“The Oracles”

[Excerpt taken from Who's ? Right: Mankind, Religions & the End Times by Kelly Warman-Stallings]

An “oracle” is the term given to an ancient seer who was given revelations and prophecies straight from the gods (polytheistic) or the Creator himself (monotheistic). Many ancient and modern oracles from different races and creeds, as well as diverse cultures, have accurately predicted various events throughout world history, including seeing a final apocalypse for mankind. Several prophecies concerning doomsday have been circulating for hundreds of centuries; some of the prophecies have been fulfilled, while others are still yet to come.

The Ancient Oracles:

Oracles of Apollo – the most well-known of the oracles came from Greece, in the small village of Delphi, about 100 miles northwest of present-day Athens, near the Corinthian Sea and just south of Mount Parnassos’ (Panassus) summit. According to scholars, the oracle was inspired to be a priest/priestess by the god Apollo, and bestowed with power to see into the future. From the 8th century B.C. to the 4th century A.D., pilgrims traveled there from throughout the Mediterranean to pose questions to the priest/priestess. The oracle of Delphi would enter an underground chamber, surround themselves with clouds of incense and go into a trance. In this altered state, the priest/priestess would produce prophecies. The Grecian population continued to consult the oracles until the 4th century A. D. when Theolosius ordered the temples of the prophetic deities to be closed.

In 1998 (A.D.), geological teams discovered two fault lines running beneath the Temple of Delphi in Greece in which ethylene gas was produced. Ethylene gas causes a mild euphoria in small doses, while larger quantities can produce hallucinations, visions, and incoherent mumblings. Some skeptics believe the affects of this natural gas caused coincidental predictions and did not warrant justifiable means for authentic and precise predictions. However, other scholars and theologians agree that the Oracle of Delphi correctly predicted: 1) the fame of Socrates, years before he was born; 2) the defeat of the Persian invasion of Greece in 480 B.C.; and, 3) the conquest of the known world by Alexander the Great. The oracle also foresaw a great and distant apocalypse of extreme measures for mankind. 

The Sybil – an oracle from the ancient Roman Empire, who was reputed to live in a cave near present-day Maples in the 6th century B.C. She was respected by the noble aristocrats who would consult with her on everything from war to domestic affairs. It was said the Sybil would go into a trance and the god Apollo would take over her body. 

The oracle from ancient Rome wrote The Sybilline Prophecies upon scrolls, which were housed at the Temple of Jupiter. A few predictions included: 1) the invasion of Italy by Hannibal (700 years before it happened); 2) the rise of Emperor Constantine and called him by name (800 years before his birth); and, 3) the coming birth of Jesus (20 years before his birth). 

This particular vision of the Messiah was cherished by the early Christians. The Sybil also made dismal predictions of a distant apocalypse. She predicted the world would last for nine periods of 800 years each and the generation would begin approximately 2000 (A.D.) and be the last period. 

“These things in the tenth generation shall come to pass. The earth shall be shaken by a great earthquake that throws many cities into the sea. There shall be war. Fire shall come flashing forth from the heavens, and many cities will burn. Black ash shall fill the great sky. Then know the anger of the Gods.” - The Sybilline Prophecies-Book 4

St. John the Divine – (aka: John of Patmos) was the author of Revelation [in the Christian Bible], an enigmatic book of warnings and words of advice. John received a series of ominous visions of an apocalyptic world while in exile on the Island of Patmos. The divine oracle foresaw such occurrences as: 1) diseases claiming one-fourth of mankind; 2) global warfare centered in the Middle East; and, 3) the rise of an evil world dictator. Some skeptics believe the prophecies of the ancient oracle from the 1st century A. D. were in reference to St. John’s own lifetime and most of his forewarnings have already been fulfilled. However, controversy arises in such a theory for John of Patmos not only foretold of a horrendous war, widespread death on earth and cosmic disturbances, but described happenstances unimaginable in the ancient world. Whether you are a believer or a skeptic, the book of Revelation is one of the most controversial books of the Christian’s Holy Bible. 

“And  the  shapes of  the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle; and  on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men. And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions. And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle. And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails; and their power was to hurt men five months.”- Revelation 9:7-10

In the aforementioned verses, interpretations vary when it comes to the scholars and theologians, but most agree St. John is describing a horrendous battle among mankind in which the ancient seer tried to describe what he had seen and transcribe it in accordance with analogies of his day. Today, St. John is one of the most noted of all oracles and considered by many to be a prophet and personal messenger of the Creator. His doomsday scenario, outlined in the book of Revelation, carries this sect's most powerfully prophetic warning of the End Times.

The ancient oracles made predictions of future events, born of divine inspiration, that were remarkably precise. Many of the prophecies, foretold by the seers of antiquity, seem to have been fulfilled in the last 100 years. This could explain why the Christians await Jesus’ second coming, the Muslims watch for the return of their savior, Mohammad, and the Jewish nation still prays for the appearance of their long-awaited Messiah.