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By Jim SimmonsThe world is currently experiencing financial crises. The question is, “Will this be the final global crisis that will ultimately trigger a One World Economy?” We cannot know for sure. If it isn’t the crisis that triggers a final one-world economy, it is definitely the tremors that precede the global financial crisis.
The following article, with a couple of exceptions, is taken from the book, The Last Generation: Prophecy, Current World Events, and the End Times
by Jim Simmons. In the first article, The Last Generation, we reviewed the three pillars that must be in place during the tribulation period. They are: One World Government, One World Religion, and One World Economy.In previous articles, I covered the first two pillars. This article will focus on One World Economy. There will be some overlap with the One World Government and some of the points in the first article, The Last Generation.
The world economy is the fuel that energizes or makes it possible to complete the other two world pillars, building a one-world system unified under the rule of the Antichrist (Revelation 13: 16-18). In developing a case for the coming one-world economy, I am going to chronologically reverse the time-line from current events to past events. The order of events will deviate from this time-line in some instances. This method will help us see where we are, where we came from, and what is going on behind the scenes. It may be compared to peeling an onion.
The first part of the article is what you see on the surface, like the layers of an onion. The last part has to do with what is hidden beneath the surface, or behind the scenes (like the core of the onion).
The Final One World Empire
This final one-world empire will be an extension or revised version of the Roman Empire [see Daniel 2: 40-43; 7: 7-8; Revelation 13: 1-2]. Today, the European Union [EU] covers the approximate geographical area as the ancient Roman Empire. The final empire, a one-world system, will be led by the Antichrist and will emerge from the European Superstate, the EU.
Biblically, there is evidence of a One World Empire and a revived Roman Empire, which fits the description of the European Union. One biblical example is found in Daniel 2: 32-43. King Nebuchadnezzar of the Babylonian Empire had a dream that involved a statue. Daniel was called on to interpreted the dream. The statue represented four world empires composed of four different metals.
The fourth empire was Rome, represented by the legs, feet, and toes. The legs were made of iron, representing the Eastern and Western Roman Empires. That has already happened. The feet and toes were made of iron and clay (Daniel 2: 41). This variation in the metal composition may point the way to a revised version of the Roman Empire, which will ultimately include additional nations.
One of the ways we know that it is a future event is the relationship of the 10 toes (Daniel 2: 41-43) and the 10 horns, which are 10 kings or kingdoms (Daniel 7: 24). Rome was never under the leadership of 10 kings simultaneously. During the tribulation period, the world empire, which will be an extension of the revived Roman Empire, will be under a 10-kingdom rule with the Antichrist leading the way (Daniel 7: 7-8).
EU Currency
In 1999, a new EU currency called the euro was proposed. In 2001, the euro was legalized. In 2002, the euro replaced the national currencies in 12 European states.
On January 2, 2008, the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) was introduced. It includes 31 member states. SEPA created a multi-state zone where anyone in the European financial infrastructure can make electronic euro payments that are considered domestic. With the establishment of the euro and the SEPA, the financial unification of the EU is in place.
Currencies of the US and EU
The U.S. dollar has a history of being the most stable and accepted of world currencies. Now, the euro is growing in value against the U.S. dollar. “A lot of central banks, Asia in particular, where the most important volumes are located, are shifting reserves from dollar reserves into euros,” (According to Wemer Becker of Deutsche Bank). From July 2003 to July 2008, the U.S. dollar reportedly went from 1.15 dollars for one euro to 1.57 dollars for one euro. As this article is being penned on March 29, 2009, the rate is 1.32 for one euro, according to the German financial website, finanzen.net.
The U.S. used to be the world’s Superpower. That status is rapidly shifting to the EU, the primary power base of the Final Empire.
US and EU Combine Economies
“…In 2007 President Bush signed an agreement that commits the U.S. to economic integration with Europe, and that one of the provisions of the agreement was creating regulatory convergence between the U.S. and the E.U., including integrating health records electronically!”[See article titled “It’s All Coming Together” by Heidi Swander with Olive Tree Ministries, 3-9-09.]Economy and Religion Join Hands
Over the last few years, we have seen faith-based Mutual Funds grow in popularity. For example, the Muslim Mutual Fund, Amana Trust Income Fund, has recently been a best performer over the past year. This means that its losses were only 25.8% as opposed to U.S. stock funds, which have lost 44% for the year [taken from the April 2009 edition of Midnight Call, P. 32].
“Here we see demonstrated religion, finances, and economy melted into one” [Ibid].New World Order
The New World Order, including economy, is coming together rapidly. As we shall see later in this article, the roots of this new world order began around 60 years ago. It was close to the time of the birth of Israel (1948). It was also near the time of the birth of this “last generation.”
EU / UN / and NATO Connection
When prophecy scholars speak of the EU as being the revived Roman Empire, some people reject this interpretation of Scripture. Their objection is based on the final world empire being a world empire, not an EU empire. On the surface, this makes sense. There is, however an answer to this objection.
The European Union members and the Western European Union [WEU] and their candidates are integrated into two other major groups of nations. They are members of the United Nations [UN] (1945). They are also members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization [NATO] (1949).
It is of interest to note that the EU, NATO, and the WEU have their headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. The WEU was established as a result of a 1954 amendment to the Brussels Treaty [Article 5]. This made the WEU responsible for the collective defense of the EU. This put them in a very powerful position. Under Article 4, the security of the WEU member states (countries) became linked to NATO.
Consider the dates and links to other major international groups. The UN (1945), NATO (1949), and the WEU (1954), but its roots were in the Brussels Treaty (1948). The EU was linked to these major international groups in the years 1945, 1948, 1949, 1955 [WEU to NATO with roots in 1948]. All three major international groups are linked with the EU and WEU. The dates generally range from 1945 to 1949 with the exception of the WEU (1955), which is an offshoot of the Brussels Treaty of 1948.
These are some of the reasons, along with the biblical references, that the EU is considered the home base of a Final World Empire. This is another move toward world unity and ultimately a One World Empire led by the “man of sin,” the Antichrist. [To read more about this, including information about Javier Solano who is considered by many to be one of the most powerful men in the world, see Chapters 4 and 5 of the book titled, The Last Generation: Prophecy, Current World Events, and the End Times
.]Worldwide Economy
Up to this point, the focus of a one-world economy has been narrowed to the EU and the US. A worldwide economy includes more than two nations.
“In recent weeks, leaders in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East have proposed scrapping the current economic order and going to a single common currency …The Kremlin is reportedly set to propose a new global common currency system that will replace the U.S. dollar as the international currency of choice.” [See “Russia to Propose New Global Common Currency” by Joel C. Rosenberg, 3-18-09 on the B.P.T. website.]This week a UN panel will recommend that the world ditch the dollar as its reserve currency for a basket of currencies.
Some of the plans for a one-world economy began in the mid 1950s. Consider the following:
- The Club of Rome (1957)
The Club of Rome is a German based think tank established in 1957. It has a limit of 100 active members. The members are from five continents and 52 countries. There is only one country that is not included. It is Israel, of course. It was an association of scientists, economists, businessmen, international high civil servants, and former heads of state. The Club’s purpose is to figure out ways to solve humanity’s problems.
Many years ago, the Club of Rome advocated a “one world order,” dividing the world into 10 economic centers or regions, i.e., regions of countries. “Regionalization” became the new buzzword.
World Federalists also advocated “world regions” and have detailed plans for a world government similar to the Club of Rome. - Development of a Global Authority
One of the roots of the global economy was the General Agreement on Trades and Tariffs [GATT], established in 1948. GATT, as well as other organizations at the Club of Rome, advocated a “One World Order,” dividing the world into 10 economic centers called “Mega Territories” and “Kingdoms.” [Remember the 10 toes in Daniel 2: 41-43; the 10 horns and 10 kings in Daniel 7: 24; and Revelation 17: 12?]. The One World Government would rule the “Ten Kingdoms” of the Club of Rome.
GATT evolved into the World Trade Organization [WTO] in 1995. The WTO has 153 members and represents 95% of the total world trade. The U.S. recently agreed to the GATT Treaty by joining the WTO.
In 1974, the Club of Rome submitted a plan to the United Nations for a global government. The plan called for all nations to be divided into 10 political/economical regions. These regions are designated on a world map. Since 1974 [actually since 1993], almost 5 of the 10 designations on the world map have been completed as political/economic regions called “Unions,” and they are:
- The European Union [E.U.] (1993)
- The African Union (2002)
- The Mediterranean Union (July 2008)
- The Union of South American Nations [UNASUR] (or possibly the South American Union) signed the constitutive agreement on May 2008.
- The North American Union (It would include Canada, U.S., Mexico) [For more information, see “What about America?” in Chapter 4, Pages 100-102 of The Last Generation: Prophecy, Current World Events, and the End Times
The Covert World Empire: A Shadow Government Behind the Scenes
This section is a brief review of the Covert World Empire. As mentioned near the beginning of the article, the first part of the article dealt with the developing Overt One World Economy that could be seen and identified. Now we will go behind the scenes. Who is really governing world events? Who is running the show? According to former Prime Minister Disraeli in 1844,
“The world is governed by very different personages from what is imagined by those who are not behind the scenes.”Nelson Rockefeller is likely the main financier of the New World Order. In 1962, he wrote in The Future of Federalism,
“The nation state is becoming less and less competent … Sooner perhaps than we realize there will evolve the basis for a federal structure of the free world.”The implication is that there are people with money pulling the strings behind the scenes with an agenda toward a European Superpower and a One World Government.
Hidden Hands: Pulling the World into a Global Super State
There are covert, rich, and elite Americans who have pushed for a United Europe, according to declassified American documents. In the 1950s and 1960s the U.S. intelligence community ran a covert operation to push for a United States of Europe. “It directed and funded the European federalist movement, and behind the scenes were the usual suspects from the Rockefeller and Ford Foundations, long controlled by ‘One World’ enthusiasts keen to abolish the nation state.” As we shall see, the visible rulers are front men and are not necessarily the ones pulling the strings.
There are a number of Christians who believe that the “end times” arena is in the hands of secret societies and organizations that are behind some world leaders and political movements. There is evidence to back up this belief. For example, one former British army officer believes that Europe’s future was decided in 1940.
According to the Daily Telegraph (London), Graham Langmead of Bogner Regis, West Sussex, England, in a letter that appeared on November 26, 1997, under the heading “Euro Visions,” told of an incident during World War II where he was an escort at Bologna in April 1945. As a very junior officer, he escorted a German General Von Vietinghoff following the surrender of the German forces in the central Mediterranean. The General told Langmead that a Franco-German agreement had taken place in 1940. The agreement was “that Europe would become one state controlled by Germany and France …” He went on to tell Langmead that there would be one currency, which would create a European state under German dominance.”
We don’t know about German dominance, but the General was definitely on target about Europe becoming one state [the EU]. He was also right about Europe having one currency.
In 1970, leading financier Edmund de Rothschild stated:
“Western Europe is going to form a political union. The structure that has to disappear, the lock that has to burst, is the nation.”This has already happened. We now have the Western European Union [WEU], as well as the European Union [EU]. European countries are now called “member states.”
One has to wonder if Rothschild was forecasting a future need, or if he was behind the scenes, engineering world events. As we will later see, Rothschild, along with other super-rich financier families have been instrumental, behind the scenes, in directing world governments.
Historical Development of a Covert Empire
In 1797, a man named John T. Robinson wrote a book, Proofs of a Conspiracy. He was Secretary General to Scotland’s prestigious Royal Society and professor of natural philosophy at the University of Edinburg. He was an intellectual and a scientist. Robinson was also a high degree Mason. Whenever he traveled from Scotland to Europe, he always attended the Grand Orient Masonic Lodges.
On one trip, he met up with Adam Weishaupt, the founder of a new group known as “Illuminism.” This new element penetrated the Lodges. Weishaupt approached Robinson to join this inner circle. Robinson refused due to his loyalty to the royal family of England. He warned them that hidden powers were pulling the strings behind the French Revolution and that it was not an historical accident happening by a whim, but it “was manipulated by brilliant and powerful men who had their own agenda.”
The Illuminists planned to stage a revolt of the masses to unseat the “present powers of the hereditary aristocracy.” “This, indeed, was exactly what the French Revolution appeared to be — key people catalyzing great numbers of people.”
Adam Weishaupt, a professor of canon law at the University of Ingolstadt, started the Order of Illuminati on May 1, 1776. The Portman Papers, a quarterly newsletter that keeps watch on the superstate [EU], said in October 2000:
“Eight years before the French Revolution began in 1789 … Adam Weishaupt, founder of the Illuminati, drew up the blueprint. It goes on to say, “The Reign of Terror claimed over a million victims,” and “the terror was justified in the name of democracy.”According to Professor Robinson, the true purpose of the Illuminati was World Domination. It was to have a world order ruled by an elite pretending to represent the common man. Weishaupt’s plan was to build a hierarchy of inner circles with one real circle who knew the true purpose of the Order.
This hidden agenda of evil characterizes our time. What is going on behind the world stage is beyond imagination. Part 2 of this article will deal with some of these hidden agendas. It is difficult to fight against an enemy that you are not aware of. The ultimate evil behind the world stage is Satan and his demonic hierarchy. He does not like to be exposed. In Part 2 of this article, we will see some of the things going on that could never have been imagined.
The times we live in are evil. Prophecy is being fulfilled before our eyes at an exponential rate. Jesus said “…You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free” (John 8: 32). If you have a relationship with Jesus Christ, rejoice for the time is near when we will meet Him at the rapture. If you don’t know Him personally, now is the time to acknowledge your need for a Savior. Then commit your life to Him and don’t look back.
[Part 2 will look at those who really are pulling the financial strings, as well as influencing governmental policy and direction. It will also take us behind the scenes of the “dark empire.” Watch for Part 2 of this article coming soon.]
With a couple of exceptions that are noted, this article was extracted from the recent book, The Last Generation: Prophecy, Current World Events, and the End Times. The book can be ordered at: http://www.focalpointpublications.com/. Any information used in this article that did not originate from the author is footnoted in the book.
