THE PRESENT DISCONTENT.

Otago Witness, Issue 2862, 20 January 1909, Page 89

THE PRESENT DISCONTENT.

A DIP INTO THE FUTURE. In view of threatened international trovble in various parts of the world, tba 14th inst. was set apart by the Anglo-Israel Association of the Empire as a -day for patriotic prayer. A meeting for th:~ purpose was held under the auspices of the local Anglo-Israel Association in the Y.W.C.A. Rooms on the 14th. Mr R. N. Adams presided, and slated that apologies had been received from the Revs. CurzonSiggers, Scorgie, Heighwaj, J. U. Fpenco, R. H. W-.lie, C. Dallaston, Dr Nicolson, Messrs T. K. SMoy. M.P., J. A. D. Adame, and Sinclair Ped-en. The Chairman explained that a time of national stress and struggle and trouble was anticipated for manj reason*, -ome of whjch were historical. Europe was in a state of unrest —spiritually, politically, and physically, — and prophetic Scripture indicated that great disturbances were to be expected about this time. They were requested to plead with God for special direction to our statesmen in guiding the affairs | of the Empire, and that tho great national | ems might .cease. He went on to read a j list of subjects specially pi escribed for | prayer, and briefly indicated some reasons for believing that the British nation was God's "peculiar people." It appeared that there were troublous and se\ere times ahead, and some indication of what would happen might be obtained from the Scriptures. The Rev. X. A. Davis commenced a striking address by referring to the fact that his right to be on that platform had been questioned. Although he had ne\er been a member of an Anglo-Israel Association, he had accepted its invitation for one reason — because he was an Israelite in exactly the same sense as Paul was. He was a Benjamite, and could trace his descent without a break right back to the time of the destruction of the temple. He had been a careful student of history, f^peoially in ite bearing on the Word of God, and | on? could not avoid the conclusion that the ] Bible was an Israelitish book. He had had | the unique experience of bsing brought up in a Jewish family, some of whom were Jew 3 and some Christians. He had been greatly j [ struck with the fact that both the-e, apd ' al*o his Gentile friends, had united in seek- i ing to impress upon him that he belonged I to a superior and peculiarly favoured psople In later years he had come to the oc nclusion that, historically considered and apart from tho opinions of many learned men, there was sufficient evidence to prove that the British people arc of Israeliti*h origin. The lime had gone by when this belief could be sneered at, for the King of England himse'f held the tame % lews as these gathered in that room. He believed he had a dictinct me=-agp for this time. Aooepting- the Bible as ihe Word of God we were certainly living 1 in the last dajs Ho believed the day of Armageddon Mas at hand -possibly within the lifetime of tho^e pie=ent, — when there wou'H bo a great gathering of the nations of the Ea^t and ihe West at tho Plain of Armageddon, in the north of Pale-tine Christendom and heaihendorn would be fathered together fcr war, and God would fight against them not i\ ith cannon or rifle, bu^ with the groat hail fiom hea\ en referred to in the Book of Job. He went on to speak of the atrociously brutal and demoralising nature of war, and urged that our strength as a nation was in Gcd alone, and that His people must do as they did when they came out of Egypt— "stand still and see the salvation of the Lord." He believed the greatest miracle the world had ever seen would be the eho=en people standing still while God worked a deliverance for them fiom the armie^ of the world made ready to tear each other and them to pieces. Several other speakers dealt with the Scriptural e\idenee indicating that the Anerlo-Baxon rac? i<= God" 1 - chosen people, and referred to th-e universal presentment of coming uphca\al and disaster throughout the world. Prayer was offered and appropriate hymns sung at frequent intervals during the evening.