August, 1935
T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
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Socialism, Communism, Fascism FASCIST HOSTS ARE MARCHING: TO ETH IOPIA OR ARMAGEDDON? B y LOUIS S. BAUMAN* Long Beach, California
not conceive of Armageddon as being one single titanic last struggle on one single battlefield. Rather, Armageddon is a, series of bloody battles, beginning with the march of the Roman “prince that shall come” (Dan. 9 :26) over into “the glorious land,” down into Ethiopia and Egypt, and back again against enemies that will march in to face him in Israel’s land, finally culminating at the seige of Jerusalem (Zech, 12), during which seige Judah’s Lion will “roar out of Zion . . . the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel” (Joel 3:16). T h e .W i 2. leul K ing Daniel, looking ahead to the days immediately pre ceding the reign of the Messiah, beheld the coming of a “king [who] shall do according to his will.” (One needs only to compare Daniel 11:36 with passages which beyond all dispute refer to the Antichrist, to see that the willful king of Daniel is the. Antichrist that is to come;; cf. John 14:30; 2 Thess. 2:3, 4; Rèvf 13:4-7Ìl Mussolini may; or may not, fully qualify for the job of the final Antichrist. That is a subject for debate. However, no one who knows Mussolini doubts but that in the matter of doing “according to his will,” he certainly qualifies. For instance, in no un certain words he informed the Italian parliament : Whaf takes place, takes place by my precise and direct will, and according to my exact orders. I .woo nobody ; I reject nobody : but I trust above all;in my own strength (London Times, February 20, 1923). And he spoke of his visit toTripoli in such language as this : A manifestation of a nation that derives its blood from Rome and that shall carry Rome’s immortal fasces to every shore of the Afric sea. ItSsi. the hand of destiny that guides us back to our ancient possessions. No man can defy destiny, and above all, no man can resist our unshakable zoili. We are fully aware of the various theories as to the land from which the Antichrist shall arise. After consider ing them all in the light of Scripture, we are still of the opinion that the last great antagonist of our Lord will arise out of Rome—the head of a revived Roman Empire. If we are correct in this, then Mussolini will, at least, bear close watching. Whether or not Jewish blood flows in Mussolini’s veins is still a disputed question. We have been inclined to the opinion that the Antichrist, when he appears, will be a Roman Jew. , Such was Paul. However, in the opinion of many great Bible scholars, among them Dr. W. G. Moorehead, the Scriptures do not require that the Antichrist shall be a Jew. Nor can our eyes be blinded by a postage stamp, with a Bible and a crossf thereon, t At the celebration of the tenth anniversary of the Fascist govern ment, Mussolini issued a brown, oblong stamp, with an open Bible thereon. On the open page of the Bible is inscribed the word “Evangelium,” meaning the gospel. On the lower edge of the stamp is the word “Credere"—believe. Back of the Bible is a cross—«of a crucifix! How much Mussolini’s well-known love (?) for Papal Rome may Have had to do with the issuance of this stamp, only he himself knows. We do know that his words and deeds belie his stamp.
Our Crumbling World
W i t h
all the vast knowledge in those repositories of human lore known as “Universities,” with all the accumulation of philosophy which has emanated from
the sages of the ages, with all the carefully studied systems of government proposed by the most farsighted and most calculating statesmen, with all the resourcefulness of the world’s cleverest financial giants, with all the inventive genius of our canny wizards of science, with all the pro fundity of our mightiest theologians—to use the words of Great Britain’s best-known statesman, David Lloyd George, spoken at the opening of theWorld Conference at Lausanne —“The world, is still crumbling under our feet!” Verily, “It is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent” (1 Cor. 1 :19). T h e G angster N ations Over eight years ago, the Italian dictator, Mussolini, had the rulers of this world agog and guessing when he thundered: We must at a certain time be able to mobilize 5,000,000 men. . . . We will be able- then, between 1935 and 1940, when I believe there will be a crucial point in European, history, finally to make our voice, heard and see our rights recognized. The “rights” of which the famous infamous dictator boasts, apparently are the rights of might —the right of the might of the mailed fist—the right of an iron-plated gangster to . go out on the highway and stick his guns against the heads of defenseless little children and despoil them body and soul! Verily, gangster nations are having their heyday. Japan rifling the pockets of helpless China; Russia rifling the pockets of the defenseless farmers of the Ukraine; Germany rifling the pockets of the defenseless Jews; and now the most blatant brigand of them all goes forth to rifle the pockets of the practically weaponless Ethiopians. The rest of the supposedly mighty nations are rushing for tall timber, crying, “Excuse me!” Isn’t it about time for the Lion of the Tribe of Judah to rend the heavens and come down? Is I t A rmageddon , V ia E t h io p ia ? Apparently, the “man on horseback,” as Mussolini is frequently called in the chancelleries of Europe and in the world’s newspaperdom, believes the hour has; struck. Nineteen hundred and thirty-five is here and is passing. That demoralized old mollycoddle known as “The League of Nations” has the shaking palsy. It is time for Caesar again to ride. His legions are marching. Where? Is it to Armageddon? Armageddon— via Ethiopia? To the student of the sure word of prophecy, the present movements of kings on the international chessboard could hardly be more significant, especially in the light of Daniel’s great predic tion in chapter 11, verses 36 to 45. Here, we believe, we have a revelation of the wars of the Antichrist and of his line of march to the battlefields of Armageddon. We do
* Pastor, First Brethren Church .
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