The Coming Revolution by Editor

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Mountain View, California · Sep 11, 1907

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 33, No. 37.

The Coming Revolution.

By Editor

We refer not to a political revolution, or an industrial revolution, tho both are involved in it. There are conditions which demand change. There are conditions which breed revolution and lawlessness and crime and anarchy. The selfishness of humanity and Satanic devices have combined to control, especially in this "land of the free," nearly all the commodities of life, and to exploit humanity thru this control to the selfish interests of the few and the plunder of the many. Thus colossal fortunes have been piled up beyond all precedent in history, till careful estimates declare that one per cent of the population possesses over one-half the enormous wealth of this nation. The yearly income of one person, who controls almost wholly one great and useful product, which in God's providence the earth furnishes humanity, is estimated at the tremendous sum of from $72,000,000 to $100,000,000, more than the aggregate wealth of all the millionaires in the country a half century ago. The property which produces this income is estimated at from two and one-half to three billion dollars. No man can comprehend it. In all normal conditions of society this wealth would have been far more equitably distributed. Every man who thinks honestly upon the matter feels in his soul that such fortunes have been wrongly acquired, acquired by the corruption of railway corporations, the purchase of venal legislators, the destruction of small traders by "cornering" the necessities of life, and freezing the dealers out, and preying upon the very life-blood of humanity.

There are various remedies proposed, and we sympathize with the men who propose and promote them, but we can not have faith in the remedies. The root of all the trouble is the selfish, greedy heart of man, and we know of no political remedy that can extract or destroy that root. And now that men have learned thru combination, legal and illegal, public and secret, to exploit humanity for solely selfish interests, they will do it still.

We know that systems are devised which promise to take from selfish man his opportunities to combine and exploit his fellows, but how can those systems be put in operation? We may say that it is the privilege and in the power of the exploited to transfer, by the means of his ballot, these great necessities of life and public utilities to the ownership of the public. But can it be done as long as wealth can corrupt, and smooth-tongued demagogs can deceive and betray? And history, not ancient, shows how the chosen representatives of the industrial classes are as willing to sell honor for gold as are any others.

What will the end be when every peaceable means is exhausted?—Violence, the only thing left to unregenerate humanity. Then will those who live sumptuously on the plunder of their fellows suffer the pent-up rage and wrongs of years.

We are not saying this of ourselves, tho he is blind to history and present conditions who can not read the handwriting on the wall. The prophecies of God's word speak of these very times. Read one from the New Testament, James 5:1-7:

"Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days. Behold, the hire of the laborers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth; and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter. Ye have condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you. Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord."

Notice that it is "in the last days" (Revised Versions) that men are heaping up treasure at the expense of the poor; that they live in pleasure and are wanton; that they have passed on unheeding the cries of the poor; and that the crushed worm turns, and miseries fall upon the head of the thoughtless, selfish rich.

Another prophecy is the conditions set forth by Habakkuk. Men oppressed men in a small way in his day, and God uses them for a prophecy of the last days. The prophet seems to wonder how God can let such wickedness go on unchecked. Why does He hold His peace when "the wicked swalloweth up the man that is more righteous than he;" and makes men like the fish of the sea to gather into his net, "because by them his portion is fat, and his food plenteous." He "keepeth not at home," but "enlargeth his desire as Sheol, and he is as death, and can not be satisfied, but gathereth unto him all nations, and heapeth unto him all peoples;" that is, the wealth of all peoples. Could words describe any clearer the exploiting capitalist of the present day? He gets "an evil gain for his house, that he may set his nest on high, that he may be delivered from the hand of evil." And much more of the same import. Read Hab. 1:13-17; 2:5, 11-13.

But there comes an end to the oppression. Humanity unaided of God can not endure the inequity and iniquity forever. And thus does divine prophecy declare their work:

"Shall not all these take up a parable against him, and a taunting proverb against him, and say, Wo to him that increaseth that which is not his! how long? and to him that ladeth himself with thick clay! They shall not rise up suddenly that shall bite thee, and awake that shall vex thee, and thou shalt be for booties unto them? Because thou hast spoiled many nations, all the remnant of the people shall spoil thee; because of men's blood, and for the violence of the land, of the city, and of all that dwell therein." Hab. 2:6-8.

And another prophet declares of that same time: "And the songs of the palace shall be wailings in that day, saith the Lord Jehovah; the dead bodies shall be many; in every place shall they cast them forth with silence." "And I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentations; and I will bring sackcloth upon all loins, and baldness upon every head; and I will make it as the mourning for an only son, and the end thereof as a bitter day." Amos 8:3, 10.

Yet the children of God can take no part in this revolution. "Vengeance is Mine; I will repay, saith the Lord." They, like Christ, must leave the righting of their wrongs to the Judge of all. They know that no human remedy can heal earth's ills, because no human power can recreate the human heart. They know that the only remedy for the individual lies not in any human federation or combination, but in life union with Jesus Christ, and that the only remedy for the great, selfish, unbelieving world is Christ's coming.

We plead with all to make Jesus Christ their refuge. Politics may win temporal advantage, but "the true gain is the long gain." Righteousness by faith, vital union with Christ, means eternal life.