The Final Superpower

By Pastor Aubrey Duncan

A World in Confusion

Armed conflict in Ukraine. Uncontrollable weather patterns. Economic uncertainty. Pestilences. Political turmoil. Cultural wars. Moral declension. A society that is uneasy and mesmerized is tranquilized with a plethora of mindless entertainment. World powers are jockeying for control of a planet that seems determined to keep her prophetic date with a destructive destiny.

Thinking men and women everywhere are sensing that the human family is on the precipice of a stupendous crisis of apocalyptic proportions. Many ponder and many more are perplexed at the things that are happening in our world. The question remains: What do these things really mean? The prophet Daniel answers: “And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book” (Daniel 12:1).

As we closely examine the events currently taking place and the news reports covering them, one is forced to ask whether some nefarious force is at work behind the scenes. The answer to that question is definitely found in an ancient text largely rejected, distorted, and its contents marginalized. Therefore, in order to get the correct answers on the true nature of world affairs, one must take a serious look at that book, the Bible. It contains the most enduring and accurate account of the human experience.

The Bible has survived for millennia, despite unnumbered attempts to eradicate it from the planet and prevent its contents from reaching the hearts of men and women. The fact that it has not only survived those attacks, but continues, year after year, to be the number one best seller, ought to make one pause and reflect upon what it truly is. Here’s what one of its characters, who is also one of its inspired writers, says about it: “The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever” (Isaiah 40:8). Thus far, his assertion has remained steadfast.

To some who believe in that indestructible, ever-unfolding narrative, it certainly looks like the events that Jesus Christ, its central character, prophesied would come upon the earth shortly before His glorious return to planet earth. Who can deny that His predictions are surely coming-to-pass before our eyes? “And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet… For nation shall rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places … all these are the beginning of sorrows” (Matthew 24:8). In colloquial language, it can easily be said: ‘We ain’t seen nothing yet’.

On the world stage of the Drama of the Ages, China is rapidly striving to establish its grip on the nations of the world. Russia has not given up on regaining its lost glory. America is struggling to maintain its position as the current world superpower. Lurking behind and within the play and counterplay of these would-be empire builders is a power that is hardly recognized, at least publicly, as the most consequential player on the grand chessboard of international intrigue. These are all vying for the coveted title of what each perceives to be the planet’s final superpower. But who will be the victor?

The Prophetic Timeline

Previously, we shared what the Bible has to say about the condition of America today and its role in the Drama of the Ages. Employing the same timeline as was used to identify America in Bible prophecy will point to not only Jesus Christ and His integral part in that drama; but will conclusively demonstrate that He will be victorious in the race to establish history’s Final Superpower. However, rather than looking at God’s prophetic timeline from the perspective of Daniel’s beasts in chapters 7 and 8, we will travel through the ages via the dream of the pagan king, Nebuchadnezzar.

The year was around 606 BC. Babylon, having conquered the Assyrian empire and becoming the world superpower of its time, invaded the Jewish nation and took many of its citizens captive. As was customary of the times, Babylon’s ruling monarch, Nebuchadnezzar, seized the brightest, smartest, and strongest of his conquered prey to serve him and help fortify his empire. Among those that he acquired were four very intelligent, healthy, and God-fearing young men who showed great potential to be valuable assets in the king’s court. They were given the best royal treatment and care that the king could offer. Their Hebrew names were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. As part of their reorientation, Nebuchadnezzar changed their names to Belteshazzar, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

Not too long after their captivity in Babylon, a crisis arose in the empire. King Nebuchadnezzar had a dream that was profoundly impressionable. The monarch rightly reasoned that it was of great importance. To his grief, however, the king could not remember what he dreamed. So he demanded of his wise men and astrologers that they must not only tell him what he dreamed; but also give him the interpretation of his dream.

To the king’s raging displeasure, the wise men informed him that such a task was impossible to accomplish except through the gods. An angry and frustrated King Nebuchadnezzar, yet fiercely determined to remember his dream and have it interpreted, decreed that the wise men must either fulfill his request or have their heads chopped off and their houses burned to ashes.

Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abendigo, being part of the king’s cadre of wise men, now faced the real possibility of experiencing the king’s wrath. As word got to them of the impending death decree, Daniel pleaded with the king’s chief advisor, Arioch, who was charged with carrying out the king’s death decree, to allow him an audience with the monarch. His petition was granted, and he was afforded an audience with the king. After listening to the king’s dilemma, Daniel asked the king that he be granted some time to speak with his God, who would be able to interpret the king’s dream.

Upon receiving the king’s permission, Daniel met with his three companions. They held a prayer meeting in which they presented the king’s petition to their God, asking that He would grant them the wisdom to help the king recall his dream and give him the interpretation thereof. Daniel’s God, the God of all creation, not only revealed the king’s dream to him but also gave him its interpretation and meaning.

Daniel returned to the king with the message his God gave him to share with the king. The powerful monarch was, of course, excitedly eager to hear what Daniel had to say. God’s ambassador began his conversation by telling the king that his God, who knows the beginning from the end and who sets up kings and takes them down, had given him [Nebuchadnezzar] the great kingdom of Babylon, over which he ruled. As Daniel proceeded to reveal the king’s dream, the ruler grew increasingly attentive, amazed, and relaxed. He showed his amazement even as he expressed agreement; for Daniel related to the king precisely what he dreamed.

Daniel related to Nebuchadnezzar that he dreamed of an image of a man. This was no ordinary man. It was unusually large. The head was of gold. The chest and arms were made of silver. The belly was composed of brass. The legs were constructed of iron. The feet and toes were a comingling of iron and clay. The different metal parts of Nebuchadnezzar’s image correspond to the beasts (nations) of Daniel’s own dream.

Finally, Daniel related to the king that there was a stone that descended out of the heavens and struck the image on the feet of iron and clay, then grinded the gold, silver, brass, iron, and clay into oblivion. The king confirmed to Daniel that this was indeed what he had dreamed.

Daniel and his companions then went on to give the king what none of his so-called wise men were able to give: the interpretation of the dream. They related to King Nebuchadnezzar: “This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king. Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory. And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold” (Daniel 2:36-38).

They further revealed to the king what nations were represented by the other metals that comprised the image: Silver=Media Persia; Brass=Greece; Iron=Imperial Rome; a mixture of iron and miry clay= a universal amalgamation of state and apostate religion. Could you see it developing?

The Final Superpower

Daniel concluded: “And in 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, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure”
(Daniel 2:44-45).

What Daniel’s God had revealed to the monarch of Babylon through His servants was the history of the world from his [Nebuchadnezzar] time to the end of the world as we know it, culminating with the second coming of Jesus Christ and His establishment of the Final Superpower. That was represented by the stone that was cut out without hands which crushed the other metals of the image. That will be the Final Superpower, a kingdom of peace and righteousness. It’s humanity’s Only Hope. Are you ready?

John the Revelator describes the rule of the Final Superpower: “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away (Revelation 21:1-4).

The prophecy of that glorious appearing was not lost on His beloved disciple John who declared: “Behold, He cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of Him. Even so, Amen” (Revelation 1:7).

With such a clear record of the manner in which He will come, no one needs to be deceived. But how certain can we be of His coming? Considering the evidence of all the other events prophesied about Him and fulfilled in His life, you can be confident that indeed this final event, the Blessed Hope, will be likewise fulfilled as prophesied.

Again, his servant Paul, not only pronounced the manner of Jesus’ coming; but spoke with assurance of the most glorious event to take place in human history: “For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words” (1 Thessalonians 4:14-18).

The angels joined the chorus for the establishment of the Final Superpower. As Jesus completed the work appointed for Him here on earth and began to make His way back to His and our heavenly Father, the angels confirmed the Blessed Hope. Doctor Luke left us with this account: “And when He had spoken these things, while they beheld, He was taken up; and a cloud received Him out of their sight.  And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven” (Acts 1:9-11).

It’s not going to be a secret, as some may believe and teach. The Blessed Hope will be the most glorious spectacle that the world will ever see. The very first thing Jesus told His followers when they asked Him about the signs of His second coming, was that they must be careful not allow anyone to deceive them regarding their Blessed Hope: “For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be … And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.  And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other” (Matthew 24:27, 30, 31).

The Blessed Hope, the soon second coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and the establishment of the Final Superpower are the overarching themes of the Bible. It forms a divine chain of truth that stretches like an unbroken cord from the first book of God’s Holy Word to the final words of the Sacred Record. The patriarch Job, in the most despicable of human conditions, having lost every earthly possession, deprived of family and health, exclaimed most confidently: “For I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God:  Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me” (Job 19:25-27).

The prophet Isaiah likewise exclaimed: “He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the Lord hath spoken it ” (Isaiah 25:8). The Psalmist David assures us: “For he cometh to judge the earth: he shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with his truth” (Psalm 96:13).

The Blessed Hope is indeed humanity’s ONLY hope. When that day comes the entire world will be divided into two classes. One class is described by John the Revelator: “And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand? (Revelation 6:15-17).

But, the other class, the one I pray that you and I will be in, will look up, face to face with our Savior, and joyfully shout: “Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the Lord; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation” (Isaiah 25:9). He shall then respond with the most melodious voice that ever penetrated human ears: “Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (Matthew 25:34).

The Blessed Hope is exclusive to Jesus Christ. As we have looked back at the prophecies that so clearly identify and reveal Him. let us focus forward and upward to the most glorious of them all, His soon return to planet earth to establish the Final Super. You can rest secure and assured of the words that proceeded from His own lips: “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also” (John 14:1-3). Its certainty today is infinitely more realistic than when He uttered them some two thousand years ago.

About: Follow Pastor Aubrey Duncan at his Unfolding Prophecy Page