Through Peace, Not Force :: By Terry James

Author’s note: Fears of global war are again at the forefront, as Russia’s Putin promises a nuclear response if NATO’s Western forces get involved in the Ukrainian conflict, as France’s Emmanuel Macron has suggested. So this reposted article from 2023 is still relevant, in my view, as fears of World War III continue to rise.

Through Peace, Not Force

We receive reports each day that war is about to burst forth, that the world will change instantly when things suddenly go out of control. Global diplomats and governors will be helpless to assuage the rage into world war once the attacks begin.

For example, one front-and-center story that warns of war involves an ages-long trouble spot that has threatened to initiate nuclear conflict.

Is China “Massing Forces at Coastal Military Bases” in Preparation for an Invasion of Taiwan?

If the Chinese decide to pull the trigger on an invasion of Taiwan, it will instantly become the biggest news story in the entire world. Because the moment that an invasion of Taiwan begins, the United States and China will be at war, and nothing will ever be the same again. (Rapture Ready News, September 15, 2023)

The Russian invasion into Ukraine and the bellicose rants of some of Vladimir Putin’s military and diplomatic leaders make it clear the former Soviet Empire is again about to raise its ugly head. They threaten nuclear war at almost every opportunity. We can see that things are ramping up for the coming war against Israel, according to Ezekiel chapters 38 and 39.

Many pundits—even from the Bible-prophecy perspective—are warning that America might at any moment be invaded from the northern and southern borders by the Chinese and Russian militaries. This is despite the fact that: 1) there is not sufficient evidence to support the supposed threats, and 2) such hyperbole goes against what God’s Word indicates for both the “King of the kings of the east” (Revelation chapters 9 and 16) and Rosh (Russia), as indicated in Ezekiel chapters 38 and 39.

Both of these bad actors on the war-making stage are destined to do their dastardly worst in other places of the world. Both China and Russia will be dealt with in the proper places and times by the Lord Himself, we are assured.

If these diabolists attacked the United States, our military would react, regardless of the feared impotence of the presidential administration and top military of the Joint Chiefs of Staff sort. There are automatic reaction forces in place to, through nuclear submarine retaliation alone, make such attacks by America’s chief enemies a suicide mission for the entire world.

This realized and stated, such potential for making a totally destructive war that threatens to end life on Earth has its place in Bible prophecy. This truth is wrapped up in the one who will become the world’s last and most powerful evil dictator.

Actually, it will be the threat of war that will cause the world to hand this wicked man his dictatorial crown. We are told this by Daniel the prophet:

“And in his estate shall stand up a vile person, to whom they shall not give the honour of the kingdom: but he shall come in peaceably, and obtain the kingdom by flatteries. And with the arms of a flood shall they be overflown from before him, and shall be broken; yea, also the prince of the covenant” (Daniel 11:21-22).

Daniel went on to say:

“And the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvelous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done. Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all” (Daniel 11:36-37).

This is in reference, of course, to the “prince that shall come” of Daniel chapter 9. This evil prince—the son of perdition, the man of sin, the Antichrist—will come in by offering peace. He won’t have to win victories to achieve the control he desires. People will willingly give it to him.

This, of course, I believe, is verified in the prophecy of the first rider on the white horse of Revelation 6. Antichrist has no arrows, but a bow and crown, which are “given” to him.

“And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see. And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer” (Revelation 6:1-2).

So this most powerful, evilest despot of all of human history will be, at first, unlike the previous vile dictators on Earth. Each of them—like Hitler, Stalin, Mao, and all of the ruthless leaders like the Khans of the ancient past—arose to power by murderous, raw aggression. This final one will come with guile and demonically deceptive powers that will make people beg for him to take the crown of dominion they will gladly offer.

The question is valid: Why will such a man be not only accepted but hailed and given complete adulation by most of the earth’s population?

The answer, of course, is that he will offer peace. This man, through demonic deceptiveness, will offer to take fear of world-rending nuclear war from the fear-filled thoughts of humankind.

We see that fear building even now in preparation for the time when people will have lost reasoning guided by the Holy Spirit’s influence. The “restrainer” of 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 will no longer hold back both the madness of humanity and human emotions. The fear will cause hearts to fail, the Word tells us.

This most charismatic geopolitical leader in history will promise peace and prosperity. But it will be “peace, prosperity, and the coming holocaust,” as the title of my friend Dave Hunt’s book so marvelously described.

Here is a further description by God Himself—through Daniel’s vision—of the coming world leader that might even now be itching to take the reins of global government:

“And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up. And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practice, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people. And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand” (Daniel 8:23-25).

The fear of all-out nuclear war will clutch the reprobate mindset of most of humanity and will cause them to give Antichrist his crown. He won’t have to fire a shot—at least, not at first. His military firepower and much worse will be used later in his satanically driven holocaust we call the Tribulation.

Antichrist’s great power and authority will come through the false peace he will promise. That delusion that mesmerizes the masses will bring on the worst time of all human history, according to Jesus (Matthew 24:21). Paul, the great apostle, said the following:

“For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape” (1 Thessalonians 5:3).

You want to escape that time of horror that humanity faces—perhaps in the very near future. Here’s how to go to Christ when He calls God’s family to Himself to escape Antichrist’s dictatorship:

“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Romans 10:9-10).

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