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Man was created in God's image.
"Male and female created He
them."
Dominion of Earth was given to Adam.
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did not give man dominion over his fellow-men.
Slavery
is not God's design
for men.
God
designed
a government
in which every man would be
a sovereign --
governed
in harmony with the Supreme Ruler
of the universe, Whose law is love.
Love fulfills
God's law.
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Adam’s
disobedience forfeited his life
and dominion
over earth.
Our
Lord’s death purchased man
and his dominion.
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Israel
was typical
of the promised
kingdom.
The
typical kingdom
of Israel
was overthrown...
until
Christ,
the rightful heir,
claims it.
Since
A.D. 70 Israel has been scattered
among all nations.
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The Arch of Titus, Rome,
Italy
The Arch of Titus, on which the Jewish
menorah taken from the Temple in Jerusalem
is depicted, commemorates Titus’ capture of
Jerusalem in 70 A.D.
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All
other kingdoms are styled
the "Kingdoms
of this World."
"...Jerusalem
shall be trodden down of the Gentiles until
the times of
the Gentiles be fulfilled."
Luke 21:24
Fallen
man
has proven
his inability
to govern himself.
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Satan
misrepresented God’s character
and blinded men
to the truth.
When
the Gentile Times expire,
Satan will be bound and overthrown. |
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Daniel's
Four Universal Kingdoms
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Daniel explained the dream, saying:
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"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 became a great mountain and filled
the whole earth.
"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.
[There the Gentile kingdoms, or powers that be, were
ordained of God.]
"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.
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Nebuchadnezzar’s
Prophetic Dream.
of the Four Universal Empires
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Gold Head
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= Babylon
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Silver Arms
& Breast
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= Medo-
Persia
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Brass Belly
& Thighs
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= Greece
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Iron Legs
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= Rome
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Stone
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= God's
Kingdom
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"And
after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee [silver],
and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all
the earth.
"And
the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron
breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things; and as iron that
breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise.
"And
whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potter's clay and
part of iron, the kingdom shall be mixed; but there shall be in it
of the strength of the iron: forasmuch as thou sawest the iron
mixed with the miry clay.
"And
as the toes of the feet were part of iron and part of clay, so the
kingdom shall be partly strong and partly brittle."
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The
stone cut out of a mountain represents the kingdom of God...
The
hand
that smote the governments will heal the people.
Nebuchadnezzar’s
dream represents the world’s viewpoint.
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Emperor Diocletian (245-313 A.D.) |
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Daniel’s
dream represents
God’s viewpoint.
Daniel
says:
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saw in my vision by night, and behold the four winds of heaven
strove upon the great sea. And four great beasts came up from the
sea, diverse one from another.
"The
first was like
a lion and had eagle's wings;
...and behold another beast, a second, like a bear;.
..and lo another, like a leopard....
"After
this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast,
dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great
iron teeth.
"It
devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the
feet of it; and it was diverse from all the beasts that were
before it, and it had ten horns." Daniel 7:2-7 |
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Four
Great Beasts
Lion =
Babylon
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Bear
=
Medo-Persia
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Leopard =
Greece
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4th Beast =
Rome
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The "Dreadful Beast"
The
three horns of the Roman Empire
The "Little Horn"
The Beast and
the Little Horn
are gradually destroyed. |
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The
Beast
will be slain
by the rising
of the masses
in the Day
of the Lord.
Great
swelling words of the
Little Horn. |
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The
fourth empire
will go into
utter destruction symbolized by the lake of fire.
Revelation 19:20
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The
Fifth Universal Empire (the Kingdom of God)
is to be
an everlasting dominion.
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"Thy
Kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth,
as it is in heaven." Matthew 6:10
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God’s
kingdom is to be inaugurated before the kingdoms of this world fall. |
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Satan’s
power
has not been absolute.
Emperor Hirohito
Benito Mussolini |
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Mankind’s
governments try
to promote justice.
Where
justice
has been ignored, revolutions
have resulted.
Joseph Stalin
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Satan
has operated through the weaknesses and depraved tastes
of rulers.
Vladimir Lenin
Adolf Hitler
__________
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The
increase
of knowledge
and spirit of independence
are curtailing Satan’s influence.
Preparation
for the time
of general public enlightenment.
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Knowledge
brings
an awakening
of self-respect and a realization of rights.
Martin
Luther King, Jr.
Rosa Parks
Man’s
extremity -- God’s opportunity. |
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"Now
therefore
ye are no more strangers and foreigners,
but fellow citizens with the saints,
and of the household of God."
Ephesians 2:19
After
the death
of the Apostles, preaching of the coming kingdom
of God was unpopular. |
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The Pope crowning Charlemagne
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Next,
the nominal church, uniting
with governments of earth, claimed that the reign of Christ had come.
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Children
of God were distracted from the promised heavenly kingdom.
Kingdoms
of this world
are not Christlike.
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Make
friends
with God’s
Anointed Son.
Kissing the Pope's toe -- an erroneous application of "kiss the
Son" [God's Anointed Son].
Rulers of earth are to repent to avoid God's anger.
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