Learn what will happen during the tribulation period from beginning to end
Your comments and questions are always welcome. To send comments and questions please click here to go to our main page. May 1, 2002 This is an excerpt from J. Dwight Pentecost's book "Things To Come". This book was written in 1958 and has some remarkable information regarding events of today. In his book he addresses the final form of the Gentile world power or the New Roman Empire. Read the following and you will be amazed at how closely this describes the makeup of the European Union or the United Nations. There are several important passages of Scripture which have an important bearing on the question of the final form of Gentile world power. Daniel 2. In the description of the times of the Gentiles given in Daniel 2 the prophet deals in a general way with the four successive empires that hold dominion over Palestine, but when dealing with the end of that Gentile world power he becomes very specific. He writes: And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise. And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters' clay and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay. And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so shall the kingdom be partly strong, and partly broken. And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but the shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay. And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed…[Dan. 2:40-44]. In these verses several important features concerning the final form of Gentile power are to be observed. (1) The final form of Gentile power is an outgrowth from and final development of the fourth great empire, the Roman. This final form is represented by the feet and ten toes (Dan. 2:41-42). (2) The final form of this power is marked by division (Dan. 2:41). Such is the signification of the emphasis on the ten toes and the clay and the iron. Tregelles writes: Thus we see this fourth empire especially brought before us at a time when in a divided condition, and when thus debased. The number of the toes of the feet appears to imply a tenfold division: this may be taken as a hint given to us here, although the more specific statement of the fact is not told us till farther on in this book. This kingdom is then divided into parts, which we shall see from other portions of the Scripture (especially chap. vii) to be exactly ten. (3) The final form of the Gentile power is marked by a federation of that which is weak and that which is strong, autocracy and democracy, the iron and the clay (Dan. 2:42). Kelly observes: There will be, before the age closes, the most remarkable union of two apparently contradictory conditions-a universal head of empire, and separate independent kingdoms besides, each of which will have its own king; but that one man will be the emperor over all these kings. Till that time comes, every effort to unite the different kingdoms under one head will be a total failure. Even then it will be not by fusing them together into one kingdom, but each independent kingdom will have its own king, though all subject to one head. God has said they shall be divided. This then is what is shown us here. "They shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay." And if ever there was a portion of the world that has represented this incoherent system of kingdoms, it is modern Europe. As long as the iron predominated, there was one empire; but then came in the clay, or foreign material. In virtue of the iron there will be a universal monarchy, while in virtue of the clay there will be separate kingdoms. Since the mixture of the iron and the clay is an unnatural one, it would seem to suggest that the federation is not brought about by force, else this condition would not continue. But it is brought about by mutual consent, so that each member in the alliance retains its own identity. This is in harmony with Revelation 17:13. (4). This final divided condition is not now historical but is yet prophetic. "These kings" (Dan. 2:44) do not come into existence until the time when the "stone ... cut out of the mountain without hands" (Dan. 2:45) appears. Ironside says: The commentators generally tell us that the ten-toed condition of the empire was reached in the fifth and sixth centuries, when the barbarians from the North overran the Roman empire, and it was divided into something like ten different kingdoms. A number of different lists have been made, of ten kingdoms each; but few writers agree as to the actual divisions. One thing they all seem to have overlooked: the ten kingdoms are to exist at one time, not through a period of several centuries, and all are to form one confederation. There is nothing in the past history of the kingdoms of Europe that answers to this. They were generally warring enemies, each seeking the destruction of others. We reject utterly this interpretation, therefore, of the ten toes. It would seem best to view this Roman empire as a continuous development from its form at the time of the first coming of Christ until its final form at the second coming of Christ. (Pages 318-320) Pastor Malone