555.

. DISQUISITION II.

The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth.-DANIEL vii. part 23d v.

The vision recorded in this chapter, was seen by Daniel B. C. 555; and is the first in that series which was presented to Daniel, at various times, through a long succession of years. The chapter appears susceptible of six divisions.

1. The prophet makes his introduction, by saying, that in the first year of Belshazzar, king of Babylon, he had a dream and vision; and that he wrote the dream, and told the sum of the matters." This he says in the first

verse.

2. He gives us the vision, in the 2d-14th verses.

3. He informs us in what manner he was affected by the vision, and, that he made inquiries to know the truth of it. This occupies the 15th and 16th verses.

4. In the 17th and 18th verses, he gives us the reply,. which was made to his inquiries. This reply is a general interpretation of the vision.

5. He shows the anxiety he had, in regard to the fourth beast and makes special inquiry, first, as to the beast, second, as to its ten horns, and third, more especially, as to the little horn, of which, in the 21st and 22d verses, he gives several additional particulars. This occupies the 19th-22d verses.

6. He gives us in the 23d-28th verses, the reply

which was made to his special inquiries, and which is an answer, in exact accordance with the inquiries made. In reading this vision, we are immediately arrested by the inquiry-'What are the beasts? and what the sea, and the winds that strive upon it?' We must all allow, that they are emblems, for, no one can suppose, that all this grandeur of revelation is made simply of natural winds and of "beasts that perish." If, then, they are emblems, of what are they emblematical? For instruction here, we must look to the sure word and testimony, "for, the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God," and his prophecies should not be interpreted by those surmisings, "which man's wisdom teacheth." (Psalm xlix. 20, and xix. 7; 1 Cor. iii. 19, and ii. 13.)

In Eph. iv. 14th, we read-" Be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the slight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive," &c. And in Ezek. xxxvii. 9th-first clause 14th-"Then said he unto me prophecy unto the winds, prophecy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord God, Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live. So I prophesied, as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an exceeding great army. Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost; we are cut off for our parts. Therefore prophesy, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord-Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel.-And ye shall know that I am the

Lord, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves-and shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live." Whence we learn, that wind is employed, as an emblem, to represent, first, any specious, but really unsound, doctrine, and, second, to represent spirit, cause of life and action.

In Jer. li. 42d-44th and the 53d, we read—"The sea is come up upon Babylon: she is covered with the multitude of the waves thereof. Her cities are a desolation, a dry land, and a wilderness, a land wherein no man dwelleth, neither does any son of man pass thereby. And I will punish Bell in Babylon, and I will bring forth out of his mouth that which he hath swallowed up: and the nations shall not flow together any more unto him; yea, the wall of Babylon shall fall. Though Babylon should mount up to heaven, and though she should fortify the height of her strength, yet from me shall spoilers come unto her, saith the Lord." And in Rev. xvii. 15th"The waters which thou sawest, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues :”— showing sea to be used to represent people, spoilers; and waters, to represent peoples, multitudes, nations, tongues.

In Danl. vii. 17th, we read-" These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth;" and in our text: "The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth."

Here, then, we have the emblems explained, by bible testimony; and, were they succeeded, by what they imply, the 2d and 3d verses of the chapter would read:-'I saw in my vision, by night, and behold, false sentiment, and restless passion, (constituting wordly ambition,) strove universally, among the people of the world and

four great kingdoms came up from among the people, di verse one from another.'

Daniel, having shown the vision, and having told how he was affected by it, and also given the general interpretation, says, in the 19th and 20th verses: "Then I would know the truth of the fourth beast, which was diverse from all the others, exceeding dreadful, whose teeth were of iron, and his nails of brass; which devoured, break in pieces, and stamped the residue with his feet; and of the ten horns that were in his head, and of the other which came up, and before whom three fell; even of that horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spake very great things, whose look was more stout than his fellows." To the request, embodied in these words, our text is the commencement of the reply:-" The fourth beast, shall be THE FOURTH KINGDOM UPON EARTH."This kingdom, I design to show, to be the Roman kingdom.

I. The Roman kingdom, like the fourth beast, was "dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly." (7th v.)

It was "dreadful," from its grasping ambition ; “terrible," in its despotic power; and "strong exceedingly,” by its military force and influence. From a single city, in eight centuries, it grasped the world. From the rule of a few justice-slipt vagrants, it swayed universal empire; and, from force, scarce sufficient for self-defence, it ruled the world with its fleets and armies. (See Disq. i. 10-12.) II. It was "diverse from all" kingdoms "that were before it." (7th verse.)

It was diverse from its predecessors, first, in its origin: it was founded by fugitives and nurtured by rapine.—

Second, it was diverse, in its government: being, 1. Regal, 2. Dictatorial, 3. Pretorian, 4. Consulate, 5. Triumvirate, 6. Imperial, and 7. Papal. Again-It was diverse, in its religion: it was first Pagan, and then, Christian.

III. From the Roman kingdom, arose ten kings, who, in a special manner, connected themselves with the Christian church.

In the 24th verse, we read: "And the ten horns, out of this kingdom, are ten kings that shall arise."

The Holy Spirit, in directing the prophets, inspires them to give the civil history of a people, no farther than they are connected with the church or cause of God. Hence, we find that western Rome is much more prominent, in prophecy, than eastern Rome; and hence, too, when we read that the beast had ten horns, we are not necessarily required to believe, that it had no more, but, whether having more, many or few, that ten hað a peculiar connection with the divine plan. And, indeed we find, that, though the beast is said to have ten horns, eleven are actually brought to view. (See first clause of the 8th verse.) The sense appears to be, that of the original horns, ten were immediately connected with the present subject. Intimation, also, is clearly made, as to what ten these are, viz., the first. (8th verse.) "I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots."

According to the best authorities, the first ten kings in western Rome were-1, the Huns, who established themselves in Hungary, A. D. 356; 2, the Ostro