| Highlights of Dawn | December 1964 |
This Year, And the Last Fifty Years
THE year 1964 has been one of distress and uncertainty the world over. Heads of state and ambassadors of nations have endeavored energetically to discover ways of easing cold war tensions which grip the people of essentially all nations, with but little success. Indeed, early in August a brief shooting war broke out in North Viet Nam, and in September Russia announced the possession of a weapon of destruction more terrible than even the hydrogen bomb. In Russia, also in October, the government changed hands.
The Civil Rights Bill was passed by the Congress of the United States, and signed into law by the President. But this did not end the tensions between the races. There has been a rash of race disturbances throughout a great portion of the year. In the United States and Great Britain there were bitterly contested national elections. In the religious field, denominational churches have continued to seek a better understanding among themselves. These are but a few of the events which have marked the year 1964.
This year is the fiftieth since the outbreak of the first World War. This properly gives rise to reflections on what has taken place throughout the earth during these fifty years. U.S. News & World Report stated in its July 6th issue concerning these fifty years that “there has never been anything like it in history.” And to this is added the observation that the world which existed prior to 1914 is “unrecognizable now.”
With the exception of the United States, the world of fifty years ago was largely one of great empires, with the British Empire the largest of them all. Germany, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy, and Turkey also had their colonial possessions. Africa, which today is made up of many small and supposedly independent nations, was ruled almost entirely by colonial powers prior to 1914. The mighty colonial powers of that time were ruled by kings, emperors, and czars. With the exception of Great Britain and the U.S., the people had little to say in government. Where parliaments existed they functioned largely as “rubber stamps” for dictatorial rulers.
At the outbreak of the first World War the population of the United States was approximately 90,000,000, and this nation was far from being the leading nation of earth as it is today with a population of almost 200,000,000. However, the United States did play an important role in helping to defeat Germany in that first war, thus bringing the war to a close. This was also true with respect to the second World War.
Following the first World War, rapid changes began to develop in the old European world. There was the communist takeover in Russia, and the rise of dictators Hitler in Germany and Mussolini in Italy. Czars and emperors were gone, and while brave efforts were made to establish a republic in Germany, a democratic form of government soon succumbed to the rising power of Hitler. In due course Hitler and Mussolini joined forces, ostensibly to combat communism, but in reality to bring the whole world under the heel of the rising power of Nazi-fascist dictatorship.
Meanwhile Great Britain and the United States were helping to arm Germany against attack by Russia, only to find later, to their horror, that the arms were used against the ones who supplied them. Despite all the efforts of the United States and Great Britain, in 1939 the second World War broke out. One of the battle slogans used to encourage soldiers and others in the first World War was that it was “a war to end wars,” but in this the 1914 war was a dismal failure. For not only has the world witnessed the most devastating of all wars in the one which began in 1939, but smaller wars—sometimes called “brush fire wars”—have been going on in one or more countries almost continuously ever since.
Changes in Warfare
In the first World War the fighting was done largely by soldiers who faced soldiers, across trenches at times, and at times in the open fields. This sort of warfare is still practiced in the “brush fire” wars. But now, should a full scale World War again break out, it will be quite different. Nuclear warfare will be the order of the day, and instead of transporting troops across oceans, the death-inflicting nuclear explosives will be carried to target, for thousands of miles if need be, mostly by rockets.
Fifty years ago the United States, from the standpoint of power and prestige, was a second-rate nation as compared to Great Britain, and practically isolated, as far as having a voice in world affairs was concerned. Now the United States is the leading nation of earth, making her influence felt around the world, with air and naval bases located within easy striking distance of any part of the globe.
Along with this rise to power has come an almost unbelievable increase in the national debt, from a little over a billion dollars in 1914 to more than 300 billion dollars in 1964, and even this colossal figure is still mounting. The value of the United States dollar now, as compared with its 1914 value, is about thirty-three cents.
While fifty years ago only a small percentage of the people of this country indulged in installment buying, it is now the general rule. The whole country, including the government, is doing business on credit. The time was when a reasonable down payment was expected on household appliances, and other items, but now many business firms are offering to deliver their goods without a down payment, assuring the prospective purchasers that there will be nothing to pay for three months. The 1964 world is truly a world of credit.
The income tax in 1914 was one per cent, and this modest amount applied only after a liberal exemption, which left the average worker with no tax at all to pay. The peak tax is now seventy per cent, and this was only recently reduced from ninety-two per cent. The lowest rate today, since the recent cut, is fourteen per cent. But the attitude of the people toward income taxes of any sort has not changed. The people were just as unhappy over the one per cent tax of 1914 as they are over the much higher taxes of 1964.
Travel
In 1914 the world was still in the “horse and buggy” days. The automobile had put in its appearance, but there were very few on the roads. Indeed, there were few roads suitable for automobiles fifty years ago. So seldom was an automobile seen, especially outside of the cities, that many accidents were caused by frightened horses bolting off the road to get away from these strange, new, and noisy contraptions.
Now in the U.S.A. and elsewhere horses are a rarity on the roads and automobiles are the order of the day. Millions of new automobiles are now being produced every year, and in the cities particularly, the streets are becoming so congested with traffic that movement is greatly retarded, often to a stand-still. New superhighways are being constructed throughout the country, but the construction of these new roads is not keeping pace with the increasing number of new cars which are appearing, most of them bought on the credit plan.
Fifty years ago airplanes were used almost exclusively on reconnaissance missions as the eyes of the armies at war. They were not used at all in a commercial way. There were no airlines fifty years ago. That was the day when the railroads were the principal means of long-distance travel and for the adequate transportation of freight. Today, airplanes, together with automobiles and buses, are crippling the railroads so far as their income from passenger travel is concerned, and transportation of goods by trucks is taking away a large portion of freight revenue from the railroads.
Who could have envisioned fifty years ago that today there would be thousands of planes in the air at all times, night and day, hurrying from city to city, and from country to country at 600 miles an hour? And the end is not yet. We are informed that the time is near when the speed of travel by air will be greatly increased over what it is today. Truly the world is changing!
Communications
Fifty years ago the telegraph and telephone were in use. The telegraph was relied on mostly for long distance messages; telephones were used largely for local communications. Communication of the news to the general public was limited to the newspapers and magazines. Think of how the world has changed in this respect since 1914! Now much of the nation’s business is transacted by long distance telephone. Indeed, international telephoning is a potent factor in world trade today.
Now, also, for the communication of news we have the radio and television. Who could have foreseen fifty years ago that in 1964 people generally could sit in their own homes and see action pictures of important happenings, oftentimes only a few minutes after they have occurred—indeed, many times while they are occurring?
And now, fifty years after the outbreak of the first World War, billions of dollars are being spent exploring outer space with the view of traveling to the moon. It was in 1964 that the United States succeeded in crash-landing a rocket on the moon which, just before the crash, sent back thousands of photographs of the moon’s surface. While these efforts are being made, professedly, for peaceful purposes, there are many who think that they are at least indirectly related to the hope of ultimately attacking from outer space any nation desired. Certainly the nation that could do this would control the earth, either for good or for evil.
Political Changes
We believe it would be safe to say that there is no government on earth that has not undergone radical changes in the last fifty years. Think of Russia, of divided Germany, of Italy, of France, of England, and even the United States. Social security was not even thought of fifty years ago, nor socialized medicine as in Great Britain. Who would have thought, fifty years ago, that a Civil Rights Bill could be enacted into law in the United States?
What do all these changes mean? It is natural to expect that the population of the world would greatly increase in fifty years, but even this has been greatly accelerated by the progress being made in medical science, particularly as related to the health of children and infants. But in this, as well as in many of the other changes, we have evidence of the prophetic “increase of knowledge.” (Dan. 12:4) As U.S. News & World Report observes, there has never been a fifty-year period in history like the one ending in 1964.
Many times, when endeavoring to call attention to the fulfillment of prophecy, the remark will be made that everything which is happening is simply a matter of history repeating itself. There have always been wars, it is said, and revolutions, and upheavals of other sorts, and there always will be. But most of the outstanding events of the last fifty years are quite new and different from anything that has ever happened before. In this respect, think of what has occurred in the ancient Holy Land. Is that a matter of history repeating itself? When before did the world have radio and television; hydrogen bombs and long-range missiles? When were the people able to travel through the air at 600 miles an hour, and crash-land a rocket on the moon?
Is there any record on the pages of history of a time when almost half the world was dominated by communism behind an “iron curtain,” with the nations of the other half of the world united to prevent communism from spreading its blight still farther? When did the powerful nations of earth ever before have it within their ability to destroy the human race with hydrogen bombs? Fifty years ago these situations were unheard of, but today they represent the abnormal shape of the hectic, fear-filled world in which we live.
A Different World
We are surely living in a different world today than that which existed fifty years ago. With all the marvelous things produced by science and invention, it could be a much better world than it is. But, alas, greed and selfishness wield such a powerful influence in human affairs that the enjoyment of the good things of the world resulting from the “increase of knowledge” in this “time of the end” is often spoiled by the realization that the progress of this day of science and invention might well lead to the destruction of what civilization is left, and possibly of the human race itself.
It is wonderful to think of traveling at 600 miles an hour, but when one thinks that bombing planes can also travel that fast, and faster, and that destructive long-range missiles can be shot through the air at thousands of miles an hour, the joy of living in the world of today is considerably diminished. This is true at least for the serious-minded who do not know the prophetic meaning of the times in which we are living.
As students of Bible prophecy we realize that the changed world of today is but a phase of the transition from the old world of yesterday into God’s new world of tomorrow. While the pre-1914 world has come to an end, what has happened to date is not the complete fulfillment of the Bible’s prophecies relating to the end of man’s selfish social order. What has thus far occurred is merely a part of the necessary transitional period which eventually will lead to the complete breakdown of human efforts to maintain peace and security. This will be followed by divine intervention in the affairs of men through the establishment of Christ’s kingdom.
In this connection it is revealing to note that while marvelous progress has been made along scientific lines to make the world in which we live a better world, during the last fifty years there has been a decided loss in man’s ability to rule himself. Law and order have broken down on every hand, both within nations and internationally. Crime, even in the United States, is increasing rapidly. Internationally there are almost endless distressing situations for which the brightest minds in the political world are unable to find solutions. The increase of knowledge has not helped man properly to rule himself, with the result that the spirit of anarchy is increasing, resulting in ever-increasing trouble in the foretold “time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation.”—Dan. 12:1; Matt. 24:21,22
Thus, while the world of today is in many respects a fantastic one from the standpoint of its many advantages over the world of fifty years ago, it is a crumbling world. The elements of peace, security, righteousness, and sobriety, which are essential in any world society for the people to be truly happy, are lacking. There is a mad rush for pleasure and riches on the one hand, and riotous demands for freedom from inequality and oppression on the other, and very few are satisfied with the results.
The Future
What can we say about the future? Worldly wisdom sees the next fifty years as a continuing period of transition, with the population of the United States and of the world doubling; the speed of travel continuing to increase; visits to the moon, and the probability of further wars. Looming above all this in the minds of the world’s thinkers is the dark cloud of global nuclear warfare, with its almost universal destruction of human life.
The Bible does not provide the detailed, year-by-year developments in this chaotic situation, leading ultimately to divine intervention, but the Bible assures us that the worst fears of the people are unfounded, for Jesus said that this time of great tribulation will be brought to an end before all flesh is destroyed. Matt. 24:21,22 This does not mean that millions may not yet be destroyed in war, but it does mean that there will not be the total destruction which scientists and militarists now claim is possible if nuclear power gets out of hand.
We cannot say what the next fifty years will hold for mankind. Indeed, we do not even know what to expect for the one year 1965. What the prophecies do reveal is that the transition which began fifty years ago will eventually—and we trust much sooner than another fifty years—terminate in the manifestation of the kingdom of Christ in power and great glory. That kingdom, the Scriptures indicate, will begin to exercise its authority in the ancient Holy Land; its visible representatives being the resurrected ancient servants of God, beginning with righteous Abel and ending with John the Baptist.
If we think of the marvels of human accomplishments, as seen in television, speedy travel, journeys to the moon, what about divine accomplishments through the agencies and power of Christ’s kingdom? Startling indeed will be the announcement which will one day go out from Jerusalem that Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets, together with all the faithful of that ancient time, have been raised from the dead, and are assuming the rulership of Israel, and preparing to extend the control of the kingdom to all nations.
Paul asked a Roman governor if he thought it should be considered a thing incredible that God should raise the dead. Of course it should not! The fact is that God’s kingdom plan for the salvation of the human race during the thousand years of Christ’s reign is predicated on the fact that he will restore the dead to life. The death of Jesus would have been of little value to redeem the world from death if he had not been raised from the dead. His followers are likewise to be raised from the dead in the “first resurrection” to “glory and honor and immortality.” (Rom. 2:7) In due course, also, the Ancient Worthies will be awakened from the sleep of death.
The followers of Jesus will be exalted to live and reign with him in the spiritual, the invisible phase of the messianic kingdom. The Ancient Worthies will be the human representatives of the kingdom. After establishing peace among those still living at the close of the great time of trouble, there will begin the general resurrection of all who are asleep in death. What a glorious work that will be, and how the name of the Creator will be glorified as one generation after another is brought forth from the great prison of death, enlightened concerning the true God and his will for them, and given an opportunity to travel over the “highway” that leads to holiness and life!—Isa. 35:8
As students of prophecy our chief interest is not so much in what will take place during the next fifty years, but in the fact that soon Messiah’s kingdom will be set up in power and great glory, and that through its agencies all the present distressing problems of the world will be permanently solved. This means that soon there will be peace on earth, because God’s good will toward men, having been demonstrated nearly two thousand years ago through the gift of his Son to be man’s Redeemer, will again be plainly evident in the establishment of that kingdom which eventually will cause his will to be done in earth as it is now done in heaven.—Matt. 6:10