and breaking in pieces, and treading down the rest with its feet; and it was unlike to the other beasts which I had seen before it, and had ten horns." "8. I considered the horns, and behold another little horn sprung out of the midst of them; and three of the first horns were plucked up at the presence thereof; and behold eyes like the eyes of a man were in this horn, and a mouth speaking great things.' All interpreters agree that by the three first beasts we are to understand the three great empires of Babylon, Persia, and Greece, as under Alexander. With regard to the power denoted by the fourth beast, there is not the same unanimity of opinion. Several among the ancients, and some among the moderns, interpret the 7th verse as foretelling the state of the Greek empire under Alexander's successors. This was the opinion of Porphyrius, who gave the names of ten kings, denoted by the ten horns (See v. 24); and who found the little horn in Antiochus Epiphanes. This system has been adopted by many christian interpreters. But, however some circumstances in the personal character and public history of Antiochus Epiphanes seem to favour this supposition, this interpretation cannot be regarded as the literal meaning of the prediction, for the following reasons:- 1. By the fourth kingdom we are to understand a power entirely different from any which preceded it. (See v. 7.) But the successors of Alexander did not constitute such a power. Like him they were Greeks;— and not withstanding their mutual contentions, they continued-although in an altered form--the Creek empire which Alexander had formed. 2. The description of the fourth kingdom, given in the 23d verse of this chapter, cannot be applied to the Greek empire under the successors of Alexander. It had not the strength of that fourth empire(See v. 19); it had not the extent assigned to that empire, (See v. 23); and instead of exhibiting greater power than when under Alexander, as it should have done, if it were the fourth empire, its continual discords and the mutual conflicts of its members were every day rendering it less and less like the type of that fourth kingdom, as exhibited in the 2nd and 7th chapters. 3. The fifth kingdom, that of the Messiah, was to arise in the time of the fourth (See Chap. 11, v. 44); and it was to destroy it, (See Chap. 11, v. 44, 47, 26). But the Greek empire had long been swallowed up in that of Rome before the birth of Christ; and, therefore, its destruction cannot be ascribed to collision with the fifth kingdom, unless we choose, with some few interpreters, who are evidently mistaken, to recognize in the Roman empire, that fifth monarchy, "which God himself was to found--which the saints of the Most High were to possess, and which was never to pass away." It is evident, then, that we must look elsewhere for the object typified by the fourth beast. "The fourth empire," says Jerome, "is that of the Romans which now prevails, of which it is said in the vision of the statue, 'the legs are of iron, the feet part of iron and part of clay' -ot which iron mention is also made in this place, in the description of its 'great iron teeth.' It is somewhat wonderful that having described three great kingdoms under the figures of a lioness, a bear and a leopard, the prophet should not have assimilated the Roman empire to any beast; except, perhaps, for the purpose of rendering it more fearful, he withheld its name; thereby to show us that whatever excess of ferocity we could imagine in beasts, would be found in this empire. But what is Fere omitted, the Jews believe may be found in the Psalms. The boar out of the wood hath laid it waste; and a singular wild beast hath devoured it.' (Psalms LXXIX, 14,) or, as the original Hebrew text reads, 'All the beasts of the field have torn it up;' for in the single empire of Rome we find all the empire which were formerly separate and distinct. What follows'eating and breaking in pieces, and treading down the rest with its feet'-denotes that by it all nations were to be either annihilated or rendered tributary or enslaved." The opinion of St. Jerome is that of almost all interpreters, ancient and modern, Catholic and Protestant. Having determined what power is represented by the fourth beast, we now come to enquire, what we are to understand by the ten horns, and what by the little horn. Before attempting an answer, we beg to remark, that whatever is to be understood by these signs, is to be found in the history of the Roman empire. These horns are not objects which have a distinct and separate existence from that of the beast on whose front they appear; so that in the supposition, which we regard as fully certain, that the Roman empire was typified by the fourth beast, we must not look elsewhere for the accomplishment of these signs. Thus in the vision which Daniel subsequently saw, as related in the following chapter, the ram by which the the Persian monarchy is represented has two horns, "one higher than the other," and the he-goat, which is the symbol of the Greek empire of Alexander has 'a notable horn' between his eyes. It is evident we must seek for the reality of what is thus symbolized in these two monarchies; and no one thinks himself entitled to understand by these signs any powers not identified with those here exhibited. This observation alone removes the foundation of that exceedingly absurd-to use no harsher term-interpretation of this passage of Daniel, which finds the "little horn," with all its wickedness, blasphemies, and violence, in the Catholic Church. Whatever the reader may think of that church, whether he recognize her as the kingdom which God himself was to found-which the saints of the Most High were to possess everlastingly; or whether he regard her as a system of mere human origin, and believes her doctrine to be damnable and idolatrous to boot,-one thing every sane man must grant, that the Roman Catholic Church is not a part or portion of the Roman empire, or in anywise identified therewith. In our next number we shall show that this empire and the Church were not only different, but antagonist forces; but, for the present, we content ourselves with drawing attention to this principle-that the little horn, as well as the ten horns, are to be found in some character or circumstance of the Roman empire; and that, if we were not able to point out the accomplishment of this part of the prophecy in its history, the only conclusion we could legitimately draw, would be, that we had not as yet discovered in that history what must certainly have existed, the fact or circumstances symbolized by these figures. To reply, then, to the question above proposed, we adopt the opinion of St. Jerome, reserving for our explanation of the corresponding passage in the Apocalypse, a fuller development, as well as an attempt at application of the principles embodied in the words we are about to cite from this great doctor of the church. Having refuted the opinion of Porphyry, above referred to, he says; "Let us, therefore, say-what all ecclesiastical writers have taught that at the end of the world, when the Roman empire is to be destroyed,* there will be ten kings who will divide the empire among them, and that an 11th will arise who will overcome three of these 10 kings,that is,the kings of Egypt, Africa, and Ethiopia, as we shall explain still more clearly in the sequel.When these three shall have been taken away, then the other seven will subWithout binding ourselves to adopt every part of this explanation, we mit." *Both these events seem to have been as intimately connected in the mind of St. Jerome' as the end of the world and destruction of Jerusalem were in the minds of the disciples. (See Math. XXIV. 3. adhere most immovably to the principle from which it sprung-that the history of the Roman empire must supply us with the only clue that can guide us safely through the obscurity of the prophetic announcement, until we shall find ourselves emerging into the broad light wherein its entire and literal accomplishment may be viewed. The application of those symbols we defer until the next number, when it will more appropriately find its place in our remarks on the 17th chapter of the Apocalypse. That portion of the chapter under consideration, from the 9th to the 14th. verses inclusive, as also the 26th and 27th verses, describe the judgment by which the fourth beast is condemned, and the saints of the Most High put in possession of that kingdom for which they had contended so faithfully with the monster. God is said to judge, and exercise his judgments upon his creatures when he punishes them for their sins. Thus we find the punishment exercised by God on Sennecharib and his impious host, expressed under the same figure of judgment. "Thou hast caused judgment to be heard from heaven: the earth trembled and was still. When God arose in judgment to save all the meek of the earth." (Ps. LXX v. 9, 10.) There is, then, no necessity to suppose, with some, that there is here any immediate reference to the general judgment; or that the kingdom of the saints is to be understood of the celestial paradise, or of any imaginary state of society on earth, such as the millenium, in which we should experience unmixed happiness. All such interpretations are excluded by the nature of the prediction of which this judgment forms a part. In this vision, Daniel saw the same objects that were shown to Nabuchodonosor under the image of a statue, composed of different materials, (Dan. 111.) and the prediction concerning the little stone which was to crumble that statue into pieces, was evidently to be fulfilled at the first,and not at the second coming of Christ. Hence it follows that the destruction of the fourth kingdom was to be the consequence of Christ's first coming, and consequently, that the judgment which preceded that destruction, was to be connected with, and precede the same event. We therefore conclude that the judgment here spoken of, the destruction of the beast, and the triumph of the saints, are not to be connected with the final consummation of the world, nor confounded with the general judgment that will then take place-a misconception which, probably, more than any other, has rendered the interpretation of this portion of Daniel, and the corresponding passage in the Apocalypse of St. John, a source of morbid excitement and mischievous fanaticism. We conclude, then, for the present, by stating in a few words the conclusions we have already established in this and the preceding number. 1. The predictions in the 2nd and 7th chapters have reference to the same objects. 2. The four empires are those of the Assyrians, Persians, Greek, and Romans. 3. The fifth kingdom is the Church of Christ, as it alone can be regarded as the kingdom which God himself was to found-as the kingdom of the saints of the Most High--as one that is to stand forever-an everlasting kingdom. 4. This Church of Christ is that which Christ founded while on earth, because it was to be founded before the destruction of the fourth kingdom, and because it was founded by God, who declared its perpetuity when he said :"the gates of hell shall never prevail against it." This church is the kingdom of the saints, because all its members, as such, make a profession of sanctity; and hence we find the appellation of "saints" applied by the Apostle Paul to denote christians in general, many of whom were not actually holy. The church which Christ founded is also an everlasting kingdom; because its existence is not limited by time, but when time shall be no more, it will continue in heaven for eternity. 5. The judgment spoken of in this chapter is not the last universal judgment, but the punishment of the power symbolized by the fourth beast. 6. We have purposely abstained from examining what persons or objects are denoted by the ten horns, and the little horn of the fourth beast; because we could not enter upon the subject without anticipating the matter of our next. But we have shown that these-whatever they may be--must be sought for in connection with the history of the Roman empire; and, consequently, every other application of these symbols must be rejected as arbitrary and inconclusive. Thou, who on thy sick bed lying, When that faint chime wakes thee now; Father and mother shall pray for thee, Mingle its sinless hymn. And when that bell, and hymn, and prayer, Rise up to Heaven from earthly air, The Cherubim and Seraphim Shall veil their heads in their wings, and join Their glorious voices to succor thine. Far away, on the ocean wide, The tempest is raving wild and shrill ;— Deep, in the lonely prison cell, His brother and sister shall pray for him. |