The end of the world as we know it.

I’m going to tell you something that might make your head explode [in a good way]. Some of you might be like, “Yeah, duh. Old news. Heard it, like, infinity times.” Others might be like me with a reaction of “What?!?! How in the world did I miss this until now?!?!” I feel this is the perfect time to tell you about this, since it’s the beginning of a new year and a new decade. This post may be long, but I assure you, it’s worth your time.

Side note… eschatology (the study of end times) is so very interesting to me and prophecy thrills me to no end! Moving right along…

Are you familiar with Daniel in the Old Testament? You know, the guy thrown into the lion’s den? While that particular story is impressive, it’s not nearly as fascinating as what went down in Chapter 2 of Daniel. This is stuff that happened before 600 B.C. and it’s directly connected to our present world (like, right now). I will give you the basic summary and you can research it on your own time (which I encourage you to do).

So, King Nebuchadnezzar was an evil guy. He had a dream that totally freaked him out. He called in his magicians, enchanters, sorcerers, and astrologers. Not only did he want them to interpret his dream, he wanted them to tell him what the dream was. That’s crazy! If you woke up one day and your spouse was like, “I had a crazy dream. Tell me what is was and then tell me what it means,” you would be like, “But, baby, I have no idea what you dreamed!” Um, exactly. And King Neb told these guys that if they couldn’t do those two things, he was going to “cut them into pieces” and destroy their homes. Psycho, right?! Obviously, these guys couldn’t fulfill his request, so he had them chopped up and destroyed their homes, as promised. Classy, no?

Now enter Daniel into the story. Daniel went in to the king and asked for time, so that he might interpret the dream for him. Pretty bold, if you ask me. I mean, all the other guys were just murdered. After Daniel spent much time in prayer, he went back to the king. The king asked Daniel, “Are you able to tell me what I saw in my dream and interpret it?”

Daniel replied, “No wise man, enchanter, magician, or diviner can explain to the king the mystery he has asked about, but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries. He has shown King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in days to come.”

This is what Daniel said to King Neb in chapter 2, verses 31-35: “You looked, O king, and there before you stood a large statue—an enormous, dazzling statue, awesome in appearance. The head of the statue was made of pure gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of baked clay. While you were watching, a rock was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed them. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were broken to pieces at the same time and became like chaff on a threshing floor in the summer. The wind swept them away without leaving a trace. But the rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth.” Then Daniel told the king, “The dream is true and the interpretation is trustworthy.”

You may be thinking, “So what?” Well, this wasn’t just a dream about a statue. Each portion of the statue represented a world empire that was yet to come. In the centuries that followed this dream interpretation, history recorded the fulfillment of each prophecy. Watch this…

head made of gold
historical fulfillment: The Babylon Empire (626-539 B.C.)

chest and arms of silver
historical fulfillment: The Medo-Persian Empire (539-331 B.C.)

belly and thighs of bronze
historical fulfillment: The Grecian Empire (331-63 B.C.)

legs of iron
historical fulfillment: The Roman Empire (63 B.C. – A.D. 476)

feet partly of iron and partly of baked clay
possible interpretations: The two feet may represent the outgrowth of the divided Roman Empire. The toes and feet may represent a political system yet to come.

The rock hitting the statue represents the end of the world as we know it (Jesus returning to earth). Sound crazy? Well, what are the odds that 80% of the dream interpretation has already been fulfilled, yet the final 20% won’t be? I’m just saying… watch world politics from here on out. If a ten-nation confederacy (represented by the statue’s toes) is set up, The End is just around the corner.