WHAT MANY PEOPLE ARE SAYING—GOD SAID THEY WOULD SAY IT—INFLUENTIAL MEN CALLING FOR MORE ARMAMENTS—HOW WILL IT END?
By Irwin H. Evans
THE PALACE OF PEACE AT THE HAGUE
Erected through the gift of $1,750,000 by Andrew Carnegie
The last few years have been marked by agitation for peace, not by the ministry alone, but by statesmen and nations. A few years ago, Mr. Carnegie gave $1,750,000 for the erection of a peace palace, to be located at The Hague. This was to be a building where promoters of peace could meet, carry on their international work, and create public sentiment in favor of the arbitration of differences between nations.
International Courts and the End of War
Of late years, many pulpits have been occupied by men who have taught that peace would reign upon the earth, and that henceforth there would never be war. Some have thought the human race had developed so far intellectually, and had attained such a high standard of morality, that men would not resort to arms to settle their differences, but would meet on common ground, and refer all misunderstandings that could not otherwise be adjusted, to arbitrators, who would decide each case, and render their findings, somewhat as does a court of justice. Others have gone farther, and asked for an international court, whose decisions would be final and compulsory upon the nations, by international treaties and public sentiment. These courts would resemble in power the Supreme Court of our own country, or the highest court of other nations.
Only a few weeks ago, the secretary of state, Mr. Bryan, had the blades of some old army swords converted into paper weights, in the form of plowshares, to be presented to the ambassadors or ministers of the twenty-nine powers signatory to peace commission treaties with the United States. It is supposed that he did this in fulfillment of Scripture as he understood it.
Is It a Prophecy of Peace?
At this time, many are quoting the prophecy found in the second chapter of Isaiah, which reads: “The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And He shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.”
The People Say One Thing—God Says the Opposite
This prophecy has led many to believe that the time is to come when the nations shall learn war no more, and when the people of the earth shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. But the scripture does not read that way. Verse three introduces the party that gives utterance to what follows: “And many people shall go and say.”
There is a vast difference between the “people” saying and the Lord saying. What God says, must be, and can never fail. But what the people say, may be true or false, according to conditions. In this prophecy, it is not the Lord who is saying that the people will “beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.” It is the people who make this assertion.
God’s declaration on this subject is couched in different language. Here is His proclamation concerning the very time when “many people” talk peace and safety: “Proclaim ye this50
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among the Gentiles; Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up: beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears; let the weak say, I am strong. Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen, and gather yourselves together round about: thither cause Thy mighty ones to come down, O Lord. Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat; for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about. Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe; come, get you down; for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is great.” Joel 3:9-13.
This proclamation is in direct opposition to what the people are saying, as recorded in the second chapter of Isaiah. The time foretold by these prophecies seems to be the same. The prophecy in Isaiah says, “It shall come to pass in the last days.” The prophecy in Joel refers to the time when the harvest is ripe, and God is settling with the nations.
One Predicts Peace—The Other War
These prophecies are directly opposite the one from the other. One proclaims peace, and says that the nations are to learn war no more. The other is a call to battle. The people announce that they will beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. The Lord says they are to beat their plowshares into swords, and their pruning hooks into spears.
When we think of the present war in Europe, with all its horrors, the multitudes involved, and the awful waste in money and in what is far more precious than money,—human lives, the very strength and flower of the nations,—we can not but conclude that the peace and safety cry of the people is a delusion, and that war and strife will continue to the end.
While the people are teaching peace, and proclaiming and declaring that there will never be another war after this one, the nations are equipping themselves as rapidly as possible with the latest implements for effectively destroying life. At the present time, the papers are full of orders for every kind of weapon. Five hundred thousand swords, millions of dollars worth of guns, cannon, submarines, and air craft have been ordered by the warring nations. Even in our own land, where peace reigns, there is a widely agitated and rapidly growing public sentiment demanding a more thorough equipment for war.
Calling Our Nation to Prepare for War
In an editorial appearing in the Washington Post of December 2, under the caption, “The United States Must Get Ready to Protect Itself and This Hemisphere,” we read the following:
“After the great European nations have fought to a standstill, what will be the terms of peace?”
“How will the nations recoup themselves for their losses?”
“What innocent nations will be robbed of their territory to restore the balance of power?”
“In what direction will the victors turn for spoils, with their millions of armed men tugging like bloodhounds at the leash?”
“Will any strong nation, beaten but not destroyed, refrain from pouncing upon a weaker nation if it sees a chance to patch up its broken fortunes?”
“Modern history is full of instances in which nations unable to defend their interests have been despoiled. These examples are huge warnings to the United States. They can not be ignored if the United States would make itself safe against aggression.”
“If the German empire is not wrecked by the present war, it will be due to its preparedness for defense.”
“Great Britain has not been robbed of any territory. Germany has not been despoiled. Russia is intact. Is it not because they have always been prepared to defend their possessions?”
“The richest, most productive portion of the earth is the United States. Theoretically it is defended by 100,000,000 people. Actually its defenses are inadequate where they are not obsolete. It has outlying possessions which would be of great value to a European power.”
“The integrity of the western hemisphere depends upon the right arm of the United States. South America could be had for the taking if it were not for the United States.”
“The Panama Canal would be a rich prize for any of the maritime powers of Europe.”
“Mexico, crammed with natural wealth, without an organized government, would fall like a ripe plum into the maw of Europe if it were not for the United States.”
“At the conclusion of the present war in Europe there will be armies of millions of men in the field. The defeated nations will cast about for opportunities to recoup themselves for their losses. They will have big armies with which to take what they can get. Human nature has not changed, and history repeats itself—”
“That they should take who have the power, And they should keep who can.”
“Do the people of the United States repose in the serene confidence that the mere wish of this country will deter armed and desperate nations from taking portions of the western hemisphere? . . .”
“Great Britain, beaten by Germany but with her fleet intact, might turn covetous eyes upon North and South America.”
“Japan, with her war spirit aflame, and assured of cooperation by Great Britain, might look longingly across the Pacific.”
“Either of these nations possesses a fleet which could easily break through the American navy and take possession of New York, Boston, Charleston, San Francisco, and Seattle. They would find no opposition from an American army, because there is no American army. Their fleets would not be injured by American fortifications, because American guns are vastly outclassed.”
“Every coast and seaport fortification in the United States could be demolished by foreign warships standing entirely out of the range of American guns.”
“By crippling the United States navy, either Great Britain or Japan could take any portion of South America it desired, without asking leave of this country.”
“Even France had to be kept out of the western hemisphere by Abraham Lincoln, backed by 50,000 veterans commanded by Gen. Phil Sheridan. Where is the American army of veterans that could keep France out of Mexico now?”
“Diplomatic warnings and pointed hints did not prevent France from placing an Austrian prince upon a throne in Mexico. But when an American army was sent to the Rio Grande, France withdrew.”
“In the world upheaval that will follow the present war, in the clash of interests and the struggle for survival, with enormous armies waiting for the signal, and fleets ready to transport them to the unprotected shores of North and South America, what power will bid them stand back and keep hands off? What mighty nation will rush to the defense of the United States, if it does not defend itself? What European nation will defend the Monroe doctrine and uphold the republican system of government in these continents?”
“At the close of the war, the world will see great nations armed to the teeth, baffled and beaten, desperate, facing bankruptcy, organized for war, and accustomed to slaughter. These desperate nations will look across the ocean, and see vast regions full of riches, lying unprotected and seemingly waiting to be seized. Will friendship for the United States deter them from reaching out and recouping themselves? Or will they respect only the strength of a nation stronger than themselves, and ready to fight to protect its interests?”
“If any warning was ever written in flaming letters of fire and war, it is the warning to the United States to get ready to protect itself and the western hemisphere.”
Many other leading papers are voicing the same thoughts. Representative Gardner and Senator Lodge are leading in a publicity campaign favoring a greater preparedness for war.
Beware of Peace Delusions
Does this read like peace? Do these utterances indicate that the nations are planning that there shall be no more war? With Mexico in the throes of revolution; Hayti torn and rent by internal feuds; the Latin republics continually shifting for vantage, and almost annually paralyzed by wars,—does the future look promising for peace? Japan, having entered the fight with the European allies, greatly alarms the far East; Turkey, the bone of contention in eastern Europe for two generations, is already in arms; the carefully censored foreign news would lead us to believe that all the Balkan States will soon be in the scramble; and the most farsighted statesmen predict great national changes before the present war shall cease.
Why, then, be deluded by the false teachings of “many people,” and not heed the word of God? Christ says there shall be “wars and rumors of wars”; and John the revelator, in giving his vision of the very last days of the human family, said, “The nations were angry, and Thy wrath is come.” We must not expect peace—lasting, permanent peace; for we are living in the time when the nations are angry.
There is peace to come to this earth, but not until Jesus Christ comes the second time and takes to Himself both the kingdom and dominion under the whole heaven. Then the King of peace shall reign. Then the nations of earth will learn war no more. But until then, the world will be preparing for the last great battle—Armageddon.
