Many prophecy watchers believe that the time frame described in the Lord’s prophecy as, “a generation”, began when the modern state of Israel was established in 1948. This event is thought to be perhaps the most remarkable fulfillment of Biblical prophecy to ever come out of the pages of God’s word (Ezekiel, chapter 37). As we are incorrigible prophecy watchers, we expect terrible things to start happening at an accelerated pace around the world, like a swirling vortex of wickedness, and evil, and Israel will be at the eye of the storm. Yeshua's advise was to be as cautious as a serpent, and as innocent as a dove in these days of distress and affliction. Be strong, friends. Persevere in prayer. Pray for Israel, for Jerusalem, for the brothers and sisters around the world, and for the Kingdom to come.
People, worldwide, will be made fearful and afraid as they witness the evil that is overwhelming the world. They will understand, at the end, just how enormous, and how powerful the grip of Satanic evil and influence has always been on the world. Then the Lord Yeshua will return through the clouds in power and glory with all His army of angels. What we are being told through Scripture is, not to be fearful and afraid, but as we witness the increase of evil around the world, we should hold our heads up, knowing our salvation is near. When Yeshua arrives in glory, Satan’s grip will be crushed, and a new world will be ushered in under the auspices of the Kingdom of Heaven.
People will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken. At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” - Luke 21:26-28
the rise of super-human Artificial Intelligence
and how it relates to the prophecies of Revelation 13
Who will be governing all human activity in the near future? A person, a group of people, or a technological marvel?
Whatever the means of fulfillment of the prophecies in Revelation 13, one thing is certain: God will wrap up human history and establish His Kingdom exactly as He has promised. Unlike the short-lived kingdom of the Evil One, God’s Kingdom will be everlasting and the grand setting for our eternal reunion with Him.
All that God has planned and all that He has accomplished through His intervention in the affairs of the human race have been for one purpose: to bring us to Him. That is the single most important example of “connectivity” in the history of the universe. And that divine and eternal connection is the one that matters.
Craig L. Parshall is a Washington advisor, special counsel to the ACLJ, and best-selling novelist.
Christians should all be looking into some disturbing alternative interpretations of Biblical prophecies, especially in light of remarkable innovations quietly taking place in the fields of physics and technological engineering. Artificial intelligence has been a primary scientific pursuit for decades now. We've all heard of it, but don't really know much about the directions this research has been taking. If these scientific research advances relate to Biblical prophecy, then we should be aware, and worried.
Rev 13 actually makes a lot of sense if we view it as an allegorical description of the rise of Science and Technology.
Note that one of the dictionary definitions of 'technology' is “applied science.” That definition fits with Rev 13, because it is the second beast’s job to demonstrate the power of the first, by using that power to work many great signs. And that’s what modern technology does, demonstrating the great power of science, by using that power to work many great signs and wonders.
Households today, at least in the more advanced societies and cultures, embrace extraordinarily, the raw technological power they have at their fingertips. Does your smartphone become an object of adoration, an indispensable embodiment of science though you may not even realize the power it has over you?
However, we need not view technology exclusively as a wicked tool of the Devil. There is good reason to believe that God will provide for the needs of His people who refuse the mark of the Beast, just as He provided for the Hebrews during their Exodus from Egypt and their wanderings around the wilderness. In fact, technology can, and does play a powerful role in God’s redemptive plan for the human race, and in accomplishing the great commission of carrying the gospel of salvation to the ends of the earth.
On Friday, December 7, 2018, humanity reached two incredible technological turning points of history-making significance, simultaneously. As a result, our entire lives are about to change, though few people realize it.
First, some 3.9 billion people are now using the Internet, meaning that for the first time, more than half of the global population is online, according to the United Nations.
The second breakthrough, announced Friday, December 7, 2018, in Science Magazine, is how scientists have developed AI to the point of superhuman performance, showing human like intuition and consciousness. This was the first ever crossover between machine and human, achieved by DeepMind's artificial intelligence program, AlphaZero, which is now showing signs of human-like intuition and creativity. Developers have hailed these achivements as a 'turning point' in history.
Incidentally, London-based DeepMind is owned by Alphabet, Google’s parent company, which ostensibly created AlphaZero to play games on its own.
Some think the corner we are turning will lead us all to the end of humanity as we know it, as we will be digitized and pixelized, and absorbed into the singularity, or that as humans we will become servants and slaves of some wicked superintelligence. Some believe our 'conscious computers' are the End Time 'Beast' of the Book of Revelation.
Still, it must be noted that nearly half the world's population does not have high speed internet service. But they've been working on solving that gap. Total connectivity is a necessary component, if the Beast is going to control everything and everyone.
If the wicked superhuman system is going to play a part in the fulfillment of Revelation 13:14–15, then it will require a massive information-retrieval-and-storage capacity to track and manipulate the billions of people on the planet. We are rapidly approaching that point. In fact, we may have arrived there without knowing it.
Meanwhile, tech giants like Qualcomm and Cisco are trying to create a universal global standard (a “language”) to enable all digital devices to 'talk' to each other. Such a project has the potential to link together an ocean of digital receivers across the globe, such as automatic garage doors in homes, heating and air conditioning thermostats, lawn sprinklers, baby monitors, video games, personal vehicles and taxicabs, central offices’ building controls, restaurants and retail stores, as well as televisions, radios, cellphones, computers, and—of course—millions of security cameras around the world.
Elon Musk's Space X company has had a division called Starlink, that has been inserting hundreds of communications satellites into low earth orbit for years now. The satellites can actually be seen with the naked eye and have prompted many UFO sightings because they appear to be flying in formation. Starlink plans to put a total of 1500 of these into orbit to create the fastest and cheapest internet access the world has ever seen.
On top of that, a British competitor called OneWeb is also launching similar satellites, from a Cosmodrome in Kazahkstan with the intent of establishing a mega-constellation of 650 communications satellites with the same purpose of providing broad-band internet access to every part of the earth. They plan another 400 satellites to cover certain areas, completing the system.
Space X is already beta-testing their system in parts of North America. OneWeb expects by the end of 2021, that they will be able to begin commercial demonstrations.
Simply having the ability to marshal and control big data is not enough. The wicked super-human system must also possess a greatly enlarged ability to connect people, whereby they can collect data about them (such as their identities, locations, behavioral patterns, movements, shopping habits, and even water consumption), and then tie everything to a central portal. The World Wide Web is the perfect platform for the expanding universe of digital connections, it's just a matter of expanding broad-band internet access.
The above article certainly provides some food for thought. Some aspects of Revelation 13 would seem to fit the author's interpretations very neatly, others, not so much. Nonetheless, Revelation 13 remains the enigma it has always been, and Mr. Parshall's interpretation is as valid and compelling as any other we've heard, and we've heard just about all of them.
What we DO know is that the covid pandemic, global warming, widespread inflation, food shortages, the energy crises, and the coming economic reset are elements of disaster that are going to come together to bring the world to an existential precipice. These are signs of the 'End Times' which have already begun. These signs and more will be used in some coordinated way to marshal the forces of evil against the people of God in particular. The wounded Beast and the second Beast will be revealed in due time.
Consider this: The American Automobile Association [AAA] said in its letter to the FTC [Federal Trade Commission] that vehicles are rapidly becoming two-ton smart phones. The number of cars connected to the Internet will grow from less than 1 million in 2009 to an estimated 42 million by 2017, according to the letter. And that’s just vehicles. Millions of people connect through security cameras, home appliances, medical devices, and other products. The AAA wants to know who controls all that data. We all want to know.
