The Culmination of Eschatological Signs – Manifestation of God’s Law

The Culmination of Eschatological Signs – Manifestation of God’s Law

Humanity’s Brightest Hour

The function of Abrahamic eschatology stresses leadership. As symbols Belial, The Antichrist and Ad-Dajjal characterize dark cynical rebellion against divine leadership and God’s laws. In the Abrahamic traditions, the erroneous faith in these systems is demonstrated by the dilapidation of the world and the appearance and triumph of the messianic figure known as Moshiach, the Messiah and al-Mahdi. In the context of Islamic eschatology, both Jesus the Messiah and The Awaited Imam Mahdi play a role in the transfiguration of a lawless world into a rightly guided one.

A salient characteristic of Abrahamic eschatological signs is the messianic campaign to destroy lawlessness; replace anarchy with order or Law. Each tradition focuses upon the manifestation of the divine statutes or right governance as the culmination of creation - the brightest hour. For instance, according to Jewish tradition the Moshiach (the Hebrew word meaning ‘anointed one’) the legitimate or divinely chosen leader of Judaism will rejuvenate and invigorated the principles of Torah among the Nation of Israel by encouraging Torah’s highest standards.

Therefore, the ‘End of Days' as understood in Judaism speaks of the end of the days of Belial – when “government will turn atheist and there will be no protest. Truth will vanish.” Sanhedrin 97a, Sotah, 49b. The coming of the Moshiach represents the restoration of God’s dominion and leadership, “And the lord shall be king over all the earth; in that day there shall be one Lord with one name.” Zechariah 14:9.

Jewish tradition supported by Biblical prophecy describes how the Moshiach (a completely human ruler i.e. he will not possess any supernatural or divine qualities) will bring the Jews back to observation of the Torah- they return to their yoke. The seminal Jewish Philosopher Moses Maimonides states in Hilchos Melachim - "The Laws Concerning Kings" from his well-known work the Mishneh Torah:

“If a king will arise from the House of David who delves deeply into the study of the Torah and, like David his ancestor, observes its mitzvos as prescribed by the Written Law and the Oral Law; if he will compel all of Israel to walk in [the way of the Torah] and repair the breaches [in its observance]; and if he will fight the wars of G-d; - we may, with assurance, consider him Mashiach.”



The Moshiach will reestablish the Sanhedrin or Rabbinical court to correctly administer and oversee Jewish Law for the People of Israel. However, the Moshiach will not govern the world. Rather he will lead or inspire the world to achieve its zenith along side with his own community.

The Messiah will be a very great king, he will achieve great fame, and his reputation among the gentile nations will be even greater than that of King Solomon. His great righteousness and the wonders that he will bring about will cause all peoples to make peace with him


The Sages and prophets did not yearn for the Messianic Era in order that [the Jewish people] rule over the entire world, nor in order that they have dominion over the gentiles, nor that they be exalted by them, nor in order that they eat, drink and celebrate. Rather, their aspiration was that [the Jewish people] be free [to involve themselves] in Torah and its wisdom, without anyone to oppress or disturb them, and thus be found worthy of life in the World to Come


The Torah has stressed not only to the Jews, but to the other nations of the world as well, that Judaism serves humankind by being ‘a lamp unto the world’. The 613 commandments or laws found in the Torah, do not represent the laws for all of humanity, but rather for a people. Their ethical monotheistic behavior represents God’s standard. Therefore, other God given laws are relevant for those not included in the Jewish covenant. The age lead by the Moshiach will be defined in part by the nations of the world co-existing peacefully through adherence to their own righteous laws (covenants with God) and religious frameworks rather than Judaic law.

In Christianity, the return of Jesus, the Messiah, is the most significant eschatological event. As the essence of Christianity the example of God consciousness, Jesus serves as the example of how God expects His people to act – a physical manifestation of righteousness or lawfulness. Relative to Judaism, eschatological concepts vary greatly within the religion from movement to movement. Several perspectives regarding the events and requirements of the Parousia reflect this diversity. Only a few Christian organizations claim complete and authoritative interpretation of the vast symbology associated with eschatology. Regarding the timing of the Parousia, the Bible explicitly states in several verses that this knowledge is unavailable to humanity:

No one knows about the day or hours, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the father….Therefore keep watch because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. Matthew 24: 36 and 42.


On one occasion while he was eating with them, he gave them this command. …wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. They asked him, Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom of Israel? He said to them, “it is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has by his own authority”. Act 1:4-7.


One elemental motif in many Christian approaches is the concept of millennial expectation. The transformation brought upon earth by the return and reign of Jesus Christ, which reverses the previous period of lawlessness and suffering. With in the context of millennialism dogma varies denominationally including these scenarios:

- An imminent ‘apocalyptic’ i.e. cataclysmic transformation spurs the faithful into action.

- Christ returns only after humans have established a world worthy of his kingdom through their own efforts.

- Christ returns to save a sinful humanity and defeat the forces of Satan.

The Catholic Church rejects the concept of millennialism in particular the penchant to label religious figures or political leaders as the Antichrist:

The Antichrist's deception already begins to take shape in the world every time the claim is made to realize within history that messianic hope which can only be realized beyond history through the eschatological judgment. The Church has rejected even modified forms of this falsification of the kingdom to come under the name of millenarianism, especially the "intrinsically perverse" political form of a secular messianism. (Catechism of the Catholic Church. Imprimatur Potest +Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger. Doubleday, NY 1995, p. 194).

Within the limited scope of this paper for the Mahdaviat Conference, the significance of the return and reign of Jesus Christ is the expression of God’s law on earth and the destruction or rejection of lawlessness. Rather than pessimistically waiting for the return of Jesus, many Christians believe his presence exists in the world manifest through human effort to transform inequity in the world into justice through divine law. The greater the effort exhorted the greater the manifestation is realized.