Messianic Prophecies
The scriptures of the world's great religions all contain
Messianic prophecies... prophecies which promise that God will one day send a
Promised One whose teachings will unite all of humanity into one loving
family.
The various religions call this Promised One by different names... Jews
await the appearance of "another Prophet" like Moses. Hindus look for the
return of Krishna. Christians await the return of Christ. Muslims await both
the return of Christ and the appearance of Imam Mahdi. Buddhist sutras
prophesy the coming of the Maitreya Buddha. Zoroastrian scriptures prophesy
the coming of the Saoshyant.
What is fascinating about these prophecies is
that they all
seem to be foretelling the exact same event.
JEWISH
"The Lord your God will raise
up for you a prophet like me... You must listen to him."
-MOSES- Deuteronomy 18:15 (NIV)
"I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there
came one like a son of man. He came to the Ancient of Days and was
presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and kingdom,
that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him. His dominion is an
everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away. And his kingdom one that
shall not be destroyed." -Judaism Daniel 7.13-14
CHRISTIAN
"Immediately after
the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not
give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven
will be shaken; then will appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven, and
then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the
Son of
man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory; and he will
send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect
from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other."
-
Matthew 24.29-31
"If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he
shall give you another Comforter... he shall teach you all
things." -JESUS John 14
"Him that overcometh... I will write upon him the name of my God, and the
name of the... new Jerusalem... and I will write upon him my
new name."
-JESUS Revelation 3
HINDU
"Whenever there is decay of
righteousness... and there is exaltation of unrighteousness, then I Myself
come forth... for the destruction of evil-doers, for the sake of firmly
establishing righteousness, I am born from age to age." -KRISHNA Bhagavad Gita -fourth discourse
ISLAMIC
"And we gave Moses the Book, and after him sent succeeding
Messengers: and We gave Jesus...the clear signs... and whensoever there
came to you a Messenger with that your souls had not desire for, did you
become arrogant, and some cry lies to, and some slay." -Muhammad -Quran 2 (the Cow)
"By those sent forth one after the other... Verily that which ye are
promised is about to happen. So when the stars are blotted out, And when the
sky is rent asunder... when the Messengers have a time set: For what Day is
this being arranged? For the Day of Severance." -Muhammad -Quran 77
"The Apostle of Allah said, 'Were there remaining but one day of the
duration of all time, God would send forth a man from the people of my
house, who will fill the earth with equity as it has been filled with
oppression.'" -Islam -Hadith of Abu Dawud
"And [Jesus] shall be a Sign of the Hour [of Judgment]; therefore
have no doubt about it, but follow Me: this is a straight way."
-Muhammad -Qur'an 43.61
"The Imam who will create a world state will make the ruling nations
pay for their crimes against society. He will bring succor to humanity. He
will take out the hidden wealth from the breast of the earth and will
distribute it equitably amongst the needy deserving. He will teach you
simple living and high thinking. He will make you understand that
virtue is a state of character which is always a mean between the two
extremes, and which is based upon equity and justice. He will revive
the teaching of the Holy Qur'an and the traditions of the Holy Prophet after
the world has ignored them as dead letters.... He will protect and defend
himself with resources of science and supreme knowledge. His control over
these resources will be complete. He will know how supreme they are and how
carefully they will have to be used. His mind will be free from desires of
bringing harm and injury to humanity. Such a knowledge to him will be like the
property which was wrongly possessed by others and for which he was waiting
for the permission to repossess and use. He, in the beginning, will be like a
poor stranger unknown and uncared for, and Islam then will be in the hopeless
and helpless plight of an exhausted camel who has laid down its head and is
wagging its tail. With such a start he will establish an empire of God in this
world. He will be the final demonstration and proof of God's merciful wish
to acquaint man with the right ways of life."
- Islam (Shi'ih) -Nahjul Balagha, Khutba 141, 187
BUDDHIST
"I am not the first
Buddha who came upon earth, nor shall I be the last. In due time
another Buddha will arise in the world, a Holy One... He will reveal to
you the same eternal truths which I have taught you... He will proclaim a
religious life, wholly perfect and pure; such as I now proclaim."
-BUDDHA -The Gospel of Buddha
"...the venerable Sariputta questioned the Lord about the future Conqueror,
The Hero that shall follow you, The Buddha--of what sort will he be? I
want to hear of him in full. Let the Visioned One describe him. When he heard
the elder's speech the Lord spoke thus, I will tell you, Sariputta; listen to
my speech. In this auspicious aeon Three leaders there have been: Kakusandha,
Konagamana, and the leader Kassapa too. I am now the perfect Buddha; and there
will be Maitreya too before this same auspicious aeon runs to the end
of its years." -Buddhism -Anagata-vamsa
"In those days, brethren, there will arise in the world an Exalted One
named Metteya. He will be an Arahant, Fully Awakened, abounding in wisdom
and goodness, happy, with knowledge of the worlds, unsurpassed as a guide to
mortals willing to be led, a teacher for gods and men, an Exalted One, a
Buddha, even as I am now... The Law, lovely in its origin, lovely in its
progress, lovely in its consummation, will he proclaim, both in the spirit and
in the letter; the higher life will he make known, in all its fullness and in
all its purity, even as I do now. He will be accompanied by a congregation of
some thousands of brethren, even as I am now accompanied by a congregation of
some hundreds of brethren." -BUDDHA -Digha Nikaya iii.76, Chakkavatti
Sihanada Suttanta
"Listen attentively with one heart. A man whose spirit shines brightly, a
man whose mind is completely unified, a man whose virtue excels everyone--such
a man will truly appear in this world. When he preaches precious laws, all the
people will totally be satisfied as if the thirsty drink sweet drops of rain
from heaven. And each and every one will attain the path of liberation from
struggles." -Buddhism -Sutra of the Great Accomplishment of
the Maitreya
ZOROASTRIAN
"He shall be the
victorious Benefactor (Saoshyant) by name and World-renovator [Astavat-ereta]
by name. He is Benefactor because he will benefit the entire physical world;
he is World- renovator because he will establish the physical living
existence indestructible. He will oppose the evil of the progeny of the biped
and withstand the enmity produced by the faithful."
-Zoroastrianism -Avesta, Farvardin Yast 13.129
HINDU
"When the practices taught by
the Vedas and the institutes of law shall nearly have ceased, and the close of
the Kali age shall be nigh, a portion of that divine being who exists of his
own spiritual nature in the character of Brahma, and who is the beginning
and the end, and who comprehends all things, shall descend upon
the earth. He will be born as Kalki in the family of an eminent
brahmin of Sambhala village, endowed with the eight superhuman faculties. By
his irresistible might he will destroy all the barbarians and thieves, and all
whose minds are devoted to iniquity. He will then re-establish
righteousness upon earth; and the minds of those who live at the end of the
Kali age shall be awakened, and shall be as pellucid as crystal. The men who
are thus changed by virtue of that peculiar time shall be as the seeds of
human beings, and shall give birth to a race who shall follow the laws
of the Krita age, the Age of Purity." -Hinduism -Vishnu Purana
4.24
Babi
"I am one of the sustaining
Pillars of the Primal Word of God. Whosoever hath recognized Me... hath
attained all that is good and seemly."
"Well is it with him who fixeth his gaze upon the Order of
Baha'u'llah, and rendereth thanks unto his Lord. For he will
assuredly be made manifest. God hath indeed irrevocably ordained it..."
-the Bab -Tablet to the Shah, God Passes By,
p.25
BAHA'I
"The time fore-ordained
unto the people and kindreds of the earth is now come. The
promises of God as recorded in the holy Scriptures, have all been
fulfilled..."
"The Revelation which, from time immemorial hath
been acclaimed as the Purpose and Promise of all the prophets of God, and the
most cherished Desire of His Messengers, hath now, by virtue of the pervasive
Will of the Almighty and at His irresistible bidding, been revealed unto
men. The advent of such a Revelation hath been heralded in all the sacred
Scriptures. Behold how, notwithstanding such an announcement, mankind hath
strayed from its path and shut out itself from its glory..."
"Verily I say, this is the day in which mankind can behold the Face and
hear the Voice of the Promised One. The call of God hath been raised, and the
light of His countenance hath been lifted up upon men. It behooveth every
man to blot out the trace of every idle word from the tablet of his heart, and
to gaze, with an open and unbiased mind, on the signs of His Revelation, the
proofs of His Mission, and the tokens of His Glory."
-BAHA'U'LLAH -Baha'i World Faith, p.9-11