The Land with a Golden Twilight

At evening time there shall be light.” — Zech. xiv. 7,

This is a promise made to the nation; and as such it is unique in history. I do not mean that no nation but the Jew has ever predicted the glory of its advanced years. I know of none that has not; every people glorifies its own future. But the peculiarity of this promise is, not that it glorifies the future, but that it glorifies the evening. The evening of a nation is its decline — the time when it has lost its political influence and its military prestige. To say that a nation shall have light at evening time is to say that it will be a power in its decrepit days, that in the period of its old age it will exercise the influence of the morning. That is the promise given to Judah, and it is unique. But there is something besides which is unique and whose uniqueness is more remarkable. This promise has been fulfilled. There may be disputes about other prophecies. There may be controversies about the interpretation of other

99 G 2 predictions. There may be difference of opinion as to whether a presaged glory refers to a Hezekiah or a Christ. But this is a prophecy which is being fulfilled before our eyes. We see one among the peoples of the world whose light has come only at evening time — in the hour of its decay. Judah has indeed reached her evening shadows. She has hung her harp upon the willows. She has lost her local habitation. She has been driven from her rites of worship. She has been expelled from her temple. She has been robbed of her prophet, her priest and her king. She has been sent to sojourn in every land, and in none has she found a home. Yet, in her darkness she is giving light to the world. Never did she give such light as now. Not when David sat upon her throne, not when Solomon swayed her sceptre, not when seer and psalmist sang her glories, did she give such light as now. From the ruins of her battered tower she rules all nations. From a ledge of her broken wall she gives law to the world. From the places of her exile she dictates to modern civilisation. From the scene of her blindness she illuminates the kingdoms by a torch she cannot see. At her evening time there has been light.

Lord, these ancient people of Thine have seen their evening, but not their light. They are loo

dreaming still of a future glory — of a universal empire, of a kingdom which shall enfold all mankind. It never strikes them that the kingdom has come already. They deem themselves to be in bondage to the Gentiles; they wot not that the Gentiles are even now their subjects. They say, “We shall one day give a King to the world; ‘* and lo, their King is already here — seated on His Throne, ruling from sea to sea! Show them, O Lord, their “light at evening time “! Reveal to them the radiance of their ruins, the empire of their evening sky! Teach them that the majesty of the Gentiles is the majesty of their Messiah! Tell them that our gardens are glorified by their flowers, our houses heated by their fires, our fields fructified by their corn! Tell them that we are living by their labour, fed by their fulness, braced by their breezes, enriched by their rivers, freshened by their fountains, strengthened by their struggles, inspired by the spirit of their life! Tell them that their King has come, that their fancy is fulfilled, that their empire is established, that their conquest is complete, that their mission is manifested, that their progress is perfected, that their world is won! Let them see their glory in the evening light!