Ezekiel Warning Series And There Shall Be Wars

And you shall hear of

WARS

Other reports in the Series:

And there shall be

PESTILENCES

And there shall be

FAMINES

Many shall come

IN MY NAME

Why the SPECIAL WARNING Series?

The purpose of this series is to show what is prophesied in God’s Word to come upon the The modern-day descendants of ancient Israel at SPECIAL the end of the age. In Matthew 24:5-7, Christ WARNING described the world conditions of our time. Series The responsibility of God’s true Church is given in Ezekiel 33:6-11: “But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman’s hand. So you, O son of man, I have set you a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore you shall hear the word at My mouth, and warn them from Me. When I say unto the wicked, O wicked man, you shall surely die; if you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at your hand. Nevertheless, if you warn the wicked of his way to turn from it; if he do not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul. Therefore, O you son of man, speak unto the house of Israel; thus you speak, saying, If our transgressions and our sins be upon us, and we pine away in them, how should we then live? Say unto them, As I live, says the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn you, turn you from your evil ways; for why will you die, O house of Israel?”

This four-part series describes these conditions in detail, demonstrating how 6,000 years of human history have seen them escalate, to the point that “except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved [alive]” (Matt. 24:22).

This publication is provided free of charge and in the public interest by The Restored Church of God. It is made possible by the voluntary, freely given tithes and offerings of the members of the Church and others who have elected to support the work of the Church. Contributions are welcomed and gratefully accepted. Those who wish to voluntarily aid and support this Work of God around the world are gladly welcomed as co-workers in this major effort to preach the gospel to all nations.

Copyright © 2002, 2003 The Restored Church of God. Printed in the USA. All rights reserved.

The Restored Church of God is not responsible for the return of unsolicited articles and photos. Scriptures are quoted from either the King James or the New King James version, unless otherwise noted.

Contact The Restored Church of God P.O. Box 23295 Wadsworth, OH 44282 (330) 334-2266 P.O. Box 4064 St. Catharines, ONT L2R 7S3 Canada www.TheRCG.org info@TheRCG.org

And you shall hear of

WARS

W

AR IS AS old as man. It has

slowly grown worse in frequency and severity throughout the twentieth century to our time now. War and its aftermath are seen and felt all over the world. Christ prophesied that it would grow far worse before getting better!

Silently, ominously, behind the scenes, preparations for World War III are underway. This is the time of war Christ described in Matthew 24:21-22 as “…great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time…And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved [alive]…”

As the SECOND SEAL of Revelation is removed, the rider of the red horse is unleashed in full fury for the final series of greatly intensified wars. You will be dumbfounded at the new weapons already developed and awaiting use, as well as those in development for availability in the next few years. America and Britain, along with the other Anglo-Saxon countries, will be stunned—paralyzed—in a war that is only a prelude.

This booklet is intended to sound an alarm (Ezek. 33:1-9). It announces terrible coming events!

The Red Horse Unleashed

The book of Revelation describes the revelation of Jesus Christ. The apostle

John received it—and recorded it!—but he did not author it. Christ told John—in vision—of events that would soon occur, and did so in great detail. John later diligently recorded what he saw: seals, trumpets, plagues, beasts and world-shaking events—including WAR. We begin in Revelation 6:3-4. Here, Christ opened the SECOND SEAL and John beheld a red horse. Here is his account: “And when He had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see. And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword.” This part of John’s incredible vision has some grave implications for all people alive on earth today. To better understand the meaning of this seal, read the parallel scripture of Matthew 24:3-7: “And as He sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto Him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things [the destruction of the temple] be? and what shall be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the world? And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in My name, saying, I am Christ [that Christ is Christ]; and shall deceive many. And you shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see that you 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…”

Verses 4 and 5 relate directly to the FIRST SEAL (false religion), in which counterfeit “Christs” go forth to conquer. The SECOND SEAL appears next, as a direct result of false religion. We find that the rider of this red horse has the power to take peace from the earth.

This horseman represents the dreadful devastation of war (the absence of peace is war). In the parallel prophecy above, we find that war immediately follows false religion, in the same order as the first two seals of Revelation 6.

Luke 21:9 adds a broader understanding of these events: “But when you shall hear of wars and commotions, be not terrified: for these things must first come to pass; but the end is not by and by.” The word “commotions” is derived from the Greek word akatastasia, meaning “disorder, confusion, and tumult.”

This broad definition certainly includes the acts and effects of terrorism. We are told not to be terrified at such events, as they will occur for a time, but the end is not immediately upon us. (To gain a better perspective of terrorism, read our article “Appointment With Terror: A Day That Forever Changed America and the World.”)

The phrase “wars and rumors of wars,” found in Matthew 24:6, refers to a general condition of warfare that would continue throughout human his1

tory, until Christ’s Return. The next statement—“For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom” (vs. 7)—indicates an intensified state of war that is emerging in this end time—world war.

Warfare has played a dominant role in the saga of “man’s inhumanity to man.” In the twentieth century alone, two devastating world wars occurred.

We are now in a period of lull between rounds two and three in this series of world wars. Man’s technology made giant leaps within the last century, making the specter of another world war an unthinkable nightmare.

Consider this profound quote, from Yitzchak Ginsburgh, a prominent religious leader in Israel. It summarizes, with incredible insight, some of the acts of terrorism perpetrated in the twenty-first century.

“The world is still aghast at the horrifying terror attack on the United States…this monstrous act still seems incomprehensible. Naturally, the various security experts and agencies are busily planning strategies to prevent additional acts of terror. The world media is abuzz with talk of war. The frantic pace of events and counterevents can blind us to the deeper messages inherent in these tragedies…

Certainly such colossal terror attacks on the United States hold for each human being in the world a deep and urgent message from God. “On a basic level, it is obvious that a worldwide effort must be made to obliterate terror. For an entire year, the United States witnessed terrorist atrocities being committed in Israel, and continuously tied Israel’s hands in an effort to prevent Israel Defense Forces from eradicating the terror in the country’s midst. Now, the terror has reached America’s own backyard. The world must wake up to the danger of radical Islamic theology.

“Obviously, these events are part of the birth pangs of Mashiach [Messiah]” (Inner.org, an Israeli news and commentary website).

The series of wars man has suffered since the First World War will ultimately lead to the Return of Jesus 2

Christ and the establishment of His Millennial Reign on earth. The next major war will usher in a time of unprecedented tribulation (Satan’s wrath) on the people who are the modern-day descendants of ancient Israel.

Overview and History of War

To put war into a better perspective, we must review its prominent role in recent world history, under the influence of Satan, the prince of the power of the air (Eph. 2:2).

Since the first recorded interpersonal conflict, in which Cain killed Abel (Gen. 4), human history has primarily been a chronicle of war. What began as family or tribal conflicts later developed into conflicts between nations. The conflict between Cain and Abel was a one-sided action (on Cain’s part), motivated by jealousy and contempt. So have the agendas of various nations been since then.

War has affected all nations in all periods of history. Many have made war their primary means of livelihood—not just a means of defense.

Those that chose not to actively pursue war had to at least expend much time, money and effort to protect themselves.

Some nations have traditionally chosen to “buy” peace, by paying tribute to those who had the power to exercise authority and dominance over them.

In ancient times, the Egyptians were among the first nations to develop the art of warfare as an organized endeavor, through tactics and maneuvers. Their enemies and rivals to the north, the Hittites, continually challenged Egypt’s dominance over the peoples in the Middle East. Israel found itself dwelling between these two “belligerents.” However, it was the Assyrians who developed and perfected military techniques beyond what had been previously conceived.

Even the sword—an exact image of the implement in the hand of the rider of the red horse—was said to have been introduced into warfare by the Assyrians.

Assyrian military advances far surpassed all other powers, due to their ability to implement effective tech-

niques pioneered by others, as well as their own ingenious innovations. To emphasize their success in these areas, the following quotes are taken from The Harper Encyclopedia of Military History, fourth edition, pages 3-4: “The Egyptian chariot was a mobile firing platform for well-trained archers. The Hittites also fought from the chariot, but with spearmen rather than archers. The Assyrians developed chariot warfare to its greatest sophistication in Western Asia, with light chariots for archers and heavier chariots carrying as many as four spearmen…

“After 1000 B.C. more order was introduced into warfare by the Egyptians, who certainly understood and employed maneuver by wellorganized and disciplined units. Soon afterward the Assyrians contributed even more order, organization, and discipline into military affairs, both on and off the battlefield.”

Continuing from pages 10-11: “No effort was spared which would contribute to the efficiency of the army, or which would assure continued Assyrian supremacy over all possible foes…Tiglath-Pileser saw to it that his technical superiority was maintained by constant and systematic improvement of weapons, and by the careful training of the soldiers in the use of their arms…The methods [of siegecraft and attack of fortifications] used by the Assyrians did not originate with them, but were apparently borrowed from the Sumerians. But it was the skill and organization of employment which brought success to Assyrian siegecraft…Terror was another factor contributing greatly to Assyrian success. Their exceptional cruelty and ferocity were possibly reflections of callousness developed over centuries…But theirs was also a calculated policy of terror—possibly the earliest example of organized psychological warfare. It was not unusual for them to kill every man, woman, and child in captured cities. Sometimes they would carry away entire populations into captivity.”

Although God often used the Assyrians to punish the nation of Israel

as His “rod of correction,” (Isa. 10:56), there were times that He suppressed the Assyrians’ power so that they would be out of the picture for a period of time. One example was Abram’s defeat of the alliance of four Assyrian kings in Genesis 14. Another was the deliverance of King Hezekiah and Jerusalem from Sennacherib and his army of 185,000 elite soldiers that besieged the city: “Then the angel of the LORD went forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians” (Isa. 37:36).

According to Jewish tradition, the demise of this great army occurred on Passover night, the 14th of Nisan. God took away Assyria’s pride overnight.

This greatly weakened Assyria and removed them from the picture for a time, in order for the Babylonian empire to emerge on the scene—serving the next step in God’s purpose.

After the Babylonian Empire (also referred to as the Chaldean Empire, emerging about 625 B.C.) came the Medo-Persian Empire, which defeated Babylon in 539 B.C. This empire consisted of an alliance between the Medes and the Persians. During the dominance of this empire, the advancement of the Persians was effectively halted in the Eastern Mediterranean by such formidable warriors as the Spartans of Greece.

These notorious warriors of Sparta were not Greeks at all, but elements of the Israelite tribe of Dan. They could have possibly fled the area of Israel during the period of the Judges, while under the domination of invaders (Jud. 5:17), with some of them arriving at an earlier time (The Incredible History of God’s True Church, by Ivor Fletcher, ch. 2).

Later, Alexander the Great led the Greek Empire to victory over the Persians in 331 B.C. For a period of time, the Greek Empire reigned supreme. After Alexander’s death, it broke into four divisions, which eventually combined into two major divisions. Daniel chapter 11 is the detailed account of the prophesied series of wars between these two divisions. This prophecy was fulfilled in amazing detail. (For more information on these

accounts, read our booklet BIBLE AUTHORITY…can it be proven?)

The Roman Empire, which emerged about 31 B.C., is described in Daniel 7:7 as being “dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly.” It was to continue for a long time and to be resurrected seven times. The final resurrection of this system, known as the “beast,” will be destroyed at Christ’s Return.

To illustrate the brutality of the Roman Empire, we should note the Jewish War of A.D. 69-70. While Jerusalem was under siege, and in dire need of food and water, many Jews were captured while trying to escape or bring in desperately needed supplies. The following account illustrates in graphic detail the utterly unmerciful and unfounded “thirst for blood” of the Roman soldiers: “So now Titus’s banks [mounds of earth with which to transverse the walls] were advanced a great way, notwithstanding his soldiers had been very much distressed from the wall. He then sent out a party of horsemen, and ordered they should lay ambushes for those that went out into the valleys to gather food…and when they were going to be taken, they were forced to defend themselves, for fear of being punished: as, after they had fought, they thought it too late to make any supplication for mercy: so they were first whipped, and then tormented with all sorts of tortures before they died, and were then crucified before the wall of the city. This miserable procedure made Titus greatly to pity them, while they caught every day five hundred Jews; nay, some days they caught more…The main reason why he did not forbid that cruelty, was this, that he hoped the Jews might perhaps yield at that sight, out of fear least they might themselves afterwards be liable to the same cruel treatment. So the soldiers, out of the wrath and hatred they bore the Jews, nailed those they caught, one after one way, and another after another, to the crosses, by way of jest; when their multitude was so great, that room was wanting for the crosses…This sight kept many of those within the city

who were so eager to desert, till the truth was known; yet did some of them run away immediately, as unto certain punishment, esteeming death from their enemies to be a quiet departure, if compared with that by famine” (Josephus, Wars of the Jews, bk. V, ch.

XI, sec. 1-2).

During the period of the Holy Roman Empire, the same merciless brutality abounded. Often, the decisions were made, not by military generals, but by a CHURCH! The most merciless of all wars was the campaign instigated by the Roman Catholic Church to murder the citizens of entire towns and villages by the thousands.

The victims were civilians, whose “crime” was obedience to God— something Satan would never passively tolerate. In Southern France, when the Catholics tried to search out those whose doctrines did not pay homage to their own hierarchy, they sought to pressure the local authorities to procure their arrest. Here is an account of what resulted: “…the local nobility and civil rulers, who were jealous and antagonistic toward the grasping corrupt Catholic clergy, protected the ‘heretics.’ This unacceptable situation led Innocent III in 1208 to proclaim a ‘holy war’—the Albigensian Crusade.

Pope and clergy, backed by all the power of northern France, were arrayed against the people of the south.

“Why? Not primarily because of religion, but because the rulers and population of the region were rejecting the civil domination of Rome. When the war began in 1209, the Provencal civilization was the most brilliant in Europe. When it was over, after 20 bitter years, that civilization had been completely destroyed. South France had become a backward region completely subject to Paris and Rome” (Ambassador College Bible Correspondence Course, lesson 51, pp. 11-12, 1969).

The Crusaders were promised free “indulgences” and other privileges for brutally slaying men, women and children targeted for extermination by the ruling church. Indulgences included 3

forgiveness for sins—past, present and future—by their clergy (of course, for a hefty price). The Crusades were military campaigns waged primarily against the true Church of God (and any who would ally with it) by Satan through his counterfeit church. Only later were some crusades directed as expeditions to defeat the Turks in the Holy Land. (More on the subject of these medieval crusades is covered in our booklet Many shall come IN MY NAME and our book The History of God’s TRUE CHURCH.) A Case in Point

Another more recent illustration of the horror and futility of war must be considered. The infamous battle of Verdun (France), fought during World War I, was the most costly battle to date, in terms of human lives. It was fought from February 1916 until November 1918. Never before or since has a single battle lasted for so long. This event captured the essence of the meaning of “war of attrition.”

The author visited this memorial site numerous times upon studying the course of the battle, fifty years after it commenced. At that time, visitors to the battle area (more than 250 square kilometers) were cautioned not to stray from the designated walkways due to the danger of the multiple thousands of unexploded shells, which occasionally killed or maimed some who dared to wander onto the battlefield. Imagine such an area under sporadic artillery duels for two and a half years. With artillery having hit every square meter numerous times, one can imagine the state of the terrain after this battle.

Nearly one million died on this extensive battle area. To this day, one need only scrape the topsoil a couple of inches with his shoe to find rusted metal belt buckles, canteen strap buckles, rifle shell casings and similar items. It would take many pages to adequately describe the scope and overview of this battle. The constant artillery, chlorine gas, mustard gas and nerve gas stand as stark testimony to “man’s inhumanity to man.”

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The following information is quoted from page 24 of Verdun, An Illustrated Historical Guide, printed

by Editions Lorranies, Fremont of Verdun, France, under the heading, “The German Offensive—The surprise attack” It summarizes the first day and a half of battle: “On February 21st 1916, at 7:15 a.m., the enemy opened fire on the two banks of the Meuse [River], over a front of 40 kilometers. Simultaneously Verdun [the town] was systematically bombarded, the last residents being evacuated by the military authority at midday on the 25th.

“For ten hours, all the enemy guns and trench mortars kept up a running fire without intermission. In all the woods adjoining the front it was a regular fire-work display. A feature of this overwhelming bombardment was the enormous proportion of heavy caliber shells, 150’s and 210’s coming over like hailstones.

“Under this deluge of projectiles all trenches were leveled, the woods became a twisted mass of trunks and branches, and villages collapsed and were blotted out.

“The infantry attack was launched at 5:15 p.m. just before dusk…

“Three [German] army corps, the 7th, 18th and 3rd advanced. They thought they had only to march, with their rifles slung, over ground like a ploughed field.

“The [French] 51st…and 72nd Divisions…sustained the first shock and for three days covered the arrival of French re-inforcements.

“A heroic combat followed the most formidable artillery preparation hitherto known. The chasseurs [light cavalry troops] of Colonel Driant resisted the attack, inch by inch, in the wood of Caures. By nightfall the advance of the enemy was insignificant compared with their losses… “[The next morning] with snow falling, the bombardment was resumed with, if possible, greater intensity.

Colonel Driant in the wood of Caures was outflanked on both sides and died fighting, after first evacuating his chasseurs to Beaumont.”

The prolonged battle shifted back and forth over this general territory for two and a half years. Today, the battlefields of Verdun are quiet, more so than the time the German generals would report back to the Crown Prince, “All is quiet on the western front,” when things were temporarily static in the areas of the front lines in France. To this day, this comment is still often repeated. With World War I having been the opening shot of a series of world wars to erupt at the end of this age, certainly “all will not remain quiet on the western front” for very long.

War—Basic Causes and Effects

The Word of God reveals the cause of wars in a profound yet simple statement. Will you accept it?

James 4:1-3 reads, “From where come wars and fightings among you?

Come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? You lust, and have not: you kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: you fight and war, yet you have not, because you ask not. You ask, and receive not, because you ask amiss, that you may consume it upon your lusts.”

Simply put, war is caused by human lust for what belongs to others.

When all else fails, men scheme to obtain by international intrigue or outright brute force. Hitler’s avowed motive for his deceptive expansionist techniques at the outset of World War II was the need for living space (“lebensraum”—living room) and a larger share of the world’s resources and markets. These are some of the more common justifications throughout history for nations taking up arms against those with whom they share common borders.

Speaking from the physical, worldly approach, military preparedness is an absolute prerequisite for existence in today’s hostile world. The citizens of all nations must pay a dear price, directly through taxation or indirectly through higher prices for goods and services, in order for their nation to maintain its sovereignty. Without paying the price of a ready military, there

is that constant threat from a plundering, destructive invading force, seeking to secure land, wealth or power. In a world of vicious tigers, nations feel that they must prepare for such inevitabilities. Given these realities, the untenable position of peace doves and war protestors becomes less and less justifiable. They are generally college students (far removed from the grim reality of war), inspired and agitated by radical professors who propagate activities against any particular government or ideology. These young protestors usually lack any personal conviction based on moral or religious foundations.

This is entirely different from one taking the position of a Conscientious Objector based on religious belief or doctrine. A basis for this position is clearly spelled out by Christ’s statement in John 18:36: “Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if My kingdom were of this world, then would My servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is My kingdom not from hence.” Those who truly follow Christ are ambassadors for a future government soon to be established on earth. They have no valid purpose for entanglement in affairs that are essentially alien to their convictions. (For more information concerning such issues as Christians serving in the military, and other issues pertaining to governmental obligations, read our booklets Should Christians VOTE? and WAR, KILLING and the MILITARY.) War has been the primary means by which nations have settled disputes throughout history. War has been considered a natural state of equilibrium, while peace has been considered a period of recuperation from the previous campaign in which preparations were being made for the next venture or conquest. A quote by Georges Clemenceau, the French statesman during WWI, sums up this idea: “I don’t know whether war is an interlude during peace, or peace is an interlude during war.”

Thomas R. Malthus, an early nineteenth century economist, considered

war as one of the main “correction factors” of population, along with famine and disease. Malthus predicted eventual disaster because the world population would outrun the food supply.

Many of his students maintain that this rendezvous with disaster has intensified, due to a population whose growth rate has increased. Much of this acceleration is due to the use of vaccinations and antibiotics, which have mitigated the effect of diseases, thus “exacerbating” the population bomb.

The “Malthusian Specter,” as this dilemma is known, is an ever-increasing grim reality. Two publications (The Limits to Growth, Potomac Associates, 1972 and Mankind at the Turning Point, Dutton, 1974) spelled out a number of computer models that extrapolated existing trends throughout the twenty-first century. The models were based on five controlling variables: 1) population, 2) food production, 3) industrialization, 4) pollution and 5) consumption of nonrenewable natural resources. Without the effects of a major war, the models consistently projected a virtual collapse of civilization by the middle of the twenty-first century (from Contemporary Economics, Milton Spencer, 1980, pp. 295-297). One can readily project the impact of a major war when factored into this already fragile equation of civilization’s survival. There is a much wider dimension to the meaning of Matthew 24:22 (the threat to human existence) than merely the survival of military attack.

At the end of 6,000 years of man going his own way, it seems that humanity has approached the brink of extinction on a number of fronts.

The Era of Total War

Some of the best indicators of the effects of war can be determined by statistics, in terms of casualties and financial burden, and weapons development. The frequency and severity of wars has intensified, beginning primarily with WWI. During this war (of which Verdun, discussed above, was a key battle), the total mobilized military force of all the Allied nations (France,

British Empire, Russia, Italy, U.S., and six other smaller nations) was about 42 million. Of this number, about 5 million were killed in action, with 3 million civilian casualties. The cost incurred by the Allies was $194 billion. The total mobilized military force of the Central powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Turkey and Bulgaria) was about 23 million, of which over 3 million were killed in action. Their cost was over $86 billion.

World War I was the first war in which aircraft were used—primarily for reconnaissance purposes. Also, the internal combustion engine allowed for much better logistical support (mobility of troops and munitions). Poison gas delivered by artillery was another innovation.

Another telling statistic of WWI is the ratio of military deaths to the total mobilized forces. The following is a sampling of some of the major participants: Germany—16.4 percent; France—16.1 percent; British Empire—10.2 percent. For the U.S., it was only about 1.2 percent, partly due to the relatively short time that it was involved in the conflict before the Armistice. (The statistics cited in this paragraph originated from The Harper Encyclopedia of Military History, 4th ed., p. 1083.)

We will now review some statistics from WWII, which reflected a war with far better weaponry. Aircraft had evolved into fighters, dive-bombers, heavy bombers, heavy transports, troop carriers for paratroopers and other specialized aerial-combat machines. Bazookas, rocket launchers, and a host of innovations were used on the battlefields. Tank divisions were also a force to be reckoned with.

Artillery had far greater ranges than previously achieved.

Here are some of the statistics pertaining to the combined figures for both the Allies and Axis powers: 105 million total mobilized force, of which 15 million were killed in action, while up to 34 million civilians were killed.

The total cost was $1.6 trillion.

The world learned that total war casualties draw no boundary between 5

military and civilian. Never before were so many civilians so much in harm’s way. In this war, the ratio of military deaths to the total mobilized forces of some of the combatants were: Germany—22.8 percent; France—3.5 percent; Britain (UK)—6.4 percent; Soviet Union—30 percent; Japan— 20.4 percent. The U.S. was just under 2 percent. (Ibid, p. 1309) One factor that accounted for France and Britain being lower was the fact that they had not recovered from their staggering battlefield losses of WWI and were not in a position to field nearly as many troops as they needed. Also, France was overrun and defeated in 1940 and only fielded smaller resistance forces.

Although the U.S. entered the conflict in 1941 in the Pacific, and later in the European theater, it is nothing less than miraculous that their percentage of mobilized military losses was so low. Part of the explanation is that no invasion was launched on the home territory other than Pearl Harbor. Part of the explanation could, in fact, be providential.

The Holocaust

In summarizing information concerning WWII, the Holocaust should not be ignored. Some vital information about concentration camps and the “Final Solution” to the “Jewish problem” must be reviewed.

The Wannsee Conference of January 1942 was convened for the purpose of formalizing a plan to exterminate all Jews within the confines of the nations occupied by Nazi Germany. From that time, for the next three and one half years until the defeat of Germany in mid-1945, this “Final Solution” was implemented: “There were more than nine thousand camps scattered throughout German-occupied Europe. They included transit camps, prisoner-ofwar camps, private industrial camps, work-education camps, foreign labor camps, police detention camps, even camps for children whose parents had been sent to slave-labor camps. More than three hundred camps were for women only.

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“By mid-1942, within a few months of the Wannsee Conference, six camps served as killing centers where the victims were gassed: Treblinka, Sobibor, Belzec, Chelmno, Auschwitz/ Birkenau, and Majdanek.

The last two also doubled as slavelabor and penal camps” (From The World Must Know, U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum publication, Berebaum, 1993, p. 119).

These six killing centers were located in Poland and had access to multiple railroad tracks to facilitate constant trainloads of victims without delay. At Treblinka, up to 870,000 Jews (mostly Ukrainians) were murdered by a staff of 150. There were fewer than one hundred known survivors of Treblinka.

At Sobibor, up to 250,000 Jews were murdered in carbon monoxide gas chambers. A revolt was staged by some of the last prisoners in the camp.

During the battle, about 300 of them escaped. At the end of the war, there were only fifty known survivors of Sobibor.

At Belzec, up to 600,000 Jews and a few thousand Gypsies were murdered in the gas chamber, and at Chelmno, more than 150,000 Jews were killed.

Here, thousands of Gypsies, Poles and Soviet POWs were also exterminated.

Birkenau (Auschwitz II) was the largest and deadliest of all the Nazi death camps. Here were the largest, newest and most efficient gas chambers, which used the vapors from “Zyklon B” pellets to kill Jews, Poles, Gypsies and Soviet POWs. Far more Jews (1.1 million) were killed here than the other groups represented.

At Majdanek, nearly 500,000, from 28 different countries, were murdered.

Few Jews, if any, were sent to Majdanek. According to Polish sources, about 360,000—more than 60 percent of them Poles—died here from starvation, exhaustion, disease and beatings. Seven gas chambers were employed (using “Zyklon B” pellets), as were the camp’s two wooden gallows (Ibid., pp. 123-124).

Many contemporary historians and scholars view the Holocaust as an

anomaly—a freak occurrence. They theorize that man has developed to a higher order and has grown to be more considerate and tolerant than his predecessors. The Holocaust, among many other things, refutes such idealistic reasoning of modern man. All those “baser instincts” are certainly still with us, in Satan’s world (II Cor. 4:4). This action by the modern Germans was in the same tradition of their predecessors, the ancient Assyrians, who carried out organized genocide whenever they saw fit.

The Futility of Maintaining Peace

Mankind, in his rebellion against God, likes to present his own versions of civilization in the best possible light.

In like manner, the false prophets of Israel, as Ezekiel prophesied of our time, are to declare, “Peace; and there was [is] no peace” (Ezek. 13:10). God shows that peace will be elusive to those who forsake His ways. Ezekiel 7:23-25 foretells of the coming tumult upon Israel when peace will not be found: “Make a chain: for the land is full of bloody crimes, and the city is full of violence. Wherefore I will bring the worst of the heathen, and they shall possess their houses: I will also make the pomp of the strong to cease; and their holy places shall be defiled.

Destruction comes; and they shall seek peace, and there shall be none.” The time just described is none other than the coming war that ushers in the Great Tribulation as modern-day Israel is destroyed.

Here, we should briefly examine some of man’s efforts to establish peace in the era of world war. Two international organizations have been inaugurated to help promote peace and settle disputes. They represent man’s best attempt to bring peace—and the extent to which he has miserably failed to reach this goal.

After the Armistice of 1918, the League of Nations was inaugurated in an international effort to prevent, through arbitration, the outbreak of war in the future. The establishment of this organization became part of the treaty that ended WWI. One of its

weaknesses from the outset was the refusal of the U.S. and various other key nations to join the League. The League of Nations proved able to head off only a few of the dozens of outbreaks of smaller wars between WWI and the outset of WWII. It was also unable to defuse the inevitable developments that later resulted in the next round of total war!

The end of WWII brought another attempt by mankind to establish peace on earth. The United Nations was formed to be a more perfect instrument to insure world peace. Hundreds of smaller wars, fought around the world since the U.N.’s inception, testify to its failure as a “guardian of peace.”

Instead, the U.N. has descended to the level of becoming a sounding board for international socialists, communists and third world Islamic advocates of terrorism. Only in a superficial, rhetorical manner does the U.N. condemn terrorism. They consider any action against terrorists as politically incorrect, because many times they are of Islamic peoples of the third world.

Ironically, what they do condemn— without hesitation—is the tiny nation of Israel in its effort to take measures of self-preservation with regard to the perpetrators of terrorism.

Nuclear Stalemate of the Cold War

General Douglas MacArthur so eloquently stated mankind’s current dilemma: “We have had our last chance. If we will not devise some greater or more equitable system…

Armageddon will be at our door” (April 19, 1951, speech to Congress).

As referenced here, Armageddon was implied as the dreaded prophetic war that will somehow result in the destruction of civilization and the extinction of the human race. (The real meaning of Armageddon will be discussed toward the end of this booklet.)

General MacArthur’s statement certainly reflects mankind’s dilemma—not understanding God’s Plan of salvation and the good news of the soon-coming kingdom of God. The situation in which man now finds himself

is indeed sobering, with little reason for hope for the continuation of civilization in an environment of peace and well-being. MacArthur and other statesmen of his caliber have wrestled with the impending specter facing humanity. They recognize that the depravity of various nations armed with nuclear and biological weapons diminishes any hope of a sustained period of peace to which the world can look forward with assurance.

Mankind’s destructive capacity has greatly accelerated, to the point that we find ourselves at a serious impasse as we near the end of this age.

The world entered the atomic age on August 6, 1945, when the U.S. military dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. Three days later, Nagasaki was hit with a plutonium bomb. The fact that the use of these weapons would bring the war to an early end led to the quick decision to use them at once. It is incredible that about 45 years ago, the Encyclopedia Britannica reported: “in August 1955…there was a general conviction among the governments that both sides in the cold war had sufficient retaliatory power to make hydrogen bomb war SUICIDAL!” The hydrogen bomb has one thousand times the power of an equivalent-sized atomic bomb. In spite of such suicidal dangers, if such power is available to world leaders, when the “chips are down,” they will not hesitate to use them, just as the first atomic bombs were used.

The author served in the military, in an underground missile launchcontrol center, during the Cold War era. Here we monitored, and were prepared to launch, our (ground to ground) missiles within a few minutes notice. The four missiles in our complex each had a thermonuclear device—a hydrogen bomb—one of which contained more destructive power than all the conventional bombs dropped by the allies in all of WWII combined. (Of course, that size bomb is now dwarfed by some of the Russian bombs, which approach one hundred megatons.) Concerning mis-

siles, their inertial guidance systems are checked out daily by sending them on the paths to their targets. But the missiles never leave the launch bays. The guidance systems are carefully monitored while on these simulated trips to their targets. As far as the nose of any given missile is concerned, it travels to its target every day. If you live in a large metropolitan area, chances are strong that missile guidance systems are enroute to your area at any given moment in time— just another grim reality of the dangerous age in which we live.

Most Westerners think of Russia as an economically ailing country that is desperately trying to establish democracy—with the help of America and the West. They are oblivious to the fact that Russia is still led by people who have little more regard for humanity than did Stalin. They have the largest nuclear arsenal in the world. There are many reasons for the United States of Europe—the coming beast power of Revelation 13:17—to seek to ally with Russia. In fact, Germany did sign a non-aggression pact with Russia, shortly after reunification back in 1990. This was one of many such non-aggression pacts between these two parties in the last two centuries, all of which were broken (prophecy indicates that these two parties will break this one, as well, and be at war again in the future).

The billions of dollars that the U.S. sent to Russia, for economic assistance and for use in the dismantling and destruction of their nuclear arsenal weapons (in the 1990s), were not used for this purpose. Most of those funds were, in fact, invested in the improvement of their nuclear arsenal, along with strategic delivery systems (more details on this matter are given below). Nor did the Russians dismantle their research labs relating to biological and chemical warfare (which the U.S. dutifully carried out, along with the dismantlement of much of its strategic nuclear capability—characteristic of a “silly dove,” trusting in alliances with adversaries it perceives as friends; see Hosea 7:11).

7

Through the Eyes of the Enemy

We will now cite an unusual source that has provided a wealth of information to U.S. intelligence and military agencies since 1992. The source is the highest-ranking Russian military spy yet to defect to the U.S., Colonel Stanislav Lunev. He co-authored a book, Through the Eyes of the Enemy (published in 1998) with Ira Winkler, a computer espionage expert. It revealed some incredible information to which the American public has been oblivious. It caused some stir among intelligence and military circles, but was predictably ignored by most of the major media.

The deportation of fifty Russian spies (posing as diplomats or journalists) by President Bush in his first six months in office is a strong indication that Lunev’s recommendations are beginning to be taken seriously. Before summarizing some of his disclosures, we should first understand the difference between Russia’s GRU, in which he served, and the KGB, the infamous spy agency. The GRU is a highly professional military agency of seasoned espionage veterans and experts in various technological fields. KGB positions are usually filled by political appointment for party loyalists and consist largely of novices.

The level of intelligence conducted by the GRU would make operations such as the Chinese espionage at Los Alamos, NM, look like “child’s play,” according to Lunev. He rates the Israeli Mossad, by contrast, as a superior intelligence agency.

Below are some of Col. Lunev’s disclosures, exposing the West’s grave vulnerability. Most of these points are included in his book, but some points originate from a taped interview with Lunev by veteran radio announcer, Barry Farber, on behalf of NewsMax.com, a news website. These points, along with much more detailed information, were revealed to the CIA

by Lunev. They are listed in the order covered in the interview: J The current alliance between Russia and China makes the landscape 8

more dangerous than during the Cold War, when these giants were in ideological conflict. They are now cooperating politically and militarily.

J After exposure to various Soviet dictators, and having been allowed to search the archives due to his high rank, Lunev came to the conclusion that the mental state of all those leaders bordered on insanity.

J The Russians now have over 100 spy satellites, mostly searching for new technology developed by the U.S. J Russia’s first democratic leader was bitterly anti-U.S. and vigorously pro-military. Yet the Americans considered him a friend of democracy and presented him with billions of dollars to rescue the economy and to dismantle the Soviet arsenal—but these funds were mostly used for weapons research and development.

J The planned war against the U.S. will initially be carried out by special operatives. Special commandos are already on U.S. soil; others are to come in advance of the main attack.

They are to carry out their part of the plan within hours or days of the main nuclear strike. They are to destroy all main communications systems and electrical power distribution, and then poison or contaminate water supplies.

They are to quickly assassinate all military and political leaders. They have in their possession, in the U.S. at this time, sufficient numbers of portable nuclear devices to help attain these goals.

J Topal-M is a Russian military plan to penetrate a missile defense system—now being implemented.

J The Russian strategic arsenal is financed diligently; but the Russian conventional forces are allowed to suffer from lack of funds to pay the soldiers and lack of all sorts of logistics.

This is intended to portray Russian military power as being virtually in ruins.

J Russia has its own missile defense system already in orbit. These missile interceptor satellites are essentially H-bombs of vast megatons. They will detonate at such a time to take out the majority of missiles launched by

the U.S. They have recently deployed the second generation of such missile interceptors.

J Russia has elaborate secure bunkers deep under Moscow for the protection of its leaders. In the Ural Mountains, a bunker complex exists whose area is as large as Washington, D.C. They are indeed serious about the inevitability of an all-out nuclear war and they are prepared to survive it—at least the leaders and the military elite.

J Russia has naval ships that employ stealth technology and new ultra high-speed torpedoes, making it dangerously difficult for the West to detect and respond.

J Russia has in its possession a seismic weapon, which can generate seismic waves to trigger an earthquake. This weapon triggered the earthquake in Armenia in December 1988, killing thousands, during a test.

This system has been in place for about 20 years.

J The GRU now has a military station in Cuba, training Cubans and other nationals in covert operations.

J During the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, Russia had special commandos deployed in the U.S., ready at any moment to knock out all communications and power distribution, and to assassinate military and political leaders as the first wave of an all-out war, had it, in fact, happened. Some of these same elements stayed in place and were later involved in certain assassinations in the U.S. within that decade.

Many of Col. Lunev’s disclosures sound like science fiction or a movie plot. Yet he is now taken seriously (on Feb. 20, 2001, CNN.com stated that Lunev “is currently a consultant for the FBI and the CIA and writes a column for NewsMax.com”). He is now a U.S. (and certain Western allies) military and intelligence consultant. (Editor’s note: Col. Lunev is recognized by reliable mainstream media and government authorities. He represents more than simply grist for “conspiracy theorists,” who live on the far right-wing fringe of common sense and understanding. This is not supermarket tabloid material.)

One of the best conclusions from the information we have just examined is that the biblical command not to trust in men applies on the international level. This is why God forbade Israel to make alliances with other nations. Alliances are based on trust in men rather than God, and can only end in betrayal (Psa. 118:8-9; 146:3).

Modern Israel will soon learn whom they can and cannot trust—although the lesson will come too late to be acted upon.

Living Under Volatile Nuclear Stalemate

It should now be pointed out that the term “modern Israel” refers to the nations who descended from Ephraim and Manasseh, sons of Joseph who, in Genesis 49, received the birthright promise directly from Jacob. Ephraim refers to the nations of Great Britain and the former commonwealth countries, while Manasseh refers to the United States of America. In some scriptures, Ephraim is used alone to represent both these tribes and sometimes to represent all of the ten tribes of the former nation of Israel, to the north of Judah. Other nations that comprise some of the other tribes of Israel would be primarily the small countries of northwestern continental Europe, including all of Scandinavia.

Of course, the little nation of Israel— the tribe of Judah with elements of Benjamin and Levi—is part of greater Israel, but the birthright people are primarily Ephraim and Manasseh. (To learn more, read our extensive book AMERICA AND BRITAIN IN BIBLE PROPHECY.) A nuclear “stalemate” exists between America (representative of modern Israel) and the combine of Russia and China. Also, Israel (modern-day Judah) is perpetually threatened by her Islamic adversaries. Note these comments by David Eberhart, former editor of Stars and Stripes, and contributor to the New York Times. His article appeared on Oct. 16, 2001, on Newsmax.com: “After decades of living among hostile neighbors, Israel has yet to be

attacked by an enemy using nuclear, chemical or biological weapons. One reason may be the horrific plan some claim Israel drew up to prevent such an attack. The plan was called the Samson Option. An astute investigative journalist and student of history chalked a dramatic potential solution to the volatile equation on the blackboard—a decade ago.

“Should war break out in the Middle East again and should the Syrians and Egyptians break through again as they did in 1973 [Yom Kippur War], or should any Arab nation fire missiles again at Israel, as Iraq did [in the 1991 Gulf War], a nuclear escalation, once unthinkable except as a last resort, would now be a strong possibility.

“Pulitzer Prize winning author ('My Lai 4') Seymour M. Hersh made this hypothesis in his 1991 best seller ‘The Samson Option.’

“Captured and cruelly maimed, the book’s biblical namesake uttered the ultimate fighting words, ‘Let my soul die with the Philistines.’

“That said, the divinely empowered Samson pushed apart the temple pillars—collapsing the roof and killing himself as well as his enemies.

“In his expose of Israel’s clandestine nuclear arsenal, Hersh suggested that in the early days (late 1960s) of crude big-flash-and-bang nukes, one defensive option to counter an attack on Israel with weapons of mass destruction was for the beleaguered nation to mimic Samson and grimly trade holocaust for holocaust.”

The article continues with the assertion that the Israeli arsenal may now contain as many as 400 nuclear weapons. It also documents that three German submarines recently purchased by Israel were to be fitted with nuclear weapons. According to the article, the purpose of the submarines was to cruise deep in the sea and constitute a second strike force in the event that Israel is attacked with nuclear weapons. The article concludes: “The refrain used consistently by Israeli leaders has been and remains an

unqualified: ‘Israel reserves the right to retaliate if attacked.’

“Traditionally, Israeli leaders have pigeonholed nuclear weapons as a psychological insurance policy for unthinkable contingencies, under the heading of ‘last resort.’

“The hope of those in the inner sanctums of national security is that the exigencies [the urgent crises] of America’s New War send no such unthinkable contingencies in the direction of America’s quiet ally.”

All who understand the volatility of the situation know that if America retaliates with nuclear weapons (unlikely, but possible) in the event of the use of such weapons by terrorists against America, Israel will have no choice but to launch such a pre-emptive attack on its adversaries immediately. Any delay on their part would be suicidal. These are indeed perilous times! (To understand more about how events there will affect the entire world, read our free booklet The MIDEAST in Bible Prophecy.)

New Space Age Weaponry

Now let’s explore some weapons innovations to be implemented within the coming years—weapons designed to protect America and the free world from destruction. Research and development of these systems has been pushed ahead at accelerated speeds.

You may be amazed by the scope of these new weapons, some already in the advanced developmental stages.

The following information on Space Age weaponry originated from an extensive article by Jack Hitt, which appeared in The New York Times on August 5, 2001.

The first system to be discussed is the new surveillance satellite called Warfighter I. The camera on this satellite features a new form of imaging called hyperspectral. Satellites are already in orbit with multispectral cameras, which can take a picture of an ecosystem and discern between conifer and deciduous trees. Consider this amazing quote: “hyperspectral goes much further, distinguishing the subtle ‘light signatures’ that separate a field 9

of oats from barley and telling you the precise species of oats. And then whether the field contains natural or genetically altered oats. And then whether the field is infested with insects or damaged by nitrogen depletion.”

It is only too obvious how this technology could benefit such fields as agriculture, forestry, geology and law enforcement, to name a few. Military concerns would involve the identification of “tanks under trees,” whether friend or foe: “Warfighter I would be able to discern the unique light signatures of extremely specific things— like tanks hiding under trees or tanks covered in camouflage or tanks painted with a paint meant to make them not look like tanks.” Such space-assisted technology could identify hidden enemy tanks, gun emplacements, and virtually every other type of military implement, along with the precise coordinates with which to neutralize these targets. This hyperspectral imagery does not see camouflage as similar to the surroundings, as it is intended to appear, but as material that is sharply different.

It is of significant interest that only days before the terrorist attacks in early September 2001, the first Warfighter I was launched into orbit, giving the U.S. a boost in maintaining its edge in space. (This appeared to be somewhat of a “Pyrrhic Victory,” in light of the terrorist attacks.) Such technology will be needed, with new impending threats involving all types of military operations.

America had a free ride in space from 1960 to 2000, when the only other country with space-travel capability was Russia. Things have changed.

There is now a rush to get to this “final frontier,” and the new leaders are commercial satellites from the international arena. Of the 1,000 active satellites currently in orbit, only about 125 belong to the U.S. military. Space, the Pentagon is assured, is the ultimate “high ground,” which gives to the master of space “Full Spectrum Dominance.”

The Strategic Master Plan for space was developed by the Air Force in 10

2000, and states the goal briefly and clearly: “To maintain space superiority, we must have the ability to control the ‘high ground’ of space. To do so, we must be able to operate freely in space, deny the use of space to our adversaries, protect ourselves from attack in and through space and develop and deploy…N.M.D. [National Missile Defense] capability.”

Just before taking his position as Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld led a space commission that was established to salvage much of the damage done by a late 1990s line item veto of funds for a space plane, antisatellite weapons and a missile defense technology. The commission issued its report just before George W. Bush was sworn in as president and it stated: “Every medium—air, land and sea— has seen conflict. Reality indicates that space will be no different.” Warfighter I is the beginning of such a kaleidoscope of weapons designed to maintain America’s superiority in space.

The categories of these new weapons are: 1) space surveillance, 2) anti-satellite offensive weaponry, and 3) national missile defense. After having seen some of the capabilities of space surveillance, consider some of the innovations in the wide-ranging category of anti-satellite weaponry.

Leading in this field of technology is the microsatellite. Traditional satellites can weigh tons, whereas microsatellites weigh about 200 pounds. They can be launched into space in “flocks”—by the dozens—due to their small size and weight. The “miracle” of these microsatellites is that they are re-programmable and capable of a variety of functions. They can be reprogrammed as needed, while still in orbit. Dozens of them can be grouped in a linear formation to conduct ground reconnaissance, or they can be grouped into a large circle to function as a communications satellite—a virtual giant satellite.

A flock of these microsatellites could also be launched with separate missions. One might refuel a larger satellite or upgrade its software.

Others might scan the area with small

on-board cameras to provide live video—a capability that no nation yet possesses.

A microsatellite might be reprogrammed from a peaceful tool to an offensive weapon. It could maneuver close to an enemy satellite and lightly bump it from its present orientation in orbit, causing it to temporarily lose communication with the ground. If need be, the microsatellite could, after maneuvering close to an enemy satellite, emit a pulse from its microwave gun on board and fry the enemy satellite’s electronics, thus neutralizing it.

Such activity would be completely covert and undetectable by the enemy.

The first microsatellite was scheduled for launch in the fall of 2001.

A robust enthusiasm for this technology is shared between research scientists and their military counterparts.

They envision the new concepts, as defined by the military objectives, and develop them with an unusual creativity and stroke of ingenuity. The process of turning a concept into reality is its own reward. In the process of research and development, any failure is merely looked upon as an indicator that more research is needed.

Discouragement is nonexistent among this enthusiastic research group.

The commission’s report continued: “Back in World War II, it took, on average, 5,000 bombs to take out one target like a bridge. By the time of the Vietnam War, the ratio had dropped to 500. But in all those wars, bombs were dumb, meaning once you let go of them, they fell in the general direction in which they were pitched.

“Then came the gulf war. During this conflict, the U.S. military used space to conduct nearly all of its secret communications, reconnaissance missions and bombing raids. And spacebased technology guided new ‘smart bombs’ with such accuracy that the hit ratio plummeted to 1 in 10. ‘The 500year history of ballistic warfare has come to an end,’ George Friedman [research scientist] says. ‘The gulf war was the first space war.’”

In the 1999 Kosovo conflict, another new technology was used for the

first time—the Global Positioning System. This system is composed of a constellation of twenty-four satellites orbiting the earth, which can precisely “geo-locate” any object equipped with the proper receiver. It can direct munitions and perform a variety of functions that give the users an incredible advantage over any adversary. Other weapons developed by the time of the Gulf War, but little known until the 2001 war in Afghanistan, include cluster bombs and the huge conventional bombs known as bunker busters, which penetrate deep into the ground before detonation.

Some of the other technological marvels just over the horizon are devices such as microwave guns, space-based laser weapons, holographic decoys, suppression clouds and other futuristic concepts. Space-based laser weapons are to be tested in space by 2008. America has doubled the research budget for this particular technology, since it is at the core of the controversial N.M.D. program. This new concept, in contrast to the former Space Defense Initiative, holds promises of a more realistic, workable system, according to the researchers involved.

One version of the microwave weapon for ground use (having already been tested) is expected soon.

It emits an incredible heat blast and could be used to drive back an advancing military force. Another amazing innovation is the flexible-membrane mirror, which from space could bounce off a certain frequency from a laser beam in order to light up a nighttime battle field on the ground—only for those with certain types of goggles. Another concept being developed is the solar energy weapon, which exists in the form of a ten-kilometer magnifying glass used to illuminate targets on the ground. This illumination would turn night into day. If used in the day, it could scorch any target on the ground or scorch any satellite thousands of miles away.

Then finally, the future generation of aircraft involves mainly unmanned “warcraft” with an unbelievable arse-

nal of weapons, some of which have already been alluded to.

“The U.S. Space Command is the proto-bureaucracy of our emerging space force. Its current commander, a four-star general named Ralph E. Eberhardt, was given more prominence last May [2001] when Rumsfeld reorganized the space command structure. Eberhardt is being touted as the possible next chairman of the Joint Chiefs. Should he be appointed, it will be the most powerful signal yet that President Bush’s campaign promise to ‘leapfrog’ to the next generation of weaponry will mean the militarization of space.”

The capabilities of the newest weaponry are frightening. Humanly speaking, these new defense shields are worth the cost in this dangerous world. But how much of a difference will they make at this stage of history?

The American leadership includes some of the most capable leaders and experts in their respective fields, yet to assemble at the helm in Washington.

Yet the challenges facing them and the other leaders of modern Israel defy solution. The invisible backers of the terrorist attacks on the U.S. intend to bring the country to its knees.

Defending against an onslaught of such activity is nearly impossible, since the borders have been completely opened to aliens—legal and otherwise—since 1993. Between 1993 and 2001, the U.S. illegal alien population increased from 3.5 million to 8 million! Security has been compromised and the borders have been infiltrated in virtually every conceivable way.

Many military intelligence and enforcement experts lament that had a responsible administration previously led America, the country would not have been so ill-prepared for the wave of attacks precipitated in September of 2001. Would military preparedness, especially in the form of better intelligence, have prevented that first wave of attacks on Sept. 11, 2001? Most likely, it could have! But with a substantial number of terrorist networks already in place in the U.S., such strikes would have taken another form

and could have been just as deadly or more so. Just how much a nation should shield itself with military preparedness will be addressed shortly, from Scripture.

War as a Means of Punishment

Although man has always been at war, it has never yet approached the scale that Christ predicted in Revelation 6 and magnified in Matthew 24. Not until the advent of the hydrogen bomb, about fifty years ago, did the potential to erase human life from the planet exist. As already expressed, man has always used whatever weapons he possessed, and will utilize any and all weapons at his disposal—weapons of mass destruction and every other option available. Perhaps some of the new Space Age weapons will be introduced if time allows their final implementation and deployment. By now, you realize that whatever “ace-in-thehole” that the West thinks it may have, has probably been detected by spy networks, such as Russia’s GRU. They probably could have secured the technology and developed it for testing as soon as the Americans could do so.

Before addressing the sequence of events in the final stages of world war covered in Revelation and in the prophets, we presented the question above as to whether military preparedness would effectively shield modern Israel from the specter of military defeat and destruction. Certainly, in the normal logical approach to the subject, military preparedness makes sense. But when nations are being corrected by their Creator, any such preparedness fades from becoming a major issue. To illustrate this matter, it would be helpful to review one of the many lessons of history recorded in the Bible.

Why did it take about nineteen years for Babylon to destroy Judah and take the Jews into captivity, when other more powerful nations were subdued suddenly? God, who sets up nations and empires, was being merciful to Judah. Just as He had positioned Jeremiah in Judah for this entire time frame and beyond, He had also posi11

tioned Daniel in Babylon as well, for other purposes. God was working out His purpose, through the works of Jeremiah, in warning the Jews of events that would follow as a result of their actions. He had Babylon readily available as His instrument of punishment as needed. As events turned out, He had to bring upon Judah the full course of punishment—even seven times the punishment—just as it had been brought upon Israel about 115 years earlier.

Judah was put under tribute in the eighth year of the reign of Jehoiakim.

This was soon followed by Jehoiakim’s demise in the eleventh year. These events are corroborated by the combined accounts of II Kings 24, II Chronicles 36 and in Josephus’ Antiquities of the Jews, Book 10, chapter 6.

A kind of “handwriting on the wall,” which sealed the fate of the nation of Judah and its king, is found in Jeremiah chapter 36. Though only a few verses will be closely examined, you should read the entire chapter to better understand the overview.

God told Jeremiah to take a book and to recount all the words that God had spoken to him from the time of Josiah (a twenty-three-year span) concerning pronouncements against Israel, Judah and all the nations.

Jeremiah immediately obeyed: “Then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah: and Baruch wrote from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the LORD, which he had spoken unto him, upon a roll of a book” (36:4). This book documented God’s repeated accounts of pleading with Judah to change from their wicked course and follow the laws that God had put into effect for their good. God left no doubt as to what He condemned and what He expected of the people and leaders of Judah.

Since Jeremiah was constrained from going, he dispatched his assistant Baruch to read these words and warnings at the site of the temple. The time of this account is given in verse 9: “And it came to pass in the fifth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of 12

Judah, in the ninth month, that they proclaimed a fast before the LORD to all the people in Jerusalem, and to all the people that came from the cities of Judah unto Jerusalem.” From the time God first told Jeremiah to collect all these sayings and to have them written in the book or roll (scroll), about one year had passed. Finally, Baruch was reading that vital information directly to the Jews at the temple. It must have taken him a few hours to read through it all.

Baruch’s words, which God had inspired through Jeremiah, caused quite an impact among the Jews at the temple. A noble named Michaiah was so moved that he went to tell the princes and nobles about the roll from which Baruch had read. So they summoned Baruch to come and read the roll to all of them. Upon hearing the words from the book, they were moved with fear and declared that the king should surely hear these words.

They wisely cautioned Jeremiah to go and hide as they took the roll to the king. After Jehudi of the king’s court read the words directly to King Jehoiakim, the king cut up the rolls and burned them in the fireplace.

Unlike the people at the temple, and later the princes and nobles, the arrogant young king, along with his inner circle of cronies, was utterly unimpressed and unaffected by the warnings. Three of the princes tried to stop the king from burning the roll, but he would not heed. He ordered his servants to go find Jeremiah and Baruch (with the obvious intent of execution or imprisonment), but as verse 26 indicated, “the LORD hid them.”

At this time, God told Jeremiah to re-dictate the same information to Baruch as before, on another roll to replace the one that Jehoiakim had burned. This same reconstructed book most likely was the core of the book of Jeremiah. Immediately following is God’s pronouncement against Jehoiakim and Judah: “And you shall say to Jehoiakim king of Judah, Thus says the LORD; You have burned this roll, saying,

Why have you written therein, saying, The king of Babylon shall certainly come and destroy this land, and shall cause to cease from thence man and beast? Therefore thus says the LORD of Jehoiakim king of Judah; He shall have none to sit upon the throne of David: and his dead body shall be cast out in the day to the heat, and in the night to the frost. And I will punish him and his seed and his servants for their iniquity; and I will bring upon them, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and upon the men of Judah, all the evil that I have pronounced against them; but they hearkened not” (vs. 29-31).

The tone of these verses changed dramatically from the earlier ones, before the king burned the roll containing a chronology of Gods pronouncements. Notice the contrast of verse 3 with the above verses: “It may be that the house of Judah will hear all the evil which I purpose to do unto them; that they may return every man from his evil way; that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin.” Has modern Israel also transcended this critical threshold of God’s mercy?

The verses at the end of the chapter speak of the impending punishments for the king and Jerusalem and Judah as if they were nothing short of an unstoppable certainty. By contrast, the tone just quoted, in verse 3, was an appeal to warn them to change and not to have to suffer captivity. The defiance and impunity of the king and his inner circle had removed the possibility of forgiveness and mercy in their impending day of reckoning. The tone is just as final as the handwriting on the wall: “You are weighed in the balances, and are found wanting…your kingdom is divided…” (from Daniel 5, when God announced the immediate fall of Babylon).

Mercy and forgiveness, for the king in particular, were out of the question from that point forward. Death was pronounced for the king and captivity for Judah. In Antiquities of the Jews, Book 10, chapter 6, Josephus explains the details as to how the king was killed 6 years later, fulfilling this part

of Jeremiah’s prophecy. This account also shows that 3,000 more Jews were taken into captivity, including Ezekiel, a young man at that time.

America’s national character mirrors the character of Jehoiakim—arrogance, and disdain for any guidance from God, or any of his prophets or representatives. The Hollywood mentality of liberal permissiveness and political correctness (which leaves God totally out of the picture) is reflected in television, movies, classrooms and pulpits. The words of a true servant of God would be so alien to the modern mentality that he would not only be, at best, ignored and rejected, but also a candidate for civil punishment. Those leading the crusade against such a true servant of God would be the leaders of the modern “Christian” churches.

How do we know that moderns would treat a true servant of God this way? They already have! Herbert W. Armstrong thundered the warnings to the nations of modern Israel for decades, primarily over the radio, to hundreds of millions, and was met with the same predictable reactions.

God had already decreed that Judah was destined for captivity. Had King Jehoiakim experienced a change of heart, he would have been delivered from defeat and death. Look at what happened to King Manasseh, who repented after being defeated and imprisoned, about a century before the time of Jehoiakim: “And the LORD spoke to Manasseh, and to his people: but they would not hearken. Wherefore the LORD brought upon them the captains of the host of the king of Assyria, which took Manasseh among the thorns, and bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon. And when he was in affliction, he besought the LORD his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers, and prayed unto Him: and He was entreated of him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD He was God” (II Chron. 33:10-13).

This account shows the route that was almost always followed by ancient Israel. Unfortunately, modern Israel gives every indication of being as deaf to heed any correction in time to avert bitter punishment.

Now notice the profound words with which God charged Judah, in Jeremiah 37. Remember that God had already decreed the inevitable defeat and captivity of Judah. Carefully mark the following words, because they will apply to modern Israel as well: “Thus says the LORD; Deceive not yourselves, saying, The Chaldeans shall surely depart from us: for they shall not depart. For though you had smitten the whole army of the Chaldeans that fight against you, and there remained but wounded men among them, yet should they rise up every man in his tent, and burn this city with fire” (vs.

9-10).

God is saying that if He decreed that the Chaldeans were to defeat Jerusalem, NOTHING COULD PREVENT THIS FROM COMING TO PASS—not even military preparedness! Even if Judah should defeat the Chaldeans so that the only survivors of the army were but wounded men, what did He say? He said that these wounded soldiers would rise up and burn the city with fire—not by clandestine arson, but by a frontal assault and brute force.

The implications of these words are clear. God has already warned the modern-day nations of Israel during the times of peace and prosperity for about fifty years. He is the ultimate source of America’s new woes and is now beginning to correct modern Israel for ignoring His warnings and for continuing to revel in wickedness.

Observe how God corrected Israel when Solomon turned away: “And the LORD was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned from the LORD God of Israel, which had appeared unto him twice” (I Kgs. 11:9). Verse 14 continues, “And the LORD stirred up an adversary unto Solomon, Hadad the Edomite: he was of the king’s seed in Edom.” This particular adversary led forays against

Israel from the south, as part of God’s correction upon Israel. Now verses 23 and 25 tell us, “And God stirred him up another adversary, Rezon the son of Eliadah, which fled from his lord Hadadezer king of Zobah…And he was an adversary to Israel all the [remaining] days of Solomon, beside the mischief that Hadad did: and he abhorred Israel, and reigned over Syria.” This adversary made forays against Israel from the north. Notice verse 26: “And Jeroboam the son of Nebat, an Ephrathite of Zereda, Solomon’s servant…even he lifted up his hand against the king.” Jeroboam now opposed Solomon because he had been told, through the prophet Ahijah, God’s message to him, recorded in verse 31: “…for thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, Behold, I will rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and will give ten tribes to thee.” This third adversary was from within and was given the ten tribes from God. Thus, God, who set Solomon up over the kingdom in the first place, was punishing him and removing most of the kingdom from him and his sons who would reign after him. God, who gave the birthright inheritance to modern Israel, will most definitely first warn modern Israel and then punish her if the warning is not heeded. The warning has already been given, although more warning may yet be given, through God’s mercy. (Refer to our previously cited article, “Appointment With Terror,” for more insight into the subject of God’s correction on His people—physical Israel.)

Then Comes the Great Tribulation

Following the seal of war are the seals of famine and pestilence. War suppresses and destroys agricultural production as well as the distribution process. Food shortages naturally follow in the wake of war. Hunger and starvation result in lowered immunity on the one hand, while contamination of available food and water occurs as well. Out of these conditions flows the inevitability of diseases and epi13

demics. All of these scourges follow one after the other in intense rapid succession. However, due to biological agents used in modern warfare, diseases and epidemics are now concurrent with war.

The catalyst of these other scourges is primarily war. The resurrected Roman Empire (led by modern-day Assyria) will wage a devastating war against modern-day Israel. This war will catch modern Israel somewhat off-guard. A surprise attack while their attention is turned elsewhere will result in the total defeat of modern Israel and Judah by their former NATO “allies.” This European power could initially be allied with Russia, as previously mentioned, in order to utilize the vast arsenal of strategic missiles against their common “enemy.” The possibility of such an alliance is indeed strong.

This onslaught is prophesied in Jeremiah 4:6-7: “Set up the standard toward Zion: retire, stay not: for I will bring evil from the north, and a great destruction. The lion is come up from his thicket, and the destroyer of the Gentiles is on his way; he is gone forth from his place to make your land desolate; and your cities shall be laid waste, without an inhabitant.”

Ezekiel 5:11-13 gives more details: “Wherefore, as I live, says the Lord GOD; Surely, because you have defiled my sanctuary with all your detestable things, and with all your abominations, therefore will I also diminish you; neither shall mine eye spare, neither will I have any pity.

A THIRD PART OF YOU SHALL DIE WITH THE PESTILENCE, AND WITH FAMINE SHALL THEY BE CONSUMED IN THE MIDST OF YOU: AND A THIRD PART SHALL FALL BY THE SWORD ROUND ABOUT YOU; AND

I

WILL

SCATTER A THIRD PART INTO ALL THE WINDS, AND

I WILL DRAW OUT A SWORD Thus shall mine anger be accomplished, and I will cause my fury to rest upon them, and I will be comforted: and they shall know that I the LORD have spoken it in my zeal, when I have accomplished my fury in them.”

The destruction of modern Israel ushers in the period of the Great AFTER THEM.

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Tribulation, in which the surviving third of physical Israel will be taken into captivity. It will be a time of martyrdom of those who refuse to take the mark of the beast. Those who hold fast their convictions, in the face of impending martyrdom, will be victorious even in death—truly “gold tried in the fire” (Rev. 3:18).

Just prior to the defeat of Israel, or almost concurrent with that time, a war takes place in heaven, with short-term serious consequences for all that live on earth. Let’s review this account in Revelation 12:7-9: “And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, and prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceives the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.”

Satan is the god of this world (II Cor. 4:4)—this present evil world (Gal. 1:4). As the prince of the power of the air (Eph. 2:2), he supercharges the air with wavelengths that sway minds to yield to his impulses. He spawns bitterness, resentment, hatred and the cruel vengeance of war. One of his names is Abaddon, which in Hebrew means “destroyer” (Rev. 9:11). Revelation 12:12 foretells the results of Satan and his angels being cast down to the earth: “Therefore rejoice, you heavens, and you that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabitors of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has but a short time.”

At this time, Satan first chooses to persecute the true Church of God. After the Church is protected from the face of the serpent, he goes after the scattered remnant of the Church. But first he attempts to destroy the nations of modern-day Israel by a devastating nuclear attack, in which the cities are laid waste, as we have read. This is the outset of the Great Tribulation, which is Satan’s wrath on the Church and the modern nations of Ephraim, Manasseh

and Judah, and the rest of modern Israel.

After the survivors of this nuclear holocaust are herded into captivity, the martyrdom of the saints begins. Satan seeks out and identifies the scattered remnant of God’s Church, which keeps the commandments of God and has the testimony of Jesus Christ. His instrument in this martyrdom will be the great universal church, which has always been used to persecute and martyr God’s faithful servants. From all indications, the Great Tribulation will last about two and a half years, followed by the DAY OF THE LORD, which will last for one year.

Concerning the physical remnant of Israel, about one third of them will be taken into captivity. Of the total numbers, only about one tenth will survive this tribulation. It cannot be overly emphasized that this Great Tribulation is the time of Satan’s wrath on God’s namesake—both spiritual and physical Israel. Matthew 24:21 defines it: “FOR THEN SHALL BE GREAT TRIBULATION, SUCH AS WAS NOT SINCE THE BEGINNING OF THE WORLD TO THIS TIME, NO, NOR EVER SHALL BE.”

Daniel 12:1 also describes it: AT THAT TIME SHALL MICHAEL STAND UP, THE GREAT PRINCE WHICH STANDS FOR THE CHILDREN OF YOUR PEOPLE: AND THERE SHALL BE A TIME OF TROUBLE, SUCH AS NEVER WAS SINCE THERE WAS A NATION even to that same time: and at that time your people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.”

Notice this same period described in Jeremiah 30:4-5: “And these are the words that the LORD spoke concerning Israel and concerning Judah. For thus says the LORD; We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace.” Verse 7 continues: “ALAS! FOR THAT DAY IS GREAT, SO THAT NONE IS LIKE IT: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.”

Only a tenth of Jacob will survive this time and be able to realize the blessings recorded in verses 8-9: “For it shall come to pass in that day, says the LORD of hosts, that I will break his yoke from off thy neck, and will burst thy bonds, and strangers shall no more “AND

serve themselves of him: But they shall serve the LORD their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up unto them.”

In order to confirm from scripture that only one-tenth of these nations under attack at the outset of the tribulation actually survive this period, two references will now be cited. We begin by citing Amos 5:1-4: “Hear you this word which I take up against you, even a lamentation, O house of Israel. The virgin of Israel is fallen; she shall no more rise: she is forsaken upon her land; there is none to raise her up. For thus says the Lord GOD; The city that went out by a thousand shall leave an hundred, and that which went forth by an hundred shall leave ten, to the house of Israel. For thus says the LORD unto the house of Israel, Seek you Me, and you shall live:” Now notice Isaiah 6:11-13: “Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate, And the LORD have removed men far away, and there be a great forsaking in the midst of the land. But yet in it shall be a tenth, and it shall return, and shall be eaten: as a teil tree, and as an oak, whose substance is in them, when they cast their leaves: so the holy seed shall be the substance thereof.”

The Final Battles Waged— During The Day of the Lord

After this two and a half years of Great Tribulation, there will be a period of incredible signs in the heavens, coupled with unprecedented earthquakes. Then begins the DAY OF THE LORD, which is to last for one year.

This is the time of God’s wrath upon the beast power and all others used as instruments of Satan to destroy modern Israel and martyr the remnants of God’s Church. God’s wrath is directed toward all that continue to blaspheme His name and refuse to submit to Him amidst this time when He is punishing the nations. The DAY OF THE LORD begins with the SEVEN TRUMPET PLAGUES. The first four of these plagues involve certain destruction to

the earth, trees and vegetation, seas and rivers. Then the final three plagues usher war back onto the scene. This will constitute one final world war. The seventh trumpet is multi-faceted. It consists of the seven last plagues (also called the Seven Vials of Wrath).

This final all-out war now begins.

The FIFTH TRUMPET PLAGUE (also called the FIRST WOE) lasts for a period of five months and involves warfare between the beast power of Europe and the hordes of the East. Revelation chapter 13 describes the military leader (the beast) and the religious leader, both of whom receive their strength and inspiration from the dragon—Satan. Daniel 11:40-43 shows some of the military exploits of the beast power of Europe, in which they conquer and dominate many countries in the Middle East. Verse 44 brings us to the FIFTH TRUMPET PLAGUE, in which this king of the north—the European beast power—resumes the inevitable world war. It reads: “But tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him: therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many.”

In Revelation 9, John described the visions that he saw, pertaining to this gigantic battle. He described in the language of his time what was intended to portray various modern military implements, aircraft and assault helicopters. Verse 3 reads: “And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.” Next, the unusual account of verses 5-6 fit the description of chemical warfare. Then verse 7 continues: “And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle.” He then continued to describe these weapons in more symbolic detail.

Revelation 9:12-13 announces the SIXTH TRUMPET PLAGUE, which is the SECOND WOE. This describes the counter-attack of the hordes of the East against the beast power of Europe.

Now notice verses 17-18: “And thus I

saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone.

By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.” This sounds much like a nuclear holocaust.

Only by the use of thermonuclear bombs could such vast numbers die in this phase of the final world war. The fire could represent the intense thermal radiation effect, while the deadly smoke could represent the fallout resulting from the atomic trigger bombs that are required to detonate the huge hydrogen bombs.

Then the SEVENTH TRUMPET PLAGUE, which is the THIRD WOE, consists of the seven last plagues (also called vials of wrath) recorded in Revelation 16. The sixth of these final seven plagues sets the stage for a final battle to resist the Return of Jesus Christ. Notice the means by which these forces are mobilized, in verses 12-14: “And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared. 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.”

The gathering place for this battle is the mount of Megiddo or Armageddon, and has been a strategic area for east-west (and north-south) passage for commercial traders as well as armies, from ancient to modern times. The mobilization of this incredibly large force of over 200 million would fill the entire Valley of Jezreel for many miles to the west and northwest from Megiddo. Remember that the 200 million represent only those who come from the east and do not 15

include the remaining armies of the beast power and other nations beckoned to this event. At this point, the seventh plague ushers in the Great Earthquake, changing much of the topography of the earth. Of course, the main event heralded by this last trumpet is the most crucial pivotal event in all of human history—the Return of Jesus Christ.

This astounding event is covered 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 does judge and make war.” The kings and people of the earth are not gathered near Jerusalem to welcome His Return with open arms, but are gathered at Megiddo to resist and repel what they are deceived into thinking is a hostile invasion. Notice verse 19: “And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against Him that sat on the horse, and against His army.” Of course, Christ and His army are overwhelmingly victorious over these forces inspired by Satan in this battle—the battle of that great day of God Almighty.

This is the battle that the world calls “Armageddon” and fears as the end to civilization. What it does end is a civilization under Satan’s sway.

But civilization is to continue, now reaching new heights of peace,

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achievement and fulfillment never before possible under the sway and restraints of Satan’s realm. Satan is now taken away (Rev. 20:1-3). The government of God is restored to the earth and the millennium begins! At last, a righteous government and a righteous King reign supreme, as portrayed in Psalm 98:9: “…for He comes to judge the earth: with righteousness shall He judge the world, and the people with equity.”

As Christ and His resurrected saints rule in the government of God, war is no longer a crucible used by the nations, since Satan and his demoniac realm are now put away. The nations can learn to live together in peace.

This is eloquently pictured in Isaiah 2:2-4: “And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD’S house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come you, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. And He shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, NEITHER SHALL THEY LEARN

WAR ANY MORE” (Read our free booklet How WORLD PEACE Will Come).

We have just read the tremendous final outcome of the final wars, and of the establishment of the Kingdom of God on the earth. To conclude, we read a short quote by Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong, the very voice that provided the warning to modern Israel and all the nations of the world for over 50 years. Note carefully its dedicated, passionate tone, indicating how God’s people should proceed from this time forward. This excerpt is from a Member/Co-worker letter dated Dec. 18, 1983 (emphasis his): “In the Bible God says NUCLEAR WAR IS COMING—on our present generation. He sends me to proclaim to the world Christ’s true Gospel of the Kingdom—a VOICE CRYING OUT IN THE SPIRITUAL WILDERNESS OF RELIGIOUS CONFUSION! The GREAT TRIBULATION—nuclear war—will come! But for the elect’s sake (GOD’S CHURCH), God will cut the nuclear war short BEFORE all mankind is blotted out of existence!

Millions and billions will be destroyed—AND SOON! But God will protect us in his Church!

“Brethren and co-workers, these are the most momentous days of earth’s history. NOTHING ELSE MATTERS FROM NOW ON! Our ALL should be dedicated to GOD’S USE, to warn as many millions as we may.” F

Read the following booklets to get a better perspective of what will happen next. Your physical life and spiritual life depend on it.

• REVELATION Explained at last!

• Are these the LAST DAYS? • Where is God’s TRUE CHURCH? • A WORLD IN CAPTIVITY • TOMORROW’S WONDERFUL WORLD – An Inside View!

• How WORLD PEACE Will Come • AMERICA AND BRITAIN IN BIBLE PROPHECY • Should You Obey THE TEN COMMANDMENTS? • God’s Promised Protection – PLACE OF SAFETY or Secret Rapture?

Copyright Š 2003 The Restored Church of God Printed in the USA. All rights reserved EW003/041014