was not or had ceased to exist politically as an Empire, hereafter shall be or shall once more recover the political existence of which he had been deprived'.

The precise day of this revival of the short-lived seventh head is not specified either by Daniel or by St. John: but they fully agree, in regard to the activity of the Roman wild-beast, when, by the healing of his deadly wound, he shall have been restored to his lost political existence. Each announces a remarkable expedition, which he shall then undertake each places this expedition at the same chronological epoch: and each describes it, as terminating in the irremediable destruction of the adventurous undertaker and his vassal associates.

5. We now come to the fifth of those periods, into which Daniel's interpreting angel divides the anticipated history of the Roman Empire subsequent to the desolation of Jerusalem by Titus.

And, at the time of the end, the king of the South shall butt at him: and the king of the North shall tempestuously come against him, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships. Yet he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow, and shall pass over, and shall enter into the glorious land; and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his

' Rev. xiii. 3, 12, 14. xvii. 8, 10. See below book v. chap. 4. § III. 3. 4.

2 Compare Dan. xi. 40-45, with Rev. xvi. 13-16. xvii. 14. xix. 11-21.

hand, even Edom and Moab and the chief of the children of Ammon. He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries : and the land of Egypt shall not escape. But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt: and the Lubim and the Cushim shall be at his steps. Yet tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him: therefore he shall go forth, with great fury, to destroy, and to devote many to utter destruction. And he shall plant the curtains of his pavilions between the two seas in the glorious holy mountain. Yet he shall come to his end; and none shall help him. And, at that time, shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth up 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 that same time : and, at that time, 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'.

This fifth period, as the prophecy itself declares, commences at the time of the end or at the close of the latter three times and a half: and it comprehends the final war and destruction of the Roman king, by whose previous exploits the fourth period was characterised. Consequently, the whole of the

· Dan. xi. 40--45. xii. 1, 2.

several vicissitudes detailed with great minuteness in the prophecy, it will at length be irretrievably broken, in power and subsistence, between those two seas of Palestine, which Jerome and the early Fathers rightly and reasonably pronounce to be the dead sea on the east and the mediterranean sea on the west1. Synchronically with the fall of Antichrist, at the close of the latter three times and a half, the people of Daniel or the children of Israel will be delivered from the hand of their enemies and will be restored to their own country, the season of their dispersion having now been fully accomplished with the expiration of the times of the Gentiles. And then, at the end of the time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation, the Roman Antichrist being overthrown and the holy people being converted and restored, will commence, as light out of darkness, a long season of spiritual blessedness and tranquillity 3.

IV. These several matters are, I think, distinctly announced in the prophecy and perhaps some additional information may be gathered by establishing a series of mutual correspondences between the present oracle and other parts of Holy Writ. At all events, the establishment of such correspondences will be useful, as exhibiting the relation of prophecy to prophecy, and as thence shewing us what predictions treat of the same set of events.

1 See Hieron. Comment. in Dan. xi. 44, 45.

2 Dan. xii. 1, 7. Luke xxi. 24.

3 Dan. xii. 12.

1. The period, during which the last expedition of the Roman king takes place, commences with the time of the end or with the expiration of the latter three times and a half.

But, with the expiration of the same latter three times and a half, the seventh vial of the Apocalypse begins to flow 1.

Therefore Daniel's fifth period, during which the last expedition of the Roman king takes place, synchronises with the contents of the seventh apocalyptic vial 2.

2. This synchronism being established, it will follow, that the expedition of the Roman king to Palestine is the same as the final war of the Roman wild-beast now once more under the influence of his revived seventh head, and that the Hebrew Armageddon in the Apocalypse is the Hebrew region between the two seas of Palestine where in Daniel's prophecy the Roman king is destined to perish. For, since, in each prediction, the actors are the same, the time is the same, the country is the same, and the result is the same: we cannot but conclude, that the self-same matters form the subject of each prediction alike.

3. Hence also it will follow, that the tempestuous attack of the king of the North, which is literally announced in the prophecy of Daniel, is

'See above book ii. chap. 4. § II. 2.

2 Dan. xi. 40-45. xii. 1, 2. with Rev. xvi. 17-21. xvii. 11, 14. xviii. xix.

3 Dan. xi. 40-45. with Rev. xix. 11-21.