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beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath be given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over, them all thou art this head of gold.

And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth.

And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron; for asmuch as iron breaketh in pieces, and subdueth all things; and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces, and bruise.

And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters clay, and part of iron: the kingdom shall be divided, but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay.

And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay; so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken.

And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay.

And in the days of these kings shall the God of hea ven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces, and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.

Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter; and the dream is certainŢ and the interpretation thereof sure.

II. I saw in the night visions, and behold, one like

the

1

the Son of Man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought him near before him.

And there was given him dominion and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations and languages, should serve him his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom, that which shall not be destroyed.

III. Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people, and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy.

ANNOTATIONS AND REFLECTIONS.

From these and other passages of the prophetic writings, the Jews were accustomed to call the expected kingdom of the MESSIAH the Kingdom of Heaven ; and John the Baptist was understood by them to allude to these prophecies, when he preached, that the Kingdom of Heaven was at hand; only they did not comprehend the spiritual meaning of the predictions, but expected a temporal kingdom, instead of the Church of CHRIST, which reigns over the souls and spirits of

men.

There was, as has been already observed, a particular time fixed for the coming of this kingdom. Before it, according to the first of the above predictions four Gentile kingdoms were to arise. First, the Babylonian, compared to gold. Secondly, that of the Medes and Persians, represented by silver. Thirdly, the Grecian power, compared to brass. Fourthly, the Roman Empire, compared to iron feet stamping and destroying all

that

that came in their way. During this last, the KINGDOM OF HEAVEN, represented by a stone cut without bands, was to arise and break in pieces the mighty Roman Empire, which was composed of all the others, having gradually subdued and incorporated them with itself.

It has been shewn, in the former part of this history, how these monarchies succeeded each other; and that the Roman Empire was at the highest pitch of power when our SAVIOUR was born into the world; there fore the MESSIAH was expected (by all who paid attention to the prophecies) to appear at this period. But to fix the attention of the Jews with more cer. tainty, the exact time of his coming was also foretold by Daniel, in the third of the above-cited passages.

Much has been written by way of explanation of this latter prediction; but it is sufficient to observe, at present, that the Jews, according to their law, counted their times and years by sevens. Every seventh day was a sabbath, or day of rest from labour: every seventh year was also a year of rest for the land, and for giving freedom to servants; and was called on this account a sabbatical year. Seven years might therefore be called a week of years, seventy of which amounted to four hundred and ninety. The meaning of the prophecy then is, that when the temple, city, and commonwealth, of the Jews (which in Daniel's time was laid waste by the Babylonish captivity) should be restored and set up again, it should continue four hundred and ninety years, and no more; for before that time was ended, the MESSIAH should come. The remaining part of this prophecy, respecting the intent of his coming, we will endeavour to explain as we proceed.

It

It is to be particularly noticed, that in the second of the above predictions, the prophet relates, that he saw in a vision ONE like the Son of Man, to whom the ANCIENT of DAYS gave universal dominion. Our SAVIOUR called himself the SoN OF MAN; and it is agreeable both to the prophecies and the Gospel doctrine to suppose, that the ANCIENT of DAYS signifies the LORD GOD, or as another Prophet styles the MESSIAH, according to his divine nature, the FATHER of the EVERLASTING AGE. The union of the divine and human natures in the MESSIAH is then plainly inti mated in this prediction.

SECTION XXVIII.

JESUS BEGINS TO PREACH THE GOSPEL, AND CALLETH PETER, ANDREW, JAMES, AND JOHN.

From Matthew, Chap. iv. Luke, Chap. v.

FROM that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of GoD is at hand, repent ye, and believe the Gospel.

And JESUS, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon, called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting à net into the sea: (for they were fishers). ››

And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. And they straightway left their nets, and followed him.

And it came to pass, that as the people pressed upon him to hear the word of Gon, he stood by the lake of Gennesareth,

And saw two ships standing by the lake; but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets.

And

And JEsus entered into one of the ships, which was Simon's, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land; and he sat down, and taught the people out of the ship.

Now when JESUS had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught.

And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless, at thy word, I will let down the net.

And when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes; and their net brake..

And they beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink. T

When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at JESUS knees, saying, Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, Q. LORD.

For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken;

And so were also James and John the sons of Zebe dee, which were partners with Simon. And JESUS said. unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch

men.

And when JESUS, as he went out from hence, saw James and John his brother, in the ship, with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, he called them.

And they immediately left their father, and went after him and when the ships were brought to land, Peter, Andrew, James and John forsook all, and fol lowed him. id as you ba›

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