More "end times..." Sort of.
There's a place in the New Testament where it says that "evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse" to use the old KJV that I grew up on.
And preachers would talk about how the world is getting worse and worse. Abortion, gay marriage, terrorism, the threat of nuclear war, and so on. Assuming that the world was getting worse was as common among preachers as assuming that we are living in the end times. Truth is, in this case it's not just preachers. A lot of people, Christian and non, assume that world is worse off than it was 100 years ago.
One of the vices people point out when they talk about things getting worse and potential Armageddon is the spread of nuclear weapons. Which might make sense, given that they have the destruction-of-human-civilization potential.
But me, I think nukes are an incredibly stabilizing force in the world. The best example is obviously US and the USSR in the Cold War. Sure, we pretty much hated each other. And we always had nukes aimed at each other's cities. But if the Soviets had sent every nuke they had against us, we would still have had enough left over to demolish them, and vice versa. And we both knew it, which enabled us to be staunch enemies for 45 years without ever going to war.
India and Pakistan have clashed many times over Kashmir, and even fought several wars. The actual fighting pretty much stopped once they had nukes. Same thing as the Cold War, where each side realizes that a war will mean complete destruction on both sides, and neither side is willing to risk it.
Look at Israel. It hasn't fought a war with its bigger neighbors since the Yom Kippur War of 1973, the PLO and Lebanon notwithstanding. Israel is thought to have built its first nuke during that same time period. Go figure.
I think humanity is entering a golden age. Seriously. You
realize that it's been more than 60 years since any of the major powers
in the world fought a war with each other? That hasn't happened since
the days of the Roman Empire. In my opinion, nuclear weapons are going to accomplish what so many people have tried and failed at: they are going to make warfare as we know it obsolete.
I referenced Matthew 24:6 and Mark 13:7 last time, and both say the same thing:
When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. (NIV)
Now, if I'm reading this right, the fact that you still hear plenty about wars and such pretty much proves that we are not in the end times yet. But, assuming I'm right about nukes eventually making warfare obsolete, could that mean that there's a "light at the end of the tunnel," so to speak?
Thoughts?
Comments (2)
What about 1 Thess. 5:3--
3 For when they shall say, peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape
--Your mother, who knows all about travail upon a woman with child.
I gotta say, I like your optimistic view point here. It's rather refreshing. I guess I get soooooooooooo tired of this negative, "The whole world is terrible, and bad things are going to happen soon", message. I just want to be reminded especially in church that hey, no matter what happens, God is faithful, loving and in control. Meanwhile let's live every day to the fullest and make this world a better place one person at a time. I also would like to remind those who say things are getting worse and worse of the verse in Ec 1:9 "The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun." Way back since sin came into the world, there has been wickedness, yes, like we are seeing today. The difference perhaps being that it is more talked about in the news media, etc. I question what good it does for a Christian to talk about how terrible this world is.