“Assuming that there’s not World War iii, I think we’re headed for an age of amazing abundance,” Elon Musk told the Economist last week, which described him as perhaps “the most powerful man in the world.”

Technological advances promise utopia on Earth, but mankind threatens to derail this hope by nothing less than a nuclear holocaust. What a paradox!

“Tell me what the world’s going to be like in, let’s say, 10 years if you succeed,” Zanny Minton Beddoes, the Economist’s editor in chief, asked Musk. His response:

The most likely outcome is an age of amazing abundance where anyone can have anything they can think of. This may sound preposterous, but well, here we are in 2026. Let’s see where we stand in 2036.

Now, of course, there are things that could derail this like a massive global thermonuclear war or something like that. Assuming that there’s not World War iii, I think we’re headed for an age of amazing abundance.

According to Musk, the most likely scenario is that we will be living in a super-abundant utopia by 2036, brought about through advances in artificial intelligence and robotics. But there is a small chance that humanity will start a thermonuclear World War iii before then.

Later in the interview, he said: “Overall, I’m very good at predicting the future. I’m not perfect, but I’m very good at predicting the future. My batting average is very high for a human.”

There is a source that can predict the future perfectly—with not just 90 percent accuracy, but 100 percent accuracy—and not just 10 years from now, but 1,000 years from now.

“Set forth your case, says the Lord; bring your proofs, says the King of Jacob. Let them bring them, and tell us what is to happen. Tell us the former things, what they are, that we may consider them, that we may know their outcome; or declare to us the things to come” (Isaiah 41:21-22; Revised Standard Version).

Concerning these verses, Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry wrote in “Prophecy Proves God”: “God challenges them: Let’s hear your prophecies, if you think you can accurately foretell the future! Of course, nobody accepts His challenge. But God has repeatedly issued astounding prophecies, on a grand scale, and then brought them to pass.”

Musk can make a prediction of the future and use his influence to try to bring it to pass, but he doesn’t control world events, and he even admits that a catastrophe could derail his vision.

But God brings His prophecies to pass—no powerful, arrogant man, nor nation or company of nations, nor angelic host or demon army can derail His plans. God’s prophecies are sure, and they have never failed.

The Bible reveals, with 100 percent certainty, that utopia will come—and it will likely start in less than 10 years. But this utopia will be completely unlike the utopia Musk envisions (a super-powerful AI that controls robot workers that eliminate the need for a human workforce).

God prophesies that this utopia will be preceded by a nuclear world war. While this war will derail the plans of man, it will further God’s plan.

God’s Word is sure. Musk’s vision will fail.

Jesus Christ prophesied: “For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened” (Matthew 24:21-22).

Musk can see that man is on the brink of destroying himself, but he cannot stop it. However, God is willing to alter His prophecies if our collective repentance makes the punishment no longer necessary.

Notice where this nuclear war will lead: “Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory” (verses 29-30).

This is how God will start utopia. It will take Christ’s return and mankind’s collective repentance from sin.

After thousands of years of suffering culminating in a nuclear war, mankind will be ready to be taught by God how to bring about utopia.

What will that utopia look like? Will it involve AI replacing human intelligence and robots replacing human workers? Will it be a time when humans stop working and live a life of leisure? The Bible reveals the answers. Request a free copy of one of Herbert W. Armstrong’s most inspiring works: The Wonderful World Tomorrow—What It Will Be Like.