*a message from the editor* Last Days — WARS uiiuzhjlxuuL PRESIDENT, BIOLA SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES, INC.
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I n t h e O l i v e t D is c o u r s e , our Lord was asked by His dis ciples a three-fold question, “Tell us, when shall these things be [destruction of the temple so that not one stone shall be left upon another] and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world [age] ?” (Matt. 24:3). Our Lord did not answer the first part of the question as to the date when the temple was going to be destroyed, but He went on to discuss the other two parts of the three-fold question, “ the signs o f thy coming, and the end o f the age.” Further on in the 24th chapter of Matthew’s Gospel account, in verse 15, He described the spe cific sign that would appear at the end of the age, namely the appearance of “ the abomination o f desolation,” or as this person is referred to in other portions of the Word, the initial appear ance of the Antichrist. The Lord explained that general signs which prior to the appearance of the Antichrist more or less characterize the entire age or dispensation in which we are liv ing. In other places we read that these will increase as the end o f the age approaches. Among these general signs He included “ Ye shall hear of wars and rumours [reports] of wars” (24:6). He continues, “Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows” (24:7-8). A rather significant article appeared in the August 26, 1968 issue o f U.S. News & World Report entitled “ A World of Wars and Conflict.” The author tells, “ The story of a world continu ously at war in this century.” Research was done in London, England. Among other things in the article, the question is asked: “At the rate things are going, will the world blow itself up by the end o f the century?” He is cautiously hopeful that this will not prove to be the case, but his conclusions are most significant none-the-less. In the decade from 1898 to 1907, he says there were nine significant wars; in the decade 1926-1937 there were only 8, but in the following 10 years, ending 1947, there were 12, in the 10 years following 1947 there were 28, in the ten years 1958 to 1967 there have been 45. Of course, these include wars between and among the emerging nations, particu larly in Africa and also in Asia. Of the 128 wars since 1898, he has figured that 73 have taken place since the start o f World War II, and as noted above, the numbers have escalated in each of the past four 10-year periods. The author observed that “ Peacemaking forces such as the United Nations have proved to be largely ineffective.” One might conclude that such peace making forces have been practically totally ineffective.- The only significance of the United Nations, and this significance is certainly of doubtful value, has been to serve as a place where many, many of the other nations of the world, including those THE KING'S BUSINESS
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