One of the unique things about True Biblical Christianity is we believe our Messiah has already come. We're not awaiting anyone new. We're awaiting his return, but it will not be necessary to identify him, the Church will be gathered to him and then he'll go to directly where believing Israel is. Those we expect to appear before him, the Two Witnesses (Enoch and Elijah), are also men who lived on the Earth before. We are awaiting only second comings.
Now false religions may also be expecting someone to return, (including hijacking figures of our tradition, Jesus, Elijah and Enoch ect.), but they're also expecting a new Messiah, or Avatar of their chief god to arise. But we Christians know the next important person to be revealed shall be the Wicked One, and he shall have a False Prophet to back him up as well.
I believe Satan himself doesn't know how things will play out exactly. I think all these were seeds he planted to potentially use, but it's still possible none will be relevant in the end.
I have discussed
The False Prophet in a separate study. I have come to the view he is Judas and will claim to be Jesus. He may claim to be other expected returning figures as well. He may endorse Mormon theories about Jesus coming to the new world after the Resurrection, and also identify himself with Quetzalcoatl, Kukulcan and Gukumatz.
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The story of the life of the Mexican divinity, Quetzalcoatl, closely resembles that of the Savior; so closely, indeed, that we can come to no other conclusion than that Quetzalcoatl and Christ are the same being. But the history of the former has been handed down to us through an impure Lamanitish source, which has sadly disfigured and perverted the original incidents and teachings of the Savior's life and ministry." (Mediation and Atonement, p. 194.) John Taylor.
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Which are also tied into New Age/Ancient Aliens theories.
The Islamic Mahdi and Messiah Ben-Ephraim, are of unique importance, as one is extra-Biblical Rabbinic Jewish tradition and the other is awaited by Israel's nearest enemies. I have talked about them alreayd and will more in the future. Also "Abrahamic" religions tend to be more detailed in their prophecies, so there is more to say on them.
The Cumaean Sibyl in Virgl's 4th Ecolouge is a prophecy of a new Golden Age, ushered in by Apollo and Saturn, where men and gods will mingle together. The originally intent was to be about
Augustus, but later post Constantine Christians co-opted it and now it is somewhat infamous in New Age and Neo-Pagan circles.
As I've said elsewhere, I believe The Antichrist will claim to be all the awaited Messiahs of all false religions.
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Saoshyant [sou-shyuhnt] is a figure of Zoroastrian eschatology.
I personally believe the original Zarathustra lived about 600 A.D. "258 years before Alexander." And might have been partially descended from exiled Israelites, but that his teachings where corrupted over the generations (and may have been corrupt to begin with, givne the state of the Northern Kingdom), the oldest written texts attributed to hm are much later. Legends about him over time tried to place him further in the past.
Yasht 19.88-96 is the oldest reference to Saoshyant as an expected savior, and only one that comes in the B.C. era. Not a lot of details exist there, he emerges from a sacred lake("rise up out of the sea"?), makes the world perfect and destroys evil. But he is said to wield a sacred weapon called Verethragna. The Verethragna is sometimes represented as Bow, and is said to have "conquering superiority" (Revelation 6, First Horseman).
He's developed in greater detail in 9th-12th century texts. Zoroastrian tradition envisions three future saviors, one for the end of each 1,000-year period that comprise the last 3,000 years of the world. All three will be born of maidens, conceived while their mothers bathed in a lake that miraculously preserved the seed of the prophet Zoroaster himself. The first will be named Hushedar, the second Hushedarmah, and the third will be Saoshyant, who will lead humanity in the final battle against falsehood.
As you can see, they have begun to borrow aspects of Jesus. The legends elaborate a great deal on this Virgin Birth, and state it'll be 30 years before the finale battle, but this is then contradicted by references to him living for 57 years.
No details are known about those preceding saviors. But if The Antichrist claims to be Saoshyant, and that the third of those millenniums are ending about now, The False Prophet/Pseudo Jesus may well claim to be Hushedar.
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Kalki, the final Avatar of Vishnu in Vedic mythology and Hindu religion, who will end the Kali Yuga.
I could first note that his name means "Destroyer" and can thus be viewed as a Vedic translation of Apollyon. He is also said to come Riding atop a White Horse.
The previous Avatars were Krishna and Rama. Krishna died because an Arrow pierced his Heel. Rama I believe was the Raamah son of Cush of Genesis 10, but the legends were embellished greatly.
Padma will be his consort, an Avatar of Lakshmi, previous Avatars include Sita wife of Rama and Radha consort of Krishna.
The the Kali Yuga is today traditionally viewed to have begun in 3102 B.C. and is supposed to last 432,000 years, someone calming to be him now might seem implausible, but many already have, and their faithful rationalize it all. At any rate I personally believe whoever historically inspired Krishna lived not around 3100 BC but in the 9th century B.C. Due to the archeological evidence for the Kurukshetra war being around that time.
A lot of work among Hindu scholars involves trying to use Astrological references to give him a Birth Date. The possibility of an Evil Counterpart to the Star of Bethleham (Jupiter's conjunction with Regulus on September 11th/First of Tishri 3 B.C.) is intriguing. Sri Potuluri Virabrahmendra Swami, for example, wrote 400 years ago in his Divya Maha Kala Gnana, or 'Divine Knowledge of the Time,' that Kalki would arrive when the moon, sun, Venus and Jupiter entered the same sign. This is not a rare occurrence and last happened in early 2012.
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Maitreya, the next Buddha
Buddhism doesn't really give any specific details at all. But one mention of the prophecy of Maitreya is in the Sanskrit text, the Maitreyavyākaraṇa (The Prophecy of Maitreya). It implies that he is a teacher of meditative trance sadhana and states that gods, men and other beings:
"will lose their doubts, and the torrents of their cravings will be cut off: free from all misery they will manage to cross the ocean of becoming; and, as a result of Maitreya's teachings, they will lead a holy life. No longer will they regard anything as their own, they will have no possession, no gold or silver, no home, no relatives! But they will lead the holy life of oneness under Maitreya's guidance. They will have torn the net of the passions, they will manage to enter into trances, and theirs will be an abundance of joy and happiness, for they will lead a holy life under Maitreya's guidance." (Trans. in Conze 1959:241)
Sounds like a possible precedent for ending all currency to bring in the Mark of the Beast.
One random site on the Internet suggests that Maitreya will be the actual name of the Antichrist. They claim there are 7 different ways to spell Maitreya in Hebrew and that each has a numerical value of 666. I have not independently verified this claim yet, and I still prefer to use Greek to decipher the Number of The Beast. But at the beginning of Revelation 13 it says "having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy." So could it be a different form of the same name on each head?
The Maitreya concept is expanded on in Theosphy, and other New Age religions. Which also often utilize Kalki as well.
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The Baha'i faith, is a mingling of Judeo-Chrstian, Islamic and Zorosatrian ideas.
In 1873 Bahá'u'lláh wrote in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas:
"How great the blessedness that awaiteth the king who will arise to aid My Cause in My kingdom, who will detach himself from all else but Me! Such a king is numbered with the companions of the Crimson Ark--the Ark which God hath prepared for the people of Bahá. All must glorify his name, must reverence his station, and aid him to unlock the cities with the keys of My Name, the omnipotent Protector of all that inhabit the visible and invisible kingdoms. Such a king is the very eye of mankind, the luminous ornament on the brow of creation, the fountainhead of blessings unto the whole world. Offer up, O people of Bahá, your substance, nay your very lives, for his assistance."
(Bahá'u'lláh, Kitáb-i-Aqdas, 1873)
This is elaborated specifically:
"In the Lawh-i-Ra'ís He actually and categorically prophesies the rise of such a king: "Erelong will God raise up from among the kings one who will aid His loved ones. He, verily, encompasseth all things. He will instill in the hearts the love of His loved ones. This, indeed, is irrevocably decreed by One Who is the Almighty, the Beneficent." In the Ridvánu'l-`Adl, wherein the virtue of justice is exalted, He makes a parallel prediction: "Erelong will God make manifest on earth kings who will recline on the couches of justice, and will rule amongst men even as they rule their own selves. They, indeed, are among the choicest of My creatures in the entire creation.""
(Bahá'u'lláh, 1868, quoted by Shoghi Effendi in Promised Day is Come)
Globalism in general is important to Baha'i belief.
Shoghi Effendi wrote:
"... It must, however long and tortuous the way, lead, through a series of victories and reverses, to the political unification of the Eastern and Western Hemispheres, to the emergence of a world government and the establishment of the Lesser Peace, as foretold by Bahá’u’lláh and foreshadowed by the Prophet Isaiah."
(Shoghi Effendi, Citadel of Faith, 1947)
Bahá'u'lláh wrote in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas:
"We have appointed two signs for the coming of age of the human race: the first, which is the most firm foundation, We have set down in other of Our Tablets, while the second hath been revealed in this wondrous Book."
(Bahá'u'lláh, Kitáb-i-Aqdas, 1873)
The first sign refers to the selection of a single language and the adoption of a common script:
"O members of parliaments throughout the world! Select ye a single language for the use of all on earth, and adopt ye likewise a common script. ... This will be the cause of unity, could ye but comprehend it, and the greatest instrument for promoting harmony and civilization, would that ye might understand!"
(Bahá'u'lláh, Kitáb-i-Aqdas, 1873)
The second sign refers to the emergence of a "divine philosophy" which will include the discovery of a radical approach to the transmutation of elements:
"Consider the doubts which they who have joined partners with God have instilled into the hearts of the people of this land. “Is it ever possible,” they ask, “for copper to be transmuted into gold?” Say, Yes, by my Lord, it is possible. Its secret, however, lieth hidden in Our Knowledge. We will reveal it unto whom We will. Whoso doubteth Our power, let him ask the Lord his God, that He may disclose unto him the secret, and assure him of its truth. That copper can be turned into gold is in itself sufficient proof that gold can, in like manner, be transmuted into copper, if they be of them that can apprehend this truth. Every mineral can be made to acquire the density, form, and substance of each and every other mineral. The knowledge thereof is with Us in the Hidden Book."
(Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings from the Writing of Bahá'u'lláh, Section XCVII, undated)
In Bahá'u'lláh's tablet addressed to Shaykh Salmán, he mentions a third sign, which is that no one will accept to bear the weight of kingship:
"One of the signs of the maturity of the world is that no one will accept to bear the weight of kingship. Kingship will remain with none willing to bear alone its weight. That day will be the day whereon wisdom will be manifested among mankind. Only in order to proclaim the Cause of God and spread abroad His Faith will anyone be willing to bear this grievous weight. Well is it with him who, for love of God and His Cause, and for the sake of God and for the purpose of proclaiming His Faith, will expose himself unto this great danger, and will accept this toil and trouble.”"
(Bahá'u'lláh, undated, quoted in Shoghi Effendi, The Promised Day is Come)
Shoghi Effendi wrote:
"The unity of the human race, as envisaged by Bahá’u’lláh, implies the establishment of a world commonwealth in which all nations, races, creeds and classes are closely and permanently united, and in which the autonomy of its state members and the personal freedom and initiative of the individuals that compose them are definitely and completely safeguarded…"
"A world federal system, ruling the whole earth and exercising unchallengeable authority over its unimaginably vast resources, blending and embodying the ideals of both the East and the West, liberated from the curse of war and its miseries, and bent on the exploitation of all the available sources of energy on the surface of the planet, a system in which Force is made the servant of Justice, whose life is sustained by its universal recognition of one God and by its allegiance to one common Revelation—such is the goal towards which humanity, impelled by the unifying forces of life, is moving."
(Shoghi Effendi, The Unfoldment of World Civilization, 1936)
"The Most Great Peace... a peace that must inevitably follow as the practical consequence of the spiritualization of the world and the fusion of all its races, creeds, classes and nations..."
(Shoghi Effendi, World Order of Bahá'u'lláh, 1936)
Of course Bahá'u'lláh was against anyone in the next Thousand years calming to be God, but I don't believe the Antichrist will deify himself at first, only after his counterfeit resurrection in the mid-way point of the Tribulation.
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As I said, True Christianity is not awaiting any new Messiah, but Heretical Christianity has always been around, and it's always had a thing for creating new Messiahs to expect.
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Emperor Constans, foretold by The Tiburtine Sibyl or Albune.
A Prophecy attributed to another of the Sybils written down in 380 A.D.
THE LATIN TIBURTINE SIBYL
Then will arise a king of the Greeks whose name is Constans. He will be king of the Romans and the Greeks. He will be tall of stature, of handsome appearance with shining face, and well put together in all parts of his body. His reign will be ended after one hundred and twelve years. In those days there will be great riches and the earth will give fruit abundantly so that a measure of wheat will be sold for a denarius, a measure of wine for a denarius, and a measure of oil for a denarius. The king will have a text before his eyes that says: "The king of the Romans will claim the whole Christian empire for himself." He will devastate all the islands and the cities of the pagans and will destroy all idolatrous temples; he will call all pagans to baptism and in every temple the Cross of Christ will be erected. "Then Egypt and Ethiopia will be eager to stretch their hands to God." ~ Whoever does not adore the Cross of Jesus Christ will be punished by the sword. When the one hundred and twelve years have been completed, the Jews will be converted to the Lord, and "his sepulchre will be glorified by all." In those days Judah will be saved and Israel will dwell with confidence. At that time the Prince of Iniquity who will be called Antichrist will arise from the tribe of Dan. He will be the Son of Perdition, the head of pride, the master of error, the fullness of malice who will overturn the world and do wonders and great signs through dissimulation. He will delude many by magic art so that fire will seem to come down from heaven. The years will be shortened like months, the months like weeks, the weeks like days, the days like hours, and an hour like a moment. The unclean nations that Alexander, the Indian king, shut up (i.e., Gog and Magog) will arise from the North. These are the twenty-two realms whose number is like the sand of the sea. When the king of the Romans hears of this he will call his army together and vanquish and utterly destroy them. After this he will come to Jerusalem, and having put off the diadem from his head and laid aside the whole imperial garb, he will hand over the empire of the Christians to God the Father and to Jesus Christ his Son. When the Roman empire shall have ceased,39 then the Antichrist will be openly revealed and will sit in the House of the Lord in Jerusalem. While he is reigning, two very famous men, Elijah and Enoch, will go forth to announce the coming of the Lord. Antichrist will kill them and after three days they will be raised up by the Lord. Then there will be a great persecution, such as has not been before nor shall be thereafter. The Lord will shorten those days for the sake of the elect, and the Antichrist will be slain by the power of God through Michael the Archangel on the Mount of Olives.
Translated from the edition of E. Sackur, Sibyllinische Texte und Forschungen. pp. 185—86.
In a lot of ways this shows how many of my Futurist interpretations of Scripture were pretty unanimous to early Christians, (Enoch and Elijah, Israel being destined to be redeemed). Though I no longer support a premillenial Gog and Magog invasion, but I still geographically place Magog in Russia. It's popular to claim the Gates of Alexander legend wasn't connected to Magog untill the Seventh Century. In addition to this reference, I feel I can also show it's pre-Christian because Josephus in Wars of The Jews Book 7 Chapter 7 Section 4 says the Scythians (who he in Antiquities says are Magog) were who the Gates of Alexander shut up.
But there is no Biblical basis for this great Christian Emperor, it is in fact the Antichrist who shall restore Rome to greatness again. Before Constantine, men like Ireneaus and Hippolytus got this right.
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Last Roman Emperor or Last World Emperor
The legend first appears in the 7th-century apocalyptic text known as the Apocalypse of Pseudo-Methodius, and developed over the centuries, becoming particularly prominent in the 15th century. The notion of the Great Catholic Monarch is related to it
The Apocalypse of Pseudo-Methodius is a 7th-century apocalypse that shaped the eschatological imagination of Christendom throughout the Middle Ages. The work was written in Syriac in the late 7th century, in reaction to the Islamic conquest of the Near East, and is falsely attributed to the 4th-century Church Father Methodius of Olympus. It depicts many familiar Christian eschatological themes: the rise and rule of Antichrist, the invasions of Gog and Magog, and the tribulations that precede the end of the world.
A new element, probably adopted from the Tiburtine Sibyl, was a Messiah-like Last Roman Emperor, who would be a central figure in apocalyptic literature until the end of the medieval period. It was translated into Greek soon after its composition, and thence into Latin (by the eighth century), Slavonic, Russian, Armenian, and Arabic.
Its precise date is difficult to ascertain; dates proposed by recent historians fall within the range 644 - 691 AD (Palmer 1993:225).
It was developed in the writings of Adso of Montier-en-Der, and was particularly current around the end of the fifteenth century.[S.N., Mirabilis Liber, 1522] Christopher Columbus refers to it in his Book of Prophecies.
The 7th Century apocalypses also emphasizes the Last Roman Emperor conquering both Egypt and Syria, which is interesting if you still think Daniel 11:36-45 is about The Antichrist.
Christ White has discussed this subject in the context of comparing it to to the Islamic Mahdi. One mistake he makes is most Islamic Antichrist theorists make Dajjal Elijah not Jesus. When I used to lean towards however I never agreed with that and say Dajjal as a Decoy Antichrist. Another note, the Antichrist being blind in one eye possibly has a Biblical basis in Zachariah 11.
What he misses is the Messiah Ben-Joseph idea was entering it's current form in the 7th Century AD as well. Particularly due to the Messianic status given to Nehemiah Ben Hushiel which is a part of works like the Sefer Zeubbabel, the poems of Eleazer Ben Killir, the Otot ha-Masiah and the Pirqie Masiah. And Messiah Ben-Joseph has a Mahdi parallel the Last Roman Emperor does not, being killed by The Antichrist/Armillus/Dajjal to be resurrected by Messiah Ben-David/Isa the Muslim Jesus. A book called The Byzantine Apocalyptic Tradition discussed how the Last Roman Emperor is probably base don Jewish Messianic expectations.
To me none of that refutes the notion that all these awaited Messiahs were potential Antichrist seeds Satan had planted.
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The Great Catholic Monarch
In Catholic tradition, the Great Monarch is predicted to have a restorationist character and to restore the European Catholic royalty in the West, destroy the power of heretics and atheistic rebels, and successfully convert many Muslims and Jews to the Faith.(See Catholic Prophecy: The Coming Chastisement by Yves Dupont)
The concept of the Great King features prominently in mystical and folk traditions, as well as writings of people thought to have been granted gifts of prophecy or special visitations by messengers from heaven (such as angels, saints, or Christ).
Saint Remigius, bishop of Reims and apostle of the Franks, baptised Clovis I, king of the Franks on 24 December 496. This baptism, leading to the conversion of the entire Frankish people to Nicene Christianity, was a momentous success for the Catholic Church and a seminal event in European history. Allegedly he had had a vision and prophesied that in the distant future, the last monarch who descended from the line of the kings of France, would be revealed and reestablish the Holy Roman Empire at the end of time. This prophecy was related through Hincmar, archbishop of Reims (806 – 21 December 882), and Rabanus Maurus Magnentius O.S.B., archbishop of Mainz (780 – 4 February 856).
Himcar was the Propagandist for Charles the Bald, so he may have invented it to serve political purposes for the Holy Roman Empire.
The Great Catholic Monarch was very popular in popular folklore until the 18th century Enlightenment. He reappeared in 19th century prophecy when French legitimists believed that the count of Chambord, Henry V of France would be the new king.
Perrie Plantard's original intent in creating the Priory of Sion Hoax was to claim that he was the Great Catholic Monarch, tying it into French Israelism/Franco Israelism. From there the idea is openly advocated for in Holy Blood, Holy Grail, and it's follow up Messianic Legacy, which bring the Jesus Bloodline theory into it. And Bloodline of the Holy Grail which further linked it to standard British Israelism ideas and Jacobite Politics, and it's follow up Genesis of the Grail Kings which ties in Ancient Aliens theories.
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Mab Darogan, once and future King of Welsh legend.
The concept is of a great future Briton leader who would restore Celtic England and drive out the Anglo-Saxons. The return of King Arthur derives from the concept.
When The Tudor Dynasty was established it was popular to think this would be fulfilled by King Henry VII.
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The White Horse Prophecy of Joseph Smith
The Latter Day Saints, according to the prophecy, would "go to the Rocky Mountains and ... be a great and mighty people", identified figuratively with the White Horse described in the Revelation of John. The prophecy further predicts that the United States Constitution will one day "hang like a thread" and will be saved "by the efforts of the White Horse".
Over time this developed specially into a concept that a Mormon would become President of the United States and turn the U.S. into a Mormon Theocracy. It has been speculated about in relation to various Mormon Presidential candidates like George and mitt Romney. Glen Beck who's a Mormon has also subtly alluded to it on TV many times.
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More recently I've become aware of others like how the Druze are awaiting Al-Hakim.
This can also tie into any King In The Mountain myth.
