| 608 hence during the moments of his soliloquy, or while upon his bed, it was a matter of study and reflection of his mind what should transpire in future ages. This is a thing common to all men, more especially to men of authority, like kings. The idea of death which strips them of all their earthly power and glory, fills them with horror, and causes the most intense reflections during the silent moments. This was the case with Nebuchadnezzar, and it pleased God to make known to him by a dream some important things of future ages, viz: the four great universal (so called) empires of the world, and the kingdom of God that shall transcend all kingdoms established by the wisdom and power of man, and in durability shall outlast them all, or in other words continue when all others are overthrown, and their names in a measure faded into oblivion.
Daniel when brought before Nebuchadnezzar to make known the dream, and the interpretation thereof, commences and says: (Dan. ii. 27.) "Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, the secret which the king hath demanded, cannot the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, the sooth-sayers, shew [show] unto the king; but there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter-days. Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are: (As for thee, O King, thy thoughts came into thy mind upon thy bed, what should come to pass hereafter; and he that revealeth secrets maketh known to thee what shall come to pass: but as for me, this secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom that I have more than any living, but for their sakes that shall make known the interpretation to the king, and that thou mightest know the thoughts of thy heart;) 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. Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth. This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king."
Daniel interprets this dream as follows: "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. The reader will do well to bear in mind that Nebuchadnezzar is here described as the representative of the Babylonian empire: "Thou (or the empire) art this head of gold." It is evident from Daniel and many other prophets that during the rise and fall of kingdoms, four universal or more powerful than other kingdoms, were to arise and flourish at different periods of the world. In the above they are not only represented by the particular form of the tremendous image, that stood before the king: but by the different metals of which it was composed, gold, silver, brass, and iron. And we concur with the prophet that the Babylonian empire, which was formerly called the Assyrian, and which took its rise at a very early date, but underwent something of a change so that in Nebuchadnezzar's time it was called the Babylonian was the first universal empire on the list. But for the sake of brevity we shall not attempt to be particular in describing these kingdoms, not even to enter into the field of history to particularize the times and dates of their foundation; but only throw out some general hints upon the subject, that the inquirer may come to a correct understanding of the time for the establishment of the kingdom of God,-its prevalence and perpetuity. Therefore, after setting down the Babylonian empire as the first described in the above we will proceed.
"And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee." This kingdom is represented by the breast and arms of the image, which were of silver. It is very well known, that the kingdom which succeeded the Babylonian, was the Medo-Persian. Perhaps the "arms" signify two kings the one of the Medes, the other of the Persians, whose powers were
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