passed since the Great Promise was made in Paradise. One Empire had followed another, conquering and conquered in its turn. And now the whole world was in peace, for mighty Rome had crushed every rival. But peace did not mean that men were happy. Never had they been more miserable. The worship of false gods had brought them so low, that animals, trees, stones, wicked things even—theft, rebellion against parents, cruelty, murder, bad passions of every kind—nay, the very devils themselves, were adored as gods.
The strong cruelly oppressed the weak. Men and women were so given up to the pleasure of soft, self-indulgent lives, that their hearts were hardened against the sight of pain and misery. The weak and the helpless—children, slaves, the poor, the old, the sick, were treated with a barbarity that only the most frightful selfishness can explain.
Truly the world needed its Saviour!
The Jewish prophecies were known far and wide, and all over the East there was the expectation of a Deliverer who was to appear in Judea. No man knew exactly what He was to do, but He would reform the world in some way, set right all that was wrong, and bring a golden age to the earth.
Among the Jews themselves there was naturally a more eager waiting and watching. They knew the prophecies by heart. They could tell better than the heathen what the work of the Messiah was to be. And now that the time was at hand, the best among them were earnestly praying for the speedy coming of those Promised Ones, the Woman who was to be the serpent's enemy, and her Child who was to redeem the world.
