Did you know that in the Bible, there are prophecies about the history of mankind?
Knowing these prophecies allows us to increase our confidence in the word of God, and to be attentive to the prophetic events of the times in which we live today.
However, today we ask ourselves a question in relation to this issue, does God control the history of humanity according to the bible?
To answer this question, I have chosen one of those most important prophecies about human history.
The statue of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream in the book of Daniel
It is about King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream regarding a giant statue made of different materials.
A head of gold, a breast of silver, a belly and thighs of bronze, legs of iron, and feet of clay mixed with iron.
At the end of his dream, this statue is destroyed by a large rock that falls from the sky.
The rock turns the statue into dust, and in its place rises a great mountain.
The statue looked something like this:
The interesting thing about this matter, is that God reveals to Daniel that this is a prophecy about the kingdoms that will lead the earth until the end of the world.
The moment when God will intervene in human history, and will establish his kingdom of love forever, eradicating sin from this planet and the universe.
Each part of the body, with a different metal, represents a different kingdom.
In general, there is consensus that the head of gold is Babylon, the chest of silver the Medo-Persian empire, the belly and thighs of bronze the Greek empire, and the legs of iron the Roman Empire.
All these empires already existed and fell.
We are now in the last part of human history.
The feet of clay with iron.
Today, there is no total consensus on what those feet symbolize.
Some say it is the European Union, others that it is the United Nations, others that it is the United States, others we believe that it is religious or papal Rome, etc.
I will not deal with that in this post.
What is clear is that we are in the last era of humanity.
God and the outcome of human history
Now, to answer the question of whether God controls the history of mankind, in my opinion, the Bible is clear in saying that God in his sovereignty has reserved to maintain control over human history.
We can see this in the praise of Daniel upon receiving the vision with the dream that King Nebuchadnezzar had:
Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever; wisdom and power are his.
He changes times and seasons; he deposes kings and raises up others.
He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning.
He reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells with him.
| Daniel 2: 20–22
Daniel says that God changes times and seasons; he deposes kings and raises up others.
This seems to me to be consistent with the whole theme of the book of Daniel, where God is presented as the sovereign over the kings of the earth.
In my opinion, this does not mean that all events in international politics, all wars, and presidential elections are decreed by God.
Not at all, what it means is that, in general, God directs human history towards a certain outcome.
This outcome is made clear by Daniel at the end of the interpretation of the dream for King Nebuchadnezzar:
In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people.
It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever.
| Daniel 2:44
God directs the history of humanity towards a happy ending.
The establishment of a perfect kingdom, where we will be forever with Him.
The invitation is open to all of us who want to join that kingdom, because the kingdom of heaven is already among us making its way into human hearts through Jesus.
That kingdom of love will prevail in the future over all others.
I hope I have helped you with your question.
If you are interested in delving into the subject, I recommend you take a look at this book.
God bless you.
And you? What do you think about God and human history? What is your experience? Share in the comments.
A hug, God bless you.
