[The text below represents an edited transcript of this Tomorrow’s World program.]
A Turbulent Future
What can you expect to happen in the year ahead? Will 2023 be better than last year? Or will it be another disappointing year with troubles on every side?
At the beginning of each year, one of us here at Tomorrow’s World, gives trends to look for in the coming year and beyond. Our predictions are not based on crystal balls, palm readings, or astrological signs—and forget Nostradamus. Our predictions come from prophecies found in the Bible. History has proven that Bible prophecy IS accurate. The Bible does not always give the exact timing of an event, but it gives us a framework of history in advance with remarkable details.
On today’s program I’ll briefly review whether our predictions for 2021 and 2022 were accurate; and then give you trends to expect in 2023 and beyond. So, if you want to know what’s ahead for your near future, stay tuned. I’ll be back in five seconds.
Reviewing Prophetic Trends from 2021
A warm welcome to all of you from all of us here at Tomorrow’s World, where we bring you good news of the coming Kingdom of God, reveal end-time prophecies, and explain the clear teachings of Jesus Christ.
Is it possible to know the future? And, if so, where should we look? Should we look to astrological signs in the sun, moon, and stars? Should we visit that small house on the edge of town where a psychic has set up? Should we try to decipher the writings of Nostradamus, Edgar Casey, Jeane Dixon, or other well-known psychics and astrologers?
We here at Tomorrow’s World look to the Bible. None of us are prophets, but we can read clear statements from the prophets and point you to what they wrote. But it’s reasonable for you to want to know how accurately we’ve understood their writings.
Here is the trend I said to watch for in 2021:
Before the break I told you that I would read from the Bible what God says is in your future. Today we reviewed predictions and trends proclaimed by Tomorrow’s World the last two years. Then I said I would give you a single trend to watch in 2021 and the immediate years following. We cannot know the exact timing, but the trend is certain:
[Trend]: There will be disaster upon disaster for America and the British descended peoples
Notice how the prophet Ezekiel describes what is ahead for the Anglosphere:
Destruction comes; they will seek peace, but there shall be none. Disaster will come upon disaster, and rumor will be upon rumor. Then they will seek a vision from a prophet; but the law will perish from the priest, and counsel from the elders. “The king will mourn, the prince will be clothed with desolation, and the hands of the common people will tremble. I will do to them according to their way, and according to what they deserve I will judge them; then they shall know that I am the LORD!” (Ezekiel 7:25–27).
How accurate was that single prediction of disaster coming upon disaster? A year later, I reviewed the major news of 2021, and as I mentioned at the time, in my more than 74 years of life, I couldn’t remember another year where there were so many stunning disasters stacked one upon another. But in case you forgot, let me briefly remind you of only a few that I recounted in that program:
The consequences of the war on fossil fuels
The historic winter storms that slammed Texas and the Central Plains states
The crisis at America’s southern border
The Delta variant and continuing COVID-19 pandemic
More died in 2021 than in the previous year.
The humiliating manner in which America left Afghanistan
The breakdown in the supply chain
Inflation
Worker shortages, and more…
The list was hardly exhaustive. There were many more MAJOR devastating events! 2021 truly was an extraordinary year of disaster upon disaster!
But what about our predictions for 2022? Let’s briefly look at those three predictions and see if they were on target.
- When you think it cannot get any worse, it will!
- Disaster upon disaster would continue
- Rumor would be upon rumor
The last two are found in Ezekiel 7:25:
Destruction comes; they will seek peace, but there shall be none. Disaster will come upon disaster, and rumor will be upon rumor (Ezekiel 7:25–26).
Is that what we saw? Has there ever been a time when rumors were more prevalent and widespread than what we see in social media? Rumors have always abounded, but the Internet has put them on steroids.
But what about disaster upon disaster? Did historic disasters occur in 2022? And when we thought it couldn’t get any worse, did it.
Continuing Prophetic Trends from 2022
Note this headline from the BBC:
Permacrisis declared Collins Dictionary word of the year
The article then explained:
Permacrisis - a word describing the feeling of living through a period of war, inflation, and political instability - has been chosen as Collins Dictionary’s word of the year.
It “sums up just how truly awful 2022 has been for so many people”, said Alex Beecroft, head of Collins Learning (November 1, 2022).
High fuel prices and inflation plagued our world in 2022. The national average price for gasoline in the United States in October 2020 was $2.16 per gallon. This rose to $3.29 a year later. But prices went through the roof in 2022, rising to a never-before-seen crushing high of $4.93 in June. Prices moderated in July through September, but started rising again in October to a national average of $3.82—a price still well above any month the previous year. So yes, when we thought it couldn’t get any worse, 2022 proved us wrong, as the cost of virtually everything went up as a result (U.S. Regular All Formulations Retail Gasoline Prices (Dollars per Gallon) EIA.org, November 7, 2022).
Now, most countries would love to have what they view as America’s bargain prices. Inflation, high fuel prices, and empty shelves plagued the world—and all of it intensified by the black swan event of the year—Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. That man-made disaster made everything worse.
More than half of the eurozone countries recorded double-digit inflation rates in October, including Germany (11.6 per cent), Belgium (13.1 per cent) and the Netherlands (16.8 per cent). France showed the lowest rate, at 7.1 per cent (Record inflation: Which countries in Europe are being worst hit as energy and food prices soar?” Euronews.com, November 1, 2022).
Then there is this sobering report from Canada:
A Yahoo/Maru Public Opinion poll The poll also found that 53 per cent of respondents say they are “worried” because inflation is causing serious money issues for them, while 13 per cent say they are ‘genuinely panicked’ due to the drastic lifestyle changes they are having to make to deal with rising prices (“Inflation in Canada slows for third month in a row, rising 6.9% annually,” News.Yahoo.com, October 19, 2022).
But it gets worse. Prior to the war, Ukraine and Russia were the world’s number one and number two grain exporters. Countries, principally in Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East, rely on grain and cooking oil from these two warring countries. The effects of the war on the food chain have been seriously compromised. CNN reported on July 16, 2022:
Across Ukraine, in the shimmering heat, one sight is becoming familiar this summer: Combine harvesters sweeping across fields of grain in a race against fast-spreading fires.
The conflict’s front lines straddle some of Ukraine’s richest farmland. Whether caused by accident or intention, the fires darkening the summer sky are eating into a harvest that was always going to be tough to collect and even tougher to export….
But nearly half the land is now too dangerous to cultivate….
Again from CNN, this time on July 23, 2022:
Earlier this month, Ukraine’s grain traders’ union said it expected a grain and oilseed harvest of 69.4 million tons… far below the 106 million tons harvested last year (“Kyiv and Moscow agree deal to resume Ukraine grain exports from Black Sea ports,” CNN.com).
Then there are the effects of war on fertilizer, which also impacts the food chain. According to CNBC:
In 2021, Russia was the world’s top exporter of nitrogen fertilizers and the second-largest supplier of both potassic and phosphorous fertilizers….
Trade between Russia and the rest of the world has not stopped, but has been severely disrupted as importers and vessel charterers steer clear of the country in light of the invasion of Ukraine, CRU Head of Fertilizers Chris Lawson said on Tuesday.
Russia, which accounts for around 14% of global fertilizer exports, has temporarily suspended outgoing trade, which is expected to have a strong ripple effect across global food markets.
Is mass starvation in our future.
No Course Corrections for 2022 and Beyond
When we think of 2022, another disaster that only got worse was the weather. As of November 10:
According to the United States Drought Monitor, 47 percent of the land area of the contiguous 48 states is experiencing various degrees of drought, nearly all of it in the High Plains or from the Rocky Mountains westward. Drought affects the entirety of nine states, including California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Oregon and North and South Dakota (“Western Drought Will Last Into Fall or Longer,” NYTimes.com, August 19, 2021).
Major reservoirs such as Lake Meade and Lake Powell are at record lows, threatening agriculture and electric power generation.
Further east:
Water levels on the Mississippi River normally decline in the fall and winter, but not by nearly as much as they did in October 2022. Drought and Barge Backups on the Mississippi (“Drought and Barge Backups on the Mississippi,” EarthObservatory.NASA.gov, October 21, 2022).
The Mississippi river is critical to moving agricultural and construction supplies to the Gulf of Mexico for export, but as Fox News explained:
Critical ship and barge traffic for the agriculture industry has been disrupted.
The river moves more than half of all U.S. grain exports, but industry estimates cited by the federal government show the drought has reduced the flow of goods by about 45%.
Barges have been stuck there, according to the U.S. Coast Guard, and ships have been advised to lighten their loads (“Mississippi River water levels plummet due to drought, exposing shipwreck,” FoxNews.com, November 3, 2022).
But it’s not in America alone. Note this further report from The Verge:
In August, officials noted that Europe was likely in the thick of its worst drought in 500 years. The same month, Southern China officially entered its longest drought in 60 years of record keeping. Perennially parched California has just had its three driest years on record (“Climate change made drought 20 times worse this year, and there’s no relief in sight,” TheVerge.com, October 6, 2022).
Anyone who thought it couldn’t get any worse than 2021, was sadly mistaken. How could a geopolitical blunder be worse than the disastrous manner in which the United States pulled out of Afghanistan? But that event likely played into the more disruptive invasion of Ukraine by Russia. Vladimir Putin’s miscalculation has now turned to threats of the unthinkable, and many informed people realize this is a war Putin cannot afford to lose:
“The whole world should be praying for Russia’s victory, because there are only two ways this can end: either Russia wins, or a nuclear apocalypse,” nationalist Russian tycoon Konstantin Malofeyev tells the Financial Times. “If we don’t win, we will have to use nuclear weapons, because we can’t lose,” he added. “Does anyone really think Russia will accept defeat and not use its nuclear arsenal?” (“Is Vladimir Putin’s ‘partial’ Ukraine War mobilization a step too far for Russians?” TheWeek.com, September 23, 2022).
Not all Western analysts agree with that assessment, but some do. Here’s a similar view from Robert Baer, a former CIA case officer who spoke to CNN regarding Putin’s options:
“I think the chances of his de-escalating are close to zero … [he] simply cannot give up so much ground and be seen to be losing and continue as leader of Russia…. The chances of his using nuclear weapons — at least tactical nuclear weapons — is going up by the day,” Baer added. (“Ex-CIA officer says Putin is ‘completely cornered’ and the chances of his using tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine are increasing ‘by the day’,” BusinessInsider.com, September 27, 2022)
But is this how the world will end? Not according to Bible prophecy. The Bible tells us more must first happen. While many view China and Russia as the greatest threats in the 21st Century, Bible prophecy indicates otherwise.
While there is much bad news in our immediate future, the late Dr. Roderick C. Meredith explains in the forward to Prophecy Fulfilled: God’s Hand in World Affairs that there is good news ahead:
Humanity today is facing staggering crises of war, disease, pollution, drought and famine. Where will it all lead? Bible prophecy reveals that God is working through current events to bring about a future time when the whole world will be at peace. If you understand what God is doing now, and what He has planned for His creation, you can have hope—even in times of trouble!
More Troubles Ahead, and Increased Pressure on Europe to Unite
COVID and the effects of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have destabilized the world, especially Europe, and it is in times of crisis that strong leaders come to the fore. High inflation and unemployment in the early 1930s brought Adolf Hitler to power and we all know how that turned out. So, does the Bible have anything to say about the future of Europe?
The prophet Daniel interpreted an unusual dream that King Nebuchadnezzar had, explaining that the king saw an image of a man that represented four great empires, beginning with his own Chaldean empire. History shows that the next three were the Medo-Persian, the Greco-Macedonian, and the Roman Empires. Other scriptures describe these same four empires as wild beasts and the last one, the Roman Empire, would continue in one revival after another until the end of the age when God would intervene. The end of this Roman system is described in Daniel 2, beginning in verse 41:
Whereas you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter's clay and partly of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; yet the strength of the iron shall be in it, just as you saw the iron mixed with ceramic clay. And as the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly fragile. As you saw iron mixed with ceramic clay, they will mingle with the seed of men; but they will not adhere to one another, just as iron does not mix with clay. And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed….
Could there be any better description of Europe today? The dream of a United States of Europe, despite a continuing effort to bring such about, has never fully materialized. These nations do not mix any more than iron and clay. Yet, the prophecy indicates that ten nations or leaders will come together for a short time. Revelation 17 speaks of this final empire as a ten horned beast—the ten horns matching the ten toes of Nebuchadnezzar’s image.
The ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have received no kingdom as yet, but they receive authority for one hour [meaning a short time] as kings with the beast. These are of one mind, and they will give their power and authority to the beast. (Revelation 17:12–13)
These nations do not naturally adhere to one another, but Bible prophecy shows that ten kings—that is kings of nations or leaders of nations—will give their power over to a strong leader. Both the leader, and the combine of European nations, are referred to as the Beast. But what is the glue that will hold them together? Bible prophecy tells us there is a second beast that masquerades as Christ, but is of the Devil.
Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon. And he exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence, and causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed (Revelation 13:11–12).
We cannot know the exact timing, but the stage is even now being set by more than one crisis gripping Europe. Will these two beasts (one secular, the other religious) manifest themselves in 2023, or 2024, or will it be later? We cannot know, but watch for these trends going forward:
Trend #1: The crisis in Europe will continue until a strongman arises to bring ten kings together.
And just as there were two legs and feet in Nebuchadnezzar’s image, so there will be two legs in this combine of nations. So,
Trend #2: Watch for a geopolitical realignment in the next few years between eastern and western Europe.
Even though we cannot know the exact timing, the stage for these biblical prophecies is being set. But also, let’s not forget what is happening in the Middle East. Jerusalem is at the center of many Bible prophecies. So,
Trend #3: Expect greater tension in the Middle East between Israel and her neighbors.
But what about where most of you live who are watching this telecast?
Expect:
Trend #4: More chaos, confusion, division, and disasters (manmade and natural) for America and the British-descended peoples.
Yes, when you think it can’t get any worse, 2023 may once again prove that notion wrong. The United States, Britain, Australia, Canada, and other British-descended peoples are on a downward spiral, and unless we turn back to God—and we see no evidence of that—no elected leader will save us. We will have ups and downs, but the trend will continue down.
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