Yeshua’s Heaven, Mohammed’s heaven — Which Way Is The Way?

Yeshua’s Heaven, Mohammed’s heaven — Which Way Is The Way?

by Lonnie Lane

Despite the previously politically-correct idea that Islam
and Judeo-Christianity have the same God, most of us know that just isn’t so. Yahweh
and Allah are not the same God. O yes, the writings of the Bible and the Qur’an
both deal with the issues of salvation, pleasing God, obedience and keeping the
commandments, concerns with heaven and hell and how to obtain one and avoid the
other, what God considers faithfulness, and what the future will bring. But
they have very different approaches to those subjects. Almost as if one is like
a photo negative of the other, as if it were in the reverse and black where the
light should be. One makes it clear what the final picture will be while the
other remains in the dark.

The ultimate issue, of course, for everyone regardless of one’s
religion, is of eternal destiny. The Qur’an says that Allah created some people
for heaven and some for hell and no one will know until “the last day,” that
is, Judgment Day, for which he was created. What a terrible insecurity to live
with. What does that do to one’s psyche and sense of worth? Being aware of this
stirs up two things within me. The first “stirring” is an enormous gratefulness
that I actually know God! The more I learn about Islam the more I
realize how great a salvation we have in Yeshua. The other day while preparing
for guests, I was playing a CD of Hebrew music while cooking. The words of the
song in English are: “…His name will be
called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace….”
(Isaiah 9:6). Suddenly I doubled over, my face in my hands, weeping deeply –
because I KNOW THAT ONE! How many
Jews have said or sung those words of Isaiah’s for how many centuries …waiting? Yet God by His mercy has allowed even
me to know Him. As the Psalmist said, “Such
knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is too high, I cannot attain to
it” (Psalm 139:6). It’s far too wonderful to fully grasp, isn’t it? O the wonder of knowing Him, and of
having the security of being His forever!

One of the guests I was cooking for is, in fact, a former
Muslim, a Pakistani, who has now become a believer in Yeshua. He was coming to
share with my congregation his experiences in Islam and how we can “Share
Yeshua with Muslims with love,” which was the title to his messages. Apart from
Yeshua, he would never have been in my home, let alone be my friend and eat at
my table. Only in Yeshua could the chasm between us, me as a Jew and a
Christian and him as an Arab and a Muslim, disappear entirely. Something else
to be grateful for.

The second thing that has stirred my heart is deep
compassion for the Muslim people who are without the security I know, despite
how much work they put into pleasing their God. I’ve come to know a number of
Muslims, though admittedly almost all of them have become believers in Yeshua.
Their stories are those of people who wanted with all their hearts to hear from
Allah, to have him speak to them, to let them know that he was there for them. Perhaps
you’ve heard of how thousands of Muslims the world over are having supernatural
dreams, visions and visitations of Yeshua – He just suddenly enters their
reality and reveals Himself to them! (Makes you jealous for your own visitation
from Him, doesn’t it?) The moment
He shows up, they know Who He is and their whole lives change. Allah means God
in Arabic, but not until and unless they come to know Yeshua do they encounter
the “knowable” God. Well, come to think of it, neither does anyone, Muslim or
not. Yeshua is the only way to God. “Yeshua
said…, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the
Father but through Me” (John 14:6).

Knowing of how Yeshua has come to these people does
something to one’s theology. At least it has to mine. It tells me that God
knows the hearts who are longing for Him. He knows the conflicts within of
those who want to be obedient to God as they understand Him to be, yet find
themselves unfulfilled and even in deep emotional conflict over what they have
been taught is God but which is not based in truth. I’ve often wondered about
Paul, that is rabbi Saul (Sha’ul in
Hebrew). It has always seemed to me that he had a zeal, a passion, a
determination to see a purified Israel, so that God would see his earnestness
in wanting to serve God in righteousness and to be an instrument to help restore
Israel to sovereignty before God once again. He knew Israel had lost their
sovereignty because of the worship of other gods in the past and now they were
allowing Hellenism to permeate their society.  He longed for a pure faith in God to be restored to Israel
so that God’s favor would rest upon Israel once again and He would deliver them
from the domination of the Romans. This was the reason he sought to rid Israel
of what he viewed as yet another heresy in the believers – whom he saw as worshipping
a man as if he were God! He’d seen enough of false messiah’s already.

But I believe God saw Paul’s heart for purity, in the way he
lived his life as a righteousness-seeking Jew as he understood righteousness,
and even in his persecution of the supposed heretical believers. He was a man who
had “zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge” (Romans
10:2), which is why he later could write and use this very phrase to warn
others. But Yeshua came to Paul “in Person” and turned his life
God-ward, just as He is doing today with so many Muslims – and Orthodox Jews
as well. Just as God used Paul’s zealousness for God, God will use the Muslims’
zealousness for God as well once they come to know Him.

Muslims do believe in Yeshua; they believe Him to have been a great prophet,
though one of many prophets, and a pre-cursor to Mohammed who prophesied
Mohammed’s coming. The Qur’an takes the following verses to mean Yeshua prophesied
the coming of Mohammed, not the Holy Spirit: “Nevertheless I tell you the truth; it is expedient for you that I go away: for
if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will
send him unto you…. When He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into
all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He
hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come….” (John
16:7, 12-14). Mohammed or Ahmed
means “the one who praises” or “the praised one” in Arabic which is supposed to
be equal to the Greek word paracletos which
means “an advocate” or a “comforter.” One Arabic definition of the word is “a
kind friend.” From our
perspective, however, the numerous contradictions that can be found within the
Qur’an itself and in conflict with Scripture would seem to disqualify Mohammed
as the “spirit of truth.” We know it is the Holy Spirit about Whom Yeshua was
speaking who came at the next Feast of the Lord, Shavuot or Pentecost, and not
some non-Jewish man outside of Israel some 600 years later.

The Qur’an denies that Yeshua was crucified, claiming it is
a distortion of the truth along with other Biblical claims. Mohammed believed
the Christians and the Jews got together to purposely distort the Bible – as
if the Jews and the Christians could or would ever cooperate to do such a
thing. The reason, it is said, that Yeshua couldn’t have been crucified is
because surely Allah would not allow his prophets to suffer. Yet, some of
Islam’s prophets did suffer and even Mohammed suffered (he was poisoned on
purpose in a lamb stew after he brought destruction to the cook’s town for not
believing in him) which brought him much pain and suffering though it took him
several years to die. Generally Muslims believe Yeshua didn’t die because Allah
took him to heaven to start paradise, and that He will return – as a Muslim,
and tell the world they have been wrong in seeing Him as the Son of God and to
forget this resurrection business and be good Muslims, and follow Mohammed’s
teachings just as Yeshua Himself will do as a good Muslim. He will live some
forty years or so and will marry and have children (something he didn’t get to
do the first time ‘round), and then die and be buried in a grave that is
waiting for him even now beside Mohammed in Medina. (Yet another empty grave,
it appears.)

I have come to know an Iraqi Muslim. He and his family have
been here in America for about a year. When I asked him why they came, he said,
“To get away from the war.” He went on to tell me that not one family that he
knew of was without having lost someone in the wars. He also told me that he
didn’t think Iraq and Iran will ever stop fighting. “Why when they are both
Muslim countries,” I asked? “Yes,” he answered, “but they cannot agree on
certain ideologies. They are different peoples who don’t even speak the same
language which is a great barrier, despite them both being Muslims.” (Iraqis
are Arabs who speak Arabic, while Iranians are Persians who speak Farsi.)

He and his family wanted out of the violence and hatred. So
here is a Muslim family that wants no part of the Jihad that is espoused by radical Islam. Imagine how conflicting it
must be for them. Their supposed holy book, the Qur’an, says that ultimately
all who will not submit to Islam will need to be killed. Yeshua, on the other
hand, tells us to love and pray for our enemies. Not all of Mohammed’s
teachings are of violence. The first ten years or so of Mohammed’s teachings
were peaceable and focused on promoting the worship and following of one God in
a world of idolatry. But when the Jews and then the Christians rejected him as
a prophet (what Jew would have accepted a non-Jewish prophet as coming from
God? The Christians rejected him for the same reason), he took offense and
began to employ violence to impose his religious views on everyone – or die. The
Bible says, “If anyone kills with the sword, with the sword he must be killed” (Rev.
13:10) – basically a reap what you sow statement. For those who adhere to the more
radical teachings of Islam, those whose eventual intent would be violence
toward the “unbelievers” (the infidels who do not believe as they do), they seem
also to be violent even toward one another. They may think they’re
following their religion or ideology, but when an evil spirit of murder is
loosed among men, it doesn’t care if they murder others or each other. It just
motivates rage and murder. Ergo, the war between Iraq and Iran.

But what about the Muslims who in their heart of hearts are
not inclined toward violence against anyone? In more radical circles, nominal
or moderate Muslims are also considered as infidels to be done away with if
they will not come into the more orthodox beliefs and practices of Islamic jihad. So they must live under this
pressure. Add to this that they cannot go to Allah for comfort or assurance. He’s
not there for that. He’s inaccessible. He’s “up there” while they are “down
here.” Man’s primary duty is to serve him in more of a slave relationship than
anything else. All this is why there is stirred within me a heart of compassion
for those living under the weight of all this.

In Islam, in the end, on “the last day,” each person will
stand in judgment before God based on their deeds. More good deeds, even an ounce
more, will enable one to enter heaven if the scales tip in the good deeds
direction, whereas the opposite is also true – one ounce more of bad deeds will
send one to hell forever. The balance is critical so a Muslim is likely to be
preoccupied with trying to be good enough. In reality, a Christian might also
be laboring under the weight of
“works righteousness,” if they are depending more on what they do or
don’t do to earn God’s favor rather than trusting in the finished work of
Yeshua on the cross. We are only counted as righteous by faith in Yeshua which
is the only way mankind can please God. Yeshua defined the only “work” that is
acceptable to God that will earn us a place in heaven: “Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that
you believe in Him whom He has sent.” (John 6:29), meaning Himself, of
course.

When Muslims come to know the Lord Yeshua, they seem to take
all that commitment and energy of trying to please God and turn it to loving
the Lord. The true Christian way of life in God is to put our trust entirely in
Yeshua and live in that rest. No striving, no trying to be good. Just loving
Jesus and trusting Him to keep us righteous and right with Him, even to the
end. Our part is to trust and obey as we follow Him, not a series of doctrines
– Him! Yeshua! He keeps us! One of my favorite verses is a praise to God
that says, “Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of
His glory blameless with great joy” (Jude 1:24). Blameless. With great joy. Ponder
that verse for a while and rejoice with me.  

The expectation in Islam is that, in the end, Mohammed will act as mediator for
individuals before God so that perhaps he can plead with God for them to be
admitted to heaven on the day of judgment, on “the last day.” However, Mohammed
himself said at the end of his life that he did not know what God would do with
him, whether he would go to heaven or hell.
“Mohammed said. ‘By Allah, though I am the apostle of Allah, yet I do not know what
Allah will do to me’” (Haddith Vol.
5:266). He knew he had
sins; he never claimed not to have sins. So how could a sinful man stand as
mediator before holy God? How could anyone unclean speak for other unclean
persons to intercede for them before God?
One wonders. Only One who is holy can act a mediator before Holy God for
the souls of men. So that would seem to invalidate Mohammed as being the
mediator, wouldn’t it? On the other hand, Yeshua in His sinlessness is and continues
to be the mediator between mankind and God: “He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him,
since He always lives to make intercession for them” (Hebrews 7:25).

There
is one Islamic doctrine that assures someone access to heaven, that is for a jihadi, one who kills for Allah, specifically
killing a Jew or a Christian. To him is granted immediate entrance to heaven:  “Mohammed said, “The person who participates in (Holy battles) in Allah’s cause
and nothing compels him to do so except belief in Allah and His Apostle, will
be recompensed by Allah either with a reward, or booty (if he survives) or will
be admitted to paradise (if he is killed)” (Haddith Vol. 1:35). This also includes a free
entrance fee for his family. This is why you will see families rejoicing when
their son has just blown himself up as a martyr while he caused the death of other
non-Muslims. The entirely carnal rewards in heaven, curiously, are those very
things that Islam considers unclean and forbidden while on earth. There is no
being in the presence of Allah and seeing Him, or of holiness or glory or
heavenly worship – just basically the self-gratification of carnal lusts
including sex and alcohol. How far from the dignity, glory and holy joy in the
presence of Almighty God, with the multitudes of souls made perfect and the
heavenly angels singing rapturous and exalted praises to God as we gaze upon
His beauty and glory that the Bible speaks of that exists in heaven.

It has been said that the difference between the God of
Christianity and Allah is that Allah requires that his people’s sons die for
him while the God of Christianity gave His own Son to die for us all. I know
personally at least one Muslim who came to the Lord upon seeing this clearly.
For those of you reading this, most likely I do not have to recount how God Himself
crossed the barrier between Deity and mankind by becoming a Man Himself. Alternatively,
Muslims live with the sense of their unworthiness before Allah, and the fact
that they consider themselves as slaves to him, not as his children as it is
thought that Allah has no need of anyone so why would he need sons. There is no
motivation in Allah of love as a reason for a relationship with people. How altogether contrary to the theology
of the Bible is Islam. The cost of Yeshua’s life was the provision of God, to
bring us close to Himself. God: “But now in Messiah Yeshua, you who formerly
were far off have been brought near by the blood of Messiah”(Ephesians
2:13). We are that valuable to Him that He came as a man and lived and died for
us – paying the ultimate price any man can pay, his life.   

Lord, we pray for
those Muslims around the world and on our own soil, that you would lead them
into Your arms and a saving revelation of Who You are. We ask that You would
forgive them, O Lord. Turn their lives so into You that they find it easy to
“go and sin no more.” Save them, fill them with Your Holy Spirit and with
righteousness, and open their eyes to Your truth in the Bible. We thank you for
them, in Yeshua’s name. Amen.

Reprint of this article is permitted as long as you use the following; Use by permission by Messianic Vision, www.sidroth.org, 2010.

Scripture quotations are from the New American Standard Bible Copyright ©1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif.  All rights reserved. Used by permission.