The frequency with which greater and greater weapons of destruction are being developed should remind us of the sway which Satan exercises in the affairs of men. He is at present the god and prince of this world, and is called "the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children [sons] of disobedience." Eph. 2:2. He is truly "Apollyon," the destroyer. The Lord Jesus came to save men's lives, not to destroy them, but Him they refused and crucified. They preferred a murderer and a robber—Barabbas—Satan's counterfeit at the time, for his name meant "son of the father." Satan moved the world against Christ, and now he is moving the world to the brink of its own destruction.
The tremendous increase in the means of wholesale slaughter, within only a decade, is truly astounding—surely a sign that we are living in the last hour of this dispensation. And if we compare the destructive force of the weapons used in the first world war with those now being produced, it makes the former seem like bows and arrows. Even the second world war began without a great increase in weapon power.
In the first world war, TNT was developed and hailed as the great destroyer, but not until the second war was well advanced was this packed into huge bombs, called blockbusters, and rained from the skies in large quantities. The following figures will give some idea of the rapid increase: the blockbuster of 1942 contained TNT to the amount of
20 tons;
the Hiroshima A-bomb of 1945 contained a comparative explosive force of
20,000 tons;
the H-bomb of 1952,
5,000,000 tons;
the calculated power of the 1954 H-bomb,
40,000,000 tons.
Man, a comparatively very small creature in the universe, has been able to understand many of its mysteries, and to set off H-bomb explosions similar to the great burning within the sun. Truly the scientific mind is magnificent. Man forgets that he was endowed with this great faculty by his Creator, and glories as though he had not received it. What must the Creator be who could form such a being? or who could make such an intricate creation containing all these wonders!
What would man have been, had he not fallen and been debased!
There is another sober reflection here, in that the men of science have taken the lead in seeking to discredit the Bible, and have overthrown the faith of many. Not that all scientific men are infidels or atheists, as we have pointed out in this column on other occasions, but they as a class have been in the forefront of attackers of divine revelation. Is it any wonder if God in His ways of government should allow the same men to perfect ways and means of their own destruction, and that of their whole system of civilization? The mind of man set against his Creator shall surely reap just recompense. When God gave instruction regarding leprosy, so that the priest of Israel could detect it, He said of leprosy in the forehead, "The priest shall pronounce him UTTERLY unclean; his plague is in his head." Lev. 13:44. Is not this figuratively significant?
Scientists have also developed a deadly gas, one quart of which can kill every living thing within a cubic mile, and one drop on a man's hand would kill him within 30 seconds. Another invention is a crop-killing germ that can be spread from the air to destroy all the crops of a country, and so produce starvation. Do these things speak of the "Prince of Peace," or of "the destroyer"?
Now the problem is to save man from his own ingenuity. The imminence of another war would bring on paralyzing fear—"Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth." Luke 21:26. There is coming "distress of nations, with perplexity" (Luke 21:25).
The world is engaged in the greatest armaments race of all times, and great armaments races have always preceded wars. But the Scriptures foretold of "wars and rumors of wars," and there is a man coming who will make the earth a wilderness and destroy the cities thereof. He will be "the beast" who will head up the revived Roman Empire—see Isa. 14 and Rev. 13 and 17. He is called the "king of Babylon" in Isaiah because he will be the last holder of that Gentile supremacy that began with Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon.
Scoffers are inclined to view the Bible as old-fashioned and outmoded, but it is thoroughly in keeping with what man has just now developed. These late awful explosions mentioned earlier release energy that produces heat to melt everything within a considerable radius; but long ago the Word of God spoke of a time that is coming, called the "day of the Lord," which "will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.... The heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat." 2 Pet. 3:10, 12.
Today there is a speculation on whether or not man can set off a chain reaction by an H-bomb explosion that will ignite the atmosphere and sea. This is most unlikely, but God who stored all these forces in the earth, and who lights the earth with the burning of the sun, can surely completely destroy all the works of men, and He has said that He will.
While the Bible is not a scientific textbook, it is never made obsolete by any discovery of science—it is always up-to-date. And in all ages and in all conditions it has faithfully exposed the evil heart of man, and been a voice to his conscience.
Christian reader, there is no reason for fear or alarm on our part. We know what is coming on the earth, for God has treated us as friends; that is, He has told us the secrets of what is coming (Gen. 18:17; Isa. 41:8; John 15:15), but we have a blessed hope—"We look for the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior" (Phil. 3:20; J.N.D. Trans.). Soon we shall hear that shout and be called up to meet Him in the air. The developments of these days point with unmistakable evidence to the close proximity of the "great tribulation" and the "day of vengeance of our God," and if these are near, just so much nearer is the call of the heavenly Bridegroom, for it will precede the time of trouble that is coming on all the earth.
The anticipation of seeing Him should cause us to trim our lamps, so that in the last moments of our darkness our lamps may give a clear and true light. It was the awakening by the call at midnight, "Behold, the bridegroom," that caused all the virgins to trim their lamps (Matt. 25). The wicks of old lamps used to become covered with carbon, and dim the light; so the taint of the world will form a crust on us that will hinder our testimony. Such needs to be trimmed away.
Then the realization of the doom that is soon to overtake the unsuspecting worldlings, should cause us to warn them to flee from the wrath to come. The Apostle Paul said, "Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men" (2 Cor. 5:11).
"Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness?... Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of Him in peace, without spot, and blameless." 2 Pet. 3:11, 13, 14.