his armies to Jerusalem, destroyed the city and house of God, took the vessels of the temple and the remaining Jews, and carried them away captive. This occurred B. C. 606. Among the captives previously carried to Babylon was one Daniel, who was especially endued with wisdom from on high. Nebuchadnezzar, in the second year of his reign, had a remarkable dream. In his dream he saw a great image. As he was an idolater, an image was an object that would at once command his attention and respect. But the thing went from him; therefore he called all the magicians, astrologers, and sorcerers. None of these, however, could reveal or interpret the dream. Finally God revealed the matter to Daniel, who made known to the king his dream as follows:

“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. This image's head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, his legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay. Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were

of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing-floor; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth." Dan. 2:31-35.

These five short verses open one of the most sublime chapters of human history. It is so comprehensive that the period which it covers, beginning more than twenty-five centuries ago, reaches from that far-distant point past the rise and fall of kingdoms, past epochs and ages, over into the eternal state-yes, to all eternity.

First, in the vision, are brought to view four universal monarchies, which flourished in succession in ancient times. The first of these is represented by the head of gold, interpreted by the prophet as follows: "Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory. . . . Thou art this head of gold." Verse 37, 38. By this we understand that the Chaldean kingdom is what the head of gold repre

sented. It was a golden kingdom in a golden age. Babylon, its metropolis, lay in the garden of the East. The city lay in a perfect square, fifteen miles on each side. It was surrounded by a wall three hundred and fifty feet high and eighty-seven feet thick. It had one hundred and fifty gates of solid brass. Its hanging gardens were a wonderment. This city contained many things which were wonders of the world, but the city itself was the greatest wonder of its time. It was in this city, by the rivers of Babylon, that the Israelite captives sat down and wept, when they remembered Zion. Said they, "We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof. For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion. How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land?" Psa. 137: 1-4. I presume it is safe to say that never before did the earth see a city like this; and since it has never seen its equal. With the earth prostrate at her feet, she sat "the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency." Such was Babylon, with Nebuchadnezzar, in the prime of life, its ruler,

when the Israelite captives entered its impregnable walls to serve for seventy years.

While Babylon was founded by Nimrod over two thousand years before Christ, it did not enter the field of prophecy until connected with the people of God, which was about 606 B. C. Here the head of gold began in history and continued until 538 B. C., when, during the reign of Belshazzar, the son of Nebuchadnezzar, the kingdom fell into the hands of the Medes and the Persians (see Daniel 5).

The Medo-Persian kingdom is what was represented by the breast and arms of silver interpreted by Daniel as follows: "And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee." Verse 39. It was not inferior in power nor in the extent to which it carried its conquests, for Cyrus erected the most extensive empire that had ever existed; but it was far inferior in wealth, luxury, and magnificence. The MedoPersian kingdom, however, was finally overthrown by the Grecians. This occurred about 286 B. C.

The Grecian empire is what was represented by the belly and thighs of brass, interpreted by Daniel as "a third kingdom of brass, which

shall bear rule over all the earth" (verse 39). The conquests of Grecia under Alexander have no parallel in historic annals for suddenness and rapidity. The legs of iron and the feet, part of iron and part of clay, Daniel interprets to be the "fourth kingdom" in its strong yet divided condition (verses 40-43). A careful reading of verses 41 and 42 will show that the feet, part of iron and clay, are termed "the kingdom," though divided. This was Rome.

Thus far in this vision the image represents four universal kingdoms; namely, Babylonian, Medo-Persian, Grecian, and Roman. "And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever. Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold." Verses 44, 45. This language is so clear that it would seem impossible to misunderstand it. "In the days of these kings"-kingdoms. Only four kingdoms are seen in the image. Only four are