eth; which is the fruit of the Spirit, the end of the commandment, the fulfilling of the law, the bond of perfectness, and a better gift and a more excellent way than speaking with tongues, or interpreting or prophesying; and without which you would be as nothing, though you understood all mystery and all knowledge. From the want of this the earth has been covered with ruins. Let it be yours, and however poor may be your earthly portion, it will be infinitely more profitable to you than all the kingdoms of the world, and all their glory. Prophecies shall fail; tongues shall cease; knowledge shall vanish away; the earth and the works that are therein shall be burned up; but charity never faileth.

If you have kept the word of the Lord, and have not denied his name, hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown. But if heretofore you have been lukewarm, and destitute of Christian faith, and zeal, and hope, and love, it would be vain in closing a chapter on such a subject to leave you with any mortal admonition; hear what the Spirit saith, and harden not your heart against the heavenly counsel, and the glorious encouragement given unto you by that Jesus of whom all the prophets bear witness, and unto whom all things are now committed by the Father:- "I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eye-salve, that thou mayest see As many as I love I rebuke and chasten; be zealous, therefore, and repent. Behold I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am sat down with my Father in his throne. He that hath an ear to hear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches."

PROPHECIES OF DANIEL.

265

CHAPTER IX.

DANIEL'S PROPHECY OF THE THINGS NOTED IN THE
SCRIPTURE OF TRUTH.

THERE is a connected series of predictions, emphatically denominated the Things noted in the Scripture of Truth, which forms a commentary upon some of the more obscure prophecies-which give a condensed but precise account of the history of many kings—which marks the propagation, the persecution, the establishment, and the corruptions of Christianity-and which, while it commences with the reign of Cyrus, who delivered the Jews from their first captivity, describes, with the utmost precision, the rise, extent, and fall of that power which was to possess Judea in the latter times, previous to their final restoration. The prophecy is both local and chronological. It is descriptive of the government of the same identical region, and of the chief facts which relate to it, for many successive ages, and also of the spiritual tyranny which reigned for so long a period over Christendom. The events follow in succession, in the exact order of the prediction. They are not shadowed under types or figures, but foretold, in general, with the plainness of a narrative, and with the precision of facts. And Daniel relates them, not as delivered by him to others, but as declared in a vision to himself by an angel. These claims upon attention might well command it, even although the prophecy referred not, as it does, to a subject peculiarly interesting at the present critical period of the history of the world.

To enumerate all the particulars would be to transcribe all the words of the prophecy;-but they afford too conclusive an evidence to be passed over in silence. The observations of Sir Isaac Newton on this prophecy contain a circumstantial detail of the historical events, and of their application to the prediction. A succinct

i

and general view may be here given. The prophecy includes the whole of the eleventh chapter of Daniel:

"And now I will show thee the truth. Behold there shall stand up three kings in Persia (Cambyses, and Darius Hystaspes), and the fourth (Xerxes) shall be far richer than they all; and by his strength through his riches he shall stir up all against the realm of Grecia. And a mighty king (Alexander the Great) shall stand up, that shall rule with great dominion, and do according to his will. And when he shall stand up, his kingdom shall be broken, and shall be divided towards the four winds of heaven: and not to his posterity, nor according to his dominion which he ruled for his kingdom shall be plucked up, even for others besides those."*

Soon after the death of Alexander the Great, his kingdom was divided towards the four winds of heaven, but not to his posterity; four of his captains, Ptolemy, Antigonus, Lysimachus, and Cassander, reigned over Egypt, Syria, Thrace, and Greece. The kingdoms of Egypt and of Syria became afterward the most powerful: they subsisted as independent monarchies for a longer period than the other two; and, as they were more immediately connected with the land of Judea, which was often reduced to their dominion, they form the subject of the succeeding predictions. Bishop Newton gives even a more copious illustration of the historical facts, which verify the whole of this prophecy, than that which had previously been given by his illustrious predecessor of the same name-who has rendered that name immortal. He quotes or refers to authorities in every instance: and his dissertation on that part of the prophecy which relates to the kingdoms of Syria and Egypt is wound up in these emphatic words; "It may be proper to stop here, and reflect a little how particular and circumstantial this prophecy is concerning the kingdoms of Egypt and Syria, from the death of Alexander to the time of Antiochus Epiphanes. There is not so complete and regular a series of their kings-there is not so concise and comprehensive an account of their affairs to be found in any author of these times. The prophecy is really more perfect than any history. No one historian hath related so many circumstances, and in such exact order of time, as the prophet hath foretold † Ibid. v. 5, 30.

* Dan xi. 2, 3, 4

them; so that it was necessary to have recourse to several authors, Greek and Roman, Jewish and Christian; and to collect here something from one, and to collect there something from another, for better explaining and illustrating the great variety of particulars contained in this prophecy." So close is the coincidence between the prophetic and the real history of the kings of Egypt and of Syria, that Porphyry, one of the earliest 'opponents of Christianity, laboured to prove its extreme accuracy, and alleged from thence that the events must have preceded the prediction. The same argument is equally necessary at the present hour to disprove the subsequent parts of the same prophecy-though none can urge it now. The last of those facts to which it refers, the accomplishment of which is already past, are unfolded with equal precision and truth as the first-and the fulfilment of the whole is yet incomplete. The more clearly that the event corresponds to the prediction, instead of being an evidence against the truth, the more conclusive is the demonstration that it is the word of Him who hath the times and the seasons in his own power.

The subject of the prophecy is represented in these words:-"I am come to make thee understand what shall befall thy people in the latter days; for the vision is for many days."* And that which is noted in the Scripture of Truth terminates not with the reign of Antiochus. At that very time the Romans extended their conquests towards the East. Macedonia, the seat of the empire of Alexander the Great, became a province of the Roman empire. And the prophecy, faithfully tracing the transition of power, ceases to prolong the history of the kings of Egypt and of Syria, and becomes immediately descriptive of the progress of the Roman arms. The very term (shall stand up) which previously marked the commencement of the Persian and of the Macedonian power is here repeated, and denotes the commencement of a third era or a new power. The word in the original is the same in each. And arms (an epithet sufficiently characteristic of the extensive military power of the Romans) shall stand up, and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily sacrifice, and they shall place the abomination that

• Dan, x. 14.

1

maketh desolate.* All these things, deeply affecting the Jewish state, the Romans did-and they finally rendered the country of Judea "desolate of its old inhabitants." The propagation of Christianity—the succeeding important events-is thus represented:-The people that do know their God shall be strong and do exploits. And they that understand among the people shall instruct many. The persecutions which they suffered are as significantly described:-Yet they shall fall by the sword and by flame, by captivity and by spoil many days. Now, when they shall fall, they shall be holpen with a little help, and many shall cleave to them with flatteries. And such was Constantine's conversion and the effect which it produced. No other government but that of the Romans stood up-but the mode of that government was changed. After the days of Constantine, Christianity became gradually more and more corrupted. Previous to that period there had existed no system of dominion analogous to that which afterward prevailed. The greatest oppressors had never extended their pretensions beyond human power, nor usurped a spiritual tyranny. But, in contradiction to every other, the next succeeding form of government, unparalleled in its nature, in the annals of despotism or of delusion, is thus characterized by the prophet:- And the king (the ruling power, signifying any government, state, or potentate) shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished.§ This description is suited to the history of the Eastern or Western Churches-to the government under the Grecian emperors at Constantinople, or of the popes at Rome. The extent of the Roman empire might justify its application to the latter; but the connexion of the prophecy, as referable to local events, tends to limit it to the former. In either case it is descriptive of that mode of government which prospered so long in the east and in the west-and which consisted in the impious usurpation of spiritual authority-in the blasphemous assumption of those attributes which are exclusively divine, and in exalting itself above the laws of God and man. But instead, perhaps, of being confined exclusively to either, it may have been intended to represent, † Ibid. ver. 32, 33, 34, 35. Dan. xi. 36, &c.

*Dan. xi. 31.

See Bishop Newton on this Prophecy.