"The two most serious miscalculations of the Second World War both concerned the Soviet Union: Hitler's miscalculations of Russia's military strength and Roosevelt's miscalculations of Russia's political ambition. It was these two errors of judgment which gave Stalin the opportunity of establishing the Soviet Union as the dominant power in Europe. It is clear now that the Western democracies cannot afford to make another miscalculation about Russia's military power or political intentions. A third mistake might well be fatal to Western civilization." -- Chester Wilmot, "The Struggle for Europe", 1952.

The Delusion Of Detente

At a time of marked Soviet expansion in 1976. a resolution was adopted by the U.S. Senate which stated, in part:

"the continuation of the detente policy and improvement of relations with the U.S.S.R. is in the interests of the United States itself, and that it should not therefore be an object of intraparty and interparty rivalry. . ."

Yet Leonard Brezhnev was quoted by the Washington Post, 12/2/77 as addressing a Communist gathering with these words:

"Trust us, comrades, for by 1985, as a consequence of what we are now achieving with detente, we will have achieved most of our objectives in Western Europe. We will have consolidated our position. We will have improved our economy. And a decisive shift in the correlation of forces will be such that, come 1985, we will be able to exert our will wherever we need to. We are achieving with detente what our predecessors have been unable to achieve using the mailed fist. . . . We have been able to accomplish more in a short time with detente than was done for years pursuing a confrontation policy with NATO. . . ."

Just who is deluding whom? To Western politicians detente means the "improvement of relations with the U.S.S.R." whilst to the Soviets it means the ruthless advancement of their overall objective, which is to "exert" their "will" in subduing the nations to the aims and objectives of International Communism.

It is distinctly possible that, in large measure, a large percentage of Western politicians have been hood-winked and lulled to sleep by the pro-Soviet propaganda machine. It would also appear certain that behind the scenes sinister forces are at work in Western countries, at political level which are strongly sympathetic to the cause of developing a One-World Communist Empire.

On 4/l/77 The Press, published in Christchurch, N.Z., ran a major news story under the headlines: Grim picture painted of Soviet war preparedness. The article featured an interview with a Major-General George Keenan -- the man who has perhaps done more than any other to acquaint U.S. Intelligence Services with estimates of the Soviet Union's strategic capabilities and objectives. Keegan has recently retired from the post as head of the U.S Air Force's intelligence branch. In the interview he said quite categorically that he believes Russia has already achieved military superiority over the U.S.

He spoke of the astonishing civil defense measures which have been developed, and continue to be developed, in the Soviet Union. He stated that 25% of all Russian factory workers are in training programs preparing them for civil defense leadership roles. Major defense manufacturing facilities in Russia have been dispersed well clear of all existing major industrial areas so as to afford a large measure of protection for those industries in the event of nuclear war. Keegan alleged that he was in possession of ample evidence to show that the Russians are in the process of building up huge stocks of foods and grains, in preparation for war. He said that all the evidence points to the fact that the Russians are not merely aiming for superiority but are "preparing for war. . . ." Evidence available quite openly in Russia, contained in Soviet literature, shows that already the Soviets have constructed enough mass-shelters in key strategic industrial areas to protect More than sixty million from nuclear attack. Bunkers have been provided for the civilian population in all main cities, including several which are the size of football fields. "My collection team." said the Major-General. "have identified grain-storage bunkers the size of several football fields on the perimeter of all main cities, guarded by the military -- the most elaborate of their kind in the world. We are observing the most extensive peace-time war preparations in recorded history. . ."

The prophet Daniel, 2500 years ago, predicted that the policy of the Power that would lead the world to war in the last days, would be noted for its hypocritical call to "peace." By "peace," he prophesied, "he shall destroy many" (Dan. 8:25) His prediction is being fulfilled by Communist Russia today.

Which is the Super-Power?

We have been led to believe, by the Western press, that even if there are discrepancies in conventional weapons the U.S. maintains a superior position to the Soviets in the field of nuclear weapons. But, said the Major-General. there now exists grave doubts upon this question. He declared:

"By every criterion used to measure strategic balance -- that is, damage expectancy, throw-weight, equivalent megatonnage, and technology -- I am unaware of a single important category in which the Russians have not established a significant lead over the United States. . . ."

At this particular interview, Major-General Keegan produced thousands of photographs, pamphlets, and "open-source documents" on Soviet military sites and civil defense projects in proof of his assertions upon these matters.

In the words of Major-General Keegan: "American strategy is premised on the principle of war avoidance, while that of the Soviet Union is premised on war winning . . . The difference is a profound one. . . "

Major-General Keegan propounded his conclusions, resulting from the investigations he and his staff had sought and considered:

"It has all led me to the estimate..... that the greatest global conflict in history is likely to occur within the next decade or two, unless there is a radical change in United States intelligence perception. . . ."

He is absolutely right. Such a horrifying catastrophe is inevitable. And not merely because it will reveal the evil purposes of evil men, but because such a worldwide disaster, at "the time of the end" has been predicted in the Scriptures of Truth.

One of the few Western leaders to speak out strongly against the massive build-up of Soviet military might has been Mrs. Margaret Thatcher, of the British Conservative Party. In an address delivered at the Kensington Town Hall on 16/l/76, she pointed out that the Russians were spending a fifth more than the U.S. on military research and development, a quarter more on weapons and equipment, and three fifths more on strategic forces. She pointed out that in central Europe the Warsaw Pact forces outnumbered NATO's by 150,000 men, nearly 10,000 tanks, and 2,600 aircraft. She said that the Russian Navy had quadrupled its forces of nuclear submarines in the past ten years and was currently completing one submarine a month. These Soviet developments, said Mrs. Thatcher, were not designed merely for self-defense. "The Russians are bent on world dominance, and they are rapidly acquiring the means to become the most powerful imperial nation the world has seen.

Capability of Swift Attack

Lord Chalfont, a British defense specialist, has said:

"Detente does not mean unilateral disarmament." It certainly does not to the Soviets -- but what of the West? Whilst NATO countries have, for years, been apologetically reducing their military commitments, the Eastern block nations have been increasing military expenditure at an alarming 3% to 5% per year. Whilst the East has continued to spend on armaments at an astonishing rate, NATO countries are steadily reducing military expenditure, generally on grounds of economic problems.

According to General Alexander Haig, now Supreme Allied Commander of NATO forces in Europe, the Russians and their allies have been spending up to 13% of their Gross National Product on a gigantic military build-up.

This is an astronomical figure; but it is a figure which does not stand alone, because, in recent years there has been abundant evidence to suggest that Russia and the Eastern-bloc nations are spending money on military hardware at a greater rate than would be required for merely defensive needs.

The Soviets are preparing for war. Of that there can be no doubt.

The East has concentrated upon developing military units, of a conventional nature, but capable of swift and mobile striking ability. According to a leading European magazine: "The Soviets and their satellites no longer field massive but unsophisticated steam-rolling armies, but are increasingly capable of launching attacks with highly mobile and specialized forces, on land, at sea, and in the air."

In other words, although the total of a wide variety of armaments is enormous, their attacking strategy is to move well-organized units very quickly and efficiently, much after the manner of the famous "pincer-movements" strategy employed in Europe during the second world war. This aspect of Eastern military capability is identical to the prophetic words of Daniel, in describing the manner and force with which the Northern aggressor will come against "many countries." He will "come storming down" or "will rush against him." The wording indicates a military machine with a capability of making swift and devastating penetrating strike attacks. (Dan. 11:40-45).

Logistical Lethargy

It has recently been revealed that seven countries in the NATO alliance are planning to purchase field army radio systems which do not have the capacity to communicate with each other. The Chairman of the NATO Military Committee, Mr. Paul Thyness of Norway, has publicly announced that this policy was one which "bordered on lunacy." Indeed one contemplates such an incredible blunder almost with utter disbelief. Imagine seven armies in the field of battle, all fighting a common enemy, and quite unable to communicate with each other by radio!

Unless this policy is changed before further commitments are made, "NATO would not be able to buy field systems capable of communicating with each other until well in the 1990s" Thyness is reported to have stated.

Key Weak Spots - On Land and Sea

The Soviet Union has continued to balk at implementation of the Helsinki agreement requiring troop reductions in Central Europe.

Total Soviet-bloc tank numbers west of the Urals have now been increased to more than 26,000 -- compared with 6,000 tanks on the NATO side of the frontiers.

On the ground, the degree of imbalance is almost unbelievable. The Soviet-bloc countries have a total of 58 divisions in East Germany, Poland and Czechoslovakia, with a further 30 divisions in Russia, ready to move quickly if required. A total of 88 divisions. These numbers dwarf NATO's meager total of 27 divisions.

Under these circumstances, how could the West possibly hope to hold any sort of line against an all-out attack from the East?

But there are two especially weak lines in the NATO chain where the West is particularly vulnerable. One is in the far north, where the allies have only a few brigades in Norway, and where, with the decline of British sea power in that area, the Soviet Northern fleet is in a commanding position. The other area of grave concern is on the southern flank where the unresolved conflict between Greece and Turkey lays that area wide open to exploitation by the East. It is a recognized fact that the defenses of both Greece and Turkey are not up to what is considered "normal NATO standards" -- pathetic as those standards are.

It may well be, then, that an attack from the East will come in a two-pronged sweep; from the north through Norway and Denmark into Central Europe; and to the south through Turkey. Bible prophecy certainly demands the latter, and implies the former.

According to the Annual Of Power And Conflict the Soviet Navy has risen from an almost negligible strategic factor to become the most powerful fleet in the world, in just twelve years. And according to this publication, the "peace program" of the Soviet Leader, Brezhnev, has "yielded in important material gains to the Soviet Union in access to Western technology at advantageous credit terms."

It is significant that the prophet Daniel, in predicting the Russian attack on the Middle East that will precipitate World War III, declares of the northern power that it will come down "with many ships" in addition to other forms of warfare (Dan. 11:40). The amazing growth in Soviet naval strength fulfils the prophecies of God's Word.

The Swiss -- Preparing for the Inevitable

War is coming, to Europe and the rest of the world. on a scale unparalleled in human history. Many people, acquainted with the facts, acknowledge that all the available evidence points to the inevitability of war.

Apart from the Soviet Union there is, so far as we are aware, only one nation in Europe which is determinedly preparing for such a horrifying future. That nation is the relatively small but highly industrious, country of Switzerland.

Since 1962 the Swiss have been developing a comprehensive nuclear civil defense program. So much so, that by the end of the century there will be a blast-proof, radiation-proof shelter for every man, woman and child in the country. They have already provided sufficient underground shelter for their entire 700,000 men army. Every military aircraft, all tanks and artillery weapons, bridging equipment, ammunition, food, together with sufficient fuel to withstand at least a three-year siege, can be fully protected in underground shelters.

Every new building in Switzerland is required to have a nuclear basement. Every household must build and stock its own private shelter. There are hundreds of command posts, barracks, stores and hospitals, safely out of sight underground. Beneath a new ice-skating rink in Bern there is a vast shelter to accommodate two thousand, together with a command post, other military essentials, and a fully-equipped 400-bed hospital -- only one of 600 hospitals just like it, spread throughout Switzerland.

The Swiss have permanently mined more than 2,000 strategically-placed bridges, passes and tunnels. They are prepared to blow them all, if necessary, in an endeavour to prevent or slow a powerful advancing army.

The Swiss, for many centuries, have been respected as a highly intelligent and industrious people. So far as the future of Europe is concerned, they see the writing on the wall.

War - Or Political Blackmail?

Western Europe is doomed to domination by Russia. The reality of such a bleak future was never more clearly illustrated than in an article which appeared in a recent edition of Newsweek, under the headline Nightmare for NATO. The article stated:

"According to secret computer studies of recent allied maneuvers, the imbalance between NATO forces and the armies of the Warsaw Pact is even worse than it appears to be on the surface."

One of Europe's "highest ranking officials" told the Newsweek correspondent that if the facts were generally known, they might "provoke widespread panic." But, perhaps more realistically, another European leader told the Newsweek representative:

"If the true state of European security were explained by a responsible official, we would induce paralysis or apathy instead of the collective response we are still hoping for."

In other words, instead of being prepared to fight, the people of Europe would resign themselves to their inescapable fate.

The Newsweek article went on to say:

"On paper, many military analysts believe that the Soviet Union and its Warsaw Pact allies are strong enough to launch a blitzkrieg that could smash across West Germany in a matter of days. . . . NATO's forces, they fear, would be too weak and disorganized to stop the Communists, and the Russians might overrun NATO's stockpile of tactical nuclear weapons before the allies made up their minds to use them."

One high military official told Newsweek he believes the "Warsaw Pact invaders could lunge to the Rhine within 48 hours." Another high-ranking military official, U.S. Lt. Gen. James Hollingworth (ret.) who recently surveyed Western Europe's defenses for a report to NATO, has said that, in the event of an invasion from the East "the West would have the option of fighting a nuclear world war, or giving the Soviet Union whatever it wanted."

The stark facts are that the West is underarmed, unprepared, and militarily and socially demoralized. Further, the West has been only too pleased to supply the Soviets with vast quantities of finance and technology, which can only result in the rapid growth of the Soviet Giant -- the frightening image seen by king Nebuchadnezzar (see Daniel 2) -- to the point where the Communist world can demand of the West that they lay down their arms and submit to Soviet world domination.

Cloak-and-Dagger Fears

To add to the West's imposing list of imponderable problems, one of especial significance is the degree of Russian penetration, even now, behind the NATO defenses. Under the headline: "NATO fears subversive element", the West Australian of October 1st ran an article revealing the fears of top NATO officials in regard to penetration into their various systems by Soviet infiltrators. They believe that any East-West war would immediately involve "pro-Soviet politicians, trade unionists and journalists." The report states:

"A classified NATO document shows that NATO thinks pro-Soviet groups or agents in a time of tension would commit acts of sabotage against Western military bases and strategic industries such as oilfields and oil storage depots."

One authority has estimated that the Russians have 10,000 espionage agents at present operating in Western Europe. They are entrenched in fields of communications, transportation, politics, and even NATO itself. One does not have to be a Rhodes' Scholar to realize that, within hours of Russia sweeping over the Western frontiers, Soviet agents and sympathizers in the West would be capable of throwing the entire Western defense system into utter chaos. And on top of the professions, imagine the teeming thousands of fellow-travelers in Western Europe who are breathlessly awaiting the moment when the "world revolution" will take a further step forward, by uniting the whole of Europe under Soviet control.

What chance does Westem Europe have of survival? Simply none.

Procrastinate And Perish

What prospects are there for an improvement in the position of the West? Virtually, little. Soviet factories are now out-producing the West to a staggering degree. They are manufacturing three tanks to the West's one. They are producing nine artillery pieces to the West's one. Enough military aircraft are now pouring off Russian assembly fines to re-equip the entire British air force every five to six months.

What hope is there for the West? Under present leadership, and apart from a complete turn-about in attitudes and policies: virtually none.

Contemporary Fulfillment of Bible Prophecy

The inevitable result of blindness or treachery on the part of Western leaders, is that war with Russia is inevitable. But there is nothing new in that deduction. Christadelphians were proclaiming that fact, unequivocally, more than 100 years ago. How astonishing it is to read these words penned by a Christadelphian expositor, on December 19th, 1870:

"England must, sooner or later be drawn in as the principle in a war with Russia and Prussia. I have written Earl Granville, and told him that, oppose Russia or not, Russia will succeed; for it is the prophetic and manifest destiny of Europe to be Cossacked, which England cannot prevent."

Prior to that date, in 1854, the same Christadelphian writer, John Thomas, had written a work entitled: Anatolia or Russia Triumphant and Europe Chained. The title of the work is too clear to require further explanation. In a summary, the author stated: "Surely it requires no great sagacity to perceive that Russia must be triumphant and Europe chained! This is destiny." He based such a conclusion on the facts of Bible prophecy.

Earlier still, in 1848, the same writer published a work entitled Elpis Israel meaning, The Hope of Israel - in which he clearly set forth his beliefs concerning the future destiny of the nations -- beliefs based entirely upon his understanding of Bible prophecy. In the Preface to that work he wrote:

"The future movements of Russia are notable signs of the times, because they are predicted in the Scriptures of Truth. The Russian Autocracy in its plenitude, and on the verge of dissolution, is the Image of Nebuchadnezzar standing upon the Mountains of Israel, ready to be smitten by the Stone. When Russia makes its grand move for the building-up of its Image-empire, then let the reader know that the end of all things, as at present constituted, is at hand. . . ."

From the international political situation which existed around 1848 there was no way in the world that John Thomas could determine the future movements of the nations. And he never attempted to do so. In this particular work, Elpis Israel he advised: "Men should never prophesy of the future from present appearances" (p. 385). His own policy was singular: carefully examine the evidence of Bible prophecy, and that is the way it must inevitably turn out. History has proved his prognostications to be correct.

Let the reader carefully note that the predictions so unequivocally propounded by Christadelphians so long ago were based entirely upon their understanding of Bible prophecy. John Thomas proclaimed his beliefs concerning the future in store for Europe upon the basis that "the future movements of Russia" had been "predicted in the Scriptures of truth." History has certainly testified to the accuracy of his prognostications. Therefore his understanding of Bible prophecy in regard to that nation must have been correctly and wisely founded.

The reader is urged to make a careful examination of Ezekiel 38. There he will find a remarkable prophecy concerning "the latter years" (v.8). or the "latter days" (v. 16); terms which speak of the closing days of man's rule over the nations. and the beginning of the epoch of divine intervention in human affairs, and the establishment of God's kingdom upon the earth (vv. 18-23).

The prophecy speaks of a mighty power to be manifested in "the last days." The leader of this confederacy of nations is termed "Gog" (v. 2). This is a title, a Hebrew word meaning a roof and hence one at the top. This meaning can have both political and geographical connotations. Politically, the word indicates a powerful leader, a man of immense political and military stature. Geographically, he comes from the "top", or "the uttermost parts of the north" (v. 6 R.V.). In other words, the powerful man code-named "Gog" here is to become leader of the land of Magog. According to the historian Josephus, these people were the ancient Scythians. Herodotus wrote that "they spread from the river of Tanais or Don, westward along the banks of the Ister, or Danube" -- in other words, the area later known as Hungary and Transylvania. Diodorus Siculus, who wrote approximately 100 years before Josephus, traced the Scythians much further into Europe, to the shore of the Baltic. Therefore, the "land of Magog" incorporates the nations of Central Europe, including Germany, and incorporating other nations as far as the Baltic. However, in an examination of the opening verses of Ezekiel 38 it should be carefully noted that "Gog" is not the Prince of Magog but of Rosh, as shall shortly be established. The importance of this is that Europe, especially Central Europe, is to come under the leadership or authority of one, Gog. This power over these nations he must therefore establish either by stealth or negotiation, or by conquest. The present situation in Europe, in assessing the relevant positions of NATO and the Warsaw Pact countries makes the outcome of Ezekiel's prophecy, in this regard, inevitable.

Russia Identified in Ezekiel's Prophecy

Gog is next termed "the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal." In the original Hebrew, however, the word "chief' is a proper noun "Rosh." Therefore it should be transliterated and not translated. The R.V. renders the phrase "Gog, of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal. . . ."

There is an impressive array of evidence to identify the name of Rosh with modern Russia. The historian Bochart, in his work Sacred Geography wrote: "Ros is the most ancient form under which history makes mention of Russia. Stanley, in his book The Jewish Church stated:

"The name Russ, Hebrew Roas, LXX Ros, unfortunately translated in the English version the chief first appeared in Ezekiel 38:2 and 39:1. It is the only name of a modern nation that appears in the Old Testament."

Edward Gibbon, in Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire wrote: "Among the Greeks, the national appellation has a singular form, Ros." The highly respected Hebrew scholar Gesenius, in his Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon to the Old Testament states:

"Proper noun of a northern nation, with Tubal and Meshech undoubtedly the Russians, who are mentioned by Byzantine writers of the tenth century under the name of oi Ros -- the Russians dwelling to the north of Taurus. . . ."

The word rendered "prince" in the A.V. is also interesting. The Hebrew word signifies an exalted one (Strong) or lifted up (Gesenius). The imputation is that Ezekiel was describing a powerful and authoritative leader who would become the leader of Russia and other nations, in "the latter days."

The names "Meshech" and "Tubal" further establish, beyond reasonable doubt, that the verse is describing a confederacy of European nations under the leadership of the most powerful and autocratic man in Russia at the time of divine intervention in human affairs (Ezek. 38:18-23). Of these two names Bochart has written:

"It is credible that from Rhos and Mesech . . . of whom Ezekiel speaks, descended the Russians and Muscovites, nations of the greatest celebrity in European Scythia . . . ."

And Gesenius wrote of them:

"A barbarous people, inhabiting the Moschian mountains between Iberia (now Georgia) Armenia, and Colchis. . . ."

Tubal, or Tobol, is not difficult to identify with modern Tobolski.

Thus, Ezekiel 38 paints a fearful picture of world affairs in "the latter days" (v. 16). An all-powerful Russia, dominating all of Europe and confederate with many other nations, including Persia, Ethiopia, Libya, Gomer, (France, Spain, Belgium, etc.). and Togarmah (ancient Armenia from the Black Sea to the Caspian, now the southern area of the U.S.S.R. and portion of Turkey), gathers together all its military might, and comes to invade the Middle-East, which has been re-settled by the Jews after many centuries of dispersion (V. 5, 6, 7, 8, 11).

At that time. when "Russia makes its grand move for the building-up of its Image-empire" (Elpis Israel Preface, 1848) the great Creator of heaven and earth will intervene (vv. 18-23). He shall:

"Send Jesus Christ whom the heavens must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all His Holy prophets since the world began.... Because He hath appointed a day in the which He will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom He hath ordained; whereof He hath given assurance onto all men, in that He hath raised him from the dead." (Acts 3:20-21; 17:31).

Those, indeed, will be days of judgment, when God will bring down all human governments and powers, when He will crush the might of all flesh, and when He will subdue all nations under the rule and authority of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. God will announce His "controversy with the nations" because of the evil of their ways. And "the slain of the Lord shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth. (Jer. 25:30-33; Ezek. 38:19-23; Zeph. 3:8-9).

Russian aims for world domination will come to a bitter end in the land of Israel (Ezek. 39:1-22) when Jesus Christ and his resurrected, immortalized saints will "break them with a rod of iron" and "dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel (Ps. 2:1-9, cp. Rev. 2:26-27).

The Great Confrontation in History

Christ's judgments will then go forth to reach all nations; for, "as a snare" shall that day "come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth" (Luke 21:35). He will subdue the power of all nations, so that "all kings shall fall down before him" (Ps. 72:11).

Then, when all human authority has been removed from the earth, "the God of heaven shall set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed. . . . And there was given unto him (Christ) dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed" (Dan. 2:44; 7:14).

Finally, when Christ's confrontation with the nations has been resolved in his favor, and when divine judgments have humbled all flesh, the peoples of the earth who survive to witness the dawn of a New Age will rejoice. The curse upon the earth will be removed, and the ground shall bring forth prolifically to provide adequately for the needs of all (Isa. 41:18-20; 43:18-20, 55:12-13; Amos 9:13). Peace, righteousness, and well-being will become the stability of those times, when "they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid. . . ." (Micah 4:4)

Where, anywhere on earth. is the political leader who can offer a guaranteed future such as this? There is not one.

At this time of deepening political darkness and developing crisis for the earth, to whom shall we turn? There is only one: The God of heaven whose promised word, down through the Ages, has always proven totally reliable. The Bible is largely a book of prophecy, and all the prophecies God has ever caused to be written have been accurately fulfilled, excepting only those relating to the return of Christ and the establishment of His kingdom upon earth. If all other prophecies may be tested and found constant and dependable, how can we afford to doubt those which yet remain to be fulfilled? We would be foolish to do so. Not only because God has proven faithful in that which He has Promised -- but because, in any event, there is no one else to whom we might turn. There is no real alternative. The unfolding of history has shown consistently that man is utterly incapable of correctly and wisely governing either himself or his fellowman, apart from the exercise of divine wisdom which comes only from God. "The way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps. . ." (Jer. 10:23). But man, in his pride and arrogance, generally refuses to bow in humility before the God who created him. If we fall into such an error, the price we will pay will be high: we will remain without hope, as the gathering crisis deepens, and will face only eternal destruction.

And what of our families? What hope or encouragement can we offer them in these evil times? None whatever of any value, apart from the hope which God would extend to us, through the message of the gospel.

Become moved by the majestic power of God's prophetic word:

"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 onto it. And many people shall go and say, "Come ye, and let as go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach as 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" (Isa. 2:2-4).

What a glorious picture of the future, in contrast to the corruption and chaos of the present -- for, in these contemporary times, "the whole world lieth in wickedness" (1 John 5:19).

What You must do at this Hour of Crisis

There remains only one hope for the survival of the human race: the return of Christ to this earth. But for each of us, as individuals, the matter of eternal salvation is far more personal. It is necessary to acknowledge that only God can provide for our eternal redemption. And He has done this through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. We must accept, through faith based upon a sound knowledge of the Truth, that "he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. . . ." (Heb. 7:25). The Son of God taught unequivocally: "He that believeth (the gospel) and is baptized shall be saved" (Mark 16:15-16).

Time is fast running out. Soon, Russia will make her grand bid for world domination. And Christ will be back in the earth. And the outpouring of divine judgments upon the nations will commence. Soon, it will be too late. Now is the day of opportunity. Learn how to "worship" God "in spirit and in truth" (John 4:24). Then, and only then will you be able to face the future with a faith and a sureness and a conviction which will see you through the days ahead, until Christ returns.

Christ is coming to reign on earth. He offers you eternal life, and the privilege of ruling and reigning with him over the nations (2 Pet. 1:4; Rev. 5:9-10). Will you reject this? It is the only really worthwhile offer you have ever received in your life! 