+I. As it regards man.+ 1. As a revelation of the degradation of
which he is capable. History may be said to be a manifold revelation
to this effect; the Bible alone gives hope for man, by disclosing his
capabilities of development and exaltation. 2. As a remindal that no
earthly empire is in and of itself secure against utter overthrow.
3. As a remindal that what are called national disasters, are made up
of sufferings endured by a vast number of individuals.
+II. As it regards God.+ So considered, it should be
remembered--1. That His permission of such things is, when viewed
comprehensively, only part of the great mystery of the permission of
evil. 2. That this is an instance of the working of one of the great
natural laws by which God governs the universe--the law of
retribution. 3. That in the heart of this terrible prediction there
is a bright ray of hope. When you see a surgeon performing a terrible
operation on a patient, you are sure that he is confident that the
patient will be restored to health. So when we look at the world as
it _is,_ we are certified that there is a better world _to be._ God
would never have permitted the world to be, if He did not see how out
of this present misery He could educe eternal and triumphant
blessedness. Towards that better future God is leading on the world
(H. E. I., 3421-3423). The revulsion of feeling with which we read
this prediction is one proof of it; there was a time when such
incidents in the prosecution of a war would have been regarded as a
matter of course. That it should not be so now marks an advance, and
is a prophecy of further advances.