46 The Great Tree Dec. 13, 2024

To understand this blog, I suggest you first familiarize yourself with #40 The Age of the Earth. I believe the earth is approaching the age of six thousand years with Christ’s millennium being the equivalent of the Sabbath day in a Biblical week with each day representing a thousand years, and #40 gives my argument for this from the Bible in detail.  I do not believe in evolution or the vast ages, i.e., the earth being over four billion years old. When Christ sat on the Mount of Olives and his disciples came to him privately asking about the sign of His coming and the end of the age in Matthew 24:3,4, Christ said to let no one deceive them. Most of Western Civilization has been deceived for over a century by evolution and the vast ages.

On to the book of Daniel.  The book is important because in Daniel 12:4 and 9, it is stated that it is a closed or sealed book till the time of the end. I believe this is no longer the case, and in previous blogs, I have given my interpretations for the double prophecies that Daniel wrote of.  Daniel was an aristocratic Jewish teenager who was taken from Jerusalem to Babylon to work in the Babylonian civil service. He was of the royal family, and likely emasculated per 2 Kings 20:17,18 and Daniel 1:3 as there is no evidence that he ever married from the book.  Marriage and children are very important to those of the Jewish faith.

In Daniel 2, Nebuchadnezzar, the Babylonian king, had a dream.  He called a division of wise men who interpreted dreams, but Nebuchadnezzar demanded they tell him both the dream and the interpretation. They were stunned at the king’s request and asked him to tell them the dream so they could interpret it. He refused and, in a fury, gave the command to destroy all the wise men of Babylon. Daniel and his three friends, better known as Shadrach, Meshack, and Abed-Nego, were in the middle of three years of training to be wise men. They would have been killed, but Daniel asked the king for time, and after a prayer meeting with his friends seeking the mercies of heaven, Daniel was given a night vision with the dream.

Per Daniel 2:31, Nebuchadnezzar saw in his dream a great image, whose splendor was excellent and form was awesome.  Its head was of gold, with chest and arms of silver, belly and thighs of bronze, and legs of iron with feet partly or iron and partly of clay.  Then, a stone was cut out without hands, which struck the image on its feet of iron and clay and broke them in pieces (Daniel 2:34). The pieces were then crushed together, and the wind carried them away so that nothing was left. And the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth (Daniel 2:35).  Dr. David Jeremiah relates that in human history, man began as fine gold and ended as dust.

Daniel then told the king that he was a king of kings, and God had given him a kingdom, power, strength, and glory. Nebuchadnezzar was the head of gold. Daniel 2:39 “But after you shall arise another kingdom inferior to yours; then another, a third kingdom of bronze which shall rule over all the earth.  40 “And the fourth kingdom shall be as strong as iron, inasmuch as iron breaks in pieces and shatters everything; and like iron that crushes, that kingdom will break in pieces and crush all the others.

41 “Whereas you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter’s clay and partly of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; yet the strength of the iron shall be in it, just as you saw iron mixed with ceramic clay.  It is not my purpose here to discuss this verse, but only the first four.  However, this is explained in The Return of the Nephilim in my earlier blog 43. Hence, I only wish to discuss the first four metals- gold, silver, bronze, and iron at this time. 

The meanings of the first four metals were explained by Dr. David Jeremiah in chapter 3 of Agents of Babylon, 2015. Babylon, the head of gold, lasted from 605 to 539 BC.  The silver represented the Medo-Persian Empire which replaced Babylon.  The two arms indicate it was an empire of both the Medes and the Persians, lasting from 539 to 331 BC.  They became the Persian Empire which was replaced by the bronze empire of the Greeks under Alexander the Great in 331 BC and lasting till about 146 BC.  They were replaced by the iron empire of Rome which delighted in crushing their enemies. In 395 AD, the Roman Empire was divided into the Eastern Roman Empire headquartered in Constantinople and the Western Roman Empire led by Rome, hence, the two legs.  The city of Rome was sacked by the barbarians in 410 AD, and the last Roman legion in the Western Empire was destroyed in 476 AD.  Constantinople fell to the Turks in 1453 AD to end the empire in the east.  The feet of iron and clay are yet to appear. 

Grant R. Jeffrey, in one of his many prophecy books circa 2000, noted that the entire sequence would be repeated in the Last Days.  Let us assume this is a double prophecy, which is about to appear a second time.  First, we need a head of gold. One would need a brilliant charismatic leader, such as Donald Trump, who performed very well in his first term, though the deep state fought mightily against him.  Regarding world leaders, I suspect President Trump was the number one world leader during his first term. Now, despite lawfare heretofore unprecedented in American history, he has been re-elected to the presidency.  Do I expect him to be put out to pasture for the next seven years?  That seems highly unlikely, but, if he is raptured, he will be out of power on the earth for seven years during Daniel’s final or seventieth week. I do believe the God of the Bible has transformed the billionaire.

I believe the head of gold also applied to the nation of Babylon around 2600 years ago.  In the 19th century, the world’s greatest nation would have been the British Empire.  In our time, the head of gold would be America.  It would likely have many problems if it was about to be replaced by the silver. This could include a fiat currency with a debt of thirty-six trillion dollars and adding a trillion dollars in debt every 100 days. It could include a massive problem with immigration. In Daniel 4:4 Daniel is told to seal the book until the time of the end; many shall run to and fro...  This could refer to an immigration crisis. For many years, we were told there were about 11 million illegal aliens living in America, but others doubled this number.  Then, under President Biden’s four years beginning 2021, ten million more were let into the country (including about 15,000 murderers and a slightly larger number of rapists), but some believe the total number admitted could also be doubled or even trebled. Hence, potentially, we have 50 million illegal aliens now among the American population of about 347 million persons, or around 1 illegal to every 7 citizens within the country.  This imported population was disproportionately young males.  It has also been noted that about two million persons were gotaways, i.e., they did not wish to take the money or monetary tokens of the Biden administration.  Some, of course, were bringing in drugs, but others could wish us harm. Over 400 Muslims on the terror watch list were allowed to enter the country according to Fox News.  Perhaps, there were many more among the two million gotaways. This is of particular interest since Persia replaced the head of gold. In our time that would be Iran, whose leaders regard us as the Great Satan, and chants of “Death to America” are frequently heard in Iran. This was explained in detail in Daniel 2. Persia is modern Iran. I find it interesting the phrasing of Daniel 2:39 “But after you (Nebuchadnezzar) shall arise another kingdom (of silver) inferior to yours; then another a third kingdom of bronze (Greece), which shall rule over all the earth.  Daniel did not say the silver would rule over all the earth as he did for the Greek bronze, only that it was inferior to the gold head of Babylon.  In fact, ancient Persia did rule over the world during the time of its empire, but how would the silver and bronze work in the modern world? Islam is divided into Sunni and Shia Islam, with Iran being Shia along with much of Iraq, the Houthis in Yemen and Hezbollah in Lebanon.  Shia comprises about 13% of Islam with over 80% being Sunni.  Though both are Islamic, they hate each other, each regarding the other as apostate. I suspect that Sunni Islam is the bronze kingdom of the modern era as ancient Greece was a maritime empire with Greek cities on the western coast of Turkey.  Ancient Greece and Persia came into conflict when the Persians, a land empire, began to conquer the Greek coastal cities.  The iron was Rome; in our time, the European Union.

Iran has missiles and is on the verge of getting atomic weapons.  Perhaps they will attack America with an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) via an atomic bomb exploded over the US, ending the American Empire.  The missile could come from a submarine or a merchant ship. To me, it seems more likely that it would be an attack from within, perhaps by Muslim terrorists, funded by Iran, on multiple transformers to knock out the electric grid, or perhaps another way.  Nevertheless, if America is the head of gold, she is replaced by the silver kingdom of Iran in modern times, but Iran will not last long. It will be replaced by Sunni Islam, whose chief nations would be Turkey, Egypt, and Pakistan, the latter already having nuclear weapons. These nations will be nervous at the prospect of a nuclear Iran. As the bronze refers to the Greek empire which had ports in western what is now Turkey, I believe Turkey will lead this confederation to take out Iran (Jeremiah 49:34-38), most likely its nuclear capability.  Turkey has the largest army in NATO except for the USA.

I believe Iran will attack America and then Israel, or, perhaps, both at the same time per Daniel 2, Amos 1 & 2 and Zephaniah 2, Isaiah 17:1, and Ezekiel 25 where Moab and Ammon are given to the men of the East (Iran?).  Curiously, Zephaniah 2:3- Seek the LORD, all you meek of the earth, who have upheld his justice. Seek righteousness, seek humility.  It may be that you will be hidden in the day of the LORD’s anger.        This appears to refer to the rapture of the church.  The prophet goes on to say there will be no inhabitant in Gaza, the land of the Philistines, and that Moab and Ammon (central and northern Jordan) will be like Sodom and Gomorrah, i.e., no inhabitants. Likely, Israel responds to this attack with neutron bombs that kill living things, but the radiation dissipates quickly and buildings are left intact for the return of the rest of the Jews and the lost tribes.  Isaiah 17:1 relates that Damascus, the oldest continually inhabited city in the world, will be a heap of rubble.  Likely, they get a regular atomic bomb with significant radiation for forty years. Buildings are destroyed also.

Amos 1 & 2 also details the destruction of Syria and Gaza and Lebanon, the latter two because they delivered the captivity to Edom. Islam came from the Arabs whose heritage goes back to Ishmael and Esau who dwelt in Edom.  The destruction of Edom, Moab, and Ammon, who collectively make up the modern nation of Jordan is also noted.  The king of Jordan has expressed regret for his father making the second peace treaty with Israel in 1994, Egypt being the first among the Arabs to do so. I suspect Iran will also suffer significant damage from this attack, enough to encourage Sunni Islam to attack to remove their nuclear capability.  Iran is not entirely destroyed by Sunni Islam because they are the first nation mentioned along with Russia in the Russo-Islamic invasion of Israel per Ezekiel 38 & 39, specifically verse 38:5.

However, it appears that ancient Judah, or modern Israel, suffers significant damage as well per Amos 2:4-5.  And ancient Israel also suffers extensive damage per Amos 2:6-16 and Isaiah 17:3. I believe ancient Israel to be the sons of Joseph, Ephraim (modern England) and Manasseh (the USA). Hosea was a prophet to the northern kingdom of Israel, which was destroyed by Assyria in 722 BC.  Hosea 5:7 They have dealt treacherously with the LORD, for they have begotten pagan children. Now a New (crescent) Moon shall devour them and their heritage. One of the main gods of Assyria was Sin, whose symbol was the crescent or New Moon.  The crescent moon is also the symbol for Islam, making this another double prophecy. 

I believe the Anglo-Saxons are the lost tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, the sons of Joseph.  In the last quarter of the sixth millennium, each was raised up in his turn to become the world’s premier nation. Each of the six millennia follows a day of Creation.  A Jewish day goes sunset to sunset, or darkness to light.  The land animals were created during the morning of the sixth day with man created towards the end of the sixth day. Likewise, the Anglo-Saxon nations were raised up at the end of the sixth millennium with Christ’s millennium the Sabbath of a Biblical week of seven days.

The U.S. Supreme Court discovered separation of church and state in 1947.  They outlawed Bible reading and Christian prayers in American schools in the early 1960s and the viewing of the Ten Commandments in schools in 1980. I find this curious as the New England Puritans thought the purpose of education was so their children could read the Bible. In 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court legalized abortion and over 65 million children have been aborted, human sacrifices according to the Bible. After Hamas in Gaza attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, and Israel responded by attacking Gaza, many American university students yelled, “From the river to the sea, Palestine must be free.” The river is the Jordan; the sea is the Mediterranean.  In effect, they were saying Israel and God’s people, the Jews, must leave the land God allotted to them or cease to exist. We have indeed begotten pagan children of the ones who lived, i.e., the ones who were not aborted.

Hosea 6:1 Come, and let us return to the LORD; for he has torn, but He will heal us; He has stricken, but He will bind us up, that we may live in His sight.  2  After two days He will revive us; on the third day, He will raise us up that we may live in His sight.    Psalm 90:4 and 2 Peter 3:8 relate that a day to the LORD is like a thousand years.  Many use this verse beginning when Jerusalem was destroyed by Rome in 70 AD and resurrected as a nation at midnight on May 14-15 in 1948.  It is even closer to two thousand years if you begin at the Roman conquest of Jerusalem by Pompey in 63 BC.

However, Hosea was a prophet not to Judah, but to the northern kingdom of Israel.  Israel separated from Judah at the death of Solomon circa 931-930 BC.  Its king, Jeroboam, immediately put up golden calves (1 Kings 12:28) in the north and south of his nation.  He changed the feasts of the LORD, whose name means “the Appointed Times,” from the seventh to the eighth month (1 Kings 12:33).  He made priests of those who were not Levites (1 Kings 12:31).  He seemed to go out of his way to offend God, whose prophet had predicted he would be the king of the northern kingdom per 1 Kings 11:26—40. Two millennia later would be about 1070 AD.  Did something significant happen on that year or close to it.  In 1066 AD, the Normans (North men), Vikings who had conquered Normandy in France, made the last successful invasion of Anglo-Saxon England. Before this, England had been insular.  Thereafter, she took an active part in European affairs. 

There is also a third possibility.  Likely, this two-thousand-year interval refers to the church, founded on the Hebrew Feast of Weeks, fifty days after the resurrection in either 32 or 33 AD.  Two thousand years later would be 2032 or 2033 AD. And remember the final week of Daniel (seven Biblical years of 360 days per year or seven calendar years less 36 of 37 days depending on the number of leap years) could end the six thousand years of earth’s history after Creation. I expect the church to be raptured just before this final week begins or a few months into its first year.  At present, we are about 1,992 or 1,991 years into the two thousand, and I do not believe it has to be precise, only close.

Perhaps the great tree of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream in Daniel 4 is the church, as well as America, and perhaps, Israel, or all of them. In Daniel 4, Nebuchadnezzar has another dream.  He calls in his wise men who interpret dreams, but they are unable to explain it to his satisfaction.  Then, he calls in Daniel, and tells him his dream.  Per Daniel 4:10 “These were the visions of my head while on my bed: I was looking, and behold, a tree in the midst of the earth, and its height was great. 11 The tree grew and became strong; its height reached to the heavens, and it could be seen to the ends of all the earth.  12 Its leaves were lovely, its fruit abundant, and in it was food for all.  The beasts of the field found shade under it, the birds of the heavens dwelt in its branches, and all flesh was fed from it.  13 “I saw in the visions of my head while on my bed, and there was a watcher, a holy one, coming down from heaven.  14 He cried aloud and said thus: ‘Chop down the tree and cut off its branches, strip off its leaves and scatter its fruit.  Let the beasts get out from under it, and the birds from its branches.  15 Nevertheless leave the stump and roots in the earth, bound with a band of iron and bronze, in the tender grass of the field Let it be wet with the dew of heaven and let him graze with the beasts on the grass of the earth.  16 Let his heart be changed from that of a man, let him be given the heart of a beast, and let seven times pass over him.   

17 ‘This decision is by the decree of the watchers, and the sentence by the word of the holy ones, in order that the living may know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, gives to whomever He will, and sets over it the lowest of men.’

Nebuchadnezzar then asks Daniel for the interpretation. Daniel is initially silent, troubled by his thoughts, but at the king’s urging, he explains the dream. The great tree was Nebuchadnezzar. He would be driven from men, made to eat grass like an ox, and wet with the dew of heaven till seven times pass over him.  Daniel 4:26 (Daniel speaking) “And inasmuch as they gave the command to leave the stump and roots of the tree, your kingdom shall be assured to you, after you come to know that Heaven rules.  27 Therefore, O king, let my advice be acceptable to you: break off your sins by being righteous, and your iniquities by showing mercy to the poor. Perhaps there will be a lengthening of your prosperity.”

28 All this came upon King Nebuchadnezzar.  29  At the end of the twelve months he was walking about the royal palace of Babylon. 30 The king spoke, saying, “Is this not the great Babylon that I have built for a royal dwelling by my mighty power and for the honor of my majesty?”  31 While the word was still in the king’s mouth, a voice fell from heaven: “King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken: the kingdom has departed from you!  32 And they shall drive you from men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. They shall make you eat grass like oxen; and seven times shall pass over you, until you know the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomever He chooses.” 33 That very hour the word was fulfilled concerning Nebuchadnezzar; he was driven from men and ate grass like oxen; his body was wet with the dew of heaven till his hair had grown like eagles’ feathers and his nails like birds’ claws. 

34 And at the end of the time I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my understanding returned to me; and I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever.

Daniel tailored the dream to his time and Nebuchadnezzar.  In our time, the great tree could be America and/or the church and/or Israel.   I suspect the tree referred to is the cultivated olive tree of Romans 11:16 For if the first fruit is holy, the lump is also holy; and if the root is holy, so are the branches. 17 And is some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree (Gentile pagans who have become Christians), were grafted in among them, and with them became a partaker of the root and fatness of the olive tree, 18 do not boast against the branches. But if you do boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you. 19 You will say then, “Branches were broken off that I might be grafted in.” 20 Well said. Because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith.  Do not be haughty, but fear.  21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either.  22 Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off.  23 And they also, if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again 24 For if you were cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will those, who are natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree?  25 For I do not desire, brethren that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles come in.                   The branches that were broken off because of unbelief would include the lost tribes of Israel, headed by Ephraim, but also his brother Manasseh, sons of Joseph. Both were regrafted into the cultivated olive tree as England and America upon their coming to faith.

Back to Daniel 4:15 Nevertheless leave the stump and roots in the earth, bound with a band of iron and bronze in the tender grass of the field...    Stumps are bound to prevent their regrowth. Why iron and bronze, two metals that were noted in Nebuchadnezzar’s statue of Daniel 2?  Bronze referred to the Greek kingdom, a maritime kingdom also prominent on the western coast of modern Turkey.  I believe Turkey will represent the bronze as Sunni Islam, while silver will represent Shia Islam with the most prominent country Iran.  Iron represents the European Union. Both of these entities will strongly oppose Christianity during Daniel’s final or seventieth week. The church is gone, raptured to heaven, but it will return with Christ to reign.  I believe this will occur on a Hebrew feast, the appointed times of God, or on a significant event in the Bible, such as the seventeenth day of the second month on the civil calendar, the day and month of the Great Flood per Genesis 7:11. The next significant Jewish feast is Hanukkah, in Jerusalem beginning this year at sunset Christmas day to sunset January 2, 2025, an eight day feast.  No predictions, just an observation. The feasts of Israel occur annually.   

15… Let his heart be changed from that of a man, let him be given the heart of a beast, and let seven times pass over him.    This verse refers to the anti-Christ. 

I had thought that the great tree of Daniel 4 was America, and it certainly fits in some respects.  America was the greatest nation of the twentieth century and the early twenty-first century thus far.  This was foretold in prophecy in Genesis 48 where the sons of Joseph, Ephraim and Manasseh were given the blessing of God, also noted in Genesis 49:22-26 and Deuteronomy 33:13-17. I believe America is Manasseh, which would become a great nation, following Ephraim which would be a great group of nations, i.e., the British Empire. Now, it seems to be rapidly declining, though many, myself included, hope that President- Elect Trump can turn it around. However, it became great because of its enormous faith in Christianity and God being faithful to His prophecies. If it falls, and if we are in the End Days, the binding of the stump with bands of iron and bronze would seem to indicate the stump will be reborn or return.  I do not think that America or England will be reborn or return, though there is great hope of America being made great again at this point in history.  The great nation of Christ’s millennium is united Israel with the lost tribes, headed by Ephraim, and the Jews of the world returning to Israel.  Hence, I suspect the cutting down of the tree refers to the rapture of the true church within America and England and the world. Many will become Christians during Daniel’s final week, better known as Revelation, but the church is gone via the rapture just before or a few months into Daniel’s final week.

Israel is a very strong nation at present.  Daniel 4:12… and all flesh was fed from it (the great tree).  It does not seem to be a great enough nation to qualify for this tree.  Revelation 11:2 notes the Gentiles will tread the holy city underfoot for forty-two months.  The holy city is Jerusalem.  If the Gentiles control Jerusalem, then Israel is no longer an independent nation. Israel is a strong tree that will be cut down, and it will be restored.  Hence, I believe the church is the great tree, cut down by the rapture, but returning with Christ to reign.