02.21. What the Biible Teaches About Russia

XXI WHAT THE BIBLE TEACHES ABOUT RUSSIA

I THE writer rejoices with Russia in her newfound freedom, and hopes for the day when all classes of her democracy will be thoroughly united in an invincible prosecution of the present war. So far as he can see, such a solution of her present difficulties is essential both to her own welfare and to anything like an early ending of this terrible world-wide conflict. But after saying this with absolute sincerity and in good faith, he is obliged to add, as a faithful interpreter of the Word of God, that he would not be, surprised if the democracy of Russia were short-lived. Not necessarily that this decade nor even this generation should witness its demise, but only that, sooner or later, she will return to some form of monarchical rule. The Bible seems to foreshadow this. And, indeed, that Russia should at length be found in alliance with Germany is not one of the improbabilities, judging from the same source.

II To set this before the reader requires a brief recapitulation of some of the things spoken of in the previous chapters. For example: our Lord Jesus Christ is to return again from heaven, prior to the introduction of the Millennium upon the earth. This return, as previously stated, is an event of two stages. There is a comingforHis saints, when the dead shall be raised and the living caught up to meet Him in the air (1 Thessalonians 4:1-18) ; and a comingwithHis saints and His mighty angels in judgment upon the living nations and to set up His kingdom on the earth, or in other words, to begin His millennial reign. (See Zechariah 14:1-21; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-17, and Revelation 20:1-15.)

Between these two stages there is an interval, the length of which is not revealed, but which is identified by some with Daniel’s "seventieth week," so-called, or a period of seven years at the close of the present age, which that prophet predicted (Daniel 9:1-27). However this may be, momentous events will be occurring on the earth during that interval, and not a few of them in Palestine and the vicinity of Jerusalem. In the first place, the Jews will have regathered there in large numbers, and be under the protectorate of some Gentile power. In the second place, the nations of Europe, formerly constituting the Roman Empire, will have become federated again under a single head, according to Daniel 2:1-49 and Revelation 17:1-18. There are reasons for believing that one object of this federation is the control of the near East, as it has come to be called, and which includes necessarily Palestine, which Ezekiel calls “the middle of the earth." (Ezekiel 38:12, R. V.). At this point it is that Russia’s destiny comes into view, which nation, with her Eastern allies, will also come up against Palestine. Whether this step on her part is at the same time that the Western nations gather there, and for the purpose of opposing them, or whether it is later and after those nations with the Antichrist at their head shall have been overcome, is not determinable, perhaps; but there is no debate among students of prophecy as to the main fact.

III The proof of this begins to be seen at the thirty-eighth chapter of Ezekiel, where the prophet is told to set his face«towards Gog of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him."

There is no dispute among philologists and archeologists that "Gog" and "Magog" here stand for a powerful Scythian dynasty of Ezekiel’s time. Besides this, we have in "Gog" the first syllable of the word “Caucasus," the name of the mountain range crossing the peninsula of Russia, which divides the Caspian from the Black Sea. In "Rosh" also we have the first syllable of "Russia," while "Meshech" and "Tubal" are the original forms of “Moscow" and “Tobolsk," which were immemorially in possession of that nation. A reliable ancient map placed by the side of a reliable modern one will identify the territories. But it is a prophecy of divine anger against her and the nations which are allied with her. These are named as "Persia, Ethiopia and Libya . . . ; Gomer and all his hordes; the house of Togarmah in the uttermost parts of the north, and all his hordes. . . . Be thou prepared, yea, prepare thyself, thou and all thy companies that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them."

"Persia" we identify; "Ethiopia" is thought to mean the present Abyssinia; "Libya" a part of Egypt; "Togarmah" some would identify with Armenia and others with Turkestan.

Germany is not mentioned in this list, indeed, but Gaebelein’s commentary on Ezekiel is authority for saying that the Talmud gives that identification to "Gomer." "That the descendants of Gomer established themselves in parts of Germany seems to be an assured fact."

IV But what of thetime when this shall be fulfilled? As Ezekiel 38:1-7 indicate the nation,soEzekiel 38:8-12 indicate the time.

It will be "after many days" and "in the latter years," a Hebrew idiom pointing to the close of the present dispensation. But whether or not this is the case, it must be a period still future, for the reason that the military combination referred to in Ezekiel 38:5-7 has not yet appeared in history. Russia with Persia, Egypt and the other nations in her train represents a mobilization of armies which the world has yet to witness,

But, furthermore, it will be the time when Israel shall be gathered again in her own land, and whenshe shall be dwelling in comparative quietness and safety (see Ezekiel 38:8, Ezekiel 38:11-12). And now what of the results? What shall be the consequence of this invasion of Palestine on the part of Russia? Read Ezekiel 38:18-23, and Ezekiel 39:1-24.

God’s fury shall come up into His nostrils, and He will not only slay them with the sword but with pestilence, and the forces of nature, such as rain and hailstones, and fire and brimstone, like unto Sodom and Gomorrah.

Two items give a very vivid picture of the terribleness of this slaughter. One is that Israel will be seven months burying the dead, and the other that the wooden portions of their accoutrements of war will furnish fire kindlings for seven years.

Prior to the present war, statements of this character would have been considered luridly extravagant; but in the past four years we have become so accustomed to gigantic devastation that they fail to surprise us.

V

There are certain inferences to be gathered from the above, both of a political and religious nature. The people of God have often been able to read history generations and centuries in advance, and it seems probable that they may do so here. Of course, dogmatic assertions are out of place, but if our interpretation of Ezekiel be correct, then the present alliance of Russia with the Western nations is not likely to be permanent, for they are of the original Roman Empire, to which she never belonged. And for this reason it is more likely that one of these days the relationship of Russia and Germany shall become close, for Germany, like Russia, was never of the Roman Empire, except as to that part of her territory west of the Rhine. In other words, as Major General Wood has warned us, we are not to expect an unending peace as the result of the present embroilment of the nations. The president of Chicago University said some time ago that certain of the nations entertain piratical policies and intentions, and are willing deliberately to apply them to the weaker peoples. He spoke truly of the past and the present, and there are reasons to feel that he also prophesied of the future; for nations are but aggregations of men, and men are unchangeable in their nature, except by the power of God, through the operation of faith in Christ Jesus. But is there no hope Y Yes, thank God, but it is found in Him and in Him only. When the prophet asked, "Watchman, what of the night?" the watchman said, "The morning cometh, and also the night." The night first, but the morning afterwards. To the true believer, the morning comes when Jesus comes to gather His own unto Himself. But although these shall be caught up to meet Him in the air, yet there is promise for the earth also. The judgments to follow will be purifying judgments, until at length the nations of the earth shall learn righteousness, and “the kingdom of the world is become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign for ever and ever" (Revelation 11:15).

(Note: John Spargo, the Socialist leader and litterateur in an article on “Russia and the World Problem of the Jew," Harper’s Monthly Magazine, June, 1918, says:

“For the moment in this great debacle we are witnessing a gigantic chaos, and the ruin of Russian feudalism seems complete. We must not, however, let this destruction deceive us; the fact remains that there is no evident constructive capacity in the proletariat, and no great and powerful economic interests to inspire a middle class to constructive effort. The only constructive power remaining in Russia, at all likely to be able to restore order from the chaos, is the small group of Liberalists and capitalists. A Bolshevik frenzy may destroy, but it cannot build."

It will be found, we believe, that the constructive elements in Russia will crystallize at length around some form of a limited monarchy.) QUESTIONS ON THE LESSON 1. What two expectations or probabilities are expressed for Russia and why?

2. May our Lord be looked for prior to or after the Millennium?

3. Describe the two stages of His second coming.

4. What prophetic period is supposed to fit in between these two stages?

5. Name some of the events that will be then occurring?

6. What will be a chief object for the federation of the nations of the Roman Empire?

7. What description is given by Ezekiel to the Holy Land?

8. What will Russia be planning at this or a later time?

9. In what chapter of Ezekiel is that people brought before us?

10. Name some of the reasons for identifying Russia in this case.

11. What kind of a prophecy concerning Russia have we here?

12. What nations are allied with her?

13. With what modern nations are they identified?

14. What time will this prophecy be fulfilled?

15. What proof of this can you present?

16. Have you read Ezekiel 38:1-23 and Ezekiel 39:1-29?

17. What inferences are deducible from the foregoing?

18. May we expect an unending peace to follow the present war?

19. What then is our hope?