Chapter Twenty

Further Thoughts

Having addressed and offered resolution to some of the potential challenges to the thesis presented in this book, we now move on to some final thoughts. 

Mere Coincidence?

When I first began to become acquainted with Islamic eschatology and the many similarities between the biblical Antichrist and the Islamic Mahdi, I was quite taken back.  But as I began to see that these similarities extended far beyond just the Mahdi and the Antichrist, I knew that this subject merited a comprehensive study.  I had to “see just how deep this rabbit hole goes.”  As the similarities between the two eschatological systems fell in line, one subject after another, my personal conclusion was that these numerous similarities were not mere coincidence.  There is clear evidence here of purpose and design.  In chapter seventeen, I listed twenty-two striking parallels between the biblical and Islamic templates for the last-days, and I’m sure that this list could be extended quite a bit more.  Several of the parallels unto themselves are quite impressive.  Think about this fact for instance: Bible scholars and students of Bible prophecy have concluded that the Antichrist will make a “peace treaty” with Israel for exactly seven years.  This treaty is believed by many to include a concession to allow Israel to rebuild the Jewish Temple.  The exact same scenario is mirrored by the Islamic tradition that the Mahdi would mediate a “peace treaty” with the Christians through a Jew from the priestly tribe of Levi.  A Levite would be the necessary agent to represent the Jewish people in rebuilding their Temple.  Amazingly, the Islamic timeframe here is for exactly seven years.  This is just too detailed and specific of a parallel to write off as mere coincidence.  And this is perhaps the most insignificant element of all of the many parallels which exist.

In thinking through the implications of the fact that the biggest “bad guy” in the Bible; the Antichrist, has been literally transformed into the coming savior of Islam, while the biggest good guy in the Bible, namely Jesus, has been transformed into the biggest “bad guy” in Islamic eschatology, one must be willing to ask the obvious question:  Has Satan been specifically involved in the inspiration of Islam’s end-time doctrines.  Has Satan devised in the Islamic traditions a preemptive means to carry out his final plan.  Now, of course in natural history there were real men and numerous developments that contributed to the formation of these traditions as we have them today.  But I am speaking of the invisible spiritual factors and beings that are behind the formation of these traditions.  The specificity, detail and extent of the parallels demand the acknowledgement of design, while the twisted and cynical nature of these “anti-parallels” clearly point to the malevolent nature of the “person” doing so.  I understand that that may initially sound like quite a paranoid statement to make.  But think through the facts:  When God revealed the Book of Revelation to the Apostle John, He was at the same time pulling the lid off of Satan’s grandest plan to deceive the world.  Satan’s plans were exposed a priori.  Finding himself in such a position, did Satan, being crafty as always, decide it was necessary to create a strong tradition that contained an “anti-parallel” of his great plan?  If so, Satan could still brazenly carry out what God has already said he would do and still deceive a great portion of the world while doing it.  If this is the case, then when the Antichrist comes forward as prophesied in the Bible, Satan has seen to it that at least 1.3 billion Muslims, rather than the recognizing the Antichrist for who he is, instead, will be supported by fourteen hundred year old traditions and prophecies that predicted the advent of such a wonderful “savior.”  By overseeing the establishment of such an antichrist tradition in a vibrant world religion, Satan has already prepared a fifth of the world to receive his coming Antichrist with arms wide open.  It seems as though the entire Muslim world, which is expanding rapidly, has literally been set-up in a way that can only be accounted for by the purposeful plans of God’s greatest enemy.  If this is the case, then not only can it be said that “Satan is alive and well on Planet Earth,” but even more specifically: Satan is alive and well in the fastest growing religion in the world.

The Good Side Of Islam

Now, before we move on, it must be pointed out that while this book has in many ways focused on the many very negative aspects of Islam, it must also be qualified here that Islam as a religion is filled with many very good, godly, admirable and noble traits.  One could point out Islam’s strong emphasis on modesty or prayer or even Islam’s stunningly beautiful architecture and art.  In fact there are many things about Islam and Islamic culture that I personally find incredibly attractive and appealing.  To outright deny this side of Islam would be to put our collective heads in the sand.  But as Oswald Chambers has said, in his classic Christian devotional, My utmost for his Highest, “The good is always the enemy of the best.” ¹ This is an essential concept for us to grasp.  The reason for this is that Satan has figured this out long ago and has effectively utilized this concept as one of his greatest tools to lead many astray.  Islam has many inward and outward religious expressions that are quite good; many bear a strong resemblance to the expressions that I have experienced in Christianity.  Of course, the religion of Islam without the genuine gospel of Jesus will never lead anyone into a true relationship with God.  No matter how many admirable traits and traditions that Islam possesses, ultimately, it falls short and fails to deliver where it truly matters the most.  Jesus is not merely another prophet; rather He is “The way and the truth and the life.”  (John 14:6)  So in this sense, again, we see the clear antichrist nature of Islam.  How so?  Because the word “antichrist” has a dual meaning.  Not only does Antichrist mean “against Christ,” it also means “instead of Christ,” – a substitute.  In Islam, I see a masterfully crafted substitute form of Christianity.  Islam is a religion that bears as much resemblance to the real thing as possible without actually having the most essential aspect of all - a genuine living relationship with the One True God of the universe through Jesus Christ.  This is the essential mode whereby God has chosen to deal with humans.  Islam attempts to bypass this.  It would be hard to create a better example of a Christ-less version of Christianity than Islam.  And in this sense, Islam is the “good” that is the ultimate enemy of “the best”.  Thus, the danger of Islam is not only its obvious dark side but also its light side.  For it is those aspects of Islam that resembles a genuine relationship with God that make it seem acceptable to many who base their decision on a less than complete examination of both religions.  Satan is crafty and wise.  Without a veneer of godliness, Islam would be unacceptable to everyone, but Satan has always candy coated his poison.  Satan was perfectly happy to suffer and allow many godly elements into the religion of Islam in exchange for the absence of the essential and foundational element of any true relationship with God, which is the real Jesus – the only Savior of the world. 

If Not Islam, Then What?

After all of the information is examined, there is one last important question that needs to be asked:  If Islam is not the Antichrist system, then what is? 

In America, we are infamously American centric.  As American Christians we always read into the Bible our own American experience.  Presently, in America and elsewhere, the greatest “enemy” today of Christianity is generally the “progressive” secularists – the left wing and adherents to the various forms of New Age religion.  David Limbaugh, social and political commentator, in his timely book, Persecution: How Liberals Are Waging War Against Christianity details the ever-growing trend of predjudice, discrimination and hatred toward Christians in America.  Limbaugh accurately identifies a genuine and a growing hatred toward Christians through the United States.  As such, many American Christians may envision a day when the hatred of progressive secularists toward Christians will boil over into a fomenting rage until some people will actually feel justified in the killing of Christians.  While I have seen some pretty strong hatred directed toward Christians, and while Limbaugh’s analysis is entirely accurate, I personally find it rather hard to believe that mere liberalism or secular humanism is enough to account for the kind of worldwide seemingly organized murderous behavior that the Bible speaks of as taking place in the last-days.  Perhaps, the vision of American Christians has been far too myopic when they have tried to visualize or speculate about who their real persecutors will be in the end-times.  When Jesus says that the day is coming “when those who murder you will think that they are offering God a service,” it necessitates not only a belief in God but also some form of religious system whereby the mentality that killing in the name of God is actually reasonable.  I do not personally see mere liberalism, humanism, or even occultism as being enough to account for the specific description that Jesus gives us in this warning.  Perhaps, if within the next several decades, humanism, occultism, and various forms of New Age religion somehow merge into some form of popular cohesive world movement that experiences some form of significant revival, then maybe a case could be made for such a system to be responsible for such a world wide persecution.  But right now, such a system does not exist.  I simply do not see enough tangible evidence to accept the notion that any of the “isms” that we just mentioned could be legitimate candidates to fulfill the prophecies of Jesus regarding people killing Christians and thinking themselves to be serving God in doing so.

Islam however fits Jesus’ prophecy perfectly.  And as we discussed in previous chapters, Islam also fulfills John’s prophecy perfectly of a worldwide system that will use beheading as it primary method or mode of operation to enforce its rule.  But how have we missed this?  After all, Islam is the world’s second largest and fastest growing religion.  Are we really that blind?  To be fair, until 9-11, Islam had been pretty much off the radar of most American Christians.  And in many ways, Islam as a religion has been somewhat dormant as a world power for much of the last century.  But Islam’s slow and steady growth throughout the twentieth century began to churn and froth later in the century with the advent of radical Islam in Iran and Egypt that has already given rise to a world-wide network of jihad movements that has never before existed in the history of Islam or the world.  Many are now declaring that, “The 21st century will be the century of Islam.” ² As many speculate that America is involved in the Third World War, Muslims are declaring all over the earth that they are at the onset of the third great Jihad. ³ So now, possibly at an hour that is quite late, Islam has now finally grabbed our attention.  And as we assess Islam’s nature in light of biblical prophecies, we see that it not only fits the description of the Biblical prophecies down to every last detail, but that it also has now had over fourteen hundred years to infiltrate every corner of the earth.  I believe that the stage is now set. 

Notes:

1. Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest