| News and Views | August 1941 |
From Chaos to Peace
AS THE daily news events of the world unfold there is revealed an ever increasing chaos and madness. Even the supposed battle lines of Democracy vs. Dictatorship, and Religion vs. Irreligion, have now given way under the strain of supposed necessity; so that former enemies who faced each other across these lines, have now joined hands in a determined effort to crush their common foe, which is the Nazi regime of Germany. What they will do, and how they will all get along together, if and when this objective is obtained, nobody knows; although doubtless many of the great and would-be great ones of the world are doing considerable thinking about it.
While the late Neville Chamberlain was still the head of the British government he stated that it was useless for that government to then set forth its peace plans, for the reason that no one could then know who would be friends and who would be enemies when the war closed. This statement has already assumed the shape of a true prophecy. At the time it was made, France and Great Britain were allies, now they are enemies. At that time the whole democratic world was morally and otherwise supporting struggling Finland, and singing the praises of the noble Finns as they did their bit to stand off the ruthlessness of Dictator Stalin. Now the Finns are the enemies of the democracies because they continue to fight the same dictatorship.
The Communist government of Russia, since its inception, has taken an uncompromising stand against religion, and has destroyed the Greek Catholic Church in that country. For years the churches of all denominations have considered Communism as the number one enemy of religion. Now, however, if we can believe reports, disrobed and exiled priests of the former Greek Catholic Church in Russia, are praying for the success of the Red Army against the aggressor, Germany. And so it goes. Friends of today, become enemies of tomorrow, and vice versa.
From the standpoint of the true principles of righteousness, this could not happen. Christian principles are not based upon expediency and necessity, but upon justice and righteousness, and true, unselfish love. But the nations of earth are not governed by these principles, and never have been. Selfishness—self-interest—is the guiding star of all national and international politics. This is openly admitted, even in the United States. Here we are plainly told by high officials that our interest in helping Great Britain win the war, is not love for Great Britain, but the protection of ourselves.
This is one of the main reasons why the Messianic Kingdom will be the only solution for the world’s troubles. Fallen human selfishness is not a “modern invention.” It’s as old as the race itself. It began to operate in the lives of our first parents, and from then until now, with few exceptions, it has been the pattern in harmony with which men and women have shaped their lives. This has been true with individuals and with nations. The only difference between the present and former times is that now modern science has implemented human selfishness with more efficient methods of aggression and slaughter.
Were it not for the imminence of Christ’s Kingdom it might well be discovered—too late—that modern science and invention have furnished the means by which human selfishness would bring about the complete destruction of the human race. Indeed, Jesus said of this time that unless those days be shortened, no flesh would be saved. He gives us the assurance, however, that the days of trouble are to be shortened. This will be brought about by divine intervention in the affairs of a mad world. God’s timing is perfect, and soon the world will know that Christ has become the greatest of all interventionists.
The world struggle of the nations has recently taken some very interesting turns. One of these has brought Jerusalem and the Holy Land prominently into the news. This is interesting to students of prophecy as the Bible indicates that it will be in Palestine that the first miraculous manifestations of Christ’s Kingdom will be seen. Some two months or so ago it looked as though Palestine was about to be overrun by the world’s most bitter Jew haters. Had this occurred at the time it seemed inevitable, it would have indicated that the final phase of Armageddon was near.
But a sudden turn of events brought the British into Syria, where they can better serve temporarily as a protection for the Holy Land; while the Nazis turned their main attention toward Russia. Just now, therefore, the main theatre of war has shifted from those countries made famous by the Bible. But this shift is only temporary, because the Bible indicates that the final scenes of Armageddon will be enacted right in Palestine. The Bible also makes it clear that armies from the “north” will take part in this final skirmish, so it might well be that Germany’s march into Russia is to have an important bearing on what the Bible describes as Jacob’s trouble.
It is unwise to attempt a detailed explanation of prophecies before they are fulfilled, but we feel that the present aspects of the international struggle warrant students of the Bible in noting carefully some of the main prophecies pertaining to the closing features of the great “time of trouble.” The prophecy of Ezekiel 38 and 39, for example, tells of the forces of “Gog” and his allies coming down from the north and attempting to destroy Israel. This prophecy indicates that it will be in the midst of this assault that God will demonstrate His protecting care over His ancient people. Concerning this the Lord says: “And I will plead against him with pestilence and with blood; and I will rain upon his bands, and upon the many people that are with him, an overflowing rain, and great hailstones, fire and brimstone. Thus will I magnify Myself, and sanctify Myself, and I will be known in the eyes of many nations; and they shall know that I am the Lord.”—Ezek. 38:22,23
Before this prophecy is fulfilled there must first be a further gathering of the warring armies in and around Palestine. Concerning this the Lord says, “For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished: and half the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then shall the Lord go forth, and fight against those nations, as when He fought in the day of battle.”—Zech. 14:2,3
From the foregoing it is evident that the Jews, regathered in Palestine, are yet to experience a severe time of trouble. Apparently things will look pretty dark for them before the Lord intervenes on their behalf. The Jews themselves, perhaps doubting the Lord’s power to save them, or wondering if the Lord is on their side, will do what they can towards self-protection, even to the extent of raising an army. This is indicated in Zechariah 14:13,14, which reads, “And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the Lord shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbor, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbor. And Judah also shall fight at Jerusalem; and the wealth of all the heathen round about shall be gathered together, gold and silver, and apparel, in great abundance.”
Just how the details of this final battle will develop, the Lord has not indicated. Today, however, the conditions and the spirit of the world are just right for such a climactic ending of the struggle. There is the Fascist-Nazi group of powers in Europe who are avowed haters of the Jews, and whose aim is to exterminate them. Already the Jews within their borders are rapidly being herded into Ghettoes, or else banished entirely. When the strategical necessities of warring nations bring the Holy Land into the center of the struggle, the nations who hated the Jews at home, will continue to hate them there.
Furthermore, as Palestine is the homeland of the hated Jews, and the country in which God has promised to bless them everlastingly, it is obvious, we think, that the anti-Jewish nations will there seek to show further their defiance of this little nation, and their defiance also of the God who has made such rich promises to them. “Jacob’s trouble,” then, will be the logical outcome of a campaign already under way, and the result of an anti-Jewish spirit now manifesting itself in many parts of the earth.
The Lord has already permitted this spirit to bring much suffering to the Jews, and is not yet ready to act for them. When the time comes for Him to intervene it will be apparent that the victory He achieves has not come through the power of allied arms, nor because the Jews themselves have triumphed over their enemies. In the final analysis Palestine is not to be returned to the Jews by any combination of the kingdoms of this world, but by the power of God Himself. When the Jews are rescued from their enemies, it will be God who will get the glory.
The nations today may formulate whatever peace plans they wish, but in the end they will be forced to accept the Lord’s plans. Those plans call for the Holy Land as the geographical headquarters of God’s new world of tomorrow. There will be no changing of this divine purpose. God will demonstrate His power and authority by defeating the armies that come up against His suffering people. This demonstration will result in a terrible destruction and scattering of Israel’s enemies. Then it will he made clear to the remnant of them what they must do in order to receive the blessings beginning to be dispensed to the Jews. Concerning this the prophet says:
“And it shall come to pass that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem, shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the feast of the tabernacles. And it shall be that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, even upon them there shall be no rain.”—Zech. 14:16,17
It is not to be expected, of course, that the Lord will dispense His Kingdom blessings at the hands of unbelieving Jews, either from Jerusalem, or anywhere else. It will be by divine intervention on their behalf, however, that their eyes will be opened to recognize Jesus as their true Messiah. One of the miracles then to take place will be the resurrection of the Ancient Worthies—Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets. These will be the human channels through which Kingdom laws and blessings will reach Israel and all nations. Through this arrangement God will “save the tents of Judah first.”
There are prophecies relating to the “New Jerusalem” which will be fulfilled in and through the spiritual phase of the Kingdom. These are not to be confused with what God has promised to do for natural Israel in the land promised to their fathers. As Jerusalem was the ancient capital of this land, God used it in prophecy as a fitting symbol of Christ and His church exalted to Kingdom glory as the spiritual rulers of His new world; taking the place of Satan and the fallen angles, the new spiritual rulers of “this present evil world.”
As already suggested, there is much yet to be accomplished before the final climax of the “time of trouble” is reached by divine intervention in the Holy Land. It seems clear that the northern nations, which, through their armies, make the fateful assault on Palestine, will be utterly god-less, and that their aggression will be partly in defiance of the God of the Hebrews. This being true, the religious issue among the nations north of Palestine will have to become more clear-cut before it can be definitely known just what combination of nations will participate.
It has long been thought that the north country referred to in these prophecies, is Russia. Communist Russia has been notoriously opposed to the worship of God. On the other hand, that government has not been particularly opposed to the Jews as a people. Nazi Germany has been bitterly persecuting the Jews, but has not been so openly irreligious as Russia has been. Now these two powerful nations are locked in a life and death struggle with each other. What will be the result of this? Will Germany conquer, add to her ideology the atheism of Russia, and then embark on an all-out campaign against religion, including the Jewish? Or will Russia win, and later become anti-Jewish as well as anti-religious? Whichever way it comes out, it seems fairly evident that the present struggle in Russia has a bearing on the personnel of the armies that are later to come down from the “North” against Jerusalem.
Perhaps Germany is even now definitely anti-religious. The Christian Science Monitor, under date of July 10, carried a lengthy article in which “facts” were cited in an attempt to prove that the Nazi Government actually has no more use for religion than Communist Russia. It cites a case of Nazi youth who recently marched into Prague churches, singing, “We do not want to be Christians because Jesus was a Jew.” The confusion concerning the religious status of Nazi Germany is well summed up in this Monitor article by the statement: “Strange to say, although in Germany all religions are persecuted, the word religion plays a considerable part in Nazi propaganda outside the Reich—particularly in the United States.”
It seems evident that the public is at the mercy of propagandists on both sides of this controversy, and that only time itself will reveal the truth of what is really taking place religiously in Germany. The real facts have an important bearing upon the fulfillment of more than one of the Bible’s prophecies, but as yet these facts are not clearly discernible. It is claimed by some that Herr Hitler has a secret agreement with the Pope to restore the Catholic Church to power in Europe after the war. Just how a secret agreement could be so generally known and freely published, does not appear. And if Hitler has made certain promises, we have no assurance he will fulfill them—he hasn’t a specially good record for keeping promises.
On the other hand, judging from the somersaults already taken in international affairs, it would be quite possible for both pagan Germany and atheist Russia, with hypocritical piety, to come out as the sacred sponsors of the church. As we said at the beginning, expediency and necessity is governing the decisions of the world’s rulers—not principles—hence anything can happen.
We now know for certain that soon a new world government will be established in Palestine, under the control of Jesus, the Prince of Peace; and that out from that Government will radiate the true religion of God’s love, as manifested in the gift of His beloved Son to be man’s Redeemer. Through the medium of this pure message, all will ultimately call upon the name of the Lord to serve Him with one consent. Then there will be a blessed and lasting peace everywhere.