I have a different take on this. Satan has tried to set up his vision of a one-world kingdom before. The last time was WW2 through Hitler, whom the elite of the elites in America and England secretly supported, but it was not the time.
A lot of Christians think these are the final days before the return of Jesus according to their interpretation of Revelation. Others think it is a trial run to get the kinks worked out. I don't believe either of those things. I think it is a real attempt, long planned in secret, but that it is still not the time. God will thwart it again, as it appears He is actively doing. It does look like harvest time, though. Evil people and good people are being separated so there is no more gray area where lifestyles and sentiments blend––blind hatred vs purposeful love, selfishness vs meaningful sacrifice, clinging to lies vs loving the truth, etc. What will come of that we have yet to see, but it is indisputable that a global awakening is happening in which people (for whom there is still hope) are being rescued from the indoctrination that enslaved them and kept them blind to the exit. The lights are definitely coming on in a way they never have before.
I believe that compliance to the evil system will be entirely voluntary when the end finally comes, even if it comes with the same kinds of pressures we see today, like not being able to participate in the economy if you are not on the devil's side (same playbook from Hitler's Germany, the medieval papacy, European colonial empires, etc.). I believe it absolutely must be voluntary because God would be unjust to condemn people who were held down and forced against their will to receive a mark their bodies that identifies them with Satan.
From all that I have observed, I believe that short time of darkness is still generations away, and that in the meantime, humanity will get a taste of the goodness of God. They will see the difference between life under the devil's rule and life under God's rule (through leaders of good conscience who cannot be bribed or coerced). Then they will have a real choice, having not been raised under a saturating matrix of lies from birth to know nothing else. The people in that generation who still choose the devil because they are tired of just laws and the promotion of goodness will have no excuse, and when they make war on God's people (which is making war on Him), He will make war on them, and their fate will be just.
If this were truly the end spoken of in Revelation, God would not be actively opposing the devil's plans. The Bible states very clearly that the Lawless One will not come until all restraint is taken out of the way, and the way is still blocked. Until that condition has been met, you cannot say it is the time of the final antichrist, mark of the beast, etc.
(Note "anti" in the original Greek means "in place of" not "opposed to," so the antichrist would appear as a savior who eliminates the need for Jesus. Also, Jesus said they would be saying "peace and safety" right before the end, implying they were enjoying those things, so this is also a condition that must be met before His return.)
I have a different take on this. Satan has tried to set up his vision of a one-world kingdom before. The last time was WW2 through Hitler, whom the elite of the elites in America and England secretly supported, but it was not the time.
A lot of Christians think these are the final days before the return of Jesus according to their interpretation of Revelation. Others think it is a trial run to get the kinks worked out. I don't believe either of those things. I think it is a real attempt, long planned in secret, but that it is still not the time. God will thwart it again, as it appears He is actively doing. It does look like harvest time, though. Evil people and good people are being separated so there is no more gray area where lifestyles and sentiments blend––blind hatred vs purposeful love, selfishness vs meaningful sacrifice, clinging to lies vs loving the truth, etc. What will come of that we have yet to see, but it is indisputable that a global awakening is happening in which people (for whom there is still hope) are being rescued from the indoctrination that enslaved them and kept them blind to the exit. The lights are definitely coming on in a way they never have before.
I believe that compliance to the evil system will be entirely voluntary when the end finally comes, even if it comes with the same kinds of pressures we see today, like not being able to participate in the economy if you are not on the devil's side (same playbook from Hitler's Germany, the medieval papacy, European colonial empires, etc.). I believe it absolutely must be voluntary because God would be unjust to condemn people who were held down and forced against their will to receive a mark their bodies that identifies them with Satan.
From all that I have observed, I believe that short time of darkness is still generations away, and that in the meantime, humanity will get a taste of the goodness of God. They will see the difference between life under the devil's rule and life under God's rule (through leaders of good conscience who cannot be bribed or coerced). Then they will have a real choice, having not been raised under a saturating matrix of lies from birth to know nothing else. The people in that generation who still choose the devil because they are tired of just laws and the promotion of goodness will have no excuse, and when they make war on God's people (which is making war on Him), He will make war on them, and their fate will be just.
If this were truly the end spoken of in Revelation, God would not be actively opposing the devil's plans. The Bible states very clearly that the Lawless One will not come until all restraint is taken out of the way, and the way is still blocked. Until that condition has been met, you cannot say it is the time of the final antichrist, mark of the beast, etc.
(Note "anti" in the original Greek means "in place of" not "opposed to," so the antichrist would appear as a savior who eliminates the need for Jesus. Also, Jesus said they would be saying "peace and safety" right before the end, implying they were enjoying those things, so this is also a condition that must be met before His return.)