IN THE LIGHT OF Bible Prophecy World's Crisis Series CIRRENT \ UMBERS World Peace in the I>,i'i!^1<>:^ -' ""'"'— ^'"^--' ; ©International Film Service, Inc., N. Y. Surrender of German Submarines IILstoric City of Sedan, Scene of the French Surrender, 1870 Captured by American Troops. 1918 © Commiciee on Public Information. Photo from Western Newspaper Union American Army of Occupation on the March to the Rhine 10 © U. & U., N. Y. GERMAN FORTRESS ON THE RHINE OCCUPIED BY AMEKHAN TR0(M'S Capacity, 100,000 Men. 11 The World Outlook 13 account the devastated land area of Belgium and north- ern France, blood-soaked and disfigured by shot and shell and trench, so that it will take years to bring it back to its original high state of cultivation. There must be considered also the broken family ties and thou- sands of orphaned children and widowed wives; the ruined cities and devastated palaces and treasures of art and rare architecture which no reparation or in- demnities can reproduce. It would seem that the most wanton lust for blood would find satisfaction, and even satiety, in the horrible orgies of unbridled license and cruel savagery practised upon the helpless Armenians and others who have suffered torture, outrage, and mas- sacre by their enemies. Who can measure the depth of human anguish and woe which the last four years of strife have brought to the nations of men? Only the records of heaven and the judgment of the last great day can reveal all its horror. The T'wilight Zone Between Two Civilizations Peace came at last. It was virtually a war of attri- tion, at least to several of the nations engaged, and it will take long years for little Belgium, which stood the first onslaught of the contest, and for heroic France, which was bled well-nigh white in her brave defense of her homes and firesides, to recover. Indeed, Europe even as a whole can never recover what has been lost. The Europe of four years ago has passed away. We live today in the twilight zone between past and future civilizations. The past is history, the future is unknown, except in so far as God has been pleased to reveal it to us in His prophetic Word. It is with commingled feelings of hope, perplexity, and dread that men of all nations look into the future and contemplate its possibilities. If from the terrible conflict of the last four years, the world has emerged 14 World Peace into a higher life, into a more enlightened civilization ; if the nations of men have learned that might does not make right, that kings have no divine right to rule, that class distinctions do not exist in God's great order, that civilized nations should adjust their differences by arbi- tration, counsel, and adjudication, the same as civilized individuals, — if, indeed, these lessons have been learned, then the great baptism of blood through which the na- tions have passed will not have been altogether in vain. But have these lessons been learned? And will these hopes which fill the hearts of many in every nation be realized? What does the future hold in store for the world? Has war, as suggested by a newspaper writer, "committed suicide"? Will stable peace ensue as a re- sult of the negotiations at the peace table? And if in- ternational peace can be secured and maintained, will the several nations be able to preserve domestic tran- quillity? Some of the Problems of Peace These are certainly pertinent questions for the states- men of every country to consider. It is safe to say that the chancelleries of Europe face problems more difficult and trying than they have ever faced before. There must be settled, not alone the questions of indemnities to be assessed to the Central Powers, not alone the ques- tion of the status of the Turkish Empire, which for long centuries has been the bone of contention among the nations of Europe, but the territorial status of all the other nationalities which are demanding separate ex- istence and autonomy in government. There is also the question of the Jewish state in Palestine, to the estab- lishment of which the British ministry has committed itself. Added to the great international problems, there are, as before intimated, grave questions of domestic concern. The World Outlook 15 Indirectly, the conflict of the ages between capital and labor will be intensified in coming days. During the war these questions were in a measure held in abeyance. But in the effort by each country to re-establish favor- able commercial and economic conditions on the seven seas, national competition will inevitably ensue, and the spirit of rivalry cannot help but be carried into every domestic and foreign relationship. There will still be the same struggle for existence on the part of the laboring man, the same combinations of trade on the part of capital, the same competition between the great commercial nations. In society we see powerful disintegrating elements at Work. The Bolshevist theory of government, so-called, is finding sympathizers and advocates in every land. The danger attending the spread of this mischievous philosophy, judging from the influence it has exerted in the great Russian Empire, is one which must be guarded against by every civilized government. Whereunto will this movement grow? What will the future of civiliza- tion prove to be? How will these and other after- war problems be solved? We are not left wholly in ignorance regarding the final outcome of these important issues. God holds a checkrein on the nations. His hand shapes and molds the destinies of mankind. In His Holy Book His purposes are plainly delineated. Through His inspired penmen He has revealed the meaning of many of the important phenomena which are taking place in the great world today. It is to a discussion of these prob- lems as related to prophetic interpretation that the attention of the reader is invited in the pages of this book. Photo, U. & U., N. Y. Bread Line in Petrograd " Injustice and Hunger are the Parents of Bolshevism ' THE BOLSHEVIST GERM The Spread of Bolshevism Among the problems confronting- the world at the present moment, the one attracting the most attention and exciting the deepest apprehension, is the develop- ment of Bolshevism, a movement so violent as to threaten to destroy modern civilization itself. Securing its initial foothold in Russia, where 180,- 000,000 liberty-loving people, after centuries of oppres- sion, are struggling toward freedom, Bolshevism has spread from one nation to another until it is felt and feared the world over. What is Bolshevism? What is its origin? Who are its leaders? What is its aim or philosophy? Is it akin to Socialism or Anarchism, or what? What Bolshevism is Not Bolshevism is hard to define. Even its promoters are not clear in their definitions. It is easier, perhaps, to say what it is not. 2 17 18 World Peace 1. Bolshevism is not democratic, and does not pro- pose the establishment of a genuine democracy, or gov- ernment of the people. As remarked by the Wo7id's Work, January, 1919, " the true inwardness of Bolshev- ism is understood only when its attitude toward the Constitutional Assembly is completely comprehended." That attitude will be better understood when it is stated that when, after the overthrow of the czar, such an assembly was elected by free vote of the whole Russian people, the Bolsheviki dispersed it by machine-gun fire, when it was found that a majority of the members were opposed to Bolshevism, and were in favor of establish- ing a genuine democracy in which all classes should be fairly represented and in which all, without distinction, should have a voice. 2. Bolshevism is not a practical, constructive, social, industrial, or political philosophy. It is not identical with any other system of philosophy, though closely akin to several, and is apparently a by-product of several, such as State Socialism, Radical Socialism, Syndicalism, and the theories of the Industrial Workers of the World. 3. Bolshevism is not identical with Socialism, as generally understood, not only because it lacks the prin- cipal constructive features of Socialism, but for the further reason that it excludes from participation in government all except the working class. When one speaks of Socialism in this day of the practical rather than the theoretical, he probably refers primarily to (a) state ownership of public utilities; (b) state own- ership of industries; and (c) the gradual appropria- tion by the state of accumulated wealth in the form of manufactures and other business. It is not urged by State Socialists that such a revolution be effected by disorderly methods or violence, but by legislation. They advocate, also, that business interests, when turned over The Bolshevist Germ 19 to the state, shall be placed only in the hands of trained and educated managers, men of merit and of ability. 4. Bolshevism is not even Radical Socialism, because it is nonconstructive. It is, however, very similar. The radical, or revolutionary. Socialists advocate much the same social and industrial doctrines as the conservative, or State, Socialists; but they would bring about the change " by an actual, physical revolution of the old gunpowder kind." This is like Bolshevism in so far as the violent methods of effecting revolution are con- cerned; but even the revolutionary Socialists would pre- serve general as well as local governments, and would attempt to place business in the hands of able men only. 5. Bolshevism is not Syndicalism, precisely, though very similar. The Syndicalist " wants all the industries to be seized out of hand, not by the government, but by the individual workmen that happen to be working there. Seizure by individuals, by violence, if need be, and the elimination of all men of special training or ability, is the pith of it." This is the present method of Bolshev- ism, which is merely " czarism in overalls." 6. Bolshevism is not a disease, though highly conta- gious. It is rather a symptom of the diseased condition of human society — a sore which has broken out on the body politic, revealing the passions that are always smoldering beneath the surface of human society. 7. Bolshevism is not, as some imagine, a new thing. As remarked by the World*s Work for January, .1919, page 321, " it has been part of the speech of the Russian Empire for fifteen years." " It had its beginnings in 1898, when a certain segment of the revolutionary forces in Russia split off and organized the Social Democratic party." Five years later this party split into two fac- tions, one known as the " Menshiviki,",or the minority; and the other the " Bolsheviki," or the majority. As (c) Committee on Public Inlormation. From Inter, t ilni ijervice, N. Y. Mrs. Wm. K. Vanderbilt and Her Assistants in Red Cross Work in Franc* (c) Western Newspaper Union Red Cross Nurses Back from the Battle Front 22 The Bolshevist Germ 23 defined by some, " Bolsheviki " has now come to mean the working people, since under Bolshevism only the proletariat (laboring class) can have any voice in the government. After the beginning of the Great War, Germany, by means of a secret propaganda, stirred up and financed a revival of the Bolshevist idea, or in other words, of the extreme revolutionary movement in Russia, this, of course, for the purpose of rendering the nation impo- tent as a military power. Bolshevism in Russia Bolshevism as it is, may perhaps be best understood by the woiking out of its principles in Russia, the only great nation where the advocates of these ideas have as yet secured control. In the World's Work, October, 1918, page 623, we find this description of the work of the Bolsheviki in Russia: " They took over the banks, munition works, the railroads, and some municipal plants for the government. At any rate, the com- missaries put in charge were supposed to represent the govern- ment. This was done at the point of the bayonet. In these actions they might fairly be said to be making an effort to ex- periment in Revolutionary Socialism. But even the most radical Revolutionary Socialist would heatedly deny that they had given his proposition a fair chance. For they neglected the one final requirement — that the positions be scrupulously given to the ablest men. They were given without a single exception to the most ignorant and unskilled — office boys, peasants, soldiers. A large railroad system is now headed by a conductor. " But in innumerable other instances the stores, factories, and farms were handed directly over to the laborers or the neighbor- ing peasants by direct order from Smolny [the Bolshevik head- quarters in Russia]. This also, of course, was accomplished by violence or threat of violence. That is Syndicalism. It is exactly the doctrines of the I. W. W. That is, it is what they have preached, but are now inclined to deny. It is I. W. W. or worse. " They have abolished all police, all courts, all firemen, all street cleaning. " This is a part of the doctrine of anarchy. It may be a neces- sary by-product of Syndicalism. It has no place in the program of any Socialist or labor party. 24 World Peace " All businesses, public and private, as well as regular govern- mental activities, are conducted by individuals with no previous training or experience. And it is a fact so well known — the universal experience — that it needs no elaboration, that every transaction, legitimate or otherwise, can only be consummated by personally bribing the official in charge." The Bolshevik standard of education is expressed in the words of their Russian leader to an American con- sul : " All the education any statesman needs is the three R's (reading, writing, and arithmetic)." Bolshevism and German Propaganda From both its history and its principles, it appears that Bolshevism owes its present development to Ger- man Radical Socialism. Previous to the time of the Russian Revolution of 1917, Bolshevism had not as- sumed menacing proportions, only about three per cent of the population of the country, or less than six mil- lion people, having joined this radical party. It is said that " the parents of Bolshevism are Injus- tice and Hunger." Russia was familiar with both. In 1917 the Russian people rebelled against the injustice of czarism, and overturned the government. War con- ditions, made more acute by revolution, brought mil- lions to the verge of starvation. The German government, pressed on all sides by her many foes, was quick to perceive that her gi-eat enemy on the east might be eliminated from the conflict if the germ of Bolshevism could be scattered through the ranks of the restless, war-weary armies of Russia, and among the poorer classes of the country. The German Great General Staff, therefore, sent hundreds of skilled agitators through the Russian lines, with instruction to spread wherever possible this revolutionary propaganda. The German staff had made no mistake; the psycho- logical moment had come; the result was like a flame in a parched forest. The armies melted away, law and The Bolshevist Germ 25 order soon disappeared, and the wildest of all wild rev- olutions known in the history of man was in full swing. From that time until the signing of the armistice, at least, the Russian Revolution was directed by the Ger- man Great General Staff, and was financed by the Ger- man Imperial Bank. When accused of supporting their movement in Rus- sia by German money, the Bolshevik leaders replied: " We make a Russian revolution on German money. Then we will make a German revolution on Russian money." In other words, the German Imperial Government kindled a fire for the destruction of her enemy, and through spies and other hired agents directed the work of ruin. And there was fuel in plenty in Russia. Op- pression, poverty, war-weariness, hunger, — all helped to fan the flames of revolution and rebellion against czarism. But now the wind has changed. The fortunes of war have turned, and the back fires of the conflagration are fanned into flames that threaten the destruction of the very nations which started the fire, as a war measure. Bolshevism and the Industrial Workers of the World We must not conclude that the spirit of Bolshevism is altogether a product of the Old World, nor wholly a reactionary outgrowth from an autocratic past. In one form or another this doctrine is being preached in all the world, and its red flag is being unfurled to repre- sent the common motives of many forms and shades of radical socialist propaganda. Nor should we imagine that the Bolshevist mov.e- ment is simply a weapon of war used at an opportune moment by the Imperial German Government to ac- complish the demoralization of Russia. The Bolshevist germ of lawlessness is always with us, working in all lands in times of peace as well as in times of war. <& iviedeni Photo Service Infantry Boardinfr a Transport © Western Newspaper Union American Boys Returning Home by the " Lapland ' 2^ © Western Newspaper Union Down the Gang Plank in New York © Western Newspaper Union Colored Band and Infantry Landing from the " Celtic " 27 © U. & U., N. Y. Demobilization © U. & U., N. Y. Turning in Equipment © Western Nc\vs.paijcr Union Crossing the Ferry, New York Harbor ©U. & U-, N. Y, Mustered Out 29 30 World Peace The United States, with its free institutions and prosperous people, is not a fruitful soil for the growth of such revolutionary ideas; but even here, in the large cities and in mining districts, this spirit of lawlessness has taken concrete form in the organization of revolu- tionary societies. The activities of the I. W. W., the most radical and aggressive form of lawlessness in this country, are almost identical with those of the Bolshe- vist movement in Russia. The BolshevikI and the I. W. W. in the United States The character of the propaganda of the I. W. W. and the BolshevikI is indicated in the following quota- tion from an editorial in the World's Work, October, 1918, page 582: " Certain sentiments of the I. W. W. seem to strike root in Prussian morals. The I. W. W. leaders have declared that, ' if it makes an agreement, it does so solely to repudiate it at will.' Compare this with the familiar statement of Frederick the Great that ' — a ruler ... is obliged to sacrifice treaty engagements, the continuance of which would be harmful to his country; for ... if a sovereign remember he is a Christian, he is lost.' " The avowed purposes of the I. W. W. and the Bol- shevikI are nearly if not wholly identical, nor are their methods greatly different, under similar conditions. Both of them demand the overthrow of all government as now constituted, and the control of all industry by the class directly engaged in it. Of necessity, in many cases, if not invariably, this class consists solely of la- borers skilled only in their particular line of handicraft, and of anarchists wholly unskilled in the science of sta- ble civil government. What, then, is Bolshevism? Briefly it is civil gov- ernment run amuck. It is the ship of state in the hands of pirates, with violence on deck, ignorance at the helm, and the sails fillsd with every wind of human passion. The Bolshevist Germ 31 Seeking an Ideal by Human Means In presenting these facts, we would not impugn the motives of the men who make up the rank and file of Socialists, nor even of other more radical kindred organ- izations. These men doubtless see the faults of their fellow creatures, and the failure of civil government to meet fully the needs of mankind. They see oppres- sion and greed trampling upon the rights of the weak.; the rich growing richer, and the poor growing poorer; and governments too often being run in the interests of the money power, with few to stand for the cause of the needy. There is doubtless in the hearts of many of these would-be reformers a sincere desire to better the living conditions of humanity. And it must be admitted, also, that the efforts of these liberal movements may in some cases improve living conditions temporarily. But with human nature unchanged, with selfishness still in the human heart, there can be no permanent betterment. Indeed, the reformer of today may become the tyrant and oppressor of tomorrow, whose rule must be broken by another revolution. In short, man cannot save him- self from even the temporal conditions incident to the presence of sin, — sin in the individual human heart as well as in the world. In the last analysis, therefore, the Lord Jesus Christ is the only hope of the race. A form of government may be improved, but human nature without Christ re- mains the same. Wherever men go, whatever human philosophies they may teach, whatever form of govern- ment they may establish, the crushing evils and suffer- ings of an unsaved race are much the same. Some glad day the good for which men long in this life, will come ; the King of kings will begin His everlasting reign; and the hearts of men will be satisfied. But until that day comes, the highest ideals of men will not be reached. 32 World Peace An Uprising Against Civil Government The Bolshevist movement is rapidly growing into a world-wide uprising against civil government, as that term is generally understood. " The overthrow of all constitutional government " is the first item on the program, followed by the confiscation of all business and property, and the ruin, if not the utter extermination, of the educated, the wealthy, and the middle classes. The remnants of the people left by the revolution are then to be organized into small groups, each group to have supreme power of self-government. Thus it is practically proposed to reduce the blessing of liberty and self-government to license without law, to overthrow the world's commerce and society, and to turn men back to primitive barbarism. Indeed, the Bolshevist idea has about the same con- ception of society and government as that held many centuries ago by the barbarian Teutons and Saxons, who organized themselves into small companies, each building a stockade and establishing a " tun," — an idea from which the modern English town developed. But that is going a long w^ay back for an ideal on which to base a reorganization of modern business and social life. In all revolutionary movements in which men seek greater freedom of government there is danger of taking extreme positions which, if carried out, would bring far worse conditions than those it is sought to remedy. Even the church of Christ is not free from this dan- ger. When men enter into the blessed liberty of the gospel, there is danger that a spirit of lawlessness will be mistaken for the true liberty offered to the followers of Christ. It was doubtless because of the dangers from this natural tendency that Jesus and His apostles were led to include in their teaching some very definite in- struction and admonitions with respect to the relation of the church to civil government. The Bolshevist Gei^m SS The Teachings of Christ Concerning Civil Authority Even when the Jews were oppressed by a cruel and hated invader, Jesus taught loyalty to the existing gov- ernment, as is illustrated by the following incident: " Then went the Pharisees, and took counsel how they might entangle Him in His talk. And they sent out unto Him their dis- ciples with the Herodians, saying. Master, we know that Thou art true, and teachest the way of God in truth, neither carest Thou for any man: for Thou regardest not the person of men. Tell us therefore. What thinkest Thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not? But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said. Why tempt ye Me, ye hypocrites? Show Me the tribute money. And they brought unto Him a penny. And He saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription? They say unto Him,' Caesar's. Then saith He unto them. Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's. When they had heard these words, they marveled, and left Him, and went their way." Matt. 22: 15-22, The Testimony of the Apostle Paul In his letter to the Romans, referring to the attitude of the Christian toward civil authority, the apostle Paul gave this instruction : " Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damna- tion. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same: for he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. Where- fore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience' sake. For for this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God's ministers, attending continually upon this very thing. Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor." Rom. 13: 1-7. Lawlessness a Sign of the Last Days Not only do the Scriptures admonish believers to obey civil governments, but they also point to this spirit 3 34 World Peace of lawlessness which we now see blazing" up in all na- tions of the earth, as a sign of the last days. Nineteen centuries ago the apostle Paul wrote, " In the last days perilous times shall come." 2 Tim. 3: 1. And Peter also testified, " There shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts." 2 Peter 3 : 3. Jesus, also, in His great prophecy recorded in the twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew, said : " As the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be." Verse 37. In the book of Genesis we find a de- scription of social conditions at that time, to which the present times are compared. The record says: " God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the Lord that He had made man on the earth, and it grieved Him at His heart. And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth Me that I have made them." " The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt: for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth." Gen. 6: 5-7, 11, 12. Because of this corruption, the Lord destroyed the earth by a flood ; and finally, because of the wickedness of men in the last days, God will destroy the earth a second time, by fire, cleansing it from all impurity and establishing a new heaven and a new earth. 2 Peter 3:5-7, 11-13. Continuing His description of the last days, the Sa- viour said : " There shall be . . . upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are com- ing on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken." Luke 21: 25, 26. This is an exact picture of the conditions as they exist in the world today. Through greed of gain, trou- The Bolshevist Germ 35 ble between capital and labor, licentiousness, Increasing violence, lawlessness, revolution, and international com- plications, the nations are perplexed and men's hearts are failing them for fear as they look into the future. But to His people the Lord gives these assurances: " When these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh." Luke 21: 28. " Now learn a parable of the fig tree: When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: so likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors." Matt. 24: 32, 33. In the record by Luke he says, " So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand." Luke 21: 31. We need make no extended comment on what Christ and His apostles meant by these prophecies. Looking down the stream of time, they saw conditions as they would exist in the world just before the second advent, and in these stirring words gave a forecast of coming events so that no one might be in darkness, and that day come upon him as a thief. (c; Committee on Public Information. From U. & LJ., N. Y. Bolshevik Prisoners, Captured by American Troops Near Archangel © u. & u.. N. y. HALL OF MIRRORS IN THE HISTORIC PALACE OF VERSAILLES Where the World Peace Treaty of 1919 WUI Doubtless be Signed Photo. U. & v., N. Y. Tlie Peace Palace at The Hague A LEAGUE OF NATIONS Because of the great problems confronting the world, there is " distress of nations, with perplexity." On the one hand Bolshevism lifts its hideous head, seeking- to poison the very springs of national life; while on the other hand stalks the fierce specter of international war. For these evils and their terrible consequences men everywhere are feverishly seeking a remedy, yea, more, a secure refuge. Many believe this can be found only in a league of nations to conserve civilization by per- manently abolishing and forever preventing war. A world without war ! The nations of earth working together in a spirit of mutual helpfulness for the world's civilization and advancement ! It is a state desired by the great majority of earth's inhabitants. From every quarter of this war-scarred world there echoes the cry, " Give us permanent peace ! " Is this condition of af- fairs possible of realization? 37 (c) U. & U., N. V 38 PRESIDENT WILSON THE EMBODIMENT OF AMERICAN IDEALISM © Harris & Ewing Secretary Lansing © Henry H. Pierce, Boston, Mass. From Clinedinst Colonel House © Clinedinst, Wash., D. C. Henry White AMERICAN MEMBERS OF THE PEACE COMMISSION © Clinedinst, Wash., D. C. General Bliss 39 ■■■ n ■ ^^H ^^R'l^^'^^H H K # ■"*%, ■•*'\ ^ i H ka gl ^^E 1 2: Si ea • '-^* m \ ' ^^^ -^1 ' \ 1^ 1 k 1 I ■ \k ':%■ mA Phcto, American Ked Cross Orphans of France 58 THE GREAT IMAGE OF DANIEL TWO A Prophetic Outline of World Empires -^unial i:!ti;rpreting- Nebuchadnezzar's Dreani THE NATIONS FULFILLING PROPHECY The path which leads to " world power or downfall " has been followed by many a nation, and in the majority of cases has led to downfall rather than to power. Since history began, various nations have felt them- selves called upon — some out of sheer ambition to rule, and others because of a belief that Heaven appointed them to lead and reform the world — to extend their authority over all other nations and establish a world empire. Struggles for World Empire Perhaps the first attempt of this kind was that of Assyria, and it was persisted in until that nation per- ished in the smoke and flame of its wicked capital, Nineveh. Babylon took it up, and, under Nebuchad- nezzar, brought the world as it was known at that time, under her dominion. Persia followed, overthrowing and seizing the power of Babylon, and maintained it until the arrogant hopes of that empire were swallowed up 59 © U. & U., N. Y. The Former Kaiser of Germany Abdicated Nov. 9, 1918 © u. & u., N. y. Th*" Former Czar ot Russia Abdicated March 14. 1917 Photo V. & v.. N. Y. The Former Emperor of Austria Abdicated Nov. 12, 19iS Photo TT. & IT., N. Y The Former King of Greece Abdicated June 12. X918 60 THE CRASH OF AUTOCRACY ©U. & U., N. Y. Residence at Spa, Iielg:iuni. Where the Kaiser Signed His Abdication © Inter. News Se: Great Retreat of the German Annies 61 Photo, U. & U.. N. Y. King George of England © U. & U., N. Y. King Albert of Belgium Photo, U. & U.. N. Y. Photo, U. & U., N. Y. King Victor Emmanuel of Italy King Peter of Serbia PEMOCRATIC KINGS BELOVED BY THEIR PEOPLE G3 GC&MAMY GERMANY Vienna A U S T R I A /■ HUNGARY /SERBO-/ •CRQAIIA\ From New York Times Current History Map of the New Czecho-Slovak Republic (tentative) © Committee on Public Information. From W. Newspaper Union The New Polish Army 65 66 World Peace with its ships at Salamis. Then Greece came into power, and was shortly followed by Rome, which achieved a greater success in world dominion, and held it for a longer time, than any other. Through the centuries since the downfall of Rome, many have tried to unite the broken pieces of the once great empire. To win all the earth for the one God whose prophet they claimed was Mohammed, the Arabs went forth in the early years of the Middle Ages. Charles Martel's Franks stopped them with an iron wall of lances at Tours. Charlemagne aspired to weld again into one great empire the divided dominions of old Rome, but without success. Then the Spaniards, under Philip II, conceived the same great ambition, but their hope was blasted by William the Silent, Queen Elizabeth, and Henry of Navarre. On two separate occasions France has been gripped by this insatiate hunger for unlimited power, the defeat of both of which required alliance of practically all Europe. It took at least four great wars and all of Europe to prevent Louis XIV from ruling the world; and it required an even greater effort to keep Napoleon from founding an empire vaster than that of the Caesars. The Wreckage of World Ambitions We have just witnessed the utter failure of the most recent attempt to obtain the mastery of the world. Vexed by this malignant demon of world power, Ger- many, in 1914, started upon a course which has brought misery and want and woe to tens of millions of human beings. But Germany's ambitious design of bringing the world under its dominion has now been utterly over- thrown, as those who study the ancient prophecies of the Bible knew it would be. Today Babylon, its palaces of pleasure once tenanted with beauty, lies in eternal silence under the shifting The Natiofis Fulfilling Prophecy 67 sands of the desert; Tyre and Sidon, once the market places of the world, but now in ruins, are places for the spreading of nets in the midst of the sea; Old Egypt, its ancient glories now but sculptured memories, is in strangers' hands ; the vacant shrines of Greece have moldered into dust; and Rome, that far-flung empire of old, smothered under its own luxury and licentious- ness, fell an easy prey to the hardy barbarians of the North. Thus for thousands of years have nations arisen, lived out their little day of triumph and glory, and gone into silence. Their names have become synonyms for lust, cruelty, and idolatry, as well as for pride and power. Their ancient opulence is but a dream; their proudest monuments of imperial greatness are vast ruins, desolate palaces, and broken sculptures; their grandeur has departed. The laws which they imposed on the world are buried in the dust of ages, with none to yield them obedience. Their cities, with all their pageantry and glory, have crumbled to dust, and all that made up their power has been swallowed by the cavernous years. How long is this world-old rise and fall of nations to continue? How long will generations of men con- tinue to be born, linger awhile, and die? How long is this strange and curious game of birth and death to go on? Is an ultimate nation, founded on justice, un- conquerable, eternal in its duration, ever to rule the earth ? World History Outlined in Bible Prophecy An answer to these questions is given in the Book of God, and the coming of that ultimate nation founded on righteousness, which is to rule over all the earth, is clearly set forth in the Scriptures of Truth. In the days of the world's first universal empire, the God of 68 World Peace heaven caused to pass before the mind of its king, the mighty Nebuchadnezzar, in the form of a dream, a de- scription covering the entire course of this world's his- tory from that time to the very end of the world. Twenty-five hundred years of history were unfolded in one night, as recorded in the prophecy contained in the second chapter of Daniel. Nebuchadnezzar's Dream Daniel, the young Hebrew prophet who explained to the king the meaning of this dream, described its de- tails as follows: " Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible. This image's head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, his legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay." Verses 31-33. After seeing this image the king continued to study it until he beheld its destruction: " A stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the sum- mer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth." Verses 34, 35. Babylon Having thus described the appearance of the image and its destruction, Daniel gave to the king the inter- pretation of it, which he received from heaven. He said: " Thou art this head of gold." Verse 38. Thus it is plain that Babylon, that great kingdom which ruled over the then-known world, is in this image represented by the head of gold. Babylon, however, was not, as Nebuchadnezzar fondly hoped, to remain forever. It was to be overthrown. The Nations Fulfilling Prophecy 69 Medo-Persia " After thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee." Verse 3 9. In fulfilment of this prediction, the Medes and Per- sians overthrew Babylon on the night of the great feast which Belshazzar, Nebuchadnezzar's grandson, had made to a thousand of his lords. On that night, years after the dream of the image had been interpreted by Daniel, the prophet, now an old man, was again called on and requested to interpret the mysterious handwriting on the wall. A part of his interpretation was this: " Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Per- sians." Dan. 5: 28. Then the record continues : " In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain. And Darius the Median took the kingdom, being about three- score and two years old." Dan. 5: 30, 31. The breast and arms of silver of the great image were the symbol of the empire of Medo-Persia, which succeeded Babylon. Greece The course of history does not stop with Medo-Persia, for there was to arise — " another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth." Verse 3 9. This third kingdom, which overthrew Medo-Persia, represented by the thighs of brass in the image, was Greece, under Alexander the Great. Rome " The fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise." Verse 40. The great " iron monarchy of Rome," which suc- ceeded Greece in the empire of the world, is the power represented by " the legs of iron ; " and as iron that 70 World Peace " subdueth all things," so Rome crushed the world and trampled it underfoot. She stole the liberties of the world. She despised God. She worshiped all gods save the true one. It was one of her governors, Pontius Pilate, who gave the sentence to crucify the Just One. Rome Divided into Ten Kingdoms But Rome, too, was to fall. " Whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters' clay, and part of iron, the kingdom [Rome] shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay. And as the toes of the feet were part of iron and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken [weak]." Verses 41, 42. In the seventh chapter of Daniel is recorded a vision seen by the prophet covering the same four empires as the image. In this chapter they are represented by wild beasts, — Babylon by a lion, Medo-Persia by a bear, Greece by a leopard, and Rome by a great and terrible beast. On the head of this latter beast were ten horns, which are explained to represent ten kingdoms. In fulfilment of these prophecies. Western Rome was, between the years 351 and 476, divided into ten king- doms. And from that time until now this tenfold divi- sion has persistently dominated the history of the terri- tory of Western Rome. Changes, it is true, there have been, resulting from war and from the more or less temporary alliances, foretold in the prophecy of the image; but through all the changes of the centuries, this tenfold division has persisted, even to the present time. Not to be United Again And then the prophet sets forth the most remarkable part of his prediction : " Whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay." Dan. 2: 43. The Nations Fulfilling Pro^^hecy 71 From this passage it is plain that after the division of Western Rome into ten kingdoms, attempts were to be made to unite these kingdoms once more into one great empire. This was to be attempted not only by war but by intermarriage of the reigning houses. All through the centuries this has been a prominent feature of European history, and never more so than during the last fifty or sixty years. Some have relied, however, upon conquest. They have sought by means of war to reunite that of which God had said, " They shall not cleave one to another." The attainment of world power by conquest has been attempted, as we have seen, by such men as Charlemagne, Charles V, Phihp II, Louis XIV, Napoleon Bonaparte, and Wilhelm II. They have not succeeded, nor can any such attempt ever succeed. " They shall not cleave one to another," was the divine verdict, which cannot be annulled. Examine these seven words, examine them closely, for they have proved stronger than all alliances, stronger even than the le- gions of earth's mightiest rulers. The Next Universal Kingdom After thus directing our attention to the rise and overthrow of the great nations throughout the centuries. and bringing our minds down to the present hour, fixing our thought on the present nations of Europe, the in- spired writer declares: " 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 con- sume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever. " Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure." Verses 44, 45. 72 World Peace These verses contain the most important part of this entire line of prophecy. They point directly to the days of certain kings as the time when the God of heaven shall set up His eternal kingdom, the great ulti- mate nation which shall rule the world throughout eter- nity. This kingdom is to be introduced " in the days of these kings." What kings? Judging from the prophecy itself, we can have no doubt that the modern nations of Europe are meant. In the days of the modern nations of Europe the God of heaven is to establish His king- dom, — the kingdom of righteousness, the kingdom of Christ. The Sure Word of Prophecy There is no mistake here. Just as surely as Medo- Persia followed Babylon, as Greece followed Medo-Persia, as Rome succeeded Greece, and as the modern nations of Europe, situated within the confines of Western Rome, have followed the empire of Rome, just so surely are these present nations to be followed in the very near future by the kingdom of God, that great kingdom of peace which is to extend from one end of the earth to the other. The ancient nations have expired, having come into existence and been destroyed in the exact order outlined in 'this prophecy by the Spirit of Inspi- ration. The modern nations of Europe, which are within the boundaries of Western Rome, have succeeded them. Over the wreck of the ruined temples and sculptured images of the nations of the past there comes a voice, ringing down through more than twenty-five stormy centuries, and sounding throughout the length and breadth of the world, to every place where the Bible and its prophecies have gone, which makes certain that those who live today are living in the time when the present kingdoms of the world are to " become the king- doms of our Lord, and of His Christ." Rev. 11 : 15. The Nations Fulfilling Prophecy 73 God's Kingdom to Prevail It should be noticed that this kingdom which is to take the place of all earthly kingdoms, is to be estab- lished, not by the conversion of the nations, but by their destruction. There is no teaching of world conversion here or anywhere else in the Bible. The kingdom of God is to be established on the ruins of the nations of the earth. The stone which struck the great image rep- resents God's kingdom, and this stone grinds the image to powder and utterly destroys it. In like manner will God, after pleading with all flesh, after sending His gos- pel of the coming kingdom into all the world as a wit- ness to every nation, sweep sinful humanity away in His fury, and utterly destroy sinners and all their works, leaving not one vestige remaining. Before this destruction comes, God's people will be gathered out of all nations. Every one who makes a covenant with the Lord by sacrifice, every soul who ac- cepts Christ as his Saviour, will become a subject of the eternal kingdom which is to be established in the earth. The subjects of this kingdom are now being gathered out by the preaching of the gospel of the kingdom. " The Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that hear- eth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." Rev. 22: 17. " He which testifieth these things saith. Surely I come quickly." And with united voice his waiting people respond, " Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus." Rev. 22 : 20. ©U. & U.. N. Y. 74 MOSQUE OF ST. SOPHIA, CONSTANTINOPLE \^U. & U., N. Y. Mosque of Omar, on the " Glorious Holy Mountain," Jerusalem THE EASTERN QUESTION AND ARMAGEDDON In placing before men His instruction, God gives us " line upon line, line upon line, here a little and there a little." Isa. 28: 10. In .the Scriptures are twelve distinct lines of proph- ecy, all pointing to the very age of the world in which we live as the culminating point of earth's history and the coming of the kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Two of these lines we have traced from more than six hundred years before Christ to our own day. To two others, which give the only satis- factory solution of the Eastern Question ever seriously attempted, the attention of the reader is now invited. The Eastern Question may be briefly defined as the problem of the complete dismemberment of the Ottoman Empire and the partitioning of its territory without giving some one power or group of powers an undue advantage in world trade and world diplomacy. 75 76 World Peace The extinction of the Turkish Empire, not only in Europe, but in Asia as well, is clearly foreshadowed in divine prophecy. The blotting out of such a power is of itself an event of sufficient importance to be of in- terest, not only to the more immediate neighbors of Turkey, but to the whole world. There are, however, two still greater events to follow it speedily, namely, the battle of Armageddon, and the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. These events are closely asso- ciated in the prophecy, and must necessarily be consid- ered together. The internal politics of Europe have largely revolved around the Eastern Question for more than a century. Indeed, the question of supremacy in Syria, Palestine, and in fact the whole region east of the Mediterranean, was an ancient problem also. Maspero, historian of ancient civilizations, says: " Some countries seem destined from their origin to become the battlefields of the contending nations. . . . The nations around are eager for the possession of a country thus situated. . . . From remote antiquity Syria was in the condition just described. By its position it formed a kind of meeting place, where most of the mili- tary nations of the ancient world were bound sooner or later to come violently into collision." — "Struggle of the Nations," 'chap. 1. It is not strange that one of the great outlines of historic prophecy should deal with events centering around this pivotal region. The prophecy of Daniel 11 does so, outlining the course of history from ancient times to the final solution of the Eastern Question amid the scenes of the end. The Prophecy of Daniel 11 * It was in the third year of Cyrus, king of Persia (Dan. 10: 1), that the angel revealed the order of events to the prophet. Let us put prophecy and history to- gether. To the prophet the angel said: " I show thee the truth. Behold, there shall stand up yet three kings in Persia; and the fourth shall be far richer than they The Eastern Question and Armageddon 11 all: and by his strength through his riches he shall stir up all against the realm of Grecia." Dan. 11: 2. History tells us that the three kings following Cyrus were (1) Cambyses, (2) Smerdis, (3) Darius; and the fourth, Xerxes, was " far richer than they all." He had the treasures of his father, Darius, who was called the " merchant " or " hoarder " by his own people, and Xerxes gathered stores of wealth in addition ; and by his wealth he was able to " stir up all," an army of mil- lions, to invade Grecia. The Greek poet, ^schylus, who himself fought against the Persians, wrote of Xerxes' mighty host: " And myriad-peopled Asia's king, a battle-eager lord, From utmost east to utmost west, sped on his countless horde." — " Persw," 80. Xerxes failed; and the Persian invasion led the Greeks to determine to await their turn against Persia. The attack of Grecia upon Persia, led by Alexander the Great, being the next great world event, the prophecy passes to that power. The angel continued: " A mighty king shall stand up, that shall rule with great dominion, and do according to his will. And when he shall stand up, his kingdom shall be broken, and shall be divided toward the four winds of heaven; and not to his posterity." Dan. 11: 3, 4. The history of the fulfilment of the prophecy briefly stated is this: Alexander the Great stood up and ruled with great dominion, over a kingdom stretching from India to Grecia, with kings yet farther west sending embassies to Babylon to make submission. But in the height of his power, as the prophecy suggests, he was suddenly cut down by death. All his posterity perished, and out of the struggles of his generals for supi'emacy came (301 B. c.) the division of the empire toward " the four winds," as the prophecy had declared so long before. Rawlinson, the historian, says: The Turkish Empire at the Time of Its Greatest Territorial Extent (1648) The Turkish Empire Previous to the Italian-Turkish War (1911-12) and the Balkan-Turkish War (1912-13) HE SHALT. COME TO HIS EXD. 78 The Turkish Empire at the Be&inning of the World War (1914) \ ■♦ft^' \POLAND \ *^'\<\ c't^ -■',:'^"-'.'\ "^UKRAINE '■> HED JAZ ARABIA) The Turkish Empire after the Peace Conference (tentative) (1919) -AND NONE SHALL HELP HIM.*' Dan. 11:45. 79 © U. & U.. N. Y. Up the Dardanelles after the Signing of the Armistice Photo, Inter. Film Service, Inc., N. Y. British Troops Landing at Constantinople 80 The Ancient Battle Ground Called Armageddon ©Press Illustrating Service, inc., Is. \. The Street cf Steps, Jerusalem 81 82 World Peace " A quadripartite division of Alexander's dominion was recognized, Macedonia [west], Egypt [soiithl, Asia Minor [north], and Syria [east, extending beyond the Euphrates]." — "Sixth Monarchy," chap. 3. Next, a rearrangement of these powers is noted ; and it is this that gives us the key to the study of the clos- ing portion of the long prophetic outline dealing with events of our own day. The prophetic narrative con- tinues : " The king of the south shall be strong, amd one of his princes . . . shall be strong above him; . . . his dominion shall be a great dominion." Verse 5. History testifies that the king of the south (Egypt) was strong under the Ptolemies, but one of the four princes w^as " strong above him." Seleucus, of Syria and the east, pushed his dominion northward, subduing most of Asia Minor and extending his boundary into Thrace, on the European side, just beyond the extent of Turkey in Europe today. With varying fortunes, this general arrangement of these powers continued. Henceforward, as Mahaffy says, "There were three great kingdoms — Macedonia, Egypt, Syria — which lasted, each under its own dynasty, till Rome swallowed them up." — "Alexander's Empire" J. P. Mahaffy, p. S9. Thus Seleucus took the territory of the north, and the Syrian power became king of the north, its empire stretching from Thrace, in Europe, through Asia Minor to Syria and the Euphrates. The seat of empire was after a time removed from the east, and Antioch, in northern Syria, became the famous capital, " once the third city of the world." The prophecy next foretold in remarkable detail the contests between these two strong powers, the king of the north and the king of the south. The conflict raged back and forth till the coming of the Romans. The Holy Land was the great meeting place of the contending ar- mies. The Encyclopedia Britannica describes it: The Eastern Question and Ai^Tnageddon 83 " Palestine was as of old the battlefield for the king of the north and the king of the south. . . . The history of these times is lost in its details." — Yol. XY, art. "Macedonian Empire,"" 9th edition. Passing over these details and all the history inter- vening, we come at once to the closing portion of the prophecy, which deals with events of the latter days. Here we find the king of the north again a chief actor, " at the time of the end," in this same region ; and when that power comes to its end, as we shall read in a moment, it is the signal that the battle of Armageddon and the great day of God are at hand. The World's Crisis Well may we ask, therefore, What "poiver in these last days is the king of the north? Assuredly it must be the power that holds dominion in the regions of the ancient king of the north of the first part of the prophecy. The divine prophecy named the power by its geographical location. That is certain. When Seleucus, of Syria and the east, conquered Asia Minor and the north, he became king of the north. Through the prophetic story of two centuries this Syrian Empire, stretching from the re- gions about Constantinople to the Euphrates, is called the king of the north. Whatever power holds dominion over this region of Asia Minor and Syria, must be the king of the north in the language of all divine prophecy. And every reader knows that Turkey, or the Ottoman Empire, has occupied this very region for centuries. Turkey, then, is the king of the north. Of the later history and end of the king of the north, the prophecy says: " Tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him: therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many. And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace [evidently the seat of government] between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and 84 World Peace none shall help him. And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great Prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book." Dan. 11: 44, 45; 12: 1. Here is graphically described the later history of Turkey to this day. Disquietude has come through " tidings out of the east and out of the north," Piece by piece the eastern possessions in the Transcaucasus have been taken away, and province by province on the north the Turkish Empire has been whittled down. " None shall help him " at the last, the prophecy says of the king of the north. It suggests that formerly this power has had- help. For a century it was a doctrine of the diplomacy of Western Europe that Turkey must be maintained. Turkey has been helped in crises again and again, first by one power, then by another, and some- times by several at once. The great powers feared that the entire dismemberment of Turkey would involve the whole world in war. In one of his speeches, as premier of Great Britain, the late Lord Salisbury said: " Turkey is in that remarkable condition in which it has now stood for half a century, mainly because the great powers of the world have resolved that for the peace of Christendom it is neces- sary that the Ottoman Empire should stand." The veteran premier stated the fear of modern states- men that the fall of Turkey would mean calamity in- volving all Christendom. And the ancient prophecy declares that when the king of the north comes to his end, there will occur also " a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation." What modern statesmen have seen impending and sought to prevent, the ancient prophecy declares will surely come. " He shall come to his end, and none shall help him." Dan. 11: 45. The Eastern Question and Armageddon 85 A New Testament Prophecy This same time of trouble for the nations, foreshad- owed in the Great War of 1914-18, is dealt with in a New Testament prophecy; and the end of the Turkish power is stated to be the signal for the day of trouble, just as the end of the king of the north is the signal for it in this prophecy of Daniel 11. In the sixteenth chapter of Revelation, the prophet not only describes the drying up of the Euphrates, but he intimates that important developments are to follow it: " The sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the East might be prepared." Rev. 16: 12. By the drying up of the power represented by the river Euphrates, the way is prepared for the next step — the gathering " of the whole world " to " the battle of that great day of God almighty " — the Armageddon of the nations. Verses 14-16. As the Nile stood for Egypt and the Tiber for Rome, so in all modern times the Euphrates has stood for Tur- key and the Moslem Empire, especially in Asia, the orig- inal home of the Ottoman power. Through the centuries since the Turkish invasion of Europe reached its crest, that power has been dwindling and shrinking, until now but little remains to it in Europe. Some day, according to this prophecy of Rev- elation, the original empire of the Turks, the country drained by the Euphrates and its tributaries, will be absorbed by other powers, the great river will be " dried up," just as the king of the north (of Daniel 11) will " come to his end ; " and then, according to both proph- ecies, Armageddon will come and the great day of God. Because of the love that God has for all peoples — for he is no respecter of persons or of nations — he gives to the world these signs of the approaching end of all earthly empires. 86 World Peace Jerusalem a Storm-Center In the process of the closing history, as described in the last verse of Daniel 11, the prophecy says of the king of the north: " He shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain." This suggests the eventual transfer, before he comes to his end, of the seat of his government to Jerusalem, or Zion, which is called "the holy mountain," Zech. 8: 3. Since the fortunes of war have given Jerusalem into the hands of the Christian powers, and since it is un- thinkable that the Holy City will ever be handed over again to the followers of the Arabian prophet, the ques- tion may be asked. How can these things be? It is not for any one to tell how the prophecy shall be fulfilled. It may not be amiss, however, to remark that the wording of the prophecy itself suggests only a very temporary occupation of Jerusalem by the king of the north, or in other words, by the forces of polit- ical Mohammedanism. " His palace " is his capital. But he plants merely its " tabernacles," or temporary quarters, in Jerusalem. True, that city is now held by Christians, but who can tell what may not happen by a sudden movement on the part of the Mohammedan world to recover from the " infidels " (Christians) the holy sepulcher and Holy City? Nor is it hard to imagine what would follow such a movement on the part of the Mohammedan hordes — it could be nothing short of a repetition of the Crusades and the calling of all the military forces of Western civ- ilization to Palestine, the old battleground of the nations, the scene of the Armageddon of the sixteenth chapter of Revelation. The Battle of Armageddon And what is Armageddon? Let Robinson's Calmet's " Dictionary of the Holy Bible," art. " Armageddon," answer, in part: The Eastern Question and Armageddon 87 " Armageddon fmountain of Megiddo), a place mentioned in Rev. 16: 16. Megiddo is a city in the great plain, at the foot of Mt. Carmel, which had been the scene of much slaughter. Under this character it is referred to in the above text, as the place in which God will collect together his enemies for destruction." See also the " International Standard Bible Encyclo- pedia," art. " Har-magedon." In the chapter of Revelation referred to by both these authorities, are described the seven last plagues, to be visited upon the wicked forces of .earth just be- fore the end of this world and the second appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ. Under the sixth of these plagues, which is evidently a plague of war, the great river Euphrates, or the Turkish power, is to be dried up or destroyed. The battle of Armageddon, it would seem, imme- diately follows the utter overthrow of the Turkish power, and evidently grows out of it, as if the armies assem- bled there, fighting with Megiddo as a center, when their common enemy, the Turk, is no more, fall upon one another in the most frightful slaughter of all the ages. This, in brief, is at least the beginning of the battle of Armageddon. It is the last of earth's war tragedies. That the forces of political Mohammedanism, which might mean practically the forces of the whole East, are destined to measure strength again with the combined armies of the West, is not only foreshadowed in Scrip- ture, but it is almost as clearly indicated in the way affairs are now shaping in the East. Mohammedan Eyes Turned Toward Jerusalem The attitude of the whole Moslem world toward Je- rusalem, and the trend of Mohammedan thought for many years, indicate a probable reaction erelong from the present attitude of meek acceptance of the results 88 World Peace of war. It is not with the Mohammedans so much a political as a religious question. Jerusalem is to them a holy city. And it is the city, even above Mecca or Medina, around which the Mohammedans are to rally at the end of the world, according to oldest Mohammedan doctrine. Thus Hughes's '' Dictionary of Islam " says : "In Surah 1. 40 [of the Koran], one of the signs of the approach of the last day will be: ' The crier [to prayer] shall cry from a near place' (that is, a place from which all men shall hear). Husain says this ' near place ' is the temple at Jerusalem." — Art. "Jerusalem." One of the old commentators on the Koran, Jalalan, is thus summarized by Hughes: " It was at Jerusalem that Jesus ascended to heaven; and it will be there that he will again descend. ... In the last days there will be a general flight to Jerusalem."- — Ibid. Despite lack of space, may we add one more testi- mony to the importance attached by Islam to the hold- ing of Jerusalem? It is from an old Arab commentator and geographer, Mukaddasi (a. d. 985) : " As to the excellence of the city. Why, is not this to be the place of marshaling on the day of judgment; where the gathering together and the appointment will take place? Verily Makkah [Mecca] and Al Medina have their superiority by reason of the Ka'abali and the Prophet, — the blessing of Allah be upon him and his family! — but, in truth, on the day of judgment both cities will come to Jerusalem, and the excellencies of them all will then be united." — "Palestine under the Moslems," Le Strange, p, 85. Modern travelers in Turkey have long told of the feeling among thoughtful Turkish people that the crisis of their nation is at hand. Thus: " The Turks themselves seem generally to be convinced that their final hour is approaching. . . . ' It is kismet. We cannot resist destiny.' I heard words to this effect from many Turks, as well in Asia as in Europe." — ''Kismet," Macfarlane, p. 409. " Ancient prophecy and modern superstition alike point to the return of the Crescent into Asia as an event at hand. . . . The feeling of a coming catastrophe is so deeply rooted, and so uni- versal [etc.]." — "Future of Islam," Wilfred Scaicen Blunt, p. 95. The Easterji Question and Armageddon 89 But a few years ago one of the Seventh-day Adventist missionaries in Constantinople wrote to his Mission Board in Washington, D. C. : " Within the past few months quite a company of people from the Transcaucasus district have come to Ismid, — old Nicomedia, — ■ bringing all they possess with them. Some of them possess considerable wealth. When asked if they were going to settle in Ismid, they replied that they would settle nowhere permanently at present. They stated that they had come to be prepared to go with their leader when he left Constantinople to go to Jerusalem." The Eastern Question Hastening to Its Final Solution No man may foresee just exactly how events will turn in detail. But the great truth rings in our ears like a trumpet peal: The Eastern Question is hastening on to its final solution, and its solution brings the end of the world! The prophecy declares that the final ex- tinction of the Turkish power ushers in the end. And everywhere the newspapers can see nothing but the has- tening of Turkey's end in the turn events have taken. Thus the Washington Times said editorially even at the time when Turkey entered the war: " There is not the possible chance of Turkey ultimately gain- ing, however the war may go. If she allies herself with Germany, and Germany wins, what next? . . . Turkey will be brushed out of Europe, and presently out of existence. . . . On the other hand, what if the Allies win? There will be no more of the weak-kneed British attitude that in the past has made Downing Street chief supporter of the Sick Man, lest his demise open the way for Russia to Constantinople. ... If the Allies win, it will mean not merely the end of Turkey in Europe, but of Turkey. The empire will be dismembered; perhaps not immediately, but in the process of no great period." — Nov. 1, 1914. Dispatches from Petrograd gave us the Russian view as follows (Nov. 2, 1914) : The Bourse Gazette: " It is Russia's opportunity. There is no general combination of powers such as several times saved Turkey from final destruction. . . . Russia accepts the challenge thrown down, and marches to the fulfilment of her destiny." 90 World Peace The Novoe Vremya (of the day when Turkey entered the war) : " That day was the day of the virtual death of the once glorious Ottoman Empire." Today Russia and Turkey are both prostrate in the dust, Russia a prey to internal dissension, Turkey beaten to her knees by England and her Allies. But the situ- ation is not materially changed as far as the future of Turkey is concerned. Even should the Turk be per- mitted to continue as the nominal keeper of Constanti- nople, which seems unlikely, his authority could be only nominal and his reign brief. The handwriting is on the wall. The future of Turkey lies not in the West, but in the East, not in Europe, but in Asia, and there he comes to his end with none to help him. Just when this will occur no man knows. But this we may know, — the prophecy cannot fail. As it has been fulfilled in its most minute details thus far, so it will be in its remain- ing specifications; and in the very nature of the case the end cannot be long delayed. " Be Ye Also Ready " No man may tell the year or the day or the hour, nor the exact course of events in detail. Idle specula- tion or appeals merely to excitement are deplorable in these matters of eternal moment. But every outline of prophecy in all Holy Scripture cries to men now, echo- ing the Saviour's warning: " Be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh." Matt. 24: 44. Let not any soul say, " I will wait and see, and will believe and turn to God when Turkey comes to its end." That means eternal loss ; for it plainly appears from the prophecy of Revelation concerning the drying up or end- ing of this power, that when it comes to its end, the day of human probation will already have passed forever. The end of the Turkish power (described in Rev. 16: 12) The Eastern Question and Armageddon 91 comes after Christ's work as mediator for sinners has ceased in the heavenly temple. Rev. 15 : 8. It will then be eternally too late. Then the solemn words will have been spoken: " He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still. And, behold, I come quickly." Rev. 22: 11, 12. " Now is the accepted time," not then ; " behold, now is the day of salvation." 2 Cor. 6: 2. Photo, Press Illustratint,' Service, Inc., N. Y. Natives of Palestine Discussing Their Country's Future CHRIST COMING IN GLORY 92 CHRIST'S PROMISE TO RETURN THE BLESSED HOPE OF THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST Past chapters have spoken of our Saviour as the only hope of the world, and of the beginning of His reign as the ushering in of the kingdom of peace. Let us, then, dwell for a little upon that hope and the glories to be revealed when He shall come. Our Lord Himself looked forward to His return both as the culmination of His own work and the time of the realization of the hope of His people, with whom He left the promise, " I will come again." John 14 : 3. Precious, comforting, inspiring, are these words. The return of Jesus is a blessed hope to every believer, and is so described by the apostle Paul in his letter to Titus. Many stupendous events have emblazoned themselves in history since the dawn of time. The flood was a great event. So was the exodus movement, and the 93 94 World Peace giving" of the lavv on Sinai, And then, " when the ful- ness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons." Gal. 4:4, 5. " O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowl- edge of God! how unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out! " Rom. 11: 33. But the crowning event of the ages, the culmination of the work of redemption, is the second coming of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, to take to Himself His kingdom and His church, the purchase of His blood. The accessions of earthly kings have been attended with scenes of the greatest splendor. But no earthly pageant can at all compare with the magnificent, triumphal pro- cession when Jesus shall come crowned " King of kings, and Lord of lords." " He shall come in His own glory, and in His Father's, and of the holy angels." Luke 9: 26. That glory, which no sinner can behold and live, will then be revealed. Ten thousand times ten thou- sand, and thousands of thousands of angels, cherubim and seraphim, in all their glory will escort Christ when He rides forth a triumphant conqueror, followed by all the armies of heaven. In the triumph of ancient conquerors the captives were bound to their chariots, or led away to perish, but those whom Jesus leads will come from captivity, and will share His triumph in that hour when He comes as the conqueror of death and hell. It is the hour of their greatest deliverance. The Disciples Comforted On one occasion when Jesus told His disciples that He was soon to leave them. He comforted their sorrow- ing hearts by the assurance of His return: The Blessed Hope 95 " Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also." John 14: 1-3. This promise is as cheering to the believing child of God today as to the disciples standing with the Master almost within the shadow of the cross. What could be more comforting to Christians than the thought that Jesus is now preparing a place for them, and that when it is prepared, He will come again to take them to be with Him where He is? The Purpose of His Coming Observe the purpose of Christ's coming. As surely as He ascended to His Father, so surely is He to come again. Many think that at death we go to be with Jesus. But this is not true. We do not go to Him, but He is to come for us. This is our hope. If He did not return, we could never be with Him. But in supernal majesty and power He comes, the dead are raised, and the living righteous are changed from mortality to im- mortality. This is the great purpose of His coming. Comfort for the Bereaved Death is in the land. In nearly every home there is a vacant chair ; voices once heard are now silent. Hands that once were engaged in loving ministry are folded over the pulseless bosom, and sorrowfully the mourners go about the streets. To comfort those who mourn their silent dead, the apostle writes : " I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not. even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not pre- vent them which are asleep. For the Lord Himself shall descend 96 World Peace from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the Archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words." 1 Thess. 4: 13-18. When Jesus comes, the reign of death will be broken. " Our Saviour comes to raise the just. Who long have slumbered in the dust; His voice will break their long repose, And snatch them from the last of foes." The enemy may for a time lock our loved ones in his prison-house; but the hour is coming when they will live again. When Jesus rides forth as the conqueror of death, His voice will pierce the dark, silent galleries of hades, and the sepulchers of God's people will be opened, and they will come forth clothed with life and immor- tality. This is indeed a cheering hope. How He Will Come Many have a wrong idea concerning the coming of Jesus. They think He comes at death, or at conversion, or in some silent, secret way. The Scriptures, however, teach that His coming will be personal and visible. " When He had spoken these things, while they beheld, He was taken up; and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, be- hold, two men stood by them in white apparel; which also said. Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven." Acts 1: 9-11. He does not come and gather His people out of the world secretly, one here and another there, as some teach, but we are to be " caught up together " to meet the Lord; and together we shall ascend to the place He has prepared for us. He does not come secretly, for " every eye shall see Him." Rev. 1:7. He will come as He went away, a personal Saviour, escorted by a The Blessed Hope 97 cloud of the heavenly host. (See Rev. 14: 14, 15.) All the wicked who are living will perish, but the living righteous will be caught up to meet their returning Lord in the air, and so will be ever with Him. Hope of Saints in All Ages The coming of Christ has been the Christian's hope through all ages. It has encouraged and cheered the valiant soldiers of the cross as they have bivouacked on life's battlefield. Enoch, " the seventh from Adam," prophesied, " Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of His saints." Jude 14. Enoch saw the inhabitants of earth falling before the scythe of the grim reaper, and was troubled regard- ing their future. Would they live again? The problem was solved when, with prophetic eye, he saw the graves yielding their dead at the return of the Saviour. Job's Confidence The patriarch Job was called to pass through the valley of sore affliction. His children were slain, his property was swept away, his wife failed him, and the finger of the enemy touched his body. But in the mid.st of his deep affliction he exclaimed : " O that my words were now written! O that they were printed in a book! That they were graven with an iron pen and lead in the rock forever! For I know that my Redeemer liveth. and that He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: and though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me." Job 19: 23-27. Job's praj'er was answered. His words are written in the Book of books. Though standing apparently on the brink of the tomb, face to face vrith the king of terrors, expecting soon to mingle with the dust whence he came, his faith laid hold of the immortalitj' promised 7 98 World Peace at the resurrection of the just, when the Redeemer shall come. This hope lightened his sorrow. It is ever thus. Though the heart is wrung with sorrow, the cheek wet with tears, and though clouds obscure the light, the blessed hope of Christ's coming in glory brings joy to the worn and weary pilgrim. The Hope of All Prophets Through the successive ages of earth's history, seers of God, rapt in holy vision have foretold the glories of the Saviour's return. " He shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began." Acts 3: 20, 21. This is the hope which these spokesmen of the Almighty have emphasized in all their writings. The sweet singer of Israel wrote of a time when, from the midst of devouring fire and tempestuous scenes, the Saviour shall come and gather His waiting people unto Himself. Ps. 50 : 3, 4. Isaiah speaks comfort to those who are weak and fearful, saying, " Behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompense; He will come and save you." Isa. 35: 4. All about US we see the afflicted and tried, swept with the lights and shadows of the passing years, buoyed up by the hope of the return of the Redeemer. Then blind eyes will be opened to view celestial glory, deaf ears un- stopped to hear the music of angel choirs, silent tongues loosed to sing anthems of praise and adoration; and the lame will be restored to walk with elastic step the streets of gold. Then " the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away." Isa. 35: 10. The Blessed Hope 99 The Apostle Paul's Hope From a Roman dungeon the apostle Paul wrote these triumphant words: " I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love His appearing." 2 Tim. 4: 6-8. The shadows of his pilgrimage had lengthened. The storm of persecution and life's many vicissitudes had beat upon the great apostle. His lock^ were gray, his form was bent; the block and sword of the executioner were before him. His race was about run. • But his hope was bright. His sun was soon to set, but in a cloudless sky. He had given up all for Christ. He had been oft imprisoned. He had been whipped and stoned. He had experienced shipwreck, and had been " in deaths oft." He had known weariness and painfulness and hun- ger, cold and nakedness. But he had no regrets. It had been a good fight. A crown, worth far more than the jeweled diadem of any monarch of earth, awaited him, to be received " at that day " when the Lord Jesus should return. Not long after Paul wrote these words he was taken from his dungeon to the place of his execution. " Through the dust and tumult of that busy throng, the small troop of soldiers threaded their way silently, under the bright sky of an Italian midsummer. They were marching, though they knew it not, in a procession more truly triumphal than any they had ever followed, in the train of general or emperor, along the Sacred Way." Though the eartn was soon to receive the apostle's blood, he was not afraid. Standing at the block, he did not see the executioner nor the gleaming sword. Looking up into heaven, he exclaimed, " I am ready." Triumphant words, these! He was thinking of the reward awaiting him " at that day." His faith looked 100 World Peace beyond the scenes about him to the time when the One whom he saw on the road to Damascus shall return with millions of angels in glory and power to gather home the true and faithful of all ages. To him this was of far greater value than all the world had to give. The End of Sin When Jesus comes, sin will forever cease. This mys- terious curse hangs like a pall of dread over the world. Nations pass. Thrones crumble. Kings abdicate. Em- pires change. Instability and decay are written upon all creation, — all because of sin. Sin has caused the curse of the Almighty to rest upon the earth. This awful thing reached up to heaven and took the Son of God from the throne. Sin is as black and dark as hell itself, for sin made hell. It took the covering cherub, the chorister of heaven, from his exalted position, and made him Beelzebub, the prince of devils. Sin causes all the war and death and sorrow and misery in the world. Every tombstone is a monument to what sin has done. Every tear, every pain, every heartache, is caused by sin. Gather up the terrible har- vest of all the unrighteousness on the earth; of all mali- ciousness, envy, hatred, murder; of all deceit, jealousy, pride, backbiting; of all blasphemy, treachery, haughti- ness, the horrors of war; of evil in every form and in every land, and you have a picture of sin. When Jesus comes, sin and all that goes with it will be destroyed. Hope of the Remnant Church The blessed hope of the Saviour's return, which has been the comfort and joy of the church in ages past, will comfort the people of God in the closing days of the church on earth. The church then is to be waiting for the Son of God from heaven. There is salvation in this, for it is to those who " look for Him " that He is to The Blessed Hope 101 " appear the second time without sin unto salvation." Heb. 9:28. An ancient prophet, looking down through the ages to the end, said: "He will destroy in this mountain the face of the co\ciing cast over all people, and the veil that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of His people shall He take away from off all the earth: for the Lord hath spoken it. And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us; this is the Lord; we have waited for Him, we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation." Isa. 25: 7-9. In that awful hour when all the tribes of the earth are mourning as they " see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory " (Matt. 24: 30) ; when "the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man," hide " themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains ; and " say " to the mountains and rocks. Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of His wrath is come" (Rev. 6: 15-17), God's people will look up with joy and wel- come His return. They have been " waiting " for Him. To have been truly waiting and looking for Him, they must have known from the signs given of His return that this great event was near. To this phase of the subject, from the stand- point of what our Lord Himself said to His disciples, the attention of the reader is invited in the succeeding chapter. THE STAR SHOWER OF NOV. 13, 1833 102 Signs in the Heavens SIGNS OF CHRIST'S SOON COMING In replying to the question of His disciples, " Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of Thy coming, and the end of the world?" (Matt. 24:3), Jesus very definitely defined what the signs were to be by which we might know that His coming is "near, even at the doors" (verse 33). He said: " Immediately after the tribulation of those days " " there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory." Matt. 24: 29; Luke 21: 25-27. It should be observed that these signs were to be of such a character that no man or combination of men would be able to counterfeit them. Jesus said they would be seen in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars — all infinitely beyond the control of men. 103 Sicj7is of ChrisVs Soon Commg 105 The apostle Paul definitely wrote that the coming of Christ should not be looked for in his day. (See 2 Thess. 2: 1-3.) He refers to the same "falling away," or time of " tribulation," which Jesus testified should come V first." The long night of papal persecution for the church is doubtless here referred to as the time of " tribulation." Both prophecy and history record that the " days " allotted to this power began in 533 to 538 A. D. and ended in 1793 to 1798. The " tribulation," or persecution, ceased a few years prior to the ending of the " days," or the time allotted. And as Jesus, in di- recting the attention of His people to the time of the beginning of the signs, placed them " immediately after the tribulation of those days," we may expect the signs to begin to appear a few years before 1798. " A Great Earthquake " " I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; and the stars of heaven fell unto the earth." Rev. 6: 12, 13. The Lisbon Earthquake, of 1755 106 World Peace This " great earthquake " is believed to be the one which occurred Nov. 1, 1775, known in history as " the Lisbon earthquake," because Lisbon seemed to be at the center of disturb'ance, although many other cities in Europe and Northern Africa were wholly or in part destroyed by it. It extended over 4,000,000 square miles. It affected the greater portion of Europe and Africa, and was felt even in America, but its extreme violence was exer- cised on the southwestern part of Europe. At Lisbon it is estimated that 90,000 persons perished on that fatal day in the space of about six minutes. One who passed through it, an English merchant who was in Lisbon at the time, graphically describes his experience thus: " The whole house began to shake from the very foundation." " On hearkening," he said he heard " a strange, frightful kind of noise underground, resembling the hollow distant rumbling of thunder. All this passed in less than a minute." " I threw down my pen, and started upon my feet, . . . being instantly stunned with a most horrid crash, as if every edifice in the city had tum- bled down at once. . . . " The second great shock came on, little less violent than the first, and completed the ruin of those buildings which had been already much shattered. The consternation now became so uni- versal that the shrieks and cries of ' Miser icordia! ' [' Have mercy upon our poor hearts!' — thinking the great judgment day was at hand] could be distinctly heard from the top of St. Catherine's Hill, at a considerable distance off, whither a vast number of people had likewise retreated; at the same time we could hear the fall of the parish church there, whereby many persons were killed on the spot, and others mortally wounded. You may judge the force of this shock, when I inform you it was so violent that I could scarce keep on my knees; but it was attended with some circumstances still more dreadful than the former. On a sudden I heard a general outcry, ' The sea is coming in, we shall all be lost! ' Upon this, turning my eyes toward the river, which in that place is near four miles broad, I could perceive it heaving and swelling in the most unaccountable manner, as no wind was stir- ring. In an instant there appeared at some small distance a large body of water, rising as it were like a mountain. It came on, Signs of Christ's Soon Coming 107 foaming and roaring, and rushed toward the shore with such im- petuosity that we all immediately ran for our lives as fast as possible; many were actually swept away. . . . For my own part I had the narrowest escape, and should have certainly been lost had I not grasped a large beam that lay on the ground, till the water returned to its channel, which it did almost at the same instant, with equal rapidity. " I . . . observed the ships tumbling and tossing about as in a violent storm; some had broken their cables, and were carried to the other side of the Tagus; others were whirled round with incredible swiftness; several large boats were turned keel up- ward; and all this without any wind, which seemed the more astonishing. It was at the time of which I am now speaking that the fine new quay, built entirely of rough marble, at an im- mense expense, was entirely swallowed up, with all the people on it, who had fled thither for safety, and had reason to think them- selves out of danger in such a place. At the same time, a number of boats and small vessels, anchored near it (all likewise full of people, who had retired thither for the same purpose), were all swallowed up, as in a whirlpool, and never more appeared." — " Half Hours with the Best Authors,'' Vol. II, pp. 370-375. Darkening of the Sun and Moon " I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day." Amos 8 : 9. " On the 19th of May, 1780, an uncommon darkness took place all over New England, and extended to Canada. It continued about fourteen hours, or from ten o'clock in the morning until midnight. The darkness was so great [even at midday] that peo- ple were unable to read common print, or to tell the time of the day by their watches, or to dine, or transact their ordinary busi- ness without the light of candles. They became dull and gloomy, and some were excessively frightened." — " The Guide to Knowl- edge, or Repertory of Facts,'' edited by Robert Sears, p. 428. New York, 1845. (Astor Library.) As to how people were impressed by this sign, this testimony is borne: "In the month of May, 1780, there was a very terrific dark day in New England, when ' all faces seemed to gather blackness,' and the people were filled with fear. There was great distress in the village where Edward Lee lived, ' men's hearts failing them for fear,' that the judgment day was at hand; and the neighbors flocked around the holy man; for his lamp was trimmed and shin- ing brighter than ever amid the unnatural darkness. Happy and 108 World Peace joyful in God, he pointed them to their only refuge from the wrath to come, and spent the gloomy hours in earnest prayer for the distressed multitude." — " Life of Edward Lee," No. 379 (old series), American Tract Society. Of the darkening of the moon the following night, though that orb was at the full, we have this testimony : " The darkness of the following evening was probably as gross as ever has been observed since the Almighty fiat gave birth to light. It wanted only palpability to render it as extraordinary as that which overspread the land of Egypt in the days of Moses. ... If every luminous body in the universe had been shrouded in impenetrable shades, or struck out of existence, the darkness could not have been more complete. A sheet of white paper held within a few inches of the eyes was equally invisible with the blackest velvet." — Letter of Dr. Samuel Tenney, dated Exeter, N. H., December, 1785; cited in " Collections of Massachusetts Historical Society," Vol. I, 1792. Here, then, in 1780, according to these reliable state- ments, God showed to the world the first two of the signs Jesus Himself gave to His inquiring disciples on the Mount of Olives as foreshadowing His advent near. No candid person can gainsay their reliability, or afRrm that they did not appear at the time predicted. The Falling Stars The next sign that Jesus declared would be seen was, " The stars shall fall from heaven." And to this descrip- tion the apostle John adds, " even as a fig tree cast- eth her untimely figs when she is shaken of a mighty wind." Rev. 6: 13. Here is the statement of an eyewitness who beheld this wonderful display of God's great power, as mani- fested in the early morning of Nov. 13, 1833: " Compared with the splendors of this celestial exhibition, the most brilliant rockets and fireworks of art bore less relation than the twinkling of the most tiny star to the broad glare of the sun. The whole heavens seemed in motion, and little need have been borrowed from the morbid sensibility, to imagine that the opening of the sixth seal was indeed at hand when the stars of heaven fell Signs of Christ's Soon Coming 109 unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs when she is shaken of a mighty wind. Never before has it fallen to our lot to observe a phenomenon so magnificent and sublime." — A correspondent of the Neio York Commercial Advertiser, quoted in the Eastern Argus (Portland, Maine) of Nov. 18, 1833. "We pronounce the raining fire which we saw on Wednesday morning last an awful type, a sure forerunner, a merciful sign, of that great and dreadful day which the inhabitants of the earth will witness when the sixth seal shall be opened. " That time is just at hand described not only in the New Tes- tament, but in the Old; and a more correct picture of a fig tree casting its leaves when blown by a mighty wind, it was not pos- sible to behold." — ''The Old Countryman," New York, printed in the New York Star and quoted in the Portland Evening Advertiser, Nov. 26, 1833. (Portland Public Library.) It is significant, and worthy of more than passing notice, that during each of these signs, foretelling as they do the supreme event of Christ's second advent, the hearts of people were filled with a nameless terror. Why was this? Evidently because the people were not ready to meet their Lord and Master. Their cherished and unforgiven sins filled their hearts with fear and dread. The Signs Fulfilled Thus four great outstanding signs of the return of Jesus Christ to this earth — the darkening of the sun and moon, the falling of the stars, and the great earth- quake — have taken place, and are now chronicled upon the tablet of history. They tell us of the great day of the Lord, near, " even at the door." The ushering in of that day will be marked by a " time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time." Dan. 12: 1. The events to take place at that time are recorded in Revelation 16. Even the anguish of the World Vv^ar, with its loss of life and other great calamities, such as the almost universal sweep of Spanish influenza over the world, with its awful harvest of death, which in 110 World Peace some countries was even greater than their fatalities in the war, cannot approach in extent or magnitude this coming " time of trouble," The Bible points out that this time, when God's wrath in terrible judgments and plagues shall burst upon our world, is just ahead. The terror of men in that day, portrayed somewhat in the anguish and fear accom- panying the signs already presented, will be universal. Think of the Lisbon earthquake as universal, and you will get some idea of just one event foretold to take place during this time of trouble, of which John, the beloved apostle, wrote: " There were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake and so great. . . . And the cities of the nations fell." Rev. 16: 18, 19. Think of it, all cities to be shaken down! The protection of the Almighty in that day will be of more value than untold millions hoarded in bank vaults. And none except those whose names are written in the book of life will be saved alive out of this " time of trouble, such as never was." But this gracious prom- ise is given those whose names are found in that book of life: " At that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book." Dan. 12: 1. The Earth Corrupted by Sin It is sin, the transgression of God's holy law (1 John 3:4), that corrupts the inhabitants of earth. The earth is " defiled under the inhabitants thereof." Isa. 24 : 5. Jesus foretold the social conditions that should prevail down at the end, when He said that this would be like the days of Noah. How was it then? " God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." " All flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth." Gen. 6: 5, 12. Signs of Christ's Soon Coming 111 Here is the picture, as given by the prophet Hosea, of the condition prevaihng just prior to Jesus' second coming, when " every 07ie that dwelleth " in the land "shall languish." He saj^s: " The Lord hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land. By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out, and blood toucheth blood." Hosea 4: 1-3. Do these general conditions prevail today? Do we see people seeking after truth, valuing it above every- thing else ? Or are falsehood and deceit and fiction more in evidence? Do men exercise mercy in dealing with one another? And how little men really know of God! " Swearing, and lying, and killing, and committing adul- tery " ! The newspapers are burdened with the recital of merely a fraction of just such iniquity as Hosea por- trayed, going on principally in large cities, yet prevalent everywhere. Terrible revelations are made by ofRcials dealing with the abominable white-slave traffic. Divorce courts reveal a little of the corruption existing at the very heart of society itself. Surely, as God looks down into the hearts of men and women today, he must see the recurrence almost, if not quite, of the same condi- tions that prevailed in Noah's day. And this, remember, constitutes another sign that the end is near. Distress of Nations with Perplexity At no period in history has there been such a time of universal distress and perplexity among nations as since the beginning of the World War. This " distress," " with perplexity," is world-wide in its scope, involving the large, strong nations, as well as the smaller and weaker ones. Statesmen have been and still are mightily perplexed, and repeatedly have they said so. Then, too, the distress in millions of homes, caused by the death of loved ones, is appalling. Who dare say 112 World Peace that Jesus, from the Mount of Olives, did not have His eyes fixed upon this very time when He said, " And upon earth distress of nations, with perplexity " ? Another marked sign revealing His coming " near." Prepare to Meet God These great signs of the approach of the day of God are of themselves of value only as they are heeded as clarion appeals from heaven to all mankind to prepare to meet God. This means that we are to look to Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sin, and to obtain from Him the necessary cleansing of heart. He says : " Come unto Me" (Matt. 11:28-30; "if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9); and "a new heart also will I give you " (Eze. 36: 26). All this he waits to do for us now : while in that " day of the Lord " it will be too late, even though one plead with bitter tears ; for then there will be no Intercessor. Jesus did not say the world would be converted before His return, but He did say, " This gospel of the king- dom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come." Matt. 24: 14. Here then we have another sign of the end, a sign that all can see; namely, the rapid and unparalleled spread of the gospel. There is in the Scriptures no promise of the world's conversion, nor is there seen upon the horizon any indication of such a change from present conditions; but we do see this gospel of the kingdom encircling the earth and entering all lands, giv- ing everywhere the message, " Behold, the Bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet Him." Reader, are you ready for that great day? This very book placed in your hands may constitute a call from God to you to " prepare to meet thy God." Of that Son Signs of Christ's Soo7i Coming 113 of man whom you must meet in " that day," whom you will behold in all His glory, we read: " Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever: a scepter of right- eousness is the scepter of Thy kingdom. Thou hast loved right- eousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even Thy God, hath anointed Thee with the oil of gladness above Thy fellows." Heb. 1: 8, 9. If we would share with Him in that glory and glad- ness when He comes, we must here and now learn from Him to love righteousness and to hate iniquity. In other words, we must first become partakers of His own di- vine nature ; and this we may do through divine grace. Only waiting till the shadows Are a little longer grown. Only waiting till the glimmer Of the day's last beam is flown, Till the night of death has faded From the heart once full of day, Till the stars of heaven are breaking Through the twilight soft and gray. Waiting for a brighter dwelling Than I ever yet have seen. Where the tree of life is blooming, And the fields are ever green; Waiting for my full redemption. When my Saviour shall restore All that sin has caused to wither On this dreary, mortal shore. — Mrs. Frances L. Mace. THE EVERLASTING KINGDOM OF PEACE 114 The Saints' Eternal Home THE NEXT UNIVERSAL KINGDOM Perhaps enough has been said to impress the reader of these pages that instead of planning for long years of life in this world and for the well-being of future generations of men, believers should themselves be pre- paring and persuading others to prepare for participa- tion in the soon-coming glorious kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ. But there may still be in some minds a question relative to the return of the Jews and the re- establishment of the kingdom of Israel in Palestine, — something which not a few believe must take place be- fore the second coming of our Lord, Let us therefore in this closing chapter study this question, not in the light of preconceived opinions, but in the light of God's Word. As shown in the chapter of this book entitled, " The Nations Fulfilling Prophecy" (page 59), prophecy pre- dicts and history records the rise and fall of four world empires. Prophecy predicts also a fifth great world em- us 116 World Peace pire, which is still future. Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome fulfilled the first prediction. The establish- ment of the fifth great world empire, namely, the king- dom of peace under the blessed rule of Christ the Lord, will fulfil the second prediction. The Fifth World Empire The four great world empires have come and gone. We are living in the divided state of the fourth. The grand climax of the lines of prophecy recorded in the second and seventh chapters of Daniel, the establishment of the everlasting kingdom of peace, is the thrilling event for which we may still look. That the time for the establishment of this kingdom has been almost reached is demonstrated not alone by the prophecies to which we have referred, but by other prophecies and signs which indicate that soon the kingdoms of this world must give place to the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ. The Character of the Kingdom A true understanding of the coming kingdom of Christ and its relation to the return of the Jews to Jerusalem and to the rehabilitation of the ancient city and land of Israel, involves a study of God's original design and purpose regarding the earth and its inhabit- ants. As we trace the unfolding of this purpose as re- vealed in the history of His dealings with His chosen people, we shall find the answer to the questions herein suggested. God's Original Design God's design in the creation of this earth is clearly stated by the prophet Isaiah to be, that it should " be inhabited." Isa. 45 : 18. After the creation, the world was given to mankind as an everlasting abode, this gift carrying with it both The Next Universal Kingdom 117 possession of territory and authority to rule. Gen. 1 : 27, 28; Ps. 115: 16. As a type of what the earth was finally to become, God bestowed upon our first parents the garden of Eden as a home. From this place they were to multiply, and reach out and subdue the whole earth. The continued possession of this home was on condition of obedience. This condition Adam and Eve did not fulfil, and in con- sequence they were driven out from Eden, and became wanderers on the face of the earth. Genesis 3. The terrible fruits of their sin were soon manifest, and Adam's posterity widely departed from God. In conse- quence, the earth was destroyed by a flood of waters. Noah and his family were saved as the progenitors of a new race; but another terrible apostasy followed, re- sulting in the God-defying effort on the plain of Shinar to build a tower which should reach unto heaven. For this their speech was confounded, and they were scat- tered abroad on the face of the earth. God's Purpose Unchanged But notwithstanding this expression of God's dis- pleasure, His purpose to give the earth to a holy people remained unchanged. He saw among earth's multitudes a man in whose heart was a love for right and truth, so He chose Abraham as the father of a new family line, promising that through his seed should all nations of the earth be blessed, and that through this seed Abra- ham himself should come into possession of the land. Gen. 13 : 14-17. This promise included not merely the land of Ca- naan, but the whole world, and was made to Abraham, not through the law of literal descent, but through the righteousness of faith. " The promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith." Rom. 4: 13, 118 World Peace Christ, the Promised Seed While Abraham's seed through whom the promise would be fulfilled was to be his own literal descend- ant, he was to be one who in his own pre-eminent right, through the grace of his righteousness and the merit of his character, possessed the power to make possible the realization of the promise. This was Jesus Christ. The apostle Paul emphatically declares that Christ was the seed through whom the promise was to be fulfilled. Gal. 3 : 16. The Heirs of the Promise This promise to Abraham included all that was em- braced in the gift of this earth to our first parents. It included not alone possession of territory, but also authority to rule. Abraham's seed should possess " the gate of his enemies." Gen. 22 : 16-18. Abraham's literal descendants were counted as par- takers with him only as they entered into the promise through faith in the Seed. In other words, the children of faith in Christ Jesus were counted the children of Abraham, and heirs of the divine promise. " If ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise." Gal. 3: 29. The Meaning of " Israel " This brings us to the consideration of what is meant by the term " Israel." The original meaning of the term is a prince that has power to prevail with God and with men. Gen. 32 : 28. It is a designation of spiritual character, rather than of blood relationship or distinctive nationality, and is so used throughout the Bible. Rom. 2 : 28, 29. And again in Romans 9 : 6-8, the same truth is stated even more clearly and unmis- takably. Referring to the natural branches of the olive tree as the Jewish nation, the apostle says : The Next Universal Kingdom 119 " Because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou [believ- ers from the Gentiles] standest by faith." Rom. 11: 20. In place of these natural branches which were broken off, the Gentile nations were grafted in, and the apostle declares that those who fell by unbelief, the natural branches, " if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be grafted in : for God is able to graft them in again." Verse 23. We must therefore conclude that the promise to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob was made, not to the Jews after the flesh, but to spiritual Israel, embrac- ing in the plan and purpose of God men and women of righteous character of every nationality in every age. Literal Canaan Typical of Heavenly Canaan And throughout the history of Israel this purpose on the part of God was maintained and this idea kept before them. Repeatedly, God promised to bestow not only the land of Canaan but the entire earth upon Abra- ham, Isaac, and Jacob. And when David came into pos- session of literal Palestine, the Lord emphasized anew that this literal possession was only typical of the greater inheritance which He had in store for His people in the future. In the days of his glory the record concerning David is, " The Lord had given him rest round about from all his ene- mies." 2 Sam. 7: 1. The throne and kingdom of Israel had been securely established in the land of Canaan, but even in this time of national prosperity God pointed Israel to another time and another state wherein the fulness of His promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob was to be realized. 2 Sam. 7: 10. At this time the Lord promised to establish David's house in Israel forever: " Thine house and thy kingdom shall be established forever before thee: thy throne shall be established forever." Verse 16. 120 World Peace The analysis of this promise proves it to be identical with the promise made to Abraham. The maintenance of David's throne forever was not to come through an unbroken succession of rulership from father to son, but was to come through the Lord Jesus Christ as the seed of David, the same as Christ was the seed of Abraham. Luke 1 : 32, 33. Had David remained true to God, it is possible that this promise might have been fulfilled to David in an unbroken succession of literal reign on the part of his sons; for the Lord promised that if His people would walk in His ways and keep His commandments, Jeru- salem should stand forever. Jer. 17 : 24, 25. In just what manner this promise would have been fulfilled if David's descendants had remained true to God, is not revealed. We may know only the course of events which did occur, not what might have been. Captivity of the Ten Tribes But Israel rebelled against God, and under Reho- boam's reign the literal descendants of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob were divided into two kingdoms, the history of which throughout was rapidly downward. Few if any redeeming traits of character were pos- sessed by any of the kings of the ten tribes. Finally their iniquity became so great that God sold them into the hands of the Assyrians. They were carried away captive, and Assyrian colonists took their place in the land of Israel. 2 Kings 17 : 6, 24. " I Will Overturn, Overturn, Overturn " Zedekiah was the last of David's literal seed to sit upon the throne of Judah, as king of the two remaining tribes. In his reign, the Lord brought against Judah the armies of Nebuchadnezzar, and the people of this remaining kingdom were carried away captive to Baby- The Next Univeisal Kingdom 121 Ion, as their brethren of the ten tribes had been carried away captive by the Assyrians. See 2 Chron. 36: 11-21. After this dispersion of the twelve tribes among the nations of the East, various efforts were made to gather them again to their own land. Special movements, headed by Ezra, Nehemiah, and others, originated under the reigns of Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes. And under the last-named king these efforts were successful in the partial revival of the Jewish state. But this existed, not as an independent nationality, but wholly as a Persian colony. At the time of the capture of Zedekiah, the Lord, through Ezekiel, pronounced against that prince this sentence : " Thou, profane wicked prince of Israel, whose day is come, when iniquity shall have an end, thus saith the Lord God: Remove the diadem, and take off the crown: this shall not be the same: exalt him that is low, and abase him that is high. I will overturn, overturn, overturn, it: and it shall be no more, until He come whose right it is; and I will give it Him." Eze. 21: 25-27. This scripture indicates that there were to be three overturnings of rulership in this world. When the dia- dem was taken from the head of Zedekiah, the kingdom of Israel and world dominion passed to Nebuchadnezzar. All the kingdoms of the earth were subject to his sov- ereignty. Babylonian rule continued until the kingdom was succeeded by Medo-Persia. This constituted the first overturning, for Judah was already tributary to Babylon when the prophecy was given. The Medo- Persian rule continued until it was succeeded by Grecia. This constituted the second overturning. The passing of world dominion to Rome constituted the third over- turning. The Coming of the Seed The prophecy declares : " It shall be no more, until He come whose right it is; and I will give it Him." 122 World Peace To whom does this refer? It certainly can refer to none other than to the seed of Abraham, who is to possess " the gate of his enemies ; " to the one in David's line who is to perpetuate to all eternity the rule of David upon his throne. This seed of Abraham, this son of David, is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ, and upon Him at His second coming will the kingdom be bestowed. Isaiah utters a beautiful prophecy concerning the rulership and kingdom of Christ in chapter 9:6, 7. Christ, at His first advent, likens Himself to a cer- tain nobleman who " went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return." Luke 19 : 12. The psalmist describes how Christ, the Seed, shall possess the " gate of His enemies." Ps. 2 : 7-9. Time of the Kingdom The bestowal of Christ's kingdom will take place in connection with the last great judgment. The scene is described in Daniel 7 : 9, 10, 13, 14. Turn and read what Zechariah says of the time when Christ shall return to earth to take the kingdom. Zech. 14 : 4-9. The prophet Daniel speaks of this same time, when this earth, peopled with the Israel of God, gathered from every age and clime, becomes the kingdom of the Son of David: " The kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the king- dom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting king- dom, and all dominions shall serve and obey Him." Dan. 7: 27. Abraham Not Disappointed It is to this time that the Israel of God in every age have looked forward. It is the time to which Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob looked for obtaining their possession through the promised Seed. Abraham did not die a The Next Universal Kingdom 123 disappointed man, although, as Stephen declares, God gave him no inheritance in the land of Canaan, " no, not so much as to set his foot on : yet He promised that He would give it to him for a possession." Acts 7 : 5. Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness, for he looked beyond this present evil world for the fulfilment of the promise. To this the apostle Paul bears definite testimonj^ in Hebrews 11:8-10. Nor did the children of faith who counted their de- scent from Abraham feel that God had been untrue to His promise. The record says: " These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and em- braced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth." " But now they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for He hath prepared for them a city." Heb. 11: 13, 16. David also, through faith, grasped the truth that God's promise to him was not of a temporal, but of an eternal inheritance. This appears from this prophecy which the royal psalmist was inspired to write: " My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of My lips. Once have I sworn by My holiness that I will not lie unto David. His seed shall endure forever, and his throne as the sun before Me. It shall be established forever as the moon, and as a faithful witness in heaven." Ps. 89: 3 4-3 7. How is the original promise to receive its fulfilment? Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob have long since passed away. Millions of their literal descendants after the flesh are in their graves. Multitudes of the children of faith have died in hope. David, to whom the promise was so defi- nitely renewed, is dead ; but God's word cannot be broken. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. So far as the carrying out of His promises is concerned, a thousand years are with Him as one day, and one day as a thousand years. Long ages may pass away, but 124 World Peace the promises of God are as much a part of His eternal purpose as if tliey were made but yesterday. Those promises will be fulfilled. They can be fulfilled only by God's bringing- to life again those to whom long ages ago the promises were made. The promises can be fulfilled only as God takes this sin-cursed earth and brings it back to its Edenic beauty, giving it to Abra- ham, and through his Seed to the righteous of every age, as an everlasting possession. And this hope in the resurrection, and in the fulfil- ment of the promises of God through the resurrection, has been the hope of the church in every age. Acts 2 : 29-32. The apostle Paul sets forth the resurrection as the hope of the church. It was for this hope that his work was called in question by the opposers of the gospel (Acts 23:6); and in his defense, before Agrippa the apostle plainly declares that for his faith in the resur- rection of the Lord Jesus was he brought into judgment, — " for the hope of the promise made of God unto our fathers." Acts 26: 6-8. It is through the resurrection from the dead that the gathering of Israel is to take place. Isa. 26: 19. The Valley of Dry Bones This gathering of Israel through the resurrection is graphically portrayed in the thirty-seventh chapter of Ezekiel. The prophet represents himself as walking through a valley of dry bones and witnessing the mani- festation of the divine power in their revival from the dust. Eze. 37: 1-10. We do not need to speculate as to the meaning of this scripture. The following verses afford a very full and complete explanation as to the means by which these dry bones are caused to live, and show that it is through the power of the resurrection. Verses 11-14. The Next Universal Kingdom 125 This work of restoration in the last great day, which is wrought through the power of God in bringing from their graves His children of every age, is represented as the gathering of Israel. He says: "Thus saith the Lord God: Behold, O My people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel." " Behold, I will take the chil- dren of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land." Verses 12, 21. The Throne of David Re-established And when God gathers His people, Israel shall be one, the tribes shall again be reunited, and the throne of David shall be established, and Christ, the Son of David, the Seed of Abraham, shall sit upon that throne. Verses 22-27. God Tabernacles with Men It is worth while to compare the promise in the above scripture, that God's tabernacle shall be among His people, with the following words found in the twenty-first chapter of Revelation: " I heard a great voice out of heaven saying. Behold, the tab- ernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. And He that sat upon the throne said. Behold, I make all things new. And He said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful." Verses o-.5. The prophet Jeremiah, speaking of this glad gather- ing time, declares: " Hear the word of the Lord, O ye nations, and declare it in the isles afar off, and say. He that scattereth Israel will gather him, and keep him, as a shepherd doth his flock. For the Lord hath redeemed Jacob, and ransomed him from the hand of him that was stronger than he. Therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, and shall flow together to the goodness of the Lord, for wheat, and for wine, and for oil, and for the young of 126 World Peace the flock and of the herd: and their soul shall be as a watered garden; and they shall not sorrow any more at all." Jer. 31: 10-12. The Territory of the Kingdom As the power of God brings up from the dead the children of Israel of every age, transforming them from mortality to immortality, from corruption to incorrup- tion (1 Cor. 15:51-55), He prepares for them an in- heritance, eternal and undefiled. This earth is brought back to the same state of beauty and purity and bless- edness it enjoyed when it came forth from the hand of its Creator. Describing the glories of the inheritance, the prophet says: " The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose. It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing: the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the Lord, and the excel- lency of our God. Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees. Say to them that are of a fearful heart. Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompense; He will come and save you. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be un- stopped. Then shall the lame man leap as a hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert." " And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away." Isa. 35: 1-6, 10. The First Dominion Restored To the first Adam was given the first dominion. He lost it through sin. Christ, the second Adam, by the sacrifice of Himself, bought back man from the bondage of Satan, and redeemed the lost inheritance. Rom. 8: 19-23. " Thou, O tower of the flock, the stronghold of the daughter of Zion, unto Thee shall it come, even the first dominion; the kingdom shall come to the daughter of Jerusalem." Micah 4: 8. Through Christ, the Tower of the flock, the eternal purpose of God in peopling this world with a holy race The Next Universal Kingdom 127 will be fulfilled. Through the power of His righteous- ness and the might of His strong arm the gathering of Israel will take place. This is the only gathering to which the Israel of God may look forward today. The literal seed of Abraham may still look for the coming of the Messianic age. Politicians and statesmen may hold out to them the hope of returning national prosperity, and this hope for a little time may meet with partial realization. But the return of a few thousand, or for that matter several million, Jews to Jerusalem will not constitute the grand consummation set before the Israel of God in the Scrip- tures of Truth. The promise of restoration will be ful- filled only when that great multitude which no man can number, gathered from all the nations of the earth, and from every generation, will sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of our God. Matt. 8: 11, 12; Revelation 7. The Eternal Rest Israel after the flesh could not enter into the rest of God because of unbelief. Hebrews 4. Into the eternal rest spiritual Israel will enter when they are gathered from all lands at the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. " In that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and His rest shall be glorious. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set His hand again the second time to recover the remnant of His people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam. and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. He shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall as- semble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth." Isa. 11: 10-12. And the Lord promises that He will no more pull Israel up from the land of their inheritance, but they shall dwell therein forever: 128 World Peace " I will bring again the captivity of My people of Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; thoy shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them. And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, saith the Lord thy God," Amos 9: 14, 15. The Last Gathering Call The gospel message gathering out the Israel of God from among the nations of men will go with special power in the days just preceding the second coming of Christ. Said the Master: " This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come." Matt. 24: 14. The Desire of Ages When the gospel message has accomplished its work and from every nation and people the full number of the Israel of God has been made up, then Christ, the prom- ised Seed, the Desire of the church in every age, will come to take the kingdom. Then shall the kingdoms of this world become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever. Unlike the preceding four world empires, that kingdom will know no end. It will never be marred by the ravages of war nor depopulated by pestilence. Its inhabitants shall never say, I am sick. Peace, eternal peace, joy without one dimming cloud of sorrow, will be the glo- rious heritage of its people. 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