The Atomic Age – What’s next?

Signs of the Times

Why did Christ reprove the Pharisees and the Sadducees?

“Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times.”

Matthew 16:3.    

What are several signs given by the prophets which identified Christ, at His ‘first” coming, as the Messiah?

‘Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.” Isaiah 7:14. For fulfillment see Mathew 1:22, 23. “All this took place to fulfill what the Lord has said through the prophet: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” which means, “God with us.” “But thou, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from old, from ancient times.” Micah 5:2. For fulfillment see Matthew 2:1.  “After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who was to be born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.” “Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” Zechariah 9:9. See fulfillment see Matthew 21: 4, 5.

What did the disciples ask about Christ’s “second” coming?

“As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” Matthew 24:3.

What were to be the signs “on earth” of Christ’s coming?

‘There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. Men will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken.” Luke 21: 25,26.

Distress, Perplexity, Fear

What critical situation was to characterize the nations?

“Nations will be in anguish and perplexity.” Luke 21:25. 

Note – Stop for a few moments of serious reflection. Look at the nations of the world today in 2010. Nuclear war is possible because many nations have nuclear weapons of mass destruction. Currently North Korea, Pakistan, India, Japan, Germany, Iran, France, Britain, Russia, Israel and the United States have a vast array of Nuclear weapons of mass destruction. The Lord is currently keeping vigil over the nations of the world and soon, there will be an attempt by a rogue nation to use nuclear warfare in an attempt to annihilate their enemies. I personally believe that the Lord will permit a possible nuclear exchange, so when people cry out, peace and safety, sudden destruction will soon follow and ten of millions of people could be destroyed in this attack. That is how close we are to the end of time we are here now!

What attitude is manifested among men today?

“Men will faint from terror.” Verse 26.

What is it that men fear?

“Apprehensive of what is coming on the world.” Luke 21:26.

What declaration of Jeremiah concerning the plans and predictions of many of the great men of his day aptly describes the situation today?

‘The wise will be put to shame; they will be dismayed and trapped. Since they have rejected the word of the Lord, what kind of wisdom do they have?” Jeremiah 8:9.

What does the Bible point to be the cause of the world’s peril?

“But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God – having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.”

2 Timothy 3:1-5.

Note – The trouble is with man himself. It is not the weapon so much as it is the human beings who may wish to use it that constitutes the real danger. The nuclear bomb is of such tremendous power in the hands of evil men, they soon forget all the after effects of an nuclear bomb explosion what it will do to thousands of square miles of land that cannot be used for thousands of years due to the intensity of radiation fallout.  One example is the Chernobyl disaster on April 26, 1986 at 01:23 a.m. (UTC+3) reactor number four at the Chernobyl plant, near Pripyat in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, exploded. Further explosions and the resulting fire sent a plume of highly radioactive fallout into the astrosphere and over an extensive geographical area. Four hundred times the amount of fallout was released than had been the atomic bombing of Hiroshima.

The plume drifted over large parts of the western Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, and Northern Europe, with some nuclear rain falling as far as Ireland. Large areas in Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia were badly contaminated, resulting in the evaluation and resettlement of over 336,000 people. According to official post-Soviet data, about 60% of the radioactive fallout landed in Belarus.

The accident raised concerns about the safety of the Soviet nuclear power industry as well as nuclear power in general, showing its expansion for a number of years while forcing the Soviet government to become less secretive. There were 56 direct deaths, 800,000 (est.) suffered radiation exposure, which may result in as many as 4,000 cancer deaths over the lifetime of those exposed. In addition to the approximately 100,000 fatal cancers to be expected from all other causes in this population you can see what a real nuclear explosion could do if it were detonated close to a major city in the world.

Of what is all this an evidence?

The nearness of a great change – the closeness of the Great Tribulation and the end of time as we know it.

What prophetic passage from Scripture, once ignored, now bursts into prominence and is quoted by men of the world?

“But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed it’s coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat.” 2 Peter 3:10-12.  (See also Isaiah 13: 6-11.)

What do all these admonitions and warning mean to you and me?

“To live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day God and speed it’s coming.”  

2 Peter 3: 11.

What may we expect to follow this destruction?

“But in keeping with this promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of the righteousness. So then dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him.”

2 Peter 3:13,14.

Note – A new heaven and a new earth, when all things that are have passed away and old things will have been made new – these conditions are possible only after the world ends. With the threat of nuclear war man now has nuclear bombs that are 100 times deadlier than the ones dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki Japan during World War II. Man now has a new weapon called the Electromagnetic pulse. The term electromagnetic pulse (sometimes abbreviated EMP) has the following meaning.

1.   A burst of electromagnetic radiation that results from an explosion (especially a nuclear explosion) or a suddenly fluctuating magnetic field. The resulting electric and magnetic fields may couple with electrical/electronic systems to produce damaging current and voltage surges.

2.   A broadband, high-intensity, short-duration burst of electromagnetic energy.

In military terminology, an EMP bomb detonated hundreds of kilometers above the earth’s surface is known as a high-attitude electromagnetic pulse (HEMP) device. Nuclear electromagnetic bombs have three distinct time components that result from different physical phenomena. Effects of an EMP device depend on the altitude of the detonation, energy field, interactions with the Earth’s magnetic field, and shielding of targets.

As you can see from the sophistication of this new weapon, the devil will use evil men to further his agenda during the final days of Earth’s history and possibly get evil men to launch these missiles of destruction at Jesus when He is approaching Earth during the Second Coming of Christ.

To what are many Christians looking forward in this nuclear age?

To the coming of Jesus Christ in the clouds of glory and living with our Savior, the Father, Holy Spirit, angels and the redeemed of Earth forever and ever.  

Note – There is one possibility that could cause all of God’s saints to pray for the same thing at the same time, namely, nuclear war. Here is a possible scenario. One day, simmering hostilities could erupt and quickly escalate into a nuclear exchange. Ten of millions could die in this war. This war could affect our struggling economy and immediately affect the distribution of oil, food, clothing, building materials, and commerce of all kinds. If nations joined in, this war could quickly become a fearful event for most everyone on Earth. If such a war occurred – and the global consequences would be far reaching – the whole world would cry out (demand) “peace and safety.” In other words, a nuclear exchange could bring all of God’s people to the point of praying for God’s intervention.

Paul wrote: “While people are [frantically] saying, ‘Peace and safety,’ destruction [from God] will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. But you brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief.” (1 Thessalonians 5:3,4, insertions mine)

There is no reason to be surprised about sudden destruction coming from God if we allow Revelation 8 to speak. We can be sure of two things. First, it’s only a matter of time until there is a nuclear exchange. Second, if a nuclear exchange occurs, human efforts will be made to stop the war for the sake of global “peace and safety.” The problem is that the speed of intercontinental missiles is measured in seconds, but getting nations to negotiate peace can take years. Besides, once nuclear bombs threaten a nation’s sovereignty and survival, what would be the point of nay nation using restraint against such an enemy? The maxim for nuclear was is simple: “Annihilate or be annihilated.”