Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1912-01-06

n had been n blot upon the otherwise
wonderful and gracious management
OF the Great Creator. Elsewhere, Gods
will was perfectly done. Amongst
men there had been for forty cen
turtles n reign of sin and death. Satan
exercised uSiirped influence over man
kind. prcylng upon human weakness.
ignorance aud superstition. As the
Apostle de- 'lares. lie had become 1.-THE
god OF tlis world" who now worketh
In The children Of disobcdlence" Ql
Cor ~ 4. Eph, u. -. In the language
OF Jesus lie was the Prince. or ruler. OF
this word. in that the great mass OF
mankind some willingly. more igno-
rantly. were his servants
We can only imagine how matters
must have appeared 10 the holy an
gels. who for long centuries previously
had witnessed no disloyalty TO God
and no unlinppiness amongst His crea-
lures on amy plane OF being: for them
nog 10 see Satan In rebellion and 9th.
or angels following his course and be-
coming demons. and to see man. made
In Gods image. demonlzed and his
heart Of tenderness turned to heart
OF stone aud seliishaess. so that
Mans lnhamanity to man
Makes countless thousands mourn
All this must have been bewildering
to the loyal angels. who doubtless Won
dered whether or not the Universe
could thus pass from the control OF the
Almighty Creator. Undoubtedly they
were aware Of the Divine intimation
OF better day. rs expressed in the
promise that the Seed OF the woman
should ultimately bruise the Serpent's
head. hut ah. things had gone from bad
to worse since that glorious promise
was made. and Divine Power seemed
less able than ever to grapple with the
powers Of darkness. How they must
have wondered ut this.
Gods Oath bound Promise.
Undoubtedly the angels had heard OF
the Divine promise made to Abraham.
and buttrcsscd with the Divine oath.
that by these two immutable assur-
anccs--God's Word and His oath-the
blessings promised might be confident.
~ expected And that promise was
twofold: a. That all the families of the
earth should eventually be blessed. and
o. that this blessing should come to
them through Abraham's posterity or
seed We can well imagine how this
joyful news would spread amongst the
heavenly hosts: "A better day is COM
ing: the reign OF sin and death In the
world is to he stopped. The blessing
of the Lord is to reach the fallen race
and put an end TO ignorance. supcrsti-
ton. blindness. sin. dying. crying and
pain" 'Ah." they must have said. FL
naliy God Is about TO take action and
to demonstrate His great Power. We
felt sure all along that He possessed
this Power: aud yet II seems strange
to us that He did not exercise II sooner.
But these rejoicing angels must have
wcarieh a. they perceived the appar-
enr failure Of their expectations. Aft
er hong years OF waiting. lshmael was
born bur seemed Il very unsuitable
heir scarcely fulfment OF the prom
Use Long years later came Isaac.
whose supernatural birth seemed TO
point 10 the fultilment Of the promise.
Hut he accomplished nothing wonder
ful and died. transmitting the glorious
promise and hope TO Jacob. More long
wears passed and Jacob did not fulfil
the promise. but left II 10 his family
ms a wholc-a rather unpromising fam
lily as respected the blessing of man
kind Then the nation OF Israel. so
far from blessing other nations. went
into bondage TO the Egyptians; and all
Of Gods promises seemed TO have fail
ed
The Testing Of the Angels Continued.
All. what 4 testing He gave the
loyal angels. How their faith In Wis
dom and Power Divine must have
been tried Finally, under Moses. the
Divincly appointed leader. the nation
Of Israel suddenly emerged from slav
cry and under Divine favor. reached
Mt Sinai ana there entered into Cove
nant.rclationship with God. as the seed
II Abraham heirs of the original
promise at blessing the world. Now
matters began 10 look toward n full.
llment Of The gracious promise that
in Abraham ahd his seed all the families
81 the earth would be blessed-not-
wiihsiandiug the fact that Abraham irGs
dfad
fhe trying experiences OF the wilder
ness must nave been Disappointing.
not only 20 the israeiites. but also 10
the Interested angels beyond the veil.
who 81 Peter tells us. earnestly de.
sired 10 look into these things and
sought for tie mliilment OF the prom
ise Il Peter j. 10 H. Finally Ca
nam the Iand Of promise. was reach
ed bur the progress OF Israel toward
world domination aud blessing was
slow One after another OF their enc
mics brought them under tribute
THEN came their prosperity for time
under King David who set up the