Looking at ‘The Spirit of Islam’ Critically

John R. Houk, Blog Editor

© February 13, 2024

 

Quite some time ago on a Social Media platform which I cannot recall (probably MeWe), I ran into a post that I thought would be a link to an informative post, but turned out to be a download of an Office Word Document. What got my attention was my initial reading was some criticism of Islam showing (what I believe) to be their demon-deity Allah to have originated from a pre-Islamic Arabic polytheistic past of a moon-god deity. This drives Muslims who are taught an absolute monotheism – NUTS.

 

Well, it turns out the Word Document is more – way more.

 

The document is a treatise on pre-Islamic worship, a large splash of the inherent violent nature that Islam teaches its adherents, a large section on Christian Biblical Prophecy and Islam may figure into it, some Christian tenets vs Islamic tenets and (much to my appreciation) a dose of excoriating Islam based on their revered writings (e.g.: Quran, Hadith & Sira).

 

This treatise is lengthy. My sense is there is an attempt at an appearance of some scholarly work, but it seems to be a patch work of a lot of copy and paste work. NEVERTHELESS, though lacking in erudition the treatise is loaded with food for thought some of which you might question, wonder, in some cases might disagree on Christian theological grounds depending on your personal beliefs AND devoted Muslims will scream remove the infidel’s head. The latter makes the treatise worth the read.

 

The author’s opinion on Islam and the terrorist attack is in the time-frame most Americans were convinced shortly after the 9/11 attack. Hindsight from information that has leaked has not changed my opinion of Islam being evil toward Christians and Jews, BUT has changed my opinion on the method and opportunity on how Muslim terrorists taught to hate all things not Islamic gained an access they were more than willing to carry out. I am not a blame the Jews kind of guy like many emerging American Patriots wondering how two hijacked passenger airliners were able to topple the Twin Towers in the similitude of an organized demolition. Some like to point to Israel’s Mossad Intelligence organization. My sense is American Intelligence (many point to the CIA, but I would be unsurprised to discover ALL the American Intel Alphabets were involved) for whatever nefarious purpose provided the ways, means and incitement on willing Islamic terrorists. Another guess on my part: Whatever the nefarious purpose behind American Intel facilitating a foreign attack on American soil killing thousands of Americans was likely in collusion with OTHER Globalist-goaled foreign Intel Agencies to usher in a fundamentally transformed New World Order in which Globalist Elitists few are the controllers of the masses via endless wars. (BTW, there are ungodly Left-Wing Globalists in Mossad not as prime movers but as co-conspirators.) BUT THAT IS ANOTHER STORY!

 

As I am typing this and including the treatise which I have attempted to edit with spell check and my eyes (and I probably missed something in the edit) is nearly the size of a 50-page Word Document. Gosh, that’s nearly a mini-book. You might want to bookmark to read as your time permits. I’m including some initial notes when I downloaded the document in June 2023.

 

JRH 2/13/24

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The Spirit of Islam

 

By John Henry Reaves [Or it least the source of downloaded Word Document]

Word Document Downloaded June 17, 2023

Original Date Unknown [But could be decades old, probably prominent when the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT) was hot & heavy]

 

[6/17/23 - I could not verify author as John Henry Reaves. I suspect this Reaves fellow copy & pasted this text to a Word Document & saved it. Hence when the download link was sent (I’m ashamed I can’t remember from whom) on a Social Media Platform, John Henry Reaves became the author not necessarily the writer but owner of the Word Document. So, to shore up the content, below are some links discussing the same subject:

 

o   Was Allah The Moon God of Ancient Arab Pagan? By SYED KAMRAN MIRZA; FaithFreedom.org; NO DATE (But the old FFI author page has the date as 8/4/03) [Embedded links updated to reflect active pages]

 

o   The Origin of Allah; By Samuel L. Blumenfeld; Chalcedon.edu; 11/1/03

 

o   Answering Islam and the "Allah is a pre-islamic moon-god" hypothesis; Intro by Jochen Katz – Response by Yoel Natan; Answering Islam; Intro – 11/2/06 & Response – 10/2006

 

o   Allah: Formerly known as the PAGAN moon-god, SIN; An overview with Rev. Mark W. Chidester Ph.D. & et al; The Nephilim's Tome; 9/12/11]

 

Question: Is Allah of the Muslims the God of Christians?

 

I would say that it can't be that way. There is only one true God, who revealed Himself in the Bible, through His prophets. And if we compare between the God of the Christians, and Allah of the Muslims and of the Quran, we will see a lot of differences. There is a difference in the attributes of Allah, and the Attributes of God of the Christians. There is a difference in the commandment of Allah of the Muslims and the commandments of the God of the Christians. There is a difference in the plan of salvation prepared by the God of the Christians, and the plan of salvation in Islam. And I might say here that the word 'salvation' was never ever mentioned in the whole Quran. Then lastly I would say that the god head in Islam is different than the god head in Christianity.

 

Question: What are the differences exactly of Allah of the Muslims and God of the Christians?

 

Well, you see, there is a difference in the attributes; there is a difference in the commandments; there is a difference in the plan of salvation, and it is a difference in its god head.

 

Question: Would you elaborate on that very first point?

 

Yes, I would say about the first point, his attributes. In the Quran there are 99 names for god. When you read the whole Quran, from Alfatiha, the first surah, till surah number 114, the last surah of the Quran, you will not find the word 'father' or 'love' attributed to God. God is no father in Islam. God is no love in Islam. And when we come to these two distinctive names of God in Christianity, of course, when the disciples came to Jesus and they told Him, "Teach us to pray?" What did He say? "When you pray you say, 'Our father who are in heaven..." But in Islam god, Allah, is no father. Why did Islam deny the fatherhood of God? Because if Islam would confess the fatherhood of God, it demands that they will confess that eternal sonship of Jesus Christ, because there is no eternal fatherhood without eternal sonship. This is why, when you read the Quran, God is no father. If he is a father, and this is one of his attributes, he must have a son. And of course, He is a father for eternity, then the son should be eternal also, or else there will not be any eternal fatherhood. That is one thing that we have to consider in the attributes of God, the difference in the attributes of God between Islam and Christianity.

 

The second name of the second attribute, God is love. Our love, when we confess it, we would come to the plan of salvation, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believeth in Him, should not perish but have everlasting life." When we confess that God is love, we must come to the plan of redemption, because there is no other way for God to demonstrate His love but through the sacrifice of His only begotten Son. So there is a big difference between Allah of the Islam, who is no father, and no love, and God of the Christianity, who is the Father, and who is love. There is a difference in the attributes of God. And of course, if I will continue, I would say that Allah of the Islam commanded in the Quran that people will be killed in his name. And the Jihad, which we hear about it is based, totally and completely on verses from the Quran.

 

In the Bible, God never asked anybody do go and fight for him, to force people to believe in Him. And I repeat, God never asked anyone to go and fight for Him, to force people to believe in Him. Believing is a choice, and we cannot believe against out will. So many attributes are different between Allah in Islam, and God of the Christianity.

 

Allah the Moon God

The religion of Islam has as its focus of worship a deity by the name of "Allah." The Muslims claim that Allah is the true god, the one god, and the same god of the Bible. In pre-Islamic Arabia was there another Allah from the pagan gods? The Muslims claim the Islam and "Allah" are part of the flow of divine revelation, the next step in biblical religion. However if Allah was a pre-Islamic pagan deity, then Islam's core claim is refuted. The facts on the ground, archeology, demonstrates that the god Allah was a pagan deity, the Moon-god who was married to the sun goddess and the stars were his daughters.

 

Islamic Moon Crescent

 

Archeologists have uncovered temples to the moon-god throughout the Middle East, from the mountains of Turkey to the River Nile. Some have asserted that the worship of the moon-god was "the most wide-spread religion of the ancient world". The Sumerians worshipped a moon-god called different names. This eastern moon-god was masculine, and his symbol was the crescent moon. The archeological evidence suggests that moon worship may have been the dominant religion of Sumeria. The Moon-god was known by the name, "Sin".

In ancient Canna and Syria the Moon-god Sin was represented by the crescent moon. Sacrifices to the Moon-god are described in the Pas Shamra texts. God specifically warns against the worship of the moon (Deut. 4:19). In Tell-el-Obeid, a copper calf was found with a crescent moon on its forehead. In Ur, the Stela of Ur-Nammu has the crescent symbol placed at the top of the register of gods because the Moon-god was the head of the gods.

In the 1950's a major temple to the Moon-god was excavated at Hazer in Palestine. Two idols of the moon god were found. Each was a stature of a man sitting upon a throne with a crescent moon carved on his chest. The accompanying inscriptions make it clear that these were idols of the Moon-god. What about Arabia? As pointed out by Prof. Coon, "Muslims are notoriously loath to preserve traditions of earlier paganism and like to garble what pre-Islamic history they permit to survive in anachronistic terms."

"During the nineteenth century, Amaud, Halevy and Glaser went to Southern Arabia and dug up thousands of Sabean, Minaean, and Qatabanian inscriptions which were subsequently translated. In the 1940's, the archeologists G. Caton Thompson and Carleton S. Coon made some amazing discoveries in Arabia. During the 1950's, Wendell Phillips, W.F. Albright, Richard Bower and others excavated sites at Qataban, Timna, and Marib (the ancient capital of Sheba). Thousands of inscriptions from walls and rocks in Northern Arabia have also been collected. Reliefs and votive bowls used in worship of the "daughters of Allah" have also been discovered. The three daughters, al-Lat, al-Uzza and Manat are sometimes depicted together with Allah the Moon-god represented by a crescent moon above them. The archeological evidence demonstrates that the dominant religion of Arabia was the cult of the Moon-god."

Segall said, "South Arabia's stellar religion has always been dominated by the Moon-god in various variations." Many scholars have also noticed that the Moon-god's name "Sin" is a part of such Arabic words as "Sinai," the "wilderness of Sin," etc. When the popularity of the Moon-god waned elsewhere, the Arabs remained true to their conviction that the Moon-god was the greatest of all gods. While they worshipped 360 gods at the Kabah in Mecca, the Moon-god was the chief deity. Mecca was in fact built as a shrine for the Moon-god.

This is what made it the most sacred site of Arabian paganism. In 1944, G. Caton Thompson revealed in her book, The Tombs and Moon Temple of Hureidha, that she had uncovered a temple of the Moon-god in southern Arabia. The symbols of the crescent moon and no less than twenty-one inscriptions with the name Sin were found in this temple. An idol which may be the Moon-god himself was also discovered. This was later confirmed by other well-known archeologists.

"The evidence reveals that the temple of the Moon-god was active even in the Christian era. Evidence gathered from both North and South Arabia demonstrate that Moon-god worship was clearly active even in Muhammad's day and was still the dominant cult. According to numerous inscriptions, while the name of the Moon-god was Sin, his title was al-ilah, i.e. "the deity," meaning that he was the chief or high god among the gods. As Coon pointed out, "The god Il or Ilah was originally a phase of the Moon God." The Moon-god was called al-ilah, i.e. the god, which was shortened to Allah in pre-Islamic times. The pagan Arabs even used Allah in the names they gave to their children. For example, both Muhammad's father and uncle had Allah as part of their names."

 

In the days of Muhammad's life the Arabian pantheon was still worshipped. Prof. Coon has stated, "Similarly, under Mohammed's tutelage, the relatively anonymous Ilah, became Al-Ilah, The God, or Allah, the Supreme Being." Why is Allah never defined in the Qur'an? Why did Muhammad assume that the pagan Arabs already knew who Allah was? The reason is that Muhammad was raised in the religion of the Moon-god Allah. While Muhammad’s fellow pagan Arabs believed that Allah, the Moon-god, was the greatest of all gods, Muhammad created an Arab mono-theism. Some believe that Muhammad must have seen the greater prosperity of mono-theistic Jews and Christians, and decided to gather the poly-theists under one tent. Of course he did this by the inspiration of a demon while he was having an epileptic fit. He told his wife about the vision he had, and she told him he had seen demons. But Muhammad convinced himself otherwise and began to spread Islam by the sword. He failed at winning over his home town at first, and went to conquer a neighboring town. After several years he returned to his hometown with an army to usher in his new religion. And thus, Islam has been spread by the sword ever since.

The Muslim creed is not, "God is great" but "Allah is greater". The Arabic word is used to contrast the greater from the lesser.

"That this is true is seen from the fact that the pagan Arabs never accused Muhammad of preaching a different Allah than the one they already worshipped. This "Allah" was the Moon-god according to the archeological evidence. Muhammad thus attempted to have it both ways. To the pagans, he said that he still believed in the Moon-god Allah. To the Jews and the Christians, he said that Allah was their God too. But both the Jews and the Christians knew better and that is why they rejected his god Allah as a false god."

 

 Many pre-Muhammad rituals have been retained by Islam: The pagan Arabs worshipped the Moon-god Allah by praying toward Mecca several times a day; making a pilgrimage to Mecca; running around the temple of the Moon-god called the Kabah; kissing the black stone; killing an animal in sacrifice to the Moon-god; throwing stones at the devil; fasting for the month which begins and ends with the crescent moon; giving alms to the poor, etc.

"Islam is nothing more than a revival of the ancient Moon-god cult. It has taken the symbols, the rites, the ceremonies, and even the name of its god from the ancient pagan religion of the Moon-god. As such, it is sheer idolatry and must be rejected by all those who follow the Torah and Gospel."

 

The Trouble with Ishmael

 

Isaac & Ishmael

 

Troublesome relations between siblings is nothing new. We see it in the Bible going back to Cain and Abel, the first siblings. By faith Abel offered a more excellent sacrifice than Cain (Heb11;4). Through Isaac, God established an everlasting covenant, (Gen 17;19), for it is through the family tree of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob that the kings of Israel were established, and ultimately the King of Kings, the Lord Jesus Christ, would come out of that lineage. Isaac had Ishmael as a half-brother. Genesis 16;12 says, he will be a wild man, his hand will be against every man, and every man’s hand against him, and he shall dwell in the (face) of all his brethren. The King James translators said, He shall dwell in the presence of his brethren. The Strong’s Concordance number on that word is #6440. Clearly the meaning is, in your face, as in, against you. So we see some serious sibling problems there.

 

Finally Jacob and Esau are a sibling pair worth noting. God had made a promise to Jacob, but it seems Jacob didn’t trust God to deliver. He schemed on how he could wrest the inheritance and blessing away from his older brother. God could have simply sent Esau out on a hunting trip that he would have never returned from. But Jacob, with the help of his mother, tricked dear old dad, (who was going blind). Esau’s descendants became the Edomites, from whom Herod the Great came, whose claim to fame is his attempt to have the baby Jesus killed.

 

It should be no surprise when some suggest or even demonstrate and assert that Yassir Arafat is of the lineage of Esau. Arafat’s great Uncle was the Haj Amin al-Husseini. There used to be a large photograph of Arafat’s Great Uncle with Hitler, in the Holocaust Museum in Israel.

 

We have heard it said that history repeats itself. Solomon said it best, The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done, is that which shall be done; and there is no new thing under the sun. (Eccles. 1:9)

 

These cycles are not never-ending. They are leading somewhere. To that inevitable showdown. The end game. I checked the last page of the book (the Bible) ...we win.

 

Anti-Semitism

Question: Is Anti-Semitism a sign of the End Times?

 No, not in particular, but yes, in general. Let me explain.

The Bible is a true book about real people, and yet those people and events are types and foreshadows of things to come. We have this concept taught in both the Old testament and the New Testament. In the Old Testament, Solomon wrote; "The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun." (Ecc1:9) In the New Testament, Paul wrote of the priestly order as foreshadowing the fulfillment of priestly offerings and cleanliness in Christ, "Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things..." (Heb 8:5) Finally, Jesus taught a lesson on the road to Emmaus after his resurrection, in which he expounded upon the Old Testament as foreshadowing His ministry, "beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself." (Luke 24:27)

 

So here we have set forth the notion of types and shadows. If anti-Semitism is expected in the last days we would expect to see it both prophesied and foreshadowed in the types and shadows cast forth in the Bible. Indeed that is what we find...

The Devil has been after God's chosen people for a long time, with his purpose of destroying God's redemptive plan for the ages. In the beginning, Adam and Eve had two sons, and the Devil inspired one to kill the other. Later, the Devil inspired such vulgar living in the whole earth, that God wiped it all away with a global flood. As God began to establish a special nation by the heirs of Abraham, the Devil again stepped up to lead Israel into the bondage of sin, idolatry, and slavery. When Israel followed after idols, God would allow the nation to fall into captivity. The people had allowed their hearts to fall into the bondage of sin, then God had them carried away captive in physical bonds. The nations of Egypt, Babylon, and Rome were world empires, each pointing towards the final world empire. The system of this world says you may worship at any altar, as long as it’s not at the altar of the one true living God.

Egypt had many gods. Babylon had many gods. But when Daniel openly worshipped the one true living God of Israel, he was thrown to the lion’s den. Pharaoh, Belshazzar, Caesar, and even Herod exhibited the deadly animosity towards the Jews that is inspired from hell. Herod was appointed to rule over the Jews, he himself being only a half Jew, an Edomite. Herod preferred the Hellenistic Greek style of living over the culture of the Jews. The pharaoh feared the Jews great numbers and thus put them to hard labor. In Babylon the culture and religion of the Jews was suppressed. The Jews were so despised that the evil Haman managed to pass a law to kill all the Jews. Fortunately, God had other plans. We certainly do see anti-Semitism in the types and shadows of the Old Testament figures. What about the directly stated prophesies of the end times? Do we see a forecast for the old evil of anti-Semitism raising its ugly head again? Indeed we do, in both the Old and New Testaments; The Prophet Zechariah, of the Old Testament was inspired by God to write the following words about Jerusalem in the Last Days, "Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem. And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it." (Zec 12:2-3)

The prophet goes on to say further in the chapter, "And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem." (Zec 12:10-11)

Verses 10+11 indicate how Jesus will return, and the House of David will recognize and repent when they see him. The Book of the Acts of the Apostles tells us how after Jesus' resurrection, he spent 40 days with his disciples teaching them before he ascended to heaven. When he ascended to heaven from the Mount of Olives two angels appeared and said, "Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven." (Acts 1:11) This indicates that Jesus will return to the area of Jerusalem, specifically, the Mount of Olives, where Zechariah said that the House of David would, "look upon (Jesus) whom they have pierced." In the New Testament we also have a picture of Israel fleeing to the wilderness for three and a half years, (probably Edom-Petra- in Jordan). This is recorded in the Book of Revelation, chapter 12, verse 5. Jesus referred to this event in his Olivet Discourse...

"When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains" (Matt 24: 15-16)

 

These portions of scripture give a clear indication of the anti-semitism of both history and the last days. Today there is a rising tide of anti-semitism in Europe, Russia, and even on American college campuses. The loud left battle cry is pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel. This in spite of the fact that Israel is the only democracy in the middle east. Things are heating up. It’s time to be looking up.

"When these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh." (Luke 21:28)

 

Ezekiel 38: The Arab League, and The Pre-Trib Rapture

One could make the case that Ezekiel 38 is the ancient rabbinical version of Armageddon. Authors like Hal Lindsey have made this case. Others, Like Dr. Chuck Missler and author Grant Jeffrey have suggested that Ezekiel 38 happens just prior to or simultaneously with the beginning of the Tribulation Period. When we consult rabbinical commentaries from the pre-Christian era we can find references that connect the invasion of Gog and Magog to the coming of Messiah. One example is the following commentary on Psalm 110, from the Midrash Alpha Betot...

"My firstborn, you sit on my right until I subdue the army of the hosts of Gog and Magog, your enemies, under your footstool."
-Midrash Alpha Betot-

 

Gog-Magog (Ezekiel 38) & Armageddon (Rev.) Parallels

 

Ezekiel 38 parallels the Battle of Armageddon in the book of Revelation in the way that the enemies of God and Israel assemble to destroy the Jewish nation. What differentiates the two events? Can we see that they are separate events? The clue to placing this event in a timeline lies in Ezekiel 39:9, when Israel is able to burn the enemy's weapons for seven years.

 

This seems to indicate two things.

1- Nuclear Weapons are involved and are able to provide seven years’ worth of energy.

2- The invasion of Gog and Magog kicks off the Tribulation Period and foreshadows the final Battle of Armageddon when the European Union and the Kings of the east join in.

The most astounding part of this prophecy is that it was written about 2500 years ago, and describes the present situation so well, with the Arab-Muslim nations all allied against Israel. To begin with, let's take a look at our text...

And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him, And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal: And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords: Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet: Gomer, and all his bands; the house of Togarmah of the north quarters, and all his bands: and many people with thee. Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them. After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them. Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee. (EZ 38:1-9)

Now the obvious questions are, where are these places, and who are these people? For help we turn to the following sources:

 

  International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE)

 

  Strong's - Hebrew Chaldee and Greek English Lexicons (Strong)

 

  Brown, Driver, Briggs, Hebrew Aramaic English Lexicon (BDB)

 

  Illustrated Bible Dictionary by M. G. Easton (Easton)

 

  The World Book Encyclopedia

 

Let's begin with the obvious, Persia and Libya. These are two names that still make sense to us today. Libya is in northern Africa, next to Egypt. Persia changed its name to Iran only a few decades ago. However, let's not stop there. Let's see what our reference books say. Perhaps something more or less was meant when this was written 2500 years ago.

"Persia; the empire Persia; encompassed the territory from India on the east to Egypt... and included, besides portions of Europe and Africa, the whole of western Asia between the Black Sea, the Caucasus, the Caspian and the Jaxartes on the north, the Arabian desert, the Persian Gulf and the Indian Ocean on the south..." (BDB)

Wow! That's a lot more than Iran. It includes Iraq and Arabia. Well what about Libya? Let's see what our reference books say, perhaps something more or less was meant when this was written 2500 years ago. according to the Hebrew the word is 'Put', #6316 in Strong's. This is what the ISBE says about it...

"The common identification of Put is the Egyptian Punt (or Pwent) proposed by Ebers. The assimilation of n to a following consonant is common in the Semitic languages, and would occasion no difficulty if the vocalization be found to agree. The final "t" of Punt, however, seems to be the Egyptian feminine ending, whereas the "T" of Put is radical... Somaliland and Yemen: both sides of the sea (the Red Sea), Yemen would seem to be included. (ISBE)"

Wow! Again, that's a lot more than Libya. It includes Egypt, Somalia, and Yemen. Now let's move on to the unfamiliar lands and peoples...

Gomer
"They were a barbaric horde of Aryans who in the 7th century BC left their abode in what is now Southern Russia and poured through the Caucasus into Western Asia..." (ISBE)

Togarmah
"Probably Armenia... Both Kiepert and Dillmann regard Togarmah as having been Southeastern Armenia, and this is at present the general opinion." (ISBE)

Mesech
"A people on the borders of Colchis and Armenia" (BDB)

Tubal
"A region in east Asia Minor, perhaps nearly equal to Cappadocia" (BDB)

Looking at ancient maps we see that is the part of Turkey that touches Lebanon and Syria.

Gog
"The name of a district in the wild north-east steppes of Central Asia, north of the Hindu-Kush, now a part of Turkestan" (Easton)

Magog
"Josephus identifies the Magogites with the Scythians" (ISBE)

The World Book Encyclopedia
"Scythians, pronounced SIHTH ee uhnz, were ancient nomads who lived mainly north of the Black Sea in present-day Ukraine and southwestern Russia. They originated in the plains of what is now southern Kazakhstan. But tribes from China pressured most of the Scythians to move west during the early 600's B.C. Scythian territory expanded through the years. By the 300's B.C., these people lived as far west as present-day Hungary and eastern Germany, as far south as Palestine, and as far east as India.

 

Islamic Occupied World

Now we begin to see the picture. This Biblical prophecy of 2500 years ago speaks of the peoples and lands now occupied by the Islamic world. It is no secret that from present day Libya to Iran, the Islamic world preaches the Koran to its people. The Koran teaches Muslims to 'lie in wait' to ambush infidels. It teaches that Jews and Christians, 'people of the book' are the infidels. It teaches Muslims to use 'every stratagem of war' including the 'peace of Hudaybiya' where one may declare a cease fire to reorganize, or even pretend peace in order to stab the infidel in the back. The Hadith (the commentary on the Koran) is even more radical, saying that no land, once under Muslim control, can ever be surrendered to non-Muslims. This is the heart of the issue. In spite of the fact that the Ottoman Empire controlled the Holy Land, it was not important until Jews drained the swamps and cultivated the land in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Before that the area had been described as a desolate wasteland.

Here I am going to add a little extra. These are 17 points, brought up by my Mennonite Pastor Friend, points that at once differentiate the Battle of Gog & Magog from the Battle of Armageddon, and yet also may allow the anti-christ to say that the battle of Armageddon has already taken place, that he is God, and the prophecies have been fulfilled. Note the subtle similarities and differences between the two events:

 

  The Gog & Magog war will be the invasion of Russia and Arab allies against Israel. This can be misinterpreted by those left behind as Armageddon, particularly since Ezekiel 38 and 39 describe the two wars as one event.

 

  The sun and moon will go dark and the stars will fall before the Day of the Lord (Joel 2:31), which is the beginning of the rapture. This can be misinterpreted  as being the end of the tribulation, since many believe the Day of the Lord happens at the end of the tribulation based on a narrow reading of Matt 24:29-31. There might also be an earthquake at the pretribulation rapture, (Revelation 6:12) as an additional delusion and scriptural reason to cause people to think it is the end of the tribulation (Revelation 16:18)

 

  The raptured people who disappeared for good will be said to be "those wicked pre-tribbers" whose doctrine the post tribbers have rejected. This is not much of a stretch given that the media today paints the picture of Bible believing fundamentalists as bigoted, gay hating, intolerant, woman beating, terrorists. This idea of the "rapture of the wicked" is a theology which is supposedly supported by Matt 24:38-41 (one taken the other left), but this is really describing the pretribulation rapture. The word for "taken" is "paralambano", which is used in John 14:1-3 as "received" as how Christ says he will "receive you unto myself". One of the definitions for "left" means "abandoned." Another scripture passage used to support the "rapture of the wicked" is in Revelation 14.

 

  At the same time as the rapture, fire from heaven will destroy the armies from the north as the destruction of Gog & Magog in Ezekiel 39:6 "And I will send a fire on Magog...", and will be the "sudden destruction of 1 Thess 5:3 that happens at the start of the Day of the Lord, but this can be mistaken as the destruction at Armageddon. As Israel burns the weapons for seven years -Ezekiel 39:9 (the length of the tribulation) after the Gog & Magog war, and the antichrist ushers in his false peace, this can be misinterpreted as a sign of the millennium, making peaceful use out of weapons, "swords to plowshares".

 

  The antichrist will confirm the post-Trib theological position, and say that Armageddon is over. The antichrist will lie and say he is the one who made the fire come down from heaven at the end of the Gog & Magog war, and he will prove that he has this power by repeating this sign and wonder.

 

  The antichrist will come on the scene making peace (Dan 9:27) and setting up a world government (Daniel 2, the iron and clay feet, & Daniel 7:23), just as Christ is seen to return after Armageddon and establish peace and set up a world government. (Isaiah 9:7, Daniel 6:26, Luke 1:33)

 

  The two witnesses will be seen as those few who reject the reign of Christ in the "new" millennium. The two witnesses have the power to not let it rain. Rev 11:6 "These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy..." This "no rain" can be misunderstood as the divine punishment for not worshiping the antichrist. Zech 14:17 "And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain."

 

  When the two witnesses are killed at the middle of the tribulation, the world will rejoice (Rev 11:8-10), because they will be so inclined to worship the antichrist as god (2 Thess 2:3,4), and the two witnesses will be seen as the rebellious evil ones. How will the antichrist explain their resurrection? Rev 11:11,12. Many theorize this mid-Trib rapture will also involve the 144,000 of as seen in Rev 14. Will this be again explained with the same lie, the "rapture of the wicked" at the end of the Trib, all over again?

 

  Some people say that the antichrist/beast may have a false death, to imitate the death and resurrection of Christ. Zechariah 11:17, Revelation 13:3,14

 

  Rev 11:13, the great earthquake at the middle of the tribulation, as the two witnesses rise, can be misinterpreted as the great earthquake at the end of the tribulation when Christ returns in glory, (Zech 14:4,5 Revelation 16:18). Thus, those who did not yet believe the antichrist was god before will have more scriptural reasons to do so now. Also, the events and plagues of the previous 3.5 years will fit into a 3.5 year tribulation mistake, so that there are even more reasons to believe the antichrist is now god.

 

  The antichrist will impose his "mark of the beast" (Rev 13) but he will call it "the seal of God". (Rev 7:2,3 & 9:4)

 

  Those who take "the seal of God", which will really be the "mark of the beast", will suffer torment (Rev 9:5), but they will not be able to kill themselves. Rev 9:6 "And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them." This can be misinterpreted as those who took the seal of God as having received a kind of immortality, but it just happens to be a painful process, because, in this theology of deceit, we all must suffer as Christ suffered, somewhat like penance. It can also be seen as "the next step of the process of evolution", or any number of explanations. All who love not the truth will line up to receive the "seal of God" (mark of the beast), the pain and torture, and false immortality.

 

  Those who worship the antichrist, thinking he is god, will gladly follow his orders to search and destroy those left behind who have come to repentance, and not fallen for the delusion. The "war on the saints" Rev 13:7, Dan 7:21,25

 

  The antichrist will need an excuse to persecute the Jews, and he might say that they only claim to be Jews but are not. Even today, anti-Jew propaganda makes use of this tactic, saying that the Jews of today are not really Jews, but are really from a Mongolian tribe from Asia.

 

  The antichrist, the beast, will turn and destroy the harlot woman of Rev 17. This can be misinterpreted as the destruction of Satan and the false prophet, whom Jesus will destroy, as shown in Rev 20:2,10 and 2 Thess 2:8

 

  The antichrist will try and get all of his followers to gather together at Jerusalem, (Rev 16:14,16) just as Jesus says he will gather together all of his saints at Jerusalem. (Isaiah 27:12,13; 2 Thess 2:1)

 

Question: What is the Jihad war, and does it still apply today in Islam?

 

You have it, they call it "the Holy Jihad'. What does Holy Jihad mean? The Holy Jihad is to fight the Jews and the Christians, to conquer them, and to make Islam the only religion of the land. And in the Koran, there is a very clear verse, "Fight until Islam will be the dominating religion, not only in Saudi Arabia, or Libya, or Tunisia, but in all region, they are dreaming about an Islamic empire that will cover the whole earth. And that is according to the Koran. So when they speak about peace in the Koran, there is no talk about peace. There is no talk about peace. In fact, they say, "Go fight, go fight, go fight, and especially Jews and Christians.” And in one of my books I said, "But why not Buddhists?" Buddhism is a well-known religion, and it has millions of adherents, why don't you fight them? At least they don't believe in a god. You see, he didn't care, because Buddhism was not there. It was in India, far from him, so he didn't care. But he cared for the religions around Arabia. And when he went to Egypt, he forced millions of Coptic Christians in Egypt to be Muslims. He conquered Iran, Persia, and he made the Persians Muslims. And he conquered Syria, and he made it an Islamic country. And so on and so forth. It's all by sword, it's all by force. They can't deny that. They cannot deny that.

 

Islam is not a Peaceful Religion

These are interesting times to live in. Prophetic events are lining up like dominos. When will they be toppled over? Only God knows. But we can see events leading towards that day soon. It is a good time to have a close and personal relationship with the King of the universe, the creator of everything, the Lord of Lords, the lamb of God, Messiah Yeshua, Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior.

 

Ergun is the oldest son of a Muslim mwazien. The mwazien is similar to a preacher. In 1982 when he was 16 years old, he attended a revival service in Columbus, Ohio, at the invitation of a high school friend and accepted Christ. Ergun started attending church on Monday, accepted Christ on a Thursday -- and had his first piece of ham at a Youth Afterglow activity days later.

 

(Question:         What if a person changes his mind and leaves the religion of Islam? What would happen to him according to the Koran?

 

This man or woman would be called 'apostate'. And if a man or a woman apostates from Islam, he or she will be given a chance to deny their conversion, say to Christianity. If they deny, that's OK, finished, case closed. If they insist to embrace Christianity, they will be executed, because they would not accept that a Muslim will be converted to Christianity. And that explains, you see, if you go to Saudi Arabia, and anyone, any Muslim in Saudi Arabia who would be converted to Christianity, he will be beheaded. There is no mercy, he will be beheaded. And that is under our eyes, here, in the 21st century, you know. It is the same in any Islamic country. You cannot be converted to Christianity, if you are a Muslim, unless you are ready to risk your life, and to be executed.)

 

When Ergun attended the mosque the next day, his youth group of Shiite Muslims "beat the tar out of me," he says. Ergun's parents were separated at the time (prior to a divorce), and when his father found out about his salvation, he confronted Ergun. When Ergun refused to repudiate his faith in Christ, his father disowned him -- by facing Mecca and praying a prayer of abandonment because it was embarrassing that his oldest son would accept Christ. Sadly this effectively ended their relationship. Ergun didn't see his father for 17 years, until three days before his dad's death in 1999.

 

Ergun's Swedish mother met and married a Turkish man . They relocated to the U.S .where the younger brothers were born. Ergun says he was called to preach one year after salvation (he began college at 16), becoming a pastor at age 17 to a small country church in Manchester, Kentucky.

 

He says it was a mystery to him that God would call him because at the time, Ergun didn't speak English very well and didn't fully understand the Scriptures. He felt that he was all alone because neither his mother, nor his grandmother, were Christians. But he gladly accepted the call, and led his brothers to Christ the same week of his salvation.

 

Islam Is Not A Peaceful Religion

 

As the son of a mwazein, Ergun had to learn the hadith (the sayings and traditions of Muhammed, the Prophet of Islam) in the Quran. In these teachings, Ergun says the central thesis of Islam does in fact have an essential tenet of militaristic conquest at its heart. The infidel, or unbeliever, must be converted or conquered. If the Muslim dies in such a struggle or declaration of war (jihad), he is promised immediate translation into the highest level of paradise. Therefore, when pressed most Muslims would say that Mohamed Ata is in heaven according to the Quranic teaching.

 

The Qur'an, supposedly from the mouth of Allah, takes a dim view of the non-believer and a strict view of jihad as a warfare against them. In Surah 2:190, Allah says, "Fight in the cause of Allah those who fight you. And slay them wherever you catch them." Physical warfare is an absolute necessity so that Allah is honored and worshipped. Jihad is one of the highest calls of life for a Muslim. "Not equal are those believers who sit (at home) and those who strive hard and fight in the cause of Allah with their wealth and lives." Surah 4.95

According to the doctrine of jihad there are three waves of jihad. The first wave is the shock -- which was Sept 11.

 

The second wave is to show a people that they are vulnerable. It has to be public. "Daniel Pearl was killed on videotape," says Ergun. There is no question that group who killed Pearl is a subgroup of the radical Muslim fundamental group, Mujahdeen.

 

The third wave is to humiliate your enemy, to "cut the legs out from under them." "Thank God President Bush responded as he did," Ergun says. "If he had not, the second wave would have been much, much worse than the first." The Koran teaches that if your enemy is weak -- conquer him. If he is strong -- respect him. That means they keep going until they meet with resistance.

 

When asked if he believes Osama bin Laden is still alive, Ergun says yes. "He is considered to be a martyr in their faith. If he were dead, they would be hailing him."

 

Peace With Allah, Not Us

 

"I must take this opportunity to side with Pat," says Ergun. "He cannot take these hits (from the media and press) alone." Ergun says the word "Islam" means "peace with Allah" not "peace with us." "We are the infidels and therefore the enemy," says Ergun.

 

He further explains that when a Christian blows up an abortion clinic, he does that in spite of the teachings of Jesus Christ. "Muslims perform jihad because of the teachings of Muhammed," declares Ergun. "Make no mistake, they are at war with us and these are not just radical Muslims."

 

Osama bin Laden is a Sunni Muslim, not a Shiite, which is considered the more radical of the two. When bin Laden is on television, he is quoting the Quran. "It is difficult to take the Qur'an out of context," says Ergun. Even to the casual reader, jihad is more than just an intellectual exercise of struggle, but rather an engagement in battle and struggle and warfare with death as a conclusion for the Muslim blessing.

 

Muhammad echoed this conclusion in Hadith 4.73 "Muhammed said, "Know that paradise is under the shades of the sword." For the Muslim apologists who redact the terminology to indicate that fighting is perhaps an intellectual debate must read Surah 2:216, "Fighting is prescribed for you, and you dislike it. But it is possible that you dislike a thing which is good for you, and that you love a thing which is bad for you. But Allah knows and you know not." It is impossible to determine that the text means anything but fighting in the traditional sense of combat.

 

A Muslim is a Muslim by birth, but many are illiterate. Therefore they must take the word of the imam, equivalent to a pastor, as truth. They cannot question the validity of what the imam says.

 

With reference to the recent Gallup poll, "they hate us," says Ergun. "And they cannot make the distinction between an American and a Christian because of the way they are brought up culturally. When you say a man is a Turk, it is understood that he is Muslim."

 

Ergun believes that the United States did not finish the job in the Gulf War. He believes that we will not end the war on terrorism without including Saddam Hussein, who is the major fundraiser for Islam. "If we do not go after him, this will never end," he says. "He will continue the jihad."

 

Incredible Opportunity

 

But in the midst of this turmoil, Ergun says this is the most incredible opportunity to witness to Muslims. They are beginning to understand their religion. Many do not want to be part of the violence and are coming to Christ. The difference between reaching them and not reaching them depends on the teaching of grace.

 

"The single most important thing to do is teach on grace," he says. To Muslims, the intimacy of God is so new. Teach them that they don't have to live in fear of the "scales of Allah," which are seen as actual scales (2 Surah 4). For the Muslims who fear the scales that measure their eternal damnation if weighted heavier for evil than good, this is the only true eternal security they have.

 

Christians should also know that Allah and God are not the same. "No serious or intellectual Muslim would say that Allah has a Son, that He is a Triune, nor that He is personal," Ergun says. Allah is Creator and Judge. Christ's attributes are so totally different. He is loving, kind, gracious, and forgiving.

 

As a Christian, Ergun is offended when he hears people say that God and Allah are the same. Many think getting to God is like getting to Chicago. You can get there by plane, train or auto. It doesn't matter what path you take, as long as you get there. Ergun calls this the "Oprahization" of American culture.

 

On October 19, 2001, Ergun spoke before the UN at the Subcommittee on Cultural Affairs. As an expert on Islam and one who speaks Arabic, he is being invited to participate in even more high-level projects on this area. There are only 20 former Muslims who are now preachers in America; there are only eight (and Ergun is one of them) who are professors of theology.

 

Question: What are the differences of fighting and killing in Islam?

 

The fighting and killing in Islam. Well, let me tell you something. It is very interesting, really interesting that in the US we have a different kind of Islam. Muslim clerics in the US want to present to us a kind Islam, Islam of brotherly love, Islam of friendship. Is that the Islam in the Quran? It is not! The Quran is very explicit to tell the Muslims, "Go fight and kill." And if we see a young man, 20 years, or 18 years in Palestine, and putting a bomb around themselves, and making a suicidal bomb, and kill himself and kill some Israelis, it is not an invention of the Hamas, or the Hezbollah, or anybody. It is the Quran. The Quran says, "Go fight, fight, fight." So if we want to see fighting, and the killing, in the Quran, let us read the words of the Quran. And I will begin with the words in surat Al Anfal, that is surat 8, and verse 65, "Oh, prophet Mohammed." Listen, Allah is talking to Mohammed because this is what the Muslims believe. "Oh, prophet Mohammed. Urge the Muslims to fight." What? "Oh, prophet Mohammed. Urge the Muslims to fight?" When Jesus spoke to His disciples, He said, "Love your enemy. Pray for those who persecute you." But here, "Oh, prophet Mohammed. Urge the Muslims to fight," fighting is by inciting Muslims to fight. And then, we go to another surat, and that is in the Quran, in surat (Al Bakara, that is surat number 2, verse 216, "Jihad (this is fighting, holy fighting in Allah's name) is ordained for you, Muslims." Now, if someone will come and say that those who are fighting, Jews and Christians are fighting then because they are fanatics, they do not know Islam. No! When I went on the national TV, years ago, and I said in very plain words, "If you are a faithful Muslim, you are obliged to fight Jews and Christians, because Jihad, the holy fighting in Allah's name is ordained for you, " you dislike it, and it may be that you dislike a thing which it is good, and that you like a thing which is bad for you. But fighting is ordained for Muslims.

Then we go to another verse, in the very same surat, in verse 244, "And the fight in the way of Allah (that is in surat number 2, verse 244), and know that Allah is all hearer, or knowing." Fight in the name of Allah? Well, in one of my books I said that, if God is almighty then he should fight for himself. In fact, one time I talked to a Muslim cleric in Egypt, and he said to me, "If I had the power, I would make all Egypt Muslim." I said, "But what mean?" He said, "By force, by sword. Fight in the name of Allah." And I looked at him and I said, "Listen, your god is so weak!" "What?" "Listen, let us use our brains for one second, if you will. Who will fight for whom? The weak will fight for the strong, or the strong will fight for the weak?" He said, "Of course that the strong will fight for the weak." I said, "Then, if God is almighty, He doesn't need you to fight for him. Leave him to fight for himself. He can do it! But to fight for him, this is an indication that god is weak. Forgive me, but this is my understanding." But this is what the Quran is saying.

Then we continue, and we will see, in surat (Al Taouba), that is surat number 9, and verse 29, you see, Allah is telling the Muslims to fight the Jews and the Christians in particular. Sometimes when I read the Quran I think, why didn't he insight the Muslims to fight against Buddhists, Hindus? Why Jews and Christians? Whose wars? Well, we read in surat (Al Anfal), that is surat number 8, verse 63, no, I think I misplaced that. I'll go back to that surat (Al Taouba), surat number 29, verse 29, "fight against those who believe not in Allah; nor in the last day, nor forbid that which have been forbidden by Allah and his messenger Mohammed; and those who acknowledge not the religion of truth, Islam, among the people of the scripture." Who are the people of the scriptures? Jews and Christians. "you fight them until they pay the Gizia, the poll tax, the elevated tax, with willing submission and feel themselves subdued." This is very clear command for Muslims to go and fight Jews and Christians until they defeat them. And if the Christian and the Jew want to keep his religion, he should pay taxes to the Islamic government with his feeling of inferiority. I am a Christian but I am inferior. You, the Muslim, are superior. I am inferior. And you are protecting me, so I pay a poll tax, here is my tax. You buy your religion with taxes?

Well, I commented on that verse in one of my books, and I said, "You can exchange Islam with taxes." It is very plain. Pay taxes, keep your Jewish religion or Christian religion. You can exchange Islam with taxes, money with Islam. And this is here, kill, kill, kill. See, and in many other verses, the Quran is saying what is the punishment of those who are against Allah and his messenger, Mohammed: to be crucified, to cut their hands and their legs, or to be cast away from the society. What kind of religion is that? Killing, killing, killing. Killing is not an invention of fanatics. Killing is in the Quran, and I want to let, to get anybody who is really honest to himself, and tell him, "Tell me, don't talk about friendship." It is very interesting to notice one thing, that in one of the verses of the Quran it says, "Muslims, do not befriend Jews or Christians." Period. But it came of the invasion of Iraq, of Kuwait. The Muslims forgot all about that. And they came to the Christian country, to the US, and said, "Please, help us." But the Quran said don't befriend them, don't ask for their protection, don't go to them for help! How come that you are coming now to the US and England, and France, "Help us!" Because when it comes to politics, the Quran is forgotten, especially in the high places. And I want any Muslim to think about it seriously. This is not an attack on Islam, this is to open the minds and the eyes of the people to think. And I want people to think. God gave us brains to use it. And if I am not going to use my brain, I will give an account. If this is light I'd say it is light. If this is darkness, I'd say it is darkness. But to say that darkness is light and light is darkness, gray places, it is not that way. There is killing in the Quran, there is torture in the Quran; there is much pain for the people living under the Islamic society if they are Jews or Christians. They are! They are always looked at as second-class citizens. And they don't have the right to stand up and raise their head. They are inferior, and we are the superior, and that is it. I don't think that anybody who reads the Quran could deny what I have said. I mentioned the verse, verse after verse, after verse. But let me tell you, I didn't mention all the verse. There are a lot of verses that tell, that is telling the Muslim, "Go, torture, kill, go, fight, kill."

 

UNDERSTANDING ISLAM IN LIGHT OF THE ATTACK ON THE WORLD TRADE CENTER AND THE PENTAGON

 

The barbaric, horrific terrorist attacks on Tuesday, September 11, 2001 on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington, DC have caused every American to ask why did it happen? Who did it? And why do they hate us?

 

The investigation of the CIA and FBI has concluded that the attackers were Muslims. Does that mean that every Muslim is a terrorist? By no means. There are many decent Muslims. But while many news commentators and politicians are proclaiming that Islam is a peace-loving religion others are warning of Islamic Jihad, or Holy War.

 

These conflicting descriptions of Islam can be explained by examining the three types of Muslims: Secularists, Moderates, and Fundamentalists. The Quran the holy book of Islam, is used by each group to justify their way of thinking.

 

THREE TYPES OF MUSLIMS

 

Secularists are Muslims who do not have a knowledge of the contents of the Quran and only know a verse or two to justify enjoying their life such as: "Wealth and children are the adornment of the life of this world" (Surat AI-Kahf 18:46).

 

Moderates know the Quran but seek to make their faith relevant to modern life. They try to reconcile the contradicting verses in the Quran in such a way that Muslims may tolerate Jews and Christians living among them. They emphasize the verses that came to the Prophet Muhammad when he was weak militarily and in need of the support of Jews and Christians. These verses which are kind to Jews and Christians are:

 

"So, if you (Muhammad) are in doubt concerning that which We have revealed unto you then ask these who are reading the Book (the Torah and the Injeel [Gospel]) before you. Verily the truth has come to you from thy Lord. So be not of those who doubt?' (Surat Yunus 10:94).

 

"Verily, you will find the strongest among men in enmity to the believers (Muslims) the Jews and those who are AI-Mushrikun, and you will find the nearest in love to the believers (Muslims) those who say: 'We are Christians.' That is because amongst them are priests and monks, and they are not proud' (Surat Al-Maidab 5:82).

"Verily, those who believe and those who are Jews and Christians, and Sabians, whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day and does righteous good deeds shall have their reward with their Lord, on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve" (Surat Al-Baqarah 2:62).”

 

Barnabas Fund in England wrote:

 

"The Muslim Prophet Muhammad, the founder of Islam, was a complex character whose attitudes and opinions changed and evolved during his lifetime in response to events around him. It is not surprising to find that Islam is a complex faith."

 

When needed, Muslim clerics use Quranic verses including those kind to Jews and Christians to paint a glowing picture of Islam as a religion of peace, brotherhood, modesty, morality, self-discipline and family values. But, the true face of Islam is revealed in the Quranic verses calling Muslims to "Jihad," which means holy war against all non-Muslims. We will quote again from the article by Barnabas Fund.

 

"It is true that many individual Muslims are peace loving and law-abiding. But, it is not true that peace is the main characteristic of the faith of Islam."

 

Fundamentalists are those who want to apply the more extreme verses of the Quran to the letter. These verses came to Muhammad after he was strong militarily and after he realized that the Christians and Jews were not becoming followers of his new religion. Muhammad's anger in the following Quranic verses, which abrogate the nice verses in the Quran, is the root of violence which saturates and captures the minds of these fundamentalist Muslims:

 

1) The Prophet Muhammad urges Muslims to fight in the cause of Allah

 

"0 prophet Muhammad urge the believers (Muslims) to fight" (Surat Al-Anfal 8:65).

 

"Jihad (holy fighting in Allah's cause) is ordained for"
(Surat A1-Baqarah 2:216).

 

2) The Quran commands Muslims not to befriend Jews or Christians

 

"0 ye who believe (Muslims) take not the Jews or the Christians for your friends and protectors. They are but friends and protectors to each other. And he among you that turns to them (for friendship) is of them" (Surat AI-Maidah 5:51).

 

3) The Quran commands Muslims to fight Jews and Christians

 

"Fight against those who believe not in Allah, nor in the Last Day, nor forbid that which has been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger (Muhammad) and those who acknowledge not the religion of truth (Islam) among the people of the Scripture (Jews and Christians) until they pay the Jizyah with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued" (Surah At-Taubah 9:29).

 

Jizyah is a special high tax to be paid only by Jews or Christians who do not want to renounce their religion and convert to Islam.

 

4) The Quran commands Muslims to fight non-Muslims until they exterminate all other religions and Islam would be the only religion in the world.

 

“And fight them until there is no more Fitnah (disbelief and worshipping of others along with Allah) and (all and every kind of) worship is for Allah (alone). But if they cease, let there be no transgression except against As-Zatimun (the polytheists and wrong doers)" (Surat AI-Baqara 2:193).

 

This verse is mentioned also in Surat AI-Anfal 8:39. Because of the misunderstanding and ignorance of Christianity, Muslims believe that Christians are polytheists, because they believe in a Triune God. Fundamentalists look at Jews and Christians and all non-Muslims as infidels who must be killed because they have no value as human beings and must be exterminated from the face of the earth.

 

Fundamentalists divide the world into two camps, Dar Al-Harb' (Camp of war) where Jews and Christians live, and Dar AI-Sallam (Camp of peace) where Muslims live. They believe that Holy war against those who live in the camp of war should continue until they are exterminated.

 

Fundamentalists dream of a global Islamic empire. They believe that if they destroy America and the western countries, that they will achieve this dream.

 

5) The Quran declares that Muslims who fight and die in battle are promised forgiveness and a sexual luxurious life in Paradise.

 

"And if you are killed or die in the Way of Allah, forgiveness and mercy from Allah are far better than all that they amass (of worldly wealth)' (Surat AI-lmran 3:157).

 

'Verily, Allah has purchased of the believers their lives and their properties for (the price) that theirs shall be the Paradise. They fight in Allah's Cause, so they kill (others) and are killed. It is a promise in truth which is binding on Him" (Surat At-Taubah 9:111).

 

What can martyrs expect in paradise? The Quran describes life in paradise in the following words:

 

"Eat and drink with happiness because of what you used to do. They will recline (with ease) on thrones arranged in ranks. And We shall marry them to Hur (fair females) with wide lovely eyes. And We shall provide Them with fruit and meat such as they desire' (Surat At-Tur 52:17-20,22).

 

"Water flowing constantly and fruit in plenty whose supply is not cut off and reclining on couches raised high, verily we have created them (women) of special creation and made them virgins of equal age" (Surat AI-Waqiah 56:31-37).

 

"Gardens and vineyards and young full-breasted virgins of equal age and a full cup of wine" (Surat An-Naba 78:32-34).

 

Some prominent Muslim clerics call the suicide bombers martyrs because in the Quran, a martyr is guaranteed total forgiveness of his sins and eternal life in paradise where he can drink wine and will be married to a great number of beautiful sensual virgins. While in fact these martyrs are nothing more than murderers.

 

Nineteen educated Muslims committed suicide and killed thousands of innocent men, women and children in the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and the four planes they flew on that black Tuesday. Those nineteen Muslims did that because of their deep conviction that they will go directly to paradise to enjoy sensual pleasures, and because of their terrible hatred for America; a country populated by a Christian majority.

 

Muhammad Atta, who flew the first plane into the World Trade Center, was a devout Muslim. He was born in Egypt to a lawyer and was a highly intelligent person who communicated with ease with children, old men, professors and people in government. As a student in Germany he was known to be quiet and very religious. Atta regularly prayed on the floor of his office and founded an Islamic prayer and study group at the University in January 1999.

 

Atta lived and moved easily in Western society while secretly hating it. He was a man on a mission and on the front of his thesis, presented in October 1999, he wrote the following verse from the Quran: " My Prayer and my sacrifice and my life and my death belong to Allah, the Lord of the worlds" (Washington Post 09/22/01). The West needs to know that many other Muhammad Attas may quietly be living amongst us.

 

6) The Quran commands Muslims to terrorize and torture and kill anyone who disobeys Allah and the Prophet Muhammad:

 

"(Remember) when your Lord revealed to the angels, 'Verily I am with you, so keep firm those who have believed. I will cast terror into the hearts of those who have disbelieve, so strike them over the necks and smite over all their fingers and toes. This is because they defied and disobeyed Allah and His Messenger (Muhammad). And whoever defies and disobeys Allah and His Messenger, them verily, Allah is Severe in punishment. This is (the torment), so taste it; and surely, for the disbelievers is the torment of the Fire" (Surat AI-Anfal 8:12-14).

 

"The recompense of those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger (Muhammad) and do mischief in the land is only that they shall be killed or crucified or their hands and feet be cut off from opposite sides, or be exiled from the land. That is their disgrace in this world, and a great torment is theirs in the Hereafter' (Surat AI-Maidah 5:33).

 

7) The Quran declares that Allah loves those who fight in His cause.

 

"Verily, Allah loves those who fight in His Cause in rows as if they were solid structures" (Surat As-Saff 61:4).

 

8) The Quran commands Muslims to convert non-Muslims to Islam by force.

 

"Kill the Mushrikun (polytheists, Christians and non-Muslims), wherever you find them, and capture them and besiege them, and lie in wait for them in each and every ambush. But if they repent and perform As-salat (public prayer with Muslims) and give Zakat (Islamic alms), then leave their way free. Allah is oft-forgiving, most merciful' (Surat At-Taubah 9;5).

 

Mathematician Blase Pascal who lived in 1670 said, "Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction." The heart of man is naturally evil. You can ignite that evil with religious gasoline. The Quran's verses ignited that evil in the hearts of those terrorists and will ignite evil in many more Muslims' hearts.

 

While violence committed by militant Muslims is sanctioned and commanded by the Quran, any atrocities committed by Christians were never sanctioned by the New Testament commandments. For Jesus Christ commanded His apostle Peter,

 

"Put your sword in its place. For all who take the sword will perish by the swords” (Matthew 26:52).

 

FREEDOM OF THOUGHT IN ISLAM

 

Islam is a prison with no way out. Once a person enters that prison, he cannot leave it alive.

 

"Then what is the matter with you that you are divided into two parties about the apostates? Allah has cast them back (to disbelief) because of what they have earned. Do you want to guide him whom Allah has made to go astray? And he whom Allah has made to go astray, you will never find for him any way (of guidance). They wish that you reject Faith, as they have rejected (Faith), and thus that you all become equal (like one another). So take not Aouliya (protectors or friends) from them, till They emigrate in the Way of Allah (to Muhammad) But if they turn back (from Islam), take (hold of) them and kill them wherever you find them, and take neither Aouliya (protectors or friends) nor helpers from them" (Surat An-Nisa 4:88,89).

 

This verse means that if a person says the Islamic Shahada (creed): "1 testify that there is no God but Allah. I testify that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah," he cannot change his mind, If he does change his mind, he will be executed or beheaded as has happened many times in Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, and other Islamic countries.

 

Islam is a religion of intellectual censorship.

 

In Islam the democratic right to free thought and individual decision concerning religious matters is totally denied. We have more than one example of that intellectual censorship.

 

The first is Salman Rushdie. Salman Rushdie was born to a Muslim family in Bombay but has spent much of his life in London, England. He wrote a book entitled The Satanic Verses. Muslims thought this book was an insult to the Prophet Muhammad and Islam so Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued an order to assassinate Rushdie and promised $5 million to the one whom would kill him. Khomeini, Iran's spiritual leader at that time, said in a statement read for him on the radio in 1989: 'Anyone who died attempting to kill Rushdie," he promised. "would go straight to paradise."

 

The second is Dr. Farag Foda, The great author who was assassinated in Cairo, Egypt in 1993 because he wrote many books exposing the true face of Islam and Islamic society. He was accused of being an apostate Muslim and was shot and killed in front of his son.

 

The third is Professor Nasr Hamid Abu Zeid, who was accused of being an apostate Muslim because of his books about the Quran. The court in Egypt ruled that he must divorce his 'wife, Ibtihal Younes. He fled from Egypt and is now living with his wife in Holland.

 

The fourth is the well-known Egyptian writer Naguib Mahfouz, who became the first Egyptian to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. Muslims stabbed him in front of his house in an attempt to kill him. The man is over 80 years old. They wanted to kill him because they thought that he insulted Muhammad in his novel: 'The Children of Gabalawi".

 

It is of great importance for any American or any secular Muslim to know what kind of society he or she will live in if fundamentalist Muslims rule. The Taliban, Afghanistan's ruling Islamic movement is an example of this extremist militant faith, which is based on a literal interpretation of the Quran, and it shows in their way of life.

 

In Afghanistan any woman who will show more than her eyes will be flogged. In Saudi Arabia, a woman is banned from driving a car or from walking down the street without covering all of her body except for her eyes.

 

Christians who went to Afghanistan to help the poor and the sick with food and medicine were arrested and jailed because they had Bibles and Christian cassette tapes. In Saudi Arabia Christians are banned from holding worship services let alone building a church. In the meantime, Muslims are taking advantage of the American freedom and building hundreds of mosques on American soil.

 

In Sudan more than one million Christians were killed by the Islamic government in Khartoum. In Algeria, thousands of Muslims were slaughtered by militant Muslims with no regard for life.

 

Today we are hearing on radio and television many Muslim clerics saying that Islam means peace. But the word Islam means "submission" and a Muslim is one who is in submission to Allah. Their goal as stated in the Quran is to bring the entire world into submission to Allah and the Quran and have a global Islamic empire.

 

The author has written more than 60 books and hundreds of articles on Islam and Christianity in both Arabic and English. He has produced or been a guest of many radio and television programs. He holds a doctorate in Theology and has pastored Evangelical churches in the Middle East and America.

 

Question: Why are women so oppressed among the Islam?

 

I think that when they say, when the Bible says 'the seed of the woman' of course, it was mentioning Mary as the mother of Jesus. But the Koran did not mention any name of any woman, because woman has no value in Islam. Period! Who are the wives of Mohammed? You know, you go to the Bible and you read about David, and you will read about the names of every wife of David. You go to Jacob, you know Rachel and Leah. Anyone, in fact, when you go to the book of 1 Kings, and 2 Kings, when the Bible mentions the name of the king, it says, "he was the son of that woman," and mentions the name of that woman, not the father, the woman, the mother. You see, because women have value in Christianity and Judaism. In Islam no value, that is very plain.

 

Question: What are the two different standards for divorce and marriage, and kindness to our fellow man in the Koran and the Bible?

 

In Islam, they believe in polygamy. The man has the right to marry four women at one time. Of course you can divorce the four women, and then again marry another four women. And divorce these four women, and marry another four women, according to his wish and according to his will. Even so, I would like to say clearly that educated Muslim women do not like at all this kind of permission to the Muslim husbands. They do not like it at all! And you read it in the newspaper again, and again. When an educated woman will marry a man, she will never accept that her husband will go and marry another woman except her. Practically, the Koran is against human nature. That's one thing.

 

Number two, the Koran permits the husband to beat his wife, and there are lots of beatings of women legally, and I repeat, legally in Islam. And a verse in the Koran says that if you fear rebellion from women, banish them in bed, that means don't have sex with her as a punishment, and then beat them. In fact, in one of the translations, 'scourge' them. You can imagine. So if a Muslim man beats his wife, he would not feel guilty because the Koran permits him to do that. Those are some examples concerning polygamy, marrying more than one wife and the treatment of wife.

 

Of course, when you come to the Bible, you read the words of apostle Paul, "Men love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her." Do you see the difference? Love is a sacrificial gift. In the Koran it says "beat your wife, banish her in bed." Two different standards. Then, when you come to inheritance in the Koran, the woman, the daughter will inherit half of what the son receives. If you have a son and a daughter, the son will have a full inheritance. The daughter will have only half of what your son will have. And then you go and see that you are forced to obey the husband in such a humiliating way, because there is a verse in the Koran that says, "Your women are till for you, so approach your till any time you want." What does that mean? It means that the wife is totally under the control of the husband. If he wants sex in the morning, at midnight, at noon, anytime, he just orders her. If she is tired, she is not tired, there is no excuse. You, the wife of the Muslim, are under total control. She has no control on the body of her husband. But if you go to [1 Corinthians chapter 7], you read that the woman doesn't have authority over her body, but the husband. The husband doesn't have authority over his body but the wife, so it is equivalent. So the wife should satisfy the husband, the husband should satisfy the wife. In Islam it's not that way, the man is satisfied, the woman it doesn't make a difference. So you see the standard.

In divorce, the Muslim man has the right to divorce. The Muslim woman doesn't have this right, unless she writes in the marriage certificate that she has the right to divorce her husband. That will never happen, but only with the high-ranking people, very rich. Now, when someone will come to marry a very rich girl, they will state in the certificate that she has the right to divorce her husband. If that is the case, then if he will treat her badly, she can divorce him. Otherwise, the majority of women, 99% I would say, they don't have the right to divorce their husbands, but the husband has the right. And I read yesterday, just yesterday a story about a woman who was engaged to a man, who claimed to be an engineer while he was only a graduate from the preparatory school. And she got married, but they didn't enter into real marriage. And then, someone came and told her father that this man was not an engineer as he claimed. He only had a very low education. And the girl was a university graduate, and she said, "No, I am not going to marry him. I married him as an engineer." Four years in court until she got her divorce. It took four years in court, because only he has the right to divorce. After he wrote the marriage certificate, they encountered him, they said, "You are not an engineer." He said, "No." "You lied to us." He said, "Yes." "Then you have to divorce our daughter. She is not going to marry you." He said, "No way. I am going to marry her if you want or not." It took four years in court until they got the permission to divorce him.

 

So this is Islam, polygamy, divorce, the rights of the man. Beating is the right of the man. The woman is only a sex object. And that's it. Nobody can deny that because the Koran says all of this. If someone would say, "Oh, no, it's not that way." The verses in the Koran, verse after verse, after verse declare what I have said, it is all documented, fully documented.

 

Question: How did you come to the conclusion that Allah is different from God of the Christians in regards to the commandments?

 

Well, you see, there is a difference between Allah of Islam and God of Christianity concerning the commandments of Allah and of God. In the Bible, when you go to the book of Matthew to the sermon on the Mount, Jesus was talking to the people, to his disciples, and this is what He said, and I want you to listen carefully. You see, he said here in the book of [Matthew, chapter 5], "Furthermore, it has been said, whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce. But I say to you that whoever divorces his wife for any reason except sexual immorality, causes her to commit adultery. And whoever marries a woman who is divorced, commits adultery." Listen, here we have the whole story. The Bible is very clear, whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits adultery. Of course, He is speaking about the woman who was divorced for adultery. He said, "If a woman was divorced because she committed adultery, it's a sin to marry her."

 
But in the case of Mohammed, let us come to Mohammed in the Koran, and in surat Alahzab, and the story is very interesting. He has a slave by the name Zeid Ebin Haricha. This slave was converted to Islam. Mohammed, to reward him, he took him by hand, he went to the marketplace, and he declared to all the officials of Mecca, "This is Zeid, my adoptive son. He is my heir." Well, this is great. Then he went to one of his relatives, I mean prophet Mohammed; her name was Zeinab Bint Gahsh, Zeinab the daughter of Gahsh. And he said to her, "Zeinab, I want you to marry Zeid." Zeinab was from a high rank, and she said, "Prophet Mohammed, how could it be? I am from a high rank. Zeid is a slave. Yes, you gave him freedom. Yes, he became a Muslim, but well, he was a slave.

 

I am from a high rank." Well, Mohammad came by a revelation which is written in the Koran, and that revelation says, "There is no way for any Muslim, whoever he is, a man or a woman, if Allah and his apostle Mohammed will make a decision that he would have any option, but to obey this decision." Well, what was the decision? That Zeinab must marry Zeid. Zeinab submitted; she married Zeid. Time went by. Now Mohammed used to go and visit the home of his adoptive son. And one day upon his visit, Zeinab was in her nightgown. He saw her. He lusted after her. He left home saying to himself, "Oh, praise God who changes heart." Well, when her husband came, she said to him, "You know, the prophet saw me, admired me, and I guess that you have to divorce me." And the marriage of Zeinab and Zeid was the most miserable marriage even though it was the decision of Allah and his prophet Mohammed, but it was the most miserable marriage. And to make the long story short, Zeid went to Mohammed. Mohammed said to him, "Don't divorce your wife." Then a revelation came from Allah to Mohammed, and the revelation said, "When Zeid will divorce Zeinab, I have given Zeinab to you, Mohammed, to marry her." What? In the sermon of the mount, whoever marries a woman who was divorced commits adultery. Would God contradict himself? No way! The whole thing of the revelation that came to Mohammed was not from Allah, I mean not from the true God, because the true God will never ever contradict himself. If He says that it is forbidden to marry a woman who was divorced, Mohammed or any other person could not marry that person. But Mohammed, to satisfy his desire, and because Zeinab was so beautiful, they divorced her, Mohammed married her, and she used to boast to the other wives of Mohammed saying, "Every one of you have been given to Mohammed to marry by her father. But I have been given to Mohammed by Allah!" What a thing. There is a big difference between the holiness of God, the God of the Christians, and the permissiveness of the Allah of Islam.

 

Question: How is Allah of Islam different from God of the Christians in the plan of salvation?

 

When you go to the book of [1Peter], you notice that the plan of salvation was established before the foundation of the earth. And this is very interesting, because God was not taken by surprise when Adam sinned. He knew that He would create Adam. He knew that Adam would sin, and before the foundation of the earth He planned a way of salvation. And that way of salvation was through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. And as Peter said in [1 Peter 1:18], "the precious blood of a lamb without blemish." You know, this is what happened exactly. The plan of God was to save man through the blood of Jesus Christ. What did Mohammed say? He denied totally and completely the crucifixion of Christ. And in surat AN-NISA, that is surah 4, verse 157, it is said, "they did not crucify him, nor kill him." Black and white! How could it be? The plan of God is to save mankind through the dead blood of Jesus Christ. And now, after 600 years, someone will come and tell us, "No, no, no. He was not crucified. He was not killed." If he was not crucified, if he was not killed, then the four gospels are null and void. The story of Christianity is all together false, and that cannot be accepted. The plan of salvation is through the blood of Jesus Christ.

 

Another thing that Mohammed ignored is that everybody who is born on the planet earth is dead spiritually. You know, in the book of [John], Jesus said that the hour has come and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of man, and they will be alive." And then, in [Ephesians], "you were dead in trespasses and sin." Now, the question is that, if I am dead, how could I save myself? The dead man cannot do any good work. Mohammed said that good deeds annul bad deeds in the Koran. How could any dead man do a good deed? If I am dead, the only thing expected of me is stench. You see, people will smell the stench coming from me. If I am dead, I am dead. And if Mohammed had known that fact, that every human being is born dead, there is no way to say that salvation is through good deeds, because dead people cannot do good deeds at all. The only way for the salvation of the dead man is to get life. And who grants us life, but Jesus Christ? He is the life, and we read in [1 John chapter 5], and in many parts of the New Testament, that life is in Jesus Christ. And once we have Jesus Christ in our heart, eternal life will be imparted to us; we are not dead anymore. And then we can do good deeds. But before that good deeds cannot be done because dead people cannot do good deeds. The plan of salvation according to the God of Christianity is totally different from any plan in the Koran. The plan in the Koran has no hope for the Muslims, and this is why the Koran says to the Muslims that every Muslim will enter hell. Why? Because there is no way! The only way to be saved from the wrath of God, from hell, is through the death of Jesus Christ. The wages of sin is death. The wage of sin is not fasting, is not pilgrimage to Mecca or Jerusalem; it is not giving to the poor, it is not any of these things. The wages of sin is death. And Jesus Christ died on the cross to pay that penalty for our sins. And because He is our creator, then His value is more than His creation. He can redeem all mankind. This is why the plan of salvation in the Bible is different than the plan of salvation in the Koran. And I would say again, there is a difference between Allah of the Muslims, and God of the Christians concerning their plan of salvation.

 

Surat AN-NISA - 4 (WOMEN)

 

004.157
YUSUFALI: That they said (in boast), "We killed Christ Jesus the son of Mary, the Messenger of Allah";- but they killed him not, nor crucified him, but so it was made to appear to them, and those who differ therein are full of doubts, with no (certain) knowledge, but only conjecture to follow, for of a surety they killed him not:-

PICKTHAL: And because of their saying: We slew the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, Allah's messenger - they slew him not nor crucified him, but it appeared so unto them; and lo! those who disagree concerning it are in doubt thereof; they have no knowledge thereof save pursuit of a conjecture; they slew him not for certain.

SHAKIR: And their saying: Surely we have killed the Messiah, Isa son of Marium, the messenger of Allah; and they did not kill him nor did they crucify him, but it appeared to them so (like Isa) and most surely those who differ therein are only in a doubt about it; they have no knowledge respecting it, but only follow a conjecture, and they killed him not for sure.

 

Question: What is the difference between Allah of the Muslims and God of the Christians in their godhead?

 

First of all I have to say that we cannot know God by our own intellectual powers. In fact when mankind tried to imagine God with their mind, according to [Romans chapter 1], we see that they created deities for themselves. And what kind of deities? They worshipped the sun, they worshipped the cow, the frog, the fly. The human mind was totally blinded by Satan. And because of that, mankind created different deities that are not at all the true God. Now, to know the true God, God must reveal himself to us. How did He reveal himself to us? He revealed himself to us through the Bible. And I want to say here in very clear and plain words, if you don't know the Bible, the inspiration of the Bible, the truthfulness of the Bible, you are in trouble my dear friends. Because the Bible is the only book, and I repeat, it is the only book that will tell you about the true God. The only book! You have to go and get yourself a Bible, and read it for yourself, and try to discover God, the true God on the pages of the Bible.

 

Now, what kind of a God do we have? Allah in Islam is an absolute oneness. But God in Christianity is a triune God. Which one is a true God? Well, for God to be self-sufficient, He must be a triune God. Why do I say that? Because in order for God to practice His attributes, He must be a triune God. He is a loving God, a talking God, he is a healing God. Then to practice these attributes He must be a triune God, because before eternity, before time, whom did God love if He was the absolute one? To whom did He talk if He was an absolute one? Whom did He love, if He was an absolute one? Well, He must be, to be self-sufficient, He must be a triune God. Again, to redeem mankind, he must be a triune God. And we being from the book of [Genesis], "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." And the word 'God' in [Genesis 1:1] is Elohim, and it is a plural name that signifies plurality in oneness. And when we read the first chapter in Genesis, we see, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth, and the spirit of God," so we have Elohim, the designer of the creation, we have the spirit of God, and then we read, and God said, "Let it be light, and it was light." Who was it who said, "Let it be light?" When we come to the book of [John chapter 1], "in the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God, everything was made by him." So the one who said, "Let it be light," was Jesus Christ the word of God. So we have Elohim in His full deity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We have the Holy Spirit by himself. We have the Son of God, the Creator, who said, "Let it be light, and it was light." And then, when we come to the very same chapter, we read the words, "let us make man in our own image." Let us? Who said that? In singular we read, "And God said". And then in plural, "Let us..." Oneness in plurality. There is no question. If the Bible says that we have to accept it. Why do I say that? Because God is a mystery. He is a mystery in His existence. He is a mystery in His knowledge. He is a mystery in His love. He is a mystery in His wisdom. We cannot comprehend God in our mind, He is not small enough to contain Him in our mind, but He is big enough to demand our worship. And this is in the first chapter in the book of Genesis. And when we come to the [chapter 3 of the book of Genesis], after man failed into sin, God said, "Behold, the man became as one of us." God in singular? One of us in plural. It is oneness in plurality, plurality in oneness. Very clear. Is it beyond our understanding? Yes, and who can comprehend God? Who are we to comprehend the Creator of heaven and earth? But He revealed Himself to us, in that way that we can see the plurality and the oneness in one God, that means that God the Father, and God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are coequal and coexistent. This we have to understand. For God to be self-sufficient, He must be a triune God. For God to redeem mankind, He must be a triune God. And you can imagine the whole scene there. In eternity past, before the creation of man, the triune God has a council. And we read in the Bible that God counseled and counseling needs more than one person. And what was the counselor? That counsel came to discuss the fall of man. God the Son said, "I am going to redeem man. I created him, I will redeem him." Listen, when Jesus died on the cross of Calvary, He was the creator of all man, He was the law-giver, who said that the wages of sin is death; He was the judge, and He was the redeemer. And it's amazing, because He was the redeemer by His own choice. And there is no greater love!

 

We read about a woman who volunteered to give her kidney to somebody, and we say, "Oh, amazing. That woman was great!" Why? Because she gave one of her kidneys to someone who needed a kidney. If someone gives a part of his liver we write a big article. This man, or that man gave a part of his liver to someone, and we praise those people for their sacrifice. God did not give a kidney, or a part of the liver. God the Son said, "I am going to die for the man I created, to show him my love; to show him the love of the triune God." And this is why we read, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son." So God loved, that He gave. And God the Son gave Himself, and then God the Holy Spirit transmitted this love to our heart, to accept, receive, and enjoy. For God to be a triune God is the most important belief. And we are not ashamed. Sometimes, the Muslims would say, "Look, you are pagans." We are not pagans! No, we are not! We are people who believe in a triune God, and that triune God is self-sufficient; that triune God had a plan to save mankind, and because of that plan, when we come to the book of [Matthew chapter 28], we read that the commission of Jesus Christ to His apostles, "Go and make disciples. Baptize them in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." Conclusion: Jesus confessed the triune God. Baptized them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

 

Now, let us come to the Koran. When we come to the Koran, we will notice something very, very interesting. Allah of the Koran swears by his creatures. It's a known fact that the lesser will swear by the greater, and not vice versa. Now in the Koran Allah swore. Swore by whom? He swore by the moon, he swore by the son, he swore by Mecca, he swore by the Koran, he swore by the fig tree, he swore by the olive tree. What does that mean? Well, I said one time to a Muslim friend, "Listen, suppose there is a court case, and I am a witness. And the judge will say to me, "Stand here, and swear to tell the truth, nothing but the truth." I said, "Your honor, all right, I swear by the fig tree, by the olive tree, by the son, and the moon, to tell the truth." What would the judge say? "Are you crazy? What are the fig tree, olive tree, sun and moon? You swear by God!" But in the Koran we read again, and again, and again, that Allah swore by Mecca, swore by the angel, swore by the Koran, swore by the fig tree, and the Muslim would not think that this makes god lesser than his creation. But in the Bible, we have a triune God who swore by Himself, because no one is greater than Him. And when we go again into the Quran, we'll see that Mohammed associated with, got himself with god in such a way that would make you amazed. And like the story of Zeinab and Zeid, the Quran says that when Allah and his messenger Mohammed made a decision, the Muslim has no choice but to submit to this decision. Who gave Mohammed the right to make decisions with God? How could he put himself in the very same range of God himself? There is no one who can counsel God but God! And this is why we read about the Lord Jesus Christ, that unto us a son is given, and one of His names is Counselor, because you see, He is equal to God, so He can counsel with the Father. But for Mohammed to counsel with Allah, I think this is too much. We have to think twice before we come to a conclusion. I would say again and again, that through the whole Bible we see a triune God. From the book of Genesis, through the book of Revelation we see a triune God. In the [first chapter of the book of Revelations], we have the greeting of the triune God to the seven churches, greeting from God the Father, greeting from the Holy Spirit. [The seven spirits that apply to the Holy Spirit in His first attribute, are mentioned in the book of [Isaiah chapter 11]. And Jesus Christ who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood. We have the Father, we have the Holy Spirit, and we have the Son.

 

When Paul came to the conclusion of his second epistle to the Corinthians, he said, "Now, the grace of Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit." Well, we didn't invent the belief in a triune God, the whole Bible is that way. The whole Bible says that there is a triune God, even when the angel Gabriel came to announce the birth of Jesus Christ, he said to Mary, "Mary, you have found favor with God." And when she said, "How will I be pregnant? I am not married," he said, "The Holy Spirit will come." Then he said, "The one who will be born of you, will be called 'the Son of God." You see, the story is clear, here is God, who gave favor with Mary; here is the Holy Spirit who will come upon Mary; here is the Son coming, born of virgin Mary, He will be called the 'Son of God'. We have the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

 

And we continue. I think that if we looked through the whole Bible I could take more than an hour or two, to get all the verses together, from the Old Testament, and the New Testament. In the Old Testament, in [chapter 30 of the book of Proverbs], Agor is asking this question, "Who ascended to heaven and descended? What is his name, and what is his son's name?" You know, this is in the Old Testament, and this is very plain, that there is a Father, and there is a Son. So we are not people who are pagans. We do follow the authenticity of the Bible. We follow the inspired word of God, and because of that, we believe in a triune God. We are not ashamed of that. We declare it in black and white. The Father is called the God in the Bible. The Son is called God in the Bible. The Holy Spirit is called God in the Bible. They are co-existent, and co-equal from eternity, and that is very plain in the Bible.

 

Question: Is Islam a heavenly religion?

 

Well, we have to think about religions as a thing that nobody can dismiss. The pagans have their own gods, the Jews believe in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and Christians, of course, believe in the same God. The story is that when God wanted to reveal himself to men, he chose Abraham. And through Abraham he had Isaac; through Isaac he had Jacob; through Jacob he sent the people of Israel to Egypt. He brought them back by Moses, and Judaism started at that time. God gave the Jewish people His law, revealed Himself to them, and His revelation was magnificent, because He appeared to them in a pillar of fire at night, a pillar of cloud in the morning, and from there Judaism began. In that religion He gave them the offerings, He gave them the prophets and prophetesses, and it was a preparation for the final religion that will come, which is Christianity. Because Christianity is based on Judaism. All the offerings in the Old Testament refer to Jesus Christ, the only offerings, the Lamb of God. He was the burned offering, He was the sin offering, He was the peace offering. He completed in Himself and in His death on the cross, all the offerings of the Old Testament. Prophets came, and they gave details about Jesus Christ, His blessed birth, His virgin birth, His crucifixion, His burial, His resurrection, His ascension. Then religion was completed. Judaism is the foundation, Christianity is the building upon this foundation.

Now when we come to Islam, why for? For what reason? How could Islam say that it is a divine religion? There was no former preparation for Islam. God did not reveal any prophecies in the whole Bible concerning Mohammed or concerning Islam. And why Islam at all? If the building is complete, we have the foundation is Judaism, we have the building in Christianity, Jesus was the final revelation of God to mankind. And we read here, in the book of Hebrews, and I want to read it from here, in the book of Hebrews chapter 1, the words here are very clear about Jesus Christ as the final revelation of God to mankind. "God who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the father by the prophets. Had in these last days spoken to us by his Son." So if God had spoken to us by His Son, why would He send a servant after that? Islam is not a divine religion. No foundation for it, no prophecies about it, it is not a divine religion.