a.1
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA
AT LOS ANGELES
A N
ATTEMPT
TO DEMONSTRATE THE
MESSIAHSHIP OF JESUS,
FROM THE
PROPHETIC HISTORY AND CHRONOLOGY OF
MESSIAH'S KINGDOM IN DANIEL.
BY RICHARD PARRY, D.D.
PREACHER AT M AR K ET - H AR BOROU CH.
' ; Whofo readeth [DANIEL THE PROPHET] let
him underftand." JESUS.
LONDON:
Printed by J. and W. O L I V E R in Bartholomew-dofe :
And Sold by LOCKYER DAVIS in Holborn,
Printer to the ROYAL SOCIETY.
893 ft <1
* M D'tC LXXm.
TO
SIR JOHN PRINGLE, BARONET.
S I R,
SOME years ago you were pleafed
to requeft of the celebrated Profeffor
atGoETTiNGEN a faithful, and, what
he, thought, a true verfion of Daniel's
prophecy concerning the Seventy
Weeks. He inftantly replied, without
the lead deliberation, that he could
not poffibly give one. His reafon then
was, that the received reading is fuf-
picious. And he has fince fent you
his doubts about this famous prophecy,
inftead of a verlion of it.
Sequeftered
[VI]
Sequeftered from the learned, and
from books, (except fuch as my own
little library fupplies me with) I have
been forced to take the prophecy as I
found it ; and I have endeavoured to
give a good account of it. I wifh, Sir,
it may afford you any fatisfaction, as
the prophecy feems to have been an
object of your attention. It will not
appear with lefs advantage, by being
connected with the other two. For
thefe prophecies, joined together,
form fuch a threefold cord as, I truft,
will not be quickly broken.
I have, Sir, the honor to be, with
the greateft refpecl,
Your moft humble y
and moft obedient fervant,
Ri. PARRY.
ADVE RTI S EME N T.
JL H E following papers contain nothing
more than what the title expreffes, " an
ATTEMPT to demonftrate the Meffiahmip
of Jefus," a faint iketch, or rude outline,
which might perhaps be filled up and per-
fected by fome happier writer, of greater
abilities, more leifure, and better health
for fludies of this nature.
The ARGUMENT employed is the argu-
ment from PROPHECY, a medium of proof
peculiarly, though not exclufively, addrefTed
to the JEWS. " To them were committed
the oracles of God," arid they apply moil
of, if not all the prophecies, which we do,
to MESSIAH. The only difpute is about
the SENSE, that is, whether they are to be
underftood in a TEMPORAL or a SPIRITUAL
fenfe. And one would think, that, after
the experience of SEVENTEEN CENTURIES,
little more than a common underflanding,
with the affiftance of common integrity,
were requifite to decide the controverfy.
The
[ VIII ]
The prophecies, attempted to be explain-
ed and illuftratcd, are confeffedly of the
greateft importance. They have been prefs-
ed into the fervice of every writer, of every
party. But party is the bane of religious
truth. And if the author of thefe papers
has fucceeded in his attempt, the fuccefs
is to be imputed, folely, to his freedom
from party, and prejudice, and prepofTeflion.
PAPISTS and PRO'TEST ANTS, as fuch, are
out of the queilion. The difpute is, here,,
confined to JEWS and CHRISTIANS. And
if it fhall appear, that the FALL OF PAGA-
NISM, throughout the ROMAN empire, is
fairly predicted in the firft prophecy, the
FALL opjEWDAisM inthe fecond, the very
TIME of the fall of Jewdaifm in the third,
and that JESUS was the author of thofe
great events ; it is hoped, that every capa-
ble and candid inquirer will join in the
necefTary conclufion, That < THE TESTI-
MONY OF JESUS IS THE SPIRIT OF PRO-
PHECY."
INTRO-
[ I ]
INTRODUCTION.
THE great evidences to the truth
of Chriftianity are prophecies and
miracles. The miracles which
Jefus wrought, are unquelrionable proofs,
that He was a teacher fent from God.
And the prophecies, fulfilled in Jefus, are
unqueflionable proofs likewife, that He
was the MeiFiah foretold to be fent, in due
time, into the world. For if Jefus did
the works which no man ever did, and if
He fulfilled the law and the prophets,
which no other man did ; What pre-
tence can the Jew and the Deifl have for
difputing his miffion or his Mefliahfhip ?
Prophecies are not necefTary credentials
to a divine commhTion. For who pro-
phecied of Mofes ? And yet his authority
was fufficiently eftablifhed by miracles.
But Jefus offered himfelf to the Jewifh
B nation
2 INTRODUCTION.
nation as their Mefliah foretold by Mofes-
and the prophets. He muft therefore ne-
cefTarily appeal to the evidence of pro-
phecy. Miracles alone would be, in his
cafe, infufficient. For if Jefus did not
anfwer to the characters of the Mefliah
given by the prophets, all his miracles
could never prove him to be the Mefliah ?
It is therefore incumbent on the ra-
tional advocate for Chriftianity to fhew
the completion of the MerTiah-character
in the peiion of Jefus [ i .] With this view
1 have undertaken an explanation of fome
very important predictions. I have en-
deavoured, witli the ftricteft impartiality,
to find out their true meaning. And I
riow offer the refult of my inquiry as an
ESSAY towards flrengthening the great
argument from prophecy for the truth of
Chriflianity.
THE
[ 3 1
THE
KINGDOM OF HEAVEN;
OR, THE
FALL OP PAGANISM.
Nebuchadnezzar's Dream.
A GREAT IMAGE.
ItS HEAD Of fine GOLD,
Its BREAST and ARMS of
SILVER,
ItS BELLY and THIGHS of
BRASS,
ItS LEGS Of IRON,
Its FEET part of
Daniel's Interpretation.
[ PAGANISM. ]
TH ou THYSELF art the
HEAD Of GOLD.
After thee will arife AN-
OTHER empire.
Then a THIRD empire.
Then a FOURTH empire
will be ftrong as iron, for-
afmuch as iron breaketh in
pieces and fubdueth all
[metals] ; and, as iron that
brealceth all thofe [metals],
it will bieak in pieces and
bruife [all nations].
And whereas thou faweft
FEET and TOES, part ot
B 2
4 THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN >, OR,
Daniel's Interpretation
continued.
Nebuchadnezzar's Dream
continued.
IRON and part of CLAY.
A STONE was cut out
without hands, and it fmote
the image upon its FEET
of iron and clay, and brakt
them to pieces.
Then was the iron, tht
clay, the brafs, the filver,
and the gold, broken to
pieces together, and the\
became like the chaffoftht
fummer threfhing floors,
and the wind carried them
potter's clay, and part of
iron, the empire will be
DIVIDED [into TEN king-
doms or provinces], and
rhere will be in IT [in each
divifion]oftheROOTof iron,
rorafmuch as thou faweft
IRON 1 mixed wiih clay.
And as the TOES of the
FEET were part of IRON
and part of CLAY, fo A
KINGDOM will be partly
STRONG and partly BRIT-
TLE.
And whereas thou faweft
iron MIXED with clay, they
will MINGLE themfelves
with the feed of men [the
Romans with the provin-
cialitts], but they will not
cleave one to another, even
as the iron did not mix with
:he clay [fo as to cleave to
In the days of thefe kings
the God of heaven wif! fet
up a KINGDOM which (hall
never be deftroyed ; and the
kingdom (hall not be left
o other people, but it flidll
break in pieces and confumc
11 thefe kingdoms, and it
[hall ftand forever; foraf-
much as thou faweft that a
STONE was cut out of a
mountain without hands,
THE FALL OF PAGANISM.
Nebuchadnezzar's Dream
continued.
Daniel's Interpretation
continued.
away, that no place was and that it brake in pieces
found for them ; and the the iron, the brafs, the clay,
ftone that fm.'te the image
becam^ a great mountain,
and filled the whole earth.
the fiiver, and the gold.
DANIEL II. i 45.
Every thing in thefe exhibitions is fo
ftrongly marked, and fo accurately dif-
tinguifhed, that it requires fome pains,
and more fubtilty, to miflake the mean-
ing. The KING, for the dream was fent
to him in that character, " had been think-
ing upon his bed what would come to
pafs hereafter." By comparing this re-
mark with the dream itfelf, which was
intended to be an anfwer to his thoughts,
and " to make known to the king what
was to come to pafs," we may fafely af-
firm, that this mighty prince had been
confidering the future fates or fortunes
of HIMSELF, his EMPIRE, and its RELI-
GION ; whether BABYLON would always
continue " THE GOLDEN CITY, THE LADY
OF KINGDOMS*," and whether HE HIM-
SELF might not hereafter be inroiied in
the {acred canon of divinities, and repre-
B 3 fented,
* Ifaiah xiv. 4. Chap, xlvii. 5.
6 THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN , OR,
fented, as an' object of worfhip, by a
GOLDEN IMAGE [2], Full of thefe pleanng,
flattering thoughts, he fell afleep j when
God vouchfafed him, for his inftruction,
a prophetic dream, fuited and adapted to
his fituation and circumftances. The
dream alarmed him, for it was more than
common ; " his fpirit was troubled, and
his fleep broke from him." In this anxiety
and diftrefs, he gave orders for the whole^
tribe of flate-jugglers to be called to-
gether, " the magicians, the aftrologers,
and the forcerers, and the Chaldeans, to
fliew the king his dreams." He imme-
diately acquaints them with the occafion
of his fending for them. " I have dream-
ed a dream, and my fpirit is troubled to
know the dream." The Chaldeans faid
to the king, cl Tell thy fervants the dream,
and we will fhew the interpretation." He
anfwered, with great addrefs [3], "The
thing is gone from me. If ye will not make
known unto me the dream, with the in-
terpretation, ye (hall be cut in pieces, and
your houfes ihall be made a dunghill.
But if ye fhew the dream, and the inter-
pretation thereof, ye fhall jeceive of me
gifts, and rewards, and .great honor."
They
THE FALL OF PAGANISM. 7
They anfwered again, " Let the king tell
his fervants the dream, and we will fliew
the interpretation of it." The king re-
plied, cc I know of certainty that ye would
gain time, becaufe ye fee the thing is gone
from me. But if ye will not make known
unto me the dream, there is but one de-
cree for you ; for ye have prepared lying
and corrupt words to fpeak before me,
till the time be changed. Therefore tell
me the dream, and I lhall know that ye
can mew me the interpretation thereof.'*
It was not poffible to put the matter upon
a fairer iiTue. ONEIROCRITICISM, or the
interpreting of dreams, was a very connV
.derable part of pagan .divination. Now
.common fenfe will readily inform any man.,
who will condefcend to liften to it, that,
without infpiration, there can be no true
interpreting of prophetic dreams ; and that
with infpiration, which all diviners pre-
tended to, the dreams themfelves may be
as eafily known as their meaning. " Tell
me therefore the dream, faid the king to
his diviners, and I (hall know that ye can
fhew me the interpretation thereof." The
Chaldeans replied, " There is not a man
upon the earth that can fhew the king's mat-
is 4 jter;
8 THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN 5 OR,
ter ; therefore there is no king, lord, nor
ruler thatafked fuch things of any magician,
or aflrologer, or Chaldean. And it is a rare
thing that the king requireth, and there
is none other that can fhew it before the
king, except the Gods whofe dwelling is
not with fieih." After this frank decla-
ration, " the king was angry and very
furious, and commanded to deflroy all the
wife-men of Babylon," without exception,
as cheats and importers. " So a decree
went forth, that the wife- men fhould be
fiain."
Daniel, it fcems, and his three country-
men were unknown to the king [4], for he
called andconfulted the Chaldeans [5] only.
But when the decree went forth for the
deftruclion of all the wife-men, then
" they fought Daniel and his fellows to
be (lain " likewife. 'I he prophet, who was
totally unacquainted with every thing that
had happened, addrefled himfelf " with
counfel and wifdom to the captain of the
guard," who was intruded with the exe-
cution of the fatal edicl, and inquired
into the caufe of it. " Why," fays he,
upon what, or whofe account, " is a de-
cree fo hafty from the king ? The officer,
with
THE FALL OF PAGANISM. 9
with great attention and politenefs (for
Daniel, though a captive, was of the royal
family of Judah) informed him of the
whole bufmefs ; and, with equal huma-
nity, permitted him to go in to the king
" to deiire time" till the next day, when
11 he would fhew him" both the dream
and " the interpretation." At the time
appointed ( " the fecret" having been pre-
vioufly " revealed to Daniel," at his ear-
neil requeft, " in a night-vifion)," he was
introduced to the king, and faid, " The
fecret, which the king hath demanded,
cannot the wife-men, the aftrologers, the
magicians, the footlifayers, fhew unto the
king. But there is a God in heaven that
revealeth fecrets, and maketh known to
king Nebuchadnezzar what fhall come to
pals hereafter. As for me," continues the
prophet, with the greatefl modefty, " this
fecret is not revealed to me for any wif-
dom that I have more than any living,
but for their fakes," his own and his bre-
thren and companions' fake, " who fhall
make known the interpretation to the
king, and that thou mayeft know the
thoughts of thy heart.
Thou,
jo THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN ; OR,
Thou, O king, fawefl, and behold ! A
GREAT IMAGE. This great image, whofe
brightnefs was excellent, flood before thee,
and the form thereof was terrible." The
image, I conceive, afcended gradually cut
of the earth, according to the fuccerlion
of its component parts, till at length it
flood upon its feet, a huge formidable CO-
LOSSUS, the exprefs reprefentative of PA-
GANISM, tyrannizing in four fucceffive em-
pires, and perfecuting the church of God.
As the ColofTus itfelf is the image of
paganifm, or falfe religion, fo the four
METALS of which it was compofed de-
note fo many diflincl NATIONS, and its
fucceffive PARTS, the fucceffive EMPIRES
of thofe nations. The firft in order, and
which was then exifling, was the BABYLO-
NIAN. " THOU THYSELF * art the HEAD OF
GOLD." That is, the KING of BABYLON
was fo ; for it follows,
" And after THEE," not perfonally but
politically, <c mall arife ANOTHER EMPIRE,
inferior to thee." This was the MEDO-
PERSIAN. Our prophet, who lived to fee
the fall of the Babylonian empire, exprefsly
tells us, that then " DARIUS THE MEDIAN
took
* NIPT nni* See the Louden Polyglott.
THE FALL OF PAGANISM. n
took the empire -f-," according to the pro-
phecy given to Belfhazzar, " Thy king-
dom is divided, and given to the MEDES
and Perfians J." And from that time to
the reign of Cyrus, the Babylonians were
fubjecl: to <c the laws of the MEDES and
Perfians ||," which are afterwards called
" the laws of the PERSIANS and Medes ."
" Then another, a THIRD EMPIRE OF
BRASS." This was v the empire of the
.GREEKS or MACEDONIANS. The Greeks,
we know, were ftyled x*** 6 *, 171 *) brafen-
coated. But I lay no ftreis on this cir*
cumftance, nor indeed ought any ftrefs to-
be laid upon it, for brafs cannot reprefent
brails [6]. It is more material to obferve,
with the prophet, that the third empire
was to " bear rule over all the earth,"
exactly as Alexander himfelf and the hif-
torians defcribe it. Juftin fays, that Alex-
ander, " having at length received the
empire, commanded that he iliould be
called the king of ALL the EARTH, even
of
f Dan. v. 31, t Dan. v. 28.
|| Dan. vi. 8, 12, 15.
Efther i. 19. So ver. 3. " the power of PERSIA
and Media}" and ver. 18, " the ladies of PERSIA and
Media."
12 THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN > OR,
of the world * j" for, as Arrian obferves,
" he feemed to himfelf and to his friends
to be lord both of all the earth and fea ."
The next empire in fucceffion was the
ROMAN, which is thus prophetically de-
lineated. " Then a FOURTH empire will
beftrong as IRON, forafmuch as iron break-
eth in pieces and fubdueth all " metals ;
" and as iron that breaketh all thofe, it
will break in pieces and bruife " all the
people reprefented by them. Nothing
could be more truly characteriftic of the
Romans, than the metal which formed
the LEGS of the flatue. They were indeed
an IRON race, breaking in pieces the gold,
the filver, and the brafs, and reducing
them to dirt ; that is, bringing the nations,
reprefented by thofe metals, into theloweft
and vilefl fubjeclion. " Plunderers of the
world ! as Galgacus the Britifh general
ilyles them, When lands fail before the
cleftroyers of all things, they ranfack even
the fea. If an enemy is rich, they are
covetous of his wealth j if poor, ambitious
of
* tc Accepto deirnle imperin, regem fe terrarum om-
nium, ac mundi, sppellari poffit." Idem lib. 12. c. 16.
9-
$ Avro* rt avria A\;%a.v$fiji xj TOK aw.^' O.VTOV $wr t im yn$
n a.ica.<7-K ^ &ctXcrcrrj; r.y^ov De cxped. Alex. lib. 7. C. \\.
THE FALL OF PAGANISM. 13
of his dominion ; whom neither the eaft
nor the well can fatisfy. They alone de-
fire with equal affection both riches and
poverty. Pilfering, flaughtering, plunder-
ing under falfe pretences, is in their opi-
nion empire j and where they make a fo-
litude, they call it peace *."
From the Romans themfelves the 'pro-
phet pafies to their pagan kingdoms or
provinces, placed, with the mofl exquifite
propriety, under the iron legs of their
matters. C Whereas thou faweft the feet
and TOES, part of potter's clay and part
of iron, the empire will be DIVIDED," or
distributed, into as many kingdoms as the
toes upon the feet of the image [7] . Hence
ROME is flyled by the Jews " DOMINA DI-
GITORUM," that is, without a figure, " the
LADY OF KINGDOMS " or, in the language
of St John, " that great city, which REIGN-
ETH over the KINGS, the KINGDOMS, of
the
* " Raptoresorbis ! Poftquam cunfla vaftantibus de-
fuere terras, et mare fcrutantur. Si locuples hoftis eft,
avari ; fi pauper, ambitiofi ; quos non oriens, nun oc-
cidens fatiaverit. Soli omnium opes atque inopiam
pari affe&u concupifcunt. Auferre, trucidare rap.re
falfis nominibus, imperium ; atque ubi folitudinem fa
ciunt, pacem appellant." Tac. vita Agric. f. 30.
i 4 THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN -, OR,
the earth -j-." " And there will be in IT,"
in each divilion, implied in the term DI-
VIDED^], " of the root of [9]" the nation
reprefented by " the IRON, forafmuch as
thou faweft IRON mixed with miry clay."
This feems to fignify, that for the better
fecuring of the provinces, and keeping of
them in fubjeclion to their mailers, a pro-
portionable number of Roman legions
would be ilationed in each divifion ; or
that Roman merchants would fettle among
the provincialifts for the fake of trade and
commerce. " And as the TOES were part
of IRON and part of CLAY, fo A KING-
DOM," each kingdom or province repre-
fented by a toe, " will be partly STRONG
and partly BRITTLE." Though every
kingdom or province would be, in part,
firmly united to the parent country, juft
as the iron part of each toe was firmly
united to the leg from whence it derived
its exiftence, yet would it likewife, in
another
f Rev. Xvii. 1 8. 'H woXt; ^syaAn, ys%ovffa. EASIAElAtf
wiTo,>BA2:iAEnNT>?7') ? . Thefe were THE KINGDOMS OF
THIS WORLD, which were difplayed by the tempter in
all their glory to the b'.efled Jefus, and which he then
greatly rejected, and afterwards difclaimed, when he
witnefled that good confeffton before Pontius Pilate,
'* My KINGDOM IS NOT OF THIS WOULD."
THE FALL OF PAGANISM. 15
another part, be brittle, crumbling like
clay, and ready to fall away upon every
occafion of difcontent, and oftentimes
without any. " And whereas thou faweft
iron MIXED with miry clay, they will MIX
themfelves with the feed of " private" men;
but they will not cleave one to another,
even as the iron was not mixed with the
clay," fo as to cleave to it. This perhaps
may mean, that the Romans will inter-
marry with the provincialifls j the lords of
the world, as they proudly flyled them-
felves, with their vaffals. But even this
natural principle of union and agreement,
will not be powerful enough to prevent
variance and diflention; the luft of rule
and dominion being more prevalent than
all the fofter afFeclions.
" And in the days of thefe kings will
the GOD OF HEAVEN SET UP A KINGDOM
which mall never be deftroyed; and the
kingdom mall not be left -to other people,
but it mail break in pieces and confume
all thefe kingdoms, and it fhall (land for
ever ; forafmuch as thou faweft that a
STONE was cut out of a MOUNTAIN with-
out hands, and that it brake in pieces the
iron, the brafs, the clay, the filver, and the
gold i"
16 THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN ; OR,
gold," and fucceeded into the place of the
image.
KINGS, as the prophet himfelf has more
than once explained his meaning, are here
put for KINGDOMS. And by THESE king-
doms we are to underftand ROME and her
pagan PROVINCES; the Jewiih writers call-
ing every kind of government, whether
fovereign or dependent, by the common
name of kingdom. " IN THE DAYS OF
THESE kingS SHALL THE GOD OF HEAVEN
SET UP A KINGDOM." Accordingly the
heir to his kingdom was born in the reign
of " Casfar AUGUSTUS [10]." And " in the
fifteenth year of the reign of TIBERIUS
Cscfar, came John the baptift preaching in
the wildernefs of Jewdea, and faying, Re-
pent ye, for THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN
is AT HAND*." And when the baptift
had fulfilled his courfe, Jefus began his
miniftry in the fame manner, " preaching
the gofpel of THE KINGDOM OF GOD -[-."
The other empires had been fet up by hu-
man craft, and human power ; by the
ftratagems of politicians, and the ftrength
of armies. But THIS kingdom was to be
iblely the work of God, as the ftone was
cut
* Matt. iii. 2. f Mark i. 14..
THE FALL OF PAGANISM. 17
cut out of the mountain, " Jerufalem, the
holy mountain," WITHOUT HANDS. Daniel
himfelf ufes the word " hand " elfewhere
in the fame fenfe. Speaking of Antiochus
Epiphanes under the image of " a little
horn," he fays, " he (hall be broken with-
out hand *," he fhall be deftroyed neither
in anger nor in battle, but by the ven-
geance of God. The Jews feem to have
ufed this expreffion proverbially, to denote
any thing MIRACULOUS/ Our Saviour had
faid, " Deftroy this temple," meaning the
temple of his body, " and in three days
I will raife it up." The comment of the
Jews was, " I will derlroy this temple,"
the temple of Jerufalem, " that is made
WITH HANDS, and within three days I will
build another made WITHOUT HANDS -)-."
Thus " the ftone was cut out of the
mountain without hands." The king faw
the axe, but the hand that hewed there^
with was invifible. And in like manner
the Chriftian church was feparated from
the Jewifh by the fecret power and opera*
tion of the holy fpirit. The apoflles were
indeed the vifible inftruments in this great
C work
* Dan. viii. 25. f Mark xiv. 58.
1 8 THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN ; OR,
work. Some planted, others watered;
but God alone gave the increafe.
" This kingdom fhall never be de-
ftroyed, nor left to other people." The
BABYLONIAN empire was deflroyed, and
left to the Perfians j the PERSIAN was
deflroyed, and left to the Macedonians >
the MACEDONIAN was deflroyed, and left
to the Romans. But THIS kingdom, the
kingdom of the God of heaven, fhall
never be deflroyed, nor left to other peo-
ple. It fhall not be fucceeded by a new
EMPIRE ; no FAMILY, nor any other po-
litical, COMPACT fhall fo far prevail, as
to fet up a fixth UNIVERSAL monarchy.
So far from being itfelf deflroyed, " it
fhall break in pieces and confume all thefe
kingdoms," all the pagan kingdoms of
the fourth empire Rome herfelf and her
provinces. " The kingdom of heaven,"
as the phrafe implies, and as the lord of
the kingdom has exprefsly declared, " is
not of this world , " and therefore the
terms " breaking and confuming" muft
.be underflood accordingly. The Jews in-
deed, ever devoted to the low and little
concerns of this life > fondly expelled a
temporal kingdom, a fifth monarchy to
be
THE FALL OF PAGANISM, 19
be erected upon the ruins of the fourth;
and Jerufalem to be the metropolis of the
empire. But, behold the reverfe of their
vain expectations ! At the very time when
they were looking for the Meffiah to fub-
due the nations, " to bind their kings in
chains, and their nobles in links of iron,"
even then they themfelves were broken in
pieces and confumed, and their city and
temple deftroyed by the Romans ; and
" THE WICKED ROMAN," as they delight
to fpeak, is flill remaining. If plain and
obvious FACTS will not open people's
eyes, and change their fentiments, it is
h'ard to fay what will. And yet there is
another FACT, the completion of this
prophecy, which muft be, at leaft, equally
convincing to every unprejudiced inquirer.
The mountain is the Jewifh church j the
{tone, cut out of that mountain, is the
infant kingdom of God, or church of
Chrift, extracted from the Jewifh. The
Jews themfelves acknowledge, that " the
flone reprefents the Meffiah ;" that is,
agreeably with the ftyle of the prophecy,
the Meffiah's kingdom. And they will
do well to obferve, that the flone cut out
of the mountain, and not the mountain
c 2. itfeif,
20 THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN ;. OK,
itfelf, was to demoJifh the image ; or, in
other words, that the Meiliah's kingdom,
extracted from the Jewifh, and not the
Jewiili kingdom itfelf, was to atchieve
what is here predicted. As the ftone was
homogeneal with the mountain [ 1 1], from
whence it was hewn, fo was the Chriftian
church with the Jewifh, from whence it
derived its exiftence. They were indeed
eflentially the fame. One believed in A
MESSIAH TO COME, the other acknow-
ledged him in the perfon of JESUS -, and
THE MESSIAHSHIP OF JESUS . is THE
FOUNDATION OF THE GOSPEL [l2J. " The
ftone fmote the image, the reprefentative
of paganifm, on its FEET of iron and clay,
and brake them to pieces." That is, ac-
cording to Daniel, " the kingdom of God
fhall break in pieces and con fume all the
kingdoms " of the earth ; or, in other
words, the true and undented religion of
Chrift fhall prevail over and deftroy the
falfe and idolatrous religions of the Roman
empirej all men fhall " willingly offer
themfelves," and become fubjecls of the
great King. As foon as the ftone fmote
the image upon its feet, it brake them in
pieces, and inlarged itfelf by an aeceffioiv
of
THE FALL OF PAGANISM. 21
of thofe new materials. " The iron, the
clay, the brafs, the filver, and the gold, were
broken to pieces together [13], and became
like the chaffof the fumrner threfhing-floors,
and the wind carried them away, that no
place was found for them." And as foon
as the apoftles addrefied themfelves to the
converfion of the Gentiles, they made
amazing havock in the provinces, and, in
token of their conquefts, gave the con-
quered a new name ; for, as St Luke ob-
ferves, in honor of his native city, " the
difciples were called by divine appointment
[14] CHRISTIANS firft in Antioch," the
capital of Syria, which implies that they
were afterwards called fo elfewhere. The
prophet is not fpeaking of the deftruction
of the empire in a phyfical, but in a moral
fenfe, " The weapons of our warfare,"
fays the illustrious apoille to the Gentiles,
who well knew botli their nature and their
ufe, " are not carnal, but fpiritual." The
Romans therefore were not to be con-
fumed, but converted ; the pagans were
to be deftroyed, and not the men ; the
only army to be {lain was the " noble
army of martyrs." Sent forth cc like fheep
into the midft of wolves ;" the apoftles
c 3 went
22 THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN 5 OR,
went forth, in the fpirit of fimplicity,
humility, and meeknefs, armed only with
truth and innocence, the goodnefs of their
caufe, and the power of their God. And
with thefe weapons they fought, prevailed,
and conquered. So that before two cen-
turies were run out, the provinces, the
cities, the courts, the camps, were all full
of Chriftians ; and within lefs than three,
from its firft publication, the -religion of
Jefus became the religion of the empire.
" The ftone" (that " little flock," as the
good fhepherd once pathetically called it)
went on " from ftrength to ftrength, in-
creafing with the increafe of God," till at
length, by converting the materials of the
image , into itfelf, it " became a great
mountain, and filled the whole earth."
The Jewifh church (the mountain from
whence the ftone was taken) was compa-
ratively very fmall, and confined to one
obfcure corner of the Roman empire.
But the ftone (the Chriftian church)
fpread, with an irrefiftible progrefs, from
eaft to weft, grew into an exceeding great
mountain which filled the whole of it.
In this manner did the kingdom of the
God of heaven break in pieces and con-
fume
THE FALL OF PAGANISM. 23
fume all the pagan kingdoms of the fourth
monarchy. " It came upon the princes
as upon mortar, and as the potter tread-
eth clay. All kings fell down before it,
all nations did it fervice." And thus the
bleffed JESUS, the fon of the higheft, was
conftituted in SPIRITUALS, what CAESAR
was in TEMPORALS, " KING OF KINGS,
AND LORD OF LORDS."
Thus far, at leaft, we may venture to
fay, with Daniel, " the dream is certain,
and the interpretation thereof is fure."
Neither the one nor the other is the mere
fport of the imagination and fancy, for in
every part the event has verified the pre-
diction ; and there cannot poffibly be a
flronger atteflation to the truth of any
prophecy than its accomplishment. We
have feen the kingdom of the ftone, and
we have feen the empire of the mountain.
We may therefore fee u rely trufl the re-
maining part in the hands of God. This
kingdom " fhall fland for ever." It has
already flood, to the aftonifhment of every
ferious obferver ! almoft eighteen hundred
years. The pagan empires were c of the
earth earthy," and therefore of no long
continuance. The Babylonian was de-
c 4 flroyed
24 THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN } OR,
ftroyed by the Perfians, the Perfian by the
Macedonians, the Macedonian by the Ro-
mans ; and at lafl the Roman empire was
fwallowed up and loft in the church of
Chrift. But this {hall never be deftroyed.
It {hall ftand, in the ftricteft fenfe, FOR
EVER. The kingdom of GRACE fhall be
commenfurate with the exiflence of the
prefent world, and the kingdom of GLORY
with that of the world to corne. For as
the LORD'S THRONE is in HEAVEN, neither
the powers of EARTH nor of HELL SHALL
BE EVER ABLE TO PREVAIL AGAINST IT.
We have now examined, in a curfory
manner, the rich contents of this manifold
prediction, and have viewed the gradual
completion of all its parts. We have feen
the FOUR great empires of the world fuc-
ceflively rifing and falling, and yielding to
3 new mafter. We have feen too, which
is the capital object intended, a FIFTH
empire, called THE KINGDOM OF THE GOD
OF HEAVEN, emerging from the moft ob-
fcure corner of the Roman territories,
wading through a bloody fea of troubles^
and at length triumphing over the powers
of paganifm, " leading captivity captive,"
and
THE FALL OF PAGANISM. 25
and fixing the facred ftandard of the CROSS
[15] in every part of the empire -and the
fcene of the prophecy extends no farther.
Here then we too will clofe the fcene,
only obferving, that a time will come when
the Chriftian church will be both inlarged
and purified. I cannot better defcribe
this happy change of men and manners,
than in the exprefftve language of the
evangelical prophet. " The WOLF (hall
dwell with the LAMB, and the LEOPARD
fhall lie down with the KID, and the CALF
and the young LION and the FAT LI KG
together, and a little CHILD fhall lead
them. Even the cow and the BEAR fhall
feed, their young ones fhall lie down to-
gether, and the LION fhall eat flraw like
the ox. And the SUCKING child fliall
play on the hole of the ASP, and the
WEANED child fhall put his hand on the
COCKATRICE'S den. THEY SHALL NOT
HURT NOR DESTROY IN ALL MY HOLY
MOUNTAIN; FOR THE EARTH SHALL BE
FULL OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE LORD,
AS THE WATERS COVER THE SEA*."
* Ifaiah xi. 69.
THE
26 THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN ; OR,
THE
KINGDOM OF HEAVEN;
OR, THE
FALL OF J E W D A I S M.
Daniel's Vifion.
Behold ! the four winds
of the heaven ftrove upon
the great fea, and FOUR
GREAT WILD- BEASTS
came up from the fea, di
verfe one from another.
The FIRST was like a
Li N, and had eagle's wings.
I beheld till the wings there-
of were plucked, where-
with it had been lifted up
from the earth, and it was
made to ftand upon two
feet as a man, and a man's-
heart was given to it.
And, behold ! another
wild-beaft, a SFCOND like
to a BEAR, and it raifed up
itfelf on one fide, and it
had three ribs in its mouth
between its teeth ; and they
faid thus to it, A rife, de-
vour much flefli.
The Angel's Interpre-
tation.
THE FALL OF JEWDAISM. 27
Daniel's Vifion continued.
After this I beheld, and,
lo ! ANOTHER like a LEO-
PARD, which had on its
back four wings of a fowl ;
the wild-beaft had alfo four
heads, and dominion was
given to it.
After this, behold ! a
FOURTH wild-beaft, dread-
ful and terrible, and Itrong
exceedingly, and it had
great iron teeth; and it de-
voured and brake in pieces
and ftamped the refidue
with its feet ; and it was
a copy of all the wild-beafts
that were before it, and it
had TEN HORNS.
I confidered the horns,
and, behold ! there had
come up among them ANO-
THER, A LITTLE HORN,
before whom three of the
firft horns were plucked up;
and, behold! in this, horn
were eyes like the eyes ol
a man, -but a mouth fpeak-
ing great things.
1 beheld till two thrones
were placed, and the an-
tient of days the judge
did fit, and the books were
opened.
I beheld then, becaufe
of the voice of the greai
words which the horn fpake
till A BEAST was flain
The Angel's Interpre-
tation.
28 THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN , OR,
Daniel's Vifion continued.
and its BODY deftroyed,
and given to the burning
flame. As to the REST,
[the remains,] of the beaft,
their dominion was taken
away, but their lives were
prolonged for a feafon and
time.
I faw, and, behold ! the
likenefs of A SON OF MAN
came upon the clouds of
heaven, and came to the
ANTIENTOF DAYS and was
brought near before him.
And he gave him domi-
nion, and glory, and a
kingdom, that ALL people,
rations, and languages (hall
ferve him. His dominion
is an everlafting dominion,
which (hall not be taken
away, and his kingdom that
which (hall not be deftroyed.
I Daniel was grieved in
my fpirit in the midft of
my body, and the vifions
of my head troubled me.
I went near unto one of
them that ftood by, and
afked him the truth of all
this.
So he told me and made
me know the interpretation
of the things.
The Angel's Interpret
tion.
Thofe GREAT WILD-
BEASTS, namely, thole
FOUR.
FOUR EMPIRES fuccef-
fively arife out of the earth.
THE FALL OF JEWDAISM. 29
Daniel's Vifion continued.) The Angel's Interpre-
tion continued.
Then the SAINTS OF
THE MOST HIGH ftiall TC-
ceive the kingdom, and pof-
fefs the kingdom for ever,
even for ever and ever.
Then I would know the
truth of the FOURTH wild-
beaft, which was copied
from all the others, ex-
ceeding dreadful, whofe
teeth were of iron, and its
nails of brafs, which de-
voured, brake in pieces, and
ftamped the refidue with its
feetj
And of the TEN HORNS
that were in its head ;
And of the OTHER
which had come up, and
before whom three fell,
even of that horn that had
eyes, and a mouth that
fpake very great things,
whofe look was more ftout
than his fellows.
I had looked, and the
fame horn made war with
the SAINTS, and prevailed
againft them, until the an-
tient of days came, and
gave judgment for the faints,
that the time was come that
the faints (hould poffefs the
kingdom.
The FOURTH wild-beaft.
A FOURTH empire will
arife out of theearth, which
will be copied from all the
empires, and will devour
30 THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN-, OR,
The Angel's Interpre-
Daniel's Vifion continued.
tatiun continued.
the whole earth, and tread
it down, and break it in
pieces.
And the TEN HORNS.
Out of this empire TEN
kings will arife j then
ANOTHER will arife after
them, and he will be di-
verfe from the firft ; then
three kings will be fub-
dued ; and he will fpealc
great words againft the
moft high, and will wear
out the. faints of the moft
high, and think to change
times and laws ; and they
fhall be given into his hand
until a time, and two-times,
and the half of a time.
Then the judge, will fit,
and they fliall take away
his dominion, to confume
and todeftroy it at the end.
And the kingdom and
dominion, and thegreatnefs
of the kingdom under the
whole heaven, /hall begiven
to a people, the faints of
the moft high, whofe king-
dom is an everlafting king-
dom, and all dominions
(hall ferve and obey him.
Then (hall be an end of
the matter.
DANIEL VII. 128.
As
THE FALL OF JEWDAISM. 31
As in the former vifion Nebuchadnez-
zar, a PAGAN prince, faw the defrruction
of PAG AN ISM, fo here Daniel, a JEWISH
prophet, faw the deftruclion of JEWDAISM ;
and the reprefentations were fuited and
adapted to the peculiar circumftances of
each beholder. The great objects of pa-
gan worfhip were MEN DEIFIED. Paga-
nifm therefore was very fitly reprefented
to Nebuchadnezzar under the form of a
great HUMAN IMAGE, the four metallic
parts of which denoted four empires.
The Jews were ufed to defcribe tyrannical
and perfecuting ftates under the figure of
WILD-BEASTS [16]. The fame empires
are therefore properly fet forth in this vi-
fion by SUCH types ; and the prophet had
the misfortune to fee his own little ftate
defcribed and punimed under the fame
form. In the beginning of the vifion
" Daniel faw, and, behold! the four winds
of the heaven {trove upon the great fea,
and FOR GREAT WILD-BEASTS came up"
fucceflively " from the fea, diverfe one
from another." As thefe be-afts came out
of a troubled and tempeftuous fea, fo the
empires, reprefented by them, fucceflively
arofe from the ftrivings of the people.
" The
3 z THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN; OR,
c< The FIRST was like a LION." This an-
fwers to the golden head of the image,
and {lands for the empire of the BABYLO-
NI NS. The Greek and vulgate verfions
read a LIONESS. And Jerome fays ex-^
prefsly, that " the Babylonian empire for
its favagenefs and cruelty is not called a
lion but a lionefs j for the writers on na-
tural hiflory report, that the lionefles are
the fiercefr.*." If what Jerome here fays
of the fex of the bead be true, I would
fuppofe, that, at lealr, the head of the
image was female. And thus the two
types would be more properly expreffive
of tc Babylon the great, the MOTHER of
harlots and abominations of the earth -f-."
This lion, or lionefs, at firft Cf had eagle's
wings, by which it was lifted up from the
earth [17]. But Daniel looked " till the
wings thereof were plucked, and it was
made to fland upon two feet [18] as a
man, and a man's heart was given to it."
As the foaring of the beaft above the earth
is
* Regnum Babylonium propter faevitiam et crude-
Htatem non LEO fed LEJENA appellatur. Aiuntenim
hi qui de beftiarum fcripfere naturis, leaenas effe feral-
ciorcs." Hieron. in loc.
f Rev. xvii. 5.
THE FALL OF JEWDAISM. 33
is plainly oppdfed to its Handing upon two
feet like a man, with the additional cir-
cumflanee of " a man's heart being given
to it," the meaning may perhaps be found
in that noble EPINIKION, or triumphant
ode, upon the fall of Babylon. " How
art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer,
fon of the morning ! How art thou cut
down to the ground, which did weaken
the nations ! For thou haft faid in thine
heart, I will afcend into heaven, I, will
exalt my throne above theflars of God I
will afcend above the heights of the clouds,
I will be like the moil high. Yet thou
(halt be brought down to the grave, to
the fides of the pit *." If this be the true
meaning of the paiTage, Daniel lived to
fee in reality, what he here faw in vifion,
the overthrow of the Babylonian empire.
" The SECOND wild-beaft was like to a
BEAR, and it raifed up itfelf on one fide,
and it had three ribs in its mouth, between
its teeth j and they faid thus unto it,
Arife, devour much flefh." This anfwers
to the filver breaft and arms of the image,
and reprefents the empire of the MEDES
and PERSIANS. " It raifed up itfelf on
D one,
* Ifaiah xiv. 12 15,
34 THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN; OR,
one fide," for at firft the Medes had the
fuperiority. In this flate it had only three
ribs, a few bones, between its teeth. But
afterwards it arofe and devoured much
flefh. This is commonly underftood of
the cruelty of the Perfians [19]. But, in
fymbolical language, FLESH fignifies
RICHES, and the oppofition between
three [20] and much, ribs and flefh,
clearly fhews that this empire was to
make larger conquefls, and obtain more
fpoils and riches under the Perfians than
under the Medes. Accordingly we read,
that Xerxes, " the RICHEST of all the
kings of Perfia *, reigned, from India even
unto Ethiopia, over A HUNDRED AND
SEVEN AND TWENTY provinces -J-.
" The THIRD wild-bearl was like a
LEOPARD, which had upon its back four
wings of a fowl ; the wild-beaft had alfo
FOUR HEADS, and dominion was given to
it," to each head. This correfponds with
the belly and thighs of the image, and re-
prefents the third, or MACEDONIAN, em-
pire under Alexander's fucceffors, for f
Alexander himfelf is pafTed by. The
term IT, to which dominion was given,
does
* Dan. xi. 2. t Efth. i. i.
THE FALL OF JEWDAISM. 35
does not relate to the beaft, for the very
fymbol itfelf implies dominion, but, diftri-
butively, to the four heads of the beaft.
We have a fimilar defcription of this em-
pire, with its explanation, elfewhere. " A
HE-GOAT came from the weft had a nota-
ble horn between its eyes the great horn
was broken, and for it, " inftead of it," came
up FOUR notable ones towards the four
winds of heaven. The rough goat is the
empire of Grecia, and the great horn between
his eyes is the firft emperor. Now that
being broken, whereas four ftood up for it,"
inftead of it, " four kingdoms will ftand
up out of the nation *." The only dif-
ference between the vifions is, that the
goat appeared at firft with one horn, and
then with four j whereas the leopard rofe
up at once with its four heads [21]. A
convincing proof, were any proof necef-
fary, that Alexander's empire was the fame
with that of his fucceflbrs.
" The FOURTH wild-beaft was dreadful
and terrible, and ftrong exceedingly, and
it had great iron teeth ; it devoured and
brake in pieces and ftamped the refidue,"
the remains of the other three, <f with its
D 2 feet j
* Dan. viii, 522,
36 THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN , OR,
feetj and it was copied [22] from all the
beafts that were before it, and it had TEN
HORNS." This bead, without a name, an-
fwers to the iron legs of the image, and
reprefents the ROMAN empire. As Daniel
informs us in general, that this beaft was
copied from the other three, fo St John
has fpecified the feveral parts of this extra*
ordinary compofition. " The wild-bead
was like unto a LEOPARD, and its feet were
as the feet of a BEAR, and its mouth was
as the mouth of a LION -j-." The ten
horns of this namelefs bean: anfwer to the
ten toes of the image, and, like them,
fignify the PAGAN provinces of the fourth
empire. It was a moft unhappy conceit
of Mr Collins, to make the ten horns fo
many SUCCESSIVE kings in the KINGDOM,
as he calls it, of the Seleucidae and Lagidae.
For though no abfurdity appears in the
notion of ten fucceflive horns, yet the
fancy of ten fucceflive TOES muft be too
abfurd, even for the head of a freethinker.
Daniel " confidered the horns." He
had difcovered, perhaps, the correfpond-
ence of the fourth beaft with the fourth
pait of the image, and of the ten horns
with
{ Rev. xiii. 2,
THE FALL OF JEWDAISM. 37
with the ten toes. Something-, however,
was ftill wanting. He perceived nothing
that anfwered to the mountain. He there-
fore attentively reviewed the ten horns,
and obferved, that " ANOTHER had come
up behind them, a LITTLE horn, before
whom three [23] of the firft horns were
plucked up." This horn evidently an-
fwers to the mountain in the former vi-
fion, and confequently denotes the Jews.
There the Jews were confidered in their
fpiritual capacity, as a CHURCH, and very
properly reprefented by a mountain, <c the
mountain of the Lord's houfe." Here
they are fliewed, in their civil capacity, as
a little PROVINCE of the Roman empire,
and are as properly reprefented by a horn
of the fourth beau:. It had grown up be-
hind the other ten. It arofe after them
in time, and behind them in place. Thus
at the time of the vifion the Jews had no
political exiflence, they were captives in
Babylon. And when they returned, and
their polity was revived, it was in the re-
moteft corner of what was afterwards
called the Roman world. We may ob-
ferve farther, that when it is exprefsly
P 3 faid.
38 THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN; OR,
faid, " Three horns were plucked up BE-
FORE the little one," it is fairly implied,
that the little one itfelf was plucked up
afterwards. The caufe of its deftruclion
follows. " In this horn were eyes like
the eyes of a man, BUT A MOUTH SPEAKING
GREAT, " that is, blafphemous" THINGS."
Our Saviour feems to have had this pro-
phecy in view, when he fays to his difci-
ples, " Ye {hall hear of wars and rumors
of wars, fee that ye be not troubled ; for
all thefe things muft come to pafs, but the
end is not yet. For nation fhall rife againft
nation, and kingdom againft kingdom,
and there fhall be famines, and peftilences,
and earthquakes in divers places. All
thefe are the BEGINNING of forrows -f."
They are the predicted forerunners of thofe
unparalleled calamities, which fhall not
determine but in the defolations of Jeru-
falem. " For," as it is added in St Luke,
" thefe are the days of vengeance, that all
things which are WRITTEN may be FUL-
FILLED J."
The prophet continued looking, " till
two thrones were placed" [24] in heaven,
(for
f Matt. xxiv. 68. Mark xiii. 7, 8.
Luke xxi. 9 22.
THE FALL OF JEWDAISM. 39
(for the prefent fcene is there) " and the
antient of days, " the king eternal" did fit"
upon one of them, ( " his garment was
white as fnow, and the hair of his head
like the pure wool ; his throne was as the
fiery flame, its wheels as burning fire $
a fiery ftream iflued and came forth from
before him -, thoufand thoufands minif-
tered unto him, and ten thoufand times
ten thoufand flood before him) the judge
f 25]did fit, and the" prophetic" books were
opened." The thrones are here limited to
two, becaufe two are fufficient for the
purpofe, one of them being placed for the
antient of days, and the other for " the
fon of man [26]," who will appear pre-
fently. The judge is the fame with the
antient of days, who is introduced a fe-
cond time on account of the defcription
in the parenthefis. And I call the books
prophetic, becaufe they relate to the com-
ing of the TIME when the faints poiTefTed
the kingdom.
Daniel ftill " beheld, becaufe of the voice
of the great words which the horn fpake,
till A BEAST was flain, and his BODY de-
ftroyed and given to the burning flame.
The REST, " the remains," of the beaft, they
D 4 h:.d
40 THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN ; OR,
had their dominion taken away, but their
lives were prolonged for a feafon and time."
The common fyftem fuppofes., that this
was the FOURTH GREAT bead; whereas
it was a FIFTH and a LITTLE one. It was
indeed no other than the little horn itfelf
now transformed into a beaft. The pro-
phet, who faw the beafts, their fize and
number, could not poffibjy be under any
doubt whether he faw four or five, and
whether the fifth was a fmall beaft or a
great one. Nor will any unprejudiced
reader be under the leaft doubt concerning
this matter, if he confiders the whole of
the angel's interpretation, and compares,
one part of it with another. The inter-
pretation has already appeared, and will
be given again in its proper place here-
after. In the mean time we may obferve,
that the body of this beaft [27] is exprefsly
contradiftinguiflied from its other parts,
and that, though the body itfelf was de-
ftroyed, the ct lives of the remains were pro-
longed for a feafon and time." That is,
the people, reprefented by the beaft, were
deftroyed as a body politic ; but the lives
of the individuals, of thofe who remained
28], were prolonged for an appointed
feafo n
THE FALL OF JEWDAISM. 41
feafon. And, I prefume, I need not to
add, that the Jews themfelves bear tefli-
mony to the truth of the prediction.
But this is not all. Though the remains
of the tjeaft had their lives prolonged, yet
" their dominion was taken away." What
dominion ? The very life of a fymbolical
beaft is its dominion. When the beaft
therefore is killed, and its body deftroyed,
what dominion can be left for its remains ?
In anfwer to this queftion I obferve, that
the Jews were under a double dominion,
TEMPORAL and SPIRITUAL. And as the
firft was taken from them by the a6t of the
Romans, fo the latter was taken from
them by the at of God. Jacob himfelf
foretold the lofs of this dominion at the
very time when he conveyed it to the tribe
of Jewdah. " The fcepter [29] fhall not
depart from Jewdah, for from him fhall
arife the lawgiver until Shiloh," He whofe
it is, " ihall come; but unto him fhall the
gathering of the peoples be *." That is,
in the words of Shiloh himfelf, " The
kingdom of God fhall be taken away from
you, and given to a nation bringing forth
the fruits of it f ."
The
* Gep. xlix. 10. f Matt, xxi, 43.
42 THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN -, OR,
The FIFTH BEAST being thus deftroyed,
Daniel " faw in the night- vifions, and,
behold !" the fon of God [30] " like a fon
of man, came in the clouds of heaven, and
went towards the antient of days, and
they brought him near before him. And
there was given him dominion, and glory,
and a kingdom, that all people, nations,
and languages mould ferve him. His do-
minion is an everlafting dominion, which
mail not pafs away, and his kingdom that
which mail not be deftroyed." Though
Daniel did not underftand, exactly, the
meaning of what he had feen, yet he knew
enough to alarm and terrify him. He
" was grieved in his fpirit in the midft of
his body, and the vifions of his head trou-
bled him." He therefore " went near
unto one of them that flood by," (thofe
minifters of God which do his pleafure)
" and afked the truth of all this," the fig-
nification of the myfteries which he had
feen. c * So he told me, fays Daniel, and
made me know the interpretation of the
things."
" Thofe great wikUbeafts, namely, thofe
four. Four empires fucceifively arife out
of the earth. Then the faints of the moft
high
THE FALL OF JEWDAISM. 43
high fhall take the kingdom, and poffefs
the kingdotn for ever, even for ever and
ever." Mere the myftery begins to open.
FOUR wild-beafts are plainly oppofed to a
FIFTH, four GREAT wild-beafts to a SMALL
one. That is, four empires are oppofed
to a kingdom ; the great empires of Baby-
lon, Perfia, Greece, and Rome, to the petty
kingdom of Jewdea. The mode of the
angel's expreflion is remarkable, and ne-
ceflarily leads us to this interpretation.
He does not fay, The beafts, or The four
beafts, are four empires, (which would have
been fufficient if no more than four had ap-
peared) but he fays, " Thofe great beafts,
namely, thofe four, are four empires which
fucceffively arife out of the earth." He
adds, " Then," under the fourth empire,
" the faints of the moft high fhall take the
kingdom," the kingdom of heaven now for-
feited by the Jews, "and fhall poflefs the
kingdom for ever and ever."
We, who have the advantage of laying
the whole of the angel's interpretation at
once before us, and may compare one part
of it with another, can readily fee more of
his meaning in the general explanation,
than Daniel himfelf could poflibly difcover.
It
44 THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN; OR,
It will clearly appear hereafter, that the
little horn and the beaft that was (lain
are one and the fame kingdom, in different
refpefts. And both thefe emblems apply
with the greateft exa&nefs to the Jews.
As Jewdea was a Roman province, it was
very fitly reprefented by a horn of the fourth
beaift. But though this horn had eyes like
the eyes of a man, had the appearance of
being humanized, yet he had " a mouth
fpeaking great," that is, blafphemous
" things ;" and he acted accordingly. No
wonder therefore, if his next fcenical ap-?
pearance was that of a wild -beaft, the
Jewifh fymbol of a tyrannical, perfecuting
power. His brother in the Revelation is
defcribed in the fame language. " I be-
held another WILD-BEAST * coming up
out of the earth, and he had two horns
like the horns of a lamb, but he SPAKE
as a DRAGON -)-."
Daniel, as I have obferved, could not
poflibly underftand the full and precife
meaning of what he had feen, nor was his
curiofity fatisfied with the angel's general
interpretation. He was therefore defirous
of knowing, more particularly, " the truth
of
* flupiw. f Rev. xiii. u.
THE FALL OF JEWDAISM. 45
of the fourth wild-beail, which was co-
pied from all the others and of the ten
horns that were in his head, and of the
other which came up, and before whom
three fell, even of that horn that had eyes "
like the eyes of a man, " and a mouth
that fpake very great things, whofe look
was more flout than his fellows. I had
looked, fays the prophet, and the fame
horn made war with the faints, and pre-
vailed againfl them, until the antient of
days came, and judgment was given to the
faints of the moil high, and the time came
that the faints pofleiTed the kingdom."
The angel thus replied. " The fourth
wild-beail. A fourth empire will be upon
the earth, which will be copied from all"
the preceding " empires, and will devour
the whole earth, and tread it down, and
break it in pieces. And the ten horns.
Out of this empire ten kings (or kingdoms)
will arife, then another will arife after
them, and he will be diverfe from the firft
(ten,) and three kings will be fubdued,
and he will fpeak great words againil the
moil high, and will wear out? the faints of
the moft high, and think to change times
and laws, and they will be given into his
hand
46 THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN; OR,
hand until a time and two times and the
half of a time. Then the judgment fhall
fit, and they fhall take away his dominion,
to confume and to deftroy it at the end.
And the kingdom, and dominion, and the
greatnefs of the kingdom under the whole
heaven fhall be given fo a people, the faints
of the moft high, whofe kingdom is an
everlafting kingdom, and all dominions
fhall ferve and obey him."
Here the truth of the interpretation,
before given, is fully confirmed. The
fourth wild-beaft is the fourth empire
upon earth. The fourth beafl was a copy
of the three preceding ones , and the fourth
or Roman empire comprehended the three
former, fo as to be, with its own proper
territories, rmftrefs of the whole earth.
The ten horns (the number TEN being
fymbolical, and denoting univerfality) are
all* the PAGAN kingdoms or provinces.
The other, which arofe behind them, is
J E w D E A. This horn is not called
the eleventh, though it was fo numeri-
cally, but is placed fmgly by itfelf ; for,
according to Balaam's prediction, " this
people were to dwell alone, and not be
reckoned
THE FALL OF JEWDAISM. 47
reckoned among the nations *." " It
was DIVERSE from the firft" horns. And
the Jews were diverfe from all other peo-
ple, particularly in their form of govern-
ment, which is the very thing intended.
It was neither a monarchy, nor a demo-
cracy, nor an ariftocracy, but, as Jofephus
^properly ftyles it, a " THEOCRACY"adminif-
tered by a deputy j and this fmgular mode
fubfifted, throughout the various changes
of vifible governors, from MOSES the firft
" king in Jefhurun" to VESPASIAN the laft
[31]. " And he fhall fubdue three kings"
or kingdoms, that is, agreeably to the He-
brew idiom [32], three kingdoms fhall be
fubdued. The fate of thefe kingdoms is
defcribed by no lefs than three different
expreffions -f-. And, no doubt, the thing
itfelf is fo often repeated, and fo varioufly
exprefsed, that it might take the fafter
hold on the attention of the Jews, and be
a SIGN to them, when it happened, of
their own approaching cataftrophe. " Ye
HYPOCRITES, (fays our Saviour, in the
moft upbraiding tone, to the Pharifees and
Sadducees) ye know how to difcern the face
of the fky, and can ye not difcern the
figns
* Numb, xxlii o. f ^3tT ^23 "
48 THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN; OR,
figns of the times * ?" and (to the people)
" Ye HYPOCRITES, ye know how to
difcern the face of the Iky and of the earth,
but how is it that ye do not difcern this
time ? " It is plain from this ftrong and
pointed language, that the Jews were pof-
fefTed of fome prophetic figns, which, if
properly attended to, might have led them
to a difcernment of the times. Elfe,
where was the HYPOCRISY in their not dif-
cerning what, in the nature of things, it
was impoffible for them to difcover ? And
if they had, in fact, any fuch prophetic
ligns of the times, I know not where to
feek them but in Daniel. The truth is,
that fo far as their, fuppofed, temporal
interefts were concerned, they could and
did fee the prophetic figns. On this oc-
cafion their difcernment was fufficiently
quick and penetrating. Puffed up with
the fond and foolifh conceit of a FIFTH
MONARCHY, and of reigning, in their turns,
upon the earth, they overlooked, or ra-
ther they would not difcern, the figns of
their deftruclion -, and fo, ftruggling for
the empire, they loft their liberty. <c They
thought that the kingdom of God would
imme-
* Matt. xvi. 3. Luke xii. 56.
THE FALL OF JEWDAISM. 49
immediately appear -J-." And, with re-
gard to the time, they thought right, " for
the kingdom of God was among them.'*
But they would not underftand the true
nature of it, or of its appearance. The
kingdom of God, like God himfelf, is to
be feen only in its effects. " It Cometh
not, as our Saviour told them, with ob-
fervation j neither ihall they fay, Lo here !
or, Lo there ! for, behold ! the kingdom
of God is among you ||." That is, as we
may interpret the words, The kingdom of
God does not make its appearance, as you
expect, like the Babylonian, Perfian, Ma-
cedonian, and Roman, " with a confufed
noife, and garments rolled in blood j" nor
is it attended with outward pomp and
fplendor. It comes in filence and in peace,
offering itfelf to the hearts and conferences
of men j it does not appear, though it ex-
ifts, for indeed 'it is already among you,
and you know it not. So pure and hea-
venly a kingdom was not fuited to the
tafte and genius of " the children of this
world." It had " no form, nor comelinefs,
nor any beauty, that they fhould deiire it."
They therefore rejected the gracious offer
E of
f Luke xix. ir. ]] Luke xvii. 20.
50 THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN ; OR,
of God, and were, in their turn, to be re-
jected by him. And that they might not
want figns of their approaching definition,
they are informed, that three, that is, many
kingdoms, fhall -fall and be fubdued before
them. Accordingly, our Saviour repeats
thefe figns to his difciples, exhorts them
" not to be troubled when they heared of
wars, and rumors of wars," for though the
defolations of Jerufalem would certainly,
yet they would not immediately, follow the
conquefts of other nations ; and he advifes
them to provide for their own fafety, the
very moment they faw Jerufalem encom-
pafTed with armies (the abomination of
defolation fpoken of by Daniel) by retiring
from Jewdea*. The believing Jews avail-
ed themfelves of their mailer's caution,
and were faved[33J. The unbelieving
periilied with their country.
The reafon of their definition is now
more fully difclofed. " He (the king re-
prefented by the little horn) will fpeak
blaiphemous words againft the moft high,
and will wear out the faints of the moft
high, and think to change times and laws,
and they fhall be given into his hand until
a time
* Matt. xxiv. 15, 16. Luke xxi.20.
THE FALL OF JEWDAISM. 5*
a time and two times and the half of a
time." Can any one look upon this pic-
ture, and not immediately recollect the
original, from which it was copied ? Does
he not inftantly difcover the powers of
Jerufalem crucifying the Chrift, perfecut-
ing the Chriftians, contradicting and blaf-
pheming ? The crucifixion of the Meffiah,
though executed by the Romans, is always
charged upon the Jews as their own proper
a6l. Jefus himfelf fays to Pilate, " He
that delivered me unto thee hath the greater
fm -f-." And St Paul, I prefume, addrefied
the high-prieil as the reprefentative of his
nation, when he declared, in the fpirit of
prophecy, " God will fmite thee, thou
whited wall [34]. And doft thou fit to judge
me according to the law, yet commandeft
me to be fmitten contrary to the law*?",
This leads us to the next part of Daniel's
prediction. " And he will think to change
times and laws." The learned Mr Mede
informs us, that " the changing of times
and laws is an oriental phrafe to exprefs
POTESTATEM *uToxp*Top/xy j " that is, ail
imperial, felf-derived, and indeed a God-
like power. And did not the Jews affect
E 2 this
| John XIK. ii. * Acfo xxiii, 3.
52 THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN^ OK,
this very power, when they oppofed them-
felves to Caefar, to the Mcfliah, and even
to God himfelf ? Did they not THINK to
change both the times and the laws ? And
did they not perifh in the attempt ? Our
blefled Saviour has given us a very lively
defcription of their conducl, and their fate,
in his parable of C a certain houfholder,
who planted a vineyard, let it out to huf-
bandmen, and went into a far country for
a long time. And when the time of the
fruit drew near, he fent his fervants to the
hufbandmen, that they might receive the
fruits of it. And the hufbandmen took
his fervants, and beat one, and killed an-
other, and floned another. Again he fent
other fervants, more than the firftj and
they did unto them like wife. But laft of
all, he fent unto them his fon, faying,
They will reverence my fon. But when
the hufbandmen faw the fon, they faid
among themfelves, This is the heir, come,
let us kill him, and let us feize on his in-
heritance. So they caught him, and cafl
him out of the vineyard, and flew him.
When the Lord therefore of the vineyard
comethjwhatwillhe do unto thofe hufband-
men ? They fay unto him, He will mife-
rably
THE FALL OF JEWDAISM. 53
rably deftroy thofe wicked men, and will
let out his vineyard unto other hufband-
men, which will render him the fruits in
their feafons *." The meaning of the pa-
rable is fo eafy and obvious that even " the
chief priefts and pharifees perceived it was
Ipoken againft them." The owner of the
vineyard is God, the vineyard is his church
or kingdom, and the hufbandmen are the
Jews. The fervants are the prophets, from
Mofes to the baptift, all of whom were
perfecuted, and fome murdered [35]. The
Ton is the Median, the Son of God, whom
the Jews flew in hopes of pofleffing his
kingdom. You know the event. The
kingdom was taken from them, and tranf-
lated to the Gentiles. And, as we learn
from Jofephus, the Jevvifh war lafted about
three years and a half [36]. So that the
faints, or Chriftians, were given into the
hands of the Jews " UNTIL a time and two
times and the half of a time."
Thefe are the two lafl events foretold by
Daniel. " Then," at the end of thofe three
years and a half, " the judgement ihall fit,
and they mail take away his dominion, the
dominion of the little horn, to confume and
to deflroy it at the end. , And the kingdom
E 3 and
* Matt. xxi. 3 41.
54 THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN j OR,
and dominion and the greatnefs of the
kingdom under the whole heaven fhall be
given to a people, the faints of the moft
high, whole kingdom is an everlafting
kingdom, and all dominions fhall ferve
and obey him." It now appears very
plainly, that the little horn and the beafl,
which were deftroyed, are one and the
fame kingdom in different refpetts. Con-
fequently, this beaft cannot be the fourth,
the reprefentative of the Roman empire.
For though the fame thing or perfon may,
in different refpefts, be reprefented in the
fame vifion by different fymbols [37], and
therefore the fame kingdom may be here
reprefented both by a horn and by a beaft,
yet the fame empire cannot poffibly be ty-
pified by the horn of a beaft and by the
beaft itfelf. Eecaufe this is the very fame
contradiction as to call a member the body,
or a part of any thing the whole of it. It
is a contradiction in ideas, as well as in
terms. Befides, the little horn in this vi-
fion anfwers to the firft mountain in the
other. Now the mountain cannot poffibly
fignify any other kingdom than that of
the Jews, in a certain refpeft. And there?-
fore, " if ye will receive it," the little horn
or
THE FALL OF JEWDAISM. 55
or beaft muft necefiarily fignify the fame
kingdom in another.
The Jewifh kingdom was deftroyed by
the Romans, who had no other intentions,
at firft, than to chaftife a rebellious people.
But providence generally brings about its
own purpofes by means of fecond caufes.
And as the Romans were the instruments
of the Jews in the crucifixion of Chrift, fo
they were now employed as the inftru-
ments of providence in the deftruftion of
the Jews 3 their apoftafy from the Ro-
mans naturally bringing on the allot-
ted pimiiliment .of their apoflafy from
God. " The judge was feated on his
throne in heaven, and their dominion was
taken away.'' " Three horns fell before
the little one," and other rebellious pro-
vinces were fubdued by the Romans before
the Jews *., But thofe horns only fell,
thofe provinces were only humbled ; they
fabmitted, and were fpared. if The little
horn fell" never to rife again; the Jews
perfifted in their oppofition, to God and to
E 4 Csefar,
* Proximus annus civili btlb intcntus, quantum ad
JUD.S:O? per otium tranfiit. Pace per ITALIAM parta,
& EXTERNTE cu-s redicre. Augebat iras, quod SOLI
NON CESSIS^-ENT. Taciti Hiftoriar. lib. v. 10.
5 6 THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN -, OR,
Caefar, and perifhed. Their perdition was
exhibited to the prophet by that of " a
wild-beaft, whofe BODY was given to a
burning flame." Our bleffed Saviour, if I
irsiftake not, clearly alludes to this paflage,
when he lays to the difciples, " Wherefo-
ever the BODY is, thither will the EAGLES
be gathered together -f-." The expreflion
is indeed proverbial, and may, no doubt,
be applied generally to the defcruclion of
one army by another [39]. But as no true
critic will venture to deny, that the term
ft eagles" has, in this application, a direct
reference to the Roman eagles, fo I will
conclude, for myfelf, that the term " body"
has the fame reference to the body of the
Jewifli bead, whofe dominion was to be
taken away, and deftroyed, at the end.
The end, here fpoken of, is that of the
ft three times and a half," the .continuance
of the Jewifli war with the Romans.
" Then, fays the angel, there fhall be an END
of the matter," a period fhall be put to the
Jewifh nation and polity. Our Saviour fore r
tells the fame thing. Having mentioned va-
rious events that were to precede the de-
flruftion of Jerufalem, he adds, " Then
fliail
f Lulce xvii. 37.
THE FALL OF JEWDAISM. 57
fhall the END come *," the end of the Mo-
faic church and ft ate. And have not thefe
predictions received the moft exact com-
pletion ?
Daniel was a patriot, as well as a. pro-
phet. It is therefore no wonder, that he
was fo deeply affected with this tremefrd-
ous fcene. " His cogitations much trou-
bled him, and his countenance changed in
him." And the blefTed Jefus too, who
was more than patriot, could not refrain
from tears, when he faw the approaching
fate of his unhappy country. " He be-
held the city, fays the evangeljft, and wept
over it -j-." Daniel " kept the matter in
his heart." And every other Jew will do
well to lay this matter to heart, to confi-
der, with candor, ferioufnefs, and atten-
tion, the many ftriking particulars record-
ed by this prophetic evangelift, and record-
ed with the fame precifion and accuracy,
as if he had lived and written after the
events. What rational account can the
Jews pretend to give of the deftruction of
their city and temple, and of the continued
defolations of their country ? The Romans
ff could have had no power at all againft
them,
* Matt. xxiv. 14. f Luke xix. 41.
58 THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN 5 OK>
them, except it had been given to them from
above." What then was the opprobrious
crime, which brought down fo fignal a cala-
mity upon this once highly favoured people ?
Let them look into the writings of their
own prophet Daniel, and there they may
read their crime in that of the HORN, and
their punifhment in that of the BEAST.
" The horn fpake blafphemous words a-
gainft the moft high ;" and the Jews refufed
to fubmit to the government of God, in
the way which he had appointed. " If
thou let this man go, faid the Jews to Pi-
late, thou art not Csefar's friend. Who-
foever maketh himfeif a king fpeaketh a-
gainfl Csefar J." And again, " We have
no king but Caefar -(-." God took them at
L-ii" word, and their king was their de-
The deftruclion of Jerufalem made way
f, ' 'he advancement of the kingdom of
God j or, in other words, the abolition of
the Jewiih theocracy upon earth, made way
for the eftabiiihment of the Meffiah's king-
dom in heaven, and was indeed a proof
of it. Our Saviour exprelfly appeals to it
as fuch. " Immediately after the tribula-
tion
J John xix. 12. f John xix. 15.
THE FALL OF JEWDAISM. 59
tion of thofe days (hall the fun be darken-
ed, and the moon fhall not give her light,
and the ftars fhall fall from heaven, and
the powers of the heaven fhall be fhaken."
Some may poflibly imagine this prophecy
to be a defcription of the falling world, in
the literal fenfe of the terms. But our Sa-
viour intends nothing more than a cefTa-
tion of the Jewifn polity, exprefled in fym-
bolic language. He adds, " And then fhall
appear the iign of THE SON OF MAN IN
HEAVEN || . Well might he call this the
iign of the fon of man's being in heaven,
when the angel had fo long before made
the overthrow of Jerufalem the immediate
forerunner of the fon of man's inthroniza-
tion into his kingdom in heaven. " When-
ever the theocracy was abrogated, it muft
needs be done, fays a great writer, in the
fame folemn manner in which it was efta-
blimed. Nor, indeed, could it have been
abolifhed without diffblving the whole
frame of the republic ; fmce all the laws
of it, whether as to their equity, force, or
ntnefs, as well as the whole ritual of wor-
{hip, refpecled and referred to God as civil
governor J." - Take then a piece of hiftory
from
jj Matt. xxiv. 29. J T)iv, Leg. vol. iv. p. 243.
60 THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN ; OR,
from a Roman writer, no ways interefted
in the difpute between Jews and Chriftians.
Speaking of the PRODIGIES (or SIGNS)
which happened during the Jewifh war,
my author mentions this among the reft.
" ExpafTae fubito DELUBRI fores, & audita
major humana vox, EXCEDERE DEOS, fimul
ingens motus KXCEDENTIUM *." It is im-
poffible, I believe, to exprefs the ABOLI-
TION of the THEOCRACY in clearer or in
ftronger terms.
The Jewifh theocracy, that " wall of
partition," being thus removed, the Mef-
fiah's kingdom was extended over all na-
tions. " There was given him dominion,
and glory, and a kingdom, that ALL peo-
ple, nations, and languages, (reprefented
by the SEVEN remaining horns) mould
ferve him. His dominion is an everlafting
dominion, which fhall not pafs away, and
his kingdom that which mall not be de-
ftroyed." This is elfewhere called the
kingdom of the faints. " The kingdom,
and dominion, and the greatnefs of the
kingdom under the whole heaven fliall be
given to a people, the SAINTS of the moft
high, whole kingdom is an everlaflirjg
kingdom,
* Tahiti Hiftoriar. lib. v. 13.
THE FALL OF JEWDAISM. 61
kingdom, and all dominions [throughout
the Roman empire] (hall ferve and obey
him." The Jews were once the peculiar
people of God, and, from their relation to
him, diftinguifhed by the honourable ap-
pellation of faints. " Gather my SAINTS
together unto me, fays God by the pfalm-
ift, thofe that have made a covenant with
me with facrifice *." And fo they are call-
ed throughout the Old Teftament, and
even in Daniel too -f-. But when they op-
pofed and blafphemed God and his Chrift,
then the ftyle is changed, they are exhibit-
ed among " the BEASTS of the people" by
the fame opprobrious fymbol, and the glo-
rious character of SAINTS is transferred to
the Chriftians. Hence St Paul, fpeaking
of himfelf before his converfion as a limb
of Antichrift, informs Agrippa, that" many
of the SAINTS he had flint up in prifon,
having received authority from the chief
priefts ." Hence too he addrefles his epif-
tles " to the SAINTS at Rome, Corinth,
Ephefus, Philippi, and CololTe." This is
not a partial diftinclion of fome Chriftians
from the reft (as fanatics, of all denomi-
nations, are too apt to appropriate the cha-
racter
* Pfal. I. 5. f Dan. viii. 24. A&s xxvi. 10.
62 THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN ; OR,
racier to themfelves) but it is the common
title of the whole family, under their co-
venanted relation to God and his Son, and
includes " every faint in Chrift Jefus *,"
in oppofition both to Jews and Gentiles -,
and particularly to the former, the one
icripture ANTICHRIST. And here, per-
haps, it may not be improper to obferve,
that the term C Antichrift " does not always
denote a perfon, but fometimes a kingdom
the kingdom of SATAN oppofmg and
claiming to be the kingdom of God [40].
It is the proper character of thofe "LIARS
who fay that they are JEWS, and are not, but
are the fynagogue of Satan [41]." Thus
the Babylonian KING {lands for the. Baby-
lonian KINGDOM -j~, and the term CHRIST
fignifies the Chrillian CHURCH J. In like
manner the Jewifh PONT IF may be ftyled,
reprefentatively , ANTICHRIST. And I
fcruple not tctcall the Latin PON TIP, as the
head and representative of his church, by
the fame title, for he evidently bears upon
his crown the NUMBER of the NAME of the
apocalyptic , BEAST [42]. And thus the
tranfition from one antichrift to the other
is
* Phil. iv. 21. f Dan. ii 38.
i Cor. xii. 12.
THE FALL OF JEWDAISM. 63
is eafy and natural, each of them being to
be found within the pale of the church.
I v/iil fhut up my remarks on this pro-
phecy with an application to the members
of the papal communion, and to ourfelves.
The church of ROME is, in the opinion
of its votaries, the only TRUE church of
Chriil ; and one of the boafted NOTES or
MARKS of its truth is VISIBILITY, founded
in TEMPORAL power and dominion. Now,
fuppofmg VISIBILITY to be a proper MARK
of " the kingdom that cometh NOT WITH
OBSERVATION, and allowing TEMPORAL
authority to be a diftinguifhing NOTE of
" the kingdom that is NOT OF THIS WORLD,"
yet it may be obferved, that a TRUE church
may, in length of time, degenerate into a
FALSE one. The JEWS were, once, the
peculiar people of God, and their church
was the only TRUE one. It was originally
founded by God himfelf on TEMPORAL
promifes, had a vifible, magnificent TEM-
PLE, and a rich, luxurious, politic PRIEST-
HOOD. In ihort, it had every advantage
and privilege that even a cardinal can
efteem effential to a true church. And
yet, with all thefe outward privileges and
advantages, it fell firft into apoftafy,
and
6+ THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN,' OK,
and afterwards into perdition. This then
mould be a conftant memento to the pa-
pal church, " that thinketh it ftandeth, to
take heed left it fall." This is not my ob-
-fervation but St Paul's. Comparing the
Jewifh church to a good olive tree, and
the Gentiles to a wild one, he reafons with
the latter in the following remarkable
words. " If fome of the branches be
broken off, and thou, being a v/ild olive
tree, wert grafted in amongft them, and
with them partakeft of the root and fatnefs
of the olive tree, boaft not againft the
branches. But if thou boaft, thou beareft
not the root, but the root thee. Thou
wilt fay then, The branches were broker!
off, that I might be grafted in. Well, be
it fo j becaufe of unbelief they were broken
off, and thou ftandeft by faith. Be not
high-minded, but fear. For if God fpared
not the natural branches, he will by no
means fpare thee. Behold therefore the
goodnefs and the feverity of God ; on them
which fell, feverity ; but towards thee good-
nefs, IF THOU CONTINUE in his goodnefs :
OTHERWISE, THOU ALSO (the apoftle is
addrefling the church of ROME THOU
ALSO) SHALT BE CUT OFF * [43]-"
" COME
* Rpm. xi. 1722.
THE FALL OF JEWDAISM. 65
" COME OUT OF HER, therefore, MY
PEOPLE,
THAT YE BE NOT PARTAKERS OF HF.R
SINS,
AND THAT YE RECEIVE NOT OF HER
PLAGUES *."
WE indeed have, prudifhly, withdrawn
ourfelves from the grofser pollutions of
that meretricious community. How far a
fecond REFORMATION may be either necef-
fary or expedient, I muft not take upon me
to determine. This, however, may be faid
witk truth, and therefore, it is hoped,
without offence That the more there is
" OF THIS WORLD" in our ecclefiaftical
eftablifhment, the nearer it is to POPERY,
and the farther from the SIMPLICITY OF
THE GOSPEL.
* Rev. xviii. 4.
THE
66 THE FALL OF JEWDAISM,
THE
FALL OF JEWDAISM,
IN THE
REIGN OF VESPASIAN,
Gabriel's Prophecy.
SEVENTY WEEKS are determined for thy
PEOPLE, and for thy HOLY CITY, TO
DESTROY THE WICKED ONE, and tO fill Up
fins, to make reconciliation for iniquity,
and to bring in everlafting justification, and
to feal up prophetic vifion, and TO ANOINT
THE MOST HOLY ONE.*
Know therefore and understand.
From the promulgation of a command-
ment to REBUILD Jerufalem UNTO Meffiah.
the prince, fhall be SEVEN weeks and SIX-
TY-TWO weeks.
IT SHALL BE REBUILT, the ftreet and
the furrow, even in the LITTLE of the
times. In the latter part of the SIXTY-
TWO
IN THE REIGN OF VESPASIAN. 67
TWO weeks MESSIAH WILL BE CUT OFF,
for they will not be his.
Wherefore the people of the prince that
fhall come fhall overthrow the city and
the fancluary, and the end thereof fhall be
with a flood ; and at the end of the war
defolations are determined.
And he fhall caufe a covenant to prevail
with ALL [nations.]
[And] in ONE week, even in HALF of
the week, he fhall caufe the facrifice and
the oblation to ceafe; for with a wing [an
army] of abominations he fhall caufe defo-
lations, even until the confummation, and
that determined fhall be poured upon the
defolators.
DANIEL ix. i 27.
In the former prediction the FALL oF
Jewdaifm is folemnly announced, in this
the TIME of it. " SEVENTY WEEKS are
tc determined for thy PEOPLE, and for thy
<c HOLY CITY." This, you fee, is the ut-
moft f pace of time allotted, in the decrees
of heaven, for the exiftence of the city and
people of Jerufalem. Within that period
all the circumftances foretold fhall corns to
pafs. The fcene opens with the reft:>ra-
E 2 tion
68 THE FALL OF JEWDAISM,
tion of Jerufalem, and clofes with her de-
ft ruction.
The Jews had weeks of YEARS as well
as of DAYS. And thefe SEVENTY WEEKS,
during which the JEWS were to be a PEO-
PLE and JERUSALEM a CITY, have a plain
reference to the SEVENTY YEARS of its DE-
SOLATIONS. Mofes himfelf, among other
threatenings, denounced the following.
" Your LAND SHALL BE DESOLATE, and
" your cities wafte. Then (hall the land en-
e< joy her SABBATHS as long as it liethDEso-
et LATE, and ye be in your enemies land;
" even then {hall the land reft, and enjoy
"her fabbaths. As long as it lieth DESO-
" LATE, it ihall reft, becaufe it did not reft
*' in your SABBATHS when ye dwelt upon
" it*." Accordingly, when the fins of
the Jews were ripe for this vengeance, Je-
remiah foretold, that " the whole land fhould
be a DESOLATION SEVENTY YEARS -J-,"
the number of SABBATHS which the Jews
had neglected to obferve when they dwelt
upon the land ;f. Daniel therefore, foon
after
* Lev. xxvi. 33-7-35. f Jer. xxv. u.
"| " He brought upon them the king of the Chaldees,
" who carried them away to Babylon, where they were
*' fervants to him and his fons," and, " until the reign
of
IN THE REIGN OF VESPASIAN 7 . 69
after the overthrow of the BABYLONIAN
empire, and fome few years before the
reign of PERSIA, reflecting upon the pro-
phetic denunciations of Mofes and Jere-
miah, applies himfelf, in the moll pathe-
tic ftrains of prayer and {application, to
the Lord God, befeeching him to " turn
" away his anger and his fury from his
" city Jerufalem, his holy mountain, and
" to caufe his face to fhine upon his defo-
" late fanctuary, for the Lord" Mefiiah's
" fake [44]." His prayer was beared-.
" At the beginning of his fupplication a
" commandment came forth," and the an-
gel Gabriel was fent to inform him, that
feventy weeks were allotted for the exiftence
of his people and holy city. As if he had
faid, the prefent defolations of Jerufalem
are fixed for SEVENTY, or TEN TIMES SEVEN
years j but from the reftoration of Jeru-
falem to her future defolations (hall be SE-
VENTY TIMES SEVEN.
The things in general to bz brought a-
bout within the compafs of the weeks are
F 3 th.-ie.
'* of the kingdom of PE RSI A , to fulfil the word of the
*' Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had
" enjoyed her SABBATHS, "for " *s long as (he was defo
* late fhe kept fabbath, to fulfil THREESCORE AND TEN
** years." 2 Chron. xxxvi 11 21.
7 o THE FALL OF JEWDAISM,
thefe. "To DESTROYTHEWICKED ONE*."
This is no other (in the primary fenfe of
the term) than the " LITTLE HORN" and
fifth " BEAST " exhibited in the foregoing
vifion, " that man of fin, the fon of per-
dition, THAT WICKED ONE, whom the
" Lord mall confume with the fpirit of his
*' mouth, and deftroy with the brightnefs
< of his coming [45] J."
" To fill up fins." Here are two read-
ings, occafioned by the fimilitude of two
letters in the original ||. But, take which
of them you pleafe, the fenfe is the fame j
" to fill up fins." And at the time fore-
told the fins of the Jewifli nation were at
their height. " FILL YE UP then the mea-r
fure of your fathers ," faid Jefus to the
unbelieving Pharifees. Accordingly they
proceeded " to fill it up" in a few days after
by crucifying the Lord of life. Hence St
Paul defcribes them as perfons who both
killed the Lord Jefus, and their own pro-
phets, and perfecuted the apoftles ; as dif-
p-leafing to God, and contrary to all men,
4< FILLING UP THEIR SINS "jr."
"To
* T^^T t 2 ThefT. ii. 38.
H DDT 1 ? Dnrr? Matt, xxiii. 32.
t i ThrfT. ii. 15, 1 6.
IN THE REIGN OF VESPASIAN. 7 r
** To make reconciliation for iniquity."
This is fo diftinguifhing a part in the cha-
racter of MESSIAH, that he is fly led, by
the antient Jews, nsD tTN " the man of pro-
<c pitiation, " or" the atonement-maker."
Ifaiah had long before defcribed him as " a
ct lamb brought to the flaughter, making
<c his life an offering for fin, and bearing
" the iniquities of all *." And who has
looked into the gofpel, and has not there
beholden " JESUS, THE LAMB OF GOD, THE
" PROPITIATION for the fins of the
world ?"
Juftification is the confequence of atone-
ment. It therefore immediately follows
-- " and to bring in everlafting righteou-
" nefs" or juftification. " Ee it known
ft unto you, Men and Brethren" (fays the
apoftle, in his fpirited addrefs to the Jews
at Antioch) " that through this" Jefus
11 is preached unto you the forgivenefs of
" fins, and by him all that believe are juf-
" tified from all things f ." The angel
ftyles this Juftification " everlafting, "or the
Juftification " of ages," in oppcfition to
legal Juftification, which was only tempo-
rary, and confined to the Jewifh age.
E 4 Whereas
* Ifaiah. liii. 7 12. f A&s xiii. 38^ 39,
72 THE FALL OF JEWDAISM,
Whereas the juftifj cation to be brought in
by the death and refurrection of Mef-
fiah is, in the ftrifteft fenfe, everlafting j
being intended for the benefit of all ages,
and being itfelf, like its divine author,
" the fame yefterday, and to day, and for
" ever." Hence the blood of Jefus, " the
" Lamb flain from the foundation of the
* c world," is called " the blood of the ever-
" lafting covenant* ." And in this fenfe
we are to underftand that remarkable ex-
preflion in the fame epiftle; where St Paul,
oppofmg the facrifice of Jefus to the legal
oblations, fays, " If the blood of bulls and
" of goats fanctifieth to the purifying of
" the flefli, how much more fhall the
l< blood of Chrift, who J*/* TWU/^T^- r/ox"
(not thro' THE eternal Spirit, meaning his
own divinity or the holy ghoft, but) " with
<c AN ETERNAL SPIRIT^]," pOWCr Ol*
efficacy, " offered himfelf without fpot to
* God, purge your confcicnce from dead
" works -f- ?"
" To feal up vifion and prophecy," that
is, prophetic vifion. Vifion and prophecy
are here faid to be " fealed" in the days of
MeiTiah, becaufe in him they were to re-
ceive
IN THE REIGN OF VESPASIAN 73
ceive their completion. The Jews them-
felves underftand the words in this fenfe,.
" All the prophecies fhall be fulfilled at
tf the coming of Meffiah." Now he
who claimed the Meffiahfhip declared, that
he " came to fulfil the law and the pro-
phets*. "And whoever impartially confiders
the feveral types and prophecies relating to
MESSIAH, will find that they all meet in
JESUS, by a wonderful coincidence, like
different rays in the fame center.
< c And to anoint the moll holy." The
perfon who delivered this prophecy con-
cerning Meffiah was the angel Gabriel.
And the fame divine mefTenger, when he
was predicting the birth of Jefus to his
virgin mother, expreffly ftyles him " the
" holy one," and fays," He fhall be great,
" and fhall be called the fon of the High-
" eft, and the Lord God fhall give unto
" him the" fpiritual " throne of his father
" David; and he fhall reign over the
" houfe of Jacob for ever, and of his king-
" dom there fhall be no end -f-."
The angel now goes on to inform us of
the time and manner in which thefe great
events
* Matt. v. 17. f Luke i. 3235.
74 THE FALL OF JEWDAISM,
events are to be accomplifhed. " Know
" therefore and underfland.
" From the promulgation of A com-
" mandment to rebuild [47] Jerufalem
ce unto Meffiah the prince fhall be feven
" weeks and lixty two weeks." The com-
mencement of thefe weeks is the great point
in difpute. Various are the afTertions, ar-
guments, demonftrations of the celebrated
writers upon the fubject. Where then
lhall we fix ? Or what is that precife point
of time marked out by the prophecy ? Now,
with leave of the chronologers, the refolu-
tion of the queftion is not very difficult.
For, as one of the beft of them cqnfefles,
" This prophecy exprefleth the time that
was determined upon the people of Daniel,
that is the Jews, and upon the holy city,
that is Jerufalem, the whole of which was
feventy weeks *." The learned connector
has indeed a figurative interpretation,
and he fays, that " all was accom-
plifhed at the death of Chrift." But I will
fo far prefume upon the privilege of com-
mon fenfe, as to fuppofe, that the Jews
ceafed not to be a people, nor Jerufalem
to be a city, till the reign of Vefpafian.
" The
* Prideaux Connect. Vol. I. p. 262,3. 8vo.
IN THE REIGN OF VESPASIAN. 75
<c The end of the weeks" (to borrow the
Doctor's method of reafoning, which is very
fimple, and ftridlly logical) " being thus
fixed, it doth necefiarily determine us
where to place the beginning of them, that
is four hundred and ninety years before."
Reckon then from the DESTRUCTION OF
JERUSALEM in the SECOND year of VESPA-
SIAN to the SECOND year of DARIUS
NOT H us, and you will find the number
of years, according to Ptolemy's canon,
[48JFOUR HUNDRED AND NINETY,O1' tliere-
abouts, for exaclnefsof computation is not
in this cafe to be expected, and perhaps
is hardly poffible. And the fcriptures,
fairly and candidly interpreted, place THE
COMMANDMENT TO REBUILD THE TEM-
PLE, the principalpart of JERUSALEM, the
very part from which it received its diflin-
guifhing denomination of the HOLY CITY,
in the SECOND year of the fame DARIUS.
Ezra informs us, that " when the adver-
faries of Jewdah beared that the children of
the captivity builded the temple to the Lord
God of Ifrael, they weakened the hands of
the people of Jewdah, and troubled them in
building, and hired counfellors againfl
them, to fruftrate their purpofe, all the
days
76 THE FALL OF JEWDAISM,
days of CYRUS king of Perfia, and until"
and during ' ' the reign of D A R i u s " H Y s T A-
SPIS " king of Perfia. And in the reign of
AHASUERUS, XERXES [49] in the beginning
of his reign, wrote they unto him an accu-
fation againft the inhabitants of Jewdahand
Jerufalem. And in the days of ART AXE R-
XES" LONGIMANUS " wrote they unto the
king, who gave a commandment to caufe the
work to ceafe. Then they went up in halle
to Jerufalem unto the Jews, and made
them ceafe by force and power. So it
ceafed unto the SECOND year of DARIUS"
NOTHUS " king of Perfia *. Then the
elders of the Jews builded, and they prof-
pered through the prophefying of Haggai
and Zechariah ; and they builded and fi-
nifhed it according to the commandment of
CYRUS and DARIUS" NOTHUS, " and AR-
TAXERXES" MNEMON " king of Perfia ."
The account then plainly Hands thus.
CYRUS favored the Jews with a decree to
rebuild their temple, and ordered an allow-
ance out of the treafury towards defraying
the expences J. But the Samaritans, who
were enemies to the work, corrupted the
officers in the Perfian court, and fo prevail-
ed
* Ch, iv. 124. Ch. vi. 14. J Ch. vi. 4.
IN THE REIGN OF VESPASIAN. 77
ed with their bribes, that the royal bounty
was flopped during the reigns of CYRUS,
CAMBYSES, SMERDIS the ufurper, and
DAR lus Hyftafpis. A method^ which ferv-
ed " to fruftrate the purpofe" of the indi-
gent Jews as effectually, as if the kings
themfelves had iiTued out their imperial
prohibitions.
When AHASUERUS, or XERXES, came to
the throne, the Samaritans changed their
fyftem, and, inflead of bribing the officers *
they addrefled the king himfelf, " and wrote
an accufation againft the inhabitants of
Jewdah and Jerufalem/' What the arti-
cles of this accufation were, and what ef-
fect it produced, we know not. The hi-
torian only remarks, that it was fent " in
the beginning of the reign" of Ahafuerus.
It is therefore probable, that this aceufa-
tion gave way to that more important one
of cc Haman *" againft the whole body of
the Jews. Here indeed, through the inter-
pofition of the queen J, who was a Tewefs,
they triumphed, and had their full revenge
of their enemies. This, one would think,
was the proper feafon for profecuting the
work
* Eaher iii. 8, 9.
is, called {imply, in fcrip.ture. Either.
78 THE FALL OF JEWDAISM,
work of the houfe of the Lord. But, I know
not how, the Jews were ever moft wanting
to their duty in the days of their profperity.
In the time of ARTAXERXES Longima-
nus we find an accufation at large from the
Samaritans, together with the king's de-
cree againft the building, which was exe-
cuted with the utmoft rigor. " Then ceaf-
ed the work of the houfe of God which is
at Jerufalem. So it ceafed unto the SECOND
year of DARIUS" Nothus " king of Perfia."
That is, it then ceafed by FORCE, as it had
before ceafed by STRATAGEM, unto the
reign of Nothus.
But now the time is come when JE.RU-
SALEM, THE HOLY CITY, MUST BE BUILT.
The accomplifhment of prophecy depends
upon it. No wonder therefore, if you find
God himfelf commanding and incouraging
the work, defeating the Samaritans, ani-
mating the Jews, and inclining the hearts
of the kings of Perfia to protecl and aflift
them. " They builded, and profpered
through the prophefying of Haggai and
Zechariah ; and they builded and finifhed
it according to the commandment of the
God of Ifrael, and according to the com-
mandment of CYRUS, and DARIUS" Nothus,
and
IN THE REIGN OF VESPASIAN. 79
" and ARTAXERXES" Mnemon tf king of
Perfia." The houfe indeed, that is, the
mere building, was fmifhed in the fixth
year of Darius " Nothus," and the feafl of
dedication was kept with great joy *. But
the ornamental part, " the beautifying of
the houfe of the Lord -f," as Ezra expref-
fes it, was not finifhed till the time of Ar-
taxerxes Mnemon ; in the feventh year of
whofe reign a decree was granted to EZRA
for that purpofe J. And in the twentieth of
the fame Artaxerxes a new decree was grant-
ed toNE HE MI AH to complete the other build-
ings of the city, which he accomplifhed in
twelve years . Thus the firft divifion of
the angel's prophecy was fulfilled. " From
the promulgation of a commandment TO
REBUILD JERUSALEM unto Mefliah the
prince fhall be SEVEN WEEKS and fixty two
weeks ; IT SHALL BE REBUILT, the ftreet
and the wall, even in the LITTLE of thofe
times." For from the fecond year of Da-
rius Nothus, which was the year of Na-
bonaflar 327, to thethirty fecond of Arta-
xerxes Mnemon, the year of NabonafTar
37 6 >
* Ezra vi. 15, 1 6. f Ezra vii. 27. J ver, 23.
$ Compare Nehem. v. 14. vii. 4. xi.
i.
80 THE FALL OF JEWDAISM,
376, are juft " feven weeks" of years ac-
cording to Ptolemy's canon ||.
Thofe refpectable writers, Jofeph Scali-
ger and Joieph Mede, fixed the commence-
ment of the weeks where I have placed it.
Others, however, no lefs refpeclable *,
have urged an objection to it from the pro-
phet Haggai. " Who is left among you
that faw this houfe in its firrt glory ? And
how do ye fee it now ? Is it not in your
eyes in comparifon of it as nothing -)-?"
" This text, they fay, plainly exprelles,
that fome were then alive who had feen
the firft temple, and were capable of com-
paring it with the fecond. And therefore
if this Darius were Darius Nothus, they
muft have been of an age BEYOND BELIEF.
From the deftruclion of the temple to the
fecond of Darius I. were only SIXTY EIGHT
years. From the deftruclion of the tern- '
pie to the fecond of Darius II were an
HUNDRED AND SIXTY six years. And
where PROBABILITY and IMPROBABILITY
appear fo plainly upon the face of the dif-
ferent calculations, they think the diftance
of time may be admitted as a fufficient ar-
gument to determine the queftion."
To
|| Thus, 326-f-49 = 376. * See Sir Ifaac Newton,
Dean Prideaux, &c. j Hag. iii. 3.
IN THE REIGN OF VESPASIAN. 81
To which I anfwer in the words of a
very illuftrious writer, on another occafi-
on. " The Promifes of God have never
" borrowed help from MORAL PROBA-
" BILITIES. His promifes to ABRAHAM
cc were not of this kind *." And why then
fhould they be of this kind to the Children
of Abraham ? The Jews lived under an ex-
traordinary difpenfation of providence*
LONG LIFE was the general promife of
the Mofaic law to the obedient. And this
promife was particularly repeated at the
time we are fpeaking of. " There fhall
yet OLD men and OLD women dwell in the
ftreets of Jerufalem, and every man with
his flaff in his hand for VERY AGE -)-."
Who now can think it improbable, when
events correfpond fo exaclly with every
part of the prophefy, that fome among the
Jews mould be found of an exceeding great
Age? " IF IT BE MARVELLOUS IN THE
EYES OF THE PEOPLE IN THESE DAYS,
SHOULD IT ALSO BE MARVELLOUS IN
MINE EYES, SAITH THE LORD OF
HOSTS ||[5o]?"
I obferve farther, that our Saviour him-
G ielf
* Bifhop Sherlock's fermons, Vol. I. P. 222.
f Zech. viii. 4. H Ibid. 6,
82 THE FALL OF JEWDAISM',
felf, one of the befl interpreters of icrip-
ture, has placed the end of the weeks, and
by necefTary coniequence their beginning,
where we place it. c< When ye {hall fee
Jerufalem comparTed with armies- the
abomination of defolation fpoken of by
Daniel the prophet then know that the
defolation thereof is nigh *." Here the
end of Jerufalem and the end of the weeks
are plainly contemporary. Our Saviour,
as well as Daniel, places " the abomina-
tion of defolation" in the laft week. The
firfl week therefore mufl commence from
the fecond year of Darius Nothus, four
hundred and ninety years before. This
deferves the ferious confideration of believ-
ers [51]. Nor can unbelievers, without
thegreaterr.abfurdity,objecT: to our Saviour's
authority in the prefent inilance; his com-
ment being at once a proof of Daniel's in-
fpiration and of his own Mefliahfhip. For
the cafe Hands thus. Daniel foretold cer-
tain things to be accomplifhed, within a
given period, by Meffiah. Jefus foretells
the fame things, and applies them to him-
felf. The event anfwered to the predic-
tions. Confequcntly, Daniel was a true
pro-
* Matt, xxiv. 15. Luke xxi. 20.
IN THE REIGN OF VSP ASIAN. t$
prophet, and Jefus is the Meffiah foretold
by Daniel.
The fum of what has been faid is this.
The Angel declares, that FROM the pro-
mulgation of a commandment to rebuild
Jerufalem TO its final deftruclion, fhall be
SEVENTY WEEKS, or four hundred and
ninety years. A commandment to build
Jerufalem was promulged in the fecond
year of the reign of DARIUS. According
to the fcripture account of thePerfian kings,
this Darius was the SECOND of that name.
The fecond Darius in the canon of Ptole-
my is NOTHUS. From the fecond year of
DARIUS NOTHUS to the deftruction of Je-
rufalem in the fecond of VESPASIAN were
SEVENTY WEEKS, or four hundred and
ninety years. If thefe principles are al-
lowed, and they cannot reafonably be dif-
puted, the confequence is inevitable, That,
as the weeks END in the fecond year of
VESPASIAN, they muft neceflarily BEGIN
in the fecond of DARIUS NOTHUS*
Having thus fettled the commencement
of the weeks, we may now proceed to ex-
plain and to apply the remaining parts of
the prophefy.
" From the promulgation of a com-
G 2 mand-
$4, THE FALL OF JEWDAISM,
mandment" in the fecond year of
Darius Nothus (l to rebuild Jerufalem,
unto MESSIAH THE PRINCE, {hall be SEVEN
weeks and SIXTY TWO weeks." Our blefs-
cd Saviour was a PROPHET a PRIEST and
a KING j and therefore he was in each of
thefe refpefts the MESSIAH. But the An-
gel points at him in his regal character.
" Unto Meffiah the PRINCE." This is the
character, by this he ftands eminently dif-
tinguimed in the writings of the Jews.
" King Meffiah" is the conftant defcription
of him who was to redeem Ifrael. Now
it is obfervable, that, though the promifes
of this king arefo frequent in the fcriptures
of the old teftament, he is no where abfo-
lutely ftyled Meffiah but in the prophefy
before us *. This is a demonstrative proof
of
* " Abfque hoc loco, vix unum vet. teft. aflignare
poflis, quo niterctur ifta expeiatio MESSIJE, h. e prin-
cipis EO NOMINE infigniti. De UNCTIONE ahhi legimus,
Ct aliquando dc UNCTO DOMINI, fed nufquam alibi,
quod memini de Mi SSIA abfolute, ut loquuntur, po-
fito ; ct tamen apud Judaos nomrn hoc de PRINCIPE
VENTURO celeberrimum eraf. Joh. 1.4?. irquit An-
dreas Pctro, *' invenimus MESSIAM ;" imo etiam apud
Samaritanos obtinuit. Joh. iv. 25. *' Scio quod MES-
8IA3 veniet." Unde vero hoc nomen adeo percrebuit,
nifi ex hoc przclaro vaticinio ? Buxtorffius (Lex'ic.
Rabbin.
IN THE REIGN OF VESPASIAN. 85
of the undoubted Jewifh application of
this prophefy to their Meffiah. And thus
we difcover the true reafon why this title
in particular was fo generally given by the
Jews, in the age of Jefus, to their expect-
ed deliverer. For what could be more
natural, at the very TIME MARKED OUT,
as they fuppofed, by Daniel for expecting
hi? appearance, than to call him by the
very fame NAME and TITLE attributed to
him by Daniel ? The time here fixed for
his COMING, in his regal capacity, is the
feventieth or laft week j for the term of
fixty nine weeks was to be run out before
he came. " UNTO Meffiah the prince fhall
be SEVEN weeks and SIXTY TWO weeks."
And he came accordingly -, firft to diffolve-
the polity of the JEWS, and then " to take
the HEATHEN for his inheritance, and the
utmoft parts of the earth for his- porTeffion."
The angel having mentioned two periods,
a little period of <c feven weeks," and a
large period of " fixty two," he immediate-
G 3 If
v. Meffiah) enumerat LXX plus minus locos, in quibus
nomen MESSIJE occurrit in paraphrafi Chaldaica ; inde
conftat maximo apud Judjeos confenfu illud principi
fuo c*nvenire, qucm' ardentibus votis praftolabantur."
cl. Sulfingiec; ad I. Marfham.
S6 THE FALL OF JEWDAISM,
ly tells the prophet what was to be done
in each of them. " In the LITTLE of the
times it," Jerufalem, " fhall be rebuilt, the
ftreet and the furrow ;" that is, Jerufalem
{hall be built again within and without,
there fhall be not only a temple for the God
and king of Jfrael, but houfes alfo for the
citizens, and a wall to defend the city. For
by yiirr which fignifies a furrow, J underr
ftand, with Mede, " that circuit bounding
out the limits of the city, whereon the
wall was buiided, and antiently ufed to be
marked out with a plough earing a furrow
round about. By nm which implies a broad
place, I imderftand the are.a or plot of
ground within, whereon the houfes were
to be buiided." And how exactly do the
prophefy and the hiflory correfpond to each
other! Nehemiah, we are told, during his
firft adminiftration, which lafted from the
TWENTIETH tO the THIRTY SECOND year
of Artaxerxes Mnemon, not only buiided
the wall, and fet up the gates of Jerufalem,
but finding the city was large, and the
people were few, and the houfes not build-
jed, he made^the Jews caft lots to bring one
of ten out of the qther cities to dwell in
Jerufalem the holy city * -, which necefTarily
implies,
* Neh. vii. 4. and xi f.
IN THE REIGN OF VESPASIAN. 87
implies, that houfes were alfo to be built
for their reception. Now from the fecond
year of Darius Nothus, in which the com-
mandment went forth to rebuild Jerufa-
lem, to the thirty fecond year of Artaxerxes
Mnemon, before which it was completely
rebuilt, within and without, were " feven
weeks" of years.
" And in the latter days of the fixty and
two weeks Meffiah will be cut off." The
angel does not fay fimply " fixty and two
weeks," but " THE fixty and two weeks,"
meaning thofe he had mentioned before ;
and therefore the " feven" preceeding weeks
muft be reckoned with them. Aquila and
Symmachus render the pafiage, by way of
-explanation , " after the feven weeks and
fixty two weeks." The term " after" fig-
nifies here, as in other places, during the
continuance of that period, or fome time
before the .conclusion of it. Thus, " af-
ter three days I will rife again," that is, on
the third day. So, " after the fixty two
weeks," that is, before the expiration, to-
wards the conclufion, or, as the original
may be well rendered, " in the latter days
of the fixty and two weeks." This is an-
other demonftrative proof of the undoubted
G 4 Jewi/h
88 THE FALL OF JEWDAISM,
Jewifh application of this prophefy to
Chrift. " The lail days, fay the Jews, are
the days of king Meffiah." And accord-
ingly, about the time of Jefus there was
a national expectation of his coming.
Now what prophefy, except this before us,
could afford fufficient ground for fo gene-
ral an expectation ? Ifaiah indeed, Joel, and
others have fpoken of <c the latter days."
But who is he among the prophets, that
has directly, or even indirectly, fixed the
commencement of that decifive period ?
Daniel alone has determined the time. By
him we are afTured, that within the com-
pafs of " SEVEN weeks, SIXTY TWO weeks,
and ONE week," or four hundred and ninety
years, " from the promulgation of a com-
mandment to rebuild Jerufalem," it (hall
be again destroyed ; and that " in the LAT-
TER DAYS pf the SIXTY TWO weeks MES-
SIAH will be cur OFF." The LAST DAYS
therefore are the CONCLUSION of the JEW-
ISH AGE j they are the days of the MES-
SIAH, becaufe he was to appear and be cut
off in them [52] ; andthe time intended by
the expreffion, which in other prophets is
general and indeterminate, is here particu-
larly determined: for the Jewifh age and
the
IN THE REIGN OF VESPASIAN. 89
the feventieth week are to expire together.
In thefe " laft days, faidthe Angel, Mef-
fiah will be cut off." Agreeably to which
we find, that " CHRIST was manifefted in
the LAST TIMES, the CONCLUSION OF THE*'
Jewifh fe AGE, to put away fin by the fa-
crifice ofhimfelf*." Andhiftory informs us,
that within forty years after the death of
Chrifl both the city and the temple of Je-
rufalem were totally deftroyed. But of
this hereafter. In the mean time we are
to obferve, that Meffiah was to be con-
demned and put to death in a judicial
manner, for fo the original word implies.
Now what but the fpirit of prophefy could
forefee, ' that the Jews themfelves would
thus endeavour to quench the light, and
to cut off the hope of Ifrael ? Even Pilate
aiked with fome amazement, though, no
doubt, farcaftically, " Shall I crucify YOUR
KING?" Yet'" they ALL cried out, let
him be crucified." And the " title of his
jaccufation was
THE KING OF THE JEWS [53]."
It follows in the Prophefy, ft ]w, which
I render, " for they," Daniel's " people"
mentioned before, " will not be his." Ac-
cordingly,
* i Peter i. 20. Heb. ix. 26. See Lev, xvii. 14.
90 THE FALL OF JEWDAISM,
cordingly, " he came to his own, and his
own received him not *." And Meffiah
himfelf declared, that " he muft be reject-
cd of that generation -f-." And again, with
the addition of a moft awful threatening,
" thofe mine enemies, who would not
that I fhould reign over them, bring hither
and flay before me J."
This is the very next eircumftance in the
angel's prophefy. " Wherefore a people
of the prince that fliall come (hall deftroy
the city and the fan6luary, and the end
thereof fhall be with a flood ; and at the
end of the war defolations are determined."
The Romans are here ftyled the " people
r>f Meffiah, the prince that fliall come[54],"
becaufe they were employed in his fervice
againft the Jews. Thus the Aflyrian is call-
ed " the rod of God's anger, and the ftaff
in their hand his indignation, though he
himfelf meant not fo, neither did his heart
think fo, but it was in his heart to deftroy
and cut off many nations || ." In like man-
ner, with equal elegance and propriety,
" the locuft canker-worm caterpillar and
palmer- worm" are faid to be " his great ar-
my ." And our Saviour himfelf, alluding
tQ
* John i. 2. j Luke xvii. 25. J Ibid, xix, 27.
S Ifaiah x. 57. Joel ii. 25.
IN THE REIGN OF VESPASIAN. 91
to this very definition of Jerufalem by the
Romans, declares that " the king, that is
God, fent forth his armies*." The true
meaning therefore of the paffage is plain-
ly this. The Romans, Meffiah's armies,
Oiall come pouring in like fome mighty
inundation, fweep away the inhabitants
of Jerufalem, totally deftroy both the city
and the temple, and make the whole land
an utter defolation. This is the PROPHE-
CY. And are not Jerufalem and her chil-
dren, at this very day, wonderful monu-
ments of itS COMPLETION !
This train of calamities, however, was
not to fall upon the devoted nation imme-
diately. It makes the proper and diftin-
guifhing fubjec"l of the " one week," called
by St John " the laft timef ," and the an-
gel foretells a flriking circumftance that
was to be, as it were, the forerunner of
it. " He, the prince that fhall come, fhall
caufe a covenant to prevail;}; among many."
The term cc many" frequently fignifies all.
Daniel himfelf ufes it in this fenfe. " MA-
NY of them that fleep in the dull of the
earth fhall awake," that is, all, as our Sa-
viour
Matt. xxii. 7. f John iii. 18,
See the Lexicons.
92 THE FALL OF JEWDAISM,
viour explains it. ce ALL that are in the
graves fhall come forth*." So God fays
to Abraham, " A father of MANY nations
have I made thee j" which St Paul produ-
ces as a proof, to the Jews, that Abraham
" is the father of us ALL -f-." The word
has the fame meaning here. " He fhall
caufe a covenant," the new covenant, of
which Mefliah was to be the mefTenger,
<c to prevail among all" nations. " This
gofpel of the kingdom rnuft firft be pub-
lifhed among ALL nations, and then fhall
the end come J ? " Here we have our Sa-
viour's authority for the interpretation.
And accordingly, in confequence of Chrift's
commiffton to cc go and teach all nations,"
theapoftles " went forth and preached every
where," proclaiming the glad tidings of
Meffiah's kingdom, " the kingdom of hea-
ven," in all parts of die Roman empire.
" Their found verily went into all the
earth, and their words unto the ends of the
world." So that even in St Paul's time
" the gofpel was preached to every creature
under heaven ||."
Here
* Dan. xii. 2=John v. 28. f Gen. xvii. 4, 5. Rom,
iv. i 6, 17. J Matt. xxiv. i4.=Mark xiii. 10.
1 Col.i. 12.
IN THE REIGN OF VESPASIAN. 93
Here, one would think, infidelity her-
felf muft blufh, when fhe fees, and, iffhe
opens her eyes, fhe cannot but fee this feem-
ingly improbable event fo plainly foretold,
and fo fully accomplilhed. Let any can-
did Jew, any " Ifraelite indeed," confider
the author and the preachers of this new
religion, and fay, whether the fact was
fuch as lay within the reach of human
forefight and human power. If he looks
into the gofpel hiftory, he may there find
the author of the faith betrayed by one of
his difciples, denied by another, forfaken
by all by thofe very perfons he had pur-
pofely chofen to fpread his religion in the
world -and at laft nailed to a crofs. Were
not thefe now, both the mailer and the
fervants, biefTed mftruments to work with !
And yet through their means, fo admira-
ble are the ways of providence ! this gof-
pel of the kingdom grew mightily and
"PREVAILED."" Behold then ! ye defpifers,
and wonder, and" be perfuaded. For if
this thing were not of God, it will be im-
poffible to fay what is. If ye can {till refill
the evidence of fo flrong a proof, well may
ye difbelieve, " though one rofe from the
dead."
" Then,
94 THE FALL OF JEWDAISM,
" Then," fays our Saviour, when thd
gdfpel has been publifhed among all na-
tions, " fhall the end" of the Jewifli age
" come." For then, as the angel goes on,
ipeaking of the" ONE remaining WEEK [55],
in HALF of that week he fhall caufe the
facrifice and oblation to ceafe; for with a
wing [56], an army, of abominations
he fhall caufe defolation, even till the con-
fummation, and that determined fhall be
poured upon the defolators."
What doubts foever might have arifen
concerning the commencement of the week s ,
one would have thought there could not
reafonably have been any about the conclu-
fion of them. The end of Jerufalem is
their end alfo. This is fo expreflly affirm-
ed both by the angel and by Jefus, that no-
one who pays proper attention to either can
difpute it. In this laft week Mefliah was
to come. For " from the promulgation of
a commandment to rebuild Jerufalem UNTO
Median the prince were to be SEVEN weeks
and SIXTY TWO weeks," or SIXTY NINE
in the whole. He was therefore- to come
in the SEVENTIETH. Our Saviour's king-
dom began at his refurrection from the
dead, and he took pofleflion of it at his af-
cenfion
IN THE REIGN OF VESPASIAN. 95
cenfion into heaven. But then only was
his regal power manifefted, when he" CAME,
as he himfelf exprefles it, IN HIS KING-
DOM." This coming of Meffiah, with its
neceflary confequence, thedeftruction of the
Jewifh temple and city, is frequently fore-
told in the new teftament. " Verily I
fay unto you, there be fome {landing here
who (hall not tafte of death, till they fee
the fon of man coming in his kingdom *.
" This generation fhall not pafs [57] till all
thefe things, the coming of the fon of man
and the deftruclion of Jerufalem, " be ful-
filled -(-." And again, when Peter was de-
firous to know the fate of the favorite
difciple, after he had heared his own, Jefus
replied, " If I will that he tarry till I
COME, What is that to theej? And
the fame Peter declares, " We have not
followed cunningly devifed fables, when
we made known unto you the POWER and
COMING of our Lord Jefus Chrift, but
were eye-witnefles of his MAJESTY." And
then, to gain credit to his fecond afTertion,
the fpeedy cc COMING of Jefus Chrift," he
appeals to " a fure word of PROPHESY [58]
this very prophefy recorded by Daniel.''
For
* Mat. xvi. 28. | Ibid, xxiv. 34. J John xxi. 22.
9 6 THE FALL OF JEWDAISM,
For though other prophets had indeed pre- r
difted Meffiah's coming, yet none but Da-
niel had fixed the time of it.
The defign of his coming was to caufe
the temple- fervice, " the facrifice and the
oblation to ceafe," that is, finally, as the
word necefTarily imports, when there is no-
thing to reflrain its meaning. This he
did by caufing the temple itfelf, the place
of facrifice, to be deftroyed. " With an
army of abominations he fhall caufe defo-
lation," both in the city and the temple j
for the angel fays expreflly, " the people
of the prince that fhall come, fhall deflroy
the city and the SANCTUARY." And our
Saviour foretells the fame thing. " Your
HOUSE is left unto you DESOLATE ; and
there fhall not be left one ftone upon ano-
ther that fhall not be thrown down -f- ."
This deftruction of the temple was, with-
out controverfy, providential. The Ro-
man general, as might naturally be expec~l-
ed, labored to the utmoft of his power to
fave that ftupendous edifice from the rage
of war, as a grace to his conqueft, and as
an ornament to his empire. But in defi-
ance to all his commands, intreaties, threat-
nings,
f Matthew xxiii. 38, and xxiii. 2.
IN THE REIGN OF VESPASIAN. 97
nings, and even blows, thofe very foldiers,
who before had been accuftomed to obey
orders, now "actuated by a divine en-
thufiaftic impulfe * paid no attention to
their commander, but intrepidly encourag-
ed each other in throwing firebrands into
various parts of the temple, till at length
this pride of Jewry, and of the world, was
totally confumed. The deilruclion of the
city foon followed that of the temple, and
in both the Jews perifhed without num-
ber -)-. Well then might thefe armies be
fly led the " people of Mefliah, the prince
that fliould come," when they fo punctu-
ally fulfilled his word in " deftroying thofe
murderers, and in burning their city."
The neceflity of this fevere difpenfation
is no lefs confpicuous than the juftice of
it. Nothing gave more offence to the be-
liever, or afforded matter of greater triumph
to the unbeliever, than the continuance of
the Jewifh temple and worihip. Hence
that irreligious infult of the fcoffers,
<c Where is the promife of his coming J?"
And hence thofe warm exhortations of the
apoftles to their converts, " to hold faft
H the
AAIMONIin ogfAn
Jofephus, p. 1291. Edit. Hudfon. J 2 Pet. iii. 4.
98 THE FALL OF JEWDAISM,
the profeffion of their faith without wa-
vering ; and not to forfake the afTembling
of themfelves together, as the manner of
fome was, but to exhort one another" to
fleadfafhiefs in the faith, " and fo much
the more as they faw THE DAY," the day
of their Lord's advent, ct APPROACHING *.'"
Beiides, the temple and city of. Jerufalem
were the vifible tokens of the THEOCRACY,
or God's fpecial government of the Jews
and of Jewdea. It was therefore neceflary
to remove thefe out of the way, that, " the
middle wall of partition being broken
down," the kingdom of heaven might be
, extended, as foretold, over all nations.
This was truly, what our blefled Saviour
himfelf emphatically calls it, " THE SIGN
OF THE SON OF MAN IN HEAVEN -f-."
And thus was " THE MOST HOLY" JESUS
folemnly " ANOINTED ; and there was
given him dominion and glory and a king-
dom, that ALL people nations and lan-
guages fliould ferve him."
We muft now go back again to the pro-
phefy. " In half of that," the feventieth
or laft " week with a wing of abomi-
nations he fhall caufe defolation." Wings
o
are
* Heb. x. 2325. | Matt. xxii. 30.
IN THE REIGN OF VESPASIAN. 99
are no unufual figures for armies. " An
army of abominations" then is, in the
Jewifh ftyle, an army of idolaters, as " peo-
ple of abominations J " is an idolatrous
people. We are indebted to St Luke for
this interpretation. For inftead of the
<c abomination of defolation ftanding in
the holy land ," he fays, " Jerufalem en-
compaffed with armies * [59]." And here
we cannot but obferve and pity the cool,
defperate malice of that arch-infidel, Mr
Collins, on this occafion. " What, fays
he, can be more unaccountable, than mak-
ing JESUS, who had been DEAD thirty five
years, the GENERAL of the Roman army
that took Jerufalem, and deftroyed the tem-
ple f ?" The Chriftian anfwer is, that the
fame JESUS, who died, ROSE again on the
third day. Nor was ever any one, I pre-
fume, fo unaccountably abfurd as to ima-
gine, that Jefus himfelf fought perfonally
againft the Jews. We find in Ifaiah this
burden of Babylon. " Lift ye up a ban-
ner upon the high mountain j I have
commanded my fanftified ones, I have, alfo
called my mighty ones for my anger.
H 2 The
j Ezra ix. 14. Mat. xxiv. 15.
* Luke xxi. 20. f Scheme, &c. p. 189.
too THE FALL OF JEWDAISM,
The noife of a multitude in the mountains,
like as of a great people, a tumultuous
noife of the kingdoms of nations gathered
together; THE LORD OF HOSTS MUSTER-
ETH THE HOST OF THE BATTLE. They
COME from a far country, from the end of
heaven, even the LORD, and the weapons
of his indignation, deftroy the whole land.
THE DAY OF THE LoRD IS AT HAND ;
BEHOLD! THE DAY OP THE LORD COM-
ETH, TO LAY THE LAND DESOLATE*."
This image is not only proper, but elegant
and noble. And if God himfelf may be
thus defcribed, " muttering the hoft, and
coming to lay the land of Babylon defo-
late," why may not the Son of God be de-
fcribed in the fame terms, as prefiding
over the Roman eagles, and " coming" to
the defolation of Jerufalem ? The plain
meaning therefore of the prophecy is this.
The deftruclion of the holy city will be as
fignal a manifestation of the power of
Meffiah, as if he were to come vifibly, at
the head of the Romans, " conquering and
to conquer."
The time too, in which this deftruction
was to be accomplifhed, is minutely de-
fcribed
* Ifaiah xiii. i 9.
IN THE REIGN OF VESPASIAN. 101
fcribed by the angel. " In HALF of the"
laft " WEEK he fhall caufe defolation."
And it appears by Jofephus's hiftory of the
Jewiih war, compared with Ptolemy's ca-
non, that from Vefpafian's marching into
Jewdea to the definition of Jerufalem were
about THREE YEARS AND A HALF [60].
Full SEVENTEEN HUNDRED YEARS has
Jerufalem now continued in her defolations
and muil continue, as the angel pro-
ceeds, <f even till the confummation, and
that determined fliall be poured upon the
delblators." That is, in the language of
our Saviour, " Jerufalem (hall be trodden
down of the Gentiles until the times of
the Gentiles be fulfilled *." And then, as
St Paul obferves, when " the fulnefs of the
Gentiles is come in, all Ifrael," both Jews
and Gentiles, " fhall be faved f ."
CONCLUSION.
I have now gone through the feveral
particulars of thefe illufrrious and mofk
important predictions. We do not here
read of one fingle point only, but of a long
train of events to be accomplimed within
H 3 certain
* Luke xxi. 24. f Rom. xi. 25, 16.
102 THE FALL OF JEWDAISM.
certain fucceffive periods. And we affirm,
that each of thefe events has been accom-
plifhed in its feafon. We affirm likewife,
that all the particulars of thefe predictions,
fo far as Chriftianity is concerned, were
fulfilled by JESUS, who is therefore, as
we believe, THE MESSIAH.
It is not difficult, nor indeed uncom-
mon, to find out likenefTes where there are
none, or at leaft where none were intend-
ed. But will you fay, that the correfpon-
dence, in fo many points, between MES-
SIAH and JESUS, is fanciful, or the effecl:
of mere chance ? This, I prefume, can-
not be juftly faid. Here then are PROPHE-
SIES, and here is the COMPLETION of every
part of them, to which if we can make no
reafonable objection, we ought to admit
" the everlafting gofpel of the blefTed God,"
and to endeavour to know and to do his
facred will, accounting this to be the bcfr,
the only foundation of our prefent hopes,
and of our future happinefs. cc FOR
OTHER FOUNDATION CAN NO MAN LAY
THAN THAT IS LAID, WHICH IS
JESUS THE CHRIST*."
* i Cor. iii. ii.
NOTES.
NOTES.
f_i] nPHOSE writers, who pretend to prove the
-** truth of the Chriftian religion independently
of the Old Teftament, deferve our pity. CHRISTI-
ANITY, as the very term declares, is relative, and fup-
pofes a CHRIST foretold. To talk therefore of a Chrift-
ianity independent of *<' the law and the prophets," on
which alone it can have a reafonable foundation, is pre-
cifely the fame abfurdity as to talk of a NEW teftament
without the OLD one.
[2] The GOLDEN IMAGE, creeled by this mighty
prince, feems to have been dedicated to himfeif. Sul-
pitiusSeverusdiredly afTerts it. " Nabuchodonofor,ela-
lus rebus fecundis, ftatuam SIBJ aurearn immenfae magni-
tudinis pofuit, adoraiique earn ut facram efn^iem pre-
cepit." p. 68. ed. Elz, 1656. Aqd it is fairly implied
in the hiftory of the tranf.iclion. u Nebuchadnezzar
the king made an image of gold and fent to gather
together all the great men of his empire to come to the
dedication of it." Dan. iii. 1,2. If the king had not
dedicated this image to himfelf, the facred writer would,
mod probably, have mentioned the name of the deitv.
If it were dedicated to himfelf, there was no occafion
to fpecify it, as it may be eafily collected from the fol-
lowing paiTages. " There are certain Jews thefe
H 4 men.
jo4 NOTES.
men, O king, have not regarded thee, they ferve not
thy gods, NOR worfhtp the golden image which thou
haft fet up. Nebuchadnezzar faid unto them, Is it
true ? Do ye not ferve my gods, NOR worfhip the
golden image which I have fet up?" Dan. iii. 12 14,
In both thefe places Nebuchadnezzar's IMAGE is ex-
prefsly diftinguifhed from his GOD-. And therefore if
it were not a reprefentative of one of his gods, it mufl
have been the reprefentative of himfelf. Should any
one think it improbable, that after his prophetic dream,
he could be fo infatuated as to deify himfelf, I will
fhew the probability of it from a fimilar fa&. This very
prince " was at reft in his houfe, and florifhing in his
palace," when, in confequence of his pride and pre-
fumption, tc he faw a dream which made him afraid,
and his thoughts and the vifions of his head troubled
him." The meaning of the dre;im was, according to
Daniel's interpretation of it, " That the king fhould
be driven from men, and have his dwelling among the
beafts of the field, and that feven years fho-.ild pafs over
him, till he knew, or acknowledged, that the Moft
High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to
whomfoever he will," Dan. iv. 3 25 Who would
think it probable, that, after fuch an exprefs admoni-
tion, Nebuchadnezzar would be guilty of fo great a
crime, as could deferve fo fevere a puniftiment ! And
yet, " at the end of twelve months he was walking in
the palace of the kingdom of Babylon, and proudly
faid, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for
the houfe of the kingdom, by the might of my power,
and for the honour of my majeftv ?" He had fcarce
finished, when the former predi&ion was repeated and
fulfilled. Verfe 2933.
[3] " Veritus
NOTES. 105
[3] " Veritus ne more hominum non vera, fed pla-
cita regi ex fomnio conjectarent, VISA SUPPRIMIT,
popofcitque ab eis, ut, fi vera in his divinatio efTet,
fomnium ipfum fibi dicerent ; turn demum interpreta-
tion! eorurn crediturum, fi prius enuntiando fomnium
artis periculum fecifient." Sulpit. Sever, p. 65. Ci-
cero underftood the true fecret of pagan divination.
" Tota res eft inventa FALLACIIS, aut ad quJEsxuM,
aut ad SUPERSTITIONEM, aut ad ERROREM." De
divin. lib. ii. 41. The Jewiih prophets give the
fame account of it. Ifaiah in particular, fpeaking of
the Chaldean diviners, introduces Jehovah declaring,
that he " FRUSTRATETH THE TOKENS OF THE
LIARS." Chap. xliv. 25.
[4] Nebuchadnezzar had this dream in " the SE-
COND year of his reign." Confequently he was not
the Nebuchadnezzar mentioned in the firft chapter.
For there we read, that Daniel and his companions
were to be nourimed " THREE YEARS, that AT THE
END thereof they might ftand before the king," ver. 5.
And we are told afterwards, that " AT THE END OF
THE DAYS that the king had faid that he (hould bring
them in, the'n the prince of the eunuchs brought them
in before Nebuchadnezzar," ver. 18. The firft Nebu-
chadnezzar therefore was NABOPOLLASSAR, and the
fecond was NABOCOLLASSAR in Ptolemy's canon.
" Ebrzis tam PATER quam FILIUS vocatur NABU-
CHODONOSORUS. In libro luchafin diftinguuntur.
* ^Etas quinta. Deportatio Ifraelis in Babel per Ne-
buchadnezarum FILIUM Nebuchadnezari.' * Pater
PRIMUS denominatur, filius MAGNUS.' In canone
fatis diverfa funt eorum nomina." Marftvimi can.
chron, p. 574, edit, Lipf. 1676.
[5] It
io6 NOTES.
[5] It is remarkable that Tully enumerates the di-
viners almoft in the fame order as we find them in Da-
niel, " harufpices, et fulguratores, et interpretes often-
torum, et augures, et fortilegos, et CHALDJEOS."
And yet he had before faid exprefsly, " CHALDJEI
non ex ARTIS fed ex GENTIS vocabulo nominati."
De divin. i. i, et ii. 53. The paflage therefore in
Daniel may be thus interpreted. The king fent for
** the magicians, and the aftrologers, and the forcerers,
who were Chaldeans." Accordingly, the converfation
is carried on between the king and the Chaldeans.
And Daniel, when he fpeaks in his own perfon, omits
them, reckoning only " the wifemen, the aftrologers,
the magicians, and the foothfayers." Thefe jugglers
therefore, by whatever titles dignified or diftinguiflied,
and the Chaldeans, are the fame perfons.
[6] Another reafon may be afligncd why this acci-
dental circumftance (hould deferve no notice, becaufe
if the Greeks had chanced to have been reprefented by
filver, an application is ready. " Cuigloriae utetiamexer-
citus ornamenta convenient, phaleras equorum, et arma
militum, ARGENTO inducit [Alexander] ; exercitum-
que fuum, ab ARGENTEIS CLYPEIS, ARGYRASPIDAS
appellavit." Juftin. p. in. ed. Amftel. 1644.
[7] Not exactly TEN, but, in a fymbolic fenfe, all
the pagan provinces of the empire. Indeed ' the TO
vf'.mot t) pi," as Mr Mede exprefles it, the decorum of
the reprefentation naturally leads us to this fenfe ; for
as by the term TOES, in their literal fenfe, the prophet
unqueftionably means the full complement of toes on
the feet 9f the image, fo in their reprefentative capacity
they muft denote the full complement of the pagan
ftates
NOTES. 107
ftates or kingdoms of Rome. The learned and inge-
nious Dr Hurd, though he generally follows his prc-
dectflbrs in this argument, yet he leaves them here,
and, inftead of hunting for TEN kingdoms or ftates, he
plainly calls them * MANY diftindt kingdoms." Bifhop
Warburton's Le&ure, p. 399.
[8] So Pfalm xxxix. 7. " He HEAPETH up [heaps]
and knoweth not who {hall gather THEM." Thucy-
dides has the very fame mode of exprefiion. H f*Aw-
Ttj nOAEMHSEIN, v tv AYTft v$v OITIJ. I. 13. In both
thefe paflages the NOUN is evidently IMPLIED in the
VERB.
[9] Our public tranflation fays, "of the STRENGTH.
of the iron." Bu^t this very circumftance is exprefled
in the next claufe, and by a different term. The Greek
verfion has air* T PIZH2. which fu its the place exa&-
Jy, the provinces deriving their political exiftence from
the parent country. The vulgar Latin, Syriac, and
Arabic tranflations give the fame fenfe.
[lO] Luke ii. 1 6 Eytvero $s en raij ij/A
|jX9 Soypa. irot^oe, Katcrayo? ATrOYSTOY,
(AvT^ ) aTroy^apj) vfuTri syivnro lyt-
Kupijuoy.) Kai nrofevoro vcttTif UTTO-
i^ian 7roX. A|3>j ^ xa Iwcrtjp x.r.X.
The Englifli tranflation of this paflage feems totally in-
defenfible. Whatever the conftrudion of the paren-
thefis may be, the meaning is plain and obvious, it be-
ing the defign of the evangelift to diftinguilh this in-
rollment from another mentioned Ats v. 37. and which
was made by " Cyrenius governor of Syria." I fup-
pofe an ellipfis, and that the relative TJ; is implied in
#vti). The whole pafTage therefore may be thus tranf-
lated.
io8 NOTES.
lated. " It came to pafs in thofe days [the days of
Herod the king of Jewdea, i. 5.] that there went out
a decree from Caefar AUGUSTUS that the whole land,"
every part of Herod's dominion, " fboulcl be inrolled.
(THis inrollment was before" THAT "ofCyrenius
governor of Syria.) And all went to be inrolled, every
one into his own city. And Jofeph alfo went up from
Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Jewdea, unto
the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, becaufe
he was of the houfe and lineage of David, to be in-
rolled with Mary his efpoufed wife, being great with
child." St Luke himfelf ufes the word o **/*! in the
fame fenfe elfewhere. " Men's hearts failing them for
fear and for looking after thofe things which are com-
ing on T>J eixot)f*Evj" [not the earth, but] " the land" of
Jewdea. Chap. xxi. 26. See ver. 21, 23. And, per-
haps, the word has the fame meaning Als xi. 28. As
to the word srgwr*}, that may as well be ufed for w^o as
s%ctrv for wrepo. St Mark, fpeaking of the woman
which had had feven hufbands, fays, i<%arv irawruv, " AF-
TER all the woman died," unquestionably not THE LAST
of all. Compare Markxii. 22. with Matt. xxii. 27. and
Luke xx. 32. So 2 Maccab. vii. 42. fx aT " ruy vtuv t
" AFTER the fons the mother died," not the laft of the
fons. As to the cllipfis (if the word TH? has not indeed
flipped out of the text by accident) it is not very harfh.
* THIS inrollment" neceflanly implies fome OTHER
which was THAT " of Cyrenius governor of Sy-
ria." There is a pafTage in Jofcphus, which, in the
opinion of fome learned writers, relates to this inroll-
ment mentioned by St Luke. The whole ftory is fo
long, that I muft refer the reader to it, Antiq. xvii. c.
2. 6. and to Dr Lardner's obfervations upon it, Cre-
dib, p. 367 369, and will only add two remarks to
thofe
NOTES. 109
thofe of the learned doctor, i. When Jofephus fays,
that " all the Jews, except fix thoufand, fwore to be
faithful to CAESAR and the interefts of the KING," I
fufpect he does not really mean, though he would be
underftood to mean, king HEROD, but Csefer himfelf.
The Jewifh writers frequently ufe the NOUN for the
PRONOUN. Thus John iv. i. " When THE LORD
knew how the Pharifees had heard that JESUS made
and baptifed more difciples than John." Here the
Lord and Jefus are the fame perfon. So in Jofephus
Caefar and the king may be one and the fame. When
I confider the very bad terms on which Herod now
ftood with Casfar, as we learn from Jofephus himfelf,
I cannot be eafily brought to believe, thatCasfar would
include Herod in the oath of fidelity. If that had been
indeed the cafe, it would have been more natural to fay
>ojj<rai Ktergi x} #<n^, than x} TSIJ Scua-^iag Tt^ctypu.cri.
There was at this time a general expectation of a new-
king. The Jews claimed this king to themfelves.
This eafily accounts for the imperial decree, that all
the Jewifh nation (Trarrcj ?ov Iov$w.ov) fhould fwear to
be well affected to Caefar and his affairs. It is not to be
expected, that fuch a bigotted Jew as Jofephus would
be explicit on this occafion. His ill-will to the gofpel
(though Mr Whifton has been pleafed to chriften him)
(hall immediately appear, and I think it is a clear proof
that the latter part of the oath to Caefar has a reference
to St Luke's inrollment. For, 2. fome of the Pharifees,
who had refufed to take the oath, had likewife predict-
ed, according to Jofephus, that the Jewifh kingdom
would be transferred from Herod and his family to a
new king, who, (saving all things in his own power,
would grant to Bagoas, a court EUNUCH, the capacity
of marriage and of having children." I appeal to the
reader,
no NOTES.
reader, whether the eunuch and his children are not
here brought upon tfce ftage merely as a banter upon
Chriftians, whofe Mefliah was born of a VIRGIN, if
this be fo, the paffage in Jotephus is parallel with the
hiftory of the birth of Jefus as related by St Matthew
and St Luke.
[n] Though the name of Grotius fhould be ever
mentioned with refpedt, yet his notions, when unfa-
vorable to the caufe of truth, may very properly be
cenfured ; efpecially as the adverfary has availed him-
felf of his authority in attacking Chriftianity. The
STONE, according to Grotius, " is the Roman PEOPLE
who originated from a MOUNTAIN, namely, the Pala-
tine." But the {tone and the mountain mult be ho-
mogeneal. Take then the terms either figuratively or
literally. If the (tone is a fymbol and reprefents a peo-
ple, the mountain muft do fo too. If the mountain
be underftood literally, fo muft the (tone. Both muft
be fymbols, or neither. To tell us therefore, that
MOUNT Palatine produced the ROMANS, is in fober
truth as ftrange, and as wide from the putpofe, as if
he had told us, that this fame mountain produced a
moufe.
The truth is, this great and good man was under
the power of a fatal prejudice. Proteftant writers had
connected the ftone's conqueft with the deftrudtion of
Papal Rome, not reflecting, that the mountain repre-
fents the Jewifli church, and confequently that the
ftone, " cut out of the mountain," can only fignify
Chrift and his apoftles, or at moft the Jewifh converts
to Chriftianity. Grotius therefore, having projected
an alliance between Papifts and Proteftants, not only
rejected the proteftant conceit, but the fober opinion of
Pagans,
NOTES. in
Pagans, Jews, and Chriftians, who agree in the defcrip-
tion of the four empires. His fcheme is this. The
golden head, filver breaft, and brafen belly, fignify the
kingdoms of Babylon, Perfia, and ALEXANDER; the
legs and feet the KINGDOM of the SELEUCIDJE and
LAGIDJE; and the ftone, as we have feen, that of the
Romans. Now the diftinguifhing of Alexander's em-
pire from that of his fuccefibrs, is the moft unlearned
notion that ever entered into the head of a man of
learning. " PORPHYRY, as Mr Mede affures us, was
the firft broacher of if." Page 743. Bifhop Chandler
fays, " No ANCIENT HISTORIAN ever confined the
Greek empire to Alexander's perfon, or made a diftindt
empire of the four kingdoms that arofe upon his death."
Def. p. 99. And another refpe&able prelate aflerts,
that " ALL ANCIENT AUTHORS fpeak of the kingdom
of Alexander and his fucceflbrs as one and the fame
kingdom." Bifhop Newton, Vol. I. p. 416. Tacitus,
who, I think, has not been produced on this occa-fion,
has a moft remarkable paffage. " Dum ASSYRIOS penes
MEDOS queetPERSAs oriensfuit, defpeftiffima pars fer-
vientium [Judaei]. Poftqtiam MACEDONES praspotuere
etc. ROMANORUM primus Cn. Pompeius Ju-
daeos domuit." Hiftor. 1. v. f. 8, 9. Here the hiftory
is a perfect tally to the prophecy, as it reprefents the
four great empires in their fucceflive relation to the
Jews. We need not therefore be furprifed at the diffe-
rence between Daniel and Grotius, when we refleft,
that the prophet has interpreted Nebuchadnezzar's
dream, and the critic his own.
[12] This is the true meaning of that famous text,
" Thou art Peter, &c." which the Romifh builders
have made the foundation of Papal authority. Our
Saviour
U2 NOTES.
Saviour is inquiring of his difciplcs what the rumors of
the people were concerning him. ' \Viu.m do men
fay that I am ? a fon of man ?" a man like themfeives ?
*' Is not this the fon of Jofeph r" Luke iv 22. Jonn vi.42.
They reply, *' Some fay John the baptilt, fome Ellas,
and others Jeremias, or one of the prophets. He iaith
unto them, But whom fay YE that I am-? Simon Pe-
ter anfwered, " by divine revelation, *' THOU ART
CHRIST, THE SON OF THE LIVING GOD. Then
Jefus faid unto him, BlefTed art thou, Simon Bar-jonah,
for flefh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but
my Father who is in heaven. And I fay unto thee,
for thou art PETER *, that on that ROCK * I will build
my church, and the gates of death fhall not prevail
againft it," Matt. xvi. 13 18. Nothing was more
ufual with our blefled Lord than to raife matter of doc-
trine and moral inftru&ion from the things at hand ,.
It was, if I may fo fay, his peculiar ftyle. Thus iri
this very chapter, the difciples having forgotten to take
BREAD, he fays to them, " Beware of the LEAVEN of
the Pharifees and of the Sadducees," ver. 5,6. that is,
the hypocritical doctrines of the one, and the licentious
doctrines of the other. So to Peter himfelf, in the
character of a FISHER, " Thou (halt CATCH men,"
Luke v. 10. What would the Romanift have more?
In the firft text there is a plain allufion to Peter's NAME,
in the laft to his PROFESSION. Our Saviour does not
mean by the " rock " either Peter himfelf, or his con-
feffion, but the great TRUTH contained in that con-
feffion, That " Jefus is the Chrift the Son of the liv-
ing God," communicated to Peter by divine revelation;
" Flefli
* wirp-, a (lone, verfat, a rock.
See Dr Jortin on the Chriftian religion, p, 213 316.
and from thence to p. 221 in the notes.
NOTES. 113
" Flefh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but
my Father who is in heaven." This is a clear proof,
that he did not alk, Whom do men fay, that I, THE
SON OF MAN, am ? for that would have been a previ-
ous declaration of his Mefliahfhipj bat he puts twodif-
tinct queftions, " Whom do men fay that I am ? a fon
of man J ? " To which queftions Peter's anfwer has a
plain reference. " Thou art Chrift, the Son of the
living God." Jefus accepts the character, and makes
it the foundation of his church.
[13] Bifliop Chandler (the author of an excellent
Defence of Chriftianity againft Collins) has given a
very ftrange interpretation of this paflage, and, what
is worfe, he has made our Saviour himfelf the author of
it. THE KINGDOM OF GOD, fays Chrift, or ALX,
THE ADVANTAGES of the Mefliah's coming, SHALL
BE TAKEN FROM YOU, AND GIVEN TO A NATION
BRINGING FORTH THE FRUITS THEREOF. FOR
WHOSOEVER SHALL FALL AGAINST THIS STONE (a
one of your prophets * predicted) SHALL BE BROKEN;
BUT, I add, from another prophet f, fomething more
grievous for thofe that (hall break you, ON WHOMSO-
EVER IT SHALL FALL, it will GRIND HIM TO PO\V-
DER. The kingdom of the STONE fhall bruife the
Jews that (tumbled at Chrift's firft coming; but the
kingdom of the MOUNTAIN, when manifefted, (hall
beat the feet of the monarchical ftatue to dufjt, and leave
no remains of the fourth monarchy in its iaft, and de-
generate, ftate." Page 105.
This is directly oppofite to our Saviour's meaning.
The fame STONE that was to break the Jews, who
I fell
J See Luke iv. 22. and John vi. 42. and elfewhere.
* Ifaiah viii. f Dan. ii. 34, 35.
ii4 NOTES.
fell againft it, was to grind the Gentiles to powder.
Nothing is faid about the MOUNTAIN. Chrift aflerts
two things, i. " That the kingdom of God," or all
the advantages of the Meffiah's coming, "(hall betaken
away from the Jews." 2. " That the kingdom of
God," or all the advantages of the Meffiah's coming,
" fhall be given to the Romans." In fupport of thefe
aflertions, he produces the evidence of twojewifh pro-
phets. " FOR (fays he, as Ifaiah predicted) whofoever
fhall fall againft this STONE fhall be broken ; BUT on
whomfoever IT fhall fall (as Daniel foretold) IT (hall
grind him to powder." I will leave the paffage to
fpeak for itfelf, only obferving, that, if the coming of
Chrift was to deftroy the fourth monarchy, it could
not receive ANY ADVANTAGES from his conning.
There is a very material difference between deftroying
the PAGANISM and deftroying the MONARCHY of
Rome.
[14] Ac"hxi.26. So I tranflate the word %?*;,aTjo-a,
I. becaufe this is its ufual fignification throughout the
new teftament. 2. If the difciples had been left to
themfelves, they would, moft probably, have taken
their name from JESUS, and have been called Jefuits.
3. Becaufe this fat was foretold by Ifaiah. " The
GENTILES {hall fee thy righteoufnefs, and all kings
thy glory; and THOU SHALT BE CALLED BY A
NEW NAME, WHICH THE MOUTH OF THE LORD
SHALL NAME." chap. Ixil. 2.
[15] Eufebius tells us, that as Conftantine was
marching againft Maxentius, having prayed to God
for his afliftance, he faw in the afternoon the trophy
of a crofs placed in heaven itfelf above the fun J, with
this
NOTES. 115
this infcription annexed to it, TOYTft [>po7ra.*>] NIKA."
Life of Conftantine. 1.28. This was a fymbolic
vifion, denoting, I. Conftantine's victory over Max-
entius, and, 2. the triumph of Chriftianity over Pa-
ganifm, the principal objed intended. The fun, the
great ruler in the natural world, is the known fymbol
of the fupreme ruler in the political. The crofs, the
inftrument of crucifixion, Hands here for the perfon
crucified. And the crofs placed above the fun, figni-
fies, that "Chrift crucified is King of kings, and Lord
of lords." This was Conftantine's idea of the vifion ;
for in memorial of his victory over Maxentius, and of
the conqueft of Chriftianity over Paganifm, he creeled
before his palace an image of himfelf with a crofs placed
above his head (TO f*v c-wnjpio* vTre^KSi^evov T*JJ avrov
xitpahr,,;) and a wounded dragon under his feet."] Life
of Conftantine in. 3.] Eufebius explains the device
in the fame manner, and attributes it to a divine fug-
geftion, The propriety of the vifion is evident. " Re-
ligio tota CASTRENSIS (fays Tertullian, Apol. c. 16.)
SIGNA veneratur, SIGNA jurat, & diis omnibus PRJE-
PONIT." Another ENSIGN therefore was exhibited
to Conftantine, SUPERIOR to all the tutelary deities of
the pagan armies. For (to borrow the expreffive lan-
guage of St Paul) " CHRIST having fpoiled principali-
ties and powers, he made a fliew of them openly,
TRIUMPHING OVER THEM BY HIS CROSS." [Col.
ii. 15.] Some modern writers, prejudiced, perhaps, by
the popiih ufe of the SIGN of the crofs, which has no
relation to Conftantine's SIGN, have done their beft to
explain away the miraculous part of the vifion, for
which, I think, Chriftianity owes them no thanks.
But our leligionifts are now growing very refined in
I 2 their
n6 NOTES.
their notions. For my own part, I not only admit
the fa& but the mirade too, being perfuaded that it
greatly contributed to the completion of a remarkable
prophefy recorded by Ifaiah. " A little one fhall be-
come a thoufand, and a fmall one a ftrong nation. I
the Lord will haften it in its time." Ifaiah lx.22. The
Converfion of the Roman empire was, doubtlefs, "the
Lord's doing, and " therefore it ought to be " mar-
vellous in our eyes."
[16] So Jer. xii. 9. and Ezek. xxxiv. " the beafts
of the field" are ftyled in the Targum " the kings of
the heathen and their armies." The Greek tranflators
call them Oi^a, wild-beafts. So in Daniel the Greek
has the fame word 0>?s<a. Yet in other places, where
the term rTTT ftands for other perfons, the LXX ufe
the term w, which fignifies animals or living crea-
tures. ThusExek. i. 5, 13, &c. and Ezek. x. 20. So
likewife Pfal.lxviii. 10. where our tranflation is, " thy
CONGREGATION hath dwelt therein." St John, in the
Revelation, obferves the fame diftinftion. The perfe-
cuting power is ftyled 0*is^ov conftantly. But the repre-
fentatives of fome other beings are called wa, which
our tranflators have ftrangely rendered BEASTS, though
a MAN is one of them.
[17] Our public tranflation fays, " and it was lifted
up from the earth." But how then did " it ftand upon
feet as a man ? " The tranflation in the margin is the
true one. For, as Grotius has obferved, "faepeChal-
daeis, ut et Hebraeis, copula vim habet relativi."
[18] In many places, where only TWO are meant,
the Hebrew word is in the plural number, or, as fome
gram-
NOTES. 117
grammarians call it, the dual, without the numeral for
TWO. Thus Gen. xxvii. 36. he hath fupplanted me
thefe [D'DyS times] two times." So Lev. xii. 5. " (he
fliall be unclean [D^attf weeks] two weeks." Solike-
wife Dan. vii. 25. \Tiy times are, confefledly, " two
times." And the plural number is fo ufed in the place
before us. Elfe, how could the lion ftand like a man ?
[19] " Les Perfes ont exerce la domination la plus
fevere, et la plus cruelle que Ton connoifle. Les fup-
plices ufitez parmi eux font horreur a ceux qui les
lifent." Calmet on Dan. How ftrangely does the fpirit
of Popery affect the heads, and harden the hearts, of
the beft and greateft men ! Here this learned Bene-
di&ine, like a dutiful fon of Holy Church, roundly
afierts, that the Perfians have exercifed the moft fevere,
and the moft cruel dominion that we know of. And
yet he himfelf knew of the domination of Papal Rome,
the moil fevere and cruel we can conceive, being a
dominion over the confciences as well as bodies of
men. He fays too, that the punifliments ufed among
the Perfians beget horror in thofe who read of them.
They myft indeed beget horror even in the bread of
an inquifitor. But what then can be faid for the pu-
nifliments of the holy office of Inquifition, which are fo
exquifitely fevere, fo artificially cruel, that the only
merciful part of them is putting the fufferers to death ?
[20] The number THREE does not always fignify
that determinate number, but fornetimes an indeter-
minate, and nothing can be more unreafonable than to
interpret fymbolical numbers literally. " Eliflia, we
are told, 2Kingsxiii. 18, 19. faid to the king oflfrael,
Take arrows, and finite upon the ground. And he
i 3 fmote
n8 NOTES.
fmote THRICE, and flayed. Then the man of God
was wroth with him, and faid, Thou fhouldeft have
fmitten five or fix times, then hadft thou fmitten Syria
till thou hadft ccnfumed it; whereas now thou {halt
fmite Syria" but " THRICE." That is, Thou (halt
only obtain a partial victory over the Syrians, and not
a compleat one. And in the place before us the oppo-
fition, as I have obferved, between three and much,
plainly fhews, that by three we are to underftand a
few. In other places the word has a contrary fignifi-
cation, and denotes many, great, excellent. Thus
St Paul " befought the Lord THRICE," that is, many
times, that fomething difagreeable might depart from
him. 2 Cor. xii. 8. In Proverbs, chap. xxii. v. 20. the
wifeman fays to his fon, *' Have I not written unto
thee OWb'& THREE things," that is, as our tranflators
fay, excellent things. Compare Prov. viii. 6. and Hof.
viii. 1 2. So ttHbBJ' a THIRD fignifies frequently a great
man. See i Kings ix. 22. 2 Kings vii. 2, &c. And
the Pope's TRIPLE CROWN feems to be neither more
nor lefs than the SYMBOL of
[21] Grotius fays, " Quatuor capita fuccreverant
loco unius." But the beaft with one head is evidently
a creature of his own making, for Daniel confines his
reprefentation to the ftate of the Greek empire under
its four heads. Indeed in another vilion he defcribes
the fame empire hi its two dates, the beaft appearing
at firft with one horn, and afterwards with four. And
it is exprefsly faid, " The great horn is the firft em-
peror," ( I fay the firft EMPEROR, for Alexander was
not the firft king of Macedon). " Now that being
broken, whereas four ftood for it," that is, inftead of
it, " four kingdoms will ftand up out of the nation."
Our
NOTES. 119
Our learned countryman Mr Mede, expofing the opU
nion of Porphyry and his followers, who make two
diftinct empires out of the one empire of Alexander and
his fucceflbrs, thus exprefles his own femiments.
" Contra hanc interpretationem fie infurgo. Quod
unica beftia adumbratum eft, id unicum eft regnum,
et non duo regna; fcilicet alioquin unica beftia eflet
duae beftise j quod ab omni ratione alienum eft. Jam
vero omne regnum Graecorum, tam Alexandri quam
fucceflbrum ejus, unica beftia adumbratur. Ergo, etc.
Minorem leges apud Danielem, cap. viii. vers. 20, 21,22.
' Aries (inquit angelus) bicornis, quem vidifti, funt
reges Mediae et Perfise j Hircus autem ille.villofus eft
rex Graeciae ; Cornu autem magnum interjectum oculis
ejus eft rex primus/ (Audin' hie regem PRIMUM ? ut
rex PRIMUS et reges SECUNDI non de diverfis dici
poflunt regnis, fed uno eodemque.) Pergitj " atque
hoc effradto, quod confurgent quatuor pro illo, qua-
tuor regna ex gente Aint aflurre&ura, fed non cum
robore illius.' Hie clariffimum eft Alexandrum cum
fucceflbribus fuis fuifle unius ejufdemque hirci cornua ;
ideoque unius regni poteftates. Ecquis jam dixerit
BESTIAM et CORNUA EJUS efle DUAS BESTIAS ? Me
judice, IPSE merebitur ILLIS annumerari, ne TERTIA
defit BESTIA." Page 715.
[22] All the tranflations agree in faying, that the
fourth beaft was " DIVERSE from all that were before
it." But as the prophet fet out with telling us, that
44 the four beafts were DIVERSE one from another,''
we can hardly fuppofe, that he would here introduce
a very ufelefs tautology, and inform us again, that the
fourth beaft was different from his predeceflbrs. <c Satis
miror ( fays St Jerome ) quod cum fupra Leaenam, &
i 4 urium,
120
NOTES.
urfum, &pardum, in tribus regnis pofuerit, Romanum
regnum nulli beftiae compararit, nifi forte ut formidolo-
fam faceret beftiam, vocabulumtacuit, ut quicquid fero-
cius cogitaveritnus in beftiis, hocRomanos intelligamus."
But the fourth beaft was not only different from the
other three, but was likewife COPIED from them, (for
this fenfe of the original word fee Deut. xvii. 18. and
Jofh. viii. 32. ) that is, as St John informs us, " a
LEOPARD with the feet of a BEAR and the mouth of
a LION, and fo, with its "ten horns" it was a proper
reprefentative of the Roman empire, which included,
in the idea of the Romans themfelves, THE WHOLE
WORLD. .
[23] The number " three," as I have already ob-
ferved, does not always import a determinate number,
but fometimes few, fometimes many, as the context
requires. In the place before us it feems to be ufed in
the latter fenfe. I fliall only obferve farther, that
" three of the ten horns being plucked up," SEVEN
remain, which, as a fymbolic number, denote the full
complement of the pagan provinces of the empire, for
the little horn does not belong to them.
[24.] " Not THROWN DOWN, as we of late have it.
Vulgar Lat. donee throni pofiti funt ; LXX et Theo-
dotion, i crow figjvo* irs00. VD-I VOID H 1? Chald.
et fie H!3"l ufurpatum de folio invenias apud Chald.
Paraph. Jer. i. v. 15. TlD"V1 ubi in Hebraeo eft 13/121
Septuag. jcat Qvffovffu." Mede, p. 762.
[25] Nothing is more ufual with the facred writers,
than to fpeak of a perfon hi the abftra&. Thus St
f aul fays, that " Chrift Jefus is made unto us righte-
oufnefs,
NOTES. 121
oufnefs, and fan&ification, and redemption ;" that is, a
juftifier, fan&ifier, and redeemer, i Cor. i. 30. The
term "judgement" is here ufed in the fame fenfe.
The antient of days is the only judge, for * the fon of
man was brought near before HIM." It is faid indeed,
ver. 26. " the judgement fhall fit, and THEY {hall
take away his dominion ;" but the meaning is, the
judgement fhall fit, and his dominion fhall be taken
away. Two political folemnities are alluded to in the
vifion. i. That of an eaftern monarch fitting in judge-
ment to decide fome caufe of great importance to his
fubje&s. And, 2. that of his aflbciating the prince
royal into the fovereignty with himfelf. The caufe to
be determined was of the greateft confequence. The
queftion was no lefs than, Who are the church of
God ? the Jews or the Chriftians ? But how was this
caufe to be decided ? The Jews had been, confefiedly,
the true church of God, and they were ndw poflefied of
the temple and city of Jerufalem, the (landing, vifible
tokens of the theocracy. As to the Chriftians, they had
nothing to fhew, on their behalf, but their miracles,
their fufferings, and their patience; poor arguments to
" a perverfe and crooked generation ! " Their appeal then
could only be to heaven, " to God the judge of all.'*
There they were fure of a favorable hearing. Accord-
ingly the antient of days did fit as judge the prophetic
books were opened judgement was given to the
Chriftians, the faints of the moft high the Jews were
deftroyed as blafphemers and enemies of God and his
Chrift Meffiah, the Son of God, was feated on the
throne prepared for him in heaven and the faints pof-
fefled the kingdom. Here was a fair end to the con-
troverfy. " When ye have lifted up the fon of man,
then fhall ye know," that is, it fhall be known, " that
I am "
122 NOTES.
J am " he. John viii. 28. For if the definition of
Jerufalem were the predicted confequence of cutting
off Meffiah, it was likewife the irrefragable " SIGN
Of THE SON OF MAN IN HEAVEN."
[26] Some of the Jews underftand the paffagc in
the fame fenfe. " One of the thrones, they fay, is for
Meffiah [the fon of] David.'*
[27] " The word which we tranflate here plurally
is, as it is pointed in the original, of the fingular
number, namely, N{W J whereas if it were the plu-
ral, it fhould be N/lVn ; for that, fay the Chaldee
grammarians, is the difference between the fingular
and the plural emphatic, that the one has fcheva [ : J
in the penultima, the other has camets []. And fo
we render N/)Vn with fcheva Angularly [beaft] twice
in the following verfes of this chapter, viz. 19 & 23."
Mede, page 780. I lay no ftrefs on the points. I fol-
low a furer guide, the context. But it was not im-
proper to produce this authority, to fhew that I am
not fingular in my tranflation of the word. Whether
I am right in the application, or not, muft be left to
the reader.
' [28] Thefe REMAINS feem to be the ELECT fpoken
of by our blefled Saviour, Matt. xxiv. 22. " Except
thofe days [of the great tribulation of the Jews] fhould
be fhortened, there fhould no flefh be faved j but for
the elecYs fake thofe days fhall be fhortened ; " or, as
St Mark exprefles it, " except that the Lord had
fhortened thofe days, no flefh fhould be faved ; but for
the elecYs fake, whom he hath chofen, he hath fhort-
ened
NOTES. 123
ened the days.*' chap. xiii. 26. He means the years of
Daniel's feventieth week deftined for the deftru&ion
of the city and people of Jerufalem, which were fhort-
ened and reduced to three and a half. In one week,
even in HALF of the week, he {hall caufe defolation."
Thefe remains were elected and faved from the general
carnage of that deftru&ive war, to continue down, to
lateft ages, a {landing teftimony to the truth of pro-
phecy.
[29] Much has been written ABOUT this famous
prophecy. To understand the true defign and mean-
ing of it, we muft obferve, that, befides a TRIBAL
and TEMPORAL fcepter, which Jewdah had in com-
mon with his brethren, he had alfo another of a
LARGER extent, and of A MORE IMPORTANT nature.
* PAN (hall judge his people AS ONE of the tribes,
or fcepters, of Ifrael." ver. 16. But unto JEWDAH it
is moreover faid, " THY FATHER'S CHILDREN SHALL
BOW DOWN BEFORE THEE." And then it follows,
" THE SCEPTER SHALL NOT DEPART FROM JfiW-
DAH." Here are plainly TWO diftindl: fcepters. And
therefore to fliew which of the two was intended in
trie prophecy concerning JEWDAH, it is immediately
added, " for OF HIM " (that is the meaning of the
phrafe " from between his feet") {hall come " THE
LAWGIVER." We meet with the fame thing elfe-
where. " Jewdah prevailed above his brethren, for
of him {hall come" (fo it {hould be tranflated) "the
chief ruler." iCh.v.2. And David fays, God hath
chofen Jewdah to be the ruler." iCh. xxviii. 4. Who
this is we learn from the moft unexceptionable autho-
rity, that of the whole body of the chief priefts and
fcribes." For when Herod demanded of them, "Where
fhould
124 NOTE S,
fhould Mefilah be born ? " they replied unanimoufly,
" In Bethlehem of Jewdea ; for thus it is written by the
prophet. Thou, Bethlehem in the land of Jewdah
out of thee fhall come the GOVERNOR that fhall RULE
my people ISRAEL," not Jewdah only, Matt. ii. 4 6.
Micah v. 2. Hence then I conclude, that the thing in-
tended in the patriarchal prediction is THE SPIRITUAL
SCEPTER, the great " blefling of all men, promifed
to Abraham, eftablifhed with Ifaac, made to reft upon
the head of Jacob *," and now fixed by Jacob in the
tribe of Jewdah. And there it remained till Shiloh
came. But when the Jews refufed to fubmit to it, it
departed from them to the Gentiles. " The kingdom
of God, fays our Saviour, (hall be taken away from
you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits
thereof." This is THE SCEPTER OF JEWDAH. The
very fame fcepter that was taken from the Jews was
given to the Gentiles. And therefore it was a fpiritual
fcepter, for the kingdom of Jefus is not of this world.
So that this celebrated prediction is not, what it is
commonly fuppofed to be, a promife of the continuance
of the CIVIL fcepter in the tribe of Jewdah till the
Meffiah came (which is falfe in far) but a declaration
of the departure of the SPIRITUAL fcepter when he
came. 1 would juftobferve farther, that the fuppo-
fition of a temporal fcepter being the objec~l of this pro-
phecy is abfolutely inconfiftent with an exprefs law of
Mofes. <c When thou art come unto the land which
the Lord thy God giveth thee, and (halt poflefs it, and
(halt dwell therein, and (halt fay, I will fet a KING
over me, like as all the nations that are about me,
thou (halt in any wife fet him king over thee, whom
the Lord thy God (hall choofe j one FROM AMONG
THY
* Ecclus. xliv. 21 23.
NOTES. 125
THY BRETHREN {halt jhou fet KING over thee, thou
mayft not fet a ftranger over thee, one which is not
thy brother," Deut. xvii. 14, 15. Here, you fee, any
Ifraelite, of any tribe, was eligible to the regal office.
Accordingly, the firft who " prevailed above his bre-
thren," in a civil fenfe, was BENJAMIN, and the laft
was LEVI, for Hercd was of no tribe.
[30] As this part of the vifion alludes to the cuftom
of a king's afibciating the prince royal into the fove-
reignty with himfelf, I have afcribed to the perfonage,
here intended, his proper character, for though he ap-
peared " like a fon of man," he was in truth THE SON
OF GOD. The Jews themfelves have gone before me
in giving him this character, and Jefus accepts it.
When he faid to the Jewifb. council, " Hereafter fhall
THE SON OF MAN fit on the right hand of the
power of God," they all joined in this contemptuous
queftion - ART THOU THEN THE SON OF
GOD ? And he faid unto them, Ye fay that 1 AM."
Luke xxii. 69, 70.
[31] O fx,iv yap MONAPXIAIS, $s ra
$vxarK aXX oe TOIJ IIAH0E2IN s7rtTf\J/ai< rw i|oucrai>
TUV irofartvtAccTuv* O oe rftfTep- i/|ito9T; ? f* fovrut
ovcioTiuii airetSt* ( w; ^' ai/Tif 7rot $a(7//,SK- Toy Aoyo ) .
eEOKPATlAN aw^|s TO ir^rtvu.*, 0Eil TUV %! xj T
xpaT- a8?, x. t. x. Contra Apion. lib. 2. f. 16.
p. 1376. 1.37 '42.' Edit. Hudfon. This peculiar form
of government fubfifted, as I have faid, from Mofes to
Vefpafian. It is indeed commonly fuppofed, that the
iheocracy ceafed with the judges. But why then Is
SAUL ftyled, by David, " THE LORD'S ANOINTED?"
** THIS, as Bifliop Warburton obferves, was the com-
126 NOTES.
mon title of the kings of Ifrael and Jewdah, and plainly
denoted their office of VICE-ROYALTY j improperly,
and fuperftitioufly transferred, in thefe latter ages, to
CHRISTIAN kings and princes*." DAVID too was, in
this fenfe, " the ford's anointed." " SOLOMON fat on
THE THRONE or THE LORD, AS KING, inftead of
David his father." But how could he fit upon THE
THRONE OF GoD, if the THEOCRACY HAD CEASED ?
The queen of Sheba exprefles her idea of the Jewifii
form of government, which had doubtlefs been con-
veyed to her by Solomon himfelf in this handfome com-
pliment to him. 4i BlefTed be THE LORD THY GOD,
which delighted in thee to fet thee on HIS THRONE
to be KING FOR THE LORD THY GOD." " During
the captivity the theocracy lay, as it were, in abeyance.
But it was afterwards revived. ." ACCORDING TO THE
WORD THAT I COVENANTED WITH YOU WHEN YOU
CAME OUT OF EGYPT, SO MY SPIRIT REMAINETH
AMONG YOU." What was THAT COVENANT? fays
Bifliop Warburton. That Ifrael (hould be his people,
and He their God and KING. The meaning therefore
muft be, That he would ftill continue their KING as
well as God f." Accordingly CYRUS is exprefsly ftyled,
by anticipation, "THE LORD'S SHEPHERD" and ''THE
LORD'S ANOINTED," that is, his vice-roy in Jewdea.
Hence StPaul calls the Roman emperor " THE MINIS-
TER OF GOD," for Jerufalem was ftill ct the holy city,
the city of THE GREAT KING;" and confequemly
Caefar, how fupreme foever elfewhere, was, in Jewdea,
neither more nor lefs than PRO-IMPERATOR, GOD'S
LIEUTENANT ; and therefore when the theocracy
ceafed,
* Div. Leg. Vol. iv. p. 226,
f Ibid. p. 239242.
N O T, E S. 127
ceafed, Csefar's vice-royalty ceafed too. But as this
interpretation may be thought fingular, and as' the
apoftle's words have been twifted by party-writers, for
different purpofes, to different fenfes, it may not be
improper to fay fomething in fupport of it.
Let it be obferved then, that the Jews were poffefied
of a notion of the unlawfulnefs of paying tribute, or
any other kind of civil obedience, to a Pagan magif-
trate, becaufe God alone was their lord and king.
This was the common principle of the nation, and
it was publicly inculcated by Judas of Galilee in the
days of the taxing under Cyrenius. He taught his
countrymen, as Jofephus informs us, that they
muft be downright cowards, pogo tt Pupcuox rttei
vvoftaant ^ META TON EON or<r 0NHTOYS
&<r7roT?, if they could fubmit both to pay tribute to the
Romans, and TOGETHER WITH God acknowledge
mortal (that is, heathen) Lords." J. W. b. ii. c.8. i.
I tranflate ftsra TOV @io (not after, but) together with
God, becaufe we learn from the fame Jofephus, that
the followers of Judas acknowledged GOD to be their
ONLY governor and king, and called no MAN (that is,
no heathen) their LORD." Ant. b. xviii. c. i. .61
The fame principles dictated thofe infnaring queftions
to Jefus, " Is it LAWFUL [for Jews] to give tribute to
CJESAR, or NOT [lawful] ? Shall we give ? or fhall
we not give?" Mark xii. 14, 15. Jefus admits fo much
of the firft principle as was true *, and thereby over-
turns the fecond, which was falfe. " WHOSE is this
image and fuperfcription," fays he, upon the tribute
money ? They fay, Czefar's. He replies, " Render
therefore
* Namely, that God was at that time their king and
governor.
128 NOTES.
therefore to Czefar the things that are Caefar's, and to
God the things that are God's." ver. 16, 17. As if he
had faid, You boaft of being fubje&s of the theocracy.
But from Mofes' time to this the theocracy has been
adminiftered by a deputy. Now God's deputy muft be
of God's appointing. And Caefar's image and fuper-
fcription, which you acknowledge to be upon the cur-
rent money of Jewdea, are plain tokens that Caefar is
deputy. " Render therefore to Caefar the things that
are Caefar's, and to God the things that are God's ; "
or, in other words, Fear God, and honor his king.
This is the true ground of St Paul's reafoning in his
epiftle to the Romans. Too many JEWISH converts
flill retained a fcrupulous attachment to the law of
Mofes, and, among other prejudices, thofe 1 have al-
ready mentioned. Many of the converts from GEN-
TILISM, mifled by " thofe of the circumcifion," em-
braced the fame notions, and JEWDAISED too. To
both thefe parties, very numerous at Rome, the apoftle
thus addrefles himfelf. " Let EVERY (Chriftian) foul
be fubject to the fupreme powers, for there is no power
but of God ; the powers that be, YHO rov Qtov TiTay/*i>t
fiffn, are appointed BY and UNDER God." Saul was
appointed by and under God as well as David, Jeroboam
as well as Solomon, Cyrus and Alexander had the fame
divine appointment, and Caefar, the then prefent power,
had the fame. This the Jews well knew. And there-
fore our Saviour exprefsly charges them with HYPO-
CRISY, in the queftion concerning the LAWFULNESS
of paying tribute to the Roman emperor. " Whofoever
therefore refifteth the power, refifteth the ordinance of
God j and they that refift fhall receive to themfelves
damnation," that is, temporal deftru&ion, asthe Jewifh
people
NOTES. 129
people did under Vefpafian. I underftand the word
x^^ in a temporal fenfe, becaufe it plainly ftandg op-
poled to (rum^a, a temporal " falvation," in the ele-
venth verfe. " Now, fays the apoftle, is OUR SAL-
VATION NEARER than when we (firft) believed; 1 *
a falvation, not at the laft judgment, but in that
' day of vifitation," Luke xix. 44 mPet. ii. 12. which
was to bring deftru&ion to the Jews, and a deliverance
to the Chriftians from the Jewifh powers. The de-
ftrudion of Jerufalem was then nigh at hand, and there-
fore the day of falvation to the Chriftians was nigh at
hand too it was nearer than when they firft believed.
But what were the few years from their converfion to
the many centuries before the day of Judgment ? The
apoftle goes on thus. " Now f rulers are not a terror
to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not
be afraid of the power ? Do that which is good, and
thou (halt have praife of the fame (power), for he is
the minifter of God to thee for good. But if thou do
that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the
fword in vain, for he is the revenging minifter of God
for wrath to him that doeth evil. Wherefore ye muft
needs be fubjec}, not only for wrath (that will be exe-
cuted by Csefar), but alfo for confcience (towards God
whofe vicegerent he is). Now f for the fame caufe
pay tribute alfo, for they are theMinifters of God, per-
fevering * in this very thing. Render therefore [to all
their dues; tribute, to whom tribute (is due); cuftom,
to whomcuftomj fear, to whom fear 3 honor, to whom
K honor/'
f The facred. as well as other Greek writers, frequently
begin a fentence with yf , as we do with NOW.
* The word Trgjcrxa^Trgsm; does not relate to the
POWERS but to the SUBJECTS.
130 NOTES.
honor." Rom. xiii. i 7. I {hall leave this fubjec"r, as'
Bifhop Sherlock does, " without drawing any confe-
quences, excepting one only, namely, That the fcrip-
tures are not to be tortured to fpealc in favor of one fide
or another; for they ftand clear of all difputes about the
rights of princes and fubjects ; fo that fuch difputes muft
be left to be decided by principles of natural equity and
the conftitutions of the country." Vol. iv. p. 371.
[32] The verb tranfitive is often ufed imperfonally.
" In that day fhall ONE take up a parable againft you ;"
Mic. ii. 4. literally, he fhall take up. " One " is
here fupplied by the translators, as it is elfewhere. So
that the place may be rendered, agreeably to the vul-
gar Latin, " There SHALL BE TAKEN UP a parable."
In like manner the Hebrew mode of expreflion, HE
SHALL CALL his name Wonderful," is very properly
changed in our vet fion, which fays, " His name SHALL
BE CALLED Wonderful." Ifai. ix. 6. The circum-
ftances in Daniel's vifion are defcribed as they happened.
I. A beaft with ten horns. 2. Another horn. 3. Three
of the ten fall, that is, "WERE PLUCKED UP," as
Daniel himfelf exprefles it. How they were plucked
up is not faid, nor was there any occafion to fay it.
For what could break off the horns of this beaft, but
the beaft itfelf?
[33] For the ufeof the term falvation in a temporal
fenfe, fee Dr Hammond in various places of his para-
phrafe and annotations j and for the fact, that the be-
lieving; Jews were faved, in this fenfe of the expreflion,
feeEufebius in hisEcclefiaftical hiftory. b. 3. c-5- Our
Saviour himfelf foretold it. " When thefe things [falfe
Chrifts, wars and commotions, the cncompafling of Je-
lufalem
NOTES. 131
rufalem with armies, &c.] begin to come to pafs, then
look up and lift your heads, for YOUR REDEMPTION
draweth nigh." Luke xxi. 28. Jofephus ufes the word
fforvfKt, on this occafion, in the fame fenfe. See J.W.
b. in. c. vn. . 5.
[34] This was not a wanton fally of refentment
from the injured prifoner, but a calm and folemn,
though dreadful, denunciation of the infpired apoftle.
TvTrrc-a <TE fu*X 5 <&. StPaul addreffesthe high prieft
as the reprefentative of the Jewifh nation. He had open-
ed his fpeech to the council in this manner. " Bre-
thren, I have lived in all good confcience towards God
until this day." The high prieft was offended, and
" commanded them that flood by Paul to fmite him
en the mouth." The apoftle replies, "God will fmite
thee, thou whited wall." This gave frefh offence, and
fomeof the ftanders-by faid, "Revileft thou God's high
prieft? for it is written, Thou fhalt not fpeak evil of the
RULER of thy people." This quotation from the law
is commonly fuppofed to be part of St Paul's anfwer to
the accufation, and to contain a kind of apology for his
reflection on the high prieft, not knowing him to be fo.
But this cannot be admitted. St Paul was certainly
included in the general promifeto the apoftles. <c They
will lay their hands on you, and perfecuteyou, deliver-
ing you up to the fynagogues, and into prifons, being
brought before kings and rulers for my name's fake.
Settle it therefore in your hearts, not to meditate before
what ye (hall anfwer ; for I will give you a mouth and
wifdom, which all your adverfaries (hall not be able to
gainfay, nor refift;" Luke xxi. 12 15. or, as it is
expreffed in St Mark, '* whatfoever fhall be given you
K 2 in
132 NOTES.
in that hour, that fpeak ye ; for it is not ye that fpeak,
but the Holy Ghoft." xiii. n. Now will you fay, that
the Holy Ghoft is here making apologies ? Or can you
feriouflv believe, that Paul, "brought up in Jerufalem
at the 'feet of Gamaliel," did not know the high priell ?
If he did not know the man, he muft have known the
magiftrate, by his habit, and by his place in the coun-
cil, which Paul "beheld earneftly." And, accordingly
he addrefles him as fuch. " Sitteft thou to JUDGE me
after the law ?" Where then is the pertinence of the
quotation, as coming from St Paul ? The apoftle could
fay nothing that required an apology. And therefore
when he was charged with having " reviled God's high
prieft," he replies roundly, On* of, " I do not acknow-
ledge that he is high-prieft," that is, " God's high-prieft"
the high -prieft mentioned by the objector. Nor was
he fo. He held his office, not according to the law of
Mofes, but by the appointment of the Roman governor ;
he was an "ungodly wretch, and NOT HIGH-PRIEST,'*
as Jafon who had a fimilar appointment, is defcribed
in the fecond book of Maccabees,. iv. 13. Place then
St Paul's words in a parenthefis, and connect the quo-
tation with the objector's queftion, to which it belongs,
and with which only it has a proper agreement. " Re-
vileft thouGod's high-prieft? (andPaul faid, 1 do not
acknowledge, brethren, that he is high-prieft) for it
is written, thou fhalt not fpeak evil of the ruler of thy
people." St Luke himfelf has a pafTage exactly parallel
to this conftruclion. " And he faid unto them that
flood by, Take from him the pound, and give it to him
that hath ten pounds ; (and they faid unto him, Lord,
he hath ten pounds) for I fay unto you, that unto every
one which hath (hall be given, and from him that hath
not, even that he hath {hall be taken away from him."
chap. xix. 2226.
[35] Which
NOTES. 133
C35] " Which of the prophets have not your fathers
perfecuted ? and they have flain them which {hewed
before of the coming of the JUST ONE, of whom ye
have been now the betrayers and murderers." Actsvii.52.
[36] The CHRONOLOGY of the JEWISH WAR, from
Jofephus.
The Jewifli war began in the month Artemifius*,
in the TWELFTH year of NERO.
In HYPERBERETEUS Ceftius brought his army be-
fore the city.
Without any reafonable caufe he leaves it.
Is defeated by the Jews on the 8 th day of Dius, in
the TWELFTH year of NERO.
Vefpafian is employed by Nero againft the Jews.
Titus failed from Achaia to Alexandria fooner than
the WINTER feafon did ufually permit.
K 3 Vefpafian,
* The Macedonian months, here ufcd, anfvver to the
Jowifh, as appears from Jofephus himfelf, who fays, that
*' thepafsover was on the fourteenth day of Xanthicus,"
confefsedly Nifara, or the firfl month. He fays too, that " the
fecond temple was burnt on the tenth day of Lous, the fame
day on which the firft had been burnt," that is, the month
Ab, or "the fifth month" according to Jeremiah. LII. 12.
The months then will ftand thus.
1. Nifan. Xanthicus.
2. Jiar. Artemiiius.
3. Sivan. Dasfius.
4. Tamuz. Panemus.
5. Ab. Lous.
6. Elul. Gorpieus.
7. Tifri. Hyperbereteus.
8. Marchefvan. Dius.
9. Cafleu. Apelleus.
10. Tabeth. Audineus.
11. Schebath. Peritius.
12. Adar. Dvftrus.
134 NOTES.
Vefpafian, willing todemolimjotapata, was prevent-
ed by Jofephus, the 21" of ARTEMISIUS.
A terrible fight there between the Jews and Romans,
the 20 th of DESIUS.
Another at Japha, the 25 th .
Another at Gerizim between the Romans and Sama-
ritans, the 27th.
Jotapata taken, the ift of PANEMUS in the THIR-
TEENTH of NERO.
Jofephus taken prifoner there.
The inhabitants of Taricheae made prifoners, the 8th
of GORPIEUS.
The Romans enter Gamala, the 23 d of HYPERBE-
RETEUS.
Vefpafian enters Gadara, the 4th of DYSTRUS.
encamps at Neapolis, the 2 d of DESIUS.
went the next day to Jericho.
is informed that Nero is dead, having reign-
ed 13 years and eight days.
GALBA made emperor {lain in the market-houfe
at Rome, having reigned 7 months and feven days.
OTHO made empeior kills himfelf after reigning
three months and two days.
VITELLIUS made emperor.
Vefpafian removed fromCaefarea the 5th of DESIUS.
Simon gets Pofieflion of Jerufalem in XANTHICUS,
in the third year of the war.
VESPASIAN made emperor in the eaft.
VITELLIUS flain in Apelleus, having reigned eight
months and five days.
On the 1 5th day of the fiege of Jerufalem, the jth
of ARTEMISIUS, Titus got pofleflion of the firft wall.
The fecond wall taken the fifth day after taking the
firft.
Titus
NOTES. 135
Titus was willing to preferve the city for his own
fake, and the temple for the fake of the city.
The Romans are forced "to quit the city. The Jews
elated with their fuccefs, imagine that the Romans will
not come there again, and that they (hall not be con-
quered, if they renew the battle j for GOD, fays Jo-
fephus, had BLINDED THEIR MINDS for their tranf-
greffions *.
The fourth day after Titus recovers the wall.
He intermits the fiege four days, and renews it on
the fifth.
The Romans began to raife their banks the I2th of
ARTEMISIUS, and finifhed them by the zgth.
The tower of Antonia taken.
On the 22 d of PANEMUS the Jews themfelves fet
fire to the N. W. cloifter of the temple.
Two days after the Romans fet fire to the adjoining
cloifter.
The famine was fo great in the city, that a noble
lady killed her own fon, a child fucking at her breaft,
K 4 then
* Jofcphus faysB. V. C. 13. . 5. EOS $e u o rov Xoy
IIANTOS KATAKPINAS, *) vatc-Kv O.VTOH; SfiTHPIAE ohr
o; airiyXftav a7rorfpw. " It was GOD that had CONDEMNED
the WHOLE people, and turned every way for their SAFETY
to their DESTRUCTION." This paflage, added to that above
is in part a comment upon what St Paul fays to the Theflfa-
lonians. Aia rovro wfx,-4/ ayroj? 'O 0EO2 ENEPFEIAN
HAANHS, j TO irirtvorui ttvTovf tu 4-uJ. \\iot. KPIOfJSI
I1ANTE2 S py virivo-avrs; TV X6. " For this caufe
GOD fhallfend them ftrong DELUSION, that they may be-
lieve a lie, that they ALL maybe CONDEMNED who believe
not the truth." 2 Thefs. ii. u, 12.
136 NOTES.
then roafted him, and ate one part of him, referving the
other for a future meal *.
On the 8th of Lous Titus placed the battering rams
againft the weftern part of the inner temple.
On the loth, that fatal day of Lous, upon which
the temple had been formerly burnt by the Babylonians,
it was again burnt down in the SECON D year of VESPA-
SIAN.
Banks are raifed againft the upper city, the 20th of
Lous.
fmifhed the yth of Gorpieus.
Jerufalem burnt and taken the 8th.
See Ptolemy's canon in note [48].
[37] So Rev. v. 5. our Saviour is ftyled the LION of
the tribe of Jewdah, and yet immediately appears as a
LAMB that had been flain.
[39] Job xxxix. 30. "Where the flain are, there
is fhe," the eagle. Hence fome learned writers have
been led to conclude, that our Saviour's expreflion is,
only, PROVERBIAL. But why may not a PROVERB,
ufed PROPHETICALLY, have a LITERAL fignification ?
* If the reader calls to mind the PREDICTION of our
Lord, as it is clfewhere exprefled without a figure
When ye (hall feejerufalem compafied with ARMIES"
Luke xxi. 20. and compares it with the EVENT, he
will hardly make a doubt whether EAGLES, in thofe
figurative
* Well might our Saviour fay to the "daughters of Jeru-
falem, Weep not for me, but weep for yourfelves and for
your children. For behold ! the days are coming, in the
which they fhall fay, BLESSED ARE THE BARREN, and THE
WOMBS THAT NEVER BARE, AND THE PAPS WHICH NEVER
CAVE SUCK." Luke xx nr. 28, 29.
NOTES. 1^
figurative predi&ionsy which refpeft the fame fubjed,
namely, the deftru<tion of Jerufalem, were not intended
by our Lord to denote the ROMA N armies." Dr Hurd's
Lectures p. 167. n. I am happy in having the fuffrage
of this eminent critic.
[40] "Sicut ANTICJESAREM dicimus QUI contra
Casfarem SE CJESAREM YULT DICI ATQUE CAESAR
HABE.RI, fie ANTICHRISTUS eft qui fe vero Chriftoop-
ponit EO MODO ut ipfe Chriftus haberi velit." Gro-
tius, append, de Antichrifto, p. . The eminent cri-
tic, above mentioned, has lately controverted this opi-
nion of the excellent Grotius. " The learned com-
mentator did not refleft, that words are not always ufed
according to the ftricT: import of their etymologies.
FALSE CHRISTS, we will fay, are, in the ftricT: fenfe
of the word ANTICHRISTS. But the queftion is, in
WHAT fenfe this word is ufed of the perfon Called, by
way of eminence, THE ANTICHRIST? Befides, it is
not fo clear, as Grotius fuppofes, that the ftridr, fenfe
of the word, ANTICHRISTUS, muft be is, qui fe
vero Chrifto opponit, eo modo ut ipfe Chriftus haberi
velit. Casfar, who generally exprefled himfelf with
exact propriety, thought fit, on a certain occafion, to
afiume the name and character of ANTICATO. Was
it Caefar's purpofe to fay, or was it his ambition to pre-
tend, " That he oppofed himfelf to the true Cato, E o
MODO ut ipfe CATO haberi vellet ?" Lecl. p. 2 17, 218.
n.
It is with the greateft regret, that I find myfelf oblig-
ed to daTent from this ingenious, learned, and fafhion-
able writer, efpecially in his proper province of CRITI-
CISM. But here he feems to be miftaken in every
point. Grotius was fo far from not reflecting, that
words are not always ufed according to their ftricl im-
port,
3$ NOTES,
port, that his reafoning'is founded on that very reflec-
tion. CJESAR, he well knew, from being a FAMILY
name, became a name of OFFICE and DIGNITY. Ta-
citu?, fpeakingof the Jewifli averfion to images, fays,
" Non REGIBUS haec adulatio, non CJSA*.IBUS ho*
nor," that is, the Je\vs would not allow fiich a com-
pliment either to KINGS or EMPERORS. Hiftor. B. v.
f. 5. Accordingly Grotius haying mentioned the family
of the Csfars fays, " Caefares; JAM voco eos qui NATU-
RA aut ADOPTIONE ad Caefarurn.jjpMUM ,pertinebant,
quales ante Galbam omnes," (Ibid. p. 55.) plainly im*
plying, that he elfewhere ufed the word, Caefar, in a
different fenfe. Indeed the paflage itfelf, quoted by Dr
fiurd, is a fufficient proof of it. The terms CHRIST
andCjESAR are evidently ufed as names of OFFICE, and
therefore ANTICHRIST and ANTICJESAR muft be ufed
fo too. Nor did Grotius, as the Do&or would infi-
iiuate, fetch his meaning of Antichrift from the ety-
mology, but from the ufe, of the term. " CHRIST
HIMSELF, according to Dr Hurd, had made, the ap-
pearance of FALSE CHRISTS and falfe prophets, that
is, of ANTICHRISTS, to be one of the SIGNS by which
that HOUR (mentioned by St John, and fo fatal to the
Jews) {hould be diftmguilhed." p. 214. This is indeed
the truth. " Many, fays our Saviour, (hall come IN
MY NAME, faying, I AM THE CHRIST." Matt. xxiv. 5.
" NOMEN faepe OFFICIUM aut DIGNITATEM alicujus
Cgnificat. Dicuntur ergo hie exftituri qui fibi afcribant
dignitatem earn quae Jefu eft propria, i. e. ut fequitur,
QUI sE DICTURI SUNTCHRISTOS. CHRIST! nomine
pppulus Judaicus intelligebat vindicem libertatis. Nam
illud, if*? ^ DA7rio/x OT UVT^ ir o pehhuv Xurpot/ff-a*
Toi<r*x, Luc. xxiv. 41. defcriptioeft nominisCHRis-
TI. Quare quicunque fe miffos divinitus liberatores
populi
NOTES. : i 3 9
populi Judaici dicebant, eo ipfo CHRI'-TOS SE profr-
tebantur, et erant -4/ey^o%piro*." Grot, in loc. Thefe
predictions, then current in the church, are clearly
alluded to by St John, when he fays, "Ye have HEARED
that ANTICHRIST {hall come." i Ep. ii. 18. The apof-
tle had faid, " It is THE LAST TIME," of the Jewifli
church and ftate, or, in other words, it is the LAST
of Daniel's SEVENTY WEEKS. In fupport of his afler-
tion he appeals to fome noted predictions, that "ANTI-
CHRIST SHOULD COME" IN THE LAST TIME, for
fo the ellipfis muft be fupplied. " Little children, it
is the LAST time; and as ye have heared, THAT ANTI-
CHRIST SHALL COME " at THAT time, " fo NOW there
are many Antichrifts : whereby we know that it i s the
LAST time." The apoftle is not fpeaking of fome fu-
ture Antichrift, but of fuch as really exifted at that
very time. Here is no MORALIZING, but ftrit, fo-
ber REASONING. Antichrift was to appear in the laft
time of the Jewifli ftate. Many Antichrifts appeared
in St John's time. THEREFORE, fays he, it is the
laft time. And now, I think, it will appear, that
the Doctor's AN Tic A TO is by ho means a parallel
with Antichrift. Cato fignified only the name of a
perfon. Confequently Anticato could denote nothing
more than a perfonal oppofition. And even if Cato
had affumed the name of Anticaefar, it could have de-
noted nothing more. But CHRIST was always a name
of OFFICE; and therefore ANTICHRIST muft be too.
Many will come in my name, faying, I AAJ CHRIST."
[41] Rev. ii. 9. and iii. 9. This indeed is faid of the
Churches of SMYRNA and SARDIS, Jews, in this
prophetic book, ftanding forChriftians. But then what
is here faid muft firft have been true of the Jews in the
literal
i 4 o NOTES.
literal fenfe, before it could be applied to thofe Anti-
chriftian churches in the fpiritual. Juft as papal ROME
could not have been fty led, in the fame prophetic book,
BABYLON the great, if Babylon had not before been
" the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth."
chap. xvii. 5.
[42] " He caufeth that no man might buy or
fell, fave he that had the MARK or the NAME of the
BEAST, or the NUMBER OF HIS NAME. Here is wifdom.
Let him that hath understanding count the NUMBER
OF THE BEAST. Now it is the number of a MAN.
And his number is fix hundred fixty and fix." Rev.
xiii. 17, 1 8. " Here, fays Father Calmet, the CURI-
OUS are PERPLEXED there are many CONJECTURES
on this matter, and almoft all the commentators have
TRIED their abilities, without being able to fay cer-
tainly that any of them have fucceeded, in giving us
the true MARK of the BEAST, or the CYPHER whereby
he will DISTINGUISH his followers. He therefore ad-
vifes us, as the WISEST and the SAFEST way, to be
SILENT with refpect to both this NAME and CHARAC-
TER." [Dictionary, under the word ANTICHRIST.]
Well faid ! Pere Calmet ; for no one, acquainted with
the name and character of the beaft, will be a member
of the church of Rome. But " let him that hath un-
derftanding count the number of the beaft," that he
may know and avoid him. The following remarks
may, perhaps, lead us to a difcovery of his name.
1. A beaft is the fymbol of a ftate.
2. The number of the beaft is the number of his
name, that is, the numerical value of the letters in his
name is equal to 666, the number given.
3. Thi s
NOTES. 141
3. This number is the number.of a man. As every
number is the number of a man, the term man muft
here be ufed in fome peculiar fenfe. Now the Jews
call Gentiles by the name of men. So Zech, ix. j.
** the eyes of MAN, as of all the tribes of ISRAEL,
fhall be towards the Lord." Matt. xvii. 22. " The
Son of man (hall be delivered into the hands of men,"
the Gentiles. St Peter ufes the word avO^Tn*- in the
fame fenfe. " Submit yourfelves to every HUMAN
creature," to every Gentile, to whom fubmiffion is
due; the emperor, governors, hufbands and matters,
I Ep. ii. 13. Judas the Galilean, as we have feen in
note [31], perfuaded his followers, that it was unlaw-
ful for a Jew to acknowledge any MAN, that is, any
Heathen, as his lord and governor, for they fubmitted
to the government of their own countrymen. Jofephus
has another remarkable paflage. I will fet it down in
the original, that the reader may judge, whether Zabulon
or Galilee is called the place of MEN.
ANAPfiN. J. W. b. ii. c. 1 8. f. 9. The fcripture ex-
preflion is, raxxa rut t&u, "Galilee of the Gentiles."
Ifai. ix. i. Matt. iv. 15. According to this fenfe, the
name, and confequently the number of the name,
muft be in GREEK letters.
4. Kings are ufed for kingdoms. The fourth king,
or empire, was the Roman. ?/*#- therefore was the
name of the fourth beaft. Now when St John faw thefe
vifions the Roman was one intire empire. But the
fpirit of prophecy forefaw the time when this empire,
foon after its converfion to the faith of Chrift, would
be divided into two parts -civilly, into the eaftern
and weftern empires ; ecclefiaftically, into the Greek
and Latin churches. Where then are we to look for
this
142 NOTES.
this new edition of the Roman bead ? in the eaft or in
the weft ? at Conflantinopie or at Rome ? and what is
his name ? " Here is wifdom, v 'fays the angel j and
the man of wifdom, " he that hath underftancling,"
\vUl follow the advice of the angel, and * count the
number of the beaftj" for his number will {hew his
name, and his name will lead us to his ftation.
The name of the old Roman beaft, or Pagan Romej
w^s, as I have faid, Pupsu*. But this name does not
contain the number. Befides, this name was common
to both empires. The emperors were alike ftyled RO-
MAN, and their fubjecb ROMANS. Constantinople
was called New ROME, .and the country about it RO-
MANIA. And it may be obferved too, that New, as
well as Old, Rome is feated on feven hills.
The fuccefsof our inquiry will therefore depend upoa
our rinding out that fpecific NAME of a kingdom (what-
ever it is, and wherever it is) the NUMBER of which
will at once discriminate both the beaft and his fol-
lowers.
Now IRENJEUS, a very antient ecclefiaftical writer,
who knew nothing of the divifion of the empire into
eaftern and weftern, Greek and Latin, has, among other
traditions, tranfmitted down to us the name AKTSU-
as containing the number of this queftionable beaft.
This deferves our attention; for the FACT is, that,
after the divifion of the empire, the fubfcriptions of
the eaftern and weftern Bifliops, in their general coun-
cils, were made under the diftinft fpecific titles of
GREEK fathers and LATIN fathers.
Count then the NUMBER of the NAME
AATE I NOT
30 + i H- 300 + ; + 104-50 + 70 + 200
and you will find it 666.
And
NOTES. 143
And as AT * is the NAME of the BEAST, and
contains the NUMBER of the NAME, fo does it include
his MARK likewife. LATIN is the CHARACTERISTIC-
of thePAPAL church. SheLATiNiZEs in everything;
Are not all her trumpery, BULLS, CANONS, COUNCIL-S^
DECRETALS, in LATIN ? Are not all her folemnities
lOO, BIBLE, CREED, MASS, HYMNS, LITANY, HI
LATIN ? Nay, do not even the Greek ejaculations,-
adopted by her, bear the fame MARK, and appear i
LATIN characters ? Kyrie eleefon- Chrifte eleefon
LATIN then is the one difcriminatjng MARK of tiie
POPE'S KINGDOM ; the SIBBOLETH of the ROMANH
CATHOLIC CHURCH. We may therefore apply to
every fubjeiSr of Peter's fucceflbr what was faid to Peter
himfelf, " Surely thou art a GALILEAN, for thy
SPEECH bewrayeth thee." And we need not fcruplat
to fix the SEAT of the apocalyptic BEAST at ROMS'
in ITALY.
True
* Grotius excepts againft the orthography of Aarwvo?, as
if it ought to be written Aa-nxo?. But the authority of old
EN N lus may fairly be put in the fcale againft that of any
modern critic. Take then the following inftances in one
exprefuon Popolfii tenuere LatEinEi. Dr More has
collected many other inftances out of he fame writer, bu
thefe are fufficient to fhew, efpecially as one is a cafs.
in point, that the Latins ufed the diphthong for i long.
Ireneus too. exhibits the name in the fame form. And,
poflibly the tradition came from t, John hjmfelf, who
might have feen upon the forehead of the BEAST
MTZTHPION.
AATEINOS.
ri^
Let the Reader read from the i ith verfe to the end of the
chapter, and judge of this, St John feeras to me to have
feen what he wrote,
144 NOTES.
True it is, as the induftry of the Popifh writers has
fully proved, that the NUMBER may be found in many
other NAMES. But then it is equally true, that thofe
names are nothing to the purpofe. According to the
analogy of interpreting fymbolic prophecies, as the
BEAST is a KINGDOM, the NAME of the BEAST muft
be the NAME of a KINGDOM. To what purpofe then
is it, to amufe us with the PERSONAL names, ULPIUS*,
Mohamed f, Luther J, and perhaps a thoufand others,
if
* OYAIIIOE. Here they are forced to fink the value
of S 200 to that of ?, which fignifies the number 6.
f MOAMETIS.
J ^n t ?1 t ? as they choofe to give us the name.
The only name in Calmet's catalogue that comes near
the truth is .n^DII (Romana). The numeral value of
thefe letters is cxaftly 666. This is the name adopted by
MrDAUBUz, the celebrated commentator on the Revelation.
But, with great fubmiflion to fo able a judge of thefe mat-
ters, it is only near the truth* The number 666 expreffed
in HEBREW letters is not the number of a MAN. St John,
fpeaking of another KING, informs us, that " his NAME in
the HEBREW tongue is ABADDON, but in the GREEK
tongue APOLLYON;" or, in other words, his name is
ABADDON in the JEWS' language, but APOLLYON in that
of a MAN. Rev. ix. 1 1. But the great objection to /VD'H
is its gender. The name fhould be in agreement with
K-ING, according to the prophetic ufe of king for kingdom
"The four BEASTS are four KINGS." Dan. vii. 17. And.
Daniel fays to the KING of BABYLON, " THOU art the head
of gold." ii. 38. The NAME therefore of the fourth BEAST,
the fymbol of the fourth KING, muflbe P<yft:uof,not Pup.a,i t
nor /1 V D1"1 in the Hebrew. Not to mention, that there
would have been no great WISDOM in difcovering that the
NAME of the fourth empire was ROMAN, which, however,
in the prefent cafe, would be no name of diftinftion.
NOTES. 143
f indeed they contained the number, but to (hew us
their dexterity in the arts of controverfy, and their rea-
dinefs to trifle with ferious fubje&s.
[43] So the paflage is applied even by GrotiuS.
* Admonitio Pauli Rom. xi, 22. proprie quidem Ro-
MANIS accommodata eft, quos plane velim ejus fem-
per meminifle." Append, de Antic, p. 84.
[44] This expreflion, cohfidered by itfelf, may fig-
nify " thine own fake." But here " the LORD" feems
evidently oppofed to ' the SERVANT " in the eleventh
verfe, and therefore MESSIAH feems to be the oppo-
fite of MOSES. StPaul hasafimilarfentiment: "Mofes
was faithful as a fervant, but Chrift as a fon." Heb.
[45] St Paul had faid to the converted Jews of Thef-
falonica, in his firft epiftle, " Ye, brethren, became
followers of the churches of God which in Jewdea are
in Chrift Jefus ; for ye alfo have fuffered like things
of your own countrymen (the ignoble Jews of Thef-
falonica) even as they have of the Jews (in Jewdea) ;
who both killed the Lord Jefus and their own prophets,
and have perfecuted us (the apoftles); and theypleafe
not God, and are contrary to all men to fill up their
finsalway; for WRATH is COME UPON THEM ; ri*&,
AT THE END." Chap. ii. 14 16. From this, and
other 'paflages to the fame purpofe, mifunderftood by
the ** unlearned," and perverted by the. " unftable,'*
the afflicted Chriftians were feduced into a uriftakea
opinion, that the day of their deliverance from the
I" Jewifli
146 NOTES.
Jewiih perfecutors, by .the deftru&ion of Jerufalem,
" was at hand." To correct this fatal error is one
part of the apoftle's defign in his fecond epiftle. " Now
we befeech you, brethren, concerning the coming of
our Lord Jefus Chrift, and our gathering together*
unto him, that ye be not foon fhaken from your (for-
mer) opinion, nor be troubled f, either by fpirit, (any
falfe teacher,) or by word or by letter, as from us -(the
apoftles gf Chrift) as that the day of Chrift ('s firft com-
ing to judgment) is at hand. Let no man deceive you
by any means. For (that day will not come) except
there firft be the falling away J (of the Jewifti nation
from the Roman government) that the man of fin
may be revealed, the fon of perdition, who (now) op-
pofeth (the Romans) and exalteth himfelf above every
one called God or Worfhip || (Divus or Auguftus) fo
that he as God (or king) fitteth (or ruleth) in the
temple H of God (the king) fhewing himfelf that he
is
* "The gathering together" fpoken of by our Saviour.
Mat. xxiv. 31.
f The fame word, and on the fame occafion, Mai.xxiv.6.
J A7rory. This noun and its verb are frequently ufed
by Jofephus to exprefs the Jewiih APOSTASY from the Ro-
man government. '
K. is frequently ufed in this fenfc. See Mat, v. 15.
xxv. 27. Luke xv. 23.
ac7fAa in the abftraft. bv a very ufual Hebraifm, for
Here again I am fo unfortuhate as to diffent from the
learned Dr HURD. " St Paul^ prophcfying of the Man
of iin, or Antichrift, to be rctealed in the latter days,
makes
NOTES. 147
is God (or king). Remember ye not, that when I was
yet with you I told you thefe things [the APOSTASY
and the REVELATION of the man of fin ?] Kt w
TO 'MX,Tey(,ot eucWe, $ TO aTroxaTitxpSwai avrot TU IO.VTQV
xeuca. The Englifh verfion is, * And now ye know
what WITHHOLDETH that he might be revealed in his
time." And the ufual comment is, that there was
Come " LET or IMPEDIMENT to the coming of the
man of fin." But if there be any fenfe and meaning
in this trapflation or interpretation, I freely confefs,
that I am not able to reach it. If a certain time had
been fixed in the decrees of Providence, for the mani-
feftation of this "man of fin," Who, or what could
have LET and hindered it? There is evidently an
ellipfis, which .may be fupplied in this manner. " Re-
member ye not, that when I was yet with you I told
you thefe things ? So now know ye, that he who hold*
eth the temple. will fall away from and oppote the Ro-
L 2 mans,
makes It a diftinguiming part of his chara&er, < That he
SITTETH IN THE TEMPLE OF GOD.' Confider the force of
thefe words. A power, ' feated in the temple of God,' CAM
BE NOTHING but a power fuitable to that place, or a SPIRI-
TUAL power; juft as a power, feated in the throne of Csefar^
could only be interpreted of a civil power." p. 361. This
is, in Dr Hurd's idea, a graphical defcription of the POPE.
But what the Pope of ROMS has to do in an epiftle to the
THESSALONIANS I know not. lam " no blancher of Po-
pery," nor would I endeavour to fix a character upon the
Pope which does not appear to belong to him. If the tem-
ple here fpoken of was that at Jerufalem, the power feated
there was a civil power, for God was king of the Jews in
the fame fcnfeas Caefar was king of the Romans.
148 NOTES.
mans, that he may be revealed in his feafon." This
man of fin was in being when St Paul wrote, but was
not to be revealed till fome future rime, his appointed
feafon. " For the myftery of iniquity is already work-
ing." That is, the man of fin is even now at work,
but fecretly. This we know to be the fail. UnJer
the mafk of acknowledging "NO KING BUT CJESAR,"
the Jews were meditating, at that very time, to wreft
the fcepter out of Caefar's hand, and to translate the
feat of empire from Rome to Jerufalem. " Only he
who now holdeth " the temple muft work on " till it
be taken out of the way. And then fhall that wicked
one be revealed." To underftand this we muft ob-
ferve, that the difpute between the Jews and Chriflians
was, Which were the true church of God? IfChrif-
tians, the followers of Jefus, were this true church,
the Jews could be only pretenders to that character.
But how was the difpute to be fettled ? Alas ! the
Chriftians had nothing to fhew, on their behalf, but
their MIRACLES, their SUFFERINGS, and their PA-
TIENCE poor evidences to " a perverfe and crooked
generation," who had ftill their temple, the acknow-
ledged token of the theocracy, {landing vifibiy among
them; from whence they falfely concluded that, be-
caufe they were now the CIVIL, they were likewife
the SPIRITUAL, kingdom of God. But the day of
dtciftun was now approaching, when God would fhew
" Who were His, and who were holy." The dtftruc-
tion of the temple would be a full manifeftation of the
man of fin feated there, " whom the Lord will con-
fume with the (p.rit of his mouth, and deftroy with
the brightnefs of his coming. Even him, as the
apoftlc
NOTES. 149
apoftle goes on to defcribe him, whofe coming is after
the working of Satan, with all lying power, and figns,
and wonders *, and with all deceivablenefs of unrigh-
tsoufnefs, in them that perifh, becaufe they received
not the love of the truth, that they might be faved j.
And for this caufeGod will fend them ftrong delufions
that they fhould believe a lie, that they all might be
damned [in a temporal fenfe,] who believed not the
truth, but had pleafure in unrighteoufnefs " thejuft
judgment of thofe, who, having rejected the trueMef-
liah, liftened with pleafure to every profligate pretender
to the character, 2 Thefs. ii. i 12.
[46] St Paul ufes the prepofition J elfewhere in
in the fame fenfe. Thus 2 Cor. ii. 4. AIA iro^a* SxKfvuv,
" WITH many tears." Thus too Heb. ix. 12. OvJe Al*
f*aT8? rfo.yu* * f*9(w, AIA $s TOV J^JSD aj/xaro? nei-
ther WITH the blood of goats and calves, but WITH his
own blood he entered in once into the holy place,
having obtained eternal redemption." A in this verfe
is clearly the fame as ov %wg?, ''not WITHOUT blood,"
in the feventh.
[47] Literally, " to return and build," that is, "to
build again," as it is in the margin. So in the latter
part of the verfe the fame phrafe is rightly rendered,
41 {hall be built again.*'
L 3 [48] An
* So Mat. xxiv. 24.
t Ibid. 13.
I5o NOTES.
[48] An Extract from PTOLEMY'S Canon.
Years of
K. N.
122
Nabopolafiar - - 21 143
NabocolafTar ---_-___ 43 186
Ilvarod3,mus --------- 2 188
NiricafTolaffar -------- 4 192
Nabonadius --------- 17 209
CYRUS ---------- g 218
Cambyfes - - - - 8 226
Darius [Hyftafpis] 36 262
Artaxerxes [Longimanus] - - 41 324.
Darius II. [Nothus] - 19 34.3
Artaxerxes II. [Mnemon] - - 46 389
OchuS 21 410
Aroftus - - 2 412
Darius III. [Codomannus] - - 4 416
ALEXANDER ,--- - - T ; 8 424
Philippus Arideus ------ 7 431
Alexander Aegus ------- 12 443
PTOLEMY Lagus ------ 20 463
Philadelphia - - - 38 501
Euergetes - - 25 526
Philopater ----- 17 543
'. Epiphanes ----- 24 567
. Philorrnter -. - - - 35 602
~ Euergetes IJ. * - - - 29 631
fc _ Soter ------- 36 667
Dionyfius 29 696
Cleopatra 22 718
AUGUSTUS 43 761
Tiberius 22 783
Caius -- 4 787
Claudius 14 801
Nero - - 14. 815
Vefpafian 10 825
Pur learned Countryman Sir John Marfham gives
this character to the Canon. " Canon NabonafTaraeus
ab
NOTES. 151
ab Aftronomis primum ufurpatus, & Cceleftibus cha-
racleribus fancitus, maximam tandem au&oritatem
apud Hiftoricos non immeritoob:inuit. Cujus quidem
tanta eft cum facris literis congruentia, ut fine illo vix
diet ullus ab hiftoria Sacra ad Exoticam tranfitus."p 506.
The reader is defired to take notice, i. That this canon
is drawn up in a technical method. 2. That the Jewifh
begin ing of the reigns is different from that in the
canon. 3. That the angel in Daniel does not reckon
by SINGLE years, but by WEEKS of years.
[49] Sir Ifaac Newton, fpeaking of the . father of
Darius the Mede mentioned Dan. ix. i. calls him
" ACHSUERUS, ASSUERUS, OxYARES, AXERES,
prince AXERES, or CY-AXERES, the word CY figni-
fying a prince ; and he adds, that the Maflbretes error
neoufly call him AHASUERUS. Chronol. p. 309. And
he makes ACHSCHIROSCH, ACHSUEROS, or OXYARES,
the Maforetic AHASUERUS, the fame with XERXES..
p. 353. See too Jofeph Scaliger.
[50] The principle of Newton, Prideaux, &c. is
undoubtedly right when rightly applied ; but in the
prefent cafe it is nothing to the purpofe. For what is
abfolutely IMPROBABLE under ONE difpenfation of
providence may be highly PROBABLE under ANOTHER.
It is therefore extremely iJlogical to argue from the
ORDINARY to the EXTR AoRDiNAR Y ^dminifttation.
And if we extend their principle to other cafes, we
{hall immediately perceive its impropriety in that before
us. Suppofe then that a queftion was put, upon the
bare narration in the book ofGenefis, Whether ENOCH
Was TRANSLATED TO HEAVEN, Of DIED AN IM-
L 4 MATURE
152 NOT E S.
MATURE DEATH, according to the opinion of fome
of the Rabbins ? Here EXPERIENCE may be urged,
with much plaufibility, againft the MIRACLE ; and the
confuting principle of Newton and the reft will come
in feafonably to and and affift the objection. For
" where PROBABILITY and IMPROBABILITY appear
fo plainly upon the face of the different opinions '*
J3ut the learned writers, as we have fiid, have mifap-
plied their principle, and therefore we need not be in
any pain about the conclufion. The truth is, that the
experience of thofe who live under an ordinary provi-
dence muft be quite different from that of thofe who
live under an extraordinary one. Even the mod regu-
lar operations of Natute herfelf muft appear, miracu-
lous (hall I fay ? or improbable, to fuch as are unac-
quainted with them. And the good people, who al-
ways live under the influence of the warmeft fun, are
apt to fmile at the ilmplicity of the northerns, when
they talk of their frozen mountains covered with ice
and fnow. Our experience is not theirs. And when
men's principles are fo ve;y different, their conclufions
will naturally be fo too.
[51] Sir John Marfham fays, ? HjecDanielis verba,
ad ultimum Hierofolymorum excidium, a Chrifto ap-
plicantur iVhtt. xxiv. 15. 'Orttv no joW TO fc^vyp.* TJ?
t%npu<rio<i, TO prjBin AaviiA ra Tg^rjly. Eft autem
7rp. Illud TO fr>6 St TO iry<pKa non innuit
peculiarcm a Daniele editam fuifle prophetiam, de ca-
lamitate a Tito inferendi; fed fignificat verba Daniclis
rei, de qui fermo eft, optime convenire. " p. 618.
Confider the force of Chrift's words, " When ye fhall
fee THE ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION SPOKEN
op BY DANIEL THE PROPHET, and then fay, whe-
ther
NOTE S." 153
ther the deftruftion of Jerufalem by Titus was fore-
told by Daniel, or not.
[52] " Thefe feventy weeks of Daniel are a LITTLE
PROVINCIAL KALENDAR containing the time that
the Legal worfhip and Jewifh ftate was to continue,
from the re-building of the fan&uary under Darius
Nothus until the final deftruftion thereof, when the
Kalender fhould expire. To thefe weeks therefore,
whofe computation fo efpecially concerns the Jews, is
reference made in thofe epiftles which are written to the
Chriftian churches of that nation." Mede p. 663. The
learned writer has noted feveral paflages, from which I
will feleft that of St Peter, i ep. iv. 7. " THE END
OF ALL THINGS is AT HANDJ" furely, not the end
of the world, which has continued from Peter's time
to this. Yes, fays Baromus, for the apoftle was mif-
taken, as believing that the end of the world would
have happened in his own days. But my good
lord Cardinal ! give me leave to afk, If Peter
himfelf were fo very fallible, whence arifes the infal-
libility of Peter's fucceflbr ?
[ 53 ] This title, we may fufpe, would offend the
Jews. Accordingly they apply to Pilate for an altera-
tion. Write not," abfolutely, " THE KING OF
THE JEWS, but, what he himfelf faid, I AM KING
OF THE JEWS." The governor gave them a fhort
anfwer. " What I have written I have written."
* LITER A SCRIPTA MANET." And let the modern
Jews difprove the FACT, if they can.
[54] **,Un TO Dy Few words, but full of
Carious fenfes. I will not trouble the reader with them,
,54 NOTES.
ajiheMaforer.es, Aquila, and our own tranflators have
chofen that, which feems to be, beyond any reafonable
doubt, the true one. A^ yovpe>o v i^o^ou, " the
people of the prince that (hall come." Now what
PRINCE can we fo reafonably fuppofe to be here in-
tended, as " PRINCE MESSIAH " fpoken of, before?
This fuppofition, reafonable in itfelf, is ftrengthened,
if not confirmed, by the CHARACTER immediately
following " THAT SHALL COME " one of the
known characters of Meffiah. " Art thou HE THAT
SHOULD COME ?" was the queftion which John the
Baptift put by his difciples, who doubted the Meffiah-
fhip of Jefus. The character is evidently taken from
Jacob's prophefy of SHILOH, and the angel's prophefy
of MESSIAH. It is a very eafy thing for a critic by
profefllon to embarrafs the plaineft text of fcripture.
But the context will generally unravel " the fpider'a
web." And fo it appears to be in the prefent cafe.
The prophefy fpeaks of ONE, and but ONE, eminent
perfonage (THE WICKED ONE excepted) throughout.
THE MOST HOLY to be ANOINTED is afterwards called
MESSIAH THE PRINCE THE MESSIAH WHO is TO
BE CUT OFF THE COVENANTER with ALL nations
THE PRINCE THAT SHALL COME, WHOSE people
(hall overthrow the city and the fanctuary, caufe the
temple-fervice to ceafe, and make the land an utter
defolation. And who was this, but " JESUS OF
NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS?"
55] This account of the prophecy frees it from
all embarrafsment. Every thing is eafy and natural.
The angel firft of all gives us the WHOLE SUM of
SEVENTY WEEKS, which he afterwards divides into
THREE
NOTES. 155
THREE PARTS, SEVEN WEEKS, SIXTY-TWO
WEEKS, ONE week j and then he tells us what was
to be done in each period. Tne following feems to be
t'he (rue ftate of the prophefy.
Weeks
SEVENTY weeks are determined for thy
PEOPL.E and holy CITY. 70
FROM the promulgation of a commandment -
to rebuild Jerufalem UNTO the coming of
Mefliah to deftroy it ihall be SEVEN weeks, j
And SIXTY-TWO weeks. 62
In the SEVEN weeks, or LITTLE of thofe
times, JERUSALEM SHALL BE REBUILT.
In the LATTER DAYS of the SIXTY-TWO
weeks MESSIAH WILL BE CUT OFF by the
Jews, and fliall caufe a NEW covenant to
prevail among ALL nations, GENTILES as
well as JEWS.
. In HALF of ONE Week HE SHALL COME |
in vengeance againft the Jews by means of
the ROMAN armies OVERTHROW THE CITY
and THE SANCTUARY thereby CAUSE
THE TEMPLE-SERVICE TO CEASE for ever, -i
and make the land defolate, 70
[56] Some learned writers have roundly aflerted,
that " there is no manner of ground for underftand-
ing an ARMY by cpj in this place. For though the
Latin ALA be putfor EXERCITUS, yetthejewifh writers
never u(e *\}3 in that fenfe." Now fuppofing, but not
allowing, this to be the fact, the obfervation is nothing
to the purpofe. For the paflage before us is a predic-
tion of what was to be accompliflied by a Roman army.
Nov;
156 NOTES.
Now if ALA was a term in the ROMAN* taclics, then
*p3 is furely the proper word to exprefs it by in
HEBREW. And Tacitus informs us, that there were
in Titus's army, which invcfted Jerufalem, " olo
equitum A.LX." Kiftor. L. v. i.
[57] But though our Saviour forefaw, that the de-
ftrudion of Jerufalem would happen in that generation,
(for it could not poffibly exceed it) yet " of that day
and hour, fays he, knoweth no one; no not the angels
of heaven," not even Gabriel, who fiift revealed the
great event, " neither the Son," who now again fore-
tels it, " but the Father." Mark xxxii. 32. Nor does
one text contradict the other. The time in general
might be known ; the exaft time, "the day and hour,"
unknown. As the Jews themfelves were to be the
inftruments in their own deftruclion, it was necefiary
to fecrete the particular feafon of it. " The day and
the hour" were wifely referved in the power of God,
that it might not be in the power of man to difappoint
his purpofes.
That the latter text does, in fdl, relate to the de-
jftrudlion of Jerufalem, is plain from the context. " Of
THAT day and hour knoweth no one." What day
and hour? Why the day and hour included in the dif-
ciples' queftion to Jefus, " WHEN fhall thefe things
be ? " his coming and the end of the age. Mat. xxiv. 3.
The Jews expected a TET^PORAL kingdom, and that
their nation, under Mefllah, would form a FIFTH
MONARCHY, and fucceed the ROMANS in the empire
of the world. They interpreted in a literal fenfe what
the prophet himfelf defigned to be underftood in a figu-
rative one. ' It (hall come to pafs IN THE LAST
DAYS,
NOTES. 157
DAYS, that the mountain of THE LORD'S HOUSE (hall
be eftabliflied in the top of the mountains, and (hall
be exalted above the hills, and ALL NATIONS SHALL
FLOW UNTO IT." Ifai. ii. 2. No fooner therefore had
our Saviour mentioned the overthrow of THE TEMPLE,
than they began to dream of THE KINGDOM OF
ISRAEL," and that a new temple fhould be ere&ed,
large enough, as they foolifhly conceited, for the re-
ception of all nations. " Tell us, fay they, WHEN
{hall thefe things be? and Wh^t (hall be the fign of
thy COMING and of the END OF THE AGE?" It is
the fame queftion, as they afterwards put to him.
" Lord, wilt thou at this time grant THE KINGDOM
TO ISRAEL?" And it is remarkable, that he gave
them the fame anfwer. " It is not for you to know the
times or the feafons, which the Father hath put in his
own power." Ats i. 6, 7.
[58] iPet. i. 1619. " We have not followed
cunningly devifed fables, when we made known unto
you the POWER and COMING of our Lord Jefus Chrift,
but we have been EYE-WITNE.SES of his MAJESTY,
[for he received from God the Father honor and glory,
when there came fuch a voice to him from the excel-
lent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am
well pleafed ; and this voice which came from heaven
we heared when we were with him in the holy mount]
jcj epcofti jSiCakoTffotr *, and we have a moft lure word
of
* The comparative is frequently put for the fuperlative.
So Matt. xi. 11. " He that is ^x.portp-, not LESS, but
IE AST in the kingdom of heaven." Ch. xviii. i. Who is
f*i&;y, thecREATEsx in the kingdom of heaven? " iCor.
xiii. Mfi^wv, the GREATEST of thefe is charity." xv. 19. " If
in this life only we have hope in Chrift, we are of all men
j*etyorfft, MOST miferable.'' And in many other places.
158 NOTES.
of PROPHECY; whereunto ye do well that ye take
heed as unto a light that fliineth in a dark place,
until the day dawn, and the day-ftar arife in your
hearts." Two things are here aflerted, the POWER
and the COMING of Jefus Chrift. One was paft,
the other future. In proof of thefe two diftinft things
he produces two diftincT: teftimonies j the evidence of
his own fenfes for the one, and the evidence of pro-
phecy for the other. Here is no room for any compa-
rifon, for what is to be compared ? The apoftle's
having SEEN the MAJESTY of Jefus in the mount, was
no proof that he would COME in that majefty to judge
the perfecuting Jews. Nor was " the word of PRO^
PHECY," how " fure" foever, any proof of his being
at that time invefted with POWER and MAJESTY. How
then can any comparifon be made between the different
kinds of proof ? Each was proper in its kind, and both
were equally " fure." St Peter's meaning therefore is
plain and obvious, and the conftruction of the pafTage
is this. u We have not followed a cunningly devifed
fable when we made known unto you the POWER of
ourLord Jefus Chrift, for we were EYE-WITNESSES of
his MAJESTY. Neither have we followed a cunningly
devifed fable when we made known unto you the
COMING of our Lord Jefus Chrift, for we have a moft
fure word of PROPHECY "relating to it. I confine
this " word of prophecy " to " the feventy weeks, "
becaufe the apoftle is not fpeaking fimply of the com-
ing, but of the fpeedy coming of Jefus Chrift. " THE
END OF ALL THINGS IS AT HAND." I Pet. IV. 7.
Now Daniel was the only Jewifh prophet, who had
fixed the time-for " THE END of the matter."
THE END.
The Reader is defired to correct the following
ERRORS.
Page Line
10. 23. for politically read fymbolically.
15. 6. invert the commas, after of and before men
16. 13. for his read this.
ao. 28. read pieces.
31. 23. in (lead of FOR read FOUR.
32. 4. read BALYLONIANS.
63. 13. after OBSERVATION place ".
72. 17. for aiftwov read aiwnov.
73. 18. for thro' read through.
,76. 4. Place the [ before XERXES.
1 8. Between this line and the next infert, the God
of Ifrael, and according to the command-
ment of
99- 9- for [59] P ut [56]
10 1. 7. for [60 j put [3bJ
107. 21. for K^icrav' read Kjxnyct^,
22. for Eye read ys.
112. 4. This line fhould be a Note at the bottom of
page 1 1 3. anfwering to the reference J
114. n. J for i>,K>v read j?uov.
11 9- '5- f or ut rea ^ at -
122. 10. 'for XnVD read N/VlTT
126. 11. after himfclf place a comma.
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