Bible note). A tablet is in existence on which is recorded the words: "On the sixteenth

day of Tammuz, Gobryas, governor of the land of Gutium, and the army of Cyrus,

without fighting, to Babylon descended."

God is the God of heaven.  He ruleth in the kingdom of men and giveth it to

whomsoever He will. We may not always see the hand of the Lord, but He has never

vacated His throne nor ceased to guide and overrule in order that all His purpose may be

Having acquainted ourselves with some of the outstanding features of the first half of

the book of Daniel, and having observed that the historic section foreshadows the greater

prophetic portion, we now turn our attention to the prophecies themselves, and

commence with the vision of Nebuchadnezzar which occupies chapter 2:

The Gentile character of this vision is indicated by the change of language that occurs

at verse 4: "Then spake the Chaldeans to the king in Syriac." The words "in Syriac"

mark the place where Daniel ceases to write in Hebrew, and thenceforth to the end of

chapter 7: employs the Syriac or Aramaic language.

Before going into detail it may be well to consider one or two interpretations that have

been put forward, so that the way may be cleared and out study pursued unhindered.

1. Four kingdoms.--One school of interpretation speaks of the image as representing

four kingdoms only--Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece and Rome. The legs represent the

two divisions of the Roman Empire, the eastern and western, and the ten toes, the

kingdoms into which it will finally be divided, thus making Rome's dominion either in its

full power or in its divided form cover the whole period from before Christ to the present

time, and necessitating a revival of ancient Rome at the time of the end. Some who

endorse this view believe Rome to be the Babylon of the Apocalypse, whilst others

believe that literal Babylon will be rebuilt.

2. The fourth kingdom regarded as Satanic.--Another view of the purport of the

vision does not include Rome at all. The view is that Babylon, Medo-Persia, and Greece

followed one another, but that by the time the Lord was here upon earth, the devil could

claim that the kingdoms of the world had been delivered unto him (Luke 4: 6).

Moreover, another objection to Rome having a place in Nebuchadnezzar's vision is said

to be the fact that she never really had possession of Babylon itself. We would add,

however, that this is not strictly true.