Economists and pension analysts around the world are gnashing their teeth. How are the world’s present and future retirees going to be cared for? A “perfect storm” is therefore bearing down on the world’s stretched financial systems. There couldn’t be more contributing factors coinciding at the same time. Just what is happening? And, does the Bible have anything to say on this topic?

Firstly, the situation unfolding at present really shouldn’t be news. It concerns demographics. After all, “demographics is destiny.” This saying reflects that fact that changing birth rates and longevity (length of life) can have a long-running impact on societies, spanning a half century and more. Birth rates have been plunging around the world since the mid-1960s, a trend now extending to most nations. At the same time, most countries are experiencing increasing longevity … i.e. people living longer than before.

It sounds like an “economics” problem and is popularly treated as such. But that would be wrong. In reality, the rapid demographic shifts the world is witnessing are more a function of “changing values” than anything else. We will try to explain.

This writer has published many warnings about the impending future impact of changing demographics since the early 1990s. That future has arrived—the chickens having come home to roost, as the saying goes. And so, the time has arrived where the crisis has now become evident to most. This has unleashed a desperate response. People are clamoring to save for their retirement years and to find sufficient financial income. But as almost always is the case, by the time a crisis becomes broadly recognized, it is usually much too late to respond.

Just what is happening? A brew of five major factors is giving boil to a burgeoning demographic and retirement dilemma.

1.      Slumping Fertility Rate: The world fertility rate (the number of births per female)—from third-world to developed nations—has been plunging over the past half-century. It is a global phenomenon … even to the extent that immigrant groups in nations such as Germany actually have lower birthrates than domestics. There are many reasons for this plunge (not all of which we will have space to review). The main consequence of this development is that populations are aging.

2.      Increasing Urbanization: Says Stratfor with respect to slowing birth rates, “[…] The process is essentially irreversible.” Why? They argue that it is primarily a matter of urbanization. “[…] In a mature urban society, the economic value of children declines. In fact, children turn from instruments of production into objects of massive consumption.”1

3.      Extending Longevity: An unprecedented phenomenon that is sweeping the world today is that people are living longer (seeMidnight Call article “Pension Frenzy, the Aged and Final Judgment,” August 2015 for further perspectives). Never before has there been a worldwide boom in longevity. In fact, actuaries (analysts that calculate mortality trends) have been consistently proven wrong over the past two decades. People keep living longer than expected. Therefore, pension funds discover that they have greater liabilities (future pension payments that they have to make) than they originally thought.

4.      Productivity Slowdown. Some analysts have argued that the world would witness a massive productivity boom. Therefore, less people could generate the incomes that would be required to maintain a reasonable retirement lifestyle for the elderly. Instead, the opposite is evident. Productivity growth rates have declined around the world in recent years.

5.      Shrinking Investment Income. Given the deflationary impact of an aging population, interest rate levels have fallen. Central bankers around the world have responded to slowing economic growth by slashing interest rates to 5,000 year lows. This virtually guarantees future investment income will be low.

How significant are these trends? Consider that never before in world history have the above five factors occurred at the same time. Never before in history has a world population boom been followed by a population bust.

Quoting a report by Fabius Maximus (a respected political research site), the future impact will be shattering. We quote: “The 2nd generation after the present one will be only 40% as large as today’s. The 4th generation will be only 15% as large. These are astonishing numbers. The worst large-scale pandemics killed 1/4 to 1/3 of the affected population. Only the most severe inflicted such damage.”

There can be no doubt: the scale of these trends is unprecedented. The resultant financial and social pressures upon the world are truly profound.

Analysts may argue about the causes with mathematical and economic theories, as if isolated from the reality that it is a “human” world. Crises are the consequence of the choices in values that mankind has made. There we find the ultimate causes, and not in movements of the stars, mathematics or economics. The consequences of “human choices” cannot be escaped. “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows”(Galatians 6:7).

Already today, we live in societies where it has become (in some cases) prohibitively expensive to raise children. Children are widely considered to be too costly to raise. According to various studies, having children sharply increases the likelihood of personal bankruptcy (most certainly so for single-parent families). We now live in an era of “post-familialism.”

The Perverse Wisdom of the Age

Thus, the wisdom of the current human (Anthropocene) era. Financial markets are expected to deliver secure retirement benefits in lieu of shrinking families and fertility. Impossible. Biology and morphology (the physical designs of creatures and humans that God has made) are mocked. Feminists are angry at “evolution” for having given them child-bearing organs. Raising children is something that is now looked down upon as a lower caste career. Families are considered to be fluid arrangements. One dare not deny that sexual orientation and child-rearing is to be entirely independent of biology.

Again, how dare the obvious physical plumbing of male and female and genetic differences dictate sexual orientation? Few stop to consider that the theory of evolution does not support the idea that homosexuality or feminism could result from a “carrier gene.” If so, it would have been a gene that would have become extinct over the supposed millennia of evolutionary process, as it would have been a non-perpetuating gene for the most part.

The dispositions and values implicit in the above-mentioned trends play a causal role in the world’s current demographic challenges. At least in part, they give rise to it. While it is wonderful that longevity is increasing and that the quality of life is generally improving for the aged, the plunging birth rates have severe consequences that cannot be escaped.

God allows humanity (and each of us individually) to make choices. We can choose good or evil, or define morality as we wish. But God has the last say. As we already have identified, demography is destiny. That destiny is near. Judgment will come.

Anti-Familialism in History

Voluntary population implosions (i.e., not associated with pandemics or war) have happened before, though not on a global scale as today. Roman aristocrats, for example, eventually became so reluctant to accept the burdens of heading a family that Caesar Augustus felt compelled to enact steep “bachelor taxes” and otherwise punish those who remained unwed and childless.

Polybius, the Greek historian, writes of the people of Hellas of the 3rdcentury BC (in The Histories , his work covers the period of 264–146 BC in great detail): “[… The people of Hellas had entered the false path of ostentation, avarice and laziness, and were therefore becoming unwilling to marry, or, if they did marry, to bring up the children born to them; the majority were only willing to bring up at most one or two, in order to leave them wealthy and to spoil them in their childhood; and in consequence of all this the evil had been spreading rapidly before it was observed.”

What Polybius describes is today playing out on a global level.

Longevity in the Bible

Throughout the course of human history, there will be two global disasters in which longevity will have been involved. The first major longevity shock took place early in the history of the world. Following the Flood, lifespans started to shorten significantly for those born thereafter. Up to the time of the Flood, the average lifespan, according to the Bible, was around 930 years. A “longevity” collapse then ensued.

However, falling longevity in the post-Flood time had a major consequence. All patriarchs that would have known Noah and heard verbal history from him and others directly, died off over a very short period of 200 years. To be precise, eleven generations died within a two century time period. Consider that during the lifetime of Abraham, eight generations died. Imagine over your lifespan, eight generations of great, great, great … etc. ancestor grandfathers passing away.

There were disastrous repercussions. Mankind had quickly fallen to godlessness and sin. Only a little more than a century after Noah died, Nimrod was busy pursuing humanist endeavors. God needed to disperse the citizens of Babel, who were intent to make a “name for [themselves]” (Genesis 11:4). As such, the plans of Nimrod were thwarted for a time.

With so few acknowledging the Creator, Jehovah decided to call out a people for himself; one that would be a light to the world … His Servant Israel (Isaiah 44). Therefore he selected Abram, a man of faith, and called out a people—namely the Hebrews—to be a light unto the world.

Thoughts to Ponder

Oswald Spengler, the German historian and philosopher, once observed, “When the ordinary thought of a highly cultivated people begins to regard ‘having children’ as a question of pro’s and con’s, the great turning point has come.” That point has most certainly arrived for most developed nations. The trend will not reverse as the point of return has passed.

Patriarchal societies (which have provided societal stability for millennia) are under attack. Fertility rates are difficult to change, as many governments have discovered. The social trends that produced this change—such as new contraceptives, feminism, materialism, narcissism (self-love), humanism … etc.—continue to wax worse. Male contraceptives (a male pill) is another development that will depress birth rates.

Looking ahead, few economists give proper attribution to the role of lengthening lifespans in the boom of prosperity and material/financial wealth that has been generated in the past two centuries. Now that past demographic trends are reversing, they are dumbfounded and frustrated. Policymakers, strive as they might at manipulating interest rates and money, cannot overcome the influences of extended longevity and low fertility.

What is the solution? To date, supposed answers offered by the collective wealth establishment around the world are entirely fraudulent. In so doing, they may succeed in deferring the ultimate reckoning day. But what a day that will be when it comes! The longer consequences are deferred, the more perversion increases, the more cataclysmic the final outcome.

God intervened in the days of Noah and Abram. He will do so again in the future, as the Bible clearly outlines.

For resources on “endtime economics” and to subscribe to the free newsletter, Eternal Value Review, visit Wilfred’s websitewww.eternalvalue.com or contact him at: staff@eternalvalue.com

About the Author: 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. His newest book, Global Financial Apocalypse Prophesied: Preserving true riches in an age of deception and trouble, looks further into the future.

---

1 “Population Decline and the Great Economic Reversal,” George Friedman, Stratfor, February 17, 2015.

We continue with the proofs that the martyrs of the Tribulation period tell us. In Part I we stated that ALL who become Christians during the Tribulation will die. It is a key view. Why? It critically affects the Rapture debate. As such, for Rapture naysayers, this view is problematic. Understandably, others may be puzzled as it is a complex and potentially confusing topic (especially so for such a short article series as we present here).

Were it proven that ALL who become Christians in the Tribulation become martyrs, it makes a serious dent in the case for a Rapture occurring any other time than before the Tribulation. For example, were there no Christians alive on earth as of the early stages of the second half of the Tribulation, there could be no mid- or –end-tribulational Rapture. It wouldn’t be logical. The Great Multitude (see Revelation 7:9, these all martyrs) are shown to be already in front of the heavenly altar at the time of the 5th and 6th seals.

If ALL Christians have been martyred who would be left to be raptured? As the case may be, Tribulational martyrs are expressly promised to participate in the First Resurrection … in their case, this occurring at the beginning of the Millennium. For a Rapture to occur at any other time than before the Tribulation would not align with Scripture; nor the proofs of the Tribulational martyrs; nor the character of God.

But what of the view of Rapture naysayers who say that there is no Rapture to be expected at all? To take this position means that ALL Christians will go into the Tribulation period. More Christians would then be added to their number through conversions during the earlier stages of the Tribulation. The question then arises: Why would God allow that ALL Christians in the world to be killed during the Tribulation? As we have shown and will further prove in this article, all Tribulational Christians will be martyred.

1 Thessalonians 5:9 states that “[…] God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, if ALL Christians (from the time of before and during the Tribulation will be annihilated on earth, this is a “wrath” of a different gospel. This is not congruous with the character of what God has said.

A naysayer’s view must endorse a very non-sensical sequence of events. ALL Christians must go into the Tribulation so that ALL first be slain so that they ALL can be given a resurrected physical body so ALL to come back to life in the Millennium.

This sequence of events seems unnecessarily cruel … and inefficient. Could these be the actions of a LORD that says “My reward is with me” (Revelation 22:12). What about the Saints that have died before the Tribulation period? The Rapture naysayer must take the position that these saints need wait another thousand years for the Second Resurrection as they will not be eligible for the First Resurrection. Scripture doesn’t support these confused perspectives. Rather, it expressly says that “the dead in Christ will rise first” (1 Thessalonians 4:16).

A pre-tribulational Rapture is the clearest, most sensible and most scriptural view.

More Arguments From the Dead

Given that our view — that ALL Tribulational Christians will be martyred — is such a critical factor in the Rapture debate, we want to further prove the veracity of this position. There are other additional proofs and deductions from the Bible for this case. We present five of these next. It is these proofs of certain martyrdom that tell the theological tales.

1. The Meaning of “All.” The Second Beast shown in Revelation 13 only offer two options — one or the other. Worship the image of the First Beast or die. No other option is on offer. There is no allowance for exceptions. “[…] all who refused to worship the image [are] to be killed” (Revelation 13:15). (Again, see Revelation 20:4.) All means all … not some. The Bible also says this about these Tribulation saints: “They triumphed over him [the Dragon] by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death” (Revelation 12:11).

What happens to those that do worship the image? Could they change their minds at some later date? Revelation 14:9-11 is clear. “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives its mark on their forehead or on their hand, they, too, will drink the wine of God’s fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. They will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment will rise for ever and ever. There will be no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and its image, or for anyone who receives the mark of its name.” Once having made the election to worship the image of the Beast and to take the mark, there is no recourse nor recanting. To believe otherwise, would be inconsistent with the character of God. Once He unleashes His Wrath it is too late to repent. After all, His wrath only comes after repeated entreaties and warnings. Then comes the point of no return … of no further grace.

At the very minimum, what we can safely conclude is that All who refuse to worship the image will die.

2. No Survival Outside the “Buy Sell” System. Despite the clear message of Revelation 13, some still imagine that Christians could survive the Tribulation period. If only they would buy the right survival goods and pursue cunning evasive strategies they would stand a chance, they reason. However, they ignore this perspective: Outside the “buy-sell system” in that future tribulational world put in place by the False Prophet, it will not be possible to live without the “mark.” If one is not able to “buy nor sell” at a time of a pervasive global economic crisis and a closed worldwide financial system, one cannot obtain food nor shelter. With no transactional access to the financial system, a Christian will die of starvation if not first murdered.

An understanding of the limits of a closed financial system should lay to rest any notion that All who refuse to worship the image will be martyred.

3. A Deduced Absence. At the 5th trumpet blow (1st Woe, Revelation 9:1-6), this occurring perhaps mid-way into the second half of the Tribulation) “[…] out of the smoke locusts came down on the earth and were given power like that of scorpions of the earth. […] They were not allowed to kill them but only to torture them for five months. And the agony they suffered was like that of the sting of a scorpion when it strikes.”

Only those that did not have the seal of God were allowed to be tormented. The only group that has a seal placed upon them at this point are the 144,000 servants. As such, were Christians still on earth at the time of this judgment, they would be expressly allowed by God to be tortured. Any Christians on earth during this woe wold be selected to face God’s wrath. Shown here is that God can and does exclude one group to be protected from His wrath (namely the 144,000). Then, why would He choose not to do so with his Children? “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for […] an egg, will give him a scorpion?” (Luke 11:11-12).

Thus, we can draw one of two conclusions. There are no Christians on earth at the time of the 1st Woe; or if yes, then God expressly chooses to torment them. Only the former perspective aligns with the character of God.

4. Can Christians Curse God? At the call of the 6th trumpet, one third of the world’s population is wiped out; two-thirds remain who then ALL curse God. Says Revelation 9:20-21: “The rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands; they did not stop worshiping demons and idols […] Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality or their thefts.” Could Christians be counted in this number of survivors? Not if all of the survivors are said to “curse God”, “refuse to repent” and kept “worshipping demons and idols.” Clearly, then, there can be no Christians survivors at this point upon earth. (We maintain that they have been martyred already some time before.) After all, salvation is impossible without repentance. Conclusion? Either no Christians are upon earth at the time of this woe; or, God expressly made sure that while 1/3rd of the earth’s population dies, that this would mean that ALL Christians would die at this time. But, again, it would be absurd to believe that God in His wrath would wipe out ALL remaining Christians at this juncture, favouring instead other godless earth dwellers.

We can reasonably deduce that no Christians exist upon earth at the time of the 5th and 6th trumpet judgments.

5. Appearances of Christians Throughout the Tribulation. Following the sixth seal (that being the time point that we are shown the great multitude of martyred Christians in front of the heavenly altar) the topics of “saints” or “servants” “Christians,” God’s people” or “multitudes” is never mentioned again in Revelation’s time line. Crucially, no mention or picture is made of any more Christians having arrived in front of the heavenly altar during the Tribulation period for any other reason than of being slain by anti-Christian forces. Any reference to “souls” that did not “worship the image” refers back to its occurrence which, in our view, is at a time near to the 6th seal. As such, this would be consistent with the view that All Christians will be martyred in the Tribulation period.

The above arguments (as well as others made elsewhere in this 2-part article series), we believe conclusively prove that no Christians will survive the Tribulation period … all becoming martyrs (most likely by its mid-point). Daniel 7:25 says that “The holy people will be delivered into his [Anti-christ’s] hands for a time, times and half a time. (See also Daniel 12:7) We see this three and one-half period coinciding with the first-half of the Tribulation period.

These perspectives may indeed raise additional questions as well as reconciliations with other popular or conventional interpretations of Scripture. However, we will leave these questions for another study.

Who Left to Populate the Millennium?

A number of readers have argued that not all Christians could be killed in the Tribulation as there would be no people left on earth to populate the Millennium. This is incorrect. Why? The Bible states that a major stage of the First Resurrection occurs at the start of the Millennium. At this time, it specifically applies only to Tribulation martyrs and no one else. All those who become Christians during the Tribulation are resurrected at the beginning of Millennium. “They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years” (Revelation 20:4) upon earth. Tribulational Christians therefore are destined to live and reign with Christ through the whole millennium until the time of the Second Resurrection (Revelation 20:4).

There will also be a surviving number of people on earth — both Jews (as there must be in order to fulfill prophecy) and Gentiles — though a greatly decimated number. In conclusion, resurrected tribulational saints and surviving Jews and Gentiles will populate the Millennium.

We briefly again review the significant positional differences between those Christians who are raptured and those who later become Christians during the Tribulation. Firstly, those who are raptured are a unique and small group. They face neither the First nor the Second Death (physical death nor spiritual damnation) but a translation to a new body. What a wonderful reward to the Christians of the apostate, hostile world that exists at the time of the Rapture.

The only other “first fruit” group that is given a similar special dispensation (in part) are the 144,000 prophets. They are sealed, being already redeemed first-fruits (what we take to mean resurrected with eternal bodies) and therefore will not perish during the Tribulation. They possibly may also enter into the Millennial period and also not taste the Second Death [though we must disclose that the Bible is actually silent on these points.]

Thoughts to Ponder: Great Rewards to All Saints

Glorious is the fact that raptured Christians are spared the First Death and Second Death; and are also spared “the hour of trial” (Revelation 3:10) and will be in heaven with the Lord while the Tribulation takes place upon earth.

Raptured Saints “[…] will be with the Lord forever” (1 Thessalonians 4:17) in their translated resurrected incorruptible bodies. Whether on earth or in heaven, wherever Jesus will be, that is where the raptured Christians will be. They “[…] will be with the Lord forever.”

Surely the Tribulation is a terrible period … as none ever before in mankind’s history. Nevertheless, there is good news to celebrate: For ALL Christians, there will be no Second Death. We will all be given eternal life.

Wonderfully, after the Tribulation, the Lord, “[…] will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away” (Revelation 21:4).

The Pre-tribulation Rapture view, as we have shown, is the most consistent with Scripture. There is no incentive to survive the Tribulation for Christians since all will be killed and all are then resurrected at the start of the Millennium. Why prolong physical suffering if one can look forward to a resurrection after the Tribulation?

Therefore, whether amongst the raptured or those saved during the Tribulation, there are no physical preparations to be made … nothing to buy … or escape. There is no need to pay for survival supplies, nor to build an underground bunker.

For now, given that the Rapture still lies ahead, we remain part of the generation that “[…] continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming” (1 John 2:28).

Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done (Revelation 22:12).

Maranatha,

(A recent 3-part series, Anxiety Merchants and False Prophets specifically deals with the promotion of survivalist goods to Christians.)

---

For resources on “endtime economics” and to subscribe to the free newsletter, Eternal Value Review, visit Wilfred’s website www.eternalvalue.com or contact him at: staff@eternalvalue.com

About the Author: 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. His newest book,Global Financial Apocalypse Prophesied: Preserving true riches in an age of deception and trouble, looks further into the future.