While the stone became a great carried them away. This was the dream. The interpretation was, that these four parts of the image, symbolized four distinct kingdoms, which should arise, one after another, and successively bear rule over the whole earth. The stone, which smote them, symbolized the kingdom which the God of Heaven was to set up, and which should never be removed. On the contrary, it was to break in pieces all other kingdoms, and stand for ever. Now, of course, it is of the first importance to know when these symbols began to be fulfilled-i. e., at what period the head of gold, the first kingdom, was to arise. And here, we are not left to any uncertainty. This kingdom is definitively pointed out: Thou, O king, art a king of kings. For the God of Heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power and strength and glory. And, wheresover 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.-DAN. ii. 37, 38. Here, then, is an infallible starting point. And, by the phrase, "Thou art this head of gold," we are to understand, not this individual king, but the kingdom of which he was the head. The "head of gold” was to continue, not merely through his life, but until the "breast and arms of silver," i. e., the next universal empire, arose to power. It was about 612, B. C.,-i. e., when Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Nineveh—that Babylon became chief of the kingdoms. And it was fitly symbolized by the "head of gold," because, in point of fact, it was the BABYLON THE HEAD OF GOLD. 15 first nation that rose to universal dominion. It was, therefore, more excellent in power than all other kingdoms of its day. It was fitly termed so, too, because of its exceeding great riches and splendour. The accounts we have of its wealth seem almost fabulous. "The golden city," "The glory of the kingdoms, and beauty of the Chaldees' excellency," "Abundant in treasures," are terms by which the prophets characterize it. I suppose that, in these modern times, we can scarcely form an idea of the magnificence that raised this city to be one of the seven wonders of the world. It was surrounded by a solid brick wall, three hundred and fifty feet high and sixty miles in circumference. Along this wall six two-horse chariots could be driven abreast. It was provided with one hundred gates of solid brass. Its palaces, the banks of the river, its artificial canals and lake for draining the river in its seasons of overflow, are described with great pomp by the historians of the time. The Temple of Bel, or Belus, had a circumference of half a mile. It towered to the enormous height of more than one thousand feet; while St. Paul's, London, is only little more than one-third of that elevation! Then, there were its hanging gardens. And what were these? Imagine an artificial mountain, four hundred feet high-bound together by a wall twenty-two feet thick -with terraces on all sides, rising on sets of piers, one above another. Imagine, that here are running streams; a lake; and hill and valley and plain; the largest trees, and every variety of shrub and flower. 16 GRANT OF POWER TO. Imagine this, and you have some idea of the hanging gardens built by this mighty king, in order to refresh his queen, Amytis, with the mountain air and scenery of her own native Media. : This, then was the head of the kingdom of Babylon. And the grant of power unto it was in these words :"Thus saith the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel: Thus shall ye say unto your masters: "I have made the earth, the man and the beast that are upon the ground, by my great power and by my outstretched arm, and have given it unto whom it seemed meet unto me. "And now have I given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, my servant: and the beasts of the field have I given him also, to serve him. "And all nations shall serve him, and his son, and his son's son, until the very time of his land come: and then, many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of him." Jer. xxvii. 5-8. This, then, is his grant of power. And even so is the record of history. The king of Babylon moved among the nations of the earth with a power which none could resist. I mean, until his mission was ended; or, in the words of the prophet, "until the very time of his land had come." And then his sceptre was broken, and his power taken from him. Before his time, many of the surrounding nations were independent. The Jews, Egyptians, Edomites, Moabites, Ammonites, Tyrians and Zidonians were so. But in his day they all came under his yoke. And, marvellous as the record of its greatness is, that of the shortness of its duration is even more so. You might suppose that such a nation-so great in its power, its extent, its resources, its wealth-would stand for ages. But it was not so to be. Its time was fixed. The outer circle of its greatness was drawn around it. And beyond that it could not go. The words of the prophet were, "And this whole land"—i. e., the land of Judea-"shall be a desolation and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith the Lord, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual desolations." Jer. xxv. 11, 12. And God's people, the Jews, were, for their sins, to be punished by him. He was to take them captive. The daughter of Zion sat down by the rivers of Babylon. She was in sorrow and anguish of heart, in the land of the uncircumcised. She hung her harp upon the willows, and wept as she remembered Zion. as the stranger looked in upon the magnificence of her conquerors, and asked, How long will this continue? the monarch might have replied, "Look on these broad walls; these mighty towers; these boundless resources; this untold wealth; these hosts that never turned their back upon a foe-and where shall the end be?" So men reason. But could you then have mingled with that captive throng, and asked, Who are these? and what do they here? You would have seen the true cause and meaning of Babylon's power. In their 18 CAPTIVITY OF THE JEWS. stay, you would have drawn the limits of her greatness. While Israel remains captive, no foe shall prosper against her keeper. In captive Israel, and not in her own marvellous power, is the secret of the duration of her greatness. Babylon shall continue as she is, while the Jew is confined within her walls. When the period assigned to Israel's captivity is ended, the rod of their oppressor shall be broken, and Babylon humbled in the dust. The language of the prophet is, "Israel is a scattered sheep; the lions have driven him away. First, the king of Assyria hath devoured him; and last, this Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, hath broken his bones. Therefore thus saith the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, Behold, I will punish the king of Babylon, and his land, as I have punished the king of Assyria." And then, as if the threatened judgment was already accomplished, the prophet exclaims, "How is the hammer of the whole earth cut asunder and broken! How is Babylon become a desolation among the nations!" Jer. 1. 17-19, 23. "Be And then, as to the accomplishment of this. In his "vision of the burden of Babylon," Isaiah points out the nation that shall come up against it. hold, I will stir up the Medes against them." Isa. xiii. 17. And again, the summons is, "Go up, O Elam: besiege, O Media." Isa. xxi. 2. Now, "Elam" was the ancient name of Persia.* Its present name first occurs, I think, in the prophecy of Ezekiel. "The Lord," says Jeremiah, "hath raised up the * It was so named from Elam, the second son of Shem, its founder. |