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soever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field, and the fowls of the heaven, hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold. arise another kingdom in

And after thee shall

ferior 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 us 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 potter's 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 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. Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the

iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the King what shall come to pass hereafter; and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure."

The seat of empire is here traced from the Chaldeans, who then possessed it, to their conquerors and successors in power, the Medes and Persians; thence to the Greeks; thence to the Romans; thence to the kingdoms* established upon the ruins of the Roman empire; and thence, on the simultaneous destruction of them all, to a new and glorious kingdom, which the God of heaven will set up.

To prove all this in detail, would be to write a volume, retracing the steps of Mr. Mede, Sir Isaac Newton, Bishop Newton, and others, who have treated the subject with all the acuteness of genius, and precision of accurate historical information. If any man deny their posi

* England is one of these, and as such becomes the subject of prophecy.

"Now in this vision of the image composed of four metals, the foundation of all Daniel's prophecies is laid. The head of the image was of gold, and signifies the nations of Babylonia, who reigned first, as Daniel himself interprets. Thou art this head of gold, saith he to Nebuchadnezzar. These nations reigned till Cyrus conquered Babylon. The breast and arms of the image were of silver, and represent the Persians, who reigned next. The belly and thighs of the image were of brass, and represent the Greeks, who, under

tions, he must do it in the face of such arguments as he will find it difficult to refute.

This then is the meaning of the words of our

the dominion of Alexander the Great, conquered the Persians, and reigned next after them. The legs were of iron, and represent the Romans, who reigned next after the Greeks, and began to conquer them in the eighth year of Antiochus Epiphanes. For in that year, they conquered Perseus, King of Macedon, the fundamental kingdom of the Greeks, and from thenceforward grew into a mighty empire, and reigned with great power till the days of Theodosius the Great." (A. D. 379.) Then, by the incursion of many northern nations, they brake into many smaller kingdoms, which are represented by the feet and toes of the image, composed part of iron and part of clay. For then, saith Daniel, the kingdom shall be divided, and there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, and they shall not cleave one to another. . . . . Some of these kingdoms fell, and new ones arose; but whatever was their number afterwards, they are still called the ten Kings, from their first number. And in the days of these Kings, saith Daniel, shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom."-Sir Isaac Newton.

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This supplies a sufficient answer to those who allege that the kingdom here predicted is the spiritual kingdom of the Gospel, and that the stone was cut out in the time of our Lord's first coming. Whereas the kingdom represented by the legs of the image (the Roman in its power) lasted till 379 years after our Lord's coming, when the kingdoms represented by the toes were first set up. And it is in the time of these last, and not imperante Augusto, that the ultimate kingdom of the prophecy was to make its first appearance.

For this we wait according to the promise of the God of heaven, and say, thy kingdom come!

text; that the God of heaven will set up a kingdom on the earth; that as the Medes and Persians subdued the Chaldeans, and the Greeks subdued the Medes and Persians, and the Romans subdued the Greeks, each in succession establishing their own kingdom, so the God of heaven will subdue them all, and establish his kingdom. It will be an actual, visible, territorial subjugation; the powers of the earth will be broken in pieces before the power of the Lord, even as the chaff of the summer threshing-floors is scattered before the wind, (ver. 35). Then shall the stone (the Lord's kingdom) become a great mountain, and fill the whole earth. This is the revelation of God, the as yet unfulfilled prophecy of Jehovah concerning his kingdom generally.

Let us now inquire more particularly,

I. Who shall be the King.

The scriptural answer to this inquiry is, the Son of David-the Son of Man-the Son of God-Jesus Christ-he shall be the King. For thus it is written by the prophets concerning him-" the government shall be upon his shoulder; and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Father of the everlasting age, the Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish

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it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of Hosts will perform this." Isaiah ix. 6, 7. "Behold the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth." Jer. xxiii. 5. "Thus saith the Lord God, behold I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land and one King shall be King to them all. I. and David my servant shall be King over them, and they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt, and my servant David shall be their prince for ever." Ezek. xxxvii. 21 to 25. And thus spake the Angel Gabriel concerning him, "He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David; and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end." Luke i. 32, 33. And thus spake the Lord Jesus concerning himself, "When the Son of Man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory." And again, "Verily I say unto you, that ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the

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