The world is becoming an increasingly dangerous place. Acts of hatred and violence occur every day in homes and communities. Terrorism and the effects of ethnic strife and war are constant topics in the media. The bad news is that it is all going to get worse before it gets better—but it will get better! However, there are vital lessons God’s people need to be learning as we witness what is happening to human society.
Do we really grasp the great significance of the ever-mounting violence around the world? Do we understand why it is occurring and where it is all leading? Just what isthe cause of this worldwide wave of violence? Why is peace so difficult to achieve? Is there a way to real peace on earth and goodwill among all peoples? How will that kind of peace be attained? But even more importantly, what can we do as individual Christians to prepare for ameaningful role in the process of restoring peace to this troubled world?
The surging wave of hatred and violence and humankind’s inability to bring about lasting peace are prophetically significant! WhenJesus was asked what signs would announce His imminent return to the earth He listed: escalating wars and rumors of wars, ethnic strife, hatred and killing (Matthew 24:3–10). The famines and pestilences He mentioned are often the result of destruction and dislocation caused by war and violence. The Apostle Paul was inspired to write “In the last days perilous [difficult, terrible] times will come” (2 Timothy 3:1–4). He describes people living at that time as unloving [callous, inhuman, without natural affection], unforgiving [irreconcilable], slanderers [troublemakers], brutal [fierce] and treacherous. These terms are increasingly applicable to the times we live in.
The Bible clearly indicates that as the end of this age approaches, the world will be influenced by the powerful, evil spirit of Satan (2 Thessalonians 2:1–12; Revelation 12:7–12). One of the proverbial “Four Horsemen” of the Apocalypse, that will ride just before Christ returns, has a red horse. This rider will “take peace from the earth” as people kill one another (Revelation 6:4). The beast that figures so prominently in end-time prophecies is a ferocious war-making creature (Revelation 13:1–7). The armies of the world will gather at Armageddon (Revelation 16:12–16) and then move to the vicinity of Jerusalem where they will actually make war with the returning Jesus Christ (Revelation 17:12–14). This will result in a disaster of incredible pro-portions—with blood running to a depth of a horse’s bridle (Revelation 14:14–20).
This is where the escalating wave of hatred and violence will lead. Man’s attempt to rule himself will end in a series of violently bloody convulsions precipitated by the actions of deceived and misguided human beings. It will be horrible—worse than anything the world has ever seen (Matthew 24:21–22).
Promise of Peace
However, there is also good news—exciting news—which is THE GOSPEL! Jesus Christ will returnwith great power to reign on this earth (Revelation 11:15–18). He will come as the Prince of Peace to set up a government that will bring everlasting peace to this earth (Isaiah 9:6–7). He will reward His saints with positions of rulership in that world-ruling government (Revelation 5:10). Individuals given this incredible opportunity will have learned how to become peace-makers (Matthew 5:9). They will understand the real cause of strife and war. They will be able to point the true way to peace. They will lead the peoples of this world, sickened and exhausted by hatred and war, into a new era of peace—the kingdom of God set up by Christ and his saints on this earth. Let’s examine just how this will be done. Let’s notice lessons we can learn now to prepare for this excitingchallenge.
Cause of Strife
The Apostle James observed that wars, fights, arguments and conflicts arise from human lusts and desires that run contrary to biblical instructions that define appropriate behavior (James 4:1–6). James’ inspired advice is to get rid of pride, vanity, jealously, and humble ourselves, submitting voluntarily to God’s instructions because this will begin to eliminate the real causes of strife and contention—placing us on the path to real and lasting peace (James 4:1–12). It is interesting that Victor Hugo, a French poet in the 1800s, drew a similar conclusion when he wrote, “Peace is the deliberate adjustment of my life to the will of God.” He had learned a valuable lesson.
God inspired the prophets of ancient Israel to warn that misguided leaders would continually talk about peace but not be able to achieve peace (Jeremiah 6:14; 8:11; Ezekiel 13:10). Bible prophecy indicates that man’s futile search for peace will continue to the very end of this age when “the ambassadors of peace shall weep bitterly” at their inability to put an end to strife and war (Isaiah 33:7). The reason for this frustrating situation is also revealed in the Scriptures. God clearly states, “the way of peace they have not known” (Isaiah 59:8; Romans 3:17).Despite mankind’s remarkable achievements, the real cause of war and strife and the true way to lasting peace have not been found. This is the sobering lesson of human history!
Historians Will and Ariel Durant have observed that in the last 3,400 years, only 270 have seen no war. That’s about 8 percent. In other words, about 92 percent of that time human beings have been fighting each other somewhere on this earth. When we examine the philosophy of influential individuals we find some of the reasons for this continuing problem. George Washington, reflecting the common wisdom of his day said, “to be prepared for war is one of the most effective means of preserving peace”—however, he fought several wars in his lifetime. We follow that same philosophy today, and we are still fighting. Mao Tse Tung once remarked “war can only be abolished through war—to get rid of the gun you must take up the gun.” In spite of giving guns to hundreds of thousands, he never found the way to peace. Adolf Hitler asserted “mankind has grown strong through struggles—it will only perish through eternal peace.” Hitler, however, died in the struggle he initiated and destroyed his nation and much of Europe in the process.
These human ideas have only spawned more war. They have failed to achieve lasting peace.
Other, more perceptive individuals have sensed there is a better way. Former President Ronald Reagan stated “lasting peace cannot be secured through the strength of arms alone.” General Douglas MacArthur concluded: “In war we have had our last chance—if we are to save the flesh, it must be of the spirit.” In other words, to eliminatewar and achieve peace, we must change the way we think and the way we go about the process. Max Lerner asserted “the way to prevent war is to bend every effort to prevent it—not prepare for it.” The constitution of UNESCO, an agency of the United Nations, contains this interesting statement “Since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in theminds of men that the defenses of peace must be constructed.” The question we need to ask is: “How can this be done?” How will Jesus Christ and the saints bring lasting peace to a hate-filled, war-torn planet? What can we do to prepare to help?
The Way to Peace
The Bible indicates that saints who rule under Jesus Christ will function as kings and priests (Revelation 5:10). They will pro-vide both civil and religious leader-ship. They will set domestic policy as well as promote basic values that influence individual behavior. They will function as teachers and educators guiding society in a specific direction. Speaking of this time Isaiah prophesied “Your eyes shall see your teachers. Your ears shall hear a word behind you saying, This is the way, walk in it”
(Isaiah 30:20–21). Isaiah also reveals that when Christ sets up His government in Jerusalem (in the latter days) that all the nations of the earth will look to that city for guidance and direction for solving their problems. He states that “out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem” (Isaiah 2:2–4). As a result of this re-educational pro-gram the nations of the world “shall beat their swords into plow-shares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more” (Ibid). Inthe coming kingdom of God nations will be taught the way to achieve peace.
But just how will this be accomplished? How will we change the thinking of the entire world? What aspects of God’s law will we need to understand and emphasize?
The fundamental principles of God’s law that will be promulgated from Jerusalem will be the Ten Commandments. Jesus taught “if you want to want to enter into life [eternal life in the kingdom of God—see Matthew 19:23) keep the commandments” (Matthew19:16–19). The sixth commandment prohibits killing—murder (Exodus 20:13). Mankind will have to be taught to respect the value of human life. This means that forms of entertainment (movies, video games, etc.) that feature violence and killing will simply not be produced or be made available. Military academies will be closed. Military organizations will be disbanded. Defense contractors who manufacture armaments will have to find other products to make. This will involve a major restructuring of human society. Human energies will have to be guided into constructive— not destructive—directions. Have you ever given any thought to how you would do this if you are given the opportunity? It will be a challenge. However, this will just be the beginning.
Jesus said he did not come to do away with the law, but to fulfill it (Matthew 5:17). The word fulfill (pleroo in Greek) means to complete, perfect, to cram full. Isaiah prophesied that the Messiah would come to “magnify the law [explain additional applications] and make it honorable [glorious]” (Isaiah 42:21). Jesus explained to His disciples that while the letter of the law prohibited killing and murder, the spiritual intent of that same commandmentprohibits harboring hatred, animosity or contempt toward another human being (Matthew 5:21–22). The spirit of the law reveals that many commonly held attitudes are simply wrong—because they lead us in the wrong direction and produce bad fruit. These attitudes violate the law of God and thus are termed sins (1 John 3:4). Sins must be repented of, eliminated and replaced by more positive behaviors in order to bring peace to this world. This, too, will take time—and concentrated effort by firm, yet patient, understanding and experienced teachers.
Principles of Peace
The Bible is literally filled with principles that amplify the spiritual intent of the sixth commandment. Those same principles also show us how to apply another fundamentalteaching of Scripture—the admonition to love our neighbor (Leviticus 19:18; Matthew 22:39; John 15:17). Jesus taught that we should learn to settle differences quickly instead of letting them smolder unresolved (Matthew 5:25). We must be willing to give in instead of fighting for our own way (5:38–42). We need to learn to love even our enemies instead of hate them (5:43–48). The Apostle Paul emphasized we should “live peaceably with all men,” show kindness, trust God and resist the temptation to seek revenge or get even (Romans 12:9–21). He taught we must get rid of anger and resentment lest it cause us to sin (Ephesians 4:25–31). James, the brother of Jesus Christ wrote, “be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God” (James 1:19–20). These are all practical principles of godly behavior that can be learned and taught. These are peacemaking skills that leaders in tomorrow’s world will need.
The peace-promoting principles of the New Testament have their counterparts in the Old Testament. This is not surprising since the teachings of Jesus Christ were based upon, and were amplifications of, the Hebrew Scriptures. Dozens of proverbs illustrate this fact. One thou-sand years before Christ, Solomon wrote, “hatred stirs up strife, but love covers [forgives, overlooks] all sins” (Proverbs 10:12). He penned “a soft answer turns away wrath, but a harshword stirs up anger” (Proverbs 15:1). He advised that patience and gentle-ness can break down a bone-like resistance (25:15), but that malicious and hurtful words stir up anger (25:23–24). Additional proverbs reveal that by eliminating gossip and slander, strife ceases (26:20), but that contentious, argumentative people generate strife (26:21). Again, we are talking about godly behaviors that can be learned and taught.
On a more fundamental level, Solomon was inspired to record that the root cause of strife and contention is pride, but that wise people learn not succumb to this temptation (Proverbs 13:10). The tragic lesson of history is that pride leads to destruction (Proverbs 16:18).
The Word of God reveals the real causes of both war and peace. The laws and principles that God inspired in Scripture identify human attitudes and behaviors that lead to strife and contention, as well as those that pro-mote peace and harmony and prevent strife. It is a sad fact of history that mankind has either not understood or has chosen to ignore these powerful biblical principles. Our challenge as Christians is to learn how to apply these inspired principles—now in our lifetime. When we consider the escalating wave of hatred and violence that is threatening to engulf our world, perhaps we can begin to understand why we are admonished to “seek peace, and pursue it” (Psalm 34:14), and why we are told that “great peace have those who love Your law” (Psalm 119:165).
We can prepare now for important responsibilities in the coming Kingdom of God. Learn the lessons of history. Study the Scriptures about peace. Notice what God says leads to strife and contention. Make a list of proverbs that relate to these subjects. Think about how you can apply these principles to the situations in your own life and to problems in our society. If we build on the foundation that God has provided, we can develop the skills of a peacemaker. As we gain experience using these skills we will be able to work with Jesus Christ to restore to this earth a goal that has inspired yet eluded mankind—eternal, everlasting peace. Set a goal ofbecoming a peacemaker!