In Part 6 of the Signs of the End I went over another indicator/sign that Christ told us to watch for as we approached the end times: Commotions (political instability). In this latest installment I will go over another indicator: false Christs.
Recall that one of the signs that we would see as we approach the end times will be people who claim to be Christ.
- Mat 24:4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.
- Mat 24:5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.
- Mat 24:6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
I am not aware of anyone who keeps track of the number of people who claim to be the Christ each year over a long period of time like the U.S. and others track the number of earthquakes each year over the past few decades. Therefore, evaluating whether there have been more people who claim to be Christ is a lot more subjective than evaluating whether there has been an increase in earthquake activity over time.
I searched through several websites that list people who claim to be Christ as part of my preparation for this article. I found that there are a lot more documented cases of people who claim to be Christ in recent years than in the past.
- For instance, on Wikipedia’s “List of Messiah Claimants” there are 11 claims from the 1st Century AD to the end of the 19th Century and 17 claims from the start of the 20th Century until today (this does not even include Maitreya).
This should not be a complete surprise because improvements in communication technology have enabled delusional people with major messianic complexes to make their ridiculous claims known to a large audience. However, people who make the absurd claim that they are the Christ usually have their claim documented no matter how small their following is because this claim is so absurd and unusual. Thus, the discrepancy in the number of cases reported now versus in the past is more likely due to an increase in the number of people who claim to be the Christ than due to an improvement in communication technology.
I feel we are seeing an increase in the number of individuals who are claiming to be the Christ. It’s an indication that Earth is experiencing birth pangs and that we are getting closer to the end times as time goes on.
