Economic Warfare

The False Prophet employs economic sanctions to coerce men to swear allegiance to the Beast from the Sea.

The Book of Revelation warns of a future entity that will use economic control to suppress all those who refuse to swear allegiance to the “Beast from the Sea/Abyss.” There is a government today that issues economic sanctions promiscuously and unilaterally against nations, institutions, and individuals that challenge its dictates.

This present reality ought to raise the question among the followers of Jesus - Is the “Beast” at last Rising from the Sea, the one with the “Mouth speaking great things and slanders”? Is the Church of Jesus Christ about to experience Satan’s final attempt to destroy the People of God? Only time will tell.

[Photo by engin akyurt on Unsplash]

As for the identity of this government, it does not take the gift of prophecy or discernment to see what is plain as day. I am not referring to a nation or people but to a political entity and ruler determined to dominate the nations and peoples of the Earth.

In Revelation, the “False Prophet” employs the economic power of the first Beast to seduce and compel men to pay homage to the “Beast.” The ability to threaten and acually level economic penalties against nations, communities, and individuals is the key to this creature's dominance over others, and the Beast serve Satan, the “Great Red Dragon.”

Too often we assume the power of the “Beast” lies in its military might. While the “Beast” may have the military means necessary to subdue some nations through naked force, the key to its subjugation of the “Inhabitants of the Earth” is control over world commerce and banking. The “Inhabitants of the Earth” take the “Mark of the Beast,” and thus become legally authorized to engage in trade - to “buy and sell” - (Revelation 13:16-18).

In contrast, the followers of the “Lamb” are excluded from the economic life of the World Empire because they bear the Lamb’s name and the seal of God.

Humanity is divided into two groups: the saints who follow the “Lamb,” and the “Inhabitants of the Earth” who give their allegiance to the “Beast.” There is no middle ground, no neutral position. To which group any man belongs determines whether his name is written in the “Lamb’s Book of Life” or excluded from it.

The beastly “Mark” branded on one’s “forehead” or “right hand” mimics the ancient summons to Israel to worship Yahweh alone, and this provides a clue as to what is really at stake. This global imperial power demands the allegiance that belongs to God alone, and it is a jealous god. It will not tolerate any rivals - (Deuteronomy 6:5-8).

CHOOSE WHOM YOU WILL SERVE

The “seal of God” in chapter 7 of Revelation is figurative, and so, also, is the “Mark of the Beast.” Anyone who gives his or her allegiance to the “Beast” takes its “Mark” by default, just as everyone who follows the “Lamb” receives the “Seal of God.”

The choice is between who one worships – To whom and what a man gives his allegiance – ultimately, to the “Dragon” or the “Lamb.” Make no mistake. Satan is the power behind the World Empire regardless of whatever ideology or slogans the “Beast” may employ to mask its true agenda - (Revelation 7:1-3, 14:9-11).

If there is a message to the Church, it is twofold. First, it must exercise painstaking discernment before blindly embracing the values of this fallen age, especially its political ideologies. Second, the Church must watch vigilantly for the rise of a beastly system characterized by its employment of economic control to impose its will, one ruled by an arrogant man who boasts of “great things” and slanders God and His saints.

When such a political entity appears, that will be our first clue that the “Beast is ascending from the sea.” Moreover, such a political entity is active now on the world scene exercising enormous influence over every aspect of the world’s economy.

This does not mean this present political system will be the final incarnation of the “Beast.” The “Dragon” cannot unleash his final war until authorized to do so (“And it was given to the Beast to wage war…”).

The Devil has been pushing this same program for thousands of years. This is why history “repeats” itself with one attempt at global empire after another. Specific tactics change with circumstances, but the goal remains the same.

It boils down to how close we are to the end of the age, a question I cannot answer. Nevertheless, world events are lining up for another attempt at world government, and at no point in the past has there ever been a political power with the level of economic control exercised by today’s dominant world power and the determination to use it with brute force whenever necessary, and even when it is not.

Disciples of Jesus must exercise caution and discernment as never before. The foretold beastly storm has, in all probability, arrived.

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SEE ALSO:

• The Ultimate Imposter - (The False Prophet will mimic the Lamb’s servants and sell the Beast from the Sea as the Lamb to the world – Revelation 13:11-18)

• Antichrists, Plural - (The Spirit of the Antichrist works to destroy the Body of Christ from within, especially through deceivers and false teachers – 1 John 2:18-22)

• Babylon Strides the Earth - (“Babylon” symbolizes the recurring rise of the world empire and its self-appointed kings and tyrants, and it strides across the Earth even today)