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Burning Alight: 12 Endtime Fuses – Part I



Wilfred HahnBy Wilfred Hahn ((Eternal Value Review)

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Says the National Intelligence Council in a recent report: “We are at a critical juncture in human history, which could lead to widely contrasting futures. It is our contention that the future is not set in stone, but is malleable, the result of an interplay among megatrends, game-changers and, above all, human agency.”1

This excellent report seeks to identify mega trends that will impact America and the world. As the above quote suggests, the NIC senses that an extraordinary period of time is ahead … that the entire world is now at a “critical juncture.”

Bible-believing Christians would agree. In fact, interestingly, some of NIC’s forecasts find parallels in Bible prophecy. While the Bible and NIC would share the view that the future is largely the result of “human agency”—in other words, the choices of people and mankind overall—the Bible goes one decisive step further, claiming a foreknowledge of these ultimate choices.

God Jehovah, the author of the Bible, specifically chose to differentiate Himself from all other gods by being the one and only who can reveal both the beginning and the future. He said: “Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure” (Isaiah 46:10).

The mistake that most philosophers and economists often make in their forecasts, is simply to extrapolate present trends, assuming the underlying forces that gave rise to them in the first place will continue to accelerate as before. Most often, this is an unreasonable assumption. The created order simply cannot support infinite trends. For example, infinite compound growth is not possible, despite what humanists will want to believe. Yes, mankind can inflate money almost without limit, but not real wealth. God Himself is infinite, but not Creation. Therefore, all trends on earth must eventually decay or collapse spectacularly.

To the extent that mankind’s decisions, expectations and beliefs are based on illusory untruths and false gods, it will face the judgment of a spectacular collapse.

Just what are the major trends that we see, reflecting the unwise choices of secular mankind today? These will lead to judgment … i.e. the global collapse of mankind’s kingdoms and global order. In this series, we propose to list 12 of such developments, these being burning fuses that likely will have explosive implications.

However, may we first mention a few caveats. Our list will surely overlook some important trends. Nor can we likely order them correctly in terms of their importance. Why? Like every other generation that has sought to interpret Bible prophecy or peer into the future, we are influenced by the light of our time. It is impossible not to be biased by the current trends and conditions that we see around us. We really have no idea of the exact course of these trends into the future. These may accelerate, then reverse, only to accelerate again or to be subsumed by another trend.

It is also challenging to sort factors into major and minor categories. Some may have a significant impact, yet are the fall-out or companion development to another. With these cautions being expressed, we venture into our list of 12 fuses burning. Approximately half fall into the realm of secular humanism; the other into Biblically prophesied or implied developments of the end time. All assume a Biblical worldview and are the direct consequence of shifting human beliefs and/or idolatry.

1. Population Growth and Post-Familialism: Changing Perspectives on Marriage. The U.S. birth rate plunged to an all-time low in 2011. Quoting an article written by Gary D. Halbert, “The overall birth rate is now at its lowest level since reliable records have been kept, falling to 63.2 births per 1,000 women who are of childbearing age in 2011. That is down from 122.7 births at the peak in 1957 during the Baby Boom.”2

Some claim that this trend is due to economic difficulties in recent years. People simply do not want to undertake the financial burden of another child. But, actually, declining birth rates are a long-time global phenomenon, not just North American. Looking at this trend closer, one realizes it is the result of a global shift in values and beliefs. It is a rapid one. David Brooks, in the New York Times writes: “The speed of change is breathtaking. A woman in Oman today has 5.6 fewer babies than a woman in Oman 30 years ago. Morocco, Syria and Saudi Arabia have seen fertility-rate declines of nearly 60 percent and in Iran it’s more than 70%. These are among the fastest declines in recorded history.”

Around the world, attitudes towards marriage and childbirth are changing. For various reasons, also including the populations of emerging nations where the fertility rate has been relatively high, birth rates are dropping dramatically. Many countries, particularly in the advanced nation bloc, are already experiencing population shrinkage (notably Japan and several European nations). Of course, people are free to make their own choices. We only point out that all changes in beliefs that have an impact on human action will have consequences.

Quoting Halbert further: “In Europe, Asia, and most advanced countries, people are running away from marriage, children, and family life at an amazing rate. For example, 30% of German women today say that they do not intend to have children. In Japan in 1960, 20% of women between 25 and 29 had never married; today the number is more than 60%. It is estimated that up to 25% of all East Asian women will remain single up to age 50, and up to a third will remain childless.”

What must be acknowledged here is that a change in behavior has occurred that is related to human values and beliefs. Crucially, taking a Biblical worldview, we must further add that it is a turning away from “Biblical values and beliefs.” Many surveys today document the declining preference for marriage and child-rearing.

For example, consider this summary of a survey conducted by the Weekly Standard:

Americans have been wedded to marriage for a very long time. Between 1910 and 1970, the ‘ever-married rate’—that is, the percentage of people who marry at some point in their lives—went as high as 98.3% and never dipped below 92.8%. But beginning in 1970, the ever-married number began a gradual decline so that by 2000 it stood at only 88.6%. Today, the numbers are even more striking according to the 2010 Census. Almost 24% of men, and 19% of women, between the ages of 35 and 44, have never been married. If we look at the people between 20 and 34—the prime-childbearing years—the numbers are even more startling: 67% of men and 57% of women in this group have never been married. When you total it all up, over half of the voting-age population in America, and 40% of the people who actually showed up to vote this time around, are single.3

The author of the article from the Weekly Standard, Jonathan V. Last (author of the recent book, What to Expect When No One’s Expecting: America’s Coming Demographic Disaster) provides a chilling summary:

It’s a complicated story involving, among other factors, the rise of almost-universal higher education, the delay of marriage, urbanization, the invention of no-fault divorce, the legitimization of cohabitation, the increasing cost of raising children, and the creation of a government entitlement system to do for the elderly childless what grown children did for their parents through the millennia.

But all of these causes are particular. Looming beneath them are two deep shifts. The first is the waning of religion in American life. As Joel Kotkin notes in a recent report titled ‘The Rise of Post-Familialism,’ one of the commonalities between all of the major world religions is that they elevate family and kinship to a central place in human existence. Secularism tends toward agnosticism about the family. This distinction has real-world consequences. Take any cohort of Americans—by race, income, education—and then sort them by religious belief. The more devout they are, the higher their rates of marriage and the more children they have.

The second shift is the dismantling of the iron triangle of sex, marriage, and childbearing. Beginning in roughly 1970, the mastery of contraception decoupled sex from babymaking. And with that link broken, the connections between sex and marriage—and finally between marriage and childrearing—were severed, too.

This burning endtime fuse is leading to a type of explosion, namely an implosion (a slow and reversed version of explosion). Already, more than half of the world’s population is residing in countries where birthrates are below the replacement level. Little do people realize that this shift carries an undesirable sting … an unavoidable consequence.

Without a doubt, the biggest contributor to prosperity is population growth (everything else being equal). To the modern humanist, this will sound like an old-fashioned notion. Yet, this is an inviolable fact of economics. Why? Economics is human economics. It couldn’t be any other way.

The slower the population growth, the slower will be economic expansion. The maximum wealth and prosperity that can exist in the world is defined by total labor output.

Where is this trend headed? Jonathan V. Last says the following:

In a word, higher. There are no indicators to suggest when and where it will level off. Divorce rates have stabilized, but rates of cohabitation have continued to rise, leading many demographers to suspect that living together may be crowding out matrimony as a mode of family formation. And increasing levels of education continue to push the average age at first marriage higher.

God allowed humans free choice. People are free to make choices regarding marriage and child-rearing, but they cannot escape the consequences. Already, these are at the door. Penson systems are collapsing and are increasingly underfunded. The ratio of workers per retirees is declining in most Advanced Nations. One does not need to be a mathematician or economist to conclude that the lifestyle of future retirees is bound to deteriorate dramatically. Financial markets, therefore, will be in recurring crisis. It all connects, as there is no escape from consequence.

2. Global Urbanization. An ever greater share of the world population is moving from rural areas to urban ones … to the city life. This is called urbanization, and it is a rapid trend. According to forecasts of the United Nations Population Division (UNPD), 16.3% of the world’s population (2.6 billion people) will be moving to urban areas over the next 39 years.4 Assuming this forecast is correct, more than two-thirds of the world’s population (or 6.3 billion people) will then be living in cities.

It therefore only follows that there will be more big cities … in other words, greater agglomerations of people. While there were only 10 urban agglomerations with an excess of 10 million people in the world in 1990 (Tokyo, New York, Mexico City, Sao Paulo, Bombay, Osaka-Kobe, Calcutta, Los Angeles, Seoul, Buenos Aires), there are 23 today. The UNPD forecasts that there will be 37 such cities by 2025.

Interestingly, as a side note, the UNPD does not see Baghdad or any of its suburbs qualifying as one of these big cities in the near future. If we are to go by the UNPD’s forecast, it will yet be some time before Babylon can again rise as a “great city” and serve as the world’s nexus point for commerce and trade. A number of prophecy teachers do believe that a physical Babylon will again revive.

The Bible generally does not reflect an approving view of great cities. According to secular anthropologists, greater urbanization tends to go hand in hand with the deterioration of the family unit, lower marriage rates, and consumerism. Seen from the Bible’s perspective, these are not developments that the Creator designed as preferential and most blessed for mankind.

The Bible goes further, indicting other moral pitfalls of city life. Several times it decries large cities for their violence and immorality. For example, of Nineveh, Nahum says: “Woe to the city of blood, full of lies, full of plunder, never without victims!” (Nahum 3:1). Isaiah describes Jerusalem as such: “See how the faithful city has become a prostitute! She once was full of justice; righteousness used to dwell in her—but now murderers!” (Isaiah 1:21). Sodom and Gomorrah are shown as cities at the apogee of great moral failure.

The woes of Bible prophecy are frequently addressed to cities. One characteristic noted is the potential for smugness and self-determination, the same attitude that afflicted Babel. For example, Babylon the Great boasts in her heart: “I sit enthroned as queen. I am not a widow; I will never mourn” (Revelation 18:7). Sodom is said to be “arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy” (Ezekiel 16:49). Seen in this light, cities are hotbeds for both humanism and immorality.

Most cities mentioned in the Bible would likely have had less than 3,000 inhabitants, according to estimates. A few large cities are mentioned: among these Nineveh, said to be 120,000 in population and to be a “very large city” (Jonah 3:3); Babylon, which would have even been larger; and most certainly, the ancient metropolis of Babel. How large was Babel? No one knows. Yet it stands as an example of an “agglomeration” of people of which God did not approve. He intervened, scattering them with a confusion of languages.

The Bible refers to “great cities” 10 times in the Book of Revelation. Only one of these ten references points to a wonderful and benevolent outcome, and this is the “great city” of the New Jerusalem, “[…] that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God” (Revelation 21:10). In a sense, we may see that the world’s immoral cities finally have their redemption in the form of the New Jerusalem. Just as God redeems people, so also eventually the great city.

Today, we see a world of larger and larger cities, ever higher population density, and globalism (this being a form of a global city)—unified, smug and intent upon constructing a world apart from God. The sins of Babel are today being replicated on a massive global scale.

Points to Ponder – Part I

While the entire world looks apoplectically into the future, anticipating accelerating and interrupting change (though not exactly knowing what), the fact is the world has already experienced such change. Many do not realize this. Much more change lies ahead, also impacting the geopolitical sphere. We will review the remaining 10 “endtime fuses burning alight” in the following series.










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Zechariah 12:3,9:
And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people; And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.


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Disclaimer: Rapture Bible Prophecy Forum, ( http://www.rapturebibleprophecyforum.com ) does not necessarily endorse or agree with every opinion expressed in every article posted on this site. We do however, encourage a healthy and friendly debate on the issues of our day. Whether you agree or disagree, we encourage you to post your feedback by using the reply button.

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Burning Alight: 12 Endtime Fuses – Part II



Wilfred HahnBy Wilfred Hahn ((Eternal Value Review)

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We continue with our list of 12 burning fuses. These represent significant endtime trends that may be defined by their rapidity and explosiveness. These are notable even more so in our day, where many of the enormous technological shifts of the past century are fizzling out. For example, the speed of travel, after accelerating from horse and buggy speeds to the jet, has not advanced in 5 decades. The impact of antibiotics is near its zenith of conquering the germ. Global communication and interconnectedness is near its maximum practical impact (though possibly still becoming cheaper). Very likely, advances in agricultural productivity are slowing … and so on.

But is this also true of the future impact of technology in general? Aren’t the limits of technology boundless? Just as people may have underestimated the advances of technology a century ago, would it not be reasonable to trust in the ingenuity of mankind to drive further technological leaps?

Yes and no. We firstly say no, as the ingenuity of mankind is not without limit. Only God Himself is infinite. But we also answer yes, as there is at least one more technological development that has the potential to impact the souls of humanity.

3. The Final Prophesied Impact of Technology

We venture the opinion that technology has at least one more role to play in the prophetic timeline of the world. In fact, it is connected to one other endtime fuse that we have already reviewed in Part I—Post-Familialism. More and more people are choosing to remain single, and this is in part linked to the increase of self-love and narcissism.

What is narcissism? Borrowing a definition from World of Psychology, this is a trait evidenced by “egotistical preoccupation with self, personal preferences, aspirations, needs, success, and how he/she is perceived by others.”1 Readers will agree that such inclinations are anti-social and evidence a lack love for others. This is the last prophetically-significant frontier of technology, we think … the facilitation of “self.” And, it is having a rapid impact.

The “Self” Enabled Through Technology?

The most pivotal technological developments over the past several decades, as everyone will know, have been the internet and the personal cell phone. The adoption of these two consumer services has been more rapid than any other new technology ever before. Crucially, these two developments have lately converged into one leading edge—the smart phone. The conversion to internet-connected cell phones (basically, that’s what smartphones are) is even more rapid, exceeding the adoption rate of the basic cell phone.

This is significant, as it opens the gateway to the ultimate “dotage upon the individual” (the self), though within a centrally controlled, global nexus of connections. We will explain why.

Consider these statistics: While it required over 30 years for the telephone to penetrate one-quarter of North American households, the internet achieved the same penetration level in less than 7 years. Similarly, the adoption of the cell phone was also quick, requiring only 13 years from the time of invention. Consider that 419 million mobile cell phone devices (which include smartphones) were sold worldwide in the 3rd quarter of 2012. At an annualized pace, that represents one phone for a little more than 4 people in the world! (The global population is 7.0 billion presently.)

Within this cell phone demand explosion in recent years, has been a sub-trend to buy smartphones. Hundreds of millions of these devices are being sold. In the period cited earlier, 172 million of mobile devices sold were smartphones—for example, the Apple iPhone or the Android, among others brands.

But why should the advance of these communication and media devices be more significant than any other? The key difference (besides the speed of adoption) is that the internet-enabled smartphone is a personal item. These are designed for the voice communication and internet usage of the individual human. TVs and a land-based internet connection, on the other hand, tend to be a household purchase (at least, that was the case originally).

Readers may be wondering why these developments are so prophetically noteworthy. Where is the connection to the Bible? Just where do we find any mention of an end-time burst of personal mobile devices in the Bible? Is this an evil technology that should not be used? Let’s first turn to the Bible before we return to our further examination of this end-time “burning fuse.”

The Bible on Self

Apostle Paul wrote this to Timothy: “But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves […], unholy, without love, […] without self-control, […] not lovers of the good, […] conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God” (2 Timothy 3:1-4).

Paul is clearly speaking of the last days. An identifying characteristic of that time he says will be people preoccupied with the “self.” By definition, such people must be worldly. Why?

Despite the fact that many so-called Christian ministries today cater to the “self,” the Bible never endorses this emphasis. Actually, the Bible counsels the exact opposite. We are to “deny” ourselves. Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me” (Matthew 16:24, Mark 8:34, Luke 9:23). It could not be any clearer: Whoever wants to be a disciple of Christ must therefore deny “themselves” and be selfless.

To be self-seeking has consequences both for individuals and societies, according to the Bible. Paul says that “[…] for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger” (Romans 2: . Moreover, a focus on self does not align with the duty to love. “Love is patient […] It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking” (1 Corinthians 13:4, 5).

A preoccupation with the “self “is not godly; and moreover, a mass emphasis of the self would indeed be a condition witnessed in the last days. And if this is so, we can further know that it will represent an age that will be corrupted by deceitful desires. Why? Again, because the Bible tell us so. Paul says: “You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires” (Ephesians 4:22). Therefore, a last-day world of ungodly people still mastered by their “old selves,” will surely lead to a loveless and deceitful consumer culture and society of the self.

But just how could the preoccupation with the self, gain such reinforcement and enabling in a world with billions and billions of people? Technology provides the means.

Technology Glorifying the Self

Consider these developments of the internet. Today, online tracking systems have the ability to build a personal profile about you. All your online activity is tracked. (Nothing you do online is secret!) With this information, these systems make inferences about your likes, tastes and views. Doing so, they can then target advertisements to you specifically that are likely to attract your response. This is called “social graphing.”

In addition, these systems can predetermine what information you will want to see when you are browsing the web. Says Omar Tawakoll, founder of BlueKai (a firm whose clients track more than 80 percent of the U.S. online population): “Hyper-targeted ads will follow us to TVs and cellphones.”

The new breakthrough is this: Today, everything is about you. Ads are now targeted to you specifically—the you that is the one and only me, myself and I.

Even if one is not using the internet to shop, but rather to search for information, even here “personalization” is becoming the norm. Says one observer: “Courtesy of technology, we can now receive all our information from people who agree with us—which is exactly what human beings want. And, the new economics of media makes it extremely profitable for information-providers to pander to what we want to hear.”2

This is disturbing as it means that the internet is becoming a controlled system, pre-screening what it will allow you to see. However, what’s even more significant, is that all these technologies cater to the likes and proclivities of the individual. It all feeds a trend of individualism … the world of me … the single.

The social media revolution is a companion trend. What is meant by social media? We here refer to such services as Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and others, that achieve their connectivity and platform over the internet. With these services, everyone can individually be on display and on show to the world.

Taking license with William Shakespeare’s phrase from the play As You Like It, today, “All the world of me is a stage.”

The worldwide connectivity of the internet is said to open up a range of consumer options and information. It is argued therefore, that the internet represents the welcome unshackling of the individual, ushering in maximum freedom. Actually, it is likely to be the complete opposite.

The Good or Evil of Technology

No doubt, readers may think that we see nothing of value in the many new technologies of our day. Not at all. The internet and the cell phone offer great convenience. We even wonder if one could survive without them, though they have barely been 20 years in existence. [This article was partially researched through the internet.] Technology in and of itself, is not evil. That would only be possible through the agency of human action and motives. It is up to the individual to decide for what purposes they will use any technology … good or bad.

Nonetheless, an awareness of the potential side-effects of technology is urgent. All the conveniences of technology come with a price—a trade-off. We quote here an excerpt from an earlier book, The Endtime Money Snare: How to live free (now out of print):

The successful advance of technology has opened mankind up to tremendous spiritual seduction, both subtle and direct, even though science is not evil in and of itself […]. Hardly anyone reading this [article] will not have succumbed to its comfortable inventions in one way or another. Some will have swallowed the whole hook, line and sinker, flatly rejecting the existence of God. These people instead choose instead to place their full faith in the present and future promises of technology and the intelligence of the human brain. Though this group is rapidly increasing in size over past decades, they are still small in number. Most of us would reject their conclusion as being much too extreme and stark. It’s too obviously wrong. It is for that reason that the subtle seductions of [science and technology] are much more dangerous. We are not aware of […] these seductions [as they] do not confront us in terms of black and white trade-offs. They stake their advances in tiny steps of convenience and novelty. Though we still consciously believe in the existence of God, sub-consciously He has become very small. We have allowed our faith in technology to whittle Him down. Now God is only the weatherman or the God of random chance. We need to better understand how the advances of technology impact our faith.

[…] they pose the same proposal to our souls: To trade a higher vulnerability to worldliness for new convenience; to opt for increased exposure to a godless world in return for higher material comfort. […] We must see that all the conveniences and pleasures offered by new technology come with a price. In some ways ‘high-tech’ is no exception to the adage, ‘There’s no free lunch.’ Every improvement comes with a new vulnerability in spiritual terms.

Thoughts to Ponder

What we are witnessing today is the proliferation of personal connectivity devices. Why is this significant? It provides two-way communication and information within a globally interconnected and controlled system, that facilitates the emphasis of self. This is a development foreseen by the Bible. Ultimately, it actually becomes an instrument of bondage to the “self,” and also centralized control of the entirety of humanity.

Now, everyone in the world can be on their own stage; to have their most personal wants and lusts catered to; enjoying the ultimate in individual customization to their interests and beliefs. We dare state that this is the emerging end-time world of the self … the celebration of the individual … the single life. The consequences of these choices are already destabilizing societies in a number of insidious ways.

Quoting Joel Kotkin, “Traditional values have almost without exception been rooted in kinship relations. The new emerging social ethos endorses more secular values that prioritize individual personal socioeconomic success as well as the personal quest for greater fulfillment.”3

We can indeed benefit from the new inventions of science and technology, yet not allow them to affect our focus upon the Lord, nor to abandon a Biblical worldview. We must constantly fend off subtle and luring inroads into our minds and the fleshly proposals to our wants, if we are to stand separate from the deceits of a last-day world.

But most of all, we rejoice in the fact that we have a personal Lord. He knows each of our needs, tendencies, vulnerabilities, wants, weaknesses and talents on an individual basis. There can be no higher personal care nor purer love and motive for relationship with each of us (individually) than through Jesus Christ. “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7). We can “log-on” with Him at any time through prayer. The Holy Spirit is the only infallible interconnection with the entire Body of Christ. Technology can only provide a cheap and deceiving substitute if we are not aware.

Next issue, we continue our presentation of 12 burning fuses of the end times.


++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Zechariah 12:3,9:
And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people; And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.


+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Disclaimer: Rapture Bible Prophecy Forum, ( http://www.rapturebibleprophecyforum.com ) does not necessarily endorse or agree with every opinion expressed in every article posted on this site. We do however, encourage a healthy and friendly debate on the issues of our day. Whether you agree or disagree, we encourage you to post your feedback by using the reply button.

If you are new to this site and would like to post articles, opinions, youtube videos that are appropriate for this site just e mail me at

stevensandiego@ymail.com

I will send you a PASSWORD

Ybic

Steven

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Burning Alight: 12 Endtime Fuses – Part V



Believing Mammon’s Monetary Illusions

Wilfred HahnBy Wilfred Hahn ((Eternal Value Review)

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We continue with our theme of 12 endtime fuses. Crucially, each of these “fuses” identifies a shift in mankind’s beliefs of endtime significance. This segment of the series discusses the 6th of these—a willing conversion to the immorality underlying a global economic/monetary system.

Money—assuredly one of the key factors that makes humans different from animals—is the commandeered medium of Mammon. Its strategic significance in the cosmology of mankind is more than it just being the chief temptation that qualifies “the love of money” as being “the root of all kinds of evil” (1 Timothy 6:10). Crucially, “money systems” also play a strategic eschatological role as can no other form of earthly rule. Why is this the case?

There is no more effective earthly way of controlling the entire world than through a worldwide money system. This offers an essential and strategic possibility to Satan and his hierarchy of fallen angels. They do not have omnipresence as does God, so they must use other means to achieve their objective of leading the entire world astray, the Bible tells us: “[…] that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray” (Revelation 12:9). And, as is usually the case, “the way of Balaam” (2 Peter 2:15) lures many to complicity with this system that is also energized by the “love of money.”

That there will be such a controlling money system can be deduced from Bible prophecy. Revelation 13:17 tells us that it will be possible someday to control buying and selling worldwide. How is that achieved? With a closed, global financial system, outside of which no commerce can be possible, as is already the case for the most part today.

But how does such a system come about? It requires cooperation in the beliefs and confidence of most all mankind. If this were not so, there could be no global integrated system of money and commerce. These required beliefs of humanity have contributed to the proliferation of just such a system relatively recently … these being the acceptance of the theories of modern macroeconomics and monetarism.

Readers may be surprised to learn that this system is really dependent upon “beliefs.” As such, this trend qualifies as one of our 12 endtime “burning” fuses. We will explain why, as well as the potential for its rather sudden impact.

Recent Unorthodox Trends in Central Banking

As has been happening in recent years, central banks have created a lot of money … literally out of thin air. Consider the scale of these central bank interventions. Globally, we note that the 8 largest central banks of the world have expanded their balance sheets (an indication of how much printed money they are pushing into the commercial banking system as well as non-bank sectors) from $5 trillion to $15 trillion since 2007. These figures are shockingly large, yet few are warning about the disastrous consequences for the world.

Today, these central banks have swelled in size to the equivalent of nearly 25% of world GDP (gross domestic product)! This is incredible, as no one would have thought this possible even a few years ago. Yet, recently, the Bank of Japan has upped the recklessness even more, in relative terms virtually tripling the money creation of even the U.S. Federal Reserve.

Such central bankers as Dr. Ben Bernanke (head of the U.S. Central Bank), Mario Draghi (head of the European Central Bank), and Haruhiko Kuroda (the new head of the Bank of Japan) are the most powerful men in the world. They are celebrated today for their actions of massive illicit money printing and contributing to increasing government indebtedness. In this they are considered to be acting lawfully, and moreover, are considered geniuses for having supposedly forestalled deeper economic recessions.

But, the kudos are much too early. The final and most terrible consequences have yet to come. Observers and commentators confuse the pleasures of sin with the wages of sin. Short-term deferrals only lead to greater consequences over the long-term. The Bible outlines the folly of denying these truths. The world is assured that it will reap what it sows. “Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction” (Galatians 6: . Yet, for the time being, the world chooses to believe what it wants to believe.

No Escape of Consequences

Once on the path of infinite money, there is no easy road back. The ability to “create” unlimited money (whether technically, temporarily, or permanently) is a most powerful policy tool. Yet, the fact remains that governments alone cannot create wealth or growth. They may be able to delay the consequences of bad policies. But they cannot prevent the inevitable and consequential damages. Ultimately, all destruction of productive capital and illicit wealth transfers will come to roost, though its results may be diverted for a time.

God did not give mankind the ability to create wealth through money falsehoods, but only through labor and savings. Nevertheless, the human race has always been prone to believe “get rich” schemes. In this sense, modern-day central bankers and macroeconomists delude themselves, as well as all people who put their hope in them.

There is no such thing as a free lunch. Similarly, there is no such thing as costless, fabricated money or effortless prosperity. Ultimately, all money is owned by someone or some entity. When money is created fictitiously by the stroke of a pen, it may seem effortless, but it is not free. Over time it causes painful societal distortions, economic dysfunctions and uneven wealth distribution. It all leads to (or is symptomatic of) increasing distrust and lawlessness at many levels.

How did this state of false money come about?

The History of Fractional Reserve Banking

Central banking is a relatively new concept in human history. Only as recently as the year 1900, there were just 18 such institutions in the world. At the time, all of these were in Europe, with the single exception of the Bank of Japan. The system of central banking then spread widely between the two World Wars. By 1980, over 100 or so were in operation. Following the rapid spread of globalization, there are now over 170. Even former and presently Communist countries followed suit. Consider that China’s central bank is today the second largest in the world. Readers will understand just how recent this global system of central banks has emerged.

By and large, all central banks have adopted the same basic operating policies. They claim that they can regulate the ebb and flow of inflation as well as debt growth in the commercial banking system. They do so through various means (the details of which we will spare the reader). Some central banks may be more constrained than others due to different country statutes and laws.

All the same, all central banks have one most powerful ability. Technically, they can “create” money out of thin air. Think about this for a moment: You the reader, and this writer, can only accumulate money through earnings and investment gains. We cannot lawfully create money; perhaps adding zeros to our bank account, or printing counterfeit notes. However, a central bank can effectively redistribute the existing savings of the entire country (and, we should add, the whole world) by creating more money. And, incidentally, central bankers are not elected officials.

Economic Beliefs Proven to be Immoral

Are macroeconomics and fractional reserve monetary systems immoral? Using the Bible as our reference point, the answer must be in the affirmative. Let’s next cite a few simple examples as proof.

It is a virtual consensus today that countries need to have their own currencies if they are to weather the unwanted consequences of their unwise fiscal or monetary policies. Why? So they can better shove the burden of their economic misalignments upon the rest of the world through currency debasement. In a number of ways, this is the same as stealing. It forces losses on foreign creditors and also has the stealthy impact of illicitly transferring wealth. But that would be considered inconsequential. To do so is considered “wise policy,” endorsed by highly revered economists. The morality of such “science” is never questioned.

Consider this question facing economists today: How to rescue a country’s economy without raising debt levels further. Why, you must print new money…literally creating money with a stroke of the pen. As we have already documented, this is indeed occurring around the globe. In short, what this means again is that illicit wealth transfers between different members of society and theft must be officially endorsed. The victims may be the retired, the elderly, or the defenseless. Those in the know or in advantageous positions become wealthier; the unwitting ever poorer. These effects are known by economists, but shockingly, these policies are endorsed nonetheless.

There are plenty of shaman policy economists today who counsel the wisdom of debt default to individual countries. What they fail to recognize is that were all the nations of the world to do so, we would have an utter collapse of global financial systems.

We will highlight one last accepted immoral foundation of today’s economic policymakers: It is validly acknowledged that over-indebtedness has been a major contributor to financial and economic ailments facing the world today. Yet, well-known economists seriously recommend that much higher government debt levels are required to boost economies back into recovery mode and long-term health.

Only a senseless person without reference to Biblical morality, would make the argument that what made the patient sick should also be prescribed to again make them better. Such medicine would be considered flimflammery. Yet, the political economics establishment experiences no shame or loss of credibility believing such things.

There are other delusions that are being prescribed by political economists today that we could outline. Nevertheless, policymakers still search out their advice. Suffice it to make the observation that the attitude of the nations is pretty much as it was in the time of Isaiah, “They say to the seers, ‘Don’t see visions,’ and to the prophets, ‘Don’t give us visions of what is right! Instead, tell us welcome things, prophesy illusions’” (Isaiah 30:10).

The only difference today is that this condition applies globally, not to just one or two countries, such as was the case during the times of ancient Israel. Though we may think that our era deserves greater awe due to its apparently advanced knowledge and “science,” it is no different than any other in this one respect: Its shamans were always given great respect and credibility, though they were exactly that—shamans and false prophets.

The Biblical Standard of Moral Money

The Bible frequently talks of scales (“balances” in the KJV). Honest scales were a command to the Hebrews: “Use honest scales and honest weights, an honest ephah and an honest hin” (Leviticus 19:36). The prophet Ezekiel warned Israel and Judah: “You are to use accurate scales, an accurate ephah and an accurate bath” (Ezekiel 45:10). Also, spoke the Prophet Micah, “Shall I count them pure with the wicked balances, and with the bag of deceitful weights?” (Micah 6:11). There are many other Scriptures that we could quote.

Crucially, it is these “known” weights that were tampered with. In so doing, they were tampering with God’s truths. It is He who provides the measuring line…the ancient boundary stones. For, “Honest scales and balances belong to the LORD; all the weights in the bag are of his making” (Proverbs 16:11).

The OT prophets indicate to us how corrupt Israel had become economically. A culture of deceit and fraud was imbedded in society. “‘When will the New Moon be over that we may sell grain, and the Sabbath be ended that we may market wheat?’—skimping on the measure, boosting the price and cheating with dishonest scales […]” (Amos 8:5). Skimping, boosting, and cheating were standard practices. In our day, an interconnected global money system has been built on exactly such a foundation.

In this writer’s opinion, conditions today are similar, yet much, much worse. Of note is the fact that the words “scales” and “balances” are in the plural form.

Thoughts to Ponder

Without a doubt, we are now witnessing an era where economic policymakers and the major central banks of the world are desperate. They have chosen to break all the rules and have abandoned any semblance of probity and integrity. They are manipulating monetary systems and are creating “infinite” money as never before, openly and brazenly corrupting the “scales.” They have gone past the point of no return, knowingly and willing choosing to brazenly “steal and thieve.” It is awe-striking to witness.

But, what about the potential for explosiveness of this endtime “burning fuse”? More than anything, financial systems are highly prone to sudden changes. This is for two reasons. First, the workings of this system are dependent upon confidence. Human confidence can disappear in an instant. Second, financial systems are based on debt and fractional reserve banking. That produces a condition of acute instability … a very low margin for error.

Observers of financial systems have noted that while it may take a long, long time for crises to finally break out, when they do so they unfold extremely quickly. As such, the collapse of the financial belief systems can indeed be sudden and explosive. Bible prophecy appears to forewarn of the “suddenness” of key events.

For example, “While people are saying, ‘Peace and safety,’ destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape” (1 Thessalonians 5:3). Though our Lord may be tarrying, when the time of judgment arrives it will unfold with lightning speed. We also note the suddenness of the final world power regime that will rule the world. Prior to the appearance of the Antichrist, it will come to form very quickly and will be on the stage for only “one hour” (Revelation 17:12). As well, the Antichrist, who is also identified as the 8th king who belongs to the prior 7 world hegemonic kingdoms, will exist but a “little while” (Revelation 17:10).

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Zechariah 12:3,9:
And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people; And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Disclaimer: Rapture Bible Prophecy Forum, ( http://www.rapturebibleprophecyforum.com ) does not necessarily endorse or agree with every opinion expressed in every article posted on this site. We do however, encourage a healthy and friendly debate on the issues of our day. Whether you agree or disagree, we encourage you to post your feedback by using the reply button.

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Steven

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Burning Alight: 12 Endtime Fuses – Part VI



Deceit & Dishonesty for the Good of the World

Wilfred HahnBy Wilfred Hahn ((Eternal Value Review)

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We continue our theme of 12 Endtime Fuses Burning. They all represent a change in the beliefs or the idolatries of humanity. Crucially, all of these changes are relatively recent in the timeline of human history; and all have the potential for explosive impact.

We quote from an article written by Mr. Robert Kaplan, Chief Geopolitical Analyst for Stratfor, entitled “Machiavelli’s Virtue”:

What is modernity? Is it skyscrapers, smart phones, wonder drugs, atomic bombs? You’re not even close. Modernity, at least in the West, is the journey away from religious virtue toward secular self-interest. Religious virtue is fine for one’s family and the world of private morality. But the state—that defining political structure of modern times—requires something colder, more chilling. For the state must organize the lives of millions of strangers and protect their need to selfishly acquire material possessions. […] The state appeals not to God, but to individual selfishness. Thus, it clears the path for progress.

Mr. Kaplan may just as well have provided an exegesis of various Bible Scriptures, because his observations are correct. The Bible clearly does confirm the values upon which worldly affairs would be conducted—self-interest (or vested-interest). What Mr. Kaplan neglects to mention is that the world and its leaders would be “cursed” because of this state of affairs (for example, see Isaiah 24:3-6).

The world in this present state is surely run by self- and vested-interest. That’s not to say that there are not people who are other-worldly; to whom the things of this world appear strangely dim; or whose motives are inspired by love. It is just that there are much less of them. The values of the world, its societies and people, have been roundly turned toward materialism in recent times.

A century of humanistic influences has revised the definitions of human happiness, achievement, and progress. None of these are any longer defined by “eternal values” or from an eternal timeline. Success in these endeavors is defined solely in terms of material wealth, net worth, GDP growth, a rising standard of living or a rising MSCI World All-Country Index (representing the global stock market value).

By necessity, a world that is defined by the “need to selfishly acquire material possessions,” and is set apart from “private morals” or conscience and “religious virtue,” must be terrifyingly competitive. It would be a world of deceit and theft. And, indeed, such conduct and doctrine is accepted today in the world of geopolitics and political economy.

Not surprisingly, the Bible prophesies exactly such conditions. We find this message in the two visions of the Prophet Zechariah, found in chapter 5 of the book of the same name. Here are mentioned the two sins that would define the world of the last days—lying and stealing (verse 3). A two-part article series entitled “Flying Scrolls and Baskets: A Vision of Today,” outlines these connections (MCM May and June 2007 issues).

These sins tie in directly to the commercialized global corruption and political globalism that we see enveloping the world today. This short chapter in Zechariah of only 11 verses, contains two separate but important visions of the endtimes. Readers will recall the account of a giant scroll that is levitating in the air (verses 1 to 4). Right after this, the angel speaking to Zechariah shows him another vision. We then see a strange picture of an ephah (measuring basket) being transported by two women with the wings of storks.

We concluded that the false witness (lying) and the stealing being mentioned specifically had to do with the global idolatrous materialism and corruption of all human life on earth of the last days. Pinpointed were the two sins that are mainly responsible for the filthy idolatry that was shown in the flying ephah—lying and stealing.

Encompassed in these visions, we concluded, was everything from the elevation of manipulative and global monetary systems, fiat money, capitalism, competitive globalism based on the vested interest of intertwined worldwide trading systems, accounting shenanigans, corporatism and debt-based wealth to grand larceny. To this end, dishonesty and corruption must be accepted by the world as being the norm. All together it represents a humanity that denies truth. Yet, it is even much worse than that: It is a world which insists that untruth and deceit … for instance, a bit of inflation … is necessary to grease the wheels of daily life and progress.

According to Zechariah’s visions, we see that the corrosiveness and imbalances of these moral liberalities literally consumed “the timber thereof and the stones thereof” (Zechariah 5:4), this symbolizing the collapse of mankind’s societies. Policymakers and leaders fail to recognize that permissiveness and endorsement of such ungodly values must have an impact on the morality (actually a two-way cause and effect) of entire societies. Eventually a complete moral breakdown occurs, whether in commerce or sexual mores.

Lying and Stealing for Mankind’s Good

Let’s next examine the roles of these two endtime conditions of institutionalized lying and stealing.

Firstly lying—in other words, swearing falsely in the name of truth. It is the lubricant of our world’s economic and geopolitical systems. At the highest levels, lying is mirrored in the institution of contract law. Most contracts today are made on the premise of what is legally allowable as opposed to what is right or moral. The same attitude applies to the world of geopolitics. The “lie” is the most deftly used technique in the pursuit of a nation’s interests. Lying and deceit are definitely essential. The same applies to statecraft in dealing with the public.

What about stealing? In our time, stealing is more prevalent than ever before. Moreover, it has become much more sophisticated. There are numerous types of stealing that are institutionalized into world systems. For example, consider the phenomenon of inflation (the price of goods continually rising in currency terms). It is one of the biggest and most deceiving forms of stealing. Yet, every central bank in the world today will argue that some stealing (inflation) is necessary for the smooth and safe functioning of economies and financial systems. In fact, currently, a number of the world’s largest central banks are deliberately trying to encourage inflation.

Stealing is endemic and accepted in many other areas. Corporate executives steal from shareholders (like never before), and countries try to steal precious resources from other countries (oil, for example), although such motivations are couched in official policy-speak such as “securing our interests” or “gaining access through free trade.” Such techniques are the norm today.

Without a doubt, we see that swearing falsely and stealing are at the very root and apex of man’s global endtime edifice.

Returning to the earlier-quoted Mr. Kaplan, despite his cogent perspectives on the world’s state of affairs, he concludes: “This is not something to lament, however. For in the last analysis, self-interest can lead to peace while rigid moral principles can lead to war. Self-interest informs compromise with other human beings.”

He chooses to have faith that Global Man can tame and harness Mammon for the good of mankind by using Machiavellian techniques (namely, the endorsed lying and stealing among other ungodly tactics). He couldn’t be more wrong. One day there will be a new order, one diametrically opposite to what we have today. It will not be defined by self-interest or vested-interest. Truth, peace, justice and love will prevail. That will occur to an extent in the 1,000-year kingdom outlined in the Bible. The final perfect state occurs after this period when the eternal New Jerusalem descends.

Last Day Deceits and Corruption

Zechariah’s message aligns with that of many other prophecies in the Bible. Deception is shown to be a key characteristic of the last days in much prophetic Scripture (both in the Old and New Testaments). Of course, deceit has always existed. However, the book of Daniel clearly forewarns that the last regime—the one that ultimately gives rise to the Antichrist and the final rebellion against God—is one marked by great deception. “[…] a master of intrigue will arise […] He will cause deceit to prosper” (8:23-25); “It prospered in everything it did, and truth was thrown to the ground” (8:12).

Not only will there be rampant spiritual and religious deception during the last days1—clearly evident today—but deceit and corruption will infuse the entire world in every respect, including politics and commerce. The two go hand-in-hand.

The Bible tells of a similar time that met God’s great displeasure … so much so that He sent His prophets to warn about the consequences. Said Jeremiah:

“[…] Pour it out on the children in the street and on the young men gathered together; both husband and wife will be caught in it, and the old, those weighed down with years. Their houses will be turned over to others, together with their fields and their wives, when I stretch out my hand against those who live in the land,” declares the LORD. “From the least to the greatest, all are greedy for gain; prophets and priests alike, all practice deceit” (Jeremiah 6:11-13).

Old Testament prophets decried the apostate and corrupt state of Judah. 2500 hundred years ago, there was no shortage of prophets willing to foretell sweet and pleasing falsehoods. “[…] Give us no more visions of what is right! Tell us pleasant things […]” (Isaiah 30:10). Said Micah: “If a liar and deceiver comes and says, ‘I will prophesy for you plenty of wine and beer,’ he would be just the prophet for this people!” (2:11).

None of these “pillow” prophets actually spoke the truth … actually heard from God. “[…] They are prophesying to you false visions, divinations, idolatries and the delusions of their own mind,” said Jeremiah (14:14). These false prophets were all lying, endorsing the stealing that was being perpetrated by the elites. It lulled people into a comfortable complacency and moral laxity. Destruction and judgment eventually followed. It’s not much different today; in fact, it is a global phenomenon.

Points to Ponder

Deception is rampant today; many are deceived. And, there are plenty who seek to validate the dishonesty. Says one incisive observer, “There are two types of economic theologians. The first is an economist who functions as a theologian for progress by helping to provide an ethical foundation for society. If economic progress is the route to ‘salvation,’ these ‘priests’ will be the experts on how to achieve that progress. Because society looks to economists for this knowledge, they logically become the leading priesthood of the age. The second […] study economics from a theological perspective.”2

It is this second variety of theologian that holds to the boundary stones and pathways of that which is right according to Scriptures. The other variety has firmly set the ethical foundation that allows dishonesty and deceit to be deemed necessary and irreversible today.

In fact, dishonesty and deceit have become so entrenched that society fears that if we eradicate them entirely, the economic strength of our nations will collapse. This perspective is illustrated in this comment by Eric Holder, the Attorney General of the United States. Referring to alleged criminal activities of large financial companies, he said, “I am concerned that the size of these [financial] institutions becomes so large that it does become difficult for us to prosecute them when we are hit with indications that if you do prosecute, if you do bring a criminal charge, it will have a negative impact on the national economy, perhaps even the world economy.”

What he basically said was that the government dare not prosecute any of the banks or other financial players for fear that rocking the boat in this way may risk bringing down the entire economy. That’s the state of affairs that we have today in many nations. The corruption is so endemic and deep, that to uproot these tares would risk jeopardizing the entire field, disrupting what prospects for prosperity that may remain.

Could it really have been as Jeremiah said—that it is possible that an entire society from “the least to the greatest” all practiced deceit? Those who believe the Bible as the literal Word of God will accept Jeremiah’s words for their plain meaning. But are things really different today? What can a little cheating, self-interest and greed hurt? The prevailing thinking is that it makes the world go around; it can pay the bills, lead to a better chance for prosperity, and faster growing and more competitive economies. That may be the popular thinking, but not with God.

We know from God’s dealings with Israel and Judah just what judgments will eventually follow. Little reward can be expected from the world for not conforming to this new norm. Jeremiah whined to God, “[…] I have never lent nor borrowed, yet everyone curses me” (Jeremiah 15:10). He was not participating in a commercial system that operated to oppress the poor and transfer wealth to the “experts in greed.” Apparently, because he wasn’t, people thought that Jeremiah was being judgmental. Not really. He was simply honoring God through obedience. We have the liberty to do the same.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Zechariah 12:3,9:
And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people; And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Disclaimer: Rapture Bible Prophecy Forum, ( http://www.rapturebibleprophecyforum.com ) does not necessarily endorse or agree with every opinion expressed in every article posted on this site. We do however, encourage a healthy and friendly debate on the issues of our day. Whether you agree or disagree, we encourage you to post your feedback by using the reply button.

If you are new to this site and would like to post articles, opinions, youtube videos that are appropriate for this site just e mail me at

stevensandiego@ymail.com
I will send you a PASSWORD

Ybic
Steven