Since 1989 when the former Soviet Union disintegrated into 15 independent republics, thereby greatly decreasing the threat of communist revolutions, the cold war between the capitalist West and the communist East made room for a common ideology – the new world order. This development not only brought the First and Second Worlds closer together, but the struggling Third World (particularly Africa) is rapidly uniting itself while asking for bigger aid packages from the international community and inclusion in a new world order.
World leaders have embraced the idea that the various nations should be united to such an extent that they grow into a world state, thereby superseding and eliminating the conflicts and differences of the past. The process of globalization is gaining momentum while steadily moving away from the biblical principle of sovereign and self-sufficient nations towards a new world order in which a world government will eventually gain full control over all nations. That will set the stage for a world dictator to institute a global reign of terror.
It is not be the first time in history that powerful global structures are created, thereby allowing a world dictator to control all nations, exploit them economically and subject them to domination by a false world religion. Various world governments in ancient times, of which the Babylonian, Greek and Roman empires were the best known, established structures of this nature. All these empires utterly oppressed the nations under their control and eventually all collapsed. That will also be the fate of the end-time empire of the Antichrist, which is already taking shape as the new world order.
To understand what the new world order is, from a biblical point of view, one only needs to read about the seven year reign of the Antichrist in Revelation and Daniel. From these prophecies it is clear that end-time globalism manifests in three different areas, i.e. in the political, religious and economic areas. The process of transformation leading to the full unfolding of the new world order moves through the following three phases towards its final objective:
The first phase, in which we are now, takes place before the tribulation period. It comprises an unbiblical reform process which is pursued as the only solution to various international crises. Problems of a world-wide extent are beyond the capacity of single countries to solve; consequently, it is regarded imperative for the international community to join forces and create suitable structures to intervene on an international level in an endeavour to ensure a peaceful and equitable future for all people on earth. Since the final objective with the new world order is a satanic dictatorship (a fact which few people are aware of), the entire process is antichristian from its very onset. Evangelical Christians cannot in any way participate in the building of this modern tower of Babel since it is aimed at the eradication of boundaries which God has set between the nations (Acts 17:26) and also between the Christian and non-Christian religions (2 Cor. 6:14-18).
The second phase of the new world order will start when the Antichrist appears on the scene and, in collaboration with other leaders, take charge of the world government, the alliance of world religions and the world economy. The global structures of the new world order will then be controlled by the Antichrist and his accomplices and start functioning to their full capacity. He will be universally hailed as prince of peace, diplomat without equal and unifier of humanity – even as the world messiah who came just at the right time to save humanity from self-destruction. He will appoint the false prophet as his co-ruler and quickly implement his unitary reforms in the world with the full co-operation of other political leaders.
After only 3½ years of the democratic rule of the world by the Antichrist and other world leaders, rebellion will flare up against his world socialism. By using the great military and satanic powers at his disposal the Antichrist will then establish himself as sole ruler of the world. He will rule by way of military decrees and his second in charge, the false prophet, will enforce his decisions. No political or religious liberties will be afforded to any individuals or groups, while their right to economic independence and freedom of movement will also be abrogated.
In view of the above-mentioned steps of transformation we will now review the political, religious and economic aspects of globalism which are mentioned in Revelation and Daniel:
The same three phases are distinguished in the process of political globalism.
Phase 1. At the end of the times of the nations which will, according to Luke 21:24, coincide with the end of Jerusalem’s trampling by the non-Jewish nations, another great world rebellion will occur against the kingdom of God. According to the Bible, it will be similar to the first international rebellion which was organized 4500 years ago against the kingdom of God on the plain of Shinar (that is the present Iraq – Gen. 11:2). At that time, Nimrod built the city of Babel and established an empire characterized by political, cultural, religious and economic unity. He and his co-rulers used the great power and influence wielded by this empire to deify themselves and determine their own destiny. In Revelation 17 and 18, the end-time global conspiracy against the kingdom of God is also called Babylonian. We are now living in a time when typical Babylonian reforms are taking place in the world, which deviate from God’s ordaining that there should be boundaries between the nations.
Phase 2. The next phase will be introduced when the expected world leader (the Antichrist) is revealed, conduct diplomatic negotiations and quickly rises to a position of world leadership. According to Daniel 9:27, he will conclude a covenant with many nations for one week of seven years. Revelation 6:2 depicts him as the rider on a white horse who will appear on the world scene as a prince of peace, leader and one who conquers. He will be the leader of the new world order and his primary power base will be the revived Roman empire in which he will be heading a group of ten kings (Rev. 17:12). The world will be united politically and all people will be deceived to think that the promised utopia of peace, unity and harmony has dawned on earth.
Phase 3. After 3½ years of the Antichrist’s reign, political globalism will enter its final stage under the sole rulership of the beast. People everywhere will be so enchanted by his unitary reforms and great personal power that all the world will marvel and follow the beast (Rev. 13:3). All the planetary citizens will follow the same leader and celebrate their unity. In Revelation 13:7 it is confirmed that he will gain “authority over every tribe, tongue and nation.” According to Revelation 17:13, his co-rulers will willingly relinquish their authority and transfer it to him, thus allowing him to become sole ruler of the world. That will be the wicked consequence of a satanic conspiracy against the political freedom of nations. Revelation 13:2 says that Satan will give his power, throne and great authority to the beast, who will then be able to usurp all institutional power on earth. In view of these facts it is important to realize that the present transformation process that was initiated by world leaders and organizations such as the United Nations, will end up in the political domination of the nations by Satan’s cosmic christ, the Antichrist. This position will enable the Antichrist to mobilize all nations to fight against the true Christ when He returns to earth at the end of the seven-year tribulation period to set foot on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem. The immediate result of His coming will be that the Antichrist and the false prophet will be cast alive into the lake of fire and that Satan will be bound in a bottomless pit for a thousand years. The rebelling nations will also experience the destructive results of the Lamb’s judgements and flee away from Him panic-stricken (Rev. 6:15-17; Zech. 14:12-13). That will be the tragic end of the process of political globalism, which is essentially antichristian and aimed at uprooting and replacing the kingdom of God on earth.
Phase 1. In the end-time, a widespread process of religious falling away will occur on earth. The Holy Spirit Himself warned against it and also indicated that it is inspired by Satan and his demons: “Now the Spirit expressly says that in the latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons” (1 Tim. 4:1). In this Scripture, reference is made to faith in the true God, which will be abandoned by deceived people for the sake of false, devil-inspired doctrines. In the end-time, the traditional Christian world will become pagan again. From the viewpoint of Revelation, one of the most important forms of deception will be a multireligious ecumenical movement – a common belief in a universal god worshipped by all religions. The Bible says that we should not enter into any association with the non-Christian religions (2 Cor. 6:14-18) – a practice followed by many people to their own detriment. When people expose themselves to satanic deception such as multi-faith thought they soon lose their spiritual discernment. Paul warned Christians in Corinth against this tendency: “But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he who comes preaches another Jesus… or if you receive a different spirit… or a different gospel… you put up with it well” (2 Cor. 11:3-4). This other Jesus who is proclaimed is a distorted, counterfeit Jesus who paves the way to accepting the Antichrist; the different spirit is a deceiving spirit of Satan who pretends to be the Holy Spirit; while the different gospel is based upon lies such as the statement that salvation can be obtained through all faiths. These religious lies are already firmly established in multireligious movements such as the United Religions Initiative and the Parliament for the World’s Religions.
Phase 2. When the Antichrist appears, the multi-faith movement will be so strong and influential that Satan’s counterfeit christ will be accepted as the cosmic christ of all faiths. He will be the head of the multi-faith movement and unite all religions under his personal leadership. As the imitator of Christ and His bridal congregation, the ecumenical organisation of false religions will be the bride of the Antichrist who will follow and worship him. Revelation 17:5 describes this immoral woman as “Mystery, Babylon the great, the mother of prostitutes and of the abominations of the earth.” Together, they will deceive the nations and religions of the world to accept the Antichrist as their common messiah. They will strongly oppose the only true religion and have the blood of the martyrs of Jesus on their hands (Rev. 17:6).
Phase 3. Religious globalism will reach its peak when, after 3½ years of his reign, the Antichrist will promote himself from the position of world messiah to that of God. Paul describes this act of self-deification of the Antichrist by describing him as the one “who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God” (2 Thes. 2:4). By then, the role of the multi-faith movement will have expired and all people will be forced to worship the Antichrist as God. The same rule also applies to Israel who will have accepted the Antichrist as their messiah during the first 3½ years. Daniel 9:27 says that in the middle of the week the Antichrist shall bring to an end sacrifice and offering. That will also be the end of the road to all the religions in the ecumenical mother-organisation of mystery Babylon as their interim role will have been fulfilled. Revelation 17:16 says that the apostate woman will be made desolate and naked by burning her with fire. An image of the beast will be erected in the rebuilt temple in Jerusalem, and it will be compulsory to worship the image (Rev. 13:15). Those who refuse to do so will be executed. That will be the gruesome end of the multi-faith movement – in the clutches of the one who is described in the Bible as a murderer from the beginning (Jn. 8:44).
Phase 1. Economic reforms also constitute a definite area of globalism. In recent years it became evident that global markets are created, that the world economy is increasingly dominated by organisations such as the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the G7 countries, and that an international cashless system of funds transfer is rapidly developing.
Phase 2. During the first 3½ years of his reign the Antichrist will institute an egalitarian world economy of equal access to all resources. That will bring about the end of economic independence by the nations, as they will be taxed according to their wealth by the future world government to assist poor countries and also to carry the burden of the world government’s astronomical expenses.
Phase 3. According to Revelation 13:16-18, these reforms will lead to a centrally controlled world economy in which nobody will be able to buy or sell without the mark and number of the Antichrist. An oath of allegiance to the leader of the new world order will have to be taken by those who wish to be economically active in the future world state. Loyalty to the Antichrist as head of a world government and world economy will also demand loyalty to his religious position as universal messiah and god of this world. The acceptance of his number to buy and sell will, therefore, automatically involve a person with the religious worship of Satan’s false christ. Refusal to accept the number and to worship the beast as God will be regarded as a deed of high treason and punished by death. Those who remain true to the Lord Jesus and consequently die as martyrs during the reign of the beast, will subsequently be resurrected to rule with Christ during His millennial reign. John says: “And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgement was committed to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshipped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years” (Rev. 20:4).
It is a disturbing thought that present technological developments in the field of a cashless economy, in which a computerised number and data that will be stored on a microchip under a person’s skin, will one day be used to enforce the worship of the Antichrist. However, the system of electronic funds transfer is not inherently evil and will only become out of bounds to Christians after the Antichrist an his world government have take control over it and use it to achieve their sinister goals.
In the light of the above-mentioned facts, the ideology and transformation movement towards a globalistic world system should be viewed as a well-planned conspiracy by the kingdom of darkness to gain full control over all people on earth. During the final phase of the new world order no political, religious or economic liberties will be allowed to people outside the totalitarian structures of the Antichrist. All activities outside them will be punished by death. What is presently done for the sake of survival in a democratic peace movement, will soon prove to be the big ambush of Satan to subject all people to the authority of his false christ and thus lay hold on their souls. Resist it completely and without compromise!
Born-again Christians will only experience phase 1 of the above-mentioned transformation process to a new world order, which is a preparatory phase. That takes place during the last few years just prior to the start of the seven year long tribulation period under the Antichrist – in other words, at the very end of the church dispensation. According to 2 Thessalonians 2:6-10, the withholder against the coming of the Antichrist will be taken out of the way before the man of sin can be revealed to the world. The only spiritual power on earth that can restrain the Antichrist is the true church of Christ as the temple of the Holy Spirit. He who is in us (the Spirit of truth) is greater than he who is in the world (the Antichrist’s spirit of error) (1 Jn. 4:3-6). Through the power of the Holy Spirit we should be the light of a dark world and the salt of a corrupt earth. But when the Lord removes His church in a moment by way of the rapture (Lk. 21:36; 1 Thes. 4:16-17; 1 Cor. 15:51-52), intense spiritual darkness will suddenly descend upon the world. In that situation the Antichrist, as Satan’s ruler of the kingdom of darkness, will be revealed without any opposition. The new world order will be instituted under his leadership and come to its full, satanic unfolding – first as great spiritual deception and false world unity, and subsequently as a military dictatorship without equal in human history.
When the Lord Jesus returns with His saints during His second coming at the end of the seven year tribulation period (Zech. 14:4-5), the Antichrist and his world state will be destroyed in one day and replaced by Christ’s reign of peace as a Christian new world order. To share in the future glory of the Lord and in His manifested kingdom on earth, we should be prepared to suffer for Him now in a world that lies under the sway of the Wicked One (Phil. 1:29; 1 Jn. 5:19). That means that we should not be swept along by the stream of a worldly thought, but be withholders against the march of the Antichrist by taking a clear stand against the ideological and spiritual transformation processes of the end-time. For this reason, we should be well informed on the Antichrist’s new world order and refrain from participating in the deceived “kingdom theology” of the end-time by helping to pave the way for the counterfeit christ’s kingdom of signs, wonders and a false unity and peace on earth.
