ASK ALMOST ANYONE, "DO you believe in a future Judgment Day of some kind?" Chances are that she or he will answer "yes." Next to a belief in God, belief in a Judgment Day may be the most widespread religious concept in the modern world. Even many people who are openly atheistic often experience an "innate" feeling that some sort of grand judgment or realignment lies ahead.
Most Judgment Day teachings are found in the writings of religious prophets who claim to have received mystical revelations from God concerning the future of the world. This type of prophetic writing is usually called an "apocalypse." The word apocalypse comes from the Greek words "apo-" (off) and "kalyptein" (to cover). An apocalypse is therefore "the taking off of a cover," i.e., a revelation.
Most apocalypses follow a similar pattern: Mankind will suffer upheaval during a future global cataclysm. The cataclysm will be followed by a Day of Judgment in which God or a representative of God will decide the fate of every person on Earth. Only those people who are obedient to the religion preaching the apocalypse will be granted mercy on the Day of Judgment. Everyone else will be doomed to death or eternal spiritual damnation. The Judgment Day will be followed by a Utopia on Earth to be enjoyed only by those who believed and obeyed.
Despite promises of a universal Shangri-La, these teachings often terrified people, and they still cause unease today. As we shall discuss shortly, fearsome apocalypses give spiritual truths another false twist and, more obviously, they subdue people into obeying a specific religion or leader. End of the World doctrines also make people afraid to explore competing religious systems, such as those offered by religious mavericks. Judgment Day teachings ultimately amount to extortion: obey or die.
The question is: who implanted apocalyptic beliefs on Earth? A Supreme Being is usually cited—but is a Supreme Being truly the source? A careful look at history reveals that apocalyptic teachings first arose out of Custodial activity and from sources within the corrupted Brotherhood network. End of the World doctrines were disseminated by early Brotherhood missionaries and conquerors hand-in-hand with monotheism. It is therefore not surprising to learn that Final Battle doctrines have some roots in a famous Brotherhood symbol discovered on ancient Egyptian relics. That symbol was the mythical bird known as the phoenix.
The phoenix is a fictional bird which is said to live five hundred to six hundred years before burning itself to death in a nest of herbs. Out of the ashes emerges a small worm which grows back into the phoenix. The phoenix repeats this life-death-rebirth cycle over and over again, endlessly.
The phoenix legend is an allegory (a story with an underlying meaning), or symbol, designed to impart a deeper truth. Precisely what that truth is has been lost, and so we find people interpreting the phoenix legend in a variety of ways. For example, many people see the phoenix as a symbol of resurrection or spiritual survival after death: a soul is born into a body, the body flowers, the body undergoes the fiery rigors of life and death, and the soul remains intact to rise and build again. Others see the phoenix as a symbol of the birth-growth-decay cycle upon which the physical elements of the universe seem to operate, behind which there lies an indestructible spiritual reality.
Regrettably, the phoenix legend, like so many other mystical allegories of the Egyptian Brotherhood, distorted important truths. The legend came to convey the false idea that there exists some kind of unalterable "law" or "plan" which mandates that spiritual existence must consist of an arduous phoenix-like process of growing, dying by "fire," emerging out of the ashes, growing again, dying again, and so on forever. While this process does seem to regulate life on Earth, it is neither natural, inevitable nor healthy.
Many "End of the World" teachings take the philosophy expressed in the phoenix myth and apply it to the entire human race. When they do so, they often express the notion that human societies must endure continuous "ordeals by fire" as part of God's great plan. Most apocalypses then veer from standard phoenix allegory by proclaiming that this process will culminate in a great "Final Battle" followed by a Utopia. These beliefs encourage people to tolerate, and even welcome, a world of unremitting physical hardship, conflict, and death: the kind of world that ancient writings say Custodians wished their work race to live in. Judgment Day prophesies even spur some people into working to bring about a "final battle" because those believers think that it will mean the dawn of a Utopia.
"End of the World" teachings were widely disseminated in Persia somewhere between 750 B.C. and 550 B.C. by a famous Persian prophet named Zoroaster.* Zoroaster is cited by historians as one of the earliest prophets to preach the type of monotheism first created by Akhnaton. Zoroaster was an
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* Zoroaster probably lived closer to 550 B.C. than to 750 B.C., although there is debate on this issue. Traditionally, he has been placed 258 years "before Alexander," which some scholars interpret as 258 years before Alexander the Great destroyed the first Persian Empire in 330 B.C. Zoroaster is also known as Zarathustra—a name that provided inspiration for a famous symphonic work composed by Richard Strauss entitled Thus Spake Zarathustra. Strauss's composition became the theme song of the American motion picture, 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Aryan mystic and priest who also taught a form of Aryanism. Persia at that time was an Aryan nation dominated by an Aryan priest caste. Some Brotherhood branches today state that Zoroaster was an emissary of the ancient Brotherhood.
Zoroaster's cosmology (theory of the universe) was based on the concept of a struggle between good and evil. Zoroaster said that this struggle was to take place over a period of 12,000 years divided into four stages. The first stage consisted solely of spiritual existence during which time a chief god designed the physical universe. During the second stage, the material universe was created, followed by the entrance of the chief god's opponent into the new universe for the purpose of creating problems. The third phase consisted of a battle between the chief god and his rivals over the fate of the many souls who came to occupy the universe. In the fourth and final stage, the chief god was to send in a succession of saviours who would finally defeat the opponent and bring salvation to all spiritual beings in the universe. According to Zoroaster's model, the world is in the fourth stage.
Zoroaster appears to have been a sincere and honest reformer. He taught some good lessons about the nature of ethics and its importance to spiritual salvation. He stressed that people have free will. In other matters, however, Zoroaster's religion fell well short of ideal. To understand why, we need only look at Zoroaster's "God."
The God of Zoroaster was named Ahura Mazda, which means "lord" or "spirit" ("ahura") of "knowledge" or "wisdom" ("mazda"). Zoroaster states that when he was a 30-year-old priest, Ahura Mazda had appeared before him saying that he, Ahura Mazda, was the one true God. Ahura Mazda then proceeded to impart to Zoroaster many of the teachings which constituted Zoroastrianism. When we look to see what sort of creature Ahura Mazda was, we discover good evidence that he was but another Custodian pretending to be "God." Ahura Mazda is depicted in some places as a bearded human figure who stands in a stylized circular object. From the circular object protrude two stylized wings to indicate that it flies. The round flying object has two jutting struts underneath that resemble legs for landing. In other words, Ahura Mazda was a humanlike "God" who flew in a round flying object with landing pads: a Custodian. The implication is that Zoroaster's monotheism, with its apocalyptic message, was spread in Persia with Custodial assistance much in the same way that Judaism had been spread under Moses.
As noted earlier, Zoroaster was an Aryan living in a region ruled by other Aryans. Aryan domination was so strong that the name of Persia was eventually changed to "Iran," which is a derivative of the word "Aryan." Zoroastrian works speak of a god fighting for the Aryan nations and helping them bring about good crops. Through its writings (primarily the Zend Avesta), and through its secret mystical teachings, Zoroastrianism did much to spread philosophies of Aryanism to other organizations within the Brotherhood network. We shall see examples later.
Apocalyptic doctrines continued to be spread after the death of Zoroaster, especially by Hebrew prophets. The warnings of those Hebrew prophets can be found in the later books of the Old Testament. One of those prophets was Ezekiel, whose description of bizarre flying objects we looked at in Chapter 7. According to Ezekiel's narrative, he was taken aboard a strange craft for the very purpose of being given an apocalyptic message to spread, indicating once again that Custodians were the ultimate creators of Judgment Day teachings.
As year 1 A.D. approached, the Hebrew religion had become well-settled in the Middle East. It was, however, undergoing many changes, some of which were caused by the extension of the Roman empire into Palestine. The Romans, who had themselves been driven to conquest by strange mystical religions with definite Brotherhood undertones, often made life difficult for the Jews. In this milieu a number of Jewish sects arose which were often at odds with one another, except in regard to one matter: the Romans were not welcome in Palestine. Some Hebrew sects, such as the Sadducees, proclaimed the coming of a Messiah from "God"—a Messiah who would prevail in the eternal struggle of good against evil and bring freedom to the oppressed Jews. This idea became quite popular among the Hebrews of Palestine, even though its strong political slant made it dangerous.
Old Testament messianic prophecies began as early as 750 B.C. with the prophet Isaiah. Jewish apocalypses appeared sporadically after that, yet often enough to keep fear of a world cataclysm alive. Examples include prophet Joel circa 400 B.C. and Daniel circa 165 B.C. Ironically, the prophecies were quite dire and expressed tremendous hostility against the Jewish people themselves even though the Hebrews were meant to ultimately benefit from the prophecies. Old Testament seers described the people of Israel as wicked and sinful. They quoted "Jehovah" threatening all manner of calamities against the people of Israel, and against the oppressors of Israel. No one was to be spared. To give the flavor of these predictions, here is a quote from the last book in the Old Testament, written shortly before 445 B.C.:
For look, the day comes that all will burn like
an oven; and all the proud; and all those who act
wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that comes
shall burn thenvup, said the Lord of hosts [angels],
that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.
But to you who fear my name shall the Sun of Righteousness
arise with healing in his wings; and you shall
go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.
And you will tread down the wicked; for they shall
be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day that
I shall do this, said the Lord of hosts.
Remember the law of Moses my servant, which I
commanded to him in Horeb for all Israel, with the
statutes and judgments.
Observe, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the
coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD:
And he will turn the heart of the fathers to the children,
and the heart of the children to their fathers, so
that I do not come and destroy the Earth with a curse.
MALACHI 4:1-6
The above passage preaches the coming of a special messenger from God named Elijah, who was the Hebrew's competition against Mettaya of the Buddhist religion. The Buddhists, perhaps sensing the one-upmanship or falling prey to corrupted Brotherhood influences, reshaped the Mettaya legend to resemble monotheistic apocalypses. This created the illusion that the Hebrews and Buddhists were waiting for the same person when, in fact, they were not. Brotherhood monotheists were (and still are) waiting for a messenger from God coupled with a Day of Judgment. The Buddhists were simply awaiting a friend who is smart and caring enough to finish Buddha's work without the necessity of the entire world ending. Modern Hebrews are still waiting for Elijah to appear, while Christians believe that Elijah was John the Baptist, the man who baptized Jesus Christ.
Old Testament prophets expressed another important idea. "Jehovah" would continue to manipulate people into war:
For I [God] will gather all nations against Jerusalem
to battle ... Then shall the Lord go forth, and fight
against those nations .. .
ZECHARIAH 14:1-2 (written c. 520 B.C.)
This is a startling quote because it states "God's" intention to bring many nations into a conflict by first supporting one side and then backing the other. Such actions are textbook Machiavelli. "God's" intention to make brother fight brother was expressed in the same year by prophet Haggai:
And I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms, and I
will destroy the strength of the heathen; and I will
overthrow the chariots, and those that ride in them;
and the horses and their riders shall come down, every
one by the sword of his brother.
HAGGAI 2:22
Bible believers still think that a Supreme Being is behind the vicious Machiavellian intentions described in the Bible. The "ancient astronauts" theory seems to provide a true breakthrough by pointing to a brutal technological society, not a Supreme Being, as the more likely source of such machinations.
When people adhere to apocalyptic prophecies, they usually do so because they believe in predestiny. Predestiny is the idea that the future is already created and unalterable, and that some people have a special ability to see that future.
Does predestiny really exist?
For the sake of discussion, let us assume that it does: at any given moment in the present, there is a future already created that is as solid and as real as any moment in the past or present. Perhaps time is not as linear as we have believed.
If such a future already exists, does that mean that it is inevitable and must occur?
No.
Here is a simple two-part exercise to illustrate this:
Part 1: Find a timepiece and note the time. Calculate what time it will be in exactly 30 seconds. Now decide exactly where you will be standing when that 30-second moment arrives. Watch the clock and be sure you are standing at the spot you chose.
You have just created a prophecy and fulfilled it.
Part 2: Look at the clock again and decide on a new location. Ten seconds before the 30-second moment arrives, rethink whether you want to fulfill the prophecy. If you do, be at the place you decided upon; if you do not, choose a new location at random and be there when the 30-second moment arrives.
Repeat the above exercise several times.
Which of the two parts above created the stronger and more solid future? The answer, of course is Part 1. Which of the two futures would a prophet be more likely to foresee? The answer again is Part 1. The point being made is that the future is shaped largely by intention backed by action: the stronger the intention and the better its back-up by action, the more solid the future will tend to be.
The future is therefore malleable. A future reality, no matter how solid it is or how many prophets have agreed to its existence, can be changed. It will be irreversible only if people continue to perform, or fail to perform, those actions which will cause that future to come about, and no one does anything effective enough to counter those actions or inactions.
Some people would argue that the true seer would foresee the change of mind in Part 2 of the above exercise. If this is true, then the prophet has gained an extraordinary ability to influence the future, for he or she may now contact the subject of his or her vision and persuade that person to change his or her mind, or the seer may take actions to ensure or prevent the consequences of the decision.
Prophecy has really only one value: as a tool to either change or ensure the future. The problem with a seer who foresees a tragic event which later comes true is that he or she divined insufficient information to do anything about it. For example, the famous American prophet, Edgar Cayce, predicted a worldwide holocaust in the 1990's. Because of Mr. Cayce's reputed ability to perceive such things, many people are convinced that such an event lies in the future. Perhaps it does. Unfortunately, Mr. Cayce was not able to expand enough on his prediction to offer the detailed information which might be used to alter the events he predicted. His prophecy is therefore woefully incomplete.
As we shall see in this book, there have been many "End of the World" episodes in world history. They have all fulfilled the religious prophecies except on one very crucial point: not one of them brought about a new era of peace and salvation as promised. Despite that dismal record, many people today are preaching that yet one more "End of the World" or "Final Battle" is about to make life better.
Shortly before the year 1 A.D., a controversial religious leader was born who tried to prevent himself from being declared an apocalyptic Messiah. He was unsuccessful and would be nailed to a wooden cross as a result. We know him today as Jesus Christ, and his story is an important one.
- pages 119, The Gods of Eden, by William Bramley
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