soul, swayed every affection and brightened every thought; all was peace in the paradise that God Himself had planted. This was the head of GOLD—the golden image of the ancients, pointed at in Scripture by man's state of innocence when in Eden, the garden of God. From this, man fell by disobedience, when he listened to the serpentine reasonings of his own sensual mind. His love then became cool; his wisdom dim; he lost his celestial love and wisdom; and thence to him the paradise of God faded away! all was lost in one universal flood of error and ruin. To this first state, succeeded, in a downward direction, a second dispensation of truth given to Noah and his posterity. In this, love no longer ruled as primary, but TRUTH taught by precept. This was the breast and arms of SILVER, denoting that love to each other was to lead upward to the highest love of God. This church, in process of time, became corrupted by idolatrous worship, and was succecded, still going downward, by a third called the Jewish. This was denoted by the belly and thighs of brass; for a mere natural or worldly GOOD signified by BRASS, was then prominent. This church, to which was given the written word by Moses and the prophets, soon corrupted itself by tradition and outward ceremonies, and its end is shewn by the feet of the image being part of iron and clay. The Jewish Church was at the Lord's coming in the flesh, succeeded by the Christian, which, beginning its operations in the lowest state of human degradation—in the iron and clay feet of the image, with the seed of man, or the truths sown by the Lord Jesus and contained in His word, would not mingle, was soon after the death of the apostles,
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