Volume 9, Number 5
WHY DO THE NATIONS WAR?
The greatest crisis of all the ages is upon the
world, and the worst phase of it has not yet been reached. The situation demands sober
reflection.
All Europe is afire, and the flames have spread to
America! Within less than three years, thirty millions of men have faced each other upon
the battlefields of Europe, and approximately seven millions of them have already fallen
victims to the murderous war. The wanton destruction of human life and treasure has
staggered humanity. The neutral nations are suffering, and the peoples of the countries at
war are enduring untold hardships. Countless widow and orphans bemoan the untimely fate of
their loved ones, and now face famine and pestilence enemies even more cruel and
relentless than cannon or sword. Even in America the conditions in many places are
becoming intolerable; the people are restless, and many women and children are frantically
crying for bread. The conditions prevailing are leading on to certain revolution and
anarchy, the like of which the world has never before known.
The Twentieth Century opened with the brightest
prospects of all times. The Clergy told us there could be no more war. Why, then, has this
horrible war come upon the world? Has it come because of the love of the people for
blood-shedding? We answer, No! for the common people did not desire the war. Is the war,
then, the result of unrighteousness, and unholy conditions prevailing in Christendom? And,
if so, who is the more to blame the kings and rulers or the clergy? In the Bible alone we
have the clear and conclusive answer. Foreknowing the course of men and nations, Jehovah,
through His Prophet, more than three thousand years ago, said: “Why do the nations
war, and the people imagine vain schemes?” Here the word “scheme” means
plan or arrangement, looking to the accomplishment of a given purpose.
THE DIVINE PLAN
The entire race came under the condemnation of death
as a result of Adam’s disobedience. Since Adam was driven from Eden man has vainly
sought life everlasting, a happy home and a government of equity and righteousness. God
has a great Scheme, or Plan, to give these very things to man, and is causing it to be
worked out in His own due time.
When Jesus came to earth this Scheme, or Plan, for
the first time was presented by Him and the Apostles, as outlined in the Scriptures.
Briefly, it is this:
That redemption and forgiveness of sins come
through the sacrificial merit of Jesus, the acceptance of which is the only way to
life, happiness of home and other righteous desires;
That it was necessary for Jesus to die and to
arise from the dead to provide the Purchase-Price for man’s redemption;
That Jesus, as a Divine being would come a second
time, to establish His Kingdom;
That during the period from His First Coming to His
Second Coming He would gather out from the world the members of His Body, called the
Church, regardless of creed or denomination;
That His Kingdom could not be established until His
Second Coming;
That His Kingdom is not of “this present evil
world,” or order of things;
That all of His followers should pray, “Thy
Kingdom come,” and keep themselves separate and distinct from worldly schemes;
That
all Christians who faithfully follow the Master are His
ambassadors, and their duty is to declare the Message of His Kingdom and the blessings it
will bring to all mankind.
RESPONSIBILITY OF THE
CLERGY
The lawyer who deceives his client, suppresses the
truth concerning the case, and causes him to lose his property, is properly denounced as a
fraud. The ambassador of a nation who suppresses the truth concerning his government, or
delivers its secrets to another government, is justly labeled a traitor and is prosecuted
for treason.
The highest office that any man can hold on this
earth is that of an honest preacher of the Gospel. It is equally true that the disloyal
and unfaithful minister who suppresses the Truth and leads the people into darkness is the
most reprehensible of all wrong-doers. There are good lawyers and bad lawyers, and there
are good preachers and bad preachers. Any preacher who objects to an examination and
discussion of his teachings places himself in the category of bad ones, because his
attitude proves that his teachings will not bear the light.
Every man who has assumed to be a minister of the
Gospel has thereby assumed the office of ambassador of the Lord Jesus Christ and His
Kingdom. The solemn duty then devolves upon him to lead the people in the right way,
according to the teachings of the great Master.
There have been and there are yet some good, faithful
preachers; but alas, the great majority of them have been and are disloyal to the Lord and
His cause and have suppressed the Truth and led the people into darkness!
The fixed laws of Jehovah cannot be violated with
impunity, either by individuals or by nations. The Apostles were faithful teachers of the
Message of Messiah’s Kingdom. Many Christians who followed them likewise faithfully
taught the Truth. Early in the Fourth Century, ambitious men, claiming to be teachers of
the Bible and ambassadors of Christ, put aside the Plan of God and began to teach their
own schemes, contrary to God’s arrangement. Christian people of this day, whether
Catholic or Protestant, are in no wise responsible for the schemes, or plans, of men
promulgated centuries ago, when first the Catholic and later the Protestant churches were
organized. But every fairminded person should examine these schemes, or plans, with a view
to seeing whether or not they are in harmony with God; and, if not, to consider what
relation they bear to the great trouble that is now upon the world.
The Clergy, as distinguished from the laity, or
common people, were organized about the year 325. In 529 the Clergy System, claiming to be
the Church, assumed temporal power, organized armies and went forth to fight and destroy
those who dared resist their unrighteous schemes. They deprived the common people of the
Bible, issued their own statements of belief, or creeds, and required the people to
believe and follow these. Briefly stated, the scheme, or plan, put forth by the Clergy of
that day and followed since is:
That the wages of sin is not death, but purgatory or
eternal torture; that the Clergy have power to forgive sins and to pray men out of
purgatory, which they pretend to do for a money consideration; that the Pope rules as the
Vicegerent of Christ, and therefore Christ’s Kingdom, or Government, has long been in
operation in the earth; that the kings rule by Divine right, and that this right to rule
is derived from the clergy, as the representatives of the Lord; that the province of the
Church, composed of the clergy, is to convert all the world to believe in their doctrines.
SPURIOUSNESS OF
RULING BY DIVINE RIGHT
In the year 1517, Protestantism had its birth. For a
time the Protestant Church sought to reform and to teach the Bible, as best its teachers
understood; but later the Protestant clergy began to mix religion and politics, and the
kings of Europe were taught by them, as well as by the Catholic hierarchy, that they held
their thrones by Divine right and that the Clergy were the proper spiritual advisors of
the kings of earth. Every kingdom of Europe has its national religion, and those kingdoms
among whom the name of Christ is held, are designated as “Christendom,” which,
in short, means Christ’s Kingdom.
The Clergy, both Catholic and Protestant, have taught
the kings of earth that they rule by Divine right and hence can do no wrong. Long ago it
was incorporated in the common law of England, “The king can do no wrong.” Every
student of Blackstone will recall reading this statement when he began to study law. It
seemed strange that a man could do no wrong but the explanation has been, and is, that the
king, ruling by Divine Right, and deriving this right through the clergy, is the
Lord’s representative, and therefore all his acts are right.
Relying upon the advice of their spiritual advisers,
the kings have reasoned thus: We must extend our territory and increase our commerce, and
to accomplish this we must have great armies and navies. War may be necessary, and much
property may be destroyed and many of our subjects lose their lives; but our course is
right, because our spiritual advisers have told us so.
The rulers, therefore, forced the people to bear the
burden of taxation to provide navies and armies, and then sent their respective subjects
forth to kill each other in a Christian (?) manner.
As these have gone to war, the clergy have stood by
the kings and said, in substance, “Push on your war of destruction; God is with you,
and we will pray His blessings upon your army.” In Germany the Clergy pray God that
He will bless their armies and enable them to destroy the English; in Great Britain the
clergymen pray God for a blessing upon the British armies, that they may be enabled to
wipe the Germans off the face of the earth. Which class of the clergy does He hear?
The clergy have urged the young men to enter this
war; and in order that other generations might be born to fight and die, they have called
upon the young men to first marry and beget children before going to the battle-field,
offering to perform the marriage ceremony free of charge. To perform any service free is
an unusual thing for preachers. What a moral degeneracy has come upon the nations at the
advice of the clergy! Notwithstanding the fact that the Lord has taught that no murderer
shall enter His Kingdom, the clergy teach that he who dies while engaged in war upon the
battle-field has an abundant entrance into Heaven.
As an example of this, the public press reports a
recent discourse by Dr. Gordon, the leading clergyman of Canada, in which he said in
substance:
“The uniform of King George upon a soldier boy
is a sure passport to Heaven, and God Himself cannot keep a young man out of Heaven who
dies with this uniform upon him.”
And yet that clergyman claims to be an ambassador of
the Prince of Peace!
For a long time, claiming to teach the Bible, and
posing as preachers of the Gospel, which men so sorely need for their comfort, the great
majority of the modern clergymen have departed therefrom, and now hold to and teach
doctrines utterly subversive of the Bible. For the past quarter of a century a great tidal
wave of infidelity has swept over the so-called “Christian world” not the
blasphemous atheism advocated by Ingersoll and Payne, but an infidelity of a more subtle
character, represented in the scholarship of the modern clergymen, generally known as
“Higher Criticism” and “Evolution.” The teaching of such doctrines has
destroyed faith in the inspiration of the Bible as God’s Word of Truth, and has
turned the people away from the teachings of Jesus and the Apostles. Our colleges and
universities are hotbeds of such dangerous brands of infidelity, and its blighting
influence has permeated our public schools.
PROTESTANTISM NOW
MERELY THE “ISM” WITHOUT THE
“PROTEST”
The Protestantism of our day is not
the result of the great Reformation, but of its decline and failure. It is merely the
“ism” without the “protest.”
The Apostle Paul points out that the statements of
prophecy set forth in the Old Testament would have a special application and fulfillment
at the close of the Gospel Age. We are now in that time. The word “prophet”
means preacher, or one who proclaims; whereas it is the word “seer” that
represents those who predict things to come. Concerning those who suppress the Truth,
teaching faith-destroying doctrines and thereby ensnaring the people, the Lord has said:
“Among My (professed) people are found wicked men; they lie in wait as he who sets a
snare; they set a trap (Higher Criticism, Evolution and other worldly theories destructive
of faith in the Bible) to catch men; they are waxen fat; they shine (modern clergymen
claim to be rich in wisdom and need no teaching, and they love to shine before men); they
pass by the deeds of the wicked (they approve the wrongful acts of kings and rulers
against the interests of the common people and keep silent respecting the sins of their
wealthy and influential members). Shall I not visit them for these things? saith the Lord.
Shall not My soul be avenged on such a nation as this? A wonderful and horrible thing is
committed in the land. The prophets (preachers) preach falsely, and the priests bear rule
by their means, and the people love to have it so.” Jer. 5:26-29
Thus the Lord fearfully arraigns those who suppress
the Truth and by their selfish schemes ensnare men in their doctrines, contrary to
God’s way. The Lord points out that if these professed ambassadors of Christ had been
faithful in teaching His Word of Truth the present great and horrible war would have been
averted. Jer. 23:19-22
CLERGY MORE
REPREHENSIBLE THAN THE KINGS
Of course, there are
exceptions to the rule, and there are some good, honest clergymen in the world. But alas,
the majority of them, we fear, belong to the other class! The Scriptures point out that
both the kings and the clergy are responsible for this war, but that the clergy are even
more reprehensible, because it was their duty to know God’s Plan and to tell it to
the people. But they have refused to learn it and failed to tell it to others.
Concerning the responsibility for this war, Rabbi
Wise, of New York City, recently said:
“The failure of the churches and synagogues to
maintain leadership over the people was the cause of the present war. They have enthroned
a war devil in place of God. They are satisfied to be a mere item of social organization
and to defend their countries and rulers, just or unjust.”
Rev. Dr. Peter Ainslie, Pastor of the Christian
Temple at Baltimore, recently said in a public sermon:
“More than to any other source the cause of the
great war lies at the door of the Church.”
UNRIGHTEOUS
ECCLESIASTICAL SCHEMES AN ABOMINATION TO JEHOVAH
So numerous are the schemes
of men that they are bewildering and confusing. God has named these unrighteous,
ecclesiastical schemes “Babylon,” which means confusion; and He refers to the
Catholic system as the “Mother of Harlots.” The other ecclesiastical systems
sprang from her, and are, therefore, the daughters referred to by the Revelator. Rev.
17:1-6
The Book of Revelation is written largely in symbols.
“Wine” is a symbol of doctrine; “fornication,” a symbol of illicit
relationship between church and politics. The Lord, speaking through the Revelator, says:
“Babylon the Great is fallen, is fallen (fallen from God’s favor), and is become
the habitation of devils (those possessing a devilish spirit), and the hold of every foul
spirit (impure principle), and the cage of every hateful and unclean bird (nearly every
”jail-bird" is a member of some nominal church system). For all the nations have
drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication; and all the kings have committed
fornication with her; and the merchants of earth have waxen rich through the abundance of
her delicacies."
Clearly this prophetic statement has been fulfilled
by the illicit mixing of religion and politics in the name of Christ by those who claim to
be His ambassadors, and the whole arrangement is an abomination in the sight of the Lord.
Continuing, He says:
“For her sins have reached unto Heaven, and God
hath remembered her iniquities; therefore shall her plagues come in one day death and
mourning and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire (symbol of destruction);
for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.” Rev. 18:18
PRESENT WAR FORETOLD
IN SCRIPTURE
Foreknowing the course that men would take, the Lord
foretold the present great conflict through the Prophet Joel more than 2500 years ago, as
follows: “Prepare war; wake up the mighty men; let all the men of war draw nigh; let
them come up! Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruning-hooks into spears; let the
weak say, I am strong! Assemble yourselves and come, all ye nations, and gather yourselves
round about; thither cause thy mighty ones to come down. Let the nations be wakened and
come to the Valley of Jehoshaphat (the valley of graves the literal valley of Jehoshaphat
outside of Jerusalem being the burial ground of the Jews, picturing the burying grounds of
the armies engaged in the world-war)... The sun and the moon shall be darkened and the
stars shall withdraw their shining.” Joel 3:9- 15.
The Scriptures point out that the “sun”
symbolizes the Gospel of Christ’s Kingdom; that the “moon” represents the
Mosaic Law; and that the stars are symbols of ecclesiastical teachers. Thus we see that at
the time the world-conflict has come the Gospel of Messiah’s Kingdom is darkened in
the nominal churches. No longer do the clergy teach the coming of Messiah’s Kingdom
to bless all the families of the earth. No longer do they tell the people that the Mosaic
Law foreshadowed the development of this great Kingdom. And they, as the
“stars,” have fallen from their exalted position in the spiritual heavens as
teachers of the Divine Word, and have allied themselves with the common politics of the
world.
THE END OF THE WORLD
HAS COME
The word “world,” as used symbolically in
the Scriptures, means Dispensation, or period of time. The time of Gentile dominion has
been, according to the Scriptures, a period of 2520 years. The Bible clearly points out,
and this is corroborated by secular history, that the Gentile Times began with the
overthrow of the Jewish king, Zedekiah, and the enthronement of Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon,
in the autumn season, 606 years before Christ. It follows, then, that the full period of
2520 years would expire in the autumn of 1914.
Referring to this time the great Master said,
“And the nations were angry, and Thy wrath is come.” Exactly on time, when the
Gentile dominion legally ended, the nations were angry, and God’s wrath upon the
nations expressed itself in permitting them to begin the destruction of one another. Our
Lord Jesus, in His great prophecy concerning the end of this present age, or world,
pointed out that the beginning of this trouble would be when “nation shall rise
against nation and kingdom against kingdom,” and that it would end with “a Time
of Trouble such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever
shall be.” The Prophet Daniel gives similar testimony. Matt. 24:21; Dan. 12:1
It is a well-known fact that the clergymen speak of
their congregations as their “flock,” and of themselves as “watchmen.”
A true watchman of the flock should be highly commended; but the Lord said of those who
are of the contrary spirit: “What has thou to do to declare My statutes, or
that thou shouldest take My Covenant into thy mouth, seeing thou hatest instruction and
castest My words behind thee? When thou sawest a thief (Satan, stealing the hearts
and minds of the people away from God’s Plan), then thou consentest with him, and
hast been partaker with adulterers. Thou givest thy mouth to evil and thy tongue frameth
deceit.” (Psa. 50:17-19.) Again, says the Prophet Isaiah: “His watchmen are
blind; they are all ignorant; they are all dumb dogs (D. Ds.); they cannot bark sleeping,
lying down, loving to slumber. Yea, they are greedy dogs, which can never have enough, and
they are shepherds that cannot understand; they all look to their own way, every one for
his gain from his quarter (denomination).” Isa. 56:10,11
Summing up the situation, we see that the Gentile
Times have ended, that the kings of earth have had their day. God gave them an opportunity
to make good, and they have failed. He is now putting them out of possession of earthly
dominion. Sin and selfishness have predominated. The kings and rulers, being illadvised by
their spiritual counselors, have come to a sorry end.
Soon revolution will be upon the world, terminating
in anarchy, which will completely overthrow all the Babylonish systems ecclesiastical and
political.
A BETTER DAY COMING
But let us leave the dark picture for a moment. The
Apostle Peter, after describing this trouble time, says: “Nevertheless, we, according
to His promise, look for a new heavens (spiritual ruling powers) and a new earth (earthly
government, order of society), wherein dwelleth righteousness.” The promise here
referred to is that Promise made by Jehovah to Abraham, saying, “In thy Seed shall
all the families of the earth be blessed.” The Seed of Abraham must first be brought
forth before the blessings can come. That Seed is Christ Jesus the Head, and the Church
His Body. Gal. 3:16, 27-29
During the entire Gospel Age God has been gathering
out from the world those who would constitute this Body who would become truly consecrated
Christians. Some of these have been clergymen; some have been members of church
denominations; others not. The true test has been full faith in Jesus as the great
Redeemer in His sacrificial death as man’s great Redemption price; then complete
consecration to do God’s holy will, and faithful obedience thereafter even unto
death. All who are of this class are promised a share in the Chief Resurrection and that
they shall reign with Christ to bless all the families of the earth. Rev. 20:6
The Scriptures abound with promises that a righteous
Government is to be established in the earth, and that such Government shall rest upon the
shoulders of the Great Messiah (Isa. 9:6); that He shall then be called
“Wonderful,” “Counselor,” “the Everlasting Father,”
“the Prince of Peace.” Under His Reign wars shall cease, and wickedness and
crime shall be completely obliterated from the human race. Every man who loves peace and
righteousness shall then sit under his own “vine and fig-tree,” he will have his
own peaceful habitation, where he may dwell with his loved ones in happiness. Our Lord
Jesus Himself promised that during His Reign all who are in the tomb shall come forth and
that all shall have a fair and impartial trial for life. The Scriptures abound with
promises that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and the unjust.
(John 5:28, 29, R. V.; Acts 24:15; 17:31) When Christ reigns, though Himself invisible to
man, He will, through His visible representative on the earth, establish a Government of
equity and justice, bringing the desire of every honest heart.
At the end of the thousand years Reign of Christ, the
entire earth will have been brought to a state of Edenic Paradise (Isa. 35; Ezek.
36:34-36), and all the incorrigible, the willfully wicked, shall have been forever
destroyed. All others shall have been completely restored to that perfect condition
enjoyed by Father Adam in the Garden of Eden. Then Christ will turn over the Kingdom to
the Father, and all will be given a final test. Those who then shall prove their loyalty
to God and the principles of righteousness will be granted everlasting life; those who
fail will suffer everlasting destruction. God will then have a clean Universe.
“Lift up, lift up thy voice with singing!
O earth, with strength lift up thy voice!
God’s Kingdom to the earth is coming;
The King is at the gates rejoice!”
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