The English writer Charles Dickens wrote in the introduction to his novel, A Tale of Two Cities, “It was the best of times; it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity.” 

Dickens describes the radical opposites which existed across the English Channel, in France and the United Kingdom respectively. It also expresses the age we live in where knowledge is exploding around the world at an astounding rate. In 1945 knowledge was doubling every twenty-five years, and today the volume of knowledge is doubling every twelve hours!

God revealed to the prophet Daniel, “But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase” (Daniel 12:4).

Futurist Predicts Immortality

In an article in the Jerusalem Post this week titled, “Futurist Predicts Humans Will Be Immortal, Identical to AI by 2045,” futurist and former Google engineer, Ray Kurzweil, said that he believes humans will reach immortality by 2045.

Knowledge is increasing greatly and human beings have accomplished incredible feats in technology, physics, chemistry, biology and the human brain. When Francis Crick unraveled the DNA molecule in 1953, he recognized the incredible odds of discovering and deciphering the double-helix structure. It was a discovery that changed the world.

Kurzweil predicts: “The singularity will come at the end of six epochs, according to Kurzweil who added that we have gone through four: physics, chemistry, DNA and biology and brains and technology. According to the theory, humanity is currently in the midst of the fifth epoch which is human technology and human intelligence.”

Is it possible? Is it within the technological reach of human beings to accomplish such a thing? Skepticism makes us think not. However, consider the words of God at the tower of Babel in Genesis 11:5-6: “But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. And the Lord said, ‘Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them.’”

God said if man became united together to pursue those things they desire to accomplish, “nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them.”

God separated human beings into different languages by confusing their tongues, and man broke off working together to build the tower of Babel. God said, “‘Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.’ So, the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city. Therefore, its name is called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.” (Genesis 11:7-9)

Since the development of Morse code, telegraph and then the telephone, and now the Internet, the world has been connected at a progressively increasing rate. The Worldwide Web of the Internet has connected the world as at no other time. What greater technologies are coming?

As we venture into the years ahead, it appears that human beings are trying to build a figurative modern-day "Tower of Babel" which will bring about great technological wonders. The big question is, will this lead the world to the brink of total annihilation?

The New Tower of Babel Falls 

In the book of Daniel there is a graphic depiction of the downfall of this new tower of Babel in a dream interpreted for King Nebuchadnezzar. Daniel said, “You, O king, were watching; and behold, a great image! This great image, whose splendor was excellent, stood before you; and its form was awesome. This image’s head was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. You watched while a stone was cut out without hands, which struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed together, and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; the wind carried them away so that no trace of them was found. And the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.” (Daniel 2:31-35)

We may yet live through the worst of times, but the best of times are ahead. Jesus Christ, the King of kings, will return to save mankind from destroying themselves in the nick of time (Matthew 24:22). Christ will return as the Stone which will destroy what man has created led by the Devil, and man’s new tower of technology and the end-time Beast power and Babylon will be smashed out of existence. God will use the saints to bring about a new world which will be based on His beautiful laws. Our Lord will raise up the Kingdom of God on earth and sit on the throne of David in Jerusalem

This is my Perspective of these times, and this edition of the Prophetic Times follows below:

Prophetic Times

Futurist predicts humans will be immortal, identical to AI by 2045     

March 30, 2023 jpost.com reported:

Futurist and former Google engineer Ray Kurzweil said that he believes humans will reach immortality by 2045, according to Youtuber Adagio who discussed Kurzweil's theory in a two-part YouTube series.

Kurzweil believes that humanity is moving toward a singularity in 2045 which is powered by exponential growth - a theory that says that when an industry becomes interesting, more resources are invested into it, meaning that more research can be done and causing the industry to advance at greater speeds as time goes on.

The singularity will come at the end of six epochs, according to Kurzweil who added that we have gone through four: physics, chemistry, DNA and biology and brains and technology. According to the theory, humanity is currently in the midst of the fifth epoch which is human technology and human intelligence.

After humanity achieves the sixth epoch, Kurzweil believes that we will saturate our intelligence into the rest of the universe. He believes that humans, specifically, are intended to do this because the fact that we haven't found proof of alien life yet means that it doesn't exist.

Kurzweil says that because of exponential growth in the fields of genetics, nanotech and robotics, people will eventually have the ability to map the human brain to a high enough resolution that it can be mimicked exactly in artificial intelligence.

These advances, Kurzweil believes, will also give humanity the ability to alter their biological makeup at will as well as cure deadly diseases like cancer and heart attacks. These together with an ability to reverse aging will supposedly give humans immortality and make them indistinguishable from the singularity's highly advanced AI robotics.

North Korea Unveils Smaller Nuclear Warheads

March 29, 2023 voanews.com reported:

North Korea unveiled new, smaller nuclear warheads and vowed to produce more weapons-grade nuclear material to expand its arsenal, state media said Tuesday, as a U.S. aircraft carrier arrived in South Korea for military drills.

North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency released photos of the warheads, dubbed Hwasan-31s. Leader Kim Jong Un visited the Nuclear Weapons Institute and inspected new tactical nuclear weapons and technology for mounting warheads on ballistic missiles, as well as nuclear counterattack operation plans, KCNA said.

Nuclear experts said the images could indicate progress in miniaturizing warheads that are powerful yet small enough to mount on intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of striking the United States.

‘It has something more powerful in a smaller space. That’s worrisome,’ said Kune Y. Suh, professor emeritus of nuclear engineering at Seoul National University, comparing the new warheads with the 2016 version.

China vows to ‘fight back’ if Taiwan leader meets US speaker

March 29, 2023 newsmax.com reported:

China vowed on Wednesday to ‘fight back’ should Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen meet the US House speaker during a trip to the United States. Tsai left on Wednesday for the United States, from where she will head to Guatemala and Belize to shore up ties with diplomatic allies. On her way back to Taiwan she will stop in California, where US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy had said he would meet her.

China claims the democratic island as part of its territory to be retaken one day and, under its ‘One China’ principle, no country may maintain official ties with both Beijing and Taipei. Beijing warned Wednesday that it was ‘resolutely opposed’ to any meeting between Tsai and McCarthy and vowed to take ‘resolute measures to fight back’ if it goes ahead. ‘If (Tsai) engages with US House Speaker McCarthy, it will be another provocation that seriously violates the One China principle, undermines China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and undermines peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait,’ Taiwan Affairs Office spokesperson Zhu Fenglian said.

Russia says fired anti-ship missiles at mock target in Sea of Japan

March 28, 2023 spacewar.com reported:

Russia’s defence ministry said Tuesday that its navy had fired test anti-ship missiles at mock targets in the Sea of Japan during military exercises. Russia’s Pacific Fleet drills came a week after Tokyo’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida visited Ukraine. Moscow holds regular drills off its Far East coast, but Tokyo said these were ‘increasing’ and that it was ‘closely’ monitoring Russian military activity in the area.

‘In the waters of the Sea of Japan, missile boats of the Pacific Fleet fired Moskit cruise missiles at a mock enemy sea target,’ the Russian defence ministry said on Telegram early on Tuesday. It said two ships took part in the exercise.
‘The target, located at a distance of about 100 kilometres (62 miles), was successfully hit by a direct hit from two Moskit cruise missiles.’

Moscow said its naval aviation oversaw the ‘safety of the combat exercise.’

Russia has held such exercises before, firing test Moskit missiles in a similar drill last year.

Netanyahu delays judicial overhaul after mass protests 

March 27, 2023 apnews.com reported:

Bending to a wave of mass protests, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delayed his contentious judicial overhaul plan Monday and said he wanted “to avoid civil war” by making time to seek a compromise with political opponents.

The announcement appeared to calm some of the tensions that have fueled three tumultuous months of unrest. But it failed to address the underlying issues that have polarized the nation, and the anti-government protest movement vowed to intensify its efforts.

In his prime-time address, Netanyahu, who had previously rejected calls to delay the legislation, took a more conciliatory tone than in recent speeches. He acknowledged the deep divisions in the country and said he was hitting the pause button “to prevent a rift in the nation.”

“When there’s an opportunity to avoid civil war through dialogue, I, as prime minister, am taking a timeout for dialogue,” he said. He vowed to reach a “broad consensus” during the summer session of parliament, which begins on April 30.

He spoke after tens of thousands of Israelis demonstrated outside parliament, and the country’s largest labor union launched a nationwide strike in a dramatic escalation of the mass protest movement against his plan. Netanyahu and his religious and ultranationalist allies presented the overhaul in January just days after forming their government, the most right-wing in Israel’s history.

The proposal has plunged Israel into its worst domestic crisis in decades. Business leaders, top economists and former security chiefs have all come out against the plan, saying it is pushing the country toward an autocracy. Fighter pilots and military reservists have threatened not to report for duty, and the country’s currency, the shekel, has tumbled in value.

The plan would give Netanyahu, who is on trial on corruption charges, and his allies the final say in appointing the nation’s judges. It would also give parliament, which is controlled by his allies, authority to overturn Supreme Court decisions and limit the court’s ability to review laws.

Netanyahu has argued that the overhaul is needed to rein in a liberal and overly interventionist court of unelected judges. But his opponents say the package would damage the country’s system of checks and balances.

Russia to station nuclear weapons in Belarus

March 27, 2023 israelnationalnews.com reported:

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on Saturday that Russia will station tactical nuclear weapons in neighboring Belarus, marking the first time since the mid-1990s that Moscow will have based such arms outside the country, according to a Reuters report.

Putin made the announcement at a time of growing tensions with the West over the Ukraine war and as some Russian commentators speculate about possible nuclear strikes. Putin told state television that Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko had long raised the issue of stationing tactical nuclear weapons in his country.

‘There is nothing unusual here either: firstly, the United States has been doing this for decades. They have long deployed their tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of their allied countries,’ he said, as quoted by Reuters.
‘We agreed that we will do the same – without violating our obligations, I emphasize, without violating our international obligations on the nonproliferation of nuclear weapons,’ added the Russian President.

The United States reacted cautiously to Putin’s declaration.