The prophet Daniel provides one of the most descriptive profiles of the future world dictator Scripture calls the Antichrist. One of the things Daniel declares the Antichrist will accomplish is to – make alterations in times and in law (Daniel 7:25b). Those changes will be implemented in the context, Daniel says, as the Antichrist will – speak out against the Most High and wear down the saints of the Highest One (7:26a).
The 27th annual meeting of the United Nations Conference of Parties, referred to as the COP27 conference, is convening this week (November 6-18, 2022) at Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula. Its purpose is to identify strategies & plans for obtaining the goals & objectives of the Paris Agreement, adopted by the 196 Parties at COP21 in Paris on December 12, 2015. It legally bound those signors to an international treaty toward ambitious efforts to combat climate change.
An emphasis of this week’s annual gathering is extending an invitation to religious communities and religious leaders who the UN believes hold a key role in addressing climate change. The call for “ceremonial repentance” for failing the planet will be a front-and-center theme. This interfaith effort hopes to motivate changes in attitude and heart, a new vision, and the putting forth of climate justice via the “Climate Justice Ten Commandments.” Tapping into the power of religion with their leaders serving as agents for such change, the hope is that their faith communities will fall in line.
One of the ways proposed in this aggressive focus on global climate change will shock you! This past summer, members of the Interfaith Center for Sustainable Development and the Elijah Interfaith Institute met together at Mount Sinai to consider what message of hope and transformation religions of the world might offer humanity as we grapple with the challenges of climate justice.
One of the ideas born out of that dialogue was a return to Mt. Sinai, the place where God gave Moses the Ten Commandments and, in that gathering, call these leaders to a revised version of commandments focused exclusively on climate change. Their original plan was to return to Sinai, but the Egyptian government refused to permit the gathering due to security concerns, so the venue has been moved to a meeting in London this coming Sunday, November 13, 2022. A small group of faith leaders will be allowed to ascend Sinai and hold a “repentance ceremony” as originally planned.
Applying distorted principles of God’s commands, for instance, “Do not murder,” will target the deaths that will come to millions of persons who will die from the effects of extreme heat & cold, wildfires, rising sea levels, and super-sized storm systems. “Do not steal” accuses climate change of robbing our future and mother nature of her ability to regenerate. “Do not bear false witness” identifies the sins of politicians to omit the truth about the real & immediate dangers of climate change and their sins of commission by approving drilling and pipeline permits.
But the most appalling initiative emerging relates to “keeping the Sabbath.” Citing statistics that emissions are down 30% over the Sabbath every week in Israel and level at nearly “zero” on Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement, “a global weekly non-carbon day of rest” is being submitted as a way to reduce emissions of the world by 1/7th, observed by different faith communities on different days. The precedence this move establishes may indeed become the very premise upon which the coming Antichrist makes alterations in times and in law (Daniel 7:25) during the first 3.5 years of the Tribulation Period on Earth following the Rapture of the Church.
Saints, stay informed. Study the Scripture. Watch the national & international landscapes. Pay attention to the news and the voices of leadership. These tenants are being espoused by leaders in Washington today. These things are real. God’s Word is true, the predictions of Biblical prophecy are unfolding in both frequency & intensity, and our redemption is drawing near and nigh.
Rick M. Smith
Pastor, Author & Speaker
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