Armageddon Is Bad, Mahdi Is Good and Messiah’s Word’s Are Wonderful

The three monotheistic Abrahamic religions, all have important information about the evil end of the ‘end of the old world; and the great wonders of the beginning of a new world. The Prophets of the Hebrew Bible started the Wonderful idea of hope for a future of worldwide peace. The Messianic Age in Judaism (Yemot HaMashiach) is a future era on Planet Earth characterized by prosperity, universal peace, and the ingathering of the Jewish exiles to the Land of Israel, and the universal recognition of one God. It is a time of physical and spiritual love and kindness for all mankind, not just an afterlife, brought about by humans who are spiritual descendants of prophet king David.

The Greek Gospels focused on one man who they thought was a personal Messiah and did not focus on the many verses of Hope for communities. Jesus the Messiah (or Jesus Christ) is believed by Christians to be the promised Savior of the Old Testament, the divine Son of God, and the savior of humanity. “Messiah” (Hebrew) and “Christ” (Greek) both mean “Anointed One,” representing a divinely appointed prophet, priest, and king who came to save people from sin and establish a heavenly kingdom. Muslims believe Jesus (Isa) is a Messiah because the Quran explicitly gives Jesus this title (Al-Masih) eleven times. Jews and Muslims may revere Jesus as a revered human prophet and a messenger of God; but not a Son of God.

The Arabic Qur’an did not use very much of the Messianic Age material from the Hebrew Bible or the Gospels. Islamic teachings on the Day of Judgment (Yawm al-Qiyamah) emphasize accountability, justice, and the weighing of deeds, highlighting every action, will be brought to account. It is a day for ultimate truth and divine justice. “We shall set up scales of justice for the Day of Judgment, so that not a soul will be dealt with unjustly in the leas” (Quran 21:47) The Mahdi (“Guided One”) is a messianic figure in Islamic eschatology who appears near the end of time to rid the world of corruption, tyranny, and injustice, bringing a period of peace, equity, and righteousness. He is a descendant of Prophet Muhammad who will unite Muslims and rule for several years.

The word Armageddon does not appear in the Hebrew Bible, and appears only once in the Greek New Testament, in Revelation 16:16 which makes no mention of armies being predicted to one day gather on or near Mount Megiddo; but instead seems to predict only that “they (will gather) the kings together to … Armageddon”. We know now that oil, gas and coal are the kings of global warming.

The Christian New Testament book of Revelation implies, based on the text from an earlier passage of Revelation 16:14, that the purpose of this gathering of kings in the “place called Armageddon” is “for the war of the great day of God Almighty” which now can be seen as the ongoing battle against Global Warming.

As ibn Babuya writes in Thawab ul-A’mal, “The Apostle of God said: `There will come a time for my people when there will remain nothing of the Qur’an except its outward form, and nothing of Islam except its name, and they will call themselves by this name even though they are the people furthest from it. The mosques will be full of people but they will be empty of right guidance. The religious leaders (Fuqaha) of that day will be the most evil religious leaders under the heavens; sedition and dissension will go out from them and to them will it return.”

Most secularists believe that these religious apocalyptic visions of the future are absurd, although many secularists themselves fervently believe that artificial intelligence, run away genetic modification of food, and/or extreme climate change is going to doom much of human civilization in the next generation.

The basic difference between the pessimistic, humanist secularists and the religious optimists is that those who believe in the God of  Prophet Abraham also believe that God’s inspiration guarantees that the spiritual forces of good will overcome all the world’s evils at the end of days; and justice, peace and religious pluralism will prevail.

Or as the Biblical Prophet Micah envisions: (4:1-5) “In the end of days the mountain of the Lord’s Temple will be established  as the highest mountain; it will be exalted above the hills, and peoples will stream to it. Many (not all) nations will come and say, ‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the Temple of the God of Jacob. who will teach us His ways, so that we may walk in His paths. Torah will be broadcast from Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. God will judge between many (not all) peoples and will settle disputes among powerful nations far and wide. They will beat their swords into ploughs, and their spears into pruning hooks.

“Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war any more. Everyone will sit under their own vine and under their own fig-tree, and no one will make them afraid, for the Lord Almighty has spoken. All the nations will walk in the name of their gods, and we (Jews) will walk in the name of the Lord our God for ever and ever.”

If we can live up to the ideal that religious pluralism is the will of God. we will help fulfill the 2700 year old vision of Prophet Isaiah: “In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will go to Egypt, and the Egyptians to Assyria. The Egyptians and Assyrians will worship together. In that day Israel  will join a three-party alliance with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing upon the heart. The LORD of Hosts will bless them saying, “Blessed be Egypt My people, Assyria My handiwork, and Israel My inheritance.”…(Isaiah 19:23-5)