The Image Of The Beast

The book of Revelation prophesises that there will come a time that ‘no man will be able to buy or sell, unless he has the mark of the beast, or the number of its name.’ Not only that but this ‘beast’ will tell all of the people of the earth to make an image to worship him. 

In the old testament an ‘image’ referred to wooden or stone ‘idols’ built to worship other gods, not the God of the Bible, who required that people take a leap of faith and trust in the God beyond the veil who could not be seen. Generation after generation would find themselves straying back to these wooden and stone gods, tempted by something physical and tangible that appeared to promise so much, but only led them into destruction. 

This final image, the image of the beast is radically different to the idols of these ancient times. The beast is ‘allowed to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast might even speak and might cause those who would not worship the image of the beast to be slain.’ (Revelation 13.15)

What is this image, and how is it possible that it will be able to breathe and speak, and even cause death to those who do not worship it? I watched a video the other day from pastor Mike Winger, answering a question from one of his followers about whether this image could be AI. He was saying that it could be possible, although at this point we can’t make any definite assertions. 

You might have read my previous post about a boy who apparently spoke to a demon via Ai. You might have read the report of an engineer who left google after concerns that AI was becoming conscious. 

We already have AI devices like Alexa, making their way into people’s homes that can speak and listen. 

Is it possible that at some point in the future AI could develop some form of living, breathing consciousness? 

It may seem like some kind of science fiction type horror movie, but if you’re aware of the concept of predictive programming and are looking at the way the world is heading, that perhaps it doesn’t seem that far out of the realms of possibility. 

I recently learnt about a film for children on Netflix called ‘Michelle Vs. Machines,’about the apocalypse where there was only one family left, fighting against evil robots. In the end they managed to turn two of the robots good, and then invited them to live with them. 

Instinctively perhaps, we’re aware of the potential of AI to be destructive, heartless and lacking humanity, and yet there are TV programmes, literally programming children to become more comfortable with the idea, to go against their God given instincts. In another show on Children’s BBC a boy staged a competition between his friend, and his computer to see who knew him best. AI apps are being promoted to help people deal with loneliness and cope with mental health issues. Young children are experimenting and chatting away to it just for fun. There have been ethical discussions about whether at some point robots should have ‘rights.’ 

Whether or not the image of the beast is some form of AI remains to be seen, but one thing that feels vitally important to me, is to teach our children that there are dangers in relying on this technology, to ‘humanising’ this technology, and that we must preserve our human ways of connecting to each other, keeping AI in its rightful place as a machine. 

If you’ve read this far I urge you to read the book of Revelation to know that when people come proclaiming ‘peace and safety,’ or showing great miracles and ‘signs and wonders,’ they will be bringing vast destruction. 

There is only one way to make it safely through and that is to follow Jesus. And I don’t mean the new age/UN/Lucifer Trust/christ consciousness but the Jesus of the Bible. He is in the words on the pages. The pages the devil keeps saying are man-made, twisted, corrupted and changed. 

Ask Jesus, talk to Jesus, say a prayer and invite him into your life, and you might find that Jesus, the son of God, shows you that the Bible is the truth after all.