Vou. XXXVIII BROOKLYN, N. Y., APRIL 15, 1917 No. 8 VIEWS FROM THE WATCH TOWER CoRROBORATIVE EVIDENCE THAT Massiaw’s Kinepow 16 ay Hanp “TIMES OF THE GENTILES’’ HAVE ENDED The Watch Tower, from time to time. has set forth the proof that the “Times of the Gentiles” have ended; that the monarchs of earth have had their day, and that Messiah’s Kingdom is at hand! We submit herewith some corroborative proof, From a legal viewpoint, the period of the Gentile dominion ended with October. 1914. Speaking in plain phrase, the world there came to an ond! True to the words of the great Master, “The nations were angry, and thy wrath is come:” (Revelation 11:18) At the very end of the Gentile times the nations became angry and began to war with each other, and the great storm cf destruction has increased in its fury even beyond the imaginations of men. The loss of human lize and earthly treasure has staggered the world. The war still spreads, and without doubt will involve all the nations to a greater cr less extens, Looking down to this very day, the Prophet of the Lord said, “And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up & kingdom, which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; but it shai} break in pieces and consume a)l these kingdoms, and it shal) etand for ever.” (Daniel 2:44) Gradually, but surely, the present kingdoms of earth are being broken into pieces. Each day some explosion further weakens the walls of the present order of things, and soon the entire structure will fall with a great erash; and upon the ruins thereof will be erected the kingdum of righteousness, under the supervision of the great Messiah, and this kingdom wil) stand torever, REVOLUTION IN RUSSIA The Russian monarchy has fallen, no doubt never to rise again! With startling and dramatic rapidity the change came—almost in one day. However, we do not understand that the revolution in Russia i: 2 fulfilment of the prophetic statement made by our Lord concerning the great revolution that is to follow the world war; but it shows ,the tendency of the people, and their determination no longer to be dominated by autocrats, aristocrats or tyrants, When the rulers discover that they are losing their power, there will in ail probability be an effort made to bring about peace, and there will probably be some make-shift proposition brought forward and adopted. But when all shall say, “Peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them, and they shall not escape.”—-1 Thessalonians 5:3. Even the worldly-wise see that this must be the inevitable. result. An editorial writer in one of the leading New York dailies says: “The revolutions ara not going to be con‘ined to Russia. Hollweg sees and says that there is a new freedom coming for Germany az weil as for Russia. “France has long had her freedom, but will undoubtedly progress further in the direction of Socialism. “The revolution in England will be as complete as elsewhere, but probably not spectacular er violent. The Engiish people accomplish their revolutions, as they do everything else they undertake, in a stolid, undemonstrative way, but they accomplish them just the same. “If Russia waz an autocracy, England was an aristocracy, Everything in England has been for the benefit of the ruling or aristocratic classes. These aristocratic classes had a trust—a control in politice, in land-ownership, in tax-exemption, in social recognition, in all kinds of benefits and privileges, ‘The masa of the people were reduced to the point of penury, and were leaving the British Isles in droves in order to find elsewhere the opportunity which they could not secure at home. “This Aristocratic Trust operated according to the accepted metheds o? the trust and absorbed into the trust any man who showed exceptional ability or accumulated formidable wealth, ennobling him, making him a knight or a baron, and so aligning him and his influence and power with the aristocracy, instead of with the people, from whom he came and with whom he should have naturally been in sympathy. “Thus the Aristocratic Trust perpetuated its privileges and fortified its position, It rode the masses almost as eruvelly as did the French aristocrats in the years tha preceded the French Revolution. "No doubt that situation will be destroyed, and probably has been destroyed. The people of England will never be content to go back to the conditions that prevailed before the war. (115-116) “How much further the revolution will go is a question. If the war continues long enough, and the people of the various countries become sufficiently resentful as their rulers, we will have revolutions of riot and revolutions of repudiation—revolutions which will set up new governments and refuse te be vound by the obligations which the old governments incurred, “There ought to be a revelution in Germany ag well as in Russia and in England, and there probably wih be.” BEASONS FOR GENERAL REVOLUTION The time will come, and that ere long, when the peoples of the warring nations will awaken te the fearful condition brougnt upon them by the war. Soon they must realize that the able-bodied, wealth-producing men have been either killed or else rendered practically useless by the long and dreadful vonflict; and the cost of living has greatly increased and is uikely to go still higher; tnat their opportunities for earning money have greatly decreased; and that added to this will be the greit burien of taxation created by the war, Revolution, repudiation and destruction are certain to follow. TOO LARGE FOR HUMAN MIND TO GRASP The Clicago American recently published, editorially, the following figures concerning the debt now upon the nations of Europe as a result of the war; viz:— “The total debt of the war in Kurope is now one hundred twenty thousand million dollars ($120,000,000000). This means that in the years to come, barring revolution and repudiation of debts, tne people of Europe already harassed, half starved, killed and wounded in millions, must carry on their backs an appalling debt of $120.000,000,000. “The interest on this amount. at only 5%—and most of it was borrowed at a higher rate—amounts to six thousand millions of dollars every yeur. “The people of the warring nations must pay this six thousand millions every year—six times the tota} national debt of the United States at present; and after they have paid the six thousand millions of dollars a vear in interest, they will still owe the one hundred and twenty thousand millions.” These figures represent a condition too enormous for the human mind to fully grasp. But by way of aiding the mind in this respect, we call attention to the fact that —according to the best information obtainable—twenty thousand million persons have lived on the earth during the six thousand years from Adam’s day until now; thus a war debt of $120,000,000,000 is equivalent to $8 per head for every man, woman and child that has ever lived. It is hardly necessary to suggest that revolution and repudiation of this great debt will naturally follow. WHO ARE RESPONSIBLE?—KINGS OR CLERGY? Tne common people have not cf their own choice made this enormous debt. It was not the common people who sought the war. Of the millions that have died upon the battle-fields, and the millions of widows and orphans that have wept at home, not one of therm has had a voice in determining whether or not the people should go to war. The kings and rulers have prepared for war, and have sent their subjects forth +o war withous even asking their consent. The kings from time immemoriai have claimed to rule by divine right. and that therefore whatever action they would take, whether for war or for peace, would be right. It has long been a part of the unwritten laws of these nations that “The king can do no wrong.” But baek of the kings there is another class of men who are even more responsible, and therefore more reprehensible: namely, the clergy class! For more than fifteen centuries these, as the spiritual advisers of the kings of Europe, have toid them that taey—the kings—rule by divine right. These clergy have supported their kings and rulerg without regard to whether they were right or wrong. The clergy have shielded themselves behind their pious garbs and encouraged, advised and abetted the kings in their unrighteous and murderous work. The day of retribution is at hand, and God’s wrath will fall upon both xings and clergy. THE KINGS VERSUS THE PEOPLE Charles Edward Russell, a writer of national fame, through the public press, recently said: “The kings of the earth conspire to keep monarchy still throned. The people of the earth arise and kic all, these devices into forgotten fragments. “Qne of the most colossal of these astute plottings [6070]
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