• The Bible predicts a mark without which you cannot buy or sell: The Book of Revelation talks about a future world leader (referred
to as the "beast") who will require everyone to receive some kind of a mark in order to buy or sell: Revelation 13:16-17 "He also
forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, so that no
one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name." This is a prophecy that hasn't
happened yet. At this time, you are not required to have a mark on your right hand or forehead to buy or sell (but what a practical
solution to identity theft). Is there anything on the horizon about a mark without which you cannot buy or sell? Try Googling the
words "verichip", "cashless society", "RFID" for more information about technology that is fast approaching. A valid criticism of
this prophecy not fulfilling the criteria of being distant, unlikely (at the time it was prophesied) or uncontrollable, is that this
prophecy could have been fulfilled at any time through tattoos, if some government had required a brand or tattoo in order to buy
and sell. On the other hand, we are seeing for the first time technology that could literally fulfill this prophecy, because if we
are on the verge of entering a "cashless society" (as some technology magazines claim), then you literally could not buy or sell without
the mark (or chip, or bar code) because all monetary transactions would be electronic. So, although this prophecy has not yet been
fulfilled, technologically speaking it is possible for it to be fulfilled now more literally than ever before in the past.
•
The Bible predicts an evil ruler the whole world follows after: The book of Daniel (Daniel 9:27) in the Old Testament, and the book
of Revelation in the New Testament (Revelation 13) both describe an evil world ruler, known as the Antichrist (and referred to as
the "beast"). These books describe specific attributes about this evil leader, and they give a timeline for his future reign: "he
will confirm a covenant with many for seven years (Daniel 9:27); the whole world will be astonished and follow the beast (Revelation
13:3); all the inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast (Revelation 13:7-9); ten kings which have received no kingdom as yet
will receive power as kings one hour with the beast" (Rev 17:12-13). Do you notice anything strange about these verses? We will give
you a hint. Try to imagine this happening over two thousand years ago, at the time it was prophesied. This scenario is talking about
a ruler, whom the whole world follows after. How, two thousand years ago, could we see this happening? Countries were fought
for with swords, people traveled on foot, on horse, or by ship...how would someone, two thousand years ago, have been able to conquer
the whole world? Two of the greatest conquerors in history were Alexander the Great, and Genghis Khan, but neither of these two men
conquered the whole world. It took their entire careers just to conquer portions of Asia (Genghis Khan) and
However,
things are a little different now. Now, we have television, radio, and internet. We have jet airplanes. We have the United Nations.
It is possible for the whole world to find out about such a person through television, radio, and internet. And if the world knows
about him, it's possible for them to follow and worship him. It's possible for people or countries (as happened with
However,
this is just another scenario not possible at the time it was prophesied through the technology existing at that time, but it is literally
possible now.
• The Bible predicts the Gospel will be preached to the whole world: The Bible talks about the Gospel of Jesus Christ being preached to the whole world as a sign of the end times: Matthew 24:14 "And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony
to all nations, and then the end will come."
The technology making this possible
(radio, TV, satellite, and other advanced means of communication, not to mention aircraft travel, which allows anyone to travel to
any destination in the world much more quickly than ever before) is the same technology we saw in the prophecies above. The same technologydidn't
exist at the time the prophecy was made. Think about it. Even the printing press wasn't invented until the 1400's AD. Before
the printing press, Bibles were hand-copied and were much rarer and harder to obtain. We now have the technology to print Bibles in
any language, broadcast the gospel in any language to anywhere in the world, and a fast and convenient way for missionaries to travel
all over the world.
• The Bible prophesies an increase in war, famine, and earthquakes in conjunction with the other events: Matthew
24:3-8 (NIV) "As Jesus was sitting on the
This verse
discusses wars, famines, and earthquakes as being some signs of the second coming. Well, that's not a very useful prophecy, is it?
There have always been wars, famines, and earthquakes, so those prophecies can't meet our criteria of being unlikely and distant.
But, when we look up some statistics for these we see something unusual. The deadliest wars in history occurred within the last century.
The war with the highest death toll of all time (so far), was World War II, a war which ended just prior to the birth of
We see in this prophecy and the prophecies above, the Bible predicts
certain events will happen in conjunction with each other. Before "the end" (the prophesied return of Jesus): a) the gospel would
be preached to the whole world; b) there would be an evil world ruler "the Antichrist"; c) Israel would have to become a country
again (because the Bible predicts that the Antichrist would attack Israel, see Daniel 9:27); d) people would have to receive a mark
in order to buy or sell; e) there would be famine and war; and f) there would be near world destruction. Looking at all of these
predictions, we see something very interesting: The Bible describes these as "signs of the end" and they ALL occurred or became possible
within the space of the last century. What makes this coincidence even stranger is the century they occurred and/or became possible
in was at least seventeen centuries after we can prove they were written. What is the probability of all of them occurring or becoming
possible together, at least seventeen centuries after they were predicted?
If we call the probability of event (a) happening 17 centuries away "17(a)", then the probability of all six events happening 17 centuries away is 1/ (17(a) x 17(b) x 17(c) x 17(d) x 17(e)x 17(f)). We don't know exactly what the actual probability is, but each of the six factors must be a very small number in itself. One percent would be a very generous estimate of the probability of an event which is impossible at the time it is written occurring or becoming possible in a particular, distant century. If all six individual factors are 1%, or .01, then the combined probability is:
.01 x .01 x .01 x .01 x .01 x .01 = 10 -12 = .000000000001.
This
is not one in a million, it is one in a million million. Events which are this unlikely, for all practical purposes, never happen.
When
we look at all of these prophecies, what pattern are we seeing?
-They were all impossible and/or wildly improbable at the time they were predicted, -They have already been fulfilled or it is now possible for them to be literally fulfilled. - They were all prophesied as "signs of the end" and they were fulfilled and/or became literally possible concurrently, long after they were prophesied.
Finally
• The Bible predicts an increase in immoral behavior: 2 Timothy 3: 1-5 "But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God- having a form of godliness but denying its power."
Here are just a few statistics: there
is an increase of divorce, cohabitation, and unwed childbearing; increased availability and use of pornography via the Internet which
increasingly involves depraved crimes against children; an increase in media sex and violence which has been shown to affect children's
attitudes and behaviors and which has been found to have a significant role in the increase of violent acts; and an increase in prison
populations. But what does the above verse mean when it talks about "having a form of godliness but denying its power"? Turn
back to the discussion at the beginning of this article, about people who fall into Category 2. Increasingly, people who call themselves
"Christians", or who have had a Christian upbringing, hold conflicting beliefs. They consider Christianity (or parts of it) to be
"true" for them, but not necessarily for others. In our society, "tolerance" is a virtue, and "tolerance" means that you must accept
other religious beliefs as being equally valid with your own, without analysis, thereby automatically relegating ALL religious belief
into the category of opinion.