INTRODUCTION   "Now from the fig tree learn her parable: when her branch is now become tender, and putteth forth its leaves, ye know that the summer is nigh." Matthew 24:32     In the ancient world, the Israelites were the only people to worship the true God. God's providence chose the land in which this nation lived as the starting point for the joyful narrative of the Messianic salvation. Palestine is the geographical center to the continents of the inhabited world. It has direct borders with Asia, Africa and Europe. This unique location made this land the center of interest and the object of desire of the surrounding nations. A conviction has been established that "whoever rules over Palestine rules the world". This saying has remained relevant to this day.   From the very beginning of this nation, God wanted the Jews to be modest and not have an exaggerated assessment of themselves. God emphasized to them through Moses that they were the smallest of the nations, yet He chose them for specific tasks. And that hasn't changed so far. Israel is still one of the smallest countries in the world. Its territory is smaller than half of Switzerland and has about the same population as Berlin.   Before the Christian ...more

The church of Laodicea   (3:14) And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God: (15) I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. (16) So because thou art lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spew thee out of my mouth.       Laodicea means: "a tried or judged people," or "justice for the people." The church upon whom the hour of trial is coming; the one that is to be weighed in the balance and found wanting; the generation who are to stumble, as did the generation of Jews, who saw the first advent. HG98:5 But though our Lord does not preserved the Laodicean stage of his saints from going into the trouble, we may be sure that those who kept the word of his patience they had his keeping power, as promised to the Laodicean saints: "I stand at the door and knock; whoever hears my voice and opens to me I will come in and sup with him and he with me." This was the special reward of those who were running ...more

THE TENTH PLAGUE – DEATH OF THE FIRST-BORN Exodus 10:11,12     "And Jehovah said unto Moses, Yet one plague more will I bring upon Pharaoh, and upon Egypt; afterwards he will let you go hence (...) And Moses said, Thus saith Jehovah, About midnight will I go out into the midst of Egypt: and all the first-born in the land of Egypt shall die, from the first-born of Pharaoh that sitteth upon his throne, even unto the first-born of the maid-servant that is behind the mill; and all the first-born of cattle (...) And there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there hath not been, nor shall be any more (...) But against any of the children of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue, against man or beast: that ye may know how that Jehovah doth make a distinction between the Egyptians and Israel (...) And all these thy servants shall come down unto me, and bow down themselves unto me, saying, Get thee out, and all the people that follow thee: and after that I will go out (...) and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am Jehovah. ...more

THE SIXTH PLAGUE – BOILS Exodus 9:9-12     "And Jehovah said unto Moses and unto Aaron, Take to you handfuls of ashes of the furnace, and let Moses sprinkle it toward heaven in the sight of Pharaoh. And it shall become small dust over all the land of Egypt, and shall be a boil breaking forth with blains upon man and upon beast, throughout all the land of Egypt. And they took ashes of the furnace, and stood before Pharaoh; and Moses sprinkled it up toward heaven; and it became a boil breaking forth with blains upon man and upon beast. And the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils; for the boils were upon the magicians, and upon all the Egyptians. And Jehovah hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he hearkened not unto them, as Jehovah had spoken unto Moses." "The festering boils" were the sixth plague, which afflicted, from command of God, the land of Egypt. Moses and Aaron took from the turned off the kiln (heb. kibshan) the handfuls of soot (heb. piyach), which Moses tossed into the air in Pharaoh presence. The dust raising over the Egyptian land produced festering boils on men and beast. Pharaoh magicians ...more

IMPORTANCE OF THE KINGDOM   The most momentous event of earth's history is the establishment of God's Kingdom among men, in the hands of our Lord Jesus and his selected joint-heirs, the overcomers of the Gospel Church. This great event, toward which all of God's promises and types point, we now see to be not only at hand, but just upon us. None of those awake to these facts, and who properly or even partially realize them, and whose hearts are in full sympathy with God's great plan of the ages, and who see that God's panacea for the sin and misery and dying of the groaning creation is to be applied by this Kingdom, can possibly feel other than an absorbing interest in the fact, the time and the manner of its establishment.     CLASSES OF MEN INTERESTED IN IT   All who trust implicitly for the fulfilment of the prayer our Lord himself taught us to offer – "Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is done in heaven" – must feel the liveliest interest in the fulfilment of their request, if they prayed from the heart – in spirit and in truth. We can see that even the world, ...more