of Christ, throughout the entire age until the time comes for the kingdom of God to manifest in fullness. The last “kingdom” to hold sway over most of the world was Rome. There has not been a kingdom that has exercised world dominion since Rome, although Islam has tried several times, along with the Third Reich and Communism. I do not believe the Lord will ever allow another world government to exercise complete dominion because the power of His kingdom, through the Holy Spirit indwelling the bride of Christ, will not permit it, as long as the bride allows the kingdom of God to be expressed through her. This is what is meant in 2 Thess. 2:7: For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. The “He” is the Holy Spirit, and the only way He can “be taken out of the way” is if the church is asleep, apathetic or rebelling against the Lord’s “Great Commission.” When the restraining grace of God is removed from a person, people, place or nation, then darkness immediately comes to fill the void. Woe be to that place. This is one of the reasons we see evil running rampant, because the church has been fed theological garbage which has emasculated us, and brought us into a false, suicidal peace, waiting for a rapture to rescue us in the nick of time. We are called to take the kingdom into the world and exercise His authority through prayer, worship, proclamation and radical obedience. When the Lord finds a people like this, His kingdom will begin to be expressed and the kingdom of darkness will begin to crumble. The eyes of people will be opened, and the sin and bondage over their lives will be broken. The kingdom of God will have impacted the area and things will begin to transform. The feet of the image will be crushed and the Lord Jesus will rule from Mt. Zion.
In 476 A.D., the Roman Empire had been broken up into exactly ten kingdoms. The historian Machiavelli, without the slightest reference to this prophecy, gives the following list of nations, which occupied the territory of the Western Roman Empire at the time of the fall of Romulus Augustus, the last emperor of Rome:
- Lombards
- Franks
- Burgundians
- Ostrogoths
- Visigoths
- Vandals
- Heruli
- Suevi
- Huns
- Saxons
I think it’s very interesting that there were exactly ten provinces of the Roman Empire when it fell, especially in light of the prophecy of the ten toes being crushed under the invading kingdom of God.
What brought Rome to its knees was not a greater military power. It was the corruption within Rome’s political/military system, combined with the redemptive justice of God that was released when the church of Jesus Christ would not bow its heart or knees in false worship. The church prayed, worshipped and continued to carry out the Lord’s command to go into the world and make disciples, even in the face of certain death. The kingdom of God prevailed over the kingdoms of this world. But then, the church succumbed to the deception of the enemy, embraced civil authority, and tried to exercise authority in a sphere over which the church was not given primary responsibility. (Romans 13:1.) Corruption entered the church and the “Nicolaitanes” took over and took the keys of the kingdom of God away from the believer. The power, grace and authority of the kingdom of God, which was to be expressed through every believer, was stolen away…that is, until Martin Luther.
Six thousand years of human history have been completed. According to 2 Pet. 3:8: …one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. There have been six prophetic days of human history, or God’s interaction with man, completed. At the end of each thousand-year day, there was a direct intervention from the Lord through someone, or some group, who would obey and bring a transition into the next “day,” or phase, of God’s calendar. We have finished six, overall days, and two “New Covenant” days (2000 years since the resurrection and birth of the church). We have now entered into the seventh prophetic day, or third New Covenant day, in the Lord’s dealings with the earth and man. The following is a prophetic time line that gives a simple summary of some of the most important happenings throughout “kingdom” history.
The Six Thousand-Year Days of History
- First Day (4K – 3K B.C.). At the end of this “day,” Noah was prepared by God to build an ark for salvation from the flood of judgment and destruction, and to begin a new world.
- Second Day (3K – 2K B.C.). At the end of this “day,” or era, God called Abram, and he responded and became the “friend of God.” With the covenant God entered into with Abram, who was renamed Abraham, the fullness of Messianic redemption and the salvation of mankind was set in motion.
- The “Two and One Half Day” (1500 B.C.). Moses was called and raised up. The nation of Israel was chosen to be a priestly nation (Ex. 19:5-6), and the glory of God offered to them. They refused, and the Lord hid Himself in a tent so that His glory would not destroy.
- Third Day (2K – 1K B.C.). God found a man after His own heart, David, and began changing the whole order of worship and the way God related to man. The Tabernacle of David was established, Davidic worship instituted, and the authority of the Lord was expanded to exercise dominion over most of the nations. The fame was so extensive that hardly any nation dared resist the expansion of the kingdom of God through David. God’s unveiled glory came into the midst of His people, and all nations saw it.
- Fourth Day (1K B.C. - 26 A.D.). This prophetic “day” ended with John the Baptist being set apart as a forerunner; heralding the coming of the King and the kingdom. An insignificant little maiden answered the call of the Lord, and the glory of God overshadowed the humble, obedient virgin. The God-man was born and redemption accomplished.
- Fifth Day (26 A.D – 1K A.D. - 1st “N.T.” Day). The fifth “day,” and the first New Covenant “day” started on Pentecost, with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit - the Day of Grace. The prophecy of Joel (Joel 2:28-30) states that this marked the beginning of the “last days.” At this time, the Lord incarnated Himself in His body, and manifested apostolic power, authority and government. The fifth day continued until the “Nicolaitanes” manifested. The church went into the “Dark Ages.” Religious form and ritual replaced the life and power of the Head in the body. The church had a new headship – man, instead of the Lord Jesus.
- Sixth Day (1K - ~2K A.D., the 2nd “N.T.” Day). A Cistercian monk, Bernard of Clairveaux (1090-1153), received a revelation of the Lord as Bridegroom, which included His beauty, grace, and headship. Bernard was impacted by the lives of the Celtic monks (Patrick, Columcille, Columbanus, etc.) who kept the truth and power of God alive throughout the Dark Ages.
- 6.5 Day (500 years later - 1517). The Lord used Martin Luther, who brought a restoration of the truth of personal redemption and the priesthood of the believer. The five-fold, ascension ministry-gift of the “teacher” (Eph. 4:11) was restored to the body of Christ, and the scriptures,which were kept in darkness for so many years, began to reveal the light and glory of God again.
- 100 years later, Anabaptists and Baptists established local, autonomous churches. The five-fold, ascension ministry-gift of “pastor” was restored to the body of Christ.
- 100 years later, John and Charles Wesley received a revelation from the Lord that salvation should be evident through a life of holiness (fruit). They began holding outdoor evangelistic meetings where the power of God would touch lives and thousands would come under conviction and be born again (“strangely warmed”). They also brought about deep covenant relationships within the body by having small accountability groups formed by their disciples. The five-fold ministry-gift of “evangelist” was restored to the body of Christ. George Whitfield, Peter Cartwright and many others opened up the era of the evangelist and great revivals began to sweep over regions and nations.
- Dec. 31, 1901 in Topeka Kansas,the baptism in the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8) was restored to the body of Christ.Great persecution followed each movement of walking on with the Lord. A few years later, the great Welsh Revival of 1904-1905 and the Azusa Street Outpouring of 1906 would release the baptism of the Holy Spirit on a worldwide basis.
- About forty to fifty years later, the “Latter Rain” movement came, and supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit, prophetic and spiritual encounters (angelic visitations, third heaven experiences, etc.), healing, power displays, and the five-fold ministry-gift of “prophet” were restored to the body of Christ.
- About thirty years later, the Charismatic visitation came. This came amid a great worldwide movement of rebellion (the “Age of Aquarius”). God’s ultimate purpose in this outpouring in the 1960’s and 1970’s was for the purpose of restoring the five-fold ministry of “apostle” and apostolic authority back to the body of Christ. It was not received. The “wine” was received, but the “baptism of fire” that is necessary to bring about the needed purity to move in apostolic power and authority, was not. An extreme version of scriptural prosperity perverted many, and many visible leaders began to fall.
- In the 1980s, the Holy Spirit began to stir up people to intercession, prayer, worship and intimacy. Many in the body of Christ, including Dick Eastman, Larry Lea and others, initiated a global prayer movement. The Tabernacle of David restoration process had begun, and God’s plan of establishing His government was set in motion.
- Seventh Day (2K - ?? - 3rd “N.T.” Day) - 1990s to present. The Lord is now releasing the Spirit of Elijah (a mature prophetic ministry) to bring forth forerunners to prepare an apostolic generation– a bride – to be joined to the Head in intimacy and vital union, so His kingdom government (justice) can finally be established. From this place, Psalm 110:1 (Heb. 1:13) will be fulfilled, and all of the enemies of the Lord will be placed under His feet. This will fulfill the scripture and His return will be imminent.[1]
“On that day I will raise up the tabernacle of David, which has fallen down, and repair its damages; I will raise up its ruins, and rebuild it as in the days of old; that they may possess the remnant of Edom, and all the Gentiles who are called by My name,” says the LORD who does this thing. “Behold, the days are coming,” says the LORD, “When the plowman shall overtake the reaper,and the treader of grapes him who sows seed; the mountains shall drip with sweet wine, and all the hills shall flow with it. I will bring back the captives of My people Israel;they shall build the waste cities and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and drink wine from them; they shall also make gardens and eat fruit from them. I will plant them in their land, and no longer shall they be pulled up from the land I have given them,” says the LORD your God (Amos 9:11-14, emphasis mine).
As the Tabernacle of David is restored in and through the body of Messiah, the glory of God will begin to emerge and apostolic power and authority will be restored. A harvest of the earth will come. The nations will come to the “mountain of the house of the Lord,” (Isaiah 2). The Gentiles will be harvested…the times of the Gentiles will be fulfilled. As all this is happening, Israel will take due notice. They will be provoked to jealousy, and as the glory of the Lord is restored in the body of Christ, they will see the Messiah and mourn for Him. (Zech. 12:9.) The glory of the Lord and the kingdom of God are at hand. Let us make ourselves ready!
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