We have seen that the promise to Abraham concerning his seed, has

followed the same pattern that has characterized the earlier moves in the

outworking of the purpose.  Their failure came to a head just before the

Babylonian captivity and, with Nebuchadnezzar, `the times of the Gentiles'

`In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah came

Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon unto Jerusalem, and besieged it.  And

the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with part of the

vessels of the house of God: which he carried into the land of Shinar

to the house of his god' (Dan. 1:1,2).

With these words the book of Daniel opens, and it may not be too much

to say that they are only paralleled by the words of Acts 28 in their burden

of crisis and dispensational change.  With such vast issues hanging upon

these momentous words, vast because they cover the whole sweep of Gentile

dominion, and vaster still because they lead steadily on to that kingdom of

Christ which is to last for ever; with such issues and such a burden, no

pains should be spared in acquainting ourselves with all that God has written

for our learning in relation to this crisis in the history of man.  Space

will not permit of the full quotation of Jeremiah 25:1 -26.  We can but point

out one or two features that connect this passage with the opening words of

The reader will be struck by the fact that whereas Daniel 1:1 speaks of

the `third' year of Jehoiakim, Jeremiah 25:1 speaks of the `fourth' year of

that same king in connection with the coming of Nebuchadnezzar against

Jerusalem.  This apparent discrepancy has not passed unnoticed by the critic,

being one of his many `proofs' of the untrustworthiness of the book of

The Hebrew word translated `came' in Daniel 1:1 is bo, and it

frequently has the sense of `went' or `marched'.  This, however, has been

denied.  Dr. Samuel Davidson says, `the verb bo does not mean to set out ...

but to arrive at' ... (Introduction to the Old Testament, Vol. III, p. 181),

and, when men of such standing and authority speak thus, who are we to oppose

them?  Humility is indeed a grace to seek and preserve, but while Galatians 2

remains for our encouragement, we may still dare to bring all statements to

the touchstone of the Word.  Dr.  Davidson's statement but illustrates the

uncritical character of so -called `higher criticism' for it has been

computed that the Hebrew word bo is used in the sense of `to set out' in each

of the five books of Moses, in Joshua, Judges, Ruth, Samuel, Kings,

Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Isaiah, Jeremiah,

Ezekiel, and in six out of the twelve minor prophets!

Let us look at Jonah 1:3 and translate it as Dr.  Davidson would have

it: `And Jonah ... went down to Joppa, and he found a ship arriving at

Tarshish'!  If this could be sense, then in some miraculous way Jonah would

have no sooner set foot on board at Joppa than he would have `arrived' at

Doubtless this would have made the journey far more pleasant than it

actually was, but the simple fact is that the Hebrew word bo does mean that

the ship was `going' or `setting out' for Tarshish.  The plain fact of Daniel

1 and Jeremiah 25 is that the former writer tells us the year in which

Nebuchadnezzar `set out' from Babylon, while the latter tells us when he