More than 80 years ago Winston Churchill wrote a four-volume history of World War I titled The World Crisis. Next year marks the 100th anniversary of the shooting of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand in the Balkan city of Sarajevo, igniting the fires of the First World War in 1914. Even more so today than at that time, points on the globe previously thought insignificant can suddenly be vaulted into newspaper headlines by an emergent crisis with continental and even global implications.

London's Financial Times noted that "the latest crisis [in Cyprus] draws in Britain, Greece, Israel, the US and Turkey, not to mention Germany as the Eurozone's indispensable decision maker. The tremors hitting Cyprus could shake the world" (March 23-24, 2013). A Newsweek drophead pointed out, "The financial crisis in Cyprus has global ramifications" (Steve Hanke, "Little Island, Big Problem," March 22).

We live in a shrinking world of globalism made ever smaller by incredible technological breakthroughs like the Internet with its countless websites and e-mails. A global economy propelled by a one-world government is not impossible, even during our chaotic, confused and divided age of human misrule. Passages in the biblical book of Revelation indicate that is precisely where man's governments will finally wind up.

A supranational power bloc centered in Central Europe will eventually emerge, according to Bible prophecy. Both this power and its totalitarian leader are referred to in the Bible as "the beast." Scripture tells us, "And all the world marveled and followed the beast."  When this happens, people will wonder: "Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?"  (Revelation 13:3-4, emphasis added throughout).

But just how dictatorial and globally influential will this charismatic dictator of a coming world superpower become? Scripture shows that his power and influence will astonish the whole world. A union of 10 national or regional leaders will temporarily be fully behind this prophesied beast power. Although his murderous reign will be relatively short (see Revelation 17:12), while it lasts true Christians will find themselves in mortal physical danger.

The prophecy further states of the coming ruler: "And authority was given him [by Satan the devil] over every tribe, tongue, and nation" (Revelation 13:7; see also Revelation 13:4). Clearly an economic stranglehold will be a vital part of his virtual mesmerization of whole populations. "He causes all . . . to receive a mark . . . that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name" (verses 16-17). (To understand what this passage symbolizes, read the Bible study aid The Book of Revelation Unveiled.

Thankfully, these horrendous troubles will all end with the second coming of Jesus Christ. At that time, it will be announced, "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever" (Revelation 11:15, English Standard Version).

The Financial Times article mentioned earlier speaks of "new anxieties about the geopolitical impact of the [largely economic] instability in Cyprus. This island is not only physically divided between Greek and Turkish Cypriots, but is located in a combustible region where the military, diplomatic, energy and financial interests of at least a dozen powers collide." Large foreign bank deposits are at the center of the island nation's economic difficulties. (Sources: Financial Times, Newsweek.)