Approximately 51% of U.S. women reported in 2005 that they live without a spouse, according to a New York Times article on January 16, 2007. A couple of major network evening news anchors quickly picked up on this front page article. Some of the major weekly news magazines quoted the Times article as well, reporting that for the first time ever more women in the U.S. are living without a husband than are living with one!

The author Sam Roberts, however, seems to have misinterpreted Census Bureau data. By drawing from the Census Bureau's report on living arrangements of persons 15 years old and older, his figures included unmarried teen girls 15 through 19 years of age, college students not yet married, older widows, women with incarcerated husbands and women with husbands away to war. Millions were counted who should not have been!

Nevertheless, biblical prophecy suggests that a time is coming when women without spouses will greatly exceed 51 percent of the population. And the primary cause will be the effects of war at the time of the end.

Jesus Christ's disciples asked Him, "... when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?" He told them, "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom ...." He then explained, "If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive ..." (Matthew 24:3, 7, 22, New International Version).

War is a man-killer because in the heat of combat normally men suffer the greater loss of life. Two of the world's deadliest wars were World War I and World War II which took the lives of tens of millions. Most of these were young men. Nearly all European nations suffered a severe shortage of men during those years. Bible prophecy indicates that a future war will be even worse than those two wars combined.

After World War I a large number of young European women never married. So severe was the problem during the 1930's that the Nazi leadership of Germany encouraged young wives to bear a large number of children to replenish her populace. Money was paid for each child born. In 1938 Hitler instituted an award to honor German mothers, the Mother's Cross. To mothers of four went the bronze cross, of six or seven the silver cross and of eight or more a gold Mother's Cross.

The prophet Isaiah once said of war, "Your men shall fall by the sword, and your mighty in the war" (Isaiah 3:24, emphasis added throughout). Two verses later he explains that a time would come when the number of men left at the end of a war would be so few that "... in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, 'We will eat our own food and wear our own apparel; only let us be called by your name, to take away our reproach'" (Isaiah 4:1).

Such conditions can and sometimes do prevail because of the horrible casualties of war. Depletion of the male population has occurred in all wars. But modern weapons have become far more destructive and the world's population has greatly increased. And the destructive conditions Christ spoke of as the time of the end are rapidly coming to pass.

Today the nations of the world are equipping their armies with more destructive weapons and equipment than at any previous time in history.

Bible prophecy shows the Middle East will continue to be a powder keg of unresolved issues that will eventually result in massive armies of many nations facing off against each other, especially in the vicinity of Jerusalem (Zechariah 14:1-2). One final battle will involve an army of 200 million men (Revelation 9:16). It is hard to imagine what wars of that magnitude will do to the male population of the world.

These biblical prophecies also reveal why frantic international efforts to negotiate a lasting peace will ultimately fail. Too many negotiators put self-serving national or partisan interests ahead of genuine peaceful priorities. As one biblical prophet explained long ago, "They have also healed the hurt of My people slightly, saying, 'Peace, peace!' when there is no peace" (Jeremiah 6:13-14). Unfortunately, while talking about peace most nations are still preparing for war.