Last week, I discussed nationalism and the importance of United States maintaining its national boundaries. Nationalism is often treated like a curse word in circles where people favor globalism. However, it was God’s intent for each nation to operate independently. As we read in Acts 17:26, God “has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings.”
Globalism, historically known as imperialism, was the effort to bring peace and prosperity to the world by uniting mankind under a single political regime. This started all the way back at the tower of Babel. Men tried to build a city with a tower as high as the heavens so they could “make a name for” themselves, and God spread mankind to different parts of the globe (see Genesis 11:1-9). Since then, the spirit of antichrist has been at work. In the last days, the spirit of antichrist—the beast—is going to hijack the globalist worldview to bring about one central world government and currency (see Revelation 13).
I know that the beast of Revelation is going to be a globalist, one-world government because God has been fighting against that from the beginning. It was God who spread men out over the face of the earth. The enemy has been trying to unite men together under humanism, the belief that humans are our own moral authority, but God is the true authority.
During Jesus’ time on earth, Israel was under the imperialist Roman Empire. When He was about to ascend to heaven, Jesus’ disciples expressed their hearts’ desire for Israel’s national identity to be restored. “Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, ‘Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?’ And He said to them, ‘It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:6-8).
God gave the disciples access to the Holy Spirit and told them to take the gospel to the world, without knowing when everything would be restored. Here's good news: I've read the end of the book, and I believe there will be nations that will not fall prey to the globalist beast system. Why? Because the Bible describes “a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb” (see Revelation 7:9-10).
Globalist organizations like the United Nations draw their inspiration from the Roman Empire, the British Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Greek Empire, the Babylonian Empire, and others. They talk about “the international community” as if it is one single entity. People throughout the world are pushing back against this idea.
Italy recently elected a conservative, female prime minister—Giorgia Meloni—who ran on the platform of “God, family, and country.” God is raising up great women leaders in government, in the church, and in education to make a difference in this hour. In Italy, there's a wave just like Brexit, when the United Kingdom left the European Union. Many people doubted the latter would ever happen, but it did. After the Brexit vote, U.S. President Donald Trump got elected and started talking about repealing the North American Free Trade Agreement, which he believed would keep U.S. companies from sending jobs outside the U.S.
Some nations have tried to restore their national identities and slow the advancement of the one world government that the antichrist is ultimately going to hijack to empower himself. You can't have a one world government if each of the nations are prospering individually. This is an age-old conflict, but it has been resumed in our day, and I believe it is a book of Revelation-type of globalism or imperialism.
You might question why I am discussing globalism. Because this is the central issue of everything happening in the news right now. The distinction between globalism and nationalism is central to the political thought of the Hebrew Bible, the Old Testament, and the Protestant Reformation that was started by Martin Luther.
The Protestant Reformation required Luther, a lowly monk from Germany, to challenge the authority of a foreign pope who was imposing unbiblical rules. Later, we saw the Reformation lead to even more nations saying they would not be subject to the Holy Roman Empire, a centralized government in another nation. At the center of the Reformation was the debate of national independence. Self-determination, personal responsibility, and love for one’s family and neighbors were regarded as foundational principles for the success of any nation. I am hearing from the Lord that this is what God is saying to His church right now.
My family and I visited Germany for MorningStar Ministries’ recent conference, “The Sound of Thunder.” The prophetic destiny of Germany is significant. That nation produced Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler, but it also produced Christian reformers Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Martin Luther. Heaven's best and hell's best came out of the same country. That means there is an anointing or a portal of anointing for leadership coming from Germany.
Because of Hitler’s version of nationalism, the general concept of nationalism has been viewed in a negative light. Many have come to regard patriotism or loyalty to your own nation as something that is bad or even un-Christian.
I disagree with those who say you cannot love your country and be a Christian at the same time. They say you're either in the kingdom of God or you're in the earthly kingdom. But until Jesus returns, we are called to “be witnesses … to the end of the earth” so that “all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues” can stand before God’s throne. As we do this, we need to resist globalist efforts to destroy the kind of national boundaries God intended us to have.
