THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD AS FORETOLD IN PROPHECY.
By H. J. Farman
THAT the words of prophecy are of divine origin, and not human, may be clearly seen by comparing some of their utterances with historic records, which show their fulfillment even to the very letter; and yet the historical writers had no such thought as that of chronicling history which had been given hundreds of years in advance by prophets. A notable instance of this kind is given in the second chapter of Daniel, where the prophet gives the history of the world in a vivid and concise manner, for more than twenty-five hundred years in advance. About 604 years B.C. Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, dreamed dreams “wherewith his spirit was troubled, and his sleep brake from him.” He, being a heathen king, at once called for the wise men of his kingdom to make known to him the dream and the interpretation thereof, but none were able to make the thing known to him; therefore, a decree went forth to slay all the wise men of Babylon, and Daniel and his fellows were sought for to be slain. See Dan. 2:2–13.406 Daniel then obtained time of the king, and called his three friends together, and they sought God for a knowledge of the secret. “Then was the secret revealed to Daniel in a night vision.” And he was brought before the king, and said, “There is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the King Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days.” And now Daniel begins to tell him what God had shown him: “Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible. This image’s head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, his legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay. Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces.” Verses 31–34. Before us is the dream, and Daniel now proceeds to tell the interpretation thereof: “Thou, O king, art a king of kings; for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory. And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold.” Verses 36–38. By this is plainly stated that the head of gold represented the Babylonian Kingdom, which then ruled over the civilized world, and had been given to Nebuchadnezzar about two years before. The duration of this kingdom was about seventy years, or till 538 B.C., and was followed by another kingdom inferior to it, the Medo-Persian Kingdom, which was fitly represented by the breast and arms of silver. They cared not for the wealth or grandeur of Babylon, but sought to gain other provinces, and continued till 331 B.C. These facts are substantiated by Rawlinson, “Seven Great Monarchies,” and “Rollins’ Ancient History.” Medo-Persia was succeeded by another third kingdom, of brass. This was the Grecian Kingdom, and that continued till B.C. 168, when the iron monarchy of Rome came onto the stage of action. Says Gibbon: “The empire of the Romans filled the world, and when the empire fell into the hands of a single person, the world became a safe and dreary prison for his enemies. . . . To resist was fatal, and it was impossible to fly. . . . And the images of gold, or silver, or brass, that might serve to represent the nations and their kings, were successively broken by the iron monarchy of Rome,” which ruled the world as a united empire till about A.D. 350. Then internal wars began and resulted in a division of the kingdom into ten kingdoms, which were fitly represented by the mixture of iron and clay in the image. This divided state has continued till the present. This division is represented in the seventh chapter of Daniel by the ten horns; and they are still known as the ten kingdoms of Western Rome. “And 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.” This is the next great event in the prophetic drama, and is very near at hand, as is plainly seen from the events that are taking place just now. Reader, are you ready for this grand event, the coming of the Lord Jesus in the clouds of heaven with great power and glory, to gather his people to himself and take vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ? His coming and the destruction of all earthly kingdoms preparatory to the setting up of the everlasting kingdom of God, is set forth in the following words: “Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them; and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.” And “it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.” “The dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure.”