The above leader appeared in The Globe (Toronto), 3rd June, and treats a subject of international importance in a sane and scriptural way. The article is re-printed with the permission of the Editor of The Globe.—Editor.
DOES God ever bring judgments upon individuals, or nations, or even the human race as a whole? There are men who tell us He does not. They say that earthquakes, cyclones, epidemics, are the result of natural causes, and that God has nothing to do with them except in so far as He establishes natural laws which may have their outworking in disaster.
The Bible tells us a different story. When sin began, judgment began. This is recorded early in Genesis; we are told of the fall of the human race in its first parents, and of God’s judgment upon them and upon the race. But that did not end sin or judgment. A few chapters later we find the record of the flood, with the wiping out of the entire race except for one righteous family through whom mankind was given a new start. It would take a long study to trace the
judgments of God throughout the Scriptures; but there is another outstanding instance recorded early in human history. It is that of the tower of Babel.
Civilization was flourishing. We read that “the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech,” and that men came together for the purpose of forming a great world-wide merger or combine. They said: “Let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven, and let us make a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.”
It was an ambitious plan for the exaltation of man. There was no recognition of God, no mention of His name, no divine worship. Evidently it was displeasing to God, for the inspired record tells us of the Lord’s comment that “this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them which they have imagined to do.”
God broke up the plan represented by the city and tower bearing the name Babel. Something supernatural happened, which only God could have brought to pass. He confounded the language of men. Instead of speaking one language, which all understood, they now spoke different languages, “that they may not understand one another’s speech.” Babel, man’s ambitious plan, was a failure.
Is there any danger that men and nations to-day are attempting to repeat the spirit and purpose of the original Babel? What has been the chief interest of the civilized world in the past twenty years? Has it been the worship of God and the evangelization of the lost, or the exaltation of man and the worship of mammon? There cannot be much argument about the question: it answers itself.
And there can be little doubt, among thoughtful Christian people, that the astounding economic condition in which most countries of the civilized world find themselves goes beyond any merely natural explanation. Many theories have been offered; the wisest minds, trained and disciplined by years of experience in the world of business, finance, commerce, economics, and government, have done their utmost to explain what is
happening: but those who know most are readiest to admit that they are baffled.
A group of business men in Lethbridge Alberta, have recently drafted an extraordinary declaration addressed to Canada and the United States. The declaration has been signed by a long list of Canadian and United States nationals doing business in that city; other copies with other signatures are in circulation. The declaration explains itself, and is worthy of careful reading. It is as follows:—
(a) The following undisputed facts:
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That there now exists a world-wide and prolonged business depression for which no natural or necessary cause can be given.
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That this depression is accompanied by an overproduction of most of the world’s staple products.
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That coincident with this overproduction is the distress of unemployment and individual want seriously affecting millions of families in all the great civilized and producing countries of the world.
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That the world as a whole, and especially its so-called civilized nations, have at their disposal everything needed to produce the highest degree of prosperity ever conceived by the mind of man.
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That the best intellects the world possesses confess their impotence either severally or jointly to find a solution for the problem which has thus presented itself.
(b) Our belief:
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That the foregoing facts constitute the most astounding phenomenon in the history of the world.
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That this phenomenon calls for an explanation which divine wrath alone can give.
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That it is for our sins that this distress has been brought upon us.
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That God Almighty has allowed us to erect this, our Modern Tower of Babel, to the end that He may show forth His power.
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That we shall find no relief until we confess our sins to each other and humble ourselves before Him and ask for His forgiveness and His wisdom.
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That relief will come promptly and fully whenever we do so humble ourselves.
(c) Our confession:
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That we business and professional men, both individually and as a class, are responsible for this distress and this punishment.
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That we have not loved our neighbours as ourselves nor considered their distress as our distress.
(d) Our desire:
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To have our respective Governments appoint a day of prayer and fasting.
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To have our respective national leaders lead us to humility and prayers for grace and wisdom to the end that we may find the Divine solution of our problems and relieve distress the world over.
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To have our brethren throughout our land join us in this declaration and its promulgation.
(e) Our promise:
To do our part heartily as unto the Lord as our respective national leaders may appoint for us to do to accomplish fully the purposes for which this Declaration has been made.
Next to the sight of the Lamb, that is the sight I would like to see (“I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife”). I would like to see the Lamb: I would like to see the Father of the Lamb: I would like to see the Spirit of the Lamb; but next to that I would like to see the Bride, the Lamb’s wife.—Dr. John Duncan.