Our title for this message is Artificial Intelligence in Bible Prophecy.
There are rapid advances in Artificial Intelligence that are going to usher in radical changes to life as we know it. We have already experienced the prelude to this through the current computer revolution. In recent years the introduction of the Internet along with the proliferation of commuters has produced a world that looks and operates very different than it did few decades ago. iPhones and iPads are now in the hands of people in remote regions of the world. Toddles in our own households are using the technology as young as three and four years old. Most of my work is done on a computer. We already know how profoundly advances in technology can affect our lives.
Work behind the scenes on Artificial Intelligence or AI has been immense in recent years. The technology that is emerging will blow your mind. A couple of months ago, a company named OpenAI, founded by Elon Musk, released a sophisticated chatbox call ChatGPT. GPT stands for generative pre-trained transformer. It is “a program that can realistically write like a human.”i This is Cliff Notes on steroids. In her explanation of this technology,
Caitlyn Hart says, “GPT essentially searches a massive amount of written text by reading millions of articles and books online. It produces work that has perfect grammar, correct punctuation, and no spelling mistakes. After analyzing a text based on users’ input it then captures the style of writing for all new articles.
It will automatically plan sentences that will be followed by other paragraphs using advanced natural language processing techniques to complete the final product.”ii
I tried to test the technology this week, but the site is operating at capacity So I could not get into it. But Professor Christian Terwiesch tested it against the MBA entrance exam at the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School, and it passed the exam.iii Jordon Peterson recently shared his experience with the technology. He was alarmed by its current abilities and even more taken back by its potential for the near future. He provided ChatGPT with a couple of very difficult tasks. The chatbox completed each one in about three seconds. It is currently smarter than you and me, but in a couple of years it will be way smarter.iv
Imagine the impact this will have on the education system. How will it affect the way we work in the future? Who will control its power? This increases potential productivity, but it also presents new challenges. For example, it escalates the dangers of fake news exponentially. It’s influence on the way people think could be enormous. Hold onto your hat, for we are in for a ride during the next few years.
How do we respond to all this?
First, understand technology is morally neutral. A gun can be used to put food on the table or slaughter innocent people. A computer can be used to spread the gospel or spread hate. Nuclear power can be used to light up a city or annihilate its population. We should not withdraw from
technological advancements just because some people will use it in destructive ways. Instead, we should make the most of the opportunities it affords.v
As Christians, we are in the world but not of it. Our citizenship is in heaven. Our hearts are toward the Lord. We look for His return and the establishment of His rule over the earth.vi Many in the world are putting their faith in technological breakthroughs. Even now there are people trying to orchestrate their own resurrection through cryonics technology. “Cryonics is the practice of preserving human bodies in extremely cold temperatures with the hope of reviving them sometime in the future.”vii The sad thing about this deception is that it turns their attention from the One who is the resurrection and the life toward hopeless fantasies.viii
In John 17:15-16 Jesus prayed for His followers saying, “I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.”ix So, we are here to be salt and light to a lost world.x In biblical times, salt was primarily used to keep meat from rotting. To fulfil that function, it had to be rubbed into the meat as a preservative. Likewise, we are to be in the world retarding the moral corruption. We are to provide light and hope to those who live in spiritual darkness.
We stay engaged with the world no matter what technological develops come and go. We keep proclaiming the message of Christ because we are not willing that any would perish, but all would come to repentance (2 Pet. 3:9).
We do not fearfully retreat from society. God has not given us the spirit of fear or timidity. God has given us a spirit “of power and of love and of a sound mind” (2 Tim. 1:7). Proverbs 28:1 states it this way: “The wicked flee when no one pursues, But the righteous are bold as a lion.” As we discuss the challenges that new technology brings, we are not advocating a fearful, paranoid retreat. We advocate aggressive evangelism by whatever means are available.xi
I appreciate the sincere efforts of the Amish movement to be consecrated to the Lord. But their retreat from society has limited their influence. They shy away from the twentieth century automobile technology and use eighteenth century transportation. Rather than engaging the harvest field, they retreat from it. We don’t want to make that mistake in the twenty-first century.
So, how do we respond to a world where AI is smarter than we are? We get smarter! We learn to use the technology for the glory of God. My computer can already calculate numbers faster than I can and with greater accuracy. Even though I am sufficiently knowledgeable to prepare my income tax manually, I use TurboTax because it can calculate the numbers more accurately than I can. When I am publishing a book, I use software called Grammarly to find mistakes in the manuscript and correct them. We can use that same mindset to deal with future developments, even though the future developments will bring new challenges to our faith. We know that will happen by studying biblical prophecy.
In my book, Rapture or Tribulation, I listed ten indicators or signs that we are in the last of the last days. One of those indicators I entitled “Digital Tracking” with a reference to Revelation 13.xii
I want to explore that sign more fully today in the light of these recent technological developments.
How will the Antichrist use AI to control the masses? Biblical prophecy gives insight on the answer to that question. Follow with me as we read Revelation 13:11-18.
"Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon. 12 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, whose deadly wound was healed. 13 He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men. 14 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 who was wounded by the sword and lived. 15 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. 16 He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, 17 and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. 18 Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666."
Two individuals are prominent in the last days deception. The political leader that we usually refer to as the Antichrist and his False Prophet who is referred to in verse 11 as “another beast coming out of the earth.”xiii This False Prophet is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Verse 11 says “he had two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon.” Who is the dragon in biblical prophecy? Revelation 12:9 says it is Satan. This False Prophet presents himself as a lamb, “indicating his superficial gentleness.”xiv But he speaks “like a dragon.” He says what Satan wants him to say. He unifies and leads apostate religion. Under the banner of tolerance, he unites the false church with the false religions of the world. But once he and Antichrist are in power, he is anything but tolerant. Through deception and coercion, he will direct worship to “the man of sin,” the Antichrist.xv Revelation 13:12 tells us he “causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.”xvi The “first beast” is the political leader we know as the Antichrist.xvii
Notice in verse 11, the reference to the “deadly wound that was healed.” That takes us back to verse 3 in this chapter. After describing the Antichrist empire, John writes in verse 3: “And I saw one of his heads [this political leader is the Antichrist] as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world marveled and followed the beast.” There are various theories as to what this mortal wound is. It would take too much time to explore all the interpretations. But I understand it as a physical wounding of the individual political leader we call Antichrist. Perhaps it is an assassination attempt that looks to be fatal. In today’s satellite technology the whole world could see it happen live. I was a teenager when President Kennedy was assassinated. With our own eyes, saw his head explode when the bullet struck him. No one could survive a wound like that. Imagine the awe people would experience if he quickly and fully recovered from the wound. That gives us some idea of the event in Revelation 13:3.
The False Prophet capitalizes on the miraculous recovery as a validation of this man as “god’s” chosen leader. Imagine the wonder throughout the world as people watch Antichrist’s miraculous recovery. It is a counterfeit resurrection. He will present himself to the Jews as their long-awaited Messiah. He will be revered as the man capable of leading the world into a new age of global peace and prosperity.
The text does not say Antichrist will actually be dead. His wound is such that the world considers it fatal beyond any reasonable doubt. And the False Prophet uses this recovery to exalt Antichrist as the ordained world leader that everyone should not only submit to, but worship as well. When the assassination attempt on Hitler failed in 1944, he quickly went on public radio declaring his survival as a divine affirmation of his leadership destiny. In his speech he said, “‘I regard this as a confirmation of the task imposed upon me by Providence. . [T]he great cause which I serve will be brought through its present perils and…everything can be brought to a good end.’”xviii Antichrist will, of course, be even more articulate and convincing. Revelation 13:13-14 describes the deception by the False Prophet. He will perform amazing miracles. Perhaps one of those miracles is the healing of this deadly wound.xix
In verse 14 the “image of the beast” is introduced: “And he [False Prophet] 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 [Antichrist] who was wounded by the sword and lived.” This image will be an absolute marvel with all the latest technology. Verse 15 says, “He [False Prophet] was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast [Antichrist], 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.” How will this image be given breath? We are not told specifically, but it will likely be a combination of technology and manifestations of evil spirits.xx Verse 13 clearly indicates supernatural activity. But we’re talking about an “image.”
Prior to this, Antichrist will physically enter the temple and present himself as God. Second Thessalonians 2:4 says he will exalt 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.” This is the Abomination of Desolation prophesied in Daniel 9:27 and referred to by Jesus in Matthew 24:15.xxi The False Prophet will then set up this image in the temple for idolatrous worship.
This android of Antichrist will be astonishingly lifelike. It will not be an immobile, mute idol like those in the Old Testament.xxii It will come alive through deceiving spirits and advanced technology. It will exhibit all the wisdom Satan can give. Current technology already exceeds any one person’s intellectual capacity. But GPT advancements are in the works that will take this to a whole new level. The False Prophet will harness all these abilities in the design of this android image of Antichrist. Imagine the capacity of this android to solve problems presented to it. You and I go to God for answers to our problems. But the False Prophet will direct people to this android for answers. Imagine the potential for shaping people’s world view and propagating lies and deception.xxiii
Notice also in the text how the Antichrist and False Prophet will control the masses. Revelation 13:15 says the False Prophet will “cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed.” Failure to give due respect to this android will be punishable by death. How will Antichrist identify these people. Digital tracking will enable him to monitor people’s every move throughout the world and identify those who are not cooperating.xxiv Prior to the development of the computer, that scale of control was impossible.
The manner of death is revealed in Revelation 20:4 where John wrote, “Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.” We find in that verse information for how this control will be managed. People will be compelled to have Antichrist’s “mark on their foreheads or on their hands.” The reference to the forehead or hand may indicate the type of work assigned to the person. This verse affirms Revelation 13:16: “He [False Prophet] causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads.” No one is exempt: rich or poor.
This “mark of the beast” will be the key to Antichrist’s tracking and controlling the population. Without it, a person cannot buy nor sell. Without one’s family will starve to death. Without it you can’t get a job. Without it the electronics on your car will be neutralized. Without it your Internet connection will be cut off. It is total control: control only possible through digital tracking.
Revelation 13:18 gives one more piece of information that has mystified scholars for centuries. “Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666.” Guesses as to exactly what that means are innumerable. However, we are given this important clue in the text: “it is the number of a man.”xxv Six is the number of man. Man was created on the sixth day. Six falls one short of the perfect seven. Here we have a trinity of sixes, 666: six raised through three decimal points, six ones, six tens, and six hundreds. I agree with Criswell’s assessment of this. He writes, “This beast, in his number, represents the ultimate of all human ingenuity and competence. The most mankind will ever be able to attain to is beneath the perfect seven always, always a six.”xxvi
Globalists are promising to produce a utopia though advanced technology and world cooperation. Some of their ideals are appealing. But biblical prophecy tells us they will fall short of those ideals. It will never be a seven, even if it reaches the pinnacle of human achievement. In fact, their best achievements will be seized by an evil dictator, the Antichrist. It will all be used to control humanity and demand worship of Satan’s representative.
Globalists cannot understand why Bible-believing Christians don’t get on board with their agenda. Their ideals seem so reasonable. But we know, through biblical revelation, something they refuse to recognize. Their agenda will ultimately lead to disaster—not because technology is evil, but because evil men will use it to work evil. One lesson that is loud and clear throughout the history is this: “Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”xxvii Both history and biblical prophecy cautions us about unreserved trust in man.
The founding fathers of this country understood this. That’s why they established three branches of government designed to serve a checks and balances on one another. That’s one reason they maintained state’s rights in the constitution. That’s why they added a Bill of Rights to the constitution. The Bill of Rights are design to restrain governmental control and abuse. Freedom of speech is in the first amendment to keep those in power from silencing those who disagree with them. The right to bear arms is in the second amendment to give power to the people so that their own government does not oppress them. The second amendment is not there so that people can hunt game. That was assumed. The second amendment was in response to the oppression they had experienced from selfish governmental leadership in England.
The False Prophet may present himself as a lamb, but he has the heart of a dragon. He will use his power to control you. He will promise you provision, but it is the enticement of a trap designed to capture you and use you. “A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take from you everything you have.”xxviii Thomas Jefferson issued this caution: “Experience has shewn, that even under the best forms of government those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny.”xxix “It is better to trust in the Lord,” according to Psalm 118, “Than to put confidence in man. 9 It is better to trust in the Lord Than to put confidence in princes.”xxx
Therefore, knowing all this, we support limited government. We support the Bill of Rights in our constitution. We are thankful for the balance of power through three branches of our federal government and the maintenance of state’s rights.
Concerning advances in technology, we are cautiously optimistic. We do not retreat from these capacities. Instead, we use them to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ. Technology is morally neutral. But we know from biblical prophecy that evil forces will ultimately use that technology for sinister purposes and for control of the population.
Therefore, we remain watchful. And we diligently affirm our trust in and allegiance to Christ. Any ideology that undermines or challenges that allegiance will be resisted, even unto martyrdom.xxxi We are loyal, law-abiding citizens.xxxii But any law that compels us to disobey God, we will not obey. Peter stated this clearly in Acts 4:19-20: “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge. 20 For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.” Our voice will not be silenced. Jesus is Lord, and there is salvation in no other name.xxxiii
ENDNOTES:
i Caitlyn Hart, “What does GPT stand for in ChatGPT, the viral AI writing bot?” The Focus. Accessed at https://www.thefocus.news/tech/what-does-gpt-stand-for-in-chatgpt-the-viral-ai-writing-bot/.
ii Caitlyn Hart, “What does GPT stand for in ChatGPT, the viral AI writing bot?”
iii Samuel Nwite, “ChatGPT Passes An MBA Exam Set by A Wharton Professor,” Tekedia. Accessed at https://www.tekedia.com/chatgpt-passes-an-mba-exam-set-by-a-wharton-professor/.
iv Jordon Peterson, “AI Will Take Over and This Is Just the Beginning,” Jordon Peterson YouTube Channel. Accessed at https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=Jordan+Peterson+Channel&&view=detail&mid=BEE907C3FE1A738F1627BEE907C3FE1A738F1627&&FORM=VRDGAR&ru=%2Fvideos%2Fsearch%3Fq%3DJordan%2BPeterson%2BChannel%26FORM%3DRESTAB.
v Cf. Eph. 5:16 NIV.
vi Cf. Phil. 3:20; Heb. 9:28; 2 Pet. 3:13.
vii Stephanie Watson, “How Cryonics Works,” HowStuffWorks. Accessed at https://science.howstuffworks.com/life/genetic/cryonics1.htm.
viii Cf. John 11:25.
ix All Scripture quotes are from the New King James Version unless indicated otherwise.
x Matt. 5:13-16.
xi Cf. 1 Cor. 9:22.
xii Richard W. Tow, Rapture or Tribulation: Will Christians Go Through the Coming Tribulation (Bloomington, IN: WestBow Press, 2022), xi-xii.
xiii These two individuals are seen again along with Satan as the unholy trinity in Rev. 16:13. See also Rev. 19:20 and 20:10.
xiv Daniel Green, “Revelation” in The Moody Bible Commentary, M. Rydelnic and M. Vanlaningham, eds. (Chicago: Moody Publishers, 2014), 2016. This lamb only has two horns. Criswell writes, “The real lamb of God has seven horns, the plentitude of the fulness and power of the Almighty [Rev. 5:6].” W. A. Criswell, Expository Sermons on Revelation: Five Volumes Complete and Unabridged in One, Vol. 4 (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1966), 118.
xv Cf. 2 Thess. 2:3.
xvi References to earth-dwellers in this passage is probably in contrast to those whose citizenship is in heaven (Phil. 3:20). Of course, they physically dwell on the earth at this time, but there is probably a hint that they have no heavenly citizenship. Criswell’s understanding of the sea in Rev. 13:1 representing “social chaos and revolution” and the earth in 13:11 as representing “established civil order” should be given serious consideration. This False Prophet will arise out of apostate religious order in my opinion. W. A. Criswell, Expository Sermons on Revelation: Five Volumes Complete and Unabridged in One, Vol. 4 (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1966), 114-115.
xvii Cf. Daniel 7:8; 9:26; 11:36.
xviii “Assassination plot against Hitler fails,” History. Accessed at https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/assassination-plot-against-hitler-fails.
xix Cf. Matt. 24:24; 2 Thess. 2:1-12.
xx Since we are not specifically told how “breath” will be given to this image, we cannot be dogmatic about our interpretation of this. However, it is reasonable to project the use of technology in the process and reasonable to perceive it as lifelike.
xxi See Tow, Rapture or Tribulation, 151-153.
xxii Cf. Deut. 4:28; Ps. 115:4-7; 135:15-17.
xxiii Cf. 2 Thess. 2:11.
xxiv The ability to track activity through cell phones, computer trails, and closed circuit TV is already quite amazing.
xxv Since no article is attached to anthropou (man), translators insert “a” in their translation, but there is no “a” in the Greek, just the absence of the definite article, “the.”
xxvi W. A. Criswell, Expository Sermons on Revelation: Five Volumes Complete and Unabridged in One, Vol. 4 (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1966), 122.
xxvii Lord Acton, The Phrase Finder. Accessed at https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/absolute-power-corrupts-absolutely.html.
xxviii Gerald Ford, “Gerald R. Ford Quotes,” Brainy Quotes. Accessed at https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/gerald_r_ford_113300.
xxix Thomas Jefferson, “Thomas Jefferson Quotes About Limited Government,” AZ Quotes. Accessed at https://www.azquotes.com/author/7392-Thomas_Jefferson/tag/limited-government.
xxx Cf. John 2:24-25.
xxxi Of course, we know that our ability to follow through with this conviction is entirely dependent on the grace of God. Cf. Deut. 33:25; John 15:5; 2 Cor. 9:8.
xxxii Cf. Rom. 13.
xxxiii Mark 16:15; Acts 4:12.
