DISCERN | JULY/AUGUST 2023

IS SPACE THE FINAL FRONTIER?

DISCERN

Discern magazine (ISSN 2372-1995 [print]; ISSN 2372-2010 [online]) is published every two months by the Church of God, a Worldwide Association, as a service to readers of its LifeHopeandTruth.com website. Discern’s home page is LifeHopeandTruth.com/Discern. Free electronic subscriptions can be obtained at LifeHopeandTruth. com/Discern. Contact us at info@DiscernMag.com

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examine it, we see more. We see an ideal marriage relationship—a Proverbs 31 wife and husband. 14

Is Karma in the Bible?

In recent years, the Eastern concept of karma has become popular in Western culture. Can the idea of karma be harmonized with the Bible? Is karma biblical? 17

Reality at Risk: The Dark Side of Artificial Intelligence

In what ways is generative artificial intelligence redefining the boundaries of reality? How can you be protected from the deceptive impact of AI?

20 Can China Be a Peacemaker in the

The political sands are shifting again in the Middle East, with the emergence of a new peace broker. Will China bring peace to the turbulent region?

AI, as Good or Evil as Human Nature Allows

It’s really disturbing when Google’s CEO warns that the massive potential impact of a new technology will be as good or evil as human nature allows. When have we ever been able to safely trust human nature to use our inventions in purely beneficial ways?

That was Sundar Pichai, speaking about artificial intelligence (AI) on CBS television’s April 16, 2023, 60 Minutes program. His voice is one of a growing number expressing both awe and fear. Long in the making, but bursting suddenly into public awareness, AI’s potential benefits are incredible, but its looming dangers, chilling.

Another voice is Geoffrey Hinton’s, an eminent AI developer who, according to CNN, left Google “to speak out about the ‘dangers’ of the technology he helped to develop.”

Hinton is troubled. “I believe that the rapid progress of AI is going to transform society in ways we do not fully understand and not all of the effects are going to be good.”

So concerning are these prospects that in March more than a thousand tech leaders signed a letter asking companies to halt AI system development for at least six months due to “profound risks to society and humanity.”

Don’t count on it. Once OpenAI released ChatGPT last November, the horses were out of the barn and the race was on between tech corporations to churn out more advanced versions.

With human nature, profit trumps prudence.

“Won’t know what is true anymore”

So, I asked ChatGPT, “Why are scientists concerned about AI?” Seconds later it produced a 200word article listing seven problems: bias and discrimination, job displacement, security risks, lack of transparency and accountability, autonomous weapons, privacy concerns and overreliance on AI. Pretty impressive! Except . . it missed perhaps the most important problem of all. To illustrate, I also asked it, “What is Church of God, a Worldwide Association?” (Discern’s parent organization).

What it described was mostly true, but tucked into the text was one glaring blunder misstating a fundamental doctrine. It was so convincingly stated,

though, that anyone unfamiliar with us wouldn’t realize they’re reading a falsehood.

We experienced firsthand Hinton’s concern “about AI’s potential to . . create a world where many will ‘not be able to know what is true anymore’” (CNN).

AI is just software. It has no intent to deceive, but it often fails to be accurate. However, evil people do have such intents, and human nature has quickly led them to use AI to mislead, cheat and defraud.

My truth, your truth . . . or God’s truth?

What happens to the psyche of a society when people don’t know what is true anymore? As deceit increases, so does disillusionment, distrust and doubt. People begin to question everything, believe nothing. Pilate’s rhetorical question to Jesus, “What is truth?” becomes the mantra of public consciousness.

Already we see popularization of the vacuous “my truth” philosophy. “You have to live ‘your truth’ and I’ll live ‘my truth,’” some prattle, apparently oblivious to the very definition of “truth.” Really? We can believe whatever we want and then claim it is “truth”? There’s that pesky human nature at work again.

In a time when we need truth more than ever, we’re seeing it eroded more and more. An article in this issue, “Reality at Risk: The Dark Side of Artificial Intelligence,” reminds us, though, that we can allow for something besides human nature to guide us in truth.

We humans have nearly always rejected God’s intelligence, foolishly opting for our own. Now, in our brilliance, we have unleashed the machinery for accelerating the best and worst of ourselves without even knowing the consequences.

Do you want to entrust your life to something as good or evil as human nature allows? Another option is available—real, not artificial, intelligence—the knowledge of God!

Clyde Kilough Editor

As a boy in the 1960s, I think I learned to count down from 10 almost as early as I learned to count forward. The thrill of each rocket launch in the race to the moon began to make anything seem possible.

When the original Star Trek television series launched in 1966, it seemed that space truly was “the final frontier,” as Capt. James T. Kirk declared at the start of each episode. Our collective mission was “to boldly go where no man has gone before.”

To boldly go

In the years since Star Trek’s short three seasons (19661969) and the brief period of human exploration of the moon (1969-1972), the excitement of space seems to have faded a little. But for many people it never lost its pull.

Now private companies have begun to take up the mission “to boldly go,” with space tourism serving as a stepping stone to the moon, Mars and beyond.

Feeling the overview effect

In October 2021, the actor who played Capt. Kirk finally got his chance to experience space in real life. William Shatner, then 90 years old, spent only three minutes in space with Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos. But the effect was powerful.

The Atlantic reported that, with tears running down his cheeks, Shatner said, “What you have given me is the most profound experience I can imagine.”

What was it like touching the edge of his final frontier? “It’s extraordinary. Extraordinary. I hope I never recover from this.”

Shatner is not the only one who has felt powerful emotions upon looking down on our precious planet or out into the universe. The experience has even been given the name the overview effect.

• “No one could be briefed well enough to be completely prepared for the astonishing view that I got,” wrote astronaut Alan Shepherd in 1962.

• “If only everyone could relate to the beauty and the purposefulness of it,” said Gene Cernan, one of the 12 people who have walked on the moon. “It wouldn’t bring a utopia to this planet for people to understand it all, but it might make a difference.” For more about this phenomena, see our blog post “ The Overview Effect: Why We Need to See the Big Picture .”

Other frontiers

While outer space has gotten most of the headlines as the final frontier, others have suggested that inner space is where it’s at. Of course, this term has been defined in different ways. Merriam-Webster.com says

IS SPACE THE FINAL FRONTIER?

The vastness and unexplored mystery of outer space has inspired many. But is it truly the final frontier? What other vistas await the human race?

the first known use of inner space was in 1958, in the sense of “space at or near the earth’s surface and especially under the sea.”

It has also been used to describe the microscopic world, as well as the inner self.

All of these frontiers, though closer to home, may be as mysterious and challenging as outer space.

The bottom of the sea

As man headed into space, undersea exploration was also taking off.

On Jan. 23, 1960, Jacques Piccard and Don Walsh descended for nearly five hours to reach the Challenger Deep, the deepest known point in the ocean. It is 6.83 miles (10.99 kilometers) below the surface of the Pacific Ocean near Guam.

Ever since, oceanographers have made amazing discoveries in an unseen world every bit as fantastic as science fiction:

• “In the coastal waters of Shark Bay, Australia, scientists discovered that a seagrass bed of Poseidon’s ribbon weed (Posidonia australis) is actually one plant. The massive organism covers an area of 77 square miles” (Smithsonian).

• Off the coast of Antarctica, “scientists discovered 60 million icefish nests covering an area the size of a small city” (ibid.).

Photo: iStockphoto.com

• “From 13m-long (43ft) voracious carnivorous squid, to scuttling Yeti crabs huddling near hydrothermal vents, to tusked whales dwelling thousands of feet down to avoid predatory orcas, sizeable marine animals new to science are still being documented every year” (BBC).

• The deep ocean seemed to be “a harsh, monotonous place of perpetual darkness, frigid temperatures, limited food and extreme pressure—conditions that should make complex forms of life impossible. But new tools . . . have demonstrated that biodiversity in the darkest depths may rival that of rain forests and tropical coral reefs” (Scientific American).

But even with all the exploration that has been done, only 5 percent of the ocean has been explored.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, “Humans know more about the physical and chemical properties of outer space than about planet Earth’s deep ocean regions.”

Inner space remains an exciting frontier for future generations. “The generation of kids in middle schools right now will explore more of Earth than all previous generations combined,” said National Geographic explorer-at-large Robert Ballard.

The microscopic world

Within the earth’s biosphere, the life-forms visible to the eye are outnumbered by the microscopic ones. This invisible world could also make a claim to the title final frontier.

Consider these amazing facts:

• “Right beneath your nose—on your face, in your gut, and everywhere in between—trillions of bacteria, viruses, and fungi are so abundant in your body, they outnumber your human cells” (NOVA).

• “Microalgae in the ocean produce half of all the oxygen in our atmosphere. Fungi and bacteria convert the organic material from dead animals into new raw materials. And intestinal bacteria help you digest your food. Without any of them, life on earth wouldn’t be possible” (Micropia.nl).

• “Microbes eat almost everything, including metals, acids, petroleum and natural gas” (ibid.).

The human mind

Lawrence Galton wrote in 1958: “Of all things known in the universe, the human brain is by far, the most

complex. As a subject for scientific study it presents infinite intricacies and difficulties.”

The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke said in 2023: “The brain is the most complex part of the human body. This three-pound organ is the seat of intelligence, interpreter of the senses, initiator of body movement, and controller of behavior. Lying in its bony shell and washed by protective fluid, the brain is the source of all the qualities that define our humanity. The brain is the crown jewel of the human body.”

Beyond the gray matter of the brain itself, deeper questions arise about the difference between animal brains and human minds. In this frontier we are still probing the mysteries of memory, creativity, consciousness and the subconscious. What gives us the ability to think, plan, calculate, design, enjoy, love and so many other things?

The human mind itself is a worthy frontier.

For more on this, see our article “ The Miracle in the Mind .”

Our minds have allowed us to study and explore all of these frontiers. And beyond that, they have conceived of other frontiers of creativity and imagination, such as time travel, the metaverse and multiverse.

Is there anything that all these frontiers have in common? Space, the oceans, the microscopic world, the human mind and the cyber world are all based on some combination of space, time, matter and energy.

In that sense, they are all physical.

In considering what our final frontier is, we should ask:

Is there anything beyond the physical?

Beyond space and time

While human beings enjoy imagining fictional multiple dimensions and universes, our minds can’t truly comprehend realms beyond dimensions and unlimited by time and space.

As incredible as our imaginations are, they are shaped by what we know—matter, energy, space and time.

Yet there is a source that claims to be a message from beyond space and time. In fact, it claims to be from the Source of space and time. And it offers glimpses into

that realm, translated into concepts humans can only begin to perceive.

Most amazing of all, it reveals directions that lead to a portal into that realm.

The Source—the Creator—had a reason for making us as finite beings who are always searching for new frontiers. In His unbounded love, He deeply desires for us to become like Him and to join Him in eternity!

This loving plan—this path leading to our transformation—is truly the final frontier that humanity has always sought.

A peek into eternity

The greatest library of inspirational literature ever written, which claims the Creator God as its Author, gives us tantalizing glimpses into our destiny.

The Holy Bible reveals that from the beginning, we were actually created in the image and likeness of the Creator (Genesis 1:26). And though we are now mortal and corruptible, God plans to give us immortality and incorruption (1 Corinthians 15:53).

God is offering to share all things with us and to give us amazing glory (Hebrews 2:6-10).

What does this look like? The Bible hints that God’s plans for us are beyond what our senses can experience and beyond even our wildest dreams:

“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him” (1 Corinthians 2:9).

God has given us “exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these [we] may be partakers of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4). He gives us divine power through His Holy Spirit to begin our metamorphosis.

God wants us to begin the transformation process from the inside:

“And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God” (Romans 12:2).

Those living by the perfect will of God in this world will run into obstacles and enemies, but even these are just part of the training program God has for us.

In this world of dust, challenges abound. But God’s love for us is far more powerful than anything

we face. The apostle Paul penned these words of encouragement:

“For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39).

The apostle John summed up God’s awesome plan in these immortal words:

“Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! .

“Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.

“And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure” (1 John 3:1-3).

God has big plans for His children, and they are never-ending plans (Isaiah 9:7). This final frontier will be an ever-increasing one, with fullness of joy and pleasures forevermore (Psalm 16:11).

This is our ultimate purpose. It gives incalculable value to our lives. It provides profound meaning.

Whether this article has convinced you or not, you owe it to yourself to explore this further.

Study the inspiring human potential using our free booklet God’s Purpose for You: Discovering Why You Were Born . This booklet can enlighten and empower you to boldly go where your Creator is leading you!

—Mike Bennett

Was the United States of America Blessed in Its Geography?

Geography can appear a bit simplistic on the surface. But what happens when we look a little deeper? Was God involved?

On July 4, the United States of America—the world’s most dominant economic and military power— celebrates its Independence Day. This marks the historic date in 1776 when the Declaration of Independence was approved by its Continental Congress.

Although U.S. leadership is being challenged on many fronts, this nation remains one of the leading countries where migrants wish to settle. It is respected as the premier land of personal freedoms and economic opportunity.

But it also evokes hatred among some for the way it has used its power. And also envy, especially from large nations, such as

Russia and China, that aspire to global dominance themselves.

The largest nations according to land mass

When one considers the basic geographical features of the U.S. compared to other nations, the facts are pretty basic. In terms of size, Worldometers.info lists the U.S. as the fourth-largest country in the world—just over half the total area of Russia, which is by far the largest country. Canada, the second-largest, and China, the third-largest, have just slightly more territory than the U.S.

If all geography were equal, the nation with the most real estate should lead the world in pretty much everything, and the other nations should fall in line according to their size. But as we will see, not all geography is equal.

The largest nations by population

Before proceeding, we should note that some might wonder if population matters when it comes to determining a nation’s prominence. Worldometers. info lists China as the most populous nation, with a population of more than 1.4 billion, representing 18.5 percent of the world’s population. However, the United Nations predicts that this year India will pass China to become the world’s most populous nation.

Russia, which has the most land, has only the ninthlargest population.

The U.S. is the third-most-populous country, with 331 million people, a pittance in comparison to China and India, and accounts for just over 4 percent of the world’s population. Population clearly isn’t the primary driver of a nation’s prominence.

Geography, on the other hand, makes a huge difference.

Blessed with navigable waterways

To understand how geography helped America become an economic powerhouse, we need to drop back a couple of centuries to note the effect navigable waterways had on agriculture and transportation.

Prior to the industrial age and globalization, the high cost of transportation limited trade and the growth of cities. Unless a commodity had high value, low bulk and was nonperishable, there was little incentive to move it very far. Transporting a relatively inexpensive item long

distances could cost more than the product itself. Most trade was generally local, and cities were limited in size when all the food had to be procured nearby.

But costs plummeted when goods were transported via water. Transporting goods on water has been estimated to use 12 times less energy than doing so on land.

The U.S. is immensely blessed with an abundance of navigable inland waterways. Foreign affairs analyst Tim Marshall in his book Prisoners of Geography explains it like this: “The greater Mississippi basin [in the U.S.] has more miles of navigable river than the rest of the world put together. Nowhere else are there so many rivers whose source is not in highland and whose waters run smoothly all the way to the ocean across vast distances.

“The Mississippi, fed by much of the basin river system, begins near Minneapolis and ends 1,800 miles south in the Gulf of Mexico. So the rivers were the natural conduit for ever-increasing trade, leading to a great port and all using waterborne craft that was, and is, many times cheaper than road travel” (pp. 68-69).

And having a river nearby to irrigate crops is also of tremendous benefit when rain is scarce.

Blessed with abundant farmland

When it comes to raising crops, not all land is equally productive. Russia and Canada, for example, have much land in frigid climates that is not as productive as land in temperate climates. Compared to the other larger countries in the world, the U.S. has the bulk of its agricultural real estate in latitudes that are optimal for growing food.

“The United States has more high-quality, temperatezone, arable farmland than any other country and its entire agricultural supply chain is contained within North America. This makes the United States the world’s largest agricultural producer and exporter” (The End of the World Is Just the Beginning, Peter Zeihan, p. 89).

Blessed with abundant energy

With its abundant natural resources, the U.S. is capable of energy independence. The shale revolution allowed the U.S. to become the world’s largest oil producer. It easily has the potential to supply all of its own needs and export the excess. Using fossil fuels, natural

gas and coal, the U.S. has “the lowest unsubsidized electricity costs in the world” (p. 90).

The U.S. is the second-largest solar energy producer in the world. As well, “the positioning of its mountains compared to its coasts gives it more wind power potential than any other country” (p. 90).

Blessed with natural security boundaries

In regard to security, the fewer nations a country has on its borders, the easier it can be to remain at peace. Geography can be of great help as well. The U.S. has great oceans to its east and to its west that would make it difficult for hostile nations to mount a successful invasion.

This unprecedented degree of security has given the U.S. room to maneuver and even a margin for error in international relations and allowed the country to blossom economically.

Challenging weather because of geography

As a negative, the U.S. experiences some of the worst weather catastrophes in the world because of its geography. Science writer Seth Borenstein says, “Blame geography for the U.S. getting hit by stronger, costlier, more varied and frequent extreme weather than anywhere on the planet . . .

“Two oceans, the Gulf of Mexico, the Rocky Mountains, jutting peninsulas like Florida, clashing storm fronts and the jet stream combine to naturally brew the nastiest of weather” (“Why the U.S. Is Leading the World in Extreme Weather Catastrophes,” April 2, 2023).

God determines the boundaries of nations

Nasty weather aside, some would say the U.S. won the lottery in terms of its geography. But it wasn’t luck that gave the U.S. such choice real estate. The Bible reveals that God determines the boundaries of nations.

In addressing first-century intellectuals in Athens, Paul explained who the God of the Bible is. Among other key facts, Paul noted that God “has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings” (Acts 17:26).

Occasionally the boundaries of nations change, but God remains the sovereign power. Changes are subject to His will and the actions of the people involved (Deuteronomy 28:1; 2 Chronicles 20:6; Daniel 4:35).

So why did God give the U.S. so many geographical blessings?

Blessings to Abraham

Those of us producing Discern magazine believe the reason the U.S. has so many blessings, including those of geography, goes back to promises God made to Abraham almost 4,000 years ago. We believe the territory of the United States was given to descendants of this ancient patriarch.

While space in this article doesn’t permit a thorough explanation, consider just a few of the things the Bible tells us about the descendants of Abraham.

• God said Abraham’s descendants would grow into a great multitude of people (Genesis 15:5).

• In the end time some of these peoples would become “a multitude of nations” and others a single great nation (Genesis 48:19).

• These peoples who would become a multitude of nations and a great single nation were also promised economic prosperity and military strength (Genesis 49:22-26).

• Moses prophesied the descendants of Joseph would be given immense agricultural blessings that would include “the precious things of heaven, with the dew, and the deep lying beneath . . . with the precious things of the earth and its fullness” (Deuteronomy 33:13, 16).

• God expected Abraham’s descendants to be a godly example and said that He would bless them for obedience to His law and punish them for disobedience (Deuteronomy 28:1, 15).

• Eventually, God will bless all peoples and nations through these people (Genesis 12:1-3).

It’s important to note, however, that God did not give the people of the United States of America all these blessings so they could simply enjoy their wealth, while forgetting God and exploiting others. God will hold Americans accountable for their sins and for not being a godly example to others.

For a more extensive explanation of what lies ahead for these people, see our free booklet The United States, Britain and the Commonwealth in Prophecy.

—David Treybig

The Proverbs 31 Wife

Proverbs 31 describes a “virtuous wife,” but when we closely examine it, we see more. We see an ideal marriage relationship—a Proverbs 31 wife and husband.

Photo: iStockphoto.com

If you are a Christian woman, you may have felt overwhelmed, and even intimidated, by what may appear to be the impossible ideal of a Proverbs 31 woman. However, this passage is not a checklist for women. Instead, it is a wonderful description.

And there are lessons in it for men as well.

A deeper look at Proverbs 31

If we read Proverbs 31 carefully, we notice there are no imperatives (do this, don’t do that) except, perhaps, at the very end of the chapter. And that imperative is not even addressed to the woman, but to the reader. “Give her the fruit of her hands” (verse 31) is akin to saying, “Give credit where credit is due.”

There’s something else we might miss at first glance. Just beneath the surface of this description of an ideal wife is the picture of an ideal marriage relationship. You might say that through a closer examination of the passage, we catch a glimpse of the Proverbs 31 couple!

That’s because a husband can be empowered by the support of a good wife, and a wife can be empowered by the support of a good husband. With this concept in mind, let’s take another look at this amazing Hebrew acrostic poem.

The foundation for a Proverbs 31 marriage

The poem begins by asking, “Who can find a virtuous wife?” (Proverbs 31:10). Other translations call her a “virtuous woman” (King James Version), “excellent wife” (English Standard Version, New American Standard Bible) and “wife of noble character” (New International Version).

The Hebrew adjective ḥ ayil is translated “virtuous” in only two passages in the New King James Version. It is more commonly translated “valor” (38 times) or “valiant” (24 times).

The young David is described with the same Hebrew word when one of Saul’s servants calls him “a mighty man of valor” (1 Samuel 16:18). And David’s greatgrandmother Ruth was recognized as a virtuous woman by the whole town of Bethlehem (Ruth 3:11) because she chose to honor and provide for her mother-in-law, even at great personal cost.

The point is, the type of virtue being considered in these passages is that found in individuals who are

committed to the right course of action, regardless of how difficult their choice becomes.

This is the type of character that is foundational for an ideal marriage relationship. Husbands and wives are to have the courage and character to follow through with their commitment to one another when difficult times come—and no marriage is without difficult times.

That’s why the poem goes on to assert that when a man finds a woman of valor, he knows that “her worth is far above rubies” (Proverbs 31:10). The same can be said for a woman who finds a man of valor.

Trust and the Proverbs 31 marriage

The next verse establishes another foundational principle for marriage. Immediately after proclaiming the value of a woman of valor, the poet declares that “the heart of her husband safely trusts her” (verse 11).

Marriage works best and is most satisfying with a high level of trust. And trust is a two-way street. For strong mutual trust to exist, both husband and wife must be trustworthy. They must be people of integrity, maintaining their commitment to one another.

But trust entails more. It means letting go of some degree of control. This is particularly difficult when social and cultural expectations oppose such behavior. The book of Proverbs was written in such an environment. The ancient world was a male-dominated world.

God’s law values women, and when it is followed, it protects them from some of the worst abuses of the world around. But it wasn’t always followed, and “women’s rights were sometimes overlooked” (Illustrated Manners and Customs of the Bible, p. 421).

With these conditions and restrictions in mind, the woman’s activities are amazing. Not only does this Proverbs 31 woman of valor fulfill expected duties of the time, such as providing food and clothing for her household (verses 13-15), but she engages in unexpected tasks, such as purchasing property and planting a vineyard (verse 16).

What this means is that her husband trusts her with these challenges. He respects his wife’s abilities, and he allows her to apply them. And she meets the challenges, giving her husband no reason to distrust her.

Generosity and the Proverbs 31 marriage

Another trait of this remarkable woman is her generosity, especially toward the less fortunate. She is

not selfish, but “extends her hand to the poor, yes, she reaches out her hands to the needy” (verse 20).

Taken at face value, this statement might seem to say nothing about her husband or their relationship. However, her ability to give implies a great deal.

First, this couple is not needy, but financially able to share with others, which implies that husband and wife are both quite industrious. The poem points out the woman’s diligence when it describes her rising “while it is yet night” (verse 15) and asserts that she “does not eat the bread of idleness” (verse 27).

Another implication of this couple’s relationship is that she has the freedom to make such decisions. When the poet describes her as extending “her hand to the poor,” it says nothing about her checking first with her husband. Clearly, the Proverbs 31 man gives her the freedom to give because he fully trusts her to make wise and generous judgments.

Her decision to give clearly represents an important characteristic of their marriage—generosity.

Generous by nature

They are generous by nature, and that generosity spills over into how they treat one another and their children. One way this woman of valor shows generosity is by creating only the finest clothing for her husband and children.

The fact that “her household is clothed with scarlet” (verse 21) is not merely a color choice. Scarlet was an expensive dye, and the indication is that the family has the best possible apparel.

This assessment is confirmed by the statement that “her husband is known in the gates, when he sits among the elders of the land” (verse 23). The city gate was where formal business was conducted, and for her husband to sit among the elders at the gate means that he holds a position of honor in the community.

It seems clear he has achieved this place of honor with her help and support.

Praise and encouragement

Another important feature of the Proverbs 31 relationship is the atmosphere of praise and encouragement. The poet points out that the woman’s “children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her” (verse 28).

The poem gives us the words of the husband. He does not merely say, “Good job.” No, he showers praise on her: “Many daughters have done well, but you excel them all” (verse 29).

His words convey a sense of deep appreciation for his wife and all that she does. Though the woman of valor is not primarily motivated by praise, as we’ll see in a moment, this type of encouragement does add to a person’s motivation to continue doing good and growing .

Finally, when we stop to consider that even “her children rise up and call her blessed,” we can infer that they learned this behavior by witnessing how their parents—both of them—praised one another. Their household was filled with praise and encouragement.

The Proverbs 31 husband and wife built a positive family environment conducive to the growth of each other and their children.

The most important element of a Proverbs 31 marriage

What is the principal motivation of the Proverbs 31 woman and her husband?

Love, of course, plays a major role, but the poet places emphasis on another element, mentioned near the end of the poem. That element, which precedes love, is a deep reverence and respect for God.

Noting first that “charm is deceitful and beauty is passing,” the poet then asserts that “a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised” (verse 30). Fear of the Lord is the most critical element in this Proverbs 31 relationship.

The book of Proverbs begins with this same concept, declaring that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge” (Proverbs 1:7). All knowledge, including what is needed for a healthy and vibrant marriage, begins with this reverence. (Study more about this vital biblical concept in our online article “ What Does the Fear of the Lord Mean? ”)

It is clear that both the Proverbs 31 wife and husband fear God. Verse 30 tells us directly that the wife does, but everything about their relationship suggests that her husband also fears the Lord. As a result, the Proverbs 31 couple enjoys a rich and joy-filled relationship.

If you’d like to know more about this subject, download our booklet God’s Design for Marriage.

—Bill Palmer

Is Karma in the Bible?

In recent years, the Eastern concept of karma has become popular in Western culture. Can the idea of karma be harmonized with the Bible? Is karma biblical?

In 2020, a study on the spiritual beliefs of American young adults found that many young people rely on a moral worldview comprised of beliefs from various sources.

The study reported that one commonly held belief of young adults is “Karma is real” (Melinda Lundquist Denton and Richard Flory, Back-Pocket God, p. 228). Karma has become a popular idea in recent years. People often say that bad things happen because of “bad karma” or that good things happen because of “good karma.” “Karma will get you for that!” is sometimes used as a warning or a curse.

What does the Bible say about karma? Should a Christian believe in karma?

What is karma? Where did it originate?  The idea of karma originated in Asia. (The word comes from a Sanskrit word that means action or act.) It plays a large role in the belief systems of both Hinduism and Buddhism.

Hindus and Buddhists understand life through the lens of a concept called samsara. The idea is that the soul is trapped in a continual cycle of birth and rebirth, often called reincarnation or the transmigration of souls.

Karma is said to direct samsara. Based on how well a person lives in each life, this philosophy says his or her “soul” will be reborn into a better or worse life in the next one.

The purpose of life is seen as building up a reservoir of “good karma” in order to have a better next life. If a person dies with significant “bad karma,” he or she may be reborn as a lower life-form.

Of course, the majority of people who use the term karma nowadays don’t have this afterlife concept in mind.

The New Age movement , which takes ideas from many religious, occult and metaphysical sources, is largely responsible for karma’s popularity in the last 40 years.

Today, karma is seen as both an explanation for suffering and for how true happiness can be achieved. If someone does good things and earns “good karma,” his or her life will get better. If a person does bad things, he or she will suffer because of “bad karma.”

Karma is described as a universal law embedded into an energy field that fills the cosmos. Human thoughts, emotions and actions are described as emanating positive or negative energies into the universe, which later return to us as positive or negative consequences.

According to one proponent of karma, “Karma is the idea that what you do comes back to you. The energy you put out is the energy you receive back.” She describes this idea as being powered by “a mystical, magical energy to the universe” (Well+Good, June 28, 2022).

Did people believe in karma in the Bible?

Though the word karma isn’t in the Bible, some Bible verses include examples that seem like karmic thinking.

For instance, an idea similar to karma influenced Israelites in Old Testament times. It can be seen in a proverb that had become popular as an explanation for their national suffering: “The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge” (Ezekiel 18:2; see also Jeremiah 31:29-30). In other words, they believed their suffering was a direct consequence of their ancestors’ sins. Through Ezekiel, God told the people to abandon this wrong idea and instead focus on their own conduct (Ezekiel 18:3).

Another example is from Paul’s time shipwrecked in Malta. After he was bitten by a poisonous snake,

some of the local people said, “No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he has escaped the sea, yet justice does not allow to live” (Acts 28:4).

They saw this potentially fatal bite as something like karmic justice for a past murder. Instead, God intervened and protected Paul from the bite (verse 5).

Jesus also addressed circumstances that people today might call “karma.” Once, when He passed a blind man, the disciples asked, “Who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” (John 9:2). Jesus went on to explain that this thinking was incorrect and this man’s disability was not because of anyone’s sin (verse 3).

Jesus addressed this again when He asserted that a group of Galileans who had been slaughtered by Pontius Pilate weren’t “worse sinners” because they “suffered such things” (Luke 13:2).

As Solomon observed years earlier, “time and chance happen to them all” (Ecclesiastes 9:11). In other words, not every tragedy is a direct consequence of a person’s past action. Sometimes bad things happen to people simply because they’re in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Jesus clearly didn’t look at the world through the lens of good and bad karma.

Cause and effect is not karma

However, the Bible does teach the principle of cause and effect, which some incorrectly confuse with karma. There are two basic kinds of cause and effect:

1. Cause and effect by God’s blessings or punishment. The Bible is clear that God has the power to bless and punish. God told Israel He’d bless them if they obeyed and curse them if they rebelled (Leviticus 26; Deuteronomy 28). He exercised that authority with ancient Israel and will punish the nations in the end time for their wickedness and refusal to repent (Revelation 16:8-9).

God also promises to bless those who seek and obey Him (Psalm 1:1-2; Proverbs 10:6; James 1:25). But those blessings aren’t always immediately visible. Many seemingly innocent people have suffered hard lives throughout history (John 16:33; Hebrews 11; James 1:2-3). But the Bible promises that ultimately “all things work together for good” for God’s faithful people (Romans 8:28).

The Bible also shows that God is extremely merciful and is not constantly doling out physical punishment based on what we deserve (Matthew 5:45; Hebrews 2:1-4). In fact, considering the state of our world’s morality, we should be immensely thankful God doesn’t operate through karma.

2. Cause and effect through natural consequences. Both the Bible and common sense show that cause and effect operate naturally in our lives. The Bible expresses it this way: “Whatever a man sows, that he will also reap” (Galatians 6:7). In simple terms, decisions and actions often have natural consequences.

Much of the book of Proverbs is about cause and effect. For example, the natural consequence of being lazy is poverty, while diligence and hard work lead to financial stability (Proverbs 6:9-11; 10:4; 13:4; 20:13; 24:30-34).

These natural consequences aren’t determined by mysterious karmic energies, but by simple cause and effect. Practicing biblical principles positions a person for success because God’s ways work. However, in a world guided by Satan and human nature, sometimes the righteous suffer because of the sins of others (John 16:33; Romans 8:18; 1 Peter 3:17).

The Bible also shows that in this life sometimes the wicked do prosper for a time (Psalm 73:3; Jeremiah 12:1-3).

Though the Bible clearly teaches the principle of cause and effect, it is not a biblical equivalent to karma.

Why is the idea of karma dangerous?

Karma is clearly a man-made belief foreign to the Bible. Consider three reasons the idea of karma is spiritually dangerous and deceptive:

1. Karma replaces the all-powerful God with the universe. The power behind karma is usually described as the universe. Chopra.com describes it this way: “The Universe will bring back whatever acts you committed or feeling you caused in another person.” This worldview credits the physical creation as the ultimate arbiter of morality and reward and punishment.

But the Bible shows God created the universe (Genesis 1:1; Isaiah 42:5). God, not the universe or

energy, is the “rewarder of those who diligently seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6). Jesus Christ, not the universe or karma, will ultimately “judge the world in righteousness” (Acts 17:31).

Karma is another way mankind has deceptively credited the creation with power that belongs only to God (Romans 1:25).

2. Karma contradicts biblical repentance. Many believe that “bad karma” can be erased only by outweighing it with “good karma.” This idea contradicts the biblical teaching on sin.

The Bible teaches that the ultimate penalty of sin is death—not physical curses (Romans 6:23). No amount of good deeds can offset our sins and save us from the death penalty. Forgiveness of sin can only occur through repentance and the blood of Jesus Christ (Acts 3:19; 1 John 1:7). A Christian must absolutely strive to obey God, but not as an attempt to outweigh the bad on the scales of karma.

Some sins do have ongoing physical consequences, but thankfully, after God forgives us, we no longer have to worry about the ultimate consequences of our sins.

3. Karma distorts the proper motivation for doing good. Karma is just one of many man-made attempts to encourage people to live morally. It plays on human nature by incentivizing doing good to avoid bad things coming back upon us later.

At its core, the concept of karma is driven by selfishness.

The Bible, on the other hand, teaches that morality is defined by God and should be driven by selflessness. Jesus taught that our ultimate motivation should be love —for God first and then for other human beings (Matthew 22:36-39). Paul described the proper motivation for everything we do this way: “The purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith” (1 Timothy 1:5).

Christians shouldn’t do good to avoid bad things coming on them. Christians should do good out of genuine love because it’s the right thing to do regardless of the consequences.

So, is karma in the Bible? No. Karma is unbiblical and contradicts God’s Word in multiple ways.

—Erik Jones

Photo: Midjourney generated

Reality at Risk: The Dark Side of Artificial Intelligence

In what ways is generative artificial intelligence redefining the boundaries of reality? How can you be protected from the deceptive impact of AI?

AI-generated image based on this article’s content.

Artificial intelligence is doing things people thought were possible only in the realm of fiction. Even in its current form, the potential implications of AI are startling: the automation of millions of jobs, more powerful surveillance systems, autonomous weapons and more.

Some are saying that the recent advances in AI represent a watershed moment in the history of life on earth. And we are seeing only the beginning of what it can do because the rate of improvement is exponential, experts claim.

But one specific threat AI poses should serve as a wake-up call. It impacts the answer to this question: How good are you at being able to discern what is real and what is fake?

What do we mean by “AI”?

For most people, AI is nothing new. It’s become a ubiquitous part of daily life, whether we realize it or not.

Usually when we discuss AI, we are talking about complex algorithms that collect and process data to produce a result of some kind—your GPS that tells you when and where to make a turn, a personalized advertisement on your newsfeed, even the closedcaptioning feature on a video.

But this is not the kind of AI flooding headlines today. What has captured the world in both awe and extreme skepticism is more specifically called generative artificial intelligence. It does what its name suggests: it generates. There are text generators, image generators, audio generators and more. The generative AI models are trained on terabytes of information, enough to produce with ease almost anything they are asked.

Here’s the kicker: the results have a humanlike quality to them, giving something artificial and manufactured the appearance of being real.

For example, even when it was introduced, the text generator ChatGPT could produce college-level essays in a way that was undetectable to a professor. But that was only the beginning. Since then, the platform’s developers have released an update that allows their chatbot to better exhibit human-level performance in all kinds of tasks.

According to OpenAI’s website, the most recent iteration of ChatGPT is “more reliable, creative, and able to handle much more nuanced instructions.”

When it comes to image generators, the results are similarly convincing. The generative AI platform called Midjourney creates award-winning art, as one digital artist found out. The tool makes it possible “for rank amateurs to create complex, abstract or photorealistic works simply by typing a few words into a text box” (Kevin Roose, “An A.I.-Generated Picture Won an Art Prize. Artists Aren’t Happy,” New York Times, Sept. 22, 2022).

Another generative AI platform worth mentioning is ElevenLabs, which is as fascinating as it is controversial. This model effectively clones a person’s voice after a few samples are uploaded and analyzed. Then ElevenLabs allows its users to make the voice say anything entered into the text box.

The extraordinary capabilities of generative AI are undeniable, but they stoke fear in many, for reasons that may be obvious at this point. Society already struggles to distinguish truth from falsehood, fact from fiction, authentic news from fake news, so how much more challenging will this task become with the advent of generative AI?

Martin Ford, author of Rule of the Robots: How Artificial Intelligence Will Transform Everything, summarized the uncertainty of generative AI in an interview with Built In. “No one knows what’s real and what’s not,” said Ford. “So it really leads to a situation where you literally cannot believe your own eyes and ears; you can’t rely on what, historically, we’ve considered to be the best possible evidence.”

In other words, the danger is that reality itself could be called into question.

Deepfakes and disinformation: the grave implications of generative AI

The severe threat generative AI poses is encapsulated in a viral clip of Volodymyr Zelensky unveiled in mid-March of 2022. The video showed the president of Ukraine calling all his troops to put down their arms and surrender to their Russian adversaries. He had already fled Kyiv, the clip claimed.

Except—nothing in the video was real. It was a deepfake, an AI-generated video that shows people doing or saying things they did not do or say.

Admittedly, the video had little effect, courtesy of the poor rendering and Zelensky’s strangely

motionless body. But AI technology is evolving at a rate faster than we can wrap our minds around—and the more sophisticated the technology, the more convincing its product will be.

Ultimately, what the clip of Zelensky signals to the world is that there is a new and powerful avenue for bad actors to spread disinformation and sow political division.

The emergence of this technology comes at a time of heightened political polarization, which raises serious concerns about how partisans will protect themselves against AI-generated propaganda.

Disinformation campaigns on social media have taught us that it is especially challenging to persuade someone of the truth— reality —when it contradicts his or her existing beliefs. So when technology advances to the point where it becomes nearly impossible to distinguish legitimate from manipulated content, what kind of situation is created? Truth is not easier for someone to find when he or she is inundated with AI-generated text, video and audio that mimics reality.

The result may be people who are effectively insulated in their own subjective sense of reality.

Aside from the concern that AI could effectively control public opinion, the impact of AI is also presenting very personal dangers. Generative AI has been used by phone scammers to increase the believability of their schemes.

The New York Post reported this year on a mother who claimed that scammers had used AI to clone her daughter’s voice in order to simulate an abduction and ask for a ransom of $1 million. Probably the most chilling moment of the story is when the mother first answered the supposed kidnapper’s phone call and heard the clone. “I never doubted for one second it was her,” the mother said.

The possibilities for deception have greatly expanded with the rise of generative AI. It may not be long before AI is used to fabricate evidence used in litigation. For instance, a parent may use AI to create a voice recording that incriminates the other parent and sways a child custody case.

The age unfolding right now fits a statement the apostle Paul made regarding the end times: “Evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived” (2 Timothy 3:13).

Is it possible to avoid the deception?

The apostle John foretold a period of massive deception that will occur before the return of Jesus Christ. He said, “Then I saw another beast . . . He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men. And he deceives those who dwell on the earth by those signs” (Revelation 13:11, 13-14).

Let’s be clear: The “beast” of Revelation 13 is not some vicious AI machine. The prophecy is about a supernaturally powered religious figure whose purpose is to deceive. The prophecy warns us of a time chillingly relevant today—a time when our own eyes and ears can betray us.

In other words, the prophesied mind-bending age of lies and deception is lurching forward, and AI is leading the way.

As lies and deception increase, Christians will need to be more diligent to apply the discerning spirit described in 1 John 4:1: “Do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.”

But how can we apply these words?

The only way to shield yourself from an onslaught of lies and illusions is by knowing the God of truth through prayer and Bible study. He is the only source of pure and unadulterated truth. Hebrews 6:18 provides this assurance: “It is impossible for God to lie.”

We can be sure that every word in the Bible is constant and eternal.

The author of Psalm 91 exemplifies the confidence we can have when we rely on the Bible as our ultimate guide. He describes society’s attempts to lie and entrap in deception as “the snare of the fowler,” but says God is ready and able to rescue (verse 3). Then the psalmist lays out God’s pledge to those who believe Him: “He shall cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you shall take refuge.”

Then notice the first two words in the next phrase: “His truth shall be your shield and buckler” (verse 4, emphasis added).

The Bible is the foundation of truth you need to navigate this increasingly fake world.

(For more information on how you can be sure the Bible is the Word of God, see our booklet Is the Bible True? )

—Kendrick Diaz

The political sands are shifting again in the Middle East, with the emergence of a new peace broker. Will China bring peace to the turbulent region?

Can China Be a Peacemaker in the Middle East?

In what has been called a “handshake heard around the world,” regional archrivals Saudi Arabia and Iran recently declared a historic agreement to resume diplomatic relations after a bitter, decades-long freeze. Even more shocking is that the burst of diplomatic bridge building emerged from Beijing, as China intervened to successfully broker the peace. The diplomatic coup has the potential to reshape relations across the entire region, from Syria to Yemen, putting it on par with the 2020 Abraham Accords that saw Israel normalize relations with several Arab nations.

It marks the first time that Beijing has intervened so directly in Middle East rivalries. It also leaves the

United States—the region’s former peace broker—out in the cold.

China seizes the diplomatic reins

Seeking to capitalize on the momentum of the Saudi Arabia–Iran deal, China has been upping its diplomatic charm offensive and framing itself as a peacemaker beyond the Middle East.

Beijing has submitted a 12-point plan for achieving peace between Russia and Ukraine. Even more ambitiously, China’s Foreign Minister Qin Gang told his Israeli and Palestinian counterparts that his country is ready to broker peace talks to resolve the thorny Israeli-Palestinian conflict .

Why China? Why now?

Nature abhors a vacuum, and so does international politics. Whereas the United States has been stepping back from being a power broker in the Middle East, China is stepping up.

Though attempts to broker peace in the Middle East have often been a poisoned chalice, Beijing—already the Islamic world’s leading trade partner—feels it now has the military and economic heft to start shaping the region and the wider world in its image.

Moving China toward the center of the world stage has long been a goal of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s foreign policy. Emboldened by his success in asserting his will in Hong Kong and the South China Sea, President Xi now wants nations, particularly in the global south, to regard China as a voice of reason, an economic model and a benign power that can stand up to a U.S.-led Western order.

Saudi Arabia and Iran: clash of religious rivals

Saudi Arabia has historically followed the Sunni branch of Islam (along with roughly 90 percent of all Islamic believers), while Iran has followed the Shia branch. The split between the two branches dates back to the seventh century, when it arose amid debates over

who was the rightful successor to Muhammad.

In modern times, Saudi Arabia, led by the royal House of Saud and tacitly a Western ally, has steered the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in stabilizing the worldwide oil market.

Meanwhile, the 1979 Iranian Revolution brought Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini to power, and Iran began supporting radical Shiite revolutionary groups in other countries in the region.

While Iran and Saudi Arabia have not directly gone to war, Riyadh has long regarded its greatest security threat to be Tehran and the armed groups it supports in neighboring countries. That danger was reinforced by drone missile strikes against Saudi oil sites in 2019, which temporarily knocked out 5 percent of daily global oil supplies.

Despite security guarantees from the U.S., the lack of a military response to the attack left the Persian Gulf states feeling that U.S. power and influence had been diluted and America’s alliance network severely strained.

The religion of oil

In its thirst for the oil necessary to sustain its rise to global power, China has shown an ability to work with both Shiite and Sunni nations.

Beijing has become the largest importer of petroleum in the world. China accounted for 30 percent of Iran’s foreign trade from March 21 to Nov. 21 in 2022, but Saudi Arabia was China’s leading supplier of crude oil

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and Saudi Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud after signing a joint statement on the restoration of diplomatic relations, with Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang in the background (April 6, 2023).

in that same year. With its other main supplier, Russia, embroiled in wartime vulnerabilities, Beijing’s claim that “China pursues no selfish interest whatsoever in the Middle East,” rings hollow.

The indispensable nation walks away

Fifty years ago, in the wake of the Yom Kippur War of 1973, the United States emerged as the primary guarantor of stability in the Middle East and the Persian Gulf. U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger conducted the peace talks between Israel and Egypt, as well as between Israel and Syria. The Soviet Union was frozen out of the process, Europe was considered militarily insignificant, and China was economically irrelevant.

Fast-forward to the present. While U.S. military hardware and technology are still in high demand, U.S. diplomatic missteps in the region have increased even as American reliance on imported fossil fuels has greatly diminished. With the introduction of hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling, a shale revolution has expanded U.S. domestic energy production. Today the U.S. imports about 7 percent of its oil from Saudi Arabia.

After decades of calling the shots, America is now seeing blowback from its costly wars against terrorism in Iraq and Afghanistan. The resulting chaos has burned through a good part of its diplomatic capital in the region.

“Middle East fatigue” and the embarrassing retreat of American troops from Afghanistan in August 2021 have allowed China to adroitly chip away at America’s supremacy in the region. This has prompted Arab states to reach out to improve relations with a new superpower.

As a candidate, U.S. President Joe Biden publicly cast Saudi Arabia as a pariah state and chastised the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman personally for human rights violations. Yet, in the frigid atmosphere surrounding his visit to the kingdom last year, President Biden promised, “We will not walk away and leave a vacuum to be filled by China, Russia or Iran.”

However, as fragile peace accords take shape in the Middle East, countries in that volatile region are looking to new allies and walking away from an America with waning influence.

A pact of apathy

The recent stunning diplomatic breakthrough occurred because all three nations—Iran, Saudi Arabia

and China—obtained more than just economic and security wins. By cooling tensions between Riyadh and Tehran, and not taking sides, Beijing is creating an axis of autocrats who understand each other.

A key to the growing China-Gulf ties is the mutual assurance these nations have given not to criticize or meddle in the internal affairs of the other partners. In fact, President Xi recently promised again that China and its Middle East allies would “continue to hold high the banner of noninterference in [each other’s] internal affairs.”

For countries like Saudi Arabia and Iran that believe internal affairs are nobody else’s business—and have human rights skeletons in their closets—such an offer is tempting. This diplomatic approach of indifference stands in stark contrast to that of the U.S. administration, which many in the region consider to have a sanctimonious fixation on human rights incompatible with Islamic religious practices.

Trading for peace

China is no stranger to the Middle East. While observing America drain its resources, fight endless wars and vainly try to establish Islamic democracies, Beijing has had a “business only” partnership with Tehran since China began to move away from coal to oil. Iran traded oil for Chinese military technology that has been key to Iran’s development of modern weapons systems.

Through a massive $400 billion oil deal in 2021, China has been providing a glimmer of financial relief for a struggling Iran. The Shiite-majority country is struggling to cope with internal protests while trying to mend an economy that is suffocating from international sanctions.

Despite the shared olive branches, China-backed Iran remains hostile to Saudi Arabia on even the most basic religious, ideological and strategic levels.

The flow must go on

Much of China’s vaunted Belt and Road Initiative investments in the Middle East hinge on fears that fragile oil trade routes could potentially be disrupted by the U.S. or by India, an emerging superpower and rival to China.

To counter the perceived threat, Iran and China are enacting a 25-year Strategic Cooperation Agreement that provides China with access to naval facilities in

or near the Persian Gulf. China has also invested in military-capable ports—described as a “string of pearls” network—at vulnerable maritime chokepoints: the Persian Gulf, the Gulf of Oman, the Red Sea, the Bab elMandeb Strait, the Strait of Hormuz and the Suez Canal.

While it has enjoyed years of bumper oil revenue, Saudi Arabia faces the growing threat of Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon. This, along with incessant attacks from Iranian proxies in Yemen, makes Saudi Arabia crave nuclear weapons, drones and ballistic missiles.

Worried that the United States is unreliable, Riyadh has signaled that it will secure its own national interest by cozying up to China. Sovereign wealth funds in the Middle East are feverishly buying up Chinese stocks and discussing large-scale adoption of the petroyuan to settle oil trades.

In addition, the Saudis have already announced their intention to ally with the China-led political, security and trade alliance—the Shanghai Cooperation Organization—which lists China, Russia, India, Pakistan and four other central Asian nations as full members.

Leaders with a kindred spirit

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and China’s President Xi Jinping are both bold and assertive long-range thinkers with remarkably aligned ambitions.

In addition to assisting Saudi Arabia build its own ballistic missiles and consulting on a nuclear program, China is investing in “Vision 2030”—Prince Mohammed’s personal project to build a futuristic city in the desert that would make the kingdom more than just the world’s oil producer.

Using its colossal Belt and Road construction strategy, China aims to get in on the ground floor of this enormous new development.

What about Israel?

While oil is China’s immediate need, the country’s growing footprint in the Middle East is meant to dominate future technologies. Though China dominates 37 of 44 key next-generation technologies—including artificial intelligence, metamaterials and hypersonic technologies—it quietly envies Israel’s cutting-edge space, biotech and quantum computing sectors.

China aims to isolate, pressure and then absorb Israel, according to geopolitical analyst Brandon

Weichert , turning the last democracy in the Middle East into “a conduit for China’s growing high-tech Belt and Road Initiative.”

It would also effectively make “the rest of the world dependent on Chinese-developed high-tech infrastructure in much the same way the Americans made the world dependent on American-developed high technologies.”

Will there be peace?

The emergence of China into the diplomatic limelight of peace negotiations is a deft strategy to peel the Middle East away from American influence and lay claim to the vast oil and natural gas wealth of the region.

America has been shunted away from the mediations and has lost international respect.

Bible prophecies, written millennia ago, reveal that nations representing the modern descendants of the 12 tribes of Israel—including the United States—will have their pride shattered due to their national sins (Leviticus 26; Deuteronomy 28:15-68).

While the Bible doesn’t mention a direct war between China and America, it does describe a great power rising in the east. This eastern power bloc will undoubtedly include China and other regional powers (Daniel 11:44).

This military power will be opposed by a rival, called the “beast,” that will astound the entire world (Revelation 9:14-16; 13:1-8; 16:12) and will be led by a dynamic and ferocious leader in tandem with a powerful religious system headed by a charismatic figure.

This power, described by the apostle John as having unmatched military, economic and religious strength (Daniel 11:40-45; Revelation 18:2-3, 9-14), will be the final resurrection of the Holy Roman Empire (Revelation 13:1-8; 17:8-18; Daniel 7:15-27). This European power will attempt to form peace in the Middle East in a very different way (Daniel 11:40-42).

While Europe today has massive economic strength, it remains a military dwarf. Not long from now this will change dramatically.

Before that happens, read more about the Bible’s warnings for the end time, as well as its promises of a true and lasting future peace not based on commercial demands and security fears, in our free booklet The Book of Revelation: The Storm Before the Calm.

—Neal Hogberg

How Can a Loving God Kill People?

“Surely for your lifeblood I will demand a reckoning; from the hand of every beast I will require it, and from the hand of man. From the hand of every man’s brother I will require the life of man.

“Whoever sheds man’s blood, by man his blood shall be shed; for in the image of God He made man” (Genesis 9:5-6).

Human life is sacred and precious, and God promises to exact a heavy penalty from anyone who spills the blood of another without cause.

So why did God kill so many people in the Old Testament?

The Hebrew Scriptures attribute hundreds of thousands of deaths—maybe even millions —to the direct intervention of God. If human lives are so precious, why is the Old Testament full of examples where God seems to end those lives almost arbitrarily?

Reconciling two views of God

Uzzah reaches out to steady the Ark of the Covenant on its journey to Jerusalem, and God kills him (2 Samuel 6:6-7). Ezekiel has a prophetic message to convey to Judah, and as part of that message, God kills Ezekiel’s wife (Ezekiel 24:16-19). Job is the most righteous man on earth, and God allows Satan to destroy his possessions and kill his children (Job 1:8-20).

These are difficult stories to grapple with.

This is a difficult question to grapple with.

It’s easy to see why so many people draw a distinction between the God of the Old Testament and Jesus Christ. But the Bible tells us that Jesus was the God who interacted with people in the Old Testament (read “Jesus in the Old Testament ” for more). We’re not talking about two different entities.

The Savior who said, “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart” (Matthew 11:29) is the God who said, “I will make My arrows drunk with blood, and My sword shall devour flesh” (Deuteronomy 32:42). This same God is going to destroy an army that attacks Him when He returns to earth to rule (Revelation 19:11-21).

If we believe that “God is light” (1 John 1:5) and “God is love” (1 John 4:8)—and if we believe that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8)—then we must grapple with these stories. We must grapple with this question.

How can the God who is love also be a God who kills?

God’s perspective

versus our own

I’ll be honest. The stories about Uzzah, Ezekiel’s wife and Job’s children make me uncomfortable. From my human perspective, they feel undeserved. Unfair. Unjust. It’s hard for me to justify God’s actions in these stories. But that’s just it.

Some find it extremely hard to reconcile how the God of love can also be a God who kills. Yet we must understand how these two aspects mesh together.

I can’t see. My perspective—my human perspective— doesn’t allow me to see.

This is a critical first step in our quest to understand how God operates—that is, understanding that we can’t understand.

We are humans. We have limitations. We view time and space and cause and effect through the very narrow lens of our very short lives. At any given moment, we’re capable of observing only the smallest fraction of the tiniest sliver of the most infinitesimal portion of our shared existence. Add together every scrap of wisdom and perspective we could possibly acquire over multiple decades of life, and the end result will still be nothing more than the briefest blip on the grand cosmic scale of what has been and what will be.

God, on the other hand, sees it all.

Every word.

Every thought.

Every action.

All of it, multiplied across billions of lives, stretching backward into time immemorial. He is intimately and infinitely aware of everything in all of creation, all at once.

When He tells us, “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:9), He isn’t exaggerating. Even when we are connected with the

Spirit of God, which gives us access to the mind of God (1 Corinthians 2:9-16), our human limitations persist.

We cannot see what God sees, we cannot hear what He hears, and we cannot fully understand what He understands. Even Job, who “justified himself rather than God” (Job 32:2), ultimately admitted, “I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know” (Job 42:3).

Does God, the Creator and Sustainer of the universe, owe us an explanation for the way He chooses to run that universe? No—not any more than the potter owes an explanation to the clay he molds (Isaiah 45:9-10). And even if He did share His reasoning for every decision—what makes us think we’d be capable of comprehending all of the factors and understanding His infinite wisdom?

How God views death

From a human perspective, death has such a heavy finality to it. It’s within our power to end a life—but after that, we have no power at all to bring it back.

God is different.

In the same passage where God threatens to make His arrows drunk with blood, He also reminds us, “There is no God besides Me; I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal” (Deuteronomy 32:39, emphasis added).

God can (and will ) restore the lives He has ended— and what’s more, He never ends them lightly. He told

Ezekiel, “For I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies” (Ezekiel 18:32). God doesn’t enjoy death—but sometimes, death is necessary.

Sometimes individuals or entire nations become so wicked and corrupt that God chooses to end their physical existence now instead of allowing them to continue producing the miserable outcomes that stem from a lifestyle of sin. This is an act of justice, but also an act of love—God will resurrect them in a time and in an environment more conducive to learning and living His perfect way of life (Ezekiel 38:11-14; compare Matthew 11:21-24).

Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19:13), the nations of Canaan (Genesis 15:16; Leviticus 18:25) and even some of Israel’s own cities (Deuteronomy 13:12-18) fall under this category.

Sometimes people fail to treat God as the sacred and holy Being that He is—and that public display of irreverence results in a public consequence. God warns us, “By those who come near Me I must be regarded as holy; and before all the people I must be glorified” (Leviticus 10:3).

Moses failed to hallow God before the Israelites, and so he was sentenced to die outside the borders of the Promised Land (Numbers 20:12). Uzzah had good intentions when he reached out to steady the ark, but it was ultimately an act of irreverence, ignoring God’s commands about how the ark was supposed to travel (1 Chronicles 15:12-13).

And sometimes—sometimes we just don’t know the reason behind the deaths. We don’t know why God chose to kill Ezekiel’s wife for the sake of a prophetic statement. We don’t know why he allowed Satan to kill Job’s children as part of God’s bigger plan to help Job grow.

We all face examples like these in the Bible: stories with moments that don’t seem right—don’t seem fair. We might not have all the information. We might not be capable of understanding the reason even if God spelled it out for us.

Trusting God’s perspective instead of

our own

As Christians in progress, here’s what we need to keep in mind:

God knows things we don’t know.

He sees things we can’t see.

He exists on a level we can’t comprehend.

So even though we may not always understand it— even though we might not always like it—God always has the right to kill and to make alive, and He is always right for doing so. As Job learned, God doesn’t owe any of us an explanation, and our own inability to see through His eyes never invalidates His actions.

Still, we can take comfort in knowing that there is a reason—a good reason—for all of it. Even when we don’t understand that reason today, we have a promise: although right now we only see “in a mirror dimly” and only “know in part,” one day, we “shall know fully” (1 Corinthians 13:12, English Standard Version).

What we don’t understand now, we will understand one day.

In the meantime, we have another ironclad promise from the God who kills and who makes alive—the God who is “not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). God promises that one day, “They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain” (Isaiah 11:9).

The Bible tells us all the billions upon billions who died, including all those who died at God’s hand, will live again and experience a peaceful world. The God who ended their temporary physical life in a hopelessly flawed world will give them a new life in a much better world.

Understanding the hope of God’s plan impacts our entire perspective on this difficult question.

And even that world is just a stepping stone to a far greater future—one where “God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away” (Revelation 21:4).

Ultimately, God is growing a family—offering His creation the opportunity to become like Him both in likeness and character.

And then—when God has wiped away every tear from our eyes, when we are fully and completely remade in His image and when death is removed from the picture forever—then we will look back with the perspective and the mind of God, and we will know that every single moment happened for a reason.

The right reason.

—Jeremy Lallier

Wonders of GOD’S Creation

It’s not always obvious how an animal got its name. Sometimes understanding a species name means unraveling complex etymologies and cultural histories. And sometimes it doesn’t require any detective work at all.

An oxpecker is a bird that pecks oxen. And hippos . . . and rhinos . . . and giraffes, buffaloes, elephants and zebras. Why it pecks those animals is where things get interesting.

God, who wove together countless ecosystems across our planet, created the oxpecker as a much-needed personal grooming service for some of the larger animals on the African continent. These large animals have no way to deal

with the frequent pests that set up shop on their hides (like ticks, botflies, maggots and other insect larvae)—but the oxpecker does.

The end result is something called mutualism —a symbiotic relationship where both parties benefit. The oxpeckers hitch a ride on the backs, sides, foreheads and even noses of their hosts, gobbling up pests (and even earwax). The beasts get a grooming, and the oxpeckers get a meal.

Pictured: red-billed oxpecker ( Buphagus erythrorynchus ) sitting on an African Cape buffalo ( Syncerus caffer caffer )

Photo by James Capo

Text by Jeremy Lallier and James Capo

Walk as He Walked

Jesus and the Samaritan Woman at the Well

While in Samaria, Jesus spoke with a woman at a well. That may not seem like a big deal today, but it was then. Why was this conversation so significant?

On their trip home to Galilee, Jesus and the disciples traveled through the region of Samaria (John 4:4).

One of the few details we know about this trip was a conversation Jesus had with a Samaritan woman. Why was this discussion significant and recorded in God’s Word?

What should we learn from Jesus’ conversation with the Samaritan woman at the well?

Who were the Samaritans?

The Samaritans’ roots in the land went back to the 700s B.C. when Assyria conquered the northern 10 tribes of Israel. When the Assyrians conquered a people, they would often relocate them to reduce the chances of an uprising.

After emptying the land of the Israelites, the Assyrians relocated Babylonians and others “and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel.” They then “took possession of Samaria and dwelt in its cities” (2 Kings 17:24).

These displaced people became known as Samaritans.

One of their beliefs was that gods were connected to geographical areas. Because these people now lived in

land connected to Israel’s God, the Samaritans decided to learn some Israelite practices and mixed them into their pagan beliefs (verses 26-29).

Hundreds of years later, they were still practicing a syncretistic religion that had similarities to Judaism, but was quite different. One key difference was the Samaritans’ belief that Mount Gerizim, not Jerusalem, was to be the center of worship.

The Jews abhorred Samaritans because of their ethnicity and their practices and avoided all contact with them.

But, as we’ll see, Jesus did not share this approach.

Jesus at Jacob’s well in Samaria

While traveling through Samaria, Jesus became “wearied from His journey” (John 4:6) and stopped at Sychar, a town near Mount Gerizim. The disciples went to buy food while Jesus rested at Jacob’s well (verse 8).

While Jesus was relaxing at the well, “a woman of Samaria came to draw water” (verse 7).

From His appearance, she knew this resting traveler was a Jew, and she expected He’d treat her as every other Jew had—by ignoring her.

But then He did the unexpected.

He talked to her.

He asked her for a drink.

Probably no Jew had acknowledged or spoken to her before. But here was a Jewish man speaking to her and asking for a drink from her pitcher.

Confused, she asked Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” (verse 9). John added a note of explanation: “For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.”

Instead of correcting Himself and turning away, He kept talking to her.

Jesus offers her “living water”

Jesus responded by confirming He knew exactly who she was. But she didn’t realize who He was. “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water” (verse 10).

The living water Jesus spoke of was the Holy Spirit God’s power that makes a direct relationship with Him possible (John 7:38-39; Acts 2:38).

He was telling her that a Samaritan woman could not only communicate with the true God (she was doing it right then and there!) but access His Spirit.

Consider the implications of His words. Judaism had become a very closed religion—limiting access to God to circumcised Jewish men. Though it was possible for a gentile male to enter Israel through circumcision, it was a painful process that few went through.

In essence, Jesus was saying that this Samaritan woman could access God and receive His power— if she desired and asked for it. By saying that, He contradicted centuries of antagonism between the Jews and Samaritans.

However, she didn’t comprehend what He was

actually meaning. She took His words about “living water” very literally, thinking He was talking about well water (John 4:11).

Jesus responded, “Whoever drinks of this water [from the well] will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him [the Holy Spirit] will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life” (verses 13-14).

He was not only saying this woman could have access to God. He was also saying she had the potential to produce spiritual fruit and live forever. In other words, salvation would be available to her—and by extension, to all gentile men and women.

But, again, she interpreted this literally (verse 15). In order to jar her out of thinking physically, He told her something that no Jewish stranger could possibly have known about her (verses 16-18).

Jesus reveals the nature of true worship

Jesus’ knowledge about her personal life led the woman to realize there was something different about Him. She concluded He must be a prophet (verse 19).

She then took the conversation more seriously and pointed out the main difference between her religion and Judaism: “Our fathers worshiped on this mountain [Mount Gerizim], and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship” (verse 20). She was struggling to reconcile His words with one of the obvious differences between their religions.

How could this Jewish man say she could access God without worshipping at the temple in Jerusalem? She had probably never even been to Jerusalem.

Jesus responded by revealing monumental truths.

“Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth” (verses 21-24).

Jesus was saying that, for true believers, it would be irrelevant whether they prayed at the Jerusalem temple, Mount Gerizim or any other place. Instead of location, God is looking for those who worship Him “in spirit and truth.” In other words, with a correct attitude and understanding.

She probably didn’t fully grasp everything He was saying, but interestingly, her mind went to the messianic prophecies (verse 25).

In one of His earliest and most unambiguous revelations of His messianic and divine identity, He responded, “I who speak to you am He” (verse 26). A more direct translation of His answer from the original Greek would be, “I AM speaks to you”—a use of one of His divine names from the Old Testament (Exodus 3:14; John 8:58).

Did this conversation reveal Jesus to be a radical?

Throughout this conversation, Jesus upended many of the assumptions of His own people. Some may have looked at all this and concluded that Jesus was a radical.

Jesus was no radical.

What Jesus challenged were the unscriptural traditions the Jews had added over the centuries. In His inspired Word, God never forbade men to speak to women. He never told Israel to avoid all forms of social contact with gentiles. He never intended His people to look down on others with disdain.

Men developed these ideas.

Jesus came to reveal the consistent and unchanging will of the Father (John 5:30; Malachi 3:6; Hebrews 13:8).

From the perspective of men, His conversation with this woman may have been seen as radical. But from the perspective of God, there was nothing taboo or questionable about God in the flesh conversing with a human being made in His image.

What was the significance of the conversation?

After the conversation, this woman spread the word to her city and, amazingly, many of the Samaritans listened to Him and actually came to believe He was “the Christ” (John 4:42). The Bible doesn’t tell us what became of this woman after that. But the significance of the conversation goes far beyond that time and place.

Up to that point, God had primarily worked with Israel. However, He had already revealed, even in the Old Testament, that His ultimate purpose was to open salvation to all people (Psalms 67:2; 72:11; 86:9; Isaiah 25:6-7; 56:7).

Through this conversation and a parable He told later about a good Samaritan whose character outshone that of respected Jews (Luke 10:25-37), Jesus was laying the groundwork for a truth He wanted His Church to know—that God was going to call gentiles to Himself. This would become clearer over a decade later through a unique vision given to Peter in Acts 10.

When Peter fully grasped it, he summarized it like this: “You know how unlawful it is for a Jewish man to keep company with or go to one of another nation. But God has shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean . . .

“In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him” (verses 28, 34-35).

In a sense, Peter should have already grasped this. Jesus had already revealed through this conversation that it was lawful in God’s eyes to keep company with non-Jews and that access to God would be open to people from all nations.

Sometimes it takes time to unlearn wrong beliefs and prejudices.

After Peter and the other apostles recognized God’s will, the Church began to baptize and accept gentiles, including Samaritans, into its ranks. Though it took years, they finally came to grasp the implications of this conversation and their need to remove the shackles of false ideas.

If our beliefs and thinking contradict the will of God, we must be willing to change if we truly desire to . . .

Walk as He walked.

—Erik Jones

The Island That Time Forgot

It is one of the most remote human societies in the world. The nearest inhabited area is nearly 400 miles away. Rather than being a hardship, the isolation has prevented many negative recent trends from intruding. The few visitors speak of life as it used to be

This is the island of Rodrigues, in the middle of the Indian Ocean, an autonomous constituent of the Republic of Mauritius.

First settled by the French, who imported African and Malagasy slaves, the island was captured by the English in 1809. The slaves were freed in the 1830s, and their descendants make up the majority of the population.

This beautiful, whaleback of an island is only 11 miles long and 5 miles across at its widest point, with a population of 40,000. Protective reefs surround it, creating a brilliant turquoise lagoon, twice the size of the island itself. Many people live on what they fish in the lagoon.

Its capital, Port Mathurin, is one of the smallest in the world. I strolled from one end to the other in 15 minutes. It’s more a sleepy village than a city.

Because the pace of life is leisurely, passing vehicles stop in the middle of the road so the drivers can

talk. No one honks; drivers wait patiently. There is practically no crime. When the weather is hot, people sleep with their doors and windows open.

Remembering a simpler, safer time

It used to be this way in Western nations, with exceptions, of course. My parents tell me stories of their youth in the American heartland, when people didn’t lock their doors and slept with windows and doors open. But no longer. Life in much of the West has become impatient, aggressive, violent, even insane— the word is none too strong.

It is refreshing to come to Rodrigues, to go back in time, as it were. I felt nostalgia for the world of my childhood, and regret for today.

Longing for a better future

But then I thought, rather than yearning for the past, I should long for the future. The Bible prophesies a time when the whole world will be at peace and its population full of patience, honesty and trust. It will be a time of societal cohesion and respect with an entire world sound of mind.

Zechariah foretold how Jerusalem, and the world, will one day be under the rule of the Kingdom of God:

“Old men and old women shall again sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each one with his staff in his hand because of great age. The streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in its streets” (Zechariah 8:4-5).

There will be no more mean streets. They will be completely safe—places where the aged and the young can joyfully interact. This will be a much better age than any time in history since Adam and Eve’s ignominious exit from the Garden of Eden.

Rather than pining to go back in time, it is better to earnestly seek that wonderful, promised future. Not a land that time forgot, but an age not yet realized.

Joel Meeker @JoelMeeker

Photo: Joel Meeker Back cover photo: iStockphoto.com

What’s Next for the United States and Britain?

Many people are unaware that the Bible foretold the rich blessings that would come to the United States, Britain and the other Commonwealth nations. The story begins with the promises given to Abraham and can be traced throughout history, even to this day.

What does prophecy reveal about the future of these nations, and how will it affect you? The Bible holds the answers. Download our free booklet from the Learning Center on LifeHopeandTruth.com