July 1931
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(John 5 :43), and the whole world will “wonder after the beast” and will worship him (cf. Rev. 13:3, 4). The world even now would readily proclaim as its god any man or superman with genius enough to restore it to its coveted temporal prosperity. When that man comes, a superman at the head of a superstate, a world that has lost all true spiritual vision will fall for the “strong delusion” and “believe a lie” (2 Thess. 2:11). Then a devil-blinded world, out of which the church of God, in mercy, will have been removed (1 Thess. 4:13-18), will arrive at the climax of its awful apostasy, will make an image of its god, and will bow in reverent worship. Rejecting the God of heaven, it will worship the god of earth! The present spirit of nationalism will have come to its full fruition—a worship of the state in its representative head, with individualism utterly dead, and supernational ism so utterly in control that “all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads,” so “that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the number of the beast, or the number of his name” (Rev, 13:16, 17). Those inclined to scoff at all this need to be solemnly reminded that the worship of a nation and its head is no new thing in human history. Nor do we need to recall Nebuchadnezzar, Darius, or Caesar. Charles Maurras has spoken of the “Goddess France” ! In a Fascist periodical, we read: If we call Mussolini our god, we express the mood of untold numbers, especially of the young. For them, he is a god of great faith with martyrs and heroes, which is the only oasis in a world plunged in ma terialism. Yes, the present nationalism prepares the way for the supernationalism of the empire of “the beast.” But, praise be to the God who was “ the first” and will be “the last,’’ ' the empire of the beast will scarcely assemble for the first celebration of its victories, than the hand of Omnipotence will send a shudder as of a mighty earthquake through that assembly of the lords of earth, by once again writing on the walls of the palace of that superstate: “MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN.” Verily, verily, when “the kings of earth set themselves; and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord, and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us; he that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh. . . . Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth.” (cf. Psa. 2). O h , blissful , happy hope! Life’s little day With autumn beauties soon shall pass away; We stand beside the graves of those we love, With happy sorrow as we look above; No passing cloud this precious truth can dim— “Who sleep in Jesus, God will bring with Him.” Oh, blissful, happy hope! He comes to reign Who came at first to suffer and be slain; Oh, happy antidote to grief and fear, That He who bore our griefs will soon appear! “Beloved, now are we the sons of God,” Our title made secure by precious blood: Though what we shall be is not yet made known, One glimpse of Him will make His joy our own. —W illiam W il em a n . The Blessed Hope
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(v. 10) is an outstanding Biblical sign of the swift ap proach of the hour when the nations “shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning- hooks” and “shall learn war no more” (Isa. 2 :4), and that preparation for war shall be the sign of the end of war. Joel spèaks of the night before Armageddon, Isaiah of the morning after. Surely the shades of the night are falling ! But, thank God, the morning also cometh! They Worshiped the Beast R evelation 13:3-5, 14-18; 17:12-14 O ne of th e most significant signs of the time, from a prophetic viewpoint, is the world-wide spirit of nationalism. Even religion is either being national ized or is being dumped as antiquated rubbish. A good example of the nationalistic spirit is found in the following quotation from the lips of Mussolini : Oh, Italian youth of all schools and workshops, make sure that the fatherland does not fail to fulfill its glorious future. Make sure that the twentieth century sees Rome, the center of Latin civilization, become the ruler of the Mediterranean—the lighthouse of all nations. But this spirit, which amounts to nothing less than the submergence of the individual to the interests of the state, is not peculiar to Italy alone. In Turkey, both press and speech exalt nationalism as the ideal. Nationalism has become the spur to all activities and aspects of life in Palestine, Egypt, and Syria. The National-Socialist move ment in Germany is well known. Finland has its Lappo movement; Hungary, its Levante movement; France, its Action Française. Riots by students in Prague, riots in Warsaw, riots in Vienna, riots in Bucarest-—all inspired by the new nationalism. The cumbrous masses of China and India are being moved out of a centuries-old lethargy by this same new movement. But what of our own America ? Men high in the coun sels of our State are beginning to consider a movement toward the establishment of “public machinery for plan ning and control.” A close observer will discover a par allel with Russia’s “five-year plan” and likewise the po litical doctrines of the Italian Duce. The proposal is in the air of America, the strongest citadel of human free dom, to center in the hands of the national governors complete control over the production, the distribution, and the transportation of all commodities. It is proposed to solve our present national distress by unifying the con trol of “all buying and selling, hiring and firing, borrow ing and lending.” President Hoover sees it, but likes it not. He frankly says: Carried to its logical extreme, all this shouldering of individual and community responsibility upon the government can lead but to the superstate where every man becomes the servant of the state and real liberty is lost. How tremendously significant is this world-wide trend, enhanced as it is by the present economic condition of the whole earth ! How it all points to the near coming of that “superstate” so well known to the student of God’s Word, when civilization will make one last supreme effort to save itself from its own follies, by an action on the part of ten kings (Rev. 17:12, 13) who will create a superstate under one head. For very patent reasons, this head will be especially antagonistic to the Lamb (Rev. 17:14) and to the saints (Rev. 13:7). However, he will pose as the Saviour-Christ (Matt. 24:23, 24) with so great success that for a time he will deceive even the Jews
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