The following article was printed in The Christian Spirit Magazine in the early 1990’s, as wars and rumors of wars were rising to a heightened level suggesting the fulfillment of the plethora of prophecies of the “Olivet Discourse” were ramping up towards the end.

Since this time wars and tumults and rumors of war have filled the daily news.

Confrontations of major powers, African nations, the Middle East and Israel, standoffs in the Far East, riots and terrorist plots and rebellions all have commanded the attention of the world since the hours of World War I. It has been with rising intensity and urgency that the world has looked for something, or someone, to bring peace to the world.

The news outlets and magazines, websites and official broadcasts from all nations around the globe have had to report on wars and rumors of wars, and tumults of every kind with the regularity of weather reports and traffic advisories.

Obviously it is a sign that the end-times, as broadcast by the Bible, have arrived like fireworks in a dark July 4th sky.

Certainly no one can deny that since World Wars I and II the rumors have been continuously flying of wars and military disturbances among nations. Many, of course, turned into much more than rumors, but actual wars – serious, long, and with great loss of life have cascaded down in an unremitting flood in the second half of this century.

In the “Olivet Discourse”, in Matthew 24:6 we see that Jesus informed us of this reality;

“For 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. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines and pestilences and earthquakes in diverse places… All these are the beginning of sorrows.”

A perfect example of this deluge of war came during a CBS news special on June 7, 1982. This report gave details of the war between Israel and Lebanon, along with the lengthy war involving Iran and Iraq. At the close, commentator, Dan Rather pointed out that there were four major wars going rumbling on as he spoke. The two that were covered in the special, the England vs. Argentina (Falklands) conflict and the confrontation between the Soviet Union and Afghanistan.

He concluded by saying; “A reminder, not that we need one, that the world is a dangerous neighborhood.”

A partial list of the long and
serious wars since WW II are:
1. Korea
2. Vietnam
3. Northern Ireland
4. Cambodia
5. Angola
6. El Salvador
7. Laos
8. Ethiopia
9. Nicaragua
10. South Africa (civil; A.N.C. and other rebel factions engage in bloody massacres of one another for power).

Brutal Civil Wars Also
There was a brutal civil war in Argentina in the 1970’s which become known as the “dirty war, the war of the disappeared”. Somalia’s civil war continues to this day. And now we have Bosnia, also a civil war, called an ethnic war, with other nations becoming involved through the United Nations.

There are others that did not last as long, but were violent and deadly. Among these smaller skirmishes were wars involving Guatemala, Czechoslovakia, Chile, Mozambique, Poland, Hungary, and who among both young and old alike will ever forget the images left in their memory of the high-tech and daily televised play by play Gulf War between Iraq (the ancient Babylon) and the United States and her allies.

Every continent has had rebellions and civil wars: South Africa, Bolivia, Philippines. Even China had to put down a democratic insurrection.

Even the islands of the world, normally secure, peaceful, shangrilas have suffered from coups and wars. Cuba’s Castro overthrew the ruling government to become Communist dictator of his island country. I think of Marcos being ousted by Aquino and now after many attempts, she has been defeated. Then there was “Baby Doc” falling in Haiti, and the U.S. even sent troops to squelch political unrest in Grenada.

This report would not be complete without mentioning the cold war between East and West, separating democracy and communism at the end of WW II. Some forty years ago the infamous “Wall” went up and served as a symbol of the building tension and hatred between two ideologies. The people of the world walked over four decades on egg-shells in fear that the “Cold War” feud might ignite into a global conflagration that might destroy life on this planet. The rumor mill flourished with constant threats and counter threats of war.

Then “The Wall” came down! Now most of the Eastern European countries, as well as Russia are in turmoil and confusion. Many of those places are like a powder keg about to go off. War and rumors of war bubble and sizzle with each rise and fall of a new political party.

There is still trouble between Israel and Lebanon – it just erupted again a few weeks ago. Only a few months ago unrest was reported in Italy, Costa Rica, Ethiopia, Yemen, and then the assassination of Sri Lanka’s president fueled more speculation of trouble in that part of the globe.

The problems in the former Yugoslavia (the very place where World War I was started) are so serious that the international community and its diplomats and political scientists fear lest the hatred and violence spread through Europe.

 And so on it goes!

Until, that is when the time will come when wars and rumors of wars will cease, but this will not happen until Christ returns and institutes a thousand year rule on earth of his righteous but stern government centered in Jerusalem.

Ultimately, after there are a new Earth and Heaven when there will be true and lasting peace, but this can only occur after the end of the Millennium when Satan and rebellion will be put down forever. Then, and only then, God “shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.” Rev. 21:4

As we must look upon “all these sorrows”, let us look forward and wait for that day with great anticipation. That day, when there will be no more death, crying or pain.