In addition to my mother, Dr. Iris Paul’s birthday (Happy Birthday Amma), on January 21st, 2013, we celebrated MLK day, celebrating the birth of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who is well known for his fight against racial discrimination and his famous “I have a dream” speech. In that speech, Dr. King, Jr. expressed his dream of seeing America one day without any discrimination on the basis of race.
The Bible records in Daniel 2:31-45 , the dream of another king, king Nebuchadnezzar, the ruler over Babylon, and this was his dream –
He saw standing before him a huge, shining statue of a man, which was a frightening sight. The head of the statue was made of fine gold. Its chest and arms were silver, its belly and thighs were bronze, its legs were iron, and its feet were a combination of iron and baked clay. As he watched, a rock was cut from a mountain, but not by human hands struck the feet of iron and clay, smashing them to bits. The whole statue was crushed into small pieces of iron, clay, bronze, silver, and gold. Then the wind blew them away without a trace, like chaff on a threshing floor. But the rock that knocked the statue down became a great mountain that covered the whole earth.
God’s servant, Daniel interprets this dream as the events that are and that are to come saying “The great God was showing the king what will happen in the future. The dream is true, and its meaning is trustworthy (certain)”.
King Nebuchadnezzar is the head of gold and prophet Jeremiah calls Babylon, a gold cup in the Lord’s hand (Jeremiah 51:7). But after his kingdom comes to an end, another kingdom (Medo-Persian led by Darius the Mede and Cyrus the Persian), inferior to his, will rise to take his place. After that kingdom has fallen, yet a third kingdom (Grecian lead by Alexander the Great), represented by bronze, will rise to rule the world. Following that kingdom, there will be a fourth one (Roman empire), as strong as iron. That kingdom will smash and crush all previous empires, just as iron smashes and crushes everything it strikes. The feet and toes you saw were a combination of iron and baked clay, showing that this kingdom will be divided. Like iron mixed with clay, it will have some of the strength of iron. But while some parts of it will be as strong as iron, other parts will be as weak as clay. This mixture of iron and clay also shows that these kingdoms will try to strengthen themselves by forming alliances with each other through intermarriage. But they will not hold together, just as iron and clay do not mix. During the reigns of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom (Jesus’ kingdom, for he was God’s Only begotten Son, not fashioned by the hands of any man) that will never be destroyed or conquered. Jesus’ kingdom will crush all these kingdoms into nothingness, and it will stand forever. That is the meaning of the rock (Jesus the Rock of our Salvation) cut from the mountain (Mount Golgotha/Calvary), though not by human hands, that crushed to pieces the statue of iron, bronze, clay, silver, and gold.
When Jesus was born, it was asked of him “Where is he, who is born THE KING (of the Jews)?” (Matthew 2:2) When Jesus was killed, it was inscribed in the titulus placed over his head, on the Cross, the inscription “This is Jesus THE KING (of the Jews)” (Matthew 27:37). And when you believe in Jesus, there is no Jew or Gentile discrimination, for we all become the children of God (Galatians 3:28) and he is the Sovereign King over all. His kingdom is indestructible and indomitable, one without end, ever expanding to cover the whole earth and every knee will bow and every tongue will confess, that Jesus Christ is Lord (Romans 14:11; Philippians 2:11)
Points to ponder:
Only those who have trusted in Jesus and have been born again by the Spirit of God belong to the indestructible, indomitable, never-ending, non-discriminating Kingdom of God? (John 3:1-18). Do you belong to the kingdom of Jesus Christ? The kingdom of God is at hand: repent and believe the gospel (Mark 1:15).
Galatians 3:26-28 (KJV)
26 For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.
27 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.
Revelation 11:15 (KJV)
15 And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.
Mark 1:15 (KJV)
15 And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.
Daniel 2:44 (KJV)
44 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.
