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Bad News and Good News
We live in a dangerous time
in a dangerous world. One perilous century is drawing to a close. Considering recent
trends, it appears that another equally menacing one is about to begin.
Just as the world seemed to be settling into an uneasy calm after the collapse of
the former Soviet superpower, world leaders shook off their complacency as a result
of India's recent successful test of nuclear weapons.
They were further shocked when Pakistan followed suit with its own nuclear tests
and announcement that it, too, had the bomb and wouldn't hesitate to use it if threatened
by neighboring India.
Some militant Muslims in other countries rejoiced at the news that Pakistan, a largely
Muslim nation, had armed itself with nuclear weapons. At last, they said, there was
an "Islamic bomb." Now, they claimed, the mostly Muslim Arab countries could soon
again be a match for upstart Israel, long thought to have its own nuclear arsenal.
Around the same time that the news hit from India and Pakistan, a stream of other
disturbing facts came to light. United Nations inspectors reported that traces of
highly lethal nerve gas had been found on Iraqi missile fragments, showing that the
Iraqis apparently have such weapons armed and ready for use when conflict again breaks
out in the Middle East. Meanwhile the cat-and-mouse inspection game continues in
the hunt for further evidence of Iraq's biological- and nuclear-weapons programs.
Other news leaked out that China, long a nuclear power, had made quantum leaps in
its missile programs. With technology acquired mostly from U.S. companies--for supposedly
peaceful purposes--the Chinese military had greatly increased the accuracy of its
nuclear-tipped missiles. Now, for the first time, the Chinese could mount multiple
warheads, each with its own separate target, on their rockets.
North Korea, in desperate straits thanks to its collapsed economy and prolonged drought
and famine, asserted its right to share its missile technology (nonnuclear at this
point) with other countries to bring in desperately needed cash. At the same time,
the North Koreans continue their own nuclear-weapons research.
It's frightening to realize that, over time, man has eventually used every weapon
he has developed. The discovery of gunpowder led to machine guns, artillery and bombs
that could kill humans ever more efficiently. Discoveries in chemistry brought us
chemical weapons and nerve gas. Man's ability to split the atom gave us nuclear weapons.
Other fields of research have given us biological weapons and such seemingly science-fiction
weapons as lasers, particle-beam weapons and neutron bombs. If history is any indication,
the next century will likely see us use such weapons against our fellowman.
No wonder some have said we don't know what weapons will be used in World War III,
but the war after that will probably be fought with stones and clubs.
Can we know where the world is headed? A sure source for knowledge about our future
is readily available--the Bible. It contains many detailed prophecies about the destiny
of mankind. Briefly, it tells us that both bad news and good news lie
ahead.
The bad news is that world conditions will grow worse. Jesus Christ described a dangerous
world in which mankind will be threatened with extinction: "It will be a time of
great distress, such as there has never been before since the beginning
of the world, and will never be again. If that time of troubles were not cut
short, no living thing could survive . . ." (Matthew 24:21-22, Revised
English Bible, emphasis added).
The good news? The world will not end in a horrendous holocaust. "For the sake of
God's chosen (that time) will be cut short," Jesus continued (mat). God will
intervene to put an end to man's calamitous rule and save us from ourselves. Jesus
Christ will establish the Kingdom of God on earth. He will be king of that kingdom,
and "of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end . . ."
(Isaiah 9:7). Divine rule will prevail upon the face of the earth (Isaiah 11:9; 2:1-4).
The Good News magazine is dedicated to sharing that message, the same gospel--good
news--that Jesus Christ brought. This issue focuses on how that godly kingdom will
come.
--Scott Ashley
©1999 United Church of God, an International Association
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