without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse-bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs. Rev. xiv. He is not an old man who may have seen the first of the seven last plagues, and in whose days one vial of wrath has been poured out after another, from the French revolution to the rapid dissolution, now seemingly in progress, of the Turkish empire. Hitherto, in past judgments, men have not repented to give God glory. But of the great earthquake, or revolution, in which are slain of names of men, or men of note, seven thousand, it is said, and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven. The whole history of the world affords clear and experimental demonstration, that sin is the ruin of any people while the word of a gracious God declares, that at what instant a nation shall turn from their evil, the Lord will repent of the evil that he thought to do unto them. He hath testified of his hatred of sin, and of his willingness to save, by the death of his Son upon the cross. He hath no pleasure in the death of a sinner, and his word of mercy ever is, Turn ye, turn ye, why will ye die? With the consummation of his controversy with the nations, in near if not immediate prospect, the world is now come to this pass, that by judgments, if not by the signs of them, men shall know that God is the Lord, either by abiding his wrath when he riseth to shake terribly the nations, or by learning to fear His great and glorious name, who hath power over these plagues, and who executeth justice and judgment on the earth. The destroyers of the earth are devoted to destruction. And ere the indignation be overpast, a time of trouble is at hand, such as the world has never witnessed. The only safety, whether for the youthful or the hoary head, is to be found in the way of righteous ness. The righteousness that is of faith, is the watch-tower of the Christian, built upon a sure foundation. Though the heavens and the earth shall be shaken, the hope of the righteous shall not perish with the convulsions, nor, even at last, with the wreck, of the world. All things shall be shaken, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain. And when men's hearts shall fail them with fear, and for looking after those things that are coming upon the earth, it is the glorious privilege of the faithful in Jesus, and an act of obedience enjoined by him as their Master, to lift up their heads, and to knowfrom those very things which shall appal the world, and cause the ungodly to say to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb,-that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand, and their redemption draweth nigh. Now, when it may be seen that the judgments of God have been made manifest, the words of the prophet may be heard and laid to heart, Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the Lord, till he come and rain righteousness upon you. And having seen how the Revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ unveils the past history of man, and how all human power is nothing at last but an illustration of his word, we may look to the glory that excelleth, and to the Lord who, blessing his people by redeeming them from all their iniquities, saves them from the wrath to come, and is preparing for them a kingdom that can never be moved,—and give the more earnest heed to his own warning, so suited to the time," Take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch ye, therefore, and For pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.” Luke xxi. 34—36. And under the sixth seal, this is the counsel of the same Saviour, “Behold, I come as a thief; blessed is he that watcheth and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.* Rev. xvi. 15. FINIS. DANIEL'S VISIONS OF THE GREAT IMAGES AND OF THE The successive empires of Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Division of the Roman empire into ten kingdoms The persecuting of the Saints, &c. Duration of its power CHAPTER III. DANIEL'S VISION OF THE RAM AND THE HE-GOAT. 10 17 18 19 20 Character, conquests, prevalence, and fall of Mahome tanism 37 DANIEL'S LITERAL PROPHECY OF THE Page A. C. 534 481 480 CHAPTER IV. Revealed in the days of Cyrus Three Kings in Persia from Cyrus to Xerxes 334-331 Conquest of Persia by Alexander the Great 323 302 323* Subdivision of his empire into four kingdoms CHAPTER V. The Prophetic history of the Lagidæ and Ptolemy Lagus, king of Egypt, possessed at 311-281 Seleucus, strong above him, the greatest of Alexander's Princes, the founder of the Seleucidæ 249 246 246 "In the end of years" peace was established Divorce and death of Berenice The era of the Lagidæ commenced in this year,-the very year of the death of Alexander; that of the Seleucidæ in 311, before Christ. |