(Because this essay drew so many interesting comments, I am running it for a second day. RA]
With debt spinning wildly out of control and the States threatening to revolt against Washington, we asked some frequent contributors to the Rick’s Picks forum how they thought the economy would look five years from now. The essay below, by Brad Bolz, is quite different from the others because it is based on Biblical prophecy. For starters, he sees a nuclear war in 2018 and then the emergence of an Antichrist in 2021. If such stuff isn’t your cup of tea , please bear in mind that we try to present many points of view here. This one is surely miles from the beaten path — although, when you consider how screwed up the world is these days, it doesn’t seem too farfetched – at least not to us — to blame Satan. If you want to skip to the bottom line, Brad predicts near the end of the essay that today’s financial bulls will prove to have been right, although the bears’ predictions of a dramatically lowered standard of living will also be borne out.]
Where will the economy be in five years? I’m going to try and use Biblical prophecy for my prediction. Fools jump in where angels fear to tread, right? Normal caveats apply. I’m not a prophet nor biblical scholar, but this may be the only a possible framework in which to structure investments. Investing is changing. Rules and charts guide us, but I suspect we’re approaching a season in which the events that unfold will be observably linked to Biblical prophecy. Our personal opinions about prophecy won’t matter because, I believe, there are people at the very top who are pushing us toward the End Times.
The problem with predictive prophecy has been and is….that everyone interprets the things that occur in their own time as corresponding to predictions about the End of Days. Accordingly, great caution is prescribed. However, if we accept that Israel is the Israel described in the Bible, we can attach dates to predicted events. Israel became a recognized country in 1948, and since a Biblical lifespan is 120 years, the year 2068 is the outside limit for the “end” of Armageddon. The Bible says that, within the lifespan of the generation alive in 1948, we will reach Armageddon’s end. That leaves 57 years, max. Drawing on other religions produces somewhat different conclusions. For one, Iran’s president, Ahmadinejad, stated in 2009 that he would usher in the Mahdi, the prophesied redeemer of Islam. He also ordered the phrase “Praise be to the Mahdi” painted on the side of an ICBM around the same time the world ostensibly declared “war” on a nuclear Iran. The Mahdi, not mentioned in the Bible, returns seven, nine, or eighteen 18 years prior to the end of Armageddon. So, presuming the ICBM announced the Mahdi, we’re looking at 18 years (2028) till the end of Armageddon. (Thanks to Chris Laird for pointing my brain in this direction, by the way.)
Prior to the seven-year Tribulation that is thought to precede the Second Coming and the End Times, we will need a global currency, a global government and the Mark of the Beast. Eighteen years less seven leaves eleven years left before the Tribulation. It remains to be seen how long it will actually take to implement a world currency, global government and Mark of the Beast.
The Mahdi’s Work?
There is buzz saying the hand of the Mahdi can be seen in current Middle East developments. Global government will require homogeneous democracy throughout the world, so no surprise that uncooperative nations are being toppled. Larger nations will not topple easily, and war takes years to prepare, so absolute disaster is not imminent. Facebook, YouTube and other social networks allow people to receive unfiltered news, so people are more aware than ever about how corrupt our governments are.
It seems to me that all Ponzi currencies should collapse “now,” enabling a global currency. But, nations won’t agree to lose their power bases — they will have to be forced, and thus the US dollar will last longer than it should. There is much deception yet to be created as we have to fill out the Mahdi’s 18 years. So, economically, in five years, we may be in the fifth of the seven years preceding the Tribulation.
In five years, the dollar should still be a going Ponzi scheme, with other currencies even worse. Knowledge has grown exponentially, and new biological or technological firms will have replaced failed firms, so the stock market will look bullish. The value of the dollar will have dropped further, but the market will adjust by rising. Commodities prices will rise because they are needed for war, and because food is getting more expensive and more difficult to obtain. The lower and middle classes in the U.S. will be worse off than now, but the top two percent will be able to live roughly as they do now. Our infrastructure will be deteriorating due to a lack of maintenance and natural disasters. Unemployment will be higher, since, based on skill sets, jobs and workers will grow even more mismatched However, because resources are necessary to Satan’s plan for world dominance, stocks and commodities will be higher, with inflation-adjusted property values ten to twenty percent lower than now.
Quality of Life Will Fall
Financially, the bulls are correct. For quality of life, the bears are correct.
Bonus look, seven to thirteen years ahead: At what point, and how, do the remaining untoppled nations visibly fight for dominance? Answer: Not until the seventh or eighth year, I think. I submit that Satan needs an event — a mini nuclear war perhaps – around 2018 – 2019 that the Antichrist can visibly end. This gives the Antichrist until 2021 to have in place global currency and subsequent global government, including a seven-year peace treaty with Israel. It will be necessary for the new government to have total control. It will have to be able to destroy current and future terrorism (the 2nd Beast will be able to read minds). The Antichrist will be loved and he will be a great military leader that no-one can stand against. He will perform miracles for all to see. People will be very tired and, after having experienced how thin the thread of life hangs, they will accept The Mark in exchange for food, shelter and security. The time surrounding the Tribulation’s beginning will be one of peace and tremendous prosperity for all the world. It’s a deception, as God said he will allow/send a great deception as a test for his faithful.
(If you’d like to have Rick’s Picks commentary delivered free each day to your e-mail box, click here.)
Franklin Graham’s Warning !
Franklin’s warning of coming persecution of Christians echoes what his mother Ruth and father Billy have clearly stated. Re Ruth, see search engines including Google for “Letter from Mrs. Billy Graham.” To see what Billy has written, Google “Famous Rapture Watchers – Addendum.”
Since Franklin blamed the Obama administration for his own National Day of Prayer snub and persecution, and since he accused “Christian” Barack Hussein Obama of “giving Islam a pass,” readers can get some rare insights into Obama and his fellow travelers by Googling and Yahooing “Obama Fulfilling the Bible,” “Michelle Obama’s Allah-day,” “Obama Supports Public Depravity,” “Prof. F. N. Lee’s ISLAM IN THE BIBLE (PDF),” “Mikey Weinstein, Jesus-Basher,” and “Sandra Bernhard, Larry David, Kathy Griffin, Bill Maher, Joan Rivers, Sarah Silverman.”
For a rare look at the 181-year-old endtime belief which has long neutralized millions of American patriots by promising them an “imminent rapture” off earth – which has diverted them away from being prepared to stand against all enemies, domestic as well as foreign – Google “Pretrib Rapture Dishonesty,” “Famous Rapture Watchers,” “Pretrib Rapture Diehards,” “Edward Irving is Unnerving,” “Pretrib Rapture Secrecy,” and “Pretrib Rapture – Hidden Facts” – all by the author of the bestselling nonfiction book “The Rapture Plot” (the most accurate documentation on the pretrib rapture’s long hidden but recently uncovered birth in Britain in 1830 – see Armageddon Books). Also Google “Stamping Out Harold Camping.”