Today, The Bible & You

Today’s Front Page

The Nation’s Christian Newspaper

December 2024

Are times of “Peace and Safety” coming?

With the recent election and President-elect Trump to end the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, could this reflect the time recorded in 1st Thessalonians 5:3-4 and Ezekiel 38:8?

 “When they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.  But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief” (1st Thessalonians 5:3-4).

  Speaking to Israel, God says, “After many days you shall be visited in the latter years you shall come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, (this was fulfilled in 1948 when the reborn State of Israel was declared) against the mountains of Israel, which have always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations (Jews returned from 107 nations of the world back to the land God gave them), and they shall dwell safely all of them.” (Ezekiel 38:8)

  Perhaps, if God used Trump to end the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, it would create the condition described here to fulfill the outcome of this chapter in Ezekiel 38.  Any peace that will come, cannot be a long-lasting peace.

 Right now, the world is in such turmoil that people are asking, “Are we seeing the winding up of history?  Could we be headed toward World War 3 and a nuclear holocaust?  Is the world spinning out of control?”

  Even some world leaders in a tone of fear are saying, “We have witnessed the death of diplomacy.” Negotiations with rogue countries have failed, and mad dictators ignore the warnings of  the United Nations.  We could now be facing the awful truth that tensions between nations can no longer be solved.

  Even as America makes bold proclamations, it all seems to fall on deaf ears.  For example, the U.S. has pledged to defend Japan if North Korea attacks that nation.  Our leaders have threatened to use “all the might and power of the United States to retaliate.”  This could mean the nuclear annihilation of North Korea.

  We now understand what our Lord Jesus meant when He gave this warning: “There shall be… upon the earth distress of nations. with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken” (Luke 21:25-26).

  When our Lord Jesus gave this warning, he added this statement: “Then shall they see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.  And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh” (Luke 21:27-28).

  As Christians in Paul’s day sensed the destruction of Jerusalem drawing near, they wanted to know more about prophetic events.  They were fearful over rumors about the ruthlessness of invading armies, who took multitudes captive into slavery. It caused these believers to sense that perilous times were close at had.  So they asked Paul to tell them more about what was to come.

  Paul responded with these words of assurance: “Of the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I write unto you.  For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night” (1st  Thessalonians 5:1-2).

  God describes to us what would take place when our Lord Jesus returns: “The Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.  Wherefore comfort one another with these words.” (1st Thessalonians 4:16-18)

  We can be sure that the swift current of events unfolding today, is carrying us toward God’s eternal purpose. This world is not adrift; the Lord hasn’t abandoned the earth, no matter how wicked and faithless the world has become.  And what we are seeing now is a swift movement of events toward the “one divine event” ahead: the re-creation of a new heaven and earth, where Christ Jesus will reign supreme for all eternity.

 

  For those who are students of God’s Word, we can know that history is racing toward the day of the Lord’s coming, when “The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.  Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God.” (2nd Peter 3:10-12)

 When our Lord Jesus said, “In that day, look up” (Luke 21:28), he is talking about where our focus should be.  Our focus is not to be on daily news reports.

 

  God is giving believers in every age a clue here.  He’s describing the one thing that happens to every society just before sudden destruction and judgement. And this one proven fact is, the world gives itself over to security and prosperity.

  Here is the evidence of coming destruction that never misses.  And God declared it by evidence of the past. Simply put, there is no instance in Scripture when God ever brought destruction upon a society except when they had given themselves over to an obsession with security and prosperity. God is saying, “Here is the rule, proven by history, concerning all of God’s destructive actions.  It happens in times when men are given over to the pursuit of prosperity and safety while turning away from the Lord.” 

 Politicians recently announced that they plan to introduce a bill in Congress to establish a Department of Peace and Safety.

  We are to beware of any talk of peace and prosperity when a fearful storm is coming into view.  It is then —- when peace and prosperity become the main pursuit, even as watchmen thunder and everyone knows only a miracle can save humankind — that we can expect sudden destruction.

  Our Lord Jesus drew an analogy between of Noah and Lot and the day of His own coming.  He said that in both instances people are eating, drinking, marrying, buying and selling. In other words, everyday activities go on as always, with involvement in things that are not inherently wicked.

  Yet, in Noah’s and Lot’s generations, the pursuit of these things obsessed an entire society. Everyday activities became the main focus, powerful diversions that held people in such a grip the warnings of the Holy Spirit were drowned out.

  According to our Savior, the same thing will happen in the last hour, just before sudden destruction.  The whole world will be given over to seeking security and prosperity, a preoccupation that will grip many even in the church. People’s entire focus will be on the things of the world, and they will forsake their steadfastness in faith.

  We’re already seeing many in the grip of such a mentality. Multitudes are convinced prosperity is the only way they can have peace.  And so people are in a mad race for prosperity, with speculators crushed by debt, others madly accumulating wealth, and riches being made on the backs of the poor. Beloved, that is precisely when sudden destruction comes.

  When that moment of sudden judgment

arrives, in what condition will the Lord

find His church?

  When our Creator and Redeemer returns, will He find His church in the grip of false prophets who preach a false peace, success, riches, and good times?  The prophet Jeremiah describes such a time in Israel’s history: “From the least of them even unto the greatest of them every one is given to covetousness; and from the prophet even unto the priest every one deals falsely.  They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace” (Jeremiah 6:13-14).

  Prosperity is not inherently evil.  Scripture makes it clear that God loves to bless His children. He gives us all things to enjoy. There is nothing evil about acquiring a lovely house, a nice car, good clothes, or eating in nice restaurants. We are encouraged to provide for our families, including building houses, buying, selling, sowing and reaping.

  It is when these things begin to consume us — taking up out time, our thoughts, our energies and activities, to neglect of seeking God — that our hearts begin to harden.  You see, when being comfortable is not enough — when buying, selling, and making money preoccupy our mind and soul — lukewarmness sets in.  And those who have given themselves over to seeking security and prosperity end up despising God’s warnings:

  When Noah prophesied that a great destruction was coming, he was mocked by his generation.  God writes, “According as it is written, God has given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see. and ears that they should not hear; unto this day” (Romans 11:8).

  Why do so many once-zealous Christians now turn away from godly reproof?  Why is there such judicial blindness?  And why does the self-centered, money-focused, wealth gospel entrap so many churches and believers?

   In recent weeks, one of the prosperity movement’s most famous preachers said of God’s Holy Word, “The Bible is simply a roadway to wealth.”  Another has promised, “Come to my church, and you’ll be assured of becoming wealthy.”

  When the Pharisees asked our blessed Savior to give them a sign, he responded, “O you hypocrites, you can discern the face of the sky; but you can not discern the signs of the times?  A wicked and adulterous  generation seeks after a sign, and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas” (Matthew 16:3-4), In Luke’s gospel Jesus added this word: “For as Jonas was a sign unto the Ninevites, so shall also the Son of man be to this generation” (Luke 11:30).

  Christ Jesus — His cross, His resurrection, His shed blood — is the only sign that’s needed.  He is our full satisfaction.

  The day of destruction is going to come suddenly.  In just one hour, all material things of this world will lose their value, becoming absolutely worthless.  We’re going to be left with nothing but Christ — yet we need nothing more.  He is the living Word we need.

 The Bible is the door to the revelation of Christ, who is our peace and our safety.  He is our riches, our wealth, our gold. William Tyndale knew this, and he printed the first Bible. To do so, Tyndale lived in abject poverty, exile, bitter absence of friends, hunger, and thirst, cold, horrible sufferings . . . and he died as a martyr.

  His eyes were on Jesus, the author  and finisher of our faith.

Printed with permission of Today, The Bible & You located at P.O. Box 1722, Broken Arrow, Oklahoma 74013, Phone Number (918) 279-1136 the name of the original article in the December 2024 issue of Today’s Front Page was “Are times of “Peace and Safety” coming?” www.JohnBarela.com