During Belshazzar's reign, Daniel had a prophetic dream; its message echoed a dream he had interpreted for Nebuchadnezzar earlier in his life. There are different ways of interpreting visions and prophecies in the Bible: the pastor of Hesed, Rev. Peter Richmond, talked about his understanding of the dream as the church met on Sunday afternoon. Daniel saw four beasts coming out of a turbulent sea, representing the nations of the world with their wars and unpredictable rises and falls. He was told that each beast symbolised a kingdom, and like the statue seen in Nebuchadnezzar's dream, the four elements seem to echo the course of history, from the Babylonian empire, through the Medes and Persians, the Greek empire and finally Rome. Since the Roman empire, no one force has held sway over most of the known world, and the influence of Rome is still seen today. The visions in Daniel's book suggest that there will be a confederation of 10 powerful world leaders, formed from the remains of the Roman empire. Later another leader will arise, powerful and persuasive, and three of the 10 will lose their power as a result. This leader will seem to be putting many of the world's problems right, but he is the antichrist - an agent of the Devil. Pretending to be the Christ, he will actually declare war on God himself and persecute the Church. After three and a half 'times' (probably years) of this oppression, the real Saviour will come again, crush the evil kingdom of the antichrist, rule the earth for a thousand years and establish the rule of his saints for ever. Praise songs were sung with confidence in God's unstoppable plan for the future, and a recording was played of Welsh National Opera singer, Nesta Bowen, whose song was based on the promise of Jesus' coming, when the 'last trumpet shall sound' and believers rise to meet their Redeemer, face to face. The service included prayers and readings and ended with refeshments. Hesed meet every Sunday at 4.15 pm in Carringtons Restaurant, below The Atlantic Hotel on Tenby's Esplanade. Visit the website http://www.hesedcf.co.uk">www.hesedcf.co.uk for more details about the life of the Hesed Fellowship.
