The Eternal Kingdom

I watched as thrones were put in place and the Ancient One sat down to judge. His clothing was as white as snow, his hair like purest wool. He sat on a fiery throne with wheels of blazing fire, and a river of fire was pouring out, flowing from his presence. Millions of angels ministered to him; many millions stood to attend him. Then the court began its session, and the books were opened. I continued to watch because I could hear the little horn’s boastful speech. I kept watching until the fourth beast was killed and its body was destroyed by fire. The other three beasts had their authority taken from them, but they were allowed to live a while longer. As my vision continued that night, I saw someone like a son of man coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient One and was led into his presence. He was given authority, honor, and sovereignty over all the nations of the world, so that people of every race and nation and language would obey him. His rule is eternal—it will never end. His kingdom will never be destroyed. I, Daniel, was troubled by all I had seen, and my visions terrified me. So I approached one of those standing beside the throne and asked him what it all meant. He explained it to me like this: “These four huge beasts represent four kingdoms that will arise from the earth. But in the end, the holy people of the Most High will be given the kingdom, and they will rule forever and ever.” (Daniel 7:9-18 NLT)

Taken in isolation, this is a difficult passage of scripture to explain. This should be read along with the book of Revelation and other prophetic passages that describe the end time events. The book of Daniel contains the historic narrative of the captivity and life in exile of the Jewish boys Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. Daniel served under the Babylonian Kings Nebuchadnezzar, his grandson Belshazzar, and the Medo-Persian Kings Darius and Cyrus. In spite of persecution and suffering, Daniel and his friends faithfully followed their Jewish religious disciplines by not eating foods prohibited for them and praying at the appointed times of the day. But God was faithful in protecting and prospering them as they were faithful to Him. The book also contains several dreams the kings and Daniel had, containing prophetic messages. 

Rule of the Antichrist 

Chapter seven records a dream Daniel had of four strange animals which represent four different kingdoms or governments. Some believe it could be contemporary powers. But towards the end a union of governments will come which will bring in the New World order or the One World Government everyone is longing for, nations without borders, promising peace and prosperity. 

From among the leaders of the New World order one will become the ruler of the world government. The Bible talks about this in the first part of Daniel 7, in second Thessalonians 2 and in Revelation 13. He is the Anti-Christ also called the ‘lawless one’, or the ‘son of perdition’.

He will rule the world for seven years promising peace and prosperity. He will be controlled by Satan. He will make agreements with the Jewish people and the Muslims to rebuild the Jewish temple at Jerusalem. Temple worship will be re-established. But by the middle of his rule he will change his agreement and sit in the temple claiming to be god demanding worship. Anyone refusing to worship him and his image will be killed. 

Rapture of the Church 

Our passage for today doesn’t give much of these details but in 2Thessalonians, Revelation and elsewhere we can find them. Daniel sees the Son of Man coming in the clouds in all His glory. This is Jesus coming for His Church and receiving her to Himself. This will precede the Anti-Christ’s coming to power. He will release terrible persecution towards all who will believe in God and worship anything other than himself. At the end of seven years he will be defeated and thrown into the lake of fire. 

Rule of Christ 

After the end of the great tribulation Christ will establish His kingdom. This is the Kingdom promised to the Jewish nation. Jesus will reign as the King of kings and all the nations will surrender to His authority. His saints will rule with Him. Daniel didn’t have any idea of the Church and its place in the prophetic calendar of God. As Apostle Paul says, it was a mystery. 

The next big event in God’s calendar is the rapture of His Church. This can happen any time now because the stage is set as per Bible prophecy. Those who have put their trust in Jesus as their only Saviour and Lord will go with Him at His coming in the clouds. Are we ready?

Religious Rituals

Rituals are an integral part of religion. Every religion has its own lists of them. Among Christian communities the lists vary depending on the denomination they belong to.

Lenten season is special for Christians, whether religious or not. Going without favourite food and entertainment, fasts, penitential prayers, doing good deeds, and so on will be on the daily routine. Some go even to the extent of punishing themselves. All of these are done with the motive of cleansing themselves from their sins and wrong doings of the past.

It is repeated religiously, year after year, with the hope that it will bring them the desired effect.

It is interesting to note that though the denominations demand certain rituals as mandatory, the Word of God does not put forward any. The New Testament instructs the believers to observe two things, baptism (Mt.28:18) and communion (1Cor.11:23-26). These are two ordinances given to Jesus’s followers with specific meaning and purpose. Baptism is a testimony and affirmation to the newness of life that has been experienced by the believer, while communion is a proclamation of the sacrificial death of the Saviour which brought us forgiveness and redemption. There is no specific instruction on how to practice these ordinances, though.

Christian denominations keep their folk bound by their rituals and practices where as Biblical Christianity is one that is free from these rotes and rites. Religion is based on rituals but Christianity is based on relationship. One trying to appease the divine to escape his/her anger while the other is humbly accepting the offer of love and forgiveness. Obviously man cannot satisfy the just demand of a righteous God and live because His justice demands the death of a sinner. You may go without food throughout the Lenten season, you may give up your addictions during this period, you may do a lot of good deeds, you may pray many times a day, you may carry a cross and walk around in public, or drink bitter juice, allow yourself to be beaten and even crucified, but none of these can pay the penalty for your sins. If you die while doing these you will still be lost eternally. The Bible says, 

“For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.” (Romans 3:23 NLT)

The Bible also says,

“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23 NLT)

It is not by our faithful religious observances that we receive forgiveness, but it is just because of God’s love and mercy offered to us freely through the sacrifice of His only Son. In other words, we cannot purchase forgiveness with our own efforts. We can only accept it with humility and gratitude from a loving God who paid it on our behalf. Jesus paid it fully on the cross when He suffered and died. You and I need to just believe it and accept it in our hearts and turn from our sinful ways to love and obey our Saviour.

Have you experienced the forgiveness of your sins? Or are you still trying to get it through  rituals and observances? You can trust Jesus to save you even right now. Accept Him as your only Saviour and Lord  and experience it now!

“But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.” (John 1:12 NLT)

“There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.” (Acts. 4:12 NLT)

“But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.” (Romans 5:8 NLT)

“If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9 NLT)

“God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.” (Ephesians 2:8‭-‬9 NLT)

“And this is what God has testified: He has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have God’s Son does not have life. I have written this to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know you have eternal life.” (1 John 5:11‭-‬13 NLT)