LESSONS FOR BIBLE CLASSES.
By G. H. Bell
THE DIVISION OF THE FOURTH KINGDOM.
1. What was the second thing that Daniel wanted to have explained to him? 2. What does the twenty-fourth verse say of the ten horns? 3. Were these kingdoms to arise one after another, or were they to exist at the same time? 4. What proof can you give that they were to exist at the same time? 5. Then what must they denote? 6. How is this placed beyond a doubt? 7. What is said in that verse about the division of the kingdom? 8. By what is the division of the kingdom denoted in the second chapter? 9. What was to be done in the days of these kings? 10. Describe the kingdom which the God of Heaven was to set up. 11. What must have been meant by the expression, “In the days of these kings”? 12. When did the division of the Roman empire begin? 13. When was it completed? 14. How was this division caused? 15. Name the kingdoms in their order. 16. Which of them were established in A. D. 407? 18. Which was established in 356? 20. What authority have we for these dates and divisions? 21. Was God’s everlasting kingdom set up at the time of the first advent of Christ? 22. How can you prove that it was not set up then? 23. What do some suppose that “The days of these kings” has reference to? 26. If this were true, could it refer to any but the fourth kingdom? 28. Could it apply to the fourth kingdom before it was divided? 30. What view do some take of the kingdom described in Dan. 2:44? 31. Is it true that God has a kingdom of grace on the earth? 32. Does the kingdom of grace break, consume, or destroy the kingdoms of the world? 33. What is to be done by the kingdom described in Dan. 2:44? 34. Does the kingdom of grace do any such work as this? 35. To what conclusion, then, must we come? 36. What kind of kingdom must be meant in Dan. 2:44? 37. Has it been set up yet? The second thing that Daniel wanted to have explained to him was the ten horns on the head of the beast. In the twenty-fourth verse, the angel tells him that the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise. These kings were not to arise one after another, but were to reign at the same time; for it is said in the eighth verse that three of them were to be plucked up by a little horn that was to arise after them. Now this little horn could not pluck up three of them unless they existed at the same time; and since they existed at the same time, they must denote a division of the kingdom into ten parts, or kingdoms. This is placed beyond all doubt by Dan. 2:41, which says that the kingdom shall be divided. The ten toes of the image denote the same division that is denoted by the ten horns. It was in the days of these kings that the God of Heaven was to set up an everlasting kingdom. Dan. 2:44. “In the days of these kings” must mean in the divided state of the Roman kingdom. The division of the Roman empire commenced in A. D. 356, and was completed about A. D. 483. This division was caused by the uprising of the barbarous tribes of the north of Europe. According to good authorities, these kingdoms were established in the following order:— 1. The Huns, in A. D. 356. 2. The Ostrogoths, in A. D. 377. 3. The Visigoths, in A. D. 378. 4. The Franks, in A. D. 407. 5. The Vandals, in A. D. 407. 6. The Suevi, in A. D. 407. 7. The Burgundians, in A. D. 407. 8. The Heruli, in A. D. 476. 9. The Anglo-Saxons, in A. D. 476. 10. The Lombards, in A. D. 483. These dates are furnished by Bishop Lloyd, and the whole is approved by Bishops Newton, Faber, and Dr. Hales. 1. We see by the facts given above that God’s everlasting kingdom could not have been set up at the time of the first advent of Christ; for “The days of these kings” did not commence until nearly 500 years after that time. 2. Some suppose that “The days of these kings” refers to the kings (kingdoms) mentioned in Dan. 7:17; but that cannot be; for only one of them existed at a time, and the kingdom of God was to follow the last of them, after having totally destroyed all earthly rule. Dan. 2:35. It could not have been in the days of any but the last kingdom; for then no room would have been found for those that were to follow. It could not have been in the days of the fourth kingdom before it was divided; for there would then have been no room for its division into ten. 3. But some will say that God’s everlasting kingdom is not a literal kingdom, but a spiritual kingdom,—the kingdom of grace. It is true that God has a kingdom of grace upon the earth; but it does not destroy the kingdoms of this world: they exist and rule as they ever did. But the kingdom described in Dan. 2:44 is to destroy all other kingdoms, so that no place will be found for them. The kingdom of grace does no such work as this, and therefore cannot be the kingdom of Dan. 2:44. That kingdom must be a temporal kingdom, and is yet to be set up.