It was 1937 when the dirigible Hindenburg exploded as it docked in Lakehurst, New Jersey, after a transatlantic flight. It was the first time in radio history that millions of people heard a live broadcast of a disaster as it occurred.

At the time, the United States was still in the throes of the Great Depression. People were concerned about the rise of fascism in Italy and Germany. In this period of anxiety, one of the most bizarre incidents in broadcast history caused nationwide panic.

On Oct. 20, 1938, a CBS radio program airing dance music was interrupted with an alarming story of an alien invasion of New Jersey. And these invaders weren’t from another country, but were strange creatures from Mars. At regular intervals the music stopped as listeners were told of massive destruction and death being spread around the world by a powerful and unstoppable enemy.

Of course, the truth was that Orson Welles was simply dramatizing H.G. Wells’ science-fiction novel War of the Worlds. Many misunderstood that the broadcast was a drama, and panic began to spread. Some left their homes and headed for what they thought would be safer places. Telephone lines became jammed. Hundreds of New Jersey National Guardsmen actually tried to report to duty and the governor of Pennsylvania offered to send troops.

The panic eventually faded as people began to understand that the danger was nothing more than imagination run amok.

War of the Worlds was first published in 1898 and has undergone many editions. It was made into a movie in 1953, and again this year. It’s a simple story—strange, intelligent and violent alien creatures invade earth and try to erase all humankind. It’s a recurring story line in many science-fiction movies, from the Cold War-inspired The Day the Earth Stood Still and Invasion of the Body Snatchers to the 1996 blockbuster Independence Day.

An interesting theme of Wells’ original War of the Worlds is that people turn to God in their time of crisis. Most science fiction takes a more humanistic approach, where human beings learn to work together for the benefit of all. Prejudice, avarice and competition are replaced with a utopian vision such as depicted in John Lennon’s famous song “Imagine,” where all ideas are equal, everyone is enlightened by human goodness, and people no longer need God.

The Bible predicts a coming invasion

Revelation, the last book of the Bible, an ancient text written by a man far removed from the technological age that created science fiction, contains predictions of a future invasion of earth. John, a disciple of Jesus, describes how nations will unite together to try to repel the attackers, but the armies will descend from the sky to kill many and conquer the earth.

John even tells us the name of the leader of this invading force—The Word of God. Jesus Christ is returning to this earth, not as a baby in the manger, but as the conquering King of Kings.

This isn’t bad news—it is the only good news for the future of mankind. Jesus Christ is returning to this earth to save us from ourselves. The irony is that human beings will try and repel their Savior.

Jesus predicted the most terrible time in human history, called the tribulation. He told His disciples, “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the heaven, and all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other” (Matthew 24:29-31).

Like so many science-fiction plots, the Bible predicts that the nations will set aside their differences and band together to combat this perceived threat from outer space. The apostle John describes a gigantic battle between the armies of the earth and Jesus Christ in Revelation 19.

The Kingdom of God

“They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks.”

Jesus is returning to save mankind from self-destruction, but a deluded humanity will believe that He is coming to do them harm. After the Prince of Peace subdues the nations, He will create a new world government and establish one true religion. The economic systems and educational institutions will then teach the foundational, eternal principles of life created by the Lifegiver. The environment will be healed and poverty eradicated.

This period of rule by Jesus Christ is sometimes called the Millennium. One of the most famous millennial prophecies is found in Isaiah chapter 2. You can see these words at the United Nations in New York: “They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks.” Sadly, the United Nations has failed to achieve this goal in its checkered 60 years of existence. Jesus Christ, in contrast, will succeed.