The Christ in Prophecy Journal

Daniel’s Last Days To and Fro Frenzy (Part 1 of 10)

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[Note: This series covers my chapter from Terry James’ newest book, Discerners: Analyzing Converging Prophetic Signs for the End of Days. Available on Amazon!]

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.

The Technology Scale

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?

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 why we create 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 of 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.

Technology Defined

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 read the word “technology” a whole lot in this series. 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.

In the second segment of this series on the end times sign of technology, we’ll explore the source of knowledge from its origins to its promises to its destiny.

Resource

In this book, edited by Terry James and including chapters by Dr. David Reagan and Nathan Jones, eighteen “watchmen on the wall” tackle issues that are critical for this generation of believers to understand. Each contributor examines, under the microscope of Scripture, a specific topic, from anti-God movements within religion and culture to satanic geopolitical rearrangements. This, we believe, will help make understandable the madness taking place in this generation.

Discerners

Order Discerners: Analyzing Converging Prophetic Signs for the End of Days on Amazon! Available in kindle and paperback.

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Dr. Nathan E. Jones

As the Internet Evangelist at Lamb & Lion Ministries, Nathan reaches out to the over 4.5 billion people accessible over the Internet with the Good News of Jesus Christ. He also co-hosts the ministry's television program Christ in Prophecy and podcast The Truth Will Set You Free.

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