Do you question if the kingdom of God will ever come? Are you looking forward to that day with joy? Or, trepidation? Have you ever wondered how long ago it was predicted the kingdom will come to fruition?
As we have heard many times, God works on His time, not ours. His patience can appear to be everlasting. So much so that we may think He isn’t doing anything at all. Some people have waited for God’s kingdom to fully come into being and never seen it.
God’s kingdom has come near to us, as Jesus stated in Matthew 4:17. His kingdom is here and now, but not quite fully. This means we have access to His kingdom through the Holy Spirit. We are to spread the news of His kingdom and the King, our Savior Jesus Christ. This is part of growing His kingdom as Jesus stated in Matthew 13:31-32.
Daniel lived approximately 600 years before Christ. His visions, which included prophecy provided by angels, were both predicting the coming of God’s kingdom and the Messiah. The coming of the Messiah was the beginning of God’s kingdom being set up in this world. As Jesus stated Himself in Luke 20:17, He was the chief cornerstone for the foundation of the kingdom. This is the event, the rock, Daniel’s prophecy is pointing to. The Jews who heard, read, and knew of Daniel’s prophecy were waiting anxiously. His prophecy is one of the keys to why the Jews were looking for the Messiah at the time Jesus was walking this earth.
As we look at Daniel’s prophecy more than 2,500 years later, we can see how his prophecy came true. Yet, we also see that it has not been fully implemented. We look to the book of Revelation, reading the visions of John and his interaction with an angel, to understand the full implementation of God’s kingdom is still at some point in our future.
The most significant similarity between Daniel’s prophecy and John’s visions is that God’s kingdom will go on forever. It will never be destroyed. In fact, it will destroy all opposition to it. We see that all other kingdom’s will fall and Satan will be destroyed when God’s kingdom comes to fruition.
I pray we all choose to be part of God’s kingdom. I pray we hold firmly to His promises, not growing weary. I pray each of us choose to believe Jesus and the prophecies of His kingdom. Choose God and His kingdom. Hold onto God’s promises. Be strong in your faith. Trust God. Trust Jesus.
Daniel 2:44-45 “In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever. This is the meaning of the vision of the rock cut out of a mountain, but not by human hands—a rock that broke the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold to pieces.”
Marty Pressey 