World Economic Control Prophesied, Part 2 :: By Wilfred Hahn

Lightning Developments

We continue our three-part study of Joseph’s life and his prophetic foreshadowing of worldwide conditions in the last days. To this point in the story, Joseph had responded to the first pleas of starving Egyptians. Joseph collected ALL the money that was found in Egypt. Joseph took every last penny in return for grain he sold so that people might eat and be saved from the famine.

He deposited all of this money into Pharaoh’s coffers. Joseph then controlled all payment specie (money) in Egypt.

What happened next? Predictably, once all the monetary savings of the people had been depleted (ending up in Pharaoh’s coffers), the people then faced a cash crunch—what Wall Street practitioners today call a “liquidity crisis.” There was no more transactional specie (cash) circulating in the land after that point.

Thereafter, from that time on, people could only barter.

The famine continued for another year.

At this point, the populace again had no grain or money left. What to do next? They needed to replenish their cupboards.

They again begged Joseph to give them food. What did Joseph do in response? He provided handouts. Actually, no, that would be a false statement. Truly, what did he do next? He demanded the people’s livestock.

In an agrarian society, as existed during that time, livestock represented assets that generated a large part of household income. Consider also that in that era, livestock was the equivalent of today’s industrial capital. They were the equivalent to our factories and transportation systems today. Horses, cattle, sheep, and other animals in Joseph’s time were the means to the production of wool, butter, and many other products. What was the result?

Here is what the hungry people did: “[…] they brought their livestock to Joseph, and he gave them food in exchange for their horses, their sheep and goats, their cattle and donkeys. And he brought them through that year with food in exchange for all their livestock” (Genesis 47:17).

Now Joseph—on behalf of Pharaoh—was in control of ALL the capital stock of Egypt. Joseph had secured ownership of the land-based transportation system (donkeys and horses) and the productive capacity of factories (livestock). He could now sell the outputs of milk and meat, as well as transportation services.

Pharaoh had become a countrywide rentier.

However, the takeover by the state didn’t stop there. Relentlessly, the famine continued yet another year.

People needed more grain, and they again became desperate. What were they forced to do? They now said to Joseph: “Buy us and our land in exchange for food, and we with our land will be in bondage to Pharaoh” (verse 19). What did Joseph do next?

He reduced the people to complete servitude. He took all their land. Now, everything from one end of Egypt to the other became the property of the state and under the control of one man— Pharaoh (with the exception of a small amount of land that was owned by the priests and special elites).

At this point, the populace owned absolutely nothing and was totally enslaved. They probably remained as such until the end of their lives.

Will the Real Joseph Stand Up?

Are there two Josephs mentioned in the Bible, or are we dealing with the one and the same?

Many see Joseph as an Old Testament picture of Christ. We would not disagree. He suffered so that he might be able to save his family in Egypt; to go ahead and, like Jesus, prepare a place for them (John 14:3). It is also noted that Joseph is the only major person in the Israelite lineage of Christ found in the Bible, of which no character flaw or sin is explicitly mentioned.

Joseph surely was a sinner like every other human being, so why are his sins not mentioned? Yet, we do discover that through his errors, this instrument of God—like all the others from Abraham to King David—has bequeathed lessons to mankind that are very relevant for our day.

An impartial examination of Joseph’s life reveals that the results of his actions were not entirely beneficial, nor his techniques virtuous. That statement will likely strike the reader as disrespectful. Should this be said of Joseph, a venerated person mentioned in the Bible?

While it is true that Joseph succeeded in saving many lives, his mission was not performed entirely in the spirit of a merciful rescue operation. Egyptians and others seeking to buy grain had to virtually sell their souls and freedoms to gain access to grain.

We note that Joseph did not donate the grain to needy people but instead required payment. Think of it. People were starving, and he asked for money for grain. Few Christian aid organizations today would think they are fulfilling Christ’s command to “feed the poor” (Luke 11:41) or their enemies (Romans 12:20) if they were profiting from their ministries.

To the contrary, the entire ownership structure of the land of Egypt was changed virtually overnight from private ownership to vassalage. With the exception of a few Egyptian priests, the immediate family of Joseph, and probably some other high-ranking elites—the entire land of Egypt came under the direct ownership of Pharaoh.

Moreover, we are told that as a result of Joseph’s policies, a system of onerous taxation resulted that is “still in force today” (Genesis 47:26). Indeed, government taxation is the norm today.

Just imagine what would happen if this type of “absolute” power that Joseph attained for Pharaoh were given to a diabolical entity or person in our day? Indeed, the Bible does clearly indicate that just such an individual is prophesied to appear in the last days.

Thankfully, Joseph was a person whom God prospered and blessed in almost everything that he did (Genesis 39:2). Yet, as mentioned, the Bible remains silent in its judgment of his techniques. It will be evident to any reader that the consequences of Joseph’s actions were not entirely ideal.

As such, a major conundrum must be noted in this story: People were saved from hunger on the one hand, yet taken captive in the process on the other. It is clear that the whole saga turned out to be a giant opportunity for the secular Pharaoh to gain power and wealth at the expense of those in need.

But did this need to occur? Joseph could have saved everyone from hunger without making Pharaoh an extremely wealthy potentate and everyone else an oppressed vassal. So, why did he not choose to do so?

We can recognize here the classic problem of mankind. People who have power and/or the opportunity will most often choose wealth … and more wealth. That is certainly the case in our day. Elites and plutocrats become ever richer.

There is one other lesson. Just as Mammon and God are incompatible, so are charity and profit. One cannot give equal weight to both. On earth, at least, money and wealth eventually win out.

Other Prophetic Parallels to Today

It may well be asked: If Joseph’s actions did indeed save millions of lives, then what does anything else matter? Wasn’t the trade-off worth it—putting entire populations into vassalage and even further widening the imbalances of the wealth distribution?

That may appear to be the same type of situation faced by those today who are making policy decisions in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Should we save everyone from dying from the virus but completely destroy the global economy and place massive debts upon the shoulders of citizens? How can it be ensured that the stimulus of massive new indebtedness (created by fiat) will be distributed fairly?

Is everyone being forced into economic bondage? Attempts may be made to achieve fairness. But it would be foolishness to believe that mankind’s primordial unfaithfulness with money will suddenly turn benevolent. Pharaoh, as we have shown, ended up being super-rich. The same tendency is at work today, especially so when crises are seized as catalysts for major wealth heists and transfers.

Once policymakers begin going down the road of fiat money (Modern Money Theory) and economic interventions, there is no easy return. Temporary government policies and interventions tend to eventually become permanent fixtures. Even Joseph faced this dilemma. After serving Pharaoh for 26 years—including 12 years after the famine was over—he claimed that he was still saving lives (Genesis 50:20). Here we note that a temporary government policy measure will tend to become a permanent one.

Another specter of the Joseph story is that “[…] all the countries came to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph, because the famine was severe in all the world” (Genesis 41:57). Here, in the first book of the Bible, we find the very roots of modern-day “globalization.”

The whole world converged together for reasons of “bread” (a euphemism for “money”). Egypt had become the world’s commercial center, and its grain became the senior currency of that epoch.

Pharaoh came to this position of controlling the entire world by dispensing the means of obtaining bread and prosperity. Here we see that the incentive of gaining “bread” had been harnessed by one centralized system … even one man. We may see that aspects of that process are again sweeping the entire world today under the guise of the promise of more bread for the entire world.

An Endtime Trap Foreshadowed

How long did it take for the entire known world of Joseph’s time to come under economic bondage to Pharaoh? According to this writer’s calculations, once the drought began, this process required only a period of three-and one-half years.

Three one-year periods are indicated, and an additional half year is deduced. Explicitly mentioned to last a year are these two yearly stages: Livestock was used as payment for one year of grain supply (Genesis 47:17). Another year was survived by giving up ownership of land and their “bodies” (verse 18).

What about the period before these two yearly spans? In response to the first request for grain, Joseph took all the money in the land (verses 13-15). We judge that the monetary transactions could not have purchased more than a year’s worth of grain consumption. As it was in those times, most wealth was represented by livestock and land. Transactional money did not play as significant a role in the livelihoods of people as today.

As already reviewed, Joseph did not buy the excess grain during the plenty period in the first place. Therefore, the seven years of plenty would not have produced a big cash hoard in people’s pockets, which may have been sufficient to purchase an adequate grain supply for all year.

With this logic, we so far count the duration of three years on the road to serfdom for Egypt’s population.

We next note that the Nile Basin at times supported two grain harvests each year. As such, it would be logical to assume that people would only have laid aside provisions of grain for one half-year, this being long enough to last until the next harvest. That suggests that six months of drought would have first taken place before food shortages began to occur. As of that point, money would have been used to purchase the next year’s grain supply.

If our estimates are correct, we can conclude that it required a three-and-one-half year period to bring the entire world under the control of one system, under the authority of one man.

In the final part of this series, we focus on the prophetic indications of global economic bondage of the entire world. What can yet be expected to occur in the future?

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Wilfred J. Hahn is a global economist/strategist. Formerly a top-ranked global analyst, research director for a major Wall Street investment bank, and head of Canada’s largest global investment operation, his writings focus on the endtime roles of money, economics and globalization. He has been quoted around the world and his writings reproduced in numerous other publications and languages. His 2002 book The Endtime Money Snare: How to live free accurately anticipated and prepared its readers for the Global Financial Crisis. A following book, Global Financial Apocalypse Prophesied: Preserving true riches in an age of deception and trouble, looks further into the prophetic future.

Do you have questions or other perspectives, you can contact Wilfred at: staff@eternalvalue.com. Please note that for reasons of volume and investment securities regulation, he cannot give financial advice.

World Economic Control Prophesied: …There Yet? Part 1 :: By Wilfred Hahn

 

Vladimir Lenin, the one-time head of Soviet Russia, was quoted as saying: “There are decades where nothing happens, and there are weeks where decades happen.” Breathtakingly, an acceleration of that magnitude appears to have unfolded in the early months of 2020.

No sooner did the COVID-19 pandemic spread across the globe that a new future for the world seemed to have already been well pre-planned. One cannot be blamed for thinking that a cadre of policymakers around the world had been waiting for the next crisis.

Crises, whatever their kind, act as catalysts in human affairs. Panicked fears and societal uncertainties serve as an impetus for new and unorthodox policy decisions by political leaders and policymakers. Of course, many of these are well-meaning but also may have deleterious consequences.

However, one does not need to invoke far-fetched conspiracy theories to explain why crises come about … how they are triggered, and how they prey upon common and predictable human behaviors. In this respect, crises are a normal feature of mankind’s societies; they have been the constant companion of human existence.

Crucially, however, there is one conspiracy of cosmological dimensions that has been playing out over many generations of humans. It is a conspiracy that requires no speculation, being clearly mentioned in the Bible.

“A master of intrigue will arise” (Daniel 8:23). He will “[…] take his stand against the Prince of princes” (verse 25). The power behind him is Satan himself. Also, Psalm 2:1-2 reveals that all the world’s rulers will take a stand against God at that time. A hierarchy of evil and dark forces work in unison and coordination to that goal (Ephesians 6:12).

Conveniently, crises can serve as a clandestine cover under which to push forward a long-term agenda against God. For example, mankind is very vulnerable to fear and greed. Satan knows this very well. He, therefore, surely loves hyperactive financial markets around the world. He ruthlessly uses these human penchants and weaknesses to his advantage.

It is, therefore, reasonable to accept that crises and their attendant human responses of fear and panic do play into the glove of those who have an agenda to advance. They can seize the opportunity of a populace that is willing to compromise or accept a loss of freedom for the sake of security and prosperity.

These trade-offs lead down a very treacherous road … one that is well-documented throughout history and also in the Bible, as we will show. Why? Because such changes and trends borne of crises are usually cumulative and not easily reversed.

Consider the advances of science and technology. These are always a step leading forward, never to be reversed or lost. It is similar with policymaking in respect to human rights, centralization of power, globalism, censorship, central banking, etc. These humanist advances are often one-way developments: give an inch, and when a facilitating crisis arrives, then take a mile.

An undeniable trait of history is that a genuine crisis—whether health-related, economic, of public safety and/or civic order—always and everywhere enhances the powers of top-down, authoritarian leadership.

Without a doubt, these types of nefarious shifts are being witnessed in bright lights around the world today. In fact, this writer would even state that these “ripening” trends have accelerated as perhaps never before in recent years … now kicked into supersonic speed following the latest global crises.

Consider that Freedom House, even before 2020 ever arrived, had already counted 14 consecutive years of declining freedom worldwide.[1] Looking ahead, it would not be surprising to observe this trend to be in further freefall.

We live in an age where globalization has progressed rapidly (though possibly experiencing an ebb for a while); a global brotherhood of man through the common interests of commerce, speaking as if with one language and objective.

The rebellious unification of world rulers and elites against God and His Son Jesus Christ is already far advanced.

Essential to this agenda is a final financial entrapment of all mankind to force all to worship the Antichrist. Economic captivity, therefore, plays a key role in the last days. A diabolical trapper has been setting in place an endtime money snare.

How did the world get to this late date … this rendezvous with History? It required a lot of planning and plotting … forward steps followed by backward steps, then again forward.

The end goal is to entirely entrap humanity, allowing him fewer and fewer options. Ultimately, a stern world ruler (Daniel 8:23) will be revealed, forcing humanity to comply with his agenda of rebellion.

As already mentioned, it is a plot to which the Bible testifies. In fact, right from the first Book of Genesis, an endtime program of enslavement of mankind is foreshadowed.

In the Beginning, a Blueprint

Bible scholars say that the entirety of Scripture is enfolded in its first book. As such, one will also discover that much prophecy is foreshadowed in the Book of Genesis.

Consider the Biblical account of Joseph, seen as a wondrous story. However, in our interpretation, it provides a surprising endtime conspiratorial blueprint, which is urgently germane to our day.

Readers will surely be shocked to learn that the story of Joseph would offer just such a perspective. After all, wasn’t the story of Joseph about the remarkable rise of a young man who had been sold by his brothers to Midianite traders traveling to Egypt? Starting out as a slave, he eventually rose to the very top of that era’s geopolitical echelon as a chief regent of Pharaoh. Egypt at that time was the most powerful country in the world.

How did Joseph come to this position?

While Joseph was in prison in Egypt (after being falsely accused by Potiphar’s wife), Pharaoh experienced a vision of seven “fat and sleek” cows coming out of the Nile. These were followed by seven ugly and lean cows, who then ate up the seven fat cows. He was perplexed. He then saw a second vision, which repeated the message of the first. Only this time, it was seven full heads of seeds, followed by seven heads that had been withered and scorched.

However, Pharaoh and his entourage were not able to decipher the meaning of these dreams. And so, Joseph was called out of prison to interpret the meaning of the vision, as he had done before for his two jail-cell companions. He told Pharaoh that the visions revealed God’s plan to allow seven years of abundance in Egypt, to be followed by seven years of famine.

God had enabled Joseph to interpret Pharaoh’s dream, as well as recommend a public works program. In response, Pharaoh appointed Joseph to prepare the nation for a seven-year drought. He was put in charge of the entire kingdom.

Just as Joseph had said, seven years of abundance did occur, which were followed by seven years of famine. While other lands had no grain, in the whole land of Egypt there was plenty of food.

It then becomes a very heart-rending story. It reveals what humanity will do in order to quell the pangs of hunger … to be saved from a crisis of whatever kind. In desperate times, having little choice, people will strike bad deals … ceding freedoms and increasing their vulnerability to rich despots and totalitarian regimes.

Fourteen years later, the entire commercial and societal structure of the known world at that time, as well as almost all the land in Egypt, came under the control of one man—Pharaoh—due to Joseph’s management. Pharaoh ended up becoming an all-powerful, economic potentate. Such was the case in Egypt almost 4,000 years ago, when Joseph reigned as vice-regent.

How did this happen? A more detailed examination of this account reveals many levels of prophetic foreshadowing, these serving to provide endtime warnings for the world and Christians living today.

A Sometime Misinterpreted Story?

The Bible story of Joseph, one of the 12 sons of Jacob, is a popular favorite of children and adults alike. Not only does it celebrate the ultimate blessings that accrued to a righteous man, but it also shows how God can miraculously enter into the seemingly unfortunate occurrences of our lives and ultimately work them out for good (Romans 8:28).

However, now with new eyes, the account of Joseph’s deeds raises many questions.

Joseph began the operation of stockpiling the harvested grain of the seven fat years. According to the original edict (Genesis 41:34-35), Joseph and his commissioners were to take one-fifth of the harvest and store the grain inside the cities. Joseph did not pay for the excess grain; he collected one-fifth as a tax.

During the seven bountiful years, the stockpiles eventually became so large that he was no longer able to keep an account of their size (v. 49).

Then, as was prophesied, “The seven years of abundance in Egypt came to an end” (v. 53).

When Egypt and other lands “began to feel the famine, the people cried to Pharaoh for food. Then Pharaoh told all the Egyptians, ‘Go to Joseph and do what he tells you'” (v. 55). And they did so.

Then “Joseph opened the storehouses and sold grain to the Egyptians” (v. 56).

Scripture tells us that, receiving payment, Joseph collected all the money that was found in Egypt and Canaan. Again, we note that Joseph collected ALL of the money in these lands as payment. Joseph took every last penny in return for grain so that people might eat and be saved from the famine.

What was the result? Joseph then controlled all payment specie. He deposited all of this money into Pharaoh’s coffers.

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1 https://freedomhouse.org/article/media-restrictions-today-will-harm-democracy-tomorrow

Wilfred J. Hahn is a global economist/strategist. Formerly a top-ranked global analyst, research director for a major Wall Street investment bank, and head of Canada’s largest global investment operation, his writings focus on the endtime roles of money, economics and globalization. He has been quoted around the world and his writings reproduced in numerous other publications and languages. His 2002 book The Endtime Money Snare: How to live free accurately anticipated and prepared its readers for the Global Financial Crisis. A following book, Global Financial Apocalypse Prophesied: Preserving true riches in an age of deception and trouble, looks further into the prophetic future.

If you have questions or other perspectives, you can contact Wilfred at: staff@eternalvalue.com. Please note that for reasons of volume and investment securities regulation, he cannot give financial advice.