have remained to their holds; their might hath failed; they became as women; they have burned her dwelling places; her bárs are broken. They (the Asiatic Hosts) shall hold the bow and the lance; they are cruel and will not show mercy; their voices shall roar as the sea, and they shall ride upon horses, every one in battle array, like a man to the battle, against thee, O Daughter of Babylon."

"The King of Babylon hath heard the report of them and his hands waxed feeble: anguish took hold of him, and pangs as of a woman in travail."

"Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the swelling Jordan."

For surely then revenge was in every fiber of his soul. Restless, nervous, waiting, waiting for the armaments of Europe, which were even then in sight of the coast. In a few hours the ships would be unloading their myriads of armed men. Alas! too late to save Babylon, but not too late for vengeance of the direst kind to the bitter end-both on Jew and Barbarian. And now what was that?

The black hand of JEHOVAH had shattered the glory and the beauty of the world.

An earthquake had destroyed Babylon; not a building left standing; all was in ruins; and her gorgeous palaces, store houses, and dwelling houses, were wrapped in fire and smoke— for as GOD overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah with fire, so had HE destroyed Babylon.

"At the noise of the taking of Babylon the earth is moved and the cry is heard among the nations!"

The Greatest Exchanges in the world were thrown into utter confusion; the money markets were paralyzed; ruin stared men in the face; men who were millionaires in the morning were beggars at evening, for "her traders were princes, the great men of the earth were her merchantmen.”

This sudden destruction of commercial values most appalling; every trader, the round world over, felt its effects. And this maddened Europe to its centre-one thought alone seemed to fill every soul: hatred to JEHOVAH, who had done this deed, for there was none but could see the hand mightier than that of a man laid in destructive power, shattering the glory of Babylon.

And God allowed Satan to open the bottomless pit, to unloose the myriad of demons bound in the river Euphrates: and HE allowed this evil host to possess the Roman Empire; to enter into humanity, man, and woman; and so permitted the strong delusion to work their everlasting ruin. Men and women were mad enough to dream that by the aid of Satan and his many millions of spirits they could battle with JEHOVAH—and conquer HIM. So the hosts of maddened men, alas women also, rushing across Europe, coming from all corners and centres of Europe to meet on Palestine, were demon led.

At last the armed men landed on the beach by thousands, tens of thousands, aye millions. At last Antichrist was once more surrounded by his ten kings, the hour of his vengeance was at hand. The plains and valleys and mountains of Israel were covered by blaspheming, armed, trained men of war, who were only too eager for the conflict. At last he moved forward in sullen pride.

"He is come to Aiath, he is passed to Migron; at Michmash he hath laid up his carriages: they are gone over the passage: they have taken up their lodgings at Geba: Radmah is afraid: Gibeah of Saul is fled." Lift up thy voice, O Daughter of Gilliam: cause it to be heard unto Laish, O poor Anathoth. Madmenah is removed: the inhabitants of Gebim gather themselves to flee."

“As yet shall he remain at Nob that day: he shall shake his hand against the mount of the daughter of Zion, the Hill of Jerusalem."

"Yet He shall come to his end and none shall help him!"

"Woe to the multitude of many people, which make a noise like the noise of the seas: and to the rushing of nations, that make a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters! The nations shall rush like the rushing of many waters: but JEHOVAH shall rebuke them, and they shall flee far off, and shall be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like a thistledown before the whirlwind. Like as the lion and the young lion roaring on his prey when a multitude of shepherds is called forth against him, HE will not be afraid of their voices, nor abase Himself for the noise of them: so shall THE LORD OF

HOSTS come down to fight for Mount Zion, and for the hill thereof. As birds flying, so will THE LORD OF HOSTS defend Jerusalem: defending also HE will deliver it and passing over He will preserve it."

CHAPTER XII.

THE DAY OF JACOB'S TROUBLE.

"For it is the time of Jacob's trouble."

One may faintly conceive that when the Jewish mind had recovered from the effects of the earthquake, a sense of great relief filled their hearts, as they beheld the rush of the Gentiles from the city, and they only, the Jews, left behind. Their Gentile

persecutors one and all were only too glad to shake the dust of that city from their feet. To be sure all was confusion, and disorder-the Jews were like a pack of sheep without a shepherd, without a leader to tell them what to do.

But suddenly it was noticeable that the men who had not received the mark of the Man God were getting more numerous; they were coming from their hiding places, from underground cellars and caves-and all of them had ringing words of cheer on their lips. To be sure they were once the poor ones, the needy brothers, the despised ones, but now they grasped at the leadership-speaking great words of cheer. They proclaimed boldly that the hour of Jacob's redemption was at hand. They pointed out how the words of the Two Witnesses had partly come to pass, and that, without the shadow of a doubt, the rest of their promises would also be fulfilled. The resurrection of JEHOVAH'S messengers from the dead-their visible ascension to Heaven-the terrible earthquake-was surely the finger of JEHOVAH. At last His hand was stretched out to rescue His people— their redemption from all their enemies was surely at hand.

And a great hope filled the Israelitish breast-those who were of the Remnant waxed bold as very lions. The rich ones, and those who had received the mark of the Man God could not realize such high hopes. But to them came the daring of despair! The only spot in Europe where they could feel at home was Zion-in that city they would rather die than anywhere else. And then, perchance, there still was hope. Russia to the north might swoop down at any time with its millions of trained

men; the Barbarians were not all destroyed; what if they were making westward to plunder European cities? But the Barbarians never ill-treated the house of Israel: Perchance, their Oriental Cohorts would be here before it was possible for the European nations to pour their trained millions on the fields of Palestine. And then, perforce, America would plead mediation for them with yonder despot. The destruction of his capital, the oncoming rush of the Barbarians, the seeming down sweeping of the Russian millions, might make a wish in his heart for the help of America. Surely their brethren in America would plead with the authorities to ask him to be gracious to the Jews in Jerusalem. They were not dead men yet; there was a glimmering of hope-and time-a little time might bring deliverance from some quarter.

So then Jerusalem was divided into two parties, both looking for deliverance from widely different points.

The Remnant, as we will call the followers of the Two Witnesses, put no trust in any human aid, to look for human help was utterly useless; they trusted for deliverance only to the direct interference of JEHOVAH. HE, and HE alone, was their refuge and their only hope.

The richer brethren, the former followers of the Man God, had only a faint hope of heavenly aid. Their hearts were yet set on human aid from some quarter: to use a common phrase, "Something would turn up"; and they were rich yet, perchance love of their gold would make some Gentile hearts relent, and make a way of escape from the hands of their enemies.

And now it was noticeable that at night hundreds of men and women who had hidden themselves in rocky caves, ravines and mountain fastnesses, months, and even years before, were now coming into the city-for was not the hour of deliverance at hand?

The glorious promises of the ancient prophets were constantly on their lips. JEHOVAH'S promises were now pondered over. "So shall the LORD OF HOSTS come down to fight for Mount Zion and for the Hill thereof."

“As birds flying, so will the LORD OF HOSTS defend Jerusalem. Defending also He will deliver it: and passing over He will preserve it."