Approaching World Events of Revelation/Program 2

By: Dr. Jimmy DeYoung; ©2012

Oil prices, banking, and technology continue to emerge as key factors that influence today’s politics and economies. In this program, you’ll also discover how today’s information age may be preparing our world for a new global age — one predicted in the words of the Bible’s final book.

Introduction

Today on the John Ankerberg Show, the eyes of the world are fixed on the Middle East. Every day the papers of all major countries carry lead stories about Israel, Iran Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Pakistan and other Middle East nations. Further, it is evident to all that the nation of Israel is increasingly under fire both politically and militarily.

Benjamin Netanyahu: The militant Shiites in Iran are openly racing, boasting that they’re racing to develop nuclear weapons with the explicit announced goal of wiping Israel from the face of the earth.

Many believe the Middle East is about to explode and drag the world into one of the most difficult and terrifying conflicts in world history. The prophets in the Old Testament predict just such a situation will occur. 2600 years ago God revealed specific information to the prophet Ezekiel about a group of nations that would come together and attack Israel in the last days. Bible scholars refer to this attack as the Ezekiel 38 War. Do we see any evidence that the nations Ezekiel spoke about are threatening Israel today? My guest for this series is journalist and prophecy scholar, Dr. Jimmy Deyoung who has lived in Israel and covered the Middle East since 1993. Join us for this special edition of the John Ankerberg Show.

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Ankerberg: Welcome to our program. I’m John Ankerberg, and my guest today is Dr. Jimmy DeYoung. He’s a journalist that’s just come back from Israel, covering events that are taking place in the Middle East. And we’re getting an update on what is taking place across the world in those nations. What we want to talk about in this program, Jimmy, do we see through the world economy, events transpiring that are leading the events that were predicted over 2,000 years ago in the Bible? And let me start off with some of the world events that we actually are experiencing right now. We all know that gas prices are going up. We have no idea, in a few weeks when we actually air the program we are making at this moment, how high the gas prices are going to go. There are certain events that could take place that could double the gas prices, according to the Wall Street Journal, in just a few weeks of time, alright. There would be an economic disaster taking place, not only here in America, but in Europe and China, across Africa, South America. The world economies cannot stand a rapid rate of increase in terms of the gas prices. But we might see it. We might actually be dealing with that.

The other side of the coin is, we do see that in America we are approaching a $16 trillion debt, and there is no solution that is on the table for that yet. An election is coming up. Even if there is a transfer of power to the Republicans, that is no guarantee that we’re going to solve the problem, because you still have the Congress and you have the Senate that have to be dealt with.

Europe has not got a handle on their financial situation. You have countries that are dragging down the European Union. China is sweating their money. Putin needs oil prices to go to $150 a barrel, according to the Wall Street Journal, and the fact is, it’s not there yet. And if he doesn’t, he can’t fulfill his promises economically for Russia. So the world is all in a crunch in terms of this, and it is causing the world to come together—the G-8, the G-20—for the reason of trying to stabilize the economy of the world so that everybody can keep floating, alright. And what they’re calling for is more global control of the financial transactions that are taking place.

Along that line, you also have technology that is increasing at a rapid rate. According to the news reports, America is now only seven percent cash. In other words, we have 93 percent of our transactions financially are cashless: credit cards, other means. Sweden is even less. Other countries across the world are going the same direction. That means that electronically you can control the finances around the world. You can use your cell phone and make a purchase in Brazil or in India if you’ve got your credit card. And those lines of communication can be used, or they can be controlled, and this is setting up some of the scenarios that we find in the Bible.

There are other things, but let me switch over to the Bible. With these things as part of what we’re seeing in the world taking place right now, what does the Bible say, for people that don’t know about Bible prophecy? Why do the economic problems and this increase of technology fit into what was put into the Bible more than 2,000 years ago?

DeYoung: Well, why do they fit in? Because God knows exactly what is going to take place; and, ultimately, what you’ve been talking about is simply the stage setting for the scenario found in God’s Word to be fulfilled. You go to the 13th chapter of the book of Revelation. Now, this is the most detailed chapter on that personality who will be prevalent in that seven year period called the tribulation period—after the rapture and before the second coming—the Antichrist. That’s one of 27 names that he has. And we can rehearse some of those names, which even gives us greater input into what he’s going to be doing. In chapter 11 of the book of Daniel, for example, and there in verse 36, he’s called the willful king. Over in chapter 9 and verse 27 of the book of Daniel, he’s also called the ruler, or the one who is the prince of the people that shall come, the Roman people who destroyed the city of Jerusalem in 70 AD. So he’s a part of that Roman Empire, howbeit a revived Roman Empire. Again, chapter 13 of Revelation is detailed about some of his activities.

Let me just go to the last half of the tribulation period. In chapter 13, verses 16 and 17, it says that he is going to cause every person on earth, every single person, small or great, leadership, not leader, whatever, every person is going to have to take a mark. How many people talk about the mark of the beast or 666? The Bible is not specific that it will be 666 on the forehead or on the back of the right hand. It is specific that that will be an identification mark that will allow everybody to buy and sell. You go to the 18th chapter of the book of Revelation. It says the merchants of the world wax rich. That means in their relationship and partnership with the Antichrist they become very, very wealthy. The reason for that identification mark is so that people can be recognized, once qualified, to buy or sell: buy clothing, buy food to sustain life, buy shelter, the necessities of life. They won’t even be able to buy the necessities of life without this mark. And it says that for the last three and a half years of the seven year tribulation period, leading up to the second coming of Christ, in what we know as modern day Iraq, in a place called Babylon, the Antichrist will head up a one-world economic, political, governmental system. That’s what the Word says. All the current events are setting the stage for the prophecies of God’s Word to be fulfilled.

Ankerberg: Yeah. I’ll give you another outstanding figure that I found in doing the research for this program, and that is that we’ve just passed over the seven billion people in the world. And of the seven billion people, human beings that are here, that 5.9 billion people already have cell phones and are using them. So, when you see people using their cell phones for financial transactions, or getting a text, or listening to music, or watching video, the fact is, the technology is already there and it’s in place. But this technology can be controlled. So, for example, in Egypt, in terms of the Internet, they shut the whole thing down when they didn’t want people to use it, when they didn’t want the wrong messages being conveyed. This can also be controlled. And, again, when you have a cashless society, where we’re down to seven percent only using cash right now of all the transactions, again, the electronic controls of these kinds of financial transactions, we can see, we’re approaching the time that the Bible says a person can come on the world’s scene and have the power, have the institutions, that can control all this stuff.

DeYoung: John, just a moment ago I said this control would be headquartered in the city of Babylon, the literal city of Babylon, on the shores of the Euphrates River, 58 miles out of downtown Bagdad. You quoted some of the activities going on in other parts of the world as it relates to electronic banking. Well, let me give you this bit of information. Prime Minister Netanyahu, he’s a graduate from M.I.T. with a PhD. The man is very technically savvy. In fact, 40% of all the software in the world is created in Israel in what they call their mini, or their little Silicon Valley. Prime Minister Netanyahu, when he made statements about the rebuilding of war-torn Iraq, said that Iraq is putting in place a cutting edge, state of the art telecommunications system which he said could become for sure the Silicon Valley of the Middle East, maybe the Silicon Valley of the entire world.

And when you think about the rebuilding of Iraq, and the oil supply needed in this world to keep the world going, the largest source of oil is under the ground there in Iraq. I’m simply saying the location where the Antichrist is going to rule this one world economy could be the most wired center for the world, the Silicon Valley of the world, and the richest nation of the world, with all this technology to be able to be put in place for the use of the Antichrist to accomplish what you’re talking about.

Ankerberg: Alright. We have three pillars on stage. The Bible talks about these events happening in this tribulation time period. How close are we; and what are the major events that transpire around this that the Bible talks about? Use the pillars to illustrate this.

DeYoung: Well, the first pillar on the right there would be the rapture, when Jesus shouts, archangel shouts, trumpet of God sounds, and all Christians are caught up to be with Him in the air. Then there’s a space between the first two pillars. The second pillar would be the second coming of Christ. That space would be the seven years of the tribulation, the terrible judgment on the face of the earth. In previous programs we talked about the alignment of the nations. That’s going to happen in the first half. If you could put an imaginary line at the midway point between those two pillars, the first half would be the first three and a half years; basically the alignment of the nations, the power of the Antichrist coming into play, a peace treaty that’s confirmed, etc., etc.

At the midway point, that’s when this economic power base is set up in Iraq. So we’re looking at the last three and a half years. If we’re having a global crisis over here before the rapture’s ever taking place, what about, how are they going to bring us out of this morass, this crisis, this global crisis? The European Union is a perfect prototype. They’re putting in place a structure, a European Union-wide structure, economically, to bring it to power, and they are suggesting to the world, this is the way to go.

That’s what Bible prophecy says is going to happen, and it’s going to be headquartered in modern day Iraq, biblical Babylon. By the way, that’s the reason the United States was there for almost nine years. This is happening in our world like it’s never happened before. We’re ready to see prophecy fulfilled.

Ankerberg: Alright, we’re going to take a break. When we come back, I want to talk about the fact of the problem of our national debt and not having a solution; and what that is causing the nations of the world to speculate about, in terms of creating another currency, that if the American economy is worthless, in terms of the value of the dollar, they’re going to come up with a new currency. And you’ve seen pictures of this and you’ve heard the talk in Europe. And I want you to give us a little report on that, and then tie it to biblical prophecy when we come right back. Stick with us.

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Ankerberg: Alright, we’re back. We’re having a fascinating conversation with journalist Dr. Jimmy DeYoung, who’s just returned from Israel, and has been covering events there. And what we are talking about is a perspective that’s coming, say, from Europe. Those of you that are watching in Europe, or you’re in the Orient, when, Jimmy, you have traveled there, you’ve heard the speculation about the American economy in terms of, if we do not settle our problems, our money is being devalued. And as a result of our money being devalued, and our not coming up with any viable plan that anybody can see, we’re going to be up to $16 trillion very quickly in terms of the national debt. They are talking about developing another currency that everybody could adjust their money to, that could be used as a world currency, that would help everybody in case America does go down. You’ve seen even pictures of this thing. Talk about what’s going on.

DeYoung: Well, you know, this is an old saying that you hear all over Europe, “If America sneezes, everybody in Europe catches a cold.” And that has application to the economic problem. You just brought it to our attention. America is going down the drain economically, and this is having an effect on Europe. Vice versa, the same thing is happening. When you see Greece defaulting on their debt, when you see the possibility of Portugal, Spain, Italy, maybe even Ireland, doing the exact same thing, they’re in real trouble. So they had to come up with a solution.

Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany, and President Sarkozy of France put together a plan to save Greece, to keep them from going bankrupt. But, in reality, that’s not what they were worried about. They were worried about saving the Eurozone, which is a group of nations already involved in using a common currency.

I talked earlier about the European Union being a prototype for this structure, this financial economic structure to bring us out of the chaos that we’re in economically worldwide. This euro, which is the common currency of Europe, is a prototype for a worldwide common currency. Geithner, who is the Secretary of Treasury here in America, said when he heard about China introducing the possibility of a common currency across the world, he said hey, we’re very eager to listen, to hear what he has to say. Of course, President Obama backed off of that statement. But that’s just an indication of where America is thinking that they could go to help save themselves from all the economic problems they’re having.

This is, again, setting the stage for the Antichrist to put up this world wide economic structure that everybody has to conform to: giving them a common currency, giving them an identification mark on the forehead or the back of the hand in order so they can buy or sell. And we can see example after example of how that’s happening. Now, you go into a grocery store, you take an item, you put it over in an electronic reader, it sends it to the bank, your money’s deposited in their account, taken out of your account. That’s what’s happening. Just think: if they can do that in the grocery stores today, when the Antichrist comes to power and you have to have this mark, identification mark, you’ll just put your hand over the scanner and it’ll be able to transfer your money. Electronic manipulation of money is on the horizon. It’s already mostly in place around the world, and that’s the scenario laid out in God’s Word, and that’s where we’re quickly going to right now.

Ankerberg: Yeah. We also have, in the European Union, you have a president that’s elected, what, every two years?

DeYoung: The president is elected on a four year basis, I believe.

Ankerberg: Four year basis

DeYoung: Two or four, I’m not sure. It doesn’t matter.

Ankerberg: What’s interesting is, you’ve got a leader of this group of nations; you’ve got a leader in the United Nations; you’ve got a leader at the G-20; you’ve got a leader at the G-8. We know of people that have these power positions. And these power positions, if you’re in the G-20, the fact is it, controls 84% of the world’s economy, alright. So you already have in place the ability to control the economy of the world. So we’ve got two problems on the board in our reality every day. One is, the fact is, we have an economic problem worldwide. We also have a world in turmoil that is worried about going into war. And we do not want to see a war between Israel and Iran; we don’t want to see a one between Israel and Syria; we certainly don’t want to see a coalition of nations coming against Israel. The United States doesn’t know what to do at that spot. They’re preparing for all eventualities. But there’s two things we need: We need somebody that’s got an economic solution; and we need somebody that can bring peace. And it’s very interesting, the Bible zeros in and says this global leader that’s coming in the future is going to be able to pull off both of those, and he’s called the Antichrist. Talk about how he pulls off the peace treaty.

DeYoung: Daniel 7:7 talks about this group of nations, kingdoms, kings, whatever it is, ten of them, who will come to power. Out of that comes the little horn, which is the Antichrist. These are ten horns, then the little horn appears. That’s one of the 27 names for the Antichrist. Daniel 7:23-24 talks about these ten horns becoming the revived Roman Empire. Out of that revived Roman Empire comes this leader who subdues three of them. He then takes charge of this revived Roman Empire. And the way he begins it all is with a peace treaty in the Middle East to bring resolution to a conflict that Ban Ki-moon, who is the Secretary General of the United Nations, said, six years ago, “My number one priority as I come to this position of power, leader of the United Nations, is to bring resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”

Well, this Antichrist, this world leader out of the revived Roman Empire, does exactly that. Daniel 9:27. I started with Daniel 7, now go to 9:27. In 9:27 it says he, this Antichrist, this one who is going to be the ruler of the world at that time, he will confirm a peace agreement with Israel and her neighbors. It doesn’t say they’ll sign a peace treaty. The peace treaties are already on the table: The Camp David Accords; the Israel peace agreement with Egypt; the Oslo Accords; the peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians; the peace agreement between Jordan and Israel. These are on the table. They’re not working. They’ve never been normalized. He will confirm these peace treaties. That will shut down the fighting going on in the Middle East, but only for a short period of time, because this is a pseudo-peace. And that will be the time when this coalition of nations will attack. But he will at least be the peacemaker in the world’s eyes at that point. He’ll also be the one who controls the economy and helps them come to power, taking care of both problems: the economic problem and the peace problem that needs to be in place. It’s the Antichrist. The Scriptures foretold it 2,500 years ago; we’re seeing it come better into focus right now.

Ankerberg: You really did good in saying all of that. And we’re going to pick it up more next week, because you’ve got 12 more illustrations on that one. And the people need to hear your observations, because you’ve been in Israel, and you’ve been there all these years, and you’ve talked to all of the leaders. And there’s more to it than what you just said.

But what we wanted to convey to them is that the events that we are seeing are quickly leading to what the Bible has spelled out in the book of Revelation and in other places. Folks, we’re pointing toward Jesus Christ because he’s the one that’s coming back. He’s the one that created the world. He is the one that is the Savior. He’s the only way you’re ever going to get to heaven. If you want to be in heaven when you die, you need to put all of your trust in what he did. Because God says specifically he sent his Son into the world to pay for your sin, and if you don’t listen to him, if you ignore him, what are you going to say to God when you stand before him?

I’m saying, put your trust in Christ; plead for his mercy. He says he’ll forgive you, he’ll come into your life, he will give you the motivations to repent, to change and he will be your friend. He will make you prepared for whatever eventuality comes along in your life, in our lifetime, as we look at the world around us.

Now, in our last program we’re going to talk some more about this peace treaty. But we’ve got these three pillars out here. And what I want to do is, from now until we get to the second coming, I want you to take us through specific Bible prophecies that take us through that. That means we’re going to come to the rapture. That means we’re going to go through the major events of the tribulation, the midpoint and then what is the battle of Armageddon, and what is the second coming of Christ to earth, and what is the millennial time period? We’re going to look at all of that next week. So, folks, I hope that you’ll stick with us.

Read Part 3