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We need to be in our spirit so that we can be men on earth with God’s heart, men to whom heaven can be opened to see the vision of God concerning the destiny of the world—Rev. 1:10; 4:1-2; cf. Gen. 28:12-17; Ezek. 1:1; Matt. 3:16; Acts 7:56.
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The world situation is the indicator of God’s move on earth—5:31; 17:26-27; Dan. 2:31-45:
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All the major events of human history have been arranged and matched by God for His move on earth; since God has a purpose to accomplish with mankind on earth, He surely has the sovereign authority to manage the situation in human history; as an example, for the spreading of His recovery and for the final stage of His recovery—the building up of the Body as the preparation of the bride—God has sovereignly prepared, preserved, and blessed the United States—Acts 17:26; 5:31; Rom. 12:4-5; Rev. 19:7.
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The entire world situation with its “birth pangs” is for the completion of the re-formation of Israel and also for the completion of the full delivery of the universal new man—Matt. 24:32-34; Mark 13:8; Dan. 12:1-2; Rev. 12:1-2, 5.
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The vision of the great human image in Daniel 2 is a vision of “what will happen in the last days” (v. 28); it is a prophetic illustration of the history of human government, sovereignly arranged by the Lord for the carrying out of His economy (vv. 31-35):
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The head of gold (vv. 36-38), corresponding to the first beast in 7:3-4, signifies Nebuchadnezzar, the founder and the king of Babylon.
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The breast and the arms of silver (2:39a), corresponding to the second beast in 7:5, signify Medo-Persia.
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The abdomen and thighs of bronze (2:39b), corresponding to the third beast in 7:6, signify Greece, including Macedonia.
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The legs of iron and the feet partly of iron and partly of clay (2:33), corresponding to the fourth beast in 7:7-8, signify the Roman Empire with its last ten kings (2:40-44a; 7:7-11, 19-26; Rev. 17:7-13).
Morning Nourishment
Rev. 1:10 I was in spirit on the Lord’s Day and heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet.Dan. 2:32-33 Concerning this image, its head was of fine gold, its breast and its arms of silver, its abdomen and its thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay.
The book of Revelation stresses not only the Spirit of God as the sevenfold intensified Spirit for God's intensified move, but also our human spirit as the organ for us to realize and respond to God's move. Only spirit (our spirit) can respond to Spirit (God's Spirit). This book is composed of four major visions:
(1) the vision of the churches (chs. 1—3), (2) the vision of the destiny of the world (chs. 4—16), (3) the vision of Babylon the Great (chs. 17—20), and (4) the vision of the New Jerusalem (chs. 21—22). John was in his spirit when he saw these four visions (1:10; 4:2; 17:3; 21:10)….We too need to be in our spirit to see the visions in this book. (Rev. 1:10, footnote 1)
Today's Reading
There have been many great and recent changes in the world. It is a historical fact that the world situation has always been the indicator of the Lord's move on earth….The carrying out of His economy has much to do with the world situation.Genesis 10 gives a record of how the nations of the earth were divided after the flood (cf. v. 32). These nations were set up by ambitious persons, but they were not that prominent. One day, however, the Lord Himself established a nation, the nation of Israel. After Moses led the children of Israel out of Egypt, Joshua brought them into the good land. Then God used David to establish the nation of Israel by defeating the enemies, by building up the city of Jerusalem, and by preparing for the building up of the temple to be God's house on earth. Later, after David's son Solomon built the temple, Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, came to destroy the nation of Israel.
Daniel 2 records that Nebuchadnezzar had a dream, which Daniel interpreted. In that dream there was a great human image. The golden head of this image signifies Nebuchadnezzar and his Babylonian Empire. The breast and arms of silver signify the Medo-Persian Empire. The abdomen and thighs of bronze signify the Grecian Empire with Alexander the Great. The legs and feet of iron signify the Roman Empire. The feet of the image were partly of iron and partly of clay, signifying the nations in the period after the fall of Rome and before the second coming of Christ. This image shows the four great empires on earth with their governments. It is actually a prophetic illustration of the history of human government, sovereignly arranged by the Lord for the carrying out of His economy.
Just before the beginning of the New Testament age, Julius Caesar conquered the area of Palestine. Later, his adopted son, Augustus, became the first formal Caesar of the Roman Empire in 27 B.C. That empire was greatly used by God in the carrying out of His New Testament economy. It was under Augustus that Christ was born, and it was under the Roman Empire that Christ was crucified….Christ's birth and death took place through the means of the Roman Empire. When the Roman Empire was formed, that was an indicator that God was going to do something directly to accomplish His New Testament economy.
The Roman Empire also conquered the entire Mediterranean region, bringing all the nations around the Mediterranean Sea under its governmental control, and Greek became its common language. Furthermore, highways were built throughout the Roman Empire to make travel easier and safer. This was a preparation for the spreading of the gospel after Christ's death and resurrection. (CWWL, 1991-1992, vol. 1, "The World Situation and the Direction of the Lord's Move," pp. 268-269)
Further Reading: Life-study of Daniel, msgs. 3-4; CWWL, 1991-1992, vol. 1, "The World Situation and the Direction of the Lord's Move," chs. 1-3; CWWL, 1981, vol. 1, "The World Situation and God's Move," ch. 7