CANDID students of the New Testament, who are not held in bondage to a church creed, are constrained to admit the entire absence of any inspired testimony for the observance of the first day of the week as the Sabbath. One of the latest witnesses to this fact, patent to all unprejudiced readers, is Professor Stevens, a member of the faculty of the Yale Divinity School, New Haven, Conn. In one of his lectures, Professor Stevens said:—
How much is said in the New Testament concerning the observance of Sunday? There are only three possible references to it. In Acts 20:7 we are told of a meeting that was held on the first day of the week, that might have occurred on any other day of the week. Again in Paul's [first] letter to the Corinthians, the sixteenth chapter, the first and second verses, he commends the laying by in store on the first day of the week for the poor saints at Jerusalem; and in Rev. 1:10, John mentions the Lord's day, which may or may not have been the first day of the week. This is all; and there is absolutely no ground for claiming the Sunday sabbath is a New Testament or apostolic institution. In fact we know that it was not, but that it came in after apostolic times.
Such frank and straightforward statements as these do credit both to the scholarship and the mental honesty of the man who makes them. Only the extreme necessity of attempting to cloak a man-made institution with the semblance of divine authority prevents any reader of the New Testament from coming to the same conclusions. The Roman Catholics, who are willing to rest their case solely upon the authority of the church, do not hesitate to declare that there is no Bible authority whatever for the observance of the Sunday sabbath. With the same Bible before them, Protestants ought to arrive at the same conclusion.
Monarchical Tendencies
THOSE who anticipate that this republic will be transformed in fact, if not in name, into a monarchical government, will regard the various steps in the direction of a centralized power at Washington, as well as the vigorous exercise of that power, as so much evidence in favor of their views. Considerable comment has also been made upon the influence, amounting almost to dictation, of the present chief executive in the selection of the Republican candidate for the presidency. One such paragraph reads thus:
It is said that when a president is permitted to select his own successor, the first step toward the monarchy has been taken; for it is an assault on a basic principle of our form of government that weakens the whole structure. To patriotically refuse to violate a third term tradition, and then place the scepter of power in the hands of his own selection, is looked upon as a dangerous presidential inconsistency.
That there has been a wide departure from that early theory of government in this country when the office was to seek the man, is very evident, and there are certainly indications that this republic, like the republic of Rome, may retain the forms of popular government while in reality it may be an oligarchy if not a monarchy.
Multiplying Contempt
The movement on the part of some of the advanced thinkers among the Jews to conform to the practise of the majority in the observance of Sunday in place of the original Sabbath of the decalogue is one of the signs of the times. Some of the less liberal Jews, however, see the absurdity of such an action in view of the fact that one of the reasons given by the early church fathers for changing the day was in order that they might not “judaize” in any respect. The case is well stated in an article in the Jewish Exponent, from which the following paragraph is taken:—
The Jewish ministers who urge their people to adopt as their sabbath a day which has never had the sanction of either the Old Testament, the New Testament, or any other testament, are placing themselves in a very peculiar position—a position that practically amounts to this assertion: because the early church changed the Sabbath day to show its contempt for the Jews and their institution, the Jews should accept that change to show their contempt for their own religion.
But what about those who made this change to show their contempt for the Jews, in face of the fact that Jesus was a Jew, and that he declared, “Salvation is of the Jews”? In reality the observance of the seventh-day Sabbath honors Christ as the Father’s personal agent both in creation and redemption, while the observance of the first day of the week is a tribute to the power of antichrist. “Choose you this day whom ye will serve.”
Conflict and Victory
By Ellen G. White
MRS. E. G. WHITE
(Concluded)
The Lord desires us to pray much, and to maintain a firm hold on his divine power. His blessings are to be sought, not merely for our own benefit, but for the benefit of our fellow men. In view of the power of our influence for good or for ill, we can not afford to deviate from the right way; for if we do wrong, we may lead some one else astray. “Make straight paths for your feet,” writes the apostle Paul, “lest that which is lame be turned out of the way.” If with clear, sanctified vision, we keep our eyes fixed upon Jesus, and walk by faith, we shall not stumble and fall. By beholding, we shall become changed into the likeness of the divine.
Our Saviour laid aside his royal robe and kingly crown, and left the glories of heaven to come to this world. He clothed his divinity with humanity. He designed that the fallen humanity might touch his humanity, and receive from him power to be partakers of the divine nature, and to overcome the corruption that is in the world through lust. He is our pattern, and I beseech of you, my brethren, to lay hold of the power that is ours through the union of the divine and the human in Christ. He overcame for us, and we may claim his merits. We may plead his power, his virtue. And as we co-operate with him, and live in harmony with his law, he will cleanse our natures from sin, and impart to us his righteousness.
The world is to be warned of the impending judgments of God that precede the second coming of Christ. Those who know the truth should be taught to labor earnestly for their neighbors and friends. Special efforts must be put forth in behalf of those who do not know the truth. As we ourselves learn more and more how to overcome through the blood of the Lamb, and through the word of our testimony, we shall labor to help those who are weak, and who have been unable to overcome.
There are many who have never heard from the Word the reasons for our faith; and yet some of our ministers feel a burden to hover over little companies of believers in an effort to hold them together. The best way to hold them together is to induce them to maintain a living connection with God, and to exert their influence in seeking to draw others to him. It is our work to help others to place their feet upon the right foundation, and to understand their duty through a prayerful study of the Scriptures.
Satan knows that his time is short, and he is putting forth every effort in his power to destroy our faith in God and in his Word. His agencies are following us constantly, seeking to induce us to follow his plans, and to take a wrong course in word and deed. But if we will grasp the power that Christ offers, seeking the Lord diligently, and watching unto prayer, we shall have all power and wisdom to meet the attacks of the enemy.
Many of our people do not seem to realize that the time has come for every one to take his stand positively on the side of Jesus Christ and the heavenly angels. By their indifference, by carelessness in word and act, they leave themselves open to the molding influences of the enemy. They seem asleep as regards the issues that are now before the world.
A View of the Conflict
I wish to read to you the description of a scene that passed before me not many years ago. This is published in “Testimonies for the Church,” Vol. VIII, pages 41-43:—
“In vision I saw two armies in terrible conflict. One army was led by banners bearing the world's insignia; the other was led by the blood-stained banner of Prince Emmanuel. Standard after standard was left to trail in the dust, as company after company of the Lord's army joined the foe, and tribe after tribe from the ranks of the enemy united with the commandment-keeping people of God. An angel flying in the midst of heaven put the standard of Emmanuel into many hands, while a mighty general cried out with a loud voice: ‘Come into line. Let those that are loyal to the commandments of God and the testimony of Christ now take their position. Come out from among them, and be ye seperate, and touch not the unclean, and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and you shall be my sons and daughters. Let all who will come up to the help of the Lord, to the help of the Lord against the mighty.’
“The battle raged. Victory alternated from side to side. Now the soldiers of the cross gave way, ‘as when a standard-bearer fainteth.’ Isa. 10: 18. But their apparent retreat was but to gain a more advantageous position. Shouts of joy were heard. A song of praise to God went up, and angels voices united in the song, as Christ's soldiers planted his banner on the walls of fortresses till then held by the enemy. The Captain of our salvation was ordering the battle, and sending support to his soldiers. His power was mightily displayed, encouraging them to press the battle to the gates. He taught them terrible things in righteousness, as he led them to step by step, conquering and to conquer.
“At last the victory was gained. The army following the banner with the inscription, ‘The commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus,’ was gloriously triumphant. The soldiers of Christ were close beside the gates of the city, and with joy the city received her King. The kingdom of peace and joy and everlasting righteousness was established.
“Now the church is militant. Now we are confronted with a world in midnight darkness, almost wholly given over to idolatry. But the day is coming in which the battle will have been fought, the victory won. The will of God is to be done on earth, as it is done in heaven. Then the nations will own no other law than the law of heaven. All will be a happy, united family; clothed with the garments of praise and thanksgiving,—the robe of Christ's righteousness. All nature, in its surpassing loveliness, will offer to God a constant tribute of praise and adoration. The world will be bathed in the light of heaven. The years will move on in gladness. The light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be sevenfold greater than it is now. Over the scene the morning stars will sing together, and the sons of God will shout for joy, while God and Christ will shout in proclaiming, ‘There shall be no more sin, neither shall there be any more death.’
“This is the scene that is presented to me. But the church must and will fight against seen and unseen foes. Satan's agencies in human form are on the ground. Men have confederated to oppose the Lord of hosts. These confederacies will continue until Christ shall leave his place of intercession before the mercy-seat, and shall put on the garments of vengeance. Satanic agencies are in every city, busily organizing into parties those opposed to the law of God. Professed saints and avowed unbelievers take their stand with these parties. This is no time for the people of God to be weaklings. We can not afford to be off our guard for one moment.
“‘Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may9be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.’”
As I see representations of the terrible conflict that is now waging, and realize that those who are victorious will be with their Lord forevermore, I feel as if I can not spare myself. I must do all I can to help others win the victory and the crown of life. I am now in my eighty-first year, and yet I can not lay down the burden. My pen is in my hand almost constantly, except when I am in attendance at some meeting. I am always glad when I can have the privilege of speaking to a company of people, in the hope that the words I speak will be received, and will exert an influence for good upon life and character.
Since my return from Australia, I have felt a great burden for the work in Oakland. Frequently the Lord has revealed to me, as an indication of unfaithfulness on the part of his people, the little that is being done in our large cities. In the camp-meetings and tent-meetings that have been held in Oakland, I have stood before our own people, and with most earnest entreaties have labored to persuade them to give the truth to those who know it not. But many in our churches say, “We want your labors; we want you to preach to us.” Let those who believe the truth, go out and preach it. Let them practise it before their neighbors. The Lord calls upon you, my brethren, to gain a deep, living experience in the things of God. There are sacrifices that we must make. Shall we let the multitudes who know nothing of the truth, perish in their sins, unwarned? Satan is planning to hold these souls fast. He is seeking to hedge up our opportunities for reaching them. But the God of heaven is also at work in their behalf. As you seek to labor for them, his angels will go before you to prepare their hearts, and the same heavenly agencies will go with you as you visit them, to tell them of the sin-pardoning Saviour.
Who will now carry this burden? In view of the great needs all about us, who can be content to hover over our own churches, neither gaining nor imparting strength? Let those who have a living connection with God, go out and labor for unbelievers. We do not call for those who are half asleep to go in their present condition, but we beseech them to awake, to lay hold of the arm of infinite strength, and then go forth speaking the words of life.
Let us now seek God with all the heart, that we may find him. For your soul's sake, I ask you to resist the devil. The promise is that he will flee from you. Put on the whole armor of righteousness, and press the battle to the gates. Heavenly angels will be with you to minister to your needs. You can speak the words of truth, and they will make an impression upon the heart.
How many of those present will now take a position on the Lord's side, enlisting to fight the good warfare? Ask the Saviour to anoint your eyes with the heavenly eyesalve, that you may have spiritual discernment. Break with the enemy, and come into line with the soldiers of Jesus Christ, and with heavenly angels. Here is a world perishing in sin. I beg of you, for Christ's sake, to work along right lines.
Are there those who will pledge themselves to live a life of prayer, ceasing to find fault, ceasing to criticize their brethren, and striving henceforth to be colaborers with Christ Jesus? There are souls to be saved, and we can not afford to lay stumbling-blocks in one another's way. Now we ask you to seek the Lord with all the heart. Will those who are determined to cut loose from every temptation of the enemy, and to seek for heaven above, signify such determination by rising to their feet. [Nearly all of the congregation present responded.]
We desire that every one of you shall be saved. We desire that for you the gates of the city of God shall swing back on their glittering hinges, and that you, with all the nations who have kept the truth, may enter in. There we shall give praise and thanksgiving and glory to Christ and to the Father evermore, even forever and ever. May God help us to be faithful in his service during the conflict, and overcome at last, and win the crown of life eternal.
[Praying] My Heavenly Father, I come to thee at this time, just as I am, poor and needy, and dependent upon thee. I ask thee to give me and give this people the grace that perfects Christian character. Wilt thou have compassion upon this people? Let thy light shine into the chambers of the mind, and into the soul-temple. My Saviour, thou hast given thy life to purchase thine inheritance, that, as overcomers, they may enter the kingdom of God, where they shall go no more out forever. Bless those who have signified their desire to serve thee. Put thy Spirit upon them.
I ask thee, Heavenly Father, to let thy Holy Spirit come to this people. May thy salvation be revealed. Touch their hearts, and make them very tender. Soften them by thy Holy Spirit, and help them to see the work to be done for their neighbors, and for souls that are perishing all around them. O awaken them to their responsibilities! May they wash their robes of character, and make them white in the blood of the Lamb. Wilt thou encircle them in the arms of thy mercy? Plead with them through the impressions of thy Holy Spirit, that they may try to let their light shine to those that have not known the truth. Put thy church in order, O Lord, that they may labor for souls.
My Saviour, reveal thyself to this people. Let thy love be expressed—O let it be revealed! Hold thy people, that Satan may not have his will and way with them. Help them to press through all opposition, that at last they may lay their crowns at the feet of Jesus in the city of God; and thy name shall have all the glory. Amen.
God’s Plans
God might have stood the cedars on the hills,
The strong night-watchman by the sounding sea,
Without the tardy growth from slender spires
To the crowned heads against the sunset fires;
But other plans had he.
It pleased him that in nature, or in grace,
Seed-germ or soul, toward him should all things grow,
Reaching, aspiring, from beginnings small,
Till the sweet day when Christ is all in all,
And we his will shall know.
— Epworth Herald.
Ptolemy’s Almagest and Canon
THE astronomical records of the ancients, by whose means we are able to fix with certainty the chronology of the earlier centuries of the “times of the Gentiles,” are contained in the “Syntaxis,” or “Almagest,” of Ptolemy.
In the existence of this invaluable work, and in its preservation as a precious remnant of antiquity, the hand of Providence can clearly be traced. The same divine care which raised up Herodotus and other Greek historians to carry on the records of the past from the point to which they had been brought by the writings of the prophets at the close of the Babylonish captivity,—the Providence which raised up Josephus, the Jewish historian, at the termination of New Testament history, to record the fulfilment of prophecy in the destruction of Jerusalem,—raised up also Ptolemy in the important interval which extended from Titus to Hadrian, that of the completion of Jewish desolation, to record the chronology of the nine previous centuries, and to associate it in such a way with the revolutions of the solar system as to permit of the most searching demonstration of its truth.
Ptolemy’s great work, the “Almagest,” is a treatise on astronomy, setting forth the researches of ancient observers and mathematicians with reference to the position of the stars, the exact length of the year, and the elements of the orbits of the sun, moon, and planets. This work was written in Greek, and subsequently translated into Arabic, Persian, Hebrew, Latin, etc.; it became the text-book of astronomic knowledge both in the East and in Europe, and retained that high position for about fourteen centuries, or till the time of Copernicus, and the birth of modern astronomy, three centuries ago.
The chronological value of the “Almagest” is owing to the fact that it interweaves a series of ancient dates with a series of celestial positions. It contains a complete catalogue of the succession of Babylonian, Persian, Grecian, and Roman monarchs, from Nabonassar to Hadrian and Antoninus, together with the dates of their accession and the duration of their reigns. Its astronomic events are referred to definite historic dates, and by this connection there is conferred on the latter the character of scientific certainty. . . .
With reference to Ptolemy’s Canon, or chronological list of the monarchs of the four great empires, Lindsay says:—
“The complete harmony that is to be found in this canon with the dates previously determined by eclipses, entitles it to our highest confidence. That Ptolemy was its author, and not Theon, is confirmed by the fact that it is not continued beyond Antoninus, in whose reign our author dates most of his observations. We have had abundant evidence that he was philoponos and philaethes, a lover of labor and a lover of truth, and are fully warranted to regard this canon as giving to ancient history mathematical10exactness. . . . The motions and phases of the luminaries are visible every day, and with these alone we have been able to authenticate the whole of the ‘Almagest.’ Even the errors of Ptolemy augment, if possible, the evidence for the authenticity of the ‘Syntaxis,’ and a foundation is laid for chronology sure as the stars.”
In addition to this primary Babylonian date, these astronomic records fix directly the times of the Babylonian monarchs Mardocempadus and Nabopolassar, the Persian monarchs Cambyses and Darius, the Grecian dates employed by Hipparchus, and the dates of the Roman emperors Domitian, Trajan, Hadrian, and Antoninus Pius; while indirectly they enable us to determine the dates of all the intermediate reigns recorded in Ptolemy’s “Astronomical Canon,” a list of fifty-five successive reigns, extending over a period of nine hundred seven years, from Nabonassar of Babylon to the Roman emperor Antoninus Pius.
This invaluable Canon, representing the unbroken imperial rule administered by successive dynasties of Gentile empires, is divided by Ptolemy into four distinct parts:—
I. Babylonian kings, twenty in number.
2. Persian kings ten in number, terminating with Alexander the Great, of Macedon, eleven names in all.
3. Grecian kings, twelve in number.
4. Roman emperors, twelve in number.
The sum of years given in the calendar is divided into two parts: first 424 years, from Nabonassar to Alexander of Macedon; and secondly 493 years, from Philip Aridæus to Antoninus Pius. The striking and important agreement between the historical and chronological outline given in the Canon of Ptolemy and that set forth in the fourfold image of Nebuchadnezzar’s vision, described and interpreted by Daniel, is referred to by Faber in the following words:—
“As the good Spirit of God employs the four successive empires of Babylon, and Persia, and Greece, and Rome, in the capacity of the calendar of prophecy, so Ptolemy has employed the very same four empires in the construction of his invaluable Canon; because the several lines of their sovereigns so begin and end, when the one line is engrafted upon the other line, as to form a single unbroken series from Nabonassar to Augustus Cæsar. In each case the principle of continuous arrangement is identical. Where Ptolemy makes the Persian Cyrus the immediate successor of the Babylonian Nabonadius, or Belshazzar, without taking into account the preceding kings of Persia or of Media, there, in the image, silver joins itself to the gold; where Ptolemy makes the Grecian Alexander the immediate successor of the Persian Darius, without taking into account the preceding kings of Macedon, there, in the image, the brass joins itself to the silver; and where Ptolemy makes the Roman Augustus the immediate successor of the Grecian Cleopatra, without taking into account the long preceding roll of the consular Fasti and the primitive Roman monarchy, there, in the image, the iron joins itself to the brass. In short, the Canon of Ptolemy may well be deemed a running comment upon the altitudinal line of the great metallic image. As the parts of the image melt into each other, forming jointly one grand succession of supreme imperial domination, so the Canon of Ptolemy exhibits what may be called a picture of unbroken imperial rule, though administered by four successive dynasties, from Nabonassar to Augustus and his successors.”—“Light for the Last Days,” by H. Grattan Guinness, London, Hodder and Stoughton, 1893, pages 395-401.
The Book of Daniel
By Editor
The Everlasting Kingdom
THE EDITOR
In his interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar's dream, Daniel mentioned by name the first and the last of the five successive kingdoms symbolized by the great image and the stone which smote it upon the feet. “Thou art the head of gold,” said Daniel to Nebuchadnezzar, thus definitely declaring that Babylon was the first kingdom, and as the closing act in the great world-drama it was foretold that “in the days of those kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom.” The intervening kingdoms which should appear between the time when the sovereignty of the world was vested in the kingdom of Babylon and the time when the everlasting kingdom of God should be set up, was to be occupied by three successive world-powers, and three only. All efforts to change this number have been frustrated. At different times since the division of the fourth kingdom into ten kingdoms, “successive rulers have tried to amalgamate them into one great universal empire; and in each instance they have found that the word of the Almighty was stronger than the sword of Cæsar, of Charlemagne, or of Napoleon, or of any other ambitious prince or soldier that made the experiment. Again and again marriages have been made among the ten kings. The most powerful effort, and the nearest to successful, was made by Napoleon, when he allied himself to the house of Austria. He controlled the most gallant, the bravest, the most active nation on the continent of Europe. Europe seemed to lie prostrate at his feet, ready to accept his sovereignty; the cup of universal empire was almost at his lips, but God had destined it otherwise, and expressly said it should be otherwise six hundred years before the birth of Christ, and more than two thousand years before Napoleon was born. The waters of the Borodino engulfed his invincible battalions, and the snows of Russia became winding-sheets to half his army, and the bones of the rest, bleaching or buried on the plains of Waterloo, tell how feeble is the might of man, and how lasting is the truth of God.”—Cumming.
The Two Mysteries
That in this outline of the world's history given in the interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar's dream there should be only two of the kingdoms particularly designated,—the kingdom of Babylon and the kingdom of heaven,—is suggestive, and is in perfect harmony with the whole course of events from the time of Daniel to the end of time. Right principles rather than royal personages are the controlling factors in human events, and the great controversy which has been raging ever since sin entered into the world, centers around the kingship of him who in his own person is the embodiment of righteousness. Opposed to him is the god of this world, who gained dominion over men by leading our first parents to depart from their allegiance to God, and who has maintained this usurped dominion by inspiring the minds of men with his own evil philosophy. The contrasted principles which are personified in the two leaders in this great controversy are summed up in the two pregnant expressions, “the mystery of godliness,” and “the mystery of iniquity.” In the time of Daniel, the Chaldean mysteries formed an essential part of the Babylonian religion, and these mysteries can be traced to the days of Semiramis, the beautiful but abandoned queen of Babylon, who lived only a few centuries after the flood. The exoteric religion of Babylon found its expression in open and gross idolatry, but co-existent with this was the esoteric religion embodied in these mysteries. The outward form was polytheism, in place of monotheism; the inner form was the philosophy of self, of self-existence, of self-exaltation, and of peculiar methods of penetrating the mysteries veiled from ordinary minds.
Preliminary to the initiation into the Chaldean mysteries was the drinking of “mysterious beverages,” doubtless intoxicating in their nature, which dimmed the understanding and excited the passions of the candidates until they were in a suitable condition to yield themselves wholly to the inspiration of the teachings of evil. In harmony with these facts are the words of the prophet Jeremiah: “Babylon hath been a golden cup in Jehovah's hand, that made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunk her wine; therefore the nations are mad.” From Babylon the essential principles of these Chaldean mysteries spread to the other nations and were incorporated into their systems of religion, so that the principles which ruled in Babylon were perpetuated in the succeeding pagan nations. Whenever Israel departed from the ways of the Lord, some phase of the religion of Babylon supplanted the religion of heavenly origin, so that the warnings and the exhortations of the prophets were frequently directed against those perversions of truth and righteousness whose fountain-head was Babylon.
The Papacy
In the days of the great apostasy foretold by the apostle Paul (2 Thess.112:3-7), those pagan mysteries which had ruled the minds of men for many centuries were clothed with Christian forms and baptized with Christian names, and supplanted to a large degree the pure doctrine of the gospel of the kingdom of God. This transformation commenced in the very time of the apostle, who declared, “The mystery of iniquity doth already work,” but the evil system came to full fruitage after the division of the fourth empire into ten kingdoms, in the organization known as the papacy, which, “next to Christianity, is the great fact of the modern world.” “All idolatries, in whatever age or country they have existed, are to be viewed but as successive developments of the one grand apostasy. . . . The ancient Chaldean worshiping the sun,—the Greek deifying the power of nature,—and the Roman exalting the race of primeval men into gods,—are but varied manifestations of the same evil principle; namely, the utter alienation of the heart from God,—its proneness to hide itself amid the darkness of its own corrupt imaginations, and to become a god unto itself. That principle received the most powerful development which appears possible on earth, in the mystery of iniquity which came to be seated on the seven hills. . . . Popery is the last, the most matured, the most subtle, the most successfully contriven, and the most essentially diabolical form of idolatry which the world ever saw, or which, in all probability, it ever will see.”—Wylie.
But, as is made clear in the apocalyptic vision, the papacy is the continuance of esoteric Babylon, for upon the forehead of the woman who was seen “sitting upon a scarlet-colored beast” the fateful title was written, “MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT.” Thus while there has been a succession of outward world-kingdoms, exactly as foretold by Daniel in this warfare of principle for the sovereignty there has been the one continuous struggle for ascendancy in the minds and hearts of men between the two mysteries,—the mystery of the kingdom of Babylon and the mystery of the kingdom of heaven; and there is the most striking correspondence between this fact and the interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar's dream, in which the kingdom of Babylon and the kingdom of the God of heaven are the only ones particularly designated.
The Real Secret
In view of what has been set forth, it becomes more and more clear that the secret which was revealed to Daniel in the night vision, was more than the outline of the successive world kingdoms, and was in reality the revelation of the working of that principle which would outlive all earthly kingdoms, and be perpetuated to all eternity in that kingdom which the God of heaven would establish. As “the God of heaven,” the only true and living God whom Daniel acknowledged as the revealer of this mystery, was in marked contrast with the “gods many and lords many” of the wise men of Babylon, who utterly failed to make known the king's matter; so this mystery of the kingdom of God would come to Nebuchadnezzar as akin to, and yet entirely different from, the Chaldean mysteries. The very forms of expression used by Daniel in making known the mystery, are a sufficient indication that he was not speaking his own words, but that he was the mouthpiece of divine wisdom, the channel for the revelation of the heavenly mysteries.
Christ and the Kingdom
A part of the symbolism of the dream was the stone, which “was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon its feet.” That this stone represented the future Messiah is evident from the use of the same symbol in other passages and the interpretation made of them. Thus we read: “The stone which the builders rejected is become the head of the corner,” and this declaration was plainly interpreted to the leaders of the Jews by the apostle Peter when he made his answer concerning the healing of the impotent man: “Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even in him doth this man stand here before you whole. He is the stone which was set at naught of you the builders, which was made the head of the corner.” Again the prophet Isaiah wrote: “Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner-stone of sure foundation;” and through the apostle Peter is clearly given the application: “Unto whom coming, a living stone, rejected indeed of men, but with God elect, precious, ye also, as living stones, are built up a spiritual house, to be an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. Because it is contained in Scripture, Behold, I lay in Zion a chief corner-stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him [Christ] shall not be put to shame.” Plainly, therefore, the stone was the symbol of Christ, Son of God and Son of man.
In the dream “the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.” In the interpretation it was declared, “In the days of those kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed, nor shall the sovereignty thereof be left to another people.” This identification of the stone which “became a great mountain,” and the kingdom which “shall stand forever,” is worthy of note as showing that the person of Christ and the kingdom of Christ are inseparable. This grows out of the relation which the eternal Son sustains to the Father as the one only Mediator both in the original creation and in the new creation; for we read: “Giving thanks unto the Father, . . . who delivered us out of the power of darkness, and translated us into the kingdom of the Son of his love; in whom we have our redemption, the forgiveness of our sins: who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in him were all things created, in the heavens and upon the earth, things visible and things invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers; all things have been created through him, and unto him; and he is before all things, and in him all things consist.” The eternity of the kingdom is, therefore, dependent upon the eternity of the being of the Son. The everlasting continuance of the Son, the Word who became flesh, in whom the eternal kingdom was established, and the consequent enduring nature of the kingdom, are emphasized in various scriptures. Through Isaiah came the prophecy: “For unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting [ever-continuing] Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to establish it, and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from henceforth even forever.” In harmony with this prophecy the angel said to Mary concerning Jesus: “The Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: and he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end;” and the angels said to the shepherds: “There is born to you this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord.” Again the psalmist wrote: “Of old didst thou lay the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the work of thy hands. They shall perish, but thou shalt endure;” and these statements are applied directly to the Son of God in that wonderful description of his being and character found in the first chapter of the epistle to the Hebrews: “Thou, Lord, in the beginning didst lay the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the works of thy hands: they shall perish, but thou continuest.”
Although the Jews entertained many false views concerning the Messiah, yet from the clear testimony of the Scripture they had a correct understanding concerning the eternity of his being. When, therefore, Jesus gave some intimation of his approaching death, the people replied: “We have heard out of the law that the Christ abideth [continues] forever: and how sayest thou, The Son of man must be lifted up?”
Both territory and subjects are essential to a kingdom, and in order that the kingdom of God, established here upon the earth as the successor of the four kingdoms mentioned by Daniel, may be everlasting, the earth itself must be kept in existence forever, and the subjects of the kingdom must be made immortal. Both these results are attained through the person of the eternal Son, who upholds all things “by the word of his power,” in whom “all things consist,” of whom it is written, “This is the true God, and eternal life,” and “who abolished death, and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.”