The End Times Sign of Technology
>>[music] >>Hello! I'm Nathan Jones, Internet Evangelist here at Lamb & Lion Ministries, and your host. How do we know the end times are upon us and that Jesus Christ is returning soon? One of the surest ways we can know is through the incredible end times sign of technology. God has revealed in the Bible that when certain centuries-old prophecies concerning future technology, especially those technologies that greatly increase knowledge and travel, become a part of everyday life, then the final days of this age leading up to Christ's Millennial Kingdom will have at last come upon us. The long-ago prophesied technologies that we today now take for granted prove that Jesus is returning soon. Let's explore just nine of the end times signs related to technology foretold in the Bible. All of this and more, coming up! >>[music] Before we take a look into this jaw-dropping end times sign, let me first ask you a question. How do you feel personally about
technology? Do you love technology, and so consider yourself a technophile, or hate it, and are proud of the label technophobe? Or, are you just floating in blissful ambivalence somewhere in the middle of the love-to-hate technology scale? >>[music] For those who dislike technology, or at least keep a wary eye upon it, you probably have some very good reasons for why you feel the way you do. When struggling to operate the latest and greatest gizmo, maybe the experience of merely turning it on leaves you feeling frustrated. We've all felt frustrated using some new piece of tech, and also felt so much better after hurling the device against the wall. Maybe the nerd factor keeps you at a distance. You avoid Best Buys at all cost,
worried that upon entering you'll be transformed into the next Steve Urkel. Who would ever want to end up as a social stigma in suspenders? Or, maybe you fear that technology will eventually become so advanced that it will evolve, and once it reaches self-awareness, will seek to destroy all of humanity with an army of glowing-eyed, Schwarzenegger-like Terminators. Why take the chance of our own creations rebelling against us just as we have been doing with God? Or, maybe in the process of assimilating all of this tech into our lives, and even into our bodies, we worry that we will lose our humanity and become more Borg than organism. For those who love technology, I
believe the real reason that we have created so many new devices is because we like to find creative ways to torment our pets. It's true! Who hasn't turned on their vacuum cleaner and received a good laugh out of watching the dog bolt for cover? Or, gotten some kind of demented glee out of watching their cat frantically chase the penlight's beam zigzagging around the carpet? Or, chuckled as your fish took a ride up the bubble stream glugging out of the tank's treasure chest? Or, taken your wiener dog scuba diving? Well, maybe not that. With all of our human ingenuity, you'd think we'd at least use our creativity for more constructive purposes, but alas, for all our creative genius we humans tend to misuse our ingenuity more than we use it. We create many of our new technologies in the name of convenience, but in the end, they often end up making us look quite silly. Who in a public bathroom hasn't waved their dripping hands in front of an automatic dispenser and had the device mock us by refusing to eject a paper towel? Or, cursed your leaf blower for blowing leaves from one side of your yard back to the same spot again? Or, spent every Christmas Eve untangling a Gordian knot forged out of those little blinking tree lights? Or, had your smart phone's autocorrect wish your spouse, "Happy birthday, dead husband"? Or, when mounting lasers to the heads of sharks? Well, maybe not the last one either, but you get the point. Rooms full of
corporate gadget makers have long been belly laughing at our expense. Where do I personally fall on the love-to-hate technology scale? I made it through college on a typewriter, even though a fully-equipped computer lab lay at my disposal. But, then, I got over my reticence and devoted my early career to being a Web developer and designer. And, now as an Internet and television evangelist, I've embraced the tremendous benefits of our modern-day communications technology because it provides unlimited possibilities in sharing the Gospel with the world. I may not be the first in line to shell out obscene amounts of money for the latest iPhone, but then, neither am I the last. A simple Appalachian cabin would suit me fine, just as long as a wireless connection to my Netflix account was readily available. I'd imagine
most of us fall along that point on the scale. >>[music] >>Before moving any further into our look at how today's technology heralds the end times, we first need to define terms, because you are going to hear the word "technology" a whole lot here. The Greek word tekhnologia provides the root for where we get our English word "technology," meaning "the systematic treatment of art and skill." The Science Dictionary clarifies Aristotle's nebulous definition with "the use of scientific knowledge to solve practical problems." But, is science
absolutely necessary to solve our problems? Maybe technology is more about "the practical application of knowledge." That's a pretty good definition. Or, how about this one? "The sum of the ways in which social groups provide themselves with material objects of their civilization." I believe these curious definitions tend to beat around the bush, and so I'm going to give you my own definition of what technology is: "Applying what you know to fix problems and make stuff." Technology, therefore, is not just the gizmos and gadgets we make, but the technical skills and creativity it initially takes to invent and forge these tools.
>>[music] >>So, technology does what again? It fixes problems and it makes stuff. For those who dislike technology, fixing problems and making stuff isn't so bad, right? Right, because I am now going to prove that technology can certainly be a good thing. After all, do you know where knowledge and the wisdom to properly wield technology actually comes from? It originates directly from God Almighty. Job once asked, "Can
anyone teach God knowledge?" The obvious answer is no; no one can teach an all-knowing God. Job later referred to God as, "Him who is perfect in knowledge." That means that God is, absolute, flawless, and perfect. He is the ultimate in knowing all things. He even knows all things down to the tiniest minutia, such as the number of hairs on each of our heads. The prophet Isaiah also asked such similar rhetorical questions: >>[music] >>"With whom did He take counsel, and who instructed Him, and taught Him in the path of justice? Who taught Him knowledge, and showed Him the way of understanding?" Nobody! God is the Author and the Creator. All that ever was to be
known, is known, or will be known has been authored by God. To have real knowledge then means to know what God already knows. You can understand then why the Apostle Paul cried out: >>"Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!" >>That means that everything that mankind has ever known has originated from God. That also means that when we
finally get to Heaven and live with our omniscient Savior forever and ever, we will also continually learn forever and ever. We will never catch up to what God already knows because what He knows is infinite. Isn't that exciting? Christians will have an eternity of learning and growing ahead of us. >>[music] >>Not only is God the source of knowledge, but He is also the keeper of knowledge. The Proverbs reveal that: >>"The eyes of the Lord preserve knowledge." >>In other words, God protects knowledge as if it were a commodity. Paul explained
the reason as, "in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." God sees both wisdom and knowledge as actual treasure. And, He doles out those treasures as He sees fit, keeping the keys to certain scientific breakthroughs hidden until He wants mankind to at last discover them. Bear in mind that wisdom, like technology, is simply the practical application of knowledge. Therefore, God as the keeper of wisdom is,
therefore, also the keeper of technology. >>[music] >>God may be the source and the keeper of knowledge, but He's also generous in sharing what He knows. God then becomes the provider of knowledge, and so therefore technology. That means that all those technologies that mankind has invented and taken credit for, well, it can be argued that they in truth came from the very mind of God, the Provider, when He saw fit to release that knowledge. The Proverbs teach that: >>"For the Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth comes knowledge and understanding." >>When E.F. Hutton talks, people listen, but
every time God talks, we learn something eternal. That's why it's so important that we read God's Word. The author of Ecclesiastes wrote: >>"For God gives wisdom and knowledge and joy to a man who is good in His sight." >>And, how are we good in His sight? How do we please God? By doing His will for, "Whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight."
That the all-knowing God of the universe is the source, keeper, and provider of all knowledge is, to quote Donald Trump: >>Sometimes they say huge. >>It's so huge, in fact, that I must stop for a second and point this out again, for I'm going to keep making the argument that the technology that we have today was given to us by God only when He saw fit to give it to us. Former President Obama once accused our nation's companies saying: >>"You didn't build that. Somebody else made that happen." >>He meant that without government's help, our
companies could never have ever made the widgets and services that they make. Obama was wrong about the government part, but he would have been correct if he had attributed the production of our technology to God. God provided the knowledge and inspiration to produce certain technologies at key times He had designated, all because He is the provider of knowledge. The prophet Daniel added to this vital point with: >>"He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding." >>Here we learn that God gives even more knowledge, and the wisdom to apply that knowledge, to those who know how to utilize knowledge. And, if you happen to
be knowledgeable and wise, it's because the Holy Spirit has made you that way. Paul added: >>"For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit." >>God made us each with a certain level of knowledge, skills, and wisdom; and we apply each of those to fixing our problems and making stuff.
>>[music] >>Did you know that God has made certain promises concerning knowledge? Young Timothy learned from his mentor, Paul, that when it comes to the knowledge about salvation that God, "desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth." Who does God want to have the knowledge of the truth of salvation and so be saved? All of mankind! Every one of us. Whether people accept that saving knowledge or not, well, that's up to them. But, when it comes to the knowledge concerning salvation, God provides that freely. Titus
learned from Paul that the hope of eternal life in God, who cannot lie, was actually promised before time began. God promised the knowledge about salvation before the beginning of time, and long before mankind had ever sinned. >>[music] >>We'd agree that there are many smart people out there who clearly have a good amount of knowledge. And, we'd agree that there are just as many people out there who clearly are lacking in knowledge. What happens when people lack
knowledge? Proverbs tells us: >>"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding." >>If you have no knowledge of the Holy One, what do you really have? Well, nothing! Without a respect for God, to seek Him and to learn about Him, our manmade knowledge becomes absolutely worthless. This verse is an emphatic declaration that the first step to attaining true knowledge must begin with accepting the fact there is a God, if we are to really know anything at all. If we don't first begin our quest for attaining knowledge by acknowledging there is a God and follow that by identifying Him as the God of the Bible, then we end up with the opposite of knowledge, which is ignorance. Take for instance Paul's warning to Timothy to: >>"Guard what was committed to your trust, avoiding the profane and idle babblings and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge." >>So, there's godly knowledge, and then there's
mankind's knowledge. Mankind's knowledge is rarely built upon God's knowledge, and so it ends up being, in reality, not even knowledge at all. Mankind's knowledge, apart from God's knowledge, is false and worthless. So-called knowledge apart from God turns geniuses into ignoramuses. Ignorance has consequences. God through the prophet Hosea bemoaned: >>"My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge." >>Without knowing
Jesus Christ as our Savior, we die unforgiven of our sins and face an eternal punishment for our rebellion against God in Hell. Not knowing the source and provider of knowledge, especially when it comes to the knowledge concerning salvation, is literally killing us in this life and ultimately in Hell in the next life. >>[music] >>Does knowledge have a destiny? The Bible tells us so, and it's two-fold. First: >>"Whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away." >>That manmade
earthly knowledge that we're so keen on stoking, which puffs up so many egos and leads so many people astray from the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, well, it will all end, and someday soon. And, second, that manmade earthly knowledge that we put so much stock into, it will ultimately be replaced with: >>"For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea." >>God's knowledge is all that matters, for manmade knowledge will be replaced totally, universally, and forever by the wonderful truth of God - the source, the keeper, the provider of knowledge. And that brings us back to my initial question: How do you feel personally about technology? After all, now that you know that God is the source and provider of all true knowledge, and that knowing Him is the ultimate application of that knowledge, ergo wisdom, then is using His knowledge to create technology inherently a bad thing? I would argue that since God Himself is the Creator who made His children in His image to also be creators, and that He doles out knowledge as He sees fit for the purpose of leading mankind to invent new technologies, then technology is inherently good. After all,
don't we all have the need from time to time to fix our problems and make stuff? When mankind shivered out there in the wild in the cold of night, they figured out how to make a fire, then control the fire, then safely bring the fire indoors. When their legs grew weary from walking and saddle-sore from riding, they invented the wheel and buggy, and later the monster truck. When the heavy earthen pots became too burdensome to carry back and forth from the well, they designed irrigation systems, mastered glass blowing and created light-weight pitchers, and eventually the thermos. When people got tired of burning their hands over an open fire while cooking their latest kill, they invented the charcoal grill and invited all their friends over for a BBQ. And, when their backsides grew
red and raw from using pinecones in the outhouses, the Chinese, God bless them, invented toilet paper. Who can really argue with these technologies? These technologies, and so many more like them, fix mankind's problems. So, technology, good or bad? I'd conclude that technology is inherently good, but with this caveat, in the wrong hands technology can certainly can be misused. >>[music] >>When I was a kid back in the 1980s, I faced some very serious dilemmas. The tough
decisions I was forced to make affected my life so monumentally that, should I have ended up making the wrong choices, they would have forever sent me down the dark path of social obscurity. VHS or Betamax? Kodak 35mm film or Polaroid camera? Sony Walkman or Sound Burger 33 1/3 RPM record player? Slide deck or overhead projector? Commodore 64 or Apple Macintosh? Nintendo NES or Sega Master System? Transformers or Gobots? As you can see, the 80s were a minefield of new technologies in which to navigate. Choose wrongly, and you may end up like Donovan from the movie Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Unless you're a toddler playing with your mother's Android, you have enough history to look back and see that technology has changed a lot, a whole lot, over the last few decades. Let's not
even talk in decades, but in just years. The child attaining adulthood today can with a shudder look back to 2002 when there was no Wikipedia, no Gmail, no social media like Facebook and Twitter, no cloud computing, no tablets, no smart phones, and certainly no high-speed Internet connectivity. Remember the sound a modem made when connecting a surfer to the World Wide Web? >>[connecting to the modem sounds] >>Well, ask a ten year old that question today and they couldn't even tell you. Even Bob Dylan couldn't have imagined how much things would be changing when way back in the stone ages of 1963 he sang, "The Times They Are A-changin'." Times a-changin' wasn't always the way things were, though. For thousands of years of human history, life remained pretty much the same. Sure, every 300 years or so the world eked out a
technological innovation that revolutionized the world, moving humanity from say the Bronze Age to the Iron Age. But, for the most part, limitations in travel left most inventions cordoned off to a tiny corner of the world. But, then, AD 1454 finally arrived, and the German goldsmith Johannes Gutenberg released the very first mobile, reusable type press, kind of like an antique photocopier. At last knowledge could be mass copied onto paper and be distributed far and wide. The
age of the printed book revolutionized the world, and Gutenberg started with the fount of all knowledge, the Bible. It'd be hundreds of years later before other monumental inventions transformed society: Eli Whitney and the cotton gin. Thomas Newcomen and the steam engine. Samuel Morse and the
telegraph. Thomas Edison and the light bulb. Alexander Graham Bell and the telephone. Alexander Fleming and antibiotic penicillin. Guglielmo Marconi and the radio. Philo Taylor Farnsworth and the television. William Shockley and team the
transistor, and Jack Kilby and Robert Noyce the microchip. Were you surprised to learn from your history classes that the most world-changing technologies were invented in the last 150 years or so? And, as we got closer to our own day and age, how each technological discovery came about faster and faster and faster, and how each grew more and more and more powerful, as one invention was built on top of another on top of another? This increasingly rapid acceleration of technological discovery has been called the exponential curve. Our technology has been experiencing an exponential growth as one discovery builds upon another at an increasingly faster and faster pace. Let's just look at the exponential curve of computers, for instance. The old joke is, "How do you know when your computer is obsolete?" The answer, "When you take it out of the box." Well, that's not too far from the truth, though.
Computer companies tend to double computer processing speeds every 18 months. Known as Moore's Law, this is just one manifestation of the greater trend in how all technological change happens to be occurring at an exponential rate. By 2023, computers are expected to possess the processing speed equivalent to the human brain. By 2045, in a mere quarter of a century, Moore's Law predicts we will possess computers with the computational ability equivalent to the entire human race! The exponential curve is not just limited to computers. Other technologies in biomedicine, space science, chemical engineering, human engineering, and all the other sciences have been climbing faster and steeper up their own exponential curves with each and every passing day. It's expected that in the next five years the world's technology will be 32 times more advanced than it is today. It's also been estimated that 65% of
today's kindergarteners, once they finally graduate from college, will ultimately end up working in completely new jobs that, at this time, don't yet even exist. This exponential curve in all areas of technology reminds me of another exponential curve, one Jesus described in the Bible. The Apostles once asked Jesus: >>"What will be the sign of your coming, and of the end of the age?" >>Jesus answered by providing ten signs to look out for that would reveal to us when His second advent would be upon us. A marked increase in false prophets and false messiah, wars and rumors of wars, earthquakes, famines, plagues, fearful events, signs in the sky, the persecution of Christians, and the world's focus on Jerusalem would encompass the first nine signs, with the tenth sign involving the unnatural disasters that will directly precede the Messiah's return. Jesus added that these signs would increase in frequency and intensity, much like a woman's birth pains, the closer we came to His return. Exponential
curves become, in and of themselves, their own sign that marks the advent of the Messiah's return to this earth. >>[music] >>How does the intersection of the two exponential curves, the end times signs curve and the technology curve, indicate that Jesus Christ is returning soon? Before we dive deep into answering that question, I want to back it up a bit and confront a general misconception. Let's take a moment to look at those technologies historically found in the Bible, particularly way back in the very beginnings of the Old Testament. Since we're looking at God's Word for the
answers to where technology is going, we first need to bust a myth. Men like famed astronomer Neil deGrasse Tyson have scoffed that, "God is an ever-receding pocket of scientific ignorance." Atheists like him claim that the Bible is merely a "religious book" filled with primitive people tromping around in the mud and hating science. As we take a look into the Bible,
we'll see that's certainly not the case. The Bible is just full of science. Let's, like H.G. Wells, hop into our time machine and travel back to the age before the Flood. Let's look at the era between the Creation, say 4000 BC, and 2348 BC when Creation Scientists have calculated the Flood to have occurred. This era covers some 1,652 years. Let's explore some of the various technologies that early man used to fix their problems and make stuff. >>"Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to tend and keep it." >>Even before
the fall of mankind, Adam and Eve were working the land. Horticulture, botany, farming, and all the agrarian sciences were being discovered and new technologies and tools invented to handle agricultural work. And, we're talking about just two people figuring all of this out. Our ancient parents must have been incredibly intelligent people! >>"And they sowed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings." >>As soon
as Adam and Eve sinned and realized they were walking around in the buff, they ran off behind a tree and sewed some clothes together. They didn't just lick and stick a bunch of leaves all over themselves. They had at least already invented the needle and the thread. They knew how to make textiles.
>>"So, He drove out the man and He placed cherubim at the east of the Garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way to guard the way to the Tree of Life." >>Even before Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden, weaponry like swords already existed in the heavenly realm. Genesis records that two angels flashed a flaming sword back and forth to prevent mankind from accessing the Tree of Life. The first couple had observed Heaven's arsenal before needing to learn how to construct their own weaponry to ward off the velociraptors. >>"Now Abel was a keep of sheep, but Cain was a
tiller of the ground." >>How did Abel shear his sheep? He had to invent the clipper and the comb. And, did Cain dig with his hands? No, he invented tools such as hoes, and rakes, and sickles and other farm implementations. Cain wouldn't have been able to farm very well without these tools. Even as
early as the second generation, humanity had developed tools. >>"And he, Cain, built a city." >>After Cain had killed his brother and was ordered by God to wander the earth, Cain went right ahead and disobeyed God by building an entire city. Sure, there may once have been people living in caves, but cavemen? No! The earliest of peoples possessed the ability to build buildings. >>"Tubal-cain an instructor of every craftsman in bronze and iron." >>All the way back to the earliest chapters in Genesis, mankind possessed the technology to mine metals, refine the ores in furnaces, utilize measuring devices, and work with blacksmith's tools. They constructed pickaxes, and
drills and chisels in order to mine the earth. >>"Make yourself an ark of gopher wood." >>Noah was asked to build a boat, and not just any boat, probably the most massive boat the world up to that point had ever seen. Sure, the task took him one hundred years or so to accomplish, but it still takes a lot of technology to build a boat. Noah knew how to cut, fell, and shape wood. He had the ability to measure lengths with
various measuring devices. He needed a crane. And, did Noah even know how to sail? He would have needed some knowledge about yachting. The ability to build and master ships was already in existence by Noah's day. >>"And Noah began to be a famer, and he planted a vineyard, then he drank of the wine." >>Almost as soon as Noah got out of the ark, what did he do? He cultivated vines, constructed vats, fermented grapes, and then got passed-out drunk. Noah had earlier mastered how to distill
alcohol. People have long been searching for a stiff drink. Even in those early days, back when people were starting all over again after the Flood, Noah's descendants still had problems that needed fixing and so they continued to make stuff. >>"And Joseph commanded his servants, the physicians, to embalm his father. So, the physicians embalmed Israel."
>>Ancient Egypt had medical personnel who were proficient in various plant remedies, chemistry, and healing treatments. They even knew how to preserve dead bodies against the dry desert elements. Egyptians were master doctors at the time. Even some of today's medical methodology originated back in those ancient lands. >>"And he took off their chariot
wheels, so that they drove them with difficulty." >>This very first mention of the wheel in the Bible shows that ancient people relied on this vital bit of technology to travel and transport cargo. Ancient people weren't just exhausting themselves from pushing pallets about but used wheel technology to increase their productivity and get themselves home from work faster in time for dinner. >>"Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Write this for a memorial in the book.'" >>By Moses' day, people had already long mastered verbal and written languages, recording words on clay tablets and antique forms of paper. Adam
actually had already invented language back when God had commanded him to name everything. So, no, ancient people didn't go around grunting and saying "Oog!" Language has been around since the very beginning, and the written language for thousands of years. Even today, writing continues to be an advanced skill. >>"So, you shall speak to all who are gifted artisans. And He has filled him with the spirit of
God in wisdom and understanding, in knowledge in all manner of workmanship." >>These passages tell us the story of the construction of the Tabernacle, which became the most ornate tent ever seen in early Israel. Tent-making involves all sorts of skills in weaving and design work, metallurgy, and textiles. Here again, God who is the source of all knowledge, provided His people with the skills and abilities to craft such a magnificent pavilion. >> "Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet! Praise Him with the lute and harp! Praise Him with the timbrel and dance! Praise Him with stringed instruments and flutes!" >>Have you ever learned how to play a musical instrument? Just think about how complicated most musical instruments are. They involve a combination of all sorts of craftsman's skills, artistically implemented, in order to construct a musical instrument. Plus, music is a language all of
its own, and a mathematically complicated one at that. So, this whole belief that ancient man started off as a bunch of uneducated, grunting primitives who pulled their women along by their hair and lived in dank caves is pure nonsense. Mankind's ability to combine intellect and knowledge in order to discover and invent new technologies that would fix their problems and make stuff has been around ever since God first created Adam and Eve. After all, God is the source of all of mankind's knowledge, which He shared with our ancient ancestors. >>[music] >>Let's at last take a look at where the technological exponential curve is leading us. Let's look at the signs of technology revealed in the Bible that point to the fact that we are now living in the end times and which indicate that Jesus will soon return. The following are, I believe, nine
of the most prominent signs of technology. The first sign is the sign of knowledge. Not only does this sign stand out particularly as the most revealing out of all the technological signs, but it also provides the foundation that the others in this list build upon. We find the source text for this
prophecy in the book of Daniel. >>"But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase" >>Daniel had been listening across many chapters to an angel pronouncing a mind-blowing message from God. Through the angel, God revealed the rise and the fall of great empires, leading eventually to a global empire led by a world ruler whom the Apostle John would later call the Antichrist. Of course, all these great empires were still future from Daniel's perspective, so he was quite perplexed over all he was hearing. Rubbing his forehead in confusion, he asked the angel for an explanation. To his dismay, no luck! The angel basically told Daniel that he could never understand these prophecies because too much needed to happen first. This would include a great increase
in mankind's knowledge which would mark the "time of the end," or end times. Only those living in the end times and who were "wise" would at last understand these prophecies and recognize that the exponential increase in knowledge heralded the soon return of the Messiah. Have you ever considered that just a hundred years ago all that most people learned throughout their entire lifetime equaled to one Sunday edition of the New York Times? Our ability today to practically consume that same amount of data on a daily basis shows just how far mankind's knowledge has increased in so short an amount of time. What technologies have helped us facilitate the advent of this massive explosion in the growth of knowledge? You probably answered "computers," and you'd be absolutely correct. Not only has the exponential curve in all areas of computer technology increased our knowledge to stupendous levels, but computers have aided in all the major scientific discoveries of our day. We don't need to cram all of those facts into our
brains anymore either, for the ability to easily store and access data means we can continue to learn like we've never learned before in all of human history. Today's exponential increase in knowledge points to the fact that Jesus Christ is returning soon. >>[music] >>Notice in that same prophecy the angel told Daniel that, besides a great increase in knowledge, "many shall run to and fro." This
tremendous increase in travel would also occur in the same context, that being the end times. God was revealing that once people began to run to and fro, both farther and faster, that those final years before Christ returned to set up His Millennial Kingdom were finally upon us. Stop and think how people traveled a single century ago. Most roads weren't even paved yet and were traveled along by horse-drawn wagons. Look at this video of San Francisco taken way back in 1906. You see far more horses than horseless carriages! People rarely, if ever, left their hometowns. Animal domestication
and the early beginnings of decent roads, then bicycles, balloons, boats, and simple automobiles were developing technologies, but not widely received. Since the early part of the twentieth century, mankind went on to invent airplanes and jets, and we've even left the Earth's atmosphere in rockets and space shuttles. It used to take months for people to travel by boat overseas, but now we travel that same distance abroad in mere hours. In today's world, people
are always on the move, just as the angel prophesied to Daniel. Today's exponential increase in travel points to the fact that Jesus Christ is returning soon. >>[music] The third sign involves those technologies which will make the Mark of the Beast the terror of the world. The book of Revelation forewarns: >>"He also forced everyone to receive a mark on his right hand or his forehead, so that no one could buy or sell except he had the mark." >>Let me provide you with a little context here concerning the Mark of the Beast. A seven-year
Tribulation time period is coming when God will be pouring out His wrath upon the world, just as He did during the days of the Flood. Revelation reveals that at the mid-point of the Tribulation, the Antichrist and his False Prophet will set up a system of commerce whereby a person cannot buy or sell unless they have sworn allegiance to the Antichrist. They do so by writing his name or the number 666 on their right hand or forehead. What kinds of technologies would be required
to control the world's commerce? The Apostle John could visibly read the name and the number etched on the people who had sworn their allegiance to the Antichrist, so some kind of tattooing is certainly involved. Magnetic inks can store a person's personal, financial, and health information; and then digital readers would scan the ink in order to authorize whether that person is allowed to buy or sell. Maybe a RFID microchip is also involved, embedded in a rice-sized glass case underneath the readable mark. Global commerce also needs
a way to collect all that countless terabytes of information, and so would require the constructing of giant data centers in order to store a planetary population full of data. That data would need to move lightning-fast using high speed Internet connectivity, complex ecommerce systems, wireless networks, billion-dollar satellites, and so on. The closest system we have today to the Mark of the Beast is China's social credit score, which has already been instituted in their more populated cities. The Chinese government has positioned millions of cameras everywhere in order to spy on their citizens. Computer algorithms
then rate the citizen's allegiance to the government, granting benefits to those who are more loyal and restrictions on those the computer deems as not being patriotic enough. Just imagine that horribly restrictive system instituted on a global scale! All of these ecommerce technologies, which make today's buying and selling so much easier, are actually all coming together so that the Antichrist can control all of the world's commerce, and thereby control all of the people under his rule. A lot of fear surrounds taking the Mark of the Beast, and rightly so, for those who take it God says will have lost their hope of becoming saved. But, we today should have no fear of accidently taking the Mark, for it will not be instituted until half-way through the Tribulation, well after the Church has been raptured up to Heaven. Therefore, don't sweat chips and barcodes and credit
cards. They have nothing to do with the Mark of the Beast... yet. Today's global ecommerce network points to the fact that Jesus Christ is returning soon.
>>[music] >>Sign number four is actually a wonderful sign, for it's a positive one. This sign prophesies that the entire world will be evangelized in the end times. >>"And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come." >>God wants the Church to preach the Good News of His salvation to the entire world, and so He's provided us with powerful communication tools for sharing the Gospel.
Today's exponential curve in communications technology has played a vital role in reaching more of the world for Christ than has ever been reached in the previous nineteen centuries. Technologies such as cameras and microphones, televisions and tablets, smart phones and cell towers, communications networks and satellites, the Internet and the airwaves, big media and social media they all work together to form the largest pulpit the world has ever known. And while all these breathtaking technologies are leading people to Christ by the thousands each day, the entire world, as Jesus referred to it, will not all hear the Gospel before the Rapture happens. That blessing awaits the Second Coming at the end of the Tribulation. Communications technologies will continue to spread the Gospel to the post-Rapture world. In addition, God will send forth
144,000 Jewish evangelists, the Two Witnesses, and even the Gospel Angel to preach throughout the whole world. Every person on the planet will be evangelized by the end of the Tribulation. God will leave no person without a chance to choose His Son and so be saved. Today's communication
technologies point to the fact that Jesus Christ is returning soon. >>[music] >>The fifth sign involves the living image of the Antichrist. >>"And he performed great and miraculous signs, even causing fire to come down. He was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that it could speak." Revelation reveals that during the Tribulation the Antichrist will order his False Prophet to set up an image of himself in the newly built Jewish Temple and order the world to worship him as if he were God. This is the same scenario all over again when the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar set up a statue of himself and ordered everybody to worship it. Daniel tells of
how Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused and so were thrown into a fiery furnace. This is all going to happen again during the Tribulation, but instead of chucking people into ovens, the False Prophet will rain down fire and incinerate those people who refuse to worship the Antichrist. How will the False Prophet make fire fall down from the sky and consume people? Assuming there's nothing supernatural going on, let's look at the technologies involved in producing pyrotechnics. Maybe John was
referring to jets or drones dropping bombs and other incendiary weapons. And, satellite-based weapon systems, such as missile or laser systems, could simply zap people from high up in orbit. Remember that the Antichrist must use technology because he is a counterfeit. His False Prophet will not be a real miracle maker, and so will use today's military technology to destroy people with just the touch of a button. What's so peculiar about the story of this image is that John reveals that it was given life. Nebuchadnezzar's statue
didn't get up and walk around and sing and dance and all that; it didn't even move. But, the image of the Antichrist will appear to be alive! Assuming there's nothing supernatural involved in making the illusion of a living statue, such as the demonic possession of an object, statues after all still cannot move. They lack the proper joints and musculature. What kinds of technology could the False Prophet use then to make an image move? John may have been the very first person to watch television. The Antichrist's image may appear at regular intervals on a person's TV set or mobile device, and once broadcast, everyone is expected to fall down and worship his image. Or, the image may involve robotic and
artificial intelligence, AI technologies. How about a fully functional hologram? Japan especially has been hard at work developing both robotics and holographic technologies. Why, for years now, one of Japan's biggest pop stars has been Hatsune Miku who is a fully interactive hologram that sings in live concerts. With the proper Alexa-like technology, the Antichrist's living image, be it robot or hologram, could fully interact with his adoring acolytes. Today's weapons and robotic technologies point to the fact that Jesus Christ is returning soon.
>>[music] >>The sixth sign of technology that points to the fact that we are living in the end times involves a great population explosion. Revelation reveals: >>"Then the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, so that the way of the kings from the east might be prepared." >>Prepare the way for what? >>"The number of the mounted troops was two hundred million. I heard their number." >>And, what happens to this army?
>>"And the winepress was trampled outside the city, and blood came out of the winepress, up to the horses' bridles." >>In context, as the Tribulation winds mercifully to a close, the Antichrist's empire begins to crumble due to a number of rebellions led by various sub-rulers. Just as the Antichrist squashes a rebellion in Africa, he must turn his loyal forces north to deal with a rebellion coming from the East. Both armies meet in the Valley of Armageddon located in northern Israel. While these armies are busy slaughtering
each other, they will see Jesus and his armies returning out of the heavens and unite against Him. The King of Kings will easily defeat the world's armies just by speaking. The blood from the vanquished armies will flow as high as a horse's head for a staggering 180 miles! By the end of the Tribulation, most of the world's population will have been wiped out, and still these prophesied Kings of the East can amass a 200-million-man army. This prophecy must have just blown John's mind, for in his first century day, there were only 200 million people living on the whole earth. How then does the human population get so large that, despite the massive death toll of the Tribulation, the East can assemble such a staggeringly large army? How do we have the billions that we now have today? The answer: medicine. As each successive generation produces more and more people, aided by medicines that greatly reduce infant mortality and keep people healthier and allow us to live longer, we've reached a massive global population numbering nearly eight billion people. China and India have been able
to mount a 200 million soldier army ever since the 1960s, and so could easily do so during the Tribulation. The exponential curve strikes again! Today's medical technologies point to the fact that Jesus Christ is returning soon. >>[music] >>The seventh sign of technology involves the inevitable release of the world's nuclear arsenal. Both the Old and New Testaments describe the destruction of much of the world by a series of nuclear cataclysms. >>"Then behold, at eventide, trouble!
And before the morning, he is no more." >>In context, Isaiah and Jeremiah prophesied the destruction of the oldest city on the planet, Damascus, by Israel suddenly and in just one night. How do you destroy an entire city in just one night? Israel will have to use a nuclear bomb. >>"Men's hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken." >>In this verse Jesus prophesied that the horrors unleashed during the Tribulation will actually cause heart attacks. >>"The sky receded like a scroll, rolling up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place." >>Revelation adds that "the kings of the earth, the
great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks, 'Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?'" The Sixth Seal Judgment uncannily describes what a nuclear blast looks like, and how the people will hide in caves to escape all the destruction and radiation these bombs will rain down upon them. >>"The first angel sounded: And hail and fire followed, mingled with blood, and they were thrown to the earth. And a third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up." >>The First Trumpet Judgment describes yet another cataclysm that sounds very much nuclear in nature. >>"By these three plagues a third of mankind was killed, by the fire and the smoke and the brimstone which came out of their mouths." >>During the Sixth Trumpet Judgment, demonic creatures will be let loose to incinerate millions with their nuclear fire-like breath. >>"And this shall be the plague with which
the Lord will strike all the people who fought against Jerusalem: their flesh shall dissolve while they stand on their feet, their eyes shall dissolve in their sockets, and their tongues shall dissolve in their mouths." >>Zechariah describes what will happen to the Antichrist's armies upon the Messiah's return. No nukes may be involved, but the weapon of the Messiah's own words will produce the same effect as the setting off of a nuclear bomb. Many of God's judgments during
the Tribulation sound like a first century man's attempt to explain a nuclear holocaust. Many believe that the two atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II have been the only atomic weapons released, but no, in the last 70-plus years over 2,500 nuclear warheads have been set off in testing. Nine countries have stockpiled an estimated 15,000 nuclear weapons, with 1,800 always standing at alert and prepped for immediate launch. The fact that the world hasn't already annihilated itself in a nuclear holocaust proves that God's restraining hand is holding mankind's worst destructive proclivities at bay. But, that time will end when God's restraining influence will be taken away, along with the Church, at the Rapture. During the first year or so after the Tribulation begins, half of the world's population will perish.
A nuclear holocaust is indeed about to be unleashed upon this world, and one day soon. The technologies involved in the making of nuclear weapons are among the most complex technologies ever developed. Heavy metal mining and refinement, nuclear containment, nuclear plants, submarines and silos for delivery, missiles for deployment, all these super-duper advanced technologies have been in development for decades. The world sleeps blissfully unaware
of the constant threat of nuclear self-annihilation. Today's nuclear technologies point to the fact that Jesus Christ is returning soon. >>[music] >>The eighth sign of technology involves our cutting-edge space science technologies, particularly the International Space Station or the ISS, that we utilize in our attempt to explore outer space.
The source verse reads: >>"How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations!" >>Other translations of this Isaiah passage render Lucifer's name as the Morning Star. During the Tribulation, Satan - the Morning Star - will possess and be worshiped through the Antichrist. Because the earth will face utter annihilation due to God's 21 judgments as described in Revelation, I've often wondered where Satan and the Antichrist would feel safe and able to rule unimpeded, insulated from all the disasters ravaging the planet. As the International Space Station orbits over the earth, it can best be viewed from the ground during the mornings and looks like a bright star sailing slowly across the heavens. That's lead the ISS to be nicknamed, the Morning Star. How
would one escape a world that is being annihilated, to sit safely from on high, in order to rule over the world? Most likely from high up in the orbit. The eighth sign of technology I consider a tentative sign, though. I have no biblical proof that the Antichrist will rule from up in orbit. But, with the space station costing somewhere between 150 billion and half a trillion dollars, the ISS must have more of a long-term purpose than just seeing how earthworms float. Today's space science technologies point to the fact that Jesus Christ is returning soon.
>>[music] >>The ninth and final sign of technology in this list actually has to do with technology's limitations. Have you ever considered that our technology has limits? It does! For one, supplies of rare earth metals are running dangerously low. Did you know that the computer, tablet, and smart phone, that are surely an arm's length away from you, are made out of rare earth metals? The metals used to make these advanced technologies, those technologies that we've become so dependent on, can only be found in certain places, and the supplies are quickly dwindling. Nearly 95% of these metals can only be found in hostile countries such as China and Afghanistan. Unless alternatives can be synthesized, our ability
to build laptops, cell phones, TV's, you name it, is quickly going to disappear. Once the limited amounts of these rare earth metals run out, so will much of today's technology. Also, are there limits to how far our technology will take us into outer space? It appears, according to the Bible, not very far. The prophet Zechariah prophesied that all the nations
of the earth will be gathered against Jerusalem in the last days. >>"All the nations of the earth are gathered against her." >>Once Jesus returns, He will defeat the armies of the Antichrist gathered around the city of Jerusalem. And once these armies are destroyed, Jesus will then send His angels to collect every single person and gather them together for what's called the Sheep-Goat Judgment. Since all the remnants
of the nations will stand before Jesus Christ and be judged, that means there cannot be people living on space stations, and lunar colonies, and Martian colonies, and extra-earth settlements, or safely tucked away on spaceships traveling beyond our solar system. The gathering of every human being against Jesus at Armageddon, and then again at the Sheep-Goat Judgment, means that humanity will still be confined to the earth. Our optimistic hope of settling outer space will not be happening, at least in this age, according to these limits set in the Bible. Technology during the Tribulation will have also reached its limit. If four prophesied catastrophic earthquakes shake the world apart, what will happen to all the mountains? They will be leveled. What happens to cell
towers during earthquakes? They fall over. What happens when solar flares burn the sky? The radiation destroys the satellites and interferes with communications. What happens when the oceans are filled with blood and dead sea creatures clog the waters? Ships can't bring oil and goods to port, and so distribution channels are disrupted. I could go on and on with disaster scenarios, but you know that even in the tamest of rain storms our power companies struggle to keep the lights on. Now, imagine the whole world ravaged by endless natural, manmade, and divine disasters. That's why I believe that by the
end of the Tribulation most of our technology, mankind's last crutch and our own Tower of Babel, will be rendered useless. The prophets indicated that by the end of the Tribulation, the survivors will be out fighting with bows and arrows and horses again. Certainly, there must still be tanks and other technological weapons of war that I'm sure the Antichrist will protect. But still, God appears to eliminate much of the world's technology so that by the end of the Tribulation desperate people are left with nothing to kill each other with but primitive weaponry. Knowledge, travel, the Mark of the Beast, evangelism, the image of the Antichrist, a great population explosion, nuclear weapons, space science, and now the limitations of our technology, they all today point to the fact that Jesus Christ is returning soon.
>>[music] >>I hope I've made my case that the sign of technology, which is merely one of many categories of end times signs, points to the fact that Jesus Christ is returning soon. Knowing this wonderful day will inevitably arrive, how then should we apply this truth to our own lives? Is there an App for that? First, when you have at last accepted the fact that the Lord could return at any moment, and by looking through the filter of the Bible at all these wondrous yet fearful events playing out before us, you will begin to recognize the times in which we are living. You will be comforted knowing that God's got it all under control, that He has a great big plan in place, and that God's children play a vital role in that plan. Life, therefore, isn't meaningless, but purposeful. Christians are called to serve God in these dark times, so serve Him with all our unique talents, gifts, time, money, and experience.
For those of you who haven't yet accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior, but now recognize that we are living in the end times, the realization should act like an alarm clock buzzing you awake to the fact that the world doesn't have much time left to it. We are all living on borrowed time. Therefore, embrace the fact that God loved the world so much that He gave His one and only Son, and that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. Respond to the Holy Spirit's leading, praying from your heart in faith and repentance something like: "Dear, Jesus, please forgive me of my sins and be my Lord and Savior." And, He will do just that. Jesus Christ will free you of the guilt of your sins and
transform you into a brand new person. He will also grant you the blessed hope of knowing that, one day soon, Jesus is coming to take you up to Heaven to live with our Heavenly Father forever. Our Lord, our Savior, the one who loves us so much and who calls us His children, He has an eternal plan for your life. Embrace it! Don't live another minute without having accepted Jesus Christ as your personal savior. And, second, knowing that our Savior will be returning soon, consider how you can utilize all of the great technologies that God has given us to evangelize the world for Jesus Christ. After all, did you
know that as of 2018, 88% of the people in the United States access the Internet? China's Internet access has quickly grown from 10% to 54% of the population in just a decade. Overall, you can now reach out to 55% of the entire world through the Internet, and that number is climbing up an exponential curve as well. Even language barriers may be a thing of the past, as translation software continues to improve. That means over half of the world is now available at your fingertips. So, go, get online! And, share the Good News about Jesus Christ and His soon return.
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