age when the time must be comparatively short, and when every serious proposal for the interpretation of these numbers cannot but arrest the attention of those who are waiting for their Lord," and "love his appearing."

66

or over the waters of the

5. "Then I, Daniel, looked, and, behold, there stood other two, the one on this side of the bank of the river, and the other on that side of the bank of the river. And one said to the man clothed in linen, which was upon,”river, How long shall it be to the end of these wonders? And I heard the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left unto heaven, and sware by Him that liveth for ever and ever, that it shall be for a time, times, and an half of time, and when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished. And I heard, but I understood not then said I, O, my Lord, what shall be the end of these things? And he said, Go thy way, Daniel; for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end. Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand,"-- or, "but the teachers shall cause to be understood." 11. "And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days. Blessed is he that waiteth and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days. But go thou thy way till the end be; for thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of the days."

The question which is here put, we shall remark, is this, How long shall it be to the end of these wonders? The wonderful things just predicted the destruction of the last foethe standing up of Michael - the deliverance of the prophet's people—and the resurrection of many that sleep in the dust of the earth.

The answer of the person clothed in linen is prefaced

by a solemn oath, sworn by the eternal God; a circumstance that ought much to fix our attention. Why is an oath interposed? Does it imply that the heirs of promise, on account of some disappointed expectations, will need to be assured of the immutability of the divine counsel respecting the wonders to take place at the periods about to be specified? Does it imply that in the midst of the scoffs of an unbelieving age, "Where is the promise of his coming?" the love of many will wax cold, and the faith of his waiting people be sorely tried?

Doubtless there is some great reason for this so solemn oath; and we shall remember, that the vengeance to fall on Israel's last foe, when God comes to have mercy on his land and his people, is, in a similar manner, sworn to in Moses' Song of Remembrance. This is certainly a most awful mark of identity! The matter sworn to is, "That" (it shall be)" for," or, "after a time, and times, and an half;" or, "That" you are to consider it "in relation to a time, and times, and an half; and when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people,”—I conceive, when God shall have put an end to the dispersion of his people Israel,—then " all these things shall be finished."

The words of the oath, then, first point out to our consideration a period of a time, times, and an half, which, from a comparison of a former prophecy, is the period during which" the saints," or "the times and laws," are given into the hand of the power symbolized by the little horn of the fourth beast. In inquiring after the time of the end of these wonders, therefore, we seem to be directed to keep our attention fixed upon the lapse of

* Deut. xxxii. 40, &c. Compare Isaiah, xiv. 24.

this remarkable era in the history of Christ's church upon earth. The power symbolized by the little horn of the fourth beast is, we have seen, the papacy; and the period here specified, a time, times, and an half, or three years and an half, reckoning a day for a year, is the period of one thousand two hundred and sixty years. The vital question, therefore, my readers will perceive, is this: When did this triumphant career of the papal power commence-when was the epocha which the Spirit designates by saying," and they were given into his hand," they, the saints against whom he had made war, or, they, "the times and laws," which he devised to change?

We should further remark on the words of the oath, that they do not assert, that with the expiration of this period shall be the end of these wonders, so that the one thousand two hundred and sixty years includes them all; this period of one thousand two hundred and sixty is only marked off, as affording a waymark or direction to the object of our inquiry; and, that past, we are directed to look out for another," the finishing to scatter the power of the holy people. With the finishing of the dispersion of Israel, that is to say, with their restoration fully accomplished, all these wonders are finished, the destruction of the foe-the coming of King Messiah — and the resurrection of the dead mentioned above. Such is the matter of the oath. It does not say how long after the expiration of the one thousand two hundred and sixty years will be the interval to the consummation of all things; but only bids us take this mark, and then fix our attention on the holy people, and observe their destinies as time shall unfold them.

But, we observe, the information conveyed by the oath does not satisfy the anxious mind of Daniel.

He

ventures to repeat the question, which he thought had not been fully answered.

66 O, my

Lord! what shall be the end of these things?"

To this a further answer is vouchsafed. At the same time it is intimated," that the words are closed and sealed till the time of the end;" that is, most plainly, the words of the oath specifying the mysterious numbers, are not to be understood till the very last period of the times mentioned: but then they shall be understood; not, however, by the wicked that have transgressed the covenant; but the wise, or rather the teachers of God's people, shall then be enlightened, to make them known to his waiting people. We infer, then, that the labours of expositors will not always be in vain, in their endeavours to ascertain the epochas of these mysterious periods. But, at the same time, when they do ascertain them, they will not be able to convince a wicked generation; so that the day of the Lord should not come upon them " as a thief in the night,"—" as pangs upon a woman with child."

The further answer returned to Daniel's most anxious inquiry, "O, my Lord, when shall be the end of these things?" is as follows: "And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand, two hundred, and ninety days. Blessed is he that waiteth and cometh to the thousand, three hundred, and five-andthirty days. But go thou thy way till the end be; for thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of the days."

Here, then, we have two other periods of time given for the attentive consideration of those who, like the prophet, love the appearing of our Saviour, and are waiting for it;

a period of 1290 years, and a period of 1335: and the last period, it is clear, terminates with the happy epocha of Messiah's kingdom:-" the end of the days," as in the next verse-when the holy prophet, after his rest in the grave, shall stand in his lot. What the period of 1290 years is to terminate with, is not mentioned. But this we infer, that, forty-five years previous to the blessed era, there is some remarkable epocha which will evidence itself. So far is clear. But what means the prophetic Spirit in designating the epocha, from which these 1290, and 1335 years, are to be counted, as the time when "the daily sacrifice," or continual offering, is taken away, and the "abomination that maketh desolate set up?" This seems a new mystery; though Daniel, for aught appears, was satisfied with the answer.

Now, it appears that the taking away the daily sacrifice, in connexion with placing the abomination of desolation, has been twice mentioned before, chap. ix. 27, and xi. 31 and in both these passages, there is a clear reference to the profanation of the temple of Jerusalem, and its desolation by the Romans. The time is now long gone by, when any question could be made, whether the destruction of the temple at Jerusalem was to mark the epocha, from whence these years are to be dated; though it is probable this would be the first conjecture of interpreters. There would indeed, in this case, have been no

1

That this was actually the case, see Dr. Hales, vol. ii. 568: and he himself strangely embraces the hypothesis. But the mere statement of the events foretold by the prophetic periods of 1290 and 1335 years, if dated from the

year 70, is sufficient, in my mind, to show the futility of the hypothesis: "1290 years from A. D. 70, the destruction of Jerusalem, brings us to A. D. 1860," "the precise year in which John Wickliffe first began to preach against