Periodically over the past six years I've written about
the similarities between Islamic prophecies of an end times leader they call
al Mahdi and Biblical prophecies about the one we call the anti-Christ.
In their respective prophecies they're both said to come on the scene
during a time of great turmoil on Earth, both will claim a desire to restore
peace, both have a seven year reign, both head a one world religion and one
world government, both claim supernatural origins, and both reigns end in a
battle between good and evil that brings Earth's final judgment.
It's estimated that today about 40% of all Muslims
believe al Mahdi will appear during their lifetime, and a large number of
Christians believe the anti-Christ is already alive and well on Planet
Earth, to be revealed at the proper time.
These similarities are remarkable and defy coincidence.
It's as if the Islamic and Biblical prophecies are describing the
same person, and frankly, I think they probably are.
But when it comes to the make up of the End Times
Empire there are good arguments for both the Roman view and the Islamic
view. In part one we saw the
similarities and the differences between the two and determined that neither
view is conclusive. Our
challenge now is to see if these differences can be reconciled because there
can only be one end times Empire.
We've seen that the prophecies of Daniel 2 and
Daniel 7 identify only four world governments from Daniel's day to
the Second Coming, and Babylon was obviously the first.
Daniel 8 names the second and third Kingdoms as Medo-Persia
and then Greece. Rev. 17:9-10
appears to make Rome, the ruling kingdom of John's day, the fourth and final
one, so it will have to re-emerge in some form in the last days.
In the past I've reconciled a revived Roman Empire with
an end times Islamic Caliphate by showing that the eastern leg of the Roman
Empire covered an area that's largely Islamic today, and its capitol was
Constantinople, now called Istanbul, which like Rome is a city on seven
hills.
But I've often wondered if either a revived Roman
Empire or an Islamic Caliphate can unite all the world's religions
peacefully, as prophecies in Daniel 8:25 and 1 Thes. 5:3
indicate, without some major supernatural help.
And yet Rev. 13:8 says all the inhabitants of Earth who don't
believe in Jesus will worship the anti-Christ. That includes people from
every ethnic and religious persuasion. How can this be made to happen?
Prophetic scriptures offer a hint for us.
In 2 Thes. 2:10-11 Paul said God will send those who have
refused to love the truth and be saved a powerful delusion so that they will
believe “the lie” instead. I
think the lie will be that the anti-Christ is God's chosen one, and I think
the powerful delusion that will unite the post rapture world behind him will
appear in the form of a woman.
Queen Of Rome
Some time ago I received a book that may contain one of
the missing pieces of this great end times puzzle. I don't remember when I
received it. I only know it was
right beside the copy of the Complete Works of Josephus I was reaching for
one day, and it literally fell into my hands when I pulled “Josephus” off
the shelf above my desk.
The book is called “Queen Of All” and it was written by
Jim Tetlow, Roger Oakland, and Brad Myers. It's about Mary, or I should I
say apparitions that claim to be Mary, and documents the thousands of
appearances she's made in all parts of the world to many different religious
groups, calling for unity among the religions of the world.
According to the book, witnesses describe her as a
living, breathing three dimensional woman, young and beautiful, and
enveloped in exquisite light.
She is often accompanied by angels, tongues of fire, or glowing orbs, and
causes those in attendance to
feel tremendous sense of pleasure and joy.
Numerous healings and miracles have reportedly taken place at
apparition sites around the world.
You're probably
familiar with the most famous of her appearances, those in Lourdes (France),
Fatima (Portugal), Medjugorie (Bosnia), and Guadalupe (Mexico).
These Marian shrines receive over 30 million visits every year. The
resulting “Marian movement” in the Catholic church has untold millions of
members, including many bishops and cardinals, and one fourth of the entire
Catholic priesthood.
Several popes claim to have been guided by her supernatural influence.
Marian historians say these appearances have been taking place for centuries
but never with the consistency and frequency as is happening in our day.
For example, in the US almost every state has reported
at least one. In a 1997 cover story Newsweek magazine claimed, “In many ways
the 20th Century has belonged to Mary.” A leading French
periodical once estimated there were 21,000 Marian visits during a 10 year
period between 1976 and 1987. France alone has 937 pilgrimage shrines and
Italy has over 1500. Marian sightings have also been reported in such
diverse places as Japan, Africa,
Korea, Australia, Iraq, Israel, Egypt, Syria, Russia, India, and Ireland,
and in every case she has reportedly identified herself as Mary, the Queen
of Heaven, Our Lady.
But this is just the beginning.
The Marian apparition claims not to have revealed her full glory to
the world, but that soon she will be seen by every denomination and religion
through out the world.
Queen Of Islam
In one visit a Marian apparition said, “The Muslims and
the Orthodox for the same reason as the Catholics are equal before my son
and I. You are all my children.”
(This should have made it clear that her son is not our Lord, but it
hasn't.)
In fulfillment of this claim, a Marian apparition made
several appearances each week at a Coptic Orthodox Church in Zeitoun Egypt,
a suburb of Cairo, over a period of time between 1968 and 1973.
Millions of Muslims, Copts, Catholics, Protestants and others heard
her say her mission is to establish unity among the nations.
Hundreds of spontaneous healings accompanied these appearances.
Did you know that Muslims call Mary “Our Lady” just
like Catholics do? Did you know
she's mentioned 34 times in the Koran and the 19th surah
(chapter) is named after her?
Or that both Islamic and Roman Catholic doctrine hold that Allah and
the God of the Bible are the same?
Or that because of this, Catholic Catechism teaches that followers of
both religions are included in His plan of salvation?
Or that several Catholic officials have claimed that one day the two
religions will unite because of Mary's influence on both?
Based on these facts, it's not difficult to see how the
two major views of the End Times Empire could be reconciled to each other
after the Church is gone. But
that still doesn't address the issue of the Eastern religions.
What about them?
Queen Of The East
The eastern religions have many gods and goddesses, but
it seems that each one has a special goddess that such Catholic dignitaries
as Bishop Fulton Sheen have compared to Mary.
Bishop Sheen cited Kwan-yin the Chinese goddess of mercy as one, and
Japan's version known as Kwanon as another.
Others have named the savior-goddess Tara of Tibetan Buddhism, and
the Taoist goddess called “the Queen Mother of the West” as likely eastern
versions of Mary.
On the New Age side of the Eastern religions, it has
been noted that the emergence of the “divine feminine” or female personality
of God in western thinking has been recognized in the eastern religions for
thousands of years. One author said, “Those who know only the Christian
tradition have no idea how deep the roots of Mary go or how prayers to her
echo the prayers to ancient goddesses from time immemorial.
People pray to Mary as they once did to Ishtar, Hathor, and Isis.”
After all the term Queen of Heaven did not originate with Mary, but
with Semeramis, the wife of Nimrod and mother of all pagan religions.
Queen Of All
Advocates of Marianism assert that at the appropriate
time Mary will appear in various forms all over the world, each form chosen
to be most meaningful to a particular audience. But her message to all will
be the same. “There is only one
fold and only one shepherd.” Her mission is to bring everyone together into
that one fold to be guided by her son, the only shepherd.
(This is just a glimpse at the documented claims made
in this book. If you're
interested in more you can order it from Amazon.com.
Type Queen of All by Jim Tetlow in Amazon's search box.)
The coming of the
lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all
kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders,
and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They
perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.
For this reason God sends them a powerful
delusion so that they will believe the lie
and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have
delighted in wickedness (2 Thes. 2:9-12).
The foregoing gives us a hint that the powerful
delusion Paul spoke of might be someone claiming to be Mary. She could be
instrumental in persuading the whole world to come together in unity to
worship the one she calls her son, fulfilling Rev. 13:8.
Whether they're Islamic, Catholic, Protestant, New Age, or Eastern,
she'll resonate with all of them.
Because of what they'll believe to be miraculous signs
that accompany her visits and the promise of peace she brings, the world
will respond joyously, and through her the anti-Christ will be given
authority over every tribe, people, language and nation for a time (Rev.
13:7). His Empire will be world wide, fulfilling all the prophetic
requirements of the end times kingdom, and people everywhere will think that
peace has finally come.
This will be the work of the devil, but it will
accomplish God's purpose. From
Daniel 2:41-44 we see that this Empire will not remain united. The
core differences of its many people will be too great for even Satan to
overcome, and he'll have to resort to force to hold it together.
Once God's purpose in allowing it to exist has been
fulfilled, He will set up His own kingdom that will crush all four of the
Kingdoms of Gentile Dominion and bring them to an end. His kingdom will
never be destroyed nor will it be left to another people, but will endure
forever.
We've seen that both the Roman and Islamic views have
good points in their favor, but in the end each
falls short of fulfilling all the prophecies of Daniel's 4th
Kingdom on its own. Only a
combination of the two will suffice.
Perhaps the Marian apparition has been brought to Earth for the
specific purpose of tying them together.
If so it's another sign that the End of the Age is upon us. You can
almost hear the footsteps of the Messiah. 08-18-12
