THE NATIONS OF WESTERN EUROPE

The first of the passages of Scripture to be studied in this connection is the second chapter of Daniel, in connection with the seventh chapter. Nebuchadnezzar was the king of Babylon at the time, and he had spread the power of Babylon over all the then civilized portion of the world. He had even extended his influence beyond the borders of civilization, so that the world, as it then was, was under his control. One night, after he had lain down to sleep, he was thinking what would come after he should have passed away; what would become of the great empire which he had built up. While thus thinking, he fell asleep and dreamed. When he awoke, he knew he had dreamed something of special importance and interest, but could not recall it. He then called together the wise men, to have them tell it to him; but they could not. Daniel was brought at last, and told the whole story.MON 10.3

Bear in mind that Nebuchadnezzar was wanting to know what was coming to pass after he should have passed away. But when Daniel came to tell to him what was to be told, he said: “There is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days.” It was a long time from Nebuchadnezzar’s time to “the latter days.” Yet Daniel not only tells the king what should come to pass after he should pass away, but tells to him and to all people what should come to pass until the end of the world, and especially “in the latter days.”MON 11.1

Daniel told the king that he had seen a great image; and, from the description given, it is plain that it was the image of a man. Its head was of gold; its breast and arms were of silver; its sides were of brass; its legs of iron; and its feet and toes of iron and clay mixed.MON 11.2

And Daniel said to the king: “Thou art this head of gold. And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth. And the fourth kingdom shall he strong as iron: forasmuch as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise. And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters’ clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay. And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly broken [“brittle,” margin]. And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men; but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay. 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 and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.” Daniel 2:38-44.MON 11.3

In the seventh chapter of Daniel there are pictured four great beasts, which correspond to the four metals in the image. “Then,” said Daniel, “I would know the truth of the fourth beast, which was diverse from all they others, exceeding dreadful, whose teeth were of iron, and his nails of brass; which devoured, brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with his feet; and of the ten horns that were in his head.” Then the angel said unto him: “The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces. And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise.”MON 12.1

The great and terrible beast of the seventh chapter represents the fourth kingdom. In the same order precisely the legs of itron of the great image represent the fourth kingdom. The great and terrible beast representing the fourth kingdom, had ten horns. The legs of iron of the great image, representing the same fourth kingdom, had ten toes: this is certain, because it was the image of a man, and the toes are particularly mentioned. The ten horns of the great and terrible beast represent ten kingdoms. And since the toes occupy the same place precisely in the fourth kingdom of the vision of the great image, that the ten horns occupy in the fourth kingdom of the vision of the seventh chapter, it is certain that the toes of the fourth kingdom of the image correspond to the ten horns of the great and terrible beast of the seventh chapter. The toes of the image represent division of the fourth kingdom (Daniel 2:41), just as the ten horns of the great and terrible beast represent division of the fourth kingdom. Therefore, the ten toes must, just as the ten horns do, signify the ten kingdoms of the fourth empire.MON 13.1

And now the word is: “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 and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.” “Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of and clay, and brake them to 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 threshing-floors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them; and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.”Daniel 2:44, 34, 35.MON 13.2

The kingdom that succeeded to that of Nebuchadnezzar was Medo-Persia. That which succeeded this was the kingdom of Grecia—Alexander the Great. Then came the division of his great empire among Alexander’s generals, and the downfall of his kingdom. Then came Rome, which was that fourth kingdom spoken of. And Rome did indeed cover the world in its period of time. It was then destroyed, and, out of the territory which had formed the Roman Empire proper, there came exactly ten kingdoms—not one more nor one less. These ten kingdoms were to come out of the fourth empire; not out of the second: BUT out of the first: not out of the third: BUT out of THE FOURTH. And the fourth was Rome. Accordingly, in the territory of Rome proper is the place where the ten kingdoms must arise. And the territory of Rome proper was Western Europe. This is where the ten kingdoms of the seventh and second chapters of Daniel must appear in the world, on the ruin of the Roman Empire.MON 14.1

In 351 A. D. two distinct nations planted themselves in this territory, from the German tribes in the north of Europe. These two nations were the Franks and the Alemanni. Those Franks which established themselves in the territory of the Roman Empire in 351 A. D., are the French nation of to-day. And the Alemanni, who established themselves in what is now Swabia and the north of Switzerland, are the German nation of to-day. In French, the Germans still bear the name of “Allemands,” and “Germany” in French is “Allemagne.” The German emperor of to-day, with his House of Hohenzollern, is directly descended from a prince of the ancient Alemanni.MON 15.1

Next, in A. D. 406, there entered the Roman Empire three other nations of barbarians—the Burgundians, the Suevi, and the Vandals.MON 16.1

The Burgundians settled in what is now Western Switzerland, and were the origin of the Swiss nation of to-day.MON 16.2

The Suevi settled in that part of Europe which is now Portugal.MON 16.3

The Vandals passed on through Spain, ever the Straits of Gibraltar, took possession of all North Africa, established their capital at Carthage, and ruled North Africa and the Mediterranean Sea for more than a hundred years.MON 16.4

In A. D. 408 the Visigoths invaded Italy, captured Rome, ravaged it for five days, marched to the southern point of Italy, turned back through all the length of Italy, and marched out into Southern France, and established themselves there for forty or fifty years, and then passed over the Pyrenees into Spain, and were the origin of the Spanish nation of to-day.MON 16.5

Next, in A. D. 449, the Angles and the Saxons, Starting from the north of Europe, about Schleswig-Holstein, went into Britain and there became the origin of England—Angle-land—and of the mighty British nation of to-day.MON 16.6

Attila, the commander of the Huns, who had spread his empire over all of the territory east of the river Danube clear to the borders of China, in 451 and 453 made two invasions of the Roman Empire. In 453 Attila died at his capital east of the Danube; his empire vanished, and from it, in the next twenty-three years, three tribes of Germans came over and occupied territory within the Roman Empire. These three were the Ostrogoths—eastern Goths—the Lombards, and the Heruli.MON 16.7

And then the Western Empire of Rome was gone, and just ten nations stood in her territory in her stead. The ten stood thus:—MON 17.1

I. The Alemanni in North Switzerland, Swabia, Alsace, and Lorraine.MON 17.2

2. The Franks in all Gaul north and west of the Moselle.MON 17.3

3. The Burgundians in West Switzerland and the valleys of the Rhone and Saone in Southeast Gaul.MON 17.4

4. The Suevi in that part of Spain which is now Portugal.MON 17.5

5. The Vandals in North Africa, with capital at Carthage.MON 17.6

6. The Visigoths in Spain and Southwest Gaul.MON 17.7

7. The Angles and Saxons in Britain.MON 17.8

8. The ostrogoths in Pannonia—what is now Austria.MON 17.9

9. The Lombards in Noricum, between the Ostrogoths and the Alemanni.MON 17.10

10. The Heruli in Italy.MON 17.11

[CD-ROM Editor’s Note: See map of ten kingdoms, next page.]

And thus in A. D. 476 there were ten kingdoms, exactly ten independent nations, established in that territory which had been the body of the Roman Empire proper. And thus the prophecy that was given to Nebuchadnezzar, and interpreted and written by Daniel, that there should be these four kingdoms, and that ten should come out of the fourth, was fulfilled to the very letter. The details of this any one can trace out any day on any map that he will but hold before him and mark as he reads the history of the fall of the Roman Empire. ^{3For the History itself in detail, see “Great Empires of Prophecy,” chap. XXXVII to XLVI.}MON 18.1

The prophecy next states that there would come up among these ten another one, and by it three of the ten would be “plucked up by the roots.” The three which were plucked up, were the Heruli, who occupied Italy; the Vandals, who occupied North Africa; and the Ostrogoths, who had been instrumental in rooting up the Heruli, and who occupied Italy in their place. Take three from ten and seven are left. And these seven of the original ten kingdoms that divided Western Rome are in that territory to-day, and are the powers of Western Europe to-day. The Saxons, the Franks, the Alemanni, the Burgundians, the Visigoths, the Suevi, and the Lombards, are the powers respectively of the Britain, France, Germany, Switzerland, Spain, Portugal, and Italy of to-day. ^{4After the three were rooted up, the Lombards removed from their place on the Danube, and established themselves in Italy. And thus to a considerable portion of that country they “communicated the perpetual appellation of Lombardy.” In the middle ages, Lombardy “was, indeed, for a time the name for Italy itself.}MON 19.1

[CD-ROM Editor’s Note: See map of seven kingdoms, next page.]

And these seven, with the eighth (the Papacy), before whom the three “were plucked up by the roots,” must be there until the end of the world; for it is written, “In the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom; ... it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.” Daniel 2:44.MON 24.1

Of these seven, some are very powerful, such as Britain, France, and Germany; while others are weak, such as Switzerland, Spain, and Portugal; while Italy stands, as it were, between strong and weak. So, these seven of the original ten, stand just where Daniel, from the dream which was given to Nebuchadnezzar, said they would stand. They stand there in precisely the condition in which that prophecy said they would stand. Britain, France, and Germany have spread their power over the whole world, and have so intertwined themselves in the affairs of the whole world that what touches the world touches them, and what touches them touches the world. And all this shows that these great nations are spoken of, in the Word of God, as really as were Moab and Ammon, or Babylon, or Grecia, in the days of Daniel or Jeremiah.MON 25.1

[CD-ROM Editor’s Note: See map of seven kingdoms next page.]

Now, in regard to that other mighty nation,MON 26.1