LESSONS FOR BIBLE CLASSES.
By G. H. Bell
LESSON II.—ADDITIONAL FACTS AND DATES.
1. What do we learn from Dan. 2:39 in regard to the dominion of the Grecian kingdom? 2. What statement does Cyrus make in 2 Chron. 36:23 in regard to the extent of his dominion? 3. Of what is the leopard a fit symbol? Dan. 7:6. 4. What are the four heads supposed to denote? 5. How is the same thing symbolized in the eighth chapter? 6. Name these four kingdoms. 7. By whom was each ruled? 8. When was Rome founded? 9. When are nations recognized in prophecy? 10. When did Rome conquer Macedon? 11. What is said in regard to the rise of the little horn of the eighth chapter? Dan. 8:9. 12. How does this apply to the Roman kingdom? 13. How did Rome become connected with the people of God? 14. When was this league made? 15. Then when does Rome date in prophecy? 16. What did this league secure to the Jews? 17. Where is it recorded? 18. The Babylonian kingdom proper was founded at what time? 19. When does it date in prophecy? 20. Why does it so date in prophecy? 21. How long did it continue? 22. Give the date of the Medo-Persian kingdom. 23. How long did it continue? 24. When did the reign of Grecia commence? 25. How long did it continue? 26. When did Rome conquer Macedon? 27. When does it date in prophecy? 28. How long did it continue in an undivided state? 29. How long will it continue in a divided state? 30. How is it represented at the present time? In Dan. 2:39 we learn that the third kingdom was to bear rule over all the earth. In 2 Chron. 36:23, Cyrus says that the God of Heaven had given him all the kingdoms of the earth. The leopard with four wings, Dan. 7:6, is a fit emblem of the ease and rapidity with which the Greeks, under Alexander, conquered other nations. The four heads of the leopard are supposed to denote the four leading kingdoms into which Alexander’s empire was divided about fifteen years after his death. The same thing is denoted by the four horns that came up on the head of the goat, in place of the “notable horn” that was broken. These kingdoms were Macedonia, Thrace, Syria, and Egypt; and were ruled, in order, by Cassander, Lysimachus, Seleucus, and Ptolemy, Alexander’s four leading generals. Rome was founded more than seven hundred years before Christ, but nations are not usually recognized in prophecy till, by some act, they become connected with the people of God. Rome conquered Macedon B. C. 168, and so it was said to come up out of one of the horns of the goat; for, as we have seen, one of the horns represented Macedon. The Romans entered into a league with the Jews B. C. 161, and thus became connected with the people of God. The Roman kingdom therefore dates in prophecy from this time. This league secured to the Jews the protection of the Romans. See 1 Maccabees 8; Josephus’s Antiq., 6. xii., c. x., sec. 6; xc. The Babylonian kingdom proper was founded B. C. 747, and became connected with the people of God B. C. 677 by the capture of Manasseh, king of Judah. In prophecy, then, it dates B. C. 677. It continued till B. C. 538, a period of 139 years. Medo-Persia continued from B. C. 538 to B. C. 331,—207 years. Grecia continued from B. C. 331 to B. C. 161,—170 years. Rome, in its undivided state, from B. C. 161 to A. D. 483,—644 years. In its divided state, Rome has continued from A. D. 483 to the present time, almost 1400 years, and is so to continue till the coming of our Lord, being represented by nations that are under the influence of the papal religion. G. H. BELL.