IN another article will be found an outline of some of the vast war preparations that are going on. Such things were never before seen in all the world's history, and many are asking the question, What does it signify? Regardless of the agitation in favor of peace, there seems to be a strong conviction among the people of the nations that we are coming up to a furious and world-wide war. Is this true? and what will be the outcome of it?
There is a very definite answer to all these questions. We may understand the real meaning of this strong sentiment in favor of war if we will only take the pains to look into it. For half a century or more students of prophecy have been telling from their studies of the prophetic word alone that such a condition as we see in the world to-day was surely coming. And these same students of prophecy are saying now that we have not reached the worst of this war-mania by any means. It will increase more and more until the end of time is reached. A few of the scripture texts that are so very plain upon the subject may be studied with profit:
Torpedo-tube on the deck of a torpedo-boat. Whole number of torpedo-boats 36.
"And I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits, as it were frogs: for they are spirits of demons, working signs; which go forth unto the kings of the whole world, to gather them together unto the war of the great day of God, the Almighty. (Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.) And they gathered them together into the place which is called in Hebrew Har-Magedon." Rev. 16:13-16.
U. S. coast defense monitor "Wyoming." Displacement, 3,235 tons. Speed, 12 knots. Armor: belt, 11 inches; turrets, 11 inches; barbettes, 11 inches; deck, 1½ inches. Guns: two 12-inch; 4 4-inch rapid-fire; three 6-pounders; six 1-pounders; two colts. Whole number of monitors, 10.
The foregoing scripture represents the demons as going to the "kings of the whole world" to gather them to the war of the great day of God. Then in "the great day of God" there is to be a war that will involve all the kings of all the world. This scripture makes that point plain. Other prophecies that we have not the space to bring within this article show that "the great day of God" is due to occur in this very generation in which we live. It is an event that is very, very near. And one among the many evidences showing that we make no mistake in saying that we are very near that event is this unprecedented and otherwise unexplainable war preparation that we see going on in every nation on the inhabited globe. We have "peace societies" and have held international "peace congresses." We have many true-hearted men and women who abhor war and are doing all they can to have it stamped out of the earth. But in the very teeth of this sentiment, and the work that these people are doing, we see all the world groaning under the burden of the taxation and conscription necessary to build and sustain the great navies and armies.
U. S. protected cruiser "Charleston." Type of five others. Displacement, 9,500 tons. Speed, 22 knots. Coal supply, 1,500 tons. Armor: belt, 4 inches, topsides, 4 in.; Deck flat, 2 in.; slopes, 3 in. Whole number cruisers; first-class, 5; second-class 7; third-class, 16.
U. S. torpedo-boat destroyer "Paul Jones." Displacement, 420 tons. Speed, 29 knots. Torpedo-tubes, two 18-inch Whitehead. Two 3-inch, and five 6-pounders. Whole No., 16.
The weapons of destruction that the armies and navies of this time are carrying are so terrible that the heart quails before the thought of seeing them clash in battle. And in view of all the horrors of modern warfare, can it be anything less than the spirits of demons that are stirring up all this preparation for war? But let us turn to another scripture upon the point:
"Proclaim ye this among the nations; prepare war; stir up the mighty men; let all the men of war draw near, let them come up. Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruninghooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong. Haste ye; and come, all ye nations round about, and gather yourselves together: thither cause Thy mighty ones to come down, O Jehovah. Let the nations bestir themselves, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat; for there will I sit to judge all the nations round about. Put ye in the sickle; for the harvest is ripe: come, tread ye; for the winepress is full, the vats overflow; for their wickedness is great.
"Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! for the day of Jehovah is near in the valley of decision. The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining. And Jehovah will roar from Zion, and utter His voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but Jehovah will be a refuge unto His people, and a stronghold to the children of Israel." Joel 3:9-16.
The yacht "Mayflower" which is used by the President of the United States, commander-in-chief of the army and navy, in reviews and otherwise as he may have occasion.
This prophecy calls for a general proclamation of war among all the nations. The mighty men are to be stirred up and all the men of war are to come into the conflict. The plowshares and the pruninghooks will be made into swords and spears, showing that the instruments of husbandry will have to give place to the instruments of war. The tilling of the soil will finally be neglected, or relegated to a place of less than secondary importance in the mighty war craze that will pervade and possess the world. Even the weak are to say, "I am strong" to enter this conflict, thus showing that small, and even despised nations, such as Japan was but a few years ago,13are to come forward and join in the fray. The nations are to "bestir themselves" to rush upon the battlefield.
U. S. armored cruiser "California." Displacement, 13,680 tons. Speed, 22 knots. Guns: four 8-inch; fourteen 6-inch; eighteen 3-inch rapid-fire; twelve 3-pounders; two 1-pounders rapid-fire; two 3-inch field guns; four 30-caliber automatic; two 30-caliber machine. Whole number armored cruisers, 8.
The foregoing prophecy from Joel is a most graphic description of a general sounding of the tocsin of war. It calls attention to a time when all the world will be falling into line of battle array. In this respect it is identical with the scripture quoted from Revelation. It also applies at the time of the great day of the Lord. Because the text says, "Let the nations bestir themselves, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat; for there will I sit to judge all the nations round about. Put ye in the sickle; for the harvest is ripe." When this world-wide strife is stirred up it shows that the time has come for God to take His seat on the judgment throne. He then sits to judge all the nations. Furthermore the text says the "harvest is ripe." The expression "the harvest" is elsewhere used in the Bible to refer to the end of time when God will bring all the world to account. Matt. 13:39. Thus do we find the evidence unmistakably clear as to the time when this prophecy applies.
The old frigate "Vermont." Completed in 1848, and now housed over and used as a receiving ship at Cob Dock in the New York (Brooklyn) Navy Yard. She was an up-to-date war-ship of the second-class sixty years ago.
The old wooden steam vessel "Hartford," built in 1858. She was famous during the Civil War as Admiral Farragut's flag-ship. It was on this vessel in the battle of Mobile Bay that he had himself lashed to the mast in order to direct the fight. She was rebuilt in 1898, and is now in use as a training-ship.
There is one other witness from the prophets that we will present:
"My anguish, my anguish! I am pained at my very heart; my heart is disquieted in me; I can not hold my peace; because thou hast heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war. Destruction upon destruction is cried; for the whole land is laid waste: suddenly are my tents destroyed, and my curtains in a moment. How long shall I see the standard, and hear the sound of the trumpet? For My people are foolish, they know Me not; they are sottish children, and they have no understanding; they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.
"I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was waste and void; and the heavens, and they had no light. I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved to and fro. I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled. I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful field was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of Jehovah, and before His fierce anger." Jer. 4:19-26.
U. S. protected cruiser “Olympia.” Displacement, 5,870 tons. Speed, 21½ knots. Guns: ten 5-in. rapid-fire; four 8-in.; eleven 5-in.; fourteen 6-pounders, rapid-fire; four 1-pounders, rapid-fire; two Colts. Admiral Dewey’s flagship in Manila Bay, May 1, 1898.
"The sound of the trumpet," and "the alarm of war" filled the prophet's soul with anguish. It pained him at his "very heart." His heart became so disquieted that he could not hold his peace because of the vision that was made to pass before him. There was destruction upon destruction until he saw the whole land laid waste. And in connection with these war scenes he saw the trembling of the mountains and the moving to and fro of the hills. Even nature herself becomes aroused and convulsed in storm and earthquake because of the bloody and furious war-spirit that has been stirred up in the whole world among all its nations. The scene continues before the prophet's gaze until he sees the "fruitful field" a "wilderness," and "all the cities" broken down "at the presence of Jehovah."
Marines on board battle-ship ready for inspection.
This quotation from Jeremiah is a vivid description of the scenes on earth at the close of time. It would be impossible to find language to make a description more graphic, more awful, or more heart-searching. The spirit of war that has broken out like an uncontrollable conflagration in the world of to-day is one of the unmistakable tokens that the end of all things is at hand, and soon every individual will be called before the great tribunal to give an account of himself to God.
Admirals of the old navy.
Are you ready for the issue? Are you prepared to stand in that great day? Have you forsaken your life of sin, and has Jesus, the mighty Saviour, been permitted to take your case in hand to prepare you for the dwelling of the righteous in the joyous realm of eternity? There is a reward reserved for all who accept the way of righteousness that no one can afford to lose. It is filled with ever-deepening and never-ending joys. T.
U. S. supply-ship "Culgoa." She is a swift deep-sea vessel for carrying supplies to the war-ships.
First-class battle-ship "Pennsylvania" of the old navy. She was launched at Philadelphia in 1837. Displacement 3,241 tons; 120 guns; cost of construction, $694,500. President John Quincy Adams wrote of her that she was "said to be the largest ship that will float upon the ocean. She is built chiefly of live oak, and looks like a city in herself."
