For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.

Matthew 24:7

What do we observe in the world today? That is the purpose of this series of posts – to observe what is happening around us to see if prophetic signs are present. If they are, then we should be all the more motivated to consider the claims of Jesus Christ who made these predictions documented in the Bible thousands of years ago. Of all the signs are indeed present, then time is very short.

Why would the Lord make a distinction between nations and kingdoms in this part of the prophecy? I believe there is a difference so I’ll use two posts to cover both aspects of this part of the prophecy.

Nation Against Nation

For this particular birth pang sign, the word translated “nation” is the Greek word “ethnos” from which we get our word “ethnic”. Therefore, this sign refers to ethnic groups uprising against each other, added to the mix of global “unrest” and war.

I did already cover civil unrest under the wars prophecy in the last post. There are different types of unrest and the forces of evil are using them all to great effectiveness. The unrest in our city streets is organized, well funded, and incited. Its not the same as nations against nations – its generalized mayhem to undermine and destabilize society. Make no mistake, there is malevolent spiritual power behind it all and Christians forget that sometimes.

Nation rising against nation (ethnic groups) is a category of enmity rooted in bigotry, prejudice, and racism – a disdain one group of people has against another because of differences in culture or appearance. The contempt for an entire group of humans over ethnicity or skin color becomes fanned into hatred by the same malevolent spiritual forces, leading to violence in ever increasing measure. Hatred feeds on itself, becoming stronger justifying ever more injustice and violence. That is the goal of these dark forces, and that is exactly what’s happening.

What is it about today’s culture that has “turned up the heat” on uprisings? Such things have always existed throughout history to some degree but what makes it different this time? This time uprisings are global and accelerating, exactly as we would expect to qualify as a prophetic sign. The engine powering global acceleration of uprisings is propaganda used to brainwash and instigate the masses through social media.

Propaganda

Why do people hate complete groups of other people? It is spiritual! It is demonically energized propaganda fed into the minds of people who have no mental, psychological, or spiritual defenses. It is the reprobate thinking described in Romans 1.

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of people who suppress the truth by their unrighteousness.

Romans 1:18

Reprobate minds of ungodly, unrighteous people are incapable of critical thought so there is no testing of ideas relative to observations and analysis. Emotion is placed ahead of analytical thought and truth testing. Propaganda triggers strong emotion which solidifies the ideas in susceptible minds. Every idea considered important by those behind the propaganda is driven by emotion.

What is propaganda? How can we recognize it? I would define propaganda as a constant barrage of a set of ideas represented as truth, regardless of objective data to the contrary, pushed through authoritative information sources providing consistent, coordinated, and pervasive messaging. The messaging in propaganda is usually highly emotional, very simple, and conveyed by people in positions of authority as truth. Behind the messaging is a doctrine, a world view. It is a particular world view constantly hammered into people’s minds until they accept it as true. The key characteristic of propaganda in this definition is that it ignores objective data to the contrary. Opposing views are suppressed; debate is not tolerated.

Propaganda is a highly effective tool to control the masses in order to achieve a purpose. Evil, well funded human agents are controlled by spiritual forces of darkness to brainwash the masses through propaganda. What people come to believe as true today often has no basis in facts but is falsified and weaponized. It excludes critical thought and ignores analysis of objective data. Sometimes even data itself that is clearly against the approved narrative is manipulated so that it supports the narrative.

Brainwashing

Brainwashing is the effect of propaganda. It is the acceptance of ideas as truth by the masses, regardless of factual information that may prove otherwise. Brainwashing eliminates reason, critical thought, and analysis.

Brainwashing convinces masses of people that others who disagree with them are a threat to democracy, society, or even their peace and safety. That is part of the brainwashing process. Add to that the demonic energy behind brainwashing and all the elements are present to enable uprisings and violence between people groups.

There are no moral boundaries in the demonically brainwashed and controlled minds that use these techniques to set people against each other. Christians must understand this, otherwise we come under the powerful deceptions of the culture. We must understand the enemy and the weapons we have been given (Ephesians 6:10-20). The enemy is spiritual and spiritual battles require spiritual weapons. We must also understand that unbelievers are not spiritually alive – unsaved people have literally no defense against these entities except our prayers on their behalf. Our battle is not with those who are under powerful delusions fed by propaganda and brainwashing. We must stay focused on what the scriptures teach.

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens.

Ephesians 6:12

The strategy of the enemy is to divide people based on differences that become blown out of proportion to the point where they cause polarization in society – large groups of people choosing sides and inventing reasons to hate the other side. As cultures become polarized, the groups become larger acquiring real power.

How does society become brainwashed and polarized so quickly? There have always been differences between people but what has happened in the last 25 years that has supercharged this polarization and hatred?

The Accelerant

Why are people groups turning into brainwashed, crazed mobs breathing out murderous threats against other people groups often for no other reason than someone says something with no basis in facts that “goes viral”. This dynamic in culture has not been experienced before. Its something new to the mix that causes bad assumptions and uniformed statements to become ideas that are then instantly disseminated and accepted as truth by large numbers of people, regardless of the facts.

When I was growing up, all we had was radio, TV, newspapers and magazines. The fastest dissemination of information was radio. The evening news was only 30 minutes and offered hard news with some analysis and some opinionated commentary. Magazines offered more research and analysis. The information dissemination was much slower. Critical thought was taught through the hard sciences, debate, and mathematics. Everything was much slower and thoughtfully processed. There were natural, protective barriers to outside information and influence: parents, grandparents, church, faith, traditions.

What has changed in the last 25 years to so easily brainwash large numbers of people? Internet, smart phones, and social media. These technologies provide instant access to people’s minds and are powered by highly manipulative Artificial Intelligence engines driving messaging that bypasses natural, God given, protective barriers.

Social media does more harm than good and is the accelerant powering the uprisings of people groups against each other as well as general mayhem and chaos we see in our cities. Without social media, I don’t think this birth pang would be possible. But here we are: a highly polarized society, with our differences magnified and weaponized against us, fanning hatred into flames by unthinking, brainwashed, emotionally driven social media mobs.

If you look around the world, there can be no other conclusion about the existence of this sign. This sign – nation will rise up against nation – is true in increasing and accelerating measure.