The Conflict of Contrasts

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Transcript of Radio Message — The Rev. Dr. Joe Renfro, Christ Over All, WNEG AM 630 — Toccoa, Georgia

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Sunday—March 4, 2012

Daniel 8:1-13

II Thessalonians 2:1-12

There is something coming about in our time that is distressing, as we observe a true conflict of contrasts evolving from two basic worldviews—the Judeo-Christian and the Islamic.  The Islamic word, “Allah” means God, the Supreme One, in Arabic, while the Bible uses many terms to refer to God, but all harmonizing with God being the Almighty Being of Being.

The Islamic concept of God from the Koran and Islamic tradition has 99 forms of that name that Mohammed supposedly called God.  However, in their understanding no one is able to personally relate to God, as he is totally beyond us.   The Judeo-Christian concept is well summarized from the Larger Catechism of the Westminster Standards, as it says that:  “God is a Spirit, in and of himself infinite in being, glory, blessedness, and perfection; all-sufficient, eternal, unchangeable, incomprehensible, everywhere present, almighty; knowing all things, most wise, most holy, most just, most merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth.”  In Jesus Christ we can personally relate to God in our lives.

From the Judeo-Christian understanding there is the concept of the  “antichrist,” in contrast to the Christ, which describes a particular individual or a group of people who oppose God and his purposes.  In the Old Testament book of Daniel it speaks up very much about the workings of the antichrist. The particular leader was referred to by Daniel as the king of the north, who would come with a mighty army to crush the nations, to persecute the righteous, to bring death, and to set up his throne in the Temple, an event the Jews later called the “abomination of desolation.”

Many of the Jews preceding the coming of Christ felt that Antiochus Epiphanes IV, who ruled the Seleucid Empire, a nation that covered present day Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan—all the way from Asia Minor where Turkey is today to India–from 175 BC in 164 BC, that this ruler was the antichrist.  His name meant in the Greek, “God Manifest”

In II Maccabees 5:11-14, part of the Apocrypha, the Greek translation of Jewish Bible that was called the Septuagint, says this about Antiochus:   “When these happenings were reported to the king, he thought that Judea was in revolt. Raging like a wild animal, he set out from Egypt and took Jerusalem by storm. He ordered his soldiers to cut down without mercy those whom they met and to slay those who took refuge in their houses. There was a massacre of young and old, a killing of women and children, a slaughter of virgins and infants. In the space of three days, eighty thousand were lost, forty thousand meeting a violent death, and the same number being sold into slavery.”

Antiochus sought to consolidate his empire and strengthened his hold over the region, and so he decided to side with the more liberal, Hellenized Jews by outlawing Jewish religious rites and traditions kept by observant Jews, and he ordered the worship of Zeus as the supreme god.  II  Maccabees 6:1–12 deals with this. This action was anathema to the Jews and when they refused, Antiochus sent an army to enforce his decree. Because of the resistance, the city was destroyed, many were slaughtered, and a military Greek citadel was established putting the Jews under complete bondage.

In later Jewish history various Roman rulers in the Roman Empire were also regarded as being antichrists—not only opposed to the messianic promises to the Jews, but seeking to call for the divination of their rulers.

In the New Testament the only use of the term, “antichrist” is in the Johannine epistles with the combined description of denying the incarnation, Christ’s deity, and also referring to false messiahs.  In I John 2:18 John wrote,  “Little children, it is the last time; and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists…”  In Revelation 12:3 the beast from the sea is often viewed as the antichrist.  The number of the beat refers to Domitian, ruler at the time Revelation was written.  Nero had been the Roman ruler from 54-68 AD, and he was earlier regarded the antichrist by the Christians as he persecuted the Church. Domitian was the next Roman ruler from 69-79 AD, and Revelation speaks of him as the beast that was killed and rose again—and the number 666 in the Biblical numerics meant “Nero Caesar”, and other translations had 616 that is translated numerically  “Caesar Neron”.

In II Thessalonians 2:1-12, our New Testament scripture for today the antichrist figure is armed with satanic power and is fused with satanic being.  This scripture speaks of the great apostasy.  Paul in this scripture is telling the Christians that the Day of the Lord had not yet come and that before it really came there would be a falling away from the faith by many.  As this happens there will be a “man of sin” revealed who “exalts himself above all that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.”  In 2:9-10 Paul wrote that, “The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those that perish, because they did not receive the love of truth that they might be saved.” He is the antithesis of the Christ.

Daniel 7:25-27 says that, “He shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, AND THINK TO CHANGE TIMES AND LAWS: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time. This seems to fit into the Tribulation time referred to in the book of Revelations.  There might be calls for peace, for change, a change in the outward focus, but to the neglect of the inward.  However, the Bible referring to the last times, says in Jeremiah 6:14 that “men shall say ‘peace, peace, when there is no peace.”  We need to be on the watch—to watch out!

What is meant by this warning of the antichrist? Could this be applied to radical Islam?  It says in11:36, “And the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvelous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done. The two personages of Daniel 11:36 and 7:25 are one and the same. This man of sin echoes back to the message of Daniel 2:4 and the little horn, Antiochus—which also foreshadows John’s description of the beast from the sea in Revelation 13:1-8.

There is without question a conflict of contrasts in the world today that is very much worrying the world between the Judeo-Christian worldviews and that of the Islamic.  Many Muslims have been very good people, and many are willing to walk humbly with their God and to accept others, but this is increasingly becoming a minority, as a group we call the radical Muslims are increasingly usurping more and more power, even setting the stage for what could become a major world conflict between the Judeo-Christian world and the Islamic world.  Here comes the conflict of contrasts!

In Iran the Grand Ayatollah Khomeni, the founder of the Islamic Republic, is quoted as saying that he had three goals for Iran—number one to overthrow the Shah, which he did; number two to establish an Islamic State, which he has done, and number three to create the situation for the for the return of the last Imam. Then went on to say that the one after him will be the one to pass the flag of Islam to Imam Mahdi for the conquest of the world by Islam and ultimate peace. There is also a quote that Khomeni personally told Ayatollah Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader,  that, he will be the one to bring about the End of Times and the final glorification of Allah.

Does our nation and the vast majority of Christians see and acknowledge the great danger that is looming in the maybe not too distant future?  Our President seems to feel that Islam poses no significant treat the Judeo-Christian world and in facts sees the three faiths as basically one with just the call to learn to live peaceably with one another.  We have witnessed all kinds of apologies to the Muslims about many things, but little is being said about the awful persecution the Muslims are inflicting on Christians in many parts of the world, particularly where Islam is dominant!

Call you believe it!  A Muslim judge in Pennsylvania scolded a local atheist in that particular town for offending Islam, called him a doofus and accused him of “using the First Amendment” to madden Muslims – dismissed harassment charges against the Muslim defendant who purportedly choked the atheist during a Halloween parade.

District Judge Mark Martin brought a Koran to court and told the alleged victim, American Atheists’ Pennsylvania State Director Ernest Perce V, “I think you misinterpreted a couple of things. So before you start mocking somebody else’s religion, you might want to find out a little more about it. It kind of makes you look like a doofus.” The judge added, “I think our forefathers intended to use the First Amendment so we can speak with our mind, not to p— off other people and cultures – which is what you did.” The atheist evidently was committing the great sin of being politically incorrect!

There were unsolicited Bibles a couple of years back sent by a church in the United States that were confiscated at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan because military rules forbid troops of any religion from proselytizing while deployed there. Military personnel confiscated the Bibles, threw them away, and ultimately burned all that were printed in the two most common Afghan languages amid concern they would be used to try to convert Afghans. However, when some copies of the Koran that had been marred with much writing on the pages and were in bad shape were burned, our President apologized to the leader of Afghanistan and all Muslims.  There is a great program spreading throughout our land to attack “Islamophobia,” but when we observe what is taking place over all the world, should not we be concerned?   How level is the playing field?

Do you want to be an infidel in a Muslim-dominated country?  The Koran even says to kill the Jews and Christians, if they refuse to submit to Islam.  Jews and Christians, as well as atheists and agnostics are classified as infidels, although the Koran does give the people of book a certain respect above those who are total infidels.

Muslims fly commercial airliners into buildings in New York City.  No Muslim outrage! Muslim officials block the exit where schoolgirls are trying to escape a burning building because their faces were exposed.  No Muslim outrage! Muslims cut off the heads of three teenaged girls on their way to a Christian school in Indonesia. No Muslim

Outrage! Muslims murder teachers trying to teach Muslim children in Iraq.  No Muslim outrage! Muslims murder over 80 tourists with car bombs outside cafes and hotels in Egypt.  No Muslim outrage! A Muslim attacks a missionary children’s school in India.  Kills six.  No Muslim outrage! Muslims slaughter hundreds of children and teachers in Beslan, Russia.  Muslims shoot children in the back.  No Muslim outrage! Let’s go way

back.  Muslims kidnap and kill athletes at the Munich Summer Olympics. No Muslim outrage! Muslims fire rocket-propelled grenades into schools full of children in Israel.  No Muslim outrage! Muslims murder more than 50 commuters in attacks on London subways and buses.  Over 700 are injured.  No Muslim outrage! Muslims massacre dozens of innocents at a Passover Seder.  No Muslim outrage! Muslims murder innocent vacationers in Bali.  No Muslim outrage! Muslim newspapers publish anti-Semitic cartoons.  No Muslim outrage!  Muslims are involved, on one side or the other, in almost every one of the 125+ shooting wars around the world.  No Muslim outrage! Muslims beat the charred bodies of Western civilians with their shoes, then hang them from a bridge.  No Muslim outrage! Newspapers in Denmark and Norway publish cartoons depicting Mohammed.  Muslims are outraged! Dead children.  Dead tourists.  Dead teachers. Dead doctors and nurses.  Death, destruction and mayhem around the world at the hands of Muslims .. no Muslim outrage … but publish a cartoon  depicting Mohammed with a bomb in his turban and all hell breaks loose.
Yes, honor killings are happening — not just in Iran, but in the United States of America! A raped woman is stoned for not being a virgin. A man kills his daughter for dating an infidel. A girl is sold into slavery to her cousin…by her father. A Christian police officer is fired for rejecting training on Muslim faith. A US university professor is forced to quit when Muslim students persecute him for speaking the Koran in his comparative religions class…because he is an infidel. The media is not allowed to tell us when murder and terrorist acts take place “in the name of Allah.” Muslims have infiltrated various arms of government. The daughter of the founder of The Muslim Sisterhood is an assistant to our nation’s Secretary of State…. The largest growth in America by percentage is those of the Muslim “faith.” 18,000 people have been killed worldwide by Islamist terrorists JUST SINCE 9/11. In 1,400 years 240,000,000 have been slaughtered at the command of over 100 verses in the Koran that require conversion to Islam or death.

Can Christianity and Islam coexist? You decide!  Shariah Law is a harsh and excessive legal and societal code that is used in Islamic nations.   Islamic law encourages husbands to beat their wives; it allows Muslim men to marry more than one wife, including “child brides” of only a few years old; it calls for “eye for an eye” revenge rather than justice; it commands torture for those convicted of crimes, including cutting off hands or feet, mutilation, and even crucifixion; it demands that “adulterers” – including innocent victims of rape – be stoned to death; it says anyone critical of Islam or Muhammad must be killed; it calls for the deaths of “apostates” – that is, anyone who leaves Islam; it commands violent jihad and the total subjugation or annihilation of all religions other than Islam, and Shariah law is very much seeking to be entwining in all facets of American society from schools to our courts and culture—all in the name of calling us to be at peace with Islam.  But Islam does not promote freedom, because from its very foundation is rotates around authority figures and bondage!

There is a conflict of contrasts, and the Islamic worldview and faith is very much different from the Judeo-Christian.  I use the concept “Judeo-Christian” for there is a basic harmony between the two cultures.   The Islamic, although coming from the same basic roots as the Judeo-Christian is in many ways very different.

The Islamic faith was started by Mohammad in the AD 600’s, and the word “Muslim” means in the Arabic “one who submits to God.”  This religion is the second largest religion in the world.  The Koran was written by the scribes who recorded his teaching from the material Mohammad gave them.  He could neither read nor write, but he had heard the teachings of Christianity and of the Jews. He changed much of the Biblical account, but according to Islamic belief he changed the errors made by the Jews and Christians.  The Prophet, Mohammad, summarized his religion by saying,  “Islam is to believe in God and his Prophet, to say the prescribed prayers, to give alms, to observe the feast of Ramadan, and to make the pilgrimage to Mecca.” They see Jesus, however, not as the Messiah, the Christ, or the Son of God, but rather as a great teacher and prophet like Mohammed. The concepts of the new birth or regeneration are not part of the Islamic faith, but they do affirm the commands against lying, stealing, adultery, and murder—murder except for murdering in the cause of honor to Allah!

Yes, many Muslims are fine moral people by the world’s understanding, and they have to right to practice their religion so long as their religion does not contradict the rights of others in our land.  Throughout the world, however, it is condemned for any to seek to convert a Muslim to another faith, condemned to the extent of death not only to one seeking to share the faith, but also to the Muslim if he or she changes their faith.   This is bondage!

A boatman once drew a picture.  It represented a night scene.  A solitary man was rowing a little skiff across a lake; the wind was high and stormy, the billows white and crested, rage around the frail bark; and not a star, save one, was shinning through the dark with the angry sky above.  Upon the lone star the voyager fixed his eye and kept rowing away—on and on through the mid-night storm.  Written beneath the picture were the words,  “If I lose that, I’m lost.”  This story should focus our eyes on Jesus as the Christ, for he is “the way, the truth, and the life.”  If you don’t know him, come to know him.

There is a major conflict developing, and although it would be nice, if the two cultures could work together.  However, the Islamic position is closed to conformity or conversion from the teachings of the Koran.  There is a storm brewing, and God calls us to realize his support and guidance in the midst of it. Is the battle or Armageddon on the horizon?   Is the Great Tribulation on the doorstep?  Is Christ’s coming soon?  I don’t know, but I do know that in Jesus Christ there is victory regardless what earthly powers might seem to be dominant.

I do know Islam is not a religion of peace.  Just look at conflicts among themselves at this time. There is a definite conflict of contrasts between the two worldviews.  The Christian and Jewish faiths are not just the beliefs in one God. The Bible says from the Christian perspective in James 2:19 that ”You believe that there is one God.  You do well.  Even the devils believe—and tremble!”  The Christians and the Muslims each believe in God, but each is going in a different direction.  May God give us grace, wisdom, and courage to follow his guidance in times like these.  AMEN

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by Joe Renfro, Ed.D., Educational Columnist, Radio Evangelist, Retired Teacher and Pastor, 5931 West Avenue, Lavonia, Georgia 30553, 706-356-4173, joerenfro@windstream.net