The Pulpit Commentary — Daniel — Section 125

which precudod the Advent. (b) Rome cxiHled at tho Advent, n,,t ,o th 13 ernr,ir" of Alexnnder'e eucceesors. (c) Compare fourth beast (eh. vii. 7, e/, se7.). (d) The symbolic imagery is strikingly close to the reality of Rome. (2) Relatirm to the Divine kingdom and the .t1duent. Under the shield of the prevalent Roman law, Jesus wne born, lived, and was crucified. Hence Gentile with Jew nailed him to the tree. 'l'he Crucifixion was marked by publicity. Rome destroyed city and temple, broke up the J~wish Church, and scattered the nation. The most prominent suggestions of thie exposition are; 1. The almi:1htiness of God's subordinating power. .All things-interests, men, nations, kingR-bend before it. 2. The way in which hostile powers serve his purpose. Often unconsciously, and in spite of their own intention. 3. Ohrist the Centre of history. To him, before the Advent, all things tend; and since, from him all things date. The greatness of the Lord Jesus. Imagine Christ taken out of the history of man 1-R. Vere. 34-36, 44, 45.-The everlasting kingdom. "And the stone that smote the image," etc. (ver. 35). We shall assume, what is certain, tliat the "stone" is the image of the kingdom of the Son of God. I. !Ts CHARAOTERISTIO~. 1. The mcdiatorial action of the Son of God is of the nature of kingly rule. (1) Over SQU,ls, willing or unwilling. (2) Within the Church. (3) In the world of men. (4) Over the spirit-world. (5) Even over the universe of matter. (See and weigh the meaning well of Eph. i. 22, 23.) 2. The kingdom wa, supernatural in its origin. Here may well be discussed the now present doctrine that the Christ was the creation of his time. Set over against it the truth that Christ was a descent and intervention of the supernatural and of the Divine. Not oae, nor all combined, of the ordinary secondary causes can account for the establishment, exten- sion, perpetuity of the kingdom. "Without hands." The result of eternal counsel, founded by the Son of God, perpetuated by the Spirit of life. 3. Insignificant in its commencement. 'fhe stone is clearly meant to be small-anyway, small compared with the mountain. Note: Humanly speaking, the Lord belonged, indeed, to a royal house, but in decay and obscurity; was poor; hidden for thirty years in a hamlet on the wilds; no powerful friends; no political connections; of no special learning; the character and calibre of his first helpers ; slow progress of the kingdom. To human view, in the stone, nothing; to the Divine, all potentiality. 4. Destined to universal prevalance. Notwithstanding 3. (1) Look at the vision. (a) The kingdom began by the destruction of the hostifo (vers. 34, 35). The world-powers fell before it. Note : Tbe nothingness of the mightiest human power in collision with the kingdom of God. (b) Goes on by displacement. Man-created universal empires give place to one God- created. Observe: The great empires of antiquity were unconscious prophecies of the universal kingdom of Christ. There bas been no universal empire since, nor ever will . be. Neither to Great Britain nor to the United States will universal sway be given, but to Christ. (2) Is the vision true 1 That the stone will become the earth-filling mountain may be argued from: (a) The aggressive character of the gospel. (illus- trations on the largest scale, showing how Christ is occupying every part of the earth, may be found in 'The Foreign Missions of Protestantism,' by Christlieb: Nisbet and Co., 2s. 6d.) (b) Past achievement. The tide recedes, only to advance again. Discourage- ment is local-at the most temporary. (c) Prophecy. Think! In olden times a dream. A prophetic interpretation. After the lapse of more than two milleninums we, from our watch-towers, mark the ever-growing fulfilment I 6. Everlasting. 'fhe kingdom has stood for nineteen centuries, although every form of hostile force has tried to displace and destroy. Force, physical aud intellectual, has done its worst. Philo- sophy, science, ridicule, persecution. The empire of JeSU,S is the greatest fact on our planet to-day. Over the highest minds of the noblest races. No empire, political or intellectual, can compare with it. There are great powers on earth, but not oae to vie with this, to which they are all subordinated. In this the promise of the future. 'l'ime is on its side; the Eternal too (see Phil. iii. 21, especially in the Greek). II. !Ts BU<JGESTIONB. 1. We ourselves must submit to it. Nearer, closer, than any earthly rule, it presses on us. We can no more evade it than we can the civil govern- ment under whose shield we abide; not so effectually. Neutrl\lity impossible--the vainest dream I 2. We shall then share the benedicti011,s of this gracious mediatorial  86 'l'llE BOOK OF DANIEL. [on, n. 1-40,