PLANES IN PROPHECY

Auckland Star, Issue 123, 24 May 1919, Page 17

PLANES IN PROPHECY

FINAL DELIVERY OF HOLY CITY

(By J. LIDDELL KELLY.)

I At the present time, when attention is vividly centred upon aerial travel, it may aptly be pointed out that this means of locomotion was evidently revealed, more than 2,500 years ago, to the Hebrew seers and prophets; and it is significant to note that this development wa3 foretold as a concomitant of "' the time of the end" —that is the end lof this age and the dawn of the Millen- ! nium. The passage that is generally quoted as indicating aerial flight by men is that in Isaiah is., 5.: ''Who are these that fly as a cloud and as the doves to their windows?" This question is interpolated in the midst of a prophecy in which the rapt seer tells of the glory of Jerusalem, when Israel is restored; and no answer is given to the query. A Sydney clergyman, writing recently on the stirring events that are about to happen, boldly suggested that what the prophet saw was thousands of wealthy Jews returning to the Promised Land in aeroplanes. This is a plausible guess, especially as the words of Isaiah 1 which immediately follow the question are—" Surely the isles shall wait for mc, and the snips of Tarshish first, to bring thy son 3 from far," etc. It is generally agreed that this refers to ships of Britain conveying crowds of Jews to Palestine; but early interpreters having no conception of aerial flight by men, were at a loss to explain the passage about those who "fly as a cloud." In the course or recent study I found another allusion m Isaiah to flying, which, in my opinion, throws a. new light on the passage already quoted. It is in Chapter xxxi and verse 5: "As birds flying, will tne Lord of Hosts defend Jerusalem; defending also will He deliver it; and passing over, he will preserve it." Does not this at once suggest that the prophet's vision of men flying as a cloud, and as doves to their windows, was a revelation of the saving of Jerusalem by means of squadrons of aeroplanes carrying terror and confusion into the ranks of " all the people round about" when they besiege the Holy City in the last days? For a vivid picture of this great siege, which is to Dβ an incident of the Armageddon campaign, the reader is referred to the three closing chapters of Zechariah's prophecy. It is elsewhere prophesied that the siege and conquest of Jerusalem will be of short duration, and that a force of de-. liverers shall suddenly appear, who are generally identified as British. Aβ I understand that the British Fleet in the Mediterranean is to meet with disaster, it seems not unlikely that the relieving force will be one "as birds flying," which will defend, deliver, and, "passing over," ■preserve Jerusalem. Ezekiel's vision of 'living creatures," with the likeness of a man, and an appearance as of burning coals of fire, might also be a forecast of aerial flight. These living: creatures "ran and returned as the appearance of a flash of lightning,"the£ were "lifted up from the earth," their "wings were stretched; upward," and \Vhen they went the'noise of their wingswas "like the noise of great waters." Personally, I do not think we can say positively or even approximately what Ezekiel's vision portended. It is apparently confusing, -contradictory, and outside all past and present experiences of mundane affairs.

It is different, however, with Isaiah's very definite description of men flying, and of Jerusalem being delivered by the Lord of Hosts, "as birds flying." Here, it seems to mc, the aeroplane as an engine of war is very clearly indicated; and it seems highly probable that in the Armageddon campaign it will be largely employed. The recent cable message, stating that the British Air Ministry is ordering the destruction of thousands of aeroplanes, because of the cost of housing them, discloses a short-sighted policy. That policy must be reversed, if British airmen, "flying as a cloud," are to participate in the final delivery of the Holy City.