In Part III we
touched on the present day deeds of madness and gave examples of same-sex
marriages, terrorism and corruption. We will now attempt to answer this
question: Have
this period been foreseen?
Many people who feel disturbed by the aforementioned occurrences simply
exclaim- “the world is coming to an end!” More serious people however have
turned to prophecies handed down to us concerning the World Judgment, the
Millennium and the End Times.
So let us go into a little bit of what is called eschatology, which is a
study concerned with what are believed to be the final events of history, the
ultimate destiny of humanity — commonly referred to as the end of the world.
Baha’i Faith
The Baha’i Faith holds that human time is marked by a series of
progressive revelations in which successive messengers or prophets come from
God. The coming of each of these messengers is seen as the day of judgment to
the adherents of the previous religion, who may choose to accept the new
messenger and enter the 'heaven' of belief, or denounce the new messenger and
enter the 'hell' of denial.
Islam
Followers of Islam are taught that on judgment day, the works of man will
be judged on the scales of Justice and believers whose good works outweighs the
bad receives eternal life!
Some of these teachings are useful because when we look carefully, there
are elements of the truth in them.
Prophecy by Jesus
We obtain clarity about the events of these times from the prophecies of
Jesus the Son of God. And so as was recorded in the Bible (See Mathew 24, Mark
13 and Luke 21) when Jesus was asked about the close of the age, He warned the
disciples to be careful as many false prophets will come in His name to lead
human beings astray. We will hear of wars and rumors of wars and there will be
famines and earthquakes. Then a period of great tribulation was predicted such
as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, and never will be!
At this same period however is the time when the true teachings of Christ will
be preached to the entire world as a testimony to all nations.
We need to note that the End-Time does not mean the end of the world as
many often assume, but the end of a great epoch. The Biblical accounts speak of
the “close of the age”. After this close
of the age begins a New Time, in which the Kingdom of God is to be established
on earth: the Thousand-year kingdom of Peace. The transition from the Old to
the New Time is formed by the period of the World Judgment also called the Last
or Final Judgment.
Without the World Judgment the New Time cannot begin, because there must
first be a thorough cleansing from all evil, so that the foundation for the new
Kingdom will be pure and clear.
But why must this period be full of tribulations and be a hard time?
Maybe we can find an understanding by studying our past. This leads us to the
Part V of our discourse which will cover the fall of man and its consequences.
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