Current Events and Trends: May/June 2026

The Strait of Hormuz and the growing U.S.-European rift

When the United States and Israel began striking Iranian targets in the recent conflict, Iran’s forces were able to impede sea traffic through the narrow Strait of Hormuz between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. Nearly a quarter of the world’s oil passes through this critical sea gate. Asia and Europe are heavily dependent on free passage of oil, natural gas and other commodities like fertilizers through the chokepoint.

While America is not as dependent on oil from the Middle East, it is connected to the world’s economy and prioritizes global economic stability. As of this issue going to press in early April, the strait was still not secured for world trade, and large numbers of ships remained trapped. Hopefully the situation has since resolved.

Though needing the strait open, other countries did not initially step in to help secure it. A Newsweek article March 16 was titled “Countries Reject Trump’s Strait Demand, Saying ‘We Did Not Start War.’” Some countries—such as India and Japan—did send some ships to protect the strait. But few, if any, NATO countries did. By early April, a group of over 40 countries launched a coalition to secure free passage through the strait—but after cessation of military strikes, thus bypassing the U.S. request for immediate action.

U.S.-European relations were already eroding and will likely continue to. An earlier Agence France-Presse article, prior to the recent strikes on Iran, was titled “Europe needs to lose ‘nostalgia’ for US: [says] Germany’s Merz” (Feb. 2, 2026). It reported that German Chancellor Friedrich Merz “called on Europe to become more independent of its traditional ally and argued that old certainties no longer held. ‘We must become more sovereign and independent, especially in terms of technology,’ Merz said. ‘And yes, this also applies to the United States of America.’”

The NATO alliance may be on its last legs, though it could last a good while longer. If it does crumble, who would fill the power vacuum in Europe? While France and Germany have been striving to take the lead in Europe, Germany under Merz has been the more vocal. Yet French President Emmanuel Macron is, meanwhile, pressing for a “coalition of independence” among middle-power countries to stand up to both the United States and China, working to avoid being “vassals of two hegemonic powers” (“Macron Says Nations Should Stand Up to U.S. and China as Trump Feud Grows,” Forbes, April 3, 2026).

Eventually, the United States will decline as a global power, and a powerful Europe will emerge to oppose it and ultimately bring destruction, as many prophecies show (see our free study guide The United States and Britain in Bible Prophecy).

For now, though, the United States remains far more powerful, spending as much on its military capability as the next 15 largest military-spending countries combined. And trade will again be flowing. Revelation 18 shows the world economy prospering from an unprecedented period of growth, with commodities traded across the nations, creating a period of great wealth (verses 11-18). Of course, in the end it will all come down—yet at last replaced by a much better world under the reign of Jesus Christ. Keep praying for that future and for the strength to weather the difficult times until it arrives.

A European superpower with a single leader?

Early this year, European leaders held an emergency summit in Belgium. As The Telegraph described it: “The building blocks of an empire were beginning to take shape . . . In a brutal new age of world powers, the EU wants to build a richer, stronger ‘super Europe’ that is able to resist the dangerous whims of the globe’s autocrats” (“The Plans to Turn Europe Into a New Superpower,” Jan. 26, 2026).

It further noted: “The EU is often compared to the Holy Roman Empire, which Voltaire said was ‘neither holy, nor Roman, nor an empire.’ To avoid the same accusation, it needs to streamline its decision-making, but that means giving up powers to Brussels.” This was followed by the question, “Baby steps to a United States of Europe?” One significant change is moving from unanimous consensus to majority vote, weighted by population (ibid.).

Just after, German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil stated, “Now is the time for a Europe of two speeds,” announcing Germany was “calling for a core group of member states to move ahead on key policies to make Europe stronger and more independent.” He invited France, Poland, Spain, Italy and the Netherlands to join (“Germany Pushes for ‘Two-Speed’ Europe With New Bloc of Six Leading Economies,” Reuters, Jan. 27, 2026).

Right after that, the leader of the largest EU political party, the European People’s Party, Manfred Weber, said that the current jobs of president of the European Commission and president of the European Council should be merged into one and did not rule himself out for the position (“One All-Powerful President of Europe? Conservative Chief Calls for EU Merger,” Politico, Jan. 28).

Mario Draghi, former Italian prime minister and European Central Bank president, spoke of working with willing partner nations to speed up integration, noting, “Power requires Europe to move from confederation to federation . . . Where Europe has federated [such as] on trade, on competition, on the single market, on monetary policy, we are respected as a power and negotiate as one” (“Draghi: Europe Needs to Integrate Faster If It Wants to Matter on World Stage,” Politico, Feb. 2, 2026).

A Financial Times article pointed out that European defense is plagued by 30 separate, often incompatible military structures and needs one unified military. NATO is necessary for coordination now, but the goal is Europe functioning independently (“Only an Army—and True Integration—Will Solve Europe’s Defence Problem,” Feb. 20).

These calls for more integration are heading somewhere. Europe cannot be what it wants to become for a while. Yet at some point, it will happen. The Bible in Daniel 2 and 7 and Revelation 13 and 17 foretells a final revival of the Roman Empire, which will also be a continuation of ancient Babylon. This tyrannical system will rise up to dominate the world, yet it will come to its end at the return of Jesus Christ. To learn more, request or download our free study guide The Final Superpower.

Is the Iran war a direct fulfillment of Bible prophecy?

A number of Bible prophecy analysts have been touting the recent U.S. and Israeli bombings throughout Iran as fulfillment of a prophecy against Elam in Jeremiah 49:34-39. But is that so?

The ancient Elamites dwelt in the land that became known as Persia and much later Iran. The prophecy in question speaks of God breaking Elam’s bow, representing its power, and bringing winds of destruction against it from the four quarters of heaven (verses 35-36).

It’s further noted that “the king and princes” would be destroyed (verse 38)—which could refer to the chief political ruler and other rulers under him. It’s true that Iran’s leadership was taken out at multiple tiers.

But the prophecy further mentions the Elamites being scattered into other nations, pursued by enemy forces and meeting disaster until they are consumed (verses 36-37). This has not happened to the Iranian people in the recent conflict.

God also states in context of destroying the leaders, “I will set My throne in Elam” (verse 38). While this could maybe just mean that God decides who rules in the nations (see Daniel 5:21), it seems to have a more specific meaning. Verse 39 further states that God would bring back the captives of Elam in the latter days.

Our online Bible commentary on Jeremiah 49:34-39 (found in harmony with the section on Jeremiah 31:27-40) points out that this prophecy is dated in Jeremiah 49:34 to early in the reign of Judah’s King Zedekiah, which began in 597 B.C. The Elamites had not long before helped the Babylonians gain victory over Assyria. But once in power, the Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar conquered and subjugated the Elamites—in 594-593 B.C., which could fit with what was prophesied.

Yet the Persians came back and overthrew Babylon in 539 B.C. So a more likely fulfillment of the prophecy would be the fall of the Persian Empire to Alexander the Great in 331 B.C., as this was the great destruction of the Elamites in ancient times. And they became scattered over the centuries—a few moving to the east but many migrating west.

However, it seems reasonable from the end-time context of the return from captivity in verse 39 that the preceding verses also concern end-time calamity—which would mean this could well be a dual prophecy, referring to both ancient and end-time destruction. Still, the Jeremiah 49 prophecy does not appear to fit overall with what U.S. and Israeli forces have done—to this point. Of course, prophecy more generally does show the unrivaled military power of the Israelite nations in the end time (see our study guide The United States and Britain in Bible Prophecy to learn more).

Our commentary further notes that the Lord setting His throne in Elam probably refers mainly to the establishment of the Kingdom of God over all nations at Christ’s return. We do know that eastern powers will come against Jerusalem in the end time—just before Christ’s return (Revelation 16:14) and soon after (Ezekiel 38-39)—and will meet with destruction. The latter will include Persia (Ezekiel 38:5), and it seems the previous one will as well. (For more on this, see our free study guide Russia and Bible Prophecy.)

Some good news in all this is God’s promise in Jeremiah 49:39 to bring back the captives of Elam in the last days. Clearly He cares about these people! This promise could apply to survivors who are scattered when Christ returns coming back soon after. But it would ultimately apply to all who fled in the past and even those who died then and up through today being returned to life in a future resurrection to receive their first opportunity for salvation (see “The Amazing Lesson of God’s Feast of Firstfruits”).

Continue to pray for those suffering in the world’s conflicts, asking of God, “Your Kingdom come.”

Back to the moon after more than half a century

NASA’s space mission Artemis II launched on April 1, 2026, its Orion capsule carrying four astronauts in a trip around the moon—going farther into space than any manned craft has ever gone. It had been more than 53 years since Apollo 17, the last mission to the moon in December 1972.

The Artemis astronauts passed behind the moon on April 6, able to look down on lunar features no human being had directly beheld before—being higher above the moon and with a wider field of vision than the Apollo astronauts had and with more revealing lighting angles from the sun. As this issue of Beyond Today was going to press on April 7, the astronauts were on course to return to the earth on April 10, this written with the assumption that all was successful.

This voyage, intended as a step to further missions, is helping to map out future landings on the moon. It’s a very big thing in terms of human achievement and aspiration. Traveling back to the moon with the goal of harvesting energy from the lunar surface (some say the moon will become a “gas station”) to power further flight to Mars sets out a path of exploration to inspire a generation in need of aspirational goals.

Harrison Schmitt, who walked on the moon as part of Apollo 17, is now 90. Asked about future plans before the recent launch, he was quite hopeful. “Mars is attainable,” he said. “We’re humans. That’s what we’ve always done.”

This is a time to think about the One who gave human beings such extraordinary abilities. And it can also be a moment to dream and think big. We have enough problems here among ourselves to discourage even the strongest among us, but people can still do great things. Considering a story like this, we can say: We’re going back to the moon—let’s hope for big positive steps ahead.

Of course, as big as it is, this is just a small step into our future inheritance touched on in Deuteronomy 4:19—“the sun, the moon, and the stars . . . which the Lord your God has given to all the peoples under the whole heaven as a heritage.” To learn more, request or download our free study guide Why Were You Born?