Dear Friend,

The walk through the Lod Airport lobby near Tel Aviv, Israel, was a startling wake-up call. It was June of 1972, and I had just arrived on my way to spend the summer working on an archaeological "dig" in Jerusalem.

It had been all over the world news. Just the week before three Japanese Red Army terrorists, posing as tourists, walked off a plane and into the airport, calmly unpacked their automatic firearms, then indiscriminately mowed down travelers and staff. They slaughtered 24, including 16 religious pilgrims from Puerto Rico, and injured 78 more.

Actually standing in that lobby of death, seeing the bullet holes sprayed all over the walls and envisioning the bloody massacre that had occurred right there drove reality home—I was in a different world, one fueled by ancient hatreds that kept it hanging tenuously on the edge of life and death every day. Just a bit different timing and my friends and I could easily have been the victims caught in the crossfire of other people's anger.

I experienced two very different wake-up calls that summer. On one hand, as a young 20-year-old, I began to deeply comprehend the reality, and danger, of our absolute inability to overcome our problems.

Yet, at the same time, it was the most inspiring experience of my life, to stand on the scene where Jesus Christ is going to return and begin putting an end to all the madness. Being there helped cement that reality, too—He promised to be back, and He is in control of our destiny!

I couldn't help but revisit these thoughts while watching the sadness unfold in Lebanon in the last few weeks. Nothing has changed. We face the same old irresolvable problems (only with 34 more years to drive the wedge of division even deeper) and the same single solution.

Watching world diplomats scramble between these bitter enemies, trying to control the fires before they rage out of control and engulf potentially the entire world, is like watching a rerun of past efforts that only temporarily paper over the problem.

Consider this amazing analysis by a Middle East politician:

"Everybody sees a difficulty in the question of relations between Arabs and Jews. But not everybody sees that there is no solution to this question. No solution! There is a gulf, and nothing can bridge it . . . We, as a nation, want this country to be ours; the Arabs, as a nation, want this country to be theirs."

That's the heart of the matter. But what makes this statement so remarkable is that it was spoken by David Ben-Gurion . . . in 1919! Any politician could say the same thing on this evening's news and it would ring just as true.

One of these days the fire will burn out of control, involving the entire world in what the Bible describes as a tribulation such as humanity has never seen. It will reach the point that "unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved [alive]" (Matthew 24:21-22).

So, is there no hope? Was Ben-Gurion's fatalistic view correct? If I didn't have God's Word, I suppose I would be equally pessimistic. But you won't find anyone with a more optimistic view of life, more hope for the future, more confidence that world peace lies ahead, even for the Middle East.

Oh, I'm a pessimist alright when it comes to putting any hope in humanity's ability to bring it about, but I, and thousands of others alongside, am looking beyond today's troubles, and listening to what God says about this.

The first reality we wrap our lives around is that Jesus promised, at the end of the verse quoted above, that "for the elect's sake those days will be shortened"! He is going to return and bring about the peace that most humans really crave. We'll learn to make peace with God, first of all, and then with one another.

Can it work? Absolutely! Some people are already learning how. People who, in their frustration with themselves and others, have turned to God's Word to see if there isn't a better way. In it they find the knowledge of what the future holds for the world, and solutions, not only for world peace, but individual peace.

In this time of intensified turmoil, you need to know all you can about the future of the Middle East and how it will eventually involve your world, wherever you live! If you haven't done so already, be sure to order our booklets, Are We Living in the Time of the End? and The Middle East in Bible Prophecy. These are absolutely free of charge. You can also visit our Web site, http://www.gnmagazine.org/booklets/, to download or read them online, as well as check out our many other pieces of vital literature.

As we keep our eyes on world events, let's do so through the lens of God's Word! I'll be in touch next month.

Sincerely, with warm regards,

Clyde Kilough
President
United Church of God