BY ROGER B. EAMES

We are living in critical days. The sinister forces of evil are working covertly. The "rulers of the darkness of this world" are tremendously active, working through both Gentile and Jewish agencies. Scripture assures us that government is of God:"The powers that be are ordained of God." Satan's efforts are being directed toward the overthrow of what God has instituted. What he cannot overthrow he would corrupt and' pervert to the furtherance of his own designs.

With the Civil Authority more completely under his power, he next directs his machinations to the overthrow of faith, and seeks the control of individual conscience. The tremendous battle between the forces of good and evil in the world is approaching the crisis of the ages.

The revolution in Russia a few years ago, which has produced such dire results in the attempted extermination of Christianity in that country, has now overtaken Germany in a different form, but with a similar end in view, and there are many indications that this country also is hastening toward some very radical changes.

"CHRIST OR MYTHOLOGY FOR GERMAN RELIGION?" is the title of a recent article in The Literary Digest. To quote:"Not since Luther threw his inkwell at the devil in the historic Wartburg has the religious situation in Germany been so agitated or the Christian world been so aghast at the lengths to which the program of coordination have gone….For a time the Evangelical churches valiantly resisted nationalization, and brought matters to a head by electing.. .an orthodox pastor to the office of Reichs-bishop. He was deposed by Hitler in favor of the Chancellor's Protestant adviser, Dr. Ludwig Mueller, and the churches were forced to fuse into a single Reich's Church. Dr. Mueller was ably seconded by the Bishop of Brandenburg, who taught that if conscience conflicted-with the will of the nation conscience must acknowledge itself Wrong. Since then conscience has been pretty well split up, with some results startling to a "world already troubled by war on religion in Russia, Spain and Mexico."

"The non-Christian German Faith Movement would select its religion from the ancient sagas and return to Iceland as the isle of revelation."

"The ultra-church Nazis met recently in Berlin to arrange for the new revelation. The meeting was under the aegis of the German Research Society. The delegates agreed., .that Christianity was not meant for Germans."

These extracts will suffice to show some of the results of the Chancellor's coercive measures, which are forcing the followers of Luther and Calvin to return to the pagan faith of their fathers and take the swastika in the place of the cross as their emblem.

The higher criticism which began its destructive work in the German universities many years ago has paved the way for the well-nigh complete apostasy from the Christian faith which is apparent today, and the end is not yet. There are many real Christians in Germany who are outside of these movements, and whose individual faith will shine brightly in the deepening darkness. Paganism and atheism may prevail over central Europe, while in .western Europe we may expect the Roman Catholic church to increase her prestige and wield her authority over the nations of the coming revived Empire.

GERMANY’S POLITICAL ASPIRATIONS. "Germany's territorial ambitions.. .turn in the direction where they can do the least harm and the most good-towards the east of Europe… .It is to the thinly populated areas of western Russia that the Nationalist Socialist Government looks for an outlet. It would help to restore the Russian people to a civilized existence."

"The Ukraine is the richest portion of the Soviet Union, with its rich deposits of iron ore and manganese, its coal mines, its oil wells, its agricultural lands capable of serving as the granary of Europe."

"Upon the contingency of a Soviet-Japanese conflict on the Amur rests ultimately the chance of Hitler's ability to carry out his policy, and his position would be strengthened thereby more than by any other circumstance."-(Extracts from "Madness in Middle Europe " -Scribner's).

This means that if Japan engages Russia in warfare in the Far East, Germany will take advantage of the situation by invading Russia in Europe to acquire territory in the Ukraine, defeat the Russian armies and rid the world of Communism. An ambitious program, which in any event would relieve the tension along the Rhine and the Danube.

THE OLDEST BIBLE in the world, called the "Codex Sinaiticus," was discovered in a convent at the foot of Mount Sinai by Dr. Tischendorf, a native of Saxony. He first visited the place in 1844 and secured 43 sheets of a copy of the Old Testament in Greek. There were more leaves of the book, but the monks refused to give them up. Later, hi 1859, armed with the authority of the Czar of Russia, the doctor returned to the Monastery and found in a monk's cell the Codex, which consists of 346 leaves of fine parchment or vellum, containing 22 out of the 39 books of the Old Testament and the whole 27 books of the New Testament. These leaves, 15 x 131/2 inches, are made of the skins of a large animal, probably antelope. The book dates from the fourth century, or earlier, and is the oldest manuscript in existence. It was lodged among the royal treasures in St. Petersburg for many years until the Soviet Government came into power. Recently it was sold by them to the British Museum Authorities for half-a-million dollars, and it has already been seen by many thousand visitors in the Main Hall of the Museum.-(From "The Witness.")

AN EARTHQUAKE described as "being among the greatest of all time" visited the northern part of India in January. This quake in the Himalayas was of exceptional violence, destroying many fine buildings of heavy concrete construction. "The greatest damage to life and property occurred in Nepal and Bihar, there being 6,000 killed in the latter province alone. Great fissures were torn in the earth's surface and the channel of the Ganges river greatly altered. In 900 miles of railway there is hardly a mile of track undisturbed and no bridge undamaged. A part of the country 45 miles square (about 2,000 square miles) has been so affected as to be unfit for cultivation without extensive reclamation."-(Extracts from "London Illustrated News.")

The reported upheaval and churning of the earth's surface over a wider area may be similar to that which will overtake Palestine toward the end of the tribulation period, when much of the topography of the country will be altered to suit the millennial conditions (Zech. 14:3, 5,10).
DAMASCUS, first mentioned in Genesis 14:15, is the most ancient city of Syria. It appears at various times in the history of Israel, and in the New Testament in connection with Paul's conversion and later life. Bagdad, near the ruins of Babylon, in Mesopotamia, lies 470 miles due east of Damascus, across the Syrian desert. These two cities, having each a population of 250,000, have recently been linked together by the installation of a motor-bus line which runs across the desert, making the trip in 24 hours, while formerly it required 22 days ma camel-back. The terrain of the desert is favorable to the dual pneumatic tires, so that no particular road is required, the cars choosing their own route. These two large cities, being in the arena of prophetic events, may be heard from again.