What does the chronology of the Bible reveal about the year 1914?
The answer of the Bible
According to the chronology of the Bible, God's Kingdom was established in Heaven in 1914. This is made clear by a prophecy in the Bible book of Daniel, chapter 4.
The prophecy at a glance. Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, received a dream from God that had prophetic significance. In this dream a huge tree was cut down. The tree stump was then prevented from growing back for "seven times" (Daniel 4:1, 10-16).
The first fulfillment of the prophecy. The large tree represented Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 4:20-22). (Daniel 4:20-22) The king was metaphorically overthrown when he became temporarily insane and could not reign for seven years. After that, God saw to it that he was restored to sanity. (Daniel 4:34-36) Nebuchadnezzar returned to his throne and acknowledged that God is the highest ruler.
Why the prophecy has a second, greater fulfillment. What was the deeper meaning behind the prophecy? All should recognize that God "is the ruler in the kingdom of mankind, and that he gives it to whom he wills, and sets above it even the lowest of men" (Daniel 4:17). Was the proud Nebuchadnezzar the one to whom God would eventually give this dominion? No. God had already made it clear to him before in a dream of prophetic significance that neither he nor any other political ruler would take on this role. Instead, God himself would "set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed" (Daniel 2:31-44).
In ancient times, God had already established a kingdom that represented his rule: the nation of Israel. But the rulers became unfaithful to God. God therefore allowed this kingdom to be laid in "ruins. He announced, however, that one day he would give royal rule to the one "who has the lawful right" (Ezekiel 21:25-27). As the Bible shows, it is Jesus Christ who is rightfully entitled to this royal power - for God's Kingdom that will have no end (Luke 1:30-33). Unlike Nebuchadnezzar, Jesus is humble through and through (Matthew 11:29).
What does the tree in Daniel 4 stand for? In the Bible, trees sometimes represent rulers or kingdoms (Ezekiel 17:22-24; 31:2-5). The tree is therefore a symbol of God's rule.
What does it mean that the tree was cut down? In the first fulfillment it meant that Nebuchadnezzar temporarily did not rule as king. In the second, greater fulfillment, it meant that God's reign on earth would be temporarily interrupted. When was that? When Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the city of Jerusalem, where the kings of Israel sat as representatives of God on the "throne of Jehovah.
What do the "seven times" mean? The "seven times" are the period of time during which God allowed governments to rule the earth without any kingdom of God interfering in their affairs. They began in October 607 BCE. That was the year in which, according to biblical chronology, Jerusalem was destroyed by the Babylonians (2 Kings 25:1, 8-1. *).
How long do the "seven ages" last? They cannot correspond to a period of only seven years, as in the case of Nebuchadnezzar. The answer to the question was provided by Jesus: "Jerusalem [a symbol of God's rule] will be trampled under foot by the nations until the appointed times of the nations are fulfilled." (Luke 21:24) The "appointed times of the nations," that is, the period of time during which God allows His reign to be "trampled under foot by the nations," is identical to the "seven times" of Daniel 4. Accordingly, the "seven times" were not yet over when Jesus lived on earth.
The duration of the "seven times" can be found out with the Bible. It says that three and a half "times" are equal to 1,260 days; "seven times" are then doubled: 2,520 days (Revelation 12:6, 14). According to the prophetic rule of "one day for one year", 2,520 days correspond to 2,520 years. So the "seven times" (2,520 years) that began in October 607 BCE, ended in October 1914 * (Genesis 14:34; Ezekiel 4:6)
