Sid Roth

Sid: Were talking about end-times with Joel Richardson and it’s been prophesied and Joel has lived in the Middle East and he has studied Islam that he would understand the revelation of the end times and he’s put together a DVD series that will totally change your paradigm for end times; and it’s so Biblical.  But I have to ask you a question Joel, something that a lot of people are misunderstood; they just plain don’t understand.  And that has to do with the Muslim God Allah.  And many say that’s just synonymous with God and they use it interchangeably with the God of the Bible.  Explain to me what Allah means to a Muslim.

Joel: Well, some people will say that Allah is simply the Arabic word for God as supposed to a proper name for God and they point to the fact that Arab Christians in the Middle East refer to God as Allah.  The question is, “Did the Christians refer to God as Allah prior to them having been subjected to the Islamic governets?” And that is very doubtful, perhaps they just caved in and said, “Oh it’s just a name, we’ll call God, Allah in order to be at peace. But the bottom line is, Allah is first and foremost the God of Islam that comes with his own set of doctrines, specific theology.  And the God of Islam is not the God of the Bible.  The God of the Bible has a history; he’s the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  The God of Islam bares a far closer resemblance to all the ancient near Eastern War and Moon God’s that the Israelites were fighting against, that they were contending with.  The Allah of Islam is much more related to the God that Abraham left behind in the desert than the God that he followed to Israel.

Sid: So when a Muslim says “Allah, who is he referring to?”

Joel: Well, again in a Muslim’s mind he’s referring to the creator of all things and in that very general sense we agree that God is the creator of all things.  But he’s not referring to the God of the Bible because Muslims reject much of the Bible.  He is not referring to the God who sent His Son to mankind in order to demonstrate His love for mankind, in order to do for us what we could not do for ourselves on the cross.  In order to pay for our sins, in order to draw us to Himself.  They reject the notion that God would ever, ever become a man that’s absolutely blasphemous to Muslims.

Sid: So as far as I’m concerned it’s a different God.

Joel: Yeah, it’s a different God, you know yes there is some general similarities and when the little Muslim cries out to Allah, I believe that God hears the cry of the ignorant child who’s crying out to the unknown God of creation that he calls Allah, I believe that.  But when it comes to the specific about what Muslims believe about God and what the Bible teaches, it is a different God and Christians should not use the name of Allah.

Sid: And yet, I hear throughout the whole Middle East there are so many Muslims that are having revelations of Jesus, not the Jesus that Islam describes, the Jesus that the Bible describes.

Joel: You know, exactly!  I just met with a Muslim leader in Istanbul, a very very influential, a Turkish intellectual Turkish Muslim leader.  And we sat down in his house and I looked at him and I said, “Adnun I’ve come to Istanbul, because I am concerned for you; I want you to become a follower of Jesus, not the Jesus of the Koran, the Jesus of the Bible because they are to radically different individuals.’  And throughout the Middle East today in unprecedented numbers we are seeing Muslims come to faith specifically as a result, a direct result of a supernatural vision or a dream.  This is unprecedented and to put it in context you know the Bible says, “How will they hear without a preacher?” It is as if in these last days the Lord Himself is directly evangelizing people.  I believe that in their ignorance as Muslim pray five times a day and they say “Allah, guide me to the straight path.” I believe that among those that are sincere God is responded to them and He’s teaching them the truth about Himself in Messiah, in Yeshua and He’s calling them out of Islam.

Sid: And do you know what I find fascinating, with Jewish people it’s not so much saying Isaiah 53 written 800 years before Jesus came to earth, it’s a perfect description of Jesus, but its signs and wonders is the same thing going on with Muslims?

Joel: You know I have a really close friend that I went to school with here in the states and he lives in Berlin now, we talk at least once a week.  And he is seeing Muslims in Berlin come to faith several per week.  You know, he’ll go in a café and he’ll share the gospel with someone and two Muslims at the table next to him will interrupt and say, “We want that, we want to get saved!”  He said, “It’s not even a matter of having to throw out the net any more their jumping into the boat.”  He recently had a meeting where a very prominent Turkish businessman in the area invited dozens of Turks that had recently moved to Germany to a meeting where my friend prayed for them and nine out of nine people were instantaneously healed and nine out of nine Turkish Muslims gave their life to Christ that day, that’s in one day!  He’s seeing these things every week, this is unheard of!

Sid: Well, you know why this is going on, there is going to be so many Muslims and Jews, there’s going to be a revival among Muslims and Jews and this is the first fruits of the revival so we’ll have a few leaders.

Joel: Amen and amen and when they come to faith they are fearless, they are fearless…

Sid: They are normal, let’s call it the way it is.  They’re normal, not American Christian normal, Biblical normal.

Joel: Exactly Christianity 101 and as they’re being discipled; they are actually trying to keep away from them Christians that have been Christians for their life.

Sid: Do you know what I would love to do, I would love to do is I would love to get ten Jewish Rabbi’s saved, keep them away from religion; be it Rabbinic Judaism or be it Constantine Christianity and we would have our first ten men walking on water.

Joel: Absolutely, and you know I’ll tell you with regard to the Jews coming to faith, the Bible says that “The gentiles have the ministry of jealousy; they are to make the Jewish people jealous because of their relationship with Yahweh.”   And I believe that when Jews see Muslims coming to Yeshua and repenting of their anti-Semitism and embracing the Jewish people and loving the Jewish people that that will be when Ishmael comes to the God of Israel, comes back to the God of Israel that will be one of the more significant factors that will bring conviction to the heart of the Jewish people.

Sid: Let’s go to your revelation of Micah Chapter 5:2-4 where you’re building your case that the anti-Christ will come out of Islam and the Islamic system.

Joel: Exactly, for those that have read you know the “Left behind” series, we’re taught that the anti-Christ will come out of Europe and all these sort of things.  But when we look at any of the passages through-out the Old Testament that speak of the coming of the Messiah, Jesus is always coming back to do battle against Islamic nations, Islamic peoples and all the references to the anti-Christ are Islamic names, Islamic titles.  In Micah 5 you have the prophecy of the Bethlehem born Messiah.  We always quote this around Christmas; this is what the Pharisees quoted to Herod when asked where the Messiah would be born.  But when you read a little bit further it says specifically that when the Assyrian; and again this is another title for the anti-Christ; when the Assyrian invades the land of Israel.  Speaking to the final invasion of the land of Israel by the Anti-Christ is says that “Jesus the Messiah, the Bethlehem born Messiah would deliver the Jewish people from the Assyrian.”  And when you look at this title the Assyrian; if you’re a believer that takes the Bible at its face value interpretation then you have to ask yourself, is it real more reasonable to conclude that the anti-Christ as the Assyrian will come from out of the former region of the Assyrian Empire in the Middle East.”  Or is it a more reasonable conclude that the anti-Christ will be Nicolae Carpathia from Romania?

Sid: And Daniel 2:43 you gave me the Aramaic understanding of the statue where the toes will be of mixed substance, what does that word mixed mean in Aramaic?

Joel: Well in Aramaic the word for mix is Arab, and if you are to look at that verse in its literal translation if you read Aramaic it would simply say this, “In and that you saw the feet of iron mixed with the clay so also the Kingdom will be Arab.”  This is one of the clearest and most direct references to the nature of the fourth kingdom.  It’s a very similar story to where Daniel went to Belshazzar and says mine tico Perez, the kingdom will be divided and it will be given to Paras Persian.  It is your typical eastern play on words; Arab means mixed and it also mean Arab people, they were known as the mixed people.  The final fourth kingdom will be an Ishmaelite kingdom, the Islamic Empire.

Sid: In your heart of hearts why does God want your DVDs out now?

Joel: Well, I believe that the church needs to be prepared for what’s coming, and the church needs to awaken to the reality so that we can begin moving in the direction that He wants us to move.  It’s not just an issue of knowing the correct facts but knowing what to do.  In the last days we need to know about the last times, but we also need to know how to respond.  We need to know where to direct our energies.  If the Lord is touching and drawing out a remnant from without of the Islamic world we want to be part of that.  We want to get involved, we want to know where to direct our prayers and I believe that this DVD series will help the church to do that.

Sid: Now, you talk about Turkey as a very significant country, why?

Joel: Well, when we look at the prophecy of Ezekiel 38, 39 this is one of the clearest and most direct passages about the end-times in the whole Bible.  Many people believe that Gog…

Sid: Oh, I’m sorry we’re out of time, will pick up right here on tomorrow’s broadcast.  Mishpochah this is the clearest understanding of the end times that you’ll ever see.  And you must understand the end times to know what to do.