China has been rapidly developing its military capabilities to a level that could threaten the greatest military power in existence today. But beyond the visible land, air and sea forces, it is developing the technology that could devastate the latest military frontier: space. On September 27, the head of United States Space Command warned that China is developing laser weapons that could blind American satellites.

“We’re pretty comfortable [in asserting] that they are developing directed energy weapons—probably building lasers to blind our satellites,” said U.S. Gen. John “Jay” Raymond. “It’s clear that China would plan to use those threats against us in conflict,” he added.

Only in recent years has space become a military realm on par with land, sea, air and cyberspace. This fact led President Donald Trump to reestablish the 1985 U.S. Space Command in August, which had been dissolved by George W. Bush in 2002. The force was reestablished in order to put more focus on staying ahead of the threats to this realm.

General Raymond went on to say that America’s space operations “are the best in the world.” While this fact alone is true, it is not comforting. Being the best in the world in this realm does not matter. China may lag behind the U.S. in technical and military capability, but parity in the space realm is not its top priority. The greater threat comes from the ability not to replicate but to destroy.

“If you are China or Russia, you don’t need the capabilities the U.S. has,” said Adam Routh, research associate with the Center for a New American Security’s defense program. Building counter-space weapons is cheaper than developing satellites with a similar advantage as the U.S.

Much of the U.S.’s modern weaponry is reliant on global positioning systems. If China blinded U.S. satellites, much of the military would be totally paralyzed. But the effects run far beyond the military. U.S. vulnerability in space will impact every single citizen.

In this regard, the Wall Street Journal wrote in May:

[S]pace war against the U.S. would begin without a sound, likely coupled with a coordinated series of cyberattacks racing through the country. Televisions would go dark. Internet connections would sputter. atms would malfunction. …

The financial markets—with trades dependent on time stamps provided by the military’s constellation of gps satellites—would be paralyzed. The Internet would stop altogether. Business would halt as credit cards and bank machines became useless. Mobile phone services would fail completely. …

Traffic lights and railroad signals—also timed by gps—would default to red, bringing transport to a standstill. Air traffic would be suspended as pilots lose navigation. Without nasa and noaa satellites, we would have no weather forecasts. The U.S. power grid and water-treatment plants would be disrupted. … America would screech to a halt.

It is easy to see that America could quickly descend into chaos. The country could break down internally in a matter of moments. Think of the advantage this would give a foreign enemy. Not only would an entire military have been wiped out, but the entire population would spiral into disarray. This vulnerability in space reveals how an end time Bible prophecy could be fulfilled.

In his book The United States and Britain in Prophecy, theologian Herbert W. Armstrong proved that the United States is a descendant of ancient Israel. The Bible provides many detailed prophecies for this nation in the end time. The U.S. has a history with God, but because of its rampant rebellion, God will punish it. A prophecy in Ezekiel 7 prophesies of this vulnerability: “They have blown the trumpet, even to make all ready; but none goeth to the battle: for my wrath is upon all the multitude thereof” (verse 14).

Regarding this verse, Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry wrote in his January 1995 Personal, “The trumpet of war was blown in Israel—mainly America and Britain. It seems everybody was expecting our people to go into battle. But the greatest tragedy imaginable occurred! Nobody went to battle—even though the trumpet was blown!”

How could the world’s greatest military superpower not go to battle? The results of an attack on U.S. space and cyber capabilities certainly reveal how this could happen.

The March 20, 1992, Intelligence Digest wrote (emphasis added):

[T]he Gulf War showed what a critical role technology now plays in warfare. But the course of a battle would be very different if effective technology-sabotaging measures could be instituted against the superior force. … Computer dependence is the Western world’s Achilles’ heel, and within a few years this weakness could be tested to the full.

America’s technology dependence is its Achilles’ heel—its greatest vulnerability! If China is developing the ability to blind U.S. satellites, the entire U.S. military is effectively blinded. War could break out, and the greatest military superpower would be paralyzed. What a vivid fulfillment of Ezekiel 7 this would be—“none goeth to the battle.”

For more information on the U.S.’s vulnerability in space, please read “America’s Achilles’ Heel,” by Mr. Flurry.