Wars and Rumors of War: Matthew 24:6-7
“6) You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end. 7) For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes.” Matthew 24:6-7
War and conflict seems to be part of human nature. The New York Times recently reported that the world has been at peace for only 268 of the past 3,400 years. That’s a lot of death and dying. Granted, many of these were smaller and localized conflicts, but history proves that peace is very allusive to humanity.
Modernization has greatly enhanced the severity of war. Guns, big artillery, tanks, airplanes, ICBM’s, submarines, advanced navy’s, atomic weapons, biological warfare, electronic warfare and economic warfare have combined to make the world a very unstable place. I will argue that there has never been a more dangerous and unstable time in human history than today!
These weapons combined with fallen human nature helps punctuate the severity of these words of Jesus. The world is going to become increasingly more unstable and volatile as history rushes toward the end of this age. When we mix in the nature of the evil god of this world, we come up with a recipe for violence, death and destruction on a global scale never previously known to mankind.
I personally believe there is only one reason mankind has not utterly destroyed this place; “God is in control!” He is not done with humanity yet and He is not done with planet earth yet! Jesus pointed out that wars and conflict will come, but He will supersede so as to accomplish His ultimate plan. In my book, this is strong evidence for the existence of a loving and providential God who watches over His creation.
But I dare not minimize the death and destruction Satan will impose on the world in the end times. He will unleash the full furry of his evil and cause many to be killed. Dark and dreary days are upon us.
As the storm clouds for WWIII mount, there is another cloud seen in prophecy. Jesus will eventually descend from this cloud and set up His millennial kingdom. (See Acts 1:11; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17; Revelation 20) His reign will usher in a time of global peace. War will be eradicated during this time. He is the Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6)
I believe these will be literal events in the end times. I would encourage you not to wait another day before inviting the Prince of Peace into your life. He is the only one who can stop the inner war in your life. You are either aligned with Him or with the thief exposed in John 10:10. The thief brings death and destruction, but Jesus brings life. I fix my trust and hope on Jesus.
Daily Bible Commentary By Terry Baxter: Cofounder of GoServ Global
