The Future of Europe and Russia's Destiny
Alfred Henry Burton
Table of Contents
Preface by Editor of Fifth Edition
Above forty years ago our attention was called to two pamphlets on the subject of Prophecy, written by Dr. A. H. Burton of London, England. They appeared separately under the respective titles, "The Future of Europe" and "Russia's Destiny." We are convinced that these two brief prophetic surveys rank among the very best that have appeared in print.
Three factors contribute to the value of these brochures and so warrant their reprinting: their brevity, their clarity, and their conservatism.
The past thirty years have witnessed the world's two greatest military struggles. The interval between these two titanic upheavals was but a truce during which nations girded themselves for the great decision of world supremacy. The present chaotic state of world politics leads many to ask, "Whither bound?". Only one Book in the world gives us a definite program of what lies ahead.
Dr. Burton devoted the good part of a lifetime to the study of the prophetic Scriptures. In the two following pamphlets Dr. Burton has assembled, assayed and set forth the basic outlines of God's prophetic program for the nations of the world. Either article can be conveniently read through in an hour. But to get the greatest benefit from them they should be carefully studied along with an open Bible.
The author has avoided the pitfall of so many writers on prophecy by refusing to make emphatic pronouncements about the current events of his day. Hence it is that, as we send the book to the press for its fifth edition, we find it necessary to make only minor deletions from the original edition of fifty years ago.
May we remember in reading prophecy that it is part of the inspired Word and is therefore "profitable." Let us seek reverently to get the blessing from it that our Lord intended when He gave us these portions.
C. H. Brown
Preface to the Sixth Edition
It has been deemed advisable to bring out another edition of The Future of Europe and Russia's Destiny. We are adding a supplement made up chiefly of quotations from the Editor's Column of Christian Truth. These excerpts are added to show that present day trends in Russia's world diplomacy do but substantiate Dr. Burton's clear-cut delineation of her prophetic history. Her attitude in dealing with the other nations in the United Nations' congress is in direct line with what was written sixty-five years ago. It should be easily seen by the way that events are shaping up, that the author of this little volume was truly Spirit-led in his seeking to find out from the Scriptures God's prophetic program. It is when we bring our own ideas into Scripture that we go astray.
"And we have the prophetic word made surer, to which ye do well taking heed (as a lamp shining in an obscure place) until the day dawn and the morning star arise in your hearts: knowing this first, that the scope of no prophecy of scripture is had from its own particular interpretation, for prophecy was not ever uttered by the will of man, but holy men of God spake under the power of the Holy Spirit." 2 Peter 1:19-21; J.N.D. Trans.
J. L. Erisman 1961
The Future of Europe: Politically and Religiously (In the Light of the Holy Scripture)
If apology be needed on the ground of incompetency for such a task as that which is to occupy us in the following pages, none, at any rate, is required on the ground of its interest or importance.
The times in which we live are marked by unrest in every sphere of human life—political, commercial, educational and religious. The recent march of world events has brought a mighty influence to bear upon the destinies of nations, of which it would be impossible to estimate the magnitude, were we left to the mere speculations of the human mind. The waking up of the nations of the Far East with their countless multitudes of inhabitants, must have a vast influence in the Western Hemisphere sooner or later; and this the European powers are rapidly beginning to discover. The construction of the Russo-Chinese railway, coupled with the recent progress of Communism in China to say nothing of the Eastern Question nearer to our doors—of Egypt, Turkey, Armenia, Palestine, etc., and the complications in Central Europe, the constant national and international talk of a United States of Western Europe, all these are indications that a spirit of change and uneasiness is at work amongst men.
Is this state of things merely accidental? or is it the fulfillment of a vast plan long since revealed in the Scriptures of truth? Is there in the Bible such a thing as prophecy? Does that Book, so virulently attacked by some, so prized and loved by others, so shamefully neglected by the mass even by many of those who have learned somewhat of its value—does it, we ask, pretend to speak in certain language of the future of this world? Unquestionably it does.
Some of our readers may be amongst those who allow it to lie unread upon their shelves; they may despise it, and profess to have grown out of that childishness which would give heed to its teaching, but if they will only carefully peruse the following pages, and at the same time read for themselves every passage referred to, we believe that they will come to no other conclusion than that the Book undertakes a marvelous task, and accomplishes it with miraculous perfection and exactitude.
Let the scholars of the world account for it as they may, there it is to be accounted for, that the Book declares centuries beforehand "things for to come," and that these things "come to pass" independently of, nay, in spite of man. This is prophecy; and that much of the Scriptures both of the Old and New Testament are prophetic, is evident to every one who takes the trouble to glance over their pages.
It will be seen that in so writing we address ourselves, not to the believer, but rather to the unbeliever. The former, though he cannot afford to neglect the study of prophecy, except to his own great loss and damage, has learned to trust, value, and love those precious oracles upon other grounds as well. He has believed them, and in believing has received life through Christ's name. He has learned that the Scriptures testify of Christ, from Genesis to Revelation; and, loving Him, he reads with adoring worship, whether the subject be "the sufferings of Christ," or "the glory that should follow" (1 Peter 1:11).
But none can afford to neglect the voice of prophecy, for it is "a light which shineth in a dark place," "whereunto ye do well that ye take heed... until the day dawn." When the day of the fulfillment of the prophetic word arrives, and Christ at His appearing in glory shall shine forth as the Sun of Righteousness upon a slumbering earth, then the whole world will awake; but many, alas! too late. Happy will that man be who has heeded the prophetic word, and walked in its light amidst these, the dark days of Christendom's close!
As reference has been made to this passage in Peter, a few remarks may not be amiss on the last two verses of the chapter (2 Peter 1:20, 21). Those who adhere to the belief that the Church has authority in matters of doctrine and conscience, denounce the reading of the Scriptures by the individual, on the ground that it leads to what they call, "private interpretation"; but this is in nowise the sense of this passage, which may be more easily understood if rendered thus: "Knowing this first, that the scope of no prophecy of the Scripture is to be had by its own isolated interpretation." The prophetic word is one whole, and no single portion can be rightly understood apart from its connection with the whole. Prophecies of old—such for instance, as those of Isaiah and other prophets concerning the Assyrian— have, no doubt, had a partial fulfillment in Sennacherib; but to confine them to Sennacherib would be private, or isolated interpretation. They await their complete fulfillment in a later day; for all has to be understood in connection with God's great plan for the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
But inspiration alone could account for the miracle of revealing centuries beforehand, with exactitude and precision, the very things that were to take place, and even, in some instances, the very name of the man who was to be the instrument of their execution, though he himself had not yet been born; and so it is added that "the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." And need we wonder that God should be able to reveal the future? Is not this the very claim raised by Isaiah the prophet to distinguish the true God from the many idols of the heathen? "Let them [the idols] show the former things, what they be, that we may consider them, and know the latter end of them; or declare us things for to come. Show the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye are gods" (Isa. 41:22, 23).
In the pages that follow we do not attempt to prophesy; all we do is call attention to what God has long since foretold will be the future and the end of Western Europe, both politically and religiously. No one reading such a chapter as Dan. 11, and familiar with the history of Greece after the death of Alexander the Great, can fail to see how accurately every word has been fulfilled up to verse 36 (from this point to the end of the chapter the prophecy awaits fulfillment). So clear is this, that the effort of Porphyry, the heathen writer of the second century, of rationalists at all times, and of the rationalistic "Higher Criticism" of recent years, has been to try and prove that Daniel lived after the events took place, and not before. Let it once be admitted that he lived before, and inspiration alone will account for the miracle. We cannot here discuss the question of the date at which Daniel lived, nor would space admit of an exposition of the arguments of the rationalists on the one hand, and their able refutation on the other; we take our stand upon the words of the Lord Jesus Christ in Matt. 24:15 where He speaks of "Daniel the prophet;" not, be it observed, "Daniel the historian."
Daniel lived before the events, and prophesied of things, some of which have been fulfilled to the letter, others of which are yet to be fulfilled; and just as God inspired Daniel, so did He inspire John, the writer of the Book of Revelation. May ours be the ear attentive to hear His voice, and the heart open to heed His warnings! With these general remarks, we proceed to our immediate subject.
Threefold Division of the Book of Revelation
In order to a right understanding of this or any other portion of the Book of Revelation, it is absolutely necessary to bear in mind the three-fold division of the Book, which is given us in the first chapter. The key to the Book is contained in Rev. 1:19.
John is told to write three things, viz.:
1. "The things which thou hast seen." These are found in the first chapter, and comprise the vision of the Son of Man walking in the midst of the candlesticks.
2. "The things which are." These are found in the second and third chapters, and consist of the history of the professing church upon earth. They are a description of the present church-period, continuing right down to the coming of the Lord.
3. "The things which shall be after these" (not "hereafter"). These commence at Rev. 4:1, and continue to the end of the Book. Compare Rev. 4:1, "Come up hither, and I will show thee things which must be after these" (not "hereafter"). "Hereafter" gives the idea of some indefinite period in the far-distant future; whereas "after these" implies that which immediately follows the things that have gone before.
The distinctively prophetic portion of the Book commences with Rev. 4. No doubt Rev. 2 and 3 are also prophetical in character, though they give us a description of the present church-period from its beginning to its close. They are an outline of church history from the time that John wrote until the coming of the Lord, when the mass of Christless profession shall be spued out of His mouth (Rev. 3:16). We are elsewhere told (1 Thess. 4.; 1 Cor. 15., etc) that when the Lord comes His saints will be "caught up" to meet Him in the air. "The dead in Christ" shall be "raised in glory"; these include not only Christians, or saints of this present church-period, who have died, but also the saints of Old Testament times. The living saints will also be "changed in a moment," and caught up together with the raised ones, in the twinkling of an eye, to be forever with the Lord in glory.
The Twenty-Four Elders
These glorified saints are seen symbolically in the twenty-four elders of Rev. 4, and the after-part of the Book. The number 24 is, no doubt, an allusion to 1 Chron. 24, in which an account of the orders of the Aaronic priesthood is given, arranged under twenty-four chiefs or heads of the priestly families. In Revelation, the glorified saints, as the family of heavenly priests, are seen represented by the twenty-four elders. We need add no more here than that they are a company of "kings and priests" (Rev. 5:9, 10).
The church, then, is seen on earth in Rev. 2 and 3, and in heaven in Rev. 4 and 5.
Consequently, from Rev. 4 onward, all is prophecy of things yet future—not the history of things past, nor description of things present.
Babylon and the Beast of Rev. 17
Two vast earthly systems are yet to become the objects of most terrible judgment on the part of God—the one, political; the other, religious.
No one at all acquainted with the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation can have much doubt as to what is signified by the ten-horned beast of Rev. 13 and 17. It is none other than the Roman Empire.
The "four great beasts" of Dan. 7 are explained to be "four kings, which shall arise out of the earth" (Dan. 7:17). All are agreed that these represent the four great empires that succeeded one another upon the earth after the throne of the Lord was removed from Jerusalem, and power was given into the hands of the Gentiles, viz., the Empires of Babylon, of Medo-Persia, of Grecia, and of Rome.
The last of these four, viz., the Roman, is described as having "ten horns" (Dan. 7:7); these "ten horns" are "ten kings which shall rise" (Dan. 7:24). Can any reader fail to see the point of contact between Dan. 7 and Rev. 17? In this latter chapter the Beast has "ten horns" (Rev. 17:3), and these are explained to be "ten kings," which, even in John's time, had "received no kingdom as yet" (Rev. 17:12).
Furthermore, this fourth beast, with its ten kings, meets its terrible judgment at the coming of the Son of Man. (See, carefully, Dan. 7:9-28). This judgment falls upon it because of its blasphemous and arrogant opposition to God, and its destruction immediately precedes the establishment of the earthly kingdom of the Son of Man. This is plain from Dan. 7; it is also borne out by Rev. 17.
But some might object, "the Roman Empire has passed away, and the kingdom of the Son of Man is not yet established." True, but is the Roman Empire not to re-appear? It is well to remember that the kingdom of the Son of Man of which we speak is not what some call the "kingdom of grace." In this present gospel period, "grace reigns through righteousness" (Rom. 5:21), but by-and-by, during the Millennium, "a King shall reign in righteousness" (Isa. 32:1). The reign of grace was brought in through the atoning work of the Cross; the reign of righteousness will be ushered in by the overwhelming acts of judgment.
The Resuscitated Roman Empire
It is not our purpose in this pamphlet to enlarge upon the subject of the Beast, or Roman Empire, inasmuch as Babylon is that which more immediately engages our attention. We shall touch upon it merely so far as is needed for the elucidation of our subject.
Let none suppose that when speaking of the Roman Empire, the Romanish Church is meant. The Roman Empire is a political system, whereas the Church of Rome is a religious system. If the Roman Empire as a political system has passed away, Rev. 17 teaches us that it is yet to re-appear! It is "the beast that was, and is not, and yet shall be" (not "is").
Not only so, but when it arises it will be energized by Satanic power; for, we are told, "the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority" (Rev. 13:2). In its future form it "shall ascend out of the bottomless pit;" but its future form will be its last, for it shall "go into perdition" (Rev. 17:8). This will be the awful end of the great political system of Western civilization.
Some of our readers, looking at Europe as it now exists, may find it difficult to believe that it will ever be found gathered together into one empire. But when God interferes directly with the affairs of the world, He will carry out quickly what He has long since foretold will be the course of events.
Who would have thought that a young lieutenant a hundred years ago, should have suddenly risen out of comparative obscurity, and in a few short years have had Europe at his feet? We refer, of course, to Napoleon Bonaparte. Is not this a sample of what is yet to be when God's time is ripe?
The Ten Kings
If the beast of Rev. 17 is the Roman Empire, of which we have no manner of doubt, does it describe what it was in the past, or what it will be in the future? Unquestionably, we reply, what it will be in the future. Two cogent reasons lead us to this conclusion. In the first place, there never has been in the past a time when the beast and the ten kings existed together. And, secondly, Rev. 17 describes the judgment and destruction of the Beast and the ten kings at the coming of the Lord. (Compare Rev. 19.)
Some have thought that the ten-horn period describes that state of the empire which followed upon its decline, when hordes of barbarians swept in upon it, and broke it up. But this cannot be, for even supposing that in the past there were ten kings, neither more nor less (which, however, is not the case), these followed upon the destruction of the empire as a whole. But in Rev. 17 the Beast and the ten kings flourish together, at one and the same time. (Rev. 17:12; in Rev. 17:16 we should read, "The ten horns which thou sawest, and the Beast.")
We repeat, there never yet has been a time when the Beast and the ten kings have existed together. Clearly, then, Rev. 17 describes the future, and not the past.
The Roman Empire, then, is to revive; and when it does, it will be energized by Satan. Europe is yet to witness the strange and awful sight of a vast empire in open antagonism against God and all His interests upon this earth.
The Little Horn of Dan. 7
The fourth beast of Dan. 7 is the same as the one we are considering in Rev. 17, namely, the Roman Empire; its final, or ten-horned, condition being especially dwelt on. Without going minutely into the description given of it in this chapter, we may notice the chief characteristics of the little horn:—
1. Great and arrogant self-assertion—"A mouth speaking great things" (Dan. 7:8). It is this very thing which brings it into judgment, and proves its downfall; and not only so, but it brings about the destruction of the Beast itself, when the thrones of judgment shall be set up (Dan. 7:9), and the Ancient of Days shall sit to execute the judgment.
2. Hostility to all that is of God upon the earth—"The same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them" (Dan. 7:21). Some may find a difficulty in understanding who these saints can be, the Lord having before this time taken His people to heaven. But there is no real difficulty. True, the Church will have been "caught up" before the time during which the revived Roman Empire will exercise its sway upon the earth; thus Christians will have been removed (1 Thess. 4). Who, then, are these saints? Not Christians, but Jews. They will be the godly, believing remnant of Israel, who, in the last days, will be persecuted by the Roman Empire and its chief.
3. Blasphemous opposition to God—"He shall speak words against the Most High" (Dan. 7:25). Godlessness is rapidly becoming the prevailing feature of the days in which we live. There is a growing disregard of God and His Word, together with infidelity and blasphemous hostility to all His claims upon men. Immediately after the rapture of the saints, and the removal of the Holy Ghost at the coming of the Lord, this state of things will become accentuated to a terrible extent.
4. Enmity against the saints in heaven—"He shall wear out the saints of the Most High" (Dan. 7:18, 25). All these awful features are likewise given in Rev. 13 as characteristic of the Beast: "He opened his mouth in (1) blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, and His tabernacle, and (2) them that dwell in heaven [i.e. the heavenly saints]; and (3) it was given unto him to make war with the saints [i.e., the earthly saints], and to overcome them," etc. (Rev. 13:6-8).
It is a terribly solemn thought that the Roman Empire of the future, that is, Western Europe, at no very distant date will raise itself up in open and blasphemous opposition against God and all His interests, whether in heaven or on earth!
5. Finally, he will seek to set aside all the Jewish ordinances, which the godly and persecuted remnant will cling to with reverence; and for a period he will succeed, but not forever—"He shall think to change times and laws: and they [i.e., these Jewish times or solemn days, kept by all pious Jews, such as the Passover, Pentecost, etc.] shall be given into his hand, until a time, and times, and the dividing of time [i.e., 3½ times]" (Dan. 7:25). This period is frequently spoken of in Daniel and Revelation, and is variously expressed as a period of 1260 days, 42 months, or the last half-week of Daniel's 70th week. It will last for three and a half years, and will embrace the time of "the great tribulation" of the Jewish remnant. The great tribulation has nothing to do with the church, or Christians; they have the distinct promise that they will be saved out of it (Rev. 3:10).
All this shows us that this "little horn" will at first be openly antagonistic to the Jewish people, though, in the end, for political reasons, he will enter into an alliance with the apostate portion of the nation—"He shall confirm a covenant with the many for one week," i.e., a period of seven years.
"the Prince That Shall Come."
The little horn of Daniel 7 is, we believe, the same as the prince that shall come of Dan. 9:26. "The people of the prince that shall come" are the Romans, who, in the past, under Titus, destroyed the city (Jerusalem) and the sanctuary (the Temple). But that people are to arise again in the future, and they will then have a prince over them who will be possessed of the awful characteristics that we have attempted to enumerate. This prince will be the "little horn" of Dan. 7. He must not be confounded with the Antichrist, who will be reigning in Jerusalem at the same time. These are two distinct individuals, though, doubtless, as we learn from many other scriptures, they will be in close league for the furtherance of the same guilty and blasphemous designs.
The Dwellers Upon Earth
There is yet another awful characteristic of these times (and let the reader remember that they may be very close at hand) mentioned in Rev. 8:8, and it is this: "All that dwell upon the earth shall worship him." The expression, "them that dwell upon the earth," is one that we frequently meet with in the Book of Revelation. It does not simply mean the people that will at that time inhabit the earth, but are a special class of people possessed of this moral character that they dwell upon the earth; they have had the offer of heaven, but have refused it, and have deliberately chosen the earth. It is, we believe, none other than apostate Christendom after the removal of the true Church. It is awful to view the present state of the so-called churches. Many of the clergy and ministers of all denominations have abandoned all belief in the necessity of conversion, many even mock at this vital work of the Spirit of God in the soul, and call it a "mental spasm"; the world, with its Movies, Radio Potpourri, Comic Monthlies and Jute Boxes, and its many entertainments to please the senses and deaden the conscience, has taken possession of Christendom, even now, to an alarming extent. What will it be when every child of God has been taken away, the Spirit of God removed, and the apostasy fully developed! We shudder to think of the times that are at our very doors, and for which the professing church has been preparing herself of late years with appalling rapidity.
Reader, God is now graciously calling souls, by the gospel, "to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ" (2 Thess. 2:14). Have you responded to this invitation so lovingly, so patiently given, or have you chosen the world and its pleasures?
"the Ten Horns... and the Beast."
A remarkable feature of the Roman Empire of the future will be that, while it maintains its unity as an empire, it will embrace ten separate kingdoms, each with its separate king. This, as we have before pointed out, is a phase that has never yet existed. "The ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the Beast" (Rev. 17:12).
Whether the countries of Western Europe (for Russia and Germany must not be included in the Roman Empire) will have the exact limits that they now have, we do not attempt to say. Europe today is in a state of chaos and uneasiness, and many changes might take place in a very brief space of time. But Rev. 17 teaches us that in the hour of the Beast's power there will be ten kings; and yet, strange to say, in spite of all the conflicting interests which the nations of Europe possess today, they will then "have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the Beast" (Rev. 17:13)—not, observe, unto the Lamb! Neither this nor any other portion of Scripture teaches us that the world is to be converted by the present preaching of the gospel; so far from this, these ten kings will all give their power to the Beast—and to what end? "These shall make war with the Lamb" (Rev. 17:14). This, the last great war in which Western Europe will be involved, will take place around Jerusalem (Zech. 14), and will result in the final and complete overthrow of Western Confederation. May the knowledge of these things beforehand keep the people of God from all association with those principles at work today in the bosom of the professing church which tend to foster the spirit of the world in its antagonism to God. "The Lamb shall overcome them: for He is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with Him [i.e., the glorified saints `caught up' at His coming, and who will return with Him when He comes to execute these judgments] are called, and chosen, and faithful" (Rev. 17:14). These are not angels, but saints: though "all the holy angels" will come with Him too, yet they are never spoken of as "called."
It is striking to notice the utter impotence of man. While boasting that he is a free agent, but in enmity against God and His Christ, he nevertheless is carrying out the very purposes of God. God is behind the scenes, and He it is who "hath put in their hearts to fulfill His will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the Beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled" (Rev. 17:17). Never before have the nations of Europe been able to sink their individual interests, and to agree; but under the ten horns they shall do it. And for what purpose?
Babylon the Great.
Though infidelity and blasphemous rebellion against God will characterize Europe politically during the final crisis after the removal of the true church of God, we are not to suppose that all profession of religion will be given up. The Beast, though he will open his mouth in blasphemy against God, etc. (Rev. 13:6), will, nevertheless, be controlled by a power more subtly opposed to God than itself. "I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet-colored beast, full of names of blasphemy [i.e., the beast was], having seven heads and ten horns" (Rev. 17:3).
The attentive reader of the Book cannot fail to have been struck with the similarity of the language in Rev. 17:1, and Rev. 21:9, 10. In each case one of the seven angels which had the seven vials is heard to speak, and to call upon the prophet, in identical terms, to "come hither, and I will show thee," etc.
The Bride, the Lamb's Wife.
In Rev. 21:9, after having given a description of the eternal state (Rev. 21:1-8), the Spirit of God returns to point out in greater detail the character of the glorified saints, and their connection with the millennial earth (Rev. 21:9-27).
"Come hither," cries the angel, "I will show thee the Bride, the Lamb's wife" (Rev. 21:9); this, no doubt, is the true church of God, composed of all real believers in the Lord Jesus Christ from Pentecost to the time when the Lord comes for them according to John 14:2,3, when the raised saints, and the living ones changed, are "caught up" together to meet the Lord in the air, according to 1 Thess. 4:16,17; they will be seen after that "coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband" (Rev. 21:2; see also Col. 3:4).
John is immediately transported in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, from which elevated position he beholds "the holy city, Jerusalem descending out of heaven from God (Rev. 21:10).
It is important to observe that the word "great" is not properly in this verse. "The holy city," not "that great city," etc. Holiness not greatness, is that which characterizes the true church, according to God, whilst human greatness, accompanied by a false pretension to holiness, is a distinguishing feature of that which claims to be the true church, but according to man's thoughts, not God's. Let both reader and writer solemly and prayerfully weigh this striking contrast!
Moreover, this holy city is seen refulgent with the glory of God (Rev. 21:11). Holiness—real, not pretended; glory—divine, not human; and light, the light of the knowledge of God and the Lamb—not the darkness of superstition, characterize the church as seen in glory. Should not the knowledge of these things influence the lives of the people of God now?
We need not further enlarge upon the glorious scene described in chapter 21, interesting as it is; enough has been said to emphasize the contrast between God's church and Satan's anti-church.
The Great Whore.
In similar language to what we have seen in Rev. 21:9, the angel says to John, "Come hither; I will show unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters" (Rev. 17:1).
Let us solemnly consider the moral characteristics of this unchaste woman, and see if there is any real difficulty in applying the prophetic vision.
And first, let it be observed, that Babylon the Great is a religious system, distinct from, though ruling over, the temporal power. This evil woman is seen sitting upon the scarlet-colored beast. The beast is full of names of blasphemy; but openly infidel and blasphemous as this Roman Empire will be, it will not hinder its having with it, or for a time allowing, for its own ends, a religion essentially idolatrous in character.
We would here remind our readers that this portion of the Book of Revelation is distinctly prophetic—all that is found after Rev. 4:1 is yet future. The coming of the Lord into the air to take the Church to glory has taken place at the close of the period described, in Rev. 1:19, as "the things that are." These "things that are," or the present period of God's church upon earth, are found in Rev. 2 and 3.
But when God's church, the true saints, have been removed, Satan's anti-church will take her place here below. Of what will it consist?
Laodicea Spued Out of Christ's Mouth.—
In Rev. 3:14-22 we are informed, in solemn terms, of the future that awaits the empty, Christless profession which surrounds us today. Characterized by lukewarmness and indifference to Christ and His glory (Rev. 3:15 and 16), filled With the spirit of worldliness and self-satisfaction (Rev. 3:17), utterly destitute of what makes up true Christianity according to God (Rev. 3:18)—the professing church is destined, according to Scripture, to be spued out of Christ's mouth as a thing nauseous to Him who is the "Faithful and True Witness." But will any of His own, any true child of God, any real member of the Body of Christ, be thus dealt with? No. In the twinkling of an eye the Lord will descend into the air to take all such to be with Himself where He is (John 14:3). This may take place at any moment.
We cannot close our eyes to the fact that there are multitudes of people who are joined to the so-called churches, and yet have no saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. Nay, more, many clergy and ministers of religion are to be found today who have never experienced for themselves that mighty change called CONVERSION. If the Lord were to come today, and remove His own in the twinkling of an eye, what would become of this mass of profession? This is a serious inquiry, as to which the Word of God leaves us in no manner of darkness; may its solemn revelations on this point sink deep into the heart of both writer and reader!
The Reunion of Christendom.
A movement is on foot today, which might greatly surprise most of its promoters, if not all, to know that it has long since been revealed in the Scriptures of truth. A vast religious system is destined to control the nations of Western Europe after the removal of the true church. This system has received the title of BABYLON THE GREAT, and into this huge fabric of earthly grandeur and human religion will all the so-called churches be merged when every true child of God has been taken away. We solemnly believe that we are now living in the days when this state of things may be said to be at our very doors. We write calmly, and with no excitement. To judge by letters and leading articles, constantly appearing in the daily papers and religious magazines, the reunion of Christendom is not only possible, but extremely probable. To every student of Scripture it is not only possible and probable, but absolutely certain. It is something startlingly indicative of the times to find that it is being seriously discussed from the Pope down to the ministers and members of almost every dissenting body.
We commend to every serious and thoughtful person, a prayerful consideration of Rev. 17, 18 and 19.
What are the special features of Babylon the Great?
1. A religious system essentially of the earth—earthly in origin, associations, and character; she is the Mother of Harlots and Abominations of the earth (Rev. 17:5), the guilty associate and friend of "the kings of the earth" and "the merchants of the earth" (Rev. 18:9,11, etc.), "she will flourish on the earth" and reign over "the kings of the earth" (Rev. 17:18), and "corrupt the earth" (Rev. 19:2), until the moment determined of God has arrived, when she will meet her well-merited judgment.
What a contrast is all this to the true church! Heavenly in origin—"As is the heavenly [One] such are they also that are heavenly" (1 Cor. 15:48). Heavenly in associations—"Our citizenship is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ" (Phil. 3:20). Heavenly in blessings—"Blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places" (Eph. 1:3). Heavenly in destiny, she has "an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven" (1 Peter 1:4). In short, earth characterizes the one, and heaven the other.
2. Another characteristic of this vast religious system is that she seeks and obtains a place of supremacy over the world, in contrast to the true church, which is "subject unto Christ" (Eph. 5:24). The great whore "sitteth upon many waters" (Rev. 17:1), and these are explained to be "peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues" (Rev. 17:15), showing her world-wide influence. She sits upon the Beast, controlling its movements (Rev. 17:3), and "reigneth over the kings of the earth" (Rev. 17:18). Has there ever been in the past a religious system which has exercised such an influence over the nations of Europe? The church of Rome alone has ever had such power; kings have bowed at her feet, and the destinies of nations have been guided by her will.
Supremacy over the nations, and worldly power and influence, are not the marks of the true church of God during the present period of her Lord's rejection. When He reigns she will reign with Him, but that will not be until Christ's return in glory, and after the judgment of the Great Whore, Satan's anti-church (Rev. 19:1-10). The church's portion now is that of suffering with Christ.
3. Further, as union with Christ characterizes the true church of God, so an illicit union with the world marks Babylon the Great, "The kings of the earth have committed fornication with her," etc. (Rev. 17:2). Not only so, but worldliness of every kind is found in and about her; she is "arrayed in purple and scarlet color, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls," etc. (Rev. 17:4).
Babylon the Great is not only a religious, but a vast worldly system, dazzling by her wealth, luxury, and grandeur, the kings and merchants of the earth, and intoxicating the nations by means of her corrupting charms. Let the reader look around him today; let him recall the religious history of Europe during past centuries; then let him say what system of religion has more than any other accorded with the awful description of Babylon the Great in Rev. 17 and 18.
4. Another characteristic of Babylon must not be passed by without a notice. In her hand is a "golden cup full of abominations," etc. (Rev. 17:4); she is also called "the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth" (Rev. 17:5). A reference to 1 Kings 11:5, 7 will show what is the scriptural idea connected with the word abomination:" it is idolatry. What professedly Christian system has mingled with the worship of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, the adoration of Mary (blasphemously called the Mother of God), the veneration of the saints, and the worship of "the Host?"
We are far from asserting that Babylon the Great and the Papacy are interchangeable terms. Babylon the Great is here described as the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth. In the words of another, "Whatever evil thing was used by Satan for the purpose of ensnaring the affections from Christ, whatever idolatrous object took His place, she is the mother of them all. Babylon is the great parent of all the worldly systems, and of the idolatries used by the enemy to draw away souls entirely from the Lord."
And this we do affirm, sorrowfully, yet emphatically, that no system of religion has ever sprung up in the bosom of the professing church which more accurately and more strikingly corresponds to the description here given by the Spirit of God, than does the church of Rome.
To quote from the same writer: "Though we may look for a future development of Babylon, as opposing God's final testimony of the kingdom to all nations before the end comes, yet I think that, even at the present moment, there need be no difficulty in judging where the features of Babylon are found most fully. It is a religious system that governs a number of kings; not an establishment that is at the mercy of the secular government. This is sin; but it is not the wickedness spoken of here. Babylon is an incomparably darker, deeper, and more widespread system of religious corruption—arrogating to itself the name of the Church of God exclusively; setting itself above kings; intriguing with them, but at the same time maintaining its supremacy above them all; stupefying the masses with the poison of her exciting falsehoods; arrayed in all the meretricious splendor of the world; the fountain-head of the worst idolatry under the sun; and, finally, manifesting a spirit of bloodthirsty persecution against the true saints and witnesses of Jesus, under the ursurped pretense of His will and authority.
"There is one that does claim this place; one that takes it as given by God; one whose seat and center are found in the very heart of what was once the Roman Empire—a religious system that affects universal dominion, and that, in order to accomplish it, either wins by every enticing art, or extinguishes all opposition in the blood of heretics so-called, her victims. 'By thy sorceries were all nations deceived. And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth' (Rev. 18:23, 24). For any unprejudiced person who reads this description of Babylon calmly, and asks himself, What is that professing Christian body so abounding in idols, so authoritative over the kings of the earth, so indulgent to the wicked, and so cruel to the righteous? it is impossible not to see the answer.
With these words we are in full accord. While for its complete development Babylon the Great awaits the time when the Lord will have taken His people to heaven, yet today we may see rapid strides made towards her by all the so-called churches of Christendom.
5. The last feature of Babylon the Great that we would draw the reader's attention to, needs but to be named to make its application beyond a question. "I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus" (Rev. 17:6). Intolerance and persecution, even unto death, has always notoriously marked that which so arrogantly claims to be the true church. Let the blood-stained annals of the Inquisition in Spain, with its thousands of tortured victims, and the fires of Smithfield, with its hundreds of martyrs burnt at the stake, speak forth their hideous story; and we can well understand the wonder and amazement which filled the heart of the prophet: "When I saw her I wondered with great wonder" (Rev. 17:6).
Amidst the cry for re-union, so zealously taken up by thoughtless multitudes today, let this terrible feature of Babylon be well weighed by every serious mind. The boast of Rome is that she is always and everywhere the same. This witness is, alas! solemnly and terribly true. It may be said that it is the secular power that has always dealt with the so-called heretics—so-called, for Rome's heretics have ever been the unoffending, and unresisting, the oppressed and persecuted followers of the Lord Jesus Christ; those who, in the face of the fagot and the flame, would not deny their Lord, nor bow in idolatrous worship before the Host—but it is the religious system which is here held guilty by God of all this bloodshed and cruelty. "In her was found the blood of prophets and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth" (Rev. 18:24).
We do not, for a moment, imagine that any warning note of ours can hinder the progress of the evil described under the head of Babylon the Great; but we do most earnestly desire that the drawing of the reader's attention to this, God's revealed plan of the future of Europe, both politically (the Beast) and religiously (Babylon), may have the effect of separating him absolutely and entirely from these evil principles now at work, which will result in the awful spectacle described in Rev. 17 and 18. According to God's Word, infidelity and Romanism are yet to triumph, even though it be but for a little season; and that man must indeed be blind who fails to see in the rationalistic teaching of the now popular "Higher Criticism," and the theological colleges generally, on the one hand, and the persistent efforts of Rome and the ritualistic party on the other—two mighty waves of influence, which, if unchecked, must soon bring about this fearful state of affairs. But will they, or can they, be checked? We believe not. Another extract may be profitably given from the author previously quoted:
"As to the Greek and Oriental Churches, as to the English, Scotch, and other reformed national establishments, they are more or less notoriously subservient to the government which has to do with each of them. This may be, and I believe is, evil. But there are two ways in which a religious system may act contrary to Christ—either by a guilty subjection to the world, or by a still more guilty supremacy over it; in short, by being the world's slave, or the world's mistress. At the present time there is only one religious system which pretends to have kings at its feet, and this is the system of Rome, which, therefore, answers to Babylon. It is a great mistake to suppose that we have done with it, or that its day is over. Rome may yet have a short-lived triumph. Its emissaries are actively engaged all over the world, and the foundations of Protestantism are being undermined everywhere.... There will come a fearful struggle yet; and Rome, as I conceive, will seem to acquire vast influence, and to put down every contrary voice, except the feeble whisper of the few witnesses spoken of here (Rev. 18:4), who either die by her, or come out of her... Wherever Romanism gains the day, infidelity is the necessary consequence; and, therefore, Babylon always prepares the way for the last effort of the Beast against the Lamb. But before the close the Beast gets thoroughly the upper hand, and Babylon becomes food for him and the ten horns" (Rev. 17:16).
If the reader carefully and prayerfully examines these chapters, we believe he can come to no other conclusion than that the church of Rome, more accurately than anything else, corresponds to Babylon the Great; though, on the other hand, the full and complete development of Babylon the Great will not be until the removal of the true Church of God.
"Come Out of Her My People."
But it may be asked, Why does God enter into such detail, in reference to this great system of false religion? Rev. 18:4 supplies us, in part at any rate, with the answer: "And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues." Though this will apply, in a special way, in the last days after the removal of the church of God from this earth, yet we believe a most important principle of action is contained therein for the child of God today. Strictly speaking, there will be no saints within the precincts of Babylon the Great, for she represents Christendom emptied of the people of God at the coming of the Lord; but after the heavenly saints have been taken to heaven, God will still have His earthly saints amongst the Jews and the heathen nations. Oppressed and persecuted they will be; many of them even being martyred, as we have seen, under the Beast (Rev. 13:15). It may be a temptation to them to seek some relief from their enemies by some sort of association with Babylon, but they are warned to have no connection with that vast worldly religious system, so attractive to man, but so abhorrent to God.
Now, though Babylon the Great, in all its awful and full-blown wickedness, awaits the period after the removal of the church for its complete development, yet sufficient of the spirit of Babylon now exists to give this exhortation a very real application: "Come out of her, my people." Wherever the spirit of Babylon is detected, the child of God is called upon to walk in complete separation therefrom.
Babylon's Doom.
The doom of Babylon is terrible. In the hour of her greatest prosperity God's judgment falls upon her. All seems secure: she has gathered around herself all the influence of the world, and all the commercial prosperity of the earth. "She saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow. Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her. And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning, standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! For in one hour is thy judgment come. And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more: the merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble, and cinnamon, and odors, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves [or bodies] and souls of men.
"And the fruits that thy soul lusted after are departed from thee, and all things which were dainty and goodly are departed from thee, and thou shalt find them no more at all. The merchants of these things which were made rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing, and saying, Alas, alas, that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls! For in one hour so great riches is come to naught. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off, and cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like unto this great city! And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas, that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! For in one hour is she made desolate.
"Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her. And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all. And the voice of harpers, and musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in thee; and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft he be, shall be found any more in thee; and the sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all in thee; and the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee; for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived. And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth" (Rev. 18:7-24).
This, then, according to the Word of God, is the end of that vast system of worldly religion which today is rapidly heading up into Babylon the Great. May every Christian reader have the eye annointed by God's Spirit, so as to be able to discern each symptom of it, wherever it is found.
Cardinal Manning on Reunion.
The Reunion of Christendom, we believe, is near at hand; but that reunion means, in the words of Cardinal Manning, "submission to the living authority of the Vicar of Jesus Christ," words which were re-echoed by Cardinal Vaughan more recently, and which may well cause ears to tingle—"Reunion means submission to infallible authority."
That the reader may form some idea of the persistent and stupendous efforts on the part of Rome to bring about that very state of things described in Rev. 17, viz., absolute supremacy over the nations of Europe, we would quote again from the pen of the late Cardinal Manning:
"If ever there was a land in which work was to be done, and perhaps much to suffer, it is here [England]. I shall not say too much if I say that we have to subjugate and subdue, to conquer and rule, an imperial race... Were heresy conquered in England, it would be conquered throughout the world. All its lines meet here; and therefore in England the church of God [Rome! must be gathered in its strength."
And again, "This nineteenth century will make a great epoch in the history of the church... It is good for us to be here in England. It is yours, Right Reverend Fathers, to subjugate and subdue, to bend and to break the will of an imperial race; the will which, as of Rome of old, rules over nations and peoples, invincible and inflexible.... You have a great commission to fulfill, and great is the prize for which you strive. Surely a soldier's eye and a soldier's heart would choose, by intuition, this field of England for the warfare of the faith. None ampler or nobler could be found.... It is the head of Protestantism; the center of its movements, and the stronghold of its powers. Weakened in England, it is paralyzed everywhere. Conquered in England, it is conquered throughout the world. Once overthrown here, all is but a war of detail. All the roads of the whole world meet in one point; and, this point reached, the whole world is opened to the church's will. England is the key of the whole position of modern error."
This, then, is the avowed end and aim of Rome—the whole world is to be "OPEN TO THE CHURCH'S WILL"—an awful sentence indeed, strikingly suggestive of the woman "sitting upon" the scarlet-colored beast. Some may be disposed to smile at the bare supposition of such a thing—they may consider it impossible. Scripture asserts that it is inevitable. But will it last? The same Scriptures assure us that it will not.
Ecclesiastical tyranny of such a sort will soon become insupportable, and the kings of the earth who, for purposes of their own, will for a time have put up with it, will rise in revolt and cast off the oppressive yoke—"The ten horns which thou sawest and the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. For God hath put in their hearts to fulfill His will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled" (Rev. 17:16, 17).
The openly infidel and blasphemous power of the beast will, in the end, overthrow the tyranny of this corrupt and iniquitous system of worldly religion, which, by reason of the attractions of its wealth, luxury and fleshly corruptions on the one hand, and by its terrorism over heart and conscience, its cruelty, and relentless persecution on the other, will have obtained the widespread and unendurable dominion which it strives for today, and which it is destined to obtain for a brief season.
Let no Christian, however much he may abhor the iniquity of Babylon the Great (and rightly so), be tempted to take up the weapons of the world to destroy her. The time for her destruction is not yet, nor when that time comes will the instruments of her destruction be such as love and worship the Father and the Son. "Come out of her, my people," is the path for faith to tread at all times; and again we urge, with all the earnestness at our disposal, the bounden duty and the solemn responsibility that rests upon every true Christian to separate himself absolutely, and entirely, yea, and immediately, from all association with that mixture of worldliness and religion which abounds today, which increases every day, which is attractive to man and abhorrent to God, and which is designed by the god of this world to obliterate the line of demarkation, and raze to its foundation the wall of partition which God has placed between Himself and the world—"Know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God" (James 4:4).
And what shall we say of the sacred concerts, the theatricals, the musical evenings and dancing parties, the bazaars, and all the host of worldly entertainments got up today by the so-called churches? It is the spirit of Babylon the Great, and it is of this that the heavenly voice has been heard to say, all down the ages of the church's history on this earth, but with all the greater emphasis now that the outlines of Babylon are becoming so much more clearly visible—"Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partaker of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues."
The worldly principle that "union is strength" is rapidly gaining ground today, and is being used as a mighty engine to accomplish the schemes of men; but few are aware how this principle works when combined with religion.
That the reader may form some idea of it, we quote from one who is, perhaps, better fitted than most to describe it, having once himself been a tool in the hands of the Papacy, and well acquainted with all its workings, but eventually emancipated from its thraldom:
"The Church of Rome is, in fact, not a body of theological doctrine or belief, but a huge and intricate system of government. It is an empire; it is an absolute monarchy, with its College of Cardinals or Privy Councilors—a monarchy which rules not only by means of force, and which governs not only the bodies and outward actions of its subjects, but which rules the conscience by means of spiritual terrors, and insures the most abject obedience by means of superstitious feelings. As a study of the Syllabus of December 8, 1864, will show, the Papal Government is a conspiracy of the subtlest and best informed minds, against the fortunes and liberties of mankind. It has agents in every land and every nation: for every priest, every monk, every nun, every member of a religious confraternity, is an agent of that Government. And every one of these—the whole body, indeed, of the Romanists—move as one army, in accordance with the orders from the Vatican. By all the allurements of sense; by the feigned terrors of the unseen world; by artifices nicely calculated on an intimate acquaintance with each man's idiosyncrasies, tendencies, antecedents, and present frame of mind; by the power acquired through the knowledge of some secret crime; by enticing young persons of mark to commit themselves, in perpetrating some disgraceful act, so that their fair name and fame, their honor and their liberties, are placed in the hands of the agents of Rome; by memories of the past, and poignant stings of remorse; by offers of preferment, office, glory and fame, with assurances of safety and secrecy in exchange for services rendered clandestinely to Rome—by all these means, and many others, the Vatican is ever increasing in every land its body of adherents, who must implicitly obey, while they hate her. Nor can honor or patriotism, or even family affection, intervene. Conscience is goaded, and oaths compel them to discard the laws and the welfare of their nation, with the love of kindred, the entreaties of a wife, the paternal instincts of a father for his children, in order to submit to and obey the mandates of the Pope.
"The system of the Church of Rome is a wonderful mechanism. Its center is the Pope. Yet it is independent of the Pope. Many a Pope has been a dotard; very many have been debauchees. Yet the machine works on, irrespectively of his idiosyncrasies. It is the Cabinet, the Privy Council, the College of Cardinals that governs. That body never dies. One old man and another falls away, like a sere and yellow leaf, but the tree remains; the traditions and the knowledge of centuries are still there. The records of the past are added to the daily experience of the present; and that experience is being ever gathered in every corner of the earth, wherever there is a priest or a missioner. From every race, from every land, from every people, nay, from every family, there stretches a telegraphic wire of secret intelligence to the central station of the Vatican.
"There the intelligence is used by free minds, who are destitute of family, without all the affections which are natural to man, without a country or a home, without patriotism; without restraint of obligations, oaths, moral principles or divine laws, because the word of the Pope is supposed to tear those holy fetters away as gossamer webs, and priestly absolution is held to wash out even the slightest taint of sin. That is right which is done to advance the power of the Pope. That is true which the Pope may please to assert ex cathedra. That which favors the interest of the church is good. Even crime is commendable, if it be done for the church.
"Coleridge said that there are two kinds of strong persons, who must always prevail over men that vary in their aims, and sometimes move in one direction and sometimes in another: he is strong who acts always in accordance with the will of God, and allows no consideration, no passion, and no interest to make him deviate from the path of rectitude and simple justice; and he, too, is strong who puts before himself one end, to which he constantly aims without swerving to one side or the other, allowing no consideration of right and wrong, no soft or benevolent feeling, no passion, no natural affection to intervene or deter. Forti nihil difficile. (To the strong nothing is difficult.) The latter succeeds in this world; the former lives for eternity. Hence the success, for centuries, of the Vatican. Emperors have resisted, and fallen. Ministers have framed their policies to curb the pretensions of the Pope, and have been overcome. The devices of Premiers are weak in opposition to the intrigues of the Curia,. The advance of the Papacy has always been as the advance of the plague—irresistible, unsparing, remorseless, and deadly. Its myriads of secret agents overmatch armies and dispose of their generals. Its purposes are 'fathomless as the sea, and silent as the grave.' Its action is in every state, setting nation to hamper nation, and exciting one statesman against another; breaking up, dividing, crumbling its enemies; while its own party is always united, conspiring everywhere towards one object. It will triumph until the great hour for the doom of the harlot, which sits upon the nations of the earth, has struck."
The Marriage of the Lamb.
The downfall of Babylon, while producing lamentations on earth amidst those who will have enriched themselves by reason of the worldliness which she will gather around herself, will be celebrated in heaven with rejoicing (Rev. 19:1-3). Two great events take place just before the appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ in glory—one on earth, the other in heaven. On earth, the judgment of "the great whore"; in heaven, "the marriage of the Lamb." Satan's anti-church will meet her well-merited doom upon earth, for "true and righteous are His judgments" who will avenge "the blood of His servants at her hand" (Rev. 19:2); and in heaven, the true church, the Bride, the Lamb's wife, will be presented to Christ, all-glorious in His eyes, "without spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing." (Eph. 5:27).—With which will the reader's destiny be bound up?
The judgment of the false church having been executed upon the earth, the Beast and the ten kings having been the instruments which God used to carry it out (Rev. 17:16), the prophet now sees in his vision the heavens opened. The hour has now arrived for the judgment of this arrogant and blasphemous power which had controlled the actions of Western Europe; and Scripture clearly informs us why, when, where, and by whom, this judgment will be executed.
The Overthrow of the Beast.
As we purpose in another pamphlet to take up this subject, we shall not here do more than point out for the reader's own study several passages of the Word of God bearing upon this solemn matter.
"I beheld then, because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake: I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame" (Dan. 7:11).
Infidelity, of which the little horn will be the champion, no less than that worldly and tyrannical system of false religion portrayed by Babylon the Great, will soon meet with God's terrible and overwhelming judgment.
O reader, beware of being connected with either one or the other! Let the little horn "speak great words against the Most High," yet "the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end" (Dan. 7:26). This passage then shows us why the Roman Empire of the future will be destroyed, namely, because of its blasphemous arrogance and godlessness; and there is far more of this kind of thing in the world even now than many of our readers are aware. One thing is certain, that there is a growing disregard of God and His claims, and an alarming increase of infidelity. Scripture has long since foretold that this will all come to a head in the days of the Beast, who "shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition" Rev. 17:8), for "God is not mocked."
Heaven is opened, and forth comes the Lord Jesus Christ, followed by the armies of heaven. The language here, we need hardly say, is figurative, but it is descriptive of a warrior-judgment (Rev. 19:11, etc.).
The Beast and the kings of the earth, not content with speaking great words against the Most High, are now found bringing their godlessness to a climax, and gathering their armies together against Christ and His armies. All the armies of the West will at the end combine against the KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.
Oh, fearful conflict! "The beast was taken and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him.... These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone" (Rev. 19:20).
Awful doom! Taken in the very act of insolent insurrection against Christ, they are cast down to hell without even the necessity of a formal judgment. They are cast there alive—terrible contrast to those saints who will be caught up to heaven, without dying, at the coming of the Lord to receive His people to Himself! (1 Thess. 4:13 to end.)
This will be the doom of the two leaders in this fearful war. As for the armies that follow them, they will be "slain with the sword of Him that sat upon the horse" (Rev. 19:21), to rise again and stand before the great white throne, and be judged according to their works.
The Eastern Question.
And where will this conflict take place? For some time past the eyes of all Europe have been turned to the East. The remarkable movement in connection with the Jews, the Egyptian Question, the difficulties as to Armenia and Turkey—all these are so many lines converging to one central spot—to JERUSALEM. It is there that God has decreed He "will gather all nations to battle" (Zech. 14:2).
We shall not further enlarge upon this subject here; enough has been said to show that the great Western confederacy of European nations, according to God's Word, is doomed to be destroyed when gathered together to battle at Jerusalem; that the Lord Jesus Christ will suddenly appear in Mount Zion as the Redeemer and Deliverer of His oppressed people, the godly and believing remnant of Israel (Isa. 9:20). "It shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon Me whom they have pierced" (Zech. 12:9, 10).
The Future of Russia.
This brief survey of the future of Europe, as revealed in Scripture, would be incomplete without an allusion to another great Power, which, even in our own time, is advancing with rapid strides, and is destined to meet its judgment after the great Western confederacy of nations has been overwhelmed at Jerusalem. We have already pointed out that Russia formed no part of the Roman Empire, nor will she in the end. Scripture has clearly revealed that there will be at the close a mighty power, typified by the Assyrian of the past, and denominated "the King of the North" in Dan. 11. He will be called "King of the North," because he will occupy a position geographically north of the land of Palestine. This King of the North will occupy the territory now known as Turkey in Asia. A full account of him is given in Dan. 8; he is the "little horn" that will arise out of one of the four divisions of the great Grecian Empire (Dan. 8:8, 9, 22 to end). We merely allude to this personage now, as we are devoting more attention to this part of the subject in the second part of our book. But let the reader observe that though the power of the King of the North shall "in the latter time" be mighty, yet it is said "not by his own power" (Dan. 8:24). Some other great nation will be at his back: this we believe to be none other than Russia.
Some of our readers may not be aware that the Word of God speaks of the future of, and the end of, Russia, in no uncertain manner. She is even mentioned by name, or, at least, in such terms as leaves no reasonable doubt that Russia is meant. In Ezek. 38 we are told of a great northern Power who shall come in the latter days from its place in the north parts (i.e., north of Palestine, for God's thoughts are centered upon that land), and many peoples along with it. Their numbers are so great that it is likened to a cloud covering the land (Ezek. 38:14-16). This will be the great gathering of the eastern and northern nations against Jerusalem, after the destruction of the Western confederacy described above. "Son of Man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal, and prophesy against him" (Ezek. 38:2). The reading here given is now pretty generally acknowledged to be correct; and few would find any difficulty in recognizing in these scriptural terms names well known today as Russia (Rosh), Moscow (Meshech), and Tobolsk (Tubal).
No European Power is occupying itself today more busily than Russia in the affairs of the Far East. A careful study of Ezek. 38 and 39, and of Dan. 8 and 11, will give a clearer insight than anything else into the affairs of Russia and the Far East, and the destinies of these nations in connection with the final struggle between rebellious man and a long-suffering though righteous God.
"Be wise now, therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth: serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and ye perish from the way, when His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in Him" (Psa. 2:10-12).
And now, reader, a parting word with you. The day of grace is nearing its end. The coming of the Lord draweth nigh. What foundation are you on? Nothing but the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ can atone for sin; have you trusted it? Can you take up the redemption song, "Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and His Father; to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen"? (Rev. 1:5). If so, you will share in that glorious scene when the Lamb comes forth from heaven and by His side will be His royal Bride, the sharer of His joy, His triumph and His glory, and that forever and forever! If we suffer with Him now, we shall reign with Him then.
"Lord of glory, we adore Thee!
Christ of God, ascended high!
Heart and soul we bow before Thee,
Glorious now beyond the sky:
Thee we worship,
Thee we praise—
Excellent in all Thy ways.
"Anointed King, with glory crowned,
Rightful heir and Lord of all!
Once rejected, scorned, disowned,
E'en by those Thou cam'st to call:
Thee we honor,
Thee adore—
Glorious now and evermore.
"Royal robes shall soon invest Thee,
Royal splendors crown Thy brow;
Christ of God, our souls confess Thee
King and Sovereign even now!
Thee we reverence,
Thee obey-
Own Thee Lord and Christ alway."
Russia's Destiny in the Light of Prophecy
Palestine: Prophetic Center of the Earth.
The events now transpiring around us in the political world cannot fail to awaken an interest in every thoughtful mind. We are living in critical times, and the eyes of nations are necessarily turned to the East.
We cannot too strongly impress upon the reader that Palestine is the prophetic center of the earth. Prophecy has to do with the earth, and the destiny of all the nations of the earth is in connection with the nation of Israel; for "when the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when He separated the sons of Adam, He set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel. For the Lord's portion is His people; Jacob is the lot of His inheritance." (Deut. 32:8, 9).
Scattered to the winds, and dispersed amongst all the countries of the world, as the Jews have been and are—down-trodden, despised, oppressed, and persecuted as they have been, and, to a great extent, still are—nevertheless they exist today a standing and living witness to the truth of God's Word, who is pledged to fulfill the promises made unto the (Jewish) fathers.
Those promises are yet to be fulfilled, for "it is impossible for God to lie," and if "blindness in part is happened to Israel," it is only "until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in," and then "all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob." (Rom. 11:25, 26.)
The affairs of the Jews, then, and matters concerning the land of Palestine, are the key to the Eastern problem, and the destinies of nations can alone be learned in connection with that land and people. The Jewish people—and by this term we include the ten tribes now lost, but soon to be gathered again—are the earthly people of God, and none can meddle or injuriously treat them except at their own peril. Heavy judgments at the hand of God, "the God of Israel," will be poured upon those nations that more immediately concern themselves in their affairs, according to the words of the prophet, which are yet to be fulfilled: "Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem. And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces," etc. (Zech. 12:2-9.)
Russia and Palestine.
In a very special way, we believe, will Russia's destiny be bound up with the future history of Palestine and the Jews. It is clear, from Scripture, that in the last days of this world's struggle, immediately preceding the millennial reign of Christ, a great northeastern power will be in existence, and that this power will be the last to be dealt with on the mountains of Judea after that Israel is dwelling safely in the land of Palestine. (See Ezek. chaps. 38 and 39.)
In the following pages we purpose examining the various prophetic scriptures that speak of this power, convinced that we are bordering on the times when these things, long since foretold, are about to be accomplished.
Thy the Jews Are Scattered.
Our readers are no doubt familiar with the history of the Jewish people as presented to us in the Books of Kings and Chronicles —a history of departure from Jehovah their God, and declension from the beginning to the end. In the palmy days of Solomon's reign the throne of the Lord had been at Jerusalem (1 Chron. 29:23), and though, after that, the Lord bore with much patience the idolatry and iniquities of Israel and Judah, the time at length arrived when their rebellion and apostasy from Jehovah reached a climax, and in the days of Zedekiah (B. C. 610) large numbers were carried captive into Babylon. "Zedekiah ... did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord his God, and humbled not himself before Jeremiah the prophet speaking from the mouth of the Lord... Moreover, all the chief of the priests, and the people, transgressed very much after all the abominations of the heathen; and polluted the house of the Lord which He had hallowed in Jerusalem.... They mocked the messengers of God, and despised His words, and misused His prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against His people, till there was no remedy. Therefore He brought upon them the king of the Chaldees, who slew their young men with the sword.... He gave them all into his hand. And all the vessels of the house of God... all these he brought to Babylon. And they burnt the house of God," etc. (2 Chron. 36:11-22.) From this point the throne of the Lord was removed from Jerusalem, and power was committed to the hands of the Gentiles.
The Times of the Gentiles.
The times of the Gentiles (Luke 21:24) commenced at the Babylonish captivity, in the days of Nebuchadnezzar, when God wrote upon His people the solemn word, Loammi—"not my people" (Hos. 1:9); and that sentence will remain upon them until the time of their glorious restoration to their own land, under their own Messiah, still rejected, but ere long to be recognized by them as the One "whom they have pierced." (Zech. 12:10.)
It will greatly assist the reader to remember that it is these "times of the Gentiles" that are described in the Book of Daniel, starting with Nebuchadnezzar and terminating with the coming of the Son of Man in glory, when the last of the Gentile powers, risen up in blasphemous rebellion against God, shall have its dominion taken away, to give place to the everlasting kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ. The great image of Dan. 2 presents to us the course of these Gentile empires as one whole, rather than in their separate or successional form.
We shall not here enter into any detailed exposition of this interesting passage. We merely refer to it now to point out that it represents to us as one whole the four great Gentile empires that were to exist upon the earth—that terrible "man of the earth" which is destined no more to oppress. (Psa. 10:18). The four parts of the image represent the four great Gentile kingdoms—Babylonian, Medo-Persian, Grecian and Roman. But there is also a fifth kingdom, represented by the "little stone." We must not imagine that this little stone falling upon the toes of the image and breaking the whole image to pieces is a description of the kingdom of grace. Far from this; it is the coming of Christ in judgment who will smite the image and establish in its stead His own kingdom of righteousness upon the earth, when He will "reign from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth." A glorious prospect indeed, but one which can be realized only when the terrible judgments of the Lord have removed "out of His kingdom all things that offend," etc. (Matt. 13:41.)
In Dan. 7 the same Empires are described, but in their separate and successional form—one replacing the other. While this is so, and though each succeeds the former as an empire, we are not to suppose that any of the nations that compose these different empires cease to exist. A verse in this very chapter (Dan 7:12) shows that during the time that the fourth Beast (i. e., the Roman Empire) flourishes, the lives of the others are prolonged; and from other parts of the prophetic word we learn that they are yet to be dealt with in the judgments that will fall upon the livings nations, in the final crisis of this world's history.
Revival of the Roman Empire.
We have elsewhere shown that the Roman Empire is yet to revive. Whatever men may think or say to the contrary, the Word of God upon this point is clear. "The Beast that was, and is not, and shall be" (Rev. 17:8), is none other than the fourth Beast of Dan. 7, or, in other words, the Roman Empire, which WAS in the days of our Lord, which IS NOT today, but which SHALL ASCEND out of the bottomless pit prior to the coming of the Lord in judgment, when it shall "go into perdition"—awful doom! This Roman Empire will be the great Western confederacy of the European nations. In its last form it will consist of ten kingdoms, which, contrary to all precedent, will agree together and unite under one common head, the little horn" of Dan. 7. Proof of all this has been given in The Future of Europe. We allude to it again in order to emphasize the thought that the chief of the Roman Empire is not the Antichrist. Many have thought it, and still do, but we are persuaded that it is not so. The Antichrist will be the false King of the Jews who will be reigning at Jerusalem-of whom our Lord Jesus spoke in saying: "I am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not; if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive" (John 5:43), whereas the chief of the revived Roman Empire will be located at Rome, the city of the seven hills. (Rev. 17:9.)
Nor must the Roman Empire be confounded with the Romish Church. The Roman Empire will be a political system, gathered under one imperial head; this is clear from a careful study of Dan. 7 and 9, and Rev. 13 and 17. There will also be an ecclesiastical system, which at first will control the Beast or Roman Empire, but which at length will be rendered desolate by the ten kings of Western Europe, confederate under the Beast.
Present Period a Parenthesis.
Let it be distinctly remembered that we are now writing about events that will take place after the coming of our Lord into the air to remove His true Church from the scene where all the judgments detailed in the prophetic scriptures are to take place. Every believer in Christ will be "caught up" in the twinkling of an eye "to meet the Lord in the air," and so to be forever with Him. After that, and not until then, will prophecy, strictly speaking, begin to be fulfilled. Meanwhile the student of Scripture, observant of the state of things around him both politically and religiously, may discern rapid strides being taken in the direction of preparation for the accomplishment of God's revealed plan; but prophecy itself has to do not with the Church, but with Israel and the nations of Christendom and the earth at large.
Prophecy has to do with the earth, and not with heaven: the Church belongs to heaven, and not to the earth; far-reaching principles of practice are contained in this simple truth, ignored by so many in the present day. This day of grace, during which God is gathering out from all nations of the earth the members of Christ's body—the Church, which is to share Christ's heavenly glory and to reign with Him over the nations, and to appear with Him in glory when He comes in judgment—this day of grace began at the Cross, and will end at the coming of the Lord into the air for His saints. (1 Thess. 4:13 to end.) This period is entirely outside all question of dates; it is a parenthesis in God's dealings with the earth; during it prophetic time is not reckoned.
Seventy Weeks of Daniel.
The seventy weeks of Daniel's prophecy were interrupted after the rejection of Messiah at the end of the sixty-ninth week (Dan. 9:24-27); then comes the present long parenthesis of already more than 1800 years, to be followed by the last or seventieth week (i.e., seven years) after the removal of the Church.
It is during this last week of seven years that the Beast or Roman Empire will exercise its blasphemous and wicked sway. For further and fuller details on this subject we refer the interested reader to The Future of Europe, etc.
We have before observed that all the nations composing each of the four great Gentile powers, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome, are yet to come up for judgment in the end; Ezekiel and the minor prophets leave no room for doubt on this point to any mind subject to the Word of God. But, while this is so, those amongst them that are more closely concerned in the future of Israel receive special notice.
For this reason it is that so much is said both in Daniel and Revelation on the subject of the resuscitated Roman Empire. But not only is this, the fourth, Beast to revive, but the third, or Grecian, will likewise have its representative in the last conflict of the nations with the Lord Jesus Christ. Indeed, this representative of the Grecian Empire, according to prophecy, will meet his doom after the destruction of the Beast (or Roman Empire) and the false prophet (or Antichrist), described in Rev. 19.
The King of the North.
It is with this third Beast of Dan. 7 that Russia's destiny is concerned. Russia will be the supporter of the last "King of the North" (Dan. 11), who will be the representative of the Grecian (or third) Empire in the last days—days which we believe are near at hand. It is plain from Scripture that the policy of these two powers ("the Beast" and "the King of the North") will be distinctly opposed the one to the other.
Turning to Dan. 8 we find that the first three of the four Gentile Empires are menioned. It is during the reign of Belshazzar, King of Babylon, that Daniel wrote. The Ram is explained to represent "the Kings of Media and Persia" (Dan. 8:20); and the He-goat is "the King of Grecia" (Dan. 8:21). Thus we have Babylon, Medo-Persia, and Grecia.
Deeply interesting as this chapter is, we cannot do more than point out one or two matters in connection with the He-goat. The Spirit of God in this chapter, as well as in Dan. 11, inspired the prophet to describe, in brief but striking language, the course of events three hundred years before they took place. Any one acquainted with the history of the Grecian Empire during and after the times of Alexander the Great, cannot fail to be struck with the perfect accuracy of the brief outline given by Daniel: yet Daniel lived and wrote about three centuries before Alexander's time. Can any external evidence of inspiration be more complete? A mere scholar, apart from any appreciation of the spiritual power of the Word of God upon heart and conscience, must be struck with this.
There can be no doubt that "the great horn" (Dan. 8:4-9) typifies Alexander the Great, who was the first King of the Grecian Empire, and who led his victorious armies against the realm of Persia; indeed, Dan. 8:21 puts this beyond question. Prophecy here informs us of certain facts that history confirms, namely, that on the death of Alexander his kingdom was split up into four parts (Dan. 8:8), and that out of one of these parts "a little horn" should arise. (Dan. 8:9.)
This little horn must not be confounded with the little horn of the previous chapter. In Dan. 7 the little horn proceeds from the fourth or Roman Empire, whereas here the little horn springs from the third or Grecian Empire. Just as there will be at the close a representative of the Roman, so also will there be one of the Grecian Empire; but they are not the same.
Prophecy makes known to us that three awful individuals are to arise, and that each one of them shall play a most important part in the future and closing scenes of this world's history, before the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ as the Son of Man in judgment. These are (1) the Antichrist, (2) the chief of the Roman Empire, and (3) the King of the North. Let the reader carefully bear in mind the difference between the coming of the Lord to remove His saints in the twinkling of an eye, and His return with them in manifested glory; it is the latter of these two which is spoken of as the coming of the Son of Man." We are now writing about the events which will take place upon the earth between His coming into the air for His people (1 Thess. 4) and His coming to the earth with His people. (2 Thess. 1 and 2; Zech. 14, etc.)
But let not the study of prophecy, interesting and important as it is, dim the hope of Christ's coming for the Church! He might come this very day; the Church will be removed before the earth becomes the scene of the desolating judgments which the prophetic word so solemnly and plainly describes.
Reader, we are living in serious days. The people now alive may, with their own eyes, see the things take place of which we are now treating. Are you a part of that blood-redeemed company that will be "caught up to meet the Lord in the air," or a part of that Christ-rejecting and Gospel-refusing world, that shall witness the awful events that will follow upon the earth?
The Little Horn of Dan. 8.
Having already written of the Antichrist and the chief of the Roman Empire, we shall now pass to the third great prophetic character, viz., the King of the North. The "little horn" of Dan. 8 is said to wax "exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the pleasant land." (Dan. 8:9.) "The pleasant land," we need hardly say, is the land of Palestine; and how beautiful it is to see the faith of Daniel rising above all the desolation and ruin of that land, resulting from the failure of the people of Israel, and speaking of it according to God's estimation thereof. He entered into the spirit of those words, "The Lord thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills; a land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig trees, and pomegranates," etc. "A land which the Lord thy God careth for: the eyes of the Lord thy God are always upon it from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year." (Deut. 8:7-9; 11:12). Though at the time at which Daniel wrote Palestine had been desolated, the temple defiled, and large numbers of the people deported to heathen lands, yet to faith it was still "the pleasant land."
This little horn was to arise from one of the four divisions of Alexander's kingdom. History and prophecy are here in perfect accord. History tells us that after his death his kingdom was divided amongst four of his generals, not his sons. Daniel, writing by inspiration three centuries before, tells us that "four notable horns" (Dan. 8:8) came up in place of the one great horn (Alexander); and, further (Dan11:3, 4), that upon the breaking up of this kingdom of the "mighty king" it should be divided towards the four winds of heaven, but "not to his posterity," that is, not to his sons.
Two of these divisions came into special conflict with each other; and the land of Palestine which lay between them, cruelly suffered from them both; and their representatives are to do likewise in the future. They are called the "King of the North" and the "King of the South" in Dan. 11. We would observe again that everything is described according to its relation to the land and people of Israel. These kings are spoken of as the kings of the north and south for the simple reason that the territories over which they rule were, and will be, one of them north, the other south, of Palestine. In other words the King of the North occupied Syria and Asia Minor, or that district which is now called Turkey in Asia, and the King of the South ruled over Egypt. According to prophecy, a king of great importance in the future of the world, and especially of the Jews, is yet to arise in that part of the world now occupied by the Sultan, in Asia. No one at all aquainted with what God has revealed in His Word in connection with this individual can fail to be deeply interested in the movement now taking place in reference to Turkey.
Believing, as we surely do, that we are rapidly nearing the time of the fulfillment of these things, we have little doubt that the agitation now going on, will have a far-reaching effect in the preparation of those lands for the part that they are to play, according to Scripture, in the near future.
In the past there was a notorious individual, Antiochus Epiphanes by name; he was a specially wicked man, and took a fiendish delight in ill-treating the Jews in every conceivable manner. He even went the length of penetrating into the holy place and there offering up a sow upon the altar in impious and blasphemous mockery. This Antiochus was a type of the future and last King of the North, and is, we believe, the one mentioned in Dan. 8:11 and the first half of Dan. 8:12. He defiled the sanctuary, and caused the daily sacrifice to cease for a time. It is thought by some, and we incline to think it too, that the 2300 days of verse 14 had their fulfillment at that time.
But from verse 17 to the end of the chapter the prophet treats of the last and yet future representative of the northern division of Alexander's kingdom, him of whom Antiochus, bad as he was, was only a type. At the time of the end shall be the vision" (Dan. 8:17)—"I will make thee know what shall be in the last end of the indignation" (Dan. 8:19)—and, again, "In the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up." (Dan. 8:23) But though the power of this king will be mighty, it is added that it shall not be "by his own power." (Dan. 8:24) We call the reader's earnest attention to this point. At the back of this fierce and powerful king will be another power greater and mightier than his, supporting him in his evil and self-willed course. In other words, he shall be a vassal of some other great power; and we believe that prophecy distinctly implies that Russia will be this mighty power supporting and strengthening the last King of the North. This we shall look at more fully presently.
Though in this pamphlet we are principally concerned with what the prophetic word has foretold in connection with these matters, we cannot help pointing out in passing how the events now transpiring in the political world are surely and rapidly paving the way for the fulfillment of prophecy. Who can close their eyes to the enormous influence that Russia has lately been gaining in the management of European affairs on the one hand, and the vast extension of her power in the Far East?
What times of thrilling interest are these in which our lot is cast! Revival of the truth of the Lord's coming in the past century, and the earnest study of the prophetic scriptures, led some to conclusions as to these matters which at that time seemed far from probable, if even possible, but which through the last few years have approached a startling likelihood of accomplishment. And to what end have these things been revealed? Are they merely to interest our minds in prophecy in the same way as others might be in mathematics or science? Nay, verily. When God made known to Abraham, His friend, the awful judgment that was soon to befall the guilty cities of the plain, it was not merely a mark of friendship —precious as it was to be thus admitted into God's confidence—still less was it that he might have some subject of curious and fruitless speculation. It brought Abraham into close communion with the Lord, and set him in the attitude of prayer and intercession for those who had no anxiety about themselves. In penning these pages it is our earnest desire that the like spirit of communion and intercession be awakened in every heart that shall read and believe these solemn truths!
This "little horn," then, "shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practice, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people" Dan 8:24.)—that is the Jews, when restored to their own land. But he will carry his fierce and iniquitous designs too far, for he shall "stand up against the Prince of princes (i.e., Christ) but he shall be broken without hand." (Dan. 8:25.) Some have thought that this little horn of Dan. 8 referred to the Mohammedan scourge of the East, whilst the little horn of Rev. 7, denoted the Papacy in the West. We are persuaded that both these thoughts are incorrect. Once it is seen that the object of the Spirit of God in Daniel is not to describe matters concerning the Church, or the heavenly people of God, but concerning ISRAEL, or the earthly people, our understanding of the prophecy becomes amazingly clearer.
It is evident that we are on Jewish ground in this chapter, for the little horn waxes "great toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the pleasant land." (Dan. 8:9.) It describes a power situated north of Palestine, and whose evil designs are all directed against that land, the temple or sanctuary (Dan. 8:11), the Jewish people (Dan 8:24), and, finally, the Messiah Himself when He shall have appeared at the very darkest hour of the Jews' great tribulation in the future.
The Assyrian.
This King of the North is elsewhere spoken of as the Assyrian. The Assyrian of the past, Sennacherib, was but a type of the Assyrian of the future. The Assyrian is not done with yet; Isa. 10 and 14, along with many other scriptures, make this evident. The Assyrian of the past was the rod of Jehovah's anger (Isa. 10:5), by means of which He chastised His unfaithful people. But when the Lord shall have performed His whole work upon Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, and not until then, will He "punish the fruit of the stout heart of the King of Assyria." (Isa. 10:12) Has the Lord finished His whole work on Mount Zion and Jerusalem? Clearly not; then the judgment of the Assyrian is yet to come.
If we turn to the prophecy of Micah we shall find this confirmed. Let the reader open his Bible at Mic. 5—"They shall smite the Judge of Israel with a rod upon the cheek." (Mic. 5:1) Here we have the rejection of Christ, the Messiah, in the past. The next verse is a parenthesis, quoted in Matt. 2:6 as being fulfilled in the birth of our adorable Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who combined in His own glorious Person perfect humanity and deity, for He is here presented in His manhood as "Ruler in Israel," and in His Godhead as the One "whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting." Mic. 5:3 describes the present rejection of Israel on account of their rejection of their Messiah, but also their future restoration after their great tribulation. But verse 4 tells us that when this takes place "He," their Messiah, will be in their midst, and shall be the peace when the Assyrian shall come into their land. (Mic. 5:5.) The Assyrian is yet to tread in their palaces (Mic. 5:5), but the restored remnant of Jacob will be delivered from him, and he himself will be destroyed "in the land" by the presence of the Lord.
The prophet Isaiah bears the same testimony—"Through the voice of the Lord shall the Assyrian be beaten down, which smote with a rod.... For Tophet is ordained of old; for the king also it is prepared; He hath made it deep and large: the pile thereof is fire and much wood; the breath of the Lord, like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle it." (Isa. 30:31-33.) "The King" mentioned in this passage is, we believe, the same as the one spoken of in Dan. 11:36, namely, the Antichrist.
An awful judgment awaits the three wicked men of whom the prophetic word speaks, namely, (1) the Beast, the chief of the revived Roman Empire; (2) the Antichrist; and (3) the Assyrian, or King of the North. At the coming of the Lord into the air all the saints then alive on the earth will be caught up without dying into glory, "changed in a moment"; but those three men, exceptional in their wickedness and blasphemous rebellion against God, are reserved for this awful and exceptional judgment—they pass to their eternal doom without dying.
The next chapter likewise speaks of this Assyrian—"Then shall the Assyrian fall with the sword, not of a mighty man; and the sword, not of a mean man, shall devour him." (Isa. 31:8, 9.) That is, unlike the mere ordinary results of human warfare, where one army may have to flee from a stronger, the Assyrian of the future will flee from "the Lord, whose fire is in Zion, and His furnace in Jerusalem."
"All Scripture is given by inspiration of God," therefore each part is in perfect consistency with every other. Hence, if we now turn to Dan. 11, we shall not be surprised to find the same consistent testimony in reference to this King of the North. The whole chapter is one of the deepest interest, and will well repay a close and careful study. Space will not admit of more than a very brief notice of its earlier verses. The more we examine it, the more are we filled with wonder and worship. It is one of the most perfect answers to the infidelity that would reject the verbal inspiration of the Scriptures. Higher Criticism quails before it. Hence the strenuous efforts from the days of Porphyry, the heathen opponent of Christianity of the second century, down to the Higher Critics of our days, to disprove the early date of Daniel.
The account given in Dan. 11:1-36 is such an accurate description prophetically of what has since taken place historically, that nothing short of inspiration in the fullest acceptation of the term could account for the miracle. We cannot here dwell upon this point, but every reader of that part of Grecian history immediately following the break-up of the empire upon the death of Alexander the Great, cannot fail to be impressed with the remarkable exactitude of Daniel's language—a fact which can alone be accounted for by remembering that the prophet spake as he was "moved by the Holy Ghost." (2 Peter 1:21.)
A notable change takes place at Dan. 11:26. Up to that point in the chapter all has had a most accurate accomplishment; but the things described from this verse to the end of the chapter have had no parallel in history. In other words, at the time at which Daniel wrote all was prophecy from Dan. 11:2 to the end of the chapter; but at the time at which we read all up to Dan. 11:36 has passed into history, while from that point onwards is prophecy still unfulfilled. Unless this is seen, the chapter will not be understood.
We commend Dan. 11 to the careful and prayerful consideration of every one who desires a clear, God-given, and yet most solemn understanding of the course of events upon the earth after the coming of the Lord.
The King of the North mentioned throughout Dan. 11 is, of course, not the same individual all through. The King of the North is a title, just as we might speak of the King of England. The King of today is a different individual from the King of one hundred years ago; indeed, during the last one hundred years there have been several different Kings of England. In like manner throughout this chapter there are several successive Kings of the North. It is generally admitted that the particular King of the North spoken of in Dan. 11:21-35 was Antiochus Epiphanes, whom we have already mentioned.
Antichrist.
But in Dan. 11:36 another King altogether is introduced—"the King." This king we believe to be Antichrist, who will be reigning at Jerusalem as the false King of the Jews at the time of this attack of the last King of the North. If the reader will carefully compare Dan. 11:36-40 with 2 Thess. 2:4, we believe he will be struck with the similarity of the language. Without doubt this willful king is in the land of Palestine—he divides "the land" for gain. What land? The land which is the center of all God's interests, and the focus of all His dealings in the last days—Palestine. Then, too, he will not regard the God of his fathers, i.e., the Jehovah of Israel (which implies that he will be a Jew); "nor the desire of women," that is, the Messiah—the long promised Seed of the woman.
But "at the time of the end"—that time so near at hand, that time which will begin very soon after the removal of the Church—"shall the King of the South push at him." The King of the South is that power that will be ruling in Egypt, whoever at that time it may be. At the same time the King of the North shall come down upon him from the north. This king, then, becomes the point of attack from both north and south. This shows that he is a third and different king from the Kings of the North and South.
We cannot proceed without once again calling the reader's attention to the marvelous way in which the Spirit of God has here entered into detail concerning these closing scenes of this world's history. And is it not a fact that the thoughts of all the world are rapidly centering upon these very lands? Russia, Turkey, Egypt, and the East are today absorbing universal attention. The amazing development and advancement of Russia during the past twenty five years show how dependable is the Word of God when it tells us of "things to come".
O reader, the times are moving quickly! The coming of the Lord draweth nigh. The nations are falling into line; all unknown to themselves, they are forming themselves into the very attitude long since foretold by Him who "worketh all things after the counsel of His own will," and whose irreversible decree it is to "head up in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth." (Eph. 1:9, 10.) Yes, "the dispensation of the fullness of the times" is at hand, and Christ shall reign in righteousness and peace; but first must there be unparalleled judgments on this guilty world.
The latter part of this chapter (Dan. 11:40-45) describes the last King of the North. He is represented as sweeping down upon the countries like a whirlwind, at the head of masses of men and fleets of ships. He will enter also "the glorious land." What land is this? PALESTINE, without doubt. That land will then be peopled by the Jews, a large number of whom have already gone back there within the last few years. The persecutions and banishment of the Jews have set them in motion, and many of their own leading men are encouraging them in every way that lies in their power to return to Palestine, utterly ignorant, for the most part, of how remarkably they are carrying out the plans of God revealed centuries ago.
Yes, the Word of God must be fulfilled. Antichrist (an apostate Jew) is yet to sit in the temple which is to be rebuilt at Jerusalem, and there the Jews nationally reinstated (not the remnant, but the unbelieving majority of the nation), gone back to Palestine in unbelief will yield to Antichrist the homage, allegiance, and worship which they refused to Jesus of Nazareth, their true Messiah. In the days which are past a small remnant only received the Messiah, while the nation rejected Him; in the future the nation, as a whole, will receive the Antichrist, whilst the remnant will reject him.
Then will be fulfilled that sorrowful prediction of our blessed Lord, "I am come in my Father's name, and ye receive Me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive." (John 5:43.) But their "covenant with death shall be disannulled," and their "agreement with hell shall not stand." An allusion is here made, we believe, to the same northern power (the Assyrian) already referred to. It would appear that in order to escape from the King of the North, who will at that time be Jehovah's rod of anger (Isa. 10:5), they will enter into a covenant with the Beast (or Roman Emperor) on the one hand (Dan. 9:27), and with the Antichrist (Isa. 28:18) on the other. But so far from this being a success, "when the overflowing scourge" (i.e., the Assyrian, or King of the North) "shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it."
The last verse of Dan. 9 announces the same solemn judgment. The three fearful characters of the future crisis already alluded to are mentioned in this verse. "He," that is, the prince of the revived Roman Empire, will enter into a covenant with "the many," that is, with the apostate portion of the Jews; these again will seek a further help from the protection held out by Antichrist, the miracle-working "man of sin." But "on account of the protection of abominations" (that is, Antichrist's idolatry) God will send down upon them a desolator (the King of the North), who will sweep into "the glorious land" like an overwhelming scourge, as we have already seen from Dan. 11:40, and Isa. 28:14-20.
Edom. Moab and Ammon.
But in spite of his victorious progress, three countries neighboring upon the land of Palestine "escape out of his hand." This verse (ver. 41) affords an indirect evidence of the inspiration of Scripture which is altogether remarkable. It will be no mere accident of war that shall deliver Edom, Moab, and Ammon from the King of the North; but God, the Jehovah of Israel, has said, "I will lay my vengeance upon Edom by the hand of my people Israel." (Ezek. 25:14.) Israel, and not the King of the North, is to be Jehovah's instrument in the judgment of Edom. The same God that inspired Ezekiel likewise inspired Daniel. We notice this in passing in order to strengthen the faith of some of our readers that may be in danger of wavering owing to the assaults of Higher Criticism and other forms of rationalism.
It would appear that on this last expedition of the King of the North, Jerusalem will be besieged and taken; at least, we incline to think that it is then that Zech. 14:2 will receive its fulfillment. Evidently this verse describes a siege of Jerusalem when "the city shall be taken." We must bear in mind the difference between the Beast and the confederacy of the Western kings of Europe, and the Assyrian (King of the North), and the confederacy of the Eastern nations. The Beast will make a covenant with the Jews (Dan. 9:27) through the influence, no doubt, of Antichrist reigning in Jerusalem, whereas the King of the North (or Assyrian) will be the open and declared enemy of the Jews. It is of this Eastern confederacy that some of the psalms speak (e. g., Psalms 79 and 83.) These psalms are prophetic; they tell us of a time when the heathen shall come into God's inheritance, when they will defile His holy temple, and lay Jerusalem on heaps.
Restoration of the Jews to Their Own Land.
We cannot close our eyes to the fact that 1 great movement is now going on in the East and around about the land of Palestine. Politicians of today are leaving God out of their reckonings, and yet are becoming the instruments for the carrying out of His plans. The Powers, so called, find Turkey a difficult problem. Letters and leading articles in the daily papers have gone the length of suggesting that Russia seeks suzerainty over Syria and Turkey in Asia, and that the Jews should be put back in their own land. This policy would meet the requirements of the case, some say. Are those writers aware that it is the exact plan revealed in the prophetic Scriptures?!
The Word of God has clearly foretold that the King of the North, or that power which will in the end occupy Syria and Turkey in Asia, "shall be mighty, but not by his own power." (Dan. 8:24.) There will be a power behind him, and, so to speak, backing him up. What this power will be, Scripture points out we believe. Furthermore, the same Scriptures of truth have revealed that some great maritime power is to be the instrument in the hands of Jehovah for the restoration of Palestine of that people "scattered and peeled," "a people terrible from their beginning hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden under foot." (Isa. 18.)
Isa. 18:1 should read, "He! to the land shadowing with wings," etc. It is a summons to some nation to carry out the restoration of the Jews to their own land. Wealthy Jews, private individuals, societies, Christian and otherwise, for the colonization of Palestine, have all been putting their hands to this work within the last few years, but when God's time has fully come He will accomplish swiftly (Isa. 18:7) and thoroughly what men are trying to do slowly and imperfectly.
Meanwhile, dear Christian reader, stay your hand. Labor and pray for the conversion of souls to Christ, whether Jew, Gentile or professing Christian, rather than making strenuous efforts to send back the Jews to Palestine to swell the ranks of the apostate people who will band together to serve and worship Antichrist.
Some have thought that the maritime power that is here mentioned is England. For many generations England has treated the Jews with great tolerance. The now famous "Balfour Declaration" of 1917 pledged England to support the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people. Thus willingly or unwillingly England finds her welfare bound up with that of the Jewish nation. We do well to remember that though the Jews are now under God's chastening hand, they are nevertheless "beloved for the fathers' sake" (Rom. 11:28), and God will not hold guiltless either the man or nation that oppresses them. They are His people, though for the time He cannot publicly recognize them as such. Scattered they have been for more than eighteen centuries; greater sorrows still await them; and all because of their rejection and crucifixion of their Messiah. But the time is coming when all the predictions of the prophets shall be fulfilled in their glorious restoration, when with repentant and contrite hearts "they shall look upon Him whom they have pierced, and shall mourn for Him as one mourning for his only son." (Zech. 12:10.)
But when, through the influence of the nations, one or more, the Jews are back in their land, whilst Antichrist is still reigning at Jerusalem, persecuting the godly remnant in the most bitter and cruel manner possible, though at the same time entering into a covenant with the apostate portion of the nation, then will this last confederacy of the Eastern nations rise up against God and His people, saying, "Come, let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance." (Psa. 83:4.) Edom, Moab, and Ammon, the ancient and inveterate enemies of Israel, once more appear upon the scene, and "joined with them" is Asshur (the Assyrian). In other words, we have here the very expedition described in Dan. 11 and Zech. 14.
Destruction of the King of the North.
Let us go back again to Dan. 11. After the siege of Jerusalem, which we have noticed in Zech. 14:2, the King of the North will extend his conquests into Egypt, but while there carrying everything before him, tidings of a startling and terrible nature "shall trouble him." (Dan. 11:44.) Let the reader observe the direction whence these tidings shall come-out of the east and out of the north. A glance at the map will show that this quarter is none other than Palestine! Fearful things will have taken place around Jerusalem, the report of which will stay his progress and strike terror into his heart. The greatest battle that this poor world has ever known is yet to be fought around Mount Zion. "The Beast and the kings of the earth, and their armies" (i. e., the Western confederacy), are soon to be gathered together to make war with the KING OF KINGS and LORD OF LORDS.
This gathering of the Western nations will have taken place around Jerusalem during the time of the King of the North's expedition into Egypt. The Jews will then be settled in their own land. Having returned in unbelief, they will have formed themselves into a flourishing community. Let the following extract from the Jewish World speak for itself. It is one of many that might be given, showing the thoughts that are agitating the minds of the Jews irrespective of God or His purposes. The extract is from an article with the significant heading, The Return to Palestine."
The financial obstacles could, no doubt, be met in a week. To form and finance a 'chartered' company for such an object as the re-establishing of an autonomous Jewish State in Palestine would indeed present hardly any difficulty, and when it was seen that the Jewish State would not help to give the balance of power to any European Government, but rather tend to the preservation of European peace, it is not impossible that political obstacles and diplomatic objections would not be found to be very great.
"Nor will some of the chief arguments that have been advanced against the Scheme bear close scrutiny. It is not true that the Jews are incapable of again becoming an agricultural people. Every agricultural colony of Jews that has been formed in Palestine or elsewhere, has, by its success, proved the reverse; while, even in Russia, where Jews are none too popular, Jewish agriculturalists have earned the commendation of the Government.
"It has been argued that Jews have too much love for art, literature, the theater, and the concert hall, to willingly abandon London, Paris, Vienna, and Berlin for the Holy Land, where their talents and their tastes would find neither scope nor satisfaction. The answer is too obvious to need insisting on. One need only ask, Could not Jerusalem also he made a center of art and literary culture, the drama and music? Surely, there is nothing in the soil or the climate to hinder this; and one might indeed look forward to a special development of Jewish art that would benefit the world as well as the Jews themselves, but which is impossible while we are scattered and our artists are living in a non-Jewish environment and working, consciously or unconsciously, for a non-Jewish public. No, the danger is rather the other way. It is lest the new Palestinian State should be merely a fighting-ground between the representatives of various and conflicting non-Jewish theories and practices imported by people of Jewish birth. If there be at the present time sufficient unity and idealism in Israel; sufficient detachment from the conventions of the nations; there is no very obvious reason why the restoration to Palestine should not be commenced in the way Dr. Herzl and his friends think possible."
Man's thought is to make Jerusalem the center of the drama and music! God's thought is to gather all nations there for their judgment. (Joel 3.) Daniel's seventieth week is yet to come (Dan. 9:24-27); the coming Roman prince will make a covenant with the many" (i. e., the mass of unbelieving Jews) for one week; in the midst of the week he will break off this covenant, and by means of Antichrist (the false king in Jerusalem) will establish idolatry in the Temple, where the "abomination of desolation" will be set up.
This will be the sign to the faithful remnant to flee, according to Matt. 24:15-25. The second half of the week will be the period of the great tribulation, and when this is at its very height, and the clouds gathering thicker and darker around them, suddenly the Son of Man will be seen coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory—awful sight for the assembled armies of the West (read carefully Matt. 24:26-31, and Rev. 19:11-21), but glorious deliverance for the godly and persecuted remnant.
Reader, these things may soon take place. The mighty armies are to be mown down before the brightness of Christ's glory, when like the lightning He shall descend from heaven. Let not the infidelity of our days lead you to question the possibility of such things. The God who breathed on the hosts of Assyria in the days of Hezekiah still lives. What was done then is but a feeble foreshadowing of what is yet to be:—"The remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall yet again take root downward, and bear fruit upward. For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and they that escape out of Mount Zion: the zeal of the Lord of hosts shall do this.... For I will defend this city, to save it, for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake. And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the Lord went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians 185,000: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses." (2 Kings 19:30-36.)
The "tidings out of the east and out of the north," which reach the King of the North when down in Egypt, are doubtless the gathering together of the armies of Western Europe, bent upon seizing for themselves the land of Palestine. He goes forth "with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many. And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas [i. e., the Mediterranean and Dead Seas] in the glorious holy mountain" [i. e., the Judxan mountains]. (Dan. 11:44, 45.) But a greater than he will already have settled matters with them. The Lord Himself will be there, the Prince of princes, against whom this King of the North will "stand up," but only to be "broken without hand," for "he shall come to his end, and none shall help him." (Dan. 8:25; 11:45.) Let the reader observe that Dan. 11:36-40 is an account of the Man of Sin, or Antichrist, but from Dan. 11:40 to 45 the subject is the last King of the North. We shall now turn to the prophecy of Ezekiel.
Russia's Catastrophic End.
We have before pointed out that the King of the North will be a vassal of some greater power, and that power we believe to be none other than the vast Russian Empire. It may surprise some to learn that Russia is mentioned by name in the Scriptures, or, at any rate, in such a way as to leave no reasonable doubt that Russia is meant. Let the reader open his Bible and read Ezek. 36 to 40; if Ezek. 36 and 37 be read with attention, it will be seen that the vision before the mind of the prophet is the restoration of Israel to their own land. The restoration here described is distinctly future; never since the days of Ezekiel has any such an one taken place. The repentance and conversion of the people are distinctly foretold: their blessing in the land, which will cease to be desolate, and become fertile as the Garden of Eden; the hostility of the tribes one against the other shall cease, and they shall be gathered together under one King—David's Son and David's Lord.
But the day of Israel's blessing in the land is also the day of the judgment and destruction of their enemies—a principle which is seen all through the Psalms, where the Spirit of God frequently employs language in a prophetical manner most suitable in the lips of God's earthly people, who cannot be fully blessed until all their enemies are destroyed, but most unsuitable for the heavenly people, the church, who will be caught up to heaven before the living nations are judged.
Let Ezek. 38 and 39 be now read with attention. Israel being fully and finally restored to their own land, and blessed therein according to the distinct announcement of the prophetic word, their time of great tribulation being over, the Beast, or Western confederacy of nations, and the Antichrist, or False Prophet, having been destroyed by the brightness of Christ's appearing, the King of the North likewise having fallen upon the mountains of Judæa (Dan. 11:45), there still remains to be dealt with that vast and mighty empire whose vassal the King of the North had been.
"Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal, and prophesy against him." (Ezek. 38:2.) Here we have the names of three of the sons of Japheth, who, in the early days of the settlement of nations (Gen. 10:2, 3), moved off in the direction of what is now called Russia. These three names survive today in the well-known terms Russia (Rosh), Moscow (Meshech), and Tobolsk (Tubal). These two chapters describe in forcible language and almost in minute detail the final overthrow of the vast north-eastern confederacy which we see today in process of rapid and unexpected formation.
Oh, that God might open the eyes of many set in the high places of the earth, so difficult to reach with the simple story of the Cross and of the redeeming love of Jesus! May you, dear reader, whoever you may be, prince, peer, or pauper, be brought to own as your Savior and Lord, now in the day of His grace, Him whom the proudest of monarchs and the haughtiest of empires shall be forced to recognize in the day of His power and judgment!
The Spirit of God distinctly announces that the time of the fulfillment of the prophecy was far removed from that in which the prophet lived—"After many days shalt thou [Gog] be visited." (Ezek. 38:8.) Not only so, but it was to be in "the latter days"—days now near at hand. Already do we see the signs of that movement amongst the Jews which is to result, according to Scripture, in their national restoration to their own land. And not only the Jews, but also the ten tribes, will share in that restoration. Men may ask, Where are they? Faith replies, They will be "gathered out of many people," and "brought forth out of the nations." (Ezek. 38:8.) At the time of which this chapter treats they will be dwelling "safely, all of them." An evil thought will then come into the mind of Gog, the north-eastern potentate. Beholding the prosperity of returned Israel, and their apparently unprotected condition in the land of "unwalled villages" (Ezek. 38:11), blinded by the unbelief of Scripture, so rife at the present time, which, did he but heed it, might teach him that their prosperity was the evidence that they were now blessed by Jehovah, who had interposed on their behalf, he (Gog) gathers together all his bands from the north and the east, and comes down like a storm upon the once desolate but now favored land. "Cursed is he that curseth thee," Jehovah had long before declared, and all who oppress and despise the Israel of God will have to answer to the God of Israel.
In the words of another:—"It is the last enemy of Israel who confronts us. He dwells in the land of Magog, that son of Japheth who overspread in due time the vast steppes of what was anciently called Scythia. He is autocrat of all the Russias, prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal. Thus we have himself, his land, and his people. But the Lord Himself is against him who, instead of seeing when good comes to a long-troubled people, would fain aggrandize himself, and thus finds himself in array against, not merely the Israel of God, but the God of Israel."
"Thou shalt come from thy place out of the north parts, thou, and many people with thee, all of them riding upon horses, a great company and a mighty army: and thou shalt come up against my people of Israel, as a cloud to cover the land; it shall be in the latter days, and I will bring thee against my land, that the heathen may know Me, when I shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes." (Ezek. 38:15, 16.) Can any one giving a moment's serious thought to the subject fail to see how the events now transpiring tend to the accomplishment of these predictions? Russia's rapid extension of power in the East, could easily presage the carrying out of those plans of Jehovah, long since foretold in the prophetic word, which is, alas! slighted, ignored, and despised by the vast majority in our days.
But will this invasion prosper? "Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal: and I will turn thee back, and leave but the sixth part of thee... and I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand. Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands, and the people that is with thee... thou shalt fall upon the open field: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord God. And I will send a fire on Magog [i. e., the land of Russia], and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles [i. e., the distant countries that contribute to his host]: and they shall know that I am the Lord." (Ezek. 39:1-8.)
The overthrow is terrible, whether the language be taken literally or figuratively. So vast is the host destroyed, that their weapons of war will suffice to Israel for firewood for seven years, and seven months will be required for the burial of the dead and the cleansing of the land. Gog, who thought to possess himself of the land and its wealth, will find "a place there of graves," and God shall then be known, through the judgments that He executeth, by all those nations refusing to know Him now as revealed in grace in the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Solemn alternative! Reader, lay it to heart!
When all is over, then, saith the Lord, "I will set my glory among the heathen, and all the heathen shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid upon them. So the house of Israel shall know that I am the Lord their God from that day and forward." (Ezek. 39:21, 22.)
This, according to Scripture, is the destiny of Russia. Mighty as she is, she is destined to be more powerful still. The extent of her territory today is amazing-half of Europe and the whole of Northern Asia. But according to prophecy it is in Asia that she is destined to succeed. There can be little doubt that Russia, and not England, will be the dominant power in the East.
England's future is bound up with that of the Beast, or Roman Empire; she, as one of the ten horns, will be in that fatal gathering of the Western powers around Jerusalem. (Rev. 17 and 19.) Powers they may be called today, but in that day they will be forced to lick the dust, and bow before the Lamb who will come forth from heaven, not in weakness, but girt with strength and majesty, as KING OF KINGS and LORD OF LORDS.
After the destruction of the Beast, or the Western confederacy, the northern and eastern nations remain to be dealt with. With prophetic irony, Gog, the autocrat of all the Russias, is thus addressed: "Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them." (Ezek. 38:7.) But the awful consequences of this onslaught upon favored and gathered Israel have been already described.
Conclusion
Reader, the Scriptures declare that it is the once-rejected but now exalted Christ who is "ordained of God to be the Judge of the living and the dead." (Acts 10:42.) The living nations will be judged before the millennial reign of Christ; the dead who have died in their sins will be raised for judgment when those thousand years are over. (See Matt. 25:31 to end, and Rev. 20.) He who has heard the quickening voice of the Son of God, and has believed the Gospel in this day of grace, shall not come into judgment; for even here below, possessing Christ, he possesses eternal life, and is passed from death unto life.
That Christ, once crucified by wicked hands, but now exalted to the right hand of the Majesty on high, and who is ordained of God to be Judge of the living and the dead, is now "set forth to be a propitiatory (or mercy-seat] through faith in His blood." (Rom. 3:25.)
A mercy-seat! Glorious thought! A meeting-place between a holy God and a guilty sinner has been provided by that holy and sin-hating God Himself. It is found in Jesus and His precious blood shed on Calvary. But all who in the stubbornness of unbelief refuse to meet a pardoning God in Jesus Christ, will have to meet Him in judgment, from before whose face heaven and earth shall flee away.
In sending forth this pamphlet it is our earnest desire that many who are living thoughtless lives of worldliness may be brought to consider the clear warnings of Scripture as to events now at our very doors. Heaven and earth will pass away, but of God's Word not one jot or tittle! "God is not a man, that He should lie; neither the son of man, that He should repent: hath He said, and shall He not do it? or hath He spoken, and shall He not make it good?" This principle holds good both in His dealings with nations and individuals.
Will of Peter the Great
In view of the rapid and surprising advance of Russia's influence, both in the West and East, it may be of interest to our readers to give a few extracts from the will of Peter the Great, who died in 1725 A.D. This ambitious tyrant had formed schemes of conquest which of late years have been assuming shape and have been tending towards accomplishment. We copy from Russia, in Bohn's Standard Library. The will was published some years ago in The Times:—
“(1) The Russian nation must be constantly on a war footing, to keep the soldiers warlike and in good condition. No rest must be allowed, except for the purpose of relieving the State finances, recruiting the army, or biding the favorable moment for attack. By these means peace is made subservient to war, and war to peace, in the interest of the aggrandizement and increasing prosperity of Russia....
“(3) No opportunity must be lost of taking part in the affairs and disputes of Europe, especially in those of Germany, which from its vicinity is one of the most direct interest to us..
“(8) We must keep steadily extending our frontiers—northward along the Baltic, and southward along the shores of the Black Sea.
“(9) We must progress as much as possible in the direction of Constantinople and India. He who can get possession of these places is the real ruler of the world. With this view we must provoke constant quarrels at one time with Turkey and at another with Persia. We must establish wharves and docks in the Euxine and by degrees make ourselves masters of that sea as well as of the Baltic, which is a doubly important element in the success of our plan. We must hasten the downfall of Persia, push on into the Persian Gulf, and, if possible, re-establish the ancient commercial intercourse with the Levant through Syria, and force our way into the Indies, which are the storehouses of the world. Once there, we can dispense with English gold.
“(10) Moreover, we must take pains to establish and maintain an intimate union with Austria, apparently countenancing her schemes for future aggrandizement in Germany, and all the while secretly rousing the jealously of the minor States against her. By this way we must bring it to pass that one or the other party shall seek aid from Russia, and thus we shall exercise a sort of protectorate over the country, which will pave the way for future supremacy.
“(11) We must make the House of Austria interested in the expulsion of the Turks from Europe, and we must neutralize its jealousy at the capture of Constantinople, either by preoccupying it with a war with the old European States or by allowing it a share of the spoil, which we can afterward resume at our leisure.
"(12) We must collect round our house, as round a center, all the detached sections of Greeks which are scattered abroad in Hungary, Turkey, and South Poland. We must make them look to us for support, and then, by establishing beforehand a sort of ecclesiastical supremacy, we shall pave the way for Universal Sovereignty.
“(13) When Sweden is ours, Persia vanquished, Poland subjugated, Turkey conquered—when our armies are united, and the Euxine and Baltic are in the possession of our ships, then we must make separate and secret overtures, first to the Court of Versailles, and then to that of Vienna, to share with them the dominion of the world. If either of them accept our propositions, which is certain to happen if their ambition and self-interest are properly worked upon, we must make use of one to annihilate the other; this done, we have only to destroy the remaining one by finding a pretext for a quarrel, this issue of which cannot be doubtful, as Russia will then be already in absolute possession of the East and the best part of Europe.
“(14) Should the improbable case happen of both rejecting the propositions of Russia, then our policy will be to set one against the other, and make them tear each other to pieces. Russia must then watch for and seize the favorable moment, and pour her already assembled hosts into Germany, while two immense fleets, laden with Asiatic hordes and conveyed by the armed squadrons of the Euxine and the Baltic, set sail simultaneously from the Sea of Azoff and the harbor of Archangel; sweeping along the Mediterranean and the Atlantic they will overrun France on the one side, while Germany is overpowered on the other. When these countries are fully conquered, the rest of Europe must fall easily and without a struggle under our yoke. Thus Europe can and must be subjugated."
This is the aim of Russia. Politicians of today may smile, yet many tremble at Russia's aggressiveness.
Prophecy of Napoleon
Napoleon I foresaw what many are waking up to in our day, and gave expression to his thoughts, while a captive at St. Helena, in the following terms:
"In the course of a few years Russia will have Constantinople, part of Turkey, and all Greece. This I hold to be as certain as if it had already taken place; all the cajolery and flattery that Alexander practiced upon me was to gain my consent to effect that object. I would not give it, foreseeing that the equilibrium of Europe would be destroyed. In the natural course of things Turkey must fall to Russia; the Powers it would injure, and who would oppose it, are England, France, Austria and Prussia. Now, as to Austria, it would be very easy to secure her assistance by giving her Servia and other provinces bordering on the Austrian dominions, reaching near to Constantinople. The only hypothesis that France and England will ever be allied with anything like sincerity will be to prevent this; but even this alliance will not avail. France, England and Prussia united cannot prevent it. Russia and Austria can at any time effect it; once mistress of Constantinople, Russia gets all the commerce of the Mediterranean, becomes a great naval power, and God knows what may happen. The object of my invasion of Russia was to prevent this, by the interposition between her and Turkey of a new State which I meant to call into existence as a barrier to her eastern encroachments."
We attach no undue importance to the opinions of men, however great they may be. There is One "who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will."
Man, though rebellious in heart against God, is but the tool in His hands to accomplish His purposes. God's purpose is "in the dispensation of the fullness of times"—that dispensation so near at hand when Christ shall reign in righteousness and peace—it is His purpose "to gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in Him." (Eph. 1:9-12.)
Reader, it is CHRIST, not Russia, that is to have "Universal Sovereignty" upon the earth. God has declared that to JESUS "every knee shall bow," both in heaven and upon earth. (Phil. 2:10.) Christ has been glorified in heaven, and He shall be glorified upon earth. The World Empires spoken of by Daniel the prophet have risen and fallen; when the fourth Empire rises again, for a very brief period, the Stone—now made "Head of the Corner" in God's heavenly building—shall fall upon that great human Image which magnifies itself upon earth, and break it in pieces, and IT shall "fill the whole earth." (Dan. 2:34, 35.)
In vain do men look for peace and a golden age without Christ. THE KING, God's King, must come, according to Psa. 72:17-19: "His name shall endure forever.. and men shall be blessed in Him... and the whole earth shall be filled with His glory. Amen, and Amen." O Christian, let thy lamp of testimony to Christ be burning bright. O mere professor of Christianity, awake! awake! Christ is knocking at the door of thy heart, and says "If any man hear My voice and open the door, I will come in to him, and sup with him, and he with Me." (Rev. 3:20) —Ed.
"EVEN SO; COME, LORD JESUS!"
Supplement to the Sixth Edition
The foregoing parts of this book were not written in the light of mid-twentieth century developments, but rather in the light of Holy Scripture in its prophetic utterances; for God-given prophecy is "as a light in a dark place, to which we do well that we take heed" (2 Peter 1:19). These writings of another century enable men of God to look at the future of the earth and some of its peoples through the glasses of inspired foreknowledge. This gave them more wisdom than the wise men of the earth who had not this divine light.
The developments since the turn of the century have brought the seemingly impossible within the reach of full development. None would have supposed that within such a short span of time the hibernating Russian bear would come to life and bring agonizing fear into the hearts of the English lion and the American eagle, together with the rest of the English-speaking world and most of the Latin world. Nor would anyone have supposed that a handful of doctrinaire Marxists could bring into abject surrender all the Russians and many neighbors, and then together with their copyists in Peking control about 1 billion inhabitants of the globe.
Perhaps the most perilous part of the conflict of ideologies for the world at large is the determined exportation of Communism to every other part of the world where there is the least opening for it. Russo-Chinese exploitation of local disturbances anywhere in the world has brought on a series of crises, any one of which could explode into a world catastrophe.
The statesmen of the world are dismayed; they have tried every conceivable approach to work out a modus vivendi with international Communism, but without success. We will herewith quote our comments on the situation at the time of the utter collapse of the "Summit Conference" held in Paris early last year; they were published in Christian Truth magazine, July, 1960.
The unceremonious collapse of the so-called Summit Conference, together with the vehemently acrimonious charges made by Nikita Khrushchev, left a world that is almost shock-proof, somewhat stunned. That which was supposed to ease world tensions only increased them as two world giants brought charges and counter charges against each other. Much smaller contentions have in times past brought on wars, with their resultant destruction and loss of life. But since in this day each side possesses more frightful weapons which could, if fully unleashed, make shambles of man's so-called civilization, only the knowledge that the winner would be a loser in such a contest causes men to halt just short of actual war. Some people refer to it as the strategy of "brinkmanship"; that is, to see how close they can come to war without actually engaging in it. But who can tell when someone may miscalculate, and the terrifying lethal machines be turned loose.
Mankind in general desires peace, but not peace at any price. If he were given an alternate choice of either having the uncertainties of the present with the haunting fears and terrifying prospects for the future, on the one hand, or a full and complete surrender to God which would separate him from the pleasures and frivolities of the world on the other, he would almost surely choose the former. We know, of course, that the work of the Spirit of God in the soul, repentance toward God, and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ would be requisite for the latter; but we are speaking only of man's preference.
The Old Testament prophesied of the coming of the "Prince of Peace"; and when He came into the world, He was hailed by angelic voices, saying, "On earth peace." But after His life of devotedness to God and service to man, His disciples were led to say, and correctly, "Peace in heaven." It was not the time for peace on earth. "He is despised and rejected of men," and, as Peter said, "Ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you; and killed the Prince of life." Acts 3:14, 15. Since men knew not the way of peace, and when the "Prince of Peace" came they rejected Him for a murderer, is it any wonder that true world peace eludes them?
The disillusionment of the great men of the earth who sought peace at the Summit Conference is still not as hopeless and disheartening as that which will yet come according to Isa. 33:7—"The ambassadors of peace shall weep bitterly." Disappointment will meet all who seek a real peace in this world until the "Prince of Peace" will put down all His enemies and reign gloriously.
The Word of God gives us some glimpses of war and treachery between kingdoms of old, in Dan. 11, where battles, intrigues, and conferences were conducted between the warring dynasties of the Seleucidae of Syria and the Ptolemies of Egypt. (So accurate is the prophetic account that infidels have contended that it must have been written after the events.) At one point in the alternating war and diplomacy ventures, the Syrian king gave his daughter to be the wife of the Egyptian king; but this supposedly master stroke failed, for she became loyal to her husband (Dan. 11:17). At another time, after a Syrian victory over Egypt, the two kings sat down to a conference; but God said beforehand, "They shall speak lies at one table." Treachery was in their hearts while peace was on their lips. How well God knows what is in man!
Statesmen and so-called Russian experts are sifting every shred of information for the answer to why Russia should have chosen to wreck, in a torrential rain of invectives by their chief man, the conference which was to include the very chief men of Great Britain, France, and the United States. Is it not still evident that "The way of peace have they [men] not known"? Of course Mr. Khrushchev seemed to have some justification for his attitude, but this would not have altered matters if he did not feel he had more to gain by wrecking the conference than by letting it go on. Whether it be by war, intrigue, or so-called diplomacy, everything must subserve the Russians in their chief aim—bring more of the world under their sway. We are reminded of the words of another great Russian, Peter the Great (1672-1725): "The Russian nation must be constantly on a war footing, to keep the soldiers warlike and in good condition. No rest must be allowed, except for the purpose of relieving the State finances, recruiting the army, or biding the favorable moment for attack. By these means peace is made subservient to war, and war to peace, in the interest of the aggrandizement and increasing prosperity of Russia." See Page 82.
Although Peter the Great thought it would be comparatively easy to set one nation against another, and then Russia take over the winner at will, and thus "keep steadily extending... frontiers," he never in his wildest moments envisaged a time when such a large percentage of humanity would be under the heel of Russian power; but he did let out the manner of manipulation, of which his modern successors have become masters. So we hear of Russia's power to destroy the world in war, then of a cold war which can just as really destroy nations by weakening the will to resist. Then we hear of "peaceful co-existence," but it is questionable whether a lamb would be allowed to co-exist with the Russian bear, unless the lamb were first inside of the bear.
As the world gets older, it becomes none the wiser; and so strife and uncertainty become an established custom. The moment is fast approaching when men's hearts will fail them for fear as they anticipate the awful unleashing of stored destruction. Scientific and technological skills increase while man departs further and further in heart from God. Soon all of man's greatest achievements will be rubble. May our hearts be set more and more upon those bright and pure scenes above, so that we can say with the poet:
"This world is a wilderness wide!
We have nothing to seek or to choose;
We've no thought in the waste to abide;
We have naught to regret, nor to lose."
We read in Isa. 14 of a man who is coming who will make "the earth... tremble," and "shake kingdoms." He will make the world a wilderness and destroy its cities (Isa. 14:9-17). This man is called the "king of Babylon," because he will be the holder of that Gentile power which began with Babylon and will end with him, the Roman "beast." In this portion, the word which is transliterated "Lucifer" means merely "O Bright Star, Son of the Morning," and should have been so translated. "Lucifer," a transliteration, has been taken by so many to mean "Satan" but later sentences prove it is a man. He is the "morning star" of the Old Testament, while Christ is the Morning Star of the New Testament. This man—king of Babylon—is the beast of the revived Roman Empire. He will promise to usher in a new day, but what a day it will be! The Scripture seems to indicate that at the very end, perhaps in the middle of those seven years, when this man receives satanic power, he will unleash those terrifying weapons in the so-called "arsenals of democracy," and make shambles of the earth. God is going to bring down all the pride of man and allow him to destroy much of which he has boasted.
Fellow-Christian, we look for the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior who will take us home to His Father's house ere long. Those bright and blessed scenes are our prospect, and that in spite of the growing numbers of so-called evangelical leaders who are now denying the hope of the Lord's soon return—that which many of them once preached.
Two things rush on apace—man's great works, and his power to destroy them. He is much like a child who builds a beautiful house out of blocks, which he then with one sweep tumbles into a heap. It is a principle with God to allow man to reach his zenith before He will bring it all down.
And when we speak of God's power to destroy, we think of His word, "Behold, the LORD maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof.... The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage." Isa. 24:1, 20. First He will let men destroy much, but then He will arise to "shake terribly the earth" (Isa. 2:19). Men may have forgotten that God has such power, and vaunt themselves of the power that they have created—in fact God is seldom thought of in connection with the earth and with men. But a few days ago, in the Chilean earthquake, God gave just a little specimen of the power that He has, and many thousands were cut off. Man cannot harness what God sets loose. He may reason against God's having anything to do with it, but the fact remains that just an earthquake in Chile broke mountains, caused lakes to disappear, sent volcanoes into action, even where none had previously existed. But this does not touch the hearts of those who were not personally affected by it. It seemed a long way from them. This earthquake was not a small temblor, but was of about the same intensity as the San Francisco quake in 1906. It was not, however, the strongest one ever recorded. The seismic waves, rushing across the great Pacific Ocean at more than 400 miles an hour, destroyed property in Hawaii and the Philippine Islands, and sent waves 20 feet high into low-lying areas of Japan, 10,700 miles distant. It is estimated that this earthquake unleashed a force equal to 25,000 "A" bombs. How small man and his doings really are when put side-by-side with God! His Word declares that there will be "great earthquakes... in divers places." And a time is coming when there will be a "great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great." Rev. 16:18.
God is not indifferent to what this world did to His Son, nor to its ungodliness, its corruption, its atheism, its infidelity, and its homage to the soul-destroying, unprovable hypothesis of evolution. Some day man will find that he was wrong, but all too late. God will arise and shake terribly the earth. Men will see His power and also yet prove that His word was correct: "It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment." Heb. 9:27. If a sinner in his sins should read these lines, let him be warned now and flee to Him for refuge through the precious blood of Christ.
Another editorial from Christian Truth on the subject of Russia, China, and the world, should add further light on this prime topic of world importance. The world's great men cannot interpret these current problems; they must be looked at in relation to the prophetic Word. We shall herewith quote from the August 1959 issue of Christian Truth:
At this point let us take a look at the world and see what its state is. Suppose our hopes and aspirations are here, rather than in heaven. What would you have? Where has the world drifted in just the last ten years? Apart from any thought of the sure judgment of God soon to break over this scene, what is the world's outlook?
The period of the last ten years is almost insignificant as a measure of time, but it is probably the most epochal decade out of thousands of years. In this brief moment of history Russia consolidated her hold on the Baltic states, East Germany, Hungary, Rumania, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, Poland, and Albania. She has absorbed much of the heartland of Europe and pushed her advantages beyond any hope of liberation for millions of people in the area.
In this same decade, the Red Chinese have attained absolute power over 600,000,000 Chinese. Has anything like that ever happened before in so short a time? Her rulers are absolute masters of China. Besides, they have taken over North Korea, North Vietnam, and gained footholds in Malaya and Indonesia, from which it is doubtful if they can be pried loose. They have taken Tibet and crushed resistance. They have gained much ground in other places on their periphery.
Today Russian-Chinese Communism controls the great land mass of Eurasia with almost one billion people to do its bidding. It was once said that he who controlled that great land area controlled the world, but sea power enabled smaller nations to contain great land powers. These advantages of maritime powers to confine land armies have about ceased to exist. Daily the Russian navy expands, especially in the great submarine fleet, and has access to ports in the Baltic, the Mediterranean, along the China coast, and can at will push on to the Persian Gulf from Iraq. While on the one hand the peripheral maritime powers are poorly united and often work at cross purposes, a handful of dedicated Communists in Moscow direct world strategy without restraint. Air power has been a deterrent of Russian control of the world, but this is no longer the prerogative of one side. Neither it nor sea power have the advantage of a decade ago.
If we look at the Middle East, we see the same deterioration of Western dominance and influence that has been witnessed in many quarters. Ten years ago Russia was an outsider in the Middle East, and she was not to be reckoned with; but today her voice is probably the loudest in the area. English and French influence dropped sharply while Russia moved in to fill the vacuum thus created. The United States sought to dose the gap, but indecision hindered her success. The only bright spot in the area for the West today is the resurgence of the thriving nation of Israel. Often her cause was hindered, or at least not espoused by the West, for fear of offending the Arab nations which were of uncertain loyalty; and now many of them are virtually lost to the West.
In the same decade there have been great stirrings in the continent of Africa with its teeming millions and untold natural resources. Old alignments are being broken, and new untrained nations are emerging, all seeking a voice in world affairs. The condition is ripe for Russian subversion and intrigue, all to the detriment of the West. In fact, it is evident that the whole world is astir, and the statesmen are bewildered. None knows where to go from here. This reminds us of a story, supposedly with a comic twist, which was told to a college graduating class. The professor who addressed them told of the strange answers which were received by a man seeking directions on how to go to a certain place. The man who tried to answer him said to go one way, then changed his mind and the directions. This was done numerous times, and finally the seeker was told, "If I were you, I wouldn't even start from here." The present generation has been born to a bewilderment—they know they are in confusion, and do not know where they are going, or even how to start. "The wise men are ashamed, they are dismayed and taken: lo, they have rejected the word of the Lord); and what wisdom is in them?" Jer. 8:9.
All the frantic efforts of Western leaders have failed to hold the line against Communist encroachments in one area after another. The last decade has been a period of tragic loss to the West. Nowhere on the horizon is there the least hope of reversing the trend, no, nor even of containing Russia and China at this point.
Western conceit has received some severe jolts in the last ten years. It was once thought that the Russians were too slow and backward to master the sciences, that they were too retarded to match the inventions and technological advancements of the West. Nevertheless, the Russians managed to set off an atomic explosion in 1949, and in 1957 sent the Sputnik aloft, beating all nations to the day of sending man-made satellites into orbit. In those years they also outran other nations in missile developments. When Egypt nationalized the Suez Canal, it was freely predicted that the canal would stagnate when once Western technicians were withdrawn. But it has continued operating under Egyptian control.
The West has been especially blessed by God. They have had the opportunity of the gospel and an open Bible. They were blessed with great natural resources and God-given intellects whereby they made use of His materials. But have they continued in God's goodness? (Rom. 11:22). It is painfully evident that they have not. The Western world has been almost synonymous with Christendom, but cannot the arraignment of Rom. 3 be applied to them? Where are those who really seek after God? Where is the fear of God dominant? Man under the most favorable circumstances is living to himself, forgetful of his Creator. The West's day is fast running out. And when judgment comes, it will fall most severely on these most favored lands. "O that they were wise,... that they would consider their latter end." Deut. 32:29.
If the Russian march has not and cannot be stopped in the fields of intrigue, of subversion, and of military might, what of the latest threat? It is no secret that Russia and China today are bent on overtaking and surpassing the West economically and industrially. Let no man hide his head in the sand, ostrich-like, and pretend he cannot see such a possibility. The great Russian leader freely predicts that in another six years they will produce more than half of the goods in the world. Perhaps it is a fantastic boast, but their boasts have come true before. This man has also boasted that the Russian ruble will replace the dollar in the world of commerce. If there is anything that the Russo-Chinese combine needs to know to forge ahead, their espionage is fully capable of supplying all the necessary data. Then think what 850,000,000 people who are used to obeying strict discipline can do when directed by men dedicated to outrun and outmaneuver the West.
Russian gold and market manipulations could disrupt world currencies. Dictator Khrushchev is at work on economic and industrial incorporation of the satellite nations of Europe into a single working unit to further these goals. Perhaps the Soviet economic offensive will be more effective than any means yet used to accomplish world domination.
Time is on the side of the communistic world, and a crisis of unparalleled proportions is in the making. This is no new thing in history, for nations have risen and fallen, empires have come and gone during the centuries. Only a dedicated optimist, who will not face the facts, can fail to read the signs of these times. The day is fast approaching when men's hearts will fail them for fear and looking forward to the things that are coming on the earth. There will be distress of nations, with perplexity (Luke 21:25).
Perhaps some readers will ask, Do you think that Russia will dominate the whole world? No, we do not, for Scripture is too plain for that. The point we make is that, but for God's intervention, it would be so, and that in the not-too-distant future. Our aim is to point up the significance of world conditions, showing that it is on the eve of great convulsions. If we survey Russo-Chinese advances in the last ten years, and would allow them a comparable advance in the next decade, they would either control the world or have that power within their easy grasp. If then God's decrees forbid that, the end is here. Let us not fear then, nor be distressed. Rather let us lift up our eyes in joyful anticipation of our Lord's imminent return. Sober reflection would make us marvel that we are still here so close to the end of this age. Shall we paraphrase a verse and say, "Now is our salvation much nearer than it was a short time back."
There are several reasons for understanding that Russian and Chinese world domination will be halted, by God's decree, short of full mastery:
The Word of God is dear that there will arise a beast with seven heads and ten horns (Dan. 7). This beast is the revived Roman Empire which will be a ten-kingdom federation, the most powerful force ever seen on earth. The man who will head this confederacy will be worshiped as one with whom no one can make war (Rev. 13:1-10). The Western world is soon to be headed by this man. A Communist world domination would prelude such an event.
This confederation will at first be linked in dose affinity with the greatest exhibition of church unity ever seen on earth. This ecumenical church will be "Babylon the Great," and its headquarters will be in Rome. The revived Roman power will carry this great, false religious system, characterized in Scripture as a corrupt woman—a harlot (Rev. 17:1-7). If Red Communism could master the world, there would be no church left in Rome to exert mastery over the soon-to-be-revived Roman Empire.
Israel is to have a dynamic head who will work hand-in-glove with the Roman beast (Dan. 11:36-39). In fact, the Roman Empire under this head will give Israel a guaranteed protection treaty for seven years' duration (Dan. 9:27). If Russia could take over the Middle East, and eliminate Israel, this would not happen; but God has decreed that it shall. Therefore, Russian world domination will be blocked by soon-to-be fulfilled events. We would not, however, rule out other happenings before the taking away of the Church.
These three developments must come before Russia can enslave the world, and they will be fulfilled after the Church is taken to heaven. Since they must come soon to forestall Russia, then we may rightly conclude that our departure from this world is an hourly probability. In view of that blessed hour, so soon to be realized, surely we can sing:
"It is not for us to be seeking our bliss,
And building our hopes in a region like this;
We look for a city which hands have not piled—
We pant for a country by sin undefiled."
May the Lord grant us to be more heavenly-minded, and may we more earnestly lay up in heaven a treasure that faileth not. With the disintegration of all that man has set his heart on here coming apace, may we who have a hope that is sure and steadfast, and that cannot fail, have our hearts weaned from this poor world, and our thoughts, our hopes, and our aspirations set on the goal that is before us.
Still another editorial from Christian Truth, September, 1960, regarding the "cold war" and the turbulence in Africa would seem an appropriate addition to the subjects of this book; hence we quote:
One of the greatest changes of this century is the awakening and muscle-flexing of the non-Caucasian peoples, which, if the Lord does not come and bring an end to man's day, would ultimately bring an end to Caucasian supremacy. The multitudinous hordes of Asia and Africa armed and marching forward could swamp the rest of the world. Added to this posing threat is the fact that International Communism is the driving force behind the Asian resurgence, and is at least suspect of stirrings in Africa. Already one third of the world's population is under Communist domination; and that all came about in much less time than the sixty years of this century. The world is marching with quickened pace to doom. Everything portends the coming judgment of God upon the world which, when He came into it in grace, spit in His face and cast Him out.
Most of the great European powers which had colonies in Asia and Africa have either lost them thus far this century or their hold on them is tenuous and of very doubtful duration. During only one month, July, 1960, four African countries became independent nations, while Italy, France, Britain, and Belgium watched the old colonies chart new and untried courses. In October, Nigeria becomes independent. Within two more years three other countries are scheduled for freedom. The dark continent with its great natural resources is on the move, and many untried leaders of doubtful allegiance between East and West will come forward. Add the future uncertainties to the already overwhelming perplexities of the present day and it is not difficult to imagine the heart-breaking consternation that is fast coming when men's hearts will fail them for fear.
The latest upheaval has been the terrible strife in the newly independent Congo. Man glories in his independence, but when there are no restraints he becomes the plaything of the devil. Creature perfection is characterized by dependence and obedience; these were the marks of the perfect Man when He was in this world. The Lord Jesus as that perfect Man said, "Preserve Me, O God: for in Thee do I put My trust." Psa. 16:1. He also said, "I do always those things that please Him [the Father]." John 8:29. The first man, Adam, was disobedient unto death; but the second Man, the Lord from heaven, was "obedient unto death" (Phil. 2:8).
Man's fall was brought about by disobedience to God, and independence of Him. So with man today; when he pleases only himself in independence, and there is no human power to restrain him, he becomes an abject slave of his lusts, and the willing tool of Satan. True liberty is only known by those who know the Lord Jesus as their Savior, and have been set at liberty from slavery to self and to sin, and thus are free in the "perfect law of liberty" to please another—even God. (James 1:25.)
Russia has been a master at sowing strife and discord and then encouraging a minority to overthrow duly constituted authorities; then their dupes often find they are in worse slavery. What a strange mess man has made of the world!
Look around today and you will find no segment of the world really tranquil and at rest. All of Europe is uneasy; West Berlin is like a time bomb, with none but Russia knowing the setting of the timing device; Italy has been through the throes of another political crisis; France is involved in a war in Algeria which it is trying to terminate; Eastern Europe is either under the heel of Russia or straddling the fence between East and West; Belgium will feel the strain of the Congo crisis for some time. Then to the east, Turkey has been through a revolution; Nasser of Egypt and Syria still threatens Israel; Russia is stirring minorities in Iran (Persia) to topple the Shah from his throne; India has border troubles with China; Nepal and other countries on the periphery of China have the same; likewise Tibet is suffering, as China seeks to assimilate its people while ruthlessly crushing resistance; Indonesia has been in trouble from within and without; to say nothing of Indo-China, Korea, Formosa, and other nations who are threatened constantly; nor of Japan and the bloody riots instigated by Russia. We have already considered Africa. In North America, all are aware of Russia's designs either to isolate its powerful nations from the rest of the world, or to eventually break them by force. To the south, militant and die-hard communistic groups are active in nearly all lands. Cuba has already succumbed, and the future is uncertain for any nation.
Another recent national upset with international complications has taken place, this time in the tiny, strategic kingdom of Laos in Southeast Asia. It lies between Communist nations, and between Communist and non-Communist countries. Less than one year ago it was rescued by the United Nations from military aggression by Communist North Vietnam. Now in the space of only a few hours, the pro-Western government fell in a military coup; later the non-Communist government revived, but is hourly in danger from the growing might of the Communist forces. It is a critical spot in world affairs at present. Washington has spent much money to bolster Laos as a buffer state, but all may be lost. It is all a part of a new kind of warfare called "cold war," which is global in outlook and effect, and in which the International Communist conspiracy is the most adept. How wonderful it is that our rest and hope are in heaven, and not here!
Thus the 60's of the great 20th century find the world with all its boasted progress ripe for the day when peace will be taken from the earth (Rev. 6:4). Then what of man's achievements? He has lived without God, and he is about to perish in his own delusion.
Students of international affairs, and great statesmen grapple with matters that they cannot settle; they see the ominous trends toward disaster and are powerless to reverse or stay them. It is easy for one politician to criticize another, but not one of them is master of the situations they encounter; they can only go on from one crisis to another, devising some way to play for time, hoping for some method of escape that is not apparent. We quote herewith from the "second Psalm" which shows that God is still supreme, and "He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh." All of man's puny efforts will come to naught, and in the end the One whom the world rejected will reign and subjugate all of His enemies.
Now as this latest edition of The Future of Europe and Russia's Destiny is about to go to press in 1961, we find the world in the midst of new and increasing troubles. Russia and China are sowing the seeds of revolution and strife in other nations. Cuba has fallen into the Communist orbit within only 90 miles from the United States mainland; and its dictator, Fidel Castro, is conniving with the international communist conspiracy to export his brand of communistic revolution to the South American nations, where it is evident that headway is being made.
Russia has boldly attempted to wreck the United Nations when unable to circumvent its operations to preserve the former Belgian Congo from falling apart in civil war. The United Nations was sustained by the major noncommunist powers; now Russia is reported to be supplying her puppet successor to the untimely-deceased Patrice Lumumba with material to increase internal strife. Russia has more to gain from fomenting strife and disorder than from helping to preserve peace. She has long found fishing is good in troubled waters.
All of this brings to mind the scripture that can only refer to Russia, in Isa. 33, verse 1: "Woe to thee that spoilest, and thou wast not spoiled; and dealest treacherously, and they dealt not treacherously with thee! when thou shalt cease to spoil, thou shalt be spoiled; and when thou shalt make an end to deal treacherously, they shall deal treacherously with thee." The reason for assigning this portion to Russia is that Russia will be the last nation to be dealt with by the Lord when He comes to "reign gloriously." In Isa. 32 The Lord is seen as reigning; then Russia comes against Him.
He will not put down all His enemies at one time, but will deal with them in order, when He as the Son of man descends with power and great glory. First, He will break the Roman Empire when it goes to the aid of beleagured Israel; He will take its vile head (the first beast of Rev. 13) together with his wicked colleague, the head of the nation of Israel (the second beast of Rev. 13), and cast them both alive into "the lake of fire" (Rev. 19:20). After that He will execute vengeance on the "king of the north" (Dan. 11:40-45), also called "the Assyrian," which will be beaten down in the land of Israel (see Isa. 30:30-33). We take it from the correct translation (see page 62) of the last verse of Isa. 30 that the head of this Assyrian adversary of Israel will also be cast into the lake of fire. The verse should read: "For Topheth is prepared of old; for the king also it is prepared; He hath made it deep and large; its pile is fire and much wood; the breath of Jehovah, like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle it." The "king" mentioned in this verse is the false "king of the Jews"—the antichrist—the second beast of Rev. 13. The correct rendering of this verse makes it apparent that the Assyrian will be cast there where "the beast and the false prophet" have recently been cast. "Tophet" was prepared for him, and also for the false "king." Thus the Lord will deal with that old avowed enemy of Israel.
The Lord's next visitation of wrath upon His enemies will be the destruction of Russia and all her satellites as described in Ezek. 38 and 39. The Russian hordes will come against Israel, now settled in Palestine, as a land army; and the destruction will be so great that it will take seven months to bury the dead. These hordes will be utterly destroyed, for God is not mocked; and their boasted atheism will not avail them in that day. God will also remember their hatred and treatment of the children of Israel in bygone days the pogroms, etc. The correct translation of Ezek. 39:2 does not say that God will leave the sixth part of them. See either the A.S.V. or the J.N.D. translations. Destruction will be total.
The last half of the seven years of trouble are called "the great tribulation." They are referred to as "forty and two months" (Rev. 13:5), "a thousand two hundred and threescore days" (Rev. 12:6), "time and times and the dividing of time" (Dan. 7:25), and the "midst of the week" of years (Dan. 9:27). But in the last chapter of Daniel we read of extended periods of time 1290 and 1335 days as though indicating extra time required for Christ's victories over various foes.
There will also be other enemies on which the Lord will use the new, regenerated nation of Israel as His rod; as, for instance, will be the case with Greece, which was probably not involved in any of the confederacies previously dealt with by the Lord Himself. We read:
"When I have bent Judah for Me, filled the bow with Ephraim, and raised up thy sons, O Zion, against thy sons, O Greece... The LORD their God shall save them in that day as the flock of His people: for they shall be as the stones of a crown, lifted up as an ensign upon His land." Zech. 9:13-16.
Isa. 11 also tells us that Israel will execute judgment upon the old enemies of "Edom and Moab; and the children of Ammon." So there will be some enemies whom the Lord will deal with through Israel after their repentance and restoration. See page 68.
Solomon's glorious reign is typical of Christ's millennial kingdom, but even Solomon did not set everything right at once. There was a period of transition when each opponent was dealt with in wisdom and righteousness; as, for instance, Shimei was not put to death at once, but put under a ban, the breaking of which brought death to him later (see 1 Kings 2).
In an article copyrighted by the United Feature Syndicate in 1952 and published in various periodicals, an interview was given between a foreign correspondent, Richard C. Hottelet, and Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister, Maxim Litvinov. Mr. Litvinov had been the U.S.S.R. Ambassador to the United States when Russia badly needed United States' aid. The amiable Russian had been used (perhaps unknowingly) to beguile the West with enticing words, but at the time of the interview (in 1946) was about to be cast into the discard heap as no longer serviceable to his masters. It now seemed to them that a hard, intractable attitude toward the West was possible, and even expedient. Mr. Litvinov made it unmistakably clear that Russia was not to be trusted, and that their behavior was not a sloppy "hit-and-miss" affair, one-day-hot and another-day-cold, slovenly, ill-conceived plan, but that it was all a deliberate plot. This was a great Russian's last contact with the West. This should speak for itself.
A brief glance at the present destructive potential of only two nations—Russia and the United States— will show the deadly peril in which the whole world stands in 1961, and the peril is increasing daily. As of now, it is, according to a reliable secular source, as follows:
David Lawrence, a noted observer and news commentator, says: "History tells us that a balance of power has often produced a long period of peaceful equilibrium. But today a balance of power has been augmented by a balance of terror. Any minute a mistake can be made, and a war started.
"The danger faced by mankind today is incredible. It defies description. But the paradox is that people have not been really awakened to it. They are fearful. They are nervous. They are hopeful that man will not commit suicide. They have not, however, taken steps to restrain the impulses that can at any moment, without notice to an adversary, release a destructive force of incalculable dimensions." —U.S. New & World Report, Feb. 27, 1961.
The same issue of this magazine gives a comparison of estimated destructive power on hand and ready for delivery by both Russia and the United States. We need to remember that just at the close of World War II, Hiroshima, Japan was destroyed by an atomic bomb. It was then an experiment in power to destroy. Now the United States stands ready to hurl missile weapons possessing an explosive power of more than 1 million Hiroshima-type A-bombs, and can rain down 3,600 nuclear bombs, each many times more powerful than the old Hiroshima-type bomb (which killed 78,150 people). If only one third of the attackers got through, they could destroy 1,200 Soviet centers.
On the other side, "by best available estimates," Russia could hurl "the equivalent of about 350,000 Hiroshima-type bombs" at the United States, and drop 250 powerful nuclear bombs on its cities. These are probably fairly accurate estimates of the present potential of the two great antagonists. And thus the world rushes madly on to destruction.
But while the world cringes, or at least should, the Christian can see in all these developments but the preparations for the days that will follow our translation from earth to heaven. Our hope is outside of and beyond this poor, doomed world. The Lord Jesus Christ, "our hope," will soon call His people home to be with Himself.
"He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly." Our response is and should be, "Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus." Rev. 22:20.
Paul Wilson
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