For many years, Jehovah's Witnesses were in expectation of the fulfillment of the so-called "peace and security" prophecy. Yet now, with the unspoken threat of WWIII and the use of weapons of mass destruction an everyday topic, coupled with frantic efforts of the United Nations to avert war, oddly enough the Watchtower has remained uncharacteristically silent on the whole issue of peace and security. Could it be that, now, after all of these years, at the critical hour when Jehovah's Witnesses apparently "do not think to be it, the Son of man is coming"?
According to Jesus Christ, his arrival and presence as earth's new king would come upon the world as unexpectedly as a thief in the night breaks into the home of a sleeping householder. Over and over again, Jesus admonished and warned his followers to stay awake and keep on the watch.
At Matthew 24:43, Jesus said: "But know one thing, that if the householder had known in what watch the thief was coming, he would have kept awake and not allowed his house to be broken into. On this account you too prove yourselves ready, because at an hour that you do not think to be it, the Son of man is coming."
The Christian prophet and apostle, Paul, added some helpful information that would help Christians recognize the immediate approach of Jehovah's day. In the 5th chapter of 1st Thessalonians, Paul verified that Jehovah's day was indeed coming like a thief in the night, but that immediately preceding his arrival "they" would be saying: "Peace and security!"
The prophecy reads as follows: "Now as for times and seasons, brothers, you need nothing to be written to you. For you yourselves know quite well that Jehovah's day is coming exactly as a thief in the night. Whenever it is that they are saying: "Peace and security!" then sudden destruction is to be instantly upon them just as the pang of distress upon a pregnant woman; and they will by no means escape. But you, brothers, you are not in darkness, so that day should overtake you as it would thieves, for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We belong neither to night nor to darkness."
The question naturally arises: who is going to be saying ‘peace and security'? The prophecy does not say. It only says ‘whenever it is they are saying' it.' But, it seems reasonable, even as the Watchtower has recognized from the beginning, that, "they" are the United Nations. After all, the United Nations Organization was set up after the Second World War for the express purpose of establishing peace and security on our war-wracked planet. Of course, the UN has failed miserably up to this point. Nonetheless, there are several unique aspects about the world's present situation.
First, the looming war with Iraq is just that—looming—it has not become a reality yet. Usually, little effort goes into averting wars. However, unlike before, opposition to the proposed war against Iraq grows daily. During the month of February, several million people around the world took to the streets to demonstrate their opposition to the war. Never has there been such a concerted effort by ordinary people to prevent a war from occurring.
Secondly, America's closest allies are resisting the U.S. war drive. The outpouring of sympathy from around the world after the 9-11 tragedy has largely disappeared. And, perhaps most importantly, nations and their leaders are looking to the United Nations as the only political institution that can stand against what many see as the imperialism of the Anglo-American superpower. That is significant because the UN has, until recently, been considered as an impotent bureaucracy. Now, though, it is being viewed as the only hope of peace. As it stands at the moment, in the first week of March 2003, Russia intends to use their veto power to block the UN's Security Council in order to ‘maintain world peace.'
What should be of interest to Jehovah's Witnesses is that the United Nations is principally an Anglo-American creation. Both the United States and Great Britain have a strong diplomatic presence and considerable political influence within the United Nations Organization. Of note, the prophecy of Revelation calls for the two-horned beast to fabricate an image that eventually begins to speak with authority. We cannot yet say that the United Nations has spoken in a way that fulfills that prophecy.
The Watchtower, of course, recognizes the two-horned beast as being the Anglo-American dual world power and the fabricated image as the United Nations. It may very well be that we have reached the stage where the UN and U.S. are play-acting the good-cop/bad-cop routine as a means of giving the United Nations credibility and acceptance in the eyes of the world. In the event of a U.S. led catastrophe, the way would be opened for the United Nations to truly come ‘alive'—as the prophecy calls for the image to do.
Contrary to the opinions of some, whenever they are saying ‘peace and security' in fulfillment of the prophecy, it does not instantaneous result in the nations being destroyed by God at Armageddon. The prophecy says that, ‘whenever it is that they are saying: "Peace and security!" then sudden destruction is to be instantly upon them just as the pang of distress upon a pregnant woman; and they will by no means escape."
According to Jesus' own detailed prophecy regarding his presence and the end of the system, Christ said that nation rising against nation and kingdom against kingdom, coupled with food shortages and pestilence, would mark "a beginning of pangs of distress." Further on in that context, Jesus referred to happenings "immediately after the tribulation of those days." The tribulation he was referring to evidently commences with nation arising against nation in global warfare. Yet no such tribulation is yet in evidence.
In view of the fact that it has been nearly ninety years since nation arose against nation in the First World War, the expression "beginning of pangs of distress" has become meaningless in that context. According to our understanding of the prophecy concerning peace and security, the pang of distress leads immediately into the Day of Jehovah. What is left for us to say, except that the pangs of distress in 1914 have merely proven to be like false labor pains that have long since subsided. What we are facing is the beginning pangs of distress and tribulation that will apparently take the form of another global war—a war unlike any other. The "sudden destruction" that occurs instantly comes from a human source and is evidently the destruction that comes upon the present capitalistic nation-state system.
Daniel 10:1 says that the prophet received a revelation of a matter having to do with "a great military service." Later, the angel, Gabriel, appeared to Daniel and explained to him the detailed historical developments leading up to the great military service, in what is commonly known as the prophecy of the king of the north and the king of the south. Daniel 11:40 foretells the final clash between the two kings, of the north and south, that is to occur as a result of the time of the end having finally arrived.
According to the prophet, the king of the north is going to come storming with an irresistible army, so as to flood over the lands and subjugate his rival. Since the prophecy indicates that this occurs during the time of the end, or conclusion, it must be the very thing that Christ also had in mind when he foretold that nation rising against nation would be the beginning of pangs of distress--marking the start of the conclusion of the system of things.
While the future is impossible for any human to accurately predict, by properly using the infallible Word of God to illuminate the road stretching out ahead us, we may anticipate how events may soon unfold. There is little doubt that the world has reached a critical state of affairs—more worrisome than at any previous time in history for the simple reason that numerous nations, and perhaps terrorists as well, possess nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction. There are many festering hot spots around the world, any of which could erupt as the critical flashpoint for the next world war.
Jesus foretold that during the time of tumult and tribulation, men would literally faint with fear; not knowing the way out of the terrifying crisis. Even now, the nations are faced with seemingly insurmountable, re-emerging, economic problems due to the fact that the global financial system is bankrupt and tottering on the edge of a deep, prolonged depression. It is in response to that onrushing economic collapse that the Anglo-American duo is maneuvering to become a militaristic imperial power. The United States and Great Britain have already revised their first-strike nuclear policy, and so stand they at the ready to "even make fire come down out of heaven to the earth in the sight of mankind"—as Revelation describes.
In light of the world's present critical situation, the ongoing movement to avert war and maintain peace and security through the United Nations, is perhaps the most significant development of unfolding Bible prophecy that we have ever witnessed. And, considering the many problems within the Watchtower and the brewing apostasy and apathy among Jehovah's Witnesses, we may be well advised to take to heart Jehovah's chilling call to arms at Amos 4:12. It reads in part: "Get ready to meet your God O Israel."
Copyright © 2003, by Robert King
All Rights Reserved.