Saturday, April 28, 2012

What One World Government?

And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken. And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay. Daniel 2:42,43

Glen was, in a way, two different men. The one most people saw did not stand out or draw attention to himself. That was the way he liked it. He told me he was of humble origins and he was satisfied to stay that way.

Someone suggested to him that if he would dress better and boost himself a little it might help his teaching. He saw through that right away.

"We've got too many of that type around now,” he said. "A teacher's focus should always be on what he teaches, not who he is. My subject is Jesus revealed in history. And that history is best laid out before us in the book of Daniel. Then it is fulfilled in Revelation.

"How any man can call himself a man and not know the basics of this world system and the Bible that teaches it, is a mystery to me. These guys are camping out under a coming avalanche. The rocks are going to come crashing down on their little party and it's all over. How can a man gauge what is important until he knows what God says is important?”

When I asked Glen what God considers important he gave me this answer:

"What you see in the Bible is God's kingdom and God's people. He has wonderful plans for his people--more wonderful than we can even dream of. But he must defeat the devil before those plans can be realized.

"God's Son is his creative arm and his redemptive arm too. We, the church, are His Son's bride. When Jesus says in John 14, that He goes to prepare a place for us and will return to take us there with Him, that tells us how much He loves us and how He is working for us. We Christians should be overjoyed. We should be jumping up and down!

"Forget about this world, and if you can, forget about this world's troubles too. God is a winner. His Son is a winner. And He loves us. He has a battle to fight and so do we. That is what prophecy is about. It is full of battles and it is full of love, if only we can see it."

What I have just revealed to you is the other Glen. It is Glen the teacher. He changed the way he talked and became a driven man--driven to get the message of God's big plans for us into words so we could be happy.

Glen was a patient man. As was said about him, he was like a mechanic, who was careful and thorough, not fast and flashy.

But one thing made Glen impatient--when people go off on sidetracks, side issues. Then he made haste to bring them back to the point, God's work through Jesus Christ. Such side issues came up in a Daniel class that I witnessed one night.

Glen loved to refer to the great image of Daniel chapter two. He said it was the perfect roadmap of the future, if you stayed with it.

A person attending the class raised a question, "Do you believe the rise of the European Common Market is a fulfillment of prophecy?"

The questioner was a man in his early thirties--very earnest, very sincere. But his inflection seemed to imply that he already believed that what he asked about was true. "I have a chart of the Great Image in a book," he said, "that has the ten toes labeled as "Ten European Nations". "Do you agree with that?"

Glen asked the young man, "Do you believe that Africa, or any part of Africa, is a part of Europe?"

"No, I don't," replied the young man.

"Do you believe Israel and the Middle East is part of Europe?"

"No, I don't," he replied again.

"Then," said Glen "You are leaving out two thirds of the image territory. If we believe that the feet and toes are the last stages of the fourth kingdom, or as some would say, revived Rome, then we must include all the territory of Rome."

The young man persisted. "But don't you feel that the European nations coming together is fulfilling prophecy?"

"Not at all," said Glen. "When a new development occurs, some try to make the Bible fit this new development. They try to alter prophecy to fit the circumstances.

"The unique feature of the feet of iron and clay is that they do not cleave or adhere. All the other metals in the image are pure and not mixed with clay. Even the fourth kingdom starts out that way. But first it divides into two parts, which has already happened with the formation of the Byzantine Empire, the second leg.

"Now Europe is mixing with non-European people at a rapid rate. What remains is the formation of the ten toes. And why do we believe the toes are all European nations? Rome was, and is, more than Europe.

"Remember the riddle I asked when we began this study? Who was born in Europe, died in Asia, and was buried in Africa?"

The young man's eyes lit up. "Alexander the Great!"

"Right you are!" said Glen. "Alexander was born in Pella, Yugoslavia, died in Babylon, and was buried in Africa. From birth to death his life spanned three continents. Alexander had no interest in Europe. Europe was mud huts in his day. Riches were in the east and the Middle East. I wouldn't be surprised if the world returned to those conditions at the end of this present time."

"But what about the city of Rome?" asked the young man.

"You mean because of the Vatican?" asked Glen.

"Well, yes. The Vatican and the Roman Catholic Church have been called Babylon."

"Show me the Vatican in the Bible" said Glen. “I know Martin Luther called Rome 'Babylon’. But he translated the Bible. He didn't write it.

"Remember," said Glen with great emphasis, "Israel is the main point in prophecy, particularly Jerusalem. Since God made it His city, the devil and his people have coveted it. As history moves along to its climax, the emphasis will be more and more on the Middle East, not on Europe itself. We can't predict. We can't know the details, but the outline is here," he said as he touched his chart of the Great Image.

"But if everything falls apart, where is Antichrist's empire?" the young man asked. "Doesn't he have a kingdom?"

"He does indeed," said Glen. "Further on he has a confederation, often nations. Jerusalem is in them, that shows more than Europe is in view. Remember that Paul says this man enters the Holy of Holies and claims that he is God? That is in 2 Thessalonians 2:4. This proves that a new temple will be built. There is no temple now and therefore no Holy Place.

"Do you think the Muslims will allow a temple to be built in Jerusalem nowadays? They own the site. Once in awhile there is an attempt by a Jewish group to lay a symbolic corner stone for the new temple, and a huge riot breaks out. But under Antichrist the new temple will be built. Things will change that much.

"He makes a treaty for seven years with "many" in Israel. This is in Daniel chapter 9 verses 24 through 27. Do you see where the emphasis is? God has chosen Jerusalem, and Antichrist will have control over it for a little time. Antichrist is not going into the Vatican or the UN here, not even Salt Lake City. He is going into a building that does not even exist yet, but the Bible says it will be built--in Jerusalem.

"When Antichrist enters the Holy place, it is the ‘abomination of desolation’ that Jesus warns about in Matthew 24:15. The point we all need to remember." Glen emphasized, "is that the center of everything will be Jerusalem. Don't be misled by news sources or even history. The Bible is the only source for this truth of the last days. Everything must fit the Bible or forget it."

"How long will Antichrist get away with this?" asked the young man.

"He has 3 1/2 years,” said Glen. "42 months, 1,260 days. The Bible spells it out, down to the day. Those alive at that time will know how long it will be when the covenant of Daniel chapter seven is made. Antichrist breaks his covenant halfway through the seven years. Here are some references for you."

Glen stepped to the board and wrote the following:

Daniel 9:24-27
Revelation 12:6
Revelation 13:5


The young man said, "It kind of makes your head swim, doesn't it?"

"It does if you really think about it," said Glen.

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