Will 2024 Elections Change the World?

The 2024 calendar year will see a record number of national and parliamentary elections, with nearly half the world’s population, 3.8 billion people, theoretically going to the polls to vote for new leaders (January 1, 2024). As Nicholas Vinocur notes in an article for Politico, “Indeed, from the United States to the U.K. and European Union, from India to Mexico, and from Taiwan to Indonesia, some of the world’s most strategically important countries will hold elections this year.”

Many analysts fear that the results of this year’s elections could shift the world away from democracy and toward more authoritarianism. Dictators will likely remain and Europe could see a hard-right shift. While far-right candidates in the EU may not have enough support to take many high-level positions, their growing numbers will affect Europe’s laws and decisions. Many fear new leaders will reduce the power of the courts and silence the independent press. As a Georgetown University professor lamented in the Politico article, “Democracy is being challenged everywhere—not just in places that rank poorly on surveys of democratic values, but also in established democracies like the United States and the European Union.” A professor of EU law at HEC Business School in France observed, “This could be the year when we see the breakdown of the rules-based order.”

The book of Revelation describes the future rise of a European dictator known as “the beast,” who will eventually lead a configuration of ten nations or leaders in Europe just prior to the return of Jesus Christ. This coming “beast” will be backed by a powerful religious leader, “the false prophet”—an individual the Apostle Paul says “opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God” (2 Thessalonians 2:4). The 2024 elections could be a prelude to significant changes in global politics that may help to set the stage for such dramatic events. The wise will be watching. To learn how the Bible can help you identify this future dictator, watch “Seven Signs of the Beast.”