Division T5S 15S6 Section ,A8 lO THE ONLY KEY TO Daniel's Prophecies BY W. S. AUCHINCLOSS INTRODUCTION BY A. H. SAYCE, LL. D., QUEEN'S COLLEGE, OXFORD, ENGLAND SECOND EDITION. NEW YORK FOR SALE BY D. VAN NOSTRAND COMPANY SCIENTIFIC BOOK PUBLISHERS 23 MURRAY STREET 1004 Copyright, 1904 W. S. AUCHINCLOSS. WM. J. DORNAN, PRINTER, PHILADELPHIA. A LOVING TRIBUTE TO MY WIFE WHO SHARED THE WORK OF PUTTING DIFFICULT PORTIONS INTO PLAIN ENGLISH. QuEEN^s College, Oxford, September 4, 1902. Mr. Auchincloss has asked me to prefix a few words of introduction to his book : There is little to say, as the book tells its own tale — clear and to the point. He has very rightly taken the sidereal year as the basis of his calculations ; any other system of computation ends only in difficulties. But the reader will find other novelties, not the least among them being the fact that the prophecies of Daniel are made to end with the beginning of the history of the Christian Church, instead of lengthening out into a still unknown future ; this is a great advance on 5 INTRODUCTION. previous interpreters. And he will doubtless be struck by calculations according to which the 1290 Days of the Hebrew Prophet termi- nated in A. D. 33. (Ul Ci . // • vy ^^ PREFACE Almost unnumbered theories have been advanced regarding the meaning of the words — DAY, WEEK, TIME — as found in the Book of Daniel, but none of these have proved satisfactory. Had they been so, we would not now hear such notes of " embarrass- ment and helpless discouragement'^ as those given by diifferent authors, in the following lines : Prof. James Drummond : — ^^ Our general conclusion is, that the Book of Daniel, though it portrays an ideal kingdom, fails to place its sovereignty in the hands of the Messiah." Dr. A. Kuenen : — " We ought not to assume that Daniel was 7 PKEFACE. a perfect master of chronology. We need not however dwell farther on this perplexed sub- ject, as it is more than probable that the Hebrew text is unsound/' Prof. J. D. Prince :— " Viewed in a proper light, the book cannot be called a forgery, but merely a consolatory political pamphlet ; it however owes its sup- posed accuracy to an ancient mistaken tradition. This whole prophecy unquestionably presents problems which can never be thoroughly un- derstood ; first because the author must have been ignorant both of history and chronology, and secondly, because in his efforts to be as mystical as possible, he purposely made use of indefinite and vague expressions, which render the criticism of the passage a thankless and unsatisfactory task.'' Prof. Lagarde : — ^^The book of Daniel is a bundle of loose leaves." 8 PREFACE. Dr. Z5ckler : — " Daniel is the most mysterious and difficult of all the prophets." Dr. Lange : — " The 1290 days have merely a mystical and symbolical significance." Prof. C. A. Briggs : — " The book of Daniel was written as historic fiction, in 168-165 b. c." Prof. Driver : — " What the writer can have meant by 2300 evening-mornings is confessedly most obscure. No entirely satisfactory interpretation appears yet to have been found." Dr. W. M. Taylor :— ^^I do not know what to make of all this. There must be some hidden harmony which has not yet been discovered." Very fortunately, we did not read these remarks, before undertaking the work of sup- plying a Key, or we might have despaired of 9 PKEFACE. ever finding one. We simply followed the old- fashioned way of " Searching the Scriptures/' and brought to bear on them whatever light could be obtained from ancient inscriptions and from writings composed prior to the 2d century. The Book of Daniel stands out .in bold relief upon the pages of history. It has a dual aspect. From one standpoint it resembles the sphinx of El-Gizeh, and from the other it appears like a message in cipher, sent by some government to its distant commander. The great sphinx looks down in calm silence, conscious of assured antiquity, while the message is meaningless to those who have no key to its strange words Without a perfectly fitting key, the tendency of its readers is to treat the Book lightly, call in question its statements and smile at its proph- ecies. Time, however, vindicates the state- ments of Daniel and fixes on them the seal of truth. Also, newly-found inscriptions both 10 PREFACE. on rocks and tablets, together with ancient writings composed in those times, bring to confusion adverse criticism. The Book of Daniel is a most important part of the AYord of God, and is set like a gem among jewels. Its words of warning were sounded 600 years before the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus. Its prophecies are like mile-stones along the highway of Jewish history, each one bringing the observer nearer to Messiah's kingdom, to that " Great and Notable day of the Lord '' — Pentecost of A. d. 33 — when the Holy Spirit was manifested to the Jews, also nearer to a. d. 39, the year of the manifestation to the Gentiles, and finally to A. D. 70 when the Jews were scattered among the nations. Daniel alone of all the prophets received Divine illumination regarding this all- important group of dates. They mark the re- motest boundary of his book, and therefore bar the way to fanciful conclusions in regard to 11 PREFACE. later times. Head aright, Daniel's words have no uncertain sound, they are definite and exact like the forecast of an astronomer. Viewed from every standpoint the (xrand old President of the Chaldean Court had a character of rare beauty and symmetry, that will continue to shine throughout the ages. He will stand in his lot to the end of the days ; the noblest example of human courage coupled with imquestioning faith, the typical companion, the nobleman, courtier, seer and Prophet ; — A man greatly beloved I It is our purpose first to determine in what season and in what year, Christ was born. After which we shall devote a few pages to Daniel, and to the Kings mentioned in the Book of Daniel. \A^e shall then develop the code for translating his messages, and as this code will apply equally to all his prophecies, it is entitled to be called the only Key to Daniel's Prophecies. 12 CONTENTS 13 CONTENTS. PAGE Introduction by Prof. A. H. Sayce 5 Preface 7 Contents . 15 I. Anno Domini — A. d. 1 . 19 II. Daniel the Prophet 31 ]II. Nebuchadnezzar the King 41 IV. Belshazzar the King 47 V. King Cyrus 55 VI. Darius the Mede .... 61 VII. Xerxes and Artaxerxes . 69 VIII. Locking Dates .... 75 IX. Starting-points of Prophecy . 81 X. The Time of the End . 89 XI. The National Day .... 97 XII. Prophetic Days .... 107 xm. Prophetic Weeks and Times . 117 XIV. Daniel's Inspiration 123 Daniel's Prophecies— With Interpretation 131 Keferences 195 Index 15 203 ANNO DOMINI, ANNO DOMINI. It is very evident that Daniel's proph- ecies span two Eras — one before the birth of Christ and one after — our first duty therefore will be to locate with precision, the point where one era ends and the other begins, for that spot is the pivotal point of all history. AYe know full w^ell, that if the pivot or axis is out of truth, then all events revolving about the same must share its want of accuracy. Popular sentiment accepts, December 25th B. c. 5 — as being the day on which Christ was born, and computes the events which took place in his life and ministry, with that date as the starting-point. The real question however is one of fact, not of theory or sentiment. 19 DANIEL'S PKOPHECIES. We are now in the 20th century and it is high time that the year of Christ's birth was settled once for all, on a good and sure foun- dation. It cannot be found in the works of Basilides, Clemens Alexandrinus, Origen, Lac- tantius, Eusebius or Augustine, writers of the 2d, 3d, 4th and 5th centuries, but must be sought from those who lived nearer the time of that great event. Turning to the New Testament, we notice that it was characteristic of Luke as a writer not to indulge in random statements regard- ing dates or ages. When an individual was near to a certain age, he qualified his words ; as, for instance, '^ One only daughter about 12 years of age.'' If, however, an anniversary date aided his memory, he stated the age with precision ; for example, " When he was 12 YEARS OLD." But at what time was the Saviour 12 years old? The text says at the time of the Passover. It is evident, there- 20 ANNO DOMINI. fore^ that the anniversary occurs in the Spring of the year. Besides this, every circumstance surrounding his birth point to the Spring. The winters then were far more severe than they are at the present day, because Syria was well- wooded. Now it has been stripped of its forests and the winters are correspondingly milder. We read in different parts of Josephus expressions like these : " the depth of winter/^ "of a very great snow in Galilee," "of the rigor of winter," also of " the impediment " offered by winter, which drove armies into winter quarters.^ Surely, exposure to the cold of a stable, or a manger, during such weather would have been almost certain death ! In like manner, shepherds and their flocks would have shared the common danger had they ven- tured out at night, on the twenty-fifth day of December. We claim, therefore, on the authority of Scripture, that the Saviour was born in the 21 DANIEL'S PROPHECIES. Spring, about the time of the Jewish Pass- over. Having determined the Season, let us now find the year in which Christ was born. The New Testament plainly states that our Saviour was born before the death of Herod. During his last illness Herod held his Jeru- salem Court near the hot baths of Callirrhoe, located several hours' journey due east of Bethlehem. Thence the Star in its westward course could go before and guide the Wise Men ^' till it came and stood over where the young child was.'' The location harmonizes with the narrative, and its great distance favored the escape both of the Wise Men and of the child's parents. We can determine the year of Herod's death precisely by starting either with the year of his birth, the year in which he was made king, or the year he captured Jeru- salem. Now as Herod was born in b. c. 69 and died at 70 years of age, he must have died in A. D. 1. He was born in b. c. 69 because 22 ANNO DOMINI. Josephus says that Herod was 15 years old ^^in the 9th year of Hyrcanus/'^ who was made Ethnarch by Ponipey after the siege of Jerusalem in b. c. 63. The 9th year there- fore was B. c. 54 and 15 added to 54 makes B. c. 69 the year of Herod's birth. We can prove that Herod was made king of the Jews by the Romans in b. c. 37, by four different lines of evidence, viz. : — First. When Queen Alexandra came to the throne in B. c. 77 she made her son Hyrcanus high priest, who ^' received all sorts of honors and enjoyed them 40 years. "^ His high priesthood therefore ended in b. c. 37 when Antigonus came to the throne and the Komans made Herod king of the Jews. We know that Alexandra's reign began in b. c. 77 be- cause Simon was made high priest in b. c. 143, the 170th year of the Seleucidae, and the intermediate reigns'* of Alexander, Judas, Hyr- canus and Simon were 27 plus 1, plus 30, 23 DANIEL'S PROPHECIES. plus 8 making a total of 66 years. Then 143 less GQ gives us b. c. 77, and " 40 years '^ taken from this number leaves b. c. 37 the year in which Herod was made king. Second. After the battle of Philippi, Oct. B. c. 42, Antony Avith a large force entered Greece and the following year laid Asia under tribute. Then before its inhabitants were able to raise their second crop Antony levied an- other " whole tribute."^ In b. c. 39 Antony made Herod and Phasaelus tetrarchs of Judea.^ But in 2 years the Parthians overthrew the tetrarchy and Herod fled to Rome where he was made king^ of the Jews in b. c. 37. Third. The battle of Actium was fought Sept. B. c. 31 '' in the 7th year of Herod's reign ''^ that is, after 6 Avhole years had gone by and as 31 plus 6 equals 37, we have another clear indication that b. c. 37 was the first year of Herod's reign. Fourth. According to Josephus the interval, 24 ANNO DOMINI. beginning with Herod^s reign and ending with Titus' capture of Jerusalem, covered in round numbers 107 years. ^ Subtracting the 70 years of A. d. from this amount leaves 37 for a remainder, which also shows that Herod began to reign in b. c. 37. Since Herod captured Jerusalem at the time of the feast of Pentecost, three years after he was made king of the Romans, the capture took place June 1st b. c. 34. Now Josephus in his " History of the Jewish War " and again in his '^ Antiquities '^ asserts that Herod " reigned 37 years after he was made king by the Romans and 34 years after he captured Jerusalem.'"^ As both of these periods land us in the last half of the year a. D. 1 we learn that Herod died in the first year of the Christian Era. Regarding the month in which Herod died, many indications point to the late summer or early autumn. One of these is the historic in- 25 DANIEL'S PROPHECIES. cident that 5 days before his death " he took an apple and asked for a knife ; for he used to pare apples and eat them."'^ Thus showing that it was the season of ripe fruit. Having deter- mined the year and the season of Herod's death we arrive at the year of Christ's birth, which was beyond the shadow of a doubt the year A. D. 1; and the season was the time of the Jewish Passover which that year was celebrated on the 29th day of March. We come now to the question, as to how many years our Lord spent on earth ? The New Testament shows that John the Baptist was born a few months before the time of our Lordj and about the time of John's birth [Fall of B. c. 1] Augustus Cesar ordered a general enrollment of the people, preparatory to taxation. The decree was very unpopular and excited strong opposition. This, however, was allayed by the High Priest Joazar, who " overpersuaded the Jews," so that they ^' gave 26 ANNO DOMINI. an account of their Estates without any dispute about it/'^^ Since Joazar was appointed High Priest by Herod in the Fall of b. c. 1, and Archelaus made a promise in the Fall of a.d. 1 that he would remove Joazar, it is clear that the decree of Augustus Cesar was issued at the time shown by Scripture, viz.: — in the Fall of B. c. 1. The work of collecting the Taxes, however, did not begin until a.d. 7, when Cyrenius was made President of Syria. Whereupon the Jews rebelled under the leader- ship of Judas of Galilee, who contended : ^^That this taxation was no better than an in- troduction to slavery. "^^ Our Saviour's parents were afraid of Archelaus in the beginning. But after he was banished by the Romans in A. D. 11,^* they felt there could be no risk in taking the lad with them to the Passover of A. D. 13. The narrative nov/ takes us to the Fall of A. D. 29— ''the 15th year of Tiberius Cesar "^^ — when John the Baptist, just en- DANIEL'S PROPHECIES. tering on his thirtieth year, began his public ministry. Six months later, or in the spring of A. D. 30, the Saviour 'Miimself^^ attained his thirtieth year and likewise began to preach. Chronologically speaking, this date was hedged in by ^^ forty and six years'' of Temple build- ing. The Sanctuary of the Temple was dedi- cated in the Fall of b. c. 18, seventeen years prior to A. D. 1. If now we add the 29 years after, to the 17 years before, we obtain exactly the 46 years spoken of by the Apostle John. Since the Passover of A. d. 30 is the first of four celebrations mentioned in the Gospel, the Passover of A. D. 33 marks the time of our Lord's crucifixion and His resurrection. Our Lord's life on earth, therefore, began in A. D. 1, and ended in A. d. 33. 28 AUGUSTAN AGE. Graphic Exhibit. Augustus Cesar began to reign Spring b. c. 44 A i! ! i 133^ yrs Summer B.C. 37 s A 6^ yrs Battle Actium V V .poll Tj r^ 91 i L 37 yrs 44 57% yrs yrs. Birth of Christ— finrino' 1 7 i? Fall A.D.I. A 1 13 yrs 13>^ yrs 1 7 ■V 1 i^ V End of Augustus' reign Fall A. D. 14 29 DANIEL THE PROPHET. II. DANIEL. It requires no extended research to find the Hebrew estimate of the Prophet Daniel. The Talmud says : " If all the wise men of the nations were in one scale of the balance, and Daniel in the other, he would outweigh them all.^^^^ The Jewish historian, Josephus, writing at an earlier date says : "The several books, that Daniel wrote and left behind him, are still read by us, till this time. — A remembrance, that will never fail I''^'^ He also states, that " from the death of Moses to the reign of Artaxerxes, every one of our prophets wrote the history of the times in 31 DANIEL'S PROPHECIES. which he lived/' The same author says, that the Scriptures consisted of 22 Books — 5 of Moses, 13 of the Prophets and 4 of Hymns and Precepts. In other words, '^ Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms. "^^ Nothing can be stronger than the testimony of Joseph us regarding the integrity and inspira- tion of the 22 Books. When speaking of the Apocrypha he says : " It is true our history has been written since Artaxerxes very particularly, but hath not been esteemed of the like authority with the former, by our forefathers, because there hath not been an exact succession of Prophets since that time ; and how firmly we have given credit to these [Holy Scriptures] of our own nation, it is evident by what we do ; for during so many ages as have already passed, no one hath been so bold as either to add anvthine: to them, or to take anything from them, or to make any change in them ; but it is become 32 DANIEL. natural to all Jews immediately and from their very birth to esteem these books to contain Divine doctrines, and to persist in them ; and if occasion be, willingly to die for them,"^^ In view of this clear and distinct statement, coming to us from the 1st century and endorsed by the Hebrews of the present day, we shall waste no time in discussing the objections of Porphery, the classification of the Hagiographa and other writings that were composed in later centuries. The testimony of a single author, who lived in those times and wrote with all the care and accuracy displayed by Flavins Josephus, is more valuable than the testimony of 1000 authors of later date. Enough for us, that the sky was clear, and that no clouds of doubt had arisen in the 1st century, either as regards the authorship or the inspiration of the Book of Daniel. The work has the appearance of having been commenced in the reign of Cyrus and suffered 33 DANIEL'S PROPHECIES. interruptions. The first 24 verses were written in the Hebrew tongue and then for some reason the work was set aside. When the aged linguist returned to his labor of love, the first sentence he wrote was made up of Aramaic words, spoken by Chaldeans to Nebuchadnezzar. So absorbed was Daniel in his subject, that when he had written them down, he seems to have glided on, quite unconscious of a change, from Hebrew to Aramaic. Once more, the work reached a standstill, at the end of the 7th chapter. When he renewed it, doubtless the duties of the realm prevented^ a rewriting of the second portion. He finished it in his mother tongue, the Hebrew. We might of course expect such versatility in a diplomat of Daniel's experience. There is a similar transition in Ezra.^*^ As to the subject matter, one-half the Book is narrative and the other half prophecy. In the narrative he uses the third, but in prophecy 34 DANIEL. the first person singular. His experiences are full of thrilling interest, and the natural sequence of events can best be secured by reading the chapters in the following order : I. II. III. IV. VII. VIII. V. X. XII. IX. XI. VI. It is worthy of note, that Josephus uses the plural when speaking of the book of Daniel. He devotes many pages to a sketch of his life, and says that he prophesied in the time of " Darius the son of Hystaspes."^^ Some writers claim there was a person called " Darius the Mede,'' who reigned after Belshazzar and before Cyrus. It is only fair to let Daniel make his own statement on this subject. Having spoken of Nebuchadnezzar, in the 1st chapter, he closes by saying ; " Daniel con- tinued even unto the 1st year of King Cyrus."^^ This brings the narrative up to the commence- ment of Cyrus' reign, but says nothing about whether Daniel prospered or suffered under that monarch. The omission however was 35 DANIEL'S PROPHECIES. supplied at a later day. When speaking of his prosperity under Darius, he was reminded of kindnesses shown him by Cyrus, and added a tribute to him, also : " So this Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius and in the reign of Cyrus the Per- sian. '^^^ N. B.— Always Medes first, Persians last I There is here nothing that conflicts with the known succession of Babylonian monarchs. With far greater propriety might the silence of Daniel respecting Cambyses and Gomates be construed into a claim that no such indi- viduals ever reigned in his day. The order of history, viz. : — Belshazzar, Cyrus, Cambyses, Gomates, Darius — therefore remains intact, and is not disarranged by any statement con- tained in the book of Daniel. DanieFs life extended beyond the century mark. His great age was due to simple diet and temperate habits, coupled with the Divine bless- 30 DANIEL. ing. Jehoiada and Hosea each exceeded DaniePs length of life. The former reached the age of 130 years, and the latter came close to the same figure.— II Chron. XXIV, 15, and Hosea I, 1.— Up to the last Daniel took part in the affairs of state, showing plainly that his " eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated.^' His vigor was so remarkable, that it found traditional expression lasting as late as the time of Josephus, Jos. x, ll ; 7. We direct special attention to the fact, that the VI th chapter really belongs at the end of the Book, for it gives us the last experience as well as the last words, of the great Prophet. The life of Daniel, from his entrance at the Chaldean Court in the days of his youth, to his exit from the den of lions in old age, was a life of SUBLIME faith, which abounds with lessons of vital import to every member of the human race. 37 NEBUCHADNEZZAR. III. NEBUCHADNEZZAR. The Chaldean Empire reached its zenith under Nebuchadnezzar, the son of Nabopolassar. His reign began with the year b. c. 605 and lasted 43 years. Nabopolassar, the father of Nebuchadnezzar, toward the close of life shared the government of the kingdom with his mas- terful son. The latter besieged Jerusalem in the year b. c. 606, only a few months before he became sole-ruler of the Chaldeans ; and carried into captivity ^^ certain of the children of Israel, and of the king's seed, and of the princes ; among these were of the children of Judah, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah.''^* In speaking of the siege, the Jewish prophets were obliged to give the time in years of their 41 DANIEL'S PROPHECIES. own king Jehoiakim, for technically Nebu- chadnezzar^s years had not yet begun. Very naturally the prophet Daniel gave the year, as the 3d year of Jehoiakim, for Nebuchadnezzar was not crowned until B. c. 605, the 4th year of Jehoiakim. On page 198 will be found a group of important references, detailing events in the first 5 years of Jehoiakim^s reign. There is no more occasion for writers of the present day to take exception to this group of passages, than there will be for future Avriters, say 2500 years hence, to worry over the fact that King Edward YII. carried on a war with South Africa, one year and a half before he was crowned King of Great Britain. Nebuchadnezzar's reign was to Babylon what the Augustan age was to Rome, for during his time Babylon became the mistress of the world. The city was noted for its beautiful temples and palaces. It was also the centre of literary culture and abounded in works of art. In 42 NEBUCHADNEZZAK. every way it reflected honor upon that remark- able warrior, engineer, and man of letters who ruled its destiny. As Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem on several occasions, and waged war with Egypt in the 37th year of his own reign, it is evident that from first to last he was a born warrior. He took from the Temple of Jerusalem 5400 vessels of gold and silver^^ and led a vast num- ber of Jews into captivity. The prophet Daniel quickly came into favor, and was placed in the front rank of the wise-men of Babylon. We need not dwell on Daniel's life at Court, but remark in passing, that only a man of sterling integrity could stand the strain of 43 years amid such surroundings. After the death of Nebuchadnezzar, his king- dom began to crumble, and finally the Babylon- ians were conquered by Cyrus the Persian b. c. 536. Cyrus was succeeded, first by his son Cambyses and then by his son-in-law, Darius 43 DANIEL'S PROPHECIES. the Mede. After Darius came his son Xerxes and to him succeeded Artaxerxes (Longimanus). The various reigns from Nebuchadnezzar to Artaxerxes are given below : Chaldean. Period. Reign. King No. 17 Nebuchadnezzar . bc. 605-562 43 yrs. u u ig Evil-Merodach . " 562-560 2 '' u u 29 Nergal-sarra-utsur *' 560-556 4 '' '' '' 20 Laborosoarkhodcs " 556 9 mos. << n 21 Nabonadios (active) " 556-541 15 yrs. '' (i nominal) '' 541-536 " " '' 22 Belshazzar . . . '' 541-536 5 " Medo-Persian. Period. Reign. King No. 1 Cyrus B.C. 536-529 6 yrs. -6 mos a a 2 Cambyses '^ 529-522 7 '' 5 " u u 3 Gomates '' 522-521 '' 7 '' ii a 4 Darius . '' 521-485 36 " '' u u 5 Xerxes . . '' 485-465 20 '' 6 '^ « a g Artaxerxes '' 465-425 40 '' '' Since the 18th, 19th and 20th kings of Babylon are passed over in silence by Daniel, let us next consider the reign of Belshazzar, the son of Nabonadios. 44 CHALDEA LoDsitude 40° East from 45'' Greenwich 50' A f. BORMAV 4 CO., N 45 BELSHAZZAR THE KING. lY. BELSHAZZAR. Nabonadios, the son of the ^^ Wise Prince/' came to the throne of Babylon during the dis- orders that followed the child-rule of Nergal's son. Much of his time Avas spent in building temples and restoring cities. He was some- what of an antiquarian, and narrates on one of his tablets, that in one instance he dug to a great depth in search of a temple corner-stone and found in it the record of kings that had ruled 2300 years before his own day. He also speaks of his reign as, " my long-lasting reign.'' Besides this tablet three contract-tablets have been discovered, Avhich 'mention Belshazzar by name and state that he was the son of Nabon- adios. These contracts were signed in the 5th, the 11th and the 12th years of Nabonadios' 47 DANIEL'S PROPHECIES. reign. About the 15th year (which was the 7th year of Cyrus) the aged king Nabonadios seems to have lost interest in public affairs, for we find on the Annalistic Tablet of Cyrus, that he lived apart from the Court, also away from the Army. From that time onward until the fall of Babylon, the Court and the Army were under the control of his son Belshazzar, who became acting King. Belshazzar at the time was 57 years of age, and was surrounded by both wives and concubines. He held Court at Akkad, one of the provinces of Babylonia which was distant some 50 miles north of Dinter, — the old portion of Babylon. His father Nabonadios lived at Tiva in Western Babylonia, so much retired that he did not even attend his mother's funeral. She Avas highly esteemed, and ended her days in the fortress of the camp near Akkad. Belshazzar gave his grandmother a military funeral, which was followed by the usual Court mourning. 48 BELSHAZZAR. Nabonadios during the last five years of his reign— (the 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, and 11th years of Cyrus) — never once visited the capital city Dinter, but remained at Tiva until he was driven out by the army of Cyrus. He then fled to Babylon, was caught in a hiding-place, was taken to Cyrus and banished for life. Turning now to the fortunes of Belshazzar we learn, that on the approach of Cyrus' army, " the gods of the country of Akkad which are above the sky and below the sky entered Baby- lon." In other words, Belshazzar and his Court fled to Babylon, for wherever the gods went surrounded by the priests, you are very sure to find the government. Cyrus routed the rear guard of the army left by Belshazzar at Akkad, and pressed on toward the city of Babylon. By means of a trench, he turned the stream of the Euphrates and entered through the bed of the river. It was night. Belshazzar and his Court were celebrating an 49 DANIEL'S PROPHECIES. impious feast. The Persians entered the ban- quet hall. Belshazzar engaged in single com- bat, fell pierced by the sword of his adversary, and died in^mediately aged 62 years. The city was captured without striking a blow — July 1st, B.C. 536. Belshazzar's mother died the following Feb- ruary. Her funeral was conducted by Cam- byses — the son of Cyrus — in the ^' Temple of the Sceptre of the World." We note that Cambyses' free-will offerings aggregated '^ Ten times the usual amount.'^ Such a tribute would only be paid by Royalty to Royalty. AVe therefore have every reason to believe that the mother belonged to the Royal family of Nebu- chadnezzar and that Belshazzar was in truth a descendant of the great king. It is also clear, that the Babylonians associated the family of Nabonadios with the family of Nebuchadnezzar, for at a later day — B. c. 519 — one Nadintabel defied the sovereignty of Darius, and said " I 50 BELSHAZZAK. am Nebuchadnezzar son of Nabonadios/'^^ The people at once followed his leadership, and although vanquished by Darius, and the pre- tender put to death, their unanimity of action furnishes a positive proof of the fact, that the King and Queen sought to preserve the an- cestral name — ISTebuchadnezzar — by giving it to one of their children. As regards Nadintabel, we would mention in passing, that Cyrus conquered Belshazzar in B. c. 536, and Darius conquered the usurper Nadintabel in B.C. 519. His victory is re- corded — Dan. V. — in the form of a parenthesis, " and Darius the Median took the kingdom." Thus the interval between verses 30 and 31 amounted to 17 years. Cyrus conquered Babylon by strategy, but Darius besieged the city. In the forecast of Isa. 21, 2, ^^Elam" was the kingdom of Cyrus, and ^' Media" the kingdom of Darius. DaniePs announce- ment is simply the record of prophecy fulfilled. 51 KING CYRUS. Y. CYEUS. The earliest record of Cyrus tlie Great de- scribes him as King of Anzan, the country of the Elamites. As their country was located on the Persian gulf they naturally became a com- mercial nation. But Cyrus was a born ruler and rapidly extended his kingdom. ^^ Nabona- dioS;when writing about his own reign in Baby- lon, says : " On the third year when it came, Cyrus conquered the people of the Manda.^' As Nabonadios began to reign b. c. 556, the Manda was conquered B. c. 553. Six years later — b. c. 547 — Cyrus became King of Per- sia. We pass now from the record of Nabona- dios to the Annalistic Tablet of Cyrus, which of course gives its dates in terms of Cyrus' own reign, beginning with the year when he became 55 DANIEL'S PROPHECIES. King of Persia. The characters relating to the first six years are almost illegible, but from the 7th year onward to the 12th it is evident that Cyrus kept a very close supervision of the Court of Babylon. The tablet reads like a nice piece of detective work. He was in constant touch with current events, knew exactly where Nabonadios lived, where Belshazzar lived, what festivals were celebrated, when the King's mother died, where the troops Avere stationed, and when the gods of the country entered Babylon. When at last, the time was ripe for striking a blow, Cyrus knew exactly how to prepare and how to move. In the month of June " Cyrus delivered battle against the sol- diers of Akkad. The men of Akkad raised a revolt, some persons were slain. On the 14th of the month, Sippora Avas taken without fight- ing. On the 16th day, Gobryas the governor of the country of Ararat and the soldiers of Cyrus, without fighting entered Babylon.'^ 56 CYKUS. Having allowed three months and a half for the pacification of the Provinces, " on the 3d day of October, Cyrus entered Babylon ;'' in other words, made his formal entrance into the city. He then proclaimed a general amnesty, B. c. 536, and ruled with marked leniency. Wherever the gods of a country had been removed, as was the case with "the gods of the country of Akkad, he returned them to their own cities.'' People held in captivity he liberated and in many ways softened the hard- ship that inevitably follows a state of war. He treated the Judean captives taken by Nebuchadnezzar with open-handed liberality, and sent them home to Jerusalem laden with presents. He also gave them 5400 vessels of gold and silver belonging to their Temple, and authorized his governors in Syria to aid in the work of restoration. It is interesting to note that Akkad, where Belshazzar held Court, was of sufficient impor- 57 DANIEL'S PKOPHECIES. tance to have an army of its own, and that being king of Akkad was counted an honor by Cyrus. The tablet speaks of Cyrus as : — " The poAverf ul king, the king of Babylon The king of Sumer and Akkad — The king of the Four zones/' Cyrus died in the Spring of B. c. 529 and was succeeded by his son Cambyses,^^ who waged war with Egypt. Cambyses died in the Fall of B. c. 522. Gomates the Magian then usurped the throne of Persia and occupied it until the Spring of b. c. 521. AVe shall follow DanieFs example and pass these two reigns without comment. 58 DARIUS THE MEDE. YI. DARIUS. Whatever may have been the faults of King Darius, he certainly loved those who spoke the truth and thoroughly detested one who lied. He carefully warned his successors against having anything whatever to do with such an one, saying : — " Never be a friend to the man who lies ; " — ^^ I never uttered a lie in all my life.'' If this trait in the King's character is questioned by any, they can dismiss all doubt, for his words are engraved on the face of a precipitous bluff of the Behistun range in Western Media. Sir H. Rawlinson procured a copy of this wonderful record at the risk of his own life. The bluff, like our Palisades on the Hudson, stands 400 feet above the plain and the inscription is so distant, that an observer 61 DANIEL'S PROPHECIES. cannot decipher it, even with the aid of a pow- erful glass. Sir Henry was lowered by ropes in a swinging chair and exposed to rocks fall- ing over the ledge. The inscription contains 1000 lines, in cuneiform characters, engraved in the Median, Persian and Assyrian languages. The words were dictated by Darius, and give a bird's-eye view of important events that hap- pened during his long reign. To the Court presided over by this truth-loving monarch, the Prophet Daniel came as a welcome guest. With the testimony of the rock before us, we are not surprised to learn that Darius, in the first year of his reign, received the aged Prophet Avith open arms and made him both counsellor and Prime Minister. We can also imairine the ffrief of the Kinir when his Lords, prompted by jealousy, devised a scheme which exposed Daniel to the fury of the lions. Darius was the son of Hystaspes. He says : " Eight of my family were formerly kings. 62 DAKIUS. I am the ninth. In two branches are we kings." The first branch reads : — Achaemenes, Teispes, Cyrus I, Cambyses I, Cyrus II the Great. The second branch : — Achaemenes, Teispes, Ariaramnes, Arsames, Hystaspes, Darius. Both branches trace from Achaemenes, the last independent King of the Medes. There were 5 kings before Achaemenes. Ahasuerus is the Hebrew for Xerxes. Josephus erred in his chap, xi., where he described the life of Artaxerxes^^ and named him Xerxes. When Daniel speaks of Darius as the son of Ahasuerus he simply wished to show that Darius w^as descended from the Royal Median family. To say that Darius was the son of Hystaspes would not have conveyed the proper idea of his true dignity. For at the time he wrote, Hystaspes was only the commander of an Army Corps; besides, 63 DANIEL'S PEOPHECIES. Hystaspes had not the nerve to attack Gomates the Magian, and in consequence did not succeed to the kingdom on the death of Carabyses. Daniel's reference to the Royal family of Media was therefore more appropriate, as well as acceptable to Darius. We make the latter statement on authority of the King's own words : — At Behistun he says : " I am Darius [the great King, the king of kings, the king of the Persians, the king of the Lords, the son of Hystaspes the grandson of Arsames] the Achaemenian." The brackets are our own and were placed there to show, that in its last analysis the statement may be condensed to : — " I AM DARIUS, THE MEDE," precisely the words of Daniel, the Prime Minister of Darius. It was customary in those days for kings to erect their own monuments, and Darius showed 64 DARIUS. both patriotism and the strength of early asso- ciations by placing his monument at Behistun, in the land of the Medes. In view of such testimony, no one can doubt that Darius the King was proud of being known as " Darius the Mede/' Again, when one remembers that Darius married Atossa, the daughter of king Cyrus, he surely must abandon the notion, that the son-in-law ascended the throne of Persia before the father ! Thus we see that the testimony of those massive cliffs fully corroborates the statements of the Prophet Daniel. Darius tells us that he conquered eight or nine usurpers, who on different occasions tried to subvert his government. Darius himseK was defeated by the Greeks at the battle of Marathon b. c. 490. He never recovered from the blow, but died 5 years later. Ctesias the Persian historian says that Darius reigned for 31 years. Herodotus and Manetho say 36. 65 DANIEL'S PKOPHECIES. The possibility that^ after all, Ctesias might be correct and thus help to explain the dates of prophecy, has led the writer to investigate the original sources of Persian chronology. A most careful comparison of the writings of Herodotus, Thucydides, Ctesias, Egibi-tablets, Manetho, the Almagesta of Ptolemy, Diodorus Siculus, Plutarch and Julius Africanus has firmly established the conviction that : — Darius' reign lasted 36 years. Xerxes' reign lasted 20 years, 6 mos. Artaxerxes' reign lasted 40 years. Total 96 J years . . . Spring 521 to Fall 425. The Bible student will find that the list of Chaldean and Medo-Persian kings given on page 44 is in perfect accord both Avith the facts of History and with every date of those times, as given in the Books of ii. Kings, ii. Chronicles, Ezra, INehemiah, Esther, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Haggai, and Zechariah. 66 XERXES AND ARTAXERXES. YII. XERXES AND ARTAXERXES. After the battle of Marathon, Darius undertook ihe herculean task of building 4000 vessels and organizing an army of 1,500,000 men. AVhen he died, his son Xerxes^^ carried the work to completion and renewed the war with Greece. His expedition met wdth varied siiccess until the fleet was caught in a narrow passage and crippled at the battle of Salamis, Oct. 2 B.C. 480. Whereupon the greater por- tion of his army retreated across the Helles- pont. Those that remained were defeated the following year, by Pausanius and Aristides at the battle of Plataea. Diodorus says, " Xerxes being informed of the slaughter of his men at Plataea and of the routing of his army at Mycale, leaving part of his forces to carry on 69 DANIEL'S PKOPHECIES. the war, in a great friglit fled with the rest to Ecbatana '^ ^ — the Achmetha of Ezra vi. The first alkision to Xerxes is found in Ezra 4. 6, where lie is called Ahasuerus. The book of Esther gives a most interesting account of Court life, in the 3d, 7th and 12th years of his reign. Xerxes died in the Fall of B. c. 465, having reigned 20 years and G months. Cyrus, the son of Xerxes, is known in history as Artaxerxes Longimanus.^*^ He treated the Jews with clemency, and was instrumental in establishing them again in their own land. In B. c. 458 — the 7th year of his reign — Ezra the scribe ^^ received donations from the King with authority to restore the worship of Jehovah. He conducted a band of Levites, singers and porters to Jerusalem and began the work of reform. B. c. 450 — the year of the Commandment and 15th of the reign of Artaxerxes — found 70 XERXES AND ARTAXERXES. the Jews in "great affliction and reproach," their walls broken down and gates burned with fire.^^ They were thoroughly discouraged. B. c. 447, the Persian Megabyzus headed a revolt in Syria and dictated terms to Artax- erxes, thus improving the Jews outlook. B. c. 446. At last, Hanani and others went to Babylon and reported their distress.^^ B. c. 445 — the year of the CWenant, the 20th of the reign of Artaxerxes — the prophet Nehemiah served as his cup-bearer. The King noticed a peculiar sadness in his countenance, and on inquiry learned that it was due to the desolate condition of Jerusalem. Artaxerxes conferred on Nehemiah full authority to rebuild its walls and restore the temple.^* He also appointed him Governor of the colony and supplied a staff, consisting of " captains of the army and horsemen,'^ to act as his body-guard. Under these favorable circumstances the work went forward with system and despatch, so that 71 DANIEL'S PROPHECIES. the walls rose rapidly and the Temple worship was soon celebrated as of old. Nehemiah held the office of Governor 12 years, until B. c. 433, possibly longer ; but this is the last recorded date given in his history. ^^ DaniePs ^^ vision concerning the daily sac- rifice,'' ^^ called for a sanctuary and a host. Consequently the temple service had to be again established and a government formed to repre- sent " the host of Israel," before either of them could '^be trodden under foot." Nehemiah met these conditions and a new Covenant was signed and sealed.^^ His experience also satis- fied the condition, that the street and wall were to be built in " troublous times.^^ Artaxerxes died in the Fall of b. c. 425, having reigned 40 years. 72 LOCKING DATES. Yin. LOCKING DATES. There are two very remarkable passages in the books of Jeremiah and Ezekiel which may be said to be full of chronological meat. The first reads : — The word that came to Jeremiah .... in the 4th year of Jehoiakim — that was the 1st year of Nebuchadnezzar — which Jeremiah spake unto all the people of Judah .... saying, from the 13th year of Josiah .... even unto this day, that is the 3 and 20th year.'' ^^ second reads : — In the 5 and 20th year of our Captivity, in the beginning of the year, in the 10th day of the month, in the 14th year after that the city was smitten, in the self same day.'' ^^ 75 The DANIEL'S PROPHECIES. Such a mass of exact data may seem dry to the casual reader, but it is exceedingly useful to the historian, because it enables him to lock together facts in their chronological order and assign to them correct dates expressed in terms of years before Christ. Confining ourselves to the life of Daniel, let us see how this material can be utilized in determining the year b. c, when the prophet was taken captive by Nebuchadnezzar ? For effecting the solution of this problem the material apparatus, or working parts, con- sist of 3 movable scales made of paper. One divided into 43 parts to represent years in Nebuchadnezzar's reign and each part into twelfths or months. The second scale should be divided in like manner to the extent of 6Q parts, to represent years B. c. 628-562. But the third scale should have 56 parts to represent years and reigns between 12th of Josiah and 25th of the 76 LOCKING DATES. Captivity. ^^ The historical data belongs to the 1st, 7th, 8th, 18th and 19th years of Nebuchadnezzar, the 1st year of Darius, and the eclipses of Ptolemy. Thus equipped, place the 8 scales parallel to each other and move them slowly to and fro until the known divi- sions assume a final position, in perfect accord with the conditions of the locking dates. This adjustment will reveal the fact that Nebuchad- nezzar began to reign in the summer of b. c. 605, which was the 4th year of Jehoiakim king of Judah.^^ But as Nebuchadnezzar be- sieged Jerusalem one year before he was made king of Babylon, that is in the 3d year of Jehoiakim, it follows that Daniel and his com- panions were taken captive in the summer of B.C. 606. With this one date settled, a whole train of important ones naturally follow in its wake, for instance : — 77 DANIEL'S PROPHECIES. Israel was cast off^^ in August B. c. 590. Temple was burned in July b. c. 586. 1st Indignation lasted until Oct. B. c. 520. 2d " '' " Oct. B.C. 450. besides other dates too numerous to mention. We would remark in passing, that the refer- ences made by Jeremiah and Ezekiel to the captivity of Jehoiachin have a common starting point in the 2d war of Nebuchadnezzar ; but with this difference, Jeremiah figures from the beginning of that war, Ezekiel from its ending. As regards both the reign of Nebuchadnezzar and that of Evil Merodach, the foregoing solu- tion also shows that Bible chronology is in perfect accord with the Canon of Ptolemy. 78 STARTING-POINTS OF PROPHECY. IX. STAKTING-POINTS OF PROPHECY. The year b. c. 536 was one of great rejoicing among the inhabitants of Judah and Benjamin, for it marked the end of their long captivity (b. c. 606 to 536). Cyrus gave them their freedom and appointed Zerubbabel governor of the colony, and delivered into his hands the precious vessels of the Temple. The people left Babylon, with bright prospects for the future, intent on re-establishing the worship of Jehovah at Jerusalem. After two years' time, when the foundations were finished, their adversaries made overtures toward joining in the work. But when their services were refused they sought to hinder it, and finally secured an injunction during the reign of Cambyses, 81 DANIEL'S PROPHECIES, which remained in force until after Darius came into power. Sec Ezra and Haggai. The autliority to build was again a subject of dispute and the matter referred to the new King. Darius instituted an unsuccessful search in the house of the rolls at Babylon. The original decree, however, was found in the palace at Achmetha, in the province of the Medes. Whereupon, Darius immediately dis- solved the injunction, and ratified the decree. Besides this he made generous contributions toward carrying on the work. The altar was erected in September b. c. 520, and the Temple finished in February B.C. 515. During the next 70 years desolation again overtook the City, for God had said,^* '^ I will recompense their iniquity and their sin DOUBLE, because they have defiled my land ;'' also, ^^I will kindle a fire in the gates of Jerusalem if ye will not harken unto me to hallow the sabbath day.'' 82 STAKTING-POINTS OF PROPHECY. God's request of the Jews to turn and receive his blessing was made in the month of October b. c. 520. Daniel's studies enabled him to look forward just 70 years. This brought him to the month of October b. c. 450. He could go no further. Right at this point, where Daniel came to a stand-still, a revelation was sent by '' the man Gabriel," who made known to the prophet, that Seventy Weeks had been determined, and then ex- plained how those weeks would be sub-divided. October b. c. 450 was therefore the start- ing-point of this revelation, or date when God gave "the Commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem." 2 Kin. 24, 3. - Jer. 31, 28.— Ezra G, 14. Since the Temple was finished in B.C. 515 and desolations would intervene during the next 70 years, its restoration should take place in the year b. c. 445. This is ex- actly what did happen. In 445 Nehemiah restored the Temple worship and celebrated 83 DANIEL'S PROPHECIES. the Feast of Tabernacles in a manner nnknown ^^ since the days of Joshua." ^' Then followed a solemn fast and the signing of a ^^sure covenant '^ to which the seals of the Princes, Levites and priests were attached. It is important to note that whenever God gave a " commandment to restore and to build/' his decree was the forerunner of a period of peace among the nations. For example, in B. c. 520 the heavenly sentinel answered : ^^ We have walked to and fro through the earth, and, behold all the earth silteth still and is at rest.'' '^ In b. c. 450, the " Peace of Ivimon " was negotiated between the Greeks and Per- sians, followed closely in b. c. 445 by the " 30 years Peace." From which we learn that the years b. c. 520 and 450 — the starting-points of the time-revelations made to the Prophet DanieP^ — were years of profound Peace among the nations, as well as years of special Commandment, Both were Sabbatic years. 84 FORBEARANCE AND JUDGMENTS. Saul made King Graphic Exhibit. B. C. 1080 Sabbatic year. ' Thunder and Rain " a 1 Sam. 12, 15, 17 | 490 years of FORBEARANCE Nebuchadnezzar sent „ „ ton to punish the Jews "• ^- ^^^ Sabbatic year. 70 Years " Indignation "- Commandment to .c. 520- restore Temple 70 Years " Indignation ' Commandment to restore City Walls B. c. 450« 490 Years, or "SEVENTY WEEKS" Romans sent to punish the Jews A. D. 40" "SHORTENED " 5 years Matt. 24, 22 Jews scattered among all Nations. Dan. 12. 7 ^ c. 536 ^70 Years CAPTIVITY Work delayed ^— i B.C. 520 A Sabbatic year. I 'TIME" B.C. 450 ^ Sabbatic year. 'TIMES' .A. D. 40 HALF TIME' • A.D. 70 85 THE TIME OF THE END. THE TIME OF THE END. The expression ^^ Time of the End/' must not be confused with that other terminal, known as " End of the Days." It is anticipating our subject a little, at this point of the investi- gation, to indicate the purpose of DaniePs prophecies. So much misconception, however, prevails on this subject, that it becomes neces- sary to say at once that his prophecies are enclosed by boundaries less than 600 years apart. It is well to note his many allusions to the Time of the End. '^ At the Time of the End shall be the vision. " At the time appointed the End shall be. ^^ Make them white even to the Time of the End. ^^ At the Time of the End shall the king, " Seal the Book even to the Time of the End. \ " The words are sealed till the Time of the End." 89 DANIEL'S PROPHECIES. Many imagine, that these sentences refer to the End of the World. This is not true ! They refer only to the fall of Jerusalem and the scattering of the Jewish people. Moses, their great lawgiver, had predicted, nearly 1000 years before Daniel's day, that if they would " hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord their God to observe and to do all his com- mandments, then the Lord would set them up on high, above all the nations of the earth."^^ But if they forsook his Covenant and followed the gods of the heathen, then the Lord would root them out of the land in anger and scatter them among all people, from one end of the earth even unto the other. Down through the centuries, the words of Moses went unheeded. Prophets followed prophets, uttering solemn notes of warning ; but all of no avail. Finally the prophet Daniel was sent with a message, that fixed a time-limit, beyond which Divine forbearance would no longer be extended. 90 THE TIME OF THE END. The punishment would be inflicted. Jerusa- lem, their capital city, would be destroyed, and as a people they would be scattered from one end of the earth to the other. — Dan. xii. 7. In the face of such a message, every Israelite would have to admit, that the nation received a fair warning. The forecast was not alto- gether dark. The message also brought words of promise. The prophet told them, that Messiah would come during the week of the Covenant, and in the midst of the week*^ he would " make reconciliation for iniquity.'^ This meant, according to every form of relig- ious belief, that he would make a sacrifice. But according to the Hebrew law, it involved the outpouring of the blood of a living creature. The Prophet adds: — '^ After three score and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off.'^ In brief, slain! — The sacrifice, however, would differ from those ordered by Moses in its lasting effect, and its complete sufficiency, 91 DANIEL'S PROPHECIES. because the reconciliation he would make for iniquity, would " bring in everlasting rio^hteousness and make an end of sin.'' A satisfaction so complete would, of necessity, "cause the sacrifice and the oblation" (insti- tuted by Moses) " to cease." Thus, Messiah would establish a new spir- itual " kingdom that all people, nations and languages should serve him, an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed."^'' The Time of the End therefore reached its extreme limit when Titus took Jerusalem, September 3d, a. d. 70. Daniel used the expression End of the Days only once, meaning the end of all days — the end of the World. His heavenly visitor gave no intimation whatever as to when that day would come ; he simply assured Daniel ; " thou shalt rest and stand in thy lot at the End of the Days." In this respect therefore the 92 THE TIME OF THE END. teachings of Daniel are in perfect harmony with those of the :N'ew Testament. " Of that day and hour knoweth no man ; no, not the angels of Heaven/^^* 93 THE NATIONAL DAY. XL THE NATIONAL DAY. Since many systems for registering time prevailed between Daniel's day and the be- ginning of the Christian Era, it is of the utmost importance for us to understand the mutual relation of the five most prominent. The Babylonians dated from the commence- ment of the reign of their first king Nabunatsir, B. c. 747, and they used A. n. (Anno Nabonass) the same as we use A. d. The Romans counted from the foundation of Rome. Their years were A. u. (Anno Urbis). The Greeks counted from the first celebration of the Olympic games, and called their periods of 4 years each, olympiads. The years of the Macedonian dynasty were called years of the Seleucidae. The Asmoneans counted from the first year of Judas Maccabeus. As to the rest, it may 97 DANIEL'S PROPHECIES. be said, there were almost as many systems as there were nations or tribes. Eutropius locates the first olympiad just 23 years prior to the foundation of Rome.^^ In doing so, he followed the date accepted as being correct by many noted authors, for instance Cicero, Pliny and Censorius. According to this standard, the year A. u. 753 began April B. c. 1 and ended April a. d. 1. The first Universal Exposition of athletic sports was celebrated by the Greeks in the town of Olympia. Coroebus was the victor, and so great was the success of the venture, they decided to hold it every 4 years. They called the period an olympiad, and spoke of any event, as: — ^^ It fell out in the'^ 1st, 2d, 3d or 4th year of a certain olympiad. At first, each olympiad was named after the victor ; but in later years the proper numeral was assigned to the olympiad. The games lasted 5 days, and were celebrated between the new and THE NATIONAL DAY. full-moon first following the Summer Solstice, June 25tli. To avoid the difficulty of many calculations, historians have settled on July 1st as being the first day of every olympiad. By the Greek system of measuring time, the [194th olympiad 3d year 6th month] marked the end of the years Anno Urbis, and the point where Anno Domini began with the date Januaky 1st, a. d. 1. The full time, from the 1st Olympic game to January 1st of the Christian era, was 775 years 6 mos. 5 days. By means of these figures, we can readily bring prophetic events into line, with standard measures of time. The reign of Antiochus Epiphanes was an important period in the history of the Israelites, for he tried by every means in his power to destroy the worship of Jehovah. He not only erected an idol-altar upon the ruins of the altar at Jerusalem, but he sacrificed swine upon it and forced the Jews to make an offering 99 DANIEL'S PKOPHECIES. of swine, every day of the week, upon special altars erected in every city and village of Palestine. His impious rule developed intense animosity among the people, who being led by Judas Maccabeus regained possession of the Temple, and dedicated it anew, "in the 148th year, the 25th of Chisleu and on the 154th olympiad. ""^^ This day came exactly 3 years after divine worship had been stopped by Antiochus. On it, "they again lighted the lamps, offered incense, laid the loaves on the table and offered burnt offerings upon the new altar.^' In subsequent years they commemorated the occasion by celebrating the Feast of Lights. Although that day marked the renewal of worship, the Syrian troops still held possession of the Fortress adjoining the Temple. The sacred enclosure was also used as a market-place for buying and selling, and the troops passed through the Temple-area daily, on their journeys to the adjoining country in search of supplies. So 100 THE NATIONAL DAY. long therefore as they occupied the Fortress, the Temple pollution continued to exist. After a number of years, the high priest Simon sent commissioners to king Demetrius and made complaint against the governor Tryphon/^ who had ruled Judea in a manner '' no better than robbery." Although Demetrius made many concessions and granted immunity from taxa- tion the troops still remained. Simon, as a last resort, cut off " their supplies and a great number perished through famine." This forced them to capitulate. '^ Simon made peace with them, and when he had put them out from thence, he cleansed the Fortress from its pollu- tions and he entered into it the 3 and 20th day of the 2d month in the 171st year, with praise and palm branches and with harps and with cymbals, and with viols and with hymns and with songs ; because there was destroyed a great enemy out of Israel. He ordained also, that day should be kept every year, with gladness." 101 DANIEL'S PROPHECIES. Halcyon days of peace followed this event. Simon was permanently settled In office and absolute power placed in his hands by his grateful countrymen. The restoration of the Temple service was followed by a rapid expan- sion of territory. To give greater emphasis to the event, the people erected on Mount Sion, a commemorative tablet of brass, which was placed in position on ^^the 18th day of the month Elul in the 172d year, being the 3d year of Simon the high priest. "^^ Fortunately, the National day is one of the best settled dates in Jewish history. It is the focal date of Daniel's list of days,^^ the day foretold by the words : " Then shall the Sanctuary be cleansed. ^' The "2300 — 1290 — 1335 days '^ of prophecy, all radiate from the National day. The "2300 days'' extend backward into the years of b. c, while the others reach forward into the years of A. d, Before we can bring out the significance of 102 THE NATIONAL DAY. these DAYS we must locate the National day in its relation to the Christian Era. The feast of lights will render good service in this con- nection, for it has been given both in years of the Seleucidse and in Olympic periods. We know that the Temple was dedicated anew in the first year of the 154th olympiad/^ because the sacrifice ceased in the 153d olympiad 2d year/^ just 3 years before the dedication. This gives us, from the 1st Olympic game : — Yrs. Mos. Days- To the Christian Era 775 6 5 '' '' Feast of Lights 612 5 10 163 25 Also, from Era of Seleucidge : — Yrs. Mos. Days. To National day . . . 170 1 23 " Feast of Lights . . 147 8 25 From Feast of Lights to National day . 22 4 28 .-. National day = May 4 B.C. 141 . . 140 7 27 Thus prophetic events are brought into line with standard measures of time. 103 DANIEL'S PROPHECIES. Proof. — Passover day in B.C. 141, or 15th day of 1st month came on Marcli 27th. It follows that National Bay, or 23d day of the 2d month was celebrated May 4th. We have this Passover day from the Jewish savant Pev. Joseph L. Sossnitz, of AVarschau, who at the time of making the calculation was a stranger to us, without the slightest knowl- edge as to why we asked for Passover day in B. c. 141. We take pleasure in stating that Rev. Sossnitz was the author of ^^ Idan Olamim," or Ewiger Kalender, published in Russia, in the year 1888. 104 ANCIENT ERAS. Graphic Exhibit. Era of Greece June 25, B. c. 776 First Olympic game A Julian period 3938 Founding of Rome ....April 21, B. c 753 29 years. 1 V Feb. 26, B. C. 747 A * 4i 5 years. T?rn nf Splpnr-iflaP ^^^^ 7 Oct. B.C. 312 Jewish year a. m. 3450 I i 311 years. National Tnrlpppnrlpnpp Dfly ^_^^ May 4, B.C. 141 Era of Christianity ■\ 7 Jan. 1, A. D. 1 194 Olym. 3 yrs. 6 mos. 5 days. Julian Period 4714 105 EVENING-MORNINGS OR DAYS. XII. DAYS. The word day has been used in Scripture to express various time-limits, occasionally extend- ing only from sunrise to sunset, but generally the entire 24 hours. Applied to patriarchal life it stood for a whole year. Jacob's answer to Pharaoh reads, " the days of the years of my pilgrimage are a hundred and thirty years," thus calling each year a day. The Apostle Peter added still another meaning to the word day when he wrote, " one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.'' In the book of Genesis,''^ the periods of Creation are called days, '^And the evening and' the morning were the first day." Again, speaking of the entire group of seven, it was 107 DANIEL'S PROPHECIES. said : — '^ In the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens." Since among the ancients, a week could be spoken of as a day and by them the number seven was used to express perfection ; seven times seven or 49 ordinary days should con- stitute their perfect day. Such a measure of time would naturally form one of the elements in a Code like that of the Prophet Daniel. In his prophecy we find three periods of Days : viz. : — 2300 Evening-mornings, 1290 Days and 1335 Days. Here the word ^^evening- mornings " intimates that these were entire or perfect days.^^ It will be remembered that the Levitical Law set aside a remarkable group of 49 days, and followed them by a feast called the Feast of Weeks/^ or Pentecost. In like manner, the Law set aside a group of 49 years, and followed it by a year of liberty, or Jubilee.^^ The Jews have faithfully ob- served these periods throughout their gener- ics DAYS. ations, yet all the while they have been oblivi- ous to the fact that the number 49 was one of the keys of Prophecy. We heartily accept 1:49 as the prophetic ratio, and will extend the periods on this basis : — 2300 multiplied by 49 = 112700 days. 1290 '' " 49= 63210 " 45 '' ''49= 2205 " Now the length of a sidereal year is the time in which the earth makes one revolution ; the point of reference being a fixed star : Sidereal year =: 365 days, 6 hrs. 9 min. 9.6 sec. A year, therefore, equals : 365.2563611 days. Dividing each period of days by the number of days in one year, we obtain the actual length of each prophetic period. The calculations, as shown by the Chart facing page 114 of this book, give us for : — 109 DANIEL'S PROPHECIES. 2300 DAYS a total of 308 yrs. 6 mos. 21 days. . 1290 '' '' " 173 '' '' 21 '' 45 '' '' '' 6 " " 13 " These amounts, however, must be brought into line with the chronology of the Christian Era, before we can discover the events to which they have reference. We have show^n on chart that from : — Yrs. Mos, Days. First of 2300 days to National day = 308 6 21 National day to Christian Era . . =140 7 27 First of 2300 days to Christian Era = 449 2 18 in other words :— — ^^— — — OCTORER 14 B. C. 450 TO A. D. 1. This determines the starting-point for three great periods of Prophecy, viz.: — 2300 Even- ing-mornings ; Seventy Weeks ; and " Com- mandment to restore and to build Jerusalem." All issued from that one date,^"^ and it was located just 70 years later than the special Promise given in October B. c. 520, and men- tioned in Zechariah i, 1,2, 3. 110 DAYS. Again, from the : — Yrs. Mos. Days. National day forward 1290 days . . = 173 21 But National day to Christian Era . . 140 7 27 . '.Portion of 1290 days in Christian Era = 32 4 24 Which brings us to May 24th, a. d. 33 — "that great and notable day of the LORD '^ — the day of Pentecost, when many were purified and made white.^* The Passover^^ that year fell on April 4th, according to the Julian method of calculation ; on April 2d by the Gregorian ; and on April 3d by Astronomy. The New Testament agrees with the latter. Accepting April 3d as Passover day, the feast took place after sundown on April 2d, and the wave offering followed on April 4th. Thence 50 days brings us to the twin-days upon which Pentecost^^ was celebrated, viz.: to May 23d and 24th. Luke tells us that the Holy Spirit was given, "when the day of Pentecost was FULLY come.'* The event therefore hap- Ill DANIEL'S PROPHECIES. pened precisely as foretold by the Heavenly visitor, who said to Daniel, " the vision of tlie evening and the morning which was told is true/^ and it came about with that perfect degree of exactness with which astronomers become so familiar, in their study of the heavenly bodies. Finally, measuring time from the beginning of the Christian Era, the periods taken in succession were as follows : — Yrs. Mos, Days. Holy Spirit revealed to the Jews . . 32 4 24 u Gentiles 6 13 The time of special blessing*' arrived .... 38 5 7 in other words :— - June 7th, a. d. 39, precisely 70 days later than the Passover. The Holy Spirit's appearance to the Gentiles in the Summer of A. D. 39 was at a time pecu- liarly favorable for the conversion of Cornelius. The persecution of A. D. 36, following the 112 DAYS. dismissal of Pilate, was succeeded by a period of rest and rapid growth among the infant churches. There was neither the marching of armies, nor even the rumor of war. True, these all came in the Spring of A. D. 40, when Petronius was sent to Syria with instructions to place the images of the Romans in the Temple at Jerusalem. It may be said in passing, that the expedition landed in Ptolemais. But the attitude of the Jews was so determined, that Petronius sent to Rome for additional instruc- tions. Meantime the Emperor died, and in the Fall of A. D. 40 the expedition was abandoned. The year a. d. 39, however, was a time of peace and good order ; a time most favorable to the all-important mission of the Holy Spirit. Results of Chart : — The chart clearly proves that the 1290-day period is a perfect fit between two well-known dates. The other periods give us two extremely important dates heretofore absolutely unknown. 113 THE ONLY KEY 2300 DAYS. Sidereal year ^ 365 days 6 lirs. 9 min. 9.6 sec. 65.0000000 days. 0.2500000 '"' 0.0062500 " 0.0001111 " 2300 "days." 20104078120 18262818055 3652563611 14610254444 18262818055 1826 2818055 201.040753713051 days. 2300 DAYS equal to : 308 YEARS, 6 14978259500 146102.54444 3680050560 3652563611 21 DAYS. > TO DANIEL'S 1290 DAYS. 1290 "days." 49 PROPHECIES. 1161 .2563611)63210.00000(1 '^ 36.525 6.S61K 1.0565343 years. 23867116450 21915381666 10957 14610254444 10957690833 18262818055 21915381666 182628180.55 20.64951269533.573 days. 1290 DAYS equal to : 173 YEAKS, ( NATIONAL DAY, May 4 B. C. 141 < "TEMPLE CLEANSED." 19517347840 182628180.55 12.54.5297850 10957690833 1.5876070170 14610254444 1336 DAYS. 1335 "days." Less 1290 rence 45 "days." 365.2563611 ) 2205.0000000 ( 0.036856 years. ^ 2191.5381666^ 13461833400 10957690833 20399311.520 1826-.'8 180.55 21364934650 21915381666 2191.5381666 182628180.55 29220508888 21915381666 10957 13.4618884447016 days. 45 DAYS equal to 6 YRARS, GaBAT AND NOTABLE DAY OF THE LORD." MONTHS, 13 DAYS. THE SPIRIT BE.'STOWED, > June7A. D. 39 "ON THE GE.NTIL Copyr i ght 1902. by W. S. Ap chincloss. ILE8 ALSO." Ezamined and Found Correct, LAWRENCE E. BROWS A CO., Public Accountants fur State of Pennsylv DANIEL'S PROPHECIES. pillars, 10 sockets. After the Israelites had tempted the Lord 10 times, they were con- demned to die in the wilderness. Ten plagues were inflicted on the Egyptians. In the matter of taxation, the herd was divided into 10 parts and one part set aside for the Lord. When Nebuchadnezzar tested Daniel and his companions, ^'\\e found them 10 times better than all the magicians and astrologers." Thus we see plainly that the numerals 7 and 10 con- veyed the idea of completeness and perfection to the Hebrew mind. Number 70, the product of these two nun\- bers, marks the ordinary boundary of human existence. Moses said in the xc.th Psalai : — " The days of our years are three score years and ten." A base line of 70 years, will be found just as convenient for the measurement of long periods, as one of 60 minutes serves for those of shorter length. Seventy years is properly called a Time, because it stands for the time man 118 WEEKS AND TIMES. spends on earth. That this is the Scriptural sense is shown plainly by studying the follow- ing passages in connection with the history of Babylon : Dan. 7, 12 and Jer. 25, 11, 12. Still further we learn that a Season was equal to two human lives, or 140 years — the seven- score of the ancients. Taking 70 as a Time unit, the plural Times would be represented by a week of units, viz. : 7 times 70 or 490 years. The Babylonian captivity lasted : — ^^ Until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths ; for as long as she lay desolate she kept sabbath, to fulfil three score and ten years.'' Each one of these 70 years stood for a period of 7 years, because the law read : — ^' 6 years thou shalt sow thy field, and 6 years thou shalt prune thy vineyard, but in the 7th year shall be a sabbath of rest unto the land.'' The captivity therefore represented 7 times 70, or 490 years of disobedience, and since the punish- ment came 490 years after Saul ^vas made no DANIEL'S PROPHECIES. King, the passage incidentally notes the limit of God^s forbearance and mercy. Daniel also refers to a limit of the same length when he says : — " Seventy Weeks are determined to finish the transgression, etc." We thus arrive finally at : — THE CODE OR KEY TO DANIEL'S PROPHECIES. Symbol. Meaning, Day 49 days of 24 hours. Week 7 years '' 36 5 J days. Time 70 '^ ^^ ^^ " Season 140 '^ '' " Times 490 '^ " " 120 DANIEL'S INSPIRATION. XIY. DANIEL'S INSPIRATION. The book of Daniel gives clearer evidence of Divine inspiration than all the other books of the Bible. Leaving out of consideration the question, When did Daniel live ? — or was there ever such a person as Daniel the Prophet ? — no one denies that the book was written more than a century before the birth of Christ. Now, taking it merely as a human produc- tion, we ask you frankly : — Could any human being predict these widely separated dates, and every date prove faultless, unless he was first qualified to do so by Divine instruction ? Daniel has been ranked with the patriarchs Noah and Job.'^^ Noah proclaimed the Flood 100 years before its arrival. But Daniel foretold the destruction of Jerusalem 600 123 DANIEL'S PROPHECIES. years before its downfall. Job maintained his integrity, in spite of sore adversity and unfriendly criticisms. But Daniel spent a long life amid the allurements of Eastern Courts, and proved faithful to Jehovah to the end. The New Testament endorses the inspiration of the book with these words : — ^^ When ye therefore shall see the desolation spoken of by Daniel the Prophet stand in the Holy Place, whoso readeth let him understand. '^ We cannot resist the pleasure of making special reference to the arithmetic of Daniel's heavenly visitor. On one occasion the Apostle Peter inquired, how often he ought to forgive his brother ? " Till seven times ? '^ the human expression for completeness. The answer came back ; — "I say not unto thee, until seven times, but until seventy times seven.'' Here then was the Divine idea of forgiveness expressed in numbers. Pardon 124 DANIEL'S INSPIRATION. to the extent of seventy times seven expressed the idea of complete forgiveness. This measure is in perfect accord with the forbearance shown in Daniel's seventy weeks, or 490 years. Such standards are Heavenly, not human. They come ONLY from above. The Book of Daniel shows that his proph- ecies had distinct and well-defined limits. He started with b. c. 520 and unrolled the scroll of time as far as a. d. 70. Like Moses and the Prophets, he pointed to the setting up of Messiah's kingdom and stopped there. His celebrated period of 70 weeks would have lacked precision, if it had passed over the mission of him who was " more than a prophet," of whom it was written, " Behold I send my messenger before thy face, who shall prepare thy way before thee.'^ Malachi, the last of the prophets, pointed to John the Baptist, but Daniel pointed to the very week in which John's great mis- sion would have its rise and fall. John himself 125 DANIEL'S PROPHECIES. testified, " T am not the Christ, but am sent before him. He must increase, but I must decrease.^' When his week came to an end, then it Avas that our Lord's disciples " went everywhere preaching the Word,'' and Christian History completes the record to date. It is a grave mistake for one to imagine, that the interval between Darius and the Fall of Jerusalem was an unchangeable period. The experience of King Hezekiah teaches us, that at the time of his affliction the Lord " brought the shadow ten degrees backward, by which it had gone down on the dial of Ahaz," and ADDED 15 YEARS unto his days. Our re- searches therefore Avould not be complete if we failed to contemplate the case of Jerusa- lem's affliction from a like stand-point. It is very significant that our Lord, after referring to the sign of coming doom given by Daniel the Prophet, immediately adds : " and except those days should be shortened, there should 126 DANIEL'S INSPIRATION, no flesh be saved : but for the elects' sake THOSE DAYS SHALL BE SHORTENED." The truth of the matter is, the interval between Darius and the Fall of Jerusalem was subject to the decision of our Lord, to whom had been "committed all judgment/' and he saw fit to reduce the 595 years to 590. In a word he shortened the time five years. Thus the mystery of Daniel is solved by the prophecy of our Lord, and since the Son of God alone could accomplish this marvellous change, we learn that the book of Daniel shines in a new light and witnesses to the great fact that the " Anointed One " was both Son of God and Son of Man. 127 DANIEL'S PROPHECIES, WITH INTERPRETATION. VISION Xo. I. — Chapter vii. 1. In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, — b. c. 541 — Daniel had a dream and visions of his head upon his bed ; then he MTote the dream, and told the sum of the matters. 2. Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision by night, and behold the 4 winds of heaven strove upon the great sea. — AVorld-wide subject. 3. And 4 great beasts came up from the sea diverse one from another. — 4 powerful dynasties. 4. The first was like a lion and had eagle's wings Medo-Persian Empire, — And I be- held until the wings thereof were plucked — Persia defeated by Greece at Marathon — B.C. 490 — and it was lifted up from the 131 DANIEL'S PROPHECIES. earth, and made to stand upon the feet as a man, and a man's heart was given unto it. — Was transformed by Greek art and civiliza- tion. 5. And behold another beast, a second, like to a BEAR, — The Hellenes, or Greece and her colonies in their palmy days, — and it raised up itself on one side — faced in the direction of Persia — and it had 3 ribs in the mouth of it, between the teeth of it ; — 3 columns of strength, viz. : Athens, Sparta and Thebes. The vision made its appearance, 21 years before the Alliance Avas formed. The rib& therefore, had not knit in place when the heavenly visitor made known the fact of their future union. The Alliance lasted 93 years, beginning B. c. 520 and ending B. c. 427. — Thuc. III. 69 — and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh — destroy hundreds of thousands in your Persian and civil wars. 132 VISION NO. I. 6. After this I beheld, and lo another, like a LEOPARD which had upon the back of it 4 wingf? of a fowl, — quick to spring, swift of flight. Philip king of Macedon B. c. 338 subjugated the disunited Greek States at the battle of Chaeronea — the beast had also 4 heads — Alexander the Great b. c. 336 con- quered a kingdom which extended from Greece to the Ganges of India. His four generals were named Antigonus, Seleucus, Ptolemy and Cassander — and dominion was given to it. — Alexander was carried off by intemperance and left no successor. The 4 generals took the kingdom. 7. After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible — ROMAN EMPIRE — and stroug exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth ; it devoured and brake in pieces and stamped the residue with the feet of it, and it was diverse — a republic, not a kingdom — from all the beasts that were 133 DANIEL'S PROPHECIES. before it ; and it had 10 horns — 1. Marius. 2. Sylla. 5. Julius Cesar. 8. Octavius 3. Pompey. 6. Brutus. 9. Antony. 4. Crassus. 7. Cassius. 10. Lepidus. 8. I considered the horns, and behold there came up among them another little horn _ Augustus Cesar — before whom there were 3 of the first horns plucked up by the roots The Triumvirate ended with battle Artiuni, Sept. 3, B. c. 31 — and behold in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man — Augustus took 3 censuses of the Roman Empire and had the most intimate knowledge of all its resources, the last one was found in his own handwriting — and a mouth speaking great things. — He was accorded Divine honors. 9. I beheld till the thrones were cast down — Rome became all-powerful— and the Ancient of Days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the ])ure 134 VISION NO. I. wool ; liis throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire. 10. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him ; thousand thousands minis- tered unto him and ten thousand times ten thou- sand stood before him ; the judgment was set, and the books were opened. — Divine forbearance had reached its limit, the voice of the prophets went unheeded, and the desolation spoken of by Moses was about to fall on the Jews. 11. I beheld then, because of the great words which the horn spake ; — Rome also would receive judgment for its impiety in due time. — I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the l)urn- ing flame. 12. As concerning the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away : yet their lives were prolonged for a season = 140 years — and a time = 70 years. — The season lasted from the 1st of Belshazzar, b. c. 541 to 135 DANIEL'S PROPHECIES. the battle of Cunaxa, B.C. 401, at which the Persians lost their dominion. But their lives were prolonged 70 years, until b. c. 331, when Alexander desolated Babylon as foretold in Jer. XXV. 11, 12. 13. I saw in the night visions, and, behold one like the Son of Man — Messiah — came with the clouds of heaven — "And a cloud received him out of their sight," Acts i, 9 — and came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought him near before him. Acts 7, 5-5. 14. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations and languages, should serve him ; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, Avhich shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed. Isa. 9, 6 and 7o 15. I Daniel was grieved in my spirit in the midst of my body, and the visions of my head troubled me. 16. I came near unto one of them that stood 136 "A SEASON AND A TIME.'' Graphic Exhibit. First year of Belshazzar B. c. 541 Cyrus planning to capture Babylon. ^ L Sabbatic year. Cyrus made king of Babylon Dflrins mfldp kine' of Pprtjifl nptnhpr a T! r ."SSfi ... Anril r r. .^21 Peace on earth b. c. 520 "A SEASON " = 140 Ye IPS. )an. 7, 12. The peace of Kimon b. c. 450 The 30 years Peace b. c. 445 Persian decay. Battle of Cunaxa. Egypt declared independence. ^ ^. R r. 401 Last ot the old Prophets.^ i. Sabbatic year. "A TIME" = 70 Years }'r. 25, 11, 12. Phoeuicean decay :— Sidon destroyed b. c. 354 Tyre " "331 — Isa. 23, 15, 17.— Battle of Arbela. A r Overthrow of Persia. Downfall of Babylon. 137 October 1, b. c. 331 Sabbatic year. VISION NO. I. by, and a^ked him the truth of all this. So he told me, and made me know the interpretation of the things. 17. These great beasts, which are four, are 4 kings — Dynasties or kingdoms — Avhich shall arise out of — upon — the earth. 18. But the saints of the Most Higli shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom forever and ever. — Spiritual kingdom of the Messiah. 19. Then I would know the truth of the 4th beast, which was div^erse from ail the others — The Roman Empire — exceeding dreadful, whose teeth were of iron, and his nails of brass ; which devoured, brake in piecas, and stamped the residue with his feet. 20. And of the 10 horns that were in his head, — The rulers, following the Jugurthine War — and of the other which came up and before Avhom three fell; — Augustus Cesar, THE PRINCE who cast down the Trium- 139 DANIEL'S PROPHECIES. virate — even of that horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spake very great things, whose look was more stout than his fel- lows. — Suetonius, Aug. xvi. 21. I beheld and the same horn made war with the saints and prevailed against them ; — Nero, the descendant of Augustus, began the first persecution in A. d. 65. 22. Until the Ancient of Days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the Most High ; and the time came that the saints pos- sessed the kingdom. — a. d. 70. 23. Thus he said, the 4th beast shall be the 4th kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms and shall devour the whole earth, — The Roman Empire was world-wide — and shall tread it down and break it in pieces. 24. And the 10 horns out of this kingdom are 10 kings that shall arise; — 10 Rulers — and another shall rise after them — Augustus 140 VISION NO. I. Cesar, the prince — and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue 3 kings — Put an end to the Triumvirate. — Livy cxxxu. 25. And he — his descendants like Caligula and Nero — shall speak great words against the Most High, and think to change times and laws; and they shall be given into his hand until a TIME = 70 years — and times =490 years — and the dividing of time =35 years. — Total 595 years b. c. 520 to a. d. 75. The War, threatened in a.d. 40, finally broke out in A. d. 66 and would have lasted 9 years, had not our Lord in compassion " shortened those days '^ by five, so that Jeru- salem was taken a. d. 70. Josephus gives a vivid account of how the warring factions within the city, wantonly destroyed a stock of " corn and all other provisions, sufficient for a siege of many years,^' and thus " cut off the nerves of their own power.'' see page hs. 26. But the judgment shall sit, and they 141 DANIEL'S PROPHECIES. sliall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end. 27. And the kingdom and the dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom — of the Messiah — under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of tlie saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting king- dom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him. 28. Hitherto is the end of the matter. As for me Daniel, my cogitations much troubled me, and my countenance changed in me : Init I kept the matter in my heart. [There was an interval of two years, between Visions No. 1 and No. 2.] ]42 TIME, TIMES AND A HALF/^ Graphic Exhibit. Promise of a Blessing, Zech. 1,3. October, b. c. 520 AU.arsetup. Burnt ^ offerings Ezra 3, 6. Sabbatic year. " TIiME H 70 years. 1 "Commandment to ") y Dan. 9, 25. j I I. Sabbatic year. "TIMES" ^ 490 y ears=> "Seventy Weeks." VVar threatened in Spring. Matt. 24. 6. T Autumn a. d, 40 "HALF TIME V 35 years. "TIME OF THE END." | Jerusalem taken. •'Davs shortened." ^ Matt. 24, 22. ^ September 3d a. d. 70 SHORTENED 5 years. I ^ Autumn k. d. 75 143 VISION No. II.— Chapter viii. 1. Ix the third year of the reign of king Belshazzar-— B. c. 539 — a vision appeared unto me Daniel, after that which appeared unto me at the first. — T ision No. 1 . 2. And I saw in a vision ; and it came to pass, when I saw, that I was at Shushan in the palace, which is in the province of Elam — The country of the Elamites bordering the Persian Gulf was called Anzan, and of it Cyrus was the king — and I was by the river of Ulai. 3. Then I lifted up mine eyes, and saw, and, behold, there stood before the river a RAM which had two horns: — the Medo-Per- sian Empire — and the two horns were high ; but one — Persia — was higher than the other, . — Media — and the higher came up last. 145 DANIEL'S PROPHECIES. 4. I saw the ram jjushing westward, and northward and southward — The Medo-Per- sian Empire embraced all the civilized nations of Asia — ^"SO that no beast might stand before him^ neitlier was tliere any that could deliver out of his hand ; but he — Cyrus, and his descendants and next of kin— did according to his will, and became great. 5. And as I Avas considering, behold a he- cw)AT — The Hellenes (Greece and her colonies) — came from the West on the face of the whole earth, and touched not the ground ; and the goat had a notable liorn between his eyes. 6. And he came to the ram that had t^vo horns, which I had seen standing before the river and ran unto him in the fury of his power _ Battles of Marathon b. c. 490, Salamis and Plataea B. c. 480 and 479. 7. And I saw him — Alexander the Great, after Greece was conquered by the Macedo- nians B. c. 334 — come close unto the ram — . ]4() VISION NO. XL Battles of Granicus and Issus. — and he wavS moved with choler against him, and smote the ram, and brake his two horns, and there was no power in the ram to stand before him ; — — Alexander was greatly pleased when shown this prophecy — Josephus 11. 8. 5. — but he cast him down to the ground and stamped upon him, and there was none that could deliver the ram out of his hand. — B.C. 331 Alexander defeated the Persians on the plain of Babylon. He then pushed on to India and conquered the Punjaub, land of the 5 rivers. 8. Therefore the he-goat waxed very great : — Alexander the Great also conquered Egypt, Palestine, Phoenicia and Tyre. He built Alex- andria and ruled from Greece to the Ganges. — and when lie was strong, the great horn was broken ; — Alexander died in India of intem- perance and left no successor. — and for it came up four notable ones toward the 4 winds of 147 DANIEL'S PROPHECIES. heaven, — Alexander's kingdom fell to his 4 generals : Antigonus took Persia, SeleucQs took Syria, Ptolemy took Egypt, Cassander took Macedon. 9. And out of one of them — Seleucus — came forth a little horn — kingdom of the Seleucidae — which waxed exceeding great, toward the south — Egypt — toward the east — between the Hellespont and the Indus — and toward the pleasant land. — Palestine. 10. And it waxed great — under Antiochus III, the Great — even to the host of heaven ; — the Jewish nation — and it cast down some of the host and of the stars to the ground, — Judah and Benjamin — and stamped upon them. 11. Yea it — under .King Antiochus Epi- plianes — magnified itself, even to the Prince of 148 VISION NO. II. the host ; — Judah, and the capital city Jemsa- leni— and it took away from him the continual burnt offering, and the place of his Sanctuary was cast down. 12. And the host was given over to it together with the continual burnt offering through transgression ; — Antiochus also set up heathen altars in every village and town, on which the Jews were obliged to sacrifice swine^s flesh daily— and it cast down the truth to the ground, and it did its pleasure and pros- pered. 13. Then I heard one saint speaking and another saint said unto that certain saint which spake : — " How long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice and the transgression of desolation, to give both the Sanctuary and the host — the National government — to be trodden under foot ? '' 149 DANIEL'S PROPHECIES. 14. And he said unto me, unto 2300 days. Then shall the Sanctuary be cleansed. — Since one prophetic day equals 49 ordinary days, 2300 DAYS will equal 112700 ordinary days. [Total, 308 years, 6 months, 21 days.] This period covered the interval, between the starting-point of the Seventy Weeks, [October 14th B. c. 450] and the National day of re- joicing, when the Temple was cleansed by Simon Maccabeus. [May 4th B.C. 141.] 15. And it came to pass, when I, even I Daniel, had seen the vision and sought for the meaning, then, behold, there stood before me as the appearance of a man. 16. And I heard a man's voice between the banks of Ulai, which called, and said, Grabriel, make this man to understand the vision ! 17. So he came near where I stood: and when he came, I was afraid and fell upon my face : but he said unto me. Understand O son of man : for at the time of the end 150 days;' Graphic Exhibit. 'Commandmeut, October 14, b, c, 450. to restore and huild " ■' i Sabbatic year. 23 30 DAYS. " Temple cleansed " National ^ r ^May 4, B.C. 141. Independence Day - A 1290 DAYS. "THAT GREAT AND NOTABLE DAY OF THE LORD." " PFKTTrnnsT " y 7 «,Mav 21, A.D. 33. A 45 1 DAYS[= 1335 less 12'J0]. Holy Spirit bestowed i 1 ' on the (Jentiles also." June 7, A.D. 39. lol VISION NO. II. before A. d. 70 and long after the current date B. o. 539 — shall be the vision. 18. Now as he was speaking Avith me, I was in a deep sleep on my face toward the ground : but he touched me, and set me upright. 19. And he said, Behold, I will make thee know what shall be the last end of the in- dignation : — I. 6.^ the time when God's for- bearance would be exhausted — for at the time appointed the end shall be. — viz.: A.D. 70. 20. The ram which thou sawest having two horns are the kings of Media and Persia. 21. And the rough goat is the king of Grecia ; and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king. — Alexander the Great who united Greece and Macedon. 22. Now that being broken — death of Alex- ander the Great — whereas 4 stood up for it, — tjie 4 generals of Alexander — 4 kingdoms shall 153 DANIEL'S PROPHECIES. stand up out of the nation, but not in his power. — the 4 nations would be independent of each other and not united as in the days of Alexander. 23. In the latter time of their kingdom when the transgressors — the Jewish people — are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences shall stand up — Antiochus iii, the Great, who sul)ju- gated Judea and greatly oppressed the Jewish people. His times were noted for corruption and crime. 24. And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own poAver : and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people. 25. And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and ])y peace shall destroy many; — luxury prevailed and 154 VISION NO. II. corruption was rampant. — he shall also stand up against the Prince of Princes ; — The Roman Empire had no kings and therefore its rulers were spoken of as Princes. It was a favorite term for a King to designate himself as King of Kings. The same thought could be expressed among the Romans by the words ; — PRINCE OF PRINCES — But he shall be broken without hand Antiochus iii^ har- bored Hannibal the deadly enemy of the Romans. The Romans vanquished Antiochus, who purchased peace by large sums of money and the cession of Western Asia. Antiochus died from intemperance. 26. And the vision of the evening and the morning which was told is true : — Fullv ex- plained in Daniel's Chap. xi. — wherefore shut thou up the vision : for it shall be for many days. 27. And I Daniel fainted, and was sick cer- tain days ; afterward I rose up, and did the 155 DANIEL'S PROPHECIES. king's business : and I was astonished at the vision, but none understood it. [There was an interval of 5 years between Visions No. 2 and No. 3.] 156 VISION No. III. — Chaps, x. and xii. 1. In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia — B. c. 534 — a thing was revealed unto Daniel, whose name was called Belteshazzar ; — - The coming of the spiritual kingdom of the Messiah — and the thing was true, but the time appointed was long; — far distant, A. D. 33 to 40 — and he understood the thing, and had understanding of the vision. 2. In those days I Daniel was mourning three full weeks. — March 10 to 31. 3. I ate no pleasant bread, neither came flesh nor wine in my mouth, neither did I anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled. 4. And in the four and twentieth day of the first month, as I was by the side of the great river, which is Hiddekel ; — The Tigris. 157 DANIEL'S PROPHECIES. 5. Then I lifted up my eyes, and looked and behold a certain man clothed in linen, whose loins were girded with the fine gold of Upliaz : — Ophir. 6. His body also was like the beryl, and his face as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as lamps of fire, and his arms and his feet like in color to polished brass, and the voice of his words like the voice of a multitude. 7. And I Daniel alone saw the vision for the men that were with me saw not the vision ; but a great quaking fell upon them, so that they fled to hide themselves. 8. Therefore I was left alone, and saw this great vision, and there remained no strength in me : for my comeliness was turned in lue into corruption, and I retained no strength. 9. Yet heard I the voice of his words : and when I heard the voice of his words, then was I in a deep sleep on my face, and my face toward the ground. 158 VISION KO. III. 10. And, behold, a hand touched me, which set me upon my knees and upon the palms of my hands. 11. And he said unto me, O Daniel, a man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak unto thee, and stand upright ; for unto thee am I now sent. And Avhen he had spoken this word unto me, I stood trem- bling. 12. Then said he unto me. Fear not Daniel ; for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself be- fore thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words. 13. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days ; but, lo, IMichael, one of the chief princes, came to help me ; and I remained there with the kings of Persia. — with Cyrus and Cambyses, B. c. 534. 14. Now I am come to make thee under- istand what shall befall thy people in the latter 159 DANIEL'S PROPHECIES. days : —A. D. 33 to a. d. 70. — for yet the vision is for many days. 15. And when he had spoken such words unto me, I set my face toward the ground, and I became dumb. 16. And, behold, one like the similitude of the sons of men touched my lips ; then I opened my mouth, and spake, and said unto him that stood before me, O my lord, by the vision my sorrows are turned upon me, and I have retained no strength. 17. For how can the servant of this my lord talk with this my lord? for as for me, straightway there remained no strength in me, neither is there breath left in me. 18. Then there came again and touched me one like the appearance of a man, and he strengthened me. 19. And said, O man greatly beloved, fear not : peace be unto thee ; be strong, yea, be strong. And Avhen he had spoken unto me^ I 160 VISION KO. III. was strengthened, and said, Let my lord speak ; for thou hast strengthened me. 20. Then said he, Knowest thou wherefore I come unto thee? and now will I return to fight with the prince of Persia : and when I am gone forth, lo, the prince of Grecia shdl come. 21. But I will show thee that which is noted in the Scripture of truth ; and there is none that holdeth with me in these things, but Michael your prince. 1. And at that time — the Time of the End — shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people : and there shall be a time of trouble, — The siege of Jerusalem — such as never was since there was a nation, even to that same time : and at that time — the End of the Days, the day of Judgment — thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book. 2. And many of them that sleep in the dust 161 DANIEL'S PKOPHECIES. of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting con- tempt. — Daniel was the first prophet, who clearly indicated that there would be a final Judgment day. 3. And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness, as the stars for- ever and ever. 4. But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end; — a. d. 70 — many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased. 5. Then I Daniel looked, and, behold, there stood other two, the one on this side of the bank of the river — the Tigris — and the other on that side of the bank of the river. 6. And one said to the man clothed in linen, '\vhich was upon the waters of the river. How long shall it be to the end of these wonders ? — 1st, to the Time of the End ; and 2d, to 162 VISION NO. III. the End of the Days, the day of Judg- ment ? 7. And I heard the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and sware by him that liveth for- ever, that it shall be for a time,= 70 years — TIMES,— 490 years— and a half :=35 years. The DOUBLE recompense, or repeat of the first " indignation ^^ lasted 70 years : — b. c. 520 to B.C. 450. — Jer. IG, 18 ; Zech. 9, 12 ; Isa. 40, 2. The 490 years, B.C. 450 to a. d. 40 find their counterpart in the seventy weeks of Dan. ix. 24. The 35 years, A. d. 40 to a. d. 75 cover the period intended for the final desolation, when Titus would besiege Jerusalem and scatter the chosen people, p. 143 — and when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people — the Jewish nation — all these things shall be finished. DANIEL'S PROPHECIES. 8. And I heard, but I understood not : then said I, O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things ? — How about the end of the Days, the day of Judgment? 9. And he said, Go thy way Daniel ; — one thing at a time ! — for the w^ords are closed up till the time of the end. — a. ix 70 — However I will repeat this much regarding the End of the Days. 10. Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried ; but the wicked shall do wickedly ; and none of the wicked shall understand ; but the wise shall understand. 11. And from the time that the daily sacri- fice shall be taken away and the abomination that maketh desolate set up — the sacrifice of swine and pollution of the holy place b. c. 16.S to 141 — there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days — B.C. 1G8, these sacrifices were ordered to be made daily, in every village and town throughout Palestine. 164 VISION NO. III. The desecration of the temple area lasted until May 4th b. c. 141. Every moment of this time was part of one great abomination. Counting each prophetic day as made up of 49 ordinary days^ the 1290 days bring us to May 24th a. d. 33 — the day of pentecost — " THAT GREAT AND NOTABLE DAY OF THE LORD " — when the Holy Spirit was revealed to the Jews, and about 3000 souls were converted. 12. Blessed is he that waiteth — the Gen- tiles — and cometh to the thousand three hun- dred and five and thirty days. — -the Gentiles did wait for six years, while the disciples were busy, " PREACHING THE WORD TO NONE, BUT UNTO THE JEWS ONLY.'' ActS xi. 19. If now we make the calculation for 1335 days, we shall find, that the prophecy brings us direct to June 7th A. d. 39 — on which day, the Holy Spirit was revealed to the gentiles. 13. But go thou thy way till the end be :— the day of Judgment — for thou shalt rest, .165 DANIEL'S PROPHECIES. and stand In thy lot at the end of the days. — the day of Judgment. The Old and the New Testament agree in saying : " of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven.'^ [There was an interval of 13 years, between Visions No. 3 .and No. 4.] 166 VISION No. IV. — Chapters ix. and xi. 1. In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans. 2. In the first year of his reign, — B. c. 520 — I Daniel understood by Books — the Scrip- tures— whereof the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accom- plish — occupy periods of — seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem. — First period, B. c. 590 to 520; and the next period, B. c. 520 to 450. The Babylonish captivity ended 16 years before the present vision, and the efforts of Zerubbabel toward rebuilding the Temple had meantime proved a failure. 3. And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes ; 167 DANIEL'S PROPHECIES 4. And I prayed unto the Lord my God, and made my confessions and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments. 5. AVe have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments : 6. Neither have ^ve hearkened unto thy servants the prophets, which spake in thy name to our kings, and princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. 7. O Lord, righteousness belongeth unto thee, but unto us confusion of faces, as at this day ; to the men of Judah, and to the inhab- itants of Jerusalem, and unto all Israel that are near, and that are far off, through all the countries whither thou has driven them, be- cause of their trespass that they have tres- passed against thee. 168 "YEARS IN THE DESOLATIONS/' Graphic Exhibit. Nebuchadnezzar October b. c. 590 prepared for War. r Israel cast off Aug. 2, 590 Siege began Dec. 18, 589 Temple burned July 19, 586 Desolation complete. The First 70 years of Indignation .Indignation ended __ ■ Call to repentance October 520 Foundation laid Dec. 17, 520 Earth at Peace" Feb. 14, 519 Temple finished Worship rpnpwpd Ezra 6. 14 The Second 70 years of Indignation ^,^.^^" Commandment ^ ^_ to restore and y build" p. 88 j {Hanani's trip to Babylon, Nov. 446 New Covenant. Oct. 445 'The 30 years Peace." Sabbatic year. 4>^ years Interval ....February b. c. 585 70 Years of Desolation October b. c. 520 A Sabbatic year. 4M years Interval .February b. c. 515 70 Years of Desolation Jer. xvi. 18 Jer. xxxiii. 11, 12 October B. c. 450 A Sabbatic year. 4% years Interval Nehemiah made governor March b. c. 445 169 VISION KO. IV. 8. O Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against thee. 9. To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against him : 10. Neither have we obeyed the voice of the Lord our God, to walk In his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets. IL Yea, all Israel have transgressed thy law, even by departing, that they might not obey thy voice ; therefore the curse Is poured upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against him. 12. And he hath confirmed his words, which he spake against us and against our judges that judged us, by bringing upon us a great evil ; for under the whole heaven hath not been done as hath been done upon Jerusalem. 13. As it Is written In the law of Moses, all 171 DANIEL'S PROPHECIES. this evil is come upon us : yet made Ave not our prayer before the Lord our God, that we might turn from our iniquities, and understand thy truth. 14. Therefore hath the Lord watched upon the evil, and brought it upon us ; for the Lord our God is righteous in all his works which he doeth ; for we obeyed not his voice. 15. And now, O Lord our God, that hast brought thy people out of the land of Lgypt with a mighty hand, and hast gotten thee renown as at this day : we have sinned, we have done wickedly. 16. O Lord, according to all thy righteous- ness, I beseech thee, let thy anger and thy fury be turned away from thy city Jerusalem, thy holy mountain : because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and thy people are become a reproach to all that are about us. 17. Now therefore, O our God, hear the 172 VISION NO. IV. prayer of thy servant and his supplications and cause thy face to shine upon thy Sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord's sake. 18. O my God, incline thine ear, and hear: open thine eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city which is called by thy name : for we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousness, but for thy great mercies. 19. O liord, hear : O Lord, forgive ; O Lord, hearken and do ; defer not, for thine own sake, O my God ; for thy city and thy people are v".alled by thy name. — In b. c. 520 the year of Daniel's prayer, Darius ratified the decree of Cyrus, contributed generously to the work, and in B. c. 515 the Temple was dedicated anew to the worship of Jehovah. 20. And while I was speaking, and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplications before the Lord my God for the holy mountain of my God; 173 DANIEL'S PKOPHECIES. 21. Yea, while I was speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning — Virion Xo. 2, in B. c. 539 — being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation. 22. And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, O Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee skill and understanding. 23. At the beginning of thy supphcations — the prayer just narrated — the commandment came forth, and I am come to show thee ; for thou art greatly beloved : therefore understau.d the matter and consider the vision. Before considering the next verse, we shall take a general view of the scope of Daniel's prophecies, otherwise the twenty-fourth verse may become to us the entrance to a veritable maze and we might become lost amid the intri- cacies of the way. The revelations made to the prophet Daniel appear to have had two prominent objects in 174 VISION NO. IV. view. The first was essentially a political one and the second had a distinctly religious bear- ing, at the same time both were closely related and mutually dependent. That of a political character pointed to the destruction of Jerusalem and the scattering of the Jewish race among the nations. Its starting-point was the year B.C. 520 as explained on pages 141 and 163. The religious portion related to the coming of Messiah's kingdom and dated from B. c. 450. With regard to it, the heavenly visitor was most explicit, taking pains to state the periods both in prophetic days and in Seventy Weeks. The days have been explained on pages 150 and 165, while the present chapter brings us to the complementary statement regarding the weeks. Zerubbabel who attempted to rebuild under the decree of Cyrus was subjected to vexatious annoyances as well as injunction, but those who worked under the decree of Darius had smooth 175 DANIEL'S PROPHECIES. sailing. War and neglect again brought the sacred edifice into ruin, but at the end of 70 years came a Commandment to restore and build. Again the Temple was restored but in far different times. For these were " troublous times '' when " the builders, every one had his sword girded by his side.'' The interval of 70 years, extending from B. c. 520 to B. c. 450, forms in reality the first section of the familiar formula : — " A time and times and the dividing of time." The Seventy Weeks or " Times ^' [490 years] follows, and carries the mind over to a. r>. 40 when the Universal Gospel was proclaimed to both Jews and Gentiles and all the events fore- told in verse twenty-four were literally ful- filled. 24. Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the 176 ^^ SEVENTY WEEKS.'' Graphic Exhibit. ' Commandment, Fall B. c. 450. to restc )re and build " i. Sabbatic year. 7 WEE KS = 49 years ■ 7 PERSIA'S POWER __ BATTLE OF ^ ^. ^^^ i s. BROKEN CUNAXA Sabbatic year. 62 WEEKS = 434 years John the Baptist Many accepted y^^^ ^ ^ ^ A 1 i y 7 " nRTTnTFTVTON" ( WEEK OF) ~\ COVENANT ^Spring A. D. 33. 1 ( =7 years ) Great persecution V Others Rejected 1 WEEK = 7 years. 1 . V War threatened | Spring A. D. 40. War abandoned [Matt. xxiv. 6] Fall A. D. 40. 177 VISION NO. IV. transgression, — 490 years, B.C. 450 to a. d. 40 — and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in ever- lasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy. 25. Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem, unto Messiah, the prince, shall be seven weeks = 49 years, to the weakening of Persia's power — and three- score and two weeks ; the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. 26. And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself : = 62 times 7 = 434 years. This extended from B. c. 401 to A. d. 33, the year of the Cru- cifixion — and the people of the Prince that shall come — the Romans — shall destroy the city, and the sanctuary ; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. 179 DANIEL'S PROPHECIES. 27. And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one Aveek and in the midst of the week — A. D. 3'^ — he shall cause the sacrifice and oblation to cease — the atonement WOULD BE A PERFECT ONE, rendering all future sacrifices unnecessary — and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it — Jeriif^alem — desolate even until the con- summation, — its entire destruction — and that determined shall be poured upon the deso- late. 1. Also I — GABRIEL — in the first year of Darius the Mede, even I, stood to confirm and to strengthen him. 2. And now I will show thee the truth. — of the vision of the evening and the morn- ing, l)an. viii. 26 — Behold there shall stand up yet — after the setting up of tlie Sanctuary iind the host, B. c. 445. — three kings in Persia — Xerxes ii, Sogdianus and Darius Nothus — and the fourth — I>aniis Codomannus — shall 180 - VISION NO. IV. be far richer than they all : and by his strength and through his riches he shall stir up all against the realm of Grecia. 3. And a mighty king — Alexander the Great — shall stand up, that shall rule with great dominion, and do according to his will. — from Greece to India. 4. And when he shall stand up his kingdom shall be broken, and shall be divided toward the four winds of heaven ; — among his four generals ; — and not to his posterity, nor according to his dominion which he ruled : for his kingdom shall be plucked up, even for others beside those. 5. And the king of the south — Ptolemy Philadelphus, king of Egypt — shall be strong, and one of his princes ; and he shall be strong above him — Antiochus ii — and have domin- ion ; his dominion shall be a great dominion. 6. And in the end of the years — in the course of time — • they shall join themselves to- ]81 DANIEL'S PROPHECIES. gether; for the king\s daughter — Berniee — of the south shall come to the king of the north to make an agreement : — Antiochus banished his own wife Laodice and her children in favor of Berniee — but she shall not retain the power of the arm ; neither shall he stand, nor his arm : but she shall be given up — Antiochus after the death of Ptolemy expelled Berniee and recalled the rejected Laodice. — and they that brought her, and he that begat her, and he that strengthened her in these times. 7. But out of a branch of her roots — Ptol- emy II, called Evergetes — shall one stand up in his estate, which shall come with an army, and shall enter into the fortress of the king of the north and shall deal against them and shall prevail : — Laodice placed her son Seleucus ii on the throne. Ptolemy iii made an expedition against Syria, slew Laodice and conquered the realm from Cilicia to the Tigris. 182 VISION NO. IV. 8. And shall also carry captives into Egypt, their gods, with their princes, and with their precious vessels of silver and of gold — the booty was immense, 2500 idoLs, 4000 talents of gold, etc. — and he shall continue more years than the king of the north. 9. So the king of the south shall come into his kingdom and return unto his own land. 10. But his sons — Seleucus in and Anti- ochus III, the Great — shall be stirred up and shall assemble a multitude of great forces : aud one shall certainly come and overflow and pass through ; then shall he return and be stirred up even to his fortress. 11. And the king of the south — Ptolemy IV, was luxurious and indolent — shall be moved with choler, and shall come forth and fight with him, even with the king of the north : and he shall set forth a great muHi- tude : but the multitude shall be given into 183 DANIEL'S PROPHECIES. his hand. — Ptolemy defeated Antiochus near Gaza but did not follow up the victory. 12. And when he hath taken away the mul- titude, his heart ^all be lifted up ; and he shall cast down many ten thousands : but he shall not be strengthened by it. 13. For the king of the north — Antiochus the Great — shall return, and shall set forth a multitude greater than the former, and shall certainly come after certain years with a great army and with much riches. 14. And in those times there shall many stand up against the king of the south ; also the robbers of thy people — secret enemies of the Jews — shall exalt themselves to establish the vision ; but they shall fail. 15. So the king of the north shall come and cast up a mount, and take the most fenced cities ; and the arms of the south shall not withstand, neither his chosen people, neither shall there be any strength to withstand. 184 VISION NO. IV. 16. But he that cometh against him shall do according to his own will, — the wars of Antiochus the Great — and none shall stand before him : and he shall stand in the glorious land — PalestiiHj — which by his hand shall be consumed. 17. He shall also set his face to enter with the strength of his whole kingdom, and upright ones with him ; thus shall he do : and he shall give him the daughter of women, corrupting her : — Using marriage for political gain : An- tiochus gave his daughter Cleopatra in marriage to Ptolemy Epiphanes, hoping for benefit, but it turned out otherwise — but she shall not stand on his side, neither be for him. 18. After this he shall turn his face unto the Isles, and shall take many : but a Prince — a Roman General — for his own behalf shall cause the reproach offered by him to cease; without his own reproach — Antiochus said: — '■ Asia did not concern the Komans and he 185 DANIEL'S PROPHECIES. was not subject to their orders" — he shall cause it to turn upon him. — He was defeated by the Romans, at Magnesia. 19. Then he shall turn his face toward the fort of his own land; — pillage the temples — but he shall stumble and fall and not be found. — Antiochus the Great was slain. 20. Then shall stand up in his estate a raiser of taxes in the glory of the kingdom — his son Seleucus Philopater, who sent out Heliodorus and taxed the temples as well as the people — but within a few days he shall be destroyed, neither in anger nor in battle. — Seleucus shortly died in a mysterious manner. 21. And in his estate shall stand up a vile person — Antiochus Epiphanes — to whom they shall not give the honor of the kingdom : but he shall come in peacefully, and obtain the kingdom by flatteries. 22. And with the arms of a flood shall they be overflown from before him, and shall be 186 VISION NO. IV. broken ; yea, also the prince of the covenant. — Onias iii, the high priest was put to death by his order. 23. And after the league made with him he shall work deceitfully : for he shall come up, and shall become strong with a small people. 24. He shall enter peaceably even upon the fattest places of the province ; and he shall do that which his fathers have not done, nor his father's fathers ; he shall scatter among them the prey, and spoils, and riches : yea, and he shall forecast his devices against the strongholds even for a time. 25. And he shall stir up his power and his courage against the king of the south with a great army ; and the king of the south — Ptol- emy Philometer — shall be stirred up to battle with a very great and mighty army ; but he shall not stand : for they shall forecast devices against him. 26. Yea, they that feed of the portion of his 187 DANIEL'S PEOPHECIES. meat shall destroy hiai, and his army shall overflow : and many shall fall down slain. 27. And both these kings' hearts shall be to do mischief, and they shall speak lies at one table — a pretended friendship — but it shall not prosper : for yet the end shall be at the time appointed. 28. Then shall he return into his land with great riches ; and his heart shall be against the holy covenant — the worship of Jehovah — and he shall do exploits and return to his own land. 29. At the time appointed he shall return, and come toward the south ; but it shall not be as the former, or as the latter. - 30. For the ships of Chittim _ the fleet of the Romans under Laenas — shall come against him : therefore he shall be grieved, and return, and have indignation against the holy cove- nant : so shall he do ; he shall even return, and have intelligence with them — the Samari- tans — that forsake the holy covenant. 188 VISION NO. IV. 31. And arms shall stand on his part, and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, - the Temple — and shall take away the daily sacrifice, and they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate — Antiochus Epiphanes established idol-altars in every town and village of Palestine, and ordered a daily sacrifice of swine on the altars. 32. And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries : but the people that do know their God shall be strong and do exploits. — Mattathias and his 5 sons, the " Maccabees.'^ 33. And they that understand among the people shall instruct many : yet they shall fall by the sword, and by flame, by captivity, and by spoil, many days. 34. Now when they shall fall, they shall be holpen with a little help : but many shall cleave to them with flatteries see life of Judas Maccabeus. 189 DANIEL'S PROPHECIES. 35. And some of them of understanding shall fall, to try them, and to purge, and to make them white, even to the time of the end : because it is yet for a time appointed. 36. And the king shall do according to his will ; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak mar- vellous things against the God of Gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accom- plished : for that, that is determined shall be done. 37. Neither shall he regard the god of his fathers, nor the desire of women, — in other words, the idol Astarte, " the queen of heaven " — nor regard any god : for he shall magnify himself above all. 38. But in his estate shall he honor the God of forces :— a ii'od of castles or fortresses — and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honor with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things. 190 VISION NO. IV. 39. Thus shall he do in the most strongholds with a strange god, whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory : and he shall cause them to rule over many, and shall divide the land for gain. 40. And at the time of the end shall the king of the south push at him : and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots and with horsemen, and Avith many ships ; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over. 41. He shall enter also into the glorious land — Palestine — and many countries shall be overthrown : but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon — Antiochus passed them by. When, however, they tried to take advantage of Judas Maccabeus, he defeated them. 42. He shall stretch forth his hand also upon 191 DANIEL'S PKOPHECIES. the countries : and the land of Egypt shall not escape. 43. But he shall have power over the treas- ures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt : and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps. 44. But tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him : — rumors of re- bellion and lack of funds made him resolve to go at once to Persia, restore order and col- lect taxes. — therefore he shall go forth with great fury — Threatened on his return to exterminate the Jews — to destroy, and utterly to make away many. 45. And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain — lie left a garrison in the Citadel adjoining the Temple — yet he shall come to his end^^— B. c. 164 — and none shall help him. J92 VISION NO. IV. This xith chapter of Daniel, gives a bird's-eye view of the period covered by 2300 days, which period extended from October 14th B.C. 450 to May 4th b. c. 141. This series of predictions, entered so minutely into the details of history, that the Jews were able to give the prophetic time of day, at any moment between B.C. 450 and 141. DaniePs next period of 1290 days, covered the re- maining distance to the kingdom of the Messiah ■—B.C. 141 to A.D. 33. 193 REFERENCES. The writings of Josephus are a mine of wealth to the student of Jewish history. When at Kome the Emperor made him custodian of the Sacred Books ; he had the run of theMetropolitan libraries and access to the official records, which, he says, were ''engraved upon pillars of brass." With all this data at command, with an indefatigable in- dustry, a strict probity, and the pen of a ready writer, he made the world richer by his labors. Gathering data for the life of Nebuchadnezzar from many Indian, Persian, Phoenician, and Chaldaic sources, we cannot wonder at an occasional conflict of figures. Note, for instance, his Antiquities states that the successors of Nebuchadnezzar, Evil Merodach and his son, reigned respectively 18 and 40 years, a total of 58 years ; while his Against Apion, written quarter of a century later states that the reigns in question covered only 2 years and 4 years. He also says that Solomon reigned 80 years instead of 40. These errors of course have marred many of his calculations. His olympiads are very misleading, simply because he rarely stated the year and never once mentioned whether the ''Anno Urbis" base of his calculations belonged 195 KEFERENCES. to the system of Pictor, of Polybius, of Cato, of Flaccus or of Varro. Consequently the value of his olympiads varies from 1 to 6 points ; but his years of the Seleu- cidae are correct because they all start from the year B. c. 312. His list of reigns and priestly offices are of immense value in checking up his other dates. Josephus was so fond of placing one parenthesis within another, that his true meaning should always be sought with care. In alluding to a curious circumstance in the life of Matthias which happened on the fast of Esther, March 13th b. c. 4, he says : — "that night there was an eclipse of the Moon" [xvii. 6, 4]. Many learned writers have wasted time in determining the above date, thinking it would settle the question as to when Herod died. It only fixed the day when Joseph held the office of High Priest for twenty-four hours. This was the shortest tenure of office on record, but had nothing whatever to do with the time of Herod's death. Most of the difficulties one encounters in a study of Josephus fade away before a comparison of the context and an increased familiarity with his style as a writer. 1. Josephus xiv. 15, 4 and 14— i. 17, 6, 8— i. 16, 2. 2. Josephus xiv. 9, 2 — xiv. 8, 5— i. 33, 1. 3. Josephus XX. 10, 1 — xv. 6, 4. 4. I Maccabees xiii. 41, 42 — Jos. xiii. 0, 4, 5, 6 — Jos. XX. 10, 1. 196 REFERENCES. 5. Josephus xiv. 12, 2 — See Plutarch's life of Antony. 6. Josephus xiv. 13, 1 — i. 12, 5. 7. Josephus xiv. 13, 3— i. 13, 1— xiv. 14, 4— i. 14, 4. 8. Josephus XV. 5, 2 — i. 19, 3. 9. Josephus XX. 10, 1. 10. Josephus xvii. 8, 1 — i. 33, 8. 11. Josephus xvii. 7, 1 — i. 33, 7. 12. Josephus xvii. 6, 4--xviii. 1, 1 — ii. 1, 2. 13. Josephus xviii. 1, 6 — xx. 5, 2 — ii. 8, 1 — ii. 17, 8. 14. Josephus xvii. 13, 2. 15. Luke iii. 1, 2 and 23. 16. Introduction to Old Testament, by Carpzovius. 17. Josephus 10, 11, 7. 18. Luke 24, 44. 19. Josephus against Apion i. 8. 20. Ezra, 4, 7. 21. Josephus X. chapters 10 and 11. — xi. 3, 1. It is very certain that the Prophet Daniel was not the author of the additions entitled, — Susanna and the Elders ; Song of the three Hebrew chil- dren ; Bel and the Dragon. They are not found in the Hebrew Bible and have no part in the Canon of Scripture. 22. Daniel 1, 21. 23. Daniel 6, 28. 197 REFERENCES. 24. First five years of Jehoiakim's reign : — For 1st year, see Jeremiah 26, 1, 2 and 3. *' 2d '' " " 27, 1 and 6. " 3d " " " 35, 1 " 11. " 3d '' " Daniel 1, 1 —2 Kings 24, 1, 2. " 4th " "■ Jeremiah 25, 1 — 36, 1—46, 2. " 5th " " " 36, 9 and 22. 24. II. Kings 24, 1 and 2 — II. Chronicles 36, 8 — Jeremiah 25, 1 — Chapters xxvi. and xxvii. — Daniel 1, 1 — Josephus x. 11, 1 and x. 6, 1. Josephus' authorities regarding Nebuchadnezzar were : — Megasthenes, IV. Book of India. Diodes, II. " '' Persia. Philostrates, India and Phoenicia. Berosus, III. Book of Chaldaic History. The year b. c. 608 marks the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim in Jerusalem. He received the appointment from Pharaoh-Nechoh, king of Egypt ; and became the object of attack by sur- rounding nations. The eleven years of his reign were taken up, in contest with the Chaldeans, the Syrians, the Moabites and the children of Ammon. 198 KEFERENCES. 25. Ezra 1, 11 — 2 Kings 24, 14. Nebuchadnezzar's sieges of Jerusalem. 1st siege b. c. 606 Royal captives. 2d " " 598 3,023 " 3d '' " 597 10,000 '* 4th *' " 588-6 832 " 5th '' '' 583 745 " B. c. 597 usually called 1st year of the Captivity. Civil captivity lasted 70 years, b. c. 606 to 536. Religious'' " 70 " b. c. 585 to 515. 26. The Behistun inscription of Darius. 27. Isaiah 44, 28 —Jeremiah 25, 12. Herodotus i. 191. 28. Josephus 11, 6, 1. 29. Herodotus vii. 1, 4. 30. Josephus xi. 6, 1. Diodorus Siculus xi. 1, 2, 4, 12, and 18 — xii. 6. Thucydides i. 137— iv. 50— v. 25— Ezra vi. 14. 31. Ezra 7, 7 and 8, also 11 to 26. 32. Nehemiah i. 3— ii. 13— Jer 17, 27—16, 18. 33. Nehemiah i. 2. 34. Nehemiah ii. 1 and 6 — v. 14 and vi. 15. 35. Nehemiah xiii. 6. 36. Daniel viii. 13. 37. Nehemiah ix. 38. 199 REFERENCES. 38. Daniel ix. 25— Zechariah i. 7 and 12. 39. Jeremiah xxv. 1, 2, 3. 40. Ezekiel xl. 1. 41. Jer.25, 1—52, 28— II. Kin. 24, 12— Jer.32, 1—52, 12 42. Jeremiah xxv. 1 — Daniel i. 1. 43. Ezekiel xx. 1 3. 44. Jeremiah xvi. 18— xvii. 27 — Nehemiah xiii. 18 — -» 45. Nehemiah viii. 17— ix. 38. Isaiah xl. 2. i 46. Zechariah i. 11. 47. Daniel ix. 24— Haggai ii. 19 and 23. 48. Deuteronomy 28, 1— II. Chronicles 36, 15, and 16. 49. Daniel 9, 27. 50. Daniel 7, 14. 51. Matthew 24, 36. 52. Eutropius, Book I. 53. Josephus 12, 7, 6. Ezekiel prophesied as follows concerning the 149th year of the Seleucidae, the year in which Antiochus Epiphanes died : — Idols destroyed by Josiah, . . . b. c. 624 * ' Now in the 30th year " ( Ezek. 1,1). 30 5th year of the Captivity ( " 1,2). b. c. 594 Years for House of Israel ( " 4,5). 390 Egyptian rule ended (Polybius 15, 20) . b. c. 204 Years for House of Judah (Ezek. 4, 6) 40 Syrian rule ended (1 Mace. 6, 16) . b. r. ItU 200 REFERENCES. 54. 1 Maccabees xiii. 36 to 52. 55. 1 Maccabees xiv. 27. 56. Daniel 8, 14— Daniel 12, 11, 12. 57. Joseph us 12, 5, 4. 58. Josephus 12, 7, G. 59. Genesis 1, 5. 60. Daniel 8, 26. 61. Deuteronomy 16, 9 to 16 — Acts 2, 1. 62. Leviticus 25, 8. 63. Although the Christian and the Jewish years differ both in respect to the total number of their days and the mobility of New- Year day, still every solar year has only one New-Year and one Passover day. New-Year day of the Christian year is absolutely fixed and the months and days follow in settled order. The Jewish New- Year on the contrary is movable and the months and days variable. Its motion is governed by phases of the moon and the require- ments of the Mosaic law, which either advance or retard it a certain number of days in each year. Over a series of years and within the limits of a lunar month, the New-Year day travels back and forth like the pendulum of a clock. Each move- 201 REFERENCES. ment of course carries in its train all the months and days appropriate to its own year. Take for example, the series b. c. 520 to 450. By Jewish computation the "First day 8th month" fell on October 2d in b. c. 450, and on October 25th in b. c 520. The extreme dates October 2d and October 25th represent the arbitrary swing given to the pendu- lum, it follows that October 14th is the mean point or date common to this series of 70 years. 64. Daniel 12, 10— Acts ii. chapter -Joel ii. 28 to 32. 65. Leviticus 23, 5, 6 — Deuteronomy 16, 6. Every Jewish year covers one of the following sets of days:— 853— 354— 355— 383-384— 385. In the 4th Century of our Era, Rabbi Hillel II. devised a Calendar to forecast the new moon, and since his day the Jews have been able to name in advance proper dates for all tlieir religious ceremonies. But prior to his discovery special officers were appointed to watch and an- nounce the arrival of the new moon. 66. Leviticus, 23, 15, 16. 67. Daniel 12, 12— Genesis 49, 10.— Acts 10, 44, 45. 68. Ezekiel 14, 14 to 20. 202 INDEX ACHAEMENES, 63 Achmetha, 82 Ahasuerus, 63, 70 Ahaz, 126 Akkad, 48, 49, 56, 57, 58 Alexander the Great, 146, 147, 153 Alexandra, 21, 22 Annalistic Tablet of Cyrus, 48, 55 Antigonus, 22, 24 Antiochus Epiphanes, 99, 148, 200 Antony, 22 Anzan, 55, 145 Apion, 195 Apocrypha, 32 Apostle John, 27 Apostle Peter, 124 Aramaic, 34 Ararat, 56 Archelaus, 26 Ariaramnes, 63 Aristldes, 69 Arsames, 63, 64 Artaxerxes, 31, 44, 63, 69, 70,71 Artaxerxes Longimanus, 70, 71, 72 Asia, 22 Asmoneans, 97 Atossa, daughter of Cyrus, 65 Augustan age, 29, 42 Augustus Cesar, 24, 25, 28, 140 Babylon, 42, 47, 48, 49, 50, 56, 57, 71, 81, 82, 97 Babylonian Monarchs, 36, 44 Banquet Hall, 50 Battle of Actium, 23, 28, 134 Battle of Marathon, 65, 69, 131, 146 Battle of Philippi, 22 Battle of Salamis, 69, 146 Behistun inscription, 61, 64. See Frontispiece. Behistun range, 61 Belshazzar, 35, 36, 44, 47, 51, 56, 57 Benjamin, 81 Book of Esther, 70 Calendar of the Jews, 202 Cambyses, 36, 43, 44, 50, 58, 63, 81 Captivity, 75, 77, 119, 199 Censoriu«^, 98 Chaldean Empire, 45 203 INDEX. Chaldeans, 34 Chapters, how arranged, 35 Christian Era, 15 to 29 Christmas Day, 15, 20, 25 Cicero, 98 Cleansed the Fortress, 101, 115, 150 Comments of Authors, 16 Complete sufficiency, 91 Cornelius, 112 Covenant, 71, 72, 84, 90 Ctesias, the historian, 65 Cunaxa, 136, 177 Cy renins, 26 Cyrus, 35, 36, 43, 44, 49, 50, 65, 70, 81, 159 Cyrus II, 63 Cyrus, son of Xerxes, 70 Daniel, 31-37, 58, 62, 64, 77, 89, 90, 91, 93, 97, 108, 123, 124, 127 Daniel's inspiration, 123- 127 Darius, 35, 36, 43, 44, 50, 61-66, 82 Days, 107-113 Death of Belshazzar, 50 Death of Herod, 21-25 Demetrius and Tryphon, 101 Den of lions, 37 Dial of Ahaz, 126 Dinter, old Babylon, 48 Diodorus, 66, 69 Double recompense, 82 ECBATANA, 70 P^clipse of the Moon, 196 Egypt, 43 Elamites, 55, 145 p:nd of the Days, 89-92 Enrollment [b. c. 1], 25 Era of fSeleucidte, 103 Euphrates, 49 Eutropius, 98 Evening-mornings, 108, 110 Evil Merodach, 44, 78, 195 Ezekiel, 75, 78 Ezra, 34, 70, 82 Fair warning, 91 Feast of Lights, 100, 103 Feast of Pentecost, 108, 111 Feast of Weeks, 108 Forbearance, 85, 120 Fortress adjoining Temple, 100, 101 _ Forty and six years, 27 Gentiles, 112, 115, 165, 176 Gobryas, 56 Gold and silver vessels, 43, 57 Gomates, 36, 44, 58 Great and Notable Dav, 111, 165 Greeks, 98 IIagiographa, 33 Hebrew, 34 >04 INDEX. Hellespont, 69 Herod the Great, 21 to 25 Herodotus, 66 Hezekiah, 126 High priest, 24 hours, 196 High priest Joazar, 25, 26 Holy Spirit to Gentiles, 112, 113 Holy Spirit to the Jews, 111, 112 Hyrcanus, 21, 22 Hystaspes, 62, 63, 64 Indications, 24 Inspiration of Daniel, 33, 123-127 Jeremiah, 75, 78 Jerusalem, 21, 22, 23, 41, 57, 81, 83, 90, 91, 113, 123, 126 Jewish year, 202 Job, 123 John the Baptist, 25, 26 Josephus, 21, 23, 31, 33, 35, 195 Josephus' parentheses, 196 Judah, 81 Judas Maccabeus, 97, 100 Judas of Galilee, 25 Judgments, 85 Key, 18, 19, 115, 120 Kimon, 84 King Edward VII, 42 King Saul, 119 Knife, 25 LiVY, 141 Locking dates, 75-78 Luke, 19, 111 Macedonian dynasty, 97 Manda, 55 Manetho, 65 Megabyzus, 71 Messiah's kingdom, 142, 157 Ministry of John the Bap- tist, 26 Mosaic custom, 108, 117 Moses, 90, 92, 118 Moses, Prophet's, and Psalms, 32 Mycale, 69 Nabonadios, 44, 47-50, 55, 56 Nadintabel, 50, 51 National day, 97-104 Nebuchadnezzar, 34, 41- 44, 50, 51, 57, 76, 77, 118, 195 Nehemiah, 71, 72, 83 Nergal-sarra-utsur, 44, 47 New Moon, 202 New Testament, 19, 93, 124, 166 New Year, 201, 202 Noah, 123 Olympiad errors, 195 Olympiads, 97, 98 Olympic games, 97, 98 Onias HI, 187 Order of history, 36 205 INDEX. Palisades on Hudson, 61 Passover, 19, 25 Passover [a. d. 1], 25 Passover [a. d. 33], 111 Pausanias, 69 Peace, 84 Pentecost [a. d. 33], 111, 115 Persia, 55, 56, 58 Persian chronology, Q6 Persian Monarchs, 36 Persians, 64 Petronius, 113 Pilate dismissed, 113 Plataea, 69 Pliny, 98 Plutarch, 6Q Porphery, 33 Proof, 104 Prophecy, 34 Prophetic Days, 102, 107 Prophetic ratio, 109 Prophetic Weeks, 117 to 1:^0 Prophets 31, 90 Ptolemy, 66, 77, 78 Rabbi Hillel II, 202 Revelation, 83 Romans, 97, 133 Rome, 42, 97, 134 Royalty, 50 Sabbath, 117, 119 Sacrifice of swine, 99 Sanctuary cleansed, 100, 101 Saviour's Ministry, 25 Scriptures, 32, 167 Season, 119, 120, 135 Seleucida?, 97, 103 Seventy Weeks, 83, 85, 120, 163, 175 Shortened Days, 127, 141 Sidereal year, 109, 115 Simon Maccabeus, 22, 97, 131,132 Sippora, 56 Starting-points of Proph- ecy, 81 to 84 Sublime faith, 37 Suetonis, 140 Syrian Winters, 20 Tablet on Mount Sion, 102 Tablets, 47, 56 Talmud, 31 Taxation, [a. d. 7], 26 Teispes, 63 Temple of Jerusalem, 43 57 Temple of Zerubbabel, 81 Temple pollution, 100, 101 Temple worship, 83 The Commandment, 70, 83, 115 Tue Messl\h, 91, 99 The New Covenant, 72, 84 Thucydides, 6Q, 132, 199 Tiberius Cesar, 26 Time of the End, 89-93 Time— Times, 85, 119, 120, 135, 141, 163 206 INDEX. Titus took Jerusalem, 92, 163 Triumvirate, 134, 141 Truthfulness of Darius, 61 Twelve years old, 19 Universal Gospel, 112, 176 Usurped the throne, 58 Week, 16, 91, 117-120 Winter, 20 World, 92, 117 Worship, 72, 90 Xerxes, 44, 63, 66, 67 Vessels of the Temple, 81 | Zechariah, 110 Vision of 4 winds, 131 I Zerubbabel, 82, 167, 175 207 Date Due ,^. r^-"^-'^" N^;0|4P a ''^'' ^l£_i_ ^.^ f jflnrrfs* •* r DEC a Mi ^ ^ / iHHiii 1 1 012 00029 1270