Introduction
When one studies eschatology (study of the end times), it quickly becomes evident that the last seven years particularly will be a period marked by deception. When asked by the disciples about the sign of the end of the age, Jesus’ very first response was that they should be careful that no one deceives them.1 The name of the game at that time will be “deception, pass it on!” Of course, this will suit the Beast or the Antichrist just fine because he won’t want the world to know that he is in fact empowered by the devil. The tribulation period will be a period of political, religious, and financial upheaval. The Antichrist will achieve his complete domination for a short 3 ½ year period just before Christ returns by means of political maneuvering and world conquests through war and also by means of religion where Revelation 17 says that he will ride the prostitute woman. But the political and religious methods will not be enough. The Bible also tells that the Antichrist will oversee a world financial identification “mark of the beast” system whereby no one will be able to buy or sell without participating in this scheme. It will be a cashless currency system. What can we do as Christians? It is almost impossible to operate today outside of the cashless world banking system.
Gold is real money
I believe that God tells us about His monetary system in His Word. It is a system that relies on honest weights and measures not the serial numbers on a paper or plastic banknote or some digital number on a mobile phone or bank account.2 It is of course gold and silver. If you happen to divide a gold or silver bar in half then the two segments still are worth the same whereas if you were to cut a banknote in half then it is no longer money. When I was working in PNG as a missionary, people would often come to me with faulty notes with one of the serial numbers missing either torn off or burnt off in a fire. I had to tell them that I could not accept their note. It use to be that our Australian currency consisted of gold and silver coins. The last real silver coin was the 1966 round 50 cent piece which contained 13.28 grams of silver.
How to prepare for a future currency crisis
The world’s financial system and stock markets are precariously balanced and the world is about to become a lot harder place to do business. A way to prepare is to stock up on the precious metals of gold and silver which can allow us to be safe from the fiat currency system and therefore to be safe from any currency crisis shock.
In the prophecy of the four horses, we are told about a black horse which symbolises a great inflationary period.3 It even sounds like hyperinflation. It will be a hard time no doubt. You might be saying to yourself that you don’t need to worry about that time as you will be raptured before the seven-year period. I don’t believe that is the case. The Bible talks about the church having to escape at the halfway point to a wilderness destination and the Bible even tells us where that will be – southern Jordan. That period of hyperinflation occurs during the first 3 ½ years. But even so, it looks as though a financial collapse of the world’s stock markets will occur well before this time maybe even in the next couple of years. Man’s sins have caught up with him and the world is swimming in debt.
Faith in Christ is the most important asset
Of course, the real resource that we have as Christians is our faith in God and our community as a people. And that faith will be sorely put to the test in the end. Jesus said when He returns, will He find faith?4 The only way to save yourself is to put your trust and faith in Christ. But in the meantime, buying a little precious metal, such as gold and/or silver to protect yourself in case of a financial crisis, may not be such a bad idea either. Gold and silver is God’s money and it can’t be printed or reproduced.5 It takes a lot of hard work to find it in the ground, mine it, and then refine it. It is so valuable that if you put all of the gold ever mined in the world it would only fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool.
