Looming Financial Woes

Warning Signs—Emerging Dangers

Today, the international monetary system revolves around the American dollar. Yet, America is 16 trillion dollars in debt—to sovereign wealth funds in Middle Eastern countries and to potential adversary nations such as China and Russia. This spiraling debt has undermined confidence in the U.S. dollar, and borrowing money from potential adversaries will impose limits on America's political and military options if a crisis arises. Efforts by the U.S. Treasury to weaken the dollar (reduce its value) in order to reduce the amount of money owed to lending nations is not appreciated by those nations because it threatens the amount of wealth they hold in American dollars. This has generated a real desire on the part of other nations to create an alternative currency to the U.S. dollar. In fact, as economist James Rickards has pointed out, America's biggest economic competitors—China, Russia and oil-producing nations of the Middle East—are doing everything possible to end the U.S. monetary monopoly. Rickards is an advisor on international economics to the U.S. Department of Defense.

Nations negatively affected by American financial policies are unable to challenge U.S. military dominance. However, in our modern electronic age, there are other methods for challenging American policies—including cyber-attacks and currency wars! The purpose of a financial war is to disrupt trading, destroy wealth and degrade an adversary's capability and gain geopolitical advantage. Cyber-attacks on financial markets, simulating a sell-off of stocks and bonds, can lead to a financial panic that can wipe out huge amounts of wealth overnight or in a matter of days. Observers acknowledge, "a well-orchestrated cyberfinancial attack could be as disruptive as any traditional military assault" (Currency Wars, Rickards, p. 47). Accidental or malicious activities that undermine confidence in the dollar—the key currency in world trade—could lead to the collapse of the international system and spawn widespread social and political unrest. Rickards states elsewhere, "Perhaps the most likely outcome of currency wars and the debasement of the dollar is a chaotic, catastrophic loss of investor confidence" and the implementation of emergency measures by governments to maintain some sort of monetary system (ibid., p. 247). This same author notes, "The path of the US dollar is unsustainable… this leaves chaos as a strong possibility" (ibid., p. 255). He also writes that we are watching "the dollar's final days and the resultant collapse of the international monetary system… the next financial collapse will be unprecedented in scope… [and] resemble nothing in history" (The Death of Money, pp. 6, 12–13).

Ancient Prophecies

What many fail to grasp today is that long ago, God promised Abraham and his Israelite descendants that if they obeyed His laws, they would be blessed (Genesis 12:1–3; Deuteronomy 28:1–13). However, God warned the Israelites that if they disobeyed His laws, He would "break the pride of their power"—including their monetary power—and their enemies would gain dominance over them (Leviticus 26:14–20). God further warned the Israelites that if they rejected Him and turned from His ways, aliens would rise up in their midst and the Israelite nations would lose power and influence and become debtors to other nations (Deuteronomy 28:43–45). The prophet Isaiah warned the Israelites that because they refused to obey His laws, He would remove the protective "hedge" that He placed around them due to the obedience of their forefather Abraham (Isaiah 5:5). Isaiah also prophesied that the Israelite nations would become like Sodom and Gomorrah (promoting homosexuality, same-sex marriage and other sensual pleasures—see Genesis 19:5–7; Ezekiel 16:49–50) and that God would remove the supports of their society (including their economic foundation—Isaiah 1:1–10; 3:1–5). The prophet Micah predicted the time would come when sinful Israelites would attempt to save their money, but those attempts would come to nothing and their wealth would be given to those who conquer them (Micah 6:14).

Ezekiel was commissioned to warn the Israelite nations (Ezekiel 2:3; 3:4, 16-17) that because of their disobedience to God's laws, they would experience "disaster upon disaster" and that their money would become worthless and they would toss it into the streets like trash (Ezekiel 7:19, 26). Jeremiah prophesied that plunderers will come "suddenly" on sinful Israelite nations because they have forsaken God's laws, which would result in unprecedented catastrophe (Jeremiah 6:26; 9:13–19; 19:3–4). In modern 21st century terms, the "sword" and "plunderer" that Jeremiah warned that God will send against sinful Israelite nations could include cyber-attacks and currency wars—that could lead to disruption, oppression and even armed conflicts.

 All these prophecies are coming alive in the news today! The pride of America's economic power is evaporating as confidence in the dollar declines and trust in America's ability to lead and be a model for the world is lost. Due to undisciplined borrowing, America has become a debtor to other nations—including competitors and potential enemies. American monetary policies to weaken the dollar are threatening the wealth of other nations holding dollars, and fomenting resentment against American financial dominance in the international sphere. This is feeding a growing movement to undermine and replace the dollar with an alternative currency. Financial analysts are predicting that the demise of the dollar could bring down the international monetary system and plunge the world into financial and social chaos.

From a prophetic standpoint, it has also been noted that "the euro waits in the wings, one more threat to the hegemony of the dollar," and Mario Draghi, the president of the European Central Bank (located in Frankfurt, Germany) has stated, "the ECB is ready to do whatever is necessary to preserve the euro" (The Death of Money, p. 112). The prophet Hosea indicated long ago that financially troubled Israelite nations would look to the Assyrian (Germany) for help as we approach the end of the age (Hosea 5:13). It is sobering to see these ancient prophecies coming alive at the same time America and other so-called Christian nations are turning away from God and their unique biblical heritage. They are viewed by their antagonists as modern examples of Sodom and Gomorrah—heading for destruction. To learn what will happen to these nations and the world around as the end of this age approaches, read our informative booklet, Armageddon and Beyond.