{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_38721/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_38721","id":"gutenberg_38721","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/38721","summary":null,"tags":["Bible -- Prophecies","Category: History - Ancient","Category: Religion/Spirituality"],"text":"Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Julia Neufeld and the Online\nDistributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net\n\n\n\n\n\nTranscriber's note:\n\n      Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_).\n\n      Text enclosed by equal signs is in bold face (=bold=).\n\n      Small capital text has been replaced with all capitals.\n\n\n\n\n  THE\n  ROMAN\n  EMPIRE\n  IN\n  PROPHECY.\n\n  W. E. VINE, M.A.\n\n  \"Regarded as an historical\n  manual it is of no little value,\n  and the author's summaries of\n  the rise and progress of Rome\n  are quite masterly in their way.\"\n\n  --_Glasgow Citizen._\n\n[Illustration: CAESAR AUGUSTUS, first Roman Emperor, born 63 B.C.\nGrand-nephew and heir of Julius Caesar Octavianus. Obtained supreme power\nover Roman dominions by victory over Anthony at Actium, 31 B.C.\nProclaimed Emperor, 27 B.C., by the Roman Senate, which conferred on him\nthe title Augustus. Died 19th August, A.D. 14, in his 76th year.]\n\n\n\n\n  THE\n  ROMAN EMPIRE\n  IN THE LIGHT OF\n  PROPHECY\n\n  --OR,--\n\n  THE RISE, PROGRESS AND END OF\n  THE FOURTH WORLD-EMPIRE.\n\n  BY\n  W. E. VINE, M.A.,\n\n  Author of \"B.C. and A.D.; or, How the World was prepared for the\n  Gospel\"; \"The Scriptures and How to Use Them,\" etc.\n\n[Illustration: Publisher's Mark]\n\n  PICKERING & INGLIS\n\n  Printers and Publishers, 14 Paternoster Row, London, E.C.4\n  229 Bothwell Street, Glasgow; 75 Princes Street, Edinburgh\n\n\n\n\n               OFFICES AND AGENTS.\n\n\n  LONDON: PICKERING & INGLIS, 14 Paternoster Row, E.C.4.\n  GLASGOW: PICKERING & INGLIS, 229 Bothwell Street.\n  EDINBURGH: PICKERING & INGLIS, 75 Princes Street.\n  MANCHESTER: THE TRACT SOCIETY, 135 Deansgate.\n  LIVERPOOL: WM. T. JAYE, 18 Slater Street.\n  NEWCASTLE: NORTHERN COUNTIES DEPOT, 63a Blackett Street.\n  BIRMINGHAM: P. H. HULBERT, 315 Broad Street (Corner).\n  BATH: H. W. & H. R. GRIFFITHS, 35 Milton Avenue.\n  BRISTOL: W. B. W. SARSFIELD, 78 Park Street.\n  WESTON-SUPER-MARE: WESTERN BIBLE DEPOT, 12 Waterloo Street.\n  CARDIFF: H. J. LEAR, 17 Royal Arcade.\n  DUBLIN: R. STEWART, 10 D'Olier Street, and 2 Nassau Street.\n  BELFAST: R. M'CLAY, 44 Ann Street.\n  DUNDEE: R. H. LUNDIE, 35 Reform Street.\n  NEW YORK: GOSPEL PUBLISHING HOUSE, 318 West 39th Street.\n  CHICAGO: WM. NORTON, Bible Institute Assoc., 826 North La Salle St.\n  BUFFALO, N.Y.: SWORD AND SHIELD TRACT SOCIETY, 1247 Niagara St.\n  SWENGEL, PA.: I. C. HERENDEN, Bible Truth Depot.\n  LOS ANGELES, CAL.: GEO. RAY, 8508 So. Vermont Avenue.\n  BOSTON: HAMILTON BROS., 120 Tremont Street.\n  PHILADELPHIA: GLAD TIDINGS PUBLISHING CO., 5863 Christian St.\n  DALLAS, TEXAS: J. T. DEAN, 2613 Pennsylvania Avenue.\n  WINDSOR, ONT.: C. J. STOWE, 23 Martin Street.\n  TORONTO: UPPER CANADA TRACT SOCIETY, 2 Richmond Street, E.\n  ORILLIA, ONTARIO: S. W. BENNER, Bible and Tract Depot.\n  WINNIPEG: N. W. BIBLE DEPOT, 580 Main Street.\n  BUENOS AIRES: W. C. K. TORRE, Casilla 5.\n  MELBOURNE: E. W. COLE, Book Arcade.\n  SYDNEY: BIBLE, BOOK, AND TRACT DEPOT, 373 Elizabeth Street.\n  SYDNEY: CHRISTIAN WORKERS DEPOT, 170 Elizabeth Street.\n  BRISBANE: W. R. SMITH & CO., Bible Repository, Albert Street.\n  AUCKLAND, N.Z.: H. L. THATCHER, 135 Symonds Street.\n  DUNEDIN: H. J. BATES, Otago Bible House, 38 George Street.\n  PALMERSTON NORTH: JAMES G. HARVEY, Main Street.\n  CHRISTCHURCH: G. W. PLIMSOLL, 84 Manchester Street.\n  BELGAUM, INDIA: W. C. IRVINE, Christian Literature Depot.\n  BANGALORE: A. M'D. REDWOOD, Frasertown Book Depot.\n  SWITZERLAND: JAS. HUNTER, Clarens.\n  CAIRO: THE NILE PRESS, Bulag.\n  HONG-KONG: A. YOUNG, Bible Depot, 2 Wyndham Street.\n\n  _And through most Booksellers, Colporteurs, and Tract Depots._\n\n  Copyright--Pickering & Inglis.\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE.\n\n\nThe following pages are the outcome of several conversations with\ninquirers shortly after the outbreak of the great war, in 1914, and of\nrequests for notes of the views expressed. The subject of these\nconversations had occupied the earnest if intermittent attention of the\nwriter for over twenty years. The notes were expanded into a series of\narticles which appeared in _The Witness_ during 1915. These have been\nrevised and somewhat extended for the present volume, especially the\nlast chapter, much of which was previously precluded by limitations of\nspace.\n\nIn regard to past history, the outlines of events connected with the\nRoman and Turkish Empires are given with the hope that the records will\nprove helpful to those who read the history of Nations in the light of\nScripture.\n\nIn regard to the future, while there are many events which the Word of\nGod has foretold with absolute clearness, and upon these we may speak\nunreservedly, yet there are many circumstances concerning which definite\nprediction has been designedly withheld, and upon which prophecy is\ntherefore obscure. In such matters an effort has been made to avoid\ndogmatism. Prophecy was not given in order for us to prophesy.\n\nOn the other hand, the prophetic Scriptures are not to be neglected.\nDifficulty in understanding them is no reason for disregarding them.\nThey are part of that Word, the whole of which is declared to be\n\"profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction\nin righteousness\" (2 Tim. 3. 16). They therefore demand prayerful and\npatient meditation.\n\nFor a speaker to refer to the study of the prophecies in a way which\ntends to minimise their importance in the minds of his hearers is to\ndishonour both the sacred Word and Him who inspired it. It is\nsignificant that the book of the Revelation opens with a promise of\nblessing to him who reads (the reference is especially to public\nreading) and to those who \"hear the words of the prophecy, and keep the\nthings which are written therein\" (chap. 1. 3), and at the close repeats\nthe blessing for him who keeps its words (chap. 22. 7).\n\nThe quotations in the present volume are from the Revised Version, the\ncomparatively greater accuracy of its translations being important for a\ncorrect understanding of many of the passages considered.\n\nWhile the book is published at the request of several friends, the\nauthor fulfils such request with the earnest desire that in matters of\ndoctrine that only may be accepted which can be confirmed from the Word\nof God itself, and that the Lord may graciously own what is in\naccordance with His mind for the glory of His Name and the profit of the\nreader.\n\nBATH, 1916.                         W. E. VINE.\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS.\n\n\n  CHAPTER I.          PAGE\n\n  =The Times of the Gentiles=,                           9\n\n  Nebuchadnezzar's Dream,                               11\n\n  The Chaldean, Medo-Persian, Grecian Kingdoms,         12\n\n  The Fourth Kingdom,                                   13\n\n\n  CHAPTER II.\n\n  =The Roman Dominion=,                                 15\n\n  Rise and Progress of the Roman Empire,                16\n\n  Eastward Extension,                                   18\n\n  The Empire Completed,                                 22\n\n  The Crushing of the Nations,                          23\n\n  The Twofold Division,                                 25\n\n  The Tenfold Division,                                 27\n\n  A Comparison of the Visions,                          29\n\n  Testimony of Early Christian Writers,                 32\n\n  Processes at Work Since the Twofold Division,         34\n\n\n  CHAPTER III.\n\n  =The Overthrow in the West=--GERMANIC INVASIONS,      35\n\n  Disintegration of the Western Half,                   37\n\n  Alaric and the Goths,                                 37\n\n  Attila and the Huns,                                  39\n\n  Genseric and the Vandals,                             40\n\n  Northern Limits of the Empire,                        41\n\n  Ten Kingdoms not Formed by Germanic Invasions,        42\n\n\n  CHAPTER IV.\n\n  =The Overthrow in the East=--TURKISH EMPIRE,          44\n\n  Mohammed and the Khaliphs,                            45\n\n  Eastern Empire at End of 10th Century,                46\n\n  The Appearance of the Turks,                          46\n\n  The Turks Embrace Mohammedanism,                      47\n\n  The Turks Enter Europe,                               48\n\n  Constantinople Taken,                                 49\n\n  A Comparison of the Two Divisions,                    50\n\n  Decline of the Turkish Empire,                        51\n\n  The Coming Overthrow,                                 54\n\n  A Blank in Prophecy,                                  55\n\n  Continuation of the Roman Government,                 56\n\n  Roman Imperialism Continued,                          57\n\n\n  CHAPTER V.\n\n  =Coming Revival of the Roman Empire=,                 59\n\n  1. GEOGRAPHICAL CONSIDERATIONS,                       59\n\n      Review of the Ancient Territories,                62\n\n      Divisions of the Greek Empire,                    63\n\n      Other European Territories,                       65\n\n      The British Empire,                               67\n\n  2. POLITICAL STANDPOINT,                              69\n\n      European Federation,                              69\n\n      The Sea Symbolic of National Unrest,              72\n\n      Revolutions and their Issues,                     74\n\n      The Iron and the Clay,                            74\n\n      Unprecedented Political and Social Upheaval,      77\n\n  3. THE RELIGIOUS STANDPOINT,                          77\n\n      The Papacy: Its Present Power,                    79\n\n      A Reunion of Christendom,                         80\n\n      The Doom of Religious Babylon,                    81\n\n      Satanic Authority of the Emperor,                 82\n\n      The \"Superman,\"                                   83\n\n      Spiritism--The False Prophet,                     84\n\n      Universal System of Commerce,                     87\n\n\n  CHAPTER VI.\n\n  =The Everlasting Kingdom=,                            88\n\n  The Jews,                                             88\n\n  The Seventy Weeks,                                    88\n\n  The Last \"Week,\"                                      89\n\n  Fierce Persecution,                                   92\n\n  Armageddon and After,                                 93\n\n  The Scene of the Conflict,                            94\n\n  The Epiphany of His Parousia,                         97\n\n  The Voice of the Lord,                                98\n\n  The Treading of the Winepress,                        99\n\n  Overthrow of the Man of Sin,                         100\n\n  The Scene of Judgment,                               102\n\n  The Jews in their Extremity,                         104\n\n  Seismic Disturbances,                                104\n\n  THE KING ETERNAL,                                    107\n\n\n=Index to Maps.=\n\n  ROMAN EMPIRE IN APOSTOLIC TIMES,                      22\n\n  WESTERN ROMAN EMPIRE UNDER GERMANIC TRIBES,           36\n\n  TURKISH EMPIRE IN THE 16TH CENTURY,                   44\n\n  TURKISH EMPIRE IN 1914,                               54\n\n  PALESTINE TO ILLUSTRATE PSALM 29,                     88\n\n\n\n\nThe Roman Empire in the Light of Prophecy.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER I.\n\nTHE TIMES OF THE GENTILES.\n\n\nThe overthrow of the kingdom of Judah recorded in 2 Kings 24 and 25, and\nin the opening words of the book of Daniel, was a remarkable crisis in\nthe history of the world. In judgment upon the people of God for their\nlong-continued iniquity, sovereignty was removed from their hands, king\nand people were led into captivity, and Jerusalem was, in fulfilment of\nJeremiah's words, given into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of\nBabylon (Jer. 21. 10). The government of their land was thus committed\nto the Gentiles, and with the Gentiles it has remained from that day\ntill now. These events took place in 606 and 587 B.C.\n\n\nThe Times of the Gentiles.\n\nBut Gentile control is not to continue indefinitely. This, which is\nplain from many Scriptures, was intimated by Christ to His disciples\nwhen He said of Jerusalem that the city would \"be trodden down of the\nGentiles until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled\" (Luke 21. 24).\nThe phrase, \"the times of the Gentiles,\" calls for consideration, and\nespecially as it has to do with Nebuchadnezzar's conquest just\nmentioned.\n\nThere are two words translated \"times\" in the New Testament; one is\n_chronoi_, which is invariably rendered \"times;\" the other is _kairoi_,\nwhich, when the two are found together, is rendered \"seasons.\" Thus\nPaul, in writing to the Thessalonian Church, says, \"But concerning the\ntimes and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that aught be written\nunto you\" (1 Thess. 5. 1, R.V.; cp. Acts 1.7). We may distinguish\n\"seasons\" from \"times\" in the following way: \"times\" denotes mere\nduration, lengths of time; \"seasons\" implies that these lengths of time\nhave certain events or circumstances associated with them by which they\nare characterised. Thus the words almost exactly correspond to the terms\n\"periods\" and \"epochs.\" Now the word _kairoi_, \"seasons,\" is used in the\nphrase translated \"the times of the Gentiles,\" which might accordingly\nbe rendered \"the seasons of the Gentiles.\" We look, then, for some\nspecial characteristic of the period or periods thus designated. We have\nobserved that Nebuchadnezzar's overthrow of the kingdom of Judah\ninvolved the transference of its sovereignty from Jew to Gentile from\nthat event onward. \"The times of the Gentiles,\" accordingly, is that\nperiod, or succession of periods, during which dominion over the Jews\nand their land is committed to Gentile Powers.\n\n\nNebuchadnezzar's Dream.\n\nSpecial significance attaches to the fact that no sooner had the times\nof the Gentiles begun than God made known the future course of their\nauthority over His people, and the character and doom of that authority,\nand made it known to the first Gentile conqueror himself. It was in the\nsecond year of his reign that Nebuchadnezzar saw in a dream the great\nimage by means of which the purposes of God were to be communicated to\nhim. The description of this, given by Daniel to the troubled monarch,\nis as follows: \"Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This\nimage, which was mighty, and whose brightness was excellent, stood\nbefore thee; and the aspect thereof was terrible. As for this image,\nhis head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly\nand his thighs of brass, his legs of iron, his feet part of iron, and\npart of clay. Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands,\nwhich smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and\nbrake them in pieces. Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the\nsilver, and the gold, broken in pieces together, and became like the\nchaff of the summer threshing-floors: and the wind carried them away,\nthat no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image\nbecame a great mountain, and filled the whole earth\" (Dan. 2. 31-35).\n\nInterpreting this vision, the prophet identified Nebuchadnezzar, the\nChaldean monarch, with the head of gold, and foretold that his kingdom,\nor empire, would be followed in succession by three others,\ncorresponding respectively to the different parts of the remainder of\nthe image and to the nature of the metals composing them. Of the four\nkingdoms the last is to engage our chief attention in these papers.\nPassing from the first, the =Chaldean=, as specified in Daniel's words\nto the king, \"Thou art this head of gold\" (v. 38), we are shown that the\nsecond kingdom was that of the =Medes and Persians= by the prophet's\nrecord of the doom of Nebuchadnezzar's successor, Belshazzar: \"In that\nnight Belshazzar the Chaldean king was slain. And Darius the Mede\nreceived the kingdom\" (Dan. 5. 30, 31; cp. v. 28). That the third\nkingdom was the =Grecian= we find in the interpretation of part of a\nvision recorded in the eighth chapter: \"The ram which thou sawest that\nhad the two horns, they are the kings of Media and Persia. And the rough\nhe-goat [who was seen to destroy the ram, v. 8] is the king of Greece\"\n(vv. 20, 21; cp. chap. 10. 20).\n\n\nThe Fourth Kingdom.\n\nThe name of the fourth kingdom is not mentioned in the Old Testament,\nbut the prediction given in the ninth chapter of Daniel's prophecies\nsufficiently identifies it. Messiah, it was said, would be cut off, and\nthe people of a coming prince would destroy the city and the sanctuary.\nNow we know that the perpetrators of this were the Romans. We know, too,\nthat by them the Grecian empire was conquered. The world-wide rule of\nthe first =Roman= Emperor is indicated in the words of Luke's\nintroduction to his record of the birth of Christ: \"Now it came to pass\nin those days, there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the\nworld should be enrolled\" (Luke 2. 1).\n\nIt is important to note that this fourth kingdom will, in its final\ncondition, be in world-wide authority at the close of the times of the\nGentiles, that is, that the Roman power, though in a divided state, will\nnot be finally destroyed until it meets its doom at the hands of the Son\nof God. This fact, which will receive fuller treatment later, and is\nborne out by several Scriptures, is plainly indicated in the passage\nwhich describes the last state of the fourth kingdom and its\ndestruction. Immediately after showing that it would be a divided\nkingdom, and describing the nature of that division (vv. 41-43), the\nprophet says: \"And in the days of those kings shall the God of Heaven\nset up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed, nor shall the\nsovereignty thereof be left to another people; but it shall break in\npieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever\" (v.\n44). Now this indestructible kingdom cannot be other than that of\nChrist, and by His kingdom the fourth is to be broken in pieces and\nconsumed, thus involving the overthrow of all forms of Gentile\nauthority. Obviously no form of world government will exist between that\nof the fourth kingdom, in its condition described in verses 42, 43, and\nthe kingdom of Christ which destroys it.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II.\n\nTHE ROMAN DOMINION.\n\n\nAn understanding of the Scriptures does not depend upon access to other\nbooks, or reference to historical records outside the limits of the\nBible. The Word of God is its own interpreter, and all that is needed\nfor our establishment in the faith is contained in its pages. On the\nother hand, the Bible throws light upon history not recorded therein,\nand it is with that in view that we give certain historical outlines in\ndealing with our subject.\n\nThe first part of the prophet's description of the fourth kingdom is as\nfollows: \"The fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron\nbreaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that crusheth\nall these, shall it break in pieces and crush\" (v. 40). A similar\ndescription is given in his account of a subsequent vision, in which he\nsaw four great beasts coming up from the sea. In this vision the Roman\nkingdom again was undoubtedly symbolised by the fourth beast. This beast\nhe describes as \"terrible and powerful, and strong exceedingly; and it\nhad great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the\nresidue with his feet\" (7. 7). So, again, in the words of the\ninterpretation: \"The fourth beast shall be a fourth kingdom upon earth,\nwhich shall be diverse from all the kingdoms, and shall devour the whole\nearth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces\" (v. 23). Now all\nthis exactly depicts the Roman power in its subjugation and control of\nthe nations which eventually composed its empire. In the light, then, of\nthese prophecies we give a brief sketch of its rise and conquests.\n\n\nThe Rise and Progress of the Roman Empire.\n\nThe Romans, who early in the third century B.C. had become masters of\nall Italy, save in the extreme north, were drawn into a course of\nconquest beyond the limits of their own country by the rivalry of the\nrapidly advancing power of Carthage in North Africa. Carthage, a city\nfounded some centuries earlier by Phoenician colonists from Tyre and\nSidon, had at length become the capital of a great North African empire,\nstretching from Tripoli to the Atlantic Ocean, and embracing settlements\nelsewhere in countries and islands of the Mediterranean. These\nsettlements included the greater part of Sicily, and that island,\nsituated between the rival nations, became the first bone of contention\nbetween them. The precise cause of the struggle must not occupy us here,\nbut the circumstances which decided the Roman Government, in 264 B.C.,\nupon an invasion of Sicily were of the deepest significance in the\nhistory of the world. By the year 242 Sicily was subdued. In the\nfollowing year the island was ceded by Carthage, and the extension of\nRoman dominion beyond Italy was begun. The war continued intermittently,\nwith many vicissitudes, for a century, but eventually the Carthagians\nwere overwhelmingly defeated by land and sea. \"Think you that Carthage\nor that Rome will be content, after the victory, with its own country\nand Sicily?\" said a Greek orator, while the issues of the struggle in\nits earliest stage were yet in the balance. Rome's vast ambition, and\nher abundant means of gratifying it, justified the orator's fears. The\nislands of Sardinia and Corsica were shortly afterwards seized.\n\nDefeated in Sicily, Carthage extended her dominions in Spain and made\nthat country a base for marching through Gaul to attack the Romans from\nthe north. Though their renowned leader Hannibal met with success, their\neffort was doomed to failure. Meanwhile Roman armies had pushed into\nSpain. After a fierce struggle of thirteen years the Carthagians were\ncompletely overcome there, and Spain soon became a Roman province. By\nthe decisive battle of Zama, in North Africa, in 202, Carthage and its\nterritories became tributary, and thus all the western Mediterranean\npassed under the supremacy of Rome. Eventually in 146, as a result of a\nfinal war, Carthage was razed to the ground, and its North African\nkingdom was constituted a Roman province under the name of Africa. War\nwith the Celts in North Italy, commencing the next year, resulted in the\nextension of the boundary to the Alps, and countries beyond began to\nfeel the terror of the Roman name.\n\n\nEastward Extension.\n\nThe second century B.C. witnessed the spread of the iron rule eastward.\nThe Grecian Empire of Alexander the Great, the third mentioned in\nDaniel's interpretation, had embraced all the countries surrounding the\neastern half of the Mediterranean and had stretched far beyond the\nEuphrates. The disintegration of Alexander's empire after his death\nprepared the way for the Romans. Macedonia, the former seat of that\nempire, was their first great objective. A pretext for war was soon\nforthcoming, and war was actually declared in 200 B.C. A series of\nstruggles ensued, and Macedonia was not finally subdued for over thirty\nyears. Meanwhile matters had developed in Greece and Asia Minor. In the\nlatter country Antiochus III., the Great, who had also conquered Syria\nand Palestine, was seeking to extend his dominions. Cities and states of\nAsia Minor, however, groaning under the tyranny of Antiochus, appealed\nto Rome for aid. The Romans declared war against him in 192 B.C. The\nfirst conflict occurred in Greece, which was largely under his\ninfluence. An early victory secured the submission of the Greek states.\nAntiochus retreated into Asia Minor, and was finally crushed at Magnesia\nin 190. The whole of Asia Minor was then surrendered to Rome. Actual\npossession was postponed and local government was largely granted both\nthere and in Greece. But that policy proved impracticable, and the force\nof circumstances compelled a forward movement to universal empire. There\nwas no such thing as the balance of power in the ancient world. Once a\ncountry became predominant there was nothing for it but the subjugation\nof its neighbours. The extension of Rome's dominions eastward was a\nfulfilment of a destiny beyond its own control. The reverent student of\nScripture sees in the course of these events the unfolding of God's\nplans and the fulfilment of His Word.\n\nThe final campaign against the Macedonians was opened in 169 B.C., and\nin the next year they were overwhelmed at the decisive battle of Pydna.\nMacedonia and the adjacent state of Illyria became tributary, and\neventually were reduced to Roman provinces.\n\nThe Romans then felt the necessity of definitely annexing Greece.\nSeventy towns in that country were plundered and 150,000 inhabitants\nwere sold into slavery. Antiochus IV., Epiphanes, was now king of Syria\nand Palestine, and had possessed himself of almost the whole of Egypt.\nSuch was the effect of the battle of Pydna, however, that he was at once\ncompelled to hand over Egypt to the conquerors, and that country became\na Roman protectorate. Syria passed under Roman control at the death of\nAntiochus Epiphanes, in 164, and by the end of a few decades all the\nstates of Asia Minor had been incorporated.\n\nThus by the middle of this century the Republic of Rome had gained\nascendancy east and west. Its senate was recognised by the civilised\nworld as \"the supreme tribunal for kings and nations.\" Early in the next\ncentury Dalmatia and Thrace were subdued, and the latter was\nincorporated in the province of Macedonia. Wars with Mithradates, King\nof Pontus, Cappadocia and Armenia, resulted in the conquest of all his\nterritories, and provinces were formed out of the states from thence\nwestward to the AEgean sea.\n\n\nPalestine Annexed.\n\nThis century saw the actual interference of Rome in the affairs of\nJudaea. Syria had been made a province in 65 B.C. by the Roman General\nPompey, and from thence he intervened in a strife which had for some\ntime been raging amongst the leaders of the Jews. In 63 he marched an\narmy into Judaea and took Jerusalem. At the final assault upon the Temple\n12,000 Jews perished. Judaea thus passed under the iron heel.\n\nAs a result of the wars of Caesar in north-western Europe, in 58-51 B.C.,\nwhat are now Switzerland, France, and Belgium were subdued and Britain\nwas invaded. By Caesar also Roman authority in Africa was consolidated\nacross the entire length of the north of the continent. The conquests of\nRome as a Republic were complete. The Mediterranean had become a \"Roman\nlake.\"\n\n[Illustration: THE ROMAN EMPIRE IN APOSTOLIC TIMES.]\n\n\nThe Empire Completed.\n\nIn 27 B.C. the purely Republican form of constitution was abolished, and\nthe government of the Roman world was concentrated in the hands of an\nEmperor, the Caesar Augustus of Luke 2.1. In his reign were fulfilled the\nprophecies foretelling the Birth of Christ. When the Prince of Peace was\nborn in Bethlehem the din of strife was hushed throughout the empire,\nand Rome, under the restraining hand of God, ceased for a time its\nwarring. By Augustus the northern territories of the empire were\nextended to practically the entire length of the Danube. The greater\npart of Britain became a province under Claudius. A later Emperor,\nTrajan, added, at the beginning of the second century A.D., the province\nof Dacia, covering what are now Transylvania and most of Roumania. Under\nMarcus Aurelius (161-180) a large part of Mesopotamia was finally\nannexed.\n\nThis completes the actual conquests of the Romans. We will now note\ncertain characteristics of their method of subjugation, viewed in the\nlight of Daniel's prophecy concerning the fourth kingdom, that, like\niron, it would \"break in pieces and crush.\"\n\n\nThe Crushing of the Nations.\n\nThe crushing process was evidenced in many ways, and especially by the\nestablishment of a general system of slavery, which almost everywhere\nsupplanted free labour. Slave-hunting and slave-dealing became a\nprofession. To such an extent were they carried on at one period that\ncertain provinces were well nigh depopulated. We are told that at the\ngreat slave-market in the island of Delos, off Greece, as many as ten\nthousand slaves were disembarked in the morning and bought up before\nthe evening of the same day. Chained gangs worked under overseers and\nwere confined in prison at night. To take an instance of the extreme\nrigour of the laws regulating the traffic, it is recorded by the\nhistorian Tacitus, that once, when the Prefect of Rome had been killed\nby one of his slaves, of whom he owned a vast number, the whole of his\nslaves, many of them women and children, were executed together, in\naccordance with an ancient law. That event took place about the time,\napparently, at which the Apostle Paul arrived at Rome.\n\nBut not only were the nations ground down by slavery, the pages of Roman\nhistory abound in records of wholesale massacre and butchery. We may\nnote, for instance, Luke's statement of Pilate's slaughter of Galilaeans\nwhile they were sacrificing (Luke 13. 1). Records abound, too, of\ngrossly burdensome taxation and financial exactions, in which the Romans\noutdid all tyrants that had preceded them. Usury flourished in the last\ncentury as it had never done before. Four per cent. per month was an\nordinary exaction for a loan to a community. On one occasion a Roman\nbanker, who had a claim on the municipality of Salamis, in Cyprus, kept\nits council blockaded until five of its members died of hunger.\n\nBy these methods the provinces of the empire were at one period reduced\nto a condition of unsurpassed misery. Nothing could more vividly\ndescribe the course of such a kingdom and the control exercised by it\nthan the words of Daniel quoted above.\n\n\nThe Twofold Division.\n\nThis fourth kingdom was destined to be divided; and in two respects,\nterritorial and constitutional. The territorial division was indicated\nby the symbolism of the legs and feet of the image of Nebuchadnezzar's\nvision; the constitutional division was declared in Daniel's\ninterpretation concerning the iron and clay (v. 40). The former of these\ndivisions claims our consideration first. Territorially the kingdom\nwould be first divided into two parts corresponding with the legs of the\nimage. This actually took place in the fourth century of the present\nera.\n\nThe Roman Empire had continued in a more or less united condition for\nover three centuries after the accession of its first Emperor, Augustus,\nin 27 B.C., though various signs of a coming division manifested\nthemselves. It was not unusual, for instance, for an emperor to appoint\nan associate with himself in the imperial rank, and on one occasion\nMaximian, who thus became associated with Diocletian in A.D. 288,\nactually established his seat of government at Nicomedia, in Asia Minor.\nConstantine (323-337) united the empire under his sole rule, but paved\nthe way for the final separation of east from west by founding, in 328,\nthe city of Constantinople as a second Rome, after his own name, and\nestablishing it as an eastern centre of government with its own\nlegislative institutions. This arrangement was favoured by several\nconditions, national and otherwise, which characterised the countries of\nthe eastern half as distinct from those of the western.\n\nAt the death of Constantine, in 337, his dominions were divided among\nhis three sons, a division, however, which lasted but a brief time. The\nempire was in 353 again united under Constantius, the survivor of the\nthree. The long impending division into two parts took place under\nValentinian I., in the year of his accession, 364. Yielding to the wish\nof his soldiers that he should associate a colleague with himself, he\nplaced his brother Valens in power in the east, with headquarters at\nConstantinople, he himself retaining control over the west.\n\n\nThe Tenfold Division.\n\nProphetic Scriptures show that the Roman Empire would be further\ndivided. Now while the ten toes of the image in Nebuchadnezzar's dream\nhave not improperly been regarded as indicative of a tenfold division,\nthe fact that the image had ten toes would be insufficient of itself to\nsignify this, for the toes are naturally essential to a complete human\nfigure. Moreover, the hands and their fingers, equally essential parts,\nhave no territorial significance attached to them. The conclusion\nregarding the toes is, however, justified when we find the tenfold\ndivision abundantly confirmed by other Scriptures.\n\nThus the fourth beast in the vision in chapter 7, which, as we have\nseen, likewise symbolised the Roman kingdom, is described as having _ten\nhorns_ (v. 7). The interpretation clearly tells us what these are: \"And\nas for the ten horns, out of the kingdom (the fourth) shall _ten kings_\narise\" (v. 24). The Apocalypse gives us further information regarding\nthis division, unfolding with increasing clearness the details connected\nwith it. In one of the visions given to the apostle John, he sees \"a\ngreat red dragon, having seven heads and _ten horns_\" (Rev. 12. 3). The\nmeaning of the ten horns is not there explained. We are told that the\ngreat dragon is \"the old serpent, he that is called the Devil and Satan,\nthe deceiver of the whole world\" (v. 9). Turning now to the next\nchapter, we find another vision recorded, giving a fresh view of the\nsame subject. A beast was seen \"coming up out of the sea, having _ten\nhorns_ and seven heads, and on his horns ten diadems, and upon his heads\nnames of blasphemy\" (chap. 13. 1). Again an explanation of the ten horns\nis withheld, but that they are identical with those of the twelfth\nchapter is undeniable. The Apostle receives, however, a further vision,\nrecorded in chapter 17: \"I saw a woman sitting upon a scarlet-coloured\nbeast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and _ten horns_\"\n(chap. 17. 3). And now the symbolism of the horns is explained: \"the ten\nhorns that thou sawest are _ten kings_, which have received no kingdom\nas yet; but they receive authority as kings, with the beast, for one\nhour. These have one mind, and they give their power and authority unto\nthe beast\" (vv. 12, 13).\n\nWe are now concerned, of course, solely with the tenfold division of the\nempire; other details of the visions just referred to remain for later\nconsideration. We cannot fail to see that what is symbolised by the ten\ntoes of the image, and by the ten horns of the fourth beast as revealed\nto Daniel, is identical with what is symbolised by the ten horns of the\ndragon and of the beast seen by John, namely, the Roman kingdom in its\nultimately divided condition.\n\n\nA Comparison of the Visions.\n\nThe following points are noteworthy in comparing these visions\nrelatively to the tenfold division. First, there is a parallelism in the\norder of the revelations given to the two seers, Daniel and John. A\npreliminary vision is given to each--more than one in the case of\nJohn--in which, in the matter of this territorial partition, symbols\noccur without explanation. Each then receives a further vision, in the\ninterpretation of which the eventual division into ten kingdoms is\nplainly disclosed. To Daniel it is said: \"As for the ten horns, out of\nthe kingdom shall ten kings arise;\" and to John: \"The ten horns that\nthou sawest are ten kings, ... which receive authority as kings with\nthe beast for one hour.\"\n\nSecond, the ten kingdoms are seen to be contemporaneous, as is indicated\nby the co-existence of the ten horns of the beast, and further, by the\nfact that the ten kings mutually agree to a certain line of policy in\nhanding over their authority to a supreme potentate (Rev. 17. 12, 13).\n\nThird, it is evident that the fourth kingdom is the last of the Gentile\nworld-powers, and that it will exist in its tenfold state at the end of\nthe times of the Gentiles. We observed this above in the case of the\nimage, from the fact that the stone, symbolising the kingdom of Christ,\nsmote the image upon its toes. So now, in the vision of the four beasts,\nit is the fourth beast that is slain, his body destroyed, and given to\nbe burned (Dan. 7. 11). The Personal Agent of this destruction is here\nmade known: \"I saw in the night visions, and, behold, there came with\nthe clouds of Heaven One like unto a son of man, and He came even to the\nAncient of Days, ... and there was given Him dominion, and glory, and a\nkingdom, that all the peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him:\nHis dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and\nHis kingdom that which shall not be destroyed\" (vv. 13, 14). The\nfinality of the fourth kingdom is clearer still from the interpretation\ngiven in the remainder of the chapter. The final world-ruler is, of\ncourse, prominent in this vision; in his destruction is involved the\ndestruction of his kingdom; his power and aggression are terminated when\nthe Ancient of Days comes (v. 22); then it is that \"the judgment shall\nsit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it\nunto the end. And the kingdom and the dominion, and the greatness of the\nkingdoms under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the\nsaints of the Most High: His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all\ndominions shall serve and obey Him\" (vv. 26, 27). Similarly, again, in\nRevelation 13 and 17, in the corresponding visions of the beast and its\nten horns, the ten kings and their federal head, ruling at the time of\nthe end, \"shall war against the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them,\nfor He is Lord of lords, and King of kings; and they _also shall\novercome_ that are with Him, called and chosen and faithful\" (Rev. 17.\n14).\n\nThe crushing of the image by the stone, the slaying of the fourth beast\nbefore the Ancient of Days, and the conquest of the ten kings and their\nchief by the Lamb, are therefore different views of the same event. The\ntenfold division of the fourth kingdom is obviously still future, and\nmarks the condition of the world-government at the close of the times of\nthe Gentiles, and immediately prior to the kingdom of Christ.\n\n\nThe Testimony of Early Christian Writers.\n\nThat the Roman Empire would in its final form be divided into ten\nkingdoms was held by Christian writers of the earliest post-apostolic\ntimes. Their opinions are here given, not as forming any basis of\nexposition, but as expressions of early Christian conception of the\nScriptures under consideration.\n\nWhat is known as \"_The Epistle of Barnabas_,\" probably written early in\nthe second century A.D., quotes from Daniel concerning the ten kingdoms\nto show that they would exist at the consummation of the present age.\n_Irenaeus_ (circa A.D. 120-202), a disciple of Polycarp, who had been a\ncompanion of the apostle John, observes that \"the ten toes are ten\nkings, among whom the kingdom will be divided.\" _Tertullian_, a\ncontemporary of Irenaeus, remarks that \"the disintegration and dispersion\nof the Roman State among the ten kings will produce Antichrist, and then\nshall be revealed that Wicked One, whom the Lord Jesus shall slay with\nthe breath of His mouth and destroy by the brightness of His\nmanifestation.\" _Hippolytus_, who was a follower of Irenaeus, and\nflourished in the first half of the third century, makes similar\nreference to the ultimate division. _Lactantius_, of the latter half of\nthe third and the early part of the fourth centuries, writes as follows:\n\"The Empire will be sub-divided, and the powers of government, after\nbeing frittered away and shared among many, will be undermined. Civil\ndiscords will then ensue, nor will there be respite from destructive\nwars, until ten kings arise at once, who will divide the world among\nthemselves to consume rather than to govern it.\" _Cyril_ (circa\n315-386), who became bishop of Jerusalem in 350, quoting from Daniel,\nand speaking of the Empire and its future division, implies that\nteaching on the subject was customary in the churches. _Jerome_\n(342-420) observes that \"at the end of the world, when the kingdom of\nthe Romans is to be destroyed, there will be ten kings to divide the\nRoman world among themselves.\" Similarly writes _Theodoret_ in the fifth\ncentury, and others of that time make more or less direct reference to\nthe subject. While the views of these writers differ considerably on\nother points of detail, all are unanimous as to the eventual division of\nthe Empire among ten contemporaneous potentates.\n\n\nProcesses at Work Since the Twofold Division.\n\nThe mediaeval and modern history of the lands originally constituting the\nRoman Empire is a history of the formation of independent states in such\na way as to point to the eventual revival of the Empire in the tenfold\ndivision we have been considering. The process has been a long and\ninvolved one, for the counsels of God have had a far wider range than\nthe mere shaping of national destiny. It has been the Divine pleasure,\nfor instance, that the Gospel should be spread among all nations for the\npurpose of taking out from among them a people for the Name of Christ,\nand for the formation thereby of His Church. In contradistinction to\nthis, and from the standpoint of the world itself, which, though under\nGod's control, remains in alienation from Him, there has been a gradual\ndevelopment of the political, social, and religious principles which are\nultimately to permeate the nations.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III.\n\nTHE OVERTHROW IN THE WEST: GERMANIC INVASIONS.\n\n\nIn the interpretation of his vision of the beast, John is told of its\nrise, temporary removal, and reappearance: \"The beast that thou sawest\nwas, and is not; and is about to come up out of the abyss, and to go\ninto perdition\" (Rev. 17. 8). Here the Roman world-power, the imperial\ndominion, is in view. In verse 11 the final king himself is similarly\ndescribed. The symbol of the beast is thus employed to describe first\nthe dominion and then its imperial head. This symbolic association of\nlocality and ruler is found elsewhere in Scripture, and is illustrated\nin this very chapter. The seven heads of the beast, for example, are\ninterpreted in both ways: \"The seven heads are seven mountains, ... and\nthey are seven kings\" (v. 9, R.V. ) The distinction between verses 8 and\n11 may be observed in this way: in the first part of the chapter,\nverses 1-8, the beast is viewed as a whole, indicating world-wide\ngovernment; in verse 11 the scope of the symbol is limited, the beast is\na person, and is identified with one of the seven heads, or kings, he is\n\"himself also an eighth, and is of the seven.\" With this individual we\nshall be occupied later.\n\nA striking illustration of the symbolic use of the word \"beast\" to\ndenote both a kingdom and the ruler over it is to be found in Dan. 7,\nwhere the following statements are made: \"These great beasts, which are\nfour, are four kings\" (v. 17), and \"The fourth beast shall be the fourth\nkingdom\" (v. 23).\n\n[Illustration: THE WESTERN ROMAN EMPIRE UNDER GERMANIC TRIBES]\n\nThe statement of verse 8 seems, then, undoubtedly to refer to the\nEmpire; it did exist, it ceased to be, and it will reappear. The\nassertion that it \"is not\" must not be taken to mean that the beast had\nceased to exist in John's time. The present tense is to be regarded as\nprophetic. The verb \"to be\" often has the force of continuance of\nexistence. The whole statement implies a past existence, a\ndiscontinuance of that existence, a future reappearance. In the vision\nrecorded in the thirteenth chapter, John saw one of the heads of the\nbeast \"as though it had been smitten unto death.\" If, as seems probable,\nthis head is imperialism, then the overthrow of imperial Rome is\nlikewise indicated in that passage.\n\nIn the light, then, of the words: \"The beast that thou sawest was, and\nis not,\" we may now consider how the Roman Empire was overthrown.\n\n\nDisintegration of the Western Half.\n\nWe have seen that, at the accession of the Emperor Valentinian I. in\nA.D. 364, the Empire was divided into two parts. The succeeding century\nwitnessed the disintegration of the western half. The cause was\nprimarily from within. Augustus, the first Emperor, had instituted a\npolicy of settling colonies of \"barbarians\" from northern Europe within\nthe frontiers of the Empire. Later Emperors adopted the policy more\ngenerally. The significance of this lies in the fact that by the\nbarbarians who had already been thus established in the Empire, the\nattacks were commenced which resulted in the dismemberment of its\nwestern provinces.\n\n\nAlaric and the Goths.\n\nAt the close of the fourth century hordes of Gothic tribes from\nnorth-eastern and eastern Germany set out, under Alaric their chief, in\nquest of new lands. Settlements of these very Goths had already been\nestablished south of the Danube by the Imperial Government as allies of\nthe Romans. After an excursion into Italy, in which they were\ntemporarily checked, they poured, in 406, into defenceless Gaul. From\nthence Alaric returned to invade Italy, and three times in three years\nbesieged Rome (408-410), eventually sacking the city. After his death,\nin 410, the Goths retired from Italy, entered Gaul, and permanently\noccupied the southern part of that country and a large part of Spain,\nwhere they were known as =Visigoths= (_i.e._, Western Goths).\n\nOther Germanic tribes also streamed into Gaul. Of these, the =Franks=\n(whence the name France) issued from districts around the middle and\nlower Rhine and occupied northern Gaul; the =Suevi=, from north and\nnorth-west Germany, passed through into Spain; the =Alani=, formerly\nfrom eastern Europe, settled in west France and Spain; the\n=Burgundians=, from eastern Germany, seized that part of Gaul which\neventually was named after them, Burgundy. The =Vandals=, from northern\nand central Germany, after being defeated by the Franks, crossed into\nSpain under their leader Genseric, and from thence established\nthemselves in the province of Africa, in 429. This occupation of Gaul\nand Spain was soon perforce recognised by the Emperor at Rome. At the\ndeath of the Emperor Honorius, in 423, Rome exercised little more than a\nnominal authority over the greater part of the west.\n\nFrom Britain the Roman troops were withdrawn by Honorius, in 409, though\nthe final abandonment of the island province did not take place till\n436. Teutonic tribes from North Europe were soon engaged in invading\nthis part of the Empire. The =Jutes=, from Jutland, landed in 449, the\n=Saxons= in 477, and about the same time the =Angles=.\n\n\nAttila and the Huns.\n\nToward the close of the reign of Valentinian III. (433-455), Gaul and\nItaly were invaded by the =Huns= under Attila. The Huns originally\ninhabited a large part of central and northern Asia. In the latter part\nof the fourth century they moved west into Scythia and Germany, driving\nthe Goths before them. Attila's dominions thereafter extended over a\nvast area of eastern, central, and northern Europe, and he was regarded\nas of equal standing with the Emperors at Constantinople and Rome. After\na gigantic but futile incursion into Gaul, in 451, the Huns rushed into\nItaly, ravaging its northern plains. An embassy from Rome and an immense\nransom saved the situation. Attila died in 453, and Italy was evacuated.\nThe Huns eventually settled in south-eastern Europe, and their dominion\ndwindled away. A trace of their name may be found in the word Hungary.\n\n\nGenseric and the Vandals.\n\nIn North Africa Genseric the Vandal established a powerful dominion, and\nset about preparing an invasion of Italy by sea. In 455 (the last year\nof the reign of Valentinian III.) his army of Vandals and Moors attacked\nRome, which was again given over to pillage. Its wealth and treasures\nwere transported to Carthage, and with them the vessels of the temple at\nJerusalem; these had been brought to Rome in A.D. 70 by Titus, the\nconqueror of Jerusalem. For twenty years after Genseric's achievement\nRoman Emperors existed in little else than name, the real power being\nin the hands of a barbarian officer. In 476 the last Emperor was deposed\nby Odoacer, the king of the Heruli, a tribe which, issuing from the\nshores of the Baltic, made successful inroads into Italy and occupied\nmuch of the country. Odoacer was, at the request of the Roman Senate,\ngiven the reins of government by the eastern Emperor Zeno, and news was\ndespatched to the court at Constantinople that no longer was there an\nEmperor of the west. Subsequently, in 493, Odoacer was slain by\nTheodoric, the king of the =Ostrogoths=, who then became predominant in\nthe Italian peninsula. The Ostrogoths (_i.e._, Eastern Goths) had broken\noff from the main body of their nation, and after settling south of the\nDanube moved into the province of Dalmatia.\n\n\nNorthern Limits of the Empire.\n\nOther Germanic tribes, in addition to those named above, firmly\nestablished themselves within the northern limits of the Empire. Of\nthese, two are worthy of mention, the =Alemanni=, who occupied most of\nwhat is now Switzerland and districts northward, and the =Lombards=, who\nsettled in north Italy and the territory north-east of it.\n\n\nThe Ten Kingdoms not Formed by the Germanic Invasions.\n\nThere have been various attempts to identify with the ten prophetic\nkingdoms the states formed from the western half of the Roman Empire by\nthe Germanic tribes from the north. Such attempts fail from the\nstandpoints both of history and of prophecy. To group the tribes so as\nto make ten kingdoms out of them is, of course, possible in several\nways, for there were at least eighteen such tribes. Accordingly lists\nput forward differ considerably. But such grouping is manifestly\narbitrary. Again, since these invading nations occupied only the western\nhalf of the Empire, the above allocation of the ten kingdoms necessarily\nleaves the eastern half out of consideration, and therefore excludes the\nland of Palestine from this stage of the prophetic forecast.\n\nNow the prophecies concerning the times of the Gentiles are invariably\nfocussed upon the Jews and their land. The dealings of God with the Jews\nform the pivot of His dealings with other nations. Thus no scheme of\nprophetic exposition relative to this subject is to be regarded as\nScriptural which excludes Palestine from its scope. To endeavour to\nmake the Word of God square with facts of history is to tamper with\nScripture and to run the risk of obscuring its meaning and force.\n\nThe idea that the formation of the ten kingdoms took place in the fifth\ncentury fails to stand the test of Scripture in other respects. Of the\nten kings prophecy foretells that \"they receive authority as kings with\nthe beast for one hour,\" that they \"have one mind, and they give their\npower and authority unto the beast\" (Rev. 17. 13, 14). No such tenfold\nconfederacy has existed in Europe; it certainly never existed among the\nchieftains of the Germanic tribes which invaded the west of the Roman\nEmpire in the fifth century, neither is there any record of such an\nagreement among them. Nor, again, can it be said that they made war with\nthe Lamb and were overcome by Him (v. 14). These prophecies still await\nfulfilment. Similar considerations apply to the passage in Daniel 7 in\nreference to the fourth kingdom. The ten kings, it is said, would arise\nout of that kingdom, and after them another king who would make war with\nthe saints and prevail against them until the Ancient of Days came (vv.\n21, 22, 24).\n\nAgain, since the persecution under the king who arises after the others\ncontinues until the Ancient of Days comes (v. 22), his war against the\nsaints must have lasted from the fifth century until the present time,\nif he arose in that century. Moreover, as he was said to be going to\nsubdue three kingdoms (v. 24), the seven kingdoms not so subdued must\nlikewise have continued. This has obviously not been the case. From\nevery point of view it is impossible to assign the tenfold division to\nany time in the past.\n\n[Illustration: The Turkish Empire in the 16th Century.]\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV.\n\nTHE OVERTHROW IN THE EAST: THE TURKISH EMPIRE.\n\n\nHaving narrated the disintegration of the western half of the Empire, we\nwill now recount the events which involved the overthrow of the eastern\nhalf. The impoverishment of the imperial power at Rome, and the\nweakening effect of the Germanic attacks upon it, tended to enhance the\npower of the Emperor at Constantinople. Indeed the eastern Empire was\nsoon regarded as the more important of the two, and for some time after\nthe barbarian invasions in Italy the Emperors at Constantinople\nclaimed supremacy over the west.\n\n\nMohammed and the Khaliphs.\n\nThe seventh century saw the ascendency of Mohammed (born A.D. 570) in\nArabia, to which country his personal power, temporal and religious, was\nlimited. Upon his death, in 632, his followers determined on the\ninvasion of Persia and the Asiatic dominions of the Emperor at\nConstantinople. Mohammed's successor, Abubekr, the first of the Khaliphs\n(_i.e._, \"representatives\" of the prophet), at once waged war in both\ndirections. Persia speedily succumbed; Syria and Palestine were\nsubjugated after seven years by the Khaliph Omar. The reduction of Egypt\nfollowed, and during the remainder of this century the Saracens, the\nname by which the followers of Mohammed became termed in Christendom,\nextended their territory across the entire length of North Africa, and\nshortly afterwards even into Spain, where they overpowered the then\ndisunited Visigoths.\n\nThe Saracen power in Western Asia was distracted during the next century\nby civil war, and was further weakened by unsuccessful wars against the\nGreeks. At length, in 750, the seat of government was moved from\nDamascus to Bagdad. From the eighth century onward, though the religion\nof Mohammed gained ground, and continues to do so to-day, the empire\nestablished by his followers dwindled rapidly, one province after\nanother shaking off its allegiance until at the end of the tenth century\nits shattered dominions lay open to the nearest invader. The foe\nappeared in the shape of the formidable Turk.\n\n\nEastern Empire at End of 10th Century.\n\nIn view of the entrance of this new enemy we may note the extent of the\nterritory belonging at this time to the eastern branch of the old Roman\nworld, the Byzantine Empire, as it is termed (from Byzantium, the\nancient name of Constantinople). The Eastern Emperors had recovered some\nof their lost ground in Asia, and at the close of the tenth century they\nheld all Asia Minor, Armenia, a part of Syria, a considerable portion of\nItaly, and all the Balkan Peninsula.\n\n\nThe Appearance of the Turks.\n\nBeyond the north-eastern border of the Saracen dominions lay the country\nof Turkestan, inhabited by the Turks, a branch of the warlike nation of\nthe Tartars of Central Asia. With them the Saracens, after the\nestablishment of their Government at Bagdad, waged successful warfare\nfor a time, taking numbers of Turks captive and dispersing them over the\nEmpire. This only facilitated the eventual downfall of the Saracen\nsovereignty. The Turks in Western Asia grew in influence, and at length\nthe Turkish troops, breaking into open revolt, assumed control over the\nKhaliphate, deposing and nominating the Khaliphs at their will.\n\n\nThe Turks Embrace Mohammedanism.\n\nEarly in the eleventh century the bulk of the Turkish nation, under its\nleader Tongrol Bek, moving out from Turkestan, swept down upon Persia.\nThe Khaliphate at Bagdad was, however, permitted to remain, and not only\nso, but Tongrol Bek and all his tribes embraced the Mohammedan religion.\nThe invaders then marched west in vast numbers to make an attack upon\nChristendom, and in the course of time subdued Armenia and most of Asia\nMinor. Europe became alarmed, and the Byzantine Emperors eagerly sought\nthe assistance of the nations of the west. Hence arose the Crusades,\nwhich had as their chief object the deliverance of Palestine from both\nSaracens and Turks, and which served to retard, though not to prevent,\nthe advance of the Turkish power in Europe.\n\n\nThe Turks Enter Europe.\n\nEarly in the thirteenth century a mighty movement of Mongols south-west\nfrom Central Asia, involving the immediate destruction of the Khaliphate\nat Bagdad, exerted an important influence upon the Turks, in driving\nthose Turkish tribes which had remained east of Armenia westward into\nAsia Minor. This resulted in the establishment of various Turkish\ndynasties in that country. At the close of the thirteenth century the\nparamount power over these was exercised by Osman (or Othman, whence the\nname Ottoman), who seized all that remained of the ancient Roman world\nin Asia, and thus practically founded the Ottoman Empire. In the middle\nof the fourteenth century the way was opened for the Ottomans to advance\ninto Europe. They were invited by one of the rival factions at\nConstantinople to undertake their cause. The Turks accordingly crossed\nthe Hellespont and seized Gallipoli and the territory in the vicinity of\nthe capital. Constantinople itself was left unattacked for the time.\nUnder Murad I., the grandson of Osman, Roumania and several kingdoms\nsouth of the Danube, including Bulgaria, were subdued. The kings of\nHungary, Bosnia and Serbia rose against the invader, but were severely\ndefeated, and by the decisive victory of Kosovo, in 1389, Serbia and\nBosnia were annexed.\n\n\nConstantinople Taken.\n\nConstantinople was temporarily saved by another advance of the Mongol\nTartars upon the Turkish dominions in Asia, where, in 1402, the Ottomans\nsuffered a severe defeat. From this check they recovered, and during the\nfirst part of the fifteenth century were at war with the Hungarians and\nneighbouring races, whom they eventually overthrew. In 1451 Mohammed II.\nascended the Ottoman throne, and in 1453 led an immense army against\nConstantinople. The city was taken by storm, the last of the Roman\nEmperors of the east died fighting, and Mohammed II. rode in triumph to\nthe cathedral of St. Sophia, where he established the Moslem worship.\n\nFor over a hundred years after this the Turkish Empire continued to\nextend. Egypt was annexed in 1517, and in the middle of this century\nTripoli and Algeria were added, as well as considerable districts in\nEurope and Asia. The Turks were now at the zenith of their power.\n\n\nA Comparison of the Two Divisions.\n\nRecapitulating, we may compare the two divisions of the Roman Empire\nsince their overthrow, from the _prophetic_, _religious_ and _political_\nstandpoints. From the _prophetic_ point of view our interest in the west\nhas thus far centred in the fact that the ten kingdoms were not formed\nby the fifth century invasions; our interest in the east centres chiefly\nin the land of Palestine, wrenched, as we have seen, from the eastern\nEmperor by the Saracens, and then occupied by the Turks, who still\npossess it. From the _religious_ standpoint, the Germanic tribes in the\nwest accepted Roman Catholicism, hence its progress in that part of\nEurope; in the east the Turks had accepted Mohammedanism when invading\nthe Empire of the Khaliphs, hence the establishment of Islamism\nthroughout the Turkish dominions. _Politically_, the western invasion in\nthe fifth century, and the consequent amalgamation of the Teutonic\ntribes with the peoples formerly under Roman control, led eventually to\nthe formation of the various mediaeval monarchies of Western Europe\nwhich are to-day either kingdoms or republics. Affairs in the eastern\nhalf of the Roman world have moved more slowly in this respect, owing to\nthe prolonged existence of the Ottoman Empire. The slow decay of the\nTurkish power from the middle of the sixteenth century onward has\nalready resulted in the formation of some Eastern States, and the\nprocess still continues.\n\n\nThe Decline of the Turkish Empire.\n\nThe decline of the power of the Turks set in during the latter half of\nthe sixteenth century, when their dominions passed under incapable\nrulers. In the reign of Selim II. (1566-1574) occurred the first\nconflict between the Turks and Russians, the former being driven back\nfrom Astrakkan. In 1593, during a war between Turkey and Austria, the\nprovinces of Transylvania, Moldavia, and Wallachia rose in revolt. As\nthe result of intermittent wars in the latter half of the seventeenth\ncentury Austria acquired almost the whole of _Hungary_. In 1770 Russia\noccupied _Moldavia_ and _Wallachia_, which though nominally for a time\nunder Turkey were practically Russian protectorates. During the next\nfew years Russia regained the Crimea and all the neighbouring district\nnorth of the Black Sea. At the commencement of the nineteenth century\nthe Ottoman Empire was in a perilous condition. Napoleon had plans for\nits partition. Provincial governors were everywhere acting independently\nof the Sultan. In 1804 _Serbia_ revolted, and after a few years of\npersistent struggle obtained its autonomy. _Greece_ revolted in 1820,\nand, though subdued for a time, gained its independence in 1829 through\nthe intervention of England, France, and Russia, and chiefly as the\nresult of the naval battle of Navarino, in which the Turco-Egyptian\nfleet was annihilated. In the same year _Algeria_ was annexed by the\nFrench. European rivalries prevented for a time any rapid diminution of\nthe Empire.\n\nThe Crimean War of 1854-5 had important consequences for the Balkan\npeoples. It gave them, under the slackening grasp of the Porte, twenty\nyears of comparatively quiet national development. In 1860 Wallachia and\nMoldavia formed themselves into the single state of _Roumania_. In 1866\nthe Pasha of Egypt assumed the title of Khedive (_i.e._, king), thereby\nsecuring a measure of independence for the country. In 1875 the misrule\nof the Sultan led to the insurrection of Bosnia, Herzegovina, and\nBulgaria. Serbia and Montenegro then took up arms. In 1877 a war with\nRussia saw Turkey without an ally. A complete Russian victory in 1878\nissued in the treaties first of San Stefano and then of Berlin, by which\nTurkey yielded to Russia the state of _Bessarabia_ and districts south\nof the Caucasus, the independence of _Serbia_, _Montenegro_, and\n_Roumania_ were recognised by the Porte, _Bulgaria_ was constituted an\nautonomous state, _Bosnia_ and _Herzegovina_ were ceded to Austria,\n_Thessaly_ to Greece, and _Cyprus_ to Britain. In 1885, as the result of\na revolution, Eastern _Roumelia_ became united to Bulgaria. Shortly\nafter that date German influence began to gain ascendancy at the court\nof the Sultan, and, among other affairs, largely dominated the granting\nof railway concessions in Western Asia. The effects of that influence\nhave been evidenced in the present war. In 1912 Italy annexed _Tripoli_\nafter a brief war. In 1913 a short but sanguinary war with the Balkan\nStates deprived Turkey of all her European dominions save for a small\npiece of territory in the vicinity of Constantinople. _Egypt_, which\nhas been chiefly under British control for a considerable period, has in\n1915 been practically annexed by Britain as a protectorate, the Khedive\nbeing deposed and a nominee of the British Government being placed in\nauthority. Britain has likewise annexed a district north of the Persian\nGulf.\n\n\nThe Coming Overthrow.\n\nThe continual decrease of the Turkish Empire, and more especially during\nthe past hundred years, affords ground, apart from other considerations,\nfor the expectation of its overthrow and the eventual cession of\nPalestine to the Jews, perhaps by a general agreement among the European\nPowers, events which seem not far distant. National jealousies would not\npermit the permanent annexation of Palestine by any one of these Powers,\nin whatever way the remaining Asiatic Turkish dominions may be divided.\nA proposal has already been put forward for its annexation to Egypt.\nSuch an arrangement would in any case be merely temporary. To the Jews\nthe land belongs, and by Divine decree the Jews are to possess it\nagain.\n\n[Illustration: The Turkish Empire in 1914.]\n\n\nA Blank in Prophecy.\n\nIt should be observed, in passing, that Scripture is apparently silent\nconcerning the occupation of Palestine by the Saracens and Turks. Such\nsilence is noticeable when we remember how definitely the occupation by\nthe other Gentile powers, the Chaldean, Medo-Persian, Greek, and Roman,\nand the order and character of their rule, were predicted. The cause of\nthe silence is not difficult to ascertain. The four Gentile powers just\nmentioned had to do with the Jews as the recognised possessors of\nPalestine, either by way of removing them from their country or\nrestoring them to it, or during such time as they were permitted to\nremain in it with liberty to continue their temple worship and\nsacrifice. The Chaldeans removed the Jews from the land, the\nMedo-Persians repatriated them, the Greeks permitted their continuance\nin it, the Romans did so too, until A.D. 70, when they crushed them.\nWhen, however, the Saracens and the Turks seized the land the Jews had\nbeen scattered, nor have they received national recognition while under\nthem. Gentile occupation of Palestine during such times as the Jews\nremain in their present condition seems therefore to receive no direct\nnotice in prophecy.\n\nThe restoration of Palestine to the Jews is closely connected with the\nrevival of the Roman Empire in its tenfold form. Prior to considering\nthe manner of this revival we must notice how during the period between\nthe overthrow of that Empire and its coming resuscitation, its dominions\nand their government have remained Roman in character, thus affording a\nfurther proof that the coming and final world-power will not be entirely\na new one, but will be a revival of the ancient Roman or fourth empire\nindicated in the prophecies of Daniel.\n\n\nThe Continuation of Roman Government and Influence.\n\nSuch was the prestige of the Roman name and authority that the\nchieftains of the Germanic tribes which in the fifth century subdued the\nwestern half of the Empire governed the conquered territories, not so\nmuch as tribal chiefs, but as successors to, and in continuation of, the\nimperial rule; they introduced no radical changes in the provincial and\nmunicipal forms of government of their predecessors. Civil organisation\nremained distinctly Roman, and has continued so; upon it are based some\nof the chief municipal institutions of modern life. Indeed Roman civil\nlaw still remains the foundation of modern jurisprudence.\n\nIn south-eastern Europe, too, countries which were for centuries under\nthe power of the Turk retained, in their municipal institutions and\norganisation, the impress of Roman authority. It should be remembered\nthat though the eastern or Byzantine portion of the ancient Roman Empire\nwas distinct from the western, its emperors being designated as Grecian\nin contrast to the Roman, yet its legislative foundations were laid in\nthe Roman Empire prior to the division of the east from the west.\nByzantine imperialism was therefore really Roman under an eastern title.\nAccording as the states in the east have become freed from the Turkish\nyoke, so the character of their government and legislation has conformed\nin a large degree to those of the west. The further diminution of the\nTurkish Empire will doubtless see a corresponding revival of western\nconditions and methods.\n\n\nRoman Imperialism Continued.\n\nIt is important also to observe that notwithstanding the passing away of\nthe Roman Empire as such, the principle of imperialism remained, and,\namidst the vicissitudes of national government in Europe, has continued\nto the present time. The imperial power in the west was not abolished\nwhen in 476 the last Roman Emperor was deposed. On the contrary, there\nwas a kind of reunion imperially of the west with the east. For a\nconsiderable time the tribal kings of the west received recognition from\nthe eastern emperors, and were regarded as their associates in imperial\ncontrol. This was the case even with the Saxon kings in Britain, and on\nSaxon coins may be seen to-day the same title, _basileus_ (_i.e._,\nking), as was borne by the emperors at Constantinople. Italy itself was\nwrested from the Teutons by the eastern Emperor Justinian in the sixth\ncentury, and remained under the Byzantine Caesars till 731.\n\nMeanwhile the Roman Senate continued to exercise its authority, and in\n800 chose the Frankish king Charlemagne as their sovereign. He was\nalready ruling over the greater part of Western Europe, and was now\ncrowned as Emperor at Rome by the Pope. Though his empire fell to pieces\nafter his death, his dominions retained, and have since retained, their\nRoman character.\n\nConsideration of space forbids our tracing here the further continuance\nof imperialism as a factor in European politics. Recent history and\npresent-day events indicate how rapidly we are approaching its final\ndevelopment at the close of the times of the Gentiles. The coming\nconfederacy of European states will not result in the formation of a new\nempire, but will be the revival of the Roman in an altered form.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V.\n\nTHE COMING REVIVAL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE.\n\n\n(1) _The Geographical Standpoint._\n\nThe coming revival of the Roman Empire will for our present purpose be\nbest considered from the geographical, political, and religious\nstandpoints.\n\n\nGeographical Considerations.\n\nAny forecast of the exact delimitations of the ten kingdoms constituting\nthe reconstructed Empire must necessarily be largely conjectural. That\ntheir aggregate area will precisely conform to that of the ancient Roman\nEmpire does not necessarily follow from the fact of its revival, and\ncannot be definitely concluded from Scripture. An extension of the\nterritories of the Empire in its resuscitated form would be quite\nconsistent with the retention of its identity. Moreover, if Roman\nimperialism may be considered to have continued in the hands of Teutonic\nmonarchs after the fall of the western part of the Empire in 476, if,\nfor instance, Charles the Great, of whom we have spoken (p. 58), ruled\nas a Roman Emperor, despite the passing away of the actual Empire\nitself, then the dominions which were under the rule of these later\nmonarchs may yet be found incorporated in the Empire, and so form parts\nof the ten kingdoms. In that case Germany and Holland would be included.\nPossibly, too, the Empire will embrace all the territories which\nbelonged to the three which preceded it, the Grecian, Medo-Persian, and\nChaldean. Certainly when the stone fell on the toes of the image, the\nwhole image, representing these former three as well as the fourth, was\ndemolished. Suggestive also in this respect is the fact that the beast\nin the vision recorded in Revelation 13. 2 was possessed of features of\nthe leopard, the bear, and the lion, the same beasts which represented\nin Daniel's vision the Grecian, Medo-Persian, and Chaldean kingdoms\n(Dan. 7. 4-6), the order in Revelation 13 being inverted. While\npolitical characteristics are doubtless chiefly in view in these\nsymbols, there may at the same time be an indication of the eventual\nincorporation of the first three empires in the fourth. It must be\nremembered, too, that the authority of the federal head of the ten\nkingdoms is to be world-wide: \"There was given to him authority over\nevery tribe and people and tongue and nation\" (Rev. 13. 7). It is\nprobable, therefore, that while the ten kingdoms will occupy a well\ndefined area, their dependencies and the countries which are allied with\nthem will embrace practically the remainder of the world.\n\nIf, on the other hand, the Roman Empire is to be reconstructed in exact\nconformity territorially with its ancient boundaries--such a\nreconstruction is, of course, not inconceivable--we must consider what\nperiod of the conquests of the ancient Empire to take, whether under the\nfirst emperor, Augustus, or during the Apostolic Age, or later. We may,\nperhaps, be helped by the facts already mentioned, that prophecy\nrelating to Gentile dominion is focussed upon the Jews and Palestine,\nand has especially in view the presence of the nation in their land.\nNow, shortly after their overthrow, in A.D. 70, their national\nrecognition as possessors of the land ceased. This period, moreover,\ncorresponds broadly to the close of the Apostolic Age. The dispersion of\nthe Jews among the nations was completed by Adrian in the next century.\nHe desolated the whole of Palestine, expelling all the remaining Jewish\ninhabitants.\n\n\nA Review of the Ancient Territories.\n\nWe will therefore now review the limits of the Empire and of some of its\nprovinces at that time, noticing certain circumstances of past and\npresent history suggestive of future issues. In doing so we are not\npredicting that the boundaries of the revived Empire will be those of\nthe ancient.\n\nCommencing with North Africa, it will be observed, on referring to the\nmap, that practically the same strip of territory which belonged to the\nRoman Empire in the times of the apostles has passed directly under the\ngovernment of countries which were themselves then within the Empire.\nFor Spain rules over Morocco, France over Algeria and Tunis, Italy\nrecently seized Tripoli, and Britain has, since Turkey's entrance into\nthe great war, virtually taken possession of Egypt. It seems not a\nlittle significant that no country which was outside the limits of the\nEmpire at the time under consideration has been permitted by God to\nannex these North African territories since the Saracens and the Turks\nwere dispossessed of them.\n\nPassing now to Asia, the territory in that continent which belonged to\nRome in the first century is approximately what remained to Turkey\nimmediately prior to the present war. Mesopotamia and most of Armenia\nwere included. The war has already seen Turkey dispossessed of portions\nof these. The downfall of the Turkish Empire would almost certainly\ninvolve territorial rearrangements of deepest import in the light of\nprophecy, especially as regards Palestine.\n\n\nDivisions of the Greek Empire: A Possible Renewal.\n\nThe 8th chapter of Daniel apparently indicates that the Asiatic\nterritories of the Empire will be divided much as they were under the\nGreeks after the death of Alexander the Great. He was obviously\nsymbolised by the great horn (v. 22). The four horns which came up in\nits place (v. 8) are clearly, too, the four generals who succeeded\nAlexander, and among whom his dominions were divided, Cassander ruling\nover Macedonia and Greece, Lysimachus over part of Asia Minor and Thrace\n(the extent of the latter province was almost exactly what now belongs\nto Turkey in Europe), Seleucus over most of Syria, Palestine,\nMesopotamia, and the east, and Ptolemy over Egypt. Next follows a\nprediction carrying us to events which are evidently yet future. It is\nsaid, for instance, that these events will take place \"in the latter\ntime of their kingdom (not, it will be observed, in the time of the four\nkings themselves who succeeded Alexander, but of the kingdoms over which\nthey ruled), when the transgressors are come to the full\" (v. 23). The\nexpressions in this chapter, \"the time of the end\" (v. 17), \"the latter\ntime of the indignation,\" \"the appointed time of the end\" (v. 19), and\n\"the latter time of their kingdom\" (v. 23), all point to a period still\nfuture, namely, to the close of the present age. Again, in reference to\nthe \"king of fierce countenance,\" while much of the prophecy can be\napplied to Antiochus Epiphanes in the second century B.C., yet no man\nhas hitherto arisen whose character and acts have been precisely those\nrelated in verses 9-12 and 23-25. We may also compare what is said of\n\"the transgression that maketh desolate\" (v. 13) with the Lord's\nprophecy concerning the abomination of desolation (Matt. 24. 15-22), a\nprophecy which also manifestly awaits fulfilment.\n\nPossibly, therefore, these Asiatic territories will be similarly divided\nin the coming time. In regard to the first of the above-mentioned four\ndivisions, the recent extension of Greece to include the ancient\nprovince of Macedonia is remarkable. This was an outcome of the Balkan\nWar of 1912. The boundaries of Greece are now approximately what they\nwere under Cassander in the time of the Grecian Empire, what they were\nalso later as the provinces of Macedonia and Achaia in the Roman Empire.\nThere has lately, therefore, been a significant reversion to ancient\nconditions in this respect.\n\n\nOther European Territories.\n\nComing now to the dual-monarchy of Austria-Hungary, reference to the map\nof the Roman Empire in the Apostolic Age will show that what are now\nHungary, Transylvania, Bessarabia, and other states of the present\nmonarchy were without the Roman boundaries, while Pannonia, or what is\nnow Austria west of the Danube, was within; even when in the next\ncentury Dacia (now Transylvania, Bessarabia, &c.) was annexed, the two\nparts of the present dual kingdom were separate. The separation of\nHungary from Austria has for a considerable time been a practical\nquestion of European politics, and may be hastened by present events.\n\nThe northern and north-eastern boundaries of Italy embraced the Trentino\nand the peninsula of Istria. Noticeable, therefore, are the present\nefforts of Italy to acquire these very districts, efforts which seem\nlikely to achieve success. Roman states north of Italy covered what are\nnow Baden, Wurtemberg, Luxemberg, and a large part of Bavaria. The\npossibility of an eventual severance of these from Prussian domination\nhas been much discussed of late.\n\nThe Rhenish provinces of Alsace and Lorraine, originally portions of the\nRoman province of Gallia (now France), were snatched from France by\nGermany in the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-71. Their recovery is a\nsupreme object of the efforts of the French in the present war, and not\nwithout hope of success.\n\n\nThe British Empire.\n\nAs to Britain, at the time under consideration the greater part of the\nisland was definitely included in the Roman Empire. Ireland and most of\nScotland were never conquered by the Romans. Should Britain form one of\nthe ten kingdoms, there is nothing to show that Ireland or any other\npart of the British Empire must of necessity be absolutely separated\nfrom it. Self-government may yet be possessed by those territories which\nhave not yet received it, and it is significant that Ireland has now\npractically obtained it. That the lands which are linked with Britain as\ndependencies, or as in possession of self-government, should remain as\nintegral parts of the Empire is but consistent with the coming\nworld-wide authority of the potentate who will be the federal head of\nthe ten kingdoms. And that each state in the British Empire should have\nits own local government is, on the other hand, consistent with the\nestablishment of a closer and complete confederacy of ten kingdoms, the\narea of which may correspond largely to that of the ancient Roman\nEmpire. In contrast to the self-government of the other countries of the\nworld at the coming period, the ten united kingdoms will eventually be\nabsolutely under the control of the final emperor just mentioned, for\nthe ten kings over these states, who receive authority as kings with\nhim, will be of one mind to give their power and authority and their\nkingdom to him (Rev. 17. 12, 13, 17).\n\nWhat has been said of the British Empire may be true also of others of\nthe ten kingdoms which have colonies or dependencies, and thus, while\nthe ten kingdoms will themselves constitute an Empire, their alliances\nand treaties with other countries of the world will apparently involve\nan extension of the authority of the controlling despot \"over every\ntribe and people and tongue and nation\" (Rev. 13. 7). If, for instance,\nthe United States of America were at that time in alliance with Britain\n(quite a possible contingency), their joint influence would probably\nextend to the whole of the American continents, which would thereby\nacknowledge his authority.\n\nWe may observe, too, the way in which the continent of Africa has come\nunder certain European influences in modern times. The mention of this\nis simply suggestive. That the Scripture will be absolutely fulfilled\nis beyond doubt; the exact mode of its accomplishment is known to God.\n\n\n(2) _The Political Standpoint._\n\n\nEuropean Federation.\n\nAgencies are already at work for the establishment of a confederacy of\nEuropean States--not the least significant of the many signs that the\nend of the age is approaching. The movement towards confederacy is\ndoubtless receiving an impetus from the great upheaval in Europe. A\ncircular issued in December, 1914, and distributed far and wide,\nannounced the formation of a committee of influential men with the\nobject of promoting a \"European Federation.\" The circular says: \"In\nsight of the present situation of ruin it ought to be the general\nopinion that a firmer economical and political tie is of utmost\nimportance for all nations without exception, and that particularly for\nEurope the narrower bond of a federation, based on equality and interior\nindependence of all partaking states, is of urgent necessity, which\npublic opinion ought to demand.\"\n\nA pamphlet published by the Committee recommends that the union of\nstates shall be economical, political, and legal, with an international\narmy as a common guarantee, and that European Federation should become\nthe principal and most urgent political battle-cry for the masses of all\nEuropean nations, and declares that \"when the Governments are willing,\nwhen the public opinion of all peoples forces them to be willing, there\nis no doubt but that a reasonable and practical union of nations will\nprove to be as possible and natural as is at present a union of\nprovinces, cantons, territories, whose populations often show more\ndifference of race and character than those of nations now at\nhostilities.\" The Committee calls upon the peoples of Europe to suffer\nthe diplomatists no longer to dispose of them like slaves and by\nmilitarism to lash them to fury against each other. It calls upon them\nto see to it that never and nowhere should a member of any body or\nGovernment be elected who is not an advocate of the Federation, and that\nthe trade union, society, or club to which any individual belongs should\nexpress sympathy with the movement in meetings and in votes. \"The\npeople,\" it is said, \"have it now in their power, more than ever before,\nto control the Powers.\"\n\n\nTwo Possible Ways of Federation.\n\nThe formation of ten federated states, covering at least the area of the\nancient Empire at the end of the first century of the present era, may\nbe effected in two ways, either by the peaceful methods of arbitration\nand treaty, or as a result of strife and confusion. That the present\nEuropean War will be succeeded by efforts for the creation of permanent\ninternational harmony and universal peace is probable, as is also some\nattempt at such a federation as is proposed by the above-mentioned\nCommittee. On the other hand, sinister indications abound to-day which\npoint to industrial strife and revolution rather than peace. The\ncondition of the industrial world presents a gloomy prospect indeed.\nThere are ominous signs of keener conflict than ever between capital and\nlabour. The forces of Socialism, Syndicalism, Communism, &c., are\nrapidly increasing in power and in international activity, and their\navowed aims presage anything but peace in the near future. We may take,\nfor example, the declared objects of \"The Alliance of the Social\nDemocracy\"--now incorporated in the International Working Men's\nAssociation--\"To destroy all States and all Churches with all their\ninstitutions and laws, religious, political, juridical, financial,\nmagisterial, academical, economical, and social, and to establish in\ntheir place industrial co-operation and collective ownership of land and\ncapital.\" All this sounds very pretentious, and would probably fail of\ncomplete accomplishment, but the agencies at work for it are strong.\nAttempts on a large scale would certainly lead to unprecedented disorder\nand chaos.\n\n\nThe Sea Symbolic of National Unrest.\n\nNot improbably the ten kingdoms of the reconstructed Roman Empire will\narise as a result of political and social confusion. Thus it was in the\ncase of the French Revolution and the consequent uprising of Napoleon. A\nrepetition of such events on a far wider scale in the future is quite\nconceivable. In the prophetic vision given to the Apostle John, the\nbeast was seen \"coming up out of the sea\" (Rev. 13. 1). Now the sea is\nin Scripture used figuratively of the nations, its characteristic\nrestlessness symbolising their commotion and strife. Compare the words\nof Isaiah: \"Ah, the uproar of many peoples, which roar like the roaring\nof the seas; and the rushing of nations, that rush like the rushing of\nmany waters! The nations shall rush like the rushing of many waters: but\nHe shall rebuke them\" (Isa. 17. 12, 13; see also Psa. 65. 7; and Ezek.\n26. 3). To national unrest the Lord Jesus applied similar language when\nHe foretold to the disciples that there would be \"upon the earth\ndistress of nations, in perplexity for the roaring of the sea and the\nbillows; men fainting for fear, and for expectation of the things which\nare coming on the world\" (Luke 21. 25, 26). So also the waters which\nJohn had seen in his vision are described by the angel as \"peoples, and\nmultitudes, and nations, and tongues\" (Rev. 17. 15). Daniel, too, saw\nthe four great beasts come up from the sea as a result of the breaking\nforth of the four winds of the Heaven upon it, an undoubted\nrepresentation of a condition of national disturbance (Dan. 7. 2, 3).\nThat the beast of Revelation 13. 1 was seen coming up out of the sea\npoints, therefore, to the probability that the ten kings who will have\nbrief authority over the revived Empire will be raised to their kingdom,\nnot by constitutional methods, but as the result of revolutions and the\ncollapse of present-day governments and institutions.\n\n\nRevolutions and their Issues.\n\nShould any great measure of success attend the syndicalist and communist\nmovements of the day, and especially if they are internationalised, the\ninevitable revolutions and disorder would almost certainly issue, as\nrevolutions have so frequently issued, in despotism and autocracy, and\nperhaps in this way the ten kings would arise. The overthrow of the\ngovernments in the countries involved would remove what has certainly\nbeen the great restraint upon lawlessness[A] from the times of the\napostles until now. Everything would be ripe for the appearance of a\nuniversal potentate. The cry would arise for \"a man,\" a controlling\norganiser to bring order out of chaos. The unstable character of the\nrule of the ten kings, and the impoverishment of their kingdoms, would\nlead them, as a matter of diplomacy, to hand over their authority to\nhim.\n\n  [A] See \"The Epistles to the Thessalonians, with Notes Exegetical and\n  Expository,\" by C. F. Hogg and W. E. Vine, note _c._ pp. 259, 260.\n  (Glasgow: Pickering & Inglis. 3/9, p.f.)\n\n\nThe Iron and the Clay.\n\nThe political constitution of the successive empires during \"the time of\nthe Gentiles\" was indicated in the image of Nebuchadnezzar's vision by\nthe various substances of which the parts of the image were composed.\nWhile the regular deterioration in the relative value of these\nsubstances is noticeable, we are concerned now with those of the legs\nand feet. The legs were of iron, and the feet part of iron and part of\npotter's clay, not moist or miry clay, but \"earthenware\" (Dan. 2. 41,\nR.V., margin), and consequently brittle (v. 42, margin).\n\nThat the iron symbolised militarism seems clear from what is said of the\nfourth kingdom, that \"as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all\nthings: and as iron that crusheth all these, shall it break in pieces\nand crush\" (v. 40). Nations are broken and crushed by military power,\nand thus the nations were treated by the Romans. This was further\nsignified by the iron teeth of the fourth beast, as is definitely stated\nin Daniel 7. 19, 23: \"And shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread\nit down, and break it in pieces.\"\n\nThe supposition that the clay represents democracy is gratuitous and\narbitrary. The early Roman Empire, symbolised by the legs of the image,\nwas built up under democratic rule. When republicanism was superseded\nby imperialism, democratic principles still prevailed. Democracy,\ntherefore, played its part from the very commencement of the fourth\nkingdom, and had it been symbolised by the clay, not only the feet and\ntoes but the legs themselves would have consisted of mingled iron and\nclay. Moreover, democracy in the generally accepted sense of the term\nhas not always been found to be of an unstable or brittle character;\nwitness the republicanism of the United States. Democracies, too, may be\nestablished on strictly constitutional principles.\n\nAnother explanation, therefore, of the symbolism of the clay must be\nsought, and it is not unlikely to be found in those revolutionary\nprinciples to which we have already referred, which were evidenced at\nthe time of the French Revolution, and are finding expression, though in\ngreater variety to-day, in such projects as those of the International\nWorking Men's Association. Certainly the masses of the people of Europe\nare being permeated both by militarism and by the revolutionary\ndoctrines of which we have spoken. Should these principles spread among\nthe civil services and forces, everything would be in a complete state\nof preparedness for Unprecedented Political and Social Upheaval\n\nwhich would effect the overthrow of present forms of government. From\nthe world's point of view the situation would require a consummate\ngenius with powers of world-wide organisation. Doubtless Satan's\nmasterpiece of infidel ingenuity would be at hand for the occasion.\n\nWe are not predicting that this is to be the manner of the revival of\nthe Empire and of the advent of its imperial head. We have merely\nsuggested possible circumstances in the light of Scripture and\npresent-day movements. The actual circumstances attending the rise of\nthe ten kings and their Emperor must for the time remain conjectural.\nCertainly these kings will receive authority with him for one hour (Rev.\n17. 12), a phrase which may be translated \"at the same time;\" and\ncertainly they will agree to give their power and authority to him (v.\n13).\n\n(3) _The Religious Standpoint._\n\nWe will now note the religious conditions which are to prevail for a\ntime upon the resuscitation of the Empire. These are plainly indicated\nfor us in Revelation 17. The apostle sees a woman sitting on the\nseven-headed and ten-horned beast. The woman is gorgeously arrayed,\nholds in her hand a golden cup full of abominations, and is drunken with\nthe blood of the saints. Her name, written on her forehead, is\n\n\n\"Mystery, Babylon the Great,\"\n\n\"the mother of the harlots and of the abominations of the earth\" (vv.\n3-6). The woman is symbolically described as the city of Rome (v. 18),\nand that leads on to a second mention of Babylon, in chapter 18, and a\nnew description. Now to the description of the woman in chapter 17\nnothing more closely corresponds than the Papacy. But if the Babylon of\nchapter 17 is to be identified with that of chapter 18, the Papacy\nanswers to the whole description only to a limited extent. While,\nhowever, there is much in common in the two descriptions in these\nchapters, yet the two Babylons are possibly to be distinguished. The\nBabylon of chapter 17 is a \"mystery,\" not so that of chapter 18. Again,\nthe destruction of the one is different from that of the other. The\nfirst will be destroyed by the ten kings and their emperor (17. 16), the\nsecond by the direct judgment of God (18. 5, 8, 20); the first as the\nresult of human antagonism, the second by famine, fire and earthquake.\nWe are perhaps, therefore, justified in taking the more limited view in\nconnection with the circumstances of chapter 17. Even so the woman may\nbe regarded as representing the apostate sacerdotal systems which have\nsprung from the Papacy as well as that system itself.\n\nThe position of the woman indicates an exercise of power which is\nvoluntarily supported by the beast. That she sits upon the waters\nimplies her religious dominion over the nations; that she is carried by\nthe beast, who rules over the nations politically, implies that there\nwill be a complete alliance between her and the ten kings with their\nchief, and that the sphere of her influence will be co-extensive with\nthe dominions of the beast.\n\n\nThe Papacy: Its Present Power.\n\nNow though the Papacy lost its temporal power in 1870, it is far from\nhaving lost its political influence. Ecclesiastically, too, though it\nhas received various set-backs, it is manifestly gaining power. This is\nespecially observable, for example, in Britain, the overthrow of which\nas a Protestant Power is undoubtedly the object of the persistent\naggressiveness of Romanism. This aggressiveness is manifest in all the\ndominions of the British Empire, as well as in other lands.\n\nAgain, while certain governments have of late shaken off the\necclesiastical yoke, and infidelity has spread among the people of Roman\nCatholic lands, the number of Roman Catholics has increased with great\nrapidity. They were estimated at somewhat over 200,000,000 twenty years\nago, they are now said to number about 300,000,000.\n\nIndications are not wanting of a tendency towards\n\n\nA Reunion of Christendom,\n\nwhich would be facilitated by a willingness on the part of the Papacy to\nadapt itself to the impulse of the time.\n\nPresent events, therefore, point to a great renewal of Papal power\ninvolving the fulfilment of the prophecy relating to the woman and the\nbeast that carries her. This renewed alliance between the political and\nthe ecclesiastical powers will, however, be of brief duration. The\nsuccessful efforts of governments in recent times to liberate themselves\nfrom Papal authority, as in the case of France and Portugal, are but\nforeshadowings of the eventual entire destruction of ecclesiasticism and\nsacerdotalism under the revived Roman Empire. \"The ten horns ... and the\nbeast, these shall hate the harlot, and shall make her desolate and\nnaked, and shall eat her flesh, and shall burn her utterly with fire\"\n(Rev. 17. 16). Thus it would seem that, when at the very zenith of its\npower and ambition, the Papacy, at the head of amalgamated Christendom,\nwill suddenly meet its doom.\n\n\nThe Doom of Religious Babylon.\n\nIts accumulated wealth would probably be an incentive in determining the\nten kings to take this step, owing possibly to the impoverishment of\ntheir kingdoms as a result of wars and political and social upheavals.\nAn additional cause will doubtless be the widespread spirit of\nantagonism against all religion.\n\nSubmission to the Papal yoke has invariably had an aftermath of\ninfidelity; similarly the temporary subservience of the beast to the\nwoman will issue in the casting off of all religious restraint and in\nthe universal acknowledgment of the presumptuous claims of the\nworld-ruler.\n\n\nSatanic Authority of the Emperor.\n\nThe authority of this final emperor of the Roman kingdom will be\nSatanic. \"The dragon gave him his power, and his throne, and great\nauthority\" (Rev. 13. 2); \"the beast ... was, and is not; and is about to\ncome up out of the abyss, and to go into perdition\" (Rev. 17. 8). This\nimplies that he has been on the earth in the past. The same thing is\nindicated in the interpretation of the seven heads. Topographically they\nare described as seven mountains, personally as seven kings (v. 9). Of\nthese, five had fallen, the sixth was in power in John's time, the\nseventh had not then come (v. 10). The beast (clearly here symbolising,\nnot a kingdom, but a person) would be an eighth, and yet would be of the\nseven (v. 11). These heads have been regarded by some as forms of\ngovernment, by others as empires, or again, as emperors. There seems to\nbe no reason why they are not to be regarded as emperors, though\ndoubtless their empires are in view, as being associated with them.\nAccordingly, the fact that the eighth is also one of the seven indicates\nhis reappearance on the scene. Various suggestions have been made as to\nhis identification, but this must remain uncertain until his advent.\nWith him the ten kings for a time receive authority (v. 12),\nsubsequently handing it over to him with their kingdom (v. 17), but not\nbefore they have together with him crushed the great religious system\nsymbolised by the woman (v. 16). His stupendous power and brilliant\nabilities, the evidence of his superhuman origin, his phenomenal\ncapacity for organisation, and the consolidation of the empire under his\nabsolute control will cause the whole world to marvel at him (Rev. 13.\n3; 17. 8). To the world, in its divinely inflicted and therefore\nretributive delusion, he will appear like a god who has come to deliver\nfrom woe, and to introduce the long-looked-for age of peace and\nprosperity. Wonder will be succeeded by worship, both of the man and of\nSatan. \"They worshipped the dragon, because he gave his authority unto\nthe beast; and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the\nbeast? and who is able to war with him?\" (13. 4).\n\nThe world is now in course of rapid preparation for all this:\n\n\nThe \"Superman\"\n\nhas of late become a much discussed topic in various classes of society\nand in the press, and the idea is supported by the theories of\nevolution which are receiving increasingly wide acceptance. A spirit of\nexpectancy is being thus aroused which will undoubtedly facilitate the\nrecognition of the man himself at his advent, and the acknowledgment of\nhis claims to divine honour. But this will involve the worship of Satan,\nand to this end the effective agency of\n\n\nSpiritism\n\nhas been long at work. Spiritism leads to devil worship. It must do so;\nits energising power is Satan himself. Both spiritism and theosophy, and\nsimilar forms of error, all of which are rapidly on the increase to-day,\nare paving the way for world-wide worship of the dragon.\n\nThe imperial power and worship of this emperor will be promoted by\nanother potentate similarly energised by Satan. This latter is the\nsecond beast, described in Revelation 13. 11-end. Later on in the book\nhe is called\n\n\nThe False Prophet\n\n(Rev. 16. 13; 19. 20; 20. 10), indicating that his activities are\nchiefly of a religious character, and perhaps that he will be more\nclosely connected with Jewish affairs. He will make \"the earth and them\nthat dwell therein worship the beast,\" the emperor of the ten kingdoms\n(13. 11), deceiving the world by supernatural signs wrought in the\npresence of the first beast (v. 12), and enforcing the worship of his\nimage (v. 15), the abomination of desolation set up in the temple at\nJerusalem (Matt. 24. 15). With the worship of an image the times of the\nGentiles began (Dan. 3. 1), and with similar idolatry they will end. In\nthe days of the early Roman emperors their deification was celebrated by\nthe adoration of their images. Then, as formerly under Nebuchadnezzar,\nthose who refused to worship suffered death. So will it be under the\nfinal emperor and his colleague.\n\nVarious opinions are held regarding these two beasts of Revelation 13,\nas to which is the Man of Sin spoken of by Paul in 2 Thessalonians 2,\nwhich the Antichrist mentioned in John's Epistles, and which of the two\nis the wilful king described in Daniel 11. Limitations of space preclude\nour entering into the subject in detail here. The present writer holds\nthe view that all three are the same person, and that they are also the\nsame as the horn in Daniel 7. 8, 11, and as the first beast of\nRevelation 13, and that these are all different descriptions of the\nfinal head of the revived Empire. The Old Testament passages somewhat\nbriefly announce the arising of this world-wide ruler; the New Testament\npassages unfold and expand the preceding predictions concerning him,\namong the additional details given in the New Testament being the fact\nthat he is to have a prophet who will assiduously support his claim to\ndeity and his administration. It is the world-emperor, and not his\nprophet, who is to be worshipped, and who therefore proclaims himself as\nGod (2 Thess. 2. 4). His prophet, the second beast of Revelation 13, in\nthe exercise of all the power of the first, will cause the world to\nworship him (13. 12). As his prophet and prime minister he would not\nhimself endeavour to usurp the position of him whose avowed deity he\nseeks to support.\n\nThe similarity of the details in the above-mentioned passages indicates\nthat the same person is in view in each case. His blasphemies, for\ninstance, and his assumption of deity are mentioned in Daniel 7. 25; 11.\n36, 37; 2 Thessalonians 2. 3, 4, and Revelation 13. 5, 6, and his war\nwith the saints in Daniel 7. 21, 25 and Revelation 13. 7. Further, the\nblasphemous proclamation of himself as God is consistent with what is\nsaid in John's Epistles concerning the Antichrist. For in his\nself-deification he is directly \"antagonistic to Christ,\" he denies that\nJesus is the Christ, and therefore denies the Father and the Son (1 John\n2. 22).\n\nThe two potentates will establish not only a universal religion, but\nalso a\n\n\nUniversal System of Commerce.\n\nThe second beast \"causeth all, the small and the great, and the rich and\nthe poor, and the free and the bond, that there be given them a mark on\ntheir hand, or upon their forehead; and that no man should be able to\nbuy or to sell, save he that hath the mark, even the name of the beast\nor the number of his name\" (Rev. 13. 16, 17). This indicates a\nworld-wide protectionist system, such a system as, for instance, might\nconceivably be established under some form of syndicalism. Undeniably,\ncircumstances in the industrial world to-day manifest an increasing\ntendency in this direction. The principles previously mentioned, as now\nmaking for industrial and international revolution, and the present\nstupendous movements towards amalgamation, are clearly preparing for\nthe fulfilment of this prophecy by facilitating the eventual\nestablishment of the unrighteous commercial system of the reconstituted\nEmpire.\n\n[Illustration: Palestine, to illustrate Psalm 29.]\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VI.\n\nTHE EVERLASTING KINGDOM.\n\n\nWe have now to consider the dealings of the two beasts, the final Roman\nemperor and his false prophet, with\n\n\nThe Jews.\n\nWith the Romans the Jews joined in the death of Christ, and with the\nrulers of this fourth empire they will be in agreement for a time at the\nclose of their long course of apostasy. This was especially made known\nto Daniel in the prophecy of\n\n\nThe Seventy Weeks\n\n(Dan. 9). These weeks (lit., _hebdomads_, or periods of seven, _i.e._,\nseven years each) had been divinely decreed (or \"cut off,\" _i.e._, from\nthe period of \"the times of the Gentiles\") upon his people and his city.\nFrom the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build\nJerusalem unto the Anointed One (the Messiah), the Prince, would be\nseven weeks and threescore and two weeks. After this the Anointed One\nwould be cut off, and would have nothing (Dan. 9. 24-26). This period is\n69 times 7, or 483 years, and to the very day this was the period\ncommencing with the command of Artaxerxes Longimanus, King of Persia,\nfor the restoration of Jerusalem (Neh. 2. 1-9), and ending with the\ntriumphal entry of Christ into the city (Matt. 21. 1-11).[B] Four days\nlater He was crucified, \"the Anointed One was cut off and had nothing,\"\n_i.e._, He did not enter then upon His Messianic kingdom. The prophecy\npredicted that the people of the prince (lit., \"a prince\") that would\ncome would destroy the city and the sanctuary. That took place in A.D.\n70, under Titus Vespasianus. But Titus is not \"the prince that shall\ncome.\" This, apart from other considerations, is clear from what\nfollows: \"And his (the prince's) end shall be with a flood (or rather,\n'in the overflowing,' _i.e._, of the wrath of God),\" a prediction at\nonce inapplicable to Titus. The mention of\n\n\nThe Last \"Week\"\n\nis deferred, indicating an interval between the sixty-ninth and the\nseventieth. Now the events predicted for the seventieth had no\nhistorical fulfilment immediately after the sixty-ninth. The one,\ntherefore, did not follow the other consecutively. At the commencement\nof the intervening period the Jews were scattered from their land. At\nthe seventieth they will have been restored, and the events of that week\nconcern \"the prince that shall come,\" the last world-emperor, and his\ndealings with them. \"He shall make a firm covenant with many (lit., 'the\nmany,' _i.e._, the great majority of the nation) for one week\" (v. 27).\nThis covenant is described in Isaiah's prophecies as a \"covenant with\ndeath\" and an \"agreement with Hell.\" The covenant, he says, \"shall be\ndisannulled,\" and the agreement \"shall not stand; when the overflowing\nscourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it\" (Isa.\n28. 18). That this refers to a time yet future and not to past\nIsraelitic history may be gathered from verse 22, where the theme and\nthe language are similar to those of the passage in Daniel now under\nconsideration. Daniel tells us the mode of the disannulling. \"In the\nmidst of the week (R.V., margin) he shall cause the sacrifice and\noblation to cease.\" Accordingly after three and a half years the\nAntichrist, manifesting his real character, will prove himself a traitor\nand break the covenant, and thus Isaiah's prediction will be fulfilled.\n\n  [B] See \"The Coming Prince,\" by Sir Robert Anderson. Price, 5/.\n\nApparently at the very time when he thus breaks his league with the Jews\nthe Antichrist will determine upon his public deification and the\nestablishment of his worship in the Temple. For he it is who \"opposeth\nand exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is\nworshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the Temple of God, showing\nhimself that he is God\" (2 Thess. 2. 4). This, with the setting up of\nhis image, will doubtless be the fulfilment of the prophecies recorded\nby Daniel, that \"upon the wing (or pinnacle) of abominations shall come\none that maketh desolate\" (Dan. 9. 27, cp. 11. 31 and 12. 11), and \"they\nshall profane the sanctuary, even the fortress, and shall take away the\ncontinual burnt offering, and they shall set up the abomination that\nmaketh desolate\" (11. 31, cp. 12. 11); a fulfilment also of the Lord's\nprediction that \"the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of by\nDaniel the prophet,\" will \"stand in the holy place\" (Matt. 24. 15). In\nthe establishment of this blasphemous worship of the emperor, the false\nprophet will play a prominent part, as we have seen from the latter part\nof Revelation 13.\n\nThe many references to the desolator and the desolations are indicative\nof the\n\n\nFierce Persecution\n\nwhich will follow. This will be at first directed against \"the remnant,\"\nthe large numbers of Jews who will repudiate allegiance to the beast and\nto the false prophet, many doubtless having been converted to their\ncoming Messiah through the testimony of two witnesses who will be sent\nfrom God to the nation. \"They shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and\nthreescore days, clothed in sackcloth\" (Rev. 11. 3-13). The success of\ntheir ministry will apparently arouse the bitter antagonism of Satan and\nhis human instruments. The breaking of the covenant with the people as a\nwhole indicates that an effort will also be made to crush the entire\nnation. Thus the latter half of the seventieth week will be the time of\n\"Jacob's trouble,\" \"a time of trouble, such as never was since there was\na nation even to that same time\" (Dan. 12. 1), though the unprecedented\ntribulation will not be confined to the Jews only.\n\n\nArmageddon and After.\n\nThe bitter antagonism of the man of sin, and his colleague, the false\nprophet, against God and His people will culminate in the gathering\ntogether of all the forces of the Empire in Palestine in final conflict\nfor the complete domination of the world. This tremendous event is thus\nindicated by the apostle John: \"And I saw coming out of the mouth of the\ndragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the\nfalse prophet, three unclean spirits, as it were frogs: for they are the\nspirits of devils (correctly, \"demons\"), working signs; which go forth\nunto the kings of the whole world, to gather them together unto the war\nof the great day of God, the Almighty\" (Rev. 16. 13, 14).\n\nIn reality the issue at stake will be the supremacy of Christ or of\nSatan in the earth. The objective will be neither territorial conquest\nnor naval supremacy, nor commercial predominance. The war of the beast\nand the ten kings under him is against the Lamb (Rev. 17. 14). This the\nsecond Psalm had foretold: \"Why do the nations rage, and the peoples\nimagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the\nrulers take counsel together against the Lord, and against His Anointed,\nsaying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from\nus.\" The issue is not uncertain: \"He that sitteth in the Heavens shall\nlaugh: the Lord shall have them in derision.\"\n\n\nThe Scene of the Conflict\n\nis Har-Magedon, commonly known as Armageddon (Rev. 16. 16). The name,\nwhich is associated with Megiddo, a locality famed in Old Testament\nhistory for its decisive battles (Judges 5. 19; 2 Kings 23), doubtless\nstands here for a wider area, stretching, as we shall see, from the\nnorth to the south of the land.\n\nThe combatants, the conflict and its conclusion, are described by John\nin vivid language of terrible grandeur in Revelation 19. 11-21: \"And I\nsaw the Heaven opened; and behold, a white horse, and He that sat\nthereon, called Faithful and True; and in righteousness He doth judge\nand make war. And His eyes are a flame of fire, and upon his head are\nmany diadems; and He hath a name written, which no one knoweth but He\nHimself. And He is arrayed in a garment sprinkled with blood: and His\nname is called the Word of God. And the armies which are in Heaven\nfollowed Him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and pure.\nAnd out of His mouth proceedeth a sharp sword, that with it He should\nsmite the nations: and He shall rule them with a rod of iron: and He\ntreadeth the winepress of the fierceness of the wrath of Almighty God.\nAnd He hath on His garment and on His thigh a name written, KING OF\nKINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.\n\n\"And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice,\nsaying to all the birds that fly in mid heaven, Come and be gathered\ntogether unto the great supper of God; that ye may eat the flesh of\nkings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the\nflesh of horses and of them that sit thereon, and the flesh of all men,\nboth free and bond, and small and great.\n\n\"And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies,\ngathered together to make war against Him that sat upon the horse, and\nagainst His army. And the beast was taken, and with him the false\nprophet that wrought the signs in his sight, wherewith he deceived them\nthat had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his\nimage: they twain were cast alive into the lake of fire that burneth\nwith brimstone: and the rest were killed with the sword of Him that sat\nupon the horse, even the sword which came forth out of His mouth: and\nall the birds were filled with their flesh\" (Rev. 19. 11-21). Ezekiel\nsimilarly describes the scene in his prophecy in chapter 30. 17-21.\n\nThus it is that the climax of the world's rebellion against God is to\nmeet its doom. This is the manner of the overthrow of the ten-kingdomed\nempire, the fourth of Daniel's visions. Accordingly, what we have now\nread from Revelation 19 is identical with (1) the falling of the stone\nupon the feet of the image in Nebuchadnezzar's vision, the annihilation\nof all Gentile government (Dan. 2. 45); (2) the consuming of the\ndominion of the fourth beast in Daniel's subsequent vision (Dan. 7. 26);\n(3) the pouring out of God's wrath upon the Antichrist, the desolator\n(Dan. 9. 27); and (4) the coming of the Son of Man on the clouds of\nHeaven with power and great glory (Matt. 24. 30). The great emperor, the\nman of sin, is to be crushed by the Lord Jesus, \"with the breath of His\nmouth,\" and brought to nought \"by the manifestation of His coming\" (2\nThess. 2. 8).\n\nNow this \"manifestation of His coming\" is, to transliterate the Greek\nwords,\n\n\nThe Epiphany of His Parousia.\n\nAn epiphany is, literally, the 'shining forth' of that which has been\nhidden; and the word Parousia is, literally, 'presence' (see margin of\nR.V. and Phil. 2. 12). This latter word is used of the coming of Christ\nto the air for His saints, 'to receive them unto Himself,' and of their\nconsequent presence with Him (1 Thess. 2. 19). They are thus to be \"ever\nwith the Lord\" (1 Thess. 4. 17), and with Him they will come when He\ndescends at His revelation \"from Heaven with the angels of His power in\nflaming fire, rendering vengeance to them that know not God, and to them\nthat obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus\" (2 Thess. 1. 7, 8). The\nsudden bursting forth of His glory thus \"to execute judgment\" (Jude 15)\nwill be the 'Epiphany, or shining forth, of His Parousia,' and by it the\nMan of Sin is to be brought to nought and his empire demolished. He and\nhis false prophet will be \"cast alive into the lake of fire,\" and his\narmies will perish (Rev. 19. 20, 21).\n\nThis is to be the issue of the world's attempts to establish a\nmillennium of its own by schemes of federation and amalgamation. This\nis the upshot of its fancied progress and improvement without God and\nHis Christ.\n\nWe must now see what other Scriptures have to say concerning this scene.\nThe instrument which the Lord uses for the destruction of His foes is a\nsword which proceeds _out of His mouth_; the destruction is described as\nthe treading of the winepress.\n\n\nThe Voice of the Lord.\n\nFirst, as to the instrument. The sword is symbolic of the utterance of\nthe Lord's voice. No material instrument is needed, a word is enough.\nThis is clear from many passages. In the second Psalm the overthrow of\nthe foe is thus described: \"Then shall He _speak_ unto them in His\nwrath, and vex them in His sore displeasure\" (v. 5). Joel prophesies of\nthe same event: \"The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars\nwithdraw their shining: and the Lord _uttereth His voice_ before His\narmy; for His camp is very great; for He is strong that executeth His\nword: for the day of the Lord is great and very terrible; and who can\nabide it?\" (Joel 2. 10, 11; and see 3. 16. With this compare Isa. 11. 4\nand 30. 30-33.) The same voice of judgment is implied in Paul's\nprediction of the doom of the lawless one, that \"the Lord Jesus will\nslay him _with the breath of His mouth_\" (2 Thess. 2. 8). In the same\nconnection we are doubtless to read Psalm 29, the Psalm which describes\nthe terrible majesty and effect of the _voice of the Lord_.\n\nWe must presently dwell more fully upon this Psalm in order to observe\nits application to the circumstances under consideration, and its\nconnection with the passages which describe the judgment of the foe as\n\n\nThe Treading of the Winepress.\n\nThese passages are Isaiah 63. 1-6; Joel 9. 16; Revelation 14. 17-20, and\nthe one already quoted in Revelation 19. It is observable, too, that in\nthe first of these the voice of the Lord is mentioned again, for the\nDeliverer describes Himself as \"I that _speak in righteousness_.\"\n\nWe shall first refer to Revelation 14. 17-20. Two angels appear coming\nforth, the one from the temple in Heaven with a sickle in his hand, the\nother from the altar. The latter calls to the one with the sickle to\ngather \"the clusters of the vine of the earth,\" symbolic of the Man of\nSin and his gathered armies. The angel then casts his sickle into the\nearth, gathers the vintage, and casts it into the winepress of the wrath\nof God. The winepress is \"trodden without the city,\" and \"there came out\nblood from the winepress, even unto the bridles of the horses, as far as\na thousand and six hundred furlongs\" (_i.e._, 200 miles). The great\nemperor and his prophet, and their vast forces, will thus be gathered in\ndense battle array throughout the length of Palestine, Jerusalem being\ntheir objective. Joel calls the scene of the battle \"the Valley of\nDecision.\" \"Come, tread ye,\" says the prophet, \"for the winepress is\nfull, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is great. Multitudes,\nmultitudes in the valley of decision! for the day of the Lord is near in\nthe valley of decision\" (Joel 3. 13, 14). The multitudes are the forces\nof the Man of Sin.\n\nThe first six verses of Isaiah 63 narrate in the form of a dialogue\n\n\nThe Overthrow of the Man of Sin\n\nand his forces. The dialogue is between Messiah the Deliverer and the\nJews. Having just overthrown the foe in the treading of the winepress,\nand the armies of the Empire being destroyed throughout the battle line\nfrom the north of the land to the south, the Messiah, in the fruits of\nHis victory, reveals Himself to His astonished earthly people. In\nwondering admiration they exclaim: \"Who is this that cometh from Edom,\nwith dyed garments from Bozrah? this that is glorious, marching in the\ngreatness of His strength?\" To this their Deliverer answers, \"I that\n_speak in righteousness_, mighty to save.\" The significance of this is\nat once apparent to the reader who calls to mind the various passages\nmentioned above in reference to the voice of the Lord. \"I that speak in\nrighteousness\"--this is the voice uttered before His army (Joel 2. 10),\n\"the sword that proceedeth out of His mouth\" (Rev. 19. 15); the \"breath\nof His mouth,\" by which the Man of Sin is crushed (2 Thess. 2. 8), and\nthe \"voice\" of Psalm 29.\n\nThe people, struck by the appearance of the Victor, next ask: \"Wherefore\nart Thou red in Thine apparel, and Thy garments like him that treadeth\nin the winefat?\" The language is doubtless symbolic. Messiah explains in\nreply how the threatening foes have been crushed: \"I have trodden the\nwinepress alone; and of the peoples there was no man with Me: yea, I\ntrod them in Mine anger, and trampled them in My fury; and their\nlifeblood is sprinkled upon My garments, and I have stained all My\nraiment. For the day of vengeance was in Mine heart, and the year of My\nredeemed is come. And I looked, and there was none to help; and I\nwondered that there was none to uphold: therefore Mine own arm brought\nsalvation unto Me; and My fury, it upheld Me. And I trod down the\npeoples in Mine anger, and made them drunk in My fury, and I poured out\ntheir lifeblood on the earth\" (vv. 3-6). The words of a previous\nprophecy express the joyful recognition of the delivered nation: \"And it\nshall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him,\nand He will save us: this is the Lord; we have waited for Him, we will\nbe glad and rejoice in His salvation\" (Isa. 25. 9).\n\nTurning now to Psalm 29 we find\n\n\nThe Scene of Judgment\n\nstrikingly depicted; the very length of the battle line is indicated, in\nagreement with the later and clearer description in Revelation 20. 14.\nIndeed, the passages which foretell the events of this coming terrible\nday afford a remarkable illustration of the progressive character of the\nrevelations of Scripture. The Psalm is divided into three parts: (1)\nThe first three verses are a call to the saints in Heaven, the \"sons of\nthe mighty,\" to worship the Lord in view of the judgment He is just\nabout to execute for the deliverance of His people the Jews, their land\nand their city. (2) The second part, verses 3-9, describes the actual\njudgment by means of \"the voice of the Lord.\" The psalmist was doubtless\nthinking of a thunderstorm. The Spirit of God was giving prophetic\nutterance concerning a more terrible scene, and the geographical\nlimitations of the Psalm are of prophetic import. The first place\nmentioned is Lebanon, in the north, with its mountain-spur Sirion (vv.\n5, 6). The last place is the wilderness of Kadesh, in the south, the\ncentre of which is Bozrah, in Edom (v. 8), a point of connection with\nIsaiah 63. 1. Now the distance from Sirion to Bozrah, in the wilderness\nof Kadesh, is 200 miles, and this is the 1600 furlongs of Revelation\n14.20. Here, then, in one fell stroke of divine wrath the Man of Sin and\nhis forces are overthrown, and the Jews are delivered. The later\nrevelations of Scripture thus enable us to pass from the natural and\nphysical setting of the Psalm to the veiled reality. Thus this portion\nof the Psalm is to be read in connection with the passage from\nRevelation 19 quoted above. (3) The last two verses describe the results\nof the conquest.\n\n\nThe Jews in their Extremity\n\nwere threatened with annihilation. But man's extremity is God's\nopportunity. The people now see their Deliverer in person, they \"look on\nHim whom they pierced.\" They realise that their enemies were destroyed\nbecause \"the Lord sat as King at the flood.\" And now \"the Lord sitteth\nas King for ever.\" He whose right it is to reign has come to Zion. Hence\nthe psalmist can next say: \"The Lord will give strength unto His people;\nthe Lord will bless His people with peace.\" Armageddon is over, the\nwinepress of God's wrath has been trodden, and the war against the Lamb\nis ended. Psalm 30 follows on with the people's song of praise for\ndeliverance.\n\nThe judgments of God in the earth will be accompanied by\n\n\nSeismic Disturbances,\n\nincluding \"a great earthquake such as was not since there were men upon\nthe earth,\" the overthrow of the cities of the nations, and the\ndisplacement of islands and mountains (Rev. 16. 18-21). Then doubtless\nwill be fulfilled the prophecy of Zechariah, that in the day when the\nLord goes forth to fight against the nations that are gathered against\nJerusalem, His feet will stand upon the Mount of Olives, and the\nmountain will be divided, leaving a very great valley east of the city\n(Zech. 14. 1-5).\n\n\nThe Everlasting Kingdom.\n\nIn this tremendous intervention in the affairs of the world for the\ntermination of Gentile dominion the Son of God will be accompanied by\nall His saints. He will come \"to be glorified in His saints, and to be\nmarvelled at in all them that believed\" (2 Thess. 1. 10). So from\nearliest times Enoch had prophesied: \"Behold, the Lord came with His\nholy myriads, to execute judgment upon all\" (Jude 14, 15, margin). And\nZechariah: \"The Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with Thee\"\n(14. 5). They are to take an active part in the inauguration of His\nKingdom, and in its government. For \"the saints of the Most High shall\nreceive the Kingdom, and possess the Kingdom for ever, even for ever and\never\" (Dan. 7. 18). \"The Kingdom and the dominion, and the greatness of\nthe Kingdoms under the whole Heaven, shall be given to the people of the\nsaints of the Most High\" (v. 27).\n\nThen shall the Lord \"be King over all the earth\" (Zech. 14. 9). God's\nclaims will be vindicated. His Christ will reign as King of\nRighteousness, and King of Peace, the centre of His government being the\nvery place where once He was despised and rejected, and men cast Him out\nand crucified Him. Of the increase of His government and of peace there\nshall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon His Kingdom, to\nestablish it, and to uphold it with judgment and with righteousness from\nhenceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts shall perform\nthis (Isa. 9. 7). His saints \"shall be priests of God and of Christ, and\nshall reign with Him a thousand years\" (Rev. 20. 6). Then will be\nfulfilled the words of the Lord, \"I am returned unto Zion, and will\ndwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and Jerusalem shall be called the city\nof truth; and the mountain of the Lord of hosts the holy mountain\"\n(Zech. 8. 3). The days of Israel's mourning will be ended, the nation\nwill be a \"crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem\nin the hand of her God,\" and Jerusalem will be a praise in the earth\n(Isa. 60. 30; 62. 3, 7). \"The Heavens shall rejoice and the earth be\nglad,\" and \"the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the\nwaters cover the sea\" (Psa. 96. 11; Isa. 11. 9). According to God's\nEternal Counsel the despised Nazarene will yet be manifested and\nacknowledged by all as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.\n\n              \"To Him be glory for ever and ever,\n\n                             AMEN.\"\n\n\n\n\nINDEX.\n\n\n                               PAGE\n\n  Adrian, 62\n\n  Alaric, 37, 38\n\n  Alexander the Great, 19\n\n  Alliance of Social Democracy, 71, 63\n\n  Alsace and Lorraine, 66\n\n  Antichrist, 85, 87, 91, 96\n\n  Antiochus Epiphanes, 20, 21, 64\n\n  Antiochus the Great, 19\n\n  Armageddon, 93\n\n  Attila, 39, 40\n\n\n  Babylon, 73\n\n  Bagdad, 46, 47\n\n  Balkan Peninsula, 46, 53\n\n  Barnabas, Epistle of 32\n\n  Beast, Twofold Symbolism of, 35, 36\n\n  Britain, 23, 39, 53, 62\n\n  British Empire, 67, 68\n\n  Bulgaria, 53\n\n  Byzantine Empire, 46, 57\n\n\n  Caesar Augustus, 14, 22, 25, 37\n\n  Carthage, 16, 17, 18, 40\n\n  Chaldean Empire, 12, 55, 60\n\n  Charlemagne, 58, 60\n\n  Christendom, Reunion of, 80\n\n  Commercial System, 87\n\n  Comparisons of Symbols in Daniel and Revelation, 29\n\n  Constantine, 26\n\n  Constantinople, 26, 27, 40, 44, 45, 46, 58\n\n  Crimean War, 52\n\n  Crusades, 47\n\n  Cyprus, 53\n\n  Cyril, 33\n\n\n  Democracy, 75, 76\n\n  Diocletian, 26\n\n\n  Early Christian Writers, 32-34\n\n  Eastern Half of Empire Overthrown, 44\n\n  European Federation, 69\n\n\n  False Prophet, 84\n\n\n  Genseric, 39, 40\n\n  German Influence, 53\n\n  Germanic Tribes, 37-41, 56\n\n  Grecian Empire, 19, 63, 65\n\n  Grecian Empire Divided, 64\n\n  Greece, 19, 20, 52, 53, 65\n\n\n  Hannibal, 18\n\n  Hippolytus, 33\n\n  Hungary, 40, 49, 52, 66\n\n  Huns, 39\n\n\n  International Working Men's Association, 71\n\n  Ireland, 67\n\n  Irenaeus, 32\n\n  Iron and Clay, 25, 74\n\n\n  Jerome, 33\n\n  Jews, 22, 54, 55, 56, 62, 68\n\n  Judaea Subdued by Romans, 23\n\n  Julius Caesar, 22\n\n  Justinian, 58\n\n\n  Khaliphs, 45, 47\n\n  Kosovo, Battle of, 49\n\n\n  Lactantius, 33\n\n\n  Magnesia, Battle of, 19\n\n  Man of Sin, 85, 100\n\n  Medes and Persians, 13, 55, 60\n\n  Megiddo, 94\n\n  Mithradates, 21\n\n  Mohammed, 45, 46\n\n  Mohammed II., 49\n\n\n  Napoleon, 72\n\n  Navarino, Battle of, 52\n\n  Nebuchadnezzar, 9, 11, 75, 96\n\n  Northern Limits of Empire, 41\n\n\n  Odoacer, 41\n\n  Omar, 45\n\n  Osman, 48\n\n  Ottoman Empire, 48\n\n\n  Palestine, 20, 21, 54, 56\n\n  Papacy, 79\n\n  Parousia, The Epiphany of, 97\n\n  Psalm 29, 102\n\n  Pydna, Battle of, 20, 21\n\n\n  Roman Emperor, The Final, 67, 68, 77, 82, 89\n\n  Roman Empire--Decline of, 51\n    Extended in Final Form, 60\n    Final Destruction of, 30, 32, 60, 96\n    Still in Power at Close of Present Age, 14, 30, 56\n    Tenfold Division of, 27-34\n    Twofold Division of, 35\n\n  Roman Influence Continued, 56-58\n\n  Roumania, 52, 53\n\n\n  San Stefano Treaty, 53\n\n  Saracens, 45, 47, 55, 63\n\n  Scotland, 67\n\n  Sea Symbolic of National Unrest, 72\n\n  Serbia, 52, 53\n\n  Seventy Weeks, 88\n\n  Slavery Under the Romans, 23\n\n  Spiritism, 84\n\n  Superman, 83\n\n\n  Ten Kingdoms Foretold, 27-34\n    Not Formed in West, 42\n\n  Tertullian, 33\n\n  Theodoret, 34\n\n  Times and Seasons, 10\n\n  Titus, 40, 89\n\n  Tongrol Bek, 47\n\n  Trajan, 23\n\n  Trentino, 66\n\n  Tribulation, The, 92\n\n  Tripoli, 53\n\n  Turkish Empire, 44\n\n  Turkish Empire, Downfall of, 63\n\n  Turks, 46, 55, 63\n\n  Turks and Mohammedanism, 47, 50\n\n\n  United States, 67, 76\n\n\n  Valens, 26\n\n  Vandals, 38, 40\n\n  Valentinian, 26, 37\n\n  Voice of the Lord, The, 98, 101\n\n\n  Western Half of Empire Overthrown, 37-41\n\n  Winepress, The, 99, 104\n\n\n  Zama, Battle of, 18\n\n\n\n\nDemy 8vo, 308 pages clear type, strong dark cloth, gold title, 4/ net\n(4/6, or $1.12, post free).\n\nTHE EPISTLES TO THE THESSALONIANS\n\nWith Notes Exegetical and Expository.\n\nBy C. F. HOGG and W. E. VINE, M.A.\n\nWith Index to Subjects, Texts, and Greek Words.\n\n                *       *       *       *       *\n\n_A few out of very many favourable notices:_\n\n\"The authors have seen clearly the great difference between the\n_parousia_ and the _epiphaneia_, and thus set forth, so much and so\nclearly, the great Hope of the Church.\"--Lord BLYTHSWOOD.\n\n\"I greatly value such a book for the definiteness and prominence with\nwhich it unfolds the great truth of the Lord's return as a present\nhope--not a theory, nor yet a mere doctrine, but a blessed and glorious\nhope.\"--Sir ROBERT ANDERSON, K.C.B., LL.D., London.\n\n\"The notes are brief, clear, full, and suggestive. It supplies a felt\nwant between such volumes as the International Critical and the ordinary\ndevotional expositions.\"--JAS. F. ARTHUR, Theological Tutor, B.T.I.,\nGlasgow.\n\n\"These notes are admirable. The authors disclaim having written for\nscholars, but as scholars, I may say, they write for Christians, but for\nChristians as Bible students and serious ones.\"--GEO. F. TRENCH, B.A.,\nDublin.\n\n\"The book is one of such permanent value and wide scholarship. I hope it\nwill be the first and not the last.\"--H. M. BLEBY, B.A., Dudley.\n\n\"Should certainly find a place in the library of all Christians who\ndesire to study this portion of God's Word.\"--L. W. G. ALEXANDER.\n\n\nPICKERING & INGLIS, 14 Paternoster Row, London, E.C.4.\n\n229 Bothwell Street, Glasgow; 75 Princes Street, Edinburgh.\n\nAnd through most Booksellers.\n\n                *       *       *       *       *\n\nTranscriber's note:\n\n1. The footnote at the end of page 74 reads:\n\nSee \"The Epistles to the Thessalonians, with Notes Exegetical and\nExpository,\" by C. F. Hogg and W. E. Vine, note _c._ pp. 259, 260.\n(Glasgow: Pickering & Inglis. 3/9, p.f.)\n\n\nThe _c._ is unclear.\n\n\n2. The footnote at the end of page 89 reads:\n\nSee \"The Coming Prince,\" by Sir Robert Anderson. Price, 5/.\n\n\nThe 5 in 5/ is unclear.\n\n\n3. Spelling, hyphenation and punctuation are left as in the original.","title":"The Roman Empire in the Light of Prophecy: The Rise, Progress, and End of the Fourth World-empire","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":21406}