For students of Daniel 11 and the 13th and 19th chapters of Revelation, the events of January and February 2026 offered more than geopolitical intrigue. They offered sobering pause.
A new state of Kriegstüchtig
Today, a new focus in Germany on “Kriegstüchtig” (“war-ready”) openly describes an intense buildup of German armed forces actively preparing for open conflict with Russia. As profiled in an extended report by the Wall Street Journal on Feb. 14, top German Gen. Carsten Breuer “is racing to prepare Germany’s armed forces for war,” ominously noting that “the clock is ticking.”
What does the intentional use of Kriegstüchtig signal in this context? As the WSJ outlined, Gen. Breuer and German Defense Minister Boris Pictorius “deliberately use the term, which carries extra weight in German.” In contrast to popular use of the term “war” in American culture to describe virtually any action, “the Germans reserve Krieg for armies fighting armies.” (emphasis added)
This eloquently represents a key strategic and perhaps concerning distinction in a country where living memory recalls the vise-like tension of the former Cold War.
A future America hostile to Europe?
Why is this happening? Germans increasingly view the United States under the Trump administration as “at best, an unreliable partner, and, at worst, a hostile force undermining the continent’s security.”
Near-daily Russian drone incursions, cyberattacks, and alarming instances of documented sabotage of communication links, railroads and other acts – once the stuff of espionage thrillers — have made this no longer an abstract threat.
Liminal – an eerie state of transition
A new tension is growing: “Europe, in Breuer’s view, is now in a liminal state—not yet at war, but no longer at peace.” For many, daily life in Deutschland is today an eerie and unstable place to stand.
Meanwhile, heralding in strategic change was the annual Munich Security Conference. As a Wall Street Journal OP-ED noted in mid-February, “If you want to know where the world is headed, forget about Davos. Watch Munich instead.”
Why? Davos represents “an outdated framework,” while the Munich conference “convenes heads of state, defense ministers, intelligence chiefs and senior military leaders” – all major global and regional decision makers.
How is this significant? A year ago, U.S. Vice President JD Vance shocked gathered leaders at the 61st Munich conference, noting that “In Washington, there is a new sheriff in town,” and sternly questioned how European countries — from the viewpoint of the Trump administration — were hobbled by internal threats that were greater than that of Russia or China.
The 2025 speech ripped into the formerly sturdy fabric generally shared by Europeans and America, and left many leaders in dismay, including those in the United Kingdom.
Somewhat soothing words
Fast forward to 2026, where the unpopular U.S. Vice President was booed during the opening night ceremony of the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy, and a different speaker – Secretary of State Marco Rubio – was dispatched to deliver more diplomatic rhetoric at the Bayerischer Hof Hotel in Munich. Secretary Rubio, himself a potential presidential contender for the 2028 Republican stage, delivered cloaked comments that initially “reassured” some European leaders, but left others unconvinced.
As Foreign Policy magazine reported: “Where Vance gobsmacked the audience in 2025 with a lecture about Europe’s retreat from ‘shared values,’ Rubio spent much of his speech appealing to the United States’ and Europe’s shared history, culture, and heritage (including three mentions of Christianity).”
Secretary Rubio focused on “telling Europeans that Washington wants to work together with them to ‘renew the greatest civilization in human history.’”
But not many were buying the full ticket.
“Deep doubts” about lines that “cannot be uncrossed”
While EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen noted that while Secretary Rubio’s Munich speech “was very reassuring,” the U.S.-European status has changed. “Some lines have been crossed that cannot be uncrossed,” she declared.
In addition to the U.S. spawned Greenland crisis, what was the EU President referring to? Earlier in its November 2025 National Security Strategy, the U.S. put forth the policy that “The days of the United States propping up the entire world order like [the Greek mythological] Atlas are over.”
“Civilizational erasure”?
Casting the European status quo as reflecting “insufficient military spending and economic stagnation,” the policy statement claimed that “Europe’s real problems are even deeper,” putting forth the confrontational allegation that Europe’s “economic decline is eclipsed by the real and more stark prospect of civilizational erasure” (emphasis added).
No wonder then that Europeans remain wary of the United States, including accepting Secretary Rubio’s comments at face value. An Economist account put it more bluntly, citing private conversations at Munich with national leaders: “They did not buy Trumpworld’s messages of reassurance. Trust is a big problem.”
Why – what was the defining point? As the Economist noted: “Something broke inside the transatlantic alliance when Mr. Trump declared in January that he needs to own the vast, Danish-governed island of Greenland as payback for America’s longtime defence of Europe.”
As talks between Germany and France began earlier about “creating a European nuclear deterrent,” the move – referenced by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz at Munich – “betrays deep doubts in Europe about the credibility of the U.S. commitment to protect its North Atlantic Treaty Organization partners against a possible Russian attack – if need be with nuclear weapons.”
The Chancellor’s solution? As reported in the WSJ, Europe requires “a new, more equal trans-Atlantic partnership based on shared interests rather than values that Europe and the U.S. now longer shared.” He added flatly, “The culture wars of the MAGA movement aren’t ours.”
But a breakup isn’t in the near future. “A long-standing trans-Atlanticist and admirer of the U.S.,” Merz stressed he doesn’t want a break in the [U.S.-Europe] relationship,” but he has repeatedly called for “Europe to become independent of the U.S.”
Missing – 1,000 pounds of Iranian weapons-grade uranium
In other, but related parts of the world, what will the Spring of 2026 bring as two American carrier task forces sail within striking distance of the Islamic Republic Of Iran, augmented by multiple U.S. fighter squadrons? Talks continue between the United States and Iran – especially concerning the nearly 1,000 pounds of near-weapons-grade uranium unaccounted for by Iran. But during these same talks, Iran fires live missiles in a Strait of Hormuz display of force, and Iran-aligned Houthis light up radars over the Gulf.
What will the month of March 2026 bring? In mid-February, U.S. VP Vance declared that President Donald Trump has “set some red lines” for resolution of the Iran nuclear threat and has placed “all options on the table,” ostensibly including new military action.
These events take us back to the 11th chapter of the book of Daniel, where a great sweep of events stretching over multiple centuries has relevance for us today.
“At the time of the end…”
As those who study the Bible know, earlier in the book of Daniel there appears a prophecy of a possible consortium of nations, believed by many to center in its final assembly on the European continent. As discussed earlier in Seeking the Way, a vicious and savage leader – called the Thērion in Greek — will arise with ungodly supernatural aid to lead this consortium, ultimately carving out a globe-girdling economic empire such as never before seen in human history.
Ultimately this fierce leader will face a serious assault from the forces of a singularly powerful leader from the Middle East. With few details, we are given the timeframe: “At the time of the end, the king of the south shall attack him, but the king of the north shall rush upon him like a whirlwind…” (Daniel 11:40, English Standard Version)
With this as background, the prophetic book of Joel offers a sobering view of a time yet to come, but a time that can be placed within the “time of the end” benchmark described in Daniel. Darkly contrasted from the famous future time of peace prophesied by Isaiah 2:4 and Micah 4:3 (“Beat your swords into plowshares…”), the prophet Joel directly quotes God Himself:
“Proclaim this among the nations:
Consecrate for war;
stir up the mighty men.
Let all the men of war draw near;
let them come up.
Beat your plowshares into swords,
and your pruning hooks into spears;
let the weak say, ‘I am a warrior.’”
(Joel 3:9-10, English Standard Version)
Does the phrase referencing to “the weak” refer to a future time when smaller, inconsequential nations suddenly come into possession or access to nuclear armament, deadly weaponry that may well come into play?
Of course, despite the instability of current events in a globe preparing for Kriegstüchtig, the world is not presently in these future turbulent times, a time described by the Messiah, Jesus Christ, as a time of “great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be” (Matthew 24:21, ESV). As an aside, it should not be lost that in this famous Olivet prophecy, Jesus Himself directly referenced the writings of Daniel, underscoring the book’s absolute validity and truthfulness.
But concerning this “time of the end” yet to come, Jesus proclaimed that the carnage spawned by the Thērion would produce such violent devastation, “if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved” (Matthew 24:22, ESV). The very annihilation of humanity will be on deck during those dreadful times, prevented only by the direct supernatural intervention by a glorified Messiah returning to this earth (Revelation 19).
So even though these times of great upheaval are not yet upon us, what can we individually do? The message is clear from the apostle Peter, declaring to us today from across the ages:
“With many other words he warned them, and he pleaded with them, ‘Save yourselves from this corrupt generation’” (Acts 2:40, New International Version, 1984 edition).
Next up: With a weakening dollar as the global reserve currency, the world is “selling America.”
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