A look at today’s cultural and political landscape in the United States reveals that we are a nation divided. In reality we are a nation in decline. For too long, people have rejected Biblical morality and ethics in favor of their own sexual liberation, their manipulation of others, their greed and ambition, and many other ungodly agendas. Even as this deterioration has been happening, the Church has similarly become ever more divided, with many churches and even parts of some denominations modifying or abandoning long-held Scriptural truths and teachings, as we discussed in the previous article. By degrees, the USA is losing the favor of God and falling into divine judgement.
In reality, though, societal and Church decline have not just been happening in America. The times we live in are becoming ever darker and more degenerate, an occurrence which the Word of God foretold (Matthew 24:4-14; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-4; 1 Timothy 4:1-3; 2 Timothy 3:1-5). The battle lines are many: political, religious, racial, ethnic, and numerous others. All this makes for a complex picture. Behind the scenes, however, in the spirit realm, the delineation is much more clear. It is good versus evil, God and His kingdom of light and Satan and his kingdom of darkness. We are affected both by what goes on in the natural and what goes on in the spiritual. We will get to the spiritual aspects of what is happening, but first let us revisit what is occurring in the world overall.
- The Bad in the World
One of the most vile things to come to light in the cascade of moral decline is a proposal to normalize pedophilia. A shocking report issued by international legal experts with the backing of the United Nations appears to open the floodgates to normalize sex with minors. “Sexual conduct involving persons below the domestically prescribed minimum age of consent to sex may be consensual in fact, if not in law,” the Geneva-based International Commission of Jurists wrote in March with an assist from UNAIDS and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. [1] It does not actively call for decriminalizing sex between adults and minors. But it states that children have both the capacity and the legal right to make sexual decisions. “According to the United Nations, children may consent to sex with adults. This has been the plan all along,” social media influencer Ian Miles Cheong tweeted over the weekend…[2]
Then, of course, there are the happenings connected to the World Economic Forum, headquartered in Davos, Switzerland. I will not belabor this point, having spoken of them extensively in earlier articles. You can visit their website here, and see for yourself their relentlessly globalist bent, wanting everything from climate change action to digital currency. In bed with the WEF is the United Nations, including the ever-looming specter of the World Health Organization.
The inception of the United Nations (UN) in the mid-20th century remains the closest approximation to a world government, as it is by far the largest and most powerful international institution. [3] In a December 1, 2021, article on the World Health Organization website here, we find the following: “In a consensus decision aimed at protecting the world from future infectious diseases crises, the World Health Assembly today agreed to kickstart a global process to draft and negotiate a convention, agreement or other international instrument under the Constitution of the World Health Organization to strengthen pandemic prevention, preparedness and response.” [4] This raises concerns that the WHO will exercise far too much power over sovereign nations, including the United States. Of course, the mainstream media, also called the legacy media, did its usual shilling in dismissing such concerns, as this AP News article from February 24, 2023, typifies: “AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. The voluntary treaty, which is in draft form and is still far away from ratification, does not overrule any nation’s ability to pass individual pandemic-related policies, multiple experts, including one involved in the draft process, told the Associated Press…” [5] With the degree of government overreach experienced by the citizenry of a number of nations during COVID, such statements are very hard to believe. This skepticism has been exacerbated by extreme dishonesty from much of the medical community as well as the deception surrounding the origins of COVID-19. With talk of future pandemics, who knows what abuses of power the globalists elites and the governments of the nations will perpetrate next?
A couple of articles ago we disclosed controversial happenings with the Large Hadron Collider under CERN, discussed in an explosive 51-minute video. It is shared in the second These Prophetic Times article, “The Breaking of the Paradigm.” Now, researchers are looking to build a new collider 100 kilometers in circumference, dubbed the Future Circular Collider, that is considerably larger than the 27-kilometer Large Hadron Collider (LHC), currently the world’s largest and more powerful particle-smashing machine. [6] You have to wonder what this larger device will do considering what has happened with the current collider.
Then there is the issue of AI (artificial intelligence). Such computer technology is advancing at a concerning rate. As it is, robots and AI could take away many jobs. Many experts in the artificial intelligence field warn much worse things than that will happen if the growth of AI is unchecked. More than 350 executives, researchers, and engineers from leading artificial intelligence companies have signed an open letter cautioning that the AI technology they are developing could pose an existential threat to humanity. [7]
Smart cities are yet another threat to the freedom of mankind—unless you happen to be a member of the ruling elite. A smart city is a technologically modern urban area that uses different types of electronic methods and sensors to collect specific data. Information gained from that data is used to manage assets, resources and services efficiently; in return, that data is used to improve operations across the city. This includes data collected from citizens, devices, buildings and assets that is processed and analyzed to monitor and manage traffic and transportation systems, power plants, utilities, water supply networks, waste, criminal investigations, information systems, schools, libraries, hospitals, and other community services. [8] Of course, such entities as the World Economic Forum are in favor of these cities.
Led by the World Economic Forum, the G20 Global Smart Cities Alliance on Technology Governance is the largest global initiative aiming at ensuring responsible and ethical use of smart city technologies. [9] At least that is what they claim. Such cities as London, England; Zurich, Switzerland; Taipei City, Taiwan; and New York City, New York are just some examples reflecting the diversity of applications of technologies used in smart cities. [10]
As you would expect from the description of the smart city above, most smart cities include [11]:
- Green Technology – In a smart city, green technologies include solar charging, wireless monitoring, smart waste bins, green buildings that maximize energy efficiency and even electric vehicles.
- Traffic Management – A combination of sensors, cameras and IoT (Internet of Things) communication devices make it easier to check traffic and road conditions in real-time.
- Intelligent Lighting Controls – Smart lighting controls use sensors to illuminate only when people or cars approach, saving significant energy compared to traditional streetlights.
- Water & Wastewater – Smart cities use technology such as hardware, software, automation and data analysis to help utilities detect and resolve water and wastewater management problems.
- Security – From cybersecurity to crime prevention, smart cities rely on secure data platforms, video surveillance and secure hardware devices to detect and combat bad actors.
- Emergency response – From optimized routing for a faster emergency response to CCTV cameras sharing real-time footage with call centers, rapidly advancing IoT technologies promise to reimagine emergency response in smart cities.
Sounds positively Utopian, huh? Notice that these smart cities are very heavy on surveillance. China is already a totalitarian digital surveillance state, a hell-on-earth of cameras, facial recognition technology, and heavy-handed Communist control of its citizens. In the hands of the New World Order—and there is a New World Order arising despite its being labeled as another conspiracy theory [12]—such tight control can be spread to smart cities and other locales everywhere. Naturally, many articles on the regular internet that dare to address these possibilities will be flagged as false if not taken down altogether. Well, if this is a conspiracy theory also, then why censor stuff like that? If it is not real, what is there to be afraid of? All this smart-city stuff is couched in typically bland, benign, globalist language, but in these end times, the potential for abuse of such high-level technology is off the charts.
Speaking of, we already know—or should know, anyway—that Big Tech (Google, Meta, and so forth) utilizes censorship. They do it in the name of “combatting disinformation,” but how is it that much of what is censored comes from conservative sources and individuals or is otherwise many truths being called “conspiracy theories”? Big Business, compromised government officials, the mainstream media, secret societies, and others are all in on this, yet just recently another troubling development has come from the United Nations. Digital platforms—which include social media channels, search engines and messaging apps—are connecting billions of people across the planet…They have brought many benefits…[13] But the claim is made in UN News, “Yet these same digital platforms are being misused to subvert science and spread disinformation and hate, fueling conflict, threatening democracy and human rights, and undermining public health and climate change.” [14] Addressing this issue in mid-June 2023, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said, “Countries must address the ‘grave global harm’ caused by the proliferation of hate and lies online.” A key report was launched, designed to shore up information integrity on digital platforms. Guterres wrote in the introduction, “My hope is that it will provide a gold standard for guiding action to strengthen information integrity.” [15]
All this from the United Nations, whom, in conjunction with their own World Health Organization, the Centers for Disease Control, Dr. Anthony Fauci, and others, gave us useless mandates and debilitating lockdowns during the COVID pandemic, worked to cover up the origin of the COVID-19 virus, and worked to obscure the bad and even deadly side effects of the various COVID vaccines while at the same time labeling effective medicines against the disease as useless or even dangerous. This from the same organization that has partnered with the World Economic Forum and various other organizations, societies, institutions, and individuals to advocate for those things which make for the New World Order—and we are supposed to trust them? These globalists may act like they have our best interests at heart, but what they really want is to remake the world the way they think it should be and, if others suffer or die or lose freedoms in the process, so be it. They cannot be trusted. One logical outcome of this report, if its recommendations are implemented, is social credit scores for everyone. These already exist in places such as China.
Klaus Schwab, the founder of WEF, has said, “China is a ‘role model’ for many countries…I think we should be very careful in imposing systems, but the Chinese model is certainly a very attractive model for quite a number of countries.” [16] China, a Communist digital totalitarian surveillance police state, is a role model for other countries? This from one of these global elitists who supposedly want to make the world a better place for all of humanity…Again, they cannot be trusted.
Here is yet another proof of the globalists’ untrustworthiness. Remember, the Bible is the Word of God, which the Lord values very greatly (2 Peter 1:19-21; Revelation 22:18-19; Psalm 138:2; Proverbs 30:6). Yuval Noah Harari, known for being a contributor and speaker at the World Economic Forum, is promoting the idea that AI will be able to generate a new globally acceptable religious book. Harari’s prediction is raising alarms for conservatives and Christians since the Bible is considered sacred as God’s holy word to mankind…Harari said AI will soon be able to invent new concepts and beliefs that are more socially acceptable than the Bible. “AI can create new ideas; {it} can even write a new Bible,” he said, in order to establish unified and “correct” religions. “Throughout history, religions dreamt about having a book written by a superhuman intelligence, by a non-human entity,” Harari explained. Now he believes AI will become a new type of god…[17]
But this is not just a prediction for Harari. His past comments indicate he has animosity toward God’s Word. A few years ago Harari wrote a commentary in “The Globe and Mail” mocking the Bible, saying, “centuries ago, millions of Christians locked themselves inside a self-reinforcing mythological bubble, never daring to question the factual veracity of the Bible…” He says the Bible is just fiction and compares it to fictional novels like Harry Potter. “Billions of people have believed in these stories for thousands of years. Some fake news lasts forever,” Harari wrote. [18] A contributor and speaker at the WEF, an organization that supposedly wants to help make the world a better place, said this…No good can come of an attitude like that, at least not for those of us who are Christians.
These are updates of just some of the things in our world that either are or will become bad. For further references we suggest that you read the previous These Prophetic Times articles. Now we will turn to the good in the world.
- The Good in the World
Despite the darkening spiritual climate of the times we are living in, there is hope. First and foremost is the hope we have in Jesus Christ, without whom all other hope is useless:
1 Peter 1:3-5: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
We as Christians are called to be salt and light to the world around us (Matthew 5:13-16). The lost need Jesus desperately, especially in today’s world where opportunities to sin in all manner of ways abound. It is as if an endless sin buffet has been set out by the kingdom of darkness. You will recall from the previous TPT article that the church itself is in a sorry state, but that is not true of every single church or every single Christian. There has been a faithful remnant of God’s people throughout time.
1 Kings 19:18: Yet I have reserved seven thousand in Israel, all whose knees have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.”
Revelation 2:13: “I know your works, and where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is. And you hold fast to My name, and did not deny My faith even in the days in which Antipas was My faithful martyr, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells.”
We have heard of revivals breaking out in various parts of the world, including the Asbury revival in February 2023. Revival is for the Church, and once Christians’ fire for God has been rekindled, many lost get saved. For all the fact that there are a number of professing believers that are slipping away from the tenets of the faith, there are others who cling to these Biblical truths and proclaim them. There has been a much-discussed possibility of a great last-days revival sweeping the world just before the Rapture. This Scripture, which seems to have had more than one fulfillment, will be fulfilled yet again when this global revival comes to pass:
Joel 2:28-32: “And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions. And also on My menservants and on Mymaidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days. And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: Blood and fire and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and awesome day of the LORD. And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance, as the LORD has said, among the remnant whom the LORD calls.”
Although some sort of global-type government must come to pass sooner or later if the Antichrist is to have the degree of control described in the Bible, there is nonetheless an awakening of sorts happening. For all the brainwashed automaton “sheeple” out there who go through life thinking everything will be all right and the government really cares about us, there are others whose eyes have been opened to the true nature of the leftists’ radical agendas. Parents are pushing back against the sexualization of their children. Even school students are pushing back against gender ideology in their schools. [19] Increasing numbers of people are raising the alarm about President Biden’s mental competency, the corruption in the government, and election integrity. All around the world there are many who are getting tired of the fanaticism of climate change alarmists and green energy gurus. We have already seen failures of this green energy, such as, for example, the extreme expense and lack of driving range of electric vehicles. [20] There are other examples—if you can still find them on the internet. There are people pressing for the truth about all things COVID, including its origin and the hazards associated with the various vaccines. Many people across the globe look upon such organizations as the World Economic Forum with skepticism. Legitimate concerns are being raised even by common, everyday people about the risks posed by artificial intelligence. In fact, there is a growing awareness that things are not right in general, all is not as it should be, and that people everywhere are being lied to by their governments.
Will this awareness stop the advance of these radical agendas? Some courses may be changed, but ultimately these leftists will forge ahead relentlessly. At least fewer people will be ignorant. Whether an agenda can be stopped or not, ignorance is never bliss. Think of it this way. If a person blindsides you with a punch, even a modest blow can cause great injury. If you know the punch is coming it will still hurt, but the potential for such great injury is significantly less because you were ready for it. Similarly, knowing what is going on in the world will not stop it, but at least you will be prepared. And the most important preparation you can have is spiritual.
God cannot be defeated. Satan and the kingdom of darkness know this. Perhaps—and this is just speculation—the devil still holds out a wild hope that he can win or at least make a deal with God once the battle is over. All living beings want to survive, and I do not personally think this is limited to animals and humans. Angelic beings and demons have intelligence, personality, and feelings, and they have a mission in life, too, albeit an evil one, so no doubt they, too, want to have some reason to hold out hope. Still, fallen angels and demons alike really know that they are doomed:
Matthew 8:28-29: When He had come to the other side, to the country of the Gergesenes, there met Him two demon-possessed men, coming out of the tombs, exceedingly fierce, so that no one could pass that way. And suddenly they cried out, saying, “What have we to do with You, Jesus, You Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?”
Luke 8:30-31: Jesus asked him, saying, “What is your name?” And he said, “Legion,” because many demons had entered him. And they begged Him that He would not command them to go out into the abyss.
This was true in ancient times, it is true now, and it will be true in the future:
Revelation 12:7-12: And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death. Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.”
The Church is still here in the world, her faithful remnant carrying on the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20). Not everyone will be saved, but some people will be. The time of the end will run its course, with the wrap-up of the Church Age, the Rapture, the seven years of the Tribulation, the 1000-year reign of Christ while Satan (and presumably all the other fallen angels and the demons) will be bound in the abyss throughout this time, Satan’s final attempt to deceive the world, his ultimate defeat and the condemnation of all the wicked dead—whether lost people, fallen angels, or demons—to the lake of fire for all eternity, the renovation of the heavens and the earth by fire, the descent of New Jerusalem to the earth, and those of us who are saved spending time with God the Father, Jesus Christ, the holy angels, and other believers forever and ever in unspeakable joy (Revelation 20:1–22:5).
Philippians 2:5-11: Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Ephesians 2:4-7: But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in Hiskindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
I leave you with the last part of Martin Luther’s great hymn, “A Mighty Fortress is Our God.” Written by the great Reformer in 1529, it is based on Psalm 46 and is moving and powerful throughout. These last lines in the hymn really bring home the point that in the end, we—the saints—win [21]:
That Word above all earthly powers
no thanks to them abideth;
the Spirit and the gifts are ours
through him who with us sideth.
Let goods and kindred go,
this mortal life also;
the body they may kill:
God’s truth abideth still;
his kingdom is forever.
[1] https://www.foxnews.com>lifestyle April 17, 2023, article by Kerry J. Byrne, “New UN-backed Legal Recommendations Normalize Sex With Minors, Outraged Critics Say.” Retrieved 05/15/2023.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Wikipedia article, “World government.” Retrieved 05/20/2023.
[4] https://www.who.int>News December 1, 2021, article, “World Health Assembly Agrees to Launch Process to Develop Historic Global Accord on Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response.” Retrieved 05/20/2023.
[5] https://www.apnews.com February 24, 2023, article, by Sophia Tulp, “WHO ‘Pandemic Treaty’ Draft Doesn’t Sign Over US Sovereignty.” Retrieved 05/20/2023.
[6] https://genevasolutions.news July 14, 2021, article by Achintya Rao (updated July 20, 2021), “Plans Move Ahead for Even Larger Particle Collider at CERN.” Retrieved 06/12/2023.
[7] https://www.breitbart.com/tech/ May 30, 2023, article by Lucas Nolan, “ ‘Global Priority’: AI Industry Leaders Warn of ‘Risk of Extinction.’ ” Retrieved 06/12/2023.
[8] Wikipedia article, “Smart city.” Retrieved 06/12/2023.
[9] https://www.weforum.org>impact/ June 22, 2022, article, “Our Alliance is Creating Smart City Governance.” Retrieved 06/12/2023.
[10] https://www.digi.com>blog>post/ April 14, 2023, article by Jayna Locke, “Top 10 Most Futuristic Smart Cities in the World (2023).” Retrieved 06/12/2023.
[11] Ibid.
[12] https://www.thepublicdiscourse.com January 4, 2023, article by Carl R. Trueman, “Apocalyptic Politics: Christianity and the New World Order.” Retrieved 06/12/2023.
[13] https://www.un.org/ June 12, 2023, article by UN News, “UN Chief Calls for New Era of Social Media Integrity in Bid to Stem Misinformation.” Retrieved 06/15/2023.
[14] Ibid.
[15] Ibid.
[16] https://blog.independent.org December 1, 2022, article by K. Lloyd Billingsley, “Klaus Schwab Proclaims China a ‘Role Model’ for Many Nations.” Retrieved 06/15/2023.
[17] https://www2.cbn.com>news June 16, 2023, article by Steve Warren, “World Economic Forum Contributor Says AI Could Rewrite the Bible, Create ‘Correct’ Religions.” Retrieved 06/16/2023.
[18] Ibid.
[19] https://dailycaller.com June 16, 2023, article by Sarah Weaver, “The Kids Are All Right: Students Are Pushing Back Against Gender Ideology in Their Schools.” Retrieved 06/24/2023.
[20] https://www.hotcars.com March 19, 2023, article, “10 Most Glaring Problems With Electric Cars.” Retrieved 06/24/2023.
[21] https://hymnary.org Martin Luther, 1529, “A Mighty Fortress is Our God.” Published in well over 600 hymnals. Last stanza is cited here. Retrieved 06/24/2023.
One Response
Great Article! 🙂