AMONG the remarkable things that characterize this most remarkable age, none stand out with more prominence than the marvelous development of the implements of war. A recognized authority of the United States Navy affirms that since the Spanish-American War of 1898 the effectiveness of the machinery and equipments of war has been increased by 1,200 times. This increased effectiveness is shown in the far greater range of guns, the rapidity with which they can be fired, the phenomenal accuracy of aim, the increased speed of war-ships and the greater number of powerful guns that they carry, the submarine torpedo-boats that have been produced, the military air-ships that have been built, etc., etc., etc., to the end of the list.
Every year adds still greater military and naval burdens to the people that compose the various nations of earth. Many of the rulers of these nations are feverishly clamoring for still more war-ships, to replace the ones of yesterday, that are now out of date. Some have even suggested that the present high cost of living, which is so much discussed, is occasioned in part by the great waste of men and materials, which are in such demand for the sacrifices to the gods of war.
The training on the battle-ships, in the forts, and in the armies, is of the most intense character. Only the choicest of the young men of the several nations are accepted. Defects of mind and body must be reduced to the minimum, because action and achievement must be stretched to the greatest possible limit. In the intensity of the drills with gun and battle-ship, time is counted not only by seconds, but by the fractions of seconds. With all the modern improvements of death-dealing weapons, it is considered that within five minutes after two hostile ships come within range of each other, one of them will be put out of action. Hence it is that not merely seconds but fractions of seconds saved in loading, aiming, and firing the modern guns, are counted of so much value. The loss of a part of a second by the gun's crew might allow the enemy to strike the telling blow that would decide the outcome of the engagement.
Every one is hoping that none of the leading nations will go to war and thus bring into action the awful weapons and implements that have been devised during the last two or three decades. And yet there is an intensity of training that is superhuman. You can find thousands upon thousands of people who earnestly affirm that the cruelties and barbarities of war should not be permitted among civilized nations. Still it is the most civilized nations that are foremost in the furious race to stand at the head in military and naval power.12
England has been for centuries the home of letters and of science, and one of the greatest of the world's civilizing nations. But she feels so keenly that some great evil is hovering over us, that she is urging, almost with frenzy, that every dollar possible be given to keeping her navy the strongest in the world. She is told by editors and magazine writers from every quarter of the globe that she is foolish for having such a dread of what may come to her if she is not kept at the highest point of fighting efficiency. But none of this advice allays her fears. She feels that she must keep up her defenses or perish as a nation.
Germany is another home of letters, of science, and of civilizing sentiments. Some of the greatest influences that make for progress have come from that great nation. But the civilization that she possesses does not keep her from entering the arena to compete with England in reaching the position of the first naval military power of the world. Her war burdens are most oppressive, and she feels urged on to make greater and still greater exertions to prepare for some emergency that she can not describe, but that she feels impressed will surely come.
And thus we might go round the world and mention the nations one by one, and in each case we find that they are arming to the limit to meet some great issue of war that is casting its dark shadows upon the earth. They all admit that war is brutal, that it should not be tolerated in this time of great enlightenment; still they say it is not safe for any nation to allow her war equipment to become out of date. She must keep spending her millions to keep up with all the inventions that follow one another in such rapid succession; for she fears that if she did not, her neighbor nations might take advantage of her unpreparedness and divide her dominions among themselves.
It must be admitted that the foregoing paragraphs are stating nothing more than present-day fact that all know to be true. It must be admitted also that it is quite impossible to give in a few brief paragraphs anything like a full presentation of the awe-inspiring facts that would have to be narrated in order to make in the mind a picture of all that is being done to prepare for war. It must go without successful contradiction, that the greatest century of enlightenment and civilization that is known to our world's history is sternly confronted by the most awful preparations for war that our planet knows anything about. If the ordinary facts of war preparation and war equipment of today had been suggested to our fathers of a century ago, they would have said that the wild fancies of a nightmare were causing the speaker to talk like a madman.
You are doubtless ready to inquire for the reason of all this. The solution is an easy one if we are willing to admit the evidence of what should be an unquestioned authority with all the peoples everywhere. Let this witness testify in His own language, which follows:
For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when I shall bring back the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem, I will gather all nations, and will bring them down into the Valley of Jehoshaphat; and I will execute judgment upon them there for My people and for My heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations: and they have parted My land, and have cast lots for My people, and have given a boy for a harlot, and sold a girl for wine, that they may drink. Yea, and what are ye to Me, O Tyre, and Sidon, and all the regions of Philistia? will ye render Me a recompense? and if ye recompense Me, swiftly and speedily will I return your recompense upon your own head. Forasmuch as ye have taken My silver and My gold, and have carried into your temples My goodly precious things, and have sold the children of Judah and the children of Jerusalem unto the sons of the Grecians, that ye may remove them far from their border; behold, I will stir them up out of the place whither ye have sold them, and will return your recompense upon your own head; and I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the children of Judah, and they shall sell them to the men of Sheba, to a nation far off: for Jehovah hath spoken it.
Proclaim ye this among the nations; prepare war; stir 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. Haste ye, and come, all ye nations round about, and gather yourselves together: thither cause Thy mighty ones to come down, O Jehovah. Let the nations bestir themselves, and come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat; for there will I sit to judge all the nations round about. Put ye in the sickle; for the harvest is ripe: come, tread ye; for the wine-press is full, the vats overflow; for their wickedness is great.
Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! for the day of Jehovah is near in the valley of decision. The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining. And Jehovah will roar from Zion, and utter His voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but Jehovah will be a refuge unto His people, and a stronghold to the children of Israel. So shall ye know that I am Jehovah your God, dwelling in Zion My holy mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through her any more. Joel 3:1-17.
The foregoing scripture, taken by itself, and viewed superficially, might seem to apply only to the ancient Jewish nation. But a New Testament text says, "These things happened unto them by way of example ["by way of figure," margin]; and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages are come." 1 Cor. 10:11. Then whatever was written of ancient Israel is expressive of certain universal principles that have a universal application. And not only is this true in a general way, but there are distinctive statements in the foregoing words from Joel that show plainly that the prophet's vision is directed to the judgment scenes of the last days of time. There are "multitudes in the valley of decision;" "the day of Jehovah" is near — an expression that applies to that time when the day of sin is ended, and the day of the vindication of God's righteousness has come. It is the time when the captivity of the children of God is to be turned into the joys of deliverance.
M. Millerand, French Minister of War, who is asking his government for $4,200,000 for military air-ships
And when this great time has arrived, the text shows that there is to be a mighty stir among the nations. They are to "prepare war;" "all the men of war" are to draw near, and to beat their "plowshares into swords" and their "pruning-hooks into spears."
Even the weak ones are to say, "I am strong." All nations are to be gathered to the Valley of Jehoshaphat for the war of that great day.
Lest any one might think that the text from Joel will not warrant this interpretation, it might be well to read the following from the New Testament, which serves as an inspired guide to the meaning of the quoted portion of Joel's prophecy:
And the sixth poured out his bowl upon the great river, the river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way might be made ready for the kings that come from the sunrising. And I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits, as it were frogs: for they are spirits of demons, working signs; which go forth unto the kings of the whole world, to gather them together unto the war of the great day of God, the almighty. (Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.) And they gathered them together into the place which is called in Hebrew Har-Magedon [Armageddon]. Rev. 16:12-16.
This text, as well as the one from Joel, affirms that the "great day of God" is to be characterized by a war in which the whole earth will be engaged. This text from Revelation also affirms the agency that will work to fill the world with the war spirit that drives the nations to Armageddon. The "spirits of demons, working signs," are the supernatural agency that leads the world into the furies of a universal war.
Consider the efforts that strong and good men, like President Taft and thousands of others, are putting forth to have the nations plan for peace. And with the thought of these efforts for peace, in mind, consider the furious pace with which all the world is preparing for war. Can there be any doubt in regard to the meaning of it? The actors are already on the scene, and the great day is just before us. Will we stop to weigh the evidence and get ready for the issue? T.
