Most people have no idea that the idea of Armageddon – the End Times- is not merely just in the Bible and confined to Christianity. You have the Orthodox Jews also assuming this is the time that their Messiah will arrive. Then there is Islam, which, according to Islamic tradition, Jesus’ return as a Messenger of Islam will be preceded by wars led by the Mahdi (the rightly guided one) and by the appearance of the Dajjal (the Antichrist).
There is certainly a religious component to the turmoil both in Ukraine, where Zelensky is outlawing Orthodox Christianity, and in the Middle East, over the Dome of the Rock. Many want to see the Dome of the Rock destroyed, assuming this will bring the Second Coming. Whatever you believe, the question is clear: destroy the Dome of the Rock, and there will certainly be a major war. Will that be the Second Coming if deliberately instigated?
I have been there. This is the rock where the Jews say Abraham brought his son to be sacrificed. This is the same rock from which Mohamed ascended to heaven in Islam. This does not leave any room for any compromise on this issue.
There is no question that the world is becoming deeply divided. This is turning into not just a war for power, but many see this as a religious war. There is a cycle to everything, including religion. Upheavals involving religion have been documented even back into ancient Egyptian times. Just in 1844, there were violent clashes and gun battles on the streets of Philadelphia between Protestants who resented Irish Catholics coming in during economic hard times and taking local jobs. Such events have been dramatic when they coincide with economic decline as we are headed into 2028.
Akhenaten (Achencres), who ruled in Egypt around 1350BC, instigated a political and religious revolution, moving the capital to a new city at a site known today as Amarna and attempting to change the religion of Egypt to sole worship of the sun-disk or Aten. Akhetaten instituted a significant shift in Egyptian artistic styles alongside a campaign of intolerance towards the traditional gods and a new emphasis on a state monolatristic tradition focused on the god Aten, the Sun disk. He launched a campaign destroying many temples and monuments. This was the first real iconoclastic movement that would later engulf Christianity during the 8th century AD.
We know that Akhenaten’s reign was chaotic. He attempted to change the religious culture of any society, as Zelensky is doing to the Russians in the Donbas. Even the Pope has come out against Zelensky. Religious upheavals have littered the historical landscape for millenniums. We also know that Akhenaten’s family was killed except for one daughter, who fled perhaps to Scotland. Three short-lived Pharaohs, including Tutankhamun, succeeded him.
Of course, we have the rise of Christianity. While Nero (54-68AD) blamed the Christians for setting the Great Fire of 64AD, that is at least understandable since many were blaming him, and he needed a scapegoat. It was not really a persecution due to their religion. It is just the Christians refused to respect the religion of anyone else, which made them outsiders and radicals.
We also know that the short-lived Roman Emperor Elagabalus (218-222AD) attempted to introduce his religion, claiming that this black meteor fell from God to symbolize they were the chosen people. He issued coins showing the Stone of Messa (Syria) being presented to the people of Rome carried around on a chariot.
His reign was notorious for religious fanaticism, cruelty, bloodshed, and excesses of every description, and there was general satisfaction when, on March 6th, 222, Elagabalus and his mother, Julia Soaemias, were murdered in the praetorian camp. Their bodies were dragged through the streets of Rome and thrown into the Tiber River. The Romans at least respectfully returned the black Stone to Emesa to where he had stood.
The Roman Emperor Aurelian (270-275AD) also introduced the Eastern sun god Sol into the Roman religion. This took hold, for he was presented as invincible, for he rose every day doing battle with the moon every night. The symbols of the halo and even his feast day, December 25th, were adopted into Christianity.
The persecution of Christians during the late 3rd century AD under Diocletian (284-305AD) was because of all the turmoil and barbarian invasions. They blamed the Christians for making the gods angry by refusing to honor them when there would be national prayers to save the empire.
You then have Constantine the Great (309-337AD) declared Christianity the state religion in 312AD. Nearly 300 years later we have the rise of Islam. There were plenty of religious upheavals within that period, including the Iconoclastic upheaval.
One notable change within the Byzantine Empire came in 695AD when Justinian II’s (685-695AD) government added a full-face image of Christ on the obverse of imperial gold coins. The change caused the Caliph Abd al-Malik (661-750AD) to stop the use of Byzantine coinage introducing a purely Islamic coinage with lettering only.
Indeed, the next cycle in religious upheaval is due by 2031. We most certainly live in interesting times, and the LEFT is anti-religious. Under Communism, they converted churches into museums of atheism.
