Luke 21:9-10

“When you hear of wars and revolutions, do not be frightened. These things must happen first, but the end will not come right away.” Then he said to them: "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom”

The end of the Cold War, marked by the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, had an equally dramatic effect on the general level of armed conflict in the global system. The levels of both interstate and societal warfare declined dramatically through the 1990s and this trend continues in the early 2000s, falling over 60% from their peak levels.

Luke 21:11, 25

“There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven.”

"There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea”

Luke 21:12-19

"When you see Jerusalem being surrounded by armies, you will know that its desolation is near”

Luke 21:20-24

The 1948–49 WarAs independence was declared, Arab forces from Egypt, Syria, Transjordan (later Jordan), Lebanon, and Iraq invaded Israel. Egypt took territory in the south and the Jordanians took Jerusalem's Old City, but the other Arab forces were soon halted. An Israeli advance in Jan., 1949, isolated Egyptian forces and led to a cease-fire (Jan. 7, 1949).

The 1956 WarIn 1956 Israel was convinced that the Arabs were preparing for war. On Oct. 29, 1956, Israeli forces, directed by Moshe Dayan, launched a combined air and ground assault into Egypt's Sinai peninsula. A cease-fire was declared on Nov. 6

The 1967 War (The Six-Day War)After a period of relative calm, border incidents between Israel and Syria, Egypt, and Jordan increased during the early 1960s In May, 1967, Egypt closed the Gulf of Aqaba to Israel. Israel responded by mobilizing. Israel launched a massive air assault and controlled the Sinai peninsula, recaptured Jerusalem's Old City, and on the Syrian border, gained the strategic Golan Heights. The war, which ended on June 10, is known as the Six-Day War.

May 14, 1948Israel becomes an independent nation

The 1973–74 War (The Yom Kippur War)During 1973 the Arab states, believing that their complaints against Israel were going unheeded (despite the mounting use by the Arabs of threats to cut off oil supplies in an attempt to soften the pro-Israel stance of the United States), quietly prepared for war, led by Egypt's President Anwar Sadat. On Oct. 6, 1973, the Jewish holy day Yom Kippur, a two-pronged assault on Israel was launched. Egyptian forces struck eastward across the Suez Canal and pushed the Israelis back, while the Syrians advanced from the north. Iraqi forces joined the war and, in addition, Syria received some support from Jordan, Libya, and the smaller Arab states. The attacks caught Israel off guard, and it was several days before the country was fully mobilized; Israel then forced the Syrians and Egyptians back and, in the last hours of the war, established a salient on the west bank of the Suez Canal. A cease-fire was implemented on Oct. 25. Israel and Egypt signed a cease-fire agreement in November, but Israeli-Syrian fighting continued until a cease-fire was negotiated in 1974.

The 1982 WarIn 1978 Palestinian guerrillas, from their base in Lebanon, launched an air raid on Israel; in retaliation, Israel sent troops into S Lebanon to occupy a strip 4–6 mi (6–10 km) deep and thus protect Israel's border. Eventually a UN peacekeeping force was set up there, but occasional fighting continued. In 1982 Israel launched a massive attack to destroy all military bases of the Palestine Liberation Organization in S Lebanon and, after a 10-week siege of the Muslim sector of West Beirut, a PLO stronghold, forced the Palestinians to accept a U.S.-sponsored plan whereby the PLO guerrillas would evacuate Beirut and go to several Arab countries that had agreed to accept them. Israel withdrew from Lebanon in 1985 but continues to maintain a Lebanese-Christian–policed buffer zone north of its border.

Luke 21:27-28, Zechariah 14:3-4