The Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize to Nihon Hidankyo. Short for the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations, Nihon Hidankyo was formed in 1956 as an advocacy association for survivors of the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in World War ii. An associated goal is to campaign for global nuclear disarmament by sending survivors to tell their stories in international forums.

“The Norwegian Nobel Committee wishes nevertheless to acknowledge one encouraging fact: No nuclear weapon has been used in war in nearly 80 years,” the committee’s announcement reads. “The extraordinary efforts of Nihon Hidankyo and other representatives of the Hibakusha [nuclear bomb survivors] have contributed greatly to the establishment of the nuclear taboo.”

Certainly, nuclear disarmament is a noble cause. But with all the conflicts hitting the world currently, why choose a group whose legacy stems all the way back to World War ii? The 2022 Nobel Peace Prize was given to three human rights groups from Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. Many interpreted this as a criticism of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine earlier that year. The 2023 prize was for Narges Mohammadi, an Iranian women’s rights activist currently in a jail in Tehran. Iran at the time was reeling from the Woman, Life, Freedom protests. Again, the Nobel Committee’s choice seemed anchored in current events. Why didn’t it do the same this time around?

Actually, it did.

From Hiroshima to Today

The announcement continued (emphasis added):

It is therefore alarming that today this taboo against the use of nuclear weapons is under pressure.

The nuclear powers are modernizing and upgrading their arsenals; new countries appear to be preparing to acquire nuclear weapons; and threats are being made to use nuclear weapons in ongoing warfare. At this moment in human history, it is worth reminding ourselves what nuclear weapons are: the most destructive weapons the world has ever seen.

Next year will mark 80 years since two American atomic bombs killed an estimated 120,000 inhabitants of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. A comparable number died of burn and radiation injuries in the months and years that followed. Today’s nuclear weapons have far greater destructive power. They can kill millions and would impact the climate catastrophically. A nuclear war could destroy our civilization.

Russia has repeatedly threatened to use nuclear weapons against Ukraine. Russia also threatens to go to war with nuclear powers sponsoring Ukraine. Iran meanwhile is on the cusp of developing nuclear weapons. It is fighting a war against Israel, which already has nuclear weapons. The leader of Saudi Arabia has stated in front of cameras that if Iran gets the bomb, Saudi Arabia will follow suit. Nuclear North Korea has been calling for South Korea’s destruction. South Korea has toyed with getting its own nuclear weapons for its own protection. Skirmishes continue to flare between nuclear neighbors India and Pakistan.

During the Cold War, while several powers had nuclear weapons, the two everybody was concerned about were the United States and the Soviet Union. It was a bipolar world. Decades later, we are in a multipolar world. The threat of nuclear war between America and Russia remains, but it’s not the only threat. We now also have Israel and Iran—and North Korea and South Korea—and India and Pakistan. And many other potential scenarios where one individual has the power to start cosmocide literally with the push of a button.

This isn’t pleasant to think about, but it’s the world we live in. No amount of burying our heads in the sand will change that.

Some Nobel Peace Prize laureates over the years were questionable choices. The Norwegian Nobel Committee, like any institution of man’s, has made its fair share of mistakes. But as far as making a statement is concerned, it would have been hard to pick a better candidate this year. That’s because this conversation needs to happen.

The Solution?

“The number one problem today is that of human survival—and it is growing by the day,” Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry wrote for our October Trumpet issue. “Yet commentators and journalists rarely discuss this subject. It is clearly the most important issue we could be discussing, yet we ignore it. Why is that? A big reason is that neither world leaders nor scientists nor religious people have an answer.”

Nihon Hidankyo may be doing more than others in trying to warn the world of what nuclear war would mean. But is someone telling a story at the United Nations going to scare off Vladimir Putin or Kim Jong-un or Ayatollah Ali Khamenei?

In this multipolar world, if one nation were to voluntarily give up nuclear weapons, its enemies would hold it at nuclear gunpoint. And generally it’s not the despotic aggressor nations that are the first to disarm. Most states’ conventional thinking is that, to stop a nuclear war, they have to have their own nuclear weapons to scare off their adversaries. The only “solution” to the poison is to make more of it.

The Bible prophesies that these nuclear weapons will be used. Speaking of world conditions before His return, Jesus Christ said, “For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved [alive]; but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened” (Matthew 24:21-22).

Mankind has never been at the state where he could realistically extinguish his own existence until weapons of mass destruction became invented and commonplace. Matthew 24 is a prophecy for our day.

“Our morals and standards are constantly declining,” Mr. Flurry continued. “World leaders act more and more aggressively and have less and less judgment. If mankind continues down this route, the ultimate achievement of man would be self-extermination. Global suicide! Cosmocide!”

The warning of nuclear war has never been more relevant. One doesn’t need to look into the Bible to see that. One only has to skim the news. The choice for the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize shows that people are noticing.

But nothing the Norwegian Nobel Committee or Nihon Hidankyo can say in front of cameras will change anything. Deep down, everybody knows this. One gold medallion—even if it’s the world’s most prestigious—is not going to give mankind any meaningful hope.

Where can we find hope?

The hope is in Christ’s own words in verse 22: “but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.”

“That is an unbreakable promise from God!” Mr. Flurry wrote. “The problem of human survival will be solved, but only because Jesus Christ will come and stop the war before all human flesh is dead!”

Men cannot give any sure solution to the problem of nuclear war. They have been trying for decades and have only gotten deeper into the problem. But the Bible’s promises are ironclad. And not only does the Bible promise that “those days will be shortened,” it also holds promises for the individual to escape the coming Tribulation. But it is up to the individual to accept them.

To learn more, read Mr. Flurry’s article “Nuclear Proliferation: Will Humanity Survive?”