Different Christian denominations have slightly different beliefs regarding the end of the world, but they are all associated with Return of the Christ. Here is the approximate sequence of events that many Christians believe will take place (Note: I have not paid much attention to the Book of Daniel, I think much of it refers to Roman times and is not relevant today):
- Rise of the Anti-Christ - has already taken place in the form of the current US President, Donald Trump (my personal opinion). BTW, Trump's 42 months are up on July 20th. The real, main Anti-Christ was of course Hitler.
- PreTribulation Rapture - physical ascension of true believers directly to heaven (not very many believe in this weird stuff, but maybe it has already happened and the rest of us don't know about it)
- The Tribulation
- Wars. Plenty of those - Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, ISIL, Yemen
- Natural Disasters - Earthquakes, rain, floods - All over the world - Japan, US, Europe, South Asia.
- Famine - Syria, Yemen, Sub-Saharan Africa.
- Locusts - In Africa and Pakistan.
- Fires - In California, Australia and even some in Europe.
- Pestilence - Now this year has brought us - the Corona Virus and Covid-19.
According to Revelation 6:1-8, almost one fourth the world population may be lost during this period of tribulation. According to Revelation 9:15, it will be one third of the population. These people will be taken seemingly at random. Matthew 24:40-41 says "Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left." Sounds a lot like an indiscriminate virus. This is the stage we are currently living in.
- Wars. Plenty of those - Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, ISIL, Yemen
- According to the Catholic Church - The Jewish people will come to recognize Jesus Christ as their Messiah before he returns (Fat Chance! Never gonna happen!)
- The Beast from the Sea and other fanciful stuff - this 'Beast' is probably the capitalistic, global economic system led by the US with the G7 or G10. It had a 'mortal wound' in 2008 and that has healed. This system which maintains a stranglehold on the world is destined to collapse. The second beast rising is probably China which seeks to replace the US, but still maintain a similar stranglehold. Once the dollar collapses (which will happen eventually, after all the trillions of dollars have been printed), China will offer its WeChat and AliPay systems where everyone will have a number to 'buy and sell'. The 'harlot of Babylon', which is WallStreet in New York with whom the kings of the world (bankers, hedge fund owners, tycoons) have committed 'sexual immorality', will be destroyed.
- The Return of the Christ
While global economic system is collapsing and the Corona Virus pandemic is in full swing, towards the end of the period of tribulation, the Christ will return in all his power and glory. The Anti-Christ will be defeated and the Beast (Satan) will be tied down. Then all human beings will be judged and divided into sheep and goats depending on their attitude towards the 'least of these'.
Goats are those humans- Who do not want to take care of the poor who are sick
- Who do not want to feed the poor who are hungry
- Who do not want to give water to the poor who are thirsty
- Who do not want to welcome strangers/immigrants
- Who do not care about those in prison
I believe that when the Christ Returns, he will cure most of the people afflicted by the Corona Virus (as well as other illnesses) and advise us how to take care of future pandemics.
- The Millennium
The Christ will reign on Earth for a thousand years bringing a Golden Age of peace, prosperity and justice. The Catholic Church does not subscribe to this millenium theory. I am not sure what they believe instead - perhaps directly to the next step? - War of Gog and Magog
- Resurrection of the Dead (Weird stuff!)
All those who have been dead and buried will have their physical bodies resurrected. The bodies of the good will unite with their souls in heaven. The wicked will also be resurrected but their bodies will join their souls in hell. - Final Judgment (One more judgement!!! Give me a break!) Isn't this the same as the step above?
Muslims also believe in the End Times and The Day of Judgement. They divide the end times into three periods:
- The Greater Signs - Five signs of rampant immorality and unislamic behavior in the world
- The Lesser Signs - Only the significant ones are mentioned below:
- Fitna or tribulations
- Coming of the Dajjal. He is similar to the Anti-Christ, but the texts are a bit too specific about his physical attributes
- Widespread acceptance of music (like that's a bad thing)
- Jews fighting Muslims
- The Euphrates will uncover a mountain of gold. (hmmm ...)
- Wild animals will communicate with humans (Tiger king???)
- Trade will become so widespread that a woman will help her husband in business.
- The emergence of the Sufyani within the Syria region.(ISIL???)
- The truce and joint Roman-Muslim campaign against a common enemy, followed by al-Malhama al-Kubra (Armageddon), a Roman vs. Muslim war.(US & Iran vs ISIL???)
- The Black Standard banners will come from Khorasan
- Mecca will be attacked and the Kaaba will be destroyed
- Emergence of an army, from Yemen, that will make Islam dominant
- There will be disagreement concerning succession.(Saudi Arabia???)
- The Third Period
- Appearance of the Mahdi. This is Muslim Messiah or 'the guided one'. The Mahdi will bring back worship of true Islamic values, and bring the Ark of the Covenant to light. He will conquer Istanbul and Mount Daylam and establish a kingdown of justice in Jerusalem.
- Coming of the Dajjal (I thought that had already happened?)
- Return of Issa (Jesus)
- Jesus kills the Dajjal (Jesus is probably too nice to do such a thing)
- Ya'jooj and Ma'jooj (Gog and Magog) will break out and Issa, the Mahdi and believers pray together
- The second blow of the trumpet will be sounded, the dead will be resurrected
- Final Judgment - separation of the righteous and the damned
Jews believe that following will happens during the 'End of Days':
- God returns the Jewish people to the Land of Israel
- God restores the House of David and the Third Temple in Jerusalem
- Moshiach (i.e. the Jewish Messiah) arrives in the world to lead the Jewish people and the world and usher in an age of justice and peace
- All nations recognize that the God of Israel is the only true God (Fat Chance!)
- War of Gog and Magog. (Is this before or after Moshiach comes?)
- God resurrects the dead. This is where the weird belief of physical, bodily resurrection started in the first place and then has taken root in all three 'great' monotheistic religions. Totally ridiculous! 'Daniel's promise of resurrection was intended only for the most righteous and the most sinful' - very interesting indeed!
- God creates a new heaven and a new earth (I am not sure if all Jews believe this)
- End of the World
- Final Judgment (Some say this Judgment is only for non-Jews, because Jews already have Rosh Hashanah. Jews seem to really believe that they are special in some way, but then so does everyone else, although to a lesser degree)
In Hinduism, there is no single beginning of a Universe and no ultimate end. Instead there is a cycle, in fact multiple nested cycles where there are multiple beginnings and multiple ends some minor ends (Pralaya, dissolution), some major ends and an ultimate end where everything dissolves. Even after the ultimate end, the universe is reborn. In any case, these pralayas are not expected for billions of years. The major outermost cycle is said to be 3.11 trillion years long. Within the innermost cycle, there are 'yugas' or ages/epochs of increasing 'evil' and declining purity with the cycle restarting at end with the purest 'yuga'. The current yuga we live in is 'Kali' yuga, the most evil, 'characterized by impiety, violence, and decay'.
However, Hinduism does have 'Avatars' or saviors who appear on Earth periodically. As Krishna says 'Whenever and wherever there is a decline in righteousness/dharma, O descendant of Bharata, and a predominant rise of evil/unrighteousness - at that time I descend Myself'. Many expect the 'last' Avatar of Vishnu to appear soon at the end of the current age. The 'last' Avatar named Kalki will appear on a white horse carrying a powerful sword of righteousness. He will rid the Earth of all evil and inaugurate a new age of righteousness, peace and prosperity.
TBD...
Theosophical teachings are quite similar to Hindu beliefs, although with less confusion and superstition. Theosophists also believe that Avatars appear on Earth periodically - but their appearance follows the precession of the equinoxes - the Sun's apparent motion through the constellations. The full cycle of the Sun's movement across all 12 constellations takes about 25,800 years. About 2150 per constellation, although each is of different size, so some take longer than others. When the sun enters a new constellation and a new age starts, 'God' sends a Messiah to Earth to inaugurate the new Age and give humanity a new set of teachings. The Sun is now entering the constellation of Aquarius, an Avatar is expected soon to inaugurate the new Age. Theosophists believe that the last Messiah was Jesus Christ, and that the historical Jesus was actually Jesus Ben Pandira born in 120 BC (not 4-6 BC as is commonly believed). So the New Age will start approximately in the year 2030 - this is not an exact date because each constellation is a different size, so it can happen anytime now. They expect Maitreya to Return soon as the Christ (although not in the person of Jesus - each Messiah is a different person for each age).
Theosophists too believe like Hindus, in the cyclic nature of the Universe, but instead of just 'yugas', they divide the innermost cycle into chains, rounds, manavantaras, races (root races and subraces). For each Root Race, there is a Judgment Day when it is determined which of the humans in existence will continue in the cycle or will be held back for the next one (like student being held back a grade, but hardly anyone gets eliminated or expelled).
The Theosophical sequence of events (different theosophists may not agree with the exact details):
- As the energies of Aquarius enter and spread on Earth, a battle rages between the forces of good and the forces of evil for the soul of humanity. In many ways the forces of evil control the physical situation on Earth, but their power and control over the human psyche is rapidly receding. The current control of the forces of evil on the human mind is manifest in the following ways:
- Rampant inequality and poverty - the rich keep getting richer while many poor starve even though there is plenty of food available world-wide. The rich countries consume most of the available resources. Unfettered capitalism, commercialization, consumerism are the main culprits of this situation.
- Racial and religious discrimination and persecution - Mainly manifest in Israel's persecution and subjugation of Palestinians but also true for blacks in the US, Muslims in India, China and Myanmar as well as the treatment of other ethnic minorities and indigenous people all over the world.
- Unjust destructive wars - Invasion of Iraq, war in Syria, bombing attack on Yemen and many other smaller wars.
- The environment and Mother Nature are under attack and rapidly deteriorating, again because of unfettered capitalism and consumerism.
- Maitreya, the World Teacher, who has so far remained hidden behind the scene, gets ready to emerge into the physical world to lead humanity out of the mess they have gotten themselves into.
- When the cries of humanity in despair and agony are loud enough, when humans have rejected selfishness to a sufficient degree and are ready to accept a new dispensation, Maitreya the Christ can reveal himself.
- The battle between forces of evil and forces of good will now be in the open - all humans have to individually decide whether to accept Maitreya's message of selflessness and justice or follow the old evil impulse of selfishness, tribalism and disregard for those not like themselves.
- Once the acceptance of the World Teacher in the world is wide-spread and almost universal, Jesus and other Masters will also emerge into the open to help the Christ in his task.
- When humanity decisively rejects the forces of evil, those evil forces are in effect defeated. The forces of good led by Maitreya will now tie down and imprison the forces of evil - not to be released for about 3000 years (time and half a time)
- 2000 (approx.) years of peace, prosperity and justice will commence on Earth under the watchful eye the Christ. The remaining 1000 years will be similar but under the guidance of his successor instead.
- After the 3000 years are passed, the forces of evil will be released and the final battle will be fought between the forces of good and the forces of evil (this is not a physical war and will not be between humans). It is so far into the future, we should not worry about it.
Summary
As can be seen from the above, all the major religions expect some kind of Savior or Messiah figure to appear in the future. None of the religions have a specific date when such an appearance would occur. It could be very soon (as in a few months) or sometime in the distant future. Only in the case of Theosophy is the date imminent for certain (because the Sun's move into a new constellation is already taking place). In the case of Christianity all the prerequisite events seems to have been met (except the acceptance of Jesus by Jews - but that was pretty dubious in the first place).
Most of religions also believe that the time before the coming of the Messiah would be a dark one - full of devastation, strife, hunger, difficulty and suffering for mankind. With the spread of the Corona Virus and Covid-19, that time has surely come. One troubling aspect of the Christian prophesy is the number of predicted deaths - John's Revelations predicts almost one third or one fourth of mankind. I hope this turns out to be wrong, although there could very easily be about a million dead around the world because of Covid-19 by the time we are done.
The last question is of 'Judgment Day' - is this suffering and all the deaths many people are facing, at random? Most of the dead will be fairly old, people whose time has come, but will the remaining be chosen according to the type of person they are? Jesus was pretty clear - he intended to get rid of the 'goats' and keep the 'sheep' safe - we have to wait and see if that is what will happen! Those who fail to follow social-distancing guidelines, who refuse to wear masks, who gather together in crowded large groups are the most likely to be victims of the virus - is this the divine method to self-select the 'goats'? In this scenario, innocent hospital workers may have to bear the brunt of the burden - hopefully they will not be overwhelmed.
A litmus test to identify a goat is to find out if someone is anti-immigrant or anti-foreigner or even 'anti-foreign looking' people, whether in the US or India or Germany! These are the goats who will be separated by divine, natural forces and removed from society one way or another (over several years, nothing is instant or magical). The meek shall finally inherit the Earth.
Strangely enough, many goats in the US, UK and Canada have decided to become anti-vaccine and they will essentially facilitate their own removal themselves. In the middle-east and South Asian, it may not be that simple or natural - in these places (as well as in China), the right-wing goats may be taken out by the rest of the population in some horrific blood bath.
My personal belief and hope is that the Christ/Imam Mahdi/Moshiach/Maitreya will emerge early next year after the second (and much harsher) Corona Virus wave has passed (but probably not as a white man or a Christian). But maybe it will be much later, maybe we need to suffer a lot more - I hope not. Let us all pray for his Coming as soon as possible.
This Page Created: May, 2020