| Highlights of DAWN | December 1979 |
A House Divided
“Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand.” —Matthew 12:25
OUR text is a general statement of truth, for it is a matter of historical record that nations or governments that are divided in objectives and purpose eventually fall victim to an aggressor nation, or the divided government will collapse from within. This, for example, was the history of mighty Greece and the Roman Empire.
Jesus used this statement of principle to prove to the Pharisees that Satan’s kingdom (the earth and its governments and institutions) was still united and powerful. (John 14:30; II Cor. 4:4) The only way that Jesus was able to cast out devils from those who were possessed was by using a power greater than that possessed by Satan—the power of God. Jesus said: “If Satan also be divided against himself, how shall his kingdom stand? because ye say that I cast out devils through Beelzebub. And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your sons cast them out? therefore shall they be your judges. But if I with the finger of God cast out devils, no doubt the kingdom of God is come upon you.” (Luke 11:18-20) The exercise of this power was also for the purpose of proving his messiahship and the wonderful works that would be performed in the kingdom.
Then Jesus continued with a statement that portended a time when the strong man of this earthly house would be made ineffective and his “goods” plundered. Jesus said, “When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace: but when a stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, he taketh from him all his armor wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoils.” (Luke 11:21,22) What are Satan’s goods? They are pride, lust of the flesh, greed, and all the other satanic instruments by which he keeps mankind in bondage. These must be destroyed, or plundered, in the kingdom.
Our Lord, speaking through John the Revelator, promises a reality to the omen related to the Pharisees. In Revelation 20:2-4 (Diaglott) we read: “And he [Christ and his church] seized the dragon, the old serpent, who is an enemy, and the Adversary, and bound him a thousand years, and cast him into the abyss, and shut up and sealed over him, so that he might deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years [the thousand years of Christ’s kingdom] should be ended. … And I saw thrones, (and they sat on them, and judgement was given them) … and they lived and reigned with the Anointed one the thousand years.”
The prophecy tells us that in due time Jesus, the Messiah, together with his church, will bind the strong one and, through the operation of the kingdom, will for a thousand years plunder Satan’s house and his goods until they are destroyed. (Rom. 16:20) The Apostle Paul, in I Corinthians 15:25,26, states: “For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.”
Satan has ruled in this, his house, almost unopposed for over 6000 years, except that God has overruled his activities to the end that the development of the divine plan of the ages is not deterred. (Eph. 3:11; Ps. 76:10) “The ages have been so thoroughly adjusted by God’s command, that not from things then manifest the things now seen have come to pass.”—Heb. 11:3, Diaglott
History records a marked change in the status of Satan’s house, beginning in the year 1914. This date was the end of Gentile Times, which was a period of punishment imposed by God on the Jewish nation for their unfaithfulness. It started in the year 606 B.C. and ended in 1914, a period of 2520 years. (Luke 21:24; Dan. 2:31-45; Ezek. 21:25-27) The prophecy in Ezekiel states: “And thou, profane wicked prince of Israel, whose day is come, when iniquity shall have an end, thus saith the Lord God; Remove the diadem, and take off the crown; this shall not be the same; exalt him that is low, and abase him that is high. I will overturn, overturn, overturn, it; and it shall be no more, until he come whose right it is; and I will give it him.”
Satan’s fortune began to change in 1914 because, according to God’s great time clock, the end of the 2,520 years had come, and a new age, the Millennial Age, was soon to be inaugurated. The change in dispensation will also involve a change in the earth’s rulership, as noted in the prophecy.
Beginning in 1914 there were many evidences of a growing rebellion in Satan’s house—conflicts of interests that became more and more divisive and fragmentary in nature. The First World War, for example, was the first conflict that involved every major nation in the world. Even those nations that were not actively engaged felt its influence. Many governments that had enjoyed continuity of authority and power for centuries were uprooted. Most of the royal families of Europe that claimed to rule by divine authority were dethroned and were replaced by different forms of government.
It was during this time, and later, that the struggle between capital and labor became intense. The conflict of interests between these two classes has had far-reaching effects on the economy and the social life of all nations.
Associated with the struggle between capital and labor has been the great industrial revolution. The nations of the world have become sharply divided between the highly industrial “haves,” with their prosperity and affluence, and the under-developed “have-nots.” The “have-nots” are all relatively impoverished, and their condition becomes increasingly worse. In a world inhabited by more than four billion people, one-third live in the most heavily industrialized nations, and they account for 85 percent of the global personal income and a like fraction of the annual use of global resources. The remaining two-thirds of the population of the globe must apportion the remaining 15 percent of global income and resources among them. (“Ecoscience,” p. 2)
This degree of inequality is further illustrated by the following statistics. The United States, with only 6 percent of the world’s population, consumes 30 percent of the total energy production of the world and comparable amounts of other resources. The rest of the “haves” consume resources far out of proportion to their population. Because of this inequality, the hostility on the part of the “have-nots” is heightened by the fact that the resources the “haves” enjoy are largely imported from the “have-not” nations. (“Ecology and the Politics of Scarcity,” by William Ophuls)
In view of this long-standing inequality, it is not surprising that the “have-not” nations are becoming intolerant of a world economic system that prevents them from acquiring a more equitable share of the available wealth.
As a result of the Second World War there was a further polarization of affluence and poverty. The participating nations piled up huge national debts to finance the holocaust. For example, it cost the United States 250 million dollars a day for each day of war. But the end of the war did not end the arms race. Great nations, small nations, rich and poor, were caught up in the mad frenzy of military spending. Small, poverty-stricken nations that could not even feed their populations purchased huge quantities of arms. The money to purchase this vast amount of military hardware was acquired by indebtedness, and the interest burden of this debt has been a major depressive factor in the economic growth of both the developed and underdeveloped countries.
But the possession of armaments by the small countries has inevitably led to their use. During the period from 1945 to 1972—27 years—there has been a total of 40 wars. Most of these conflicts involved the small underdeveloped countries. The mechanism designed by the nations of the world to settle disputes between countries without war was the United Nations, a descendant of the defunct League of Nations.
The foundation of the United Nations was laid in 1944 by the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union. The hope inspired in the hearts of men was that this revered and renowned body would be the means to end all wars. But the record of forty wars in twenty-seven years has proved men’s hopes groundless.
In an article in “The New York Times” issue of September 13, 1979, entitled “The U.N.’s Ongoing Decline,” the author, Mr. Y.Z. Blum, states: “The fundamental reason for the decline is no doubt the transformation of the United Nations over the years into a body dominated by an unholy alliance of dictatorships and totalitarian regimes whose respect for the purposes and principles of the charter, and for the rule of law in international relations, is matched only by their domestic observance of the rule of law and human rights.
“This majority in recent years has trampled underfoot every provision of the charter that it perceives as inimical [hostile] to its block interests, and in particular those provisions designed to safeguard the rights of the minority within the organization.”
The democracies within the United Nations have now dwindled to a minority of about 30 states out of 150. The majority of 120 nations comprise the alliance of dictatorships and totalitarian regimes whose interests are diametrically opposed to democratic interests.
Satan’s kingdom is in trouble also in many other areas. The tremendous increase in industrial production has brought about the problem of pollution. Increases in production and consumption produce an increase in pollution. The pollutants poured into the earth’s delicately balanced atmosphere are almost beyond belief. For example, in the United States it is estimated that we discharge into the air annually 100 million tons of carbon monoxide, 32.2 million tons of sulfur oxide, 32 million tons of hydrocarbon compounds, 28.3 million tons of particulate matter, 20.6 million tons of nitrogen oxide. It is true also that other countries are pouring a comparable amount of pollutants into our precious and finite air supply. Technological devices to control pollution will not be effective in the long run, for continued growth in industrial output must inevitably overwhelm any pollution control technology that is less than 100 percent effective. The crisis of air pollution is real and is evidenced in the large population centers such as Los Angeles, London, and Berlin, where people have died because of the polluted air. Pine trees are dying at the 5000-foot level in the mountain range east of Los Angeles. Elm trees are dying in Denver, and palm trees in Florida, because of the polluted atmosphere.
The same condition that has brought about air pollution has also been the cause of the contamination of a substantial amount of our water. Industry, in spite of controls, continues to pour pollutants into some of our streams. A vast quantity of waste is deposited into our oceans annually. This contamination has been especially noted in the Mediterranean, where it is referred to as “the sick sea,” and the North Sea, which is spoken of as “the dying sea.”
It is true that there is an effort by some countries to exercise controls over every kind of pollution. But because of the very basic rule of Satan’s order—selfishness—there seems to be little chance of success. The essence of the situation is that one’s own contribution—whether as an individual or as a nation—seems infinitesimally small, and the disadvantages of self-denial seem very large. Self-restraint, therefore, appears to be both unprofitable and in the end futile, unless the individual or nation can be certain of universal compliance.
The underlying cause of most of the problems in Satan’s world, including wars and pollution, is the exploding human population of the earth. If the current rate of world population growth continues, there will be eight billion people on the earth by the year 2010 and sixteen billion by 2045. Most experts, when taking into account a probable decline of fertility, expect a world population of twelve to fifteen billion by 2060. The growth rate in the underdeveloped countries is even higher, or about 3 percent, resulting in a truly explosive growth—a doubling in about every 25 or 30 years.
Given the present limitations, such as the amount of tillable land available, the limited water supply for irrigation and industrial use, diminishing returns from increased energy input and intensification of agriculture, it is possible that eight billion people could be fed, but not with a completely nutritional diet. (W. Ophuls, 1977) With all of this, the hope for substantial improvement through increased technology is dismal.
The religious systems, which in the past have tended to be a stabilizing influence in the world, are finding that they, too, are caught up in the agitation of world affairs. Clergymen the world over are concerned about the long and steady decline in church membership. For example, in Italy, where 99 percent of the population are born into Catholicism, fewer than 10 percent are regular churchgoers. The world over, the number of priests has declined by 20 percent, and of nuns by 50 percent. Regular attendance at Great Britain’s churches, especially of the Anglican faith, has been declining for decades. Now there is also a severe shortage of clergy.
This decline was first felt in the United States, with a similar erosion of church membership. But many of the churches have attempted to meet the challenge by liberalizing their services to accommodate an increasing number of young people who refuse to accept the old tenets. Along with this trend there has been a phenomenal increase in the number of religious cults that embrace spiritism, and many have Oriental roots. This sharply declining trend in the churches’ institutional power is a saddening letdown to hopes nourished after World War II, when many religious leaders expected that religious ties would be an antidote to years of godless totalitarianism.
Not the least of Satan’s problems in his disintegrating world is the growing disenchantment of the people in almost every nation with their governments, especially the leaders. The heads of government have not been able to provide workable solutions to the many complex problems, and as a result the problems have become more deeply rooted. Graft, corruption, and dishonesty in government, even in high places, have added to the disillusionment.
The evidence is clear that Satan is indeed coming to the end of his resources. The enormity of what he has done to the earth and its inhabitants is fast becoming common knowledge, leaving the people of earth in utter despair. Jesus said of this time: “And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars [a symbolic reference to the church systems of earth]; and upon the earth distress of nations with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring [a symbol of the restless masses of humanity]; men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after [anticipating] those things which are coming upon the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.” (Luke 21:25,26) The powers of heaven are the present ecclesiastical heavens, or Satan and his minions.
The Apostle Paul, in quoting from the Prophet Haggai, states, “Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. And this word. Yet once more [emphasis ours], signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made [temporal], that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.” (Heb. 12:26,27) The Prophet Haggai, in the same prophecy quoted above by the Apostle Paul, tells of the aftermath of the shaking process, “and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the Lord of hosts.”—Hag. 2:7
The final and climactic phase of this shaking process is generally referred to as the battle of Armageddon, a symbol of a time when the opposing forces of earth will be gathered by God for a final judgment. (Rev. 16:16-18) But then the Prophet Haggai assures us that God “will fill this house with glory.” And we have the wonderful prophecies of the kingdom to tell us what he means. It is a time when Satan will be bound so that he can deceive the nations no more. (Rev. 20:3) Our risen Lord, through the Apostle John, describes this wonderful time: “Behold the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there by any more pain: for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.”—Rev. 21:3-5