The Seventh World Power

A Hope You Can Trust

After describing the aforementioned image. Daniel wrote:  "A stone was cut out [of a mountain] not by hands, and it struck the image on its feet of iron and of molded clay and crushed them."  (Daniel 2:34) What did this awesome spectacle portend? 

Daniel continued:  "In the days of those [final] kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be brought to ruin. And the kingdom itself will not be passed on to any other people.  It will crush and put an end to all these [earthly] kingdoms, and it itself will stand to times indefinite."  (Daniel 2:44, 45) Note these important points: 

1. The victorious  Kingdom, represented by a large stone, is "set up" by God  himself not by human hands."  Hence, it is rightly called God's Kingdom. 

2. God's Kingdom "will crush" all human rulerships, including the seventh world power. Why? All these will refuse to relinquish power and will face off against God in a final great war at a figurative place called Harmagedon, or Armageddon.   The Bible makes clear this war involves "the kings of the entire inhabited earth." -Revelation 16:13., 14, 16. 

3. Unlike human governments, including the seven world powers, God's Kingdom "will never be brought to ruin." Also, it will rule over the entire inhabited earth. -Daniel 2:35, 44. 

The final destruction of God's opposers will be a spectacular fulfillment of the prophecy at Genesis 3:15, mentioned in the first article series. The Seed of the woman, Jesus Christ would crush the symbolic serpent, Satan, and his seed. (Galatians 3:16) Satan's seed includes all humans who adopt  his wicked ways and who promote human self-determination as opposed to rule by God and Christ.-Psalm 2:7-12. 

This brings us to a very important question: When will that final destruction occur?  Yes, when will the "stone"-God's Kingdom-remove every trace of human rulership? The Bible answers that question by way of a "sign" that would identify the last days. -Matthew 24:3.

Next time: The Seventh World Power - Recognize "the Sign"! 

From the Awake! magazine