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Now why will the Christians, who have been walking in faithful obedience to the Lord, prosper while the rest of the world will be in decline? And how can this happen?
Well, I believe it has to do with times and seasons; and with a precedent set in the scriptures. I believe God is about to make a distinction between His people and the people of the world. You know that God has made a promise to provide us with our daily bread; and that promise stands no matter what is going on in this world's economy. Even if the world's economy fails, God still is obligated to fulfill his Word. And he does not depend upon the currency markets to see whether or not he can keep his promises. He doesn't say, "Uh-oh, the dollar is down this week; I can't keep my Word to my people in America this week; I'll have to wait till there is an upturn in the market." Even if the dollar collapses, God will feed his people with Manna in the desert if he has to.
God makes a distinction between his people and the world.
Back in Exodus, there was a time when God made a distinction between his people and the people of the world. He wanted to show there was a difference between the people walking in covenant with him and with Pharaoh's people. The turning point came in Exodus 8:22, when God said, "from this point on I am going to make a distinction between my people and the people of the world. From this point on, the plagues are only going to fall on the people of the world but not on the children of Israel." In Revelation, 18: 4, God says again, "Come out of her my people, that you may not share in her sins, that you may not share in her plagues." In that book, God is getting ready to judge this world's economic and religious system for its evil corruption and adultery. God judged Egypt's religion and political system by the plagues, he stripped them of wealth by the Hebrews, and he judged them militarily by the waters of the sea.
I believe we have again reached such a time as that. The Church and Israel are under intense persecution by the media, by governments, and by popular opinion. At the very hour in which men are joining together to build a one world government, a new world order, intense persecution against the Body of Christ is arising all across the world. As secular minds seek to build an interdependent economy with one world currency and an interdependent government with a global police force, it is interesting to chart a parallel decline in personal and corporate moral standards. We can easily plot the decay of our culture by the murders in the city streets, the rise in child abuse, and exploitation of women, sex, and violence by the entertainment industry. And we are witnessing a decline in the standard of living and a faltering economy.
The last time human beings tried to build a one world government was in Genesis 11, and it was called a tower of Babel (or gateway to heaven). That system was the first empire. It was a one world government, where men joined together to build a tower that would reach into heaven, so that they could gain eternal life, not through a relationship with God, built upon righteous conduct and repentance, but upon their own efforts. It was a secular attempt to attain security through each other, but without God at the center. A unified government and currency was the human substitute for a dependence upon God. And that effort was severely judged. In spite of the rosy picture presented by the hope of freedom from war and economic unity, that system then was also built on immorality. People used and oppressed others to gain wealth and power. And God judged it as much for that as for any other reason. If Communism had succeeded in conquering the whole world, you would have a good idea of Babel's moral character. So God judged it.
I believe, God is about to do so again today. We are trying to build that same type of system, devoid of moral character but full of outward peace; without Christ at the center. It is man's system again trying to find security in one another and not in God. It is interesting to note that when God judged an earlier world system; Pharaoh's military and economic might; God sent his people out from under the bondage of it with wealth and material prosperity. God reversed the circumstances of slavery and caused them to leave Egypt wealthy: it says in Exodus 12: 35-36, that before leaving the Hebrews asked the Egyptians for gold, silver and jewels, and the Egyptians were so anxious to have them leave that they gave the Hebrews everything they asked for; and so they stripped the Egyptians of their gold and silver. God provided for the Jews a recompense for their years of captivity and slavery. And he bankrupted the Egyptian's world system at the very same time! I believe God is about to do the same for His Church. That does not mean for the outward organization, or the corrupt institutions and counterfeits, but I believe this same season of reversal is about to take place for his believing, obedient servants. And like I said, this year may be the beginning; and it may be sudden or gradual.