THE DESTRUCTION OF THE NATIONS

The second chapter of Daniel contains an outline of this world’s history from the time of Nebuchadnezzar, about 600 years before Christ, to the setting up of God’s everlasting kingdom, now near at hand. There is presented in that chapter the image of a man, which is composed of four divisions; the first, or head of gold, being a symbol of the kingdom of Babylon, of which Nebuchadnezzar, as reigning monarch, was the representative. In the interpretation of the dream, Daniel said to him, “Thou, O king, art a king of kings; for the God of Heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and 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 ruler over them all.” Daniel 2:37, 38.RDAC 34.3

To Belshazzar the prophet also said, “The most high God gave Nebuchadnezzar thy father a kingdom, and majesty, and glory, and honor. And for the majesty that he gave him, all people, nations, and languages, trembled and feared before him: whom he would he slew; and whom he would he kept alive: and whom he would he set up; and whom he would he put down.” Daniel 5:18, 19. By this we are taught the greatness and glory of the kingdom of Babylon. Of course, the dominion of its successors was of the same extent; they receive the same power and dominion by succession. The immediate successor of the Babylonian Empire was that of the Medes and Persians. Aside from all other history, we learn this in the same chapter, in which Daniel, reading the handwriting on the wall, predicted the division of the kingdom, and its being given to the Medes and Persians. The fulfillment thereof is thus given, “In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain. And Darius the Median took the kingdom.” Daniel 5:30, 31.RDAC 35.1

In chapter 8, the kingdom of Media and Persia is represented by a ram having two horns. See verse 20. Of this beast, the prophet said, “I saw the ram pushing westward, and northward, and southward; so that no beasts might stand before him, neither was there any that could deliver out of his hand; but he did according to his will, and became great.” And this, of course, was the same as the second, or silver part of the image of chapter 2. In this chapter, its successor is thus introduced: “And another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth.” Verse 39. But in chapter 8, the third kingdom is symbolized by a he-goat, which is said to be the king of Grecia. Of the goat, the prophecy says, “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 was no power in the ram to stand before him, but he cast him down to the ground, and stamped upon him; and there was none that could deliver the ram out of his hand. Therefore, the he-goat waxed very great.” Chap. 8:7, 8.RDAC 36.1

The fourth division of the image was iron. The interpretation says, “And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron; forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things; and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise.” Chap. 2:40. The same, in chapter 8, is symbolized by the little horn that waxed exceeding great. It is evident that this is a symbol of the Roman Kingdom, which succeeded the Grecian; for it can be no power inferior to the Persian or Grecian; for the first was said to be great; the second, very great; but this waxed exceeding great. And so the second chapter gives superior strength to the fourth part of the image-the iron, or Roman Kingdom.RDAC 36.2

This fourth, or iron, division was subdivided into ten parts, or kingdoms, which was literally fulfilled in the divisions of the Roman Empire. And “in the days of these kings shall the God of Heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.” The kingdom of God, which is to break in pieces and destroy all these kingdoms, was symbolized in the dream by a stone. Three facts are stated in regard to this kingdom: 1. It shall be set up. 2. It shall destroy all these kingdoms; and, 3. It shall fill the whole earth.RDAC 37.1

Daniel’s vision of chapter 7, covers the same ground that is covered by the dream of Nebuchadnezzar in chapter 2, with some additional facts concerning the divisions of the fourth kingdom. Babylon is represented by the lion, “the king of beasts,” bearing a similar relation to the other beasts in the vision, to that of gold to the other metals in the dream. The Medo-Persian Kingdom is represented by a bear. Its correspondence to the symbol of this power in chapter 8, is very plain.RDAC 37.2

The ram had two horns (the Medes and the Persians), but the higher (the Persian) came up last. Darius the Median first took the kingdom on the death of Belshazzar. So the bear raised up itself on one side.RDAC 37.3

The ram pushed westward, and northward, and southward; in three directions it pushed to establish itself. The bear had three ribs in its mouth.RDAC 37.4

And so of its successor. The rough goat of chapter 8, which is said to be the king of Grecia, came from the west, and “it touched not the ground;” so speedy were its conquests that it flew rather than ran. Its symbol in chapter 7 is a leopard with four wings of a fowl.RDAC 38.1

After the breaking of the first horn (Alexander and his house), four horns came up in its place. The leopard also had four heads, referring to the same division of power.RDAC 38.2

The symbol of the Roman power is a nameless beast, “dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth; it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it; ...and it had ten horns.” These horns are, in verse 24, said to be “ten kings that shall arise;” and, as this prophecy is parallel to that of chapter 2, it is conclusive evidence that the divisions of the fourth kingdom, the feet and toes of iron and clay, were also ten kingdoms.RDAC 38.3

The prophet continued his description of the vision: “I considered the horns, and behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots; and behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things.” And this is the interpretation of it. “And he [the little horn] shall speak great words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and think to change times and laws; and they shall be given into his hand until a time, and times, and the dividing of time.” The action of this power will be noticed again under another symbol.RDAC 38.4

To one statement of this vision we would here call particular attention. “I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake: I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame. As concerning the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away, yet their lives were prolonged for a season and time.” Verses 11, 12. This does not mean that their lives were prolonged after the body of the fourth beast was destroyed; but that their lives were prolonged after their dominion was taken away. And this is not only proved by chapter 2 to be the true meaning of the text, but it must be so to harmonize with that chapter, and to explain its statement in verse 35. “Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together,” which could not be if each in turn was destroyed, or broken to pieces, when it lost the dominion.RDAC 39.1

An objection has been urged against the idea of the universality of these kingdoms, in that not one of them carried its conquests to every part of the then known world. But this objection is really trivial. The remarks of Daniel to Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 2:37, 38, and to Belshazzar in chapter 5:18, 19, are justified by the facts, which are explained in chapter 8:4, where it is said of the ram, “Neither was there any that could deliver out of his hand; but he did according to his will.” If they so far established their supremacy as to make further conquests unnecessary, or further resistance impossible, then the declarations of the prophets are warranted. And herein is found an argument from analogy for the universality of the kingdom of God. “The kingdom and dominion and greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven,” is given as a description of its extent. Again, it “became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.” The destruction of the Gentile kingdoms, as given in the prophecy of Daniel, is identical with that referred to in Jeremiah 25, before quoted, and that includes “all the kingdoms of the world, which are upon the face of the earth.”RDAC 39.2

But, while it must be admitted that the destruction of the nations in the second, seventh, and eighth chapters of Daniel includes all to which reference is made in the image, or in the words of Daniel, chapter 2:37, 38, and 5:18, 19, it may yet be said that there in another beast in prophecy not included in those dominions, because not existing in any locality covered by those prophecies, to wit: the two-horned beast of Revelation 13. That the two-horned beast is a symbol of American power, I firmly believe, but do not accept the objector’s conclusion that it may therefore escape the destruction spoken of in the prophecy of Daniel. We will examine this point.RDAC 40.1

The “great red dragon” of Revelation 12, is well understood to be a symbol of the Roman power in its pagan form, and answers to the “dreadful and terrible beast” of Daniel 2, as first seen by the prophet. The beast with seven heads and ten horns of Revelation 13:1-10, is a symbol of the same dominion under papal rule, as the dragon gave this beast its power; and, of course, answers to the same beast of Daniel 7, after the rise of the “little horn,” which became “more stout than its fellows.” This identity is shown by many points.RDAC 40.2

To the little horn was given power over the saints for a time, times, and dividing of time-1260 prophetic days (years). Compare Revelation 12:6, 14.The beast had power to continue (make war, margin) 42 months; 42 times 30=1260. Both spake great swelling words of blasphemy against the Most High; both wore out the saints of the Most High. And to render assurance doubly sure, that the same dominion, both in locality and extent, is pointed out in the two prophecies, the beast of Revelation 13 is presented as a combination of all the beasts of Daniel 7. The seven heads and ten horns, the leopard’s body, the bear’s feet, and the lion’s mouth, all prove a perfect identity. It has the characteristics of them all, and stands as the representative of them all. And then the two-horned beast is brought to view, working miracles in the sight of the first beast, and causing that an image be made to the beast, and that men should worship the beast and his image, and receive the mark of the beast. By this descriptive work we identify the same power in Revelation 19, and it is there also seen in connection with the first beast. “And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army. And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshiped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.” Verses 19, 20. Please compare chapter 13:11-16.RDAC 41.1

Many have lost the force and the truth of this prophecy by applying the symbol of “the false prophet” to Mahomet. But the false prophet, or two-horned beast, works miracles in the sight of the beast, to deceive them, and to cause them to worship the beast. But this was never fulfilled by the Mahometan power. It was always opposed to the papacy. The Cottage Bible very correctly points to this fact to prove that this symbol of the Revelation does not refer to Mahometanism.RDAC 41.2

The only objection that can be urged against the conclusion we claim from the evidence of these scriptures, is, that these are but general expressions, and do not necessarily include all, and that there will be a remnant who will escape from this destruction. It is even true that there is a remnant spoken of in this prophecy, but it says, “And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse,” which represents the Lord Jesus at his coming. Revelation 19:11-21.RDAC 42.1

And that this does take place at the time we have claimed, to wit, at the second advent, is proved by many scriptures. One only we quote, because it is decisive. The apostle Paul speaks of this same beast power, under the titles of “that wicked,” and “the man of sin,” and says of him, “whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming.” 2 Thessalonians 2:1-8.RDAC 42.2

Let us briefly sum up the points of the present argument sustained by the scriptures quoted.RDAC 42.3

1. The image of Daniel 2 presents in symbol the four great monarchies of the world-Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome.RDAC 42.4

2. The four beasts of Daniel 7 are symbols of the same kingdoms.RDAC 42.5

3. These kingdoms are all destroyed together.RDAC 43.1

4. The ten-horned beast of Revelation 13 represents the same dominion that is represented by the four beasts of Daniel 2.RDAC 43.2

5. The ten-horned beast, same as “that wicked,” will be destroyed at the coming of Christ. But with the fate of this is linked that of all the others.RDAC 43.3

Therefore, all the powers represented by the symbols of Daniel and Revelation will be destroyed at the second coming of Christ.RDAC 43.4

The proofs brought forward in this chapter bring us to the inevitable conclusion, that,RDAC 43.5

1. The Lord will destroy from off the earth all the nations and all the inhabitants of the earth-his saints only excepted. And,RDAC 43.6

2. This destruction will take place in immediate connection with the second coming of Christ.RDAC 43.7