The first prophecy, that of the seals, comprehends the fates of the empire: The other, that of the little book, the fates of the Church, or of the Christian Religion, until at length both shall coalesce in the reign of the Church triumphant, "when the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of the Lord and his Christ." For as Daniel in the Old Testament, according to the succession of empires, both presignified the coming of Christ, and explained in order the fates of the Jewish Church; so is the Apocalypse to be understood as measuring out the Christian system by the proceedings of the Roman empire, which was still remaining after Christ. Nor does the event contradict this supposition. The interpretation of the first prophecy thus proceeds upon this general hypothesis.