highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men” (Luke 2:14). Christ is a Prince who came to bring peace, but men failed to recognize Him and His pur pose, so they rejected His message and spumed His grace. They said: “ This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance” (Matthew 21:38). Men refused the Prince of Peace who alone had the one sure plan to secure lasting peace on earth. This explains why there is no peace in the earth today, and why wars and rumors of wars have persisted for the past nineteen hundred years. “ The way of peace have they not known” (Romans 3:17). W a r s and Humors o l W a r s After we have read of the bitter treatment that God’s Son received at the hands of sinful men in their rejec tion of His peace-plan, we are not surprised to hear our Lord say some thirty years after He came: “ Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I am not come to send peace, but a sword” (Matthew 10:34). No con tradiction exists here in the purposes of God. The fore going statement of our Lord discloses that God is per mitting men to reap the fruits of their own planting. The coming of Christ set men at variance with the pur poses of God and one against another. At His second coming He will cause peace to flow like a river, but the effect of His first coming is the badge of war. Where un belief and opposition to the truth prevail, there can be no peace. Let not my readers, Jewish or Gentile, stumble at Christ’s words. With the King and His kingdom re jected, the Prince of Peace Himself absent, the sword must reign. Until He returns, the conflict against right eousness will continue. When He was here, our blessed Lord knew men would reject Him, so He said: “ Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on the earth? I tell you, Nay, but rather division” (Luke 12:51). The military sign is but one of the signs of our times. Jesus said: “ And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not ^yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earth quakes, in divers places. A ll these are the beginning of sorrows” (Matthew 24:6-8). As He envisioned this pre sent age Jesus told that it would be characterized by a succession of wars. Moreover, global wars involving whole nations would bring this age to its climax. World War I and World War II were terrifying conflicts, but the worst is yet to come: In Mark 13:8 Jesus said that a world war with its “ troubles” would be to its inhabitants what birth pangs are to an expectant mother. None will deny that with the passing of time, wars have grown in intensity and furor exactly as the Bible has predicted. And if you want to rid yourself of this predictive ele ment in Scripture, you must rid yourself of the very Scriptures. W h e re and W h en the Conflict Began Strange as it may appear, this struggle began in heaven; but it will end upon the earth. It began with war between God and Satan, and at times it seems that the honor went to Satan; but it will end with God’s over coming Satan. In Ezekiel 28:11-19 we have a vivid description of Satan before his downfall. In Isaiah 14:12- 14 the prophet relates the pride and rebellion of Lucifer, the chief among the angels, who started the great con flict. In Revelation 12:7-12 we have the account of how Lucifer became Satan and was expelled from heaven. How long that initial conflict in heaven lasted or how many angels took part in that first skirmish, there is no (Continued on Next Page)
peace, but no amount of wishful thinking about abolish ing war will ever bring it to pass. Such optimistic'ideal ism is purely human reasoning, but we will never be able to rationalize life to eliminate wars among men. Even though millions pledge themselves to non-violence, pledges will never bring the desired peace. No one can deny that it has failed thus far. No one can assure us that it will succeed at any time. While the United Na tions Organization carries on its money-spending pro gram, nations are ready to spring at one another like savage beasts. Peace treaties and peace conferences are powerless to restrain in man the lust for power and wealth and the desire for revenge. W ill There Ever Be An Age o f Peace? No doubt, many have been asking if the golden age of peace, for which the world has been looking so long, will ever come. Certainly the inspired writers of the Old Testament encouraged Israel t® expect an era of universal peace. David looked beyond the strife in the earth to a blissful season of peace when he wrote: “The Lord will bless His people with peace” (Psalm 29:11), and “ The mountains shall bring peace to the people” (Psalm 72:3). The mighty prophet Isaiah encouraged the nation when he wrote: “ And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy children” (54: 13). “ For yet shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace” (55:12). Here God promises unspeakable bless ing for Israel and a time when they will not have to fight their foes or flee from them. Through the prophet Jeremiah God spoke again. It was while Judah was held in captivity of Babylon that God comforted his people, saying: “ For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end” (29:11). If they desire peace, He would have them know that peace was His desire for them also. No doubt, this verse applied directly to deliverance from that immedi ate captivity, but its larger application had to do with Israel’s permanent peace in her own land, for the Lord added: “ Behold, I will bring it health and cure, and I will cure them, and will reveal unto them the abundance of peace and truth” (33:6). Jerusalem and the Jews are yet to be cured of the attacks of their enemies. What Jerusalem has been unable to do, God will do. He will give to His people the long promised peace. The predictions of the post-exilic prophets are proof sufficient that God had a plan for world peace. Haggai wrote: “ The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the Lord of hosts: and in this place will I give peace, saith the Lord of hosts” (2:9). Here it is clear that God was moving on in His plan to a great event involving all nations, for He said: “ I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come” (2:7). A ll God’s methods are progressive, so that the desire of the nations for peace could not be fulfilled until God had dealt with all nations for their sins. Hag gai was a prophet of encouragement to the people, hence he assures the people that the future has brighter hopes in store for them than the past had ever known. Consider the phrase in Haggai 2:17, “ The Desire of all nations.” Notice I have capitalized the word “ Desire.” The long-desired peace must come through the long- desired Person, Israel’s Messiah, our Lord Jesus Christ. For centuries the inspired prophets encouraged Israel to look forward, not only to an era of peace, but to a Person whose Name was to be “ The Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6). It was to be through the reign of the Son of God that men were to dwell in peace. At the nativity of Jesus the angelic host announced: “ Glory to God in the
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