TO SAY THAT an outstanding feature of the present time is the almost universal spirit of unrest is to utter merely a platitude. The thing is so obtrusive as to be patent even to a frivolous mind.
Clashing of interests, conflict, upheaval and unrest are no new things in the earth. When, since the entrance of sin, did they not exist? Admitting this, however, we venture to affirm that the present epidemic of unrest and upheaval has assumed such proportions that it may justly be termed the leading feature of the age: and further, with the Bible as our guide, to anticipate that it will increase yet more.
The unrest existing today has about it two features that are worthy of notice: It is practically universal in its extent. Every country of note is afflicted with it, and most smaller countries as well. Of old it was more manifest in barbaric lands; now it is more pronounced in the civilized and richer nations. The civilization may be Eastern and ancient as in China, or Western and modern as in America and Britain: it matters not. The iron rule of Communism, slaughtering millions of human beings to attain its purpose, may appear to have abolished it; but beneath the surface it exists; and in lands of greater freedom the wind of agitation and upheaval blows strongly. It may soon become a hurricane.
The unrest today is touching every department of human thought and activity. It never did this before. Empires have risen and flourished and decayed, while repose has rested upon the world of philosophy and the applied sciences. Today violent changes are marked in all directions. Men’s minds are working with almost superhuman energy in formulating new ideas and theories—social, political and theological—and in the manufacture of wonderful contrivances.
What does it all mean? That is the question which surely must be uppermost in the mind of every sober observer. For the Christian, who bows to the Word of God, and accepts the light it sheds, there is no difficulty in discovering the answer. Human histories give us at the best imperfect details of a few of the happenings of time the Bible alone reveals to us the golden thread of Divine purpose, running through all history. Let us attempt to discern this by the guidance of the Holy Spirit of God, and so obtain the Divine answer.
Most of our readers are aware that before the Flood government did not exist. That age culminated in such violence and corruption that destruction was the only remedy—see Genesis 6:1-131And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, 2That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose. 3And the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years. 4There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown. 5And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. 7And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them. 8But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. 9These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God. 10And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. 11The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. 12And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. 13And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth. (Genesis 6:1‑13).
On the cleansed earth government was instituted in the person of Noah—see Gen. 9:1-61And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth. 2And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered. 3Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things. 4But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat. 5And surely your blood of your lives will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man; at the hand of every man's brother will I require the life of man. 6Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man. (Genesis 9:1‑6). After the breakup of Babel, the authority seems to have departed from the main line of Noah’s descendants, and each separate family began to range itself under its own tribal head, and the idea of kingship arose. There was no fresh development in regard to government on God’s part until He called His people Israel out of Egypt, that He, the great Jehovah, might exercise authority in their midst.
The moment He chose for doing this was most significant. Egypt, almost the oldest of the nations, had risen to the highest point of her glory, having expelled the alien dynasty of “Shepherd Kings,” and become united under the rule of powerful and warlike native Pharaohs, who carried their conquests to the Euphrates. Then it was that God asserted His right to His people, and smote the oppressor a heavy blow, which evidently was the beginning of decline for that empire. He carried His people, in spite of their perverseness, into the land of promise. Jehovah claimed that land as His, taking possession of it by His people. He claimed it as His, in token that the whole earth is His. Twice is He spoken of as “Lord of all the earth” in connection with the passage of the Jordan (see Josh. 3:11,1311Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth passeth over before you into Jordan. (Joshua 3:11)
13And it shall come to pass, as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests that bear the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of Jordan, that the waters of Jordan shall be cut off from the waters that come down from above; and they shall stand upon an heap. (Joshua 3:13)).
Arrived in the land of promise, the people tired of being peculiar, in having God alone as their invisible Leader, and they clamored for a visible human king. This, though a serious departure from God, was permitted, and after they had bitter experience of the man after their own hearts, God raised up David, the man after his own heart, placing him as a shepherd over His people, and extending his kingdom by crowning his arms with success. The diadem—which was indeed not that of Israel only, but of the whole world—was placed upon his brow and confirmed to his seed. For a brief time it was worn by him and by Solomon his successor.
Then came the inevitable story of decline. The kingdom was divided, only the smaller portion following the wearers of David’s diadem; and they declined in power, as the departure, in spite of occasional, God-given revivals, became more and more pronounced.
At last the end came. Zedekiah, the last wearer of the diadem—though perhaps he wore it only in name—added treachery to his many sins, and dishonored the name of his God. Whereupon, as recorded no less than three times in Scripture—2 Kings 25; 2 Chron. 36; Jer. 52. Jerusalem fell before the Babylonians, and the dominion passed into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar. Thus “the times of the Gentiles” set in.
Just at this time by the pen of the prophet Ezekiel remarkable words were written. As the diadem which was, be it remembered, not of Israel only, but rather of the whole earth, fell from the brow of the last, apostate prince of David’s line, struck thence by the hand of God in retributive judgment, these words were written. They are so important that we reproduce them in full.
“And thou, profane wicked prince of Israel, whose day is come, when iniquity shall have an end, Thus saith the Lord God: Remove the diadem, and take off the crown: this shall not be the same: exalt him that is low, and abase him that is high. I will overturn, overturn, overturn, it: and it shall be no more, until He come whose right it is, and I will give it Him” (Ezek. 21:25-2725And thou, profane wicked prince of Israel, whose day is come, when iniquity shall have an end, 26Thus saith the Lord God; Remove the diadem, and take off the crown: this shall not be the same: exalt him that is low, and abase him that is high. 27I will overturn, overturn, overturn, it: and it shall be no more, until he come whose right it is; and I will give it him. (Ezekiel 21:25‑27)).
How wonderfully illuminating! How revealing, the beam of light here thrown over the dark pages of human history since that day! The diadem has indeed been removed, and if a comprehensive history of the world could be compiled, it would prove to be but a record of the various efforts of men and nations to exalt themselves and seize upon the diadem, and of the sure and skillful way in which when they appeared to have achieved their object, God has abased and overturned them.
A vision of this was granted to Daniel, which he has recorded in chapter 7 of his prophecy. It confirmed the dream previously given to Nebuchadnezzar, recorded in chapter 2. For a brief moment it seemed as if the diadem was to belong to that great king. But exalting himself above measure, he was painfully abased in abject madness, as recorded in chapter 4. Not long after, his great Babylon fell and was overturned. So too it was with the succeeding empires—Persian, Greek and Roman. Each ran its day, and each was overturned at the end.
Since the dissolution of the Roman Empire, no great empire, holding practically the civilized earth in its grip, has been permitted to arise. True, nearly a century ago men began to talk of a British Empire, for Queen Victoria had been proclaimed Empress of India. All that is passed however; and its dissolution— if an empire really did exist—proceeds steadily. Two great wars of worldwide dimensions have taken place; and today both Asia and Europe resemble armed camps. The diadem of the earth is lost; it is “no more.” Powerful nations, that wish to regain it, hesitate; fearing lest in overturning others, they overturn themselves.
The present state of extremely unstable equilibrium cannot, however, go on forever. Not a few are aware of this and talk vaguely of a coming “Armageddon,” meaning by this a great conflict which will embroil the whole civilized earth. They appear to forget that when this word is used in Rev. 16:13-1613And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. 14For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go 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. 15Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame. 16And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon. (Revelation 16:13‑16), what is predicted is not a frightful conflict of man against man, but rather the bold and impious hurling of the united forces of men against God. It is more than possible, however, that these warnings of coming ills do herald the near approach of the real Armageddon. Their words, like those of Caiaphas in John 11:49-5249And one of them, named Caiaphas, being the high priest that same year, said unto them, Ye know nothing at all, 50Nor consider that it is expedient for us, that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not. 51And this spake he not of himself: but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus should die for that nation; 52And not for that nation only, but that also he should gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad. (John 11:49‑52), may mean more than they themselves are conscious of.
New forces of great strength have arisen in these later years. In lands, where some form of Christianity still lingers, they center themselves around the idea of “the brotherhood of man” based on “the universal fatherhood of God.” The new, progressive, humanistic theology, Unitarianism, Socialism, are all branches of this root idea. More imposing still is the atheistic Communism, which now dominates the minds and actions of great nations, containing about a third of the human race. All this in the hands of Satan may well prepare the way for the last great federation of mankind, to get ready for Anti-Christ.
Some may wish to observe that the Messiah, to whom the diadem really belongs, has already come. He has indeed: but not to assert those rights, but rather allowing man to have his hour, and the power of darkness to assert itself, that He might accomplish redemption by His death. Satan, who profanely has usurped the diadem, actually offered it to Him during the temptation in the wilderness. He refused it, and chose not that short and easy cut to glory, but the toilsome road that lay through death and resurrection— “ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into His glory?” (Luke 24:2626Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory? (Luke 24:26)).
He did, however, plainly predict the coming of another prince, who would accept a diadem—purporting to be the true diadem of the earth—from the hands of Satan. “I am come in My Father’s name, and ye receive Me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive” (John 5:4343I am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive. (John 5:43)).
In the days of the coming great trinity of evil—the dragon, the beast and the false prophet, of whom we read in Revelation 13—it will seem as if at last Ezekiel’s prophecy was reversed and nullified. Men will have federated themselves into such a condition of so called “brotherhood,” that it will only need the appearance of an unscrupulous “superman,” to seize the reins of power, and institute the most monstrous tyranny the world will ever witness. Let that state of things be reached, and what can save men from the net they have cast for their own feet? Yet a vast majority may even glory in the tyranny established. They will say, “Peace and safety,” thinking that at last the diadem is recovered so permanently, that no more overturning’s need be feared.
But, “when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them” (1 Thess. 5:33For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. (1 Thessalonians 5:3)). The last line of Ezekiel’s prophecy will find sudden fulfillment. The last great overturning will take place in the true Armageddon. First, both the beast and false prophet and their armies will be destroyed by the sudden appearing of Him, “whose right it is.” Shortly after, as we judge, the Imposing northern powers, Gog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, Tubal, and their many allies will have the tremendous overthrow, predicted in Ezekiel 38 and 39. The last and decisive overturning will have taken place.
In that day the long-lost diadem, brilliant then, not only with the gems of creation, but with the brighter jewels of redemption, will be seen upon the head of the once rejected Man of Nazareth, our adorable Lord Jesus. Thence it will never be removed for though at the end of the thousand years of His righteous reign there will be the rebellion engineered by a released Satan, as foretold in Revelation 20:7-107And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, 8And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. 9And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. 10And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. (Revelation 20:7‑10), this uprising will be instantly crushed, so that it never will become an overturning. Upon His sacred brow the diadem will have found its permanent, its eternal resting-place.
In view of these things what shall we say? Let us in the first place not be disturbed in mind, as we view the unrest and the spirit of upheaval which fills the earth today. Let us rather be concerned that we keep flying the flag of true testimony to Christ, and the Gospel which is centered in Him. God does not vary His plan of action as men invariably have to do. The instructions given by our Lord at the outset still stand good—the Holy Spirit has come and we follow the first disciples, as He said, “ye shall be witnesses unto me” (Acts 1:88But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. (Acts 1:8)).
Then further, let us not join hands with the world nor aid its schemes and movements, which, though they may not know it, are paving the way for Antichrist. Let us abide in communion with the Father and the Son, when our attitude towards the men of the world will be as the Scripture directs: we shall, as much as lies in us, “live peaceably with all men,” and instead of being overcome of evil, “overcome evil with good” (Rom. 15:18,2118For I will not dare to speak of any of those things which Christ hath not wrought by me, to make the Gentiles obedient, by word and deed, (Romans 15:18)
21But as it is written, To whom he was not spoken of, they shall see: and they that have not heard shall understand. (Romans 15:21)).
Lastly, we shall treasure in our hearts the thought that all the unrest and overturning is only, “until He come.” Shall we not turn our eyes toward the sun-rising of that long-looked for day, and say, “Even so, come, Lord Jesus.”
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