Here's my take on it:
At the 'I' level we all call ourselves individuals, but we're not. We are each a massive colony of cells, a supercity if you like, living together in harmony. The lifeforce of all of those cells comes together to create a spark, which in turn creates a hive mind - your mind - which is the realisation of trillions of little cells.
When a group of human individuals comes together with like mind and purpose, and works in harmony guess what? A different type of hive mind forms. In all of god's creation there are trillions of lifeforms, human, insect, mammal, fish, etc. The moment we stop being divided and come together as one, with a single purpose and vision - that's when the Great Awakening happens.
I don't know what the critical mass is - it might be millions or hundreds of millions - but there is a figure, almost certainly a prime number, and once that number of individuals awake, the hive mind will wake too. From here it will spread out like a mass hallucination, engulfing everyone and everything alive.
This is what they fear, because the moment we speak with god all at once, without middlemen and without fear, their world is done.
It's over.
I think a gate opened in the stars at the winter solstice 6 years ago, and ((they)) decided to keep it all to themselves, and not share with the rest of humanity. The Great Awakening is about taking back our destiny and becoming who we are meant to be.