On the Threshold of Great Events

The final overthrow of all earthly dominions is plainly foretold in the Word of truth. The message is given in the sentence from God that was pronounced upon the last king of Israel: “Thus says the Lord God: Remove the turban, and take off the crown: ... exalt the humble, and humble the exalted. ... Overthrown, overthrown, I will make it overthrown! It shall be no longer, until He comes whose right it is, and I will give it to Him.” Ezekiel 21:26, 27.TEd 108.1

The crown removed from Israel passed successively to the kingdoms of Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome. God says, “It shall be no longer, until He comes whose right it is, and I will give it to Him.”TEd 108.2

That time is at hand. Today the signs of the times declare that we are standing on the threshold of great and solemn events. Everything in our world is in agitation. Before our eyes the Savior’s prophecy of the events preceding His coming is being fulfilled: “You will hear of wars and rumors of wars. ... Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes in various places.” Matthew 24:6, 7.TEd 108.3

The present is a time of overwhelming interest to all living. Rulers and statesmen, people who occupy positions of trust and authority, thinking men and women of all classes, have their attention fixed on the events taking place about us. They are watching the strained, restless relations that exist among the nations. They observe the intensity that is taking possession of every earthly element, and they recognize that something great and decisive is about to take place—that the world is on the verge of a stupendous crisis.TEd 108.4

Angels are now restraining the winds of strife that they may not blow until the world shall be warned of its coming doom. But a storm is gathering, ready to burst upon the earth, and when God shall command His angels to loose the winds, there will be such a scene of strife as no pen can picture.TEd 108.5