Before Munich, as we sat by our radios listening to the dispatches from commentators at home and abroad, we expected almost momentarily to hear the roar of the planes as they climbed into the skies loaded with their “eggs” of destruction. Hearts failed for fear as they looked upon the trouble that was coming upon the earth. Then the tenseness broke and the crisis passed for the moment.
Let me quote a statement made by Earl Baldwin, former prime minister of Great Britain, spoken on October 4, 1938, after those serious and tense days of but a moment before:
“Today is Tuesday. It was only last Wednesday that the Prime Minister spoke in the House of Commons. I sat next to Lord Halifax, and up to the middle of the Prime Minister’s speech I do not believe there was any thought in the minds of anyone present, but that war was inevitable.
“. . . I thought the skies were completely black. . . . In the midst of that speech the Foreign Secretary was handed a telegram, and he showed it to me. It was the long-expected answer to the Prime Minister’s invitation. It was just as though the finger of God had drawn a rainbow across the sky and had ratified again His covenant with the children of men. The children of men of all nations have a part to play now in these fleeting hours that are before us.”—New York Times, October 5, 1938.
the nations restrained
He was right; God had drawn His finger across the sky, that He might set in motion agencies to retard the fatal onslaught from spilling the blood of countless thousands of judgement-bound creatures. God still rules in the heavens, and His hand controls the affairs of nations, even though a terrible holocaust has since overtaken us. While the devil is angry and working with all power to bring about terrible conditions on the earth through his reign of terror, God is bringing counteracting influences to bear to check the enemy’s work.
It is of interest to every student of God’s Word to see how, in more than one case within the past few years, some special intervention has taken place just at a time when it seemed that a terrible catastrophe must result. Take the war with Ethiopia: the world looked on with bated breath when England moved her mighty war fleet into Mediterranean waters, but the leashes of the dogs of war were not loosed, and Italia went forward with her war of subjugation, and England withdrew her fleet without firing the fatal shot. The revolution in Spain, with soldiers of foreign nations assisting on both sides of the fray, and the ships of neutral nations bombed and sent to the bottom of the sea—all added fuel to international animosity. For a time, it seemed that a general war would break out over the differences among the nations especially interested in the Spanish problem.
The Sino-Japanese war, undeclared of course, as many wars are today, brought about further complications. In the early part of this affair came the wounding of the ambassador of Britain. Diplomatic relations were strained between Japan and England over this event, and in times past it would have called for the sending of the British fleet to Japanese waters with a demand for redress, but this time the matter was composed. Then came the sinking of the Panay. Less than that sent America into war with Spain in 1898, but quickly they hushed up the matter, lest war break out between America and Japan. One wonders at all this apparent lack of “backbone” among the democracies of the world. Had they weakened so perceptibly that they no longer were willing to stand up for their “rights”? Or was there divine intervention to avert war?
Such were the questions which were occupying men’s minds on September 1, 1939. Everywhere ominous signs appeared on the horizon, but despite the rumblings of war in the Danzig sector, and the demands of Chancellor Hitler that the Poles withdraw from the northern Polish Corridor, the warnings of Britain and France that Germany must not employ force in the settlement of the Danzig question, the world hoped that the nations would find a peaceful solution to their problems. Germany did not believe that Britain and France would go to war to preserve the Corridor. Premier Mussolini pleaded for the Poles to yield to the demands of Chancellor Hitler and suggested to the democracies that the question could be arbitrated by his government, together with Germany, Russia, Britain and France. Russia concluded a non-aggression pact with Germany, and it looked as though Poland would not dare to do other than submit to the demands of her western neighbour. An invading force crossed into the Corridor from Germany. The Poles resisted and the war which was destined to involve Britain and France was on. And who knows where it will end?
Up to the time of writing, however, something has held Herr Hitler back from launching a terrible offensive. The expected “lightning war” did not take place, and Britain and France have been given months in which to prepare. So unexpectedly quiet has been the Western Front that the war has been called “a strange war”. The expected big air attacks by the Germans on Britain have, up to the time of writing, not materialised. But there are again rumours that Herr Hitler is about to attack Holland, and General Gamelin and Lord Gort have warned their troops to be ready to meet a big offensive.
However, the flower of European youth is being prepared for battle. The fairest cities may crumble before devastating air raids. Leviathans of the deep are being sunk like plummets with their loads of human freight. Nations staggering under the burden of debts occasioned by the World War will be crushed by unconscionable financial obligations to keep a war juggernaut moving forward. If civilisation was threatened by the World War, can it survive this devastating shock? Men ponder these questions with blanching cheeks and listen to the latest radio broadcasts from the front with bated breath! “How long will we be able to localise this struggle?” is the unuttered question of every listener. God knows the answer to this question. Only He can interpose to save a world from ruin, and He has a reason for doing it.
We would call your attention to that reason found in the words from the Inspired Book. Revelation 7:1–3 says: “After these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads” (KJV).
why nations restrained before “great whirlwind” comes
Winds, in the Bible, are symbols of commotion, strife and war. See Daniel 7:2 and Jeremiah 25:32,33. Therefore, the loosing of the “four winds” by the angels standing on the four corners of the earth signifies that the elements of strife and trouble that exist in the world are to blow, thus constituting the great whirlwind of which Jeremiah 25:32,33 speaks. These winds of destruction were about to be let loose upon the earth when an angel, commissioned by God, flew swiftly, calling to these restraining angels to hold the whirlwind of strife and war a little longer until something was done to the servants of the living God.
But who are these “servants of God”? They are the same ones of whom God speaks in Isaiah 8:16: “Bind up the testimony, seal the law among My disciples” (KJV). The ones called “disciples” here are the same ones called “servants of God” in the Book of Revelation. The sealing work called for is the same in both cases. It would appear from Revelation, however, that God is doing some special work for people upon the earth in these last days, and is anxious that this work be accomplished before the earth be given over to final destruction by the forces of war. The checking of major wars in the past was ordained by God to “seal the servants [disciples] of God”.
This specially sealed group of people will be living in the days when Jesus is about to return to earth for His people. They are to be spiritually prepared for the terrible events of the last days. The 14th chapter of Revelation deals in more detail with the story of these people and the events just preceding the coming of Christ; and this chapter should be studied today by every person interested in eternal life. God is placing a stamp of approval upon His people now; and as He looks upon the present world with the many souls still unprepared for the coming crisis, unready for a place in the kingdom of God and of His Christ, as He sees the rising hatred in the hearts of men, and knows that soon there will be a “time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation”, His compassionate heart reaches out to these poor, judgement-bound souls. It is this love which has caused Him heretofore to call upon the angels to hold the wars and distresses and the plagues from destroying these people by death, until they are fully prepared for the kingdom by a life of surrender and consecration. God is interested in individuals, and He gave His only begotten Son to save men from sin and from death.
Remember that it is God who has been checking the nations; He it is who is preventing Satan from carrying out his destructive purposes; and as the latter uses men in his battle against the kingdom of God, so God also uses human agents in combating Satan in his effort to destroy those whom God desires to seal. It is important that every professed follower of the Lord Jesus Christ have this sealing experience.
May the distressing European events of present days draw us all closer to God and, as Christians, to one another, so that we may be ready at the appearing of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
We are undoubtedly living in the days of “distress of nations, with perplexity” and “men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth”—mentioned in Luke 21:25–28—which precede or herald the glorious second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.
