TRUE PEACE VERSES FALSE PEACE: PART FOUR

Nuclear War

Today soldiers do not use spears, swords and bows. Today we have the most powerful and the most destructive weapons ever known to man. Nuclear weapons are the most powerful and deadly weapons of all. A nuclear bomb dropped over a city would cause great loss of life and great destruction of property. And the radioactive fallout from the bomb could cause further loss of life to surrounding regions.

There is much talk today about NUCLEAR WAR. Many people are afraid of what might happen if men were to use nuclear weapons. Many fear that a nuclear war would begin and that missiles carrying bombs (perhaps launched by submarines) would be sent all over the world and that there would be no survivors. Is this possible? Could mankind be completely destroyed by a nuclear war? Is this how the world is going to come to an end?

The world that God has made is not going to be destroyed by nuclear weapons. It is theoretically possible, but it is not Biblically possible. What does the Bible teach about this? Why does the Bible teach that mankind cannot destroy itself?

Suppose everyone were to die in a nuclear war. If this were to happen, then would there be anyone left on earth when Christ returns? _____ Christ would have to return to an empty earth because everyone would have died in the war. But this is not what the Bible teaches. The Bible makes it clear that when Christ returns there will still be many people alive on the earth (see Psalm 2:2 and Revelation 19:11-19). Mankind will not be totally destroyed by war. This is not God’s plan. The Bible teaches that there will be people on earth.

There are people today who are afraid that the entire human race will be destroyed by nuclear war. If they knew and believed their Bible, they would realize that this could never happen because the Bible teaches that people will be living on the earth when Christ returns. A long time ago a similar situation took place. In the days of Esther there were people who were afraid that the entire Jewish race would be destroyed. And they had good reason for thinking this would happen (see Esther 3:13). But if the people had believed their Bibles, they would have known that this was impossible. God had promised that the nation Israel would never cease from being a nation (Jeremiah 31:35-37; 33:24-26). If the Jewish race had been destroyed then God would have been a liar!

The same thing is true today. According to what God has told us in His Word, the human race cannot be destroyed by nuclear war. There are people living on earth today. There will be people living on earth during the tribulation period (a seven year period prior to the Lord's coming to earth). There will be people living on earth during the thousand year reign of Christ. The Bible never envisions a time when the entire human race will be destroyed.

This does not mean that nuclear weapons will never be used. Such weapons of mass destruction have already been used! The United States used atomic weapons to bring World War Two to an end. Many people died because of the atomic bomb that was dropped, but many more people were saved because this terrible war came to a swift end because of these bombings. These bombs were dropped on Japan. Whether more atomic or nuclear bombs will be used in the future, God only knows.