World Rulers Put On Notice

The modern-day locusts had a job to do. The Kingdom good news had to be preached. Errors had to be exposed. Lost sheep had to be found. As the locusts went about these tasks, the John class has continued to expose Christendom as deserving of Jehovah's adverse judgments. In response to the fifth trumpet, a particular aspect of these judgments was emphasized at a convention of the Bible Students in London, England, May 25-31, 1926. This featured a resolution, "A Testimony to the Rulers of the World," and a public talk as the Royal Albert Hall on "Why World Powers are Tottering-The Remedy," the complete text of both of these bring printed in a leading London newspaper the following day. Later, the locust band distributed worldwide, as a tract, 50 million copies of that resolution-a torment indeed to the clergy! Years later, people in England still spoke of this stinging expose.

At this convention, the symbolic locusts received further fighting equipment, notably a new book entitled Deliverance. It included a Scriptural discussion of the sign proving that the 'man child' government, Christ's heavenly Kingdom, had been born in 1914. (Matthew 24:3-14; Luke 21:24-26; Revelation 12:1-10) Thereafter, it quoted the manifesto published in London in 1918 and signed by eight clergymen who were described as being "among the world's greatest preachers." They represented the leading protestant denominations -Baptist, Congregational,Presbyterian, episcopalian, and Methodist. This manifesto proclaimed that "the present crisis points toward the close of the times of the Gentiles" and that "the revelation of the Lord may be expected at any moment." Yes, those clergymen had recognized the sign of Jesus' presence! But did they want to do anything about it? The book deliverance informs us : "The most remarkable part of the affair is that the very men who signed the manifesto subsequently repudiated it and rejected the evidence which proves that we are at the end of the world and in the day of the Lord's second presence."

Rather than announce the incoming Kingdom of God, Christendom's clergy have chosen to remain with Satan's world. They want not part with the locust band and their King, concerning whom John now observes: "They have over them a king, the angel of the abyss. In Hebrew his name is Abaddon [meaning "Destruction"], but in Greek he has the name Apollyon [meaning " Destroyer"]. (Revelation 9:11) As "angel of the abyss" and "Destroyer," Jesus had truly released a plaguing woe on Christendom. But more is to follow!

Next time: The Second Woe-Armies of Cavalry