The Four Horns of the Goat.
By Editor
CORRESPONDENT. 1. What authority have we for saying that four of Alexander's generals are represented by the heads of the leopard when there were six? ANSWER. The four heads of the leopard represent the four divisions of which the Grecian empire consisted after the death of Alexander. It is a well known fact that four of his generals, namely, Cassander, Lysimachus, Ptolemy and Seleucus, did after a time divide the whole empire between them. What is meant by the expression, "there were six," we hardly understand. Alexander at the time of his death had many generals, and "the governments of the empire" were at first divided among those, they being for a while contented with the name of governors. But, says Prideaux, "they all fell to leaguing and making war against each other, till thereby they were, after some years, all destroyed to four." These four were those above mentioned, who then divided the whole empire between them. C. 2. In what sense was dominion given to it (them) when history appears to prove that dominion was taken from it (them.) ANS. How could dominion be taken from any government, if it had not previously received it? The question refutes itself by saying that history proves that dominion was taken from them; for nothing can be taken from a person that he has not previously possessed. C. 3. How could the little horn be said to come out of one of them, when it came from far to the Northwest of Rome, and came upon all of them. ANS. The little horn is an acknowledged symbol of Rome. The four divisions of the Grecian empire; the four horns of the goat, the four heads of the leopard were the following: "Cassander had Macedon and Greece; Lysimachus, Thrace and those parts of Asia as lay upon the Hellespont and the Bosphorus; Ptolemy, Egypt, Lybia, Arabia, Palestine, and Cœle-Syria; and Seleucus all the rest." Macedon was among the first conquests of Rome. From thence it spread its victorious arms over all the rest. At this point prophecy takes note of it as a little horn, and hence it is said to come out of one of them. C. 4. What objection is there to saying that the four heads of the leopard, or horns of the goat, represented the four conjoint rulers of the Roman empire, that ruled just previous to the imperial sway of Augustus? See Goldsmith's History of Rome, pp. 213, 214. ANS. To this, the wildest of any of the questions propounded, we have only to say that the chief objection is that Inspiration has given an entirely different interpretation of the matter. We see not how any one could propose such a question unless the Bible had been entirely forgotten. We plainly read in Dan. viii, 21, that "the rough goat is the king of Grecia, and the great horn between his eyes is the first king. Now that being broken, whereas four stood up for it, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation but not in his power." The four kings and kingdoms that came up at Alexander's death, we have already mentioned; and, says Prideaux, "hereby the prophecies of Daniel were exactly fulfilled, which foretold that the great horn of the Macedonian empire, that is, Alexander, being broken off, there should arise four other horns, that is four kings out of the same nation, who should divide his empire between them." If the four horns of the goat represent four conjoint rulers of the Roman government, the goat must symbolize Rome; but the angel tells us that the goat is Grecia; and we find Rome symbolized by a little horn, afterwards introduced. If the four heads of the leopard represent four conjoint rulers of the Roman government, the leopard must symbolize Rome; but we find that Rome is symbolized by another beast dreadful and terrible. The symbols of Daniel's prophecy are fixed beyond the possibility of doubt.