Emmanuel Todd, ‘we are now in an endless war’; Jesus, ‘wars and rumors of war’

1887 depiction of the ‘Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse’

Are we in a time of endless war? At least one French historian seems to think so:

February 14, 2023

The {following} comments were made by Emmanuel Todd, one of France’s leading intellectuals, during an interview with the Le Figaro newspaper.

“It is evident that the conflict, initially a limited territorial war, has evolved into a global economic confrontation between the whole West on one side, and Russia, backed by China, on the other. It has become a world war,” Todd said.

Todd added that “the resistance of the Russian economy is pushing the U.S. imperial system toward the abyss” and that Biden must “hurry” to rescue a “fragile” America.

According to the historian, U.S. control of the world financial system is at risk because the Russian economy’s resistance to sanctions is pushing “the American imperial system” toward the precipice,” with Russia still able to rely on China for monetary backing.

Todd says America “cannot withdraw from the conflict, they cannot let go,” because it has no exit strategy and the stakes are too high.

“This is why we are now in an endless war, in a confrontation whose outcome must be the collapse of one or the other,” said the intellectual.

Todd is a widely respected figure, having accurately predicted the collapse of the Soviet Union 14 years before it happened. https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/french-historian-world-war-iii-has-already-begun

The financial and military costs for the USA supporting Ukraine may well be a factor in weakening the USA.

Jesus predicted:

6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows. (Matthew 24:6-8)

While the end is not yet, we are seeing a lot of violence. In the USA itself, so far, we have had 25 mass shootings in 2023, including yesterday’s shooting at Michigan State University.

But it is not just Ukraine and the USA that have issues.

As reported here yesterday, Moldova has concerns about Russia (see Moldova concerned about Russian plans, while Ukraine admits Russia is making gains in Bakhmut).

Now, here is a report related to Ethiopia:

February 13, 2023

Eritrea’s President Isaias Afwerki has accused the US of supporting Tigrayan rebels during the recently concluded civil war in northern Ethiopia. President Afwerki was speaking during a Sunday interview with local media where he claimed that the peace deal signed between Ethiopia and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) was rushed by the US to prevent the rebels from losing in the battlefield.

In the interview, he also admitted for the first time that hundreds of thousands of people died in the conflict, though he did not elaborate on Eritrean casualties. https://www.africanews.com/2023/02/13/eritrean-leader-accuses-us-of-supporting-rebels-in-tigray-conflict/

Notice also the following related to Haiti:

February 13, 2023

As Haiti’s toxic slate of gangs continue to plunder the crisis-stricken Caribbean nation, kidnapping, displacing and extorting civilians with nothing left to give …

Helen La Lime, U.N. special envoy in Haiti, told the Security Council in late January that the gangs employ sexual violence to “destroy the social fabric of communities,” particularly in zones controlled by rival gangs.

They rape girls and boys as young as 10, she said. https://apnews.com/article/crime-violence-kidnapping-caribbean-haiti-89757f336975cb28283025e65446affb

Gangs take away peace and are making the horrible situation in Haiti worse.

Notice also the following:

1 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. 2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, 4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; (2 Timothy 3:1-4, KJV)

The gangs, and many others, are fierce and covetous.

Here is something about the situation in Yemen:

February 14, 2023

Instead of being involved in promoting de-escalation efforts, the Houthi militia continues to adopt the language of escalation on both the political and military fronts. …

Earlier in January 2023, the US Navy said it had seized more than 2,000 rifles destined for the Houthis, and on December 1, 2022, intercepted a fishing vessel smuggling more than 50 tons of ammunition, fuses, and rocket fuel, and seized 1,400 rifles and more than 226,000 rounds of ammunition from a ship coming from Iran, and confiscated more than 1.1 million rounds from a fishing boat operating between Iran and Yemen. https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/article-731509

Then there’s the Congo:

February 14, 2023

More than 20 civilians were killed Sunday in new attacks by militiamen in Ituri, a gold-rich province in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo, according to preliminary information gathered Monday by the UN and civil society.

Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said in New York that the Codeco militia had, according to these preliminary reports, “killed at least 20 civilians and burned several houses.

The same militiamen also “damaged medical facilities in a series of attacks on villages in Djugu territory,” he added.

Codeco (Cooperative for the Development of Congo) is a militia of several thousand men who claim to protect the Lendu tribe from the Hema tribe and the national army in Ituri. https://www.africanews.com/2023/02/14/more-than-20-killed-in-militia-attack-in-northeast-dr-congo-un/

Here is something about Somalia:

February 12, 2023

The United States military reported Sunday that 12 al-Shabab militants were killed in a new airstrike in central Somalia.

The U.S. Africa Command known as AFRICOM said in a statement that the “collective self-defense” strike occurred February 10 “at the request of the Federal Government of Somalia.” https://www.voanews.com/a/al-shabab-fighters-killed-in-airstrike-us-military-says/6960217.html

There are also conflicts currently between Turkey and Greece, Hamas and Israel and the Palestinians, Syria, Libya, etc.

In terms of rumors of war, consider the following two items:

February 13, 2023

Taiwan has accused China of making “dozens” of incursions into its airspace with spy balloons similar to the one shot down over the U.S. last week, further contributing to rising tensions as China surrounds Taiwan with military drills.

Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense stated this weekend that China has sent surveillance balloons into its airspace at a rate of roughly one per month for years. Taiwanese officials believe the balloons serve to measure atmospheric data that can help improve the accuracy of China’s radar and missile systems, according to Taiwan News.

Both China and the U.S. conducted extensive military drills in the Indo-Pacific region this weekend. The U.S. Navy and Marine Corps held joint exercises, and China is now surrounding Taiwan for another series of military exercises that echoes its unprecedented buildup from the fall. https://www.foxnews.com/world/taiwan-says-dozens-chinese-spy-craft-cross-airspace-tensions-flare-us

25 January 2023

India and Pakistan came “close” to a “nuclear conflagration” in February 2019, former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said in his new memoir.

This happened after Delhi launched strikes against militants in Pakistani territory following an attack on Indian troops in Kashmir.

Pakistan had then said it had shot down two Indian military jets and captured a fighter pilot.

India and Pakistan claim all of Kashmir, but control only parts of it. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-64396138

Both COVID-19 and what we are seeing associated with battles throughout the world, plus protests and rumors of war could be a factor in ‘apocalyptic’ matters such as the following:

3 When He opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, “Come and see.” 4 Another horse, fiery red, went out. And it was granted to the one who sat on it to take peace from the earth, and that people should kill one another; and there was given to him a great sword. (Revelation 6:3-4)

The literal Greek here for “peace” (εἰρήνην transliterated as eirēnēn) in Revelation 6 can be interpreted to mean taking away prosperity as well (see BibleHub.com). COVID-19 has, to a degree, done that. People are afraid or at least uneasy to a degree we have not seen around the world anytime in the 21st century. Plus there are a lot of protests and then there are the actual conflicts, such as Ethiopia, Iran, Libya, etc.

Barnes Notes on the Bible states:

The power given to him that sat on the horse: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another. This would seem to indicate that the condition immediately preceding this was a condition of tranquility, and that this was now disturbed by some cause producing discord and bloodshed. This idea is confirmed by the original words – τὴν εἰρήνην tēn eirēnēn – “the peace”; that is, the previously existing peace. When peace in general is referred to, the word is used without the article: Matthew 10:34, “Think not that I am come to send peace – βαλεῖν εἰρήνην balein eirēnēn – upon the earth.”

So, this rider is not just a rider of war, but taking away THE peace.

It is NOT constant physical warfare everywhere, though physical violence and warfare (consistent with Jesus’ words in Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21) will also occur.

But things will get worse.

The old WCG also put out the following:

Where is it all going to end? That was the question the twelve disciples of Jesus Christ posed in the twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew. Christ’s answer, known as the Olivet Prophecy, is quite revealing. “And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars,” Christ said, referring to one of the prophetic signals that would herald the end of an age (verse 6).

Certainly there have always been wars. And certainly Christ’s words had particular meaning for that day and age. Within a few short decades Roman legions under the command of Titus sacked, burned and pillaged the city of Jerusalem.

But Jesus’ warning about war was also applicable to another period in history. In the book of Revelation, Christ, speaking through the apostle John, amplified some of His previous prophetic statements. In the sixth chapter, John writes: “And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword” (Rev. 6:4).

John was not speaking about the fall of Jerusalem. That war was already some twenty years behind him. John was referring to future events that would bring 6000 years of human history crashing to a cataclysmic close. … John is referring to a time yet ahead of us when “peaceful coexistence” will be a thing of the past. …

It’s no wonder that Jeremiah, in referring to these tumultuous times, stated: “Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble …” (Jer. 30:7). (Ritter G. 4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse – The Red Horse – War, pp. 48, 52; see also Ritter R. The War that could end it all. Good News, December 1975)

There may also be wars in parts of the world that have rarely had them (perhaps, for example, even between some South American nations), as well as wars in areas that have long been especially tense (like Korea, possibly involving other Asian nations). Damascus (capital of Syria) ultimately will be destroyed and could be a signal for destruction to come for Jacob (Isaiah 17:1-4). There will likely be civil unrest and perhaps rioting in scales not seen before, including within some Western nations (such as in Europe and North America). This will lead to military leaders rising up in various parts of the world. And one European (the final King of the North) will, after making one or more false peace deals/pronouncements (e.g. Daniel 9:26-27; 11:27; 1 Thessalonians 5:3), become the final Beast leader (Revelation 13:4) and he will take over many nations (Daniel 11:39-43).

We are getting closer to the start of the Great Tribulation than most people realize.

Related to some of this, the Continuing Church of God put out the following sermon on its ContinuingCOG channel:

1:15

Sorrows and the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse

Revelation 6:1-8 shows the opening of four seals and discusses the rides of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Each of which appears to be associated with aspects of the “beginning of sorrows” that Jesus mentions in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. What do each of the horsemen represent? Did the old Worldwide Church of God teach that these rides were still in the future in the late 21st century? Could any have began in the 21st century? Does the rider of the white horse represent Jesus or false religion? Are there ties to the interfaith and ecumenical movements? What might the bow the horseman has represent? Could this be a tie to Satan the Devil? What about the Beast and False Prophet? Has the “beginning of sorrows” started? Could the first seal be opened? Could COVID-19 have anything to do with the second seal? Has “the peace” been taken from the earth? Could the rider of the red horse have begun with an opening of the second seal? What about riots, looting wars, and rumors of war? Are food inflation, food shortages, and famines associated with the opening of the third seal and rider of the black horse of famine? Could human actions such as evolution teachings, genetically-modified crops, and viral research be factors in the rides of the four horsemen? Is more than death related to pestilences associated with the rider of the pale horse, the fourth seal? Why might this be a factor in 666? Will most people fail to recognize the rides of the four horsemen of the Apocalypse until it is too late to take action? What about the fifth seal and the start of the Great Tribulation? Are there problems with Roman and Eastern Orthodox prophecies concerning the end and the Great Monarch? What about prophecies related to Noah, the King of the North, Armageddon, and Antichrist? Dr. Thiel covers these issues and also includes some speculation and analysis.