Unleashing the Beast

Orthodox Jew is a peculiar character. Westerners see images of Jews draped in a white tallith or prayer shawl, dark curls bouncing off their cheeks, and praying in front of a huge wall of rocks at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, and view them as living in a world all their own. Some of the more educated in society view many Muslims as uneducated shepherds, sitting on the ground in goatskin tents, sipping Turkish coffee and telling tall tells originating in Arabia. Among the Middle Eastern people, America is often viewed as the nation which is spreading the cancer of media violence and sex. These stereotypes paint the three cultures on a canvas of conflict. But the future violence predicted at the hands of the beast of Biblical prophecy does not occur because of cultural differences. The world's final conflict will be a war over the religious beliefs of mankind. This is not a new struggle. The first bloodshed in the Bible occurred when Cain became jealous of his brother's offering to God (see Genesis 4:2-9). Since that time, the blood of the righteous has soaked the soil of the earth. Christ even warned the Jews that they would be persecuted and killed by those who were deceived, thinking they were doing God's will (John 16:2). Today, the crescent moon of Islam is rising. According to their beliefs and traditions, the Islamic religion will one day convert the entire world to Islam. Leading this Islamic revival is the Mahdi, a coming leader who will assume the role of messiah. Islamic tradition teaches that Jesus will return and follow the Mahdi to Jerusalem, where Jesus will deny that He is the Son of God.