TODAY'S TECHNOLOGY IN BIBLE PROPHECY
Lesson 33: Zechariah's description of a modern communications
satellite and its future mission.
I Zechariah described a modern communications satellite in
terms of a flying roll.
1 Then I turned, and lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and
behold a flying roll (Zech. 5:1).
A A roll was an ancient book in the form of a rolled
manuscript, usually made of parchment.
1 Ancient parchments were commonly called scrolls.
2 When rolled up they were called rolls or volumes.
3 A rolled up scroll was cylindrical in shape and looked
like a modern roll of paper towels.
B The way this prophecy begins you could only conclude that
Zechariah was writing about a rolled up scroll that was
flying through the heavens.
C But notice the question the angel asked next.
2 And he said unto me, what seest thou? And I answered, I
see a flying roll; the length thereof is twenty cubits, and
the breadth thereof ten cubits (Zech. 5:2).
A In view of Zechariah's initial report of what he saw:
"behold a flying roll," why did the angel ask him "What
seest thou?"
- To draw attention to the fact that Zechariah was not
viewing an actual roll but some flying object that
was similar in appearance to a roll.
B At this point in the prophecy why would a communications
satellite be a possible candidate for what Zechariah saw?
1 First, Hebrew rolls did not fly through the heavens.
2 Second, satellites, like rolled up scrolls, are
cylindrical in shape.
3 Third, rolled up scrolls did not come in twenty by ten
cubic dimensions.
a A cubit was not a precise measurement in ancient
times but for centuries it has been considered to be
roughly 18 inches in length.
b Therefore, the flying roll Zechariah saw was about
30 feet long and 15 feet in diameter.
C Although Zechariah had no idea what he was viewing at
first glance, twentieth century people can make the
connection between a flying roll and a modern
communications satellite without difficulty.
D Commercial communications satellites were first deployed
in the heavens in the mid-1960s.
E At roughly 22,300 miles beyond the surface of the earth
they easily send and receive, simultaneously, thousands
of phone calls, TV broadcasts and computer-to-computer
data transmissions, from continent to continent, in mere
fractions of a second.
F America's 1980s Intelsat VI satellites were roughly 12
feet in diameter and 38 feet in length.
G In 1994, Brasilsat B, a widebody version of the popular
Hughes Galaxy HS 376 communications satellite, was placed
in orbit for EMBRATEL, Brazil's national telephone
company.
* Brasilsat's 27 feet 3 inch by 12 feet dimensions are not
30X15 feet, but it continues a trend to build larger,
more powerful satellites.
H Inspection of the functional capabilities of the shuttle
spaceships sheds more light on the significance of this
prophetic satellite's 30-by-15 foot dimensions.
1 One of the shuttle's main missions is to launch
communications satellites into higher orbit from
its cargo bay.
2 Later, if a satellite needs to be brought back to
earth for repairs, the shuttle's remote-controlled
arm stuffs it back into the shuttle's cargo bay for
the return trip.
3 Interestingly, the shuttle's cylindrical cargo bay
happens to be 60 feet long and 15 feet in diameter.
4 It is designed to carry two large disabled satellites
back to earth for repair that have a length of
approximately 30 feet and a breadth roughly equal
to 15 feet.
5 Note further that Russia's Buran shuttle also has a
15-by-60 foot cargo bay.
I Zechariah's continuing space-age prophecy spells out how
a future world government will use 30-by-15 foot
communications satellites to control a global monetary
system.
J Why did God provide the exact dimensions of tomorrow's
satellites in ancient times?
1 So people could not shrug off Zechariah's accurate
description of modern man's satellites.
2 Although the satellites that will be deployed by
tomorrow's world government are not yet available for
inspection, the similarity in size between today's
satellites and the one shown to Zechariah has to be
classified as nothing less than remarkable.
3 After all, how could Zechariah possibly have surmised
what size a satellite should be twenty-five centuries
before man invented one?
4 For even if Zechariah ingeniously conceptualized the
idea of a global communications system in his day,
there would have been no way for him to estimate the
correct size of the container required to house the
components needed to perform the actual communications
transmissions.
5 It turns out that it takes a 30-by-15 foot cylindrical
surface area to house the solar panels used to generate
the electricity required to run the satellite's
transponders.
II The angel then compared the flying roll's mission to a curse.
3 Then said he unto me, This is the curse that goeth forth
over the face of the whole earth: for every one that
stealeth shall be cut off as on this side according to it;
and every one that sweareth shall be cut off as on that
side according to it.
4 I will bring it forth, saith the Lord of hosts, and it
shall enter into the house of the thief, and into the house
of him that sweareth falsely by my name, and it shall
remain in the midst of his house, and shall consume it with
the timber thereof and the stones thereof (Zech. 5:3-4).
A How can it be determined from Zechariah's text that
the initial benefit of this future satellite-linked,
international financial system will be its ability to
eliminate thievery and cheating in business
transactions such as writing bad checks?
1 Zechariah specifically stated that everyone who
tries to steal will be "cut off," or banished, "as
on this side according to it."
2 Likewise, everyone who swears falsely in God's
name in the course of doing business "shall be cut
off on that side according to it."
3 If a person tries to beat the system, or is wanted
for another crime, central computer data banks
will alert the authorities when he attempts to use
the global computer network.
4 Punishment will consist of being "cut off," or
denied access into the world's computerized
economic system.
B Since this prophecy closes with a description of the
construction of a space base for tomorrow's world capital,
it is reasonable to conclude that the "world government
beast" will use computers and the satellites described in
this prophecy to gain control "over every tribe and people
and tongue and nation" (Rev. 13:7 IGENT).
C If computers with connecting satellite links will help
stop crime, why did God label this equipment and its use
as a "curse that goeth forth over the face of the whole
earth?"
1 God's forceful indictment warns of a coming day when
computers and connecting satellites will be used as a
weapon of oppression against innocent people.
2 Revelation 13's full explanation of how this
electronic equipment will be turned against
Christians (by controlling who can "buy and
sell") confirms this prophetic indictment.
D Zechariah inserted a Levitical analogy in verse 4 which
sharpens the form and substance of the matter.
1 "And it shall remain in the midst of his house, and
shall consume it with the timber thereof and the
stones thereof."
2 Zechariah employed the language used by Moses to
describe the early Hebrews' procedure for removing
the plague of leprosy, to show how Christians will
be treated at the end of the age.
44 Then the priest shall come and look, and, behold, if the
plague be spread in the house, it is a fretting leprosy in
the house: it is unclean.
45 And he shall break down the house, the stones of it, and
the timber thereof, and all the morter of the house; and he
shall carry them forth out of the city into an unclean
place (Lev. 14:44-45).
45 And the leper in whom the plague is, his clothes shall
be rent, and his head bare, and he shall put a covering
upon his upper lip, and shall cry, Unclean, unclean.
46 All the days wherein the plague shall be in him he shall
be defiled; he is unclean: he shall dwell alone; without
the camp shall his habitation be (Lev. 13:45-46).
A The Jews were very familiar with the dreaded disease of
leprosy and the procedure for utterly destroying a house
that had the plague within its structure.
1 In Zechariah's day they dug the foundation stones of a
leprous house right out of the ground.
2 Timbers, stones and mortar were carried outside the
city.
3 When the demolition was completed there was
absolutely nothing left.
B According to Zechariah's prophetic analogy, satellites
shall enter a person's house, shall remain in the midst
of his house, and shall consume it with the timber
thereof and the stones thereof.
1 Zechariah's greater prophecy warns that the world
government's satellites will enter the Christian's
house and dwell there day and night, when the central
computer system classifies a Christian as a "leper,"
for not receiving the "mark of the beast."
2 The "high priest satellite" will quarantine the
Christian's house by denying him access to the
world's computerized economic system.
3 Like the leper of old who lived "alone," outside the
camp, Christians will be forced to live outside of
the world's computerized economic system.
4 Therefore, in the last days, the satellite that will
come into a Christian's house and remain in the midst
of his house, will literally be "the curse that goeth
forth over the face of the whole earth."
III In view of the fact that man has built and launched
communications satellites into space, why does verse 4 say
"I will bring it forth, saith the Lord of hosts?"
A "Saith the Lord of hosts" is equivalent to saying: "for
the Lord has spoken this word" (Isa. 24:3).
B In other words these satellites will appear in the heavens
in the last days according to God's prophecy recorded by
Zechariah.
C The emphatic statement "I will bring it forth" declares
that even though the feasibility of sending satellites
through the heavens appeared to be an impossibility in
Zechariah's day, the fulfillment of the prophecy was as
certain as it would be if God himself built and launched
this man-made "curse."
D Isaiah 24:1-4 (explained in chapter 9 of Today's
Technology in Bible Prophecy, pp. 216-217) clarifies
this emphatic prophetic language further.