Get Ready for the Great Reset (Part 1)

I haven’t spent a lot of time at WEF site, but what I’ve seen so far doesn’t look particularly sinister to me. They’re doing a lot of predicting of what they think is likely to happen, not what they think they’re going to make happen.

So it looks to me, so far.

But a more important question might be, why should we speculate about whether WEF or other world events might eventually fulfill parts of Revelation? What am I going to do differently, even if I could know that WEF, for example, is going to control the world economy in the future (which it definitely doesn’t right now)? I can’t think of anything I’d do differently.

… and a pet peeve, while I’m at it. :-) It’s generally assumed (not in Paul’s article, but I see this a lot) that because the Beast in Revelation is a global ruler, globalism must be evil. I’m not a huge fan of globalism for various reasons, but it doesn’t follow that if Evil Person A does B, B must be evil. (He probably brushes his teeth and wears pants, at least in the winter, and if he invents a better mousetrap, I’m buying.) So, I’m not of the let’s resist this trend or that trend because it looks like something the Antichrist might want. It’s going to have to have other problems to go on the rejected ideas list.

Must we keep doing this? We must stop reading current affairs tea leaves and then pivoting to eschatology with an obligatory pre-trib rapture mention.

Charles Dyer is Exhibit #1 about why this kind of speculation is irresponsible and always ends up being incorrect.

“You’ll own nothing” is probably the sticking point for me. Nations that have mostly eliminated private ownership have achieved an amazing and disastrous combination of results; they have both economic and environmental desolation. When the Iron Curtain fell, what was found was that the economic estimates of those countries were wildly inflated (really, anyone who ever visited could have told you that—bread lines, etc..), and their environmental disasters made most any U.S. Superfund site look like a pristine mountain lake in comparison.

Hopefully the WEF does not have much say here, because if they can’t see this very real disaster of the historical application of the policies they advocate, they’ve got either a blindness to the evidence, or they’ve got ulterior motives that have nothing to do with the environment or human happiness.

One other thing to note is that when they say “you’ll eat a lot less meat”, I’m reminded that 30 years back, environmentalists knew that certain ecosystems need to be grazed to be healthy—and it was OK to eat the ruminants that kept the prairie (etc..) in good shape. They recognized “negative feedback” that kept things in balance, and the overall goal was simply to reduce the pollutant load that had to be dispersed. Now the goal seems to have changed to be an active management of the environment, which is really the same kind of thing that 19th century industrialists did to eliminate the passenger pigeon and such.

The only thing missing in this article is mom and apple pie, with the Stars & Stripes waving in the background and a copy of the Scofield Reference Bible in the foreground.

I understand.

• Your piece is an heir to a particular dispensational pop-prophesy genre that used to be quite popular, and still is in some pockets of the evangelical world.
• Charles Dyer’s book about Saddam Hussein and Babylon, originally publish in the late 1980s and (shamelessly?) updated to coincide with the 2003 invasion of Iraq, is an excellent example of this pop-prophesy genre in action. It’s also a great example of its worst impulses.
• I obviously disagree with the Great Reset fears that have been flowing through the Reformed-ish and Religious Right-ish strand of the evangelical world since COVID hit.
• You did pivot to eschatology and the tribulation in the last paragraph, which is typical for this genre of Christian writing. Some people will find it helpful, and that’s fine. I do not.

I wonder about the point of this genre of Christian writing. It does not teach us to know God better. It does not teach us to be holier. It does not teach us about the Gospel. It does not teach us about brotherly love. This genre consists of four moves:

1. Point out how bad the world is, in some way
2. Connect dubious dots to biblical prophecy, and be sure to mention the pre-trib rapture or the tribulation (or both)
3. Mention Israel and the antichrist
4. Tell people to trust in God anyway

I do not understand this kind of impulse. It produces Christians who are more dogmatic about the pre-trib rapture than the Trinity … and more knowledgeable and passionate about the former than the latter. That’s an awful thing. My comments aren’t meant to be malicious. I just believe these kind of speculations and fear-mongering accomplish nothing of which God would approve, and I believe they’re unhealthy.

First I want to thank Paul for writing about this. I have been aware of “the Great Reset” as WEF etc are calling it for a while. Why shouldn’t it be the subject of an article?

Secondly, it is my belief that unless one is willing to stick one’s head down the rabbit hole he is going to miss what’s going on; either theoretically or actually. Just don’t stick your entire body down there! Why do I say this? Simply because it ought to surprise no one that powerful men devise plans that are usually at odds with God. Who can read the Bible and not think so? Whether these schemes will come to pass is another thing, but something is in the air. Perhaps these powerful “benefactors” believe their time has come?

What about prophecy? I don’t know, but as a premillennialist I might watch things transpire with interest. I abhor getting my eschatology from the papers, i do not think the the vaccine is the mark (that’s silly), and I know Who is in control. Still, something seems to be afoot. A couple of hairs on the back of my head won’t take their cue from the others and relax. Whether Paul will hit the nail on the head is really not the point. Let’s see what he says.

Everyone who is familiar with this genre of pop-prophecy writing knows precisely what’s coming in the next articles. So do you! The next move will likely be to tie the “Great Reset” to a sinister plot by persons that will eventually usher in the Tribulation. Scripture references will abound from Ezekiel, Daniel and Revelation, with perhaps a smidge from Mark 13 (cp. Mt 24). There will be more subtle (and perhaps not so subtle) references to American nationalism. Like an Aaron Sorkin script, it will read well but the audience can write the plot points already.

I do hope those who benefit from this kind of writing are blessed by the series. I’ve just don’t think it accomplishes anything that pleases God.

Whether the Great Reset itself is a danger is another question; one I’m perfectly willing to contemplate. It does exist. I trend towards skepticism, and view it as a technocratic pipe-dream. Here is an outstanding article from SpectatorUSA on this issue:

To find out what ‘the Great Reset’ actually means, I turned to the book written by the World Economic Forum founder and Ernst Stavro Blofeld lookalike Klaus Schwab in collaboration with the economist Thierry Malleret. COVID-19: The Great Reset considers a world after the pandemic — audacious given that it was written less than six months after the virus had even appeared.

…

One critic has called Davos an ‘ideological synchronization environment for individuals, corporations, and governments to keep on the same page.’ That is different from conspiracy — but not that different. When bad ideas are adopted internationally by some of the richest and most powerful people in the world, the effect can be the same. The Great Reset might be all the more terrifying for not being a sinister plot.

Many people will be blessed by your article series. We do come from very different paradigms. I am a very, very, very. very weak dispensationalist. I just believe prophecy writings that include speculations are generally unhelpful. It appears to be a dispensationalist affliction. Even Merrill Unger, in his Zechariah commentary, couldn’t help it … and that man was as educated as any scholar in the world.

I’ve never been enough of a reader of apocalyptic prophecy literature to recognize it on sight, but it does strike me the author does indeed link to a number of WEF articles that do seem to recommend a rather radical reset of world economies. Perhaps we ought to take a closer look at that, especially as President Biden seems to be bringing us back more firmly into the U.N. fold.

Side note; I’ve got a step-cousin who at least used to work for a U.N. agency. Did pretty well for himself.

I’ve been dealing with conspiracy theories at church, including people who said they “can understand” why a mob would storm the capitol, and I was not in the mood to hear more of what (in my opinion) is a technocratic pipe dream. It would have been better for me to not comment at all about prophesy along this line.

My apologies for such a strident tone!