The Beginning Of Knowledge

In my last sermon, against the backdrop of current world events, I shared with you from Scripture how we could know we are living in the last days of this earth’s troubled history. We looked primarily at Revelation 13 and 14 and discussed some of the signs of the times that strongly indicate where we are in the prophetic steam of time. We also talked about what we, as a church and as individuals should be doing as we see the end drawing near.

Today, I want to touch on that subject once more, but this time I want us to look at another sign of the times—a sign we often fail to recognize as a sign, even though it is virtually everywhere we look.

Through the prophet Daniel, God told us one thing in particular that would be happening during these last days—just prior to the return of Christ. He said in Daniel 12:4 that “many will run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased..”

I believe the meaning of this text is twofold. First, at the time Daniel received this prophecy from God, he was told to “shut up or seal the words of the scroll until the time of the end.” And it wasn’t until the end of the 18th and the beginning of the 19th century that the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation were finally beginning to be seriously studied and more clearly understood by believers in different parts of the world around the same time. And it was the better understanding of these two prophetic books that led to a widespread belief that the Second Coming of Christ was imminent.

So, the first meaning of this text is that the knowledge of Daniel’s prophetic book itself would increase—in other words, it would be “unsealed” or finally understood as people would go “to and fro” in the Scriptures, allowing Scripture to interpret Scripture.

Daniel 12:8–10 (NIV84): “8 I heard, but I did not understand. So I asked, “My lord, what will the outcome of all this be?” 9 He replied, “Go your way, Daniel, because the words are closed up and sealed until the time of the end. 10 Many will be purified, made spotless and refined, but the wicked will continue to be wicked. None of the wicked will understand, but those who are wise will understand.”

Daniel was being told of events that would take place 2600 years in the future! And yet he wasn’t allowed to know what it meant; but he did know, that in the end times “many will run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased..” But like I said, there’s another aspect to this prophetic statement—one that I believe applies specifically to our generation...

Let me begin my explanation by asking you a question: are we running to and fro today—more so than ever before? Think about this; in a span of less than 150 years, we went from traveling by horse and buggy to traveling by trains, automobiles, prop planes and then jets. We now have a jet than can travel at 4 times the speed of sound. We can now get anywhere in the world in just a matter of hours. I’d say we are definitely “running to and fro” like never before, and that in itself requires a quite substantial increase in knowledge..

But think for a moment of the other ways our knowledge has advanced in just the last 50 years. You’ve obviously heard about the Mars Rovers. Supposedly, we sling shotted 6 of these things 128 million miles into outer space and successfully landed them on Mars.... not only that, but these specially equipped spacecrafts have been able to send intimate photographs and video footage of that distant planet 128 million miles back to us! If this is true, you’d have to agree that it is incredible!

In addition to that, we are doing things in the medical field that were considered science fiction not too long ago. Heart transplants, joint replacements, face transplants, robotic limbs, robotic surgery, medical nano technology.....

Just a few weeks ago you remember my brother had a massive heart attack. His artery was almost completely blocked. The doctor fed a catheter through the artery in his wrist, went into his heart, cleaned out the blockage, put a stint in, and that was it. When someone had this same type of blockage say 50 years ago, they died.

Did you know they are now developing a computer chip called Nueralink. From what I understand, this chip is actually implanted underneath the skull. A surgical robot, very intricately, wires this chip directly to people’s brains! When connected, it allows a person to control computers and other devices with just their minds. The developers of this technology are hopeful that it will eventually make it possible for the blind to see, the mute to speak and the lame to walk...