—The New Heaven's Children Chapter 15! DFO ML#2264

1. WHAT ARE THE MAJOR RELIGIONS OF THE WORLD? Now we're talking about the three main religions of the World.—Christianity, Judaism &...(David: Muslims!) Yes!—The Muslims! Don't they believe in one God? Aren't they against idols, images? (Techi: When you first asked that question, I was trying to say Muslims‚ but I said Mormons instead.) Yes‚ Muslims aren't Christians, but they're believers in God, right?—And they even believe in Jesus, in a way. They even believe in Mary & that Jesus was her Son & that they were good people & all that, but they don't really believe that He is the Son of God.

2. I NEVER FOUND ANYTHING IN THE BOOK—WHAT'S THE BOOK, THE BIBLE OF THE MUSLIMS? (DAVID: THE KORAN.) Yes‚ the Koran. How do you spell it? (David: K-o-r-r-a-n.) No, just one "r"—K–o-r-a-n. What language do most of the Muslims speak?—At least the Arabian Muslims speak Arabic. And the Koran was written in what language? (Techi: Arabic.) So we don't know just how to spell it in Arabic, do we? But it sounds like "Koran" anyway when they pronounce it‚ so we've translated it into English as K-o-r-a-n—"Koran". And it's got all about Mary & Jesus & Joseph & everything in there, & lots of good things, it says nothing but good things about them.

3. I NEVER FOUND ANYTHING IN THE KORAN THAT WAS AGAINST JESUS OR AGAINST MARY, & I never found anything in there that said He was not the Son of God. The Muslims had developed that teaching later in opposition to Christianity‚ because like most religions they get in competition with each other. What's "competition"? (Techi: Against.) Here it means fighting each other, because why?

4. WHY DO THE RELIGIONS FIGHT EACH OTHER? Even the religions that believe a lot the same?—Even a lot of Christian churches fight each other! (Techi: Because they want to prove that their religion is right & get more converts.) Exactly right! They want to say they are the only ones that are right, so that they can have more people & money!

5. THE BIBLE SAYS THAT THE SCRIBES & PHARISEES HATED JESUS BECAUSE OF—WHAT'S THE WORD? (DAVID: ENVY.) Yes!—Envy, jealousy! They envied the Lord because He was getting all the crowds. They figured, "Oh my, He's going to build another temple or something & maybe make all the money, & then where will we be? We'll be out in the cold! Or He's going to take over our Temple & our coffers & lead a Christian revolution here that will take all this away from us!"—And He did! So they crucified Him! (Mat.27:18)

6. MOST OF THE RELIGIOUS LEADERS BACK THEN WERE JUST LIKE THE CHURCH LEADERS WERE —great big fat, rich Scribes & Pharisees who laid heavy taxes on the poor & got rich & wouldn't help them at all, wouldn't help the poor, just made their lives harder! We had rich Scribes & Pharisees of the Christian churches today who did the same thing! So the Jews were jealous & envious‚ they didn't want Jesus to get all those disciples! So they began to do what? (David: Persecute Him.) Right!

7. WELL, AS ISLAM WENT ON—WHAT'S ISLAM? (DAVID: THAT'S THE MUSLIM'S RELIGION.) Right! Very good, Son! What does the word really mean? Does anybody know? (Fam: It's submission to the Lord.) Submission‚ submission to the will of God. To be a Muslim is to be one who is submitted to the will of God. To believe in Islam is to believe in submission to God. That's good, right? But although they know all about Jesus & everything, I don't think there's anything in the book of the Koran itself that denies that Jesus was the Son of God. It says that He was the Son of Mary, that He was a very good man, a Prophet of God etc., but of course it doesn't really call Him the Son of God.

8. BUT THE MUSLIMS, THE MORE THEY HAD COMPETITION & FIGHTING WITH THE CHRISTIANS, THE LESS & LESS THEY WANTED TO BELIEVE IN JESUS‚ because the main thing the Christians believed was in Jesus as the Son of God & as the Messiah, the Saviour. So therefore the Muslims tried to go the other way‚ so they said, "Oh no‚ He's not the Messiah, He's not the Son of God"‚ etc. But they still believe that He's going to come back one of these days & take over the World, believe it or not! They must have read the Bible, huh? They call Him the Mahdi, or like a Messiah.

9. IN FACT, ONE OF THE GREAT IMAMS OR SULTANS or whoever he was, at one time after the Muslims conquered Jerusalem, when he heard that in the Bible it said that when Jesus would come He was going to go through that gate in Jerusalem, the Golden Gate (which by that time He already had, He'd gone through the Golden Gate in His triumphal entry on Palm Sunday), but when this Sultan read in the prophecies in the Old Testament, or somebody read to him, that Jesus was going to make a triumphal entry through that Golden Gate & take over the city of Jerusalem, he didn't want that to happen because he was ruling Jerusalem. So what did he do? (David: He blocked it up.) He walled it up! He thought he'd keep Jesus out‚ so he walled up the Golden Gate, trying to keep Jesus out so He wouldn't take Jerusalem away from him! Isn't that silly? My oh my, Jesus is going to come in the sky, & He doesn't care that much about that old Jerusalem—we're going to have our New Jerusalem, right?

10. NEVERTHELESS, THE MUSLIMS BELIEVE IN WHAT? (TECHI: GOD.) IN GOD! They believe in Jesus as a great Prophet of God, & they hate idolatry! The first thing that Mohammed (The Muslim Prophet) did when he went to Mecca‚ where the great huge square building that looks like a stone block is, right in the middle of Mecca called the what? The Casbah? No, that's a market place. (Fam: The Cabala?) No—the Kaaba! Not the Cabala, that's the Jewish underground society ... . The Muslim shrine in Mecca is the Kaaba, K-a-a-b-a, as I recall.

11. THE ARABS BY THAT TIME HAD BECOME COMPLETE IDOLATERS & they had that building filled with all kinds of filthy idols & images & pictures of demons & all kinds of things like that! So when Mohammed came back from Israel, after being taught by a Christian there all about Jesus & the true God & from the Bible, he came back & what was one of the first things he did, when his followers became strong enough & enough of them? (David: He tore down all the idols.) Yes!—They went & invaded Mecca & they cleaned out the Kaaba & all those idols & tossed them out, busted them up, cleaned it out! (David: And then they put their own in!) No, they didn't put their own idols in, no. Then they started worshipping the building, like the Christians, & like almost every other religion, they worship their Temples & just buildings!

12. THE JEWS WORSHIP THE TEMPLE & THEY WORSHIP THEIR SYNAGOGUES & THE CHRISTIANS WORSHIP THEIR CHURCHES & the Muslims worship their, what? What do they call them? What do they call their temples? (David: The Kaaba.) The Kaaba, that was that main big building where they busted the idols. (David: They worship Mecca.) They worship Mecca, yes. But what were most of their worship places called? They're all over the World, they have one in Washington, Los Angeles & all over!

13. WHAT ARE THE MUSLIMS' CHURCHES‚ THEIR TEMPLES CALLED?—With these tall minarets & their pretty domed tops, & the Muezzin gets up there & he calls out five times a day that they should all fall on their knees & pray & touch their foreheads to the ground & pray toward Mecca.

14. WHAT DO THE MUSLIMS CALL THEIR CHURCHES? (David: Shrines?) They are shrines, but they don't call them shrines. (Maria: It starts with an "M".) (Techi: Madonna?) No, you're talking about Medina‚ that's another holy city of the Muslims. (Techi: Isn't that Madonna?) No, a Madonna is the mother of Jesus. Medina is their other most holy city. (Techi: In all my books I've read it said the Golden Madonna.) (Maria: Madonna, Honey, that's the Christian name of the mother of Jesus.) The mother of Jesus was called the Madonna by the Catholics.

15. YOU'RE ON THE RIGHT TRACK, IT BEGINS WITH "M"‚ & it's a little bit like "Muslim". (Maria: M–o...) M-o-s, I'll give you a clue. (Maria: I don't think they've heard of that word.) (Techi: Mosques!) Mosques! Right! Their temples are known as Mosques. They abhor idols, so they don't have any idols or images in them at all. I mean, even the Catholics have got more idols & images in their churches! (Techi: Who is Mohammed?)

16. MOHAMMED WAS THE LEADER & PROPHET OF THE MUSLIMS. As a young boy he went to Jerusalem on business with his uncle, his uncle took him along & he met a Christian Priest there who taught him all about the Bible & Jesus. He learned a lot, but apparently he didn't learn enough & he got a little mixed up about some things. But he came back & he tried to convert his people, the Arabs of Arabia.

17. MOHAMMED TRIED TO CONVERT THE ARABS SO THEY'D BELIEVE IN THE ONE TRUE GOD & JESUS instead of all these stupid idols & images of demons & devils & things! He finally got a lot of converts, thousands of people followed him, & he began mostly in Medina, that was his home town where he got started, & he finally had enough followers so that they decided to march on Mecca & destroy all those idols in the Kaaba.

18. I THINK THE MUSLIMS TOOK THE KAABA OVER ALMOST WITHOUT A FIGHT! The people in Mecca were scared & they just surrendered & let Mohammed's Muslims come in & cast out all their idols! Many of them got converted then to believe in God, the one true God. What name do the Muslims use for God? What do they call Him? (David: Allah.) Right! Now this is a lesson on religions, again trying to find out who were the survivors, mostly the Christians, Jews & Muslims who at least believed in God.

19. SO THE CHRISTIANS, JEWS & MUSLIMS FINALLY KNEW THIS ANTICHRIST WAS NOT GOOD & certainly was not right in demanding worship of an idol & giving the Mark of the Beast! By that time they woke up‚ so they fought the Antichrist. Christians fought the Antichrist, Jews fought the Antichrist & who else? (David: The Muslims.) The Muslims fought the Antichrist because they are believers in just one God, not a bunch of gods & another Antichrist god & all that stuff, & they're against idols, & he puts up an idol, an image of himself to be worshipped, right? He says that everybody who won't worship it will be killed, & he says everybody has to take the Mark of the Beast. So the Muslims didn't like the Antichrist either‚ so the Muslims fought him, right?—Christians‚ Jews & Muslims.

20. BUT PROBABLY, SAD TO SAY, WHAT KIND OF RELIGIONS OF THE WORLD DIDN'T FIGHT THE ANTICHRIST?—They that have millions of people who nevertheless worship thousands of different kinds of idols, & their Temples are filled with idols & images, the most grotesque, evil images & idols of devils & demons & dragons—they look horrible! (Techi: Hindus.) Yes! The Hindus, who are the vast majority of people in one of the biggest countries of the World! (David: India.) Right! What is the next biggest religion in India? (David: The Muslims.) Right.

21. THE BUDDHISTS ARE ANOTHER RELIGION THAT WORSHIP IDOLS. They are mostly in what country? (David: Japan & Thailand.) Burma also is one of them. But what's the big–gest, most populous country in the World?—China! That's the major home of Buddhism. Now there are a few Buddhists & a few Hindus scattered all over the East, in fact thousands of them in other countries in the East.

22. WHOM DO THE BUDDHISTS WORSHIP? (David: Idols.) They worship idols, but especially what idol? (David: Buddha.) Right! Buddha!—A great big fat guy with a huge belly, sitting cross-legged on a dais or on a stone or something‚ some kind of platform. They've got some of those idols bigger than a house, huge big things! Some are 45 feet high, or they have little tiny ones they wear around their neck etc.

23. SO THE BUDDHISTS ARE IDOLATERS TOO, aren't they? They're used to worshipping idols. Do they have other idols they worship too? (Fam: No, just Buddha.) Right. Mostly they worship Buddha. (Techi: I didn't think that a Buddha could be as big as a house!) Well, they vary in sizes. There's all different sizes, Honey. But the biggest Buddha in the World, as I recall, is 45 feet high in one of the temples in Japan. So the Buddhists are idolaters. They don't know anything really about the true God & very little about Jesus.

24. THE HINDUS TOO ARE IDOLATERS‚ they worship literally thousands & thousands of idols!—I think somebody said they have at least 11,000 different idols & gods that they worship! They are the two most idolatrous religions in the World, plus a lot of other idolatrous religions that worship idols. So, what's one more idol, one more image of the Antichrist?—So what? So‚ one more image, one more god, what difference does it make to them!

25. SO THEY'LL PROBABLY FALL VERY EASY PREY TO WHOM? (CHILDREN: THE ANTICHRIST!) (Techi: And they won't realise it.) Yes, they won't resist him, they won't fight him. They'll easily surrender to him, because what's one more idol to worship‚ one more god. What's the difference? They don't know the true God, so they're not protected against these false gods & religions & lies & devils & demons‚ etc. (Techi: But Israelis & the Jews are, they do know the true God, but they just don't...) They don't accept Jesus.—Right!

26. BUT ANYHOW, THESE FIRST THREE MAJOR RELIGIONS, WHAT DO THEY HAVE IN COMMON NOW?—THEY ALL BELIEVE IN THE SAME GOD! They call Him by different names, but they all believe in God, & they all supposedly abhor idols, although I can't say that much for the Catholics. But they're not supposed to believe in or worship idols or images‚ right? So when the Antichrist declares that he's God, the Christians, the Jews & the Muslims, they know he's not God!

27. SO WHEN THE ANTICHRIST INSISTS THAT THEY FALL DOWN & WORSHIP HIS IMAGE‚ THEN THEY KNOW THAT HE'S OF THE DEVIL, because their religions prohibit them from worshipping images, at least all of them except the Catholics. But all the Protestants, the Christians, the Muslims & the Jews will know that he is a false god & that his Image is an abomination of desolation, & they're going to refuse to worship him & his Image & obey him & they're going to do what? (David: Fight him!) Yes! Fight him, right!

28. SO WHO DO YOU THINK GOD IS GOING TO SPARE?—In fact, He even comes down & helps them win the Battle of Armageddon, we help them win the Battle of Armageddon. (David: The Muslims‚ the Christians & the Jews.) Yes!—All these who really believed in God the best they knew how, refused to worship idols‚ at least his Idol, & fought against him!

29. EVEN THOUGH THEY WEREN'T SAVED, even though they didn't really know God, the Lord wants to help them & He wants to save them. Probably the reason they didn't get saved was because Christian missionaries didn't tell them about Jesus or how to get saved. A lot of those missionaries from those big formal churches, they don't even know how to be saved themselves! So how can they tell the heathen to get saved? I'm just kind of reviewing it for you again.

30. SO ANYHOW, ALL THESE PEOPLE FOUGHT AGAINST THE ANTICHRIST & their war ended up in one great big long battle, where? (David: Armageddon?) Yes, Armageddon! It was fought all the way from Armageddon, which is where? (Techi: In a valley in Israel.) The valley in Israel is called Megiddo & what does the "Ar" mean? What is Armageddon exactly?—The height of Megiddo! It's a big round hill in the valley of Megiddo right near Haifa. But the battle is fought all the way through that valley clear to the very gates of what? (David: Jerusalem.)

31. SO HERE THE JEWS ARE FIGHTING AWAY AGAINST THE ANTICHRIST, & his forces are invading Israel & he's going to come & try to conquer Jerusalem, & even though the Arabs are helping the Jews, & the Christians are helping them trying to lick the Antichrist, he's winning the victory over their armies until what happens? (David: We come!) We come soaring down from Heaven to save them! We literally rescue them & help them win the Battle of Armageddon, right? So therefore they are the who? (Children: The A–ACs!) Yes!—The anti-Antichrists. And we call them what, of the Battle of Armageddon? They are the blank of the Battle of Armageddon? (David: Survivors!) Survivors, right!

32. THEY ARE THE SURVIVORS OF THE WRATH OF GOD, because the Lord was trying to save them, & finally they are the survivors of the Battle of Armageddon. (Maria: Do we call them "spared" too?) The spared, yes! In a way they were saved, rescued. They weren't saved spiritually, but they were saved from defeat & their lives were saved. So they live on into what? (Techi: The Millennium.) Right, that comes next. So they're living on into the Millennium. Now we've helped them win the Battle of Armageddon, & the Earth is in a mess!—What's next?—Chapter 16! Ha!