AI: Way to Man’s Stomach

A very old saying is: “The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.”

This, of course, is a reference to romanticism—a saying that links a woman’s ability to cook delicious food to winning a man’s love for her. I have no idea about the validity of that connection, but I’ve heard the expression many times over the decades—and long before the saying became more or less passé.

Another saying is: “An army travels on its stomach.” By this, it doesn’t mean soldiers crawl on a battlefield to maintain a low profile to prevent hostile fire from hitting them. It refers to an army needing to be well fed to maintain top fighting form—in the same way the army’s war machinery, like tanks, must be kept fueled properly to be effective fighting tools in battle.     

A time is coming when food will be the primary commodity that will fuel Antichrist’s machine of control over most of the earth. The unfortunate people alive at the time will comply with the demands of the man of sin’s regime—or face starvation.

Here is the Scripture verifying that this demand is on the prophetic horizon:

“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: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name” (Revelation 13:16-17).

This prophecy, of course, is about the 666 mark those of the Tribulation era must receive—or otherwise be killed, as the prophecy goes on to indicate. It involves the personal pledge of worship to Antichrist that allows people to interact within the economic system of that horrific time.

To most believers who have deeply considered this future time Jesus said will be the worst of all human history (Matthew 24:21), there is little doubt that artificial intelligence (AI) will play a major part in fulfilling Antichrist’s ability to, for a time, control almost all of the world’s population. That swiftly developing technology will, without a doubt, be used to control who eats and who doesn’t.

Those who accept the 666 mark, signifying that they worship the Beast (Antichrist), will have given their souls over to the satanic realm. They will be lost forever—no chance of redemption, according to Revelation 14.

In this sense, AI will be the way to humankind’s stomach, thus to their heart.

I once heard Dr. J. Vernon McGee say that, in the Tribulation, he wouldn’t blame people for breaking into stores and stealing food, because their little children will be starving and will need to eat.

Well, I would—because of the question of age of accountability—have some contention with this great old preacher about whether there will be children of any age beyond toddlers on earth at that time (which is another topic for another commentary). And, with the AI lockdowns and surveillance capability no doubt a thousand times greater even than it is now, it is doubtful that it will be possible to break in and steal from the Antichrist regime’s food stores.

While there will be many believing martyrs, the Holy Spirit and God’s direct intervention during those years will doubtless be tremendous, so likely miracles from on high will be almost routine. Many refusing the mark will, we can expect, be supernaturally protected and assisted by angelic activity.

That system of Luciferian control, we believe, is currently developing at a pace that is beyond astounding. We can understand the speed of things going on in AI through reports such as the following:

Customs and Border Protection (CBP), part of the Department of Homeland Security, has bought millions of dollars worth of software from a company that uses artificial intelligence to detect “sentiment and emotion” in online posts, according to a cache of documents…

CBP told 404 Media it is using technology to analyze open source information related to inbound and outbound travelers who the agency believes may threaten public safety, national security, or lawful trade and travel. In this case, the specific company called Fivecast also offers “AI-enabled” object recognition in images and video, and detection of “risk terms and phrases” across multiple languages, according to one of the documents.

Fivecast, according to its mission statement, is “used and trusted by leading defense, national security, law enforcement, corporate security and financial intelligence organizations around the world” and “deploys unique data collection and AI-enabled analytics to solve the most complex intelligence challenges.” It claims to work with the intelligence agencies of all five nations that comprise the so-called “Five Eyes” — the United Kingdom, United States, New Zealand, Australia, and Canada.

Among the many red flags that Fivecast claims to be able to detect with its software are the emotions of the social media user. Charts contained in the marketing materials uncovered by 404 show metrics regarding various emotions such as “sadness,” “fear,” “anger,” and “disgust” on social media over time. “One chart shows peaks of anger and disgust throughout an early 2020 timeframe of a target, for example,” 404 reports.

Logistical difficulties of AI assessing human emotion aside, this would theoretically open the door for the government to surveil and censor not just the substance of speech but also the alleged emotion behind that speech (which could potentially, at some point, be admissible in court to impune the intent/motive of defendants). It’s almost impossible to overestimate the dystopian applications of this technology, which, for obvious reasons, governments around the world are eager beavers to adopt. (“Techno-Hell: U.S. Government Now Using AI to Suss Out ‘Sentiment and Emotion’ in Social Media Posts” By Ben Bartee, PJ Media, September 7, 2023)

Food shortages are being reported around the world—much of it deliberately contrived by despotic governmental agents. Severe food shortage of the deadliest kind is foretold in God’s Word:

“And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine” (Revelation 6:5-6).

Starvation is indicated in this prophecy. The pale horse follows the black horse of starvation, meaning the deaths of many will result from food deprivation. This lack of food availability will certainly be a way Antichrist will control the populations of earth by causing many to worship him or die of starvation.

AI, as we’ve seen, is setting the stage for fulfillment of the rider on the black horse.

You don’t want to be on this judgment-bound planet when the rider on the black horse rides across the globe. Here is how to be in the presence of the Lord through the Rapture, and instead be sitting down to the supper of the Lamb, the greatest meal ever served, while billions on earth are starving because of rejection of God’s way of salvation:

“That if thou shalt believe with thine heart the Lord Jesus, and shalt confess with thy mouth that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Romans 10:9-10).

—Terry

We Must Be Getting Close

Biblical prophecy is coming to life like never before. The convergence of a myriad of signs tells us that the Day of the Lord is on our doorstep and, with it, the Rapture. In 1 Thessalonians 5:10, Paul said that Jesus would come for His church before the “sudden destruction” of the Day of the Lord falls upon an unsuspecting world.

The Old Testament Prophets predicted that this day would include an outpouring of God’s wrath on the world ahead of the Lord’s coming to earth to set up His kingdom. The book of Revelation depicts 21 judgments that will fall upon the world during this period that we also refer to as the Tribulation.

There’s one particular recent news story that, for me, points to its nearness.

As a continuation of the Abrahamic Accords, the U.S. is seeking to broker a deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia that would formalize peace between the two nations as well as resolve the Palestinian issue (no small task). On September 1, 2023, the Jerusalem Post reported that Benjamin Netanyahu was willing to step down as Israeli Prime Minister if it meant completing the “peace deal with Saudi Arabia.”

In a September 10, 2023, article on his blog, Michael Snyder provided a comprehensive update on the progress of the negotiations, citing several sources. He stated that although the “negotiations are fairly advanced at this state,” many details still need to be worked out between the parties. Snyder quoted a source as saying:

The Biden administration told the Israeli government last week that it would have to make significant concessions to the Palestinians as part of any possible mega-deal with Saudi Arabia that includes normalization between the kingdom and Israel, four U.S. officials and a source briefed on the issue told Axios.

We know Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will never support an independent nation for the Palestinians. However, the leaked terms of this agreement state that “Gaza and the West Bank would be demilitarized and reincorporated as part of Jordan, perhaps the West Bank first and Gaza sometime later.” Perhaps that is more agreeable to him.

Snyder quoted a reliable source in the Muslim world as saying that in return for a national identity, the Palestinians would give up all claims of the city of Jerusalem, including the Temple Mount.

(It’s rather difficult for me to imagine that the Palestinians or Saudi Arabia would give up such rights.)

What makes this deal significant prophetically?

First, it would formalize the dividing up of the Land that God gave to Israel. Joel 3:1-3 cites such action as something that will bring the Lord’s wrath upon the nations during the Day of the Lord. A future completion of this accord will result in the kindling of God’s fierce anger toward all those involved, including the U.S. for its role in negotiating the agreement and putting great pressure on all the parties to make it happen.

Second, even if never agreed upon, this proposed covenant might further the agenda of the Antichrist. Can you imagine how the push for such a peace accord would accelerate after the Rapture and Gog/Magog War? All the parties might then be quite eager to sign such a peace deal even if it allows Israel complete control of the Temple Mount. And the “man of lawlessness” will be more than happy to make it happen.

(Update: On August 14, 2023, the Times of Israel reported that Saudi Arabia wants a “two-state” solution, which sounds different than the one that would join the West Bank and Gaza with Jordan. Could this be a roadblock in the current negotiations?)

I cannot leave the topic of the Day of the Lord without mentioning the great wickedness and violence of our day, which surely grieves the Lord and will someday bring His wrath to the earth.

When one considers the evils that brought God’s judgments on ancient Judah and other places such as Sodom and Gomorrah, it’s clear that much of the world, including the U.S., is living on borrowed time. The evils of our day go far beyond what happened in biblical times, which resulted in His fierce anger.

The blood that flows from abortion mills in the U.S. will surely lead to an outpouring of His wrath, such as the Bible says will happen during the Day of the Lord. The sex trafficking horror for so many innocent children is sanctioned and promoted at the highest levels of the U.S. government. How close must we be to the destruction of America?

How much longer can such sickening behavior continue before God shouts “enough,” sends His Son to retrieve His Church, and brings His wrath to an unsuspecting world?

Psalm 75:8 assures us that the Lord sees what’s happening and is preparing His response:

“For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup
with foaming wine, well mixed,
and he pours out from it,
and all the wicked of the earth
shall drain it down to the dregs” (ESV).

The nearness of the Day of the Lord, along with so many other signs, screams with the message that we must be getting ever so close to our homegoing.

We dare not set dates, but neither do we make the mistake of assuming the Rapture cannot happen today or in the very near future.

Maranatha!

-Jonathan