TODAY'S TECHNOLOGY IN BIBLE PROPHECY
Lesson 34: Zechariah's report on how tomorrow's world capital
will use spy satellites to enforce its oppressive
policies.
I Zechariah described a modern spy satellite in terms of a
flying ephah.
5 Then the angel that talked with me went forth, and said
unto me, Lift up now thine eyes, and see what is this that
goeth forth.
6 And I said, What is it? And he said, This is an ephah
that goeth forth. He said moreover, This is their
resemblance through all the earth (Zech. 5:5-6).
A An ephah was a large basket, equal to about a bushel.
1 It was used by the Hebrews to measure a unit of grain.
2 In short, it was a measuring device.
B How does the text show that the ephah Zechariah saw was
not an actual basket?
1 First, Hebrew baskets did not fly.
2 Also, from Zechariah's reply it is clear that he would
not have asked "What is it," if the ephah was an
ordinary basket.
C Why would a modern spy satellite be a possible candidate
for what Zechariah saw?
1 The plain Hebrew reads "this is their eye through all
the earth."
2 Today's photo-recon spy satellites are called our
"eyes-in-the-sky."
3 The cameras on spy satellites in north-south polar
orbit "eye," or view, each part of the globe every
few hours as the earth turns under them.
D The Douay version of the Bible renders the text: "This
is a vessel going forth. This is their eye in all the
earth." The Douay translation agrees with the plain
meaning of the Hebrew which reads "this is their eye...."
E Despite the differences between the King James and
Douay, both versions accurately describe a modern space
reconnaissance, photo-intelligence-gathering satellite.
1 Photo-recon surveillance satellites are essentially
measuring devices.
2 Instead of measuring amounts of grain, they use a
variety of techniques to measure such items as
amounts of radiation that objects on the earth give
off, temperatures at varying altitudes over the
entire globe, or different wavelengths of light
reflected by various plants on the earth's surface.
3 Using sophisticated instruments such as infrared
photography, surveillance satellites can identify
diseased crops from healthy ones, differentiate
between field corn, popcorn and sweet corn, and can
locate marijuana and heroin poppy fields from 575
miles above the earth.
4 All collected data is in turn dumped out of the
ephah, or beamed via radio signals, back to earth,
where computer systems and the men that run them
analyze its contents.
5 The King James' translation--"this is their
resemblance through all the earth"--is also correct.
Satellite photographs are in fact exact two dimen-
sional resemblances of three dimensional objects.
F Again, how does the text show that the ephah Zechariah saw
was not an actual Hebrew measuring basket called an ephah?
1 From the angel's question "Lift up now thine eyes,
and see what is this that goeth forth," it is clear
that this ephah was not an ordinary ephah since
Zechariah had to look up to observe its flight
through the heavens.
2 From Zechariah's reply it is clear that he would not
have asked "What is it," if the ephah was an ordinary
basket used to measure a specific quantity of grain.
3 The angel's reply, "It is a measuring basket (NIV),"
indicates that the flying object was like an ephah
inasmuch as it could be used as a reliable measuring
device.
4 However, the second part of the angel's reply, "This
is their eye through all the earth," declares that
the flying object was again different from an ephah
since actual measurements were not determined by
filling the vessel, but by the flying ephah's ability
to measure things on the earth below by viewing them
with a humanlike eye as they passed beneath its gaze.
G Interestingly, in 1972 the United States Earth Resources
Technology Satellite (ERTS) was referred to as the
"Orbiting Eye" at the time.
H Spy satellite cameras can pick out a golf ball on a
green or read an automobile license plate from hundreds
of miles above the earth.
I Due to the need to monitor arms-control agreements,
eye-in-the-sky satellites are also equipped to identify
military objects that are camouflaged, obscured by
clouds, or buried underground.
J In summary, the "ephah" satellite that Zechariah was
shown going forth through all the earth is a very good
eye indeed.
II Zechariah recorded the fact that the ephah-like spaceship
was occupied by a mysterious woman.
7 And, behold, there was lifted up a talent of lead: and
this is a woman that sitteth in the midst of the ephah
(Zech. 5:7).
A At this point in the vision the prophetic spy spaceship's
heavy circular hatch door, described as a "talent"--
lit., "a round piece," i.e. lid or cover--"of lead was
lifted up."
B Zechariah was then able to see inside and record the
fact that it was occupied by a woman.
C What does the location of the woman sitting (at the
spacecraft's master control console), "in the midst
of the ephah" reveal?
1 The woman's presence shows that she will be in
command of the reconnaissance spaceship.
2 That is, her seated position symbolically demon-
strates that the "woman that sitteth in the midst of
the ephah" will oversee the international govern-
ment's spaceborne espionage operations during the
last days of man's reign on the earth.
D What does the hatch door made of "a talent of lead,"
prophetically reveal?
1 Before attempting to answer this question, consider
the following facts.
a In Zechariah's day, a lead cover of this weight
(125 pounds troy = 94 lbs.) would have provided
superior protection for the ephah's contents (since
it would not be easily bumped off by man or beast or
blown away by strong winds).
b Note also that today's spaceship hatch doors are
not made of lead--the metal is too soft to be used
in such a role, and it is also too heavy.
2 In view of these observations it appears that this
prophetic hatch door was made of lead for the purpose
of symbolically revealing the fact that extra efforts
would be taken to secure the contents of this future
"eye-in-the-sky," spy-spaceship mission.
3 The elaborate security measures surrounding today's
super-secret recon-satellite operations supports this
interpretation.
E How does the fact that the formidably heavy lead cover
was prophetically "lifted up," also support this
hypothesis?
- This action infers that without God's prophetic
intervention, no one would be aware of the commanding
role that the "woman that sitteth in the midst of the
ephah" will play in the future world government's
spaceborne espionage operations.
III The angel labeled the woman's future spaceborne espionage
operation "wickedness."
8 And he said, This is wickedness. And he cast it into the
midst of the ephah; and he cast the weight of lead upon the
mouth thereof (Zech. 5:8).
A Manned spy satellites send most of their photos to earth
electronically, but when maximum resolution is called
for, cameras that can be aimed like guns, using bore
sights, are employed to concentrate on specific targets.
1 These high resolution cameras are attached to the
outside hull of some of today's spacecraft.
2 The film cassettes are brought back to earth manually by
each returning crew.
B Drawing on this background the actions of the angel can
be seen to demonstrate the procedure used to retrieve
film packs that are attached to the outside hull of some
of today's spacecraft.
C The angel then proceeded to cast "it" into the midst of
the "ephah" reconnaissance spaceship.
1 While executing this task the angel labeled the film pack
"wickedness."
2 The angel then shut the heavy circular hatch door on the
mouth of the spaceship so that the craft could safely
return to its earth base where the spy film would be
developed and carefully analyzed.
D Why did the angel label man's future eye-in-the-sky
photo-intelligence gathering operation "wickedness?"
1 The angel's emphatic condemnation is in keeping with
the general theme of Zechariah's space-age prophecy
that warns that man's high-tech space equipment will
be used as a weapon against all Christendom at the
end of the age.
2 During the 1980s when Iran was holding American
hostages, pictures taken by Close Look, a U.S. photo-
recon satellite, enabled analysts to distinguish one
Ayatollah from another by the shapes of their beards.
3 In light of this sinister capability of present day
satellites, it is easy to see how the world government
will be able to incorporate the use of photo-recon
satellites to track and oppress Christians during its
three-and-one-half year reign of terror.
IV The angel reported that the mysterious woman will build her
own space-age base in the land of Shinar.
9 Then lifted I up mine eyes, and looked, and, behold,
there came out two women, and the wind was in their wings;
for they had wings like the wings of a stork: and they
lifted up the ephah between the earth and the heaven.
10 Then said I to the angel that talked with me, Wither do
these bear the ephah?
11 And he said unto me, To build it an house in the land of
Shinar: and it shall be established, and set there upon
her own base (Zech. 5:9-11).
A The imagery of two women with the wind in their stork-
like wings is a crisp picture of modern cargo-carrying
aircraft.
B For example, the wind in an airplane's long and wide
storklike wings literally lift up the aircraft "between
the earth and the heaven."
C According to the text, the two symbolical women will
load up the ephah "spaceship" and fly it to the land of
Shinar.
- (Shinar is where the kingdom and city of
Babylon was located in Zechariah's day.)
D The angel's response to Zechariah's question "Wither do
these bear the ephah?" reveals that the woman sitting in
the midst of the ephah will have "her own" space-age
base built in the land of Shinar.
E Moreover, the two assisting women will build a house for
the imported satellites as part of their contractual
agreement to set up and establish a space-age base for
the mysterious woman who will be in charge of this
future project.
V What does the symbolic "woman that sitteth in the midst of the
ephah" represent?
A Two clues help determine the symbolic woman's identity.
1 The mysterious space woman's most striking character-
istic--mysteriousness--provides the first clue.
2 The future location of the mysterious space woman's
"own" space-age "base, in the land of Babylon,"
provides the second clue.
B Determining who or what the mysterious space woman
prophetically represents requires a search of other
scriptures that speak of a mystery woman in connection
with the ancient land of Babylon.
1 Such a reference to a mystery woman, named Mystery
Babylon, is found in Revelation 17.
2 According to this passage Mystery Babylon will be a
great city that will have "a kingdom over the kings
of the earth" (Rev. 17:18, IGENT).
3 Now since the answer to Zechariah's question "Wither
do these bear the ephah?" plainly states, "To build
it a house in the land of Babylon," it follows that
the mystery "woman that sitteth in the midst of the
ephah" is the same mystery woman spoken of in Rev. 17
as the world's future capital city--Mystery Babylon.
C Despite the present unattractiveness of the lower
Tigris-Euphrates basin for the building site of a future
world government space base, Zechariah's text plainly shows
that Mystery Babylon will build a space base within the
borders of the modern day nation of Iraq, on the same plain
that once supported the ancient kingdom of Babylon.
D The Imagery suggests further that the world capital's
"hidden agenda" (the annihilation of Christianity),
crafted in secret behind elaborate security measures
(symbolically represented here by a massive lead cover),
will not only be exposed by God, but ultimately defeated
by God in the fullness of time.
VI A systematic analysis of the two "flying women" imagery.
A A review of the imagery of the lamb beast which "had two
horns like to a lamb, and spoke as a dragon," provides a
clue to the identity of the two flying women.
1 The lamb beast (alias "Religious Beast") was the
organization that pretended to represent Jesus Christ,
but spoke like a Red Chinese Communist Party official.
2 Also, according to the standard prophetic definition
for a horn attached to a beast--that is, one horn
equals one country--the two horns on the lamb beast
represent two nations that will play a key role in
setting up the "Religious Beast."
3 Since one symbolic horn is used to represent one
nation and one symbolic woman is used to represent
tomorrow's capital city, Mystery Babylon, it follows
that the two women bearing the ephah represent two
cities.
B Since Scripture plainly teaches that the lamb beast will
masquerade as an exponent of Christianity, it follows
that the two cities who will support the initial
establishment of a new world religious order, would
already house some major Christian organizations.
C Support from cities housing historically recognized
Christian religious sects, would lend credence to
tomorrow's anti-Christian "Religious Beast's" claim that
it represents God's true religion on the Earth.
VII What is the main message of Zechariah's space-age prophecy
up to this point?
A God had Zechariah record these space-age facts during
the time when Zerubbabel was building a temple for God
in the face of tremendous opposition.
B In like manner, God will add souls daily to His Church
during the closing days before Christ returns, despite
the coming sophisticated space-age opposition.