After Neville Chamberlain and Adolph Hitler signed the Munich Agreement on September 30, 1938, the English Prime Minister flew back to Britain believing he had prevented a major European war. Upon His arrival back home, he declared, “My good friends, for the second time in our history, a British Prime Minister has returned from Germany bringing peace with honor. I believe it is peace for our time.”
We know the rest of the story. The pact became the precursor to one of the bloodiest wars in human history.
Not much has changed since then. Despite multiple flashpoints that could lead to an even deadlier world war, we repeatedly hear refrains of “peace and security” at the UN and from world leaders. It’s exactly what we read in 1 Thessalonians 5:3:
While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.
Notice that it’s when people are “saying . . . peace and security” that the wrath of the Day of the Lord falls upon an unsuspecting world. It doesn’t signify a world at peace.
In the World
Not only does the phrase “peace and security” permeate UN documents heralding its efforts to end all wars, but they also do so in President Trumps speeches and documents pertaining to the Abrahamic Accords. Both he and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu often recite the words as they talk about their ongoing efforts to bring peace to the Middle East.
Despite the relentless striving of these two leaders and others to resolve conflicts, nothing changes. After last year’s twelve day war between Israel and Iran, which concluded with the US bombing of nuclear facilities inside the Muslim state, many believed the hostilities with Iran would cease, at least for a while.
However, Iran’s efforts to build a nuclear bomb persist as it continues to mass produce missiles and distribute of them to its proxies. During the past couple weeks, we have watched with horror as the Islamic regime brutally murdered thousands of protestors with estimates now over thirty thousand killed and many more injured.
With Israel’s enemies, ceasefires never equate to peace, but rather signify a time to rearm and plan future attacks against the Jewish state.
Hostilities continue to fester beneath the surface with Hezbollah and Hamas. Despite the ceasefires, both groups refuse to disarm and remain undeterred in their desire to kill Jews.
The war between Ukraine and Russia drags on with no end in sight to this bloody conflict that threatens to spark another deadly world war. Rumors of ceasefires between the two come and go as the death toll mounts.
Despite multiple claims of “peace and security,” the world continues its rapid movement toward the time when it will explode with wars and strife unlike any other in their destruction and death toll (Revelation 6:1-8). This time cannot be far away and but for the Lord’s restraining hand, the world might already be there.
In the Church
Another text that comes to my mind as I think about the false claims of security in our day:
“For from the least to the greatest of them,
everyone is greedy for unjust gain;
and from prophet to priest,
everyone deals falsely.
They have healed the wound of my people lightly,
saying, ‘Peace, peace,’
when there is no peace.” (Jeremiah 6:13-14)
These verses pertain to the religious leaders of Jeremiah’s day who despite his prophecies of imminent judgment for Jerusalem and the immediate threat posed by Nebuchadnezzar and his armies, persisted with a message of “Peace, peace.” Does this not sound eerily similar to what we hear in many churches?
Today, the most popular view of the end times is “dominion theology,” which teaches that the church will gain control of the world’s major institutions and as a result, bring millennial conditions to the world before Jesus’ Second Coming. Similar beliefs persisted early in the twentieth century before two devastating world wars ended the postmillennial beliefs of that era. The reality of today’s ongoing conflicts combined with even greater violence simmering beneath the surface has not yet caught up to these modern-day purveyors of “peace for our time.”
Other popular doctrines of the end times also miss the signs of the last days because they insist that Israel’s miraculous reappearance as a nation has nothing to do with Bible prophecy. Although many of them see the world for what it is, the belief that today is no different than any other time in history opens the door for a normalcy bias, which I often write about. As a result of failing to recognize Israel’s place in Bible prophecy, they fail to recognize the many other signs of the rapidly approaching Day of the Lord and with it, the most violent and deadly era in all of human history.
This brings me back to what Paul wrote in 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11. As believers, we have the Lord’s sure promise of deliverance before the “sudden destruction” that will mark the beginning of this future time of God’s wrath. If we were destined to endure God’s future fury upon the earth, the apostle never would have concluded this passage with these comforting words:
Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing. (1 Thessalonians 5:11)
The certainty of Jesus’ imminent appearing to take us home is a much safer, and biblical, place for our faith to rest than that of believing those who tell us “peace and security” is just ahead. The fact we so often hear this refrain tells us that our remaining time on the earth is rapidly coming to an end. Jesus will soon appear to take us home to Heaven.
Maranatha!
My latest book, Invitation to a Lavish Feast – Wisdom’s Path to the Pre-Tribulation Rapture, is available on Amazon or on SkyWatchTV. In it, I demonstrate how the words of Scripture not only verify our beliefs in not only the restoration of Israel, but also our hope in Jesus’ soon appearing to take us home to glory. In each section, I show how our beliefs regarding Bible prophecy intersect with our lives on a daily basis.
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