“THE NATIONS WERE ANGRY, AND THY WRATH IS COME.”
By T.
In viewing the scenes of this earth John was permitted to behold a picture that he sets out as one of the most significant of the signs of the very times in which we are now living. His description of the scene is: “And the nations were angry, and Thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that Thou shouldest give reward unto Thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear Thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.” Rev. 11: 18. Note how clear and plain the scripture is in pointing us to one of the evidences by which we may know when “the time of the dead, that they should be judged” is reached. He says “the nations were angry.” What could be plainer? It is not simply a little indication of war here and a slight uneasiness yonder, but “the nations were angry.” Not one nation, nor a few of the nations, but the “nations.” This expression could take in nothing less than the whole world. Well, then, when “the time of the dead, that they should be judged” is come, God makes the fact clear so that we may know it by simply giving attention to one of the great signs—that at that time the “nations” are “angry.” And when God gives a sign, it is sufficiently marked to carry with it the conviction of the truth which it signifies. Our heavenly Father wants us each one to know when “the time of the dead, that they should be judged,” is come. And so He selects, and directs us in clear sentences, to one of the very significant things that particularly marks the approach of that great day. And so wonderfully significant is to be the spirit of war at that time that He says to us, “The nations were angry.” Who is there that has not been impressed by the most tremendous preparations for war that have been going on, especially during the last ten years? And while these appalling war equipments are being forged, how significant the fact that the “nations” are “angry” and that one war-cloud is following another in rapid movements all the time? Who would have thought twenty, yes, even ten or five, years ago that the whole of the so-called “Christian” and “civilized” world would be or even could be so soon stirred up to pounce upon “heathen China”? And that, too, with all the cruel barbarity that the death-dealing instruments of modern warfare may command. The tornado of war, with its center in China, that is now resounding through all the world, may seem to subside for a little time, but what will it signify?—Simply the little sleepy calm that precedes the greater fury of the rapidly-approaching and destructive storm of war. There can be no mistaking the fact that we are even now in the very time when the “nations” are “angry,” and it is certainly only a miracle of divine power that is holding them from plunging at once into “the battle of that great day of God Almighty.” This world’s Redeemer is a tender, compassionate Saviour. And He is graciously pointing us to these things that we may flee to Him as the perfect shelter from the impending storm. “For Thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall.” Isa. 25: 4. T.