The Ten Kingdoms by J.

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Sep 30, 1886

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 12, No. 38.

The Ten Kingdoms.

By J.

WE have now described the origin, traced the course, and marked the establishment, of the ten kingdoms that arose upon the destruction of the Western empire of Rome. The ten as we have found them are the Burgundians, the Vandals, the Suevi, the Visigoths, the Franks, the Alemanni, the Saxons, the Ostrogoths, the Lombards, and the Heruli. Eight of these are designated by Gibbon in a single paragraph; in giving the history of the conversion of the barbarians he says:—

“The formidable Visigoths, universally adopted the religion of the Romans, with whom they maintained a perpetual intercourse, of war, of friendship, or of conquest. In their long and victorious march from the Danube to the Atlantic Ocean, they converted their allies; they educated the rising generation; and the devotion which reigned in the camp of Alaric, or the court of Thoulouse, might edify or disgrace the palaces of Rome and Constantinople. During the same period, Christianity was embraced by almost all the barbarians, who established their kingdoms on the ruins of the Western empire, the Burgundians in Gaul, the Suevi in Spain, the Vandals in Africa, the Ostrogoths in Pannonia, and the various bands of mercenaries [Heruli], that raised Odoacer to the throne of Italy. The Franks and the Saxons still persevered in the errors of Paganism; but the Franks obtained the monarchy of Gaul by their submission to the example of Clovis; and the Saxon conquerors of Britain were reclaimed from their savage superstition by the missionaries of Rome.”—Decline and Fall, chap. 37, par. 18.

In the same chapter, he names another, the Lombards after their removal from the Danube to Italy. He mentions their recent conversion to Christianity, and their final adoption of the Catholic faith instead of Arianism, as follows:—

“Gregory, the spiritual conqueror of Britain, encouraged the pious Theodelinda, queen of the Lombards, to propagate the Nicene faith among the victorious savages, whose recent Christianity was polluted by the Arian heresy. Her devout labors still left room for the industry and success of future missionaries; and many cities of Italy were still disputed by hostile bishops. But the cause of Arianism was gradually suppressed by the weight of truth, of interest, and of example; and the controversy which Egypt had derived from the Platonic school was terminated, after a war of three hundred years, by the final conversion of the Lombards of Italy.”—Id., par. 29.

We have already given his designation of the Alemanni as “a great and permanent nation”—chap. 10, par. 26—a specific title which he has, in form, applied to no other of the barbarian nations.

Assuredly no one can suppose for a moment that Gibbon wrote with any intentional reference to an exposition of the prophecy. Nevertheless we believe that he has given an exposition of it, because he has written the one single authoritative history of the times of the fulfillment of the prophecy, and that history is itself an exposition, and the very best one, of the prophecy in question. Therefore all that we have attempted to do is simply to retrace from his writing, the history of the ten kingdoms as he has named them. We believe that the list which he has given us of the ten kingdoms, is the correct list according to the prophecy. We believe that this list will bear the test of legitimate criticism; and that it is the only list that will bear it. A number of lists have been made of what are proposed as the ten kingdoms. Perhaps it would be well to notice the principal ones, and, where they disagree with the list which we have drawn from Gibbon, show why they are defective. It would not be at all difficult to make up any moderate number of lists of ten names each, and each different from the others, composed of the names of tribes or nations that played some part in the destruction of the Western empire. In fact we have now before us five proposed lists of the ten kingdoms, no two of which are alike. It is not enough, however, to find ten nations which participated in the overthrow of the empire; but did such nations establish kingdoms? Nor is it enough to say that they did establish kingdoms; but did they establish kingdoms within the bounds of the Western empire? Nor yet is it enough to say that they established kingdoms within the bounds of the Western empire; but can these ten nations be found within the period marked by the prophecy? and do all remain that the prophecy demands shall remain?

The fulfillment of prophecy is not hap-hazard. “For the prophecy came not at any time by the will of man; but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” 2 Pet. 1:21 margin. By the word of the prophets God has declared what should be in the “course of empire;” and the history of the course of empire declares, according to the prophecy, what has been. God has spoken and accordingly it must be; and the points of prophecy may be pressed as closely as any just interpretation may demand, and they will not fail, provided the interpreter has all the facts.

In Dan. 2:41, of the fourth kingdom it is said: “Whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters’ clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided.” We have before proved that this division is to be into ten parts, corresponding to the “toes” of the image; because Dan. 7:7, 24, which is the complement of 2:41, says that the fourth beast had ten horns, that the fourth beast is “the fourth kingdom,” and that the ten horns “are ten kings that shall arise.” Further, when the ten horns had appeared Daniel says: “I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots.” Dan. 7:8. Then after the angel had said that these “ten horns” “are ten kings,” he continued: “And another shall arise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.” Verse 24.

From these texts it is clear, (a) that the ten kingdoms first appear; (b) that after that, three of these are “plucked up by the roots,” and (c) that only three are so plucked up. It is evident therefore that the ten are all in sight, before any of the three are “plucked up.” Now the three that were plucked up by the roots were the Heruli, the Vandals, and the Ostrogoths; and the date of the plucking up of the first of the three, is March 5, A. D. 493, and of the last, March, A. D. 538—this will be fully demonstrated when we come to the illustration of Dan. 7:8 itself. Therefore,—

1. Any list purporting to be that of the ten kingdoms, that contains the names of any that never were established within the bounds of the Western empire, cannot be a correct list.

2. Any such list containing the names of any that arose later than A. D. 493, cannot be a correct list.

3. Any such list that contains the names of more than three nations that perished—“were plucked up by the roots”—cannot be a correct list.

To state it in the affirmative form: The ten kingdoms must all be in sight in A. D. 493; they must establish themselves within the bounds of the Western empire; three, and only three, of them must be plucked up by the roots; and the other seven must remain, through their lineal descendants, to the time when all kingdoms shall give place to the kingdom of God. The list of the ten kingdoms that meets these specifications must be the correct list.

Not that the remaining seven must all, always remain equally powerful kingdoms; not that no one of them shall ever be brought low; not that no one shall ever be made tributary to another; not that no one shall ever have to acknowledge the overlordship of another; because in this same prophecy, in the very next verse—Dan. 2:42—we read that, “As the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken”—brittle, margin. That is, part of them shall be strong, and part shall be brittle—easily broken; part of them will retain the strength of iron, while part will show more of the weakness of clay. But though part of them may be weak, though they may even “be broken,” yet they are never plucked up by the roots; for “in the days of these kings shall the God of Heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.” Dan. 2:44. We shall hereafter, in its proper place, sketch the history of these kingdoms from the fall of the Western empire—A. D. 475—through the Middle Ages; we shall now notice some of the lists that have been given as those of the ten kingdoms.

(To be continued.)