On Aug. 14, 1945, Japan formally cabled its surrender to the United States. The Second World War, which lasted more than five years and left millions dead, was finally over. The bitter struggle in the Pacific was some of the most brutal combat of the war. Japan only relented after the U.S. dropped two atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This broke the will of the Japanese government and changed Japan from an imperialist rival to a pacifist ally.

On Sept. 2, 1945, Gen. Douglas MacArthur formally accepted the Japanese surrender on the battleship uss Missouri. Later that day, he made a radio broadcast to the world, whose words echo a greater warning to us today than 70 years ago:

Today, the guns are silent. A great tragedy has ended. A great victory has been won ….As I look back on the long, tortuous trail from those grim days of Bataan and Corregidor, when an entire world lived in fear, when democracy was on the defensive everywhere, when modern civilization trembled in the balance, I thank a merciful God that He has given us the faith, the courage and the power from which to mold victory. We have known the bitterness of defeat and the exultation of triumph, and from both we have learned there can be no turning back. We must go forward to preserve in peace what we won in war.A new era is upon us. Even the lesson of victory itself brings with it profound concern, both for our future security and the survival of civilization. The destructiveness of the war potential, through progressive advances in scientific discovery, has in fact now reached a point which revises the traditional concepts of war.Men since the beginning of time have sought peace …. Military alliances, balances of power, leagues of nations, all in turn failed, leaving the only path to be by way of the crucible of war. We have had our last chance. If we do not now devise some greater and more equitable system, Armageddon will be at our door. The problem basically is theological and involves a spiritual recrudescence and improvement of human character that will synchronize with our almost matchless advances in science, art, literature and all material and cultural development of the past 2,000 years. It must be of the spirit if we are to save the flesh.

News broadcast of the formal surrender of Japan on the uss Missouri

General MacArthur’s radio broadcast, Sept. 2, 1945

Very few today would have the humility and conviction to give credit of the victory to God. Few today would have the foresight to see beyond the jubilation to the dangers of the nuclear age. V-J Day helps us remember this great victory for our civilization, how our nations were preserved from defeat, and the cost it took to win the war. The Axis powers held the advantage for half of the war. The allies nearly lost the war on both fronts. Although victory was eventually achieved, it was only after tremendous mistakes and fateful decisions. Detonating two atomic bombs was an awful conclusion to a terrible war. General MacArthur feared the next world war would begin with nuclear weapons.

Since 1945, great changes have seized the conquered and the conquerors.

Japan became a pacifist state, devoid of an army after the war. In the 70 years since, it has become the world’s third-largest economy. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has been constantly working to move Japan toward a modern military. An article in its Constitution states that Japan cannot possess a military, only a small defense force; it would would have to rely upon the United States. The increasing challenges from its Asian neighbors, along with the decline of America’s capabilities, is pushing Japan to remilitarize.

The United States no longer has the military superiority in the Pacific theater as it did at the end of World War ii. It is constantly challenged by a powerful, imperialist China. North Korea continues to be a thorn in America’s side since the armistice of the Korean War.

After the victory in 1945, Herbert W. Armstrong made a powerful prophecy. Observing the limited warfare in Korea, the removal of General MacArthur from command, the failure in the Bay of Pigs, the imminence of the U.S. being involved in Vietnam, and knowing Bible prophecy, he wrote this in the October 1961 Plain Truth:

Unless or until the United States as a whole repents and returns to what has become a hollow slogan on its dollars, “In God we trust,” the United States of America has won its last war!I said that when we failed to win in Korea! … I say it again, now that the United States government endorsed this Cuban fiasco—its president gave the “go ahead”—and God, the God America has deserted, gave it its most humiliating defeat! What does the Cuban debacle mean?It means, Mr. and Mrs. United States, that the handwriting is on your wall (emphasis added).

Victory-over-Japan Day marks the last victory America will ever have in war. Since 1945, the United States has not achieved total victory. It has either been forced to retreat or settle for a stalemate. The recent wars in the Middle East further emphasize just how right Herbert W. Armstrong was! That was not a prediction or a personal opinion but rather the sure word of prophecy!

V-J Day is a time to celebrate. Civilization did triumph over barbarity. However, it was a victory fraught with tragedy. Nuclear weapons were unleashed on the world, and it proved to be the last war the United States won. The world has changed dramatically in the past 70 years, and we are again hurtling toward another worldwide cataclysm. We are witnessing the victors of World War ii becoming the vanquished. We have had our last chance. Every physical option has been exhausted, and if we are to survive the next war, we must look at a far greater power. “It must be of the spirit if we are to save the flesh,” as General MacArthur said.

To know more about this future, and to know the sure word of prophecy, please request two of our free booklets We Have Had Our Last Chance and He Was Right.