There is a global conversation taking place centered around a growing concern for the mass immigration of the Third World into the West, in particular Islam.
As a disciple of Jesus and a believer that Jesus is Jewish and that ultimately Christianity must return to Biblical Judaism, it could be tempting for me to jump at this opportunity to speak out against the coming shift in population for the sake of safety.
It is no secret that the religion of Islam calls for the eradication of Jewish people along with every other non-Muslim for their messiah to come and establish global peace through forced, (and if required) violent conversion. The word Islam literally translates to Submission.
While both the Hebrew Bible and the Christian New Testament also teach complete submission to God, how this is achieved could not be further from the instructions of the Quran. The methods of Islam stand in direct opposition to the teaching of Jesus. Hashem and Jesus of Nazareth both require obedience and a life wholly submitted to God and His commandments, but there is a clear distinction in how that submission is sought: It is through willing surrender, and acceptance, and it is a choice. It is not attained through dominance, or a forced conversion (despite many unfortunate instances where this was done in God's name throughout history).
Another unfortunate misunderstanding of the Christian New Testament is the idea that Jesus and His followers disregarded or somehow closed the chapter on obedience to the Law of Moses (The Torah). This error has caused the union of the followers of Jesus and their Jewish brothers and sisters to remain unrealized.
I have expounded on this subject extensively in another blog post you can read here. Due to this misrepresentation within Christianity, observant Jewish people have drawn parallels between Christianity and Islam believing that these two faiths no longer see the obedience to the Torah Commandments as a requirement.
“As it turns out more than half the world, because of Christianity and Islam, believe in the Torah as the word of God. Moses appears more frequently in the Quran than Muhammed. The majority of the world believes [in the God of Abraham]. [Abrahamic religions] believe that Judaism is a default baseline, they believe there were Mitzvot that were given to the Jewish people. The only thing is, these other Abrahamic religions believe that the Commandments found in the Torah are no longer obligatory, and therefore, they believe, in those religions, and they believe that [observant Jews], miss the boat." Rabbi Tovia Singer
What an incredibly sad reflection this is for the Christian faith. While this is not true of the religion of Jesus, and nowhere in the Christian Bible is there evidence supporting this, professing followers of Jesus have, in one way or another, preached this and used this as a tool for evangelism for nearly two thousand years.
So where there is unity in both The Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) and the Brit Chadashah (New Testament), the majority of believers within the Jewish and Christian communities do not seem to recognize it.
The Accurate Distinctions between these Three Abrahamic faiths are:
Both the Hebrew Bible and the Christian New Testament confirm obedience to the Torah.
Both Judaism and Christianity are presented with the choice both corporately and at a personal level to submit to God's authority or rebel against it.
Both Christianity and Judaism approach this life as an opportunity to willingly turn our hearts to God and not merely conform our behaviors.
Both Judaism and Christianity teach that through trust and obedience, covenants are made with God as the authority in our lives that God alone can uphold and carry out.
In contrast, the Quran teaches its followers that submission to Allah is required to bring about the fullness of the messianic age and that it may be achieved by any means necessary. Islam is founded on the idea that The ends justify the means. Deception, oppression, physical threats of violence, and torture are all on the table in the Noble Quran as long as those things are to further the advancement of Islam on the earth.
How does understanding the teachings of Muhammed paired with the historical record of Islam since its beginnings help us to continue to act as "People of Light" in service to God? This knowledge helps us to look upon the majority of Muslims with compassion.
If a religion calls for its advancement using the measures mentioned above, then we can assume that most of its members are either deceived, oppressed, threatened, or tortured to keep them within the religion.
The history of the Islamic faith is rife with enforced oppressive and violent submission upon its people, and unfortunately, they have not outgrown this in our modern day.
Consider the Paradox of The Books:
While you may find hate-filled violent humans on earth that profess Christianity or Judaism, this is only a result of not reading or living the teachings of their Book.
In juxtaposition to this, you can find many peaceful Muslims throughout the earth, and that too, is also a result of them not reading their Book.
The Jewish and Christian Scriptures call for peace. The Quran calls for violence.
The critical difference is that Islam holds a large amount of humanity in its grip by force. Those that misunderstand Christianity and Judaism on the other hand, are not currently occupying entire people groups or nations under their religious beliefs through tyranny.
In the prophetic words of Daniel, he writes about a ruler that will rise in the last days before Messiah. He states that this figure worships "the god of fortresses" hinting that this will be a god of military strength that has a stronghold on the earth. Paul warns about false gospels and prophetically states that "for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light." These words would come to fruition 500 years later when Mohammed emerged from a cave with a new gospel, one that divorced Jews from God and Judaism from Jesus after encountering an angel of light claiming to be Gabriel.
If we are a disciple of Jesus we must not make the same mistake as Muhammed, and accept a different gospel, one that claims the Torah is obsolete or that the covenant promises of God to Israel are no more. When we do this, we put ourselves at risk of making the same misstep of apostasy and allowing the enemy to take over and wage war on our hearts and minds. This very thing has led to the continued radical violence Islam represents today. Would it surprise you to know that Muhammed began as a worshiper of the God of Israel? Or that he turned towards Jerusalem and prayed to the One True God? Despite the warnings of Paul in Romans, Muhammed became arrogant as a son of Ishmael and twisted the scriptures to claim to be "chosen" rather than be grateful to the descendants who were chosen to spread light and unify humanity in service to God.
Today we are watching the spread of radical Islamic ideas begin to permeate the globe once again. The rise of the Ottoman Caliphate has already set itself into place, and a spirit of antisemitism is again wrapping its fingers one by one around the neck of the earth. This pattern has happened in history repeatedly, and in the most recent global examples, the majority of professing followers of Messiah Yeshua (Jesus Christ) failed miserably in their calling.
When Jesus revealed the heart of the Father in His Sermon on the Mount, He was giving a distillation of what it means to observe and follow the Torah. This was not a change, this was not an alteration or redefinition of the Law of Moses. Jesus was bringing the revelation of the true Spirit and Heart behind the Laws, Statutes, and Commandments of God. The centrality of the Torah and The Beatitudes is the practicing altruism, which the Cambridge dictionary defines as "the belief in or practice of disinterested and selfless concern for the well-being of others."
“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I tell you, do not resist an evildoer. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn to him also the other. And the one wanting to sue you and to take your shirt, let him also have your coat. Whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him two. Give to the one who asks of you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you. “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Even the tax collectors do the same, don’t they? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than anyone else? Even the pagans do that, don’t they? Therefore be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.” Matthew 5:38-48
So as followers of the Author of The Ten Commandments, as imitators of Jesus, what are we to do in today's climate and rapidly growing Muslim immigration into the West? Are we called to resist and wage war upon them? Are we called to rise up and demonize the people behind this deceptive religion? Are we called to isolate ourselves and hunker down into a monastic lifestyle and wait it out?
We are not.
We are called to be the Salt of the Earth, we are called to be the Light of the World, and we are called to bring This Gospel of the Kingdom to every Tribe, Tongue, and Nation.
The Muslim-majority nations have been the most difficult to penetrate with the Gospel in the world. At the same time, the Underground Church of Iran is the single fastest-growing movement of Messianic believers in Yeshua on Earth. This informs us that there is a deep longing from a group of people who truly want to know God and have not yet found the fulfillment of His presence in their enforced religion and tradition.
What does the Torah teach us about the treatment of foreigners among the ancient Israelites?
“Do not take advantage of foreigners who live among you in your land. Treat them like native-born Israelites, and love them as you love yourself. Remember that you were once foreigners living in the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God." Leviticus 19:33-34
This passage almost insinuates the purpose of the Captivity in Egypt was to teach Israel exactly how not to treat foreign people among them. Despite popular Islamic propaganda, the state of Israel remains the single most welcoming nation of all faiths, ethnicities, and cultures in the Middle East. To their own harm and detriment, Israel has gone far above and beyond the secular expectations to be welcoming and tolerant of all people groups.
Recently, the global spread of Islamic populations in the world has sparked political rhetoric, cultural fear-mongering, and outrage all over the world. Jewish people (understandably), political conservatives, and professing Christians are all guilty of engaging in this way. If we truly view the heart of the Father as given by the ministry and teachings of Jesus, we must resist the temptation to join the world in this. We have to look at this from the vantage of Heaven. We must ask:
What is God doing in this?
God is moving the unreached and the unengaged that have been trapped within the walls of the god of fortresses out into the free world. He is making our calling to "Preach the Gospel of the coming Kingdom" to a previously unreachable people group far more achievable.
We must overcome the love of our own lives so that we can remain obedient to the Great Commission.
And then Messiah will come.
Maranatha!
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