EUROPE’S FUTURE

Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21190, 13 August 1940, Page 2

EUROPE’S FUTURE

LIGHT OF PROPHECY REFERENCES FROM THE BIBLE “If there is a prophetic element in the Bible it is highly probable that some direct or oblique reference will be made to such great events as are happening today,” said the Rev. Dr. Alexander Hodge, of the Auckland Baptist Tabernacle, when speaking in the Hamilton Baptist Church last night on “The Future of Europe.” “Behind the struggle of nations there is the clash of values. This, at least, is foretold in Scripture. Where integrity is opposed to treachery and Christianity is fighting paganism, as is the case today, the Bible speaks with a clear voice.” Certain powers were specified as playing a major part in the final great drama of the world’s history, continued the speaker. There was need for warning concerning datefixing and sign-seeking. Writing from his Roman prison to the Phillipians, St. Paul said, “We look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.” That should be the aim of all study in relation to prophecy. The Bible was concerned not with a calendar, but with a condition, not with a programme, but with a Person. Succession of Empires “With this in mind we turn to the two most distinctly prophetic books in the Bible, Daniel and Revelation. The image dream of Nebuchadnezzar shows a succession of four great empires, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece and Rome. A similar sequence is found in Daniel VII, where the fourth empire is represented as a ten-horned beast. The same figure appears in the closing book of the Bible. It is therefore generally understood that the final form of the Roman Empire will be a confederacy of ten kingdoms over which will rule a super-man, the modern Nero Caesar, greater far than his prototype. “There are indications that this is happening,” said Dr. Hodge. “It must be clear that the stake Mussolini is playing for is European leadership. We must guard against underrating the strength of Italy. Behind bombast there is some genuine determination. ‘I give to the Italian nation a hard but magnificent task, that of obtaining primacy on earth and in the skies. This primacy must be both in material things and in spirit,* said the Italian dictator. To what extent he has succeeded or failed will soon appear.” Influence of the East There was also reference in Scripture to a northern power which could be none other than Russia. According to Ezekiel, which actually named Russia, the Soviet Republic was to push southward with Palestine as its objective, there to meet an implacable foe, Italy. There was a number of reasons why Russia should invade Palestine. The chemical resources of the Dead Sea were illimitable, the Mosul Pipe Line conveyed most of the European supply, while the increasing fertility and prosperity of the country increased its value. “In several places in Scripture the ‘kings of the East’ are referred to,” said Dr. Hodge. “Who are these? There is a possible clue in the fact that in the original Biblical language the word for east is sun-ris-ing. What is the land of the rising sun? The East will impinge more and more on the West. It is not inconceivable that Japan will make some capital out of the present struggle in the West. “That Britain is destined to play some leading part in the final drama of the ages appears clear from the moral leadership she has exercised for so long. There is a power referred to by Ezekiel which opposes the Russian and Italian movements. This can be no other than Britain.”