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THE 2,500-YEAR DREAM #5

IN THE TOES OF TIME

It's hard to imagine, on this comfortable Friday, what it must have been like during World War II to be huddled in that most infamous of Nazi concentration camps, Buchenwald. They tell me that something like 56,000 people lost their lives in this Satan-inspired facility just north of Weimar, there in Germany. And of course, we all remember the black-and-white war photos of men and women in those tattered, striped uniforms, with a look of hopelessness etched on their faces.

I imagine it might have been different for them if somehow word could have been smuggled in. "You WILL survive! Rescue IS on its way!" If these persecuted people, living on the edge of death itself, could only have known exactly WHEN the Allied forces were going to come triumphantly rolling in, marching in, swooping in from the skies of freedom.

It just so happens that Wednesday, April 10, marks the anniversary of when that great liberation took place. In 1945, the Allied troops invaded Buchenwald, the first of the Nazi concentration camps to be set free, exactly 57 years ago. And more than half a century later, we still rejoice that good triumphed . . . but what a difference it would have made if those discouraged prisoners could have KNOWN that the end was near, that the forces holding them would not and COULD NOT do so forever!

Well, friend, do you know that this is exactly the good news we find at the end of the great vision of Daniel 2? It's been amazing all week — and I confess that I've heard this since I was a little boy in church — to discover anew how God gave an ancient king this dream which clearly and specifically and accurately spelled out not just the four great empires of the world, but then also outlined the political landscape of these past twenty centuries since the time of Christ. As we learned yesterday, after the demise of Rome as a global power, this image of Daniel 2 lets us know that there never would be, and never WILL be again, a dominating, controlling world power. Hitler tried to set up his thousand-year Reich with Buchenwald and Dachau and Auschwitz and his Luftwaffe and his goose-stepping, brown-shirted troops of terror . . . and he barely lasted a pathetic little decade, thank God.

So now let's go back to the dream itself, and read the grand conclusion. Remember, you and I here in 2002 already know that this dream has been perfectly fulfilled up to and including verse 33. So we can have full confidence in verses 34 and following. Here they are:

"While you were watching," [Daniel reminds Nebuchadnezzar,] "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."

And what does this grand finale to the vision represent? We've already learned — and history confirms — that up until now, we have a clear picture of Babylon, Medo-Persia, Alexander the Great's empire of Greece, and the mighty iron juggernaut of Rome. Then the divided kingdoms of Europe, with their intermarrying, their palace intrigue, their Napoleons and Hitlers. Their European Common Market. This new virgin currency, the euro. But God's Word tells us that there will never be unity among them: "(quote) They shall not cleave one to another." And up until this very moment, that prediction has held true. So now we move to the finish. What does this huge stone cut out without hands represent at the end of time? Daniel tells us the wonderful news of liberation in verse 44:

"In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever."

The Living Bible paraphrase says it this way:
"It will stand forever, indestructible."

That stone, of course, is Jesus. Jesus and His everlasting kingdom. The Bible spells that out cornerstone truth over and over again.

Now, friend, after a week of study together, we find ourselves thinking about US. Because, all of a sudden, we find ourselves in this panoramic picture. Sure, Babylon was in its ascendency a long time ago: 604 B.C. But this wonderfully accurate story goes right through from the head to the arms, the waist, the thighs, the legs, the feet, the toes . . . and now we come down to US. You and I are in this dream. And it's more than a little bit significant that we're right down at the end: not just in the toes, but in the toeNAILS.

So let me share a couple of heart-felt points. First of all, we're in these end times. If you were to look at any time-line of events, and then find that you're clear down at the far, distant end of the spectrum — in the TOENAILS, so to speak — that would be a serious realization. And I believe for the people of God, it would be like being incarcerated in Buchenwald, with pain and the threat of death all around, with it being April NINE, 1945, and to know with a certainty that on April 10, just 24 hours later, you were going to be rescued by a powerful, wonderful, loving, saving, eternal army of righteousness. That's how keen our joy and our celebrating spirit should be: sober, vigilant, and yet incredibly optimistic and joyful. Add to that the Bible's sure word that this kingdom will "(quote) endure forever." It's liberation with no possibility of recapture. It's freedom with no possibility of any further bloodshed. It truly is the end of the war to end all wars.

We're also reminded here, once again, that we serve a God who KNOWS. Friend, this is God's world! He knows what He's about; He knows what He's going to do. Believe me, He knows the date of His return; already that great stone is teetering on the edge. It's about to come rolling through space, rolling to our rescue.

I like this New Testament testimony coming from the Apostle Paul. Acts chapter 17:

"The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. And He is not served by human hands, as if He needed anything, because He Himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. From one man He made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and He determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live."

Isn't that tremendous? Friend, the Lord God is absolutely in charge. This dream wasn't expressing a hope or a possibility or a wanna-be wish list. This is God saying: "Stand back! Here's what I'm going to do!"

In an old book entitled Prophets and Kings from our Adventist archives comes this very appropriate paragraph:

"In the annals of human history," the author writes, "the growth of nations, the rise and fall of empires, appear as if dependent on the will and prowess of man; the shaping of events seems, to a great degree, to be determined by his power, ambition, or caprice. But in the world of God the curtain is drawn aside, and we behold, above, behind, and through all the play and counterplay of human interest and power and passions, the agencies of the All-merciful One, silently, patiently working out the counsels of His own will."

That picture is so moving to me. We think today's political headlines are just random — or, even worse, controlled by wicked people. And wickedness does inject its influence. But behind the scenes, God is acting and reacting, calmly, quietly, with unstoppable strength. When a tyrant should go, he goes. When a kingdom's time runs out, it fades from the scene. Best of all, when God decides to send that great victorious Demolition Stone, nothing in the universe can stop Him.

Finally, a word for each of us. What do we do about it? God is in charge — what do we do about it? We're living in the end of time — what do we do about it? There have been four great empires, and there's one more yet to come. The biggest one, the best one, the most enduring one. Will we declare our loyalty to it?

An excellent Bible commentary we looked through made the point that God didn't give Nebuchadnezzar this dream just for entertainment value. Or to allow Daniel to show off that he could foretell the future. Notice:

"The dream was intended to reveal to Nebuchadnezzar that the course of history was ordained by the Most High and subject to His will. Nebuchadnezzar was shown HIS PLACE of responsibility in the great plan of Heaven, in order that he might have the opportunity of cooperating effectively with the divine program."

What do you think of that? God was saying to this heathen monarch: "Here's My plan, and here's your place in it. Here's how you and YOUR kingdom can be a vital, ROYAL part of MY eternal kingdom." Of course, chapter three shows us that it took Nebuchadnezzar a while to realize the futility of fighting heaven, but — praise God — he finally did come around.

And you know, this dream is for me too. God has a role for me to play in this vision, especially in these last, wonderful, climactic moments. And for you too. This isn't sensationalism, and it isn't radio entertainment. It's the biggest, and the surest, invitation any one of us can ever know.