Welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Sunday afternoon Bible study. Today is study #11 of Daniel, chapter 2, and we are continuing to look at Daniel 2:34-35:

Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.

In our last study, we were looking at verse 35, where it says that the image was “broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away.” We saw that it tied in with Judgment Day and God’s wrath as He destroys the wicked. It also relates to God’s use of His people in the Day of Judgment as “threshing instruments.” The Lord utilizes His people to “fan” the wicked or the chaff that the wind (spirit) will take away. That is because the “fan” is in Christ’s hand, as God’s elect are in the will of the Lord. As the Bible opens up information, it reveals the will of God and the elect, in obedience, declare these things and, thereby, are involved in the judgment process. It is pictured in various ways, but in this case they are pictured as threshing instruments and they “fan” the wicked and they are driven away by the Spirit of God. God’s people are pictured as His servants in the harvest as they drive away the chaff, but they are also pictured in Revelation 16 as the ones that are pouring out the seven last vials full of the wrath of God, as they participate in the judgment. It is why it says in 1Corinthians 6:2: “Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world?” This is exactly what is going on at this time. While we ourselves are making an appearance before Christ as judge to be tried and tested, we are simultaneously involved in the outpouring of the wrath of God upon the unsaved people of the earth as we declare what the Bible says. That is what God’s people do in every time and season – they declare what the Bible says. At this time, God has shut the door to heaven and as the people of God declare it, it is effectively pouring out the vials of God’s wrath on the unsaved inhabitants of the world.

After speaking of the wind carrying them away, it goes on to say in Daniel 2:35: “that no place was found for them.” This is significant language because it ties in with what we read in Revelation, chapter 6, which also describes Judgment Day, in Revelation 6:12:

And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;

The darkening of the sun pinpoints the time. We know that this Scripture and what follows describe what events will happen immediately after the Tribulation, because the Bible also says, “Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light.” So the event after the Tribulation is Judgment Day. Then it goes on to say in Revelation 6:13:

And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.

That “wind” would relate to the wind that carries away the “chaff” in our verse in Daniel. Then it goes on to say in Revelation 6:14:

And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.

That is similar to what it says at the end of our verse: “no place was found for them.”

It is also similar to Revelation 20:10-11:

And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.

There was no place found for them. It indicates that there is nowhere in the world that man can hide. They have no refuge of any kind in the Day of Judgment. Their sins are naked and open unto the eyes of Him with whom they have to do, Eternal God. They are about to lose their inheritance, the creation that God created and gave mankind dominion over. This creation became the inheritance of the wicked because as they lived out their lives, it was all the inheritance they would ever get. They are not born again and they will not receive the eternal inheritance that belongs to the saints of God. Therefore, when Judgment Day is complete God’s last act regarding this sin-cursed creation and the rebellious sinners that inhabit it will be to literally destroy the heavens and the earth and they will be gone forever and there will be found no place for them. Isaiah, chapter 51 tells us that when this happens the unsaved will be destroyed in a similar way. It says in Isaiah 51:6:

Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath: for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner…

What happens to the creation will also happen to the (unsaved) inhabitants of the earth. They will “die in like manner.” They will die in a similar way to how the heavens and the earth die. How will the heavens and the earth die? When God destroys this creation and all the elements that make up the earth and the sun, moon and stars, are they going to burn forever and ever? No, nobody thinks that once God destroys the creation that it will continue indefinitely in some kind of fire. There is an understanding of this because that idea does not involve people, so the churches have not contaminated that idea or doctrine like it has contaminated the truth of the destruction of man at the end of the world. God will burn up the world with its animals, trees and rocks and seas and everything in the universe will burn with a fervent heat and it will be gone forever. Where did it go? It is annihilated and it will cease to exist. That is what the Bible teaches concerning the destruction of the cursed creation and we all understand that. The cats and dogs and cows and horses and all the creatures that God crated will not be burning forever. They will simply die and cease to be. Actually, everyone understands “annihilation,” do we not? We recognize that it will have an end. Let me read, again, what it says in Isaiah 51 where God is speaking of the creation, as He says in Isaiah 51:6:

Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath: for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner…

God is teaching us about death and what it means to die. The creation will die. The animals die and every one of the thousands of kinds of creatures will die and we all understand that it will be the end of them. They can be found no more and that is what God is saying here. The creation will die at the end when God destroys it and it will be no more: “for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke.” The smoke will be seen for a bit and then it dissipates and is gone. Then it says that, “they that dwell therein shall die in like manner,” and that includes mankind. He will die and be no more. That is what it means in the Bible when it says, “For the wages of sin is death.” If we die unsaved, we simply die and we cease to be. Our thoughts perish and “to perish” means one is gone. God helps us to understand this through Job 20:4-9:

Knowest thou not this of old, since man was placed upon earth, That the triumphing of the wicked is short, and the joy of the hypocrite but for a moment? Though his excellency mount up to the heavens, and his head reach unto the clouds; Yet he shall perish for ever like his own dung: they which have seen him shall say, Where is he? He shall fly away as a dream, and shall not be found: yea, he shall be chased away as a vision of the night. The eye also which saw him shall see him no more; neither shall his place any more behold him.

Do you see how God relates the perishing of the wicked forever as an eternal consequence? He will perish forever, but in order that we understand what that means, the Lord draws an equation to what happens to man’s own dung. Of course, we know that the waste that comes from people goes into the ground and it is gone. Man will perish forever like his dung.

To perish is not to suffer forever in a place called “Hell,” to be beaten by a merciless God for ever and ever. The Bible teaches that God is a God who obeys His own Law and the Law of God declares that there is a limit to punishment, as we read in Deuteronomy, chapter 25 in the first few verses. One cannot punish someone without limit and that is what would happen if there was “eternal punishment.” That is contrary to the Word of God because God has set a limit to punishment and that is where we find ourselves today in the Day of Judgment. It is the meting out of the wrath of God and there will be a limit – the stripes will not exceed a certain point. Then God will destroy the wicked by annihilating them forever, as Job said: “He shall fly away as a dream, and shall not be found.” He will be gone like a dream. A dream has no substance or material existence. It is something that you cannot grab hold of and that will be the death of the wicked. They will not be found and their place will be no more. That is what is being said in Daniel, chapter 2.

Let us go back and read Daniel 2:35:

… no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.

Due to the interpretation of the dream in the verses that follow, we know what the stone that smote the image represents. It represents the kingdom of God. So let us read that interpretation, since there is no sense in us struggling to understand when God has provided the interpretation. It is like when Jesus spoke a parable and then explained it to His disciples. To explain the stone that smote the image and became a great mountain that filled the whole earth, it says in Daniel 2:44:

And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.

All the kingdoms of the earth are eventually destroyed or the king dies and leaves his kingdom to others. Solomon was moved to write about that as he said that one does not know if your kingdom will be left to a wise son or a fool. The kingdoms of the world are all “wanting.” They all are lacking because they are not ongoing kingdoms, but they are kingdoms that endure for a time. All kingdoms are this way and history proves it when we look back at the glories of the pharaoh’s, for example. They ruled and then their kingdoms came to an end. We see the glory of Rome and its Caesars, but they came to an end. We read in the Bible about the Assyrians and their kings or the Babylonians and their kings and, yet, these kingdoms came to an end. Then the Medes and Persians rose up and conquered Babylon and became the mighty power and, yet, they also came to an end. That is always the case with earthly kingdoms – they eventually fall and come to an end.

It is the same situation with Satan’s kingdom, which the kingdom of the Babylonians represented. It pointed to the power, rule and authority of Satan. Satan’s earthly kingdom has lasted much longer than these other kingdoms that were ruled by men because Satan is a spirit being. From the beginning in the Garden of Eden, Satan deceived man into eating of the forbidden fruit and man became submissive to him and Satan became the ruler of this earth by right of conquest and he has ruled in the kingdom of darkness over the entire world. Remember when Satan tempted the Lord Jesus, he showed him all the kingdoms of this earth as in a moment of time and Satan said, “All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.” Yes, Satan is a liar, and he mixes truth with lies and, yet, it was a fact that he ruled over the kingdoms of the earth. He had his own spiritual rule and even though earthly kingdoms rose and fell, Satan’s rule continued over the many thousands of years of earth’s history.

In Revelation, chapter 17 Satan’s rule is described in Revelation 17:9-10:

And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth. And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.

These verses describe Satan’s rule. It is looking at the 11,000-year period leading up to the coming of the Lord Jesus as the Messiah as though there were five kingdoms that reigned over the course of all Old Testament history. Then it said, “five are fallen, and one is,” because when Christ went to the cross Satan suffered a “death blow” that really characterized the nature of his reign over the course of the coming church age that was likened to a “thousand years” of his being bound. So at the time of the writing of the Book of Revelation in the first century it was the sixth kingdom that presently was and that rule would continue all the way to the end of the church age in the year 1988 when the (figurative) 1000 years of being bound were over and he was loosed for that “little season,” which is “the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.” That was the seventh and final kingdom of Satan and it was his most glorious reign. It was the most tremendous rule because he had power like never before and he ruled over the billions in the nations and he ruled over the entire corporate church for the first time; all the unsaved inhabitants of the earth worshipped him and glorified him as never before in history. At that time during the Great Tribulation his rule was greater than ever before and it could have appeared that he was invincible. It could have appeared that his kingdom was without end and his kingdom would go on, and on, and on and never come to a close. He had been ruling for thousands and thousands of years and then during the Great Tribulation it became an all-encompassing rule, even in the place that had been a refuge for the people of God, the corporate churches. Satan took his seat in the temple (the churches) showing himself that he was God and it was a very disheartening and grievous situation for the people of God.

And, yet, God is making the point with the destruction of the “image of the beast” that it was also the destruction of the kingdoms of Satan. Notice what it says in Daniel 2:38-43:

…Thou art this head of gold. And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth. And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise. And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters' clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay. And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken. And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay. And in the days of these kings…

Do you see how God is relating the image and the various portions of that image to kings and kingdoms? Then it goes on to say in Daniel 2:44

And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.

Of course, Satan is just one being and just one evil king and, yet, God typified him as seven kings in Revelation, chapter 17 and here it is as though that evil kingdom has four kings or four kingdoms. I think we have to understand that the number “4” points to the universal aspect of the reign of Satan at the time of the end. This number “4” comes into view a couple of other times in the Book of Daniel. It says in Daniel 7:3:

And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another.

It also says in Daniel 7:17:

These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth.

Then we read that these four great beasts overcame the saints. It is similar language.

It also says in Daniel 8:8:

Therefore the he goat waxed very great: and when he was strong, the great horn was broken; and for it came up four notable ones toward the four winds of heaven.

An explanation of this is in Daniel 8:20-22:

The ram which thou sawest having two horns are the kings of Media and Persia. And the rough goat is the king of Grecia: and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king. Now that being broken, whereas four stood up for it, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not in his power.

Again, these are different visions that Daniel is receiving concerning “four beasts” or “four notable horns.” In the case of the image it is four different kind of elements and, yet, in each case it is said to represent four kingdoms, which is different than Revelation 17, which speaks of seven mountains, seven kings and seven kingdoms. As far as I can tell, the Book of Revelation which gives us a lot of information about Satan’s rule, does not give us information about four kingdoms, so I think we need to look at the spiritual meaning of the number “4,” which is universality. What is being described with the four kingdoms has to do with Satan’s rule over the entire world, like never before in all of earth’s history.

But, again, we see that the stone that smote the image became a great mountain. God tells us in Daniel 2, verse 44: “And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed.” This is really wonderful language that fits with God’s salvation program when the Bible speaks of those that God saves having eternal life. We can see that here because we know that all those that are part of God’s kingdom receive eternal life and, therefore, it is a kingdom “which shall never be destroyed.” It also says that this kingdom, “and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.” In other words, it will consume or destroy all the kingdoms of Satan and, therefore, Satan is not invincible and neither are his kingdoms. Satan is not a being that cannot be overcome, even though it may have appeared that way because God did use Satan and allowed him to rule to the degree that he did over the churches and the world during the end time days of the Great Tribulation for 23 years. It accomplished God's perfect will. It was not that Satan was so powerful and strong, but it was only that God loosed him. When we read that Satan must be loosed for a “little season,” we have to consider who had him in prison. It was God. It was also God who opened the prison and released him. It was all done through the will and action of God to accomplish the purpose of God. God did accomplish that purpose and on May 21, 2011 (the exact 8,400th day and complete 23 years) God brought judgment on Satan and his kingdom. It is not a light thing that Christ has deposed Satan and put him down from all official rule that had been given him over the churches for 23 years, but he was also put down from the rule that he had won in the Garden of Eden over the kingdoms of the earth (spiritual Babylon).

In the Day of Judgment Christ defeated Satan and took the kingdom from him and, in effect, destroyed all his kingdoms and periods of rule. God put him down and it was a lethal blow to Satan. We cannot understand just how terrible this blow would have been to Satan because it struck him right in his “soft spot,” his pride and arrogance in his desire to be like God and to rule over mankind and over the churches because that is where God had ruled. Whatever God created and ruled over, Satan wanted. When God took a little segment of the population and created the nation of Israel, Satan went after that. Then when God established the churches as a place to hear the Word of God and He was in the midst of the congregations, Satan went after the churches for all he was worth because it was his great desire to be like God. He wants to rule and he wants people to bow down to him and worship him, but God struck him where it hurts, saying in effect, “Now the Great Tribulation is over. The judgment on the churches which I raised you up to accomplish has been completed, so remove yourself from the corporate body. You are no longer ruling in the churches, but the Lord Jesus will now rule with a rod of iron and not for their benefit. He has taken the kingdom.”

All we have to do is read about King Cyrus (aka Darius), king of the Medes and Persians, taking the rule from the King of Babylon and the Babylonians after the 70 years was completed. It was not a year later, but immediately after the 70 years was completed, according to the prophesy of Jeremiah. In a night Cyrus came and took the kingdom of Babylon and they were caught by surprise and the entire kingdom of Babylon was taken by Cyrus.

Let us listen to the language used in the Book of Ezra, keeping in mind that in the Book of Isaiah King Cyrus is referred to as God’s anointed, the word “messiah,” which clearly relates Cyrus as a type of Christ. It says in Ezra 1:1-2:

Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of JEHOVAH by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, JEHOVAH stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying, Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, JEHOVAH God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and he hath charged me to build him an house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah.

How many kingdoms of the earth was Cyrus given by God? It was all the kingdoms of the earth. He ruled over all that the King of Babylon had previously ruled over. Not only that, but it says in Ezra 5:13:

But in the first year of Cyrus the king of Babylon the same king Cyrus made a decree to build this house of God.

Cyrus took the title of the King of Babylon because he conquered the kingdom. You can read about it in Daniel, chapter 5. Cyrus comes at night and catches the Babylonian king and all his princes having a party, which typifies Christ coming as a “thief in the night.” It happened after 70 years, which typifies the Great Tribulation. The actual Tribulation ended May 21, 2011 and immediately Christ came as a thief in the night and took all the kingdoms of the earth – He took everything back that Satan had ruled over. Christ now has rule and authority over all the nations as well as the churches and He rules with a “rod of iron.” The Lord Jesus is now the “King of Babylon” or the King of all the nations of the world. Christ is ruling presently at this time.

We have looked at this in the past, but Revelation, chapter 11 mentions “three woes,” which identify with the last three trumpets. The first four trumpets sounded in Revelation, chapter 8 and they brought judgment upon the “third part,” the corporate churches. Then the final three trumpets identify with the last “three woes” and they bring judgment upon all the inhabitants of the earth. It says in Revelation 11:14:

The second woe is past; and, behold, the third woe cometh quickly.

That is to say, the fifth and sixth trumpet is said to be past and the “third woe” or the seventh trumpet comes quickly. Then it says in Revelation 11:15:

And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.

Of course, that is a true statement regarding the eternal kingdom, but Christ is not going to rule this present world for ever and ever. He will reign over this world “to” for ever and ever, or to the point of eternity. Then it goes on to say in Revelation 11:16-18:

And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God, Saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned. And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.

Since the nations are angry, it indicates they are still alive. They still exist and they have not been destroyed as yet and that fits in with all the other information we have learned about God’s judgment program. He begins with a spiritual judgment on May 21, 2011 and it continues for a prolonged period of time and at the conclusion of that prolonged period will come the literal, physical destruction of this world and the annihilation of the wicked. Then the new heavens and new earth will be created.

So, this is the time of God’s wrath and “the time of the dead, that they should be judged.” The Bible speaks of Christ making His appearance to judge “the quick and the dead,” but here it only mentions the “dead,” or the unsaved. The “quick” (the living) are referred to in the second part of the verse: “and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets,” and it almost sounds like that when Judgment Day comes it is for the “dead” or the spiritually dead and there is no judgment of the living. Instead the latter receive a reward and we know what the reward is because it says in Luke 6:23:

Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets.

The “reward” is in heaven. It is eternal life and this is the reward that is in view. The word “reward” is helpful. It is Strong’s #3408 and it is the same word translated as “hire” in Matthew 20:1:

For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard.

The word “hire” is the word translated as “reward.” It is the word that is used in Matthew 20:8:

So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, Call the labourers, and give them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first.

We have gone over this parable and we see that the 12-hour workday identifies with salvation, especially that “last hour” that is set apart and the householder operated differently than he did earlier in the day. The “eleventh hour” typified the hour of the Great Tribulation and then when the 12th hour is come it is “night” and it is the time that the “reward” is given to the laborers.

The Book of Job tells us some interesting things about man in Job 14:5-6:

Seeing his days are determined, the number of his months are with thee, thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass; Turn from him, that he may rest, till he shall accomplish, as an hireling, his day.

We never would have understood this before, but now we can. The householder hires laborers and they are “hirelings.” They go into the vineyard and they work the 12 hours and then the hireling accomplishes his day. It is the “day of salvation” and that is the bounds, in a sense, because it is time to give the reward to the hireling. It is Judgment Day and it is a time of night, as the Bible says, “Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened,” and so forth. The wrath of God is poured out upon the wicked and it is the time to pay the hireling. Does that mean we are wrong about the elect having to appear before the judgment seat of Christ and all the other Scripture that indicate the elect are alive and remain on the earth in the Day of Judgment? No – we are not wrong because that same word “reward” that is found in Revelation, chapter 11 and Matthew, chapter 20 is also found in 1Corinthians, chapter 3. It says in 1Corinthians 3:8-9:

Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour. For we are labourers together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building.

Then it says in 1Corinthians 3:11-14:

For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.

This is the same Greek word, Strong’s #3408. Do you see the amazing things that God has just told us? First, He told us in Revelation 11 that when the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of our Lord, we can tie that into the end of the Great Tribulation and into the Book of Ezra when Cyrus took Babylon. Then it is God’s judgment and the time of His wrath, the time that the dead should be judged and the time that God gives “reward” unto His servants. However, what has to happen before the reward is given? Let me read it again, in 1Corinthians 3:14:

If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.

Abide what? The previous work speaks of the “fire” that shall prove every man’s work. If you abide the fire, then you will get the reward. In other words, you do not get the reward before you have been put through the fire. It is actually pretty clear. I may not be explaining it very clearly, but in order to get the reward you must first go through the “fire” to see what kind of work you are and then once you have been proven you will receive the reward. This can only mean that when the dead are being judged in Revelation, chapter 14 that is the “fire.” The Bible likens Judgment Day to fire and wrath, the burning fury of God. It is the elect that must go through the fire and once they have endured the end of the judgment upon the wicked, they will receive their reward. Do you see how all that fits together with all the Scriptures that say we must appear before the judgment seat of Christ? It all ties together very nicely, including this verse in Revelation 22:10-11:

And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand. He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.

We have properly understood this to mean that God has established everyone’s spiritual condition at the point that salvation was done. The saved will remain saved and the unsaved will remain unsaved. Then it says in Revelation 22:12:

And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.

That is eerily similar to 1Corinthians, chapter 3. Christ comes quickly to give the reward, but when the Bible speaks of coming “quickly” or what may seem to be instantaneous, it means in the next available instant in God’s timetable. He cannot give the reward at this point because the “fire” is still being applied. Once the fire has been completed, He will come at the first instant to give His servants, the prophets, their reward.