War News Forecast
Introduction: The Echoes of Conflict
In a world perpetually reverberating with the sounds of conflict, it is easy to become numb to the headlines. Yet, for those who “follow the Lamb withersoever He goeth,” these echoes are not mere background noise — they are prophetic signposts.
The Saviour Himself predicted with terrible exactness that fearful conflict climaxing over nineteen centuries of “wars and rumors of wars” when He declared:
“Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.” Matt. 24:7, 8.
To understand the present and anticipate the future, we must revisit the past with prophetic insight. The book of Nahum offers a startlingly relevant war news forecast for our era. Indeed, the all-consuming concern of the entire book, but three short chapters in all, centers in the preparation for a modern war, the war itself, and the titles of the powers involved.
The Prophetic Lens: Nahum and the Machinery of War
Nah. 2:1 — “He that dasheth in pieces is come up before thy face: keep the munition, watch the way, make thy loins strong, fortify thy power mightily.”
He predicts that the one who starts this war, “he that dasheth in pieces,” will have been well prepared before he starts the war, but that his opposing power, Assyria (Nah. 1), will not have been prepared until after the war begins; that is, after the one who “dasheth in pieces” comes before Assyria’s face, then it is that Assyria makes preparation to meet him. Then it is that she makes her loins strong, and fortifies her “power mightily.”
Now, since it is a known fact that Great Britain and France were not prepared to fight Hitler when he opened up his guns against them, and as everyone of the Allies began to prepare themselves mightily after Hitler started to dash in pieces, the truth stands out as clear as crystal that
- “He who dasheth in pieces” is none other than Hitler — an acquired title earned by virtue of his exploits, anomalous character, unprecedented might, and military genius — the one that was ready at the commencement of the war, the one who broke in several pieces Germany itself, the British empire and many other countries.
- The Allies, therefore, must be the antitypical Assyria.
He continues, describing the scene lifted from a modern battlefield:
Nah. 2:3. — “The shield of his mighty men is made red, the valiant men are in scarlet: the chariots shall be with flaming torches in the day of his preparation, and the fir trees shall be terribly shaken.”
These are not the chariots of antiquity, but vehicles blazing with powerful electric headlights (flaming torches), racing through city streets at unprecedented speeds.
Nah. 2:4 — “The chariots shall rage in the streets, they shall justle one against another in the broad ways: they shall seem like torches, they shall run like the lightnings.”
There is no escaping the conclusion that these two belligerent powers plunge into war with each other at a time when everything vehicular is geared to extraordinary speed, and that their feverish preparations for combat must therefore include an intensified armamemt of their fighting forces with fast-moving “chariots.”
This setting of advanced mechanization could not have been World War I, because the preparation for that conflagration was in process when the machine age was just but in its infancy. Even when War I was on, the chariots were too few, too feeble, and too slow to jostle one against another in the manner envisioned.
World War II: The Fulfillment of Prophecy
World War II is the only war in history for which the preparations described by Nahum were made and used while the “chariots” (vehicular traffic) moved with unparalleled, “lightning-like” speed, while motor traffic in air and sea, in city and countryside (streets and broadways), “justled one against another.”
Daniel also, was told that in “the time of the end, many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.” Dan. 12:4.
When Does The Time Of The End Begin? - Let us read Dan. 11:35 — “And some of them of understanding shall fall, to try them, and to purge them, and to make them white, even to the time of the end: because it is yet for a time appointed.” Here you note that God’s people were to fall,… All these signposts mark the time the war is fought, and leave no room for doubts. They all in perfect terms certify that Nahum predicts World War II.
Though Nahum predicts the “fall of Assyria” in connection with “he that dasheth in pieces,” it does not say that he that dashes in pieces is himself to finish off Assyria, as one would naturally be inclined to conclude.
In fact, the prophecy says that “his worthies” (the worthies of the one that dasheth in pieces), were not to win, but that they were to “stumble in their walk,” stumble while on their march to victory —
Nah. 2:5 — “He shall recount his worthies: they shall stumble in their walk; they shall make haste to the wall thereof, and the defence shall be prepared.”
To “recount his worthies” implies that the number of worthies — captains and generals and other mighty men along with his fine army — is diminishing and hence the need of recounting.
Hitler caused his worthies to stumble by waging war against Russia while in war with Great Britain, and by going after Greece and Egypt rather than crossing the English channel. That critical moment of his career was Hitler’s greatest folly. England was just about to surrender, but the German army pulled away and went to fight Russia!
Furthermore, the fall of his worthies being mentioned before the fall of Assyria is mentioned, reveals that Hitler was to fall first. Thus his worthies stumbled and never rose again. Finally, Hitler disappeared and hostilities ceased. After Nahum 2:5 there is no more mention of him that dasheth in pieces, showing that he is out of the way.
The War That Never Ended
But according to Nahum’s prophecy, World War II is not as yet completed. The world itself knew that it was not, and that the Allies, save Russia, won nothing; that they would have been better off to have given to Hitler part of Poland than to fight the war and then to lose out to Russia not only a part but whole of Poland, and with it the whole of Eastern Europe.
Moreover, there seems to have been no complete settlement with the powers which fought in the war as of yet. Following the cessation of hostilities, conditions have caused the world to consolidate into two great and hostile blocks, — the Western and the Eastern blocks, — not to mention the wars and rumors of wars all around us.
This happened because Great Britain allied with atheistic Russia, a government that was against God and His church. Thus Great Britain put greater trust in God’s enemy than in God Himself, and that is why the war is yet to be really fought.
Besides, Russia became their greater enemy than was Hitler. They did away with Hitler, but the hot war never completely ceased, and the “Cold War” was soon added to it. Everyone knows that war tensions are not settled, that peace has not come, and that the war may break out red hot again any day.
Over and above that, according to current events as broadcast by news reports everywhere, the multiple ongoing wars (Russia-Ukraine, Israel-Palestine etc.) are showing no indications of ceasing, but only making a turn for the worse; yes — and it is only a matter of time before they become even hotter than the war previous to Hitler’s disappearance.
This in itself is evidence enough that the world now, during this period of international unrest such as it has never before had — unrest that is caused by every existing element — is to give birth to something. As so far as we see it now, all things seem to be on the way to quick fulfillment.
“We are standing on the threshold of great and solemn events. Many of the prophecies are about to be fulfilled in quick succession. Every element of power is about to be set to work. Past history will be repeated; old controversies will arouse to new life, and peril will beset God’s people on every side. Intensity is taking hold of the human family. It is permeating everything upon the earth.” — Testimonies to Ministers, p. 116.
In 1948, while the cold war was on and the nations armed themselves for the next phase of conflict, the religious world was also undergoing a transformation —
The Rise of Church and State
The formation of the World Council of Churches (WCC) in Amsterdam marked a significant step toward ecumenical unity, which they openly declare in their mission statements.
We are therefore headed for the church and state government which BABYLON THE GREAT symbolizes while riding the scarlet-colored beast of Revelation 17 — both united in opposition to God’s true people.
Thus it is seen that the world, in its quest for stability, is as it were jumping out of the fire and falling into the frying pan, only because it is not taking God into partnership; it is unwittingly preparing to “saddle the beast.”
12. A World Government, And The Only People Who Will Not Bow Down To It - This symbolic forecast of the world government to be set up, plainly points out that the coming world government is to be neither the U.N., nor Communism, but an ecclesiastical power. We know that it is not Communism, because Communism is against religion, and the beast is for it. So when the war gets “hot” again, Babylon may then replace the United Nations thereafter.
Just how this is to come about, we do not know at this time; but we do know that the greatest of all wars is to be fought about the Holy Land:
The Coming Crisis: Jerusalem and the Gathering of Nations
Zechariah 14:1, 2 —“Behold,” says the Lord, “the day of the Lord cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee. For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.”
No wonder then that the nations are now engaged in a feverish super armament race, and the whole world is on the verge of plunging into the bloodiest conflict ever known.
World War 3 and the Remnant’s Deliverance - Introduction Zechariah 14 begins with the dramatic announcement of a World War involving all nations of the earth: Zech. 14:1, 2 — “Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee. For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the… God’s Call to His People
God’s counsel to us is that we need not fear anything if we fear the Him. Let us make Him our fear, our dread and protection:
Isaiah 8:12, 13 — “Say ye not, A confederacy, to all them to whom this people shall say, A confederacy; neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid. Sanctify the Lord of hosts Himself; and let Him be your fear, and let Him be your dread”
Our security is not found in human alliances or in the plans of men, but in a wholehearted trust in God. To “sanctify the Lord” is to place Him at the center of our lives, to rely on His guidance above all else. Even if we stand alone, God will not fail us.
From the dawn of history till today, the great nations that have fallen fell when they were best armed and most independent of God. This should be a great lesson to all, but who realizes it!
The world sees communism as a hydra-headed monster behind a bush, and the nations are already, so to speak, smiting their knees one against the other while they look at it. Their safety, however, does not depend on fear and armament, nor on the man America elects for president, but on God, on Him Who holds the earth in space, and Who still rules the affairs of mankind.
God wants us to search the Bible and to implicitly believe that not one of Its prophecies shall fail, — no, not one shall fail to follow another in its turn. And why should we have this confidence? — Because God Himself has commanded, and because His Spirit, not the wisdom or efforts of men has gathered into a single volume, the writings of the prophets of old, “the book of the Lord” — the non-sectarian Bible as we know It today.
In the same vein, Nahum’s prophecy also points to a spiritual work in the Church taking place in parallel with the global conflict.
The Separation of Wheat and Tares
Nah. 1:15 — “Behold upon the mountains the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace! O Judah, keep thy solemn feasts, perform thy vows: for the wicked shall no more pass through thee; he is utterly cut off.”
Here we are told that at the time the war is fought, someone is to be publishing inspired revelations of newly revealed Truth, the Truth of the Judgment of the Living, the which is to forever separate the wheat from the tares (Matt. 13:30), the good fish from the bad (Matt. 13:47, 48), the sheep from the goats (Matt. 25:32), and the wise virgins from the foolish ones (Matt. 25:1–12). These shall “no more pass through” the church, declares the scripture, they are “utterly cut off.
But in all her history, the church as a whole has never accepted a message from heaven. The call therefore comes to each individual member. Each must decide for himself. No one should allow himself to be influenced by another. And
“…no one has a right to shut away the light from the people. When a message comes in the name of the Lord to His people, no one may excuse himself from an investigation of its claims….It was from pursuing this very course that the popular churches were left in partial darkness, and that is why the messages of heaven have not reached them.” — Testimonies on Sabbath School Work, p. 65; Counsels on Sabbath School Work, p. 28.
2. Who Is The Elijah Of Today? - “Prophecy must be fulfilled. The Lord says: ‘Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.’ Somebody is to come in the spirit and power of Elijah, and when he appears, men may say: ‘You are too earnest, you do not… With these positive signs of the times, Inspiration lets each individual decide for himself whether to put confidence in the Voice which Inspiration Itself recommends, or in a voice which uninspired human beings recommend. Henceforth there is to be no confusion among God’s true people. His
“…watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall they sing: for they shall see eye to eye, when the Lord shall bring again Zion.” (Isa. 52:8.)
