When Daniel saw that almost 70 years were up from the letter from the Prophet Jeremiah, he set to prayer. Jeremiah was a whistleblower for the Lord. He spoke against king and leaders of his day, was persecuted for his prophetic exhortations. He spoke that for covenant breaking, the whole force of judgment would fall, as the covenant given to Solomon explained in 2 Chronicles 7, the full force of eradication would come if the people persisted with their covenant breaking.
As Lamentations tells us the city of Jerusalem is demolished, the temple desecrated and demolished, priesthood killed off, only a few priests and Levites were spared. Nebuchadnezzar showed no mercy. Jeremiah sheds tears as the judgment prophesied tore through the nation of Judah, a place that enjoyed untold glory from God, fire from His presence and glory cloud. Peace was had for many a generation. Yet now the glory long departed, seen by Ezekiel by the River Chebar. A Glory reluctant to depart, waiting in mercy to see if yet one would repent.
How many tears were shed as Jeremiah would send the captives a tough letter which we have a record, Jeremiah 29. We readily quote from it, but the letter is sent to hearts completely traumatised by loss and displacement, but yet this forms the basis for Daniel to seek God.
In this time Daniel prays and encounters silence for 20 days.
Daniel is puzzled by the silence from the heavens. What he does not know that he was in a transition of his own. Daniel was a resident of the palace which was of Babylon but overnight in a certain day the kingdom of Babylon ceased to exist but became Persian. The resistence to the answer to Daniel’s prayer would open somewhat to what was hidden to prophets from before the Captivity. Yet where and when Daniel was living was in the epicentre of a great transition making the way for the Messiah to come. This is in essence what was eventually revealed.
The Kingdom of Persia would soon decline to make way for the Kingdom of Greece and then Rome. This is necessary for what becomes the age and season of Grace. Greece would unify the language of this large swathe of the empire, and in turn Rome would unify roads to make the Gospel more accessible far and wide.
Today I am convicted that we are on the cusp on the epicentre of another great transition, similar to that of what Daniel saw. We are about to see a collapse of empires, rulers and governments, systems and dependencies. This is to make way for another age, another step toward to the return of the Messiah. The Kingdoms of this world have become the Kingdom of God. This is exactly what is happening.
God has come with His angels to shake every palace, parliament, politician, because their systems are bankrupt and bereft of any virtue. That is why you sense the instability and heaviness as nations decline and see upheavals and disasters.
Prophets like Jeremiah must come to blow the whistle on what goes on in closed doors, and expose the corruption which has lived in the corridors of power for centuries. This platform we see today as nations, was to prepare a new roadway and highway, it is not physical, it is digital. The internet has provided so many opportunities.
Just as Jeremiah warns the Church of its broken covenants, so Daniel will oversee the transitions in the realms of government. This is speaking figuratively. Interesting as I have spent many years studying the Captivity that I began to see how God conducted the people of God in it. Jeremiah prophesying to people who are covenant breakers, Ezekiel prophesying to priesthood. Daniel prophesying to governments and kings.
We need this prophet in many spheres in our world. The Lord will take His Church through covenant breaking to covenant making. He will bring His Church into her identity as the Bride of Christ.
This is why government is turning so evil, to try to derail the eternal government through Christ and His Bride.
Many will spill their blood for this vision. Many have been taken by the demons of power and greed. These even in so called Church leadership will turn into the enemy of the saints. Yet what governments do not count on, or understand is that there is a city, a Bride and a King about to descend.
So in our place in this century it is time to seek God for His vision of our times. We need not fear, for the cursing of powers across the world will fade away when Jesus will descend in His city with His Bride.
We are at the epicentre of this great transition, where judgment makes way for eternal recompense of His saints!
Maranatha!
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