The Other World Series
The Coming World War
Lesson VI
Matthew 24:3, 6,
37-39
(3) And as he sat
upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him
privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and
what [shall be] the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?
(6) 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.
(37) But as the
days of Noe [were], so shall also the coming of the
Son of man be.
(38) For as in
the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and
giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered
into the ark,
(39) And knew not
until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the
Son of man be.
Matthew 13:30,39
(30) Let both
grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the
reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind
them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.
(39) The enemy that sowed
them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the
angels.
The present age, identified
as the age of grace in the Bible, can also be identified as the age between the
First and Second Advents of Jesus Christ.
The New Testament describes the end of this age. When asked about the sign of His coming and
the end of the age, (Matthew 24:3), Jesus answered in great detail in the
entire 24th chapter of Matthew.
He said, “… ye shall hear of wars and rumours
of wars
…” (Matthew 24:6). He did
not say how many wars nor how severe these wars
would be. He added that the days would
be as the days of Noah before the flood (Matthew 24:37-39). Jesus also stated that “tares would grow with
the wheat until the harvest (Matthew 13:30) and explained that “the harvest is
the end of the age” (Matthew 13:39).
1
Timothy 4:1
(1) Now the
Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times
some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and
doctrines of devils;
2 Timothy 4:4
(4) And they
shall turn away [their] ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.
When Paul wrote to Timothy
he stated that in the latter times “some shall depart from the faith” (1 Timothy 4:1) and the days would be when “men would turn
away their ears from the truth, and be turned to fables” (2 Timothy 4:4).
2 Peter 3:3
(3) Knowing this
first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own
lusts,
James 5:1-3
(1) Go to now, [ye] rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall
come upon you.
(2) Your riches
are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten.
(3) Your gold and
silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and
shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the
last days.
Peter describes the last
days as days when there would be “scoffers, walking after their own lusts,
saying, where is the promise of His coming?” (2 Peter 3:3). Of course that promise is in the Bible. But having rejected the
Bible, men scoff at the very suggestion of a Second Coming. Then James also describes the end of this age
when he writes that in the last days men will have heaped treasures together,
and have become rich but with their riches, they will weep and howl for the
miseries that shall fall upon them (James 5:1-3).
Jude 18-19
(18) How that
they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after
their own ungodly lusts.
(19) These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit.
Jude also describes the end
of this age when he writes that the Apostles told you “there should be mockers
in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts, These be they who
separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit” (Jude 18-19).
From Scripture we learn that
other ages have come and gone, and in every case, the moral conditions at the
end of each age were the same.
Genesis 6:5,11
(5) And GOD saw
that the wickedness of man [was] great in the earth, and [that] every imagination
of the thoughts of his heart [was] only evil continually.
(11) The earth
also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.
In the days before the flood,
men were “wicked, corrupt and violent” (Genesis 6:5,11).
The end of the age of the
Judges is described in Judges, chapters 17-20. Moral corruption in the family,
the tribe and the nation is spelled out.
Isaiah 1:4
(4) Ah sinful
nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are
corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the Holy One of
The end of the age of the
Northern Kingdom of Israel is described by the prophet Isaiah. “Ah, sinful
nation, a people, laden with iniquity, a seed of evil doers, children that are
corrupters, they have forsaken the Lord...” (Isaiah 1:4). As I read these verses in Isaiah, I wonder
how words could better describe the days in which we now live.
Jeremiah 4:22
(22) For my
people [is] foolish, they have not known me; they [are] sottish
children, and they have none understanding: they [are] wise to do evil, but to
do good they have no knowledge.
The same was true in the
Southern Kingdom of Judah. Jeremiah
describes the conditions as follows: “For my people is foolish, they have not
known me; they are sottish children, and they have
none understanding: they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no
knowledge.” (Jeremiah 4:22). Such
examples of the moral conditions of the age abound in the book of Jeremiah.
Romans 15:4
(4) For
whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we
through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.
We remember that “whatsoever
things were written aforetime were written for our
learning” (Romans 15:4). But have we
learned anything from the past? In the
light of what has been written, we should ask ourselves about our times: what
is happening in our age? Are moral
conditions improving? Abortion is now
accepted, which is the slaughter of the innocent, while capital punishment is
being rejected, in order to protect the guilty! Homosexuality is accepted and marriage is
being rejected. That
which is against nature replacing that which is natural. Evolution is accepted and Revelation is
rejected. Books written by men believed,
while the Book of Books is not believed.
2 Chronicles
36:16
(16) But they
mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets,
until the wrath of the LORD arose against his people, till [there was] no
remedy.
Unbelief abounds while men
of faith are “mocked, despised and misused” as in the days of Zedekiah (2
Chronicles 36:16).
Genesis 7:11-20
(11) In the six
hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the
month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the
windows of heaven were opened.
(12) And the rain
was upon the earth forty days and forty nights.
(13) In the
selfsame day entered Noah, and Shem, and Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and
Noah's wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, into the ark;
(14)
They, and every beast after his kind, and all the cattle after their kind, and
every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth
after his kind, and every fowl after his kind, every bird of every sort.
(15) And they
went in unto Noah into the ark, two and two of all flesh, wherein is the breath
of life.
(16) And they
that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as
God had commanded him: and the LORD shut him in.
(17) And the
flood was forty days upon the earth; and the waters increased, and bare up the ark, and it was lift up above the earth.
(18) And the
waters prevailed, and were increased greatly upon the earth; and the ark went
upon the face of the waters.
(19) And the waters
prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills, that [were] under
the whole heaven, were covered.
(20) Fifteen
cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered.
Remember, these are the
things that brought the judgment of God in the past. The age of Noah ended with the flood (Genesis
7:11-20). And the Bible is clear. It was a judgment from the hand of God.
Judges 20:20-21,35
(20) And the men
of Israel went out to battle against Benjamin; and the men of Israel put themselves
in array to fight against them at Gibeah.
(21) And the
children of Benjamin came forth out of Gibeah, and
destroyed down to the ground of the Israelites that day twenty and two thousand
men.
(35) And the LORD
smote Benjamin before Israel: and the children of Israel destroyed of the Benjamites that day twenty and five thousand and an hundred men: all these drew the sword.
What about the age of the
Judges? “And the men of Israel went out
to battle against Benjamin ... and the children of Benjamin destroyed down to
the ground of the Israelites that day twenty and two thousand men.” (Judges
20:20-21). “And the Lord smote of Benjamin
before Israel ... twenty and five thousand and an hundred men that drew sword.”
(Judges 20:35).
In other words, the age ended in a dreadful war.
2 Kings 17:22-23
(22) For the
children of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam which he did; they
departed not from them;
(23) Until the
LORD removed Israel out of his sight, as he had said by all his servants the
prophets. So was Israel carried away out of their own land to Assyria unto this
day.
The same ended the age of
the Kingdom of Israel. We read: “For the
children of Israel walked in the all the sins of Jeroboam which he did; they
departed not from them until the Lord removed Israel out of his
sight, as he had said by all his servants the prophets. So was Israel carried
away out of their own land to Assyria unto this day.”
(2 Kings 17:22-23). The age, because of
Israel’s sin, ended in war.
2 Chronicles
36:16-17
(16) But they
mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets,
until the wrath of the LORD arose against his people, till [there was] no
remedy.
(17) Therefore he
brought upon them the king of the Chaldees, who slew
their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no
compassion upon young man or maiden, old man, or him that stooped for age: he
gave [them] all into his hand.
Judah faced the same. “But they (Judah) mocked the messengers of
God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the
Lord arose against his people, till there was not remedy. Therefore he brought upon them the King of Chaldees, who slew their young men with the sword....” (2
Chronicles 36:16-17).
Proverbs 28:5
(5) Evil men
understand not judgment: but they that seek the LORD understand all [things].
When one reads the Old
Testament carefully, one can see that war has always been a judgment of
God upon men. “Evil men understand not
judgment” (Proverbs 28:5) and do not accept this fact.
Now all this history has a
bearing on our subject.
The Bible declares plainly
that this age will end in world-war, because all nations are
doing what Israel, Judah and others have done, that is, despising God’s Word.
In the last century, world
history records World War I and World War II.
Though they are called “world-wars”, they really were not world-wars
because some nations were not involved.
The second war was certainly worse than the first. Were these wars not shadows of what is yet to
come?
Zechariah 14:2
(2) For I will
gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken,
and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go
forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from
the city.
The Prophet Zachariah states
that the Lord “will gather all nations against Jerusalem.”
(Zechariah 14:2)
Joel 3:1,2,9-14
(1) For, behold,
in those days, and in that time, when I shall bring again the captivity of
Judah and Jerusalem,
(2) I will also
gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat,
and will plead with them there for my people and [for] my heritage Israel, whom
they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.
(9) Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles; Prepare war, wake up the mighty
men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up:
(10) Beat your
plowshares into swords, and your pruninghooks into
spears: let the weak say, I [am] strong.
(11) Assemble yourselves,
and come, all ye heathen, and gather yourselves together round about: thither
cause thy mighty ones to come down, O LORD.
(12) Let the
heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there will I
sit to judge all the heathen round about.
(13) Put ye in
the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down; for the press is full,
the fats overflow; for their wickedness [is] great.
(14) Multitudes,
multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the LORD [is] near in the
valley of decision.
The Prophet Joel says: “For,
behold, in those days and in that time, when I shall bring again the captivity
of Judah and Jerusalem, I will also gather all nations, and will bring them
down into the valley of Jehoshaphat...” (Joel 3:1,2). And why will God do this? Read on: “Proclaim ye this among the
Gentiles; Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw
near; let them come up: Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning
hooks into spears…”(Joel 3:9-10). Joel declares plainly that it is a day of
judgment by war (Joel 3:11-14).
Revelation
16:13-14
(13) And I saw
three unclean spirits like frogs [come] out of the mouth of the dragon, and out
of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet.
(14) For they are
the spirits of devils, working miracles, [which] go forth unto the kings of the
earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of
God Almighty.
Revelation 19:11
(11) And I saw
heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called
Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge
and make war.
We believe that Revelation
16:13-14 describes the same event. “And
I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and
out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are the spirits of
devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the
whole
world to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.” In verse 16, “And he gathered them into a
place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.”
Then the final word is found in Revelation 19:11, “And I saw Heaven
opened, and behold, a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful
and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.”
Isaiah 3:25
(25) Thy men
shall fall by the sword, and thy mighty in the war.
Revelation 16:14 This will be the war of all wars.
Isaiah 3:25 says, “Thy men
shall fall by the sword, and thy mighty in the war.”
He does not call it a war but rather the
war. This coming World-War
has been called “the battle of Armageddon”, and there is a sense in
which that is true. But more correctly
it is the “Battle of God Almighty” (Revelation 16:14).
2 Thessalonians
1:7-8
(7) And to you
who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from
heaven with his mighty angels,
(8) In flaming
fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel
of our Lord Jesus Christ:
It will be the time of the same event as described in 2 Thessalonians 1:7-8 when the Lord shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire taking vengeance....”
Thus will end this age in order to prepare for another.