[8] GN vol. 21, no. 6, 1 June 1930

Notable Events.

REMARKABLE PORTRAITS OF 1929.

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Mr. Thomas M. Chalmers has written an illuminating article in the November issue of the "Jewish Missionary Magazine," pointing out that seven notable events relating to Israel, Rome, and the idea of universal peace, have marked the present year as one of great significance to students of prophecy. He counts as the most startling event of the year the signing of the agreement between the Pope and Mussolini last February. This step, he believes, marks the resumption of Rome to universal power. He foresees in this the way being prepared for the speedy fulfilment of Rev. 16 and 17. He says, "The Papacy will mount the Beast. In her exultation and drunken blindness she will use the temporal power to crush out all opposition to Romanism. Her garments will be dyed a deeper red with the blood of the saints of God. The Antichrist will arise to take the sceptre of the revived Roman Empire. Two autocracies will find Rome too small for them. The Beast will devour the Scarlet Woman and shake off all restraint and assume divine honors for itself.

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The Budding Fig Tree.

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The second significant event is the announcement made last April of the revival of the Jewish Sanhedrin. Its restoration will become a factor, Mr. Chalmers believes, "in preparing that group of Jews in the land who will join the Antichrist in the league he makes for seven years." The third event is the foundation of the Jewish Agency. Last August, at Zurich, in Switzerland, the Zionist and non-Zionist Jews came to a definite, agreement as regards the forming of this agency for making Palestine a national home for the Jews. This led to the fourth event, the Arab-Jewish riots. Mr. Chalmers quotes a leading British official who knows conditions in Palestine: "If we (the British) should clear out of here, the Moslems would probably cut the Jews' throats the first week, and possibly the Christians' throats the next." Mr. Chalmers believes the recent riots are a foreshadowing of the attempt to wipe out the Jews as a nation, prophesied in the 83rd Psalm.

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Paving the Way for Antichrist.

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The fifth significant event is the arrangements being made for the proposed International Bank. "It seems a great step towards the vast world combinations in finance and commerce which will dominate the future, and which will have their final centre in Babylon, on the Euphrates. As merger after merger appears in the commercial world, it is easy to visualise a world controlled thereby by one man, the Antichrist." The sixth significant event is the ratifying of the Kellogg Peace Pact, and the peace parleys between President Hoover and Premier MacDonald. "Men of the world may soon be able to acclaim the success of world leaders, declaring in boastful words, "Peace and Safety!" The seventh is the proposal for the United States of Europe, made by M. Briand, until recently Premier of France, before the representatives of 27 nations at The Hague.

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World Conditions at Present.

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There is a thoughtful article in December "World's Work," written by Mr. Frank H. Simmonds, entitled "Storm Signals in London." Mr. Simmonds states that Europe's recovery during the past five years has been largely due to the work of three statesmen—Streseman of Germany (the Bismarck of Peace), Briand of France, and Chamberlain of Great Britain. Because of the death of the former and of the removal from office of the last two statesmen, the men who have labored hardest to bring about peace and harmony in Europe are removed from the sphere of its politics; and with their passing, the policy they have pursued is being undone by those who have followed them.

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A Great Blunder.

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At Locarno the experts of Great Britain, France, Belgium, Germany, and Italy, together with those of America, came to a perfect agreement concerning the plan for German reparations. But at The Hague recently, Philip Snowden, Great Britain's new Laborite Chancellor of the Exchequer, fussed and haggled until he managed to get £2,000,000 more for his country than the experts declared was their proper share. Snowden returned to England, the hero of all the British Nationalists; but when Briand went back to France, he was "the fore-ordained victim of French Nationalism." The French Chamber was indignant at his submission to the British demands, and turned him out of office. German Nationalists and Italian Nationalists are likewise indignant at Great Britain; and, as a result, Mr. Simmonds declares, "The whole spirit of reconciliation is abolished," and to-day cooperation, if not absolutely impossible, is "incredibly difficult." The "entente cordiale" that existed between the various countries of Europe has been sacrificed for a sum that Henry Ford would consider just a fair month's profit, and, as a result, clouds are gathering over Europe.

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A Volcano of Unrest.

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There are ominous clouds hanging over Palestine also, to judge from the contents of a bundle of Jewish and Arabic papers the writer has recently received from Jerusalem. This spirit of unrest can best be judged by a telegram sent by leading Arabs to the League of Nations: "The Executive Committee of the Palestine Arab Congress states that this revolt is the fourth that has occurred in Palestine, this being the best proof that the Zionist policy of the British Administration is a failure. Many Arabs joined the Allied Powers in the Great War, and many of their sons were killed fighting for independence, but the Arabs got nothing out of it except the following: Their country was divided; these divided territories, against their wishes, were given to different Mandatory Powers; Palestine is governed by a foreign Power, with all authority vested in a High Commissioner; Zionists aim at annihilating the Arabs and establishing a Jewish Government. All these things, and especially the action of the Zurich Congress, which strengthened the Jewish aspirations, are the reasons for this revolt, for former revolts, and for many future revolts which will surpass those which have already occurred."

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What Is Back of the Palestine Agitation?

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Mr. S. B. Rohold, a Christian Jew, declares in the "London Christian" what he believes to be back of the Arab agitation against the Jews. "The troubles began in 1918, soon after the Balfour Declaration, when every endeavor was made to induce the Jews to believe that England would not carry out the terms of the mandate, and that France would offer better conditions. The Jews, however, refused to give credence to the unworthy suggestions. At that time the Greek Orthodox Church was on the verge of bankruptcy. She was Rome's greatest rival, for the Papacy regarded Protestant missions in Palestine as of little account. The reason is once more apparent when we remember that the Greek Church owns the majority of the holy places. Rome thought at that time that she was in a position to take advantage of the financial embarrassment of the Greek Church to make a special offer to the patriarch (Dimianos). Rome offered to assume responsibility for all his Church's debts, and to recognise him as the sole patriarch of Palestine, subject to the

[9] GN vol. 21, no. 6, 1 June 1930

important condition that he should recognise the supreme authority of the Pope of Rome.

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Foiled by a Jew.

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"To his honor, be it said, the old patriarch refused, and so Rome set about attempting to bankrupt the Greek Church in earnest. When, as it seemed, everything was ready for liquidation, and the Papacy (the only party possessing funds) was confident of buying up everything, the plot was frustrated by the unexpected intervention of the Jewish High Commissioner, Sir Herbert Samuel. He declared a moratorium, and set up a commission to deal with the Greek Church's finances. Sir Herbert, moreover, wrote to the King of Roumania, pointing out to him that, as the Czar of Russia (who had been virtually head of the Greek Church) was dead, he (King Ferdinand) was his natural successor. Thus it came about that a Jewish High Commissioner foiled the Romish plot. It is not surprising that soon after this, the strongest opposition was started to the whole scheme to found a Jewish national home in Palestine."

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The Shadow of Rome.

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Mr. Rohold continues: "A significant sidelight upon the present situation is the fact that, of six Arabic newspapers in Palestine, five have so-called Christian proprietors and editors. It is no secret that strong efforts were made in influential circles during the whole of last year to have the Palestinian Mandate transferred to Italy. The Recent Concordat has made the Pope a temporal sovereign who needs a State. Palestine has always been regarded by the Papacy as its own special domain. Thus we can easily see from which quarter the wind blows! The section of the English Press which is supporting the agitation against the, British Mandate does not realise that it is being .made the catspaw of Rome. The Jewish settlers in .Palestine know full well that, had it not been for an agitation engineered from outside the country, and coming from so-called Christian sources, the terrible troubles of recent days would not have occurred. It is to be feared that Protestant Christians generally have little realisation of the tremendous bid Rome is making to win over the Jews. A 'League of Zion' has been, formed with the avowed object of inducing the Jews to embrace Roman Catholicism. The effort has made surprising progress in Germany, Austria, Roumania, Hungary, and Poland. As a matter of fact, over 100,000 Jews have joined the Romish Church since the War, and not a few of those in Palestine have also gone over."

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Preparing for the Last Act.

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A few days ago the writer attended a meeting at the Old South Meeting House in Boston, and heard Mr. George Young, a British international lawyer, who has spent a good deal of his life in British diplomatic service (mostly in the Far East), speak on the subject of Great Britain and Palestine. Mr. Young pointed out the extraordinary changes that have taken place in Europe during the past few years, the crumbling of the German, Russian, and Turkish Empires, and he likened the spirit of unrest that has caused these changes to a stream of boiling water which is coming against a glacier. He pictured the "Great Unchanging East" as the glacier which is being reached and affected by this boiling stream. Already we have seen the great upheaval in China and also in Afghanistan. This spirit of unrest is affecting India and also the great Arab races. Like Lord Rothermere and other influential Englishmen, Mr. Young seemed to take the view— which, he said, was that of the average Englishman— that the policy of "hands off" would be the best one for Great Britain. If Great Britain should take its "hands off" Palestine and give up the mandate granted her by the League of Nations, Mussolini would certainly seek to have his "hands on" the land of Palestine, and the stage would then be set for the last act of the drama. The Romans were the power in control of that land in the days of Christ's first coming. Will they not be the power in control at the time of His second coming, and receive the judgment that is predicted when He shall come with flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God?

—S.H.F., in "Word and Work."

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PROTEST AGAINST BRITISH-ZIONIST POLICY.

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A protest against the Balfour Declaration and the British-Zionist policy was voiced by the all-Arab Congress which met at Jerusalem on October 27, and was attended by eight hundred Arabs, representing Palestine, Transjordania, Iraq, and Egypt. It was resolved to acquaint the British Commission of Inquiry of this protest, and to send to the British Colonial Office a telegram expressing lack of confidence in Sir John Chancellor. The Congress also decided to refuse to pay taxes without representation, to make every . effort to make the boycott of Jewish wares general, and to demand the withdrawal of the recent Government regulations of Jewish worship at the Wailing Wall, the repeal of the collective punishments ordinance, the dismissal of Attorney-General Bentwich, and the suspension of Jewish immigration. Should the Government fail to accede to the demands relative to the Wailing Wall, the Congress declared, the Arabs themselves would remove the ritual articles placed there by the Jews, and would consider the administration responsible for any consequences which might follow.

—"The New Palestine."

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THE LAST LOVELY MORNING.

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The last lovely morning, all blooming and fair,

Is fast onward drawing, and soon will appear.

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Chorus: While the mighty, mighty, mighty trump

Sounds, come, come away—

Oh! let us be ready to hail the glad day.

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And when that bright morning in splendor shall dawn,

Our tears shall cease flowing, our sorrows be gone.

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The Bridegroom from glory to earth shall descend;

Ten thousand bright angels around Him attend.

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The graves will be opened, the dead shall arise,

And with the Redeemer mount up to the skies.

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The saints then immortal in glory shall reign—

The bride with the Bridegroom forever remain.

—Selected.

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OUR BEING FOR HIM.

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Thou hast no tongue,

O Christ, as once of old,

To tell the story of Thy love Divine;

The story still as strange, as sweet, as true,

But there's no tongue to tell it out but mine.

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Thou hast no feet, O Christ, as once of old,

To go where Thy lost sheep in sin and sorrow pine;

Thy love is still as strong, as true, as kind,

But now, Thou hast no feet to go but mine.

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Thou hast no hand, O Christ, as once of old,

To feed the multitude with bread Divine;

Thou hast the living bread, enough for all,

But there's no hand to give it out but mine.

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And shall I use these ransomed powers of mine

For things that minister alone to me?

Oh! take my tongue, my hands, my feet, my all,

And let them live, and give, and go for Thee.

—Selected.