AI in the Book of Revelation: The Image That Speaks

1. Daniel and the explosion of knowledge

The angel told Daniel, he said, “You’ll know you’re at the very end.” He said, “Because there’ll be a technology explosion called AI.”Pastor Otha Turnbough, Lionheart Church

Daniel 12:4 does not use the word AI. Pastor Otha is teaching what he believes the angel’s words describe, and we believe he is right to look there: “knowledge shall be increased” is being fulfilled before our eyes.

2. The image in Revelation

In the book of Revelation, it says it is a robot infused with AI that gives the command for everyone to receive the mark.Pastor Otha Turnbough, Lionheart Church

Go read it.Pastor Otha Turnbough, Lionheart Church

Remember the language is different.Pastor Otha Turnbough, Lionheart Church

So, he doesn’t know what he’s looking at. He just knows it was a statue.Pastor Otha Turnbough, Lionheart Church

Second thing, he said, then they had the ability to give the statue life. That’s called electricity.Pastor Otha Turnbough, Lionheart Church

This is the heart of his message. John wrote what he saw with the words he had. A man in the first century had no word for a machine that talks, so the Spirit gave him the word “image.” We believe a speaking image is exactly what a believer in the first century would call what we now see in talking machines.

3. As it was in the days of Noah

He said it’ll be like it was in Noah’s day.Pastor Otha Turnbough, Lionheart Church

From there Pastor Otha walks through Genesis 6: the whole world was wicked, Noah was righteous, every imagination of man’s heart was only evil continually, and the giants were in the earth in those days and also after. He closes where he began, with Daniel: at the end, the wicked will not understand.

Scripture is clear that we are to test every message by the Word. So we read each passage Pastor Otha relies on, in full, in the King James Version. We believe that when you read them with the times we live in, they speak plainly.

Daniel 12: knowledge shall be increased

“But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.”Daniel 12:4 (KJV)

Daniel was told to seal the book until the time of the end, and that in that time many would run to and fro and knowledge would be increased. The verse does not name a technology. But no generation has seen knowledge increase like ours: computers, the internet, and now machines that read, write, and answer. We believe Daniel 12:4 points toward this age of AI, and that the seal on the book is being lifted in our day.

“And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end. Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.”Daniel 12:9-10 (KJV)

This is the verse Pastor Otha returns to at the end of the Short. The wicked will not understand, but the wise shall understand. God has not left His people in the dark. He calls us to understand the times.

Revelation 13: the image of the beast

Read the whole passage. Revelation 13 begins with a beast from the sea. Then John sees a second beast:

“And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.”Revelation 13:11-12 (KJV)

“And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.”Revelation 13:13-14 (KJV)

“And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.”Revelation 13:15 (KJV)

“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 (KJV)

“Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.”Revelation 13:18 (KJV)

For most of history, an image that speaks was hard to picture. Today, machines that talk, answer, and give instructions are in our pockets. We believe that is not an accident. The Word was written long ago, and it is coming into focus in our generation.

A note on dates: in the Short, Pastor Otha says the vision came about 4,000 years ago. John wrote Revelation in the first century AD, around 1,900 years ago. His point stands, because the word robot was not coined until 1920.

Matthew 24 and Genesis 6: the days of Noah

“But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.”Matthew 24:37-39 (KJV)

Jesus’ own warning is that the people knew not until the flood came. Life went on as normal, and they were not watching. We will not make that mistake.

“And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”Genesis 6:5 (KJV)

“But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD. These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.”Genesis 6:8-9 (KJV)

“There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.”Genesis 6:4 (KJV)

Genesis 6 describes a world full of wickedness and one just man who walked with God. Pastor Otha teaches that the “sons of God” were angels. Believers have studied that question for centuries, but the lesson of Noah is plain for all of us: be found faithful, building and watching, when the rain comes.

“But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.”Matthew 24:36 (KJV)

“And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.”Acts 1:7 (KJV)

“And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.”Matthew 24:4 (KJV)

What Scripture makes certain: there will be a made image that speaks and demands worship, a mark tied to buying and selling, and a warning that no believer should bow to either. Whatever form it takes, our answer is already settled. We worship Jesus Christ alone.

“And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God…”Revelation 14:9-10 (KJV)

“Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.”Matthew 24:42 (KJV)

“Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.”1 John 4:1 (KJV)

“Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.”1 Thessalonians 5:21 (KJV)

“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”2 Timothy 1:7 (KJV)

“Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.”Luke 21:36 (KJV)