Theology Thursdays: The Dead Sea Scrolls, Prophecy and Messiah IX

In the new best-seller, "The Mission," author Dana Priest writes the following: "part of Rumsfeld's dislike for international hand-holding had more to do with his vision of the United States as it entered the twenty-first century. For the first time in history, the United States was a superpower without military rival. Maybe it didn't need all these entanglements to remain on top. The word 'empire' had begun cropping up. The secretary's office had sponspored a private study of the great empires -- Macedonia under Alexander the Great, Republican Rome, the Mongols -- asking how they maintained their dominance. What could the United States learn from the successes and failures of ancient powers?"

The book, in its footnote section, contains the following excerpt of that private study of past empires, sponsored by the Secretary Of Defense called "Sustaining Military Dominance: Examples From Ancient History":

"Military doctrine and forces are created in the image of the economies that spawn them: Military forces, although multi-purpose by nature, are formed around a core set of threats that they are designed to defeat; Asymmetric confrontations tend to be exhaustive." The panel's key findings: "Decisive military advantage begins as an asymmetric tactical advantage; Operational advantage is based on information and control resting on a bedrock of tactical advantage; Strategic advantage rests on superior resources and the ability to engage the enemies' center of gravity; Tactical advantage without strategic advantage tends to be temporary in nature." Panel chair Enders Wimbush said the group also concluded that "military power by itself is never enough to sustain your predominance....The U.S. cannot avoid history. We aren't going to be an exception. All predominant states thought their predominance was eternal. All failed."

What is it that makes this statement so powerful? Does it have any relationship to the power of God and the Messiah?

Acts chapter 17 verse 26 (New Living Translation) reads: "From one man he created all the nations throughout the whole earth. He decided beforehand which should rise and fall, and he determined their boundaries."

Is there anything that connects with this written of in the Holy Qur'an?

Surah 7:34 (Maulana Muhammad Ali translation) reads , "And every nation has a term; so when its term comes, they cannot remain behind the least while, nor can they precede (it)".

In the special study sponsored by the office of the United States Secretary Of Defense was the statement: "The U.S. cannot avoid history."

The panel which undertook the study looked into the history of Macedonia under Alexander the Great, the Republican Rome, and the Mongols.

They saw something that represented a law governing human behavior and the rise and fall of nations that the United States was not exempt from. What was that law? What were the similarities (or resemblance) or patterns identified in their historic study that aided in the recognition of this law?

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In the context of the above, consider this from Is It Possible That The Honorable Elijah Muhammad Is Still Physically Alive???" by Jabril Muhammad:

There is a great resemblance or similarity between the histories of various prophets, messengers, saints, and certain great men (often taken to be prophets of Allah) and the history of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad. It is easier to show this resemblance between some of those men and Messenger Muhammad than between him and some others.

For example, it is easier to show the similarity between Moses and Messenger Muhammad than between Jesus and the Messenger. Of course, it can and has been done.

One of the main reasons is the emotional factor. Most Black people are much more emotionally attached to Jesus than to Moses. Moreover, Jesus is identified with God to a much greater degree in the minds of most Blacks than is Moses.

In any case it is vital for our people to know why there is a similarity in the first place between those men and the Messenger. I won't go into that, except to note that all of those men point to the Messenger. If this can be proven, it shows a wise preconceived purpose, design or plan. It does. In fact, it is all (in my view) part of the purpose, design, or plan of Allah to bring about a 100% better world of people.

If you take the few minutes it takes to compare the "fates" of the prophets, messengers, etc., recorded in the scriptures to that which was expected of the last Messenger, you will find a similarity between theirs and the Messenger's that is remarkable.

Notice the circumstances that led up to their deaths, in some cases, or escapes, in other instances. Is this coincidence or is this prophecy?

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Is history actually prophecy and vice-versa? Remember the statement of the special government panel referred to above, "The U.S. cannot avoid history. We aren't going to be an exception. All predominant states thought their predominance was eternal. All failed".

Again, this statement comes from a special study sponsored by the office of the United States' Secretary Of Defense called, "Sustaining Military Dominance: Examples from Ancient History," conducted by the Office of Net Assessment for the Office of the Secretary of Defense, in the summer of 2001.

Thursday, March 20, 2003