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WAR, PEACE AND
THE END?
March 20, 2003, saw a coalition of
armed forces from the United Sates of America, Britain and Australia
invade the Middle Eastern country of Iraq in order to liberate its
citizens from the oppressive regime of Saddam Hussein and to uncover and
destroy the country’s ‘weapons of mass destruction’. There was deep
concern over unilateral action without the approval and support of the
United Nations. Seemingly frustrated with the UN’s inability to resolve
the situation or take decisive action, the US, and its President, George
W. Bush (following the direction of his advisors) went in anyway – with
the involvement and staunch support of the British and Australian Prime
Ministers.
Peace
protesters marched against the war with Iraq in numerous countries around
the world. Militant Muslim extremists threatened revenge.
Saddam Hussein and his cohorts arrogantly defied US demands for him to
step down, and belligerently assured the world that
Iraq would fight and succeed in driving out all
invading forces.
Numerous Christians around the world
began to predict that this war would be the war to end all wars.
Many saw it as a sign of The End.
End Time interpreters have ‘seen’
biblical prophecies being fulfilled in Iraq as a result of selecting
verses from Revelation 9 which mentions
‘the angel of the
Abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek, Apollyon’
and also
‘the great river
Euphrates’, while Revelation 16
makes mention of the sixth angel pouring out God’s wrath
on the
‘the great river
Euphrates’ and also mentions
the gathering of Kings at Armageddon (Har Megiddo) and the fury of God’s
wrath coming down on
‘Babylon the Great’.
These
people are quick to point out that the meaning of the name of
‘the angel of the
Abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek, Apollyon’ is Destroyer, apparently also one of
several meanings for the name Saddam.
Some
wasted no time getting onto the bandwagon, as is seen in the advertisement
and write-up for a prophecy video tape just before the March Iraq war
began:
‘Name: The Iraqi War in
Bible Prophecy (VHS) Description: The Iraqi War in Bible Prophecy
The world thought
September 11, 2001 was a day to remember! Wait until they experience what
the Bible says will occur in the very near future, a war that will kill
one-third of mankind.
Newly released video
by … (Also available on DVD!)
Respond now and
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in the Bible. It is the first lesson from the landmark prophecy teaching
series, “Understanding the Endtime”
Gulf War 2. It seems
to be upon us, whether or not we want it, for whatever reasons. The world
has come to a critical fork in the road of human history, as the countdown
for Jesus’s return continues. Spiritual preparation for what lies ahead is
paramount, regardless of which fork in the road the human race chooses.’
One of America’s prophetic ‘experts’
publicly declared that the war with Iraq would result in tremendous
numbers of casualties amongst the combatants AND amongst people in
neighbouring countries who would be struck by retaliatory missiles of mass
destruction AND that Americans would fall victim to terrorists armed with
portable nuclear weapons.
In addition, with the Americans at war in
Iraq, China would seize the opportunity to try and retake Taiwan, and/or
India would make an all-out assault on Kashmir. This would lead to World War III,
resulting in a nuclear holocaust that would take the lives of 2 billion
people, the ‘one-third of mankind’ stated in Revelation, according to this
End Times expert.
Another End Times expert, an avowed ‘pretribulationist’,
declared that true believers in Jesus would soon be raptured, while
everyone else would face seven years of ‘hell on Earth,’ Armageddon, and
the return of Jesus in the Glorious Appearing — all occurring before
Jesus’ 1,000-year reign on Earth.
All this would occur after the Americans
got Saddam Hussein out of the way, had sanctions against Iraq lifted, and
restored the oil wells to full production capacity. Iraq (Babylon)
would then regain full power and allow the Antichrist to mount an army for
an assault on Israel. According this particular ‘prophetic expert’, the
stage would thus be set for
‘the Rapture,
Armageddon, the Glorious Appearing and the other stages’.
In reality the March 2003 war with Iraq
went very swiftly. Anticipated all out massive resistance battles,
especially from the elite and apparently fierce Republican Guards, did not
eventuate. After only six weeks the major hostilities were
formerly declared to be over by US President Bush. By that stage
Saddam had long disappeared (either dead or in hiding); army units
and weaponry destroyed; no weapons of mass destruction found; museums
looted of priceless world heritage artefacts; efforts begun on restoring
essential utilities and infrastructure; old Iraqi Communist party members
sang their songs in public for the first time in some 30, and Shi’ite
Muslims openly held public rallies calling for the departure of the
Americans and the establishment of an Islam Republic; humanitarian and
relief efforts were intensifying and reconstruction was under way.
During the conflict no neighbouring
country suffered catastrophic numbers of casualties as a result of
retaliatory missile strikes, while the greatest number of combatant
casualties on the allied side came from so-called ‘friendly fire.’
Easter was celebrated by most of the
Western world as the war was coming to a conclusion. Amidst calls
for an end to hostilities in Iraq and a focus on longed for peace,
Christians around the world prayed for peace and the end of suffering
amongst the civilian population of
Iraq (and others caught in conflict
not of their own choice). This was done as Christians celebrated
Easter and remembered the One who conquered that final conflict enemy –
death.
It was Jesus who called the peacemakers
blessed, and declared that he would bring his peace:
‘Peace I leave with
you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not
let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid’.
(John
14:27)
It was Jesus who prevented his followers,
especially Peter, from protecting him against violent hostility with the
use of violent force. He told them that he had access to enormous
and potentially destructive forces, but using them was not his way of
doing things, especially in that situation.
‘“Put your sword back
in its place,” Jesus said to him, ‘for all who draw the sword will die by
the sword. Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once
put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels? But how then
would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way?”’ (Matthew
26:52-54)
Reflecting the spirit and teachings of
Jesus, the Apostle Paul expressed:
‘By the meekness and
gentleness of Christ, I appeal to you—I, Paul, who am “timid” when face to
face with you, but “bold” when away! I beg you that when I come I may not
have to be as bold as I expect to be toward some people who think that we
live by the standards of this world. For though we live in the world, we
do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the
weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish
strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself
up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make
it obedient to Christ.’
(2
Corinthians 10:1-5)
May the true peace process begin with
each one of us – by each one of us taking every thought captive to make it
obedient to Christ!
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