Yajuj and Majuj in Seven Years and 89 Seconds

The good news is that Pope Francis recently stated that ‘All Religions Are Paths To God’; and in the last 25 years more than 850,000 Jewish young adults have visited Israel with the support of the Birthright Israel Foundation.

The bad news is that the Doomsday clock was set at 89 seconds to midnight on January 27 putting it the closest the world has ever been to what scientists deem is “global catastrophe.” And now a newly discovered asteroid has a 1.6 percent chance of hitting Planet Earth in 2032, space agency officials said. The potential impact would occur on December 22, 2032, three days before Christmas. It’s much too soon to know where it might land if it did hit Planet Earth. The 1.6 % chance will just hang above us for 8 coming years.

Gog and Magog (“Gog u-Magog” in Hebrew and “Yajuj and Majuj” in Arabic) are names that appear in the Hebrew Bible, and in the Quran. Sometimes personified as individuals, and sometimes identified as nations or as geographic regions: all references in Bible, Quran and hadith clearly indicate that they are terrible troublemakers, and will appear toward the end of times, before the Day of Judgement. (Qur’an 18:94-99) Is fear of “Yajuj and Majuj” why so many people are so negative and pessimistic about the future of humanity?

While it is true that human society has changed more rapidly, violently and fundamentally in the last 150 years than ever before in history, humanity has already survived several major revolutions and world wars.

Doctors today save the lives of millions; while dictators sacrifice the lives of millions. Populations are exploding in Africa and populations are declining in Europe. Technology produces both worldwide prosperity and worldwide pollution at the same time.

Should we look upon the 21st century with optimistic hope or with fatalistic trepidation? Is the world and our society heading towards a wonder-filled new age, or toward a doomsday? Or are both occurring almost concurrently because breakdown is always a prelude to breakthrough?

As the Qur’an states: “Allah will not change the condition of a people until they change what is in themselves. And when Allah intends for a people ill, there is no repelling it. And there is not for them any patron besides Him” (13:11).

The long tradition of trying to foresee the distant, eventual goal of human history started with the Prophets of Israel over 2.700 years ago. The Biblical vision of a Messianic Age may provide us with guidance in understanding the social, economic, scientific and cultural upheavals that will sweep society as it approaches the next stage.

Often, it is the dramatic dangers of the pre-Messianic tribulation that are emphasized in Christian, Islamic and Jewish post scriptural traditions. I will focus on the positive signs developing throughout the world that accord with the Messianic vision of the Biblical Prophets because anxious atheists and unbelievers die a hundred deaths; while faith-filled believers die only once.

The Prophets of Israel conceived of redemption as a transformation of human society that would begin through the catalyst of a transformation of the Jewish people. This transformation, which will take place in this world at some future time, is called the Messianic Age.

The transition to the Messianic Age is called the birth pangs of the Messiah. The birth of a redeemed Messianic world may be the result of an easy or difficult labor. If everyone would simply live according to the moral teachings of his or her own religion, that would itself bring about the Messianic Age. But, if we will not do it voluntarily, it will come through social and political upheavals, worldwide conflicts and generation gaps.

As the Qur’an tells us, prophets are sent to every nation to issue a warning that their behavior has consequences, and these consequences must be faced on Judgement Day. As the Qur’an states, “Accountability for mankind is getting closer and closer, yet they are heedless and turn away.” (21:1 and 54:1-8)

God of course, is always ready to help us defeat evil, if we are ready to work for the establishment of a just and peaceful local and world society; that is why several Messiah agents of God will come.

A Messiah is a human agent of God who helps bring about this transformation. This agent of God (with several forerunners and many disciples) will be a person with great leadership qualities; similar to Moses or Muhammad. The arrival of the Messianic Age is what’s really important, not the personality of the agents who bring it about, since they are simply the instruments of God, who ultimately is the real Redeemer.

The Messianic Age is usually seen as the solution to all of humanity’s basic problems. This may be true in the long run, but the vast changes the transition to the Messianic Age entails, will provide challenges to society for generations to come. Those who emphasize the cataclysmic aspects of the transition generally are influenced by fundamentalist Christian circles, and see the coming of the Messianic Age from the perspective of the Book of Revelation with its emphasis on Judgement Day.

Since humans have free will, the exact time and manner of redemption cannot be determined in advance. Much depends on what we humans do. Repentance produces changes in the future of both individuals and nations. Repentance enables some individuals and communities to escape the consequences of prior evil.

On the other hand, God’s promise is that evil powers will never succeed in destroying Israel or in overcoming justice in the long run. Thus even without full repentance, God will act if the Divine promise of a Messianic Age is threatened. As Isaiah states, “The Lord says: you were sold but no price was paid, and without payment you shall be redeemed.” (Isaiah 52:3) i.e. all your suffering in exile was not deserved, and your redemption from exile will not be fully earned. Both are part of God’s outline for human destiny and will occur sooner (through repentance) or later (in God’s own time).

As the Qur’an states: “Do not corrupt the earth after it has been set right. Call on Him in fear and aspiration. Indeed, the mercy of Allah is near for good-doers” (7:56)

But the real lesson from all this is that we should not look forward to a Judgement Day when all our enemies, and all evil, will suddenly disappear in a cataclysmic purge. Instead, we should have faith and trust in the ability of religiously inspired humans to transform our world into a Messianic Age of justice and peace.

Indeed, there is a view, espoused by the well known Jewish writer Franz Kafka, that the Messiah will come not at the beginning, but at the end of the Messianic Age; to congratulate us for achieving the vision of the Biblical prophets. Prophet Jacob says: “O my sons! go you and enquire about Joseph and his brother, and never give up hope of Allah’s Mercy: truly no one despairs of Allah’s Mercy, except those who have no faith.” (Qur’an 12:87)

Actually, if you had told Soviet Jews a generation ago that the Communist regime would collapse, the Soviet Empire disintegrate, and hundreds of thousands of Soviet Jews would emigrate to Israel, they would have conceived it only as a Messianic dream.

In our own generation therefore we have seen the dramatic fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy: “I will bring your offspring from the (Middle) East and gather you from the (European) West. To the North (Russia) I will say ‘give them up’ and to the South (Ethiopia) ‘do not hold them’. Bring my sons from far away, my daughters from the end of the earth.” (43:5-6)

Isn’t it amazing how people adjust to living in a radically new world and forget the past. Indeed, the Prophet Isaiah himself said, “Behold, I create a new Heaven and a new Earth, and former things shall not be remembered.” (65:17)

Where does the Messiah fit in with all of this? He will still have lots to do when he arrives. Most Orthodox Jews would not commit themselves to any individual as a Messiah unless he successfully rebuilds the ancient Temple in Jerusalem, fulfilling a prophecy of Zachariah, “He shall build the Temple of the Lord, shall bear the glory, and sit on the throne and rule, there shall be a priest before the throne, and peaceful counsel will exist between both of them.” (6:13)

While there are some Orthodox Rabbis who believe that in the near future, Jerusalem’s Holy Temple first built by Prophet Solomon the son of Prophet David, will be rebuilt on its original foundation; most Orthodox Rabbis, and all Conservative and Reform Rabbis, do not believe this because they believe that a rebuilt Temple of Solomon will only be rebuilt after the beginning of the long anticipated Messianic Days of international peace and justice have been realized worldwide.

As Prophet Isaiah predicts (19:23-25): “On that (Messianic) 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. On that day Israel will be the third, along with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing on the earth. The Lord Almighty will bless them, saying, “Blessed be Egypt my people, Assyria my handiwork, and Israel my inheritance.” Thus peace throughout the Near East and the whole world must precede the rebuilding of the Temple.

Let us hope and pray that peace will soon come to the Near East; and that in our children’s lifetime, India’s Muslims will not suffer from Islamophobia, and we will see the beginnings of the Messianic Age of world wide justice and peace.