Observations upon the Prophecies of Daniel, and the Apocalypse of St. John | Page 9

shall be in it of the
strength of iron, but they shall not cleave one to another._
And in the days of these Kings, saith Daniel, _shall the God of heaven
set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom
shall not be left to other people; but it shall break in pieces, and
consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. Forasmuch as
thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountains without hands,
and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver and the
gold._
Notes to Chap. III.
[1] Chap. ii. 41, &c.
* * * * *

CHAP. IV.
_Of the vision of the four Beasts._
In the next vision, which is of the four Beasts, the Prophecy of the four
Empires is repeated, with several new additions; such as are the two
wings of the Lion, the three ribs in the mouth of the Bear, the four
wings and four heads of the Leopard, the eleven horns of the fourth
Beast, and the son of man coming in the clouds of Heaven, to the
Antient of Days sitting in judgment.
The first Beast was like a lion, and had eagle's wings, to denote the
kingdoms of Babylonia and Media, which overthrew the Assyrian
Empire, and divided it between them, and thereby became considerable,
and grew into great Empires. In the former Prophecy, the Empire of
Babylonia was represented by the head of gold; in this both Empires
are represented together by the two wings of the lion. _And I beheld,_
saith [1] Daniel, _till the wings thereof were pluckt, and it was lifted up
from the earth, and made to stand upon the feet as a man, and a man's
heart was given to it_; that is, till it was humbled and subdued, and
made to know its human state.
The second Beast was like a bear, and represents the Empire which
reigned next after the Babylonians, that is, the Empire of the Persians.
Thy kingdom is divided, or broken, saith Daniel to the last King of
Babylon, _and given to the Medes and _Persians__, _Dan._ v. 28. This
Beast _raised itself up on one side_; the Persians being under the
Medes at the fall of Babylon, but presently rising up above them. [2]
_And it had three ribs in the mouth of it, between the teeth of it_, to
signify the kingdoms of Sardes, Babylon, and Egypt, which were
conquered by it, but did not belong to its proper body. And it devoured
much flesh, the riches of those three kingdoms.
The third Beast was the kingdom which succeeded the _Persian_; and
this was the empire of the Greeks, _Dan._ viii. 6, 7, 20, 21. It was like a
Leopard, to signify its fierceness; and had four heads and four wings, to
signify that it should become divided into four kingdoms, _Dan._ viii
22. for it continued in a monarchical form during the reign of

Alexander the great, and his brother _Aridæus_, and young sons
Alexander and _Hercules_; and then brake into four kingdoms, by the
governors of provinces putting crowns on their own heads, and by
mutual consent reigning over their provinces. Cassander reigned over
Macedon, Greece, and _Epirus_; Lysimachus over Thrace and
_Bithynia_; Ptolemy over Egypt, Lybia, Arabia, Coelosyria, and
_Palestine_; and Seleucus over Syria.
The fourth Beast was the empire which succeeded that of the Greeks,
and this was the Roman. This beast was exceeding dreadful and terrible,
and had great iron teeth, and devoured and brake in pieces, and
stamped the residue with its feet; and such was the Roman empire. It
was larger, stronger, and more formidable and lasting than any of the
former. It conquered the kingdom of Macedon, with Illyricum and
Epirus, in the eighth year of Antiochus Epiphanes, _Anno Nabonass._.
580; and inherited that of Pergamus, _Anno Nabonass._ 615; and
conquered that of Syria, _Anno Nabonass._ 679, and that of Egypt,
_Anno Nabonass._ 718. And by these and other conquests it became
greater and more terrible than any of the three former Beasts. This
Empire continued in its greatness till the reign of Theodosius the great;
and then brake into ten kingdoms, represented by the ten horns of this
Beast; and continued in a broken form, till the Antient of days sat in a
throne like fiery flame, and _the judgment was set, and the books were
opened, and the Beast was slain and his body destroyed, and given to
the burning flames; and one like the son of man came with the clouds
of heaven, and came to the Antient of days_ [3], and received dominion
over all nations, and judgment was given to the saints of the most high,
and the time came that