Chapter XII: Part II: The Fourth Kingdom and the "Little Horn" (6)

An account of the capture of Babylon, B.C. 538. From the cylinder of Cyrus.]

"He hath made the deep as dry,
He hath smote for us a pathway to the ends of all the earth."

In 1825 Stephenson built his first railway passenger locomotive, which may still be seen in the Darlington railway station, in England. It was the beginning of the great revolution in land travel. The late Prof. Alfred Russel Wallace, scientist, wrote:

"From the earliest historic and even prehistoric times till the
construction of our great railways in the second quarter of the
present century [the nineteenth], there had been absolutely no
change in the methods of human locomotion."--_"The Wonderful
Century," p. 7._

The process by which the books of the great library of Alexandria, Egypt, were made.]

For nearly six thousand years men had traveled in the old way. Why should these revolutionary changes in travel by sea and land come abruptly just at this time?--Because the time foretold in the prophecy was at hand, when the last gospel message was to be carried quickly to all the world--"to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people." We see the hand of the living God opening the doors into all lands, and His wonderful providence laying at the feet of this generation agencies for quickly covering the whole earth.

Reproduced from the first edition of the famous forty-two-line Latin Bible, printed by Gutenberg.]

Later came the electric telegraph, for the quick transmission of news. It was in 1837 that Cooke and Wheatstone in England, and Morse in the United States, made their application for patents on the electric telegraph. It was in 1844 that the first long-distance system was successfully demonstrated--when the historic message was sent from Baltimore to Washington, "What hath God wrought!" Now news of events fulfilling prophecy, and news of progress and conditions in all lands, are daily spread before the world by this agency of our wonderful time.

On which was produced the first printed Bible, in 1456 A.D.]

Operated by two men, it has a maximum speed of 250 impressions per hour.]

As the closing events take place, the Lord has in His providence so ordered it that no one need be ignorant of the signs of the times fulfilling before the eyes of men.

"Speak the word and think the thought,
Quick 'tis as with lightning caught--
Over, under, lands or seas
To the far antipodes."

Here is an incident illustrating the way in which the electric telegraph may multiply and spread abroad the witness borne to the truth of God in some obscure corner of the earth:

The largest printing press in the world. Length, 48 feet; height, 19-1/2 feet; weight, 175 tons; number of parts, 65,000; revolutions, 300 per minute; paper used per hour, 18 tons, or 216 miles of paper three feet wide; production per hour, 300,000 eight-page folded newspapers.]

The Mighty Press

"When old Gutenberg, inventor
Of the printing press, and mentor
Of the clumsy-fingered typos
In a sleepy German town,
Used to spread the sheets of vellum
On the form, and plainly tell them
That the art was then perfected,
As he pressed the platen down,
He had not the faintest notion
Of the rhythmical commotion,
Of the brabble and the clamor
And the unremitting roar
Of the mighty triple decker,
While the steel rods flicker,
And the papers, ready folded,
Fall in thousands to the floor."

Some years ago a young man in Europe--a Seventh-day Adventist--was giving answer for his faith. His conscience would not allow him to do ordinary labor on God's holy Sabbath. He had declared to the court that the oath of loyalty which had been required of him forbade his breaking the Sabbath. "How is that?" asked the judge. The young man replied:

"I was sworn in with a Christian oath, and therefore cannot be
under an obligation to violate the commandments of God and work
on the Sabbath. One must regard God as the highest authority,
and obey Him in the first place."

This witness was borne in a little courtroom, before a small group of men; but the press dispatches took it up, and the description of the scene and report of the words spoken were carried by electric telegraph to the press of at least four continents, and millions read the testimony of the young man to the faith that was in him.

In the days to come, with great events taking place and solemn issues calling upon men to make decision for God and His truth, how quickly, in some great crisis, all the world may be warned, and the last individual decisions be made for eternity!

Modern Printing

The invention of the printer's art had come just in time to give wings to Reformation truth. Luther said of it:

"Printing is the latest and greatest gift by which God enables
us to advance the things of the gospel. It is the last bright
flame, manifesting itself just previous to the extinction of
the world. Thanks be to God, it came before the last day
came."--_Michelet's "Life of Luther," p. 291._

While improvements in the art were made through the centuries, it was a slow process, even up to the opening of our generation. During our day, however, inventions have revolutionized the printing process.

In this, as in other things, the methods have been speeded up to meet the necessities of this time of rapid accomplishment. The printing press is one of the chief of the marvelous enlightening agencies of this time of the end. By it the printed pages of truth are set falling over the earth "like the leaves of autumn."

Time fails us to speak of all the wonderful material developments of our day, when knowledge has been increased, and when men are not only searching to and fro, but literally running to and fro. The whole earth is brought within the range of human knowledge, and the light of saving truth is streaming out toward every dark place where the children of men dwell.

Nearly twenty-five hundred years ago it was written upon the prophetic page,

"Shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased."

There the word stood on the scroll of prophecy through more than two millenniums. Then, as the time of the end came, lo, the book of prophecy was unsealed, and the new era of increasing knowledge began to spread in wondrous blessing over the earth.

So surely, also, the prophecies of the last events will be accomplished. In the occurrences taking place before our eyes, we see that God is indeed finishing His work in the earth, and cutting it short in righteousness.

The strategic waterway involved in the Eastern Question.]

FOOTNOTES:

[J] It is not designed to give the reader the idea that this running "to and fro" refers wholly to turning to and fro through the pages of a book. The times in which we live have been characterized by a great increase in Bible study, and consequently in knowledge of the Scriptures; but it is equally true that this has been due in large measure to the fact that there are no longer any "hermit" kingdoms. Travel, a real physical running "to and fro" through the earth, has contributed mightily to the modern increase of knowledge, and in no other field of investigation has this been more true than in the study of the Bible. By increased facilities for travel, all nations have been brought close together physically. Different races and nationalities have become acquainted, missionary zeal has been quickened, and peoples formerly beyond the reach of missionary operations have become easily accessible. In this sense, as well as by private searching of the Scriptures, knowledge has increased.

The most famous of all Mohammedan temples.

COPYRIGHT BY UNDERWOOD & UNDERWOOD, N.Y.]

THE EASTERN QUESTION

MODERN HISTORY IN THE LIGHT OF ANCIENT PROPHECY

Not alone of the history of ancient nations does the "sure word of prophecy" bear witness. Political events of our own and coming days are described.

The nations of the latter day are pictured as preparing war, gathering their forces for the great Armageddon, the battle of the day of God.

As a signal of the last great struggle, the fall, or "drying up," of the power ruling the territory watered by the river Euphrates is foretold. Rev. 16:12. The Euphrates in all modern history has been suggestive of the dominions of the Turkish or Ottoman Empire. And Armageddon, designated as the meeting place of armies in the last clash of nations, is in Palestine, which, through all modern times, has been in possession of the Turkish power.

The index finger of prophecy points, therefore, to this region of the eastern Mediterranean as the pivotal point in the closing history of nations; and with Turkey's fate is wrapped up the fate of all the nations of the world.

All this adds deepest and most solemn import to the study of what is known as the Eastern Question, a question that has been to the fore in international politics much of the time throughout this generation. Wars have been fought over it, cabinets have wrestled with it, and still it holds its place in the first rank of living issues of today.

As every one knows, the Eastern Question involves the dominion or supremacy in the Near East. This region was a pivotal point in the struggles of the nations in ancient times--the meeting place of East and West. Maspero, historian of ancient empires, says of it:

"Some countries seem destined from their origin to become the
battle fields of the contending nations.... The nations around
are eager for the possession of a country thus situated....
From remote antiquity Syria was in the condition just
described. By its position it formed a kind of meeting place,
where most of the military nations of the ancient world were
bound sooner or later to come violently into
collision."--_"Struggle of the Nations," chap. 1._

It is not strange, therefore, that one of the great outlines of historic prophecy should deal with events centering around this pivotal region. The prophecy of Daniel 11 does so, outlining the course of history from ancient times to the final solution of the Eastern Question amid the scenes of the end.

Rise and Fall of Ancient Empires

The prophetic outline of Daniel 11 begins with Persia, in the third year of Cyrus, the conqueror of Babylon. (See Dan. 10:1.) The angel of God appeared to Daniel, and in the longest and most detailed single prophecy in all the Bible, told the story of events connected with this region of the Near East for the centuries to come, until the end. Putting the word of prophecy and the record of history side by side, we see how exactly history has fulfilled prophecy; and we may know certainly that the brief portion of the prophecy yet unfulfilled will surely come to pass.

Persia

_Prophecy._--"Now will I show thee the truth. Behold, there shall stand up yet three kings in Persia; and the fourth shall be far richer than they all: and by his strength through his riches he shall stir up all against the realm of Grecia." Dan. 11:2

_History._--The three kings following Cyrus were (1) Cambyses, (2) Smerdis, (3) Darius; the fourth, Xerxes, was "far richer than they all." He had the treasures of his father, Darius, who was called the "merchant" or "hoarder" by his own people, and Xerxes gathered stores of wealth in addition. When Xerxes was on his way to invade Grecia, a Lydian named Pythius entertained the whole Persian army with feasts, and offered to aid in bearing the expense of the campaign. Xerxes asked who this man of such wealth was. He was answered:

"This is the man, O king! who gave thy father Darius the golden
plane tree, and likewise the golden vine; and he is still the
wealthiest man we know of in all the world, excepting
thee."--_Herodotus, book 7, par. 27._

"Richer than they all," Xerxes, "through his riches," was able, as the prophecy had foretold, to "stir up all against the realm of Grecia." Forty-nine nations marched under his banners to the attack. The Greek poet, Æschylus, who himself fought against the Persians, wrote of Xerxes' mighty host,

"And myriad-peopled Asia's king, a battle-eager lord,
From utmost east to utmost west sped on his countless horde,
In unnumbered squadrons marching, in fleets of keels untold,
Knowing none dared disobey,
For stern overseers were they
Of the godlike king begotten of the ancient race of Gold."

--_"Persæ," Way's translation._

Xerxes boasted that he was leading "the whole race of mankind to the destruction of Greece." But his invasion ended in the total rout of his forces by land and by sea. It was an advertisement to the world that Persia's might was broken. The prophecy treats it so, and deals no further with Persian history.

Æschylus at the time celebrated the passing of Persia's prestige in the lines,--

"With sacred awe
The Persian law
No more shall Asia's realms revere;
To their lord's hand
At his command,
No more the exacted tribute bear.

* * * * *

Before the Ionian squadrons Persia flies,
Or sinks engulfed beneath the main;
Fallen! fallen! is her imperial power,
And conquest on her banners waits no more."

--_"Persæ," Potter's translation._

The next great world change was to be the rise of Grecia to dominion. So, although a number of kings followed Xerxes in Persia, the prophecy passes from his disastrous invasion directly to the coming of Grecia under its "mighty king," Alexander the Great.

Grecia

_Prophecy._--"A mighty king shall stand up, that shall rule with great dominion, and do according to his will. And when he shall stand up, his kingdom shall be broken, and shall be divided toward the four winds of heaven; and not to his posterity." Dan. 11:3, 4.

_History._--Alexander the Great stood up and ruled with great dominion, over a kingdom stretching from India to Grecia, with kings yet farther west sending embassies to Babylon to make submission. But in the height of his power, as the prophecy suggests, he was suddenly cut down by death. All his posterity perished, and out of the struggles of his generals for supremacy came (301 B.C.) the division of the empire toward "the four winds," as the prophecy had declared so long before. Rawlinson, the historian, says:

"A quadripartite division of Alexander's dominion was
recognized: Macedonia [west], Egypt [south], Asia Minor
[north], and Syria [stretching eastward beyond the
Euphrates]."--_"Sixth Monarchy," chap. 3._

The Kings of the North and South

Next, a rearrangement of these powers is noted; and it is this that gives us the key to the study of the closing portion of the long prophetic outline dealing with events of our own day. The narrative continues:

_Prophecy._--"The king of the south shall be strong, and one of his princes ... shall be strong above him;... his dominion shall be a great dominion." Verse 5.

_History._--The history testifies that the king of the south (Egypt, under Ptolemy) was strong; but one of the four princes was "strong above him." Seleucus, of Syria and the east, pushed his dominion northward, subduing most of Asia Minor, and extending his boundary into Thrace, on the European side, beyond the Dardanelles. Henceforward, as Mahaffy says,

"there were three great kingdoms--Macedonia, Egypt,
Syria--which lasted, each under its own dynasty, till Rome
swallowed them up."--_"Alexander's Empire," p. 89._

Thus Seleucus took the territory of the north, and the Syrian power became king of the north, its empire extending from Thrace, in Europe, through Asia Minor to Syria and the Euphrates. The seat of empire was removed from the east, and Antioch, in northern Syria, "once the third city of the world," became the famous capital.

The prophecy next foretold in remarkable detail the contests between these two strong powers, the king of the north (Syria and Asia Minor) and the king of the south (Egypt). The conflict raged back and forth till the coming of the Romans. The Holy Land was the frequent meeting place of the contending armies. The Encyclopedia Britannica describes it:

"Palestine was as of old the battle field for the king of the
north and the king of the south.... The history of these times
is lost in its details."--_Ninth edition, Vol. XV, art.
"Macedonian Empire," p. 144._

We shall not follow the details of this contest as foretold in the prophecy, nor yet the outline of events after the coming of the Roman power ended the rivalry between Syria and Egypt. It is necessary only that we fix the events and geographic terms of this early portion of the prophecy. Then we shall have the key to the closing portion, dealing with events of the last days, when the king of the north again appears.

The Modern King of the North

In the last verses of the chapter we find the king of the north a chief actor in this same region, "at the time of the end." Verse 40. And we are told that when this power comes to its end, it is the signal that the great day of God is at hand. (See Dan. 12:1.)

It becomes a vital question, therefore, what power in these last days is the king of the north, whose end is the signal of the swift ending of the world. Inspiration gives the basis for the answer. The king of the north in the early portion of the prophecy was the power that ruled in Syria and Asia Minor, from the Euphrates to the shores of the Dardanelles. The king of the north, then, of the later portion of the prophecy, must be the power that has been ruling in this same region during the time of the end.

What power has held dominion over this territory in modern times?--The Turkish or Ottoman Empire. At this time Turkey holds almost the identical dominion of the ancient king of the north--from the Euphrates to the sea, and northward over Asia Minor and the shores of the Dardanelles.

Then today Turkey is certainly the king of the north, according to the prophecy of Daniel 11.

Of the later history of the king of the north and his end and the events following it, the prophecy says:

"Tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him: therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many.

"And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him.

"And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great Prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book." Dan. 11:44, 45; 12:1.

The capital of the Turkish government.

COPYRIGHT BY UNDERWOOD & UNDERWOOD, N, Y.]

The opening verse of this scripture describes exactly the history of Turkey in modern times. Turkey's disquietude has come because of tidings out of the east and out of the north. In both these directions there has been a pushing back of the Turkish frontier, particularly in the north. Again and again, during this time of the end, Turkey has gone forth with fury to resist these encroachments and prevent the loss of territory.

The prophecy indicates that in some of these struggles the king of the north will yet transfer his capital:

"He shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain."

Removal to Jerusalem

This prophecy can mean nothing else than that the king of the north will eventually set up his headquarters in Jerusalem; for Jerusalem is "the holy mountain" of the Scriptures. Zech. 8:3.

It is a wise counsel that says, "Tread lightly in the details of unfulfilled prophecy." Just how events are to turn, by what route or processes the steps are to be taken, it is useless to conjecture. But there the prophecy stands. Every word of the early portion of the prophetic outline has been fulfilled to the letter in the history of the ancient empires battling century after century over this region. Every word spoken of the final scenes will as certainly be fulfilled.

In view of this prophecy,--that Jerusalem is yet to be made the headquarters of the king of the north,--it becomes highly significant that the Mohammedans regard Jerusalem as a sacred city. According to Mohammedan tradition, Jerusalem is to play a leading part in the closing history of that people. Hughes, in his "Dictionary of Islam," article "Jerusalem," summarizes the teaching:

"In the last days there will be a general flight to Jerusalem."

Speaking of Jerusalem, an old Arab commentator on the Koran, Mukaddasi (A.D. 985), said:

"As to the excellence of the city. Why, is not this to be the
place of marshaling on the day of judgment, where the gathering
together and the appointment will take place? Verily Makkah
[Mecca] and Al Madina have their superiority by reason of the
Ka'abah and the prophet,--the blessing of Allah be upon him and
his family!--but, in truth, on the day of judgment both cities
will come to Jerusalem, and the excellencies of them all will
then be united."--_Le Strange, "Palestine under the Moslems,"
p. 85._

"He shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain." Dan. 11:45.]

Thus Moslem doctrinal teaching and tradition both point out Jerusalem as the rallying place of Moslems before the end. Again and again in recent years, as the pressure has threatened the Turkish hold on Constantinople, the thoughts of Moslems have turned toward Jerusalem as a possible capital. A few years ago a Seventh-day Adventist missionary in Constantinople wrote to his home board:

Situated in Jerusalem, on Mt. Moriah, the site of Solomon's Temple.]

"Within the past few months quite a company of people from the
Transcaucasus district have come to Ismid,--old
Nicodemia,--bringing all they possess with them. Some of them
possess considerable wealth. When asked if they were going to
settle in Ismid, they replied that they would settle nowhere
permanently at present. They stated that they had come to be
prepared to go with their leader when he left Constantinople to
go to Jerusalem."

Wherever the capital may first be set up following the forsaking of Constantinople,--and Turkish authorities, we are told, have discussed a number of possible locations in Asia Minor,--there stands the ancient prophecy as to the eventual seat of the king of the north,

"He shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain."

Following that, what comes? The prophecy declares,

"Yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him."

What Comes When Turkey Falls

The fury of his goings forth "utterly to make away many," the moving of his capital from one place to another, avail nothing in the end. "He shall come to his end, and none shall help him."

The suggestion of the prophecy is that this power has hitherto been helped to stand. Here again every suggestion of the prophetic language finds its response in history. Through these later years of the time of the end the Ottoman Empire has been helped to stand, by either one power or another, or by some combination of powers. The late Lord Salisbury, while premier of Britain, thus stated the reasons for this policy of helping Turkey:

"Turkey is in that remarkable condition in which it has now
stood for half a century, mainly because the great powers of
the world have resolved that for the peace of Christendom it is
necessary that the Ottoman Empire should stand. They came to
that conclusion nearly half a century ago. I do not think they
have altered it now. The danger, if the Ottoman Empire should
fall, would not merely be the danger that would threaten the
territories of which that empire consists; it would be the
danger that the fire there lit should spread to other nations,
and should involve all that is most powerful and civilized in
Europe in a dangerous and calamitous contest. That was the
danger that was present to the minds of our fathers when they
resolved to make the integrity and independence of the Ottoman
Empire a matter of European treaty, and that is a danger which
has not passed away."--_Mansion House speech, Nov. 9, 1895._

The veteran premier stated the fear of modern statesmen that Turkey's fall would involve all civilization in a calamitous conflict. The prophecy pictures just such a catastrophe, in these words:

"He shall come to his end, and none shall help him. And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great Prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time."

What modern statesmen have seen impending and have sought to ward off, the ancient prophecy says will surely come to pass when the king of the north comes to his end,--a time of trouble for the nations such as never was.

In the New Testament

In the prophecy of Revelation 16, the last great clash of the nations is represented as following the fall of the power that rules the territory drained by the Euphrates. Describing the last events in human history, under the pouring out of the vials of judgment upon the world, the prophet says:

"The sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared." Rev. 16:12.

The water of the Euphrates represents the people or power ruling by it. When anciently the Assyrians dwelt by that river and were about to invade Israel, the prophet said, "The Lord bringeth up upon them the waters of the river, strong and many, even the king of Assyria." Isa. 8:7. The waters of the Euphrates meant the Assyrian power.

Just so in this prophecy, the river stands for the people. As the Nile stood for Egypt, and the Tiber for Rome, so in all modern times the Euphrates has stood for Turkey. The "drying up" of the Euphrates must mean the ending of the Turkish power. And in the verses immediately following, Revelation pictures the gathering of the nations of the whole world to Armageddon--"the battle of that great day of God Almighty." Following Turkey's end comes the final clash of nations. The earth quakes, the cities of the nations fall, and the last judgments of God come upon a warring world.

Here, as in Daniel 12, is pictured a time of trouble for the nations such as never was, and the end of the world, when the power ruling in Syria, by the Euphrates, comes to its end.

The Approaching End

For years statesmen and observers have discussed the approaching dissolution of the Ottoman Empire. Travelers in Turkey have reported that thoughtful Turkish people held the conviction that the crisis of their nation was near at hand. Years ago Mr. Charles MacFarlane wrote:

"The Turks themselves seem generally to be convinced that their
final hour is approaching. 'We are no longer Mussulmans,--the
Mussulman saber is broken,--the Osmanlis will be driven out of
Europe by the _gaiours_, and driven through Asia to the regions
from which they first sprang. It is Kismet! We cannot resist
destiny!' I heard words to this effect from many Turks, as well
in Asia as in Europe."--_"Kismet; or the Doom of Turkey"
(London, 1853), p. 409._

A later Turkish traveler, Mr. Wilfred Scawen Blunt, says:

"Ancient prophecy and modern superstition alike point to the
return of the Crescent into Asia as an event at hand, and to
the doom of the Turks.... A well-known prediction to this
effect, which has for ages exercised its influence on the
vulgar and even on the learned Mohammedan mind,... places the
scene of the last struggle in northern Syria, at Homs, on the
Orontes. Islam is then finally to retire from the north, and
the Turkish rule to cease. Such prophecies often work their own
fulfilment."--_"Future of Islam," p. 95._

Thus native tradition and human forebodings have contemplated the break-up of the Turkish power, as the course of the years has witnessed the shrinkage of its territory and the ever-increasing difficulty of its position.

Now and then there has been a renewal of Turkey's vigor and prestige; then again its situation has been rendered yet more precarious. It has been a buffer between the clashing interests of the great powers. Speaking of Turkey's difficult position in this respect, the London _Fortnightly Review_, May, 1915, expressed a common view thus:

"When once the nations of Europe set foot in Asia Minor, the
pace of Turkey's further downfall will be set not so much by
Turkey's strength or weakness as by the mutual jealousies of
the occupying powers."

The storm clouds hang ever low over the Near East; while above all the din of wars and rumors of wars, the voice of divine prophecy declares that when this power comes to its end, the closing events in human history will quickly follow.

The cross on which the peace of the world has been crucified.]

The solemn truth rings in our ears like a trumpet peal; the age-long Eastern Question is hastening on to its final solution, and its solution brings the end of the world.

In the light of the "sure word of prophecy" the developments of our day in the East become more than matters of grave political concern to statesmen and observers of affairs generally; they are matters of deepest personal, eternal interest to every soul. In watching the trend of international affairs, we are watching the doing of the last things among the nations.

As these things are seen coming to pass exactly as the prophecy foretold, we recognize them as God's call to men in the last generation to turn to Him and prepare their hearts to meet the coming Lord. Let no one think to wait until he sees Turkey come to its end before making his peace with God. The end of this power, as described in Revelation 16, comes during the falling of the seven last plagues. And the last verse of the preceding chapter shows that Christ's ministry for sinners in the heavenly temple has ended before the plagues begin to fall. Human probation will already have closed. The solemn decree will then have been issued in heaven:

"He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still. And, behold, I come quickly." Rev. 22:11, 12.

"Now is the accepted time," calls the Spirit; "now is the day of salvation." 2 Cor. 6:2. We have not to make ourselves ready. "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 1 John 1:9. Our part is to believe and confess; His part is to forgive and cleanse and make us ready for the coming kingdom.

The Sinner's Plea

With broken heart and contrite sigh,
A trembling sinner, Lord, I cry;
Thy pardoning grace is rich and free:
O God, be merciful to me!

Nor alms, nor deeds that I have done,
Can for a single sin atone;
To Calvary alone I flee:
O God, be merciful to me!

And when, redeemed from sin and hell,
With all the ransomed throng I dwell,
My raptured song shall ever be,
"God has been merciful to me!"

--_Cornelius Elven._

The whole world involved in the last great clash of nations. "The nations were angry, and Thy wrath is come." Rev. 11:18.]

"He gathered them together into a place called ... Armageddon." Rev. 16:16.]

ARMAGEDDON

THE FINAL CLASH OF EARTHLY EMPIRES

"We are living, we are dwelling,
In a grand and awful time,
In an age on ages telling,
To be living is sublime.
Hark! the waking up of nations,
Gog and Magog to the fray;
Hark! what soundeth? Is creation
Groaning for her latter day?"

The sure word of prophecy that foretold the rise and fall of ancient empires, and outlined the general course of world history through the ages, describes also the last great struggle of the nations.

The proverb says, "Peace is the dream of the wise, but war is the history of man." And divine prophecy assures us that the history of this present world will end amid scenes of conflict.

Many in our time have come to think that civilization must reach a better way of composing the rivalries of the nations. The prophecy forewarns us otherwise. In fact, the prophetic word points to the talk of peace and safety amid preparations for war, as a distinct sign of the latter days.

"In the last days," Isaiah says, "many people shall go and say:"

"They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more." Isa. 2:2-4.

This is what "many people" were to be saying. But the real conditions in the last days are described as exactly the opposite. The prophet Joel describes the real spirit of the world in these times:

"Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles [the nations]: 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." Joel 3:9, 10.

The context shows that the prophet is speaking of the last times, when "the day of the Lord is near." Verse 14.

The Prophecy Fulfilling

This is what we have seen in our time, as never before in the history of man,--the product of the plowshare and the pruning hook being turned into instruments of war.

About twenty-five years ago the late Marquis of Salisbury, speaking as a man grown gray in the service of the state, asked a London audience the question, "What is the great change that marks this time as different from the times when most of us were young men?" The aged statesman answered his own question, saying that it was the arming of the nations, the swift race upon which the powers had then recently entered, to increase their naval and military armaments. It is a sign of our times, answering to the prophetic forecast.

Throughout the present generation the thoughtful have watched with grave forebodings the preparations of the nations for war. Queen Alexandra, of Britain, once said of it:

"I was educated in the school of a king who was, before all
things, just; and I have tried, like him, always to preach love
and charity, I have always mistrusted warlike preparations, of
which nations seem never to tire. Some day this accumulated
material of soldiers and guns will burst into flames in a
frightful war that will throw humanity into mourning on earth
and grieve our universal Father in heaven."

As the race of armaments went forward on a scale never before thought of, statesmen and writers began to make use of the word "Armageddon" to describe the conflict that they saw was inevitable. Years ago the London _Contemporary Review_ said:

"Odd things are happening everywhere.... Russia, Germany,
England--these are great names; they palpitate with great
ideas; they have vast destinies before them, and millions of
armed men in their pay, all awaiting Armageddon."

In June, 1909, Lord Rosebery, in a speech before a press convention in London, commented gravely upon the significance of the feverish haste with which the nations were arming themselves, "as if for some great Armageddon, and that in a time of the profoundest peace."

To quote from a popular American magazine, of the same year:

"Today all Europe is divided into two armed camps, waiting
breathlessly for the morrow with its Armageddon."--_Everybody's
Magazine, November, 1909._

Thus, everywhere, observers saw that the rivalry of interests among the nations was leading to a conflict so overwhelmingly vast that only the Scriptural word "Armageddon," with its appeal to the imagination, seemed adequately suggestive of its proportions.

Every passing year added to the intensity of feeling and the antagonism of interests. In 1911 the London _Nineteenth Century and After_ said:

Photograph taken from the Manhattan Bridge. New York.

COPYRIGHT BY UNDERWOOD & UNDERWOOD. N.Y.]

"Never was national and racial feeling stronger upon earth than
it is now. Never was preparation for war so tremendous and so
sustained. Never was striking power so swift and so terribly
formidable.... The shadow of conflict and of displacement
greater than any which mankind has known since Attila and his
Huns were stayed at Châlons, is visibly impending over the
world. Almost can the ear of imagination hear the gathering of
the legions for the fiery trial of peoples, a sound vast as the
trumpet of the Lord of hosts."--_Quoted in the Literary Digest,
May 6, 1911._

Soldiers bringing in two wounded captives.

PHOTO BY CENTRAL PHOTO SERVICE. N.Y.]

What the ancient prophecy foretold--the preparing of war in the last days, the waking up and arming of the nations--we have seen fulfilling before our eyes in this generation.

Satanic Agencies at Work

In prophecies of the gathering of the nations for the last great struggle, Inspiration draws aside the veil, and allows us to see the agencies that have been stirring up the world for the war. As the prophet John was shown in vision the scenes of the last days, he saw the invisible powers of Satan, "the spirits of devils," going forth "unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty." Rev. 16:14.

Earnest-minded statesmen have lamented their helplessness to combat the forces and influences pressing the world on toward conflict. In one of his last speeches as premier of Great Britain, the late Marquis of Salisbury was defending yet further calls for army and navy appropriations. He said:

"For years public opinion was in favor of a pacific policy, but
now that state of opinion has passed away. The tide has turned,
and who am I, and who are we, that we should attempt to stem
the tide? If the tide has turned, we shall have to go with it.
We are in the presence of forces far larger than we can wield."

What those forces were, the aged statesman did not recognize, but the prophecy tells us. The prophet was shown the evil spirits from Satan going forth everywhere as the end nears, to stir up the whole world to the last great conflict.

Sir Edward Grey, British foreign secretary, described these agencies very accurately. Speaking in the House of Commons, Nov. 27, 1911, he said:

"It is really as if in the atmosphere of the world there were
some mischievous influence at work, which troubles and excites
every part of it."

It is all coming to pass exactly as the sure word of prophecy foretold.

The conviction that great and decisive events are at hand has taken possession of many hearts in all the world. When the European war broke out in 1914, on a scale unprecedented in human history, it was no wonder that the question sprang to many lips, "Is it Armageddon?"

The question was not lightly asked. The committee of the Church Missionary Society (Church of England), one of the greatest missionary organizations in the world, sent a message to its missionaries in all lands at the outbreak of the war. In this message was a call to prepare for the coming of the Lord:

"It may be that these events will quickly usher in the return
of Christ to gather His saints together from the four quarters
of the earth.... Many see in the events preceding and
accompanying this terrible cataclysm of war the signs of our
Lord's near return. If so, blessed will that servant be whom
his Lord when He cometh shall find giving 'their food in due
season' to those fellow servants who have been put in his
charge."--_Church Missionary Review, November, 1914._

Timely as this call was, it was evident, from the prophetic scriptures, that the conflict then opening could not be the Armageddon of the Apocalypse, for the prelude to that final clash of nations is an event yet in the future--the downfall of a nation whose part in the closing scenes is clearly described in the prophecy of the coming Armageddon.

The end of the power which rules over the territory through which the river Euphrates flows, is the prelude to Armageddon. The prophecy says:

"The sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the East might be prepared." Rev. 16:12.

Next follows the gathering of "the whole world" to "the battle of that great day of God Almighty." Verse 14.

Through all modern times Turkey has been identified with the Euphrates. The region of Syria and Asia Minor, long held by Turkey, has been the historic meeting place of the East and the West. In the London _Fortnightly Review_, May, 1915, Mr. J.B. Firth wrote:

"When, with the fall of Ottoman sovereignty at Constantinople,
the Turk is driven out of Europe, there will arise once more
the eternal question of the possession of Asia Minor. That land
is the corridor between Europe and Asia, along which have
passed most of the European conquerors--the Russians alone
excepted--who have invaded Asia, and most of the Asiatic
conquerors who have invaded Europe."

The fall of the Turkish power in this Euphrates region will, in some manner, prepare the way for "the kings of the East" to come up to the final conflict.

The Awakening of the East

The same spirit that has been stirring up the West in preparation for the contest has been working in the East also. Year after year observers have pointed out the great changes taking place in Asia. September, 1909, the London _Contemporary Review_ said:

"The whole of Asia is in the throes of rebirth. At last we may
see these three--the yellow race, the Indian race, and the
Arab-Persian Mohammedan race. And all that is making for the
Armageddon."

A writer in the May, 1913, issue of the London _Nineteenth Century and After_, reviewing the situation at the close of the Balkan War, said:

"A new spirit is abroad in the East. It arose on the shores of
the Pacific when Japan proved that the great powers of Europe
are not invulnerable. North and south and west it has spread,
rousing China out of centuries of slumber, stirring India into
ominous questioning, reviving memories of past glory in Persia,
breeding discontent in Egypt, and luring Turkey onto the
rocks."

With all the nations stirred up by the spirit agencies of the god of this world, the prophet next saw the armies of earth gathering to the last great battle. The prophecy continues:

"And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon." Rev. 16:16.

Armageddon means the hill, or mount, of Megiddo, which overlooks the plain of Esdraelon, the historic battle ground of northern Palestine. Carmack says of it:

"Megiddo was the military key of Syria; it commanded at once
the highway northward to Phoenicia and Coele-Syria and the
road across Galilee to Damascus and the valley of the
Euphrates. It was moreover the chief town in a district of
great fertility, the contested possession of many races. The
vale of Kishon and the region of Megiddo were inevitable battle
fields. Through all history they retained that qualification;
there many of the great contests of southwestern Asia have been
decided. In the history of Israel it was the scene of frequent
battles. From such association the district achieved a dark
nobility; it was regarded as a pre-destined place of blood and
strife; the poet of the Apocalypse has clothed it with awe as
the ground of the final conflict between the powers of light
and darkness."--_"Pre-Biblical Syria and Palestine," p. 82._

Thus Armageddon, as the "military key of Syria," marks Palestine and the Near East as the great international storm center in the final conflict.

The Political Storm Center

In vision, nearly two thousand years ago, the prophet saw the forces of the last days gathering around this pivotal region. Today observers recognize the eastern Mediterranean as indeed the pivotal point around which international interests involving East and West naturally revolve.

Some years ago, in discussing railway development in Asia and Africa, and the great highways of sea transportation, the London _Fortnightly Review_ said:

"Palestine is the great center, the meeting of the roads.
Whoever holds Palestine, commands the great lines of
communication, not only by land, but also by sea."

Again, the Manchester _Guardian_, emphasizing the importance attaching to this strategic center, said during the great war:

"Egypt, as things are,--and the fact cannot be too often
emphasized,--is the weak spot in our system of imperial defense
by sea power. Not until Palestine is in our possession can
Egypt be regarded as safe."--_Quoted in Literary Digest, Feb.
12, 1916, p. 369._

Other nations have recognized the strategic value of a territory so situated. Thus political considerations make this region pointed out by the prophecy a center of conflicting interests. Hogarth, in his book, "The Near East," calls it "the time-honored storm center of the eastern Mediterranean."

The Religious Storm Center

To the conflict of political interests is added the rivalry of religious sentiment. Commenting on the religious associations of Palestine in relation to the international political situation, the London _Spectator_ some years ago stated the matter thus:

"People often ask how it is that the future of Palestine
presents such difficulties. The reason is simply that
Jerusalem--you cannot separate Jerusalem from Palestine--is
the sacred city of so many creeds and warring faiths. Not only
is it the holy place of all the Christian churches,--and two of
them quarrel bitterly over it, the Greeks and the Latins,--but
it is also one of the most sacred places in the Mohammedan
world. Mecca and Medina are hardly more sacred than the Mosque
of Omar. That is a fact which is often ignored by Europeans,
who forget that to turn the Mohammedans out of the temple
inclosure would disturb the whole Moslem world, from the
Straits Settlements to Albania. We must never forget that
Mohammedan pilgrims from India visit Jerusalem, just as
Christian pilgrims visit it from Europe. Lastly, Jerusalem is
profoundly sacred to the Jews, and the Jews are beginning to be
locally numerous and important. Most certainly there are no
elements of difficulty wanting in the problem of the future of
Palestine."

History records the fact that rivalry over the care of the traditional holy places helped to precipitate one European war--that of the Crimea.

In the study of the Eastern Question, we have seen that the prophecy of Daniel 11 marks Jerusalem as still a storm center in the closing scenes. A British consul in Jerusalem, in the days following the Crimean War, set forth suggestively his view of one of the factors in the Eastern Question. He wrote:

"The very heart and kernel of the Eastern Question can only be
reached in the Holy City, Jerusalem, where the Eastern and
Western churches are still wrestling as of old for the
mastery.... Now as heretofore, disguise the object as they may,
they are striving for a prize which has not been destined by
divine Providence for either; and this prize is no less than a
virtual dominion over the Christian world, from a throne of
government within the sanctuaries of the Holy City; and the
possession of that throne would involve possession of the key
to universal dominion."--_"Stirring Times: Records from
Jerusalem Consulate Chronicles," by James Finn, introductory
note by editor, p. xxiii._

Foretold in Prophecy

By every consideration--political, racial, and religious--the Near East supplies all the elements for involving the whole world when once the sweeping displacements begin which the prophecy foretold, and for which statesmen in our day have sought to prepare.

Long ages ago the prophet of God, in vision on the Isle of Patmos, was shown the clash of interests and the gathering of the nations around this historic center. Before our eyes today we see events tending to give to this region the very character assigned to it by the prophecy. It was written in the sure word of prophecy in order that, as the events foretold are seen approaching, men may believe and turn to God, and find salvation from the things coming upon the earth.

Into the prophecy of this sixteenth chapter of Revelation, describing the gathering of forces to Armageddon, our Saviour interjects the warning and the appeal:

"Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame." Verse 15.

The last earthly events that the prophecy is dealing with--the pouring out of the seven last plagues, and the clash of Armageddon--come after probation closes. The close of probation, the passing of the ministry of Christ in the heavenly temple, will come as a thief, unannounced. Our only safety is in yielding heart and life to him now for cleansing, and accepting from his hand the garments of his own righteousness, freely offered to every one.

What Comes with Armageddon

Whatever ambitions or aims may be the impelling motives when the gathering to the great conflict comes, one thing is certain: Armageddon is to bring triumph and world dominion to no earthly power. As the nations gather, the Lord intervenes from heaven, and the history of the kingdoms of this world is closed at last. The prophet tells the sequel to Armageddon:

"He gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon. And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done. And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great. And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of His wrath. And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great." Rev. 16:16-21.

The fall of the Turkish power is the prelude to the gathering of the nations to the battle of Armageddon. And Armageddon is the prelude to the end of the world and Christ's glorious coming as King of kings and Lord of lords. The armies gathered to battle for supremacy find themselves suddenly arrayed against the armies of heaven. Another prophecy describes the scene when Christ is revealed:

"The kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; and said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: for the great day of His wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?" Rev. 6:15-17.

Again, as the great searchlight of divine prophecy lights up the way before us, we see by the course of present-day events that the end is drawing very near. By what sudden turn of affairs the last things to be done in history may be set in motion, none can foresee. The Saviour admonishes every soul, "Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh." Matt. 24:44.

It is for this time of waiting, especially, that Christ spoke the parable of the ten virgins who waited for the bridegroom. All sincerely wanted to meet him; all expected to be ready. But when the cry was raised, "Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him!" only five were ready. The others lacked the oil that was to give them light. We know what the oil represents--the genuine heart experience of the grace and love of Christ.

"They that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut." Matt. 25:10.]