The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1911-07-07

llRAStOKaRU5StlLJI relied wholly upon
Bible testimony,
quoting the same frequently. He said
in part
For centuries Bible Students have
observed that many Of the strong ex-
pressions of the Old Testament re-
speeding Babylon found their parallels
/ In the New Testament, used in respect
! to Mystic Babylon. Many Of these
! statements of the Old Testament seem
, far too vivid and too strong to be ap-
piled to Literal Babylon. Hence it was
surmised that Mystic Babylon was
! more particularly referred to than the
Literal. 1t was noticed also that as
Israel and Judah went into captivity
70 Literal Babylon, so apparently the
| Book Of Revelation teaches that Spir-
itual Israel would have drastic expert
ences in a captivity to Mystic or Sym
bOlic Babylon the Great, the Mother
Of Harlots" CRevelation xvii, 81.
Within the past fifty years. under
the bIighting Influence Of the Evolu
/ ton theory and the destructive Higher
Criticism of the Bible, these parallels
have been lost sight of. Indeed, aside
from International Sunday School les
! sons, Bible study has been very large
| ly neglected, even in theological semi
naries. And the Sunday School les
| sons, under the guidance Of worldly
wisdom. have sought to avoid every
thing except the "milk of the Word"
(the simple doctrines) to avoid contro-
versies.
Only very recently is true Bible study
being revived in conjunction with the
International Bible Students Associa-
ton. a branch of which l have the
! honor to address today. We may we'll
congratulate each other. dear friends,
| that in Gods providence we have es-
capped the Misunderstanding influence of
Higher Criticism and Evolution. We
may well congratulate ourselves also
on the degree Of liberty we have at
tanned in the study Of Gods Word
freedom from the confusing creeds
manufactured for us in darker age
freedom from some Of the rank super
stitiOns and false theories which. for
time, fettered our reason and made
the Divine Plan to appear ignoble-un-
worthy of q just and loving man, much
more OF an AllWise. Just and Loving
Creator.
| Great Babylon Of Old.
Briefly we remind you that ancient
Babylon was built on the river Eu-
pirates; that she had impregnable
walls; that the river ran through tn
midst Of the city, and the great gates
OF brass spanned the river as pro-
lection against assaults of an enemy
from that quarter. The name of the
city was attached to a large area of
country outside of it, for which it
; served as the capital. Indeed, at its
zenith Babylon was mistress Of the
! then civilized world-the first Uni
versal Empire.
We remind you Of the captivity, first
Of the ten tribes of Israel, and later
on of the remaining two tribes or king
dom called Judah. The method of
Babylon was to scatter the Israelites
their earthly interests to amalgamate
them as part and parcel of BabylOnia.
This condition Of things lasted until
the fall of Babylon before its con-
QuerOr, Cyrus.
/ The General gained his victory in
remarkable manner. while the Baby
/ lonians, assured of their security, were
revealing at banquet. Although the
crisis came suddenly. the preparation
had been long in progress. The SOL
/ diers Of Cyrus, under his direction,
had digged canal of considerable
depth ready to drain off the water Of
the river as soon as the necessary con-
nection was made. When the canal
was in readiness the connection with
the river was speedily made and the
! water flowed rapidly into the new
channel, leaving the bed of the river
under the great brazen gates, on both
sides Of the city, an open roadway.
through which marched the army of
Cyrus Suddenly. at an unexpected
moment. the boastful city. the proud
Babylon, was captured.
Then it was that Cyrus, the victo-
rious general, gave the command which
granted liberty to every Israelite car
ried captive thither, to return to his
own land Additionally, assistance was
rendered to all who desired to return,
and the golden vessels pertaining to
the worship Of God in the temple were
sent back. But strange to say. out OF
all the millions who had constituted
Israel and Judah before the captivity.
only about hfty-three thousand or all
the tribes were anxious to avail them
selves Of the privilege Of returning to
the Land Of Promise.
Antitypical or Mystic Babylon.
The Book of Revelation. the book Of
symbols. the last message of our as