the resurgence of Islam

Originally posted on September 24, 2009 – by Andre Piet

During the recent Goedbericht study day, I pointed out that the final world empire will arise not in Europe but in the Middle East. That is to say: within the Islamic world. And that the figure expected within Islam, the Mahdi, remarkably corresponds to what the Bible says about the ruler of the final world empire. According to Muslims he will make a 7-year covenant, cause Islam to triumph, defeat and kill the Jews, liberate Jerusalem and thus ultimately usher in the return of Jesus (Isa). In this description he seems to have come straight out of biblical prophecy, with this difference, that the Bible designates him as “the lawless one” and “the Beast.” The message of the Mahdi is based on the explicit denial: God has NO Son and Jesus did NOT die and therefore did NOT rise from the dead.

This is the antichrist, who is denying the Father and the Son.
1 John 2:22

… every spirit which is confessing that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God; and every spirit which is not confessing Jesus is not of God. And this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming…
1 John 4:2,3

Islam denies the Father and the Son and that Jesus has bodily risen (“Jesus Christ having come in the flesh”). This denial is characteristic of the antichrist who, although he comes forth from the Christian world, exchanges the biblical message for a pseudo-message.

They (antichrists) went out from us, but they were not of us…
1 John 2:19

Islam proceeds from Christianity but has distorted the message of the Bible. In Islam all kinds of important biblical notions and persons (including Jesus) play a prominent role but… the Qur’an is said to be the final, purified version of all previous written revelations. Islam teaches that through the angel Gabriel the definitive revelation of God was given to Muhammad. That idea makes the average Muslim immune to the Evangel that the apostle Paul had already made known centuries before Muhammad. Paul who warned:

But even if we, or a messenger out of heaven (claim of Islam!), should be bringing you an evangel beside that which we bring to you, let him be cursed (= robbed from blessing)!
Galatians 1:8

It should be clear that the resurgence of Islam with its pseudo-Biblical message is a sign on the wall. With deep-rooted hatred against Israel it prepares itself for its role in “the time of the end.” The climax is approaching and all parties involved seem to be aware of the apocalyptic proportions of the conflict. All the more important is a clear view of what is currently taking place within Islam and also to understand the background of this religion. Not whether Allah is God* but whether He has a Son whom He raised from the dead as a guarantee of life and salvation for the whole world.
THAT is the truth that is at stake.

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* Is Allah God?
Time and again the discussion flares up in the Christian press whether Allah is the same as the God of the Bible. A non-issue. Allah is not an Islamic invention but simply the Arabic word for God. Just as other languages use Gott, Dieu, Theos, Deo, etc. Long before the coming of Islam, Arabs already spoke of ‘Allah’, and Arabic Bible translations cannot do otherwise than use this word. The problem is not with the word Allah but with the definition of His identity. Who is He?

Delen: