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SCRIPTURAL PROPHECIES.

nion was given to it. Again, we have the same kingdom described as a hegoat, "which came from the west, on the face of the whole earth, and touched not the ground; and the goat had a notable horn between his eyes:" . . and, after his conquest of the former kingdom, it is said that "when he was strong, the great horn was broken; and for it came up four notable ones toward the four winds of heaven." (These four horns correspond with the four heads of the former beast.) And, though the description is so perfect as to render further explanation apparently unnecessary, since history so clearly points the parallel; it is added, that no excuse may be left for doubting the applicability of the next image, that " the rough goat is the King of Grecia; and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king." Here we have a short and graphic account of Alexander's conquests, his death when in the height of his career, and the subse quent subdivision of his empire among his four generals; nor can we, on a farther examination of this remarkable prophecy, hesitate respecting the strict applicability of the description of the rise and progress of the Mahomedan delusion, under the figure of a "little horn," coming forth from one of these four, and "which waxed exceedingly great toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the pleasant land;" of fierce countenance; understanding dark sayings; mighty, but not by his own power; destroying wonderfully, prospering, and destroying the holy people, magnifying himself even against the Prince of princes; and of whom it is said, "but he shall be broken without hand." Further particulars of this kingdom are given in another place, where it is said of Alexander, that the dominion shall not be "to his posterity, nor according to his dominion which he ruled: for his kingdom shall be plucked up even for others besides those;"—which others are the Mahomedans, whose exploits have been referred to above, and are more fully described in Dan. xi. 31, to the end.

These three powers having been thus clearly pointed out, and no room

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for question being left, since each in its turn is named in the sacred narration, let us hasten to the description of that fourth and last great dominion, described as legs of iron, and feet of iron and clay; that dominion in whose days shall be struck the blow that shall demolish the whole image, and which shall be succeeded by a dominion which shall know no end.

Daniel was specially anxious to understand the history of this fourth kingdom, and we have more particulars of this than of either of the others.

The fourth and last earthly kingdom having almost universal sway, was represented as legs of iron, and feet of iron and clay; and is farther described as "a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns."

Daniel "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 root; and behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things." The Prophet proceeds to the destruction of this power. "I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of Days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne the fiery flame, his wheels burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened. I beheld then, because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake I beheld till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed and given to the burning flame. As concerning the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away; yet their lives were prolonged for a season and time." And behold, "one like the Son of Man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought him near before him. And

there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages should serve him his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed."

Daniel was troubled about this vision, and sought an explanation of this fourth beast, of whom he adds other characters, viz., that "his nails were of brass;" that "the look" of the little horn "was more stout than his fellows;" and that it "made war with the saints, and prevailed against them,' and one said, "The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces. And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall arise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings. And he shall speak great words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand, until a time and times, and the dividing of time. But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy unto the end. And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom, under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him."

Parallel with this description of the fourth empire, are the following passages from the Revelations, whose intent is, indeed, so obvious, as to require no comment:

"Behold, a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his head." This great dragon is called the devil, and Satan; but after his subjugation by Michael, and his delegation of power to another, we are expressly told what he represented; as we shall see farther on:

The Apostle says, "I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast

And

rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.... And the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority. And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast. And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him? And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them; and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.... And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth: and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before (evov, in the presence or sight of) him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast whose deadly wound was healed. And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, and deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast, saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live. And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. And he causeth all, both small and great, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads and that no man might buy

SCRIPTURAL PROPHECIES.

or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man ; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six."

It is important that no mistake should occur in the application of the foregoing symbols: for the denunciations of wrath against all who have part or lot with this beast and his image, are most tremendous.

As with Daniel so with our Apostle, an angel is commissioned to explain the figures relating to this power, whose dominion should be so terrible and whose judgment dreadful. An angel comes to John and shews him more particularly the fulfilment of this most interesting portion of prophecy. John describes the further explanatory vision thus, "I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns." There can be no hesitation in recognizing the “Great red dragon” here. "And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:

And upon

her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS, AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus; and when I saw her I wondered with great admiration." The angel then explains the vision thus: "The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is. And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth. And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a MAY-1851.

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short space. And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition. And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast. These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful. And... the waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are people, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues. And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled. And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth."

The application is now evident. We have been told by Daniel that only one power shall rise after the Greek empire has declined, ruling over the whole earth; and that that power shall continue till the kingdoms are subdued under that final consummation of Christ's kingdom, which shall endure for ever. John describes a dominion existing in his day, long after all Grecian power had ceased; and details so many particulars as to leave the solution of his symbolical narrative a matter of mere common sense. He describes a power under the figure of a seven-headed tenhorned beast, having seven crowns: he mentions the transference of his power to a sea-born creature with seven heads and ten horns, the horns. bearing the crown; and he describes another beast rising in the presence of the latter and doing wonders before him. Mention is likewise made of a hariot riding on the monster. And these figures are plainly declared to represent the seven heads, seven mountains on which the woman sits,— also, seven kings, or successive forms

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of government, of which five were past, one then existing, and one to be revealed; the woman herself representing Rome, the then mistress of the world; the ten horns of the second beast, ten kingdoms, cotemporary with each other and the said beast; the water representing the vast population over which this last and most mischievous dominion should be exercised.

No chain of connective evidence can be stronger and it only remains to search out all the remaining passages of Scripture relating to this same power, to arrive at a comprehensive

view of the origin, course and destiny of this unholy dominion, and to clearly discover our own duty with respect to it.

The terms Harlot and Adultery, and many similar expressions, are used in Scripture to describe Idolatry, as in the following passages:- Isaiah lvii. 3-10; Ezek. xvi. 15, et seq.; Hosea; Deut. xvxi. 16; Exod. xxxiv. 15, &c., &c. When the Adulteress, or Harlot, is mentioned in the Revelation, we may therefore understand idolatrous practices as intended by the figures.

[To be continued.]

INTERVENTION OF THE COVENANT ANGEL FULFILLED IN
THE REFORMATION.

A Gleaning from Elliott's Hora Apocalyptica.

"And I saw (another)* mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire: and he had in his hand a little book open: and he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth, and cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roareth."-REV. x. 1-3.

OH, what a glorious vision to rejoice the heart of the Evangelist! what a contrast to all that had been figured to his view, since first the seven trumpet angels prepared themselves to sound! Indeed, I may say, with what a superiority of glory attaching to it, to that of any figuration of the future fortunes of the Church, from the commencement of the Revelation until now; and, as it proved, with nothing comparable to it afterwards, until the vision that foreshewed the glories of the consummation.

What a vision to rejoice the heart of the Evangelist! And first, was there not comfort to him in the very character and person of the angel intervening? For whom might he suppose him? The vision represented him as a mighty angel, that had a rainbow, or rather the rainbow-the rainbow of the covenant-circling his head; whose form moreover appeared mantled with a cloud; yet not so mantled as to hide from the Evangelist, as he descended, the sight of his face as the

This word aλov is omitted in many copies.

The clothing of a cloud, the ensign of Deity.-Psalm civ. 3; 2 Sam. xxii. 12, &c.

sun, and of his feet as pillars of fire. It was evident that it was the LORD JESUS, the Mighty One of Israel,mighty whether to save or to destroy, -the Angel of the Covenant:*- Him, whose presence, mantled with a cloud as his proper covering, (I say proper, because of no created angel was the glory such as to need its shrouding,) was under the older dispensation, seen to visit this our earth, first by Israel in the wilderness, then by one and another of the prophets afterwards; whose countenance moreover as the sun, and his feet like fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace, St. John had himself beheld at the opening of the Apocalyptic visions, when, overcome by the greatness of the glory, he fell at His feet as dead. Had other evidence been wanting, it was given afterwards, in His speaking of the two witnesses for truth, as His witnesses, (Rev. xi. 3,) so that the fact was indubious. And was it not joyous for him to see the Lord he loved, appearing on the dark, dark theatre, as just depicted, of this world, and shew

nant.

Mal. iii. 1.-The Messenger of the Cove

!

FULFILLED IN THE REFORMATION.

ing that He had neither forgotten nor forsaken His Church?

Further, the nature and object of the intervention indicated, must have been most cheering to him. For it was not a mere personal designation of the angel, that the characteristics thus exhibited in vision, were to be viewed. In the general Scripture notices of the intervention of Jehovah, we find that those among His attributes are for the most part chosen for specification or exhibition, which best suit the nature of the action on which He is about to enter, and which are in it to be most displayed and glorified. And, as elsewhere, so more especially in the Apocalypse. For example, in the vision of the 7th chapter, the action represented, being His usual divine, but silent, and by the world in general, unnoticed one, - of electing, quickening, enlightening, sealing His own true disciples from amidst the multitude of vain professors; each epithet and descriptive trait there noted, had a bearing on the work He was then engaged in. Thus there was then no representation, as here, of any reflection on this earth of the rainbow-light or sunbeams of His glory; none of any such visible descent and planting of His feet on land and sea; none of His speaking in voice audible to this earth, or to any but the angelic ministries employed in His providential government. so far as regarded the perceptions of the inhabitants of this world, it was figured as a work, noiseless, unimpressive, inglorious. What then of an intervention prefigured as this was, and with all these circumstantials of glory and power accompanying? It was surely to be inferred from them, that it would be one, sudden and most extraordinary, in vindication of His covenant of mercy to the Church, somewhat perhaps as when, in similar guise of the pillars of fire and of the cloud, He descended to deliver Israel from out of Egypt; that it would be one in which He would specially display before men His illuminating beams as the Sun of Righteousness; and while by word, and perhaps by act, and with an exercise of His mighty power accompanying it, as

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serting His rights to this world as His inheritance,-would also, with voice audible through the whole Roman world, even as the lion of the tribe of Judah, rebuke and strike terror into the enemies of His Church. By the book that He held opened in His hand, the instrumental means seemed figured, whereby all this was to be accomplished, viz., the opening of the volume of His own book, the Bible. And as, in the deliverance of Israel from out of Egypt, the pillar of fire did not only give light to Israel, but sent out its lightning-fires, as the Psalmist intimates, to trouble the host of the Egyptians, so the notice of His feet now appearing as pillars of fire, from beneath the cloud that mantled Him, might be meant to signify that He would make the destroying fire of His power to be felt among men, to the confusion of His enemies, and the triumph of His own cause and people. Or rather the intended reference of this particular emblem might be to that description given by Himself of the effects of His first promulgation of the Gospel, "I am come to send fire on the earth :" and the intimation be, that now, as then, through man's enmity to the truth, the effect of its republication would be divisions, contentions, and wars of opinionfierce even as a kindled conflagration.

Thus much, might have been inferred by the Evangelist from the circumstantials of the vision, concerning the nature, glory, and results of the intervention from heaven here prefigured. And can we, to whom it has been allotted to live in this latter age, and thus to be enabled to trace, in the grand mutations and events of the world intervening, the fulfilment of so much of the Apocalyptic prophecy, -can we, after having been brought in our investigation of its series of prefigurative visions, step by step in the Roman world's history, down to the close of the fifteenth century, hesitate to recognize in the one before us, and which next followed, the figuring of that grand event with which the sixteenth opened, the REFORMATION? Surely, if we look simply to the one most prominently marked charac

• Psalm lxxvii. 11 to 20; Exodus xiv. 24.

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