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 and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.” Now, as to the two first facts, there is an exact correspondence between history and prophecy. As was foretold, Persia succeeded Babylon, Greece Persia, and Rome Greece. The Roman power again has appeared under a two-fold form, first being united under the republic and the empire, and then breaking up into the kingdoms of modern Europe. The prophecy, therefore, by its two first facts, brings the history of the world’s kingdoms down to our own exact position, and at the same time it teaches, by the third, that there can be no further change before the advent. “In the days of these kings,” _i.e._ the European nations, “shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom,” _i.e._ the kingdom of the saints, of the Son of man in glory. With reference, therefore, to the political changes of the world, we are living under the last period of the last empire. There is to be no further shifting of the seat of power: strength and civilization will be found resting with Europe when the Son of man appears. * * * * * V. There is however one feature of society before the advent of which the same cannot be said; one class of prophecies which do not yet appear to have received their full accomplishment, _viz._ those which predict a _state of war and tribulation_.