Since the second world war mankind has entered into a new age.
During the war thousands of planes flew over Germany scattering death and destruction such as had not been seen by any previous generation. Whole cities were left in ruins. Never before had destruction in warfare reached such a crescendo—surely this was the peak of man’s destructive powers!
But even while the cities of Germany and England lay in ruins, a new age of terror was heralded to the nations. Hiroshima and Nagasaki were to prove to the world that twentieth-century scientists had reached a new peak of brilliance, but looking back from 1965 we cannot but conclude that this peak was not matched by a corresponding summit of wisdom.
Twenty years of this nuclear age have only served to bring fear and dread to humanity, who, as it were, cower in the shadow of catastrophe.
America endeavours to prevent the march of Chinese Communism into South-East Asia. Can she succeed in Vietnam when France failed in Cambodia?
Even if American arms succeed, the victory gained can only be perpetuated by actual occupation. Should United States troops move out, surely China’s forces will roll in like a flood.
Will the forces of evil conquer the world and righteousness and peace be forever extinguished?
Recently several famous people have made remarks which show that there are still some “straight thinkers” in high places.
They but emphasise the need for us to redouble our efforts to warn this generation, to “cease ye from man whose breath is in his nostrils, for wherein is he to be accounted of?”
Only in the Bible can man find hope for the future.
In a recent book, “America faces the nuclear age”, the historian Toynbee is quoted thus:
“Man is ethically unprepared for so great a bounty. In the slower evolution of morals he is still unfit for the tremendous responsibility it entails. The command of nature has been put into his hands before he knows how to command himself.”
Omar Bradley, a Second World War General of United States forces, is quoted as saying:
“Humanity is in danger of being trapped in this world by its moral adolescence. Our knowledge of science has already outstripped our capacity to control it. We have too many men of science; too few men of God. We have grasped the mystery of the atom and rejected the Sermon on the Mount. Man is stumbling blindly through a spiritual darkness while toying with the precarious secrets of life and death. The world has achieved brilliance without wisdom, power without conscience. Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants.”
These writers have gone to the very core of the matter: the problems facing this age form a moral issue!
Man is astray from his Maker. The great barrier between God and man is sin. Only when men realize their need for forgiveness, the necessity of being clothed with the righteousness of Christ and seek God’s grace can they enjoy the “peace which passeth understanding”.
The cup of man’s iniquity is almost filled. It seems as though, metaphorically, the last hours of this age are ticking away. The kingdoms of men are about to be replaced by the Kingdom of God, but not without a struggle.
In Revelation 11. 18 we are informed, “The nations were angry and thy wrath is come . . . and (God) shouldest destroy them which destroy (corrupt) the earth”. Peter in his second letter, chapter 3 verse 12, describes in graphic fashion the passing of an age. Even if his words were particularly addressed to the Jewish age, they find perhaps a greater fulfillment in the destruction of this Gentile Age, “Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the (political) heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat”.
We can thank God that He will not leave mankind to their own devices, He will intervene in world affairs. The manner of His intervention is described by Isaiah (chap. 2, vv. 1 7-2 1 ) : “The loftiness of man shall be made low; and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. . . . And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.”
The learning of mankind has produced “nuclear giants”. But as “the world by wisdom knows not God”, so they remain giants in learning only; spiritually and ethically the great of this age are only infants.
Surely God has hidden his wisdom from the “wise and prudent” and has revealed his plans for the world of tomorrow to babes, by worldly standards.
We have but a brief time in which to convey to the world about us God’s great message of salvation.
Let us rise to our responsibilities not only in preaching the Word to others, but also in preparing ourselves for that Great Day. Like David, we should not be daunted by the forces against us, but realize that greater by far is He who fights for us, to give us victory over the forces of evil, sin and death itself.
The forces of science which stand before us as a mighty colossus will yet be humbled by the “Root and Offspring” of David who vanquished Goliath of old.
The Borders of the Land of Israel