Romans 13:12 says, “The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.” Having thought of “the night,” now we want to know about “the day.”

The law and the prophets have done their work. The Messiah promised at the fall has appeared and provided a complete salvation. The last revelation of God’s will has been made. The way of life has been laid open to all mankind. No further message from heaven to earth is to be expected before the end. No more books of Scripture are to be written. We have reached the last watch of the night. We have nothing to expect now but the sunrise and the morning. The words that Paul wrote two thousand years ago are, for sure, more true at this present time. “The night is far spent, the day is at hand.”

There is no one but God who knows the exact time of “the day,” if we refer it to the time of the return of Christ. However, we need to constantly remind ourselves of such words like “The Judge standeth before the door,” “the coming of the Lord draweth nigh” (James 5:8, 9), and “the end of all things is at hand” (1 Peter 4:7). No one should dare to behave as if he were a prophet who can predict the time of the Lord’s return. People often talk about “signs of the times” in seeking to understand the coming of “the day”. J. C. Ryle explains his thoughts about the signs as follows:

1. The missions to the heathen: Though it is hard to believe today, there was a time when the idea of preaching the Gospel to savages and idolaters was ridiculed. The first promoters of missions were treated coldly. But now the feeling is completely changed. Matthew 24:14 says, “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.”
2. The interest taken in the Jewish nation: On November 29, 1947, the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted a resolution on the establishment of an independent Jewish State in Palestine. If you have not read the Declaration of Israel’s Independence, 1948, here is an excerpt:

This recognition by the United Nations of the right of the Jewish people to establish

their Independent State may not be revoked. It is, moreover, the self-evident right of the Jewish people to be a nation, as all other nations, in its own Sovereign State.

ACCORDINGLY, WE, the members of the National Council, representing the Jewish people in Palestine and the Zionist movement of the world, met together in solemn assembly today, the day of the termination of the British mandate for Palestine, by virtue of the natural and historic right of the Jewish and of the Resolution of the General Assembly of the United Nations,

HEREBY PROCLAIM the establishment of the Jewish State in Palestine, to be called ISRAEL.

WE HEREBY DECLARE that as from the termination of the Mandate at midnight, this night of the 14th and 15th May, 1948, and until the setting up of the duly elected bodies of the State in accordance with a Constitution, to be drawn up by a Constituent Assembly not later than the first day of October, 1948, the present National Council shall act as the provisional administration, shall constitute the Provisional Government of the State of Israel.

THE STATE OF ISRAEL will be open to the immigration of Jews from all countries of their dispersion; will promote the development of the country for the benefit of all its inhabitants; will be based on the precepts of liberty, justice and peace taught by the Hebrew Prophets; will uphold the full social and political equality of all its citizens, without distinction of race, creed or sex; will guarantee full freedom of conscience, worship, education and culture; will safeguard the sanctity and inviolability of the shrines and Holy Places of all religions; and will dedicate itself to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations.

THE STATE OF ISRAEL will be ready to cooperate with the organs and representatives of the United Nations in the implementation of the Resolution of the Assembly of November 29, 1947, and will take steps to bring about the Economic Union over the whole of Palestine.

We appeal to the United Nations to assist the Jewish people in the building of its State and to admit Israel into the family of nations.

In the midst of wanton aggression, we yet call upon the Arab inhabitants of the State of Israel to return to the ways of peace and play their part in the development of the State, with full and equal citizenship and due representation in its bodies and institutions -- provisional or permanent.

We offer peace and unity to all the neighboring states and their peoples, and invite them to cooperate with the independent Jewish nation for the common good of all.

Our call goes out to the Jewish people all over the world to rally to our side in the task of immigration and development and to stand by us in the great struggle for the fulfillment of the dream of generations -- the redemption of Israel.

With trust in Almighty God, we set our hand to this Declaration, at this Session of the Provisional State Council, in the city of Tel Aviv, on this Sabbath eve, the fifth of Iyar, 5708, the fourteenth day of May, 1948.

Before this Jewish State was born, no man really cared for the souls of the children of Abraham. They were a people despised, scorned, and trampled underfoot. But now the feeling is completely changed. The spiritual interests of Jews are a subject of deep concern for many Christians. See how Psalm 102:13-16 says about the city of Jerusalem: “Thou shalt arise, and have mercy upon Zion: for the time to favour her, yea, the set time, is come. 14 For thy servants take pleasure in her stones, and favour the dust thereof. 15 So the heathen shall fear the name of the LORD, and all the kings of the earth thy glory. 16 When the LORD shall build up Zion, he shall appear in his glory.”

Lovingly,

Pastor Emeritus Ki

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