Brother Against Brother

Uncivil War

They shall fight every one against his brother, and every one against his neighbor,
city against city, and kingdom against kingdom.—Isaiah 19:2

WAR, at its best, is uncivil; but civil wars are the most uncivil of all. National wars, pitting one country against another, are usually motivated by a desire for territorial expansion or for economic reasons; but civil wars, which set one faction in a country against another in the same land, are frequently fought with extreme hatred between the protagonists.

This was certainly true between the pro-slavery and abolitionist forces in the American civil war, the Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland, and the Shiite and Sunni Muslims in the current Iraq conflict. These animosities frequently result in genocide, as one race attempts to obliterate another, as illustrated by the Hutus and the Tutsis in Rwanda and by the attempted ethnic cleansing in the former Yugoslavia.

The attention of the world today has been drawn to the current situation in Iraq where the insurgency of terrorism of Al Qaeda and the former Baathist regime is increasingly giving way to a three-way battle between the predominant Shiite community, the Sunnis who fear disenfranchisement, and the Kurds who seek an autonomous domain of their own in the north.

The Arms Race

The ready availability of weapons has further aggravated the situation. Added to this is the fear of nuclear proliferation and advances made in the field of chemical and biological warfare. It is little wonder that men’s hearts are “failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth” (Luke 21:26).

The prophet Joel predicted just such an arms race and its results when he wrote, “Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles; Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up:  Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong” (Joel 3:9,10).

This threat has been especially noticeable in Iran, where the potential for processing enriched uranium has raised worldwide concern that they have every intention of developing a stockpile of nuclear weapons, with rockets for delivery.

This is further aggravated by their leader’s stated intention of driving the nation of Israel into the sea.

The Israeli-Palestinian Situation

Although not usually styled a civil war, the current conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians fits that designation. The election of Hamas, a Palestinian political party dedicated to the destruction of Israel, further escalates these tensions.

An additional complication is the election of a new Israeli government committed to ceding large portions of the West Bank, unilaterally if necessary, in an attempt to bring peace to this troubled region.

The Biblical Perspective

Four types of conflict are described in the Scripture at the top of this page:

1.       Conventional Warfare: “kingdom against kingdom.”

2.       Revolution: “city against city,” where there is an attack of the citizenry against its centralized government.

3.       Civil War: “every one against his neighbor,” describing the battles of two factions within a country

4.       Anarchy: “every one against his brother,” depicting a breakdown in society where all order is lost and it is every man for himself.

Thus the Bible predicts all four of these kinds of struggles in the “end times.”

Wind, Earthquake, Fire

Three of these conflicts are depicted in highly symbolic language in an experience of the prophet Elijah:

“And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD. And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake: And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.”— 1 Kings 19:11,12

In this event we suggest the mountain represents the governments of this world undergoing the winds of war, shaken by the earthquakes of revolution, before being consumed in the fires of anarchy.

The Onslaught of Anarchy

Although the world has been buffeted by war, especially since the global conflict of two world wars, rocked by repetitive revolutions, and experienced the incivilities of civil wars, the onslaught of full anarchy is not yet.

The prophet Zechariah foretold a time when God would “gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle” and when, out of the jaws of defeat, he would fight for Israel “as when he fought in the day of battle.” It would be then, he predicted, that every man’s hand would rise up against his neighbor” (Zechariah 14:2,3,13).

Thus, it appears that the wars, and even the atrocities of the “uncivil” civil wars, are only the beginning of the troubles that lie ahead. So intense would the world’s troubles become that they would threaten the death of all flesh (Mathew 24:22), a phrase that has achieved a new and dreadful meaning in this age of nuclear weapons.

The Purpose of These Troubles

But, Why? Why does a God of love permit such inhumanity of man against man. Perhaps a simple analogy might illustrate the answer. When an architect designs a building to replace an aged structure, he does not simply repair and expand the old edifice; he tears it down so he may lay a sound foundation for the one that will replace it.

In the same chapter as the verse which heads this article. saying every man’s hand will be against his brother, the prophet writes: “And the LORD shall smite Egypt [mankind]: he shall smite and heal it: and they shall return even to the LORD, and he shall be intreated of them, and shall heal them” (Isaiah 19:22). We see, then, that a God of love permits the troubles that come upon man because he loves them, even as parents permit their children to experience chastisements because they love them and desire their ultimate good.

The New World Order

The new kingdom arrangement will operate opposite from the way present governments do. Instead of beating plowshares into swords, the Bible assures us that “they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more” (Isaiah 2:4).

Instead of distrust and animosity of man to his fellow man, universal harmony and love will prevail. Today’s Sunni and Shiite, Jew and Palestinian, Hutu and Tutsi, will all live together under Christ in peace and prosperity.

In Christ’s grand thousand-year kingdom, instead of evil predominating, all wickedness—even Satan himself—will be restrained (Revelation 20:2). Then sickness will be replaced with perfect health so that even the blind will see, the deaf hear, the dumb sing, and the lame “leap as an hart” (Isaiah 35:5,6). 

Even earth itself will richly render its increase, for then “the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose” (Isaiah 35:1).

One of the many poetic descriptions of that time is found in the last book of the Bible: “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain; for the former things are passed away” (Revelation 21:4).

The Christian’s Response

With such a prospect in view, it is little wonder that Christians so fervently continue to pray: “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Mathew 6:10).

But more than this, the knowledge that the troubles of our day portend the nearness of that kingdom carries with it a responsibility as well. As the apostle states, “Seeing then, that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought we to be in all holy conversation and godliness” (2 Peter 3:11).

Therefore Christians are not to fear the troubles that multiply about them, but to see in them the portents of the long-promised kingdom. 

For more information request the free booklet, “Armageddon, Then World Peace” from: The PBI, 1425 Lachman Lane, Pacific Palisades, CA 90272