Around the world, freedom and liberty are under assault. Tyranny is asserting itself. The COVID-19 pandemic has given us lockdowns, vaccine passports, vaccine mandates, and even forced vaccinations and quarantine camps. On January 15th, Canada implemented a vaccine requirement for all truckers crossing the Canada-U.S. border. A week later, the U.S. instituted its own vaccine mandate for truckers crossing the Canadian and Mexican borders. The truckers said no.

They formed long convoys to protest the mandates. Day after day, the ranks of the protestors grew until the Freedom Convoy occupied the streets of Ottawa and several major roadways at the Canada-U.S. border. More and more Canadians joined the cause, bringing food, water, fuel, and even bounce houses to show their solidarity with the truckers. However, the national leaders of Canada rejected the Freedom Convoy’s peaceful demands for an end to the mandates and a return to freedom and liberty.

On February 4th, GoFundMe took down the Freedom Convoy 2022 fundraiser page. Claiming the effort “reflects or promotes behavior in support of violence,” GoFundMe froze the account. At first, they said donors would only see their donations refunded if they specifically requested that the money be returned. Otherwise, it would be forwarded to another cause of GoFundMe’s choice. After an immense backlash, they promised to return all funds to those who donated. That remains to be seen.

A few days later, a new fundraising campaign emerged on GiveSendGo. Almost immediately, the government of Ontario ordered GiveSendGo to withhold all donations. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invoked the Emergencies Act and seized broad powers in an attempt to shut down the protests. Broadening anti-money laundering rules, he accused crowdfunding sites of financing “terrorism” and authorized financial institutions to “cease providing financial services where the institution suspects an account is being used to further the illegal blockades and occupations.” Trudeau and his minions then threatened the protestors with massive fines, impoundment of vehicles, revocation of driver’s licenses, and seizure of bank accounts.

Then today, Canada’s Justice Minister, David Lemetti, doubled down on Trudeau’s threats. When asked if those who donated to the Freedom Convoy should be worried if banks will freeze their accounts, he responded, “Well, I think if you are a member of a pro-Trump movement who’s donating hundreds of thousands of dollars and millions of dollars to this kind of thing, they oughta be worried.” He then said, “This is about stopping the financing of these illegal blockades. We are today serving notice; if your truck is being used in these illegal blockades, your corporate accounts will be frozen.” The message is clear – criticize Canada’s national leaders, and they’ll crush you.

Government Demands for Compliance

This is the type of reaction we’ve come to expect from governments like China, Russia, and North Korea. But the Canadian government’s response surprised a lot of people. It shouldn’t have. Throughout history, the drive toward tyranny has been the natural inclination of government. Freedom and liberty are the exception, not the norm. In recent years, Canada has shown growing hostility toward free speech. So it shouldn’t surprise anyone to see them label peaceful protestors “terrorists” for daring to commit the “crime” of criticizing government leaders and “undermining trust in government institutions.”

Since early 2020, the same totalitarian instinct has invaded other Western Democratic nations. Australia vilified the unvaccinated and put its people in quarantine detention centers. The United Kingdom, France, Germany, Israel, and various cities in the United States rolled out vaccine passports. Austria implemented mandatory vaccination. To various degrees, all these governments trampled on individual liberty, demanding compliance to their draconian measures.

The message is clear. Comply or you’ll be fined. Comply or you’ll lose your job. Comply or you’ll lose your benefits. And if you still don’t comply, they’ll take away your assets and your ability to participate in society.

If we don’t stand up to this now, we’ll lose our freedom and liberty forever. The marriage of Big Government and Big Tech creates an oppressive combination, and we’re only in the early stages. The next government power grab will be the last, and it will lead to total enslavement.

The Next Power Grab

The next power grab will rival any ever dreamed about by past rulers and dictators. Across the world, central banks openly discuss their plans to introduce central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). This includes central banks in England, Canada, China, Mexico, the European Union, the United States, and many other nations. This should alarm everyone because CBDCs are far different from Bitcoin and other popular cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin is decentralized. No single authority controls it. In contrast, central banks will operate, regulate, and control CBDCs. This simple distinction is the difference between a Libertarian’s dream and every citizen’s nightmare.

The replacement of today’s government currencies with CBDCs will give unlimited power to government. Not only will this new system permanently record every financial transaction, but CBDCs will track where you go and what you do. They’ll track the websites you visit, the friends you interact with, and the charities you contribute to. While most of this information is already available via tracking of credit and debit cards, mobile phones, and social media profiles, a state-sponsored digital currency will provide unfettered access to this information in one centralized location. It will create a closed, government-controlled economic system where everyone is dependent on CBDCs to participate in society.

This gives government the ability to control your behavior, down to the most minute details of daily life. If the government decides they don’t like you, they can cut off access to your accounts and freeze you out of the economic system. We’re already seeing this take place in Canada. With CBDCs, the government will be able to tell you what you can and can’t buy. They’ll be able to tell you where you can and can’t go. In essence, they’ll have complete control over every aspect of your life.

Do you see why this will be not just the next power grab, but the power grab? This is it. Once you enter such a system, they’ve got you. You can never leave. If you criticize the government or do anything they deem “undesirable,” they’ll cut off your access to CBDC, and you won’t be able to buy or sell anything.

This is the ultimate power grab, and it’s coming soon. The current monetary system is broken. It’s completely dependent on central bank distortions of the free market and permanent bailouts for big corporations. The central banks can’t allow the free market to set interest rates. If they do, the increased interest payments will bankrupt governments around the world. But if they persist in keeping rates artificially low, they’ll eventually spark hyperinflation. One way or another, the entire system is set to collapse. When it does, a “great reset” will be necessary. And that’s when the CBDCs roll out.

CBDC Adoption Will Be Swift

CBDCs will be the central feature of this great reset. Think most people will reject them? While I hope so, it’s highly unlikely. Governments will make sure adoption is quick and easy. They’ll simply launch a campaign to “claim your digital wallet.” To incentivize you, they’ll offer an initial deposit of $10,000 (or $20,000, $30,000, or whatever amount is necessary to get people to take action). Once everyone is on board, they’ll eliminate paper currency and other options for payment of goods and services. The result will be a government-controlled economic system based on CBDCs.

The Bible Foretold All of This

For those who have read the Bible, this is no surprise. Almost two thousand years ago, the Book of Revelation foretold of a global economic system eerily similar to the one taking form today.

The Bible says a time will come when a global dictator will require everyone on earth to receive a mark on their right hand or their forehead (Revelation 13:16). Without this mark, people will be unable to buy or sell anything (Revelation 13:17). How will this work? The exact details aren’t clear. But the worldwide rush to create central bank digital currencies provides us with a glimpse as to how such a system might work.

The Bible says the Antichrist will rule a global government (Revelation 13:7). To control who can buy and who can sell, he’ll need a system capable of tracking every transaction on earth. He’ll need a way to monopolize all financial transactions and a way to kick people out of the system if they don’t do his bidding. CBDCs create such a system. All that’s required to bring about this “Great Reset” is a global economic crisis, and one is coming. Hungry people will be more than willing to adopt such a system if it means the difference between eating and not eating.

So what does this mean? It means we’re fast approaching a time the prophets long warned us about. We’re in the midst of a global pandemic (Luke 21:11). Israel is back in the land (Jeremiah 23:7-8). The Jewish people are back in Jerusalem (Luke 21:24-28). And the Gospel is being preached throughout the world (Matthew 24:14). The end times approach. The tribulation, the Antichrist, and global government are on our doorstep. But first, the rapture must take place. So don’t despair. While it looks like the world is falling apart, every Christian should have peace. We know how it ends. Jesus is coming (Revelation 22:20), and He’s coming soon!

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Britt Gillette is author of the free ebook Coming to Jesus as well as the books Signs of the Second Coming, Racing Toward Armageddon, and The End Times. Receive his book 7 Signs of the End Times for free when you sign up for his monthly newsletter.

 

Sometime around 4,000 years ago, the Pharaoh of Egypt summoned an imprisoned slave named Joseph. Two dreams bothered Pharaoh, and none of his magicians or wise men could interpret them (Genesis 41:1-8). In his first dream, Pharaoh saw seven fat, healthy cows grazing by the Nile. Then seven thin cows appeared and ate the seven fat ones. In his second dream, Pharaoh saw seven large, beautiful heads of grain. Then seven shriveled heads of grain appeared and swallowed up the first seven.

Pharaoh asked Joseph to interpret the dreams. “I don’t have the power to do this,” Joseph told him. “But God does, and He can tell you what it means.” Joseph went on to tell Pharaoh the meaning of the dreams. He said seven years of famine will follow seven years of plenty.

In response, Pharaoh made Joseph the second most powerful man in Egypt (Genesis 41:40). He put him in charge of the land, and Joseph collected one-fifth of the food produced for the next seven years. He stored up massive amounts. When the famine came, it hit neighboring nations hard. People from the lands all around Egypt came to buy grain from Joseph (Genesis 41:57).

Eventually, the people ran out of money. They had nothing to buy food. So they gave Joseph their livestock in exchange for food (Genesis 47:17). When their livestock was gone, they offered their land and themselves (Genesis 47:19). Before long, Pharaoh owned all the land in Egypt (Genesis 47:20). The people became his slaves, and Pharaoh’s power multiplied.

Like many stories in the Bible, the story of Joseph and Pharaoh is also a symbolic prophecy. It foreshadows a coming time of great famine when, like Pharaoh, one man will gather immense power over the known world.

The seven lean years of Pharaoh’s dream mirrors the seven-year period known as the Tribulation. Like the seven lean years, the Tribulation will begin with widespread famine. And in an effort to survive, people throughout the world will willingly give their power and wealth to one man – just as they gave their power and wealth to Pharaoh four thousand years ago. Do we have any reason to believe such a famine is on the horizon? Unfortunately, we do.

Rising Food Prices

The political push to move away from fossil fuels to renewable energy, coupled with the supply/demand distortions caused by the COVID shutdowns, has resulted in much higher energy prices. This is particularly true in Europe where the accelerated push for green energy has led to a surging energy crisis. What does this have to do with rising food prices?

As Zero Hedge points out in this article:

“You can’t make fertilizer without urea and natural gas. As the price of either of these goes higher (both are), it significantly impacts the price of fertilizer. The price of fertilizer impacts, in turn, the price of food. This is because fertilizer is the second largest cost component of most agricultural production. The first being… you guessed it, diesel.”

The rising cost to grow food then impacts the feed cost for cattle, hogs, chickens, and other animals. This means higher costs for meat producers. Throw in increased costs for transportation, a global shortage of workers, and pandemic-induced supply chain problems, and the rising cost of food doesn’t show any signs of slowing down soon.

Supply Chain Issues

Global supply chain issues are another reason we see rising food prices, but the broken supply chain is the primary reason many grocery store shelves have gone bare. While increased demand due to COVID lockdowns and hoarding play a factor, the majority of these shortages are due to problems rippling through the global supply chain.

In some cases, a lack of key inputs such as aluminum, cardboard, or artificial sweeteners means manufacturers can’t produce or package certain items at the scale they used to (if at all). This results in fewer available products, and thus, empty shelves.

Supply chain problems have also resulted in a global shortage of urea. Not only is urea a key component in fertilizer, it’s also a key ingredient in the diesel exhaust fluid AdBlue. AdBlue is used in cars, trucks, buses, and other vehicles equipped with a selective catalytic reduction (SCR) system for reducing emissions. All the diesel vehicles in South Korea and Australia use AdBlue, and China supplies 97% of South Korea’s AdBlue and 80% of Australia’s. Due to the rising cost of fertilizer (and the need to feed more than a billion people), China recently banned the export of urea. This has taken a heavy toll on AdBlue inventories in those countries, and the dwindling supplies threaten to wreak havoc on their economies, which are currently the 10th and 13th largest in the world.

Even worse, if Australia and South Korea can’t source new supplies of urea, and they run out of existing inventory, all their trucking will come to a standstill. If trucking stops, their grocery store shelves go bare, and the real prospect of a famine in these advanced economies will become a reality. Given the severity of the situation, we really need to wonder, why would China take such a drastic measure?

China is Hoarding Grain

With such a large population, it makes sense for China to be concerned about rising fertilizer and food prices. Hungry populations revolt, and China’s government fears a revolution. From that standpoint, a ban on the export of urea makes sense as it’s a critical component in growing food. But China’s recent actions go beyond the urea export ban.

According to Nikkei Asia, China is also hoarding massive amounts of grain. In an article titled “China Hoards Over Half the World’s Grain, Pushing Up Global Prices,” they point out China (which has only 20% of the world’s population, is expected to have “69% of the globe’s maize reserves in the first half of crop year 2022, 60% of its rice and 51% of its wheat.” The article speculates one of the reasons for China’s food stockpile is to offset “food uncertainties due to factors such as its deteriorating relations with the U.S. and Australia, which could drastically alter the import environment.” In other words, since China doesn’t produce enough food domestically to feed itself, it needs to stockpile enough food in case imports from the U.S. and Australia go away. The question is, why would they go away?

Rumors of War

“Rumors of war” have been common since the end of World War II, but the current situation is different. Rarely have we seen the prospect of several high-profile conflicts erupting at the same time. China threatens to invade Taiwan on an almost daily basis. If China does invade, the United States claims it will defend Taiwan. This means two major nuclear powers could potentially go to war. Could that be why China is hoarding food? Even if an invasion of Taiwan doesn’t result in a U.S. military response, it would almost certainly lead to major economic sanctions from the U.S. and Australia. Is this an indication China is preparing for an invasion?

The probability rises every day, especially due to U.S. involvement in the current Russia-NATO dispute over Ukraine. If Russia invades Ukraine, and the U.S. does nothing after saying it would defend Ukraine, then China may feel emboldened to invade Taiwan. And if the U.S. does defend Ukraine, China may believe the U.S. is too distracted to defend Taiwan and seize the moment to invade.

Meanwhile, Iran and Israel continue to generate their own rumors of war. If any of these areas erupt into war, the result will be a disaster for the global economy. Oil prices will go much higher. Global trade will contract. Supply chains will break down even further, and food prices will skyrocket. Worse than that, a major conflict could lead to food shortages throughout the world. Is this what China is preparing for?

The Coming Famine

While these events may or may not plunge the world into a worldwide famine in the near future, the Bible is clear – a global famine will strike the world during the Tribulation. This famine will follow a global war (Revelation 6:4). In the aftermath of this war, destruction will be widespread. People will be scattered. The global supply chain will be in ruins.

The Bible describes this famine in detail (Revelation 6:5-6). Riding on a black horse and holding a pair of scales, Revelation 6 says a voice calls out, “A loaf of wheat bread or three loaves of barley for a day’s pay. And don’t waste the olive oil and wine.” This indicates a global famine.

The rider’s scales suggest a need to carefully measure and ration the food supply. We know because the voice that calls out indicates a scarcity of food. Three loaves of barley are about one pint. Many believe this is the minimum amount of food needed to survive. Yet this verse is telling us a time is coming when an entire day’s wages will only buy enough food to survive.

When this happens, it’s possible the Genesis story of Joseph and Pharaoh will play out a second time. Desperate for food, most of the world will willingly give their wealth and power to anyone who can feed them. Just as in ancient Egypt, when the dust finally settles, one man will control everything.

The signs of the times are all around us. Jesus is coming.

Britt Gillette is author of the free ebook Coming to Jesus as well as the books Signs of the Second Coming, Racing Toward Armageddon, and The End Times. Receive his book 7 Signs of the End Times for free when you sign up for his monthly newsletter.