until he come whose right it is; and I will give it him." Eze. 21:25-27, 31.

Here is the period of God's indignation against his covenant people; the period during which the sanctuary and host are to be trodden under foot. The diadem was removed, and the crown taken off, when

Israel was subjected to the kingdom of Babylon. It was overturned again by the Medes and Persians, again by the Grecians, again by the Romans, corresponding to the three times the word is repeated by the prophet. The Jews then having rejected Christ, were soon scattered abroad over the face of the earth; and spiritual Israel has taken the place of the literal seed; but they are in subjection to earthly powers, and will be till the throne of David is again.

set

up, till He who is its rightful heir, the Messiah, the Prince of peace, shall come; and then it will be given him. Then the indignation will have ceased. What shall take place in the last end of this period, the angel is to make known to Daniel.

VERSE 20. The ram which thou sawest having two horns are the kings of Media and Persia. 21. And the rough goat is the king of Grecia; and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king. 22. Now that being broken,

whereas four stood up for it, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not in his power.

As the disciples said to the Lord, so we may here say of the angel who spake to Daniel, Lo, now speakest thou plainly, and speakest no parable.

This is an

explanation of the vision in language as plain as need be given. See on verses 3-8. The

distinguishing feature of the Persian Empire, the union of the two nationalities which composed it, is represented by the two horns of the ram. Grecia attained its greatest glory, as a unit, under the leadership of perhaps as vile a man and as great a king as the world has ever seen. This part of her history is represented by the first phase of the goat, the one notable horn, symbolizing Alexander the Great. Upon his death, the kingdom fell into fragments, but almost immediately consolidated into four grand divisions, represented by the second phase of the goat, the four horns, which came up in the place of the first which was broken. These divisions did not stand in his power. None of them possessed the strength of the original kingdom. These great waymarks in history, on which the historian bestows volumes, the inspired penman here gives us in sharp outline, with a few strokes of the pencil and a few dashes of the pen.

VERSE 23. And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up. 24. And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own. power; and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practice, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people. 25. And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many; he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand.

This power succeeds to the four divisions of the goat kingdom in the latter time of their kingdom,

It

that is, toward the termination of their career. is, of course, the same as the little horn of verse 9, and onward. Apply it to Rome, as set forth in remarks on verse 9, and all is harmonious and clear. A king of fierce countenance. Moses, in predicting punishment to come upon the Jews from this same power, calls it "a nation of fierce countenance." Deut. 28:49, 50. No people made a more formid

able

appearance in warlike array than the Romans.

Understanding dark sentences." Moses, in the scripture just referred to, says, "Whose tongue thou shalt not understand." This could not be said of the Babylonians, Persians, or Greeks, in reference to the Jews; for the Chaldean and Greek languages were greater or less extent in Palestine. This was not the case, however, with the Latin.

used to a

When the transgressors are come to the full.” All along, the connection between God's people and their oppressors is kept in view. It was on account of the transgressions of his people that they were sold into captivity. And their continuance in sin brought more and more severe punishment. At no time were the Jews more corrupt, morally, as a nation, than at the time they came under the jurisdiction of the Romans.

"Mighty, but not by his own power." The success of the Romans was owing largely to the aid of their allies, and divisions among their enemies, of

which they

were ever ready to take advantage.

"He shall destroy wonderfully." The Lord told the Jews by the prophet Ezekiel that he would deliver

them to men who were skillful to destroy." How full of meaning is such a description, and how applicable to the Romans! In taking Jerusalem, they slew eleven hundred thousand Jews, and made ninety-seven thousand captives. So wonderfully did they destroy this once mighty and holy people.

And what they could not accomplish by force, they secured by artifice. Their flatteries, fraud, and corruption, were as fatal as their thunderbolts of war. And Rome, finally, in the person of one of its governors, stood up against the Prince of princes, by giving sentence of death against Jesus Christ. But it shall be broken without hand; an expression which identifies the destruction of this power with the smiting of the image of chapter 2.

VERSE 26. And the vision of the evening and the morning which was told is true; wherefore shut thou up the vision; for it shall be for many days. 27. And I Daniel fainted, and was sick certain days; afterward I rose up, and did the king's business; and I was astonished at the vision, but none understood it.

The vision of the evening and the morning, the 2300 days. In view of the long period of oppression, and the calamities which were to come upon his people, Daniel fainted and was sick certain days. He was astonished at the vision, but did not understand it. Why did not Gabriel at this time carry out fully his instructions, and cause Daniel to understand the vision? Because Daniel had received all that he could then bear. Further instruction is therefore deferred to a future time.

Chapter IX.

THE SEVENTY WEEKS.

VERSE 1. In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, which was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans; 2; In the first year of his reign, I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Je

rusalem.

The vision recorded in the preceding chapter was given in the third year of Belshazzar, B. C. 553. The events narrated in this chapter occurred in the first year of Darius, B. C. 538. A period of fifteen years is consequently passed over between these two chapters. Although Daniel was cumbered with cares and burdens, as prime minister of the foremost kingdom on the face of the earth, he did not let this deprive him of the privilege of studying into things of higher moment, even the purposes of God, as revealed to his prophets. He understood by the books, that is, the writings of Jeremiah, that God would accomplish seventy years in the captivity of his people. This prediction is found in Jer. 25:12; 29:10. The knowledge of it, and the use that was made of it, shows that Jeremiah was early regarded as a divinely-inspired prophet; otherwise