ATOMIC energy is now being harnessed by scientists and technicians. This amazing power has, of course, been discovered in the elements and atmosphere of the World brought into existence at the beginning by the Great Creator. The ordinary person knows little of the inherent nature of this new-found energy. But we do know, however, what dreadful destruction the Atomic Bomb can achieve, as in the case of the Japanese cities during the last War. Britain and especially America have been, during recent times of political tension with Russia, apparently relying upon the possession of the Bomb as a potential means of restraining Russia. Now it is accepted by the nations that Russia also possesses the secret of Atomic energy and the Bomb with all the implications connected therewith.
The question as to banning the use of the Bomb has been raised in the Councils of the United Nations. Mutual confidence between the nations, born of the Spirit of Christ and real Christianity, is essential, if one nation is to rely on another, that neither one nor the other shall employ the Atomic Bomb for the purpose of waging war. As long as men and nations are not actuated in heart and conduct by the Spirit of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, promises may be given and accepted, that the Bomb shall not be used, and soon afterwards these promises may be violated by those to whom God, His law and the requirements of conscience are matters of no significance in human practice. May God in His great mercy prevent nations from using this terrible weapon in the future.
What God may permit is a question for consideration. If war should arise, He who ruleth in the kingdom of men may, on the other hand, permit the use of the bomb to the widespread destruction of lives and property to an extent unknown in the past. He in His righteous indignation and inscrutable providence rained fire and brimstone upon the ungodly inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah. May He not in judgment allow the atomic bomb to be an awful instrument to manifest His holy anger when and where He pleases in this ungodly age. We are aware of the fact that the theological outlook of many professing Christians to-day will not brook the thought that such acts can possibly be associated with the God of the Christian. Nevertheless, the Flood, the overthrow of the Egyptians in the Red Sea, Sodom and Gomorrah, the destruction of Jerusalem after the days of our Lord on earth, etc., are all related to the righteous government of the God of heaven with respect to men and nations. He is the immutable One and the God and Father of all those who believe in Jesus to the saving of the soul; and is also terrible out of His holy place in His workings towards His enemies, to-day as in the past. His declared Name as the just God and Saviour is the “strong tower” to which the righteous flee and are safe, especially as to the soul, under all circumstances. Yet He is infinitely holy, omnipotent and jealous of His glory; and therefore wicked men and nations have reason to tremble before Him.
Another phase of the question propounded by men without reference to the revealed purposes of God in the Scriptures, requires to be clarified. It is asserted in a serious tone and with seeming genuine anxiety for the general good of humanity, that there is the danger and indeed the possibility, that powerful nations, by the indiscriminate use of atomic power, let loose through the medium of the bomb, may destroy utterly the present civilisation, yea and the most, if not all, of the world’s inhabitants. Over against this and much more of the same type of thinking, let us at once remember that the ability and liberty of men and governments to do this or that in the history of the world, are regulated and restricted by the counsels and purposes of God’s heart and by His supreme rule in the realm of providence. For instance, when Pilate said to Jesus, “Knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee and have power to release thee?”—Jesus answered, “Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above” (John 19, v. 10, 11). Even ungodly men and unscrupulous governments are thus not free to mould or to negative the course of the world’s history at their will. The Lord reigneth and shall do so until all His purposes in connection with the world are fulfilled. Some of these are indicated in the Bible. The time has not yet arrived when, “All ends of the earth shall remember and turn unto the Lord” (Psalms 22, v. 27). David’s prayer, “And let the whole earth be filled with His glory” (Psalms 72, v. 19), is not yet answered, but will be. The Word of God teaches that there shall yet be a millenium period during which the exalted Redeemer shall reign universally, by His Holy Spirit through the Gospel, in the hearts and lives of men, with the glorious result that no man shall need to say to his brother, “Know the Lord”; for all shall know Him from the least to the greatest among all nations. During this period, iniquity shall hide its face for very shame. And it appears relevant to this blessed and future glory which is to arise upon the world, to quote Revelation, chapter 20, verses 2, 3, “And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, and cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years shall be fulfilled, and after that he must be loosed a little season.” So let us dismiss from our minds the unenlightened talk of the possibility of impending universal destruction and devastation, which is calculated to bring the history of redemption and providences connected therewith, in regard to the election of grace in generations yet to come, to an abrupt end in this present age. When the “thousand years,” and afterwards the “little season” are expired, then we believe that the Lord Jesus Christ as judge of all shall come as a thief in the night, and be revealed personally from heaven in flaming fire, to take vengeance on His enemies and to be glorified in His Saints (see II. Thess., chapter 1). Then, “The elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up” (II. Peter 3, v. 10) The Lord Himself will bring this world and the activities thereof to an end, in His own time, and not men by means of the atomic bomb. “The counsel of the Lord standeth for ever, the thoughts of His heart to all generations” (Psalms 33, v. 11). May The Holy Spirit enable us to walk in the fear of God in our own day, viewing all things in the light of Truth.