by BY MARK HITCHCOCK
AI, China’s impact on global events, upcoming elections, major developments in Israel, and many more events are shaping the world in 2024. I would like to provide a brief overview of what I consider “six mega-trends” for the upcoming year, which carry important prophetic significance.
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#1 — Artificial Intelligence
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The first prophetic mega-trend that I see is AI. Artificial intelligence has really come on the scene in a dramatic way over the last year, but it’s going to continue to accelerate into a mushroom as we go into 2024.
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All the things that come from AI will be tools that will be used by the Antichrist. It’s clear that he’ll come and exploit this kind of technology in his domination of the world; therefore, it’s important to keep up to date on what is happening in the development of AI.
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#2 — China’s Impact On Global Events
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China, I believe, will be the leader of the kings of the East, mentioned in Revelation 16, that will be part of the campaign of Armageddon.
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Just in the last few days, the country has been talking about the reunification of China, which means taking Taiwan and making it part of the communist regime.
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Many people believe that China right now is sensing US weakness. They look ahead to next November, when someone else could be elected into office, and believe that China is going to seize the opportunity between now and the elections to attack Taiwan. This is something that we have to keep our eyes on.
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The elections this coming year are a huge issue that will determine, in many ways, our country’s future. China could very well act this year, maybe early in the year, because they’re sensing US weakness and take Taiwan, just as Russia has invaded Ukraine.
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#3 — Digital Currencies
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Another prophetic mega-trend is digital currencies, which are paving the way to the one-world economy of the Antichrist.
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#4 — Narratives Surrounding Climate Change
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Another point that we often overlook is climate change. Climate change is being grossly over-exaggerated to exert greater control over people’s lives. Just last month, the COP28 annual UN Climate Change Conference was held in Dubai. Climate change is being whipped up constantly as an “existential crisis” for the world–and that’s simply not true.
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I recently read a book on climate change called “False Alarm.” The author actually believes in climate change and that human beings contribute to that through carbon dioxide, but says it’s massively over-exaggerated. According to the author, if America shuts down all fossil fuels today, it would only lower the temperature by a mere .3º Fahrenheit by 2100.
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What we see again is that the creation of a crisis can bring about compliance and gain control. That is what climate change is, and it’s paving the way for the global control that we will see exercised by the Antichrist.
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#5 — Russia
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The fifth prophetic mega-trend is Russia. An article this week stated that Russia’s ties with Israel are at the lowest point since the fall of the Soviet Union. Another article called it the “end of a friendship” between Israel and Russia.
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Russia has chosen to align itself with the Palestinians in this Israel-Gaza war. As a result, their relationship with Israel is at a near all-time low. This development points toward the future war described in Ezekiel 38-39.
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#6 — Israel and the Middle East
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Finally, the most important and significant mega-trend is Israel and the Middle East. This is the flashing red light.
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We are more than 90 days into the Israel-Gaza war, and recent events that are happening in Israel could cause this conflict to explode into a wider battle.
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Israel’s mission to hunt down Hamas is stoking fears of an escalation of this war. On Tuesday, Israel assassinated the person that many believed to be the number two leader of Hamas. Saleh al-Arouri was assassinated in Beirut, Lebanon, and was the linchpin of relations between Hamas, Iran, and Hezbollah.
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Of course, this has been decried by Hezbollah, Iran, Lebanon, and others, but Israel has vowed to neutralize–a nice word for assassinate–the leaders of Hamas, tracking them down wherever they are, even after the war is over. Most of them can be found in Lebanon, Qatar, and Turkey.
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Last week, an Israeli airstrike in Syria killed a senior figure in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, showing Israel is also assassinating leaders from Iran as well.
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Wednesday was the fourth anniversary of the American drone attack in Iraq, ordered by President Trump, that killed the Iranian general Qassem Soleimani. Iran had scheduled a big ceremony in commemoration of Soleimani on Wednesday morning. However, on the road to the cemetery, two explosions changed their plans and killed approximately 100 people.
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Blame for this has not yet been assigned. Iran has called it a terrorist attack. Certainly, Israel could have been behind this, but it may have been Sunni Muslims attacking the Shiites in Iran; we may never know. Nevertheless, all of this is stoking fears of escalation.
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Meanwhile, Turkey has just arrested 33 People who were suspected of being Mossad agents, which is essentially Israel’s version of the CIA. Turkey believes they’ve uncovered an Israeli spy ring and are looking for 13 more individuals they insist have links to Mossad.
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Turkey has said very clearly that if Israel attacks any Hamas leaders on Turkish soil, there will be serious consequences. They have also stepped up their support for Gaza since October 7th.
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The Spark That Ignites The Fuse
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Iran is obviously a veteran enemy of Israel, but we can also now see Russia and Turkey’s relationship with Israel deteriorating. These are the three key players in the Ezekiel 38 invasion. All three of these relationships with Israel have come to an all-time low.
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This area of the world today is experiencing a series of pinprick attacks that constantly put more and more gas on the fire. Behind all of this, you have the Israel-Gaza war that shows no signs of dwindling.
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Add to that what’s happening over in the Red Sea with the Houthi rebels in Yemen, who are firing at American warships, and Iranian warships now entering the Red Sea.
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All of these different events, or the combination of them, could easily be the spark that ignites the fuse to blow up this Middle East powder keg and can so easily precipitate the war of Ezekiel 38.
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Over the last few weeks, I read a book by Dr. David Jeremiah called “The Great Disappearance.” He opens the book with these words:
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“You and I are privileged to stand on the cresting waves of prophecy, to live in a time closer to the return of Jesus Christ than any other generation in the history of the world. We sense the nearness of His return; we see the signs of the times; we know the world is reaching a climactic point of unparalleled crisis.”
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I think we all sense that. And it should lead all of us to say, Even so, come Lord Jesus.