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Much of the world and it's people are either
online now or are planning to be soon. There is a general feeling now that
makes those who have yet to get hooked up to the information superhighway,
they'll be left behind
(No correlation to the Rapture
intended)
If you consider closely the infinitely wide usage and
diversity of the Internet, it is quite easy to see that the it is indeed
an important prophetic development.
Rapid Change
The Internet is a significant because it
can connect all the world's computers together. The World Wide Web is a
user-friendly format for the Internet which makes it easy to access
information. Communications via email is virtually free and instantaneous
when compared to the post office's "snail-mail". Almost
everything is free on the Internet, free software, free information, free
services. It's all part of the "open" culture that has made it
grow so rapidly.
Advances in technology have also
contributed to the unprecedented growth in the Internet. Statistics on the
growth of users, the communications traffic, number of Web pages, etc. all
show exponential increases (accelerating growth rate). And more is to
come, we are not far from having a large screen computer in the home
serving as both a video telephone and a television where programs can be
selected on demand.
The accelerated growth of the Internet is
typical of the developments which will characterize the time before Christ
returns. Daniel 9:26 says, "the end of it shall be with a flood"
when referring to events leading up to the second coming of the Messiah.
Jesus said that the signs preceding His return would be like birth pains,
increasing in frequency and intensity (Matthew 24:8).
Information Explosion
The prophet Daniel also wrote that at the
time of the end, "knowledge shall increase" (Daniel
12:4). Web search engines make it easy to find what you're looking for
even if you don't know where to begin. You can find something on just
about anything you can imagine.
Along with easy access to useful
information is also easy access to some pretty worthless, even dangerous
stuff. As every good thing in this world can be miss-used, so has the
Internet. The "open" culture and relative anonymity of users
produces the foulest garbage the depraved human mind can conceive. It's
all there, the trash along with the gems. Discernment is called for and it
is easy enough to avoid the bad content, you just don't go looking for it.
Another Internet pit-fall is getting
addicted to the search process, called "surfing". One of the
great features of the Web is that it allows you to jump around to get more
details about something. This can lead to excessive, aimless searching
that can be as mindless as watching TV sitcoms. Addictive web surfing and
TV watching are among the activities Paul alerted us about when he said, "in
the last days... [there will be people who would be] ...always
learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth" (2
Timothy 3:7).
The world will be one
Another prophetic element of the Internet
is that it is world-wide. Thanks to the Internet, the common man can now
communicate with other "world citizens". This will help people
see the need for a world-wide authority to address the world-wide issues
that come up.
God told us that there would be a world
government in place when Christ again sets foot on the Mount of Olives.
This government will be headed by the Antichrist in whom, "authority
was (prophetic tense) given him over every tribe, tongue, and
nation" (Revelation 13:7). The nations of the world are rapidly
moving in the direction of a world-wide governmental authority, the
Internet is helping them reverse what God did at the Tower of Babel
(Genesis 11:1-9).
The infrastructure of control
The world's banks have electronically
transferred money between themselves for some time. Wiring money has many
advantages including efficiency, security, exchange rates, and timeliness.
Individuals conduct their own electronic transactions in every credit card
purchase. The Internet is the infrastructure which will make it possible
to entirely replace physical money with electronic transactions.
Along with the great conveniences the
Internet will bring, will be a loss of privacy. Electronic transactions
leave a signature of where a person has been and what he did. Email is
easily intercepted by authorities to use as evidence against people.
The public will accept the Internet's loss
of privacy because the mechanism of society will become dependent on it.
People will rationalize that it will not matter if everything they do is
legal. (If cash is outlawed, only outlaws will have cash.) The problem is
the potential for abuse. And the coming world ruler will abuse it.
Revelation 13:17 tells us that the Antichrist will control the world
economy so "that no one may buy or sell except one who has the
mark." This kind of world economic control wasn't possible before
the Internet.
Gospel preached to all the world
One of the signs Jesus gave for His return
was that the "gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the
world as a witness to all the nations" (Matthew 24:14). As you
are reading this, the gospel of Christ and His second coming is being
presented to the world via the Internet which can be accessed in every
nation on earth.
English has become the common
language of international commerce. U.S. leadership in computer technology
and the world's economy has made English the most pervasive language on
the Internet. As Greek was the language of commerce which helped spread
God's Word the first time Jesus came, English is filling this role for His
second coming.
It is later than you think
The rapid growth of the Internet is just
one of the indicators that Jesus will soon return. The exponential rates
of change we observe in nature and technology is God shouting at us to
make Christ Lord of our lives before it is too late. As one technology
company put it in an advertisement touting their contribution to the
Internet, "it's a great time to be alive." It certainly is if
you are a Christian. If you have never asked Jesus Christ into your life
and you hunger for the peace that surpasses all understanding I urge you
to do so today. "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be
saved" (Acts 16:31).
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