(Continued-Chapter 2 -The Signs of the Times)

Of course, the leaders, who created the United Nations were not seeking to form a World Government. The United Nations does not have executive, legislative, and judicial branches, which are the standard parts of government. Neither did the League. Nevertheless, both the League of Nations and the United Nations are steps in the direction of a World Government. And there are well-informed and influential men today who feel that a further step must be taken. They believe that a World Government is the only way to insure lasting peace among the nations.

One advocate of World Government is Grenville Clark. The following quotation is from his article, "World Order:The Need for a Bold New Approach," which appeared in The Annals of the American academy of Political and Social Science, July 1961: As a first basic condition [for world order] I place the definite acceptance by the governments and peoples of the leading powers of the concept that world order requires the same kind of legislative, executive, and judicial institutions on a world scale as for the maintenance of internal order in local communities and within nations.

So, keep Daniel's prophecy in mind, and watch for a growing trend toward a one-world government. This is one of the signs that we are living close to the end of this age.

In addition to his prophecy concerning a coming world government, Daniel gave two more signs by which the end days may be recognized. He prophesied that in the time of the end "many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased" (Daniel 12:4).

Modern Methods of Travel


Daniel wrote that "many shall run to and fro," for God permitted him to see in vision men traveling at high speeds at the close of this age. But he was not the only Hebrew prophet who saw men running to and fro at high speeds at the close of this age.

Ezekiel described airborne travel in military operations in the last days (Ezekiel 38:9). Isaiah saw the Jews flying to their homeland in the last days (Isaiah 60:8). Nahum saw what he called chariots dashing to and fro at tremendous speeds, having lights which reminded him of torches (Nahum 2:4). There is no doubt that God let Nahum see and prophesy automobile travel in the last days.

Of course, all the statements the prophets made about their visions of the last days must be studied in their contexts.

Until very recently the best methods of travel were very slow compared with the high speeds at which men run to and fro today. Surely these prophets who lived centuries ago described very accurately modern methods of travel in this 20th century. As recently as 40 years ago it caused excitement in a whole community when a family piled into a Model T Ford and a 200-mile trip. Today a family can board a jet and travel 2000 miles and no one pays them any attention.

Travel is now in vogue. The New York Port of authority handled 22,856,000 travelers in the New York airports in 1964. According to U.S. News & World Report, people are taking longer vacations and are spending proportionally larger amounts each year for motor trips and foreign travel. Today men are running to and fro at high speeds in every part of the world! This is an important sign that we are living very close to the end of the age.

Rapid Increase of Knowledge

Linked with this sign is a second one--the increase of knowledge in the last days. "Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased." Daniel's prophecy implies that the acquisition of knowledge will be accelerated as the end of the age draws near.

If you have any doubts that this sign of the times is pointing directly to our day, just thumb through the pages of history. As you do, look for the most dramatic examples of the advances that have been made in the fields if industry, travel and transportation, communications, and medicine. You will turn many, many pages and cross thousands of years, and only now and then will you find a really great invention or medical discovery. As you approach the middle of the 18th century, however, you will come into a new era-as era of progress in all branches of science.

Why was progress in the past so slow?

Because, until about 200 years ago man had not acquired the knowledge he needed to make rapid advances in industry, transportation, etc.

Civilized man has never been satisfied with his existence. He has constantly worked to acquire more knowledge to help him open up new frontiers. He has always probed into everything he could to find new and better ways of doing things. He accumulated knowledge bit by bit, a little here and a little there through the centuries. But until fairly recently he had not acquired sufficient knowledge to relate and make practical use of the many seemingly isolated bits of knowledge he gained.

He used fire to boil water, but for centuries he knew nothing of the power of the steam. He invented wheels, but thousands of years passed before he had the know-how to build an engine to turn the wheels. He knew a lot about pain and suffering, but only comparatively recently did he learn that microbes cause many of his illnesses. True, he was gaining knowledge and making progress all the time, but for a long time his forward march was very slow.Then about 200 years ago man began to relate and apply the knowledge he had acquired through the centuries with startling results. Invention followed invention and discovery followed discovery. Soon man's way of life in the more progressive nations was completely changed, and it is still changing.

Industry

Since the middle of the 18th century increase in knowledge has brought about rapid progress in the field of industry. The first real progress was made in the spinning and weaving industry about 1770 with the invention of machines that could do the work of many men. This brought about the Industrial Revolution, for the use of machines soon spread to other industries. As bigger and better machines were made, industry grew and expanded.

In this 20th century industry continues to grow and expand at an accelerated pace as researchers constantly gain and apply new knowledge. In 1963 American firms spent 16 billion dollars on research and development programs to acquire the know how to produce new and better machines and equipment. This statement concerning industry's remarkable growth during the past 20 years was made in the United Nations publication World Facts and Figures: "The 1950's [was] a decade in which economic progress was extremely rapid and in which the output of the mines and factories of the world rose to a level twice as high as the level of 20 years ago--that is to say that the world's industrial economy made as much absolute progress in those 20 years as it had in all of its history."

In other fields the picture of rapid progress due to increase in knowledge is the same.

Communications

One hundred years ago there were no telephones, motion pictures (the movie camera had not yet been invented), radios, or televisions sets. About the fastest means of communication available at that time was the telegraph. Then toward the end of the 19th century man's knowledge in this field increased so rapidly that he was able to take some giant steps toward the modern fast and efficient means of communication we enjoy today.

Bell took out a patent on his first crude phone in 1876. George Eastman came up with the Kodak in 1888. Thomas Edison invented the movie projector in 1893. About the turn of the century, man had acquired enough knowledge to produce radio. Television made its appearance almost 30 years later.

Now you and I can telephone to the ends of the earth in a matter of minutes. And we can see pictures of current happenings in foreign countries, bounced off manmade satellites, right in our own living rooms via television. As knowledge increases, old methods of communication are being improved and new methods are being developed almost every day.

Travel and Transportation

Tremendous advances also have been made in methods of travel and transportation in the last century, as knowledge in this field has increased.

Just 100 years ago there wasn't even a Model T Ford on the market. There wasn't a truck or bus on the road. There wasn't an airplane soaring across the sky. Satellites and rockets to the moon made exciting science fiction, but few people expected them to become a reality. Then, a train ride was an exciting experience.

Knowledge has been gained and applied so rapidly in this field within the past century, however, that today streamlined cars, high powered trucks and buses, and speedy jets are as common place as rice and potatoes. Space travel, too, is fast becoming a part of our everyday life. During 1960-63 astronauts orbited the earth hundreds of times, and plans are ahead for more flights into space. Right now American scientists are working on Saturn V, which they hope will carry men to the moon about 1970. With payload, Saturn V will be as tall as a 37-story building, will generate 7.5 million pounds of thrust in a cluster of five Rocketdyne engines, and will weigh six million pounds. Yet, according to U.S. News & World Report, "Six years ago [1958] the United States could not get a grapefruit sized satellite off the launch pad." "Knowledge shall be increased"!

Medical Science

Nor is medical science lagging behind. Just a little over 100 years ago no one was certain that microbes caused many of our diseases. Then Pasteur proved to himself and the world that tiny creatures too small to be seen by the naked eye were spreading disease and death.

Since that time, increase in knowledge has made possible great strides in the field of medical science. X-rays, insulin, antibiotics, vitamins, and an effective polio vaccine are just a few of the discoveries that have been made in recent years. Today millions of dollars a year are being spent by the Cancer, Heart, Tuberculosis, and other Associations to gain knowledge that may eventually lead to the cure or control of the diseases that plague our society. Progress in medical science may seem slow to many of us, but it is almost unbelievably rapid compared with the progress made during past centuries. The following quotation from The Encyclopedia Americana spotlights the amazing increase in knowledge and the rapid advances that have been made during the first half of the 20th century:

Medical Science has made extraordinary progress since 1900. Its effect may be measured by the increase of life expectancy, which during this brief period of history has been extended by one-third, representing an accomplishment greater than that achieved during the preceding 2000 years.

"Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased." Daniel's prophecy concerning the end times is being fulfilled before our very eyes.


Increase in Crime and Immorality, and Desire for Personal Gain and Pleasure

Another sign of the times stands out in bold relief, spelling out that we live in the last days. This sign is the rising crime index, increase in open immorality, and love of material things that characterize our present day society. According to the Word of God, wickedness and a desire for the things of this world will be very prevalent in the last days.

A careful examination of history shows that man's evil, selfish nature has remained the same through the centuries. Some have erroneously thought that education, culture and refinement could change the nature of man, but they cannot. Men and women are as wicked today as they have ever been, as all right-thinking people will admit. Only God, the Holy Spirit, can refine and purify an individual within and without; the Holy Spirit does this work in the heart and life of the believer.


Increase in Crime

It is written in the Bible: "Wicked men and seducers shall grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived" (II Timothy 3:13).

Jesus taught that in the end days, just before He returns to the earth, wickedness will be great in the world. He compared the end days with the days of Noah, saying: "As were the days of Noah, so shall be the coming of the Son of Man" (Matthew 24:37-39).

Jesus made reference to Moses' account of the moral and spiritual condition of the people in Noah's day. Moses wrote of those days as follows:

And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the ground, and daughters were born unto them, 2 that the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all that they chose. 3 And Jehovah said, My Spirit shall not strive with man for ever, for that he is also flesh: yet shall his days be a hundred and twenty years. 4 The Nephilim were in the earth in those days, and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them: the same were the mighty men that were of old, the men of renown.

5 And Jehovah saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 And it repented Jehovah that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. 7 And Jehovah said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the ground; both man, and beast, and creeping things, and birds of the heavens; for it repenteth me that I have made them. 8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of Jehovah. . .

11 And the earth was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. 12 And God saw the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth. 13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me: for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth (Genesis 6:1-8, 11-13).

In Noah's day the wickedness of man was so great in the earth that "every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." Shortly before the flood came and destroyed most of the human race, man had become so corrupt that he was incapable or right thoughts or actions. Jesus said, "As were the days of Noah" so shall it be in the end of the age.

Psalm 92:6-9 throws a bright light on the moral and spiritual conditions of the world in the end time.

6 A brutish man knoweth not; Neither doth a fool understand this: 7 When the wicked spring as the grass, And when all the workers of iniquity do flourish; It is that they shall be destroyed for ever. 8 But thou, O Jehovah, art on high for evermore. For, lo, thine enemies, O Jehovah, 9 For, lo, thine enemies shall perish; All the workers of iniquity shall be scattered.

When the wicked come up as grass and the workers of iniquity thrive and prosper, it will then be time to destroy them from the face of the globe forever. Today the wicked are springing up on every hand, and workers of iniquity are flourishing. Thus, the 20th century is rapidly taking on many of the characteristics of Noah's day. This is a sign of the times.

Crime was rampant in Noah's day, for Moses wrote of that day, saying, "The earth was corrupt before God and the earth was filled with violence," Jesus said, "As were the days of Noah" so shall it be at the end of the age. Increase in crime, especially juvenile crime, is a growing problem throughout the world today. So great and universal has this problem become that United Nations' representatives of various nations have met to discuss this problem and try to find a solution to it.

The Untied Nations held its Second Congress on the Prevention of Crime and Treatment of Offenders in London, in 1960. The following quotations are from the REPORT PREPARED BY SECRETARIAT of that Congress. The Rt. Hon. Viscount Kilmuir, Lord Chancellor of England . . . observed that the Congress was meeting at a time when the problems of crime were growing in gravity and the resources of treatment agencies were increasingly diversified. Crime in many countries was still increasing; in the United Kingdom, the number of indictable offenses in 1959 was more than twice as high as it had been before the Second World War. Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of the situation was the disproportionate increase of crime among young people at a time of unparalleled economic prosperity.

The Rapporteur [Dr. Wolf Middendorff, Judge Freiburg in Breisgau, Federal Republic of Germany, making a report to open a debate on "New Forms of Juvenile Delinquency: Their Origin, Prevention and Treatment"] began by stressing that the question of "new" forms of delinquency referred, not to completely new types of crime not generally known in the past, but to an increase in the extent, gravity, violence, number of participants, as well as to apparent lack of motive in existing forms of delinquency. The most important new developments were found to be the growing tendency of groups of juveniles to commit crimes, and that Offenses reported from many countries ranged from unorganized mass riots to well-planned robberies and murders . .There could be no doubt of the increase of juvenile delinquency practically everywhere . . .

Mr. Perzweig [Head of the International Affairs Department of the World Jewish Congress] stressed the corroding influence of racial and religious prejudice and the bearing it had on the development of an adequate system of values and of the part such prejudice plays in encouraging delinquent behavior. He suggested that a reason for the increase in apparently motiveless types of juvenile delinquency was the existence in certain countries of a spiritual vacuum which needed to be filled. It seemed wrong to treat juvenile delinquency in isolation from society. It was a consequence of the failure of society, and a symptom of the disease in a sick society. Statistics and sociology should not be allowed to conceal the fact that there were deep-seated reasons for the present malaise.

Mr. Takeuchi [Director, Criminal Affairs Bureau, Ministry of justice, Tokyo, Lecturing on juvenile delinquency in Japan] indicated that post war offenses against the penal code committed by juveniles had reached a peak in 1951. There had then been a downward trend in 1955, followed by an upswing to the highest post war figure in 1959. Since 1955, statistics showed an increase in offenses of a violent nature committed by juveniles, although there had not been a substantial increase in offenses against property. The number of traffic violations by juveniles had also shown a marked increase. The main characteristics of recent offenses by juveniles were as follows: an increase in offenses of physical violence and of offenses committed in groups by younger juveniles; a greater number of the older juvenile offenders came from upper-and middle class families. Moreover, unmotivated offenses had shown signs of increase.

Crime in the United States has increased steadily over the years. According to the F.B.I. during the years 1958-63 U.S. crime increased five times faster than the gain in population. Crime climbed 40%; population gain was only 8%. For all criminal acts, excluding traffic offenses, the nationwide increase in arrests of persons under 18 was 11% greater in 1963 than in 1962. For the country as a whole, persons under 18 years of age comprised 17% of all the police arrests for criminal acts. For the offenses that relate to criminal homicide, forcible rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny and auto theft these young persons were represented in 46% of the arrests nationally.


Increase in Immorality

Throughout the world today, while crime is rocketing, morality is plummeting. Open immorality is becoming more and more prevalent everywhere. Immorality was as rampant as crime in Noah's day, for Moses wrote of that day, saying: "Every imagination of the thoughts of his [man's] heart was only evil continually . . . [and] the earth was corrupt before God." Jesus said, "As were the day's of Noah" so shall it be in the end of the age.

There is much evidence that present-day society has produced an unusually great and ever-growing number of dishonest executives, untrustworthy employees, pandering government officials, overly-indulgent parents, unchaste high school and college students, call-girl housewives, juvenile delinquents, dope addicts, racists, terrorists, etc. etc. The time is soon coming, if it is not already here, when it can be said of great hosts of people that every imagination of the thoughts of their hearts is only evil continually.

General lawlessness is greater in this decade, according to the Most Rev. Author Michael Ramsey, Archbishop of Canterbury. He believes that men are losing their sense of duty and of obligation and truthfulness.

The Texas Department of Public Safety Director Homer Garrison, Jr., says that there is "a general weakening of the moral fiber of the over-all population."

"You don't need to be a puritan to sense that moral standards have slackened," declared Mr. Frederick R. Kappel, chairman of the board of American Telephone & Telegraph Company, at recent news conference. He continued, "It is hard to escape the feeling that things are worse than they used to be . . . to a great extent, nowadays, people simply seem to take misbehavior in stride. They don't get up in arms about it."

J. Edgar Hoover recently stated that many persons are so preoccupied with selfishness and greed they no longer know where honor stops and dishonor begins. In an F.B.I. Law Enforcement Bulletin, he wrote: Morality is one of the more perplexing and controversial problems facing our nation . . . because of individual and collective moral cowardice in society. We do not have the courage to stand in conflict with the mad rush for material wealth, indulgence and social prestige. Many persons are so preoccupied with selfishness and greed they no longer know--nor care for that matter--where honor stops and dishonor commences. Others are simply confused. Rationalization and double standards have so clouded some moral principals that right and wrong are no longer clearly distinguishable.

Because of this rationalization, of which Mr. Hoover wrote, many are turning away from divine and wholesome moral standards, and are becoming victims of what some call an orgy of open-mindedness. To some extent sexual promiscuity is blighting every civilized society in the world today.

Anglican Bishop Cuthbert Bardsley told the 64th national conference of the Church of England Men's Society that abuse of freedom in drama, literature, radio, and television has produced a "sexually sick society" in Great Britain. He called on Christians to return to the divine moral law of the Ten Commandments and to discard the "attractive doctrine that no absolute moral standards are any longer credible or possible."

The bishop warned that history shows that the decline of civilization begins with a decline in moral and ethical standards. "Sexual license, in particular," he said, "has been a fruitful cause of moral decay which has been nonetheless real, although the intellectuals of the time have justified it on the grounds of progressive thought."

Dr. Norman Vincent Peale reported that "a young minister was bowled over recently when the president of the youth department of his church, with whom he was discussing moral questions, came right out with crass admission that he was in the habit of having sex relations every weekend with teenage girls in the Sunday school as a matter of routine. The shocked pastor instituted a survey in a class of 30 high school students and found only five who asserted they did not go in for sex affairs. The other said they did 'more or less' and 'couldn't see any wrong in it.' 'It was the usual thing on a date,' they said. 'What do you want us to be, anti-social or something?' they challenged."