bear the Promised One. This notwithstanding the prophecy of Isaiah: "Behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a son." Another commentator holds that the desire of women is for husbands and children, and these were to fare harshly at the hands of the king.

Our own idea is that the real symbology of the words quoted is in none of these interpretations. As Swedenborg has shown, wisdom is a characteristic masculine principle, and love a characteristic feminine one. The desire of women therefore is that love shall rule the world, whereas the king was to rule by force. The statement in the same verse that the king shall not regard the god of his fathers, does not apply to Antiochus who endeavored to suppress the Jewish religion, and substitute for it the worship of his own gods.

The opening words of verse 40: "And at the time of the end," lend no little probability to the idea that the prophecy of Chapter xi, from at least verse 40, refers to a time far later than the death of Antiochus in 164 B. C. Evidently, if the prophetic period covered by the chapter elapsed long ago, a great gap in time exists between Chapters xi and xii.

CHAPTER XII

'HAPTER xii, 1: "And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for thy people, and there shall be a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation; and at that time thy people shall be delivered, everyone found written in the book. 2. And many of them that sleep in the dust shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt."

No other verses in the entire Bible have been more misunderstood, and even by those Jews who, led by Judas Maccabæus, were incited to deeds of valor by the belief that Michael would shortly stand up and bring everlasting deliverance. Now who is Michael? Surely not the Christ, but one of the seven archangels mentioned in Revelation. As chiefest of the sephirothal archangels, he rules the solar sphere. Now this Michael, the warrior prince, stands up at the beginning of every two thousand years or more; in other words, the sun at that time is to enter a new sign. Translated, the symbology of verse 1 of Chapter xii, means that when the sun is very near Aquarius, there shall be a world war, after which the worthy among the Israelites shall be restored to their native land.

Concerning the book in which is written the names of the Jews to be delivered, or in fact

restored, many believe it to be the Judgment Book, sealed until the last day. Our explanation is this: The book is that radiant aura which surrounds every being. On its pages, so to speak, are written his every good and evil thought and deed. It is the book of life mentioned in Revelation xx, 12. For Belshazzar, the book contained the fatal handwriting. At the time of the restoration of the Jewish nation, only those will return in whose individual books are found that which permits or even requires them to do so.

In Matthew xxvii, 51-2, it is written: "The vail of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom." ****** "And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose." These words have a hidden meaning which has naught to do with the doctrine of the sleep of the dead. The rending of the temple vail symbolized the temporary rending of the vail between the material and the spiritual worlds, and the beings therefore visible, then appeared as if newly-risen from their graves.

The words in Daniel xii, 2, "And many of them that slept in the dust of the earth shall awake,' refer to the perhaps permanent rending of the vail at the end of the age. Since the beginning of the twentieth century, the vail between the two worlds has been growing thinner, and, like a wornout garment, eventually it will fall in pieces. Then many who, according to the crude old Jewish belief,

were sleeping until the resurrection, will be seen as if newly-risen from the grave. The words "some to shame and some to everlasting contempt," refer to the Aquarian judgment begun in 1900, and to culminate much before the middle of the century.

That the book mentioned in verse 4 of the chapter, was to be sealed until the time of the end, means that it shall not be made wholly clear until then.

In regard to such sayings as, "Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased," what saith the prophet? "And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord."

As in Amos, so also in Daniel; the running to and fro refers to the Jewish people. For nineteen centuries they have been scattered throughout the earth. Considering the great number of men, eminent in every activity of life, that the Jewish race has produced during these centuries, it is plain that the knowledge of this people has been increased to the extent that eventually they will take a place of dignity among the nations.

In verses 5-6 it is said that Daniel looked: "and behold there stood other two, the one on this side of the brink of the river and the other on that side of the brink of the river. And one said to the man, clothed in linen, who was above the waters

of the river, How long shall it be to the end of these wonders?"

No doubt the man above the river was about midway from each brink. Therefore, a line drawn from him to the men on the sides would form an equilateral triangle. Such a triangle here signifies a trinity of beings, or powers. On the Mount a like triangle no doubt was formed with Jesus at the apex, and Moses and Elias at the sides. There Jesus' raiment became white as snow, like that of the man clothed in linen, standing above the river. The point of especial interest here is that the enlightener of Daniel was the God of Heaven, of whom Gabriel was the mouthpiece, and that He is identified with the enlightener of Peter, James, and John, to whom came the words: "This is my beloved Son; hear him."

Many interpreters of the time, times, and a half mentioned in verse 7, would identify them with the time, and times, and half a time, of Revelation xii, 14, and also with the one thousand two hundred and sixty days or years of Revelation xi, 3. Certain sectarian bigots identify the period in Daniel with the years 538 A. D. and 1798 A. D., which they claim marked the rise and fall of the Papal power. Our own interpretation of the period will be given in the proper place.

In purport, the prophecy of verse 10 is nearly parallel with the words of Revelation xxii, 11: "He that is unjust, let him be unjust still, and he