At the same time the standard should be lifted up, that the honest in heart, the meek of the earth among the Gentiles, should seek unto it; and that Zion should be redeemed and be built up a holy city, that the glory and power of God should rest upon her, and be seen upon her; that the watchman upon Mount Ephraim might cry--"Arise ye, and let us go up unto Zion, the city of the Lord our God;" that the Gentiles might come to her light, and kings to the brightness of her rising; that the Saints of God may have a place to flee to and stand in holy places while judgment works in the earth; that when the sword of God that is bathed in heaven falls upon Idumea, or the world,--when the Lord pleads with all flesh by sword and by fire, and the slain of the Lord are many, the Saints may escape these calamities by fleeing to the places of refuge, like Lot and Noah. Isaiah, in his 24th chapter, gives something of an account of the calamities and judgments which shall come upon the heads of the Gentile nations, and this because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, and broken the everlasting covenant. The Apostle Paul says to his Roman brethren, that if the Gentiles do not continue in the {27} goodness of God, they, like the house of Israel, should be cut off. Though Babylon says, "I sit as a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow," the Revelator says, "Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death and mourning and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire, for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her." Jesus communicated the parable of the fig-tree, which in putting forth its leaves betokens the approach of summer; and so likewise, when we see the signs in the sun, moon, and stars, and in the heavens and the earth of which He spoke, we might know that His coming is near--that the generation in which those signs appeared should not pass away till all should be fulfilled. These things are about to come to pass upon the heads of the present generation, notwithstanding they are not looking for it, neither do they believe it. Yet their unbelief will not make the truth of God of none effect. The signs are appearing in the heavens and on the earth, and all things indicate the fulfillment of the Prophets. The fig-tree is leafing, summer is nigh, and the Lord has sent his angels to lay the foundation of this great and important work. Then why should not God reveal His secrets unto His servants the Prophets, that the Saints might be led in paths of safety, and escape those evils which are about to engulf a whole generation in ruin?