Written by Van Yandell
Mark 13: “7a And when ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars, 8b these are the beginnings of sorrows.”
In the summer of 2019 I was sitting at a table alone, enjoying my morning coffee and newspaper. The restaurant in the Port of Vancouver, British Columbia was busy and there were no unoccupied tables in the dining area.
A man came by and asked if he could sit with me and, of course, I said “Yes.” He was from Southern California and I immediately noticed a book he was reading. The book was “D-Day” by Stephen E. Ambrose, originally published in 1994.
Into our conversation (partly concerning the book), I remarked to him “The 1940’s was a decade of Bible prophesy fulfilled.” He clearly had no idea what I was talking about and requested an explanation. Seeing an opportunity to share the Gospel, I began to elaborate.
As we ended our discussion, he went on his way and his final remark was, “This is very interesting and I’ll study it further.” After such a conversation, who knows where it might lead?
Matthew 27: 25 “And all the people answered, “His blood be on us and on our children!” When the people of Jerusalem were demanding Jesus be crucified, they made this statement; that was a big mistake!
Thirty-seven years later, the Romans burned Jerusalem and the few people left alive fled the city and the country. Legend has it, only 126 people survived and over one million were slaughtered by the Romans.
Throughout history, attempts have been made to eradicate the Jewish people. God, however, selected them to provide the world with a Savior and He did not intend for their elimination to happen.
There are several cases in which the Jewish people came near extinction or attempts were made to extinguish their race. In the story of Joseph and the children of Israel migrating to Egypt, the population of the group was seventy people. In another book of the Bible, Queen Esther saved the people from being eradicated by King Ashureus.
In previous articles I have encouraged readers to be alert for Bible prophesies and meanings not readily noticed. In Ezekiel 36: 19 God tells us “I scattered them among the heathen.” This was written about 600 years before the expulsion from Israel and the people of Israel would remain without a country for nearly 1900 years.
Then, in the early 1940’s, the holocaust was ongoing and over six-million Jews were murdered by the Nazis. I have suspicioned this was the extreme and final punishment for the crucifixion of Christ. Once again, the fulfillment of the request of Matthew 27: 25 comes to mind.
The only glitch I find in my suspicion is that the death of Christ was prophesied. Why would God punish them for His foretelling of a certain thing? (Psalm 16: 10, Isaiah 53: 4-5). The Jews and Romans only served as the method to fulfill the plan.
The involvement of America into WW II was initiated when Pearl Harbor was bombed Dec 7th, 1941. We see without doubt, Jesus was right when He told the disciples (Mark 13: 7) there would be wars and then in verse eight, the wars would increase with intensity.
As the war progressed into the 40’s, examples of military might as never before realized, were witnessed. In total, estimates are that over forty-million individuals, including twenty-million military people died. The U.S. alone lost 407,000 souls and countless others came home permanently injured both mentally and physically.
On June 6, 1944, a military invasion by the allies on the Normandy beaches of France, known as D-Day, displayed a military force and level of determination unimaginable in the modern world.
In August of 1942, the Manhattan project was established to build the first atomic bomb. The first testing of this weapon of mass destruction was in the New Mexico desert south of Socorro, July 16th 1945. The first bomb was only twenty kiloton device. Currently, the destructive power of such bombs is measured in megatons. The early bombs were less than three percent as powerful as today’s weapons.
Zechariah 14: 12 written 2500 years ago clearly explains the effect of the bomb on a human body. The fireball radius of a fifty megaton nuke can extend three miles or more. The temperatures in that fireball exceed 10,000 degrees and instantly vaporize human bodies, melt steel and destroy everything in a six mile diameter.
August 6, 1945, the first atomic bomb was used in war when Hiroshima was destroyed. Three days later, August 9, 1945 Nagasaki was obliterated. In those cities, it is estimated the death toll was over 214,000 people. Considering the density of populations in urban areas today, can we even begin to imagine the death numbers from bombs hundreds of times as powerful?
The U.S. and allies won World War II and that, in the minds of many, was in God’s plan because those nations had the potential to evangelize the world. VE Day (Victory in Europe) was May 8th, 1945 and VJ Day (Victory in Japan) was September 2nd, 1945. While an abbreviated attempt has been made to win the world to Jesus, the potential has dramatically fallen short of intention.
In 1947, the finding of the Dead Sea Scrolls at Qumran, with great certainty verified the authenticity of the Bible. Many had previously believed the Bible was a recent creation of those attempting to force mankind to behave. Recent in Bible-speak is two – three hundred years.
The scrolls were carbon dated to between 1900 and 2300 years old. The Book of Isaiah was found in its entirety and translated in the 1950’s by Hebrew scholars. Their finding revealed the Dead Sea scroll of Isaiah was the same as the Book of Isaiah in the Old Testament in the Christian Bible.
On May 14th, 1948, a declaration was signed by David Ben Gurion re-establishing Israel as a nation. The Jews had begun returning to their promised land in the late 1800’s and were a sizable population there by 1948. Ezekiel 36: 24 “For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land.” Once again prophesy was fulfilled in the decade of the 1940’s.
On August 29th, 1949, Russia tested their first nuclear device adding to the drama of the decade that changed history and the world.” Because of developments in the 1940’s, mankind had the ability to reduce planet earth to a cinder. The Cold War began after that detonation and lasted forty years. Many believe it is still ongoing.
Today, at least nine nations have nuclear bomb capability and even a “small war” could have life-as-we-know-it implications because of world-wide air movement patterns. With over 14,000 bombs in existence, we are definitely looking at an extinction event. With the earth itself and the atmosphere destroyed, all life would cease to exist.
The United Nations began October 24th, 1945 and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization originated April 4th, 1949. These are supposed to be “uniting” organizations but also form alliances that some view as war groups.
The Korean conflict began June 25, 1950 (the last year of the 1940’s). This war made obvious the conflict between communism and democracy. This was one of the first attempts to stifle or destroy God’s word and the teachings of the Bible (Matthew 24: 9).
The study of the decade from 1941-1950 is intriguing, scary and enlightening. Perhaps by educating ourselves in light of those happenings, we may be more inclined to enlighten the world on the significance of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
We must always teach that eternal salvation is attained by a faith based belief (Ephesians 2: 8) in Christ Jesus crucified (Matthew 27: 35) for the remission of sin (1 John 1: 9) and resurrected (Matthew 28: 6).
Writers note: This is only a partial listing of the Biblically connected events of the 1940’s.
Van Yandell is a retired Industrial Arts teacher, an ordained gospel evangelist and commissioned missionary, from Fredonia, Kentucky.