Revelation 13 speaks of two beasts: one out of the sea and another out of the earth. The first beast out of the sea represents the Antichrist from the point of view of his political power. In the last days the Antichrist will establish a world-wide kingdom embracing all the nations and peoples of the earth. The second beast out of the earth also represents the Antichrist but from a little different point of view. This beast represents the power of persuasion that the Antichrist will exert over mankind. The Antichrist will not establish his world-wide empire through main force or through marching armies that subject an unwilling populace to his rule. He will rather persuade the nations to give their allegiance to him. He will charm and enchant them so that they willingly submit to his rule. 

In general we may say that the Antichrist will gain the loyalty and support of the nations by his ability to create a utopia for man—a virtual heaven on earth.Revelation 13 speaks of the great wonders and miracles that the second beast will perform. These undoubtedly refer to advancements in science and technology that will enable the Antichrist to harness the various powers of God’s creation and press them into the service of man. Through scientific advancement the Antichrist will possess the means virtually to eradicate sickness and disease, hunger and famine, poverty and want. Through technology he will solve many of the problems that have plagued mankind since the fall. He will fill man’s life with luxury, ease, prosperity, and comfort. And the result will be that all kindreds, tongues, and nations shall herald him as their savior. They shall willingly bow before his rule and authority, that they may benefit from his “miracles.” And they shall worship him as their god. 

Such is the picture that tie receive of Antichrist inRevelation 13. 

In the February 20, 1978 issue of Time magazine there appears a special section entitled “The Computer Society” b which several articles are devoted to the impact that computers are having on our life and that they will continue to have in the future. Upon reading these articles one can not help but think of the “miracles” that the beast. of Revelation 13 will perform. 

Imagine once living in this type of world. We quote:

“It’s 7:30 a.m. As the alarm clock burrs, the bedroom curtains swing silently apart, the Venetian blinds snap up and the thermostat boosts the heat to a cozy 70 degrees. The percolator in the kitchen starts burbling; the back door opens to let out the dog. The TV set blinks on with the day’s first newscast: not your Today show humph-humph, but a selective rundown (ordered up the night before) of all the latest worldwide events affecting the economy—legislative, political, monetary. After the news on TV comes the morning mail, from correspondents who have dictated their messages into the computer network. The latter-day Aladdin, still snugly abed, then presses a button on a bedside ‘box and issues a string of business and personal memos, which appear instantly on the genie screen. After his shower, which has turned itself on at exactly the right temperature at the right minute, Mr. A. is alerted by a buzzer and a blue light on the screen. His boss, the company president, is on his way to the office. A. dresses and saunters out to the car. The engine, of course, is running. . . . 

“After her husband has kissed her goodbye, Alice A. concentrates on the screen for a read-out of comparative prices at the local merchants’ and markets. Following eyeball-to-eyeball consultations with the butcher and the baker and the grocer on the tube, she hits a button to commandeer supplies for tonight’s dinner party. Pressing a couple of keys on the kitchen terminal, she orders from the memory bank here favorite recipes for oysters Rockefeller, boeuf a la bourguignonne and chocolate souffle, tells the machine to compute the ingredients for six servings, and directs the ovens to reach the correct temperature for each dish according to the recipe, starting at 7:15 p.m. Alice then joins a televised discussion of Byzantine art (which she has studied by computer). Later she wanders into the computer room where Al (‘Laddy’) Jr. has just learned from his headset that his drill in Latin verb conjugation was ‘groovy’.”

Quite different from our present day life, even with all the modern conveniences! But this reportedly is what we may expect in the future with the tremendous advancements that have been made in computer technology. In fact, the basic technology for everything mentioned here is already in existence. 

Since 1946, when the first computer was assembled, computer technology has grown by leaps and bounds. Computers have become smaller, more convenient to use, less expensive to produce, yet more versatile and powerful. The latest development has been the “computer on a chip” such as is found in the pocket calculators that have become so popular today. We are told that a single silicon chip, no more than a quarter of an inch square, has the same calculating capabilities of a room-size computer of 25 years ago. Amazing! 

And as computer technology advances, so also do computers play a more important role in our life. Computers have become essential, for example, to modern communications. It is estimated that it would require the entire US female population between the ages of 18 and 25 to run the nation’s telephone system if it were not computerized. Computers are also playing an important role in business and industry, in commerce, in medicine, in scientific research, and in education, to mention but a few. A certain Professor Joseph Weizenbaum of M.I.T.’s Laboratory for Computer Science is even quoted as saying that human dependence on computers has already become irreversible. Computers, in other words, have become a way of life for America. 

And computers have also raised our standard of living considerably. Computers, for example, have enabled business and industry to operate more efficiently, with the result that products can be produced with less expense and the consumer has more for less. Computers are also a factor in the invention of many new products and gadgets that not only save time and energy but also add to the convenience of life. In addition to this, computers are responsible for better medical care, better communications, better transportation, better police protection, etc. In short, computer technology has provided us with many goods and services that were unheard of only a few years ago. 

And this is only a beginning. There seems to be no end in sight. It is estimated that with the introduction of the computer chip (also called rather significantly the “miracle chip”) there are at least 25,000 applications of the computer that await discovery. Computers are expected to be as common a household item as our present day radio and television. And this will revolutionize our life. Computers will shoulder many of the tedious, routine chores of life and perform them with astonishing speed and efficiency. They will provide us with more leisure time (as though we do not already have enough) and many physical comforts. Writes Time magazine, “The microelectronic revolution promises to ease, enhance and simplify life in ways undreamed of even by the utopians.” 

In the vision of some, the computer is even destined to become the next major development in the so-called evolutionary process. Even now the most advanced computers are able to learn by experience, to follow an argument, to write poetry and music, and to carry on conversations with humans. Computer technologists like to speak of computer “generations.” Each “generation” is marked by a major break-through in computer technology. There have been four such “generations” since 1946. It is predicted that in two more computer generations, which would bring us into the 1990’s, computers will begin to match the human brain in reasoning power and ability. After that, computers will emerge as a higher form of life. It is only the “carbon-chemistry chauvinist” who assumes that the new species of the evolutionary process will be flesh-and-blood descendant of man. And concerning man’s relationship with this new form of life, Robert Jastrow, director of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, writes:

“The computer . . . will be taken care of by its human partners, who will minister to its bodily needs with electricity and spare parts. Man will also provide for computer reproduction, as be does today. In return, the computer will minister to our social and economic needs. Child of man’s brain rather than his loins, it will become his salvation in a world of crushing complexity.”

This, of course, is nothing but the foolishness and nonsense of the godless. It is only the fool that believes evolution; and he is twice the fool if he believes this. 

But, nevertheless, we are able to see in this the coming of the Antichrist. There can be no question that computers will revolutionize our life. If we are left breathless at the tremendous changes that have taken, place in the past 70 or 80 years, we will be stunned by the change that awaits us in the future. And computers will undoubtedly play a significant role in this. Without any stretch of the imagination one can easily see that the amazing feats that will be performed by future computer technology could very well be the “miracles” of the second beast of Revelation 13. Even now the “computer on a chip” is being heralded as the “miracle chip.” Computers are expected to be man’s “salvation in a world of crushing complexity.” Could it be that the computer is the last technological breakthrough that Satan needs to create his “heaven-on-earth” for man and establish his anti-Christian kingdom? 

Perhaps. 

But at least this—it is one more step in that direction. And it is a reminder to us that the Antichrist is coming and one day, perhaps soon, will enthrone himself as king of the earth. Let us beware. Let us not be deceived and drawn away by his enchantments. His salvation is false. His heaven leads to hell. Be faithful and watch unto prayer.