Rome, Turkey, and Jerusalem

by Edward Hoare

Such is the series of kingdoms that were to hold the chief political power of the world, and fill up the whole interval between the date of the prophecy and the advent of the Lord. Now the remarkable, and I believe I may say the indisputable, fact, is that, according to the prophecy, all these four kingdoms have arisen. They have followed each other exactly as it was predicted. Babylon was the head of gold, or the lion. The Medes and Persians were the breast of silver, or the bear. Greece, always called ‘the brazen armed,’ in classic poetry, was the belly and the thighs of brass, or the leopard. And then the mighty power of Rome, far exceeding all the others in its terrible strength, with the legs of iron in the royal image, and the teeth of iron in the prophetic beast. Thus far there is an agreement almost unanimous among the students of prophetic Scripture; and the conclusion certainly is, that we have already been a long time under the last of the four successive empires of the world. So far then as those four empires are concerned, we are encouraged to entertain the strong hope that, as we have reached the last kingdom in the succession, we may begin hopefully to look out for the end. We have passed the last station on the line, so now we may begin to prepare for home.

But again. There is one remarkable difference between the fourth kingdom and the other three, viz. this, that its history is divided into two periods, during the first of which it appears as an undivided power, and during the second split up into ten. In chap. ii. 41, it says, ‘the kingdom shall be divided.’ In this divided period it is represented by the ten toes on the image, and the ten horns on the beast. The ten toes are described as kings, or kingdoms, in chap. ii. 44; and so are the ten horns in chap. vii. 24, where it is said, ‘The ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise.’ So then the prophecy teaches us that when Rome had overpowered Greece it would go on for a time as one mighty undivided empire, but that after a time it would break up into a cluster of kingdoms, and that this cluster would retain amongst them the supremacy of the world. It does not describe any fresh shift of political supremacy to any new kingdom that should arise, or the loss or decay of that supremacy. But it teaches that there would be a division in the kingdom, that the parts should fall asunder, and that, while the iron of the fourth kingdom would remain amongst them, there should be so much clay mixed up with it, that it should never again be united under a single head.

Now this is exactly what has happened. In the days of the Cæsars united Rome was supreme in the pomp of the iron empire. Its body was Europe, and its heart was the emperor. It was one as much as Babylon had been one under Nebuchadnezzar. But look at it now. There is all the old power; for Europe and its races practically govern the world. It has not lost its iron. But there is no one kingdom that embodies all. The power is vested in a cluster of independent nations. Many attempts have been made to combine them: some by conquest, as in the case of Napoleon; some by negotiation, as in the case of the Spanish marriages. But all in vain, for the toes are irrecoverably divided, and whatever is done, though as an aggregate they retain their power, as individual nations they are always distinct. I have no time to enter into detail, but I regard this division as a most remarkable fulfilment of the prophetic word. More than five hundred years before the coming of the Lord there was a captive in Babylon, and God so directed that man’s mind, as through him to communicate to the world even then the present position of modern Europe. With such a fact before us who can doubt the inspiration of the prophet, or the statement of St. Peter, that ‘holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost?’

But, without stopping to consider the wonders of the prophecy, let us learn the lesson which it teaches us with reference to the nearness of the Advent. We have already found that we have long since reached the fourth kingdom of the series; and now we are led a step further, and find that we have long since reached the second period of that kingdom. It is difficult with accuracy to assign a date, for the transition was gradual; but we shall be sufficiently near if we say that it practically took place between twelve and fourteen hundred years ago. And when we reflect on such a promise as that in Daniel, ii. 44, in which God assures us of a kingdom that shall be set up in the days of these kings, and never be destroyed: when we consider that those kings have already been reigning through that lengthened period, it is surely time that we begin to look out for that which is to come; for the happy and blessed day when we shall welcome the kingdom which shall never be moved, and when Christ Himself shall reign in glory.

But this is not all, for, although we shall learn no more from the vision of the king, we may gather much more from that of the prophet, for in it we find a most important additional prophecy. I can perfectly understand why it was given by the prophet, and not by the king, for I believe it to refer to the religious history of Europe, and the king of course had no concern with that. He did not care for religion, or for the saints of God. I allude to the prophecy of the little horn rising in the midst of the other ten. I have no time to discuss arguments, and can merely state conclusions. All, therefore, that I can do now is to express my own convictions on two points:

1. That the little horn diverse from all the rest is the Papal power.

2. That the time, times, and dividing of a time, which is to be the limit of its power, stands in prophetic figure for 1260 years.

If this be correct it gives some idea as to the duration of the second division of the last kingdom, for it shows that it must last at least 1260 years. Still more, as the Papacy is to be destroyed at the approach of the Ancient of Days, if we could only ascertain the date of its commencement we might calculate the date of the Advent. But here is the difficulty, for who can say when a horn begins to grow? and who can determine the date of the first swelling of Papal pride? It is impossible to make any such calculation, and I believe it would be wrong to attempt it. But we may still be led by the great outline to hope for the approach of that most blessed day. The horn has been growing a long time, and it is impossible to read European history without believing that the 1260 years cannot be very far from its close. Everything therefore looks like an approaching end. We have long since reached the fourth kingdom; long since reached its second, or divided period; and, though we cannot say when it took place, we have long since seen the commencement of the 1260 years of the little horn. Surely then it is high time that we be looking out for the coming of the Lord, high time that we be watching with our loins girt and our lamps burning, and we ourselves as those that wait for their Lord.

With these facts before us, I may fairly ask any thinking person, whether there is not good ground for the hope that the coming of the Lord draweth nigh? You observe I have not dwelt on minute and isolated points. I have taken the great outline of the world’s history, and compared it with the great outline of the word of prophecy. I see that the two exactly correspond. I thank God from the bottom of my heart for the evidence given of the inspiration of Scripture, for no such prophecy could have had its origin with man; and, while I thank God for such a confirmation of the faith, I cannot resist the conclusion that we have nearly reached the end of the series, that we are living in the last part of the last period of the last kingdom, and that the next great event of this prophecy is nothing else than the sitting of the Ancient of Days, the glorious kingdom of the Son of Man.

But do we all desire it? Are we all looking out with loving and longing hearts for the appearance of our beloved Redeemer? I fear that many would be very far from glad if they thought it would come to-morrow. Their own consciences tell them they are not ready, and in such a case how can they desire it? You might say to them, as in the words of the prophet, ‘To what end is the day of the Lord to you? the day of the Lord is darkness and not light.’ I believe it to be impossible for any man really to desire the coming of Christ as his king until in his own soul he is personally acquainted with Him as his sin-offering or atonement. Thus I believe that you will find very few really desire the Advent who have not practically and experimentally drunk in the great doctrine of justification by faith. If you are reconciled through the precious blood of Christ; if you are justified in the righteousness of Christ; if you are preserved and sanctified by the loving Spirit of Christ, then of course you will be ready to say, ‘Even so, come, Lord Jesus; come quickly.’ But if you are still living for the world, content with the world’s gifts and the world’s enjoyments; or even if you are still toiling, and struggling on to reach Him you know not how, and know not whether you may trust Him to place you on the right hand of the throne or not, how is it possible that you should be happy in waiting for Him? Never rest, therefore, till you stand accepted in Him; till you have good reason to believe that you are safe, and not safe only, but beloved. Then you may wait for Him, then you may welcome Him, then He cannot come too soon to please you; and if His sign is seen even to-night you will be able to say, ‘This is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us: this is the Lord; we have waited for Him, we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation.’