Is the world in, or about to enter World War III? Did you know that some well-known people believe so? I wonder what Jesus would think?

Accordingly to an article posted on the website Macleans.ca, many well respected politians and others see the overall worldwide situation as being World War III. Those quoted in the article include Newt Gingrich, John McCain, and the former head of the Israeli intelligence service Mossad, Efraim Halev, among others.  The entire article may be read here.

What is interesting about this article are the conclusions of a worldwide conflict revolving around entities not nations. Those entities are terrorist groups, groups composed of people geographically scattered rather than closely living together. This places a new face upon the concept of war and opponents.

The USA has discovered the complexities of such an opponent in its long standing war in Afghanistan and Iraq which is against both national dictators and terrorist organizations. Israel is encountering stubborn resistence in its current invasion of Lebanon, fighting not the country of Lebanon but a terrorist group, Hezbollah.

The Macleans article attempts to suggest the roots of this World War III trace well back beyond September 11, 2001 to the Cold War era. The article draws stirngs that may, or may not, converge on today's hot spots.

Jesus told His disciples that the world would suffer through endless wars and rumors of wars. This certainly appears to be the case today. We live in a world of fighting. Crime soars in the civilized parts of the world while open war arises elsewhere. There are, indeed, endless wars.

I have been surprised at the number of people who desire to view the current Israel/Lebanon battle as the start of the End Times. I think they arrive at this conclusion simply because it involves Israel. On the other hand, how many battles and wars has Israel fought over the past 70 years? Too many to count.

There are no signs or events remaining to be fulfilled before the Rapture of the Church and the commencement of the Tribulation, that time in history when God will purge Israel for her national salvation and judge the nations for having struck her so many times over the past 3500 years or so.

This does not mean, however, that there are no historical events to occur. Many believe there is a set number of believers who will make up the church, the body of Christ, so that last member of Christ's body must accept Jesus as Lord and Savior. Also, the Antichrist must come to a place of power or political standing wherefrom he may almost instantly step into the world spotlight and seize control, albeit as a peace keeper.

The first event, the last salvation is something we as humans will never know occurred. The second is more interesting. Is there a figure of promenience or almost promenience who is in a position to step forward and seize a tumbling world? The answer is, of course, yes . . . and no.

Obviously many national leaders exist and just as many leaders-to-be are waiting in the wings. The question one must ask though is:

Do any of these match the picture of the Antichrist given in the Scriptures? Well, I will leave you to make this call, since we will disagree over the results. That's part of the reason only God knows the date of the Second Coming. However, I personally question that the worldwide political scene is ripe for the Rapture, although I would be glad to have it come in the next five minutes so I / we could all go home to be with Jesus.

Are we in World War III? I don't really thinks so. There are just a bunch of wars and rumors of wars floating around. Is the Second Coming just around the corner? Yes, I think it is, only I am not certain how big the corner is.

Jim A