"WARS AND RUMORS OF WARS"

In Matthew 24:6, Jesus Christ prophesied that “wars and rumors of wars” would characterize world events in the latter days leading to his eventual Second Coming. We are certainly in such a time. The world is threatening to explode into wide-scale warfare in several regions. Rumors of possible wars are also commonplace. Let us review the known threats and also some unexpected ones.

The number one war and threat to world peace is the war between Russia and Ukraine, brought on by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It is my view Russia thought Ukraine would collapse in a few days and all of Ukraine would be annexed to Russia. As we all know, that did not happen. Ukraine fought back courageously, and even though it has lost territory in its eastern region, the main landmass of Ukraine is still in Ukrainian hands. Ukraine has even taken a slice of Russian territory in the region near Kursk. Ukraine has been propped up by massive military aid from the USA and NATO. This war, about to enter its third winter, has exhausted both combatants and the situation very much calls for a negotiated end to this war. Ukraine’s infrastructure has been heavily damaged by Russian attacks and there are reports its army is worn out. Russia found out its vaunted armored forces were very vulnerable to cheap, Western anti-tank weapons. Russia’s army proved to be unready for prime-time warfare. There are reports indicating Russia’s military reserves are so drained that Russia has had to obtain weaponry from Iran and North Korea. Ukraine has fought valiantly, but it needs to be realistic. It almost certainly needs to admit that Russia will keep part of the Eastern Donbas region and the Crimea. Perhaps an armistice similar to the one that ended the Korean conflict might be negotiated between Russia and Ukraine. The armistice in Korea has held for about seven decades so far.

The second great ongoing war is the one between Israel on one side and Iran and its proxies (Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis) on the other side. The first link, second link, third link and fourth link detail the escalating warfare which has recently featured massive air strikes by Israel vs. Hezbollah in South Lebanon, Hezbollah rocket attacks vs. Israeli targets, and preparations by Israel for a ground invasion of Hezbollah’s territory in South Lebanon. It is not clear if any ceasefire can be arranged by international diplomats between Hezbollah and Israel. Neither side seems eager for any such ceasefire. Maybe a ceasefire will be arranged, but reports I’ve seen indicate it would be for about three weeks. If a ceasefire is only for a few weeks, why even have it? Hezbollah has launched many hundreds of rockets into Israel, but Israel’s air defense systems have done a stellar job of downing these projectiles. A large Hezbollah ballistic missile was reportedly fired at Mossad headquarters near Tel Aviv but it was intercepted by Israel.

The fourth link offers an interesting piece of information not generally reported. It asserts that the UAE, Saudi Arabia and other Arab nations are actually cheering Israel on in this war. Its easy to see why. The UAE, the Saudis and other Arab nations are in the Sunni wing of Islam while Iran and its proxies are in the Shiite camp. These two blocs have long been opposed to each other. A number of Sunni nations have recognized Israel in the Abraham Accords while Shiite entities are universally sworn to Israel’s destruction.

The fifth link reports on another ongoing war which the world scarcely notices. A civil war is being fought in Sudan in North Africa. That link reports that 15,000 have been killed and that an amazing 8.3 million have been displaced. Such a huge number of refugees is hard to imagine. It is placing incredible demands on neighboring nations who can hardly cope with such an invasion of refugees. That number of 8.3 million refugees is approximately equal to the population of New York City. Can you imagine how hard it would be for the USA to absorb the entire population of the city of New York if its population had to suddenly migrate to the rest of the American states for some reason. That number of refugees from the Sudanese civil war is so massive I wonder if it is a misprint. Sudan has been in internal conflict for a long time. The sixth link traces the decades of internal conflict within Sudan which led to the independence of the southern region to become the new nation of South Sudan. This has been a very costly and destructive war for decades, but not many people have even noticed it.

The seventh link reports that the Quad nations of the USA, Australia, Japan and India recently held meetings which introduced new life into their unofficial alliance which is obviously meant to counter China’s militarism. The Quad nations’ alliance has been rather dormant for awhile, but is now showing new life. All four of these Pacific nations have reasons to be threatened by China, so this alliance makes immense sense for all of them. Obviously, China does not want these nations to create a unified military and intelligence front vs. China. China would rather see them lacking cooperation with each other as it would be much easier for China to wage war against them if they are not unified. This alliance makes complete sense with the biblical prophecy in Ezekiel 38-39 about the alliances that will exist in the latter days when an age-ending World War III will occur. Those wishing to read my research report on the end-time prophecies related to Ezekiel 38-39 are invited to read my report entitled, What Ezekiel 38-39 Reveals about a Future World War III.

There is an ever-growing tension between China and the Quad over transit rights in the South China Sea. China wants to unilaterally seize control of the South China Sea, but the Quad nations (plus many others) will not recognize China’s grab for control of this vital maritime trading route. The eighth link discusses the strategies being evaluated by the US Air Force (USAF) to defend Taiwan in case China starts a war to seize control of that island nation. The link discusses the possibility of a nuclear showdown in this possible struggle. The American military has also placed long-range missiles in the Philippines (ninth link). These missiles can reach targets in mainland China, and China is not happy about this deployment of American missiles. China does not seem to understand that the more militaristic and threatening it behaves, the more militaristic its rivals must become as well.

Finally, (tenth link) President Erdogan of Turkey has stirred the pot of military confrontations in the Mideast. Erdogan has declared Turkey needs to acquire nuclear weapons to counter Israeli “imperialism.” His thinking is hard to understand because Israel seeks no conflict with Turkey and Israel is not “imperialistic.” Why is it “imperialistic” of Israel to fight to ensure its own survival against regional enemies who wish to “wipe Israel off the map” and impose a new Holocaust on the Jewish people? Iran and its proxies have stated their desire to wipe out the Israelis and their nation. Israel’s defense of itself and its right to survival is hardly “imperialism.” Turkey is a Sunni nation so why does Erdogan’s animus toward Israelis/Jews differ so from the attitudes of other Sunni nations in the Mideast?. I think the reason is that the Turks are not Arabs like the aforementioned Sunni nations so there is a historically different viewpoint at work here. Turkey used to control the Ottoman Empire which was on the losing side in World War I. Turkey used to rule many of the Sunni Arabs now recognizing Israel, and Erdogan likely still has a historical viewpoint that Turkey should be the leading Sunni nation. However, the Arab nations remember the harsh rule of the Ottoman Empire so modern Arabs are not eager to let Turkey lead the Mideast’s Sunni Arab nations.

The above is a listing of the major wars and some war threats that I see in the world. There are other lesser and smaller conflicts and civil wars in the world, and it is always possible that they may become wider wars. However, we already have very serious “wars and rumors of wars” in the world. Our world scarcely needs any more of them!

“WARS AND RUMORS OF WARS”

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