Earlier text: General ArticlesTHOUGHTS ON DANIEL.
By Eld. U. Smith
CHAPTER II.—THE GREAT IMAGE. "AND after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee." The use of the word kingdom, here, shows that kingdoms, and not particular kings, are represented by the different parts of this image; and hence, when it was said to Nebuchadnezzar, "Thou art this head of gold," the kingdom, not the king, was meant. The succeeding kingdom, Medo-Persia, is the one which answers to the breast and arms of silver. It was to be inferior to the preceding kingdom. In what respect inferior? Not in power; for it was its conqueror. Not in extent; for Cyrus subdued all the East from the Egean Sea to the River Indus, and thus erected the most extensive empire that the world had, up to that time, seen. But it was inferior in wealth, luxury, and magnificence. Whether it was designed as the fulfillment of the prophecy or not, it is at least an interesting co-incidence that the kingdom answering to that portion of the image where the two arms are located, was composed of the union of two nationalities, the Medes and Persians. And this is rendered the more significant from the fact that this feature is distinctly marked in the other symbols representing the same empire, namely the bear of chapter 7, and the ram of chapter 8. This fact is not observable in other symbols of the fourth kingdom; and the two legs, as we shall see, cannot be taken to represent two divisions in that empire. Viewed from a Scriptural stand-point, the principal event under the Babylonish Empire, was the captivity of the children of Israel; so the principal event under the Medo-Persian kingdom, was their restoration to their own land. At the taking of Babylon, B. C. 538, Cyrus, as an act of courtesy, had assigned the first place in the kingdom to his uncle, Darius. But two years afterward, B. C. 536, occured the death of Darius; and in the same year also died Cambyses, king of Persia, Cyrus' father. By these events, Cyrus was left sole monarch of the empire. In this year, which closed the seventy years' captivity, was issued the famous decree of Cyrus for the return of the Jews, and the rebuilding of their temple. This was the first installment of the great decree for the restoration and building again of Jerusalem, which was completed in the seventh year of the reign of Artaxerxes, B. C. 457, and marked the commencement of the 2300 days of Dan. 8, as will hereafter appear, the longest and most important prophetic period mentioned in the Bible. After a reign of seven years, Cyrus left the kingdom to his son, Cambyses, called Ahasuerus in Ez. 4:6, who reigned seven years and five months, to B. C. 522. Eight monarchs, whose reigns varied from seven months to forty-six years each, took the throne in order till the year B. C. 336, as follows: Smerdis the Magian, seven months, called Artaxerxes in Ez. 4:7, in the year B. C. 522; Darius Hystaspes, from B. C. 521 to 486; Xerxes, from B. C. 485 to 465; Artaxerxes Longimanus, from B. C. 464 to 424; Darius Nothus, from B. C. 423 to 405; Artaxerxes Mnemon, from B. C. 404 to 359; Ochus, from B. C. 358 to 338; Arses from B. C. 337 to 336. The year 335 is set down as the first of Darius Codomannus, the last of the line of the old Persian kings. This man, according to Prideaux, was of noble stature, of goodly person, of the greatest personal valor, and of a mild and generous disposition. Had he lived at any other age, a long and splendid career would undoubtedly have been his. But it was his ill fortune to have to contend with one who was an agent in the fulfillment of prophecy, and no qualifications, natural or acquired, could render him successful in the unequal contest. Scarce was he warm upon the throne, says the last-named historian, ere he found his formidable enemy, Alexander, preparing to dismount him from it. The cause and particulars of the contest between the Greeks and Persians we need not stop to follow. The deciding point was reached on the field of Arbela, B. C. 331, in which the Grecians, though only one to twenty in number, as compared with the Persians, were entirely victorious; and Alexander thenceforth became absolute lord of the Persian empire to the utmost extent ever possessed by any of its own kings. "And another third kingdom of brass shall bear rule over all the earth," said the prophet. So few and brief are the inspired words, which involve in their fulfillment a change of the world's rulers. In the ever-changing political kaleidoscope, Grecia now comes into the field of vision, to be, for a time, the all-absorbing object of attention, as the third of what are called the great universal empires of the earth. After the fatal battle which decided the fate of the empire, Darius still endeavored to rally the shattered remnants of his army, and make a stand for his kingdom and his rights. But he could not gather, out of all the host of his recently so numerous and well-appointed army, a force with which he deemed it prudent to hazard another engagement with the victorious Grecians. Alexander pursued him on the wings of the wind. Time after time did Darius elude the grasp of his swiftly-following foe. At length two traitors, Bessus and Nabarzanes, seized the unfortunate prince, shut him up in a close cart, and fled with him as their prisoner toward Bactria. It was their purpose, if Alexander pursued them, to purchase their own safety by delivering up their king. Hereupon Alexander, learning of Darius' dangerous position in the hands of the traitors, immediately put himself with the lightest part of his army upon a forced pursuit. After several days' hard march, he came up with the traitors. They urged Darius to mount on horseback for a more speedy flight. Upon his refusing to do this, they gave him several mortal wounds, and left him dying in his cart, while they mounted their steeds and rode away. When Alexander came up, life was extinct. As he gazed upon the corpse, he might have learned a profitable lesson of the instability of human fortune. Here was a man who, but a few months before, possessed of many noble and generous qualities, was seated upon the throne of universal empire. Disaster, overthrow, and desertion, had come suddenly upon him. His kingdom had been conquered, his treasure seized, and his family reduced to captivity. And now, brutally slain by the hand of traitors, he lay a bloody corpse in a rude cart. The sight of the melancholy spectacle drew tears even from the eyes of Alexander, familiar though he was with all the horrible vicissitudes and bloody scenes of war. Throwing his cloak over the body, he commanded it to be conveyed to the captive ladies of Susa, himself furnishing the necessary means for a royal funeral. For this generous act, let us give him credit; for he stands sadly in need of all that is his due. When Darius fell, Alexander saw the field cleared of his last formidable foe. Thenceforward he could spend his time in his own manner, now in the enjoyment of rest and pleasure, and again in the prosecution of some minor conquest. He entered upon a pompous campaign into India, because, according to Grecian fable, Bacchus and Hercules, two sons of Jupiter, whose son he also claimed to be, had done the same. He conquered all that there was any necessity for conquering, and then is said to have wept that he had not another world to conquer. For what? That he might do good to his fellow-men, bless and elevate the race and ameliorate their woes? No; but to gratify his own insatiable thirst for power, and to pander to his ungovernable lusts. With contemptible arrogance, he claimed for himself divine honors. He gave up conquered cities, freely and unprovoked, to the absolute mercy of his blood-thirsty and licentious soldiery. He himself often murdered his own friends and favorites in his drunken frenzies. He sought out the vilest persons for the gratification of his lust. At the instigation of a dissolute and drunken woman, he, with a company of his courtiers, all in a state of beastly intoxication, sallied out, torch in hand, and fired the city and palace of Persepolis, one of the finest palaces in the world. He encouraged such excessive drinking among his followers that on one occasion twenty of them together died as the result of their carousal. At length, he, having sat through one long drinking spree, was immediately invited to another, when, after drinking to each of the twenty guests present, he twice drank full, says history, incredible as it may seem, the Herculean cup containing six of our quarts. He thereupon fell down, seized with a violent fever, of which, in a few days after, he died, in the very prime of life, aged 33. Such was Alexander, whom the fulsome pages of history style "the great." If vice, and cruelty, and vain-glory, and love of power, and thirst for blood, constitute greatness, he was great; if otherwise, he was a monster, the more monstrous because his powers of mind, some of which he possessed to a remarkable degree, were prostituted to unholy ends. But he was an agent in the hands of God in the fulfillment of his word; and when that work was accomplished, he was cast away as a loathsome thing, unworthy of any further notice. The progress of the Grecian Empire, we need not stop to trace here, since its distinguishing features will claim more particular notice under other prophecies. Daniel thus continues in his interpretation of the great image:— VERSE 40. And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron; forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things; and as iron breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise. Thus far in the application of this prophecy there is a general agreement among expositors. That Babylon, Medo-Persia, and Grecia, are represented respectively by the head of gold, the breast and arms of silver, and the sides of brass, is acknowledged by all. But with just as little ground for diversity of views, there is still a difference of opinion as to what answers to the fourth division of the great image, the legs of iron. On this point we have only to inquire, What kingdom did succeed Grecia in the empire of the world? for the legs of iron denote the fourth kingdom in the series. The testimony of history is full and explicit on this point. One kingdom did this, and one only; and that was Rome. It conquered Grecia; it subdued all things; like iron it broke in pieces and bruised. Gibbon, though perhaps unconscious of the fact, used the very figure of the prophecy, when describing this empire. He says:— "The arms of the Republic, sometimes vanquished in battle, always victorious in war, advanced with rapid steps to the Euphrates, the Danube, the Rhine, and the ocean; and the images of gold, or silver, or brass, that might serve to represent the nations or their kings, were successively broken by the iron monarchy of Rome." At the opening of the Christian era, this empire took in the whole south of Europe, France, England, the greater part of the Netherlands, Switzerland, and the south of Germany, Hungary, Turkey, and Greece; not to speak of its possessions in Asia and Africa. Well, therefore, may Gibbon add:— "The empire of the Romans filled the world. And when that empire fell into the hands of a single person, the world became a safe and dreary prison for his enemies. To resist was fatal; and it was impossible to fly." It will be noticed that at first the kingdom is described unqualifiedly as strong as iron. And this was the period of its strength, during which it has been likened to a mighty Colossus, bestriding the nations, conquering everything, and giving laws to the world. But this was not to continue. I WAS walking hastily along a crowded street when my steps were suddenly arrested by a voice behind me uttering the words, "Sir, do you know Jesus?" For the time and place it was a strange question. It was high noon, and many were hastening to the Exchange near by. It was in the center of a busy thoroughfare through which hundreds were pressing, each intent upon his own particular errand. In the midst of the temples of Mammon and of the things of his worshipers, I heard the strange, thrilling question, "Sir, do you know Jesus?" Stranger still, when I turned to see the person who uttered the words, I could not fix upon any one of the numbers behind me as the speaker. I did not see, either, to whom it had been spoken. If it had fallen from the clear sky above me it could not have had less of personality about it. The air had borne it to my ear, but from whom I could not discern; and the words, so unusual in that place and at that time, seemed to have become doubly strange, that their speaker had so quickly vanished. I turned away and passed up the street, pondering over the question which I had so mysteriously heard. I thought of the declaration of Jesus, that "to know" him is "life eternal," and then I forgot the strangeness of the query in the sense of its overwhelming importance. I questioned my own soul, "Dost thou know Jesus, the eternal life?" I applied it mentally to those who passed me so hurriedly, eager in their pursuit of present good. One I recognized as a365 shrewd and practical financier. He knew something of the secrets of the banking-house. He understood the vast system of exchanges which spreads over our country like a net-work. He could discourse fluently upon the crisis and its causes. Did he know Jesus? If not, he had missed the highest knowledge. He knew not him in whom infinite treasures of wisdom and grace are found. I passed on further, and I saw a well-known merchant ascending the steps of the Custom-house. He was an adept in his business, thoroughly versed in all the departments of trade. He knew the value of commodities at a glance, and could predict the turn of markets, and speculate wisely upon the changes in commerce made by the manifold changes of the times. He was an oracle in the counting-house and on 'change. But did he know Jesus? was my thought. In his calculations has he ever computed the worth of his soul, or the value of Christ's sacrifice offered for its redemption? Did he know Jesus as his Saviour, and heartily receive him as his sacrifice before God? If not, what was his acquired knowledge but a guide for a few years, to be utterly useless when God should call him to give up his possessions on earth. Further on, I met another familiar face. It was pale, and an air of abstraction spread over it. The man of science was conning some new problem, or pondering over some novel facts. He knew the laws by which the stars move and the waters flow. He had analyzed and combined until he understood many things in their elements, and the processes by which these elements were united in many different forms. He knew the history of the past, and could tell where the mountains had been built up and seas spread out. Did he also know Jesus? That is the great question. Reader, do you know Jesus? Do you know his power to save from sin and the fear of impending judgment? Do you know how free his mercy is? how full his grace? You must know him, or perish. You must know him, or miss eternal life.—The Presbyterian. PREPARATION FOR TEACHING.
NATURAL aptitude for teaching is a gift to be coveted, but it will never do away with the necessity of careful preparation. The keenest blade will soon dull and lose its edge if it is not sharpened. There are many who fail either wholly or partially as teachers, and plead in extenuation that they possess neither knack nor fitness for this service, when in reality their lack is that of thoughtful preparation. The kind of genius that achieves success in Sabbath-school work, as in other things, as a rule, has its root in faithful, persistent labor. "Helps" are excellent in their place, but they need to be mixed with individual brain thought and prayerful meditation in order to become available. A hurried reading of the verses on Sabbath morning, or a mechanical asking of the questions from the lesson leaf, is not teaching. Back of that service there must be both mental and spiritual preparation. The study of the lesson should begin early in the week. If the verses are read thoughtfully on Monday, and recalled to mind as there is opportunity during the week, they will become more and more luminous with truth and illustration, and the great difficulty will be to choose what is most important to bring before the class. This method of preparation, if faithfully pursued, is sure to kindle an enthusiasm and interest that makes the work of teaching a joy and privilege. Those who are under the pressure of heavy and varied responsibilities in home and business life, find that in adopting this plan, they secure in odd moments of leisure, the necessary time for study, and gain spiritual strength for every-day duties. The class of teachers who cannot find time to prepare for their work, are generally those who neglect or forget the matter until the bells ring on Sabbath morning. Preparation for teaching includes much more than a general knowledge of the lesson. Adaptation, clearness of statement, and simplicity of definition, are essential to success in the instruction of children, and this power is the result of study, and not of any happy gift or inspiration. If the minister of Christ needs spiritual preparation for his work, no less is it required by the teacher. Both alike are using instrumentalities for a common end—the spiritual welfare of those placed under their guidance. Seed-sowing for eternity is a work of infinite importance; and the more fully this is realized, the deeper will be the sense of dependence on the divine guidance and help. Spiritual preparation will direct both heart and truth aright. "He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him."—Sunday-School Times. A Devout Woman’s Triumph Over Adversity
THE achievements of a devout Christian woman, now over ninety years of age, a native of Wellfleet, Mass., show how the consolations of religion enable its possessor not only to bear adversity, but to struggle under it and to overcome the difficulties of life. Mrs. Drusilla Laha, at the age of twenty-four, found herself almost penniless with two children, one four and the other two years old. Her husband, who was a sea-captain, had been wrecked and rendered, by the exposure he had endured, a helpless invalid for life. Some women would have regarded such a position as hopeless, but this woman, trusting in God for strength, set herself to the task of supporting her husband and children. She commenced business in a very small way, but by her attention and careful management it increased, and she had the satisfaction of providing for her husband, educating her boys, and starting them in business. With her prosperity her heart was opened toward the poor, and she adopted, clothed, and provided for twenty orphan boys and girls, who are now doing well in various positions. So God honors and blesses those who trust in him. Ps. 34:17-19.—Selected. The Consequences of Belief
By Editor
Fallacies are very long-lived. We overheard a conversation the other day in which the old delusion came out, as fresh as ever: "After all, it don't matter what a man believes if he only does right." We passed on our way, wondering if the speaker would be willing to apply his principle to anything except religion. Does it make no difference in a man's business operations whether he believes in honesty or knavery? Does a man worthy of the suffrage believe one way and vote another? And shall it be said that it makes no difference in a man's character and destiny whether he believes in virtue, goodness, and righteousness? Does it have no bearing on a man's daily life to believe he shall reap what he sows? Is there no inspiration to right doing in a firm belief in a holy, just, and merciful God? It is time that the old fallacy which denies this should be rooted out. Thinking, feeling, and acting are connected links in our being. "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he." When It Rains, Students Read
“There are two boating associations here,” wrote a Japanese student home, “called Yale and Harvard. When it rains, the members read books.” The Sabbath School.
By Ellet Joseph Waggoner
The following question in regard to absentees, is one which no doubt troubles many Sabbath-schools:— "In our Sabbath-school there has been some difficulty in dropping from our record book the names of negligent members. Some members have been absent for three months, and others for a longer period, the only visible cause being a lack of interest. The persons whose names are dropped are dissatisfied with the action taken by our school. Did we do right or not? What is the rule of Sabbath-schools generally in such cases?" W. H. B. It would be difficult to say what course schools generally do pursue, but there can be no question as to what course they ought to pursue for their own good. A person who has not attended Sabbath-school for three months, and has no interest to attend, ought no more to be considered a member of the school than one who never attended. The record books ought to show at all times the exact working membership of the school. If they do not, it is of no use to keep them at all. There ought to be no any honorary members of the Sabbath-school. Having one's name on the record while not in attendance can be no benefit to the individual, while it is a serious detriment to the school. As soon as a scholar absents himself, his teacher should ascertain the reason, and if the absence was unavoidable, should mark him "excused." He should also try to induce him to return the next Sabbath if possible. If he does not intend to come, and cannot be persuaded to, his name should certainly be removed. This need not, however, hinder the teacher, or other members of the school, from making efforts to induce him to attend. When a member is unavoidably detained from the school for some weeks, on account of sickness or absence from the place, it is best to mark him removed, and not to consider him a member until he returns, when his name may be re-entered in his class. This plan is followed in some schools with the best results. It is not considered as a mark of disgrace to the pupil, but as necessary to the maintenance of the best order in the school. E. J. W. FILLING UP THE TIME.
By John S. Hart
WHEN a teacher assumes the charge of a class, one of the implied engagements into which he enters, is that he will occupy the attention of the class during the whole time of the school, except when their attention is required by the superintendent. If any teacher, whose eyes light upon this paragraph, is conscious of not having come up to the requirements of such a rule, let him seriously consider the matter. There are various ways by which teachers fill up the time alloted to instruction. Some, after finishing the lesson, let the scholars read out of the Bible, taking verse about, with an occasional word of explanation by the teacher. This is certainly better than sitting still and doing nothing. Any little fragment of time, not otherwise occupied, may thus be used, and sometimes to great advantage. It can never do harm, and it is an effectual stopper to the dreadful evil of doing nothing. Other teachers fill up the time by telling the children stories. If the teacher has a special gift for this, it may do well enough as an occasional thing. But few persons have the faculty of telling Bible stories, or any other stories, well. Besides, when this kind of matter is relied upon as the main staple for filling up time, it gets an unhealthy feeling among the children, and it is a great temptation to the teacher to fall into loose habits concerning truth. Still, there are many worse things in Sabbath-school than telling the children good stories, and I would not entirely discourage the practice, especially among small children. Others, when at a loss for something to do, read to their class out of a book, or out of a religious paper. Even this, though betokening great poverty of invention on the part of the teacher, is better than nothing. The proper plan, undoubtedly, for filling up time, is for the teacher to come to his class so furnished with knowledge in regard to the lesson, that the lesson alone will fill up every moment at his disposal. If the teacher will use due diligence during the week in studying the lesson, and in collecting facts and thoughts in regard to it, he can hardly fail to have matter enough to fill up the whole time of even the longest session. Nor is it necessary for the attainment of this end that the teacher should be a person of great learning, or a very superior scholar. Persons of quite moderate abilities, and of very limited education, often make most instructive teachers. But it is because their heart is in the work. Their mind is occupied through the week with the lesson which they are to give to their class on the Sabbath, and they go about gleaming little by little, in their daily walks, picking up it may be but a straw at a time; but by the time the Sabbath comes, their hands are full; they have quite a sheaf. One thing every teacher should settle in his mind. He is derelict in his duty, if he does not occupy the attention of his class with something the whole of the time alloted to him. The very least he can do is to keep them busy. The teacher who cannot, or who will not, do this, should resign. Every teacher should feel under strong obligations fully to occupy the time of every session that is devoted to instruction; employing it, if possible, in the topics of the lesson under examination, or in such ways as will interest fully, and instruct wisely, those committed to his charge—remembering that the waste minutes of Sabbath-school hours are the seeds of time which Satan sows for a speedy harvest of mischief and sin.—J. S. Hart. "Cease, my son, to hear the instruction that causeth to err from the words of knowledge." "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; a good understanding have all they that do his commandments." THE REVISED VERSION.
By Editor
Two particulars we have already noticed in which the revisers erred: 1. In placing the reading to be preferred in the margin, as demons for devils. The former should be in the text; the latter should not appear at all in such cases. 2. In the improper retention or use of words in italics. Many of these are calculated only to mislead the reader. They professedly adopted another course, but did not act consistently with it. Two religious papers in the East have been contending over 2 Tim. 3:16. "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable." The Revision has it: "Every scripture inspired of God is also profitable." The latter has, no doubt been adopted to avoid the cavil that every writing, not the Hebrew scriptures alone, is equally inspired. We say, no doubt, because we have heard speakers who thought it necessary to guard this text in this manner. But we think it is no improvement. The apostle himself guarded it by expressly stating the subject of his discourse, namely, the holy Scriptures, with which Timothy was acquainted even from his childhood. There may be such an effort to be literal as to bear the appearance of affectation; in this case we do not think the text gains anything either in literalness of translation or clearness of statement. Acts 26:28. "Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian." This is changed to the following: "With but little persuasion thou wouldest fain make me a Christian." Says Dr. Roberts, the author of the "Companion," "It is with some reluctance that we here abandon the rendering of the 'Authorized Version.'" And we say, It is with some regret that we find that they have abandoned it. The only reason offered for the change is in these words: "Quite a different expression must have been used for almost." Granted that "almost" would be better expressed by a different word, we think it is not violating the rules of language so much to render en oligo, almost, as it is to render peitheis, persuasion. The Diaglott, in its interlinear rendering, has it, "Within a little thou persuadest me." But the version very consistently treats it as idiomatic and renders it, "Thou almost persuadest me." The words of a certain eastern paper, in defense of the Revision, are quite out of place. It argues that Agrippa, being an ignorant heathen, would hardly avow himself almost persuaded on so little persuasion. But its reason is positively denied by Paul himself who declared that Agrippa was "expert in all customs and questions which are among the Jews." It was for this reason that Paul was happy to defend himself before Agrippa. On this ground alone could Paul appeal to Agrippa on his belief of the prophets, saying, "I know that thou believest." Paul could not have said this of an "ignorant heathen." We have no doubt that Agrippa believed the prophets as Paul said, and that he was "almost persuaded" by Paul's argument on the fulfillment of the prophecies in the death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. There is much better reason for the change in 1 Cor. 15:34, which we yet think unfortunate. A correspondent of the Examiner and Chronicle says of this text:-
"What madness changed 1 Cor. 15:34 to this, 'Awake up righteously.' What does that mean? unless as paraphrased by a ten-year old girl, 'Don't get out of bed crosswise.'" The change has considerable claim to being strictly literal, but very little claim to being a good English rendering. The Diaglott has a much better: "Awake to sobriety, as it is fit, and sin not." This has equal claims to a literal rendering. But we doubt whether the idea of the original is given in either better than in the Authorised Version. Rev. 22:11, 14. On these verses the revisers have not wrought a good work. Taken abstractly we cannot think it improves the text to give permission to "do unrighteousness still." Taken according to the chronology given by the context and it is an evident truth that, in close relation to the coming of Christ, probation will close,-there will be no further opportunity to come to the Father through the Son, as he who has been the Mediator takes vengeance into his hands. Compare 2 Thess. 1:7-10; Rev. 6:16, 17. At that time it will be impossible that the unjust or filthy can have their characters changed. And this is stated in the text, and well expressed in the Authorized Version. Although the unjust cannot be justified then, there being no one to act as their intercessor, we see no reason why obligation to do right does not rest upon them still. The duty to do right did not originate with the gospel; nor will the obligation to do right cease, in any case, with a withdrawal of the privileges of the gospel. If it be objected that this trenches on the duties of the expositor, rather than of the translator, we reply that the revisors, have not, to our mind, improved the translation of verse 11. And they have given a purely expository reason for their change of verse 14. We grant that there is some evidence in favor of the reading given in the revision, but not sufficient to justify the change. Griesbach did not consider the evidence of versions sufficient to warrant the rejection of the rendering in the Authorized Version. The "Companion" says the revised rendering-"Blessed are they that wash their robes"-is "far more in accordance with the analogy of Scripture." We consider ourselves warranted in denying this. Analogy is as strongly in favor of the common reading as it is of this. We do not deny that they who enter the gates of the city will have their robes washed in the blood of the Lamb. Will the revisers, or any others, deny that they will likewise "do his commandments?" See Matt. 7:21. "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of Heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father who is in Heaven." These are the words of Jesus himself, who makes doing the will, equivalent to keeping the commandments of his Father, the condition of entering into the city, or the kingdom. No higher authority than this can be found, and no better ground for analogical reasoning. And in the book of Revelation keeping "the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus," is the peculiar characteristic of those who are accepted of the Lord Jesus at his coming. So far as analogy is concerned we have sufficient warrant to retain the common rendering. Such are some of the faults we find in the Revision. Yet as a whole we think highly of it, and recommend all to study it.