“I have a dream”

On August 28th 1963 Civil Rights activist Martin Luther King Jnr gave his most famous and moving speech which contained the following section:

“I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character.”

Half a century later, some of these things have happened to varying degrees, but not all of them. Many people don’t realise that Martin Luther King was probably drawing on the Bible for inspiration for this speech as these elements feature in proph- ecies about a future world. Martin Luther King’s dream may not have come to fruition, but the Bible is full of dreams which have.

“I had a dream”

Another King who had a dream was King Nebuchadnezzar who was King of Babylon (modern day Iraq) in the 6th century BC. We can read the account in the Bible in the Old Testament book of Daniel chapter 2.

He dreamt of an image shaped like a man, made out of different metals, which were ground to dust by a rock. Daniel, a Hebrew who along with the rest of hs people was being held captive by the king, was told by God what this dream meant. The metals represented the Babylonian and subsequent Kingdoms on the earth.

Head of gold = Babylonian Empire

Chest & arms of silver = Medo Persian Empire

Thighs of brass = Greek empire

Leg of iron = Roman Empire

Feet of clay & iron = Strong and weak nations ( Today)

If we look at history, we can see how all these King- doms have come and gone. The rock represents the Kingdom of God which will replace all these Kingdoms. We now live in the time represented

by the feet of iron and clay, meaning that the next Kingdom will be the Kingdom of God. But what is that, and when will it come?

“A dream come true…”

In the prophecy books of the Bible we read various accounts of what this Kingdom will be like. It is here we see parallels with Martin Luther King Jnr’s speech.

But everyone shall sit under his vine and under his fig tree, And no one shall make them afraid;

Micah 4:4

The wilderness and the wasteland shall be glad for them, And the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose; It shall blossom abundantly and rejoice, Even with joy and singing.

Isaiah 35:1-2

But with righteousness He shall judge the poor, And decide with equity for the meek of the earth; He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, And with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked.

Isaiah 11:4

The judge and King of this Kingdom will be Jesus. The earth will be transformed into one with no death, no poverty and no injustice. Unlike Martin Luther King’s dream, one day soon these Biblical dreams WILL come true. To find out how you can live in this perfect Kingdom, open your Bible and read it. The truth is in there.