As I write this on February 7, 2022, an interview with Avigdor Liberman, the finance minister of Israel, has just been published in the Jerusalem Post, a prominent English-language daily newspaper based in Jerusalem. His comments are starkly pessimistic, and while many others may share the same thoughts, we must give him credit for having the courage to state his views publicly. The substance of this interview is most thought-provoking, and his conclusions may well resonate with believers who are familiar with prophecy. I realize that this article will not appear in The Christian for several months, but it is doubtful that the truth of what Liberman has said will change during that time, unless perhaps for the worse.
The interview was full of dire warnings. The world, he told the interviewer, needs to wake up immediately, because if it does not, it will be thrown into a dark period of chaos and anarchy. He explained that there were four catalysts behind this threat.
Artificial Intelligence
First of all is the emergence of more technology driven by artificial intelligence. There are young hackers, he said, who are capable of doing things with their computers and cellphones that were unimaginable just a few years ago. Within a decade, he said, young kids will have software like NSO’s Pegasus (spyware developed by a group in Israel) on their phones to be able to use as they desire. “These are technological developments that have no oversight or coordination,” he said. “There is no form of global regulation and they take us to places that are potentially frightening.”
Cryptocurrencies
The second catalyst is the rise of cryptocurrencies across the globe. There are, he noted, 15,000 different types of cryptocurrencies today. “Every few people get together and make a digital currency,” he said. “There are crypto markets in Iran to evade sanctions and to launder money and it can be used to finance terrorism and crime.” Many countries in the world have no way of coping with this. What happens, he cautioned, if massive multinational corporations come out with their own currency? Citizens will lose trust in their economy, their leadership and the state itself. There is no single monetary entity that can regulate 15,000 different digital currencies, especially when countries are doing with them what they want.
The Darknet
The third catalyst, according to Liberman, is what is happening on the Darknet, a gathering place for criminals and terrorist activities. Liberman said that he became familiar with the Darknet from his roles as defense minister and chairman of the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.
“This becomes all the more complicated with far-reaching consequences due to the ability to spread fake news and conspiracy theories,” he said. “What we are seeing on conventional networks is child’s play compared to the Darknet where there is a concentration of criminal psychopaths, terrorists and spies sitting on the same network.”
International Order
The fourth catalyst, he explained, is the breakdown and collapse of international order and systems. An illustration of this, he said, can be seen in Vienna, where the world superpowers continue to negotiate with Iran in pursuit of a new nuclear deal. They speak to the Iranians at the same time that Iran is supplying the Houthis in Yemen with ballistic missiles and drones and ordering them to attack the United Arab Emirates. “No one is accountable anymore. You see a weakness of the global superpowers and their ability to create order and values.”
When he was asked what he would do, Liberman said that “we need to rise above the regular daily problems in each country to stop these trends. There is only one chance and that is to regulate and coordinate together with all of the big players working in unison.” What that means, he explained, is getting the G7—an inter-governmental political forum consisting of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States—to work with Russia and China to find ways to regulate a new world order and to stop the slide toward global chaos. He freely admitted that he is not sure that this will work.
Prophecy
While we know that prophecy does not properly apply to the church period, and thus will not actually be fulfilled until after the church is called home at the Lord’s coming for us, nevertheless, when we hear an interview like this, it almost seems as if prophecy were being fulfilled before our eyes. Most of us never expected to see the condition of this world go quite so far before we were called home.
Space will not permit us to go into many details, but we know from Revelation 6 that after the church is taken to be with Christ, God will allow events that systematically “take peace from the earth” (vs. 4). There will also be shortages of food (vss. 5-6), and eventually a breakdown of government and authority (vss. 12-13). The sun represents supreme authority, the moon represents derived authority, and stars perhaps represent individuals who are prominent in government. These events will likely take place during the first 3½ years of the tribulation week and will be more providential in nature. They are intended as warnings to man, for later, under the trumpet and finally the vial judgments, man will see the direct hand of God in the complete disruption of government, trade and commerce, and in the allowance of a flood of Satanic power to engulf this world.
Liberman’s concerns should not be taken lightly; they are a solemn appraisal of the condition of this world and are based on sound observations by someone who has been in government for many years. Sadly, he did not mention the Lord in his interview or give Him credit for allowing all these things to exercise our hearts and to warn man of judgment to come. But believers today can look at world events and, in the light of prophecy, can see how the Lord is bringing home to man the awful reality of what lies ahead.
The Great Powers
However, his remedy of getting the great powers to work together to bring order and accountability back to this world is, simply put, not going to happen. There may be some temporary measures put in place, but the great powers today are too occupied with their own interests to work together for the common good. Russia has its own agenda, seeking to bolster its global influence, and, as I write, it is massing troops on the border of the Ukraine, seeking to force NATO to agree to its demands. China is systematically acquiring control over smaller countries by so-called “debt-trap” diplomacy. By extending huge loans with strings attached to financially vulnerable states, it has not only boosted its leverage over them but also ensnared some in sovereignty-eroding debt traps. The United States is torn by internal polarization, and it is most unlikely that the G7 group will be disposed to act together to stabilize the situation. The COVID-19 virus has further complicated the whole situation by causing nations to be occupied with their own health and welfare.
The Bitter and Sweet
All this simply points to the fulfillment of prophecy, and while we should feel for this world and the awful judgments that are ahead, yet, on the other hand, we can “look up ... for your redemption draweth nigh” (Luke 21:2828And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh. (Luke 21:28)). This same principle is illustrated in Revelation 10:9-109And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little book. And he said unto me, Take it, and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey. 10And I took the little book out of the angel's hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter. (Revelation 10:9‑10), where the little book of judgment was in John’s mouth “sweet as honey,” yet after he had eaten it, he could say, “My belly was bitter.” The joy of being taken home to be with the Lord is tempered by the sorrow at the judgment that will follow. But out of it all our blessed Lord and Master will have His rightful place. In this way we can “love His appearing” (2 Tim. 4:88Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing. (2 Timothy 4:8)), for “when Thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness” (Isa. 26:99With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness. (Isaiah 26:9)).
W. J. Prost