King's Business - 1931-05

205

T h e

May 1931

K i n g ’ s

B u s i n e s s

Does the United States Appear in Prophecy ? B y C anon F. E. H owitt {Hamilton, Ontario, Canada )

T h e K ing ’ s B usiness , while insisting upon adherence to the great fundamental doctrines of Christianity, rec­ ognizes the right of its contributors to differ in the matter of interpretation of some portions of the Word of God. Canon Howitt’s article, begun last month and concluded in this issue, presents one view. Another will be advanced next month by. Dr. Elbert L. McCreery, dean of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles.-—Editor. ET us turn to thè eighteenth chapter of Isaiah and study now the other nation referred to here : “A nation scattered and peeled, a people terrible from their beginning hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden down, whose land the rivers have spoiled.” That is a striking description of the people of Israel and of their land, Palestine. “Go to a people scattered.” Has there ever been in the world’s history a people scattered as the Israelitish na­ tion has been? God said time and time again that He would scatter Israel among all the nations of. the earth. I have taken pains to ascertain whether there are Israelites to be found in the most remote parts of the world. I asked Dr. Peck whether there were Israelites among the Eski­ mos in the Arctic Circle, and he told me there were quite a number of them. I asked Dr. Crawford, who worked in Central Africa, and he said he had found them there. I asked Dr. Hudson Taylor if there were any in China, and he said there were many of them. I have yet to find the country where there are no Israelites. God has scat­ tered them, according to His Word, among all the peoples of the earth. You will remember Christ’s own parable about the hid

T h e N ation T hat W ill H elp R estore But this chapter tells us of the preparation for His coming, and there is some country-—I think it is the Unit­ ed States—-which is going to participate in the restoration of the Israelitish people. “They are a people scattered,” and, oh, how they have been “peeled,” stripped of every­ thing ! They are a nation without a country; they are a kingdom without a king; they are a people without a home; they wander everywhere, homeless, aimless, as far as their national life is concerned; and they have remained home­ less and aimless for nearly- two thousand years. But just about thirty years ago, a marvelous change came over the whole Jewish world. A book was written entitled “The Jewish State,” and that book acted like wildfire among the Jews to inspire them to go back to their own land. Thev made great efforts to buy Palestine from the Sultan of Turkey, to whom it belonged. When they got some millions of pounds, they made an overture to the Sultan and asked him if he would not sell the land because they had been so unmercifully persecuted. But the Sultan ab­ solutely refused to listen to the petition, and it looked as though they were going to be disappointed. But you know what happened, and it was the most remarkable thing that could possibly have taken place. You know England was a friend of Turkey, the greatest friend Turkey ever had; and if it had not been for England, Turkey would have been out of existence a hundred years or more ago. Russia wanted to take Turkey and could have easily done it, but England said, “You must keep your hands off.” It was England that kept^ what was commonly known as the “sick man of Europe alive, and that was Turkey. When the war came, one would naturally have sup­

posed that Turkey would have sided with Eng­ land. Instead of that, the Turks sided with Germany, and so England went against Tur­ key; and you know the end. You know how it was unanimously decided by the Council of Nations that England should have mandatory power over Palestine, Mesopotamia, Arabia, and Egypt. A H ebrew S cientist ’ s I nvention and I ts R esults You will remember another remarkable thing that happened just at the time of the war. England ran short of glycerine. Now glycerine was one of the most important ele­ ments in the greatest explosive England had, and that was nitro-glycerine, and they were in danger of being unable to supply ammunition to their soldiers for their guns'. But at that critical moment, in the providence of God, Dr. Wiseman, Professor of Chemistry in Man­ chester University in England, discovered an explosive, better than nitro-glycerine, that is known as “T.N.T.” He presented this won­ derful discovery to the British Government. Of course, they were delighted to get it. Mr.

treasure—how a certain man found a treasure in a''field, and then, when he had found it, he did a very remarkable thing. He went and hid it in the field again, and then bought the field to get the treasure out of it. That treasure is Israel. God found Israel, a little insignificant nation in the field of the world, as the thirteenth chapter of Matthew tells us in the parable of the sower. The field is the world. So God found Israel in the world ; we are not told the reason why. It was be­ cause of their sin that they were hidden and scattered among all the peoples of the world. We know where the Jews are; we do not know where the the Israelites are. They are scattered all over the world. What did Jesus do ? He died to buy the world ; His purpose is to gather them again to Himself, and He is coming back as their King. When He was born, they said: “Where is he that is born King of the Jews?” He has the right to David’s throne. He is coming back to get the treasure that He purchased with His own blood.

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