Saturday, January 28, 2012
The Week in Review - Jan. 20 - Jan. 27, 2012
Iran pushes back against the EU; anti-Semitism surges in ‘Arab Spring’ nations; Merkel calls for full-on political union; India bypasses sanctions, drops dollar; and the election year begins to heat up.
Could You Be Deceived?
You may have heard the saying, "Deceived people do not know they are deceived." Satan is a powerful deceiver, and he wants to bring as many people to ruin as he can. What steps can you take to be sure that you are not deceived?
Alberto Series – The Prophet
Learn how the papacy helped start Islam, only to have this new daughter rebel against her. You’ll understand the Arab’s place in Bible prophecy. Muslims have been saved by reading this book.
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Europe, Iran and Bible Prophecy Come Alive in the Strait of Hormuz!
Article by: Brad Macdonald
Thirty-four miles. That’s the width of the Strait of Hormuz, the strategic waterway separating Iran and the Arabian peninsula through which 40 percent of global seaborne oil trade occurs. Right now, events in this tiny passageway threaten to transform the global economic malaise into full-scale economic calamity, and quite possibly set off a major war.
Although it’s long been recognized as a point of contention between Iran and the West, the Hormuz passageway has come into sharper focus in recent weeks. Last month, Iran began a 10-day naval exercise in a 1,200-square-mile stretch of the Persian Gulf, including Hormuz. More than a few Iranian politicians were quick to admit that the games were less about demonstrating strength than about showing Iran’s ability to cause global chaos by closing down the key passageway.
“Soon we will hold a military maneuver on how to close the Strait of Hormuz,” a member of the Iranian Parliament’s National Security Committee, Parviz Sarvari, said on December 12. “If the world wants to make the region insecure, we will make the world insecure.” Isa Ja’fari, another politician, made similar remarks before the Iranian Parliament on December 18. “If an oil embargo is placed on Iran, we will not allow a single barrel of oil to pass through here to the belligerent countries,” he said. “America should know that the world’s energy gullet, that is to say, the Strait of Hormuz, is in our hands.”
According to multiple Iranian officials, it is now state policy to close the strait if Iran is attacked.
Naturally, the recent naval exercises, together with the blustery remarks of Iranian politicians, caught the world’s attention. Within days of Iran conducting its war games, Israel and the U.S. announced they had decided to postpone “Austere Challenge,” a large joint military exercise slated to occur in the region in May. This week, the U.S. Treasury declared sanctions against Bank Tejarat, Iran’s third-largest bank.
But the most noteworthy response came from Europe. On Monday, all 27 EU member states agreed to refuse oil imports from Iran, including crude oil, petroleum and petrochemical products. Additionally, the EU announced a variety of financial restrictions on Tehran, including freezing assets held in Europe by Iran’s central bank.
This is significant! Europe has implemented sanctions on Iran before, but not like these. These are by far the toughest Europe has meted out. Following Monday’s announcement, Russia slammed the EU for making a decision that will only make the problem worse. China continues to reject sanctions. Meanwhile, India said it would take full advantage of the cheaper prices Iran will now demand for its oil and purchase as much as possible. Implementing sanctions wasn’t an easy, or popular, decision.
Of course, it still remains to be seen if the EU will stay united and strong. The sanctions won’t be fully implemented till July 1, and the decision will be reassessed in May. Still, the EU has clearly taken its toughness to the next level and shown that it’s willing to confront Iran more directly.
It’s also telling that it was the European Union, not individual member states, that announced this embargo. The EU, at least in this instance, appears to have a single, united foreign policy!
Iran has taken notice too, and has started to direct its criticisms at Europe, in addition to the United States. Speaking on state television, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast rejected the EU’s sanctions as “psychological warfare,” and warned that imposing sanctions “will not stop our nation from obtaining its rights.” Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi warned that the more sanctions were imposed, “the more obstacles there will be to solve the issue.”
Rather than compromise or capitulate, it seems Tehran is ready to play chicken with Europe and the U.S. Iran has also said it’s planning another round of war games in Hormuz next month. Meanwhile, on Sunday the uss Abraham Lincoln, an aircraft carrier, together with warships from France and the UK, entered the Persian Gulf. Both sides appear to be barreling toward the other, with neither appearing ready to swerve any time soon.
The consensus among analysts is that reason and logic will prevail. Many argue that Iran, which is significantly outnumbered and outgunned, will back down, and that a larger conflict will be avoided. In a well-reasoned piece this week, Stratfor ceo George Friedman explained that the U.S. and Iran will likely come to some sort of deal, one that involves a U.S. drawdown in the Middle East in return for a more compliant Iranian foreign policy.
These are rational arguments. And it’s possible, even likely, that in the short term some sort of political arrangement will be reached that will diffuse the tension. We need to be careful, though, of dismissing these events as simple geopolitics. The truth is, no amount of reconciliation or “politics” will ever reconcile the fundamental differences between Iran and the West.
Iran is led by radical Islamists, men who live to annihilate the West and then establish a global Islamic caliphate. For these men, negotiations and compromise are the means to that end. Conciliatory gestures are not genuine acts of peace. Rather, each is calculated to further the greater cause. When conditions are right, when the benefits of confrontation outweigh the costs, they will take the confrontation to the next level.
Understanding this reality requires a basic understanding of human nature. A little insight into history helps too. Many past tyrants, whether Hitler, or medieval kings, or African warlords, have played politics—made promises, made compromises, given ground—simply to buy time. Then, when the right moment came, when the military was ready, the fortification secure, the alliance in place, they replaced diplomacy with destruction.
In addition to history and human nature, another vital asset provides insight into the tension escalating in the Strait of Hormuz. Here at the Trumpet we find it impossible to watch events in the Persian Gulf and not see the prophecy in Daniel 11. In verse 40, God says via His prophet that “at the time of the end shall the king of the south push at him: and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships ….” Notice first, this event is occurring at the “time of the end,” in the days right before Christ’s Second Coming.
Next, consider the participants in this clash. They are the “king of the south”—the armies of radical Islam led by Iran—and the “king of the north”—the armies of a united Europe led by Germany and the Vatican. You can prove this by reading our booklet The King of the South.
Notice the word “push” in Daniel 11:40. In Hebrew, it means to push at, or to wage war. Think about Iran’s nuclear weapons program, its threat to close down Hormuz, its support of terrorism in Israel and around the world. The primary goal of Iranian foreign policy is to “push” and provoke, to aggravate and infuriate.
This prophecy was written 2,500 years ago—and it describes the present situation in the Persian Gulf perfectly!
Daniel 11:40 says that the “king of the north” will react, and eventually with overpowering force! We are beginning to get a glimpse of how this will happen. On Monday, Europe got tougher with Iran than it ever has. Based on Daniel’s prophecy, expect Europe to get even tougher and more confrontational toward Iran!
Keep watching the Strait of Hormuz. And remember, the tension between Iran and Europe is more than geopolitics—it’s an insight into Daniel 11:40!
Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg Plays Hard to Get
Article by: Ron Fraser
During his current personally-enforced exile from Germany and its political scene, Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg is proving that he is becoming a consummate politician.
After carefully adding, by his actions and guarded public statements, to the hype surrounding a possible political comeback by the 2013 German elections, Guttenberg has suddenly conveyed an impression of humbly withdrawing from contention.
Just two weeks ago, the media was anticipating Guttenberg’s return to active party politics in Germany, with indications that a ministerial portfolio could be in the offing. Yet last Thursday, in a carefully choreographed performance, no doubt designed to wrong-foot the establishment in Germany, Guttenberg declared that he was not yet ready to return.
This is brilliant political psychology.
By his latest actions, Guttenberg has left the German electorate with a feeling of unrequited anticipation within an atmosphere where the public are increasingly showing marked disaffection for their current political leadership. This will obviously heighten political tensions in Germany and further add to the frustration of not only his political backers but that of the long-suffering German public.
Guttenberg’s present public stance can only work to increase the cries to invite him back to help fix Germany’s dislocated political process as further fissures develop in its ailing coalition government the closer the nation gets to the 2013 polls. At this point, there’s no one on the political horizon in Germany with the charisma and crowd appeal to match that of the aristocratic Karl-Theodor and his media-savvy wife, the similarly aristocratic Stephanie.
Most Guttenberg watchers will by now be aware of the results of his scheduled meeting with his party boss, Horst Seehoffer, that took place Thursday evening at the Bavarian state chancellery offices in Munich.
According to Seehoffer, during a two-hour meeting at the chancellery, Guttenberg declined to return to active politics at this time. It does not take two hours to make such a declaration. Obviously that amount of time allows for the possibility of a political deal to be tabled, considered, debated and brought to a conclusion. Any deal offered was obviously not acceptable to the baron.
Within two hours of arriving at the chancellery, all deals were off. Guttenberg then met with his closest supporters in his own district of Kulmbach to convey his decision to them. He had come armed with a letter in case he had to use it to prove a point. This he did, releasing the text to the Bild newspaper.
When considering his own political future—which is put on hold for the time being—Guttenberg must consider three factors: the timing, the level of political office on offer, and the prevailing political climate not only in Germany but in Europe and globally as well.
At present, Germany is on the very cusp in Europe. Even with an increasingly weakening chancellor at the helm of a continually fraying government coalition, Germany is accelerating its economic dominance in Europe and forcing its own fiscal demands upon the continent. To this end it has the support of Europe’s present most influential troika of Roman Catholic Jesuit-educated elites—European Council President Herman van Rompuy, Italian President Mario Monti, and European Central Bank President Mario Draghi. Such support also means that the Vatican is also supportive of the direction that Germany is taking. After all, three sons of Rome in vitally important positions within the European Union does allow for the pope to exert a significant degree of influence in the future direction of that institution.
This club of Romans seems to be faring well at the moment in the fulfilling of its given briefs. But the most glaring weakness within the EU administration currently is in the functioning of its hugely unwieldy foreign affairs institution, the European External Action Service (eeas), currently headed by the increasingly unpopular Baroness Ashton.
Catherine Ashton’s appointment to this crucial position within the EU was one of political convenience and ultimate compromise. She has been under constant attack and criticism virtually from the moment she took office. Clearly the eeas is not working under her leadership. If the EU is to be taken seriously as a cohesive entity on the world stage, effective leadership of its foreign service must become a given. It won’t under its present configuration. The institution cries out for an effective, influential and forceful leader.
On the home front in Germany, a similar weakness is most evident in the leadership of its own Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle’s political ratings are about zero. His international profile is scant. This key role is begging for robust leadership to underwrite in foreign affairs the economic clout that Germany presently enjoys both in Europe and on the world scene.
One key to Guttenberg’s continuing interest in foreign affairs was a statement he made in the letter he submitted to Christian Social Union leaders and the party faithful last week. In his concluding remarks, he commented, “I will now take on new tasks. Sometimes I will give my opinion on foreign-policy issues. However, not as a politician but as a political thinker.”
Then there’s the German presidency. With President Christian Wulff under constant media attack for alleged corruption, his days in the German presidency may well be numbered. Though today seen as a largely symbolic office, the power of the German presidency really comes down to the force of personality of the incumbent and his willingness to exert influence on the public and government of the day. The presidency has real power to shape public opinion and set the moral standard for the nation. This office may well fall vacant soon.
Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg presently sits in the box seat to fulfill any one of these roles in the future, should he accede to any invitation to become a contender. By playing hard to get while he enjoys the freedom to express his opinions unfettered by political constraints, Guttenberg currently enjoys respected status as a key adviser on the staff of the EU Commission vice president for the digital agenda, Neelie Kroes, a non-salaried position.
This task gives Guttenberg an international profile while enabling him to steer clear of EU politics for the moment, allowing him also to continue to be involved in high-status meetings and conventions such as that which he attended in Canada last year.
If Guttenberg is to return to an active, high-profile role in German or EU politics, we have always thought that would be by invitation, not by election to office. By his latest actions, the bright and politically astute young baron has placed himself in a position to encourage such an invitation as the political situation in Germany and the EU continues to fracture.
Given the current volatility of the ongoing euro crisis, the time may become ripe for just such an invitation to be issued to Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, baron of the Holy Roman Empire, much sooner rather than later.
Seven Reasons Why Jesus Was Born
Article by: Donald Ward
Scholars and theologians, ministers and teachers have long pondered the meaning of the life and death of the teacher from Nazareth. Jesus Christ was born and lived on earth for a little more than three decades. But why did He come? Few realize that ultimately there was no other option—Jesus had to be born!
God's great plan for mankind included the necessity of a savior, a redeemer of mankind. Here are seven reasons, leading up to the greatest of all, that Jesus the Messiah , the very Son of God, had to be born.
1. Jesus had to be born because of mankind's sin.
God created Adam and Eve and placed them in a beautiful environment that supplied their every need. In the Garden of Eden our original human parents found food plentiful, animals tame and a loving teacher—God Himself—accompanying them and teaching them everything they needed to know.
If Adam and Eve had obeyed God, they could have bridged the gap between mortality and immortality; they had access to the tree of life.
They had every advantage, so what went wrong? Adam and Eve did what every other human being has done: They sinned . They disobeyed God.
God gave our original human parents the gift of free choice. He gave them the ability to decide whether they would obey Him, and they missed the mark. God allowed Satan, in the form of a serpent, to attempt to subvert God's will for mankind (Genesis 3:1-4). The devil appealed to Eve's vanity, convincing her she could be as God Himself, "knowing good and evil" (verse 5).
Satan, in a blatant lie, told Eve she didn't have to depend on God for anything. Satan posed as the liberator, offering Eve instant gratification. Eve was willingly deceived by this appeal to her vanity, so she ate the forbidden fruit and presented the same fruit to her husband. Adam then also ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (verse 6).
Why did Satan's deception of Adam and Eve mean that Christ had to be born? The Savior had to be born because mankind, after the sin of Adam and Eve, would have been eternally lost—cut off from God—had not Jesus come to earth and allowed Himself to be sacrificed to save mankind from its sins, which began with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden .
2. Jesus had to be born because God wanted to reveal His own character to humanity.
God wanted to reveal His righteous character to Adam and Eve and to all of mankind so they could become like Him in mind and spirit.
God created our two original parents in His own image (Genesis 1:26-27; 2:7). Accordingly, God instructed them to exercise their free will by urging them to look to Him as the revealer of good and evil. God gave Adam and Eve the opportunity to embrace His divine wisdom.
Tragically, Adam and Eve followed the father of lies, Satan, and both ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. This wrong choice, this rebellion against their Creator, severed their close relationship with Him. God cast them out of the Garden of Eden , cutting off their access to the tree of life, which was symbolic of God's Holy Spirit (Genesis 3:22-23).
Why did God's desire to reveal His character to mankind mean Jesus had to be born? Jesus had to be born because Adam and Eve failed to carry out God's mandate to glorify Him in their lives. It was left for the Son of God, thousands of years later, to ultimately fulfill the divine revelation of God's character and purpose for man.
3. Jesus had to be born to remove the sins of humankind through a perfect sacrifice.
Noah and the patriarchs—Abraham, Isaac and Jacob—offered sacrifices to God. God asked Abraham, the father of the faithful, to sacrifice his son Isaac as a test of faith and obedience. Though God intervened to stop Abraham from actually going through with it, Abraham's willingness to give up his son foreshadowed the role of God the Father, who "so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son" as a sacrifice for our sins (John 3:16). Isaac, in offering no resistance, was a forerunner of Jesus, who willingly and obediently offered His life's blood for the sins of the world.
Hundreds of years before Jesus' birth, God revealed through His faithful servant Moses a religious system that included animal sacrifices and offerings. ". . . Let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them. According to all that I show you, that is, the pattern of the tabernacle . . . so you shall make it" (Exodus 25:8-9).
God instructed His people during this time to set up in the wilderness the tabernacle, the tent that was the forerunner of the temple. God filled the tabernacle with His glory (Exodus 40:34-35). God's Spirit in this earthly tent pointed forward to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the minds and hearts of Christians.
Why did the need for a perfect sacrifice mean that Jesus had to be born? It was because the earlier, physical sacrifices were imperfect. They could not take away the penalty for sin (Hebrews 10:4).
God instructed the Israelites in the need for sacrifice, but they had access only to physical forerunners of the ultimate sacrifice, which would come later in the form of Christ Himself. God instructed His people to participate in the physical rituals of animal sacrifices not because they were sufficient to remove people's sins, but because of the lessons they taught—that sacrifices were necessary because of mankind's sins.
Jesus had to be born because, without the true sacrifice, humanity was doomed. All would die, with no hope beyond the grave.
4. Jesus had to be born for mankind to have a Mediator.
Jesus is the mediator of the New Covenant. Under the New Covenant, God replaced the sacrifices of the Levitical priesthood with the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus Himself. "But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is the Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises" (Hebrews 8:6).
But what were the terms of the New Covenant? God explained that "this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord:
I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people" (verse 10, quoting Jeremiah 31:33).
The law written on the believer's heart under the terms of the New Covenant is the immutable spiritual law of God. Paul wrote that this law, summarized by the Ten Commandments, is "holy, and the commandment holy and just and good . . . For we know that the law is spiritual . . ." (Romans 7:12-14). This law serves as the basis for the covenant agreement. Psalm 19:7
tells us that "the law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul."
The understanding that Jesus is the mediator between God and mankind makes it easier for us to comprehend that the ministry of Christ is an administration superior to the Levitical priesthood.
This understanding lets the believer purge his conscience from dead works to serve the living God (Hebrews 9:14). Upon acceptance of the terms of the New Covenant, the believer is imbued with the power of the Holy Spirit so God can write His laws on the believer's heart and mind (Hebrews 8:8).
Why does the need for a mediator mean Jesus had to be born? It is because the priesthood, staffed by the Levites, as revealed in the Old Testament , was imperfect. It was only a forerunner. Jesus had to be born because the salvation of mankind requires something better.
5. Jesus had to be born to provide the promised Seed of Abraham.
God promised Abraham that through his (Abraham's) "seed," or descendants, all nations of the world would be blessed (Genesis 22:18; Galatians 3:14-16).
Through faith in God and His name, people of all nations have access to God's mercy, forgiveness and reconciliation with God the Father. God does not show favoritism (Acts 10:34). Indeed, His plan of redemption includes all people of all races, of all national and ethnic groups. "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise" (Galatians 3:28-29).
The key word here is heirs . Through Christ, believers become sons of God (Romans 8:14). "And if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ . . ." (verse 17).
Under the Old Covenant, God chose a physical people, Israel, to set the example for other nations (Deuteronomy 4:5-8). Israel, being unconverted and subject to the frailties of humanity, failed. But the Israelites were forerunners of a converted, spiritual Israel, which includes believers of every ethnicity and nationality (Galatians 3:27-29; 6:15-16; Romans 2:28-29).
Jesus had to be born to provide the promised spiritual fulfillment of the Seed of Israel. Jesus, quite appropriately, was a literal, physical descendant of Abraham. He was Abraham's Seed, through whom all nations of the world would be blessed.
6. Jesus had to be born for God to make His Spirit available to all humankind.
Not only did Jesus have to be born, but He had to pay the penalty for our sins through His own death, then be resurrected to ascend to the Father as our High Priest. Only then would humanity at large be able to receive and benefit from the incredible gift of God's Holy Spirit.
"This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses. Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear" (Acts 2:32-33).
On the Day of Pentecost, only a few weeks after Jesus died and was resurrected, God poured out His Spirit on the few assembled followers of Jesus. Peter, who was among that early gathering, summarized what we must do to receive the Spirit of God. He powerfully proclaimed, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit" (verse 38).
Why was Jesus' physical birth essential to His followers' receiving of the Holy Spirit? Because no one is worthy to receive the Holy Spirit, and we must be begotten of God through His Spirit to receive eternal life.
Jesus' death—His ultimate sacrifice—made possible the forgiveness of sins, which in turn enables us to look forward to living and reigning with Christ in the Kingdom of God. Without Jesus' birth, none of this would be possible.
Through Christ, God has restored that which was lost in the Garden of Eden : access to a right relationship with God and access to the tree of life. Through the sacrifice of Christ, God has made possible this right relationship with mankind. "As God has said: 'I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they shall be My people'" (2 Corinthians 6:16).
God has made it possible for all mankind—every person—to come voluntarily into an intimate relationship with Him. This could not have been possible, in God's great plan, without the birth and subsequent sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ.
7. Jesus had to be born for God to redeem mankind.
The salvation of mankind was dependent on Jesus coming to earth and living a perfect life, then dying as the perfect sacrifice for the sins of the whole world—for every disobedience, by every man and woman who has ever lived, to God's righteous laws.
All of this is another way of saying that Jesus had to be born because He is our Redeemer. God in His infinite mercy foreordained His plan of redemption for sinful mankind through Christ (1 Peter 1:20). Jesus was declared to be "the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world" to redeem humanity ( Revelation 13:8).
But why does sin require a redeemer? The Bible shows us that "the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 6:23), and "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). Therefore, all have earned the death penalty for sin. People speak of human "rights," yet the only real right anyone has earned is the right to eternal death.
But God has made allowance for sinners to be redeemed, or bought back, from the death penalty by a redeemer. Romans 5 calls Jesus "the second Adam," in contrast to the first, the original man. The first Adam brought sin into the world (verse 12). The second Adam—Jesus Christ—brought redemption, reconciliation and the hope of eternal life (verses 6-10).
Since the wages of sin is death, redemption requires the sacrificial death of the Redeemer.
God promised a redeemer
God promised a redeemer to Adam and Eve even before He cast them out of the Garden of Eden . After the Creator confronted our first parents with their sins, He spoke to Satan, who appeared in the form of the serpent. He told him, ". . . I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel" (Genesis 3:15).
What is the meaning of this prophecy, and what does it have to do with the redemption of humanity?
As Walter Kaiser Jr. writes in his book The Messiah in the Old Testament : "Genesis 3:15
has commonly been called the protoevangelium (the 'first gospel') because it was the original proclamation of the promise of God's plan for the whole world . . . The 'seed/offering' mentioned in this verse became the root which the tree of the OT [ Old Testament ] promise of a Messiah grew. This, then, was the 'mother prophecy' that gave birth to all the rest of the [messianic] promises" (1995, p. 38).
In this great prophecy, "woman" can refer to Eve, the mother of all living, who was present in the garden. "Woman" in prophecy can also symbolize Israel—the physical nation or the spiritual Israel, the Church of God ( Revelation 12:1, 6, 13; compare Genesis 37:9-10).
In this particular prophecy, then, we should consider that through the woman Eve, the mother of all living, will come the "woman" Israel. Revelation 12 pictures a child being born of the woman Israel. The nation gives birth to this child through an actual woman. Thus we have here also a picture of Mary, the mother of Jesus: ". . . A woman . . . being with child . . . cried out in labor and in pain to give birth . . . And the dragon [Satan] stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as it was born" ( Revelation 12:1-4).
With this background in mind, we can see the prophecy becoming clearer. The Seed of woman (Christ) bruises the head of Satan by eventually nullifying his influence (Romans 16:20). In the meantime, however, the devil wages war against Jesus.
Satan attempted to "devour" the woman's child by influencing Herod to order the murder of all male children age 2 and younger in Bethlehem, and Satan eventually instigated Jesus' crucifixion.
However, Satan's scheme backfired, for the death of the Son of God provided mankind with a redeemer.
History of redemption
Redemption is a prominent theme throughout the Bible . God, in His love and mercy, is long-suffering, not willing that any should ultimately perish (2 Peter 3:9). He wants everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of His truth (1 Timothy 2:4).
Because sin results in death—physical and eternal death—and the promised redeemer had not yet been born, God in days of old revealed to Moses a religious system based on animal sacrifices and offerings.
Israel came into God's presence through sacrifices the Levitical priesthood offered at the tabernacle and later the temple. However, these sacrifices could never provide redemption for sins to enable worshipers to receive forgiveness and the Holy Spirit (Hebrews 10:1-4). They could provide only a temporary ceremonial cleansing that represented the genuine cleansing to come through Christ's sacrifice.
Lacking the heart and mind for true obedience, Israel as a whole neglected its promise to obey God and keep His commandments. Instead, the Israelites gradually placed far more importance on the sacrificial laws and their oral traditions. Obedience from the heart became far less important than physical sacrifice and ritual.
By the time of Jesus' life on earth, the Israelites were placing more emphasis on their own oral tradition than on the law of God. Jesus asked the Pharisees, "Why do you also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition? . . . In vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men" (Matthew 15:3-9).
God gave the ancient Israelites His great, immutable spiritual law. But at the same time He gave them a temporary physical system for worshiping Him. The spiritual law revealed to people the basis for conducting their affairs with God and their fellow man (Matthew 22:35-40). The physical system of rituals served mostly to remind them of their sinful nature and the need to be clean and without spot or blemish when they came into God's presence.
This physical dimension was temporary, however, until the promised Redeemer would come and pay the ultimate price for sin (Hebrews 9:9-12).
Jesus the Messiah is the promised Redeemer. He had to be born for humanity to be redeemed from sin.
As we noted earlier, Peter summarized what we must do to be redeemed: "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit" (Acts 2:38). Through Christ's blood God forgives our sins, and by Christ we receive the promise of eternal inheritance (Hebrews 9:12-15).
Through Christ, God has restored that which was lost in Eden —access to the tree of life. Moreover, repentant people have become the temple of the living God.
"As God has said: I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they shall be My people" (2 Corinthians 6:16). Yes, God has made it possible for all people to enter an intimate relationship with Him—which is why Jesus had to be born.
Reprinted with permission. Published by the United Church of God, an International Association. ©2012 www.ucg.org
Seven Prophecies That Must Be Fulfilled Before Jesus Christ's Return
Article by: Melvin Rhodes
Shortly before His crucifixion and resurrection, Jesus Christ delivered a major prophecy of end-time events, recorded in Matthew 24, Mark 13 and Luke 21. He was asked by His disciples: "When will these things be? And what will be the sign of your coming, and of the end of the age?" (Matthew 24:3).
Jesus responded with a description of conditions and events that would lead up to His second coming. Moreover, He said that when these signs became evident, His return would occur within one generation (Matthew 24:34). Could this be that generation?
Throughout the nearly 2,000 years since Christ gave His prophecy, many have thought that theirs was the time of His return—and turned out to be wrong, of course. But interestingly, there are a number of prophecies in the Bible that could not be fulfilled until our modern era, the post–World War II period.
1. The human race would have the ability to exterminate itself
In Matthew 24:22, describing world conditions prior to His second coming, Jesus said that "if that time of troubles were not cut short, no living thing could survive; but for the sake of God's chosen it will be cut short" (Revised English Bible ).
The main message that Jesus Christ brought was of the coming Kingdom of God. This is described as "the gospel" (Mark 1:14). Gospel means " good news ." While some of the prophecies concerning events prior to the establishment of the Kingdom can seem negative, we should always keep in mind that the central focus of Bible prophecy is the good news (gospel) of the coming Kingdom of God.
Matthew 24:22 shows us that if Jesus Christ does not intervene in world affairs, the human race will be faced with extinction. It's crucial to note that humanity has had the capability for self-annihilation for only a little more than 50 years, since both the United States and the Soviet Union developed and stockpiled hydrogen bombs and the world had to learn to live with "mutually assured destruction."
At that time there were only three nuclear powers (Britain being the other). By the middle of the 1960s France and China had joined the nuclear club. Today at least eight nations have nuclear warheads and the number looks set to increase with a nuclear arms race in the Middle East.
Of course, the more nuclear powers we have in the world, the more likely it is that someone will use this deadly force for evil.
Although international attention has been focused on the nuclear programs of North Korea and Iran during the last few years, little attention has been given to the possibility of some or all of Pakistan's nuclear arsenal falling into the hands of radical Islamists.
During the ongoing crisis in Pakistan, the Taliban and al-Qaeda and their sympathizers have steadily gained more power, territory and influence, making nuclear terrorism more likely. Consider the consequences for the rest of the world if Osama bin Laden (or others like him) had access to nuclear weapons!
Meanwhile, Russia and China are determinedly flexing their military muscles, raising fears of a return to Cold War–era tensions.
The good news in all this is that Christians have an assurance that Jesus Christ will intervene to save mankind from annihilation. This prophecy could not be fulfilled until man had the potential for self-extinction through weapons of mass destruction. Again, only in the last 50 years has this become possible.
2. A Jewish homeland had to be reestablished in the Middle East
Geopolitically, the central focus of end-time events is Jerusalem and its environs, what many people refer to as the Holy Land.
Luke 21 is a parallel chapter to Matthew 24. Notice Luke's account of Christ's long prophecy that answered the disciples' questions: "Teacher, . . . when will these things be? And what sign will there be when these things are about to take place?" (Luke 21:7).
In response, Jesus showed that Jerusalem would be the central focus of the political and military upheavals that would immediately precede His return: "But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near . . . For these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled" (verses 20-22).
Anyone living a century ago would have found these words nearly impossible to comprehend. Jerusalem in ancient times had been fought over countless times, but for four centuries from 1517 the city had been at peace within the boundaries of the Ottoman Empire. Jews lived there as a minority under Turkish rule. But this was going to change dramatically during the course of the 20th century.
It had to change for the fulfillment of Bible prophecy to take place.
The Old Testament prophet Zechariah was used by God to reveal a great deal about end-time events and the second coming of the Messiah . Zechariah lived and prophesied more than 500 years before Christ's first coming, yet his prophetic book tells us a great deal about our world of today.
In Zechariah 12:2-3 God says: "Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of drunkenness to all the surrounding peoples, when they lay siege against Judah [the Jews inhabiting the land of Israel] and Jerusalem. And it shall happen in that day that I will make Jerusalem a very heavy stone for all peoples; all who would heave it away will surely be cut in pieces, though all nations of the earth are gathered against it."
In verse 9 He adds, "It shall be in that day that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem."
Reading these verses, it is possible to think that they apply to ancient events, as Jerusalem has been fought over repeatedly down through the ages. However, chapter 14 makes clear that this is talking about future, not past, events. The time setting is immediately before Jesus Christ's return.
"Behold, the day of the Lord is coming . . . For I will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem; the city shall be taken, the houses rifled, and the women ravished. Half of the city shall go into captivity . . . Then the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations, as He fights in the day of battle.
"And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two, from east to west, making a very large valley; half of the mountain shall move toward the north and half of it toward the south" (Zechariah 14:1-4).
Clearly the last few lines of this prophecy remain to be fulfilled.
Further in this same chapter we read of how those nations that came against Jerusalem will have to go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, Jesus Christ (verse 16).
These chapters of Zechariah are a prophecy about the events that precede and include the second coming of Jesus. A Jewish-controlled Jerusalem is notice-ably the central focus.
Shortly before Zechariah, another Jewish prophet named Daniel lived during the time of the captivity of the Jews in Babylon. His book speaks of the Jews' daily sacrifices being cut off in the end time (Daniel 12:11; see verses 1-13)—an event that had a forerunner in the temple defilement under Syrian ruler Antiochus Epiphanes in the second century B.C.
However, Jesus Christ confirmed this as a future event to precede His return (compare Daniel 11:31; Matthew 24:15). This means that these sacrifices must first be reinstituted in Jerusalem—requiring Jewish rule over the city.
One hundred years ago such developments were hard to imagine for the simple reason that no independent Jewish political entity existed in the Middle East.
After rebelling against the Romans in A.D. 66 and again in 132, Judea was crushed and most of the remaining Jews were dispersed throughout the Roman Empire and beyond. No Jewish homeland existed again until 1948 when the modern nation of Israel was established.
An independent Jewish homeland was merely a dream for a small group of zealots a century ago. It moved a step nearer during World War I, when forces of the British Commonwealth took control of Jerusalem from the Turks in December 1916. A few months later, the British government pledged itself to the establishment of an independent Jewish homeland in the ancient lands the Jews had inhabited for centuries.
It was to be another 30 years before the dream was realized in 1948. Yet since then tiny Israel has had to fight wars for survival in 1948, 1967 and 1973 and has suffered countless terrorist attacks and threats of annihilation from hostile neighbors determined to eliminate the Jewish state.
Once again, here is a prophecy that can now be fulfilled in our time.
3. The end-time king of the North and king of the South
In Daniel 11 we find an amazing prophecy about two leaders, the kings of the North and South, the heads of regions that were geographically north and south of the Holy Land. To understand this prophecy we have to go to the time of Alexander the Great, who lived near the end of the fourth century B.C., 200 years after Daniel.
Alexander figures prominently throughout the book of Daniel, even though Daniel did not know his name and never knew him personally. He couldn't have, since he died almost two centuries before Alexander appeared on the world stage.
But God revealed to Daniel that after Babylon, Persia would arise as the greatest power of the region, to be followed in turn by Greece. Not surprisingly, the prophecies regarding the rise of Greece are centered on Alexander the Great, one of the greatest conquerors in history.
Daniel 8 gives a vivid account of the coming clash between Persia and Greece. As you read it, remember that a horn symbolizes royal power and authority. Persia had "two horns and the two horns were high; but one was higher than the other, and the higher one came up last." This refers to the Medo-Persian Empire, the coming together of two nations or peoples. As foretold here in verse 3, the Persians rose to greatness after the Medes.
In verse 5 we read of Persia's later defeat by Alexander the Great: "And as I was considering, suddenly a male goat came from the west, across the surface of the whole earth, without touching the ground; and the goat had a notable horn between his eyes" (verse 5).
The "notable horn" or royal leader was Alexander the Great. The prophecy about his army not even touching the ground is a reference to the incredible speed with which he conquered the known world. All this was achieved in a very short time. Alexander died in 323 B.C. when he was only about 33 years old.
Even his sudden, unexpected death was prophesied: "The male goat grew very great; but when he became strong, the large horn was broken, and in place of it four notable ones came up toward the four winds of heaven" (verse 8).
When Alexander died, his empire was eventually divided between four of his generals—the four "notable horns" mentioned here. Two of these established dynasties would have a profound effect on the Jewish people, caught in the middle between them. These two dynasties were the descendants of Seleucus, who ruled a vast empire from Antioch in Syria, north of Jerusalem, and Ptolemy, who ruled Egypt from Alexandria.
Daniel 11 is a long and detailed prophecy about the dynastic conflicts between these two powers, their respective leaders being referred to as "the king of the North" and "the king of the South." Of great significance is that whenever they went to battle against each other, the Jews got trampled on. This was to continue from the time of Alexander until the middle of the second century B.C., a period of almost two centuries.
Then, suddenly, the prophecy jumps down to the end time.
In verse 40 we read: "At the time of the end the king of the South shall attack him; and the king of the North shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter the countries, overwhelm them and pass through. He shall also enter the Glorious Land [the Holy Land], and many countries shall be overthrown" (Daniel 11:40-41).
While we don't have space here to cover all the details, the latter part of Daniel's prophecy of the North-South conflict describes a clash of civilizations between the leader of a soon-coming European superpower—a revived Roman Empire (successor to Seleucid Syrian rule)—and a leader who is the successor to the Ptolemaic rule of Egypt, which is now part of the Islamic world. (To learn more, request or download our free booklet The Middle East in Bible Prophecy.)
We now see geopolitical conditions lining up for this inevitable clash. Here is yet another prophesied circumstance for which the stage has now been set within our lifetime!
4. An end-time union of European nations
In Daniel 2 and 7 we see prophecies about four great gentile empires that would arise in the period between the time of Daniel and the coming establishment of the Kingdom of God (Daniel 2:44). Daniel was himself living in the first of these great empires (Daniel 7:4) as a Jewish exile in ancient Babylon.
Following the fall of Babylon in 539 B.C., Persia would become the greatest power, to be followed by Greece (verses 5-6). After Greece came the Roman Empire, "dreadful and terrible, exceedingly strong." This empire was to have "ten horns" and would continue in some form until the establishment of God's Kingdom at Christ's return (verses 7-9).
As we saw in the previous section, horns represent leaders or governments. Here these 10 horns symbolize 10 attempts to restore the Roman Empire to the power it had in ancient times. Various attempts at a restoration have taken place since the fall of the Western Roman Empire in A.D. 476. A final attempt is to be made shortly before Christ's return.
We find more details in Revelation 17. Here we read of a final attempt to revive the Roman Empire by "ten kings who have received no kingdom as yet, but they receive authority for one hour as kings with the beast. These are of one mind, and they will give their power and authority to the beast" (verses 12-13).
They will also "make war with the Lamb [Jesus Christ], and the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings" (verse 14). Again, it is clear that this prophecy is still future.
Previous attempts to forge a united European empire, from Justinian in the sixth century through Charlemagne, Napoleon, Mussolini and Hitler, all involved force. The final resurrection of the Roman Empire will not be attempted in the same way.
Revelation 17 suggests this will be a voluntary union. When these 10 leaders receive power, they will then give their authority to a single leader. Scripture refers to both this individual and the new superpower he leads as "the beast"—acknowledging it as the continuation of the four gentile empires prophesied in Daniel, each one depicted as a beast or wild animal.
Only now is it possible for this to be fulfilled.
In 1957, the Treaty of Rome was signed by six European nations that formed the European Economic Community. Today the EEC has grown into the European Union (EU) with 27 member nations. Out of these will likely come the 10 nations or 10 leaders that form the final resurrection of the Roman Empire. (For more details, read "The Coming European Superpower ")
Some have speculated that the 10 kings referred to in this prophecy will be leaders of 10 regions of the EU that will redraw the boundaries of Europe, ending the present nation-states. The Bible is not clear on exactly which 10 regions or nations will configure the final revival of the militaristic Roman superpower—only that this new superpower will indeed emerge just before Christ's return.
However, it wasn't until the 10th nation, Greece, was admitted in 1981 that any conceivable fulfillment of this prophecy was even possible.
5. End-time rise and fall of Israel and Judah
" Israel" was the new name God gave the biblical patriarch Jacob in Genesis 32. The 12 tribes of Israel were descended from his 12 sons. These tribes later formed a united kingdom.
It's been almost 3,000 years since the kingdom of Israel was split in two. Ten of the 12 tribes of Israel rebelled against King Rehoboam, the son of King Solomon and grandson of King David . The Bible continued to refer to these 10 tribes as Israel while the other two tribes (Judah and Benjamin) that remained loyal to David 's descendants were known as the kingdom of Judah or simply Judah.
Sometimes Israel is referred to as the northern kingdom and Judah as the southern kingdom. Dominant among the northern tribes were to be the descendants of Jacob's son Joseph through his sons Ephraim and Manasseh—prophesied by Jacob to be the chief nations of the world in the last days (Genesis 49:1, 22-26; compare Deuteronomy 33:13-17).
About 200 years after the kingdom split, the northern tribes of Israel fell to Assyria and were deported by the Assyrians to the northern parts of their empire. Often referred to now as the lost tribes, they later migrated northwest across Europe, eventually settling in new homelands far from the Middle East.
The kingdom of Judah fell to Babylon more than a century after Israel's deportation, but its people were not lost to history. We know them today as the Jews.
The name Ephraim is sometimes used representatively in Scripture for the entire northern kingdom, though it can also refer solely to the descendants of Joseph's son of that name—prophesied to become a "multitude of nations" (Genesis 48:19). Remarkably, this promise to Ephraim was fulfilled in the British Empire and Commonwealth.
Ephraim's older brother Manasseh was also prophesied to become a great nation (same verse), separating himself from the multitude of nations. This prophecy would be fulfilled in the formation, growth and dominance of the United States of America.
In a revealing prophecy regarding the United States and Britain, Jacob (Israel) said, "Let my name be named upon them" (verse 16). References to " Israel" in end-time prophecy often refer to the United States or the English-speaking countries of the British Empire or both. Sometimes " Israel" can mean all 12 tribes. We have to look at specific verses in their context to see which is meant.
"Judah," however, always refers to the Jews, the descendants of the house or kingdom of Judah. We must also understand that the modern nation called Israel is really Judah, made up of Jews. (For much more detail, download or request our free booklet The United States and Britain in Bible Prophecy.)
Understanding this critical part of biblical history will help us more fully comprehend a passage of Scripture in the book of Hosea, which is a prophecy about Ephraim (the multitude of nations—Great Britain and some of those nations that came out of her). It warns of destruction to follow the end-time ascendancy of the Israelite nations.
In Hosea 5 we read a prophecy that mentions Israel, Ephraim and Judah: "The pride of Israel testifies to his face; therefore Israel and Ephraim stumble in their iniquity; Judah also stumbles with them" (verse 5). The prophecy continues: "With their flocks and herds they shall go to seek the Lord, but they will not find Him; He has withdrawn Himself from them. They have dealt treacherously with the Lord, for they have begotten pagan children. Now a New Moon shall devour them and their heritage" (verses 6-7).
New moons occur a month apart. A new moon "devouring" them would seem to mean that Israel, Ephraim and Judah will all fall within one month.
This prophecy was not fulfilled in ancient times. As already mentioned, ancient Judah fell to Babylon more than a century after Israel fell to Assyria. Yet in the end it appears they will fall together—within one month of each other. This prophecy remains to be fulfilled.
Remember that Israel gave his name to Ephraim and Manasseh, the ancestors in turn of the British and American peoples. As Ephraim is mentioned separately in this prophecy, the reference to " Israel" must apply to the United States, which is now the more dominant of the two nations.
For two centuries prior to World War II, the roles were reversed with the multitude of nations—the British Empire—a greater power than the single nation, the United States. But today America is the greater.
"Judah" refers to the Jewish people, particularly those who now constitute the modern nation in the Middle East that calls itself Israel.
Here then is a prophecy regarding all three nations—the United States, Britain and Israel (Judah). According to this prophecy, it appears that all three will fall within the span of a month. Verse 6 shows these nations turning back to God, but finding it's too late. Because of their sins, He will let them suffer defeat and collapse.
This prophecy could not have been fulfilled until after the rise of Britain and the United States as world powers in the 19th century and the formation of the Jewish state of Israel in the 20th.
Lest the idea seem outlandish, consider that Israel and the United States are perhaps the most maligned and criticized nations on earth. Among Muslim hard-liners, America is commonly called "the great Satan" and Israel and Britain "the little Satans."
6. The gospel will be preached in all the world
In His major end-time prophecy, Jesus answers the question posed by the disciples: "When will these things be? And what will be the sign of your coming, and of the end of the age?" (Matthew 24:3).
After listing a number of signs of the nearness of His coming, He reveals that "this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come" (verse 14).
The gospel is the good news of the coming Kingdom of God. This message could not be preached around the world without the Bible and freedom of religion. Both came gradually with the ascendancy of the English-speaking peoples from the 16th century until the present day.
However, it was only with the technological advances of television and radio and other means of mass communication after World War II and their widespread acceptance that it became possible to reach hundreds of millions of human beings with the message of the Bible . The gospel of the Kingdom of God will continue to be preached to all nations as long as we have the freedom to continue The Good News magazine and our other media efforts.
Even so, during the last 50 years it has not been possible to reach all countries. The former communist nations did not allow freedom of religion. China, with one quarter of the world's people, still does not. Other nations also try to suppress the publication of biblical truth and even the Bible itself. Many Islamic nations do not allow religious freedom. In some countries people risk the death penalty for changing religion.
But the Internet is changing everything. It is much harder for governments to control. The gospel message of the coming Kingdom of God is still going out to the world. It will finish when God has decided that His work is completed and the time is right for the final end-time events to take place.
This is yet another prophecy that could not be fulfilled until recent times.
7. Instant worldwide communications and God's final witnesses
Another end-time Bible prophecy could not be fulfilled until this era of instant worldwide communications.
In His major end-time prophecy of Matthew 24, Mark 13 and Luke 21, Jesus gave an outline of disasters that would occur on the world scene with increasing frequency and magnitude—to the point where people would be shaken with fear (Luke 21:26). Discerning an increase in the scale of these events and reacting to them requires knowing about them.
At the time this prophecy was given, it could be many months or years before people heard about various disasters—and many they would never hear about at all, much less be able to put together the fact that catastrophes were on some kind of global increase.
Only with the proliferation of newspapers and other forms of mass communications did this become remotely possible. Yet the level of awareness and consequent fear in many that Christ speaks of implies an even greater availability of information—possible only since the development of rapid electronic communications.
In any case, only with the technological advances of the last few years has it become possible for the events in Revelation 11 to occur—for people around the world to see the fate of God's final two witnesses.
These two witnesses, reminiscent of other biblical prophets like Elijah and Elisha, will carry God's final warning to the world in the last 3 1/2 years leading up to Christ's return.
"And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days . . . When they finish their testimony, the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit will make war against them, overcome them and kill them. And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.
"Then those from the peoples, tribes, tongues and nations will see their dead bodies three-and-a-half days, and not allow their dead bodies to be put into graves. And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them, make merry, and send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth" (verses 3, 7-10).
Note that people the world over will be able to see their dead bodies during the 3 1 ⁄ 2 days that they lie on display in Jerusalem. This was not possible before satellite television, portable communications devices and the Internet. Again, only in the last few years has it become possible for this prophecy to be fulfilled . It still lies in the future, of course, but only now it is clearly possible for this to take place.
Will this generation see God's Kingdom established on earth?
We have seen how seven biblically prophesied circumstances could not have come to pass until recent times. In fact, the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948 was clearly a major turning point in the fulfillment of Bible prophecy, as was the acquisition of the hydrogen bomb by the two superpowers of the 1950s that led to the period of mutually assured destruction.
All has now become possible. This, in turn, makes it much more likely that our generation will live to see Jesus Christ return and establish the Kingdom of God on earth. After all, Jesus Himself said that once these things begin, the generation alive at that time "will by no means pass away till all these things take place" (Matthew 24:34).
It's both sobering and encouraging to think that we appear to be living in the generation that will ultimately witness the most important event in the history of mankind. As Jesus Christ tells His followers in Luke 21:28, "Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near."
Reprinted with permission. Published by the United Church of God, an International Association. ©2012 www.ucg.org
The End of the World: What Does the Bible Say?
Article by: Noel Hornor
Nearly two millennia ago the disciples of Jesus of Nazareth asked Him a question that has intrigued people ever since: "What shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?" (Matthew 24:3, King James Version).
People in every generation since have wondered about this. Will the world literally end? If so, how? Why? And when? What does the Bible really say about this crucial and disturbing question?
Religious people aren't the only ones asking these questions. In recent decades people from many walks of life have expressed concern about the possibility of the end of the world as we know it. Politicians, educators and scientists foresee the potential destruction of our world from a number of causes —including nuclear warfare, environmental disaster, planetary pollution, overpopulation, killer diseases and collision with a comet or asteroid.
Potential devastation from the sky
Although some of these possibilities are unlikely, others present a real threat. Based on the increasing number of gigantic impact craters discovered in recent years, scientists believe that a collision between earth and a killer asteroid is inevitable.
What would be the result of such a violent encounter? "An asteroid only a kilometer across would create cosmic havoc by impacting on the earth," writes Michio Kaku, professor of theoretical physics at City College of New York. ". . . The shock wave would flatten much of the United States. If it hit the oceans, the tidal wave it created could be a mile high, enough to flood most coastal cities on earth" ( Visions: How Science Will Revolutionize the 21st Century , 1997, p. 317).
In 1908 a meteor or comet exploded over a remote area of Siberia. Though it was relatively small, with an estimated diameter of only about 50 yards, it flattened 1,000 square miles of forest, felling 80 million trees. The energy released by that celestial missile is estimated to be about equal to that of a large hydrogen bomb. The resulting tremors were recorded as far away as London. (To learn how such events might tie in with Bible prophecy, see "Will Civilization End in Global Cataclysm? ")
The increasing nuclear threat
Experts generally agree that, of all possible means of destroying humanity, nuclear weapons pose the greatest threat.
And the genie cannot be put back in the bottle. Austrian theologian Ulrich Kortner put it this way: "The nuclear threat . . . constitutes not a temporary, but rather an irrevocable global threat . The actual possibility of an end to all life is now a constituent part of our reality" ( The End of the World: A Theological Interpretation , 1995, pp. 229-230, emphasis added).
Some sober scientists go even farther, saying that nuclear annihilation is inevitable. The late Carl Sagan, perhaps the world's best-known scientist before his death in 1996, wrote that "the development of nuclear weapons and their delivery systems will, sooner or later, lead to global disaster" ( Cosmos , 1980, p. 328).
With the Cold War ended, the probability of all-out nuclear war between countries has lessened for the time being, but the continuing addition of more nations to the nuclear club ratchets the threat back upward.
If North Korea has successfully developed nuclear weapons—as it has strongly hinted it has done—the nuclear club of nations now totals 10. More than 50,000 nuclear weapons exist in the world, many in dangerously unstable places. No one dares dismiss the idea that terrorist groups, if they can get their hands on nuclear devices, will use them in pursuit of their deadly aims.
Optimistic scientists believe that, thanks to continuing discoveries in science and technology, the nations will realize they must cooperate and work together to develop a unified global civilization. However, admits Dr. Kaku, "in the background always lurks the possibility of a nuclear war, the outbreak of a deadly pandemic, or a collapse of the environment" (p. 19).
Is time running out?
Reagan expressed concern that Armageddon may occur in our generation. His defense secretary, Casper Weinberger, observed: "I believe the world is going to end—by an act of God, I hope—but every day I think time is running out" (quoted by Reginald Stackhouse, The End of the World , 1997, p. viii).
Former French president Valery Giscard d'Estaing commented on the state of humanity: "The world is unhappy because it doesn't know where it is going and because it senses that, if it knew, it would discover that it was heading for disaster" (ibid.).
Former U.S. vice president Al Gore speculated on the longevity of the world: "Two world wars, the Holocaust, the invention of nuclear weapons, and now the global environmental crisis have led many of us to wonder if survival . . . is possible" ( Earth in the Balance , 1992, p. 366).
Indeed, experts from many fields share the concern that we could see the end of civilization as we know it. These concerns have created an age of anxiety, especially in a world where so little seems certain anymore.
Many others, however, say there is no need to be concerned about the world ending. They point to epidemics of end-time panic that have raged in the past. They list many failed past predictions regarding the end of the world.
Such criticism is justified to a point. Doomsday predictions have abounded for centuries; date-setters have been wrong many times. The problem with most of these prognostications was that, though well intentioned, the specific chronological details were the ideas of men who badly misinterpreted information in Scripture .
Is there a source to which we can go for reliable information? There is! That one reliable source is the Bible —what it really says. Many people today have a vague idea that the Bible says something about the end of the world. Does it? Most certainly!
The end of an age
Although we do not know the time, one thing we know for sure is that the Bible prophesies the end of the world as we know it. But what does that mean?
When Jesus'disciples asked Him about "the end of the world," they weren't talking about "world" in the sense of our physical planet, the earth. The Greek word translated "world" is aion , from which we get the English word eon . The two mean essentially the same thing—an age, an epoch, an era .
Christ's followers well knew the many prophecies of the Old Testament that foretell the coming age of the Messiah . Our present time, the time of human rule on earth under the deceptive sway of Satan (1 John 5:19), is described by the apostle Paul as "this present evil age" (Galatians 1:4).
Another Greek word translated "world" in the New Testament is kosmos , which denotes the ordered world around us—that is, not the physical planet we live on but man's society and geopolitical dominion. This is what will end.
Paul and the other apostles understood that, at the end of this age, man's corrupt civilization will be swept away and a new era will dawn at the return of Christ. Peter described this change as one in which "times of refreshing" will come from God the Father through Jesus, who will return from heaven when "the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets" (Acts 3:19-21, New International Version).
This transition from man's mis rule—which is, in reality, the unrecognized rule of Satan—to Christ's divine reign in the Kingdom of God was at the heart of the messages of the biblical prophets as well as the gospel Jesus taught. (For more information, request our free booklets The Gospel of the Kingdom and Is There Really a Devil?)
Scripture proclaims that the present age—the civilization and societies we know today—will terminate in a cascade of unimaginable destruction and violence that will climax at the return of Christ. In the New Testament alone, more than 300 verses refer to these events.
Signs of the end time
When Jesus' disciples asked about the end of the age (Matthew 24:3), He responded by listing several warning signs. The first would be massive religious deception, including religious teachers who, while claiming to represent Him, would not follow His teachings but would deceive many through a counterfeit Christianity.
He also said there would be many wars and other conflicts between nations and ethnic groups. He also spoke of famines,massive disease epidemics and earthquakes.
The problem with trying to precisely predict the end from these signs is that these trends and conditions have been with us in varying degrees from the first century until now. This helps explain why end-time fervor has arisen repeatedly for two millennia.
Many believe that man's development of modern weaponry with the ability to annihilate human life is a sure sign of the last days. As for this destructive potential being a sign of the end, Jesus did say that "if that time of troubles were not cut short, no living thing could survive " (Matthew 24:22, Revised English Bible , emphasis added throughout).
Our awesome scientific and technological advancements have bequeathed to this and future generations a heritage over which hangs the ultimate sword of Damocles. Indeed, without miraculous intervention from God the human race has no assurance of survival.
However, we should realize the sobering fact that, no matter when the end of the age comes, people will be living at that time who will dispute the possibility of the world ending. Under inspiration of God, the apostle Peter tells us that "scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, and saying, 'Where is the promise of His coming?'" (2 Peter 3:3-4).
Regardless of when it occurs, there will be people who express disdain even as the very time approaches. No matter how difficult things look, some will assure everyone that man has everything under control. Tragically, such assurances will do nothing but provide a false sense of security, leading people to foolishly continue to trust in human ability rather than in God.
As the end approaches
However long it is until the actual end of the age, one theme the biblical writers emphasized is that it draws nearer every day . Paul warns us that " now it is high time to awake out of sleep ; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed" (Romans 13:11).
And salvation is certainly important to keep in mind as everything falls to pieces around us. The end of the world as we know it, though it includes many catastrophes on a scale never seen in history, is not all bad news for mankind. It includes good news too. God will intervene before it is too late (Matthew 24:21-22). The alternative is not only the destruction of human civilization but the annihilation of the human race itself.
The only wise action for anyone who understands what is coming is to turn to God with repentance and obedience (Acts 3:19). Indeed, "now [God] commands all people everywhere to repent . For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed [i.e., Jesus Christ]" (Acts 17:30-31, NIV).
When Jesus comes in power and glory, He will rebuke the world for its sins. This is part of the message proclaimed from the beginning of the true Christian Church. On the day of the Church's founding, the apostle Peter exhorted his audience, " Be saved from this perverse generation " (Acts 2:40).
This is the message the Church is still commissioned to proclaim. How were the people to be saved? Peter urged them to repent —to turn from their own sinful, selfish ways and to seek God's ways—and to be baptized (Acts 2:38). At His second coming Christ will reward those who do so.
Focus not on timing but preparation
It is not a question of whether the world—man's corrupt civilization—will end. God's Word says it will . Our chief concern should not be when it will end. Jesus said it would be impossible for men to precisely calculate this ahead of time (Matthew 24:36, 42, 44).
Instead, our main focus should be to seek God to be spiritually prepared for the times that are coming. "But keep on the alert at all times," said Jesus, "praying in order that you may have strength to escape all these things that are about to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man" (Luke 21:36, New American Standard Bible ).
The Bible describes believers as living in a state of expectancy, in a state of tension, between two worlds. We live in the present world, which we know will end, while we look for the world to come with the return of Christ. "So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him" (Matthew 24:44, NIV).
We need to seek God in heartfelt repentance and faith, leading to baptism by God's true ministers so we can receive God's Spirit (Acts 2:37-39). Then we are to remain faithfully obedient while awaiting Jesus' return. For "he who endures to the end shall be saved" (Matthew 24:13).
Jesus never said the Christian calling would be easy. On the contrary, He said it would be challenging (Matthew 7:13-14). The reward, though, is great, far beyond anything we can imagine.
Reprinted with permission. Published by the United Church of God, an International Association. ©2012 www.ucg.org
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