The Stage is Set for the End Times :: By Britt Gillette

As a student of Bible prophecy for almost 30 years, and specifically end times Bible prophecy, no other time has seemed as close to the end times as right now. Why do I say this? Because, particularly in the past year, the geopolitical and economic stage has been set for the fulfillment of several end-times prophecies. We now have several potential crises on the horizon. And those potential crises are the same ones the Bible says we’ll experience either in the Tribulation or the days immediately preceding the Tribulation. Below are just a few:

The Gog of Magog War

The Bible points to a future attack on Israel known as the Gog of Magog War (Ezekiel 38-39). It says a military alliance that includes Russia, Iran, Turkey, and a number of Muslim nations will attack Israel “in the latter days” (Ezekiel 38:8) when God brings His people home from among the enemy nations (Ezekiel 39:27). Today, we see those nations forming an alliance for the first time – an alliance that has never existed in world history. Russia, Iran, and Turkey all have an active military presence in Syria, meaning they’re right on Israel’s northern border at this moment.

Why is this important?

Because Ezekiel specifically says this alliance will attack Israel from the north (Ezekiel 38:15; Ezekiel 39:2). In addition, the ancient territory of Magog covers a number of modern-day nations, one of which is Afghanistan. Up until recently, it was difficult to imagine U.S.- occupied Afghanistan joining the Gog of Magog invasion. But now? With the Taliban back in control, it would be odd if they didn’t join this invading alliance. The way nations are aligned today, the Gog of Magog invasion could take place tomorrow. All the pieces are in place. Even just a few years ago, that wasn’t the case.

Global War Prospects

While “rumors of war” have been common since the end of World War II, the current situation is different. The world is in the midst of an energy crisis. Europe has seen natural gas prices surge in the past month. China and India are experiencing rolling blackouts of electrical service. Not only will this create problems in an already broken global supply chain, but these are the conditions which often give rise to war. And energy resource issues could provide the spark that ignites the next world war.

For example, China threatens to invade Taiwan on an almost daily basis. If China does invade, the United States claims it will defend Taiwan. If it occurs, such a conflict will devastate the world. Both China and the U.S. are nuclear powers, and both likely have high-tech space weapons, cyberwarfare capabilities, and innovative weapons never before seen on a battlefield. Such a conflict could easily erupt into World War III. Even if it doesn’t, the global economy would collapse, and the global supply chain would be irreparably broken if the two largest economic powers went to war.

The same is true in regard to Israel and Iran. Both nations have been engaged in a type of “cold war” for years, and with each passing month, the prospect of all-out war only increases. A conflict between the two could pull the Middle East and the entire world into a cataclysmic war.

Throw in India’s border disputes with China and Pakistan as well as North Korea’s belligerence toward its neighbors and the United States, and the prospects of global war are probably the highest they’ve been in the post-Cold War era. At any moment, a flare-up in any one of several hotspots could cascade into a global war. Yet, contrary to popular belief, the world will survive World War III. The death toll will be enormous, but the human race won’t be annihilated (Revelation 6:4). The Bible says a global war will kick off the Tribulation and precede the global rule of the Antichrist. Right now, the odds of a devastating global war appear high.

Global Inflation Prospects

Shutdowns, travel regulations, and other COVID restrictions have wreaked havoc on the global supply chain since early 2020, and it’s only getting worse. Lack of shipping containers, global port congestion, and a lack of workers to produce, transport, and stock goods have led to shortages in everything from toilet paper and microprocessors to chicken wings and tractor tires. Meanwhile, central bank and government policies creating low interest rates and instituting rent/mortgage moratoriums, student loan moratoriums, stimulus checks, and tax credits have only added to demand. Basic economics says if you lower supply and increase demand, you get higher prices. We’re seeing that right now, especially at the grocery store. Don’t expect it to get better.

The Bible says the world will experience unprecedented hyperinflation during the Tribulation. Following the global war outlined in Revelation 6:4, the world experiences a time when an entire day’s wages will barely buy enough food to survive (Revelation 6:5-6). Given the inflation and shortages we’re already seeing, how bad will it get if a major war breaks out anywhere in the world, much less an all-out global war like the one foretold in Revelation 6?

The Rising Mark of the Beast System

Throughout the world, governments are pushing COVID vaccines. Those who refuse the jab face a long list of penalties, including loss of employment, healthcare, freedom of movement, and liberty in general. Those pushing vaccine mandates and vaccine passports seek to coerce people into compliance. The goal is to ostracize the unvaccinated from society.

If these coercive policies remain in place, they’ll create a mark of the beast system indistinguishable in impact from the true mark of the beast (Revelation 13:16). In doing so, they’ll pave the way for the rise of the Antichrist and the actual mark of the beast as outlined in the Book of Revelation.

The Bible says those who refuse the mark of the beast will be shut out of the global economy. They’ll be unable to buy or sell anything without it (Revelation 13:17). Today, we see the stage being set for the fulfillment of this prophecy. In some places, vaccine passports are required to appear anywhere in public, including grocery stores. Is it really hard to believe they’ll one day be required to engage in any buy/sell transactions?

The Days of Noah and Lot

Jesus said when He returns, the world will be “like it was in the days of Noah” (Matthew 24:37). Jesus said, “In those days before the flood, the people were enjoying banquets and parties and weddings right up to the time Noah entered his boat. People didn’t realize what was going to happen until the flood came and swept them all away. That is the way it will be when the Son of Man comes” Matthew 24:38-39, NLT).

Is this what we see in the world today? I think so. Even after 19 months of a global pandemic, a global supply chain crisis, and threats of war, people are still enjoying banquets and parties and weddings. In other words, much of life remains normal. After a series of events that should have shaken the world from its slumber, most people continue to go about their daily lives unaware of the times in which we live.

The times in which we live are clear to anyone who knows the Bible. We are living in the days just before the Tribulation takes place. Jesus will soon return to take His church (1 Corinthians 15:51-53; 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18). How can I be so sure? Because Jesus says so. Jesus said when you see all the signs He and the prophets said to look for, you should look up (Luke 21:28), and we see those signs right now.

The Convergence of Signs

So what are these signs? Jesus and the prophets pointed to dozens and dozens of signs. This article only cites a few, but each one is undeniable. Their convergence for the first time in history tells us the return of the Lord is close at hand. In addition to the events already mentioned, these signs include:

  • Israel Back in the Land (Jeremiah 23:7-8; Ezekiel 39:28; Isaiah 11:12; Psalm 107:3; Ezekiel 20:34; Isaiah 11:11-12)
  • The Jewish People in Control of Jerusalem (Luke 21:24-28)
  • The Gospel Preached Throughout the World (Matthew 24:14)
  • An Increase in Travel and Knowledge (Daniel 12:4)
  • Arrival of the Exponential Curve (Matthew 24:3‐8)
  • Israel Surrounded by Enemies (Psalm 83:4; Psalm 83:12; Ezekiel 11:14‐17; Ezekiel 35:10)
  • Israel’s Exceedingly Great Army (Ezekiel 37:10; Zechariah 12:6; Zechariah 12:8)
  • The Rise of a United Europe (Daniel 2, Daniel 7, Revelation 17)
  • The Rise of a Global Government (Revelation 13:7-17)
  • The State of Mankind (2 Timothy 3:1-4)
  • Denial of the Signs (2 Peter 3:3‐4)

Stay Awake

Jesus commanded us to watch for these signs (Matthew 24:42). He scolded the Pharisees and religious leaders when they failed to recognize the signs of His first coming (Matthew 16:3). Will He do any different for those who fail to recognize the signs of His second coming? Jesus warned us not to be caught sleeping when He returns (Mark 13:36).

Now is the time to point out these signs to others and warn them the end is near. If you’ve been waiting to share the Gospel with someone, don’t wait any longer. You may not have another opportunity. Jesus is coming. The signs are all around us.

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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.

The New World Order, aka “Global Reset” :: By Susan Mouw

A One-World government is not a new concept. In fact, several over the years have attempted it. Let’s look at a “rogue’s gallery,” if you will, of just a few.

  1. Cyrus the Great – (590 or 580 BC – 529 BC), founder of the Achaemenid Empire, the first Persian empire. From the Mediterranean Sea and Hellespont in the west to the Indus River in the east, Cyrus the Great created the largest empire the world had yet seen.
  2. Alexander the Great – (356 BC – 323 BC) became King of Macedonia when his father, King Philip II, was assassinated in 336 BC when Alexander was only 20 years old.

His lifelong goal was to conquer the entire known world. He came close, and by the time of his death, he had conquered many foreign lands including Persia, Judea, Syria, Mesopotamia, Egypt and others. He was never defeated in battle.

  1. Julius Caesar – (100 BC – 44 BC). Although he did not begin the Roman Empire, and it did not fall with his death, Julius Caesar is credited with greatly expanding it.

When he was a child, the Roman empire was failing, but he changed that. At its height in 117 AD, the Roman Empire was massive. It encompassed a land area of roughly five million square kilometers and ruled over somewhere between fifty-five and sixty million inhabitants. At the time, somewhere between one-sixth and one-quarter of the total population of the planet lived under the rule of the Roman Empire.

  1. Napoleon Bonaparte- (1769-1821), also known as Napoleon I, was a French military leader and emperor who conquered much of Europe in the early 19th century. Born on the island of Corsica, Napoleon rapidly rose through the ranks of the military during the French Revolution (1789-1799). After seizing political power in France in a 1799 coup d’état, he crowned himself emperor in 1804. Napoleon was a brilliant military strategist and is still studied today in military schools.
  2. Adolf Hitler – (1889-1945), now known as one of the most evil men in history, Hitler’s dream was to conquer the world and create his own “New World Order,” or the Third Reich. It was his invasion into Poland that started WWII in 1939. He also oversaw the Nazi Party’s implementation of the Holocaust, which resulted in the deaths of millions of people.

So, history shows us that the dream of total world domination is not a new dream, or nightmare, depending on your viewpoint. And the Bible tells us it is going to happen again. But this time, it will be more successful, though for only a short time, than any of those five men we just mentioned would have ever been able to accomplish.

Revelation 13:1-2 tells us, “And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority” (Rev 13:1-2, KJV). The dragon that gives this beast his power, whom we know as the Anti-Christ, is none other than old Beelzebub himself, Satan.

“And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations” (Rev 13:7, KJV).

All kindreds, all tongues, and all nations. So, this beast, the Anti-Christ, is given total dominion over the world – a One-World Government. It doesn’t happen overnight, of course. In fact, the Anti-Christ does not reach the apex of his power until midway through the Tribulation, after he survives a fatal head wound and then proclaims himself god, in the Temple in Jerusalem, an event known as the Abomination of Desolation.

We don’t know who the Anti-Christ is, or will be, and we won’t know until the Restrainer is taken away. It is my belief that whoever he is, he is alive and well today.

In fact, the plans for this have been in place for a very long time, and we can see some of the effects of that grab for power even now.

The United Nations, which has its origins in World War II and became a reality in 1945, started out as a benign presence for peace. In fact, in its founding documents, there is hardly a sentence that does not include the word “rights,” as in human and individual rights. Their stated goal is as a global political and diplomatic organization dedicated to international peace and stability.

Somewhere along the line that translated, for many of the leaders of that organization, to a one-world government, or “New World Order.” In 2015, the UN published a document titled “Transforming Our World: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.”

Even prior to that, in 1992, at a conference in Venezuela, the UN proposed “Agenda-21.” It referred to something called “Sustainable Development” and seemed to be concerned with protecting the planet by limiting and controlling the development of corporate and personal structures. President George H.W. Bush publicly gave it his support, and the agenda was accepted and adopted by 178 nations. I should also mention that President Obama and Pope Francis both gave their support to that document, and they were not alone.

So, what is this Agenda 21? Well, if you just google it, you will see these descriptions that sound very positive and humane, and most of these descriptions will be sure to include the phrase, “a non-binding agreement.” However, when you start to dig a little deeper, it is not so innocent or humane. Part of the stated goal of this agenda is a one-world government by 2030 and depopulation of the earth by 95%. It also calls for government ownership of all land since individuals cannot seem to make the right decisions about their own lands, according to the authors and supporters of this agenda. As of 2017, there were 600 US cities that had signed onto this agenda and its goals.

Our current administration under President Biden also supports this agreement. In fact, this fiasco we’ve recently seen in Afghanistan, with the money poured into the coffers of terrorist organizations, the millions of dollars of US weaponry and equipment left behind, and other things we see today that leave us shaking our heads, may not be so much an “Oops” as a well carried out agenda that has been planned for some time.

Which begs the question, “Where is the United States during the Tribulation?”

Before I try to answer that question, let me just say I am a Patriot and a veteran of the US Army. I believe this country was founded on Judeo-Christian principles and has been blessed by God through the years. But with the removal of prayer from our schools, the bias against Christians, the shutting down of churches, and the support for sinful ways such as abortion, we have turned away from God and are, even now, facing His wrath.

The United States of America, once a predominantly Christian nation, is no longer so, and we have fallen from our position as the world’s superpower. Our allies have learned, especially with what happened in Afghanistan, that we can no longer be relied upon to keep our promises. Our enemies sense the weakness that surrounds our country and are making their plans accordingly.

We know that Iran is weeks, if not days, away from military-grade uranium. In fact, Amir Tsarfati, in a recent broadcast, stated Iran now has military-grade uranium, and the question is, “will they use it?” We know North Korea has re-activated its nuclear test sites. We’ve read about the new global missiles developed by China, which can be launched on one side of the world, circumnavigate the glove, and hit a target on the other side of the world. We know that Russia has come to agreements with most of the Middle East – those countries that surround Israel – and is, even now, positioning troops and resources all around Israel. Israel now stands alone, and she knows she cannot count on the US.

Remember that verse we read earlier?

“And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations” (Rev 13:7, KJV).

Well, all kindreds, and tongues, and nations would seem to include this great country of ours as well. So, the United States of America, as we have known it, will not be part of the Tribulation. This country, or what is left of it by that time, will just be another part of that world over which the Anti-Christ will have total dominion.

I don’t know how close we actually are to these events occurring and the prophecies being fulfilled, and I don’t dare to try to make a prediction. Jesus said, “Only the Father in Heaven knows,” and I will put my trust in Him. I do believe we are close – very close.

If the Rabbinical calendar from Israel is accurate, the first of the Jewish Fall feasts, Rosh Hashana, occurred the week of September 8-9, 2021, and was followed 10 days later by the Most Holy of Days for the Jewish people, Yom Kippur – the Day of Atonement. Finally, the last of the fall feasts – the Feast of Sukkot, followed shortly. We are entering a time of change, of trial, and for those of us who believe and have put our trust in Jesus Christ, a time of persecution. It is, truly, just the “beginning of sorrows.”

“And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh” (Luke 21:28, KJV).

Susan Mouw, Author

The Road to the Cross
Go Set A Watchman
(Coming soon) As In the Days of Noah

Website: roadtothecross.org