The salvation of the Arabs.

[mizzer]

The following isn’t particularly politically correct. In fact I would say it is the opposite: quite offensive. But, I think it’s an important message…especially for Christians.

The Christian scriptures are quite clear on one issue: God’s salvation unto eternal life is a gift given to the whole world without exception.

Isa 45:22 "Look to Me, and be saved,
All you ends of the earth!
For I am God, and there is no other.

And most of us can quote John 3:16 from memory: “For God so loved the world…etc.”

But in this era of suicide bombings, Al-Qaeda terrorism, and unscrupulous political maneuvering at the sake of truth it is easy to forget that God’s gift of life is also extended to the Arabs. Yet, the Arab muslims seem so dominated by the enemy it’s a wonder how they could possibly be reconciled to the Father through Jesus Christ.

Some may wonder: Do the scriptures say anything about the salvation of the Arabs?

The answer is, “yes”. And I believe the scriptural truth is especially important to those already counted among the family of God so that they do not fall into the enemy’s trap of racism and prejudice.

First, let us examine a scriptural reference to the power of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus is walking with Simon Peter and the disciples. The disciples say to the Lord, “Hey, a lot of people say you’re a lot of things like a teacher, a prophet or even John the Baptist or Elijah!” The conversation continues:

Mat 16:15 He (Jesus) said to them, "But who do you say that I am?"
Mat 16:16 Simon Peter answered and said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."
Mat 16:17 Jesus answered and said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.
Mat 16:18 "And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.

The last part is the part I want to emphasize. Jesus said, “Upon this rock (The declaration that Jesus is the Son of God) I will build my church and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it!”

Now, this has been translated as “Christians can stand against the onslaught of the enemy (Satan) no matter what!” While this is true, we are empowered to stand against the enemy’s schemes, this is not the verse to reference. Namely, because gates do not attack anybody. Gates are meant to keep people guarded…to keep them inside of a pen or a city.

There are two Kingdoms at work in the world. One is the kingdom of the enemy. This kingdom is called the “kosmos”. The kosmos describes the systems and powers constructed by the enemy. The intent of this kingdom is to keep people enslaved, either willingly or unwillingly, under the power of Satan.

The second kingdom is the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ. This Kingdom is an eternal kingdom with systems and powers as well but the difference is the Lord Jesus Christ is ruler over this kingdom, not the enemy. The intent of this kingdom is to rescue those who are enslaved by the powers of evil and darkness and to give them eternal life.

Now, when we see the nature of these two kingdoms something obvious becomes apparent: the kingdoms are not compatible with one another. To put it more succinctly: they are at war with one another and oppose each other in every area. Where one seeks to enslave and dominate people the other seeks to give people freedom and abundant life. I don’t want to go much further on this issue…it is enough to know that these kingdoms are opposed to one another.

Now, around kingdom strongholds, typically a major city, there are walls. Within these walls there are gates. These gates represent the “life flow” of the city. One cannot go into or out of the city except through the gates. Commerce and trade, diplomacy, food, etc. all flow through the gates. These are vital thoroughfares through which the kingdom maintains itself. They are so vital it is said that if one possess the gates of a city one possess the entire city. In times of war, when one city warred against another, the gates of the besieged city were often the focus of the invading army. They knew that if they could take the gates the city would be theirs.

So, “gates” in the scripture above is a reference to the war between the two kingdoms. And when Jesus says “the gates of Hades will not prevail against me” He’s saying that His Kingdom and the work of His Kingdom (rescuing and saving people) cannot be held back by the enemy’s strongholds. Jesus will prevail as He works to save people from the enemy’s stronghold!

Col 1:13 He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love…

Now, what is true is that all men begin their lives on earth entrapped behind the strongholds of the enemy. They are, effectively, behind the gates of darkness. The enemy dominates our thinking, sin is just a way of life, and the things of God are of little or no concern to us. However, when one becomes a Christian, when we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and accept His sacrifice as payment for our sins, we are rescued from the enemy’s hold. “I once was lost but now I am found” as the familiar hymn goes.

What is true is that the enemy could not keep us in darkness as the Lord’s authority pursued us. The gates of the enemy could not prevail against the work of our Lord. So, by the Lord’s power, we ended our citizenship in the Dark Kingdom and began our citizenship in the Eternal Kingdom and it is in this Kingdom, the Kingdom of God, the believers reside.

So, what does this have to do with the Arabs? Currently, the vast majority of religious Arabs are followers of Islam: a religion that has, at its center, a god called Allah. Without going into much detail here it is important to emphasize one thing: Allah is not the Christian God. There are many differences but for the sake of this message we’ll just leave it at that.

Muslims do not worship the Christian God; they worship a false god…a god of the earth. They worship a god that is contrary to the Christian God. What I’m saying is this: they are currently behind the gate of the enemy. They are behind the gates of the kingdom of Darkness.

But…

But, we know that the gates of Hades shall not prevail against the power and authority of Christ!

So, we can be certain that the Lord will make inroads into the lives of the Arabs trapped behind the gates of Hell. He will make inroads and rescue them!

Did you know that such a reality was foretold in Biblical prophesy?
Let’s examine some verses: first we’ll find the Arabs in scripture and second we’ll find what the scriptures say about them.

Gen 25:13 And these were the names of the sons of Ishmael, by their names, according to their generations: The firstborn of Ishmael, Nebajoth; then Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam…

This is the lineage of Ishmael...the son born of Abraham and the slave woman Hagar. Because he was born of the slave woman Hagar, Ishmael had no right to Abraham’s inheritance. Ishmael and Hagar were cast away from Abraham and Sarah but God still promised to make them a “nation” or more specifically, a distinct people.

Gen 21:18 "Arise, lift up the lad (Ishmael) and hold him with your hand, for I will make him a great nation."

The offspring of Ishmael are the people we call “Arabs” today. The scripture notes that Nebajoth and Kedar are the first and second born sons of Ishmael.

In chapter 60 in the book of Isaiah the prophet Isaiah sees a vision of the end of the age wherein the Lord is glorified and His Kingdom is realized by all men. As a prophet, Isaiah completely expected the things he saw in visions to come true. I think some Christians today are apt to doubt that Biblical prophesy, if yet fulfilled, will be fulfilled. Anyway, Isaiah had no doubt that what he received from God would eventually become reality in time.

So, in the 60th chapter, verse 7, he records this:

Isa 60:7 All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered together to you,
The rams of Nebajoth shall minister to you;
They shall ascend with acceptance on My altar,
And I will glorify the house of My glory.

This did not happen in Isaiah’s lifetime. Nevertheless he wrote about it here fully expecting it to happen. So, what is this verse saying? It says the first and second born sons of Ishmael (figuratively a large number of Arabs) will be accepted at the alter of our Lord Jesus Christ. In order to be accepted at the alter of Our Lord one has to be of the kingdom of our Lord. This is the salvation of the Arabs spoken of in the scriptures.

Currently the majority of Arabs are enslaved behind the gates of the enemy. But, we can be sure, because God said it would be so, that a large number of them will be rescued and be counted among the inhabitants of our Lord’s kingdom. Like the ecclesia before them (all who are called by God) they will receive eternal life. The gates of Islam will fall under the power and authority of our Lord and many Arabs will worship Christ as their Lord and Savior.

In this day the blood of terrorism and war cover the land of Ishmael’s people as they do the bidding of the enemy. But the Lord will finish what He showed Isaiah many years ago. And when He does it I think it will be so simple and complete that we who are looking for it will marvel at our Lord’s wisdom and power.

So, brothers and sisters, pray for the offspring of Ishmael. Pray for all who are held by the enemy behind gates of Islam. I believe their salvation is coming. Perhaps it is at hand.

Bless you,
mizzer

[ViN86]

Originally Posted by mizzer

So, brothers and sisters, pray for the offspring of Ishmael. Pray for all who are held by the enemy behind gates of Islam. I believe their salvation is coming. Perhaps it is at hand.

indeed, it may be soon. then again, it could be many years from now.

[DiscipleDOC]

Originally Posted by mizzer

Isa 45:22 "Look to Me, and be saved,
All you ends of the earth!
For I am God, and there is no other.

Underlined for truth!

[DRen72]

EDITED: Sorry Mizzer, I thought Doc started the post. I started reading and kept going. So, very good write up. I appreciate you taking the time to put that together. Thats very good stuff.

From there point of view though, they feel they are as right about these things as you and I believe. Though not literally, its like telling a dog that he's actually a cat and to act like one. It's going to be difficult to convence them they are actually cats. Nevertheless, one day soon they will all meow too. I think you get my drift.

[S.I.N]

Mizzer you do know their are Christian and Jewish Arabs right? Regardless. Salvation of the Arabs? How about salvation for everyone? Arabs, blacks, Jews, whites, Asians, etc. or is only Arabs that will find a special place in hell?

[Namrok]

Originally Posted by S.I.N

or is only Arabs that will find a special place in hell?

I donno... did you read about the jihad summer camps? Advertised as Koran camps, but they actually teach use of military hardware and suicide bombing? I think that earns a pretty special place in hell if you ask me.

[nVJoe]

Originally Posted by S.I.N

Mizzer you do know their are Christian and Jewish Arabs right? Regardless. Salvation of the Arabs? How about salvation for everyone? Arabs, blacks, Jews, whites, Asians, etc. or is only Arabs that will find a special place in hell?

He most likely mean Muslims.

Any way instead of talking about a very well written post you decide to pick one tiny part of it apart. The main part was particularly missed. This is about redemption and salvation, not damnation.

[mizzer]

Originally Posted by S.I.N

Mizzer you do know their are Christian and Jewish Arabs right?

Yes, of course. Some of them are my friends. Yet, the prophesy in Isaiah denotes the salvation of a large group of Ishmael's descendants. This has yet to occur. I believe the events in the Middle East are a precursor to the fulfilling of the prophesy.

mizzer

P.S. Although many Arabs are muslim I meant "Arabs" when I wrote Arabs.

[DiscipleDOC]

Originally Posted by DRen72

Hey Doc, very good write up. I appreciate you taking the time to put that together. Thats very good stuff.

From there point of view though, they feel they are as right about these things as you and I believe. Though not literally, its like telling a dog that he's actually a cat and to act like one. It's going to be difficult to convence them they are actually cats. Nevertheless, one day soon they will all meow too. I think you get my drift.

Thanks, DRen, but the credit goes to Mizzer. He's the thread starter. I just whole-heartedly agree with him!

[DiscipleDOC]

Originally Posted by mizzer

Yes, of course. Some of them are my friends. Yet, the prophesy in Isaiah denotes the salvation of a large group of Ishmael's descendants. This has yet to occur. I believe the events in the Middle East are a precursor to the fulfilling of the prophesy.

mizzer

P.S. Although many Arabs are muslim I meant "Arabs" when I wrote Arabs.

There is a small sector in Iraq that are Christians. I've even heard of a community in Iran that are Christians. But I do know that when they are found out, they are either jailed or killed, and their family is sold into slavery....and they are still willing to do that because of their faith in a God that they know are real.

[mizzer]

Originally Posted by DiscipleDOC

There is a small sector in Iraq that are Christians. I've even heard of a community in Iran that are Christians. But I do know that when they are found out, they are either jailed or killed, and their family is sold into slavery....and they are still willing to do that because of their faith in a God that they know are real.

I think, as the Day of the Lord approaches, and violence against Christians increase we Christians in the West will look to the Christians in Iraq, Africa, China, and abroad for fellowship. They live through persecution on a daily basis and, as such, they've been prepared for the enemy's last desperate, but brutal, charge against the saints.

mizzer

[Redeemed]

Awesome post mizzer! Thanks for that. I do not believe it could have been worded or put together any better.

In this day and age it is really easy to hate anybody whom could resemble your stereo-typical mid-eastern terrorist. You remind us Christians that God doesn't see them as terrorists but sees them as part of his herd of sheep that have gone astray. Thanks buddy.