Revelation's High Resolution Display

Most commentaries on the book of Revelation are devoid of modern technology except in childish or awkward ways. I view this as a mistake and it is why I am writing so much on AI, genetics and the culture. I make no predictions but offer context and information for people to arrive at their own conclusions rather that have wolves and charlatans lead them down a path of lies and deception. This means people like John Hagee, Joel Osteen, Steven Furtick, etc. It also means secular influencers like Jordan Peterson, Nick Fuentes and Ben Shapiro whose main avenue of manipulation is science or politics but they sprinkle in an air of religiosity. I view 'influencers' as spiritual wolves in general because they negatively affect people's thinking and therefore their behavior. The path is narrowing and an increasing number of otherwise intelligent believers are being deceived. Yes, Ben and Jordan have great ideas but they mainly push a secular form of syncretism or worse universalism.

In Paul’s letter to Timothy, he writes the following. At first glance it just seems like a farewell statement of little theological significance to a Christian brother. When viewed with 21st century knowledge it drives home a startling point.

1 Timothy 6:12-16 Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which he will display at the proper time—he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.

I emboldened the word display for a reason. Paul writes the approximately 62A.D. and is referring to the showing of Christ mentioned in Revelation 1:1 which was written about 30 years after Paul’s death by John the Revelator in approximately 90A.D.

The Greek word translated 'display' or δείκνυμι/deiknumi here is translated 'show' in Revelation 1:1 or δεῖξαι/deixai. This means that the verse from 1 Timothy quoted above is saying that the 'blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings', is the one who will stage an ‘event’ that Paul is referring to. What Paul is saying here is the book of Revelation not only tells us about Jesus Christ; it also shows us the meaning of his future apocalypse, that is, his return in glory. Why does this matter?

Paul speaks of believers waiting for 'the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ in 1 Corinthians 1:7 also.

"…so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ" 1 Corinthians 1:7

Paul is writing of the time, “…when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God” ~ 2 Thess. 1:7-8

The Greek word translated 'revealed' is actually a noun, Ἀποκάλυψις /Apokalypsis, not a verb. The phrase therefore needs to be literally rendered this way: 'in the apocalypse [revelation] of the Lord Jesus from heaven'.

Paul does not mean in the book of Revelation. He couldn’t have meant that because Revelation was 30 years from being written. No, I believe this is in the event of a revelation which Paul knew would come but hadn’t yet. This is key to understanding Revelation 1:1 and everything that will follow the first verse of Revelation. A verse which explicitly states that Christ and the things in the Book of Revelation will be revealed and shown or signified/esēmanen/ἐσήμανεν 

So, above all, then, Revelation is going to present an event to us, a spectacular visual depiction to fire our imaginations to long for the arrival of that final pivotal event of this earth's history that will herald the dawning of a new age. The emphasis needs to be on the visual - the things that John saw.

Interestingly, researchers at the 3M Corporation say that the human brain processes visual input 60,000 times faster than text, so that visual impact tends to go much deeper than the reading of text. One reason for the difference is that the elements of images are processed simultaneously, whereas text is processed sequentially and so takes longer. Things take longer and things get lost in translation so-to-speak. The symbolism of Revelation is designed to stimulate imaginations. Revelation therefore based in its own introduction in verse 1:1 is, of all books in the Bible, a book that is a visual event…possibly in some extent, to be imagined.

Am I making a predication here? No. Merely translating exactly what is in the text of not only Revelation but a prefatory statement about what will happen in the future by Paul. It’s about imagery and images. A high-resolution prophecy. So, then the question needs to be asked about imagery and AI? AI imagery has now advanced to a level or fast approaching a level of imagery that is indistinguishable from reality. How does this play into the words written so long ago? Paul and John had absolutely no concept of AI and its capabilities. Is this a backdoor to try to explain the deception and lies that will be easily wrought against a mostly unaware world population including the elect believers?

A populace that will not be able to delineate between the true images or false without special means like tools that can read the code behind the digital images? Will those that are not deceived be given some form of supernatural ability to distinguish the differences? As we use AI more and more to uncover answers to questions, are we winding a web ever deeper into deceiving ourselves and becoming wholly dependent on technology that is beyond our ability to master or comprehend?

Now overlay this concept into modern times and the recent wholesale shift by not only younger generation but all generations from toddlers to the elderly into being mostly a visually based learner paradigm. YouTube, TikTok and other visual based mediums. I suggest this itself is an indicator of the two millennia old prophetic word. God knew in advance that we would be a visually oriented people in the latter days even though the prophecy was written down in textual form. I suggest this too may be the avenue out from the deception that technology may either sow or piggyback onto to deceive the world. The ability to not be deceived is to not be wholly or even partially dependent on our computers, our tablets and our ubiquitous phones.

We should at least do a partial return to the old ways. AI interpreted Scripture is not divinely interpreted Scripture. We must never forget that the writing of the Bible is not the only inspiration involved with the Word. The interpretation is also the work of the Spirit in the reader at the other end. Computers may give insight but what it means and how it affects individual lives is an individual relational thing directly with God that in no way needs to involve visual comprehension or advanced technology. I imagine it would be more beneficial to learn how to read the old-fashioned way from an old dog-eared leather-bound Bible.

High resolution visions and images won’t come from our computers or phones. They will need to come from us, the seeker searching for God’s interpretation and revelation of the meanings within the ancient text of the Bible. The Bible even said that in the latter days:

“And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions." Joel 2:28 

"And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams" Acts 2:17

Let God reveal it to us directly bypassing and ever more treacherous landscape of AI and a secular world run by the godless. Spiritual downloads directly to us via the Spirit. The more we read Scripture the finer the resolution will become. We should be able to recognize when we are dealing with a counterfeit. There will be tells and giveaways that should standout to us. A person indwelt by the Spirit that the Word imparts should be able to recognize an imposer regardless of how realistic it is. We need to disengage from the screens and pseudo-reality that consume the entirety of our days. If there is a place a pseudo-Christ will come from it most certainly will use pseudo reality as a gateway.