Great Prophecies-Maxwell
Great Prophecies-Maxwell
Great Prophecies-Maxwell
http://www.thebibleproject.com
1943
All rights reserved. This book, or parts thereof, must not be reproduced in any form without
permission.
CONTENTS
1. OURTIMES AND OURNEED
2. THE VOICE OF PROPHECY
3. PROOF POSITIVE
4. THE MAN 0F DESTINY
5. EUROPE’S FUTUREFORETOLD
6. STRUGGLE FOR FREEDOM
7. WILL ROME RULE AGAIN?
8. AMERICA’S PLACE IN PROPHECY
9. THE COMING CONQUEROR
10. THE MASTER PROPHET SPEAKS
11. A CRY ACROSS THE CENTURIES
12. DELIVERANCE ASSURED
13. THIS AMAZING CENTURY FORESEEN
14. PRE-FLOOD SINS PREVAIL AGAIN
15. THE HOME IN PERIL
16. A DAY OF RECKONING CERTAIN
17. TIME OF THE JUDGMENT ANNOUNCED
18. THE LAST GREAT SIGN
19. TRUTH TRIUMPHANT
20. THE SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME
21. A THOUSAND YEARS AHEAD
22. THE NEW WORLD ORDER
23. ALL THINGS READY
PREFACE
IN RECENT years, due no doubt to the confusion of the times and a general desire to discover the
way to a better and happier world, there has been a widespread revival of interest in the subject of
prophecy. More anxious than ever for a message of certainty concerning the future, people are turning with
new eagerness to the writings of the seers of old.
That many fascinating predictions have been made in times past is common knowledge; but which
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of them may be considered trustworthy? Which have been proved true? Upon which of them may one rely
for sure guidance concerning our day and the days to come?
It is the purpose of this book to consider some of these ancient prophecies -dating back, in certain
cases, nearly three thousand years-and to note how they have been confirmed by history; how they are
meeting their fulfillment in our time; and how they delineate events yet to take place.
We believe the reader will find it an absorbing study; for nothing stirs the heart more deeply than
the first realization that this amazing epoch in which we live was foreseen in the long ago. That its
tremendous happenings are not occurring in aimless, haphazard fashion, but in accord with a master plan
designed to reach its climax in the immediate future. Even those who for many years have known and
revered these inspired forecasts cannot fall to gather new faith, hope, and courage from their
reconsideration.
May all who read these pages be led to a clearer understanding of the whole subject of prophecy,
a new vision of the significance of the present world crisis,, and a deeper appreciation of their
responsibilities both to God and man in this solemn hour.
ARTHUR S. MAXWELL.
MILLIONS in every land on earth are looking anxiously into the future, wondering what it holds
in store for them. They yearn to peer behind its dark, mysterious veil, to learn what is to happen to them
and to their loved ones in the days ahead. Parents are profoundly concerned for their children, while youth
are wondering what destiny awaits them in a world so confused and distraught.
Gone is the blind optimism of other days, while confidence in the pledges and programs of even
the greatest statesmen was never at so low an ebb. Alluring schemes for world reconstruction are
everywhere viewed with suspicion. “They failed before,” men say, “and why should they not fail again?”
Hope has been raised so high and so often, only to be rudely quenched. that its flame is burning
low in the human soul. Frequent disillusionment has produced widespread cynicism, and this in turn has
destroyed man’s faith in his ability to deliver himself permanently from his present distresses.
There have been too many disappointments, “one towering frustration after another,” says Dr.
Harry Emerson Fosdick in Living Under Tension. “Our generation,” he continues, “has lived through a
long series of major disappointments. To go no farther back than the Great War, we plunged into that
hoping to make the world safe for democracy, only to recognize later that the outcome was futile. Then to
plans of organized peace in the World Court and the League of Nations many of us turned with high hopes,
but we have lived to see the great buildings on Lake Geneva empty shells, while millions march to war.
Then a day of economic affluence seemed to dawn, filled with hope of the abundant life for all the people,
only to fade into widespread penury that no help has reached. We have lived through a generation of
successive and colossal disappointments, one frustrated hope piled on another.” Page 11.
Dr. Keller speaks of the great darkness which this sequence of tragedy has brought upon the heart
of man darkness “where hunger and starvation are stalking,” darkness “where the last surviving inhabitants
of bombed and burned villages hide themselves in moist cellars and muddy earth holes. Darkness in
prisoners’ camps where millions of young men live in an atmosphere of despair and suicide. Darkness
enveloping that caravan of utter hopelessness, refugees.” But worse darkness still, he says, lies where
human beings ask whether God is absent from this world or is seeking an alibi! Darkness where it seems
impossible to believe, even for Christians, in a God of love in the midst of a world of horror! -Adolph
Keller, Christian Europe Today, page 3.
Surely if ever mankind needed powerful help from a source outside itself, it needs such help
today. Surrounded by the chaos of a collapsing civilization, weighed down with many fears and sorrows,
millions cry out for deliverance. Perplexed, bewildered, and despondent, they yearn for some word of
encouragement, some confident assurance for the future. They crave some satisfying explanation of all that
of their lives, the blasting of their homes, the wrecking of their cherished plans. They long for rest and
peace of mind, and consolation for their aching hearts.
If you hold your ear close to the ground,” says Stuart Chase, the economist, “you can hear a
muffled roar echoing around the whole world. It is the voice of the people demanding security.”
And no wonder. Can we forget the tragic happenings of these past few years and their crushing
effect upon the human spirit? Consider all those who have endured bombing from the air, who have beheld
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their loved ones killed or burned, their farms or cottages - all that they have lived and worked for-smashed
into smoldering rubble. Think of the wounded, the maimed, the blind, the shell-shocked, and all their
unimaginable sufferings. Remember those who go down to the sea in ships-how their vessels have been
sunk under them; how they have drifted, many of them for days and weeks in open boats, perishing of
cold, hunger, and thirst. Think of those who have gone from home never to return, and of those who wait
in silence for a footfall that never is heard.
A DISILLUSIONED WORLD
Think of it all-then translate it into terms of human fear, anguish, and sorrow; multiply it ten
thousand fold. Envision it in all its vastness as it embraces the men, the women, the children of every race,
every nation, every tribe on every continent and island; and you have a picture of a world of -human woe
that must make the angels weep. No wonder there is a “muffled roar” echoing round the world. The
multitudes are weary of strife, bloodshed, cruelty, misgovernment, and their hearts are aching for the dawn
of a new and happier day.
Many people have had their whole outlook on life completely changed by the shattering blows of
two world wars. They have beheld the dire results of materialism and the bankruptcy of humanism. They
have penetrated the false-hoods of skeptical teachers and preachers. They have grown weary of the vanities
of a godless age. Like the prodigal son they feel that they have eaten long enough of the husks of
worldliness and paganism. They are looking again toward the Father’s house. They are yearning once more
for truth and real religion. They are turning back to God.
Not long ago a writer in Harper’s Magazine stated that in his opinion the hills and valleys of
America are “filled with people whose longing for religion is so great it is pathetic.” Today the same
longing is rapidly spreading through all nations.
Soon after the war broke out, the United States Bureau of Census announced that during the
preceding two years “the production of fiction stories in the United States dropped 50 per cent,” while
during the same period the sale of the Holy Bible increased by two and a half million copies.
Commenting upon these amazing figures, the editor of Liberty remarked: “The trend revealed by
the Census Bureau reflects a hunger for nourishment of the human spirit; a revolt both from the illusion of
sugary romance and from the disillusion of ‘realistic’ skeptics; a flight back to pure truth....
“The people have seen what comes through paying tribute to the idol in the market place. They
watch with horror the march of the Philistines. In agony they find that faith which ‘is the substance of
things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.’ So we are not reading so many frivolous novels, and we
are buying more Holy Bibles. We are turning back to the white spires.”
This explains the rapidly growing interest in Bible prophecy, the widespread popularity of
prophetic radio programs, and the phenomenal increase in the circulation of prophetic magazines. Sensing
their need of divine comfort and counsel, men and women are earnestly seeking for an interpretation of the
times and for some word of hope for the future.
Out of London has come a most illuminating book from the pen of Dr. Leslie D. Weatherhead,
minister of the famous old City Temple. Written to the accompaniment of crashing bombs and roaring
antiaircraft guns, This Is the Victory tells of the transformation that has taken place in the author’s thinking
as a result of the sufferings of war.
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time, expressed their conviction that “the way out is the sound of a voice, not our voice, but a voice coming
from something not ourselves, in the existence of which we cannot disbelieve.”
This almost universal desire is reminiscent of Lanier’s famous lines: A pilot! God, a pilot! For the
helm is left awry.
But where shall man turn to find a voice of authority speaking with sanity and confidence amid
the madness of our times, rightly interpreting current events and giving sure guidance for the future?
Today we see the heavens “fill with commerce,” as giant cargo planes, laden “with costly bales,”
speed from continent to continent, and we have become all too familiar with the terrors of modern aerial
warfare as “the nations’ airy navies” have grappled “in the central blue.” Tennyson surely drew a
remarkably accurate picture of these features of our modern world.
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That is why Bible prophecy is reliable. It does not consist of human speculations. It is not a
compilation of the vain imaginations of men. Those who wrote these prophecies did not invent them; they
were merely the vehicles for the expression of the divine mind. Through their lips the voice of God became
the voice of prophecy. They were literally “carried away by the Holy Spirit,” and thus were able to record
God’s ideals, God’s counsel, and, most remarkable of all, God’s knowledge of the future which He
revealed to men.
How many prophecies are there of this sort? There are scores of them, covering a wide range of
subjects. Some deal with matters of local significance, now almost forgotten in the dusty archives of the
distant past; others, with breath taking boldness, trace the story of the nations down the ages from the days
of the prophets to our own time and beyond. They map the course of empires; they name the next world
ruler; they warn of dangers ahead; they chart the future for a thousand years to come.
PROOF POSITIVE
LOOKING back across the ages to that time when the ancient seers recorded their inspired
predictions, we learn that God sought to prove His power and divinity through the accuracy of the words
that these men uttered. Their fulfillment, He declared, would be the sign supreme of His sovereignty in
heaven and in earth.
Knowing full well that none can read the future but Himself, He threw out this challenge to all
false gods and to those who champion them: “Produce your cause, said the Lord. Show us what shall
happen: let them 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 you are gods.” Isaiah 41:21-23.
To emphasize that the attribute of omniscience is His and His alone, He said: I am the Lord: that is
My name: and My glory will I not give to another, neither My praise to graven images. Behold, the former
things are come to pass, and new things do I declare: before they spring forth I tell you of them.” Isaiah
42:8, 9.
“I am God,” He added, “and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and
from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My
pleasure.” Isaiah 46:9,10.
Such was the measure of confidence that God reposed in the predictions He caused to be made by
His appointed messengers in the long ago. He had no doubts or misgivings concerning them. “My counsel
shall stand,” He said, with full assurance in the outcome.
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How wonderfully this confidence has been justified by events is patent for all the world to see.
History affords instance after instance where the words of the Bible prophets have been fulfilled with
astonishing accuracy and completeness.
Many of these prophecies referred to proud empires and great cities whose records are available
today in every library in the land. If God had been doubtful about the results, He would have confined the
predictions to little-known communities so that none could tell, after the lapse of centuries, whether they
had been fulfilled or not. Instead, however, He chose to speak concerning such powerful empires as
Assyria and Babylon. Deliberately He mentioned the famous cities of Nineveh, Tyre, and Jerusalem -
historic capitals of the ancient world, whose names have been passed on from generation to generation, and
are familiar to every schoolboy today.*
*The Assyrian Empire, centered in the fertile valley between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers of
Mesopotamia, was a dominant power as far back as the thirteenth century BC, and for hundreds of
years thereafter. The frequent references to Assyria in the Old Testament reveal how long the history of
Israel was overshadowed by its might. Genesis 25:18; 2 Kings 15:29; Isaiah 37:36,37. In the early part
of the seventh century B. c. the provinces of Babylon, Media, and Egypt revolted, and Nabopolassar, a
general in the Assyrian army, was sent to subdue the rebels in Babylon. Successful in his enterprise, he
was rewarded with the title of king of that city; but he headed a new revolt himself, and destroyed the
city of Nineveh, capital of Assyria. Upon his death in 605 BC his son Nebuchadnezzar came to the
throne of Babylon. This famous king, by his conquest of all the surrounding territory, including Syria,
Palestine, and Egypt, and by his amazing activities as a builder of cities, established the Babylonian
Empire as the greatest kingdom of antiquity. However, it was destroyed soon after his death in 561 BC.
There followed him five weak and wicked kings, the last being Belshazzar, in whose reign (538 BC) the
empire fell to the combined forces of the Medes and Persians. Daniel 5:30, 31.
So abundant is the literature now available concerning these cities and countries that anyone who
so desires may check with meticulous thoroughness each detail of the prophecies. Had this evidence been
found to be in contradiction to the prophecies, they would have long since been discredited. In every
instance, however, and in every detail, the word of the Lord has been proved true. To quote the words of
King Solomon, “There hath not failed one word of all His good promise.” 1 Kings 8:56.
NINEVEH TO BE DESTROYED
To appreciate fully the marvelous nature of these predictions, one needs to permit his imagination
to go back to the days when they were given. First let us picture ourselves in Nineveh, capital of Assyria,
the city to which the prophet Jonah went so reluctantly to preach, about 860 B. C.
It is now the year 713 BC. Nearly one hundred fifty years have elapsed since Jonah’s day. The
Assyrian Empire is at the zenith of its power, its soldiers noted for their arrogance and cruelty. Sargon 11,
father of Sennacherib, is on the throne, confident that his dominion will never be overthrown.
But at this very hour a virtually unknown man in far-off Palestine - the prophet Nahum - takes up,
as he calls it, “the burden of Nineveh,” and writes “the book of the vision of Nahum, the Elkoshite.”
He has good reason to do so, for it is but eight years since the Assyrians swept over his homeland,
perpetrating all manner of atrocities, destroying Samaria, and finally taking captive ten of the twelve tribes
of Israel.
Now, under inspiration of God, “carried away” by the Holy Spirit, he writes with deep feeling:
“God is jealous, and the Lord revenges; the Lord revenges, and is furious; the Lord will take vengeance on
His adversaries, and He reserves wrath for His enemies. The Lord is slow to anger, and great in power, and
will not at all acquit the wicked: the Lord hath His way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds
are the dust of His feet.” Nahum 1:1-3.
Turning directly to Nineveh, terrible in its overwhelming might and apparent invincibility, he
says: ‘We to the bloody city! It is all full of lies and robbery; the prey departs not; the noise of a whip, and
the noise of the rattling of the wheels, and of the prancing horses, and of the jumping chariots. Behold, I
am against thee, said the Lord of hosts; and I will show the nations thy nakedness, and the kingdoms thy
shame. And I will cast abominable filth upon thee, and make thee vile, and will set thee as a gazing stock.
And it shall come to pass, that all they that look upon thee shall flee from thee, and say, Nineveh is laid
waste: who will bemoan her?” Nahum 3: 1-7.
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Nineveh to be laid waste! Yes. “Empty, and void, and waste.” Nahum 2:10.
Impossible! Look at its impregnable fortifications. Remember its undefeated army, equipped with
the finest chariots and the latest weapons of war. Consider its immense size and the vast number of its
inhabitants. Even in Jonah’s day its population had exceeded 120,000. Jonah 4:11. How could it ever
become empty -void -waste? Empty, of all things? The absurdity of it!
Who is this Nahum, anyway? the people ask. Why take notice of what he says? He is merely an
alarmist.
So they thought. So, no doubt, did many of his friends and neighbors. And they became more and
more convinced that they were right as the years rolled by and nothing happened to Nineveh. Probably they
taunted Nahum with having “guessed wrong.”
But Nahum was not wrong. Go, search for that famous and populous city today. You will not find
it. Save for a few moldering ruins to mark the spot where once it stood, it has vanished from the face of the
earth. A hundred years after the divine pronouncement of her fate, Nineveh was overwhelmed by the
superior might of Babylon, and from that moment gradually faded out of the history of nations.
In the seventh century AD a battle was fought between the Romans and the Persians on the very
site where Nineveh once had stood in all her pride and majesty. Describing the terrain, the historian
Gibbon wrote: “Eastward of the Tigris, at the end of the bridge of Mosul, the great Nineveh had formerly
been erected: the city, and even the ruins of the city’ had long since disappeared; the vacant space afforded
a spacious field for the operations of the two armies.”- Edward Gibbon, The History of the Decline and
Fall of the Roman Empire, chapter 46, paragraph 24.
Thus the words that Nahum uttered came to pass. Nothing else indeed could have happened; for
the voice of divine prophecy never fails.
Now we are in Babylon. It is 595 BC. Passing through one of the city’s many brazen gates that
give entrance through the wide and lofty walls, we walk down its main thoroughfare, marveling at its
majestic temples and gilded palaces and, in particular, at the famous “hanging gardens.”
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generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall the shepherds make their fold there. But
wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and owls shall dwell there. And her time is near to come.” Isaiah
13:19-22.
1ncredible! Impossible!” they cry.
It must have seemed unreasonable, back in 595 BC, with the city so strong, with Nebuchadnezzar,
one of the greatest monarchs of antiquity, upon the throne, for anyone to suggest that all this glory would
pass away.
But, it is in such times, when the events appear utterly beyond the possibility of realization, that
God does speak.
Years passed. Twenty years, forty years, fifty years. Still nothing happened to Babylon.
Nebuchadnezzar died, but his dynasty continued. Those who knew of the prophecies of Isaiah and
Jeremiah wondered why these men had spoken as they had, or they mocked at the prophets’ lack of
discretion. Jeremiah himself passed away without seeing the fulfillment of his prediction, so long was it
delayed.
Then came the year 539 BC. By this time Belshazzar was on the throne; and one riotous night,
while he was feasting with a thousand of his lords, drinking impiously out of the sacred vessels brought
long ago from Jerusalem, suddenly the fingers of a man’s hand appeared, writing a mysterious message on
the palace wall. Terrified, the king called for someone to interpret the strange, ominous characters. Finally
the prophet Daniel was called in, and he realized at once that this was a heaven-sent message of doom.
Repeating it to Belshazzar, he said: “God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it. Thou art weighed in
the balances, and art found wanting. Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.” Daniel
5:26-28.
So God had not forgotten the prediction He had caused Jeremiah to utter nearly sixty years before,
nor Isaiah’s warning given almost two hundred years before. All along He had been watching Babylon -
numbering her years, counting her crimes, weighing her with infinite precision in the balances of divine
justice.
Now the hour of judgment had come. Even as the drunken orgy was at its height, the armies of the
Medes and the Persians were making their way through the unguarded gates into the very heart of the city.
In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain. And Darius the Median took the kingdom.”
Daniel 5:30, 31.
But not only did the city change hands and become a prize of the victorious invaders. As century
succeeded century its mighty walls were leveled, its proud temples and palaces were destroyed, until at last
the site was buried by the sands that blew over it. Finally, overgrown with brush and weeds, it became
veritably a lost city, with no one knowing where it once had stood, until in recent times it was rediscovered
by archaeologists.
The famous archaeologist, Layard, who explored the site of Babylon in 1845 and in 1850,
described it as follows: “Shapeless heaps of rubbish cover for many an acre the face of the land. On all
sides, fragments of glass, marble, pottery, and inscribed brick are mingled with that peculiar nitrous and
blanched soil, which, bred from the remains of ancient habitations, checks or destroys vegetation, and
renders the site of Babylon a naked and hideous waste. Owls start from the scanty thickets, and the foul
jackal skulks through the furrows.” - Austen H. Layard, Discoveries in the Ruins of Nineveh and Babylon,
chapter 21, Page 484 (1853).
Marvelous indeed was the detailed fulfillment of these predictions made by Isaiah and Jeremiah.
Divine prophecy pitted itself against all the strength of Babylon’s fortifications, all the might of her
powerful armies, all the boasted wisdom of her magicians, astrologers, and soothsayers-and won!
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572 BC. Then Ezekiel utters these astounding words concerning the future of Egypt: It shall be the basest
of the kingdoms; neither shall it exalt itself any more above the nations: for I will diminish them, that they
shall no more rule over the nations.” Verse 15.
While it is true that in 580 BC the famous pharaohs who built the great pyramids had lain in their
stone sarcophagi for more than a thousand years, yet Egypt as a nation continued to exist and to enjoy no
small measure of importance. And who could tell whether or not it might experience a revival of its
onetime glory? Some new pharaoh might possibly arise and build yet greater than his illustrious
forefathers. But prophecy spoke and, with astonishing intuition and foresight, told what was to be. Not
content with saying, as well it might have done, that some calamity was about to befall the nation and its
ruler, it went far beyond, and in less than twenty words outlined Egypt’s history to the close of time! “It
shall be the basest of the kingdoms; neither shall it exalt itself any more above the nations.”
From the human standpoint there have been a thousand chances for this prediction to be
overthrown. At any moment in the past twenty-five hundred years some powerful leader might have arisen
in Egypt and turned the tide of history. But no such leader has appeared. No such development has taken
place. Instead, Egypt’s history has been one long, sorry record of subservience to the Romans, to the
Mohammedans, to the French, to the British. Never since Ezekiel’s day has it exalted itself again over the
nations. And it never will.
Who made this prediction? Did man? No indeed. As Ezekiel himself was so careful to point out, it
was “the word of the Lord,” the voice of God speaking through human lips. And when that voice speaks,
none can gainsay it.
About the same time that Ezekiel uttered this remarkable prophecy relating to the future of Egypt,
he was given a similar message of doom concerning the powerful seaport and naval base of Tyre.
In the sixth century BC Tyre wielded an immense influence throughout Palestine, Asia Minor, and
the entire Mediterranean seaboard. It is believed by some that her ships traded as far as the Spanish coast
and that some of them even found their way through the Strait of Gibraltar to England.
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was on.
The section of Tyre on the mainland, known as the old city, was soon captured; but Alexander,
having no fleet, was at a loss for means to reach new Tyre on the island. Then he decided upon a most
unusual course. He completely demolished the old city and, with the debris, built a mole two hundred feet
in breadth across the straits, erecting towers and war engines at its further end. When this task was
completed, he was joined by the king of Cyprus, who had gathered some two hundred twenty warships
from Mediterranean seaports, and the reduction of the fortress was soon accomplished. After a siege of
seven months Tyre was taken, ten thousand of its citizens being slaughtered and thirty thousand sold into
slavery.
Today the traveler to Syria may see the remains of Alexander’s mole. Broken pillars from the
once-famous city strew the beaches. Fishermen from the village of Sur, which has grown up around the
spot, spread their nets upon the bare rocks from which the very dust of Tyre was scraped by the famous
Grecian conqueror nearly twenty-three centuries ago. “Once the great mart of the Mediterranean world,”
says The Encyclopedia Britannica, “it has now an insignificant export trade in cotton and tobacco.”
Thus once more prophecy has been proved true. Indeed the accuracy with which the smallest
details of Ezekiel’s prediction came to pass is remarkable. Tyre might have met its end in any one of a
hundred ways. It might have endured to modern times. How could any man, unless divinely inspired, have
known that Tyre would be so completely demolished? How could anyone, without God’s help, have
foreseen the unprecedented means that Alexander would employ to destroy it?
No wonder Peter said, “Holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” It is the
only satisfactory explanation of their foreknowledge.
But let us turn for a moment to Jerusalem and listen to one of the most amazing predictions ever
made. Christ is leaving the temple and His disciples are admiring its beautiful architecture. Suddenly He
turns to them and says: “See you not all these things? Verily I say unto You, There shall not be left here
one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.” Matthew 24:2.
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was the Man of Destiny to whom they pointed. He understood the book of Daniel and counseled His
followers to study it. Matthew 24:15. He knew the time when His ministry should begin (Mark 1:15) and
when it was to end (Matthew 20:17-19). And when, following His resurrection, He met two discouraged
disciples on the road to Emmaus, He said in loving rebuke: “0 fools, and slow of heart to believe all that
the prophets have spoken: ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into His glory? And
beginning at Moses and all the prophets, He expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things
concerning Himself.” Luke 24:25-27.
The phrase “in all the Scriptures” is suggestive of the abundance of the revelations concerning
Him, and those two words “ought not” are also most significant. They indicate that the facts of His life,
death, and resurrection had been plainly outlined in advance. Indeed, Christ’s whole life from Bethlehem to
Calvary was lived in complete harmony with the prophetic description of Him set forth in the sacred
writings hundreds of years before.
It has been said that if the portrait of Christ as drawn by the apostles in the New Testament were
to be laid over His portrait as drawn by the prophets of the Old Testament, it would fit with perfect
exactitude, line for line and feature for feature. The two are identical.
There was, of course, a profound reason for all this prophetic interest in one single individual. The
work that Christ was to perform, the place He was to fill in history, were of such supreme importance that
no possibility of error or misunderstanding could be permitted. One who was to be at once the Messiah of
the Jews, the Founder of the Christian religion, and the Redeemer of all humanity, must necessarily be
identified so clearly that no reasonable man could honestly question His position or His right to speak with
authority on behalf of God and man. Hence the multiplicity of predictions concerning Him.
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How fully Jesus followed this divinely- appointed program needs no proof or explanation. All the
world knows how He “went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil.” Acts
10:38. For nineteen centuries men have loved and revered Him because of His love for the suffering and
needy, His tenderness toward the weak and the aged, His selfless service to the sick and afflicted. By Him
the eyes of the blind were opened and the ears of the deaf were unstopped. By Him the lame leaped as the
deer, and the tongue of the dumb was made to sing. Isaiah 35:5,6. His infinite power was ever employed,
not for self-aggrandizement, but for the blessing of those who were most in need of assistance.
Christ’s entry into Jerusalem “upon a colt the foal of an ass,” was foretold by the prophet
Zechariah, who also predicted His betrayal by Judas for thirty pieces of silver. Zechariah 9:9; 11:12;
Matthew 26:14-16.
But it was in relation to His sublime sacrifice on behalf of the human race that the greatest wealth
of prophetic detail was provided, giving evidence that this was to be the all-important feature of His
ministry for men.
In the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah, where, as Dr. Henry P. Liddon says, is to be found “the richest
mine of Messianic prophecy in the Old Testament,” the vicarious nature of His suffering is revealed.
“He is despised and rejected of men,” said the prophet, “a man of sorrows, and acquainted with
grief: and we hid as it were our faces from Him; He was despised, and we esteemed Him not. Surely He
hath borne our grief, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God, and
afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement
of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we
have turned everyone to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” Isaiah 53:3-6.
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cast lots. These things therefore the soldiers did.” John 19:23,24.
In the same chapter of John’s Gospel, the apostle also noted that, whereas the soldiers broke the
legs of the two thieves who were crucified with Jesus, to make impossible their escape when taken from
their crosses at the beginning of the Sabbath-they refrained from breaking the legs of Christ, as He was
already dead. Thus, said John, another prophecy was fulfilled, “A bone of Him shall not be broken.” John
19:36; Exodus 12:46.
When He was taken from the cross-even in death Christ continued to fulfill the prophetic word.
Isaiah had written, He made His grave with the wicked, and with the rich in His death.” Isaiah 53:9. How
could this possibly come to pass? The normal fate of the crucified was to be thrown into the valley of
Hinnom, amid the refuse of Jerusalem. But with Christ it was to be different; and in that dark moment of
His utter helplessness, secret friends came boldly on the scene, and one of them, “a rich man of
Arimathaea, named Joseph, . . . went to Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded the
body to be delivered. And when Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and laid it
in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock.” Matthew 27:57-60.
Nicodemus, the rabbi “which at the first came to Jesus by night,” assisted in these obsequies, and
together they laid the silent form of their beloved Master in the “new sepulcher, wherein was never man yet
laid.” John 19:39-41,
Thus, in the words of a famous commentator, He, who had come to earth in a virgin womb, found
His last resting place in a virgin tomb. And every step of His way from the manger to the cross fulfilled the
words of the prophets who had written the divine message under the inspiration of the Spirit of God.
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blood soaked continent. They have beheld the up rush of powerful, dynamic forces which, for a time,
swept all before them in their conquering, might; and they have become afraid lest one of them,
overthrowing the rest, should seize the scepter of world power and rule unchallenged for evermore. Yet all
such concern is needless. No such development as this is possible, for God has decreed that it shall never
happen.
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A smile of satisfaction must have passed over the king’s countenance. But the young man
continues:
“And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass,
which shall bear rule over all the earth. And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron
breaks in pieces and subdues all things: and as iron that breaks all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise.
“And whereas thou saw the feet and toes, part of potters’ clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall
be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou saw the iron mixed with
miry clay.
“And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly
strong, and partly broken.
“And whereas thou saw iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of
men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay.” Verses 39-43.
In these few prophetic words Daniel outlines the course of empire for centuries to come. There
will be, he asserts, four world powers; four, and no more. Then there will come a period of division and
conflict, culminating in a divine intervention and the setting up of God’s eternal kingdom.
What has been history’s answer to this daring prediction? As to the first world power there can be no
question. It was identified by the prophet when he said to Nebuchadnezzar, “Thou art this head of gold.”
This great king was the personification of the might of Babylon, that greatest empire of the ancient world,
which enjoyed full sovereignty from about 606 BC when the power of Assyria was broken - until its
overthrow, less than sixty-eight years later, by the combined forces of Media and Persia, described so
vividly in the fifth chapter of the book of Daniel.
Medo-Persia thus became the second universal empire, enjoying its supremacy for some two
hundred years. Then, early in the fourth century BC, came the rise of Greece and the swift conquests of
Alexander the Great. With incredible courage this youthful commander hurled his limited forces across the
Hellespont at the vast hosts of Darius, utterly defeating them at Granicus, Issus, and finally at the decisive
Battle of Arbela, 331 BC.
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But though Rome, with her invincible might, crushed all opposition and brought whole nations
into slavery; though her standards waved triumphantly from the Persian Gulf to the isles of Britain, and
from the Baltic Sea to north Africa. Though her Caesars called themselves gods and demanded the
subservience of all men everywhere; yet she too came to her end, even as the prophet had declared long
years before. All through the fourth and fifth centuries A. D. the frontiers of the empire were harassed by
barbarian tribes, which attacked with increasing boldness and frequency; and then, in AD 476, the imperial
city of Rome fell before the terrible onslaught of Odoacer, king of the Heruli, and his warriors.
So the fourth or iron empire came to its end, to be succeeded not by another universal empire, but
by a group of heterogeneous kingdoms established by her conquerors, a strange mixture of strength and
weakness, of “iron” and “clay” which has remained until the present day.
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remain, defying the power of the iron to weld itself together again.
Seen in the light of history, illuminated by the glow of a thousand battlefields where men by
millions have struggled to defeat the divine purpose, the ancient dictum, “They shall not cleave one to
another,” is one of the greatest prophetic utterances of all time.
It is amazing how many schemes have been laid to unite the nations of Europe. Men have made
treaties until almost every nation was pledged in some way to every other nation. They have tried leagues
with the hope that peaceful unity might be achieved. They have tried intermarriage until every ruling
dynasty became related to every other dynasty and it was considered unethical for one of royal blood to
wed outside this charmed circle. Yet every plan has failed. Every bond, durable as it seemed when made,
has snapped under the strain of seething human emotions. While there has been “the strength of the iron”
in these plans, there has always appeared the disastrous weakness of the clay.
Again and again down the centuries, ambitious, purposeful men have arisen, determined at all
costs to abolish the frontiers of the ever-quarrelsome states, and rule over one united kingdom. Resentful of
the differences of custom and language, angered by aggravating trade barriers, they have sworn to sweep
them away once and for all, and so build afresh one undivided empire. Yet they have failed.
Sometimes they have come within sight of success just one more victory, or one more year of
planning, and their ambition might have been achieved. But it was not to be. Every time, in some strange
and unexpected way, they have been defeated.
As far back as the ninth century, Charlemagne made his attempt to unite Europe; he even
permitted himself to be crowned emperor at Rome; but the iron and the clay that lie tried to blend together
quickly fell apart after his death.
As one historian has said, “His scepter was the bow of Ulysses, which could not be drawn by any weaker
hand.”
In the sixteenth century, Charles V became ruler of most of Europe, and had visions of completing
the conquest of the Continent. It was said of him that “no monarch until Napoleon was so widely seen in
Europe and in Africa.” Yet, in 1555, because of failing health, he was compelled to abdicate and to sign
away his vast possessions to others.
Little more than a hundred years later, Louis XIV of France became the dominant figure on the
Continent. He reached out in all directions for more and more authority, overrunning the Netherlands,
laying waste the Palatinate, and exclaiming: “There are no longer any Pyrenees.” Nevertheless a
combination of opposing forces finally brought his grandiose schemes tumbling about him like a castle of
cards. By the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713, his dominions “were pared away on every side.”
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of the aggressor is spent, Europe will revert to its old divided state. After the overspreading eruption of
iron has ceased, the elements of clay will reappear, cracking and breaking the mass of metal into its
divisions.
But mark this well. Events may for a time appear, to our limited vision, to go absolutely contrary
to the course that prophecy indicates. But in every time of totalitarian ascendancy-as already noted in
considering the predictions regarding Nineveh, Babylon, Egypt, and Tyre-there has been a period when it
must have seemed to onlookers as though the word of the Lord would never come true.
If one had been living in Rome in AD 800, three hundred years after the Roman Empire’s
collapse,-and had beheld the coronation of Charlemagne as emperor, one would no doubt have been sorely
tempted to doubt the prophecy of Daniel regarding, the divisions of the fourth kingdom. Yet only a few
years later, not only was Charlemagne himself dead, but his empire had again been divided, and the
prophecy wonderfully vindicated.
Again, imagine yourself living in those war-cursed years from 1800 to 1815, when the name of
Napoleon struck terror to the hearts of men throughout Europe. Imagine news reaching you that nation
after nation had been invaded and that the conqueror’s relatives had been placed on every vacated throne.
Ask yourself what you would have thought then about the fulfillment of Daniel 2. For eight long years or
more the prophecy might well have seemed in jeopardy. Yet it was not. After the weapons of war had been
laid down, God’s word was seen to be more firmly established than ever. Can we not encourage our hearts
from these clear lessons of the past? Shall we not believe in God and in His word and leave the fulfillment
of it to Him?
We may rest assured that anyone who plans to dominate Europe permanently-no matter what his
nationality-is doomed to failure. He may achieve temporary triumphs. He may even overrun most of the
Continent. Yet along the trail of his conquests there will grow up and accumulate the forces that will
ultimately destroy him. As “ the stars in their courses fought against Sisera,” so countless invisible forces
will combine to thwart his purposes.
“If the emperor Napoleon,” wrote Frank Buckland, the famous naturalist, according to his
biographer, “when on the road to Moscow with his army in 1811, had condescended to observe the flights
of storks and cranes passing over his fated battalions, subsequent events in the politics of Europe might
have been very different. These storks and cranes knew of the coming on of a great and terrible winter, the
birds hastened towards the south, Napoleon and his army towards the north.” - George C. Bompas, The
Life of Frank Buckland, page 352 (1885).
Thus were even the birds of the air far wiser than the greatest conqueror. As the prophet Jeremiah
wrote, “Yea, the stork in the heaven knows her appointed times; and the turtle and the crane and the
swallow observe the time of their coming; but My people know not the judgment of the Lord.” Jeremiah
8:7.
The divisions of the old Roman Empire will remain until the end, for it is “in the days of these
kings” that the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, a kingdom that “shall
not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand
forever.” Daniel 2:44.
Wonderful prophecy! Like a mighty beacon it shines across the centuries, illuminating the greatest
events of time with light from. heaven. Glittering on the gold of Babylon, shimmering on the silver of
Medo-Persia, glinting on the brass of Greece, shining on the iron of Rome, lighting up the struggles and
conflicts of the modern world, it glows at last upon the face of the King of kings as He comes back to the
earth in His glory. For He is the stone that strikes the image and breaks in pieces “the iron, the brass, the
clay, the silver, and the gold.” His is the kingdom which “shall consume all these kingdoms, and . . . shall
stand forever.”
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startling development would ever come about? The unaided human mind would naturally presume that
empire would succeed empire through the centuries; surely only a man inspired of God would have dared
to announce, a thousand years in advance, that the scepter wielded so proudly and confidently by the
Caesars would fall into the hands of the popes! Yet this, in a word, was the exact prediction made by
Daniel while Rome was an unknown village in-to him-an unknown world.
A great religious power, according to the divine word, was to rise to supremacy after the fall of
the Roman Empire, and then, after a period of decline, was to grow strong again in the closing scenes of
time. This heart-stirring revelation comes to us from the seventh chapter of the book of Daniel, where the
future is unveiled with astonishing fullness. In this chapter, it should be remembered, the great empires of
history are symbolized by various animals, or “beasts,” to use the Biblical term, as nowadays the eagle
represents the United States, the bear stands for Russia, the lion for Great Britain, and the kangaroo for
Australia. It is interesting to note that Babylon claimed the lion as its symbol, as the magnificent mosaic
lion frieze, which once adorned the entrance to Nebuchadnezzar’s palace, and which now graces an
archaeological museum in Berlin, so clearly testifies.
But to return to the prophecy, and the time it was given. Daniel is still in Babylon, but the passing
of half a century has left its mark upon him. He is no longer the youth who stood so bravely before the king
to interpret the dream of the great metallic image. Nebuchadnezzar has been dead some years. Belshazzar
has come to the throne, the last of this imperial dynasty. The empire is tottering to its fall. Despite its
colossal defenses, only a few years remain before its overthrow. The golden head of the great image is
about to give place to the breast and arms of silver.
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11, 12.
COMPLETE FULFILLMENT
Nearly twenty-five centuries have passed since that night of Daniel’s dream, and every picture
that he saw has come to pass except that of the ultimate triumph of the saints.
Out of the turbulent sea of warring peoples came first the lion with eagle’s wings, a noble figure.
symbolic of the power of Babylon in its greatest days. As its power decayed and its lion like heart gave
place to that of a man’s, Medo-Persia, the dual kingdom, symbolized by the bear that “raised up itself on
one side,” strode forth to victory and dominion. When Medo-Persia’s day was almost done, suddenly
Greece-the leopard with wings of a fowl with amazing swiftness swept upon the scene of action to grasp
the scepter of world power.
Then came Rome, the fourth beast, “dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly.” With
overwhelming might it stamped upon its enemies, enslaving multitudes, and well nigh crushing the early
Christian church out of existence by frightful persecutions.
Century followed century, and then even Rome itself began to disintegrate, and the prophecy
concerning the ten horns began to be fulfilled. As we have already noted, when the Roman Empire finally
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collapsed about the end of the fifth century, AD, ten kingdoms, made up of the invading tribes, were
actually occupying her territory.
So far, the seventh chapter of Daniel, with some additional details, follows the main outline of
history already given in the second chapter of that wonderful book. At this point, however, an entirely new
feature of the utmost significance is introduced.
It is the “little horn,” which comes up among the other horns, whose look is “more stout than his
fellows,” which has “eyes like the eyes of man” and “a mouth speaking great things.”
What is this power? it is not hard to identify.
It was to rise in the midst of the ten kingdoms that succeeded the pagan Roman Empire, and was
to be responsible for the subjugation of three of them.
It was to be an imperious, autocratic power speaking “great words against the Most High.”
It was to be a persecuting power which would “wear out the saints of the Most High.”
It was to be a religious power which would attempt to change times and the law of God.
It was to enjoy full sovereignty for a specific period “a time and times and the dividing of time,”-
which is 1260 literal years.
Only one power has arisen in history which has met in complete detail every one of these
specifications and that is the mighty religio-political organization which even to the present day is centered
in Rome.
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struggles for pre-eminence, to fall back on another element, and that an element which constitutes the very
essence of the papacy, and on which is founded the whole complex fabric of the spiritual and temporal
domination of the popes. With Rome would have fallen her bishop, had he not, as if by anticipation of the
crisis, reserved till this hour the master stroke of his policy. He now boldly cast himself upon an element of
much greater strength than that of which the political convulsions of the times had deprived him, namely,
that the bishop of Rome is the successor of Peter, the prince of the apostles, and, in virtue of being so, is
Christ’s vicar on earth. In making this claim, the Roman pontiffs vaulted at once over the throne of kings to
the seat of gods: Rome became once more the mistress of the world, and her popes the rulers of the earth.”
- James A. Wylie, The Papacy: Its History, Dogmas, Genius, and Prospects, pages 33, 34 (1852).
Cardinal Manning (1808-1892) himself recognized this transfer of authority from pagan to papal
Rome, and wrote as follows concerning the growth of the papacy and its position of supremacy:
“The abandonment of Rome was the liberation of the pontiffs. Whatsoever claims to obedience
the emperors may have made, and whatsoever compliance the Pontiff may have yielded, the whole
previous relation . . . was finally dissolved by a higher power. The providence of God permitted a
succession of invasions, Gothic, Lombard, and Hungarian, to desolate Italy, and to efface from it every
remnant of the empire. The pontiffs found themselves alone, the sole fountains of order, peace, law, and
safety. And from the hour of this providential liberation the chains fell off from the hands of the successor
of St. Peter.
“A power had grown up in Rome, far more imperial over the reason and will of man than the iron
despotism of the Roman Empire. This interior and supernatural power of direction and government over
the actions and hearts of men flowed from one center, and was embodied in one person, the bishop of
Rome. The floods which swept all the other authorities away threw out into bolder relief and more
conspicuous prominence the supreme pastoral authority of the vicars of Jesus Christ.” - Henry E. Manning,
The Temporal Power of the Vicar of Jesus Christ, Preface, pp. 28,29.
Arius, priest of Alexandria, propounded the theory that Christ was created and, therefore, “was
totally and essentially distinct from the Father.” This view was rejected by the Council of Nicaea in AD
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325, which decreed that Christ was of “one and the same substance with the Father;” but the
controversy raged on for centuries, dividing Christendom into two opposing camps, and leading to the
most unchristian excesses on both sides.
Firmly established at last in his strategic position in the Eternal City, the bishop of Rome soon
began to assume powers, prerogatives, and titles no emperor, in the height of his ambitions, ever
conceived. He not only styled himself “Vicegerent of the Son of God” and “Lord God, the Pope,” but
approved such adulation as the following in an address given at the Fifth Lateran Council in 1512: “Thou
art the shepherd, thou art the physician, thou art the director, thou art the husbandman. Finally, thou art
another God on earth.” - Philippe Labbe and Gabriel Cossart, History of the Councils, volume 14, Column
109.
In an article on the pope, to be found in Ferraris’s Ecclesiastical Dictionary, are these extravagant
words:
“The Pope is of so great dignity and so exalted that he is not a mere man, but as it were God, and
the vicar of God.
“The Pope is of such lofty and supreme dignity that, properly speaking, he has not been
established in any rank of dignity, but rather has been placed upon the very summit of all ranks of
dignities. “He is likewise the divine monarch and supreme emperor, and king of kings.
“Hence the Pope is crowned with a triple crown, as king of heaven and of earth and of the lower
regions.
“Moreover the superiority and the power of the Roman Pontiff by no means pertain only to
heavenly things, to earthly things, and to things under the earth, but are even over angels, than whom he is
greater.
So that it were possible that the angels might err in the faith, or might think contrary to the faith,
they could be judged and excommunicated by the Pope.
“For he is of so great dignity and power that he forms one and the same tribunal with Christ.”-
Lucius Ferraris, Ecclesiastical Dictionary, art. “Pope.”
Thus, in these typical utterances, did the 1ittle horn” speak great words against the Most High.
As the papacy grew in power, it did not hesitate to tamper with the law of God. Finding the
second commandment out of harmony with its use of images, it attempted to eliminate this law from the
Decalogue, especially in the catechisms used in most countries. Then, ignoring the plain requirements of
the fourth commandment regarding the observance of the seventh day as the Sabbath of the Lord, it
deliberately encouraged the keeping of Sunday, the first day.
This was indeed a grievous error, leading all Christendom astray upon a most important and vital
matter. It destroyed the whole purpose of God in establishing the Sabbath as a memorial of His creative
power, paving the way for the entrance of many false teachings. If the true Sabbath had been observed
from week to week down the ages, reminding the people every seventh day of the power and love of the
Creator, how different might have been the course of history!
The Sabbath was designed to be a beautiful blessing to the human race. We read that in the
beginning “God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it.” Genesis 2:3. To sanctify is to set apart as holy.
“The Sabbath was made for man;” it was to be a source of continual benefit to mankind through all the
years to come. It was to be a physical blessing, giving man regular periods of rest and preserving him from
the perils of overwork. It was to be a spiritual blessing, keeping him from the soul-destroying effects of a
too-constant application to material pursuits, leading him to devote a portion of his time each week to the
development of the nobler qualities of his being, and turning his thoughts God ward at frequent and
constantly recurring intervals.
The incalculable importance of the weekly rest day established in Eden was made even more
apparent when it was enshrined in the midst of the holy law of God as it was thundered from Sinai.
“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy,” was the divine command. “Six days shall thou
labor, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God. In it thou shall not do
any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy
stranger that is within thy gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in
them is, and rested the seventh day. Wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.” Exodus
20:8-11.
In this commandment the fact was re-emphasized that it was on the seventh day that God rested;
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that it was the seventh day that God blessed and hallowed. Not the first or tile third or the fifth; only the
seventh.
It should be remembered, too, that when the Son of God came to live among men it was this same
seventh day that He observed all through His earthly life. He called Himself the “Lord even of the Sabbath
day,” meaning the seventh day. Matthew 12:8. He went to the synagogue regularly on this day, “as His
custom was” (Luke 4: 16), and He taught the Jews continually how the day should be kept (Matthew 12:1-
13). Moreover, the habit of proper Sabbath keeping was so deeply ingrained in the hearts of His disciples
that when at last His wounded body was awaiting burial, they considered the day too holy to be used even
to embalm the body of their Lord, “and they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the
Sabbath day according to the commandment.” Luke 23:56.
Was the Sabbath changed by Christ after His resurrection? Certainly not. If so momentous an
alteration in the law of God had been divinely intended, it would surely have been mentioned somewhere
in the New Testament. But no such mention occurs. Indeed there is no text in the entire Bible which
sanctions any change in the Sabbath day.
*The full wording of the second and the fourth commandments are retained in the Roman
Catholic (Douay) Bible and the Catechismus Romanus published by the authority of the Council of
Trent; nevertheless the teaching catechisms for priests and teachers omit the second commandment and
all of the fourth except the first sentence, “Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath Day.”
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opposition, and embarked on a program of persecution which took the lives of millions of sincere followers
of God’s word.
The historian Lecky declares: “That the Church of Rome has shed more innocent blood than any
other institution that has ever existed among mankind, will be questioned by no Protestant who has a
competent knowledge of history. The memorials, indeed, of many of her persecutions are now so scanty
that it is impossible to form a complete conception of the multitude of her victims, and it is quite certain
that no powers of imagination can adequately realize their sufferings.”-William Lecky, History of the Rise
and Influence of the Spirit of Rationalism in Europe, Volume 2, page 32. Commenting on the prophecy
that the little horn should “wear out the saints of the Most High,” Albert Barnes, writing on Daniel 7, says:
“Can anyone doubt that this is true of the papacy? The Inquisition; the ‘persecutions of the Waldenses;’ the
ravages of the Duke of Alva; the fires of Smithfield; the tortures of Goa; indeed, the whole history of the
papacy may be appealed to in proof that this is applicable to that power. If anything could have ‘worn out
the saints of the Most High’ could have cut them off from the earth so that evangelical religion would have
become extinct, it would have been the persecutions of the papal power. In the year 1208, a crusade was
proclaimed by Pope Innocent III against the Waldenses and Albigenses, in which a million of men
perished. From the beginning of the order of the Jesuits, in the year 1540 to 1580, nine hundred thousand
were destroyed. One hundred and fifty thousand perished by the Inquisition in thirty years. In the Low
Countries fifty thousand persons were hanged, beheaded, burned, or buried alive, for the crime of heresy,
within the space of thirty-eight years from the edict of Charles V, against the Protestants, to the peace of
Chateau Cambresis in 1559. Eighteen thousand suffered by the hands of the executioner, in the space of
five years and a half, during the administration of the Duke of Alva. Indeed, the slightest acquaintance with
the history of the papacy, will convince anyone that what is here said of ‘making war with the saints’
(verse 21), and ‘wearing out the saints of the Most High’ (verse25), is strictly applicable to that power, and
will accurately describe its history.” Notes on the Old Testament, comments on Daniel 7.
From a Roman Catholic source we have this appalling admission:
“The church has persecuted. Only a tyro in church history will deny that. One hundred and fifty
years after Constantine the Donatists were persecuted, and sometimes put to death. Protestants were
persecuted in France and Spain with the full approval of the church authorities. We have always defended
the persecution of the Huguenots, and the Spanish Inquisition. Wherever and whenever there is honest
Catholicity, there will be a clear distinction drawn between truth and error, and Catholicity and all forms of
heresy. When she thinks it good to use physical force, she will use it. But will the Catholic Church give
bond that she will not persecute at all? Will she guarantee absolute freedom and equality of all churches
and all faiths? The Catholic Church gives no bonds for her good behavior.” The Western Watchman,
December 24, 1908.
For “a time and times and the dividing of time” the 91ttle horn” was to exercise its power. How
long is this period? It is not difficult to compute. In Scripture a “time” and a year are synonymous, as, “at
the end of times, even years.” Daniel 11:13, margin. “Times” are two years, and “the dividing of time,” a
half year. Adding these together, we have a total of three and a half years. Reckoning 360 days to a year,
according to Hebrew usage, we find that three and a half years contain 1260 days.
Now, in symbolic prophecy a day stands for a year, for we read in Ezekiel 4:5, 6: I have appointed
thee each day for a year.” See also Numbers 14:34. Thus the period of “a time and times and the dividing
of time,” 1260 prophetic days, represents 1260 literal years.
Did papal dominance in Europe cover such a period? Taking AD 538 as the starting point,-this
being the year when the Ostrogoths (last of the three powers to be uprooted) were driven from Rome,-the
1260 years ended in 1798; and in that year the French army under General Berthier entered Rome and took
the pope prisoner.
“Broken with fatigue and sorrows, he died on the nineteenth of August, 1799, in the French
fortress of Valence.” And at that moment, to all appearances, “the papacy was extinct: not a vestige of its
existence remained; and among all the Roman Catholic powers not a finger was stirred in its defense. The
Eternal City had no longer prince or pontiff; its bishop was a dying captive in foreign lands; and the decree
was already announced that no successor would be allowed in his place.” - Reverend George Trevor, Rome
and Its Papal Rulers, page 440.
This astounding event created a profound impression throughout Europe, and was recognized by
many students of prophecy at the time as indicating that the long period of papal supremacy was over, and
that the prophecy of Daniel 7:25 had been marvelously fulfilled.
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In the face of such overwhelming evidence, there can be no shadow of doubt as to the true
interpretation of the 1ittle horn.” History points accusingly and unerringly at this great religious
dictatorship, proclaiming with a voice of thunder, “Thou art the man!”
Merely to identify this prophetic symbol, however, and trace its proud and baleful course through
the centuries, until it received its seeming mortal wound in 1798, is to miss one of the supreme revelations
of this prophecy.
There is a sequel of utmost importance to the world today; and this sequel will be considered in
the chapter that follows.
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water has flowed under the bridge of international politics. Kingdoms that were kingdoms in the days of
Pius IX are no more; and empires that seemed eternal then have collapsed.
If history is any guide to the immediate future, state absolutism will not be any more successful in
its efforts to humble Rome than was the dominant political ideology of the nineteenth century.”
Perhaps, after all, this great little kingdom has yet some important part to play in the stirring
history of our time. Can it be that it will yet achieve its ambition to dominate the world again? What has
the voice of prophecy to say on this absorbing theme?
It will be remembered that at the close of the prophecy in the seventh chapter of Daniel, which
depicts the rise of the papacy and the outstanding features of its long and checkered history, there occur
these solemn words of condemnation: “But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion,
to, consume and to destroy it unto the end.”
These words were uttered concerning the little horn, and have reference, we must conclude, to its
fate subsequent to the conclusion of the 1260 days. The disaster that befell this power in 1798 was not to
be the final blow; it is doomed to utter and final extinction. Consequently, if the prophecy of Daniel 7:26
were the last word to be found in the Scriptures on this subject, we might well conclude that there is
nothing more to fear from Rome; but this is not the last word. The Bible speaks again, illuminating the
final phases of the age long drama of this religio-political power.
AN IMPORTANT REVELATION
In the thirteenth chapter of the book of Revelation there is a prediction which is the exact
counterpart of the one in Daniel 7, but with added details of immense importance. Just as the seventh
chapter of Daniel, in its grand sweep across the centuries, covers much the same ground as the second
chapter of that book, but including additional features, so does the thirteenth chapter of Revelation
similarly complement and fill out the thrilling outline of history provided in Daniel 7.
In this New Testament revelation is brought to view the selfsame power so accurately depicted by
Daniel, but under different symbolism. The prophet John thus portrays what he saw in vision:
“And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads
and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.” Revelation
13:1.
Here we read of a strange and terrifying beast which, while having “seven heads and ten horns,”
resembles at once a leopard, a bear, and a lion -the first three beasts mentioned in Daniel 7. Obviously this
is another symbol of world power, its religious nature emphasized by its “name of blasphemy.”
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expand until now a vast host of adherents in every land on earth recognizes its authority. One need but
recall the number of nations represented at the Vatican, or the multitudes that attend the frequent
eucharistic congresses, to realize that the deadly wound is almost healed and that the papacy will soon be
ready to play the part that prophecy has outlined for it in the closing scenes of history.
What that part will be, only the future can fully reveal. In the light of the prophecies we have
studied, however, we may look with certainty for an upswing of papal fortunes.
This good Irishman, a keen student of history and literature, was a great lover of America,
traveling across the Atlantic in 1728 to spend three quiet and happy years in Rhode Island. He was
convinced from all he had read about the New World, and all that he saw of it for himself, that a glorious
destiny awaited those who should dwell in its great open spaces and develop its illimitable resources.
But if the little that was to be seen here in those far-off times-long before the Revolution of 1776-
was sufficient to persuade him that the course of empire was moving in this direction, what would he say
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its constitution, and therefore its future power and influence, upon two such lamb like principles as civil
and religious liberty?
There is only one nation whose history fits perfectly the prophetic outline drawn so briefly and yet
so accurately almost nineteen centuries ago-the United States of America.
It would be superfluous for us to rehearse here the unique and amazing story of this country’s
entrance into the family of nations, for everyone instantly recalls the coming of Columbus, the voyage of
the Pilgrim Fathers, the War of Independence, the drafting of the Constitution, the acquisition of new
territories, the ever-flowing tide of immigration, the opening up of the West, and the final unification of the
nation from the Atlantic to the Pacific.
CHAMPION OF LIBERTY
What was the secret of this rapid growth and expansion? It was the fundamental principle of
freedom-freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, freedom of religion. This gave the
whole nation the gentle characteristics of a lamb, so different from those of the ravenous monsters used to
typify the war-born peoples of Europe. This, too, was the reason why multitudes from every nation under
heaven flocked to this land of new hope and opportunity. Here they came to be free to live and work in
safety, secure from age-old tyrannies. Here they came to worship as they pleased, unshackled by the
conventions and restrictions that bound them in the land of their birth.
Thus under the providence of God-in little more than a century and a half-this nation has grown to
maturity, mightily increased in population, possessions, prestige, and power.
And still, thank God, it retains its lamb like characteristics. It continues to maintain tolerance for
all peoples and all religions; it stands ready to preserve the cherished liberties which made it great, as
recent pronouncements of Government spokesmen have clearly testified.
To President Roosevelt belongs the credit for having enunciated and reaffirmed the “Four
Freedoms”: “Freedom of speech and expression; freedom of every person to worship God in his own way;
freedom from want; freedom from fear”-glorious ideals which have been echoed and re-echoed around the
world.
And yet, according to this prophecy we are considering, a change is to take place. The lamb like
nation is to speak as a dragon; that is, it is to speak with power and authority equivalent to that of Imperial
Rome in the heyday of her ancient might.
Can it be possible that any such change will ever take place in the history of the United States? It
is not only possible; it is already in process. The world-shaking upheavals of the past few years have gone
far to prepare the way for the transformation indicated in this amazing prediction.
ARSENAL OF DEMOCRACY
Commenting on this survey the editor of Time significantly remarked, “It is time the United States
knows it is a world power.”
Such opinions would, of course, be of little significance if they were not supported by facts; but
the facts are present in abundance. One thinks immediately of the responsibilities this country has already
assumed as the arsenal of democracy, of the quantities of armaments and materiel that have poured from
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the nation’s factories, and of the food, clothing, and other necessary supplies that have been made available
to many countries.
Who can measure the effect of all this upon the minds of the inhabitants of these lands, and,
perhaps more important still, upon the minds of the hundreds of thousands of American youth from Texas
and Montana, from Colorado and Nebraska, indeed from all the forty-eight states of the Union, whose eyes
have been opened for the first time upon the great world beyond the seas? New horizons have loomed
before them as, under the stern pressure of global war, they have sallied forth to the distant battlefields of
the earth.
Vice-President Wallace once made this remarkable statement: “If America is a chosen land, it is
not for her sake that she is chosen of the Lord at a certain stage of the world’s history, but for the sake of
all the world.”
America a chosen land? Yes, indeed, a land of destiny. Chosen long ago by Providence as a
refuge for the oppressed and persecuted of the Old World, and chosen now for an even greater role as the
champion of freedom.
But what will America do with the power that she obtains by these changes in the international
situation and by her colossal expenditure of treasure and effort?
A CHOSEN LAND
The prophecy seems to suggest that there will be no bid for world supremacy on the part of this
nation such as actuated the great empires of history. It will not seek dominion for dominion’s sake. It will
not seek merely military victories, nor desire any sort of military dictatorship. Instead it will turn its mind
again toward religion, possibly as a remedy for the world’s ills-a way of escape from its everlasting
dissensions and disorders. However, it will not be the religion of its pioneers and Pilgrim Fathers, but the
very religion they forsook!
Strange as this may sound, it is the word that the prophecy leaves with us. Here it is: “And he
exercises all the power of the first beast before him, and causes the earth and them which dwell therein to.
worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.”
Now “the first beast,” as we have seen, is that ecclesiastical system known throughout history as
the papacy, which grew up among the ruins of the old pagan Roman Empire.
Armaments and materiel have poured from the nation’s factories, and food, clothing, and other
supplies have been made available to the world.
That, without doubt, is the beast, or power, whose deadly wound was healed. And the lamb like
beast, when it is come to full strength, is to use its influence to persuade the peoples of earth “to worship
the first beast.”
This does not mean, of course, that every American is going to become a convert to Rome! Of
course not. But it certainly does suggest that the doctrines, practices, and ideals of the papacy will find
increasing favor both in church and government circles. It implies that Protestantism will gradually lose its
“protest” and become ever more tolerant of the beliefs it once taught were error; that Protestantism will be
led into increasing collaboration with the system it contended against with such intrepid courage and
passionate zeal in years gone by. It suggests also a growing movement for the reunion of the churches, with
emphasis upon unity rather than upon truth; that this movement will not be confined to this country alone
but, with strong American support, will be urged upon all the people of the world. These omens lead to the
inevitable conclusion that the first principles of the Republic will be forgotten, and heavy pressure will be
brought to bear on all who refuse compliance with the plan.
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is very small, compared with Christian and non-Christian. Our differences remain. We shall not pretend
that they are already resolved into unity or into harmony, but we take our stand on the common faith of
Christendom.”
This attitude is typical of the new situation in all Protestant lands today, and particularly so in the
United States. In religious matters the brandished fists are giving place to outstretched hands of
collaboration. But while in many respects this new spirit of friendly co-operation is most commendable, it
nevertheless contains one element of peril. Before unity can be achieved, one side at least must be willing
to yield its old positions; and when Protestants and Catholics “unite,” it is the Protestants who must make
all the concessions. Rome’s motto, always the same, -prevents her from changing, so the tendency of all
such collaboration is to bring the participants into ever closer agreement with the papacy.
Many Christians who deplore the divided state of Christendom feel an imperative urge to achieve
unity at all costs; but let them beware of the aftermath. They may discover that, having achieved a
superficial unity, and having clothed it, perchance, with state authority, they have succeeded only in
creating an organization so like the original papacy that people will say that it is the very “image” of it..
This peril is indicated in the prophecy under consideration, where we read that, when, America
has grown to full power, “an image to the beast” will actually be established. Revelation 13: 14.
Protestants who are not prepared to surrender their convictions, or the fundamentals of their faith,
will do well to watch these developments with great care. Present trends even in this “land of the free and
the home of the brave” could lead easily into a period of intolerance toward those who refuse to co-operate.
We shall all need to be on the alert, therefore, for possible attempts to create an enactment which,
though bearing innocent titles, and represented as being for the good of the community and the world in
general, are at the same time out of harmony with that fundamental of the Constitution which prohibits
Congress from passing any law concerning religion. In such a case all who understand the Bible and the
great prophecies for our time will recognize the move for what it is -the “ image to the beast” coming to
life and setting forth to intimidate and persecute those who “keep the commandments of God, and the faith
of Jesus.” See Revelation 14:6-12. That will be the time for God’s loyal children to reveal the depth of
their allegiance to His holy law, and to the true Sabbath of the fourth commandment.
All this is not a happy prospect, we agree, especially for those who have stood staunchly for
Protestant principles, and for evangelical Christianity, through the years. Nevertheless it constitutes a
solemn warning both to them and to all lovers of civil and religious liberty to be forever on guard against
any encroachments upon these priceless possessions. There is danger ahead, and “eternal vigilance” is
needed more today than ever before in America’s history.
It should be remembered, of course, that this remarkable prediction in the latter part of the
thirteenth chapter of Revelation belongs to the closing events in the age-old drama of world history. That
we can now see its fulfillment gradually but surely coming to pass before our eyes is another convincing
indication that we are living close to that last sublime event when the Lord Jesus shall return in His glory,
and “the kingdoms of this world” shall become “the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ; and He shall
reign forever and ever.” Revelation 11:15.
Surely the momentous developments of these times challenge us to reconsider our responsibilities
to God and man, “and so much the more” as we “see the day approaching.”
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Russia, until at last he had extended his empire from the China Sea to the banks of the Dnieper He sacked
cities by the score, massacring the inhabitants. He assumed the titles, “Emperor of All Men, Mighty Ruler,
Rider of Heaven,” while his deeds of cruelty struck terror into the hearts of millions. But the Encyclopedia
Britannica summarizes its record of his exploits with this significant statement: “The empire which he
created ultimately dwindled away under the hands of his degenerate descendants, leaving not a wrack
behind.”
VANISHED VICTORIES
Tamerlane, or Timur, as he is sometimes called, was another such notorious character. During the
latter part of the fourteenth century, from AD 1370 to 1400, he led his conquering legions through Persia to
the Caucasus and as far east as Delhi in India. He established his power “from the Volga to the Persian
Gulf and from the Hellespont to the Ganges.” He captured Bagdad, Aleppo, and Damascus, and he scored
a great victory over the Turks at Angora in 1402. His soaring ambition led him to plan an expedition to
China, but in 1405 death intervened and he was buried at his capital, Samarkand. Then, as the years passed,
the memory of his greatness vanished, until at last doubt arose as to where he had been buried. In 1940 the
government of the U. S. S. R. sponsored an investigation to discover the truth or falsehood of certain
legends that had grown up about his resting place. Scientists were sent to Samarkand, and there they found
the mighty Tamerlane- a skeleton amid a pile of dust! All the pomp and glory departed; all the pride and
vainglory a shadow and a dream; all the triumphs forgotten; naught left but moldering bones!
Men whose names have crowded the headlines in our time with deeds of shame and cruelty are
likewise doomed. They, too, will pass. They will be numbered among the forgotten conquerors, while their
bones turn to dust, “unwept, unhonored, and unsung.”
The message of Tamerlane’s tomb is indeed a solemn warning to all who seek to advance
themselves and their causes by wickedness and terror; who exalt might above right, and who seek personal
aggrandizement regardless of the sufferings of others. For them “the paths of glory lead but to the grave.”
“In sober, realistic earnest,” writes Dr. Fosdick, “there are eternal things in man’s experience, and
they are the spiritual. Here, for example, are the names that filled the ears of men in one of the most
significant centuries in human history. Consider how much you know about any one of them: Sultan
Mohammed 11, Pizarro, Cesare Borgia, Charles the Bold, Solyman the Magnificent, Baber, Francis I-they
were the great names of a century’s conquerors. But here are three other names out of the same century:
Columbus, the discoverer of a new world; Copernicus, the revealer of a new universe; Luther, the
forerunner of a new spiritual freedom. And now any school child can tell who they were, for when time has
sifted the wheat from the chaff, it is the works of violence that perish and the achievements of the spirit that
endure.”-Harry Emerson Fosdick, The Church of Christ in a Warring World, pages 12, 13.
On the eighth of December, 1840, a little more than one hundred years ago, a young man boarded
a sailing ship at an English port and set off for a foreign land. He was quite unknown, except to a few
friends who wished him Godspeed on his long, wearisome journey. No imposing committee saw him off,
no newspaper announced his departure. It was David Livingstone leaving for Africa under the auspices of
the London Missionary Society.
No doubt a thousand other things happened on that day of seemingly much greater importance.
Many affairs of state and city loomed much larger in the eyes of London’s citizens. There were speeches in
Parliament and guests arriving at the court. There were movements of the army and the navy, and
developments, on the continent of no small moment. Nevertheless, the sailing of this youth for Africa was
the greatest event of all.
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Although he did not live to see all his dreams come true, looking back from our vantage point a
hundred years later, we can see the magnitude of his work and the far-reaching effects of the beneficent
enterprises that his noble, self-sacrificing example inspired. Today his body lies among the great in
Westminster Abbev, and his name is honored everywhere.
So shall it ever be. By some eternal law of the universe those who conquer for lust and pride and
vainglory pass away with their evil deeds, but all who dedicate their lives to the service of others shall
never perish.
A VISION OF CONQUEST
In the book of Revelation an amazing sequence of predictions brings out with striking
forcefulness this same comforting truth. Chapters eight, nine, ten’ and eleven of this wonderful book deal
with the sounding of the “seven trumpets”- symbolic imagery used by God to describe in advance the rise
and progress of many a mighty, but now forgotten, conqueror, leading on to the crowning climax of the
long trail of blood and tears to occur in our time.
This vision was given to the apostle John while he was in exile on the isle of Patmos, probably
near the close of the first Century AD. Perhaps because he was a captive of the Roman Empire, God thus
revealed to him the very forces which would bring that empire to dissolution.
As the trumpets sounded, wild, tempestuous characters charged on to the stage of history and rode
roughshod over the proud possessions and institutions of the nation.
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“The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast
upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.” Revelation 8:7.
Here was a fitting picture of the terrifying invasion of Roman territory by the Goths, under their
merciless leader, Alaric. This took place about the end of the fourth century AD, three hundred years or so
after prophecy had spoken through the apostle John.
Twice did Alaric cross the frontiers of the empire, the first time ravaging Thrace, Macedonia, and
Greece, and the second time crossing the Alps and the Apennines and storming the Eternal City itself.
“Hail,” “fire,” and “blood” accurately symbolized the ravages of his followers as they swept over all Italy
and much of Gaul.
“And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into
the sea: . . . and the third part of the ships were destroyed.” Verses 8, 9.
Following rapidly upon the heels of Alaric came the terrible Genseric, king of the Vandals. He
made his capital in Carthage in north Africa and, having created a powerful fleet, he and his piratical bands
swept far over the Mediterranean, leaving death and destruction in their wake. The prophecy indicated that
his conquests would be naval, and such indeed they were. During the greater part of the fifth century A. D.,
Genseric triumphed over the waning power of Rome, and in his frequent onslaughts on her fleet and naval
bases was indeed “as it were a great mountain burning with fire. . . . cast into the sea.”
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well deserved this title as the conquering prophet of Allah and his successors. However, as the word “king”
is employed, the title may apply particularly to Othman, who, in the thirteenth century, founded the
powerful Ottoman Empire.
It is of special interest to note at this point the reference in the fifth verse of this chapter to a
prophetic time period of five months, or 15o days, which on the Biblical basis of a day for a year,
represents 150 years.
If, as many commentators agree, this period was designed to commence when Othman directed
his first assault upon the Greek Empire, which was coincident with the beginning of Ottoman power, that
date would be according to the historian Edward Gibbon, July 27, 1299. See Decline and Fall of the
Roman Empire, chapter 54, paragraph 14. Adding i5o years to 1299would carry the story down to 1449,
when the next epochal change was to take place, according to the symbolism of the sixth trumpet.
*An ordinary year in Jewish reckoning consists of three hundred sixty days. Ezekiel 4:6 and
Numbers 14:34 help to establish the year-day principle of prophetic interpretation, as explained on page
102. Therefore, the prophetic “year” mentioned in this verse represents 360 literal years; a prophetic
“month,” or thirty days, equals thirty literal years; one “day” equals one literal year; one “hour,” the
twenty-fourth part of a day, represents one twenty-fourth of a literal year, or fifteen days. Thus the total
is three hundred ninety-one years and fifteen days.
The exact fulfillment of the prophecy to the very day caused a great sensation at the time, and
incidentally Provided a mighty impetus to the advent movement which was already attracting widespread
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attention.
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“And He shall reign.” Not Alaric or Genseric. Not Attila or Odoacer. Not Mohammed or Othman.
Not Charlemagne or Charles V or Louis XIV or Napoleon. No; not one of them, but Christ! Already they,
for the most part, have joined the legion of forgotten men-forgotten conquerors, indeed! But Christ, the
Lamb of God, the suffering Savior who gave Himself for lost mankind, who came from heaven to earth
“not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). Who
came not “to destroy men’s lives, but to save them” (Luke 9:56); who came to help, to heal, to serve, to
love-yea, “He shall reign forever and ever.”
“The Lamb shall overcome.” Revelation 17:14 There can never be the least doubt about that. His
final victory is beyond question. He is the coming Conqueror. And because of this unalterable fact the
voice of prophecy, full of glorious confidence, cries out across the centuries to every wavering, trembling
heart: “Strengthen you the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees. Say to them that are of a fearful
heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompense; He
will come and save you.” Isaiah 35:1 4.
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any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false christs, and
false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall
deceive the very elect.” Verses 23,24.
He wanted His disciples to be absolutely sure about the subject of His return, and to be fully
fortified against all imposters. They were to be ever on guard, remembering the instruction He had given
them concerning the nature of His return and the form in which He would reappear. He could not have
made His counsel on these points more clear and definite.
If anyone should say to them, “Behold, He is in the desert,” or that He had appeared in some
“secret chambers,” they were to give the report no credence. There would be nothing secret about His
coming. Instead, it would be brilliant, glorious, spectacular, for all the world to see. “For as the lightning
comes out of the east, and shines even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.”
Verses 26,27.
But Christ was equally anxious that His disciples should not become discouraged as time would
pass without their hopes being realized, and as each succeeding year would become more overcast with
tragedy. So He said to them: “You shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see that you be not troubled: for
all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.” Verse 6.
He was trying to extend their vision. He wanted them to know that the end was not immediately at
hand in their day. Years- decades, centuries must pass; incredible suffering and disappointment must first
be endured. “For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines,
and pestilence, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.” Verses 7, 8.
In these words He let them glimpse something of the vastness and, constancy of international
strife that would exist all down the ages-and how accurate was His forecast! Every generation has been
cursed with wars; some small, some great, but always increasing in magnitude and destructiveness through
the years, and always followed in dreadful but regular sequence by famines and pestilence.
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But the most startling predictions of the Master Prophet were yet to come. Now He said:
1mmediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her
light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken.” Verse 29.
This was the day described by the Boston Independent Chronicle on June 8, 1780, citing
Thomas’s Massachusetts Spy, in the following graphic language: “During the whole time a sickly,
melancholy gloom overcast the face of nature. Nor was the darkness of the night less uncommon and
terrifying than that of the day. Notwithstanding there was almost a full moon, no object was discernible,
but by the help of some artificial light, which when seen from the neighboring houses and other places at a
distance, appeared through a kind of Egyptian darkness, which seemed almost impervious to the rays. This
unusual phenomenon excited the fears and apprehensions of many people. Some considered it as a
portentous omen of the wrath of Heaven in vengeance denounced against the land, others as the immediate
harbinger of the last day when ‘the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light.”’
But the enthralled disciples, peering breathlessly into the future as they listened to the prophetic
words falling from their Master’s lips, soon found themselves gazing upon another scene of celestial
splendor. Said Christ, now giving in sequence and detail the signs of His imminent return: “And the stars
shall fall from heaven.”
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“On the night of November 12-13, 1833, a tempest of falling stars broke over the earth. North
America bore the brunt of its pelting. From the Gulf of Mexico to Halifax, until daylight with some
difficulty put an end to the display, the sky was scored in every direction with shining tracks and
illuminated with majestic fireballs.”-Agnes M. Clerke, History of Astronomy in the Nineteenth Century,
page 328.
“Though there was no moon,” wrote one observer, “when we first beheld them, their brilliancy
was so great that we could, at times, read common-sized print without much difficulty, and the light which
they afforded was much whiter than that of the moon, in the clearest and coldest night, when the ground is
covered with snow. The air itself, the face of the earth, as far as we could behold it,-all the surrounding
objects, and the very countenances of men, wore the aspect and hue of death, occasioned by the continued,
pallid glare of these countless meteors, which in all their grandeur flamed ‘lawless through the sky.’ There
was a grand, peculiar, and indescribable gloom on all around, an awe-inspiring sublimity on all above.
“There was scarcely a space in the firmament which was not filled at every instant with these
falling stars, nor on it, could you in general perceive any particular difference in appearance. Still at times
they would shower down in groups -calling to mind the fig tree casting her untimely figs when shaken by a
mighty wind.”’-From a letter published in the American Journal of Science and Arts, vol. 25 (1834), Page
382.
“A magnificent display of shooting stars startled the inhabitants of the Americas on November 12,
1833. Beginning before midnight, the meteors increased in frequency until at dawn they were as thick as
snowflakes. A single observer often saw twenty appear within a second.”- Fletcher G. Watson, Between
the Planets, page 118 (1941).
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was the same. ‘Europe stinks with hate and fear,’ a Dutch professor remarked to me. He was right.”
“What is today the dominating force over great areas?” asked Sir Samuel Hoare in a recent
address at Reading University. “It is fear, the most terrible fear, the fear of the nightmare that stops the
blood and paralyzes the brain, the fear of the irresistible monster that overshadows the earth, spreading on
all sides inescapable destruction.”
LOOK UP!
Yes, the Master Prophet was looking down the ages to the wonderful and terrible hour in which
we are living today. Ours is the privileged generation which shall see the grand deliverance, the long-
hoped-for rescue that God has planned and promised “since the world began.”
To us, therefore, comes the inspiring, challenging exhortation: “Look up, and lift up your heads;
for your redemption draws nigh”!
Dark and evil though this hour may be, bitter and cruel this tragedy, we are to look up, and lift up
our heads!
Look up! Up toward the stars and God; and remember that the Most High rules in the kingdom of
men. Look up! and tell yourself that God still lives and loves; that His “faithfulness reaches unto the
clouds.” Psalm 36:5. Remember that “as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward
them that fear Him.” Psalm 103:11. Look up! and review God’s plans, His resolute purpose, to cause truth
to triumph and righteousness to cover the earth as the waters cover the sea. Behold with the eye of faith the
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Conqueror of Calvary sitting at the right hand of the Majesty in the heavens, and remember that the victory
that He won on Golgotha ensures the absolute, total victory of justice, freedom, and goodness.
Thus from the lips of the Master Prophet Himself we have the blessed assurance that God is
meeting the present world crisis with all the resources of eternity. His plans cannot possibly fail. Today His
coming “is near, even at the doors.”
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This amazing prediction, dating back to within seven hundred years of creation, is remarkable not
only because of its age, and because of the picture that it gives us of the state of the world in those early
times, but even more because it was the first definite assurance that God’s plan of restoration involves His
personal intervention. It was the first clear indication of His intention to come to this earth someday 49to
execute judgment upon all,” to reward those who have been loyal to Him, and to punish the wicked for “all
their ungodly deeds.”
To those who, in that far-off day, were still striving amid widespread wickedness to serve the
Lord, this message from heaven came upon their ears like a bugle call to a hard-pressed army. It revived
their fainting spirits and encouraged them to hold on to God no matter what should happen. From that time
forward they could say triumphantly, “Behold, the Lord comes.”
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comings, the first in humiliation and suffering, the second in glory and power. Through the prophet Isaiah
came the message that He would come first as a sacrifice and a burden bearer, to pay the price of sin. He
would be “despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief.” He would be
“wounded for our transgressions” and “bruised for our iniquities” and upon Him would be laid “the
iniquity of us all.” Isaiah 53:3-6. But beyond the sacrifice and sorrow there would dawn another and
brighter day when He would “see of the travail of His soul, and be satisfied.” Verse ii. And in that day, at
His Second Coming, the Lord would “destroy the face of the covering cast over all people, and the veil that
is spread over all nations.” He would “swallow up death in victory; and wipe away tears from off all
faces.” Then, said Isaiah, “it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He
will save us: this is the Lord; we have waited for Him, we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation.” Isaiah
25:7-9.
Through the prophet Jeremiah came a similar announcement of the first advent of the Savior in
meekness and humility, and of a second advent in glory and power. In a beautiful description of the coming
of Jesus as the teacher of Galilee, he wrote: “Behold, the days come, said the Lord, that I will perform that
good thing which I have promised unto the house of Israel and to the house of Judah. In those days, and at
that time, will I cause the Branch of righteousness to grow up unto David; and he shall execute judgment
and righteousness in the land.” Jeremiah 33:14, 15. But in his twenty-fifth chapter, verses 30, 31, the
prophet proclaimed, The Lord shall roar from on high, and utter His voice from His holy habitation; He
shall mightily roar upon His habitation. He shall give a shout, as they that tread the grapes, against all the
inhabitants of the earth. A noise shall come even to the ends of the earth; for the Lord bath a controversy
with the nations, He will plead with all flesh; He will give them that are wicked to the sword, said the
Lord.”
Speaking through Haggai, God said, “Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens,
and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land. And I will shake all nations, and the Desire of all nations shall
come: and I will fill this house with glory, said the Lord of hosts.” Haggai 2:6, 7. Here was a clear
reference to the first advent of Jesus and His coming to the temple; but in the same chapter we have this
word which can only have its fulfillment in the final overthrow of evil in the last day: I will shake the
heavens and the earth. And I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms, and I will destroy the strength of the
kingdoms of the heathen; and I will overthrow the chariots, and those that ride in them; and the horses and
their riders shall come down, everyone by the sword of his brother.” Verses 21,22.
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coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord Himself shall descend from
heaven with a shout, with the voice of the Archangel, and with the trump of God. And the dead in Christ
shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to
meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these
words.” 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18.
And again: “To you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from
heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey
not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 2Thessalonians 1:7, 8.
These words echo the original message of hope and cheer given through Enoch in the long ago!
And yet how much richer in content, how much fuller in detail! “The Lord comes” in very truth “to execute
judgment upon all;” but He comes also to raise the dead to life, to gather the living righteous to Himself
and carry them back to glory. He comes not only to deal with sinners but to reward the saints. He comes
not only to destroy the ungodly but to give life, everlasting life, to all His faithful children-those who have
loved Him and obeyed His will.
DELIVERANCE ASSURED
IN OLD Jerusalem, by the sheep market, was a pool called Bethesda. Within its five arches. we
are told, “lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the
water.” John 5:2, 3.
Of all the dark centers of human misery in that city this was probably the worst, for to Bethesda
came all the incurables, old and young, with all manner of diseases. Their cases had been given up as
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hopeless by their physicians and their friends. Here, in physical and mental suffering, they waited for death
with but one ray of hope to buoy them up. They believed that “an angel went down at a certain season into
the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made
whole of whatsoever disease he had.” Verse 4.
Some lay motionless on the hard ground; some sat doubled up with pain; some hobbled to and fro
on crude crutches. Some gazed with almost sightless eyes toward the dark, still water below; but one and
all they listened with tense expectancy for the agitation of the water which would tell them that the hour of
their deliverance was at hand. Indeed, in imagination one can almost hear the blind calling to the lame, and
the lame to the withered, saying: Was that a movement of the water over there? Did you see it? Surely the
angel will come soon. I think I heard the rustle of his wings.
What disappointments there must have been around that pool, what broken hearts and bitter tears!
“BEHOLD, HE COMETH”
Will they be disappointed? No, indeed. The Man of Galilee still lives. He hears their cry in
heaven, and never forgets one falling tear. And one day surely He will return. There can be no doubt about
it. The prophetic evidence, as we have seen, is overwhelming. Suddenly, unexpectedly it will happen. He
will come striding through the arches-down the spacious corridors of heaven.
How the world needs Him! More than anyone else, or anything else, the world needs Him. For no
one else can solve its problems as He can. No one else can heal its naked wounds so swiftly and so well.
No one else can restore all that has been lost and destroyed in the age long controversy between good and
evil. No one else can plan so largely, so wisely, for the days to come. No one else has the power and the
ability to reign as undisputed Ruler of a perfectly united world. No one else is so sure to make man’s
brightest dreams of brotherhood and peace come true.
“Surely I come quickly,” He says again and yet again with ever-increasing certainty.
“Even so, come, Lord Jesus.” Revelation 22:20.
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knowledge, was reserved for a special period of world history described as “the time of the end.”
“Shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end,” was the divine
pronouncement.
To no other period in history than ours could these prophetic words be properly applied. As
already noted, many Bible prophecies announce a time of trouble to occur prior to the final consummation.
These words, however, suggest that, simultaneously, there will be an unexampled increase of knowledge.
Both events will indicate that the time of the end has arrived.
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cross are to be found in every country on the face of the earth, preaching in almost every language known
to man, while the radio waves carry God’s last message to a dying world.
To Wesley this was, of course, but a dream. To the Christian church today it is a reality. In more
than a thousand tongues the praises of Christ are sung each day around the world. The word of God is now
available to more than 95 per cent of the world’s population, and somewhere every morning, “while earth
rolls onward into light,” the voices of men, women, and children, belonging to every tribe on earth, are
raised in praise and supplication to the Lord of glory. In the words of John
The establishment of Christian missions in all the world is the crowning achievement of this age
of wonders, the supreme end for which all the increase of knowledge and the swift means of transportation
and communication were ordered by divine providence. And the work of salvation will continue despite
every obstacle that may seem to hinder its progress, through war and peace, through storm and sunshine,
until the purpose of God has been accomplished and “earth’s remotest nation has heard Messiah’s name.”
Then, when this gospel of the kingdom shall have been preached in all the world as a witness unto
all nations, whether they accept or reject it-”then shall the end come.”
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sold, they planted, they built; but the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone
from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.”
Luke 17:28-30.
Now, while it is true that the main point that Christ was endeavoring to make in this particular
passage was the suddenness of His Second Coming, the fact that it would come as a great surprise to
people living at the time,-there can be no doubt that He also had in mind the resemblance of the closing
days of history to the age preceding the destruction of those ancient cities of the plain.
And what were conditions like in those days? It is perhaps needless to ask, for the very names of
Sodom and Gomorrah have become synonyms for wickedness. Nevertheless, it might be enlightening to
note what the Bible says the sins of Sodom were.
In Genesis 13:13 we learn that “the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the Lord
exceedingly.”
When the Lord discussed the matter with Abraham, He referred to the sin of Sodom and
Gomorrah as being “very grievous.” Genesis 18:20.
The nineteenth chapter of Genesis records the sordid story of an attempted attack upon Lot and his
guests, which is sufficient evidence of the depths of degradation to which the inhabitants of Sodom had
descended.
Then in the book of Isaiah, when the prophet compared Israel to Sodom, he said: “Ah sinful
nation, a people laden with iniquity. “From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in
it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrefying sores.” Isaiah 1:4-6.
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That this sorry trend also is not restricted to any one section of the world is evidenced by what
happened to the women of conquered Poland or China. One has but to read the fearful story of the capture
of Nanking, or Hong Kong, to realize how evil the human heart can be in this enlightened age.
EVIL IMAGINATIONS
As to the second sin of the antediluvians, that of dwelling upon evil thoughts to their total moral
corruption, it is again impossible to tell how many individuals have descended into such fearful depths.
God alone can read the human heart. He alone knows how deceptive and desperately wicked it is. Jeremiah
17:9.
But again there are indications of the general trend. I have already mentioned the large circulation
of erotic literature. There would have been no such development had not people desired it. No one pays
good money for this type of book or magazine unless he is interested in it and wants to feed upon the
unseemly suggestions that it contains. And those who do buy it-and there must be millions-are in dire
danger of reaching the place where their corrupted minds can only think evil “continually.”
Why is it that the motion-picture industry produces so many movies that are shocking in their
vulgarity? There have been campaigns, carried on by public-spirited men and women, to “clean up the
movies;” but it is like attempting to cleanse the Augean stables. The production of unseemly pictures that
glorify everything evil continues for only one reason: The people want them.
But there is still another indication of this regrettable trend. It has been said that one can gauge
people’s thoughts by what they say. As Christ expressed it to the scribes and Pharisees: “Those things
which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. For out of the heart
proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornication, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: these are the
things which defile a man.” Matthew 15:18-20. And what shall be said of the conversation of the average
unconverted man today? If his unpleasant adjectives, his blasphemous oaths, and his smutty stories are an
indication of the thoughts of his heart, then he indeed has a state of mind similar to that foretold in the
prophecy.
There is yet the third pre-Flood sin to be considered, and that is violence. “The earth also was
corrupt before God,” we are told, “and the earth was filled with violence.” Genesis 6: 11.
Is such a condition visible in these modern days? It hardly seems necessary to ask the question. It
is perhaps the outstanding characteristic of our time.
Violence! How much of it we have seen in these past few years! We used to think this passage
referred only to murder and assault, but we did not know what was coming. Such crimes are prevalent
enough-with twenty murders a day throughout the United States. But now the word recalls the untold
thousands who have been treated with unspeakable cruelty in prisons and concentration camps, who have
been mercilessly done to death in a hundred horrible ways by heartless conquerors.
Violence! One thinks of murdered hostages, thousands upon thousands of them, whose only fault
has been that they were on the losing side. One thinks of Lidice, a symbol of the great terror that threatens
all humanity, Lidice, once a beautiful village of Czechoslovakia, but now razed to the ground, its men folk
shot, its women removed to a concentration camp, its children taken to “educational institutions.” For sheer
bloodcurdling torture of body and soul, this horror is unrivaled. Surely Noah never saw the like in his day.
Violence! There sweeps before us a panorama of all the destruction wrought since the global war
began-the blasted cities, the flaming villages, the crushed and broken lives.
In the Manchester Guardian there appeared the following classic description of an air raid.
Multiply it a hundred fold, a thousand fold, all over Europe and Asia, and you have some faint idea of all
the wreckage and misery caused by aerial bombardment.
“The first crash brought the city to its feet with a start, only to fall back again blinded by the glare
of fire and deafened by the roar of guns. Flying high against the hard stars, they looked down and saw
Manchester choking and sprawling in the smoke and furiously fighting back the terror of the fires. They
looked and saw the river gleaming dully in the glare, and, swooping down, they dropped their cargo of
destruction into the heart of the blaze. They looked and saw the cathedral standing on the riverbank, and
racing towards it they saw nothing but smoke and the fierce hunger of the fire. Manchester was a city of
flame and thunder. The great fires burnt like torches, and the old places went roaring up to the sky in a
torment of heat and smoke. Steel and brick, stone and timber, crashed down to the very foundations of the
city. The streets were like rivers of fire, the buildings were lighter than they had been for months. A great
light came over the city and fled hand in hand with Death through the little alleyways and byways, up stone
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staircases and over black-slated roofs, into church and theater alike, into hotels and warehouses, into shops
and into homes. And everywhere was a great noise such as Manchester had never heard before. And
everywhere were pain and misery and wanton destruction.”
Of how many cities, towns, and villages could a similar description be given! Surely this, above
all others, is the age of violence!
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the world will bring upon itself the fearful judgments of the wrath of God.
It was this that the apostle Peter had in mind when he wrote his memorable comparison between
the fate of Noah’s generation and ours. “The world that then was,” he said, “being overflowed with water,
perished: but the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto
fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.” 2 Peter 3:6, 7.
The same sins will bring the same result. But instead of a flood of water there will come this time
a flood of fire, “in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt
with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.” Verse 10.
Well may we take to heart the apostle Peter’s closing exhortation: “Seeing then that all these
things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in all holy conversation and godliness,
looking for and hastening unto the coming of the day of God.” Verses 11, 12.
AN ALL-OUT ATTACK
That such an attack is being made upon the home is one of the most ominous facts of our time. In
some countries it is being carried on openly, with brazen disregard of human feelings; in others it proceeds
with sinister subtlety; but always, everywhere, with the same objective.
Just as Cato raised the cry in the Roman senate long ago: “Carthage must be destroyed,” so today
it would seem that from other lips the word has gone forth, “The home must be destroyed!”
If any are inclined to think that the attack upon the home is confined to lands afar, and that there is
nothing of which America need be afraid, they are sadly mistaken. It may be observed operating under
various guises. One of the worst, already touched upon in the previous chapter, is the new attitude toward
marriage. This sacred institution is no longer referred to as something holy, but rather as a topic for mirth
and ridicule. As to its binding nature, which used to be “till death us do part,” how few accept it in such a
light today!
Visiting a certain Christian college recently, I was shocked to discover how large a percentage of
the young people came from divided homes. And by divided homes I mean homes where divorce decrees
or the illegal separation of the parents has broken the family circle. Scores of those adolescent young men
and women had no homes to which they could go at vacation time, and some had only half a home, with
father or mother missing because one or the other had left to marry someone else. I found myself reflecting
that if such a situation exists in such a place, what must be the condition in the secular colleges of the land?
How many thousands of youth there must be who find themselves in this sad plight today!
Among the modern destroyers of the home none is more devastating than this evil of divorce; and
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let those who may be contemplating this course at this moment reflect upon the wreckage they are about to
cause not only in their own experience, but in the hearts and lives of their children, and to the sacred
institution of the home itself, the foundation and cornerstone of civilization.
In his history of ancient Rome, Ferrero reveals the secret of the decline and fall of that powerful
empire. It was the home that collapsed first, long before the frontier bastions fell before the advancing
barbarian invaders.
“An evolution which had transformed the family life, within four centuries changed the strength
and rigidity of a despotic organization into the freest form of sexual union ever seen in Western
civilization. If a man took a free woman honorably to live with her, the act made them man and wife and
their children legitimate; if the marriage state proved displeasing, they separated, and the marriage was
dissolved. Such, in its essential features, was marriage in the age of Augustus. It marked the downfall of
family life, since the women of the upper classes had lost the old feminine virtues of modesty, obedience,
industry, and self respect.”
In those far-off days the breakdown of family life brought the downfall of an empire. Today it
may well bring the downfall of a world.
MENACE OF INTEMPERANCE
Still another enemy in the home is the menace of intemperance. All down the centuries the
drinking of alcoholic beverages has proved a fearful curse to the race, but never more so than now. As it
brought about the fall of Babylon in. 538 BC (Daniel 5:1-4,30,31), so it was in no small measure
responsible for the fall of France in 1940. Shortly after this disaster occurred, the following dispatch from
Vichy appeared in the New York Post: “A government spokesman said today that alcoholism was the chief
cause of the moral collapse of the French army under the German attack. Drunkenness was rampant in the
army during the eight months of inactivity at the start of the war.”
Before France fell she had 477,000 drink shops, from which a torrent of liquor poured to sap the
morale of that unhappy nation. Today a similar flood from 400,000 liquor stores and taverns in the United
States licks at the foundations of this great country, loosening the underpinnings of the home, and
destroying much of priceless value in the lives of the people.
In the year that brought the tragic climax of Pearl Harbor, the United States spent $3,300,000,000
on liquor, $800,000,000 more than it spent on education. No nation, however rich and powerful, can afford
such a drain upon its resources. Yet the financial loss is the least of the resultant evils. Far worse is the
deleterious effect upon the health of the people. Still more damaging is the increase of crime of which it is
the ever-present partner.
Anxious to make certain on this point, I visited the Michigan state prison not long ago, and spoke
to the official whose duty it is to interview every prisoner as he enters to serve his term. From his many
years of experience in meeting thousands of prisoners, this man assured me that more than 50 per cent of
them attribute their downfall to drink.
Following up this information, I wrote a personal letter to every prison, penitentiary, and prison
farm in the country, asking the question, What proportion of your prisoners are incarcerated because of
liquor? When the replies came back they revealed the astonishing fact that not only 50 per cent, but 60, 70,
even go per cent of the prisoners blamed drink for their misfortune.
How true it is that the liquor traffic has “broken more homes, saddened more hearts, impoverished
more families, provoked more quarrels, fostered more fights, wrecked more lives, blasted more reputations,
committed more crimes, lost more wars, and ruined more nations than any other evil agency in this world!”
Fortunate indeed is the home which never permits alcohol to enter its doors, where every member
of the family has been trained from childhood to recognize this evil for what it is, and has been taught
steadfastly to shun the allurement of its press, billboard, and radio advertisements. Equally happy,
however, may be the home where those who have already been ensnared by this evil have had its shackles
removed by the grace of God.
Still another peril menaces the home today, and that is the tragic indifference on the part of many
parents concerning the welfare of their children.
Not long ago a mother complained to me about the disobedience of her children, how impudent
they had become in the home, how little they cared for the church and for spiritual things in general. She
wished so much that they were growing up like other fine Christian young people she knew. She couldn’t
understand why she had been dealt with so unfairly in this matter. But she omitted to say that for years she
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had left her children on their own, day after day, while she went out to work to earn extra money to pay the
installments on the car, the refrigerator, and other things she felt she must have in her home. She had sold
her children for gadgets, and didn’t know it. All too many parents are following the selfsame course. One
day they will wake up to discover they have lost something they can never regain.
PERIL OF INDIFFERENCE
Addressing the students of Notre Dame University not long ago, J. Edgar Hoover, Director of the
Federal Bureau of Investigation, commented on the “tremendous increase in juvenile delinquency.”
Searching for the cause he said:
“There has been a lack of parental control. No nation is stronger than its homes. The home is the
cornerstone of democracy. We hear much talk about rights of all kinds, but not enough about the right of a
child to be brought up in an atmosphere of decency in a good home. It is a lack of religious training in the
home, and in the school, that usually breeds criminals. We must instill a moral sense of responsibility in
our youth through religious instruction.”
On another occasion, commenting on the fact that nearly one fifth of all crimes are committed by
persons under twenty-one years of age, he laid the responsibility squarely upon the shoulders of their
elders.
“I believe,” he said, “that a prime factor in the disregard by youth for law lies in an equal or
greater disrespect for law and order on the part of the adults of our generation. I insist that no youth ever
developed an heroic ideal that was not first centered about some adult. When the youngster begins to show
disrespect for law and order, you can be sure he learned something of that attitude at home, or he was not
taught to recognize right from wrong so that he could make his own decisions.”
A “NATIONAL DISGRACE”
What a challenge to parents! Yet how can all this good counsel be put into practice when fathers
and mothers are too busy, too tired, too engrossed in their own pursuits, to give their children the time, the
attention, and the love which they deserve?
We cannot expect that children left to entertain themselves for hours on end will just grow good
anyway. There may be some rare exceptions where this will happen, but don’t bank on your children being
the exception. There is too much truth in the old adage that “Satan finds some mischief still for idle hands
to do.”
If parents valued their homes and their children’s welfare as they should, they would take a great
deal more care than they are taking at present to supervise the literature the youngsters read. Into almost
every home today there is filtering, openly or clandestinely, the most pernicious reading matter for children
that ever rolled off a printing press. Calling it a “national disgrace,” Sterling North wrote this stirring
denunciation in the Chicago Daily News:
“Virtually every child in America,” he said, “is reading color ‘comic’ magazines-a poisonous
mushroom growth of the last few years. Ten million copies of these sex horror serials are sold every
month. One million dollars are taken from the pockets of America’s children in exchange for graphic
insanity. The bulk of these lurid publications depend for their appeal upon mayhem, murder, torture, and
abduction-often with a child as the victim. Superman heroics, voluptuous females in scanty attire, blazing
machine guns, hooded ‘justice,’ and cheap political propaganda are to be found on almost every page.
“The old dime novels in which an occasional red skin bit the dust were classic literature compared
to the sadistic drivel pouring from the presses today.
“Badly drawn, badly written, and badly printed, a strain on young eyes and young nervous
systems,-the effect of these pulp-paper nightmares is that of a violent stimulant. Their crude blacks and
reds spoil the child’s natural sense of color; their hypodermic injection of sex and murder make the child
impatient with better, though quieter, stories. Unless we want a coming generation ever more ferocious
than the present one, parents and teachers throughout America must band together to break the ‘comic’
magazine.”
Sterling North is right. And he properly lays the blame upon the “immoral publishers” and the
parents “who don’t know and don’t care what their children are reading.”
But what has all this to do with prophecy? Did the prophets of old foresee conditions of this sort
as they looked upon the latter days of human history? Were they shown this widespread effort to destroy
the home, and all the beautiful and noble things for which the home has stood throughout the ages? Did
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they see the growth of evils which would ultimately combine in an all-out attack upon this most precious
and sacred institution, this foundation of civilization?
PAUL’S PREDICTION
There can be no doubt but that the apostle Paul had some such development as this in mind when
he penned this great prophecy for our time: “This know also,” he said, “that in the last days perilous times
shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers,
disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers,
incontinent, fierce, despising of those that are good, traitors. Heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more
than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof.” 2 Timothy 3:1-5.
Reading this prediction as rendered in Dr. Moffatt’s translation, its application to our day becomes
still more obvious: “Mark this, there are hard times coming in the last days. For men will be selfish, fond of
money, boastful, haughty, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, irreverent, callous, relentless,
scurrilous, dissolute, and savage; they will hate goodness. They will be treacherous, reckless and conceited,
preferring pleasure to God-for though they keep up a form of religion, they will have nothing to do with it
as a force.”
How accurate is this picture of the enemies that are gathering to battle against goodness in these
latter days! With what detail does the prophet name the sins that even now are assailing our civilization!
Thank God, however, this is not the only inspired prediction dealing with this theme. There is another, and
it gives the other side of the picture. In the last two verses of the Old Testament we are told that
immediately prior to “the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord,” a movement will be started to
“turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers.” Malachi 4:5, 6.
Thus the dark picture painted by Paul is relieved by this word from Malachi, indicating that in
these times, when a thousand evils are rampant in the world, and the destroyers of the home are more
active than ever before, there will come upon many fathers-and mothers, too, of course -a great new sense
of responsibility toward their children. They will have a new vision of what they should be doing for them,
and with them, in this great and solemn hour. They will seek to save them from the snares laid for their
unwary feet, not only by setting them a more worthy example of right living, but by leading them back to
God and helping them to discover the way of salvation through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And the children, the boys and girls, the young men and young women, they, too, will feel the
moving of the Holy Spirit, and realize their duty to their parents and the part they should be playing to
make the home the place of happiness and helpfulness, of graciousness and good will, that God designed it
to be.
Is it possible to create and maintain a godly home amid all the temptations and counter attractions
of modern life? It is; but it takes much planning and praying and no little personal sacrifice. The ideal
family, with children growing up to honor their parents, taking their proper share of home responsibilities,
and preparing to be worthy citizens of their country, doesn’t merely happen. Nor does it come about in
some mysterious, providential manner while parents are attending motion-picture theaters and cocktail
parties, seeking their own amusement while their children are cared for by strangers.
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their own home. Let them realize that it is part of their responsibility to keep it clean and tidy. Help them to
understand that “there’s no fun like work.” The doctrine advocated by some indulgent parents that
daughter mustn’t wash the dishes because it will spoil her pretty hands is ruinous; and so is the idea that
sonny must have every spare moment for play because father had to work so hard when he was a boy.
Helping in the home-in moderation, of course-is a vital part of the training of every boy and girl.
Pocket money? Of course. But a certain set amount, and no more. Whatever you do, don’t pay for
every little service, not even when the excuse is to raise money for philanthropic purposes. Such a course
will turn the most generous child into a hateful money grabber.
However, merely to provide a playroom, good reading matter, and pocket money, is not enough.
Far more important is it to take interest, in every little thing the children undertake. They expect it; they
long for it; and they should have it. This means interest not only in their play but in their school work, all
the way from grade school to college. It means interest in their arithmetic problems and their algebra
equations; in their English compositions and their language studies. It means interest in the friends they
make and the friends they lose, in their joys and disappointments and heartaches that seem so big and
important to them.
Oh, yes, it takes time. Of course! But it is part of the price of keeping a family together. Then
there must be a religious background to all this planning. No home can be truly successful without it. That
means grace at meals from the first lovely lisping of childhood until the deep-toned bass comes back from
the university. It means family prayers and Bible reading.
There’s a difficulty here, I know. Life is so full nowadays; everyone, old and young, has so many
interests that it is often impossible to have the family gather together. But meet the problem by teaching
each child to read the Bible and to say his prayers at least once a day, and preferably twice, without fail.
Build this priceless habit so thoroughly into the character of each one that, no matter what pressures may
develop, no matter what interruptions may come to the family plans, each individual will maintain his own
personal contact with God.
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S 0 FULL of trouble and violence is the world today, so stained with lust and cruelty, one cannot
but wonder why God does not intervene at once, without any further delay. When the Eternal One sees so
much that is lovely and beautiful being destroyed by the cruel, the selfish, and the unscrupulous, when He
sees the weak and inoffensive being trodden down, why does He not hurl down the thunderbolts of heaven
upon wicked men? When He sees the champions of truth and righteousness well-nigh overborne in the
struggle with the forces of evil, why does He not rush to their rescue and turn the artillery of the skies upon
His enemies? When He sees conditions becoming more and more like those in the days of Noah and Lot,
why does He not act immediately and decisively with all His infinite power?
He does not for the simple reason that every day is not a judgment day. There is to be a day of
reckoning between God and the modern world; let there be no mistake about that. Long ago the apostle
Paul announced that God “hath appointed a day, in the which He will judge the world.”
Acts 17:31. However, the execution of divine judgment is still future. We may not understand the
reason for the seeming delay in retribution, but that will not affect the outworking of His purposes. In His
own time and in His own way the judgment will take place.
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this time beginning with Medo-Persia (the ram with two horns, verse 20) and following on through Greece
(the he-goat, verse 21) to Rome, which is represented, in both its pagan and papal phases, by the 1ittle horn
which “waxed exceeding great” and “cast down some of the host, and stamped upon them,” and “cast
down the truth to the ground” (versesS-12).
Following this recital of coming wars, strife, and persecution, the prophet hears a voice saying,
“How long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice, and the transgression of desolation, to give
both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden underfoot?” Verse 13.
Now those two words “How long?” are reminiscent of a similar question found in the book of
Revelation: “How long, 0 Lord, holy and true, does ‘Thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that
dwell on the earth?” Revelation 6:10.
Both questions represent a deep yearning to know when the power of evil shall be broken and the
supremacy of the wicked shall be brought to an end. Both ask, in different language, when the judgment
day will come.
Then Daniel hears another voice speaking, a voice of great authority, and it says, “Unto two
thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.” Daniel 8: 14.
There are several matters in this prophecy that need clarification, but first let us consider the time
period. If it is possible to determine when this period was designed to begin and end, the rest may become
easy to understand.
As already pointed out, a day in prophecy corresponds to a year in history, so that the “two
thousand and three hundred days” here mentioned represent 2300 years. That is a long time, longer than
the entire Christian Era.
When was it to begin? In Daniel’s time? In Christ’s time? How can one tell?
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Now as a week consists of seven days, seventy weeks would total 490 days or, according to
prophetic measurement, 490 years. If we can find out when they began we shall discover also the starting
point of the 2300 years.
We are not left long in doubt. “Know therefore and understand,” continues Gabriel, “that from the
going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be
seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous
times.” Verse 25.
When did this commandment go forth? There were three such commandments made by various
kings of MedoPersia, following the Babylonian captivity of Israel. The first was proclaimed by Cyrus-the
conqueror of Babylon -in 536 BC, exactly seventy years after Nebuchadnezzar’s capture of Jerusalem. The
second was by Darius in 519 BC, and the third by Artaxerxes in 457 BC. All three decrees, remarkably
enough, are grouped together in the book of Ezra, where we read: “And they built, and finished it,
according to the commandment of the God of Israel, and according to the commandment of Cyrus, and
Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia.” Ezra 6:14. All three edicts were necessary, but the last was the
most important and comprehensive. This decree of Artaxerxes was issued in the seventh year of his reign
(457 BC). See Ezra 7. Consequently it is from this date that the seventy weeks are reckoned.
From this date, when the command to restore and to rebuild the city of Jerusalem was given, to
Messiah the Prince would be “seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks” in other words, sixty-nine
weeks. This represents 483 days, or prophetic years. To find when this period ends, one merely has to
subtract 457 BC from 483, and the answer is AD 26. That is, calculating from the first day Of 457 BC to
the last day Of AD 26. The commandment to build and restore Jerusalem was not given, however, until the
autumn Of 457 BC; therefore the sixty-nine weeks reach over to the autumn Of AD 27.
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lost humanity, “the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom” (Matthew 27:51),
indicating that type had met antitype and that any services held in that earthly sanctuary thereafter would
be meaningless.
Now the crucifixion occurred in the spring Of AD 31, in the midst of the last week of the seventy.
There remained therefore yet three and a half years for the entire period to be completed. It was during this
time that the apostles carried the gospel of salvation through Jesus Christ particularly to the Jews.
Thousands accepted it joyfully, as on the Day of Pentecost, but many more rejected the message, crowning
their resistance and opposition by their murder of Stephen in AD 34.
About this time also the work of the early Christian church took on a new direction, as Paul and
Barnabas later explained to the Jews at Antioch. They plainly declared, It was necessary that the word of
God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing you put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy
of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles.” Acts 13:46.
The prophetic period of seventy weeks had ended. The privileged position occupied by the Jewish
nation for so many generations was over forever. Its final period of probation had closed. As a nation it had
passed out of the plans of God. From this time on, the Jews could be saved individually, but not nationally.
As if to emphasize this tragic fact, there came soon after, in AD 70, that most fearful destruction of
Jerusalem at the hands of the Romans when more than a million Jews perished, and the rest, save only the
Christians who escaped, were carried off into slavery. From that day to this the history of the Jewish people
has been one of endless suffering at the hands of their enemies, in harmony with the dread warning of
Moses that, if they would not hearken unto the voice of the Lord their God, they would “be only oppressed
and crushed always.” Deuteronomy 28:15,33.
Thus the evidence is overwhelming, beyond all possibility of question, that the date 457 BC is
correct; and, consequently, that the long time period of 2300 years began in that very year. This crowning
“vision and prophecy” of “the wonderful numberer” is sealed forever with the blood of Christ. Daniel 9:24.
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something of particular importance was to occur. Said Gabriel: “Then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.”
What did this expression mean?
One thing is certain. It was not intended to refer to the earthly sanctuary at Jerusalem. “The
wonderful numberer” would not make such a mistake. He knew that that sanctuary would be destroyed by
the Romans and never be rebuilt. What other sanctuary, then, could he have had in mind? Naturally the one
with which he was most familiar, the sanctuary in heaven.
That there is such a sanctuary is made plain in the book of Hebrews, where we read: “Now of the
things which we have spoken this is the sum. We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of
the throne of the Majesty in the heavens. A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the
Lord pitched, and not man.” Hebrews 8:1,2.
The tabernacle that Moses built in the wilderness was but a miniature of the sanctuary in heaven,
the pattern of which was shown to him on Mount Sinai. Verse 5. Of the glory of the original edifice, the
dwelling place of the eternal God, no human being can have the faintest conception.
Why then speak of its cleansing? For the simple reason that it is there that the books of record are
preserved-those books which tell of all that has happened on the earth, the tragic story of all its sins and
sorrows; the books in which are to be found every idle word that men have spoken. Every unkind and
blasphemous expression, every unworthy deed, every cruel and pitiless act-all are there!
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Thus, during “the crisis at the close” of world history, a work of still greater importance has been
going on in heaven which is deciding for eternity the destiny of all who have ever lived.
Millions upon millions of cases must be considered. How far the work has proceeded no one
knows, but that it will not be unduly prolonged is certain from the swift fulfillment of all the promised
signs of Christ’s return.
If the task may seem too great, let it be remembered that God’s power and resources know no
human measure. Nothing is impossible to Him, and He has been planning for this “from the foundation of
the world.” Revelation 13:8. It was with such facts in mind that the apostle Paul declared, “He will finish
the account, and cut it short in righteousness: because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth.”
Romans 9:28, margin.
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John Knox, “and shall He not return? We know that He shall return, and that with expedition.”
This view has persisted through the years, and, despite the most desperate efforts of its opponents
to extinguish it, has never since been quenched.
In 1627 Joseph Mede, a professor of Christ’s College, Cambridge, published his classic work on
the book of Revelation, entitled Clavis Apocalyptica (Key to the Apocalypse), which perhaps more than
any other book prepared the way for the advent movement of the nineteenth century.
Some years afterward, Johann Petersen, a German theologian, proclaimed the approach of the
advent throughout his country, publishing, in 1692, a work entitled The Truth of the Glorious Kingdom of
Jesus Christ, Which Is to Be Expected at (the Sounding of) the Seventh Trumpet.
Petersen was followed in Germany by Johann Bengel, another powerful preacher of the advent
hope, while in England interest in the subject was kept alive by men like Sir Francis Bacon and Sir Isaac
Newton. The latter’s work on the prophecies of Daniel and the Revelation, published in 1733, is well
known. The bishops of Bristol, Gloucester, and Worcester, and other prominent persons, also wrote
extensively during the eighteenth century on the fulfillment of prophecy, while Charles Wesley’s attitude is
evident from the hymn:
In South America, a Jesuit priest, Lacunza by name, becoming convinced of the approaching
advent, wrote a powerful work which not only stirred his own country but, translated by Edward Irving
under the title of The Coming of Messiah in Glory and Majesty, had a mighty effect in other lands in later
years.
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RECENT DEVELOPMENTS
In the very hour of disappointment over the seeming delay of Christ’s coming, there came upon a
number of faithful Adventists -as they searched the Scriptures yet more carefully for guidance and comfort-
the conviction that they should, in loyalty to the word of God, observe the Ten Commandments more
faithfully. They realized, with sudden illumination and great joy, that the seventh day, rather than the first,
is the true Sabbath of the Lord, and they decided to keep it at all costs. Thus these two great fundamentals
of the Christian faith,-belief in the second advent of Christ and the observance of the seventh-day Sabbath,-
long eclipsed by error, were at last fully brought to light. Like two streams of truth, hidden centuries ago by
the accumulation of false tradition, they now reappeared and, uniting, flowed on together, broadening and
deepening every passing year, and destined to reach at last to the very ends of the earth.
It became the burden of this growing company of Sabbath keeping Adventists to repeat, on a
world scale, the work accomplished by John the Baptist before the first advent of the Lord. As John went
before Him “in the spirit and power of Elias; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord” (Luke 1:17),
so these Adventists of the latter half of the nineteenth century accepted the task of warning the world anew
of His Second Coming (Revelation 10:11). They recognized as their standard of conduct “the
commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus” (Revelation 14: 12), and thus, by the grace of God,
endeavored to prepare “the way of the Lord” (Isaiah 40:3).
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world, each unit helping in a practical way to bring a knowledge of the love of God and His last message
of mercy to suffering humanity.
No one can sincerely consider this amazing development without admitting that here indeed is the
fulfillment of the prophecy of Revelation 14:6-12. The three angels’ messages are being given now. Here
before our eyes are the people of the prophecy, preaching the everlasting gospel in all its beauty and
fullness. Proclaiming that the hour of God’s judgment’ has arrived, and calling upon people of every tribe
and tongue to acknowledge Jesus Christ as their Creator and Redeemer, their Savior and Friend. Surely
here is the last great sign promised for this mighty hour.
TRUTH TRIUMPHANT
THE grand old cathedral at Strasbourg has been famous for one of those marvelous clocks that
marks not only the passing of seconds, minutes, and hours, but also of the seasons and the years. There are
many such clocks in existence, but this one is perhaps the most elaborate of all.
As I stood one day in front of this incredible timepiece, looking up at it in wonderment and
expectancy, suddenly the noon hour began to strike. Immediately a little door opened, and out onto a
platform marched a group of tiny figures, representing, I believe, the twelve apostles. They stayed for a
moment, and then vanished from sight.
It is like that with prophecy. When God-who made time in the beginning (Genesis 1:14)-sees that
His great clock of the universe records the hour for the completion of some great time period which He has
announced, nothing can prevent the happenings destined to occur at that moment.
Thus when God’s hour struck in 1844, when the last of the 2300 years of Daniel’s great prediction
had faded into history, the judgment began in heaven and the judgment hour message began to be
proclaimed on earth. In that hour there were men and women ready to give God’s message and to help to
finish the work He had planned to accomplish in the earth.
Here we perceive anew the marvelous harmony in all the great prophecies for our time. Daniel’s
words spanned more than two millenniums to reach to the middle of the nineteenth century, calling for
events of tremendous importance to happen at that time. Then “the sanctuary” was to be cleansed; then the
judgment was to begin. But John, who wrote during the closing years of the first century AD, more than
six hundred years after Daniel, saw the same events. In addition, he foretold the giving of the warning
message to all the world that the judgment had begun.
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Book couldn’t be inspired, because of all its historical errors. But they do not say that any more because, as
archaeologists have worked on the ruins of the cities and the villages mentioned in the Bible, all its
historical references have been proved astonishingly accurate. Again and again the spade of the excavator
has confirmed the Book and confounded the critics. Moses, they said, couldn’t possibly have written the
Pentateuch, because the art of writing was not known in his day. But writing has been found long
antedating the time of Moses. There never was a king of Assyria named Sargon (Isaiah 20: 1), they said,
until the name turned up on some long-buried monument. The taking of Jericho was but a fable, they said
with scorn, until Sir Charles Marston uncovered the ancient walls of the city and found that they had fallen
flat. So, in scores of unexpected ways, the veracity of the Bible writers has been fully established, and only
the ignorant profess doubt of its authenticity and the accuracy of its statements.
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Christians meekly obeyed. But no organization, however powerful, has any authority to change the law of
God. Even to attempt to do so is gross presumption. “All His commandments are sure. They stand fast
forever and ever.” Psalm 111:7, 8. And when Christ came to live among men He said: “Think not that I am
come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you,
Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in nowise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.”
Matthew 5:17, 18.
Now that the truth about the Sabbath has been “lifted up,” and is being proclaimed afresh in all its
simplicity and beauty, those who love the Lord in sincerity are heeding His word concerning it. In so doing
they are making the discovery that the Sabbath is not a day of misery and repression, but a day of delight,
of happiness and refreshing in the Lord. They are proving in their own experience how true is the promise:
“If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on My holy day. And call the
Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable. And shall honor Him, not doing your own ways, nor
finding your own pleasure, nor speaking your own words: then shall thou delight thyself in the Lord. And I
will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father:
for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.” Isaiah 58:13,14.
And now we can understand more fully what the prophecy means when it says that the
“everlasting gospel” shall be preached to all nations just before the end. The truth which was trodden down
during the Dark Ages, rises again in the last days of human history and is carried in all its glory by faithful
messengers to earth’s remotest bounds. The pure word of God is to be made known to the people. The truth
about God and His creative power, about Christ and His redeeming love, about the inspiration of the Bible,
and the perpetuity of the divine law, about the Sabbath, the nature of man, and about the state of the dead,
is to be understood.
God is the “God of truth” (Psalm 31:5), and His only begotten Son is “full of grace and truth”
(John 1: 14); while the “Spirit of truth” is sent to guide the erring mind of man “into all truth” (John
16:13). He desires truth upon our lips, truth in our actions, and truth in our hearts. Psalm 15:2. And it is
“the righteous nation which keeps the truth” which shall enter at last through the gates of God’s eternal
city. Isaiah 26:2.
When this gospel of the kingdom shall have been preached in all the world, as a witness unto all
nations, then shall the end come.
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In the thirteenth chapter of Revelation the revival of the papacy is predicted, followed by the
amazing forecast of America’s rise to world power. And what remains? Only the final attack on human
freedom and the last persecution of the faithful children of God.
It is an impressive array of facts, enough to convince the most critical mind of the solemnity of the
present hour. It also suggests the question, Are there other unfulfilled prophecies for the occurrence of
which we should be watching now?
There are; and they deal with the very last scenes in the world’s history. In the sixteenth chapter of
Revelation we are given a picture of the fearful events to take place in that little period immediately before
the end between the completion of the investigative judgment in heaven and the coming of Jesus in glory.
They are so terrible that one hesitates even to mention them; yet they are recorded for our admonition
“upon whom the ends of the world are come,” and therefore cannot be ignored.
BATTLE OF ARMAGEDDON
According to the prophecy, the elimination of this Moslem power is to prepare the way of “the
kings of the East;” and while it is unwise for anyone to speculate how prophecy will come to pass, it is
proper to point out that the recent epochal changes in the Far East, coupled with developments in the
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veil of the future, bids us look a thousand years ahead. This remarkable prediction begins with the
following dramatic announcement:
“And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great
chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the devil, and Satan, and
bound him a thousand years, and cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him,
that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he
must be loosed a little season.” Verses 1-3.
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One point is perfectly clear. If the righteous have been taken to heaven, and the wicked have been
slain by the glory of the returning Christ, there will be no one left on earth for Satan to tempt. This fact
alone will bind him more thoroughly than any chain of steel could possibly do. Furthermore he will find
himself alone in a desolate world, left for a thousand years to contemplate the frightful results of his
wicked rebellion against the Most High. It is interesting to note that the Greek word from which
“bottomless pit” is translated in Revelation20:i has the same meaning as “the deep” in Genesis 1:2,
referring to the earth in its original chaotic state.
The prophet Jeremiah describes the conditions that will prevail during the millennium: I beheld
the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light. I beheld the
mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly. I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and
all the birds of the heavens were fled. I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities
thereof were broken down at the presence of the Lord, and by His fierce anger. For thus hath the Lord said,
The whole land shall be desolate; yet will I not make a full end.” Jeremiah 4:23-27.
But is not the millennium going to be a time of universal peace and prosperity? There is no
foundation in the Scriptures for such a view, nor for the teaching, so popular in some quarters, that Christ,
during this long period, will establish His throne in Palestine and, with the help of the Jews, seek again the
conversion of the nations. Certainly He will reign with His people during the thousand years, but it will be
with those who have accepted His salvation; and it will take place not on earth, but in heaven. It is to the
mansions prepared for them in glory that the redeemed will go at Christ’s Second Coming. John 14:1-3.
There they will remain until the thousand years are, past. Revelation 20:4
The end of the millennium will be marked by many events of great importance. First, the people
of God, together with their beautiful city, the New Jerusalem, will return from heaven to this earth. Christ
will be with them, and at His appearance- which will be His third advent the wicked dead of all generations
will be raised to life to take part in the final judgment scene, when the justice of God’s dealings with sin
and sinners will be demonstrated before the universe.
Naturally the resurrection of the wicked dead will bring about the loosing of Satan. Once more,
for a little while, he will have a mighty host upon whom to work his wiles; and as a result the multitudes of
the lost, stirred to insensate fury, will rush upon the New Jerusalem to destroy it. “And they went up on the
breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down
from God out of heaven, and devoured them.” Revelation 20:9.
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As the unerring records are produced from the books of heaven, the wicked will see where it was
in their experience that they began to go wrong, how often they turned their backs upon God, how vile and
sordid their lives must appear in His holy sight. Before the watching universe they will admit that the
punishment about to be meted upon them is both just and inevitable.
When the great judgment scene is ended, devouring flames will consume every trace of sin and all
the desolation it has wrought in the earth. Then will the prophecy of Malachi be fulfilled, which says:
“Behold, the day comes, that shall burn as an oven. And all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall
be stubble: and the day that comes shall burn them up, said the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them
neither root nor branch.” Malachi 4:1-3.
Then will dawn those glorious years of peace and joy which are not to be measured in centuries or
millenniums, but which shall last through all eternity. Then shall it be that “the kingdom and dominion, and
the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most
High.” Daniel 7:27. Then also “they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they
that turn many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever.” Daniel 12:3.
Such are God’s plans for a thousand years to come and far beyond, into the infinite future. Are we
looking ahead with Him?
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TOTAL VICTORY
God’s victory is coming. The evidence presented in this book-and I have but touched the fringes
of the subject leaves no room for question on that point. When Christ returns in glory and power; as He
must and will return before many years have passed; a shattering blow will be dealt to all the powers of
darkness-a blow from which they will never recover.
People talk today about “total victory;” and that is exactly the type of victory which God has in
mind. He will be satisfied with nothing less. For this reason He has planned not only for the complete
destruction of evil and of all who practice it, but also for the peopling of His kingdom with individuals who
have fully given themselves to Him. The citizens of God’s new world will be those who have definitely
broken with sin and who have demonstrated in their lives that they are, by their own free choice,
wholeheartedly in accord with Him.
For this reason Jesus said to Nicodemus, “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom
of God.” John 3:3. There must be a radical inward change, corresponding to a new birth, before one can
have part in His plans for the future. Paul said, In Christ Jesus neither circumcision avails anything, nor
uncircumcised, but a new creature.” Galatians 6:15. That is what God is seeking. New men. New women.
People fully saved by His grace. He is seeking people who know what total victory means in their own
lives through the in flowing of the power of the Holy Spirit. People who serve Him not because they are
afraid of Him, but because they have in their hearts a deep and genuine appreciation of His kindness
toward them in Christ Jesus. With eternity in mind, God is building His kingdom with those who hate
iniquity and who rejoice to do His will.
When the final song of victory is sung upon the sea of glass before the throne of God (Revelation
15:2), it will be a song of victory “over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the
number of his name” and that will mean victory over every evil power and influence in the modern world.
In that day it will be realized that God’s plan for total victory was a triumph of divine strategy such as no
earthly nation ever conceived or attempted; indeed, His victory will be so complete, so absolute, that
iniquity shall not rise up a second time. Nahum 1:9.
If we want a completely new order, a new world order, we must look to the one which God has
designed, which will be based, not upon force, but upon love; not upon concentration camps, but upon
conversion.
How true it is that “except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it”! Psalm 127:1.
All who are expecting wicked men, by diabolical means, to build a better world, are going to be
disillusioned. It cannot happen that way. “Before we can build a new world we must undergo a profound
moral reformation. The good society can exist only where good men are.” Only God can build good men.
By means of the gospel, which is “the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believets” (Romans
1:16), He changes a man into “a new creature” in Christ Jesus; and those who in any way are co-operating
with Him in this beautiful ministry are the real founders of the new world order-an order designed to last
not for a thousand years, but through all eternity.
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And we may safely leave all the planning of it to Him. In My Father’s house,” said Jesus, “are
many mansions. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again,
and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.” John 14:2, 3.
NO MORE TEARS
“And God shall wipe away all tears.” In all the Bible there is no promise more beautiful than this.
The marvel of it! The Lord of glory, Creator of the heavens and the earth, stooping low to wipe the eyes of
His sorrowing children! As William Cullen Bryant says in “The Flood of Years”
Beyond That belt of darkness, still the years roll on More gently, but with not less mighty sweep.
They gather up again and softly bear All the sweet lives that late were overwhelmed And lost to sight, all
that in them was good, Noble, and truly great, and worthy of love. As its smooth eddies curl along their
way They bring old friends together; hands are clasped In joy unspeakable; the mother’s arms Again are
folded round the child she loved And lost. Old sorrows are forgotten now, Or but remembered to make
sweet the hour That overpays them; wounded hearts that bled Or broke are healed forever. In the room Of
this grief-shadowed present, there shall be A present in whose reign no grief shall gnaw The heart, and
never shall a tender tie Be broken.
But not only will God remove the tears, He will take away every cause for crying, and no one will
ever weep again. No one will have a single unhappy memory. There will be no more disappointments, no
more partings, no more saying good-by.
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In the words of the apostle Paul, “Eye hath not seen, nor car heard, neither have entered into the
heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him.” 1 Corinthians 2:9. Indeed, the
half has never been told of the innumerable joys of the home He is preparing for His people.’ No one has
imagined a tithe of its glories, nor of the endless variety of interests and delights that will unfold
unceasingly through the ages to come. Each day will bring its own surprises and increase the wonder of the
redeemed at the exhaustlessness of the resources of God.
Men shall come from earthly wanderings to celestial homes: From dens and prisons here to joys and
mansions there; Out from iron doors and in through pearly gates.
And feet that woke the dull echoes of the gloomy dungeon floors shall stand within thy gates, 0
Jerusalem.
Hands that clanked their chains with slow and tedious move shall strike the instruments of heavenly
melody, and wake the harp notes of enduring joy.
Brows once crowned with thorns and grimed with smoke and burning shall grow smooth and fair and
royal, beneath the crowns that never fade.
Sackcloth shall be exchanged for fine linen, clean and white; And gazing on the least of all the gathered
throng, we may says “Solomon in all His glory was not arrayed like one of these.”
H. L. Hastings
The earth itself will he changed. Dreary deserts and great wastes of water will disappear. The
whole globe will return to Edenic fertility. “The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them;
and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose. It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy
and singing: the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon, they shall
see the glory of the Lord, and the excellency of our God.” Isaiah 35:1, 2.
More beautiful than Yosemite, more marvelous than Yellowstone, more majestic than the snow-
capped Rockies, will be this wonderland of God’s redeemed. Vistas of unimaginable loveliness will stretch
in every direction, while upon the ear will fall the most exquisite harmonies, wafted from the angelic choir
around the throne of God.
HEAVEN ON EARTH
No wail of air-raid sirens will chill the soul, or whistle of falling bombs, or crash of guns, or cries
of frightened children. Through unending ages nothing for one single moment will disturb the tranquillity
of that blessed land.
There will be no more war, no more labor strife, no more bickering and quarreling at home; for all
will be at peace with one another, abundantly satisfied with the overflowing goodness of God. As the
prophet Zephaniah wrote: “Then will I turn to the people a pure language, that they may all call upon the
name of the Lord, to serve Him with one consent.” Zephaniah 3:9.
Truly, it will be heaven on earth at last, for the principles of heaven will be enshrined in the heart
of every inhabitant. By beholding Jesus, all will have become like Him. Their lives will bear in rich
profusion the fruit of the Holy Spirit, which is “love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness,
faith, meekness, temperance.” Galatians 5:22, 23.
Everyone will be contented. No one will cherish unholy ambitions. Greed, envy, and jealousy will
be unknown. There will never be anything to be sorry about, no unkind words to recall, no wounds to heal.
Never will the golden rule be forgotten, and love eternally will be supreme. “The remnant of Israel shall
not do iniquity, nor speak lies; neither shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth: for they shall feed
and lie down, and none shall make them afraid.” Zephaniah 3:13.
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right at hand!-”and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life which bare twelve manner of fruits,
and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing [service] of the nations.”
Revelation 22:2.
But far above and beyond every other joy will be the continual presence of Jesus. Nothing in all
the glory land will afford such lasting satisfaction as direct and constant companionship with Him. Golden
streets, pearly gates, beautiful homes, exquisite scenery, would indeed afford little satisfaction without this
priceless privilege.
Oh, heaven without My Savior would be no heaven to me; Dim were the walls of jasper, Rayless
the crystal sea.
But He will be there. There is no doubt about that, for “they shall see His face.” Revelation 22:4.
King of the undivided earth and beloved of all His people, He will “lead them unto living fountains of
waters,” studying with them the mysteries of the universe and acquainting them ever more fully with the
length and breadth and height and depth of the wisdom and love of God
Can it be true? It is true. And you who sit beside Bethesda’s pool today, weighed down with many
a burden, many a care, waiting for “the troubling of the water,” yearning with a great heart-hunger for
something, you know not what-look up and see all that God has planned to do for you in the days to come!
Consider the great prophecies for our time and their mighty message for you. Remember the glorious
promises of better times to come, of endless years of peace and happiness with Jesus.
Take courage! Hope on! The great Healer is coming. The King is on His way. Lift up your hearts!
The long dark night of sorrow and suffering is almost over. Eternity’s dawn is near.
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things are now ready” for the supreme crisis just ahead.
In the book of Acts, there is recorded the story of Paul’s last voyage across the Mediterranean. A
tempest had arisen, terrible in its violence, and all hope of deliverance had faded. Then, “about midnight
the ship men deemed that they drew near to some country; and sounded, and found it twenty fathoms: and
when they had gone a little further, they sounded again, and found it fifteen fathoms.” Acts 27:27,28.
It was midnight, midnight in the raging storm, but in the darkness and the terror of that night the
ship men deemed they drew near to some country. Even so, in this darkest hour of history, we may know
that the country for which our hearts have longed through many years is not far away. Take soundings
where you will, when you will, the water grows shallower every day! Heaven is near. The storm, the strife,
the stress, the suffering, will soon be over. What a message of hope for a troubled world! How it should
move our hearts to action splendid and divine!
This brings us face to face with most vital questions, personal questions, which each must ask
himself: “Am I ready for the climax of history which I know must be near at hand? Have I made
everything right with God? Have I accepted His offer of pardon and peace through Jesus Christ? Have I
brought my life into harmony with His will? Am I living in obedience to all His commandments? Do I
really love Him with all my heart, in all sincerity?”
The voice of the Lord is even now calling each one of us to come to “the marriage supper of the
Lamb.” Revelation 19:9. He is pleading with us all, saying, Put on the wedding garment, and come. Put
away sin, and come! If we have been lukewarm; if we have been indifferent; if we have wandered-still we
are to come. And here we catch anew a glowing vision of the cross, as it were with outstretched arms of
infinite love, entreating with divine eagerness, “Come; for all things are now ready.”
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