Implications of Accepting that the Arabs are Israel
In our world people don’t want a prolonged discussion. Advertisers discovered if they couldn’t sum up their selling point in thirty seconds their audience would tune them out. However, if you do provide your conclusion in thirty seconds without supporting data, they will form their own conclusion and have no desire to hear your analysis. Thus, when attempting a discussion on the Abrahamic Covenant the typical response from Christians and Jews is a request to skip to the end, to which I respond, “The Arabs are Israel.” To this response, by far the most universal conclusion from family, friends, and church staff is, “Are you a Muslim?” From that statement, I have been told that to believe that the Arabs are God’s people Israel and the Abrahamic Covenant was fulfilled through them the only logical conclusion is to believe that I am a Muslim and a practitioner of Islam. Ironically this was not my conclusion for several reasons:
- Though the Quran states, “Muslim say, ‘We believe in the Torah, the Gospel, and the Quran and distinguish between them not!’” However, in practice, I can find no evidence in the Islamic World to support this statement as they believe the Torah and the Gospel are corrupted.
- Though the Quran states, “Muslim say, ‘We believe as Abraham believed.’” And if you ask a Muslim, they will say we believe as Issa (Jesus) believed. However, in practice, they are as illiterate in both the New and Old Testament as their prophet. Thus, they have little to no understanding of what Abraham believed through the Old Testament account.
- In Deuteronomy, Moses gives a blessing of obedience from God for Israel of rain and plants, and a curse of disobedience of drought and famine. As Islam spread so did the drought and famine in North Africa as lands that were once lush and green transformed into the Sahara Desert. All suggest, as one could even make the argument through Islam, that God has not yet fully granted them his favor or approval.
- Though the Quran states, “There is no coercion in Islam.” And though daily prayers are meant to be a want to as an act of praise to Allah. In practice given the extensive memory requirements and the compulsion upon its adherents to follow, as a have-to, rather than a want-to, Islam becomes a works-based religion.
- According to scripture, all Israel will be saved once the time of the Gentiles is fulfilled. While one may consider the fulfillment of the Great Commission in modern times, it was still incomplete during the days and age of Mohammed and the advent of Islam. Further, God’s acceptance of Israel is marked by Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, when Israel and Judah are reunited and become one. An event that has yet to take place. The Prince of Joseph who is to preside over the event has yet to make his entrance into the human spotlight and the temple through which the event is to take place has yet to be rebuilt. Such things tend to point to a future event, rather than an event in the past.
Yet I am also unable to ignore the white elephant in the room, and why the universal message of Christianity to me is that to believe the Arabs are Israel is to accept Islam to be true. Thus, to ask a question to Institutional Christianity and ignore its primary response is more than a little arrogant. Thus, it is incumbent upon me to consider the possibility that faith in the Abrahamic Covenant equates to acceptance of Islam. Beyond that with all my research, Christianity and Judaism is also far from understanding the message they were given because they are unable to see themselves within scripture with anything other than a favorable light, thus it is not only possible, but likely that Islam has also fallen into the same error and does not fathom the Word in the Quran due to their illiteracy in the other two testaments.
Any who would argue that Jesus was not the Messiah would have to contend with his lasting impact upon the globe as it was through him the gentiles came to the knowledge of the prophets of God in the Old Testament. By that same margin the many nations of Abraham, their many kings, their expansion to the east and the west, as well as the middle east casting aside all their idolatry could not be told without the existence of Muhammed’s Divine message as told through the Quran. Considering the sheer volume of prophets that God sent to Israel and the surrounding nations to call upon them to cast aside their idols it seems inconceivable that God in his wisdom would use a false prophet and testimony to accomplish this. In the Torah God also states that when they turn away from their idols, he would remember the promise he made to Abraham[1] , and today the Islamic Empire in all ways seems to function as a Divine Billboard of that identity.
These reasons have also led me to the conclusion that the Divine is working in ways that are contrary to the traditional logic of all three monotheistic religions. Judaism rejects Christianity because it speaks to them with a different voice and narrative than Judaism has taught itself through its own traditions. Christianity in like manner rejects Islam, because the voice is different than that which encompasses their narrative of the New Testament. In part Christianity also pushes aside the Old Testament when and where their perception of its voice is different than the New Testament. is it possible that the Quran is not wrong, but rather their narrative is so different from the Old and New Testament that the only conclusion they could reach was that the Old and New Testament was corrupted? Not coincidentally, this is similar in fashion to what the Christians and Jews say about the Quran. Thus, the Word of God is rejected in part by each through a similar form of argument to discredit their perceived adversary. The question is of the three if properly understood does it align the truth and make humanity one? To prove the Quran is the Word of God it must fundamentally and foundationally align with both the Old and the New Testament to prove that the same God is truly the author of the three. Also, it must have a message to Christianity and Judaism, just as Christianity must have a message for Islam so that all are made complete. Afterall if they had it right why would the prophets call to the Jews and Christians to reveal to the Muslims their identity as the bones of Israel or to declare on distant shores that Israel will return. Thus, the call upon the believer is to preach and prophesy to Israel. If they had all things correct there would be no need to preach or prophesy to them.
Consider the Levites. The House of Aaron returned to Judah not long after the division of the two kingdoms. The Divine obligation of the Levites was to teach the Torah to Israel as well as to make atonement for their sin. In modern context the Muslims are Israel, and they are completely ignorant of their past, conversely Judaism makes it their life’s work to know the Torah to the most minute detail. Yet for the Levites to take on their Divine ordinance they must humble themselves and accept the Muslims as their equal and become their Levitical servants to make atonement for Israel. Acceptance of this reality reveals to Judaism God’s unconditional love of the Muslim people. Because Christianity outsources their understanding of the Old Testament to the Jews, Jewish acceptance of Islam also serves to unite humanity. As the Bible is transformed into an extension of Islam and the Word of God becomes their savior, the Muslim is compelled to accept the fullness of the Word of God so that all are make complete. It is a preordained Divine relationship built upon mutual love and respect of one another Divinely orchestrated to heal the divisions of our modern world.
[1] Leviticus 26:40-42.