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To any discerning readers out there,
For what it is worth, I stumbled across this article this morning from the Sydney Morning Herald (Australia) (http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/how-i-met-julian-assange-and-secured-the-american-embassy-cables-20101210-18sxj.html). It describes an interview with Julian Assange, the man behind Wikileaks. Philip Dorling says more than he realises when he tells of the lengths he had to go to to see Assange.
We are seeing a subtle (maybe not so subtle) change in the proportion of clay to iron in the feet of the great image of Daniel chapter 2. For those of you who have escaped Augustine's allegorizing of Scripture, and especially his twisting of all prophetic Scripture, Daniel's words are very relevant to today's world. He wrote, "And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay." (Daniel 2:43)
For some years I have been pondering the phrase, "they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men" and observing the changes in the political framework of the nations of our world. It is obvious that the latter stages of the Roman empire, as depicted in the feet, and toes of the image in Nebuchadnezzar's dream, are increasingly "democratic." The extremities of the fourth kingdom are described as a mixture of iron and clay, of monarchy and democracy.
As much as we enjoy living in a (relative) democracy and appreciate the privileges we have, we need to remember several structural weaknesses that are inherent in clay. The Hebrew word in Daniel 2:42 for "broken" is "tebar", and is also defined as being "fragile". The molecular bonding in clay is quite weak, even if it is fired in a furnace, so that is is easily shattered with a blow, as is depicted in 2:34. Note that the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ smites the image on its feet and (in v. 35) totally destroys it.
Students of history see a tide of democracy that ebbs and flows. Sometimes it is at high tide and sometimes the tide is out. We think we see, since the French Revolution at least, a rise in the sea level of democracy worldwide. To listen to the news we get the impression that "democracy" is accepted worldwide as the default form of rule over the nations. No doubt, this is a false impression. Many of the nations that claim the title "democratic" are anything but, and the ones that we think are "democratic" are increasingly ruled by tyrants who speak with forked tongues. You know them all. The (dis)United Nations demands that every nation everywhere be "democratic"- ally ruled by all the other nations (?) Strange anomalies, these terms. And strange "animules", these spokesmen from the UN!!!!
Somewhere, somebody has written a much more thorough and coherent (and penetrating) insight than I into what is happening to the political framework of a world in rebellion against God. I am only saying here that the internet provides massive amounts of clay for the feet of the image of Daniel 2. Every computer that is connected to the internet has the capacity to pump out megatonnes of clay for the feet of empires. More and more, the common man influences the stance of the image. And just so, the strength of the feet of the Roman Empire is decreased. It makes so much sense, the more clay there is, the weaker our nations are.
I know, this sounds like I oppose democratic rule, but I don't. I just know that, when the common man's heart is far from God, it is dangerous for the common man to rule his destiny. You disagree? Have you read the book of Judges lately? "In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did that which was right in his own eyes." Sound familiar?
The overwhelming desire for goodies (dare we call it covetousness?) in democracies, and the tendency for us to vote for the candidates who promise us the most "goodies" reminds us of that old quote, ""A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of governement. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by dictatorship. The average age of the world's greatest civilizations has been 200 years." Alexis de Tocqueville (?)
In recent years the word "largesse" has been modified to read, "unlimited largesse".
I personally think Julian Assange's Wikileaks, and all it spews forth into our homes and minds, needs to be seen biblically, prophetically. It is simply an increase in the power of the common man. And if it is, we will see very shortly, a corresponding increase in the common man's demands for more rights, more lollies, and more control. The toes are getting very weak!
I see it as another harbinger of the soon return of Christ.
Perhaps today!
Bro. Buddy Smith
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