shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation, even to that same time: and at that time THY PEOPLE shall be delivered," &c. (Dan. xi. 45, and xii. 1–4.)

There seems to be one unbroken chain of Jewish events recorded from the eighth to the fourth verse of the twelfth chapter, all in close connexion with the third beast, or GRECIAN empire. And concerning it all, Daniel is finally commanded to "shut up the words, and seal the book, EVEN TO THE TIME OF THE END." For with beautiful consistency it had been said, again and again-" at the time of the end shall be the vision."

IV. THE ROMAN EMPIRE. (Ch. vii. 7-20, and xii. 5, &c.) In his first vision (ch. vii.), Daniel saw more of this fourth and last beast than of any of the rest; yet, subsequently, it dwelt far less upon his mind than the third beast.

A very beautiful reason may be suggested as accounting for this. The Roman empire, though so exceeding terrible in its dealings with Daniel's people, had far more to do with the other nations of the world. And with Divine consistency (if one may so speak), the Apostle John sees most of THIS beast and its doings, while the Prophet Daniel sees most of the third beast and its doings; for John wrote for the Christian Church, Daniel for his own people.

This fourth beast was "dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns." (Dan. vii. 7. Compare

Rev. xiii. 1, &c.)

It also had "A LITTLE HORN," before which three of its horns fell.

This beast continues "till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of Days did sit," &c. And its little horn "made war against the saints, and prevailed against them, UNTIL the Ancient of Days came and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.'

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The climax of power attained to by this little horn is definitely marked out: "He shall speak great words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand, until a time and times, and the dividing of time." (Ver. 25.)

It does not say that the existence of the little horn is for time, times, and an half, but that a special period of his power, immediately preceding his downfall, shall be for so long.

And the Apostle John mentions the very same period as that in which this little horn MAKES WAR. (Rev. xiii. 5-7.) It is

during this period of persecution against the saints that the two witnesses are seen to prophesy in sackcloth. (Rev. xi. 3, &c.) The devil, also called "the great dragon," whose image this beast wears (as is seen from the description of the dragon in ch. xii. 3, with that of the beast in ch. xiii. 1, 2), persecutes the woman that bears the man-child for the same periodcalled "1260 days," "42 months," and "a time, times, and half a time."

This little horn is commonly interpreted of Popery; and it may be that the climax of Popish power will verify this belief. It is important, however, to distinguish between the "woman" called the whore," the beast which carries the woman, and the ten horns which are upon the beast.

So far from these ten horns being one with the woman, they "HATE” her, and make her desolate and naked, and burn her with fire.

It is not ALL Popery, as some would have it. There are distinct powers, which must not be regarded as one and the same, though they unite against the Lord and his saints.

It is an interesting inquiry, whether these two little horns of Daniel may not be the two beasts of Rev. xiii.—the one playing, as it were, into the other's hands, and both uniting with the dragon against the saints and holy city. There are three distinct powers mentioned in Rev. xvi. 13, 14: the Beast, the False Prophet, and the Dragon, forming themselves, as it were, into a fearful Trinity of ungodliness!

The "Beast" throughout the Book of Revelation harmonises with the fourth beast of Daniel and its little horn.

The "False Prophet" bears a most striking resemblance to the little horn of Daniel's third beast-the fierce king understanding dark sentences, &c. &c.—doing great wonders, &c. And "the Dragon," we know, is the devil.

If it be so, then we are brought to the time immediately preceding the coming of the Ancient of Days, on the one hand, and, on the other, to the standing up of Michael for the people of the Jews.

The events prophesied of, have their main bearing on the time OF THE END, and always on the people of Israel. For, with respect to the 1260 days, or time, times, and half a time, it is "when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power oF THE HOLY PEOPLE, all these things shall be finished." (Dan. xii. 7.) And this assurance was given to Daniel, in reply to a question put by one standing on the "bank of the river" (the SAME river, probably, that is spoken of in ch. x. 4, for it was the same vision)" How long shall it be TO THE END of these wonders?" And when, on hearing the reply, and failing to understand it,

Daniel again put the question, "O my lord, what shall be THE END of these things?" he was told that the words were "closed up and sealed TILL the time of the end.” (Dan. xii. 8, 9.)

The close connexion between the third and fourth beasts, or the Grecian and Roman empires, seems evident from the way in which the 1260 days in which the little horn of the one is said to persecute the holy people, and the 1290 days from the lifting up of the abomination of desolation and taking away of "the daily" (sacrifice) by the other, are вотн placed at the time of THE END.

And both Daniel and John introduce this time of fiercest tribulation immediately before the coming of the Lord, to which the words of Christ himself exactly agree in Mat. xxiv. 14-30.

Whether in Daniel or in the Book of Revelation, the particular locality referred to is THE HOLY LAND; in both, the Temple, the Holy City, and the Jewish services are referred to, and both look onwards to the time of THE END.

The simplest key with which to read the prophecies of Daniel is that of marking throughout the invariable reference to HIS people and His land.

1. Thus, he speaks of " the pleasant land” (ch. viii. 9); “ the Holy City," "Jerusalem" (ch. ix. 16, 24, 25, 26); "the glorious land" (ch. xi. 16, 41, 45); “ the sanctuary” (ch. viii. 11, 13, 14; ch. ix. 26; ch. xi. 31).

2. Other nations are viewed in their relation to the Holy Land. "The south, the east," "the king of the north," (do. of the south.) (See ch. viii. 9; ch. xi. 5-45.)

3. The angel always speaks of HIS people (himself a Jew). "The children of THY people." (Dan. xii. 1, 7.) "I am come to make thee understand what shall befall THY people in the latter days" (ch. x. 14). Seventy weeks are determined upon THY PEOPLE and upon thy holy city" (ch. ix. 24). also ch. viii. 24.)

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(See

; התמיד THE DAILY

4. His own great concern about the services of the holy place. Three times over in ch. viii, we read of " "the daily sacrifice was taken away," &c. (ch. viii. 11, 12, 13); again, in ch. ix. 27, the prince causes the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, &c.; and again, in ch. xi., of the king of the north it is said, that he “shall take away the daily sacrifice,” ver. 31. Instead of it, the abomination of desolation is set up. (See ch. viii. 13; ch. ix. 27; ch. xi. 31; and ch. xii. 11.) The "holy covenant" also is forsaken (ch. xi. 28, 29, 30). Lastly, his visions have an invariable reference to “ THE END." See ch. viii. 17, 19, 26; ch. ix. 24-27 (“until the CONSUMMATION," &c.); ch. x. 14; ch. xi. 6, 13, 35, 36, 40; ch. xii. 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 13.

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Notes on Scripture.

NOTES ON THE PSALMS.

PSALM LIX.

"His own received Him not." The Sweet Singer of Israel knew what it is to be cast off by those who should have been his bosom friends; and it was on one of those occasions, when his father-in-law sent a band to take him, dead or alive, from his own house (1 Sam. xix 14), that David was taught by the Holy Ghost to pour out his soul in these strains of strong appeal to justice and to mercy. Perhaps it was at Ramah, when resting in Samuel's dwelling for a time, that this Psalm was written-a Psalm for David himself-a Psalm for David's Son, when he too should be rejected of his own-a Psalm for all his followers when they should, in after ages, feel that the disciple is not greater than the Master.

If a disciple, persecuted "for righteousness' sake," can confidently use the language of ver. 4, saying, "not for any particular crime in me, nor yet for general unholiness, but because I am thine; without being able to fix on anything to justify their hostility"-if a disciple can use this language, much more the Master. And in this consciousness of being hated solely for "righteousness' sake," the Head and his members claim the help of Jehovah as being

1. "God of hosts," and therefore able; 2. "God of Israel," and therefore willing. (V. 5.)

It seems to be apostate Israel that is primarily described in ver. 5 as “the heathen,” q. d., these children of Abraham who are now children of the devil-Israelites become Goim! (Comp. Isaiah i. 10.) They are in character and conduct like city dogs, prowling for prey, feeding on the filth of the town, scouring its streets as if to clear them of the godly. But Jehovah-he who in Psalm ii. 4 was seen on the throne of his glory deriding the kings of earth in their vain attempts-laughs at these impotent apostates.

"His strength!" Yes, this is our stronghold-the idea flashes hope through the soul. "Jehovah's strength !"- "I will wait on Thee." (V. 9.) But an intercession ascends, like that of Elijah against Israel—a prayer that these blinded apostates may be scattered, though not destroyed from the earth. The prayer of ver. 13

"Consume them, in wrath consume them till they be no more”—

reminds us of 2 Thess. ii. 16, " Wrath has come on them to the uttermost” (εἷς τελος). As a nation, as a kingdom, they are consumed,"

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but as a people they are scattered," and men to earth's end are taught of Jacob's God by their doom-a doom of retribution for their treatment of the righteous; for now they are as hungry dogs in another sense than when they snarled at the godly-they prowl about the world for food. (V. 14, 15.) In spite of them, the Just one flourishes, singing of Jehovah, mighty and merciful, and looks forward to a time when He shall sing louder still-a morning after a dark night, the resurrectionmorning, "Mane, transactis tentationibus; mane cum nox hujus sæculi transierit; mane quando jam latronum insidias, et Diaboli et angelorum ejus, non expavescimus; mane quando jam non ad lucernam Prophetiæ ambulamus, sed ipsum Dei Verbum, tanquam Solem, contemplamur." (Augustine.)

In ver. 11, the righteous one seems to see the sword hanging over apostate Israel, as when it was suspended over Jerusalem in the days of that pestilence that cut off 73,000 men of Israel. Seeing this exterminating sword, he cries, "Slay them not!" He asks a mitigation of their doom, even that which had been granted-their dispersion instead of their extirpation. Still, he fully agrees with the Lord as to their deserving wrath to the uttermost, and expresses this entire agreement in the closing verses. It is therefore a Psalm wherein the Head and members present an appeal against apostate Israel, and then consent to their long-enduring desolation, in prospect of mercy breaking out of the gloom at last," in the Morning."

The Righteous One appeals against apostate Israel, and votes for their dispersion.

PSALM LX.

The Sweet Singer outlived the dismal days of Saul. Seated firmly on his throne, he saw his armies go forth and return crowned with victory. One of his victories, gained by Joab, was over the king of Zobah, who, it appears, had engaged the men of Mesopotamia (Aram-naharaim) to take his side. When the trophies of victory from the river Euphrates (2 Sam. viii. 3) were brought in, David's harp awoke, touched by the Spirit of God. It sang of a happier day to come-happier than that triumphant day of Israel in the birth-land of their father Abraham-a day when Israel's breaches should be for ever healed, and Israel's strongest foes for ever subdued.

Sometimes it is the nation, sometimes it is the leader of the nation, that sings. (See vers. 1, 5, 9.) It may be used by Israel, or by Israel's Lord as one of themselves. But what is " upon Shushaneduth"? It must be connected with "joy” (), and may speak of some instrument such as Psalm xlv. and Psalm lxxx. refer to. But no writer can come nearer certainty in regard to “ Eduth” than that it may allude to Israel as the nation that had the " ·Testimony" (NY), or the Ark of Testimony.

The Psalm may be said to take up the preceding one's hope expressed at the close. The dispersion of Israel does not last for ever. Though