This is only the first two pages of the actual issue
There is Someone Who claims to know the "end" of all things "from the beginning." He is referring to world events that will affect whole civilizations. He claims to be able to foretell events that shape the course of history thousands of years in advance. Surely, if this were true, why would not everyone flock to understand this information? Or want to know Who this is?Could it be that the whole world is blinded and can-not understand at this time? "And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the WHOLE world:..." (Revelation 12:9). Notice what this Person claims: "Remember the former things of old: for I am God [meaning Almighty], and there is none else: I am God, and there is none like me, Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure" (Isaiah 46:9-10).
This Person claims to be so great that He can foretell major events and "suddenly" cause them to come to pass when no one is expecting them. "I have declared the former things from the beginning; and they went forth out of my mouth, and I shewed them; I did them suddenly, and they CAME TO PASS" (Isaiah 48:3).
The human race has been going along its merry way and not realizing there is a great purpose being worked out on this planet. This Person claims to have prophesied events in advance. While the general population never gave them a thought as they plowed their fields, tended their cattle and sheep, went off to their jobs, reared their children, then suddenly the very actions spoken long before were upon them in an instant. This Person had said they were sure, whatever proceeded out of His mouth.
Look what else this Person claims. "Behold, the nations [with all their military strength - nuclear and biological] are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing" (Isaiah 40:15).
Who Is This That Knows the End From the Beginning?
With claims as described above, we need to be SURE Who this is speaking! Is it Someone we can count upon to KNOW the future? Or do we need to look for another? Or none at all?
This Person Who identified Himself as God [Al-mighty] delivered Abraham's descendants out of slavery in Egypt. He told their appointed leader, Moses, to gather them at the foot of Mount Sinai to listen to His spiritual Law be delivered by His own mouth. Note the importance of this pronouncement: "And God spake all these words, saying, I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me" (Exodus 20:1-3).
This God that claims to be able to tell the "end from the beginning" also led ancient Israel out of Egypt and established them in Palestine as a nation. But note what it says in the newer writings! "Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant [without understanding], how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; And did all eat the same spiritual meat; and did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spirit-ual Rock that followed them: and that Rock WAS Christ" (1 Corinthians 10:1-4). It was none other than Jesus, the Christ, before His human birth that claims to know the "end from the beginning."
Jesus the Christ - "In the Beginning" With God the Father
Here is why Jesus, the Christ, could claim to know the "end from the beginning." "IN THE BEGINNING was the Word, and the Word was with God [the Father], and the Word WAS God. The same [Word] was in the beginning with God. All things were made [created] by him [the Word]; and without him was not any thing made that was made. ... And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us..." (John 1:1-3, 14).
Jesus, the Christ, is so powerful that He created the world and everything we see by God the Father's permission. It is even stated so elsewhere! In reference to Jesus: "In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: For by him [Jesus] were ALL THINGS CREATED, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible [atoms], whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created BY him, and for him: And he is before all things, and BY him all things consist. And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence" (Col. 1:14-18).
No wonder He could claim to have "all power in heaven and in earth" (Matthew 28:18). Has anything changed from back there to modern day? Has God the Father and Jesus, the Christ, become less powerful just because Communists declared that "God is dead?" Maybe God doesn't know that He is supposed to have lost His power - because He inspired to be written: "Jesus Christ the SAME yesterday [olden times], and today [modern times], and forever" (Hebrews 13:8).
Further Claims by Jesus
In addition to Jesus claiming to be the member of the God family that created EVERYTHING and that the nations are powerless before Him, He said: "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which IS, and which WAS, and which IS TO COME, the Almighty" (Revelation 1:8). He further says: "And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be. I AM Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last" (Revel-ation 22:12-13).
John stated: "And he said unto me. These sayings are FAITHFUL and TRUE: and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to shew unto his servants the things which must shortly be done" (Revelation 22:6). The Lord God of the holy prophets of old sent an angel to deliver a message to John concerning prophecy. Notice WHO this Lord God of the holy prophets is! "The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and HE [Jesus] SENT and signified it BY HIS ANGEL unto his servant John" (Revelation 1:1).
Jesus, the Christ, before His human birth WAS the Lord God of the holy prophets and has delivered His advanced messages by His chosen servants throughout the ages.
God Has Power to Reveal the Future
We have seen the credentials of this God of the Old Testament Who became Jesus, the Christ, of the New Test-ament. He was: 1) God; 2) More powerful than all nations combined; 3) Alive with God the Father before the world began; 4) Creator of all things that currently exist; 5) And is the upholder of all laws that keep the universe operating properly; 6) The Lord God of the Old Testament prophets.
The Lord God of the holy prophets has revealed through one of His prophets - Daniel - the following: "But there IS a God in heaven that REVEALETH SECRETS, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzer WHAT SHALL BE in the LATTER DAYS..." (Daniel 2:28).
God revealed in olden times, but He also has revealed in more modern times. "The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which MUST shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John" (Revelation 1:1). God, Jesus the Christ, shows His servants THINGS - world events - which must "shortly come to pass." This last phrase has caused many to stumble as to WHEN the Book of Revelation was to be understood.
The word shortly is #1722 and #5034 in the Strong's Concordance of the Greek language. It literally means a "position in time, a brief space in time." When the "latter days" arrive, these events will suddenly burst onto the scene in fairly rapid succession - or - as it said in Isaiah 48:3 - "suddenly."
Why should we understand these things? "But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that THE DAY OF THE LORD so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; the SUDDEN destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall NOT escape. But ye, brethren, are NOT in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief" (1 Thessalonians 5:1-4).
This same Lord God of the holy prophets, Jesus the Christ, said in olden times "Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets" (Amos 3:7).
Nebuchadnezzar's Dream
In the prophetic scheme of things in the Book of Daniel and Revelation, God starts at a distinct place in time. This way we can know where to start following the events described. Daniel had already said in verse 28 that God was showing King Nebuchadnezzar what would come to pass in the "latter days." On many occasions, God starts in ancient times and brings us down to the "last days."
Here is the description of King Nebuchadnezzar's dream: "Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible. This image's head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay.Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing-floors; and the wind carried them away, that NO place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image (continued...)