Adapted from an article by Wallace B. Henley, Exclusive Columnist of Christian Post

Jesus, in His Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24) pulled back the veil and gave us a glimpse of the state of the world prior to His second coming. “The coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah,” says Jesus (Matthew 24:37). The core characteristic of Noah’s day was that of a time when there is no “king”— no legitimate, respected, authority — and every person did “what is right” in his or her “own eyes” (Genesis 21:25).

Randomness nurtures paranoia and desperation. The randomness of evil characterizes prophesied “end-times.” Hardly anything reveals that in our own day as do sudden mass shootings and their frightfully random locales and motives.

But there is another lifting of the veil in our age, revealing the styles of attempted governance in such an unstable time. Christ’s Revelation visions given to the apostle John and distributed through him to the churches in all eras are full of signs that are unfolding in our time. The big one was the reestablishment of Israel as a nation in May 1948 with the Hebrew language.

Another example, Saint John has a vision of a beast rising out of rough, heaving seas, symbolizing restless, turbulent nations. The storms of evil and tragedy are so great that a man of intrigue emerges, who promises peace and tranquility and is eventually worshipped and received as a savior (hence, anti-Christ).

The coming Satan Conference in Boston will be the largest ever put on by The Satanic Temple. It is already sold out. Surely, an indication of how godless the USA has become.

Recent events in the USA provide a peek at the world to come and its desperate efforts to resist chaos. A glimpse behind the “curtain” of our day on history’s stage shows that regimes to come might either be police states or cyber-surveillance states, or a mixture of the two.

For one thing, leaders in cities and states where individuals and groups pushed for the defunding and reduction of police departments are now regretting their decisions because of intensifying anarchy.

This is exactly what has happened recently in Los Angeles. The newly installed mayor, Karen Bass, wants to add 1,000 officers to the police force and has come under criticism from progressives who supported her in the mayoral election.

New York is adding more than $60 million to hire more officers to police the city’s subway system, staggering under random assaults.

Rather than constituent complaints about turning such metropolises into police states, there is widespread public support.

Back to the apocalyptic element: How could an “Antichrist” gain control of governance? The answer: By promising to end the chaos. People living amidst random disorder will be driven by desperation that will compel them to support anyone whom they think will bring order. This is how tyrants gain control across history.

We are also seeing now how nations can become cyber-surveillance states. This is a society where artificial intelligence and other cyber functions can be used to force people into compliance with the worldview and values of the governing powers, or the party line. With chips already being implanted in hands, the prophesied Mark of the Beast is an obvious next step for ultimate control.

China is giving the world a glimpse of this phenomenon presently through its social credits score program. As one observer put it, “The state uses vast quantities of data and cutting-edge artificial intelligence to build a nimbler form of authoritarianism capable of exercising unprecedented social control … The ultimate goal is a perfectly engineered society that automatically neutralizes dissidents while rewarding those who comply with lives of convenience, safety, and predictability.”

When the mayor of one of America’s largest cities becomes desperate enough to call for the hiring of 1,000 police officers despite an earlier determination to defund the police department, and when China, a huge nation, plans to use artificial intelligence to track its citizens’ allegiance to the nation’s dominating political party and its philosophies, worldview, and values, it’s time for the church to take a fresh Holy Spirit inspired look at the many end times scriptures that God has given us so that we would not be surprised when these events unfold. The Bible reveals the only way this world will have peace is when Jesus is ruling and reigning with the Saints in His coming Millennial Kingdom.

The purpose of the thousand-year reign is to allow for the fulfillment of the promises God made with Jesus, Israel, the Saints, and the Creation to vindicate His Holy name.

“Thus says the Lord God: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you came. And I will vindicate the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them. And the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Lord God, when through you I vindicate my holiness before their eyes.“ Ezekiel 36:22-24