The new world order: how and when : Field Marshal Smuts speaks

Smuts, Jan Christiaan, Auckland Service Printery, Auckland N.Z., 1944

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Title: The new world order: how and when : Field Marshal Smuts speaks

Author: Smuts, Jan Christiaan

Published: Auckland Service Printery, Auckland N.Z., 1944

The NEW WORLD ORDER and THE END OF THE TIMES OF THE GENTILES FORECAST

With the whole world in a turmoil and changing national and political conditions everywhere manifest, many are perplexed and wondering what shall the end of these things be. Men with little or no knowledge of Christian ethics feel that there is something wrong with the world and its rule. The Church gives no explanation and no clear message with regard to any close of the present (Christian) era, and so is silent with regard to the many things that our Lord said would characterise its close. He spoke of wars and rumours of war, and that finally nation would rise against nation (Mark 13:89). As the church is giving no message with regard to these end time conditions and events, men —if not turning away from it—are increasingly developing a materialistic attitude towards these world-wide symptoms and their remedy or removal. Even Christian men for want of instruction are blind to what God has given as evidential truth and proof of the approaching end of the age, for He has told us "when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, for your redemption draweth nigh" (Luke 21:28).

Many have failed to understand the revealed character of the different church stages in Christendom and its present stage as being that seen in the Laodicean Church of Rev. 3. They are much distressed by what they see is the character of the present church age and of how far we are from what a Christian community should be. They would still, however, strenuously combat the assertion that the Laodicean character applies and was meant to apply to the church of to-day and so they fail to apply the God-given remedy.

By organising a "New Christian Order" they would lift it out of its present moral and spiritual disorder. We smile at the man who attempted to lift himself by pulling at his own boot tops, but are those who would now seek a remedy (a new Christian order) using any more forceful means to rouse men and raise a luke-warm church to a sense of its state in God's sight. This is the first essential for a spiritual revival.

In all God's revelations where sin is exposed, the remedy is given, and generally is not far to seek. Even Cain, who was angry with his brother, was told that "a sin offering lieth at the door" (Gen. 4:7). So here (Rev. 3:20) in the closing hours of the church age we see the

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Lord's remedy for its state of declension: "Behold I stand at the door and knock." Throughout the church age the Lord isseen as "seated at God's right hand"—"our advocate with the Father."

Here (Rev. 3:0) as the age closes He stands ready to come for His church and encourages those who are looking for His coming to separate from a church if in a state such as He says "I will spue thee out of my mouth" (Rev. 3:16).

This—the Coming of the Lord for His church—is the Climax of the Age, the climax of all the prophecies and all revelations that apply to the Church on Earth and "His Coming" is the "cry" heaves to rouse the sleeping church. "Behold the Bridegroom Cometh."

Only the fulfilment of the type of this "cry" aroused a wicked world to a realization of the certainty of a long-delayed judgment in the days of Noah: and only the fulfilment of its antitype—the great tribulation—that will follow the Church's translation will awaken the many to a realization of the fact that the day of grace has closed and the day of wrath has come. The former were faithfully warned by Enoch and his family. Enoch was translated because "he pleased God." Are the Watchmen of to-day following in his steps in giving warning of impending events?

Most Old Testament prophecies and visions relate to Israel and their relation to the nations, as does much of our Lord's teaching, for He said: "I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel" (Matt. 15:24). These prophecies, visions and teachings are therefore the subjects for study in the consideration of End Time Events.

There is much to test one's patience in a study of the prophetic scriptures. Various interpretations are given by different writers, as to the time and sequence of many events. Confusion also has been caused by some modern teachers who say "The British Nation is Israel," or others again who say: "Israel is the Church," and that the Jew is never again to come into God's prophetic plan for the world and that all O.T. promises are meant for the Church.

Just here it might be wise to state what is God's plan for this age and the next, as it was enunciated at the First Great Jerusalem Conference in the first half of the first century (about the year 46 A.D.), and is given in Acts 15:13-18.

Present Age: —The Jewish nation reject their Messiah. "So God at the first (for the first time) did visit the Gentiles to take out of them a people for His name —"The Church," both Jew and Gentile. Believing Jews were already in it (all the members of the Conference were believing Jews).

Next Age (when the Messiah's Kingdom is set up) : "I will return and build again the tabernacle of David " (v. 16). Then the Gospel

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ot the Kingdom of Heaven will again be preached "that the residue of nameTs ,g cail it (fly ) M 311 the GendleS U P on wholn “7

world 8 U ) lto arC I ' B wor^s from the beginning of the

tor dSli Pronouncement-the seal of God's word upon His plan of the CU n e neXt , s k° uld for establish the fact that the close have th T ft the initlati ° n ° f the M ««anic Kingdom must have the Jew and his position ever in view. One writer has referred to the Jew as God s clock-see what is happening to the Jew and you L no unbii 7\ e rr God /u prophetic plan A rui « ° «X" LW A 'ft a ° °^.° f r his statesmen for a proof of the "Bible as he Word of God." "The Jew, your Majesty," was the reply. Seeing the terrible suffering of the Jews after 19 centur.es of Christian teaching we might well turn to the prophetic scriptures for an explanation. Any differences in the interpretation of prophecy that make it difficult or impossible to explain or understand present world conditions and happenings and in some measure at least to foresee impending events—any such wrong interpretation-must be due to one or both of two causes: viz a failure to take account of all the scriptures, or the taking of typical fulfilments in the course of the age as being the final or ant? typica fulfilment. God has throughout the ages permuted many such typical happenings and one cannot doubt that these have kept, and have been intended to keep Christians "on the watch" and expectantly "waiting for his Son from heaven" (1 Thess. 1:10).

(M Say Unt ° y ° U His disciples ) 1 sa y unto all: Watch!”

Watch for what? Surely not death! "We shall not all die" (1 Cor. 15:51) This was until then a mystery; it still is even to many Chrr'tiaris. Watch for what? "The Son of Man's coming suddenly." (Mark 13: 34, 36). Our Lord had to go to all the scriptures and "all the prophets to reveal to the bewildered Emmaus disciples the mystery of Mis, death and resurrection. The coming of His Son from heaven is God s great Climax of the Christian era and closes the day of preaching the gospel of the grace of the Lord Jesus. Could the Church to-day proclaim any more startling and arresting fact or convincing message than "Behold the Bridegroom Cometh”? Might not such a message and cry be used to-day when speaking of and seeking to establish a New Christian Order”? It is certainly the new DiVine order and convincing proofs are being given of its approach. The Lord told His disciples that He had "many things yet to say” unto them, "but ye cannot bear them now” (John 16:12); but when the Holy Spirit comes he "will guide you unto all truth and he will show you things to come” (v. 13). This promised revelation so far as the New Testament is concerned is given through the Acts of the Apostles

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and Paul's Epistles, and the Revelation given to John on the Isle of Patmos.

In the Book of Revelation, after being given the messages to the seven Churches, the writer (John) heard a voice bidding him Come up hither and I will show you the things which must be hereafter (Kev. 4:1).

All these "hereafter" things to be shown were under seven seals which were in turn opened by the Lord Jesus.

The opening of the First Seal showed a white horse and a rider with a bow, "and a crown was given unto him and he went forth conquering and to conquer" (Rev. 6:2). He is followed in the vision by other horsemen on horses of red and black and a pale horse representing respectively "war and famine and death." What a following, and what a conquest! Who is this conqueror? Here at the very opening of the Revelation Christians disagree. All in answering wish to do honour to our Lord: yet some say that the conquering rider on the white horse is the Lord Jesus, while others say he is Satan s counterfeit Christ —the Antichrist.

A right understanding of a matter of such importance should surely be possible and should be the desire of all Christians. Those who say that this rider on the white horse is the Lord h.melf, seem to overlook the fact that it is the Lord who is seen by John opening the seal (Rev 6:1). How, then, could John see the Lord as the rider Further how could He who came "in lowly guise," "was despised and rejected by men"—how could He who came to die on Calvary s cross, crowned with a crown of thorns, how could it be He who is seen in the vision as a glorious conqueror and with such a retinue war, famine, pestilence and death?

One day He will be crowned with many crowns and be seen coming forth from an opened heaven on white horse (Rev. 19:11-15) to "rule the nations with a rod of iron." But, not yet, for before that day "another, a counterfeit, white horse included" will come in his own name and him ye (the Jews) will receive, said the Lord. So this must be the person seen in Rev. 6:1, and who may emerge from the present world's swelter of blood and sweat and tears, and pose as the world's greatest ruler and peacemaker and "deceive, if possible, the very elect" (Matt. 24:24).

Some think that an interpretation of Rev. 6:2 that sees Antichrist in the crowned person going forth on a white horse conquering and to conquer is dishonouring to our Lord.

The contrary is the truth, and this representation of the coming false Christ as a glorious crowned rider is the only guise in which he would be acceptable to the Jew— and he is going to be accepted by "the many" (Dan. 9:27) as their Messiah coming with signs of glory

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and power, like that of David and Solomon—they rejected the lowly Nazarene.

It is necessary for the church to know, and for the world to see, the Antichrist in this guise for it is the appearing or "revealing" of such a person I to the Thessalonian Church as the sign of the coming Day of the Lord (2 Thess. 2:3).

Rev. 13:4 gives us a similar view, where the conquering warrior (here undoubtedly the Antichrist) received worship and adulation. Our Lord was offered by Satan "all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them" (Matt. 4:8). Was it a real offer? Yes. Had Satan the power to make good that offer? Yes. Man's fall gave Satan that power and right. "He is (now) the prince of this world" (John 14:30).

An interpretation of Rev. 6:2 that shows Satan's counterfeit Christ put in possession of the world and its glory, magnifies the Lord Jesus as Son of Man in His temptation. An interpretation of Rev. 19:11 that shows the Lord Jesus coming from an opened heaven to destroy Antichrist and his kingdom magnifies the Lord Jesus as the Son of God.

Our Lord in speaking to the Jews told them of this awful personage and that they having rejected their true Messiah "another" (a counterfeit) would come in his own name and him ye will receive" (John 5:43).

The activities of this great personage —the last Gentile ruler—are, here a little, and there a little, told us in the prophetic scriptures and in the Revelation of Jesus Christ.

It is necessary to remember that this personage is Satan's masterpiece. He is Satan's energised agent in a great contest the issue of which was foretold by God in the garden of Eden— "the Seed of the woman shall bruise thy head" (Gen. 3:15). This contest is for the allegiance of Man who was created by God with a free will to choose whom he would obey—God or Satan.

This contest begun in the garden of Eden with man's fall, is seen in its various stages in God's dealing with man —at the flood, through the patriarchs, through Israel through the Law, and now under Gentile rule in the work of the Church.

Most of us fail to understand that the Gentile period ("Times of the Gentiles") is an interpolation in God's dealing with the world under the promise (with an oath) to Abraham and his seed "in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed." This interpolation was due to Israel's sin in failing to witness to God's holiness before the other nations.

Gentile rule began with Nebuchadnezzar ("the head of gold," the head of the Ge"<-ile world). He was put back almost in the dominant position of Ar 1 -but with a sinful nature and a fallen creation.

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The Church period or Christian Era on the other hand is an interpolation in God’s dealing with the world while it still continues under Gentile rule. This interpolation (the Church period) will come to an end when the Lord returns and takes the Church out of the world. Gentile rule will then develop without restraint. The salt of the earth will have gone. The fulness of the Gentiles will have come. The fulness of the Gentiles is the final and full surrender of man to Satan’s masterpiece —the Antichrist. The "fulness of the Gentiles” is being ushered in at the present time and this is the real cause of the great world upheaval and the awful suffering of the Jew.

How long the time of the "fulness of the Gentiles” will last can only be judged by the events that must transpire in that time. These events are those which are envisaged in the attempts to be made at the close of this war to bring peace to this earth. It will have apparent success and men will say "peace and safety, then suddenly destruction cometh” (1 Thess. 5:3).

With this forecast of what is to be the result of man’s attempt to bring wars to an end it is surely high time for Christians at least to search the Scriptures to ascertain what they tell us of the "end of the Times of the Gentiles.”

THE END OF THE TIMES OF THE GENTILES THE NEW WORLD ORDER AND FAST APROACHING EVENTS

The Scriptures in different places speak of "the last days” and the ''time of the end” and of the things that are to come to pass "after many days.”

The Old Testament prophets sometimes wrote of future events without understanding them, for the words were "closed up and sealed till the time of the end."

"The wise shall understand" and "here is the mind which hath wisdom" are challenges to us in these days, when we are seeing so many of the signs given by our Lord, of the end of the age. We are encouraged to read and study the book of Revelation where so much is still sealed—"Blessed is he that readeth and they that hear the words of this prophecy" are words of promise.

The Jews did not understand the prophecy "a nation shall be born (in a day) at once." They failed to recognize their Messiah for they looked for a deliverer from the Roman Power and a restored nationhood. Even the disciples after the Lord's resurrection asked thou at this time restore the Kingdom to Israel?'' The Lord had previously told the Jews that "Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.

VC hat are the Times of the Gentiles? In his first year Nebuchadnezzar (604 8.C.) besieged Jerusalem and carried away many Jews, including Daniel (Dan. 2:1).

In the 23rd year of Neb. (581 8.C.) he carried away the last of the captives from Jerusalem (Jer. 52:27-30). "Thus Judah was carried away captive out of his own land" (v. 27).

This, then, is clearly the beginning of the "Times of the Gentiles" (581 8.C.).

The Times of the Gentiles last 2520 years and therefore close about 1939 when the present war began.

The carrying away of the Jews occupied 23 years (604 to 581 8.C.). The Balfour agreement for the return of the Jews after Allenby's entering Jerusalem in 1917 was signed in 1918 and given partial effect in 1922-23 by the League of Nations mandate.

Is the restoration of the Jews to take the same time as their carrying away took? If so a covenant must soon be made that will provide for their freedom to return to their own land to rule.

over Palestine from the League of Nations prevents her giving Jews full liberty to occupy the land. Who, then, can do so? Ezekiel was called upon by God to prophesy against many nations. In each case their wickedness is against God and His chosen people and is stated and is given as the reason for the judgment pronounced upon them.

These judgments have been already in at least a great measure fulfilled except in the case of Gog and his allies. The wickedness for which God's judgments are pronounced against them is foretold by lEzekiel, chapters 38 and 39.

Ezekiel is told to prophesy against Gog (v. 3):

"In the latter years thou shalt come into the land" (v. 8);

"Thou shalt come like a storm" (v. 9);

"Thou shalt think an evil thought" (v. 10);

"Thou shalt say: I will go up to the land to take a spoil” (v. 12).

"And it shall come to pass at the same time when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, saith the Lord God, that my fury shall come np in my face.” (v. 18).

"And I will call for a sword against him" (v. 21),

Ezek. Chap. 39 "Thus saith the Lord, I am against thee, O Gog" (v. 1), "and I will turn thee back and leave but the sixth part of thee" (v. 2).

'And will cause thee to come up from the north parts and will .bring thee upon the mountains of Israel" (v. 2).

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"Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel" (v. 4).

"Thou shalt fall upon the open field" (v. 5).

"I will give unto Gog a place there of graves in Israel," "and there shall they bury Gog and all his multitude and they shall call it the Valley of Hamongog" (v. 11) —Armageddon. Whose sword will God use?

Ezekiel here sees only the judgment and not the "Sword" that is to "be used to punish Gog. Daniel, in Chapter 7, is told of the four great Gentile powers that are to set up kingdoms, "until the ancient of days come" (v. 22). He is told that the last ruler of the fourth kingdom "shall speak great words against the most High and shall wear out the saints of the most High" for 3} years (v. 25), but that in the end "they shall take away his dominion" (v. 26), and that "it shall be given to the people of the Saints of the Most High" (v. 27).

In Chapter 9, vs. 24-27, Daniel is told of this "Prince that shall come" in the 70th week, and "confirm the covenant with many for one week" (v. 27) and break it "in the midst of the week" (v. 27) and by ''abominations he shall make it (the sanctuary) desolate" (v. 27).

Daniel is not told of the abominations —the image and the False Prophet of Rev. 13 and 14.

In Chapter 11 Daniel is told of Gentile rulers who shall come. The last of them (vs. 35-45), "the Prince that shall come," is seen; ''speaking marvellous things against the God of Gods" (v. 36).

"Subduing the surrounding nations," "entering also into the glorious land" (v. 41).

"But tidings out of the North and East shall trouble him; therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy and utterly make away many" (v. 44), Armageddon.

This then is he—the Antichrist —who being in possession of the "glorious land" (Palestine) is in a position to make a covenant with the Jews that enables them to restore their temple worship. They will look upon him (Antichrist) as their Deliverer. (The Lord told the Jews: "If another shall come in his own name, him will ye receive. John 5:43.)

When from the North and East Gog and his allies come against the now prosperous Palestine (v. 44) this last Gentile ruler is used to fulfil God's judgment pronounced by Ezekiel (38:21) and destroy Gog in the Valley of Megiddo. Thus, as often in Old Testament times, God will use the "sword" of even a wicked ruler to punish those who would seek to destroy his chosen people.

Daniel is told that after defeating the enemy from the "north and east," the victor "plants his palace" in Palestine, and later: "Yet shall he come to his end and none shall help him" (Dan. 11:45). Daniel does not know that 3 \ years later the victor at Armageddon

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will turn against the Jews and attack them in Jerusalem and there meet 'his end."

The Jews do not fight at Armageddon, for Palestine is defended by the Antichrist and his ten-kingdom confederacy against the attack by the North confederacy—Gog, Somer, Togarmah (Ez. 38:6). Israel's part is to gather up the weapons and bury the dead (Ez. 39:9). The Thessalonian Christians suffering great persecution (tribulation) were much distressed in mind by being told that this was a sign that the "day of Christ' had come or was being ushered in (2 Thess. 2:2-8).

Paul wrote to comfort them: "Let no man deceive you, that day shall not come except that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition (Antichrist)."

Until "the man of sin" is revealed, he is a normal Gentile ruler with a "world conquest" obsession as with Napoleon, the Kaiser or Hitler. Our Lord said that this "coming man" would "come in his own name" (without ancestry). No one yet knows his name or who he is. He becomes the head of the confederacy of ten nations through the agency of the "scarlet woman." The kings of these ten nations 'give their power and strength unto the beast" (Rev. 17:13).

They then hate the scarlet woman and turn upon and destroy her for God had put it in their hearts to fulfil His will and to agree and to give their Kingdom unto the Beast" (v. 17).

Then "woe to the inhabitants of the earth" for the Beast (Antichrist) is now endued by Satan with the Satanic power and authority (Rev. 13:2) and the final attempt to persecute and destroy the Jews is begun."

The False Prophet appears and is endued with all the Satanic power of the Antichrist. He causes an image of the Beast to be set up, and all men are compelled to worship it on pain of death. The Jews, as in Daniel's time, will refuse. Then the "wearing out of the Saints of the most High' (Dan. 7:25) will reveal the real character of their false Deliverer—the Antichrist. This persecution follows after Armageddon and lasts for about 3j years. Jeremiah in chapter 30 sees this (the tribulation) and calls it "the time of Jacob's trouble"; alas for that day is great so that none is like unto it. It is even the time of Jacob's trouble but he shall be saved out of it (v. 7), "for saith the Lord of Hosts, I will break his yoke from off thy neck." Jeremiah did not see that the last Gentile yoke was that of the Antichrist.

That Armageddon and the overthrow of the Antichrist at Jerusalem do not occur at the same time or place has been seen in Daniel 11:45. This also is brought out in Zechariah 12:2 and 11. Zechariah in chapter 14 describes the final scene when the nations all now under the Antichrist gather against Jerusalem in the last attempt to destroy God's chosen people. "I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to

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battle" (v. 2). "Then shall the Lord go forth and fight against the nations as when He fought in the day of battle" against Gog. "And His feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives" (v. 4), as foretold by the angels at the time of the Lord's ascension. Zechariah saw the overthrow of the nations that come up to make war against Jerusalem, but he did not see or know anything of the person (Antichrist) who led them. John (Rev. 19:11-15) saw heaven opened and the Lord on a white horse come forth with his saints "to smite the nations and He shall rule them with a rod of iron" (v. 15). John saw (Rev. 19:19) the Beast and the Kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to make war against Him that sat on the (white) horse and against his army.

Before being told of Armageddon John had seen (Rev. 16:13-16) "three unclean spirits like frogs” come from the mouth of the Dragon, the Beast and the False Prophet to gather the Kings of the earth and of the whole world to the battle of that great day of God Almighty”—to a place called Armageddon.”

Just as John is about to be told where the Battle is to be fought, the Lord Jesus interpolates in a wonderful way: "Behold I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth and keepeth his garments lest he walk naked, and they see his shame” (v. 15). This verse refers to the Rapture or the Lord’s coming for his saints ("we shall not all sleep”). By these words would the Lord have us to know that by this time the saints are to be caught up and the restraining power of the Holy Spirit withdrawn? Then shall that wicked one be revealed whom the Lord shall (later) consume and destroy with the brightness of his coming” with his saints (2 Thess. 2:8). But the whole world will have been left to the awful 3J years’ time of "the tribulation” under the rule of the Antichrist. Then will come to pass that which Daniel saw, "the stone cut out of the mountain without hands shall, in the days of those (ten) kings break in pieces all the world kingdoms, and the God of Heaven shall set up a Kingdom which shall never be destroyed” (Daniel 2:44). And the Times of the Gentiles will have ended.

POINTS RAISED IN CONSIDERING END TIME EVENTS

In seeking to understand end-time prophecies most readers take up either a Futurist or an Historicist line of thought and interpretation and seek to bring all explanations into line with what is recognised to be the views generally held by either one or the other of these. By so doing any errors made are entrenched and further understanding of related prophecies made difficult.

The correct interpretation of all portions of scripture that are in dispute as between these two lines of thought must be reached without the necessity of adhering to either. "Anymomentism" was held by the

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Thessalonian church, but corrected by Paul’s second epistle to them. It gave definite pre-requisites: when these are fulfilled, then at any moment "we who are alive and remain shall be caught up.”

What pre-requisites did the Thessalonian church then know of and were then experiencing? Persecution and tribulation (I Thess. 1:4).

What other pre-requisites did the apostle tell them of to reassure them? The apostacy and the revelation of the "man of sin.”

What was the cause of the Thessalonian church’s alarm? A false letter purporting to be from the apostle and telling them that the day of the Lord had come, and the fear that the day of the Lord’s vengeance had overtaken them.

Paul had taught the Thessalonian church that God had not appointed them to wrath but to obtain salvation. The apostle now reminds them that he had told them these things (2 Thess. 2:5) and reassures them by telling them that only those "who receive not the love of the truth” will believe the lie of the man of sin and come under the judgment (v. 5).

"God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation and through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth —therefore, brethren, stand fast” (v. 15). "Now our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God even our Father which hath loved us and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace comfort your hearts.”

The "consolation and hope” is surely His coming, and the thing being repudiated is that they should be involved in the tribulation.

That Paul and Peter spoke of their personal decease instead of their hope of the Rapture was because of a special revelation that they should pass through death.

The Trumpets:

Several writers have confused the Revelation trumpets announcing judgment with the two typical silver trumpets that God commanded Moses to make (Num. 10:2) and were used by Israel in their journeyings to awake and assemble and then to march. The latter two are those referred to in 1 Cor. 15:52 and 1 Thess. 4:16. In 1 Cor. 15:52 the living are told that at the last trump (the second) they will be changed; in 1 Thess. 4:16 the bereaved are told that their dead will be awakened by the trump of God (the first).

The First Resurrection:

Is it clear that the Old Testament saints were not raised at the time of our Lord’s resurrection? Some at least were raised then. Had not they part in the "First Resurrection”? It would seem that Isa. 26:8 refers to Israel in the flesh when restored and verse 19 to Old Testa-

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ment saints who when "the earth shall cast out the dead, awake and sing." Is this latter the company seen in Rev. 14:3, "singing a song that no man could learn, but the 144,000 sealed ones"?

Daniel 12:2 cannot refer to the Resurrection of Israel's faithful dead only, for some are said to awake to everlasting shame." That it is a bodily resurrection is evident. Daniel 12:1-3 would seem to be a synopsis of the end-time happenings to "Daniel's people," Israel. In Rev. 20:4-6 it could not be maintained that the Church could be spoken of and seen as the "Souls of them that were beheaded and which had net worshipped the Beast or received his mark." And yet these latter had part in the first resurrection.

Who else has had part in the first resurrection unless the raptured church and sleeping saints?

Paul (1 Thess. 4:16-17) told the Church of this mystery and how it would be brought about, and John (Rev. 5:9) saw the redeemed out of "every kindred and tongue and people and nation" (a very clearly defined company). This was before the seals were opened. Now under the seventh seal we find a company (Rev. 14:12) who refuse to worship the Beast and of whom it is said: "Here is the patience of the Saints, here are they that keep the Commandments of God and the faith of Jesus."

Who in the Church dispensation has promise of being kept from the hour of temptation (tribulation) that shall come upon the whole world? Those who have kept the word of my patience" (Rev. 3:10). The promise to keep from that hour is coupled with "Behold I come quickly," so our "keeping" must be by our having part in the first resurrection by His coming for us. If we are alive and remain until then we will not require to be "resurrected."

The Covenant:

Is not the nature of the Covenant (Dan. 9:27) evident? Verse 26 closes the 69 weeks with the warning that unto the end (of the 70th week) "wars and desolations are determined. Then follows (verse 27) the particular events of the 70th week (seven years). The prince that shall come shall confirm a covenant with the many of thy people for (the) one week. If the breaking of the covenant in the midst of the week (3i years) is by his causing the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, must not his (the prince's) covenant have provided for the Jews occupation of their land and the restoration of their temple worship? And must not he (the prince) have put them in possession of their land? And does not this conform to our Lord's statement "Another shall come in his own name and him ye will receive"? And does not the question of even the disciples to our Lord at the hour of His ascension, "Wilt thou at this time restore the kingdom unto Israel?" .... Does not this question prove that all Jews associated restoration to the land as proof of, or necessary for, Messiahship?

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Matthew 24:

The whole of the Lord's ministry was to the Jews (Israel), consequently all his teaching was limited to that pertaining to the Kingdom which was not rejected finally till the ministry of the Holy Spirit was rejected by them. 1 Peter 1:12 makes plain the change: "The Gospel preached unto you with the Holy Spirit sent down from heaven." The Gospel of the Kingdom could not be that which was later preached by Paul and which as said by Peter "was with the Holy Spirit, for the Holy Spirit had not then come.

The Lord told his hearers of power (John 2:39) which the Scriptures go on to say they could not understand for the Holy Spirit was not yet (given) because Jesus was not yet glorified. The Lord (John 16:7-15) when telling his disciples of his coming departure, said that "it was expedient for you (them) that I go away" for otherwise the Comforter will not come. I have many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now" (the crucifixion and resurrection were yet mysteries to them and without an understanding of these no teaching with regard to the body of Christ —the Church —could be given). "When he, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you unto all truth." Both the Lord and John the Baptist preached: "The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand." We still pray "Thy Kingdom come."

The Remnant:

The word remnant as applied to Israel requires particular definition: The remnant in Rom. 9:27 and Isa. 10:22 refers to those of the house of Jacob who remain or return to enter millennial blessing, while Rom. 11:5 gives us a remnant according to the election of grace, i.e., Jews in the Church where there is no distinction between Jew and Gentile, all in the Church are elect persons.

The Old Testament references to a Remnant look forward to those of Israel under or in preparation for millennial conditions. The Remnant of Rev. 12:17 are those sealed ones who refuse to accept Satan's counterfeit and including the "one-third" who come through the awful final siege of Jerusalem (Zech. 13:8) and those scattered amongst the nations. This would seem to be the Remnant that enter the Millennial Kingdom.

The Two Witnesses:

As seen in Zech. 4:2-3 and Rev. 11:3 and who are sent to prophesy for 3 2 years, would seem to come after die Church is translated, to witness against "him who shall come" and be accepted by the "many" Jews as their Messiah. The company who respond to the preaching of the two witnesses will be the 144,000 sealed ones who will be instructed with regard to the Antichrist's wiles and how to escape when later he is revealed in his true colours.

Those of the Jews who with the Gentile world are satisfied with the world peace and the Jewish settlement in Palestine will rejoice at the

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death of the two witnesses who they will fail to see as God's instruments and agents sent to testify by miraculous judgments against their receiving and serving a counterfeit Messiah.

Armageddon:

The settlement of the Jews in Palestine will be the outcome of their present trouble. The present war will result in the formation of two great European confederacies, a Northern and a Southern. The Northern will be a Communistic Russo-German amalgamation including Turkey; the Southern will be a Papacy-Peace engineered amalgamation of the Latin and Roman Catholic countries with, or at least supported by, the present allies, excluding Russia.

The Southern Confederacy will put the Jew in possession in Palestine. The rapidly increasing wealth of Palestine will lead to its invasion by the Northern Confederacy. The Southern Confederacy will defend it and the battle of Armageddon will be fought—only the sixth part of the Northern armies will survive. The head of the Southern Confederacy now dominates the world. The "ten-kinged" Southern Confederacy turns against the Papacy and destroys it. A unifying religion will be formulated by the False Prophet; an image will be set up and then those of the Jews who rejected the warnings of the two witnesses will have their eyes opened to the real character of their emancipator. The believing Jews will have fled to a place of safety and those remaining will refuse to worship the image and be persecuted even unto death. Then the vials of judgment will be poured out upon a God-rejecting and Jew-persecuting Antichrist-ruled world of nations. Then these (like Pharoah of old), smarting under God's judgments, will seek to defeat God's purpose by gathering against His Holy City and His Chosen People to destroy it and them. In their awful dilemma the Lord hears His people's cry and His feet once again stand on the Mount of Olives and the Antichrist and his hosts are overthrown and destroyed by miraculous means (Zech. 14:12).

Is. 52:27-30 tells us when Judah was finally "carried away out of their own land"—in the 23rd year of Nebuchadnezzar (581 B.C. approx.) —and after 2520 years the present 1939 world war will see their restoration to the Land.

The 70th week opens when the Jews are put in possession of the Land.

Armageddon takes place before the middle of the week. The second half (3 2 years) shows the Man of Sin revealed and is the "time of Jacob's trouble"—the Great Tribulation.

Conversion of the Remnant:

Conversion is the work of the Holy Spirit, whereby man realizes his sinful nature and its repugnance to a Holy God sees, by faith, the Lord Jesus as his substitute, bearing the penalty of his sin and imputing

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to man His righteousness. "Seeing is believing." The preaching of John the Baptist was "Behold the Lamb of God." The Jewish teaching with regard to a substitute—the Sacrificial Lamb—was the means of the disciples coming to see in Jesus their Messiah and so accepted the teaching of the gospel of the Kingdom and asking the Lord even in the hour of His ascension: "Wilt thou at this time restore the Kingdom of Israel?"

"Blessed are they who believe and have not seen applies to all in the Church dispensation who believe and accept the Saviour. They have imputed to them His righteousness, like Abraham who believed God's word without seeing and "who is the father (in the faith) of us all." In a coming day the Jews shall look upon Him whom they pierced and be convicted of their sin in crucifying Him, .and weep and believe in Him because they see Him. They will say: "This is our God: we have waited for Him." Seeing, they will believe, and a "nation is born at once."

The Marriage Supper of the Lamb:

The Bridegroom is the Lord Jesus. The church is the body of Christ—"we are His members.”

"The spirit and the Bride say Come!” Then the Bride must now —or in the day that John looked into —be a completed body in heaven. Is the Bride a Jewish body? Isaac’s (the type) was. Or a Gentile body? Or both? John was shown the Bride (New Jerusalem) coming down from Heaven.

Where are now the Old Testament saints that were raised when Christ arose from the dead? Israel is spoken of as a divorced, adulterous wife in the Old Testament. The Old Testament saints could not be included in such a denunciation for they, like Abraham, must by faith, have seen the day of the Lord (John 8:56).

The question "is the Church the Bride?" cannot be answered dogmatically by "Yes" or "No." But it would seem that the Church is to participate in the rejoicing in heaven over the Lord's receiving that which the Father has given Him out of some part of the body of believers.

One writer suggests that the Bride will be Israel in the Church according to the election of grace: taken out of his body the Church as was the bride of the "first Adam.”

This, including perhaps Old Testament saints, would by analogy conform to Christ’s being the last Adam (1 Cor. 15:45) and part of the Church —His body being the Bride.

The Bride of Isaac was to be Abraham’s kinsman. His anxiety on this point is seen in his instruction to the servant sent to bring back the bride. This and the very full details given by the Holy Spirit surely points to this being a typical bride, and the antitype can be

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found nowhere but in the Bride of the Lamb. Likewise, Isaac as the well-beloved and only son of his father—and the faithful servant can have no other antitype than in the Lord Himself and the Holy Spirit who has brought unto the Church many of the Lord's kinsmen according to the flesh.

Endurance to the End (Matt. 24:13) :

This applies to the end time in Judea and has nothing to do with the soul's salvation, but is an exhortation to steadfastness during the "great tribulation" when "except those days should be shortened there should no flesh be saved" (v. 22). The church is raptured before this. The disciples could not then be told of the intervening church era for Israel had not yet rejected their Messiah. The gospel of grace and salvation through a crucified and risen Saviour was still hidden, to be revealed later by special revelation by the Holy Spirit.

Kingdom of Heaven—Gospel of the Kingdom:

This was preached before the Church was formed.

The gospel of the grace of God was preached in type to Adam and preached throughout the church era —Salvation through the seed of the woman and by the blood of the Lamb. The prayer "Thy Kingdom" will be fully answered only when the Lord sets up His Millennial Kingdom.

The Elect:

Israel is the Elect nation. The Church consists of those "elect according to the foreknowledge of God." They are spoken to and of as such in the Epistles. In the Gospels "elect" refers to the Jews (Luke 18:7): ".avenge His own elect though he bear long with them," is given an end-time and added Jewish significance by the added words: "Nevertheless when the Son of Man cometh shall he find faith in the earth?"

The Great Tribulation:

Is the persecution and suffering of those who refuse to worship the Beast or his image or to receive his mark. Besides Jews it will include others who after the Church's going and because of it will weep and gnash teeth (signs of grief and repentance) but will have to undergo the Satan-energised persecution, and many of them will seal their repentance with their blood (Rev. 7:9-17).

The Wrath of God

Is meted out to the nations in the punishment of Gog, Gomer and Togarmah .and others at the hands of the Beast (Ezek. 38:18-23) before he is revealed, and finally to all the nations during the outpouring of the vials in which is "filled up the wrath of God." To this the nations respond by seeking to destroy God's chosen people and Jerusalem. Then the Lord comes (Zech. 14:3) from an opened heaven and destroys the nations and the Beast and sets up His kingdom (Zech. 14:4; Rev. 19:19-20).

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Enoch's Translation is not a type of the Rapture.

Enoch was a faithful witness to God's holiness and of a coming Judgment upon a world of wickedness before the Law.

Elijah was a faithful witness to God's holiness and of a coming judgment upon Israel for the transgression of the Law.

Both were translated that they should not see death

Encch, knowing of the coming of the Flood and that his son would escape its judgment by faith called his son Methusaleh —meaning in the year of his death it (the flood) should come. Methusaleh died in the year of the f100d—969 years later—and so escaped its judgment.

Noah's preservation is the type of the Rapture —by his Ark lifted above the waters of judgment and afterwards returning to the earth where sin is put under restraint. "Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man will his blood be shed." So we who remain will by our Ark (Christ) be lifted above the scene of judgment (tribulation) and afterwards return with Him to a world where he will rule with justice and a rod of iron.

Resurrection of Tribulation Saints:

Rev. 6:9-11: "I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God and the testimony which they held." They cried: "How long, O Lord, dost thou not avenge our blood?" (v. 11), white robes were "given to everyone of them" they are told to "rest for a little season" until their fellow-servants and brethren should be killed as they were.

Rev. 20:4-6: "I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus and for the word of God and had not worshipped the Beast and they lived." V. 5: "This is the first resurrection." V. 6: "Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection."

A consideration of Rev. 6:11 and Rev. 20:4-6 in conjunction with Isa. 26:19, 1 Cor. 15:52, Matt. 27:52 and Rev. 5:9 would seem to show that the first resurrection is in several parts.

In Rev. we see the souls under the altar told to wait until other of their fellow-servants should be slain. In Rev. 20:4-6 we see the souls of their beheaded fellow-servants in resurrection. They of Rev. 6:9-11 must also be here for they were told to wait —for the resurrection of their bodies—until this time. "This is the first resurrection" (v. 5), but the Church cannot be seen here for all these have been slain—sealed their witness with their blood. The explanation is seen in v. 6: "Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection.

A consideration of this, i.e., that the first resurrection is in several parts, might lead to a better understanding of the sequence of end time events.

The Church and the Tribulation:

"I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation (tribulation)

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which shall come upon all the world" (Rev. 3:10).

Keep who? "Him that overcometh." (There were "overcomers" mentioned in each of the seven churches (Rev. 2:3).)

Why? "Because thou hast kept the word of my patience."

How? "Behold I come quickly."

What is the word of my patience? "To wait patiently for His Son from heaven." Is not the message written to each of the churches meant for all the churches? Each is told to "hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches" (plural). Each of the seven churches has special promises for its overcomers.

Are not all the promises cumulative, i.e., will not all the overcomers in each be fully blessed? Is not the existence of the Philadelphian character church at the end time proved by its being told "I come quickly" and of its being kept from the tribulation by that coming?

The Lord's unchanging attitude is to keep from or postpone impending judgment upon those who down the ages have given heed to His messages of warning: and will He not keep from the hour of temptation (the tribulation) all overcomers —the members of His own body—the church? Has he not promised to do so?

THE IMPORTANCE OF PROPHECY TO-DAY and the CERTAINTY OF ITS FULFILMENT

"I came not to destroy the law and the prophets, but to fulfil," said our Lord.

Some Christians are questioning at the present time the necessity of proclaiming the truth involved in an understanding of the end time prophecies. Others refuse to consider and ridicule any mention of the present world order being changed by Divine intervention.

Of the latter it can only be hoped that in a short time when they see the failure to secure peace and a world-wide adjustment of national aspirations, some who read these pages may be led to turn to the Scriptures for a solution. The great majority are expecting it to be brought about by international agreements. Later, when these fail, they will look to and put their trust in a superman who is going to deceive the whole world with the promise of "peace and safety"—a man-made Millennium. Then saith the scripture: "sudden destruction cometh upon them" (Thess 5:3). How can we be faithful watchmen unless we see that the gracious prophetic proclamation of the "acceptable year of the Lord" (Isa. 61:2) was only the first part of that proclamation of which the Lord then told His hearers: "This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears," i.e., the day of grace and the offered restoration of the kingdom to Israel (Luke 4:21).

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The second part, "to proclaim the day of vengeance of our God,” ■was given later when Israel rejected the gospel of the kingdom and our Lord foretold judgment: "Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, woe unto thee Chorasin; woe unto thee Bethsaida, and thou Capernaum.” And later still in the Revelation of Jesus Christ by His angel unto His servant John He told of the completion of the wrath of God upon the earth of Jew and Gentile (Rev. 15) in the "vial judgments.”

Our Lord in the parable of "a certain king which made a marriage for his son" (Matt. 22) foretold Israel of their national rejection of their Messiah and of the door of grace being opened to the Gentiles, and in the parable of "a certain householder" (Matt. 212:33) "whose son they would kill when he came to receive the fruits of his vineyard," He told them of His own death.

God’s method throughout the Scriptures is to offer blessing, but always associated with warning; thus under the Law we have blessing and cursing, and under grace we are told "How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation?” "but a fearful looking for judgment and hery indignation,” "it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”

In the light of such clear pronouncements how can we fail to see the need for giving along with the gracious Gospel message of "whosoever will may come" a faithful warning of the close of the day of grace and of the judgments that must follow?

How can we give or expect heed to be given to these warnings unless the signs which God has given as evidence of the end time are understood? "When ye see these things begin to come to pass, then look up for your redemption draweth nigh" (Luke 21:28). We are told that in the last days scoffers will come saying "where is the promise of His coming?"

They are with us to-day and by their teaching hindering their hearers from looking for the Lord's second coming.

Many Christians do not understand much of end-time truth, but most are anxious to learn, and of to-day's happenings are asking: How? and Why? It is surely a serious matter to reject or tamper with evidential truth or to withhold it from earnest seekers, and the many who for want of it are blind to the world's present real condition and ignorant of the things which must shortly come to pass.

Our statesmen in planning for a new world order that might secure peace among the nations are doing so without regard to or understanding of what the prophetic scriptures tell them of the trend of world events at such a time as this. They fail to discern the signs of the present time. Should this be so? Our Lord wept over Jerusalem. "If thou hadst known the things which belong unto thy peace but now they are hidden from thine eyes because thou knowest not the time of thy visitation."

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Though our statesmen fail to see the significance or the outcome of the present trend of world events they are aware of their unprecedented nature. Thus Field Marshal Smuts speaking of the state of affairs at the end of the war, said: "In Europe three of the five great powers will have disappeared; Germany at the end will disappear perhaps never to emerge again in her old form; Russia is the new •Colossus that bestrides Europe. With the others down and out, herself mistress of the continent, her power will not only be great on that but still greater because the Japanese Empire will also have gone. You will have Russia in a position no country has ever occupied in the history of Europe."

Could our statesmen see the outcome of the present world turmoil how would they act? Could the Axis nations involved have foreseen the inevitable immediate results to themselves would they have entered upon this war? Perhaps these questions may best be answered—somewhat indirectly perhaps—by some quotations from "The Approaching End of the Age," by Grattan Guinness:

"Prophecies so clear as either procure or prevent their own fulfilment were never delivered by Divine inspiration."

"Prophecy like Daniel's predictions and all other prophecy is not intended ever to become self-evident clear. Even when understood by 'the wise' its meaning will still be hidden from the world and consequently the true interpretation whenever it shall arise will have many adversaries."

"The purpose of God to conceal from all save the later generations of His people the duration of this Christian age is very distinctly intimated"—"shut up the vision and seal the book even to the time of tne end" (Dan. 12:4).

This war, and all wars, could have been prevented only had the Gospel of the Kingdom been accepted by Israel when the Prince of Peace came or had there been put into world practice the Gospel of the Grace of God in Christ Jesus and which he commanded should be preached unto all nations.

James 4:1 tells us: "From whence come wars? Ye lust (envy) and have not, ye kill and desire to have and cannot obtain; ye fight and war."

Many wonder why the clear meaning of the prophecies regarding end-time events and the Lord's second coming has been withheld for so long a time. This questioning is well met by a quotation from Dr. Guinness: "The Lord Jesus knew that 50 or 60 generations of men would live and die ere he would come again, and He wished each one to pass the time of its sojourning here under the hallowing and cheering influence of that blessed hope" of (His) return.

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Out Chronology:

Some doubt exists in the minds of many earnest Christians on the matter of time and as to the possibility of its being correctly applied in connection with prophecy. This doubting has arisen from several causes, but chiefly because some writers and speakers in their attempting to set a time for the Lord's return took it for granted that the time of His return coincided with the "end of the times of the Gentiles and the "fulness of the Gentiles" and so wrongly used given times and years.

Doubts have also been thrown upon even the approximate correctness of our commonly accepted chronology as given in the margins of our Bibles. In confirmation of what has been given in previous pages of dates and years in connection with the end of the times of the Gentiles and in support of the claim that God does and has given us to know, i.e., has made it possible for us to know "times of visitation and of things predicted, the following quotation from Dr. Guinness is helpful:

"He who predicted 400 years' affliction (in Egypt) of the seed of Abraham, predicted later that for a great week of 2520 years Gentiles would rule over and afflict the Jewish people."

God also told the prophet Daniel "seventy weeks of years (490 years, are determined upon thy people (the Jews), 7 weeks 49 years) from the going forth of the order for the restoration of Jerusalem; 62 weeks (434 years) unto the coming of the Messiah God s predictions have been fulfilled with regard to the time of Israel s sojourn in Egypt, the length of time in restoring Jerusalem and the length or time to the coming of the Messiah and now the "fulness of the Gentiles" has come. There remains yet but the 70th week (7 years) or Jewish time. This will begin with the Jewish restoration to Palestine by their false Messiah.

It is of importance to note that the League of Nations mandate for Syria and Palestine did not come into force until September 1923, and that Dr. Guinness looked upon 606 B.C. as the first year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar and as the beginning of the times of the Gentiles In the following quotation he based his forecast upon both scripture chronology and the coinciding of lunar and solar cycles. Writing 35 years before the great war of 1914 he said:

"We are living within half a century of what appears to be the latest close of the times of the Gentiles. That the translation from this age to the next will occupy a period and not a point of time seems likely from analogy."

Dr. Guinness here unconsciously explains why the times of the Gentiles did not end 2520 years after the first year of Nebuchadnezzar. Did he fail to see that the final "carrying away of Judah out of their own land" did not take place until the 23rd year of his reign? (Jer 52:27-30). Dr. Guinness was right had he seen the correct time of the beginning of the times of the Gentiles, viz., the 23rd year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign (581 8.C.).

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The last war resulted in the beginning of the period of translation by the provision made under the Balfour Agreement for a Jewish return to Palestine. The seeing, through a study of the God-given times of the Scriptures, the beginning of the end of the Times of the Gentiles so long before it took place, goes far to establish the correctness of our accepted chronology.

r ' Guinness wrote in 1879 he could have no knowledge of how it would come about. He wrote in the heyday of the Victorian age when it was thought that a future war between Christian nations was impossible. As a Historicist he looked for the fall of the Papacy and not a Jewish development as the sign of the beginning of the end. He has unconsciously given proof of the correctness of the futurist interpretation of the prophetic Scriptures. Futurists look for the restoration of the Jews to Palestine and their acceptance of the Antichrist as their Messiah, as the culmination of their refusal to accept the Gospel of the Kingdom and the Lord Jesus as King of the Jews.

It was perhaps because Dr. Guinness as an H ls toricist looked for developments in the Roman world and not in connection with the Jews that he failed to see that the times of the Gentiles began with their final carrying away in the 23rd year, not in the first year, of Nebuchadnezzar and consequently that the Time of the Gentiles would be extended by at least that many years.

The writings of Dr. Guinness did much to arouse interest in the Prophetic Scriptures at the time, and probably he has done more than any other writer to influence the thinking of the prophetic students of to-day.

That he was wrong in his historicist view and beliefs with regard to the Antichrist must now be evident. He argued that "as the Papacy does the things foretold of the Antichrist, therefore the Papacy must be the Antichrist.” He believed that past history showed the fulfilment ol all the prophecies regarding the Antichrist and his fall. Had he seen only typical fulfilments all would have been well, but he argues that because certain happenings in the past were so like (in many respects) the things predicted, they must be the fulfilment of the predieted, things. He thus robs of their meaning and future influence the greater part of the prophecies given for the instruction and guidance of the church in its closing days. He shows his recognition of the Church’s need in the past for the guidance and instruction of the prophetic scriptures, when in a typical fulfilment he seeks to prove the correctness of his views with regard to the Papacy being the Antichrist-

He says: "Historicist views nerved the Reformers of the 16th Century and kept the Reformed Church from reunion with Rome.”

But this does not prove the correctness of the Historicist viewbut it does show the salutary effect of such times and conditions in keeping fresh the Church’s hope and outlook for the events presaging the Lord s return. 6

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The following extracts from Dr. Guinness' writings will go far to show that his wrong interpretations are due to his taking seemingly typical partial fulfilments as being the final and antitypical and the Papacy for the Antichrist. "In 1870 the Divine title of 'lnfallible teacher of faith and morals' was given to the Pope of Rome, judgment fell—the temporal power of the Papacy was swept away; the Pope became a prisoner in the Vatican, the long drama of Papal temporal power is ended. The Lord has consumed it by the spirit of His mouth."

Papal power certainly had then a set back, but under the Mussolini regime we to-day see the spiritual prestige and temporal power of the Papacy in the ascendancy.

"The coming of Antichrist is no brief future event lying between us and our blessed hope. He was revealed more than 1000 years ago (in the Papacy), he has run his course and lasted his preappointed period."

"The Papacy was never so low in power, in resources and in prestige as it is at this moment (1879). According to the Divine programme afforded by these sacred and once mysterious but now clear predictions the Papal drama is played out."

"We (historicists) have seen the kingdom of the Papal Antichrist taken away; we wait to see the full consumption and destruction and the establishment of the kingdom of the Most High.

"When the nations of Europe shall conspire to reinstate the Jews then the last warning bell will have rung."

These are some of Dr. Guinness' most emphatic and dogmatic statements. As a historicist he sees nothing in Prophecy and has no explanation of events such as are now taking place and of which our Lord spoke, "nation rising against nation" as a sign of the end time. He sees only the reinstating of the Jews by the nations of Europe.

One more quotation from Dr. Guinness must suffice and strangely enough it illustrates fully one of his own statements, viz: "To whatever extent prejudice exists spiritual perception is blunted."

"But if it (the 70th week of Daniel's prophecy) be literally half a week of years it is a brief half without a corresponding half, and no reason consistent with the wisdom and goodness of God can be assigned for the great importance which is attached to it in Scripture."

But it has a corresponding half (3i years) during which the counterfeit Christ receives world adulation and gets "his seat and power and great authority from Satan" (Rev. 13:2). "No reason consistent with the wisdom and goodness of God!! What blindness! What prejudice! What a hindrance to an understanding of prophetic Scriptures does the Historicist view engender when it sees no importance in the most momentous 31 years since the fall of man in the Garden of Eden. Then and there began the conflict, waged down the ages, be-

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tween God and Satan for the freewill allegiance of man. These years sees a Satan-energised counterfeit Christ in possession of the whole world and the glory of it. They see such a persecution of God's chosen people that unless the time had been thus limited (to a half week, 3| years) "no flesh could survive" (Matt. 24:22). These same years are to see the Lord's feet once again on the Mount of Olives and the age-long conflict end in the capture and destruction of the Beast, the Antichrist, the counterfeit Messiah (Rev. 19:19). These 3 2 - years will thus see the culmination of all of which the prophets spoke and foretold us, for they will see the Lord of Glory—once rejected—come from an opened heaven to receive the Kingdom which is His by right of purchase (Matt. 13:44).

Surely no futurist or historicist prejudice should in these days of turmoil and coming change longer hinder Christians from coming to the understanding promised to the wise concerning those prophetic "words closed up and sealed till the time of the end" (Daniel 12:9).

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