Future Wars

I know so many of us in America have our attention on Black Friday deals and eating Thanksgiving leftovers. I have to admit we are so spoiled especially compared to those in the Middle East are the Ukraine where wars continue to see fighting. People in those areas are living in fear of rockets and drones striking at any time. Now this isn’t a new experience but it is a global fear more now than ever. One reason is the technology available to even small factions or groups intent on causing chaos in the hopes of rising up to take over areas or even countries. In an article from stimson.org on the growing availability of weapons we read this:

After viewing the system in operation, Gen. Mark A. Milley, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, stated: “We are witnessing the ways wars will be fought, and won, for years to come.”8 

Milley was referring to these systems:

These new C2 systems provide commanders with greatly enhanced situational awareness that allows them to rapidly identify targets and assign them to appropriate weapons. Ukraine and Russia have effectively created a 15 kilometer deep “kill zone” where no troops can move without being attacked. New drone production could extend this kill zone to 40 kilometers.9 Defense has become so dominant that neither side can conduct effective offensive operations. While Russia continues to be on the offensive, its progress is measured in meters at the cost of roughly 1,000 casualties per day.10

However, we can see how what is seen as a rag tag group of terrorists can hold their own with much more powerful nations using technologies on a reduced size:

Using some of the same technologies but on a much smaller scale, the Houthis have challenged the world’s use of the Red Sea and Bab al Mandeb. Between October 7, 2023 and March 2025, the Houthis targeted U.S. warships more than 170 times and commercial vessels 145 times, according to the Department of Defense. Although the Houthis have yet to hit a U.S. Navy vessel, they have sunk two commercial vessels and killed four mariners. The Department of Defense also revealed recently that the U.S. military has expended upwards of $1 billion dollars as part of its efforts to protect vessels in the Red Sea—an exponentially higher sum than the cost of the Houthis’ offensive kit—laying bare the U.S. military’s vulnerability to asymmetric warfare and stretching an already strained U.S. defense industrial base to produce more air defense missiles.11

But if nations think they are not targets, think again.

Getting Personal

In America, who isn’t accustomed to being attacked in a conventional way like say on Pearl Harbor, terrorists and the nations who sponsor them can very easily strike now as we read in an article from IRHC.org:

Conflict today is shaped by three overarching and interconnected trends: the pursuit of reduced risk driven by force protection considerations, the drive to increase lethality, and the growing integration of civilians and civilian objects into military activities. Each poses distinctive challenges to the protection of civilian populations, the application of international humanitarian law (IHL), and risks shaking some of the very assumptions that underlie the conduct of war.

And we could be part of the attacks without even knowing about it:

But this COP (common operational picture) is not generated by military assets alone. Civilian devices, especially mobile phones, serve as both intelligence gathering and command, control and communication systems. Phone users can knowingly collect and transmit battlefield intelligence but in other instances, their devices are used without their knowledge to locate, track, and categorize them for potential targeting. Vast amounts of personal data, such as call logs, app metadata, and geolocations can be harvested from civilian sources, processed by AI-enabled systems, and repurposed for targeting, profiling, or influence operations.

Drones run by artificial intelligence (AI) also make things easier since one can search out its target on its own with no one to operate it let alone fly in it. Rogue terrorists or nations can wipe our targets with little to no risk. Scary right? Well, it is possible that Jesus knew all this when He talked about wars and rumors of wars in Matthew 24:6:

And you will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end. (NASB)

Jesus Knew

At this point in His earthly ministry it is safe to say that He clearly saw the future and was basing His advice on things He knew would happen. And as concerning and even worrying things are when we learn about new weapons and the evil people who have them, we must also take into account the whole verse which clearly tells us to not be alarmed. I know that the environment Jesus describes is the Tribulation and the cautions are meant primarily for Jews living in it, however there will be birth pangs leading up to it. In other words, the closer we get to the Tribulation the more intense the signs will be so we also shouldn’t be alarmed. We are told to be anxious for nothing which includes these potential threats of harm and destruction from people and nations who want to see America and its way of life destroyed. God is in control if we let Him be and that’s the key here. It’s a simple concept that is easier said than done, but Holy Spirit will help us with the process. As we get closer to the times and events Jesus details we need to also heed His admonition for it:

Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near.” (Luke 21:28, NKJV)

Amen to that!