Wars and Rumors of War

“As He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?” And Jesus answered and said to them, “See to it that no one misleads you. “For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will mislead many. “You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end. “For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes. “But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs.”
Matthew 24:3-8 New American Standard from Biblos.com

February…what a month for prophetic activity! Did you know that there were 29 articles referenced on this website -- just for the “Wars and Rumors of Wars” category? This is about double the highest number of hits for any category since this website began.

Here is what the category looks like in graphical form since October 2008 – from data compiled at Rap-Con.

From a statistical point of view, this spike represents a significant event that has changed (or even re-set) the parameters that were previously viewed as “normal.” Nearly all the references were rhetoric and sabre rattling – not the actual conflict itself. And nearly all involved the nation of Israel. So, this graph represents the “Rumors of War” portion. What event could have sparked such a large increase in the rhetoric and the rumors of war against Israel? The same antagonists and points of contention were around a year ago – or even several years ago. I don’t claim to know the answer but I speculate that Netanyahu’s proclamation on January 27, that Ezekiel 37 has been fulfilled, set in motion another set of prophecies.

So, what does the graph look like showing actual wars?

I found an informative website, GlobalSecurity.org, with regard to the details about actual wars. Their data is listed in table form and includes things like the countries or groups involved, the number killed and the dates of the conflicts. I just counted these conflicts and grouped them by decades – then plotted them out.

There are several significant things to point out about this graph. First, the number of wars increased exponentially beginning in the 1950’s. Second, this exponential increase occurred after Israel became a nation. (And, this is after two world wars that “were supposed to end all wars.”)

Based on these graphs, it appears that the fulfillment of the “wars and rumors of wars” prophecy of Jesus is underway. It’s no coincidence that a step-change in data occurred after significant events involving Israel. Numerous scriptures tell us that the rise of Israel as a nation will be the main sign of the end times -- and that began in 1948. Another major event involving Israel was the January proclamation that Ezekiel 37 had been fulfilled. This is important in that Israel has essentially been restored to its ancient glory with regard to things like population, number of tribes, boundaries and restoring the Hebrew language.