On the Secret Works of Art and Nature and the Nullity of Magic

although God had threatened very clearly through the prophet Daniel that He would cast off both the Jewish church and the Jewish people to such an extent that, if they killed the Messias Messiah, a foreign people with their commander would raze and devastate both the city and the sanctuary, and that this devastation should last until the end (Daniel 9:26, 27), yet the hope and the thought of the restoration of their kingdom had so occupied the hearts of the Jews that when Christ had risen from the dead, the disciples of Jesus themselves either did not think of the threats or did not know them, and held that the kingdom of Israel would be restored even then (Acts 1:6). Just so, human minds are blind to this very day, and indeed always regarding the works of God, until they can distinguish the times and moments through the power of the Holy Spirit. One need be so much the less surprised that, since in this century everything concerning the restoration of all things has been taught, what has been presented is despised by some fanatics, but by others, following the example of the noble Bereans, is researched in the Holy Scripture to see if it is so. It is certainly true: the Roman Antichrist must necessarily deny this