Dr. David Jeremiah writes, “Out of the 216 chapters found in the entire New Testament, did you know there are 318 references to the Second Coming of Christ? That means if you were to omit passages about prophecy, you would have to remove one out of every thirty verses in the New Testament. You would also have to skip 23 of the 27 New Testament books because that’s how many mention it. For every prophecy about the birth of Christ, there are eight about His Second Coming. Considering prophecy’s prominence in the Bible, how could any believer neglect it?”
We reserve a few minutes to discuss current trends that you’d expect from reading Bible prophecy.
We are futurists. We interpret the unfulfilled End Times prophecies as future events that will occur in a literal, physical, apocalyptic, and global context.
Biometrics, Artificial Intelligence, cashless commerce, the manipulation of human DNA, global government, the exponential growth of human knowledge, and the rebirth of national Israel are End Times phenomena the Bible predicts. All of these are increasingly trending in the news.
The future seven-year Great Tribulation is described in detail in chapters six through eighteen in the Revelation. One of its key features is the global authoritarian government of the antichrist. The dreaded Mark of the Beast will be a system of identification and surveillance by which the government will exert total control over its citizens, to the point of life-and-death.
Is there a trend towards authoritarian government? Oh yes there is!
I read an article titled, The creeping authoritarianism of facial recognition. Its tagline is, “The same technology that Russia uses to keep its people in line has come to America.”
Another article was titled, Democracy faces perfect storm as the world becomes more authoritarian.
Excerpts:
Many democratic governments are increasingly adopting authoritarian tactics, accentuated by the Covid19 pandemic, while autocratic regimes are consolidating their power.
These are the key findings of the “The Global State of Democracy Report 2021 – Building Resilience in a Pandemic Era,” published in November 2021 by the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA).
The Global State of Democracy report is not a wakeup call, it’s an alarm bell. Authoritarianism advances in every corner of the earth. Universal values – the pillars of civilization that protect the most vulnerable – are under threat.
Overall, the number of countries moving in an authoritarian direction in 2020 outnumbered those going in a democratic direction.
https://www.idea.int/news-media/news/democracy-faces-perfect-storm-world-becomes-more-authoritarian
Harvard Law School is calling the rise of authoritarian government “The Other Pandemic.” This quote from them is particularly disturbing:
The global copycat response to viral containment is setting a dangerous precedent for future pandemics and disasters. With a gratuitous toll being inflicted on democracy, civil liberties, fundamental freedoms, healthcare ethics and human dignity, this has the potential to unleash humanitarian crises no less devastating than COVID19 in the long run.
https://hls.harvard.edu/event/the-other-pandemic-covid-19-and-the-rise-of-authoritarian-governance/
AP News titled a report, Authoritarianism Advances as World Battles Pandemic.
Yet another source put it this way:
While you’re worrying about your family, your house, your job, or your next grocery delivery, more and more governments are biting into the forbidden fruit of surveillance.
Claiming to monitor quarantines and self-isolating people, authorities are now giving themselves more rights than ever over people’s freedom.
https://privacyhub.cyberghostvpn.com/privacyhub/covid19-authoritarianism/
A trend towards global authoritarian government was long ago predicted by the Bible.
We believe the resurrection and rapture of the church are imminent. It could happen any moment; nothing needs to happen before it. It will happen before the Great Tribulation.
Jesus will return in the clouds.
He will raise the dead in Christ.
He will transform the bodies of living believers to glorified, resurrection bodies.
We will all join Him in Heaven while the earth endures one final seven-year campaign of severe evangelism.
Are you ready for the rapture? If not, Get ready; Stay ready; Keep looking up.
Ready or not, Jesus is coming!