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The Messianic Kingdom
"I beheld therefore in the vision of the night, and 10, one like the son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and he came even to the Ancient of days, and they presented him before him. And he gave him power, and glory, and a kingdom, and all peoples, tribes and tongues shall serve him. His power is an everlasting power that shall not be taken away, and his kingdom that shall not be destroyed.
"My spirit trembled: I Daniel was affrighted at these things, and the visions of my head troubled me. I went near to one of them that stood by, and asked the truth of him concerning all these things. And he told me the interpretation of the words, and instructed me: These four great beasts are four kingdoms, which shall arise out of the earth. But the saints of the most high God shall take the kingdom, and they shall possess the kingdom forever and ever.
"After this I would diligently learn concerning the fourth beast, which was very different from all, and exceedingly terrible. His teeth and claws were of iron: he devoured and broke in pieces, and the rest he stamped upon with his feet; and concerning the ten horns that he had on his head; and concerning the other that came up, before which three horns fell; and of that horn that had eyes, and a mouth speaking great things, and was greater than the rest. I beheld, and 10, that horn made war against the saints, and prevailed over them, till the Ancient of days came and gave judgment to the saints of the Most High, and the time came, and the saints obtained the kingdom.
"And thus he said: The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be greater than all the kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces. And the ten horns of the same kingdom, shall be ten kings. And another shall rise up after them, and he shall be mighter than the former, and he shall bring down three kings. And he shall speak words against the High One, and shall crush the saints of the Most High; and he shall think himself able to change times and laws, and they shall be delivered into his hand until a time, and times, and half a time. (1) And judgment shall sit, that his power may be taken away, and be broken in pieces, and perish even to the end, and that the kingdom, and power, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, may be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all kings shall serve him, and shall obey him.
[size=medium] "Hitherto is the end of the word. I Daniel was much troubled with my thoughts, and my countenance was changed in me, but I kept the word in my heart." (7: 3-28).
c. "And out of one of them came forth a little horn: and it became great against the south, and against the east, and against the strength. And it was magnified even unto the strength of heaven: and it threw down of the strength, and of the stars, and trod upon them. And it was magnified even to the prince of the strength: and it took away from him the continual sacrifice, and cast down the place of his sanctuary. And strength was given him against the continual sacrifice, because of sins: and truth shall be cast down to the ground, and he sh.all do and shall prosper. And I heard one of the saints speaking, and one saint said to another, I know not to whom that was speaking: How long shall be the vision, concerning the continual sacrifice, and the sin of desolation that is made: and the sanctuary, and the strength be trodden under foot? And he said to him: Unto evening and morning two thousand three hundred days: and the sanctuary shall be cleansed ...
"And he said to me: I will show thee what things are to come to pass in the end of the malediction: for the time hath its end ...
"When iniquities shall be grown up, there shall arise n king of a shameless face, and understanding dark sentences. And his power shall be strengthened, but not by his own force: and he shall lay all things waste and shall prosper, and do more than can be believed. And he shall destroy the mighty, and the people of the saints, According to his will, and craft shall be successful in his hand: and his heart shall be puffed up, and in the abundance of all things he shall kill many: and he shall rise up against the prince of princes, and shall be broken without hand. And the vision of the evening and the morning, which was told, is true: thou therefore seal up the vision, because it shall come to pass after many days" (8: 9-26).
(1) Three years and a half, which is supposed to be the length of the duration or the persecution of Antichrist. (Bishop Challoner note) .
d. "Seventy weeks (1) are shortened upon thy people and upon thy holy city, that transgression may be finished, and sin may have an end, and iniquity may be abolished, and everlasting justice may be brought, and vision and prophecy may be fulfilled, and the Saint of saints may be anointed. Know thou therefore, and take notice: that from the going forth of the word (2) to build up Jerusalem again, unto Christ the prince, there shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; and the street shall be built again, and the walls in straitness of times. And after sixty-two weeks Christ shall b2 slain; and the people that shall deny him shall not be his, And a people with their leader (3) that shall come, shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall. be' waste, and after the end of the war the appointed desolation. And he shall confirm the covenant with many in one week, and in the half of the week (4) the victim and the sacrifice shall fail, and there shall be in the temple the abomination cf desolation. And the desolation shall continue even to the consummation, and to the end." (9: 24-27).
(1) That is, of years or seventy times seven, that is 490 years.
(2) That is from the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when by his commandment Nehemias rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem.
(3) The Romans under Titus.
(4) Because Christ preached three years and a half, and then by His sacrifice upon the Cross abolished all the sacrifices of the Law. The abomination of desolation: some understand this of the profanation of the temple by the crimes of the Jews, and by the bloody faction of the zealots; others think it refers to bringing the ensigns and standards of the pagan Romans to the temple. Others distinguish three different times of desolation: that under Antiochus, the destruction of the temple by the Romans, and the last near the end of the world under Antichrist. (Bishop Challoner note).
e. "And there shall stand up in his place one despised, (1) and the kingly honor shall not be given him, and he shall come privately, and shall obtain the kingdom by fraud ...
"The king shall do according to his will, and he shall be lifted up, and shall magnify himself against every god: and he shall speak great things against the God of gods, and shall prosper, till the wrath be accomplished. For the determination is made. And he shall make no account of the God of his fathers: and he shall follow the lust of women, and he shall not regard any gods: for he shall rise up against all things. But he shall worship the God Maozim in his place: and a god whom his fathers knew not, he shall worship with gold, and silver, and precious stones, and things of great price. And he shall do this to fortify Maozim with a strange god7 whom he hath acknowledged, and he shall iI1crease glory and shall give them power over many, and shall divide the land gratis.
"And at the time prefixed the king of the south shall fight against him, and the king of the north shall come against him like a tempest, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with a great navy, and he shall enter into the countries, and shall destroy, and pass through. And he shall enter into the glorious land, and many sh,all fall: and these only shall be saved out of his hand, Edom, and Moab, and the principality of the children of Ammon. And he shall lay his hand upon the lands: and the land of Egypt shall not escape. And he shall have power over the treasures of gold, and of silver, and all the precious things of Egypt: and he shall pass through Libya, and Ethiopia. And tidings out of the east, and out of the north shall trouble him: and he shall come with a great multitude to destroy and slay many. And he shall fix his tabernacle in Apadno between the seas, upon a glorious and holy mountain: and shall come even to the top thereof, and none shall help him" (11: 21, 36-45).
(1) Antiochus Epiphanes, who at first was despised and not received as king. What is here said of this prince, is regarded by St. Jerome and others to pre-figure Antichrist. (Bishop Challoner note).
f. "But (1) at that time shall Michael rise up, the great prince, who standeth for the children of thy people. And a time shall come such as never was from the time that nations began even until that time. And at that time shall thy people be saved, everyone that shall be found written in the book.
"And many of those that sleep in the dust of the earth, shall awake; some unto life everlasting, and others unto reproach, to see it always. But they that are learned shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and they that instruct many to justice, as stars for all eternity.
"But thou, 0 Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time appointed. Many shall p.ass over, and knowledge shall be manifold.
"And I Daniel looked, and behold as it were two others stood: one on this side upon the bank of the river, and another on that side, on the other bank of the river. And I said to the man that was clothed in linen, that stood upon the waters of the river: How long shall it be to the end of these wonders? And I heard the man that was clothed in linen, that stood upon the waters of the river, when he had lifted up his right hand, and his left hand to heaven, and had sworn, by him that liveth forever, that it should be unto a time, and times, and half a time. And when the scattering of the band of the holy people shall be accomplished, all these things shall be finished. And I heard, and understood not. And I said: 0 my Lord, what shall be after these things? And he said: Go, Daniel, because the words are Rhut up, and sealed until the appointed time. Many shall be chosen, and made white, and shall be tried as fire; and the wicked shall deal wickedly, and none of the wicked shall understand, but the learned shall understand. And from the time when the continual sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination unto desolation shall be set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred ninety days. Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh unto a thousand three hundred thirty-five days. But go thou thy ways until the time appointed, and thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot unto the end of the days.' '(12 :1-13).
213-216. The Minor Prophets
In the former book will be found the relative prophesies from Joel (14), Amos (15), Micheas (16), and Zacharias (17). Tbey deal with divine chastisements, false prophets and the reestablishment of Israel.
217. Malachias
"Behold I will send you Elias the prophet, before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers: lest I come, and strike the earth with anathema" (4: 5-6).
218. I Machabees
17. "Elias, while he was full of zeal for the law, was taken up into heaven" (1 Mac. 2: 58).
(1) Bishop Challoner heads this chapter of Daniel thus: (The Archangel) Michael shall stand up for the people of God: with other things relating to Antichrist. and the end of the world.
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The New Testament
In quoting this part of the Bible we have as a rule used the most recent and to our mind the best English version, namely the Confraternity or version issued by the Catholic Bishops of the United States. We shall change the arrangement of the prophesies somewhat so that those which fit together may be more readily understood.
Henoch and Elias In The New Testament
We do not give here the texts concerning these two unless they have a prophetic content, e.g. St. Luke, 4: 25-26; St. James 5: 17-18; Hebrews 11: 5.
It will be noted that the Gospels identify St. John the Baptist with the Elias that was to precede the coming of Christ, but in that case St. John merely typified the Elias that is to appear before Christ's second coming.
219. "Suddenly he saw an angel of the Lord, standing at the right of the altar where incense was burnt. Zachary was bewildered at the sight, and overcome with fear; but the angel said, Zachary, do not be afraid; thy prayer has been heard, and thy wife Elizabeth is to bear thee a son, to whom thou shalt give the name of John. Joy and gladness shall be thine, and many hearts shall rejoice over his birth, for he is to be high in the Lord's favour; he is to drink neither wine nor strong drink; and from the time when he is yet a child in his mother's womb he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost. He shall bring back many of the sons of Israel to the Lord their God, ushering in his advent in the spirit and power of an Elias. He shall unite the hearts of all, the fathers with the children, and teach the disobedient the wisdom that makes men just, preparing for the Lord a people fit to receive him" (Luke, 1: 5-17).
220a. "Whereas all the prophets and the .. law, before John's time, could only speak of things that were to come. And this I tell you, if you will make room for it in your minds, that he is that Elias whose coming was prophesied. Listen, you that have ears to hear with" (Matthew 11: 13-15) .
b. "And his disciples asked him, Tell us, why is it that the scribes say Elias must come before Christ? He answered, Elias must needs come and restore all things as they were; but I tell you this, that Elias has come already, and they did not recognize him, but misused him at their pleasure, just as the Son of Man is to suffer at their hands. Then the disciples understood that he had been speaking to them of John the Baptist" (Mathew 17: 10-13).
221. "And they asked him, Tell us, why do the Pharisees and scribes say Elias must come before Christ? He answered them, Elias must needs come and restore all things as they were; and now, what is written of the Son of Man? That he must be much ill-used, and despised. Elias too, I tell you, has already come, and they have misused him at their pleasure, as the scriptures tell of him" (Mark 9: 10-12).
222. "Of these, (Godless men) among others, Henoch was speaking, Adam's descendant in the seventh degree, when he prophesied, Behold, the Lord came with his saints in their thousands, to carry out his sentence on all men, and to convict the godless. Godless and sinners, with how many ungodly acts they have defied God, with how many rebellious words have they blasphemed him" (Jude 14-15).
223. "Then I was given a reed, shaped like a wand, and word came to me, Up, and measure God's temple, and the altar, and reckon up those who worship in it. But leave out of thy reckoning the court which is outside the temple; do not measure that, bec.ause it has been made over to the Gentiles, who will tread the holy city under foot for the space of forty-two months. Meanwhile I will give the power of prophecy to my two witnesses; for twelve hundred and sixty days they shall prophecy, dressed in sackcloth; these are the two olive-trees, the two candlesticks thou knowest of, that stand before him who is Lord of the earth. Does anyone try to hurt them? Fire will come out from their mouths and devour such enemies of theirs; that will be the end of all who try to do them hurt. These two have it in their power to shut the doors of heaven, and let no rain fall during the days of their ministry; they can turn the waters into blood, and smite the earth with any other plague, whenever they will. Then, when they have borne me witness to the full, the beast which comes up out of the abyss will make war on them, and defeat and kill them. Their bodies will lie in the open street, in that great city which is called Sodom or Egypt in the language of the prophecy; there, too, their Lord was crucified. For three days and a half, men of every tribe and people and language and race will gaze at their bodies, those bodies to which they refuse burial; and all who dwell on earth will triumph over them, and take their ease, and send presents to one another; such a torment were these two prophets to all that dwell on the earth. Then, after three and a half days, by God's gift the breath of life entered into them, and they rose to their feet, while great dread fell on all who watched them. Then they heard a loud voice from heaven, Come up to my side; and, while their enemies watched them, they went up, amid the clouds, to heaven. At that hour there was a great earthquake, which overthrew a tenth of the city; the count of those who were killed by the earthquake was seven thousand, and the rest were filled with dread, and acknowledged the glory of God in heaven' (Apoc. 11: 1-13).
224. St. Mathew On The Latter Days
a. "Yes, and you will be brought before governors and kings on my account, so that you can bear witness before them, and before the Gentiles. Only, when they hand you over thus, do not consider anxiously what you are to say or how you are to say it: words will be given you when the time comes; it is not you who speak, it is the Spirit of your Father that speaks in you. Brothers will be given up to execution by their brothers, and children by their fathers; children will rise up against their parents and will compass their deaths, and you will be hated by all men because you bear my name; that man will be saved, who endures to the last. Only, if they persecute you in one city, take refuge in another; I promise you, the Son of Man will come before your task with the cities of Israel is ended" (10: 18-23).
b. "Afterwards, while he was sitting down on Mount Olivet, the disciples came to him privately, and said, "Tell us, when will this be? And what sign will be given of thy coming, and of the world being brought to an end? Jesus answered them, Take care that you do not allow anyone to deceive you. Many will come making use of my name; they will say, I am Christ, and many will be deceived by it ...
"In those days, men will give you up to persecution, and will put you to death; all the world will be hating you because you bear my name; whereupon many will lose heart, will betray and hate one another. Many false prophets will arise, and many will be deceived by them; and the charity of most men will grow cold, as they see wickedness abound everywhere ...
c. "And now, when you see that which the prophet Daniel called the abomination of desolation, set up in the holy place (let him who reads this, recognize what it means), then those who are in Judaea must take refuge in the mountains; not going down to carry away anything from the house, if they are on the housetop; not going back to pick up a cloak, if they are in the fields. It will go hard with women who are with child, or have children at the breast, in those days; and you must pr.ay that your flight may not be in the winter, or on the sabbath day, for there will be distress then such as has not been since the beginning of the world, and can never be again. There would have been no hope left for any human creature, if the number of those days had not been cut short; but those days will be cut short, for the sake of the elect. At such time, if a man tells you, See, here is Christ, or, See he is there, do not believe him. There will be false Christs and false prophets, who will rise up and shew great signs and wonders, so that if it were possible, even the elect would be deceived ...
"Immediately after the distress of those days, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will refuse her light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven will rock ...
"So you, when you see all this come about, are to know that it is near, at your very doors ...
"And you too must stand ready; the Son of Man will come at an hour when you are not expecting him" (24: 3-44). cf. Mark 13 :14; Luke 21 :25 ff.
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225. St. Luke On The Latter Days
a. "Henceforward five in the same house will be found at variance, three against two and two against three; the father will be at variance with his son, and the son with his father, the mother against her daughter, and the daughter against her mother, the mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law" (12: 52-53).
b. "And to his own disciples he said, The time will come when you will long to enjoy for a day, the Son of Man's presence, and it will not be granted you. Men will be saying to you, See, he is here, or See, he is there; do not turn aside and follow them; the Son of Man, when his time comes, will be like the lightning which lightens from one border of heaven to the other. But before that, he must undergo many sufferings, and be rejected by this generation. In the days when the Son of Man comes, all will be as it was in the days of Noe; they ate, they drank, they married and were given in marriage, until the day when Noe ,vent into the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. So it was, too, in the days of Lot; they ate, they drank, they bought and sold, they planted and built; but on the day when Lot went out of Sodom, a rain of fire and brimstone came from heaven and destroyed them all. And so it will be, in the day when the Son of Man is revealed. In that day, if a man is on the house-top and his goods are in the house, let him not come down to take them with him; and if a man is in the fields, he too must beware of turning back. Remember Lot's wife. The man who tries to save his own life will lose it; it is the man who loses it that will keep it safe. I tell you, on that night, where two men are sleeping in one bed, one will be taken and the other left; where two women are grinding together, one will be taken and the other left. Then they answered him, Where, Lord? And he told them, It is where the body lies that the eagles gather" (17: 22-37). cf. Matt. 24: 37ff.
c. "But ah, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith left on the earth?" (18: 8).
d. "And they asked him, Master, when will this be? What sign will be given, when it is soon to be accomplished? Take care, he s.aid, that you do not allow anyone to deceive you. Many will come making use of my name; they will say, Here I am, the time is close at hand; do not turn aside after them. And when you hear of wars and revolts, do not be alarmed by it; such things must happen first, but the end will not come all at once. Then he told them, Nation will rise in arms against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be great earthquakes in this region or that, and plagues and famines; and sights of terror and great portents from heaven. Before all this, men will be laying hands on you and persecuting you; they will give you up to the synagogues, and to prison, and drag you into the presence of kings and governors on my account
"And Jerusalem will be trodden under the feet of the Gentiles, until the time granted to the Gentile nations has run out" (21: 7-24).
e. "Behold, a time is coming when men will say, It is well for the barren, for the wombs that never bore children, and the breasts that never suckled them. It is then that they will begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us, and to the hills, Cover us. If it goes so hard with the tree that is still green, what will become of the tree that is already dried up?'' (23: 29-31).
226. St. John's Gosple
a. "I have come in my Father's name, and you give me no welcome, although you will welcome some other, if he comes in his own name. How should you learn to believe, you who are content to receive honor from one another, and are not ambitious for the honour which comes from him, who alone is God 7" (5: 43-44).
b. "They will forbid you the synagogue; nay, the time is coming when anyone who puts you to death will claim that he is performing an act of worship to God; such things they will do to you, because they have no knowledge of the Father, or of me, And I have told you this, so that when the time comes for it to happen, you may remember that I told you of it" (16: 2-4).
227. St. Paul's Epistles
a. "Do not allow anyone to cheat you with empty promises; these are the very things which bring down God's anger on the unbelievers" (Eph. 5 :6).
b. "You must not allow anyone to cheat you by insisting on a false humility which addresses its worship to angels. Such a man takes his stand upon false visions; his is the ill-founded confidence that comes of hum3n speculation" (Col. 2: 18).
c. "But there is one entreaty we would make of you, brethren, as you look forward to the time when our Lord Jesus Christ will come, and gather us in to himself. Do not be terrified out of your senses all at once, and thrown into confusion, by any spiritual utterance, any message or letter purporting to come from us, which suggests that the day of the Lord is close at hand. Do not let anyone find the means of leading you astray. The apostasy must come first; the champion of wickedness must appear first, destined to inherit perdition. This is the rebel who is to lift up his head above every divine name, above all that men hold in reverence, till at last he enthrones himself in God's temple, and proclaims himself as God. Do not you remember my telling you of this, before I left your company? At present there is a power (you know what I mean) which holds him in check, so that he may not shew himself before the time appointed to him; meanwhile, the conspiracy of revolt is already at work; only, he who checks it now will be able to check it, until he is removed from the enemy's path. Then it is that the rebel will shew himself; and the Lord Jesus will destroy him with the breath of his mouth, overwhelming him with the brightness of his presence. He will come, when he comes, with all of Satan's influence to aid him; there will be no lack of power, of counterfeit signs and wonders; and his wickedness will deceive souls that are doomed, to punish them for refusing that fellowship in the truth which would have saved them. That is why God is letting loose among them a deceiving influence, so that they give credit to falsehood; he will single out for judgment all those who refused credence to the truth, and took their pleasure in wrongdoing" (2 Thes. 2: 1-11). cf. Eph. 6: 11 ff.
d. "We are expressly told by inspiration that, in later days, there will be some who abandon the faith, listening to false inspirations, and doctrines taught by the devils. They will be deceived by the prentensions of impostors, whose conscience is hardened as if by a searing-iron. Such teachers bid them abstain from marriage, and from certain kinds of food, although God has made these for the grateful enjoyment of those whom faith has enabled to recognize the truth. All is good that God has made, nothing is to be rejected; only we must be thankful to him when we partake of it" (1 Tim. 4: 1-4).
c. "It is for thee, Timothy, to keep safe what has been entrusted to thee, avoiding these new, intruding forms of speech, this quibbling knowledge that is knowledge only in name; there are those who profess them, and in professing them have shot wide of the mark which faith sets us. Grace be with thee, Amen" (1 Tim. 6: 20-21).
f. "Be sure of this, that in the world's last age there are perilous times coming. Men will be in love with self, in love with money, boastful, proud, abusive; without reverence for their parents, without gratitude, without scruple, without love, without peace; slanderers, incontinent, strangers to pity and to kindness; treacherous, reckless, full of vain conceit, thinking rather of their pleasures than of God. They will preserve all the outward form of religion, although they have long been strangers to its meaning. From these, too, turn away. They count among their number the men that will make their way into house after house, captivating weak women whose consciences are burdened by sin" (2 Tim. 3: 1-6).
g. "And indeed, all those who are resolved to live a holy life in Christ Jesus will meet with persecution; while the rogues and the mountebanks go on from bad to worse, at once imposters and dupes" (2 Tim. 3: 12-13).
h. "The time will surely come, when men will gro,v tired of sound doctrine, always itching to hear something fresh; and so they will provide themselves with a continuous succession of new teachers, as the whim takes them, turning a deaf ear to the truth, bestowing their attention on fables instead" (Tim. 4 :3-4).
i. "There are many rebellious spirits abroad, who talk of their own fantasies and lead men's minds astray; those especially who hold by circumcision; and they must be silenced. They will bring ruin on entire households by false teaching, with an eye to their own base profits. Why, one of themselves, a spokesman of their own, has told us, The men of Crete were ever liars, venomous creatures, all hungry belly and nothing besides; and that is a true account of them. Be strict, then, in taking them to task, so that they may be soundly established in the faith, instead of paying attention to these Jewish fables, these rules laid down for them by human teacher who will not look steadily at the truth" (Titus 1: 10-14).
228. St. Peter
"Remember always that in the last days mocking deceivers must needs come, following the rule of their own appetites, who will ask, What has become of the promise that he would appear? Ever since the fathers went to their rest, all is as it was from the foundation of the world. They are fain to forget how, long ago, heaven stood there, and an earth which God's word had made with water for its origin, water for its frame; and those were the very means by which the world, as it then was, came to perish overwhelmed by water. That same word keeps heaven and earth, as they now are, stored up, ready to feed the fire on the day when the godless will be judged, and perish. But one thing, beloved, you must keep in mind, that with the Lord a day counts as a thousand years, and a thousand years count as a day. The Lord is not being dilatory over his promise, as some think; he is only giving you more time, because his will is that all of you should attain repentance, not that some should be lost" (2 Peter 3: 3-9).
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229. St. John's Epistles
It is only in these two short missives that. the name Antichrist appears in Biblical literature. Moreover these are the earliest works in which that name is found. The very words of St. John, however, indicate that the Apostle did not coin the expression nor originate the idea. He says that his readers have already been told that Antichrist will come. In these epistles too we find the first clear indication that we are to distinguish between Antichrists of minor stature and the Antichrist.
a. "Not all prophetic spirits, brethren, deserve your credence; you must put them to the test, to see whether they come from God. Many false prophets have made their appearance in the world. This is the test by which God's Spirit is to be recognized; every spirit which acknowledges Jesus Christ as having come to us in human flesh has God for its author; and no spirit which would disunite Jesus comes from God. This is the power of Antichrist, whose coming you have been told to expect; now you must know that he is here in the world already. You, little children, who take your origin from God, have gained the mastery over it; there is a stronger power at work in you, than in the world. Those other, belonging to the world, speak the world's language, and the world listens to them; we belong to God, and a man must have knowledge of God if he is to listen to us; if he does not belong to God, he does not listen to us at all. That is the test by which we distinguish the true Spirit from the false spirit. Beloved, let us love one another; love springs from God; no one can love without being born of God, and knowing God. How can the man who has no love have any knowledge of God, since God is love? (1 John 4: 1-8).
b. "Many false teachers have appeared in the world, who will not acknowledge that Jesus Christ has come in human flesh; here is the deceiver you were warned against, here is Antichrist'' (2 John 7).
230. St. Jude
"What defilement there is in their banquets, as they fare sumptuously at your side, shepherds that feed themselves without scruple! They are clouds with no water in them, driven before the winds, autumn trees that bear no fruit, given over anew to death, plucked up by the roots; they are fierce waves of the sea, with shame for their crests, wandering stars, with eternal darkness and storm awaiting them. Of these, among others, Henoch was speaking, Adam's descendant in the seventh degree, when he prophesied, Behold, the Lord came with his saints in their thousands, to carry out his sentence on all men, and to convict the godless. Godless and sinners, with how many ungodly acts they have defied God, with how many rebellious words have they blasphemed him! Such men go about whispering and complaining, and live by the rule of their own appetites; meanwhile, their mouths are ready with fine phrases, to flatter the great when it serves their ends.
But as for you, beloved, keep in mind the warnings given you long since by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ; how they told you, that mocking spirits must needs appear in the last age, who would make their own ungodly appetites into a rule of life. Such are the men who now keep themselves apart; animal natures, without the life of the Spirit" (12-19).
231. The Apocalypse
As we have noted before the chief Biblical source of information on the reign of Antichrist is this last book by the Apostle St. John. In a way his work is a commentary on what the Old Testament, especially Daniel, has to say about the last days. But of course it is much more. It completes all the Biblical prophesies concerning events that had not yet happened when it was written, namely some sixty-five years after the death of Our Lord.
Many commentaries have been written on this last book of Sacred Scripture and it is without doubt the most difficult book to understand. This is quite natural. The prophet himself need not have understood and most likely did not understand anything more about the material than what he actually committed to writing. As a result there was very little that he could explain to his disciples by word of mouth so that they could form a traditional method of interpretation such as was the case with non-prophetic books.
This is about what one would expect. Most of the book had little or no message for the author or his contemporaries. It spoke to generations yet unborn just as had the Great Isaias, Jeremias and Daniel. When the generations for whom it was chiefly intended would come into being the true author of all true prophesy, the Holy Spirit, would in his own ways allow his elect to take from the text the knowledge that had from the beginning been concealed therein. In this then is to be found the reason why the magisterium of the Church which is based directly on tradition in all matters of doctrine and morals must depend largely on experience and the interpretation of signs when there is a question of unfulfilled or only partially fulfilled prophesy.
In choosing a commentary for reproduction in this book we have selected one written by a twentieth century personage, who seems to be a humble, realistic man and whose work is declared of Church Authority to contain nothing contrary to the Faith. It must, naturally, be remembered that most parts of his commentary, as well as those of other authors, are purely private opinions (1).
a. "Then, in my vision, he broke the sixth seal; and with that there was a great earthquake, and the sun grew dark as sackcloth, and the whole moon blood-red; the stars of heaven fell to earth, like unripe fruit shaken from a fig tree, when a high wind rocks it; the sky folded up like a scroll, and disappeared; no mountain, no island, but was removed from its place. The kings of the world with their noblemen and their captains, men of wealth and of strength, all alike, slaves and free men, took shelter in caves and rockfastnesses among the hills. Fall on us, they said to the hills and the rocks, and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the vengeance of the Lamb. Which of us can stand his ground, now that the great day, the day of their vengeance, has come? (6:12-17).
b. "And when the second angel sounded, it was as if a great mountain, all in flames, fell into the sea, turning a third part of the sea into blood, (cf. Ex. 7:20 ff) and killing a third of all the creatures that live in the sea, and wrecking a third of the ships. And when the third angel sounded, a great star fell from heaven, (cf. Is. 14-12) burning like a torch, fell upon a third part of the rivers, and on the springs of the water. The name of this star is Wormwood: (cf. Jer. 9:15) and it changed a third of the water into wormwood, till many died of drinking the water, so bitter had it become. And when the fourth angel sounded, a third of the sun and a third of the moon and a third of the stars were smitten with darkness, so that the day must go without light for a third of its length, and the night too. (cf. Ex. 10:21-23) And I heard, in my vision, words spoken by an eagle that flew across the middle part of heaven, crying aloud, Woe, woe, woe to all that dwell on earth, when those other calls are sounded by the three angels whose trumpets have yet to sound" (8:8-13).
c. "They were not to injure the grass on the land, the green things that grew there, or the trees; they were to attack men, such men as did not bear God's mark on their foreheads. These they had no power to kill, only to inflict pain on them during a space of five months; such pain as a man feels when he has been stung by a scorpion. (When those days come, men will be looking for the means of death, and there will be no finding it; longing to die, and death will always give them the slip). The semblance of these locusts was that of horses caparisoned for war; on their heads they wore a kind of circlet that shone like gold, and their faces were like human faces; they had their hair like women's hair, and teeth like lions' teeth. They wore breastplates that might have been of iron, and the noise of their wings was like the noise of chariots, drawn at full speed by many horses into battle. It was their tails and the stings in their tails that made them like scorpions, and with these they were empowered to do men hurt for a space of five months. And they fought under a king; their king was the angel of the abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, in Greek Apollyon, that is, in Latin, the Exterminator. Of the three woes that were pronounced, one is now past; the two others are still to come.
And when the sixth angel sounded, I heard a voice that came from the four corners of the golden altar which stands in the presence of God. It said to the sixth angel, as he stood there with his trumpet, Release the four angels who are imprisoned by the great river, the river Euphrates. So these were released, four angels who were awaiting for the year, the month, the day, the hour, when they were to destroy a third part of mankind. And the muster of the armies that followed them on horseback (for I heard their muster called) was twenty thousand armies of ten thousand. This is what I saw in my vision of the horses and of their riders; the riders had breastplates of fiery red, and blue, and brimstone yellow, and the horses' heads seemed like the heads of lions, with fire and smoke and brimstone coming out of their mouths. This fire, this smoke, this brimstone that came out of their mouths were three plagues, from which a third part of mankind perished. The power these horses have to do mischief lies in their mouths and in their tails; their tails are like serpents, with serpent's heads, and they use them to do hurt. The rest of mankind, that did not perish by these plagues, would not turn away from the things their own hands fashioned; still worshipped evil spirits, false gods of gold and silver and brass and stone and wood, that can neither see, nor hear, nor move. Nor would they repent of the murders, the sorceries, the fornications, and the thefts which they committed" (9 :4-21).
d. "And now I saw a second angel of sovereign strength coming down from heaven, with a cloud for his vesture, and a rainbow about his head; with a face bright as the sun, and feet like pillars of fire. He carried in his hand an open book. Setting his right foot on the sea, and his left on the dry land, he cried with a loud voice, like the roaring of a lion; and as he cried, the seven thunders of heaven made their voices heard. And I, when the seven thunders had finished their utterance, was making as if to write it down, when I heard a voice say from heaven, Do not write down the message of the seven thunders, keep it sealed. Then that angel, whom I had already seen with his feet on the sea and on the dry land, lifted up his right hand towards heaven, and swore an oath by him who lives through endless ages, who made heaven and all that is in heaven, earth and all that is on earth, the sea and all that is in the sea. He swore that there should be no more waiting; when the time came for the seventh angel to make himself heard, as he stood ready to sound his trumpet, God's secret design, made known by his servants the prophets, would be accomplished. Then once more I heard the voice speaking to me from Heaven, thus: Go and take the open book from the hand of that angel, whose feet are on the sea and on the dry land. So I went to the angel, bidding him give me the book. Take it, he said, and eat it; it will turn thy belly sour, though in thy mouth it be as sweet as honey. So I took the book from the angel's hand and ate it; it was sweet as honey in my mouth, but my belly turned sour once I had eaten it" (10-1-10).
c. "Then, when they have borne me witness to the full, the beast which comes up out of the abyss will make war on them, and defeat and kill them ...
"At that hour there was a great earthquake, which overthrew a tenth of the city; the count of those who were killed by the earthquake was seven thousand, and the rest were filled with dread, and acknowledged the glory of God in heaven (11:7-13).
f. "And now, in heaven, a great portent appeared; a woman that wore the sun for her mantle, with the moon under her feet, and a crown of twelve stars about her head. She had a child in her womb and was crying out as she travailed, in great pain of her delivery. Then a second portent appeared in heaven; a great dragon was there, fiery red, with seven heads and ten horns, and on each of the seven heads a royal diadem; his tail dragged down a third part of the stars in heaven, and flung them to earth. And he stood fronting the woman who was in child-birth, ready to swallow up the child as soon as she bore it. She bore a son, the son who is to herd the nations like sheep with a crook of iron; and this child of hers was caught up to God, right up to His throne, while the mother fled into the wilderness, where God had prepared a place of refuge for her, and there, for twelve hundred and sixty days, she is to be kept safe.
"Fierce war broke out in heaven, where Michael and his angels fought against the dragon. The dragon and his angels fought on their part, but could not win the day, or stand their ground in heaven any longer; the great dragon, serpent of the primal age, was flung down to earth, and his angels with him" (12: 1-9).
g. "Rejoice over it, heaven, and all you that dwell in heaven; but woe to you, earth and sea, now that the devil has come down upon you, full of malice, because he knows how brief is the time given him. So the dragon, finding himself cast down to earth, went in pursuit of the woman, the boy's mother; but the woman was given two wings, such as the great eagle has, to speed her flight into the wilderness, to her place of refuge, where for a year, and two years, and half a year she will be kept hidden from the serpent's view. Thereupon the serpent sent a flood of water out of his mouth in pursuit of the woman, to carry her away on its tide; but the earth came to the woman's rescue. The earth gaped wide, and swallowed up this flood which the dragon had sent cut of his mouth. So, in his spite against the woman, the dragon went elsewhere to make war on the rest of her children, the men who keep God's commandments, and hold fast to the truth concerning Jesus. And he stood there waiting on the sea beach" (12: 12-18).
h. "And out of the sea, in my vision, a beast came up to land, with ten horns and seven heads, and on each of its ten horns a royal diadem; and the names it bore on its heads were names of blasphemy. This beast which I saw was like a leopard, but it had bear's feet and a lion's mouth. To it the dragon gave the strength that was his, and great dominion. One of his heads, it seemed, had been mortally wounded, but this deadly wound had been healed. And now the whole world went after the beast in admiration, falling down and praising the dragon for giving the beast all this dominion; praising the beast too.
"Who is a match for the beast? they asked; Who is fit to make war upon him? And he was given power of speech, to boast and blaspheme with, and freedom to work his will for a space of forty-two months. So he began to utter blasphemy against God, blasphemy against his name, against his dwelling-place and all those who dwell in heaven. He was allowed, too, to levy war on the saints, and t~ triumph over them. The dominion given to him extended over all tribes and peoples and languages and races; all the dwellers on earth fell down in adoration of him, except those whose names the Lamb has written down in his book of life, the Lamb slain in sacrifice ever since the world was made.
"Listen to this, you that have ears to hear with. The captor will go into captivity; he who slays with the sword must himself be slain with the sword. Such good ground have the saints for their endurance. and for their faithfulness (13: 1-10).
i. "Then, from the land itself, I saw another beast come up; it had two horns like a lamb's horns, but it roared like a dragon. And it stood in the presence of the former beast, to carry out all that it was empowered to do, bidding the world and all its inhabitants worship the former beast, that beast whose deadly wound was healed. Such wonders could it accomplish, that it brought down fire, before men's eyes, from heaven to earth; and by these wonders, which it was enabled to do in its masters' presence, it deluded the inhabitants of the world, bidding those who dwell in it set up an image to that beast which was smitten with the sword, and lived. Further, it was able to put life into that beast's image, so that even the beast's image uttered speech; and if anyone refused to worship the image of the beast, it had him put to death. All alike, little and great, rich and poor, free men and slaves, must receive a mark from him on their right hands, or on their foreheads, and none might buy or sell, unless he carried this mark, which was the beast's name, or the number that stands for his name. Here is room for discernment; let the reader, if he has the skill, cast up the sum of the figures in the beast's name, after our human fashion, and the number will be six hundred and sixty-six" (13:11-18).
j. "And these were followed by a third angel, who cried aloud, Whoever worships the beast and his image, or wears the beast's mark on forehead or hand, he too shall drink; but the wine he shall drink is God's anger, untempered wine poured out in the cup of his vengeance. Fire and brimstone shall be his torment, in the presence of the holy angels, in the presence of the Lamb. The smoke of their torment goes up for ever and ever; day and night no rest is theirs, who worshipped the beast and his image, who bore the mark of his name" (14: 9-11).
k. "Then, in my vision, a white cloud appeared; and on this cloud sat one who seemed like a son of man, with a crown of gold on his head, and a sharp sickle in his hand. And now, from the-temple, came another angel, crying out to him who sat on the cloud, Put in thy sickle, and reap; the crop of earth is dry, and the time has come to reap it. So he who sat on the cloud put in his sickle, and earth's harvest was reaped-. Then another angel came from the heavenly temple; he too had a sharp sickle. And from the altar came another angel, the same that had power over the fire on it, and cried out to the angel with the sharp sickle, Put in thy sharp sickle, and gather the grapes from the earth's vineyard; its clusters are ripe. So the angel put in his sickle over the earth, and gathered in earth's vintage, which he drew into the great winepress of God's anger; and when the winepress was trodden out, away from the city, blood came from the winepress, and reached as high as a horse's bridle, sixteen hundred furlongs off" (14: 14-20).
l. "The first angel went on his errand, pouring out his cup on to the earth; whereupon an ulcer broke out, malignant and troublesome, upon all the men who bore the beast's mark, and worshipped his image. And the second angel poured out his cup over the sea, where it turned into blood, as if murder had been done there, till every living creature in the sea was dead. And the third poured out his cup over the rivers and the springs of water where it turned into blood. Then I heard the angel of the waters cry out, Holy thou art, 0 Lord, and wast ever holy, and this is a just award of thine, blood to drink for those who have shed the blood of thy saints and prophets; it is their due" (16: 2-6).
m. "The fourth angel poured out his cup over the sun, which thereupon was given the power to afflict mankind with burning heat; and in the great heat which burned them, men blasphemed the name of God, who disposes of these plagues, instead of repenting and giving praise to him. And the fifth angel poured out his cup where the beast's throne ~~as; and with that, all the beast's kingdom was turned into darkness, in which men sat biting their tongues in pain, finding cause to blaspheme the God of heaven in their pains and their ulcers, instead of finding cause for repentence in their ill deeds. And the sixth angel poured out his cup over the great river Euphrates, whose waters were dried up, to make a passage for the kings that march from the East.
''Then, in my vision, three unclean spirits appeared in the form of frogs; one from the mouth of the dragon, one from the mouth of the beast, and one from the mouth of the false prophet. These are the devilish spirits that can do miracles, and find access to all the kings of the world, bidding them meet in battle when the great day comes, the day of the almighty God. (Behold, I come as the thief comes; blessed is he that keeps watch, and is ready clad, so that he has no need to go naked, and be ashamed in men's sight) The place where they are bidden to meet is the place called in Hebrew, Armegedon." (16: 8-6).
n. "And the seventh angel poured out his cup over the air. Then a loud voice came out of the shrine, a voice which cried from the throne, It is over; and there were lightnings and mutterings and thunder, and a violent earthquake; since men came into the world there was never an earthquake so great and so violent as this. The great city broke in three pieces, while the cities of the heathen came down in ruins. And God did not forget to minister a draught of his wine, his avenging anger, to Babylon, the great city" (16: 17-19).
o. "And no\v one of the angels that bear the seven cups came and spoke to me. Come with me, he said, and I will show thee how judgment is pronounced on the great harlot, that sits by the meeting place of many rivers. The kings of the world have committed fornication with her; all the dwellers on earth have been drunk with the wine of her dalliance.
"Then, in a trance he carried me off into the wilderness, where I saw a woman riding on a scarlet beast, scrawled over with the names of blasphemy; it had seven heads and ten horns. The woman went clad in purple and scarlet, all hung about with gold and jewels and pearls, and held a golden cup in her hand, full to the brim with those abominations of hers, with the lewdness of her harlot's ways. There was a title written over her forehead, The mystic Babylon, great mother-city of all harlots, and all that is abominable on earth. I saw this woman drunk with the blood of saints, the blood of those who bore witness to Jesus; and I was filled with great wonder at the sight.
"But the angel said to me, Why dost thou find cause for wonder? I will disclose to thee the mystery of this woman, and of the beast she rides, with its seven heads and ten horns. The beast thou sawest is that which lived once, and now is dead; soon it must rise from the abyss, and find its way to utter destruction. The sight of this beast which lived once, and now is dead, will strike awe into every dweller on earth, except those whose names have been written, before the world was, in the book of life. Here is need for a discerning mind. These seven heads are seven hills; upon these the woman sits enthroned. They are also seven kings; of these, five have fallen already, one is reigning now; the last has not yet come, but when he does, his reign will be a short one. And the beast which lived once and now is dead must be reckoned as the eighth, yet it is one of the seven; now it is to find its way to utter destruction.
"And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, who have not yet received their royal title, but are to enjoy such power as kings have, for one hour, in succession to the beast. All of them have a single policy; they surrender to the beast the power and the dominion which is theirs. And they will fight against the Lamb, but the Lamb will have the mastery of them; he is Lord of all lords, King of all kings; whoever is called, is chosen, is faithful, will take his part.
"Then he told me, These waters in thy vision at whose meeting the harlot sits enthroned, are all her peoples, nations, and languages. And the ten horns, which the beast had in thy vision, will become the harlot's enemies; they will lay her waste, and strip her quite bare, eat her flesh away, and then burn what is left of her. God has put it into their hearts to carry out his design, and to give their dominion over to the beast, so that at last all the words of God may be fulfilled. And as for the woman of thy vision, she is that great city that bears rule over the rulers of the earth" (17:1-18).
p. "After this I saw another angel, entrusted with great power, come down from heaven; earth shone with the glory of his presence. And he cried aloud, Babylon, great Babylon is fallen; she has become the abode of devils, the stronghold of all unclean spirits, the eyrie of all birds that are unclean and hateful to man. The whole world has drunk the maddening wine of her fornication; the kings of the earth have lived in dalliance with her, and its merchants have grown rich through her reckless pleasures. And now I heard another voice from heaven, say, Come out of her, my people, that yo~ may not be involved in her guilt, nor share the plagues that fall upon her. Her guilt mounts up to heaven; the Lord has kept her sins in remembrance. Deal with her as she has dealt with you; repay her twice for all she has done amiss; brew double measure for her in the cup she has brewed for others; requite her with anguish and sorrow for all her pride and luxury. She tells herself, Here I sit enthroned like a queen, widowhood is not for me, I shall never know what it is to mourn; and all her plagues shall come upon her in one day, death and mourning and famine, and she will be burned to the ground; such power has the God who is her judge. How they will weep over her and beat their breasts, those kings of the earth who once lived in dalliance and took their pleasures with her, as they see the smoke rise where she burns! Standing at a distance, for fear of sharing her punishment, they will cry out, Alas, Babylon the great, alas, Babylon the strong, in one brief hour judgment has come upon thee!" (18:1-10).
q. "After this I heard, as it seemed, the voices of countless multitudes crying out in heaven, Alleluia; salvation and glory and power belong to our God; his sentence is ever true and just, and now he has given sentence against the great harlot, who poisoned the earth with her harlot's ways; now he has called her to account for the blood of his servants. And again they cried, Alleluia, the smoke of her burning goes up everlastingly" (19: 1-3).
r. "And then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth muster their armies, to join battle with the rider on the white horse and the army which followed him. The beast was made prisoner and with it the false prophet that did miracles in its presence, deluding all those who bore the beast's mark and worshipped its image; and both were thrown alive into the fiery lake that burns with brimstone. All the rest were slain by the sword of that horseman, the sword that comes from his mouth; and all the birds feasted royally on their flesh" (19: 19-21)
(1) This commentary will be found below under prophesy number 359. It may be well to read it in conjunction with the Sacred text, that is to read after each section of the text the section of the commentary that relates to it.
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CHAPTER II
EARLIEST PRIVATE PROPHESY
Introductory Remarks
In dividing the prophetic texts into Scriptural and non-Scriptural instead of Scriptural, Patristic and Private prophesies we have been influenced by the Theologians who claim that there are very few notions about Antichrist on which the Fathers of the Church agree. Since such is the case we must consider all that matter on which they disagree or seem to disagree as private interpretation of Scriptural prophesy and therefore as open to question.
The fact, however, that the sayings of the Fathers, which in fact have the value of Tradition, are found in this section is not to be taken to mean any disrespect on our part. We have chosen for the reason given above and for convenience to put all non-Scriptural prophesy in chronological order. Our readers will readily distinguish the ideas on which all agree from those which are controverted or at least expressed by only one or other prophet or commentator.
Likewise we have put all texts on one level, so to speak: Those who do not claim the gift of prophesy and those who do, those who most certainly merit our attention and those of quite doubtful nature. This too is necessitated not only by convenience but by the fact that our purpose is to give our readers all the texts we could lay our hands on so that within the compass of one book it would be possible for all to survey at first hand the thinking of the whole Christian world on the Antichrist through the ages. We have only this caution to add: Be very careful not to put great faith in statements of a private nature eminating from only one source unless you have the proper Ecclesiastical guarantee that the source in question merits special credence.
We have deliberately omitted the ravings of the 16th and 17th Century fanatics who wasted much good paper trying to absolve themselves by making the papacy Antichrist. Even all their own followers have long since repudiated their bigotry. And likewise we omit the rantings of certain sect leaders of our own day who try to revive the papal Antichrist legend by choosing some letters alleged to be on the tiara and omitting others. L,et us take all or none.
We finally consign to the ash can the trash ground out on sectarian presses which chooses dates for the second coming of Christ and changes them as the fixed dates arrive. We even turn a deaf ear to sectarian speeches which put the Second Coming just around the corner and the preachers and their flock in white robes waiting with outstretched arms while the rest of mankind are gathered up by the Avenger. The reason is evident: God has reserved for himself a knowledge of exact dates and we believe even of approximate times. Signs he tells us, he will give, Signs which the elect alone, but all the elect, high and low, will recognize. So let us be content to do exactly as He says "Watch and pray, for ye know not the day nor the hour."
Jewish Apocrapha
233. Book of Enoch (170 B.C.)
a. "The Lord said unto Michael: Go, bind Semjaza and his associates who have united themselves with women so as to have defiled themselves with them in all their uncleanness. And when their sons have slain one another, and they have seen the destruction of their beloved ones, bind them fast for seventy generations in the valleys of the earth, till the day of their judgment and of their consummation, till the judgment that is forever and ever is consummated. In those days they shall be led to the abyss of fire: (and) to the torment and the prison in which they shall be confined forever. And whosoever shall be condemned and destroyed will from henceforth be bound together with them to the end of all generations. And destroy all the spirits of the reprobate and the children of the Watchers, because they have wronged mankind. Destroy all wrong from the face of the earth and let every evil work come to an end: and let the plant of righteousness and truth appear: and it shall prove a blessing; the works of righteousness and truth shall be planted in truth and joy for evermore (10: 11-16) .
b. "Enoch was hidden, and no one of the children of men knew where he was hidden ... His activities had to do with the Watchers and his days were with the holy ones ..."(12: 1).
c. "And Enoch was raised aloft on the chariots of the spirit and his name vanished among them ..." (70: 1, 2).
d. "When sin and righteousness, blasphemy and violence and all kind of deeds increase, and apostasy in transgression and uncleanness increase, a great chastisement shall come from heaven" (91: 7) .
e. "I was born the seventh in the first week, while justice reigned yet upon the earth. "And after me, in the second week will come a great evil (the deluge) and in that week the first consummation will take place. Then one man will be saved. And after this week, injustice will again grow.
"And then, in the third week, towards its end, a man shall be chosen, (Abraham) as a plant of just judgment, and he will then grow as a plant in justice for all eternity.
"Then, in the fourth week, towards its end, the visions of the holy and just will appear, and a law for all generations, and an ark (enclos?) shall be prepared for them.
"Then, in the fifth week, towards its end, a House of Glory and domination shall be built for eternity.
"Then, in the sixth week, those who live in that time shall be all blinded and their hearts shall fall into iniquity, far from wisdom, and then, a Man will ascend to Heaven; and at the end of this week the house of domination shall be destroyed by fire, and the race of the powerful root shall be dispersed.
"Then, in the seventh week, a perverse generation shall arise, - many will be their works, but all shall be works of abomination. And at the end of this week the just branches of the plant of just shall be chosen, for the end that the science of God's Creation shall be given them a hundred-fold - for who is the child of man who can hear the voice of the Holy One without being moved, and who can think His thoughts, and who can contemplate all the works of heaven ? Who is he who can see the heavens, and who is he that may know the works of heaven? And how could he see a soul or a spirit, and how could he speak of such, how could he rise to see their workings or act as they do? And who is the child of man who may know the length or the breadth of heaven, or upon what base it is founded, how great is the number of stars and where they rest, the lights of heaven.
"Then there will be another week, the eighth. This week shall be that of justice, and a sword shall be given (to justice?) that judgment may be accomplished and the oppressors and the sinners will be broken by the hands of the just, and towards the end of this week, the just shall acquire dwelling-places because of their justice, and a house shall be erected for the great King, of an eternal splendor.
"And after this, in the ninth week, the judgment of the just shall be unveiled to all men, throughout the universe, and all the works of the impious shall disappear from the earth and the number inscribed for perdition, and all men shall see the path of righteousness.
"And then, in the tenth week, at its seventh part, will take place the great eternal Judgment. He shall exercise judgment and vengeance amid the angels. And then the first heaven shall disappear and pass away, and a new heaven will appear, and all the powers of heaven shall shine eternally, seven times greater, and after this week shall come weeks, numerous weeks, which shall pass on, innumerable, and eternal, for kindness and justice, and from thence, sin will be no longer named forever." (93: 1-14; 91: 12-17).
f. "Woe to you, ye rich, for ye have trusted in your riches, and from your riches shall ye depart, because ye have not remembered the Most High in the days of your riches."
g. "Woe to you who work godlessness, and glory in lying and extol them: ye shall perish, and no happy life shall be yours. Woe to them who pervert the words of uprightness, and transgress the eternal law, and transform themselves into what they were not (into sinners): they shall be trodden under foot and upon the earth. In those days make ready, ye righteous, to raise your prayers as a memorial, and place them as a testimony before the angels, that they may place the sin of the sinners for a memorial before the Most High. In those days the nations shall be stirred up, and the families of the nations shall arise on the day of destruction. And in those days the destitute shall go forth and carry off their children, and they shall abandon them, so that their children shall perish through them: Yea, they shall abandon their children (that are still) sucklings, and not return to them, and shall have no pity on their beloved ones. And again I swear to you, ye sinners, that sin is prepared for a day of unceasing bloodshed. And they who worship stones, and grave images of gold and silver and wood (and stone) and clay, and those who worship impure spirits and demons and all kinds of idols not according to knowledge, shall get no manner of help from them. And they shall become godless by reason of the folly of their hearts, and their eyes shall be blinded through the fear of their hearts and through visions in their dreams. Through these they shall become godless and fearful; for they shall have wrought all their work in a lie, and shall have worshipped a stone: therefore in an instant shall they perish. But in those days blessed are all they who accept the words of wisdom, and understand them, and observe the paths of the Most High, and walk in the path of His righteousness, and become not godless with the godless; for they shall be saved. Woe to you who spread evil to your neighbors; for you shall be slain in Sheol. Woe to you who make deceitful and false measures, and (to them) who cause bitterness on the earth; for they shall thereby be utterly consumed. Woe to you who build your houses through the grievous toil of others, and all their building materials are the bricks an(; stones of sin; I tell you ye shall have no peace. Woe to them who reject the measure and eternal heritage of their fa1 hers and whose souls follow after idols; for they shall have no rest. Woe to them who work unrighteousness and help oppression, and slay their neighbors until the day of the great judgment. For He shall cast down your glory, and bring affliction on your hearts, and shall arouse His fierce indignation and destroy you all with the sword; and all the Holy and righteous shall remember your sins" (99: 1-16).
h. "And in those days in one place the fathers together with their sons shall be smitten and brothers one with another shall fall in death till the streams flow with their blood. For a man shall not withhold his hand from slaying his sons and his sons' sons, and the sinner shall not withhold his hand from his honoured brother; from dawn till sunset they shall slay one another. And the horse shall walk up to the breast in the blood of sinners, and the chariot shall be submerged to its height. In those days the angels shall descend into the secret places and gather together into one place all those who brought down sin, and the Most High will arise on that day of judgment to execute great judgment amongst sinners" (100 :1-4).
i. "Sinners will alter and pervert the words of righteousness in many ways, and will speak wicked words, and lie, and practice great deceits, and write books concerning their words" (104: 10).
j. "Another book . . . Enoch wrote for his son Mathusala and for those who will come after him, and keep the law in the last days. Ye who have done good shall wait for those days till an end is made of those who work evil, and an end of the might of the transgressors. And wait ye indeed till sin has passed away, for their names shall be blotted cut of the book of life and out of the holy books, and their seed shall be destroyed forever, and their spirits shall be slain, and they shall cry and make lamentation in a place that is a chaotic wilderness, and in the fire shall they burn; for there is no earth there" (108: 1-3).
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234. Book of Jubilees (105 B.C.)
"And Enoch was the first among men that are born on earth who learnt writing and knowledge and wisdom and who wrote down the signs of heaven according to the order of their months in a book, that men might know the seasons of the years.
"And what was and what will be he saw in a vision of his sleep, as it will happen to the children of men throughout their generations until the day of judgment; he saw and understood everything, and wrote his testimony, and placed the testimony on earth for all the children of men ...
"And he was taken from amongst the children of men,and we conducted him into the Garden of Eden in majesty and honour, and behold there he writes down the condemnation and judgment of the world, and all the wickedness of the children of men. And on account of it (God) brought the waters of the flood upon all the land of Eden; for there he was set as a sign and that he should testify against all the children of men, that he should recount all the deeds of the generations until the day of condemnation.
"Enoch's office was ordained for a testimony to the generations of the world, so that he should recount all the deeds of generation unto generation, till the day of judgment" (4: 17-24).
235. Book of the Secrets of Enoch (cir. 25 A.D.)
a. "It came to pass, when Enoch had told his sons, that the angels took him on to their wings and bore him up on to the first heaven and placed him on the clouds. And there I looked, and again I looked higher, and saw the ether, and they placed me on the first heaven and showed me a very great sea, greater than the earthly sea." (3: 1-3).
b. "And I fell prone and bowed down to the Lord, and the Lord with his lips said to me: 'Have courage, Enoch, do not fear, arise and stand before my face into eternity.' And the archistratege Michael lifted me up, and led me to before the Lord's face. And the Lord said to his servants tempting them: 'Let Enoch stand before my face into eternity,' and the glorious ones bowed down to the Lord, and said: 'Let Enoch go according to Thy word.' And the Lord said to Michael: 'Go and take Enoch from out his earthly garments, and anoint him with my sweet ointment, and put him into the garments of My glory.' And Michael did thus, as the Lord told him. He anointed me, and dressed me, and the appearance of that ointment is more than the great light, and his ointment is like sweet dew, and its smell mild, shining like the sun's ray, and I looked at myself, and was like one of his glorious ones. And the Lord summoned one of his archangels by name Pravuil, whose knowledge was quicker in wisdom than the other archangels, who wrote all the deeds of the Lord; and the Lord said to Pravuil: 'Bring out the books from my store-houses, and a reed of quick writing, and give it to Enoch, and deliver to him the choice and comforting books out of thy hand'." (22: 4-12).
e. "When Enoch had talked to the people, the Lord sent out darkness on to the earth, and there was darkness, and it covered those men standing and talking with Enoch, and they took Enoch up on to the highest heaven, where the Lord is; and he received him and placed him before his face, and the darkness went off from the earth, and light came again. And the people saw and understood not how Enoch had been taken, and glorified God, and found a roll in which was traced: 'the invisible God,' and all went to their homes ... He was taken up to heaven on the first day of the month of Tsivan and remained in heaven sixty days. He wrote all these signs of all creation, which the Lord created, and wrote three hundred and sixty-six books, and handed them over to his sons and remained on earth thirty days, and was again taken up to heaven on the sixth day cf the month of Tsivan ... All the sons of Enoch, made haste, and erected an altar at the place called Achuzan, whence and where Enoch had been taken up to heaven. And they took sacrificial oxen and summoned all people and sacrificed the sacrifice before the Lord's face. All people, the elders of the people and the whole assembly came to the feast and brought gifts to the sons of Enoch. And they made a great feast, rejoicing and making merry three days, praising God, who had given them such a sign through Enoch, who had found favour with him, and that they should hand it on to their sons from generation to generation, from age to age" (67: 1-68: 7).
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236. IV Esdras (1st Century A.D.)
a. "The Day of Judgment is decisive, and displays unto all the seal of truth. None shall pray for another on that Day, neither shall one lay a burden on another; for then everyone shall bear his own righteousness or unrighteousness. And I answered and said: How is it that we now find that Elias prayed for those who received the rain, and for the dead, that he might live? And he answered me and said: The present age is not the End; the glory of God abides not therein continuously: therefore have the strong prayed for the weak. But the Day of Judgment shall be the end of this age and the beginning of the eternal age that is to come."
b. "Concerning the signs of the end: Behold, the days come when the inhabitants of the earth shall be seized with great panic, and the way of truth shall be hidden, and the land be barren of faith. And iniquity shall be increased above that which thou thyself now seest or that thou hast heard of long ago. And the land that thou seest now to bear rule shall be a pathless waste; and men shall see it forsaken: if the Most High grant thee to live, thou shalt see it after the third (period) in confusion. Then shall the sun suddenly shine forth by night and the moon by day; and blood shall trickle forth from wood, and the stone utter its voice: The peoples shall be in commotion, the movements (?) (of the stars) shall change, and one whom the dwellers upon earth do not look for shall wield sovereignty, and the birds shall take to general flight, and the sea shall cast forth its fish. And one whom the many do not know will make his voice heard by night; and all shall hear his voice. And the earth o'er wide regions shall open, and fire burst forth for a long period: The wild beasts shall desert their haunts, and women bear monsters. (And one-year old children shall speak with their voices; pregnant women shall bring forth untimely births at three or four months, and these shall live and dance. And suddenly shall the sown places appear unsown, and the full storehouse shall suddenly be found empty.) Salt waters shall be found in the sweet; friends shall attack one another suddenly. Then shall intelligence hide itself, and wisdom withdraw to its chamber -by many shall be sought and not found. And unrighteousness and incontinency shall be multiplied upon the earth. One land shall also ask another and say: Is Righteousness -that doeth the right -passed through thee? And it shall answer, No. And it shall be in that time men shall hope and not obtain, shall labour and not prosper" (5: 1-12).
c. "Behold the days come, and it shall be, when I am about to draw nigh t3 visit the dwellers upon earth, and when I require from the doers of iniquity (the penalty of) their iniquity; (and when the humiliation of Sion shall be complete,) and when the Age which is about to pass away shall be sealed then (will I show these signs)" (6: 18-20).
d. "Measure (the matter) carefully in thy mind, and when thou seest that a certain part of the predicted signs are past, then shalt thou understand that it is the very time when the Most High is about to visit the world which he has made. When in the world there shall appear quakings of places, tumult of peoples, scheming of nations, confusion of leaders, disquietude of princes, then shalt thou understand that it is of these things the Most High has spoken since the days that were aforetime from the beginning. For just as with respect to all that has happened in the world the beginning is obscure (?) but the end (issue) manifest, so also are the times of the Most High: the beginnings are
(visible) in portents and secret signs, and the end in effects and marvels"
e. "In the last days thereof the Most High will raise up three kings; and they shall change many things therein, and shall exercise lordship over the earth and over the dwellers therein with much oppression, above all those that were before them. Therefore are they called the heads of the eagle: for these are they that shall bring to a head his wickedness, and consummate his last end. And whereas thou didst see that the great head disappeared - one of them shall die upon his bead, but yet with pain. But as for the two who remain the sword shall devour them. For the sword of the one shall devour him that was with him; nevertheless this one also shall fall by the sword in the last days. And whereas thou didst see two under-wings passing over to the head that is upon the right side; this is the interpretation: These are they whom the Most High hath kept for his (i.e. the eagle's) end; and their rule shall be short and full of uproar, as thou hast seen. And as for the lion whom thou didst see roused from the wood and roaring, and speaking to the eagle and reproving him for his unrighteousness and all his deeds, as thou hast heard: This is the Messiah whom the Most High hath kept unto the end (of the days, who shall spring from the seed of David, and shall come and speak) unto them; he shall reprove them for their ungodliness, rebuke them for their unrighteousness, reproach them to their faces with their treacheries. For at the first he shall set them alive for judgment; and when he hath rebuked them he shall destroy them" (12: 23-33).
f. "These are the interpretations of the vision: Whereas thou didst see a Man coming up from the heart of the Sea: this is he whom the Most High is keeping many ages (and) through whom he will deliver his creation and the same shall order the survivors. And whereas thou didst see that out of his mouth there came wind, and fire, and storm; and whereas he held neither spear, nor any warlike weapon, but destroyed the assault of that multitude which had come to fight against him -this is the interpretation: (Behold, the days come when the Most High is about to deliver them that are upon earth. And there shall come astonishment of mind upon the dwellers on earth: and they shall plan to war one against another, city against city, place against place, people against people, and kingdom against kingdom. And it shall be when these things shall come to pass, and the signs shall happen which I showed thee before, then shall my Son be revealed whom thou didst see as a Man ascending). It shall be, when all the nations hear His voice, every man shall leave his own land and the warfare which they have one against another; and an innumerable multitude shall be gathered together, as thou didst see, desiring to come and to fight against him. But he shall stand upon the summit of Mount Sion. (And Sion shall come and shall be made manifest to all men, prepared and builded, even as thou didst see the mountain cut without hands. But he, my Son, shall reprove the nations that are come for their ungodliness -which things (Le., the rebukes) are like unto a storm-; and shall reproach them to their face with their evil thoughts and with the tortures with which they are destined to be tortured -which are compared unto a flame -; and then shall he destroy them without labour by the Law which is compared unto fire" (13 :25-38).
g. "For still worse evils than those which thou hast seen happen shall yet take place. For the weaker the world grows through age, so much the more shall evils increase upon the dwellers on earth. Truth shall withdraw further off, and falsehood be right at hand: for already the Eagle is hastening to come whom thou sawest in vision" (14: 15-17) .
237. II Baruch (1st Century A.D.)
a. "God answered and said unto me: 4Into twelve parts is that time (end) divided, and each one of them is reserved for that which is appointed for it ... In the eighth part a multitude of spectres and attacks of Shedim., And in the ninth part the fall of fire. And in the tenth part rapine and much oppression. And in the eleventh part wickedness and unchastity. And in the twelfth part confusion from the mingling together of all those things aforesaid. For these parts of that time are reserved, and shall be mingled one with another and minister one to another. For some shall leave out some of their own, and receive (in its stead) from others, and some complete their own and that of others, so that those may not understand who are upon the earth in those days that this is the consummation of the times". (27: 1-15).
b. "For that time shall arise which brings affliction; for it shall come and pass by with quick vehemence1 and it shall be turbulent coming in the heat of indignation. And it shall come to pass in those days that all the inhabitants of the earth shall be moved one against another, because they know not that My judgment has drawn nigh. For there shall not be found many wise at that time, and the intelligent shall be but a few; Moreover, even those who know shall most of all be silent. And there shall be many rumours and tidings not a few, and the doings of phantasmata shall be manifest, and promises not a few be recounted, some of them shall prove idle, and some of them shall be confirmed. And honour shall be turned into shame, and strength humiliated into contempt, and probity destroyed, and beauty· shall become ugliness. And many shall say to many at that time: 'Where hath the multitude of intelligence hidden itself, and whither hath the multitude of wisdom removed itself?' And whilst they are meditating these things, then envy shall arise in those who had not thought aught of themselves and passion shall seize him that is peaceful, and many shall be stirred up in anger to injure many, and they shall rouse up armies in order to shed blood, and in the end they shall perish together with them. And it shall come to pass at the self-same time, that a change of times shall manifestly appear to every man, because in all those times they polluted themselves and they practiced oppression, and walked every man in his own works, and remembered not the law of the Mighty One. Therefore a fire shall consume their thoughts, and in flame shall the meditations of their reins be tried: for the Judge shall come and will not tarry. Because each of the inhabitants of the earth knew when he was transgressing. But My law they knew not by reason their pride. But many shall then assuredly weep, Yea, over the living more than over the dead. And I answered and said: "O Adam, what hast thou done to all those who are born from thee?' And what will be said to the first Eve who hearkened to the serpent? For all this multitude are going to corruption, nor is there any numbering of those whom the fire devours" (48: 31-43).
c. "Behold! the days come, and it shall be when the time of the age has ripened, and the harvest of its evil and good seeds has come, that the Mighty One will bring upon the earth and its inhabitants and upon its rulers perturbation of spirit and stupor of heart. And they shall hate one another, and provoke one another to fight" (2 Bar. 70: 2-3).
d. "And when those things which were predicted have come to pass, then shall confusion fall upon all men, and some of them shall fall in battle, and some of them shall perish in anguish, and some of them shall be destroyed by their own. Then the Most High will reveal those peoples whom He has prepared before, and they shall come and make war with the leaders that shall then be left. And it shall come to pass that whosoever gets safe out of the war shall die in the earthquake, and whosoever gets safe out of the earthquake shall be burned by the fire, and whosoever gets safe out of the fire shall be destroyed by famine ... For all the earth shall devour its inhabitants" (70: 6-10).
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238. Martyrdom of Isaias (1st Century A.D.)
"The angel of lawlessness, who is the ruler of this world, is Beliar, whose name is Matanbuchus. And he delighted in Jerusalem because of Manasseh, and he made him strong in apostatizing and in the lawlessness which was spread abroad in Jerusalem. And witchcraft and magic increased and divination and auguration, and fornication (and adultery), and the persecution of the righteous by Manassen and (Belachira, and) Tobia the Canaanite, and John of Anathoth, and by (Zadok) the chief of the works. And the rest of the acts, behold they are written in the book of the Kings of Judah and Israel. And when Isaiah the son of Amoz saw the lawlessness which was being perpetrated in Jerusalem and the worship of Satan and his wantonness, he withdrew from Jerusalem and settled in Bethlehem of Judah" (2 :4b-6)
239. Testament of Abraham (1st Century A.D.)
"He that bears witness here is the teacher of heaven and earth, and the scribe of righteousness, Enoch, for the Lord sent him hither to write down the sins and righteousness of each one. Abraham said, And hew can Enoch bear the weight of the souls, not having seen death? or how can he give sentence to all the souls? Michael said, If he gives sentence concerning the souls, it is not permitted; but Enoch himself does not give sentence, but it is the Lord who does so, and he has no more to do than only to write. For Enoch prayed to the Lord saying, I desire not, Lord, to give sentence on the souls, lest I be grievous to anyone; and the Lord said to Enoch, I shall command thee to write down the sins of the soul that makes atonement and it shall enter every breath and every creature. But the third time they shall be judged by the Lord God of all, and then, indeed, the end of that judgment is near, and the sentence terrible, and there is none to deliver"
240. Testament of Isaias (1st Century A.D.)
"In the last times your sons will forsake singleness and will cleave unto insatiable desires; and leaving guilelessness will draw near to malice; and forsaking the commandments of the Lord they will cleave unto beliar (Satan) ; and leaving husbandry they will follow after their own wicked devices" (6: 1 ss).
241. Revelation oj Esdras (1st Century A.D.)
"God said: 'First I will make an earthquake for the fall of four-footed beasts and of men; and when you see that brother gives up brother to death, and that children shall rise up against their parents, and that a woman forsakes her own husband, and when nation shall rise up against nation in war, then you will know that the end is near. For then neither brother pities brother, nor man wife, nor children parents, nor friends friends, nor a slave his master, for he who is the adversary of men shall come up from Tartarus (Hell), and shall show men many things."
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