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World War III
Will
There Be a World War III?
by
Jim Haeffele
Many wars have been fought since World War
II. Has man learned how to avoid world war or are we living on borrowed time?
Does the Bible predict World War III?
Will There Be a World War III
In the 20th century two world wars were
fought just a little over 20 years apart.
As I write, it has now been 70 years since
the end of World War II.
Man’s capacity to wage world war today
exceeds anything previous generations could imagine.
The world has seen many regional wars during
these 70 years, and there are many wars going on at the present time.
What would it take for one of today’s wars to
escalate into World War III?
Will there be another world war? The
definitive answer to such a question can only be found in the Word of God.
We believe we are living in the biblical age
that many call the end times.
The Bible speaks of
major world events to take place at “the time of the end” (Daniel 11:35, 40;
12:4, 9)
— the time before the second coming of Jesus Christ.
These prophecies of the Bible provide the answer
to the question: Will there be a World War III?
As we begin, we acknowledge that the Bible
doesn’t use the phrase World War III.
While the Bible uses different terminology,
from man’s perspective there are several prophesied events that may come to be
known as World War III.
Of course, humans have always had wars, and
we can’t rule out the possibility of another war involving the majority of the
world even before these prophesied events occur.
With this disclaimer, let’s now consider
biblically prophesied wars that are going to have dire consequences for
mankind.
Prophecies of war
Jesus Christ spoke of
major world events to come before His return in what is called His Olivet
Prophecy. His disciples began by asking Him, “What will be the sign of Your
coming, and of the end of the age?” (Matthew 24:3).
Christ’s reply
included this warning of an unprecedented time of trouble: “For then there
will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the
world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. And unless those days were
shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be
shortened” (verses
21-22).
What does this mean for us today?
Jesus was saying this Great Tribulation will
be far worse than anything the world has ever experienced.
This means the loss of life will be greater
than that of World War II, in which more than 50 million people died.
He also said the days
of this “great tribulation” will be “shortened for the elect’s sake”
or no one would be left alive.
While Jesus indicates that the crisis of this
tribulation will involve other factors (including natural disasters, famine and
religious persecution), the description in these two verses strongly indicates
there will be at least one more world-encompassing conflict in the end times
before the return of Jesus Christ.
Great Tribulation
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What does the Bible say about events Jesus
described as “great tribulation” (Matthew 24:21) that will result in massive loss of
life?
A careful study shows that this future time
of intense suffering includes the impact of the second seal (widespread war,
described in Revelation 6:3-4) and the fifth seal (verses 9-11, religious persecution).
In Daniel 11:40-43 there is an amazing
prophecy of a war between the king of the South and the king of the North.
The setting is the time of the end (verse 40) when the king of the
South (likely based in either North Africa or the Middle East) will attack the
king of the North (a leader based in Europe).
The king of the North will at some point
counterattack with an enormous army and naval force crossing the Mediterranean,
invading North Africa and entering the “Glorious Land,” which today is Israel (verses 40-43).
At that time an unusual event will be
occurring in Jerusalem. It is explained by Jesus Christ in the Olivet Prophecy.
Religion’s role in the Great Tribulation
In Matthew 24:15
Jesus warns, “Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken
of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (whoever reads, let him
understand).”
This event will take place at a time when the
evening and morning sacrifices have been reinstituted at a location that is
holy to the Jews.
The sacrifices will be stopped by this
invasion and an “abomination of desolation” will be set up in their
place.
Jesus goes on to explain that, beginning with
this invasion and the setting up of this abomination, the world enters into a
time of “great tribulation.”
Due to the scope of this impending struggle
and the number of men involved in the fighting, “World War III” may indeed be
the human description of this conflict (verses 17-21; Luke 21:20-24).
The abomination of desolation was spoken of
by the prophet Daniel in several chapters (Daniel 8; 9:27; 11:31; 12:11).
It would have two fulfillments, and the first
one historically occurred in the 160s B.C. (Daniel 11:31).
Almost 200 years later Jesus prophesied that
the second abomination would occur before His second coming.
Unlike the first two world wars of the 20th
century, this world-encompassing conflict will see religion playing a major
role.
In Revelation
13:13-14 Jesus tells John through His angel about an end-time religious figure
who deceives the masses: “He performs great signs, so that he even makes
fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men. And he deceives
those who dwell on the earth by those signs which he was granted to do in the
sight of the beast” (emphasis added throughout).
Many people will be willing to fight and die
because they will be deceived by these signs.
This religious figure
and his deceptive religion have a name in the book of Revelation: “Mystery,
Babylon the Great” (Revelation
17:5).
Religious deception did not play as big of a
role in World War I and II, but that will not be the case in the time of the
prophesied world war.
True believers will need to be patient, keep
the commandments of God and have the “faith of Jesus” to survive and
avoid being deceived (Revelation
14:12).
The length of the prophesied tribulation
The Great Tribulation will last for 3½ years (Daniel 7:25; 12:7;
Revelation 12:14; 13:5).
In the time leading up to these biblically
prophesied events, Jesus said man’s overall mind-set would become quite
complacent to what is unfolding around him.
The book of Revelation reveals that seven
trumpet plagues will follow the seals and bring great suffering upon all who
will choose to follow a leader referred to as “the beast.”
The majority of the earth’s inhabitants will
give allegiance to this leader and, as a result, suffer the consequences of
this misguided decision.
The last three of the seven trumpets are
called woes because of their severity.
The second woe (the sixth trumpet) will
result in the deaths of a third of mankind (Revelation 9:15-18).
Armageddon
If humans do not designate the Great
Tribulation or events preceding it as a world war or world wars, another
biblically prophesied end-time event most surely will be recognized as such.
This war was spoken of by God through the Old
Testament prophets.
The prophet Joel was
inspired to write in the eighth century B.C., “Let the nations be wakened,
and come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat [many authorities feel this refers to
the Kidron Valley bordering Jerusalem on the east]. … Multitudes, multitudes in
the valley of decision! For the day of the LORD is near in the valley of
decision” (Joel
3:12, 14).
This battle of
mankind’s remaining armies against Christ is also prophesied in the book of Zechariah: “Behold the day of the LORD is coming. …
For I will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem” (Zechariah 14:1-2).
The final outcome is decided when Jesus
Christ sets His feet on the Mount of Olives (verse 4) to become king over all the earth (verse 9).
While many refer to this battle by the armies
of all nations against Jesus Christ as Armageddon, this term is simply the name
of the area northwest of Jerusalem where the armies will gather before
advancing to Jerusalem to fight Christ.
As the sixth of the
final plagues of the book of Revelation explains, the name of this final war of
this present age is “the battle of that great day of God Almighty” (Revelation 16:14).
A description of Jesus returning to earth to
fight these armies and their utter destruction is found in Revelation 19:11-21
and Zechariah 14:3-4, 12.
Are we complacent to what is coming?
While it remains to be seen which future
conflict might be called World War III, there is an even more sobering and
important concept for us to consider.
In the end times leading up to these
biblically prophesied events, Jesus said man’s overall mind-set would become
quite complacent to what is unfolding around him.
Jesus said, “For
as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and
giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know
until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son
of Man be” (Matthew
24:37-39).
This complacency will include many religious
people who will mistakenly believe they are doing what God desires.
In the Sermon on the
Mount Jesus said, “Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not
prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in
Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me,
you who practice lawlessness!’” (Matthew 7:22-23).
Jim
Haeffele
is a church pastor in the Church of God, a Worldwide Association. He currently
pastors congregations in Fort Myers, Miami and West Palm Beach, Florida. He has
served in the ministry of the Church of God for over 46 years. During those
years he and his wife, Lois, have served congregations from Portland, Oregon,
where he grew up, to Utah, Ohio, North Carolina, and now Florida.
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