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Thames Star, Volume VII, Issue 2621, 2 June 1877, Page 4

xnitted unto Nebuchadnezzar, particulars of which will be found by any one caring to look for them in the 46ih and other chapters of the book of the prophet Jeremiah, and also against Ninevah, the destruction of which as foretold by the prophet Nahum, it fell to his lot to accomplish.' Eefei'ence will perhaps be made again to this in the course of the lectures.

Nebuchadnezzar, then, was tho son of Nebo-Pul-Assur, King of Babylon, and in his father's lifetime acted as generalissimo of the Babylonish forces. In this capacity he obtained a brilliant victory over Pharoah-Necho, King of Egypt, B.C. 604, at Carchemish, the modern city of Circesium, which was a favorite battle ground between the Assyrian and the Egyptian armies, by which he humiliated and destroyed the power of Egypt- Before this time he bad alreadyinvaded for the first time and conquered the Kingdom of Judah,- and he subsequently, shortly after the death of his father and his own accession, to the throne of Babylon, invaded, in company with his friend and ally/Cyaxares, the Mede, the northern, portion of Assyria, and took and destroyed the ancient and mighty city Ninevah, as already alluded to. The name by which tho prophet "Nahum alluded in his prophecy: to Nebuchadnezzar is most remarkable^ In chapter 2, verse 1, he says: "He that dasheth in pieces is come up before thy face," which is also rendered in the margin, " The Disperser or the Hammer." Either of these names are most remarkable. Jeremiah, chapter 50, verse 23, alludes to Babylon, and more especially to the King of Babylon, •as the "Hammer of the whole earth," in other words, the instrument in the hand :of God wherewith it pleased Him to break in pieces, punish, and destroy all the guilty' nations; but there is little doubt that: both this and the former name, " he that dasheth in pieces," have a further and more significant reference to that great and mighty destroyer of the last days, the personal Antichrist, who i 3 to be revealed in his time, as Nebuchadnezzar was in his, as the last great head, and chief of the great world power, whu'h is to be finally destroyed and made subject to the power and judgment of God at and by the personal appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ, prior to the introduction of that Millennial blessedness for which the whole creation with us groans and travaileth in-pain together. "■' By the humiliation and destruction of these two great and ancient Mighty Monarchies the power of Babylon under its golden head, Nebuchadnezzar, was made- to assume the front and foremost rank among the nations of the earth, so that it may have been well said of him who was in his day'the head and: front of the world power, as Antichrist shall be in his, who is like unto this being ? - Who is able to mako war with him? Nor, indeed, was there any that was able to wage equal or successful war against ■him- The prophet Jeremiah ably and graphically describes, as we have already

said, the power and authority giveu unto

Nebuchadnezzar by God over all the na- % tions, and God's sentences against them, which, sentences were committed unto the carrying out of Nebuchadnezzar for the purpose of their chastisement, and correction, Nebuchadnezzar himself being particularly spoken of (Jeiv'xliiiylO') as the servant of God for this especial purpose. While, therefore, we remember this, and also remember the fatal effect upr.n Nebuchadnezzar himself of his exalted " position in bringing about his own humi-

liation and destruction, it behoves us to look with very deep interest and with the very'greatest carefulness into the more subtle mysteries of the Holy Word, for we shall assuredly find in those Scripture characters;and personages upon whom we are accustomed to-look with indignation and horror as being the very essence and personification of evil (such as Antichrist and Great Adversary of the human race, Satan himself); we shall, I say, assuredly find that the mystery of the permission of their existence at all is revealed and explained, and done away with altogether by a fuller understanding of the benevolent and beautiful, the grand and holy designs of the purposes of God towards the human race, aye, and to all the intelligences of his creation in the man Christ Jesus.

As indicated above, the achievements of Nebuchadnezzar were not by any means confined to the humiliation of Egypt and the destruction of old Ninevah. He seems to have been a complete Napoleon of antiquity. He overran.and subdued pretty nearly the whole of that quarter of the habitable globe (the Conti-nent-of Asia) in which he lived, and fully the whole habited earth of that day acknowledged and felt his influence. In this respect he presents another remarkable type of the future Antichrist, whose personal dominion will extend throughout a great part of the Continent of Europe and those distant portions of the world connected therewith, such as these colonies, and the pressure of whose influence will cause the whole world to shake.

.The treasures which were accumulated bVJPiebuchadnezzar during the course of liis long and prosperous career were most enormous. The plunder of the Temple of: Jerusalem, the gold and silver vessels of the House of God and the treasures of the King's house which Hezekiah too openheartedly displayed to the cupidity of the Babylonish ambassadors, formed but a small part, of the vast stock of treasures which rolled into his exchequer from the spoils of vanquished nations and the yearly.contributions of his tributaries. We are accustomed to the contemplation in these modern days of gold and silver, when counted eveu by its millions. But what must have been the illimitable wealth of a man who could erect without a sensible diminution of his spending ability an image of £ old -90 fret high, about 9 feet wide,, and containing at a moderate calculation'some 2000 tons of the precious metal which we seek for with so much labor in pennyweights and grains? Here again is another type and item of comparison betWeen this the first' and Antichrist the last great head of the age power of this world. It issaid'of Antichrist that "he shall have power, over the treasures of gold and silver," and it'may be worth while for us who measure bur wealth by a few head of cattle or a flock of sheep to reflect upon the enormous wealth which will.be held in the hand of such a being as this future terrific potentate of all the earch, when we consider that the present amount of it in the hands of one private family of the despised Jewish race is reckoned at 400 millions. JN'ot only to reflect upon the wealth alone, but also on the power at at his command. Our English sage once said, " is power," but had he liver} in tbesp clays.J Ihink he wouid have said, " Gold is power." There . will be pleuty of money in tho days presently at

hand for. .those who are prepared and willing to "worship the beast" and to receive his mark on their hands or on their foreheads. I warn you, then, that these terrible times are not far off, and the Caledonian and the Moanatairi and the Great Bonanza aye paving the way with gold for the approach of him whose pathway leads to hell. I warn you that v time of trouble is at hand, in which it will bo well for us, for you and me, if we have so far set our hearts on the fast approaching Kingdom of Goc?, to bo prepared to encounter poverty and reproach, trouble and persecution, and to willingly submit to the infliction of even death itself at the hciud of the enemies of God and Christ rather than yield up the principles of our Heavenly hope, God, Christ, and the Go3pel. ■ The above lecture finishes with a description of Babylon, but as most readers are foiniliar with that history it is unI necessary to reprint it here.