An Alphabetical Analysis
Volume 8 - Prophetic Truth - Page 51 of 304
INDEX
The only occurrence of this word in the New Testament is in 1
Corinthians 15:52 where it is translated 'a moment'.  The Greek word is made
up of a the negative and part of the verb temno, to cut or divide, so means
indivisible, and applied to time, instantaneous, in a moment.  For fuller
exposition of 1 Corinthians 15, of which this verse forms a part, see
Resurrection4,7.
The dominant place that atomic weapons already hold in the realm
of warfare, makes the admission of Revelation 13:4 'Who is able to make war
with him?' and a comparison of the dreadful symptoms given in Zechariah
14:12, with the results of atomic explosion and the baleful effects of
intensive radioactivity, a testimony that cannot easily be set aside.  The
decimation of the nations so terribly suggested by the words of Zechariah
14:16, 'It shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations
which came against Jerusalem', coupled with the destruction of the Third Part
of trees, All green grass, the pollution and embittering of the seas and the
Third Part of the waters, together with the destruction of a Third Part of
the ships, to say nothing of the direful effects upon sun, moon and stars as
set forth at the sounding of the seven trumpets detailed in Revelation 8:5 -
12, makes these fit in only too well with the possibilities of atomic
warfare.  If the return of Israel to the land, even in unbelief, is an
indication that the close of the present dispensation is near, then modern
times and their inventions will be closely related to the character of the
days that immediately follow.  However, we do not pose as prophets, we but
draw attention to what the Prophets have spoken, and where prophecy is silent
we must perforce refrain.
BABYLON
Its prophetic import
Only a brief note occurs in Part One of this Analysis under the heading
'Babylon', the dispensational use of the term being nothing so great as its
prophetic importance.  Taken together with Jerusalem, not only the book of
the Revelation could be called 'The Tale of Two Cities' but so also could the
whole of prophetic truth.  In the present article we deal with the place
occupied by Babylon in the outworking of the purpose of the ages; prophecy
shows that Jerusalem is the answer of the Lord to the move made by Satan at
the inception of Babel.  Before Salem with its Priest King Melchisedec comes
on the scene, Babel with its rebel king Nimrod enters the story.  The one,
the move on the chess -board of the ages by the Enemy, the Devil, the other
the counter -move by the Lord Himself.
The inception of Babel is found in Genesis 10, and the final overthrow
of Babylon is recorded in Revelation 17 to 19, while intertwined with the
story of Jerusalem below and above, these two cities dominate the outworking
of prophetic truth.  Genesis 10 on the surface appears to be but an
uninteresting list of strange names, but it really is a priceless and
irreplaceable document.  It is the only existing Pedigree of the Nations, and
were it just unearthed from some ancient mound it would be given pride of
place in all the newspapers of the world.  The chapter is divided into three
parts, verses 2 to 4 recording the descendants of Japheth, verses 6 to 19 the
descendants of Ham, and verses 21 to 31 the descendants of Shem.  At the
close of each section we read words to this effect: