Page:Studies in the Scriptures - Series I - The Plan of the Ages (1909).djvu/259

 and strength, and glory. [There the Gentile kingdoms, or powers that be, were ordained of God.] And whereso- ever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold.

"And after thee shall arise another kingd"bm inferior to thee [silver], and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth. And the fourth king- dom shall be strong as iron : forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things; and as iron that break- eth all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise. And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potter's clay and part of iron, the kingdom shall be mixed ; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron: forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with the miry clay. And as the toes of the feet were part of iron and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly brittle.*'

The student of history can readily trace, among the many smaller empires of earth which have arisen, the four above described by Daniel. These are termed UNIVERSAL EM- PIRES Babylon, first, the head of gold (verse 38); Medo- Persia, conqueror of Babylon, second, the breast of silver; Greece, conqueror of Medo-Persia, third, the belly of brass ; and Rome, fourth, the strong kingdom, the iron legs and clay-mixed feet. Three of these empires had passed away, and the fourth, the Roman, held universal sway, at the time of our Lord's birth, as we read, "There went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed." Luke 2:1,

The iron empire, Rome, was by far the stronge$t, and endured longer than its predecessors. In facl, the Roman Empire still continues, as represented in the nations of Eu- rope* This division is represented in the ten toes of the

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