Observations upon the Prophecies of Daniel, and the Apocalypse of St. John · Isaac Newton
CHAP. III.
_Of the vision of the Image composed of four Metals._ The Prophecies of _Daniel_ are all of them related to one another, as if they were but several parts of one general Prophecy, given at several times. The first is the easiest to be understood, and every following Prophecy adds something new to the former. The first was given in a dream to _Nebuchadnezzar_, King of _Babylon_, in the second year of his reign; but the King forgetting his dream, it was given again to _Daniel_ in a dream, and by him revealed to the King. And thereby, _Daniel_ presently became famous for wisdom, and revealing of secrets: insomuch that _Ezekiel_ his contemporary, in the nineteenth year of _Nebuchadnezzar_, spake thus of him to the King of _Tyre_: _Behold_, saith he, _thou art wiser than _Daniel_, there is no secret that they can hide from thee_, Ezek. xxviii. 3. And the same _Ezekiel_, in another place, joins _Daniel_ with _Noah_ and _Job_, as most high in the favour of God, _Ezek._ xiv. 14, 16, 18, 20. And in the last year of _Belshazzar_, the Queen-mother said of him to the King: _Behold there is a man in thy kingdom, in whom is the spirit of the holy gods; and in the days of thy father, light and understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods, was found in him; whom the king _Nebuchadnezzar_ thy father, the king, I say, thy father made master of the magicians, astrologers, _Chaldeans_ and soothsayers: forasmuch as an excellent spirit, and knowledge, and understanding, interpreting of dreams, and shewing of hard sentences, and dissolving of doubts, were found in the same _Daniel_, whom the king named _Belteshazzar__, Dan. v. 11, 12. _Daniel_ was in the greatest credit amongst the _Jews_, till the reign of the _Roman_ Emperor _Hadrian_: and to reject his Prophecies, is to reject the Christian religion. For this religion is founded upon his Prophecy concerning the _Messiah_.
Now in this vision of the Image composed of four Metals, the foundation of all _Daniel_'s Prophecies is laid. It represents a body of four great nations, which should reign over the earth successively, viz. the people of _Babylonia_, the _Persians_, the _Greeks_, and the _Romans_. And by a stone cut out without hands, which fell upon the feet of the Image, and brake all the four Metals to pieces, and _became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth_; it further represents that a new kingdom should arise, after the four, and conquer all those nations, and grow very great, and last to the end of all ages. The head of the Image was of gold, and signifies the nations of _Babylonia_, who reigned first, as _Daniel_ himself interprets. _Thou art this head of gold_, saith he to _Nebuchadnezzar_. These nations reigned till _Cyrus_ conquered _Babylon_, and within a few months after that conquest revolted to the _Persians_, and set them up above the _Medes_. The breast and arms of the Image were of silver, and represent the _Persians_ who reigned next. The belly and thighs of the Image were of brass, and represent the _Greeks_, who, under the dominion of _Alexander_ the great, conquered the _Persians_, and reigned next after them. The legs were of iron, and represent the _Romans_ who reigned next after the _Greeks_, and began to conquer them in the eighth year of _Antiochus Epiphanes_. For in that year they conquered _Perseus_ King of _Macedon_, the fundamental kingdom of the _Greeks_; and from thence forward grew into a mighty empire, and reigned with great power till the days of _Theodosius_ the great. Then by the incursion of many northern nations, they brake into many smaller kingdoms, which are represented by the feet and toes of the Image, composed part of iron, and part of clay. For then, saith _Daniel_, [1] _the kingdom shall be divided, and there shall be in it of the strength of iron, but they shall not cleave one to another._
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