End Days: Wars And Rumors

Are wars on the increase? Mat 24:6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. Here are some cold hard facts. Now in past history, the 30 years war resulted with about 7 million dead. (From 1618-48) Until recently and in modern times, this was declared by many as the most horrible war. It has been calculated by a former president of the Norwegian Academy of Sciences, aided by historians from England, Egypt, Germany, and India, that since 3600 B.C., over 14,531 wars have been waged in which 3,640,000,000 people have been killed." (Harold L. Willmington, Signs of the Times, Tyndale House, Wheaton, Ill, 1981, p. 18.) When we come to modern times we find that World War I (1914 to 1918) in just over 4 years killed approximately 20 million people. But only 21 years later World War II began (1939 to 1945), resulting in the loss of 62 million lives, triple the loss of World War I, while the monetary costs quadrupled from an estimated $340 billion to an estimated $4.5 trillion. There can be no question that there has been a great increase in the intensity of warfare. Today there are at least 35 nations with nuclear weapons. The United States and Russia alone having a total of 12,000 strategic nuclear warheads and about 48,000 smaller tactical nuclear weapons. The combined total of both superpowers nuclear power equaling a total of about 1,350,000 Hiroshima size bombs! Many people are worried that nuclear warheads can reach any part of the Globe within 30 minutes, and that the superpowers have stock-piled enough nuclear explosives to equal 300 pounds of TNT for every man, woman, and child on Earth. The United Nations defines "major wars" as military conflicts inflicting 1,000 battlefield deaths per year. Here is a list of such wars since 1945. Wars around the world from 1945 - 2005 (one generation)

  For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape in 1 Thessalonians 5:3. We read what happens when the wicked are in charge. Isaiah 57:20-21 But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked. Jesus Christ is returning one day to set the world in perfect order. He has given mankind a chance to live free and show forth righteousness. But apart from him there is only corruption. Therefore, he has no choice but to return lest man should destroy himself. Mark 13:20 And except that the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh should be saved: but for the elect's sake, whom he hath chosen, he hath shortened the days. And thus fulfilling the prophecy of Daniel 2. 37-45 Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory. And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold. And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth. And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise. And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters' clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay. And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken. And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay. And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure. The purpose and mission of jesus was, is, and will be save mankind. Whether from sin or self, God is here to save all who apply his name in all things. Colossians 3:17 And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him. Acts 4:12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. Matthew 28:18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Finally, Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me in John 14:6. Many ministries will pray, heal, and cast out demons in Jesus name yet fail to apply it in baptism, where it counts the most. May God bless us and teach us all to number or take into account our limited time upon this earth.