In the autumn of 2019 it became clear that I had metastatic lung cancer and that I still had an average life expectancy of half a year. Then I had the idea – and I have already shared that in a 'footstep' once – that my life was actually not finished and that I still had a lot to do. It is now over a year later and a lot has happened.
Above all, we have experienced the cares of God our Father. At the beginning of this year, the tumor had already 'shrunk' to half in size by the chemotherapy and the metastases had 'disappeared' on the scans. Since the spring I only get immunotherapy and that is going wonderfully well. The tumor and metastases remain stable and I feel healthy. It is God's merciful dealing with the disease and we are incredibly grateful to Him for that. We've had it for about a year. The cures will end in October 2021; then the standard treatment of 2 years is over. That's different from us in February still thought.
How things will go in the coming year we don't know but it is in the hand of Him who is above all and only knows what is good for us. “God's way is perfect” (Psalm 18:31).
2021 and beyond
We don't know what the next year will bring. What we do know is that an awful lot has happened in the past year and things seem to be gaining momentum in the world. It seems that the chaos and contradictions in the world are getting bigger and bigger and that the world of the antichrist is getting closer and closer. That need not surprise or frighten us, because we know that with that the coming of Christ is also imminent! We look forward to His coming!
At the end of 2018 we already have some developments signaled and held it against biblical prophecy. Would be interesting to see if that's still valid; that is homework for the reader. Below we list a few things that have struck us about 2020. It will not be a very long story, but more of 'big steps, home quickly'.
America
When I was young, people often talked about the future, but when it came to America, the brothers always said, “We can't find anything in the Bible about America in the end times. Therefore, it appears that America will not play a significant role in the end times.” That's what they said at a time when America was the greatest power in the world; military, financial, economic, technological and so on. America determined what happened in the world.
But if you look at what has happened especially in and with the US in the past year, their role on the world stage seems almost over. The presidential election has revealed a tremendous divide; the contradictions in the country have never been greater than today. It is a country completely torn between Democrats and Republicans, between 'globalists' and 'nationalists'.
I'm not going to sit here and figure it out, but I wouldn't be surprised if the US "blows up" itself. The contradictions and violent enmity are so great that regardless of whether Biden takes office as president or not, I wouldn't be surprised if both scenarios lead to some sort of civil war and the country's self-destruction. And therefore probably can no longer play a significant role in the end times.
The Middle East
You can say what you want about Trump, but he meant a lot to Israel. He has been called "the most Israel-friendly US president in history." For example, in May 2018 he moved the US embassy to Jerusalem; something his predecessors have been postponing since the end of 1995.
Furthermore, Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, who is also a Jew, has spent the past few years working in the Middle East to bring about peace between Israel and Arab countries. The so-called 'Abraham Agreements' between Israel and the United Arab Emirates (VAR) and Bahrain were concluded on September 15, 2020, after which Sudan and Morocco have joined to date. Relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia are good and it is hoped that they too will join the accords.
Some see this as the dichotomy that also appears in Ezekiel 38, where Persia (Iran) fights with Gog against Israel and Sheba and Dedan (the Arabian peninsula) resent them (Ezekiel 38:5,13). With that, these Abraham chords may just be an important point on God's timeline.
Democracy or world government?
We wrote about the erosion of the democracies as a characteristic of the recovery of the Roman Empire two years ago (see here). We have a democracy in name, but in reality the real decisions are not made in the democratic institutions. Actual power is in the hands of institutions such as the EU and the UN, together with their institutions and all kinds of NGOs (non-governmental organizations) and international companies[1]. A body of 'rulers in power' who are not under any democratic control. It became penetratingly clear to me half a year ago when I got a book to borrow/read, entitled “Technocracy Rising – The trojan horse of global transformation”[2] (also see here). As I write this I suddenly realize that there is actually already a 'world government', a network of politicians, technocrats, businessmen and other influential people who have taken the course of the world in their own hands. The underlying idea is that 'democracy' as a steering mechanism is unsuitable for solving the world's problems. That is why 'experts' in all kinds of fields (the so-called 'technocrats') are needed to save the world.
Similarly, the United Nations has been developing a comprehensive action plan for the 21st century for decadesth century to roll out, the so-called Agenda21. And for the shorter term – because a whole century is quite a long time – they have come up with Agenda 2030, in which the Netherlands is also participating. The so-called 'Sustainable Development Goals' are well known.
According to the UN, “the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure peace and prosperity for all people.”
The European Union is also, of course, on the same track, as is our own country (see e.g. here).
Finally, the World Economic Forum, a so-called public-private organization, which, in line with the UN agendas, has the same goals. See for example here of here.
The fact that the same goals are pursued worldwide and down to the heart of the countries is not a conspiracy theory, nor is it futurology, but is already reality in the world in which we live here and now. The world government already exists and is moving in the direction foretold in the Bible long ago.
Covid-19
We're not going to say much about it here; that already happens enough in other places. To avoid misunderstandings, let's say that the virus is serious and very annoying. You can get pretty sick and even die. So we ourselves are also quite careful, without overdoing it. But this 'pandemic' does make some things visible.
Fear of death
I understand that it is not fun to contract Covid19, especially if it is a serious form. But there has been a huge panic and in fact it still exists. That panic is a result of the 'fear of death', in which we humans naturally live without God. All our lives we are”enslaved by fear of death” (Hebrews 2:15). Death is true for the believer'the last enemy(1 Corinthians 15:26), but also brings him into the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. But Satan has the power over death, as the text says, and thereby keeps men in bondage to him.
The virus reveals that people are afraid of death and voluntarily submit to 'slavery' out of that fear. How bizarre that a virus so literally brings to the surface what the Bible says in these texts.
But people who know Jesus Christ – the One who defeated the devil – have been delivered from this bondage that comes from fear of death. That doesn't mean that we pretend nothing is wrong, and it certainly doesn't mean that we shouldn't be subservient to the governments that have over us. But we do not know that 'fear of death' and may testify of Him who delivered us from it!
A global network
We have already noted above that a 'world government' actually already exists and the global measures on the Covid19 pandemic illustrate that. The World Health Organization (WHO, part of the UN) informs and directs countries. The WHO rules when something is an epidemic or a pandemic and what must be done in that case are laid down in WHO rules, which are often (also in the Netherlands) laid down in national legislation.
Incidentally, it is interesting that Bill Gates is almost the largest sponsor of the WHO. I'm not a 'conspiracy theorist', but this kind of information is open and exposed on the internet and everyone can easily find it themselves (see here).
Technocraten
The fact that 'technocrats' – scientists or people with a scientific education – increasingly determine what should be done in the world, is apparent from the way in which the Dutch cabinet takes decisions during the pandemic. They do this mainly on the basis of advice from the OMT, which includes many members who know everything about viruses and epidemics (see here).
But a characteristic of technocrats is that they have a limited domain of knowledge and research, which means that 'man' disappears from the picture. As a result, plans and measures are, as it were, 'dehumanized'. People are then focused on 'solving the problem' and forget the human aspects and the human dimension.
Freedom of expression and censorship
We also discussed the restriction of freedom of expression and the lack of dialogue two years ago (see here). It is no longer possible to say something that someone else does not agree with, because the other person will then be 'hurt' and that is not allowed. You can also see this phenomenon in the Covid19 pandemic. People who disagree with government policy are free to express their own views; That's normal in a democracy. But what you see is that a stream of criticism has gradually arisen, which the government does not know how to deal with. The population is divided; the largest group supports the government's views and the other group is 'against' – whether or not based on arguments.
Then you see that the deviant view is ignored and, if that is not enough, dismissed as 'quackery'. Eventually there will be censorship. We find a good example of this in the European Union, which believes that it should warn the population against misinformation (see below).
The Dutch government also believes that it should deal with so-called 'disinformation' and determine for citizens what is true and what is not.
When it comes to censorship, the media is very involved. The 'Big Tech' such as Twitter, Facebook, Google believe that they can determine what is true and what is not. When someone disseminates information that they deem unwelcome, they will be blocked or even the entire account will be deleted.
Everything is geared to the idea that the government speaks the truth and has the well-being of the population in mind. But meanwhile, anything that sounds different or poses critical questions is ignored or removed.
The government is doing the best
This is a difficult point, because I believe that a Christian should be submissive to the government according to "Remind them that they should be subject to principalities and powers, that they be obedient to them.” (Titus 3:1). I would also urge everyone to stick to it. But it doesn't mean you can't think about things for yourself. That is why the question is whether it is true that you can say that the government nowadays always has the best intentions for its citizens. As far as the corona event is concerned, I believe that it appears that this is not the case and the reason for this is that the government fails to provide long-standing and highly effective medicines (see here) to be made available and promoted. In fact, she disapproves of the use of these drugs and dismisses it as 'quackery'. That is shocking and can be described as injustice.
Incidentally, a similar injustice by the government came to light last December, namely the so-called 'surcharge affair'. This eventually revealed that 'government' does not protect the weak in society, but, on the contrary, grossly abuses its power against its citizens. Moreover, in this case she tries to hide her own actions,
I have little faith in the government and what'the rule of law' is called. But this also does not mean that it is an argument not to ignore the biblical command to be subject to the authorities.
The world is sinking in debt
The world's debt burden was already miserable, but now with Covid it has become much worse. All countries pump billions into the economy to support large and small companies and the EU has a Corona fund of €750 billion. Nobody is talking about who will pay that debt, but it is very simple: it is the taxpayers. Moreover, unemployment will soon increase – partly due to bankruptcies. It seems very likely that poverty will also increase in the western world. Moreover, that is something that is also indicated in Revelation 6:6: normal daily food is almost unaffordable.
Christian persecution
God's adversary Satan has been trying to thwart Him for centuries and especially from the 1960s onwards, the Western world – including the Christian 'church' – has increasingly come under direct demonic influence (see here). His ultimate deceptions come in 'the last week of the year', say the period from Revelation 6. Then Satan will try to destroy or destroy everything that refers to God and Christ (see Revelation 6:9-11; 20:4 ).
What Covid has shown is how easy it is for a government – often aided by societal pressure – to restrict Christian communities from operating. I have a suspicion that this will not decrease in the coming years and to what extent we will actually experience oppression or persecution is of course the question. But the direction in which developments have gone this year cannot be unclear.
How will it continue?
I have a hunch that we can't get rid of the current situation. There may well be some relief from the lockdown, but I think we are moving towards a situation with more dictatorial characteristics. For example, a situation with
- more and greater contradictions in society with all the (violent) consequences that entails,
- more and harder action by the government, not only in public life, but also in the personal lives of citizens,
- more restrictions on Christians, Christian organizations and Christian education and
- less democracy; at least as long as it is still there.
Developments are moving towards a world dictatorship in which citizens are oppressed and controlled and it may be faster than we think. The past year has shown that. The world is preparing for the coming of the antichrist, whom they will bring in as messiah, not suspecting what awaits them.
Fortunately, we as believers do not have to worry about this. We wait for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who will keep us from the judgments of God that shall come upon this earth (1 Thessalonians 1:10).
The last chapter of the Bible contains words of comfort, even when we look like we face even more difficult times.
“And he said to me: These words are trustworthy and true. And the Lord, the God of the holy prophets, has sent His angel to show His servants what must be done quickly.
And behold, I am coming soon. Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book. (…)
And he said to me: Seal not the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand. (…)
And behold, I am coming soon, and My reward is with Me to render to each as his work shall be. I am the Alpha, and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last. (…)
And the Spirit and the bride say, Come! And let him who hears say, Come! And let him that is thirsty come; and let him who wills take the water of life for nothing. (…)
He that testifies of these things saith: Yea, I come soon. Amen. Yes, come, Lord Jesus! The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen."
(Revelation 22:6,7,10, 12,13,17, 20,21)
[1] International companies benefit financially when borders do not play a role and they have the world as their playing field without hindrance. They play an important role in 'globalisation'.
[2] ‘Technocracy Rising’ door Patrick M. Wood ISBN 978-0-9863739-0-9
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