A
little over four years ago, the last living U.S. veteran of World War I died.[i] As of last year’s seventieth anniversary of
the D-Day invasion of Normandy, only about one million veterans of World War II
remain alive.[ii] Few Americans currently know a living World
War II veteran. Still, the generations
roll on. Most of our older veterans are
now from the Korean War. My father, who
turned seventy this year, is a veteran of the Vietnam War. Even our Desert Storm soldiers are turning
gray. It seems that every generation of
Americans has had its war—and this nation isn’t so much different from the rest
of the world. War is part of the human
experience.
Sometimes I hear people pointing at
some current conflict and saying, “Jesus said that in the last days there will
be wars and rumors of wars—we must be getting close to the end.” Unless I have time for deep theology, I just
smile and say, “Yep,” because I know that “now is our salvation nearer than
when we first believed (Rom 13:11)[iii],”
and that we have been in the End Times since Jesus split history from BC to AD. Still, they have a point. In His apocalyptic discourse, Jesus did say:
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. For nation will rise against nation, and
kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and
earthquakes. But all these things are merely the beginning of birth
pangs….But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved. This gospel
of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to
all the nations, and then the end will come (Matthew 24:6-8, 13-14).
Jesus’ “beginning of birth pangs” is
not the End Time Tribulation. He said
that the Gospel had to be preached in the whole world before the end would
come. The verb tense he used points out
that you “will be hearing” (continuous action in the future) of wars and rumors
of wars. In other words, war is part of
the human condition, and it’s going to continue right up to the end. Just because there’s some new conflict in the
world, that’s not a sign that that the world is coming to an end. Just as surely as war is part of the world’s
past, it will be part of the future. The
Book of Revelation has a lot to say about both the earthly and cosmic conflict
that rages between the powers darkness and light.
From the beginning of John’s book of
Revelation, Jesus reveals Himself as a fearsome Lord with burning eyes and the
Word of God represented as a sword in His mouth (Rev 1:14-16). The word “war”
appears twelve times in John’s Apocalypse.
The first time is in Revelation
2:16, where Jesus tells the people of Pergamum that if they do not repent
of their false teaching, “I will make war
against them with the sword of My mouth.”
It takes a lot to rouse the Lord’s anger, but spiritual deception is
enough to rally Him to battle.
In chapter 6, when the seals are opened and torments released , the
Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse bring conquest, war, famine, and death. Christians are martyred and cry out for
justice. These are things that have been
taking place since the foundation of our faith, and they will continue to the
very end.
In chapter 9, when the trumpet of God’s judgment sounds, an army of
unearthly locusts led by a demon prince makes war on the earth. Four angels who had been bound at the
Euphrates are released, killing a third of mankind. Terrifying armies invade the Holy Land. Many biblical scholars have tried their hand
at interpreting these terrifying creatures.
Some suggest that they are spiritual beings, others that they are
monsters of flesh and bone, and still others that they represent helicopters
and tanks. Rather than painting myself
into an interpretive corner, I’ll simply say that they represent war that
leaves death and destruction in its wake.
Revelation
11 has the Antichrist making war against the two witnesses of God. He brings everything in his arsenal against
them, but they destroy their enemies with fire from their mouths (again,
representing the Word of God). They also
have the ability to invoke plagues, as Moses did on Egypt. Eventually, they are killed but rise
victorious three and a half days later.
Chapter
12 depicts a cosmic war between The Dragon (Satan) and a woman (Israel),
who is clothed with the sun, moon, and stars.
She bears a child (Christ), whom the Dragon tries to destroy, but both she
and the child are whisked away to safety.
Personally, this reminds me of Satan’s attempt to do away with the
infant Jesus through Herod’s treachery, and God’s protection of the holy family
in Egypt for about that same time—three and a half years. This
is but one example of the war that the Devil makes against God’s plans.
Another example is given in the same
chapter—a more ancient struggle in which the archangel Lucifer became Satan
(The Adversary) when he rebelled against God’s rule and was thrown down by the
archangel Michael and the heavenly host. This heavenly narrative is overlaid with the
earthly story of Israel bringing forth the Messsiah so the reader can see the
connection between celestial and terrestrial struggles. Since Satan is unable to gain victory over
Christ Himself, verse 17 says, “the
dragon was enraged with the woman, and went off to make war with the rest
of her children, who keep the commandments of God and hold to the
testimony of Jesus.” In other words,
the war continues even to this day. As
long as believers uphold the name of Christ, the Devil will beset us.
In Revelation
13:4 ,7, and 10 we read that the Antichrist makes war against God’s
people. Many are killed and many are led into
captivity. God’s people are called to perseverance.
Revelation
16:13-16 depicts the armies of the world drawn up to the
final battle in the valley of Meggido, or Har-Magedon, or Armageddon. Though it comes from a different passage of
scripture, many Bible scholars connect the reaping of chapter 14 with this
battle. “And the wine press was trodden outside the city, and blood
came out from the wine press, up to the horses’ bridles, for a
distance of two hundred miles (14:20).”
Chapter
17
gives Christians hope when it says, “These
will wage war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them,
because He is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those who are with
Him are the called
and chosen and faithful (v. 14).”
Revelation
19-20 shows the return of Christ. Far from “Gentle Jesus, Meek and Mild,” this
conquering King has bloody robes and eyes of fire, and the sword of His mouth
strikes down the rebellious nations. The
Beast and the False Prophet, and eventually Satan himself are permanently
thrown into the Lake of Fire.
All this warfare in the book of
Revelation may seem harsh to the average reader who wants to view Jehovah as a
God of love and grace. Indeed, the
bloodshed in this book is part of the reason why it is rejected by so
many. Yet why should we judge God for
using war to judge the nations, since they so readily use the same tool to
exact their judgment against one another?
Violence has been part of the human experience from the very first
death. Since Abel’s blood cried out from
the ground, humanity has shown itself to be a race that is violent to the
core. As a result of sowing the wind, they
reap the whirlwind of God’s judgment.
We should not judge God for using such
destructive methods for His retribution.
After all, every human who is born dies.
To God, and ultimately to the human spirit, a young death in war or an
old death in bed are all the same thing.
Either way, the soul is brought before God’s throne, and that’s where
the real judgment takes place. Revelation 14:13 gives a perspective on the death and destruction that takes
place in all these wars. “And I heard a voice from heaven, saying,
“Write, ‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on!’” “Yes,” says
the Spirit, “so that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds
follow with them.” Though believers
are persecuted, though they die in war and the plagues and famines that result
from war, they are blessed if their hearts belong to the Lord.
The first generation of Christians who
received this book of Revelation was not surprised by the violence it
contained. Bloodshed was all too
familiar to them. In and of itself, that
era was closer to death than our own. Besides
their greater attachment to the meat they ate, human death was more
familiar. Infant mortality, primitive
medicine, and short life spans all contributed to people’s greater acquaintance
with death. Add into that the
destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D., and the persecution of Christians under Nero
and Domitian, and you get a Christian populace that is not at all stunned by
the violence in Revelation. To them, it
meant that despite Satan’s attacks, Jesus has already won the victory.
The final generation that sees Christ’s
return will witness warfare on a scale never known to humanity. When battle lines are drawn up in the Valley
of Meggido, no doubt somebody will say, “Aw snap—I read about this in the Book
of Revelation!” In that day it would be
best not to be on the side that fights against the Heavenly Host
For believers today, all the violence of
Revelation reminds us that just as there have been wars and rumors of wars in
the past, these are just the beginning of birth pangs. They are going to continue to the end of
time. In fact, “we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of
childbirth together until now (Rom 8:22).” We should not be shocked when we see
violence and war getting worse. We
should know that it will continue to increase as things fall apart, and as the
Day of the Lord’s coming gets nearer.
Scripture tells us that warfare is part
of the human condition. But we should
not be deceived enough to think that it is merely the result of human conflict. Ephesians
6:12 tells us that there is spiritual conflict behind it. “For our struggle
is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the
powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the
heavenly places.” Instead of being angry at the
people who cause conflict, understand the background causes and meet spiritual
battle with prayer. “Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might (Eph 6:10).” And remember that Jesus has already won
the victory.
[i] “Last living
U.S. World War I veteran dies” By Paul Courson, CNN. February
28, 2011 9:33 p.m. EST. http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/02/27/wwi.veteran.death/. March 25, 2015.
[ii] “The Looming Approach of a World Without World War II
Veterans” by Emily Badger. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2014/06/06/the-looming-approach-of-a-world-without-world-war-ii-veterans/. March 25, 2015.
[iii] Unless otherwise noted, quoted scriptures taken from the NASB.
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