Crisis Years

World Crisis

A new and very significant development is taking place in the Middle East. The Soviet Union has sought to position itself as one of the major powers in the bringing about of a peaceful solution to the Iraqi crisis. The Soviets tried to persuade Iraq to remove her forces from Kuwait and launched a peace initiative. Saddam Hussien constantly sought to link Iraq's withdrawal from Kuwait with the withdrawal of Israel from the West Bank and the creation of a Palestinian state. The United States insisted that Iraq's withdrawal be unconditional. The U.N. coalition indicated that once the issue of Kuwait had been settled, they would take up the matter of the Palestinians. Could it be that one of the under-the-table understandings that Russians made with Iraq is that the Soviets would push the Palestinian issue in the United Nations? It is interesting that since the end of the Gulf War, Israel has been forced to create a Palestinian state within the occupied territories.

The prophet Ezekiel tells us in chapter 38 that Magog, or Russia, will come with a confederation of nations against Israel in the last days. It is interesting to look at the alignment of nations that Ezekiel prophesies will be coming with the Soviets. Iran, Ethiopia, Libya, Gomer, and Togarmah (Turkey) are all specifically mentioned.

It is interesting that Iraq (Babylon) is not listed as one of the aggressive powers aligned with this coalition. Syria, Jordan, and Egypt are also conspicuous by their absence. It is also very interesting that Saudi Arabia is among the nations that will object to this move by the Soviet-led power block. Perhaps the Saudis will realize that the purpose of Russia's desire to become a major force in the Middle East is more than just helping the unfortunate Palestinians. The motives could be much more aligned with self-interest.

According to some estimates, if Russia continues to produce oil from its reserves at the present rate, it will face total depletion by the year 2003. The desire to gain a strong foothold in the oil-rich gulf states will no doubt be the underlying motive for Soviets moving their troops into the area. This desire will not be lost on nations such as Saudi Arabia. Twice in Ezekiel 38, as the prophet speaks of this invasion, he declares that the invaders are coming to take a spoil. For any nation to be a strong industrial power, oil is essential.

Whether we want to admit it or not, oil is one of the major reasons that our troops were sent into the gulf, for it is necessary to protect the oil supplies that keep our nation functioning. It is estimated that at current rate of consumption our reserves of oil will run out in 2002. It would appear by the state of current events in the world that not only is oil running out, but time is running out as well. As Paul said to the Romans, "Knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep, for now is our salvation nearer than we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand."

It seems very significant that Isaiah 13:6 indicates that at the time Babylon is destroyed the people will howl for the Day of the Lord is at hand; that is, the day when His judgment and wrath are to be poured out upon the earth. Isaiah does not declare that the Day of the Lord had already begun, but the destruction of Babylon signals that the time is at hand. It is important to note that the outcome of this alleged peacekeeping mission by the Soviet-led coalition of nations will be far different than that in the Iraq/Kuwait conflict.

In the case of Israel, the invading forces are to be destroyed by the direct intervention of God. God said that at that time, His fury would rise and that there would be a great shaking in the land of Israel, that the mountains would be thrown down, and that God would call for every man's sword to be against his own brother. This may indicate that the domestic turmoil currently brewing within Russia will come to a head and that a civil war will fragment the Red Army. Along with this infighting God will send an overflowing rain, accompanied with great hailstones, fire, and brimstone, which will spell disaster for this invading force. The Word of God declares that from that day forward, the house of Israel will know that Yahweh is their God.

With the break up of the Warsaw Pact and the strong economic and civil problems within Russia, some have questioned the idea that the Red Army is strong enough to project its power into the Middle East. However, other experts such as retired Marine four-star general Lewis Walt strongly disagree. In his book The Eleventh Hour, General Walt quotes Alexander Solzhenitsyn as saying that the momentum toward war with the Soviet Union is so great that he wouldn't be surprised to see the West fall on any given morning. [3]

General Walt writes in his preface, "I have never asked Marines to go into battle without telling them exactly what they faced so far as I knew it. My one unbreakable rule has always been to stick with facts and tell the truth. That is what I'm going to do in this book. The facts are these: The United States has been brought, by its own civilian leaders, to a position of military inferiority to the Soviet Union. At this moment, you and your loved ones stand exposed to physical destruction. The option of whether you shall live or die rests primarily with the hardened men who occupy the Kremlin. If they should choose tomorrow or next year to annihilate you and your family, there is little the U.S. government could do to stop them except to surrender. No generation of Americans has ever before been so recklessly placed at the mercy of so pitiless and powerful an enemy."

In an interview with a national publication, General Rogers, former Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, was asked, "In what part of the world are we in the most danger from Soviet Russia?" As far as I know, General Rogers isn't a Bible student. Nothing in the article indicates that he is. He's purely a military strategist with the advantage of the knowledge that military intelligence has been able to gather. General Rogers answered, "I don't believe that there's going to be an attack on Western Europe by the Warsaw Pact as the beginning of a global confrontation. I think that the confrontation would erupt someplace else and spill over into Western Europe. It would probably be related to political instability in some region or the competition for scarce resources, or both. I'd say that this is most likely to occur in the Middle East-Persian Gulf-Indian Ocean area." I think his evaluation is correct from a biblical standpoint. We need to keep our eyes on the Middle East. [4]

How interesting that those of us who study biblical prophecy are no longer classified with the religious fanatics when we start talking about critical years and the end of the world. Serious-minded people looking at our world in crisis are beginning to tell us that something must be done. The usual solution provided by these men is simple and direct. We can no longer continue as separate nations with separate goals and ideals. We must surrender to a globally federated body, a one-world government. We also need a one-world religion. I recently saw a bumper sticker that read, "God is too big for one religion." Many people are dedicated to working toward these universalistic goals, which again, is exactly what the Bible says will happen. We're moving toward a one-world government in which one man will arise who will dominate all mankind.

Signs of the Times

Recently there's been a great deal of concern about the ozone blanket around the earth. Ozone is a form of oxygen. Oxygen has two atoms to the molecule, and ozone has three atoms to the molecule. The third atom easily escapes and combines with others, making ozone an excellent cleaning compound. The earth is surrounded with a blanket of ozone gas in the stratosphere. This layer of gas plays a very important part in man's survival by acting as a filter and protecting us from bombardment by the sun's lethal ultraviolet rays. In the book of Job, God mentions a "swaddling-band" around the earth (Job 38:9). This may have been a reference to the ozone layer that surrounds our planet. If the ozone layer were brought down to the earth's surface, it would form a blanket only three feet thick.

Our scientists are now saying that we're in danger of destroying this protective layer. Aerosol products release fluorocarbon gases into the air which cause the ozone to combine with nitrogen gas to form nitric oxide. Unless we change the gas within the aerosol cans (which has been done in the United States but not the rest of the world), we will continue to eradicate the ozone blanket.

The new supersonic jets that fly fifteen hundred miles an hour at fifty-five thousand feet also pose a threat to the ozone blanket. The gases emitted through the exhausts of these supersonic jets combine with oxygen and react with the ozone, diminishing the protective shield against the ultraviolet rays.

We are already beginning to observe the effects of this depleted ozone shield. I was baptizing several hundred people in the ocean recently, and as the result of several hours of exposure in the sun during this service, I received severe burns on my head. My doctor informed me they were ultraviolet bums which are becoming quite common because of ozone depletion.

In addition, the testing of atomic bombs releases great clouds of gases into the atmosphere which are detrimental to the existing ozone blanket. If we were to have an atomic war with a number of nuclear devices detonated within the atmosphere, the worst effect wouldn't necessarily be the initial destruction. It could very well be the destruction of the ozone layer. Without this blanket, the ultraviolet rays of the sun would begin to cook people alive.

In Revelation 16 we read that when the fourth vial is poured out by the angel during the Great Tribulation, power is given unto the sun to scorch men with fire (Revelation 9:20-21). This could very well be a description of ultraviolet radiation effects as the result of the disappearing ozone layer. This calamity was predicted two thousand years ago, before anyone even knew that a protective ozone blanket existed in our atmosphere.

Scientists estimate that unless we take immediate and radical steps to reverse the deterioration of the ozone blanket, we could deplete it within ten years, and the ultraviolet rays of the sun would, in fact, scorch men upon the earth. Scientists are saying, "Reverse direction, or it's the end of the world!" That's not much different from that traditional picture of the old man with the sandwich board who says, "Repent. The end is near!"

Besides destroying the ozone layer, man is also guilty of harming our environment by recklessly using chemicals to control pests. The only way the world can produce enough crops to keep us all from starving to death is through the use of massive amounts of pesticides. But we don't fully know the consequences and side effects of these chemicals on our health, lives, or future. In years past one of the most prominent insecticides in widespread use was DDT. Now DDT has been banned in the United States, but not in the other parts of the world. We have discovered that DDT doesn't disintegrate in the soil but remains in its same chemical form. When it rains DDT flows into the streams. From the streams this insecticide flows into the rivers and then into the oceans. We are now beginning to discover the tremendous effect DDT has on the marine environment. It destroys seaweed, microscopic plant and animal life, and fish. Many thriving fishing businesses on the California coast have had to close down as a result of DDT contamination. It's estimated that perhaps only one-tenth of the DDT previously used has reached the oceans as yet. We don't know what will happen when the other nine-tenths get there.

The fact that we can destroy a major portion of the life within the ocean also coincides with another plague spoken of in the book of Revelation. John saw a great mountain burning with fire fall into the sea, and the third part of the creatures living within the sea were destroyed (Revelation 8:10).

We are also being warned about overpopulation. Experts predict that unless something dramatic is done to curb the spiral of population growth, by the year 2000 the earth will be wall-to-wall with people. The earth's population has already risen to over six billion people, and continues to grow at the rate of two percent of the total population each year. Even now we cannot feed all the people on the planet. The majority today go to bed hungry and undernourished. As the population increases, the demand for food increases, but the supply of food decreases. And so we see food prices rising sky-high.

Jesus said that famine would be one of the signs of the end of the world (Matthew 24:7). Revelation tells of a time that is coming when a "measure of wheat" (roughly a quart) will be sold for a day's wage (approximately thirty dollars) (Revelation 6:6).

If you are planning to be around for this coming catastrophe and want to "hedge your bets," don't invest your money in silver or gold. Put it in wheat. What good will your gold be if you can't buy anything with it? In fact, James warns of the last days, "Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.... Your gold and silver is cankered" (James 5:1-3).

Man has also created a new generation of incredibly devastating weapons. It is estimated that the nuclear arsenal of the United States now amounts to a destructive capability the equivalent of fifteen tons of TNT for every person alive on the earth.

In speaking of the end of the world, Jesus said, "Except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved" (Matthew 24:22). For centuries the idea that man could completely destroy himself was considered preposterous. But now we have enough explosive power to destroy every man, woman and child living on the planet fifteen times over. Our military men are warning us that a major nuclear war could easily mean the end of the world.

Along with this our energy resources are rapidly being depleted. We used to take oil out of the ground as if there were no tomorrow. We thought we certainly had enough energy reserves to last for the foreseeable future. Now we are constantly being asked to curb our normal use of energy until science can discover some alternate resource. Our fossil-fuel reserves are limited, and scientists predict the approaching end for this type of energy.

Earthquakes are increasing in frequency and intensity around the world. This is another striking sign that Jesus said would signal the time of His return (Matthew 24:7). Physicists are also getting into the act of prophesying doom. In studying the earth's structure, they find that the ions affected by the earth's magnetism are lined up differently from what is now true north. Some scientists believe this is the result of a polar axis shift. According to some researchers, these shifts occur approximately every five thousand years. It has been speculated that the last polar axis shift coincided with the flood of Noah's time. This could well mean that we're overdue for another major shift. Some scientists believe that during a polar axis shift, islands disappear, mountains melt into valleys, and ocean floors become land masses. The whole area of Utah used to be a vast ocean. There are ocean shell fossils at seven thousand feet above sea level on the south rim of the Grand Canyon, indicating a major change in the oceans and the mountain structures from the past. Such changes supposedly happened during the last polar axis shift. It is impossible to calculate the geological damage that will result from such an upheaval of nature.

When we read passages that describe an event where "every mountain and island were moved out of their places" (Revelation 6:14), and "the earth shall stagger like a drunken man and shall be moved out of her place" (Isaiah 24:20), it's easy to wonder if God is possibly foretelling a polar axis shift.

Creation and Termination

It used to be considered scientifically naive to talk about a specific time of creation, but physicists are now realizing that there must have been such a day. Sir James Jeans in his book The Universe Around Us says that the universe is like a giant clock that was wound up and is slowly running down. A prime example of the evidence that points to a specific starting point in time for our universe is found in our own sun. In order to give off the vast amount of energy that allows for our survival on planet Earth, the sun must consume over two million tons of its own mass every second. This creates a huge problem if the universe has existed from eternity past. Over an infinite stretch of time, not only our sun, but every star in the entire universe would have burned out its fuel supply billions of years ago. A star with enough mass to bum literally forever would have to be as large as the universe itself. Therefore, it is now commonly acceptable to look back to a specific point in time called the day of creation. However, scientists are looking to the future at a much more disturbing point of time called "the day of termination."

Social scientists are concerned, not so much about the physical aspects of the planet as much as with the behavior of the men upon it. Many experts are questioning the possibility of human survival even if we manage to avoid a physical catastrophe. They are alarmed at the rising increase in social hostility.' Police departments and law enforcement agencies are confessing their inability to cope with the sheer number of crimes they attempt to handle.

Have you called a policeman lately? If you are the victim of a crime, the police will come out and make a report, but they give very little encouragement about recovering anything stolen or missing. If a child has run away, they will file a missing person's report. But there's very little promise of a happy ending to the crisis. So much crime exists that many experts have actually given up any hope of establishing law and order.

Paul wrote to Timothy, "In the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be... without natural affection, truce breakers... incontinent, fierce, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God" (2 Timothy 3:1-4). Sadly, the Bible describes men as we see them today.

How ironic that with all the scientists, the professors, the militarists, and the sociologists crying, "The end of the world!" the Church has been so silent. It may be that the Church is so preoccupied with its dwindling attendance rolls and increased financial burdens that it hasn't noticed the signs of the times.

Perhaps another cause is that people in the past have foolishly and unscripturally set dates for the return of Christ even though Jesus said, "No man knows the day or the hour" (Mark 13:32). Many people have come and gone, proclaiming a special revelation of the specific time of the second advent. Perhaps because of the embarrassment caused by these unfortunate predictions, the Church has shunned the field of prophecy.

When the disciples asked, "What will be the sign of the end of the world?" Jesus didn't say, "It's none of your business!" He went into great detail to describe the signs preceding the time of the end (Matthew 24:3-14).

The Real New World

When Christians speak of the world and its end, we are talking about something entirely different than the scientists. The secular expert is talking about the end of the world in a physical sense. But when Christians talk about the end of the world, we are speaking of a set and ordered system that rejects God. The world order around us that is governed by Satan in rebellion against God is coming to a final and conclusive end.

Man has tried just about every form of government that can be conceived in the human mind. City-states, monarchies, democracies, dictatorships, and various forms of socialism have all been tried with, varying degrees of success and failure. Man has attempted many different ways to govern himself, but every form of government has ultimately deteriorated. No matter how theoretically perfect the system, man cannot rule himself without greed and corruption setting in. Most forms of government have been able to endure for only about two hundred years before totally disintegrating.

We, the Church, look for a new form of government: a monarchy that will embrace the entire world and endure forever. We're waiting for the kingdom of God to come when righteousness will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea.

We do not know the day or the hour when this perfect kingdom will come, but Jesus said, "Watch therefore ... be ye also ready, for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh" (Matthew 25:13). Christ then presented a series of parables by which He illustrated the importance of watching and being ready for His return to receive His Church unto Himself.

The Church has great cause to cry, "The end of the world!" So many signs of the end have already been fulfilled. For instance God has established His nation Israel back in its historic homeland as He promised through the prophets. Ezekiel tells us that Israel would no longer be two nations (which was the case when it divided into northern and southern kingdoms in the tenth century B.C.), but it would become one nation upon the land, and one king would rule over the people (Ezekiel 37:22). God also said that Israel would again build the waste places and "they that come from Jacob shall blossom and bud and fill the face of the world with fruit" (Isaiah 27:6).

How interesting that Israel is now the fourth largest exporter of fruit to the world. That is an amazing fact when you realize that this tiny nation is about the size of the state of New Jersey. Israel is also the main supplier of flowers throughout all of Europe. Because of Israel's good climate and favorable growing conditions, flower growing has become one of the country's major industries.

God has fulfilled His promise to bring Israel back together and to cause the Jewish people to prosper in the land. But also, as the Bible predicted, it seems that now Israel is standing almost alone against all the nations of the earth. Yet God has promised that He would stand beside them, even though all the nations of the earth gather together against them (Zechariah 12:3).

The author of Psalm 102 states, "When the Lord shall build up Zion, He shall appear in His glory" (Psalm 102:6). Zion (the nation of Israel) is being built up; the time has come for the Lord to appear in His glory. Christ first came to earth to be crucified. He came as a humble servant as the prophets predicted. "Behold, thy King cometh unto thee; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass" (Zechariah 9:9). But Jesus is coming a second time not as a suffering teacher of truth, but with great power and glory! (Matthew 24:30). When the psalmist said, "When the Lord shall build up Zion then shall He also appear in His glory," he was referring to the Second Coming. The Church ought to be crying, "The end of the world!" because God is now building up Zion, the land of Israel. We see in the world today the famines, earthquakes, and pestilences Christ foretold. Doctors are always warning us of new flu strains that are worse than those we've had so far. Staph infections and other viruses are becoming more and more immune to antibiotics. Add to these the awesome threat of the AIDS virus.

It seems that there is no way out of the economic, social, or universal problems confronting us today. As we look at the nations, there is no dominant power in the world today. The world is divided and the nations are in perplexity. Even the experts don't know what to do about the economic situation, the energy crisis, or increasing food shortages. There are perplexities of nations just as the Scripture said would take place in the end times (Luke 21:25).

Men are looking for a leader. A leader is coming, and they'll be drawn to follow him. He's going to come in his own name, proclaiming marvelous things. He's going to have an incredibly efficient and universal economic program of computerized commerce. It used to seem impossible a few years ago, but it doesn't seem so farfetched anymore.

Is it all just a coincidence? Or did God know what He was talking about when He spoke of these things two thousand years ago! Jesus said, "When these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift your heads, for your redemption draweth nigh" (Luke 21:28). The Church ought to be looking up, looking for and expecting our Lord. We should be proclaiming: "The end of the world!"

This is not a cry of despair or of doom and gloom, for the end of this world system will mean an end of greed and hatred, wars and famines, sickness and death. The commercial exploitation of others, creating untold personal misery, will be gone forever. The prophet Isaiah called, "Ho! Everyone that is thirsty come to the water, and he that has no money let him buy and eat, come and buy wine and milk without money and without price, and let your soul delight itself in fatness" (Isaiah 55:2). The end of this world system will mark an end of the world governed by man in rebellion against God, and the beginning of a new world governed by Go and marked by peace like a river (Isaiah 66:12). A world where there is no pain or sorrow, "for God shall wipe away all tears" (Revelation 21:4). We are told by Isaiah that the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; the lame will leap like deer and the tongue of the mute shall sing (Isaiah 35:6). He also tells us that men will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks (Isaiah 2:4). (That is, the military budgets will be diverted to agricultural development.) Last year, the nations of the world spent over one trillion dollars in military expenditures. If this amount of money had been spent for agricultural development, not one person would have starved to death. The prophet Micah tells us, "Nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree, and none shall make them afraid" (Micah 4:3-4). That does not sound like doom and gloom to me, but like a beautiful ideal world where I desire to live. I have difficulty waiting for it to begin, "Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus" (Revelation 22:20).

Jesus shall reign as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Ours is not a gloomy picture of desolation and destruction at the end of the world as the forecasting of scientists so often is. Ours is the glorious prediction of the end of this corrupted old world order of man. An end to rule by greed, an end to wars and hatred, and the beginning of the new world ruled by Jesus Christ where men will live together in peace and love. I long for this new world and pray daily, "Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, even as it is in heaven."