The Greek banking system is experiencing a nation-wide bank run, but media reports tend to soften the seriousness of the situation with such terms as “deposit outflows” and “deposit drains.” The first link reports that 4.2 billion Euros have been withdrawn from Greek banks by depositors just in this last week. One can only guess how many billions of Euros have been withdrawn in recent months or how much will be taken out of Greek banks next week. The first link also reports that the only thing currently staving off a Greek banking collapse is the willingness of the EU central bank to supply Euro currency to Greek banks to meet depositors’ demands. This is getting very serious. The language of key European figures cited in the first link indicates to me that the point of exhaustion has been reached in the Greek debt crisis. As we say here in America, it is “time to fish or cut bait” on this matter.
The second link (from the American media) is not as gloomy as the first link (from the British media), but it is clear that this crisis must soon be resolved one way or the other. The price of extending this crisis endlessly will be ever greater chaos in the global financial markets and also in the geopolitics of the world.
As I read media reports on the Greek debt crisis, some say it is Greece that is overplaying its hand and others contend that the EU is pushing Greece too hard. I will make this personal observation. The Greek government at least was elected by its people with a mandate to stop any further financial concessions to the EU or Greece’s creditors. The leaders of the IMF, the EU central bank or other Greek creditors were elected by nobody. If Greece were to hold a new election, it is very possible (perhaps even likely) that Greece would end up with a government with an even harder line against any further economic concessions to Greece’s creditors. A Greek exit from the Eurozone is looking steadily more likely. As a sign that Greece may already be preparing for such an outcome, Greek Prime Minister Tsipras flew to Moscow for what appeared to be friendly talks with Vladimir Putin (third link)–who has already dangled a lucrative energy pipeline deal before the Greek government as a likely inducement for Greece to leave the Eurozone. The cited language of Greek Prime Minister Tsipras regarding his talks with Putin sound very warm, indeed.
If Greece leaves the Eurozone, Putin will not be a “White Knight” for Greece out of magnanimity. He will want some thing in return. A warm-water outlet for an energy pipeline is one thing. Another possibility is that Russia may ask for (and receive) Greek permission for Russian warships to have port privileges and replenishment visits at Greek ports. If I were Putin, I’d demand that as a condition for helping Greece. Russia’s naval base on Syria’s seacoast is looking ever more shaky as Assad, Russia’s ally, seems to be loosing his grip on Syria. If Russia loses its port rights in Syria, it will need new Mediterranean ports-of-call for its naval ships. Greek ports are very close to the Black Sea where Russia bases many of its naval ships, and would serve Russia’s needs very nicely. The European leaders need to think carefully before driving Greece out of the Eurozone by trying to cram too much financial sacrifice down Greek throats. Greek ties to NATO may also be weakened if it leaves the Eurozone and embraces Russia.
Next week should prove to be an interesting one in Europe. If the Greek bank runs intensify, currency controls will likely be imposed. If this happens, a Greek exit from the euro zone seems inevitable. What remains to be seen is whether it is an amicable divorce or a very messy one where Greece openly defaults on its debts and creditors all have to take a “haircut” on their loans to Greece.
From a biblical perspective, this Greek/Euro crisis is one more trauma that is assaulting the global financial system and sowing more instability into it. At some point, the global system will experience a melt-down, as prophesied in Revelation 17-18. We do not know what the precipitating factor will be or when it will occur, but as more blows hit the global financial system, its eventual meltdown draws nearer. It almost experienced a global meltdown in 2008. Seven years later, we now face another global financial crisis. Seven-year cycles are important in the Bible. Will 2015 witness major events that fulfill key biblical prophecies? I’d like to remind readers that Revelation 18:10 and 19 both state that the world’s global financial system will melt down in the latter days of our age “in one hour.” When God inspires something twice, he usually is doing so for emphasis. Ever since the Apostle John wrote down this vision of latter day events in the book of Revelation, Christians and biblical scholars alike thought the “one hour” terminology was merely metaphorical as it couldn’t literally happen. However, in our globally-linked digital world, one event can spiral out-of-control so quickly that all markets could experience a domino effect collapse that could literally happen “in one hour.” This is one more reason why biblical prophecy should be taken seriously. Only a Creator God who can foresee (and control) the future could have known that the end-time global financial system would be so digitally interlinked and interdependent that a global financial collapse could actually happen that fast. Mankind’s societies have caught up with biblical prophecy!
For more about what the Bible has to say about our global financial system and its prophesied future, please read my articles, The Babylonian Origin of the Modern Banking System, and Is Babylon the Great about to Fall…Ushering in a Global Beast System?
- http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jun/19/ecb-greek-banking-system-emergency-funding-greece-creditors-monday-meetings
- http://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/2015/06/19/analysts-have-seen-this-greek-movie-before/
- http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jun/19/greek-prime-minister-vladimir-putin-help-financial-crisis
