122
T h e
K i n g ’ s
March 1930
B u s i n e s s
Many asked in unbelieving despair, “ How can a good God permit such frightful carnage?” I do not pretend to be able to explain the secret workings of the government of God, but one thing stands out so markedly that every eye may see. The war dragged on until, on December 9, 1917, the world was electrified by the report of the fall of Jerusalem. General Allenby had entered the sacred city and the Turk had surrendered without the firing of a shot. There are many remarkable providences in con nection with that event which have often been dwelt upon by prophetic lecturers and which I need not reiterate here; but with the driving of the Turk from Palestine the end of the war drew on, and in exactly eleven months afterward, at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of 1918, the Armistice was signed. God had accomplished that which He set out to d o ; He had opened the way for the Nation of the Wandering Foot to return to Palestine. The British Government ful filled the Balfour declaration in accordance with the promise made to Dr. Weizman, and Palestine was opened up as a national home for the Jew. The events that have transpired since have been all in exact accord with the prophetic Word. In spite of various setbacks, considerably over one hundred thousand Jews have been added to the fifty thousand already in Palestine at the close of the War. You are all familiar with the way in which the waste places of Palestine are being reclaimed, Jewish colonies established, new cities built and old ones arising from their ruined condition. Nor need we be surprised at the intense opposition of the Arab population. As of old Ishmael mocked when Isaac was weaned, so today the sons of Ishmael look on with anger as the sons of Isaac are coming into their own. Material changes, too, are taking place; for with the reforestation of the mountains and the planting of millions o f “ strange slips” in exact accord with the prophetic Word, upon the hills and mountains, and in the valleys of Canaan, the lat ter rains, withheld for so many centuries, are returning to the land and the British Government is providing facili ties for conserving the water and irrigating the desert land. The riches of the Dead Sea are about to be converted into gold and silver for the rebuilding of the cities and vil lages of Immanuel’s Land. How blind must be the scoffer who in the face of all this still exclaims, “ Since the fathers fell asleep all things continue as they were” ! Another thing that was clearly revealed in .the Word of God and which we accepted unquestioningly a third of a century ago, though we saw little evidence that we were drawing near to its fulfillment, was the statement in Romans 11, that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.” The fulness of the Gentiles is clearly the completion of God’s present work of grace among the Gentiles in taking out from them a people to the name of the Lord Jesus, namely, the gathering out of the church of this dispensation. When this great work is ended, God is to turn again to Israel and many among them will be enlightened. In view of this ;we might well expect to see a measure of awakening as the end draws near. What are the facts ? Why, they are almost beyond belief. Since the Great World War not only hundreds, nor yet thousands, but myriads of Jews have been turned to Christ. Particularly is this true in central Europe. But not only there, in other countries of the world the number of Jews accepting the Gospel mes sage is phenomenal. Already the blindness is passing away. Many of the rabbis, too, are unconsciously pre paring the people for the coming day, when they shall
look upon Him whom they have pierced and shall mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son and as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. The greatest minds in Jewry are speaking out with approval o f the message and teaching of Jesus whom they themselves describe as “ the fairest flower o f Judaism.” And in Denver, Colorado, lately a movement has been started by a Jewish lawyer looking toward the reestablishment of the Sanhedrin, the high council of Israel, in order, first of all, to decide whether or not the Jews are guilty of rejecting and cru cifying their Messiah. If Jesus was indeed the Messiah and they had part in His condemnation, the Jews are being called upon to confess their sin and repudiate the great transgression. There may not be so much to this as some Gentile Christians would hope, but it at least indicates the trend of things among God’s ancient people today. The end is drawing on with rapid pace and at any moment now the call may come for the Church to rise to meet her Lord in the air. Then the eyes of many in Israel will be opened and they will see from their own Scripture how they have fulfilled the words of the prophets in rejecting Jesus, and will bow in repentance at the feet of the Crucified. Then a fountain will be opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for their sin and uncleanness. And so all Israel shall be saved. “ They are not all Israel who are o f Israel.” The true Israel consists of those who accept the Lord Jesus as their Messiah. The rest will be destroyed in the judg ments of the Great Tribulation. F ulfillment of P rophecies C oncerning T he G entile N ations Now let us look at the second line of fulfillment, which has to do particularly with the Gentile nations. Thirty- three years ago the prophetic Word made clear the fact that there never could be more than four great world em pires until the coming of Him whose right it is to reign. But these empires had already run their course and passed off the scene. Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece and Rome had risen one after the other, flourished for a time, sub jugated the whole civilized world and held the Barbarians in check, and then perished in their own corruption. But the Scripture of the prophets plainly foretold that in the last days the fourth of these empires, the Roman, would be revived. The first evidence of this would be seen in the coming into view of the feet of the great colossus of Daniel 2, composed of iron mingled with miry clay. The iron stands for imperial power; the miry clay, for social democracy. More and more this condition of things pre vails in Europe and the land where the Roman Empire once held sway. The great problem of statesmen today is so to conciliate the populace as to preserve something of the ancient autocracy while yet hearkening to the demands of the people. Following this condition of things, we learn, both from Daniel, chapters 2 and 7, and Revelation 13 and 17, that there will be ten kingdoms on the ground of the old Roman Empire, which will be banded together in the last days in a great offensive and defensive confederation, a league of nations recognizing one man as supreme arbiter of the Roman world. As I look back through the years I can well recall how often, when teaching along these lines, I felt somewhat embar rassed as I noticed the unbelieving expression upon the faces of my hearers. To many, the thought of a revived Roman Empire and of such a league of nation's as this, was utterly absurd. They could not conceive of its ever coming to pass. But how different are conditions today!
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