February 2024 Member Letter

February 8, 2024

Dear Brethren,

“2024: The Year the World Votes” is the title of the lead article in the January issue of Foreign Policy magazine. Foreign Policy is an American news publication, founded in 1970 by two Harvard professors, that focuses on global affairs, current events, and domestic and international policy. (The website AllSides.com rates the magazine as “center,” which means that it has articles from both the left and the right of the political spectrum.)

I have been receiving the digital version of this magazine for a number of years, but this particular article caught my attention. According to the digital summary of the article, the year 2024 will have the most national elections in one year in recent memory. Here is a quote from the article: “In 2024, nearly half of the global population is expected to vote in more than 50 national elections, including in the world’s two largest democracies: India and the United States.” I don’t have the actual statistics for a comparison, but this may be the most countries to potentially change leadership in one year (some presidents are up for reelection) in recent history.

Seven of the 10 most populous countries in the world are planning to hold national elections: India, with a population of 1.4 billion; the United States with 340 million; Indonesia with 278 million; Pakistan with 241 million; Bangladesh with 173 million; Russia with 144 million and Mexico with 129 million. These countries alone represent 2.7 billion of the world’s total population of 8.1 billion. And when the population of all the countries planning an election this year are tallied, the total will be more than 40 percent of the global population. For some countries, elections will be relatively peaceful; for others, they will lead to violence and death. Elections will make possible the greatest geopolitical change that we have seen in a generation.

Here is another quote from the digital summary: “Bangladesh, El Salvador, India and Tunisia have leaders with astronomical approval ratings but dubious democratic credentials, who will attempt to hold on to power; in Indonesia and Mexico, divisive figureheads cannot run for reelection but have gone to painstaking lengths to anoint loyal successors. Voters in South Africa and the United Kingdom are frustrated with incumbent parties but feel they have few good alternatives.”

Many countries are struggling with corruption in government, and a new election will not resolve what has become a systemic problem. For instance, in Latin America, Peru is struggling because of extensive corruption. Peru elected Pedro Castillo to fight corruption in July 2021, but he was sent to prison in December 2022 and was replaced by his vice president. Last March Bloomberg commented, “Peru is running out of space to keep its jailed ex-presidents . . . Every one of the six Peruvian presidents elected since 1990 is either in jail, has been in jail, or has faced a detention order.”

In the shadow of a major change in geopolitics, it seems the world is faced with a new crisis every week. In the past few months since the brutal attack on Israel by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, the world has become increasingly more violent and less safe. There are ongoing wars in Ukraine and Israel; civil war in Sudan; assassinations and general violence in Ecuador; attacks by the Houthi rebels in Yemen followed by retaliatory strikes by the United States; the killing of three U.S. soldiers in Jordan by proxy groups empowered by Iran; and the World Court trial of Israel, which was accused of genocide by South Africa. The World Court stopped short of convicting Israel, but did recommend that Israel do a better job of sparing civilian lives, with no mention of what happened on Oct. 7, 2023. It seems the world has lost its mind and is now descending into chaos such as we have not seen in several generations. Where is all this leading, and what should we be doing?

Christ had the following to say to His disciples while sitting on the Mount of Olives and looking down on the Temple Mount just across the Kidron Valley: “But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly. For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man” (Luke 21:34-36, emphasis added).

Christ warned His disciples to watch and pray so they could stand before the Son of Man in the day of His return. While we don’t know the “day and hour” of Christ’s return (Matthew 24:36), we must live our lives as though we are in those final days. I am confident we are all concerned about events on the world stage, but do they have any effect on the way we live our lives? Are we living as though we are in the end time?

Passover, which encourages us each year to “examine” ourselves (1 Corinthians 11:28), is only 10 weeks away and should be a wake-up call for all of us. It is easy to be saddened by world events, pause for a moment and pray for the return of Christ, then go about our day filled with our personal concerns and the trials of everyday life. I say this because the same happens to me. I read about these world events, I pray about them, and then I am back at work answering hundreds of emails, preparing sermons, writing letters, teaching classes and so on. We all must acknowledge how easy it is to become desensitized to the tragedies that are happening daily all around us.

The word watch in Luke 21:36 is translated from the Greek word agrupneõ, and it means to be sleepless, to keep awake and to be alert (Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament). It has more the meaning of “stay awake” than the idea of “looking,” although that is part of the meaning. I believe Christ had more in mind than just looking at world events, but to be alert, to be discerning and not be asleep. I speak for myself, but I believe it is the same for many of us. Life gets so hectic with daily trials and difficulties, that it is easy to become numb to what is happening in the world around us. We see these events unfolding before us in living color on the Internet and on the various newscasts. We do feel the sadness, and we genuinely yearn for Christ’s return—the only real solution to human suffering. 

As part of our preparations for Passover this year, I want to encourage us to take Christ at His word and watch and pray as we look ahead to the coming of the Son of Man, our Savior Jesus Christ. It is important for us to watch world events—to be alert, to be discerning and not caught off guard by the fulfillment of end-time prophecy. We are indeed watching prophetic events happen before our very eyes! 

Sincerely, your brother in Christ,

Jim Franks