As readers of this blog realize, I have long pointed out the applicability of Ezekiel 38-39 and other “latter day” prophecies to the events occurring in our modern world. It is clearly evident that the Creator Being who inspired the biblical prophecies has to be real as these millennia-old prophecies are coming to pass literally in our modern geopolitics and technologies. Ezekiel 38-39 and related latter-day prophecies specifically warn that an age-ending World War III will certainly occur at some point in our future. Since another world war is prophesied to occur, many military developments and weaponry advancements will precede such a war. Regional wars pitting rival alliances against each other or each other’s proxies are almost certain to occur. This post is intended to give readers an update on many military developments in various parts of the world. There is so much happening in the world that I am putting a variety of important items in this post rather than writing about them piecemeal in separate posts.
Let’s consider events involving China and the Indo-Pacific region first. The first link and second link report that China recently sent an aircraft carrier task force through the Taiwan Straits (the waterway separating Taiwan from China), and the Taiwanese did not detect it until it was embarrassingly close to Taiwan. This makes one wonder how lax Taiwan’s defensive reconnaissance efforts really are. As threatened as they are by China’s military power and proximity, one would think Taiwan would have multiple detection systems in place to know whenever Chinese warships are approaching. Apparently, such detection systems failed to alert Taiwan in this case, which should serve as a major motivation to the Taiwanese to bolster their military detection capabilities. The links also report that American and Japanese warships shadowed the Chinese task force as it moved, so this means American and Japanese detection systems were working to vector their own warships to shadow the Chinese task force at reasonably close range. This begs the question: Aren’t American and Japanese military personnel alerting Taiwan whenever Chinese warships venture close to Taiwan? Was Taiwan’s detection system “off line” somehow? This incident highlights a glaring need for immediate improvement in military communications between Japan, the USA and Taiwan as all are threatened by China.
The third link and fourth link detail efforts by China to sufficiently threaten the USA so the Americans accept China’s militarization of the South China Sea as a fait accompli. America has refused to accept China’s hegemonic efforts to seize control of that international body of water, and the Chinese are miffed that American warships continue to conduct “freedom of navigation” exercises in both the South China Sea and the Taiwan Straits. French naval vessels have also conducted such operations, as previous posts at this blog have documented.
Japan is keenly aware of the military expansions by China and North Korea, and the fifth link cites Japanese officials as candidly admitting that their own military defense efforts are not keeping pace with Chinese and North Korean weapons advances. Japan knows that it needs to develop or deploy more advanced weaponry (especially vs. hypersonic missiles and high-tech unmanned drones). Japan has been increasing its military weapons budget, but its efforts at self-defense are hampered by lingering pacifist factions inside Japan. The South Korea government is sending very odd signals lately. Its leader has not committed to renewing a military intelligence sharing pact with Japan, a pact which is obviously very much in the interests of both nations as both are increasingly threatened by China and North Korea. South Korean-American military exercises were recently not conducted on schedule and it seems the South Korean leader is acting under a false impression that he can somehow reunite the Korean Peninsula by kowtowing to North Korea. South Korea is also balking at meeting a demand by President Trump to pay more to help fund the presence of US soldiers and related military forces stationed in South Korea to protect it vs. North Korea. If South Korea’s current government continues to weaken its ties to the USA and Japan, it will become vulnerable to a North Korean take-over of South Korea. The actions of the South Korean government have become so odd that in an unprecedented move, over 850 retired South Korean generals and admirals warned the South Korean government about its dangerous course of action (sixth link).
In an important development, there is a movement in Australia to have that nation buy a supply of the new American B-21 Raider bombers which are now being developed (seventh link). This bomber would be able to fly anywhere on the planet as it will have exceptionally long-range capabilities. With in-flight refueling, it could literally go anywhere. Australia and the USA are very close allies, so this may come to pass. It would serve American interests to have other close allies have the B-21 strategic bombers with which to deter aggression by China, Russia or anyone else. It reportedly has a range of 11,000 kilometers which the link notes could cover all the South China Sea. I urge readers to get out a globe and see that such a range would allow any such new Australian strategic bombers to threaten all of China as well. There are at least two other reasons why the USA needs to have its allies obtain this bomber. The more that are manufactured, the more it lowers the cost of production, and the USA will need a series of bases around the world which are equipped to handle, repair and resupply these new advanced bombers. What better way to do that than sell it to several close allies? The eighth link indicates the B-21 should enter service in approximately 2025.
Now lets look at developments in the Mideast. Despite the hard-to-understand, continuing Turkish animosity toward the Kurds, the biggest threat in the region is the Iranian declaration to “wipe Israel off the map,” and Israel’s even greater determination to not allow that to happen. Israel is currently politically paralyzed by an inability to form a new government, and it now is likely that another election in Israel will need to take place. Currently, Israel is in a 21-day waiting period to see if anyone in the Knesset can form a governing coalition. If no one can, then new elections are assured, but there is no assurance the next election will produce any breakthroughs. Iran has troubles too. Its people have risen up in many cities to protest the Iranian governments’ increase in gas prices, and media coverage of the popular discontent has show rioting, burnings, etc. Protesters even burned a regional bank building and Iranian police cars. Protesters have vented rage at Iran ignoring the needs of its own people as it funds proxy forces in wars all over the Mideast. As much as many would like to see regime change in Iran, I don’t see much hope of it. Ezekiel 38:2-6 clearly shows modern “Persia” (Iran) will be in the Gog-Magog bloc headed by Russia and China in the latter days.
The Israelis recently hosted a Blue Flag aerial warfare exercise which featured cooperation between the air forces of Israel, the USA, Germany, Greece and Italy (ninth link). While not a NATO member, this exercise clearly shows Israel is aligned with NATO forces and this exercise enhances the ability of the Israeli air Force to work seamlessly with NATO air forces in the event of war. The link shows one of the new F-35’s in Israeli Air Force insignia and adds that over 1,000 Israeli strikes against Iranian forces inside Syria have occurred in recent years to prevent Iran from amassing sufficient forces on Israel’s borders to allow a war of destruction vs. Israel to be launched by Iran and its proxies. The tenth link reports that Israel is going to increase the intensity of its strikes vs. Iranian/Syrian/Hezbollah forces along its northern border region. Israel announced it is “changing the rules” on such strikes, and the link details a new and wide scale attack by Israel forces after a Syrian missile was launched at Israel. Importantly, the link also comments on the fact that Russia is staying out of these confrontations, so it is evident that Israel and Russia are taking steps to make sure their respective forces are “deconflicted.” Russia is, no doubt, electronically monitoring and surveilling all Israeli attacks in real-time to determine how Russian forces can counter and defeat western/NATO technologies which are similar to the Israeli technologies. This being the case, I hope the Israelis are not tipping their entire hand regarding what their forces can do.
Now lets briefly consider other global military developments. The eleventh link offers information on a large new Chinese missile which has an apparent range of 1300 miles and carries a 1200 pound warhead. It is clearly designed to attack US aircraft carriers, bases, etc. This link also offers additional information on new Chinese ballistic missiles being developed. China is clearly developing a massive military force that has only one purpose: to defeat the USA and its allies in a war. China has built a massive and impressive modern military force; however, all of China’s weaponry is untested in actual combat conditions and its military personnel lack any real combat experience. China really doesn’t know how well its weaponry will work vs. American and western technologies. For this reason, China badly needs a limited regional war in which it can test its new weaponry and combat capabilities. For this reason, if a regional war breaks out between China on one side and the USA and its Indo-Pacific allies on the other side, it may be because China wants it to happen.
The USA has at least one known weapon system that neither Russia or China yet have. The USA has the X-37B unmanned space vehicle, which is a US military project shrouded in much secrecy. One of these new vehicles recently landed after a two-year mission in space (twelfth link). Its offensive and defensive military capabilities are classified, but it surely has a space-to-earth weapons capability that the USA is keeping secret. The USA acknowledges the existence of two of these special weapons systems, but the actual number of such space vehicles may not be publicly acknowledged. The E-37B is like a mini-space shuttle, but its size can be greatly reduced from the size of the space shuttles because it needs neither a crew compartment for astronauts, nor food, water, sanitation and oxygen supplies for a human crew. If a large war erupts, we may see what weaponry the X-37B can wield.
I’ll close with an item that affirms how close the relationship between the USA and fellow NATO member, Poland, have become. Previous posts at this blog have documented this growing alliance, and Poland is one of the few NATO nations that is actually investing its pledged amount for military purposes. Poland is serious about never again being conquered by an invader. Besides having its military forces, Poland also has forces similar to the American national guard forces. Poland has been conducting a series of training exercises for its national guard forces in…West Virginia (last link). The West Virginia National Guard is hosting their Polish counterparts in an exercise that confirm US-Polish military cooperation and coordination is occurring at all levels of their respective military forces. Personally, I welcome it!
For information proving that biblical prophecies about the latter days of our age are coming to pass in our time, please read my article, Are We Living in the Biblical Latter Days? For a detailed examination of what Ezekiel 38-39 (and other related biblical prophecies) foretell about a global World War III at the end of our age, I urge you to read, What Ezekiel 38-39 Reveals about a Future World War III. For information about how the USA fits into biblical prophecy, I recommend you read my article, The USA in Biblical Prophecy. That article offers just a “tease” about the information that is available in the books about world and modern history which may be obtained at my website’s homepage.
- https://www.asiatimes.com/2019/11/article/chinas-new-aircraft-carrier-takes-taiwan-by-surprise/
- https://www.navytimes.com/flashpoints/2019/11/17/china-aircraft-carrier-fleet-passes-near-rival-taiwan/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=EBB%2011.18.19&utm_term=Editorial%20-%20Military%20-%20Early%20Bird%20Brief
- https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-usa-defence/china-calls-on-u-s-to-stop-flexing-muscles-in-south-china-sea-idUSKBN1XS09W?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=EBB%2011.18.19&utm_term=Editorial%20-%20Military%20-%20Early%20Bird%20Brief
- https://www.asiatimes.com/2019/11/article/gathering-storm-lurks-behind-us-china-trade-war/
- https://www.reuters.com/article/us-japan-defence-exhibition/japan-hosts-first-fully-fledged-arms-show-looking-for-an-edge-in-tech-idUSKBN1XS128?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=EBB%2011.18.19&utm_term=Editorial%20-%20Military%20-%20Early%20Bird%20Brief
- https://www.worldtribune.com/south-korean-military-group-in-new-warning-urges-government-not-to-scrap-japan-intel-sharing-pact/
- https://www.forbes.com/sites/lorenthompson/2019/11/15/should-washington-sell-the-b-21-bomber-to-australia/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=EBB%2011.18.19&utm_term=Editorial%20-%20Military%20-%20Early%20Bird%20Brief#29df66dd34b0
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northrop_Grumman_B-21_Raider
- https://www.defensenews.com/training-sim/2019/11/15/israeli-exercise-blue-flag-tests-air-defense-suppression-with-allied-forces/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=EBB%2011.18.19&utm_term=Editorial%20-%20Military%20-%20Early%20Bird%20Brief
- https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-50485521?ocid=global_bbccom_email_20112019_top+news+stories
- https://www.asiatimes.com/2019/11/article/pentagon-fears-new-airborne-ship-killer-missile/
- https://www.defensenews.com/space/2019/10/28/the-air-forces-x-37b-spaceplane-finally-landed-after-spending-two-years-in-space/
- https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-military/2019/11/17/polish-soldiers-train-with-west-virginia-national-guard/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=EBB%2011.18.19&utm_term=Editorial%20-%20Military%20-%20Early%20Bird%20Brief
