In 2019, global military expenditure saw its biggest increase in a decade. According to a report by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (sipri), Germany saw the largest percentage increase of the top 15 spenders.

In 2019, global military spending reached $1.9 trillion, 3.6 percent more than 2018 and, when adjusted for inflation, the highest level since 1988. Germany increased its military spending by 10 percent to $49.3 billion.

“Military spending has reached the highest point since the end of the Cold War,” Nan Tian, a researcher at sipri, told afp. The United States, which spent $732 billion in 2019, is still the world’s largest spender. The next two nations on the leaderboard are China and India, spending an estimated $261 billion and $71.1 billion, respectively.

“More and more money is going toward the world’s militaries, with the U.S. and China leading the way,” Deutsche Welle reported. “But no other top-spending country has increased its military expenditure year-over-year as much as Germany.”

Due to the coronavirus outbreak, military expenditures are predicted to drop significantly in 2020. Many nations will be forced to invest in better health-care systems, meaning most nations’ military spending will likely suffer. But Germany has been saving for years, and it may now use its reserves to continue to invest in its military.

Opinions vary on why Germany decided to drastically increase its spending. According to Deutsche Welle, Max Mutschler from the Bonn International Center for Conversion (bicc), a peace and conflict research institute, said, “There’s been pressure on Germany to increase its military expenditure since before the Trump administration. The impact of this pressure is now becoming clear. However, one has to say that expenditure is still well below the 2 percent mark.”

Others believe that Germany’s drastic military build-up is largely due to increased Russian aggression in Eastern Europe.

Few, however, believe Germany could have its own military ambitions. The nation has started multiple wars throughout history, including two world wars. But today, it is viewed as a peacekeeping nation. But Germany has always seemed most peace-loving before drawing the European continent into war.

Following the Napoleonic Wars and subsequent Congress of Vienna in 1815, Central Europe entered a period of peace known as the Biedermeier period. This period was known for an increase in cultural interests and a withdrawal from political concerns. But only a few years into the second half of the 19th century, Germany started becoming involved in multiple wars with its neighbors—the so-called wars of German unification.

Following unification, the German people devoted themselves again to cultural pursuits, becoming famous as a “people of poets and thinkers.” But just 41 years after unification, World War i broke out. Germany lost the war and was brutally suppressed. As Adolf Hitler came on the scene, he was viewed as a man who strove to restore Germany to its prewar order. He was highly respected as a peace-loving leader of a peace-loving people. Then World War ii happened.

History alone should give today’s experts some perspective when talking about German rearmament, but they choose to ignore this history. No one today wants to accuse Germany of having a malicious intent. People would argue that it is no threat to the world when you compare its military spending with that of the U.S., China or even Russia. But Bible prophecy warns of Germany’s history and foretells that it will again entangle today’s nations into another world war.

For decades, Germany has pushed European unification forward and forged alliances in the Middle East. This has been in preparation for its soon-coming military rise. Our Trend articles “Europe’s Push Toward a Unified Military” and “An Alliance Between Arab Nations and Europe” explain in detail how recent developments align with Bible prophecy.

Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry has explained that the biblical book of Nahum is a prophecy for modern-day Germany. (For detailed proof, request his free booklet Nahum—An End-Time Prophecy for Germany.) Nahum 3:1 reads “Woe to the bloody city! it is all full of lies and robbery; the prey departeth not.” Concerning this scripture, Mr. Flurry writes:

The Companion Bible translates “bloody city” as “city of great bloodshed.” The International Critical Commentary translates the expression as “bloody throughout.” A “bloody city”—a bloody nation—has risen again. …

Historians know the Assyrians have a bloody history. And modern historians know Germany has had an unparalleled history of causing bloody wars. What most historians don’t know is that the Assyrians and the Germans are the same people. However, this fact is easy to understand—if you know secular history, Bible history and Bible prophecy. But even secular history alone should give you that understanding!

“[T]he prey departeth not”—there is a continual history of preying on other nations! The nations of Israel need to be warned about Germany’s military strategy. Germany is “full of lies and robbery”—or, it could read, “deceit and murder.” It is full of deceit! It doesn’t just have a little deceit—it is full of it!

Here is why that is so dangerous. In many end-time prophecies, God discusses Israel’s Assyrian “lovers” and how Israel will be the victim of a treacherous double cross. Ezekiel 23 discusses this double-cross calamity.

Mr. Flurry explains that the modern descendants of biblical Israel, primarily the U.S., Great Britain and the Jewish nation in the Middle East, trust Germany today as their ally. They endorse German rearmament and share military intelligence, strategy and technology on a dangerously intimate level with this former enemy. But the Bible warns that Germany will betray them. Why? Because modern Israel has rebelled against God, and He is using Germany to correct them for this rebellion (Isaiah 10:5). Mr. Flurry notes:

In verse 4 of Ezekiel 23, Israel is represented by Aholah, and Judah (separated from Israel at that time) is called Aholibah. Israel and Judah (modern-day Israel) become lovers to the Assyrians (verses 4-7). God then delivers Israel (mainly the U.S. and Britain) and Judah into the hands of the Germans. (The word Jew is a shortened version of Judah.) “Wherefore I have delivered her into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the Assyrians, upon whom she doted. … She doted upon the Assyrians her neighbours, captains and rulers clothed most gorgeously, horsemen riding upon horses, all of them desirable young men” (verses 9, 12).

I encourage you to read Nahum—An End-Time Prophecy for Germany. Mr. Flurry uses the sure word of the biblical text to explain why we live in a world “full of deceit and murder.” Yet he also explains how God will intervene in world affairs to bring mankind truth and prosperity.