“We need European and German armed forces that—embedded in nato—are able to effectively defend against external attacks or deter them from the outset. In case of doubt, even without the [United States],” former German Defense Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg told Catholic magazine Herder Korrespondenz in an interview for its July issue.

When asked how much rearmament is necessary, Guttenberg said: “Enough to deter a potential aggressor in advance from taking military action, as he would otherwise have to fear a military defeat.” To achieve this goal, Europe needs in addition to “conventional equipment for air, sea and ground” also “first-class cybercapabilities, state-of-the-art missile defense shields, space presence and—unfortunately—also sufficient nuclear deterrence potential.”

AI and Bioweapons

The topic of militarization has come up frequently in Guttenberg’s podcast with left-wing politician Gregor Gysi. Their May 29 podcast asked: “Do We Need to Become Fit for War?” In their June 5 podcast, they discussed the military ramifications of new technology.

Guttenberg noted that artificial intelligence can enable machines to “ultimately have control over who they take out. … I find that highly questionable. [Y]ou can of course say, well, that could also reduce the human error rate to a certain extent. But this idea that you send out a drone and then it ultimately acts on its own and with further development could even get out of control is an emerging horror scenario.”

Could AI reduce the “human error” in warfare, or will it get out of control? Given the speed of development and ongoing arms race, we can be sure that today’s leaders will find plenty of excuses to deploy AI in more and more military applications. Many of these developments will, of course, happen under cover.

Guttenberg also referred to the implications of AI-designed chemical and biological weapons, noting that an evil state actor could use AI to create “an untreatable virus, which can be used in a war scenario.” Then it will “be a race for speed, because that’s something that will probably happen within a few minutes until something like this is built. Then it still has to be implemented, of course. But even there, the possibilities are limitless,” he said.

Guttenberg proposed regulations to prevent such unfathomable horror scenarios. But regulations will not prevent the research of such weapons.

Germany was the first to use bioweapons in World War i and conducted the most advanced research in the field during World War ii—even though the Hague Convention of 1925 banned the use of such weapons on the battlefield.

Most would agree that the only reason such destructive weapons typically remained unused was the fear of mutually assured destruction. However, advances in AI challenge this concept, as Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry noted in “AI and the End of ‘Mutually Assured Destruction.’”

As the European Union and Germany seek to equip themselves with nuclear weapons, we need to keep in mind Germany’s ability to develop these other destructive weapons. Germany is home to the largest chemical company in the world and the second- and third-largest pesticide producers. Through international cooperation, it also has a trove of physical data on people living in potentially adversarial nations. Germany has the capacity to inflict great evil—all it lacks is a leader to give the commands.

Why Watch Germany

Of course, any nation developing such weapons is a danger to our world. But Germany’s history—and Bible prophecy—demands that we watch it closely.

In His Olivet prophecy, Jesus Christ warned of a coming Great Tribulation. While our world and even most religious people ignore it, the Bible warns that rank lawlessness is leading our world toward great calamity. The Bible shows that God not only allows these events but also is very involved in measuring the correction. Isaiah 10 shows He will use Assyria, modern Germany, to punish a hypocritical nation—referring to Israel (primarily the United States, Britain and the Jewish nation in the Middle East).

Revelation 6 provides insight into the terrible suffering ahead. “And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword” (verse 4).

“Sword is the word used in the Bible for military equipment,” the late Herbert W. Armstrong explained in a 1980 World Tomorrow television program. “This is a ‘great’ one. How about the hydrogen bomb; how about the nerve gas; how about the chemical warfare; how about all of the things that can absolutely annihilate human beings from this Earth?” (To learn more, request a free copy of The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.)

The Bible reveals that weapons of mass destruction are about to be employed. There is no hope in mankind preventing it. But we can thank God that He will not only ensure human survival but also use the coming horrors to teach mankind to turn from war to His way of peace.