XIX

PROPHECY CHANGING THE MAP OF

T

EUROPE

I

HE previous chapter dealt with the question, "Why Germany Cannot Rule the World," the evidence and the argument for which was drawn from the prophecy in the second chapter of Daniel.

Briefly summarized, we saw that during "the times of the Gentiles" God has committed the control of the world into the hands of particular nations, of which Germany is not one.

"The times of the Gentiles" commenced at about 600 B. C., and will continue until the second coming of Christ to set up His kingdom in the earth. The year 600 B. C. was the time when, in punishment for her transgressions, God withdrew the power to govern from Israel, to be restored again to her through purifying judgments, when Christ comes.

The particular nations to which the government of the earth was committed were represented in the colossal image of the man which Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, saw in a dream, and which the divinely inspired prophet interpreted for him and for us. They were, in their order, the kingdom of

Babylon, and the empires of Persia, Greece and Rome. We quoted Benjamin Wills Newton to the effect that "the sovereign controlling power of earth which was first vested in Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, next in Cyrus of Persia, afterwards in Alexander of Greece, descended at last to the emperors of Rome; and within the territory once ruled by them that sovereign power resides, and there its home will be until the Gentile Image comes to an end and forgiven Jerusalem becomes "the city of the great King."

Now the point is, as we then said, that Germany, except the southwestern corner of her land, was not represented in that image; in other words, she never became a part of the Roman Empire in the Scriptural significance of that term, and hence the improbability, if not impossibility, that she should be finally and permanently victorious over those nations which are so represented.

II

It remains to prove this by indicating the countries that fell within the Roman Empire; and this in turn raises the question as to what period of the Roman Empire is in mind?

This question is met by the consideration that "prophecy relating to Gentile dominion is always focused upon the Jews and Palestine, and has especially in view the presence of the nation in her own land." Now, it is well known that shortly after the overthrow of the Jews by the Romans A. D. 70, their national recognition as possessors of the land ceased,

a period which broadly corresponds to the close of the apostolic era.

This is approximately Trajan's period (56-117 A. D.), under whom the empire extended its boundaries to the farthest limit on the east. The dying Augustus hoped it might never be extended beyond the Euphrates, but Trajan's ambition led to a victorious conflict with the Parthians by which there were permanently added to his territory, Armenia, Assyria and Mesopotamia.

Defining the nations in detail, therefore, (1) those in the northwest included Great Britain, that is to say, England and Scotland as far north as the Grampian Hills. Ireland was never brought under the Roman power, which may explain some things in her history in all the years.

(2) As to the west, Gibbon is authority for the statement that the old Roman wall left the Rhine near Bingen and joined the Danube near Ratisbon. The Romans possessed everything west of this, including Portugal, Spain, France, Belgium, Switzerland, and, as stated above, the southwest corner of Germany, the lobe of the ear, so to speak, which includes Luxemburg, Baden and Bavaria south of the Danube, as well as the much-disputed and contested region of Alsace and Lorraine, which will be referred to again.

(3) In the south and southeast, the Romans possessed Italy, Greece, the islands of the Mediterranean, and the Archipelago and all the territory south of the Danube. This last includes what we know as European Turkey, Bulgaria, Servia, Mon

tenegro, and all the Austrian dominions south and west of the Danube. To this Trajan added the province of Dacia north of the Danube and to the east of Hungary, or what we know as Rumania. The central part of Hungary was never brought within the Roman Empire.

(4) In Asia the Black Sea was the northern boundary, which thence extended along a southeasterly line to the Persian Gulf, taking in Asiatic Turkey, the Bible names for which are Asia Minor, Syria, Mesopotamia, and Palestine, and, as mentioned above, Armenia.

(5) In Africa Rome possessed a portion of Egypt and the northern coast, identified by moderns as Tripoli, Tunis, Algeria and the upper part of Morocco.

To quote Newton again, "these are the countries which fall within the boundaries of the Gentile Image, and which, from the earliest period until now, have ever been the center of all that has influenced human life. The light of revelation first given to Israel, and then to the Christian Church, was set within these countries. All the civilization of antiquity was centered there, where still resides the power which at this moment is forming the character of the world. The responsibilities of these nations are unequalled."

III

Let us now consider what realignment of the nations may be necessary in order to the fulfillment of Daniel's prophecy that those of the Roman Em

pire are to resume their distinctness and corporate relation to each other at the end of the age.

1. It is obvious that all those countries external to the Roman limits that now exercise authority over countries within those limits will be obliged to relinquish such authority. Newton illustrates this by the case of Belgium and Holland. The former at one time was subjected to the latter, but the latter was obliged to relinquish this authority. Political reasons made it necessary, of course, but there was a divine reason back of these, namely, that Belgium was part of the Gentile Image and Holland was not. Belgium was originally in the Roman Empire, but Holland never was.

This need not carry with it, however, the corollary that countries now or hereafter to be connected with or allied to the nations of the Roman Empire, and which were not so connected or allied at the time mentioned, are necessarily to be given up. For example, Great Britain need not be required to lop off the Scottish highlands, nor even to lose Ireland.

2. On the other hand, we may expect Germany to be deprived of her possessions west of the Rhine and south of the Danube. In other words, if Gibbon is to be relied upon as to the Roman wall, this means the loss of Luxemburg and Baden, and part of Bavaria, and Alsace and Lorraine.

3. By the same token there must be a radical break in the Austro-Hungarian empire, for, as Gibbon says, "If we except Bohemia, Moravia, the northern skirts of Austria, and a part of Hungary between the Theiss and the Danube, all the dominions of the house of