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The Air.
Its place in World Politics and Bible Prophecy #1
pp. 114 - 117
A brief survey of a mighty theme.
Such a passage as that of Ezek. 28: superficially addressed to the King of Tyre,
but which uses terms like "thou art the anointed cherub", "thou sealest up the sum, full of
wisdom and perfect in beauty", make it impossible to limit such a passage to the human
King of Tyre, and in like manner the language of Isa. 14: spoken of as a "proverb
against the king of Babylon", can hardly be limited to that earthly king:
"How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut
down to the ground which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart,
I will ascend unto heaven,
I will exalt my throne above the stars of God . . . . .
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;
I will be like the Most High" (Isa. 14: 12-14).
As these words stand they are ominous, but when the air and outer space, projected
landings on the moon, or investigating at close range Mars or Venus, are topics in our
daily newspapers, together with aerial missiles and the use of the air for defence, offence,
and world wide communication, these call for an examination of the Scriptures that have
something to say about this important sphere and its relation to the latter days.
There are many prophecies in both the Old Testament and the New, that in earlier
times have been scanned by learned and godly men but not apprehended, and have been
left to speak when the time foreseen by omniscience should arrive, and prominent among
such foreshadowings are the references to the air found in a number of prophetic
contexts, but which until quite recently have only attracted a passing attention. In 1921,
in the series of articles dealing with the book of the Revelation, we wrote concerning the
monster that represents the Antichristian Beast in chapter 13: at the time of the end:
"We do not wish to be fanciful, yet we are confident that Scripture fully anticipates
the end. Military experts, as well as the man in the street, know that the next war is to be
a war in the air . . . . . we know that the introduction of aerial warfare has broken down
all frontiers. That nation, large or small, which has dominion of the air, will conquer the
world. Satan is called `The Prince of the authority of the air' (Eph. 2: 2). Satan gives his
great authority to the Beast, the result being that all the world at once recognize his
position and say `Who is able to make war with him?'."
We make no foolish claims to the gift or prophecy; we are only pointing out that for
over nineteen hundred years, the Scriptures have indicated that the air and its authority
will be the arsenal of the future Kingdom of the Beast to which all nations are unwittingly
making preparation for their own subjection by the great urge for political, financial,
military and church unity, repeating in the large, the urge exhibited in the building of the
tower of Babel. We cannot make amends for the failure of our forebears, but we can turn