It is often believed that the "end times" will be a horrendous series of events that will try the whole world. The tribulation time is a period of three and a half years, wherein things certainly WILL be chaotic and destructive, but what happens prior to that period? Will this world simply continue to grow worse and worse, to finally culminate in the tribulation time, which magnifies the trials and evil?

Today, most all nations are in turmoil. The people are rising up in response to the evil and corrupt governments, banking system and corporations which are harming them daily. Knowledge of how this has been transpiring is being exposed, and this knowledge is creating an atmosphere where people beginning to recognize the evil and are willing to stand against it. Satan has done a great job of taking this world to the point of unraveling, but will this continue? Is this evil and world events the evidence people point to that we are truly in the end times simply waiting for evil to grow worse?

Evil is easy to see if one looks for it. Most in the first world nations, and even second world, have been sleeping and simply existing from day to day, even under oppression. Humanity has been in slavery, albeit, a hidden one, but lately people are NOT content with the status quo and are waking up to some degree.

Let's take a look at some scriptures that seem to suggest that the pre-tribulation period may actually be just the opposite, with great abundance... a time that will provide a reason the world is deceived by it all.

Rev 13:2 "Now the beast which I saw was like a leopard, his feet were like the feet of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. The dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority. 3 And I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world marveled and followed the beast. 4 So they worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying,"Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?" 5 And he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given authority to continue for forty-two months."

In this series of scriptures, we see a world of people who are actually enamored with this end time world power and figure. They see a power and great exploits that cause them to actually worship this system. Keep in mind that the time setting for these scriptures is the three and a half year tribulation time. However, does the whole world suddenly accept, and worship, this evil system at the juncture of this tribulation time... a system that has been oppressing them and creating great horrors across the planet? Many believe evil will be everywhere and then the tribulation time of far worse evil will come. This doesn't make sense, given scriptures which address this issue.

Evil is easy to see, and is being exposed across the planet, and people are tired of being exploited by the present powers and system. In the bible, and especially throughout the book of Revelation, there are warnings as to this new end time system and where it is taking people, but why would the people of the world follow after, and actually worship, the very evil they have been experiencing for years and decades prior to this time? This makes no sense.

Imagine the scenario is vastly different. Imagine God has given us some warnings as to what we might expect of this new system, and what to be careful of. Satan is a genius. He knows how to deceive people.

2 Cor 11:14 "For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light."

What better way to deceive an entire planet... billions of people, than to create a huge mess in the world over years and decades, and then, suddenly "come to humanities rescue" and turning things completely around. This tactic is a routine practice of our present governments. False flag events, creating chaos in various places, and then providing an alleged solution to maintain control, and to manipulate people, and appear as the "savior" of the masses.

Events are unfolding at the present time which will provide for this type of development. There are incredible technologies that exist at this present time, but are being suppressed for various reasons. Free energy technologies, transportation technologies, video and hologram technologies, communications, etc.

The present banking system is in the process of change because it cannot possibly continue as it is now. Fiat currency is nothing but theft of the people's wealth. Creating money out of nothing cannot endure, and this system is imploding as we speak, bringing huge changes in the financial markets... some not so good in the short term.

Evil is being exposed across the world, and people are being set up for the reception of a new and different system, one that may well be incredibly prosperous for most people in the process, including God's church and people. Therein lies the danger.

Notice Revelation 18. Speaking of this new system, called Babylon, which Christ destroys...

Rev 18:3 "For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich through the abundance of her luxury."

Rev 18:9 "The kings of the earth who committed fornication and lived luxuriously with her will weep and lament for her, when they see the smoke of her burning, 10 standing at a distance for fear of her torment, saying,'Alas, alas, that great city Babylon , that mighty city! For in one hour your judgment has come.' 11 "And the merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her, for no one buys their merchandise anymore: 12 merchandise of gold and silver, precious stones and pearls, fine linen and purple, silk and scarlet, every kind of citron wood, every kind of object of ivory, every kind of object of most precious wood, bronze, iron, and marble; 13 and cinnamon and incense, fragrant oil and frankincense, wine and oil, fine flour and wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, and bodies and souls of men. 14 The fruit that your soul longed for has gone from you, and all the things which are rich and splendid have gone from you, and you shall find them no more at all. 15 The merchants of these things, who became rich by her, will stand at a distance for fear of her torment, weeping and wailing, 16 and saying, 'Alas, alas, that great city that was clothed in fine linen, purple, and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls! 17 For in one hour such great riches came to nothing.' Every shipmaster, all who travel by ship, sailors, and as many as trade on the sea, stood at a distance 18 and cried out when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying,'What is like this great city?' 19 "They threw dust on their heads and cried out, weeping and wailing, and saying, 'Alas, alas, that great city, in which all who had ships on the sea became rich by her wealth! For in one hour she is made desolate.'

Here we have description of a wealthy system. It might be easy to look at this to mean that the system itself is the wealthy one, but this clearly states that the "merchants" are the ones who also become wealthy. Notice that when this system is crashed, that the merchants cry out about no one buying their merchandise anymore. If you have a business selling something, and you become wealthy from this, it is ONLY because there are people who are there, with money to BUY FROM you. You can't have a poor, enslaved and downtrodden humanity with no money making these merchants rich, right? "Someone" has to be buying.

There must be something that contributes to the ability for humanity to suddenly be able to purchase the products these merchants have to sell. This would mean that the present system will have to change because, right now, primarily, only the banks and a few corporations are becoming rich, while the people are being oppressed financially through illegal and unjust taxation, price fixing and stock market and gold and silver markets manipulated, and people's money devalued through the fiat currencies of the world. This makes for a poor people who certainly would not be willing to worship such a perverted system, so how could Satan change this to bring it all about?

As mentioned earlier, evil is easy to see, and with all the warnings in Revelation, most people are looking for a system of evil and oppression that will be easy to point out and to resist, and compare against the bible. However, if the world were suddenly transformed through not only the release of suppressed technologies that could easily lift every nation from poverty and need, to one of abundance, but a new financial system which allows for wealth and prosperity to flourish at the same time. Who would argue with such a system?

This system may likely be a great blessing, even to the church, as a means to preach the gospel. It may be that the world will become much more "spiritual" in nature from the leading of this new system, so such preaching by the church may be acceptable for a time... until... this same system has reached its goal of having the whole world following it, and then a counterfeit "religion" will be enforced that will turn the world against the true church and gospel. They will not tolerate the preaching against the traditional Christian system, and thus, persecution will commence.

This new system will be SO convincing, and have such "evidence" supporting it, that Christ warned that even the very elect could be deceived if they are not watching and have their lamps full;

Matt 24:24 "For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 25 See, I have told you beforehand."

This doesn't say "if it were possible" in original Greek. This was wrongly added. It says "if possible" and it seems it IS possible and likely will deceive even some of God's elect, for a time.

Imagine a new system which has provided every need for most humanity. Imagine a period of "peace" and prosperity unlike any in the past. Imagine this system doing "miracles" over time, in the name of God and Christ. The elect will not be deceived by Muslim or other religions being promoted. That is easy to see is false. The deception will appear "Christian", as it does now, but the added worldwide events and profound changes may lull many elect to potentially falling for this, for a time, up till the tribulation and the two witnesses begin preaching.

Remember, Christ warned of a class of true Christians who could be susceptible to this deception. Let's look at a few scriptures;

Matt 25:1 "Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. 2 And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. 3 They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them:"

This parable goes on to suggest that these 5 foolish were very low on God's spirit and went and actually "bought" more oil and then returned, but missed the wedding. They are still part of the true church because it mentions the Kingdom of God is like...", but they lost some value in not being ready and had to "buy" in some way, more of God's spirit, possibly through the tribulation.

Rev 2:4 "Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. 5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place - unless you repent."

The first love is something hard to maintain. That excitement many of us had of having our minds opened to the truth, compared to the lies we were believing, can be a challenge. I've had to take a serious look at this in myself, and determine how to do this. For me, it falls back to the original drive I was under to find the truth, and defend it at all costs. To LOVE the truth enough to change where I need to and am proven wrong on anything. I don't ever want to lose that love.

Rev 3:15 "I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! 16 So, because you are lukewarm - neither hot nor cold - I am about to spit you out of my mouth... :18 I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. 19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent."

Here, we have an attitude within the membership of apathy, ambivalence, contentment with how things are in their lives, and they see no need to bother with the fight any more.

In those scriptures, we can clearly see a class of God's people who appear to have let down in their Christian walk, and allowed, perhaps, the cares of this world, or many other things get in the way of their primary duty... that of growing and overcoming. We all have cares, and even the 5 "wise" virgins "slept and slumbered" however they apparently are maintaining their walk with Christ enough to be protected from the tribulation;

Rev 12:13 "Now when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male Child. 14 But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time, (three and a half year tribulation period) from the presence of the serpent. 15 So the serpent spewed water out of his mouth like a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away by the flood. 16 But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the flood which the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. 17 And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ."

It appears that some in the church will be taken to a place on this earth, prior to the tribulation (not raptured away to heaven), to a wilderness area where God protects them, but a "remnant" is NOT allowed to go (or are sleeping so deeply that they miss the "midnight call"), and whom become the target of Satan's wrath during the tribulation. It is likely this is when the "buying" of "gold", or God's spirit, takes place, through repentance and submission to God during the persecution and perhaps death/martyrdom.

The whole point is that Christ warns us to be diligent in the following;

1. "Watching" - Matt 24:42 "Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. 43 But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. 44 Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect."

Watching world events, watching developments and how things compare to the bible, watching for warning signs along the way to stay on our toes.

2. "Doing" - James 1:22 "But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer , he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; 24 for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. 25 But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does."

This can encompass a host of things in our walk. Serving as we can, study, prayer, meditation, fasting for serious needs, speaking often with each other as we can.

Dan 11:31 "Those who do wickedly against the covenant he shall corrupt with flattery; but the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out [great exploits] (Not in original)."

• "Carry out" comes from OT:6213 = asah (aw-saw'); a primitive root; to do or make, in the broadest sense and widest application (as follows):
• KJV - accomplish, advance, appoint, apt, be at, become, bear, bestow, bring forth, bruise, be busy, certainly, have the charge of, commit, deal (with), deck, displease, do, (ready) dress (-ed), (put in) execute (-ion), exercise, fashion, feast, [fighting-] man, finish, fit, fly, follow, fulfill, furnish, gather, get, go about, govern, grant, great, hinder, hold ([a feast]), indeed, be industrious, journey, keep, labour, maintain, make, be meet, observe, be occupied, offer, officer, pare, bring (come) to pass, perform, pracise, prepare, procure, provide, put, requite, sacrifice, serve, set, shew, sin, spend, surely, take, thoroughly, trim, very, vex, be [warr-] ior, work (-man), yield, use. (I.e. ‘GREAT EXPLOITS???).

3. "Overcoming" - Through Christ's messages to the 7 churches in Revelation, he is consistent on one thing... Overcome...

• Rev 2:7 "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God."'
• Rev 2:11 "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death."'
• Rev 2:17 "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. And I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written which no one knows except him who receives it."'
• Rev 2:26 "And he who overcomes , and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations." - :29 "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches."'
• Rev 3:5 "He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels. 6 "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches."'
• Rev 3:12 "He who overcomes , I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God. And I will write on him My new name. 13 "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches."'
• Rev 3:21 "To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. 22 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches."
• Rev 21:7 "He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son."

Let's not be slacking, especially if we suddenly see a great change that is good for us all, and which provides a drastic change of life that can lull us to sleep and we forget what God's word warns us of regarding this new and profound system which will woo the whole world. We MUST know what the bible says, and we must believe God over what we may see, or even experience down the road.

The bible is our blueprint, our instruction manual, our light to our path. It is the single best tool we have, next to God's spirit in us, so let's be diligent to apply these tools into our lives, and take stock of the clear warnings we have about what NOT to do with our lives.

Further reading on these subjects:

Preparing for the future and biblical prophecy: Personal letter to the collective biblical Church of God!

Satan!

See also - UFO's, Aliens, The Bible, & Humanity!

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