[Note: Our guest contributor, Mondo Gonzales, is the co-host of the Prophecy Watchers television program. He served as a pastor for 15 years in Illinois, Washington, and Nevada, and has a passion for God’s Word and all things eschatological. Mondo also directs Prophecy Watchers’ Psalm 19 Project that uses state of the art equipment to photograph the glory of God manifested in the heavens.]
Most people have heard of the James Webb space telescope. It was launched in 2021, and is parked at an orbital location over 900,000 miles from earth. This space telescope mirror is over five times larger than the Hubble mirror and way more advanced.
As Director of Prophecy Watchers’ own “Psalm 19 Project” observatory, I am awed by the images coming from the Webb telescope. The stunning magnitude of the greatness of God and the revealing of His glory (Psalm 19:1) makes humanity seem very small when we observe the grandeur of God’s creation. And even more so — when we understand that even this newest technology captures only a glimpse of His magnificence.
One of the Webb’s recent images reveals over 45,000 extremely distant galaxies in a small portion of the sky! The size and scale of the universe that God created on the Fourth Day is beyond comprehension. Have you ever noticed how casually Genesis 1:16 references the creation of all the stars? It reads, “So God made the two great lights, the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night, and also the stars.” It is now estimated that there are 1-2 trillion galaxies with an average of 100-200 billion stars within each galaxy. God basically says, “Look what I did on a Wednesday.” These are the works of the power of His hands (Psalm 19:1-2), revealing the unfathomable heights of God’s compassion (Psalm 103:11) and wisdom (Isaiah 55:8-9).
Sadly, like the audacious builders who envisioned a great tower that would touch the heavens, those in command of the Webb telescope have, so far, failed to give God the glory He deserves.
Eyes to See, But Hearts that are Darkened
Technology is advancing at a staggering pace. But it merely parallels advances in other arenas the coming Antichrist will leverage to fulfill his evil plans to enslave humanity during the Tribulation.
The coming Beast system will require political, economic, social, governmental, religious, and technological advances that will enable the Antichrist to accomplish all of his desires.
We must also remember that the Antichrist needs help to accomplish his goals. Even though he is empowered by the Dragon himself (Rev 13:2, 4), the Antichrist manipulates a coalition of ten kings to implement his worldwide Beast system. He will then subdue or remove three of them at a future time. Let’s consider how the Scriptures describe these ten “kings.”
“Then I desired to know the exact meaning of the fourth beast, which was different from all the others, exceedingly dreadful, with its teeth of iron and its claws of bronze, and which devoured, crushed and trampled down the remainder with its feet, and the meaning of the ten horns that were on its head and the other horn which came up, and before which three of them fell, namely, that horn which had eyes and a mouth uttering great boasts and which was larger in appearance than its associates.” (Daniel 7:19-20)
“As for the ten horns, out of this kingdom ten kings will arise; and another will arise after them, and he will be different from the previous ones and will subdue three kings.” (Daniel 7:24)
“The ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but they receive authority as kings with the beast for one hour. These have one purpose, and they give their power and authority to the beast.” (Revelation 17:12-13)
From the above passages, we learn three characteristics of these ten “kings”:
1. The Greek word for king (basileus) in Revelation 17:12 offers a broader nuance than merely what we understand regarding the word “king.” One of the best Greek lexicons (BDAG) has the following as its second entry: One who possesses unusual or transcendent power.
This meaning seems consistent with Revelation 17:12, where we are told that these ten figures do not have a kingdom yet but will receive authority to rule as kings for the final “hour” of the Antichrist’s (Beast’s) reign in the seven-year Tribulation period. We will call them the “Ten Influencers” because they do have “unusual power” or some valuable level of authority that the Antichrist will seek to leverage (Rev 17:13).
2. They are not required to be in governmental or ruling positions at the time of their arrangement with the Antichrist.
3. When the time comes, they will give their significant influence or power to the Beast and in return, given the ability to rule with him for a short period in his final kingdom (Rev 17:13).
There are a variety of interpretations of who the ten kings are. Some see them as leaders over geographical regions. This could be true, but as I mentioned above, they do not need to be actual governmental officials or literal kings. Instead, they could be what we know as oligarchs or technocrats, who will one day give their authority (technology/wealth/influence) to the Antichrist in exchange for being allowed to rule in his Beast system.
Financial Oligarchs (Tycoons)
When addressing technology, it is relevant to note that technological research and development is expensive. We are witnessing in our day the super-rich not often sticking to the one industry which made them wealthy, but instead spreading their wealth into sometimes completely disparate technologies or fields of research. For example, Elon Musk is involved in Twitter, Tesla, SpaceX, Neuralink, OpenAi, and the Boring company.
It’s not rocket science to recognize that technology tycoons, with staggering amounts of money, are capable of influencing society on a worldwide scale. This influence can include shaping the political landscape through outright bribes or the political lobby system. This massive level of impact doesn’t require them to be in actual power or governmental positions. Instead, they wield their influence through proxies who purchase access to greedy politicians seeking to magnify their power.
Technological Oligarchs (Technocrats)
These technocrats partner with governments, NGOs, and financial institutions. One organization with extensive official and unofficial agreements with technocrats is the World Economic Forum (WEF).
The WEF is dedicated to seeing a complete “reset” of the way life on Planet Earth functions. They are brazenly presenting their vision and pursuing technology to accomplish their goals by the year 2030 (known as Agenda 2030 and the Great Reset).
In his book, The Fourth Industrial Revolution, Klaus Schwab highlighted 21 different up-and-coming technologies that he claimed will “break into the public domain to a significant degree,” and cause great shifts “to individuals, organizations, government and society.” The following is Klaus’ list of game-changing technologies:
In addition, some ancillary technologies include: nanotechnology, quantum computing, biotechnology, the Internet of Things, decentralized consensus, fifth-generation (5G) wireless technologies, and satellite Internet technology for worldwide distribution.
It is mind-boggling to think of the influence these technologies will have on world society — and how they will serve the purpose of the Antichrist:
Satellite Internet Connectivity
- Amazon seeks to put up 3,236 satellites by the end of the decade. Called the Kuiper system (or Project Kuiper). They have two launches planned for 2023 and service expected to arrive to customers in late 2024.
- OneWeb sought an initial 650 satellites. As of February 2023 they had 542 active satellites in low earth orbit.
- Starlink (Elon Musk). Over 4,500 satellites were working in orbit by May, 2023, with plans for over 42,000 within five years. Currently over 1.5 million active subscribers in 50+ countries with global mobile phone service to be implemented in 2023.
- China is planning to deploy 40,000 of is own satellites to pursue its agenda, claiming to desire additional Internet coverage across its expansive geography. Critics note that such technology can also be used for surveillance and control.
- Iridium started in 1998 and now has 82 active satellites and a partnership with Qualcomm for Android users.
- Globalstar Communications became functional in 1998 with 75 current satellites and functionality with the Apple iPhone 14.
Surveillance
- Facial recognition, camera technology, data acquisition through social media and Internet.
Artificial Intelligence
Most of the top 10 financial and technological oligarchs are involved in the research and advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AI). In his 2018 book, A.I. Superpowers — China, Silicon Valley, and the New World Order, Kai-Fu Lee predicted, “Instead of dispersion of industry profits across different companies and regions, we will begin to see greater and greater concentration of these astronomical sums in the hands of a few.” This certainly sounds like financial oligarchs who wield incredible power and influence.
AI needs three things to work effectively: big data, computing power, and algorithm engineers. Government policies supporting AI are also helpful. To help accomplish the computing power requirement, many of these same technological oligarchs are investing hundreds of millions of dollars in quantum computers, which are billions of times faster than modern supercomputers! It comes as no surprise that Google, Microsoft, and IBM are some of this field’s leaders.
Biotechnology
Elon Musk is heavily involved in connecting the human brain to technology. His “Neuralink” was given FDA approval for human trials in May 2023.
Multi-billionaire software developer Bill Gates is pursuing implantable contraception, nano vaccine technology, and sub-cutaneous microchip implanting. Backed by his Foundation, MIT researchers are developing a method of recording a patient’s vaccination history through invisible dye injected under the skin.
Genetically-Modified Farming
Bill Gates has also spread his oligarchical influence further than any other. He has now become the largest private landowner of farmland in the United States. Presidential candidate Robert Kennedy, Jr. observed, “Gates has been [expanding] his power over global populations by buying devalued assets at fire-sale prices and maneuvering for monopoly control over public health…”
Combined with his investments in global communications, digital currencies, high tech surveillance, data harvesting systems, and artificial intelligence, Bill Gates is the quintessential technocrat.
Censorship
Many financial and technological oligarchs are using their social media platforms and data acquisition to surveil, censor, cancel, deplatform, and shame those not deemed “woke enough” or willing to follow their own idiosyncratic rules and politically correct narratives. Many U.S. lawmakers and officials actually co-conspire with big tech oligarchs, encouraging them to police (censor) content more aggressively.
Innovation Zones
Nevada governor Steve Sisolak recently proposed giving corporations who own significant portions of land in Nevada a status equivalent to counties. They would be able to impose taxes, form school districts, courts of law, and provide other government services.
What Lies Ahead
As we look at end-time prophetic events coming to pass, it is becoming increasingly apparent that some of the most influential entities in both global policy and societal changes are not found in governments at all. Instead, multi-national financial and technological oligarchs are eager to conform the world to their own technocratic purposes.
Could these figures be the Ten Kings (influencers) who give their “authority and power to the Beast (Antichrist)” and in return “receive authority to rule as kings with the Beast for one hour” (Rev 17:12-13)?
Time will tell, but a compelling case can certainly be made that the technology these Ten Figures control will help the Antichrist consolidate and enforce his tyrannical rule over the entire earth.
The spirit of the Antichrist is here now — and the Antichrist is coming. Thankfully, greater is He who is in us (and is coming again soon) than he who is in the world! (1 John 4:1-4)!
