We focus on prophecy each week for about five-minutes.
It’s more than a curiosity; it’s extremely practical. The apostle Paul said: “[know] the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed” (Romans 13:11).
After discussing the last days, the apostle Peter said, “what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God” (Second Peter 3:11-12).
There are approximately 500 yet-to-be-fulfilled prophecies. Knowing what they say, we expect to see certain trends in the world. We’re not saying these trends are the fulfillment of prophecy – only that things seem to be unfolding just as you’d expect.
The Bible describes in great detail, in the Book of the Revelation, a future period of seven-years called popularly the Great Tribulation. One frightening aspect of the Great Tribulation is that the world leader we call the antichrist will rule with absolute power, rewarding citizens who worship him, but punishing those who do not.
Something like that is happening in China right now. The article I read was titled, Beijing to Judge Every Resident Based on Behavior by End of 2020.
Excerpts:
China’s plan to judge each of its 1.3 billion people based on their social behavior is moving a step closer to reality, with Beijing set to adopt a lifelong points program by 2021 that assigns personalized ratings for each resident.
The capital city will pool data from several departments to reward and punish some 22 million citizens based on their actions and reputations by the end of 2020, according to a plan posted on the Beijing municipal government’s website on Monday.
Those with better so-called social credit will get “green channel” benefits while those who violate laws will find life more difficult.
The Beijing project will improve blacklist systems so that those deemed untrustworthy will be “unable to move even a single step,” according to the government’s plan.
The tracking of individual behavior in China has become easier as economic life moves online, with apps such as Tencent’s WeChat and Ant Financial’s Alipay a central node for making payments, getting loans and organizing transport. Accounts are generally linked to mobile phone numbers, which in turn require government IDs.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-11-21/beijing-to-judge-every-resident-based-on-behavior-by-end-of-2020
Read the Bible and this is the kind of Last Days news you’d expect.
As believers, we mostly are to expect that Jesus could return at any moment.
Jesus promised He’d return to rapture His church – which entails the resurrection of the dead in Christ of the Church Age, then the translation from earth to Heaven of all living believers.
It is presented in the Bible as an imminent (any-moment) event.
Are you ready for the rapture? If not, get ready, stay ready, and keep looking up. Ready or not, Jesus is coming!