Since then Christ has been supervising a work of dividing the “sheep” from the “goats” even as he foretold, a work of educating the sheeplike ones so that they can seek Jehovah, righteousness and meekness and thus be hidden in the day of his anger. This feature of Christ’s presence is really a time of favor for his followers on earth and will continue until the time for his apokalypsis, or his revealing, the “revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven with his powerful angels in a flaming fire, as he brings due punishment upon those who do not know God and those who do not obey the good news about our Lord Jesus.” Other scriptures refer to this “revelation” as Armageddon, “the war of the great day of God the Almighty.”—2 Thess. 1:7, 8; Rev. 16:14, 16, NW.

Following the destruction of all the visible enemies of righteousness and the abyssing of Satan and his demons at Armageddon, the thousand-year reign of Christ will begin. He, together with his body or bride, will, as the seed of Abraham, bless all the families of the earth and will continue to rule until even death is destroyed and there is no more pain, outcry or mourning and God’s will is done on earth as in heaven. With that God’s purpose for Christ’s second presence will have been fully accomplished. To sum up: We have seen that Jesus came the first time as a human to bear witness to the truth, to prove his integrity under test and to give his life a ransom for man, and that he really was flesh and blood; that he was raised from the dead as a spirit; that he could not have inherited heaven had he remained a human nor, much less, as such, accomplish the glorious purposes of his second presence; that he came as an invisible spirit and in the sense that he directed his attention to earth’s affairs, and that after his second coming three features appear, the first, the parousia, or presence, beginning in 1914. Those who are wise will take advantage of his present manifestation of favor before his revelation in fiery destruction upon his enemies at Armageddon

Hay for the Vulture

As late as the nineteenth century it was generally asserted that birds of prey were gifted with a keen sense of smell and thus were able to search out their food at a distance. But experiments by Audubon showed otherwise. One time he procured the skin of a deer. Stuffing it full of hay, he placed it in the middle of a field, laying it down to resemble a dead animal. In a few minutes a hungry vulture appeared. Unsuspiciously, the bird proceeded to attack the “carcass,” as usual, in the most vulnerable points. Failing in this, the vulture, with much exertion, tore open the seams, earnestly intent on getting at the succulent “flesh.” Finding that his efforts led to no other result than the pulling out of huge quantities of hay, the vexed vulture, with some reluctance, gave up and took flight to search elsewhere for dinner. And so Audubon proved that it was not smell but sight by which the vulture hunted.

But Bible readers, without knowledge of Audubon’s experiments or any others, have always known the truth of the matter. For Job 39:27-29 (AT) says: “Does the vulture fly high at your command, when he sets his nest aloft? He occupies the cliff and makes a lodging upon the peak of the cliff and the rocky hold. Thence he searches for food; his eyes look afar off.” The careful, literal translation of verse 29 by Rotherham reads: “He searcheth out food, far away his eyes do pierce.”