sanctified and blessed, set in part for man to keep holy, as a sign between him and his people to a thousand generations. The mingling of churchcraft and statecraft is represented by the iron and clay. The union is weakening all the power of the churches. This investing the church with the power of the state will bring evil results. Men have almost passed the point of God's forbearance. They have invested their strength in politics and have united with the papacy, but the time will come when God will punish those that have made void his law and their evil work will recoil upon themselves. 7th Adventist Bible Commentary, Volume 4, page 1169. Mingling of churchcraft and statecraft is the iron and clay of Daniel's, Daniel 2, Nebuchadnezzar's dream, Nebuchadnezzar's image. Clay is the vessel of God's people, the vessels of clay that can be filled with the glory of God. They may choose not to, but clay, Jeremiah teaches us, we are clay in the hands of the potter, if we are willing to be worked, and this clay, if you take this theme through the Bible, represents the worshipers of God, and iron in the Bible, if you run that through, is connected with Rome, and Rome is the world empire that brought us government. The four kingdoms of Bible prophecy each have their own contribution to the overall culture of the world, and what Rome brought the world was government, and the combination of iron and clay, you can demonstrate from the Bible, is a combination of church and state, and Sister White says, we've come to that time, and in Testimonies, Volume 7, page 182, she says this, as we approach the last crisis, it is a vital moment that harmony and unity exist among the Lord's instrumentalities. The world is filled with storm and war and variance, yet under one head, the papal power, the people will unite to oppose God in the person of his witnesses. The union is cemented by the great apostate, while he seeks to unite his agents in warring against the truth, he will work to divide and scatter its advocates. Jealousy, evil-surmising, evil-speaking are instigated by him to produce discord and dissension. The members of Christ's church have the power to thwart the purpose of the adversary of souls. At such a time as this, let them not be found at variance with one another, or with any of the Lord's workers. Amidst the general discord, let there be one place where harmony and unity exist, because the Bible has made the guide of life. Let the people of God feel that a responsibility rests upon them to build up his instrumentalities.