Matt. 25: 31-46,—the assigning of the righteous and of the wicked each to their eternal destinies-"these into everlasting punishment," "those into life eternal." (4) But further, the distinctive characteristics of the final judgment are not here.These are; (a) That it takes place at the end of the world: (b) It is preceded by the general resurrection: (c) It embraces all the human race from the beginning to the end of time and even the fallen angels: (d) Men are judged in it as individuals and not as nations. They are not known as nations there. There every one of us shall give an account of himself unto God.(e) In the final judgment, Jesus Christ is to be the judge. In this, the judge is the Ancient of days, the Eternal Father. (See v. 13). (f) Its results are not transient, as these appear to be, but eternal, even the eternal award of destiny to the righteous and the wicked. It may be added ;-that in this scene the Son of man comes to the Father and receives a kingdom, even the one which had been before in the possession of the beast and his horns, whereas in the judgment of the great day, the Son delivers up the kingdom to God, even the Father, and becomes subject "unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all." (1 Cor. 15: 24-28.)

III. We come now to examine the part of the book relating to the eight chapters which contain the vision of three domestic animals. In this, a ram having two horns symbolizes the Medo-Persian kingdom, a rough he-goat having a notable horn characterizes the Greco-Macedonian kingdom under Alexander the Great, the breaking up of this kingdom and the establishment of four others in its stead, are fitly represented in symbol by the breaking off of this large horn and the out-growing of four in its place. Thus far there is a general agreement among commentators. At this point there is a divergence. "A little horn" is said to come out of one of these four, and it is concerning this that men differ; one class refers this to Antiochus Epiphanes, among whom are our author, Albert Barnes and others; another class refers it to Rome; and yet a third—a small minority—find in it a symbol of Mohammed and his kingdom. We will now consider these points in order. As Mr. Thur

man has dealt with the claims of Antiochus in a very masterly manner we cannot do better than to make a few extracts from them.* 1. "The little horn' came out of one of the four notable horns (Dan. 8: 9); hence, was a fifth horn or kingdom. But Antiochus constituted no new kingdom; for his continued to be one of the four, that is, the Syrian kingdom.

2. This was at first a little horn which waxed exceeding great' (Dan. 8: 9); but Antiochus did not enlarge' his kingdom.

3. The little horn was to arise in the latter time' of the kingdom of one of the four horns (Dan. 8:23); but Antiochus was not in the latter time of these kindgoms; for he was the eighth in the Syrian line of kings' which numbered twenty-five. 4. The little horn was to arise, when the transgressors are come to the full' (Dan. 8:23); and the space of time as allowed, to finish transgression' (Dan. 9: 24), did not end until about 228 years after the death of Antiochus.

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5. It is said of this horn his power shall be mighty,' (Dan. 8:24.) Antiochus, being tributary to the Romans,' has no mighty power.

6. Though his power was mighty, it was not by his own power: (Dan. 8: 24.) But what power Antiochus had, was his own; for he had no aid from other nations.

And he shall destroy wonderfully'—(Dan, 8: 24.) It is said that Antiochus destroyed about eighty thousand Jews;' but the Romans, in a single scige, destroyed 1,100,000.

8. And he shall prosper and practice' (Dan. 8: 24); but such was the reverse of prosperity with Antiochus: He was astonished and moved, whereupon he laid him down upon his bed, and fell sick for grief because it had not befallen him as he looked for.' (1 Macc. 6: 8.)

9. He shall destroy the mighty and holy people' (Dan. 8: 24); which people were not destroyed under 230 years after the death of Antiochus.

10. And by peace shall destroy many.' (Dan. 8: 25.) Antiochus destroyed none by peace.'

11. He shall also stand up against the Prince of princes" (Dan. 8:25); but Antiochus died 158 years before the Prince of princes was born.

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12. By this horn, the place of the sanctuary was cast down.' (Dan. 8: 11.) Antiochus left it standing.

*Bible Chronology Established, pp. 173, 174.

13. The kingdom of Persia, which extended from India even unto Ethiopia over one hundred and seven and twenty provinces (Esth. 1: 1), is only called 'great' (Dan. 8: 4); and Grecia, the 'third kingdom which bare rule over all the carth' (Dan. 2: 39), is called VERY GREAT (Dan. 8:8); but this little horn waxed EXCEEDING GREAT. (Dan. 8: 9.) Can Antiochus, who was 'tributary to the Romans all his days,' be considered greater than the kingdoms of Persia and Greece? So far from having 'waxed exceeding great towards the south, and towards the east, and toward the pleasant land' (Dan. 8: 9), the very reverse was the truth. He became so very weak that he feared he should not be able to bear the charges any longer! Wherefore being greatly perplexed in his mind he determined to go into Persia, there to take the tribute of the countries, and to gather money' ( 1 Macc. 3: 30); but he was not able because they of the city rose up against him in battle; so he fled and departed thence with great heaviness, and returned to Babylon' and there died, saying, 'Behold I perish through great grief in a strange land.' And why? Only because of the extreme weakness to which his kingdom was reduced, in that he was no longer able to carry out his ambitious designs against the Jews. Because of this, his weakness, he fell sick for grief,' saying, I thought with myself into what tribulation am I come, and how great a flood of misery is it wherein now I am.' (1 Macc. 6: 1-16.)"

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It must require some boldness, not to say desperation to assume that Antiochus is the power intended by the symbol of the little horn, when so many things can be said against it. But the embarrassments increase when we come to consider the length of time during which the sanctuary was to be trodden down. (Dan. 8:13-14. "Then I heard one saint speaking, and another saint said unto that certain saint which spoke, How long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice, and the transgression of desolation to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot?' But he said unto me. Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.”

"Those who apply the little horn to Antiochus count these literal days; others consider them as marking so many years. The most important point to be settled is, what is transacted during these days? Do these days mark the length of the whole vision as Mr. Thurman contends, or the time of the affliction

occasioned by Antiochus, or simply the time the sanctuary is trodden under foot? The grammatical construction excludes the two former positions and limits us to the latter. "How long shall the vision concerning (1) the daily sacrifice, (2) the transgression of desolation, and(3) to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot?" It is not, How long is the vision concerning (1) the ram with two horns, (2) the rough he goat, (3) the four horns which sprung up after the first was broken off, and (4) the little one which waxed exceeding great; but concerning the desolation of the sanctuary until it should be cleansed. How long did Antiochus desecrate the sanctuary? Josephus has the following; "This desolation happened to the temple in the 145th year, on the 25th day of the month Appelleus, and on the 153d Olympiad: but it was dedicated anew, on the same day, the 25th of the month Appelleus, in the 148th year, and on the 154th Olympiad.' According to this authority, the sanctuary was desecrated just three years to a day, or 1096 days. We are willing to give a degree of liberty in interpreting prophecy, but who shall say that Daniel had in view this desecration of the temple which lasted less than half the time he specified, when penning the above text? This is still further embarrassed when it is taken into the account that Mr. Cowles applies the other numbers given by Daniel in the seventh chapter and twenty-fifth verse, and those found in the twelfth chapter, to the same event. Thus we have, as dates referring to the same event, according to Mr. Cowles, “A time, times, and a half,-" "three years and a half,—” “two thousand three hundred days;" "a thousand two hundred and ninety days," and a "thousand three hundred and five and thirty days." By way of reconciling these seeming discrepancies, he urges that, while the prophet has in mind the desecration of the temple as the leading thought, he nevertheless includes with this event, other circumstances before and after this, which prolong the time. But what is fatal to this mode of reconciling the discrepancies, is the fact, that the longest period mentioned—the 2300 is by its grammatical construction closely confined to the

*Antiquities Book XII. Chapter 7.

desecration of the sanctuary; while both Josephus and 1 Macc. 1:59; 4:52, state that the temple was desecrated just three years. It is true, that Josephus says, in his history of the Jewish wars, that Antiochus caused the daily worship to cease three years and six months. As an offset to this, it is stated in a foot note at the beginning of this work, that it was his first work, which was written before he had become well acquainted with the book of Maccabecs, upon which he relied for his dates. The Antiquities being written several years later, is the more accurate work. We We feel compelled, therefore, to reject the exposition of Mr. Cowles and Mr. Barnes so far as pertains to the power symbolized by the "little horn." But if Antiochus be not the power intended, we must at the same time, look for some nation to fulfill this symbol, inasmuch as no one king appears, who stands any chance as a competitor with Antiochus whom we have abandoned. But if we look for a nation, the 2300 days will extend themselves to 2300 years. Inasmuch as they have never been fulfilled literally, we look for their fulfillment on the day-year system. That "horn," used as a symbol, means a kingdom, and not a church, nor religion, nor even a man, is evident from the following considerations; (1) The terms, "king" and "kingdom," are used interchangably in this prophecy. (Dan. 2: 37-39.) "Thou, O king, art a king of kings." "Thou art the head of gold." "And after thee shall arise another kingdom," "and another third kingdom." But in verse 44, it is said, "In the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom." Nebuchadnezzar is called a kingdom, in so far as at that time he is at the head of Babylon. (2) The eleven horns of the fourth beast, of the seventh chapter, are called kings; the four horns which succeeded the one that was broken off, as related in the eighth chapter, are said by Daniel to be "four kingdoms that shall stand

up out of that nation,"—the nation symbolized by the broken horn. (2) We are now prepared to inquire whether Rome is the power symbolized by the little horn. Many of the points specified are completely fulfilled by this power, as also by Antiochus; but as was the case with that prince, Rome fails in a few points, yet not in so many as Antiochus. The most