Explosion of Knowledge

One of the most striking predictions in Jewish mystical literature is the Zohar's description of a time when knowledge — both sacred and secular — would flood the world. Written in the language of metaphor, the Zohar speaks of "the gates of wisdom above and the wellsprings of wisdom below" opening in the sixth century of the sixth millennium (corresponding to the mid-1800s onward).

This timeline aligns remarkably with the onset of the Industrial Revolution and the exponential acceleration of scientific discovery that followed. Jewish scholars see this as evidence that the world is being prepared for the revelations of the Messianic era, when "the earth shall be full of the knowledge of G-d as the waters cover the sea" (Isaiah 11:9).