Twenty-one years ago, we wrote an article entitled, “Less Understanding in an Age of Knowledge.” This current article draws heavily from that earlier one, as well as providing an update.
The earlier article spoke of a new age of knowledge and the attendant boom in information. In the 1990s, this notion had become very popular as Wall Street and its cousins around the world fanned up a massive technology investment boom. Anything to do with information—information technology (IT), the Internet, computer software, intellectual property rights … etc.—was (and remains today) a sought-after investment.
During the early 1990s, leading-edge consultancies began documenting the growing boom in information. For example, the School for Information Systems and Management at the University of California, Berkeley, periodically produced a study that estimated the amount and growth of information in the world. A study released in October 2003 provided their findings for year-end 2002.
The report estimated that so much information had been produced worldwide that year that it would amount to 30 feet of books for each person living on Earth. This represented an increase in total information in the world of 30% in one year (a similar rate to that of the previous year). At that pace, total information would double in less than three years. Back then, such calculations were considered stupendous and unbelievable.
Popular opinion in those days was captured by a new virtual world, where the “information highway” was born. Knowledge is the future, said the seers, and having an occupation as a “knowledge worker” was a luring profession. Near the end of this craze, consultants and commentators were so ecstatic about the emerging information age that nothing seemed impossible.
Policymakers and leaders of global organizations were preaching that the information and knowledge available through the World Wide Web would open all mankind to enlightenment and solve the poverty of many third-world countries. Simply by providing everyone access to the Internet, opportunity would be available to all of humanity—from the youngest schoolkids in America to the Bedouins of Arabia.
We now know that much of this talk was self-serving hype and the result of manic optimism and opportunism. As it turned out, the Dotcom Bubble—as it was popularly named—collapsed. There were massive losses, with the stock prices of many technology-related companies falling by as much as 90% and more.
Nevertheless, the new technologies did usher in a new world of digital connectivity. Powerful information networks emerged. These advances transformed the mindset of the world. In fact, many of these new technologies are surely facilitating significant end-time developments, such as rising globalization, narcissism, consumerism, and humanism. All of this was supposedly incubated by a boom in knowledge.
Is There a Knowledge Explosion?
Has there really been a boom in knowledge? What does the Bible say about knowledge? These are questions worth investigating.
We will return to address these important inquiries after we learn of the second digital boom that is ongoing today. There are again some new bubbles (speculative manias) underway … like none witnessed before. There are numerous new technologies playing a role, including robots, autonomous vehicles, space travel, quantum mechanics, as well as others. However, the biggest new development is AI (Artificial Intelligence). It is the biggest rage … by far.
It is expected that AI will greatly transform life and business on Earth. According to some visionaries, AI is an existential development for humanity. As such, massive investments are being marshaled to capture the expected future profits. The anticipated investments are in the multi-trillions of dollars.
A major side effect of these investments is a boom in the computational power of data centers. This requires enormous amounts of energy. It is estimated that this demand is already impacting energy costs. Analysts estimate that AI energy demand will account for 20-25% of total power demand by 2030. Even mothballed nuclear plants are being revived to meet the anticipated energy needs.
Adding to this computational surge is the crypto boom of recent years. The mining of cryptocurrency is also very energy-intensive, requiring much electricity.
Admittedly, all of this is rather difficult to grasp. We have only scratched the surface. Suffice it to say that enormous amounts of power and data are needed with AI and crypto operations. This has a knock-on impact on anything that uses digital processing … from streaming video to satellite data transmission, to many other applications. Without a doubt, we are witnessing a digital boom beyond comprehension.
Secular analysts and Bible readers alike agree that a boom in knowledge is underway. However, they may be terribly confused. In our view, knowledge is not expanding as rapidly as many think.
Do any of the statistics about trends and developments in information tell us anything about knowledge? In contrast, what does the Bible say about knowledge? This is an important issue to settle.
The Bible has the first and last word on knowledge. “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world” (Psalm 19:1-4).
We see that knowledge has always existed; it has never changed, and finds its complete genesis in God and His physical creation. Knowledge of eternal significance concerns the knowledge of God and His purposes. The only thing that has changed is man’s understanding, and, more importantly, mankind’s willingness to understand.
Understanding begins with the recognition of God’s sovereignty and truth, says the Bible. “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline” (Proverbs 1:7).
Scriptures allow us no excuse for lacking this type of knowledge. All of creation points to God. “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse” (Romans 1:20). Here we clearly see that knowledge is the foundational information that matters for eternity.
Shall Knowledge Increase?
Is an end-time boom in knowledge prophesied in the Bible? Some teachers suggest that the Bible prophesies an increase in knowledge in the last days. Bible prophecy may indeed provide some insights on the phenomenon of an end-time information boom. However, as we shall see, rather than prophesying a rise in knowledge, it is a boom in ignorance that will mark an end-time world.
An increase in information—trivia, distractions, and cares of this world—is markedly in alignment with last-day trends and developments. Information—the vast, vast preponderance of which is total trivia and trash—has definitely boomed.
As mentioned, some do interpret Scripture as predicting an end-time boom in knowledge. A popular proof text is found in Daniel 12:4: “But you, Daniel, close up and seal the words of the scroll until the time of the end. Many will go here and there to increase knowledge.” Some also infer from this verse that not only will knowledge increase, but also travel. For a number of reasons, it is not likely that this text refers to such phenomena at all.
A Bible word-study of the term “knowledge” may settle this issue.
In the first instance, it would be difficult to conclude that this passage refers to more knowledge in the form of new revelation. Here, the original word used for “knowledge” is more aptly defined as the “act of knowing.” In this sense, it is not knowledge that increases but rather the knowing of it. Knowledge has always existed.
Also significant is the fact that this statement is mentioned right after Daniel is instructed to “seal up the words.” As such, this would indicate that the explanation of the vision Daniel received is closed until such time that “knowing” would unlock its message.
We are safer to interpret this passage (Daniel 12:4) as referring to an increase in understanding of prophecy, the speech of Scripture, and the mind of God—not an increase in information in its original sense.
Probably the most convincing argument is that, since all of Daniel’s prophecies are concerned with the Jewish people and their future, this statement applies purely to them. Just as the Scripture, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge” (Hosea 4:6a) is expressly spoken to the Jews, so then would Daniel’s prophecy of an increase of knowledge only apply to the Jews.
The word “knowledge” here does not refer to miscellaneous information or trivia, but rather the knowing of God’s plan and His laws. The prophets had often castigated the Hebrews for their lack of knowledge. “Israel’s watchmen are blind, they all lack knowledge,” said Isaiah (56:10a). Hosea confirms that the knowledge being lacked refers to the ignorance of God and His laws: “…Because you have rejected knowledge, I also reject you as my priests; because you have ignored the law of your God, I also will ignore your children” (Hosea 4:6).
During the last days, the Jewish people will again come to an increasing understanding of their destiny and purpose. Finally, at the end of the Great Tribulation, a remnant will come to a full understanding. “Then I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will lead you with knowledge and understanding. In those days, when your numbers have increased greatly in the land, declares the LORD…” (Jeremiah 3:15-16a).
Points to Ponder
Information is flooding the world—AI, crypto, entertainment and media, communications networks … etc. But only a very small fraction of human activities and understandings represent true knowledge—the knowing of God’s cosmic plans.
The knowledge of God is eternal and much bigger than anything that mankind could produce. As such, we identify a paradox. Even as mankind may be proud of his new information, at the same time, his knowledge becomes ever smaller in a relative sense. The more that scientists discover new information (information from God’s creation), the more questions abound than answers.
If anything, today’s information boom is an assault upon knowledge … a distraction from its recognition and understanding. It is this aspect that finds alignment with Bible prophecy and applies to the entire world. Scripture clearly indicates that in the last days, people would be taken up with the cares and anxieties of the world and its things (2 Timothy 3:1-5; James 5:1-5). It clearly is a distracted world, far from knowing and fearing God.
Despite this mind-jamming and diversionary onslaught today, true knowledge is there for the taking by anyone. We are given the ability to discern and to acknowledge it, and to willingly respond. The Bible calls this ability prudence and wisdom. It is given to both Jews and Gentiles, and is operative in both the old and new covenants.
The truths of eternity and God’s plan for the cosmos and salvation remain secure. God preserves knowledge … it does not change. “The eyes of the LORD keep watch over knowledge, but he frustrates the words of the unfaithful” (Proverbs 22:12).
There is another prophetic aspect of today’s information explosion that speaks to us living in the Western world. It is significant that information (data) is expanding and more accessible than ever in these last days. Even though we live in an age of institutionalized corruption and deception, anyone wishing to pursue truth can do so as perhaps never before. Key, crucial facts are all found in the public domain today—a surprising amount available free over the Internet from even the remotest parts of the earth.
When this cosmos finally wraps up, and humanity sits in front of the Judgment Seat, there will be no excuse for the world not to have recognized the signs of the times … the season of Christ’s soon-coming return. No clemency will be offered to the pleas of involuntary delusion, blindness, misinformation, and organized agendas of deception. The information was available all around. There will be no excuse for not being able to recognize the season of Christ’s soon-coming return.
Its interpretation is unlocked by the messages and warnings found in God’s informational database—the Bible. This information, too, has been more available than ever (ignoring some of its corrupted versions) and its Gospels more broadly accessible to the average person … to even lambs and the simple-minded. After all, the world’s population has more literacy skills, and the Bible is available in more forms (electronic text, recordings, printed … etc.) than ever in history.
Moreover, understanding the most important truths of the Bible doesn’t require theological training, mysticism, allegorizing, ordainment, an ecclesiastical intermediary, secret revelation, or knowledge of what certain theologians or early Fathers may have said. The Bible says what it says, and God knows how to say what He means. “You do not need anyone to teach you” other than the Holy Spirit (1 John 2:27). If it were otherwise, the very character of God would be in question.
The Psalmist had this prayer: “Do good to your servant according to your word, O LORD. Teach me knowledge and good judgment, for I believe in your commands” (Psalm 119:66).
May we increase in knowing and understanding during these very last days.
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Wilfred J. Hahn is a global economist/strategist. Formerly a top-ranked global analyst, research director for a major Wall Street investment bank, and head of Canada’s largest global investment operation, his writings focus on the endtime roles of money, economics and globalization. He has been quoted around the world and his writings reproduced in numerous other publications and languages. His 2002 book The Endtime Money Snare: How to live free accurately anticipated and prepared its readers for the Global Financial Crisis. A following book, Global Financial Apocalypse Prophesied: Preserving true riches in an age of deception and trouble, looks further into the prophetic future.
Do you have questions or other perspectives? You can contact Wilfred at: staff@eternalvalue.com.