These two subjects need to be dealt with together because the man we call “the Antichrist’” will be at the heart of the coming world government.
Remember that my prophecy summary was originally intended for my two sons, currently aged nine and eleven, so it’s not written with much documentation or with a lot of detail. If you take much notice of the world news these days, for example the BBC world news, you will get a clear impression that we are heading towards world government and “interdependence”.
The Bible speaks of a world government existing just prior to the return of Jesus Christ. The prophecies were there long before modern globalization and the United Nations were even conceived. International organizations and treaties, and a global economy are increasingly affecting all of us. They are becoming more interconnected and more powerful. Nations are gradually handing over more and more of their sovereignty to governing entities above them, and we as individuals are increasingly being affected and ruled by decisions made in other parts of the world, by people we didn’t vote for and can’t vote out.
Of course, there have been “world empires” before. At least they governed most of the “known world” of their time. The Bible predicts that there will be one more, final world empire.
Some Prophecy teachers are saying that a complete world government will be in place by the beginning of the Tribulation, so that the man known as “Antichrist” can become its leader. It seems to me that this is not necessary. The Antichrist will be the uniting force to bring about absolute world government. Until then, we might just have what we have now: a loose connection between nations, with plenty of wishful thinking and planning for more. Globalization as we see it now certainly can be seen as preparation for the Antichrist. It is also the product of man’s thinking without God. Remember Babel in Genesis chapter 11: humanity wanted to make a name for itself, above God or preferably without Him. People wanted to rule the world without its Creator.
World government, at least the rise of international networking which is leading to it, has sometimes been called the “New World Order”. Secular use of the term may be diminishing because it sounds rather threatening: “global governance” currently sounds much more cozy and helpful. Other related terms being used now include “inter-dependence”, ”community of nations”, and “global village”. We are told that the nations are increasingly “dependant” upon each other.
ANTICHRIST
Biblically, ‘antichrist’ is anyone who denies the Father and the Son: that is, anyone who denies that Jesus Christ is the only Son of God, and came to the earth in human flesh, (1 John 2:18-24 with 4:1-6). Whoever is not for him is against him.
However, there are numerous prophecies about a man we call ‘Antichrist’, who will briefly rule the world just before the return of Christ. He will be empowered by Satan. He will try to rid the world of Christians and Jews, and will even attempt to stop Christ from returning to the earth. The armies of the world will be with him, but he doesn’t stand a chance against the Lord. Instead he will be used, unknowingly, to fulfill the will of God.
Here is a Biblical profile of this coming world ruler (references are from Daniel unless stated):
He will speak boastfully (7:8):
He will wage war against the saints (7:21: Revelation 13:7);
He will speak blasphemy against the Most High (7:25; 11:36; Revelation 13:5-6):
He will try to change set times and laws (7:25);
He will be stern faced (8:23):
He will be a master of intrigue (8:23):
He will cause astounding devastation (8:24):
He will cause deceit to prosper (8:25);
He will consider himself superior (8:25);
He will first give a false sense of security – then will destroy many (8:25; 1 Thess.5:2-3);
He will confirm a (or the) covenant with many, (especiallyIsrael) then break it (9:27);
He will have no regard for the gods of his peoples’ tradition (11:17);
He will attack the mightiest fortresses (11:39);
He will greatly honor those who acknowledge him (11:39);
He will face military opposition during his time of fierce conquest (11:40-44);
He will set out to destroy and annihilate many (11:44);
His will gain control over every nation (Revelation 13:7);
He will be worshipped (Revelation 13:8);
He will set up the ‘abomination of desolation’ mentioned by Jesus (9:27; Matt. 24:15);
He will claim to be God, or a god or avatar (2 Thessalonians 2:4);
He will set up his base inJerusalem, (11:45; 9:27; 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4);
This will be three and a half years before the end of human rule on the earth (12:1-2;9:27; Matthew 24:15-16; Revelation 13:5 and 11:1-2 and chapter 12; Zechariah 14:1-3);
He will take his stand against Christ, but will be destroyed (8:25).
WHERE WILL HE COME FROM?
The most common view of the origin of the Antichrist among Bible believers is that he will come from Europe, a legacy of or even a ‘revival’ of the Roman Empire’. Another view is that he will be from the remnant of the Eastern ‘leg’ of the Roman Empire, and may be a Muslim. This would explain his automatic anti-Israel bias, and the foretold isolation of Israel which is now in the middle of many Muslim nations already totally opposed to its existence. Not only this, but western nations are becoming increasingly supportive of Islamic arguments against Israel. Antichrist would automatically have a large percentage of the world’s population and its military power on his side if he were a Muslim. The goal of Islam since the 6th century has been world conquest, by any means necessary. Some prophecies seem to speak directly of Islamic practices.
Western nations are becoming more Islamic in their cultures. They are allowing huge numbers of Muslims to move in with their religion and culture, and at the same time there has been a ‘falling away’ from the Christian faith, in countries which were predominantly Christian only a few decades ago. Because the birth rate among Muslims is much higher than in traditonal western homes, the populations of European nations are projected to become predominantly Muslim within this century.
WORLD GOVERNMENT
The first attempt at forming a one-world government is recorded in Genesis chapter 11, when all the living of that time decided to ignore God’s plan to fill the earth, and instead settle in one spot and make a name for themselves. God soon put a stop to that, because He does not want sinful man to be united, because mankind is then united in opposition to God (that is, the True God). At the close of the Tribulation, we see that all the nations of the earth will be united in an attempt to stop Christ coming, so that they can rule the earth the way they want to (Revelation 19:19).
In the Bible there are several lengthy prophecies concerning successive empires up to the Judgment. These empires may not be all that have existed on the Earth, but they directly affect and concern the people of God, and ultimately every people group on Earth.
Interestingly, the relevant prophecies were given during the two occasions when the nation of Israel was in total exile. They contain rich imagery, most of which is either interpreted within the passage, or else can be interpreted with the use of other relevant passages which serve as keys, or code breakers.
I’m not going to go into the details of all the prophecies here, but I will briefly consider one given in Daniel chapter 2. Here five world empires, beginning with Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylon, are represented as parts of an idol: a statue of a man. Chronologically, the prophecy moves from head to toes, until the whole of human rule is ended by the coming of the Messiah, and the Judgment.
The fourth empire is commonly understood to be Rome and the ‘Holy Roman Empire’ which followed it. Rome is represented in the idol by iron legs. The fifth and final world empire, represented by feet and toes of iron mixed with clay, is somehow a continuation of the fourth.
The description of this empire provokes some interesting thinking. First, as I already discussed, the world has been dominated in recent generations by the nations which made up Rome and their colonies, most particularly Britain, Spain, France, and ultimately the U.S.
Secondly, Europe now has a loose political union, comprising most of the original land mass that made up Rome. The EU is continuing to seek closer union. The nations of the world are forming international organizations in an attempt to bring unity and uniformity. Soon the regional unions will interconnect.
There is plenty of evidence to show that globalization is taking place towards world government. This is partially the result of a natural process in which free trade and international alliances are driving us all into an interconnected world, and partially the intention of many influential politicians, wealthy businessmen, environmentalists, media people, celebrities and others. They have mixed motives, which include the neutralization of Christianity and of American and Western power, and the rejection of capitalism in favor of a hybrid form of Socialism. This in turn is being achieved in part by mass migration and the mingling of very diverse cultures, and through global media. Tradition is being swept away.
The mixture of iron and clay, says the passage in Daniel, means that the end times kingdom, or empire (or whatever it is called at the time), will be “partly strong and partly brittle” (verse 42). “The people will be a mixture, and will not remain united, any more than iron mixes with clay”, (verse 43). To my mind this effectively describes our age of globalization, in which the nations are attempting to integrate and to promote free migration, but are only being partially successful, since people with such different backgrounds and cultures can not truly blend together, and neither can their nations for the same reason. Nations may form political alliances and unions, and they can promote cross migration, but they will never truly be as one.
The very end product of this prophesied empire is shown as ten toes on the foot of the idol. Other prophecies describe an empire with ten leaders over the world, who in turn will be subservient to the man we call Antichrist. Revelation 17:12-13 tells us that this last phase of the iron and clay empire will only exist for the last three and a half years of the Tribulation, but it will be extremely destructive. This will be the time when the nations, under the leadership of the Antichrist, will attempt to finally rid the world of Christians and Jews, just as Hitler attempted to rid the world of Jews and any Christian who spoke against his regime just 70 years ago. As an interesting side note, out of every 27 U.N. resolutions in recent years, 21 have been critical of Israel, that tiny Jewish nation trying to survive against a sea of hostile neighbors, while other huge powers who kill, imprison, persecute and oppress millions of its own people are rarely if ever mentioned.
SOME OF THE INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS OPERATING NOW:
The International Criminal Court, or ICC, which will soon have the authority to try anyone from anywhere, thus striking a huge blow at national sovereignty;
The United Nations (most of which are either pro-Islamic or Socialistic/Communistic);
The World Health Organization, or WHO;
The World Trade Organization, or WTO;
The International Monetary Fund, or IMF;
The G-20: a committee of 20 of Earth’s most powerful nation’s leaders;
The G8: a committee of 8 of the world’s richest nation’s leaders.
The World Bank
THE UNITED STATES, THE BEAST, AND WORLD GOVERNMENT
Another possibility to my mind (this is my speculation now: I am just observing some interesting facts here), is that The United States will be a part of Antichrist’s initial power base. It could even be the driving force. Not many Christian ministers in the US are willing to consider this, but to me it makes sense.
The United States and Canada are products of Europe, which in turn was a product of Rome and the ‘Holy Roman Empire’. They have been settled mainly by Europeans, and their governmental and societal structures are modeled on those in Europe. Rome was the world power of John’s day, and the U.S. is the world power of our day.North America and Europe are already allied in the powerful North Atlantic Treaty Organization. NATO is acting as a military arm of the UN, especially in the Middle East: just look at how Nato moved against Gaddafi in Libya. President did not seek an okay from his own congress but sis seek it from the UN. The United States is home to the United Nations, and is its main financial contributor. The U.S. currently has the trust of Israel and relies on the U.S. for its security: it would be easy for the U.S. to double–cross Israel, as the Bible says that Antichrist will.
The U.S. and Europe have a vital interest in controlling the Middle East to ensure the free flow of oil. The U.S. is recognized as the necessary peace broker betweenIsrael and the Palestinians. The U.S. and Europe currently have over 100,000 troops in the Middle East. The current U.S. president is considered by many to secretly be a Muslim himself. He has an Islamic background. He enjoys great popularity, including support from those in the west who want to minimize Israel. He is determined to forge a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians- something which would make him a hero world- wide if he could pull it off. Also very relevant is the fact that many people in North America and Europe are increasingly becoming hostile to the Christians gospel and to Israel.
No matter what anyone tells you, the reference to the ‘wings of a great eagle’, which provides for the escape of Jews from Judea during the Tribulation, most likely does not refer to an American airlift (Revelation 12:14). In Exodus God’s own salvation was called ‘eagles wings’, three thousand years before the U.S. existed (Exodus 19:4). There is no sign that the U.S. will be on the side of Israel at that time, unless perhaps it is neutralized and can not help. Remember that ‘all nations’ will attack Jerusalem in the last days, and the Lord prophesied that when He moves to defend Israel, no-one will be there to help Him (Isaiah 63:3-6).
WHAT’S SO BAD ABOUT WORLD GOVERNMENT?
Proponents of world government/governance claim that the world is in need of centralized policies and governing bodies, in order to manage the international organizations that already exist, to increase trade and therefore improve the economy for everyone; to ensure that the poor and developing nations are helped, and to work to bring about world peace. It sounds very good.
One of the problems with this is the resulting loss of freedom of thought and belief. Religion will somehow have to become homogenized and innocuous, so that everyone can “get along”. Movements are already under way, by some very influential people, and even some ‘religious’ or ‘Christian’ organizations, to bring this about. We are now already expected to ‘tolerate’ other beliefs, philosophies and lifestyles than those we were taught. Toleration is very fine, but not when it involves the denial of your own convictions in favor of someone else’s. The true Christian ‘narrow way’ will be persecuted, and in fact already is being slandered. Some beliefs will be tolerated while beliefs which go against the grain, such as evangelical Christianity, are to be silenced. This is covered on a separate section on World Religion. While God definitely does want men to live in peace and harmony, he does not want His people to compromise their beliefs and so deny truth and dishonor Him. We must obey God rather than man.
If God had wanted world government He would not have confused the languages at Babel in order to scatter the nations. What is happening now is an attempt to reverse what God did at Babel. This reversal is being masterminded by Satan. Humanity, when united without God, is in rebellion against God and playing Satan’s game. God will not allow a human world government to stand!
GLOBAL TV/ INTERNET
One of the many amazing prophecies of the book of Revelation suggests global communications systems, which could not even have been imagined at the time John wrote Revelation. In chapter 11, two of God’s witnesses are killed in the streets of Jerusalem, (verses 7-8). For three and a half days, ‘men from every people, tribe, language and nation will gaze on their bodies’, and ‘The inhabitants of the earth will gloat over them and will celebrate by sending each other gifts’ (verses 9-10). This would have been impossible in the first century, particularly in the space of three and a half days. It will be in response to judgments which will have affected many parts of the world (verses 6 and 10). These events will be watched on global TV and internet.
THE MARK OF THE BEAST
Our rising global economy, technology and communications systems are ultimately going to be used to enforce allegiance to the Antichrist (Revelation 13:16-17). We read in Revelation that during the Tribulation everyone on earth will be made to receive a mark in their right hand or forehead, signifying their allegiance and compliance to him and to his political and religious system. Anyone who refuses to take the mark will not be allowed to buy or sell (Revelation 13:16-17). They will not be able to buy food, and most likely they will be denied a job. There is a stern warning given by God that anyone who does receive the mark will not be considered a child of God, but will be sent to the lake of fire at the judgment (14:9-15). So there is a very serious decision to be made. In order to be saved from their sins, Christians at that time must reject the mark, but then they will not be able to buy or sell. They will be denied a normal existence, and finally they will be hunted down and many of them killed. However, this sacrifice will lead to great blessing and eternal life with God (Revelation 15:2-4).
There are several technologies already developed which could be used to provide the mark: microchips, biometrics systems such as fingerprinting and iris recognition, and the assigning of numbers to all people on Earth. If there were no cash, all financial transactions would have to be made via computers, which would then control who sells or buys what. It’s not clear from the Bible whether cash will be done away with, but transactions are increasingly being made with the use of electronic credit and debit, when only a few decades ago these methods of payment didn’t exist.
Fuel for Faith 