ages named. The only characteristic in which he differs from the practice of his ilk is his incaution in coming out in print in a journal which is willing to admit both sides of a matter into its columns, without fear or favour. I am not trying to besmirch him. T merely present evidence of identification. I invite him to sign his name, like a man.
First ofall, let us look at Matthew XVI. 28, "Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here which shall not taste of death, till they sec the Son of Man coming in His kingdom."
Inspired testimony as to the real meaning of the passage is much better than anything I can say. What our Lord meant is, in fact, expressly stated by one of the individuals he was—referring tc—Simon Peter. "n LI Peter 1.16-18, that Apostle describes the Transfiguration scene on "the holy mount" (ver. 18) as constituting "the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ" within the meaning of Christ's words, And did your correspondent. never find any light on his poser from a perusal of John XIV, 18, Acts LI, 24, I, Cor. VI, 19, and Luke XVII, 20, all in association.
Of his second, group of passages, instanced in Mark XIII, 30, the explanation is also simple. In the immediately previous context of this verse (as also of its fellow in Luke XXI, 32), our Lord likens the Jewish nation to a fig-tree cut down and re-sprouting, "'putting forth leaves." It is a carrying forward of the parable of the fruitless fig tree in Luke XIII, 6-9, where speaking in the third year of his ministry, our Lord said that His Father had come three years it succession to this fruitless Jewish fig-tree, which, though receiving nourishment in spiritual things from so great and a ministry, was still producing no adequate fruit. He proposes that He shall dig about it, and nourish even with His own Body given to its earth in an atoning death, and then, "If it bear fruit, well, and if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down." We know what happened. It was cut down (cp. Matt. ITI, 10) in wrath. The Roman armies came, and swept the nation off the Land.
For more than 1800 years after that event, the stock of this tree remained in the earth, unadulterate, imperishable, yet deprived ai all expression of national life, apparently dead, and yet a miraculously __deathless stock, "abiding for Jehovah," and awaiting His wondrous coming purpose. And then, after so long a time perished hope, this cut-down tree-stock began, in the second half of the nineteenth century, to put forth leaves." In fresh national expression, in a demand for and finally a re-acquisition of its ancient patrimony, a resurrection of its own ancient language, and international recognition of its nationhood—for the first time after 1800 years.
Now both the verses named are preceded by a prophecy of this ethnologically unique phenomenon.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.