“And he deceives those who dwell on the earth—by those signs which he was granted to do in the sight of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who was wounded by the sword and lived. He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed” (Rev. 13:14-15).
For decades people have wondered what this passage in Revelation 13 could be referring to; an image that the False Prophet is able to bring to life in some way? An image that can move and speak? An image of the Antichrist that people will bow down and worship? What on earth is John describing? Well, it is possible that we are now seeing technology that is being developed that can mimic many of the elements of this passage.
Developers in Ireland have created a plan in which they will build 21 10-story-tall statues around the world. Called “The Giant”, it’s a programmable, moving statue covered with millions of LED pixels that allow it to take the form of any person. The Giant’s arms and head can move to a diversity of positions and its patented skin, a matrix of millions of programmable LED pixels gives it the ability to instantly take the form of any man or woman, boy or girl from historical figures such as Albert Einstein or Amelia Earhart to stars of today from Lionel Messi to Beyoncé. The Giant can take on any image and can also sing and speak.
The idea was developed by entrepreneur Paddy Dunning, Berlin-based architecture studio Dan Pearlman and backed by the commercial real estate company Enterprise Ireland. Each “Giant” will cost $18 - $24 million to develop depending on the location and chosen size, according to a press release. The company estimates the sculpture to bring in about $14 million in revenue for the host cities and that each of the statues could be built within 18 months of the start of construction.
While the 21 cities have yet to be formally announced, Phoenix has been identified as a strong possibility for one location.
Speaking about the launch of The Giant, Dunning said; “With patents in place, we are excited to unveil our plans! We have already had interest from investors from Europe, Australia, Abu Dhabi and cities across the US. The beauty of this attraction is that its exhibition can be tailored to individual cities and cultures and the sculpture can be posed in a number of positions to suit the location.”
While this is all highly speculative, it shows that the type of technology needed to create something similar to what John describes in the Book of Revelation is already present. People have long scoffed at John’s claim that people during the Tribulation would bow down to a little idol like they did in the ancient world.
However, it is much easier to see the Antichrist and the False Prophet creating something as large as Nebuchadnezzar’s statue from Daniel 3, using technology to make it look like the Antichrist and demand that people bow down and worship it. This technology even would allow the statue to speak through a computer program or a recording of the Antichrist’s voice.
Technology continues to develop at an amazing rate. While much of it has worked to better lives, some of these technological innovations or others like them will no doubt play a major role during the Tribulation.
PRAY: As technology continues to advance, pray for world evangelization and for believers to be mindful of warnings mentioned in Revelation about the coming Antichrist.