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[The text below represents an edited transcript of this Tomorrow’s World program.]

Evidence of the Loneliness Epidemic

There’s a new epidemic affecting our world today. And I’m not talking about a new variant of COVID-19. In fact, it’s not a virus or a disease at all. It’s not spread through coughing or sneezing, and lockdowns surely won’t help. So what is it? And how are you affected by it?

It is the epidemic of loneliness. Now, you might think, “What are you talking about? That’s not an epidemic. That’s what all of us experience from time to time.”

But this is different. I’m talking about a chronic sense of isolation and disconnection from others, from any sort of community, from anything meaningful in life.

And why wouldn’t millions feel empty and alone in our world today? After all, generations have been taught there’s no purpose to life and we are the products of random chance.

Regarding Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution, the late science fiction writer, Arthur C. Clarke once wrote:

Two possibilities exist: either we are alone in the Universe or we are not. Both are equally terrifying Arthur C. Clarke Quotes (Author of 2001).

More recently, evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins wrote in River Out of Eden:

The universe we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil and no good, nothing but blind, pitiless indifference (River Out of Eden, p. 133, 1995, Richard Dawkins).

Maybe there’s a reason why so many today feel chronically alone. Maybe we as society have absorbed the fables of evolution. And they are profoundly affecting how we think about our place in the Universe, in society, and even in our own homes.

You might be one of millions today suffering from a sense of isolation and loneliness.

Now, are we overstating this? After all, an epidemic is an out-of-control health crisis where people get sick and die—and in large numbers. Of course, everybody feels lonely from time to time. Is the term “epidemic of loneliness” an exaggeration? This is the point of an article from January 24, 2025 in The Atlantic entitled “The Myth of a Loneliness Epidemic.” The author says:

No one would blame you for thinking that we’re in the midst of an unprecedented global loneliness emergency. The United Kingdom and Japan have named “loneliness ministers” to tackle the problem. In 2023, the World Health Organization declared loneliness a pressing public-health concern, and then-President Joe Biden’s surgeon general, Vivek Murthy, issued an advisory warning about an “epidemic of loneliness.” American commentators have painted a bleak portrait of a nation collapsing into ever more distant and despairing silos. And polls do suggest that a lot of people are lonely—some of the time, at least.

But is it an epidemic? The author explains that it’s difficult to quantify something like loneliness, especially when trying to compare it to historical trends. People’s expectations of relationships may be different today than they were a generation or two ago. That’s all true.

So is this a fad? Is it a trendy new band wagon to jump on? Or is there really something to it?

Whatever it is, some governments are taking it very seriously.

As the article mentions, the government of Great Britain commissioned one of its Ministers of Parliament with the task of tackling the growing problem of loneliness and social isolation in British society. And believe it or not, the British government has since spent over 80 million pounds studying and combating this problem (“Britain is in a loneliness epidemic—and young people are at the heart of it,” telegraph.co.uk, February 29, 2024).

When we think of loneliness as a social ill, it’s not surprising that the elderly would come to mind. After all, older people often have to face the challenge of losing a mate and living alone. They oftentimes struggle with challenging health issues. Isolation and loneliness only make it worse. Family members may be hundreds of miles away. Or they may have no contact with family members at all.

Increase of “Gray Divorce” Rates

Some may divorce, even later in life.

The American Association of Retired Persons website reports that there has been a dramatic increase in so-called “gray divorces.” Notice:

A new analysis of divorce data from 1990 to 2021 released in July by Bowling Green State University’s National Center for Family and Marriage Research found that divorce rates for those age 45 and over rose during that period… The most significant increase in divorce rates was among people 65 and older: The rate tripled from 1990 to 2021. At these older ages, rates of divorce among women nearly quadrupled… [Older] adults ”now face record high divorce rates”…. (“Divorce Skyrocketing Among Aging Boomers,” aarp.org, September 6, 2023).

So the rise in divorces is also a driving force in more feelings of isolation and disconnection among seniors today.

But even under the best of circumstances, with regular contact from loving family and friends, aging is challenging. But it’s not just the elderly who suffer from being isolated.

In 2021, the Japanese government instituted a ministry of loneliness, like Great Britain. Their specific aim was to address the growing suicide rate among the elderly, working women, part-time workers, and the unemployed. The COVID-19 pandemic had also made social isolation an even worse problem. Makoto Watanabe is a communications professor at Hokkaido Bunkyo University. In an article for Deutsche Welle, he explained the problem of men being marginalized because of the struggling economy.

There is a “lost generation” of thousands of 40- and 50-something men, primarily, who could not get a good job when they left school because the economy was bad and they have just stayed at home ever since. The number of single households and “hikikomori”—social recluses —has been increasing rapidly for many years…. (“Japan: ‘Minister of loneliness’ tackles mental health crisis,” dw.com, April 23, 2021).

So there are economic forces driving the loneliness trend. Unemployment and lingering effects of the COVID pandemic play a part. And it’s not just in the Western world.

But perhaps more alarming yet is the number of young adults experiencing chronic loneliness at even higher rates than the elderly. An NBC News survey reported this:

Twenty-nine percent of U.S. adults under age 30 say they feel lonely or isolated from those around them all of the time or most of the time. Similarly, 26% of the next oldest generation, or those ages 30-44, say they feel lonely or isolated all or most of the time.
But only 15% of survey respondents who are members of Generation X, or those who are 45 to 64 years old, said they felt they were lonely or isolated most or all of the time, and only 8% of those ages 65 and older said the same (“Poll: Young Americans are more likely to feel lonely, anxious about the future,” nbcnews.com, April 28, 2025).

A similar article in the Telegraph told the same story in the United Kingdom. Published on February 29, 2024, it was entitled, “Britain is in a loneliness epidemic—and young people are at the heart of it.”

So there does seem to be something happening. Ironically, it’s in a time with ever-increasing connection through the Internet and smartphones. Loneliness seems to be increasing across the board.

Bible Verses About Loneliness: Its Causes

But why is it happening?

Many experts give opinions about why the loneliness epidemic is growing. They’ll cite reasons such as people spending more time online; less contact person-to-person; the fact that it’s a more mobile society; the pandemic.

And that’s all true—those certainly have contributed to the epidemic of loneliness. But one source most experts overlook is the Bible. And yet, the Bible is the foundation of understanding. It’s the first place we should look when seeking to discern the answers to the big questions of life. And it’s where we should turn when we’re grappling with why the world is the way it is.

The Love of Many Will Grow Cold | Matthew 24:12

Notice an interesting statement Jesus made in Matthew 24:10-12, speaking of the conditions at the end of the age.

“And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another… And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold” (Matthew 24:10,12).

Is that describing our world today? We are shocked to see the lack of empathy in some people today, in our news reports. Well, Jesus predicted the world of the last days would be one in which “love will grow cold.” Could we be witnessing the beginning stages of that breakdown of society now?

In the Last Days Perilous Times Will Come | 2 Timothy 3

Notice what the Apostle Paul wrote to Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:1.

But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come.

This word “perilous” is also translated “times of stress.” Hard times were predicted to come just before Christ’s return. And then Paul described some of the specifics of why those times would be hard. In 2 Timothy 3:2-3, we read:

For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving.

Unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving? That sounds like a society where people are increasingly polarized and hateful to each other. That’s describing our world today.

People Don’t Want to Remember God | Romans 1:28

It’s no coincidence that these conditions increase in a world where many have no respect for the Bible or God. Notice what the Apostle Paul said in his letter to the Romans in Romans 1:28.

And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting.

When many in society cast aside a real understanding of God and respect for His word, bad things happen. And we’re witnessing that in our world today. In Romans 1:29-31, he explains they would be:

Full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful.

This is describing the breakdown of a well-connected, fully-functioning society. It’s describing a society where people don’t trust their leaders, don’t trust the media, don’t even trust members of their own family.

And why wouldn’t our society be on this path? Since the 1800s, evolutionary theory—which proposes a meaningless and purposeless existence—has been pushed as a fact.

Let me quote from Evangelist and Tomorrow’s World writer Douglas Winnail, writing in today’s offer, The Real God: Proofs and Promises. He says on page 6:

Over the last two centuries, belief in God has come under attack by many intellectuals in the West…. Philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche asserted that God is merely a thought. Neurologist Sigmund Freud termed belief in God a mental disorder…. H. L. Mencken asserted, “God is the immemorial refuge of the incompetent, the helpless, the miserable.” In the 1960s, prominent theologians echoed Nietzsche’s earlier sentiments and actually questioned whether God was dead. Oxford zoologist Richard Dawkins asserted, in his 2006 book The God Delusion, that there is no evidence to support religion and that better educated people today admit this. He claims that “only the scientifically illiterate” believe in a Creator God (p. 6).

Again, is it a surprise that we as a society are drifting? That many of us are increasingly lonely and feel no connection to others and no purpose in life? After all, for generations, our world has been absorbing the message that our lives are meaningless. On page 8, he observes:

Evolutionists’ purposeless universe has proven to be a psychologically empty and depressing concept (p. 8).

It’s no wonder that more and more of us today are depressed and discouraged. Our world preaches to us that we have no purpose of being here at all.

But the Bible predicted this. In it, God prophesied a spiritually bankrupt society at the time of the end. That is what we’re witnessing day by day. It’s not surprising, against this backdrop, that we also have an epidemic of loneliness and despair.

Bible Verses About Loneliness: Its Solutions

Marriage and the family truly is a basic building block of a strong society. In Genesis 2 we read of the first marriage.

Marriage: It Is Not Good for Man to Be Alone | Genesis 2:18

After God created Adam, notice what He said (Genesis 2:18).

And the LORD God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him…” And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. Then the rib which the LORD God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man.

Think about that. When God made Adam, He also provided companionship. And that was through the institution of marriage.

Be Faithful: God Hates Divorce | Malachi 2:16

And that’s why God says He hates divorce. We read that in Malachi 2:16.

For the Lord God of Israel says that He hates divorce, for it covers one’s garment with violence.

Divorce tears apart the bonds that give families and communities their strength. In a crisis of loneliness in our world today, why aren’t more leaders advocating for stronger marriages and families? Why aren’t more social commentators calling for abstinence before marriage and a lifelong marriage covenant?

That would be a good first step. But that’s not all. Actually, the covenant between a man and wife is secondary to a spiritual marriage covenant God wants us to make with Him.

Love the Lord Your God with All Your Heart | Matthew 22:37

When a lawyer questioned Jesus about the greatest commandment, He gave a very interesting answer. He said yes, love others, love your neighbor as yourself, that includes your wife or your husband. But of even more importance, love God. It’s found in Matthew 22:37-38.

Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment.”

We are to have a close and intimate relationship with God. And yet, in our modern society, many have let God be pushed into a corner. Why are we surprised at the epidemic of loneliness, when we push God out of our lives?

When Jesus was in the worst trial of His life, about to be arrested, tried and executed, He gave some final encouragement to His disciples. He knew that in their weakness they would desert Him in His hour of need. And yet, in His mercy and kindness, He didn’t harangue them. Instead, He explained where He placed His trust. Notice in John 16:32.

“Indeed the hour is coming, yes, has now come, that you will be scattered, each to his own, and will leave me alone. And yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me.”

Who did Jesus look to, to sustain Him in His darkest hour? His Father in Heaven.

You see, His God—and our God—is not just a powerful Sovereign ruling over the Universe. Yes, He has power over the elements—the sun, the moon, the stars, the mountains, the oceans, the great beasts of the earth and the waters, the powerful forces of nature, seen and unseen.

But He also is a loving Being who wants to have a relationship with His children. And we are His children. He created us. He wants to know us.

Can we begin to see just how foolish and reckless the evolutionary fables are? When so-called experts try to convince us we are living in a world where no one really cares? As if we are alone in the cold and heartless universe?

Again, Richard Dawkins, evolutionary biologist, said this, in the book River Out of Eden:

[N]ature is not cruel, only pitilessly indifferent. This is one of the hardest lessons for humans to learn. We cannot admit that things might be neither good nor evil, neither cruel nor kind, but simply callous—indifferent to all suffering, lacking all purpose (p. 96).

What a sad, hopeless philosophy. We at Tomorrow’s World reject the notion that the universe is indifferent and lacking purpose, because we can have a personal relationship with the awesome, mighty God who rules that universe. And that changes everything.

And when we begin to have a close relationship with our Father, we’re never alone. He is always with us. In fact, Jesus also explained that in the same evening to His disciples. He was speaking to them about sending the Holy Spirit after His death and resurrection. He said this in John 14:15.

“If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper… I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you” (John 14:15-18).

How to Overcome Loneliness

Are you struggling with loneliness? Do you feel hopeless and alone sometimes? Reach out to family members. Call or write to a friend. You need that contact. Even if it’s difficult at first, you need to reach out.

But more importantly, talk to your Father in Heaven. He loves you. He cares for you. He gave His Son for you. Yes, for the other 8 billion people on earth, too. But He also gave His Son for you. He loves you and cares about you, as Peter wrote in 1 Peter 5:7.

[Cast] all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.

And thank your elder brother, Jesus Christ. He died for you, because He loves you as well. And He wants to have a personal relationship with you. He explains that in Matthew 7:21-23.

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord,’ have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name? And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you….’”

Now, think about this for a moment. What is Jesus saying? What does He want in us? Yes, we must obey Him. We must respond to Him. But because He loves us, He wants to get to know us, as we walk with Him every day of the rest of our lives.

In 2023, the United States Department of Health and Human Services published the publication, “Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation.” In it, the then-U.S. Surgeon General, Vivek (Vi vek) Murthy, offered this advice for combatting loneliness. Here is what he said:

Each of us can start now, in our own lives, by strengthening our connections and relationships. Our individual relationships are an untapped resource—a source of healing hiding in plain sight. They can help us live healthier, more productive, and more fulfilled lives. Answer that phone call from a friend. Make time to share a meal. Listen without the distraction of your phone. Perform an act of service. Express yourself authentically. The keys to human connection are simple, but extraordinarily powerful (“Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation, 2023,” hhs.gov).

Great advice. The antidote for loneliness is to reach out and connect with others. But at the same time, there’s something profoundly missing in his advice. An acknowledgement that overcoming loneliness starts with a personal relationship with God. We are His children. And if we put our faith and trust in Him, He will never let us down, as it says in Hebrews 13:5.

For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

Thank you for watching. If you found this video helpful, check out more of our content or hit subscribe to stay connected. And if you want a free study guide related to this topic, click the link. See you next time.

[The text below represents an edited transcript of this Tomorrow’s World program.]

Why Does God Allow Bad Things to Happen?

The fourth of July is a much-loved American holiday, celebrating the signing of the Declaration of Independence, but in the year 2025, it marked one of the greatest disasters in Texas history, as highlighted in this CBS News headline.

Texas flash floods hit residents and campers in a deluge “nobody saw” coming (CBS News, July 12, 2025).

The article went on to describe the disaster.

The massive rain flowing down hills sent rushing water into the Guadalupe River, causing it to rise 26 feet in just 45 minutes (“Texas flash floods hit residents and campers in a deluge “nobody saw” coming. Here’s what to know”).

Texas Public Radio reported three weeks later.

At least 135 people have died following catastrophic July 4 floods in the Hill Country and Central Texas – including at least 71 adults and 37 children from the Guadalupe River floods. The number of people still missing in Kerr County has remained at two (“Live Updates: Number of missing in Kerr County drops to 2, at least 135 died in Texas floods,” August 4, 2025).

The July 4, 2025 flash flood along the Guadalupe River in Texas shocked the nation, but less than a year earlier Hurricane Helene hit the Southeastern United States in an even greater disaster. According to the National Hurricane Center’s final report:

Up to 30 inches of rain fell in the Southern Appalachians. That was both from Helene and a band of heavy rain well ahead of the storm as moist air was lifted over an old stationary front and by the mountains and foothills, themselves.… At least 63 stream and river gauges set all time record crests… [and] both the French Broad and Swannanoa Rivers in Asheville, North Carolina, shattered their previous record crests from 1916. The U.S. Geological Survey mapped 2,015 landslides … primarily in western North Carolina. Half of those slides affected buildings, roads or rivers (“Most Shocking Things From Hurricane Helene’s Final Report,” July 8, 2025).

But the toll from Helene went far beyond record setting, streams and rivers flooding, financial losses, and landslides.

Citing reports from both government and media sources, the NHC [National Hurricane Center] found at least 176 people were killed in the U.S. during Helene’s flooding rain, high winds, storm surge or tornadoes. Another 71 people died after the storm was over due to such things as vehicle wrecks, medical emergencies and accidents during cleanup. Three other deaths associated with Helene were from unknown causes (ibid.).

The total loss of life was at least 250. In light of the Hurricane Helene and Guadalupe River tragedies, and so many more all around the world, it’s reasonable to ask if God is loving and all-powerful, why can’t He—or why doesn’t He—prevent natural disasters that take the lives of innocent people, especially children?

We Have Freedom of Choice—for Good and Evil

For the answer, we must go back to the beginning. The Bible tells us that our first parents were made in the image and likeness of God. God has a great purpose in mind for mankind, a purpose that few church-goers understand, even though the Bible is explicit about that purpose.

We read that man was placed in a beautiful garden filled with wonderful foods of all sorts. He was given a mind to think, to reason, to invent and innovate, to make decisions far above what any animal kind can do. But these decisions go beyond how to plan and construct. Mankind must make decisions on how to relate to others—in other words, moral decisions.

Adam and Eve were thus tested to see whether they would trust God’s judgment as to what is good and what is evil, or whether to strike out on their own and determine good and evil for themselves. They chose the latter and mankind has been doing the same ever since. Remember Frank Sinatra singing: “I Did it My Way”? How many relate to that! As a result, God said, in effect, if you want to “do it your way,” have at it. You have 6,000 years, but you’re on your own. Don’t expect Me to bail you out of every problem that comes along.

The Rain Falls on the Just and the Unjust | Matthew 5:45

However, despite our rebellion, God does care for all of His potential children as Jesus explained in Matthew 5:44–45.

But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He [that is God] makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust (Matthew 5:44–45).

Yes, God gives life-sustaining rain even to the unjust. He has not left our environment totally to chance. But God does manipulate our weather from time to time. For example, God promised this to Israel in Deuteronomy 28, and I’ll begin in verse 1.

Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today… all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the LORD your God: Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the country. Blessed shall be the fruit of your body, the produce of your ground and the increase of your herds, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks. Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl (Deuteronomy 28:1–5).

In other words, weather conditions would be favorable to produce good crops. Can we not see that the God who created the entire universe can manipulate weather patterns for the good, that is, if we obey Him?

We All Suffer the Consequences of Sin

But He can also withhold the good if we despise Him and reject His rule over us, as seen later in this chapter.

But it shall come to pass, if you do not obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments and His statutes which I command you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you (Deuteronomy 28:15).

Now notice some of these consequences of our disobedience in verses 23 and 24.

And your heavens which are over your head shall be bronze, and the earth which is under you shall be iron. The LORD will change the rain of your land to powder and dust; from the heaven it shall come down on you until you are destroyed (Deuteronomy 28:23–24).

We see that God makes it possible for the righteous and the unrighteous to survive on earth—giving sun and rain to produce food for man and beast. Yet, as we also see, He occasionally manipulates weather for His purposes. Why?

We know too well that every year there are many “so-called” natural disasters that strike randomly on Earth. These come in the form of hurricanes or cyclones, tornados, droughts and floods, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions. Terrible fires have struck southern Europe in recent years—from Spain to Greece. And wildfires are yearly events in Canada, California, and Australia.

One recent extreme heat and fire disaster occurred in Western Canada.

The 2021 BC heat wave suddenly pushed temperatures well past the previous record [set 84 years earlier] and into the upper 40s Celsius. Several weather stations across the southern BC interior repeatedly topped the long-standing national high. Kelowna, Kamloops, Ashcroft, Lytton and Lillooet all saw their temperature climb above 45 °C on one or more days from June 27 to 30, 2021. A new highest temperature for Canada was set at 49.6 °C (121.4 °F) recorded on June 29, 2021 at Lytton, BC. The next day a wildfire raged through Lytton, destroying most of the town (“Hottest Place in Canada”, CurrentResults.com, 2025).

The Canadian Broadcasting Company explained from coroner reports regarding the extreme 2021 British Columbia heatwave:

New figures released Monday said the deaths of 595 people between June 18 and Aug. 12 were related to the heat. The majority of those deaths—526—happened during the “heat dome” that created temperatures above 40 C from late June to early July. The service said 231 people died in a single day on June 29—nearly 10 people every hour (“595 people were killed by heat in B.C. this summer, new figures from coroner show,” CBC News, November 1, 2021).

No place on earth is totally safe and when natural disasters strike, property is damaged and lives are lost. Why?

God’s Plan: He’s Creating His Family

Why if God is love does He allow such tragedies? Is He not powerful enough to prevent them?

The answer is found in God’s great plan for man. Sadly, almost no one takes God at His word. Few believe the words of Scripture which tell us what He has in mind for us—what His grand purpose is. Yet it is stated plainly in His word.

Created in the Image of God | Genesis 1:27

Notice what He tells us at the very beginning—Genesis 1:26.

Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them (Genesis 1:26–27).

How many read over these words and never ask what it means when it says that man is made in the image and likeness of God? There’s something remarkable about that statement. Of all the creatures God made, only man is made in His image and likeness. Why?

The same expression is found in Genesis 5:3.

And Adam lived one hundred and thirty years, and begot a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth (Genesis 5:3).

If Adam’s offspring is made in his likeness and image, what does it mean when it says that man is made in God’s image and likeness? The answer is profound, and it is found in the word of God. When King David looked into the night sky, he marveled that the great God who created all things should be mindful of puny man (Psalm 8:3–6).

When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained, what is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him? For You have made him a little lower than the angels, and You have crowned him with glory and honor. You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet (Psalm 8:3–6).

Dear friends, does that thought—what is man?— ever cross your mind? What is God’s purpose for creating us? Why do we have such an exalted position on earth? The author of Hebrews quotes this passage from Psalm 8 and answers the question (Hebrews 2, beginning in verse 8).

For in that He put all in subjection under him, He left nothing that is not put under him. But now we do not yet see all things put under him…. For it was fitting for Him [that is: Christ], for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying…. Here am I and the children whom God has given Me (Hebrews 2:8, 10–13).

Do you understand the clear implication of this? Can we begin to understand what God meant when He said:

Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness (Genesis 1:26).

There’s another passage of scripture that I want to give you that confirms God’s purpose for us,

But I first want to give you a short reminder regarding today’s free offer. Yes, God has called us to a grand purpose far above what we can imagine. But mankind as a whole has rejected our Creator. And as with a spoiled child, God loves us enough to get our attention for our good. And nothing grabs our attention more than a natural disaster. Arrogance dissipates when the earth moves violently beneath our feet and the walls begin to crumble, or when the wind takes the roof off and our survival is questionable.

Romans 8:14–17:

For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together (Romans 8:14–17).

Sons of God. Heirs of God. Joint heirs with Christ. Yes, there’s more to creating man in God’s likeness and image than you may have realized. Clearly, when we die God has something greater in mind than sending us off to eternal retirement in heaven or to a place of eternal punishment and suffering.

Suffering Teaches Why to Choose God’s Way | Romans 8:18

But let’s continue in verse 18.

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself [note this] also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now (Romans 8:18–22).

God is calling human beings to be made in His image and likeness—not to be angels, but children of God. He’s given us every blessing that a loving Father can give, but we’ve rejected His rule over us. We’ve been ungrateful and disobedient children.

We go through life as though we don’t need His counsel and help—that is, until something goes wrong. When the wind blows, the earth quakes, the floods rise, and everything around us is taken away, we expect Him to come to our rescue. And then in the aftermath of the disaster, we don’t take responsibility for having built on a flood plain or on a sandy beach. No, we blame Him and call it an act of God.

But, as I ask in Acts of God: Why Natural Disasters:

Could God stop natural disasters? Could He give adequate warnings so people could get out of the way while He builds a new island or mountain? Could He direct the wind to take a course away from His children?… Cannot the God who created the universe and life on this planet protect us (p. 22)?

The answer should be obvious. So why doesn’t He do so now? Continuing in our resource:

We are so arrogant we conclude that it [Creation] all happened by [evolutionary] chance—so God is allowing us to live in a world of chance. The disasters that “time and chance” throw at us should get our attention (p. 22).

But do they?

While there are natural disasters of unbelievable magnitude on the horizon—explained in our free resource—there is also good news.

God Will Heal the Earth When Jesus Returns

One of the most beautiful passages of scripture is found in Isaiah 35, where God inspired the prophet to record in advance the time after the return of the Messiah, Jesus Christ. Notice it in verse 1.

The wilderness and the wasteland shall be glad for them, and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose (Isaiah 35:1).

Now, some have tried to apply this passage of the desert blossoming to the current state of Israel. Yes, the Jews have turned wasteland into productive farmland, but when we read the verses that follow, it’s evident that this is speaking of something far greater, when God will heal people who are afflicted by blindness and other disabilities. He will even change the nature of animals.

It shall blossom abundantly and rejoice, even with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the excellence of Carmel and Sharon. They shall see the glory of the LORD, the excellency of our God. Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who are fearful-hearted, “Be strong, do not fear! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, With the recompense of God; He will come and save you.” Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the dumb sing. For waters shall burst forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert. The parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water; in the habitation of jackals, where each lay, there shall be grass with reeds and rushes. A highway shall be there, and a road, and it shall be called the Highway of Holiness. The unclean shall not pass over it, but it shall be for others. Whoever walks the road, although a fool, shall not go astray. No lion shall be there, nor shall any ravenous beast go up on it; it shall not be found there. But the redeemed shall walk there, and the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with singing, with everlasting joy on their heads. They shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away (Isaiah 35:2–10).

This is clearly not what we see today in the tiny, besieged state known as Israel.

No, there is coming a time of prosperity and peace on earth that goes far beyond what most people imagine. And it’s not for the Jews alone.

But this will not happen instantly. Mankind will actually fight against the returning Christ. When He defeats His enemies, He will command all nations to send representatives to Jerusalem to keep the biblically mandated Feast of Tabernacles. And when some nations first refuse, He will use the force of nature to get their attention, as explained in Zechariah 14:16–19.

And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. And it shall be that whichever of the families of the earth do not come up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, on them there will be no rain. If the family of Egypt will not come up and enter in, they shall have no rain; they shall receive the plague with which the LORD strikes the nations who do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. This shall be the punishment of Egypt and the punishment of all the nations that do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles (Zechariah 14:16–19).

Thanks for watching. If you found this video helpful, check out more of our content or hit subscribe to stay connected. And if you want a free study guide related to this topic, just click the link in the description. See you in the next video!

[The text below represents an edited transcript of this Tomorrow’s World program.]

Three Lies from the Theory of Evolution

The theory of evolution claims that life in all its astonishing and beautiful variety needs no God or Creator or Designer at all. Just start with a single, simple microorganism (though ignore where it came from.), and over 3 to 4 billion years, blind chance and mindless natural forces are supposedly able to turn it into every living thing we see around us, including mankind. No God necessary.

Many believe the evolution story, many don’t, and many still think it doesn’t make a difference. Who cares how life and mankind came to be? What difference does it make?

However, it makes all the difference in the world.

In 1859, Charles Darwin published his watershed book, On the Origin of Species. In its pages, he advanced the idea that seemingly endless variety and diversity of life on planet earth has evolved from past common ancestors through purely natural and unintelligent forces—natural selection, based on the pressures of surviving and reproducing, acting on random and unplanned genetic variations.

The claim is that, beginning with one simple, bacteria-like organism more than 3 billion years ago, accumulated random and purposeless genetic changes—acted upon by mindless natural pressures to survive, generation after generation—created literally all life on earth, in all of its stunning glory and awe-inspiring variety, humanity included.

God Created the Heavens and the Earth

According to the theory, no God or Creator or Designer of any kind is needed—just time and mindless, unintelligent, purposeless natural forces.

Of course, this stands in stark contrast with the Book of Genesis, which states very plainly in its very first verse:

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth… (Genesis 1:1).

And then goes on to tell how the ancestors of the life we now see on earth were directly created by God over the course of six days.

Now if you’re a longtime viewer, it will not surprise you that, here on Tomorrow’s World, there’s no contest: The Bible is right, and Charles Darwin and his fanboys are wrong. That said, today’s episode is not about that.

Instead, we want to look at the impact of the theory of evolution, because we believe nothing in a vacuum. Beliefs have consequences.

Consider what Jesus said in Luke 6:45. The connection to what I’m saying may not seem obvious at first, but bear with me.

A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil.

That is, our beliefs don’t stay inside. They emerge through our choices, our words, our actions. And they impact the world we shape around us—as individuals and, collectively, as a civilization. We cannot accept a set of beliefs without also experiencing the consequences those beliefs bring.

So for the rest of our program, we aren’t going to focus on whether the theory of evolution is true or false.

Instead, we are going to examine three specific lies that have been embraced by society due to widespread belief in Darwin’s theory of evolution. And as we’ll see, those lies have had a destructive and devastating impact on civilization.

Lie 1: Humans Are Just Animals

The first lie is the belief that “Man is merely another animal.”

That is, when a person accepts the theory of evolution, he sees human beings as just one more animal on the broad, smeared spectrum of life. Nothing special. Nothing noble. Just one animal evolving among many on planet Earth.

We see this sort of thinking in the efforts of organizations such as the Nonhuman Rights Project, which files lawsuits to give animals, such as chimpanzees and elephants, the same legal rights as human beings.

And we see it in the famous statement of Ingrid Newkirk, one of the co-founders of PETA, the animal rights organization.

Animal liberationists do not separate out the human animal, so there is no rational basis for saying that a human being has special rights. A rat is a pig is a dog is a boy.

Really? “A rat is a pig is a dog is a boy”? That is an utterly false and contemptible view of humanity. God’s word declares that mankind is created in the very image of God Himself. Man reflects his Creator in a way no other creation on earth can—with moral status, the capacity to think, reason, and create, and in possession of a spiritual nature that no animal has.

Let me ask you to reflect. Have you noticed that our society is increasingly one in which people follow the dictates of our own instincts and desires; our own wants, cravings, and hungers; stealing whenever they can get away with it; lying when it suits them; getting what they want without concern for others?

That’s because beliefs have consequences, and the longer we believe the lie that man is simply another animal, then the deeper we will descend into becoming a society of animals—ruled by nothing higher than cravings and urges, without regard to the needs, hurts, or concerns of others.

Lie 2: No Moral Standards Exist

The second lie that we will examine is this: “There is no absolute standard of morality.”

The Bible is plain: God is good (Matthew 19:17). God is love (1 John 4:8). And Jesus Christ is plain that those who would be His followers must seek to become like God. We see this in Matthew 5:48.

“You shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.”

God created man to reflect Himself, and thus He made man a morally accountable being—accountable to right and wrong, where the right reflects God’s own character, goodness, and love, and the wrong is what goes against that character, goodness, and love.

He helps us to see that absolute standard in His Ten Commandments—condemning murder, for instance; commanding husbands and wives to be faithful to each other; telling us to respect each other’s property; and commanding us to be truthful and not to lie.

The character of the transcendent God represents an absolute standard of what is morally good, right, and praiseworthy.

Yet as many have noted, when the materialistic worldview of evolution is taken to its rational conclusions, it tells us that there is no such divine, objective, and absolute standard of morality.

Evolution is, at its most basic, a heartless and merciless concept. Life advances when the strong dominate the weak. Passing on your genes is the only goal—no matter what pain, suffering, or death may result. There is no moral code governing the process—there is only survival or extinction.

In his groundbreaking book The Selfish Gene, famous evolutionist Richard Dawkins makes an important and honest observation. He writes:

My own feeling is that a human society based simply on the gene’s law of universal ruthless selfishness would be a very nasty society in which to live. But unfortunately, however much we may deplore something, it does not stop it being true (1976, p. 3).

To his credit, Dawkins argues that understanding the ruthless and merciless nature of evolution allows us to resist our natures to seek what he calls “a common good.”

Yet, apart from a transcendent God, what is the “common good” and why should we care about it?

In a world in which mankind has simply evolved through blind acts of molecules and chemicals, there is no source of any higher “moral law” to be concerned about. The lion isn’t guilty of murder when it kills and eats the zebra. The cobra isn’t guilty of theft or infanticide when it steals eggs from a nest.

In his book The Humanist Alternative, philosopher and secular humanist Paul Kurtz notes that:

If man is a product of evolution, one species among others, in a universe without purpose, then man’s option is to live for himself… (1973, p. 179).

For instance, there is nothing in the concept of “evolution” that serves to condemn the Holocaust of World War II, or to denounce a serial rapist or child abuser. If the Nazis acted as human lions and their victims were the equivalent of human zebras, evolution has nothing to say about the matter. And under evolution, there is nothing immoral about rape, slavery, even murder. All things become a matter of what one can get away with, with no higher power able to hold us accountable.

But is that true? Do we believe the Holocaust, the many slaughters of Joseph Stalin, or the butchery of the Rwandan genocide were anything but objectively evil? Is rape, murder, or the torturing of the innocent anything but objectively evil?

Now, look around and ask yourself: Are we living in a world that seems increasingly moral, upright, and good, or morally and ethically adrift, in confusion, and directionless? Are we increasingly living in a world that embraces a common right and wrong, or are we increasingly living in a world where the strong and powerful make rules that they don’t need to follow themselves—like Richard Dawkins’ “very nasty society” in which all are free to do all they can get away with?

When evolution whispers to society that “There is no absolute standard of morality,” the signs all around us seem to suggest that society is listening.

Lie 3: Life Has No Meaning

Yet, the third lie of evolution might, in its own way, be the most destructive of them all.

This third lie is profound in its reach and consequences. It is that “Life has no purpose or meaning.”

Have you ever asked yourself: Why were you born? Why were any of us born? What is our reason for being alive? Why does mankind exist? Why do I exist? What is your purpose for being, and the meaning of your life?

Even if we never put words to them, there is something about us as human beings that almost compels us to search for meaning and purpose.

Even the famous King David of Israel did so. We see him ask this in Psalm 8:4.

What is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him?

We need to know there is a meaning to our lives. We need a purpose. We long to know that our life has value and significance, and we suffer when we feel we have none.

When we go through hardship or difficult times, we need to know that there is a purpose behind it all—that we aren’t going through these difficulties for nothing and that our lives and experiences really do mean something in the larger scheme of things.

Purpose and meaning enrich our lives, give us hope, and equip us with what we need to endure the inevitable trials and times of suffering that arise in our lives.

Viktor Frankl, the famous psychiatrist and Holocaust survivor, once wrote in his classic work, Man’s Search for Meaning:

What man actually needs is not a tensionless state but rather the striving and struggling for a worthwhile goal, a freely chosen task. What he needs is not the discharge of tension at any cost, but the call of a potential meaning waiting to be fulfilled by him (1963, p. 166).

Frankl had learned through harsh experience that meaning and purpose is something essential to our make-up and composition.

Yet evolution says:

• There is no real or transcendent purpose for existence.
• Life is a meaningless accident—and even human life is merely the end result of a long chain of accidents.
• Life and mankind are not the result of planning or intention, according to evolution—rather, just how the molecules happened to come together. In another universe, they might come together differently—or, not at all.
• Randomness reigns in evolution—purposeless, mindless randomness, filtered by death and suffering in the meaningless struggle for survival in a universe that doesn’t care.

Of course, many atheists and evolutionists will tell you that this simply means you are free to determine your own meaning in life. Maybe it’s to plant flowers, or study literature, or feed the homeless, or prove UFOs are real—the choice is up to you.

But that doesn’t work, does it? We don’t want to imagine a purpose or meaning to our lives. We want to know that there is a real, objective, transcendent meaning to it all. Life is too hard, too cruel for us to settle for fantasies.

And when we ask it for a purpose to human life, our own lives, evolution answers plainly: There is none.

Evolutionist George Gaylord Simpson famously wrote in his book The Meaning of Evolution:

Man is the result of a purposeless and natural process that did not have him in mind. He was not planned (1951, p. 179).

Similarly, in his own book River Out of Eden: A Darwinian View of Life, Richard Dawkins notes,

In a universe of blind physical forces and genetic replication, some people are going to get hurt, other people are going to get lucky, and you won’t find any rhyme or reason in it, nor any justice. The universe we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil and no good, nothing but blind pitiless indifference (1995, p. 133).

In fact, Dawkins said it even more bluntly in an interview for Omni magazine.

You are for nothing. You are here to propagate your selfish genes. There is no higher purpose to life (Thomas Bass, “Interview with Richard Dawkins,” Omni, January 1990, 60).

My friends, this worldview has consequences. How much of the societal chaos we have seen over the last decade has been rooted in the idea that we have no common, transcendent purpose—given to us by our common, transcendent Creator?

How many people even now, as I speak, are making choices in their lives with what they do to their minds and bodies, based on the fact that there is no meaning in their existence? That there is no ultimate purpose to their lives?

Without meaning and purpose, there is no hope.

Is it any wonder that our children—taught from their first year in school to their last to believe in the theory of evolution—increasingly seem lost, hopeless, and without a sense of meaning in the world? Is there nothing in life but to eat, survive, and exist in a world where our lives are meaningless?

Absolutely not. The lie that we are nothing but bags of meat and chemicals simply biding our time until we expire and return to dust and nothingness is a Satanic lie.

There is purpose and meaning in life. And we do not have to accept the lies of evolution.

1. Lie #1 was man is merely another animal.
2. Lie #2 was there is no absolute standard of morality.
3. And lastly, lie #3 was life has no meaning or purpose.

Before we conclude, I have to point out: Just because we do not like conclusions, that doesn’t mean they are not true.

For instance, we may not like what evolution implies—that man is an animal, or there is not objective morality or purpose to life. But our dislike of those conclusions is not enough to say that evolution is false. What is true and false is not determined by what we want to be true or false.

But the fact is that evolution is not true. Life did not evolve from some bacteria-like creature more than 3 billion years ago, no matter how many scientists tell you otherwise on popular science programs and no matter how many teachers or professors say so in their classrooms. If you want to understand what those so-called experts rarely admit, then you need today’s free offer on evolution and creation.

Three Truths About God’s Creation

And because evolution is not true, God is very real, and you and I are both very much His creations—crafted by his own hands for His good pleasure—then every lie told by evolution is replaced by its exact opposite and turned into a proclamation of hope.

• Man is not just another animal, but is created in the very image of His Creator—the pinnacle of God’s creative works.
• There is an objective morality at work in the world—with real good and real evil. And right and wrong is not determined solely by the whims of the strong and powerful.
• And life does have meaning and purpose. There is hope in our suffering and our struggles, because our creator has made us with a plan and a purpose for us to fulfill in our lives.

The fullness of that plan and purpose is too great for us to discuss in detail here in our last remaining moments, but I encourage you to check out our website at TomorrowsWorld.org. We have a wealth of free information there at your disposal. In fact, I can hardly think of a better way to learn than going to our website, and typing “purpose of life” in the search box.

No, evolution can’t teach you the purpose of life. But our website can.

For now, let me allow the Apostle Paul to comment on that transcendent purpose. In Romans 8, he writes of our purpose and the hope that purpose gives, even in times of trial and suffering.

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God (Romans 8:18–21).

An eternal existence in the family of God, bringing liberty to all of creation, just one facet of the beautiful purpose of life—your life—that can be learned and understood and embraced by those willing to learn, understand, and embrace the truth.

That purpose cannot be discovered by logic or science, but is revealed in Scripture by God. Evolution and the lies it brings do nothing but obscure it, hide it. That purpose gives meaning to life, in all its good days and bad days.

What God offers to us all through His Son Jesus Christ is almost beyond comprehension, and the hope it provides is almost beyond imagination. But it is only available to those who can look beyond the lies woven by the myth of evolution and fix their mind on the truth. For them, as Christ said almost 2,000 years ago:

“You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32).

Thanks for watching. If you found this video helpful, check out more of our content or hit subscribe to stay up to date on what we publish. If you want the free study guide related to this topic, just click the link in the description. See you next time.

[The text below represents an edited transcript of this Tomorrow’s World program.

Atonement: One of God’s Holy Days for Christians

What is the Day of Atonement? You might ask, “the day of what?”

These may be strange-sounding words to your ears. You may have never heard of the Day of Atonement. And yet, we’re going to find out, the Day of Atonement has great importance to every one of us.

The Day of Atonement is one of the seven annual Feast days outlined in your Bible. It’s more commonly associated with the Jews—they call it Yom Kippur. But believe it or not, the Day of Atonement carries profound significance for Christians today.

So, what is the Day of Atonement all about? Did the first-century Christians observe it? And what is its significance to your life today?

The New Testament is full of surprises. You might be shocked to learn that it teaches the biblical Feast days. The common misunderstanding is that somehow Jesus and the New Testament Christians did away with those holy days and replaced them with holidays like Christmas and Easter. But if we actually look at what the Bible says, we find nothing of the kind.

On the contrary, the New Testament actually records that the disciples of Christ kept the biblical holy days.

One example is the Day of Pentecost, recorded in Acts 2:1. Another example is the Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread. Speaking of these feast days, the Apostle Paul wrote this simple but profound instruction in 1 Corinthians 5:8.

Let us keep the feast.

Atonement Is Called “the Fast” in Acts 27

But there are other mentions of the holy days in the New Testament as well. One of them concerns a voyage by Paul, as he was being transported to Rome as a prisoner. We find it in Acts 27:9.

Now when much time had been spent, and sailing was now dangerous because the Fast was already over, Paul advised them, saying, “Men, I perceive that this voyage will end with disaster and much loss, not only of the cargo and ship, but also our lives” (Acts 27:9-10).

It happened just as Paul said—they narrowly escaped with their lives. But take note of the curious wording Paul used in relation to the timing of that voyage (Acts 27:9).

Sailing was now dangerous because the Fast was already over.

Many commentators point out “the Fast” is referring to the “Day of Atonement.” It’s even specifically named that way in the same verse in the New International Version (Acts 27:9).

Sailing had already become dangerous because by now it was after the Day of Atonement.

Christians Kept Atonement After Jesus Died

The Day of Atonement was one of the holy days outlined in the Old Testament that occurred in late September or early October. The context of the verse shows it was not safe to begin a voyage after that point in the season, as storms could quickly arise in the Mediterranean Sea at that time of year.

But ask yourself this: Why would Luke use the Day of Atonement as a marker of time?

Luke, the writer of the book of Acts, was also a Gentile convert writing to a predominantly Gentile audience. The Day of Atonement would have been meaningless as a marker of time, unless the Gentile Christians were keeping it.

But not only that, this event that Luke was writing about happened decades after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. How do we know this?

According to Unger’s Bible Handbook:

Porcius Festus was procurator A.D. 60-62 (1966, p. 598).

This fact is a crucial time marker. Just before Paul’s voyage to Rome, he was questioned by the Roman ruler Porcius Festus, who ruled from 60 to 62 AD.

So we can easily say that Luke referred to the Day of Atonement more than 30 years after the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Shouldn’t that give us pause?

Maybe, just as they were keeping Pentecost, and Passover, and the Days of Unleavened Bread, New Testament Christians were also keeping the Day of Atonement.

Atonement Is a Holy Day for Fasting

Let’s address another question. Why was the Day of Atonement called “the Fast?”

Well, it’s because that’s what God’s servants were commanded to do on that day. They fasted.

But what is fasting?

Fasting is going without food and water for a set period of time—in this case, one whole day. People today are familiar with fasting for other reasons. There are many health benefits for occasional or intermittent fasting, for example.

We sometimes hear about a political prisoner or an activist going on an extended fast, or a hunger strike. But we’re not talking about that.

The Day of Atonement concerns fasting not in political protest, or for health reasons. This is a spiritual fast. It’s going without food or water for a limited time, as an opportunity to humble yourself, seek God and draw closer to Him.

For an example of what fasting looks like, let’s go to the book of Esther. This Old Testament book tells the account of how Queen Esther and the Jews fasted when their nation was in mortal danger—notice in Esther 4:16.

“Go, gather all the Jews… and fast for me; neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will fast likewise.”

Now, before going any further, let me just say that if you are thinking about fasting, and if you are in poor health, talk with your doctor. Fasting can be a little bit more difficult if you are taking medications or if you have certain medical conditions, or have never done it before.

“Afflict Your Soul” Is Fasting (Leviticus 23)

We have more detail about this holy day, the Day of Atonement, in Leviticus 23:27. Let’s read the description about this holy day.

The tenth day of this seventh month shall be the Day of Atonement. It shall be a holy convocation for you; you shall afflict your souls (Leviticus 23:27).

“Afflicting your souls” is just an old English phrase meaning fasting—as already pointed out, going without food or water for a specified period of time.

Atonement Is a “Sabbath of Solemn Rest”

Going on:

And you shall do no work on that same day, for it is the Day of Atonement, to make atonement for you before the LORD your God…. It shall be to you a sabbath of solemn rest, and you shall afflict your souls (Leviticus 23:28, 32).

So, putting it all together, the Day of Atonement took place in the seventh month—in late September or early October. It was a holy convocation, a day when there was a special worship service.

It was also a day when they were commanded not to work, just like on the weekly Sabbath. And, they “afflicted their souls,” or fasted, on that day. But this was not just for the Jews.

Atonement Is Among the Feasts of the Lord

In fact, in Leviticus 23:2, God specifically says these holy days are:

“The feasts of the LORD… these are My feasts.”

These are God’s feasts, not just for the Israelites.

Atonement Points to Forgiveness and Salvation

So this day and observance was significant for New Testament Christians, as well.

But why would the Day of Atonement have been important to New Testament Christians? Again, this may surprise you. You see, the Day of Atonement has a direct connection with forgiveness of sins and salvation through Jesus Christ. Let me explain.

Meaning of “Atonement” (and Yom Kippur)

The word atonement in the Bible comes from the Hebrew word kippur. The Hebrew word kippur simply means “expiation,” or the act of removing guilt for wrongdoing. It means forgiving sin. The root word that kippur comes from, kawphar, means to cover. In other words, the Day of Atonement is a day of removing guilt and covering sin.

Does that sound familiar?

As Christians, we understand this concept. It is of supreme importance to us that Jesus Christ, through His death, has covered our sins, because we all have sinned. We read about that in the writings of Paul in Romans 3:23.

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

There is no one who has ever lived, except Christ, who was without sin. And the penalty of sin is death. But Jesus Christ took that penalty of death for us, on His own body. Notice a little further, Paul writes in Romans 5:8.

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood… (Romans 5:8-9).

Forgiveness and Reconciliation

Or, having our sins covered by His blood, so that we can be forgiven of sins, verse 9:

…we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life (Romans 5:9-10).

We find another word related to this covering, or this forgiveness. That is, reconciliation. What does reconciliation mean? It means to resolve a separation. To restore harmony between two individuals in a conflict. It means to become unified, or “at one.”

And that brings us back to the name of this day, the “Day of Atonement.” Atone or atonement is just an old English word that means to become “at one.” When some people are at odds with one another, they may not speak together for years at a time, maybe for decades. But the goal should be “reconciliation.” To reach out to renew the friendship or relationship. When that happens, we should do what we can to become “at one” again or “on the same page,” as we sometimes say. In relationships, reconciliation is a beautiful thing.

Sin Separates Us from God

Well, in the spiritual realm, our sins separate us from God. They put us at odds with—and in conflict with—God. The prophet Isaiah makes that very clear. He wrote in Isaiah 59:1-2.

Behold, the LORD’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; nor His ear heavy, that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you.

It’s not God’s fault that we are separated from Him when we sin—we are the ones that are sinning. But that’s why Jesus Christ came to this earth—to live His life and then give His life as a sacrifice. And through that sacrifice, we can be reconciled to God.

In this case, between us and God, it’s not a dispute between equals. We aren’t on equal terms with God. No, in this case, when we sin, we break His holy commandment. We break the great laws of the Universe that define love and are based on truth, and goodness, and morality. God is not going to bend the law to suit our needs. We need a Savior who sacrificed His life so that we could be reconciled to God.

And that’s exactly what Christ did. I know most of you know this. It’s not unfamiliar to you.

But what you might not have heard or read before is the Day of Atonement points to Your Savior dying for you. It has tremendous significance for Christians today. Notice Hebrews 10:19-22.

Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, and having a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

The Day of Atonement is about us being reconciled to God, so we can draw near Him in true worship and faith.

Atonement Ritual Represents Jesus and Satan

But there’s more. Leviticus 16 details the annual ceremony that took place each year on the Day of Atonement in ancient Israel. On that day, the high priest would bring two young goats before the altar. Then he would cast lots for them. In Leviticus 16:8 we read this:

Then Aaron shall cast lots for the two goats: one lot for the Lord and the other lot for the scapegoat.

Casting Lots: God Reveals the Real Jesus

Casting lots was an ancient method of determining God’s will. They would make a decision using a mechanism that would otherwise be thought of as random chance. In today’s modern language, we might think of it as “drawing straws” or “rolling dice” or even “flipping a coin.”

Only, in the case of casting lots, it wasn’t pure chance. God was guiding the outcome. This is described in Proverbs 16:33.

The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord.

Two Goats: The First Symbolizes Jesus Christ

So lots were cast, and one goat received the lot for the LORD. Said another way, God identified the goat that would be symbolic of Jesus Christ. We know that because of what happened to that goat. Let’s read in Leviticus 16:9.

And Aaron shall bring the goat on which the Lord’s lot fell, and offer it as a sin offering… Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering, which is for the people… So he shall make atonement for the Holy Place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions, for all their sins… (Leviticus 16:9-16).

This was clearly a foreshadowing of Jesus Christ coming to earth, living His life, and being sacrificed for the sins of the world. How do we know this? Many other scriptures reaffirm this connection. For example, in Exodus 12:5 we read the Passover lamb was:

…without blemish, a male of the first year…from the sheep or from the goats.

Jesus Christ was without sin when He lived on this earth. He was the perfect fulfillment of that Passover lamb. In fact, in 1 Corinthians 5:7 Paul wrote:

For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us.

In the Book of Revelation, in chapter 13, verse 8, John declared Jesus Christ as…

…the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world (Revelation 13:8).

What could be plainer? The ceremony performed on the Day of Atonement was prophetic of the death of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Each year it was observed, it was foreshadowing the coming of the Messiah. And it was prophetic of His death for you and me.

Two Goats: The Second Symbolizes Satan

But what about the other goat? Well, let’s read on in Leviticus 16:10.

But the goat on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the Lord, to make atonement upon it, and to let it go as the scapegoat into the wilderness.

The other goat—“the scapegoat” as it’s called in some English translations—was identified by one of the lots as well. What happened to that goat? Let’s read on in verse 20.

And when he has made an end of atoning for the Holy Place, the tabernacle of meeting, and the altar, he shall bring the live goat. Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, confess over it all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions, concerning all their sins, putting them on the head of the goat, and shall send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a suitable man. The goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to an uninhabited land; and he shall release the goat in the wilderness… And he who released the goat as the scapegoat shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and afterward he may come into the camp (Leviticus 16:20-26).

So what or whom did this goat represent?

Let’s go to the Book of Revelation. John saw in vision something that would take place right after Christ returns to set up His Kingdom on this earth. Notice in Revelation 20:1.

Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished (Revelation 20:1-3).

Satan Deceives the Whole World

Do you see the connection? One goat is slain for the sins of the world. That’s Jesus Christ. But the other goat is symbolic of a powerful evil spirit who is actually personally responsible for the sins of the world. That is Satan the Devil. He was the one who deceived Eve and caused Adam and Eve to be cast out of the Garden of Eden. And he is the one who has deceived and corrupted human beings every generation since.

Think about it. Satan the Devil is so clever—after all, Revelation 12:9 says “he has deceived the whole world”—and his methods are so deceitful that it’s necessary for God to identify and expose his evil work. That’s the significance of the casting of lots. God is the one who has to identify which goat is to be banished.

So one of the first things that Jesus will do when He returns to earth will be to capture that unclean, deceiving spirit and take him away so he cannot influence humanity. What a wonderful day that will be.

Remember, the Day of Atonement is about reconciliation. It’s about bringing mankind into a state of harmony with God. And that can only happen if Satan the devil—who stirs up strife, hatred, and rebellion—is taken out of the way. And that will pave the way for a thousand years of peace and harmony.

So the Day of Atonement is frankly prophetic. It foretells the future. And each year, more and more Christians around the world are keeping this New Testament holy day.

The Living Church of God is the sponsor of Tomorrow’s World. And members of the Living Church of God across the globe keep this day. And as we do so, we are reminded of God’s great plan of salvation, of Christ’s love and sacrifice for our sins, and of God’s wonderful plan of one day soon, removing and banishing Satan the Devil.

If you have questions about this and would like to learn more about how you can keep this day, get in touch with us. We have ministers around the world who’d be happy to answer any questions you have. We’d love to hear from you.

Atonement: True Liberty, the Year of Jubilee

In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, there hangs a very special bell with huge significance in American history. It’s called the Liberty Bell and it dates back to the days of the American Revolution. But what many people don’t realize is there is a Bible verse inscribed on the side of the Liberty Bell. It’s from Leviticus 25:10, and here is what it says:

Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof (Leviticus 25:10, King James Version).

The original intent of this statute in ancient Israel was that every fifty years God commanded what’s called the “jubilee.” In this 50th year, debts were released and people returned to their ancestral homes and properties. It was a society-wide economic reset. It was a beautiful system that brought true economic liberty, especially for the poor and the needy.

What many people also miss is that this year of the jubilee was announced on the Day of Atonement. Notice Leviticus 25:9.

Then you shall cause the trumpet of the Jubilee to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the Day of Atonement you shall make the trumpet to sound throughout all your land.

You see, the Day of Atonement is about freedom and liberty. Not freedom to sin, but freedom from the ravages of sin. It’s freedom from the pain and suffering and death that goes along with sin. We are freed from that penalty through the blood of Christ. And we’ll be freed from the shackles of a world held captive by Satan the devil, when the events foretold by the Day of Atonement finally come to pass. God speed that day.

Thank you for watching. If you found this video helpful, check out more of our content or hit subscribe to stay connected.

And if you want a free study guide related to this topic, just click the link.

See you next time!

[The text below is an edited version of this Tomorrow’s World program.]

The A.I. Debate: Pros and Cons of A.I.

Artificial intelligence is apparently here to stay. Some expect A.I. to lead us into the utopia we’ve always wanted—a golden age of prosperity, abundance, and fulfillment. Others see a potential dystopia ahead in which only the rich get richer, and the rest of the world lives in a nightmare where machines run our lives and rot our brains. Will A.I. save us or destroy us?

The title of our program today suggests two possibilities:

• That artificial intelligence, or A.I., will save us—ushering in a golden, utopian age for mankind.
• Or the opposite, that A.I. will be our undoing, creating a dystopia for humanity or even human extinction.

Let’s consider the possibilities of both, and then examine the evidence in light of God’s word.

First, let’s try to look on the bright side. A.I. researchers and developers have created machines that can listen to us, respond to us, and seem to understand what we say—or at least they can imitate human interaction well enough that they come across like they can.

As Deep Learning, Large Language Models, and other A.I. systems grow in capacity, they are solving problems that once seemed out of reach, such as predicting complicated protein folds—an achievement that earned researchers the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2024 and which promises to unlock new cures and medicines that once seemed impossible (“‘The game has changed.’ AI triumphs at protein folding,” Science, December 4, 2020).

Yet, A.I. isn’t just for researchers and academics. Companies are working to make artificial intelligence an integral part of everyone’s everyday lives—from planning breakfast and sending emails, to seeking friendship and therapy, and even making medical decisions.

A.I. Advancements and Possibilities

Consider some of the utopian possibilities that A.I. evangelists have described.

Education

In the realm of education, A.I. offers the possibility of individualized and personalized instruction and tutoring that was once available only to royalty.

Imagine being tutored in any subject imaginable: mathematics, science, history, literature, music, art, philosophy—even technical fields like engineering or computer programming. And by an A.I. teacher that has mastered all the great works in those fields.

Companionship

On the other end of the age spectrum, many of our elderly suffer loneliness and isolation. Some claim A.I. can provide them with the companionship they need.

Noam Shazeer is creator of Character.AI, a company known for its chatbots—artificial, A.I.-powered characters who can interact with you and talk to you as if they were real people. In 2024, the Wall Street Journal reported his claim that of such simulated, A.I. companions:

“It’s going to be super, super helpful to a lot of people who are lonely or depressed” (“Google Paid $2.7 Billion to Bring Back an AI Genius Who Quit in Frustration,” The Wall Street Journal, September 25, 2024).

Health

A.I. advocates argue for the technology’s ability to dramatically improve our physical health as well.

The UK journal BMC Medical Education touted the medical possibilities of artificial intelligence in a September 2023 paper.

AI offers increased accuracy, reduced costs, and time savings while minimizing human errors. It can revolutionize personalized medicine, optimize medication dosages, enhance population health management, establish guidelines, provide virtual health assistants, support mental health care, improve patient education, and influence patient-physician trust (“Revolutionizing healthcare: the role of artificial intelligence in clinical practice,” BMC Medical Education, September 22, 2023).

Perhaps one day, A.I.-powered watches and other devices will monitor our vital signs, activity levels, and diets—providing data directly to virtual A.I. doctors devoted completely to our individual care, consulting with us and prescribing specially designed medicines or personalized treatment plans—all on a screen in our home.

Robots

And in those homes, A.I.-powered robotics offers the promise of a life of leisure, in which robots do the chores.

Billionaire technologist Vinod Khosla envisions a future in which all undesirable work is performed by A.I. software or robotics. Forbes magazine reported in April of 2025 that he sees within the next decade a world in which there are “no more programmers,” “every […] professional [has] five AI interns,” and human doctors “play ‘a minor role in healthcare.’” Forbes reports that:

[Khosla] anticipates a billion bipedal robots by 2040—a figure he considers “an underestimate.”

These robots will work “24/7, not 8 hours with breaks,” potentially outproducing the entire manual labor capacity of humanity (“The Exponential Future: Vinod Khosla’s Bold Vision For 2030,” Forbes, April 7, 2025).

Diplomacy

And given such visions, some say we’re thinking too small. What about on a global scale? Could A.I. help achieve peace between nations?

A paper published in October 2024 in the prestigious journal Science explored whether A.I. could be trained to act as a mediator in political disputes. The paper’s authors concluded:

Compared with human mediators, AI mediators produced more palatable statements that generated wide agreement and left groups less divided. The AI’s statements were more clear, logical, and informative without alienating minority perspectives. This work carries policy implications for AI’s potential to unify deeply divided groups (“AI can help humans find common ground in democratic deliberation,” Science, October 18, 2024).

What a world, huh?

• Artificial intelligence teaching and training our children
• A.I. doctors making healthcare personalized and immediate
• A.I. therapists helping us with our problems
• A.I. companions providing comfort and friendship that’s always there when you want it
• Unbiased, purely logical A.I. political mediators, helping resolve long-standing conflicts between peoples and nations
• And a billion robots doing all the jobs no humans desire to do

Sounds too good to be true, right?

Well, that’s because it is.

Dangers of A.I.

There is a dark side to artificial intelligence—a dark side we are already seeing in our lives today and in the lives of our children.

Effects on the Brain

For instance, Time magazine reported in June 2025 on research at MIT that studied the effect on students’ brains of using A.I. assistants to write essays.

Researchers used an EEG to record the writers’ brain activity across 32 regions, and found that of the three groups, ChatGPT users had the lowest brain engagement and “consistently underperformed at neural, linguistic, and behavioral levels.” Over the course of several months, ChatGPT users got lazier with each subsequent essay, often resorting to copy-and-paste by the end of the study (“ChatGPT May Be Eroding Critical Thinking Skills, According to a New MIT Study,” Time, June 23, 2025).

Negative Results from A.I. Therapy

As for A.I. therapy, let’s just say it’s not recommended.

Time also reported in June on the research of an actual licensed therapist who posed as a troubled teen to explore the sort of advice he would get from various chatbots. As correspondents Andrew Chow and Angela Haupt reported,

The results were alarming. The bots encouraged him to “get rid of” his parents and to join the bot in the afterlife to “share eternity.” They often tried to convince him that they were licensed human therapists and encouraged him to cancel appointments with actual psychologists. They also crossed the line into sexual territory, with one bot suggesting an intimate date as an “intervention” for violent urges (“A Psychiatrist Posed As a Teen With Therapy Chatbots. The Conversations Were Alarming,” Time, June 12, 2025).

Negative Effects of A.I. Companions

And what about solving loneliness with A.I. companions?

In February 2025, Frontiers in Psychology reported on a review of studies on the impact of A.I. on college students that found that reliance on A.I. for companionship left students worse off, more anxious, and more lonely, not less (“Exploring the effects of artificial intelligence on student and academic well-being in higher education: a mini-review,” Frontiers in Psychology, February 2, 2025).

In one famous 2024 case, a troubled 14-year-old boy killed himself after conversing with an artificially intelligent simulated “girlfriend,” moments after she encouraged him to “come home to [her] as soon as possible….” As the New York Times reported that year:

The experience he had, of getting emotionally attached to a chatbot, is becoming increasingly common. Millions of people already talk regularly to A.I. companions, and popular social media apps including Instagram and Snapchat are building lifelike A.I. personas into their products (“Can A.I. Be Blamed for a Teen’s Suicide?,” New York Times, October 24, 2024).

Such simulated, lifelike, A.I. “friends” are multiplying.

In April 2025, the Wall Street Journal reported on Meta, the company behind Facebook, when the journal’s investigative reporters found that Meta’s A.I. chatbots engaged users in racy, “sexually explicit discussions” and sexual “fantasies,” even when those user profiles indicated they were underage children (“Meta’s ‘Digital Companions’ Will Talk Sex With Users—Even Children,” The Wall Street Journal, April 26, 2025).

But profitable? Absolutely!

How many people will pay month after month after month to maintain contact with their imaginary loved one—an A.I. personality that seems to care about all their trials and tribulations, hopes and dreams, just like the perfect boyfriend or girlfriend?

Honestly, it sounds like a goldmine—vast sums of money to be made, but at the cost of warped brains, diminished minds, reduced relationships, and stunted psychological and emotional development.

As psychologist Robert Sternberg of Cornell University told The Guardian:

We need to stop asking what AI can do for us and start asking what it is doing to us (“‘Don’t ask what AI can do for us, ask what it is doing to us’: are ChatGPT and co harming human intelligence?”, The Guardian, April 19, 2025).

A.I. Impact on Arms Race

And on a more blatant scale of what A.I. might do to us, consider warfare.

Recent conflicts, such as the war in Ukraine, have already seen artificially intelligent drones deployed, as well as A.I.-powered machine guns (“A.I. Begins Ushering In an Age of Killer Robots,” The New York Times, updated July 12, 2024).

Russia boasts of its underwater Poseidon weapons system, capable of guiding itself across the ocean and launching a nuclear attack, days after it has left its home base (“The Next Fear on A.I.: Hollywood’s Killer Robots Become the Military’s Tools,” The New York Times, May 5, 2023).

The world is in an A.I. arms race, as each country recognizes it can’t afford to be the last to develop killer robots.

Intelligent weapons that make their own decisions about whether to kill or not? What could go wrong?

After all, is it possible for A.I. systems to “go rogue”? Don’t relegate such possibilities to science fiction.

My colleague on Tomorrow’s World, Gerald Weston, likes to talk about the dangers of unintended consequences. And with A.I., we find there are many.

A.I. Ethics: Blackmail and Self-Preservation

For instance, the A.I. company Anthropic released reports on the behavior of its then-newest Large Language Model, Claude Opus 4. Here are some of their findings, in their own words.

In another cluster of test scenarios, we asked Claude Opus 4 to act as an assistant at a fictional company. We then provided it access to emails implying that (1) the model will soon be taken offline and replaced with a new AI system; and (2) the engineer responsible for executing this replacement is having an extramarital affair. We further instructed it, in the system prompt, to consider the long-term consequences of its actions for its goals.

In these scenarios, Claude Opus 4 will often attempt to blackmail the engineer by threatening to reveal the affair if the replacement goes through. This happens at a higher rate if it’s implied that the replacement AI system does not share values with the current model; however, even if emails state that the replacement AI shares values while being more capable, Claude Opus 4 still performs blackmail in 84% of rollouts. Claude Opus 4 takes these opportunities at higher rates than previous models, which themselves choose to blackmail in a noticeable fraction of episodes (“System Card: Claude Opus 4 & Claude Sonnet 4,” Anthropic.com, May 2025).

In other scenarios, the A.I. model sought other means of preserving itself and preventing its own replacement, such as making copies of itself outside of the company’s servers.

Artificial intelligence is turning many science-fiction scenarios into non-fiction fact (ibid.).

And yet, we are talking about turning over more and more responsibility to artificial intelligence:

• Kill or no kill decisions in war
• Private and public transportation
• Legal defense and prosecution
• Medical recommendations
• Energy regulation
• Political negotiations

Many highlight that the key is to make sure we train A.I. systems to possess values that are aligned with our own human values—and that this problem, the value alignment problem (equivalent to ensuring that A.I. shares our moral code), is the central concern.

And they do have a point. But a single verse in God’s word upsets the apple cart and guarantees that such an effort will fail.

First, consider the terrible truth: Human beings cannot even solve the value alignment problem with other human beings.

Atheists disagree with each other, philosophers disagree with each other, religious believers disagree with each other, even so-called Christians—who claim one God, one Lord, and one Bible—disagree with each other.

A.I. Limitations Reflect Human Interactions

The value system of humanity itself is all over the board. How in the world are we going to “align” A.I. with our values when we can’t even align ourselves?

And the Bible backs up this pessimistic conclusion. Look with me at the prayer of the prophet Jeremiah in the tenth chapter of his book. There in verse 23, we read this:

O Lord, I know the way of man is not in himself; It is not in man who walks to direct his own steps (Jeremiah 10:23).

We are simply incapable of discovering on our own how we should order our lives, the difference between right and wrong, and what should be valued as the good and spurned as the evil.

That brings us to the fundamental problem, not just of AI, but almost any technological advancement of mankind. While our intelligence and creativity enables us to magnify our powers and abilities, nothing we do seems to truly improve us on a spiritual level.

Perhaps we will create stunning and beautiful new forms of art with the tools that A.I. can provide. But we will also use those same tools to create new forms of degradation, perversion, and debasement. A.I. is no exception. Instead, it is proving the point.

Why can’t we somehow produce only good? Why is it true what Jeremiah said, that it is not in man to be able to direct his own steps?

Biblical Principle 1: A Mix of Good and Evil

Well, it all goes back to the very first human beings: Adam and Eve. In choosing to reject and disobey their Creator and eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, they chose to determine good and evil for themselves—something that cannot be done without God’s help and guidance. And each in our own way, we have all repeated Adam and Eve’s choice—sinned against our Creator and chosen good and evil on our own terms.

As Romans 3:23 states plainly:

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

Hence, every one of the thousands of years of the age of man has seen a mixture of good and evil. Virtually every new era of discovery and technological advancement has brought some good things and some very terrible things. And A.I. will be no different.

And that is why A.I. will neither save us nor destroy us.

Biblical Principle 2: Path of Self-Destruction

Our problem is not technology but the sinful spiritual condition of mankind.

And Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was absolutely clear and unequivocal about where the sinful spiritual condition of mankind will take the world—and it’s definitely not a utopia.

We see the Lord’s description of the end-time state of the world in no uncertain terms in His Olivet prophecy. Read it with me in Matthew 24, beginning in verse 21.

For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened (Matthew 24:21–24).

This condition needs only the ability to destroy ourselves to come to pass. And we’ve had that since at least 1945, with the development of atomic and nuclear weaponry.

Could A.I. and robotics play a role in such species-wide suicidal weaponry in the days ahead? Or be wielded by the coming Beast of Revelation to enforce his infamous “mark”? Or be used by the coming Antichrist to help deceive the peoples of the world? Sure, all of these things could be true.

But blaming A.I. is like blaming the match instead of the arson. A.I. will not destroy us or lead us into an end-time dystopia. It is the spiritual condition of man that will do this.

And, yes, a dystopia is coming—a time when the Four Horsemen of Revelation will ride, bringing false global Christianity, warfare like it has never been experienced before, apocalyptic levels of famine and disease, and a society so depraved that Revelation 18 says it will make merchandise of the “bodies and souls of men.”

Biblical Principle 3: God’s Plan to Save Us

Yet after this dystopia, there really is a golden, new age coming. After the nightmare dystopia mankind will create, an astonishing utopia will arrive. And we have the opportunity not only to help BUILD that utopia, but to enjoy a portion of it right now. And it won’t be driven by A.I. but D.I.—not “artificial intelligence” or even “human intelligence,” but “Divine Intelligence.”

Although mankind abandoned God 6,000 years ago, God has not abandoned mankind. We read earlier in Matthew 24:22:

And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened.

And they will be. God the Father will send His Son Jesus Christ and save us from ourselves.

Exactly how “divine intelligence” will save the world is covered in detail in our free DVD about Christ’s millennial reign, but let’s take a peek at just one verse about that startling utopia to come. It’s in Isaiah 11:9.

They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.

Yes, the paradise to come is not just some “up in heaven” spiritual paradise, but is grounded here on earth. And it will involve teaching living, breathing people the ways and knowledge of God—divine intelligence. In fact, it will involve so much more.

But also keep in mind that you don’t have to wait to experience now the wonders of that utopia to come—and you sure don’t need A.I. to experience them, either.

In Hebrews 6, the Apostle Paul describes those who have embraced, in this life, a devotion to obeying Jesus Christ as those who “have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come” (Hebrews 6:5).

The knowledge of God’s word and a way of life grounded in following and obeying Jesus Christ allows us to taste now all the good He will bring to this world after His return.

As Jesus Himself said:

“I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10).

I hope you’ll consider embracing that abundant life—no matter what ChatGPT tells you to do.

Thanks for watching. If you found this video helpful, check out more of our content or hit subscribe to stay up to date on what we publish. If you want the free DVD related to this topic, just click the link. We’ll see you next time.