Observations upon the Prophecies of Daniel, and the Apocalypse of St. John by Isaac Newton
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page 25 of 224 (11%)
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had great iron teeth, and devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the
residue with its feet; and such was the _Roman_ empire. It was larger, stronger, and more formidable and lasting than any of the former. It conquered the kingdom of _Macedon_, with _Illyricum_ and _Epirus_, in the eighth year of _Antiochus Epiphanes_, _Anno Nabonass._. 580; and inherited that of _Pergamus_, _Anno Nabonass._ 615; and conquered that of _Syria_, _Anno Nabonass._ 679, and that of _Egypt_, _Anno Nabonass._ 718. And by these and other conquests it became greater and more terrible than any of the three former Beasts. This Empire continued in its greatness till the reign of _Theodosius_ the great; and then brake into ten kingdoms, represented by the ten horns of this Beast; and continued in a broken form, till the Antient of days sat in a throne like fiery flame, and _the judgment was set, and the books were opened, and the Beast was slain and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flames; and one like the son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Antient of days_ [3], and received dominion over all nations, and judgment was given to the saints of the most high, and the time came that they possessed the kingdom. _I beheld,_ saith [4] _Daniel_, _till the Beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flames. As concerning the rest of the Beasts, they had their dominion taken away: yet their lives were prolonged for a season and a time_. And therefore all the four Beasts are still alive, tho the dominion of the three first be taken away. The nations of _Chaldea_ and _Assyria_ are still the first Beast. Those of _Media_ and _Persia_ are still the second Beast. Those of _Macedon_, _Greece_ and _Thrace_, _Asia_ minor, _Syria_ and _Egypt_, are still the third. And those of _Europe_, on this side _Greece_, are still the fourth. Seeing therefore the body of the third Beast is confined to the nations on this side the river _Euphrates_, and the body of the fourth Beast is confined to the nations on this side _Greece_; we are to look for all the four heads of the |
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