The Pulpit Commentary — Daniel — Section 268

kingdoms have Brison ; and B part of their powc~ h_ae disappeared before the growing supremacy of papal Romo. But even that bas w1thm the last half-century been shorn of its strength. Still much remains for the future to disclose. 2. Rome papal will stand/or a definite time. "Until II time," etc. (ver. 25). The time is definite, though to us, as we believe, unknown. (On the seeming impossibility of at preseot interpretin'7 a measure of time like this, see Alford on Rev. xi. 2, p. 655.) 3. But wi'll certainly fall (Vere. 11, 26.) Note the r8B80n in ver. 11. 4. Then to rise no more. (Vers. 11, 26.) Are explicit and strong. Y. HEn POWER TRANSFERRED. Given to the saints; once theirs, theirs lf1Jerywhere, theirs for ever. War was indeed made against the saints, achieved, too, a certain success. But principle never dies. The final victory lay with the persecuted. Dominion passed over to them. In what sense? We might say that good men made the laws, but this would be a poor thing to say. Ratberis this the truth-that the need of government almost passed away. THE INFLUENCE OF CHARACTER wAS ENOUGH. Somo judicial administration might be necessary to arrange debatable points. But deliberate crime had now become non-existent, To illustrate: Mr. Gold win Smith, after saying that, in a particular instance, "not the special form of the government, but the com- parative absence of necessity for government, is the thing to be noted a.nd a.dmired," goes on to say, "The proper sphere of government is compulsion. The necessity for it in any given co=unity is in inverse proportion to the social virtue and the intelligence of the people. The policeman, the executioner, the tax-gatherer,-these are its proper ministers, and the representatives of wha.t we ca.11 its majesty. It is destined to decrea.se as Christianity increa.ses, and as force is superseded by socia.l affection, and spontaneous combination for the public good. The more a community can afford to dispense with government, the more Christian it must be" (' The Civil War in America,' p. 27). The Ancient of da.ys gives over empire to the Son of man; his sovereignty is exercised through his saints. They have something of his own swa.y. What is that? The sway of spiritual supremacy. The rule of righteousness. The law of love. Thll empire of Calvary.-R. Vers. 1-8.-.A vision of human violence. Dreams have a foundation in external (act. The mind of man has a creative faculty-a. faint reflection of the Divine-and, when released from the domination of visible things, it asserts its original power. Daniel was advanced in years, had seen many changes in the government of Babylon, and proba.bly had been brooding seriously over the fortunes and prospects of th11 Hebrews. The past and the future were inextricably interlaced. I. NIGHT HAS ITS USES, AS WELL AS DAY. Night is not an entire blank in a man's history. God is as much with us by night as by da.y. "He giveth his beloved sleep." But, at the sa.me time, he supports the imagination and memory in strange activity. Here we have a hint of the separate life of mind a.nd body. If this occurs now, may not the mind be amply active, while the body is fast asleep in the grave? Night reveals to us pictures, which the garish day dissipates. Darkness is freighted with celestial light. What is da.rkness to the body need not be da.rkness to the mind. Trial may have a rough exterior, but there is latent good within. Sorrow is endowed with a Divine power of benediction, Death itself to the saint is but a. veil that hides the dawning light. Reality is often the antipodes of phenomenon. II. MATERIAL THINGS ARE 1\111\RORS IN wmcH l\lEN l\lAY SKE THEIR TRUE CllA.- B.ACTERS. 'l'he mind, in its infantile state, is most impressed with visible and tangible things. "The great sea" is a significant picture of the mobility and restlessness of tho multitude. 'l'he masses of men, having no settled beliefs, no fixed priuciples of action, are as fickle, and as easily wrought upon, as the unstable sea. As the briny waters are promptly driven hither and thither by every wind that blows, so the multi- tudes are moved and tossed by every passing passion-by the faintest prospect of self- adva.ntage-or by the fevered ambition of a. stronger will than their own. The Jewti, having relinquished their safe anchorage, viz. faith in God, were driven helplessly north and south, east and Wl'St, by the wild passions of unscrupulous conquerors. It seemed as if the four winds of heaven strive 11t one 11nd the same time upon this llebrew sea. "The wicked are like the troubled sea." III. UNTAMED BEASTS ARE Till, APT1':S1' SYMDOLS OF MILITARY CO!':~UERORS. One 234 THE BOOK OF DANIEL. [ctt. vn. 1-'Z0.