Will God Show Up Today?
In the last several posts, we have looked at examples of how God showed up in a big way. In the last post, I asked whether we expect him to show up for us today. Do you? Are you expecting him to show up in a big way?
Currently there are two main ideas that are currently prominent as to how God will show up for us today:
1. Rapture (1Th 4:13-18; 1Co 15:51-52; also called Receiving of the Bride): God will come in the sky and receive to himself those who have placed their trust in him, and we will ever be with the Lord. This is the ultimate hope of all believers.
2. Revival (Da 7:26-27; Mt 24:14; Rv 17): Before that ultimate hope of all believers is realized, God will send a final and most glorious revival which will sweep the whole earth.
Both of these events seem to be recorded in Scripture. Neither are direct, yet neither are they hidden. Yet, some believe in neither, some in one or the other, and others in both. I will not debate the Rapture in this post as the idea of a coming revival is somewhat newer to many than the idea of a Rapture. Let’s see if there is evidence for Revival to come first.
In Daniel Chapter 2, King Nebuchadnezzar had a vision of a statue composed of gold (head), silver (torso), bronze (loins), iron (legs), iron & clay (feet & toes). Then a stone came and crushed the statue to dust. God revealed to Daniel that Babylon represented the head of gold and other kingdoms would come after him. History tells us the silver portion of the statue was the reign of the Medes & Persians, bronze portion was the reign of Greece, and iron portion was the reign of Rome. So far, no kingdom has seemed to represent the iron mingled with clay. Yet, is it possible that iron mingled with clay is actually a representation of today?
Why do I suggest this? There is another vision given to Daniel in Chapter 7 that many biblical scholars say represents the same kingdoms as the vision given to Nebuchadnezzar. Yet, perhaps this is not about the entire statue, but about the feet alone to give more details for Daniel to understand this period of history that would be in his distant future but may be at our doorstep today. Perhaps we are even on its threshold with the door already open.
Why iron and clay? It means such a kingdom is authoritarian in its demands but lacks cohesion and stability to always carry them out.
Daniel was extremely curious about the fourth beast that God revealed to him in his vision in Daniel Chapter 7. Let’s look at part of how God interpreted the fourth beast that Daniel saw: “He gave me this explanation: ‘the fourth beast is a fourth kingdom that will appear on earth. It will be different from all the other kingdoms and will devour the whole earth, trampling it down and crushing it. The ten horns are then kings who will come from this kingdom. After them, another king will arise, different from the earlier ones; he will subdue three kings. He will speak against the Most High and oppress his holy people and try to change the set time and the laws. The holy people will be delivered into his hands for a time, times and half a time. But the court will sit, and his power will be taken away and completely destroyed forever. Then the sovereignty, power and greatness of all the kingdoms under heaven will be handed over to the holy people of the Most High. His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all rulers will worship and obey him’” (Dn 7:23-27, NIV).
Now, let’s think about what has been happening in our world over the last three years or so. The World Economic Forum has been very active, acting almost like a government even though it isn’t a government. Despite this fact, this organization has influenced and affected the entire world almost like the empires of old but has done so in a way totally different from any previous empire. One could say it has had a unique influence: almost as if it was higher than governments by utilizing its influence alone through various individuals trained in its philosophies. As this passage of Scripture above indicates, it has indeed crushed the entire world with many of its decisions and forced mandates for a little over 3 years now. It is strong in its claims and mandates (iron) but weak in maintaining complete control of the narrative (clay).
In addition, one of its top advisors, Noah Yuval Harari, has become very brazen and some say, even blasphemous, in his talks. He has given many talks, has several books, and has spoken at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. It is obvious his philosophy has shaped his view of history and the world at large. He seems to believe all religions are composed of myths without fact and truth. He speaks almost like a prophet would speak. While he seems to point out warnings and potential concerns of the fast rise of Artificial Intelligence, it seems the World Economic Forum and those around the globe who follow their polices are trying to enact the very things he warns about. Some of the things he has said include the following:
“And every technical problem has a technical solution. We don’t need to wait for the Second Coming in order to overcome death” (Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow, 2018, Harper Perennial, New York, 2018, p. 23).
“Many of the big changes in history were unlikely. If you think for example the rise of Christianity, if you go about the Roman Empire third century then you have so many different religions and cults and philosophies or whatever, you have this esoteric Jewish sect that believes that a Jewish preacher who was crucified by the Romans two hundred years ago is actually the Lord of the Universe and it’s a very tiny esoteric sect. Nobody would imagine that within a couple of decades this sect, Christianity, will take over the Roman Empire. But it happened.” (Chanel 4 News, Ways to Change the World, interview with Yuval Noah Harari, Will artificial intelligence create useless class of people? YouTube video, Oct 20, 2021).
“Biological knowledge multiplied by computing power multiplied by data equals the ability to hack humans. If you know enough biology and have enough computing power and data, you can hack my body and my brain and my life, and you can understand me better than I understand myself. You can know my personality type, my political views, my sexual preferences, my mental weaknesses, my deepest fears and hopes. You know more about me than I know about myself. And you can do that not just to me, but to everyone.” (World Economic Forum, Yuval Noah Harari: How to Survive the 21st Century – Davos 2020, YouTube video, Jan 24, 2020)
“The only thing God managed to create was organic beings, trees, giraffes, and humans. If we succeed, then very soon we will be beyond the God of the Bible" (Excerpt from a talk given by Yuval Noah Harari, Frank: The Voice of Free Speech, Clay Clark, Dec 19, 2022).
“Within the next century or two, we humans are likely to upgrade ourselves into gods and change the most basic principles of the evolution of life. Traditional mythologies depicted gods as powerful beings that could design and create life according to their wishes. In the coming two centuries we will probably learn how to engineer and manufacture various life forms according to our wishes. We will use bioengineering in order to create new kinds of organic beings; we will use direct brain-computer interfaces in order to create cyborgs (beings that combine organic and inorganic parts); and advances in machine learning and AI might even allow us to set in motion the creation of completely inorganic beings. The main products of the future economy will not be food, textiles, and vehicles but rather bodies, brains, and minds” (Our Nonconscious Future, written by Yuval Noah Harari, published in Britannica, 2018).
Yet, we also see he has not just warned about the effects of AI and transhumanism, he has begun to embrace the very things he has warned us about:
“Humans are now hackable animals. The whole idea that humans have this soul or spirit, and have this free will and no one knows what goes on inside me so whatever I choose, whether in the election or whether in the supermarket, this is my free will. That’s over.
“We are really upgrading humans into gods.
“The test of AI is not whether it is perfect, but whether it is better than humans.
“We don’t have any answer in the Bible what to do when humans are no longer useful.
“You need completely new ideologies, completely new religions, and they’re likely to give people visions based on technology and everything the old religions promised: happiness and justice and even eternal life.
“For the first time in history it is possible to completely eliminate privacy. It was just never possible before, and it is possible now. Something fundamental has changed. When dictators always dreamt about completely eliminating privacy, monitoring everybody all the time and knowing everything you do, and not just everything you do but everything you think, and everything you feel. Whether it’s a tyrant in ancient Greece or whether it’s Stalin, they always dreamt about it and never do it because it was technically impossible. Now it’s possible.” (Excerpts from various talks given by Yuval Noah Harari, Thrivetime Show: The Reawakening versus The Great Reset, Rumble video, 2022)
It seems Satan has tried to push up the timeline to bring about his One World Government before it is time for him to do so. Granted, he has tried this before, but he has been preparing this time for at least one-hundred years or more. He has been very subtle this time but is now becoming brazen again. Satan is trying to bring his time on his schedule and prevent this generation from accepting God as their Savior. While he has always tried to do this, this is the first time in history that standing for right is considered wrong and actively suppressed. We have reached a “do or die” moment in current history.
It would be in God’s character to bring a revival for a great harvest of souls before he gives Satan his time. Satan doesn’t want a revival and is doing all he can to ensure that doesn’t happen, but God is the one in control of the timeline.
How should we pray for God to manifest himself today? We should ask him to reveal himself as Jehovah Nigelah, the Lord who Reveals, and pray for God to reveal himself mightily in our time. We need him as El Emet, God of Truth. Let’s pray for his truth to be revealed and reign supreme. Pray for him to come as Jehovah Rapha, the Lord who Heals, and pray for God to heal us physically and spiritually so we can live for him. He tells us, “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land” (2Ch 7:14). And we should ask him to reveal himself as Elohim, God Eternal, and pray for God to reveal himself as the One True God to all the world.
Through all the examples presented, we have seen how God shows up when things become the darkest– but not necessarily in the way expected. This gives us hope for today because the characteristics of God manifest themselves when mankind has almost given up, and God loves us despite how we often seem to not even love ourselves. Satan has always tried to control the timeline, but God has never allowed him to do so.
I found this motivational saying: If you want something different, you gotta do something different. While this is a good saying to stir up an audience, and there is some biblical truth to it, perhaps the better question to ask is to rephrase it slightly: If you want something different, you gotta be something different. We should ask ourselves: How does God want us to change to accomplish that? And, what is God asking us to do that perhaps we are not doing?
Not only do the unsaved need revival, but the church as a whole also needs a revival. Many, many denominations not only exist, but so many of them are antagonistic to each other. Are we really performing as Paul stated the Bride of Christ should perform? He said in 1st Corinthians, “For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body . . . (1Co 12:13). And in Philippians, “Make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in Spirit and of one mind” (Pp 2:2). Are we as the Church really in one Spirit and like-minded?
So, how do we prepare for God to show up for us today? Well, whether you believe it is time for the Rapture or time for a great harvest of souls, our response should be the same: lift our fellow believers up to God in prayer and ask God to empower all his children. Let’s pray within the armor of God, resist the devil, and pray for God’s favor. We know our battle is a spiritual one and we fight such a battle on our knees. We should pray for God’s will to be done and not what we wish to have done and ask for our expectations to match his – and that we will be ready for however he manifests himself. Let our hearts be open to however he desires to work and whatever character of his he wishes to express.
Believe it or not, prayer is the most powerful weapon. Christ used it a lot. And if he needed to pray, then we most definitely need to do so. Let’s all be united in order to allow God’s will to work through each of us so we’ll be ready for him stepping into our world in a mighty way.
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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens