Prophetic Footprints of 2011
By Pastor Hal Mayer
Dear Friends,
Thank you for joining us for another timely message from Keep the Faith Ministry. Thank you too for your prayers and support for Keep the Faith at this very important time in its ministry. By faith we continue to send these little CD preachers out every month to thousands upon thousands of our subscribers. We really have no idea how many people are listening each month, because so many people share them with friends and family. And we want to encourage you to do that. We love to hear your testimonies of how Keep the Faith has affected your life. So write us either by letter, email or on our website and let us hear your story.
The latest news is that Keep the Faith is now reaching out to young people more than ever before. Recently, we launched our Keep the Faith presence on social networking sites, like Facebook and Twitter. If you use Facebook, look for Keep the Faith Ministry. And why not follow us on Twitter? We’ll send you up to date briefings, and from time to time, we will comment on the prophetic events taking place in the news. Tell your friends on Facebook and Twitter about us.
God continues to bless our work in Australia. Highwood Health Centre in Victoria now has a manager on site, our spring gardens are planted as it is spring and summer there now, and we’ve even planted some new trees in our orchard. We’ve trimmed up the blackberries and raspberries, and we are planning our long-term agenda for larger crops in some of our open fields. We are angling to be time-of-trouble-ready. That’s important you know. Plus in the mean time, we’ll supply food for our health guests and perhaps even sell some to the community.
God has amazingly blessed our Highwood finances over the last few months. Through prayer and frugality, plus some strong marketing, the finances have started to improve and for the last four months, Highwood has been operating in the black. We are currently solvent! I am so happy to share that news, because it tells me that God’s hand is over His work there at Highwood. Keep praying for our work there.
Now, that doesn’t mean that we don’t have needs. Our list of urgent projects or equipment is long, but we have faith that God will provide the resources, especially as we pray in faith. And that’s where you can help the Lord change lives. One after another of our health guests give raving reviews of Highwood Health Centre. One after another of our guests, who have come to this little oasis in the mountains near Melbourne have had their lives turned around, restored their health, and have been impressed by the God we serve. Some are seeking to know more about the Bible and the truth for this time. Isn’t that wonderful?
Your prayers for Highwood mean much to us. Your gifts also mean a lot, especially as lives are being changed forever. You may have noticed that we never ask for gifts for our monthly subscription CD service. Your support for Keep the Faith is vital, but we believe that God impresses those who should support it. God takes care of our monthly CD sermons through your generous and consistent monthly gifts. And we thank you so much. Without you we could never send as many CDs as we do.
But with Highwood Health Centre it is different. God tells us that we are to be operationally solvent and not go into debt. But He also tells us that we are to lay the needs before the people of God and let Him impress them with how they can help. I didn’t feel free to lay the capital or equipment needs before you until we were at least three months operating in the black. As I have prepared this sermon, we are now five months in the black and it looks as though November will also be a good month too with an increased number of health guests attending our program. Isn’t that wonderful?! I just praise the Lord. Highwood was going the other way when we took it on, but now God has turned it around in just a few months’ time.
If you would like to help us prepare to be even more effective, pay attention to your forthcoming mailers. We are going to send you some of our needs at Highwood from time to time. Maybe some of you would even like to take this opportunity to make a special gift for Highwood in your yearend gift planning right now as we come down to the end of this year. And though we have many needs, we have a special project that urgently needs attention for you to pray about.
And I believe that this can be easily handled by those who listen to our monthly CDs. We urgently need a decent secondhand passenger van to ferry our health guests to and from the airports and train stations, and to certain off-campus activities, like hikes on Sabbath afternoon at special places in the area. The van we are using now, is really a van for running errands, and doesn’t represent the Lord properly. While it runs well, and is very useful to us for going to market to purchase produce for our health programs, etc., it doesn’t have a representative appearance for the Lord’s work when picking up guests for the first time from airports or public transportation. It is downright embarrassing! It looks like a work van, and appears like we are not concerned about our appearance. It gives the impression that we don’t have a quality program. And as our guest numbers increase, we’ll increasingly need a sturdier, larger and more reliable vehicle for transporting them.
A solid, mechanically sound, secondhand van, perfect for what we need to do, will cost around $25,000 in Australia. This is nothing for God. But if you are impressed to help us with this special project, we would love to hear from you. Just include a note to that effect with your gift. And thank you so much.
And please keep praying for Keep the Faith Ministry and its work around the world and especially for Highwood in Victoria, Australia.
Now let us turn to our message for today. As I go from place to place, people often ask me how soon the final crisis will come. There is an intense desire in the hearts of some of God’s people to have an idea about how long we still have on this earth, or at least how long we will have before the Sunday law crisis removes our liberties to worship as God requires in the Ten Commandments.
As I have thought about these kinds of questions, I wonder what is behind them. Why are they being asked? I worry that some people may be afraid that they don’t have enough time to get ready and make things right with God. I worry that some don’t want to give up their indulgences and sins just yet. And I suspect that some are just worried that they don’t yet please God and are afraid that the close of probation will come upon them before they can make their calling and election sure.
But friends, this is not the right approach. Surrender your life today, and God will sustain you. You don’t need to worry about tomorrow Jesus said that tomorrow has enough troubles of its own. When tomorrow comes, you must again surrender your life, and our wonderful God will walk by your side. You don’t need to fear that you won’t be ready when the time of trouble comes, if each day you are living with Christ.
But as I have thought about these questions, I have asked the Lord to put it all into perspective. We are told to watch the signs of the times so that we can be aware of developments as they unfold and so that we can understand the urgency of the hour and seek God’s grace for our lives. But we are not to fear. There is a big difference between watching and fear. When you are in Christ, you have no fear. When you are in Christ, you let Him handle the future.
Today, I’m going to share with you some amazing things about 2011 that show us the rapid fulfillment of the signs of Jesus soon coming. So let us bow our heads and ask for God’s precious Holy Spirit to guide us in our study and thoughts.
Our Father in heaven, thank you for taking away our fear. Thank you for assuring us that as we near the close of probation, You will be with us and sustain us, and prepare us for the time of trouble that is coming upon this world. Please come to us today as we study Your holy word and help us realize our need of Christ and how to live for Him. So today make us Your children and teach us we pray, in Jesus name, amen.
Your Bible is a wealth of instruction isn’t it? Let us turn in our Bibles to what Jesus said in Luke 21:25-27 “And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.”
So before the second coming there is to be great distress of nations and great perplexity. This is not ordinary perplexity other wise Jesus wouldn’t have mentioned it. But before the coming of the Son of man in the cloud with power and great glory, there are some dramatic events that must take place on the earth. These are unusual in their character, and cause great distress.
When you think about the great movements taking place today, and the distress that has engulfed the whole world in recent times, especially economically, I wonder if we have seen the fulfillment of this. Yet somehow, I believe that we have only seen the beginning of it, and that there is much more to come.
We must give the final warning. It is hardly being mentioned today. Most churches have no interest in end-time events. Most brush them aside as irrelevant. Yet, those who read Bible prophecy; those who pay attention to what is going on in the world, cannot help but see in these obvious events in the news that there are things going on behind the scenes that are not so obvious and that portend greater and more intense developments in the near future.
So we are not to fear, but boldly give the last message to the world. “Come out of her my people,” Jesus pleads, in Revelation 18:4. That means to come out of all false religion. Come out of religious systems and worldly systems that keep you from knowing Jesus as your friend and as your God. Come out of anything that will prevent you from having a mature, daily walk with God. Then you don’t have to worry that you won’t have enough time to get your life ready for the coming cataclysmic events.
But what about this question of time? How long, until the end comes? You see, my friends, God had Noah preach for 120 years so that only the people who really believed God would maintain their faith and go into the ark with him. The rest got weary of thinking about it. They felt that they had plenty of time to get their lives right. So they didn’t worry about it. They thought that if they saw clouds on the horizon, or an indication of a storm coming, or if something wasn’t right, they would quickly pack up a few belongings and duck into the ark at the last minute.
Little did they imagine that the door of probation would close unexpectedly, on a day just like every other day before it, clear, sunny and beautiful. The last day on which they could make a choice had no indication of a storm. In fact, for seven days after the door of the ark closed, the weather was still as pristine as every other day for the last 120 years.
What caused their failure? They did not heed the warning and get ready. They were complacent. They did not enter the ark when the prophet told them to. They thought that it was too hard, and that there would be so much ridicule of anyone that went in. It just wasn’t socially acceptable. So they hesitated. They thought they had more time. But they didn’t. The close of probation was sudden and unannounced. It just happened. The door closed.
And that is the way it is going to be at the end of time. You will not know when the last day will come for you to make a final decision. You are making that decision now by the daily choices you make in your life. You are setting your destiny. I hope you are coming closer to Jesus every day, my friends.
For quite a few years now, Keep the Faith has been drawing your attention to the signs of the times, and showing you that prophecy is rapidly being fulfilled in our time. Year after year we have analyzed the astonishing developments that fulfill Bible prophecy and tell us that Jesus is coming soon. And 2011 has been no exception. What has happened in 2011 alone should be enough to tell you and me that we are on the brink of eternity. The time to get ready is now. It has been a remarkable year! But there is more to come as we near the final, climactic moments just before Jesus comes. Friends, your redemption draweth nigh. Shouldn’t we be rejoicing and thanking God for His love and grace that gives us overcoming power? Shouldn’t we be praising the Lord for Bible prophecy that helps us understand our world? We need Jesus now more than ever. You can’t delay. If you think you have plenty of time to get ready, you are deceived.
Just think about 2011. This year we have seen breathtaking events on so many fronts. There were birds and fish of all sorts mysteriously dying. Some animals and important insects, like some types of bees are disappearing. We also witnessed the fourth largest earthquake and tsunami in recorded history, which tilted the earth’s axis and sped up its rotation. The Japanese earthquake also caused the meltdown of some of its nuclear power plants, spewing toxic radio-active steam and gas into the atmosphere to circle the globe. A record number of huge tornados rocked the mid-west regions of the United States, some of them traveling for hundreds of miles, killing hundreds of people, and devastating tranquil communities. Fires, floods, hurricanes and cyclones, mudslides and torrential rains took their turn battering homes, businesses and agricultural land worldwide. All of these have strong prophetic significance.
Listen to this statement from the Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 6, page, 408. “The restraining Spirit of God is even now being withdrawn from the world. Hurricanes, storms, tempests, fire and flood, disasters by sea and land, follow each other in quick succession. Science seeks to explain all these. The signs thickening around us, telling of the near approach of the Son of God, are attributed to any other than the true cause. Men cannot discern the sentinel angels restraining the four winds that they shall not blow until the servants of God are sealed; but when God shall bid His angels loose the winds, there will be such a scene of strife as no pen can picture.”
So, my friends, there is much more to come. More disasters, more strife, more bloodshed, a much more dangerous world is here. The important thing for you to do is seek God for the sealing, which is a “settling into the truth both intellectually and spiritually so that you cannot be moved.” That is your most important task, especially now as the Spirit of God is being withdrawn from the earth. You can find that statement in the book Maranatha, page 200.
In the Middle East and North Africa in 2011, there were dramatic and rapid changes. Back in October of 2010, there was a summit of the Afro-Arab leaders held in Libya hosted by Moammar Gadhafi. The meeting included then Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, the President of Yemen, Ali Abdullah Saleh, the Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and quite a number of others. These leaders talked about sticking together and cooperating like never before. Hosni Mubarak himself “insisted it is time to translate mutual relations into mutual cooperation…” Little did they realize that this would be their last such meeting. Most had no idea that within months almost all of them would have been forcibly removed from office by revolutions of their own people.
Afro-Arab Summit Calls for Increased Cooperation Among Members
Within weeks, the rioting uprooted all of these leaders except the President of Yemen. The dramatic revolutions and startling upheavals happened at an astonishing pace. Government after government collapsed. War broke out in Libya to topple the Gadhafi regime. It was as if the prophecy of Jesus in Luke 21:25 was literally coming to pass. He said the sea and the waves would be roaring at the end of time.
Do you know what the waters of the sea represent? The sea and the waves in prophecy represent multitudes of people, nations, tribes and tongues. Let me read it to you from Revelation 17:15. “And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.” So when Bible prophecy speaks of waters, and seas and waves, it is talking about multitudes of people. And when they are roaring, they are upset and unhappy and rioting and making a lot of chaos. The upheavals and mass protests were certainly a fulfillment of this prophecy – at least in part. The turmoil and mayhem was dramatic, but my friends, it is only the beginning.
Was this all by chance or by accident? As the United States takes a lower profile in the Middle East, the dictators who were largely aligned and propped up by the United States became vulnerable and were toppled in most striking ways. These nations are obviously now being realigned away from American political support and the U.S. economy and influence, into a new set of principles. The major trend to watch out there is the rise of radical Islam most easily recognized in the Muslim Brotherhood, but also watch the increasing influence of Iran. There is a lot happening there, as the world prepares for war, but more importantly for the final conflict between good and evil.
Other rioting and violence unfolded in London and other cities throughout England as disenfranchised youth boiling over with discontent left some parts of these cities in ruins. But it didn’t stop there. Though more peaceful at the time I prepared this sermon, the “Occupy Wall Street” protests against the big banks and international companies have spread around the nation to many cities and then even around the world.
Revolutionary disorder, protests, upheavals and commotion have become very commonplace, it seems, in today’s world. The ordinary world is no longer ordinary. People everywhere can see that there is a brewing global crisis that will eventually erupt into a social earthquake and tsunami that may well sweep away the old structures and methods of operation.
It reminds me of the statement in the book Education, page 179, which says, “The present is a time of overwhelming interest to all living. Rulers and statesmen, men who occupy positions of trust and authority, thinking men and women of all classes, have their attention fixed upon the events taking place about us. They are watching the strained, restless relations that exist among the nations. They observe the intensity that is taking possession of every earthly element, and they recognize that something great and decisive is about to take place—that the world is on the verge of a stupendous crisis.”
And what “stupendous crisis” is that? Most of the people of this world do not know how to interpret these events. Nor do they know what to do about them, or how to prepare for them. They just want to live their normal lives without disruption. If you think that way, you will be surprised by the disruptions that are still coming in the near future. Chaos is the new normal. Many of these events come upon the people as a surprise. But God’s people, who study the Bible and who have developed a prophetic mindset can certainly see the marching footsteps of prophecy unfolding in our times. The tragedy is that most people don’t do anything to prepare, or to warn their fellow men.
It reminds me of another statement from the Review and Herald, August 5, 1902. God’s messenger wrote; “Those who place themselves under God’s control, to be led and guided by him, will catch the steady trend of the events ordained by him to take place.” Did you hear that? Those who are guided by God will catch the “steady trend of the events ordained by him to take place.” That tells us that we can understand what is soon to break upon the world. It tells us that God has given us enough in His word so that we can clearly see the hand that guides or restrains the nations. We can, like Daniel, correctly interpret these events, and with the Bible in hand we can go forward to show the people around us what is coming upon the world.
I’ll read more from the statement, “Inspired with the spirit of him who gave his life for the life of the world, they will no longer stand still in impotency, pointing to what they cannot do. Putting on the armor of heaven, they will go forth into the warfare, willing to do and dare for God, knowing that his omnipotence will supply their need.”
What a statement! I hope the magnificent events in 2011 have stirred your soul to start working for God. You don’t have to develop grand designs, though God may lead some to do that. But you must work in your corner where God has placed you. You can always hand out literature, such as the Last Generation magazine as advertised in this packet to our U.S. listeners. Incidentally, the Last Generation Magazine is one of the best tools available for soul winning. So, get some quantities of it for missionary work. Email our office if you like. We’ll put you in contact with the right people. God wants to use you to bring souls into the kingdom.
But it isn’t just the Middle East that has the interests of all living. The prophetic pattern is playing out in other ways too, and quite rapidly. In Europe, in the United States, at the Vatican and other key nations that operate in the geopolitical sphere, breathtaking events are happening at an escalating pace.
The most magnificent prophetic event this year however occurred in Europe! Listen to this headline from the July 21, 2011 UK Telegraph. “The Euro Crisis will give Germany the Empire its Always Dreamed Of.”
After the eurozone nations led by Germany, took the “decisive step to becoming a fiscal union,” wrote Peter Oborne, “Europe will cease to be… a collection of nation states. It will have one economic government, one currency, one foreign policy… This is the final realisation of the dream that animated the founders of the Common Market more than half a century ago – which is one reason why so many prominent Europeans have privately welcomed the eurozone catastrophe, labeling it a “beneficial crisis.” The leaders of Europe see that the “only conceivable salvation for the eurozone is to impose greater fiscal integration among member states.”
In other words, the European Union, which was inaugurated after World War II by the Roman Catholic leaders of Germany, France and Italy, is now coming to fruition. Their plans are reaching the final stages of the resurrection of the Holy Roman Empire.
Peter Oborne went on to reveal the consequences of the European fiscal union, including “economic destruction of most of the southern European countries” (which is already quite advanced), and which involves “forcible deindustrialization.” Those southern countries are going to “provide cheap labor, raw materials, agricultural produce and a ready market for the manufactured goods and services provided by the far more productive and efficient northern Europeans.” It also includes a total loss of economic sovereignty of the southern nations, and will compel them to become vassal states. Then Oborne made an incredible statement. He said, “While these [southern] nations relapse into pre-modern economic systems, Germany is busy turning into one of the most dynamic and productive economies of the world. Despite the grumbling, for the Germans, the bail-outs are worth every penny, because they guarantee a cheap outlet for their manufactured goods… Germany has come very close to realising Bismark’s dream of an economic empire stretching from central Europe to the Eastern Mediterranean.”
The euro crisis will give Germany the empire it’s always dreamed of
What a statement! In other words, Germany is taking advantage of the economic crisis and the weakness of its sister nations and is preparing to dominate and control them completely. This is nothing less than prophetic.
Now listen to another headline from the MailOnline, another UK paper, of August 17, almost a month later. “Rise of the Fourth Reich, How Germany is Using the Financial Crisis to Conquer Europe.” As Germany dictates the terms of financial rescue for the weak nations of Europe, she is also becoming their master.
Angela Merkel, the Chancellor of Germany and Nicolas Sarkozy, the President of France called for a “true European economic government,” they are already accepting a “fiscal union that will leave Germany dictating the terms for the rest of Europe. “Be in no doubt what fiscal union means,” the author wrote, “it is one economic policy, one taxation system, one social security system, one debt, one economy, one finance minister. And all of the above would be German.”
“That means a complete fiscal union in which Germany… makes the rules and makes them unbreakable… If such a plan succeeded,” he continued, “it would make Europe effectively a German empire…”
The weak nations will have to understand that the alternative to pulling out of the eurozone, which would destroy them, is to “accept Germany properly bolstering the euro, and effectively colonizing the Eurozone.” Colonizing the eurozone? Did you hear that? He was saying that the only way out of the crisis is for Germany to become the lord of Europe and all the other nations become her vassals, to do her bidding to one extent or another. He said that is the only price that the markets would demand in order to be confident in the euro’s future and be willing to buy the debt of these weaker nations.
And Germany has already demonstrated a painful ruthlessness that has pushed Greece relentlessly to her knees begging and pleading for support. And more turmoil is coming. Germany has many reasons why controlling and orchestrating the financial rescue of the weaker nations is in her best interests, even if, for a time there are some economic difficulties in Germany itself. The leaders of Germany can see the outcome. So can other more hidden powers of Europe who are working carefully to support Germany in her quest to tower above Europe.
What are Germany’s reasons for supporting the euro at great expense? “Germany is the fifth biggest economy in the world, which would mean that imposing its way of doing things on the other 16 nations would carry tremendous clout internationally.” That can only help Germany. In addition, Germany needs to shore up its [European] partners,” in order to protect its exports to the rest of the eurozone nations. France alone takes 90 billion Euros’ worth each year.
Germany, in other words, is using the crisis to take control of all Europe. And as she does, the rest of the eurozone countries will lose all pretence of democracy, lose control of their economies, and lose their sovereignty and self-determination. The only alternative is ruin.
Finally, the author said, “Where Hitler failed by military means to conquer Europe, modern Germans are succeeding through trade and financial discipline. Welcome to the Fourth Reich.”
The European economic crisis is probably the biggest prophetic story this year because it is the very process that prophecy tells us will happen. They are resurrecting the Holy Roman Empire under German tutelage. It has galvanized global attention and has reached the boiling point and threatens to engulf the whole world. But the Vatican stands behind Germany. Just at the right time, as plans were being laid for the future economic governance of all of Europe, Pope Benedict XVI made his first ever, state visit to Germany to strengthen them in their role. He even spoke to the Bundestag, the German Parliament. The pope wants to guide Germany in its economic and political takeover of Europe. The motto for the papal trip “wherever God is, there is the future,” was designed to remind the Germans that the Church should guide them into the future, their future as the leader of Europe. It is also reminding them that the church, which stood by them in the dark ages, will stand by them in the coming years, as they build an empire in the likeness of the ancient Holy Roman Empire.
Throughout his visit to Germany the pope continually referred to the “new evangelism,” calling on the people to return to the doctrines, principles and practices of the Catholic Church and that secularism cannot endure if Europe is to survive. And many Germans resonate with that. When there is sustained chaos or disruptions in society, people want something strong and stable by which to anchor them, even if it is extreme. That is how radical movements begin. So the pope presents himself and the church as the leader of the most stable entity in the world, drawing support for the Vatican among many. Germany wants the connection between itself and the Vatican to flourish because the papacy can help Germany restore its power.
The German people inherently desire order and a well structured society with predictable patterns. An unsettled environment frustrates them and they cannot tolerate it very long. They are looking for a strong leader to lead them and all of Europe out of the present tectonic crisis. The current chancellor Angela Merkel is not the one. When that person comes along, he/she will work hand in hand with the Vatican to restore the confidence of the people in German leadership and in German solutions to the disorder and chaos presently afflicting Europe.
But how did the euro crisis start?
In case you didn’t know it already, the eurozone crisis was planned, and in 2011 it reached epic proportions. It all started back when the European Central Bank was trying to help the process of integration of Europe by keeping interest rates low and loaning huge amounts of funds to the various national governments. I suppose, it was partly to keep the people from objecting too strongly to the centralization of power in the EU until it had gone past the point of no return.
But all the way back in 2002, Romano Prodi, the European commission President at the time, said, that “The purpose of the coming crisis will be… to allow the EU to take more power for itself.” The leaders of the European Central Bank knew that given access to cheap credit, Greece would become so addicted that it could not survive without it. And Greece borrowed money hand-over-fist in mind-numbing quantities. So much money was borrowed that it eventually came to the point where Greece could not even pay the interest on those staggering debts. Other countries were doing the same thing to the point where they may not be able to pay their bills or service their debts eventually.
No sooner had the European Union voted and ratified its new constitution at the end of 2009, known as the Lisbon Treaty, and the euro-quake shook Europe to its very foundations. Greece, the weakest link in the eurozone is essentially bankrupt. In spite of severe austerity measures, its debts have only increased in size and proportion, and are likely to default soon. Don’t expect Greece to survive on its own. And Greece is dragging others down with it – like Ireland, Portugal, Spain and Italy. All of these are in grave danger. And now even France, Belgium and other nations in central Europe are losing their triple A credit ratings one by one. This drives up their borrowing costs dramatically.
Greece Has 98% Chance of Default on Euro-Region Sovereign Woes
Christine Lagarde, the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund said that the global economy is “in a dangerous new phase.”
Timothy Geithner, U.S. Treasury Secretary warned of “cascading defaults, bank runs, and catastrophic risk,” and urged Europe to get the crisis under control.
Robert Zoellick, the president of the World Bank went even further. “Unless Europe, Japan, and the United States can also face up to responsibilities,” he said, “they will drag down not only themselves, but the global economy…” Notice that he included Japan, and the United States.
IMF’s Lagarde Says Global Economy in ‘Dangerous New Phase’
World Bank chief says world economy in danger zone
The whole world is interconnected economically. That is the nature of globalism. Globalism actually makes the whole economy more fragile and even explosive. What happens in one area now affects everybody. You cannot escape the fallout. It eventually comes around to everyone. But this is what globalists want. They know that by tying the economy together and establishing an overarching political order, they can control the whole world. But it will be a chaotic world.
But this is the real reason behind it all. They want control. And a crisis is a perfect opportunity to grab more power and control without dangerous protests from the people. We see the protests in the news, but these are not dangerous to their global agenda. So what if a few buildings get burned out, or their window glass kicked in, and a few people get killed in the violence. What does it matter to them? It does not stop the global machinery.
Investors and the markets continued to hammer the other weak nations of the eurozone, like Portugal, Italy and Spain. Also global stock markets were violently roiled up and down as investor’s confidence in European leaders waxed and waned. It seems as if all of Europe is on the brink of disaster, and consequently the rest of the world is in danger too.
European leaders, especially German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy have had emergency meeting after emergency meeting to announce new programs in order to ease the fears of investors – programs that they can never implement. They have invented ideas like a new economic governing body for all of the eurozone, new powers for the European Central Bank, and other plans, but so far none of them have been able to stem the incoming tide of financial and economic disintegration.
But there is nothing that anyone can do that can avoid serious problems in the near future. All their efforts have failed, and there is no end in sight to the ongoing crisis. The crisis is the new norm.
The result is that Germany now dictates the conditions for providing the desperately needed rescue money to other nations of Europe. And Greece has been going through severe austerity turmoil and pain because of it. And those who are hurt the worst in the entire crisis are the common citizens. It’s really sad, but the nations are perplexed just as Jesus said they would be. They don’t know what to do, so the people protest. They feel helpless to do anything about it, and they think that by protesting, the government will come to their rescue. But the governments of this world are not interested in the common man. They are only really interested to the extent that the common people keep them in power. Investor’s don’t care about the common people either. They only care about their profits. And they don’t really care how they get them, even if it is at the expense of the global economy.
One nation after another has been hit with investor’s lack of confidence. Banks, industries, and the credit worthiness of the very nations themselves are caught in a vice-grip of circumstances that threaten to destabilize the economy.
Recently one of the largest investment Banks in Belgium, Dexia Bank, was taken over by the government of Belgium after Dexia’s nervous clients quickly withdrew 300 million Euros ($398 million). Dexia took the hit from its clients because it has large toxic investments in Greek debt. But the rescue is only the tip of the iceberg. The big picture is that Dexia’s demise could set off a chain reaction of banking defaults throughout Europe’s other banks that are also severely exposed to Greek debt. A Greek default could even be worse. And that could reverberate throughout the rest of the world banking system and the global economy itself. I suspect that the European leaders are now willing to let Greece default as long as it is in a reasonably orderly fashion. But no one knows if this is even possible.
Europe is in a vicious cycle. If you were the country of Greece and you accepted rescue money, it would be like making a pact with the devil. The rescue packages actually make the problem worse. As austerity sets in, tax revenues decline and the debt gets worse. The likelihood of a Greek default on its debt has increased dramatically at the time I prepared this message. If you would like an idea of what happens when a country defaults take a look at what happened in Russia 13 years ago when that nation defaulted on its debts.
In August of 1998, the Russian government devalued the ruble, defaulted on domestic debt, and declared a moratorium on payment to foreign creditors. The ruble was officially depreciated (no doubt, so that the government would have an easier time of paying its debts). But the ruble continued to decline against other currencies. At the height of the crisis, the ruble had lost 2/3 of its value.
Inflation reached 84 percent. Many banks were closed down as a result of the crisis. Hyperinflation raised food prices by almost 100%, while imported food quadrupled in price. Many people were stocking up for bad times, and throughout the country store shelves were being emptied. There were shortages of even the most basic items, such as vegetable oil, sugar or washing powder. Hyperinflation reduced demand for food and lowered food consumption (which perhaps was a good thing). People were getting by with the minimum provisions.
The crisis also increased social unrest. Millions of people lost their life savings from the bank closures. Demonstrations in the streets were held in many cities with the largest in Moscow of around 100,000. The military was put on alert. People were reduced to poverty and desperation. They ate what they could grow in their gardens if they had them, or didn’t eat at all in some cases. And I could go on and on.
1998 Russian financial crisis/Wikipedia Article
Imagine what it would be like if you suddenly realized that your country unexpectedly devalued its currency. You would rush out to the store to stock up on things you need. But when you get there you find that others had already been there and still more were there stripping the store of all of its food and other basic necessities. You might panic and get into a fight with someone over a box of crackers. This is not unrealistic even in some western countries that today have plenty.
In reality, the U.S. Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank are creating huge amounts of their currencies out of thin air to prop up their governments in near default. This in turn devalues the currency and essentially strips the value out of the money that you have on account at the bank.
Germany, being the largest nation in the eurozone, with the largest geographical area, the largest population and the largest economy, is now the dictator of Europe. And it has used the economic crises to strengthen and consolidate that power, and in the process make vassal states out of the weakest nations, and junior partners of the stronger ones. And they all serve the purposes of Germany. But the crisis continues to escalate, and Germany’s solution is to take more power to herself, all in the name of saving the euro and the European Union. Germany is using this crisis to her own advantage.
This was all thought out, no doubt, way back in the 1980s as the Vatican and the United States joined together in what Time magazine called the “Holy Alliance” and conspired together to undo Eastern European communism. They started with Poland, knowing that if the communist government in Poland fell, the rest would fall in quick succession. They were right. But their purpose was broader and more sinister. They were working to reunite Germany and restore her to her role as dictator of European affairs. The Vatican knows that she can use Germany to initiate and establish the ancient relationships that existed in the middle ages. The Vatican and the United States knew that when Germany is divided, she is weak, and that when Germany is united she becomes strong.
Now, Germany is strong again, and it has only been in one generation that it has all happened. Now Germany is again building its military might. It has also been building its political and economic muscle until it has come to the place where Europe now closely resembles the old Holy Roman Empire. And the Vatican knows that she can manipulate all of Europe through Germany, the very land of the Reformation. What a change has taken place! 2011 has been an amazing year as these things have unfolded.
Germany Selling Tanks to Saudi Arabia
Another related event in 2011 was the death of Otto Von Habsburg, the last emperor of the Habsburg dynasty of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The house of Habsburg was the source of many imperial rulers that kept the Roman Catholic Church in control of Europe as long as it was. “Habsburg,” as Otto often introduced himself, was the oldest living claimant to the now defunct thrones of the Holy Roman Empire.
He had worked for many years to encourage and organize the reconstruction of the Holy Roman Empire under Roman Catholic principles. He played a significant role in destabilizing the communist government in Hungary, which helped open the way for the accession of Hungary into the European Union, and strengthened the Roman Catholic influence.
Otto was considered to be one of the fathers of the European Union. But his death does not mean that the project to resurrect the ancient Roman Catholic patrimony is finished. On the contrary, it has only just begun.
Otto Von Habsburg who had many royal titles, once said, “The [European] Community is living largely by the heritage of the Holy Roman Empire, though the great majority of the people who live by it don’t know by what heritage they live.” It remains to be seen what the Roman Catholic Church will do to honor one of their most appreciated politicians.
In the midst of the turmoil of the euro crisis, it just happens that in 2011, Hungary took a political right turn to a much more rigid and hard-line approach to social issues and politics. This also resulted in restrictions on religious freedom for all but 14 churches. Onerous and extreme re-registration requirements have been enacted for any other church to be able to call themselves a church. This would almost certainly be an attempt to protect the catholic religion and her closest ecumenical allies, and will be used to limit the influence and activities of any church or group that is not approved by the Catholic Church.
It is important to understand that when there is an unstable economic or political situation, many people gravitate to that which is stable. And they often support conservative political extremes in the hope that this will help them stabilize. Hungary has had its share of extreme economic turmoil and instability, and now, the people are wiling to support a strong hand in politics, even an extreme hand, in the hopes that things can calm down. This is the environment where dictators are created. And it is dangerous. The Papacy, on the other hand continually seeks to present herself as the consistent, conservative and stable force in the world. Hence, she is strongly supported in a country like Hungary.
But the Vatican has also been active in other ways in 2011. The pope is constantly meddling in political affairs of nations. But more importantly, she has begun an effort, along with at least 65 other organizations, including protestant churches, civic organizations, trade unions, and even the Jesuits, to elevate the Sunday laws in Europe. Most of Europe has Sunday closing laws already, where shops and industries are closed on Sunday. But now they want these laws to be elevated to Sunday rest laws, which would require that all citizens of the European Union cease from any work that is defined as secular labor on Sunday.
And don’t think that the economic problems aren’t tied into this. The Bible says that when worship laws are enforced on the whole world, those who do not go along with them will not be able to buy or sell, unless they have the mark of the beast, the name of the beast, or the number of his name. That’s Revelation 13:17. If you don’t go along with the coming Sunday laws, you will have economic sanctions leveled against you and you will be reduced to the barter system.
The European Sunday Alliance, as the group is called, has been working to get the European Parliament to enact low-level Sunday laws in preparation for higher and more restrictive and controlling Sunday laws. Sunday closing laws and Sunday rest laws don’t necessarily violate conscience. It is of great interest that these Sunday laws are being pushed right now, just at the time when people are very worried and concerned about what is going to happen next. So the natural consequence of agitating these laws, even though the arguments for them are presented in a secular way, is to get people thinking about going back to church and seeking God’s solutions, as some would call it, to the economic and social turmoil they are in right now.
Friends, dangerous times are ahead. The year 2011 has been dramatic and reveals to us that things can happen very rapidly. While you don’t need to fear, you need to take action. This is not the time to be playing around with your salvation. This is not the time to be playing around with your spiritual life. Walk with God today and every day, and He will see to it that you are ready for the close of probation and all that is coming upon us and upon the whole world. God is calling on you to live for Jesus. You can’t do that if you are chained to this world. You must let go and let God take control of your life. Yield yourself to Him. Give Him an invitation into your soul so that He can prepare you today to live for Him right through to the end.
Let us pray. Our dear heavenly Father, we have again seen how Bible prophecy can rapidly be fulfilled. We need Your protection and presence in these last days. Especially we need Your spiritual protection. Please help us to turn our lives over to Jesus today, and please make us what we must be so that we can survive the coming overwhelming crisis, honor the Lord during the most difficult times, and bring many souls with us into the kingdom. Thank You for showing us that the end can come very quickly, and that we don’t have time to waste. Please give us Your Spirit so that we can understand the signs of the times and so that we can watch and pray always as Jesus told us to do. And it is in His precious and holy name I pray, Amen.