And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign forever and ever.”

…

“And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest… destroy them that destroy the earth.” (Rev. 11:15 & 18)

Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image on his feet that were of iron and clay and brake them in pieces.

…

And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left unto other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever. (Dan. 2:34 & 44)

The age of the kingdom of Christ has come into the world, and the age of nations – as it once was – is gone forever; destroyed and consumed by that One Kingdom whose dominion will never end. In the days of Daniel, God spoke to the emperor of the earth, declaring that the Kingdom of Christ would strike the feet upon which all earthly kingdoms stand (Dan. 2:34), and that all earthoy kingdoms – once solid, hard and heavy – would become as chaff and be blown away of the wind (v. 35).

Christ, the Messiah has come, and given of His kingdom to man, wherefore it was declared by the Apostles of the Lamb: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matt. 3:2, 4:17, 10:7)

Just as the Lord revealed to Daniel, the Stone made without hands is come and His Kingdom, His empire, came in the days of Babylon’s feet. The kingdom of iron (Rome) was mingled with the kingdom of clay (Israel (Is. 64:8; Jer. 18:6)) in Herodian Judea in the days that Christ came as the dream of Nebuchadnezzar predicted. Christ’s proclamation of judgment upon Jerusalem and the Sanhedrin that ruled there beought about the literal decimation of that kingdom of iron and clay in 70 A.D. The feet were crushed, and all the nations and kingdoms have come to nought; they are as chaff blown upon the wind.

Yet we have lived as though Christ’s kingdom is of the earth; nations, even organizations, have risen through history with a theocratic intent and purpose, but His kingdom is not of this world (John 18:36 & 37). Rather, as He declared:

…”Thou sayest I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.”

To which the polotician answered (showing himself not to be a subject of Christ’s kingdom, but one who was eluded by it): “What is truth?” (John 18:37, 38)

It is interesting that even where the question was directly posed to Christ whether He was a king, the Lord answered: “Thou sayest I am a king.” i.e.: those are YOUR words, and that is your understanding of my position, and who I am. No, He is superior to a king; indeed all kingdoms and nations are brought to naught by Him.

His position is not found as that of a king who must be made and esteemed one by man – as Herod was elected to his kingship of Israel by the Roman senate; Christ’s position is not found in the esteem of men; rather His position is found in Spirit and in Truth. Indeed He is the faithful witness, the first begotten of the dead, and the Prince (or the ultimate chief ruler) of the kings of the earth (Rev. 1:5).

He said to Pilate: ‘You say I am a king.’ Indeed, Pilate understood nothing greater than he dominion of kings and emporers, but Christ’s kingdom is not of this world; His kingdom defines this world, for Christ’s kingdom is Truth itself. They that are of the Truth hear His voice. His word does not go out through prelates and governors, or through the news media. No earthly position or title makes any diference; those who tune their ear to Christ are of His kingdom.

It does not matter what nation, or kingdom or family or tribe of people one comes from, if you are of the truth you will hear His voice. If you heed not the voice of Christ, you heed not the Truth.

Mankind continues to live as though the age of nations continued; as though we yet lived in the era of Babylon. Yea, up to the sounding of the final trumpet and the judgment, this shall be so, as the elders declared: The nations were angry, and thy wrath is come… (Rev. 11:18)

Though the kingdom of Christ is come, yet Babylon is. The kingdom of clay and iron propping the others as feet carry a man, yet they are chaff, for their destruction is come: the Stone not made with hands (Dan 2:34). Look not to the nations, these are they who betrayed and killed the Lord of glory.

…Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things?

The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against His Christ.

For of a Truth the against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast appointed, both Herod, and Pontus Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gahered together. (Acts 4:25b-27)

By this declaration (which is in part a quotation of Psalm 2), prophetically all earthly nations stood against Christ in the judgment of His life. Pilate, representing the Emperor of Rome sat in the judgment upon Him; the Jewish Sanhedrin had sat in the judgement upon Him; Herod the tetrarch, son of Herod the Great (who had also attempted to murder Christ at His birth) an Edomite king of Israel sat in judgement upon Him. In this, the religious, the secular, the clay, the iron, all kingdoms stood in judgment upon the Lord and His Christ.

And there followed another angel, saying, “Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.”

The feet of iron and clay (Israel the nation) do indeed hold up this Babylon, for even in our day many (even evangelical Christians, like myself) look for the theocratic emergence of an earthly nation (Israel) as an emergence of God’s kingdom on earth. Whereas Christ declared in the capital city of Jerusalem – in the earthy nation of Israel -(when He stood in the presence of the iron empire (Rome); even in the midst of the clay empire (Israel the nation) and was judged by both clay and iron, and all nations) that His kingdom is not of this world.

Christ declared of the earthly nation of Israel, when asked if He were king of it (as rightly He was, even the offspring of David) that the nation was not His kingdom:

Pilate: Art thou the King of the Jews? (John 18:33b)

…

Jesus: My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered unto the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.

(As this nation is provided our principal example in scripture, I speak of it here, but this principal applies to all earthly nations.) The nation of Israel, and Zionism are deceptive elements leading many toward a false theocracy, they become the strength of political nationalism among many evangelical Christians. Is this God’s kingdom on earth? No, the book declares that all earthly nations shall be judged, for they all drink of the cup of Babylon’s fornication. Some see the nation of Israel as the establishment of God’s kingdom on earth, but Christ has established His kingdom already; wherefore repent, for it is even now at hand.

Rather, Christ spoke and warned us of this theocratic phenomenon:

And when He was demanded of the Pharisees when the kingdom of God should come, He answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: neither shall men say, ‘Lo, here!’ or ‘Lo, there!’ for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you. (Luke 17:20 & 21)

The rising of this nation, or any other in the end of days does not re-establish a kingdom of God, for then we could say: ‘Lo, here!’ Rather it reestablishes the principal of the kingdom of clay and of iron: and that which ought to be formed only by God (clay) conforms itself to the image of the nations, as it is written of that kingdom:

And whereas thou sawest iron mingled with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with he seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay. (Dan. 2:43)

But I digress from speaking of modern political entities, after using just one blaring example, but the principal of scripture stands: the spiritual mingling with the natural shall be destroyed as the the natural.

Come out of her my people that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. (Rev. 18:4)

Beware of theocrats and any organization or group viewed as God’s kingdom. Trust them not for they draw you back to the transgression of Babylon through the pride of nationalism (Dan 4:30). Rather, as it is written:

Kiss the Son, lest he be angry and ye perish from the way, when His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him. (Ps. 2:12)

At Christ’s return, when the seventh trumpet sounds, the kingdoms of the world shall become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ (Rev. 11:15). The superceding kingdom of Truth shall reign over all nations. The nations are angry, and His wrath shall come. It shall not come before Christ’s return. Babylon is fallen, is fallen.

To what nation or kingdom will you look? To the head of gold? Or to iron and clay? To what political figure will you turn? To which bit of chaff will you turn for grounding, for Truth, for justice?

The nations are shattered already, and are but chaff. The end of all things is the battle between the righteous blood shed by nations, and the redeemer of blood Jesus Christ. Are you aligned with the nations, whose anger, violence, and bloodshed increases by the day? Come out of her that you may be redeemed.

That which is born of flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. (John 3:6)

You must be born again.