"For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape." (I Thess. 5: 3)
If the "sudden destruction" is connected with the coming of the Lord and with the day of judgment and great tribulation, then clearly "when they shall say" must precede it. Thus, we should look at this as a sign of the coming day of judgment and tribulation. These words of Paul are said in the context of discussing the "times and seasons" for the coming day of the Lord. The adverb "when" points to both a specific time (chronos - chronology) and to a season (kairos - a characteristic). Further, the pronoun "they" must refer to the wicked world, to those who are children of darkness. The present tense of "when they shall say" may be interpreted as "when they are saying."
To what specific event is the apostle referring? It seems clear that Paul is referring to something that is monumental and of something on a world scale. No one can doubt that this has not as of yet been fulfilled. If it had been fulfilled, then why is the destruction prophesied not been realized? Further, how does such a prophecy of world peace square with all the prophecies that speak of wars, commotions, earthquakes, and such like, as that which precedes the coming of the Lord? Do such things precede or follow the coming of the Lord? And, why is there so little prophecy, comparatively speaking, about this coming "world peace"?
Our Christian forefathers feared the creation of Wilson's "League of Nations." And, it was this fear and opposition that helped to squash Wilson's dream. For the same reason, our Christian forefathers feared and opposed the creation of the United Nations. They saw it as a sign of the coming one world government associated with AntiChrist and the end times. I don' think they were wrong and see the U.N. as that institution which is destined to rule the world and will be that form of the "beast" spoken of by both Daniel and John in the Apocalypse.
It also must be understood that the peace that is announced in the prophecy by the wicked world is no real peace, but a false peace. "There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked." (Isa. 57: 21) "The way of peace they know not." (Isa. 59: 8) It will rather be a time when the wicked world will be "saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace." (Jer. 6: 14; 8: 11; Eze. 13: 10)
The "peace" of the prophecy is clearly a political peace and the safety is that which is perceived to result from such political peace and when war between nations is perceived to be no more. Further, this is what will be said after thousands of years of war between nations. When Jesus said that the time leading up to his return would be a time when "nation shall rise against nation" (Matt. 24: 7), this is to be understood of what is to precede that time when they shall "peace and safety." What the last generation of men will be saying is "finally! peace and safety." Or, "peace and safety at last!"
The "peace and safety" that will be announced by that wicked last generation will not be a peace between people, between neighbors, but between nations, a strictly political peace, brought about by the creation of a one world government, what many today call "the new world order." The United Nations is the forerunner of this world government. As long as war is in the heart (Psa. 55: 21) men will fight and war.
It is the kind of peace that the United Nations is now seeking to acquire by creating a one world government or a "united states of the world." It will be achieved by the will of God and by his sufferance. And, it will be the event that begins that series of events that make up the day of the Lord.
The peace that is brought to the world by the white horse rider is not the peace of Christ because the opening of the next seal brings on the rider on the red horse and to him it is divinely given, as an act of divine judgment, "to take peace from the earth," the very peace that the rider on the white horse effected. No one can take away the peace of Christ when it comes. The taking of peace from the earth by the red horse rider shows how the peace brought by the white horse rider was short lived. It also evinces the prophetic words of Paul. "When they shall say peace and safety then sudden destruction" may be read as "when the rider on the white horse comes, bringing peace and safety, then sudden destruction comes by the rider on the red horse."
It is unclear how the one world government with its promised peace and safety will be finally realized. We are still in that period where nation is rising up against nation and there are rumors of wars everywhere. One can envision several possible scenarios where the United Nations finally receives its power to govern the world. And, of course, to bring this about will require each nation to give up much of its sovereignty and weapons to the world government. Perhaps it will be some great catastrophe, such as a worldwide economic collapse or catastrophic
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