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Listener Q + A

Listener Comments - Ishmael + Islam
I recently spoke with some dear friends of ours who live in Costa Rica and after our long conversation ended I began to search out the Word to find out some things for myself. They told me their son had recommended they read a book, I'm not sure of the exact title and don't know the author, but maybe you know of it. "Gods Plan for Muslims in the End times." They seemed to support this thinking they read in the book which sounded not right to me. What do you know of this book? They told me it was written by a Muslim who was saved and believed in Jesus as God's son. But they also said he believed it was okay for the Muslims to put up their mosques all over the country. They also told me that there was many promises in the Bible that God blessed Ishmael. Well, when they said that I decided to do some searching for myself .. there is this interesting encounter with Abimelech and Phicol with Abraham all the way to the end of chapter 21. The last verse says, "And Abraham sojourned in the land of the Philistines for many days." ..in the next chapter; verse 1 of 22, "Now it came about after these things that god tested Abraham and said to him, Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am." And HE said, "Take now your son your only son, whom you love, Isaac..." You know the rest of the story, but your only son is repeated in V12 and V16. All this testing right after he came back from sojourning in the land of the Philistines. How hard would it be for any of us to give up our 13 year old son? ..These dear friends of ours have been believers for years. Can it be true that thousands of Muslims are coming to Christ as they say? Not that I don't want them to for I pray ALL may come to the truth.

Tsiyon Answer - Ishmael + Islam

Thanks for writing. You did well to sense that the teaching you mention is "not right."

I’ve not read the particular book you mention, but have come across this teaching before. There is a small grain of truth to it (some Muslims are being saved), as well as mostly error, due to a failure to rightly divide the Word.

The big obvious error is this: The teaching requires that Ishmael = Islam. This simply is not true.

Ishmael is said by multiple witnesses to be forefather of at least some of the Arab tribes. Witnesses include the Book of Jubilees, Josephus, and even Islamic sources. For example, genealogical trees of early Islamic scholars represent Ishmael as ancestor of the Northern Arabs. According to them, Muhammad was linked to Ishmael through the lineage of a patriarch named Adnan. Even if true, this does not make Adnan, nor Ishmael before him, Muslims – nor does it link Muslims of other tribes and nations to Ishmael.

In other words, Islam takes in a far more diverse array of nations than Arabs that have descended from Ishmael. Egyptians, Persians, Lebanese, Africans, Asians, etc. though Islamic, clearly do not descend from Ishmael.

If Islam is not synonymous with Ishmael, then, what is it?

Islam is a demonically-inspired false religious cult of the moon demon-god allah. It is in no sense legitimate in the eyes of YHWH. It is not of YHWH but is of satan. Further, it is imbued by satan with hatred and murder toward Israel. The fate of Islam in Scripture is clear: it will be completely eradicated from the face of the earth. Good riddance to it!

As for the people – there is no doubt that some scattered Muslims are meeting the Savior and being set free from the Muslim cult. Let’s pray that continues while there remains time.

If you’ve heard my Revelation Series you know I have called for prayer for the righteous in Muslim lands – because a great destruction will soon be falling upon Muslim nations with evil designs toward Israel. While time remains I continue to pray for righteous-hearted Muslims to be set free from that despicable cult.

As for theological issues having to do with Isaac and Ishmael, it is clear enough in Scripture that the promise is through Isaac. As Messiah said; “salvation is from the Jews.” (Jn 4:22)

At some point in the future we will do a deeper teaching on Ishmael and Isaac. Until then, I trust that these comments will prove helpful.

Listener Comments - What generation shall not pass away .. until what?
   From the Hebrew perspective, who is Jesus saying is the last generation that shall not pass away until what specific events occur?

Tsiyon Answer - This generation shall not pass away .. until Messiah returns!

Great question! Here are the verses in Matthew you are asking about:

Even so you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. Most certainly I tell you, this generation will not pass away, until all these things are accomplished. Matthew 24:33-34

Here are the parallel verses in Luke:

Even so you also, when you see these things happening, know that the Kingdom of God is near. Most certainly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all things are accomplished. Luke 21:31-32

In both instances the "generation" that sees "all these things" and sees "these things happening" is the generation that "will not pass away, until all these things are accomplished."

So what are "all these things?"

They are all the signs specified by Messiah for that final "generation." These can be found in the verses proceeding the promise that "this generation" - the one that sees the signs - will not pass away until they ALL HAPPEN!

Realize that the events He mentions involve the entire world - so the generation would include people of the entire world who see "all these things."

I have produced a number of programs that talk about these verses in depth, and you might want to listen to those. In brief, the "gentile times" of Luke 21:24 ended in 1967, when Jerusalem came back under Jewish control. This marked the beginning of the final generation these verses are talking about. Yes, we are, even now, deep into the final generation!

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