Nostradamus’ Predictions of Obama: A Hoax?

Nostradamus: Original portrait by his son Cesar

Might Nostradamus have referred to Barack Obama? Many seem to think so.

But first, let’s see a little bit about Nostadamus.

Wikipedia reports:

Michel de Nostredame (14 December 1503 or 21 December 1503 – 2 July 1566), usually Latinized to Nostradamus, was a French apothecary and reputed seer who published collections of prophecies that have since become famous worldwide. He is best known for his book Les Propheties (The Prophecies), the first edition of which appeared in 1555. Since the publication of this book, which has rarely been out of print since his death, Nostradamus has attracted an enthusiastic following who, along with the popular press, credits him with predicting many major world events.

In contrast, most academic sources maintain that the associations made between world events and Nostradamus’s quatrains are largely the result of misinterpretations or mistranslations (sometimes deliberate) or else are so tenuous as to render them useless as evidence of any genuine predictive power.

And while many Catholics distance themselves from his writing, Nostradamus was a Catholic. One Catholic writer wrote:

Nostradamus…A member of the third order of St. Francis, he enjoyed the friendship of Pope Pius IV. He was a devout Catholic all his life…Nostradamus was an authentic seer (Dupont, Yves. Catholic Prophecy: The Coming Chastisement. TAN Books, Rockford (IL), 1973, p. 93).

And ever since Barack Obama started to look like he could be elected as President of the United States, a variety of misinformation claiming to be about him has appeared in various sources, especially on the internet.

There has been one popular “news item” from a source called the Daily Squib which seems highly questionable. Notice what it claims about a so-called Quatrain 243:

WASHINGTON DC – USA – Scholars for the Smithsonian Institute have uncovered new interpretations that may relate to Barack Obama, the Illinois senator vying to become the next US president.

Professor Eugene Randell, Deputy Director of the Smithsonian Institution Archives has released information pertaining to the up and coming US elections. The Institute which holds some very rare Nostradamus manuscripts, believes that some of the quatrains written by the 16th century soothsayer are very close to describing the fight for the White House that is happening now.

“We have the only existing fourth edition of Nostradamus’ book Les Propheties (The Prophecies). There were thought to be only three editions published in 1558, this new edition is from 1559 and includes 20 more quatrains which have never been revealed before — that is, until now,” Professor Randell said from the archive office on Tuesday…

The professor told the Daily Squib that it is well known that some of the quatrains are open to interpretation however what he has translated from the previously unreleased manuscript will certainly “ruffle a few feathers”.

243 The great empire will be torn from limb, The all-powerful one for more than four hundred years: Great power given to the dark one from slaves come, The Aryana will not be satisfied thereby. (Olsen, Andrew. Nostradamus Obama Prophecies Revealed. The Daily Squib. April 10, 2008)

There are several reasons to doubt that this account is true. One source I found on the web flat-out states that the above is a hoax, while another from Sri Lanka claims that he wrote the Smithsonian and that the Smithsonian denied it to him in writing.

My own attempts to verify that there was such a professor named Eugene Randell at the Smithsonian have been fruitless. It should also be understood that, if a previously unknown 20 quatrains from Nostradamus were actually released from the Smithsonian, I believe that many other news sources would have picked it up as Nostradamus’ predictions are often considered newsworthy by more than internet sources. (There are also reasons to doubt the name listed as the author of the article as he does not show up as have written anything else for the Daily Squib. 06 Feb 09 Update, see also Obama Nostradamus Hoax.)

But this does not mean that everything that attempts to tie Barack Obama in with Nostradamus is a hoax.

For example, the following truly is from Nostradamus, and followed with the Comment from a Catholic writer named Yves Dupont:

Quatrain 50:

Under the sign of Libra, America shall reign, Shall hold power in the sky and on land, Shall never perish under Asian forces, Until seven Pontificates have passed. (Yves Dupont, p.94)

Comment: As a great world power, the U.S.A. began its “reign” during the first World War–but it was not the greatest world power; in 1918 … In 1945, however, the U.S.A. was, by and large, the greatest world power. I think it is from the reign of Pius XII that the seven Pontificates must be counted, and this brings us to the last Pope according to St. Malachy’s list–when the world will end. (comment is from the Catholic writer Yves Dupont personally in 1973, Catholic Prophecy: The Coming Chastisement, p.94)

It appears that these Catholic writings suggest that the end of the USA will thus be in the 21st century as that is when the last pope would need to appear. As far as Asian forces go, this could be interpreted to include terrorists from places like Afghanistan and others parts of Asia (Barack Obama has repeatedly pledged to increase US military action in Afghanistan)–but it could mean nothing at all.

For those who are not familiar with the Catholic Saint Malachy, it needs to be mentioned that he allegedly came up with a list of all popes from the 12th century to present (although the descriptions are probably little more specific than those ascribed to Nostradamus). And since the Malachy list contains several, without distinguishment, of those that the Romans have called “antipopes”, it certainly does not seem to be a list of true leaders inspired by the Holy Spirit of God.

Anyway, there is only one pope left on the Malachy list. Some current (as well as older) Catholics suspect that this could be an antipope (for specific Catholic private prophecies which could be about him and the current pope, please see One More Pope?). Some also suspect that this is one who could be the Antichrist.

Now although I am fairly sure that Yves Dupont was French and translated Nostradamus into English for his book, there is another translation that perhaps should be shown as it implies something a little bit different:

Quatrain 50:

Libra will see the western lands (America) to govern,
Holding the rule over the skies and the earth
No one will see the forces of Asia destroyed
Until seven hold the hierarchy in succession.

There is then a comment by an Indian writer who posted the above, before citing Quatrain 74, who stated:

The “seven” are the seven millennia in Nostradamus’ calculations which end in A.D. 2000, which also links this quatrain to the quatrain below:

The year the great seventh number is accomplished
Appearing at the time of the games of slaughter,
Not far from the age of the great millennium (2000)
When the dead will come out of their graves.

(http://www.liveindia.com/nostradamus/famous.html viewed 11/29/08)

Now the above suggests that the forces of Asia will not be destroyed until the “seven hold the hierarchy in succession”.

There are probably a few ways to look at this. The first is that this is all false and can have nothing to do with anything, including Barack Obama.

The second is that this could suggest that during the time of the seventh and potentially last pope (who may take over the pontificate while Barack Obama is in office) that Asian forces will be destroyed. Although the United States and its Anglo-allies would be destroyed before massive Asian forces are destroyed, the Bible does warn that the “kings of the east” will come together at Armageddon (Revelation 16:12-16) and that a 200,000,000 man army will be destroyed (Revelation 9:13-20; 16:16)–this is also discussed in the article Asia in Prophecy.

Irrespective of which of the translations of Quatrain 50 is more accurate (it is difficult for even modern translators of French to properly translate Nostradamus’ writings into English because of the form of French he tended to use), if Yves Dupont’s comments are correct about the start of the last seven popes being in 1945, as there is now only one left on the Malachy prophecy list, then it is possible that Barack Obama may be the last leader of the America to govern before the end.

And if the Indian writer is correct that the seven times refers to the end coming in this millennium, while this does not point towards Barack Obama as directly, it does not preclude it including him.

By now you may be wondering why a COG website would be referring to several non-biblical prophecies. The reason is because since Satan the devil clearly knows when God created Adam and Eve, it is clear that he knows when the Great Tribulation needs to start by. I suspect, that because of this, that Satan and his demons have influenced seers of various sorts throughout history for his purposes (including trying to cause confusion as well as to have others discount the value of biblical prophecy), essentially in an effort to discredit the true Church of God.

Thus, the Nostadamus writings may have be inspired to get people to look more towards Nostradamus than the Bible. However, this does not mean that they may not provide some insight into what may happen. And there is no denying that the Malachy list of prophesied pontiffs has to a great degree been fulfilled.

The facts are that if Barack Obama is re-elected and survives in office, then he would remain US president until January 19, 2017. Since the current Pope Benedict XVI was born on 16 April 1927, he would be 89 3/4 then if he remains alive–and while he may, it seems a bit more likely that the next pope (the final one on the Malachy list) will be in place before Barack Obama would leave his office.

And IF that pope is the antipope (please see One More Pope?), the final Antichrist, then the following one of Nostradamus’ other quatrains may apply to Barack Obama (perhaps the “Reb” below), shown in the original French followed by an English translation:

Quatrain 66:

Le chef de Londres par regne l’Americh,
L’Isle d’Escosse tempiera par gelee:
Roy Reb auront vn si faux Antechrist,
Que les mettra trestous dans la meslee.

The chief of London through the realm of America,
The Isle of Scotland will be tried by frost:
King and “Reb” will face an Antichrist so false,
That he will place them in the conflict all together.

(Nostradamus. Les Propheties. 1840 Bareste edition. http://yowusa.com/nostradamus/c10/61.shtml visited 10/22/07 & 11/29/08).

Quatrain 66 suggests that the leader of the United Kingdom (chief of London and involving Scotland), probably called the “King”, will be influenced by the western realm of America, with the leader called “Reb” (America rebelled against England in 1776) and will encounter an Antichrist that will ultimately place them into conflict.

So there appears to be at least two quatrains from Nostradamus that MIGHT point to Barack Obama (while the one most commonly looked at on the web is apparently a hoax).

And while we should not rely on non-biblical prophecies, it is possible that Satan or his agents influenced some of them (as even the demons know about prophecy, Matthew 4:5-9; 8:29), as the Bible indicates that probably sometime next decade the Anglo-American powers will be destroyed and that Antichrist will rise up.

But as Newsweek recently asked, “Is Barack Obama the Antichrist?”

As covered here before, the answer is no. The final Antichrist is a religious (as opposed to primarily political) leader, thus Barack Obama is not the final Antichrist (for the scriptures, please see Barack Obama is Not the Antichrist)–however, because of his timing and his stated policies it is likely that he will (most likely inadvertently) support the rise of the prophesied King of the North, the King of the South, and (most likely indirectly) the final Antichrist.

For more information on this and related subjects, please see the relatively new article:

Prophecies of Barack Obama? Are there biblical and non-biblical prophecies about Barack Obama. Did Nostradamus predict Barack Obama dealing with the Antichrist? This is my longest article on biblical and non-biblical prophecies that may involve Barack Obama.

For articles of additional related prophetic interest see:

Who is the King of the North? Is there one? Do biblical and Roman Catholic prophecies point to the same leader? Should he be followed? Who will be the King of the North discussed in Daniel 11? Is a nuclear attack prophesied to happen to the English-speaking peoples of the United States, Great Britain, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand? When do the 1335 days, 1290 days, and 1260 days (the time, times, and half a time) of Daniel 12 begin? When does the Bible show that economic collapse will affect the United States?
Barack Obama, Prophecy, and the Destruction of the United States Some claim that Barack Obama is the prophesied “son of Kenya”. Might Bible prophecy be fulfilled since he is to be the USA president?
End of Mayan Calendar 2012–Might 2012 Mean Something? There is a Mayan calendar prediction for change in 2012. 2012 changes were also centuries ago predicted by the Hopi Native Americans (the Hindus may have some predictions for the next decade as well). Do these Mayan/Hindu/Hopi prophecies have any value? Why might Satan have inspired this date? Does the Dresden codex show destruction of the earth by flood? Can the great tribulation start before 2012?
Does God Have a 6,000 Year Plan? What Year Does the 6,000 Years End? Was a 6000 year time allowed for humans to rule followed by a literal thousand year reign of Christ on Earth taught by the early Christians? When does the six thousand years of human rule end?
Anglo – America in Prophecy & the Lost Tribes of Israel Are the Americans, Canadians, British, Scottish, Welsh, Australians, Anglo-Southern Africans, and New Zealanders descendants of Joseph? Where are the lost ten-tribes of Israel? Who are the lost tribes of Israel? Will God punish the U.S.A., Canada, United Kingdom, and other Anglo nations? Why might God allow them to be punished first?
Barack Obama is Not the Antichrist Some have suggested that he may be, but neither he nor John McCain will be. Find out why they cannot be.
Some Doctrines of Antichrist Are there any doctrines taught outside the Churches of God which can be considered as doctrines of antichrist? This article suggests at least three. It also provides information on 666 and the identity of “the false prophet”. Plus it shows that several Catholic writers seem to warn about an ecumenical antipope that will support heresy.
Do Certain Catholic Prophecies About Antichrist Warn Against Jesus? Will the final “Anti-Christ” be Jewish, insist on Saturday, be opposed to the trinity, and bring in the millennium? Catholic writings indicate this, but what does the Bible show?
Two Horned Beast of Revelation and 666 This article explains how the LCG views this, and compares this to Ellen White.
Europa, the Beast, and Revelation Where did Europe get its name? What might Europe have to do with the Book of Revelation? What about “the Beast”? What is ahead for Europe?