Preterism is a form of eschatology that holds to the belief that all of Biblical prophecy was fulfilled by or soon after 70 A.D. with the destruction of Jerusalem. There is also partial Preterism which is exactly what it sounds like. There are vagaries within the partial preterist camp. Suffice it to say the partial preterist picks and chooses which prophecies have already occurred. They no doubt do this to handle what would otherwise seem to be blatant problems with their views (such as there being no Second Coming, resurrection of the bodies of believers, etc.). There does not seem to be many (if any) preterists of any kind who deny that the Kingdom has been established. This is a terribly wrong view as the Kingdom has quite simply not come to realization.
Daniel 2:44 is so harmful to preterist eschatology that it is no wonder they never seem to give it fair coverage or engage in any real exegesis on the matter.
“In the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be left for another people; it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever.” Dan 2:44
Many preterists will make the claim that this verse speaks to the first coming of Christ. This would mean that the Kingdom is one in the same as the Church and Scripture never identifies them as such. In addition, Jesus did not destroy the Roman Empire during His first coming. This fact alone would deter the objective student of Scripture, yet preterists appeal to allegory to “solve” this problem. The final issue with believing this verse was fulfilled during the first coming is that there were not ten kings ruling during that time. Verse 42 speaks of ten toes and verse 44 identifies them as kings. Because there were no ten kings of Rome ruling during the First Advent it must be concluded that Daniel 2:44 did not occur as a consequence of that coming.
There is also an argument put forward by some preterists that the Kingdom of God was only established during the first advent and that given time the Gospel would be victorious over the kingdoms of man. This line of reasoning contradicts Matt. 13:24:-30, 36-43 and 2 Tim. 3:1-13.
Even if that was not enough, Daniel 2:34-35 illustrates God’s Kingdom as a stone that crushes the feet of the statue (the final earthly kingdom). This stone is rightfully said without doubt to be God’s Kingdom. This is because in Daniel 2:45 the stone is said to be made by He who gave Nebuchadnezzar his dream.
What then is the truth of Daniel 2:44? It is simply this; At the Second Coming of Christ the Lord will establish His Kingdom. When this happens His Kingdom will destroy the earthly Kingdoms in a sudden and complete manner. This is not only the understanding that comes from a plain reading, but it also fits the overall Biblical construct on the end of the age. In particular it fits with the events of Dan. 7, Zech. 14, the Olivet Discourse, Revelation and parts of many other prophecies that speak on the Day of the LORD.
Be assured that God is not the author of confusion and has given us a plain account as to how His Kingdom will come to this Earth.
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