Prophecy Update #799 – O Knows

We reserve a few minutes Sunday morning to suggest news, or trends, that seem to be predicted by a futurist reading of the Bible.

We are careful to use recognized, reliable sources for news.

We’re not saying the things we report are the definite fulfillment of prophecy – only that they are things you’d expect based on the Bible’s predictions.

One of the most intriguing predictions found in the Book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ has to do with a “statue” that “comes to life.” I’ll read it to you, but first we need to meet two people associated with it:

1. In the Revelation, the world leader we commonly call the antichrist is called the “Beast.” In the passage I’m going to read, he is the First Beast.
2. The antichrist has an associate who is a false prophet capable of doing signs and wonders. He is called the Second Beast.

“Then I saw [a second] beast coming up out of the Earth… And he exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence, and causes the Earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast… He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire

come down from heaven on the Earth in the sight of men. And he deceives those who dwell on the Earth – by those signs which he was granted to do in the sight of the beast, telling those who dwell on the Earth to make an image to the beast… He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed” (Revelation 13:11-15).

Until very recently, futurists had almost no idea what this image might be, or how it could be given breath, or how it kills anyone who won’t worship it.

Today it isn’t so difficult to see this as a form of advanced Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Wait. Who would worship it? I know someone. The title of a recent article was, Oprah says we should “honor” and “have a reverence” toward artificial intelligence in new special with Bill Gates.

New-age guru Oprah has found another deity worthy of reverence! “I don’t think we should be scared. I think we should be disciplined and we should honor it and have a reverence for what is to come, and respect.” She’s talking about Artificial Intelligence. She wants us, as humanity, to honor and revere this algorithm as if it’s something we didn’t create. As if it’s an entity outside of humanity. Oprah, being a devotee of New Age mysticism, synced this belief with Yin and Yang symbolism to describe the new deity.

“Because I think it’s going to change in ways that are unimaginable for the good, and just as there is for the good, there’s the yin and yang of everything…”

Guests included OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, tech influencer Marques Brownlee, and current FBI director Christopher Wray.^[1]

I watched the program. It’s insulting because she acts like it frightens her, but you can tell it’s propaganda. By the end, she has assuaged any fears you might have.

It is a case of worshipping the creature rather than the Creator. People are being prepped for it.

There is a lot of stage-setting going on in terms of the Bible’s prophecies. Things like global government, global commerce, a personal ‘mark,’ social credit, apostasy in the church, the exponential growth of human knowledge, the elimination of cash, etc.

Most significantly, the Bible predicted that the nation of Israel would be born in a day, that Jews would return there from their dispersion all over the Earth, and that Jerusalem would be at the very heart of global tension until every nation stands against her & God intervenes to save her.

The unfulfilled prophecies in the Bible will be fulfilled to the letter. We are most definitely seeing the stage being set for the 2^nd Coming of Jesus.

Jesus promised to resurrect & rapture His Church. He said, in fact He promised, that He would do it before His Second Coming, and before a time of Great Tribulation would come upon the whole Earth.^[2]

The resurrection and rapture of the church is presented as an imminent event. It could happen anytime. Right now, for example.

Are you ready for the rapture? If not, get ready, stay ready, and keep looking up.

Ready or not Jesus is coming! 

Prophecy Update #798 – The Robots Are Coming! The Robots Are Coming!

We reserve a few minutes to discuss current trends that you’d expect from reading Bible prophecy.

We are futurists. We interpret all unfulfilled prophetic passages as future events that will occur in a literal, physical, apocalyptic, and global context.

Biometrics, Artificial Intelligence, cashless commerce, the manipulation of human DNA, global government, instantaneous global communication, the exponential growth of human knowledge, and the movement to rebuild a Temple on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. These are predicted in the Bible and unfolding as never before.

A decade or so ago, if someone had asked you what or who is going to power the Image of the Beast spoken of in the Book of the Revelation, you’d have been at a loss for words. You can answer that same question today with two letters: AI (for artificial intelligence).

At years end 2023, Forbes Magazine published a list of predictions about what the world of artificial intelligence will look like in the year 2030.

1. We will interact with a wide range of AIs in our daily lives as naturally as we interact with other humans today. We will use AIs as our personal assistants, our tutors, our career counselors, our therapists, our accountants, our lawyers. They will be ubiquitous in our work lives: conducting analyses, writing code, building products, selling products, supporting customers, coordinating across teams and organizations, making strategic decisions. And yes – it will be commonplace for humans to have AIs as significant others.
2. Over one hundred thousand humanoid robots will be deployed in the real world.bringing cutting-edge AI into the real world is the next great frontier for artificial intelligence.
3. AI-driven job loss will be one of the most widely discussed political and social issues. Before the decade is out, AI-driven job loss will be a concrete and pressing reality in everyday citizens’ lives. In the years ahead, organizations will find that they can boost profitability and productivity by using AI to complete more and more work that previously required humans. This will happen across industries and pay grades: from customer service agents to accountants, from data scientists to cashiers, from lawyers to security guards, from court reporters to pathologists, from taxi drivers to management consultants, from journalists to musicians.^[1]

“Gentlemen, we can build them. We have the technology. They will be like man, only better than he was before. Better… stronger… faster.”

We cannot saying 100% that AI is what will empower the Image of the Beast and do many other things for the antichrist. But it could in ways that we never dreamed of even a decade ago.

Whether it is AI or something else, the stage is being set for a global government, a global economy, and even a global religion that worships the antichrist.

We live in the Church Age. It began on the day of Pentecost fifty days after Jesus Christ rose from the dead. It precedes the Time of Jacob’s Trouble, more commonly known as the seven-year Great Tribulation.

The Tribulation will not begin until something fantastic happens. The Lord said He would return for us, the Church, raising the dead in Christ, then catching up (rapturing) believers who are alive when He comes.

Jesus promised His Church Age believers, “I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth” (Revelation 3:10).

The resurrection and rapture of the church is always imminent. It could happen any moment; nothing needs to happen before it.

Are you ready for the rapture? If not, Get ready; Stay ready; Keep looking up.

Ready or not, Jesus is coming!

Prophecy Update #797 – ACU OMG

We reserve a few minutes to discuss current trends that you’d expect from reading Bible prophecy.

We are futurists. We interpret all unfulfilled prophetic passages as future events that will occur in a literal, physical, apocalyptic, and global context.

Biometrics, Artificial Intelligence, cashless commerce, the manipulation of human DNA, global government, instantaneous global communication, the exponential growth of human knowledge, and the movement to rebuild a Temple on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. These are predicted in the Bible and unfolding as never before.

We are also warned of a deliberate falling away from the faith.

One of the prophecy sites I use explains it this way:

The “great apostasy” is mentioned in Second Thessalonians 2:3. The KJV calls it the “falling away,” while the NIV and ESV call it “the rebellion.” And that’s what apostasy is: a rebellion, an abandonment of the truth. The End Times will include a wholesale rejection of God’s revelation, a further “falling away” of an already fallen world.

Arizona Christian University conducts an annual worldview survey among incoming freshmen and other respondents. The 2023 study documented significant declines among born-again Christians, indicating that a Biblical worldview does not inform their actions or decisions.

A few of the alarming survey results:

• Of American adult “born-again Christians,” only 13% hold a consistently Biblical worldview.
• While 22% of preteens’ parents are born-again Christians, only 8% of the teens themselves hold a Biblical worldview.
• About 1% of preteens have a Biblical worldview.
• Of young teens, only 36% believe God exists and is the all-knowing, all-powerful Creator of the universe.
• 61% either accept Jesus Christ sinned while He was on Earth or believe it’s possible.
• The majority think there are no absolute, objective truths, or can’t apply a Biblical worldview to their decisions.
• 21% of born-again teens believe they will live with God in eternity because of a personal decision to trust Christ, but nearly double that believe in reincarnation.
• Roughly 25% of parents of preteens relegate to their churches the responsibility of instilling a Christian worldview in their children.

• Only 51% of senior pastors have a consistently Biblical worldview.
• Less than 30% of associate pastors hold a consistently Biblical viewpoint.
• Only 13% of teaching pastors hold a Biblical worldview.
• Of youth pastors, only 12% have a consistently Biblical viewpoint.

The research shows churches, pastors, and youth leaders are increasingly unreliable for truly Biblical discipleship.^[1]

We live in the Church Age. It began on the day of Pentecost fifty days after Jesus Christ rose from the dead. It precedes the Time of Jacob’s Trouble, more commonly known as the seven-year Great Tribulation.

The Tribulation will not begin until something fantastic happens. The Lord said He would return for us, the Church, raising the dead in Christ, then catching up (rapturing) believers who are alive when He comes.

Jesus promised His Church Age believers, “I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth” (Revelation 3:10).

The resurrection and rapture of the church is always imminent. It could happen any moment; nothing needs to happen before it.

Are you ready for the rapture? If not, Get ready; Stay ready; Keep looking up.

Ready or not, Jesus is coming!

Prophecy Update #796 – Face Finger

We reserve a few minutes to discuss current trends that you’d expect from reading Bible prophecy.

We are futurists. We interpret all unfulfilled prophetic passages as future events that will occur in a literal, physical, apocalyptic, and global context.

Biometrics, Artificial Intelligence, cashless commerce, the manipulation of human DNA, global government, instantaneous global communication, and the exponential growth of human knowledge, and the movement to rebuild a Temple on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. These are predicted in the Bible and unfolding as never before.

Technological advances interest us because the Book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ predicts global government whose economy and services will be accessed by a personal identifier. This identifier, on the forehead or hand, will be necessary for a citizen to purchase anything, and to participate in society.

Once considered fanciful – that system could be implemented right now.

Just when I thought we had covered everything biometric, I discovered something called UID. It stands for Unique Identity Number and is utilized in India.

It is a 12-digit unique identity number that can be obtained voluntarily by all residents of India, based on their biometrics (10 finger prints, 2 iris prints and photo of face) and demographic data. The data is collected by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI).

It is the world’s largest biometric ID system. World Bank Chief Economist Paul Romer described it as “the most sophisticated ID program in the world.”

If you receive Social Security and have recently tried to log-in to the website, you’ve discovered that they are requiring you to get either ID.Me or LogIn.gov.

I’m not saying UID or ID.Me or LogIn.gov is the Mark of the Beast. It is amazing that the Bible predicted a forehead/hand system of global commerce, and we have the tech to do it.

We live in the Church Age. It began on the day of Pentecost fifty days after Jesus Christ rose from the dead. It precedes the Time of Jacob’s Trouble, more commonly known as the seven-year Great Tribulation.

The Tribulation will not begin until something fantastic happens. The Lord said He would return for us, the Church, raising the dead in Christ, then catching up (rapturing) believers who are alive when He comes. He promised His Church Age believers, “I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth” (Revelation 3:10).

The resurrection and rapture of the church is always imminent. It could happen any moment; nothing needs to happen before it.

Are you ready for the rapture? If not, Get ready; Stay ready; Keep looking up.

Ready or not, Jesus is coming!

Prophecy Update #795 – Soul Wars

We reserve a few minutes to discuss current trends that you’d expect from reading Bible prophecy.

We are futurists. We interpret all unfulfilled prophetic passages as future events that will occur in a literal, physical, apocalyptic, and global context.

Biometrics, Artificial Intelligence, cashless commerce, the manipulation of human DNA, global government, instantaneous global communication, and the exponential growth of human knowledge, are End Times phenomena the Bible predicts.

All of these are increasingly trending in the news.

By far the major subject in Bible prophecy is the nation of Israel.

• The Bible accurately predicted that the nation would be scattered all over the world.
• It accurately predicted that the Jews would be regathered to their homeland.
• It predicted Israel would be “born in a day,” which it was on May 14, 1948.
• It predicted Jerusalem would be a burden upon all the nations of the world, and it has been for 76yrs.
• Jesus told His followers there would constantly be wars & rumors of wars.

As Israel fights Hamas, Hezbollah, and eventually Iran, there is an intensifying supernatural war… for souls.

Journalist Michael Faust of crosswalk.com posted an article titled, 200 Muslims in Gaza Reportedly Accept Christ after Seeing Him in ‘Visions and Dreams.’

Taysir Saada, a Muslim-turned-Christian who authored the book Once an Arafat Man, recounted the incredible story in an interview with CBN, saying he believes God is on the move in Gaza amidst war with Israel. Saada once was an aide to Palestinian leader Yassir Arafat. Saada also was a sniper for the PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization).

“About 200 Gazans gave their heart to Jesus in one lump sum because the Lord appeared to them in visions and dreams and they were hugging each other and, you know, rejoicing and realized that all of them had the same vision that each one of them had,” Saada told CBN.^[1]

Joel Rosenberg is a trustworthy resource. He reports that millions of Iranian Muslims are converting to Christianity.

The Middle East is not the only front in the spiritual war. There are counter-attacks. A Morocco World News headline read, Rate of Islam Conversion in Europe Up 400% Since Start of Israel’s Massacres on Gaza.

Researchers predict Muslims will become the majority in Sweden, France, and Greece within a century from now, with other European countries following suit by 2200.^[2]

Studies estimate about 30,000 converting to Islam annually in the United States. According to The New York Times, an estimated 25% of American Muslims are converts.

We live in the Church Age. It began on the day of Pentecost fifty days after Jesus Christ rose from the dead. It precedes the Time of Jacob’s Trouble, more commonly known as the seven-year Great Tribulation.

The Tribulation will not begin until something fantastic happens. The Lord said He would return for us, the Church, raising the dead in Christ, then catching up (rapturing) believers who are alive when He comes. He promised His Church Age believers, “I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth” (Revelation 3:10).

The resurrection and rapture of the church is always imminent. It could happen any moment; nothing needs to happen before it.

Are you ready for the rapture? If not, Get ready; Stay ready; Keep looking up.

Ready or not, Jesus is coming!

Prophecy Update #794 – This Mount Is My Mount

October 7, 2023. Hamas massacred Israeli’s in a bold sneak attack.

October 9, 2023. Israel declared war on Hamas.

None of the major news outlets understand the true cause of the fighting.

Ismail Haniyeh is the political leader of the Hamas terrorists. In May of 2021 Hamas launched rockets in retaliation for Israeli security forces entering the Al Aqsa Mosque after Palestinians threw stones and other objects at them. Hamas opposes any changes to the status quo at Jerusalem’s Temple Mount. One article noted. “The compound, which sits atop the Old City plateau known to Muslims as al-Haram al-Sharif, or The Noble Sanctuary, and to Jews as Temple Mount, is the most sensitive site in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The current war was started by Hamas in response to the arrival of the red heifers. These exceedingly rare animals are needed to establish worship on the Temple Mount. In January, 2024, a Hamas spokesman specifically identified the red heifers as proof Israel would soon try to destroy the Mosque & other Islamic buildings.

Control of the Temple Mount must always be kept in mind when discussing these conflicts and wars. The Jews want to build their Temple. The Arabs believe the site to be theirs, and that Israel has plans to destroy their mosques & buildings.

We find this more than interesting because a Temple will exist in Jerusalem during the Great Tribulation. In fact, a critical moment in the Tribulation must happen in the holy place of the Temple.

• Daniel prophesied about it in the 6^th century BC.
• Jesus acknowledged Daniel’s prophecy in the first century AD.

We live in the Church Age. It began on the day of Pentecost fifty days after Jesus Christ rose from the dead. It precedes the Time of Jacob’s Trouble, more commonly known as the seven-year Great Tribulation.

The Tribulation will not begin until something fantastic happens. The Lord said He would return for us, the Church, raising the dead in Christ, then catching up (rapturing) believers who are alive when He comes. He promised His Church Age believers, “I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth” (Revelation 3:10).

The resurrection and rapture of the church is always imminent. It could happen any moment; nothing needs to happen before it.

Are you ready for the rapture? If not, Get ready; Stay ready; Keep looking up.

Ready or not, Jesus is coming!