A Financial Prophecy: Economic Chaos

You can now make purchases with your phone or smartwatch or buy what you need without leaving home. But is our digital economy a good thing? Dr. David Jeremiah reveals how digital transactions might be more than just a time-saving convenience, but one of the signs of the End Times.

Dear Lord,
Today…….I am asking all my prayer warriors to say a prayer that may help others. So many people are hurting right now. Many are struggling with finances and need jobs. Some are facing foreclosure and don’t even know how they are going to make it from week to week..

Many are lonely. . Many are heartbroken. . Many are facing sickness and health is fading. . Some are dealing with difficult family members. Many have lost HOPE.. Tonight, let us put our prayers and faith together decree and declare breakthrough over our families. Financial miracles WILL take place. Jobs WILL be found. Our Bodies WILL be made whole & sickness WILL flee. Marriages and relationships WILL be restored. Family members WILL find Jesus. Heartbreaks WILL be healed. JOY WILL be restored and HOPE WILL be found. In Jesus Name. Amen!!!!!! Keep God First…….

A cashless society, Cryptocurrency micro chipping people.
Is this what the profits were talking about when they described a future in which those who may buy and sell will have to bury a particular mark.
The mark of the beast. Is this what it’s talking about? We’ll get some answers next.
Right here on turning point, stylishly bearded and wearing a baseball cap.
Juan Osterland pulls on a pair of surgical gloves, uses a wipe to sterilize the top of his client’s hand.
Then with a quick jab Atralin inserts a preloaded syringe into the man’s skin and the man gasps as a tiny microchip about the size of a grain of rice and encased in a silicate glass enters his body.
It invisibly embeds itself in his hand as the man exclaims I’m a cyborg.
So what do you think? Is that clip from a horror movie or a dystopian television show?
Or could it be from the nightly news?
Well, this procedure didn’t take place in a dark movie or in the middle of a criminal layer.
It happened in the clean and bright offices of a company in Sweden specializing in biochips.
The company is called bio Hacks International. It’s where Osterland is.
The CEO and he estimates that he has chipped more than 6000 Swedes during the six years.
His company has been in business.
The microchip that he injects into clients uses radio frequency technology and you might have a similar chip in your dog or your cat chipping pets is a popular way of tracking them if they ever get lost.
Some of you probably know about that.
But human microchipping is more sophisticated and it offers a broader range of applications.
The chip can be used to open secure doors or log into computers.
All you have to do is just wave your hand. It can be used for contactless payments.
When the chip is linked with bank or credit accounts, users can access funds by swiping their hand over the payment terminals.
Actual credit cards are no longer needed.
The technology has literally gotten under your skin and is coming soon to a hand near you embedded microchips will offer you a world without keys, wallets or other encumbering items.
A world where everything is accessible which is to touch in the future.
Such biochips will detect illness, monitor your vital signs and send instant messages to your doctor.
Of course, they could potentially be used to track your movements to reveal your secrets, inform a totalitarian government, what you’re feeling and saying this is both exciting and frightening.
At the same time, Osterland believes his company’s success is connected to Sweden’s culture of embracing new technology, technology that still frightens people in other parts of the world.
The geopolitical situation historically gives us the kind of initial higher trust in the government.
He said, I think a lot of people would be way more apprehensive in a lot of countries than we are here in Sweden.
Well, I don’t know about you but I’m very apprehensive about that.
It’s bad enough what they can do through your cell phone.
If you have something embedded in your skin, you are lost to yourself and you have no idea what’s going on.
In fact, I’ll tell you right now, I know enough about what’s happening that you have no idea what’s going on right now just with your cell phone and other devices that you have that you think you’re totally under control.
Well, maybe you’re thinking, doesn’t the Bible say something about this sort of thing?
Haven’t I heard about something being stamped on our hands or on our foreheads? Yeah, you have, you’re right.
The evolving biometric chip technology reminds us of a prophecy that’s found in revelation chapter 13 verses 16 to 17.
It’s a passage, predicting something that will happen at the end of history during the great tribulation.
Now, having heard the story, I’ve told you about what’s happening in Sweden.
Listen carefully to these words from the scripture.
He causes all both small and great rich and poor, free and slave to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast or the number of his name.
Could the technology being produced by Osterland and many others be a foreshadowing of this mark of the beast we read about in the Book of Revelation, that’s really worth considering.
So we’re going to do that, this technology is coming more quickly than we know it’s ahead of schedule.
And I suspect we’ll soon be facing some personal choices here in this country with regard to this technology.
The appeal and the convenience of these innovations is palpable.
Just think about people like me, I can’t never find my keys. They’re lost most of the time.
Just think about the convenience of not ever losing your keys because they sewed it into your hand.
That would seem like a good thing. But the downside of it would not be worth the risk.
Just think about this technology in the wrong hands.
Could it lead us toward the day when a centralized government will control attack, punish and monitor all of us?
So yes, without being dogmatic or alarmist, it feels like biometric chips could be a precursor of Revelation 13.
And we’ll look at that and its ramifications a little bit more later on in this message.
But for now, I want you to consider Oster’s claim that people in some countries might be apprehensive of having microchips or similar technologies embedded in their skin?
Is he correct? Are people pushing back at invasive technology? Doesn’t look like it? To me.
I mean, we talk about it. People say they’re upset about it but nothing ever happens.
I see multitudes of people, entire nations choosing to hardwire their lives, to devices and move the physical world to digital without even looking back.
And this includes digitizing our relationships, our news, our entertainment, our politics, our health and yes, even our money.
The move toward electronic finances began back in the early 19 hundreds. I remember this a little bit.
Not as vivid as I do now having read about it, but it’s when department stores and a few gas companies began issuing their own proprietary cards.
So you’re shaking your heads up and down because you remember that too. That was new.
We hadn’t known that before. In 1946 John Biggins introduced charge it cards and the Diner’s Club card showed up in 1950 American Express came along in 1958.
And soon thereafter, credit card companies introduced the idea very lucrative for them of revolving credit.
I hope that doesn’t give you a sick feeling in your stomach.
When I say that with the onset of the internet, everything became digitalized today like it or not, we’re all relying on the security and trustworthiness of electronic systems and massive banks to manage our savings and handle our finances.
Few people are stuffing cash under their beds anymore. They’re not stockpiling physical commodities like gold jewels or currency.
And most workers get their salaries now as direct deposits into their bank accounts which they access through websites and smart phone apps, we can buy almost anything we want with the click of a mouse or the tap of a finger, downloadable entertainment, mutual funds, household items and even entire homes, cash and checks are practically obsolete.
Remember those birthday cards with a special slot for a check or a dollar bill. That’s yesterday’s gift.
Now, grandparents transfer money instantly through apps like paypal or Z.
And a growing number of churches collect their ties through digital platforms.
I don’t have a problem with that and it sure does make people more faithful in their giving.
But it’s just another illustration of how we’ve made this massive switch from the way we used to do things and we seem to be moving into this era of comfort with all kinds of digital transactions.
One more item deserves to mention this is pretty up to date and pretty right on for right now.
And that’s the rise of all digital currencies also known as crypto currencies.
While national currencies such as the dollar or the euro are officially backed by government reserves.
Digital currencies are decentralized. They don’t have a physical foundation in gold or other tangible assets.
Instead, cryptocurrencies exist entirely in the world of cyberspace. They are produced online, stored online and spent online.
Incredibly, there are more than 6500 cryptocurrencies circulating in the world today.
Now many see these digital currencies as the wave of the future.
They imagine a world where physical currency has been entirely removed and all transactions are processed digitally, many voices are even declaring the need for a central bank, digital currency CDC, which would be a government backed crypto currency designed to be the legal tender of a nation or perhaps even the entire world.
More and more people in the Western world are buying, selling and giving, not with physical money, coins and bills, but through a series of touches on a small screen, we love the convenience of managing our accounts from our palms.
For the most of us, this technology is still on the outside of our hand in our smartphones, but it’s only two millimeters from where Osterland would like it to be under our skin.
What does all this mean for us, for the future?
And is it a sign of the end times?
That’s the question, how does this affect the followers of the land right now today?
Let’s turn to scripture for some answers. What does this mean?
Well, as we’ve seen throughout this message, it’s difficult to make definitive statements about future events.
There are so many variables at play even when we have general principles and prophecies from God’s word to guide us.
We have to be careful about turning those principles and those prophecies into specific predictions about people, places and events.
So I don’t want to leave the impression that a Swedish biochip is necessarily and definitively the biblical mark of the beast.
I don’t really believe that, but it’s hard not to see some obvious trend lines.
And there’s one thing I can say with confidence, money will play an essential role in all of the events of the future, including the end times.
There’s a couple of chapters in the book of revelation where the economic center of the world at that time, Babylon is destroyed and it occupies dozens of verses talking about the destruction of Babylon, the center of monetary world.
So money has always been important in the past.
Everything connected with economics is increasingly important today, but it’s driving our world.
I think we can assume money will remain important in the future and that it will dominate our world even more in days to come, get ready.
So the Bible is rich with information on this topic.
Specifically, scripture reveals that money will have an impact on the end times both leading up to and during the period known as the tribulation.
Let’s talk about three of the most important financial signs of the end time. Number one, the addiction to money.
Can you be addicted to money? Do you know anybody that’s addicted to money?
Second Timothy 31 and two says, but know this that in the last days perilous times will come for men will be lovers of money.
It’s easy to think of Wall Street when we read these verses, but we also must grapple with this.
Personally. Paul said that the end times will be a period defined by rejecting what is good and running to embrace what is evil.
And much of that will be centered on an ever increasing appetite for money that matches what Paul had previously written to Timothy.
A verse that’s often misunderstood. But listen to it carefully for the love of money is the root of all evil for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
I always like to tell people that Paul did not say that money was the root of all evil.
How many of, you know, money is neutral? Money has no personality or it’s just neutral.
It’s what we do with money that creates the issue. And Paul said in Timothy, it’s not money, that’s evil.
It’s the love of money. Then here’s another thing that seems quite interesting because there’s a lot of discussion about this right now and that’s the acceleration of inequality.
The last days say that there will be an increasing amount of inequality as far as wealth is concerned as I have been saying, the tribulation is the coming seven year period during which God will complete his discipline in Israel and bring his wrath to bear on the evil of the world.
The tribulation will be a period of extreme economic inequality.
Most people will struggle to find basic supplies just to get through the day.
Yet, perhaps those who gave themselves most fully to an addiction of money prior to the tribulation are going to have a hard time just getting enough money to get through the day.
They will continue to indulge in a luxurious lifestyle, but they won’t have any way to support it.
And then thirdly, not only the addiction to money and the acceleration of inequality, the adoration of the antichrist, just as financial addition and rising inequality.
Conjure up scenes of the future.
The Bible tells us that a cult leader will be revealed, who will deceive the whole world and ultimately declare himself to be God.
The antichrist will be the personification of Charisma and people will do anything for a glimpse of him.
The Bible shows us who he really is.
Revelation 13 calls him a beast rising up out of the sea.
This ultimate dictator will rule the world during the last days and he won’t be alone.
A few verses later, John saw a second beast. This one coming up out of the earth.
This beast is called the false prophet and he will have one supreme duty to point humanity toward the antichrist.
It will be a twisted inversion of how the Holy Spirit points people to Jesus Christ.
Today in John’s vision, we’re told this beast had two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon.
In other words, Satan will cause his false prophet to appear like a meek and gentle lamb.
When in reality, he will have the heart of a destroyer.
Satan will be the power behind it all and the antichrist will be the political leader while the false prophet will be the spiritual leader and the economic leader, and he’ll be able to accomplish incredible things like bringing the antichrist back to life after a mortal wound and enabling an ao image to speak.
You can read all about it. It sounds fantastic, but it’s in the Bible and it’s going to happen.
The false prophet will also lead people into the worship of the antichrist.
His influence will be supernatural and demonic for our purpose.
Here, I want to direct your attention to the false prophets, economic power. He has two things that he does.
He controls the spiritual temperature of the world and the economic temperature of the world.
I want you to hear what the false prophet says at this particular time through the prophecy of John in the book of Revelation, revelation 13 16 to 18, he causes all both small and great rich and poor, free and slave to receive a mark on their right hand or on their forehead that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast or the number of his name.
Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding, calculate the number of the beast for the number of a man.
His number is 666. Let’s finish this up with this question that I’ve asked in this book.
I’ve written a number of prophecy books, but I’ve never written one with a section like this.
This is kind of a motivational section of the book that I’ve just written.
So the book’s chapters are all divided into these categories. Where are we now? What does it mean?
And where do we go from here? So let me just give you some thoughts about that.
You can respond to this danger with emphatic determination and timely wisdom.
So let me give you some things that you should be thinking about. I hope you will do this.
First of all, determine to count the cost, determined to count the cost in Luke 14, we read for which of you intending to build a tower does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it after he has laid the foundation and is not able to finish all who see it begin to mock him saying this man began to build and he was not able to finish.
So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be my disciple.
Here’s what I want to say to you.
And maybe this comes as a strange message at a time like this.
But I want you to hear it because it’s true. Following Jesus carries a cost throughout history.
Many Christians have paid that cost with their lives. Others have paid it with their reputations.
Others have paid it with their convenience, their relationships, their freedom and even their health and wealth.
When Christ is everything, everything else is nothing in comparison.
Maybe you’ve not lost your wherewithal in your life.
Many of you are probably paid minimal cost to follow Christ.
Yet our circumstances could change and at some point, they will change probably sooner rather than later.
I feel them starting to change right now with all that’s going on in our schools, with what’s being pushed on us in the corporations with big tech and all of this, I feel the icy fingers of that reaching out to grab hold of us and gravitate us toward the center as the world veers further away from God’s values and as time moves closer to Armageddon will arrive at a moment when proclaiming the name of Jesus requires a sacrifice, even a significant sacrifice, maybe everything.
But wouldn’t you rather have Jesus than anything the world affords?
I mean, let’s take this moment and count the cost realistically but optimistically, we can place on one side of the scale all the trappings of the American dream and the modern way of living our riches, our possessions, our comfort, our career and so on.
And on the other side of the scale place, the incredible unthinkable blessing of eternal life in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ, our savior.
Which one do you choose? Think about it be determined that whatever happens when the time comes and it may not come in your lifetime.
But when the moment comes, when you have to decide for Jesus or for the world, which is where you live now count the cost.
The Bible says we need to count the cost as if we were building a tower and list.
We fall short in the midst of the process.
Number two, determined to count the cost and determined to be confident.
The wonderful news about living for Jesus is that not only can we experience the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God, we can also feel confident in the reality of God’s presence right now.
No matter what cost we may pay to follow Christ, we will never sacrifice our connection with Him.
The author of Hebrews put it this way for He himself has said I will never leave you nor forsake you.
So we may boldly say the Lord is my helper. I will not fear what can man do to me?
The confident Christian knows that he stands in a place of security. He cannot be touched by anything.
The Lord will not allow the confident Christian can stand tall in the midst of all the things that are going around Him.
God is enough for any and every situation he will ever face.
I love how David expressed this in his psalms.
He said, the Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the strength of my life, of whom shall I be afraid?
Since we have the Lord, we can never be left without a friend or a treasure or a dwelling place.
And this should help us feel secure in the moment in which we find ourselves.
When we stand in such awe of the living Lord, the lying world loses its power on us.
Do what you want to do. The Lord is my confidence. I stand in Him.
He’s promised never to leave me, nor forsake me. So determined to count the cost.
Number two, determined to be confident and number three determined to be content.
Oh How we need to learn this?
I’ll finish this message with this thought because God will never leave us or forsake us.
We can be content with what we have as the globe spins around us and the worship of wealth will accelerate the Bible can keep us from yielding to these pressures.
There’s one incredible secret. I want to give you on the authority of scripture.
I can tell you how to distance yourself from a materialistic lifestyle.
It’s by developing one simple biblical attitude, contentment, two passages instantly come to mind that you should write down in your notebook.
If you struggle with being content here, they are.
The first one comes to us from the book of Hebrews says, let your conduct be without covetousness and be content with such things as you have.
And the second is in Ecclesiastes 5 10.
He who loves silver will not be satisfied with silver nor he who loves abundance with increase.
This also is vanity is very subtle folks because it’s a condition that exists in our minds.
It’s the invisible violation that no one else ever sees.
You can have your act together on the outside, but inside, you can be agonizing, lusting and being consumed by the desire to have what someone else has.
Coveting is a closeted spiritual crime that if not checked will eventually manifest itself externally.
The writer of Hebrews tells us how to replace coveting with contentment.
The word for contentment means satisfied, adequate, competent, sufficient.
The same term is used in second Corinthians 12 9 where God told Paul my grace is sufficient for you.
Someone has said Christian contentment is the God given ability to be satisfied with the loving provision of God in any situation.
In other words, wherever we are, whatever we’re experiencing, if we know God, we don’t have to be worried about what we don’t have or what we might have or what we wish we have, we have God.
And I’ll tell you what I know people that have got everything the world has to offer and they don’t have God and they’re empty and they don’t know what life is all about and they wish they could find the secret that some of their friends who have very little have found the simplicity of contentment in the Lord Jesus.
Maybe you’re worried about this. Maybe you say, well, Pastor Jeremiah, I don’t think I was born with contentment.
It wasn’t one of my genes. God didn’t give me contentment when I was born.
He left that out of the equation. I don’t feel satisfied with my life or even with my possessions.
And I often find myself wanting more. Well, don’t let that bother you because I learned something here.
It is. It’s good news and I want you to listen to this verse and then I’ll point out why it’s such good news.
Paul wrote in Philippians chapter four. Listen carefully. Not that I speak in regard to need for.
I have learned in whatever state I am to be content. Let’s just stop right there.
How did Paul get to be content?
He learned contentment is a learned attitude, isn’t it something you grow up with?
I don’t know any kid who’s content, do you? They always want something?
They don’t have something somebody else has the first time they see something they don’t have, they want it.
But contentment is something you learn as you grow. Paul wasn’t born a saint.
He didn’t come into the world with a vast reserve of contentment.
He learned contentment through experience, including both comfort and hardship.
He learned contentment by honestly evaluating the value of wealth versus the value of his connection with Christ.
And he learned contentment through the continual influx and influence of God’s spirit in his life.
He seemed to be equally joyful staying in a friend’s villa or chain in a Roman cell.
You know what some people’s problem is here. It is.
Wherever you go, you take yourself with you, you get that one contentment isn’t outside of yourself.
Contentment is in yourself. And it’s an attitude that you learn.
And when you learn contentment, the pull of riches and all the extra things, money then becomes just a tool.
Use it for the kingdom of God, use it for the basics. Enjoy what God has given you.
The Bible wants us to enjoy our life.
But if you hoard resources, if your goal is to be the richest person on your street or in your company or in your family, that attitude will destroy you.
Learn to be content with what you have and what you have is the eternal God and his son, Jesus Christ.
Our world’s approach to money is troubling. It’s alarming. It’s the prelude to the tribulation.
But we as Christians don’t have to follow that path.
I’m going to leave you with a statement that was made famous by Anne Graham Lotz because she wrote a book by this title.
But here it is, I hope it’s your thought. You can take the world. But give me Jesus.
We hope you enjoy today.