Introduction

PROPHET’S VISIONS

When we talk about prophecies, it comes to our mind the visionaries of the future. However, prophet is more than a future fortune-teller. Prophets also instigated moral reforms being catalytic of social and political changes. Prophets however were ALWAYS misunderstood and persecuted in their time for bringing new ideas and spiritual revelations that in some way challenge the society to question its values or the practice of its values (see Acts 8.52 “Was there ever a prophet your fathers did not persecute?”)

In the history of the Christianity, starting with Jesus Christ, who was persecuted by the religious persons of his time, there were countless prophets who were called heretics or apostates in that times but later were recognized as people with vision and today are called as saints. The apostle Paul was called the leader of the Nazarene sect (Acts 24.5 “We found this man to be a troublemaker, stirring up riots among the Jews all over the world. He is a ringleader of the Nazarene sect…”). Martin Luther was also called as a leader of the sect of the Lutherans after his scission from Roman Church.

In India, the Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, due to their followers’ fast growth was stoned by orthodox Brahman priests angry with who they considered the greatest heretic that had appeared in India. Buddha was a threat to the power of the Brahmanpriests’ social religious hegemony because the Buddhism denied the social casts system opening the possibility of spiritual enlightenment to anyone, either for a high priest or a pariah.

In the same way, the first Christians, being slaves, were accused and persecuted for preaching the Kingdom of God, having as a king, Jesus and not the Roman Emperor. Whoever didn’t understand the meaning of Jesus Christ’s spiritual kingdom could think that the Christians planned an armed revolution against the Roman Emperor.

Muhammad also suffered adversity for preaching the monotheism against polytheism. Muhammad was poisoned by his enemies but survived.

Buddhism was born in India, spread to China, Korea and Japan (Mahayana Buddhism) while another kind of Buddhism went the Southeast Asian countries(Hinayana Buddhism).

In the 13th century in Japan, Buddhism became a religion involved in power intrigues with feudal lords (Shogun) and samurais. It didn’t concerned so much withindividual’s moral improvement. In order to reach the spiritual enlightenment it was necessary just to have faith in Buddha. Due to this attitude, the Japanese society of this time saw only uncontrolled fights for the power among feudal lords.

An scholar monk called Nichiren tried many times to convince the peoples to repent and follow the righteous way found in the original Buddhist faith. However,he was persecuted and convicted to death by sword but was miraculously saved.

The book of Hebrews in the Bible says that all the heroes of faith were all persecuted. (Hebrews 11, 32-38)

And Paul in his letter to Timothy said:

“Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.”

2 Timothy 3:12

This book is a research concerning the prophecies on the second coming of the Messiah. All the religions are waiting for the second coming of their founders.If all the founders of these religions were persecuted and slandered, it would not be correct to think that in the time of the second coming of each one of these founders they would also be persecuted and slandered again? Is it not right to conclude that the second coming of all of the founders of all these religions would be consummated by the coming of only one man that would take responsibility for the mission of all of them? Such man probably would be one of the most persecuted and slandered religious men throughout the history.

This research took me two years to conclude and surprises me the fact that there is a lot of prophecies talking about the second coming of the Messiah. Some of them got to be extremely meticulous and clear.

Chiba, July 20, 1997