Interesting point that God doesn't want the arabic peoples to be muslim. If He doesn't, then who does? When you look at the history of the region it is fairly obvious who has benefited most from the events that have transpired.LittleShepherd wrote:He doesn't want them to be Muslims, of course, but if you look at where the Muslim lands are, you see they're in a prime spot to fulfill some important prophecies from the Old Testament. Namely the ones about certain lands rising up against Israel(either in Ezekiel or Isaiah -- I forget which). If you research all the lands mentioned and look at them nowadays, you'll notice that they are all Muslim-occupied lands.Felgar wrote:That's the crux of it. Why has God allowed Muslim teaching to become so entrenched?
I see the book of Revelation in a little different light than many do. I think that revelation, from our viewpoint in 2005, is history and prophecy. In other words there is fulfilled prophecy in Revelation and prophecies yet to be fulfilled. If you look at it in that light you can see that the forces of God and Satan have been in conflict for possibly quite some time. Satan has at his disposal in Revelation a huge army. Who are these people and where did they come from? They are not going to be suddenly conjured up at the end, they are here now. I think what we are seeing now is a biblical drama that has been unfolding for a long time. If that is what it is then it is obvious who the major players must be.
Christian2, that is why I said it was curious that in spite of the conflict over the nature of God and Christ, your friend was fairly certain about the nature and existence of Satan. You actually will not find a deep and broad conviction of the reality of Satan in the western world, most people see him as a symbol. From what I see of the middle eastern beliefs there appears to be more of an emphasis on his reality. Is that significant? I think it may be.
