Every nation that has come upon the stage of action has 177 been permitted to occupy its place on the earth, that it might be seen whether it would fulfill the purpose of "the Watcher and the Holy One." Prophecy has traced the rise and fall of the world's great empires--Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome. With each of these, as with nations of less power, history repeated itself. Each had its period of test, each failed, its glory faded, its power departed, and its place was occupied by another.

Ethvert folk, som er trådt frem på handlingens skueplads, har fået lov til at indtage sin plads i verden, så det kunne vise sig, om det ville opfylde vægterens, den helliges krav. (Dan. 4,13.) Profetierne har fulgt de store verdensrigers opkomst og fald Babylon, Medien og Persien, Grækenland og Rom, Historien har gentaget sig med hvert eneste af disse, ligesom med riger, der var mindre mægtige. Hvert af dem har haft sin prøvetid, alle har de svigtet deres herlighed er visnet, deres magt forsvundet, og en anden har indtaget deres plads.