In the book of Daniel, the timing of the coming of the Kingdom is established in Daniel 2:44.
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. This is the meaning of the vision of the rock cut out of a mountain, but not by human hands—a rock that broke the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold to pieces.
Daniel 2:44-45
Daniel is told that the Kingdom of Heaven, or the Kingdom of God will be “set up” in the time of “those kings”.
Several things must be noted and determined from this passage. First, while many interpret the ten toes of the statue of Daniel 2 to be ten kings, ten kingdoms, or various other things, it must be noted that this is strictly interpretation, and not explicitly stated in the text.
Next, we see the words “set up”, which is the Hebrew word translated ‘quam’, meaning
- to arise from
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to come on the scene (fig)
- to arise (out of inaction)
-
to stand
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to endure
Set up means to arise, come on the scene, stand, etc. Now, many would attempt to ascribe the coming of the Kingdom to a future date, and say that it must be a physical, earthly rule. In this, they see the rock of Daniel 2:44 as being the second coming of Christ and establishing His Earthly rule.
Unfortunately, this interpretation fails the analysis, in the broader scope of the study of the Kingdom of God.
Jesus was clear in Mark 1:15. He said, “The Time is fulfilled. The Kingdom is here. Repent and Believe the Gospel.” First, He said the time was fulfilled. Now is the time. This is not to say it’s still come, but, the next statement says, the Kingdom is here. Jesus elsewhere explains some of what the Kingdom is.
But if I with the finger of God cast out devils, no doubt the kingdom of God is come upon you.
Luke 11:20
Jesus said that His deliverances were the direct consequence of the presence of the Kingdom. If one takes the parables of the Kingdom being like a seed and stretches them to a “now and not yet” paradigm of the Kingdom, one must still see that the “setting up” of the Kingdom was it’s planting, not its sprouting forth some time later.
No, the Kingdom was “set up” when when the time was fulfilled. It was set up when it was then at hand. It was set up then, not later.
Daniel 7:18 is more revealing, when read in the KJV.
But the saints of the most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever.
Daniel 7:18 KJV (emphasis mine)
Compare this with the words of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew.
And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.
Matthew 11:12 KJV (emphasis mine)
Again, the parallel is hard to ignore. The saints of the Kingdom would take the Kingdom, and, in Jesus’ day, that is precisely what they were doing. The Old Covenant age ended with the last Old Testament prophet, John the Baptist, and the New Covenant, the Gospel of the Kingdom, began with Jesus.
Thus, again, sufficiently limiting Daniels’ fulfillment of his visions to the time of Jesus’ first coming.