By
Terry James
Definitive economic realities and trends are
lining up with Bible predictions of the way things will be at the end of the
age. One specific, powerful dynamic is driving all of mankind toward the end of
days abyss Jesus called great tribulation. John the revelator gave, through
Inspiration directly from Jesus Christ, prophecy about the state of the economy
of Planet earth during history’s most terrible time. “And when he had opened
the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo
a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. And I
heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a
penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil
and the wine.” (Rev. 6: 5-6) The foreboding call for the rider on the black
horse to gallop forth foretells a coming time of worldwide famine –of death
from starvation for millions. There will be, at the same time, great riches.
The wine will flow sumptuously, and there will be plenty of medicinal and other
of life’s soothing emoluments for living luxuriantly. However, the prophecy
indicates a catastrophic division of the haves from the have-nots. The rich will
get richer, and want for nothing, while the rest of the world goes deeper into
earth history’s blackest hour of depression.
If
this generation is within the general time-frame of the era just before
Christ’s second coming, then we who believe in the Bible as God’s inerrant Word
are assured we can see the signals of the season leading up to the end. Jesus
said, as recorded in Mark 13: 37, “What I say to one, I say unto all, watch.”
He said further: “When all of these things begin to come to pass, then look up,
and lift up your head, for your redemption draweth nigh.” (Luke 21: 28) So,
with the Lord of Creation the infallible prognosticator of what will
happen from here to eternity, let us
examine His end time word on earth’s economic future. And, keep in mind that
the whole Word of God is Jesus speaking to us. The Scripture tells us, 1: ”In the beginning was the Word, and the
Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with
God.” (John 1: 1-2) It is Jesus, who is God, who gave all prophetic Truth about
what will happen in the end of days to the prophets of His Holy Word. Prophecy
comes from Jesus, no matter what Bible writer or what Book we look at, while we
think upon things involving end time economy. With this fact in our thinking,
let’s consider the thought expressed when we began. One specific, powerful
dynamic is driving all of mankind toward the end of days abyss Jesus called
great tribulation. It is becoming more and more evident what that component of
the end time economic puzzle is –oil.
Petroleum
is tugging, driving, causing all of mankind to rush toward the Middle East for
the final showdown with Jesus Christ, Himself.
Rapture
Ready has a number of articles on Armageddon and oil, with many books –both
religious and secular-- having dealt with the topic in past and recent times.
Therefore,
I want to, rather than look only at oil as an
energy-producing resource,
break down all of the peripheral issues associated with petroleum. I.e.,
we will look at that specific catalyst for bringing the armies of earth to do
battle in the valley of Jezreel in its many component parts of the influence
oil is exerting, particularly as involves economic pressures, upon the
nation-states of the world during these waning days of human history.
The
prophet Ezekiel gives us in a capsule
the end time economic factor that is the nucleus of the movement toward
Armageddon. “Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, that at the
same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil
thought: And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of un-walled villages; I
will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling
without
walls,
and having neither bars nor gates, to take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn
thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people
that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that
dwell in the midst of the land.” (Ezk. 38: 10-12) This is a prophecy of the
Gog-Magog War scheduled for times just ahead. Some prophecy students believe it
might take place before the Rapture, some believe it might coincide with the
Rapture, and still others believe the Gog-Magog assault into the Middle East
toward Israel could take place within Daniel’s seventieth week –the
Tribulation. It isn’t particularly relevant to be concerned with the timing of
that catastrophic attack here. But, it is most relevant to consider the
particular thing that might cause the leader of this great force to have his
“evil thought,” and determine to bring that tremendous coalition of
Israel-hating armies from the north. I believe it is becoming increasingly
clear what that factor will likely be. Oil is the one commodity on Planet Earth
that could reach the degree of importance that could constitute the “great
spoil” mentioned a number of times in the Gog-Magog attack foretold by Ezekiel.
It cannot be mere coincidence that the Middle East region is where the Planet
was most lush. The place where the Garden of Eden was placed. If oil is, as
most scientists believe, primarily decayed vegetation and animal matter that
has decomposed, then this is the area where we might expect the greatest
deposits of the substance we call oil. It must be more than mere coincidence,
too, it follows, that this is the general region where all of the petroleum
hungry nations of the world would place intense interest. How much of a stretch
is it, then, to believe that the forces of Gog-Magog would one day consider
this region a chief target for invasion? And, carrying this logic to Biblically
prophetic conclusion, is it any wonder that Armageddon, involving most every
nation on earth, will meet in this very region to do battle for the great spoil
–the liquid black gold—beneath the sand
of the Middle East? Ezekiel prophesied that God would “put hooks” in Gog’s jaws
and bring him into the region for the Magog forces destruction. God said that
He will gather all armies of the world to the place called Armageddon. Seems to
me the gathering process is well underway, as we consider matters involved in
end time economy.
The
world’s drive to progress in technologies makes it inevitable that the need to
find energy sources will more and more take stage center to power the efforts
to fuel industry. This was prophesied by Daniel the prophet “men shall run to
and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.” (Daniel 12: 4) Such great explosion
of travel requires massive amounts of energy, and knowledge has increased to
keep pace. The drain on crude oil resources and upon refineries has increased
almost as exponentially as has the knowledge needed to produce the modern
marvels of transportation in which we run to and fro. The one painfully obvious
area in which this generation has not made stupendous achievement is in the
area of creating viable alternate energy to that available through fossil
fuels. New, thirsty customers plus diminishing supply = trouble of the
apocalyptic kind. We will look at the newest customers lining up at the
diminishing petroleum pools. But, first, let us think a bit upon how oil has an
impact on life just in America. America, the greatest producer of technologies
that assured the tremendous progress made within the centuries immediately past
continues to be the world’s greatest drain on oil resources around the world.
America was the producer for most of its own energy needs during the era of the
mid-20th Century. The vast, easy to access oil reserves in Texas and
Oklahoma gave the nation a cheap supply of energy to run the machinery of the
nation’s burgeoning demands. The depletion of those fields, and subsequent
search for new oil suppliers moved the U.S. and the world into geopolitical
channels that few foresaw. America, and the world, have, ever since being
struck by the epiphany that, indeed,
oil is a finite resource, been powerfully drawn to the Middle East.
Israel the key
So
many rearrangements have taken place since the late 1950s that it would require
a set of volumes on the things involved, not a single article to cover the
matter. The bottom line to consider is that the rearrangements that have taken
place have all revolved around America’s relationship to God’s chosen nation
–Israel. The relationship has seemed both a blessing and a curse. America’s
acting as mid-wife for the birth of modern Israel opened new venues of economic
markets. U.S. protection of the infant state, which quickly became the most
powerful in the region –with America’s help—gave the U.S. presence in the
region of Planet Earth with the deepest petroleum reserves. These were needed
to assure the powerful engines of western productivity would continue to run.
The geopolitical and industrial realities of the times assured America a place
among the chief players of the region with the clout to keep oil flowing. The
royal Saudi family held the keys to the most copious amounts of the black gold.
They needed –and need to this very moment—America’s powerful military protection.
All we have to do is recall the 1990-91 “Desert Storm” conflict to realize that
truth. Kuwait fell, and Saudi Arabia would likely be next, but for America’s
intervention. The rearrangements have proven to be a mutual, indispensable
matter for both partners. Although the two cultures are in total conflict,
survival exigencies demand a continuing and quite strong relationship. The
security arrangements have brought forth, at the same time, strange
bedfellow-type situations. One recently reared its troubling head, when America
and the Saudis announced the likelihood that the U.S. will be selling advanced
weaponry to Saudi for the purposes of their protection. While this is a
fantastic economic boon for the American arms industry, it is potentially a
slash in the joined-at-the-hip relationship between America and Israel. The
royal family of Saud must have America’s strength to survive, even with
increased military capability of their own. The Arab nations are indeed
composed of wild men at even the top echelons of power. Most of them are tied
inexorably to the beasts that direct the terrorist organizations of the Middle
East. One example is Syrian dictator Bashar Al Assad, who permits every major
terrorist organization of the region to headquarter in Damascus. Every one of
the organizations is dedicated –because of ancient hatreds and Islam to
removing Israel and her closest ally, America, from the Middle east. They hate
the Saud royal family also, considering them as in league with the infidels
–all whom are not fully in compliance with the laws of the Koran. Israel looks
with discomfort at the American/Saudi relationship, and becomes quite nervous
with the thought that the most advanced and sophisticated weaponry on the
planet might be placed in the hands of Muslims.
End
time economic matters come even more into focus when thinking upon the newest
players in the dangerous game of who controls the petroleum pools of the
Mid-East and the world.
The
price of oil continues to edge upward, while a newly awakened industrial
monster steps to drink from earth’s black, liquid pools in order to satiate
it’s growing thirst. China, the oldest civilization on earth, has a population
of 1.3 billion and rising. That makes it about 5 times the size, population
wise, of the United States. It has the
world’s second largest economy, and, according to experts, is growing,
economically, at a rate 4 times faster than that of America. China has 22% of
the world’s population, but only 7% of earth’s land mass. This, considering
that nation’s rate of growth, and reputation for aggressive behavior, does not
bode well for a peaceful future for Planet Earth. This is true, in part,
because less than 10% of China’s land is farmable. The arable land is reported
to be declining at somewhere around 750 thousand acres per year due to
urbanization, erosion, and other factors. They will almost certainly look more
and more to their north and west for expansion. Look for this expansionist
mindset from China’s leadership to be the source for rumors of war over the
coming years. The nation’s growth means its energy needs are mushrooming. China
is already the largest user of oil next to the United States, with their need
for petroleum having risen more than 50% within the past decade.
This
speaks directly to the end time economy that is developing. It is the almost
unbelievable demand for oil that portends a coming crisis of frightening
proportion. The petroleum industry will simply be unable to keep up with the
demands of the nations, whose industrial needs are even now accelerating out of
control. Added to the great demand for petroleum by China is that nation’s
workforce that has tasted the milk and honey of industrial growth, and will
have nothing less. Since the collective farms and the land were returned to the
people to a considerable extent in 1978, the peasant’s economic condition has
improved, according to some experts, by more than 1500%. Millions upon millions
of Chinese citizens enjoy western luxuries such as television sets, computers,
and many other items. They have come from walking or riding broken down
bicycles through poverty-stricken countryside villages, to driving automobiles
upon super highways in a growing number of large cities. All of this “progress”
has come, and continues to move forward at the expense of the western economies
–particularly that of the United states of America. Estimates are that by 2030
China will be 60% urbanized in the most modern sense of the word.
Tens
of millions of Chinese are flocking to the cities. Shanghai, for example, is
already 8 times the size of New York City in population. Their average per
capita income has risen from pennies per day at best, to $1000 per year. This
seems trivial to Americans and Europeans
of the west, but that growth represents astonishing industrial
dynamics that have begun to
deleteriously affect the western economies. Chief among the nations affected is
America, who is losing in some key technology production areas to China. One
observer of the situation regarding The U.S. vs China in economic productivity
says this.
“They
[China] are today the manufacturer of choice over the U.S., Mexico, Thailand,
Singapore, or what have you. They produce more engineers per year than the
United States. Their research and development expenditures are outpacing the United States. Their
technical industry outpaces the U.S., Europe, and Japan. They are the ones
setting the global standards for office software, operating systems, mobile
phones, RFID chips, Internet protocols, and other technologies.” (1) Another
analyst further assesses the China factor within the evolving end time
economy. “China is swaggering on the
world stage, and has rapidly emerged as the world's second largest trader of
merchandise goods. America, in one sense, has already become China's servant as
it has amassed huge holdings of US currency and fixed-income securities. Bond
market trends this year already appear to indicate that the US has lost its
monetary sovereignty. America is already in a vulnerable position, its dollar
having fallen to near all-time lows against the rest of the world. And now, the
economic climate for Americans themselves is getting ugly. In tough times, what
will be the priority of politicians? Keeping voters happy? Lower oil prices? Or
continuing to support Israel? Unfortunately, this last policy will prove to be
mutually exclusive with the other objectives. Already, the legendary
spendthrift consumer has begun to change behavior noticeably. The US consumer
is beginning to conserve cash and lower consumption spending. There is both
anecdotal and theoretical indicators of this shift… Credit card debt increased
9.2% in May 2007, a sharp increase in growth. We consider this a sign of
consumer duress, particularly as mortgage refinancing has fallen…” (2)
We
have considered mostly the United States and China to this point, in thinking
on the end time economy and a likely forecast for the future in terms of
financial indicators. This is altogether proper, because, no doubt about it,
China represents the greatest challenge to the western industrialized world. China’s
enormous need for petroleum plus it’s
exploding demands for goods of every sort is affecting world markets in ways
that are draining on the economies of
the rest of the world. China will, it is forecast by top economic authorities,
have within 20 years the largest economy in the world. That nation currently
uses 2500 tons of coal per minute. They
use 24 million watts of electricity per minute, and 240 thousand barrels of
crude oil per minute. Extrapolated to it’s net effect, one economic observer
says China is growing at such a rate of usage of natural resources, that within
30 years it will require another Planet Earth to meet its needs. China’s ratio
of income from America, to outflow of money to the U.S. is staggering in it’s
implications. Fifty billion dollars annually --that’s more than $150 million
per day—currently flows from America to China. China has attracted more foreign
investment capital in 5 years, than Japan has in the 50 years since World War
II. That nation holds, according to one economic authority, so much of America’s
debt instruments that if China sold those into the world market, America would
be bankrupt in about 17 minutes. The bottom line of all these troubling things
about the great dragon nation is that economy has suddenly vaulted it to a
powerful position on the world stage. It is oil that powers it’s massively
growing industry, just as it is oil that fuels the industry of America and
other western countries. It is economic
force that is driving all of these players to a showdown at some future point.
God’s Word calls that showdown Armageddon. When the end time volcano blows,
rearrangements will take place at a quantum rate, as America scrambles to
regain fiscal equilibrium and societal/cultural balance. I’m more and more
convinced that the top will explode from the volcano when the Rapture of the
Church occurs. Many things will have to take place immediately. Conditions will
demand it.
1Chuck
Missler, Strategic Trends Update, 2007
2
Wilfred Haan, Eternal Value Review-
August 2, 2007