The Power’s Points (Part 3)

A Closer Look

In the annals of time, The Lord’s Hand, 

Crafted lessons through a chosen man,

Through whom He’d be born as pure Seed.

That man believed, lessons to heed. 

Israel and Judah, The Lord’s stage was set.

Warnings were given, but repentance unmet.

Though prophets cried-out, with visions so dire,

Many hearts still churned for sinful desires. 

Their deafened ears and hardened stance,

Led nations into death's grim dance.

Assyria's shadow, decades long, 

Attacked Israel with forces strong.

A gradual siege, a tightening noose, 

Then to slavery, she was reduced.

Lost tribes of Israel. That name was well-known, 

She refused The Lord’s deal; didn’t bow to His Throne.

Judah watched on with fleeting dread,

Yet followed where her sister had led. 

Babylon's armies, The Lord’s choice tool, 

Brought Jerusalem to ruin's rule. *

While Israel and Judah are now ‘back home’,

Most folks there embrace their ancestors’ syndrome.

Thinking the land is theirs, unconditionally.

They’ll not escape The Lord’s accountability.

The Powers’ Presentations aren’t just tales of old.

They’re invitations to us whose lives now unfold,

Kept for us, whose seeds were not yet sown,

Lessons to learn, lest we’re overthrown!!!

Stay tuned for Part 4

Turning Up the Power in His Points

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* Ancient Israel and Judah were the main characters in The Lord’s Old Testament ‘Power’s Points’ presentation, but were not the only ones. The very nations He used to harass and subjugate Israel and Judah (Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, and many others (which others???)  were later either subjugated or wiped out completely in response to their gross abuse of His long-term Grace. In many respects, they reaped what they had sown. Now we, today, must similarly prepare to reap His judgments from our long-term abuse of His Grace, that is unless we, the nations populating Earth today, change our grossly sinful ways! The Lord remains merciful, quick to forgive, and to relent from the harm He promises to send our way. His Law of Sowing and Reaping remains in effect, though we don’t ‘connect the dots’. We inverted, then dressed it up with a new name: The Golden Rule. Then we collectively IGNORED IT, too. 

Even To the Lowest of Men

‘…The Most High rules in the kingdom of men,
gives it to whomever He will,
and sets over it the lowest of men.’

(Daniel 4:17, NKJV)

 

This verse is the last phrase of a set of stern instructions, apparently spoken by an angel, in a second very disturbing dream Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar had. But unlike the king’s first dream (See: Daniel 2), he perfectly recalled the second one. Both dreams were accurately interpreted by Daniel, a young Jewish wiseman who was among the slaves the king’s army had captured and taken to Babylon during 3 long sieges against Judah and especially Jerusalem. Daniel was eventually promoted to the third highest post across the Babylonian Empire, and became a major Old Testament prophet.

 

There seems to be two distinct understandings in Christian circles about the meaning of the word, lowest, in the above verse. Herein, I will share my understanding, based on insights received while analyzing other cases of significantly different understandings on passages of Scripture – e.g., on The Bride of Christ; Matthew 27:51-53, The Book of Revelation, and others. In no way is my understanding meant to limit in any way what The Lord, through the angel who spoke, may have intended.

 

Possibly using etymology, one camp of teachers understands the word, lowest, infers humble, meek, dis-esteemed, of lowest statue in society, etc. * After all, Jesus, Himself, became such, in order to obey His Father’s will, even to the point of being crucified. Moreover, there are other cases, both in Biblical and secular history, in which The Lord specifically fingered, or allowed meek, humble people to rise to the apex of national power. The young Saul, David and some child and teenage kings in Israel’s history, and Napoleon Bonaparte, Joseph Stalin, Pol Pot, and Vladimir Putin in secular history, all fit this pattern. No doubt, The Lord, for Whom nothing is impossible, can do anything He desires. Ponder the deepest meanings of the word, ALMIGHTY.

 

Another camp of teachers understands the word, lowest, infers of low morals, even morally depraved and vile. Those of this understanding may have a keen eye on history, both Biblical and secular! Indeed, the world has known and suffered under the hands and feet of many down right evil and wicked leaders, who, unknowingly … were apparently appointed to serve The Lord’s overarching will! In many cases, their rise to power may have been a form of judgments against sinful, unrepentant peoples. Such was apparently the case for King Nebuchadnezzar, who was reportedly an exceedingly prideful and boastful man. The Lord allowed Babylon to become what many believe was the first empire, and its most conquering king, to rule over a substantial part of the Earth. And it is well known that the history of ancient Israel was strewn with a parade of grossly evil kings, many who were sons of grossly evil kings. (Cases of ‘childhood internships’?)

In the days of the prophet, Isaiah, The Lord said he would raise up and dispatched the kings of Assyria and Babylon, to lay siege on ancient Israel, then Judah. Thus He kept His promise to judge their gross sinfulness. In subsequent generations, during the days of the prophet, Jeremiah, The Lord raised-up and dispatched the Medo-Persian kings to attack and destroy Babylon, calling them, ‘My battle ax’. (Jeremiah 51)

 

So both The Bible and secular history evidence both understandings of the word, lowest, in the above passage. And that’s fine and dandy. As a student of The Bible, here’s one point I think is worth considering. When concepts, verses, phrases and words in The Bible seem to trigger significantly different understandings, of course, search for other references to such, but put greater emphasis on the final reference. 

Why?

 

First, we all know languages evolve, often significantly over time and across generations. The two testaments of The Bible were principally written in two languages, across an untold number of generations. 

 

Second, in Isiah 28:10 & 13, while upbraiding ancient Israel, The Lord gives us a BIG clue to the strategic pattern by which He designed us to learn, in general, and to learn from and about HIM, in particular:

Precept upon precept,
Line upon line,

Here a little, there a little.

 

This is exactly how humanity has learned everything we have ever learned. Moreover, The Bible declares in Jesus, The Lord God Almighty, are hidden ALL the treasures (sum total) of wisdom and knowledge. (Colossians 2:3) In light of this, everything we have ever learned must, therefore, have come from Him, whether we applied it for good or evil. 

 

Also, in light of that insight, I conclude The Bible, in its entirety, is BEST understood from the perspective of its final insights – His yet-fulfilled eschatological prophecies. These signal the places and conditions to which He is driving ALL of His creation. Since these are His ULTIMATE desires for humanity, it is in these that we may find His intentions for everything else. From my experience, it is akin to designing a 10-year strategy, comprising many projects and activities, all of which contribute to a clearly-articulated, overarching GOAL. Ergo, all activities and project should/must be assessed in context of their contributions to that goal. This mindset leads me to emphasize (not exclusively) the word, lowest, in Daniel 4:17, not as meek and humble, but of low morals, even vile. Here’s why…

 

The last significant human leader referenced in The Bible is the anti-Christ man, likely the worst ever human who will have ever lived, because he and his prophet (prime minister?) will receive The Lord’s worst ever judgment!!! This man, who will relatively quickly rise to global influence and power in the 4th age of history – the tribulation age, will be filled with satanic miracle working powers to deceive nearly the whole world. Who knows whether, like King Saul, the first king of ancient Israel, this man may have humble beginnings, as many national leaders do. But, if so, he will ‘show his true colors’ after the taste and texture of power settle in his mouth that will speak many ‘pompous words’, even declaring himself to be The Almighty! (2 Thessalonians 2:4, Daniel 11:36-37 and Revelation 13:5-6) His words and acts will trigger The Lord’s worst ever judgments upon humanity – the ~42-month apocalypse, during which mortals on Earth will become as rare as fine gold. (Isaiah 13:12) This is the man whom The Lord will directly or indirectly allow to rise to be the final, global leader, and through him, turn unrepentant sinners over to their reprobate minds in preparation for their final judgment. 

 

Just as it was symbolically signaled to him in his second dream, King Nebuchadnezzar was severely judged for his excessive pride. This occurred some time AFTER Daniel had interpreted the king’s first dream that signaled the statue’s head of gold represented King Nebuchadnezzar, himself, leader of the first global empire! After Daniel had interpreted the first dream, the king said:

Truly your God IS The God of gods,

The Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets…

(Daniel 2:47)

 

Apparently, that realization was insufficient to deliver him from his gross pride, and his eventual judgment – being driven into the wilderness to live as a beast, and eating grass for 7 years! 

 

Conclusion

 

In many versions of Daniel 4:17, the word, lowest, may very well mean lowliest, etymologically. It appears, the final time The Lord will do what the angel declared, (i.e., sets over the kingdom of men even the lowest of men), may well be the anti-Christ man. So I wonder, could the angel in the king’s dream possibly have had this future man in the back of his mind?? ;o)

 

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* Lowliest implies humility, modesty, or insignificance in status, e.g., someone from an humble background, or who is socially or politically unimportant. 

Lowest implies the absolute bottom, often with a negative connotation, e.g., morally corrupt, unworthy, or disgraceful, the least respected or most despised.

The Aramaic word, shephal, most accurately translates to lowliest. This is supported in other languages.

The Decline and Fall of Global Hegemons

 See the Parade of Global Hegemon Nations series here

This post shares a 5-page review of core factors that led to the collapses of historical global hegemon nations, with a view to understanding:

     1. Discernible patterns across the ages of human history,

     2. If any, whether and how the U.S. might fit in, and

     3. Whether there might be some key lessons to be derived for, and hopefully

         learned by  the U.S. and future hegemon nations.  

This ChatGPT-aided review was prompted by my strong curiosity to understand whether the U.S. might be exhibiting generally similar, or uniquely different characteristics that historical global hegemon empires exhibited prior to, and during their sudden or protracted collapses. My curiosity was activated while researching and writing the Human History Ages topical series. 

This review is based on:

a)  The predicted succession of global hegemon empires, as revealed in chapter 2 of The Book of Daniel. This chapter addresses a strange dream Babylon’s King Nebuchadnezzar had about a year after his conquest of the ancient nation of Judah, and its capital, Jerusalem. The dream featured a massive statue of a man whose main body parts were of different metals, and whose feet and toes were a mix of iron and clay. History confirms this dream was prophetically accurate, as the statue's main body parts (from its head, to its toes) referred to the Babylonian Empire, the Medo-Persian ==> Persian Empire, the Grecian Empire, the Roman Empire, and current-day remnants of the Roman Empire (views on the composition of which are quite diverse).

b)  Historical hegemonic patterns since the collapse of the Roman Empire. This part of history was represented in the dream by the statue’s legs of iron, ‘bleeding into’ the toes of mixed iron and clay, representing a mix of strong and weak nations. 

There are similarly different views on the conclusion of King Nebuchadnezzar's dream -- the prediction of a final global hegemon government after the statue will be completely destroyed. I hope to write a post on these views.

As you read this review, notice the steady east-to-west trend of these global hegemon nations in history. Then join me in pondering what might come next - China, the predicted anti-Christ regime in the next (the 4th) age of history (if it will be global), or the promised Millennial Reign of Christ, which is iteratively predicted to be GLOBAL? After pondering this, read Daniel 2:44-45. See also: When Westward Becomes Eastward.

Please e-mail me with any comments or questions you may have on this review.

The Decline and Fall of Global Hegemons

The Power's Points (Poem, Part 2)

 

See the series here

Concurrent Powers

Seeing history as ‘PowerPoint presentations’,

To us who’re living in subsequent generations,

Might seem somewhat strange to some of you. 

Yet we know, in life, not much is new.

We who’re attuned can now perceive,

Patterns in history most can’t conceive.

Aligning our lives to what we ‘see’,

Gives us an edge to live life fear-free.

What other books exceed The Bible’s ability,

To demonstrate a core, consistent theme so clearly,

Spanning from creation’s birth, to its predicted demise,

With powerful, repeating patterns, readers to advise?!

Its 66 books, each in chapters and verses,

Into one thematic presentation merges:

Jesus created us, with Him to fellowship,

Yet we yield to forces who bucked His stewardship.

Though they rebelled, their judgment has been delayed

Time to see whom among us, they will have swayed,

To join in their protracted rebellion,

And share in their eternal revulsion.

In The Old Testament, apart from the first book written,

These forces are concealed, but in The New, the plot thickens! *

There, they are revealed, their vile game plan is exposed!

There, we learn of their judgment The Lord has imposed!

Voila! 

The Bible’s core points are clear and formidable, 

With clear demonstration effects, historical.

Its patterns are intended to be predictive,

Though our responses to them is so dismissive. 

See Part 3: A Closer Look

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* The New Testament reveals what the Old Testament conceals -- except for the Book of Job, the oldest book of Scripture. What is first concealed, and later revealed, is the presence and relentless workings of satan and his crew of demons and devils, who ceaselessly pursue humanity. Their ultimate objective: To ensnare as many souls as possible, condemning them to share in the extreme judgment The Lord has decreed upon them for their rebellion, namely, eternity as fully sentient, immortal beings, trapped in an inescapable lake of fire, burning with brimstone (sulfur’s stench included!).

If satan and his crew are fully aware of their inevitable fate -- as confirmed in Revelation 20, 21, and 22, shouldn’t YOU be, too?? And more importantly… shouldn’t you take every step possible to AVOID sharing in their end?!

Shocking Reversals! (Part 1)

The Lord promised tests and trials for His saints, to drive us to repentance and revival. He promised judgments to shake and spiritually-awaken the un-saved. But on both sides, we are increasingly witnessing the opposite effects! His tests and trials have driven countless erstwhile saints to abandon their faith entirely. And his judgments have been fully explained away with the sciences, leaving in their wake, no moves toward righteousness among the unsaved!! Many once-devout believers have drifted into spiritual darkness, compromise, complacency, and even apostasy!! With far less ‘spiritual saltiness and light’, sinfulness across the Earth is abounding. Moreover, exploding technological progress gives us steadily-increasing ways and means by which we can multiply the spread and impacts of our sins. Friends, we are undoubtedly navigating the ‘upside-down/inside-out’, last days of this 3rd age of history, just as Jesus and Paul both predicted.

Through Paul, The Lord said His Grace is intended to lead us to repentance and a turn toward righteousness. (Romans 2:4) But when Grace fails, He promised judgments, specifically famines, wild beast attacks, warfare and pestilence. (Deuteronomy 32 and especially Ezekiel 14:12-23) Each judgment can trigger derivative impacts. Acting together, they would produce cascading, overwhelming impacts. 

Note how pestilence is rather unique from the others. Pestilence spreads invisibly, lingers beyond the initial strike, and mutates unpredictably, making it a self-perpetuating judgment that can escalate on its own, unlike famine, wild beasts attacks and warfare. As such, GLOBAL pestilence might potentially be the apex of The Lord’s judgments upon our un-hearing, un-responsive world. 

In this light, could the Covid-19 pandemic have been a global shaking, meant to realign hearts of saints and sinners alike across the world? Though many believers did 'wake-up, spiritually', it seems to have exposed the fragility of western Christianity -- the church, comfortable, wealthy, spiritually powerless, whose shallow faith was easily discarded by many. The result? Millions of previous Christians, now wear a different label: Nones. No faith. No belief. No conviction. *

The Lord is watching. His heart is grieved. Can you hear His warning to the Laodicean church, echoing across the landscape of our post-pandemic lives today??

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* See: In U.S., Decline of Christianity Continues at Rapid Pace, and also The Great De-churching. See also: 2 Thessalonians 2:3 and Revelation 3:16.