will take place on the eve of the Second Coming.  At that gathering a great

sifting and refining will take place, which shows that before that time

Israel will be in no position to become a blessing in the earth; they stand

in need evidently of a personal blessing themselves.

Let us rejoice that:

'He that scattered Israel will gather him' (Jer. 31:10).

As an appendix to this study, we draw the reader's attention to a

series of articles in Volumes 36 and 37 of The Berean Expositor under the

title 'The prophetic earth', which suggest that the prophetic earth does not

extend further than that ruled over by Nebuchadnezzar and his successors; in

other words from the Indus to the Straits of Gibraltar.  We quote:

'It seems a sound argument to affirm that by reason of Israel's lo -

ammi condition at Acts 28, the time element in the history of the successive

rulers from Nebuchadnezzar should cease to have a place, and it seems

reasonable to believe that, when the prophetic clock again begins to tick,

the parenthesis will be closed and the powers indicated by the two feet and

the ten toes (which toes are symbols of the ten kings yet to reign with the

Beast, at the time of the end) will reign, in the first place, over the same

territory as was governed by their predecessors' (The Berean Expositor vol.

37, p. 17).

'The reference to "the kings of the East" in Revelation 16:12, does not

refer to the Far East as we speak of it today.  The Greek word anatole is

used of the home country of the wise men (Matt. 2:1).  The corresponding

terms in the Hebrew are mizrach which means 'from the rising (of the sun)'

(Josh. 4:19) or qedem, a land, comprehending Arabia Deserta (Arabian Desert),

Ammon, Armenia, Assyria and Mesopotamia.  This is the anatole of the Hebrews.

To this region belong the kings of the East, for the Hebrew words melchi

qedem are found in Isaiah 19:11 and are there translated "ancient kings"; but

Pharaoh may be boasting here that he is descended from the kings of the East'

(The Berean Expositor vol. 37, p. 19).

Psalm 83:4 refers to 'crafty counsel' taken by those who are

'confederate against' Israel, and have said:

'Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of

Israel may be no more in remembrance',

words that have been unconsciously repeated by Arab leaders and reported in

our newspapers in our time.  Then, we ask, is it accidental that Ten Nations

of the Middle East are immediately enumerated?

Edom, Ishmaelites, Moab, Hagarenes, Gebal, Ammon, Amalek, Philistines

with Tyre, Assur and Lot (Psa. 83:6 -8).

'The great powers outside the limits of the prophetic earth naturally

play their part and exert a great influence, but just as the reference to the

new heavens and the new earth in Isaiah is localized, and our attention is

focused upon "Jerusalem" (Isa. 65:17,18), or Millennial blessings are

peculiarly associated, in the first place, with "all My holy mountain",

before the earth is full of the knowledge of the Lord (Isa. 11:9), so the