It was during the captivity in Babylon that the time of the appearance of the Messiah was made known. To Daniel the angel Gabriel said, “Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks.” Thus the definite time was revealed. Those who came back to the ruins of the once magnificent city after the seventy years in Babylon knew that nearly five centuries more must be added to the long time of waiting before the Redeemer would make his first appearance among men. For hundreds of years the temple service, the great prophecy of God manifested in the flesh, was conducted without the Shekinah glory, waiting for the glory to be revealed in the flesh; for centuries the remnant who had returned, according to the prophecies of Isaiah, was a nation without a king, waiting for the coming King. For nearly four hundred years after Malachi no prophet wrote comfortable words to brighten the hope of those who looked for the coming One. Nevertheless there were those who maintained their faith in the promises and predictions of the former times, and who waited “for the consolation of Israel.” So definite was the announcement of the Messiah, as given to Daniel, that “when the time of the promise drew nigh,” “the people were in expectation.” “While few understood the nature of Christ’s mission, there was a widespread expectation of a mighty prince who should establish his kingdom in Israel, and who should come as a deliverer to4the nations. The fulness of time had come. Humanity, becoming more degraded through ages of transgression, called for the coming of the Redeemer. Satan had been working to make the gulf deep and impassable between earth and heaven. By his falsehoods he had emboldened men in sin. It was his purpose to wear out the forbearance of God, and to extinguish his love for man, so that he would abandon the world to satanic jurisdiction. Satan was seeking to shut out from men a knowledge of God, to turn their attention from the temple of God, and to establish his own kingdom. His strife for supremacy had seemed to be almost wholly successful. It is true that in every generation God had his agencies. Even among the heathen there were men through whom Christ was working to uplift the people from their sin and degradation. But these men were despised and hated. Many of them suffered a violent death. The dark shadow that Satan had cast over the world grew deeper and deeper. Sin had become a science, and vice was consecrated as a part of religion. Rebellion had struck its roots deep into the heart, and the hostility of man was most violent against heaven. It was demonstrated before the universe that, apart from God, humanity could not be uplifted. A new element of life and power must be imparted by him who made the world. . . . At the very crisis, when Satan seemed about to triumph, the Son of God came with the embassy of divine grace. Through every age, through every hour, the love of God had been exercised toward the fallen race. Notwithstanding the perversity of men, the signals of mercy had been continually exhibited. And when the fulness of time had come, the Deity was glorified by pouring upon the world a flood of healing grace that was never to be obstructed or withdrawn till the plan of salvation should be fulfilled.” The world had waited long, and many generations had passed since the original promise had been made. The promises to Abraham had been cherished through many centuries. The promises to David had been repeated from father to son long after the diadem had been removed in the time of Zedekiah. The lesson of the captivity in Babylon was emphasized anew by the prophets Haggai and Zechariah in the time of the restoration, but the lapse of hundreds of years had lessened its force with many; and still they waited for the promised Messiah. “But when the fulness of the time came, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, that he might redeem them that were under law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.” “The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us.” The heavenly message was borne to the shepherds by the angel of the Lord: “Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all the people: for there is born to you this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord.” “Nearly two thousand years ago, a voice of mysterious import was heard in heaven, from the throne of God, ‘Lo, I come.’ ‘Sacrifice and offering thou wouldst not, but a body hast thou prepared me. . . . Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me), to do thy will, O God.’ In these words is announced the fulfilment of the purpose that had been hidden from eternal ages. Christ was about to visit our world, and to become incarnate. He says, ‘A body hast thou prepared me.’ Had he appeared with the glory that was his with the Father before the world was, we could not have endured the light of his presence. That we might behold it and not be destroyed, the manifestation of his glory was shrouded. His divinity was veiled with humanity,—the invisible glory in the visible form.” It was the seed of the woman who should bruise the head of the serpent. “Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil.” And when those words were heard from the cross, “It is finished,” the final doom of Satan was sealed. “Yet Satan was not then destroyed. The angels did not even then understand all that was involved in the great controversy. The principles at stake were to be more fully revealed. And for the sake of man Satan’s existence must be continued. Man as well as angels must see the contrast between the Prince of Light and the prince of darkness. He must choose whom he will serve.” And so for centuries longer the world has waited for the consummation of all that is accomplished in the coming of the Seed. But the first advent of Christ was the great focal point toward which all history had been tending since the original promise to Adam. The next step, for which we look in our day, will reveal the fulness of the promise.