BIBLE MESSAGES

The Beginning of the Church

"And it shall come to pas in the latter days that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established on top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow into it" [Micah 4:1]

We need first of all to determine the place the church occupies in the annals of history. We need to be able to recognize the distinction that exists between the church and the law of Moses. There are many prophecies in the Old Testament that foretell the coming of the Kingdom of God. "Now it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established on the top of the mountain and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow to it. Many people shall come and say, Come let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of Jacob, he will teache us his ways and we shall walk in His paths. For out of Zion shall go forth the law and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem" [Isaiah 2:2,3]. It is interesting to read what Peter wrote about those who prophesied about the salvation that was to come: "Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you, searching what or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when he testified beforehand the suffering of Christ and the glories that would follow. To them it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us they were ministereing the things which have now been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit, sent from heaven, which things angels desired to look into" [1 Peter 1:10-12]. Those who through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit foretold the coming of salvation through Christ did not understand what they were talkinga bout. Peter says the angels wanted to look into what the prophets wee saying and did not understand, but when they saw the church was made up of Jew and Gentile, it all would be clear to them, (... to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and power in heavenly places, according to the eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord" [Eph. 3:10-11].

Let us now look at the words of Daniel. Nebuchadnezzar had a dream, but could not remember what he dreamed. His magicians, sorcerers, etc, could not tell him the dream nor the interpretation of it. At last the king called for Daniel who through God’s help told him the dream and the interpretation of it. He said the king saw an image. Here is what Daniel told the king: “But there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days. Your dream and the visions of your head were these… You, O King, were watching and behold, a great image, whose splendor was excellent, stood before you; and its form was awesome. This image’s head was of gold, its chest of arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly iron and partly clay. You watched while a stone was cut out without hands, which struck the image on its feet of iron and clay and broke them in pieces. Here is the interpretation of the dream. The God of heaven has given you a kingdom, power, strength, and glory. After shall rise another kingdom inferior to yours, then another kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over tall the earth. 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 goes of the feet wee 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 the days of these kings shall the God of heaven 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” [Daniel 2 & 3]

Nebuchadnezzar was head of the Babylonian kingdom, which was the head of gold. “That very night Belshazzar, the son of Nebuchadnezzar, king of the Chaldeans was slain and Darius the Mede received the kingdom being about sixty two years old” [Daniel 5:30, 31]. This was the breast and arms of silver. The kingdom fell about 330 B.C. and the Macedonian kingdom was established by Alexander the Great. This was the belly and thighs of brass. Alexander died at a young age and his kingdom was divided among his ten generals and there developed the Roman Empire from this, and there came into power the Caesars. It was during the reign of these kings that Daniel said the Kingdom of God would be established. “Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar… the word of God came to John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness. And he went into all the regions around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for remissions of sins” [Luke 3:1-3]. This puts the coming of Christ during the reign of these Caesars or kings; that is during the reign of these kings foretold by Daniel

Written by: Clifford Sims