Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1909-07-13
TIMES OF THE GENTILEs
Jerusalem shall be trodden down of
tie GentsIes, until the times OF the
centi1es be fulhned."-Luks 21:24.

SELL Of Brooklyn Tabernacle, preached mere 10
Is the civ Of Babylon represented the en-
pire of babylon, so the city OF Jerusalem rep
resented the Jewish nation. In our text our
Lord refers to the fact that centuries oeIore
his day the Jewish kingdom had been over
thrown-had passed 10 the control OF the Gen
tiles-and in our text he declares that htS
serviency would continue until certain times times
of The Gcntiles-certain years or PERIODS OF Lieit
control-1Sould pass away When We Feau .. .H"t
certain times will be fulfilled, we are JUSTIFY"
in thinking that these times nave been lore
told And in looking for the statement OF
the matter in Holy Writ. We notice the lae'S
God established the Jewish nation as His rep
resentatiVe nation. kingdom, In the Worlu,
with the understanding that In some mahneE
and at some time that nation Wouid oe tue
channel of divine blessings TO all the IamiileS
of the earth, in harmony with the Original Oa1n-
bOund promise made TO Abraham. After pre-
csrious existence of nearly six hundred years
the star of Jewish empire set, and II has not re-
arisen since. The particular date at when tie
tynicaI kingdom passed away is clearly marked
| in the Scriptures. The solidarity OF the empire
/ in the hands of King David, and mis- sou.
King Solomon, was lost in its division In the
| days Of Solomon's successor Nevertheiess, ~
| harmony with the divine prediction, the IoyaI
/ line continued in the tribe OF judah, as II Is
| written, The sceptre shail not depart Ao n
| Judah nor law-giver from between his teet'
| until Shiloh come.'--Gen. 4s:10.
OF the last kS of Judah zedeklan 0;.I the al. al
/ wicked prince of ls.ael. whose day is CONF,
| when iniquity shall have end mus Satin
4
/ off the crown; this shall not be the same !.
| Will overturn overturn, overturn It; and IL
shall be more until he cSme whose Flgnt u Z
| is; and I viii give it him. tEzek. a ;zo-Zi:l
| That statement was made just prior TO lsraet
| captivity to Babylon, d. c. eo6. And the crown
and sceptre have been overturneG snv am
| self at his second advent shall take the throne
/ as the antitypical SON Of David.
THE INTERIM OF Tin e.
/ The interim Of time between the overthrow
/ 80 he n daya of Zedek1an ana the
| establishment again Of the crown In Messiah ;
/ kingdom ut His second advent is scripturalIy
| termed the Times OF the Gentfles'-tnat Is 10
| saw the years of the Gentiles; the years IN
| which the Gentfles would bear rule over Israel
/ ami all earth-the period in which God "ouia
| have no representative nation In the world.
| Some may inquire, Were not the lsraeiites re-
| stored from the Babylonian captivityT les,
we answer, but they did not receive BACK Tue
| great dominant kingdoms OF the world. First'
/ they were subject to the Media-Persian empire
| whose Emperor Cyrus restored them to their own
i land a subject nation subsequently, tney
were subject TO the GFecian nation. And In
the time OF our Lord they were sim a suoJee.,
nation TO Rome. PLATE represented the Roman
| government, and did Herod, the king Oh
| GaIIlee. Anyway, the Herods were not Israel
ties, but Edomites.
! While II is true that outward form Of
| Jewish kingdom was maintained subject to the
Roman emperors for a time, the last vestlge
of this authority passed away WIN tne u--
struction Of Jerusalem by the Roman army
in A. ID. TO- and the Jews have never been a0ie
| to re-establish themselves in their own land up
to the present time. Now, in harmony with tne
Scriptures which foretell Israels restoration &c
Palestine and their establishment as tue
earthly representatives OF Gods Kingdom the
Zionist movement is coming forth with good
hopes Of effecting a Jewish suO-klngdom
We may he, sure, however, that the declara
tion of next viii come true 10 the Vers
letter-"Jerusalrm shall be trodden down OF tne
Gentiles, until the time OF the GentileS De fui
i filled'-or. filled full.
i let Ms look backward and note what tbs
rpEnapffuW earthly emnireR ant
the period OF their domination. II possible lei
us ascertain when the Gentle times began, and
when they viii end-giving place to the king
dom of Messiah, the spiritual kingdom, the
church glorified, whose work viii be the ruling
Of the earth. the blessing Of all nations. and
the uplifting of the human family out OF sir
and death conditions-tO all that was lost
through Adams dlsobedience, to all that was re
deemed through obedience of Christ Jesus.
The scriptures very particularly draw to oul
attention King NebuchadneZ1ar Of Baby Ion
Very carefully does the prophet explain thai
Nebuchadnezzar had vision OF deep interes
to him, but the particulars Of which he could
not recall. He demanded Of the wise men Of
the empire statement of the dream, as wen al
an explanation. arguing that II they had an!
supernatural power by which they could explain
la dream, the same power could rehearse IL
Then 1t was that Daniel the prophet, wal
divine power not only rehearsed the dream but
} explained tia dream Of much more interest t.
all Christians than II possibly could have Deer
to Nebuchadnezzar himself.
MANY OF this audience doubtless recall this
dream and its Interpretation, yet we VIII DrleIly
lrehearse il. In his dream Nebuchadnezzar saw
| a great image of wonderful height and grandeur
its head of gold. its breast and arms OF sill
yer. its belly and thighs Of brass, Its legs o.
iron, and its feet of iron mixed with clay
While 1t stood erect, stone was taken from
the mountain and hurled at the image, striking
the brass. the silver and the gold were crushed
to powder and became as the chaff OF sum
lmer's threshing floor, and the wind carried then
AWAY BY divine illumination, Daniel, th'
prophet explained the vision thus: The head
empire Babylon. The breast and arms OF silvel
represented the kingdom which would succeed
his as a universal empire; namely. the kingdom
of the Modes and Persians. Upon the fall o.
universal. to be succeeded in turn by the Roman
empire whose great strength was symooL ls %. %
world in the days OF our Lord. Thus we read
that our Lord was born at Bethlehem, whithe
Joseph and Mary had gone at the command o.
Caesar Augustus the Roman emperor, who sen
forth a decree that all the world should b
taxed. The civil Roman empire lasted for sev
eral centuries after Christ, and was followed
by the ecclesiastical Roman empire, OF which
the popes at Rome were the representative
heads This empire. partly civil and partly &c
lciesiasticaI, was represented BY the mixture o.
the iron. representing civil power, and with IN,
clay, representing papal religious power. ant
this phase Of Daniels image still exists in thu
kingdoms Of Europe as represented In the TEL
toes of the image which stands for the divis
ions Of the territory Of the old Roman empire
SHIFTING THE IMAGE.
| Let us have In mind that that image repre-
scented all the Gentle governments which woult
bear rule over the earth from the time OF th'
removal OF the crown from Zedekiah down 4
the time when Messiah the rightful heir to th'
throne OF David. will take TO himself bis grea
power and reign. He has not yet taken tina
power he has not yet begun that reign OI
the contrary, the scriptures declare. The king
dom of heaven suffers violence-the true church
the body Of Christ, is dis-esteemed amongS
men, because ''the world knoweth us not, ever
| as n knew Him not" Our Lord, in answering
the representative of the Roman empire, said
| 'My kingdom is not OF this wOrld-this age
Iif It were, my subjects would fight. ana
should not be delivered into your hands" TIT
same is true today II the Lords kingdom ha6
been established His servants. instead OF be
ing subject the princes of this world. would
be the princes OF earth, the judges OF the earth
the royal priesthood.
| DANIELS VIEW OF THE MATTER.
| When God Subsequently gave His servant, th'
Prophet Daniel a vision of the these Gen
title governments that would bear universal swaI
over the earth from the time of the removal o.
The diadem from Zedekiah until the establish
ment of Messiahs millennial kingdom the pic
ture was different one. Instead Of a glorious
image of towering height and splendoT, DAME
| saw four great, terrible wild beasts. The first
like a lion. correspondent to the head OF gold o.
the image-representing Babylon The secohd
like a bear, corresponded to the breast and arms
of silver in The image, and represented Media
Persia The third, like leopard, correspOndet
| to the brass Of the image. ane reprsseni e
Greca. The fourth beast great and terrible
| found nothing in the animal kingdom to repre-
rent H. 1t corresponded to the legs Of Iron
ten horns Of the latter beast corres.'oaded H
of fha image. representing papa