Class_IBSi^5'k 
 Book .H^ 
 
 CojpghtN^ 
 
 COFVRIGHT DEPOSIT. 
 
A LOOK THROUGH THE 
 LENS OF PROPHECY; 
 
 OR, 
 
 WHAT DANIEL SAW 
 AND HEARD. 
 
 BY 
 
 JAS. A. DE MOSS, M. D., 
 
 THAYER, KAN.. 
 
 Author of "From Patmos to the Holy City; or, The Ages 
 Foretold;" also "Kansas Zephyrs," etc. 
 
 " We look for the Saviour, ".? Urd Jesi'L Oirist."- Piul. 
 
 CINCINNATI 
 
 THE STANDARD PUBLISHING COMPANY 
 
 190s 
 

 LIBRARY of CONGRESS 
 Two Copies Received 
 
 JAN 7 1904 
 
 CLASS '^ kXc. No. 
 
 /= •! t w- 3 
 
 'copy S 
 
 CJopyrighted, 1903, 
 By The Standabd Publishing Company. 
 
s 
 
 DeMcation* 
 
 TO MY WIFE, 
 
 Who has shared with me the loss and gain of life; whose patience^ 
 sympathy and forbearance have helped to lighten the toils 
 and burdens borne, and whose song of hope and joy 
 dispels despair and gloom, and fits the soul to 
 enter on lifers way with buoyant hope and 
 cheer. To her, my helper, worthy of 
 the name, this volume I sacred- 
 ly and tenderly inscribe. 
 
INTKODUOTION. 
 
 Having given a treatise on the Book of Revelation, 
 it is essential it should be followed by one on Daniel, 
 since the two books are similar in their calculations 
 of the events of the church's progress, the consum- 
 mation of the plans and purposes of God, the resur- 
 rection from the dead, and the destiny of the world. 
 
 Because of the harmony, therefore, existing be- 
 tween the two books, and the study of the one assists 
 us to a more perfect understanding of the other, they 
 are inseparable, and a study of the one must be sup- 
 plemented by the study of the other. The one is 
 largely the complement of the other. 
 
 In our work on Revelation it will be found that 
 several demonstrations are taken from Daniel for the 
 purpose of elucidation, which could not otherwise be 
 made clear. The natural inquiry would then be. 
 What more may be offered by Daniel of profit and 
 interest to the student of the Word? Herein we 
 have ventured to give the results of our labors along 
 the line of further prophetic research, and if the 
 reader finds help from its pages, we shall feel suffi- 
 ciently justified in our undertaking to disclose its 
 
 hidden truths of prophecy. 
 
 The Author. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. PAGE 
 Daniel's Captivity 9 
 
 CHAPTER n. 
 Nebuchadnezzar's Great Image 15 
 
 CHAPTER m. 
 The Golden Image; or, The God of Wealth 30 
 
 CHAPTER ly. 
 Nebuchadnezzar's Insanity— His Proclamation Also 37 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 Belshazzar's Dream— The Fall of Babylon 46 
 
 CHAPTER YI. 
 
 Daniel's Deliverance 67 
 
 CHAPTER VH. 
 From Babylon to Christ; or, Daniel's Vision of the Ages 75 
 
 CHAPTER Vni. 
 
 When Shall the Sanctuary be Cleansed? — A Vision of the 
 Time of Indignation; or, From Alexander to Christ's 
 Supremacy 95 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Time Determined for the Bringing in of Everlasting Right- 
 eousness; or, The First Coming of Christ Foretold in 
 Years 102 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 Historic Recitations; or. The Vision of History 112 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 Daniel xii 154 
 
 A Chapter on the Jew 168 
 
 6 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The reader who looks for any word voicing the 
 opinions of the "destructive critics," or one advanc- 
 ing some new brand of criticism on the market of 
 unbelief, by way of introduction to our studies of 
 Daniel, will be disappointed. The writer is but a 
 babe in matters of faith. He takes the book as he 
 finds it. It is given to the world by a servant of 
 God. It is an historic and prophetic book. It 
 comes from the one pen in the hand of Daniel. By 
 our analysis we can find no place for a change of 
 authorship in its historic narrative, or in its pro- 
 phetic vision. It came to the man most interested 
 in God and the Jewish race, when that race was 
 exiled, and God's promises for its future and it-s 
 safety seemed to be withdrawn. 
 
 Here the great soul of Daniel went out inquir- 
 ingly to God, and it came back freighted with truth 
 and life and hope. No other writer, contempora- 
 neous with or subsequent to Daniel, could have 
 been in a position to ask and to receive so much 
 from God, either in his eventful experiences, or the 
 words of the book he gave us. 
 
 We have endeavored to understand this little 
 book. We have studiously analyzed it in its his- 
 toric and prophetic character. The sum of our 
 efforts is enclosed in this narrow compass. It is 
 
8 Preface* 
 
 the author's hope it may lend dignity to the Word, 
 in that it may lead minds of doubt and unbelief to 
 view the fulfillments of prophetic utterances, and 
 thus discern the origin and source of its message. 
 This done, we have honored Christ. For "the tes- 
 timony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." With 
 the testimony in hand, any thoughtful soul should 
 view the cross with reverence, and render obedient 
 service to the Author of the world's salvation. 
 
 J. A. D. 
 
A LOOK THROUGH THE LENS 
 OF PROPHECY. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 Daniel^s Captivity. 
 
 (Dan. i.) 
 
 Eliakim was a wicked king, like most of his 
 predecessors, which made Israel to err and to turn 
 from God, bringing the awful punishment of cap- 
 tivity upon his race, with the overthrow of their 
 government, the destruction of their capital city, 
 the looting and destruction of their holy temple, 
 the wasting of their national resources, and forever 
 marring the history of the Jewish kingdom, once 
 glorious and powerful, and brilliant in its adminis- 
 tration of wisdom, equity and justice. 
 
 Pharo Necho, king of Egypt, enthroned Eliakim 
 in the room of his brother, whom he deposed and 
 carried into Egypt and changed his name from 
 Eliakim to Jehoiakim. Jehoiakim reigned eleven 
 years in Jerusalem, and his reign extended from 
 609 to 598 B. C. 
 
 "In the third year of his reign" (v. 5), Nebu- 
 chadnezzar, son of Nebopolassar, king of Chaldea, 
 and general of the Chaldean army, came against 
 Jerusalem. Jehoiakim fell into the hands of the 
 Chaldeans. A truce was formed and Jehoiakim 
 continued to reign in Jerusalem. But Nebuchad- 
 nezzar "carried some of the royal family to Baby- 
 
10 A Look Through the 
 
 Ion as hostages, among whom were Daniel and his 
 three companions" — Hananiah, Mishael and Aza- 
 riah — "with part of the vessels of the house of 
 God'' (v. 2). 
 
 Jehoiakim proved to be a truce-breaker. Neb- 
 uchadnezzar returned to Jerusalem. Jehoiakim 
 was taken and dishonored ; he was killed and "bur- 
 ied with the burial of an ass, drawn and cast forth 
 beyond the gates of Jerusalem." — Jeremiah. 
 
 Nebuchadnezzar made Jehoiachin successor to 
 his father Jehoiakim. He reigned three months 
 and ten days. Nebuchadnezzar, becoming alarmed 
 lest he should seek to avenge his father's death, re- 
 turned to Judah and "carried away all Jerusalem, 
 and all the princes, and all the mighty men of 
 valor, even ten thousand captives, and all the 
 craftsmen and all the smiths; none remained save 
 the poorest sort of the people of the J and." "And 
 he carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon." "And he 
 carried out thence all the treasures of the house 
 of the Lord, and the treasures of the king's house, 
 and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold which Solo- 
 mon king of Israel had made in the temple of the 
 Lord." 
 
 Whereupon he "made Mattaniah, the brother of 
 Jehoiakim, king in his stead, and he changed his 
 name to Zedekiah." He rebelled and did wickedly, 
 and Babylon's king returned and took the city of 
 Jerusalem in the eleventh year of Zedekiah. Zede- 
 kiah was taken bound to Babylon. "The pillars of 
 brass, the bases and the brasen sea, the pots, the 
 shovels, the snuffers, the spoons, all the vessels of 
 brass wherewith they ministered, the firepans, the 
 
Lens of Prophecy. 11 
 
 basons, all the gold and silver likewise, the captain 
 of the guard took to Babylon." "He burnt the 
 house of the Lord and the king's house, and all the 
 houses of Jerusalem, even every great house he 
 burnt with fire." "He brake down the walls of 
 Jerusalem round about." 
 
 Daniel, as indicated above, was taken with the 
 first hostages to Babylon, 606 B. C, from Jerusa- 
 lem; and very probably was put at once in the 
 king's school, under the master of eunuchs, as one 
 in whom "was no blemish, but were favored, and 
 skillful in wisdom and cunning knowledge, and 
 understanding science, and such as had ability to 
 stand in the king's palace; and that he should 
 teach them the learning and the tongue of the 
 Chaldeans" (v. 4). 
 
 For them, that they may fare well and excel in 
 learning, Nebuchadnezzar — now king of Babylon 
 — prescribed the dietary of his own table (v. 5) 
 during their tutelage of three years. The meat 
 and drink of the Israelite was a vital question of 
 conscience, it having been prescribed in their sacred 
 law. The decree, so essentially in conflict with the 
 precepts early taught in the training of the pious 
 Jew, and seeking to force these four young men to 
 become obedient to the king's will in the matter of 
 food, was at once not only abhorred by their con- 
 scientious minds as unclean, but as well for the 
 abolition of the divine law enjoined upon them. 
 The operation of the Jewish law, as pertaining to 
 the individual, was intended to be practical, wher- 
 ever the life of the Jew should be cast ; but, being 
 of divine origin, it was essential it should be obeyed 
 
12 A Look Through the 
 
 though it jeopardized the life of its subject, when 
 even exposed to the tyranny of a hateful or ma- 
 licious potentate. Consequently its cancellation or 
 abrogation could not be entertained by the enlight- 
 ened and righteous Jew. 
 
 As between honoring God and man, Daniel, in 
 his disinclination to obey the king's decree, out of 
 the inventive genius of his soul cautiously prof- 
 fered to his "master" a comparative test for excel- 
 lence along the line of the desired betterment of 
 physical strength and beauty and mental tone, pit- 
 ting the Jewish prescription against the Chaldean 
 dietary. Daniel asked for but ten days' trial in 
 which he and his three companions may eat the 
 vegetable and cereal foods of the field, and drink 
 nature's pure crystal fluid, while others of the 
 school should eat the king's dainties and drink the 
 king's wines. The scheme was successful. The 
 trial was given. The albuminous food from the 
 fields, in solution with nature's drink, performed 
 no miracle upon the young men. The miracle was 
 in the law of health. The law was given of God. 
 The Being who framed man knew the requirements 
 of that frame. By the law of appropriation, the 
 very needs of the body were satisfied under the 
 Jewish system; injurious elements did not pass 
 through the channels of life, hence they were not 
 marred by their invasion. But let us fancy we see 
 the "other children" of Judah in attendance in this 
 school at the conclusion of these days, showing evi- 
 dences of excess and debauchery; for, being not 
 addicted to "high living," they would very natu- 
 
Lens of Prophecy. 13 
 
 rally be precipitated to excess, if yielding at all to 
 disobedience of the law of God (vs. 5-16). 
 
 Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah had 
 substituted for their names that of Belteshazzar, 
 Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego by the prince 
 of eunuchs. 
 
 By virtue of loyalty and obedience to the law 
 of God, in the selection of food and drink, the nat- 
 ural development of mind, feeding upon the plain 
 food of nature, is ten times (v. 20) better than the 
 intemperate, unnatural elements which constituted 
 the meats and drinks of the princes of Babylon, and 
 which are indicative of the foods of worldliness 
 and vice, as attested here in the world's own court. 
 For the accumulation of wisdom and knowledge, 
 let it be remembered, the human mind must feed 
 upon the plain and wholesome diet, such as meets 
 its requirements, and not upon those elements 
 which breed unrest, awaken passion and stultify 
 thought. Here is a notable proof of this opinion; 
 but tens of thousands of sober, frugal youths from 
 homes of industry and toil, subsisting upon com- 
 mon and farinaceous foods, have as often demon- 
 strated the same. 
 
 Beside the natural growth of mind and physical 
 development of body in these four loyal Jewish 
 boys, in answer to their obedience to the laws of 
 health and reverence and respect for the dignity 
 of divine law, though exiled in a foreign court, 
 "God gave them knowledge and skill in all learn- 
 ing and wisdom: and Daniel had understanding 
 in all visions and dreams" (v. 17), and became his 
 prophet in Babylon, a prophet interesting not to 
 
14 A Look Through the 
 
 his race alone, but to all the world. The element of 
 his proficiency, and which led to his promotion, and 
 later to the preservation of his life, is compre- 
 hended in the one word "loyalty." 
 
 And Daniel continued in life, in favor and in 
 counsel until Cyrus (v. 21). 
 
 PROPHETIC PSALM. 
 
 (Ps. cxxxvii.) 
 
 1 By the rivers of Babylon, 
 
 There we sat down, yea, we wept. 
 When we remembered Zion. 
 
 2 Upon the willows in the midst thereof 
 We hanged up our harps. 
 
 For there they that led us captive required of us songs. 
 And they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying^ 
 Sing us one of the songs of Zion. 
 
 4 How shall we sing the Lobd's song 
 In a strange land? 
 
 5 If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, 
 
 Let my right hand forget her cunning, 
 
 6 Let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth. 
 If I remember thee not; 
 
 If I prefer not Jerusalem 
 Above my chief joy. 
 
 7 Remember, O Lord, against the children of Edom 
 The day of Jerusalem; 
 
 Who said. Rase it, rase it. 
 Even to the foundation thereof. 
 
 8 O daughter of Babylon, that art to be destroyed; 
 Happy shall he be, that rewardeth thee 
 
 As thou hast served us. 
 
 9 Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones 
 Against the rock. 
 
Lens of Prophecy. 15 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Nebuchadnezzar^s Great Image. 
 
 (Dan. ii.) 
 
 Nebuchadnezzar is now king of Babylon in his 
 second year (v. 1). By the arm of the military 
 he had conquered Egypt, Phoenicia, Judah and the 
 whole of Palestine. He began his reign as king 
 about 604 B. 0. In subduing Palestine he had been 
 a scourge in the hand of Deity for its correction. 
 This rebellious, stubborn Israel was his peculiar 
 treasure, but he humiliated it in defeat that he 
 might again restore and exalt it, that he might 
 make it holy and worthy its station amid the king- 
 doms of the world, and that his name may be hon- 
 ored in Zion. 
 
 Being made rich and powerful by these splendid 
 and victorious conquests, Nebuchadnezzar now oc- 
 cupied the position as sole ruler of the known 
 world. God sought to remind him of his responsi- 
 bility by dreams and visions, which he caused to be 
 unraveled and applied, by his most loyal subject — 
 Daniel. This was done, no doubt, primarily to 
 lead the king into righteousness, that he may rule 
 in equity and judgment, guided by the principles of 
 divine justice. Secondly, to stimulate interest and 
 awaken expectation on the part of the Hebrews, 
 and that by them the chart of time (as viewed by 
 inspired prophecy) might be given to the world. 
 
16 A. Look Through the 
 
 In this first dream of the king there appeared 
 a wonderful figure; but it was lost to memory 
 and the vision did not recur. The startling im- 
 pression, however, made upon the mind of Nebu- 
 chadnezzar gave deep anxiety concerning the im- 
 portance of the omen. The power of the reproduc- 
 tion of his dream, or a re-creation of the mental 
 imagery, seemed to have left him, and in his per- 
 plexity he failed to develop the wonderful picture 
 from the fragmentary thoughts that lay in the 
 wreck of confused and faded ideas which remained 
 to him. In his revery and delirium, he called to his 
 aid the magicians, enchanters and Chaldeans. 
 These several classes represented a similar calling 
 or profession, taking their titles, no doubt, agree- 
 ably to the assignment given them in the various 
 countries they represent, retaining the same in the 
 court of the king of Babylon. "They pretended to 
 be interpreters of secret things, the past and the 
 futura" "They occupied positions of eminence 
 and influence, having pretense to occult knowl- 
 edge." 
 
 The name or term here employed was applied 
 to the "learned and religious element of Babylon; 
 they used the Cushite language, the language of the 
 learned, as against the Semitic, the language em- 
 ployed for civil purposes." 
 
 These select bodies were the custodians of Baby- 
 lonish wisdom and learning. As such they were 
 nourished and fed as a favored class in the courts 
 of the king. Ignorant himself, the king arbitrarily 
 demanded the practice of their professed art, in the 
 gratification of his superstition, for the elucidation 
 
Lens of Prophecy, 17 
 
 of occult and hidden things. To them he appealed, 
 not for interpretation alone, but for a reproduction 
 of his vision. However unreasonable the demand, 
 let us think it was none the less just, and expected 
 as well, since these pretenders were profiting by 
 their deceptive art and leeching the king of purse 
 and favor, feeding on luxury, enjoying liberal com- 
 pensation with indolent superlativeness. Their 
 fawning hypocrisy must now be laid bare before 
 the king. Parley and delay did not dissuade the 
 erratic king, nor lessen the severity of his demands. 
 His feverish desire could only be gratified in a com- 
 plete and unreserved compliance with the impos- 
 sible. If they were what they professed, these en- 
 chanters should awaken the secret from the slum- 
 bering memory of the king, or adduce in their own 
 minds, by their art of divination, the vision which 
 flew from the chamber of the king's nightmare. The 
 sweeping command that all the men thus classed 
 should be slain, comprehended in its reach the lives 
 of the Hebrews whom Nebuchadnezzar had placed 
 in the tutelage of this school of learning. 
 
 God's plan in the life of Daniel begins now to 
 unfold. They sought Daniel and his companions 
 to be slain. 
 
 "Then Daniel returned answer with counsel and prudence 
 to Arioch the captain of the king's guard, which was gone 
 forth to slay the wise men of Babylon: he answered and said 
 to Arioch the king's captain, Wherefore is the decree so urgent 
 from the king? Then Arioch made the thing known to Daniel. 
 And Daniel went in and desired of the king that he would 
 appoint him a time, and he would show the king the inter- 
 pretation" (vs. 13-16). 
 
18 A Look Through the 
 
 Daniel went into the house and counseled with 
 his three companions. They agreed to importune 
 the God of henven for this hidden knowledge, for 
 the safety of their own lives (v. 18). Then the 
 secret was revealed to Daniel in the night by 
 vision (v. 19). Thereupon Daniel made this beau- 
 tiful prayer of praise and thanksgiving: 
 
 "Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom 
 and might are his: and he changeth the times and the seasons: 
 he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom 
 unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understand- 
 ing: he revealeth the deep and secret things: he knoweth what 
 is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with him. I thank 
 thee, and praise thee, O thou God of my fathers, who hast 
 given me wisdom and might, and hast now made known unto 
 me what we desired of thee: for thou hast made known unto 
 us the king's matter" (vs. 20-23). 
 
 It is a short but fervent prayer. Daniel then 
 signifies his readiness, to Arioch, to make the in- 
 terpretation, and asks that the wise men be not 
 destroyed. He would save others from brutal butch- 
 ery, and stay the executioner's hand (v. 24). "Ari- 
 och brought Daniel before the king in haste." He 
 announced his discovery of a man of the "captivity 
 of Judah" who would make known the vanished 
 dream (v. 25). The king said: "Belteshazzar, art 
 thou able to make known unto me the dream which 
 I have seen and the interpretation thereof?" Dan- 
 iel indicated, in reply, that by human wisdom or 
 cunning it could not be produced. "But there is 
 a God in heaven that revealeth secrets" (v. 28). 
 "But as for me, this secret is not revealed to me 
 for any wisdom that I have more than any living" 
 
Lens of Prophecy. 19 
 
 (v. 30). Here Daniel disclaims the credit of hav- 
 ing occult wisdom ; that "there is a God in heaven," 
 a stranger to Nebuchadnezzar. To him he addresses 
 his attention. "Who revealeth secrets,'^ and there- 
 fore worthy his confidence and trust. Daniel points 
 him to the skies. 
 
 PURPOSE OF THE VISION. 
 
 "God . . . hath made known to the king Nebuchadnezzar 
 what shall be in the latter days" (v. 28). 
 
 "O king, thy thoughts came into thy mind upon thy bed, 
 what should come to pass hereafter; and he that revealeth 
 seciets hath made known to thee what shall come to pass" 
 (V. 29). 
 
 Daniel faithfully ascribes to Deity the honor 
 and wisdom which belongs to him. Discrediting 
 himself of the supernatural, he demonstrates his 
 faith in God at a heathen court. 
 
 THE DREAM. 
 
 "Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This 
 image, which was mighty, and whose brightness was excellent, 
 stood before thee; and the aspect thereof was terrible. As for 
 this image, his 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 in pieces. Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the 
 silver, and the gold, broken in pieces together, and became like 
 the chaff of the summer threshing-floors; and the wind car- 
 ried 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. This is the dream" (vs. 31-36). 
 
20 A Look Through the 
 
 THE INTERPRETATION. 
 
 "We will tell the interpretation thereof before the king" 
 (V. 36). 
 
 "Thou, O king, art king of kings, unto whom the God of 
 heaven hath given the kingdom, the power, and the strength, 
 and the glory; and wheresoever the children of men dwell, the 
 beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath he given 
 into thine hand, and hath made thee to rule over them all: 
 thou art the head of gold. And after thee shall arise another 
 kingdom inferior to thee; and another third kingdom of brass, 
 which shall bear rule over all the earth. And the fourth king- 
 dom shall be strong" as iron : forasmuch as Iron breaketh in 
 pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that crusheth all 
 these, shall it break in pieces and crush. And whereas thou 
 sawest the feet and toes, part of potter's clay, and part of 
 iron, it shall be a divided kingdom; but there shall be in it 
 of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron 
 mixed with miry clay. And as the toes of the feet were part 
 of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, 
 and partly broken. And whereas thou sawest the iron mixed 
 with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of 
 men; but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron 
 doth not mingle with clay. And in the days of those kings 
 shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never 
 be destroyed, nor shall the sovereignty thereof be left to 
 another people; but it shall break in pieces and consume all 
 these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. Forasmuch as 
 thou sawest that a 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; the great God hath made known 
 to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream 
 is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure" (vs. 37-45). 
 
 Whereupon Nebuchadnezzar reverenced Daniel. 
 He fell down before him. He acknowledged his 
 Deity to be the "God of gods, and the Lord of kings, 
 and a revealer of secrets" (v. 47). 
 
Lens of Prophecy. 21 
 
 "Then the king made Daniel great, and gave him many- 
 great gifts, and made him to rule over the whole province of 
 Babylon, and to be chief governor over all the wise men of 
 Babylon" (v. 48). 
 
 Daniel took care of Shadrach, Meshach and 
 Abed-nego, having them appointed over the affairs 
 of the province of Babylon. Himself sat in the 
 king's gate (v. 49). 
 
 Since the purpose of the dream was to reveal 
 the succeeding kingdoms of the future, and its his- 
 tory having now been written for our research, let 
 us interest ourselves in the tabulation of the in- 
 terpretation as we apply it to fulfilled events. (For 
 diagram, see page 22.) 
 
 ^'Thou art the head of gold J' The Babylonian 
 Empire, now in universal supremacy, of which Neb- 
 uchadnezzar was king. The power, strength and 
 wealth of the Babylonian Empire centered in him. 
 He was the dictator, the sole monarch, and "the 
 head of gold'' to the mighty image which stood 
 for the present and all coming governments of 
 time, as pertaining to Gentile supremacy. 
 
 But Babylon, with all her regal splendor, was 
 to fall, to be crushed before the oncoming tread of 
 armies marshaled to do the judgments of Jehovah, 
 as the dust from the shock of grain flailed upon 
 the summer threshing-floor. God makes himself 
 known to the great authorities of the world, and 
 they are held to strict account for their steward- 
 ship, the administration of equity and truth. 
 
 The inferior kingdom, to succeed Babylon, of 
 course was the Medo-Persian Empire. It was the 
 next in the world's supremacy, and stood for the 
 
22 A Look Through the 
 
 silver portion of the image — ^the breast and arms. 
 The two upper extremities, standing for the dual 
 governments, the Medes and Persians, united in 
 vital interests and merging into one in heart and 
 purpose, represented by the breast or thorax, cov- 
 ering the vital parts which immediately sustain and 
 support life. United under Cyrus, they took Baby- 
 lon in 538 B. C. 
 
 Persia held sway until Alexander invaded the 
 south and east in 335 B. C, and established the 
 Macedonian Empire, thus placing Greece in the 
 supremacy of nations. Alexander advanced from 
 the north to Jerusalem in 332 B. C, and was re- 
 ceived, upon the predictions of DaniePs prophecies, 
 as a man of destiny, and appointed in the provi- 
 dence of God to subdue Persia, and to wrest from 
 them the world's scepter. He was allowed to enter 
 the temple and do priestly service, thus profaning 
 the holy sanctuary of the Lord. 
 
 Grecian supremacy extended till 63 B. C, when 
 the fourth kingdom, represented by iron — and stood 
 for the Roman — invaded the East and became the 
 world's master. 
 
 Greece is represented in the belly and thighs 
 of the image. She was represented in her dual 
 parts by Macedon and Greece, forming a vital 
 union in her world conquests, as implied by the 
 abdominal viscera. 
 
 Being of the belly, she was ravenous, greedy, 
 avaricious and conscienceless. Portrayed by brass, 
 the strength of her worth was burnished brilliancy 
 — as obtain in her works of art, literature and 
 architecture. 
 
Lens of Prophecy, 
 
 23 
 
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24 ^A Looh Through the 
 
 The Roman kingdom, extending from 63 B. C. 
 to 476 A. D., is represented by the legs of iron in 
 this Gentile image of word supremacy. It was 
 strong, as represented by the iron, the material that 
 composed these parts. Stronger than the rest in its 
 hold upon the world, the severity of its adminis- 
 tration, the strength of its military, it was yet 
 weaker than they in richness of character and fine- 
 ness of arts and all the products of mental achieve- 
 ment. It was dual, in the union of church and 
 state, taking the form of a civil and religious gov- 
 ernment, and this dual form is represented by the 
 legs as we advance down the image. It has ever 
 retained its one characteristic throughout — its 
 severity and crushing power. It is a government 
 without mercy, cruel, passionate and brutish. 
 Though united in church, its temper is untamed, 
 runs to excess, and, under the guise of religion, 
 works the most heinous of crimes. Lust and ava- 
 rice are the corroding elements of its power, and 
 history is burdened with the ruin it has engendered 
 upon the race. Its location upon the image com- 
 prehends the baser man. 
 
 The intermixture of civil and religious govern- 
 ment — so incompatible are these elements, that the 
 power is weakened as we descend toward the ex- 
 tremity of the image (v. 41). 
 
 As the image passes from view in the fall of 
 Rome and the dimunition of the temporal power 
 of the pope, we see but the feet and toes remain- 
 ing. Reformatory movements and European wars 
 gave birth to freedom. The ten divisions of Eu- 
 rope, or of Rome, are the extremity of the long 
 
Lens of Prophecy, 25 
 
 and vast supremacy of that power. In the final 
 demolition of the temporal power of the pope in 
 1866-71 A. D., we have eliminated one foot from 
 the image, and have but one foot, the toes of both 
 remaining of Latin extraction. Ecclesiastic Rome 
 is but partly destroyed. The iron and clay of 
 Rome now mingle themselves with the seed of 
 men. Much of the likeness of Romanism is found 
 in divided Protestantism. Much of Roman juris- 
 prudence and military conquest are found in the 
 modern divisions, or governments, of the world. 
 Roman ecclesiasticism is now considered brittle 
 stuff, and at the close of Jewish subordination it 
 will make its last stand, and it shall be broken 
 and destroyed without help, though it may regain 
 some temporal hold before its final overthrow. 
 
 **In the days of those kings shall the God of heaven set 
 up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed, nor shall the 
 sovereignty thereof be left to another people; but it shall 
 break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall 
 stand for ever" (v. 44). 
 
 Do we know what kingdoms are to be broken 
 to pieces by the momentum of the oncoming king- 
 dom, represented by the little stone cut out of 
 the mountain without hands? The teaching of 
 the foregoing Scriptures plainly shows. The gold 
 and silver governments, or kingdoms, were not to 
 come in immediate touch with the aggressive 
 kingdom of Christ — its wreckage of other king- 
 doms — for such its work should be. "It shall 
 break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms" 
 (v. 44). What kingdoms? 
 
26 A Look Through the 
 
 "Forasmuch as thou sawest that a stone was cut out of 
 the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the 
 irorif the dross, the clay, the silvery and the gold'* (v. 45). 
 
 Why does it not begin to break in pieces the 
 gold and the silver first, according to their suc- 
 cession as portrayed in the figure? Why begin to 
 break in pieces after the order of the reading 
 (v. 45) ? The reason is very significant and prac- 
 tical, and settles much of error and speculation 
 about when the kingdom of Christ was set up, 
 some holding it yet as a future event. The moun- 
 tain (singular number) out of which the stone 
 was cut, was the great Roman Empire. (Moun- 
 tain, signifying a political power.) It being in 
 supremacy when Christ was born, accomplished 
 his work and established his spiritual government 
 on the day of Pentecost following his resurrection. 
 The rock cut out from among the people of the 
 mountain of Roman dominion, was the immaculate 
 Son of God. From the small, compact gathering 
 of that upper chamber, which encompassed within 
 its narrow boundary the kingdom of our Christ, 
 it started down the declivity of time, and it has 
 been rolling on through the centuries, gathering 
 strength and force and dimensions, until it is now 
 about to fill the farthest corners of the earth. 
 
 Starting at Jerusalem, in its westward trend, 
 keeping pace with the advancing columns of the 
 migratory streams of humanity as it starts around 
 the globe, it must first meet the territory occupied 
 by Grecian supremacy, write its records in the 
 language of that empire, and evangelize and save 
 
Lens of Prophecy. 27 
 
 so many as would hear the gospel. It made a last- 
 ing impression on Thessalonica, Philippi, Athens, 
 Corinth, Achaia — the very centers of Grecian popu- 
 lation. Thus the kingdom of brass first comes 
 under the power and healing of the kingdom of 
 our Lord. 
 
 That mighty apostle to the Gentiles was told 
 that he must also preach the gospel to them that 
 were at Rome. Thither he goes bound to the ter- 
 restrial center of all civil authority. He declared 
 the gospel of the death, burial and resurrection of 
 the Son of God in the Imperial City. He stood be- 
 fore the throne of Csesar and persuasively appealed 
 to that man of iron. His ringing oratory filled the 
 halls and corridors and the very dome of that capi- 
 tol of splendor. And why was he thus sent bound 
 to Rome? "Because for the hope of Israel I am 
 bound with this chain" (Paul — Acts xxviii. 20). 
 What ! was he accused of the Jews, and then fought 
 through the long line of courts until he stood be- 
 fore Caesar's bar, "for the hope of IsraeP'? Yes, 
 Paul let out the secref, hidden from the days of 
 Daniel. His business was to evangelize the Gen- 
 tiles, take the succeeding kingdoms of the world 
 for Christ, and hurry on the work of their deliver- 
 ance while opportunity was afforded for their salva- 
 tion, because "hardening in part hath befallen Is- 
 rael, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in; 
 and so all Israel shall be saved" (Rom. xi. 25, 26). 
 For the salvation of the Jews, there must be a con- 
 clusion of this long stretch of Gentile supremacy. 
 Israel's hope then depended on the captivity of the 
 ^^iron'^ government; Rome stood in the line of re- 
 
28 'A Look Through the 
 
 iigious conquest, and it must yield to the stern 
 power of truth. Israel's deliverance was to be ac- 
 complished by Christ, but not agreeably to Israel's 
 methods of conquest, nor yet of that immediate gen- 
 eration of Jews, for they could not see him hence- 
 forth until they should say, "Blessed is he that 
 Cometh in the name of the Lord." 
 
 And so, passing on through the figure illus- 
 trative of the succeeding dynasties, the onrolling 
 wave of liberty, truth and justice to all mankind 
 should triumph over all. It has passed now be- 
 yond and in advance of the image, to the islands 
 of the sea ; it has clashed upon the Asiatic shores ; 
 the land where the silver and gold kingdoms once 
 held supremacy will soon be invaded, and the con- 
 quest will be complete. The Jews will be saved, 
 emancipated, and supremacy once more given unto 
 them. And so, by the order given, the two first 
 in supremacy after Israel's overthrow will be the 
 two last paralyzed (that is, their seed, or the seeds 
 of what was once those famous dynasties) by the 
 weight of the kingdom of Christ. 
 
 It is clear, therefore, that the kingdom God 
 established in Christ, and represented by the "lit- 
 tle stone," was set up during the Roman suprem- 
 acy, and before it (Rome) exercised its dual power 
 over its subjects. And as all the modern organ- 
 ized governments are the outgrowth of these sev- 
 eral supreme powers, so the evangelizing power of 
 Christ's kingdom will extend to the whole world, 
 and the "glory of all kingdoms shall come into it." 
 For the consummation of this sublime end, the 
 heathen lands are coming into the valley of de- 
 
Lens of Prophecy, 29 
 
 cision, and they will soon determine their accept- 
 ance or rejection of the Son of God. 
 
 The fleets and armies of the world will before 
 long be summoned to fight ihe world's last great 
 battle. The nations are now creating fleets the most 
 formidable and deadly. Some are in the process of 
 construction, whose destruction will occur in the 
 fatal conflict which marks the close of the Gentile 
 supremacy. Armageddon stands in the perspec- 
 tive. 
 
 China, invaded by the invincible armies of 
 Christendom, has just been forced into decision. 
 She will henceforth be easily invaded by the gospel. 
 The world is hastening the events preparatory to 
 the Jewish period of grace, as rapidly as they can 
 safely and certainly be performed. 
 
30 A Look Through the 
 
 CHAPTEE III. 
 
 The Golden Image; or, The God of Wealth. 
 
 (Dan. iii.) 
 
 Nebuchadnezzar is now the world's great king. 
 He is in supremacy over all ; God's people are his 
 subordinates, his subjects and his slaves. The in- 
 dignation is upon the Jews. During the Israelit- 
 ish supremacy there was the image of holiness de- 
 fined in lawy as was manifested also in the presence 
 of the Shechinah, to which all in reverence bowed 
 in obedience and adoration. The world's king has 
 set before it an image, and he requires the whole 
 world to bow down and worship it. It is an image 
 of gold. The actual image that Nebuchadnezzar 
 set up was colossal in its proportions, being ninety 
 feet high and nine feet broad. It was set up in the 
 plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon. (The 
 worst mischief is, the whole world has ever since 
 been striving to get up upon this plain, and reside 
 in the province — Dura. But it is too narrow for 
 all, and consequently there is much painful disap- 
 pointment. ) 
 
 All the official dignitaries (v. 2) from all the 
 provinces were required to be at the dedication of 
 this image. The response, of course, was vast and 
 universal (v. 3), and they stood before this splen- 
 did mass of gold. 
 
 "Then the herald cried aloud, To you it is commanded, 
 O peoples, nations, and languages, that at what time ye hear 
 the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, dul- 
 
Lens of Prophecy, 31 
 
 cimer, and all kinds of music, ye fall down and -worship the 
 golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king hath set up: and 
 whoso falleth not down and worshippeth shall the same hour 
 be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace" (vs. 4-6). 
 
 The king must be obeyed under the dreadful 
 penalty prescribed in the proclamation. At the 
 appointed time and under the given signal, "all 
 the peoples . . . fell down and worshipped the gold- 
 en image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set 
 up'' (v. 7). But DaniePs companions, Shadrach, 
 Meshach and Abed-nego, in control ''over the af- 
 fairs of the province of Babylon," as we should 
 expect, disregarded the king in this heathen service. 
 They did not serve the gods of Nebuchadnezzar, 
 neither would they worship the golden image he 
 had made (v. 12). 
 
 For this, certain Chaldeans made accusation to 
 the king against these Hebrew rulers in authority 
 over provincial affairs. They reminded him of the 
 decree he had made. Any disobedient to the decree 
 should be cast into the midst of a fiery furnace (vs. 
 10, 11). Jealousy may have been an exciting 
 cause which prompted them to hasten the report to 
 the king; nevertheless, the test must come upon 
 them, decision of character must be proven by a 
 fiery test, and a sharp discrimination between obe- 
 dience to the king, as against loyalty to God, must 
 be defined. Public men are proven in the vast 
 arena of public events. Every man in the realm of 
 his activity. 
 
 These dignified friends of Daniel were at once 
 arrested by command given in the fury of the king, 
 
32 A. Look Through the 
 
 and dragged into the king's court (v. 13). The 
 king said : 
 
 "Is it of purpose, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, 
 that ye serve not my god, nor worship the golden image 
 which I have set up?" (v. 14). 
 
 "Now if ye be ready at what time ye hear the sound of 
 the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and 
 all kinds of music, ye fall down and worship the image which 
 ave I hmade, well: but if ye worship not, ye shall be cast the 
 same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; and 
 who is that god that shall deliver you out of my hands?" 
 (V. 15). 
 
 They answered him : 
 
 "We have no need to answer thee in this matter. If it 
 be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the 
 burning fiery furnace; and he will deliver us out of thine 
 hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that 
 we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image 
 which thou hast set up" (vs. 17, 18). 
 
 A noble and manly answer; bold, courageous, 
 fearless. Nebuchadnezzar was wild with rage; he 
 was furious; the form of his countenance was 
 changed against them. He ordered the furnace 
 heated seven times more than was customary. 
 Certain men were detailed to bind them and to cast 
 them into the "burning fiery furnace" (v. 20). 
 
 "Then these men were bound in their hosen, their tunics, 
 and their mantles, and their other garments, and were cast 
 into the midst of the burning fiery furnace" (v. 21). 
 
 The intensity of the fire, made thus from the 
 urgency of the king's command, slew the men who 
 ^ere executing the king's order (v. 22), while the 
 three condemned Jews fell down bound into the 
 
Lens of Prophecy, 33 
 
 midst of the fire without injury (v. 23). Where- 
 upon the king saw four men, having no hurt, 
 walking loose in the midst of the fire, whereat he 
 was astonished. ^^The aspect of the fourth is like 
 a son of the gods." The divine presence minis- 
 tered unto his faithful servants. They were not con- 
 sumed. Neither shall God's righteousness con- 
 sume away. A miracle? Yes. But why should 
 he not deliver them? He who holds the burning 
 suns in their sockets, and ordains the order of the 
 universe — for the teaching of the world his author- 
 ity, his dignity, his honor — why should he not mani- 
 fest himself? He did. He has presented himself 
 in evidence at the bar of human judgment. His 
 arguments are complete, and an end of prophecy 
 is made. "What shall we do with him who is 
 called Christ?" is the question of the hour. This 
 heathen king saw in Him a glorious personality, 
 possessing properties which at once placed him in 
 the gallery of the gods, amid the imaginary deities 
 of ancient mythology. 
 
 "Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the 
 burning fiery furnace; he spake and said, Shadrach, Me- 
 shach, and Abed-nego, ye servants of the Most High God, 
 come forth, and come hither. Then they came forth out of 
 the midst of the fire" (v. 26). 
 
 This was witnessed by officers of high rank (v. 
 27), that the fire had no power upon their bodies, 
 neither their clothes. 
 
 Nebuchadnezzar blessed God, who had sent his 
 angel to deliver His servants that trusted in Him, 
 and set at naught his own authority (v. 28). He 
 in^cle a decree al^o, making hoporabl^ tb^ir Qo^ 
 
34 A Look Through the 
 
 throughout the world, and that he should not be 
 spoken against. 
 
 "Because there is no other god that is able to deliver 
 after this sort" (v. 29). 
 
 Then these Jews were promoted, who had been 
 the objects of his fury, and suffered his hatred 
 rather than deny the God who made the heaven 
 and the earth — the God of Israel. 
 
 So much for the narrative. And so much for 
 the lesson as applied to the times in which they 
 occurred. But we may see typified in this some 
 practical lessons for ourselves. 
 
 "Thou Shalt have none other gods before me." 
 — Voice of God. 
 
 "Thou Shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy 
 heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy 
 strength, and with all thy mind." — Voice of Jesus. 
 
 Reverence, honor and obedience to God was 
 man's duty under the old covenant; and IsraeFs 
 loyalty to God in the observance of his commands 
 as prescribed in the law was what marked the su- 
 premacy of Israel as a people. Becoming idola- 
 trous and disobedient, they were subdued by a for- 
 eign power and led away into captivity, to be a 
 subordinate people in the world until "the indig- 
 nation be overpassed." 
 
 The world's kingdom which led Israel to trans- 
 gress, is now in supremacy. The image here rep- 
 resented is the image of the world's strength and 
 power and wealth through a succession of empires. 
 The head of gold, as in the former image, was 
 Babylon, Though they had many gods, the ''gold^ 
 
Lens of Prophecy. 35 
 
 en imag&' was the deity of the world's choice, and 
 at whose shrine the world loves to go and bend in 
 reverence down. Wealth, the fickle goddess, and 
 most often the one of vision only, is here in actual 
 figure and design. The world now bows before 
 the "Mighty Dollar." 
 
 It is still idolatrous. He who falls not before 
 this mighty god, is cast in many hot places, for this 
 mad stampede for gold regards not the rights 
 of our fellows. The world demands that we cul- 
 tivate this passion of covetousness, or share un- 
 equal chances in the disbursement of the world's 
 great wealth. 
 
 When the chorus of the world's industry 
 sounds, and we assemble to the creation of the 
 world's wealth, the decree seems to be — if judged 
 by those who succeed in the race for fortune — that 
 man must sacrifice all of time, health, mind and 
 soul, his very being, upon the altar of greed, in de- 
 votion to a deity we should abhor. And to suc- 
 ceed, after a long, tedious, covetous endeavor, in 
 amassing a pile of glittering pelf, is to rob life of 
 its sweets, its enjoyments, its purest culture, its 
 noblest associations, and to receive nothing in 
 return to fill the vacuum of our souls' needs and 
 requirements. 
 
 Wealth is an idolatrous image; it thinks not, 
 speaks not, acts not. We are too anxious to recog- 
 nize and adore it. It bestows no blessings, im- 
 parts no hope, gives no life. Avarice, the greed of 
 gain, "is a root of all kinds of evil." It is the 
 source of the world's pain, sorrow and grief. Its 
 hand has wrung blood from innocency^ filled the 
 
36 'A Look Through the 
 
 cup of life's sorrow, and crowned toil with igno- 
 miny and thorns. Its cruel reign of tyranny will 
 extend until the divine and impartial Ruler re- 
 turns to reign in equity and justice among men. 
 The golden head, as shown in the previous chap- 
 ter, will be the last to crumble under the strength 
 of the ongoing kingdom of God. 
 
 The children in the furnace were delivered, and 
 so we think the church of our Redeemer, tried in 
 the world's conflagration, burning with all the in- 
 tensity of excitement, passion, greed, perfidy and 
 selfishness, shall come out in the end without "spot, 
 wrinkle, or any such thing," free from all blem- 
 ishes, no odor of the world's ruin upon it, because 
 the Son of the most high God is with it and will 
 shield it about, and nothing shall hurt in all his 
 holy mount. We shall be his when he comes to 
 make up his jewels. 
 
 But the Jew! The deliverance of these 
 Hebrew children typifies the deliverance of the 
 Jewish race, its emancipation, its exaltation, when 
 the time of its humiliation is complete; when the 
 persecution, the hatred and the sneers of superior 
 peoples shall be silenced in astonishment, to find 
 the Son of the most high God is their deliverer, 
 and that he shields and saves them alive and will 
 exalt them again in the earth. 
 
Lens of Prophecy. 37 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 Nebuchadnezzar^s Insanity. — His Proclamation 
 
 ALSO. 
 (Dan. iv.) 
 
 Nebuchadnezzar made a proclamation, as fol- 
 lows : 
 
 "Nebuchadnezzar ttie king, unto all the peoples, nations, 
 and languages, that dwell in all the earth; peace be multi- 
 plied unto you. It hath seemed good unto me to show the 
 signs and wonders that the Most High God hath wrought 
 toward me. How great are his signs! and how mighty are 
 his wonders! his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and 
 his dominion is from generation to generation" (vs. 1-3). 
 
 This proclamation was given to the world after 
 Nebuchadnezzar had returned to sanity and the 
 assumption of the affairs of his government. It is 
 given here to preface the dream, its interpretation 
 and fulfillment, which he also published to his 
 kingdom, after the visitation of God's displeasure 
 upon him, or the evil self-entailed by the inexorable 
 law of nature, concerning excess in human living, 
 arrogance and pride of heart, an insanity which 
 unfitted and disqualified him to govern, and 
 made him quit his throne, leading him into the 
 forest and the jungle. The beastly depravity he 
 experienced, and his restoration to health and 
 government, were fully foretold him in dream and 
 by interpretation which Daniel made; and while 
 the king did not amend his life, nor seek to restore 
 confidence toward God, he amply recognized and 
 
38 A Look Through the 
 
 honored him on his recovery and return to the 
 throne of his kingdom. 
 
 Let us note the situation and environment of 
 Nebuchadnezzar previous to his vision. 
 
 THE EASE OF NEBUCHADNEZZAR. 
 
 "I Nebuchadnezzar was at rest in mine house, and flour- 
 ished in my palace" (v. 5), 
 
 His own language is indicative of his ease and 
 thrift. He is surrounded by luxuriant splendor. 
 The world is at his feet. His government is at 
 peace, for his arm has subdued all unto himself. 
 Fear and dread removed far away, pleasurable ex- 
 cess, vanity and intoxication would be his natural 
 indulgences. The marvelous signs and wonders al- 
 ready wrought of God, purposely to impress the 
 king and show him a greater Sovereign to whom he 
 should account as one in trust of government over 
 human souls, seems to have met his disregard; at 
 least, he did not recognize the Most High in the 
 temporal affairs and management of men. Provi- 
 dence had not become of real importance to him. 
 Having a knowledge of God, the king refused him 
 the homage due to Deity. 
 
 For the analysis of this dream, the king again 
 calls "all the wise men of Babylon, that they 
 might make known the interpretation of the 
 dream." Daniel is not at once called upon, which 
 would also evidence that while the king knows the 
 power and wisdom of God, as demonstrated 
 through the Hebrew scholars of his court, he would 
 seek the advice and counsel of the soothsayers and 
 
Lens of Prophecy, 39 
 
 enchanters and magicians in response to the super- 
 stitious element yet in the ascendency in his soul. 
 These men were in sympathy with his pagan no- 
 tions; men who flattered, too, his vanity, and 
 praised his greatness and power ; "venal parasites,'' 
 who praised and flattered this regal potentate into 
 the wild delirium of insanity, that they might fat- 
 ten on his favor; while Daniel disregarded the 
 king's favors, to honor the living God, rebuked the 
 proud king, and extolled a Superior Power. - 
 
 The sages of Chaldea assembled before the 
 king. He told his dream. 
 
 ''But tHey did not make known unto me [the king] the 
 interpretation thereof" (y. 7). 
 
 "But at the last Daniel came in before me, whose name 
 was Belteshazzar, according to the name of my god, and in 
 whom is the spirit of the holy gods: and I told the dream 
 before him, saying, O Belteshazzar, master of the magicians, 
 because I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in thee, 
 and no secret troubleth thee, tell me the vision of my dream 
 that I have seen, and the interpretation thereof." 
 
 THE DREAM. 
 
 "Thus were the visions of my head upon my bed: I saw, 
 and behold a tree in the midst of the earth, and the height 
 thereof was great. The tree grew, and was strong, and the 
 height thereof reached unto heaven, and the sight thereof 
 to the end of all the earth. The leaves thereof were fair, 
 and the fruit thereof much, and in it was meat for all: the 
 beasts of the field had shadow under it, and the fowls of the 
 heaven dwelt in the branches thereof, and all flesh was fed of 
 it. I saw in the visions of my head upon my bed, and, behold, 
 a watcher and an holy one came down from heaven. He 
 cried aloud, and said thus. Hew down the tree, and cut off 
 his branches, shake off his leaves, and scatter his fruit: let 
 
40 A Look Through the 
 
 the beasts get away from under it, and the fowls from his 
 branches. Nevertheless leave the stump of his roots in the 
 earth, even with a band of iron and brass, in the tender 
 grass of the field; and let it be wet with the dew of heaven, 
 and let his portion be with the beasts in the grass of the 
 earth: let his heart be changed from man's, and let a beast's 
 heart be given unto him; and let seven times pass over him" 
 (vs. 8-16). 
 
 Nebuchadnezzar knew "the spirit of the holy 
 gods" was in Daniel because of previous service to 
 the king in revealing mysteries. He now com- 
 mands Belteshazzar to declare the interpretation 
 (v. 18). The wise men of the kingdom were not 
 able. Continuing the dream : 
 
 "The sentence is by the decree of the watchers, and the 
 demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the 
 living may know that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom 
 of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up 
 over it the lowest of men. This dream I king Nebuchad- 
 nezzar have seen" (vs. 17, 18). 
 
 Here the vision seems to reveal its own source, 
 and to point out that there is a Providence shaping 
 the kingdoms of the world. 
 
 THE INTERPRETATION. 
 
 "Belteshazzar, let not the dream, or the interpretation, 
 trouble thee. Belteshazzar answered and said. My lord, the 
 dream be to them that hate thee, and the interpretation thereof 
 to thine adversaries. The tree that thou sawest, which grew, 
 and was strong, whose height reached unto the heaven, and 
 the sight thereof to all the earth; whose leaves were fair, 
 and the fmit thereof much, and it was meat for all; under 
 which the beasts of the field dwelt, and upon whose branches 
 the fowls of the heaven had their habitation: it is thou. 
 
Lens of Prophecy. 41 
 
 O king, that art grown and become strong: for thy greatness 
 is grown, and reacheth unto heaven, and thy dominion to the 
 end of the earth. And whereas the king saw a watcher and 
 an holy one coming down from heaven, and saying, Hew 
 down the tree, and destroy it; nevertheless leave the stump 
 of the roots thereof in the earth, even with a band of iron 
 and brass, in the tender grass of the field; and let it be wet 
 with the dew of heaven, and let his portion be with the beasts 
 of the field, till seven times pass over him; this is the inter- 
 pretation, O king, and it is the decree of the Most High, which 
 is come upon my lord the king: that thou shalt be driven from 
 men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, 
 and thou shalt be made to eat grass as oxen, and shalt be 
 wet with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass over 
 thee; till thou know that the Most High ruleth in the king- 
 dom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will. And 
 whereas they commanded to leave the stump of the tree roots ; 
 thy kingdom shall be sure unto thee, after that thou shalt have 
 known that the heavens do rule" (vs. 20-26). 
 
 The interpretation revealed the awful penalty 
 due this powerful, arrogant, self-willed king, stand- 
 ing in the midst of the world's splendor ; whose daz- 
 zling glory shone about him; the world's wealth 
 was pouring at his feet, and the exalted monarch 
 of this mighty metropolis, this powerful empire of 
 antiquity, itself a wonder of the world, was to be 
 humiliated, humbled, till returning reason should 
 declare the most high God the Ruler of the world, 
 in whose hand the rapid shuttle of the world's 
 events did his pleasure. 
 
 Daniel regretted to see measured out to the 
 king the extreme penalty, in whose favor he had 
 so long stood, and would wish rather it might fall 
 upon those who hated Babylon's sovereign, rather 
 
42 A Look Through the 
 
 than the monarch himself. That he may avert the 
 dread calamity, Daniel offers the king advice : 
 
 "Wherefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable unto 
 tbee, and break off thy sins by righteousness, and thine iniqui- 
 ties by shewing mercy to the poor; if there may be a lengthen- 
 ing of thy tranquillity" (v. 27). 
 
 Repentance was not made by the king, for "all 
 this came upon the king Nebuchadnezzar.'' 
 
 THE DREAM FULFILLED. 
 
 "At the end of twelve months he was walking in the 
 royal palace of Babylon. The king spake and said. Is not this 
 great Babylon, which I have built for the royal dwelling 
 place, by the might of my power and for the glory of my 
 majesty? While the word was in the king's mouth, there 
 fell a voice from heaven, saying, O king Nebuchadnezzar, to 
 thee it is spoken: the kingdom is departed from thee. And 
 thou Shalt be driven from men, and thy dwelling shall be 
 with the beasts of the field; thou shalt be made to eat grass as 
 oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee; until thou know 
 that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth 
 it to whomsoever he will. The same hour was the thing 
 fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar; and he was driven from men, 
 and did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the 
 dew of heaven, till his hair was grown like eagles' featheis, 
 and his nails like birds' claws" (vs. 30-33). 
 
 Living as before, repenting not, resting in his 
 splendor, his power and his riches, filching from 
 toil its sacred rights and privileges, boasting in 
 his own achievements at the expense of mercy and 
 justice due to others, he had created for himself 
 a "royal dwelling-place," wherein was an exhibi- 
 tion of "might and power" for the honor and dig- 
 nity of his "majesty." This "might"! Over what? 
 
• Lens of Prophecy, '4S 
 
 The might of injustice to man, in overriding him 
 and compelling him to servitude without adequate 
 compensation. "And power"! What power? The 
 power to drive and to compel to obedience all who 
 would protest against his cruel oppression; the 
 power to levy and collect tribute to meet his ex- 
 travagant demands for the support of the royal 
 house in gaudy luxury, vanity, ease and licentious- 
 ness. The fulfillment is clearly explained in Dan- 
 iel's words: 
 
 "And at the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up 
 mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned 
 unto me, and I blessed the Most High, and I praised and 
 honoured him that liveth for ever; for his dominion is an 
 everlasting dominion, and his kingdom from generation to 
 generation: and all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed 
 as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of 
 heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none 
 can stay his hand, or say unto him. What doest thou? At 
 the same time mine understanding returned unto me; and 
 for the glory of my kingdom, my majesty and brightness 
 returned unto me; and my counsellors and my lords sought 
 unto me; and I was established in my kingdom, and excellent 
 greatness was added unto me. Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise 
 and extol and honour the King of heaven; for all his works 
 are truth, and his ways judgement: and those that walk in 
 pride he is able to abase" (vs. 34-37). 
 
 The purpose of this vision and its fulfillment 
 was, of course, to create a God-fearing sovereign. 
 The execution of the penalty humbled his pride, 
 lifted the eyes of the conceited king to the source 
 of all knowledge, wisdom and power. We have 
 alluded to Nebuchadnezzar's affliction as self- 
 entailed, as the result of his own folly, and so we 
 
44 A Look Through the 
 
 think. God knew of the oncoming madness, and 
 forewarned. It may have been averted on one 
 year's notice. The case was not hopelessly gona 
 However, were it punishment directly decreed, 
 or the consequence of vice, in either event it was 
 the result of sin. We can not differentiate between 
 God in nature, working in the laws of the same, 
 or God working in laws undefined or undefinable. 
 Either way it is God working, God decreeing, and 
 it is not essential that we always see the differ- 
 ence, if there be any. Let us not question God, but 
 have faith in him. 
 
 We know that Nebuchadnezzar was driven 
 forth (either by madness or the special power of 
 God), and for seven years he groveled on the earth 
 as an unclean and ghastly beast. We may know 
 that others' sins make them outlaws also, to heaven 
 and God, and that wreck and ruin inevitably await 
 the lawless and disobedient to his Word; they fol- 
 low in the wake of evil men. 
 
 This lesson had its effect on Nebuchadnezzar. 
 *^I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honour 
 the King of heaven." "All his works are truth." 
 "His ways judgement." "Those that walk in pride 
 he is able to abase." 
 
 And so, when convicted, we each may see how 
 folly and wrong had led us into iniquitous paths, 
 until insanity had seized upon us, and driven us 
 mad, drunk with the vanity and pleasure of sin. 
 When its effects have told on our moral constitu- 
 tion, we awoke to inquire of our lost kingdom and 
 to seek the God who is "able to abase" the con- 
 ceited and the proud, Vse should ever remember 
 
Lens of Prophecy, 45 
 
 the wages of sin, and keep our face toward the 
 Giver of life. 
 
 Every man is a free moral being. He is the 
 king of a mighty empire. His dominion extends 
 to the full reach of his influence. He is a good or a 
 bad king. God's eye is over his doings. He must 
 come into account before Jehovah. Have you done 
 wickedly? 
 
 "O king, let my counsel be acceptable nnto thee, and break 
 off thy sins by righteousness, and thine iniquities by showing 
 mercy to the poor : if an healmg of thine error be a lengthening 
 of thy tranquillity" (v. 27). 
 
 We are too unconcerned of others in our living. 
 Too independent of God. We feast upon his sump- 
 tuous bounties, and give him no thanks for his 
 provident mercies. His mercies and benefits fall 
 upon us like the dew upon the grass. We view the 
 wondrous splendors of human accomplishments, 
 and think not it is God who is our increase and 
 our support. One day, when we take the inven- 
 tory of life and proudly boast of vast accumu- 
 lations, the voice of God will fall from the skies, 
 saying, "Thou fool, this night is thy soul required 
 of thee." Oh, the folly of earthly glory ! The cor- 
 rosion of avarice upon the soul! The deceit of 
 flattery! The disappointment of pride, of vanity, 
 of wealth! 
 
46 A Look Through the 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Belshazzar's Dream. — The Fall of Babylon. 
 
 (Dan. V.) 
 
 Twenty-four years have elapsed since the trans- 
 piration of the events of our last chapter. Nebu- 
 chadnezzar is dead. Belshazzar, his grandson, is 
 the king of Babylon. The time of Babylon as a 
 kingdom extends from 748 B. C. to its overthrow 
 in the events of this chapter, 538 B. C. 
 
 The character of Belshazzar is iniquitous. The 
 hopeful reformation wrought in Xebuchadnezzar, 
 his predecessor, was not effective on the heart of 
 the present king. It did not extend to the royal 
 house. Belshazzar becomes excessive in his impi- 
 ous, wicked and unholy administration of govern- 
 ment. His personal habits were those of a deb- 
 auchee. He dealt cruelly with the Israelitish 
 captives. He blasphemed the God of heaven, and 
 made sensual use of the holy utensils of the tem- 
 ple service. The time of emancipation has come 
 for the people of God. 
 
 Two hundred and thirty years previous to the 
 events of this lesson, Isaiah prophesied concerning 
 this Babylon and concerning the people of Israel : 
 
 "Come down, and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of 
 Babylon; sit on the ground without a throne, O daughter of 
 the Chaldeans: for thou shalt no more be called tender and 
 delicate. Take the millstones, and grind meal: remove thy 
 veil, strip off the train, uncover the leg, pass through the 
 rivers, Thy nakedness shall be uncovered, yea, thy shame 
 
Lens of Prophecy. 47 
 
 shall be seen: I will take vengeance, and will accept no man. 
 Our redeemer, the Lord of hosts is his name, the Holy One 
 of Israel. Sit thou silent, and get thee into darkness, O 
 daughter of the Chaldeans: for thou shalt no more be called 
 The lady of kingdoms. I was wroth with my people, I pro- 
 faned mine inheritance, and gave them into thin© hand: thou 
 didst shevr them no mercy; upon the aged hast thou very 
 heavily laid thy yoke. And thou saidst, I shall be a lady for 
 ever: so that thou didst not lay these things to thy heart, 
 neither didst remember the latter end thereof. 
 
 "Now therefore hear this, thou that art given to pleasures, 
 that dwellest carelessly, that sayest in thine heart, I am, 
 and there is none else beside me; I shall not sit as a widow, 
 neither shall I know the loss of children : but these two things 
 shall come to thee in a moment in one day, the loss of chil- 
 dren, and widowhood: in their full measure shall they come 
 upon thee, despite of the multitude of thy sorceries, and the 
 great abundance of thine enchantments. For thou hast 
 trusted in thy wickedness; thou hast said. None seeth me; 
 thy wisdom and thy knowledge, it hath perverted thee: and 
 thou hast said in thine heart, I am, and there is none else 
 beside me. Therefore shall evil come upon thee; thou shalt 
 not know the davming thereof: and mischief shall fall upon 
 thee; thou shalt not be able to put it away: and desolation 
 shall come upon thee suddenly, which thou knowest not. 
 Stand now with thine enchantments, and with the multitude 
 of thy sorceries, wherein thou hast laboured from thy youth; 
 if so be thou shalt be able to profit, if so be thou mayest pre- 
 vail. Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels: let 
 now the astrologers, the stargazers, the monthly prognosti- 
 cators, stand up, and save thee from the things that shall 
 come upon thee. Behold, they shall be as stubble; the fire 
 shall burn them; they shall not deliver themselves from the 
 power of the flame: it shall not be a coal to warm at, nor a 
 fire to sit before. Thus shall the things be unto thee wherein 
 thou hast laboured: they that have trafficked with thee from 
 thy youth shall wander every one to his quarter; there shall 
 be none to save thee" (Isa. xlvii. 1-15), 
 
48 A Look Through the 
 
 Read, also, prophecies concerning Israel for her 
 deliverance and her destiny: Isa. xxi. 1-10; Isa. 
 xiii. ; Isa. xiv. 1-27 ; Jer. i. 11-19 ; Jer. 1. ; Jer. li. 
 1-58 ; Ps. cxxxTii. 8, 9 ; Isa. xliv. 21-28. 
 
 God had determined the captivity of his people 
 by the word of prophecy a long while before the 
 event. He fixed the years of their captivity also, 
 seventy in number. 
 
 "Moreover I will take from them the voice of mirth and 
 the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the 
 voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones, and the light of 
 the candle. And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an 
 astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of 
 Babylon seventy years. And it shall come to pass, when 
 seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king 
 of Babylon, and that nation, saith the Lobd, for their iniquity, 
 and the land of the Chaldeans; and I will make it desolate 
 for ever. And I will bring upon that land all my words which 
 I have pronounced against it, even all that is written in this 
 book, which Jeremiah has prophesied against all the nations" 
 (Jer. XXV. 10-13). 
 
 He promised also to deliver them after this full 
 term of servitude: 
 
 "And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come 
 with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon 
 their heads: they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow 
 and sighing shall flee away. 
 
 "I, even I, am he that comforteth yon: who art thon, that 
 thou art afraid of man that shall die, and of the son of man 
 which shall be made as grass; and hast forgotten the Lord 
 thy Maker, that stretched forth the heavens, and laid the foun- 
 dations of the earth; and fearest continually all the day 
 because of the fury of the oppressor, when he maketh ready 
 to destroy? and where is the fury of the oppressor? The 
 captive exil^ nU9M speedily be looked; and he shall not die 
 
Lens of Prophecy. 49 
 
 and go down into the pit, neither shall his bread fail. For 
 I am the Lord thy God, which stirreth up the sea, that the 
 waves thereof roar: the Lord of hosts is Ms name" (Isa. 11. 
 11-15). 
 
 He addressed the righteous of his people 
 through prophetic word, and reminded them that 
 he was their deliverer. In the humility of their 
 exile he points them to their former estate, and 
 makes promise of their emancipation : 
 
 "Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye 
 that seek the Loed: look unto the rock whence ye were hewn, 
 and to the hole of the pit whence ye were digged. Look unto 
 Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bare you: for 
 when he was but one I called him, and I blessed him, and 
 made him many. For the Lord hath comforted Zion: he 
 hath comforted all her waste places, and hath made her 
 wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the 
 Lord; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, 
 and the voice of melody. 
 
 "Attend unto me, O my people; and give ear unto me, O 
 my nation : for a law shall go forth from me, and I will make 
 my judgement to rest for a light of the peoples. My righteous- 
 ness is near, my salvation is gone forth, and mine arms shall 
 judge the peoples; the isles shall wait for me, and on mine 
 arm shall they trust. Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and 
 look upon the earth beneath: for the heavens shall vanish 
 away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment, 
 and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner: but my 
 salvation shall be for ever, and my righteousness shall not 
 be abolished. 
 
 "Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, the people 
 in whose heart is my law; fear ye not the reproach of men, 
 neither be ye dismayed at their revilings. For the moth 
 shall eat them up like a garment, and the worm shall eat 
 them like wool: but my righteousness shall be for ever, and 
 my salvation unto all generations. 
 
50 A Look Through the 
 
 "Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord; 
 awake, as in the days of old, the generations of ancient times. 
 Art thou not it that cut Rahab in pieces, that pierced the 
 dragon? Art thou not it which dried up the sea, the waters 
 of the great deep; that made the depths of the sea a way for 
 the redeemed to pass over?" (Isa. li. 1-11). 
 
 Two hundred years previous, and before the 
 birth of Cyrus, the Lord spakvB by the raontb of 
 prophecy concerning him, and called him by name ; 
 though the Jews were in captivity and Judah a 
 waste, he says : 
 
 "Jerusalem, She shall be inhabited; and of the cities of 
 Judah, They shall be built, and I will raise up the waste 
 places thereof: that saith to the deep, Be dry, and I will dry 
 up thy rivers: that saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and 
 shall perform all my pleasure: even saying of Jerusalem, She 
 shall be built; and to the temple. Thy foundation shall be laid" 
 (Isa. xliv. 26-28). 
 
 And also: 
 
 "Thus saith the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose 
 right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him, and 
 I will loose the loins of kings; to open the doors before him, 
 and the gates shall not be shut; I will go before thee, and 
 make the rugged places plain: I will break in pieces the 
 doors of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron: and I will 
 give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of 
 secret places, that thou mayest know that I am the Lord, 
 which call thee by thy name, even the God of Israel. For 
 Jacob my servant's sake, and Israel my chosen, I have called 
 thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast 
 not known me : I am the Lord, and there is none else ; beside 
 me there is no God: I will gird thee, though thou hast not 
 known me: that they may know from the rising of the sun, 
 and from the west, that there is none beside me: I am the 
 Lord, and there is none else. I form the light, and create 
 
Lens of Prophecy, 51 
 
 darkness; I make peace, and create evil; I am the Lord, that 
 doeth all these things" (Isa. xlv. 1-7). 
 
 God placed the visions of conquest in the brain 
 of Cyrus; he was an instrument in the hand of 
 Deity for the accomplishment of this work. He 
 assembled mightily the Medes and Persians 
 against Babylon. 
 
 "The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz 
 did see. 
 
 "Set ye up an ensign upon the bare mountain, lift up 
 the voice unto them, wave the hand, that they may go into 
 the gates of the nobles. I have commanded my consecrated 
 ones, yea, I have called my mighty men for mine anger, even 
 my proudly exulting ones. The noise of a multitude in the 
 mountains, like as of a great people! the noise of a tumult 
 of the kingdoms of the nations gathered together! the Lord 
 of hosts mustereth the host for the battle. They come from 
 a far country, from the uttermost part of heaven, even 
 the Lord, and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the 
 whole land. Howl ye; for the day of the Lord is at hand; 
 as destruction from the Almighty shall it come. Therefore 
 shall all hands be feeble, and every heart of man shall melt: 
 and they shall be dismayed; pangs and sorrows shall take hold 
 of them; they shall be in pain as a woman in travail: they 
 shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall he faces of 
 flame. Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, cruel, with wrath 
 and fierce anger; to make the land a desolation, and to destroy 
 the sinners thereof out of it. For the stars of heaven and 
 the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun 
 shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not 
 cause her light to shine. And I will punish the world for 
 their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause 
 the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the 
 haughtiness of the terrible. I will make a man more 
 rare than fine gold, even a man than the pure gold 
 of Ophir. Therefore I will make the heavens to trem- 
 ble, and the earth shall be shaken out of her place, in 
 
52 A Look Through the 
 
 the wrath of the Loed of hosts, and in the day of his 
 fierce anger. And it shall come to pass, that as the chased 
 roe, and as sheep that no man gathereth, they shall turn 
 every man to his own people, and shall flee every man to his 
 own land. Every one that is found shall be thrust through; 
 and every one that is taken shall fall by the sword. Their 
 infants also shall be dashed in pieces before their eyes; their 
 houses shall be spoiled, and their wives ravished. Behold, 
 I will stir up the Medes against them, which shall not regard 
 silver, and as for gold, they shall not delight in it. And 
 their bows shall dash the young men in pieces; and they 
 shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb; their eye shall 
 not spare children. And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the 
 beauty of the Chaldeans' pride, shall be as when God over- 
 threw Sodom and Gomorrah. It shall never be inhabited, 
 neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation: 
 neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall shep- 
 herds make their flocks to lie down there. But wild beasts 
 of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be full of 
 doleful creatures; and ostriches shall dwell there, and satyrs 
 shall dance there. And wolves shall cry in their castles, and 
 jackals in the pleasant palaces: and her time is near to come, 
 and her days shall not be prolonged. For the Lord will have 
 compassion on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them 
 in their own land: and the stranger shall join himself with 
 them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob. And the 
 people shall take them, and bring them to their place: and the 
 house of Israel shall possess them in the land of the Lord for 
 servants and for handmaids : and they shall take them captive, 
 whose captives they were; and they shall rule over their 
 oppressors" (Isa. xiii. and xiv. 1, 2). 
 
 Jeremiah also makes prediction of Babylon's 
 destruction. She was God's agent for the correc- 
 tion of his people, but she abused her privilege and 
 did not recognize the rights of her subjects, did 
 abominable wickedness, and refused to repent of 
 her evil, after the patient sufferance of God, and 
 
Lens of Prophecy, 53 
 
 his importunity of the princely house for the sal- 
 vation of Babylon. She must therefore become an 
 ensample to the nations of the earth. 
 
 "A sound of Battle is in the land, and of great destruc- 
 tion. How is the hammer of the whole earth cut asunder 
 and broken! how is Babylon become a desolation among the 
 nations! I have laid a snare for thee, and thou art also taken, 
 O Babylon, and thou wast not aware: thou art found, and 
 also caught, because thou hast striven against the Lord. The 
 Lord hath opened his armoury, and hath brought forth the 
 weapons of his indignation: for the Lord, the Lord of hosts, 
 hath a work to do in the land of the Chaldeans. Come against 
 her from the utmost border, open her storehouses: cast her 
 up as heaps, and destroy her utterly: let nothing of her be 
 left. Slay all her bullocks; let them go down to the slaughter: 
 woe unto them! for their day is come, the time of their visita- 
 tion. The voice of them that flee and escape out of the land 
 of Babylon, to declare in Zion the vengeance of the Lord our 
 God, the vengeance of his temple. Call together the archers 
 against Babylon, all them that bend the bow; camp against 
 her round about; let none thereof escape: recompense her 
 according to her work; according to all that she hath done, 
 do unto her: for she hath been proud against the Lord, against 
 the Holy One of Israel. Therefore shall her young men fall 
 in her streets, and all her men of war shall be brought to 
 silence in that day, saith the Lord. Behold, I am against thee, 
 
 thou proud one, saith the Lord, the Lord of hosts: for thy 
 day is come, the time that I will visit thee. And the proud 
 one shall stumble and fall, and none shall raise him up: and 
 
 1 will kindle a fire in his cities, and it shall devour all that 
 are round about him. 
 
 **Thus saith the Lord of hosts: The children of Israel 
 and the children of Judah are oppressed together: and all that 
 took them captives hold them fast; they refuse to let them go. 
 Their redeemer is strong; the Lord of hosts is his name: 
 he shall thoroughly plead their cause, that he may give rest 
 to the earth, and disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon. A 
 sword is upon the Chaldeans, saith the Lord, and upon the 
 
54 A Look Through the 
 
 inhabitants of Babylon, and upon her princes, and upon her 
 wise men. A sword is upon the boasters, and they shall dote: 
 a sword is upon her mighty men, and they shall be dismayed. 
 A sword is upon their horses, and upon their chariots, and 
 upon all the mingled people that are in the midst of her, and 
 they shall become as women: a sword is upon her treasures, 
 and they shall be robbed. A drought is upon her waters, 
 and they shall be dried up: for it is a land of graven images, 
 and they are mad upon idols. Therefore the wild beasts of the 
 desert with the wolves shall dwell there, and the ostriches 
 shall dwell therein: and it shall be no more inhabited for 
 ever; neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to genera- 
 tion. As when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and 
 the neighbour cities thereof, saith the Lobd; so shall no man 
 dwell there, neither shall any son of man sojourn therein. 
 Behold, a people cometh from the north; and a great nation, 
 and many kings shall be stirred up from the uttermost parts 
 of the earth. They lay hold on bow and spear; they are cruel, 
 and have no mercy; their voice roareth like the sea, and they 
 ride upon horses; every one set in array, as a man to the 
 battle, against thee, O daughter of Babylon. The king of 
 Babylon hath heard the fame of them, and his hands wax 
 feeble: anguish hath taken hold of him, and pangs as of a 
 woman in travail. Behold, he shall come up like a lion from 
 the pride of Jordan, against the strong habitation: but I 
 will suddenly make them run away from her; and whoso is 
 chosen, him will I appoint over her: for who is like me? and 
 who will appoint me a time? and who is the shepherd that 
 will stand before me? Therefore hear ye the counsel of the 
 Lord, that he hath taken against Babylon; and his purposes, 
 that he hath purposed against the land of the Chaldeans: 
 Surely they shall drag them away, even the little ones of the 
 flock; surely he will make their habitation desolate with them. 
 At the noise of the taking of Babylon the earth trembleth, and 
 the cry is heard among the nations" (Jer. 1. 22-46). 
 
 "For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: The 
 daughter of Babylon is like a threshing-floor at the time when 
 it is trodden; yet a little while, and the time of harvest shall 
 come for her. Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon hath 
 
Lens of Prophecy. 55 
 
 devoured me, he hath*crushed me, he hath made me an empty 
 vessel, he hath swallowed me up like a dragon, he hath filled 
 his maw with my delicates; he hath cast me out. The violence 
 done to me and to my flesh be upon Babylon, shall the inhabit- 
 ant of Zion say; and. My blood be upon the inhabitants of 
 Chaldea, shall Jerusalem say. Therefore thus saith the Lord: 
 Behold, I will plead thy cause, and take vengeance for thee; 
 and I will dry up her sea, and make her fountain dry. And 
 Babylon shall become heaps, a dwelling place for jackals, an 
 astonishment, and an hissing, without inhabitant. They shall 
 roar together like young lions; they shall growl as lions' 
 whelps. When they are heated, I will make their feast, and 
 I will make them drunken, that they may rejoice, and sleep 
 a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the Loed. I will bring 
 them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams with he- 
 goats" (Jer. li. 33-40). 
 
 The manner of taking Babylon will appear 
 clearly in the chapter we are to examine. While 
 besieged by a threatening army, Belshazzar, in- 
 toxicated in his vanity, with the sense of power and 
 security, holding superiority and mastery of the 
 world, makes a great feast for "a thousand of his 
 lords, and drank wine before them'' (v. 5). Ut- 
 terly oblivious of the menace of armed soldiery 
 without, and defiant and insolent to the God of 
 heaven, the impious king Belshazzar orders to be 
 brought "the golden and silver vessels which Neb- 
 uchadnezzar his father had taken out of the temple 
 which was in Jerusalem; that the king and his 
 lords, his wives and his concubines, might drink 
 therein" (v. 2). 
 
 The order was obeyed (v. 3), and "the king and 
 his lords, his wives and his concubines," did thus 
 wickedly profane and desecrate, blaspheme and 
 
56 A Look Through the 
 
 soil those sacred vessels, that were made and dedi- 
 cated to God for religious and sacred service unto 
 him, in the beautiful and holy service of the Jewish 
 ritual. If they had ignorantly done this, perhaps 
 there would have been excuse. But with knowl- 
 edge did they thus debase these sacred emblems 
 and vessels, and therefore willfully assumed de- 
 fiance to God and took the responsibility of in- 
 curring his wrath and judgment. Defiant, because 
 *^they drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, 
 and silver, and of brass, of iron, of wood, and of 
 stone" (v. 4). (That the vessels were associated 
 with worship, they understood, for they so em- 
 ployed them. These sordid gods of wealth were 
 worshiped, because gold and sliver and brass and 
 iron and stone made Babylon great, and the king 
 rich, and created him the world's power. The 
 things that made Jerusalem great were God's 
 name, her laws and ordinances, her character and 
 individuality, the sacrifice and services of devotion 
 to God by the whole nation. These vessels and 
 emblems were the utensils of the nation's soul, 
 and stood for the attributes and qualities of the 
 human mind, in this typical and significantly ex- 
 emplary nation. 
 
 While this profanity, drunken debauchery and 
 wicked revelry, full of all licentiousness, lust and 
 voluptuous sin, was in progress, and God's sacred 
 vessels, designed for the loftiest employment of 
 man's spiritual exercise, were brought into igno- 
 miny and disgrace, and polluted by the vile ferment 
 and intoxicating drink of inebriety, tarnished by 
 the breath of foul and corroding lust, "the fingers 
 
Lens of Prophecy. 57 
 
 of a man's hand wrote over against the candlestick 
 upon the plaister of the wall of the king's palace : 
 and the king saw" (v. 5). Then there was a pause 
 in the gay whirl of giddy pleasure, a hush of the 
 music pulsating to the chant and song of ribaldry 
 and shame, a stillness to the light and fairy trip 
 of the Chaldean dance, and in profound silence 
 the king stood, while his "countenance was 
 changed in him, and his thoughts troubled him; 
 and the joints of his loins were loosed, and his 
 knees smote one against another" (v. 6). 
 
 Here was a strange and marvelous occurrence. 
 Alarm has seized hold upon the king. Weak, wicked 
 and wretched, his vile and contemptible soul re- 
 coils before the unusual phenomenon. It was said 
 of him : 
 
 "The king shall be seized in an instant with an 
 incredible terror and perturbation of mind : *My 
 loins are filled with pain; pangs have taken hold 
 upon me, as the pangs of a woman that travaileth ; 
 I was bowed down at the hearing of it ; I was dis- 
 mayed at the seeing of it; my heart panted, fear- 
 fulness affrighted me; the night of my pleasure 
 hath he turned into fear unto me' ( Isa. xxi. 3, 4 ) . 
 This is the condition Belshazzar was in, when, in 
 the middle of the entertainment, he saw a hand 
 come out of the wall, which wrote such characters 
 upon it as none of his divines could either explain 
 or read ; but more especially when Daniel declared 
 to him that those characters imported the sentence 
 of death. The terror, astonishment, fainting and 
 trembling of Belshazzar are here described and ex- 
 pressed in the same manner by the prophet, who 
 
58 A Look Through the 
 
 was an eye-witness of them (Dan. v. 5), as they 
 were by the prophet who foretold them two hun- 
 dred years before. 
 
 "But Isaiah must have had an extraordinary 
 measure of divine illumination, to be able to add, 
 immediately after the description of Belshazzar's 
 consternation, the following words: Trepare the 
 table, watch in the watch-tower; eat, drink' (Isa. 
 xxi. 5). The prophet foresees that Belshazzar, 
 though dismayed and confounded at first, shall re- 
 cover his courage and spirits, through the exhor- 
 tation of his courtiers; but more particularly 
 through the persuasion of the queen, his mother, 
 who represented to him the unreasonableness of 
 being affected with such unmanly fears and unnec- 
 essary alarms. ^Let not thy thoughts trouble thee, 
 nor let thy countenance be changed' (Dan. v. 10). 
 They will exhort him, therefore, to make himself 
 easy ; to satisfy himself with giving proper orders, 
 and with the assurance of being advertised of every- 
 thing by the vigilance of the sentinels ; to order the 
 rest of the supper to be served, as if nothing hap- 
 pened ; and recall the gayety and joy which his ex- 
 cessive fear had banished from the table : Trepare 
 the table, watch in the watch-tower; eat, drink.'" 
 — Rollings Ancient History. 
 
 In his puzzled and perplexed extremity, at the 
 awe and wonder of the strange event, the royal 
 head of drunken Babylon offers a reward — the in- 
 signia of royalty, the embellishments of splendor 
 and wealth, and rulership with the kingly house 
 (v. 7) — to whomsoever would read these Hebrew 
 expressions, and give their silent import and Intel- 
 
Lens of Prophecy. 59 
 
 ligent translation to the Chaldean tongue. The 
 learned body ( ? ) , the king's counselors, consisting 
 of enchanters, the Chaldeans and the soothsayers 
 (v. 7), failed to divine its meaning, to read and 
 interpret God's message (v. 8). 
 
 "Then was king Belshazzar greatly troubled, and his 
 countenance was changed in him, and his lords were per- 
 plexed" (v. 9). 
 
 But Nitocris, the queen and mother of Belshaz- 
 zar, coming upon the scene in the midst of the con- 
 sternation of the banquet chamber, spake and said : 
 
 "0 king, live forever; let not thy thoughts trouble thee, 
 nor let thy countenance be changed: there is a man in thy 
 kingdom, in whom is the spirit of the holy gods; and in the 
 days of thy father light and understanding and wisdom, like 
 the wisdom of the gods, was found in him: and the king 
 Nebuchadnezzar thy father, the king, I say, thy father, made 
 him master of the magicians, enchanters, Chaldeans, and 
 soothsayers; forasmuch as an excellent spirit, and knowledge, 
 and understanding, interpreting of dreams, and shewing of 
 dark sentences, and dissolving of doubts, was found in the 
 same Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar. Now let 
 Daniel be called, and he will shew the interpretation" (vs. 
 10-12). 
 
 Daniel was accordingly brought in. The king 
 asked: 
 
 "Art thou that Daniel, which art of the children of the 
 captivity of Judah, whom the king my father brought out 
 of Judah? I have heard of thee, that the spirit of the gods 
 is in thee, and that light and understanding and excellent wis- 
 dom is found in thee. And now the wise men, the enchanters, 
 have been brought in before me, that they should read this 
 writing, and make known unto me the interpretation thereof: 
 but they could not shew the interpretation of the thing. But 
 
60 'A Look Through the 
 
 I have heard of thee, that thou canst give interpretations, and 
 dissolve doubts: now if thou canst read the writing, and make 
 known to me the interpretation thereof, thou shalt be clothed 
 with purple, and have a chain of gold about thy neck, and shalt 
 be the third ruler in the kingdom" (vs. 13-16). 
 
 DaniePs answer: 
 
 "Let thy gifts be to thyself, and give thy rewards to an- 
 other; nevertheless I will read the writing unto the king, and 
 make known to him the interpretation. O thou king, the 
 Most High God gave Nebuchadnezzar thy father the kingdom, 
 and greatness, and glory, and majesty: and because of the 
 greatness that he gave him, all the peoples, nations, and lan- 
 guages trembled and feared before him: whom he would he 
 slew, and whom he would he kept alive; and whom he would 
 he raised up, and whom he would he put down. But when his 
 heart was lifted up, and his spirit was hardened that he dealt 
 proudly, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and they 
 took his glory from him; and he was driven from the sons of 
 men; and his heart was made like the beasts, and his dwelling 
 was with the wild asses; he was fed with grass like oxen, and 
 his body was wet with the dew of heaven: until he knew that 
 the Most High God ruleth in the kingdom of men, and that 
 he setteth up over it whomsoever he will. And thou his son, 
 O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thine heart, though thou knew- 
 est all this; but hast lifted up thyself against the Lord of 
 heaven; and they have brought the vessels of his house before 
 thee, and thou and thy lords, thy wives and thy concubines, 
 have drunk wine in them; and thou hast praised the gods 
 of silver, and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which 
 see not, nor hear, nor know: and the God in whose hand thy 
 breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified: 
 then was the part of the hand sent from before him, and this 
 writing was inscribed. And this is the writing that was in- 
 scribed, ME^TE, MENE, TEKEL, uPHAESix. This is the inter- 
 pretation of the thing: mene; God hath numbered thy king- 
 dom, and brought it to an end. tekel; thou art weighed in. 
 the balances, and art found wanting, peees; thy kingdom 
 
Lens of Prophecy, 61 
 
 is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians. Then com- 
 manded Belshazzar, and they clothed Daniel with purple, and 
 put a chain of gold about his neck, and made proclamation 
 concerning him, that he should be the third ruler in the 
 kingdom. In that night Belshazzar the Chaldean king was 
 slain. And Darius the Mede received the kingdom, being 
 about threescore and two years old" (vs. 17-31). 
 
 "At the same time that men are giving their 
 orders, God on his part is likewise giving his: 
 ^4rise, ye princes, and anoint the shield' (Isa. xxi. 
 5). It is God himself that commands the princes 
 to advance, to take their arms, and to enter boldly 
 into a city drowned in wine, or buried in sleep." — 
 Rollin. 
 
 "Isaiah acquaints us with two material and im- 
 portant circumstances concerning the taking of 
 Babylon. The first is, that the troops with which it 
 is filled, shall not keep ground or stand firm any- 
 where, neither at the palace nor the citadel, nor 
 any other public place whatsoever ; that they shall 
 desert and leave one another, without thinking of 
 anything but making their escape ; that in running 
 away they shall disperse themselves, and take dif- 
 ferent roads, just as a flock of deer, or of sheep, is 
 dispersed and scattered when they are affrighted: 
 ^And it shall be as a chased roe, and as a sheep that 
 no man taketh up' (lb. xiii. 14). The second cir- 
 cumstance is, that the greatest part of those troops, 
 though they were in the Babylonian service and 
 pay, were not Babylonians; and that they shall 
 return unto the provinces from whence they came, 
 without being pursued by the conquerors : because 
 the divine vengeance was chiefly to fall upon the 
 
62 A Look Through the 
 
 citizens of Babylon: ^They shall turn every man 
 to his own people, and flee every one into his own 
 land' (Isa. xiii. 14).'' — Rollin. 
 
 "The last circumstance which the prophet fore- 
 tells, is the death of the king himself, whose body is 
 to have no burial, and the entire extinction of the 
 royal family; both which calamities are described 
 in the Scripture, in a manner equally terrible and 
 instructive to all princes. ^But thou art cast out 
 of thy grave, like an abominable branch. Thou 
 shalt not be joined with them [thy ancestors] in 
 burial, because thou hast destroyed thy land, and 
 slain thy people' (lb. xiv. 19, 20). That king is 
 justly forgotten who has never remembered that 
 he ought to be the protector and father of his peo- 
 ple. He that has lived only to ruin and destroy 
 his country, is unworthy of the common privilege 
 of burial. As he has been an enemy to mankind, 
 he ought to have no place amongst them. He was 
 like the wild beasts of the field, and, like them, he 
 should be buried; and since he had no sentiments 
 of humanity himself, he deserves to meet with no 
 humanity from others. This is the sentence which 
 God himself pronounced against Belshazzar; and 
 the malediction extends itself to his children, who 
 were looked upon as his associates in the throne, 
 and as the source of a long posterity and succession 
 of kings, and were entertained with nothing by the 
 flattering courtiers but the pleasing prospects and 
 ideas of their future grandeur. Prepare slaughter 
 for his children (Dan. v. 1-29), for the iniquity 
 of their fathers; that they do not rise nor possess 
 the land. For I will rise up against them, saith the 
 
Lens of Prophecy, 63 
 
 Lord of hosts, and cut off from Babylon the name 
 and remnant, and son and nephew, saith the 
 Lord.' ''—Rollin. 
 
 So much for the overthrow of Babylon. God 
 reigns and his cause triumphs in the earth! Let 
 us find practical teachings for ourselves from these 
 events. 
 
 Man is the temple of God on earth. "Know ye 
 not that ye are the temple of God?" — Paul. Man 
 is the image of his Maker. "In the image of God 
 created he him/' The realm of man's influence is 
 his empire. Of this, the individual man is the sov- 
 ereign. Every human being, therefore, is a born 
 king. Within man there is combined the temple 
 and sanctuary, the one for holy and religious ser- 
 vice, the other for capital and throne in which man 
 sits, the monarch of his mighty empire. For this 
 dual house there are dual purposes in life: the 
 honor and worship of Deity; the duty and service 
 of man. With care, let us not overthrow the temple 
 of God, to the profit and renown of worldliness. 
 
 Man's heart, or soul, has many attributes : rea- 
 son, memory, ideality, imagination, penetration, 
 perception, reflection, and many more. These are 
 the holy vessels of the house of God. Let us not 
 profane the temple, nor desecrate these golden 
 utensils, made for the beautiful service of Deity 
 and human life, calculated to bring happiness, 
 prosperity and peace to the inhabitants of our indi- 
 vidual empires. 
 
 Some have erred ; have grown idolatrous ; have 
 been besieged by the armies of sin, who have forced 
 the citadel of human defense while they reveled; 
 
64 A Look Through the 
 
 were drowned in wine, or were asleep, duped by the 
 influence of rum. Their temple's walls were 
 stormed, crushed down and the city invaded. The 
 Holy Place was profaned by the feet of sin. The 
 beautiful house of God was demolished, and the 
 sacred vessels thereof carried away to the Baby- 
 ion of man's confusion and ruin. 
 
 The scene is changed. He is yet a king, but of 
 an iniquitous city. He musters the resources of 
 his empire about him. Fallen and dragged from 
 the temple of purity, he would make the most of 
 temporal life. He becomes defiant, coarse, vulgar 
 and dead to the sensibilities of decency and refine- 
 ment. He defies the powers. He defies purity, in- 
 nocency. He defies and ignores God. Abandoned, 
 he commands the gold and silver vessels to be 
 brought that were taken from the sacred temple 
 of his Jerusalem of strength. In his base revelings 
 and imaginations, "his wives and his concubines," 
 his lords and nobles drink therein. 
 
 The man of sin is wedded to many causes. He 
 has formed many unholy alliances. He holds rev- 
 elry, banquet and dance. His impious hand takes 
 hold upon the golden vessels of thought, the beau- 
 tiful chalice of reason, the silver plate of memory, 
 the many precious and holy attributes of his godly 
 nature, and prostitutes them to the most unholy 
 and sensual purposes. In them he drinks the wine 
 of human intoxication; vanity spreads her silken 
 folds about him, pride exalts him, and, covered 
 over with the tinsel of show, he is lifted above his 
 fellows, and in the luxury and extravagance of a 
 
Lens of Prophecy. 65 
 
 deceitful, intemperate, immoderate court, he cher- 
 ishes the delusion of safety, peace, perpetuity. Mis- 
 taken happiness! The song of hilarity is not the 
 song of mirth! The chant of discordant music is 
 not the song of peace and deliverance. Harmony 
 is not there. In the same hour of human abandon- 
 ment comes "forth the fingers of a man's hand." 
 It writes. Its message is inscribed "over against 
 the candlestick upon the plaister of the wall of 
 the king's palace." And what is it? "Who hath 
 wo? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who 
 hath complaining? who hath wounds without a 
 cause? who hath redness of eyes? They that tarry 
 long at the wine ; they that go to seek mixed wine." 
 "It is not for kings to drink wine, O Lemuel." "The 
 drunkard can not enter into the kingdom of 
 heaven." 
 
 Ah! now the countenance of the king is 
 changed. Where the childish innocency and glee 
 of youth? Where is his noble manhood? Where 
 the king of which the princely youth gave promise? 
 Now his thoughts trouble him. His "joints and 
 loins are loosed." His knees smite together. Pit- 
 eous wail! The wail of the drunkard is the wail 
 of the lost. The man is delirious. Ten thousand 
 demons surround his wretched and terror-stricken 
 frame. "Weighed in the balances and found want- 
 ing." Babylon is taken. Her rivers are turned 
 into pools, and the miasm of sin hangs over it as 
 the pall of death. Unclean and unholy life inhabits 
 it. The curse of God clings to the very dust, and 
 no longer is her name great among men. 
 
66 A Look Through the 
 
 And thus the sinful influence of life overrides 
 and crushes down the victim to the grave. De- 
 thrones him of his kingship. Despoils his princi- 
 pality. Mocks at his calamity. And when emptied 
 of the rich jewel of virtue, robbed of the utensils 
 that subserve a nobler life, hope obliterated, he goes 
 dejected and doomed, the exile and serf, hanging 
 upon the fringe of life's existence, until the last 
 heart-throb of misery pulses through the poisoned 
 avenues of a weary, defiled frame. He sinks into 
 the cold, dark and hopeless abyss of oblivion, a 
 ruined possibility, who ravished and wasted the 
 brightest and best opportunities that come to men 
 — the opportunity to ornament and regale life with 
 the splendors of nobility; the embellishment of a 
 cultured and useful manhood ; a life of purpose, of 
 action, with the power for a final and glorious con- 
 summation, the brightest ideals of animated hope 
 possible for inspiring youth to draw upon the 
 imagery of thought ; all shattered, lie in the grave 
 and wreckage of ruined prospects. 
 
 Nor let us forget, while the insolent and rebel- 
 lious, the sinful, may rob the temple of manhood, 
 pollute and destroy it, yet Jesus has vanquished 
 the foe of man, and will grant privileges for the 
 rebuilding of the temple, restoring its defenses, 
 and will admit to the repentant of heart, a return- 
 ing to his former estate, and a restoration of the 
 holy utensils of mind and soul. Eeplanting the 
 seeds of heart virtues, he will clothe again the mind 
 with reason and place it once more upon the throne 
 of its own destiny. 
 
 I 
 
Lens of Prophecy, 67 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Daniels's Deliverance. 
 
 (Dan. vi.) 
 
 Babylon being taken by the Medes and Per- 
 sians, Cyrus made the aged Cyaxares, or Darius 
 the Mede, his uncle, the king of Babylon (Dan. v. 
 31 ) . Darius set over the kingdom one hundred and 
 twenty satraps, or governors, "which should be 
 throughout the whole kingdom." These were pre- 
 sided over by three presidents, Daniel constituting 
 one of the number. The governors gave report to 
 these three presidents of the affairs of the kingdom. 
 These presidents stood, therefore, next to the 
 throne. Because of his excellency, a man divinely 
 tutored, faithful in his spiritual life and service to 
 his God, Daniel was distinguished for his princi- 
 ples of equity and justice; his ruling was equita- 
 ble, above all these governors and presidents, for 
 which Darius "thought to set him over the whole 
 realm" (v. 3). This inspired the jealousy of the 
 presidents and satraps, who organized a conspiracy 
 against Daniel, to take his life. They could find, 
 no cause of lawful action through technicalities in 
 his dispensing the affairs of the kingdom, by which 
 they might effect his overthrow, for "he was faith- 
 ful, neither was there any error or fault found in 
 him." There was no vulnerable point of attack 
 which the meshes of the law might afford them ; no 
 unobserved technicalities which so often entrap 
 men into danger. To accomplish their malicious 
 
68 A Look Through the 
 
 and hateful end, they mnst at some point cause the 
 religion of this devoted and faithful servant to 
 cross the edict of their Oriental monarch (v. 5). 
 Accordingly, they assemble in the presence of the 
 king. A lie is upon their lips. They flatteringly 
 speak an untruth to their king. They say: 
 
 "All the presidents of the kingdom, the deputies and the 
 satraps, the counsellors and the governors, have consulted to- 
 gether to establish a royal statute, and to make a strong in- 
 terdict, that whosoever shall ask a petition of any god or man 
 for thirty days, save of thee, king, he shall be cast into the 
 den of lions. Now, king, establish the interdict, and sign 
 the writing, that it be not changed, according to the law of 
 the Medes and Persians, which altereth not" (vs. 7, 8). 
 
 Daniel was one of these officers, and he was not 
 in their counsel. They came before the king with 
 not only malicious intent, but with lying lips. In 
 this appeal, they would tickle the vanity of the 
 king and cause him to realize the great authority 
 of his word in such a law, and to clothe the people 
 with fear at the utterance of his voice. The execu- 
 tion of such a horrid penalty would cause every 
 worshiper of the true God to forfeit the privileges 
 of conscience, or life for the sake of conscience. 
 
 Upon the recommendation of those standing in 
 authority, and the supporters of his government, 
 Darius signed the interdict (v. 9.) It proved the 
 king to be lame in his vanity, like many a poten- 
 tate; like most of the human race. 
 
 Daniel learned of the decree, and probably was 
 the first to receive the intellig^^nce, standing so 
 near this mighty sovereign. The die is cast. The 
 seal of death is upon him, for "the law of the 
 
Lens of Prophecy. 69 
 
 Medes and Persians altereth not." What should 
 Daniel do? The God he had so well and so long 
 served, should he now cancel his spiritual authority 
 over him — the God who had granted him so many 
 benefits and such wonderful success? 
 
 "He went into his house; (now his windows were open 
 in his chamber toward Jerusalem;) and he kneeled upon his 
 knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before 
 his God, as he did aforetime" (v. 10). 
 
 He did right, and consequences must care for 
 themselves. His windows were open toward Jeru- 
 salem, and Daniel is exposed plainly to view. 
 
 "Then these men assembled together, and found Daniel 
 making peTition and supplication before his God. Then they 
 came near, and spake before the king concerning the king's 
 interdict; Hast thou not signed an interdict, that every man 
 that shall make petition unto any god or man within thirty 
 days, save unto thee, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions? 
 The king answered and said. The thing is true, according to 
 the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not. Then 
 answered they and said before the king. That Daniel, which 
 is of the children of the captivity of Judah, regardeth not 
 thee, O king, nor the interdict that thou hast signed, but 
 maketh his petition three times a day. Then the king, when 
 he heard these words, was sore displeased, and set his heart 
 on Daniel to deliver him: and he laboured till the going 
 down of the sun to rescue him. Then these men assembled 
 together unto the king, and said unto the king. Know, O 
 king, that it is a law of the Medes and Persians, that no 
 interdict nor statute which the king establisheth may be 
 changed" (vs. 11-15). 
 
 These jealous politicians would not relent, not- 
 withstanding the desires of the king. They press 
 the execution of the law. They, themselves, the 
 
70 A Look Through the 
 
 honorable men, were the framers of the law, the 
 detectives of the crime, and the witnesses in the 
 prosecution. Nothing can be done but the imme- 
 diate arrest, sentence and execution of Daniel. 
 Speedily shall the head of Darius' court be de- 
 posed of his princely office. How impatient are the 
 unjust! Unduly eager for the consummation of 
 their evil purpose! Daniel dead, and then the 
 squabble for promotion and favoritism among 
 themselves. 
 
 The king had failed to extricate Daniel from 
 the entanglement into which his carelessness un- 
 wittingly precipitated him. Respect of the law, 
 however unmerciful, impelled him to sign the death 
 warrant. With sorrow of heart, he pressed his 
 signet upon the cruel writ ; upon Daniel, the words 
 of a sure hope. 
 
 "Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel, and 
 cast him into the den of lions. Now the king spake and said 
 unto Daniel, Thy God whom thou servest continually, he will 
 deliver thee" (v. 16). 
 
 Then a stone was placed over the den. It was 
 "sealed with his own signet, and with the signet of 
 his lords; that nothing might be changed concern- 
 ing Daniel" (v. 17). How beautiful is faith, even 
 manifested by a heathen king. It was his last ex- 
 tremity for the salvation of Daniel. Beautiful the 
 type — Daniel in this grave of death, for the return 
 and restoration of Israel ; Christ buried in ' the 
 tomb for the salvation, emancipation and deliver- 
 ance of the race from the thralldom of sin, and its 
 restoration to the "beautiful Zion built above." 
 
Lens of Prophecy, 71 
 
 Christ, the author of our life, the Saviour of the 
 same, entered into death, and there faced the sav- 
 age enemy of man, "^the last enemy to be over- 
 come," grappled with him on the vantage-ground of 
 sin, the plane of death, and came forth a triumph- 
 ant conqueror over sin, death and the grave. 
 
 "Then the king went to his palace, and passed the night 
 fasting: neither were instruments of music brought before 
 him: and his sleep fled from him" (v. 18). 
 
 In anguish of spirit, he could have no joy or 
 revelry around him with Daniel undelivered from 
 an unjust and cruel judgment. And with Christ 
 suffering the pangs of persecuted sorrow, and the 
 twangs of death falling like thunderbolts upon his 
 heart. Deity veiled his face from the horrid scene, 
 and angelic harps ceased to vibrate the symphony 
 of heaven, and angelic voices were dumb, when the 
 Prince of Life passed into death — "to reconcile all 
 things unto himself, having made peace through 
 the blood of his cross ; through him I say, whether 
 things upon the earth, or things in the heavens" 
 (Col. i. 20). 
 
 "Then the king arose very early in the morning, and 
 went in haste unto the den of lions" (v. 19). 
 
 How nearly alike to the disciples' early visit 
 to the burial-place of Jesus. 
 
 "And when he came near unto the den to Daniel, he cried 
 with a lamentable voice: the king spake and said to Daniel, 
 O Daniel, servant of the living God, is thy God, whom thou 
 servest continually, able to deliver thee from the lions?" (v. 
 20). 
 
72 A Look Through the 
 
 And so our God was able to raise up Christ, 
 when midnight darkness hung over the mind of 
 hope. The yearning and lamenting heart of Mary 
 cried out of its grief, as she hastened to his grave, 
 wishing, at least, a right to his remains. 
 
 "Then said Daniel unto the king, O king, live for ever. 
 My God hath sent his angel, and hath shnt the lions' months, 
 and they have not hurt me: forasmuch as before him inno- 
 cency was found in me; and also before thee, O king, have 
 I done no hurt" (v. 21). 
 
 And so, also, of the innocent Son of God, in 
 whom was found no guile; death had no place for 
 him. God sent his angels; one was found at the 
 Head and one at the foot of the Lord's sepulchre. 
 
 "Then was the king exceeding glad, and commanded that 
 they should take Daniel up out of the den. So Daniel was 
 taken up out of the den, and no manner of hurt was found 
 upon him, because he had trusted in his God" (v. 23). 
 
 Now let the king of Babylon represent the 
 world. And the world shall be glad, ^^so many as 
 shall be saved," at least, because of the glorified 
 life of its Prince of Peace. 
 
 "Joy to the world, the Lord is come, 
 
 Let earth receive her King; 
 Let every heart prepare him room. 
 And heaven and nature sing." 
 
 And now what becomes of the jealous courtiers 
 
 of the king? 
 
 "And the king commanded, and they brought those men 
 which had accused Daniel, and they cast them into the den 
 of lions, them, their children, and their wives; and the lions 
 had the mastery of them, and brake all their bones in pieces, 
 or ever they came at the bottom of the den" (v. 24). 
 
Lens of Prophecy, 73 
 
 This transaction was not the decree of Jehovah. 
 Darius the king did as he pleased in this matter. 
 Whether his action was justifiable in this whole- 
 sale execution of the criminals about his court, 
 the reader may judge. It is the decree of justice 
 that the wicked shall perish in the end, and they 
 who plot against our Saviour, and purpose ruin 
 to him, and the destruction of his government, will 
 reap death as the reward of their iniquitous de- 
 signs. 
 
 God was honored and exalted in the triumph of 
 righteousness in these events. 
 
 "Then king Darius wrote unto all the peoples, nations, 
 and languages, that dwell in all the earth: Peace be multiplied 
 unto you. I make a decree, that in all the dominion of my 
 kingdom men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel: for 
 he is the living God, and stedfast for ever, and his kingdom 
 that which shall not be destroyed, and his dominion shall 
 be even unto the end: he delivereth and rescueth, and he 
 worketh signs and wonders in heaven and in earth; who hath 
 delivered Daniel from the power of the lions. So this Daniel 
 prospered in the reign of Darius, and in the reign of Cyrus 
 the Persian" (vs. 25-28). 
 
 God's purpose in interposition for Daniel was 
 the restoration of Israel. Israel was restored (so 
 much as would return) preparatory to the coming 
 of Christ. Hence these miracles performed for 
 Daniel were no more for his immediate safety and 
 preservation and happiness than our own eternal 
 welfare. God will not deliver every prayerful man 
 from the peril of physical death. Such work is 
 wrought by him when grand purposes are to be sub- 
 served. 
 
74 A hook Through the 
 
 Do you see the Hebrew captive kneeling. 
 At morning, noon and night, to pray? 
 
 In his chamber he remembers Zion, 
 Tho' in exile far away. 
 
 Do not fear to tread the fiery furnace, 
 
 Nor shrink the lions' den to share ; 
 For the God of Daniel will deliver. 
 
 He will send an angel there. 
 
 Children of the living God, take courage; 
 
 Your great deliverance sweetly sing: 
 Set your faces toward the hill of Zion, 
 
 Thence to hail our coming King. 
 
 Are your windows open toward Jerusalem, 
 Tho' as captives here a little while we stay? 
 
 For the coming of the King in his glory. 
 Are you watching day by day? 
 
 —P. P. Bliss. 
 
Lens of Prophecy, 75 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 From Babylon to Christ ; or, Daniel's Vision op 
 THE Ages. 
 
 (Dan. vii.) 
 
 The events of the last chapter transpired about 
 536 B. C. The vision was had "in the first year of 
 Belshazzar, king of Babylon," and must date about 
 555 B. C, as given by the historian. 
 
 "Daniel had a dream, and visions of his head 
 upon his bed." And here it is : 
 
 "I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four 
 winds of the heaven brake forth upon the great sea. And four 
 great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another. 
 The first was like a lion, and had eagle's wings: I beheld till 
 the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the 
 earth, and made to stand upon two feet as a man, and a man's 
 heart was given to it. And behold another beast, a second, 
 like to a bear, and it was raised up on one side, and three 
 ribs were in his mouth between his teeth: and they said unto 
 it. Arise, devour much flesh. After this I beheld, and lo an- 
 other, like a leopard, which had upon the back of it four 
 wings as of a fowl; the beast had also four heads; and do- 
 minion was given to it. After this I saw in the night visions, 
 and behold a fourth beast, terrible and powerful, and strong 
 exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and 
 brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with his feet: and 
 it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it 
 had ten horns. I considered the horns, and, behold, there 
 came up among them another horn, a little one, before which 
 three of the first horns were plucked up by the roots: and, 
 behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man, and 
 a mouth speaking great things. I beheld till thrones were 
 
T6 ^A Look Through the 
 
 placed, and one that was ancient of days did sit: his raiment 
 was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool; 
 his throne was fiery flames, and the wheels thereof 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 judgement was set, 
 and the books were opened. I beheld at that time because 
 of the voice of the great words which the horn spake; I be- 
 held even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, 
 and he was given to be burned with fire. And as for the rest 
 of the beasts, their dominion was taken away: yet their lives 
 were prolonged for a season and a time. I saw in the night 
 visions, and, behold, there came with the clouds of heaven 
 one like unto a son of man, and he came even 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 
 the peoples, 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" 
 (vs. 2-14). 
 
 The interpretation. Here is the "truth con- 
 cerning all of this"; or "the interpretation of the 
 things" : 
 
 "These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which 
 shall arise out of the earth. But the saints of the Most High 
 shall receive the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, 
 even for ever and ever. Then I desired to know the truth 
 concerning the fourth beast, which wa? diverse from all of 
 them, exceeding terrible, whose teeth were of iron, and his 
 nails of brass; which devoured, brake in pieces, and stamped 
 the residue with his feet; and concerning the ten horns that 
 were on his head, and the other horn which came up, and 
 before which three fell; even that horn that had eyes, and a 
 mouth that spake great things, whose look was more stout 
 than his fellows. I beheld, and the same horn made war with 
 the saints, and prevailed against them; until the ancient of 
 days came, and judgement was given to the saints of the Most 
 
Lens of Prophecy. 77 
 
 High; and the time eame that the saints possessed the king- 
 dom. Thus he said. The fourth beast shall be a fourth king- 
 dom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all the kingdoms, 
 and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, 
 and break it in pieces. And as for the ten horns, out of this 
 kingdom shall ten kings arise: and another shall arise after 
 them; and he shall be diverse from the former, and he shall 
 put down three kings. And he shall speak words against the 
 Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High: 
 and he shall think to change the times and the law; and they 
 shall be given into his hand until a time and times and half 
 a time. But the judgement shall sit, and they shall take away 
 his dominion, to consume and destroy it unto the end. And 
 the kingdom and the dominion, and the greatness of the king- 
 doms under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people 
 of the saints of the Most High: his kingdom is an everlasting 
 kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him. Here 
 is the end of the matter" (vs. 17-28). 
 
 The dream, or vision, has been recited, and the 
 interpretation thereof has been given. We will 
 now draw the diagram of our analysis of this 
 prophecy in its extent of time, and then talk a little 
 of its historic fulfillment, its reach of vision, and 
 its application to the world's affairs and the des- 
 tiny of its people. ( For diagram, see p. 79. ) 
 
 The four beasts are four kings, or kingdoms. 
 The saints of the Most High shall at last conquer 
 the whole world, and possess it for Christ forever. 
 DaniePs great concern is for, or about, the fourth 
 beast, or government, and inquires not into the 
 matter or particulars of the first three kingdoms 
 (v. 19). He wishes to consider the last with its 
 complexities and strange characteristics. The first 
 three had already an existence, and which had here- 
 tofore come under the observation of Daniel. The 
 
78 A Look Through the 
 
 new and added creature is the one he now desires 
 explained to him, and more perfectly defined. 
 
 In his night vision Daniel saw the "four 
 winds of heaven break forth upon the great sea." 
 Sea, here, is symbolical of peoples, humanity uni- 
 versally, it being "the great sea." The "four 
 winds," political influences from the four quarters 
 of the earth. 
 
 Following this agitation "four great beasts 
 come up from the sea," or from the people, beasts 
 being symbolical of governments or powers. 
 
 The first beast was Babylon. Its attributes and 
 characteristics are common to her description in a 
 former vision. It was lion-like. It was bold, fero- 
 cious. The "king of kings," the one great, power- 
 ful, rich monarchy among the world's kings. He 
 conquered all he beheld. He had eagle's wings. 
 It soared high in its attainments. "Is not this 
 great Babylon which I have built, ... by the might 
 of my power, and for the glory of my majesty?" 
 "It is thou, O king, that art grown and become 
 strong: for thy greatness is grown, and reacheth 
 unto heaven, and thy dominion to the end of the 
 earth." Hence, she was represented by eagle's 
 wings in the prophecy, since it could soar unto 
 heaven, and whose dominion was the earth. 
 
 "Beheld till the wings thereof were plucked." 
 God humbled the pride of her mightiest monarch, 
 following his boast of superiority and greatness. 
 He cast his lot among the beasts, and, after due 
 humiliation, placed him upon his feet as a sane, 
 rational man, and a human heart was given him, 
 and he adored the God of heaven and earth. The 
 
Lens of Prophecy, 
 
 79 
 
 LION -HAD EAGLES WINGS^ BABYLON 
 
 MEDO- 
 
 600B.C. 
 
 500B.C. 
 
 PERSIAN 400 B.C, 
 
 300 
 
80 A Look Through the 
 
 time given for Babylon's supremacy we mark from 
 the Jewish captivity, 588 B. C, to her overthrow 
 by Cyrus, 538 B. C. 
 
 Babylon had prior existence, but she had su- 
 premacy only when she put the nations beneath her 
 feet and held them in subordination, or captivity. 
 
 The second beast was like a bear (v. 5). It 
 was raised up on one side in the vision. The Medo- 
 Persian Empire is here represented. The Persian 
 side being the stronger, it was raised higher than 
 the other side. It revived the feebler government 
 and combined in one. "Three ribs were in its mouth 
 between its teeth." The armies of this aroused 
 and hungry beast, according to other prophecies, 
 were marshaled by the command of God, to do his 
 service toward Babylon. The three ribs between 
 its teeth were the rewards of its conquest. Destruc- 
 tion of much life. These ribs stand for the three 
 governments, Babylon, Egypt and Syria, against 
 which the armies of the Medo-Persian power came 
 with crushing effect. 
 
 The next is the leopard empire and pertains to 
 the Grecian supremacy. It had upon its back four 
 wings of a fowl. The leopard represents the char- 
 acter of the Grecian diplomat and warrior. It is 
 represented as rapid in its movements by the pres- 
 ence of wings. Those of a fowl would indicate it 
 to be more domestic, or civilized and democratic, 
 in its character. Though modified from the usual 
 ferocity of wild beasts, yet the leopard preserves 
 the idea of its swiftness in the execution of its 
 desicrns. 
 
Lens of Prophecy,* 181 
 
 This beast "had also four heads," and repre- 
 sents the four divisions of the Grecian Government, 
 in its dismemberment after the death of Alexander 
 the Great, who wrested the supremacy of govern- 
 ments from the Medo-Persian Empire. These four 
 divisions were formed under the head and by the 
 authority of Alexander's four leading generals, to- 
 wit: (1) Cassander, who received Macedon and 
 Greece; (2) Lysimachus, who received Thrace and 
 nearly all of Asia Minor; (3) Seleucus, who re- 
 ceived Syria and the East, and afterwards con- 
 quered Asia Minor; (4) Ptolemy, who received 
 Egypt, and conquered all of Palestine, Phoenicia 
 and Cyprus. 
 
 "Dominion was given it" (v. 6). Time allotted 
 for Grecian supremacy extended from 331 B. 0. to 
 145 B. C. 
 
 THE "exceeding TERRIBLE" BEAST. 
 
 The fourth beast represents the Roman suprem- 
 acy. This one aroused the special interest of Dan- 
 iel. It extends from 145 B. C, in its several forms 
 of power and influence — the temporal, ecclesias- 
 tico-temporal, and the ecclesiastico-surreptitious — 
 to 1932 A. D. 
 
 This beast was terrible and powerful. There 
 was terror in the very name of Roman. Its army 
 was terrible and shook the earth. Its imperial au- 
 thority was terrible and affected the most extreme 
 inhabitant of the civilized world. More terrible 
 still was it in its spiritual usurpations. 
 
 This empire extended its influence to the ends 
 of the earth. She conquered all peoples, crunched 
 
82 A Look Through the 
 
 with her iron teeth the flesh of nations, and with 
 her unfeeling hands exacted tribute to support her 
 awful traffic in blood — the military. "It was di- 
 verse from all the beasts [or governments] that 
 were before it" (vs. 7, 19). 
 
 "And it had ten horns" (v. 8). "Horn" is the 
 symbol of power, or government ; therefore has ref- 
 erence to ten governments or kingdoms, and were 
 the ten divisions of Rome ; viz. : The Huns, Goths, 
 Franks, Alans, Vandals, Burgundians, Longobards 
 (Lombards), Allemanns, Angles, Saxons. 
 
 "And, behold, there came up among them another horn, a 
 little one" (v. 8). 
 
 "Whose look was more stout than his fellows" (v. 20). 
 
 The little horn that came up among the ten 
 horns, or the little power, or government, that 
 arose amid the greater powers of the afore-given 
 kingdoms, was the Papal power. The ecclesiastical 
 department of the Roman Government existed be- 
 fore the Papal head was formed. Ecclesiasticism 
 existed because a creed was formed, had been ac- 
 cepted by the Government of Rome, the empire 
 having subscribed thereto through its official heads. 
 Christ had said, "My kingdom is not of this world." 
 While it is in the world, and has to do with the 
 tangible world, his kingdom formed no part of 
 temporal government. Had the church been en- 
 tirely held apart from statecraft, there could not 
 have existed an ecclesiastical tyranny, a religious 
 aristocracy, which finally usurped the complete 
 and entire control of temporal affairs. 
 
Lens of Prophecy, 83 
 
 The apostate church became a part of the world, 
 was of the world, hence it was not, is not, can not 
 be, of Christ. His own words for it. But the crea- 
 tion of pope succeeded the creation of creed. Tem- 
 poral rulers can not stand upon a divine authorita- 
 tive platform. The elevated plane of divine affairs 
 is beyond the reach of carnal ambition, or the con- 
 trol of human depravity. 
 
 The three horns, or powers, which the Papal 
 horn, or power, plucked up were: The kingdom of 
 the Lombards, the state of Rome, and the Greek 
 Exarchate. "Rome was constantly at the mercy of 
 the bold and ferocious Lombards. They threatened 
 to sack the Holy City, and possess themselves of 
 its vast wealth. In 734, Gregory III. induced 
 Chas. Martel to help him against the attacks of 
 Luitprand, King of the Lombards. Again, when 
 Charlemagne's father, Pepin, was aspiring to de- 
 stroy the Merovingian dynasty. Pope Zacharias 
 gave his official approval to the deposition of the 
 Merovingian king, Childeric III., and in this way 
 caused Pepin to be placed upon the throne, and to 
 become the founder of the Carolingian dynasty. 
 This obligation of the emperor of the Franks to 
 the pope was never forgotten during Pepin's reign. 
 Later, Pope Stephen II. personally visited Pepin, 
 in France, and secured his pledge to come down 
 with his army, and defend him against the new 
 Lombard chief Astolph, who had invaded the Greek 
 Exarchate — a group of five cities and the interly- 
 ing territory along the eastern coast, extending 
 from Rimini of Ancona. Astolph was also besieg- 
 ing Rome. Pepin defeated the Lombards, took pos- 
 
84 A Look Through the 
 
 session of the Exarchate himself, and appointed 
 the pope as patrician of the Exarchate. The pope 
 was thns made a temporal ruler. It mattered 
 not that the Exarchate was a part of the Byzantine 
 Empire, and that protests were made against it. 
 Pepin gave, and Stephen II. took. This was the 
 beginning of the temporal sovereignty of the 
 Papacy, which only came to an end after a reign 
 of eleven centuries, or in 1871 A. D., when Gari- 
 baldi and Victor Emmanuel marched into Rome." 
 — Eurst Med. History, 
 
 "The final and complete cementing of Papal 
 and imperial interests took place under Charle- 
 magne. Desiderius, the new Lombard king, in- 
 vaded the pope's territory and laid siege to Rome. 
 Adrian I., the now reigning pope, appealed to Char- 
 lemagne for help. It was given, and Charlemagne 
 invaded Italy with a great army, and defeated the 
 Lombards. He confirmed and enlarged the pre- 
 vious gifts to the pope, went to Rome, and was re- 
 ceived with great pomp by Pope Leo III. By a 
 clever piece of stage management, in the midst of 
 the magnificent Christmas festivities of the year 
 800, Leo. III. advanced toward Charlemagne and 
 placed upon his head a golden crown, with these 
 words: *Life and victory to Charles Augustus, 
 crowned by God the great and pacific emperor.' " — 
 E. M. E. 
 
 The Papal power, of course, was that of the 
 pope or Roman bishop. "Pope, a term applied in the 
 Greek Church to all priests, and originally used 
 in the same manner also in the western church, but 
 in the latter part of the fifth century it began to be 
 
 I 
 
Lens of Prophecy, 65 
 
 applied exclusively to the Bishop of Rome, and 
 since the time of Gregory VII. (1073-85), it has 
 become his official title." — Johnson's Cyclopedia. 
 
 These recitations of history will help us to un- 
 derstand the creation of this spiritual or ecclesi- 
 astical ruler — the pope. He, the Roman Bishop, 
 was the weak and tame power — the little horn — 
 that found a beginning by the aid of the emperors 
 of Rome ; became recognized in temporal authority, 
 and grew to be a mighty power, that power (or 
 horn ) "that had eyes, and a mouth that spake great 
 things, whose look was more stout than his fel- 
 lows.'' Stronger than the ten powers. 
 
 This Roman Bishop was made the universal 
 bishop of the world in 606 A. D., and because of the 
 usurpation of this universal authority over the 
 souls of men, this date (606 A. D.) must be ob- 
 served as the time or period when this "little" 
 power "came up." It grew to be strong when it 
 received the strength of three other powers, and at 
 last became a powerful sovereign in Europe. 
 
 "And I beheld, and the same horn made war 
 with the saints, and prevailed against them." The 
 Roman ecclesiastical government waged war and 
 persecution against the true followers of Christ. 
 The history of Europe is black with its crimes of 
 infamy in the name of religion. It has literally 
 and relentlessly opposed and coerced, vexed and 
 harassed, tortured and slain, crushed and annihi- 
 lated every semblance of independent and free wor- 
 ship, so far as its power could accomplish it in its 
 extent. It has never recanted from this policy. 
 Liberty has measurably awed and repulsed its ap- 
 
86 A Look Through the 
 
 gressive, insolent and intolerant spirit, yet it is 
 the sworn enemy of freedom, and the greatest con- 
 flicts against this power are yet to come. For "the 
 horn made war with the saints, and prevailed 
 against them ; until the ancient of days came, and 
 judgement was given to the saints of the Most 
 High ; and the time came that the saints possessed 
 the kingdom" (vs. 21, 22). Christ has not yet 
 come. The saints do not possess the kingdom of 
 this world, and Komanism will yet prevail against 
 us until the end of Jewish indignation, or till the 
 times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. 
 
 Kome runs our government at her will. Her 
 intentions and resolutions respecting Protestant- 
 ism may be set forth in the few following quota- 
 tions : 
 
 "I do not pretend to be a prophet ; but, though 
 not a prophet, I see a very dark cloud on our hori- 
 zon, and that dark cloud is coming from Rome. It 
 is filled with tears of blood." — Abraham Lincoln, 
 
 "Never before have so many of our brethren 
 been in the Senate at the same time. — Jas. R. Ran- 
 dall, in Catholic Mirror, 1897. 
 
 "If the United States ever lose their liberty it 
 will be through the Romish priesthood." — Geo. 
 'Washington, 
 
 "The public schools of America are sinks of 
 moral pollution and nurseries of hell." — Priest 
 Mather. 
 
 "This government will pass through two wars, 
 one over slavery and the other with Catholics." — 
 Henry Clay. 
 
Lens of Prophecy. 87 
 
 "I would as soon administer the sacrament to 
 dogs as to those who send their children to public 
 schools." — Priest Walker. 
 
 "We will take America and build our institu- 
 tions over the graves of Protestants." — Priest 
 HecJcer. 
 
 "We must take part in the elections, move in a 
 solid mass in every State against the party pledged 
 to uphold the public schools." — Cardinal Mo- 
 Closkey. 
 
 "We hate Protestantism ; we would quarter and 
 hang up the crows' meat ! We would tear it with 
 pinchers and fire it with hot irons ! We would fill 
 it with molten lead, and sink it in hell-fire one 
 hundred fathoms deep." — Priest Phelan, Editor of 
 Western Watchman. 
 
 "All Catholics should exert their power to cause 
 the Constitution of the United States to be mod- 
 eled to the principles of the Roman Catholic 
 Church." — Pope Leo. 
 
 Archbishop Ireland recently said: "Our work 
 is to make America Catholic. ... As a religious 
 system Protestantism is in hopeless dissolution in 
 the United States, utterly valueless as a doctrinal 
 and moral power, and no longer to be considered 
 a foe with which we must count." 
 
 The late Pope (Leo XIII.) in 1886 issued a 
 Papal decree in which he stated: "The judicial 
 functionaries must refuse obedience to the state 
 and to the laws of the country which are in con- 
 tradiction with Roman Catholic precepts." 
 
 The historian Froude, writing on what a Cath- 
 olic majority could do in America, says: "Give 
 
88 y. Looh Through the 
 
 them the power and the Constitution will be gone. 
 ... It will control education ; it will put the press 
 under surveillance." 
 
 The great inventor, Prof. S. F. B. Morse, says 
 that "Lafayette, who was a Romanist by birth and 
 education, said to him, and again and again re- 
 peated the warning, *If the liberties of the Amer- 
 ican people are ever destroyed, they will fall by* 
 the hand of the Romish clergy.' " 
 
 The New York Herald on political Romanism 
 said : "The people have an opportunity to see just 
 what sort of institution the Catholic Church is 
 in politics, and to understand what a farce it would 
 be to pretend that free government can continue 
 where it is permitted to touch its hand to politics." 
 
 These borrowed quotations might be extended 
 to an indefinite length. Sufficient have been given 
 to awaken thought concerning the Roman mind 
 toward us. 
 
 "Thus he said. The fourth beast shall be a fourth king- 
 dom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all the king- 
 doms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it 
 down, and break it in pieces" (v. 23). 
 
 Thus Rome, that monstrous and terrible power 
 from the hour of her supremacy, until the cancel- 
 lation of its power, will have exercised tyranny 
 over the world, ruling it with the rod of iron and 
 crushing beneath it all opposing authority, during 
 the history of its several heads, or succession of 
 existing forms. 
 
 "As for the ten horns, out of this kingdom shall ten 
 kings arise: and another shall arise after them; and he shall 
 
Lens of Prophecy. 89 
 
 be diverse from the former, and he shall put down three 
 kings" (v. 24). 
 
 This we have examined and discussed. 
 
 "And he shall speak words against the Most High, and 
 shall wear out the saints of the Most High: and he shall 
 think to change the times and the law; and they shall be 
 given into his hand until a time and times and half a time" 
 (V. 25). 
 
 This the Koman Bishop has already wrought. 
 He is a blasphemer. He usurps the name and au- 
 thority of God. He claims to occupy his seat in 
 the church, is its spiritual ruler; and by right the 
 world^s temporal ruler as well. 
 
 "Change the times and the law.^' He claims 
 the right to change ordinances and laws of Christ, 
 and their time of observance. This he has also 
 done. He has laid his hand upon every ordinance 
 and removed it from its proper place as regards 
 to essence^ time and manner of their observance. 
 He speaks for God concerning spiritual require- 
 ments and needs. He has robbed the beautiful 
 ordinances of their meaning, changed the office, 
 time and mode of observance. These things were 
 in his hands (by his profession) until 1866-71 as 
 shown in the diagram, and will be more fully illus- 
 trated as we study further these pages. "Time, 
 times and half a time" have for its meaning three 
 and one-half years. Time standing for one year; 
 the plural of time, or times, representing two 
 years ; and half a time that of one-half year ; giving 
 a total of three and a half years. Calculating 360 
 days to the year, we would have a reach, then, of 
 1,260 prophetic years, a day for a year as taught 
 
90 A Look Through the 
 
 us in Ez. iv. 6 and Num. xiv. 34; a day being 
 given for each year prophetically. 
 
 "But judgement shall sit, and they shall take away his 
 dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end" (v. 26). 
 
 The judgment sat in 1517 A. D., when Luther 
 began his reform in Germany against the Papal 
 authority; the conflict of the spirit of liberty will 
 do battle against the powers of darkness and in- 
 iquity until the end, or to the extreme measure of 
 Roman extension, which will be to the period of 
 Gentile fulfillment. But as an institution clothed 
 with power, Romanism will last until Christ ap- 
 pears again, or to the end of the present dispensa- 
 tion. 
 
 "And the kingdom and the dominion, and the greatness 
 of the kingdoms under the whole heaven, shall be given to the 
 people of the saints of the Most High: his kingdom is an ever- 
 lasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him" 
 (V. 27). 
 
 The church, or kingdom, of Christ is the next 
 power to have universal supremacy. It must gain 
 this victory by Christ's help. The true church is 
 not a power of military conquest. No violence is 
 in it. Christ will accomplish this in his own way. 
 Most likely the people of the saints will exercise 
 the arm of force. The people of the saints are the 
 irreligious element of society, but in sympathy 
 with the Protestant movements. Soon the ever- 
 lasting kingdom will be established, and all do- 
 minions shall serve and obey Him. His kingdom 
 is one which shall not be destroyed. 
 
Lens of Prophecy, 91 
 
 Roman ecclesiastic authority, the combination 
 of the temporal with the spiritual, shall be slain 
 (v. 11). This process of slaughter to Roman su- 
 premacy began in 1517, the introduction of the 
 Lutheran Reformation, and will continue to the 
 end of Gentile supremacy as already stated. 
 
 The seeds, or people in lineage from the first 
 three universal empires, will be "prolonged for a 
 season and a time" (v. 12), to be the subjects of 
 Christian missionary enterprise, or evangelization, 
 by the time of the end. Prolonged from the begin- 
 ning of Protestant reform, in 1517 A. D., October 
 31, a time is a year, and a season is one-fourth of 
 a year, or ninety days. Three hundred and sixty 
 days, plus ninety days, are 450 days or years. 
 Counting therefore from October 31, 1517, forward 
 on the calendar, we shall extend the time for Ori- 
 ental people, and their evangelization, to October 
 31, 1967, when they are brought into the everlast- 
 ing kingdom. It will be observed their time does 
 not end in 1932, with the usual Gentile supremacy. 
 The Gentile supremacy ending in 1932, is for those 
 whose origin begins in Romanism, and whose civil- 
 izations are deducted therefrom. It certainly ap- 
 pears to the writer that the book is clear upon this 
 point. (For diagram, see p. 92.) 
 
 By the twelfth verse all other beasts, or domin- 
 ion of governments, were taken away, when Rome 
 became a universal empire. Their lives, that is, 
 the people of these governments, should extend for 
 450 years. From what date? Prom the time Papal 
 authority (1517) should come into judgment, and 
 his life began to weaken under the Protestant re- 
 
92 
 
 A Look Through the 
 
 31 OCT -1517 
 
Lens of Prophecy. 93 
 
 forms, which eventually will destroy the Papal 
 body. Hence the vision is plain, and it is certain 
 of fulfillment. God is mindful and just to all who 
 deserve his mercies. 
 
 It will now appear clearer why all the saints of 
 the Most High who have not received the mark of 
 the beast or his image, shall stand in the first resur- 
 rection as was set forth in our treatise on Kevela- 
 tion. What a privilege is ours to protest. To 
 come clear of any recognition of Romanism, I 
 refer the reader to my work on Revelation. 
 
 The fulfillment of Roman Gentile supremacy 
 as set forth above, and the time of the first resur- 
 rection ( 1941 ) , will be fully proven when we have 
 reached that section in Daniel's prophecies. The 
 purpose of the first resurrection is twofold: to 
 adduce evidence for the restoration of the Jews 
 and for the saints to reign over the earth, agree- 
 able to promise, and for reward to the faithful 
 and true. We believe Christ's coming will be in 
 1968, which we shall fully illustrate in diagram in 
 our further investigations. It will be noticed, 
 October 31, 1967, stands close to the year 1968, 
 and for practical purposes may be considered a 
 synonymous fulfillment. These two prophecies, a 
 time and a season of this chapter, and the 2,300 
 years of the eighth chapter, are given in round num- 
 bers, but fall with perfect exactness, for the 2,300 
 years is the full limit for the Jewish restoration, 
 wherein divine indignation toward them is over- 
 past. Then Christ comes and assumes his kingly 
 authority. He said to the Jews: "Ye shall not 
 see me henceforth until ye shall say, Blessed is he 
 
94 A Look Through the 
 
 that Cometh in the name of the Lord." Here the 
 Ancient of days shall sit. The time, from 1941 to 
 1967, will be for Jewish and Oriental evangeliza- 
 tion. 
 
 While the influence of Roman ecclesiasticism 
 will be canceled by 1932, yet he may literally abide 
 until the appearing of our Lord, since it is pre- 
 dicted "he shall be consumed by the brightness of 
 his coming." Or, the brightness and holiness of 
 the preparing church may be considered the com- 
 ing of our Christ and Lord ; and these events may 
 be the elements which destroy the Man of Sin ; holy 
 warfare may destroy him from the earth. We do 
 not like to rest in this view of the proposition, but 
 rather to think of the personal and visible Christ 
 on earth. In any event it is easy to comprehend 
 the glory of the period to come will wither the 
 crowned head of sin, and burn his princely palace 
 with fire (spiritually applied), the consecrated 
 fires of righteousness. The armies of the Lord may 
 destroy it; or, Christ actually, with his effulgent 
 glory, may consume him "by the brightness of his 
 coming." We can not, ought not, perhaps, assume 
 to say how it will be accomplished. But the Roman 
 curse, however mighty and terrible, shall, in the 
 mercy and goodness of God, come to an end, and 
 not enter into the new dispensation. This destruc- 
 tion of the Papal head is not the final judgment 
 on Satan, but pertains to Satan only as he exists 
 as a man, or in man as an earthly potentate or 
 power, his incarnation. 
 
Lens of Prophecy, 95 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 When Shall the Sanctuary be Cleansed? — 'K 
 
 Vision of the Time of Indignation; or, 
 
 From Alexander's to Christ's 
 
 Supremacy. 
 
 (Dan. viii.) 
 
 Daniel is in Sushan, the palace or castle, which 
 was in the Province of Elam. "This province ex- 
 tended from the Persian Gulf to Assyria on the 
 north, to Zagron mountains on the east, and the 
 Tigris on the west." Ulai was a river near Sushan, 
 or Susa, had its confluence with the Tigris, but has 
 since changed its course. On the site of this favor- 
 ite Persian stream, in the strong and powerful city 
 of Susa, the Persian capital, Daniel had the vision 
 of this chapter. In vision he is carried to the banks 
 of the river Ulai. He lifted up his eyes and saw : 
 
 "And behold, there stood before the river a ram which 
 had two horns: and the two horns were high; but one was 
 higher than the other, and the higher came up last. I saw 
 the ram pushing westward, and northward, and southward; 
 and no beasts could stand before him, neither was there any 
 that could deliver out of his hand; but he did according to 
 his will, and magnified himself. And as I was considering, 
 behold, an he-goat came from the west over the face of the 
 whole earth, and touched not the ground: and the goat had a 
 notable horn between his eyes. And he came to the ram that 
 had the two horns, which I saw standing before the river, and 
 ran upon him in the fury of his power. And I saw him come 
 close unto the ram, and he was moved with choler against 
 him, and smote the ram, and brake his two horns; and there 
 
96 A Look Through the 
 
 was no power in the ram to stand before Mm: but he cast 
 him down to the ground, and trampled upon him; and there 
 was none that could deliver the ram out of his hand" (vs. 
 3-7). 
 
 Interpreted, it is self-explanatory. 
 
 "And it came to pass, when I, even I Daniel, had seen 
 the vision, that I sought to understand it; and, behold, there, 
 stood before me as the appearance of a man. And I heard 
 a man's voice between the hanks of Ulai, which called, and 
 said, Gabriel, make this man to understand the vision. So he 
 came near where I stood; and when he came, I was affrighted, 
 and fell upon my face: but he said unto me, Understand, O 
 son of man; for the vision belongeth to the time of the end. 
 Now as he was speaking with me, I fell into a deep sleep with 
 my face toward the ground: but he touched me, and set me 
 upright. And he said. Behold, I will make thee know what 
 shall be in the latter time of the Indignation: for It belongeth 
 to the appointed time of the end. The ram which thou saw- 
 est that had the two horns, they are the kings of Media and 
 Persia. And the rough he-goat is the king of Greece: and 
 the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king" (vs. 
 15-21). 
 
 Daniel fell with his face to the ground while 
 the messenger spake. He was touched by Gabriel 
 and set upright. He announces the purpose of the 
 vision. "Behold, I will make known what shall 
 be in the latter time of the indignation" (v. 19). 
 It must be understood that this is concerning the 
 Jewish indignation which began with the Jewish 
 Captivity, and, as we shall see, ends ^ith the final 
 coming of Christ; the Jew, according to Revela- 
 tion, being made ready from the first resurrection, 
 or the time of sealing the Jewish mind with the 
 gospel, after that the Roman Gentile period is 
 fulfilled. Further on we shall see the duration 
 
Lens of Prophecy. 97 
 
 of this period, calculating it from the first events 
 of this vision, not from the time of their captivity, 
 not from the date of the vision either, but from the 
 first event of the vision, which we will now let 
 Gabriel designate for us in his interpretation. 
 
 "The ram which thon sawest that had the two horns, they 
 are the kings of Media and Persia, and the rough he-goat is the 
 king of Greece : and the great horn that is between his eyes is the 
 first king" (vs. 20, 21). 
 
 This is easy of comprehension and refers to 
 the Medo-Persian overthrow by Alexander the 
 Great. Which event was consummated in 331 
 B. 0. But the Jews were restored to Jerusa- 
 lem by this time, and capitulated with Alexander 
 in 332 B. C. while advancing on his southern cam- 
 paign. Alexander obtained a peace victory over 
 Jerusalem, was shown the prophecies concerning 
 himself from the Book of Daniel, was taken into 
 the temple and allowed to do priestly service. 
 From this event, therefore, we fix the beginning 
 date of this prophecy. We here commence to cal- 
 culate the period of indignation and subordination, 
 "for it belongeth to the appointed time of the end" 
 (v. 20). 
 
 "And the he-goat magnified himself exceedingly: and 
 when he was strong, the great horn was broken; and instead 
 of it there came up four notable horns toward the four winds 
 of heaven" (v. 8). 
 
 INTERPRETATION . 
 
 "And as for that which was broken, in the place whereof 
 four stood up, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the na- 
 tion, but not with his power" (v. 22). 
 
98 a. Looh Through the 
 
 Alexander deified himself (he-goat magnified 
 himself exceedingly) when he crossed into Africa 
 and founded the city of Alexandria. When he had 
 conquered the world, his power or kingdom was 
 broken, in his death, and divided among four gen- 
 erals, as fully shown in a previous chapter. They 
 had not the strength of Alexander. 
 
 "And out of one of them came forth a little horn, which 
 waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east, 
 and toward the glorious land. And it waxed great, even to 
 the host of heaven; and some of the host and of the stars 
 it cast down to the ground, and trampled upon them. Yea, 
 it magnified itself, even to the prince of the host; and it took 
 away from him the continual turnt offering, and the place of 
 his sanctuary was cast down" (vs. 9-12). 
 
 INTEBPRETATION . 
 
 "And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the trans- 
 gressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, 
 and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up. And his 
 power shall be mighty, but not by his own power; and he 
 shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper and do Ms pleas- 
 ure: and he shall destroy the mighty ones and the holy peo- 
 ple" (vs. 23-25). 
 
 This has allusion to the ascendency of the Ro- 
 man power to supremacy. It "waxed great," and 
 extended its power and territory. "Glorious land'' 
 of the quotation has reference to Palestine. Roman 
 dominion extended into Egypt and into the valley 
 of the Euphrates. It grew to be the supreme rul- 
 ing power of the world. It cast down principali- 
 ties and trampled upon them. It did its pleasure, 
 prospered and destroyed wonderfully (v. 24). It 
 took away the continual burnt offering (v. 11) 
 from the temple service, when Titus destroyed the 
 
Lens of Prophecy, 99 
 
 temple in 70 A. D. His power was mighty, "but 
 not by its own power.'' Satan ruled through 
 Eome; that is, ecclesiastic Rome. He ruled also 
 through her cruel emperors. Destroyed the mighty 
 ones and holy people (v. 24). 
 
 "And the host was given over to it together with the 
 continual lurnt offering through transgression; and it cast 
 down truth to the ground, and it did its pleasure and pros- 
 pered" (v. 12). 
 
 "And through his policy he shall cause craft to prosper 
 in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and 
 in their security shall he destroy many: he shall also stand 
 up against the prince of princes; but he shall be broken with- 
 out hand" (v. 25). 
 
 This was wrought through the Papal head of 
 Rome. He destroyed many, who were resting in 
 the security of their faith and religious observ- 
 ances. 
 
 He stands against the Prince of Peace, tem- 
 poral Rome against Christ. His history has been 
 one of conquest against the rights and liberties of 
 the people of God. In Armageddon's battle he 
 shall once more stand against the Prince of Peace. 
 "But he shall be broken without hand;" which 
 would indicate the Christ will do battle against 
 the antichrist, when he shall break and utterly 
 consume him. 
 
 INTERPEETATION . 
 
 "Then I heard a holy one speaking; and another holy one 
 said unto that certain one which spake. How long shall be 
 the vision concerning the continual lyurnt offering, and the 
 transgression that maketh desolate, to give both the sanctuary 
 and the host to be trodden under foot? And he said unto me. 
 
100 A Look Through the 
 
 Unto two thousand and three hundred evenings and mornings; 
 then shall the sanctuary be cleansed" (vs. 13, 14). 
 
 "And the vision of the evenings and mornings which hath 
 been told is true: but shut thou up the vision; for it belongeth 
 to many days to come" (v. 26). 
 
 Time marked on diagram (see next page) 
 rounds out the long period of Jewish indignation, 
 during which they are trodden under foot, the fires 
 of the burnt offering are extinguished in 70 A. D. 
 and darkness falls upon the Jew in part until the 
 times of the Gentiles be come in. Here is the ful- 
 fillment, showing that God will not utterly cast 
 off his people. He will come as their Messiah, but 
 they can not see him until they recognize him as 
 their Lord. Events will occur that will prepare 
 their hearts for their King. 
 
Lens of Prophecy. 
 
 101 
 
 333BC- 
 
 ^3 AD' 
 
 I66<5 
 
102 A Look Through the 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Time Determined for the Bringing in of Ever- 
 lasting Righteousness; or, The First 
 Coming of Christ Foretold 
 in Years. 
 
 (Dan. ix.) 
 
 In 538 B. C, Darius the Mede began to reign 
 in the province of Chaldea. This is the time of 
 Daniel^s concern for Israel's return to Jerusalem, 
 according to the word of the Lord, by the mouth of 
 Jeremiah. The seventy years being nearly ful- 
 filled, and atonement for Israel's national offense 
 being made, Daniel set his "face unto the Lord 
 God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fast- 
 ing, and sackcloth, and ashes" (v. 3). 
 
 "And I prayed unto tlie Lord my God, and made confes- 
 sion, and said, O Lord, tlie great and dreadful God, which 
 keepeth covenant and mercy mth them that love him and 
 keep his commandments; we have sinned, and have dealt 
 perversely, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even 
 turning aside from thy precepts and from thy judgements: 
 neither have we hearkened unto thy servants the prophets, 
 which spake in thy name to our kings, our princes, and our 
 fathers, and to all the people of the land. O Lord, righteous- 
 ness belongeth unto thee, but unto us confusion of face, as 
 at this day; to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of 
 Jerusalem, and unto all Israel, that are near, and that are 
 far off, through all the countries whither thou hast driven 
 them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed 
 
Lens of Prophecy. 103 
 
 against thee. O Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face, to 
 pur kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have 
 Binned against thee. To the Lord our God belong mercies and 
 forgiveness; for we have rebelled against him; neither have 
 we obeyed the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in his laws, 
 which he set before us by his servants the prophets. Yea, all 
 Israel have transgressed thy law, even turning aside, that they 
 should not obey thy voice: therefore hath the curse been 
 poured out upon us, and the oath that is written in the law 
 of Moses the servant of God; for we have sinned against him. 
 And he hath confirmed his words, which he spake against us, 
 and against our judges that judged us, by bringing upon us a 
 great evil: for under the whole heaven hath not been done 
 as hath been done upon Jerusalem. As it is written in the 
 law of Moses, all this evil is come upon us: yet have we not 
 intreated the favor of the Lord our God, that we should turn 
 from our iniquities, and have discernment in thy truth. There- 
 fore hath the Lord watched over the evil, and brought it upon 
 us: for the Lord our God is righteous in all his works which 
 he doeth, and we have not obeyed his voice. And now, O Lord 
 our God, that hast brought thy people forth out of the land 
 of Egypt with a mighty hand, and hast gotten the renown, 
 as at this day; we have sinned, we have done wickedly. O 
 Lord, according to all thy righteousness, let thine anger and 
 thy fury, I pray thee, be turned away from thy city Jerusa- 
 lem, the holy mounta-in: because for our sins, and for the 
 iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and thy people are be- 
 come a reproach to all that are round about us. Now there- 
 fore, O our God, hearken unto the prayer of thy servant, and 
 to his supplications, and cause thy face to shine upon thy 
 sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord's sake. O my God, 
 incline thine ear, and hear; open thine eyes, and behold our 
 desolations, and the city which is called by thy name: for we 
 do not present our supplications before thee for our right- 
 eousness, but for thy great mercies. O Lord, hear; O Lord, 
 forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not; for thine own 
 sake, O my God, because thy city and thy people are called 
 by thy name" (vs. 4-19). 
 
104 A Look Through the 
 
 This is a fervent prayer. One of historical al- 
 lusion. One of confession, of acknowledgment of 
 sin and confusion and shame and irreverence and 
 disobedience and disloyalty and perverseness and 
 unrepentance. One of recognition of justice and 
 judgment and righteousness in One who keepeth 
 covenant and mercies. Daniel would bear Israel's 
 guilt. He would repent in sackcloth and ashes for 
 Israel, and appeal unto the great and holy God 
 for mercies and remembrance, while in their deso- 
 lations they are "a reproach to all that are round 
 about.'' 
 
 For His own sake and for Jerusalem's, he 
 pleads deliverance, and "because the city and thy 
 people are called by thy name." A gracious 
 reason ! 
 
 While thus engaged in prayer for himself, and 
 for his people, and for the holy mountain of God 
 (v. 20), Gabriel, as seen in the former vision, 
 touched him "about the time of the evening obla- 
 tion" (v. 21). Suggestive of a long season of 
 prayer before God, humbled and grief-stricken. 
 
 "And he instructed me, and talked with me, and said, 
 O Daniel, I am now come forth to make thee skillful of un- 
 derstanding. At the beginning of thy supplications the 
 commandment went forth, and I am come to tell thee; for 
 thou art greatly beloved: therefore consider the matter, and 
 understand the vision" (vs. 22, 23). 
 
 "Seventy weeks are decreed upon thy people and upon thy 
 holy city, to finish transgression, and to make an end of sins, 
 and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in ever- 
 lasting righteousness, and to seal up vision and prophecy, and 
 to anoint the most holy. Know therefore and discern, that 
 from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to 
 
Lens of Prophecy. 
 
 105 
 
 ^57 E>.C 
 
 -^OSE>.C 
 
 2e AD- 
 33 AD- 
 
 IW' 7Yas. 
 
106 A Look Through the 
 
 build Jerusalem unto the anointed one, the prince, shall he 
 seven weeks: and threescore and two weeks, it shall be built 
 again, with street and moat, even in troublous times" (vs. 
 24, 35). 
 
 By the diagram (page 105) it yAU be seen we 
 count from 457 B. C, as the starting-point. Mar- 
 ginal chronology of our common Bibles, under 
 Ezra, fourth and eighth chapters, gives us 
 the date referred to under this prophecy; "that 
 from the going forth of the commandment to re- 
 store and to build Jerusalem unto the anointed 
 one," extends from the time of the issuance of this 
 command to our anointed Prince. The prophecy 
 was made eighty-one years before the time of the 
 beginning of its fulfillment, or eighty-one years 
 before the command was given, and five hundred 
 and seventy-one years before the consummation of 
 it. The accuracy of these divinely inspired mes- 
 sages to man should establish faith in the mind of 
 any one capable of examining evidence. They are 
 the proof of the inspiration of the Scriptures and 
 the divinity of Christ. For "the testimony of Jesus 
 is the spirit of prophecy." — John, When evidence 
 is examined and found to be true, the rational mind 
 must believe, or have faith. Faith is a psycholog- 
 ical act, and not an entity. It comes upon the 
 review or examination of evidence, and not as a 
 gift, or a special impact from Deity. "Faith cometh 
 by hearing." — Paul. The teaching of modern Baby- 
 lon is that faith cometh by prayer and supplica- 
 tion. Hence, since "without faith it is impossible 
 to please God," and if God does not allow one the 
 possession of it, see what a monster it makes of 
 
Lens of Prophecy, 107 
 
 Deity. One great object of our prophetic research 
 is to make plain the evidence, that men may be- 
 lieve. Another, the measure of gratification such 
 investigations bring, and yet another, to know the 
 things God has given for us to understand, for the 
 time is at hand. 
 
 But let us analyze these predictions. 
 
 Beginning, at the given date 457, we measure 
 seventy weeks (v. 24), which, reduced to days, are 
 490 days, and a day for a prophetic year would give 
 us 490 years, bringing us dowTi to 33 A. D., "for 
 to finish transgression, and to make an end of sins, 
 and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to 
 bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up 
 vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy." 
 Which comprehends the execution and publication 
 of the gospel of Christ, the pardon of sins through 
 the blood of Immanuel, the giving of Christ as the 
 everlasting covenant to the race of man. All vis- 
 ions and prophecies and inspiration is sealed up 
 in this period, or generation. He and his immediate 
 disciples whom he inspired with messages of light 
 and life were the last to ever bring heavenly mes- 
 sages to man in the succeeding dispensation. Let 
 this truth be published wide. The modern im- 
 postors, professing divine revelation, can not stand 
 in the light of this text. It will dispel so much 
 ignorance, superstition and imposition on the part 
 of those who wish to follow Christ, to understand 
 that these modern pretenders at inspiration are 
 impostors and frauds, imposing upon the credulity 
 of anxious believers. This truth, once known, will 
 save great injury and loss to the flock of our Re- 
 
108 A Look Through the 
 
 deemer. With this truth burned on the souls of 
 men, the modern attempts at a revealed message 
 from heaven will have little opportunity to delude 
 and destroy the purity of the Christian faith and 
 practice. They are of, and help to form, the spirit 
 of the antichrist. 
 
 "Know therefore and discern, that from the going forth 
 of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto 
 the anointed one, the prince, shall be seven weeks; and three- 
 score and two weeks, it shall be built again. . . . And 
 after threescore and two weeks shall the anointed one be cut 
 off, and shall have nothing. . . . And he shall confirm 
 the covenant with many for one week" (vs. 25-27). 
 
 Here we have the same extension of time, ag- 
 gregating seventy weeks, but in broken periods, 
 each reach of period covering important events. 
 Seven weeks, or forty-nine years, extend from 457 
 B. C. to 408 B. C. The walls, streets and moats 
 were built in this limit, the people being troubled, 
 vexed and harassed by marauding neighbors. 
 "Even in troublous times." 
 
 Threescore and two weeks, or 434 years, reach 
 down to 26 A. D., when Christ was thirty years of 
 age. The first century, beginning about four years 
 after the birth of Christ, would establish the event 
 at 26 A. D. 
 
 "And he shall make a firm covenant with many for one 
 week" (v. 27). 
 
 This time extends from 26 A. D. to 33 A. D. 
 
 The firm or everlasting covenant of the Father with 
 man, through his only Son, our Saviour, was 
 wrought within this painful week. Oh, wonderful, 
 wonderful redemption! Jesus icas slain. He icas 
 
Lens of Prophecy. 109 
 
 'buried. He rose again. The gospel in nine words. 
 It was "after the threescore and two weeks," Christ 
 (the anointed one) was cut off. The anointed one 
 (our King) "had nothing'' then of this world. 
 Jerusalem rejected her King. 
 
 "In that very hour there came certain Pharisees, saying 
 to him. Get thee out, and go hence: for Herod would fain 
 kill thee. And he said unto them, Go and say to that fox, 
 Behold, I cast out devils and perform cures to-day and to- 
 morrow, and the third day I am perfected. Howbeit I must 
 go on my way to-day and to-morrow and the day following: 
 for it can not be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem. O 
 Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killeth the prophets, and ston- 
 eth them that are sent unto her! how often would I have 
 gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her 
 own brood under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your 
 house is left unto you desolate: and I say unto you. Ye shall 
 not see me, until ye shall say. Blessed is he that cometh in 
 the name of the Lord" (Luke xiii. 31-36). 
 
 "And he took again the twelve, and began to tell them 
 the things that were to happen unto him, saying, Behold, we 
 go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be delivered 
 unto the chief priests and the scribes; and they shall con- 
 demn him to death, and shall deliver him unto the Gentiles: 
 and they shall mock him, and shall spit upon him, and shall 
 scourge him, and shall kill him; and after three days he shall 
 rise again" (Mark x. 32-34) 
 
 "But when Silas and Timothy came down from Mace- 
 donia, Paul was constrained by the word, testifying to the 
 Jews that Jesus was the Christ. And when they opposed 
 themselves, and blasphemed, he shook out his raiment, and 
 ^said unto them. Your blood be upon your own heads; I am 
 clean: from henceforth I will go unto the Gentiles" (Luke 
 xviii. 5, 6). 
 
 They, the Gentiles (now the people of the prince 
 — V. 26), "shall come and destroy the city and 
 the sanctuary." 
 
110 A Look Through the 
 
 "But when ye see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then 
 know that her desolation is at hand. Then let them that are 
 in Judaea flee unto the mountains; and let them that are in 
 the midst of her depart out; and let not them that are in the 
 country enter therein. For these are days of vengeance, that 
 all things which are written may be fulfilled. Woe unto them 
 that are with child and to them that give suck in those days! 
 for there shall be great distress upon the land, and wrath unto 
 this people. And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, 
 and shall be led captive into all the nations: and Jerusalem 
 shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the 
 Gentiles shall be fulfilled. And there shall be signs in sun 
 and moon and stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, 
 in perplexity for the roaring of the sea and the billows; men 
 fainting for fear, and for expectation of the things which are 
 coming on the world: for the powers of the heavens shall be 
 shaken. And then shall they see the Son of man coming in 
 a cloud with" power and great glory. But when these things 
 begin to come to pass, look up, and lift up your heads; be- 
 cause your redemption draweth nigh" {Jesus — Luke xxi. 20- 
 28). 
 
 Titus, the Roman general, did so 70 A. D. And 
 with the end of Jerusalem shall be war (v. 26) ; 
 desolations are determined. And it was so, even 
 to its final and utter desolation, when the false 
 Messiah, Bar-Coehba, was defeated about 132 A. D. 
 These historic incidents should be read. When we 
 see the awful judgment of God upon Jerusalem, 
 we may understand something of the dreadful ca- 
 lamity to fall on the temple of man for rejecting 
 the Son of God. 
 
 "For the half of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and 
 oblation to cease" (v. 27). 
 
 In the midst of the week he fulfilled his mission 
 to earth. Jewish service was then cut off authori- 
 
Lens of Prophecy. Ill 
 
 tatively, and the spiritual service of the new dis- 
 pensation instituted. The new code, its ordinances 
 and observances were in full effect with the true 
 followers of Christ. The last half of the week was 
 given to the publication of the gospel about Jeru- 
 salem and Judaea. 
 
 "They therefore, when they were come togetlier, asked 
 him, saying, Lord, dost thou at this time restore the kingdom 
 to Israel? And he said unto them, It is not for you to know 
 times or seasons, which the Father hath set within his own 
 authority. But ye shall receive power, when the Holy Ghost 
 is come upon you: and ye shall be my witnesses both in Jeru- 
 salem, and in all Judaea and Samaria, and unto the uttermost 
 part of the earth. — Jesus. 
 
 "Upon the wing of abominations shall come one that 
 maketh desolate" (v. 27). 
 
 Here the allusion to him who should make deso- 
 late th.e souls of men. The Papal head of Rome. 
 For how long? "Even unto the consummation'^ 
 (v. 27). Consummation of what? The Jewish in- 
 dignation. The end of Gentile supremacy. At 
 what time? This was shown elsewhere. That has 
 been "determined." It was fixed in prophecy. 
 Then "shall wrath be poured out upon the deso- 
 lator." As so the temporal, so also spiritual or 
 ecclesiastic Rome. 
 
 "Joy to the world, the Lord has come. 
 
 Let earth receive her King; 
 Let every heart prepare him room. 
 And heaven and nature sing!" 
 
112 A Look Through the 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Historic Recitations; or, The Vision of 
 History. 
 
 (Dan. X., xi.) 
 
 Belteshazzar (Daniel) received a reyelation in 
 the third year of Cyrus, king of Persia ; he under- 
 stood the revelation, and had understanding of the 
 vision (v. 1). "The thing was true, even a great 
 warfare." At that time Daniel had been mourning 
 for three weeks. He was practicing self-denial; 
 was eating no "pleasant bread, neither came flesh 
 nor wine into my mouth, neither did I anoint my- 
 self at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled" 
 (v. 3) . On the 24th day of the first month, 
 
 "As I was by ttie side of the great river, which is Hid- 
 dekel, I lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and behold a man 
 clothed in linen, whose loins were girded with pure gold of 
 Uphaz: his body also was like the beryl, and his face as the 
 appearance of lightning, and his eyes as lamps of fire, and his 
 arms and his feet like in color to burnished brass, and the 
 voice of his words like the voice of a multitude" (vs. 5, 6). 
 
 Daniel is by the river Tigris. His vision of the 
 Christ is very similar to the vision John had of 
 him in Rev. i. 13-15. 
 
 "And I turned to see the voice which spake with me. And 
 having turned I saw seven golden candlesticks; and in the 
 midst of the candlesticks one like unto a son of man, clothed 
 with a garment down to the foot, and girt about at the breasts 
 with a golden girdle. And his head and his hair were white 
 as white wool, white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame 
 of fire; and his feet like unto burnished brass, as if it had 
 
Lens of Prophecy. 113 
 
 been refined in a furnace; and his voice as the voice of many- 
 waters." 
 
 Thus, alone, he saw "this great vision, and there 
 remained no strength in me: for my comeliness 
 was turned in me into corruption, and I retained 
 no strength'' (v. 8). Daniel, greatly loved of God 
 for his purity, loyalty and devotion, sank into mor- 
 tification at the beautiful vision of Jesus. Such 
 exalted glory, refined beauty and wonderful excel- 
 lence as the revealed and glorified Christ, withers 
 the carnal mind of man. And if true of pious and 
 religious Daniel, how with the most of us when 
 we come to stand in His presence, possibly for 
 judgment? and how with the irreverent and unre- 
 penting, who may then wish for the mercies and 
 goodness of God? How fitted are they to enter into 
 His excellent glory, should their desires and expec- 
 tations be gratified? It is a terrible thing to have 
 to confront the Judge of all the earth. Yet "every 
 eye shall see him, and they also that pierced him." 
 Oh that we may not have to flee from the beauty 
 of his pure presence, self-condemned, into eternal 
 separation from Him! 
 
 "Yet heard I the voice of his words: and when I heard 
 the voice of his words, then was I fallen into a deep sleep 
 on my face, with my face toward the ground. And, behold, 
 a hand touched me, which set me upon my knees and upon 
 the palms of my hands. And he said unto me, O Daniel, thou 
 man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak 
 unto thee, and stand upright; for unto thee am I now sent: 
 and when he had spoken this word unto me, I stood trembling. 
 Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel; for from the first 
 day thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to humble 
 thyself before thy God, thy words were heard; and I am come 
 
114 A Look Through the 
 
 for thy words' sake. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia 
 withstood me one and twenty days; but, lo, Michael, one of 
 the chref princes, came to help me: and I remained there with 
 the kings of Persia" (vs. 9-13). 
 
 We are no better, holier, happier, nor more fa- 
 vored than we are, because we lack persistence and 
 purpose in prayer, and humiliation before God. 
 Daniel is a great example to the disciple, in prayer. 
 Let us stay at the throne of grace until the great 
 needs of our lives, and the cause we love, are sup- 
 plied. Importune and plead with God until the 
 soul is transformed and made beautiful in his like- 
 ness. Till faith sees the morning star of hope, the 
 Sun of righteousness, the light of eternal beauties 
 shine upon the steadfast and expectant gaze. Cease 
 not to pray. "Pray always.'' "Watch and pray." 
 
 For twenty-one days, or the past three weeks, 
 Daniel continued his supplications. God inclined 
 to reward him openly. The messenger of the vis- 
 ion came for "his words' sake." He was detained 
 on account of "the prince of the kingdom of Per- 
 sia" (v. 13). God was wonderfully potent in 
 Persian affairs at the time. He had marshaled his 
 armies to the overthrow of Babylon. It is not for 
 us to assume what was the special impediment 
 to a speedy recognition of Daniel, on the part of 
 Persia. The fact is stated and it is sufficient. 
 
 But 
 
 "Now I am come to make thee understand what shall 
 befall thy people in the latter days; for the vision is yet for 
 many days" (v. 14). 
 
 Though Persian affairs needed assistance, he 
 could now come, "for, lo, Michael, one of the chief 
 
Lens of Prophecy, 115 
 
 princes, came to help me: and I was not needed 
 there with the kings of Persia [margin]'' (v. 13). 
 Here we have the key to the situation. Daniel's 
 anxiety and deep concern were for the future of his 
 people, the perpetuity of his race; and, of course, 
 the secondary thought of the revealed IMessiah 
 through them. They are now desolated, in cap- 
 tivity, without organization, with religious and 
 political freedom all gone; and without divine de- 
 liverance the fruition of every cherished hope is 
 blighted, and every promise withered, and all, all 
 this because of the sins of Israel, nence the con- 
 cern of Daniel, and hence the revelation t® be 
 given wherein he may ^*under stand what shall be- 
 fall thy people in the latter days." 
 
 "And when he had spoken unto me according to these 
 v/ords, I set my face toward the ground, and was dumb. And, 
 behold, one like the similitude of the sons of men touched 
 my lips: then I opened my mouth, and spake and said unto 
 him that stood before me, O my lord, by reason of the vision 
 my sorrows are turned upon me, and I retain no strength. 
 For how can the servant of this my lord talk with this my 
 lord? for as for me, straightway there remained no strength 
 in me, neither was there breath left in me. Then there 
 touched me again one like the appearance of a man, and he 
 strengthened me" (vs. 15-18). 
 
 Daniel wilted and lost his strength at the an- 
 nouncement of the message. His anxiety and earn- 
 estness bore him up. His humiliation in fasting 
 had already exhausted the flesh. Relaxation fol- 
 lowed relief of mind. It is always so. The over- 
 shadowing and glorious visage, too, caused the 
 shrinking of the soul of Daniel back upon itself. 
 The loftiest and most cultured minds grow small 
 
116 A Look Through the 
 
 and self-belittled when standing before the mighty 
 realm of knowledge they have not yet explored. 
 Virtue and strength must be imparted to us as an 
 electric charge from the dynamo of the divine life. 
 
 "And he said, O man greatly beloved, fear not: peace be 
 unto thee, be strong, yea, be strong. And when he spake unto 
 me, I was strengthened, and said. Let my lord speak; for 
 thou hast strengthened me. Then said he, Knowest thou 
 wherefore I am come unto thee? and now will I return to 
 fight with the prince of Persia: and when I go forth, lo, the 
 prince of Greece shall come. But I will tell thee that which 
 is inscribed in the writing of truth: and there is none that 
 holdeth with me against these, but Michael your prince. And 
 as for me, in the first year of Darius the Mede, I stood up 
 to confirm and strengthen him" (vs. 19-21 and ch. xi. 1). 
 
 This messenger will assist the Persian prince 
 now. But when the arm of divine help is departed 
 from Persia, the prince of Greece will come. 
 
 "And now will I shew thee the truth. Behold, there shall 
 stand up yet three kings in Persia; and the fourth shall be 
 far richer than they all : and when he is waxed strong through 
 his riches, he shall stir up all against the realm of Greece" 
 (ch. xi. 2). 
 
 The three kings to stand up in Persia were 
 Ahasuerus, Smerdis and Hystaspes. The fourth 
 was Xerxes. Persia came against Greece with 
 three expeditions. The first, 493 B. C. The second, 
 490 B. C. And a third, 480 B. C, under Xerxes. 
 These were unsuccessful sallies for the overthrow 
 of Greece, though desperate and sanguinary. The 
 Persian arms were repulsed, and their fleets de- 
 stroyed. "The effect of Marathon (490 B. C), 
 Thermopylae (480 B. C), Salamis (480 B. C), 
 Plat^a (479 B. C), and Mycale (479 B. C.) were 
 
Lens of Prophecy. 117 
 
 to give the death-blow to Persian rule in Europe. 
 Grecian valor had saved a continent from eastern 
 slavery and barbarism. More than that, the Per- 
 sian wars gave rise to the real Hellenic civiliza- 
 tion, and Marathon and Salamis may be looked 
 upon as the birthplaces of Grecian glory." — 
 Barnes, These predictions in the visions of Daniel 
 antedated the events by some fifty or sixty years. 
 
 "And a mighty king shall stand up, that shall rule with 
 great dominion, and do according to his will" (v. 3). 
 
 This king was Alexander the Great. Alexander 
 was the son of Philip of Macedon. "Greece was 
 prostrate at Philip's feet. In a congress of all 
 the states except Sparta, he was appointed to lead 
 their united forces against Persia. But while pre- 
 paring to start he was assassinated at his daugh- 
 ter's marriage feast. Alexander succeeded to his 
 throne and ambitious projects. Though only 
 twenty years of age, he was more than his father's 
 equal in statesmanship and military skill. . . . He 
 was at once made captain-general of the Grecian 
 forces to invade Persia, and soon after he set out 
 upon that perilous expedition from which he never 
 returned. In 334 B. C., Alexander crossed the 
 Hellespont. He was the first to leap on the Asiatic 
 shore. He defeated the Persians at the river of 
 Granicus, and at Issus. He then besieged Tyre 
 and carried the place by a desperate assault. Then 
 into Egypt. Here he founded the famous city of 
 Alexandria. Marched east and routed the Persian 
 host, a million strong, on the field of Arbela. En- 
 tered Babylon in triumph." — Barnes. He did ex- 
 
118 A Look Through the 
 
 ploits in the "mysterious East, reached the river 
 Hyphasis, built vessels and descended the Indus. 
 Eeturned to Babylon ten years after he had crossed 
 the Hellespont." — Barnes. 
 
 Alexander destroyed the Persian Empire; he 
 conquered Asia, Egypt and Syria. Though con- 
 queror he was, he was at last conquered by intem- 
 perance, and died in Babylon 323 B. C, as a result 
 of beastly inebriety. Though a young man, in the 
 meridian of his glory, in the noon of life, with the 
 world's nations at his feet, having achieved lasting 
 and enduring fame, having worked for the world 
 lasting benefits as an instrument in the hand of 
 Deity, yet at last he became a broken reed in the 
 gratification of a carnal appetite, through the se- 
 ductive infiuence of strong drink. 
 
 "And when lie shall stand up, his kingdom shall be broken, 
 and shall be divided toward the four winds of heaven; but 
 not to his posterity, nor according to his dominion wherewith 
 he ruled; for his kingdom shall be plucked up, even for others 
 beside these" (v. 4). 
 
 Alexander died without issue. He had no heir 
 to possess the heritage of the world. Accordingly, 
 "Alexander's principal generals divided his empire 
 among themselves. A mortal struggle of twenty- 
 two years followed, during which these officers, re- 
 leased from the strong hand of their master, 
 ^fought, quarreled, grasped and wrangled like loos- 
 ened tigers in an amphitheater.' The greed and 
 jealousy of the generals, or kings, as they were 
 -called, were equaled only by the treachery of their 
 men. Finally, by the decisive battle of Ipsus (301 
 B. C), the conflict was ended, and the following 
 
Lens of Prophecy. 119 
 
 distribution of the territory made: Ptolemy re- 
 ceived Egypt, and conquered all of Palestine, Phoe- 
 nicia and Cyprus. Lysimachus received Thrace 
 and nearly all of Asia Minor. Seleucus received 
 Syria and the East, and afterward conquered Asia 
 Minor, Lysimachus being slain. Cassander re- 
 ceived Macedon and Greece." — Barnes. Thus 
 Alexander's kingdom was plucked up. 
 
 "And the king of the south shall be strong, and one of 
 his princes; and he shall be strong above him, and have 
 dominion; his dominion shall be a great dominion. And at 
 the end of years they shall join themselves together; and 
 the daughter of the king of the south shall come to the king 
 of the north to make an agreement; but she shall not retain 
 the strength of her arm; neither shall he stand, nor his arm; 
 but she shall be given up, and they that brought her, and he 
 that begat her, and he that strengthened her in those times" 
 (vs. 5, 6). 
 
 That is, the king of Egypt, which lay south of 
 Syria. This king was Ptolemy Lagus, whose do- 
 minion was over Libya, Cyrene and Cyprus. *'One 
 of his princes" — that is, Alexander's — Seleucus Ni- 
 cator, the Syrian king. "Strong above him," or 
 having annexed Macedon and Thrace to the Syrian 
 crown, he became master of three parts out of the 
 four of Alexander's empire. "And at the end of 
 years they shall join themselves together." That 
 is, after the years of their hostilities, Ptolemy 
 Philadelphus, the second king of Egypt, and An- 
 tiochus II., or Theos III., king of Syria, "ended the 
 war 252 B. C, by a treaty, in accordance with 
 which he married Bernice, a daughter of Ptolemy, 
 and repudiated his wife Laodice, with her two 
 
120 'A Look Through the 
 
 sons." — Encyc, But Antiochus, after the death of 
 Ptolemy, brought back his wife Laodice, who poi- 
 soned him (246 B. C.)? who also poisoned her 
 (Bernice) and they that brought her, meaning the 
 Egyptian w^omen, who were slain with her. "He 
 that begat her," or "he whom she had brought 
 forth. Her son was also murdered." "He that 
 strengthened her." "Her father died within a few 
 years." — Encyc, 
 
 "But out of a shoot from her roots shall one stand up 
 in his place, which shall come unto the army, and shall enter 
 into the fortress of the king of the north, and shall deal 
 against them, and shall prevail: and also their gods, with 
 their molten images, and with their goodly vessels of silver 
 and of gold, shall he carry captive into Egypt; and he shall 
 refrain some years from the king of the north" (vs. 7-9). 
 
 The branch of her roots was Ptolemy Energetes 
 (247-222 B. C. ) . "So did this king invade the terri- 
 tories of Seleucus Callinicers and reigned in Syria. 
 He took Syria and Cilicia and the upper part be- 
 yond Euphrates and almost all Asia." "There 
 were 2,500 of their gods carried away. He was a 
 brilliant warrior; made a victorious campaign 
 from the Nile to the Indus, and brought back to 
 Memphis the old Egyptian gods which Cambyses 
 had carried to Babylon, whence he received the 
 surname of Energetes and the title of Benefactor." 
 — Encyc. 
 
 "And he shall come into the realm of the king of the south, 
 but he shall return into his own land. And his sons shall war, 
 and shall assemble a multitude of great forces, which shall 
 come on, and overflow, and pass through: and they shall 
 return and war, even to his fortress" (v. 10). 
 
Lens of Prophecy. 121 
 
 The sons of Seleucus Callinicers. They were 
 Seleucus Carannus and Antiochus the Great. The 
 first "was poisoned by one of his generals, but the 
 other retook Selenica and recovered Syria." — 
 Encyc. 
 
 "And the king of the south shall be moved with choler, 
 and shall come forth and fight with him, even with the king 
 of the north: and he shall set forth a great multitude, and 
 the multitude shall be given into his hand" (v. 11). 
 
 Antiochus II. (Theos), the northern king (217 
 B. C), came against Ptolemy Philopater of the 
 south. Antiochus "set forth a great multitude — 
 6,200 foot, 600 horse, 102 elephants. All these were 
 given into Ptolemy's hand.'' — Encyc, 
 
 "And the multitude shall be lifted up, and his heart shall 
 be exalted: and he shall cast down tens of thousands, but 
 he shall not prevail" (v. 12). 
 
 Antiochus III., the king of the north, while 
 on his way to Egypt, being refused of the Jews an 
 access to the Holy of Holies, "slew 40,000 to 50,- 
 000, thus weakening his own strength." — Encyc. 
 
 "And the king of the north shall return, and shall set 
 forth a multitude greater than the former; and he shall come 
 on at the end of the times, even of years, with a great army 
 and with much substance" (v. 13). 
 
 Ptolemy Antipater died 205 B. C, and after 
 Antiochus III., or the Great, after conducting a 
 "victorious expedition across the mountains of 
 Hindu-Kush into India, and having formed an al- 
 liance with several Indian princes, returned to 
 Antioch, after a seven years' absence. He took 
 Palestine, from the King of Egypt, 198 B. C. 
 
122 A Look Through the 
 
 (Ptolemy Epiphanes, a boy of seven years of age)." 
 — Encyc. 
 
 "And in those times there shall many stand up against the 
 king of the south: also the children of the violent among thy 
 people shall lift themselves up to establish the vision; but they 
 shall fall" (v. 14). 
 
 Many of the Egyptian provinces rebelled, the op- 
 portunity being favorable from the defeat the boy 
 king suffered at the hand of Antiochus the Great. 
 "Ptolemy Epiphanes and Ptolemy Philomater 
 (181-146 B. C.) began the degeneration of the dy- 
 nasty, with the influence of the Romans — the two 
 causes which soon brought about the downfall of 
 the Egyptian Empire. Ptolemy IV. (Philomater) 
 sent large supplies of corn to Rome during the 
 second Punic War, and as a reward for his good 
 offices the Romans interfered in the war between 
 Antiochus of Syria and Ptolemy V. (Epiphanes) 
 in favor of the latter. Antioch, too, had invaded 
 Thrace 196 B. C, which resulted in a hazardous re- 
 pulse to Antioch. Hence the sympathy which fol- 
 lowed for Egypt on the part of Rome.'' — Encyc. 
 
 "Under Ptolemy VI. the Roman commissioners 
 played the part of mediators between him and his 
 brother, Energetes II." — Encyc. Hence "they shall 
 fall" (v. 14). That is, the insurrectionary elements 
 at home, as well as the king of Syria. 
 
 "So the king of the north shall come, and cast up a mount, 
 and take a well fenced city: and the arms of the south shall 
 not withstand, neither his chosen people, neither shall there 
 be any strength to withstand" (v. 15). 
 
Lens of Prophecy, 123 
 
 Antiochus IV. (Epiphanes) was a son of An- 
 tiochus the Great. He passed about twelve years 
 in Rome, whither he was sent as hostage in 188 
 B. C. He became king on the death of his brother, 
 Seleucus Philomater, in 176 B. C. He invaded 
 Egypt in 170 and captured the king, Ptolemy Phi- 
 lomater, but was constrained by the Roman Senate 
 to retire from that country in 168 B. C. About 
 this date ( "cast up a mount, and take a well fenced 
 city'' — V. 15) he plundered the temple at Jerusalem 
 and persecuted the Jews, profaned the temple by 
 offering unclean animals and desecrated the tem- 
 ple service. ( "The arms of the south shall not with- 
 stand, neither his chosen people, neither shall 
 there be any strength to withstand" — ^v. 15. ) Judas 
 Maccabseus (168 B. C.) rose in arms and defeated 
 the Syrian armies in several battles. 
 
 "But he that cometh against him [that is, Judas Macca- 
 bseus] shall do according to his own will, and none shall 
 stand before him: and he shall stand [Judas Maccabaeus] in 
 the glorious land [Juda&a], and in his hand shall be destruc- 
 tion" (v. 16). 
 
 Antiochus the Great had conquered Palestine, 
 which by the division of Alexander's empire had 
 fallen to the Ptolemies of Egypt; but under An- 
 tiochus Epiphanes the Jews revolted, and after a 
 contest of twenty years they made themselves inde- 
 pendent ( B. C. 161, about ) . After a series of san- 
 guinary wars Judaea was freed from the oppressive 
 yoke of the Seleucidse and became an independent 
 kingdom under the Maccabees, or Asmopsean dy- 
 nasty, 135 B. C.—Ill Hist, World, 
 
124 A Look Through the 
 
 "And he shall set his face to come V7ith the strength of his 
 whole kingdom, and upright ones with him; and he shall do 
 his pleasure : and he shall give him the daughter of women, to 
 corrupt her; but she shall not stand, neither be for him" 
 (V. 17). 
 
 Turning from the Jews, or Jewish history, it 
 must not be forgotten our subject in hand is the 
 king of the north, or Syria, as against that of the 
 south, or Egypt, we have under general considera- 
 tion. In explanation of this seventeenth verse we 
 quote from III. Hist. World. 
 
 "Antiochus Sidetes then led an expedition 
 against the Parthians for the purpose of releasing 
 his brother from captivity. He gained some suc- 
 cess at first, but was finally defeated with the loss 
 of his army, and slain, after a reign of nine years 
 (128 B. C). Just before the death of Antiochus 
 Sidetes, the Parthian king had liberated Demetrius 
 Nicator and sent him to Antioch to claim his crown 
 for the purpose of forcing Antiochus to retire from 
 Parthia to preserve his kingdom. Demetrius Nica- 
 tor resumed his authority, and the death of his 
 brother soon afterward left him without a rival for 
 a short time. Ptolemy Physcon, king of Egypt, 
 soon raised up a pretender named Zabinas, for the 
 purpose of revenging himself upon Demetrius for 
 the support which he had given the Egyptian 
 queen Cleopatra. Zabinas, who claimed to be a 
 son of Alexander Balas, defeated Demetrius near 
 Damascus. Thereupon Demetrius fled to his for- 
 mer wife, Cleopatra, at Ptolemais, but she refused 
 to receive him. He then attempted to enter Tyre, 
 but was Captured and put to death'^ ( 126 B. C. ) . 
 
Lens of Prophecy. 125 
 
 "Daughter of women" we think has reference 
 to Cleopatra, the granddaughter of Antiochus the 
 Great of Syria, and who was the daughter of Cleo- 
 patra, the wife of Ptolemy Epiphanes. This Cleo- 
 patra, the daughter of women, was made queen by 
 the Alexandrians. 
 
 "After this shall he turn his face unto the isles, and shall 
 take many; but a prince shall cause the reproach offered by 
 him to cease; yea, moreover, he shall cause his reproach to 
 return upon him. Then he shall turn his face toward the 
 fortresses of his own land: but he shall stumble and fall, and 
 shall not be found. Then shall stand up in his place one that 
 shall cause an exactor to pass through the glory of the 
 kingdom: but within few days he shall be destroyed, neither 
 in anger, nor in battle" (vs. 18-20). 
 
 "In B. 0. 114, the king's half-brother, Antiochus 
 X., Cyzicenus, the son of Cleopatra by her third 
 husband, Antiochus Sidetes, headed a rebellion 
 against the king, thus involving the kingdom in a 
 bloody war of three years, and finally compelling 
 Antiochus Grypus to divide the kingdom with her. 
 But the war was renewed in B.,0. 105, and continued 
 until B. 0. 96, bringing dreadful loss and misery 
 upon the kingdom, without any decisive gain to 
 either party. During this period Syria was terribly 
 ravaged by the Arabs on the east, and by the Egyp- 
 tians on the south. The province of Oilicia and the 
 cities of Tyre, Sidon and Selucia revolted and 
 achieved their independence." — III. Hist. World. 
 
 Seleucus V., the son of Antiochus Grypus, suc- 
 ceeded his father on the Syrian throne and con- 
 tinued the war against Antioch Cyzicenus, defeat- 
 ing him in a great battle. The vanquished pre- 
 
126 A Look Through the 
 
 tender committed suicide to avoid capture, but his 
 eldest son, Antiochus X., Eusebes, maintained the 
 pretensions of the rival house, assumed the royal 
 title, and drove Seleucus V. into Cilicia. Seleucus 
 endeavored to raise money hy a forced contribution 
 from the people of the Cilician town of Mopsulstia, 
 but they seized him and burned him alive." — III, 
 Hist, of World. 
 
 "Turn his face imto the isles, and shall take many" 
 (V. 18). 
 
 That was when the cities of Tyre and Sidon and 
 Seleucia and the province of Cilicia revolted and 
 achieved independenca 
 
 "Stumble and fall" (v. 19). 
 
 That was when Antiochus Grypus was assas- 
 sinated by Heracelon, an officer of the court, who 
 made an effort to seize the crown; at which time 
 these cities had revolted and Antioch was giving 
 attention to the revolting provinces. 
 
 Seleucus Y. stood in the place or office of his 
 father, Antiochus Grypus (v. 20), was driven into 
 Cilicia by Antiochus X., or Antiochus Eusebes. 
 Seleucus Y. levied on the city Mopsulstia of Cilicia 
 (v. 20), but was seized by them and burned alive; 
 hence was "in a few days destroyed, neither in 
 anger nor in battle.'^ 
 
 "And in liis office [margin] shall stand np a contemptible 
 person, to whom they had not given the honor of the kingdom : 
 but he shall come in time of security, and shall obtain the king- 
 dom by flatteries" (y. 21). 
 
 Tigranes, king of Armenia, is here referred 
 to (83-69 B. C). "Philip, the brother of Seleu- 
 
Lens of Prophecy. 127 
 
 cus V. and the second son of Antiochus Grypus, 
 succeeded to the Syrian throne, and with the 
 assistance of his younger brother, Demetrius, 
 and Antiochus Dionysius, continued the war against 
 Eusebes for some years; and Eusebes was finally 
 defeated and obliged to seek refuge in Parthia. 
 But peace was still not restored to the country, 
 as Philip and his brothers could not agree upon a 
 satisfactory division of power between them, and 
 made war upon each other ; and the unhappy king- 
 dom only obtained rest when the Syrians, tired of 
 these dynastic quarrels, invited Tigranes, king of 
 Armenia, to become their sovereign. Tigranes 
 readily accepted the invitation and governed Syria 
 wisely and well for fourteen years, and the country 
 enjoyed tranquility. Finally Tigranes incurred 
 the vengeance of the Romans by assisting his 
 father-in-law, Mithridates the Great, king of Pon- 
 tus, and was forced to relinquish Syria, whose 
 crown was then conferred upon Antiochus VIII., 
 Asiaticus, who reigned four years (69-65 B. C.) 
 and was the last of the Seleucidse." — Hist. World. 
 
 "And with the arms of a flood shall they be swept away 
 from before him, and shall be broken; yea, also the prince 
 of the covenant" (v. 22). 
 
 "In the year B. C. 74 the Roman Republic be- 
 came involved in another war with Mithridates the 
 Great, the powerful king of Pontus. After the 
 Roman general Lucullus had defeated Mithridates 
 and driven him into Armenia, Mithridates was 
 aided by his son-in-law, Tigranes, the powerful 
 king of Armenia; but Lucullus defeated the Ar- 
 
128 A Look Through the 
 
 menian king's two hundred thousand men at Ti- 
 granocerta, the Armenian capital (B. C. 69), and 
 gained another victory over Tigranes the next 
 year (B. C. 68). The Eoman troops having mu- 
 tinied, Lucullus was defeated by Mithridates. On 
 motion of Manlius and Cicero, the Roman Senate 
 then invested Pompey with the chief command of 
 the Roman army in Asia, and gave him absolute 
 power (B. 0. 67). In B. C. 66 Pompey in- 
 flicted a crushing defeat upon Mithridates on the 
 banks of the Euphrates, overthrew Tigranes, and 
 made Pontus a Roman province (B. C. 66). The 
 year after his victory over Mithridates (B. C. 65) 
 Pompey subverted the Syrian empire of the Seleu- 
 cidse, and Syria became a Roman province." — III. 
 Hist. World. 
 
 And this constituted "the arms of a flood'' (v. 
 22) which swept Tigranes, with the Syrian Empire, 
 away. 
 
 **Yea, also, the prince of his [margin] covenant" (t. 22). 
 
 "About this time the throne of Judaea was 
 claimed by two brothers, John Hyrcanus II. and 
 Aristobulus II. Each applied for aid to Pompey, 
 who decided in favor of Hyrcanus. Aristobulus 
 prepared to resist the Romans, and shut himself up 
 in Jerusalem, which was taken by Pompey after 
 a three months' siege (B. C. 63). Hyrcanus was 
 seated on the Jewish throne, but was required to 
 pay tribute to the Romans." — Hist. World. 
 
 "And after the league made with him he shall work de- 
 ceitfully: for he shall come up, and shall become strong, with 
 a small people. In time of security shall he come even upon 
 
Lens of Prophecy. 129 
 
 the fattest places of the province; and he shall do that which 
 his fathers have not done, nor his fathers' fathers; he shall 
 scatter among them prey, and spoil, and substance: yea, he 
 shall devise his devices against the strongholds, even for 
 a time" (vs. 23, 24). 
 
 It must be understood Rome is now the king 
 of the north in lieu of Syria. This has reference, 
 therefore, to the avaricious and unprovoked Ro- 
 man expedition, under Crassus, on its way to in- 
 vade the Parthian Empire, who pillaged the tem- 
 ple of Jerusalem of its treasures. Judaea was al- 
 ready essentially a Roman province by virtue of 
 the conquests of Pompey, and was paying tribute 
 to Rome by the official exaction of its conqueror. 
 Hence it was, or should have been, a time of "se- 
 curity" (v. 24) among these subverted Asiatic 
 provinces, so recently subverted by Roman arms, 
 and made tributary provinces to Rome. Such acts 
 as those of Crassus had never been known as hon- 
 orable by the Roman military. ("And he shall 
 do that which his fathers have not done, nor his 
 fathers' fathers" — v. 24.) 
 
 "And he shall stir up his power and his courage against 
 the king of the south with a great army; and the king of 
 the south shall war in battle with an exceeding great and 
 mighty army: but he shall not stand, for they shall devise 
 devices against him. Yea, they that eat of his meat shall 
 destroy him, and his army shall overflow: and many shall 
 fall down slain. And as for both these kings, their hearts 
 shall be to do mischief, and they shall speak lies at one 
 table: but it shall not prosper; for yet the end shall be at the 
 time appointed" (vs. 25-27). 
 
 After his defeat at Pharsalia by Julius CsBsar, 
 Pompey sought refuge with Ptolemy XIII, of 
 
130 A Look Through the 
 
 Egypt, "whose father had been restored to the 
 Egyptian throne through Pompey's influence some 
 years before. Accordingly, Pompey sent a request 
 to Ptolemy for his protection. The young Egyp- 
 tian king's ministers, either suspecting Pompey's 
 designs, or despising his fallen greatness, deter- 
 mined on putting him to death; the young king 
 was persuaded to this course by a young Koman in 
 his army named Septimus, in order to gain the 
 favor of the victorious Caesar." — Hist. World. He 
 was accordingly assured of protection, deceived 
 and assassinated. 
 
 Caesar had closely pursued Pompey to Egypt. 
 "To show his disapproval of the treachery of the 
 Egyptians in the assassination of Pompey, Caesar 
 caused a temple to be erected near Pompey's tomb, 
 dedicated to Nemesis, the goddess of vengeance. 
 He ordered the assassins put to death. He de- 
 posed Ptolemy XIII., and supported the claims of 
 Cleopatra II. to the crown of Egypt. Ptolemy's 
 adherents then arose against Caesar, who, having 
 taken only a few troops with him to Alexandria, 
 was soon involved in the greatest peril by this 
 sudden outburst of insurrection. A desperate bat- 
 tle was fought in the streets of Alexandria. Caesar 
 set fire to the Egyptian fleet, but, unfortunately, 
 the flames extended to the great library established 
 by Ptolemies Soter and Philadelphus, and the 
 greater portion of this magnificent collection of the 
 most valuable works of antiquity fell a prey to the 
 flames. Caesar succeeded in making his escape 
 from the city. Caesar received reinforcements from 
 Syria, which enabled him to overthrow the army 
 
Lens of Prophecy, 131 
 
 of Ptolemy XIII., who, after the battle, was 
 drowned in the Nile (B. C. 48). Having estab- 
 lished Cleopatra upon the throne of Egypt, Caesar 
 marched hastily into Asia Minor, Y>^on a decisive 
 victory over Pharnaces, defeating him so badly 
 that he sent to the Roman Senate his memorable 
 dispatch announcing his victory in three words: 
 'Veni, Vidi, Vici''' (47 B. a).—Hist. World. 
 
 "They that eat of his meat shall destroy him, and his 
 army shall overflow; and many shall fall down slain. And 
 as for both these kings, their hearts shall be to do mischief," 
 etc. (v. 26). 
 
 This verse has reference to Antony and Cleo- 
 patra. Antony, one of the trinity who established 
 and formed the triumvirate upon the ruins of the 
 Roman Republic, came through the East into 
 Egypt about 40 B. C. The Roman supremacy was 
 everywhere acknowledged. He exacted contribu- 
 tions, bestowed favors and gave away crowns to 
 whom he would. "Cleopatra, the beautiful but 
 wicked queen of Egypt, strove to allure Antony. 
 Antony was in Tarsus, Cilicia, when she deter- 
 mined to personally attend his court. She sailed 
 down the river Cydnus to meet him, with the most 
 magnificent ceremony ; the stern of her galley being 
 covered with gold, its sails being of purple silk, and 
 its oars of silver, while the rowers were keeping 
 time to the sound of flutes and cymbals. Cleo- 
 patra exhibited herself reclining on a couch span- 
 gled with stars of gold, and such other ornaments 
 as are generally ascribed to Venus by poets and 
 painters. On each side of her were boys like Cu- 
 pids, fanning her by turns ; and charming nymphs. 
 
132 A Look Through the 
 
 attired like Nereids and Graces, were stationed at 
 suitable places around tier. As she was passing, 
 the banks of the river were perfumed by the incense 
 burning on board her galley; and multitudes of 
 people delightedly and admiringly gazed upon the 
 spectacle. Antony was soon captivated by her 
 beauty; she had thus secured her power; and he 
 hastily followed her to Egypt. There he aban- 
 doned himself to indolence, luxury and vice, equal- 
 ly regardless of the calls of honor, interest or 
 ambition." — Hist. World. 
 
 "This course inspired the hatred and revenge 
 of Octavius, whose sister, Octavia, was Antony's 
 wife ; besides, Antony was now the only obstacle in 
 the way of the ambition of Octavius, who was anx- 
 ious to make himself sole master of the Roman 
 world. 
 
 "Antony's desertion of Octavia, his intended 
 marriage of Cleopatra, and his bestowal of several 
 Roman provinces in Asia upon the dissolute queen, 
 brought matters to the crisis which Octavius de- 
 sired, and rendered civil war between the two rivals 
 inevitable. 
 
 "Antony was influenced by Cleopatra to hazard 
 a naval engagement on September 2, 31 B. C. 
 This naval encounter assumed the character of a 
 land battle; the ships running alongside of each 
 other, and men fighting hand to hand with great 
 ardor for a long time. The victory was doubt- 
 ful until Cleopatra suddenly turned the fortune of 
 the day in favor of Octavius, who fled from the en- 
 gagement, and Antony immediately followed her. 
 Nevertheless, the battle lasted until evening, when 
 
Lens of Prophecy. 133 
 
 Antonyms forces were partially beaten by the skill 
 of Agrippa, and partially induced to submission by 
 the liberal promises of Octavius. 
 
 "Octavius now advanced on each side of Egypt. 
 Antony hastened with the Egyptian fleet and army 
 to check his progress, but was forced to retreat 
 with heavy loss. Antony stationed the Egyptian 
 army upon an elevated ground, close to the city. 
 He sent orders to his fleet to engage the enemy. 
 He waited to view the conflict, and finally he was 
 gratified at seeing his galleys advance in good 
 order. But his joy soon gave way to rage when 
 he saw them salute the ships of Octavius, and both 
 fleets uniting and entering the harbor of Alexan- 
 dria together. At this same time the Egyptian cav- 
 alry deserted Antony. He was obliged to return to 
 Alexandria. Overcome with rage and fury, he ran 
 about wildly accusing Cleopatra of having be- 
 trayed him, when he had sacrificed his interests for 
 her sake only. He was not deceived in his suspi- 
 cion, as it was by the secret orders of the Egyptian 
 queen that her fleet had deserted to the enemy.'' — 
 Hist. World. Hence — 
 
 "They that eat of his meat shall destroy him, and his 
 army shall overflow [break]: and many shall fall down slain. 
 And as for both these kings [Egypt and Rome, or Cleopatra 
 and Antony], their hearts shall be to do mischief, and they 
 shall speak lies at one table: but it shall not prosper" (vs. 
 26, 27). 
 
 Verse 27 ( "For yet the end shall be at the time 
 appointed" ) has reference to the end of the king of 
 the north, or Romanism, whose end is at the be- 
 ginning of the Jewish restoration, and whose end is 
 
134 A Look Through the 
 
 the end of Gentile supremacy, as spoken of by Paul 
 in the eleventh chapter of Romans. 
 
 There were two remaining kings prior to the 
 fall of Antony, in Rome ; who were Antony and Oc- 
 tavius, of the original triumvirate. Antony's fall 
 did not crush Romanism, for Octavius, by whose 
 strength he was crushed, was himself a Roman. 
 God had appointed the end for Romanism and fixed 
 it by prophecy. 
 
 "Then shall he return into his land with great substance" 
 (V. 28). 
 
 Octavius' return out of Egypt after consummat- 
 ing the overthrow of the Ptolemies, and defeating 
 Antony, who had joined Cleopatra and annexed to 
 the throne of Egypt some of the Roman provinces. 
 
 "And his heart shall be against the holy covenant; and 
 he shall do his pleasure, and return to his own land. At the 
 time appointed he shall return, and come into the south; but 
 it shall not be in the latter time as it was in the former. 
 For ships of Kittim shall come against him; therefore he 
 shall be grieved, and shall return, and have indignation 
 against the holy covenant, and shall do his pleasure: he 
 shall even return, and have regard unto them that forsake 
 the holy covenant. And arms shall stand on his part, and 
 they shall profane the sanctuary, even the fortress, and shall 
 take away the continual burnt offering, and they shall set 
 up the abomination that maketh desolate. And such as do 
 wickedly against the covenant shall he pervert by flatteries: 
 but the people that know their God shall be strong and do 
 exploits" (vs. 28-32). 
 
 All the South and East are novN^ tributary to 
 Rome. Indeed, the world was at her feet. Herod 
 of Idumea has been made king of Judoea. The holij 
 covenant has reference to the peculiar agreement 
 
Lens of Prophecy. 135 
 
 of God with Israel, and was manifested in law, or- 
 dinance and government. Administration of law 
 was removed from the Jewish executive to the Ro- 
 man. Capital offenses belonged to the Roman 
 court for adjudication. Upon all questions Rome 
 was self-elective in its administration; it sought 
 neither advice nor counsel from any of its prov- 
 inces. While Palestine, during all the years of 
 contention between the North and the South, was 
 the middle ground, yet she did not lose control of the 
 full exercise of her religious institutions until the 
 fall of the house of the Maccabees. Measurably the 
 Jews were allowed a qualified independence. 
 
 "At time appointed." That was when Nero sent 
 Vespazian and Titus with the Roman legions 
 against Jerusalem, and who besieged it in 70 A. D. 
 "Indignation against the holy covenant" — the Jews 
 — the peculiar people of God, whom he had sa- 
 credly guarded and kept during the past fifteen 
 hundred years, agreeably to his covenant, or by 
 agreement with them. Now the temple is to be re- 
 duced to a heap of ruins, the city of Jerusalem is 
 to be destroyed and the people dispersed, and God's 
 agreement discharged, or, he having fulfilled his 
 agreement in Christ, Rome could now "do its pleas- 
 ure" upon Jerusalem. Accordingly, the "armies" 
 of Rome stood in the temple court, itself a fortress 
 to the temple. The feet of the Roman soldiery pro- 
 faned the sanctuary ; the "continual burnt offering 
 was removed ;" the Roman eagles, or standards, the 
 abomination that maketh desolate, were "set up." 
 
 "And such as do wickedly," etc. (v. 32). 
 
136 A Look Through the 
 
 The people who knew their God were the Chris- 
 tian inhabitants. They did exploits when they did 
 what Jesus commanded they should do ; namely : 
 
 "When therefore ye see the abominations of desolation, 
 which was spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the 
 holy place (let him that readeth understand), then let them 
 that are in Judaea flee unto the mountains: let him that is 
 on the housetop not go down to take out the things that are 
 in his house: and let him that is in the field not return back 
 to take his cloke" (Matt, xxiv, 15-18). 
 
 "And now the Romans, upon the flight of the 
 seditious into the city, and upon the burning of the 
 holy house itself, and of all the buildings lying 
 round about it, brought their ensigns to the temple, 
 and set them over against its eastern gate; and 
 there did they offer sacrifice to them, and there did 
 they make Titus imperator, with the greatest ac- 
 clamations of joy. And now all the soldiers had 
 such vast quantities of the spoils which they had 
 gotten by plunder, that in Syria a pound weight 
 of gold was sold for half its former value.'' — 
 Josephus. 
 
 "But woe unto them that are with child and to them 
 that give suck in those days! And pray ye that your flight 
 be not in the winter, neither on a sabbath: for then shall 
 be great tribulation, such as hath not been from the beginning 
 of the world until now, no, nor ever shall be. And except 
 those days had been shortened, no flesh would have been 
 saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened. 
 Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here Is the Christ, 
 or, Here; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, 
 and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; 
 so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. Behold, I 
 have told you beforehand. If therefore they shall say unto 
 you, Behold, he is in the wilderness; go not forth: Behold, 
 
Lens of Prophecy. 137 
 
 he is in the inner chambers; believe it not. For as the light- 
 ning Cometh forth from the east, and is seen even unto the 
 west; so shall be the coming of the Son of man. Wheresoever 
 the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together" 
 (Matt. xxiv. 20-28). 
 
 "And now the Romans, judging that it was in 
 vain to spare what was round about the holy house, 
 burnt all those places, as also the remains of the 
 cloisters and the gates, two excepted; the one on 
 the east side, and the other on the south; both 
 which, however, they burnt afterward. They also 
 burnt down the treasury chambers, in which was 
 an immense quantity of money, and an immense 
 number of garments, and other precious goods, 
 there reposited, and, to speak all in few words, there 
 it was that the entire riches of the Jews were 
 heaped up together, while the rich people had there 
 built themselves chambers (to contain such furni- 
 ture). The soldiers also came to the rest of the 
 cloisters that were in the outer (court of the) tem- 
 ple, whither the women and children and a great 
 mixed multitude of the people fled, in number 
 about six thousand. But before Caesar had deter- 
 mined anything about these people, or given the 
 commanders any orders relating to them, the sol- 
 diers were in such a rage that they set the cloisters 
 on fire; by which means it came to pass that some 
 of these were destroyed by throwing themselves 
 down headlong, and some were burnt in the cloi- 
 sters themselves. Nor did any one of these escape 
 with his life. A false prophet ( Reland here justly 
 takes notice that these Jews who had despised the 
 true Prophet were deservedly abused and deluded 
 
13S A Looh Through the 
 
 by these false ones) was the occasion of these 
 people's destruction, who had made a public proc- 
 lamation in the city that very day, that God com- 
 manded them to get up on the temple, and that 
 there they should receive miraculous signs of their 
 deliverance. Now, there was then a great number 
 of false prophets suborned by the tyrants to impose 
 upon the people, who denounced this to them, that 
 they should wait for deliverance from God; and 
 this was in order to keep them from deserting, and 
 that they might be buoyed up above fear and care 
 by such hopes. Now, a man that is in adversity does 
 easily comply with such promises ; for when such a 
 seducer makes him believe that he shall be deliv- 
 ered from those miseries which oppress him, then it 
 is that the patient is full of hope of such deliv- 
 erance. 
 
 "Thus were the miserable people persuaded by 
 these deceivers, and such as belied God himself; 
 while they did not attend, nor give credit, to the 
 signs that were so evident, and did so plainly fore- 
 tell their future desolation; but, like men infatu- 
 ated, without either eyes to see or minds to con- 
 sider, did not regard the denunciations that God 
 made to them. Thus there was a star resembling a 
 sword, which stood over the city, and a comet, that 
 continued a whole year. Thus, also, before the 
 Jews' rebellion, and before those commotions which 
 preceded the war, when the people were come in 
 great crowds to the feast of unleavened bread, on 
 the eighth day of the month Zanthicus [Nisan], 
 and at the ninth hour of the night (almost a week 
 before the Passover), so great a light shone round 
 
Lens of Prophecy. 139 
 
 the altar and the holy house that it appeared to be 
 bright daytime ; which light lasted for half an hour. 
 (John xi. 55; xii. 1.) This light seemed to be a 
 good sign to the unskillful, but was so interpreted 
 by the sacred scribes as to portend these events 
 that followed immediately upon it. At the same 
 festival, also, a heifer, as she was led by the high 
 priest to be sacrificed, brought forth a lamb in the 
 midst of the temple. Moreover, the eastern gate of 
 the inner (court of the temple) , which was of brass, 
 and vastly heavy, and had been with difficulty shut 
 by twenty men, and rested upon a basis armed with 
 iron, and had bolts fastened very deep into the firm 
 floor, which was there made of one entire stone, 
 was seen to be opened of its own accord about the 
 sixth hour of the night. Now, those that kept 
 watch in the temple came thereupon running to the 
 captain of the temple, and told him of it ; who then 
 came up thither, ana not without great difficulty 
 was able to shut the gate again. This also appeals 
 to the vulgar to be a very happy prodigy, as if God 
 did thereby open them the gate of happiness. But 
 the men of learning understood it that the security 
 of their holy house was dissolved of its own accord, 
 and that the gate was opened for the advantage of 
 their enemies. So these publicly declared that this 
 signal foreshadowed the desolation that was com- 
 ing upon them. Besides these, a few days after 
 that feast, on the one and twentieth day of the 
 month Artemisius ( Jyar), a certain prodigious and 
 incredible phenomenon appeared ; I suppose the ac- 
 count of it would seem to be a fable, were it not 
 related by those that saw it, and were not the 
 
140 A Look Through the 
 
 events that followed it of so considerable a nature 
 as to deserve such signals; for, before sunsetting, 
 chariots and troops of soldiers in their armor were 
 seen running about among the clouds, and sur- 
 rounding of cities. Moreover, at that feast which 
 we call Pentecost, as the priests were going by 
 night into the inner (court of the) temple, as their 
 custom was, to perform their sacred ministrations, 
 they said that, in the first place, they felt a quak- 
 ing, and heard a great noise, and after that they 
 heard a sound as of a great multitude, saying, *Let 
 us remove hence.' But, what is still more terrible, 
 there was one Jesus, the son of Ananus, a plebeian, 
 and an husbandman, who, four years before the 
 war began, and at a time when the city was in 
 very great peace and prosperity, came to that feast 
 whereon it is our custom for every one to make tab- 
 ernacles to God in the temple, began on a sudden to 
 cry aloud, ^A voice from the east, a voice from the 
 west, a voice from the four winds, a voice against 
 Jerusalem and the holy house, a voice against the 
 bridegrooms and the brides, and a voice against the 
 whole people !' This was his cry, as he went about 
 by day and by night, in all the lanes of the city. 
 However, certain of the most eminent among the 
 populace had great indignation at this dire cry of 
 his, and took up the man, and gave him a great 
 number of severe stripes ; yet did he not either say 
 anything for himself, or anything peculiar to those 
 that chastised him, but still he went on with the 
 same words which he cried before. Hereupon our 
 rulers, supposing, as the case proved to be, that this 
 was a sort of divine fury in the man, brought him 
 
Lens of Prophecy, 141 
 
 to the Roman procurator — where he was whipped 
 till his bones were laid bare; yet he did not make 
 any supplication for himself, nor shed any tears, 
 but, turning his voice to the most lamentable tone 
 possible, at every stroke of the whip his answer was, 
 Woe, woe to Jerusalem !' And when Albinus ( for 
 he was then our procurator) asked him who he was, 
 and whence he came, and why he uttered such 
 words, he made no manner of reply to what he said, 
 but still did not leave off his melancholy ditty, till 
 Albinus took him to be a madman, and dismissed 
 him. Now, during all the time that passed before 
 the war began, this man did not go near any of the 
 citizens, nor was seen by them while he said so ; but 
 he every day uttered these lamentable words, as if 
 it were his premeditated vow, ^Woe, woe to Jeru- 
 salem !' Nor did he give ill words to any of those 
 that beat him every day, nor good words to those 
 that gave him food; but this was his reply to all 
 men, and, indeed, no other than a melancholy pres- 
 age of what was to come. This cry of his was the 
 loudest at the festivals; and he continued the ditty 
 for seven years and five months, without growing 
 hoarse, or being tired therewith, until the very time 
 that he saw his presage in earnest fulfilled in our 
 siege, when it ceased; for, as he was going round 
 upon the wall, he cried out with his utmost force, 
 'Woe, woe to the city again, and to the people, and 
 to the holy house!' And just as he added at the 
 last, ^Woe, woe to myself also !' there came a stone 
 out of one of the engines, and smote him, and killed 
 him immediately ; and as he was uttering the very 
 same presages, he gave up the ghost." — Josephus, 
 
142 A Look Through the 
 
 "The terrible dissensions among the Jews, the 
 unspeakable suffering of the besieged, the agony of 
 the nation shut up within the walls of Jerusalem, 
 the destruction of more than a million Jews, the 
 enslaving of all the youth, the entire demolition of 
 the city, so as to leave no sign of its former occu- 
 pancy — all this forms one of the gloomiest pages in 
 the annals of man." — Croshy. 
 
 "Ah, the uproar of many peoples, which roar like the 
 roaring of the seas; and the rushing of nations, that rush 
 like the rushing of mighty waters! The nations shall rush 
 like the rushing of many waters: but he shall rebuke them, 
 and they shall flee far off, and shall be chased as the chaff 
 of the mountains before the wind, and like the whirling dust 
 before the storm. At eventide behold terror; and before the 
 morning they are not. This is the portion of them that spoil 
 us, and the lot of them that rob us" (Isa. xvii. 12-14), 
 
 The evening is now approaching, and Gentile 
 supremacy — of the fourth beast, strange and ter- 
 rible — is drawing to a close. Isaiah saw it more 
 than seven hundred years before Christ. Do we 
 see the terror among the nations of Latin extrac- 
 tion drawing near at our doors? God will bring 
 these nations into account; they must disgorge 
 their gold, and the Jewish family shall again "re- 
 sume business at the old stand" — Jerusalem — in 
 the fullness of time. We turn to follow the 
 prophecy : 
 
 "And they that be wise among the people shall instruct 
 many: yet they shall fall by the sword and by flame, by cap- 
 tivity and by spoil, many days. Now when they shall fall, 
 they shall be holpen with a little help: but many shall join 
 themselves unto them with flatteries" (vs. 33, 34). 
 
Lens of Prophecy. 143 
 
 This is the work of the apostles and evangelists 
 of our Lord, in which there was a wide publication 
 of the gospel in the apostolic and sub-apostolic 
 periods. While the Christians in most part were 
 exempt from the pain and misery of the siege of 
 Jerusalem, yet Roman persecution, under her cruel 
 emperors, and even under her best emperors, on 
 down to 321 A. D., caused them to fall by the sword 
 and by flame, by captivity and by spoil, many days 
 (years). This history of the early church is one 
 of hardship and pain and suffering and death. 
 
 "The religion established in Judaea by Christ, 
 and preached during the first century by Paul and 
 the other apostles, had now spread over the western 
 empire. It was largely, however, confined to the 
 cities, as is curiously shown in the fact that the 
 word 'pagan' originally meant only a countryman. 
 While the Romans tolerated the religious belief of 
 every nation which they conquered, they persecuted 
 the Christians alone. This was because the latter 
 opposed the national religion of the empire, refused 
 to offer sacrifice to its gods, and to worship its em- 
 perors. Moreover, the Christians absented them- 
 selves from the games and feasts, and were accus- 
 tomed to hold their meetings at night, and often in 
 secret. They were, therefore, looked upon as ene- 
 mies of the state, and were persecuted by even the 
 best rulers, as Trajan and Diocletian. This oppo- 
 sition, however, served only to strengthen the rising 
 faith. The heroism of the martyrs extorted the 
 admiration of their enemies. 
 
 "In the year 303 A. D., the joint emperors cele- 
 brated the last triumph ever held at Rome. During 
 
144 A Look Through the 
 
 the same year, also, began the last and most bitter 
 persecution of the Christians, so that this reign is 
 called the Era of Martyrs." — Barnes. 
 
 "In Rome the Christians were regarded as 
 simply a new Jewish sect. And when, in the mid- 
 dle of the first century, a disturbance arose among 
 the Jews of Rome, both Jews and Christians were 
 banished by the emperor Claudius. Nero repre- 
 sented the popular hostility to Christianity. He 
 was believed to have set fire to Rome, where the 
 flames had full sway for nine days. He threw the 
 blame, however, on the Christians, and resorted to 
 the most barbarous methods to show his rage. He 
 even had some Christians smeared with pitch and 
 burned alive, while he caused others to be sewn in 
 the skins of wild beasts and thrown out to the dogs. 
 The persecution continued until his death. Under 
 Domitian (A. D. 81-96) a milder policy of hostility 
 was observed, the opposition to the Christians 
 being chiefly confined to exile and seizure of their 
 property. 
 
 "The twelve tables of the Roman law forbade 
 the existence of foreign faiths within the domin- 
 ions, but the habit had been to conciliate the con- 
 quered provinces by toleration of the existing re- 
 ligions. The appearance of the Christians, how- 
 ever, was the signal for revival of the old 
 prohibition. The bonds uniting the Christians 
 were close. Their separate services were declared 
 an act of hostility to the country. They were ac- 
 cused of disobedience to the laws, and of a spirit 
 ripe at any moment for insurrection. They were 
 charged with immoral practices in their services. 
 
Lens of Prophecy. 145 
 
 All popular calamities, such as earthquakes, inun- 
 dations, pestilence, and defeat in war, were attrib- 
 uted to them. A popular proverb ran thus : ^Deus 
 non pluit — due ad ChristianosF ^It does not rain 
 — lead us against the Christians !' Tertullian has 
 left this record of the Roman habit of charging 
 the disciples of Christ with all possible calamities : 
 ^If the Tiber overflow its banks, if the Nile does 
 not water the fields, if the clouds refuse rain, if 
 the earth shake, if famine or storms prevail, the 
 cry always is, "Pitch the Christians to the 
 lions V^ ' " — Eurst. 
 
 So, for the first few centuries of the Christian 
 era, the church suffered great affliction. It was 
 bathed in the blood of persecution, as set forth in 
 our historical quotations, and as depicted in 
 prophecy as well. 
 
 They were helped by "a little help," when Con- 
 stantine made the Christian religion the religion of 
 the state. But this ushered in the apostasy of the 
 church, which in time brought again oppression, 
 persecution and death upon the church for long, 
 long centuries. Many joined themselves to the 
 church, when it was made a state religion by Con- 
 stantine, for its political influence ("many shall 
 join themselves unto them with flatteries" — v. 34). 
 
 "And some of them that be wise shall fall, to refine them, 
 and to purify, and to make them white, even to the time 
 of the end: because it is yet for the time appointed" (v. 35). 
 
 Those who knew the will of God, and performed 
 it, were made martyrs for Christ. They were for 
 the sanctification of the church, the strengthening 
 
146 A Look Through the 
 
 of its faith and the foundation of its reformation 
 and restoration in the world, unto the end ; that is, 
 "after the tribulation of those days [under Eome, 
 from Nero to the last pope who is yet to inflict 
 punishment upon the church at the "time of the 
 end" of Romanism] the sun shall be darkened, and 
 the moon shall not give her light, and the stars 
 shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heav- 
 ens shall be shaken : and then shall appear the sign 
 of the Son of Man in heaven [the sign is the union 
 of the church of Christ, when the Bride shall make 
 herself ready, and the stars of denominationalism 
 are fallen, by the renewed persecution and mar- 
 tyrdom in the church, when the moon will not give 
 her light, etc.] : and then shall all the tribes of the 
 earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man 
 coming in the clouds of heaven with power and 
 great glory. And he shall send forth his angels 
 with a great sound of trumpet, and they shall 
 gather together his elect from the four winds, from 
 one end of heaven to the other." Christ's light (the 
 sun) will not shine, for the medium will be dark- 
 ened. The church (moon) will be in blood. Per- 
 secution will cultivate sympathy and love and 
 union among the people of God. 
 
 The very language here locates this period. It 
 is not the tribulations which came upon Jerusa- 
 lem when Titus besieged it. The world had not 
 been widely evangelized at that time. Hence the 
 elect could not be called together from the four 
 winds. It has reference to the period immediately 
 after the sore persecution yet to come upon the 
 w^orld, from the Eoman head, which events, by 
 
Lens of Prophecy. 147 
 
 virtue of their gravity, will cement the people of 
 God, and point them to the events in hand. 
 
 "Even the time of the end f that is, in 1932 to 
 1968, the times of Gentile fulfillment, and the com- 
 ing in of the Jewish period, to the return of Christ, 
 when they shall say : "Blessed is he that cometh in 
 the name of the Lord." 
 
 "It is yet for the time appointed" (v. 35). 
 
 God pointed this out in the announcement of 
 the 2,300 days, shown in a former chapter. 
 
 "And the king shall do according to his will; and he 
 shall exalt himself above every god, and shall speak mar- 
 vellous things against the God of gods: and he shall prosper 
 till the indigi^ation be accomplished; for that which is de- 
 termined shall be done." 
 
 This king — the king of the north now — is the 
 pope. He has done all the text has announced for 
 him. He has done according to his will. He has 
 exalted and magnified himself above every god, and 
 spoken marvelous things against the God of gods, 
 with fearless boldness. He is the blasphemer of 
 blasphemers. He is the revealed person of the 
 second chapter of II. Thessalonians. 
 
 "The pope, or head of the church, assumed com- 
 mand and authority over all the princes and king- 
 doms of Christendom. He regarded the empire 
 of Germany, and all other Christian kingdoms, as 
 Papal fiefs. From the eleventh to the sixteenth 
 century the Papal power was at its height. Dur- 
 ing that period the power of the pope was so great 
 that the most powerful monarch of Europe could 
 be subjected to the greatest humiliation by His 
 
148 A Look Through the 
 
 Holiness. The most powerful, the most illustrious 
 and the ablest of the popes, and the one who raised 
 the Papacy above every other power in Christen- 
 dom, was Gregory VII. (Hildebrand), who com- 
 pelled Henry IV., king of Germany, to come to 
 Italy and stand three days and three nights bare- 
 footed and bareheaded, without tasting a mouthful 
 of food. 
 
 "The two punishments by the influence of which 
 the pope endeavored to maintain his authority 
 were the interdict and the excommunication. The 
 Papal punishment by the interdict was forbidding, 
 or interdicting, divine service to be publicly per- 
 formed. When a nation was under an interdict, 
 the churches were all closed, the bells were not 
 rung, the dead were thrown into ditches and holes 
 without any funeral ceremonies, diversions of all 
 sorts were forbidden, and everything presented an 
 appearance of gloom and mourning. An interdict 
 was leveled at a village, a city, a state, or a nation ; 
 but an excommunication was directed against in- 
 dividuals. A person excommunicated by the pop 3 
 was regarded as unholy and polluted; and every 
 person was forbidden to come near him or render 
 him any friendly assistance. If the sentence of 
 excommunication could be enforced, as in most 
 cases it could, the proudest and most powerful 
 monarch could become, by a single decree of the 
 Holy See, a miserable outcast. 
 
 "The power and influence of the clergy during 
 the Middle Ages were almost as great and import- 
 ant as was that of the nobles and the princes. Be- 
 sides their ecclesiastical dignities, the superior 
 
Lens of Prophecy. 149 
 
 clergy often held the most important offices of the 
 state; and by degrees great numbers of the arch- 
 bishops, bishops and abbots acquired extensive pos- 
 sessions, so that they finally became as powerful 
 and influential as most of the princes. The mag- 
 nificent cathedrals and abbeys, adorned with all 
 the productions of art, fully attested the greatness 
 of the ecclesiastical residences." — Hist. World, III, 
 With the information history affords it is use- 
 less for us to dwell here upon the titles and preten- 
 sions of the pope of Rome. The page is an iniqui- 
 tous and blasphemous one. The rot and ruin which 
 lurk in the halls and gilded palaces of the Papal 
 system is known to all. The usurper of the divine 
 scepter, which governs the human heart, has been 
 abundantly depicted in prophecy. Our treatise on 
 Revelation has more fully dealt with the subject 
 of the Papal institutions. 
 
 "And he shall prosper till the indignation be accom- 
 plished" (v. 36). 
 
 He, the pope, shall prosper and do wickedly 
 until the Jewish indignation is overpast, and that, 
 we think, includes the evangelization and restora- 
 tion of the same; and, of course, will be after the 
 adduction of the evidence which will convict and 
 lead them into restoration ; to-wit : the first resur- 
 rection, or the resurrection of the martyred dead, 
 and all those who have not the "mark of the beast, 
 or his image." 
 
 "For that which is determined shall be done" (v. 36). 
 
 The evangelisation of the world, the restoration 
 of the Jew, and the coming of our blessed King. 
 
150 A Look Through the 
 
 The dark period from the cross to His coming is 
 for the refining, purifying and sanctification (v. 
 35) of the saints of God. 
 
 "Neither will he regard the gods of his fathers" (v. 37). 
 
 The pope will not regard ancient mythology, 
 the religion of the emperors prior to Constantine. 
 The pope is an emperor and successor to the Roman 
 emperors, political. 
 
 "Nor the desire of women" (v. 37). 
 
 The priesthood of the Roman institution do not 
 marry, and the lawful and natural desire of women 
 for domestic life is disregarded, so far as this king 
 and his supporters are personally concerned. 
 
 "The marriage of the clergy was almost univer- 
 sal. The canons of the Roman Church had long be- 
 fore enforced the celibacy of the clergy. In the reply 
 of Pope Nicholas I. to the Bulgarians (A. D. 860), 
 in the conclusions of the Synod of Worms (868), 
 in Leo VII.'s Epistle to the Gauls and Germans 
 (938), in the Councils of Mentz and Metz in 888, 
 in the decrees of Augsburg (952), and in Benedict 
 YIII.'s speech and the decrees at Pavia, in 1020, 
 the practice of clerical marriage was severely con- 
 demned. The entire official record of the church 
 for two centuries, but not before, had been against 
 the marriage of the clergy. Gregory, before any- 
 thing else engaged his attention, set himself to 
 work to correct the custom. But he little dreamed 
 of the opposition which he had to encounter. His 
 canons were met with the bitterest opposition. In 
 Germany the opposition was intense. In France 
 the Archbishop of Rouen was pelted with stones 
 
Lens of Prophecy. 151 
 
 when attempting to enforce the new Gregorian re- 
 form. In Normandy many churches had become 
 heritable property to the sons and daughters of 
 priests." — Burst. 
 
 "But in his place [oflBce, margin] shall he honor the god 
 of fortresses" (v. 38). 
 
 The army was the strength of his support. It 
 is true of all emperors and kings. The god of 
 battle he would honor. He would grant that favor 
 which would place the military in his power, and 
 enthrone himself among the nations. Perpetuating 
 himself by force. Wrong,^ if perpetuated, must be 
 supported by force. Right always stands erect of 
 its own strength, and against it "there is no law.'' 
 
 "And a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honor 
 with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant 
 things" (v. 38). 
 
 It is the priestcraft, or priesthood. The Papal 
 head could not do his work of infamy without a 
 politico-ecclesiastic officer. 
 
 "And he shall deal with the strongest fortresses by the 
 help of a strange god" (v. 39). 
 
 The strongest governments shall be taken by 
 the surreptitious work of the priesthood, by the 
 aid of the confessional, penance and purgatory, 
 and with the license of indulgences. 
 
 "Whosoever acknowledges him he will increase with 
 glory" (v. 39). 
 
 The politician who bows to Rome has his re- 
 ward. It has ever been so. America to-day is 
 square-toed on the danger-line. God pity America ! 
 
152 A Look Through the 
 
 "And he shall cause them to rule over many, and shall 
 divide the land for a price" (v. 39). 
 
 This is European history. For us, too, the time 
 seems near "when no man can buy or sell except 
 he has the mark of the beast in his hand or in his 
 forehead " ( Rev. xiii. ) . 
 
 "And at the time of the end shall the king of the south 
 contend with him: and the king of the north shall come 
 against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horse- 
 men, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the 
 countries, and shall overflow and pass through. He shall 
 enter also the glorious land, and many countries shall be 
 overthrown; but these shall be delivered out of his hand, 
 Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon. 
 He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and 
 the land of Egypt shall not escape" (vs. 40-42). 
 
 Mohammedanism is the king of the south now. 
 Since the Papal power is broken, the ten divisions 
 of Europe are the king of the north (so far as tem- 
 poral rulership is concerned or power political). 
 They constitute the toes of Nebuchadnezzar's great 
 image of Gentile supremacy and are all there is 
 now left of it. These shall go against Mohammed, 
 or the Turkish Empire. The glorious land is Pales- 
 tine, and herein will there be made a way for 
 Jewish restoration. These events occur "at the 
 time of the end," a period we have already set 
 forth, and will occur just before Israel shall be 
 ready for restoration to her ancient home land, 
 where she shall prepare for the coming of her King, 
 and when at last her indignation will be overpast, 
 and when the new Zion shall welcome our Lord 
 and King. 
 
Lens of Prophecy. 153 
 
 "But these shall be delivered out of his hand, Edom, 
 and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon. He shall 
 stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land 
 of Egypt shall not escape. But he shall have power over the 
 treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious 
 things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall 
 be at his steps" (vs. 41-43). 
 
 This is the result of the encounter. Edom and 
 Moab, by escaping out of European hands, perhaps 
 indicates the geographical location of the Moham- 
 medan seat of power, being driven thence from Con- 
 stantinople. Europe will subdue the Khedive of 
 Egypt and absorb the wealth of that fertile land. 
 There will be the harassing neighbors of northern 
 Africa who will "be at his steps." 
 
 "But tidings out of the east and out of the north shall 
 trouble him: and he shall go forth with great fury to destroy 
 and utterly to make away many. And he shall plant the 
 tents of his palace between the sea and the glorious holy 
 mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help 
 him" (vs. 44, 45). 
 
 The East and North, the Chinese and Japanese 
 with Russia, will interest Europe (the land of the 
 king of the north ) , and the conflict will end in the 
 destruction of the last of Roman supremacy. 
 
154 A Look Through the 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 (Dan. xii.) 
 
 "And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince 
 which standeth for the children of thy people: and there 
 shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was 
 a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people 
 shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in 
 the book" (v. 1). 
 
 This time is the time of the last crisis : when the 
 world shall be marshaled in Asia ; when missionary- 
 enterprise and religious reform have girdled the 
 earth. It will be the final contest between the 
 forces of light and the forces of darkness, between 
 the right and the wrong, between the mighty rulers 
 controlling the destinies of men in the world. The 
 result? Victory for Christ. The emancipation 
 of the elect, and a thousand years of glorious and 
 unmolested joy in the Lord. 
 
 "And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth 
 shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and 
 everlasting contempt" (v. 2). 
 
 This is the first resurrection, as we shall now 
 set forth in diagram, extending to 1941, which will 
 be fully explained. (For diagram, see next page.) 
 
 This we have repeatedly explained, in Revela- 
 tion, and in our preceding chapters here. It is 
 clear that the expression, "many of them that sleep 
 in the dust of the earth shall awake," does not com- 
 prehend all that sleep. Some will be resurrected, 
 not all. Daniel will stand up in 1941, at the ex- 
 
Lens of Prophecy. 
 
 155 
 
156 A Look Through the 
 
 piration of the 1,335 years, and it will not be much 
 of a supposition to suggest it as the time wlien 
 ^Unany shall awake/' as expressed in verse 2. 
 
 But of those resurrected in the first resurrec- 
 tion, there will be the good and the bad, as ex- 
 pressed by the words "some to everlasting life, and 
 some to shame and everlasting contempt." But not 
 the universally bad will be raised. The instruction 
 here to Daniel, it will not be forgotten, is concern- 
 ing his people (Daniel's — the Jews) in the latter 
 days. The message, therefore, is to the Jew, and the 
 Jew only. The burden of all of DanieFs visions 
 was concerning the Jews as to their destiny under 
 God's providence. We may take instruction from 
 it, however. In the first resurrection, as shown by 
 John, were only the Gentile good, who had not the 
 mark of the beast or his image, and those of the 
 martyrs of our Lord. It is clear, therefore, the 
 purpose of the two books was, the one for the Jew, 
 the other for the Gentile. By John's explanation, 
 the second resurrection will contain the good and 
 the bad, who are judged by the deeds that are done 
 in the body, and they will not be justified by purity 
 of faith and loyalty to the truth. 
 
 The comprehension of this text is the distinction 
 ever made in the Word — the good and the bad. 
 There is no mixing of the two classes. No phenom- 
 enon in history, or event of nature, will ever recon- 
 cile the two elements, or cause God to forget his 
 covenants with men. The line is drawn in his law, 
 and out of it he will grant honor to whom honor is 
 due, and shame, confusion and contempt to those 
 who do not the works of his law. 
 
Lens of Prophecy. 157 
 
 It is the view of the writer that all the Jews 
 who lived prior to the cross will be raised at this 
 period. But only of the Gentiles, such as we have 
 indicated, who have flourished since the cross, and 
 who have kept faith with Christ alone. Why? 
 Because the Jewish institution was in the form of 
 a government. They were looking for a temporal 
 Kuler — the Christ. They understood but dimly the 
 promise. He came, indeed, but net in the measure 
 of their expectations. As a people they rejected 
 him. They were cut off, yet not without hope. 
 They were by promise to enjoy a dispensation un- 
 der the Messiah; "blindness hath fallen on them 
 in part until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled." 
 The Gentile (Koman) has had a fair opportunity. 
 Soon the veil which blinds the Jew will be lifted; 
 darkness will be entirely removed, and grace and 
 truth will be extended to them in full measure. 
 There will be shame and contempt on those who 
 knew the right, and did it not, but rejected the 
 truth, the love and the mercy of God. But there 
 will be the glorious realization of fulfilled dreams 
 to all who loved and searched for the truth; to 
 them who accepted willingly and anxiously the mer- 
 cies of God and his Christ. There will, therefore, 
 be two companies on earth during the millennium, 
 as shown by John in Revelation. The evil com- 
 pany will be destroyed when they attempt to be- 
 siege the city of God; fire will come down out of 
 heaven and consume them. 
 
 "And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of 
 the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness 
 as the stars for ever and ever" (v. 3). 
 
158 A Look Through the 
 
 In that period of bliss and light, how the 
 teachers (margin) shall illuminate the firmament 
 of that heavenly government ; they who accept the 
 truth shall enjoy that era of righteousness and 
 peace and love. While those whose flaming zeal 
 turned many to righteousness, shall be to the eye 
 of those who are saved through their influence 
 as the stars, or as burning suns in the vaulted 
 heavens for ever and ever. 
 
 "But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the 
 book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and 
 fro, and knowledge shall be increased" (v. 4). 
 
 But with Daniel, the vision of the future can 
 only be realized in dream. He may look through 
 the lens of prophetic vision and see the transpiring 
 events of the future, but herewith he must be con- 
 tent until the end of the indignation of his people. 
 
 "Shut up the words, and seal the book." Here 
 is the sealed book, perhaps, which so many preach- 
 ers have been looking for. It was a sealed book 
 to the world from its writing to its fulfillment. 
 The wise have ever understood it as the events 
 transpired agreeably to its forecast. Ever so far 
 as it was unfulfilled, it was sealed in a sense. It 
 will only wholly and fully be understood when the 
 end of the indignation is accomplished. 
 
 From out the night of ancient and medieval 
 times, knowledge has increased with an awakened 
 world. Men have become more cosmopolitan ; have 
 "run to and fro;" explored the ends of the world, 
 until it is but a pleasure trip to circumvent the 
 earth. Beyond the narrow limits of Palestine and 
 Babylon, the race has expanded until new conti- 
 
Lens of Prophecy. 159 
 
 nents teem with life and civilization. Learning has 
 been extended to the minds of men, and inventions 
 from men of humble birth and standing have been 
 given back to the world, and their utility has revo- 
 lutionized society and civilizations. Since Daniel's 
 day learning as profound and deep as earth, as 
 high as heaven, as broad as creation, has marked 
 her impress on the rounds of many centuries. It 
 is a source of satisfaction that we to-day live in the 
 culmination of this accumulated wealth — material, 
 intellectual, spiritual — and these finishing events 
 of a long and weary destiny for our race. 
 
 We have effaced all boundary lines to thought. 
 Have explored the earth below and the heavens 
 above. Kighteousness, liberty, universality reign 
 over us, and in the hearts of all loyal to divine 
 truth. Soon, soon, let us believe, the mystery of 
 mysteries shall be accomplished, and we shall see 
 Jesus face to face, glorified and magnified, in the 
 presence of the glory which was his before the 
 worlds were framed. 
 
 "Then I Daniel looked, and, behold, there stood other two, 
 the one on the brink of the river on this side^ and the other 
 on the brink of the river on that side. And one said to the 
 man clothed in linen, which was above the waters of the 
 river, How long shall it be to the end of these wonders?" 
 (vs. 5, 6). 
 
 In chapter x. we have read the vision wherein 
 appears "a certain man," described as being 
 "clothed in linen ; whose loins were girded with 
 pure gold of UpLaz: his body also was like the 
 beryl, and his face as the appearance of lightn'ng, 
 and his eyes as lamps of fire, and his arms and his 
 
160 A Look Through the 
 
 feet like in color to burnished brass, and the voice 
 of his words like the voice of a multitude." 
 
 Now, here are "other two," standing one on 
 either lip of the river. One of these personages 
 "said to the man clothed in linen, which was from 
 above the waters of the river. How long shall it be 
 to the end of these wonders?" The vision occurred 
 on one of the rivers tributary to the Euphrates. 
 Waters in prophecy represent peoples. In motion, 
 it must, therefore, represent people in motion. The 
 Euphrates of the East, as we have explained in 
 Revelation, becomes typical of the stream of hu- 
 manity in its western emigration. The tributary 
 to this stream must, in vision, represent a tributary 
 migratory stream to the great Euphrates of emi- 
 gration. And so the Jews have become tributary, 
 starting from Daniel's time, to the general current 
 that made up the human Euphrates; marking the 
 confluence of these tributaries to the great stream 
 of migration in Macedonia, Greece and Rome, it 
 flowed westward beyond the continents and seas, 
 and is now streaming onward toward Jerusalem, 
 hastening its circumvention of the earth, to the 
 general consummation of the world's great prob- 
 lem. See "From Patmos to the Holy City" for the 
 prophetic Euphrates. And thus we see the return- 
 ing word shall not be void, but will accomplish 
 that whereunto it was sent. 
 
 To our mind, the one clothed in royal linen is 
 the Christ. And to him was propounded the ques- 
 tion, the same interrogatory we have asked and 
 tried to solve in our investigations of prophecy: 
 How long shall it be to the end of these vronders? 
 
Lens of Prophecy. 161 
 
 Henceforth let us be interested in this great prob- 
 lem. Let us busy ourselves in the redemption of 
 the race while the time is ours to work. 
 
 "And I heard the man clothed in linen, which 'was above 
 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 for a time, times, and an half; and when 
 they have made an end of breaking in pieces the power of 
 the holy people, all these things shall be finished" (v. 7). 
 
 This is the declaration of Him who knows all 
 things. He says, "It shall be for a time, times and 
 an half." A time representing one year, the plural 
 of time (or times) would be indicative of two 
 years, whilst an half time represents but one-half 
 year. The total time then given would be three and 
 one-half years, which, reduced to days, and they 
 symbolical of so much prophetic time, would aggre- 
 gate 1,260 years. 
 
 The time has been duly fixed for the finishing of 
 these prophetic wonders. We have illustrated on 
 diagram these periods. The first time limit extends 
 from 606 A. D., the exaltation of the man of sin as 
 the universal bishop of* the world, to 1866, the 
 breaking of his temporal power. 
 
 The historic marvels of Gentile supremacy end 
 within the limits of the three periods here given to 
 Daniel, the last two viewed in the tw^elfth verse of 
 this chapter. When the Roman hand "shall have 
 accomplished to scatter the power of the holy peo- 
 ple, all these things shall be finished.'' Also : 
 
 "And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall 
 be led away captive into all nations; and Jerusalem shall be 
 
162 A Look Through the 
 
 trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles 
 be fulfilled" (Luke xxi. 24). 
 
 Once more : 
 
 "What then? That which Israel seeketh for, that he ob- 
 tained not; but the election obtained it, and the rest were 
 hardened: according as it is written, God gave them a spirit 
 of stupor, eyes that should not see, and ears that they should 
 not hear, unto this very day. . . . Did they stumble that 
 they might fall? God forbid: but by their fall salvation is 
 come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy. 
 Now if their fall is the riches of the world, and their loss 
 the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fulness?" 
 (Rom. xi. 7-12). 
 
 "And they also, if they continue not in their unbelief, 
 shall be grafted in: for God is able to graft them in again. 
 . . . For I would not, brethren, have you ignorant of this 
 mystery, lest ye be wise in your own conceits, that a harden- 
 ing in part hath befallen Israel, until the fulness of the Gen- 
 tiles be come in; and so all Israel shall be saved: even as it 
 is written, 
 
 There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer; 
 He shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: 
 And this is my covenant unto them. 
 When I shall take away their sins. 
 
 "As touching the gospel they are enemies for your sakes: 
 but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers' 
 sake. For the gifts and the calling of God are without re- 
 pentance. For as ye in time past were disobedient to God, 
 but now have obtained mercy by their disobedience, even so 
 have these also now been disobedient, that by the mercy 
 shown to you they also may now obtain mercy. For God 
 hath shut up all unto disobedience, that he might have mercy 
 upon all" (Rom. xi. 23-32). 
 
 Daniel heard what had been answered concern- 
 ing the time of the fulfillment of these wonders, but 
 understood not. 
 
Lens of Prophecy. 163 
 
 "And I heard, but I understood not: then said I, O my 
 lord, what shall be the issue of these things? And he said. 
 Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are shut up and sealed 
 till the time of the end. Many shall purify themselves, and 
 make themselves white, and be refined; but the wicked shall 
 do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand: but 
 they that be wise shall understand" (vs. 8-10). 
 
 It was not possible that Daniel could understand 
 the things of the long future in his day. The stu- 
 dent of history in our day can understand. For 
 him, and for the people of antiquity, it was a book 
 closed up and sealed, but its truths were to be 
 opened at the time of the end. 
 
 "Many shall be purified, and made white, and 
 be refined." This was done in Christian evangeliza- 
 tion. But it seems not to affect the general wicked- 
 ness of the world. The wicked still do wickedly. 
 But they do not understand how great these won- 
 ders, and how near to their fullness of time, be- 
 cause their hearts are not inclined towards God, 
 and hence have but little faith in his word, and no 
 inclination to investigate its truths. 
 
 The Christian system not having been insti- 
 tuted in DanieFs day, it was impossible for the men 
 of that period to understand it and the Roman 
 apostasy. They stood at a period prior even to the 
 supremacy of temporal Rome. But those who 
 should pass through these experiences, and wisely 
 fathom their meaning, should understand the ful- 
 fillment of the same. In this sense we understand 
 the words of this prophecy were sealed, or shut up. 
 
 The cleansing work of grace through the gospel 
 of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, should per- 
 
164 A Look Through the 
 
 form its work of ablution. Many should be re- 
 deemed, cleansed and purified by it, but the wicked 
 would oppose the truth, destroy its work of grace 
 and healing, would torture its meaning, and change 
 its office and purpose, its commands and ordi- 
 nances. Those who would thus maliciously destroy 
 the pure words of truth, are in no position to under- 
 stand the beautiful portrayal of prophetic light; 
 they do not, can not, understand (v. 10) . But they 
 who love God's word, obey the ordinances of his 
 house, spurn the evil and love righteousness, are in 
 a position and a condition receptive to truth, and 
 are capable of investigating the secrets of prophetic 
 truth, and they shall understand (v. 10). 
 
 For this, then, in the Christian dispensation, 
 as was done also in the Jewish, "the daily sacrifice" 
 was taken away. "The abomination that maketh 
 desolate" was set up. The abomination that mak- 
 eth desolate the soul was set up in Pope Boniface 
 III. He took away "the daily sacrifice" from the 
 altars of the human soul, while desolate and 
 ruined ; the temple of humanity was trodden down 
 under priestcraft and cunning. 
 
 One abomination was temporal, and against the 
 Jewish nation or kingdom. The other, spiritual, 
 and against the new Israel of God, or the spiritual 
 kingdom. When did the spiritual kingdom begin? 
 On the day of Pentecost. The abomination could 
 not be set up over the spiritual, until the apostasy 
 began, for hitherto the kingdom of Christ was in 
 the hearts of men. There was the dispersion of the 
 Christians before Kome assailed Jerusalem. But 
 both abominations proceeded alike from Rome, 
 
Lens of Prophecy. 165 
 
 Then came the spiritual abomination of desola- 
 tion, when the visual head, ostensibly, of the spir- 
 itual kingdom was established, and then only was 
 recognized, when his withering decree became oper- 
 ative, and oppressive to human liberty, in the elect- 
 ive right of worship. This time we have again and 
 again set forth. All Christendom then felt his 
 power, when elevated to the horizon of their vis- 
 ion. It is well understood and known that this 
 agent of iniquity shut out God, assumed to be his 
 vicegerent, took the pardoning power of God unto 
 himself, and dispensed religious tyranny, oppres- 
 sion, murder. He precipitated the darkest night 
 known to earth, and under its cover the man of sin 
 was revealed, who usurped the throne and office of 
 Deity, dragged truth from the zenith of the soul, 
 and staked his standards of sin and death and 
 darkness in the beautiful temple of human hope. 
 In each successor abides the incarnated demon of 
 the pit. 
 
 "And from the time that the continual burnt offering 
 shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh deso- 
 late set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety 
 days. Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand 
 three hundred and five and thirty days. But go thou thy way 
 till the end be; for thou shalt rest, and shalt stand in thy 
 lot, at the end of the days" (vs. 12, 13). 
 
 As has been explained, and by reference to the 
 diagram, the first fulfillment was the breaking of 
 this temporal power of the pope. Victor Emman- 
 uel and General Garibaldi began in 1866 what they 
 consummated in 1871. The pope then, as now, con- 
 sidered himself a prisoner in the Vatican, but he 
 
166 A Look Through the 
 
 expects — and we think he will again attain to — 
 temporal authority through some politico-ecclesi- 
 astic movement, pointing to a reclothing with po- 
 litical authority apostate religion; we think the 
 Roman religion will obtain in Italy, again to be 
 broken in the fullness of Gentile supremacy in 
 1932. In 1941 Daniel is to stand up, and the writer 
 believes, and has so stated, the first resurrection 
 will occur, in which the Jews living prior to the 
 cross shall be resurrected, as also all worthy Chris- 
 tians as before explained. But for Daniel's time 
 it was an unsolved problem; he must turn to his 
 duties and his responsibilities, and should ^^go his 
 way till the end/' He must ^^rest/' fall asleep in 
 death, but not without hope, for he must stand in 
 his lot — when? ^^At the end of the dags.'' 
 
 May we who regard not the beast, and despise 
 his image, revealed or unrevealed, so strive to keep 
 ourselves above and beyond worldly ecclesiasti- 
 cism, that we shall have no marks of apostasy upon 
 our spiritual person that will disbar us from stand- 
 ing in the first resurrection at the ^^end of the 
 days/' 
 
 God grant that the blood-washed throng of the 
 Restoration may never share in unbelief , disobedi- 
 ence or apostasy; that it shall be preserved blame- 
 less unto the coming of our Lord and Saviour ; and 
 that as individuals we may keep watch, guarding 
 thought and act, that we may be free from the very 
 taint of apostate ecclesiastic contamination, as it is 
 known in prophecy and history. 
 
 Let the lens of the revealed Word be applied 
 to the spiritual eye, that we may safely guard 
 
Lens of Prophecy. 167 
 
 against approaching evil; as well may we remem- 
 ber, "Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty." 
 
 "Sooner or later the wrong will be righted, 
 
 Sooner or later the wicked will fail; 
 
 Sooner or later the dark will be lighted. 
 
 Sooner or later the good will prevail. 
 
 "Sooner or later the load will be lighter. 
 Sooner or later the struggle will cease; 
 Sooner or later the sky will be brighter, 
 Spanned by the beautiful rainbow of peace. 
 
 "Sooner or later the doubts and the dangers 
 
 All will be over, forever and aye; 
 Sooner or later will travel-worn strangers 
 Enter the home at the end of the way. 
 
 "Sooner or later God will reward us 
 For all that we do." 
 
 — Jessie H. Brown. 
 
168 A Look Through the 
 
 A CHAPTER ON THE JEW. 
 
 "And their seed shall be known among the Gentiles, and 
 their offspring among the people: all that see them shall 
 acknowledge them, that they are the seed which the Lord 
 hath blessed" (Isa. Ixi. 9). 
 
 The Jew is the miracle of the ages. Marvelous 
 and wonderful are the favors that have been shown 
 him ; but, to us, he himself outmiracles all miracles 
 done unto him. Though deep the ignominy and 
 shame that have overwhelmed him, yet glorious has 
 been his Supremacy in wisdom, law and govern- 
 ment. Equity and justice were vouchsafed unto 
 all, and the nation rejoiced together for all the 
 beauty, strength and order their system as a gov- 
 ernment had evolved to them. Once the nations 
 came to them for wisdom, instruction and law ; now 
 they are divided, hissed and scorned in their defeat, 
 humiliation and degradation. Scattered as they 
 are to the four corners of the earth, distributed 
 among the peoples of the world, all national bonds 
 and ties erased, nothing to mark and hold them in 
 common, or to collect them in any great center or 
 land division, yet everywhere you behold him, there 
 is the Jeio. The mark of Jehovah is upon him, and 
 he holds his distinctive title as a peculiar people. 
 His identity is everywhere known. He is discerned 
 by all. His peculiarities are his own, and can not 
 be assumed by another. His face, his features, his 
 mind and his thought carry the mold and bias of 
 generations long gone by. 
 
Lens of Prophecy. 169 
 
 Other peoples have been overthrown, dragged 
 into captivity, subjugated and scattered abroad, 
 but they have become lost in the great sea of hu- 
 manity. After centuries of dispersement, as hope- 
 less fugitives, scattering everywhere, having no 
 shepherd or visible head or ruler, they still retain 
 their distinctive identity as a people. They do not 
 amalgamate with the people of the various nations 
 in which they drift and commingle. "All that see 
 them, acknowledge them the seed which the Lord 
 hath blessed.'' 
 
 God will keep the covenant he made with Abra- 
 ham, with Isaac and with Jacob, for his oath's 
 sake, and for the sake of the salvation and redemp- 
 tion of the people he loved, and for the honor and 
 glory of the strong lineage through which the 
 blessed Prince was given to the world. And "when 
 the Lord shall build up Zion, he shall appear in his 
 glory" to reign over them, and "all who love his 
 appearing." God is never defeated in his purposes. 
 The Lord Jesus Christ is the King of the Jews, and 
 he will reign over them and govern them. As 
 adopted children, we, too, shall enjoy the glorious 
 luxury of citizenship in the most gracious and holy 
 empire of truth and holiness, which Christ shall 
 establish. 
 
 The Lord has said by the voice of the prophet : 
 "I have created him [Jacob] for my glory, I have 
 formed him ; yea, I have made him." Again : "This 
 people I have formed for myself; they shall show 
 forth my praise." 
 
 "But now thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, 
 and he that formed thee, O Israel: fear not, for I have re- 
 
170 A Look Through the 
 
 deemed thee; I have called thee by thy name, thou art mine. 
 When thou passest through the waters, I will he with thee; 
 and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when 
 thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; 
 neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. For I am the Lobd 
 thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour" (Isa. xliii. 1-3). 
 
 "Waters," in prophecy, we have shown to repre- 
 sent peoples. The Jew has passed through the peo- 
 ples of many nations, and God has been with him 
 to preserve the identity of the race, though he may 
 be unconscious of the divine overshadowing. He 
 has floated in many migratory streams (through 
 the rivers), and he has not been overflowed, or lost 
 from sight in the mighty onpush of the great 
 streams of humanity among the families of the 
 earth. He has been subjected to divers persecu- 
 tions (walkest through the fires), but no hurt has 
 come to the royal blood of that distinguished lin- 
 eage. Persecutions have not consumed them. They 
 are preserved as a people. This preservation is for 
 their salvation, and for the glory and honor of God, 
 no doubt. 
 
 The Jew has been as sinful as human flesh. 
 But that gives room and occasion for the mercy of 
 God. Mercy would not be required if none had 
 sinned. Like all the flesh of men, Israel had erred, 
 gone astray. God reproved, rebuked, chastised and 
 finally sent them into captivity, and placed his "in- 
 dignation" over them for 2,520 years. It was done 
 to teach them and us that God is our Lawgiver 
 and our Judge, to whom we must account; the 
 King to whom the homage and devotion of our 
 souls belong. 
 
Lens of Prophecy, 171 
 
 "Hear, ye deaf, and look, ye blind, that ye may see. Who 
 is blind, but my servant? or deaf, as my messenger that I 
 send? who is blind as he that is at peace with me, and blind 
 as the Lord's servant? Then seest many things, but thou ob- 
 servest not; his ears are open, but he heareth not. It pleased 
 the Lord, for his righteousness' sake, to magnify the law, and 
 make it honorable. But this is a people robbed and spoiled; 
 they are all of them snared in holes, and they are hid in 
 prison houses: they are for a prey, and none delivereth; for a 
 spoil, and none saith. Restore. Who is there among you that 
 will give ear to this? that will hearken and hear for the 
 time to come? Who gave Jacob for a spoil, and Israel to the 
 robbers? did not the Lord? he against whom we have sinned, 
 and in whose ways they would not walk, neither were they 
 obedient unto his law. Therefore he poured upon him the 
 fury of his anger, and the strength of battle; and it set him 
 on fire round about, yet he knew not; and it burned him, yet 
 he laid it not to heart" (Isa. xlii. 18-25). 
 
 While God turned his people over for chastise- 
 ment, to become subordinate to Gentile supremacy, 
 they were dealt with unkindly and severely. They 
 were robbed, spoiled and enslaved. For this the 
 Gentile world must make recompense. 
 
 **And they shall spoil those that spoiled them, and rob 
 those that robbed them, saith the Lord God" (Ezek. xxxix. 10). 
 
 "Thou Shalt also suck the milk of the nations, and shalt 
 suck the breast of kings: and thou shalt know that I the 
 Lord am thy saviour, and thy redeemer, the Mighty One of 
 Jacob" (Isa. Ix. 16). 
 
 Here, now, we have pointed out clearly unto us 
 the Jewish wisdom and sagacity in the accumula- 
 tion of wealth in these last days of their "indigna- 
 tion," and just prior to their returning to build 
 again their homes in Palestine and to beautify 
 Jerusalem. 
 
172 A Look Through the 
 
 "And strangers shall bnild up thy walls, and their kings 
 shall minister unto them: for in my wrath I smote thee, but 
 in my favor have I had mercy on thee" (Isa. Ix. 10). 
 
 "For the nation and kingdom that will not serve thee 
 shall perish; yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted" (Isa. 
 Ix. 12). 
 
 The word, or phrase, ^Hhoii. shalt rob/' in these 
 prophetic utterances must not be taken in the sense 
 of the commandment, ^Hhou shalt T but in the pro- 
 phetic usage; the things set forth which would be 
 done are in the potential sense rather than the im- 
 peratiye. The Jew is not robbing because God 
 said, ^Hhou shalt roh/' In the prophecies he says 
 thou shalt, because it was the very thing they 
 would do. 
 
 "For I the Lobd love judgment, I hate robbery with in- 
 iquity" (Isa. Ixii. 8). 
 
 And now who is leeching from the nations their 
 vitality and their strength? Who has throttled the 
 very institution of government itself, and caused it 
 to unload into their coffers? Who formulates the 
 financial policies of the world, and causes their en- 
 actment into law, without the aid, consent or de- 
 sires of the people? Where is that mighty Octupus 
 of wealth whose tentacles ai-e entwined about every 
 dome and capital in every nation and principality 
 and kingdom of all the earth — literally "sucking 
 the blood of kings''? Like the voice of God, the 
 demands of this power regulate the financial poli- 
 cies of the world. What nation can survive who 
 refuses to come to the gold standard in finance, 
 and pay tribute to this great head of wealth — the 
 Jewish brokers and syndicates, a branch of which 
 
Lens of Prophecy, 373 
 
 is located in all the important cities of Christen- 
 dom? The credit of any nation would not be good 
 throughout the whole realm of civilization who 
 would refuse to recognize the stupendous fact in 
 hand. 
 
 How long this Jewish greed and aggression has 
 been extant we can not say. But its telling effects 
 seem to be of modern date. Waterloo was a turn- 
 ing-table in the world's history. From that inci- 
 dent Jewish supremacy in financial circles of Eng- 
 land has been noticeable. The hour of a nation's 
 peril and distress subserved the purpose of infamy 
 and gain. 
 
 It is ours to show that the Jews are to rob and 
 spoil the Gentile nations, agreeably to the proph- 
 ecy. Scattered as they are, they could not marshal 
 armies to overthrow and defeat the powerful na- 
 tions of earth. A more subtle, effectual and sys- 
 tematic method is employed for plundering the 
 kingdoms. Our circle is too narrow to see beyond 
 that we may understand and note the methods and 
 successes abroad. But it will be easy for us to pre- 
 sent the facts in our country. Our mission here is 
 not to subserve political ends. The questions pre- 
 sented in the matters we have to present have been 
 before the people and are settled. While they can 
 not have a potent effect in our politics again, they 
 are facts which can not be set aside, and as such 
 become vital to our discussion here. 
 
 Mr. Hazzard, a London banker, in his circular 
 to American bankers in the year 1862, says, among 
 other things : ^^The great debt that capitalists will 
 
174 A Look Through the 
 
 gee to it IS made out of the war, must be used as a 
 measure to control the volume of money." 
 
 "To do this, the bonds must be used as a bank- 
 ing basis." 
 
 "We are now waiting to get the Secretary of the 
 Treasury to make this recommendation to Con- 
 gress." 
 
 "It will not do to allow the greenback, as it is 
 called, to circulate as money any length of time,^ 
 for we can not control them." 
 
 "We can control the bonds, and through them' 
 the bank issues." 
 
 We do not affirm that Mr. Hazzard is a Jew. 
 We do not know. But he introduces his circular 
 by saying, "I and my European friends are in favor 
 of," etc. The strong money centers of Europe at 
 that time were Jewish banking-houses. This cir- 
 cular letter, and the fruits borne thereof, had its 
 origin and birth ir^ Jewish breasts. 
 
 Accordingly, the Treasury note was disabled, ex- 
 cepting the first sixty million dollars of greenback 
 issue, which was not crushed by the disabling act. 
 These first sixty million dollars always passed at 
 par. But those coming after were disabled and 
 dishonored by this sin; were purchaseable at a 
 given time, at about one-third their face value ; con- 
 verted into a national debt (bonded debt), and 
 made worth one hundred cents on the dollar to the 
 capitalist. This we regard as robbery — stealing 
 and plundering from our great republic in the time 
 of war, and when our people were too busily ab- 
 sorbed in the momentous question of the preserva- 
 
Lens of Prophecy, 175 
 
 tion of the Union, to be vigilant of its financial 
 safety and security. 
 
 "It is literally true that the great Rebellion was 
 suppressed and the Union upheld by the expedient 
 of a non-interest-bearing paper currency devised in 
 the presence of the overwhelming exigency of war 
 and dismemberment. The precious metals dived 
 out of sight. The world knows the story. The 
 United States went upon a basis of paper. For 
 four years of war and fourteen years of peace, the 
 bnances of the nation and of the people in their 
 private capacities were conducted on a legal tender 
 of paper. Metallic money and the money metals 
 rose rapidly in value, or, at least, in price. Now 
 gold was at a premium of 30 per cent. ; now 50 per 
 cent. ; now 100 per cent. ; and finally, 185 per cent, 
 above par. Gold and silver money became a tradi- 
 tion and a myth. The people neither knew nor 
 cared what had become of them. 
 
 "Owing to the nefarious exception in the legal- 
 tender currency in favor of the interest on the pub- 
 lic debt and duties on imports, a gold exchange was 
 organized in New York, and gold was bought with 
 which to pay the semi-annual coupons of the bonds 
 and the duties on imported goods. Trading in gold 
 and in the speculative margins of gold became a 
 business, in some sense the greatest of all the busi- 
 nesses ; certainly it was the most picturesque. 
 
 "It was under these conditions that the great 
 bulk of the national debt was put into the form 
 of bonds. The bonds were purchased with the legal 
 money of the country. They were purchased at 
 par according to the standard of the universal cur- 
 
176 A Look Through the 
 
 rency. ... In this manner the national debt 
 became a bond. 
 
 "The debt-making epoch of the Civil War covered 
 a period of four years, ten months and nineteen 
 days. The middle date of this period was Sept. 
 9, 1863 ; but by far the greater part of the debt was 
 incurred after that data The premium on gold 
 reached 50 per cent, on Dec. 14, 1863, and remained 
 above that figure for one year, three months and 
 twenty-seven days, covering the period of greatest 
 debt-making. Gold reached 200 on the 21st of 
 June, 1864, and remained above 200 until Feb. 22, 
 1865. It reached the topmost figure of 285 on the 
 12th of July, 1864. The dealers in bonds called it 
 a ^flurry in gold !' This was the period of the max- 
 imum debt-making. The legal-tender currency with 
 which the bonds at that crisis were purchased was 
 worth thirty-five cents by the gold standard. It 
 was the very heyday, when the bond-nest was feath- 
 ered for the laying of the golden egg.^^ — Prof. John 
 Clark Ridpath, LL. D. 
 
 "The efficacy of the legal-tender currency in the 
 suppression of the Kebellion has never been — can 
 never be — overestimated. Twelve years after the 
 war, Hon. Wm. D. Kelley, of Pennsylvania, ad- 
 dressing an assemblage of ex-Confederate officers 
 at Macon, Ga., said : ^Your leaders were mistaken 
 in their financial theory. They believed that the 
 United States could use nothing but gold and 
 silver as money, and that as they had none of these 
 metals, they could not put armies in the field to 
 overwhelm you, or fleets upon the ocean to blockade 
 your coasts ; they had not studied the Constitution 
 
Lens of Prophecy, 111 
 
 to see that the Government has control of the ques- 
 tion of what shall be money. We discovered that it 
 had, and when we could not get gold or silver, 
 we made the greenback, and it was that that 
 whipped you.' ^Yes,' said one of the officers with 
 enthusiasm; ^ Judge Kelley, you are right; it was 
 the greenback that whipped us!' This is the cur- 
 rency that Shylock is now trying to have canceled 
 hecaicse it is so great a menace to the interests of 
 the people! He desires to have the legal-tender 
 currency destroyed, in order that money sharks 
 may be prevented from using that currency to 
 deplete the National Treasury of its gold! The 
 hypocrisy of such a pretence is beyond the reach of 
 satire !" — John Clark Ridpath. 
 
 Speaking upon the exception clause of the 
 greenback, Thaddeus Stevens said in Congress : "I 
 have melancholy forebodings that we are about to 
 consummate a cunningly devised scheme, which 
 will carry great injury and a great loss to all 
 classes of the people, throughout the Union, except 
 one. It makes two classes of money — one for the 
 banks and the other for the people." 
 
 And Henry Wilson, afterwards Vice-President 
 to Hayes, said : "I look upon this contest as a con- 
 test between the curbstone brokers, the Jew brok- 
 ers, the money brokers and the men who speculate 
 in stocks, and the productive, toiling men of our 
 country.'' 
 
 John Sherman said of it : "It became necessary 
 to depreciate the notes [greenbacks] in order to 
 create a market for the bonds." 
 
178 A Look Through the 
 
 As with dishonoring the people's credit, so, also, 
 with the demonetization of silver. 
 
 "By the beginning of the eighth decade thus 
 mnch had been accomplished. The fund-holding 
 interest had confirmed itself to the extent of get- 
 ting a long bond for a short one, with the guaranty 
 of payment of both principal and interest in coin. 
 The next point attained by the bond-holding power 
 — for it had now become a power — can hardly be 
 touched upon with equanimity. The coin of the 
 United States existed in two kinds, silver and 
 gold. Should the Government ever again reach tbe 
 basis of specie payments, the debtor would have tLe 
 option of paying in the one coin or the other, ac- 
 cording to his convenience and the plentifulness 
 of the given kind. This option constitutes the es- 
 sential element of bimetallism. That it could be 
 taken away from the debtor seems in the retrospect 
 a thing so monstrous as to be incredible. It was a 
 valuable option which the debtor in the United 
 States had unchallenged from the foundation of the 
 Government. No creditor had ever tried to take 
 it from him. It had never been denied by any. It 
 had always been cheerfully conceded down to the 
 time of the Civil War, when an unforeseen condi- 
 tion removed all coin and put the country, as we 
 have seen, on the basis of a legal tender of paper. 
 
 "Now that coin was again in sight, or was sup- 
 posed to be coming in sight ; now that the Govern- 
 ment had declared its purpose to pay the national 
 debt in coin, though that debt had been contracted 
 on a basis of paper, it might reasonably have been 
 supposed that the bond-holding interest would be 
 
Lens of Prophecy. 179 
 
 contented with that enormous concession, and, be- 
 ing thus glutted to repletion, would seek no further 
 extortion from the American people. But, on the 
 contrary, the monstrous scheme was conceived of 
 destroying the option of the debtor to pay in silver, 
 by destroying the coin mint of that metal, thus re- 
 ducing the debtor — all debtors, including the Gov- 
 ernment of the United States — to the necessity of 
 paying in gold only. The scheme was not only 
 conceived, but was contemplated with equanimity, 
 not indeed by the people, but by those whose inter- 
 ests were so profoundly concerned. In the last ses- 
 sion of the Forty-second Congress, the question was 
 insinuated into legislation, but was housed from 
 the public with a skill worthy the noblest cause. 
 
 "Words are inadequate to describe the pro- 
 fundity and criminality of this scheme. It was car- 
 ried into effect by the act of Feb. 18, 1873. It was 
 done by a turn of Shylock's wrist, so adroit, and 
 one might say devilish, as to be indescribable in the 
 phraseology of this world. It was an act on which 
 no king of the seventeenth century would have ven- 
 tured without incurring the risk of revolution. It 
 was an act which, instead of being misrepresented 
 by those who have found it out and nailed it to 
 the gibbet of public contempt, has never been ade- 
 quately denounced. It was an act which has posi- 
 tively blackened the honor of the American Re- 
 public. It was an act which though subsequently 
 defended, even to the present day, by all the pur- 
 chased ability of the world, is nevertheless con- 
 demned by the conscious and common sense of 
 mankind as the most cold-blooded, unjust, uncalled- 
 
180 A Look Through the 
 
 for, unmitigated and damnable outrage ever done 
 in this century of the rights and interests of a great 
 people ! 
 
 "The act of 1873 abolished the standard unit of 
 money and account in the United States. Until 
 that time all other coins in use under our Constitu- 
 tion and statute had been made to do obeisance to 
 the silver dollar as the unit of money and account. 
 That dollar had never been altered by the fraction 
 of one grain in the quantity of pure metal compos- 
 ing it from the time when it was ordained in 1792 
 to the time when it was abolished from the lists 
 of coins to be henceforth struck at the mints of the 
 United States. 
 
 "Not a single dictionary or encyclopaedia in the 
 English language before the year 1878 even de- 
 fined dollar in any terms other than of silver. In 
 that year the administrators of the estate of Noah 
 Webster, deceased, cut the plates of our standard 
 lexicon and inserted a neiv definition that had be- 
 come necessary in order to make the bond intrigue, 
 in Congress and out of it, consist ! 
 
 "To abolish that unit, to strike it down, to can- 
 cel it, and to substitute another therefor, was a 
 crime ! It has been rightly so branded by the Amer- 
 ican people, and it will be so written in history. 
 It makes no difference whether it was done secretly 
 or openly; whether in the day or in the night; 
 whether by a committee or by the House in full 
 debate; whether Congress understood it or did not 
 understand it. It was a crime all the same against 
 the rights and interests of the American people; 
 aye, against the American people themselves and 
 
Lens of Prophecy, 181 
 
 against all the people of the world ; for it was done 
 against justice, against truth, against the law of 
 both man and God.'' — Ridpath. 
 
 Now, how was it done? We must see, in order 
 to associate the discussion with our subject in 
 hand. 
 
 Hear Mr. Hooper, of Massachusetts, chairman 
 of the Committee on Coinage: "Ernest Seyd, of 
 London, a distinguished writer and bullionist, who 
 is now here, has given great attention to the sub- 
 ject of mint and coinage. After having examined 
 the first draft of this bill, he made various sensible 
 suggestions, which the committee adopted and em- 
 bodied in the bill." — Cong. Record, Apr. 9, 1872, 
 p. 2032. 
 
 "In 1872, silver being demonetized in France, 
 England and Holland, a capital of one hundred 
 thousand pounds (|500,000) was raised, and Er- 
 nest Seyd, of London, was sent to this country with 
 this fund as the agent of the foreign bondholders 
 and capitalists to effect the same object, which was 
 accomplished." — Bankers' Magazine, August, 1873. 
 
 "Hon. Gilbert De Lamatyr, of Indiana, said 
 that Judge Kelley, of Pennsylvania, stated to him 
 that he [Judge Kelley] saw the draft of the bill 
 by which silver was demonetized, in the handwrit- 
 ing of Ernest Seyd, of London." 
 
 Wm. M. Stewart, in his letter to John Sherman, 
 under date of Aug. 24, 1896, gives the most lucid 
 history of the demonetization of silver. He says 
 to Mr. Sherman : "In the spring of 1867 you went 
 to London. You afterwards visited Paris and 
 wrote a letter to Samuel B. Ruggles, the American 
 
182 A Look Through the 
 
 commissioner to the monetary conference then in 
 session at Paris, advocating the single gold stan- 
 dard. Your letter, which you will find on page 
 407 of your autobiography, and extracts from the 
 reports of Mr. Ruggles to the State Department, 
 show how valuable your services were in connec- 
 tion with the English delegation in securing the 
 adoption by the Paris conference of a resolution 
 recommending the gold standard. The following 
 winter, in 1868, you introduced a bill in the Senate 
 entitled ^An act in relation to the coinage of gold 
 and silver,' the third section of which reads as fol- 
 lows : 
 
 " 'Sec. 3. And be it further enacted. That the 
 gold coins to be issued under this act shall be a 
 legal tender in all payments to any amount; and 
 the silver coin shall be a legal tender to an amount 
 not exceeding |10 in any one payment.' 
 
 "You made a favorable report on this bill, in 
 which you said, among other things, that 'the single 
 standard of gold is an American idea, yielded re- 
 luctantly to France and other countries, where sil- 
 ver is the chief standard of value.' Senator E. D. 
 Morgan, of New York, filed a minority report, 
 which exposed your scheme and caused you to 
 abandon the bill. 
 
 "After Mr. Morgan left the Senate, a commit- 
 tee was formed in the Treasury Department, with 
 John Jay Knox at the head, which framed a bill of 
 seventy sections codifying the mint laws. You 
 managed to secure the passage of this codification 
 bill through the Senate without attracting the at- 
 tention Oi the Senate to the fact that it omitted the 
 
Lens of Prophecy. 183 
 
 silver dollar from the list of coins. My speech of 
 Sept. 5, 1893, shows how skillfully you manipu- 
 lated that legislation. Your charge to me and 
 others that we ought to have known what was in 
 that codification bill is answered by the fact that 
 legislative bodies do not ordinarily examine as ac- 
 curately as they should, perhaps, bills which ema- 
 nate from the departments and purport to be codi- 
 fications; particularly when they have confidence 
 in their committees. It is the duty of committees 
 to examine such bills and inform the Senate of any 
 important changes in the laws. You knew that the 
 demonetization of silver was an important changa 
 You had made it a specialty in Paris and in the 
 committee-room of the Senate, but you never men- 
 tioned it in the open Senate. 
 
 "I defy you to find another case where an im- 
 portant measure, which the chairman of the com- 
 mittee knew was an important measure, was ever 
 engineered through the Senate without a statement 
 from the Senator in charge of what the bill con- 
 tained. If it had been a short bill, and not a codi- 
 fication bill, the scheme would have been detected. 
 That was the fault of your bill of 1868. It was 
 short and direct, but after Senator Morgan's re- 
 port it had no possible chance of passage. This you 
 well knew. You also knew from your experience 
 that codification bills coming from the Department 
 would not be carefully scrutinized, and from the 
 record in the case which is given in the *True His- 
 tory of the Demonetization of Silver,' it will appear 
 how you cunningly misled the Senate. 
 
184 'A Look Through the 
 
 "The only defense which jou make is that yon 
 were not caught at it while the bill was pending. 
 . . . If you have any other defense for de- 
 monetizing silver when the silver in the silver dol- 
 lar was worth three per cent, more than the gold 
 in the gold dollar, the public will undoubtedly be 
 glad to hear from you." 
 
 In substantiation of what Mr. Stewart says, 
 let us introduce but a few witnesses from the long 
 list of wise and honored men — men whose sterling 
 veracity is above reproach, and can not be ques- 
 tioned. 
 
 General Garfield, in a speech at Springfield, O., 
 in the fall of 1877, said : 
 
 "Perhaps I ought to be ashamed to say so, but 
 it is the truth to say that I, at that time being 
 chairman of the Committee on Appropriations, and 
 having my hands full during all that time with 
 work, never read the bill. I took it upon the faith 
 of a prominent Democrat and a prominent Eepub- 
 lican, and I do not know that I voted at all. There 
 was no call of the yeas and nays, and nobody op- 
 posed that bill that I know of. It was put through 
 as dozens of bills are, as my friend and I know, in 
 Congress, on the faith of the report of the chair- 
 man of the committee; therefore, I tell you, be- 
 cause it is the truth, that I have no knowledge 
 about it." 
 
 Senator Beck, in Senate, Jan. 10, 1878: "It 
 [the bill demonetizing silver] never was under- 
 stood by either House of Congress. I say that with 
 full knowledge of the facts. No newspaper re- 
 porter — and they are the most vigilant men I ever 
 
Lens of Prophecy. 185 
 
 saw in obtaining information — discovered it had 
 been done.'' — Cong. Record^ Vol. VII., Part 1, 
 Forty-fifth Congress, second session, p. 260. 
 
 Mr. Burchard, of Illinois, in speech in Con- 
 gress: "The coinage act of 1873, unaccompanied 
 by any written report upon the subject from any 
 committee, and unknown to the members of Con- 
 gress, who without opposition allowed it to pass 
 under the belief, if not assurance, that it made no 
 alteration in the value of the current coins, changed 
 the unit of value from silver to gold." — Ibid, p. 
 4560. 
 
 Mr. Kelley, of Pennsylvania: "Though chair- 
 man of the Committee on Coinage, I was ignorant 
 of the fact that it would demonetize the silver dol- 
 lar, or of its dropping the silver dollar from our 
 system of coins, as were those distinguished Sena- 
 tors, Messrs. Blaine and Vorhees, who were the 
 members of the House, and each of whom a few 
 days since interrogated the other: ^Did you know 
 it was dropped when the bill passed?' *No,' said 
 Mr. Blaine; ^did you?' ^No,' said Mr. Vorhees. I 
 do not think that there were three members in the 
 House that knew it." — Cong. Record, Vol. VII., 
 Part 2, Forty-fifth Congress. 
 
 Mr. Holman : "I have before me the record of 
 the proceedings of this House on the passage of 
 that measure, a record which no man can read 
 without being convinced that the measure and the 
 method of its passage through this House was a 
 colossal swindle. I assert that the measure never 
 had the sanction of this House, and it does not 
 possess the moral force of law." — Cong. Record, 
 
186 A Look Through the 
 
 Vol. IV., Part 6, Forty-fourth Congress, first ses- 
 sion. Appendix, p. 193. 
 
 Tliis is sufficient, out of the vast accumulated 
 evidence, to show that our nation has been robbed ; 
 and the iniquity will be perpetuated. 
 
 A bonded indebtedness is now assured forever. 
 A premium can be placed on gold by withdrawing 
 it from circulation, and the Treasury can be made 
 to issue bonds to save a panic at any moment 
 desired. A close study of these questions will show 
 us the inspiration for all the financial iniquity that 
 has overwhelmed us, to have had its origin in 
 European money centers. That those money cen- 
 ters are the large Jewish bankers of the world, we 
 think there is no doubt. "Ye shall eat the wealth 
 of nations, and in their glory shall ye boast your- 
 selves" (Isa. Ixi. 6). 
 
 The American people do not wish to destroy 
 their own government, but the testimony of no less 
 a personage than Oliver P. Morton, of Indiana, is 
 that: "There is gathered around the Capitol of 
 this nation a gang of miserable stock jobbers, with 
 no more conscience than pirates, inspired solely 
 by a greed for gain, and they thundered success- 
 fully at these doors until they drove this Govern- 
 ment into the most preposterous acts of bad faith 
 and legalized robbery that ever oppressed a free 
 nation since the da^vTi of history." 
 
 We have not the data to review foreign nations 
 relative to their financial policies, but our own 
 provides a suitable type for study. For if such 
 things may be done to a free people, self-governed, 
 what more should we expect from a government 
 
Lens of Prophecy. 187 
 
 more central and despotic? All, or nearly all, have 
 been reduced to the gold standard. And therefore, 
 through the same process of action, the life and 
 strength of all will flow into Jewish families, and 
 these Jewish families will in the end return with 
 their spoil to Jerusalem to reconstruct their own 
 country and government, before, too, they are con- 
 verted to the Christ, as we believe. 
 
 Such is the diabolical work that has been enact- 
 ing against the rights and privileges of the people, 
 and will continue to enact, until anarchy will at 
 last expel the money power. England and America, 
 the great Anglo-Saxon family, the dominant Gen- 
 tile elements of modern civilization, are being 
 leeched of their vast resources. They are being 
 plundered and spoiled. But the same agency is 
 victimizing all the kingdoms. They are "sucking 
 the breasts of kings." 
 
 In this time of anarchy, the wealthy will be 
 unhappy. These conspirators, particeps with the 
 Jew, but native of their respective kingdoms, will 
 reap the fruit of the prediction of James, while 
 the Jew will hie away. 
 
 "Go to now, ye rich, weep and howl for your miseries 
 that are coming upon you. Your riches are corrupted, and 
 your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and your silver 
 are rusted; and their rust shall he for a testimony against 
 you, and shall eat your flesh as fire. Ye have laid up your 
 treasure in the last days. Behold, the hire of the laborers who 
 mowed your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth 
 out: and the cries of them that reaped have entered into the 
 ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. Ye have lived delicately on 
 the earth, and taken your pleasure; ye have nourished your 
 
188 A Look Through the 
 
 hearts in a day of slaughter. Ye have condemned, ye have 
 killed the righteous one; he doth not resist you. 
 
 "Be patient therefore, brethren, until the coming, of the 
 Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit 
 of the earth, being patient over it, until it receive the early 
 and latter rain. Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for 
 the coming of the Lord is at hand. Murmur not, brethren, 
 one against another, that ye be not judged: behold, the judge 
 standeth before the doors. Take, brethren, for an example 
 of suffering and of patience, the prophets who spake in the 
 name of the Lord. Behold, we call them blessed which en- 
 dured: ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen 
 the end of the Lord, how that the Lord is full of pity, and 
 merciful" (Jas. v. 1-11). 
 
 We are astonished to note the patient submis- 
 sion of the people to this plundering. It must be 
 the literal fulfillment of the above admonition. 
 
 Just now there is a mad stampede for gold. 
 Men are hustling everywhere, on every moun- 
 tain-side and in the frigid zone, for gold, suffering 
 the privation of every comfort to obtain the same. 
 And why? Because the avenue, for its sure 
 delivery, is established to Jerusalem ; to Jerusalem 
 it will go. There is not enough gold in all the 
 world, yet in the sight of human eyes, to pay the 
 debts, now payable in gold alone, to the capitalists, 
 to say nothing of the more domestic obligations 
 of the world. 
 
 All this will redound to the beauty of our 
 King. Brethren, be patient, with the patience of 
 a Job, we are admonished. Nothing shall be "hurt 
 in all the holy mount.'' The gold and the silver 
 are the Lord's. We are his servants. W^hen the 
 Lord shall build up Jerusalem, we shall be of that 
 
Lens of Prophecy. 189 
 
 principality. What is our loss now, will be our 
 gain there. Just now cause and effect are opera- 
 tive. Retaliation is upon the Gentile world. It 
 is not the divine decree. But God will establish 
 justice and equity by and by. 
 
 Just now, perhaps, the Jew has no inclination 
 of leaving the *^jflesh-pots" of the Gentile world. 
 They may have no intentions of going to this barren 
 home — Palestine. The climate there is not con- 
 genial either, until the Mohammedan has finished 
 his residence there, and withdrawn his dominion 
 from over the same. But even he will perform this 
 when the time is fully come. 
 
 Again, why should the Jews return to Jerusa- 
 lem? They are thrifty here. They are faring well. 
 They are enjoying equal rights with us. Why 
 should they abandon the Gentile field since they 
 have become acclimated and are now made honor- 
 able? James has furnished the reason, as we 
 think. We can discern it in the signs of the times. 
 They will be forced there before their conversion, 
 and the vast wealth they have (the milk sucked of 
 nations — Isa. Ix. 16) will be carried there to make 
 Jerusalem beautiful. 
 
 The Jewish slave from Russia will return to 
 meet the requirements of capital — Labor. "Give 
 up [north], keep not back" (Isa. xliii. 6). Strang- 
 ers, too, shall build thereon, for they tore away 
 from Jerusalem her walls, and they shall rebuild 
 the same (Isa. Ix. 11-15). 
 
 "And thon that know that I the Lord am thy saviour, an(5 
 thy redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob" (Isa. Ix. 16). 
 
 "0 Israel, thou are not forgotten to me" (Isa. xliv. 21). 
 
190 A Look Through the 
 
 Here Israel will accept Christ. The evidences 
 hitherto adduced will bring about their conver- 
 sion. Jerusalem, over which Jesus wept, will pre- 
 pare herself to say, "Blessed is he that cometh 
 in the name of the Lord," for Jesus will appear 
 again. 
 
 "The Lord hath redeemed Jacob, and glorified himself in 
 Israel" (Isa. xliv. 23). 
 
 "Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments 
 from Bozrah? this that is glorious in his apparel, marching 
 in the greatness of his strength? I that speak in righteous- 
 ness, mighty to save. Wherefore art thou red in thine ap- 
 parel, and thy garments like him that treadeth in the wine- 
 fat? I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the peoples 
 there was no man with me: yea, I trod them in mine anger, 
 and trampled them in my fury; and their lifeblood is 
 sprinkled upon my garments, and I have stained all my rai- 
 ment. For the day of vengeance was in mine heart, and the 
 year of my redeemed is come. And I looked, and there was 
 none to help; and I wondered that there was none to uphold: 
 therefore mine own arm brought salvation unto me; and my 
 fury, it upheld me. And I trod down the peoples in mine 
 anger, and made them drunk in my fury, and I poured out 
 their lifeblood on the earth" (Isa. Ixiii. 1-7). 
 
 And so Scripture may be added to Scripture 
 to show God's mercy upon the Jewish family. 
 But sufficient is here given as an index to this 
 divine favor, and to show that the Jewish "indig- 
 nation" will soon be passed over. 
 
 As was fully shown by Nebuchadnezzar's dream 
 of the great image — whose head was of gold, his 
 breast and arms of silver, his belly and thighs of 
 brass, his legs of iron, his feet and toes of iron, 
 mingled with miry clay — there are now remaining 
 
Lens of Prophecy. 191 
 
 but one foot and the ten toes, representative of the 
 ecclesiastic influence, and the ten European states. 
 
 All these lose supremacy when the times of the 
 Gentiles are fulfilled, at which time Jewish su- 
 premacy will be restored. The wealth of all will 
 then pour into Jerusalem, and it will be made 
 glorious. The head of gold, and the image of Gen- 
 tile rule must bow before the oncoming events; 
 shattered and dissolved, its strength will be given 
 to the reorganized and established race of Israel. 
 
 The Jew will be gloriously and abundantly 
 saved, while the Gentile world is heedlessly for- 
 feiting its season of grace. Soon the curtain will 
 fall, and the scroll of our history will be full, and 
 our modern civilization will be cut off. "And so 
 all Israel shall be saved." 
 
 NOTE. 
 
 As the term "Gentile" has been generally employed, it 
 may seem to cover all people but the Jews. But not so. In 
 the sense we wish to use it, it embodies only the Gentiles of 
 modern supremacy, beginning with the Greeks, the succession 
 of empires from the Greek supremacy, all of which have had 
 the gospel in custody. To be sure, Greece had declined, and 
 Rome was in supremacy at the time of Christ, yet Greece was 
 in the line of the gospel's conquest. It was her language that 
 recorded the gospel for us, and her seed were made acquainted 
 with the grace of its message. The whole discussion is one 
 of opportunity. All east of Palestine will be subjects of evan- 
 gelization, as also Ethiopia. If the ten tribes were 
 lost — since many did not return from Babylon — then their 
 seed commingled in the blood of Oriental people, we have no 
 doubt. "Bring thy seed from the east, and gather thee from 
 the west" (Isa. xliii. 5). At least, we see no other reasonable 
 hypothesis. Many of the Jews, in fact, did not return from 
 
192 The Lens of Prophecy. 
 
 Babylon. Those who elected to honor God and the memory of 
 Jerusalem will have the honor of first place in its rehabilita- 
 tion. But, with Jewish evangelization, all heathendom will be 
 reclaimed. The time of their opportunity will be with the 
 Jewish evangelization. The church, too, will share in the 
 glories of redeemed Israel. Vv^'e will form one people. The 
 redeemed of the Lord shall come to Zion (Isa. li. 11). Those 
 who have rejected opportunity and the favors of gospel grace, 
 will be cut off and can not enter into the new order of 
 righteousness and peace — Christ's beautiful empire of holi- 
 ness and love, over which he will preside as the long-desired 
 Sovereign, to bless the world with equity, judgment and 
 truth. 
 
 THE END. 
 
JAN 7 1904 
 
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