The mythology of different nations speaks of the end of the world. Eschatology was especially developed in Christianity and Islam. The first contains a number of signs of the end of the world. According to the Bible, after him a new life will come. All the harbingers are described in the canonical books.
No religion talks about the beginning of the end of the world, we are talking about a new life found. Based on this, it is customary to accept the end of the world as the end of earthly existence. The Bible speaks about the end of the world, that this event will become the judgment when pure souls go to a new life, and sinners end up in the chambers of hell.
Ancient sayings of the patriarchs
Everything that has an end has a beginning. It's hard to argue with this. This is logical and true and causes a lot of discussion, especially near the end of the world.
The Old and New Testaments contain information about harbingers of the end of the world. According to the traditions of the Holy Scriptures, man was born without the need for death. It is believed that previously there was no bodily shell, which means the soul does not need to leave. And the very first angels were created. They did not have a bodily shell. The very first angel, the Light Bearer, was very strong. He wanted to be equal to God, to have his own path. He opposed himself to God. And then the Lord brought the Light Bearer out of his environment and he became a fallen angel, like all those who followed him. There are opinions that the end of the world according to the Bible is associated precisely with the end of the Light Bringer.
According to biblical scripture, a fallen angel told Adam and Eve to eat fruit in the Garden of Eden in order to reveal the knowledge of what God knows. And then people learned what good and evil are. They themselves began to decide what actions to perform.
To protect souls from the will of others, God imprisoned them in bodies. Throughout their lives, people committed only those actions that they wanted to do: bad or good. After death, their souls go to either heaven or hell - it depends on how earthly life was lived. This was the beginning of life on Earth. This is taught in the scriptures.
The Bible also talks about the end of the world. This event is described in the New Testament and in the Gospel of Matthew in chapter 24.
The Gospel of Matthew and John the Theologian about the end of the world
According to the Bible, signs of the end of the world will begin with war. In John's revelation, the first sign is symbolized by the rider on a red horse, who takes peace from the earth. This is also mentioned in the Gospel of Matthew, in which Jesus tells his disciples how nation will rise against nation, and kingdom will go against kingdom.
The next harbinger of the end of the world will be a black horse, bringing famine and pestilence to the earth. In the Gospel of Matthew, this sign immediately follows wars. After epidemics that spread throughout the earth, some people will die. All who remain will become weak in spirit. They will “be tempted and betray each other.” At this moment, faith in Christianity will be lost and false prophets will appear.
In John's revelation, after famine and death, an angel comes into the world and crowns the day of wrath. It is marked by a great earthquake, a blood moon, and a solar eclipse. After this comes silence, which will not last long, because after it the true apocalypse will begin.
Signs of the end of the world, according to the Bible from John the Theologian, are distinguished in several stages. First the grass and trees will start to burn. Then volcanic eruptions occur, and then a “big star” enters the ocean and begins to poison the water. After these events, a series of eclipses occur. Then locusts emerge from the bowels of the earth and begin to torment the unfaithful people for five days. At the end of all the torment, the Kingdom of the Lord will open before the people remaining on earth.
According to the Bible, the signs of the end of the world do not provide an understanding of the exact date of the beginning of this event, but only describe it in a vague form.
Horsemen of the end of the world
The horsemen of the apocalypse are symbols described in Revelation. According to the Holy Scriptures, horsemen are stages of history that people and the church must go through in their development. This is a prophecy about the seven seals that seal the book. It is believed that after the seventh and final seal is broken, the end of the world will come. At this moment, all conflicts between good and evil will be settled, Jesus will return to the people, and the hour of the Last Judgment will come.
In the books, riders are described on different horses. It is believed that a rider with a bow on a white horse is a symbol of purity and victory over paganism. With the appearance of the white horseman, the first seal will be broken. In the first century, the church forced people to accept Christianity, and this time is considered a period of opposition to lies and deception.
The red horse will appear at the time the second seal is broken. Christians, under the yoke of death, remained faithful to Christ and his teaching, which passed through the centuries and remained unchanged. Satan's main goal was to do everything possible to change Christian teaching. He tried to do this through the hands of the Roman Empire, and then other methods followed.
The red horse symbolizes disputes between God's children. Its color is compared to blood, so this period is attributed to the time when Christians were hunted.
As you know, in the old days the church tried to convert everyone, regardless of their original faith and nation. As a result of this, the Lessons of Scripture lost their purity, and the prophecy of the red horse came true: people began to kill each other.
The third seal is opened by a black horse. The third horseman of the apocalypse has a measure in his hand. The black horse is a symbol of decline. During this period, the enemies achieved their goal, faith in the Savior and worship of God disappeared into obscurity.
When the fourth seal was opened, a pale horse appeared. John in his writing speaks of the appearance of a fourth horseman, whose name is Death. Hell followed him: he was given the power to kill all living things on earth. It is believed that the pale horse is a symbol of the decline of the church. Jesus' teachings were distorted, and those who did not want to follow the new, changed doctrines were executed. This was the period of the Inquisition. The Church gained political power by assuming God's authority: it could declare infallibility or speak about the sinfulness of man.
The Four Horsemen is a period of development of the church, a change in faith in the teachings of Christ. Many people could not withstand the persecution and were killed.
The end of the world according to the Bible
What does the Bible say about the end of the world and when will this event happen? There is no exact date in scripture, nor is there any statement that the “end of the world” will occur. The Bible calls this “the coming of the Lord Jesus.” It is believed that the end of the existence of our world will occur when the Savior comes to Earth again to destroy all evil.
Thus, the end of the world will happen, but what will happen before the end of the world according to the Bible? According to the holy scriptures, the end of the world is considered to be the second coming of Christ. This day is called judgment day. This event is spoken of in the Gospel of Matthew, in the Epistle to the Thessalonians, in the book of Revelation and other books.
Once upon a time, more than two thousand years ago, Christ was born on Earth. He came into the world to save us. Because of his love for people, the Savior died, because he accepted all their sins so that they could receive forgiveness.
In those ancient times, Jesus came to Earth as a savior, so that through faith in him, in his teachings, people could receive forgiveness for their sins. The second time Christ will come in great glory and power to carry out Judgment on all people. He will condemn those who rejected him and deliver from torment those who sincerely believed in him.
Nobody knows the exact date of this event. It is not in the Bible, so any predictions regarding it are considered fiction. However, there are a number of signs by which we can learn about this day.
One of the key moments in the Bible is the coming of the Antichrist. At this time there will be a rebellion against God. It is during the reign of the servant of Satan that the second coming of Christ will occur. He will destroy the Antichrist and condemn all who followed him. Those who truly believed in Jesus will have the opportunity to live forever in the Kingdom of Heaven. Regardless of when exactly this event occurs, everyone will appear before God. After death, every soul awaits God's judgment.
In Orthodoxy, the Bible does not tell much about the end of the world. All available information in different scriptures is similar in meaning. The books include Judgment Day, harbingers of the end of the world, Antichrist and the second coming of Christ. In order not to be condemned on the Day of Judgment, you must repent of your sins and sincerely believe in the Son of the Lord.
“And then the end will come” (Matthew 24:14)
The disturbing events of recent months have some people feeling apocalyptic. In order to avoid unnecessary panic, it seems useful to remember what the Holy Church teaches us about the signs that precede the Second Coming of Christ and the end of world history.
There probably hasn’t been a single century since the birth of Christ in which humanity was free from expectations of the imminent end of the world. The apostles anxiously asked the Lord: “Tell us, when will this be?” (Matthew 24:3). Early Christian communities lived in anticipation of the imminent coming of Christ. “Maranatha” - “The Lord is coming,” the Apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians (1 Cor. 16:22). “Hey, come, Lord Jesus” (Rev. 22:20), echoed the Apostle John the Theologian. The Apostle Paul had to write two letters to the Thessalonian Christians, who were perplexed by the fact that some of the Christians had already died, but Christ still did not come. The spiritual life of Christians in the 1st and 2nd centuries was also characterized by tension due to periodic persecution. In view of this, Christians of the first centuries “did not count on the long existence of the world and expected the opening of the Kingdom of Christ”[1].
Intensifying persecution increased this expectation. For example, the persecution of the early 3rd century, initiated by the Roman emperor Septimius Severus,
“It seemed to contemporaries to be so cruel that one of the church writers (Jude), who explained the weeks of Daniel at that time, believed that the coming of the Antichrist had come”[2].
Similar sentiments arose in Christian society every time peaceful life was disrupted by political and religious unrest, unrest and wars.
Apocalyptic moods arose every time peaceful, familiar life was disrupted
Apocalyptic expectations were widespread in Rus' at the end of the 15th century. Some Russian people were so sure that the end of the world would come in 1492 (7000 years from the creation of the world) that they did not sow grain in that year.
From the middle of the 17th century, the expectation of the Antichrist became a constant background to the aspirations of the schismatic Old Believers. They pinned special “hopes” on the year 1666 from the Nativity of Christ. Bound for 1000 years after the Nativity of Christ, Satan was freed and took possession of Rome. The number of the beast added to this thousand gives 1666. The king is declared the Antichrist, the patriarch a false prophet. However, time forces us to postpone the deadline:
“The binding of Satan for 1000 years should be counted not from the Nativity of Christ, but from the day of His descent into hell: 1000+33½+666=1700. The Antichrist also reigns for 3½ years. Thus, 1703 is the year of the end of the world... All this vague theology about the Antichrist was needed to “swing” ordinary people into daringly leaving the Church... into a terrible tragic void”[3].
The intense apocalyptic mood of this era is accompanied by mass suicides of supporters of the old rite. Old Believers commit self-immolation, drown themselves in ponds, and fast until death. Mass self-immolations are the most common. Groups of those who doomed themselves to voluntary death in fire sometimes reach almost three thousand people. Mentions of mass “burnings” of followers of the “old rite” are found until the beginning of the 19th century. The schismatics themselves perceive suicide as a feat of martyrdom. They often no longer see any other way of salvation.
“It is truly impossible for us not to burn, there is nowhere else to go,” one of the schism teachers, “Elder Sergius,” admitted in 1722[4].
The year 1666 has long been perceived in Old Believer circles as a kind of apocalyptic milestone. In 1844, Saint Philaret (Drozdov) found in one of the schismatic books the teaching that
“that since 1666... Christians getting married are a viper’s nest of Satan and his demons, a nasty yard; that now Satan is working on the multiplication of the human race, and for the conception of a baby the soul is given from the devil”[5].
During the cholera of 1830–1831, quarantine posts were set up around Moscow, through which entry was carried out using special certificates. Dissenters began to spread rumors that
“supposedly the time of the Antichrist has come and that quarantine tickets, in their opinion, are nothing more than a seal or a sign of the Antichrist”[6].
During the cholera of 1830–1831, schismatics spread rumors that “quarantine tickets are a sign of the Antichrist.”
The 19th century was characterized by the spread of apocalyptic sentiment throughout the world. Under the influence of the expectation of the end of the world and as a result of attempts to calculate it, such well-known sects as the “Seventh-day Adventists” and “Jehovah’s Witnesses” were formed. The appointed end of the world is constantly shifting as necessary, but, oddly enough, these mistakes do not prevent the named and similar sects from growing over time.
In the 20th century, especially in its second half, the emergence of apocalyptic sects turned into a mass phenomenon. Many totalitarian sects arise, such as the “People's Temple”, “Temple of the Sun”, “Heaven’s Gate”, “Aum Shinrikyo” and others, whose beliefs are based on the doctrine of the imminent end of the world. Unfulfilled expectations in many cases lead to mass suicides and murders. Unfortunately, this impatient expectation of the imminent end of the world sometimes captivates Orthodox Christians. Many people remember how a group of more than 30 people (including children) in the Penza region “set” the end of the world for May 2008. These people lived underground from the fall of 2007 to May 2008 in anticipation of Armageddon. Moreover, not everyone lived to see the light of day.
From the brief and incomplete review offered above, we can conclude that waiting for the end of this world is not always beneficial for a Christian, but can be dangerous, harmful and even destructive. Of course, Orthodox Christians believe that this world is finite, that the end of the world will come with the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in glory. But still, the Orthodox attitude to this topic is softened by the realization that for every person it is enough to worry about preparing for his own death, which can come at any moment. Saint John Chrysostom wrote about it this way:
“Suppose that death follows in twenty years, in thirty, in a hundred years: what does this have to do with us? For every person, does not the end of an age constitute the end of his life? Why are you so curious about the universal demise and why do you cause yourself sadness? But what happens to us in other (cases) is the same in the present. As in other (cases), we, not paying attention to our own affairs, worry about strangers, saying: such and such a fornicator, such and such an adulterer, this one stole, this one offended, but we don’t say a word about our own, on the contrary, we are more concerned about actions of all other people, rather than about our own - so here, too, each of us, having abandoned concern about his own end, wants to know about the common end.”[7].
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Nevertheless, the Lord left us through the Gospel signs that precede the end of the world. It is useful for every Christian to know about these signs in order to avoid unnecessary worry. What is the teaching of the Church about the Second Coming of Christ?
First of all, we should point out the uncertainty of the time of the Second Coming.
- “But about that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but only My Father” (Matthew 24:36);
- “...keep awake, because you do not know at what hour your Lord will come” (Matthew 24:42), says Christ to His disciples.
From this we can conclude that all attempts to determine the date of the Second Coming of Christ are doomed to failure. Guesses of this kind always come from a sectarian environment or carried away by a sectarian spirit and are evidence of disbelief in the words of the Gospel, that is, in the words of Christ Himself.
Speculation about the time of the end of the world always comes from a sectarian environment or carried away by a sectarian spirit
Moreover, for this kind of calculations we have a direct prohibition from the Lord, which He left in the person of the apostles to all Christians:
“It is not your business to know the times or seasons which the Father has appointed in His authority” (Acts 1:7).
Attempts to boldly reveal the secret of God's Providence cannot bring us any benefit and will not go unpunished.
Among the signs of the approaching demise of the world are those that can be found in almost any era of human history. This is a decline in morality, natural and social disasters, wars, the appearance of false Christs and false prophets, the spread of false teachings . This kind of phenomenon has always existed, and recent times will differ only in the extreme degree of their development. But since any decline in public morality and any deterioration in the natural conditions of existence are perceived by the older generation as extreme, unprecedented before, this sign is mostly subjective in nature and cannot serve as a firm guideline in the issue under consideration.
the preaching of the Gospel to the whole world should be mentioned first :
“This gospel of the kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations; and then the end will come” (Matthew 24:14).
It should be noted that, according to patristic interpretations, this refers to preaching not by heretics and schismatics, but specifically by the Orthodox. Need I say how far we are from this? Until now, while still on earth, scientific travelers from time to time announce the discovery of new wild tribes. Some of these tribes live in jungles so dense that they never see the sun. Moreover, they could not hear anything about the Sun of Truth - Christ. As for Orthodox preaching, there are still many corners on earth where no Orthodox missionary has set foot.
Before the end of the world, according to the Apostle Paul and patristic interpretations, there will also be a mass conversion of the Israeli people to Christ (See: Rom. 11: 25–26).
In addition, the Second Coming of Christ will be preceded by the worldwide preaching of two prophets (see: Rev. 11: 3), one of which is the prophet Elijah. The prophet Malachi spoke about this back in the Old Testament:
“Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord” (Mal. 4:5).
The Lord Himself warned about this:
“...it is true that Elijah must come first and arrange everything” (Matthew 17:11).
The second prophet is usually understood as the forefather Enoch or (less often) the prophet Moses.
And of course, the most famous sign preceding the end of the world is the coming of the Antichrist . He will be a specific person: “a man of sin, a son of destruction” (2 Thess. 2:3). According to the Book of Revelation of the Holy Apostle John the Theologian, the Antichrist will come as a world ruler:
“...and authority was given to him over every tribe and people and tongue and nation” (Rev. 13:7).
From this we can conclude that before the end of the world, all earthly states will unite into one, which does not yet exist in reality.
In addition, this world ruler will be a fierce fighter against God and an opponent of Christ:
“And a mouth was given to him speaking great things and blasphemies” (Rev. 13:5).
He will demand divine honor and worship from humanity:
“...in the temple of God he will sit as God, showing himself to be God” (2 Thess. 2:4).
This worship will be recorded by a mark on the body of the worshiping person, namely, on the right hand or on the forehead “the mark or name of the beast, or the number of his name” (Rev. 13: 17).
It is important to note that in the book of Revelation, the worship of the Antichrist (“the beast”) and the taking of the mark are depicted as interconnected parts of paying divine honor to the Antichrist:
“…whoever worships the beast and his image and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, the same will drink of the wine of the wrath of God… and they who worship the beast and his image and receive the mark of his name will have no rest day or night” (Rev. 14:9–11).
That is, the acceptance of the Antichrist mark will be conscious and voluntary, will be preceded by a renunciation of God, worship of the Antichrist and recognition of him as God.
The Antichrist will not put a mark by force; accepting the mark of the Antichrist will be conscious and voluntary
The particle “anti” is translated from Greek not only as “against”, but also as “instead”. The Antichrist is not only an opponent of Christ, but also an imitator of the Savior, trying to replace Christ, to be instead of Christ. The mark of the Antichrist will be nothing more than a parody of the Christian Sacrament of Baptism. He who approaches baptism is denied “Satan and all his works” and is united to Christ, and the Sacrament itself is performed according to the faith of the one being baptized. And he who accepts the Antichrist instead of God must first renounce Christ and worship the Antichrist as his god and savior. Without this renunciation and worship, the mark is meaningless and ineffective.
Therefore, the Antichrist will not put the mark by force. He will intimidate those who resist and deprive them of their livelihood:
“And he will cause everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one will be able to buy or sell except the one who has it.” the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name” (Rev. 13: 16–17).
The Antichrist will even kill those who refuse to worship him or his image:
“And it was given to him to put spirit into the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast would both speak and act, so that everyone who would not worship the image of the beast would be killed” (Rev. 13:15).
But the mark will not be introduced by force or secretly. Otherwise, it will have no more force than a state seal on a blank sheet of paper. Therefore, some modern teachings that preach the “involuntary”, “automatic” acceptance of the Antichrist mark and, consequently, the no less automatic death of a person look strange.
Thus, we can see that the fears of the coming of the Antichrist and his mark spread by some people are premature and unsafe, and that for us, modern Christians, it is more useful to remember our sins and think about our own death. Moreover, according to the word of the Monk Nile the Myrrh-Streaming, the mark of the Antichrist on the heart is vindictiveness[8], and the one who has not gotten rid of this passion dies without any external marks. Those who are faithful to Christ and His Church, try to keep His commandments, are accustomed to resorting to God in prayer and humbly approach the Church Sacraments, the Lord will not leave them ignorant of the wiles of the devil and will help overcome his tricks:
“And behold, I am with you to the end of the age. Amen" (Matthew 28:20).
Signs of the end of the world
How is the end of the world described in the Bible? Christ told his disciples about this event. They asked him when the end of centuries would come and what events would precede it. To which the Savior replied that in those distant times there would be many wars and rumors of wars. Peoples and countries will fight with each other, famine will come, people will begin to die, there will be earthquakes.
All these events are considered signs of the end of the world according to the Bible. The scripture also says that persecution will begin, abominable desolation will begin, there will be lawlessness everywhere, people will stop loving each other. Against the backdrop of these events, the Gospel will be preached in all corners of the world. On the day of the Last Judgment, there is no need to return for material values or try to hide. False prophets will appear who will show various miracles and seek to seduce people. The true Christ will come like lightning. His appearance will be visible from all directions of the world. These days, the light of the sun and moon will dim, and natural disasters will begin. It is then that a sign will be revealed: people will experience both joy and sadness at the same time. Angels will gather the elect from all over the world. Only the Creator knows the date of this event. She is not known to anyone - neither Angels nor people.
Here are a few quotes about the end of the world in the Bible: “... and this coming will be sudden, as suddenly the flood occurred in the time of Noah...”, “... on the eve of the global flood, people ate, got married, drank, had fun, not thinking about the terrible event...”, “... On the eve of Judgment Day, it will happen the same way as during the flood: people will have fun, enjoy life...”
During the second coming, some women and men will be taken to another world. And this will happen when no one dared to think. Every person must be prepared spiritually for the end of the world.
Second end of the world
In 1492, according to the Easter tables, the eighth millennium from the creation of the world began. The end of the world has been repeatedly predicted for this year, only with variations in time. Some expected it in March, since it was in this month that the world’s first man, Adam, was created, and Christ was crucified on Calvary.
Others argued that the “end of the world” would come no earlier than the day of Peter and Paul (July 12, 1492), but no later than January 27, 1493, when the next Easter cycle began - 7001 years from the creation of the world. In Rus' they also talked about the fatal number “777”, which was announced in 1307 by a certain church scribe Diomede from Pskov as a symbol of the “world end”.
One way or another, in Rus' they were seriously preparing for the Apocalypse. Many peasants did not even begin to plow and sow their fields. Instead, they prayed and fasted in anticipation of the Last Judgment. It is clear that the next year there was famine, since there was no harvest.
The Grand Duke of Moscow Ivan III himself believed in the second coming of Christ. According to legend, Christ was supposed to come to Rus', solemnly entering through the Spassky Gate.
The spread of the heresy of the Judaizers dates back to this same time, as well as the famous dispute between the Venerables Nil of Sorsky and Joseph of Volotsk, in which the question was about the church’s renunciation of secular possessions for the sake of spiritual salvation.
Gospel
With the coming of Jesus, the prophecies of the Old Testament begin to be fulfilled. According to it, Christ told his disciples that there would be judgment over the whole world, which all the prophets awaited with trepidation. Everything that was said to the disciples on the Mount of Olives was called the apocalypse of the weather forecasters. Since this information was recorded in the Gospel of Matthew and Luke.
The Gospel of John expands on several events that lead up to the Day of Judgment. He says that the trial has already begun and it will continue until the last day. According to the Gospel of John, the end of the world is associated with the resurrection of the dead. People of all nations will be judged by how they act towards other people. The main criterion is the good done to people. It determines the eternal destiny of people.
Number of the beast
The year 1666 caused the most fear, because this date included the “animal” number 666. Spiritual movements arose that welcomed the Apocalypse, for example, the Trans-Volga “forest elders,” who preached extreme asceticism and rejection of everything worldly. They called for such a strict fast that some died from it.
The reform of Patriarch Nikon dates back to the same year, which led to a split in the church and sowed confusion among the people. The schismatics believed that they could save their souls on the eve of the Last Judgment by accepting a “fiery death.” Entire families burned themselves, locked in huts. Others went into the forests and lay down in coffins there, waiting for the angels to sound the trumpet.
Message
The disciples of Christ in their writings speak more than once about the end of the world. In all books, the Day of Judgment for believers will be both the end and the beginning.
The apostles speak of the end of the world as the coming of Christ in glory, the Day of the Lord. In the Apostolic Church, this name is used to refer to the first day of the celebration of the Resurrection of the Lord. The coming of the Savior will entail the resurrection of the dead, the beginning of a new life.
In the letters of the apostle they say that after the Resurrection of Christ all the deadlines will be fulfilled and darkness will come. This time will be long, and to shorten it, you need to believe in God.
The Apostle Paul added additional signs of the approaching end of the world. He says that in the last times an enemy of God will appear in the world who will try to lead people. Paul also believed that the last people to turn to God would be those chosen by Christ, which would show that the number of believers had become complete.
Peter confirms Paul's words, speaking of the end of the world as a universal catastrophe. He believes that God gives people the opportunity to believe and convert.
What happens after?
What will happen after the end of the world according to the Bible and what will the world be like? Revelation says that after the apocalypse there will be nothing of what we are used to. After the confrontation between good and evil, a new earth and a new sky will appear. There are prophets who said that before the sky was purple and the leaves on the trees were not green, but after the flood the world changed. Maybe the day of judgment will be another change in which the sky will turn red, for example, and the leaves on the trees will be blue.
All people who have found the true faith will begin to live in the Kingdom of the Lord, and all those who renounce the true faith will experience severe suffering and torment. These people are doomed to suffer for the rest of their days in darkness, in a world where there is no sun, no moon, no light.
Last Judgment
What awaits all souls on Judgment Day? According to the Koran, tough but fair interrogation. Angels will descend from heaven and bring with them tablets, which will indicate everything that this or that soul did. Allah will speak to each person personally, and each will be held accountable for their actions. If you robbed someone, Allah will take it from you in favor of the offended person. If you offend someone, then you will be rewarded in the same coin.
Even believers whose bad deeds outweigh their good ones will go to hell. No one will be able to leave the Last Judgment without retribution, whatever it may be. Thus, all the living and the dead will receive what they deserve and will be divided into righteous and sinners, who will be predetermined for their eternal destination - hell or heaven.
Predictions in other religions
Information about the end of the world is found in the scriptures of other religions. Buddhist records contain information about significant changes to the Earth. This is what will precede the start of the apocalypse. This religion says that the Higher powers that created the Earth will also destroy it. According to predictions, humanity will face challenges three times that will become a real threat to the survival of people as a species. These periods are called kalpas. Each of them has its own characteristics.
The first kalpa is characterized by creation, during which a person tries to understand the world around him and learn the laws of its development.
The second kalpa is the flowering of humanity. During this period, great discoveries will be made, amazing things will happen.
The third kalpa is decay. The lower worlds will begin to disintegrate, the world will collapse, and then unfold again, but without all living things. During the period of decay, only the Gods and the higher worlds will be able to survive.
Before the end of the world, according to Buddhist prediction, the earth will burn with fire. It will arise due to the appearance of seven suns in the sky, which will cause the destruction of all living things: the waters will be dried up, the continents will be scorched. After the departure of the seven suns, strong winds will begin that will destroy all the creations of people. Then the rains will begin, turning the planet into a large body of water. New life will arise in the waters, it will become the beginning of a new civilization.
A few words about the big signs of the Apocalypse
The major signs of the Day of Judgment in Islam are closely intertwined with signs, so their fulfillment is considered a clear symbol of the approaching terrible hour for humanity.
The first and most important sign is the fulfillment of the prophecy about the Mahdi. The appearance of this person should strengthen the foundations of Islam and increase the number of believers. The Mahdi must be from the line of the Prophet, which will inspire confidence among many Muslims. This person will become a fair leader and defender of Islam, who will win the respect of all politicians in the world. Muhammad predicted that his descendant would reign for seventy years. This period will be a difficult test for Islam. The Mahdi will have to overcome many obstacles on his way, but he will be able to achieve peace and tranquility among Muslims. It is important that he will appear from the east and Muslims will receive him in their most sacred place - the Kaaba.
One of the signs is the emergence of two new peoples. The Prophet did not specify where they would appear, but theologians have already made several assumptions in this regard, naming China and Derbent. These peoples will be distinguished by their short stature and strong physique. Muhammad spoke about their moral principles in as much detail as possible, since this is what will lead nations to destruction. They will sow the seeds of depravity, lust, evil and greed everywhere. According to the prophecy, they will destroy the lake between Syria and Palestine to prove their power. However, Allah will punish them by sending parasites to people that will destroy them from the inside.
Another big sign is the disappearance of all believers from the earth, which will result in the confiscation of the Koran. Allah will take all its copies and not a single person in the world will be able to accept Islam.
In addition, the Prophet predicted a terrible catastrophe that would begin in Yemen. There will be a fire that spreads across the area at great speed. It will cover more and more territories and force people to flee these lands. Chance will bring them together in one place, where they will be, surrounded by a wall of fire.
