THE DISCOVERY OF ANCIENT SITES
Archaeologist Professor Sellin was satisfied that he had unearthed the altar of Abraham and the tomb of Joseph in Shechem.
THE DISCOVERY OF THE ARCHAEOLOGISTS
The traveling archaeologists from the University of Chicago had hoped to discover evidences of ancient traffic between Egypt and Palestine. At present they are digging at a hill twenty-five miles southeast of Haifa. They bore such hope because the ancient Meggido fortress guarded the pass at Mount Carmel, and the ancient Hebrews collected taxes from the traveling merchants who traveled between Egypt and Damascus. On the ancient site of Meggido, they found a synagogue built at the time of the Roman reign. It could have been one of the synagogues mentioned in the New Testament.
THE DISCOVERY OF THE JERUSALEM WALL
Most of the third wall of Jerusalem has been unearthed and exposed.
THE WORLD COUNCIL OF CHURCHES
The World Council of Churches has completed its plan for convening at Geneva, Switzerland in 1930. Members of this committee comprise all kinds of people—Christians, Roman Catholics, Protestants, Greek Orthodox believers, and representatives of heretical groups. Those who are familiar with Bible prophecies will not be surprised at such councils. It is only one of the councils mentioned in Psalm 2. This council will convene in 1930 and will focus on religious issues. As Psalm 2 says, "The kings of the earth take their stand, / And the rulers take counsel together, / Against Jehovah and against His Anointed" (v. 2). In other words, this council is a conference of atheists. The purpose of the conference is to try to remove Judaism and Christianity from the earth. In reading the Bible, we can see that at that time there will be human institutions set up. Within this institution the spirit which operates is "the man of lawlessness...the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or an object of worship, so that he sits in the temple of God, setting himself forth, saying that he is God" (2 Thes. 2:3-4). The report of this conference goes: "The World Council of Churches has been formed and will convene in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1930. There are sixty-nine executive members, four of whom are Jews. Other executive members include Catholics, Protestants, Greek Orthodox, and even Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus, Zoroastrians, Confucians, Shintoists, Taoists, and so forth."
A MODERN-DAY MESSIAH
In India there is a kind of spiritualist organization. It is a product of heresies. One Mrs. ______, a British woman, is their leader. A few decades ago she saw two handsome Indian brothers, and she adopted them as her sons. One of them was supposedly the coming great world Teacher, the reincarnation of the Messiah. The father of the two boys thought that the sons belonged to him and that Mrs. ______ had no right to take custody of them. The two fought for a long time. Eventually the court ruled that the two boys should belong to the lady, and that the father had no right to interfere with them. The British lady provided them with the best education. One of them was called ______, and was claimed by Mrs. ______ to be the so-called Christ. He has now graduated from Oxford University. According to the lady, last October the "spirit of Christ" had already descended upon him and had ordained him as the unique Teacher of the world, and before October the "spirit of Christ" had used him a few times already. Now this new "Christ" has traveled from England to America. We will quote a report from Our Hope in America:
When the new Messiah ______ arrived in the U.S., every newspaper reported concerning him and called him God-among-men. Some reported that he was a handsome young man, with bright dark eyes. We can predict his prosperity, for hundreds of foolish young women and ladies will follow him. They will love to hear his foolish talk, in the same way that they admire film stars that they see in the movies.
When this Indian reached America, he said, "I wish to see a fundamental change in American religion. I expect that by my coming, you will have a new religion." The bald seventy-nine-year-old Mrs. ______, who had claimed to be the leader of all the deceiving spiritualists throughout the world, stood by him and smiled. The manager of a newspaper, Mr. James B. Pond, was smiling also.
One reporter asked if he would weep for New York City, in the same way that the Lord Jesus wept for Jerusalem. He answered, "I am not here to preach repentance and forgiveness of sins. I believe that the most important thing is to live happily, to not do anything that will harm others, to love, and to forbear." Some asked, if he were the Messiah, why he would not live as frugally as Gandhi. He said, "I am very frugal. I do not take meat or drink. I do not marry or dance. However, I swim and I play tennis."
Mrs. ______ claimed that this Indian young man is the "voice of God," and the "great world Teacher." These are words of blasphemy. Will such claims produce any result? Well, many, many foolish women and feeble-minded men will follow him.
(Collected Works of Watchman Nee, The (Set 1) Vol. 07: The Christian (5), Chapter 7, by Watchman Nee)
