Milford chronicle., 1909-07-16

7
! ooOs-s-s-s-s-s-'-'-s-.-s-
est to him, but the particulars OF
which he could not recall He de
manded Of the wise men Of the Empire
a statement Of the dream, as well as
an explanation, arguing that If they
had any supernatural power by whicl
they could explain a dream, the same
power could rehearse 1t. Then 1t was
that Daniel. the Prophet, was brought
to the notice OF the King, and by Di
vine power not only rehearsed the
dream but explained tia dream OF
much more interest to all Christians
than 1t possibly could have been to
Nebuchadnezzar himself
Many Of this audience doubtless re-
call the dream and its Interpretation,
yet we will briefly rehearse it. In his
dream Nebuchadnezzar saw a great
image Of wonderful height and grand
eur; its head was Of gold, its breast
and arms of silver. its belly and thighs
of brass, its legs Of iron, and its feet
Of iron mixed with clay While it
stood erect, a stone was taken from
the mountain and hurled at the image
striking it on the feet. Forthwith the
iron. the clay. the brass. the silver and
the gold were crushed to powder and
became as the chaff Of a summers
threshing floor, and the wind carried
them away. By Divine illumination.
Daniel the Prophet, explained the vi
sion thus The head represented Neb-
uchadnezzar's own universal Empire,
Babylon The breast and arms of sill
yer represented the kingdom which
would succeed his as a universal en-
pire; namely, the kingdom Of the
Medes and Persians Upon the fall
of Medo-Persia. the Grecian Empire
would become universal, to be succeed
ed in turn by the Roman Empire,
whose great strength was symbolized
by the iron. This is the Empire which
ruled the world In the days Of our
Lord. Thus we read that our Lord
was born at Bethlehem. whittier JO-
seph and Mary had gone at the COM
mand Of Caesar-Augustus, the Roman
Emperor, who sent forth a decree that
all the world should be taxed The
civil Roman Empire lasted for several |
centuries after Christ. and was fol /
lowed by the ecclesiastical Roman EN- 1
pire, Of which the popes at Rome were
the representative heads This EN-
pire. partly civil and partly ecclesi- .
astical, was represented by the mix I
ture of the iron. representing civil
power, and the clay. representing pa
pal religious power; and this phase Of
Daniel's image still exists in the king
doms Of Europe as represented in the
ten toes Of the image which stand for
the divisions Of the territory Of the old
Roman Empire 10 Europe.
Daniels View of the Matter.
When God subsequently gave his
servant. the Prophet Daniel, a vision
Of these same Gentle governments
that would bear universal sway over
the earth from the time Of the removal
1f the diadem from Zedekiah until the
of Messiahs Millennial
Kingdom. the picture was different
lne. Instead Of a glorious image OF
covering height and splendor, Daniel
saw four great, terrible wild beasts
The first. like a lion. corresponded to
he head of gold Of the image-repre-
ienting Babylon. The second. like a
)ear. corresponded to the breast and
lrms of silver in the image. and rep
'esented Medo- Persia. The third, like
leopard, corresponded to the brass
# the image. and represented Grecia.
rhe fourth beast, great and terrible.
ound nothing in the animal kingdom
0 represent it. 1t corresponded to the
egs of iron. which represented the
roman Empire; while the ten horns Of
he latter beast correspOnded to the
en- toes of the image. representing
apal Rome and the present subdivi-
ions of imperial Europe The differ
nee between these two visions rep
esents bow differently present insti-
1tions. the kingdoms of this world
re viewed from the human stand
oint and from the divine standpoint.
rom the worldly standpoint and es-
Imation. the kingdoms of the past
ave been majestic. grand; from the
tandpoint Of God. and those who have
is Spirit. they have been beastly.
The sequel to both of these dreams
bowed the overthrow Of the earthly
Overnments by the heavenly govern
lent. AS it is written. 'In the days
{ these kings shall the God of heaven
# up Kingdom, and it shall break In
Ieces and consume all Of these king
Dms, and it shall stand forever" The
ingdom of God was pictured In the !
one which smote the image on its
et That stone prefgured Christ and
Ie Church. and shows that 1t will be
le power Of God through the Church
at will ultimately work the wreck
all earthly governments. Do not G
me; nothing in the I
ord Of God teaches anarchy. or au- s
orizes Gods people to fight with car t
Il weapons; rather they are exhOrted k
seek first the Kingdom Of God and t
j righteousness, and to leave all else S
the Lord. assured Of his willingness t
make all things work together for b
cir good n