finds herself suffering the fulfillment of Christ’s prophecy concerning the end of this wicked system of things, namely, “There will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth anguish of nations, not knowing the way out because of the roaring of the sea and its agitation, while men become faint out of fear and expectation of the things coming upon the inhabited earth; for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.”—Luke 21:25, 26.

A WAR WORSE THAN INTERNATIONAL NUCLEAR WARFARE

32. What danger do men see, but what worse danger is more real than that, and why so?

³² Under the terror of these times men view the future from the purely human standpoint and publish the warning, “We are facing a danger unlike any danger that has ever existed.” They see only the danger of international nuclear war, the mere radioactive fallout from which would rain down a stealthy, noiseless death upon all mankind for generations to come. That is disastrous enough. However, Jesus Christ and the other prophets of Jehovah God forewarned of a danger worse than what our most advanced scientists or most discerning statesmen have envisaged. It is the danger of what the last book of the Holy Bible calls “the war of the great day of God the Almighty,” for which the kings of the entire inhabited earth and their armies are described as being gathered to the symbolic place called Armageddon. (Rev. 16:14-16) The danger is very real, as real as Almighty God is real, as real as Christ the King of kings and Lord of lords is real, as real as Christendom’s refusing to have him but adopting the United Nations is real. It is more real a danger than international nuclear war, because the war of Armageddon is written and foretold in the infallible prophecies of the Holy Bible over God’s own irreproachable name Jehovah.

33. (a) Concerning the certainty of the fulfillment of Jehovah’s stated purpose, what does Isaiah 14:24-27 say? (b) What divine purpose does Isaiah 34:1-4 set forth for this space age?

³³ In Isaiah 14:24-27 we read: “Jehovah of armies has sworn, saying: ‘Surely just as I have figured, so it must occur; and just as I have counseled, that is what will come true, . . . ’ This is the counsel that is counseled against all the earth, and this is the hand that is stretched out against all the nations. For Jehovah of armies himself has counseled, and who can break it up? And his hand is the one stretched out, and who can turn it back?” In the face of this certainty that Jehovah will carry out his purpose, Isaiah 34:1-4 declares: “Come up close, you nations, to hear; and you national groups, pay attention. Let the earth and that which fills it listen, the productive land and all its produce. For Jehovah has indignation against all the nations, and rage against all their army. He must devote them to destruction; he must give them to the slaughter. And those of them slain will be thrown out; and as for their carcasses, their stink will ascend; and the mountains must melt because of their blood. And all those of the army of the heavens must rot away. And the heavens must be rolled up, just like a book scroll; and their army will all shrivel away, just as the leafage shrivels off the vine and like a shriveled fig off the fig tree.” No space warplanes and missiles will avail then.

34. Concerning what faces particularly Jerusalem’s modern counterpart, what did Jesus prophesy concerning the sudden tribulation?

³⁴ Pointing to what faces the nations, more particularly Jerusalem’s modern counterpart Christendom, Jesus prophesied concerning the end of this system of things and said: “Then there will be great tribulation such as has not occurred since the world’s beginning until now, no, nor will occur again. In fact, unless those days were cut short, no flesh would be saved; but on account of the chosen ones those days will be cut short.” “Concerning that day and hour nobody knows, neither the angels of the heavens nor the Son, but only the Father. For just as the days of Noah were, so the presence of the Son of man will be. For as people were in those days before the flood, eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark; and they took no note until the flood came and swept them all away, so the presence of the Son of man will be.”—Matt. 24:21, 22, 36-39.

35. Why is the danger unlike any that farsighted men discern, and how will man survive into a new system of peace?

³⁵ The danger of the things here prophetically foretold is a danger unlike any that farsighted men can discern or picture. It is a danger of things much worse than nuclear war between man and man. It is the danger of war between God and man, war between Christ and the invisible ruler of this world, Satan the Devil, with all his demon hosts and earthly armies. It means the complete end of this world-wide system of things, in the same way that the flood of the days of Noah spelled the end of the corrupt, violent system of things before the global deluge. Since the danger today is so unusual, the means for providing for man’s survival into a new system of things of everlasting peace must be just as unusual as Noah’s building of an ark of tremendous size. By them some flesh will be saved.

Concern for Man’s Survival into Peace

1, 2. (a) Who today are showing the most concern for the continued existence of humanity? (b) How are they showing this concern, and why?

WHO, then, of all peoples on earth are showing most concern for the continued existence of humanity in this nuclear, missile, space age? Is it politicians and philosophers like the prominent men whom we have already quoted, who see serious danger from only human sources? No, it must be those who see facing the people of Russia, China, Britain, America, France, Germany and all the other nations the one danger greater than a third world war with nuclear weapons, and who have been incessantly warning all mankind about it for more than eighty years now.

² They are the ones today faithfully following and obeying Jesus Christ, who nineteen centuries ago was so concerned for the continued existence of the human family that he was willing to die a cruel death, to lay down his perfect life as a ransom sacrifice for whoever of mankind would believe and accept it. He was so concerned for God’s earthly creatures that he also left instructions for his true followers who would be living at this most crucial time of human history. He instructed them to show the greatest concern for mankind’s continued existence by their warning men concerning the real danger and by preaching God’s kingdom as the one and only means for enjoying protection and preservation. These Kingdom witnesses of today