secondly, ver. 34, 35., a stone cut out without 'hands, which smote the image upon his feet

of iron and clay, and brake them in pieces. 'Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the 'silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together; ' and became like the chaff of the summer 'thrashing floor; and the wind carried them away; and no place was found for them and 'the stone that smote the image became a great

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mountain, and filled the whole earth.'

The great image is declared by the prophet to be a symbol of the four kings, or kingdoms, which were to arise in the world, viz. the Babylonian, the Medo-Persian, the Macedonian, and the Roman empires; the last of which was to subsist in two different conditions. First, as one undivided empire strong as iron; and, secondly, as divided into ten kingdoms, having part of its pristine strength mingled with much weakness; iron mixed with miry clay.' (ver. 41.) And it was not possible that a more exact picture could have been given of the state of the Roman empire, since its division into ten

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kingdoms by the invasions of the Goths and Vandals. Thus far, I presume, both Jews and Christians are agreed in the interpretation of this prophecy.

The stone which smote the image on its feet, and afterwards became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth, is declared by the prophet to symbolize a kingdom to be set up by God. (ver. 44.) And in the days of these kings, shall the God of Heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and 'the kingdom shall not be left to other people; but it shall break in pieces all these kingdoms, ' and it shall stand for ever.'

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I suppose that the Jews agree with us in understanding this kingdom of the God of Heaven to mean the kingdom of the Messiah. In none of the books of the Old Testament do we read of any other kingdom, than that of the Messiah, to be established by God; and, therefore, it is quite incontrovertible that the kingdom of the Messiah is spoken of in this passage of Daniel.

I presume further, that the Jews will admit

that the kingdom of the Messiah begins to be set up at his first coming; or, at least, at the period when he first begins to exercise the authority with which he is invested; or, in other words, that the kingdom of the Messiah cannot be set up before his own appearance in the world.

Having premised these observations, I now shall deduce, from the above prophecy, the following propositions, which seem to me to be established by it.

First, The kingdom of the Messiah was to be set up in the world, and, consequently, the advent of the Messiah was to take place, not as the modern Jews and David Levi suppose, at the time of the destruction of the last of the Gentile monarchies, i. e. the Roman, but during the existence of the four monarchies for we read in the forty-fourth verse, that in the days of these kings, (or kingdoms,) the • God of Heaven shall set up a kingdom.'

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Secondly, The kingdom of the Messiah was to exist in the world in two different states or con

ditions. First, as symbolized by a stone cut out without hands; i. e. this kingdom, in its first state, was to be erected without the operation or assistance of human power;* and it was to be in an obscure condition, as well as small in its extent. All these ideas seem to be necessarily implied in the symbol of a stone cut out without hands. But, secondly, this stone, this small and contemptible kingdom of the Messiah, is to smite the image upon its feet; or, in other words, is to smite the Roman empire in its last state, as divided into ten kingdoms; and then the image is to be totally dissolved, and its materials dissipated; and the stone (the small and contemptible kingdom of the Messiah) is to become a great mountain, † and is to fill the whole earth; i. e. it is to be advanced to a glorious and triumphant state.

* In the language of symbols, a hand denotes power. In the language of symbols, a mountain denotes a kingdom.

This smiting of the image evidently takes place precisely at that time, when the judgments against the nations, (particularly Edom or Rome,) which are predicted in Isaiah xxxiv. and lxiii., begin to go forth.

From the second of the foregoing propositions, it is quite evident that the prophecy in the second chapter of Isaiah, which is commented upon by David Levi, relates exclusively to the triumphant state of the Messiah's kingdom; for we find in that prophecy, that the kingdom of the Messiah is represented, not by the symbol of a stone, but by that of a mountain. It is called the mountain of the Lord's house,' ver. 2.; and the mountain of the Lord,' ver. 3.; consequently, David Levi's argument from that prophecy against the divine mission of Jesus, is founded upon this gross mistake, that Isaiah therein describes the kingdom of the Messiah in its original state in the world, which is proved not to be the case. The prophecy refers only to that time when the stone, having already smitten the image, is become a great mountain.