Jovial (2 Dec 2014)
"PART 2 of THE ONE WORLD RELIGION:
Will Islam be the One World Religion?"

Many people believe that Islam will be the one world religion.  They are arguing that "666" is the name of "Allah" spelled in Arabic.  They understand that Islam is awaiting a future "Machdi" and suspect the False Messiah will parade as the Machdi.

The presumptions behind this are that

  • Muslims cannot be converted to worship of the Beast, therefore, the Beast must become like them.
  • The rest of the world CAN be converted to Islam.

WOW!  That's a lot of faith in the power of Islam from people who don't believe in Islam!  Simply put, I believe Islam will mostly dissappear from the planet when the False Messiah comes because we are told

  • "He will show no regard for the gods of his ancestors or for the one desired by women, nor will he regard any god, but will exalt himself above them all." (Dan 11:37)
  • "All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast." (Rev 13:8)

He desires to be worshipped, and he will have to get people to discard even their beliefs in false gods to do that.  If he will "show no regard for the gods of his ancestors ", then no , he is not going to fit in with an established religion, like Islam.  He's going to tell people their past perceptions are wrong and he is the way.

A lot of people know that Islam is expecting a future "Machdi" and most Christians suspect the False Messiah will try to convince Muslims that he is the Machdi.  Let me demonstrate how hard that will be.

First off, Muslims are expecting THREE end times figures, not just one.

  • The Machdi, who will bring universal peace and justice and prosperity.  Prosperity won't happen under the reign of the False Messiah -> The Bible discusses wars, famines, food shortages, weather issues, and all kinds of natural disasters that will leave the world hungry.
  • The Dajjal, or False Messiah.  Muslims also believe in an Anti-Christ.  They believe he will be real ugly and have only one eye.
  • Isa / Yeshua / Jesus will return to earth and kill the Dajjal.  While Muslims don't believe in Yeshua as Savior, they do believe he is a prophet.  They believe He will return to earth and kill the Dajjal (False Messiah) by breathing on Him; something the Bible foretells.  Afterwards, they believe Isa will follow the Machdi.

Islam believes this about the Machdi

Those character traits are so specific, that it would be impossible for just anyone to pass himself off as the Machdi of the Arab world.  And if someone out there exists that fits them, and the FM will pass himself off as the Machdi, then it would be easy for those enlightened enough to "know" in advance that the False Messiah is the Machdi to know who the False Messiah is in advance and EXACTLY WHEN he will appear by tracking down everyone in the Arab world under the age of 40 who fits the above description, then count how many years until he turns forty.  We'd know the year, though not the day and hour!  But no...it is not that simple, because the FM will not try to pass himself off as the Machdi.

Among other things Muslims believe;

When one examines these facts, it is easy to see what the "Machdi" is about.  It is a theological diversion.  It is intended so that if there are any people out there during the reign of the Beast who have trouble discarding their belief in Islam, they will recognize the False Messiah as the "Dajjal" because of all the natural disasters that are occuring, and they will be praying to Allah to send the Machdi to deliver them.  In fact that was designed so that even when Yeshua (Jesus) returns to earth and finishes off the Wicked One, they will STILL not believe in the Messiah they see with their own eyes, but be looking for the Machdi instead.  The legend of the Machdi was designed to prevent them from accepting the return of Yeshua /Jesus and defeat of the False Messiah as evidence that He is the REAL Messiah and Son of God, because even after Armageddon happens, they will still be looking for the Machdi, who will never come.

Now there are some legends about the Machdi that equate him to the False Messiah in Christian eyes.  Among them are;

  • He will reign over INCREASINGLY LARGER PARTS of the world for 7 to 9 years, make a peace treaty with Israel for 7 years, then break it in the middle.  But it will take a number of years before he conquers the entire world.
  • His kingdom will start in Iraq (possibly Babylon), then he will move to Jerusalem and rule over the entire world from there.

Those two facts equate him with the False Messiah to many Christians.  However, the Muslim legend is still different than how the Bible describes the False Messiah.  Muslims believe the Dajjal / False Messiah will come first, and conquer the entire world.  The Machdi will lead a rebellion against the Dajjal, gain power slowing over several years, until finally Isa / Jesus kills the Dajjal and the Machdi reigns over the entire earth.

I believe this was designed to cause Christians to misunderstand how the Machdi will be percieved.  It was designed so Christians would mis-think Muslims will fall for the False Messiah as the Machdi.  In reality, anyone holding onto Muslim believes after the False Messiah arrives might be easy to witness to using Islamic prophecy by pointing out that the man who is obviously the Dajjal fulfilled some of the prophecies of the Machdi, and that the Machdi will never come.  That no one is leading a rebellion against the Beast and succeeding, as is believed about the Machdi.

Anyone holding on to Muslim beliefs during the end times will either recognize the False Messiah as the Dajjal of their belief system, or they will think the False Messiah is just an evil man and the Dajjal has not yet come, thus the Machdi is not on the horizon.  But if the Machdi is supposed to put an end to all the natural disasters that will occur during the tribulation period, there won't be room for Muslims to think the False Messiah is the Machdi.  This was designed so they will look for the Machdi to deliver them, instead of Yeshua, even up to the moment of Yeshua planting His feet on Mount Megido and killing the false messiah.

There are several reasons some people cite for why they think Islam will be the One World Religion;

  • It is the most anti-semetic religion.  While true, not a necessary precondition.
  • They behead people, and Revelation talks about beheadings.  While true, don't mistake Arab Culture for Islamic theology.  The entire Arab world could be converted away from Islam and into something else without it affecting their love for beheading people.
  • 666 in Greek looks a lot like the Bismallah.  Big deal.  Revelation was not written in Arabic.  Some similarity is not PROOF of anything.

But all of these ideas make the mistake of trying to fit the future described in Revelation into our existing current culture, which may not reflect the future in much of any way shape or form.  It will be very different when the False Messiah rises to power; something unlike the world has ever seen before.  I believe he will simply cause people to give up their old beliefs, no matter what it was, and worship him personally.

Shalom,

Joe