succeed its predecessor, it would make the sequence of Daniel 2:45

impossible.  The reader will already be aware that there is a system of

interpretation which rules out Rome as the iron kingdom, and this is

sometimes coupled with an argument derived from chapter 7, which speaks of

'the fourth kingdom upon the earth'.  We hope to give Scriptural proofs that

Rome Is the iron kingdom of the image of Daniel 2, and that it is Not the

fourth kingdom of Daniel 7.

No lengthy argument is necessary to prove that the head of gold is

Nebuchadnezzar, that the silver kingdom is that of the Medes and the

Persians, or that the kingdom of brass represents Greece.  We will make the

truth of this assertion plain before we proceed.

'Thou art this head of gold' (Dan. 2:38).

'In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain.

And

Darius the Median took the kingdom' (5:30,31).

'The Medes and Persians' are spoken of in Daniel 5:28 and 6:12, while

the close of the chapter speaks about 'Cyrus the Persian' (6:28).

We discover that just as the Babylonian sovereignty passed to the Medo

-Persians, so in their turn they yielded it up to the Greek.  For this we

turn to Daniel 8 where Daniel describes a vision in which he saw a ram in

conflict with a goat:

'The ram which thou sawest having two horns are the kings of Media and

Persia.  And the rough goat is the king of Grecia: and the great horn

that is between his eyes is the first king' (Dan. 8:20,21).

This king is Alexander the Great, and upon his death, his kingdom was

divided between his four generals, the fourfold division being Syria, Egypt,

Macedonia and Asia Minor (8:21,22).  Looking down the age to the 'latter

times' when transgressors are come to the full, the prophet sees the rise of

'a little horn' which waxed exceeding great toward the south, and toward the

east, and toward the pleasant land, and will finally challenge 'the Prince of

princes' (8:9,23 -25).  This is the antichristian Beast at the time of the

end who shall break the covenant in the midst of the final seven years of

Daniel 9.  It will be seen that the prophet leaps from the Greek kingdom of

brass to the period subsequently to be revealed as indicated by the ten toes,

which set forth the ten kings, hinted at in Daniel 2:44, 'these kings', and

set forth specifically in Daniel 7:24 as 'ten kings that shall arise'.

Let us return for a moment to see what kind of sovereignty was given by

God to Nebuchadnezzar.

'Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given

thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory.  And wheresoever the

children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the

heaven hath He given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over

them all.  Thou art this head of gold' (Dan. 2:37,38).

Among the objections to Rome is the fact, that all must acknowledge,

that Rome never ruled over the lands which were under the dominion of

Nebuchadnezzar.  This objection is invalid, for it would rule out the Medo -

Persians and the Greeks.  This is not all, it would if pressed rule out

Nebuchadnezzar himself, which is absurd.  God may give universal dominion, it