Micah 4:1-8 "Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more."

THE whole world has for a long time been boasting that civilization and Christianity have won the day, that the world has become God's Empire and that the blessings of the Millennium are ours to enjoy. Aid Conferences and Peace Councils and Peace Commissions have flared up for the moment, only to die down. The cry of "Peace, peace," has brought no peace. We are beginning to see that we have been deceiving ourselves into thinking that the nations of the earth are kingdoms of God. We are beginning to see that they are merely kingdoms of this world, kingdoms of the Gentiles, and that the Prince of this world is actually Satan, a liar from the beginning who abode not in the truth.

We see it clearly. The Kingdom of God has not yet come. We are glad, however, that the Divine promise assures us that it will come and explains to us that the All-Wise Creator is even now preparing his chosen and elect people for the special role they will play in that Kingdom of glory, by which the whole world is to be blessed.

But all are not yet convinced of these Bible truths. Some point to the coins of the various kingdoms, which declare that "In God we trust," and that the several emperors and rulers of earth are reigning "by the grace of God" and claiming that they are of Divine appointment; while the Pope also makes the still greater claim that he is the personal representative of Messiah and his Kingdom and the only one authorized to reign over and to govern the rulers of the earth.

To convince the more prejudiced nothing further should be necessary along these lines than to point out the difference between present conditions and those which the Scriptures declare will prevail when Messiah will take his great power and reign. The King of glory will put down sin in its every form and death in its every form and will release and uplift all the willing and obedient of all the families of the earth--including those who have gone down into the great prison-house of death--the grave, sheol.

The hope for humanity is the Messianic Kingdom described in this lesson. The "mountain of the Lord's house" signifies the Kingdom of God's house. It will be established in the top of, or above the kingdoms of the world. It will be exalted amongst the nations and all peoples will flow to it. There will be an attraction in it for all peoples. It will lead them to climb upward. The attraction which will thus draw mankind will be the blessings of health and restitution, which the Kingdom will be prepared to grant to all peoples as they shall come into harmony with its requirements.

That Kingdom will be closely identified with the Zionist movement and the Holy Land. The Kingdom itself will be spiritual, invisible to men, but its earthly agents will be visible and they will be Jewish -- Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the Prophets.

The Jews, already gathered to the Land of Promise, will go there in increasing numbers, and all of the faithful of them will go in sympathy and representatively, through financial assistance. The Israelitish hopes and promises will attract that number strongly first. And gradually all the nations, learning of the grace of God, and the blessings of restitution to be bestowed, will say, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways and we will walk in his paths. For out of Zion shall go forth the Law and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem." Isa. 2:3; Mic. 4:2.

The Peace of God Established

Verse 3 tells of how Messiah's judgments will be manifested, favoring most the nations which are most righteous and rebuking all unrighteousness. The effect will be that wars will cease. The metal previously used in weapons of destruction will be used in plowshares and pruning hooks. The earth shall no longer be soaked with human blood, but be tilled for the blessing of the race, with none to molest nor make afraid.