News and Prophecy Staff

The conflict between Russia and Ukraine has put intense pressure on European nations to build up their military capabilities far more rapidly than previously planned. European military spending has suddenly increased in many nations in just the last couple of months, and it looks as though increases will continue (EUReporter, May 20, 2022).

In the prophetic book of Ezekiel, God warns today’s Israelite-descended nations of the fate coming upon them because they have rejected Him and His laws: “Disaster will come upon disaster, and rumor will be upon rumor. Then they will seek a vision from a prophet; but the law will perish from the priest, and counsel from the elders” (Ezekiel 7:26).

If you have been watching or reading world news, you are aware that another virus is spreading in small clusters in the UK (The Telegraph, May 18, 2022). It has also now been reported in Canada, the U.S., Portugal, Germany, Spain, and several other nations. Monkeypox, an infectious disease closely related to smallpox, originates from Africa and is typically spread among small mammals like rats, not monkeys!

The 22 million people of Sri Lanka are suffering from a “full blown political and economic crisis” (The Conversation, May 11, 2022). Violence, starvation, and severe disruptions are rampant as the nation suffers its worst financial crisis in 70 years. Sadly, the government, unable to protect its people, has resorted to violence against them to quell the civil unrest.

United Nations secretary general António Guterres recently expressed grave concern over world food shortages in the wake of the Ukraine conflict (EU Observer, May 11, 2022). Prices for grains, cooking oils, fuel, and fertilizer are rising steeply. “For the first time ever, farmers the world over—all at the same time—are testing the limits of how little chemical fertilizer they can apply without devastating their yields come harvest time.