him, I have found a man of the captives of Judah, that will make known unto the king the interpretation. 26. The king answered and said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, Art thou able to make known unto me the dream which I have seen, and the interpretation thereof? 27. Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, The secret which the king hath demanded cannot the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, the soothsayers, shew unto the king? 28. But there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these: 29. As for thee, O King, thy thoughts came into thy mind upon thy bed, what should come to pass hereafter; and he that reveale th secrets maketh known to thee what shall come to pass. 30. But as for me, this secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom that I have more than any living, but for their sakes that shall make known the interpretation to the king, and that thou mightest know the thoughts of thy heart." It is worthy of remark, that the founders of the three first great monarchies were all informed by prophecy of those things which im'mediately related to themselves. Nebuchadnezzar himself saw this vision in the second year of his reign, or in the year A. C. 603, and was told by Daniel that it was the God of heaven that had given him "a kingdom "and power and strength and glory." Cyrus, the founder of the Medo-Persian empire, was shewn by Daniel the prophecies of Isaiah, in which he was spoken of by name 150 years before he was born; he there found these words addressed to him, "I am the Lord, and "there is none else, there is no God beside 66 me; I girded thee, though thou hast not "known me," and he was told, that it was the God of Israel that had "loosed the loins of "kings, to open before him the two-leaved gates of brass *." 66 Alexander, the founder of the Grecian Monarchy, on his arrival at Jerusalem, in prosecuting the war against Darius, King of Persia, was shewn by Jaddua, the High-Priest, the pro phecy of Daniel, in which it was pointed out that he should overthrow the Persian monarchy. Being thus shewn that they were the subjects of prophecy, they were taught that "The Most 66 66 High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will." The prophecies appear to have been made Isa. xlv, 1-7. known to the founders of the three first great monarchies with this further object, that they might know that the God who strengthened and exalted them was the God of Israel, and that they might thence be disposed to shew favour to his church. To Nebuchadnezzar the revelation was made known for the sake of Daniel, and the Jews, his companions in captivity. To Cyrus, that he might restore the Jews to their own land, and command the rebuilding of the templet. To Alexander, that when he came against Jerusalem with the intention of severely punishing its inhabitants, his disposition might be so changed towards them, that he should not only pardon their offence, but receive them into favour, and grant them whatever privileges they desired‡.. Whether the present Ruler of France§, who is the principal individual spoken of in the prophecies relating to the fourth, or Roman empire, has seen any of those which relate to himself, cannot here be determined; but, as the Infidel Power, it is not to be supposed that he *Dan. ii. 30. Isa. xlv. 5, 13. Ezra i. 2. § This commentary on the vision of the Great Image was written at the end of the year 1813, and consequently while Buonaparte was yet Emperor of France.-1st Edit. It is plainly would be influenced by them. shewn in the prophetic writings, that in these latter days, the interference in behalf of the Church has been of a different nature; for we there find, that the favoured Protestant Nation, which now stands in the place formerly occupied by the Jewish nation as the chosen people of God, is represented as having been taken at the commencement of the present period of trouble under the peculiar protection of the Almighty, and as being throughout this period victorious and successful over its enemies*. We now proceed to the consideration of the prophecy itself: the first part of king Nebuchadnezzar's dream is thus related to him by Daniel, ver. 31: "Thou, O king, sawest, and "behold a great image. This great image, "whose brightness was excellent, stood before "thee, and the form thereof was terrible. 32. "This image's head was of fine gold, his "breast and his arms of silver, and his belly "and his thighs of brass." And afterwards, in giving the interpretation of this part of the vision, he adds, ver. 37: “ Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom and power and strength "and glory. 38. And wheresoever the children * Rev. vii. 1-8. "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. 39. And "after thee shall arise another kingdom infe"rior to thee, and another third kingdom of "brass, which shall bear rule over all the "earth." As in this vision the same four ruling kingdoms of the world are represented, that were afterwards seen in the vision of the four Beasts, and as the Vision of the Ram and the He-goat relates also to the second and third of these four kingsoms, these several prophecies may be advantageously compared together for mutual illustration. The three first ruling kingdoms are thus described in the vision of the four Beasts, Dan. vii. 4: "The first was "like a Lion, and had eagle's wings, and I "beheld till the wings thereof were plucked. "-5. And behold, another beast, a second, like to a Bear, and it raised up itself on one "side, and it had three ribs in the mouth of "it between the teeth of it; and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh. 6. And lo another, like a Leopard, which "had upon the back of it four wings of a "fowl; the beast had also four heads, and "dominion was given to it." |