Mankind is headed for World War III, an all-inclusive conflict that will make the two former world wars combined pale by comparison. This one will go nuclear. Many nations now have nuclear weapons, some governments have hundreds of these deadly units. Each of these nations is governed by an ungodly, and in some instances unstable, human being. Again, a nuclear global war is coming–not if, but when. Fortunately for “the elect whose names are written in the Book of Life,” Jesus Christ has promised to return to earth in time to stop man from totally destroying himself. The second part of His promise is that He will bring about total peace to the entire earth. To do this He will remove from the earth that which causes war.

In James 4:1,2 the Lord speaks to the cause of all wars through the apostle: “From whence come wars and fightings among you, come they not … from your lusts …?” Men lust for power; power comes from control of people and natural resources. The lust for power comes from pride, jealousy and greed–a destruction-guaranteed combination. In Daniel 12:4 God describes to the prophet what the world will be like during the end times. One of the characteristics of civilization in those (these) days is that “knowledge shall increase.” Knowledge is increasing exponentially at an ever-increasing rate. For example, plans are being made to establish a human colony on Mars as I write this posting. Over seven hundred people have already signed up for the one-way journey. And when we realize that man’s first flight at Kittyhawk, NC took place a little more than 100 years ago, we must realize that there is nothing impossible to mankind. What was considered delusional 50 years ago is commonplace today. And what does God say is the inevitable result of man’s increase in knowledge? Increased pride (1 Cor. 8:1). And what does an increase in man’s pride accomplish? Man becomes worse and worse (2 Tim. 3:1-4,13). The reason for phenomenon this is that with an increase in knowledge automatically comes a decrease in the importance of God. Now totally self-sufficient, man ignores God’s Way and devises his own way– the creation of Catholicism/Protestantism being a prime example of this Truth. God warns man about this deadly error: “There is a way that seems right to a man, but it is the way of destruction” (Prov. 14:12/ 16:25). When God repeats something He does so in order to emphasize its seriousness, such as in Isaiah 28:9,10,13. Proof of this Truth is found in Genesis 41 where God is telling Joseph about a feast-to-famine situation that was soon to come upon Egypt. In His monologue He assured the young captive that His repeating the warning meant that it would most assuredly come to pass (see vs 32).

MAN’S WAY ALWAYS BRINGS DISASTER. The Great Tribulation approaching us is the culmination of all of man’s disasters multiplied many times. In Jeremiah 17:9 God tells the prophet (and us) that the heart (mind) of man is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Satan uses man’s wickedness to deceive him into believing that what he (man) wants to do is good and right, even when it is evil and wrong. And when wicked men get the go-ahead from the devil, there is no limit to the damage they can cause–Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Kim Yong Il, Fidel Castro, Che Guevara being prime examples. These men, one and all, were deceived by Satan into believing that the way they had chosen was the right way, even though they knew that millions of people would die if they implemented their way. For them, Proverbs 14:12 fit perfectly.

All of the leaders mentioned above promised peace for their respective nations. However, their efforts brought war. The problem lies in the path they chose to bring about the peace they promised. War is messy and terribly expensive. No leader wants war. These man all wanted peace–they wanted the rest of the world to peacefully surrender to them and then peacefully obey them. A bully wants peace–he wants you to peacefully give him your lunch money. The only human solution to the “peace problem” these people represent is defeat–hard, excruciating, devastating, extremely painful defeat. To be continued. L.J.