A People Jesus Died to Save
24 In that day Israel will be the third, along with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing on the earth.
25 The Lord Almighty will bless them, saying, “Blessed be Egypt my people, Assyria my handiwork, and Israel my inheritance.” (Isaiah 19:24-25 NIV)
An Unusual Prophesy
Isaiah’s ancient words of promise were spoken over a 1000 years before the Prophet Muhammad was born. This prophesy is starting to come true now, in our time.
Checking an ancient map of the Assyria at the height of its power is fascinating. These modern nations were once totally engulfed by the Assyrian Empire:
- Iraq portions of Saudi Arabia
- Jordan half of Turkey
- Lebanon part of Iran
- Syria some of Egypt
- Israel
This is a mind-blowing prophesy. Isaiah clearly prophesies that our God will draw these three nations, “Egypt my people” “Assyria my handiwork” and “Israel my inheritance” to Himself. The Holy Spirit is announcing a great harvest in the end times of both the Muslim and Jewish people.
Under the blood of Christ, these bitter enemies will be transformed into blood-bought brothers.
A Very Poor Harvest
Historically, the followers of Allah have been very resistant to the gospel of Jesus Christ.
In David Garrison’s book, A Wind in the House of Islam, he defines a movement of Muslims coming to Christ in two ways:
- 100 new churches started within 20 years.
- 1000 converts baptized over the same time period.
By the end of the 20th century, there had been only 13 movements—very few Muslims have chosen to follow Christ in the centuries since Mohammad died.
But in the first 12 years of this century, 69 new movements of Muslim-background believers have been documented, from all over the world..Muslims are suddenly accepting Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior.
Why?
A Key Change
After almost 14 centuries of failed evangelism, Christians finally started following a God-given strategy that’s bearing fruit. The Holy Spirit stirred us up to pray for a rich harvest; that many followers of Allah would put their faith in Christ as their Savior.
In response, Jesus has begun appearing to Muslims in dreams and visions. One Middle East evangelist noted that instead of a single conversion taking years, Muslims were now coming to Christ just a few minutes after meeting the Lord.
After all, Jesus really is the best One to seek and save the lost.
My images come from Pixabay.com.
Resources:
Over 25 years ago, Christians started praying during the month-long Muslim daytime fast of Ramadan. The booklet 30 Days of Prayer for the Muslim World gives background of a new Muslim group each day, along with prayer requests. This booklet is also provided in PDF form for immediate download.
The main prayer is always for the salvation of the worshipers of Allah.
Please take a moment to check out the website “30 Days of Prayer for the Muslim World” by clicking this link:
In 2019, Ramadan starts Sunday, May 5th and ends Tuesday, June 4th.
