Author of "B.C. and A.D.; or, How the World was prepared for the Gospel"; "The Scriptures and How to Use Them," etc. PICKERING & INGLIS Printers and Publishers, 14 Paternoster Row, London, E.C.4 229 Bothwell Street, Glasgow; 75 Princes Street, Edinburgh...

London : Pickering & Inglis , 14 Paternoster Row, E.C.4. Glasgow : Pickering & Inglis , 229 Bothwell Street. Edinburgh : Pickering & Inglis , 75 Princes Street. Manchester : The Tract Society , 135 Deansgate. Liverpool : Wm. T. Jaye , 18 Slater Street. Newcastle : Northern Counties Depot , 63a Blackett Street. Birmingham : P. H. Hulbert , 315 Broad Street (Corner). Bath : H. W. & H. R. Griffiths , 35 Milton Avenue. Bristol : W. B. W. Sarsfield , 78 Park Street. We

The following pages are the outcome of several conversations with inquirers shortly after the outbreak of the great war, in 1914, and of requests for notes of the views expressed. The subject of these conversations had occupied the earnest if intermittent attention of the writer for over twenty years. The notes were expanded into a series of articles which appeared in The Witness during 1915. These have been revised and somewhat extended for the present volume, especially the last chapter, much

The overthrow of the kingdom of Judah recorded in 2 Kings 24 and 25, and in the opening words of the book of Daniel, was a remarkable crisis in the history of the world. In judgment upon the people of God for their long-continued iniquity, sovereignty was removed from their hands, king and people were led into captivity, and Jerusalem was, in fulfilment of Jeremiah's words, given into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon (Jer. 21. 10). The government of their land was thus committed t

An understanding of the Scriptures does not depend upon access to other books, or reference to historical records outside the limits of the Bible. The Word of God is its own interpreter, and all that is needed for our establishment in the faith is contained in its pages. On the other hand, the Bible throws light upon history not recorded therein, and it is with that in view that we give certain historical outlines in dealing with our subject. The first part of the prophet's description of the fo

In the interpretation of his vision of the beast, John is told of its rise, temporary removal, and reappearance: "The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and is about to come up out of the abyss, and to go into perdition" (Rev. 17. 8). Here the Roman world-power, the imperial dominion, is in view. In verse 11 the final king himself is similarly described. The symbol of the beast is thus employed to describe first the dominion and then its imperial head. This symbolic association of locality

Having narrated the disintegration of the western half of the Empire, we will now recount the events which involved the overthrow of the eastern half. The impoverishment of the imperial power at Rome, and the weakening effect of the Germanic attacks upon it, tended to enhance the power of the Emperor at Constantinople. Indeed the eastern Empire was soon regarded as the more important of the two, and for some time after the barbarian invasions in Italy the Emperors at Constantinople claimed supre

(1) The Geographical Standpoint. The coming revival of the Roman Empire will for our present purpose be best considered from the geographical, political, and religious standpoints. Any forecast of the exact delimitations of the ten kingdoms constituting the reconstructed Empire must necessarily be largely conjectural. That their aggregate area will precisely conform to that of the ancient Roman Empire does not necessarily follow from the fact of its revival, and cannot be definitely concluded fr

We have now to consider the dealings of the two beasts, the final Roman emperor and his false prophet, with With the Romans the Jews joined in the death of Christ, and with the rulers of this fourth empire they will be in agreement for a time at the close of their long course of apostasy. This was especially made known to Daniel in the prophecy of (Dan. 9). These weeks (lit., hebdomads , or periods of seven, i.e. , seven years each) had been divinely decreed (or "cut off," i.e. , from the period