| Highlights of Dawn | December 1954 |
World Peace—Not Now, But Soon
“The work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance forever.” —Isaiah 32:17
BECAUSE the angel which announced the birth of Jesus to shepherds on the Judean hills used the expression, “Peace on earth, good will toward men,” each year when his birth is commemorated the longing for universal and lasting peace among the people of all nations comes to the fore. It is expressed from pulpit and in song, and the spirit of good will warms the hearts and cheers the lives of millions. It will be true again this year, even though there is no more assurance of a lasting peace among the nations than there was a year ago, or nineteen hundred years ago, soon after the Prince of Peace was born.
When we say there is no assurance of lasting peace, we speak from the standpoint of human efforts. From God’s standpoint, we have the same assurance now as we did when Jesus was born, that assurance being that through him a government of righteousness would be established that will guarantee lasting peace for all the people of the world. In that well-known prophecy of his birth in which Jesus is given the title, “The Prince of Peace,” it is said that “of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end.”—Isa. 9:6,7
This promised “increase of his government and peace” is just as certain as the fact that Jesus was born. His birth was a miracle, and the accomplishment of the ultimate purpose of his birth will also be brought about by miracle-working power. The establishment in the earth of a divine government of peace and righteousness has been promised by the Creator, and he sent Christ to fulfill his promise. God has not been depending, and never will depend, upon the frail and misguided efforts of man to fulfill his promises.
The apostles and Early Church in general understood this. The first disciples of Jesus thought that he would establish the kingdom of promise at once, and through its agencies deliver Israel from the Roman yoke of bondage and extend his sphere of influence throughout the world. They were, of course, mistaken in this. To correct their misunderstanding, Jesus related a parable in which he likened himself to a “certain nobleman” who went into a “far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return.” (Luke 19:11,12) From this parable they understood that Jesus would first go away, and that they were not to look for the kingdom to be established until he returned.
Nevertheless they continued to believe that the promises of God would be fulfilled through him, and not by human efforts; so the great hope of the Early Church was for the return of the Lord and the setting up in the earth of that glorious government of peace, that kingdom in which they expected to be co-rulers with their Master. Their chief concern was to prove worthy of an “abundant entrance” into that glorious kingdom, this being made possible by virtue of the fact that they would be raised from the dead in the “first resurrection” to live and reign with Christ a thousand years.—II Pet. 1:10,11; Rev. 20:6
Failure of Human Efforts
After the apostles died the church began to lose sight of God’s part in the fulfillment of his kingdom promises. The hope of Christ’s return to set up a world-wide government became dim, and in time was almost entirely blotted out as the adherents of Christianity endeavored by one means or another to put into practice their own formulas for peace on earth. The church-state governments of Europe represent one of the efforts which was not sanctioned by God, and not blessed by him.
Today, of course, the evils of the church-state concept of Christ’s kingdom are generally recognized. The Protestant world at least would not think of returning to such an unholy system of government. But the blackout of the true Christian hope which it caused during the Dark Ages remains, so that today there is not an orthodox church in the world which entertains the hope set forth in the Word of God that Jesus, the Prince of Peace, the King of kings, will actually set up a government of peace on this earth in which the church will rule with him a thousand years.
A few of the smaller denominations which are on the outer fringe of orthodoxy hold somewhat to the hope of a divinely empowered kingdom, but fail to realize the full scope of its operation, not understanding the divine purpose to bless all the families of the earth—the dead and the living—through the agencies of that kingdom. So, with the real hope of the kingdom lost, millions of earnest men and women look out on the chaos of the world today and are in confusion when they try to harmonize what they see with the continued failure of the churches to bring about the conversion of the world and to establish the promised peace on earth.
Signs of the Times
When we take God at his word, and trace the meaning of the whole testimony of the Bible, there is no need to doubt the final triumph of his messianic purpose in the earth. Jesus and the apostles emphasized that the kingdom of promise would not be set up until the second advent. Furthermore, the prophecies of both the Old and New Testaments are harmonious in their testimony that the world at that time would not be converted to Christ, but the reverse. They show that human sin and selfishness would by then, become so rampant in the earth that so-called civilization itself would be threatened by destruction in a “time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation.”—Dan. 12:1; Matt. 24:21,22
And it is interesting to note that human wisdom would feel so secure in its supposed accomplishments that this trouble would burst upon the world quite unawares. The Apostle Paul refers to this when in his epistle to the Thessalonian brethren he wrote, “Yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child.”—I Thess. 5:2,3
The Greek word here translated “sudden,” in the expression, “sudden destruction,” would be more correctly translated, “unexpected,” or “unawares.” The thought is that one of the evidences of the “day of the Lord” would be the world’s assurance of peace and safety—false assurance, however, proved by the unexpected destruction which would come upon its institutions “as travail upon a woman with child.”
In Jeremiah 6:14 the prophet tells of a time when there would be a cry of “peace, peace,” yet there would be no peace. Ezekiel 7:24-26 reads, “Wherefore I will bring the worst of the heathen, and they shall possess their houses: I will also make the pomp of the strong to cease; and their holy places shall be defiled. Destruction cometh; and they shall seek peace, and there shall be none. Mischief shall come upon mischief, and rumor shall be upon rumor.”
The Apostle Paul apparently caught the significance of these and similar prophecies of the Old Testament and, writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, summed up their meaning in his statement that when they shall say, “Peace and safety, then sudden [or unexpected] destruction shall come upon them.” This foretold time of destruction, or as Daniel described it, “time of trouble,” was due to begin in 1914. This date, prophetically, marked the end of the “times of the Gentiles,” that period of Gentile rulership depicted by the human-like image which Nebuchadnezzar saw in his dream, and was interpreted by Daniel.—Dan. 2:31-45
While it is not possible to understand all the details of prophecy prior to fulfillment, those pertaining to the destruction which would come upon civilization at this end of the age, when the due time would come for the establishment of Messiah’s kingdom of peace, have already been fulfilled sufficiently to enable the student to trace to some extent the pattern of the foretold “time of trouble.”
One aspect of the prophetic pattern is that the destruction would come in spasms, as “travail upon a woman with child.” Another, apparently, that this “evil” would come out of the “north.” (Jer. 1:13,14) Jeremiah 50—verses 3, 7, and 9—speaks of forces coming out of the “north” to destroy “Babylon,” and of course the destruction of mystic Babylon is closely linked with the overthrow of the entire present social order. Jeremiah wrote, “At the noise of the taking of Babylon the earth is moved, and the cry is heard among the nations.”—Jer. 50:46 (see also Jeremiah 51:13, and Revelation 17:1,12,17,18; and 18:9)
Even if we should limit the “north” to Russia and her satellites, it would still be true that out of the “north” came the two World Wars, for Russia was one of the dominant powers involved in both; and the communist revolution was made possible by the first “spasm.” It is also true today that the great fear of “Babylon” is the “evil” coming from the same source. Because of it, there is speculation as to when the Holy See might have to be moved out of Italy. And, of course, Bible students generally recognize that out of the “north” will also come that final attack upon Israel, in which the Lord will intervene and bring the time of trouble to an end.—Ezek. 38:15
One of the major developments among the nations toward the close of 1954 seems significant in view of these prophecies with respect to the “north.” We refer to the decision to give West Germany her sovereignty and permit her to rearm. There are many “trouble spots” throughout the world, particularly in Asia, any one of which could suddenly become the starting point of a world conflagration, but thus far this has not occurred. In the decision to rearm West Germany, many will remember that this was also done—although under different circumstances—just prior to the outbreak of the second global struggle. Both the United States and Great Britain helped in the re-armament program of that time, the motive being, even as now, to keep back the forces of communism. Could the present move in this direction indicate that the next spasm of world destruction will have its beginning in the same general territory as did the others? It will be interesting to watch.
“Peace and Safety”
The prophecies which indicate that these spasms of destruction would come in connection with claims of “peace and safety” also help to reveal the pattern of events during this “day of the Lord.” Sometimes prophecies are fulfilled in an outstanding manner, yet not recognized even by the “watchers” at the time. We might be inclined, for example, to be waiting for a world-wide cry of “peace and safety,” when in reality the prophecies pertaining to such a proclamation have progressively been fulfilled through the years and particularly in connection with each of the major spasms of the “time of trouble.”
Throughout much of the year 1913, and up until the actual outbreak of the first World War in 1914, there was much ado about peace the world over. Nearly all the nations in one way or another were assuring themselves and each other, that war was a thing of the past. It was in 1913 that Carnegie’s Peace Palace at The Hague was dedicated amidst great pomp and ceremony. This palace was dedicated for use as an international meeting place for the world’s “ambassadors of peace.” All the great powers of the world evinced their interest in this palace by donating its trimmings and furnishings. In many other ways 1913 witnessed a rising tide of what appeared to be international good will; and the cry of “peace and safety” was the order of the day.
How “unawares,” therefore, did the World War break upon the nations—and they have never recovered from the shock! It did not wholly destroy the nations, although it revolutionized most of them. It was only the first spasm. That military spasm came to an end on November 11, 1918, and the people of all nations were wild with joy that the war was over and that peace had come.
Then there came into being the League of Nations to keep the peace. The World Court was also designed to keep the peace. Hundreds of peace societies were formed throughout the world, the larger proportion of them in America. Clergymen who promoted the first World War declared that never again would they preach the boys into war.
But all the time the seeds of war were maturing. Indeed, minor wars continued in one place or another almost continuously, even as has been the case since the close of the second World War. China, Ethiopia, and Spain, suffered from the minor symptoms of a sick and dying social order. But the cry of peace continued.
Major crises finally developed, one of the outstanding of which was in September, 1938. A “peaceful” solution was found at Munich, called the “Four-Power Pact.” Jubilantly it was announced throughout Europe and the world that “peace had been saved.” In Great Britain Neville Chamberlain announced that the Munich agreement had saved the peace “for our time.” Later, when Herr Hitler charged Great Britain with an attempt to encircle Germany, the reply was that the British were merely attempting to establish a “peace front.” And in all the years since there has again been the almost constant cry of “peace, peace.”
Peace was the excuse for the Nazi-Communist pact which helped to precipitate the second World War, and virtually destroyed the “peace front” of the Allies. The Russian armies marched into a slaughtered Poland to keep the peace. So much was said about peace before the second World War started, and there was even then so little evidence that peace had been saved, that Pope Pius XII, in his Easter sermon that year, applied the prophecy of Jeremiah 6:14 to the situation—“They cried peace, peace, and there was no peace.”
Thus the second major spasm of destruction started, as did the first, amidst the cry of peace. At its close, civilization was left wounded and bleeding, with particularly all of Europe and Asia in chaos and starvation. And since then we have again heard the cry of “peace and safety.” The United Nations, which Anthony Eden said was the world’s last chance, was formed to keep the peace. Armies have been sent thither and yon throughout the earth to fight for peace.
Peace, is the magic word of the times that is being used as a camouflage for hatred and aggression on the part of the aggressors. It is woven into the propaganda of those who would keep the peace if they could, in a labored effort to help divert the minds of the people from the grim possibilities of another world-wide conflict which all fear will mean the destruction of the present world-order.
Obviously, no prophecies of the Bible have had a truer fulfillment than those which describe this dizzy clamor for peace and safety, when no genuine peace and lasting safety can be found. We use that word “dizzy” advisedly. In Isaiah 24:20, the present social order is symbolized by the word “earth,” and the text declares that it would “reel to and fro like a drunkard.” Is not this what we see everywhere today? Each nation seems staggered by the announced plans of the telling the world the glad tidings others; or when they discover by secret means the potential power of enemy nations to spread destruction.
But is there no hope for real peace? Yes, thank God, there is! We have emphasized the grim and disappointing situations in the world today merely to call attention to the prophecies which foretold them and declare them to be the events which were to occur just before the manifestation of the kingdom of Christ in power and great glory. The glorious Prince of Peace is soon to speak peace to the nations—to all the nations.
The year that is ending has been one of uneasiness, during which additional millions of the human race have been brought under the communist orbit of influence. Actual fighting was brought to an end in Korea and Indo-China, but those countries are now divided and bleeding, and no genuine solution for the problems of any part of the world has yet been found.
How happy we should be for the assurance that the Prince of Peace, in the Lord’s own due time, will change this situation! This is our hope as we look ahead to 1955. While the prophecies do not indicate the exact time when the power of earth’s new King will assert itself to deliver the groaning creation from its fears and wars, we know that the answer to our prayer, “Thy kingdom come,” is not far distant. With this hope and assurance we can go into the new year with confidence, determined to be more faithful than ever in telling the world the glad tidings of the kingdom.