This is the end of a 10-part series about Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Hagar, Ishmael, Jews, Arabs, Muslims, and the specific role of Islam in the book of Revelation. God willing, these posts will one day be published in book form.
In Parts 8 and 9, we discovered that the majority of mainline Protestant scholars from the time of the Reformation into the 1800s almost unanimously discerned the conquests of Arabic Islam in the fulfillment of Revelation’s 5th trumpet, and those of Turkish Islam in the 6th trumpet. The book of Revelation plainly identifies the 5th and 6th trumpets as the first and second of three successive “woes” (see Revelation 8:13; 9:12). If those ancient Protestant were right, then it’s logical to expect a resurgence of radical Islam as “the third woe” right before the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.
After “the second woe,” John wrote:
The second woe is past. Behold, the third woe is coming quickly. Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!” (Revelation 11:14-15)
Notice how “the third woe” is mentioned immediately before “the seventh angel” sounds and Jesus Christ takes over “the kingdoms of this world.” It is my solemn belief that the time of the dreaded “third woe” has arrived.
The website, www.radicalislam.org, contains a wealth of information about the current threat. Its homepage declares:
Today we are threatened by organizations without borders. Attacks can take place anywhere in the world at any time, by terror organizations headquartered in the Middle East, or right under our noses. In many cases terror organizations are plotting attacks for years, without us having any advanced knowledge.
One common thread in the global threats we face is the connection to Radical Islam.
These threats reinvent themselves everyday. The fear of not knowing what, where, when, how or who will be hit next is the greatest success for terrorists.
Sharia law threatens freedoms that Americans hold dear. The nuclear threat hanging over our heads endangers our very existence.
Following in the footsteps of Mohammed himself who conquered Arabia with the sword, radical Islam is dedicated to the conquest of the world. Films like “Obsession: The War of Radical Islam against the West” and “The Third Jihad” are both instructive and frightening. They reveal shocking facts about “Allah’s Army,” an army most Americans know little about.
In the light of Revelation’s prediction about “the third woe,” I can’t help but wonder whether some future terrorist attack – economic, chemical, or nuclear – will become of catalyst for the initiation of earth’s final events as predicted in the Bible? Believe me, the possibility is real.
Yet as stated in previous posts, the vast majority of our planet’s 1.3 billion Muslims aren’t terrorists. Millions are mild moderates. Others are energetic reformers. Still others are confused searchers seeking deliverance from sin. In a nutshell, most are wandering sons and daughters of Ishmael longing for a relationship with the God of Abraham. Their Creator loves them all, whether they are radicals, or regulars. Significantly, the book of Revelation predicts that at the very time when “the third woe” sounds, “the everlasting gospel” will also be preached “to those who dwell on the earth—to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people” (Revelation 14:6) right before the return of Jesus Christ (see verses 14-16). Thus, while “the third woe” sounds, the Holy Spirit “woos” one last time.
This is the time of the woe and woo.
Are we listening?
In the first century A.D., Saul the Pharisee was a Jewish terrorist fueled by hatred against Christians (see Acts 7:58; 8:3), which tells us that it is possible to be a Muslim terrorist, or a Jewish terrorist. Yet on the road to Damascus, Saul met a Savior who loved him still (read Acts 9). Jesus blinded him, then enlightened him, and then transformed him into one of the most powerful Christian evangelists our world has ever seen.
Such transformations are still happening in our day.
The bottom line of this entire 10-part series is that we are living just before Jesus Christ returns and that God is now sending one more final burst of “gospel” light (see Revelation 14:6 and 18:1) toward all Jews, all Arabs, all Muslims, and everyone else, before “the harvest of the earth is ripe” (see Revelation 14:15). Truly, the Lord wants every one of us in His kingdom.
May God help us all to be true sons of Abraham who, when we discover the infinite grace of “the Savior of the world” (1 John 4:14) are willing to kneel low at the foot of His cross, having love for all, and hatred for none.