Here Comes the New World Order!

Now, Religion in the News, a report and comment on religious trends and events being covered by the media. This week’s item is from Reuters News Service, January 1, 2004, with the headline, “A New World Order,” dateline Vatican City: “ ‘The world needs a new international order to solve its conflicts and ensure peace,’ Pope John Paul said in his New Year’s Day address on Thursday. ‘More than ever we need a new International Order, which draws on the experience and results of the United Nations,’ the 83-year-old pontiff said at a Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica.

“ ‘An order which is capable of finding adequate solutions to today’s problems, based on the dignity of human beings, on integrating all society, on solidarity between rich and poor countries, on the sharing of resources, and the extraordinary results of scientific and technological progress,’ he added.

“Speaking at Christendom’s largest church, the pope urged people not to lose hope of finding peace in the Holy Land, which the Vatican feels is vital to winning the war on terror.”

Tom: Dave, I hope people don’t think we make this stuff up. For example, all that you—not all, but most of what you talked about in the first segment had to do with Israel. Had to do with Jerusalem. Had to do with God’s way—God’s plan—and this is the Vicar of Christ. This is supposed to be the representative of Christ on earth, yet he’s advancing what may be, you know, arguably the most anti-Semitic organization on the face of the earth, the United Nations.

Dave: Well, Tom, I noticed in this—of course I didn’t hear the pope’s entire address, but from this excerpt, I don’t think I would have found much in there about Christ. Only the Prince of Peace could bring peace to this earth. But this is all about humanistic solutions. And the United Nations? “Oh, we’ve got to rely on the United Nations! This is where peace is going to come.” Through the United Nations? Tom, this man—does he represent Christ? How could he possibly represent Christ, who came to bring peace on this earth, who was rejected and crucified, and there will never be peace until He returns in His resurrected, glorified body. And in order to bring peace, He is going to punish the nations—judge them—destroy Antichrist, his armies, and his kingdom. You would get that—I don’t know whether the pope even understands what Daniel 2 talks about, you know, when you have Nebuchadnezzar saw that image, the head of gold, and the torso of silver, and so forth, loins of brass, legs of iron, and very clearly, Daniel lays it out—He interprets it for Nebuchadnezzar. These are four world kingdoms, and the last, of course, is the Roman Empire—divided, two legs—the Vatican was split between the West and the East—Eastern Orthodoxy. The Roman Empire was split politically when Constantine moved his—330 AD—moved his headquarters over to Constantinople, left the popes in charge in Rome, and so forth, between Byzantium and the western kingdom.

And then what happened? There is a stone cut out without hands, and it smashes this image—these four kingdoms, world kingdoms, one succeeding the other. So that the Roman Empire really succeeded the others, and now it has been revived—the ten toes, ten kings. And it very clearly says, “In the days of those kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed.” And this kingdom will smash them. And that stone cut out without hands smashes this kingdom on its feet, which is interesting, because that is all that is left in the succession, and fills the earth—becomes a kingdom that fills the earth.

Now this is how it will come about through Christ—and the pope is building this earthly humanistic kingdom founded upon the solutions and the record established by the United Nations? Tom, that’s just incredible.

Tom: Dave, we’ve mentioned—I’ve mentioned in past programs, the last couple, as a matter of fact, that growing up Roman Catholic we had no eschatological view. I mean “the last days”—that was all foreign to us. And, you know, as part of Reaching Catholics for Christ at our conferences, I like to ask former Catholics if they’ve ever had any classes about the last days, about prophecy, and so on, and I’ve never had anybody raise their hand, okay? Now…

Dave: You didn’t know this. But you were a good Catholic.

Tom: Of course, of course! So I did some studying about what the Catholic Church believes about the last days. They reject, as we’ve mentioned before, the Millennial Reign of Christ, but there is a last days, there is an event, there is a judgment, and so on. But according to maybe unofficial Catholic teaching about—and there are a number of books out there on eschatology—the end times…

Dave: Now, Tom, you say “unofficial” because you won’t find this in the Councils.

Tom: No!

Dave: The official Declaration of the Church.

Tom: No, these are—many of them are based on visions of saints, and so on. And the scenario…

Dave: Not the real Mary, but the one who appears…

Tom: Right, the apparitions.

Dave: She says she will establish peace—it’s not Christ, but she will do it!

Tom: Right. But the final scenario is consistent according to the Church, with the Passion of Christ. So one of the reasons that we never heard about—oe were never taught as children growing up in Roman Catholic schools, and so in—is that the scenario has to do with the Passion of Christ. It’s…the church goes into apostasy, and so on. And you don’t want to tell…

Dave: …suffering…

Tom: Yeah. That’s it. Suffering is a major part of Catholicism. Well, Dave, it’s sad because God’s Word lays out what is going to happen, and if we don’t abide by that, if we don’t understand that, you know, what’s the hope for us?

Dave: We’re at sea. We don’t really—well, God is not in charge, apparently, or if He is, the pope doesn’t tell us, but the United Nations is going to solve this. Of course, the pope apparently doesn’t go along with this scenario that you’re talking about, the suffering. He’s talking about an equitable world, society joined together, and so forth. That’s not what the Bible says. That will only happen under Christ.