Prophetic Expositions, vol. 1

VI. THE TERRITORIAL DOMINION OF CHRIST

1. It is to be all the territory now occupied by the great image of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. “Wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of heaven hath he given into thy hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all.” Dim. ii. 38. “A stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image.” “Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver and the gold broken to pieces together,” “like the chaff of the summer threshing-floors, and the wind carried them away.” “And the stone that smote the image became a great mountain and FILLED THE WHOLE EARTH.” Daniel 2:35. Then, in verse 44, when the explanation is given, it is said, “In the days of these kings the God of heaven shall set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed. It shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.” The stone is to break these kingdoms, and the kingdom of God is to do it. Then the stone, Christ, and the kingdom of God, are the same. The enlargement of the stone will be by gathering together, in the fulness of the dispensation of times, all things in him, whether they be things in heaven, or things in earth, or things under the earth, even in him. Ephesians 1:10. Thus will his body be perfected and his kingdom organized. Then the meek will inherit the earth. The second Psalm is also another testimony on this point: “Yet have I set my king on my holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree: the Lord hath said unto me thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.” The testimony here is decisive on the point, that the Son of God is to possess the uttermost parts of the earth. He adds, “thou shalt break them [the heathen] with a rod of iron, and shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.” This is all the conversion of the heathen promised in the second Psalm. PREX1 21.1

2. The Saviour himself has taught us the same thing in Matthew 25:34: “Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” There was a kingdom prepared for and given to man as soon as he existed, and even before he was brought into being. That kingdom or dominion was “all the earth;” and also all that earth, air, and sea contained. Genesis 1. (See Sec. 1.) The Bible furnishes us with no hint that God ever prepared any other kingdom for man when he laid the foundation of the world. This kingdom, then, Christ is to restore and give to his saints. PREX1 22.1

3. A text already noticed, (Revelation 11:15,) teaches the same doctrine: “There were great voices in heaven, saying, the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.” Numerous other texts might be presented, all showing the same thing. But these must suffice for the present. PREX1 22.2