Almost all the signs in Scripture of the end times are immeasurable unto themselves. This doesn’t mean they’re irrelevant it just means it’s hard to go by them solely to know our proximity to the end of the age. All though nearly all the signs are to a degree immeasurable there are two signs in Scripture that can be measured with far more preciseness. These two signs can be like the old mall directories that would say, “You are here” or for us today, they can be the little blue dot revealing our location on our phone. And I believe both signs at least point to the fact that we’re way down the tracks towards the end of the age.
The first of these two is found in Daniel 2. There in the Book of Daniel, we’re given an itinerary running from Daniel’s lifetime in the Babylonian Empire under the rule of King Nebuchadnezzar until the coming of the Messiah and the establishment of His Kingdom. This itinerary of future then and mostly history now is found in a dream that King Nebuchadnezzar had and Daniel interpreted through the power of God.
Daniel had been exiled to Babylon and brought into the King’s court. During this time the King had a dream and he seemed to realize it was something more to it than just what he’d eaten the night before. Realizing there was a significance to the dream, he demanded that someone in his court not only tell the interpretation of the dream but also the dream itself. Of course, the task was impossible, and no one could—therefore the King threatened to kill everyone. Daniel trusting in God’s power asked to have the night to seek the Lord for the answer. The next morning God gave Daniel the dream and the interpretation.
The dream was of a statue with five divisions and that fifth division being an extension of the fourth. Within the dream a large stone was hurled from Heaven and struck the statue in the feet which was the fifth division, the statue was destroyed and then that rock became a huge mountain that filled the earth and lasted forever.
Daniel’s interpretation of the dream was that each of the divisions were a succession of empires that would rule over the land of Babylon (modern day Iraq). The head or first division was the Babylonian empire. Four more would come after it. The rock being hurled from Heaven was the coming of the promised Messiah who would come and defeat the final of these empires and would establish His eternal Kingdom. This wasn’t a new thought from David’s time there was a promise of such a King and Kingdom.
On this side of the advent and cross, we know that the Messiah is Jesus. Therefore, this is referring to His return and establishment of His kingdom. Therefore, also that final empire must be that one of the Antichrist.
Think about it. We have within Scripture a timeline running from Daniel’s life until Jesus returns. Isn’t that incredible? Therefore, shouldn’t we be able to find our place in that timeline and be able to have an idea the nearness of the end of the age? We can. Fortunately, the Book of Daniel gives us the first three kingdoms. They are Babylon, Persia, and Greece. Unfortunately, we’re not told exactly the fourth and fifth division though I believe Revelation 17 helps us identify it. Let’s just stick with what we’re given in Scripture.
These three kingdoms are something we study in ancient history because they occurred along time ago. It helps me to think of this statue laying on it’s side as a timeline. Babylon is the head. Therefore, from the head to the knee of the statue we’re given the kingdoms and they lasted 450 years. So, almost all the timeline has occurred.
And hear this, those 450 years ended over 2,250 years ago.
From the head to the knee 450 years are represented. While from the knee down so far there has been 2,250 years. This statue is completely out of proportion. This alone should tell us we’re way down the tracks regarding the end of the age.
To add to this further, throughout Christian history the interpretation of the fourth and fifth division have been universally accepted as Rome and a Revived Roman Empire. Again, Rome is ancient history. Ending in the west 1500 years ago and in the east 600 years ago. Which if Rome was the intended empire, then we’ve been at least at the ankles and into the feet for 600 to 1500 years. Which again that’s a long time.
There’s a recent interpretation that I believe has merit and that is that the fourth division is the Ottoman Empire. Again, it’s history because it ended 100 years ago. Both views put us past the ankles and into the feet 100-1500 years. Yikes. Now this doesn’t mean we’re in the last days or as near as it sounds, but it does mean we shouldn’t be surprised that we are. We shouldn’t feel crazy if we think so.
I look at it like ice. Now here in Arkansas we don’t get ponds and lakes freezing over for months, but my friends in the north do. They know during the middle of winter the ice on the lake is not to break, but as spring comes, they realize that it might break at any time. They aren’t surprised when it does. That’s the attitude I believe Scripture should point us in. The “end time ice” doesn’t have to break, but we shouldn’t be surprised if it does.
This article first appeared in Jake’s syndicated column Stand Firm & Live Epic as published in The Baptist Trumpet and other publications. After three months the articles are adapted and published here. To read the articles at release subscribe here.
Executive Director of Stand Firm and lead pastor of Epic Church NWA in Springdale, AR and multiple award-winning author, Jake has a B.A. in Bible and Pastoral Studies from Central Baptist College, and an Advanced Masters of Divinity from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Former regular contributor to the Baptist Press and WND News with popular conservative voices such as Pat Buchanan, Ann Coulter, Ben Carson, Chuck Norris, Greg Laurie, Ben Schapiro, Joel Richardson, and others. He now is a weekly contributor for Israel, Islam, and the End Times and Armageddon News. He has authored books such as the, award-winning Spiritual Prepper from WND Books. Award-winning devotional books, Invincibleand For Uncertain Times, he authored the ground-breaking children’s book, Jesus and His White Horse from CrossLink Publishing. He is also a regular guest on national and international radio and streaming web shows, along with hosting his weekly live streaming program Talking Stand Firm and weekly podcast Stand Firm Parents.
