The Witness of the Nations
By T.
FROM the lofty eminence of prophecy the apostle John was permitted to view the rise and fall of nations to the end of time. And when the last days of earth's career of sin are at hand he gives a graphic picture of the condition the nations would be in at that time. The prophecy reads: "And the four and twenty elders, who sit before God on their thrones, fell upon their faces and worshiped God, saying, We give Thee thanks, O Lord God, the Almighty, who art and who wast; because Thou hast taken Thy great power, and didst reign. And the nations were wroth, and Thy wrath came, and the time of the dead to be judged, and the time to give their reward to Thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and to them that fear Thy name, the small and the great; and to destroy them that destroy the earth. And there was opened the temple of God that is in heaven; and there was seen in His temple the ark of His covenant; and there followed lightnings, and voices, and thunders, and an earthquake, and great hail." Rev. 11: 16-19. The scripture above directs our attention to a time when God takes His great power and reigns. Powers of evil are in the world now, but there comes a time when God will take to Himself the power that Satan has usurped and turned to purposes of sin. And at the time when our Father is taking this power to Himself, it is said that it is "the time of the dead to be judged," and the time to reward the servants of the Lord, and "to destroy them that destroy the earth." Thus does the text plainly reveal the judgment scenes that occur at the end of time. Now observe that when these judgment scenes are reached it is stated that "the nations were wroth." When the climax is reached, when God takes His power to reign, then it is that Satan stirs the nations into a condition of wrath. It is the time for the last battle between the forces of good and evil, and Satan stirs up the worst of furies in the mind of every person that he can hold within his power. It is the natural conclusion that such would be the case, and the scripture shows that the natural conclusion in this case is also the correct one. In harmony with the foregoing quotation from the book of Revelation is the following from the same book: "And the sixth poured out his bowl upon the great river, the river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way might be made ready for the kings that come from the sunrising. 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." Rev. 16: 12-14. The sixth angel that poured out his bowl upon the great river is one of the seven angels that are commissioned to pour out the "seven last plagues." The seven last plagues would have to be at the end of time; "for in them is finished the wrath of God." See Rev. 15: 1. And at this time unclean spirits, spirits that are dominated by the impulses to iniquity, "go forth unto the kings of the whole world," to gather them together unto the war of the great day of God. Everybody knows that "the great day of God" is at the end of time. And this scripture shows that there is to be a war at that time. Here are two texts plainly witnessing to the same thing, and in perfect harmony. The fact should be particularly observed that the "kings that come from the sunrising" are to be in the marching columns of the angry nations that assemble for the war of that great day. As frequently shown in the columns of this paper, all the great lines of prophecy center in this time and show that the end is at hand. And it is a remarkable fact that the kingdoms of the "sunrising" part of the world have, within recent years, sprung up with a life and power that no one thought could ever be seen. Just when the nations of Western Europe are thinking that they will step in to divide up China among themselves, with a sudden bound like a tiger that had been held at bay, Japan springs forward and astonishes the world by her military powers and prowess. The nations step back aghast with surprise. They see that Japan, so recently aroused to possibilities of power, must now be reckoned with as one of the powers of the world. China, too, has recently changed her course and is awakening to the bugle call of the war spirit. She is modernizing her army and building herself a navy and thus getting ready for the final war. The prophecy has foreshown it, and we see the marching of events that are to meet fulfilment. Another very striking scripture upon the subject reads: "Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles: Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up; beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning-hooks into spears; let the weak say, I am strong. Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen, and gather yourselves together round about; thither cause Thy mighty ones to come down, O Lord. Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat; for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about. Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe; come, get you down; for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is great. Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision; for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision." Joel 3: 9-14. The heathen nations are to be awakened by the war-cry among the kingdoms of earth when the day of the Lord is imminent. We see the preparations going on. This is the greatest age for advancement in the science of war the world has ever known. More deadly engines and instruments of destruction than the fancies of men two generations ago could have painted are now a matter of fact, and the rhythmic tread of the millions of men that are now held under arms all over the world in this time that is called the age of peace shows that the work is on of gathering the armies for the predicted final war. The "civilized" nations and the "heathen" nations alike are throwing themselves into line for the field of blood. It is sad to think of war; but it is glorious to think the time for the last war is almost here, and that the Lord will soon begin His reign of eternal righteousness. Those who are willing to accept the righteousness that the Lord offers to each may be prepared to escape the terrors of the nations' last cruel war, and amid the triumphs of immortality enter into the joys of an eternal and peaceful existence.
T.