Welcome to the Hackberry House of Chosun. My name is Bob, and I'm reading today from one of my own works, Let Your Kingdom Come. And it's available at Amazon.com, by the way. And also right here, if you want the whole book in PDF form, you just go to the first of the series of audios, and you'll see a PDF there. And on the second one, it was too big to put in just one, so you can have it that way. Now finally past Ezekiel, I thank you so much for standing with me during that difficult time and coming back for more of the Word of God that talks about the kingdom, the kingdom that's coming. And oh my, it is coming, something that you don't want to miss. We're gonna do Daniel now. We're going up in history a little bit farther, 600 BC. the kingdom, and Daniel, Daniel's visions of the kingdom. The first vision in the book of Daniel is actually not Daniel's, you know that, it's the Babylonian emperor Nebuchadnezzar's. The interpretation of the great image that he sees is amazingly a list of the great powers of the earth from his own day to ours. The fourth kingdom that he and Daniel see has been largely understood to be the Roman Empire that morphs in the last days into a 10-nation confederation. It is that empire that is believed to be the Antichrist domain. But of concern to us as we seek information about a coming kingdom is what follows, and I'm in Daniel 2, 35 and 40 to 45, then the iron, The clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed together and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors. The wind carried them away so that no trace of them was found, and the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth. And the fourth kingdom shall be as strong as iron, inasmuch as iron breaks in pieces and shatters everything. and like iron that crushes that kingdom will break in pieces and crush all the others. Whereas you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter's clay and partly of iron, the kingdom shall be divided, yet the strength of the iron shall be in it, just as you saw the iron mixed with ceramic clay. And as the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly fragile. As you saw iron mixed with ceramic clay, they will mingle with the seed of men, but they will not adhere to one another, just as iron does not mix with clay. And in the days, here now, in the days of these kings, the ten kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed. And the kingdom shall not be left to other people. It shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever. Inasmuch as you saw that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold, the great God has made known to the king what will come to pass after this. The dream is certain and its interpretation is sure. So verse 35, at the end of the description of the dream itself, lets us know that the coming kingdom is a great mountain that fills the whole earth. I don't see the earth being destroyed here, do you? No, we see a kingdom that's coming to this earth. Here again we're drawn back to Isaiah who saw such a mountain as this and a house upon it from which the entire world was governed. The prophecies are still a unity. Following the merely human governments of this world comes a government from God but still on the planet, no new heaven and earth yet. simply a takeover of earth by a power from outside of it who has chosen to come and live in it. You say it's an eternal kingdom. Doesn't that mean after the new heaven? No, no. Eternity begins when Jesus comes. Well, it's begun already with us. But when Jesus comes, the kingdom is established, and then it says at the end of that, he delivers the kingdom over to the Father. And in 1 Corinthians 15, that doesn't mean the kingdom is destroyed and we start over. No, the kingdom is gonna continue in a different phase after the new heavens and the new earth, but it's going to begin here. And Jesus shall reign. Oh, what a wonderful, wonderful promise. Chapter seven in Daniel tells the same story, but with a different vision. Here, a series of animals tell the succession of nations, nations that come to the same end as before, final challenge from above. Read carefully, listen carefully to the vision, interpretation of that final kingdom again. I watched till thrones were put in place. And the Ancient of Days was seated, Jesus, Son of God. His garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head was like pure wool. His throne was a fiery flame, its wheels a burning fire, a fiery stream issued and came forth from before him. A thousand thousands ministered to him. Those would be the angels. 10,000 times 10,000 stood before him, and the court was seated, and the books were opened. I watched then because of the sound of the pompous words which the horn, the Antichrist, was speaking. I watched until he was slain, the beast, and its body was destroyed and given to the burning flame. For the rest of the beast, they had their dominion taken away. Yet their lives were prolonged for a season and a time. There'll be kingdoms, nations that will come into the millennium. So they get to live for a while. I was watching in the night visions, and behold, one like the Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven, He came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him near before Him. And then to Him was given dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom the one which shall not be destroyed. But the court shall be seated, and they shall take away his dominion. to consume and destroy it forever, the Antichrist. Then the kingdom and dominion and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven shall be given to the people, the saints of the Most High, God's people. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominion shall serve and obey Him." Now, this is when Israel's promises are fulfilled. However, it does just say here, the people of God. That means Gentiles have that have been grafted into this thing called Israel, they'll be there too. The animals that portray the nations have their dominion taken away, but not their lives. That is, Jesus is not returning to destroy the whole earth and every nation in it, no, only to take control of certain nations. Same picture as in chapter two. Notice that the kingdom is the Lord's but that it is shared with his people who rule and reign with him. Again, we say this is not the new heavens and the new earth, but that transitional kingdom that we call the millennium, that shall have earthly dominion until all enemies are destroyed and eternity proper can begin. And Paul will speak about this much later in our discourse. Now, just one more thing from Daniel in chapter 12. Verses two and three, many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake the resurrection. Some to everlasting life and some to shame and everlasting contempt. Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever. So here are the very same concepts spoken of by Jesus and by John in Revelation, a resurrection of life and a resurrection of damnation. Daniel is truly on board regarding the coming kingdom. Well, while we've got some time here, why don't we look at Obadiah, who prophesied shortly after, after the destruction of Jerusalem. about 586 BC right thereafter, the kingdom and Obadiah. Even in one chapter Obadiah, which is a judgment on Edom, the spirit finds a place to tell of the coming worldwide kingdom. It's in verses 17 to 21. After all these verses about Edom, suddenly a little tag on the end. But on Mount Zion there shall be deliverance and there shall be holiness. The house of Jacob shall possess their possessions. The house of Jacob shall be a fire. There's that word again. And the house of Joseph a flame. But the house of Esau that's Edom again, shall be stubble. They shall kindle them and devour them, and no survivor shall remain in the house of Esau, for the Lord has spoken. The south shall possess the mountains of Esau, and the lowland shall possess Philistia. They shall possess the fields of Ephraim and the fields of Samaria. Benjamin shall possess Gilead. and the captives of this host of the children of Israel shall possess the land of the Canaanites. As far as Zarephath, the captives of Jerusalem who are in Sepharad shall possess the cities of the south. And then, the last verse, saviors, small s, shall come to Mount Zion to judge the mountains of Esau, and the kingdom shall be the Lord's. There it is again, there it is, it's in all the prophets. The planet is taken over by the rule of Christ and his people. The long-awaited manifest sons of God appear, not now, not before Jesus comes, but then, and they will bring holiness and total control. The world is waiting for these people. Well, next in line, it would be Haggai. Let's see, do we have Yeah, we've got some time for Haggai too, just a little bit from him. Haggai and Zechariah appear at about the same time during the rebuilding of the temple out of the ruins at Jerusalem. Surely some believed this new temple was the fulfillment of prophecies, but it becomes clear that what happened around 500 BC, that temple was not the promised restoration of Israel. Let's go there to 500 BC, the kingdom and Haggai. Haggai has a bit to add to the growing mound of evidence for a coming literal kingdom on earth. It's in chapter two, verses five to nine and 23, according to the word that I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt, so my spirit remains among you. Do not fear, for thus says the Lord of hosts, once more, it is a little while, I will shake heaven and earth, the sea and the dry land, and I will shake all nations, and they shall come to the desire of all nations. And I will fill this temple with glory, says the Lord of hosts. The silver is mine. The gold is mine, says the Lord of Hosts. The glory of this latter temple shall be greater than the former, says the Lord of Hosts. In this place I will give peace, says the Lord of Hosts. Haggai is lifted in the Spirit to see the temple before him as though it were the temple which shall exist in the millennial days. This is the temple, this latter temple, that shall be present when all men come to worship the desire of all nations, a title that can only refer to the coming Messiah of Israel. And Haggai sees a person in that end time. Verse 23, in that day, says the Lord of hosts, I will take you, Zerubbabel, my servant, the son of Sheatiel, says the Lord, and I will make you like a signet ring, for I have chosen you, says the Lord of hosts. Again, it looks like a local prophecy with a local fulfillment. Zerubbabel was simply the grandson of Jehoiachin, one of the last kings of Israel, though he would have been in line for the throne. Recall that the Solomon line is not going to be allowed to have that honor now. The next king to sit on the throne of David will be Jesus himself. Still, Zerubbabel in supervising and finishing this second temple, was a type of the temple and king that shall come and is given great honor here. and in Zechariah's prophecy too. In spite of all of this, no mention is made of God's glory filling this temple, this one in 500 BC, as was the case in Solomon's and will be the case in Ezekiel's millennial structure. Well, we don't have time for Zechariah or Malachi today, but we'll be getting there soon next time we get together with this reading. We'll talk about Zachariah. I'm looking forward to it and I hope you are. Thank you so much for being here and listening. I do trust that you will continue to look around the site of the 3,400 audios now featuring some of the church's great preachers, persecution stories from North Korea in English and Korean, Bible studies on a number of subjects, and a blog If you'd like more fellowship, just consider visiting my YouTube channel. It's known as Pasturelands, or buy one of my books at amazon.com, or contact me at bob.j.faulkner.72 at gmail.com. And I'll share details about our Saturday evening Zoom meeting for men and our Tuesday noon meeting for men and women. Well, this is the Hackberry House of Chosun and this audio is being released on October 27, 2022. Lord willing, we'll get to talk again real soon. Bye-bye.