THE SMITING OF THE IMAGE.
By J. H. W.
Dan. ii, 34, 35 says that when the stone smote the image on the feet, "then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver and the gold, broken to pieces together." On this the following argument has been raised: The four parts of the image are four great kingdoms on the earth existing successively. The first gave place to the second, the second to the third, and so on. Therefore they cannot be broken to pieces together unless the various parts are restored and exist together; and therefore the smiting cannot take place till after the 1000 years of Rev. xx, when all the individuals of all the nations will be raised from the dead and destroyed together. I must express my surprise that any of the readers of the REVIEW should adopt such a view; and I hope the expression may lead them in the future to a more careful examination of the reasons of our faith. Abundant reasons have been given to its readers why181the above conclusion cannot be correct. Notice the following points: 1. Each of the parts of the image is a symbol of a universal monarchy; but they can no more be raised from the dead and bear rule contemporaneously than they can bear the same rule in the same manner at the present time. That is, it can never be possible for Babylon, Persia, Greece and Rome, each to have universal dominion at the same time; for two or more universal rulers cannot rule together. Therefore when they all exist together, whether in the present or future, the first three must exist without dominion, and the fourth must possess it alone. 2. The fourth or iron part of the image with the toes (divisions) is identical with the dreadful and terrible beast with ten horns, in Dan. vii, 7. 3. The rise of "another little horn" denotes the change from pagan to papal rule in Rome, and is the same as the rise of the beast of Rev. xiii, 1–10. 4. The beast of Rev. xiii, and the little horn of Dan. vii, are the same as the "man of sin," or "that wicked" that will be destroyed at the coming of Christ. 2 Thess. ii. These admitted facts show that the fourth beast of Dan. vii will be destroyed at the coming of Christ. But the four beasts of Dan. vii are the same as the four parts of the image of chap. ii; and as the various parts of the image are destroyed together, it follows that the four beasts will be destroyed together, and as the fourth will be destroyed at the coming of Christ the others must also be destroyed at that time. The power or dominion has left the head of gold, the silver, and the brass, and has descended to the iron and clay, or divisions of the Roman empire. There is therefore a peculiar fitness in saying the image will be smitten on the feet at the coming of Christ as the power of the whole image will be concentrated there. Then the question arises, (which indeed involves all the apparent difficulty,) Can the whole image exist and the power be confined to the feet? A clear solution of this is given in Dan. vii. The little horn prevailed against the saints till judgment was given to them; [verses 21, 22;] thus the beast retains the dominion until the coming of Christ, "but as for the rest of the beasts their dominion was taken away, BUT THEIR LIVES WERE PROLONGED for a season and a time." Verse 12. Thus it is shown that they continue to live after their dominion is taken away; and that they are all destroyed at one time; to wit, at the coming of Christ. And inasmuch as their lives are not taken away when their dominion is, but they continue to live, this text affords direct proof that a resurrection from the dead is positively impossible in the fulfillment of this scripture; and therefore it cannot refer to the destruction of the wicked at the end of the one thousand years of Rev. xx.