22 The smallest family will become\par a large family group.\par The smallest family will become\par a powerful nation.\par When the time is right,\par I, the Lord, will come quickly.\par I will make these things happen.”\par
Your people are very many. They are like the sands of the sea. But only a few of the people will be left to come back to the Lord. Those people will return to God, but first, your country will be destroyed. God has announced that he will destroy the land. And then goodness will come into the land; it will be like a river flowing full.
Those people say, “We wish God would hurry and do the things he plans to do. Then we would know what will happen. We wish the Lord’s plan would happen soon. Then we would know what his plan is.”
Abraham is your father, and you should look at him. You should look at Sarah—the woman that gave birth to you. Abraham was alone when I called him. Then I blessed him, and he began a great family. Many, many people came from him.”
Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and gold broke to pieces all at the same time. And all those pieces became like chaff {\cf2\super [14]} on a threshing floor {\cf2\super [15]} in the summertime. The wind blew those pieces away, and there was nothing left. No one could tell that a statue had ever been there. Then the rock that hit the statue became a very large mountain and filled up the whole earth.
“During the time of the kings \{of the fourth kingdom\}, the God of heaven will set up another kingdom. This kingdom will continue forever! It will never be destroyed! And it will be the kind of kingdom that can’t be passed on to another group of people. This kingdom will crush all those other kingdoms. It will bring those kingdoms to an end. But that kingdom itself will continue forever.
The people of that ‘crippled’ city\par will become the survivors. {\cf2\super [51]} \par The people of that city\par were forced to leave.\par But I will make them into a strong nation.”\par The Lord will be their king.\par He will rule from Mount Zion {\cf2\super [52]} forever.\par
This message is about a special time in the future. This message is about the end, and it will come true! \{It may seem like that time will never come.\} But be patient and wait for it. That time will come. It will not be late.
Then those people who accepted (believed) what Peter said were baptized. {\cf2\super [44]} On that day about 3,000 people were added to the group of believers.
Then I looked, and there were many, many people. There were so many people that a person could not count them all. They were from every nation, tribe, race of people, and language of the earth. These people were standing before the throne and before the Lamb (Jesus). They all wore white robes and had palm branches in their hands.