Nations Focus on Defense

Although defense spending has dropped in some nations—mainly in Africa and oil-producing countries—many nations are building up their defense capabilities. Iran’s leadership recently voted to boost missile and other defense spending by over $500 million (BBC, August 13, 2017). Hungary’s prime minister wants to introduce mandatory military training in schools, for children and teens (Deutsche Welle, August 14, 2017). The USA has increased defense spending this year, while European nations and Canada plan a three-year defense spending spree (Reuters, June 28, 2017). China is expected to greatly increase their military expenditures (Japan Times, March 4, 2017), as will Australia (The Diplomat, May 11, 2017) and Japan (Reuters, March 1, 2017).

Jesus Christ prophesied that “wars and rumors of wars” would be one of the signs that would indicate that His return and the end of the age was near (Matthew 24:6). Yet, in the same verse, Jesus admonished His disciples and those who would later read His words, “See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.” As nations around the globe appear to prepare for war, we need to be alert to the signs of the times (Matthew 24:42). To better grasp the prophetic significance of events making news today, view our telecast “How To Watch World Events.”