Bible Readings for the Home Circle Part 60

7. In what other prophecies is this same period mentioned?

"And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for _a time, and times, and half a time_, from the face of the serpent." Rev.

12:14. "And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue [margin, to make war] _forty and two months_." Rev. 13:5. See also Rev. 11:2. "And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of G.o.d, that they should feed her there _a thousand two hundred and threescore days_." Rev. 12:6.

8. In symbolic prophecy what length of time is represented by a day?

"After the number of the days in which ye searched the land, even forty days, _each day for a year_, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years." Num. 14:34. See Eze. 4:6.

NOTES.-A time in prophecy being the same as a year (see Dan.

11:13, margin, and R. V.), three and one-half times would be three and a half years, or forty-two months, or twelve hundred and sixty days, since the calendar year of 360 days, or twelve months of thirty days each, is used in prophetic chronology. As each day represents a year, the period, the end of which was to mark the limit of the time of the supremacy of the little horn, the Papacy, over the saints, times, and the law, would therefore be twelve hundred and sixty years.

The decree of the emperor Justinian, issued in A.D. 533, recognized the Pope as "head of all the holy churches."

(Justinian's Code, book 1, t.i.tle 1. Baronius's Annals, A.D. 533.) The overwhelming defeat of the Ostrogoths in the siege of Rome, five years later, A.D. 538, was a death-blow to the independence of the Arian power then ruling Italy, and was therefore a notable date in the development of papal supremacy. With the period 533-538, then, commences the twelve hundred and sixty years of this prophecy, which would extend to the period 1793-1798. The year 1793 was the year of the Reign of Terror in the French Revolution, and the year when the Roman Catholic religion was set aside in France and the wors.h.i.+p of reason was established in its stead. As a direct result of the revolt against papal authority in the French Revolution, the French army, under Berthier, entered Rome, and the Pope was taken prisoner Feb. 10, 1798, dying in exile at Valence, France, the following year. This period, 1793-1798, during which this death-stroke was inflicted upon the Papacy, fittingly and clearly marks the close of the long prophetic period mentioned in this prophecy. Any standard history of the time may be consulted in substantiation of the facts here stated.

9. What will finally be done with the dominion exercised by the little horn?

"But the judgment shall sit, and they shall _take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end_." Dan. 7:26.

10. To whom will the dominion finally be given?

"And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given _to the people of the saints of the Most High_, whose kingdom is _an everlasting kingdom_, and _all dominions_ shall serve and obey Him." Verse 27.

NOTE.-Here, as in the second chapter of Daniel, the announcement of the setting up of the everlasting kingdom of G.o.d in the earth includes a brief outline of the history of this world; and the prophecies of Daniel concerning the powers that would oppose the purpose of G.o.d, furnish additional features of this outline. The exact fulfilment of this outline in the history of the world since the time of Nebuchadnezzar const.i.tutes an unimpeachable testimony to the inspiration of these prophecies, and furnishes a ground of confidence that the unfulfilled portion of the prophecies will be wrought out in the future with absolute certainty and in every detail.

The Vicar Of Christ

[Ill.u.s.tration.]

St. Peter's And The Vatican. "He as G.o.d sitteth in the temple of G.o.d." 2 Thess. 2:4.

1. What appeared unto Daniel in 538 B.C., the same year in which Babylon fell?

"In the third year of the reign of King Belshazzar a _vision_ appeared unto me, even unto me Daniel, after that which appeared unto me at the first." Dan. 8:1.

2. Where was Daniel at this time?

"And I saw in a vision; and it came to pa.s.s, when I saw, that I was _at Shushan_ in the palace, which is in the province of Elam; and I saw in a vision, and I was by the river of Ulai." Verse 2.

3. What first attracted the prophet's attention?

"Then I lifted up mine 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." Verse 3.

4. What power was represented by the ram having two horns?

"The ram which thou sawest having two horns are _the kings of Media and Persia_." Verse 20.

5. How are the rise and work of this power described?

"I saw the ram pus.h.i.+ng 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_."

Verse 4.

6. What symbol was next introduced in the vision?

"And as I was considering, behold, _an he goat_ came from the west on the face of the whole earth, and touched not the ground: and the goat had a notable horn between his eyes." Verse 5.

7. What did the goat with the notable horn represent?

"And the rough goat is _the king of Grecia_: and the great horn that is between his eyes is _the first king_." Verse 21.

8. How was the conquest of Medo-Persia by Grecia foretold in this symbolic prophecy?

"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 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." Verse 7.

9. When the he goat "was strong," what occurred?

"Therefore the he goat waxed very great: and when he was strong, _the great horn was broken_; and for it came up four notable ones toward the four winds of heaven." Verse 8.

10. Who was represented by "the great horn," and what followed when it was broken?

"And the rough goat is the king [kingdom] of Grecia: and the great horn that is between his eyes is _the first king_. Now that being broken, whereas four stood up for it, _four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation_, but not in his power." Verses 21, 22.

NOTES.-From the interpretation given, it is plain that the notable "horn" upon the he goat represented Alexander the Great, who led the Grecian forces in their conquest of Medo-Persia. Upon the death of Alexander at Babylon, B.C. 323, there followed a brief period of confusion in the struggle for the kingdom, but the succession was definitely determined by the battle of Ipsus, B.C.

301. Alexander's four leading generals-Ca.s.sander, Lysimachus, Ptolemy, and Seleucus-became his successors.

"The vast empire created by Alexander's unparalleled conquests was distracted by the wranglings and wars of his successors, and before the close of the fourth century before Christ, had become broken up into many fragments. Besides minor states, four well-defined and important monarchies rose out of the ruins....

Their rulers were Lysimachus, Ca.s.sander, Seleucus Nicator, and Ptolemy, who had each a.s.sumed the t.i.tle of king. The great horn was broken; and instead of it came up four notable ones toward the four winds of heaven."-_Myers's __"__History of Greece,__"__ page 457, edition 1902._

11. What came out of one of the four horns of the goat?

"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 pleasant land." Verse 9.

12. What interpretation is given to this little horn?

"And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, _a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up_." Verse 23.

13. What did this little horn do to the people of G.o.d?

"And it waxed great, even to the host of heaven; and _it cast down some of the host and of the stars to the ground, and stamped upon them_." Verse 10.