Ahmadinejad's Eschatology

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad spoke this past week before the UN General Assembly. And once again he presented his distorted views of the past, the present, and the future. The press focused on his denial of the Holocaust, his conspiracy theories on the September 11 attacks, and his ugly tirades against Israel and the United States...and the mass exodus of delegates in protest.

But most in the press missed Ahmadinejad's comments about the future...and what he believes the future holds. Over the years he has remained remarkably consistent in his focus on what the future holds...and on his call for all nations to "come to faith" before it's too late.

Here are some of his closing comments from last week's speech as he called on nations to rally together to advance his view of the future...

A future that will be built when humanity initiates to trend [sic] the path of the divine prophets and the righteous under the leadership of Imam al-Mahdi, the Ultimate Savior of mankind and the inheritor to all divine messengers and leaders and to the pure generation of our great Prophet.

The creation of a supreme and ideal society with the arrival of a perfect human being who is a true and sincere lover of all human beings, is the guaranteed promise of Allah.

He will come alongside with Jesus Christ to lead the freedom and justice lovers to eradicate tyranny and discrimination, and promote knowledge, peace, justice freedom and love across the world. He will present to every single individual all the beauties of the world and all good things which bring happiness for humankind.

And what can Iran do to help hasten the coming of this Islamic messiah? "Our great nation stands ready to join hands with other nations to march on this beautiful path in harmony and in line with the shared aspirations of mankind."

Two thoughts came to mind as I read his speech. First, to understand Ahmadinejad and Iran one must understand what he truly believes will take place in the future. These statements are not simply platitudes for the Islamic masses. Ahmadinejad believes what he is saying, and the actions he and Iran have taken over the years are designed to hasten the coming of these Islamic end times. What he didn't bother to say directly in his public remarks is that fact that these end times are also supposed to include the destruction of Israel and the Jews. Anyone who minimizes Ahmadinejad's statements simply doesn't realize how seriously he believes in this future.

Second, there is also a sense in which his words are a rebuke to Christians who are afraid to share publicly God's message of eternal life through Jesus Christ. Ahmadinejad is more willing to speak boldly for his own false views than Christians are to share the revealed truth of God's Word. What could God accomplish if we were as bold in sharing our faith as he has shown himself to be in promoting Islam?

Ahmadinejad views the future as a matter of life and death...of choices that will bring with them eternal consequences. And in that sense I agree with him. Unfortunately, we know from the Bible that his view of the future will not lead to eternal life.