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alone 500 YEARS between the impact of the Stone cut without hands, and the filling of
the whole earth. Here are the inspired words:
"Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon
his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. THEN was the iron, the
clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces TOGETHER, and become like
the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, that no place
was found for them; and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain and
filled the whole earth. This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof
before the king . . . . . And in the days of these kings 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" (Dan. 2: 34, 35, 44).
Another feature that demands attention is "the time of Jacob's trouble" or "the great
tribulation"; that too must find its place in the Divine scheme, and its Scriptural
association must be noted.
"I will bring again the captivity of My people Israel and Judah, saith the Lord: and
I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it
. . . . . alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's
trouble; but he shall be saved out of it. For it shall come to pass in that day, saith the
Lord of hosts, that I will break his yoke from off thy neck, and will burst thy bonds, and
strangers shall no more serve themselves of him: But they shall serve the Lord their God,
and David their king, whom I will raise up unto them . . . . . And ye shall be My people,
and I will be your God" (Jer. 30: 3, 7-9, 22).
The context of this time of Jacob's trouble is the time when both Israel and Judah shall
be saved "from the land of their captivity" and they have the assurance, that "though I
make a full end of all nations whither I have scattered thee, yet will I not make a full end
of thee: but I will correct thee in measure, and will not leave thee altogether unpunished"
(Jer. 30: 10, 11). Jer. 30: reads straight on to Jer. 31: where the Lord announces
the bringing in of the New Covenant and the return and settlement of Israel as a nation
for ever. This time of tribulation is spoken of by Daniel:
"And at that time (note the connexion with the preceding antichristian events, with no
interval possible) shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children
of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble such as never was since there was a
nation even to the same time: and at that time (the time note repeated) thy people shall be
delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book. And many of them that sleep
in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and
everlasting contempt. 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" (Dan. 12: 1-3).
The closing words of this reference are referred to by our Lord in Matt. 13: 40-43 in
the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares:
"Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father",
and link the days in which Heaven's King was rejected and the "Mystery" form of the
kingdom took the place of positive prophecy, with the days yet to come when the