A lot of believers are worried that AI is going to power the Mark of the Beast. I have a different question: what makes you think AI will still exist when the Mark arrives?
I have a hot take. Are you ready?
Technology will be dead long before the Mark of the Beast is here.
We all know that the Mark of the Beast will be implemented just after the midway-point of the Tribulation, 3 ½ years, right after the Abomination of Desolation (Matt. 24:15-21, Luke 19:41-44, 21:20-24, Dan. 8:11, 9:27) and the messages of the three angels (Rev. 14:6-13).
By the time the antichrist gets his evil little hands in control of the one world system and implements the Mark of the Beast, God will have carried 14 judgments upon the world.
Now just think about that.
14 judgments of God before the Mark of the Beast.
We’re talking about multiple, global earthquakes (Rev. 6:12, 8:5, 11:13, 11:19, balls of fire out of Heaven (Rev. 8:5), hail that’s literally on fire mingled with blood (Rev. 8:7), not to mention all the other hail coming down (Rev. 11:19), the heavens departing as a scroll (Rev. 6:14), which I’m guessing would destroy all the satellites. The sun turns black, the moon turns blood red, the stars fall from heaven (Rev. 6:12, 8:12), all grass burns up (Rev. 8:7), a lot of trees are gone (Rev. 8:7), too, a lot of water turns to blood (Rev. 8:8, 11:6), let’s not forget the freaky locusts with stingers getting into everything (Rev. 9:1-12), AND, last but not least, there will be 200 million fiery horses from Heaven shooting fire and brimstone out of their mouths (Rev. 9:12-21) burning this world down.
How is technology going to survive that?
Here in Florida, if we get so much as a tropical storm, my Wi-Fi is out.
Not only that, I would strongly argue that technology will be dead before we ever to those 14 judgments. Let’s not forget that DAY ONE of the Tribulation will bring the terrifying horsemen of the apocalypse. With their arrival in Revelation 6, this world will rapidly descend into a catastrophic nightmare. The red horse brings about global wars. The black horse brings famine and economic collapse. A day’s wages will barely be able to purchase a day’s worth of food. Then Death follows, with one-fourth of the world’s population dying through war, hunger, disease, pestilence, and other issues.
Pray, tell me - how is technology going to survive that?
Make no mistake.
It is an absolute impossibility that technology will survive global wars, famine, plagues, pestilence, economic collapse, death, disease, etc. And then, AFTER THAT, there are 10 more judgments from God before you even get to the Mark of the Beast.
Technology will be dead by the time we get to the Mark of the Beast.
“Okay, Joel, but don’t you think all of this technology is at least a conditioning for people to accept the Mark of the Beast when it’s implemented?”
Absolutely not.
Just think about the horsemen of the apocalypse. Starting day one of the Tribulation, this entire world will be plunged into global war, famine, pestilence, economic collapse, disease, and death on the most unimaginable scale. Civilization as we know it will be torn apart at the seams. The world will be going back to the stone ages, so to speak. No one is going to be thinking calmly. They’ll be trying to survive. They’ll be traumatized. Terrified. Overwhelmed. Hungry. Grieving. Desperate. When your world has collapsed, your economy is gone, people around you are dying, and you’re wondering where your next meal will come from, yesterday’s conditioning in your thinking is now long gone. Whatever familiarity people once had with AI, digital IDs, biometric systems, or cashless commerce will belong to an older world now gone. The world we know now will no longer exist.
“Okay, so, if technology will be dead, how will people get the mark?”
I’d suggest to you that the image of the beast is the answer. The mark will be demonically implemented. People will be marked by the demons.
False Prophet
“And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads” (Rev. 13:16).
That “he” is talking about the false prophet. In vs. 15, it’s the false prophet who will have the power to give life unto the image of the beast. He is the one who establishes this global environment to worship the image of the beast, to worship the falsehood of everything the antichrist claims to be. In vs. 16, it’s the false prophet who is primarily put in charge of implementing the Mark of the Beast.
Taking the mark is more of a religious commitment than anything political or economic. By accepting that mark, you’ve entered into a religious commitment to worship the image of the beast. Oh, and you’ll also be able to buy and sell. But that’s secondary. What’s primary is your commitment to worshipping the beast. By having yourself marked with 666 is a number of identification. By taking that mark of 666, you are consciously identifying yourself with the antichrist, and by extension Satan, which then will make you the object of God’s undiluted wrath, and will doom your soul forever (Rev. 14:9-11).
“And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live. And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed” (Rev 13:14-15).
For me, these passages about the image of the beast is more terrifying than the Mark of the Beast. This is the ultimate dystopian nightmare. In vs. 14, the false prophet tells every one on the Earth to make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live. An image is merely a representation. A little statue. A picture. A painting. An idol of some kind. What John is saying is that the false prophet will make every person on the planet EACH make an image. A little wooden statue. Or print up a picture, frame it, and hang it in your house. They must have some kind of representation of the beast in their possession.
Then what does vs. 15 tell us? Rev 13:15 And he (the false prophet) had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.
The uncomfortable truth is that the false prophet forces everyone to create idols of the antichrist and then… the idols will come to life.
How does that work? It’s basically a demonically powered version in your home. (Kinda like Alexa except an Alexa is only slightly less evil. LOL)
Through this idol, now miraculously brought to life with demonic powers, you now have the eyes, ears, and mouth of Satan inside your home or cave or dwelling. You have the entire demonic realm observing everything you do. Everything you say. And that idol will speak to you, especially if you’re not living the way he wants you to. If you suddenly have a change of heart or if you’re sick of trying to survive in his dystopian nightmare, and you stop worshipping the beast, you will be killed by the image of the beast.
The idol itself will kill you.
Look at Rev 13:15 again. “And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.”
If you aren’t faithful to the beast, if you don’t worship that image every time you walk into your home or cave or whatever, if you don’t sing the praises of the antichrist every time you speak, the idol will kill you. Imagine an Alexa strapped with machine guns ready to kill you the moment you misspoke.
If the image of the beast can demonically come to life, talk to you, and kill you, then the image of the beast can also demonically give you the Mark of the Beast.
The Mark doesn’t need AI. The image doesn’t need electricity. Satan doesn’t need a data center. And God doesn’t need Silicon Valley to fulfill His prophesies.
Read more about the End of the World here.