Falwell: "[C]ashless society," "one-world government" will happen near Rapture

Summary: Rev. Jerry Falwell stated that the United Nations is "the infrastructure, the stage on which the Antichrist will build his one-world government." Falwell also asserted that the prevalence of online bill-paying is a sign that "God is setting the stage for ... a cashless society," and that "the day will come" when "the only way you can get cash and trade and to do business is to have the mark of the beast."

Predicting events that will happen around the time that many Christians believe will be the second coming of Christ, Rev. Jerry Falwell, founder and chairman of the Moral Majority Coalition, stated during his August 27 televised sermon that the United Nations is "the infrastructure, the stage on which the Antichrist will build his one-world government." Falwell also asserted that the prevalence of online bill-paying is a sign that "God is setting the stage for ... a cashless society," and that "the day will come" when "the only way you can get cash and trade and to do business is to have the mark of the beast." Falwell also stated that "I expect the Lord to return in the 21st century ... because there are no more predicted events that need to happen," adding: "I can't prove that."

As Media Matters for America has noted, some members of the conservative media have seen signs of the Apocalypse in the recent escalation of conflicts in the Middle East and Asia. In a July 22 commentary posted on the conservative news website WorldNetDaily.com titled "On the threshold of Armageddon?," Falwell wrote: "It is apparent, in light of the rebirth of the state of Israel, that the present-day events in the Holy Land may very well serve as a prelude or forerunner to the future Battle of Armageddon and the glorious return of Jesus Christ."

The interpretation that a "cashless society" is a sign of the Antichrist derives from a verse in the Book of Revelation: "He [the Antichrist] also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name." Some religious conservatives view the United Nations as a precursor to a "one-world government" also alluded to in Revelation; for instance, in the Left Behind series of books by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins -- which uses the Book of Revelation as a "framework" to tell a story of the End Times -- the Antichrist character, Nicolae Carpathia, uses his position as United Nations secretary-general to create a world government with himself as ruler.

From Falwell's August 27 sermon at the Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg, Virginia, where he serves as senior pastor:

FALWELL: I expect the Lord to return in the 21st century to Rapture at his church. Now, I can't prove that. I cannot prove that the Lord is gonna come in this century. No one knows the day or the hour, but in my heart I believe it because there are no more predicted events that need to happen before our Lord can return.

[...]

I expect a global economy in the 21st century, which first will manifest itself as a cashless society. I believe that plastic will take the place of cash, and that while this will only be fulfilled during the tribulation period at the Rapture, I believe that God is setting the stage for, and laying the infrastructure for, a cashless society right now. Most people, many pay their bills online already. And the day will come, I believe, when there will be no cash, and the only way you can get cash and trade and to do business is to [points to his forehead] have the mark of the beast.

And then I expect the nations of the world in the 21st century to move rapidly towards a one-world government. We already have the U.N. -- it's a useless bunch. But we've already got the U.N., and they will not be the one-world government, but they are the infrastructure, the stage on which the Antichrist will build his one-world government.

—K.D.