Eyes Wide Open Heading for the Abyss

When I began work on Revelation 11 two years ago, I thought it was a pretty straight forward story centered around a group of people who either genuinely believed or claimed to believe for their own reasons that we were in the endtimes. I explored this from a purely Christian point of view. Near the end of writing the book, I decided to throw a curve into the mix and have the second witness be a Muslim.

As I began to look for a historical or scriptural basis for this assumption, I found that Islam has a parallel eschatology to the Christian narrative. Most Islamic endtime prophecies are contained in the Hadith. A one-eyed leader called, Masih ad-Dajjal, is the Islamic version of the Anti-Christ. Both religions point to a climactic battle in the Middle East. For Christians this is Armageddon and for Muslims it is Dabiq. As I explained in my previous post, Dabiq is generally considered to be the hamlet of Murj-al-Dabiq that sits just across the border from Iraq in Syria

The Hadith claims that Jesus (Isa) returns to earth to "break the cross" -- meaning He explains that Islam is the one true religion. This may simply be the Islamic version of "from whence He shall come to judge the living and the dead."

The parallels seem to have taken on a life of their own in the last two years. Islamic State leaders and fighters apparently believe they are and should be fulfilling the endtimes prophecies--in effect dragging the world toward a climactic battle between Islam and what the Hadith calls the "army of Rome." Under Islamic prophecy, the battle cannot take place until the Caliphate is re-established. Islamic State leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, claims to be the new Caliph.

According to a recent Atlantic article, a legitimate Caliph requires three things to fulfill the prophecy, "being a Muslim adult man of Quraysh descent; exhibiting moral probity and physical and mental integrity; and having ’amr, or authority." Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is of Quraysh decent, the tribe to which Mohammed belonged. He claims the second requirement, but the article notes there is more to the third requirement than meets the eye. To have "authority" in the sense the prophecy indicates, the Caliph must rule territory and hold the authority over the people living there by enacting and enforcing Sharia law. Islamic State fighters currently control or operate freely in an area larger than the United Kingdom.

Thousands of young Islamic men and women have traveled to the "Caliphate" from Europe and around the world to join the jihad. What is it about this ideology they find so appealing? The article quotes George Orwell when he was asked a similar question about Nazi fanaticism. Orwell describe Fascism as "psychologically far sounder than any hedonistic conception of life … Whereas Socialism, and even capitalism in a more grudging way, have said to people “I offer you a good time,” Hitler has said to them, “I offer you struggle, danger, and death,” and as a result a whole nation flings itself at his feet … We ought not to underrate its emotional appeal."

You say Armageddon, I say Dabek

Think Christians have a monopoly on the apocalypse? Not really. In the sequel to Revelation 11, tentatively titled, “Continuing Revelation”, I touch upon some Islamic prophecies that dovetail with Christian eschatology. However, events may be overtaking my story.

Some Quranic teachings say that Islamic warriors will square off against Christians at the city of Dabek (also known as Dabiq) in an apocalyptic battle. Dabek is generally considered to be the modern day Syrian hamlet of Murj Dabek.

Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS or ISIL) head, Abu Al-Baghdadi, set his sights on the town of about 4,000 because he apparently subscribes to the Islamic doomsday prophecy. Currently, forces loyal to Syrian President Assad hold the hamlet.

Al-Baghdadi places such importance on Dabek or Dabiq that he has named the official ISIS publication Dabiq. In its initial issue, Dabiq contains 50 plus vivid color photographs showing the organization’s military successes in an attempt to build an aura of inevitability to its mission. Like its other slick media presentations, Dabiq, is equal parts propaganda and recruiting tool.

The Dabek prophecy predicts that the Islamic forces will destroy both the forces of “Constantinople” and “Rome”, referring to the two early branches of Christianity, the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic. In Islamic prophecy, Jesus (Issa ibn Maryam) descends from heaven near Damascus to lead the Islamic forces and “break the cross” a term meaning Christ will reveal Islam to be the one true religion.

Both Christian and Islamic prophecies foretell the two witnesses mentioned in Revelation 11 and both claim their appearance foreshadows the return of Christ. The question ISIS raises is the same one I pose in all three of the novels. Are these events fulfillment of prophecy or are individuals choosing actions that mimic prophecy to develop a following while pursuing their own agenda? Of course, some of them could just be crazy. We won’t know until either the Second Coming, or the end of the books.

End Times and the Class Divide

Fitzgerald observed that the “rich are very different”, apparently so are the poor. Of course, one person’s different is another’s normal depending on where you sit on the socio-economic ladder. A recent Upshot Article in the New York Times examined how Google searches vary by geographic location and by extension socio-economic status. The study suggests that the well-off want to know about digital cameras while the poor obsess about the Antichrist.

Specifically, the study looked at what searches correlated with what the researchers deemed the hardest places to live in the country and the easiest. The study employed a six-factor index (education, household income, unemployment, disability, life expectancy, and obesity) to determine the difficulty of life in each county in the country.

The top ten highest correlated searches to the hardest places to live include “antichrist”, “the antichrist”, “rapture”, and “about hell”. Apparently, where life is hard, people like their religion hard as well. Admittedly, a search for “rapture” may indicate an escapist fantasy but it also has a dark side. Those left behind will go through the “tribulation”—an ironic analogy to the divide between rich and poor.

At its heart, tales of the endtimes are ghost stories, albeit “Holy Ghost” stories. Fearing something that is not real, or cannot be proved to be real can be a diversion from a very real life of grinding poverty. It also suggests that fate or “God’s will” plays a part in one’s station in life. In some ways, accepting the “God’s will” argument parallels the final stage of grief, acceptance. But what happens when the hopeless suddenly have hope?

Revelation 11-First in the Revelation Trilogy is set in a small Central Pennsylvania mining town where the coal and iron veins have been exhausted. The people who remain eke out a living by commuting long distances or running marginal small businesses. When a mega-church set up in an old high school broadcasting fire and brimstone to the world via satellite starts pumping money into the local economy, the residents are all too willing to believe their long-awaited salvation is at hand. Whether it is or not is the story’s essential mystery.

Through a Glass Darkly

Many religious texts begin with the assumption that humans and God are separated, that humans feel for and stumble toward God in spiritual darkness. In Judeo-Christian theology light is often a metaphor for God. For example, Jesus proclaimed himself to be “the light of the world.”

The description parallels mental illness or at least deep dysfunction where the individual stumbles somewhat blindly through life. Often those observing can identify the individual’s self-limiting false perceptions, but telling the individual brings about no change. The change must come from within when the individual’s perception changes to accept reality. For example, anyone can tell a person engaging in addictive behavior that things will be better if he or she stops, but the addict will continue the destructive behavior most likely until death or "hitting bottom".

In literature, this irony, where the reader knows what is needed for salvation and character will not acknowledge it, creates tension that propels the story along its narrative arc. Because many of us have observed or experienced self-destructive behavior, the story is at once a mystery and familiar.

I have experimented throughout Revelation 11 and its sequels with characters being a part of something they don’t completely understand (the human condition?). Some characters conclude that we are living in the end times and the events occurring before them are unfolding Biblical prophecy. Others see only the events, not the prophetic context. For them, believing in prophecy requires too large a step of faith. Are they wise or foolish? What are the consequences of guessing wrong?

The apostle Paul said, “We see through a glass darkly and then face to face.” In Revelation 11, everyone sees “through the glass darkly” even if they believe they are seeing “face to face.”