præciditur, ibi ejus finis est." This latter word, not the former, is used by Daniel, both in the present passage, and in every other passage where the time of the end is spoken of.* The end of the wonders therefore, when it is considered what word is used in the original to express the end, cannot, as it appears to me, denote either the whole period during which these wonders were transacting, or the latter part of that period; but must on the contrary denote the absolute cutting off or termination of the period of the wonders.† The end then, or the time of the end, must, agreeably to the import of the original word, signify the termination of some period or another: the question is, what period? Daniel informs us, the period of the wonders: for, since he speaks of the end of the wonders, the end can only mean the termination of that period which comprehends the wonders. Still the question will occur, what is the period of the wonders? Is it the whole period of Daniel's last vision, or is it the particular period of the 1260 years? This question appears to me not very difficult to be answered. In the earlier part of Daniel's last vision, which treats of the wars between the kings of Syria and Egypt, there is nothing that peculiarly deserves the name of a wonder. The age of wonders, on which both Daniel and St. John dwell with so much minuteness and astonishment,‡ is undoubtedly the great period of 1260 years; during which the world was destined to behold the wonderful sight of a two-fold apostacy from the pure religion of the * Excepting those in which he uses Supba. It is observable, that, whenever Daniel uses the cognates of Ketz to mark time, he invariably uses them in the sense of the termination of the period concerning which they speak, never in the sense of its continuance; a sense indeed of which I believe them to be incapable: insomuch that, if by the time of the end and the end of the wonders he means either the whole or a part of the period of those wonders, he entirely departs from the sense which he elsewhere annexes to these cognate words. (See Dan. i. 5, 15, 18. iv. 29. See also Gen. iv. 3. margin. trans.) There is one passage, in which Daniel plainly appears to me to use the words Aarith and Ketz in direct opposition to each other. "I will make thee know what shall be in the latter end of the indignation; for it (the vision) shall be until the appointed time of the end." Dan. viii. 19.) Here the latter end, or rather the continuance, (Aarith) of the indignation, denotes the whole period of the tyranny of the be-goat's little born, or in other words the whole period of the 1260 years; while the end (Ketz) to which the vision is to reach, denotes the expiration of the 1260 years or the end of the period of the wonders, which therefore synchronizes with the expiration of the 2300 years, to which the vision is likewise to reach. Dan. viü. 13, 14. See Dan. vii. 8, 15, 19-22, 28. viii. 9-14, 27. Rev. xi. xii. xiii. xvii. 6,7. Gospel, and of the developement of a monstrous power that set the Majesty of heaven itself at defiance. Hence the period of the wonders can surely be only the period of the 1260 years; for let us attentively peruse the writings of Daniel and St. John, and see whether we can discover another period to which we can with the slightest degree of propriety apply the title of the period of the wonders. But a yet more positive proof, that the period of the 1260 years is the period of the wonders, may be deduced from the very passage, which Mr. Mede uses to establish his own exposition by assigning to the word Ketz a sense which it is incapable of bearing, "And one said to the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, until how long shall be the end (that is, the termination) of the wonders? And I heard the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and sware by him that liveth for ever, that it shall be until a time and times and a half; and, when he shall have finished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished. And I heard, but I understood not. Then said I, O my Lord, what is the end of these things? And he said, Go thy way Daniel; for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end." A question is here asked, how long a time shall elapse before the end of the period of wonders arrives? The answer is, three times and a half or 1260 years: and it is further declared, that, when the Jews shall begin to be restored, all these things, namely all the wonders which were to come to an end at the expiration of the 1260 years, shall be finished. Upon this Daniel inquires, what is the end of them: but the only reply given him is, that the words are sealed till the time of the end, or that his prophecies shall not be fully understood till the end of the wonders arrives. Now, if 1260 years are to elapse before the end of the wonders arrives, and if all these things, that is to say all the wonders, are to be finished contemporaneously with the restoration of the Jews; it will both follow that the period of the wonders must exactly comprehend 1260 years, and that the restoration of the Jews will commence at the expiration of that period. In other words it will, follow, that the period of the wonders is the same as the period of the 1260 years; and consequently that the end of the period of the wonders, or the time of the end, denotes the termination, not the continuance, of the period of the 1260 years. This will yet further appear from comparing together what Daniel says relative to the time of the end and what he says relative to the expiration of the 1260 years. If all the wonders are to be finished at the close of the 1260 years, and if they are likewise to be finished at the time of the end; it is manifest that the time of the end must so synchronize with the expiration of the 1260 years, that it must commence exactly when the 1260 years terminate. is Accordingly we shall find, that the wonders, which are generally declared to be finished at the close of the 1260 years, are severally declared to be likewise finished at this very time of the end. Thus the vision of the ram and the he-goat, which comprehends the wonders of Mohammedism or a portion of the wonders of the 1260 years, to reach unto the time of the end. Thus the reformation from the great apostacy, or the prophesying of the two witnesses, is to continue in a progressive state to the time of the end.† Thus the little horn is to have the saints given into his hand during the space of three times and a half: and, although his dominion is to begin to be taken away before the expiration of that period, even at the era of the Reformation, yet it will not be completely consumed till the end. Thus the war of the atheistical king with the kings of the south and the north, his invasion of Palestine and Egypt, and his subsequent destruction between the seas, are at once to take place at the time of the end, and to synchronize with the restoration of the Jews; which will commence at the expiration of the 1260 years, or at the time when all the wonders are finished. § Thus the prophecies of Daniel are to be sealed, or, in other words, + Dan. xi. 35. Dan. viii. 17. not receive their full accomplishment so as to be completely understood, till the time of the end. And thus the prophet himself is commanded to wait patiently till the end, with an assurance that he shall stand in his lot at the end of the days.† In absolute strictness of speech then, the end is the very moment when the 1260 years expire: but Daniel teaches us to extend it somewhat more widely. He styles this termination both the end of the wonders and the time of the end; by which it appears we must understand the time at or about the end or the cutting off of the 1260 years: for he informs us, that both the two little horns will be destroyed, and that the whole expedition of the wilful king will take place, at this time of the end; events of such magnitude, that, although they may commence at the end of the period of the wonders, they plainly cannot be finished in a single day or a single year. He does not indeed acquaint us what precise length of time will be occupied in the full accomplishment of these important events, but he teaches us that 75 years will elapse between the termination of the 1260 years and the commencement of the time of blessedness or the Millennium. Hence it seems most reasonable to conclude, that these 75 years constitute what Daniel styles the end or the time of the Dan. xii. 4, 9. + Dan. xii. 13. "The end (Ketz not Aarith) of the days." This curious passage both shews plainly, that the end or the time of the end cannot mean the whole period of the 1260 years; and gives some warrant to Mr. Mede's opinion, that the first resur rection, which immediately precedes the Millennium, and which consequently takes place during the lapse of that intermediate period which I believe to be styled the time of the end, will be a literal resurrection of the saints and martyrs. Daniel will certainly not stand in his lot during the 1260 years: but he is directed to wait for that purpose till the end: therefore the end cannot mean the 1260 years. Much the same argument may be deduced from the time specified for the unsealing of Daniel's prophecies. If they are to remain sealed till the time of the end, and if the time of the end denote the whole period of the 1260 days, as Mr. Mede supposes; then they will be opened either at the beginning, or during the lapse, of the 1260 years: but we know, that even now they are not perfectly opened, and moreover that they will not be perfectly opened till after the overthrow of the Antichristian confederacy at Armageddon, which takes place subsequent to the expiration of the 1260 years, and at some era during the lapse of the 75 years which intervene between the end of the 1260 years and the beginning of the Millennium: therefore the time of the end cannot denote the whole period of the 1260 years, but must denote the intervening period of 75 years, the course of which the now partly sealed prophecies of Daniel will be completely opened; that is to say, so fully accomplished as to be completely understood. Dan. xii, 11, 12. in end; as being that short portion of intermediate time, which cuts off and divides the great period of 1260 years from the great period of the Millennium. CHAPTER IV. Concerning the two first prophecies of Daniel and the little horn of the fourth beast. THE prophetic dream of Nebuchadnezzar, and the vision of the four beasts, equally predict, that, from the era of the Babylonian monarchy to the commencement of the Millennium, there should be four, and no more than four empires, universal so far as the Church is concerned. The first, or Babylonian empire, is symbolized by the golden head of the image; and by the lion with eagle's wings. The second, or Medo-Persian empire, is symbolized by the silver breast and arms of the image; and by the bear with three ribs in its mouth. The third, or Macedonian empire, is symbolized by the brazen belly and thighs of the image; and by the leopard with four wings and four heads. And the fourth, or Roman empire, is symbolized by the iron and clayey feet of the image, branching out into ten toes; and by the fourth beast diverse from all the others, being compounded of the three preceding symbols, a lion, a bear, and a leopard,* and having ten horns. The accuracy, with which the three first sets of these double hieroglyphics describe the three first great monarchies, has been so amply shewn by writers upon the prophecies, that it is superfluous for me to discuss the subject afresh I shall therefore confine myself to the history of the fourth empire, symbolized by the feet of the image, and by the ten-horned beast. * See Rev. xiii. 2. |