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) 1945-1949 Chinese Civil War 1946-1954 First Indochina War 1947 Paraguayan Civil War 1947-1949 Indo-Pakistani War of 1947 1948-1949 First Arab-Israeli War 1948-1960 Malayan Emergency 1950-1953 Korean War 1952-1960 Mau Mau Uprising in Kenya 1954-1962 Algerian War of Independence 1954-1975 Second Indochina War 1954-1975 Vietnam War 1954-1962 Algerian War of Independence 1955-1972 First Sudanese Civil War 1956 Suez Crisis (Second Arab-Israeli War) 1956-1959 Cuban Revolution 1957-1958 The Forgotten War (la Guerra Olvidada) 1959-1975 Laotian Civil War 1960-ethnic conflicts in Basque Country 1960-1965 Congo Crisis 1960s Islamic Insurgency, Southern Philippines 1960-1996 Guatemalan Civil War 1961- Bay of Pigs Invasion 1961-1975 Angolan War of Independence 1962-1963 Sino-Indian War 1962-1966 Indonesia-Malaysia confrontation 1962-1970 Yemen Civil War 1962-1975 Dhofar Rebellion 1964-Colombian Armed Conflict - Colombian Civil War 1964-1975 Mozambique's War of Independence 1965 Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 1965-1996 Chad Civil War 1965-1966 Indonesian Civil War
1966-1988 Namibian War of Independence 1966-1979 Zimbabwean 2nd Chimurenga (Rhodesia) 1967-1975 Cambodian Civil War 1967 Islamic Insurgency, Southern Philippines 1967 Six-Day War (Third Arab-Israeli War) 1967-1970 Nigerian Civil War 1968-1970 War of Attrition 1969 Football War 1969-1988 The Troubles in Northern Ireland 1971 The Bangladesh Liberation War 1973 Yom Kippur War (Fourth Arab-Israeli War) 1974 Agacher Strip War 1974-1991 Ethiopian Civil War 1975-1989 Angolan Civil War 1975-1991 Lebanese Civil War 1975-1998 War of Independence in East Timor 1975-1992 Mozambique's Civil War 1977- Somalian Civil War 1977-1978 Ogaden War 1977-1991 Cambodian-Vietnamese War 1978-2005 The Aceh War 1978-1988 Ugandan Civil War 1979 Sino-Vietnamese War 1979-1992 El Salvador Civil War 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq War 1981 Paquisha War between Ecuador and Peru 1982 Falklands War 1982 Lebanon War 1983 Invasion of Grenada 1983-2000 Civil War in Sri Lanka 1983-2005 Second Sudanese Civil War 1984-1998 Free Paupa Movement 1985 Christmas War between Mali and Burkina Faso 1987-Conflict in northern Uganda 1988- Somalian Civil War 1989- Kashmir conflict 1989-1991 Mauritania-Senegal Border War 1989-1990 Operation Just Cause, U.S. invades Panama 1989-1997 Liberian Civil War 1990- War of Transnistria 1990-1991 Gulf War 1990-1992 Rwanda Civil War 1990-1998 Tuareg Rebellion 1991- Slovenian War 1991- Nagorno-Karabakh 1991-1992 South Ossetian war 1991-1993 Georgian Civil War 1991-1995 Croatian War of Independence 1991-1997 Sierra Leone Civil War 1991-2001 Yugoslav Wars 1992-Afghan Civil War 1992-Algerian Civil War 1992-1994 Abkhazian War 1992-1995 Bosnian War 1992-1997 Tajikistan Civil War 1993-Georgian civil war, western Georgia 1993- Ethnic conflict in Nagaland, India 1993-1999 Burundi Civil War
1994-Yemen Civil War 1994-1996 First Chechen War 1994- Zapatista Rebellion in Mexico 1995-Cenepa War between Peru and Ecuador 1996 Imia-Kardak crisis 1996- Nepal Civil War 1996-1997 First Congo War 1998-1999 Kosovo War 1998-2000 Ethiopia-Eritrea War 1998-2002 Second Congo War - 3.8 million dead 1999 Kargil War 1999-2003 Second Liberian Civil War 1999- Ituri Conflict (Democratic Republic of Congo) 1999- Second Chechen War (Russia) 2000- Intifada in Israel and the Israeli-occupied territories 2000- Conflict in Laos involving the Hmong 2001- U.S. invasion of Afghanistan 2001- Ivorian Civil War (Côte d'Ivoire) 2003- Pakistan and Baloch warlords in Balochistan, Pakistan 2003- Darfur conflict, Sudan 2003- Insurgent rebellion, Iraq 2003- Iraq War 2004- Haiti rebellion 2004- Waziristan War 2005-2006 - Chad-Sudan conflict 2005- Western Sahara Independence Intifada 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.