Convergence
and
Confusion – What to Do?
Part 17
“You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times.” (Matt. 16:3)
"Tell us, when will these things be? And what
will be the sign of Your coming, and of the
end of the age?" (Matt 24:3)
“But you, Daniel, close up and seal the words of the scroll until the time of the end.” (Daniel 12:4)
Jesus criticized the Jews of his day because they knew how to predict the weather but could not discern the “signs of the times.” Later, Jesus was asked about the signs of His coming and He told them. For those who think prophecy is hidden and impossible to understand, that is just not true. These words were written for those of us who have a “need to know.” Much of the confusion over prophecy is because the words were sealed until the time of the end as it says in Daniel. God wants to reveal the meaning to His children. God gave us prophecy for a reason – not that we would be in the dark unable to make sense out of it, but understand and act on it.
There are at least two times in history 
when
God wanted to make it perfectly clear what He was about to do: prior to His
first Coming and prior to His Second Coming. Even the wise men from the east
(Astrologers), King Herod (who had the children killed) and others could read
and knew the prophecies. They knew when and where the Christ was going to
come. Anyone with an ability to read and understand could have discovered
that fact—even so today. Only blindness and the hardness of our hearts
prevent us from understanding.
The Doubters Among Us
The
doubters among us say, “We’ve been hearing this ‘end of the world’ stuff for
years and things just keep going. Maybe we have hundreds or even thousands of
years to go.” Others genuinely believe that America isn’t in prophecy and has
to be destroyed before the “end times” scenario can begin. Still others
believe that prophetic Babylon may be China or India who will surely emerge as
superpowers given a little more time. Others believe it will be Russia and a
united Muslim world.
The doubters could be correct, but I don’t
think so. We are coming into a time of convergence of many factors – an
alignment of conditions that is very unlikely to ever occur again. Part of
the great deception is to overlook America as the 
fulfillment
of “prophetic Babylon” in history. One of the key features of prophetic
Babylon and the antichrist is that they are “apostate Christian.” “Apostate”
means “fallen” or “backslider” meaning they may no longer have the substance,
but still retain the form and appear “Christian.”
This hardly describes China, India or post-Christian Russia or Western
Europe. Further, this prophetic Babylon sits on seven mountains (Rev. 17:9)
having a world wide reach to the seven continents. And in this series on “In
Search of Babylon,” we have shown that America’s reach and commercial and
military power is greater than any empire in the history of the world.
The statistical probability that another “Christian”
nation which would emerge to replace
America is not very great.
There is a convergence in other factors such as the restoration of the State of Israel and the fact that the nations of the earth rage against her. Jerusalem is a “cup of trembling.” Muslim nations representing 1.215 billion people are arrayed against Israel and bent on her complete destruction. It was reported on Monday that the Bush administration is planning an attack against Iran this summer. Syria has also been warned. The whole world is focused on the Middle East.
“9But when you hear of wars and commotions, do not be terrified; for these things must come to pass first, but the end will not come immediately."
10Then He said to them, "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. 11And there will be great earthquakes in various places, and famines and pestilences; and there will be fearful sights and great signs from heaven.” (Luke 21:9-11)
These are the “beginning of sorrows” but the end will not come immediately, meaning that it will “get worse before it gets better.” Just as events and hundreds of specific prophecies were fulfilled in His First Coming – so shall it be with His Second. These events will continue to unfold right before our eyes and man will either turn toward God or away from Him. This will be the greatest harvest and the greatest falling away occurring simultaneously! The whole planet will be thrown into confusion.
How Could This Happen?
A series of dominoes are about to fall. Some
are military and related to Israel and the
Middle East
which we alluded to above. Others are economic and will affect us all
personally – no matter where in the world we may reside. This is how the
crash will come and how it will affect you, your friends, relatives and
neighbors. The question is, do we just let events overtake us and “trust the
Lord” or do we do something? More on that later. 
Now for the “ticking bomb” as I try to simplify and summarize material covered in previous sections:
1. The Federal Government has followed a policy of massive deficit spending, and a $200 billion war in the Middle East which has led to even greater deficits, printing money and will eventually cause interest rates to rise.
2. The Government has encouraged globalism and outsourcing of key manufacturing and service jobs to other countries – a benefit to the American consumer but not to the American worker.
3. The Federal Reserve has pursued a reckless policy of money creation and cheap credit which will eventually result in a correction: deflation of the currency and an increase in interest rates.
4. American corporations have sacrificed long term viability for short term gains by outsourcing, laying workers off, closing plants and not investing in new infrastructure in order to keep the stock price pumped up and their bonuses big. This will eventually lead to the downfall of many businesses.
5. The tax laws have favored the one percent at the top who control 73 percent of the nation’s wealth.
6. The government changed laws allowing 401k, IRA and pension funds to invest in the equity markets (stocks) and now want to add Social Security creating equity bubbles in stocks and real estate. Businesses invested and lost pension funds in the stock market.
7. Other countries, principally Asian, have artificially supported the dollar by buying treasury notes. America absorbs over 81 percent of the entire world’s savings.
8. The dollar has lost value against the Euro, Yen and other currencies.
9. Low interest rates encouraged home owners to take equity out of their homes to live on and pay bills. It also encouraged those who would never considered home ownership to buy a home – usually with little or nothing down and an adjustable rate mortgage to keep the payments low.
10. The government is lying about inflation which is much higher than reported, as anyone going to the store or gas pump can attest. They are lying about unemployment and the quality of jobs being created.
There
are MANY weak links in this chain. This is how the house of cards begins to
fall (not necessarily in this order):
1. Other countries realize they are losing billions as the dollar falls in value so they stop supporting the dollar and switch to other currencies. The only way to keep the dollar attractive is to raise interest rates on bonds. This will cause interest rates to increase across the board.
2. As interest rates increase, rates for everything from mortgages to credit cards will increase.
· This will squeeze first time buyers out of the market. (In Sacramento, first time buyers have gone from 60% to 20%)
· Adjustable rate mortgages will cause the marginal home owners to lose their homes.
· Values will flatten and decrease leaving home owners “up side down” – owing more than the home is worth.
· Foreclosures and bankruptcies will sky rocket (already at record levels).
3. This will bring down banks, savings and loans and the Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs are private enterprises) known as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (more on this later)
It looks very likely that the bottom will drop
out of the housing market and trillions of dollars in “equity” will suddenly
disappear. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac hold about 80 percent of all the
mortgages amounting to trillions of dollars ($2.3 and $1.5 trillion
respectively). Their reserves are insignificant so when people start walking
away from their homes, both super agencies will fail bringing down major banks
with them. Confidence in the dollar will fall internationally and governments
and investors will sell their dollars. The collapse of the housing market
will bring the 
stock
market down with it. Here is the progression of events:
1. Long term interest rates will rise causing the housing markets to plummet.
2. Millions of mortgage defaults will paralyze the economy, bringing down the two giant GSEs and many banks with it, crippled by bad loans.
3. As interest rates increase, credit will tighten and consumers and businesses will have no savings and no easy money.
4. Once easy re-fi money is no longer available, consumer spending will go down, bringing down corporate profits and the stock market.
5. Workers will be laid off. Government tax revenue will decrease. Deficits will either increase or programs drastically cut.
6. Private foreign and governments will abandon the support of the dollar, causing interest to increase even more.
7. The Federal Reserve will respond by printing whatever money is needed, further debasing the value of the dollar.
8. Inflation will go through the roof as everything becomes more expensive – oil, imports, food, etc.
A downward spiral will occur where each of these factors plays off one another. Will it occur rapidly or just be a slow burn as in Japan where stock and property values fell by 80 percent over more than a decade? People may say, “I have heard about talk of a crash for years and it never happens. What makes you think it will this time?” That is a very good question.
If you look at the history of the past century, you see that the economy has followed roughly twenty year cycles – expansion and retraction. There is always an adjustment for excesses and a reward for savings and investment. After the recession which began in 2000, the Federal Reserve took extraordinary steps to prevent a fall in the market by printing money and lowering the interest rates to Depression Era levels of only one percent. The increase in the money supply plus the free money (when interest rates are below inflation, it is free – and in fact, it still is at 2.5%) of easy credit, led to zero savings, a stock and a real estate bubble. Even Greenspan admitted it last week before Congress even though he minimized the importance.
The point is that economies adjust (eventually the books have to balance) and whenever policies keep the economy from adjusting as it should, it only postpones the inevitable, making the shock of the adjustments even worse. There are several things that have to be brought into balance: the government deficit (or, if they just print money, inflation increases), the trade deficit (Americans buying much more from abroad as the same countries keep loaning money so we can keep buying), the valuation and support of the dollar by other countries, housing and stock prices. Like water, they will seek their true levels. The government and the Fed have allowed the economy to get so far out of balance relative to the rest of the world, something will happen.
Can anything stop it from happening? No, it is inevitable. The longer we postpone it, the worse the adjustment. We don’t know exactly when it will happen, but the “trigger” is the interest rate and that is largely out of anyone’s control – even the Fed. The only thing that keeps us going is the largesse of other countries supporting our dollar. The dollar has lost 40 percent of its value against the Euro so why do these countries put up with it? Just today (Tuesday, February 22, 2005), Korea – one of the big Asian dollar supporters – announced plans to diversify into other currencies. But others such as China and Japan loan us dollars so we will keep buying their goods… but this can’t go on forever. Once rates start to rise, the process happens… and it may occur without the Fed action but be in terms of bond rate increases.
What Will This Mean to Us?
During the Great Depression in the 1930’s, there were soup lines, but for the most part, people still had relatives back on the farm. At least they could prevent starvation by growing food and pooling resources in extended families. Today, people are in the city and families are scattered all over. The coming depression will be worse in many ways because times have changed. We have 75 years of a growing government safety net plus a bankrupt government. So what will happen?
I have presented a bleak economic scenario that I believe can be defended factually. The Bible also tells us that in these pre-tribulation times we will see wars, rumors of wars, famine and pestilence (e.g. Luke 21:9-11):
"The time has drawn near.' Therefore[b] do not go after them. 9But when you hear of wars and commotions, do not be terrified; for these things must come to pass first, but the end will not come immediately."
10Then He said to them, "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. 11And there will be great earthquakes in various places, and famines and pestilences; and there will be fearful sights and great signs from heaven.
So we know what will happen, but what does it mean to us personally? Whether the adjustment comes on quickly or slowly, the plight for the average American will become bleak. Few people have any savings to fall back on and they are just a month or two away from being totally destitute if they lose their job and Americans are losing good paying jobs and finding themselves working longer hours for less pay. The job situation will continue to deteriorate. We are just not competitive in a global economy. Many will find they owe more on their house than it is worth and will lose it completely. Eventually, it will be worse than the Great Depression and there will literally be soup lines of starving homeless people.
What I am about to share with you is just my gut feeling. I may be wrong and have no factual basis for what I am about to say but here is what I believe may happen. The American government is not about to let people starve but they can’t necessarily continue to support us in the style to which we have become accustomed. There will be millions on the streets and there will be a hue and cry for the government to do something (not that they haven’t done things like this before).
Families
will be herded into “work camps”. It won’t be possible to accommodate
families together so the men and women will be housed in different barracks
and the children into their own areas. It’s not that couples can’t see one
another and even take turns with conjugal visits or spend time with their
children. It just won’t be practical to have the
family unit together. So we’ll
let the “village” raise the children. There will be a “wonderful” opportunity
for men and women from 18 to 35 or so to join the “peace keeping” forces where
they may serve domestically keeping order at home or in the war against
terrorism abroad. The war on terror will be foremost on everyone’s mind and
in the media. People will be willing to sacrifice in this time of trouble.
The elites and a select few with marketable skills, will escape the camps. The people in the camps will be put to work in much the same way as they were before, but now in defense of the empire. This allows America to control things at home, keep down consumption and focus on conquest as people are called upon to sacrifice for God and country.
The Bible tells us that the next thing that happens is BETRAYAL. We might as well replace the word “synagogues” with “churches.”
12”But before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons. You will be brought before kings and rulers for My name's sake. 13But it will turn out for you as an occasion for testimony. 14Therefore settle it in your hearts not to meditate beforehand on what you will answer; 15for I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries will not be able to contradict or resist. 16You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death. 17And you will be hated by all for My name's sake. 18But not a hair of your head shall be lost. 19By your patience possess your souls.” (Luke 21:12-17)
We will be BETRAYED by parents, brothers, relatives and friends AND HATED BY ALL for “MY name’s sake.” I have a quick question: Do you want to face this alone? If not, what can we do about it?
What Do We Do?
I’m not going to tell you what to do. You have to seek the Lord and ask Him what He wants you to do. I will make a couple of simple suggestions.
1. It goes without saying that you have to have a very close, personal relationship with the Lord Himself. Give everything to Him and don’t be afraid of what man can do to you.
2. This is not the time to think you can be a “lone ranger.” Hebrews 10:25 exhorts us to “not forsake the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.” This doesn’t necessarily mean church because many churches will “fall away” and be a part of the problem. This means holding on to brothers and sisters you can trust with your life. If you don’t know who these people are, you had better find out quickly. Ask the Lord to show you who and how to establish these relationships.
3. Get out of debt and make yourself as free of the economic system as possible.
No, I’m not a survivalist. We don’t need guns and a hideaway. I believe that above all, we need to stand and be a testimony – a witness to those around us, no matter what the consequences. Many of us will become casualties of the tribulation, but that’s okay. We will be with the Lord.
But I also believe that we shouldn’t be stupid. Grow a “postage stamp” garden in your back yard. Move together with other Christians in a neighborhood, a rural community, an apartment, a farm, or a campground. People will be dislocated. We shouldn’t be taking care of ourselves, but we should be prepared to take care of as many people as possible – both those saved and in need and the “unsaved.” Above all, we will find strength in numbers and the real testimony is, “Behold, how they love one another.” It doesn’t matter whether we are in one place or in another, as long as we are where the Lord wants us. If you own an apartment, multiple dwellings, a campground or a rural property that is expandable, you could accommodate a community of people. There may come a time when we have all things in common (Acts 2:44, 4:32). A four bedroom house may hold four families.
If we are into saving our own skin, we miss the point. Ask the Lord to give you the grace to have an abundance to give. Arm yourself with that thought. Find a community with other Christians who will “overcome by the blood of the Lamb, by the word of their testimony, loving not their lives even unto death” (Revelation 12:11). Above all, we are called to testify and be a witness (the root of both words is “Martyr”). Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures. Only those who have the foresight and vision will prepare.
Years ago I was working late at home one night
and a movie came on called “The Twenty-Fifth Hour” 
starring
Anthony Quinn. It was the story of a Polish peasant who got caught up in
World War II – denounced first as a Jew, but since he wasn’t a Jew; they
wouldn’t help him escape prison; he got caught up in the German army as a
“poster boy” of Arian influence only to end up in the Nuremburg trials for war
crimes he didn’t commit but was caught up in the tide of war. It was a
brilliant performance not that he was a hero but that he was just an average
person caught up in war. Contrast this with “Shindler’s
List,” the true story of a German industrialist who saved thousands of Jews
during the war. At the end Shindler looks down at
his gold watch and begins to weep because he realizes the watch could have
bought the lives of three more Jews. In the end, that was his deepest
regret. What will yours be?
Brothers and sisters, this is the choice before us – let ourselves get passively caught up in end times events and carried along with the tide or become an active participant with the Lord and one another.
“But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman's hand.”
Ezekiel 33:6