Page 284 - Through New Eyes

The Course of HistoV 285

the past century or so it has become more common to expect evil
to triumph. z To be sure, the Bible does say that right before our
Lord’s return, the wicked will mount an assault on the holy city
(Revelation 20: 7-10). This attack, however, is evidence of a
decline; and so we ask, a decline from what? Obviously, a
decline from an earlier period of Kingdom prosperity.
In numerous places the Bible indicates the continued growth
of Christ’s Kingdom at the expense of Satan’s. For instance, in
Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of the course of empire, the Kingdom
of God strikes the statue of humanism. As Daniel explains to
Nebuchadnezzar:

You continued looking until a stone was cut out without hands,
and it struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay, and crushed
them. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the
gold were crushed all at the same time, and became like chaff
from the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them
away so that not a trace of them was found. But the stone that
struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole
earth (Daniel 2:34-35).

I believe on the basis of Exodus 20:25 that the stone cut with-
out hands is a reference to the altar. Remember, the altar is a
holy mountain, and we have seen the altar grow and become
bigger throughout Old Testament history. The altar speaks of
Jesus Christ, of course, but also of true worship. It is true wor-
ship that will undermine and destroy the kingdoms of this world.
Notice though, that the stone (or altar) grows until it fills the
whole earth. It does not say that the altar simply coexists with
the wicked world. Nor does it say that the altar jumps instantly
to fill the world. No, it says that the altar (or stone) gradual~
grows to fill the world.
Along similar lines we can consider the river of Ezekiel 47.
We remember that the first application of this passage is to the
Restoration establishment, but since the Restoration covenant,
like all covenants, is a ~pe of the New Covenant, we can legiti-
mately make applications to the New Testament era as well.
Notice, then, that after the river begins trickling out of the Tem-
ple, it grows deeper and wider as it goes.