This is the full version of the communique agreed by the G20 group in London today.
1. We, the Leaders of the Group of Twenty, met in London on 2 April 2009.
2. We face the greatest challenge to the world economy in modern times; a crisis which has deepened since we last met, which affects the lives of women, men, and children in every country, and which all countries must join together to resolve. A global crisis requires a global solution.
3. We start from the belief that prosperity is indivisible; that growth, to be sustained, has to be shared; and that our global plan for recovery must have at its heart the needs and jobs of hard-working families, not just in developed countries but in emerging markets and the poorest countries of the world too; and must reflect the interests, not just of today’s population, but of future generations too. We believe that the only sure foundation for sustainable globalisation and rising prosperity for all is an open world economy based on market principles, effective regulation, and strong global institutions.
4. We have today therefore pledged to do whatever is necessary to:
• restore confidence, growth, and jobs;
• repair the financial system to restore lending;
• strengthen financial regulation to rebuild trust;
• fund and reform our international financial institutions to overcome this crisis and prevent future ones;
• promote global trade and investment and reject protectionism, to underpin prosperity; and
• build an inclusive, green, and sustainable recovery.
By acting together to fulfil these pledges we will bring the world economy out of recession and prevent a crisis like this from recurring in the future.
5. The agreements we have reached today, to treble resources available to the IMF to $750 billion, to support a new SDR allocation of $250 billion, to support at least $100 billion of additional lending by the MDBs, to ensure $250 billion of support for trade finance, and to use the additional resources from agreed IMF gold sales for concessional finance for the poorest countries, constitute an additional $1.1 trillion programme of support to restore credit, growth and jobs in the world economy. Together with the measures we have each taken nationally, this constitutes a global plan for recovery on an unprecedented scale.
Restoring growth and jobs
6. We are undertaking an unprecedented and concerted fiscal expansion, which will save or create millions of jobs which would otherwise have been destroyed, and that will, by the end of next year, amount to $5 trillion, raise output by 4 per cent, and accelerate the transition to a green economy. We are committed to deliver the scale of sustained fiscal effort necessary to restore growth.
7. Our central banks have also taken exceptional action. Interest rates have been cut aggressively in most countries, and our central banks have pledged to maintain expansionary policies for as long as needed and to use the full range of monetary policy instruments, including unconventional instruments, consistent with price stability.
8. Our actions to restore growth cannot be effective until we restore domestic lending and international capital flows. We have provided significant and comprehensive support to our banking systems to provide liquidity, recapitalise financial institutions, and address decisively the problem of impaired assets. We are committed to take all necessary actions to restore the normal flow of credit through the financial system and ensure the soundness of systemically important institutions, implementing our policies in line with the agreed G20 framework for restoring lending and repairing the financial sector.
9. Taken together, these actions will constitute the largest fiscal and monetary stimulus and the most comprehensive support programme for the financial sector in modern times. Acting together strengthens the impact and the exceptional policy actions announced so far must be implemented without delay. Today, we have further agreed over $1 trillion of additional resources for the world economy through our international financial institutions and trade finance.
10. Last month the IMF estimated that world growth in real terms would resume and rise to over 2 percent by the end of 2010. We are confident that the actions we have agreed today, and our unshakeable commitment to work together to restore growth and jobs, while preserving long-term fiscal sustainability, will accelerate the return to trend growth. We commit today to taking whatever action is necessary to secure that outcome, and we call on the IMF to assess regularly the actions taken and the global actions required.
11. We are resolved to ensure long-term fiscal sustainability and price stability and will put in place credible exit strategies from the measures that need to be taken now to support the financial sector and restore global demand. We are convinced that by implementing our agreed policies we will limit the longer-term costs to our economies, thereby reducing the scale of the fiscal consolidation necessary over the longer term.
12. We will conduct all our economic policies cooperatively and responsibly with regard to the impact on other countries and will refrain from competitive devaluation of our currencies and promote a stable and well-functioning international monetary system. We will support, now and in the future, to candid, even-handed, and independent IMF surveillance of our economies and financial sectors, of the impact of our policies on others, and of risks facing the global economy.
Strengthening financial supervision and regulation
13. Major failures in the financial sector and in financial regulation and supervision were fundamental causes of the crisis. Confidence will not be restored until we rebuild trust in our financial system. We will take action to build a stronger, more globally consistent, supervisory and regulatory framework for the future financial sector, which will support sustainable global growth and serve the needs of business and citizens.
14. We each agree to ensure our domestic regulatory systems are strong. But we also agree to establish the much greater consistency and systematic cooperation between countries, and the framework of internationally agreed high standards, that a global financial system requires. Strengthened regulation and supervision must promote propriety, integrity and transparency; guard against risk across the financial system; dampen rather than amplify the financial and economic cycle; reduce reliance on inappropriately risky sources of financing; and discourage excessive risk-taking. Regulators and supervisors must protect consumers and investors, support market discipline, avoid adverse impacts on other countries, reduce the scope for regulatory arbitrage, support competition and dynamism, and keep pace with innovation in the marketplace.
15. To this end we are implementing the Action Plan agreed at our last meeting, as set out in the attached progress report. We have today also issued a Declaration, Strengthening the Financial System. In particular we agree:
• to establish a new Financial Stability Board (FSB) with a strengthened mandate, as a successor to the Financial Stability Forum (FSF), including all G20 countries, FSF members, Spain, and the European Commission;
• that the FSB should collaborate with the IMF to provide early warning of macroeconomic and financial risks and the actions needed to address them;
• to reshape our regulatory systems so that our authorities are able to identify and take account of macro-prudential risks;
• to extend regulation and oversight to all systemically important financial institutions, instruments and markets. This will include, for the first time, systemically important hedge funds;
• to endorse and implement the FSF’s tough new principles on pay and compensation and to support sustainable compensation schemes and the corporate social responsibility of all firms;
• to take action, once recovery is assured, to improve the quality, quantity, and international consistency of capital in the banking system. In future, regulation must prevent excessive leverage and require buffers of resources to be built up in good times;
• to take action against non-cooperative jurisdictions, including tax havens. We stand ready to deploy sanctions to protect our public finances and financial systems. The era of banking secrecy is over. We note that the OECD has today published a list of countries assessed by the Global Forum against the international standard for exchange of tax information;
• to call on the accounting standard setters to work urgently with supervisors and regulators to improve standards on valuation and provisioning and achieve a single set of high-quality global accounting standards; and
• to extend regulatory oversight and registration to Credit Rating Agencies to ensure they meet the international code of good practice, particularly to prevent unacceptable conflicts of interest.
16.We instruct our Finance Ministers to complete the implementation of these decisions in line with the timetable set out in the Action Plan. We have asked the FSB and the IMF to monitor progress, working with the Financial Action Taskforce and other relevant bodies, and to provide a report to the next meeting of our Finance Ministers in Scotland in November.
Strengthening our global financial institutions
17. Emerging markets and developing countries, which have been the engine of recent world growth, are also now facing challenges which are adding to the current downturn in the global economy. It is imperative for global confidence and economic recovery that capital continues to flow to them. This will require a substantial strengthening of the international financial institutions, particularly the IMF. We have therefore agreed today to make available an additional $850 billion of resources through the global financial institutions to support growth in emerging market and developing countries by helping to finance counter-cyclical spending, bank recapitalisation, infrastructure, trade finance, balance of payments support, debt rollover, and social support. To this end:
• we have agreed to increase the resources available to the IMF through immediate financing from members of $250 billion, subsequently incorporated into an expanded and more flexible New Arrangements to Borrow, increased by up to $500 billion, and to consider market borrowing if necessary; and
• we support a substantial increase in lending of at least $100 billion by the Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs), including to low income countries, and ensure that all MDBs, including have the appropriate capital.
18. It is essential that these resources can be used effectively and flexibly to support growth. We welcome in this respect the progress made by the IMF with its new Flexible Credit Line (FCL) and its reformed lending and conditionality framework which will enable the IMF to ensure that its facilities address effectively the underlying causes of countries’ balance of payments financing needs, particularly the withdrawal of external capital flows to the banking and corporate sectors. We support Mexico’s decision to seek an FCL arrangement.
19. We have agreed to support a general SDR allocation which will inject $250 billion into the world economy and increase global liquidity, and urgent ratification of the Fourth Amendment.
20. In order for our financial institutions to help manage the crisis and prevent future crises we must strengthen their longer term relevance, effectiveness and legitimacy. So alongside the significant increase in resources agreed today we are determined to reform and modernise the international financial institutions to ensure they can assist members and shareholders effectively in the new challenges they face. We will reform their mandates, scope and governance to reflect changes in the world economy and the new challenges of globalisation, and that emerging and developing economies, including the poorest, must have greater voice and representation. This must be accompanied by action to increase the credibility and accountability of the institutions through better strategic oversight and decision making. To this end:
• we commit to implementing the package of IMF quota and voice reforms agreed in April 2008 and call on the IMF to complete the next review of quotas by January 2011;
• we agree that, alongside this, consideration should be given to greater involvement of the Fund’s Governors in providing strategic direction to the IMF and increasing its accountability;
• we commit to implementing the World Bank reforms agreed in October 2008. We look forward to further recommendations, at the next meetings, on voice and representation reforms on an accelerated timescale, to be agreed by the 2010 Spring Meetings;
• we agree that the heads and senior leadership of the international financial institutions should be appointed through an open, transparent, and merit-based selection process; and
• building on the current reviews of the IMF and World Bank we asked the Chairman, working with the G20 Finance Ministers, to consult widely in an inclusive process and report back to the next meeting with proposals for further reforms to improve the responsiveness and adaptability of the IFIs.
21. In addition to reforming our international financial institutions for the new challenges of globalisation we agreed on the desirability of a new global consensus on the key values and principles that will promote sustainable economic activity. We support discussion on such a charter for sustainable economic activity with a view to further discussion at our next meeting. We take note of the work started in other fora in this regard and look forward to further discussion of this charter for sustainable economic activity.
Resisting protectionism and promoting global trade and investment
22. World trade growth has underpinned rising prosperity for half a century. But it is now falling for the first time in 25 years. Falling demand is exacerbated by growing protectionist pressures and a withdrawal of trade credit. Reinvigorating world trade and investment is essential for restoring global growth. We will not repeat the historic mistakes of protectionism of previous eras. To this end:
• we reaffirm the commitment made in Washington: to refrain from raising new barriers to investment or to trade in goods and services, imposing new export restrictions, or implementing World Trade Organisation (WTO) inconsistent measures to stimulate exports. In addition we will rectify promptly any such measures. We extend this pledge to the end of 2010;
• we will minimise any negative impact on trade and investment of our domestic policy actions including fiscal policy and action in support of the financial sector. We will not retreat into financial protectionism, particularly measures that constrain worldwide capital flows, especially to developing countries;
• we will notify promptly the WTO of any such measures and we call on the WTO, together with other international bodies, within their respective mandates, to monitor and report publicly on our adherence to these undertakings on a quarterly basis;
• we will take, at the same time, whatever steps we can to promote and facilitate trade and investment; and
• we will ensure availability of at least $250 billion over the next two years to support trade finance through our export credit and investment agencies and through the MDBs. We also ask our regulators to make use of available flexibility in capital requirements for trade finance.
23. We remain committed to reaching an ambitious and balanced conclusion to the Doha Development Round, which is urgently needed. This could boost the global economy by at least $150 billion per annum. To achieve this we are committed to building on the progress already made, including with regard to modalities.
24. We will give renewed focus and political attention to this critical issue in the coming period and will use our continuing work and all international meetings that are relevant to drive progress.
Ensuring a fair and sustainable recovery for all
25. We are determined not only to restore growth but to lay the foundation for a fair and sustainable world economy. We recognise that the current crisis has a disproportionate impact on the vulnerable in the poorest countries and recognise our collective responsibility to mitigate the social impact of the crisis to minimise long-lasting damage to global potential. To this end:
• we reaffirm our historic commitment to meeting the Millennium Development Goals and to achieving our respective ODA pledges, including commitments on Aid for Trade, debt relief, and the Gleneagles commitments, especially to sub-Saharan Africa;
• the actions and decisions we have taken today will provide $50 billion to support social protection, boost trade and safeguard development in low income countries, as part of the significant increase in crisis support for these and other developing countries and emerging markets;
• we are making available resources for social protection for the poorest countries, including through investing in long-term food security and through voluntary bilateral contributions to the World Bank’s Vulnerability Framework, including the Infrastructure Crisis Facility, and the Rapid Social Response Fund;
• we have committed, consistent with the new income model, that additional resources from agreed sales of IMF gold will be used, together with surplus income, to provide $6 billion additional concessional and flexible finance for the poorest countries over the next 2 to 3 years. We call on the IMF to come forward with concrete proposals at the Spring Meetings;
• we have agreed to review the flexibility of the Debt Sustainability Framework and call on the IMF and World Bank to report to the IMFC and Development Committee at the Annual Meetings; and
• we call on the UN, working with other global institutions, to establish an effective mechanism to monitor the impact of the crisis on the poorest and most vulnerable.
26. We recognise the human dimension to the crisis. We commit to support those affected by the crisis by creating employment opportunities and through income support measures. We will build a fair and family-friendly labour market for both women and men. We therefore welcome the reports of the London Jobs Conference and the Rome Social Summit and the key principles they proposed. We will support employment by stimulating growth, investing in education and training, and through active labour market policies, focusing on the most vulnerable. We call upon the ILO, working with other relevant organisations, to assess the actions taken and those required for the future.
27. We agreed to make the best possible use of investment funded by fiscal stimulus programmes towards the goal of building a resilient, sustainable, and green recovery. We will make the transition towards clean, innovative, resource efficient, low carbon technologies and infrastructure. We encourage the MDBs to contribute fully to the achievement of this objective. We will identify and work together on further measures to build sustainable economies.
28. We reaffirm our commitment to address the threat of irreversible climate change, based on the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities, and to reach agreement at the UN Climate Change conference in Copenhagen in December 2009.
Delivering our commitments
29. We have committed ourselves to work together with urgency and determination to translate these words into action. We agreed to meet again before the end of this year to review progress on our commitments.
(Stay tuned for Catherine’s translation….)
Edward
When it comes to the the bridegroom and bride never being heard in her again its essentially talking about a city {Babylon} and if one pays attention to its description given in Rev. 18 it sounds like New York!! This I think is especially so when one looks at verses 17-19!!! Babylon is a PORT CITY and no port in the entire world is more valuable or important as New York’s. Moreover if you look at verse 7 and what do we find, the words, ‘she sits as a queen and extols the virtue of one who never mourns.’ Again sounds like New York.
Great post! Just wondering if you were going to have a follow up post on this?
Angela,
I would like to add that there is a difference between “never having sinned” and “being declared righteous.” Everyone has sinned, including our favorite role models. Righteousness, however, is bestowed on those who have faith in Christ for salvation and adore him for his sacrifice that he made on our behalf. In essence, none of our church leaders are perfect, but I don’t think all church leaders are evil. Now having said that, I won’t deny that there are and will be false teachers and prophets. Matthew 24:24, for false Christs and false prophets wil appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect — if that were possible. The key here, I think, is that the intention is to deceive, and this type of deception comes from Satan. So it is up to us to be very discerning on who to follow as there is much to gain from a good teacher and good fellowship. So imagine, if you will, that we are on a playing field with two opposing teams. We, the “sheeple,” happen to be the spoils.
Edward,
Regarding Rev 18, that is a good point that I’ll need to consider further.
Hey Jamo,
Yeah certain things were done away with by Christ. One was the need for priests and sacrifices to forgive sin. Christ was angry that the preists were taking advantage of that to get rich and threw over the table of the money changers. I don’t think the law is written in our hearts yet. That I believe happens after the resurection. He says he will give a glorius body and a new heart. A pure heart and then there’s no temptation to sin. It can’t be given to the unwilling or they’d be like slaves forced into righteousness.
Towards the end of Rev. 18 it indicates that it’s a religious christian organization, “the voice of the bridegroom and the bride will no longer be heard in her”. What makes it hard to see is the secret societies. I believe the Jesuits created and control all secret societies. Secret societies like the Masons, skull and bones, knights of Malta etc. are all interconnected and part of mystery babylon and control all commerce and banking for the most part.
Jamo, if the leaders of all of the worlds major religions weren’t such hypocrites, then there wouldn’t be such a hot ticket in militant atheism. From what I can gather, Judaism, Catholicism, Mormonism, the evangelical denominations AND Islam are all led by people who don’t practice very much of what they preach, leaving the rules and dogma for their flocks, whom they inflame with righteousness and division.
Also, last I checked, the Skull and Bones wasn’t a Christian organization, yet these type of secret societies are famous for spawning Christian spokespeople. Most of whom are atheist. So ‘scuse us dumb sheeple if we are “of little faith” these days. Seems like there’s LOADS of deception going on.
Love God, and love your neighbor as yourself. Romans 13:10, Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. With this I agree. However, certain laws and rituals were no longer necessary — circumcision, avoidance of unclean animals, or avoidance of eating with gentiles. The laws are now planted in our hearts and are displayed in our actions as restrictive or as open as we feel comfortable with.
Regarding Babylon, the argument I would pose is to continue with Rev 18. With the death of the prostitute, the ones we find mourning are the kings, merchants, and sea captains all who shared in her luxuries and wealth. Now they have no buyers for their commodities and cargoes and they all mourn. The destruction of the financial and banking industries as well as other corporations would destroy wealth and arrest the futures and commodities trade, creating the above description. I am not sure that the destruction of false religions or the RCC can do that.
To tie the persecution of saints to the beast and the prostitute, it was pointed out to me that there is a new worldwide movement, but more prominent in Europe, and spreading to the US. It is the rise of the New Atheism. This is not the regular atheism of “I don’t believe but you can believe, and everything is fine.” This New Atheism is a more militant form of atheism contending that all religion is bad and must be eliminated. It is led by very intelligent and high-profile atheists — Dawkins, Dennett, Harris, and Hitchens. I think we can see its effects in the scientific and business community that having a faith can leave one excluded from clubs, societies, or inner circles. And they are getting bolder. As time moves forward, we can see our social, cultural, and religious landscape being eroded by the laws from the gov’t.
The RCC considers itself the mother of all churches. Throughout history with missionaries it has shaped world religion and politics. Even created Islam according to some sources. I don’t think they consider their work done yet. There is still the Christian unity movement and also the world church, one world religion on the UN agenda.
Babylon the Great is the worldwide empire of false religion, which includes more than just the RCC.
Jamo,
I think God is witty. When he said he didn’t come to change the law but to fulfill it nobody knew what he was talking about. They denied he was the savior and son of God yet sacrificed him according to the law of the sacrificial lamb, fulfilling the law and making an acceptable sacrifice. He did talk about a change in the nature of keeping the commandments. Those who love him will keep the commandments, those who say they love him and keep not the commandments are liars, in his own words. Out of Love not fear.
The other way of looking at the prophecy is developing over time. Check out the Mystery Babylons interpretation. It’s definitly more proof of Gods omnipotence as the Alpha and Omega that the prophecy is fulfilled over hundreds of years. It follows more the lifespan of the Roman Catholic Church. The same beast represented several different things. In one the 7 heads represented 7 mountains where the whore sitteth and the horns 7 kings. Vatican city sits on 7 mountains as does Jerusalem. I think there is a lot to the Mystery Babylon interpretations but still probably not perfected.
Edward,
I believe when Christ came he stated that his purpose was not to abolish the Law or the Prophets, but to fulfill them (Matthew 5:17). We find in his ministry that it is not the word of the Law that is important, but the spirit of the Law. At times, this may make the Law more restrictive as explained that hatred and lust may be a violation of the commandments, “Thou shalt not murder” and “Thou shalt not commit adultery.” However there are examples in which lying was not considered sinful. One of them was in Joshua 2 in which Rahab lied to the King of Jericho to protect two Israelite spies. As her reward she was spared during the destruction of Jericho. After Christ’s crucifixion, we are now under the spirit of the law, rather than the word of the law itself. Now our intentions, not just our actions, are being judged. I believe this is the same way with the Sabbath. The day itself or our specific action or inaction is not as important as our intent of how and why we keep it.
With regards to prophecy, allow me to present what I see in Revelation 17 and I don’t mind being wrong. It is partially interpreted already. The imagery is that of a woman, a great prostitute fully adorned and wealthy, sitting on the beast, which has 7 heads and 10 horns. Both the beast and the woman are antagonistic towards the saints. Also, the woman sits on “many waters.” The 7 heads are 7 kings, or probably 7 kingdoms – 5 have fallen, 1 is, and the other has not yet come. In John’s time, they probably represent the Egyptian, Assyrian, Babylonian, Persian, and Greek empires. The kingdom John was experiencing was Roman. The seventh kingdom is possibly Anglo-American, although the Russian empire may also fit the description as well. The eighth kingdom will come from the seven – a conglomeration of all the previous kingdoms or perhaps an extension of the seventh. But this NWO as it unfolds appears to be based on socialism/communism/globalism. We touched on the identity of the 10 horns as 10 kings who do not yet have a kingdom, but will receive authority as kings and whose purpose is to give power and authority to the beast. Has not this been the actions of the central banks and IMF to consolidate and centralize power? Also note that the prostitute sits on the waters, which represents all peoples and nations of the world. And what about our current king and national leaders? Are they not suppose to be looking after the sea of people they are representing? Instead our leaders are looking at another love, a prostitute, adorning her with wealth and splendor that should have belonged to the people. For this reason I have gravitated towards CAF and the material that she has presented here on Solari. Here she documents countless examples of corruption and fraud between our leaders to favor a handful of constituents, industries, and corporations at the expense of the people. Examples presented were that of fraud, money laundering, drug trafficking, Ponzi schemes, technology suppression, overregulation, underregulation, and so on. All of these favors are solely for the benefit of our corrupt leaders and the lobbying corporations.
However at some point, the beast and the kings will tire of and hate the prostitute, as you had mentioned, and will bring her to her ruin. Is this not what we are seeing the beginning of? As wealth is being destroyed in this country, many companies who thought they were on the inside are now finding themselves on the outside? Many great companies who made a living from government contracts and regulations are finding that there are not enough chairs when the music stops. It is noted in Rev 17:17 that this corporate destruction occurs with God’s permission by agreeing to allow the NWO its time to rule.
So what is Babylon, the great city that rules over the kings of the earth? Perhaps the city is NYC. More specifically it might be Wall Street. But perhaps more appropriately it may be broadened to include many of the publically traded companies around the world. At any rate it is an interesting perspective. The consequences of the loss of Babylon are noted in Rev 18, but that is another topic.
Jamo,
Mark 2:27 He put it in context comparing it to David who ate showbread on the sabbath day which was not lawful to do but done out of necessity. I think all he is saying is the Sabbath isn’t meant to be a punishment.
The revelations one a bit clearer when you get to the end. The dragon makes war with those who keep the commandments and testimony of Jesus.
When the 10 kings get power after an hour with the beast they hate the whore and burn her with fire. That sounds like a Jesuit revolt in the Catholic church. Note, thier symbol is the skull and crossbones..the symbol of death. That could be when all hell breaks loose, tyranny and the lawless one is revealed. Kind of like star wars…storm troopers were in white and kept order, the guys in black were well bent on destruction.
“Whereas you beheld iron mixed with moist clay, they will come to be mixed with the offspring of mankind; but they will not prove to be sticking together, this one to that one, just as iron is not mixing with molded clay.
And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be brought to ruin. And the kingdom itself will not be passed on to any other people. It will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, and it itself will stand to times indefinite…” Daniel 2:43,44) (watchtower.org)
Edward,
Interesting viewpoints. My only argument regarding the the Sabbath day is Mark 2:27, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.” In other words, this is a day intended for physical, mental, and spiritual restoration of man. The actual day of the Sabbath is therefore left up to man. God does not require this restoration for Himself.
Regarding “the little horn” in Daniel, I also see that this beast is the same beast as described in Revelation 13 and 17. In Daniel 7:35 it states a duration for oppression of the saints — “time, times, and half a time.” This phrase is repeated in Revelation 12:14 where Christ’s mother is protected after giving birth. Regardless, the timing is the period “in the Year of our Lord.” Moreover, the description of a beast with 10 horns is similar in both books. I don’t know the identity of the horns, though Revelation 17:12 decribes them as “… ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but who for one hour will receive authority as kings along with the beast.”
Only recently have i toyed with the idea of the economic Group of Ten. These are Finance Ministers and Central Bank Govenors, not Heads of State. The countries of this group fund the IMF, along with participating with BIS, World Bank, and OECD.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Group_of_Ten_(economic)
http://www.bis.org/publ/g10.htm
As such, they appear very influential in affecting the world economy. And yes, there are actually 11 countries representing the Group of Ten. Anyway, this is pure speculation.
As I mentioned earlier, I am not yet ready to vilify the RCC or the Pope. The reason is in Daniel 9:26 and 2 Thessalonians 2:7. The Man of Lawlessness (Anti-Christ) is being held back by someone until he is “taken out of the way.” Currently, the only central figure of the church is the Pope. If you are willing to move further out on the edge, then I would encouraging looking into the Fatima Prophecies, which were first given in 1917. The first, I think, is pretty solid. The second is probably good. The third, I recently found, has issues as some feel that the RCC did not publish it in its entirety. Anyway, take it for what it is worth.
Jarno
Jamo,
Nice arguement. I don’t know if i’ve hit the nail on the head perfectly. The way I see it; this is the last beast, the grand finale. How could they not try to rule the world from Jerusalem?
The metaphysical symbol of loyalty is the Sabbath, the perpetual covenant between man and the creator. The fourth commandment. The pope changed that from Saturday to Sunday. Does the pope have that authority? If so then God is a liar because he said that would never change forever and ever, the heavens and earth may pass away but that will never change. Forced mandatory Sunday observence would be a game changer.
The little horn “anti-christ” popping up and taking out three kings is from Daniel, i think. Been a while. I saw it on a Walter Veith documentary video. Total Onslaught series, can watch them free online. I don’t agree with him 100% but then I don’t agree with anyone 100%. The only other site I find useful is http://biblelight.net/index-mystery-babylon.html. Both seventh day adventist.
I’m not affiliated with any church organization and not ready to join one but do believe Saturday is the Sabbath day forever and ever. Anyway, Judas had a role in God’s plan. Had he not betrayed Christ when he did, Christ may not (if it were possible) have fulfilled the law as required for the sacrifice of the Lamb on passover. (Biblelight, what day was christ crucified arguement). Everybody fits into God’s plan but woe unto those who betray Christ.
Friend,
I worry that this interpretation of Biblical prophesy is inconsistent with the prior interpretation of Old Testament prophesies. Although the prophecies of the Old Testament were very symbolic, the symbols represented very discrete entities. The actions they did or things that occured to those symbols also represented discrete events. Many examples may be seen in Daniel where dreams and visions were given as well as partial interpretations. Also, the foretelling of Christ’s coming was told in Isaiah 9. Rather than his being a symbolic awakening of the Jewish people, he was an actual person which the New Testament was written and revolved around his ministry, as well as even more distant prophesies.
I think that the purpose of the Bible and these prophesies is to warn us, to make us define our loyalties. As we learn of the character of God and Christ, we then know of what our character needs to be in order to be pleasing. I believe that the metaphysical world is much more solid, more influential, than the physical world we live in and are familiar with. When our physical world comes to an end, all that will be left are not just our spirits but also our relationships and our loyalties. This is why we need to define where we stand.
With regards to the Roman Catholic Church, I understand the abuses which have occurred through history. I feel that they are evolving and by no means considered the perfect institution. Through some points of scripture as well as recent history over the past 100 years, I think they still have a role. Although I am not Roman Catholic, I am not yet ready to vilify the RCC or the Pope at this point. However I am willing to accept it if I were wrong on this point.
That’s wishful thinking friendly friend. The Lord who sees in the secret places and knows all from beginning to end is quite more capable of saying what the future holds in store for us. Beasts in the bible are shown to be state power, Women are shown to be churches. Fornication is shown to be seeking other gods, whoredom is seeking false gods for money or earthly gains. The wine of the great whore is false teachings which are the same as the teachings of the serpent. “You shall not surely die” or its equivalent; there will be no judgement, no god will deny you eternal life, our priests can forgive sin which all equates the same. The second teaching is “you will be like gods” which equates to teachings that things less than God can be god, like people or statues, inanimate objects or hermeticism where God flows through everything so everything is part of God and therefore god, that we will somehow evolve into gods. So the kings of the earth are drunk on that wine, the end justifies the means, gathering wealth for themselves while everyone else are made poor, exalting themselves. they’ve only got so far as hinting that a president is god, the pope blasphemies God declaring himself the holy father.
The beast is merely the inability of humanity to see that the world when ruled by the patriarchy is out of balance. The beast is the man-made world which has for centuries dehumanized others through colonialism, kingships, and other nefarious concepts. In its early hours, for over 300 years, Christianity flourished with little organization. It was egalitarian, allowing women to participate in the services and the direction. Not until around the 4th Century, was the idea of
the “great whore” born, and I must say, that I am offended by that term, because it is so repressive towards women, and towards, what Christ taught in his actions and acceptance of women.
I tend to believe that the world is not witnessing the formation of the One World Government but the collapse of it. In History, the world has already had 8 “one world” currencies. The US Dollar is for all intents and purposes the “one world currency” and has been for some time.
It is time for people to overcome their apocalyptic views which were brought forth from the early formation of Judaism and Christianity, and now, of course Islam. All three religions are from the same tree, which has its roots in even more ancient “solar god” cultures. Even the followers of Jesus believed that his return was imminent, and would happen in their lifetimes, which it did, in terms of a spiritual understanding for those who were not reading the world through their senses alone. The current world will continue to erode, not because of God, but because people who believe in this old paradigm will add, and/or find their beliefs reinforced by “end of the World” mentality, just like Italian families in the 14th century were certain the end was soon to come and sold their homes to hide in the hills. Did the world end for them?
It did not.
Finally, we need to stop playing the old apocalyptic record. It will only occur if enough people make it occur through false beliefs. Yet, the earth, is much older than humanity, and will go on with or without us. Still, the egocentricity of humanity has challenged the ecosystems of the planet, but the planet will survive; whereas, we must decide, as a species whether we want to do the same. The ideas of Permaculture is the new paradigm. And when we know what is happening in our neighborhoods, we can change our own world, a little at a time. There will be tough times ahead, but those who don’t believe in “shadows without substance” and join together in Hope, will make a difference. Hope, to me, is the knowledge that evil will end. It always has, and always will. The most natural state for people, is the condition of Freedom, through Love and Knowledge.
As for the Roman Catholic Church. History shows that it was just a continuation of the Roman Empire, which during its collapse, spawned a Pope who determined that the rule of the Church would be the new Empire on Earth. Early Church writers such as Jerome added highly misogynist tracts to cause the oppression of half of humanity (women) who, btw, are also God’s children to become rampant.
Yet the Reformation also opened the religion for others, of a different persuasion to worship without the Pope, as the head Apostle, (emperor) of the Church. Still, there have been throughout RCC history great theological writers who have managed to bring a liberation to Christianity while being somewhat imprisoned by its repressive structure, such as Teilhard de Chardin and to a lesser extent Thomas Merton. One need only go into a RCC church to see the decline. Still, the decline of institutional religion will make way, for the rebirth of the potential for less patriarchal structural controls over the spirituality of people who allow them the keys to their hearts.
The only end of the world we are witnessing, is the end of the American Empire, because its leaders strayed from the early writings/beliefs, and laws (Constitution) of the founders. People should begin to become more actively involved with their neighborhoods and communities, rather than allow the MSM to form views and use deliberate Psyops to mesmerize the masses into believing they are “in control”. Newspapers are going out of business because they are NOT in control anymore. The internet has given us the opportunity to know what is really happening around us, if we take the gloomy lenses off of our eyes, and begin to see, that freedom and personal liberty, is not losing but prevailing.
Have faith, in the goodness of God, not in the writings of old men, who walked in the shadows, and wanted you to walk with them. The use of fear paralyzes and confuses. That has been the modus operandi of Empires/Kings/religious leaders for centuries. We as individuals have a great opportunity to grow and develop a new paragdigm such as Catherine supports.
The conspiracy theories are true. We now live in a “New World Order”.
I don’t think we’re there yet Michael. The kings are given authority after the beast is just an hour old. Not even the beast but the image of the beast. The false prophet causes all nations to make an image unto the beast, with 7 heads and 10 horns. 3 horns are plucked up by the little horn that grows in their place. Washington, London, Vatican city and replaced by Jerusalem. 7 heads should be something like 7 kingdoms similar to the EU, NAU, SAU, AU, MEU..etc. So far I think the kings of the earth are still drunk with the wine of the great whore who sitteth on the beast. The beast though is the RCC.
http://biblelight.net/index-mystery-babylon.html
the point is they have one thought, in other words they finally agree about something. Also their authority lasts for just ‘one hour’ which’ in the biblical sense, is a relatively short period of time. The number 10 denotes completeness with respect to earthly things. for more info see watchtower.org
Michael, there were only 10 horns.
I’m flabbergasted that G20 decided on anything…of course, it seems the participants can’t decide if the stimulus is “$2 trillion” or “$5 trillion” yet. Guess all that surplus Afghani heroin is gonna be put to work.
“Bla bla bla… we’re running the show now, there’s no sovereign country anywhere. Get used to it!”
“but they do receive authority as kings one hour with the wild beast. These have one thought…”