Remember a few weeks ago how North Korea’s current Dear Leader, Kim Jung Un, threatened to launch a nuclear war against South Korea and even the United States?

The new president of South Korea ordered her country on alert.  Japan activated its anti-missile system.  China watched uneasily.

In Syria two sets of bad guys now battle in a civil war.  The major world powers are choosing up sides.  The situation is fraught with international danger.  World war could erupt at a moment’s notice.

In Egypt twenty million people have rushed to the streets to demand the overthrow of President Morsi whom they elected a year ago to get rid of the dictator Mubarak.  On July 3 the Egyptian military acted.  Morsi is gone, but his Muslim Brotherhood, controlled by al-Qaeda, threatens war against the army.  Who knows how it will end?

When I was in Seoul three or four years ago, we took a day trip to the demilitarized zone that separates the two countries.  We descended into the Third Tunnel of Aggression, dug some time ago by the regime in the north as a conduit to flood the south with troops in a surprise invasion.  No one knows how many other tunnels may not have been discovered.  Seoul lies only an hour’s drive from the border, so if war starts, the city is a sitting duck.  The South Koreans have constructed massive concrete barriers which can be triggered by explosives to drop instantly and block the highways.  Such is life with a volatile enemy always poised to launch.

Jesus said, “You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars; see that you are not frightened..., but that is not yet the end.” (Matthew 6:4)  His point was that a state of war is characteristic of the human race.  For now.

It’s been sixty-eight years since the major powers have fought each other.  I lived through the Cold War and when I was a boy our wealthier neighbors buried bomb shelters in their side yards and stocked them with survival supplies.  I was frightened.   But the Cold War ended twenty-five years ago.  The anticipated peace didn’t last long, did it? 

“See that you are not afraid?”  A few days ago I corresponded with a friend who lives in Seoul.  He is a prominent worldwide leader of the Presbyterian Church.   He told me, “We are living our daily lives in peace without being disturbed by their threats.  In spite of the threats our situation is not as critical as the foreign news media reports in these days.”
I suspect part of the Koreans’ sense of peace comes from living with it for sixty years.  Perhaps you get used to it.  But another part of that peace comes from knowing that there is a Sovereign Ruler who holds North Korean madmen and Iranian fanatics on a leash.  And even U.S. presidents. 

World War could come again.  It has twice in the last hundred years, and millions died.  But war will come only if God permits it.  And there is this hope: Speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ, the prophet Isaiah said 2700 years ago, “He will judge between the nations…and never again will they learn war.” (Isaiah 2:4)   I like that kind of king.  May he come soon! 

Dr. Rick Perrin is Chairman of the Board of WRF and senior pastor of Covenant Presbyterian Church in Cherry Hill NJ.  He writes a weekly blog called ReTHINK which may be accessed at www.rethinkingnews.wordpress.com. He may be contacted at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..