The Islamic Antichrist (11 page)

COMPARING THE FALSE PROPHET
AND THE MUSLIM JESUS

A
mazingly, the similarities
between the biblical narratives of the end times and the Islamic narratives do not end with the Antichrist and the Mahdi. If it were so, then it might be easier to dismiss the many similarities as mere coincidence. The parallels, however, do not stop with the Antichrist and the Mahdi, but extend again quite clearly into the person of the man biblically known as the False Prophet and the man known in Islam as Isa al-Maseeh—Jesus the Messiah.

The Bible clearly articulates the specific plan of Satan down through the ages. The Bible teaches that Satan will raise up not one, but two men as his agents on the earth to lure men away from the worship of the One True God. The first man that Satan will use is the Antichrist. We have already examined his role in chapter five. The second man is known biblically as the False Prophet. We will examine his role next.

THE UNHOLY PARTNERSHIP OF THE ANTICHRIST AND THE
FALSE PROPHET

The nature of the relationship of the biblical False Prophet to the Antichrist is one of a partner in crime, so to speak. Only in the final book of the Bible do we learn about the False Prophet. The Apostle John was the first and only author of Scripture who received revelation about this assistant to the Antichrist.

In Revelation chapter thirteen, John introduces us to the man described as “another beast” but spoken of later in Revelation as the False Prophet:

Then I saw another beast, coming out of the earth. He had two horns like a lamb, but he spoke like a dragon. He exercised all the authority of the first beast on his behalf, and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast…. And he performed great and miraculous signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to earth in full view of men. Because of the signs he was given power to do on behalf of the first beast, he deceived the inhabitants of the earth…. (Revelation 13:11–14)

From this passage, we can determine a few things about the False Prophet. First, he is called a beast—he is, like the Antichrist, a man possessed by Satan. He is another human pawn of the dragon, exercising the will of the dragon on the earth. But instead of ten horns, he only has two. The horns speak of authority. The power and authority of the False Prophet is clear, but not nearly equal to that of the Antichrist, said to have ten horns. We also see that the False Prophet can perform miracles. Among the many miracles he is said to work, one is mentioned specifically: he is said to make fire come down from the sky. The False Prophet’s primary reason for performing miraculous signs is to cause the inhabitants of the earth to follow and worship the Antichrist. The two are pictured as a team, a partnership with common goals—deception, seduction, and a luring away of anyone who worships Yahweh, the God of the Bible.

THE UNHOLY PARTNERSHIP OF THE MAHDI AND THE MUSLIM JESUS

Likewise, in the Islamic narrative of the last days, we do not find a lone character coming to rescue the world, but instead we find a team. We find both the Mahdi and the Muslim Jesus. And, as in the case of the Antichrist and the False Prophet, we find that one clearly fills a supporting role while the other leads.
While the Mahdi is clearly described as “the vice regent [caliph] of Allah,”
¹
Jesus is described as one who will “espouse the cause of the Mahdi”
²
and “follow him.”
³
The partnership between the Mahdi and Jesus is one of a leader and his subordinate. And as we have already seen, and will continue to see, the partnership of the Mahdi and Jesus is indeed an unholy partnership—particularly if you are not a Muslim and have no intention of becoming one. If this is the case, then you are marked for death—plain and simple. The Muslim Jesus is a twisted version of the biblical Jesus, who said:

For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me; that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.” (John 6:38–40)

Instead of espousing the “cause” of the Father, the Muslim Jesus espouses the cause of the Mahdi. Instead of saving those followers of His whom the Father has placed under His oversight, the Muslim Jesus instead slaughters those who remain faithful to the words of Jesus as found in the Bible. The Muslim Jesus is not the tender yet strong shepherd of the Gospels, but rather
the wolf himself
in the shepherd’s clothing.

THE FALSE PROPHET AS THE ANTICHRIST’S CHIEF ENFORCER

The coming of the lawless one [the Antichrist] will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs, and wonders, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness. (2 Thessalonians 2:9–12)

Then I saw another beast, coming out of the earth…. He performed great and miraculous signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to earth in full view of men. (Revelation 13:11–12)

We see in the Bible that the False Prophet will come with “all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs, and wonders and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing.” He will perform “great and miraculous signs, even causing fire to come down out of heaven…[to deceive] the inhabitants of the earth.” But after his miracle-working power fails to convert every last person on the earth, his primary drive becomes to set up a system whereby the inhabitants of the earth will have only two options: worship the Antichrist or die. The False Prophet is said to create some form of “image,” possibly some form of idol or statue that has the ability to “speak.” Exactly what this image will be remains to be seen.

He [the False Prophet] was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that it could speak and
cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed
. (Revelation 13:15, emphasis mine)

There is something highly unusual about this image that “could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed.” Somehow the image itself will have the ability to enforce the law of the False Prophet; it will have the ability to cause people to be killed. This seems to work in tangent with the infamous “mark of the beast” that is part of the False Prophet’s system. All the inhabitants of the earth will be “forced, everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, so that no one could buy or sell
unless he had the mark
, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name” (Revelation 13:17, emphasis mine).

So biblically speaking, the False Prophet enforces the Antichrist’s global worship movement. Imagine for a moment a miracle-working evangelist completely possessed by Satan, and
who refuses to take no for an answer, upon threat of death. This is exactly what the False Prophet will be.

THE MUSLIM JESUS AS THE MAHDI’S CHIEF ENFORCER

The False Muslim Jesus according to Islam will likewise be the greatest evangelist that the world has ever seen. He fulfills the description of the False Prophet in this regard to a T! We see that the false Muslim Jesus, like the False Prophet, comes to convert the Christian world to a new religion. In the case of the Muslim Jesus, the religion is, of course, Islam.

When Jesus returns he will personally correct the misrepresentations and misinterpretations about himself. He will affirm the true message that he brought in his time as a prophet, and that he never claimed to be the Son of God. Furthermore, he will reaffirm in his second coming what he prophesied in his first coming bearing witness to the seal of the Messenger, Prophet Muhammad. In his second coming many non-Muslims will accept Jesus as a servant of Allah Almighty, as a Muslim and a member of the community of Muhammad.
⁴

From this description, Jesus’ power to convert seems based more on the simple fact of the persuasiveness of His words, presence, and actions than any specific mention of miracles. Just like the False Prophet, however, the Muslim Jesus refuses to take no for an answer. Along with the Mahdi, he institutes Islamic law all over the earth. In so doing, he abolishes the
jizyah
tax, which non-Muslims historically have had the option of paying as “protection” money, much like the “protection” money that Mafia bosses enforce onto businesses in their areas. After the
jizyah
tax is abolished, “all people will be required to embrace Islam and there will be no other alternative.”
⁵
But what if some still refuse to convert? Then, as we have already seen, the leaders of the so-called “religion of peace,” the Mahdi and the Muslim Jesus, will execute them.

THE FALSE PROPHET AS EXECUTIONER

From the Bible’s description of the False Prophet we learn that one of the primary motives behind his plan in creating this “image in honor of the beast” is to kill those who refuse to worship it.

He ordered them to set up an image in honor of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived. He was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that it could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed. (Revelation 13:14–15)

Later there is a specific reference to the exact form in which these people will die:

And I saw the souls of those who had been
beheaded
because of their testimony for Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or his image and had not received his mark on their foreheads or their hands. (Revelation 20:4, emphasis mine)

The Bible tells us that those who refuse to participate in the system established by the False Prophet, who refuse to worship the Antichrist or his image, will die. The specific death that the Bible indicates is beheading. We will discuss this fact in more detail in a later chapter. The False Prophet will be the most infamous executioner that the world has ever known.

THE MUSLIM JESUS AS EXECUTIONER

And how different is the Muslim Jesus? We have already examined the Islamic traditions that establish that Jesus will abolish the
jizyah
tax, thus leaving only two options for Christians and Jews worldwide: convert to Islam or die.

Jesus, the son of Mary will soon descend among the Muslims as a just judge…. Jesus will, therefore, judge according to the law of Islam…all people will be required to embrace Islam and there will be no other alternative.
⁶

The time and the place for [the poll tax] is before the final descent of Jesus.
After his final coming, nothing but Islam will be accepted from them
, for taking the poll tax is only effective until Jesus’ descent (emphasis mine).
⁷

We have also seen the Islamic traditions that picture Jesus as the leader of an army that slaughters tens of thousands of Jews said to follow the Dajjal (Antichrist).

The Yahudis [Jews]…will be his main followers.
⁸

Isa [Jesus] kills the Dajjal at the Gate of Hudd, near an Israeli airport, in the valley of “Ifiq.” The final war between the Yahudis will ensue, and the Muslims will be victorious.
⁹

In the Last Hour Muslims will fight with Jews. Since the Jews are an integral part of the army of the Dajjal, and Muslims are the soldiers of the Prophet Jesus, they will fight each other and the Muslims will become triumphant until even a stone or a tree would say: Come here, Muslim, there is a Jew hiding behind me; kill him.
¹⁰

The biblical False Prophet and the Muslim Jesus are both described as establishing a system of law that will enforce the mass execution of everyone who refuses to convert to the new global religion.

A DRAGON IN SHEEP’S CLOTHING

We have all heard the expression “a wolf in sheep’s clothing.” Most people don’t know that Jesus coined this saying. Interestingly, when Jesus coined this expression, He was referring specifically to false prophets. The exact phrase was, “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves” (Matthew 7:15). Likewise, the Apostle John describes
the
False Prophet, whom all other false prophets merely foreshadow, as one who, “had two horns like a lamb, but he spoke like a dragon” (Revelation 13:11). This is to say that the False Prophet will appear to be mild and gentle—a “lamb-like” person—but
inwardly he will be possessed by Satan himself. He will be filled with deception, murder, rage, and hatred. His purpose will be to deceive as many people as he can into worshipping the dragon.

The appearance of the False Prophet as “a lamb” may also quite possibly refer to the notion that the False Prophet will claim to be
the
Lamb, Jesus Christ (John 1:36; Revelation 5:6, 13). This would make sense if we look a bit more closely at Jesus’ warnings to His disciples in Matthew chapter twenty-four. Repeatedly, Jesus warns His disciples of the many false prophets who will come in the last days, but in the very first warning that Jesus gives His disciples when they ask Him about the nature of the final hour before His return, Jesus says, “Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many” (Matthew 24:4–5). While I do not believe that every false prophet that will emerge in the last days will claim to be Christ Himself, it is clear from this passage that some will. And if
the
False Prophet of Revelation chapter thirteen is the archetype and model for all other false prophets, then it also stands to reason that the False Prophet may very well claim to be Jesus Christ Himself. This of course is a perfectly brilliant (though infinitely evil) plan. Who could be a better backup man and the primary minister of propaganda than someone whom much of the world believes to be Jesus Christ Himself? It appears that this is what Satan has planned for the Antichrist/Mahdi.