throwing him out of heaven, with all his evil angels. He broke his power, so he no longer can scatter God’s children. The time has truly come for these things to happen. “There will be no delay any longer; . . . the sacred secret of God according to the good news which he declared to his own slaves the prophets is indeed brought to a finish.” (Rev. 10:6, 7, NW) “This good news of the kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth for the purpose of a witness to all the nations, and then the accomplished end will come.”—Matt. 24:14, NW.

1,290 DAYS

8. How and when was the continual burnt-offering taken away and the abomination of desolation set up?

⁸ Next, Daniel 12:11 (AS) says: “And from the time that the continual burnt-offering shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days.” Two great wonders come to pass within this period: (1) “The continual burnt-offering shall be taken away” and (2) “the abomination that maketh desolate [shall be] set up”. We have seen that at the end of the 1,260-day period the antitypical witnesses, Elijah and John the Baptist, were slain, thus taking away the “continual burnt-offering” of public praise to God, but that did not mean the end of the individuals’ later performing such service. Satan and his agents no doubt thought it would end all the witnessing activities and declarations against his wicked organization and exposing the hypocrisy of his false religionists. But he did not count on God’s power. In fact, he never does. Satan is selfish to the extreme, and is full of egotism, hence becomes blinded to the obvious, having in view only his devilish schemes. His position now was that of being confined to the region of earth and he was without further access to heaven. Yes, he had had a place up there, but now it was no more. Hence he determined to try to establish his bullying, rebellious dictatorship on earth among the nations. For this reason the warning is sounded: “Woe for the earth and for the sea, because the Devil has come down to you, having great anger, knowing he has a short period of time.” (Rev. 12:12, NW) So his first move is to unite all the nations in one design, in order that he may bully them into submission to his wicked conspiracy. The time is short for him to prepare for the next offensive by earth’s new King. But mark this, that all his evil designs are in complete defiance to God’s kingdom, for he will not acknowledge it and would, if possible, destroy it. How did he go about it? First he played havoc with God’s people, and then when he finally got the leading visible servants of God’s people into prison he produced the League of Nations. This confederacy was first brought about in the latter part of January, 1919; and there seemed to be a clear field for his satanic operations.

9. Could those of professing “Christendom” at that time plead ignorance of the presence of the King?

⁹ It was not as if many did not know that the time for Christ’s kingdom had come, because they did. Remember, the witnesses had been preaching for forty years before the end of the Gentile times in 1914. Here is one published statement of religious clergymen when World War I was reaching its climax:

“The following manifesto was recently issued by a number of England’s most noted ministers:

“‘First—That the present crisis points toward the close of the times of the Gentiles.

“‘Second—That the revelation of the Lord may be expected at any moment, when he will be manifested as evidently as to his disciples on the evening of his resurrection.

“‘Third—That the completed church will be translated, to be “forever with the Lord.”

“‘Fourth—That Israel will be restored to its own land in unbelief, and be afterward converted by the appearance of Christ on its behalf.

“‘Fifth—That all human schemes of reconstruction must be subsidiary to the second coming of our Lord, because all nations will be subject to his rule.

“‘Sixth—That under the reign of Christ there will be a further great effusion of the Holy Spirit on all flesh.

“‘Seventh—That the truths embodied in this statement are of the utmost practical value in determining Christian character and action with reference to the pressing problems of the hour.’

“This remarkable statement was signed by A. C. Dixon and F. B. Meyer, Baptists; George Campbell Morgan and Alfred Byrd, Congregationalists; William Fuller Gouch, Presbyterian; H. Webb Peploe, J. Stuart Holden, Episcopalians; Dinsdale T. Young, Methodist.

“These are well-known names, and are among the world’s greatest preachers. That these eminent men, of different denominations, should feel called upon to issue such a statement is of itself exceedingly significant.”

10. How did certain prominent clergymen blasphemously express themselves in 1919?

¹⁰ However, the great enslaver, Satan the Devil, dominated worldly religionists and caused them to give their approval and blessing to his scheme. Even though they knew something of the truth and the fact of God’s kingdom, note the following blasphemous utterance:

“The time has come to organize the world for truth, right, justice and humanity. To this end as Christians we urge the establishment of a League of Free Nations at the coming Peace Conference. Such a league is not merely a peace expedient; it is rather the political expression of the kingdom of God on earth. The League of Nations is rooted in the gospel. Like the gospel, its objective is ‘Peace on earth, good will toward men’. Like the gospel, its appeal is universal.

“The heroic dead will have died in vain unless out of victory shall come a new heaven and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.—2 Peter 3:13.

“The [nominal] church can give a spirit of good will, without which no League of Nations can endure.”—Federal Council of Churches of Christ in America, January, 1919.

11. Explain why the League of Nations is appropriately described as “the abomination of desolation”.

¹¹ This League of Nations was standing before the peoples in a false position. It was a counterfeit, an offensive organization, and hence an abomination in God’s sight. Satan demanded recognition of this scheme and purposed forcing obedience to his plea for world organization and worship of it by all peoples. “And the ten horns that you saw mean ten kings, who have not yet received a kingdom, but they do receive authority as kings one hour with the wild beast. These have one purpose, and so they give their power and authority to the wild beast. These will battle with the Lamb, but, because he is Lord of lords and King of kings, the Lamb will conquer them. Also those called and chosen and faithful with him will do so.” (Rev. 17:12-14, NW) “And it puts under compulsion all persons, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free and the slaves, that they should give these a mark in their right hand or upon their forehead, and that nobody might be able to buy or sell except a person having the mark.”—Rev. 13:16, 17, NW.

12. What is the satanic purpose back of the “abomination”, and to what is it now leading all nations?

¹² Those who worship the abomination will be clearly and, no doubt, publicly identified, so it will make very obvious those who do not worship this political league which is an image of the beast and not of God’s kingdom by Christ. God condemns its worship. “If anyone worships the wild beast and its image, and receives a mark on his forehead or upon his hand, he will also drink of the wine of the anger of God that is poured out undiluted into the cup of his wrath, and he shall be tormented with fire and sulphur in the sight of the holy angels and in the sight of the Lamb.” (Rev. 14:9, 10, NW) Satan’s purpose since 1919 has been and is to get the nations together in one selfish common bond, and they will be so bound as the distresses, hatreds and terrors increase; moreover, he will get desperate as the time nears for the decisive battle. In arrogance, in fearfulness, the nations will close their ranks, envying and hating each other, and yet in desperation clinging to what little they have. The rulers of the Gentile nations should learn the truth and be wise, for they would then know they are being gathered together, not for peace, but for the Devil’s purpose. “They are, in fact, expressions inspired by demons and perform signs, and they go forth to the kings of the entire inhabited earth, to gather them together to the war of the great day of God the Almighty.” (Rev. 16:14, NW) Satan and his demons are not working for the good of humanity, but to maintain their domination over the people, and they would rather involve all nations in dreadful bloodshed than give up. The greatest war of all ages is near and will see all nations of earth under the dictatorship of the invisible Devil fighting against God’s anointed people and against the King, Christ Jesus, and the holy angels of God. The warning goes out to the nations so that they may know the truth, but the warners are despised, ridiculed, jailed, put inside concentration camps, and some of them killed.

(This series of articles will be continued in our next issue.)

“Continue in the Things You Learned”

THE great Master Worker of all is Jehovah God, and all his works are perfect. Christ Jesus is also a worker extraordinary, for no other man ever performed works as great as he. “My Father has kept working until now, and I keep working.” “We must work the works of him that sent me,” Jesus said. (John 5:17; 9:4, NW) From village to village he hastened, preaching and teaching in the synagogues and in the homes of the people. On the mountain sides, at the seashores, by the roadsides, and in the market places, Jesus taught the people out of the divine Textbook of wisdom, God’s Word the Bible.

What a wonderful example Jesus gave in the pure worship! Recommending that others follow him, Jesus trained and instructed his disciples and sent them out to do the same worth-while work. And this is what Paul meant when he urged Timothy, “Continue in the things you learned.”—2 Tim. 3:14, NW.a

Remember Lot’s wife! Do not be a quitter and turn back to the filth of modern Sodom. (Luke 17:32) Look ahead to the sublime Kingdom and its divine blessings! Do not let worldly attractions or desires turn you aside. Your time and energy are limited. Expend them in God’s service.