President Obama made a statement comparing the past sins of the Catholic church and those who did horrible things in the name of Christ to the Islamic State. There is no doubt, people did kill in the name of Christ, but Never in the Spirit of Christ, that is nonsensical as Jesus himself stated the two greatest commandments: "You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, this is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' (Matthew 22:38-39). Ironically, Jesus commanded to love and Muhammed commanded to kill. "When you meet the unbelievers in the battlefield, strike off their heads..." (Qur’an 47:4)
Ishmael vs. Jacob
Historically, we must answer this question accurately, which son is the promised seed? This is the most important question to answer when it comes to Islam. Depending on how you answer that question will determine everything else you will believe about Islam and Christianity. The history between Christianity and Islam begin during the age of the Patriarchs about 6,000 years ago. The short version is; God begins a covenant relationship with Abram in Genesis 12. Among this narrative of the covenant of God and Abraham is Chapter 16, this chapter records how Ishmael came about, and where the Arab people originated. Abraham and his wife Sarai, because she was barren, took it upon themselves to use a surrogate. Sarai gave an Egyptian named Hagar to Abraham as a surrogate and she bore him a son named Ishmael. There is no doubt that Abraham believed Ishmael was the promised son, however, God made it clear to Abraham this was not so. “I will bless her, (Sarai) and indeed I will give you a son by her. Then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her” (Genesis 17:16). Sarah has a son-Isaac, the father of Jacob, who later has his name changed by God to Israel. The 12 tribes of Israel originate from Jacob (Israel).
Ishmael was told he was the promised son, however, this was of Sarai and Abraham's doing, not God’s. So what about Ishmael? Ishmael became an outcast of his father Abraham, but as promised by God, fathered many Arab nations. “As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I will bless him, and will make him fruitful and will multiply him exceedingly. He shall become the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation” (Genesis 17:20). This is where the strife between Israel and the Arab world began, and why it continues today as predicted and promised. "He will be a wild donkey of a man, His hand will be against everyone, And everyone's hand will be against him, And he will live to the east of all his brothers." (Genesis 16:12) There is no doubt that identifying the Arab race as being bent toward violence will be interpreted as racism towards Arabs, however, Genesis 16:12 makes that claim, just as some passages are viewed by some in the Bible as being homophobic, history has proven Genesis 16:12 quite accurate.
Ishmael was told he was the promised son, however, this was of Sarai and Abraham's doing, not God’s. So what about Ishmael? Ishmael became an outcast of his father Abraham, but as promised by God, fathered many Arab nations. “As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I will bless him, and will make him fruitful and will multiply him exceedingly. He shall become the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation” (Genesis 17:20). This is where the strife between Israel and the Arab world began, and why it continues today as predicted and promised. "He will be a wild donkey of a man, His hand will be against everyone, And everyone's hand will be against him, And he will live to the east of all his brothers." (Genesis 16:12) There is no doubt that identifying the Arab race as being bent toward violence will be interpreted as racism towards Arabs, however, Genesis 16:12 makes that claim, just as some passages are viewed by some in the Bible as being homophobic, history has proven Genesis 16:12 quite accurate.
"He will be a wild donkey of a man, His hand will be against everyone, And everyone's hand will be against him, And he will live to the east of all his brothers" (Genesis 16:12). The Arab people have been against their half-brothers the Jews since the time of Abraham. Islam united them, the Qur’an fulfills the prediction of Genesis 16:12 and clearly the prophecy of the descendants of Ishmael. We now shall turn to the primary source itself, the evidence in the Qur’an, it validates the prediction in Genesis 16:12, “he will be against everyone…” While for the most part this can be said of other races and religions as well, Islam has certainly set itself apart in the art of conquering, killing and striving against its fellow man.
The Book of War and Strife
There are over a hundred verses in the Qur’an that exhort believers to wage jihad against unbelievers. "‘O Prophet! Strive hard against the unbelievers and the hypocrites, and be firm
against them. Their abode is Hell, an evil refuge indeed" (Qur’an 9:73).
Strive hard in Arabic is jihadi, a verbal form of the noun jihad.”
Here is a sampling:
“When you meet the unbelievers in the battlefield, strike off their heads and, when you have laid them low, bind your captives firmly” (Qur’an 47:4).
“Prophet, make war on the unbelievers and the hypocrites and deal rigorously with them. Hell shall be their home: an evil fate” (Qur’an 9:73).
“Then, when the sacred months have passed, slay the idolaters wherever ye find them, and take them captive, and besiege them, and prepare for each ambush. But if they repent and establish worship and pay the poor-due, then leave their way free. Lo! Allah is Forgiving, Merciful” (Qur’an 9:5).
Just one of the doctrines of jihad identified by Robert Spencer demonstrates the violence. “Anyone who insults or even opposes Muhammad or his people deserves a humiliating death-by beheading if possible. (This is in accordance with Allah’s command to “smite the necks” of the “unbelievers” (Qur’an 47:4)).”1 This is very important to recognize. Jesus statement in John identifies the doctrine of jihad. “The hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God” (John 16:2). The idea that Islam is a passive peaceful religion is simply outrageous. The church must not submit to the nonsensical position that Islam means peace and recognize that Islam is commanding its followers to do exactly what Jesus warned.
Islam the anti-Christ
John of Damascus who lived under Muslim rule in the seventh century delivered an incredibly accurate understanding of the false Christology of Muhammad. “He says that the Christ is not the Word of God and His Spirit, but a creature and a servant…Christ himself was not crucified, he says, nor did He die, for God out of His love for Him took Him to Himself into heaven.”2 The Bible clearly identifies who the anti-Christ is; “Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the anti-Christ, the one who denies the Father and the Son” (1 John 2:22). This is clarified even more, “For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the anti-Christ” (2 John 1:7). All of Islam denies that Jesus is God in the flesh and they deny that he was crucified and raised on the third day. This has been the consistent teaching from the seventh century to the present times. The Qur’an denies Jesus deity and only views him as just a prophet, no different than those in the past, "The Messiah, son of Mary, was only a messenger; messengers before him had indeed passed away" (Qur’an 5:75). Muslim.org is translated into English from the Arabic reveals Islam’s anti-Christ position on Jesus: “The Holy Qur'an emphatically proves that Jesus has passed away like other mortal human beings, and is no longer alive anywhere. It clearly states that Jesus possessed only human characteristics and was in no way divine but a servant of God and his messenger. From birth to death, he was subject to all the physical and biological limitations that God has ordained for human beings.” The summary of muslim.org website on Jesus states, “Hence it is fully and conclusively proved that Jesus died long ago, and belief in his continued life is against the clearest teachings of the Holy Quran.”
Eschatology (End Time view) of Islam
Due to the false Christology of Islam, the eschatology of the Muslim world views America and Israel as being the anti-Christ. A journal entitled “The Anti-Christ and the End of Time in Christ and Muslim Eschatological Literature” cited the consensus view of the Muslim world as stated by Sa’id Ayyub who said, “History bears witness that the United States of America, which completely consumed by the teaching about the anti-Christ, is now the primary enemy of Islam in every place.”
What may be shocking to the western world is the reality that Islam as a whole views Israel and the West as being the anti-Christ. Where the two worldviews collide into global violence is identified in a journal article on this topic. “What is necessary for the fulfillment of dispensational Christian belief, on the one hand, is exactly what is most painful for Muslims on the other.”3
Ironically, the first reaction to the Qur’an by Orthodox Christianity was John of Damascus who viewed Islam as being the forerunner of the anti-Christ. The earliest interplay between Islam and Christianity is recorded in the story of John of Damascus (ca. 655 750) also known as John of Damascene. John of Damascus (John Mansour) is considered one of the last of the Greek Fathers. John Mansour was born under Muslim rule in Damascus, Syria. There he worked for the caliph as did his father, later he became a monk. John of Damascus lived in the time of the Arab conquest of the Byzantine Empire, this affected his life as well as the Eastern Church and marked the end of the Byzantine Empire replacing it with the Arab Empire. Historically, the Muslim conquest began upon the death of Muhammad, in the Muslim conquest they demanded conversion or death or taxes to the conquered. Pagans were required to convert or die; Jews and Christians were allowed to keep their religions but were required to pay tribute and refrain from proselytizing or public religious display. John of Damascene wrote an important work “Heresy of the Ishmaelites.” He challenges Islam and carefully makes critical arguments defending the Christian faith from the false teachings of Islam. A small sampling of his work lays out the arguments with John identifying Islam as a forerunner to the anti-Christ. “Ishmaelites which to this day prevails and keeps people in error, being a forerunner of the Antichrist…”
Three very important observations; historically he connects Islam with the two half-brothers, Ishmael and Jacob. Secondly, he identifies Ishmael with their past pagan idolatry, “These used to be idolaters and worshiped the morning star and Aphrodite…” Thirdly, Muhammad forged his religion from a false teacher who was an Arian Monk. “From that time to the present a false prophet named Mohammed has appeared in their midst. This man, after having chanced upon the Old and New Testaments and likewise, it seems, having conversed with an Arian monk, devised his own heresy." His defense is built around the idea that Islam for all purposes was rooted in the heresy of Arius that was refuted in the early church councils of Nicaea. John’s work is relevant today because it demonstrated that Orthodox Christianity had an answer to Islam at its outset.
Why the President despises Evangelicals and sides with the Arabs over Jews
President Obama no doubt holds the worldview believing that Ishmael is the promised son of Abraham, not Jacob, and it makes sense, as he himself was raised to believe this from his own heritage. The Proverbs state, "Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it" (Proverbs 22:6). Obama sees all the actions of the Christian world as against his brothers in blood, the Arab nations. His worldview does not align itself with the end-time teachings of the Christian Bible, he identifies with the Arab struggles (jihad), he has even stated we were never a Christian nation publicly and never recanted.
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1 Robert Spencer, The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (and the Crusades), (Washington DC: Regnery Publishing, 2005), 19.
2 St. John of Damascus, Heresies, lines 100-109.
3 Yvonne Yazbeck Haddad and Jane I. Smith. "The Anti-Christ and the end of time in Christian and Muslim eschatological literature", Muslim World 100, no. 4 (October 1, 2010): 506. ATLASerials, Religion Collection, EBSCOhost