Wars have been the sad reality of human history, just as predicted by Jesus.
by Rod Hall
Because of the relative peace this
generation has experienced over the past fifty years it is often hard
to imagine another world conflict erupting in our lifetime. It is more
comfortable to imagine our modern world gradually evolving with no
cataclysmic upsets striking our enlightened age. However, wars have
been the sad reality in every period of human history just as Jesus
predicted (Matthew 24:7). The ghoulish red horseman of the apocalypse
has successfully ridden down through time bringing death and destruction
wherever he rides. The Apostle John's graphic vision reveals: "Another
horse, fiery red, went out. And it was granted to the one who sat on
it to take peace from the earth, and that people should kill one another;
and there was given to him a great sword" (Revelation 6:4).
Cycles of War
The influence of the red horseman
has been felt by every generation of mankind. It will be particularly
punishing during the crises at the close of our age. The cycle of war
appears unbreakable. The Norwegian Academy of Science and the World
Organization for the Protection of Humanity have calculated that, in
the last 5,600 years of man's written history, armies have fought 14,531
wars. Over the 5,600 years, they estimate only 292 years of peace.
That means that 94 percent of the time, or 5,208 of those years, saw
war. The same organizations figure that deaths caused by war have totaled
3.4 billion, or more than half the world's present population.
War, on average, results in about
700,000 deaths every year, or 70 million per century. The most bloody
century in history, the 20th century, produced some 150 million deaths
from armed conflicts. That is more than halfthe present population
of the United States. Over a decade ago, James Reston of The New
York Times wrote that in the past century alone history has recorded
207 wars.
