An Indestructible Kingdom

You probably have the image etched in your mind. The day that Saddam Hussein's statue came crashing to the ground on April 9, 2003 in Firdos Square, Baghdad, Iraq. It was a symbol to everyone around the world that Hussein's regime in Iraq was over. As was reported by Paul Wood, journalist for BBC, "Saddam's 25 year death grip over Iraq had been broken; the suffocating sense of fear had been lifted" (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3611869.stm).
I thought about that statue the other day when contemplating the dream that Nebuchadnezzar had in Daniel 2. Nebuchadnezzar had a dream of a great image that was mighty and of exceeding brightness and had a frightening appearance. It had a head of gold, chest and arms of silver, middle and thighs of bronze and legs of iron with feet partly of iron and partly of clay. A stone was cut out by no human hand which struck the image on its feet, breaking them in pieces, along with the entire image. It "became as the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, so that not a trace of them could be found. But the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth" (Dan. 2:35). Daniel informed the King that the head of gold represented his kingdom, the Babylonians. The chest and arms of silver represented the next kingdom, the Medo-Persians. The middle and thighs of bronze represented the next kingdom, the Greeks. The legs of iron which was to be stronger than all of these other kingdoms would crush them, and this was the Roman Empire. It would be in the days of the fourth kingdom that God would set up His kingdom which would never be destroyed. He goes on to say that this kingdom would "break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever..." (Dan. 2:44).
We know that that God's kingdom in this prophecy is the church. Unlike this image that was broken to pieces and scattered in the wind or the image of Saddam Hussein's statue being pulled down and broken, the church will never be destroyed. Jesus even spoke of this aspect of the kingdom when He said to Peter "...upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades shall not overpower it" (Mt. 16:18). Not even the death of the Son of God would stand in the way of accomplishing this goal; rather, God would raise Him from the dead to accomplish this goal and use this as the centerpiece of the gospel message to establish the church. Isn't it great knowing that almost 2,000 years later the church is still here just like God said it would be? The church, God's kingdom, is truly indestructible.