ANALYSES

Here are some of the latest titles:

• « Biden Warns Against Nuclear Armageddon »
• “Putin isolated in bunker”
• « US hoards anti-radiation drugs »

As a boy in school during « The Cuban Missile Crisis, » I remember climbing under my desk for another bomb drill in preparation for a potential atomic bomb threat. I seriously doubt our desks would have done us any good.

Now, 60 years later, AP News reported that President Biden said: “The risk of a nuclear ‘Armageddon’ is at its highest level since the 1962 Cuban missile crisis, as Russian officials talk about the possibility of using tactical nuclear weapons after suffering massive setbacks during the eight-month-long invasion of Ukraine. « 

Whenever a world leader, much less a US president, uses the word « Armageddon, » we notice it.

President Biden continued, « We haven’t faced the prospect of Armageddon since Kennedy and the Cuban Missile Crisis. » He suggested that Putin’s threat is real « because his army is – one might say – significantly underperforming. »

The likelihood of nuclear war is increasing rapidly

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 9, 2022

Add to this, the US just spent $290 million on anti-radiation drugs. The threat is not rejected.

Meanwhile, Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, reportedly single-handedly set this nightmare scenario in motion. isolated in a bunkergrowing increasingly paranoid and nervous as his army suffered defeat after defeat in its war against Ukraine.

World leaders are taking this seriously. So we should. But is this potentially Armageddon?

The short answer: no.

For most Christians, « Armageddon » is often used to describe the latest apocalyptic battle that humanity will one day face. The word ultimately comes from the Hebrew word « Har-Magedon, » meaning « Mount Megiddo, » the intended battle site.

Christians should understand that this cannot be the biblical Armageddon, whatever happens with Putin’s threats. This is a specific series of battles fought at the end of what the Bible calls « the period of the great tribulation » which will last for seven years. It is inaugurated by the appearance of the Antichrist and ends with the return of Jesus Christ.

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But what if Russia and the United States enter this conflict from the highest stakes? Let’s all pray together that such a thing never happens. But what if you knew a nuclear missile was coming and you only had a few more moments to live?

Indeed, this happened at 8:07 am on Saturday January 13, 2018 to the people of Oahu. Their phones buzzed with this ominous warning:

BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INCOMING HAWAII. SEARCH FOR AN IMMEDIATE REFUGE.

THIS IS NOT A DRILL.

People in Hawaii waited breathlessly for 37 long minutes before being told it was a false alarm. The official explanation is that the wrong button was pressed during a shift change.

Shelly, a friend of ours, who was on Oahu at the time of this emergency alert, responded calmly due to her deep faith in Jesus Christ. She sent us a message after the green light was given. After the emergency alert went off, her neighbors ran to her home on Oahu’s North Shore and asked her what to do. Shelly writes, « I’ve prayed with them and said the first thing we need to do is make sure we know where we’re going when we leave this earth! »

One day a real threat will come your way – a nuclear or personal threat. It could be a heart attack or a car accident. One thing is certain: nobody gets out of here alive.

Like Shelly, we should all know where we’re going. Only those who are ready to die are ready to live.

Two thousand years ago, Jesus Christ, the very Son of God, came to our planet and died on the cross for all our sins. There, hanging on that cross, he bore all the sins of the world, including yours, and died in your place. Then, three days later, Jesus was resurrected. Death died when Christ rose again.

If we will turn away from our sins and believe in Him, we can know that we will pass the afterlife in Heaven. With that awareness, we are ready to give that same hopeful response to someone else.

There is no escaping the reality of life and death, even in a place as beautiful as Hawaii. One day, it won’t be a false alarm. Nothing is more important than preparing yourself for any emergency that comes your way. I pray that our leaders, from the White House down, are doing everything they can to reduce this conflict immediately.

But for the rest of us, knowing where we’re going to spend eternity is crucial.