Dear Wake Up Friends,
Last month, I wrote about the Coronavirus pandemic and governmental attempts to prevent spread of the disease. The article pointed out how easily this acquiescence to governmental control will occur again during the global disasters of the first four trumpets. However, when I wrote it, I didn’t realize that within a month, God would provide another, more relevant example that mirrors end time events.
On May 25 in Minneapolis, 46 year-old George Floyd, was needlessly killed when Officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes. A person cannot watch this horrific event without being repulsed by the gratuitous abuse of police power. As a result, since May 25, there have been protests in more than 550 U.S. cities and 40 countries. While most protests have been peaceful, many have deteriorated into senseless violence and looting. For example, in Minneapolis/St. Paul, damage estimates from destruction and looting exceed $500 million dollars.
These sobering events also provide a stark portent of similar events to occur during the first four trumpets. Picture, for a moment, the horrible scenario of this world reeling from: a global earthquake, two devastating asteroid impacts, numerous volcanic eruptions, world-wide meteoric firestorms, and dense darkness blanketing the earth. Food and water and shelter will be scarce. Fear and terror will fill the hearts of each survivor. One day, this will become the new reality. All ongoing disputes simmering in the background will immediately develop into life-threatening emergencies. How will humanity remain alive?
Nearly all global disputes today are due to ethnic differences, religious disagreements, economic variances, and/or a political desire for control. Any conflict can be traced to one or more of these problems. Of these, perhaps the most intractable problem today is ethnic strife. The recent protests illustrate how perceptions regarding ethnicity and/or culture can be a spark which ignites full-scale destruction.
Think about the political, ethnical, and religious divisions existing today: Communism vs. capitalism, Israeli vs. Arab, Christian vs. Moslem, Sunni vs. Shia, rich vs. poor, Hutu vs. Tutsi, black vs. white, powerful vs. powerless. These are just a few of the flash points that are causing conflicts. During the first four trumpets, these divisions will be temporarily suspended during an all-encompassing fight for survival.
On a small scale, during the coronavirus pandemic, people reduced social interactions amid stay-at-home orders. However, ethnic divisions and chaotic activities, which were muted during the pandemic, spiraled out of control after the George Floyd killing when people’s emotions became unchecked. This is just a miniature of what will happen to facilitate the rise of Babylon during the fourth trumpet. All the world’s ethnic, political, and religious divisions will explode onto the stage.
I anticipate political leaders during the first four trumpets, like some leaders today, will be frozen and unable to make decisions necessary to maintain order in a collapsed society. They may have political power in name initially, but will be unable to assert that power because of the fractured, divided societies. Additionally, survivors will be suffering from post-traumatic stress and unable to function in the hostile environment. In the void, people like the looters and anarchists today will move in and attempt to gain control over the survivors. During these turbulent times when political leaders are floundering, religious leaders will be perceived as uniquely able to address the “acts of God” which have resulted in such chaos. This will be the beginning of Babylon: the end time church-state theocracy combining religion and government which will gain political, ethnic, and religious control over a majority of the population.
I don’t believe the divisions that separate people and populations today are going to be eliminated when Babylon begins to form. The divisions run too deep. When Lucifer appears in the flesh and takes over Babylon at the fifth trumpet, he will use force to overcome barriers between peoples (Revelation 9:1-6). Each person will be forced to make a decision whether to accept the mark of the beast. Religious dogma, ethnicity, race, wealth, or political power and control become unimportant when each person makes his or her choice for salvation.
Thankfully, the Lord is providing parallels today so we can be prepared when the global earthquake occurs and the trumpets begin. Satan’s use of force to resolve differences between groups of people will not succeed. God has the only permanent cure to heal Babylon’s divisions. “On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.” (Revelation 22:2, italics mine)
Marty